2015 In Review

This year has been crazy.  We started off strong, then life happened and is ending with a feral yak beast.

Full beast mode engaged

 I feel like the year started out fairly well. The winter was very cold, so not a whole lot was done early.  We ran into some issues with spinning and bolting early on and this really affected my confidence.  Then in the spring I found out I was pregnant. The nausea and lack of confidence kept me out of the saddle for just about the rest of the year.

Some other highlights include:
-Did a CMO in May with my in-law's horse. This was a confidence boost, but couldn't outdo the nausea
-Got a new-to-me saddle that I still need to figure out if I want to keep. I sat in it once and Max hasn't had a saddle on since. Unfortunately, every time I think of this saddle I start to feel a little nausea from association.  Hoping this will go away once the kid is born. It needs a better fitting girth and longer stirrup leathers. I do remember that much.
-Built a teeter totter/bridge that has been a lot of fun. 
-Started doing carrot stretches with Max. I've since tapered off, but still do them occasionally. He loves them! (okay, really it's the treats he loves)
-I did putz around bareback on Max a few times in the paddock and he was still relatively good.

We teeter and we totter. We're a good boy!

Let's look at my goals written a year ago. 

We did go for rides! But not through icy water.

Goals for Max:
- Improve leg yields - Nope
- Get a decent turn on the forehand and haunches - Nope
- Work on some trail obstacles - technically we did this, just not as much

 

My human is crazy, but she feeds me so I try.

Goals for Me:
- Continue lessons in some fashion - this started off well enough, but then I had to stop due to life events
- Be able to sit the canter under saddle - we didn't work on this during lessons and I never got Max to the point where I could even think of sitting. 
- Build/set up some trail obstacles - Yes! I did not make as many as I had hoped, but I got a bridge/teeter toter made. I also made some poles colorful enough to see in the pasture and had that L thing set up for a while. I have more plans for the coming year
- Ride the pony with the goal of working on something, at least once per week* - This did not happen. It started, then it ended fairly quickly.
- Doing groundwork or lunging at least once per week** - Nope - At this point, the beast hasn't been handled all that much and has turned feral. He's getting pushy and needs some refreshing

We bow for treats!  Actually, we bow a lot, even without being cued. Gimme treats!

 
Other Goals:***  We did buy a trailer, right around the same time I found out I was pregnant
- Have at least one lesson on Max - Nope
- Take Max off property at least once for a trail ride - Nope



* By this, I mean more than just absentmindedly riding around the property. I want to ride with focus and a clear idea of what I want to accomplish during the ride.

**Again, this is more than just the basic stuff we do every time I'm around him.

***These are completely dependent on whether we are able to purchase a trailer this year. Have truck, need trailer...

The beginning of the easy life for me.

So, over all I'd say goals not met, but I don't feel too bad or guilty about that.  I mostly feel bad that I haven't been spending much time with the pony at all.

TRM Blog Hop: 25 Questions

Yay for filler posts. This one comes from That Red Mare

1. Mares or Geldings? Why?
Either. Most of the mares I have met have been fairly even tempered. But I've also met some moody geldings. It all depends on the individual

2. Green-broke or Fully Broke?
Right now, I much prefer fully broke. I don't so much mind a horse that needs some refreshers, but he needs to have a good head.

3. Would you own a "hotter" breed (ie. Arabian, Trakhener, etc).
Probably not. I prefer my drafty types.

4. What was your "dream horse" growing up?
Palominos. Then I grew to love the chestnut with flaxen mane.  Haflingers for the win!

5. What kind of bit(s) do you use and why?
Max just goes in a double jointed eggbutt with copper lozenge. I've read that the double joints can be a bit better for haflingers that tend to have low palates. I would like to try others, but just don't have the time or money right now to be buying them.

Just add some copper.

6. Helmets or no helmets?
Helmet.

7. Favorite horse color?
A nice golden palomino or chestnut (with flaxen manes)

8. Least favorite horse color?
Plain brown, or black. Black seems to attract more bugs in summer.

9. Dressage or Jumping?
Right now I don't really do either, but I could see myself enjoying jumping more.

10. How many years have you been riding?
On and off for about 10.

11. Spurs/whip or no spurs/whip?
No spurs. Occasionally I ride with a crop. Half the time it's because I want to work on something specific that requires extra reach. The other times it's used to flick flies off his ears.

12. Your first fall?
I was riding bareback and was trying to mount from the ground. I managed to lay across her back, but swung my leg over too hard and flipped over onto the ground. Pony just gave me a look and started grazing.

13. When was the last time you rode and what did you do?
It's been a few weeks. We just puttered around the paddock bareback and went over the teeter totter. I think we worked on some leg yielding too

The yak is here, the snow is coming sooner than I like.

14. Most expensive piece of tack you own?

My western saddle simply because I bought it new.

15. How old were you when you started riding?
Not any real riding until I was in my early 20s

16. Leather or Nylon halters?
Nylon. It's easier to care for I guess.

17. Leather or Synthetic saddles?
Synthetic. I'm lazy and don't show. I also don't want to worry about getting the saddle wet when out on a trail ride.
 18. What "grip" of reins do you like?
Webbed or something else synthetic. I have some cotton reins I really like.

19. English or Western?
I lesson in english, but prefer a western saddle for trail riding (for the most part, that's another post altogether I think). I would also like to learn how to properly ride western.

20. How many horses do you currently own/lease?
Just Max

21. Do you board your horse? Self-care/full board? Home board?
Max is kept at home, so his care is 100% up to me.

22. Have you ever had to put down a horse that you loved?
I haven't had to put one of my own down yet. Several I have known have passed away.

23. How many saddlepads do you have?
One western pad and I might still have an english pad if the mice haven't eaten it yet.

24. Slant-load trailer or straight haul?
I have a slant load and like the way it loads better.

25. Why do you ride?
It makes me a happier person. It still amazes me that we can form this kind of partnership with an animal.

Haikus

Jumping on the bandwagon here since I don't have much to update on.

Written by the yak himself:

I love life right now
No work, no heat, just lazy
Could use more food though

FOOD!

Food, food, food, food, food
Food, food, food, food, food, food, food
Food, food, more food please?

He does this on his own now if he think it will get him a treat.

Oh, I see a treat!
Here, let me bow for you
I'm a good pony

Drunk Pony

The vet came out last Friday for fall vaccines, teeth and other stuff.

Stuff I learned:
-Drafts are lightweights when it comes to sedation
-Even when heavily sedated, Max was able to stop the float by pressing his cheeks against it, forcing it against his teeth
-You can tell if a llama needs to be dewormed based on the color of the inside of the eyelids
-I'm an idiot:  I've been leaving the hose in Max's water bucket.  Apparently, the hydrant will continue to siphon water back out. I'm not convinced this completely explains the bucket being almost drained every day, but it's a possibility. The bucket wasn't being drained as quickly in the day or two before the vet came and now is being drained even less.  I decided to skip the blood work since everything else seemed to be fine with him. She gave me some other signs to watch for.
-Max snores.  The vet, her student and the tech were all amused when they left and he was snoring away.
-Vet said his weight was perfect and was impressed. Yay! I constantly worry about his weight and think he's either getting a little too thin or too fat.  Guess I'm doing something right.

A very drunk pony

I was glad I had taken the day off. Shortly after this picture was taken, he started to cock his left front leg while keeping his back leg up too. I thought he was going to go down in his stall for a minute.

Oh, Animals!

Animals....sometimes I seriously wonder why I have them.

Max has suddenly been drinking water like crazy. Usually I fill his 20 gallon bucket every other day or so, but he's been draining the whole thing in about 12 hours. No leaks that I can see either.  Since he was due for shots anyways, I called the vet. She seemed concerned, but not enough to come out so soon. She will be out a week from Friday to do vaccines, teeth and a blood draw. Her immediate thoughts were Cushings or something with his kidneys.  Of course, this morning he drank a normal amount for the first time in days, so who knows. Otherwise, pony is normal.

Also this morning, I was getting ready to leave for work and noticed one of our chickens running around. We currently have 3 chicken tractors set up.  Everyone else looked fine until I looked at the farthest one and noticed there were not chickens....anywhere.  This is odd because if they get out, they usually stick close to the other tractors. They freak out because they suddenly don't have access to grain, but can't figure out how to get back in.

So where did these 5 other chickens go?  There was one body found out near the road. The others had completely disappeared. Not the M.O. of racoons or opossums in my experience. So D and I are disposing of the body in the back area, come back up to the front to find a fox sniffing around looking for his kill.  I'm guessing he took the other 4 and hid them somewhere. Poor chickens.  I'm hoping he doesn't try to go after the other coops today. We will be doing some reinforcing this evening and get the hotwire back up.

Not so funny side story, or lab mix was in the front yard the entire time.  Did he bark, or otherwise try to scare the fox off?  Nope.  He'll bark and chase after deer and loves to kill small animals (squirrels, small birds), but I guess a fox is too much effort.  Useless animal. Max is more of a guard animal than the dog is.

I did ride Max last week, but need to get some photos and video off the phone before I post. It was a highly amusing session. Love the pony!

Waiting....

It's been a little while since my last post. Mostly that's because nothing much has been going on. I haven't been riding and Max has only been moved between pasture and paddock. Even that's ending soon since the leaves are changing and they can't be out while the cherry trees are dropping. For me, I mostly come home from work with the intention of laying down for a few minutes to relax my back and end up falling asleep for a couple of hours. Such is life right now and Max certainly doesn't mind.

You give me more hay now??

His fuzz is also getting thick already. It's so soft and wonderful, but I hate what it means (winter is coming). Pretty soon he will be a blond yak.

No? What if I'm cute? What if I try to eat the faucet?

Last week the farrier came.  It was one of those crisp fall type days with the wind blowing that really sets off the horses and she ended up being late because of crazy horses before me. Max was no exception. He was a spooky impatient thing.

However, while I was waiting, I got a chore done that I'd been meaning to do...rinse off my saddles. They're going in the garage for winter since I won't be riding and we've been having mice problems.

This is why I love synthetics. They feed my laziness.

4 Things

Jumping on this, since it's been floating around and I don't really have much to update on right now.

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

1. Meg ... and that's about it

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Lab Tech
2. Field Tech
3. Assistants in various labs
4. Greeter

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:(really, there are lots I watch over and over)

1. Princess Bride
2. The Last Unicorn
3. Black Beauty
4. The Emperors New Groove

Four favourite books:

1. Any of the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey
2. Black Beauty
3. The Three Musketeers
4. Most Neil Gaiman

Four places I’ve lived:

1. Florida
2. Chicago
3. Australia
4. Indiana
   

Four places I’ve visited:

1. Puerto Rico
2. Virgin Islands
3. Australia (east coast)
4. Grand Canyon

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. Bed
2. Bed
3. Bed
4. Bed (I'm falling asleep here)

To break up all the text. Plotting pony says hello

Four things I prefer not to eat:

1. Tomatoes
2. Coffee
3. Coffee/espresso flavored things (like chocolate)
4. Beans (except green beans...those are good)

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Ice cream
2. Mac and Cheese
3. Things made from fruit (pies, cobblers, etc)
4. Chocolate

Four TV shows I watch

1. Friends
2. Scrubs
3. Orange is the New Black

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:

1. Not being pregnant (ok, this might not happen until January, but I can hope)
2. The holidays
3. Getting the house in order
4. Barn time

Four things I’m always saying:

1. No worries
2. No problem
3. F*** you! You GD moron! (Pregnancy hormones + road rage...very real)

Four horse breeds I’ve ridden:

1. Haflinger :)
2. Rocky Mountain
3. Thoroughbred
4. Belgian

Four breeds of dog I like:

1. Corgi
2. Husky
3. Mutts
4. Huge dogs (but I would never own one due to the drool)

Four horse events I want to participate in:

1. Some sort of trail event
2. A hunter pace
3. Any schooling show

Four of my favorite animals:

1. Horses
2. Cats
3. Dolphins
4. Birds

Four places I would like to go:

1. South America especially Chile
2. Back to Australia, especially the west coast
3. Europe - it's hard to pick a country, Germany, France, Spain would be tops I think

Four hobbies/interests (other than horses)

1. Spinning (wool)
2. Weaving
3. Making soap and body products
4. Other random crafty project