The First Sweaty Ride of 2015

It was a dry dusting of fresh snow over dry pavement.  Not at all slippery.

January 26, 2015.  About 25 degrees, overcast, only a bit of wind, snow flurries in the air.  Hey, let's go for a ride!  When your riding buddy has a day off work, you ride, just with more layers! 

We're feeling rather puffy.

The horses moved paddocks today, in preparation for a new horse coming to the stable this upcoming weekend.  Given Red's being-left-home issues lately, and having just had a change of venue (yes, it's only just across the driveway, but still...), I decided to ride Rhio and pony Red.  We've been doing so much of this recently, that it has really become quite easy and relaxed for all three of us. 

The footing in the stable area is atrociously icy, now just dusted over with fresh snow, enough to mask the glare ice.  Perfect.  I very carefully handwalked the boys over to the woods, and then mounted up.  Well, actually, mounting up entailed using my arms to help my left leg bend enough to get my foot in the stirrup, then very ungracefully heaving myself clumsily up (thank goodness I have short horses!) and slithering, shuffling, huffing into an upright position in the saddle.  Darn those extra layers!  Dexterity of all appendages was severely curtailed during today's ride.  I even dropped Red's rope twice due entirely to my mittens (but my fingers were toasty warm!). 

Rhio set the pace at a nice, forward trot.  It's a good thing we all seemed quite happy with that, as Rhio wasn't going to take no for an answer, if I was going to try to tell him we weren't trotting!  He's not been out for a road ride in about a month, and he was one happy pony to be out there, that's for sure. 

We did an out-and-back, 7.2 miles total, staying on the secondary road, since I had Red in tow.  Turning for home, we discovered that yes, in fact, there was just a bit of wind, and now it was blowing into our faces a bit.  S's mare had a good case of the "going-homes," and thought the best idea was a race all the way home.  My boys were more than up for that plan, but us two-leggeds disagreed, and with some discussion, were able to contain the equine enthusiasm. 

Sweaty winter fur

Cooling out, drying off, and tanking up on yummy beet pulp!

Rhio and S's mare were all sweaty, but interestingly Red was only slightly damp on his chest.  I know from experience that Rhio is a good sweater, and Red takes much longer to start to sweat when working.  Even accounting for that difference, it is interesting to see visually how much more the ridden horses were working compared to the ponied, unridden horse. 

I'm so ready to start conditioning!  Ride season is only three months away. 

S. on her mare Jay.

The Cold Snap

Last week we had a bit of a cold snap.  I think there was a day or two it didn't get above zero at all.  And, of course, the wind.  Judging from the various posts on Facebook at the time, it seemed a large chunk of the country was having a cold snap right along with us.  It is all relative - a cold snap for, say, Tennessee, isn't the same, in real temperatures, as a cold snap here in Wisconsin.  But I think the ways in which we all cope with our cold snaps are similar.  A horse (or a human) used to the Wisconsin winter is pretty comfortable at the temperatures that are shiver-inducing in more southern climes.  As long as you, and your horses, have been acclimated to the local environment, a cold snap of reasonable intensity and duration is usually not too much of a problem.  For horses, that acclimatization actually occurs the previous year.  Horses seem to grow coat related to the daylight length and coldness of their previous winter climate.  Moving a horse from one region to another in the summer, before daylight really begins to shorten (the trigger to grow winter coat), is preferred, as that horse will grow a more appropriate winter coat for the new climate.  However, in my experience, it seems that many horses don't have a truly appropriate winter coat until the *next* winter after a move.  So, this year, Rhio has grown a coat appropriate to Colorado's cold, where he spent last winter.  Obviously, there is lots of variation between individuals, and many other factors, especially nutrition and overall health, play into this.  And Rhio's coat is adequate for Wisconsin, but it is certainly not as thick as it has been in previous years spent in Minnesota.  He is a bit of a baby about the cold, anyway, and is fairly routinely blanketed, regardless of his coat.  Red, too, was blanketed warmly for last week's cold snap.  And, I went out every day to pamper them with warm beet pulp mashes, extra salt, and some warm molasses water to drink.  "The Experts" say that the best thing you can do is *not* change your horses' routines during a weather change.  But we all do, don't we?  Extra feed, perhaps stalling them, decreasing turnout.  And, truthfully, if you watch your own horses, they change their routine themselves.  My guys spent time in their shelter, out of the wind.  They don't normally spend much time in the shelter at all if the weather is milder.  They hopefully ate more hay (the best way to stay warm), which means they hopefully were also drinking more water (though often horses drink less water in colder temperatures), as additional water is needed for digesting that additional hay!  So, my "pampering" becomes more rational and logical (or so I like to think).  Warm beet pulp is a great conduit for additional water intake, and a nice place to add some loose salt to further encourage drinking.  It's also a fiber-based way to increase calories needed to stay warm, much like hay does.  And, it gives me an excuse to bring them into the barn for a little while, giving them a break from the wind, and I can adjust blankets, check beneath to make sure all is well, etc.  Invariably, upon going back out after pampering, they immediately went to the hay and started eating, and/or went over to the waterer for a drink.  Yay!  It makes me feel good that they are doing great, and I find feeding horses one of life's greatest pleasures.  Really. 

Hiding in their shelter on a windy, cold day

Rhio knows good stuff comes from this tack room!

Bliss - both boys munching away while I perch on a bucket and soak up happy horse vibes.

It's So Good For Us

Yesterday we had access to an insulated, and sunlit, indoor arena.  Most of you know I do very, very little arena riding.  For one, I haven't had access to one in a while.  For another, I much prefer *going somewhere* on my horses.  But when I do ride in one, my dressage lessons when I was 8 years old (and very infrequently since then) somehow come back to me. 

Both horses made the trip (about 6 miles from the barn) and first off got some free time, sans blankets, in the arena.  Rhio, of course, rolled four or five times - he does love to roll!  They tooled around a bit looking at stuff, and trotted a bit.  Honestly I was expecting a bit more of a rodeo, seeing as it's been so icy and so cold lately and they haven't gotten much kicking-up-their-heels opportunities.  The air quality in the arena was unfortunately poor due to the presence of some diesel fumes from a piece of equipment that had been started inside - but it made for great, interesting light for some photos!

Red and Rhio (mostly Red) have been having some separation anxiety issues.  At home, I have begun handling them separately rather than together, and rode them each once in the outdoor arena before this cold/ice/snow snap hit.  They are mostly out of sight of each other when one is in their paddock, and one is in the outdoor arena.  When Red is the one under saddle, he tolerates being separated absolutely fine.  When he is the one left behind, it is an entirely different story.  Red carries on quite dramatically - which then of course revs Rhio up a bit, and he starts calling as well.  Rhio had serious herd-bound issues over the first few years I had him, and I certainly don't want to regress into that issue again. So we've been slowly working on leaving Red in the paddock while Rhio does something else, although after his accident the first week we were here, I am very hesitant to actually leave the premises with Rhio.  Obviously I will need to have a solution once I can actually start conditioning, as I don't intend to pony Red along all the time!  And then there's the prospect of taking Rhio for a weekend endurance ride, and leaving Red at the barn.... I admit, I am already nervous at the thought.  I wish I knew why/how Red got so much worse with his "buddy sourness" - although it isn't your typical case, either, because he is completely fine if he is the one to leave.  Anyway, I digress. 

Red was first up, and since I sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago, I decided not to ride in my saddle, where my stirrup would likely put too much stress on my ankle.  With the bareback pad, we worked about 45 minutes "schooling" - which Red clearly is very out of practice with!  It took him the first 15 minutes just to settle and start listening to me and working.  We worked on obedience, bending, backing - all skills he definitely has in his repertoire, but clearly needed reminding of.  He likes to rush through things, and evade by tossing or shaking his head.  I felt pretty good when we ended, and he wasn't too hot or sweaty (we did a lot of walk work), which is exactly what I wanted.  In this cold weather, the opportunity to get them out and moving is wonderful for their mental and physical health (and mine!) but I didn't want to work them too hard and get them too sweaty and risk that heat load getting dispersed as sweat later under their blankets during turn out. 

Riding Rhio is completely, utterly different than riding Red.  Again, I used the bareback pad, but everything else about the ride was unique.  It is so interesting to ride these guys back-to-back and feel the contrast between them so clearly!  Rhio goes in a hackamore, and thus I don't have the lateral control of his head that I do with Red, because Red goes in a snaffle bit.  Rhio's anxiety comes out in his feet - the more he moves them, the better he feels!  So, with Rhio, my first goal is always to slow down (in an arena setting).  Then, I work on his right side - bending, moving laterally to the right with sidepassing, etc - because he has real trouble moving right.  He also doesn't travel straight at all unless I really, really concentrate!  When I began riding as a kid, I was taught to start preparing the horse for what you're going to ask him to do next before you actually ask him.  But Rhio seems clairvoyant - in the preparation, he goes right ahead and does what I am intending to ask him to do!  For example, if we were moving across the arena and I intend to ask him to go to the right when we reach the wall, as soon as I think about going right, he goes right!  The end result is that we look a bit like a drunken sailor if I ride him with the same pattern of intention that I ride Red.  So, with Rhio, I have to really concentrate on being straight, in my body and my mind, if I want him to go straight.  We work on circles (he would definitely fail geometry) and side passing and halt-walk-trot-walk-halt transitions.  We did a little cantering (whee!) just for fun.  I put out ground poles and we trotted over them, through them, and around them.  Then we used them to practice halt, back, sidepass through each section, creating a zig zag pattern.  Then we made circles around a few barrels.  Can you tell Rhio is a busy, busy, busy horse?  Boredom strikes early and often, and I try to keep things new and changing all the time.  No drilling exercises for Rhio!  Forty-five minutes of work for him (yes, with Red whinnying from the stall frequently, and Rhio answering periodically), and I  think all three of us were pooped!  The horses were definitely mentally challenged, as I  asked them to do things we don't normally do, but that we probably should do more often! I was mentally and physically challenged (90 minutes bareback, anyone?).  I am used to my rides being mentally relaxing, a form of meditation.  My horses and I are partners going from point A to point B, wherever those may be on a given day, and they have certain responsibilities and decisions to make (where to put their feet, watch for obstacles, be aware of our surroundings) during a ride.  It feels like when we do arena work, all the decisions and responsibilities are mine.  It's exhausting! 

I usually ride on my birthday, but I might not get to tomorrow, due to weather and footing issues.  So, I am considering this afternoon my birthday ride for 2015.  It was just a great day with my ponies.  I can't wait to hit the trail again this spring, but any and all time spent with my horses is wonderful, uplifting, and rejuvenating, and the outside world simply slips away for those moments. 

Napping post-ride

Foggy New Ride

We're all settled into the new barn - now its time to start getting familiar with our new riding routes.  It is drastically different from our miles of deserted woods trails we've had access to for the past few months up north.  This is farm country, sprinkled with neighborhoods of commuters.  Corn fields, dairy cows, and grass lawns are our new scenery, at least what we could see of it through the dense fog and perpetual mist.  All these roads are paved, which has got me thinking about conditioning miles.  While the boys are super road safe, so the traffic aspect isn't so much of a concern on the secondary roads, the ongoing concussion from being on a paved surface is worrying.  There is a bit of gravel shoulder in many places, but not all.  Rhio is usually shod, but with so much asphalt, I will be hesitant to shoe him.  One of these evenings, I must sit down and go through my boot bucket - matching up usable pairs, replacing a few gaiters, assessing my stock.  I think boots will be the name of the game for rides out from the barn, anyway - good traction on the asphalt, and hopefully some absorption of the concussive forces.  I know from being a runner, that the pounding my own legs take running on paved surfaces is very different from when I run trails, or natural surfaces.  A little bit of road work is good - the even, firm surface feels good and uses muscles differently (its easier,actually!), and it can help build bone in horses.  But too much will lead to soreness, and, I believe, eventual deleterious joint effects.  So, we'll see how it goes...

Given Red's accident the other day, I opted to pony him along today.  The paddocks and barn area are treacherous with a layer of water over ice (it was almost 45 degrees today!), and I certainly didn't want him running about being upset with Rhio leaving.  Good thing we've been practicing our ponying all fall!  It is second nature now. 

We are able to ride off the property at the back side, and follow the edge of a cornfield out to a secondary road, thereby avoiding riding on the busier county road.  We then followed that road about 2 miles to an intersection, then retraced our steps.  Bits of the road were cornfield on both sides and felt very "country," while others felt very suburban, with houses, garages, driveways, and lawns on both sides.  I met a lady who stopped her car to chat; she also has horses along the road - she was very pleased to see horses out and about.  The few other cars and trucks that passed us were very polite, slowing down and moving over.  I think we won't have any trouble navigating the typical hazards of road riding.  Rhio did have to pass some dairy cows, which are much more terrifying than even scary beef cows (I have no idea why!), and despite Red's complete nonchalance, I had a giraffe-necked, snorting, prancing pony.  Silly boy.  Is it too much to hope that living in dairy country might help him conquer his fear of Holsteins? 

Riding along the edge of the cornfield.

Despite the dismal weather (but at least it was warm!), we all enjoyed seeing the new sights and getting out and about.  The boys even found a few blades of green grass to munch and were in heaven for it!  

The view of the farm, from the back (coming home).

Rhio releases some tension after being turned back out.  Must have been those Holsteins!

Horses Are Accidents Waiting to Happen

A little Friday afternoon ride - to check out the new area - was what I had planned when I headed to the barn under a gray sky today.  It would be the first since the horses moved last Sunday.  I brought Rhio into the barn to tack up, listening to Red whinny outside.  For all Red's comfort when riding alone, he sure doesn't like to be left home by himself.  As any of you regular readers will know, I ponied him along every time I rode up north this fall, except once.  Given the setup at the new barn, with lots of horses in close proximity and constant visual contact, I thought things would be ok.  Boy was I wrong!

Rhio and I started off around the perimeter of the pastures, and I was watching Red run up and down from their pen into their pasture, looking very prettily animated and all Arabian while doing so.  He was screaming for Rhio and I was pleased that Rhio was doing so well with ignoring it!  Rhio doesn't prefer to go by himself and can sometimes be barn/buddy sour because of it.  This is one reason I like to get him out and about solo pretty quickly after moving to a new place if I can.  We had completed 2 sides of the 3 we were going to ride around, before heading off toward a corn field, when Red had his accident.  Running full tilt up from the pasture, he slipped and fell flat on his side right at the gate, sliding into the (open) gate, and getting his hind legs (one or both, I'm not sure) caught between the rails.  The gate came off, and fell on top of him, and after what seemed an enormously long time, he got himself free, jumped to his feet, and ran off toward the barn end of the pen.  Rhio froze when the commotion occurred, and I had to jump off and try to lead him toward thrashing Red, which he was a bit reluctant to do.  Luckily, there were several people around as some of the others were getting ready to haul out to an indoor arena to ride.  We all rushed to the scene, and Red was so worked up he just couldn't stop moving or let me touch him.  He was at least weight bearing on all 4 limbs and there were no major cuts.  I had led tacked-up Rhio right into the pen with him to try to get him to calm down.  After hurriedly untacking, I took both horses into the barn to assess Red's injuries.  All I could find were a few superficial (but bloody) scrapes on his right fetlock.  Nothing was swollen (yet) and so I put the two of them into the outdoor arena to move around a bit and let the adrenaline subside (for all of us.) 

About an hour after it happened, Red was calm and had a little heat in the fetlock with the scrapes but seemed otherwise ok.  I am sure he is body sore, and gave him a little Bute to help with that.  I also spent some quiet time meticulously combing out his tail - an activity sure to calm my mind, and it seems to have the same effect for him as well. 

So, now what?  I am thinking through several scenarios to cope with his attachment to Rhio.  He has fallen in love with a mare in the adjoining pen, who happens to be stalled at night, and so was not in the pen next door when I took Rhio out to ride.  I will try ponying him the next time I go, so he doesn't feel left behind again immediately, but I also think that perhaps riding while that mare is outside would be beneficial.  We shall see.  He does not mind being the horse leaving the herd, and going out alone, but being the one left simply overwhelms him.  I sure know that I will be getting a 3rd equine ASAP if I am ever able to take them home to live someday!  Having just 2 won't be an option, clearly. 

Interestingly, this has been a trait of his since the day I bought him, 12 years ago.  Very shortly after bringing him home, I had to suture up a cut on a front leg, acquired by sliding into the fence when his 2 buddies left to go for a ride.  If I look carefully, riffling the hair up, I can still find the scar.  The falling down part also seems to be a theme - and not one I particularly enjoy! 

It is a scary thing when your horse has an accident.  It's especially scary to watch it happen, in the slowest of slow motion of course, and know there is absolutely nothing you can do about it whatsoever.  Thankfully, he seems just fine and tomorrow will be a new day.

Well-Socialized Ponies

Red and Rhio have moved again - about 3 hours south of their previous home in the northwoods of Wisconsin, to the Green Bay/Appleton area.  (Obviously, C., I, and the dogs have moved as well!) As expected, my adaptable boys have settled right in.  They trailered with ease (many thanks to friends B. and T. for taking a day and their rig to move them!) and we arrived at their new barn after dark.  I don't generally recommend arriving at night, but this time of year, with sunset at 4 pm, it just couldn't be helped.  They moved into their own paddock and went straight to eating hay and having a good roll. 

We all think about socializing puppies at a young age, making sure our dogs are good canine citizens, exposed to lots of different experiences and able to live among us humans companionably.  Does anyone think about socializing horses?  I suppose some do - but mostly we think about training them to a specific discipline, to instilling good ground manners so that us puny humans can handle animals many times our size without harm, to bending their flight-or-flight prey instincts and wandering ways to fit into our nice neat boxes.  After years of boarding in different places, trailering in different trailers with unfamiliar horses, camping at endurance rides, and sharing the trails with numerous unknown equines, I would say my boys are also well socialized.  They play well with others, horse and human alike.  They get along.  They are relaxed in new environments.  They are easy for anyone to handle.  They adapt to new food sources and methods of feeding, to new water and waterers/tanks/buckets/etc, to new types of fencing and shelter, to new routines, and to new buddies with ease.  I am very lucky.  And they give the Arabian breed a good name - as many folks unfamiliar with Arabs, or only familiar with the 'hot' show Arabs, would never expect them to be so dependable, so predictable, so unflappable, so resilient, so personable, and so calm. 

Meeting new friends across the fence

Paying attention to the new stuff here

Play time!

Love the ears shot!

Yup - life is good.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday.  I have been a little "Scrooge-y" today, however, as C and I are spending it alone with the dogs.  He is on call, and so we need to be close to the clinic.  We were invited to share meals here, but the on call prevents us from accepting those invitations.  And so, it is our first Thanksgiving without any family to share it with.  Boo.

However, I took the dogs for a nice walk in the quiet chill of the late afternoon, listened to the snow squeak beneath my mukluks, and breathed in the scent of fresh snow, pine, and cold air. 

How could I be anything but thankful?  I couldn't.  And so here is just a small piece of my life's bounty that I am thankful for - my horses.

Red and Rhio are the best.  I am biased, of course, but they have been my anchor in the stormy sea many times.  They are my escape from the rat race - you can't be with horses and do anything except live in the here and now.  They are my ticket to adventure and exploration - what better way to find out what's around the next bend than from the back of my horse?  They quiet my mind and busy my body - grooming, feeding, picking hooves, blanketing, unblanketing, walking to and fro, scooping poo, stacking hay, filling water, cleaning tack, and of course riding.  They introduce me to new people; everywhere I've lived, I have met "horse people" and developed friendships that will last a lifetime.  They fill my heart to overflowing with their nickers, their soft eyes, and their mere presence.  A deep inhale of horsey scent does wonders for my soul. 

Getting ready in the barn.  I love this pic because they are each entirely comfortable (see the resting hind legs?) in their own space, sharing that space with each other, and paying attention to me, too (see the ears pointed in my direction?)

Last day before WI gun deer season - and so our last ride out until the hunters have left the woods in 9 days' time.

Exploring the snowy trails, checking out the deer tracks, rubs, beds, and spots where they've pawed for grass beneath the snow.  So much to see and learn from the back of a horse!

Nothing can beat the peace and quiet, ambling through the snow perfectly in tune with your mount and companion.

Getting ready to put blankets back on post-ride.