Today I went out to get Apache before dawn. I was surprised to find him waiting by the pens. I hadn’t needed to wake up quite so early after all. But we were ready when Saragorn arrived. We took their vehicle. I needed to buy gas, though, because Sara left her money. That’s happened to me before so I was happy to help out!
I got food so it was good.
We went to Sandhaven, which is near where I went to a concert last week. It was a familiar trip!
I forgot to mention that I saw a house concert near Bastrop last weekend. The music was great! Harmonies!
Anyway, I was really proud of how Apache handled himself. He’d never done many of the things there but he was game! He did the bridge, ringing the bell, the pen obstacle, and more.
Can I leave yet?
Being around all the other horses didn’t spook him. He was great with them all except one. Elvis.
What the heck is that??
I’m pretty sure Apache has seen a child before. And he’s seen Fiona. But a tiny horse? Whoa. That was fascinating to him. Everywhere Elvis went, Apache was watching. It was pretty funny.
I see Elvis. Better keep an eye on him. The Andalusian at left is the beautiful Generosa. I love that name.
Apache got introduced to the mini horse and was okay after that. I enjoyed talking to a couple of the kids who were there, too.
Bulky Suna following Saragorn when we first started out. Photo by Crista.
At the end Apache and I went on a short jaunt down the sandy road behind the trailers and wove in and out between some logs. This may not sound exciting, but last year we couldn’t have done a walk in a strange place away from other horses!
Apache also walked all around the dressage area and did Drew’s pattern.
Now, we also each messed up a couple things. I bought a bridle that I didn’t research well enough. And Apache didn’t want to do anything involving moving sideways. He would not move his rear to line up at the gate, and he did a really crappy job of side passing. Now we know what we need to work on!
See I smiled. It appears my helmet isn’t tight enough. Hmm. Another thing to fix!
I also am not letting my alfalfa pellets soak long enough, so I tried to do better today. Boy was Drew annoyed that I hadn’t mixed his supplements in with the alfalfa. Guess I need a stirring stick.
It was cute when we got home. Drew was smack in the middle of the “pond” which explains how he gets that concrete in his feet. But as soon as he saw Aragorn in the trailer, he followed. While Aragorn was waiting for Apache to get out, Drew stared. When the trailer pulled out of the driveway he ran alongside until he couldn’t do it anymore. He will be happy to see Aragorn tomorrow!
Let me start with the dream that didn’t come true. I was obviously a bit stressed out from going to work and not knowing where the office actually was. That night, I had a dream that I was visiting my previous job, the previous location for it. Everyone was there, and it had been remodeled with very cheerful colors and furnishings.
They had alcoholic beverages, too.
I chatted with the happy workers, but then, as it often happens in my dreams, I had to pee. I headed to where the bathrooms were, only to find people at workstations in there, cheerfully typing. I asked where the bathrooms were. “Down the road,” was the response.
WTF??
In the dream, I blurted out, “What if you have diarrhea?” The answer was, “We have an Uber right outside!” I went out and yep, there was an old black car. I got in, and the driver sped off. I asked him if he thought driving people to the bathroom struck him as weird. He turned around and smiled at me, saying, “The tips are great!”
I woke up.
The other dream, the one that did come true isn’t that exciting, except to me. The past two rides I’ve had on Apache the Paint horse have made me so dang happy that it’s like I’ve nailed my bucket list. We’ve been improving slowly over the past year, as you probably know.
Honest, he’s happy, too.
Yesterday we did the thing I’d been wanting to do so badly. We went out in the back pasture and wandered around, going up and down the arroyo, and checking out all the fences and trees. We just did it. No stress, no spinning around, no freezing and snorting. We just had a good time.
Hey Drew, we had fun.
Today was just as fun. First I worked with Drew, who’s getting better at his stuff on the ground. His reward was a nice walk together, which we both love. Halfway through was his big reward: he got to eat long grass in the unmown front field. What a dream, hanging out in the shade and relaxing.
So. Much. Grass.
The dream continued with Apache’s ride. He’s just doing so well. We trotted around like we k ew what we were doing, walked all the way across the road (I checked for cars), then headed out to the front field. Rather than getting worried as we got farther from the other horses, he looked around and checked things out. We looked at pretty pink flowers, sunflowers, and long, waving grass.
Wandering around looking at flowers while feeling safe on a happy, calm horse…that has been my dream since things went sour with Apache a couple of years ago. And I’d never been able to ride through fields alone before. I’d been afraid to ride without another person with me.
Yesterday I had lots of fun and learned many new things as Bonnie, the equine dentist, came over to float the teeth of all the horses here (that’s what they call dental work, floating). Everyone was due except Mabel, but I was concerned that she still might need more work, so all got looked at.
I was really impressed at how Bonnie climbed up on the fence and set up a pulley system to hold the horses’ heads up and keep them still while she looked at them. It worked so well! I was also glad that the fence rails didn’t collapse, as they are still just temporarily welded on and a few of them have fallen down. Can’t weld until the drought is over and the fire danger is lower!
Drew having his front teeth straightened out.
Drew went first. He is such a well behaved little guy. The main concern with him is a cracked tooth he’s had since we got him. Bonnie had looked at him last year when he was in training with Tarrin, so she knew about it. The good news is that the crack looks like it’s not getting worse and will grow out. She declared that Drew has a “good mouth.” Let me know what you think!
He’s out of it.
To safely take care of their teeth, the horses need to be mildly sedated, which means you can do all kinds of fun and funny things with them. But the sedation keeps them from getting all upset and keeps Bonnie safe when she’s digging around back there in their molars. When Drew was done, he had a nice nap.
I’m doneZZZZZDrew is all fixed up.
Apache was next in line. He just marched himself into the pen without me haltering him. I was impressed. We have mad a lot of progress in that area!
His teeth were pretty good, too, just due for a tune-up, because his bite had gotten slightly wonky. I’m glad they are in good shape, because I want him to have good teeth as long as possible. Bonnie said horses that are in pastures tend to have better teeth, because they eat a wide variety of textures and don’t get all dried out from not moving their mouths. Interesting fact: horses don’t salivate unless their mouths are moving. That’s another reason not to force them shut with nosebands, I guess. Dry mouths lead to dry innards and bad digestion or ulcers. I say let them move! Eat grass, my friends!
With the speculum in so she can get to his molarsRinsing his mouth out (it was full of hay)We’re both smiling!Apache’s smile is fixed
Mabel stood over by Dusty, and I swear she was telling him stories about last time she got hers floated with the manual rasp. But, Dusty is such a good boy that he stepped up like a man to have his turn. He was a bit more of a challenge to work with, since he hadn’t been worked on in a while. It’s important to keep their jaws in good shape, because it’s connected all over the place and can keep them in pain or out of balance. We suspect that is part of Dusty’s reluctance to be ridden. His work was the main reason I had Bonnie come by, because Tarrin had strongly recommended he get his teeth worked on before doing more with him.
Dusty can’t hold his drugs very well, and wasn’t able to stand up straight some of the time. He was leaning hard on the head rest, and slowly getting more and more sideways. We kept waking him up.
It’s good that he was so woozy, because he had a lot of work done. He has a broken molar, but the good news about that is that it broke off cleanly and shows no signs of infections. He can live with it. He also had really pointy canine teeth that were probably causing discomfort. Did you know the canine teeth in horses are the only ones that don’t keep growing their whole lives? Yep. So, now that this one has been clipped off and smoothed (after the photo was taken), he will feel a lot better.
Shorter toothAt left is what came off. It was razor sharp. The other tooth came from Mabel.Horse teeth are not pretty. But they do the job. They have gaps, too. There’s a gap between the canine teeth and the molars, which do the chewing. That’s where the bit goes when wearing a bridle.
Dusty’s teeth will need more work next time, but they are more balanced and he will be able to bite off grass a LOT better. That will help him gain some weight. And his chewing will also be better. I don’t think he really appreciated any of this, because neither he nor Mabel would come up for dinner later in the day.
At first I hadn’t intended to get Mabel’s teeth done, since the vet had done it when she last choked. But I’m glad I did, because she needed a lot more detail work than the vet gave. She has some imbalances that were probably hurting her and aren’t completely fixed yet, but will improve over time. Some teeth had grown really long and were pressing down on others. Now she’s more even. And she also had a tooth removed.
Getting way up in her grill (note sleepy Dusty behind her).
She was very well behaved, too. All the horses impressed me with how well they handled the dental work. Bonnie said they obviously were handled a lot and trusted people. That’s saying a lot about how far Mabel has come from when she first arrived!
Here’s an interesting fact. I think we now know for sure how old Mabel is. Bonnie said people had labeled her as 5 from looking at her front teeth, but the back teeth very clearly placed her at 10 years old. That makes more sense to me. There had to be some time for her to accumulate some of her issues. Now we just hope we can make her more comfortable!
I’m a good girl
We talked a bit about weight management on the thin ones and I got some suggestions for inexpensive things to add to Dusty and Mabel’s feed that will put on a bit of weight and give them some amino acids without being quite as expensive as what I give Drew. I’ll go over all that with Kathleen and we will decide where to go from here on that.
I can’t remember which horses these are.
I’m glad that the whole tooth situation is under control. I think that one more trim on their feet will get both Dusty and Mabel ready to start more work building muscle. I’m hoping Dusty can be one of Sara’s practice horses for her farrier certification, but in any case, we’re hoping Trixie will be able to make it next week. We are on a shorter schedule for a while, so Apache and Kathleen’s two can get all set. Drew, of course, has perfect feet to go with his perfect mouth. He’s like one of those incredibly healthy mixed-breed dogs, I guess, just full of heterozygous vigor!
I love them all and it makes me very happy to provide good care and love to these sweet creatures.
Today was a good horse day. Lee was kind enough to drive me and Sara met me at Tarrin’s ranch where we filmed Drew’s next set of obstacles for the Working Horse Central third quarter virtual show. I learned a lot more today, particularly about my capacity to do things in humidity.
Yep. Not my best skill jogging, carrying multiple objects and trying not to get stomped on by a large animal.
I had already gotten too hot bathing the heck out of Drew and grooming both horses, and I just went downhill from there. It wasn’t even all that hot! Just effing humid.
But Drew looked good and relaxed.
Everyone was kind to me and insisted I focus on what went well, even pointing out that when I dropped the lead rope after the jump he stopped and waited for me. That was way better than running off! I was actually pretty pleased, too.
He had no trouble with the bridge obstacle.
All these photos are screen shots from the video Sara took, by the way. He did very well on some new obstacles, like moving a cup, stomping on a tractor tire full of sand, and doing a series of tight turns. He’s really improving on so many levels. I wish I’d been up to the challenge of all the trotting.
Turn, turn, turn. Moving the cup. He stood very still.
Apache had a lesson after we sat in Sara’s car to cool off a bit to discuss his issues. I needed help with backing up, so Tarrin volunteered to work with him a bit, though she wasn’t exactly dressed for it! He was not thrilled, but got better.
He’s not thrilled with this.
I recovered enough to get in and practice. Sara filmed it, which was really interesting to me. I’m doing better with insisting on doing what I ask. By the end, it was much more smooth. We learned more stuff!
Back up, Jack.
When I finished backing, I had fun trying some of the obstacles with him. What a guy! Other than the backing up obstacle, He did all the things I tried like a champ! The bridge, the turns, the cup! He does have skills! I was so happy.
Trying to back out of rounding corners. He stopped successfully. Actually backing. This is easier now. Going forward. Yay. I’m smiling my head off.
The thing I’m proudest of, though, was that Apache did his best job ever going through the “scary” corridor and to the trailer. There was only the smallest amount of nervousness! We are learning!
I guess it was worth the heat. That’s good, because this is a busy horse week coming up!
While it’s been rather rainy and my work has been eating into my horse time (work funds the horses), I’ve had time to make progress with my beautiful, dapple gray teenager, Drew (or Andrew or Droodles).
She thinks I’m pretty! Aww.
While there hasn’t been any cantering and jumping (blame mud), there has been a lot of other stuff to work on, and I’m proud of his progress and mine.
I’m proud of me, too, though I didn’t like standing under this hackberry tree full of giant bees.
I’m working on keeping his trot and my jog both slow and steady when we are in hand. It’s improved! We are also practicing side passing and other walk-level activities.
But first, Suna had to groom me. I do like mud. I even had it on my face.
But mostly I’ve been spending time with him and the others, just enjoying the day. It’s paid off!
I like to walk together.
Yesterday it dried out enough to go to Sara’s and practice obstacles for the next couple of shows. We skipped a clinic this weekend because they are hard to do in the ground and I had no driver. Rainy times are not ideal for trailer pulling practice!
See, I ain’t scared of the “bridge!”
The highlight was actually the walk between our place and hers. He was much calmer than in previous trips, and we practiced stopping, starting, transitioning to trot, and staying in synch. We had fun!
I like to walk right behind Sully and her pretty rear.
He got distracted by long grass and other horses once we arrived, but did pretty well practicing. Since I’m just out to enjoy the shows and just trying to improve our skills, I think he will be fine.
Oh, I’ll side pass if I must.
We are trotting much calmer if I just concentrate on it. There’s just so much to remember! What obstacle is next, how to do it right, what side of him I need to be on, whether he’s trotting or not, blah blah. More than my ancient mind can do all at once. So I’ll just have fun!
Sully can do it, too!
That was a pep talk for me. In any case, it’s great to see Sully and her improvement, and to enjoy her and Sara working together.
Sully and I both are working on this new obstacle.
I also took pictures of Sara and her new mat for standing horses on while working with their feet. It’s just the right size! I enjoy doing horse stuff together like we used to.
A horse fits on the mat and you can do farrier stuff on it.
Droodles gets a break today, as the plan is to ride Apache with Sara on either of her grays. Sully is still working on going forward. Aragorn’s feet are looking well enough he may not need his shoes for a while! Good job to all who worked on his feet!
Note that wet ground after mowing means lots of grass in your tack room.
Now, enjoy bonus photos while I vacuum.
Nope, not straight. Drew looks good. Lakota had an itchMama cow and one of her twins
It was a fun morning, another one spent with our friend, Sara, and her Andalusian charges. Solly and Aragorn both came over today so we could work on things together and give the horses new experiences. Aragorn did a great job ponying his mare buddy over to our house. He seemed proud of himself.
And he still has both shoes on!
It was the future mama’s first trip over here, so she did pretty well. The sight of all my horses thundering up to see who was coming would be enough to startle me!
Hurry! It’s a GIRL! Who are these guys?
As Sara warmed Solly up to be ridden, Aragorn ate grass in the round pen (his favorite!). There was no grass eating for Drew. Everything Sara asked Solly to do, Drew tried to do on the other side of the fence. It was really cute. There was no need for me to exercise him today!
She’s running, so I’ll run.
Then we got to work. My job was to lead Solly while Sara rode her, to keep her moving forward. We had much success as long as I led. She kept a-going through all the obstacles. But, without me, she kept stopping. I have no clue what’s going on in her mind. But, she got better as we kept working on it. We will have to get together and work some more. It’s interesting how young horses have such different issues. We just need to have patience and keep at it. Sara is doing so well.
Here she goes!!
After that work, Aragorn and Apache did a bit of practice. Neither has been ridden much lately, so they just practiced obstacles. Apache was fascinated by the cute girl in the round pen, which gave me good practice making him pay attention to me, not her.
Bending, with tail swish.
I enjoyed my time very much, especially getting to play with Sara and the big grays. By the time the foal comes, Sara will be very practiced in working with young horses and Solly will be ready to be worked with by Trixie, who owns her. What a great arrangement!
We’re all tired from running around and looking at large, gray horses.
Working with the horses is just so fascinating and educational. I’m glad to have such good horse friends to learn with. Honestly, I’m glad to have such good friends.
Yeah, yeah, non-horsey people. It’s another horse post. I’m very proud of what my horses and I have been learning, though, and I want to be able to look back on our good days and smile. I need smiles and kindness, and I got those in huge doses yesterday!
And I got hay!
We just had the best lesson yesterday! So much learning and progress, and we all had fun! Drew is making great progress in trotting and cantering in a calm and upright manner. And I am making good progress correcting his tendency to barge into me, which concerns Tarrin. I got all up in his face just like she does. Woot.
I know I have to listen up when this human talks.
I’m extra proud of Drew, because he learned a new skill today, dragging an object. I enjoyed watching how carefully Tarrin introduced this, so it would be a positive experience for Drew. I probably learned more than he did!
This thing is interesting.
The deal is that the sight of the thing being dragged, along with the sound of it, can unnerve a young horse. By first just dragging it herself and only attaching it to the saddle after Drew got used to it, Tarrin set him up for success.
Here, she’s pulling the tire
Drew showed some signs of concern, but didn’t get really upset. He got chances to inspect the rope and tire, too. By the end of the exercise, he wasn’t phased even when the rope touched his flank. Yay Drew! Here are more pictures of him learning.
Dragging!He took it far!
Apache and I both learned a lot, too. I’m figuring things out and doing way better with my riding form, even if I do look like a lump still in photos. And Apache is getting much closer to a controlled trot to canter transition. It’s a struggle for him. Many years of not having a clue are hard to undo.
Doing our best.
We did a lot on the ground and mounted, then headed back to all his “scary” spots, where he got upset by a calm old horse and then was a bit jumpy. But we handled it. Both Lee and Tarrin were kind enough to take some pictures of us. It helps me analyze what I need to work on.
Here we are going back and forth getting closer and closer to the dreaded trailer.
We had some success and I was happy. He also was! At one point when he figured out we were asking him to canter, he stopped and looked so energized that Tarrin said he looked like a magnificent Arabian for a brief moment. For me it was the look in his eyes, as if to say, “I did it!” It’s so nice to see him enjoying his learning.
Here is lumpy Suna working with nervous Patchy on the approach to the scary trailer.
It’s been a hard summer for the horses. Not much grass, much heat, not as much attention as last year. But today has been a good one! To start, I was able to get out early enough to give all the horses nice baths. I know Dusty was happy. He’s such a level-headed dude, but he liked the suds. And he ended up looking fine, considering his scratches from trying to eat on the other side of the barbed wire in the new pasture.
He even has some mane!
Mabel really needed the bath, because she was covered in salt crystals from sweating. She’s sure a lumpy thing, but I got lots of excess hair off her and cleaned her sweet face. She is now shiny, especially her tail, which almost looks normal again. She was so patient as she waited to dry off, too.
Look at my tail!
Drew is looking pretty ragged these days. He’s a busy boy. Somehow he got a big owie on his belly. I treated it so flies won’t get in it. But he enjoyed the suds and drank a lot from the hose. I used enough purple shampoo on him that I think his tail looks whiter. The parts of him that aren’t nicked up are soft and shiny.
Note my shininess.
Apache and I went for a nice ride before his bath. He still seems a little sore, so we mostly walked and practiced transitions. He’s doing so well now with riding around. It’s so fun. And of course he loved his bath. His mane looks so white now and I got all his brown dirt spots off.
Yes. I’m chunky. But pretty.
What he didn’t like was waiting while he dried. He stomped and complained. To make his point, he pooped right after I’d cleaned all the poop up from the grooming area. Message received! But I didn’t want him rolling while wet, which he loves to do.
I don’t care how much you like my blinding whiteness. I don’t like being tied when everyone else is free.
After all that pampering, they got another surprise. The hay ring got set up. I’m told Drew and Dusty ran up and immediately started chewing.
As they say on the Internet, nom nom.
Then the gate was opened! Freedom! Grass! Excitement!
Big deal. I have hay.
I hear that Apache, Mabel, and Fiona exited rapidly, but Dusty and Drew stayed with the dry old hay.
Oh, wait, the gate is open. I’m outa here.
What made me laugh was that they all barely left the area. They found grass and stopped.
The grass WAS greener over here!
Eventually they found other grass and figured out how to cross the trenches for the electric lines (they will get filled in next week). These are some very happy horses. And the grass isn’t so green it will be a problem!
Can I eat this?Nice grass over by the septic area.
Of course, ya get thirsty eating all this grass. I love this one!
I hope your Sunday was as good as the one these guys enjoyed!
Drew agrees. He had to learn hard lessons today. Look at him kicking up dust and swishing.
I hope whoever deals with me and my family and their challenges and frustrations will be firm but patient and kind, like Tarrin is with a confused and annoyed horse.
I was taking a blog break, but I had to come back to celebrate the light of my life, Andrew “Droodles” Kendall. We got him a year ago today, on an adventure trip to Cuero, Texas, or somewhere near there.
Happy Droodle-versary!
Drew now
He’s been nothing but a joy for the past year. He inspired me to start my lessons with my dear and wise trainer, helped me get way more confident, and inspired me to do horse shows, a thing I’d never considered.
Drew the day we got him, muddy and thin
Drew is just a plain ole horse, no particular breed, and he was only three when I got him, but he was a great choice and I’m so glad we found him and the guy wanted to get rid of him so he could get some stallion.
Sitting in Drew while in training last year.
And yes, horses are expensive. But his training and lessons mean he will be a great companion for years, I hope. And the good food and supplements have made him strong and more beautiful. And the vet care has kept him healthy, even when he choked.
I’m a baby
Thanks to Drew, much good has happened in the past year. And we will start riding in the fall!
Hey readers. I appreciate the kind words and good thoughts. I’m working on my mental health and trying not to offend anyone yet be myself. Never easy.
The Hermits' Rest 