Just have to say…

Jeffers ROCKS!!!  Oh my word!  about 2 months ago I ordered some stirrups from Chicks, I am the type of person who when I buy something I like to know where it is, when it will get here etc etc.  I got NOTHING from them in regards to my order other than an email that I would get an email after the order was processed and that my card wouldn’t be charged until the order was processed and ready to ship.  I never got any emails!!  They have no way on their site to track orders or anything of that nature.  I did get my stirrups, they were exactly what I had expected and I couldn’t be happier with the actual product itself but I’m neurotic and have a touch of OCD so have hesitated to order from them again.

I needed some wormer and had been looking for a Cashel brand cantle bag, which I found a decent deal for BOTH items in Jeffers!  I am the type of person to add things to my shopping cart, go all thru the checkout procedure right up to the actual payment part and then think “eh maybe I’ll wait” or “maybe I can get it cheaper locally” ~Ok really it’s that I want it N O W!! but…. So on one of my trips thru the checkout process today I noticed that they take Paypal and a light goes off *ding ding ding* I just sold some saddle pads on ebay, I have money sitting in my paypal – I can use THAT and then I don’t have to take so much out of my bank account WOOHOO!  Normally that wouldn’t matter but this is a screwy pay week/cycle and this is his short check PLUS they are messing with his schedule some more so who knows what we’ll have for pay in 2 weeks!  *sigh*

ANYWAY!!!  Back on track here!  I ran some errands and when I got back I went ahead and placed my order.  My order was placed at around 4:20 I immediately had an email from them that my order was received/in process and I would receive an update when one was available.  At 6:30 I have an email that my order has been shipped via Fedex (wahoo!! I love Fedex) and provides me with a tracking number – of course, the tracking number wasn’t in the system yet so I harassed the fedex site over and over until at 8:30 I got the great wonderful fantastic news that my package was picked up, on a truck and headed this way!!  HOORAY! 

I know I know, it’s sad that I get so excited about this stuff but I had to share!!

Short Ride

Tonight I actually managed to get in a very short ride.  I wasn’t going to ride, today was miserably sticky.  Not really warm, well 84 degrees I think but it was just SO sticky.  The boys spent the night out last night *gasp* I know right?  I’m a horrible pony mom!!  Those two are so spoiled it’s not funny, why go outside in the bugs when we can stand in our stall with mom doting on us and feeding us yummy hay?!  *sigh* I’ve created monsters.

Anyway – I was having a not so great afternoon and just was going to brush some of the mud off Buddy and spend some horsey time with my ponies.  Famous last words for me.  I decided to try the saddle on Buddy that I’d bought from Vince’s dad a couple years ago, why I didn’t do this BEFORE I bought the roping saddle is beyond me – this saddle fits him well and it’s synthetic so it is LIGHT which is a definite plus! 

I brushed the caked on mud off – that boy loves to roll and grind in as much mud as possible!  And put the saddle on, no pad first and it looked ok, so I grabbed a pad and tacked up.  He didn’t really look all that thrilled with me, “bad mom, make me stay out all day/night/day and then you’re going to ride me?!” Yes silly pony it won’t kill you ~ I had Ethan grab me his bridle and slipped it on, no problems.  I can’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but I noticed on my last 2 rides, maybe even on the Wildlands ride too but I can’t remember, I was using an eggbutt bit.  I’d used a Mylar full cheek snaffle for our first few rides, but when I got my new bridle that RMY picked up for me at Brighton Saddlery I discovered that the slots on the cheeks weren’t large enough for my bridles hardware to fit thru, I know that sounds odd doesn’t it?  I ended up switching Buddy to a D ring snaffle that has copper rollers on it, he was doing well in that bit and I probably should have just left well enough alone, but I was trying to get him in a bit that just fit him a little better, 5” mouth is a little too big.  Well, he’s been “lugging” on my arms the last couple rides and getting real frustrated, I wasn’t sure it was the bit but now that I’ve ridden him back in the D bit and he was fine, very responsive and no “lugging” I’m just going to leave well enough alone!! 

SO!  Me and my tangents, sorry!  I had him all tacked and grabbed the stool.  Yes he’s only 14.1 but I just can’t get up there from the ground without yanking and pulling on him and I don’t want to hurt him!  He started to circle and be a twirp and I just circled him and told him to whoa and he did.  *sigh* he’s such a good boy, I need to remember that if I approach all of this with a calm manner, he doesn’t act all stupid about it.  My nerves have been shot so every little thing that happens I’ve over reacted to.  Did I need to smack him the other day when he wouldn’t stand calmly for me to get on him?  Nope obviously not and what did it accomplish really?  Ok so that’s another story altogether.  I got on my stool, put my foot in the stirrup and went to step up and the saddle slipped whoops someone didn’t tighten the girth Of course, I was laying across his back with the saddle twisted and he kept turning back to look at me like “what ARE you doing?” So I took a minute to just lay there and pat his face and “hang out” rub his sides that kind of thing.  He didn’t spaz which was a good thing since when I went to step back down the saddle ended up completely on his side.  He didn’t blink. I loosened the girth and fixed the saddle, tightened it up and then climbed on up.  We just went to the end of the driveway and then I did something I haven’t done hardly at all with him…..WE TROTTED, like more than 5 steps!!  We trotted the entire length of the driveway!!!  I kept my hands down, out of his face, and I just let him go.  I did post to it, and he was very happy – ears up and alert not like he’s been previously at the trot – ears back kind of hesitant to move out.  I think it has been a combination of not a great fit for the saddle and too much interference from me.  It has to be hard for him, knowing that I’m asking for a trot with my legs and getting all in his face with my hands.  I’m working on it!!

We only made a couple laps, did a little backing and some just standing.  I need to get some miles on him if I’m going to take him on vacation with me in TWO WEEKS!!! YIKES! It’s approaching fast!  More on that another day though – now it’s time to cuddle with the dog and go to bed.  She’s a little upset right now, not only did Daddy leave today for work, but our oldest son left with him and my mother to spend 2 weeks in NY with my mom’s sister.  Poor Gin doesn’t know what to think!!

Ups and Downs

I’ve been able to ride the last two days in a row – wow!  My “new to me” saddle arrived last week and between the weather not cooperating and too many other commitments I just haven’t had a chance to ride in it.  Try it on him, sure!  But actually climb on him, nope. 

First let me tell you about my new saddle.  I bought it off of ebay, it was described as a 16” Darkoil/black roping style saddle with a 6 3/4” gullet.  I did a lot of debating as ideally I need a 17” seat and I’m 99% positive Buddy will end up needing a full 7” gullet but the price was right on this saddle and for where Buddy is right now, 6 3/4” works without pinching.

My saddle arrived last Monday, I excitedly tore the box open and pulled my new toy out.  At first glance it was fantastic BUT I was fairly certain the gullet was wider than advertised and the seat looked bigger as well.  I got out the measuring tape and measured – sure enough the gullet is a full 7” maybe even a little wider if that’s possible! And the seat is a full 17”!!  I know I should have been upset that it “wasn’t as described” but I was ecstatic!!  This was a good thing!  I left feedback and even privately emailed the seller to say thank you and that even though it measured differently then advertised that it was fantastic – the seller probably thinks I’m a total whack job!  Then I got really looking at the saddle….to my minor disappointment, the seller left out the fact that the saddle has been PAINTED!  It has some form of black shiny paint all over it, except where it’s chipped off and worn off.   I got some stuff that will take the paint off BUT it dried out the leather A LOT – so you know what?  I’m not trying to win any contests, I just need something that is comfortable for me and Buddy and that will get us by until I win the Lottery and can buy my dream saddle (that I have yet to pick out).  I really do like this saddle even if up close it looks a bit…..”odd”.  It really is a shame because this saddle was obviously gorgeous when it was new.  Anyway!  Regardless of how the saddle looks, it fits both Buddy and I very well and I feel very secure in it!

Onto my riding disasters…..er, adventures.  Buddy has basically just been hanging out the last 2 weeks since our ride at the Wildlands and it shows.  All of a sudden my unflappable, good boy is being a nerd!!  Holy spookiness!  He wasn’t too bad about tacking up yesterday but he was a total ass about being mounted.  We all know by now that mounting is a HUGE H U G E issue for me, so of course my anxiety level went thru the roof and fed into his naughtiness.  He wasn’t being anything other than naughty – seriously!  “you want me to stand next to that stool, ok….NAH!  I think I’ll stand 4 feet away from it.” that kind of thing.  So I finally get on him and we walk thru the field, it’s a bit muddy, he’s being a bit more snorty and fast paced than normal which puts me on edge, which puts him on edge – it’s a vicious cycle.  We got down to the apple tree where Buck is buried and he spooked and I thought for sure he’d bolt for the barn but a firm WHOA and he stopped for me. 

I decided that since the pasture was a lot muddier then I’d anticipated that we’d head out to the driveway and maybe got up to mom and dads driveway.  He seemed ok in my driveway so we headed up the side of the road to M&D’s.  The water was running in the ditch and the noise made him stop and snort.  I laughed and urged him on, silly boy – not a water/mud fan.  We got up the driveway and he was doing ok, one thing I forgot to mention was that my stirrups were too long but once I’d gotten up there, I wasn’t getting off to adjust them which just added to my insecurity!  I made a loop in the driveway and went down to the lower lawn.  It’s flat with good drainage so it wasn’t as wet as everything else.  We were making loops and I went to adjust my reins, when my hand got out to the side, brat boy flew the opposite direction, almost unseating me and scaring the hell out of me!  I stayed with him though and then proceeded to wave my arms about and kick my feet (not hitting him but flapping them out to the sides).  He was still being silly but was better about it.  We went back up the driveway and V came to see if everything was ok because he’d heard me yell.  I was frustrated and not happy and said some mean things, sorry Bud, I really didn’t mean to say that I didn’t like you and would sell you “tomorrow”!  By this point, Dad was there too and he pointed out that “you love this little horse stop being such a baby”.  Thanks dad.  I was struggling with stirrup adjustment and Buddy was antsy and nervous so Dad stepped in.  He was able to adjust both stirrups while Vince scratched Buddy’s ears and forehead and I took a minute to gather myself back together.  **I never used to be so anxious and easily frustrated**

Vince helped me back on and we made a few more loops in the driveway and then ventured up the side of the road.  On our ride in the wildlands a couple weeks ago, there was a lot of traffic that day and Buddy handled it very well but we had 2 others keeping us company so I wasn’t sure how he would be by himself.  We made a couple loops and actually encountered no cars, 2 motorcycles did come up by us when we’d just gotten into M&D’s pasture driveway, both cyclists were very polite and backed way off and barely put put’d up the hill, I waved my thanks and Buddy was unfazed.  There were several mud puddles in the driveway and Buddy was his normal “ack mud/water” fearing self!  I tried to work on it a little and had him at least getting his toes in the water a little bit but he’s by far NOT the swimming/water fool that Buck was.  We ended on that note and mosey’d home.

All of this happened 2 days ago, I started writing this last night but got sidetracked by some “brother drama” heaven help me there but that’s another story! 

So yesterday my plan had been to get up early, feed and get a ride in before mom sent the boys home.  The best laid plans right?  I woke up with a SCREAMING headache.  There is one pillow on my bed that KILLS me if I sleep with it as my only head rest.  I was in horrible pain and just didn’t want to move.  I DID get up and get the horses and moo fed (the goaties are out with my dad’s calves right now, moo will join them all hopefully this week) and then settled back into bed with the computer and a cup of chocolate coffee to read some more of Pony Girls blog and hope that my headache let up some.  I started feeling better and hopped in the shower, only to get out and have the kids end up down here because mom wasn’t feeling well, so I had 2 of my boys (1 was at a friends) and then my niece and nephew also.  My darling DH was trying to fix my dryer and the barn/garage lights so I just kind of chilled and relaxed since my headache wasn’t completely gone. 

After lunch I sent the kids back to M&D’s and told DH I was hitting the road.  Buddy was being a bit goofy but not too bad compared to the start of our ride the day before.  As we were walking down the driveway, DH yelled that Buppa was headed down on the wheeler.  I stopped near the end of the driveway so dad could see us and so that Bud could see the wheeler – we have a wheeler, I ride it in the pasture to do fencing and near the horses all the time….no big deal right?  Wrong!  That boy can go just as fast backwards as he can go forward!!  Dad stopped and let me collect my pony, and we stepped off the far side of the drive and let Dad by.  Buddy couldn’t have cared less while the wheeler came by from behind.  Crazy pony.

We got up the road, and I decided to cut thru the neighbors field, it’s generally pretty dry except in the gully so I figured we’d be fine.  They stopped haying these two feels MANY years ago and now sadly just brush hog them so as long as I don’t tear up the ground, it doesn’t matter if I ride thru the tall grass.  We got to the gully without incident but as we started down the slight hill, he got funky like he does when he doesn’t want to cross water.  Oh crazy boy, you WON’T melt!!  We got thru it and up the other side and finished our trek thru the field without further incident.  Now comes the scary part of the ride.  Last summer I had a horse that spooked at the guardrail EVERY time we walked past it, we could even get past it and then BAM!  He’d snort and jump sideways.  Foolishness.  The last ride I took on this path ended in a walk home for me and I haven’t ridden over there again, this didn’t happen on Buddy but it still shook my fragile nerves to the core!  

Wow – sorry that was a tangent huh?  We got over to the lodge road and all was fine, a care came up alongside us in a bad spot and I signaled for them to just give me a minute, which they did – that particular spot has NO shoulder and a VERY steep bank down on one side, the side I was riding on of course.  I got to the lawn at the dam and the car passed us without silly boy even batting an eye!  Phew!  We took my normal route, there were kayakers and fishermen everywhere which foiled my plan to try to get up to the water to see if he’d dip his toes in or get a drink of water.  He was a little snorty about the two vehicles on either side of the road but we got by without incident.  As we were headed down the road, I could hear what I thought was a boat until I came around a corner and saw the bucket of a tractor coming towards us!  YIKES!!  Buddy didn’t see it and after his reaction to the wheeler, I could only imagine the reaction this big green monster would get from the silly silly pony.  I didn’t make it a big deal just started chattering at him and turned him around to go the other direction.  The tractor was dragging the gravel road so it was VERY noisy but going very slowly so we beat him out the end of the road.  We got to the end of the road and took a right. 

We walked along the road just fine, a couple cars passed for the most part they got no reaction for Bud except the ones that were coming from behind us.  **I know weird huh?**  We had basically no trouble at all, we passed a very noisy upset dog Buddy couldn’t have cared any less about that, it was the greenhouse shed in the other neighbors yard that was a pony eating monster for sure!!  As we got around the corner and down the road some, my mind wandered to those carefree days of my youth when we’d get up at 6am hop on the horses and tear around these camp roads like crazy.  Not a care in the world and definitely no fear.  As I was thinking about this I started missing Buck and got teary eyed.  I know that Buddy is young and inexperienced and just needs miles but sometimes I just want to get on a carefree easy horse and just GO!!  I want to RUN again.  I have a hard time going faster than a walk period anymore on any horse :( I just miss Buck! 

Back on track!  We had a relatively peaceful ride, did a little exploring and then headed home.  We had a couple of issues with cars that came at us from the front on the way home, nothing major or unmanageable or dangerous just something we need to work on.  We got 3/4’s of the way back across the field and I shifted in the saddle – my hand caught his eye and he started to bolt.  I “whoa’d” him and made him do a circle and we continued on.  Things were fine until we got into the driveway.  I took my feet out of the stirrups and went to gather up my reins to dismount and again my hand caught his attention and he went into “tazmanian devil” mode, he spun and snorted and ran backwards.  I got him whoa’d again so I could re-gather my stirrups and then made him walk and trot a couple circles and then was very firm with my “WHOA”.  I flapped and flopped around on his back, swung my reins all around him and acted like an idiot until he just relaxed then I rubbed him and told him he was a good silly pony and got off.

We have our own little routine that we do after each ride.  I get down, undo all my straps and girth and such, leave the reins on his neck give him a pat and bury my face in his mane for a minute and then I tell him “c’mon silly boy let’s go” and I just turn and walk away, he always stays right with me and I never let him get out of my reach, I don’t know why we do it, or how it started but my silly silly pony likes me ok I think.

So that was the adventures of the last few days.  I’ve got a couple other things I want to blog about but won’t do that here, this one’s long enough as it is!!  We have some plans on the horizon though!! 

Rowdy Update

Rowdy has not slowed down since he got “boo-booed”.  Today is roughly 24 days since it happened and I knew it was healing but honestly aside from picking shavings and crap out of it (which has taught him to be ok with a hose) I’ve basically left it alone.  Dr T had me spraying blue kote on it to keep a protective layer over it, he finished his antibiotics and probiotics without one single complaint and was just in general healing.

Yesterday I was looking at it - the stitches had loosened up and he had some dead skin that looked horrible so I asked my dad to look at it.  He looked at it and basically called me foolish for being concerned, he said it looked great and then proceeded to say that Rowdy was an awful handsome little guy…..I asked him who he was and what he’d done with my dad and he just laughed and walked off.  So anyway, dad got a better look at it then I’ve been able to get lately because although I can clean it off and spray it, forget getting a close look, he wants to follow me around in circles and in general be a pest.  Tonight I decided to look closely at it, Dr T had said that if I was comfortable enough I could take the stitches out or I could leave them because they WOULD eventually dissolve. 

I forgot to take a picture of what it looked like before I took the stitches out, but it looked funky.
Here is the gob of skin and stitches that I took out/off.  There was a LOT of “stitch material” and a lot more skin than I had expected.  Dr T had said that there was a small piece that she couldn’t reattach and that we fully expected to fall off but that was a very small flap, this gunk is probably the length of one whole side of the cut.  BUT!  It has healed incredibly well!  There’s going to be a scar, no doubt about it, but there     
is a lot less “bump” than I’d feared.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like in a week or so, it really is healing much much better than I’d expected and I am incredibly relieved and happy.  He is such a handsome, good baby and I have so many hopes where he’s concerned that when this happened, I had horrible doubts that it would heal well.  Maybe I’m just too pessimistic for my own good but it’s the truth. 

In other news…….my new saddle arrived yesterday.  It is fantabulous!  Although, the seller left out the fact that it was dark oil/black because it had BEEN PAINTED!  LOL – honestly, although up close it looks a bit funky, it isn’t bad and the most important thing is IT FITS both me AND Buddy so who the heck cares what it looks like??  The ebay listing was VERY inaccurate, but aside from the paint, the inaccuracies were in my favor for once.  I am most comfortable in a 17” seat, my rear is big I admit that freely but anyway, I CAN ride in a 16” seat without too much discomfort as long as the cantle is low enough.  The other thing was that it was listed as having a 6 3/4” gullet…..that was my one hesitation in buying it.  It would fit Buddy for now but with as much as he’s muscling up and filling out I would eventually have to get a bigger saddle.  TA DA!  This saddle has a full 7” gullet and it actually measures a bit wider then that!!  It is perfect in every way except the paint but again, that is very minor.

And MORE exciting news!!  Luna is coming home!!  Her owner is trying to downsize and I’ve kicked myself for not buying her when I had the opportunity when she was here on lease.  She is a kick ass kids horse and although is only green broke, she’s practically bombproof.  I mean, 10 rides or less and I took her in a 4th of July Parade – she didn’t care about the fire trucks, she didn’t care about ANY of it except for the shopping cart with balloons on it!  LOL  So anyway, we’re hammering out the details right now as to how she’s going to get here, but I anticipate that within the next week she’ll be here!!  I am excited!!  Vince isn’t quite as excited as me, but he’s ok with it. 

Well I think that’s about it for news around here.  OH!  If you haven’t already checked it out, check out the list of stuff on my website for sale…Another friend is getting out of horses and had a bunch of stuff I wanted, she made me a hell of a deal on all of it so I took what I needed/wanted and am working on getting pics of everything else!  I have 2 LARGE boxes of stuff to go thru and get pics of – if you see anything of interest on the list, email me and I’ll get pictures for you!!  www.fivestarfarm.net

Wildlands Ride

Today Tosh, Sharon and I went to the Great Pond Mountain Wildlands to ride.  It was kind of a spur of the moment idea, Tosh and I vowed over a month ago that we would ride more over there and until today we just hadn’t made it back!  It rained last night and the forecast was kind of sketchy so we were kind of playing the day by ear.

I headed out to pick up Tosh and Skippy at about noon time.  We were going to meet Sharon and Zephyr over there and take a nice leisurely stroll thru the wildlands.  Slow and steady wins the race right?  Tosh and I stopped to grab drinks and Sharon caught up with us so we just caravanned the rest of the way.  We arrived and parked inside the gate (a first for me) down in the trailer parking area and got tacked up.  We left the trailers around 1 and just headed down the main road, Sharon is very familiar with the trails/roads in there so she had a better idea of where to go. 

There was a LOT of laughing and joking and leaf eating.  We learned that Zephyr leaves slobber on leaves that he doesn’t want to eat RIGHT NOW but doesn’t want anyone else to eat either.  Buddy didn’t know how to bite the leaves off the trees and Skippy was…..well Skippy.  She ate some leaves, gave some ugly faces and lagged behind so she could trot to catch up.  She also discovered that with just the “right look” she could stop Zephyr literally in his tracks and make him back up!!  What a hag she is!! 

I was the only one who brought my camera and I tried to take some good shots but half the time I wasn’t quick enough with the camera and then half the shots that I did get were blurry….apparently there was a fingerprint on my lens!  *sigh*  Nevertheless here are some of the shots I got today!!

Sharon & Z on the left, Tosh and Skippy on the right
  
Sharon & Z rather early on Valley Road

Sharon & Z grabbing a drink Buddy won’t go down the bank to that particular watering hole and Skippy was having no part of it either.
  
Just a little closer view of the same shot as above.

Tosh & the Queen Skippy down near the water on Hot Hole Pond Trail

Sharon & Z down near the water.  I really like this picture.

Buddy and I – neither one of us looks overly thrilled
 
My bratty boy all decked out in his mismatching lime green colors. We were learning that water is our friend!

And then there’s these two pics – there was quite a bit of texting and phone play today LOL Although I think Sharon was only using hers to take pictures but Tosh was talking, riding and texting all at the same time!  I won’t be posting the “wonderful” picture of me that Sharon was so kind to take of my backside!  Just remember, paybacks a bitch ;)

All in all, we had a great day!  I had fun riding with the girls and although we didn’t go anywhere very fast, I think they had fun too!  We are talking about putting a message board/group together to help horse people in this area find riding buddies and trails and that kind of stuff!  Hopefully it all comes together!

Lucy’s Big Day!

I have been nagging Tosh forever to come over and ride Lucy and finally today we had the opportunity to play some!!  Tosh and Keags came for dinner and after dinner we went out and literally dragged Lucy out of the field.  Poor pouty mule pony!  She has been floundering in mud on a daily basis so she was DISGUSTING, we got her cleaned up and I went and grabbed the saddle pad.  Lucy has been messed with some but nothing too serious and definitely not consistently.  I literally walked out, threw the saddle pad on her and walked off.  She never blinked.  I got the saddle and basically did the same thing.  I messed with one side, Tosh worked the girth and again, Lucy didn’t flinch, dance, twitch nothing!  I went and grabbed her bridle and put that on her.  She was a little hesitant about that part but not bad.  I helped Tosh adjust her helmet and before I could even really gather my thoughts Tosh climbed on!! 

True to form, Lucy never batted an eye!!  She didn’t want to move but I put the lead rope on her and led her around a little.  We were laughing and joking and I went and grabbed Buddy figuring maybe if Lucy was following Buddy she’d be more eager to go.  Nope.  Lucy would much rather stand still or barely move.  I was riding Buddy bareback and was a little hesitant to pony her/them but we gave it a shot, it worked….kind of but not especially well so I gave Tosh back the lead and and Buddy and I did a couple laps in the driveway.  Buddy got a bit pissy with me at one point and I really had to get after him to NOT behave poorly…head tossing and sideways running to the barn will NOT be tolerated!! 

Then things got REAL silly.  Tosh decided that maybe a carrot on a stick was the ticket.  The kids got her the bag of baby carrots and she got off and got my driving/buggy whip.  She tied a carrot to the end of the whip and stuck the whip handle thru the crown of Lucy’s bridle.  Then she climbed back on.  The entire site was pretty ridiculous, but Lucy couldn’t have cared less.  That mare is something else!!  One of the kids stole the carrot and Tosh ended up taking the whip out of her bridle, she used it to give Lucy a little encouragement and before long they were down the driveway and back up again!!!  I got out a dressage whip and traded her, that little bit of encouragement was all she needed and before long they even trotted!!

 

 

 

And last but not least, here’s Moo.  You can hear his irritating demand for dinner all thru the other two videos, so I figured you should see the irritating little critter.  So here’s a video and a picture of that whole bratty crew in that pen!!