Can I Bite It?

Gosh I love those fillies. They make me laugh. They are all doing extremely well. I'm still not riding Toffy, but I've got her walking across a tarp. My goal is to get her to be under the tarp. Frosty did. It was hilarious. After I was done riding her I unsaddled, and took her over to the tarp. Frosty has a motto. If I can bite it, it must be okay. When she first comes across a new object she'll blow at it, then try to bite it. After that the world is a beautiful place. I picked up the tarp, and it is a huge tarp. It's supposed to go over a rack of hay bales. I picked it up rubbed her for a sec, then pulled it over her back and drownded her in it. She just stands there like yea whatev it's all cool. We took a video, but unfortunately left it there. I'll get it up eventually. My ride with her was great too. It was windy and she likes to put her head up really high and look at stuff. She is getting a whole lot better with turning and going where I tell her. We're working on circles. Just getting them to find their balance and get on the correct lead. Actually we're working on a whole lot of other stuff too, but it takes too long to explain. Main goal. Circles. Not overdoing it though.
Misstack is out of commission currently. She doesn't want to trot or canter. She doesn't have any cuts so we're thinking that she has a rib out of place. Which she has done before. Terry will take her to the chiropractor tomorrow. Sadly I won't be able to come with him. I have to work all day tomorrow. Fun. But I'll get a nice fat paycheck and then me and my oldest sister will go shopping for boots. It'll be grand!

Learn about Equine Anatomy and Nutrition!

So I came across something really great in the Mugwump Chronicles' forum. Someone posted a site that gives a free online course. The course is about equine anatomy and nutrition. Give it a look. I think it will be very useful. Please read the terms of use and the honor code. If you are under 13 this course is not available to you. Sorry.
This doesn't count towards any college credits but you will receive a certificate of accomplishment signed by the instructor.
I put it on my other blog too.
So come on! Do it!

Get Over It.

Mwahhaha! You'll never guess what I did today! And I'm not gunna tell you until I go through the other stuff first. Mwahahaha!

So, Aleythia rode Ana bareback

Do you see that white stuff? It's called snow, and we finally got it!

And I guess she was pretty good.
While Aleythia rode Ana I was driving Coffie. Nothing exiting going on there... she only bucked twice... ok, ok. I had asked her to trot and we we trotted a little ways and then she bucked. Lucky for me I was far enough away that she didn't get me. Hmm I have quite a few close calls with horses... But anyway... Aleythia said that her buck looked pretty. I didn't really do anything because I was kinda surprised. I mean seriously why would she buck?


The next time I asked her to trot she bucked again. This time I had more space between me and her. So she trotted... few steps later.... BUCK! So in the split second it took for me to look at her I processed that I had reins in my hands... that were across her back... so, I used them. Took my end of the reins and slapped the rein against her butt. I think she was kinda surprised, but she didn't buck after that.

Does this look like an evil horsy?

Never.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the "scab" that coffie has on her back. It was were she had ringworm. It's flaky. We don't think that it's ringworm.

 

I rode Santana bareback. I do believe that I am sorta getting how to ride his trot. A little tip. Don't hold onto the horse's mane. I couldn't use his mane because I was riding him in a  snaffle with two reins, so I rode two handed. For some reason it pulls you more off balance than it helps. What you need to do when riding a horse's trot is sit back on your jean pockets. If you lean forward at all you'll loose your balance.

 And as long as were on the topic of tips... if you're gunna get cowboy boots and you live in an area that gets ice don't get a smoothe soled boot. You'll regret it, like me. This will become the story of your life... you step on anything that has a slant and there you are on your butt. Another thing. Corral boots are not the best thing to do work in. Standing for more than 10 minutes? Absolutley not. The next time I get boots I will get a square toe, traction on the soles, and a lower heel.

 He looks pudgy :/

 

 

And now the grand finale!!!!

I rode Misstack BAREBACK!

The idea of riding Misstack bareback scared me. I mean I don't know what she'll do and I have no desire to get bucked off. She doesn't like someone riding double. Like seriously she doesn't. She bucked my brother off.

So because of experiences with Santana and getting on bareback... (I'll tell story's a little later), I took my hand and did a drum roll on her back. Terry gave me a leg up and I just layed over her back on my stomach. Then I swung my leg over. I did flexing and it was fun! I kinda felt secure on her back. Another goal checked off.

 

So, about the story with Santana.

Well, I bridled him up and asked Terry for a leg up. He swung me up there and I landed on Santana's back... BUCK, BUCK! Fun right? I actually can't even remember if I stayed on. And another time I had him tied up to our trailer and I just went to rotating on his back. I was on him side saddle and I was gunna swing my foot over his back. Well, when he felt my foot on his back he arched his back like he was gunna buck. And being the semi stupid kid I did it again. So I was on him backwards and then... he bucked... sufficed to say I do remember how that ended. Not with me on. And the only thing I got was a big bruise on my elbow. One of my close calls.

On one of those boring days I will have to make a post reminiscing on all the close calls I've had.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda...

Well, it turns out that Toffy is just full of worms.
Terry took her to the vet and they discovered that she had worms. He got home around 3:00 and I was standing in the paddock and when he stepped out of his truck with four dewormer things.
He was telling that when he went up to the vet Toffy loaded really nice, walked out nice, and loaded up real nice when they were ready to go home. He said that there was a guy there with a couple horses there and he commented on Toffy. He said, "She's going to be really big!" Then Terry asked me how much I thought Toffy weighed. I guessed 700 pounds. He says "you're right, she's 710."
We gave Toffy two different kinds of dewormer and then went over to a hay bale, and I am happy to announce that she has her appetite back. We caught the other three fillies and gave them two different kinds of dewormer and then fed them supper.
Terry was like, "It just makes me mad, because I was going to deworm them. I just wanted to wait until we had a good freeze." Shoulda, woulda, coulda...

There's Always Something...

I rode Santana and fell off.
Ya know I love riding him. He is the one horse that gives me the least amount of problems.
I rode Santana with the goal to try and start improving my balance. I took him out into the paddock, kicked my feet out of the stirrups and tried the best I could to stay on.
We walked we did sharp turns, we trotted,... and I was beginning to sorta kinda figure out how to stay on that bone crunching trot of his.
I let him canter just for the fun of it and the first thing I noticed was that I couldn't stay in the saddle real well in part because the leather was slippery and I won't even bother to mention the other part.
The second time we cantered we were running down the longest side of the paddock and when he turned I started to fall and then tried to fix it by hanging onto the saddle horn. It was a great idea except for the fact that the cinch was pretty loose. So, the saddle slid with me and I fell of anyway. The problem is that I can't keep myself from being flung to the outside of his circles. Ya know what was really nice though? He started running away towards the gate. I said woah. He stopped and looked at me like "do you want something?" Oh he makes me laugh.
I got back on, put my feet back in the stirrups and cantered him. Good thing too because all he really needed was to blow off some steam. Kicked my feet out of the stirrups and did some more walking and trotting. Cantered a little bit and I think I am beginning to figure it out.
One thing I am extremely thankfull for is that I wasn't next to a fence or poop when I fell off.

So, is it a bad sign when your horse repeatedly lays down and attempts to roll? Ya, we thought so too.
It was around 4:30 and Toffy layed down and stretched out. We bugged her for a while. I sat on her back when she had her feet underneath her and then we went and fed them. We gave them all their food and they all dug into it happily... Everyone except Toffy. She didn't want to eat it and just put her nose in the bucket and slowly nibbled it. Terry thought that if she didn't want to eat it we probably shouldn't feed it to her because it might make it worse. After that she got up, layed down, rolled, got up, layed down, rolled. As far as her ears go she didn't look like she was in pain. We got the halter put her on it and went for a little walk. I took her up the drive way, between a couple small barns and then asked her to trot. She went into it perfectly. No complaints, no refusals. We trotted into the alfalfa field and all the way around.
At one point the dogs came out and chased her from the other side of the fence. She freaked out and tried to run away, but I pulled her back in time. She paused, tried to run away again, but I kept her facing the dogs. Then that was it. She realized that the dogs couldn't get her because they were on the other side of the fence and we proceeded around the alfalfa fied. Once again she went into the trot perfectly.
She walked once and I let her. If she wants a breather that's fine with me. We picked up the trot again and when we were at the other end she stopped and poopped. It was like diarriah. We trotted the rest of the way back to the barn then we put her back in with the other fillies and she layed down again. We watched her a little while put the halter back on and I took her out the the back pen and longed her. We walked for a little bit, then trotted, and even experimented with cantering. She is actually not that bad. She turned, listened to my cues, never tried to lay down and was generaly perfect. We even let her loose for a couple minutes and she didn't lay down.
We put her back in the barn and she immediatley layed down. We listened to her gut and it was growling, but it was minimal.
Terry dropped us off at home and said that he'd call us if she needed to be walked at 10:00 at night. He said it jockingly, but our reply was not a joke. We told him "Sure."
So, I sincerely hope that Toffy will be okay and that we can all continue with our lives without worrying about anything.

Seriously!?

Have you ever watched people and horses on youtube and ever been like "you really don't know what you're talking about"? Yes... I should stop watching youtube videos. Question. How many horses do you know that will flip over backwards by themselves? None. Even the horses that do stuff like that when tied only have that problem because of some bad experience. If the horse fell over backwards, it was because it was pulled backwards.

The other thing I have is that two of the fillies have ring worm. I don't know where they got it. The cats there are not doing real well either. When we left the other day one of the cats had green stuff coming out of his nose and was laying on his side, barely breathing.
The fillies are also doing increasingly well on leading. I love how they stop when you say woah, even if you keep walking forward. Trotting is becoming easier and easier. When they will trot right away with a kiss, then we will move on to lungeing.

What a Mess

We didn't ride but we did start organizing the trailer.
The trailer has a compartment with a bunch of horse stuff in it (also serves as a bench). So Aleythia and I, after taking some folding chairs and sitting in the paddock for a while, decided to organize. I have always wanted to know what was inside that, but it's so messy it's not easy to look through.
We found a bag of bits, bell boots, leg boots, jackets, umbrellas, horse blankets, a fly mask, an extension cord, clippers that probably don't work, a lunge line, latigos, some stretchy thing you put over your horses head and neck, some rope, and a green lead rope.
With the stretchy thing we plan to put it on Ana when Terry's not around. I can't wait to see what he'll say.

Terry went to the vet's today to pick up some dewormer. He ended up getting vaccines too. The vet said that she had three horses with West Nile disease. One of the three will more than likely not make it. It was caused by a misquito. Terry thought that with the fillies being out in the grove there might be misquitos out there, more than in a pasture.
He bought a vile that is less than two inches tall, and he said it probably costs around $100. There's stuff for the West Nile disease, tetanus, and I think that there is something for strangles too. I probably missed something. It's enough for ten horses, and they all get 20 ccs of it.
We fed the fillies, and when they were pretty much done we gave them all shots. They did very well.
We also did the three other mares.
Flicka was hard to catch, and she was NOT respecting our bubble space. She wouldn't stop when we stopped, and she was set on running us over. Aleythia had her and she couldn't get her to get out of her space, so... I went to get the whip, mwhahahaha!
Aleythia tried getting her to get out of her space, but she just isn't mean enough. I tried. I wiggled the lead rope, and then proceeded to wack her on the chest with the whip. She went forward, and I just kept wacking her (not very nicely either). Eventually she realized that walking forward wasn't working and stopped. Still not good enough, and I kept wacking.
And then, it happened. The unthinkable happened. My fat, lazy, bossy, unsensitized horse took one tiny step backwards.
Did I mention that when I was waking her she gave a little kick? I just kept wackin.
After a little more practice, she was licking her lips, and I handed her back to Aleythia.
She was moving her hindquarters, and she kicked. I yelled to Aleythia to hit her harder and make her feet move!
Flicka's limping. Not because of what we did. We noticed it when we called them in for food.

I have been cured. Cured of just looking at one trainer for my training. Thankyou mugwump.
"No one trainer has the complete right answer."

I have been inspired to try and see how my body language effects a horse. What I want to do is let one of the horses out in the paddock by themselves with no halter or lead rope. Then I will see what I can get that horse to do without the help of a halter. It should prove to be interesting

Look Who Escaped

I rode my bike up the driveway and saw Terry. He was getting ready to go to the vet. I asked if I could come and he said I could, so I went down to the barn to put my bike by the barn. When I got around the bend in the driveway and the pine trees weren't in my way I saw Blacky calmly eating grass on my side of the fence. So, I yelled up the drive, "Terry, is there a reason Blacky's out?" Carter was there too, and he yelled back, "Out, what do you mean 'out?" So he came down the drive and walked up to her took her head in his hands and led her to the gate. We shooed the horses away, and opened the gate and Blacky ran through. They then explained to me that Blacky had been with the fillies. Since there isn't an actually fence, just a long strip of plastic, that didn't have an electrical current running through it because it was turned off. They told me that she was probably able to get under the fence because she's so small. All she has to do is drop her head, and the plastic goes right over her head, up her neck, and across her back, and she's free!

After we got Blacky into the paddock, we herded the fillies into the barn because we didn't want them to escape when we weren't there. I went to close the gate behind them, and Terry was walking into the barn, and he asks me, "Are those big horses in there?" Sure enough all of our other horses had gotten in with the fillies in the barn. Terry and I were like that is not good. We were both thinking that there would soon come an explosion of flying hooves and teeth... Nothing... They all stood in the barn and then calmly walked into the back pen. So then came the task of separating them. We found the little red gate that leads from the paddock into that pen open. We summarized that when it was latched it must not have been in tight enough, so the horses just pushed on it a little and it opened. So, we were able to chase Misstack, Ana, Strudder, and Blacky out, but Coffie had gotten past too. Well, we left her and tried to get Santana separated from the fillies. Well we got him a little bit separate, and we shooed him out the gate, and he charged out. Carter went out to try and catch Coffie, but she escaped into the pasture with Blacky. Then all the other horses charged out of the paddock, and were galloping around the pasture with Coffie. The other three fillies called to Coffie, and all the horses ran to the large gate connecting the pasture and the back pen. Well, all the other horses ran off again except Strudder with Coffie. We were able to get strudder away and Coffie was thinking about going after him, but decided to stay with her buddies. So, I was trying to get the gate open, but I couldn't untie the twine string, so I just took my pocket knife out and cut it. We herded Coffie in and all the horses were were they were supposed to be, and we got in Terry's truck to go to the vet. Then I asked Terry if Stretch was supposed to be in the barn, so we had to go back and let Stretch out. Terry had just fed him. Now we were truly on our way to the vet.

And just so you know, none of the horses needed medical attention. Terry just wanted to get some vaccination stuff from the vet.