Rampage

Today I just wanted to go for a nice walk in the snow, but Cherry wanted to rampage instead.


Some days you'd never know that she is fast approaching the age of 21.






I hadn't been out to the barn in a few days what with work and everything, so I went out this morning thinking I might go for a little ride and then perhaps trim Cherry's feet. Even though it's been melting for days, there's still a ton of snow on the ground from the latest storm (pics coming soon!). What isn't covered in snow is covered in mud.

I got Cherry out, let her roll in the arena since she hates rolling in mud (good pony!), and then did a little light free lunging. Perhaps not getting out for awhile had made her stiff, I thought. And I was right. She walked around okay, but at the trot was positively gimpy.

We did some more walk, whereupon I came to the conclusion that this was boring as hell and it'd be much nicer to walk around outside.

So I saddled her up and off we went.

The first couple trips around the field were sedate enough. She was loosening up nicely, so I though we'd try a little trot. Cherry thought that a little trot was too tepid, and it would be so much better to pretend to be a big dressage horse instead!

We had a discussion about that and I got my little bit of trot.

That went so well I decided to try a little canter. But Cherry thought it would be SO MUCH MORE FUN to take off bucking instead.

Wheeee!!!!!! Let's gallop AS FAST AS WE CAN through the snow!!!!!!! And BUCK! Bucking is FUN!!!!!

No. Let's not do that.

I made her work instead. We worked on trot-canter transitions until she cantered smoothly with no grunting and hopping around. Then we worked on canter-trot transitions until we had a nice trot instead of a reallyreally slow canter or one step of trot and then immediately back to canter.

It was kinda fun, though. We did some lovely spiral circles and figure 8's, and there was a wonderful moment when Cherry finally gave up the desire to rampage and asked to stretch her neck down instead.

When we were done with our ride, Cherry was just dripping in sweat. It took over an hour to dry her off enough to put her back in her pasture. I didn't mind, though. I got to spend some quality time with her while I blow dried the moisture away and curry combed off the sweat.

As much fun as it might have been to let her careen around the field like a bat out of hell, I just couldn't let that happen. First off, she'd probably have tripped on a snow drift, fell on her face and killed us both. Second, I've learned my lesson about just letting her go. If I do it once, she'll want to do it ever. damn. time. Can't have that. She got to move out, but it had to be on my terms, not hers.



The funny/awesome thing was that I wasn't scared at all when Cherry decided to be 3 years old again. Sometimes that reduces me to a pile of "Maybe we'll just go back to the barn" jittery wreckage, but not today! I was a little annoyed, and my rational mind told me not to let her carry on with her shenanigans because falling on snow would be really cold and crappy. But I wasn't scared.

Also, I must be getting some muscle tone back because I didn't feel unbalanced at all. Not that this is any great accomplishment, Cherry bucks with her head way up in the air. No, the awesome thing was that I felt in complete control of my position and didn't freak out. Well done, me!


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Tack Swap!

I went to a tack swap a couple of hours north with a friend and her husband. It was amazing. There are no tack stores here, unless you count the crappy little section of the feed store. Great for hoof picks and halters, not so great for anything else.

The tack swap was at a ranch, a barn had been converted into a tack store. Glorious! Bridles and saddles and halters and bits and blankets and saddle pads and horse boots and so much more! Sorry, it's been awhile since I've been in a proper tack store.




I have to get all my tack online, which is annoying because I like to poke things before I buy them. There were a few items I'd been considering, but after feeling them and seeing them in person I know now that I definitely don't want them. One such item was a fleecy saddle pad that LOOKS wonderful, but it squishes down to nothing when you put the least pressure on it. No thank you to that!

I got some awesome finds. And for really cheap. The best thing about the tack swap was the prices. It was all consignment, so the things were used, but everything with the exception of a few saddles was dirt cheap.

I got a wool (wool blend, most likely) cooler with the words "2006 Desert High Point Champion" embroidered on it. We get to be champions now! I found a saddle blanket to use in the summer. It's a little smaller than my current one and much lighter weight. I think it's wool, or at least mostly wool, and if it doesn't work out it'll make a lovely home accent. My final find (well, first, actually) was a set of green cotton roping reins, which I wore around my neck while I poked every other item in the barn. They're super soft and the perfect length.





I was worried the the cooler would be enormous on Cherry, it's the kind that goes all the way up to the ears, but it fits quite well! Cherry was being a ding bat yesterday, so I turned her out to bounce around in the arena. Ding bat pony got all sweaty. Not to worry, we now have a cooler!

Hoof Trim

Today was Trim Day. I'd been putting it off for a few days (OMG, the effort!), but when I pulled Cherry out of her paddock today, I was like "those feet have got to go!" It's amazing how long hooves can look with just a little overgrowth.

Last trim was four weeks ago, so it seems like 3 to 3.5 weeks between trims in the winter is ideal. Every 2 weeks in summer, every 3-4 weeks in winter.

Considering how long her feet looked, I took a surprisingly small amount of hoof off. Mainly just rasped her heels down and re-newed the mustang roll. For the past few months I haven't had to take off any sole. I scratch at it a bit with the hoof knife, but mostly I leave it the hell alone.

One thing I did do today was bring back her toe. Cherry's feet have a propensity to elongate with the toe pulling the whole hoof capsule forward. So I busted out the nippers (so much easier to use in wet weather!) and backed up the toe almost to the white line. Since I'm a scaredy cat about taking off too much wall with the nippers, I finished it off with the rasp.

Cherry was being rather irritating during the trim. Normally she stands still and lets me fuss, but today she was shifting her weight around, tossing her head, and generally acting impatient. It's hard to nip off just the right amount of hoof wall when the horse is rocking around on you. As I was finishing up the front feet I was done with that behavior, so I whapped her on the chest with the rasp and told her to knock it off. She did and I trimmed her hind feet in peace.

I've had to get creative with the hind feet. Cherry can't hold them up for too long and she can't comfortably put them up on the hoof stand for the finishing touches. I gave up on using the stand awhile ago and just held the hoof up with one hand and rasped away quickly with the other. Not the ideal situation, rather awkward and my hand came perilously close to being trod on a few times. Today I decided just to finish them from the bottom. As I held her hoof on my leg (a la picking out feet), I ran the fine side of the rasp over the edge of the mustang roll to smooth it out. I had to bend over quite a bit to see how I was doing, making it even and all that, but it worked out a lot better than trying to hold her hoof under her belly (like it was on the stand). I think this is how we'll be doing the hind feet from now on.

Other Blog

I've decided to start posting in my other blog again. There's so much I'm doing that has nothing to do with Cherry that I'm going to devote to the other blog.

In recent months, I've come to the startling and frankly slightly frightening conclusion that I don't care about nor really want a career. There's so much I want to do and so much that interests me that I'll never in a million years get paid to do. So why can't I? No reason, really. This isn't to say I'll be unemployed, but whatever job I do will never be the central focus of my life nor will it detract from what I find to be truly important.

I propose to devote my other blog to the trials and tribulations of such a life, reclaiming domestic skills, and trying to find a balance between what I need and what I want.

Posts will likely be sporadic, but it's really more a record for me to look back on anyway. And if my exploits into the world of homemaking entertain or help someone else, so much the better!

Supplement Musings

The weather here has been pretty shitty over the last month. That, and the fact that I was gone for holidays, means that I haven't been doing a whole lot with Cherry lately. It's kind of her "winter break", but I can't lie, it's more about me being lazy and cold than giving her a respite.

That doesn't mean I've been neglecting her, just not riding nearly as much. I've also come to the conclusion that I don't need to go to the barn every day. Six days a week is plenty. Going every. single. day. really wears on me after awhile, I've found. It's not that I don't want to see my horse, it's that I don't want to deal with the crap that goes with it. Putting on warm clothes, driving through slush/ice/snow, mixing her feed, trekking through the icy muck to her paddock, etc, then doing it all in reverse.

So I don't go sometimes. But the next day I'm that much happier to do all of the above just to see her fuzzy little face. Like today. She felt pretty good and went tearing ass around the arena after a good roll in the dirt. It was so fun just to watch her and remember how nice her gaits are when she puts a little bounce into them.

I'm starting to question the efficacy of the joint supplement I've had her on. Past tense because, well, she hasn't been getting it these past couple weeks. We ran out and I haven't ordered more. Two reasons for that, one is that since I didn't work much in December I have no money (and it costs 90 freaking dollars), the other is that I'm curious to see if there's a difference with or without it.

So far, I can't really tell. Perhaps this means that she doesn't need it, or that she won't need it for awhile. I'd love to do what a "natural" vet (he does homeopathy and other such alternative remedies as well as conventional medicine) suggested, which is to do a 3 months on, 3 months off thing as opposed to continuous supplementation.

I'm also looking into other alternatives. I've heard the gelatin (Jello actually, but I'm not about to feed sugar to my horse) can help with joint stiffness and paprika is an anti-inflammatory for those bad days where the arthritis flares up. Obviously I need to do more research on this.

Perhaps the money that would have gone to the joint supplement would be better spent on new literature on barefoot trimming. I feel comfortable with the knowledge I have and the super basic trim, and now I want to advance my knowledge and skills. I've noticed that after a trim her arthritis seems to be "eased" for lack of a better term. Maybe by keeping her feet in better balance and health I'll be able to keep the stiffness at bay for longer with less need for supplements.

Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Visited my folks and a few good friends over the holidays. Cherry was well taken care of in my absence.

I did leave her hooves a litttttle too long, trimming-wise, but it's okay. I'm amazed at the change in her feet. The white line at the toe is actually looking really good! The bad news is that the whole toe is stretched forward, as evidenced by the change in angle of the hoof as viewed from the side. At least healthy hoof is growing in! Next time I'm going to back up those front toes.

We've been dealing with this on the front hooves for awhile now. That's okay, she's pretty comfortable on her feet again. And there's some lovely concavity going on under there. Very thrilled about that.











Her hind hooves look pretty good though, no? Yes, that left hind is a bit swollen. It's stocked up, something we've been dealing with this winter. Her hind legs stock up unevenly, I think due to the fact that her arthritis seems to be worse in the left leg than in the right. It goes back to normal with exercise, but since the ground is frozen (read: giant frozen mud peaks that I can't even walk on normally), she isn't moving about as much. Hence the stocking up. *sigh* I can't wait to get old.

Dentist Time!

Cherry saw the equine dentist a couple weeks ago, something that should have happened over the summer. I need to be better about that.

Despite the fact that this was Cherry's second time with this particular dentist, it was the first time I'd met her. Last year I had to work and couldn't be there for the appointment. I got the invoice and dutifully sent a check, but didn't get a chance to speak to her. She came highly recommended, and is pretty much the only certified equine dentist in my area (and a vet to boot), so I didn't feel weird about not meeting her the first time.

Her set-up is amazing. She has this giant "dentistry trailer" that she hauls with her. Inside are stocks, equipment, head holder, and a mini office. All that's needed is a place to plug in the extension cord for the power tools. It's pretty freaking sweet, and she takes it far and wide to see clients.

The horse is led up the ramp (well covered in non-slip material) into the trailer and placed in the stocks. Horse is then sedated and the head is supported by this padded ring thing that's suspended from the ceiling. There's plenty of room for the dentist, her assistant, and the horse's owner inside the trailer. She even had a space heater going since it was below freezing outside.

Cherry of course gave absolutely no trouble. She had to think for a minute about getting in the trailer, take a good look and all that, but she loaded up no problem. The IV needle wasn't her favorite thing, but that was over pretty quickly. Thankfully Cherry is a very cheap drunk and it doesn't take much to send her off into la-la land. The flip side to that is she wakes up very quickly and sometimes before you want her to, but things went quickly and she only needed one shot.

The dentist checked Cherry's teeth, explained what she was doing (always love that!) and also told me about aging horse's teeth. When horses get old, the chewing surface begins to degrade and form a cup. The process is called "cupping". Highly technical, I know. When the teeth start cupping it means that there isn't much tooth left to erupt and that regular dentist visits are extra important to keep the teeth healthy for as long as possible. She even had skulls on hand to show what she was talking about, which was super nifty.

Apparently Cherry's teeth are *just* starting to cup on the first and second molars. She's still got plenty of chewing years left, so no need to worry about stocking up on mush ingredients yet. But she does need a yearly float, and it would not be a good idea to let her go more than a year. Point taken.

Cherry didn't need much work. Just some sharp points on her molars and a slight unevenness on the chewing surface. Her incisors were fine (they had needed work last year) and overall it was a pretty basic power float. The prognosis was that she was starting to show signs of age, but her teeth are still very healthy, and she shows every sign of being well taken care of. Awww, that warmed my heart. :)

The dentist and her assistant were thrilled at how well behaved Cherry was. That is one thing I've never had to worry about with Cherry. She is always incredibly well mannered with equine professionals. I don't have to worry about a vet or farrier refusing to work on her, which is really nice.

All in all, a successful dentist visit.