I have been looking to buy a trailer for a while. But I’ve been a bit more serious about it since we are possibly moving and I’d like to have my own trailer so I can bring ConeMan back out to the barn for lessons, shows and in an emergency, the vet. We don’t need a HUGE trailer with live in…correction…we can’t afford a huge trailer with a live in at the moment. So we’ve been looking at little 2 horse bumper pulls. The thing is I’m terrified of horse trailers.
Last spring Piney sent me to the hospital with a concussion and to get my scalp stapled back together. It was a freak accident and just one of those times I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The horse loading after him spooked and he panicked and as I tried to unhook him he smashed me into the frame of the emergency exit. Not a fun day at all. Luckily it was at an equine health and wellness clinic and the veterinarian that gave Piney to me was able to tranquilize him and help us load him up. Even dopped out of his mind he didn’t want to load into that trailer.
The day I got him he was tranquilized before we loaded him up. The vet said it’s just better safe than sorry. The trailer we brought him home from the first time was a newer trailer and it was white with a white interior. The trailer we brought him to the clinic in was an older trailer with a darker interior. I know for a fact that he thought it was a dark scary bear cave, but I also think that he didn’t think he was going to fit in there. He didn’t want to go in there that morning either when we loaded him up. I know I obviously need to work on trailering for both him and myself. I just figured that he’d been trailered all over the country as a youngster so he would be used to riding in a trailer.
I don’t have much experience with trailers. I’ve never hauled one but it’s something I’m going to have to learn. My experience loading them is pretty limited too. My friend had a 4 horse/livestock trailer that was super easy to load. It was divided in the center and one horse would ride infront of the divider and one behind. It was easy to get in and out of and the horses we hauled were awesome…point them to the trailer and they’d hop right in.
The other trailer we used a lot was a 3 horse slant I loved loading monsters into that. It was basically load them in, shove their faces into a haynet and shimmy their butts over and latch the divider. However, we had horses that loved riding in the trailer.
I am not a fan of older trailers for a few reasons. Mostly the size. Horses 40 years ago were smaller than they are now. A two horse side by side from 1970 doesn’t offer the room that a horse of today needs. A few years back I borrowed a friend’s 2 horse trailer from the 60’s or 70’s to move Yellow to the farm I was living on. He barely fit and he was a real narrow Quarter horse. Gosh I loved how willing to hop into that teeny tiny little trailer he was though. He always had the “We are going somewhere today? Cool! I’m in! Let’s do this!” attitude wherever he went. Piney freezes at the sight of a trailer. It’s bad and embarrassing.
Every single trailer I’ve seen in our price range I’ve picked apart and imagined how badly I’d get hurt using it. I look at the ones with little escape doors and I replay that day I got smashed into one. But I’d rather have an escape door than a little escape window lol. I have a very active imagination and I see myself bringing the monster into the trailer and having him flip out again this time doing more damage to both me and himself. I HATE trailers…Why can’t a nice 2-3 horse slant be more affordable?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
inventory and memories
I decided the other day that I wanted to do an inventory of all my horse things. It was half way through the list I realized I have a lot of stuff! I didn’t even realize how I acquired all this stuff or when!
I have 11 Saddle pads…ELEVEN! Two are western and one is a Gel under pad but still. Who needs that many? Apparently I do. Some are fun and colorful and some are for show. But ALL of them are in need of a good scrubbing. Apparently no one taught me how to properly groom a horse.
I have 4 saddles, and I don’t even ride in a saddle lately. (laziness is the main factor in that!) I have my dressage saddle, my western saddle, an Australian saddle I picked up for $40 at an auction and have yet to ride in, and the very first saddle that was ever 100% mine, generic no name a/p English saddle that is way too small for me.
I have been trying to sell my generic a/p saddle for some time now. I have dropped the price drastically but still no one wants it. I suppose I could keep it, it does have a lot of memories attached to it. As I said it was my very first saddle and I got it years ago when I was working at a barn with my friend who was the barn manager. The Barn was private and was owned by a family. It housed their personal horses plus my friend’s horse. When I started there I didn’t get paid I just got to ride whenever I wanted. And that was payment enough for me at the time! I started working more out there so my boss bought me an English saddle from Fleet Farm as a “thanks for helping out”. I was pumped. I knew it wasn’t the best saddle in the world but it was MINE! I babied that thing and spent hours cleaning and oiling it. My friend would laugh at me when we’d go out trail riding and I’d ride in MY saddle, mostly because to her English saddles looked weird.
The thought crossed my mind to sell western saddle too. But its always been a brief thought. I don’t see myself ever parting with that saddle. That saddle has way more memories attached to it and I don’t even ride western much. It was about a year after I got my English saddle, my friend had moved across the country and I was now the barn manager. I was getting paid (not much) and working my butt off. My boss would treat me to new tack every so often. And it was always an awesome surprise to get to the barn and have nice new tack waiting for me that was all mine! One day I was lugging out one of the western saddles and he said “why don’t you go to town and pick out your own saddle, my treat” My jaw dropped and I hurried to town. I hit both our tack stores and fell in love with a Circle Y trail saddle. It had a “squishy” seat and looked awesome with the tack I already had. I told the lady at the shop to put it on hold for me and that my boss would be by to pay for it. She told me not to worry since she knew my boss, I could take it home that day. It was my first “real” saddle that was ever mine and WAY more than I’d ever spend on a saddle. I rushed back out to the barn and grabbed my favorite horse…Yellow…and tacked him up. Yellow and I put a lot of miles on that saddle and we had some fun adventures. It was a few months after I got the saddle I got Yellow’s AQHA Transfer papers for my birthday…he was mine. That job didn’t pay me THAT well, but I got a lot of “stuff” from it and that “stuff” meant more to me than my old boss will ever know.
When I left that barn I took stuff that I’d need and I promised I’d be back to get what I had forgotten and just never did. When I was loading up Yellow into the trailer to leave they kept giving me more stuff i'd "need" so I think that’s where I acquired most of my horse stuff. I promised I’d come back to visit and I’d come see my two horse buddies there. But sadly the next time I came by was to say goodbye to my horse buddies. It was a year ago on the 17th that the barn burned down. Both horses were trapped inside and were killed.
My friend who used to manage the barn came with me and we stopped by to pay our respects the day after the fire. It was insane how small that once huge barn was. How happy that barn had made me had changed and I felt sick to my stomach looking at it. I still can’t believe it’s been a year. We promised we’d be back to visit again, but we just haven’t.
I’ve always been a freak when it comes to anything that could start a fire in a barn. That fire just made me even more careful when I see things that are potentially hazardous. It’s one of those things you think won’t happen to you but it can. There is no such thing as being too safe with horses. Remember that...
I have 11 Saddle pads…ELEVEN! Two are western and one is a Gel under pad but still. Who needs that many? Apparently I do. Some are fun and colorful and some are for show. But ALL of them are in need of a good scrubbing. Apparently no one taught me how to properly groom a horse.
I have 4 saddles, and I don’t even ride in a saddle lately. (laziness is the main factor in that!) I have my dressage saddle, my western saddle, an Australian saddle I picked up for $40 at an auction and have yet to ride in, and the very first saddle that was ever 100% mine, generic no name a/p English saddle that is way too small for me.
I have been trying to sell my generic a/p saddle for some time now. I have dropped the price drastically but still no one wants it. I suppose I could keep it, it does have a lot of memories attached to it. As I said it was my very first saddle and I got it years ago when I was working at a barn with my friend who was the barn manager. The Barn was private and was owned by a family. It housed their personal horses plus my friend’s horse. When I started there I didn’t get paid I just got to ride whenever I wanted. And that was payment enough for me at the time! I started working more out there so my boss bought me an English saddle from Fleet Farm as a “thanks for helping out”. I was pumped. I knew it wasn’t the best saddle in the world but it was MINE! I babied that thing and spent hours cleaning and oiling it. My friend would laugh at me when we’d go out trail riding and I’d ride in MY saddle, mostly because to her English saddles looked weird.
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| Yellow in MY very own tack picked out just for me! |
When I left that barn I took stuff that I’d need and I promised I’d be back to get what I had forgotten and just never did. When I was loading up Yellow into the trailer to leave they kept giving me more stuff i'd "need" so I think that’s where I acquired most of my horse stuff. I promised I’d come back to visit and I’d come see my two horse buddies there. But sadly the next time I came by was to say goodbye to my horse buddies. It was a year ago on the 17th that the barn burned down. Both horses were trapped inside and were killed.
My friend who used to manage the barn came with me and we stopped by to pay our respects the day after the fire. It was insane how small that once huge barn was. How happy that barn had made me had changed and I felt sick to my stomach looking at it. I still can’t believe it’s been a year. We promised we’d be back to visit again, but we just haven’t.
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| picture from WDAY |
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I'm still here!
I rode yesterday and it felt like I haven’t ridden in a million years. I was going to ride, then I wasn’t going to ride, then my helper said “are you sure you aren’t going to ride? Your horse misses you!” then I looked at the big red monster and decided I better ride. I only rode for about 20 minutes bareback. I’m still too lazy to adjust his saddle. And I didn’t feel like hauling out my western saddle that weighs 200 pounds. So I just hopped on bareback. Once I was up there I was very happy I decided to ride.
Pinecone is such a good boy, but he isn’t easy to ride. I’ll be the first to admit that. It’s not that he’s going to take off and leave you behind, or buck or rear, or anything scary. He just requires a lot of “encouragement” to get him going. My riding instructor thinks that he may have ulcers which may be the reason he lacks energy, and is grumpy when tacking up. I’ve been doing some reading on ulcers and I think I saw that 60% of horses have them and 90% of race horses have them. A lot of the symptoms sound about right. My riding instructor said that she talked to the vet last week about what we should do and she said she’d fill me in on what he thought we should do. We’ve always talked about getting his blood tested too just to see if there was anything fishy with that.
In other news the hubby and I have been looking at buying a home with some acreage. Sadly there isn’t a whole lot in our price range, but we have looked at a few, all foreclosures. Hubby’s horse is about 250 miles from here so he never gets a chance to ride. With the arm and a leg I’m paying each month for board I could be spending that towards a mortgage AND we could actually ride together!
The first house we looked at I was in love with. It was built in 1928 and had amazing character, but sadly it hadn’t really been updated much since it was built. It would have been a huge money pit. It actually sold shortly after we looked at it and turned out to have asbestos and some pipes burst, so it was for the better that we didn’t have to deal with it. The other house we’ve been looking at is newer and in better shape. It’s a rambler built in 1976 and I like it more than I thought I would since I hate ramblers. the kitchen is HUGE, I never thought that would be something I'd want in a house but I do!
It’s on about 5.5 acres and has most of it fenced off into pastures. However it’s fenced with barbed wire. And the fence is down in a lot of spots. We could only see a bit of it since we’ve received a lot of snow this year but I think if we buy it I would want at least one strand of hot rope on the fence since we’d have to repair it anyways. But at least the fence posts are up that is the hard part of fencing!
The barn is in need of a lot of upgrading as well. It is divided into two parts. The first part was the original barn with two 10x10 stalls that haven’t been used in 20 years or more. The second part of the barn was newer and about 3 times the size of the original barn. The part with the stalls would have to be gutted and redone. 10x10 is just too small for my monster. I don’t plan on stalling the horses every night but I’d like two stalls for “just in case”. We plan on building a 3 sided shelter in the paddock for them as I think horses are healthier when they live outside. This coming from a girl who pays thousands of dollars a year to have her horse live comfortably in a stall lol.
But we don’t want to get our hopes up too high as there are some things with the house that need fixing, and updating and it may be a money pit too. But it’s an option that we have. I can’t wait until I can see my monster every single day and be able to kiss him on the nose.
Pinecone is such a good boy, but he isn’t easy to ride. I’ll be the first to admit that. It’s not that he’s going to take off and leave you behind, or buck or rear, or anything scary. He just requires a lot of “encouragement” to get him going. My riding instructor thinks that he may have ulcers which may be the reason he lacks energy, and is grumpy when tacking up. I’ve been doing some reading on ulcers and I think I saw that 60% of horses have them and 90% of race horses have them. A lot of the symptoms sound about right. My riding instructor said that she talked to the vet last week about what we should do and she said she’d fill me in on what he thought we should do. We’ve always talked about getting his blood tested too just to see if there was anything fishy with that.
In other news the hubby and I have been looking at buying a home with some acreage. Sadly there isn’t a whole lot in our price range, but we have looked at a few, all foreclosures. Hubby’s horse is about 250 miles from here so he never gets a chance to ride. With the arm and a leg I’m paying each month for board I could be spending that towards a mortgage AND we could actually ride together!
The first house we looked at I was in love with. It was built in 1928 and had amazing character, but sadly it hadn’t really been updated much since it was built. It would have been a huge money pit. It actually sold shortly after we looked at it and turned out to have asbestos and some pipes burst, so it was for the better that we didn’t have to deal with it. The other house we’ve been looking at is newer and in better shape. It’s a rambler built in 1976 and I like it more than I thought I would since I hate ramblers. the kitchen is HUGE, I never thought that would be something I'd want in a house but I do!
It’s on about 5.5 acres and has most of it fenced off into pastures. However it’s fenced with barbed wire. And the fence is down in a lot of spots. We could only see a bit of it since we’ve received a lot of snow this year but I think if we buy it I would want at least one strand of hot rope on the fence since we’d have to repair it anyways. But at least the fence posts are up that is the hard part of fencing!
The barn is in need of a lot of upgrading as well. It is divided into two parts. The first part was the original barn with two 10x10 stalls that haven’t been used in 20 years or more. The second part of the barn was newer and about 3 times the size of the original barn. The part with the stalls would have to be gutted and redone. 10x10 is just too small for my monster. I don’t plan on stalling the horses every night but I’d like two stalls for “just in case”. We plan on building a 3 sided shelter in the paddock for them as I think horses are healthier when they live outside. This coming from a girl who pays thousands of dollars a year to have her horse live comfortably in a stall lol.
But we don’t want to get our hopes up too high as there are some things with the house that need fixing, and updating and it may be a money pit too. But it’s an option that we have. I can’t wait until I can see my monster every single day and be able to kiss him on the nose.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Yesterday was bad. It was a cold day and I knew it was only getting colder. I was dreading doing chores. On my way to the barn I got a phone call that the horses had been brought inside already so I didn’t have to worry about that.
When I got to the barn I figured it wasn’t really THAT cold once I was in the barn and opted to not put on my carhartt overalls. I figured that I had leggings on under my jeans, and about 4 pairs of socks, and 3 pairs of gloves, AND a sweater AND a fleece AND my carhartt jacket AND a hat I would be fine. Well it was still a bit chilly but it wasn’t that bad. As I was walking through the barn I noticed the first thing that made me mad
Piney’s blanket is ripped to shreds. I’m pissed. I know it’s his fault for letting a horse do that to him but still. I loved that blanket and now it’s pretty much ruined and I don’t really have money laying around to buy a new one. Especially since we are looking at houses (more about that later!) but then I looked down and saw this.
I have no idea how he did that but it made me even more mad. In the almost 2 years I’ve had him he’s never once had a scrape or cut. I’m blaming that stupid little red horse he’s pastured with but I’m probably just pointing fingers. I sent the picture to the barn owner and asked what to do since it’s so freakishly cold I can’t really hose it off. She told me to smear some yellow goo on it and she’d take a look when she got home. When I worked at the race track and a horse had a cut or scratch on his body, they used to tell me "it's a long way from his heart" to which i'd reply "but it's close to mine!" totally the case here, I almost started crying (but mostly because I'm pissed about the blanket).
He wasn’t sore and he wasn’t swollen anywhere. And he let me touch it without kicking my head off like he usually does when I touch his legs. I then spent some much needed quality Piney time and just walked him around the arena and spent a few minutes talking to him. I know they don’t understand a word I say but it makes me feel better.
This was the temperature when I left the barn. Hard to read but it says -20. Yes MINUS TWENTY. With the windchill it was -30. Today is colder with a windchill of -35 and maybe even -45. If the windchill was -45 and the temperature rose 100 degrees we’d only be 55 degrees. We were in vegas for our honeymoon last week and I almost punched a guy waiting in line behind us that was complain how cold it was in Vegas this time of year it was 45 that day…if he only knew how bad it could be. Plus the million inches of snow we’ve gotten this year and we are getting two more inches today…AWESOME….that was sarcasam…
But all those bad things happened and made me mad but this face is what made it all worthwhile. He was a snuggle bear yesterday. And he knows how to pull on the heart strings. When I put him back in his stall he turned around to watch me leave, then he continued to watch me. when I got to the end of the barn he called out to me. he’s a sweetie.
And I did get an award from Wolfie over at what was I thinking.....? I just need to sit down and write it out! Thank you so much for thinking of me!!
When I got to the barn I figured it wasn’t really THAT cold once I was in the barn and opted to not put on my carhartt overalls. I figured that I had leggings on under my jeans, and about 4 pairs of socks, and 3 pairs of gloves, AND a sweater AND a fleece AND my carhartt jacket AND a hat I would be fine. Well it was still a bit chilly but it wasn’t that bad. As I was walking through the barn I noticed the first thing that made me mad
Piney’s blanket is ripped to shreds. I’m pissed. I know it’s his fault for letting a horse do that to him but still. I loved that blanket and now it’s pretty much ruined and I don’t really have money laying around to buy a new one. Especially since we are looking at houses (more about that later!) but then I looked down and saw this.
I have no idea how he did that but it made me even more mad. In the almost 2 years I’ve had him he’s never once had a scrape or cut. I’m blaming that stupid little red horse he’s pastured with but I’m probably just pointing fingers. I sent the picture to the barn owner and asked what to do since it’s so freakishly cold I can’t really hose it off. She told me to smear some yellow goo on it and she’d take a look when she got home. When I worked at the race track and a horse had a cut or scratch on his body, they used to tell me "it's a long way from his heart" to which i'd reply "but it's close to mine!" totally the case here, I almost started crying (but mostly because I'm pissed about the blanket).
He wasn’t sore and he wasn’t swollen anywhere. And he let me touch it without kicking my head off like he usually does when I touch his legs. I then spent some much needed quality Piney time and just walked him around the arena and spent a few minutes talking to him. I know they don’t understand a word I say but it makes me feel better.
This was the temperature when I left the barn. Hard to read but it says -20. Yes MINUS TWENTY. With the windchill it was -30. Today is colder with a windchill of -35 and maybe even -45. If the windchill was -45 and the temperature rose 100 degrees we’d only be 55 degrees. We were in vegas for our honeymoon last week and I almost punched a guy waiting in line behind us that was complain how cold it was in Vegas this time of year it was 45 that day…if he only knew how bad it could be. Plus the million inches of snow we’ve gotten this year and we are getting two more inches today…AWESOME….that was sarcasam…
But all those bad things happened and made me mad but this face is what made it all worthwhile. He was a snuggle bear yesterday. And he knows how to pull on the heart strings. When I put him back in his stall he turned around to watch me leave, then he continued to watch me. when I got to the end of the barn he called out to me. he’s a sweetie.
And I did get an award from Wolfie over at what was I thinking.....? I just need to sit down and write it out! Thank you so much for thinking of me!!
Friday, January 7, 2011
I hate horses that are jerks
Any one have any tips to keep a horse from eating another horses blanket?
Seems that Piney’s awesome winter blanket isn’t able to hold up to the notorious fence/blanket/life ruiner that he’s now sharing a paddock with.
Earlier this week the barn owner came up to me and said “I hope you won’t kill me but I put Piney in with Rue and Daiski”. E’ffin great I thought. Rue and Diaiski are the bad boys of the barn.
Daiski is your classic ruined show horse. He went to the AQHA world show a few times. His body is shot and he just went crazy from the stress of being at that level of competition all the time. He doesn’t know how to be a normal horse and interact with them he also acts like a stud most of the time. He can be a douche bag to other horses. He is fun to ride though. Very smooth and well behaved…except out on the trail…he tends to become a bit nervous.
Rue was abandoned by his owners so he became property of the barn owner. He was young and un broke. He is still green and is ridden occasionally but he’s a pain in the ass. He is very playful and doesn’t understand that he plays way to rough for most horses. So he’s in the bad boy paddock. He understands to stay the hell away from Daiski since they’ve been together long enough. But he has a new playmate to torment. Piney…
Piney slowly works his way up the pecking order. When he first got to the barn he was in the paddock with the barn owners geldings. He did well there, until he started tormenting the owners favorite horse and the boss of the herd. Piney wasn’t letting him eat or drink water. So he got moved to a pen with a few of the boarders geldings. He did well there and quickly moved up to the boss of the herd and there weren’t any problems. He liked to keep his herd exercised so he free lunged them a few times a day. He never made them work very hard, he just liked to keep them walking in circles around him. I liked to think of him as the professional athlete turned fitness instructor. Well turns out he wasn’t letting one of his paddock buddies drink enough water and he coliced. That horse colic’s over anything but Piney got blamed...not that I wouldn’t do the same.
So he got downgraded to the bad boys pen. I hope he starts sticking up for himself soon. I go out there and always seem to find Rue biting on the butt of Piney’s blanket shaking it up and down. And now I have two small tears on both sides. That horse can destroy a tank if left alone with it long enough. He goes through fences so their pen is now majorly wired up with hot rope. I just want to know if there is anything I can put on piney’s blanket to keep that monster from eating it.
I started throwing chunks of snow at Rue when he would grab the blanket. I’m sure that isn’t the right way to do it. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt him. Just give him a bit of a “tap”. It’s not like I was using a sling shot and smashing ice chunks into him. I’m just frustrated that Piney is stuck with those creeps. He’s just run out of options of who he can be turned out with.
So if anyone that reads this has any tips or tricks to keep horses from eating other horses blankets I’d LOVE the input!
Seems that Piney’s awesome winter blanket isn’t able to hold up to the notorious fence/blanket/life ruiner that he’s now sharing a paddock with.
Earlier this week the barn owner came up to me and said “I hope you won’t kill me but I put Piney in with Rue and Daiski”. E’ffin great I thought. Rue and Diaiski are the bad boys of the barn.
Daiski is your classic ruined show horse. He went to the AQHA world show a few times. His body is shot and he just went crazy from the stress of being at that level of competition all the time. He doesn’t know how to be a normal horse and interact with them he also acts like a stud most of the time. He can be a douche bag to other horses. He is fun to ride though. Very smooth and well behaved…except out on the trail…he tends to become a bit nervous.
Rue was abandoned by his owners so he became property of the barn owner. He was young and un broke. He is still green and is ridden occasionally but he’s a pain in the ass. He is very playful and doesn’t understand that he plays way to rough for most horses. So he’s in the bad boy paddock. He understands to stay the hell away from Daiski since they’ve been together long enough. But he has a new playmate to torment. Piney…
Piney slowly works his way up the pecking order. When he first got to the barn he was in the paddock with the barn owners geldings. He did well there, until he started tormenting the owners favorite horse and the boss of the herd. Piney wasn’t letting him eat or drink water. So he got moved to a pen with a few of the boarders geldings. He did well there and quickly moved up to the boss of the herd and there weren’t any problems. He liked to keep his herd exercised so he free lunged them a few times a day. He never made them work very hard, he just liked to keep them walking in circles around him. I liked to think of him as the professional athlete turned fitness instructor. Well turns out he wasn’t letting one of his paddock buddies drink enough water and he coliced. That horse colic’s over anything but Piney got blamed...not that I wouldn’t do the same.
So he got downgraded to the bad boys pen. I hope he starts sticking up for himself soon. I go out there and always seem to find Rue biting on the butt of Piney’s blanket shaking it up and down. And now I have two small tears on both sides. That horse can destroy a tank if left alone with it long enough. He goes through fences so their pen is now majorly wired up with hot rope. I just want to know if there is anything I can put on piney’s blanket to keep that monster from eating it.
I started throwing chunks of snow at Rue when he would grab the blanket. I’m sure that isn’t the right way to do it. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt him. Just give him a bit of a “tap”. It’s not like I was using a sling shot and smashing ice chunks into him. I’m just frustrated that Piney is stuck with those creeps. He’s just run out of options of who he can be turned out with.
So if anyone that reads this has any tips or tricks to keep horses from eating other horses blankets I’d LOVE the input!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
depression...
I’ve really been slacking on my posting. And heres the reason. I’ve been dealing with some depression issues that have kept me from almost everything I enjoy. I no longer enjoyed something I LOVE…Horses. It got to the point where I had Piney’s for sale ad written up and ready to be posted online. I decided it was time to get some help and that’s what I plan to do.
Its not something recent, it’s something I’ve been dealing with for a really long time. I’ve become so good at hiding it that I forgot what happy feels like. Horses were becoming a burden on me. I looked at them and they made me angry. Not angry enough to cause harm to them but I was angry because I was devoting so much time, money and effort into them and felt as though I wasn’t getting anything back. I don’t have time to ride so why am I killing myself over them?
Then I rode my horse and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt good inside. The barn owner/my riding instructor (she’s guiding me to people she knows who can help me deal with my depression) knew what was going on and encouraged me to just go for a quick ride last week. I tried to pull out an excuse. “I have to finish chores” I said. So She said “T will finish them for you! Go get your horse!” (T is teenaged helper at the barn). Then I said “I STILL haven’t changed my gullet in my saddle and he’s gotten fatter” so My riding instructor said “ride bareback”. And ride bareback I did. He did awesome and I felt good for the first time in a long time. Piney was great, a little lazy, but great. I love that when I’m up there I feel like he is taking care of me. Everything I’m worried about just goes down the drain and all I can think about is how awesome he is and how lucky I am to have found him. Even though he really did find me.
I rode for about 20 minutes, we did a lot of trotting. He is smooth and floaty. My riding instructor can’t believe how good he looks even when he is being lazy. She says that even when he is doing a slow “dog” trot he is over tracking more than any horse in the barn. I love his trot, I love that he doesn’t try to go faster than I ask him and I never have to pull him down and then fight to keep him at a slower pace. He’s just a good boy. And he is the best horse I could have ever asked for. I’m really glad I didn’t pull the trigger and post his ad. Not like horses are selling like crazy right now, but with my luck he would have been sold and gone.
I’m glad i’m going to start getting help and fixing myself…I've felt crappy for so long.
Its not something recent, it’s something I’ve been dealing with for a really long time. I’ve become so good at hiding it that I forgot what happy feels like. Horses were becoming a burden on me. I looked at them and they made me angry. Not angry enough to cause harm to them but I was angry because I was devoting so much time, money and effort into them and felt as though I wasn’t getting anything back. I don’t have time to ride so why am I killing myself over them?
Then I rode my horse and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt good inside. The barn owner/my riding instructor (she’s guiding me to people she knows who can help me deal with my depression) knew what was going on and encouraged me to just go for a quick ride last week. I tried to pull out an excuse. “I have to finish chores” I said. So She said “T will finish them for you! Go get your horse!” (T is teenaged helper at the barn). Then I said “I STILL haven’t changed my gullet in my saddle and he’s gotten fatter” so My riding instructor said “ride bareback”. And ride bareback I did. He did awesome and I felt good for the first time in a long time. Piney was great, a little lazy, but great. I love that when I’m up there I feel like he is taking care of me. Everything I’m worried about just goes down the drain and all I can think about is how awesome he is and how lucky I am to have found him. Even though he really did find me.
I rode for about 20 minutes, we did a lot of trotting. He is smooth and floaty. My riding instructor can’t believe how good he looks even when he is being lazy. She says that even when he is doing a slow “dog” trot he is over tracking more than any horse in the barn. I love his trot, I love that he doesn’t try to go faster than I ask him and I never have to pull him down and then fight to keep him at a slower pace. He’s just a good boy. And he is the best horse I could have ever asked for. I’m really glad I didn’t pull the trigger and post his ad. Not like horses are selling like crazy right now, but with my luck he would have been sold and gone.
I’m glad i’m going to start getting help and fixing myself…I've felt crappy for so long.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Winter feeding
It’s a heat wave! We’ve had temperatures back to above zero and I am happy. It’s pretty sad when you think 18 is warm. Last weekend we had a high of -14 with wind chill making it -25, so you can see why I am happy to have it up to 18. I often giggle when I see people complain that its 32 degrees and they think it’s cold. When it hits 32 here you see people wearing shorts…no joke!
What sucks when it’s really cold is that I don’t want to be at the barn. I do chores 2-3 times a week so I need to be there but I think if I didn’t have to be there I wouldn’t be there. How horrible am I? But it is cold out there! Here is how my barn nights go. When I get to the barn I first have to have a 5 minute pep talk to myself that the sooner I get out of my toasty warm Dodge Ram the sooner I can go home. Then I shuffle into the barn and get to work. On my way through the tack/feed room I check cat food mountain and add if necessary, then slowly walk through the arena because it’s the warmest spot in the barn. Then I plug in the heated hoses because they take about 20 minutes to thaw. Then I giggle as I pass the arena mirrors because I look like a sumo wrestler with all my layers on. When I get to the barn door I pause, and take a deep breath…flip on the lights then head on in. I frown because the barn boys haven’t been sweethearts and brought in hay for me. As I pass each stall I hop in and move feed pans towards the front, also checking how gross the monsters managed to make their water buckets since I cleaned them the night before. I grab the hay wagon and off to the Quonset I go. Depending on the snowfall and if snow plow boy has been there is a big factor in getting hay. If snow plow boy has been there getting hay is easy…if not…its hell. Once I get to the Quonset I check the water of the devil ponies…I mean Icelandic’s. They scream and screech and make all kinds of blood curdling sounds until I throw them their hay. I know you shouldn’t reward them for that kind of behavior…but seriously…listen to them once and you will do whatever it takes to shut them up…Then I throw hay to the geldings that live in the Quonset and check their waters. Then climb up to the top of hay bale mountain and throw down some bales. Carry them out to the cart and drag them back to the main barn. A gelding almost always manages to pull a bale off as I pass by their paddock. SO I mumble some curse words and load it back up. Then start tossing hay to each of the 14 stalls, admiring at how awesomely clean they are. (New barn boy is an awesome stall cleaner!). Then it’s time to bring in the beasts.
First is the paddock with my monster. He’s the boss, and he loves me so he gives me no problems. Then is a horse I like to call Moose…because he looks like a moose and acts like a moose. He is then followed by the only ‘western’ horse in our barn.
After that I go to the bad boys paddock and bring them in. They are horses that don’t seem to know how to behave with any other horses other than themselves. Then it’s off to the barn owners geldings. They are easy to bring in in the winter, but they usually bring me to tears at least once in the summer. I leave the girls till last, because I don’t like mares. And they are witchy. And they can be mean and pushy, and evil. In the winter it’s not so bad but again in the summer...ugh.
Once they are all in I start filling buckets since the hose is finally thawed. And as I’m doing that I check to see if everyone has all their blanket straps in place and adjust as needed. When all the buckets are filled, and the disgusting poop/hay/yuck filled buckets have been scrubbed and filled and I’ve succesffully dumped at least one poop/hay/yuck filled bucket down my leg, I head off to the tack/feed room to start mixing grain.
I’m amazed that I’ve memorized each horses feed schedule. I can’t even remember what I learned in college but I can tell you everything that every horse I’ve ever met has eaten for supper. So I line up the buckets and start filling grain. Some of the “special needs” horses don’t get grain so I give them their “special needs” feeds. Then it’s on to the smartpaks…Love em!! Then add the other supplements that are in big tubs. Then load them up into my grain cart and away I go. When I get to the barn it’s like a zoo. Every horse is making some sort of noise. I dig out their feed pan that they’ve buried under their hay. When I’m done giving the monkeys their food I check their water one more time and top off any that need it.
When that is all done I rake the aisle and sweep the mat by the cross ties. And by then I’m pooped. Keep in mind this is done in sometimes -40 degree weather. Can you see why I’m in no mood to ride?
Our arena is heated, but only to about 42 degrees, any warmer and the horses could get sick, or something along those lines. I just get so exhausted in the winter that I don’t want to add the extra effort of going to the tack room and dragging out all of my tack. I would just hop on bareback but I have trouble getting up there all by myself.
I am not a very good horse mom…especially since 17 horses aren't really that many to take care of. There are plenty of barns with way more horses! I just don't like riding in the winter...
First is the paddock with my monster. He’s the boss, and he loves me so he gives me no problems. Then is a horse I like to call Moose…because he looks like a moose and acts like a moose. He is then followed by the only ‘western’ horse in our barn.
After that I go to the bad boys paddock and bring them in. They are horses that don’t seem to know how to behave with any other horses other than themselves. Then it’s off to the barn owners geldings. They are easy to bring in in the winter, but they usually bring me to tears at least once in the summer. I leave the girls till last, because I don’t like mares. And they are witchy. And they can be mean and pushy, and evil. In the winter it’s not so bad but again in the summer...ugh.
Once they are all in I start filling buckets since the hose is finally thawed. And as I’m doing that I check to see if everyone has all their blanket straps in place and adjust as needed. When all the buckets are filled, and the disgusting poop/hay/yuck filled buckets have been scrubbed and filled and I’ve succesffully dumped at least one poop/hay/yuck filled bucket down my leg, I head off to the tack/feed room to start mixing grain.
I’m amazed that I’ve memorized each horses feed schedule. I can’t even remember what I learned in college but I can tell you everything that every horse I’ve ever met has eaten for supper. So I line up the buckets and start filling grain. Some of the “special needs” horses don’t get grain so I give them their “special needs” feeds. Then it’s on to the smartpaks…Love em!! Then add the other supplements that are in big tubs. Then load them up into my grain cart and away I go. When I get to the barn it’s like a zoo. Every horse is making some sort of noise. I dig out their feed pan that they’ve buried under their hay. When I’m done giving the monkeys their food I check their water one more time and top off any that need it.
When that is all done I rake the aisle and sweep the mat by the cross ties. And by then I’m pooped. Keep in mind this is done in sometimes -40 degree weather. Can you see why I’m in no mood to ride?
Our arena is heated, but only to about 42 degrees, any warmer and the horses could get sick, or something along those lines. I just get so exhausted in the winter that I don’t want to add the extra effort of going to the tack room and dragging out all of my tack. I would just hop on bareback but I have trouble getting up there all by myself.
I am not a very good horse mom…especially since 17 horses aren't really that many to take care of. There are plenty of barns with way more horses! I just don't like riding in the winter...
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