First of all, I got my winner's package from Steph today and you should all be really jealous. It is awesome. Thank you, Steph!
I promised some jumping pictures from this morning. Unfortunately S doesn't know how to work my camera....and honestly neither do I, so I wasn't much use trying to explain it to her. It did make us appreciate Hubby's willingness to come to the barn so often and take pictures for us though!
it was super cold. bobby debuted his butt cape for the first time this season.
at this point S was like, "i don't know why this isn't working!" and neither did i. (3'3" vertical off the side of the oxer)
and then this happened and we rejoiced not because she didn't fall, but because i actually caught it.
i couldn't see a distance to save my life, and got left behind on this one
but bobby picked up a full head of steam and the distances were right there
I saw this cool story the other day on our local news station about a white Standardbred making his first career start at Pocono Downs, and I had to share!
There's a ton of pictures of him if you do a Google search. Pretty fancy schmancy, no?
In Bobby news, the wild moose got body clipped again this morning. I was totally set on waiting until after Thanksgiving because I'll be gone for a week while visiting family in IL, but after it took me an hour to dry him off yesterday when all we did was a relatively brief dressage school, I said FUCK THAT. Threw in the ole Fuck It Flag.
Now I'm going to blanket the shit out of him in hopes that he'll stop growing hair so quickly. He has the internal temperature of a fucking active volcano, so he gets warm under heavier blankets even when it's cold out. But if I leave them off, or go lighter than I normally would, he grows his winter coat back in double time. Then he gets uncomfortably hot and sweaty when working, and that's no fun for anyone.
Horse Problems. The struggle is real.
We also jumped around with S as our jump crew/boss lady when I was done, and set a date for tomorrow with the camera so that hopefully I have some new media to share.
jumped this again off the short side, just because we're awesome.
In conclusion, this is a post about nothing. Just filling the quota.
What better time to start up a series than when blog content is lacking? Unless you want to read about how my horse is ungodly fit and I am not. Like, not even remotely.
No, I don't want to read it either.
Instead I thought I'd share my three favorite hoof products that I use on my barefoot ponito.
i love you bitches.
First up is Hoof Heal dressing. I can get this at Tractor Supply for about $15, but it's pretty widely available. I use it a few times a week or more as needed for cracked hooves.
It. Is. Amazing.
I've never had a hoof dressing that works so effectively. Not only does it help immensely with hoof cracks, it also cleared up the start of some white line disease Bobby had going on within a few treatments.
The only downside is the smell. It's got both venice turpentine and linseed oil in it which might be two of the stinkiest hoof products on the planet. I'd almost suggest wearing gloves if you're a sloppy putter-onner like I am because the smell sticks to your hands. Well worth it though, and it's easily surpassed my love for Farrier Barrier.
I also worship Iodine spray. Obviously this shit is messy and it gets everywhere, so the spray nozzle is a must. I use it daily to coat the bottom of Bobby's hooves when he gets a little foot sore. It also clears up minor nastiness in the frog.
And finally, the number one killer of killer thrush, there's Tomorrow. It's a mastitis treatment for dry cows, but the thin tube applicator is perfect for sticking deep down into a thrush killer. Bobby had horrendous thrush that was actually making him lame and nothing I was treating him with would clear it up.
A week of daily treatment with the Tomorrow and he was sound again. Three weeks later and the thrush was one hundred percent gone. You can buy it by the box, but I bought individual tubes for a few bucks a piece at our local feed store. One tubes lasts for about five generous treatments.
I would recommend Tomorrow for anyone dealing with serious thrush. I think it's the top thrush killer I've ever dealt with, and it's super easy to use.
Do you guys use any of my top three products on your own horses? If not, what do you use?
In other hoof news, I've barely been touching Bobby's feet with the rasp because he's the soundest he's probably ever been in his hooves his entire life. I figure I shouldn't mess with a good thing so even if they're not the prettiest right now, they're functionally awesome.
Today's blog hop asks: Other than your horse, what other pets do you have?
Answer: too many!
Or at least that's how it feels some days, even though we've significantly decreased the herd over the years.
Kitties:
the whiny wiener
I've had Oscar literally since before he was born. My roomie in college brought home a pregnant cat one night, and a couple weeks later she gave birth under S's bed. We found homes for all the kittens, but of course I had to keep one of them! The Puma Cat/Lord Fatimus/King of All Fat Cats/STOP MEOWING is eight years old now. He knows how to sit and stand up and beg on command, and his favorite thing is sleeping on my head....and puking on the floor.
tiny little stripey kitten
We got Stripes two and a half-ish years ago when Hubby and I were driving home from an evening canoeing on the river. Her and her brother were two teeny tiny kittens in the middle of the road, so of course we couldn't leave them there. We dove into the poison ivy, got bitten, and kept them for the night with the plan to take them to the SPCA the next day on our way out of state for vacation. The SPCA were kind of tools about it, and we ended up stuck with them. The male we re-homed in no time, but no one wanted Stripes so we kept her for ourselves. She's pretty much the perfect cat on the planet, and even Hubby is madly in love with her.
Puppies:
wiggle pig
You guys know the puppies. This is Pig, whose actual name is Emily believe it or not. She's a five year old Heeler/Border Collie. She loves people, rolling in dead things, barking, balls, swimming, and going for boat rides. She does not like other dogs.
moo cow
And, of course, Mags, who we just got a month ago, has already gained twenty pounds, and is now taller than Pig. ZOMG, STOP GROWING SO FAST.
Other:
the black beast from hell. if only she really laid the most delicious food on earth.
Black Thunder is our four year old bun bun. We bought her as a baby from Tractor Supply and she was the devil. She would bite, lunge at you, and scratch you to a bloody pulp before pinning you to the ground and drinking your blood. Okay, that last bit might be a slight exaggeration, but she was so mean for the first year of her life. Then I wore her down with my die-hard logic of: Bunnies were put on this earth to snuggle. SO YOU WILL SNUGGLE ME. Now she lets me tote her around and deigns to be pet. She also loves chasing the kitties and biting the puppies when they get too annoying.
I did so many fun pony things this weekend! Well, not really "so many", but the pony things I did do were fun.
On Saturday I met S at the barn for some jumping in the outdoor. I stole another Bay with Chrome jump course because what are bloggers for besides stealing their awesome riding exercises? This course, however, was very nearly not our friend. It was ten thousand times harder than it looked on paper, and while I did run through it once in its entirety, I spent most of the ride being S's guinea pig.
We warmed up over an oxer that I dropped to an X, did the 3' oxer on the short side a few times, and ran through the two stride with and without the vertical off a crazy turn thrown in.
Then S started pointing out lines she thought would be crazy fun to do, and convincing me to do them with encouraging phrases like, "I bet Bobby could do it." and "That would be so bad ass if you could do that jump to this jump. You should try it."
Clearly I am not hard to get to do things.
And also my horse is a rock star.
Also also, we were without Hubby so all you get his helmet cam video of these adventures. Sorry, haters.
S's first "suggestion" was to make the two diagonal verticals (the verticals were all set at 2'6") as a sharp bending line. She had to literally walk me through the line because I wasn't seeing it. It rode pretty easily though.
Then we did one of the diagonal verticals and rolled back to the middle vertical. Also pretty easy.
Since those posed no problems, we got a little more exciting and decided to do the two angled verticals on a straight line. That was pretty legit, and probably the most fun yet still slightly terrifying exercise of the day. I angled the second vertical on its own just to make sure we could. Bobby had zero issue with it, so I came around and put them together. Yeah, also no issue. Did I mention my horse is a rock star?
S finished doling out ideas with the bending-ish line to a quick roll back to the oxer:
And then we did the whole course:
Which was very tricky and bendy, and all of S's crazy ideas actually paid off for a great warm up for this course.
S pointed out that last year Bobby wouldn't have been able to do any of this. He wouldn't have saved my ass and just gone when we got to an awkward spot; he'd have gone galloping off or flying backwards. It was a nice reminder that even when things aren't perfect, they're still way better than they were before.
By the way, my pony is a fucking rock star.
On Sunday I finally gave in to Bobby's not so subtle hinting that he was ready to blow if he didn't get a gallop in and took him out on the trails. He was a perfect gentleman walking up the hill to the road, waited patiently for a car to pass, and then started to jig when we got to the open field. I let him pick up the trot, but the second we stepped through the gap in the hedgerow and he saw the hill he was gone.
gallop path for days
We were nearly dive bombed by a red tailed hawk which caused us both to spook; that mother fucker was literally on top of us, screaming its brains out about something. Sorry, bro! Didn't mean to infringe on your territory. Or whatever your problem is.
Bobby had a good gallop out, walked until he caught his breath as we did a little exploring, and then got a good gallop back. It was just what the pony ordered. I did his feet while he hung out under his cooler and dried off. He's already so hairy again.
This morning we did a dressage school in the outdoor. Again with the fabulousness and this bit. He went so well in his chunky french link Happy Mouth that I kind of can't believe he likes this tiny thing. Whatever, dude. If it makes a Bobby happy, it makes a Carly happy.
We ended the ride with canter serpentines with simple changes between. It started off a little sticky, but ended with me drooling a little bit at his fanciness. The more repetitions we did, the sharper he got and the more he sat. He felt like his butt was under my butt, and his canter was so uphill and collected. Like, true collection which was so fucking cool to feel.
It also showed me just how much leg I have to keep on when he's packaged up like that. Holy shit, MY LEGS HURT SO BAD FROM DRESSAGE.
This also needs to go in caps:
BOBBY DIDN'T GET TENSE WHEN WE STAYED WITH THE SAME EXERCISE FOR MORE THAN TWO SECONDS.
Mark it down, bitches. Someone is growing a brain.
sweaty horse dries off in the sun
He gets tomorrow off, and by "he" I mean "we". My body is like, "What the fuck is wrong with you??" with all this actual riding.
Bobby had a case of the "It's been winter for the last five months, there's ice on the ground, and I can't run and play in my paddock!" zoomies yesterday. You may be wondering why he was feeling this way since, you know, we haven't had a single flake of snow yet (actually, it's snowing its ass off right now out one window, but sunny out the other so I'm not counting it) and his giant paddock isn't even muddy.
I was wondering that, too.
I tried yet another new bit on him after randomly seeing some pictures from an old facebook album of his lips covered in a froth of glorious white foam.
love that foamy!
I dug it out--a thin, single jointed racing dee that squeaks like a bitch whenever it's in use.
BAM. He came right out like a rock star. Soft and low and loose, a little bit lazy at the canter, but overall a total dream boat.
Then, of course, after he had a canter he went bulldozing around at the trot. Remember that was one of my goals this month? To get him to stop doing that? It involved ten million bajillion ridiculous half halts, but it got done.
I tried to finish with some stretchy trot. It was good to the left, but the right was major zoomies zone. I ended up shortening my reins and making that big trot go to use.
throwback! someone needs new flat pictures!
Today was a cluster fuck where I was at the barn for three hours but only rode for twenty minutes. However, I did get the outdoor harrowed and a new jump course set up for this weekend. And Mags had another encounter with the electric fence while she wasn't listening. Call that a win? I vote yes.
Our ride this morning was pretty much all lateral work, and because Bobby let me get him super "collected" (we're not third level here, I know) it was great work. Shoulder in to haunches in down the long side turned into leg yield zig zags. It was fanciness abound.
I'm super excited about the new dressage tests, though I was surprised to see some movements that were in the Beginner Novice and Novice eventing tests. I've always equated First Level with Training (lengthenings and 15 meter circles) and Preliminary (leg yields) tests. But in 1-1 and 1-3, the final halts come off of a half circle at E or B making the halt at G. Also, in 1-3, there's a movement where you turn right at B, halt at X, pick the trot back up, and then turn left at E which is similar to the Novice B test.
Regardless, they look like a ton of fun. I can't wait to try them out, and I'm glad I only ended up showing at First for one year. Doing three dressage shows last year at that level made repeating and practicing those tests so many time super boring.
It's no secret that horse people are absolutely fucking nuts. In times of little blogging content, I thought I'd share my top three "favorite" personal encounters with some of the bat shit crazy people I've encountered.
In no particular order...
#3:
I boarded at a place in college where I was able to work off the majority of my board. The BO's daughter was my age and had gone to the same school I was attending, but had temporarily dropped out. So I knew her, but not very well at first. Over time, I ended up becoming pretty good friends with the family and I stayed there one summer to work.
red says, "i know where this is going..."
They were crazy, thrived off of drama, and their business practices actually ended up called into question by higher authorities. I saw a lot of behavior from them that was questionable, but never really put the horses at risk.
One summer though, they got mad at another boarder (it was primarily a retirement farm, but a few other college kids also kept their horses there) for who knows what reason, and they decided to withhold the daily electrolyte every other horse got added to their morning grain. To top that off, because they didn't like the horse much either, at each feeding they spit into his grain.
I ended up pulling Red out on zero notice because they went on a rampage when Hubby and I got together and I wasn't spending all my time there anymore. They wouldn't speak to me unless it was to say something rude, and they kept making up barn rules on the spot to go against whatever I was doing. Truly vindictive people, and I'm glad I have zero contact with them anymore.
#2:
A couple summers ago I joined a last minute clinic at my current barn. The clinician was a former rider of BO's and has gone on to be a somewhat BNR. I wrote a blog recap of it explaining my frustrations about not getting any constructive feedback, or really any feedback at all, and generally feeling alienated because I wasn't in BO's lesson program and for not being a hunter or jumper rider.
my micklem bridle was deemed "ugly" and consequently dismissed. uh, sorry?
About a week after the clinic, I was called into BO's office to discuss the post. Apparently BO had gotten a phone call from the clinician telling her I was ripping BO's program apart and completely slandering her in my blog. I was blown away and ended up breaking down and crying I was so insulted.
I'm not afraid to express my opinion or displeasure on my blog, but I do try to keep other people's identity on the down low, and I'd certainly never publicly tear someone to shreds over a few stupid comments that I quickly brushed off. I don't feel like I've ever threatened BO's business on here, nor put her through the ringer.
BO was incredibly understanding about the whole thing though, and she assured my she saw absolutely nothing that upset her. She was professional and sympathetic and remains so to this day about what happened. I appreciate that, but the drama that a couple of people tried their hardest to start over it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
#1:
At the barn I boarded at before I moved to my current barn, there were a whole host of problems I could rage on about. If there's anyone I would slander on this blog, it would be the owner of that barn. I even called the SPCA on him when I left, and I was not the only former boarder to do so. No turn out in the winter (paddocks were padlocked); you could turn out in summer in one of the two paddocks, but you had to come do it yourself; he would take any extra hay you put in your horse's stall out even though no one was getting enough; things would go missing; he'd try to talk about everyone behind their backs; and on and on.
the place was gorgeous however. bobby's first trail ride was around one of the fields.
The final straw was the evening I returned from a show and found that Red's grain had been fed to someone else. I was buying my own grain and supplements with no cost off board and individually bagging them. It was late enough when we got back that everyone had already been fed their dinner. Red's bucket was empty and so was his PM grain bag.
I went off on an epic rant to another boarder that happened to be around, and she told me the next day that BO explained to her that he must have just "accidentally" fed Red's grain to Bobby....you know, on top of Bobby's grain.
Yeah, no. That month, as I was trying to find a home for Bobby so I could move Red out of there, I saw some of my grain spilled in front of another horse's stall that was supposed to be getting the barn's mill feed. BO was feeding my expensive grain to whoever he felt like, and my horses were literally starving because of it. I was there for eight months too many, and I still feel guilty I didn't get out sooner.
What about you guys? What are your craziest crazy people encounters?
