Yet More Change

I've never had to sell a horse I actually liked before. It took me a couple of days to break my funk over Scotch leaving. I think Bill was in the same boat. At least, we seemed to have a stronger connection when riding. I used him to push the sight of that paint being hauled away with some bareback time. Walk and canter... the trot is a little too slick for me without the only good thing to come out of Parellli - their suede bareback pad (lol!). I'll have to get some snapshots of our riding time, which will be a lot until Max returns.

Word is the training is going well, though he's experiencing some barn/yard sour behaviour. He's such a social butterfly.

We have a new mare here again (just so y'all can keep tabs there's yet one more with a foal due to come at the end of the month). I've taken photos and subsequently lost my camera. This mare is another tall one, though much lighter in build than anyone else. She's used to being tops but is taking her new position rather well. We were going to do our usual 3-6 days seperation, but she's come from a healthy place and was worrying too much when the others went out of sight. No use in having her dropping any weight when we can so easily avoid it. Not much hullabalu when we put her in, either. She's content to follow the rest of them around at a respectful distance for now, though she has her eye on Bill.

Liquid Gold

The newest girl is in the herd! Only some minor shifting of weight and checking out each others' moves. Feeding time was a larger ka-fuffel than anything else. The paint and the other mare were clear in their intention of eating before the perky 'little' Golden Girl. She accepted this and patiently waited her turn with a "Sheesh. Chill out, already."

Her feet are all cleaned up and watching her move is just dreamy.

The other mare wanted nothing to do with this reunion nonsense and kept her distance.

On a slightly sad note for myself, Max made the big trip to the trainer last night. Managed to sell the paint and decided it would be really nice if I put the extra coin toward some education. His learning is going to be centred on simply becoming a softer, more consistently-gaited, trail mount. I want everything to be old news to him when I take him out. We have a camping trip planned with Max and Bill the second weekend of September and this will just be the thing to set us up for success! I'm excited for him to be getting out and experiencing a bigger life, but I'm really sad not to see his charming self in our pasture!!

Solid Gold

Our next herd member has arrived! This big girl stands a touch taller than Bill and is all muscle! She's a sweet, social tomboy who's hung out with Bill and Scotch before. We're anticipating a little woo-hoo run around but nothing nasty. We'll integrate her just as soon as her feet get done, on Tuesday.

I did not talk about the first mare's integration into the group mostly because it was the most boring affair we've seen here. We were quite relieved to see her very politely give Bill time and space to get used to her. She's very contently accepting last place in our little group of four. Oh, and she's not preggo... there was some debate about that for a while but a vet check cleared it up! Whew.

This not-so-little blondie walked right off her prior property 1/2 mile down the road like she'd done it a zillion times before and calmly walked up our driveway. We turned her loose in the arena and you could almost see the exclamation point on her forehead. She LOVED the soft footing and spent a good 15 minutes testing it out at all three gaits, even going for a luxurious roll. I've never seen such relaxed, gleeful play in the sand! She was very interested in the other personalities in the pasture, but not worried or agitated in any way. This 8 year old mare is very confident but entirely friendly. I really like her. She even walked up to within 10 feet of the hubby busily chain-sawing at one end of the arena. ?!?

She hadn't been ridden in well over a year and was safe to hop on and put through all three gaits! It was super hot out today, so actual riding time was about 30 mins. Got a little humpy twice but quickly responded to proactive riding and did not actually buck. For all her bulk, this girl floats on air! (Hope it's okay to post your pic, Whit!)

Picture Post!

Some riding shots that I'm almost too embarrassed to share, but what the hell? We're all people, right? No one's happy about ALL their chunky parts. At least this horse is stout enough to haul me around!

Now, keep in mind that hardly any of our riding contains any grace what-so-ever. Lots of stop, go and git-the-heck up!! I was particularly jealous of my girlfriend taking the shots when watching her seamless bond with her gelding shine through their ride. Max and I will get there, but the tweener stage is awkward.

First up, nice flowing trot...Sooo easy to pick up the correct diagonal on this boy, automatically. LOVEit.


And then we have the stop-s0-fast-we'd-drop-our-trani. He's a cutie, but I'm bustin my ass, trying to get him forward again. He was checking out a beaut of a blondie mare.


Got that forward motion again, with some tail-swishin-F.U. Is it just me or does this guy have flashy leg action?

And our oh-so-pretty TA-DAAA...

This was his first big outing. One hour trailer haul that he handled quite well, only showing protest when it came to load for home. Had to try a few different approaches to get him on, but he was wrapped up and happily munching within 10 minutes. Nothing like a hiccup to remind you where you're really at. This guy is so good I often expect too much from him.

He unloaded and settled calmly, was distracted while riding, but behaved very well over all. I really like this horse!

Another Glorious Canter

So my friend's indoor down the road is a massive 200+ feet long. Our little yard arena is 110'x120' and has had a lake in it all summer (incidentally, it's never had a puddle for more than 3 consecutive days before). I have had issues cantering the easily rattled paint within such confines, but not our Maximus. I'm so giddy!

We trotted gleefully(me) around the now avoidable puddle, only stopping abruptly every time to say hullo to the new girl and then again at the gate where the Almighty Bill was parked with hubby aboard. The first time I asked for a canter, it was away from his potential girlfriend and he kicked up a tad. One-reined him and tried again, bringing the trot back under control through the prior corner of try through the other so that we really only got three strides before the abrupt gate/Bill stop, but manners were back in tact. The second canter I asked for was, of course in the other direction and he picked it up right after leaving his lady friend. Definitely more eager going to the right.

Have I expressed yet how elating it is to ride a horse that has natural balance and strength? Totally unflappable and instantly choosing the correct lead... I'm just dying, here!

Oh, and before our ride I actually managed to rasp his massive little footies. Not the whole-hog awesome trim I got on Bill, but we were both comfortable enough to almost put my back into it (he has a quickly-breaking habit of snatching those heavy feet away in a blink). First time I tried to work his feet other than picking them out and that's been a chore all on its own. This time, he picked up his feet with comparable ease.

The New Girl

She looks much better with the layer of mud removed! I'm eager to see that wormy belly tuck up and those hips flesh out a tad!

We had useless hope that Bill would forego his chase-down initiation for a girl but evidence this morning suggests not. He's already doing his sour faced, charge-the-fence BS. She squeals in defence, even when 20 feet away. She didn't give two hoots when the boys took off into the bush after dark last night. Just walked around her corral, casually grazing. I'm happy to find her engergy soft and peaceful.

First New Arrival!

Our first boarder is here already. She's a really nice little grey paint mare. Just walked off the trailer like it was any other day and got her graze on. Didn't care overly much for the three boys hanging their heads over the fence, despite all their mooning. Scotch and Max were genuinely curious and Bill was already jostling them around for rites to his potential one-member harem.

She needs some sprucing up, but nothing that our regular, healthy schedule won't take care of. I'm really looking forward to seeing the change in her! It's dark already, so I'll post a pic tomrrow.

No Wednesday This Week. Boo.

Well, we’ve opened our pasture up to boarders once again. We already have 2 of 4 openings filled and are looking forward to having some activity around here. It seems like we might have a nice co-ed blend this time, instead of the usual hen house that Patrick dreads. He’s excited to have some men to belch and scratch and do whatever else with.

Incidentally, Patrick recently came up with the perfect response for all those jackasses we have to share the roads with. You know the ones... “why don’t you people ride your horses in the fields?” “roads were made for CARS” or they simply buzz by you at 90 kms, 3 feet from your horse’s ass.

One such moron yelled at my hubby on his last bar run with Bill (he rides 2 miles down to the local bar, ties to the hitching post and grabs himself a king can and a pepperoni for the ride back). This idiot was a simpler soul, hollering “Get off the road!” to which Patrick yelled back “Get out of your car!” and postured with his arms. Of course, the little punk did not take him up on the invitation.

So ladies, arm yourselves with some skills before heading out on the trail. Urban riding will never be the same!

Won't be riding this Wednesday, but hopefully one day this week. Instead, I'm attending a dressage clinic a friend is in for moral support and to scope it out. As much as I want to enjoy the trail with Max, I also keep seeing him all tricked out English style. He really is such a great partner for me!