A Break in Weather

We have a few days of clear skies on tap before the next storm comes in so we all got busy.

I headed out right after chores and breakfast to the grocery store.  What a surreal experience that was; wiping down the cart with Purcell, making wide circles around the other (relatively few) shoppers; entire empty sections in the aisles with quantity limit signs everywhere.  There was no bread at all.  Fortunately, I know how to make bread so I’ll get cracking on that this afternoon.  We bought TP a month ago so I didn’t even go down that aisle.  They did have tequila — I see many margaritas in my future.  I bought the limit on butter (two packages) and I should have bought flour, but didn’t think of it at the time.

On my way home, I stopped by the corner market to see if they had bread.  They didn’t.

When I got home, Brett was busy hooking up the trailer to his truck to go make a hay run.  Pistol and Flash are doing great on alfalfa so we need to get more.  We only bought a few bales initially because Pistol has a history of allergy to alfalfa.  Fortunately, she appears to have outgrown that; not a hive to be seen and calm as can be.

The horses were, ahem, busy as well.  Pistol and Flash:

Looking out past the barn

Looking towards the road

And, in the long pasture, the other three.  Lucy was laying down with them — so all five horses were down at the same time which is a major violation of herd protocol — but she got up as soon as she saw me coming with my camera.  Guilty conscience, most likely.  Not that I blamed them for napping in the sun; its been a long, cold, and wet week.

Luek in front, Tex behind, Lucy standing

Shuffling

Flash and Pistol went in for their check-ups yesterday.  They are both in very good health, with no issues other than being a bit thinner than optimum.  Our vet recommended putting both of them on alfalfa to help with maintaining good weight.  As horses age, it becomes more difficult to keep weight on and they are both going to be 24 this year.  They’ve both been easy keepers all their lives so I don’t expect it will be hard to add a few more pounds.

We don’t want the other horses on alfalfa as they are all plenty fat and would totally blimp out on alfalfa.  So, we rearranged the pastures.  We decided to put Flash and Pistol together in the front pasture, which is flat and gets the most grass (which isn’t much of anything right now due to our lack of rain).  That meant Tex and Luek would be joining Lucy in the long, sloping pasture which has lots of oaks and pines but no grass to speak of.  We knew Tex and Lucy would be fine together as they have been pastured together before.  The wild card was Luek.  Lucy is an alpha mare; as in an ALPHA mare.  She and Flash cannot be together as he is an alpha as well and they fight.  Luek seems pretty easy going going, though, so we were optimistic that it would work fine.

It took some orchestration.  We put Pistol in a turn-out and then moved Tex and Luek over to the shady pasture.  Sage trotted along with us.  Brett took Tex in first, since we knew that would go well.  Lucy immediately came over to investigate, which made Tex nervous, which made Brett step away from the gate.  The gate swung open — I had Luek some distance away so I couldn’t catch it —  Lucy saw the open gate and she was gone.  That would have been fine, she’s easy to catch, except that Sage saw it as her opportunity to herd Lucy back in.  She lunged at Lucy’s heels, Lucy jumped the stream and she was gone in a cloud of dirt and clattering hoofs.  Luek watched them go.

I put Luek in the pasture with Tex and set off to get Lucy.  I found her by the barn, in another turn-out.  Sage looked pretty pleased with herself.

I haltered Lucy and took her back to the pasture.  That actual pasture integration of a new mix of horses was a non-event.

Tex and Luek are happy to be with a cute girl; and she’s happy to be admired.

Last, we moved Pistol in with Flash.  They’ve known each other for 15 years, have been on many trail rides and in trail competitions together.  They are old friends.  Pistol wandered off to try and find some grass while Flash dove into the alfalfa.

Leaving the Animals

It is difficult for us to leave the ranch.  I know we aren’t alone in that space.  We wouldn’t trade our life here, with the animals, for anything but it does make it very difficult to travel.  Unlike some of our other retired friends, we can’t take off at the drop of a hat and go hither and yon.

Fortunately, we have two very good people who take care of our animals when we do leave.  They both are experienced with horses and we trust them.  Of course, we still look for the daily text telling us everything is okay, but we don’t worry too much.  Laura also sent us photos which was really nice.

Pistol

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to my father’s home — about six hours away by car.  Laura stayed at the house and took care of everyone, in the snow and cold.  We had the horses in their stalls in the barn so she didn’t have to slog out to the pastures.  The first day that Laura was here, Lucy got a bit impatient while waiting for dinner and was demonstrating all her athletic moves.  Of course, all the bucking and leaping about didn’t make Laura want to go into the stall but Lucy did, eventually, chill.

Lucy is also a pig.  She poops and pees in her bedding, unlike the other three who do their business outside in their run-outs.  Flash takes big mouthfuls of his hay and dunks it in his water.  As a result, the area around his water is always wet and the water in the bucket is a lovely shade of green.  Unless the weather is really bad, or the snow is deep, it’s easier for us if they are in their pastures and they are happier there too.

Laura stayed at our place, but she had additional places where she was feeding pets and livestock.  She had asked us about taking the dogs with her and I said that Sage hates the car and it isn’t fair to leave her behind and just take Kersey so we expected that they didn’t go with her.

Kersey loves the car.

She took them both.  And, Sage was fine.

Not thrilled, but not unhappy either.

The Lucy Conundrum

What to do about Lucy?  My attention loving demanding, ambitious, talented, hyper mare needs a job.  I had hoped that when I retired my back issues would improve.  No more 2 hour commute (each way) and no more long days of sitting behind a desk or in meetings.  I figured my routine of daily yoga strengthening and more physical movement would help my back.  And it has, in general.  But not enough to ride Lucy.

Lucy is a blast to ride.  She is trained to third level and one of her nicknames is Gumby.  She’s super supple and things like shoulder-in and half-pass are easy for her.  I’ve had horses before that were talented, but they didn’t like to work (Auke and Winston).  I’ve also had horses that weren’t talented at all but would try their hearts out for you (Jackson).  Lucy has both those pieces and that’s what makes her so much fun.  I think her trot is the most comfortable I have ever ridden — she floats.  She tends to get anxious at canter but when she is in a settled state of mind, her canter is lovely too.

The trouble is my back can’t handle trot and canter anymore.  And Lucy is happiest working in those gaits.  When I rode Tex for a 15 minute leisurely walk around the ranch, I spent the evening on the couch with my friends the heating pad and ibuprofen.

And there are the trolls to consider, of course.  Lucy spooks at the most unexpected times at imaginary things.  She doesn’t bolt or anything; she dips and jumps sideways.  I’ve never felt like I was going to come off, but it does jolt me a bit and that would definitely cause my back to go into major meltdown.

So, what to do.  Lucy gets a lot of attention.  We give each other back rubs when I muck her pasture twice a day.  She has Pistol to boss around and space to run.  But she wants to work.  She needs to work.  But, I can’t ride her and she requires a very balanced, confident and quiet rider.

I’m thinking about leasing her.  I’d love her to be ridden by one of Sandy’s students because Sandy knows Lucy and I’m confident she would be both ridden well and well cared for at Sandy’s barn.  It would take some work to get her back in shape — she needs joint injections and then some time in the Pessoa building back her fitness and top line.  But she could get there easily.  So, we’ll see.  Fingers crossed I can find a solution to the Lucy conundrum.

Clear and Cold

We are finally getting some rain.  Today, we have one day of icy cold sunshine before the next storm arrives. 

Tex was feeling very frisky this morning; leaping forward, striking playfully, and romping across the frost coated grass.

Pistol has the sweetest expression -- sort of, "why, hello there.  I'm happy to see you." 

Lucy is sweet in her own princess sort of way too.  But its more like "Scratch my back, and I'll consider scratching yours.  But in the meantime, don't you dare touch -- or even look at -- another horse."

Once the ice thawed a bit, the birds enjoyed my new bird bath (Christmas gift from Brett). 

Another cold night tonight, then the rain returns tomorrow morning.  I'm going to bake bread and make a pot of soup.  What do you like to do on rainy days?

While I was at Work

It feels like forever since I have been able to enjoy the ranch.  We were out of town the last two weekends, and during the week I am gone from pre-dawn dark to night-time dark.  Last weekend, we were at my dad's house on the central coast to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It was pretty rough...

While I was at work last week, Brett was very busy.  One of the things he did was plant ten Giant Sequoia trees out by the front gate.  Not that we'll live to see them to full maturity.  Giant Sequoias can reach 350 feet in height -- and live to be 3,000 years old. 

Why, you ask, did we plant trees we won't see in all their majesty?  Partly because they are native to our area, but there aren't many left.  There is a big (famous) grove of them in Yosemite -- the Mariposa grove.  You know, the place where you could drive a car through one (before it fell).  There are a few smaller stands of these redwoods between Yosemite and Georgetown, just north of us. 

That's Camille and I standing in front of a smaller (ahem) one, a few years ago in Yosemite.

Plus, they are drop dead gorgeous trees.  They will grow two or three feet per year, after the first few years when they are busy stretching their roots into our soil and getting comfortable.  The trees grow tall before they grow wide.  So, we will get to enjoy them.

While Brett was planting the trees, some deer came onto the property.  They are always hanging around outside the gate, but they usually only venture onto the property at night when we aren't outside.  This time, they made themselves at home while Brett worked.  At first, they jumped into the pasture with Lucy and Pistol.  Lucy wasn't too thrilled about that and promptly chased the deer from one end to the other.  Pistol watched.

Later, Brett was in the house and Kersey was resting on her bed on the front deck.  Brett heard Kersey bark and looked up from what he was doing.  Kersey only barks at deer and skunks.  Then, Brett heard hooves clatter across the front porch. 

I'd say those deer are getting pretty brazen.  And, that is why we have wire cages around the trees.  I love the deer -- and they love our plants.

Princess Prima Dona

Yes, this is about Lucy.

You know how some horses really want to be ridden?  Lucy gets pissy and pushy and downright obnoxious when she doesn't get regular attention.  She's one of those horse who does better with a few days off between rides because she goes into over-achiever mode when ridden after a break.

I can feel her saying, See? You don't need any other horse.  I am the best.  All you need is me.  Me Me ME.

Yes, Lucy, I hear you.

Between the heat of the summer, and then my surgery, I haven't been on her back in ages.  During the summer, I spent time with her in the pasture everyday -- and she followed me around while I did the morning and evening pasture clean up.  But, since my surgery, I haven't been allowed to do chores.  At least, not to the degree that I was before.  And now the days are short (and cool and crisp and wonderful), and I'm off to work in the dawn and home after dusk.  So, poor Lucy has been poorly neglected.

She's been getting more and more vocal about it -- calling to me from across the pasture fence.  And, she's taking it out on Jackson -- charging him for no reason at all.  The other day, Brett was in the pasture and in Jackson's haste to escape her pinned ears and teeth, he ran right over Brett.  Not good.  Not good at all.

So, Sunday I lunged her for a few minutes.  No Pessoa, no cavesson, no equipment at all.  Just an opportunity to check in and see how she's moving.  I'm still limited in the use of my left arm, but thankfully Lucy is an angel on the lunge.  Even when she bucks, she never pulls.  So, I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't injure myself.

(I didn't tell Brett 'till afterward though.)

Camille was visiting for the weekend and took a couple pictures for me.  I was happy to see that Lucy, while clearly out of shape and sluggish, was stepping under well and her hips were swinging.

But, best of all, when we did chores in the evening she was in a very mellow mood.

Summer Schedule

There isn't much to blog about in the heat of summer.

Pistol and Jackson, headed to dinner.

We are up before the sun to feed and finish barn chores before the heat of the day starts settling in -- around 7:30am.

Brett bringing in the hay cart.  Pistol has her nose in it -- they all ignore the manure cart.

During the day, we hide inside (I hide at work during the week).  Brett tosses more hay at lunch, but other than that the name of the game is trying to stay somewhat cool.

Wait for me!

In the late evening, we venture back outside to feed.

Brett always has cookies.

There isn't much else going on.

That's all?  Just one cookie?

Watch Me Fly

Wednesday, the farrier came to check on Jackson and to trim Finessa.

Finessa looks wonderful and is walking about happy as can be on her trimmed hooves.  The x-rays were consistent with founder but there wasn't anything truly bizarre that would keep her from getting a thorough trim.  I am very, very happy.  Our farrier has concerns about her, long term.  I have those concerns also; and have had them for quite a few years.  But, as long as she remains happy and comfortable, I'm not going to think about what will, inevitably, come at some (hopefully distant) point in the future.

Jackson is doing very well too.  Between his meds and his special shoes, he's a new horse.  He is in the pasture with the girls 24/7 now and moving well.  No more gimpy, prissy steps for him.  No sir.

Wednesday evening Lucy followed me around the pasture while I picked up manure.  From her standpoint, I come into the pasture to provide wither and back massages.  The fact that I have a muck rake and a cart mean nothing.  I pull the cart along, stop near a pile of poop, and prepare to scoop.  But no, Lucy stands between me and the pile, positioning herself so the preferred spot to be scratched is right in front of me.  She twists her neck and wiggles her lips, and sometimes offers to groom my hip.  By the eighth or ninth pile, my fingers get tired and I stop complying with her requests.

We were at that point Wednesday evening.  She was standing next to me and I was ignoring her, focused on my scooping technique.  She darted her head to her flank in a rather violent way, spun and took off.  I don't know what bit her, but it clearly hurt.  She ran through Pistol and Jackson, who were standing near the gate, and kept going -- screaming as she went.  (Yes, she is dramatic).  Pistol and Jackson joined in.  I stood at the fence line and watched them careening from one end of the pasture to the other.  After a couple laps, Lucy stopped.  As did Pistol.

Not Jackson.

He kept running.... and running ....and running.  His ears were forward and his mane was flying.  I swear I heard him say,

"Look at me!  I can run!  I can fly!"

He finally stopped; covered in sweat and ridiculously happy.  He stood bobbing his head at me before strutting off.  Gimpy?  Ha!  Not this horse.  Not anymore.

...which made me wonder.... where did I put his bareback pad?

Four Feet off the Ground

Its been doggone hot here since the middle of last week.

On the one hand, there isn't much activity going on other than trying to stay in the shade or the house -- or an air conditioned office.

Last weekend we escaped the heat: we spend Saturday in San Francisco visiting my son and his girlfriend.  Sunday we hoisted the kayaks onto the top of the Subaru and drove to Bear River Lake.  Snow melt is still rushing into the lake, making the water cold and the lake level very high.  We paddled over submerged picnic tables and fire rings.

The horses are spending the day time hours in the barn where they can escape the sun and the flies.  In the evening we turn them out into their pastures to stretch their legs and their brains.  It gives me the opportunity to work with Tex twice a day and he's been rock steady.  It helps, of course, that he wants to go to the barn for breakfast and to the pasture for dinner.

It has also given me the opportunity to work with Lucy and Jackson on their manners.  Neither of them were doing well with "wait" but instead were diving their noses down to the grass whenever I paused on our walks back and forth.

Lucy was a quick study.  Robin said to me, a while back, "Don't yank on the lead rope; that's abusive.  Instead, make one very strong correction with the whip.  Lucy will jump with all four feet off the ground, but she won't do it again. One clear correction is kinder than continuous, nagging, yanking on her face."  I had to agree.

And she was right.  Lucy dove for the grass and I snapped the whip, hard, on the ground next to me.  Lucy hates whips so I knew I didn't have to touch her with it.  Sure enough, she levitated, landed, and began to piaffe (trot in place).  I looked at her mildly, waited for her to regain her composure, and we walked on.  I carry the whip when we walk, but I haven't had to use it since.  When we halt, she looks at me for permission to graze.  If she is calm and polite about it, I say "Have some."

Jackson was a bit more work.  He's getting with the program, though.  After Robin pointed out to me during one of my lessons, that her horse, Red, was subtly moving me instead of vice verse, I became more aware.  Jackson is a lot like Red.  He's sensitive, enjoys interacting with people, and enjoys seeing what he can get away with.  He never pushes me.  No, no, he would never be that ... obvious.  He just drifts into me as we walk and I used to step away, to alter my course.  Now I pick a path and he has to alter his path to accommodate me.  Its funny to watch him, really. He's so confused.

When he dove for the grass, I snapped the whip -- right in front of his nose.  He jumped back, and with his head high in the air, he gave me his most offended look.  He likes to push boundaries so he tried again a bit later.  This time his nose would have been stung if he hadn't lifted it so quickly.  He didn't try again... for a few days.  The last time he tried to very sneakily drop his head, I wasn't carrying the whip (and he knew it).  I reached behind me and smacked him with the end of the lead line.

Oh.  Hmmm.  Maybe not a good idea.

Its amazing how polite he's become.  I can walk both he and Lucy on a completely slack lead, and they walk quietly beside me, across the green grass, and only eat when I stop and invite them to do so.

Brett has been working with Flash... he brings him into the barn in the morning at liberty.  Flash knows his bucket is in his stall so he's happy to follow Brett there.  In the evening though, forget it.  Brett tried to take him back to the pasture at liberty and Flash decided to turn and go the other way.  It was pretty funny watching Flash amble down the barn aisle while Brett went chasing after him.

Trust at Canter

Last weekend I had a lovely ride on Lucy.  I love how easy it is to ride her when we are both fit.

We spent quite a bit of time at trot and canter.  We cantered to the left first and she felt great.  She was round and didn't rush at all.  I was able to concentrate on following with my hands (I tend to be rigid and constrictive) and we were both very happy.

We took a walk break and then I changed direction.  Lucy knew what was coming (CANTER!!!) and she was ready.  We had to delay the transition a few times because as soon as I thought, "maybe after the corner," she was all Miss Anticipation.  So I changed my mind and waited.  And waited.

Finally, she stayed relaxed and I asked.

Canter!! Wheee!

Um, Lucy, its not necessary to race around the court like its the Kentucky Derby or something.  Slow down and relax.

But.... CANTER!  We're cantering!

So, I took a firmer contact.  And Lucy got pissed.  She does not like to be held; she gets claustrophobic.  So she got stronger.  And so did I.  My bad.

We came back to trot and I thought about how I was going to manage this.  Then we went back to canter and I was careful to walk the line between contact and holding/ bracing with my hands.  She was still trying to haul buns, but I used my core -- a tightening in my abs while sitting deep and tall -- to ask her to slow the heck down.  She complied and we had some very nice canter.  Finally.

I need to trust Lucy and follow.  She does listen to my core and my seat.  I just have to remember that; and trust.

Its Hard to Wait

With Tex, I work a lot with "draw."

With Jackson and Lucy, I don't have any problem with "draw."  They both are learning "pause."  This is particularly hard for Lucy -- a pushy, dominant, princess mare.

Left to right: Pistol, Jackson and Lucy

I use pause when I am walking Lucy and Jackson between pastures, or the barn, or just hand grazing.  Basically, they are not allowed to drag me around and graze at will.  I choose where we walk, and I choose when they graze.  Of course, I make sure that the spots I choose are superior to those that they see.

Pistol is in heat again... Jackson continues to be a bit confused.

Jackson has always been a bit rude.  Before he was retired, I didn't tolerate it and he stopped (with me; he still tested everyone else).  After he was retired, I got lax.  He has been retired for six years -- so he's back to being pretty rude.  Fortunately, it only took one reminder for me to establish the ground rules.  We walk; I stop; he waits for me to say "have some," and then he grazes.

Lucy is a bit more work.  We walk.  We stop.  She dives for the grass.

"Wait." I say, in a firm voice.

She dives for the hay.  I repeat, while correcting with either the whip touching her nose, or a yank on the lead rope (if I forgot to carry the whip).

She raises her head and looks away from me in disgust.  When she turns to me, I say "have some."

She understands, but she'd rather not comply, so we repeat this a lot.

There It Is

This morning Brett and I rode together again.  But, this time he rode Pistol while I rode Lucy.  It was a whole different ballgame.  Both horses were happy and relaxed -- and focused.

Lucy and I had the best ride we've had in years.  Seriously, the best ride since before I was injured.  Probably the best ride since fall of 2015.  She had her forward floaty trot going; with only a couple minor spooks.  She felt so good, that I decided to ask for canter.  She pushed into it like a Porsche changing gears.  She was round and smooth; relaxed and comfortable.  We came back to trot, changed directions, and did it the other way.  Same story.  And then, that was all she wanted to do.  I picked her back up after a nice stretchy trot break and she said, "Canter?  Please canter?"  ...so we did.

Later, I groomed Jackson and put him out in the arena for the afternoon.  It did wonders for his feet -- well, other than the part where he was so happy that he tried to rear and couldn't.  But, the sand was very dry and warm (despite the air being a bit chilly in the breeze).  When I picked up his feet tonight to put on the antibiotic, I was amazed at how much better they looked.  I think the dry warmth helped suck out all the moisture.

We put Tex and Flash up in the top pasture for a few hours.  They were in heaven and Tex was easy to catch afterward.  He watched Brett halter Flash, and then followed them down to where I was standing.

We leave on Wednesday (after Jackson's vet appointment) for our liberty training clinic.  I'm so excited!  Isn't it funny how one part of your heart can be heavy with worry and another part can be excited?  I feel like a ping pong ball.  I was bouncing around all day emotionally: worried about Jackson, excited for the clinic, missing my mom (Mothers Day has been hard for me since she died), laughing when Jackson groomed me back, loving the way Tex looks at me, and happy about my ride on Lucy.

Lucy and Pistol had a turn in the back 40, as well.  I think everyone had a good day.

Brett complained because I wouldn't let him weed whack or mow.  I said that I wanted to hear the birds singing while I was gardening, not the mower.  He grumbled and went back in the house to watch some golf tournament on TV.  And I enjoyed my peaceful afternoon filled with sunshine and birdsong, and an occasional cold breeze.