This Is Significant!

Do you see it here?

Or here?

It's January, and there's no snow to be seen, but that's not what I'm looking for.

There are tracks to follow...

What's that I see peeking around the corner?

There it is!

In spite of my not getting the garage built last summer, the horse trailer finally got a ROOF over it's head!

With my herd down to only four, I was able to move Misty's panel stall to the east end of the barn (once I used up a little bit of hay and moved a little more around).  With Pat's guidance, and a little maneuvering, I was able to back the trailer in, and on the second try, I was even able to maintain the aisle-way for tractor traffic/parking.

I have promised my shiny new (to me) equine taxi that I would get it under cover since I got it two years ago, but that cover the last two winters has been only a tarp.   It finally has a space to protect it from the weather, though I wouldn't be sad if we didn't have anything worse than we have so far. (However, that would mean darn little irrigation next summer...Oh well, I guess it can snow in the mountains.)

One of my goals for the new year is to get the garage up, with a pull through stall for the trailer, to eliminate the need to back up. Likewise, I'd like to put the last 16 foot wing of the barn up, so that my south-side run-in stalls can be a little more permanent, and maybe I can take on a couple of retirement boarders (a la Paradigm Farm).

We'll see what the new year brings!

 *****

Speaking of reducing my herd, Beth is doing well at Anita and Terry's.

They have changed her name, but just a bit:  Beth must have sounded just a little too old-lady-like to them, but they wanted to keep the same basic sound, especially the short "e."  They tried "Jet" for a day or two, then went back to the "B" and added and "s".

The little spitfire is now "Bets".

[photo*]

She's had a few medical set-backs, with the wound on her chin becoming nasty from time to time, which leads us to believe there may still have been a bone fragment or splinter of some kind hiding in there.  But a second and third round of anti-biotics seems to have cleared it up for now--here's hoping the nasty has worked it's way out unseen and everything can heal permanently now!  The spot on her jawbone that she actually broke the chunk off has healed completely.

[photo*]

The little Arab mare, Casey, who created such a stink about Bets being in her round pen the first few days, has now become her best friend forever.  They are inseparable.  Bets has also discovered BOYS!   She's fallen in love with all the geldings in the neighborhood (I guess RT wasn't a boy, he was just Uncle RT), so it seems like she's been in heat all fall.

[photo*]

Terry has been working a lot on the ground with Bets, and most of it has been real good--tho there have been a few peeks at the sassy side of her personality.  Terry is so mellow, he just steps out of range of whatever naughty she's doing, then puts her to work, to let her know that wasn't acceptable.

[*Anita brought me some snapshots of Bets that I wanted to include here, but my new computer is not currently talking to my old scanner, so you'll have to use your imagination... Suffice to say, she looks pretty settled in her new home.]

Rained Out, Stuck In The Mud

Well, it's been two weeks since spring break, so I need to finish off the week for you--not that there's much to tell.

After our ride with KVTR on Wednesday, Thursday dawned clear and pleasant. I should have gone for another trail ride, but instead, Sandy and I climbed in the truck and drove east to Moses Lake, where a farm supply store had put fencing on sale. I have several projects to do (next post), including enlarging the fenced part of our yard for Sandy to have more room to move. By buying four rolls of horse fence and two of lighter weight dog fence, the extra distance was compensated for by the sale price.

We got back to the home place, unloaded the fencing rolls, ate some lunch, then hooked up the trailer. But not for a trail ride.

My friend Anita has a mare who has had on-going issues with laminitis. She has been working with a therapeutic farrier, but there is no electric available for the vet's portable X-ray. The road to her pasture is long and has been a mucky, muddy mess all winter, and the mare has been too uncomfortable to walk out to either their house (power) or the road (trailer trip to the vet's).
So with the infamous Ellensburg wind drying things out a bit, Anita scheduled an appointment at the clinic.
I gingerly maneuvered the trailer in, backwards, almost to the mare's pen. With an extra dose of bute in her, the mare managed the rest of the distance fairly easily. She has only been in trailer a couple of times in her life, and the last time was six or eight years ago, so we left plenty of time for loading. She stood at the open doors of the trailer while Anita wrapped her legs, then leaned forward to check it out...and loaded herself!
Great! Plenty of time to ease our way back to town.
The X-rays were more positive than expected, with less rotation of the coffin bones and more hoof sole still present, so now the farrier knew where he could go next. So we loaded her back up, and turned towards home.
And as we turned south west, the sky turned absolutely BLACK! Every mile we drove, the rain came down harder. By the time we got to the driveway to Anita's pasture, I could barely see out the windshield! And a river had developed in the road. To save the mare any more standing as we tried to turn around, I drove in frontwards, feeling the slop pull at my wheels. We got her off-loaded, then I tried to back the rig out. But the ruts kept grabbing the trailer and pushing it off to one side, trying to jack-knife it. There was a little bit of purchase in the grass on either side of the drive, but the ruts wouldn't let go of my front tires, even in low-low four-wheel-drive! Anita's husband had his tow chain in hand, just about ready to pull the front end around with his old tractor, but first he tried laying the chain under one of my slipping front tires. With just that extra bit of traction, I made it onto the grass, and we slowly and gingerly proceeded to where I could finally turn around and head for the county road. All-in-all, it had been at least forty-five minutes, with the rain continuing to pour down, and the footing getting worse. I was happy to hit the pavement and drive back through town towards home. Half an hour later, the rain had completely stopped (though it started up again and rained all night--Anita could hardly walk to her barn the next morning, for all the additional water, on top of all the mud I had churned up!).

Friday was a recovery day, but Saturday, Pat and I wussed out on the scheduled KVTR ride: it was windy and spitting snow about the time we would have had to load the horses.
Only a few intrepid riders went out......though some more joined in for the chili feed afterwards.Monday, it was back to school, and one of the craziest weeks of my professional life. I won't go into that here, but suffice it to say, by Friday, I needed another week off!

The following weekend, rather than ride with the club, since Pat had her granddaughters with her, I tagged along with them, back to the Army east trailhead, for a sunny, but windy ride. Kate was really good going out, with me riding on the buckle, and her moving in a relaxed and forward (for Kate) walk. She even complied nicely when I asked her to move off to the side of the trail so I could take pictures of Pat, her daughter, and the grand-girls.Unfortunately, when we turned back towards the trailers, we also turned IN to the wind, and Kate didn't appreciate that one bit! She gave me several little crow hops, and one good buck, for no more reason than that she was being a snit. I managed to stay where I belonged, and even was able to keep a safe hold of the big Nikon I had opted to bring for the day. But I was not pleased with her shenanigans.
Sunday and the rest of the week has been cruddy, weather-wise, so not much got done. School was a little better this week, but today the wind came up again, and I decided to stay inside (besides chores) and get caught up on here and on reading other folks' blogs.
Maybe tomorrow I'll get something accomplished.
Then again, maybe not.

Hormone Poisoning!

Jackson is suddenly no longer a sweet little spotty weanling.

With the coming of spring he has become a snorting, strutting, prancy-dancing bundle of sassy, sexy stud colt!

And he's been driving poor little RT crazy!

Now that it stays light later after I get home from work, I've been working with Jackson a bit this week: leading, grooming (he's one big hair ball), trimming up his feet.

I had considered taking him along to pony from Pat's horse Rusty, on one of the recent KVTR rides. But we want to try it at home first. [I'm glad I didn't-- he would have been a pest.]

Last night the plan was to load him in the trailer and take a ride around the block. He's hasn't been in the trailer since last summer, and always with his mama. But it was a bit windy, and everyone got themselves all worked up just because I pulled "their baby" out of his pen, so he had all sorts of excuses to be naughty. And the trailer was in the driveway, with no fenced "safety zone" in case he might get away from me. So we stayed in the arena and tried some of the very first efforts at lunging at the walk (well, I wanted it to be at the walk). He caught on pretty quickly.

Tonight was calmer, so I pulled the trailer into the arena for loading.

I should say, the weather was calmer. Jackson was an absolute POOP!

When I went into the paddock with he and his old babysitter gelding, Jackson was busy chasing RT around, herding him like a mare with his head all snaky, trying to mount him! RT would give gentle kicks to get him to back off, but it worked only momentarily. As soon as I tried to catch either one of them, the race was on! Round and round they went, Jackson herding his "mare" to keep "her" away from me. When RT finally got tired enough to stand his ground, I haltered him and led him to an adjoining paddock, that I planned to separate him to next week anyway. Jackson was concerned enough about that to let me catch him up, and I tied him in his stall to take his blanket off and groom him a bit.

At this point, however, Misty could see neither her son nor her boyfriend, so she got all upset, which got the fillies all goofy in their pens and everyone was now worked up as much or more than last night!

Between all the running around and worrying, Jackson got himself into a little bit of a lather, and he continued to challenge me, invading my space and charging forward on the lead. We worked in the stall on him respecting me and behaving himself. When he settled enough, we walked quite appropriately down the barn aisle and out to the arena and the waiting trailer.

The approach to the trailer was hesitant yet curious. Jackson stopped for a moment, then stepped in with one forefoot, then backed down for just a moment before stepping up again. It only took a light pull to convince him to step up with the other front foot. I let him stand for a moment to check things out, then asked him to move forward again. He stepped up behind, scrambled a little with the last hoof, then was inside. He willingly walked to the front stall, where I let him stand and look around. He started to get a little startled looking,

("What the HECK am I doing in HERE?")

but responded well when I scratched his withers and talked to him. I looped the lead through the Blocker Tie Ring, asked him to move over to the front wall, and shut the partition. This was the first time he hadn't been left loose in the back (with his mama), and he started to test the limits of the stall, forward and back, side to side. By the time I shut the trailer up and started the truck, he was calling to the other horses (who encouraged him by answering back), pawing and was clearly unhappy. I got the rig moving, to give him something different (keeping his balance) to think about.

I had about a five mile loop planned, with no steep hills, only a few curves, and intersections that, if there was no traffic (there wasn't), I could slide through without coming to a full stop. Two-thirds of the way, we stopped for a few minutes at Pat's place and I opened the stall window so Jackson could see Rusty and Rambler. He was considerably less fussy now, but in a heavy sweat and had a small scrape over one eye.

He traveled the rest of the loop quietly. When we pulled back into our home arena, the other horses immediately reacted, but Jackson stayed pretty calm--

maybe relieved that he had survived to tell the tale?

I wanted him to learn to stay still until I asked him to come back, so I retrieved the end of his lead rope, but left it in the Blocker, which will give if he pulls, but I can control the tension. Jackson has always been good about respecting pressure on the rope since our early tying lessons, so he stood quietly while I opened the partition.

I came to his head, rubbed on him some, undid the lead, and asked him to step back. He was a little confused, as always before he had been allowed to turn around and exit the trailer looking where he was going. But he's a big boy now, and time to learn the grown-up horse method--it's safer to back out than the handler possibly getting caught between the horse and the trailer wall during a turn.

We would back a few steps, then stand a second, them one or two more, until his rears were at the edge of the back door. The slow backing is accompanied by the word "eeeasy," then just before he reached the step down I stop and use the word "step" to teach him the cue I want him to recognize for "you've gotten to the yawning chasm behind you, and you're going to have to trust me."

His first hoof stepped down, then bounced gingerly back in. I asked him again, and maintained just a little bit of pressure once the first hoof went out, and he followed with the other hind. I let him stand and cogitate a minute, then pushed gently on the lead again, with a hesitation and the cue "step" when it was time for his fronts to step down. When he dropped that first fore, just a little bit of reassurance kept him moving, and all of the sudden...

He was OUT!

He looked around somewhat incredulously, snuffled at Kate over the fence, then led nicely inside to get rubbed down and blanketed. I left him tied for a bit, while I started on evening chores. When I let him loose in the paddock, it was a toss-up whether he should worry about his dinner, or the fact that RT was no longer in with him (he was right next door).

I might try to do the same routine tomorrow morning, before I head to Spokane for my grandson's birthday. And again Monday some time.

Why all this focused work on hauling Jackson? Well, there's still the prospect of ponying him on trail rides. And there's that little schooling show in three weeks--it would be good for Jackson to start experiencing the big wide world.

But most importantly, next week is spring break, which will give me several days to stay home with him. Tuesday morning, I will haul him to the vet's for his "brain surgery" -- none too soon! I am not set up to keep a stud, especially a young, energetic one. As well built as he is, Jackson's breeding is nothing extraordinary, and neither parent has any kind of show record. I don't have the money or skills to help him develop a performance record of his own, so I don't consider him to be stud material. So it's time to nip this hormonal spurt in the bud [if you'll excuse the expression].

Also slated for the week home:

fencing;

insulation into the tack room ceiling;

the last 100 of the trees arrived today for planting;

I need to get Maddie legged up (I have yet to get on her this year) for an adventure I'll blog about later.

Oh, and I need to get my taxes done....

Mah Twailer Twip to Towhn, by Jackson

O boy!
Mama Misty an me, Jackson, weez goin onna adventur!

Whas dat over dere?
Itz mah sisters and cuzins.
Hi der gurls! Mama Misty an me, Jackson, weez goin onna adventur!
Whoa!
You wantz me to go where?Oh. Dats Auntie Laurie's new-to-her horsie twailer!!Mah Mama Misty left me a trail of...um...bread crums to follo.
Smells hokay.
Wher duz mah feets go agin?Auntie Laurie sez dat littl baby steps iz hokay fur a littl spottie baby horsie.Buts Im feelin a littl insecur here!
So Auntie Laurie letz me bak ups a bitz, to gets mah bak feetz bak on solud groun.
Wups! Now mah frun feetz seems ta be on da edge of da wurld!
Auntie Laurie helps me ajust mah toe-hold.
Dats bettr!

A littl xtra perswayshun to gets dat furstest bak foots up into da twailer rite dis time.

One las foots, an Im in!

An Auntie Laurie clozez da doors an weez off to towhn.
Mama Misty an me, Jackson, weez goin onna adventur!

A littl fresh air (da hay fuds is up by da furst windo).

By-by, Uncl Al.
An wees off ta towhn.

Now, Iz been to da vets clinik now tree timz in mah tree ana haf munths, an all tree timz, everybodie dere just thinks Im a kutie patootie. An I meets anudder new vet doctur, but Dr. Mark iz Auntie Laurie's favorit--he furst wurkded wit mah Mama Misty bak wen mah big brudder Eddie, Auntie Laurie's furstest baby horsie, wuz bornded.
An Iz so goodz, an I letz Dr. Mark poke at mah spotted baby boo boo butt, an he sez dere nuttin dere to really worry aboud, dat deres no infecion, jus a littl contuzion. An itll jus take sum mor times, witch I gots lots uv whil Im buzy growin up. Dr. Mark says its gud dat da boo boo iz up hi in mah butt musculs, an not down by my tenduns, an da wurstest I mite hav iz a littl pucker or maybe a littl dimpl on mah kewt littl spotted butt when it finly getz all heelded ups. But maybe nots, cuz I iz all yung an healty an all.

After Dr. Mark finushed checkin out my spotted baby boo boo butt, he sent a vet teckie ladie out tah help Auntie Laurie lode Mama Misty and me bak in the twailer. But Auntie Laurie tol the vet tekie ladie dat she wanted to try again to lode us all by herselves agin. So we follered hers to da bak of da twailer, an Mama Misty walks right in, an Auntie Laurie goes up to ty her hed up by da hay fuds, an while she's standin dere at the end of mah ropes, I jus lookded arown at the sitiation, an decided to lode my littl spottie selves in to the twailer.
So I did!
I jus walkded up in dere nex to my Mama Misty lik I been doin it all my lifes, witch, if ya think aboud it, I have!

An we all wentz home to Uncle RT, who missded me bunches, an even playded wit me when we gotz home.
An I tolded hims all aboud Mama Misty and me, Jackson, goin onna adventur to towhn!

Pesky Projects

Hot weather, the infamous Ellensburg wind (once the temps finally dropped, the wind came up!), and various responsibilities have all conspired to keep me (and Mike) from doing as much riding as we would have liked these past few weeks.

One of the more pressing issues was getting the yard fenced for Sandy's safety. She is recovering well (no more cone-head!), but confused that she no longer has the freedom to roam. She does seem to appreciate having the run of even the small yard, after having to stay on leash for the last month.

This little gate used to be our access to the horse pastures, and the missing bar in the center box was to allow Sandy clearance to get through (the gate is upside down in this photo). She was frustrated that the gate is now covered by wire:
"Watz the deal, ma?"

Another bit of fencing, for the horses, is this last 500 foot run of cross fencing. Six years ago, when we were starting to upgrade from electric to permanent fence, the guy at the farm supply store convinced me that high-tensile (think New Zealand fence) woven wire (think field fence) was the way to go. "Stretch it good and tight, and the horses just bounce off of it!" Well, that may be, if one's horses run into it, but my horses tend to put their feet through it, and the lighter gauge high tensile wire cuts like a knife. When Amy ran into it as a baby, leaving small scars on her nose and one foreleg, I was willing to write it off as a freak accident.
But when Kate chopped up her back legs last summer, I took the rolls meant for this last section back, and started saving for 2 X 4 inch mesh, that feet can't go through. (I already have it installed in all my paddocks and the arena.) It costs as much for one 100' roll of the 2 X 4 as for 330 feet of the other, but I will slowly start replacing the high tensile stuff, a fence line at a time. I was able to sell some of it on Craig's list for a dog-proof orchard enclosure and for some goats. But I don't recommend it for anyone with horses!

This patch of dirt is a lousy example of one section of my arena footing. Or should I say a good example of my lousy arena footing? I have gotten several loads of free fill dirt, but the last one was full of rocks and weeds and stuff. I've found that a muck fork is really good for picking all but the smallest rocks.
I needed fill because the south end of the "almost-an-arena" dropped off fairly drastically. So I built a little retaining wall and am back filling it.
However, the mesh fence that Mike helped me put up last summer is slightly low for the level I want to bring the dirt to, so I was hoping that he and I could adjust it and finish the back fill. Dog-fence, however, took priority.
Also: the trailer floor has needed work for a while now.
Because I was beginning to question it's safety (the first and last boards were looking pretty iffy) it was time. And I'd like to upgrade to a newer, smaller trailer (if I can ever sell some stock!)and I won't sell this one to someone in less than safe condition. (I can't say "less than perfect", as this homely old girl is far from perfect!)
It was a frustrating process, as I couldn't find the right tool to drill out the heads of all the little (big) bolts that held the floor down. I would try one carbide tipped drill, that would fly through two or so bolts, then be totally dull. Back to town for a different approach...over and over again. We were getting one board pulled up per day and getting very frustrated. Finally got a "deburring tool" that held up for the final three boards. I have to pick up a couple of additional replacement boards, trim them to fit, then we'll be good to go again!
[Edited to add: finished the floor yesterday morning, but don't have any "finished" photos, because I sold the trailer in the afternoon! Anyone out there in the Pacific Northwest know of a two-horse slant for sale?]

Another major chore: we fenced off a "shelter belt" for tree/bush riparian habitat several years ago, but have had very little success competing with the reed canary grass that grows rampant on the canal banks and adjoining fields. So I'm off to mow it down, in preparation of herbicide spraying and then landscape cloth, to try to give the plants a fighting chance!
This is the southeast corner of the property, and probably the most naturally moist area. You probably can't see them all, but there are a grand total of four bushes and four trees in this photo--out of I think 50 that we planted!
The biggest of four quaking aspens (out of 10) from two years ago planting.
One of only three little evergreens (out of 25) that have survived now for four years.
One project that is complete (OMG!) is pruning back the driveway trees, so that Pat can bring her trailer in without the "car wash" effect (also the UPS guy). The willows had really gotten thick between the hybrid cottonwoods, to the point that several little Austrian Pines that I had planted a few years ago were being choked out. All of the back branches of this little guy had been pushed forward--the two white sticks are to try to train them back to the rear.
It's hard to believe all of these cottonwoods were only about 4-6 feet high when we moved here seven years ago! I love trees and it hurt me to cut them back, but they do look much more civilized now.

So, as Grey Horse Matters said: Summer time, and the living is...BUSY!
But I've gotten two little jobs done in the barn this morning (that have been waiting forever) so, to reward myself, I'm goin' for a ride!

TTFN

A Busy [Twenty-Four/edited to read] Thirty-Six

Finished the first cutting of Timothy last night. Four barns full. Five, if you count my little corner of the hay universe. It's a good feeling--if I can sell at least two horses (hopefully this weekend), this will be enough for the winter!

Had a good ride on Maddie yesterday morning, and again today. I have a pair of women, a mother and twenty-something daughter, coming from out-of-town to see her later today. They've had their eye on her on Dream Horse for quite a while, now. Dad finally said "yes, you can get a second horse." And when they heard I was planning to take her to a sale Saturday, they figured they'd better get over here to look at her.

Sandy had an unexpected visit from her friend Trackster this morning. While I went out to change my irrigation sprinklers, Al took the time to let the two of them play (with Sandy still in her radar hood and on the leash). It is good to know that she can still get along with some dogs.
[old photo] Later in the morning she went in to the vet's to have the "drains" removed from her biggest wound. Of course, since everything was looking so good, healing wise, Sandy had to gum up the works by miscalculating the jump into the back seat of the truck with her cone-head on, and fell back out. So by the time we got to the vet's she was bleeding from her drain-hole. Not much, and the vet said it didn't look like anything to worry about. And it had quit by the time we got done. So otherwise, she's healing well.

PM Update:

The gals showed up with their trailer! That's how sure they were that they wanted Maddie. We worked in the round pen, first me, then L. got on--looking a bit timid--she is the first person besides me to ride Maddie, and Maddie had made some nasty faces about loping with me, again, so they just walked at first. Then we switched out saddles--L's actually seemed to fit her better (confirmation that I need to shop for a wider one for Kate)--after a few minutes Maddie relaxed and moved out a bit nicer, and L relaxed and Maddie relaxed some more and L relaxed some more. Then they asked to see her load. They had a little two horse slant, with a step up, but Maddie stepped right in. They evidently let their horses turn around to come out, but Maddie backed out quietly before I could get in a position to turn her around. We loaded her again, and this time turned around for the unload. Again, no problem. And so it was a done deal (pending vet check)! We rinsed her down (it was upper 80's) put leg wraps on her, and went to load. Maddie's attitude was "What? I've been in there twice already today!" So it took a little persuasion from my horse beater....er, buggy whip, but still not that big a deal. And then they were on their way!

Tomorrow the younger two get their final work, and baths, before the sale on Saturday. Although I would have liked to be on Beth by now, and I have had some success in standing in the stirrups, I simply wasn't up to pushing it. But she is ground-driving well, and I even got baby Amy started in the long-lines as well!

And I've arranged for another trailer to take Beth and Amy, so I can haul Misty and baby Jackson down in mine, as replacements for Maddie--"deposit will hold 'til weaning." It's a good time to sell a baby, while they still have the "Aw, cute!" factor. Otherwise, they're usually here until they're started under saddle.

We'll see.

Later PM Update

Mom calls to say the trip went great. No fussing in the trailer; off-loaded like a champ; wandered around new [big] stable, looking at things, but no spook; let her loose in the arena to shake off the two-hour trip, and Maddie wandered away, then peed, then came back, as if to say, "Now what?" Put her in a stall and she made herself at home.

Friday AM Down-date

At 8:30 this morning I got a call from out-of-town mom. She's very sorry, but they'll be bringing Maddie back, this morning, before it gets too hot. They recognize that I need to get her to the sale tomorrow.
WHAT HAPPENED?!?
Turns out that last night, after they got her settled into her first-ever-in-her-life stall, (and evidently before they got her some hay to munch on), daughter saw her "crib" on the wall. "Did she actually suck air?" I ask "Or was she chewing on the wood? Or what?" I ask. Mom's not sure, she didn't see it happen. They watched all morning and didn't see it happen again. But daughter has an absolute dismay over horses that crib.
Daughter was reportedly in tears all night; doesn't even want to look for another horse now. Mom sounded like she was close to tears on the phone: "She's absolutely perfect. But I know my daughter, and there's no convincing her different at this point."

Now I must say that none of my horses crib, so none of them has ever seen a horse crib. And even though all my paddock fencing has a wooden top rail, I am more likely to find a rail displaced (knocked down) than chewed on. They have plenty of pasture and turn-out time. Even these days when they're locked in the paddocks half-time, they are more likely to play with the chains on panels and gates than anything else.
I had reminded the ladies that Maddie had never lived in a stall, and that she would need lots of turn-out time, and that maybe a couple of stall toys would be appropriate. I suspect that she was simply "tasting" her new environment. At worst she may have already been bored, and did seek out a anxiety reliever. The daughter admits that she did not "gulp" any air, but simply set her upper teeth on the top of the wall and arched her neck some. But she was unwilling to take any chances--or rather, give Maddie a chance.
If I did not have the sale tomorrow, I might have tried being more persuasive that they should keep her there a few more days. But I don't need the drama, thank you.

So as of noon, Maddie is back with her herd.