There's Good News and Bad.....

Bad News:  There were some abnormalities with some blood work I had done for my 13-year old Cairn Terrier.  Her liver enzymes were elevated.  In addition, a small growth was found near her hip and the biopsy indicated that it was cancerous.  It was decided to do an x-ray to see if there was anything else going on with her liver - unfortunately the results were inconclusive.  An ultrasound was done, showing that there were some tumours on her liver.  My vet booked an appointment for us with an oncologist.  Initially, we talked about using ultrasound to guide a needle to her liver to collect material for a biopsy.  I explained to him that I wanted a definitive answer on whether or not she had liver cancer.  We decided that while she was knocked out to have the little growth removed from her hip, that he do some exploratory surgery so that we know what we were up against.
Good News:     The doctor removed the tumours on her liver; they were benign!  Yipee!!!   The small growth has been removed and sent to pathology, but he is quite hopeful that all the bad stuff has been removed.  Yay!

Gem's version of free lunging.....

Bad News:   Gem's recovery from his abscess was slow.  I took him out of his stall last week and he was still limping!  I free lunged him or walked him as recommended whenever I saw him.  I was starting to worry.  My vet was on holidays, so I decided to wait for his return and have some x-rays done. 
Good News:  LA mentioned on the weekend that he looked fine during turnout (running and bucking), so I saddled him up on Sunday and rode him at a walk for 20 minutes.  He was actually happy(?) to be doing something, I think.  He had a spring in his step and was enjoying being out.  With LA's permission, I took him on a lovely trail ride yesterday - the first real ride on him in 6 weeks!   He was amazing.  We walked through some really muddy patches, without issue.  I know!!  Mud!  It felt so good to be riding him.

Bad News:  The flies around the barn are horrific.  Gem's stall is located at the end of the barn, next to the back door.  Under normal circumstances, it's a great spot; sun, fresh air, nice view.  However, flies multiply in the manure pile around the corner.  I have a fly trap at his stall, but it has not had much of an impact this year.  When I took him out of his stall over the weekend, his left eye was a bit swollen, red and gunky; conjunctivitis brought on by the flies irritating his eyes.  I picked up some eye ointment and he has been wearing his fly mask. I hope there is some improvement soon.
Good News:  The fly spray I have been using has been doing a really good job.  Neemella not only smells nice, but it seems to keep the flies away for longer than the traditional sprays.  And, even with the billions of flies around, Gem does not seem to be suffering with bot eggs like previous years (knocking on wood as I type that).

Bad News:  Jean and Stu will be leaving the barn soon.  Jean's husband has been transferred so she will be leaving at the end of the month.  Back in June, Jean had another fall off of Stu.  A few of us met on a Sunday to go out on a trail ride.  Her lessons had been going fairly well, and Jean felt she was ready to try Stu out in the open.  Jean, RO and I were walking our horses around the paddock, waiting for DH's Mom to join us.  Jean was at the far end and all of a sudden, RO and I heard "whoa!  Whoa! WHOA!"  We turned our horses around to see Jean basically lying flat on Stu's back pulling on the reins with all of her might as he cantered out of control.  We had (stupidly) left the gate leading to the yard open, thinking that DH's Mom wasn't far behind us and Stu took advantage of the opening and raced through.  Fortunately, Jean fell with a thump before Stu ran into the barn - she would have hit the top of the barn door and sustained major injuries if she had stayed on him.  DH's Mom was still in the barn and was able to calm Stu before he hurt himself or another horse.  She made Jean get back on him (unlike the last time she fell) and she held the bridle and walked Jean around for a bit before she got off.  Jean is not exactly sure what it was that set Stu off; it might have been her boot scraping the side of the fence.  Unfortunately, Jean has been sort of reluctant to ride Stu ever since.  She will be going to a very small boarding facility that does not have an instructor or arena.  My fingers and toes are crossed that she will push herself to improve Stu's (and her) confidence and abilities in spite of the limitations at her new place.

Good News:  The weather has been decent and I am looking forward to riding my boy this week!   

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

 

Breaking up is hard to do....

Geez, could the last few weeks be any busier?!!  :-)  I aced my yearly audit and after next week's conference, my work life will return to normal.  Yipee!

Time for a Jean and Stu update.  When we last checked in with them, Stu had just finished his professional training.  Last fall, Jean committed to riding him 3 or 4 times a week.  Of course, I regularly indicated my availability so that she could ride with company, but it was rarely convenient for her.  When I suggested she change her routine, she was quite firm about keeping to the schedule she had mapped out for herself.  I sensed that she was pulling away from me and our usual riding buddies.  She declined just about every invitation.  No more hanging out, no more lessons, no more burgers and beers.   It made me sad because she and I had been together on this horse journey from the start.  I felt that I was no longer an important part of her riding experience.  Yep, I was being dumped.  :-)

Winter settled in, making it a bit more difficult to stick to the schedule Jean had set up for herself.  In addition, she found that she was not a cold weather rider.  :-)  The visits with Stu dropped to once or twice a week.  I would occasionally see her as I was leaving and she was arriving.   Most of her work with Stu continued to be lunging.  With the brutally cold temperatures, trail rides screeched to a halt and the number of people riding in the arena increased substantially, with weekends being the busiest.   LA had to change the arena rules after there was a complaint about Stu being lunged in one half of the arena, while 4 or 5 riders were relegated to ride in the other half.  The result was that no one was allowed to lunge if there were other riders in the arena.  

The end of January, Jean and I happened to coordinate meeting at the barn to ride one Sunday after she got back from two weeks vacation.  Stu was very fresh and skittish when she was riding him, even after a long-ish lunge session (she lunged before I got to the arena).   Jean admitted to me that in the 3 months since his training, she had yet to get him up to a trot.   To be honest, I was shocked, but as I watched her I could see that she was struggling and I could see that Stu was reacting to her struggle.

During our lunch that day, Jean said that she didn't feel connected to the barn and the riding crowd - she felt like an outsider.  She felt lonely.  She felt that the gods were against her because she could no longer lunge Stu.  She wasn't feeling the love.   She missed our time together.  :-)  Now, I could relate to how she felt; I felt the same way when I first started riding Gem.  But, as I pointed out, her inflexible schedule didn't leave much room for socializing and riding with others.   Lessons, which she chose not to participate in, create a bond with other riders socially and educationally.  With regards to lunging, I told her that perhaps it was time to stop doing it every time she saddled Stu up.  

As we sipped our second beer, she admitted that initially she didn't want anyone watching her ride Stu.  She was shy and she wanted to ride Stu her way without comments or people judging her.  I get that.  But she now recognizes that being alone with Stu most of the time might not have been the right approach.  When you are with others, you benefit from their energy and it pushes you do to things, to step out of your comfort zone.  Jean wasn't being pushed to do anything in the current scenario.  As much as she had a firm schedule to be at the barn, she did not have a firm routine on what was going to transpire once she was there.  As a result, Stu was not regularly ridden.  He was groomed a lot, he was lunged a lot, he was ridden some times. 

Since Jean partnered up with Stu, I have always encouraged her to take advantage of LA's expertise through lessons.  Initially, she didn't think lessons would be necessary as she thought her riding experience would be enough for Stu.  When she realized that her skills were not enough, she had a professional work with Stu.  Again, she thought that she could just pick up where the trainer left off.  Personally, there was no way I was going to invest the time and money to have Gem in boot camp and then not have lessons with the trainer (LA) afterwards - in fact, LA made me commit to a couple of lessons after boot camp.  I needed to know where the buttons were and be reminded on a regular basis so it stuck!  :-)   Sadly, Jean's decision to not have lessons from the trainer or LA after Stu completed his training has had a negative impact.  She has not been able to maintain or build on what the trainer accomplished with Stu (confidence, walk, trot, canter).   

Since our lunch in January Jean has adjusted her schedule so that we ride together on Sundays.  Yay!  And, she is back in lessons!  Yay!  We have had four lessons now and Jean and Stu are doing much better.  Stu has adjusted to not being lunged, he now stands quietly at the mounting block and has gone from a wiggly-almost-ready-to-bolt horse to trotting the whole arena (gosh, Stu has a beautiful trot!).   It's great to see her enthused, connected and with a smile on her face.  And, of course, we go out for burgers and beers after lesson.  :-)   She's baaaackkkkk.....  

Have a good week, everyone!

Moment of Truth...continued

 Part 1

Gem and I stood in the middle of the arena and watched Jean get ready.  She put on my Confidence Vest ,(I am lending it to her for now) took lots of deep breaths and led Stu over to the mounting block.  He stood quietly while she fiddled and fussed with the position of the mounting block.  I knew she was stalling.  She stood on the mounting block for a bit, finally put her leg in the stirrup and swung her leg over.  Stu just stood there.  Yay! 

Deep breaths....

Up and over!

Touch down!

Jean took a moment to breathe and then asked him to walk on.  Stu flinched just a smidge when  she squeezed her legs, but he walked off nicely.  The anxiety that Jean was feeling was obvious, but I give Stu credit for not freaking out because of it.  They walked for about 10 minutes and then called it a day.  Not bad for the first time going solo!

 Jean won't ride alone (that's a good thing!), so she has been coordinating with other boarders or her husband comes with her to watch.  Her and I have coordinated to meet a couple of times.  Her usual routine is to lunge Stu at a walk, moving up to fast trot and canter until she feels he's tired.  

Now, I can understand the philosophy of using lunging as a training aid or to get out some of the P & V in some horses.  :-)  I don't know much about lunging, but I wonder if Stu needs much lunging.  He doesn't not have P & V and he understands his verbal commands beautifully.  He's pretty docile, really.  Yes he is spooky under saddle, but he's new at it.  I suspect that because lunging is an area where Jean is in control, it gives her confidence, so she does it for as long as she can. The Trainer believes in lunging before every single ride to set the tone.  LA thinks that lunging should only be used as a training aid for green horses learning ground manners. Lunging seems to be a very personal thing. 

Jean has been on Stu a number of times now and each time I see her, she's a little more confident.  When she was on him last Sunday, she asked for a trot.  Stu did a little bolt and scurry, but eventually got into a funky trot.  Jean didn't keep it up for long.  Frankly, I think she sort of scared herself when she realized how BIG the trot was.  :-) 

Jean is obviously exhilarated and happy about riding her boy.  The comments from others at the barn have been positive and she is definitely on a high. It is so exciting seeing someone recognize their dream and I am pleased for her.   I have broached the topic of getting back into lessons.  She does not see lessons in her future any time soon.  She believes that now that Stu has completed 60 days and she can sit on him, lessons are not a requirement because it's just a matter of her working him.   I do disagree with her on this, but she has to figure this out for herself; no one will be able to tell her otherwise at this point.  Jean hopes to ride Stu four times a week; three evenings and Sunday afternoons.  I admire her commitment and watching her relationship grow with Stu will be fun and educational.   Maybe next summer we will be hitting the trails together!!

The Moment of Truth

I had my private lesson last Friday.  Even though there was a light rain, we had the lesson outside.  As we walked through the gate leading to the open fields, LA asked me which fields gave me the most anxiety when out for trail rides.  My response was the big open ones - too much space!  "OK, that's where we will have our lesson.", was her response.  Gulp.

To say that my heart wasn't pounding would be lying.  But, LA reassured me that Gem knew what he was doing and that I was going to have to learn how to trust him.  Deep breaths were my friend and I walked and trotted circles around LA, working up from small to quite large.  Her dog was running in and out of the brush and trees, which sometimes took Gem's attention away from me but LA reminded me how to get him to refocus.  I explained to LA that my ultimate goal was to be able to go out on the trails by myself.  It was at that point, while trotting a circle around LA, that Gem tripped over a mound of grass and went down to his knees and dusting the ground with his face.  The reins slid through my fingers, but I didn't loose them completely.  Gem righted himself.  Instead of focusing on the "almost fell" aspect, LA explained I didn't help Gem in any way.  I should have provided some tension on the reins as he started to tumble to help him keep his balance and help right him.  Now I know.

Then that moment came.  The one that these exercises had been leading up to.   I have to say it came sooner than I expected.  LA asked me walk Gem across the field to one of the openings to the old orchard.  Then I was to turn around and half way back I was to trot to LA.  What?!  Holy crap.  But I did it.  Then she asked me to walk to the tree in middle of the field and come back, trotting the last little bit.  And I did.  We ended the lesson there, with me exhilarated. 

                                                   *   *   *   *   *

Well, this past weekend marked the conclusion of Stu's 60 days of training.  Saying that Jean was excited is an understatement! 

Stu's Trainer is a petite well-muscled young lady who teaches jumping at LA's facility on occasion, but is also employed at one of the show hunter/jumper barns locally.  She is not shy of tall horses!  :-)  What she wasn't prepared for was Stu's width and eventually it took it's toll on her hips.  She had to take a week off of riding him to rest, which delayed the conclusion of the training. 

The goal of this training was to get Stu comfortable with rider on his back at a walk and trot and start working on canter if things went well.  The Trainer rode him 5 days a week, with the time of day of the session varying.  Sometimes he was ridden in the arena, sometimes outside in the front paddock..  Sometimes the sessions lasted 45 minutes, sometimes only 20 as a reward for good behaviour.  

Jean was invited to see how Stu was progressing after his first 30 days and she invited me to join her.  :-)    I think both Jean and I held our breath as The Trainer swung herself up on him.  He did have a nervous look about him.  There were a couple of other riders in the arena and The Trainer encouraged to them not to be shy and to treat her and Stu as any other rider in the arena.  It was apparent that Stu was not comfortable with the activity but he did his best.  His balance was off.  Learning to walk and trot while having a rider on you is hard!   After she worked with him at a walk, she moved up to a trot.  When she initially asked, he was very skittish.  But when he did get into a rhythm, he looked amazing!  His trot is so beautiful - legs high, back slightly rounded.   The Trainer sure knows how to sit in the saddle.  Stu's jumpiness, even though it's only a step or two, is big.  I don't think her butt left the saddle once.

Considering that a month previous, Jean was eating dirt because he was scared of her sitting on him, Jean was very pumped to see his progress.  The Trainer asked Jean if she could arrange for another experienced rider from the hunter barn to take Stu for a spin to provide her with feedback to determine if there was a particular area that she should focus on.  Jean agreed.  Then, a  couple of weeks ago, Jean called me very upset.  Apparently, The Trainer's friend had been unable to get to LA's place, so she asked a couple of the young ladies at the barn to ride Stu and provide feedback.  Both of these young ladies are in their late teens; one has only been riding a for year but rides almost every day and has become a competent rider, the other has been riding for years and competes in games and jumping.  Jean was devastated that two other barn mates got to ride Stu before her.  In addition, having two barn mates ride your horse opens up the door for negative comments or gossip. :-(  I admit that I was upset for her.  She decided to just let it go. 

The Trainer and Jean met up last weekend.  I happened to be practicing my neck reining (sigh) at the same time The Trainer and Stu were in the arena.  Gem pinned his ears a couple of times at the big brown horse as we jogged by and Stu had a "deer in the headlights" look about him when looking at Gem.  But, after our practice, we stood with The Trainer and Stu and everyone was fine. Even with the improvement in response times to cues, Stu is still skittish when asked for transitions and he is still apprehensive when working around other horses. He does not like to be asked to lope, but when he does lope it's quite graceful.  The Trainer told Jean that it could take some time and a lot of patience for Stu to build his confidence up and loose his skittishness.  Or, there is the possibility that he might not loose it at all and she will have to comes to terms with that.


This past Saturday, after The Trainer completed her last session with him, Jean rode Stu at walk, with The Trainer holding the bridle.  The Trainer went over where Stu's buttons were and the tension on the reins, etc. etc.  It was very exciting.  However, Sunday was the really BIG day for Jean because she was going to be doing it on her own.   She tacked Stu up and led him to the arena.  Jean's colour was high and I could tell that she was nervous but eager to get the adventure started. She lunged him for, what seemed like, forever....delaying the inevitable.  But, the time had come.

To be continued....

One Week to the Next

• We have had a couple of grass fires in outlying areas that have taken days to get under control.  Although there have been promises of a reprieve from the 34C temperatures we have had for weeks now, the occasional grey clouds never amount to anything. Everything is crispy.  LA's mother, who has lived on the property since 1961, says she has never experienced weather like we have had recently. 

• The beginning of June, I strained my back quite badly....badly enough that there were times I had to sleep in a chair because I couldn't get in or out of bed.  It was worth it, though.  :-) It was caused by a great riding lesson that included poles.  I was planning on taking the summer off from lessons (too hot!!), so I just stopped a little sooner.  About 3 weeks ago, I started riding again.  I needed assistance getting up, and I only lasted short periods of time, but it felt good to get back in the saddle.  I managed to get Gem up to a lope a couple of times and I was very pleased with myself.  Funny how quickly your confidence and endurance diminishes when you haven't ridden in a few weeks.....

• Just over a week ago, LA convinced me to have Gem put out at night and brought into the cool barn during the day.  DH is still out there with him.  Now for those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you might remember that Gem is a bit of an escape artist.  He is not afraid of the electric fence and has proven that a few times now.  Initially, I wasn't fussy on it, but with the heat we have been experiencing I decided to give it a go.  It seems to be working out OK.  The downside is that when I see him to ride, he is full of beans and is anxious to get out of the stall.  Not a great combination when when you are trying to ease back into riding.  :-)

• I bought my Australian stock saddle.  I put it together last week and tried it out on Friday.  Everything is quite stiff yet, so I won't be taking it out on the trails until it's broken in. I am having difficulty in getting the girth as tight as it should be.  It is sooo much lighter than my Western! I love the seat of it - the cantle is quite high and helps support your back and it's very comfortable.  The knee pads keep you in position.  It will take some time to get used to the leathers and I am definitely going to swap out the stirrups - I find them a bit small.  

• DH's Mom just got back from a dude ranch adventure.  She went on her own.  She has ridden most of her life and this type of holiday has always been a dream of hers.  She was in the interior of British Columbia and said it was the best vacation she had ever been on.  She was there a week, along with 40 other people.  Every day there were trail challenges - riding up mountains, crossing rivers, stony paths, deep brush.  There was lots of galloping and she jumped a log....at a gallop....this was her first time jumping!  The place was a first class resort and very well managed.  The horses were terrific and the food amazing.  She made lots of friends.  She said that she learned soooo much from the rancher and the professionals that took them on the day excursions.  Some of her observations hit really close to home for me.....but I will share them in another post. 

• Jean made the decision last week (I admit that I did push it a bit) to get a professional trainer involved with Stu.  It's a hard pill to swallow, but she has come to the realization that perhaps she needs help.  I am very pleased that she has made this decision.  She met with a trainer that LA recommended and they had their first session last Friday.

• A few weeks ago, I sent an email to a local Hyundai dealership enquiring about the delivery wait for a red Veloster.  Dealers around here are only getting a few of these cars and they are sold practically before they arrive.  In my email, I said that I was interested in a base model, I wanted an automatic and I wanted it in red.  No one replied.  :-( On Saturday, My Husband and I were out shopping and he started talking about my need of a new car and he suggested we swing by the Hyundai dealer to look at the Elantra as an alternative.  As we were sitting in a floor model, I mentioned to the sales rep that what I was really interested in was the Veloster.  He said that he had one on the lot that was sold, but if I wanted to sit in it I could....yes, please!  He returned with the keys and as we were walking to the car, he said he was mistaken....this car was not sold; it was their 2013 model that had just arrived.  My heart skipped a beat.  As we walked closer, I saw that it was red.  My heart fluttered.  When I got in, I noticed it was an automatic....  I asked if this was the base model - yes it was.  My heart jumped.  So, I bought my car on the weekend!  No waiting, no fuss.  In fact, the car was so new to the lot that the price had to be verified. How weird that My Husband would suggest going to the dealership on Saturday and that the car had just been delivered and was exactly what I was looking for.  It was meant to be!!  

Have a great week!!

Shaken and Stirred

Geez, the temps are up to 35C here, 40C with the humidex!  Yikes!  Makes for really big hair.  :-)

Jean has been doing amazing work with Stu.  When she lunges him, he now responds immediately to all of her verbal commands: easy, whoa, walk, trot.   She has been exposing him to different things to desensitize him.  Stu now wears a western saddle on his back while being lunged. Jean has done all of this on her own and her confidence has grown.  I know Jean pretty well, and I can tell she was getting bored with her routine with Stu.   So it wasn't a surprise when Jean asked LA if she could go to the next step.  With LA's help, she actually sat on Stu a couple of weeks ago, with LA holding Stu's headstall.  Very exciting.  He was skittish, understandably.  Jean was nervous, understandably.  Unfortunately, after Jean sat on Stu, he got the step ladder caught on his back foot , causing him to spook a bit.   LA continued to hang on and calm him, Jean gratefully got down and untangled him.  Now, apparently, white step stools are killer monsters to Stu.


The plan was to have someone sit on Stu every day, eventually working up to a walk.  The challenge was that Jean couldn't be out at the barn every day and LA could not risk injuring herself on a green horse because it would impact her training business.   The 2nd time Jean was scheduled to sit on him, she started working herself up to a tizzy with her nervousness.  Fortunately, she came clean and one of the other adult boarders, who has worked with green horses before, volunteered to "sit" on Stu with LA holding Stu's headstall.  Even though he routinely swung his hind end out, Stu did pretty well with the boarder on his back and LA actually led him around in a couple of small circle.  This boarder volunteered to sit on Stu when Jean was not there, but scheduling became an issue.  So, on Sunday, as I was untacking Gem, I overheard Jean explaining the situation to another boarder and how she was frustrated that it appeared that Stu was ready but the stars were not aligned.  At that point, I volunteered to be Jean's ground person if she wanted to try sitting on him.


Jean lunged Stu in the arena while I finished up with Gem.  I got my Confidence Vest out of the car and handed it to Jean as I entered the arena.  At first she said she didn't need it, but I asked her to wear it for me and she did.  We both had helmets on.  She handed Stu's reins to me and I walked him around the arena a couple of times, talking to him, getting him used to me and my voice.   Jean put the big black 3-step mounting block in the middle of the arena.  Initially, all Jean did was pull down on the stirrup, getting him re-acquainted with the feeling.  He kept swinging his hind end away from Jean.  She would reposition the mounting block and we would go through the same routine.  Eventually, we moved him to the 1/2 wall next the to gate; Jean didn't want him to feel claustrophobic, so she thought that standing parallel to the gate where he could see outside would be a good thing.  Positioning him there worked wonderfully.  He did not swing out his hind end and over a 10(?) minute period, she worked up from pulling down on the stirrup, to stepping up and leaning over him and dismounting.  All the while, I was stroking Stu's neck and telling him what a good boy he was.  His anxiety started to melt away, his head lowered, he sucked on the bit and his eyes were relaxed.  Jean was nervous because she knew the time had come.  I told her that if she didn't feel up to it to walk away now - in my mind it was already a very successful session.   She decided to give it a go.


She slowly swung her leg over him and gently sat down.  Stu, perked up and as usual, took a big step and started to swing his hind end out.  What happened next caught both of us off guard.  Stu became a whirling dervish, with me hanging on to his face for part of it.  Unfortunately for Jean, the momentum of Stu doing a really fast small circle whipped her out of the saddle.  She flew through the air coming down hard on her hip, then chest, finishing with a face plant in the new fluffy sand.  I was glad that she was wearing my vest.  :-)  Stu immediately stopped and stood about 15 feet away, looking at us.  I swear he was scared but concerned about what had just happened.  While Jean was trying to catch her breath, I went to Stu, spoke quietly to him and then looped the reins over the horn of the saddle, to keep them from sliding down his neck and over his head.  

LA's husband came in to the arena and while I moved the mounting block over the Jean so she could sit, he went over to Stu.  After a few minutes, LA's husband got on Stu (from the ground, for cripes sakes!) and sat on him for a few minutes while LA and I ascertained that Jean could walk, etc. 

I am certainly no expert, but here's my postmortem:

• Jean was nervous and Stu picked up on that.
• Perhaps 10(?) minutes was too long to be working up to Jean getting on him.
• Jean and I were lulled into a false sense of security when Stu became relaxed. 
• I did a good job of calming Stu, but perhaps it was too good.  If he was half asleep when Jean sat on him, he may have been startled.
• Jean was a bit too slow in getting into the saddle; it was not fluid, hence her foot was not secure in the other stirrup and she did not have a secure grasp on the reins.
• When Stu took that initial step when Jean sat in the saddle, swinging his hind end away from me, I believe he hit the bottom of the gate with one of his hind feet, causing him to jump forward (reminiscent of the killer monster stool).
• It happened so quickly, that neither of us had the sense to actually use any verbal commands, like "easy" or "whoa!" 

I know what it's like to fall from a large horse.  I fell from Gem while galloping (the galloping was not by choice!!) and once when he bucked at a horse that was too far up his butt on the trails, catapulting me out of the saddle to fall like a rag doll in the hard snow.  It's scary and it hurts.  A lot.  I was able to get right back on Gem both times, which was good for my confidence.  Jean was focused on herself after the fall and didn't have any contact with Stu, not even a reassuring pat while we were still in the arena.  :-(  Someone else took him to the barn, untacked him and put him out.  After I agreed to pick her up, she sent me a note saying she had decided not to come out to the barn on Tuesday because she was stiff and didn't think that it would be good for her to be traipsing around the fields looking for Stu..... 


I know her confidence has suffered with this fall and it has been a humbling from a "knowing her horse" and "horse trainer" perspective.  I just hope it doesn't take long for her to get over it and that I will see her out at the barn this weekend, working with her beautiful horse.   

Have a good weekend and stay cool!

Weird and Wonderful and Awkward.....

Weird:

My normal routine when tacking up is curry, brush, feet, saddle.  I have found over time that adding a bit of saliva to my finger tips aids in grasping my 100 lb (I may be exaggerating) saddle when I lift it over my head.  So, why is it that I can lick my fingers, which even though I have given them a dust on my pants. are covered in dirt and whatever dirt and manure mixture that came out of Gem's feet, but cringe when someone doesn't wash their hands after they use the bathroom?

Wonderful:

LA got an Australian Cattle Dog puppy 8 months ago.  He's a very clever dog and will be a great companion for LA when her only child leaves for college in the fall.  Tuesday, the puppy's mother came for a visit.  They hadn't seen each other since he left her.  They were so happy to see each other and it was wonderful to watch them together....playing and loving each other non-stop.

Awkward:

Jean asked if I would help her clean Stu's sheath.  In making our arrangements, I sent her an email saying "we will do them both" and "you bring the K-Y"......hmmm

Weird:

Is it just me, or have you noticed that when you are grooming your horse's hip and croup area, he/she passes gas?

Wonderful:

The front paddock is under renovation right now.  The finished product will be huge - double in size!  You should have seen the boulders that were pulled out of the ground....   :-)

Awkward:

A couple of weeks ago, while out on a trail ride, we entered the forested area from a different less-traveled opening. The two riders in front of me were on smaller horses (of course!) and the tree branches weren't much of an issue for them.   I, on the other hand, had to bend right over Gem's neck to avoid having my head smashed by the branches.  I actually had to stay like that for a while.  Eventually, we came to a clearing and as I started to sit up, I was jerked back down to Gem's neck.  The front of my bra had become hooked on my saddle horn and my t-shirt had sort of become wrapped around the horn.  I yelled out to my friends to wait because I had to "unhook my bra"........  Sigh.

Weird:

LA told one of the other boarders that if she didn't call her farrier and get her horse's feet done immediately, she was going to call ours and have them done and charge her a service fee on top of having to pay for the farrier.   This boarder considers herself to be quite a horsewoman, but seems completely oblivious to the long, split feet of her horse. Why is it some people just don't get it.....

Wonderful:

I received my Sunbody hat a month ago and LOVE it.  I got the same style that Raeta wore in the movie "Buck". Does it make me a better rider?  I don't know because I wear a helmet when I ride.....  :-) 

Weird:

I don't understand how the type/font when I am composing my blog post looks fine while editing, but changes size after I post it.  Drives me crazy.  What's with that???

 Wonderful:

My natural hair colour was black, but when I hit my 40's and it started greying, I started colouring it a medium brown.  I stopped colouring my hair a year ago.   One more hair cut and I will be silver!  I love it!!  Strangely, the hair on the back of my head is still pretty dark.  I cannot tell you how many MEN have told me that they love it.  ;-)

Awkward:

The lady who does my nails is 6 months pregnant.  I didn't notice.  She was going on about how the stairs in her 3-storey condo were going to be a PITA and I didn't get it.  Oops.   In my defence though, she's always in a white smock and she sits behind a table.....

Wonderful:

My Niece wants to come for a visit and she wants to bring a friend!  They will be coming for a couple days at the end of the month.  Yipee!!

Have a great weekend!!

Stu Update!

Well, Stu has been at the barn for over two months now!  Can you believe it?  How time flies. 

Bringing him to LA's was a piece of cake.  We met the transporter (recommended by an acquaintance) at  Handsome Farmer's place. I went along to keep Jean from crashing her car in the excitement and seeing Handsome Farmer again was a bonus.  ;-)

Hey, Mom's here!

Where are we going??

The transport guy was terrific.  His trailer was big enough for Stu and very clean and maintained.  In fact, this guy owns Canadians, so he couldn’t be bad, right?  :-)  Stu loaded without issue.  Whew!  Now the ride home.  Jean thanked the handsome farmer and basically sprinted to the car.  I shook hands and thanked Handsome Farmer for…oh, I don’t know….being handsome, I guess.  ;-)

We arrived at the LA’s first.  Word had spread and a small crowd had started to gather in anticipation.  They weren’t disappointed.  Stu unloaded like it was nothing and although you could tell he was a bit nervous, he was well behaved.  Everyone was oooh-ing and ahhhhh-ing. 

Watch the ice!

 Jean walked him up and down the lane a few times.  It was icy, so she took him into the arena.  There were quite a few riders in there and he handled it well.

First time in an arena!

Hello, there....

 Stu was a little skittish, but was well behaved.  LA and Jean took him to the round pen and let him run around a bit to stretch his legs.  It was decided to put him out with the herd later that afternoon.  As he calmly started to walk towards the the hay pile, all the horses looked over at him and started to trot over.  It ended up where everyone was trotting behind Stu!  Hilarious!  It was wonderful to watch 20-odd horses following the larger horse.  One horse did challenge Stu but it seemed to sort itself out as we watched.  LA headed back to the arena and Jean and I watched the herd dynamic for a bit longer.  Stu eventually started trotting through the bush out of sight, so we made our way back to the arena. 

Handsome Farmer warned Jean that Stu was hard to catch out in the field and that was what Jean decided was her first priority.    In fairness to Stu, yes, he was hard to catch as an individual, but only because he was used to being brought in with his driving team as a group, sort of follow the leader.   Jean was out there pretty much every day, in freezing weather, sometimes for hours trying to catch Stu, while other horses swarmed her.  Occasionally, I would join her, either gently steering Stu in her direction or keeping the other horses from interrupting.  It was really hit and miss.  Jean went through bags and bags of carrots.  :-)

Over the first few weeks, Stu got more used to Jean and would stand next to her or follow her around like a puppy.  Hooking up the lead was still hit and miss.  When she was able to hook him up, she brought him into my barn and put him in the cross-ties (new to Stu) and groomed him.  Or, if the arena was empty, she would take him in there and walk him around on the lead.  The breakthrough came when LA moved all of the horses into the small field behind the barn (Gem's usual turnout) to allow the grass to grown in the pastures. By that time, the hierarchy had been decided (Stu's upper/middle),  he had a girlfriend (Lucy) and he was eating and putting on weight.  Life was good.  In his content state, he began to relax more and more.  Jean didn't have to walk over miles of acreage to find him.   Eventually, one day when Jean entered the field, he walked over to her and let her hook up the lead rope.  Yay!!!    I commend Jean for her patience.  BTW, putting Gem out with the herd a couple of times a week was delayed until the herd goes back out.

It is funny to see Gem next to Stu.  Height-wise, Stu doesn't seem that much taller to me than Gem.  However, he probably outweighs Gem by about 200 lbs now.  Stu's head must be twice the size of Gem's!  In fact, Gem looks like a chiseled dainty Arabian-type horse next to Stu!  Gem is not completely sold on this new guy.  In fact, he has tried to take a nip out of Stu when Jean walked Stu by Gem's stall!  Stu didn't even bat an eye at Gem's rudeness. 

To expose him to barn life, Jean brought him out to the front paddock the other day.  Three young ladies were riding in there while others watched.  If Stu could have climbed into Jean's lap he would have!  It wasn't that he was dancing or spooking, but every time a rider would come near, he would sort of try to put his head down on Jean's chest or under her arm, just like a dog.   It took a sec for Jean to figure it out, but she believes his nervousness was because he's just not used to seeing people ON horses!  LOL!   He will definitely be getting more exposure to that!  :-)

Stu's progress has been great.    Look what he has accomplished over the last couple of months:

• Coming to Jean to be hooked up to the lead.
• Standing in cross-ties.
• Standing for periods of time to be groomed.
• Allowing his feet to be cleaned regularly.
• Had his feet trimmed without the use of stocks (our farrier rocks!)
• Had his teeth floated (Apparently they were done when he was younger, but Handsome Farmer had never had them done while Stu lived with him.)
• Free-lunging in the round pen.
• Spending time in the arena, even when snow was sliding down the sides.

Next up:  Now that he's comfortable with the lead, Jean will start working him on a lunge line.  She is going to have LA show her how to lunge properly.

Stu has such a lovely demeanor about him and everyone loves him.  Jean and I have been together on this horse journey and I am very pleased for her.  Despite the negative nellies at the barn, I think that Stu came into Jean's life for a reason.  Jean was searching for something and I think Stu might just be her answer.

Have a great weekend!

When Dreams Come True

Weekend before last, my riding buddy Jean and I went on a road trip. We had an appointment to meet a guy named Stu. Although we had not met him, we had heard that Stu was a nice guy and we were looking forward to meeting him and talking horses. After an hour and a half, we found the long lane way to the farm we were looking for. We were greeted by two large dogs, announcing our arrival. A tall (very handsome) man emerged from the barn and carefully maneuvered over the icy open area to where we were parked. After we introduced ourselves, The Farmer told us we would find Stu in the barn with his daughter.

I chatted with The Farmer (did I mention he was handsome?) as we walked up to the barn, asking about his milking operation and his hobby of driving. He currently drives double and four hitches and competes in the regional fairs, if he can get someone to babysit his cows over the weekend. Which brings us to the reason we came in the first place. Meet Stu....

Isn't he handsome? Jean heard about Stu through a friend. He is trained to drive single, double and in a four-hitch. The only issue....he's too short! The Farmer bought him as a 3 year old, hoping he would finish at closer to 18hh. But, at 6 years of age, he pretty well finished at just 16.3hh and at 1400 lbs (we measure him), he's too small to drive in pairs or teams with The Farmer's other horses. As a comparison, Gem is around 16.0-16.1hh and weighs in at 1300 lbs. Although Jean did not have plans to buy a horse until the Fall, Stu was pretty much exactly what she was looking for; he is the right age, the right size, a gelding, has a gentle demeanor, he is an easy keeper, has never had any health issues, is outside 24/7, has good feet and reasonably priced.

It's not all roses though. The Farmer was honest with us and said that Stu had not been worked with for a year, was living the life of a prince out with the other horses, is in the upper section of the 10-horse herd hierarchy and was sometimes hard to catch in the field. Oh, and he's never had a rider on his back.

Stu let us touch him all over (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and we picked up his feet and held them up without issue. We couldn't trot him outside because of the ice. However, The Farmer's 13-year old daughter walked him up and down the aisle of the barn. He never pulled on the lead rope and was quite content following her. The Farmer did say that because he knew that Jean was looking to have a riding horse, he put his daughter up on Stu prior to our arrival to see what he would do! He said he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't confident that Stu wouldn't turn into a lunatic. He did it again for us. Stu sort of had a look of "hmmm...that feels different....", but he didn't twitch or freak out.

A date was agreed on for the vet check, a handshake sealed the deal and Jean and I said our good-byes to Stu, The Farmer and his daughter. We waited until we were driving down the lane way before we started whooping and hollering.

Jean excitedly told LA about Stu after our lesson last Tuesday. Instead of being excited for Jean, LA's response was guarded. She's concerned for Jean's safety. She thinks Jean is in for a lot of hurt and frustration. But what was hurtful was she doesn't quite get why Jean would want a Clyde in the first place. "You can't do anything with a Clyde." It was a bit of a letdown for Jean and when the two of us went for Burgers and Beers afterwards, I had to give her a little pep talk. However, LA's negativity and big horse prejudice has made Jean even more determined to prove her wrong. :-)

The vet check was done this past Wednesday and other than the vet wanting him to be a little heavier, he passed with flying colours. Unfortunately, because of icy conditions Stu couldn't be lunged in a circle, but the vet's examination did not lead him to believe there would be problems. All his vaccinations and a Coggins Test were done. His teeth will be floated in the spring.

Getting a Clyde or any horse that is +16.0hh brings on other challenges. Normal trailers can't handle a large horse comfortably. Most farriers won't work on drafts without the use of stocks. Getting a saddle may be a challenge. But you can always find a solution and it's amazing how horsey friends come together and help. I offered my English saddle to Jean just to get him used to having something on his back while she's working with him. A trailer was found and booked. Boarding arrangements, at the regular outside board rate (yipee!) with LA have been finalized. Stu will have his feet done before he's transferred to give Jean time to find local farrier that will work without stocks.

I am going to be Jean's ground person for the first while, and definitely when she's ready to start sitting on him. Her goal is to be riding him by the summer, eventually working towards taking him out in the small field to get him used to larger spaces with a rider on his back. I am excited for Jean - her dream has come true. I am looking forward to helping her; I think I will learn a lot. Stu will be here in 2 weeks....I can hardly wait!!! :-)