Sunday dose of cuteness

I have managed to tear myself away from playing with the kittens and have made it out to the barn a couple of times over the past few days.  


I had another short ride with RuckusButt last week.  We are allowed to use some of their facilities, in turn, the boarders of her barn can ride on our trails.  Not a bad deal for either group...  I had decided to go over and try riding on their sand track.  They have a 1/2 mile (I think!) sand track and it is really fun to ride on.  Just as I was heading past the barn, RuckusButt walked out on her way to get her horse!  Nice coincidence!  :-)  So, Rusty and I walked/trotted/cantered a few laps while she got Brumby tacked up and ready to go. We then walked a few more laps and had a good chat.  One of us will have to bring a camera one of these days to get some photographic proof for you guys! lol


I have a friend coming from Europe for a short visit this week. I'm very excited to see her, as it has been several years since her last visit.  She lives in Sweden and has a small farm where she breeds Lipizzaners!  She is really excited to come here and go for a ride on Rusty -  I told her that a 20 year old appy might be a slightly different ride than a Lipizzaner!  :-)   As it turns out, we will be borrowing one of my barn owner's horses so we can go for a ride together.  I will try and remember the camera to get some evidence of the visit.


Okay, enough of my rambling - here are this week's kitten pictures!

I spent last Sunday taking pictures of the kittens because it was pouring rain and I was stuck inside...

Big cat and little cat in the box.  Mr. P barely fits in this box.

Mr. P is pretty good with the kittens most of the time, but he will lay down the law if things get too wild.

Max watching nervously...hoping that he is invisible and the Roxie won't see him...  Notice the burgundy carpet - we had to have that put in so that Max could walk from the living room to the front door. He is terrified of hard wood floors.

New additions to the family

I haven't been online much in the past week - due to some furry new arrivals at our house.  It has been a bit of a transition, but all the pets are doing ok.  The dog is probably having the hardest time.  I'll let the pictures explain...

Two little orange and white kittens!  We had planned on only getting one - that plan crumbled in the face of the cuteness.  Here they are playing with our old cat - who is about 5 times their size.  He doesn't quite know what to think. The dog (all 70lbs of him!) is totally terrified of these little furballs.  It's kinda funny...

This is Roxie (or maybe Rocky) - the vet wasn't able to tell 100% if it is a boy or a girl.  The staff of the vet clinic actually have a pool going on what gender this one will be!

This is Charlie. Definitely a girl.

They are pretty busy - playing, then crashing. And then playing some more.

Roxie challenging Mr. P - the big cat is not sure what to think!

So, that is what I've been up to! It has been a bit of work to integrate them into the house. Mr. P gets a special food, so we have to keep the kittens in the spare room while he eats.  I also don't want Mr. P gorging himself on kitten food, since he is already a bit "portly". lol

I'll probably be posting pictures of them once a week or so, as they grow, so be forewarned!!!

The dark side of clover

I wanted to expand a little on my clover/drooling situation. Rusty was (finally) moved to another paddock and the drooling stopped right away. Phew! I’m glad the barn owner finally believed me. I was hoping that they would bush hog the paddock with the clover in it, but that hasn’t seemed to happen yet. I guess everyone has different priorities…

There are many types/varieties of clover – just do a google search if you are curious. The main ones that most of us see are red clover, white clover and alsike clover. Here is a good resource to help you identify which plant is which.

I’ll start with alsike – it seems to be the worst offender for horses. It doesn’t need a mould/fungus on it to make it dangerous. It can cause severe symptoms such as photosensitivity and liver damage. If alsike clover poisoning is suspected and caught in time, the horse often recovers with no problem.

The main way (that I could find) to differentiate between white clover and alsike is the leave and flowers on white clover grow on separate stems from the ground. The flowers on alsike clover grow as “branches” of the main stem. White clover also has a faint white line in a “V” around the leaves. Red clover is pretty straightforward – it tends to be larger and has reddish-purple flowers, as well as having the “V” on the leaves.

White clover:

                   

Red clover:

Alsike clover:

      

Red and white clover and alfalfa (and probably other varieties as well) are susceptible to fungus. “Black patch” fungus seems to be the most common, with some plants exhibiting white spots. Most of the clover I found had the white/beige spots that the vet described. A few plants had black spots as well.

Here are the pictures I took of the very sad clover - note that alot of it has white spots, as well as black. Most of it is dead, or dying. Kinda nasty...

Most web sites say that the fungus tends to occur when you have a cool, wet spring. Our spring was hot and humid, with some rain in June, but I guess that was enough to cause a problem. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information on how to get rid of the fungus without heavy herbicide use. I know most of us horse people don’t like using chemicals of any sort around ourselves and our animals. Cutting the affected areas might help, I suppose. I have to admit though, if it was my paddock, I would have harrowed the whole field (maybe ½ an acre, tops) and re-seeded it. But, alas, it isn’t my farm…

Here are a few links if anyone is interested in reading further:

• Info from farmseeds.com – explanations on varieties of clover

• Wikipedia

• Plant identification – scroll down to “legumes”

• Different types of disease on clover (sadly no pictures)

So, there is clover, in a nutshell. Anyone have any other info to add? Corrections to make? Please remember that this post is based on some information from my vet and some google searching. 

Product review, a blogger meet-up and a vet visit, oh my!

The weather has finally cooled off a bit around here, so I have been able to get some good rides in lately.  That is, until Rusty started having a major drooling problem!

Last Saturday, Rusty started drooling out copious amounts of saliva - probably a few cups worth in the 20-30 minutes he was on the cross ties.  This went on for a few days - he was fine otherwise - no obvious discomfort, still eating/drinking/pooping, etc. so I wasn't terribly worried. 

One person suggested to me that maybe he was anxious about riding, hence the drool.  Nope. Don't think so.  Another person suggested it was just because he was old.  Nope, not buying that either.  I thought it was either something he ate in the pasture, or a tooth problem.  I caved and called the vet out yesterday to have him checked.  His teeth are fine and the vet was 99% sure it was something he ate.  Turns out the clover in his pasture is covered with a white fungus (sort of like black patch fungus - same effects on the horse).  I guess Rusty was the only horse hungry enough (or maybe not smart enough) to stay away from that clover.

The fungus on the clover causes excessive drooling. Apparently it isn't as dangerous as alsike clover.  I think the clover is all red and white clover, although I'm going to check again this weekend for alsike, now that I did some research.

The fungus was on white and red clover in several sections of the pasture and I found in a couple of other spots as well. Rusty is due to be moved to another pasture today (which I walked yesterday and didn't see any fungus) so hopefully that is the end of the drooling problem!  (Unfortunately it took me calling the vet to get people to believe me!)

********************

On Sunday, I had my first ride with a fellow blogger!!! Ruckusbutt of Food, Life leases a horse near where Rusty lives and we went for a nice hack on Sunday.  She is a great person and we had fun (I did, I hope she did too!) and her horse was really great as well.  He seemed ok with walking slow to match Rusty's slow walk!  Neither one of us brought a camera, so unfortunately there are no pictures to share!

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Now for the product review - The Cashel Crusader long nose (with ears) fly mask!  I bought one for Rusty for a few reasons...

• he has a pink nose and muzzle and I'm not there to put sunscreen on him regularly, so the long nose protects his face quite a bit;
• the long nose also doesn't have a fuzzy band on it that would rub his nose like some of the other masks do;
• the other horses haven't managed to rip it off yet - probably because it secures with a huge velcro strip on the back;
• it seems to have good clearance in the eyes as well. 

It isn't the cheapest fly mask on the market, but it has been well worth the money for me this summer. 

I'm mmeelllltttiiinnggggg...

So, it's been kinda hot here.  Don't know how you folks from the deep South deal with this all the time.  It's been 43-44C (110F) with 100% humidity since last Saturday.  And it is gross outside.

We are supposed to get a reprieve this weekend, so I'm hoping that the weather guy is right this time around.

I had Monday off, so I went out super early and took Rusty on a short ride. We made it about 30 minutes and I just couldn't do anymore.  When I got back from my ride, the barn owners were unloading some hay into the barn, so I decided to help.  I love doing hay. I guess I'm weird that way, but the one thing I miss about having my horses at home is the work. I actually like cleaning stalls and doing hay and all that stuff!  Anyway, I helped them for about an hour or so and was pretty hot and sweaty by the time we were done.

All of that said, I have no interesting riding news to talk about this week!  I was reading through some of my old posts and came across the post I wrote in early Janaury about my goals for 2010.  I had to chuckle as I was reading it, since I haven't done so well on most of the goals.

So, for lack of any better things to write about, I've decided to do a mid-year review of my goals and realign them with how things are going as of today. (Can you tell I work for the government?  A boring mid-year goal review?  Yikes!)

• During the winter months, make it to the barn 3x a week to ride or work on clicker training - this one was a big FAIL.  I probably made it out 2x a week if I was lucky and it was mostly on the weekends. It is so cold and dark in the evenings here in the winter, that even with an indoor arena, I really just didn't want to ride much. I feel better going into the winter this year, because there is no indoor, so there is also no pressure to ride if I don't want to.
  
  
• In the spring/summer/fall (April – October), ride or work with Rusty 4x a week. - I'm actually doing great on this goal since we have moved to the new barn. I have my joy of riding coming back along with a good dose of confidence!  Riding is fun! Who knew?
  
  
• Attend a hunter pace or an organized trail ride.  - This one is a scratch.  Trailering is so expensive and I have no one to go to one of these events with. I also don't feel the need to go as much now that I have lots of space to ride on...
  
  
• Continue weekly lessons starting in Feb or March (often too cold in Jan) if financially possible, if not lessons twice a month will be a good alternative - This one was scratched too, since my hubby was out of work for most of the winter. (He is working again now - yeah!)
  
  
• Maintain my emergency vet fund (for all pets). I have a decent amount set aside and I need to make sure not to touch that money… - Somehow, I have been able to maintain my emergency fund - needed a bit of it to take the cat to the vet a few weeks ago, but that is what it is there for.
  
  
• Avoid buying any tack, riding clothes or anything from a tack shop (except in case of emergency), in person or online until June 2010 - This one makes me laugh! Who was I kidding??? LOL  I did ok until March, then I caved and bought a couple of pairs of riding breeches and a few other things here and there. 
  
  
• Start a contingency fund for a new horse and/or for retirement board. - I put this on hold once we found out that hubby lost his job.  Probably a smart move.  Now that he is working again, we are working on getting our finances back in order, so I can start saving money again.

So, there you have it - some goals are moving along well and others, well, not so much. I'm ok with that though - that is how life works. Not everything goes according to plan.  I'm trying to be flexible and let my goals flow with how things in my life are going - much less stressful that way!

Stay cool kids!

Laura 2, Appy-tude 1 (for those of you keeping score at home)

I went out to the barn for another ride last night. The weather was a bit iffy, but I knew I needed to just go and get out there.  I don't want to use "a chance of rain" as an excuse to not go out. The weather can be drastically different 30 minutes in any direction around here...so it is worth trying.

I actually managed to get a few pictures for you guys - just to show you a bit of the area where we ride.

Looking back towards the barn.  There is a round pen to our left

The farm is 100 acres and the barn in plopped right in the middle.  We are heading toward the front of the property here and the grass and other plants are very tall.  This section is also home to several deer.  The skies were starting to get very dark.  It had been raining on and off all day, so I was expecting to get a bit wet.

Sure enough, it started to rain pretty hard. That's when the appy-tude hit!  Apparently, once it started to rain, Rusty thought we should head back to the barn!  I gently reminded him otherwise and we kept going.  After a few minutes, it really started to pour, so I decided to head back, hoping that maybe it would let up a bit.  Sure enough, by the time we got back to the barn, it had almost stopped raining. I made an executive decision and decided to head back out.

This time, we went down the laneway and back.  Rusty was not amused.  I was willing to forgive one bit of attitude, but now he was starting to annoy me. So I decided we would ride past the barn several times, until he decided to relax and then we could go home.  He finally relaxed after another 20 minutes and we headed in.

Hey! There's the barn!  Let's go back!

I learned a few things on my ride tonight:

1. Contrary to popular belief, Appaloosas DO NOT melt in the rain;
2. I can be more stubborn than Rusty;
3. Riding in a light summer rain isn't that bad after all...

Rusty's "appy-tude" problems aren't that serious, they are just a bit annoying.  He just tries to turn for home by stopping and doing a slow turn on the haunches. There is no jigging, head-tossing or any dangerous behaviour (luckily!).  

I have two days off work and I'll be able to ride during the day (today is Canada Day!) so I think a couple of sessions with lots of trotting and cantering is in store for Monsieur Rusty.  Some good, old-fashioned exercise should help him out a bit!

Happy trails everyone!

A mish-mash of odds and ends

I thought I would post an update with bullets today, since I don't really have enough stuff to write a whole post with lately...

• We had an earthquake here last week! An earthquake!  5.0 on the Richter scale, which makes it a baby earthquake, but it was still a little scary. No damage around the city though.
• We finally finished redecorating our spare room - took us forever to get it finished.  Next up is tidying up the garden and lawn.
• Rusty is totally settled in at the new barn without any problems. I was a bit worried about how I would deal with things, since I was a bit spoiled at my old barn having a vet to consult on everything. So far, so good. Rusty is trimmed, vaccinated and had his teeth floated. His eyes have been fine so far (touch wood)...
• Rusty has been good about doing a few pony rides for my friends and their kids. He is a champ with a kid in the saddle and is just happy to plod around on a lead/longe line.  My friend even rode him on her own a bit last night and he was good. 
• I have been having fun riding with some of the other girls at the barn - what a novel concept - having someone else to ride with!  Rusty is also fine out on his own - except he gets a little nervous when we go through one field that has a lot of deer lurking in the long grass. Luckily his spooks are very tiny.  :-)
• I'm a bit obsessed with British hunter/foxhunting tack lately - I occassionaly buy a British horse magazine and they had a big spread about appropriate tack and attire for showing hunter - a bit different from here - I'll do a post on it when I have a bit more info.
• Imagine my surprise when I was at my local tack shop yesterday buying fly spray and I found a very old English hunter style bridle on consignment for $20! A-ha! I bought it.  Impulse buy? Totally.  I'm going to clean it up and hang it up at home or something. I might have Rusty model it for fun, but I doubt I will actually use it.  (So much for my record of going into tack shops and not buying anything! That lasted about 1 week. lol)
• I've also been looking for a wooden tack trunk for ages. I didn't really want to order one online because they are pretty expensive and the shipping would be outrageous. I also don't really know anyone that could build one.  On a whim last Friday, I checked our local horse message forum and found a tack trunk for sale.  A couple of emails later, it was dropped off at my house, since the girl that owned it was moving to a new house about 10 minutes from me... Nice coincidence!

Hopefully I will get around to a post with pictures soon - I have to find a case or something for my camera/cell phone for when I'm riding. Still haven't found anything that I like...

Enjoying the summer so far...

Things have been quiet around here of late.  My Mom was in town visiting for a few days, then we took her and my mother-in-law to New York City for a few days. It is about a 7hr drive from here to a town in upstate NY and then a short 1.5 hour train ride right into Grand Central station.  For a girl that grew up in the country and loves the countryside, I sure love New York City - not sure exactly why, but I've been there three times in the past 13 months!

Grand Central Station

I had a great ride on Rusty on Tuesday - I had the day off for my farrier visit and took advantage of that day to go for a nice 1.5 hour hack!  We saw a couple of deer even!  Rusty was a bit nervous when he heard the deer rustling in the long grass, but he didn't do much, except trying to turn for home once.  I just turned him back and we kept going.   I have been having some nice long canters along the big hay field as well - it sure feels great!  I think riding at this place has done alot for my confidence - I did alot of trail riding as a kid and that level of comfort is coming back. It helps that Rusty has proven to be a super trail horse. He is very reliable and not spooky at all.

I had a minor little surgery on my leg (vetwrap is awesome for securing bandages on human legs as well as animal ones!  And much cheaper than stuff in the drugstore!) on Thursday and can't ride for a few days, so when I was at the barn yesterday, I had to think up something else to do...

I decided to just take Rusty in the round pen and free lunge him for a bit. We both got bored of that pretty quickly, so I took advantage of a yellow pool noodle that was hanging around for a bit of training with him.  Now, I realize the chance of us running into a pool noodle out on the trail is pretty slim, but it amused me and that is all I had, so I just went with it.

He tolerated it fairly well and only was a bit nervous when I was putting it around his feet. He is sensitive to stuff around his feet and that is something I need to work on a bit more.  He took off at a trot when I was flipping the noodle around in the air - who needs a lunge whip when you have a pool noodle?  :-)

After 30 minutes or so, he was a bit annoyed with the whole process.  I was a bit bored too, so we took one last picture and then I let him graze on the lawn for awhile - that was the best part of the afternoon for him, I'm sure!

Must you take more pictures of me? Ugh.

Silent Sunday

Our first three rides at the new place!

Yes, you read that right - I've gone on three big rides since I moved Rusty last Friday.  I think I have put in more hours in the saddle this past week, than I did in most of the month of May at the other place!

Rusty seems to have settled in like a champ.  He doesn't appear to be stressed or anything. Although, he was pretty happy to see me on Monday evening. I got to the barn around 5pm and it was hot and the bugs were vicious...(The deer flies and horse flies are vicious right now - the mozzies will be out in full force now since we've had a bunch of rain.) He and the other 2 geldings had been running around to avoid the bugs and they were all sweaty and wild-eyed. 

Rusty was fine once we were in the barn and away from the bugs.  I had arranged to go out on a nice hack with the barn owner's daughter and a neighbour down the road. All told, we were out riding around for over 2 hours!  I don't think we trotted once, but it was fun walking all over the property and down the road and back.  We visited the neighbouring barn (fancy dressage place), walked an old laneway with a creepy old house (will try and get pics sometime) and even saw a deer hiding out along the trail.

I feel so welcome at this barn - the people are friendly, the property is gorgeous and it really seems to suit my needs right now.  It is also pretty quiet there - there aren't many lessons, if any, going on and people just come and go as they please. 

I sort of had Rusty on a "probation" of sorts...I had been pretty frustrated with a mix of my riding skills and his behaviour while at the old barn.  I had a really bad ride out around the fields at the old barn and was really second-guessing my move to a trail riding facility.  I told myself that I would give Rusty the summer to settle in and see how he did on the trails and I would sell him if needed in the fall.

So far, I think we are good. He has been going out where ever I point his little spotted nose and just trucks along. No spooking, no jigging, no bolting.  *Phew!*  I rode alone on Wednesday night and he was super - we did a few long trots along some of the trails and he just trucked along - no speeding up, no giraffe impressions...  Our ride was cut short due a bunch of black clouds and some thunder. I didn't really want to get caught out in a storm...This weekend, I hope to get a few canters in to see how that goes. I'm not expecting any problems.

All told, I'm pretty happy! Sorry I don't have any pictures yet - Richard took one on Sunday, but I look terrible, so I'm not posting it!  I need to find some sort of holder for my iphone so I can take it out with me while I ride. Any ideas?  I don't really want it strapped to my saddle, in case I fall. It won't do me much good on the horse! 

Check this out!

**Give this a chance - it gets better around the 48 second mark, then really cool around the 1min20second mark!

Updates on our first ride to come tomorrow...

Rusty's new home

Rusty is now at his new home.  He was shipped over at 5:30 yesterday by my former barn owner.  He trailers well, which is nice to know.

In typical Rusty fashion, he took it all in stride.  He looked around a bit, but was happy to be hand-grazed for a while as the two barn owners chatted and had a quick tour.  We tucked him into his stall and he quickly gobbled up a bit of grain, had a big drink and was quiet as a mouse.  He is being turned out with two horses today, so hopefully that goes well.  The paddock is a decent size, so I hope they get along all right.

It has been a dry and very warm spring so far in my little part of the world.  The farm is wonderful - it isn't fancy, but the 100 acres it is set in is very, very nice.  It reminds me a bit of home - just being out in nature and the way the light hits the tress... *sigh*  The barn is in the middle of the 100 acres. It is an old farm and there are still several old log buildings from the original farm (I'll have to find out when it was built) and even though they aren't in the best shape (the stable is newer, don't worry!) I like they way they look.

There is a busy eventing stable across the road and sometimes their boarders come over for a hack. Apparently we can go over and have a look around their place too. I'll have to get out and do that sometime soon.  I got to meet two girls last night. They took their horses through the "pond". Having some water to cross is a great training opportunity - not to mention really fun!

More to come on Sunday when we go out for our first ride!

(Edited to add: Kitty is doing 100x better today. Looks like he will be ok.  I should probably wait to post about sick pets, because so far, they have all been getting better by the time I post! )

A long overdue update

Well, life got in the way of blogging yet again. You'd think that if I was that busy, I'd have all kinds of things to blog about...not so much.  :-)

Here is a bit of a summary:

Work:  I have been applying for new jobs within the government.  I have been doing tests and interviews like crazy.  I also had to study and write three French tests to assess my level of French.  (Since I work in the capital, almost everything has some level of bilingualism required.)  I totally aced my tests and got a higher level than what I required for my job!  I'm sure with some work, I will be able to achieve the sought after level of "exemption" - which means I will never have to do the tests again.  Not bad for an English girl who just learned French in school!

Home:  I've been busy trying to get my yard and garden in shape. I'm not much of a gardener, but I like my yard and flower beds to be neat and tidy.  The weeds have other plans though.  We've also repainted a spare room and fixed up our bedroom a bit.  Next project is repainting the main floor. 

Pets:  My cat was sick on the weekend - he is borderline anemic (low red blood cells) and we are watching him closely.  He has been acting better the past couple of days, but time will tell if there are more problems.  I had x-rays done on Tuesday and they didn't find any tumors or masses and his kidney and liver are fine, but there could be bone marrow problems.  *sigh*  It is hard when your pets aren't well - trying to decide about what treatments and tests are worth it and which ones aren't. 

Horse: Rusty is doing well and seems to be enjoying his extremely relaxed schedule of 1-2 rides per week.  We have had two lessons this month and we have our last one tonight.  He is moving to his new barn tomorrow afternoon!!!  I'm really excited, but also can't believe how fast the month of May is blowing by.  I have taken him out in the hayfields a couple of times and he was giving me a bit of appy-tude, but I was able to outsmart him.  Ha! 

He doesn't like going out on his own very much.  He will walk along fine, then stop and do two 90 degree turns on the haunches and face home. He doesn't spin fast, bolt or jig, he just ignores any aids and turns to face home. I find it quite funny, because it is really quite a lame show of disobedience.  I just then ask him to turn back towards the fields, pop him with a crop and he continues on.  If I'm paying attention and catch him before he stops completely, I give him a tap with the crop and he just grunts and keeps walking.  What a guy.

Riding confidence: I had a good thing happen on Monday. I was out riding alone in the fields and I wanted to take a picture.  I had my camera and case hooked on the saddle horn. When I went to grab the camera, I dropped the case!  I was out at the back of the farm and didn't really feel like taking Rusty back and then walking alllll the way back to get my case.  I have a hard time mounting from the ground, so I had a bit of a dilemma on my hands.  I decided to just get off Rusty, get the case and walk back to the barn.

I was part way back and decided it would be much more fun and faster to just ride. So, I had the genius idea to just lower my stirrup a couple of holes to help me get on from the ground. It totally worked and I was able to get my case AND ride back.  Ha!  Turns out that even at two holes longer, I could still keep my foot in the stirrup without any trouble.

And that is about all that is going on here... Can you handle the excitement??? lol

Stay tuned for a report on the new barn this weekend! (and hopefully some pictures!)

Where have I been????

Sorry for the radio silence over here. I was out of town for the past week visiting my family. I also had a trip-within-a-trip for our annual girls shopping trip in Michigan. I'm back at work today and I'm already grumpy. lol  It sure didn't take long!  I had a nice time with my family.  It is hard sometimes to miss out on all of the stuff that fills someone's daily life, but I managed to cram in quite a few things in my week there.

I attended my cousin's rugby game and got to meet my brother's new puppy!

This little cutie is "Riggs". My brother and his girlfriend just lost their old girl a few weeks ago and were ready for a new puppy. They said that the house was too quiet without a dog there.

I am missing my horse and the smells of the barn, but the next best thing for me is being in a forest.  These photos were taken in a small forest near my Mom's house in the city.  It isn't home, but it reminds me of the forest where I spent most of my childhood playing. 

An extreme close-up of a trillium - our provincial flower...

Max had to pose for a few pictures for me...

I hope to have some horse-related posts going later this week! Now I am off to catch up on everyone else's blogs!

Random Tuesday Blatherings

I am a bad horse mom. I haven't been to see Rusty in a week!  Eep!  I had a busy and stressful week last week, so I'm glad it is over.  I actually had a good lesson and ride on Rusty last Monday, so I hope some of that stuck in his little pea brain for our next ride - which I am hoping will be tonight!

So, the big barn dilemma of 2010 has come to a close. I spoke with my current BO and we had a great talk.  I have decided to move Rusty and we will be packing up and heading to the new barn on May 28th.  It was a tough decision because I do like my current barn, but a summer/fall of trail riding sounds like a lot of fun.   Since I will be saving money in board, I will be applying that money to regular lessons, starting in the fall. I will ride one of the BO's horses (hopefully the cute buckskin pony!) I really wanted to keep a good relationship with my current BO (I'm going to need better nicknames eventually) as she is one of the best instructors I have worked with. She is so good at explaining concepts as well as modifying exercises if things aren't working. 

I've done a lot of thinking (big surprise! lol) over the past couple of weeks about where I want my riding to go over the next few years. I haven't really ended up with a clear path because there are lot of things I would like to do.  I've reserved making a decision on anything big until I've had a summer/fall of riding at the new place. If Rusty and I aren't having fun, then I will look at trying to sell him next spring and find a better match.  Next summer I will have the option of showing (schooling shows only at this point - that's all I'm interested in) one of the current BO's horses - she often takes a couple of horses and a bunch of kids out to these shows.  So, I have lots of options and lots of time to try out some different horse activities and find which ones (maybe all of them!) suit me and Rusty.

I'm looking forward to exploring the trails and a few good canters through the fields at the new place. Hopefully the bugs won't be too bad! Note to self - invest in horse AND people bug spray!

Sunny Sunday at the barn

Who doesn't love a good roll in the sand?

And a good shake?

Look at my nice trot - too bad you can't make me do that under saddle...

(Notice the mouth full of hay here? There was a round bale at the end of the arena and he kept trying to steal a bite)

It is hard to get good pictures when riding alone...

Back out in the paddock after a ride and his first tail wash of the season.  His tail has grown about six inches in the past year! It is still quite thin down at the bottom, but it is something at least!

The Dilemma - Part 2

You can read part 1 here...

I don’t want to keep harping on about whether I should move Rusty or not, but I do want to document my thought process here. Also, I wanted to thank everyone for their comments, suggestions and support. I knew you guys would be a great sounding board for this issue!

One thing that is bugging me a bit about my current barn is that I can’t let anyone besides me even sit on my horse. Not a huge deal, but we have a few friends with kids that would love to visit Rusty. I just have to say no now to keep things simple. Other barns I have been at just require me to sign a waiver and I can do what I want with my horse (except teach other people, which I am ok with).

Stephanie asked what I want to do with my horse(s) in the future – and to be honest – I have no idea anymore. I think I may like to try some fun shows later on, but in the short term, I just want to ride without any pressure. Now, this pressure has all been created by me at this point – no one is pressuring or pushing me to do anything. So, I will need a new horse for those future goals, but it won’t be for a couple of years at this point. That will give me time to save up some money and refine my riding skills a bit and see where that takes me. I’m sure Rusty will be ready for retirement in a couple of years anyway, so that might be the best option for me right now.

I’ve come to terms with my situation a bit better this past week. Thanks to your helpful comments, I’m letting go of the guilt. I’ve realized that it is ok to change barns and/or focus. My current barn worked out well for me at the time, but I just don’t think it does anymore.

Broaching the subject with my BO is the tough part – I don’t like springing big news on people – it always makes me nervous. I don’t want to be judged or criticized for my decision, so I’m dreading that a bit. I’m hoping that she will understand and that I can leave on good terms. By moving to another barn, I will be saving at least $100, which I can then apply to lessons. I’m hoping to take lessons with her over the fall/winter using one of her horses, so I can work on learning more without the pressure of doing the lessons on Rusty and being frustrated.

On that note, I think it is safe to say that I have decided to move Rusty. I’ve been researching barns in the area and have two on my short list. Both have most of the qualities I am looking for this time around:

• Cheaper board, without compromising care

• Trails and hay fields to ride on

• People to ride with

• Within a 30 minute drive from home

• Not too busy with kids doing lessons

• Lessons available (although not from a certified instructor)

• Flexible – ie I can bring my own coach, vet, farrier, as well as let other people ride my horse a bit

One barn is the place I was at before. Some of you may remember that I moved Rusty away from there because he was being badly picked on in small overcrowded (IMO) paddock. I sent out a tentative email to the BO there and asked if the amount of horses she boarded had decreased a bit and if Rusty could be turned out in a smaller group. This is possible at the moment, but she couldn’t guarantee that it would stay that way. So, that raised a bit of a flag for me.

I visited a second barn last weekend and the property is really nice. They have 100 acres (which is pretty big for the immediate area near me). It is all trails and they are working on cutting more trails every year. Right now, they have about 5 miles of trails, roads and fields to ride on. That is pretty enticing to me! Another perk about this place is that it is on the same quiet dead-end gravel road as two other stables. One is a fancy-ish dressage stable and the other focuses on eventing and jumping. It is possible to take lessons at the eventing barn in their indoor arena over the winter and to use their facilities outdoors – which include a half-mile track and cross-country course. Now, I hope you guys are chuckling a bit at that – because I can’t really see Rusty and me galloping the track or jumping much of anything, but it is nice to have some options! 

So, the end to this somewhat long and drawn-out story is that I’m going to make a move. I’m going to go visit the second barn again on Saturday to make sure I still get a good vibe from the place. The move probably won’t happen until June 1, due to giving proper notice and all, but I think it is going to happen!

Fun filled weekend

Thanks for all of your comments and advice on my dilemma. I'm going to think on things for awhile and make some decisions. I'm not in a terrible rush, so I'm going to weigh all of my options before I do anything.

I had a great weekend. I had Thursday afternoon off, as well as Friday and Monday.  I made it out the barn everyday but Sunday, so I feel good about that.  Rusty and I had one good ride and the rest were just ok. 

I wanted to share a few pictures from my day on Sunday - we were at my in-laws new house and we enjoyed a great sunny day. It was warm enough to wear flip-flops (yeah!) but with a nice cool breeze. There were Easter egg hunts, a nice lunch and some fun with firearms!  :-)  (Mrs. Mom and Stephanie will like this part!). I practiced firing a .22 rifle and a WWI German Luger!  It was pretty damn fun, although I don't think I would ever feel comfortable carrying a loaded weapon on my person.  I have a couple of gun pictures, but I don't feel comfortable posting them...so you will get cute dog pictures instead! 

A pic of my feet - standing on a chunk of snow and ice at the edge of the river

One of my nephews working hard at finding Easter eggs...

Max had a great day playing in the water - I managed to get him to sit still for a minute for this picture.

Here he is jumping out of the water onto the chunk of ice. He enjoyed rolling in the snow after his dip in the water.

This adorable puppy is my father-in-laws new Border Collie, Gypsy. She is 4 months old and really cute. She was a bit shy with all of us, but she'll adapt soon.  The good news is that I get to take care of her for 3 months next winter when my in-laws go to Florida!

A couple of attempts at capturing the sunset after a great sunny day...

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!