Hang Time with a Twist

Back in December I started laying across Roscoe's back. He handled the situation really well and had no worries at all. Today Mom held him so I could again lay across his back. What a difference from the first time. Instead of moving away from the more weighted side like he did last time, he adjusted beneath me to carry the weight better. With a mounting block bigger than the muck bucket I used last time, I was able to lay more evenly too. We worked both sides with Mom doing a little ground work in between.
Then Mom mentioned that Clinton Anderson moves to laying parallel with the body. I was not quite up to trying to have my feet hang over his butt though. So instead I just hooked one leg over his butt with my foot resting above his tail. Do you think he worried at my weird position? Nope, he just kept begging for cookies. From that position, I swung my leg over and sat on my boy for the first time. You would think we had been on his back a bunch of times as he just stood there as Mom pulled out her phone to have my sister take a picture. I shifted my seat forward a bit, no problem. He walked forward a few steps, no problem. I have to say he did not feel as narrow as I expected, but he is a Cob. I had to try hard to contain my excitement. Our boy is growing up.
To get off I just reversed my movements and went slow, hanging on him a bit. Roscoe was thrilled by our praise, but I don't think he understands how great he really was.

Who Me?

Mom immediately called Peggy to share the news. What can I say this is exciting stuff for us. Not great pictures as my sister is not so good with a camera, but it marks the moment.

Hm, I do not look as big on him as I would have thought

Roscoe, so not worried

Relaxing

One of my co workers and I got to talking, ok with some griping about work, and we discovered we both had learned to ride at the same Base stables in NC. My memories were fonder than hers as she had a naughty pony. After that she has carried a nervousness about horses. I told her about Dottie, who though big is the sweetest horse. She decided to come out to the barn and get a ride.
The weather was only a little chilly this weekend. Which allowed me to hop on Dottie the day before she came. With Dottie's lameness issues and the weather, the last person to ride her was Lily. Well it turned out I had nothing to worry about. Dottie was ready to work. She walked out well, a major achievement for her, and picked up her front end with only my hands carried. As she can feel like a yacht when turning, I used lateral movements to get her bending and stepping under herself. She surprises me how easily she does shoulder in and leg yields. I would love to know more about her training history. Anyway I kept the ride short, which was really hard to stop, so she would not be sore for my co worker.
The next day my co worker and her boyfriend came bearing goodies. The horses got carrots, apples, bananas and can you believe broccoli. Once Dottie was convinced they were her new best feeders...oh wait, friends, I put her in the cross ties so they could brush on her. There is something about grooming a horse that settles the mind. Plus I wanted them to see that she is a gentle giant. Dottie was perfect and stood still.
I tacked her up and went to get helmets for both of them. We all laughed when we realized the only helmet that fit my co worker was Lily's purple with a pony picture. Her boyfriend just barely fit into my dad's western helmet. Oh well better safe than fashionable. Up first was my co worker. She was a little tense at first, but soon settled and enjoyed the ride. I led her around the field and we laughed as Dottie constantly drifted towards her boyfriend. She was convinced he must have more treats. Then we did the same for her boyfriend. Dottie was great. She used to do therapy rides with a previous owner, so she knows when to click in therapy mode.
When both rides were complete, my co worker looked at me and said "For as nervous as I was getting on, I am so relaxed now and ready for the next crazy week of work." Score one for pony therapy. My co worker even talked about a return visit.
And now for the best comment from her boyfriend, who has had to do bike patrol " Do you have to wear padded garments? I can see this (points to saddle) getting hard." I had to laugh. Of all the questions to be asked. All I could say was that I did not ride long enough at a time to need extra padding, but I knew that it was available in catalogs.

Worth her weight in gold :)

Overall it was a relaxing, fun day.

New Addition

Of the human variety.
My niece was born yesterday and joins her sister as part of my brother's herd, ha ha. Anyway meet Annabeth Irelynne

I made people at work laugh when I said Roscoe was cuter when he was born than Anna. What can I say? He was.

Ah, well maybe they tie.

And in 3 more month's my other brother should be welcoming my next niece. It has been a girl year :)

No Pain No Gain

Or in this case Loss.

I finally was able to do my horse's hoof trims on Sunday. And I did Jenna too. Which means in all, I trimmed 22 hooves (Dottie has front shoes).
Today I was reminded why I normally spilt the group into two when I could barely walk. It is amazing the muscle soreness I am feeling. Farrier work addresses different muscles then riding does. But with multiple horses, doing the work myself saves us a lot of money. So I gained pain and my horses lost excess hoof.

I am going to hobble off to bed, but I leave you with some pictures.

Roscoe playing with my hoof stand

Roscoe sticking his tongue out

Roscoe looking cute with freshly trimmed hooves

Rosemary and picture crasher Jenna

Fuzzy girl head

Cold Cob Day

Our temps with wind chill were about 30 degrees. I went to Peggy's house first since Gretchen was doing Rosemary's morning dose. Unfortunately, Kayla decided to throw up her breakfast in my car and Peggy was getting sawdust delivered making my ride a bit later than expected. At least Comrade was not covered in mud. I was riding bareback to stay warm and I put on toasty toes. Nothing worse than cold feet.
Comrade was full of it. He tried to run through my aids when I asked for lateral movements. I increased the weight of my half halt and maintained my insistence. Soon I was able to get him listening to the left, but he was inverting when I went right. To loosen him up, I did some figure 8's at the canter. He did both leads, no bucking, really well. Then I went back to the lateral. Shoulder in, straight, haunches in, straight, leg yield, straight. Comrade grunted, but listened. A couple times I went over the low jumps to get his attention. Finally, he relaxed going to the right. His crest got that nice floppy motion. Good time to finish. Peggy and I warmed up with hot chocolate while watching a video of a Sec. C mare that is for sale.
The video put in the mood to ride Rosemary. I bundled up and dressed Rosemary in a quarter sheet and the bareback pad. Then we went to brave the cold. I was pleasantly surprised by her work, since it has been a long time. She was stretching and reaching into the bridle nicely at the walk. At the trot, she tried to stretch though she could not maintain the contact. All considering she was a star. Rosemary felt happy to be back to work. I played with corners asking her to "come about" a term we use when asking her to turn in harness. It seemed to help her figure out what I was asking her to do. These Cobs are so smart.
Snow was starting to fall while I rode, which meant I needed to be done. My cold cob rides were both worth braving the weather.

My girl all ready to work :)

End of an Era

Well our old barn on Base will be torn down soon. Last summer they closed completely, after a few years of only having boarders. Before I was born Ronald Reagan rode at this barn and probably other notables.
I basically grew up at this barn when we moved here 20 years ago. Okay just typing that makes me feel old. I rode in my first show, got bucked off, rode lots of rotten ponies, met my best pony, jumped my first jump and cleaned a million stalls.
Unfortunately, management went downhill and money was short. We left during the management issues and I have not looked back preferring to remember better times. Those memories are priceless even if we have moved onto, literally, greener fields.
So here's to a barn that was a big part of my life and my riding. It was small but mighty and looking back, provided me with some quality training.

Barry and I, 1999 In one of the arenas, used as warm up during shows



Another view of above arena

The Show ring, with ugly pink trailers I did so much homework in.

Cross country, Whoo Hoo

Me and my partner in crime out on the great trails the barn was connected to.

Just inside these doors is where Barry and Sherman's stalls were.

The barn is "T" shaped, this area was where trailers were parked
 

The show side of the barn, show arena to the left and waiting area to the right. I do miss the arena lights.



Unusual Barn Items

I was puttering around the barn getting things in order so tomorrow will go smoothly in case ice makes time short. As I worked I noticed things we have that may raise questions in other people. So here are some of the unusual items used in our barn:

Teapot
Although in the past we did feed tea to our horses, now we only use it to heat up water. During the cold weather the horses enjoy having warm meals. Plus it is closer than the bathroom, the only place that has hot water.

Coffee bean Grinder
We have gone through a few grinders. The main purpose was for grinding whole flax seed. Flax is a great source of Omegas and we have used it for a very long time. Pre ground flax used to be really expensive so we ground our own. The only problem was we used it 4-5 times twice a day which is a lot more than most people ground coffee resulting in the death of the grinder. After the loss of a couple higher priced grinders, we decided to go with pre ground flax. The other use was to break pills. It makes a horrible noise, but works great.

Angled Toilet Bowl Brush
Yep, I said a toilet brush (never used in the bathroom.) This brush is the best feed bowl cleaner. The angled portion gets into the edges well. The short bristles make a better scrubber and lasts longer. Best tool ever!

Diapers
Gretchen bought us the cheapest diapers she could find to use for abscess soaker boots. Cheap so that they would not draw the moisture away. We pour water, Epsom salt and iodine inside, then put on the hoof. Even on Dottie we were able to secure the tabs to hold the diaper on the foot. They are a bit cheaper in price than a roll of cotton, so that helps.

Loofah on a stick
This back scrubber for people is our absolutely best water bucket cleaner. I don't know when or how we stumbled onto this fact, but now we use it almost daily. Great in the cold, keeps hands dry. And when the ties that hold the loofah wear out the released mesh makes a fascinating toy for Roscoe.

Plastic Shopping Cart
Years ago Mom and Dad were driving along and saw an abandoned Big Lots shopping cart. They stopped and picked it up. Now it rolls around our barn holding hay that needs to be rinsed. To help reduce the sugar levels for our ponies we run water over the hay which washes out some of the sugars. We have previously used wire mesh baskets in a wheelbarrow, but the shopping cart is so much better. Any unused hay can stay and breathe in the cart. If only it had all terrain wheels...

Those are a few of our unusual barn items. Did I surprise you? Make you think outside the box? Good. Items that make life easier are priceless.
Do you have any items in your barn not normally meant for the job you use it for? Let me know. I love new ideas.