Fitness Friday

The world didn't end so I rode my horse.  Not that I was worried. 

Winter weather in our mountains is challenging for the horses.  At night, we regularly have temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s.  During the day, temperatures can soar into the upper 60s and even 70s.  The horses grow thick winter coats and we don't clip or blanket them unless necessary.  Jackson has trouble staying warm since he doesn't move around too well so he gets a blanket at night.  He loves his blanket and would wear it 24/7 if allowed.  Sometimes, I have to take it off in the early morning when it is still cold because I'll be at work by the time it warms up.  Jackson will walk away from me, wag his head at me, and give me the hairy eyeball before giving up and letting me take it off. 

During the past month, I've noticed that Winston gets very sweaty on his neck when I ride him.  It can be cold and the work light, and he still sweats.  If I am going to keep him fit, he needs to be able to work comfortably.  Today, I rode him in the mid afternoon when it was 50F.  The puddles in the shade were still frozen skating rinks for mice but it was comfortable in the sun.  We did a long warm up at walk and then some easy trot and canter work.  We didn't ride long.  He was very good about lifting his back and bending.  I started teaching him how to stretch down on a circle and he had reached down and out for me by a couple extra inches when we finished. 

Thirty minutes of work and his neck was all sweaty.  I took off his tack and soaked a rag in hot water.  I washed off the sweaty parts and got his neck as clean as I could.  Then I clipped him; just a trace body clip.  Funky, but functional. 

Winston wasn't too sure about the big clippers when I started.  A couple of cookies later and he was fine with the whole thing.  I tried clipping him like a diagram I found awhile back on a website.  The line from his shoulder should really continue down and end just behind the girth.  This is my version.  I only clipped the places where he sweats so he can stay warm in the other spots.

After doing the evening chores, I put on his blanket.  When I bought Winston in January, he came with a blanket but it was rubbing his shoulders and, after his growth spurt this summer, I knew he needed a new, larger size.  He likes it.

Jackson didn't eat his lunch and just pushed his dinner hay with his nose and tossed it around his run-in shed.  He doesn't appear to be colicy; his manure is normal and I heard gut sounds.  But it isn't normal for him to be uninterested in hay. 

I'm hoping the hay is gone in the morning.

My fitness is coming along as well.  I'm still working with a trainer at the gym.  I'm getting stronger and my waist is shrinking.  My weight isn't moving much but I'm not worried.  As long as I don't gain weight over the holidays, I'll be happy. 

Clear and cold most of today.  Clouds came in this afternoon.  Rain in the forecast for this weekend and Christmas Eve.

Fitness Friday

Early this morning, we woke to the sound of heavy rain.  It didn't last long and we dozed for another hour or so.  The walkways were wet and the sky was cloudy when the sun came over the ridge.

The rain came down again while I was in the barn mixing the vitamin buckets for the horses.  It stopped before I finished making their breakfast.  Their backs were wet and steamy when I let them into the barn, but they didn't seem to notice.  By noon, the clouds were gone and the sun was bright.

Mid-afternoon, I went down to play with my horses.  I got Jackson out first and washed his tail.  He also got a thorough, nose to toe, grooming. 

I led him back to his paddock, through the pasture, twirling the end of the lead rope to keep the other horses at a distance.  Winston wants to be in my space as much as possible, Flash was trying to supervise, and Mufasa thought I might have cookies in my pocket.  With Jackson safely tucked away, I took Winston out.

Winston and I have been making progress on our fitness.  We have progressed to doing 15 minutes of forward, connected trot and a bit of canter work.  Wednesday was my monthly weigh-in and measurement day with my trainer at the gym.  The last measurement day was just before our vacation, just before I was thrown, just before all exercise stopped for a month -- but eating, of course, continued.  She had me step on the scale first.  Sure enough, I was up 2 lbs from last month.  While she measured, she fired questions at me "What are you eating?"  "Are you getting enough protein"  "This is the wrong direction."  But the measurements hadn't gone up and my waist had actually lost an inch.  Hmmm, she said, that's weird.  Last she measured my body fat % and voila!  It had decreased.  We both danced a happy jig.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  My body now has more muscle and less fat.  This is much better than just losing weight.  I'm firming up. 

Today, I saddled up Winston and took him to the mounting block.  He stood quietly while I tightened his girth and dropped the irons.  When I mounted, he didn't walk off until I asked him to.  That deserved a reward because standing still is not easy for Winston.  Instead of going into the arena, we headed down the back driveway.  Winston picked up the pace, ears forward, and swung him self sideways to the gate so I could open it from his back.  We walked forward, happy and only a smidge nervous, down the street and around the corner.  We went up the little hill and kept going to the next driveway.  I'm trying to go one driveway further every time we go out alone on the roads with the goal of eventually making it solo around the block.  There was a dog loose across the street and Winston stopped with his head up and alert.  I let him look for a minute, and then we continued on.  On the way back, we came upon a woman out for a walk and he did the same stop and look behavior.  Then he walked on.  I turned him into the back driveway and he tried his best to avoid going in the gate.  When I shut the gate, he tried going back out.  Silly, silly boy.  He trudged to the arena where we did a couple victory laps at trot and canter.  He connected to the bit at canter for the first time, with consistency, and when I got off I was happy to see his mouth was foamy white in the corners.  No, no, not rabies.  That is the evidence of a horse who is comfortably chewing on the bit and working in the contact. 

I put Winston back in the pasture and started mucking.  As usual, Winston was invading my space.  I kept trying to get a picture of him but this is how they all came out.

Winston has stopped harassing Mufasa.  They all eat nicely together and we no longer have to put Mufasa's hay in a bin far away from the others.  I think Mufasa looks very lion-ish in this picture.

It's been a good week.

What's In A Name?

Brett and I are going back and forth on the barn name for his new horse.  His registered name is Wily The Drifter so initially we thought Drifter would be a good barn name.

The guy we bought him from had given him the name Mufasa.  Our first thought was that that name isn't dignified enough for a mounted patrol horse that belongs to a 63 year old man.  A Disney name?  Come on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But then we brought him home and started getting to know him better.  First there is the mane and the coloring.  He's a red dun so she has a light chestnut coat with a dark red dorsal stripe, and a glorious thick, long, multi-colored mane.  His tail almost touches the ground.  He is the same color as a lion.  But even more than that, he looks out at the world with kind, wise eyes.  Just like Mufasa. 





We've found ourselves calling him Mufasa when we interact with him.  Drifter isn't fitting in the same way.  Mufasa is the name that leaps to your tongue and comes out of your mouth when you open it; a name regal, royal and beautiful. 

We're going to give it a few more days before making a final decision, but I have a feeling he's going to be Mufasa.

We got quite a bit of rain last night and today has been cold.  The morning was dark and grey.  I was happy to be inside, working, with the wood stove warming the room.  In the afternoon, a breeze picked up and the dark clouds blew away leaving big, puffy white ones.  There is still a chance of rain tonight, but it isn't a strong chance.

At noon, when I gave the horses their lunch it was still cold.  At least they took snow off of the forecast. 

Fitness Friday
My back is getting stronger although five minutes of trot work is my max.  I went to the gym and worked with my trainer on Monday.  It felt good to be back.  She worked me hard, but we didn't do anything that used my lower back.  My weight plateaued this week.  No gains, but no losses either.  My thighs continue to shrink so I'm happy about that.  I've started using an app on my iPhone to track my food and exercise.  I like it -- I can scan food in from the bar code, even.  It's called "Lose It!"   -- and its free.  I gave up on giving up bread.  That just isn't going to happen; not with this bread loving girl.  I'm limiting my bread consumption but I'm not eliminating it.

Fecal Counts
The equipment do conduct your own fecal counts is straight forward.  I have a microscope, slides and slide covers.  The microscope isn't anything fancy.  It's made for kids to use in school or to look at pond scum. 

I have fecal collection tubes that we found online.  You scoop a tiny amount of manure in the tube and then fill the tube with solution (fecal solution, also bought online).  I agitate the solution, then slap a slide on top so it is touching the solution.  After 15 minutes, I take the slide off, put on a slip cover and look at it through the microscope.  I bought a book that helps me identify what I see.  Horses primarily get two kinds of worms that show up in fecal counts so those are the only ones you have to learn.  The book has great pictures.

There's a chapter on horses (and sheep and dogs and other critters)

The big brown, thick walled thing is a roundworm larvae.  This is a picture from the book but they look just like that.

You can buy everything online.  It's easy.  It doesn't take much time.  It's cheap.  I highly recommend doing the counts yourself.

Fitness Friday. Ugh.

First, I want to thank everyone for their kind and supportive comments regarding Flash.  TeresaA asked if we had considered that it might be a sacroiliac (back) problem.  This is actually something the vet at Alamo Pintado brought up.  Since there is no easy way to diagnose it and treatment involves injecting with a VERY long needle, the vet recommended that we exhaust other more straight forward avenues first.  Otheres asked if Brett could ride Winston.  And, of course, I would let Brett ride Winston but that isn't something he is particularly excited about.  Winston needs to go forward at all times.  When he resists the contact, he needs to go forward.  When he throws his head, hops, bucks or otherwise shows appy-tude, he needs to be sent forward.  And Winston's forward is VERY forward.  Brett isn't used to Winston's big gaits and he doesn't find them comfortable or particularly fun.  So, while he is happy to help with Winston's education with sensory stuff, he's equally happy to leave the wild careening around the arena stuff to me.  Lori mentioned the possibility of a feed lease horse (basically someone lends you their horse for free -- you pay for the care: the feed, farrier, etc.).  Fortunately, Brett will be able to start riding Flash at a walk in just over a week.  Once they start on that part of the recovery path, Brett won't have a lot of time for another horse.  And the stuff that he loves to do with Flash like mounted patrol work... well there aren't many well trained mounted patrol horses out there for feed lease. 

Enough procrastination on the topic of this post.  Fitness Friday.  Hahahaha. 

Annette
Ten days at the Alisal = three large meals per day = gaining back the two pounds I lost plus an additional two.  Lumbar sprain means limited exercise.  I am getting less sore and stronger every day.  I can now muck, I can go for walks, I can ride at walk and trot.  I'm hoping to go back to the gym next week.  I'm trying something new, something someone told me about while we were at the Alisal.  She said she had the best luck with losing weight (and she's my age) when she gave up bread and refined white flour products like pasta.  I'm giving it a shot.  So far, so good.  I'm down almost two pounds in a week.  I've been a very good girl - until tonight when we had a wonderful baguette with our chicken and potato dinner.  You gotta live too.

Winston
My bucking boy is feeling fit and fine.  I worked him on the longe line the other morning so we could do some canter work.  The rocking of the pelvis and lumbar required to effectively ride the canter are not a happy thing for my back.  I'm also not ready to ride out the occasional buck he throws in when transitioning to canter.  Good thing.  He was in a vinegar mood and took exception to me demanding that he transition when I asked and not when he felt like it.  He bucked.  A lot.  Silly boy.  When I ride him, he is improving in his rhythm and suppleness.  It's all good.

Lastly, here is the first installment of the daily picture.  Votes came in all over the map with no clear winner.  So, I am going to take Terry's advice and use the front porch view since it will be easy to photograph in all kinds of weather.  Today was warm, not hot, and breezy.  Beautiful.

Friday Fitness and Show Prep

First the fitness reports:

Annette
Let's not go there, okay?  I lost zippo weight.  I didn't gain either, so I suppose I should be happy given the weekend in Paso Robles but I'm not.  My session with the trainer Monday evening was killer.  My triceps and chest are still sore four days later.  I'm convinced she's the devil in a cute blond body. 

Winston
Fitness is definitely improving although vaccinations set him back a bit.  This morning he was sluggish, but his attitude was willing.  I'm not sure if he felt crummy from his shots or if he was sore from the work Thursday -- or both.  We did our usual warm up and then I ran through the tests and called it a day. 

Brett and I both cleaned our tack for tomorrow.  I cleaned and oiled my saddle, the girth and my bridle.  I washed the fleecy girth cover.  I cleaned my "good" pair of paddock boots and my half chaps.  I have new tall boots but they came while my toes were healing and I haven't broken them in yet.  My toes don't love being in closed shoes so I've been putting the boots on the back burner. 

I gave Winston the full spa treatment: bubble bath, shampoo, deep conditioning in his mane and tail.  I'm praying he doesn't roll tonight.  Brett is going to hose off Flash in the morning and I will do the same with Winston if he has gotten himself all dusty.  Right now, he looks darn good.

We BBQed hamburgers for dinner tonight.  Another hot day so we thought it would be nice to relax on the viewing stand as the sun set.  We didn't have any hamburger buns so I made some.  I've never made them before.  They were easy peasy and so good.

Before we went down to the viewing stand, I put an apple rhubarb crumble in the oven for dessert. 

When we went down to BBQ, the horses and donkeys were busy eating their hay. 

Brett got the BBQ going and opened the wine; one of our favorites -- Gelfand's SFR (sh*t faced red) from Paso Robles.

The burgers were wonderful, the buns didn't fall apart, the wine was smooth and dark -- we stayed until the sun set and the full moon was high. 

We got back to the house just in time to take the crumble out of the oven.

I know, I know.  Dinner was not good for the diet.  And I don't care.