October Activities
Back to September 2006 • Forward to November 2006 1 October 2006 This morning I rethreaded all new electric tape around the perimeter of two of the three paddocks. Unfortunately I ran out of tape and still need another 150' to complete the "knee-high" part. This fencing activity was in honour of Jack's arrival this afternoon. We went and fetched him in the afternoon from Shingle Springs. Up until then, he had never been in a trailer that moved. Getting him in didn't require too much encouragement - stepping up into it was hard, and he did a weird flailing of feet the first time - almost like spanish walk. Apart from producing a copious amount of poop for such a tiny pone, and one whinny coming up Marshall Grade, he got off the trailer at the other end with a great deal of nonchalance - amazing, given that he's only 15 months old.
He was a bit leery of Chili to start with, but happy once he realised there were other pones around. As of when I fed this morning, Jethro and Mouse have been in together, with nary a murmur. It was like they've always been together. They were even eating out of the same hay bag. I introduced Jack to Jethro and Mouse through the fence and that seemed to go well. Unfortunately, though, Mouse behaved to Jack the same way as she did to Jethro to start with - chasing him, trying to kick and bite him, etc. So that was the end of that. She plays nice over the fence with him. We put Jethro in with him briefly and that will probably work in a day or two, but he was a bit bullying when hay appeared, so we opted to put him in on his own next to Jethro and Mouse, so he's close, but not so he'll get trampled. He doesn't seem to have a good judge of how high things are in relation to him. The first time he climbed up onto the shelf where this shelter is, he kind of jumped it like it was about waist height. I'm really besotted with him. The worst part is you can't see him in the dark, so I keep going outside and getting in a panic because I think he's gone. He might have to wear a reflective halter all the time, just so's I can see him at night. I'm mostly worried about the cooling aspect of his colour and will no doubt have to invest in clippers and learn how to clip once he starts real work - he's pretty shaggy, esp. when compared to Jethro-No-Hair (who is already blanketed, since he's practically bald in terms of how much coat he has). Fiador Knot (or "Theodore knot", as I saw it the other day on the web <g>). Since Jack doesn't really fit that rope halter of Jethro's/Mouse's, I spent some of the time I wasn't out there looking at him this evening trying to tie him his own halter. The main problem is I was supposed to have 20' of rope and my piece was only about 6' long, so it didn't work that well - it came out *really* small, with a bit missing on the end. But! I actually managed to tie the fiador knot under the chin for the first time ever and it actually looks like a fiador knot, not a pile of bird poop. Tomorrow we'll have to drop by REI so I can buy more, better, longer
rope and try again. 2 October
The previous night I'd put Jethro to bed in a fleece blankie and got up in the morning to find it hanging off his neck. He didn't seem too concerned, but it had holes in it from being stepped on. Last night, luckily, I put him in a real blankie with straps and buckles and stuff. 3 October
The tail on the tie end is about 5' extra-long, so I guess I only need 15'. It's a tiny halter. Since it *rained* here yesterday <yikes> and was cold for two nights running (the house was 67°F when we got home last night!) I put Jethro in a real blankie. When I fed this morning, the poor guy was sweating under it, so I took it off. It may be cool and misty, but it's not that cold.
Put Jack and Jethro in together just now and Jethro seemed very happy with his new toy, jumping and playing and doing little rears. Jack looked a bit nonplussed to start with, but soon joined in.
After a bit, I opened the gate to the middle paddock, with the adjacent fence to where Mouse, Zinnet and Provo are currently housed.
I just went and peeked out the window and Jack is back on his side of the panel in his paddock and Jethro's eating on his side, so evidently he suggested to Jack that it was *his* food - which is good. I wasn't sure they could stay in together full-time if Jack was just going to pig out. 7 October ...I'm having problems with Jethro and Jack. Too many "Js"
in there. Plus the name "Jethro" was ruint for me by various
snidey comments about dopes. And plus Ann keeps wanting to call him
Elmo, which is even worse. This was the one photo that tipped me over the edge - I mean, how can
you call *that* "Jethro"? Ride - Cool > Maine Bar > Browns Bar > ALT > Cool
Both of Sheila's horses have ridiculously fast walks, but he didn't seem to have to jog so much today as last time with Giorgi. We managed 14.5 miles at a moving av. of 4.8 mph, with ~2500' of climbing. He was a little lethargic on the uphills, but is really feeling like he's starting to settle down. He feels more comfy under saddle - less squirrelly - and I'm much more able to ride him on a loose rein without him feeling wavery. He's getting more confident. Except for one leap up the bank when Splash swished her tail, caught it on a dead branch and it cracked when it broke off when she swished her tail back (I said a rude word), he did really good today. We went over a wooden bridge that he was a little leery of the last couple of times (esp. as the first time they had it marked with white chalk - very suspicious), and he not only was willing to leave Splash (who waited on the trail above us) with nary a murmur, but also hardly hesitated at all going over the bridge (just looked a little confused when I turned him around straight away and had him go back over it again, though). He's getting a bit better about sidling up to picnic tables so I can get on him, and a little better about standing still once I get on (previously, getting him to stand still once I got on was a real struggle - he would immediately get fidget feet). The two things he's not improving on (mostly because I'm neglecting to work on them like I should <g>) are being sent into the trailer without making a fuss (he's usually pretty good on the way home, but getting in at home he's bad), and panicking about the lead rope wrapping around his leg (gah, he's such a baby). When we got home, I took Jack for a walk around our place, including inspecting the inside of pft's garage. It's just as well we have steps up to the house, or I'd probably bring him in the house too... just as well, since he pooped in pft's garage. pft was not amused. :) I loaded him into the trailer three times in quick succession and he didn't care at all. Didn't seem to have any bad thoughts from his one trailer ride (and was pleased to find hay in there), so that's good. 9 October Sheila suggested that rather than just let him stop whenever he wanted, to ask him to go a few more feet and then ask him to stop, so that it's "my idea", instead of him just stopping whenever he feels like it. Seem to make sense. (It reminded me of inadvertently teaching Provo that I'd get off at the top of every hill - pretty soon he'd get to the top of a hill and stop and look around at me "Yes, you can get off now". Not a great thing to teach). He may be slow (and like to stop on uphills), but he's looked absolutely *fine* at the end of all our rides. So far, I've only ever felt a tiny bit of puffiness in his front legs *once*. After Saturday, he had a *tiny* bit of puffiness in his back fetlocks, but his fronts didn't feel like he'd done anything. I can only assume that it means he's looking after himself by going slowly? Works for me. * * * I mentioned to pft that I was considering teaching Jack to climb steps (which I bet he'd do without hardly any problem), but pft explained to me that it wasn't necessarily something I *wanted* to teach (see yesterday's comment about pooping in inappropriate places <g>). * * * I had to reshuffle everyone last night. Mouse had been in with Zini and Provo, and Provo was getting grumpy. I found the way to keep him happy, is to make sure he has lots and lots of food available. He doesn't overeat, but he doesn't anxious and start pacing either. I think Mouse was eating most of the food, so he was getting hungry and therefore grumpy. Anyway, the upshot was he kicked poor Zini just above the knee on the side of her front leg. It was a small cut, but is swollen today and a little tender, not hot, though. Time to move Mouse, so I can free-feed Zini and Provo. Roo and Jack were in together, but had two paddocks and two shelters to share. So I put Mouse in the paddock with the small shelter on her own (all the better to control her diet), and put Roo and Jack in together. This "kinda" worked. Roo is a bit possessive about the food and makes sure Jack can't get to either hay bag, but once he settles down, Jack sneaks in there and gets his dinner. This means that Jack's intake is somewhat limited (although he doesn't appear to be pigging out), and he's learning his manners. This seems to work. Not sure if Roo will let him in if it starts raining, and I'm not sure if he has to be in (he has a nice shaggy winter coat already). Unfortunately, Jack still hasn't learnt his manners with me and has barged me a couple of times. Anyone got any tips of teaching "Your space, my space" to small pones? Part of the problem is he's so unflappable, it's hard to "scare" him into being a bit more careful (I had the same problem with Zini - the others would run away when I roared - she'd just look at me. I guess it's the flip side of deal with imprinted or non-flightly horses). 10 October Roo n' me just came in from riding in the dark (Tevis practice! <g>) and he did so good! He's so unbelievably smooth, it's lovely. I couldn't see squat coming back along the road (except his ears) but he was trotting merrily along (actually less spooky than when we've come along there in the daylight - he couldn't see the dark patches of tarmac in the dark). As I was getting him out I had to take him through the paddock where Provo and Zini are and in the four seconds Roo was in there, Provo managed to kick him twice while I was standing right there shutting the gate behind us. Oh, for a cattle prod when I need one. Thank goodness no real harm done seemingly, just some scraped off hair. For a horrible moment I thought he'd really gotten him good, since Roo was holding the leg up, but he was fine on it trotting out right afterwards and I decided riding on it was the best plan, since it would keep all the blood moving and hopefully keep it from swelling. So far so good (you watch - it'll be the size of an elephant leg when I go out in the morning). I could blimin' kill Provo sometimes. He got Zini at the weekend on the leg as well. He's evidently suffering from the grumps. Perhaps it's time to take him out and ride the snot out of him. Roo felt *really*, er, "fit", when we started - he was raring to go (literally at one point when I decided to get off going down the back steep hill and he was doing little rears because I was stopping him <g>). I definitely need to put a crupper on him. Has he ever had one? Or do I need to go through crupper training with him? The hill behind the house is really steep (goes down 250' in 0.3 mile) and the saddle was creeping up his shoulders, so I opted to get off and walk it instead. Doing the little 4.5 mile loop we did (we looped off the BLM land, down onto Andy Wolf, along and back) we did 900' of climbing - about 650' of which he did at a trot - and a very sprightly trot at that. He was a good, forward boy this evening. Needless to say, putting him back in, I routed him through Mouse's paddock (there's a connecting gate on either side) and that worked a lot better (Mouse was very excited, thinking she'd gotten a friend). Then Jack whacked me on the head with his head. Ouch. He's such a clumsy idiot for such a small pone. My head hurts. <sigh> I did it with Mouse and he couldn't *possibly* be more explosive than she was. Crupper training on her took months, since she tends to overreact to everything. Hopefully he'll be more phlegmatic about it. But it definitely needs to be done - I was thinking today, as he jumped about, that I was going to get in a sticky situation with him if I couldn't get off soon. I just went out and checked his leg and there's no swelling or heat at all, thank goodness. And I tried on his new rope halter that I finally got tied properly this evening - very pretty turquoise. Not a colour I normally like, but it looks very spiffy on him. It might even work with the yellow zilco. 12 October pft did his very best to kill his cell phone yesterday morning. We got in the car to come to work and he mentioned how he thought his cell phone had been in his pocket, but that it didn't seem to be there any more and that he must have left it on the kitchen counter. Approx. ten minutes into the drive he suddenly exclaimed "Stop! Go back! I think it was my cell phone!" (??) I had no idea what he was talking about, but turned the car around and sure enough, lying by the side of the road (thankfully not in the path of the three cars who were directly behind us) was pft's cell phone. Luckily his cell phone wears a little coat made of dead baby sheep or cows, and that saved it. It has some scuffs, but is otherwise no worse for wear. Apparently he'd put it on the hood of the car when we were getting in, putting coffee cups in and putting the top down. (my cell phone is nekkid, and had this happened to it (flying off the car at 55 mph), it would be no doubt crunched into lots of broken pieces). Moral of the story: check the car before getting in for missing items. New Truck Well, we did it. We decided to go ahead and order a new truck. This was based on the idea that we have the money now (from pft's inheritance) and may not be in a position to have the money again any time soon. We've ordered a Chevy 2500 Long-bed, extended cab, 4x4, blue (green was first choice, but they aren't doing them any more), Allison transmission (six speed), sliding back window, foot rails, heavy duty towing stuff, heavy duty brakes, heavy duty air cleaner, road-mud tyres... Should appear any time in the next five to 12 weeks.
Later, we went and did our groundwork practice - trotting out, leading next to my shoulder, turning our hip away, backing away from wiggling rope (and staying there). He did really good - which is just as well, as I'm getting tired of clonking heads with him. 16 October I sewed a little (mostly fixing the fleece blankie that Roo ripped up when it fell off him overnight). I did discover that my reverse isn't working on the sewing machine - I'd sent it in to get the bobbin winder gear fixed (it had a chunk out of it) and I think the reverse got knocked out of alignment in the process. If you whack the button hard, it'll reverse, but it's not very practical. Hopefully pft can take a look at it and get it to work. I also sewed some velcro on my pommel bag to stop the top baggy from flopping around when it's mostly empty. The idea was good, but the velcro wasn't strong enough, so it just comes off and still flops (as I discovered, trying it out last night). I'd bought some snaps (popper things), so I'll try those next, I think they might do it. pft was gone to the Bay Area Saturday to pick up a 914 Porsche he inherited from James. He took the truck, so I was trailer-less. Sindy McCosker came over first thing with her young appy to try out my Barefoot saddle, but we only rode half a mile or so. When she was gone, I cleaned tack and buckets. And I dug holes - still chasing the plumbing around the barn. When we had that leaky pipe in the paddock last Spring, we discovered a valve that supplied an uncapped pipe on the far side of the barn. This was very exciting, given that I wanted water to the barn and we couldn't face the idea of trying to dig through the tree roots to trench it in. Well, as of this weekend, we're up to four uncapped uprights coming out of the ground around the barn area. We capped them all and left the main valve turned on, to see if any more soggy patches appeared around the barn area, indicating yet more uncapped pipes. So far, so good, but if they're clogged good and solid with mud it might take a while for them to appear. I'm praying there isn't one under the hay part of the barn, since I just had 36 bales delivered and there's a tarp on the floor, so I'd never see the soggy patch until it was *really* bad.. I did groundwork with Roo and Jack. Roo's settling in really well and is a lot less spooky now he's getting to recognise tree stumps and vegetation. We worked on trailer-loading a lot this weekend, since he's not very good at it and tries his best to avoid it - he's not scared, he just doesn't want to go in. I think we made some good progress, although I still want to get to the stage where I can just point him in and in he gets like the others do. Right now, I still need the tap-tap-tap schooling whip to persuade him to that getting in would be in his best interest. He's not completely solid yet (will still attempt to evade, just in case I wasn't paying attention), so we'll keep at it. He also developed an annoying habit of always turning around in the trailer as soon as I send him in. So we worked on that too and made some progress (got him to stand in there with the divider open, pointed in the right direction). And we also started clicker training. He was a bit leery of the schooling whip when he arrived and would tend to overreact to it, so I used that as the clicker target and now he thinks it's his best friend :) I tried Jack too, but he was so excited by the food that his head fell off and I just got mugged and then he couldn't work out why no treats were forthcoming and got miffed. So I tied him to a tree and tried again - much better. He figured out the "touch the schooling whip handle to get the treat", but wasn't very solid at it, so we'll keep working on it. Given how Roo figured it out, I think I can move onto another thing and he'll still get it. Jack needs more time on the basics (not mugging me, mostly) before we go any further. And we rode 7 miles late Sunday. I thought it was more like 10, but just checked on the map <pout>. I was going to GPS it, but the new, freshly recharged rechargeable batteries were completely dead, so that put paid to that idea. There's a point riding down the lane where you can look down into the Valley. The sunset was really pretty, but it looked really murky in the Valley. So all in all quite a productive weekend. Tomorrow we are starting our winter regime of going to the gym. pft has been a member for years, but never goes so we might as well flush the membership fees down the toilet. Knowing that we don't run about very much in the winter, we're going to try to go after work twice a week. We'll see how it goes. I have no stomach muscles, so I'd like to try and get some of them. Plus I have to lose that ten lbs before I can ride Jack - so I better start now... I've got about three years... :) 17 October Came home Monday night to find Roo and Jack in the barn paddock, and Provo and Zini in the middle paddock. They were reversed when we left in the morning. Hmm. Turns out they'd broken the gate snap (I still haven't found it) barging through the gate. Roo and Jack seemed to have a few more yomps on them than previously, and Roo has a small kick mark on his inner knee on a front leg which was a little filled the following morning :( I'm glad I wasn't there to watch the proceedings and I'm doubly glad I pulled Provo's shoes, since I bet he was the culprit. In terms of herd dynamics, when I fed, interestingly, Roo went in one stall, Zini in the other, and Jack - after she sneered at him a couple of times - was allowed to join Zini eating. Provo, OTOH, stood outside (normally he's bully-boy and gets to go in any stall he wants) and didn't join anyone. Seems like he and Roo might have had a "discussion" and Roo might have won Round 1. While I was feeding everyone else and getting Provo and Zini settled in the middle paddock (with a stronger snap on the gate) it began to *pour* with rain. Roo and Jack came running out of the barn (evidently didn't like the noisy roof). Roo took three steps, turned around and ran back into the barn (smart pone), while Jack ran down to stand next to the gate where Zini was. I think he might have a crush on her (and I don't necessarily think it's a hormone-thing, since he didn't show any studly signs - just wanted to be near her). Interesting. Poor guy looked like a drowned rat when I coaxed him back into the barn. Water running off him. Lucky he has so much fuzz. Roo was damp and just verging on getting shivery and since it was 47°F and I promised I'd blanket him under 50 degrees, he got his blankie. He was sweating under it this morning. Maybe I'll drop my cut-off to 45°F? I'm considering changing Jack's name now. As I'm getting to know him, it doesn't seem to suit him as well. Right now, high on the list is "Yump" (short for "Jumpin Jack Flash"). * * * We did complete
our whole hour at the gym after work. I ran for ten minutes (in two
five-minute sessions) and did some mild weights and stretches. Nothing
wow, but a good start. It was relatively painless, which was the main
thing.
21 October Yesterday Roo and I rode a quickie loop with Ann and Jess down to
China Wall and around. We nearly managed 6 miles, and mostly walked,
except for the parts where Ann and I let Abi and Roo race each other,
including us nearly pushing them off the side of the trail, and Abi
blasting past in retaliation. Lots of fun. Today we rode with Sheila n' Splash and did a long loop into Cool and
back. The idea was to do a good warm up for the Lake Sonoma 50 next weekend... (even though I know Roo has already done two 50s, I'm still
completely paranoid about it... probably related to the last ride I did
- East Bay with Zini - ending in disaster when she colicked, and
resulting in me not riding an endurance ride for over a year. Fingers
crossed all goes well during our first ride and it doesn't end in tears.
I plan on doing a nice easy pace, walking the hills (maybe running the
long downhill on the backside of the ridge?), making sure Roo gets
plenty to eat and drink, and having a good time. The main thing will be
making sure he doesn't go too fast and poop himself out, so pacing him
as nicely as I can). ... and to make sure that Splash's back would be OK - she'd had some
soreness the previous weekend. As it turned out, we discovered that
Sheila's stirrups were uneven lengths, so that might have accounted for
some of it. Splash seemed fine at the end of today's ride. If she's
still good tomorrow, Sheila may be joining us next weekend. We rode from Third Gate, along the High Trail to Brown's Bar, down to
the River Road, along to hw-49, up the Canyon Trail, across the meadow
and over to Paige Harper Spring, down the Quarry Trail, back along the
River Road and up Waterfall/Little American Canyon and home for a total
of a little less than 23 miles. We managed it in a moving pace of 5 mph,
but overall pace of 4.1 mph, since we stopped to stand in creeks several
times. At the upper quarry, Sheila produced a bag of beet pulp and grainy
things, added water and the pones feasted cheerfully on the slop. Roo
then proceeded to eat stalky weeds which I *knew* he wouldn't be able to
chew or swallow, given his apparent trouble with eating with his bit on.
He promptly proved me wrong by gobbling it down, together with some
dandelion type things. Hmmm. Later, he grabbed some dry grass and carried it around in his mouth
without chewing or swallowing, the way he had been. After a couple of
miles, we stopped in the river for them to drink and he soaked his
mouthful for a bit, then swallowed it down. Conclusion: he can't eat
brown sh*t grass without water. Hah. He was pretty lethargic on the climbs, but considering we went 3200' up, I can understand it and forgive - especially when I remember him setting off after Splash at a gallop along the River Road, bucking a couple of times and generally looking like he was having fun... apparently exhausted, he was.
He's such a joy to deal with after Provo (stepping on you, rubbing on you, yanking your arms out, jigging, slamming you into the saddle, tweaking your knees, etc). He's quiet, well-mannered, pleasant to be around, goes at a nice pace (except for running off occasionally, with exuberance) and is a happy pone on the trail. We're still not having a lot of luck with the trailer-loading. He's OK on the way home, but leaving home he's pretty bad. I experimented today with putting him in the big back stall of the trailer and leaving him untied so he could stand in whichever direction he fancied. Several times I saw his little nose poking out through the grill, so apparently front-wards is still the preferred direction. I also put a HRM on him to see where we were at. The shape of his barrel and the fact that I ride with a fairly loose cinch meant that I wasn't getting great readings when we were trotting, but got so-so ones at a walk. His heart rate seems to drop pretty fast, so that was good. At about 15 miles he was getting hungry and coming up on 20 miles, he was starting to grab whatever he could. I must remember to carry LMF (at least) or a beet pulp mixture, like what Sheila had today, so he has something to snack on. Once he has something to eat, he cheers up immeasurably. He also drank really well today - starting early and drinking often, especially towards the end. Mind you, it was quite warm today (for October) - 78°F. New Truck Update The truck we ordered a week ago fell through - turns out they aren't making any more large-engined trucks. So we ummed and ahhhed some more and ended up asking if they had a diesel version of what we wanted. It turns out there's one up in Alturas - the only difference being it's "Silver Birch Metallic" (which is a silvery colour - not very exciting, but not horrid, either), its steps are chrome (shiny bauble embarrassing), it has a six-CD player and XM radio (which I doubt we'll subscribe to), and it costs more (don't look, don't look). According to the computer, it's still available. Given our luck, I'll believe it when we see it. But if indeed it does exist, it might appear sometime this week. Ooh. 22 October So after several years of talking about it, today we actually got around to putting siding on the barn:
Afterwards, I tried on Roo's new rope
halter that I finally got around to adjusting
23 October They told pft that they'd have the truck by this evening and would prep it for us and we could pick it up tomorrow. Since that was lunch-time and they hadn't left yet, we're not hopeful that it'll work on that timetable. But it does sound like it's actually going to happen. pft had to go there today to write a huge cheque <don't look, don't look> Rats that it won't have the gooseneck hitch on it, so I won't be able to take it to Sonoma.... mind you, it probably needs running in *without* the trailer for a bit, eh? To work and back a few times should do it.
I didn't even see the cheque, so I'm safe. 24 October
Talk about spiffy. I'm frightened to touch it. It drives like a driving thing, has velvety seats (no more sticking to the stupid leather seats in shorts), has all kinds of buttons on the steering wheel to play with - including the XM satellite radio that we get free for three months - 247 channels of stuff, including - rather usefully, I thought - traffic and weather for Phoenix, BBC World Service, and a channel called "Lucy". It also has a computery thing that tells you how many miles per gallon you're getting. I thought that would be scary to see, but was cruising along at 20 mpg until I hit the last hill coming into home (Marshall Grade - 7% grade?) and it dropped to 17.2 mpg. (that hill is one of the reasons we need the ridiculous pull and stop in a truck).
* * * I managed to get it unloaded in the shelter before pft arrived needing me to accompany him to the dealer's and we spread it when we got home, so at least I got one chore done (still need to put DG on top of the gravel, as it's a bit pokey). My camera got jammed up (at least the dial thing on the back did), so I took it apart. Fixed the dial, but managed to dislodge a *tiny* wire in the process. Soldered it back on and it seemed to work lovely and I was all smug... until I realised the zoom wasn't working any more. :( I need to take it apart again. :( I fixed my camera! Managed to get the wire re-soldered, but then the zoom wouldn't work. After taking it apart three more times, I finally noticed the circuit board wasn't seated properly under a little plastic lip, got it in, and hey presto, all fixed <relief>. 28 October I took Mouse over to Ann's on Friday morning, on my way to the ride, before driving to Sheila’s to pick up her and Splash. * * * One of the reasons I picked Lake Sonoma as Roo and my first ride was that I knew it was fairly short, and fairly easy. I did the ride with Mouse in 2001 and Mouse was always a slug and we still managed to finish in a 7:15 ride time - so it *must* have been easy, right? Wrong. gah. I had no idea. I took the GPS along and although - yes, it is short - it still has 7500' of climbing and 7000' of descent on it. It took us 7:50 this time round.
We had a 30 minute hold, during which he gobbled down a bucket o' fud and set out again. He was pretty cheerful going out, but after another few hours of riding, during which time we did another 2000' of climbing, he was starting to drag a bit. I walked him in the last mile to the lunch check and settled him in front of someone else’s alfalfa and didn't hear another peep out of him for 40 minutes. :))
By now he was drinking. And drinking, and drinking, and drinking. Off we went again. His walk had turned into a foot-dragging slouch, with little tiny steps, but he'd still trot perfectly, including being able to jog-trot down all the hills (he couldn't walk down them for the life of him, and felt like he had a pole stuck up his bottom), but jogging down them he was foot-sure and lively. I more or less let him walk whenever he felt the need (keeping in mind we seemed to be either going up or going down), and would get off for the really steep downhills (I figured he was uncomfortable, so I could help him out).
At one point I was trying to stuff my camera back in my saddle and he took off at a fast canter - which would have been fine, except that it was a really narrow twisty trail with a sheer 8' drop off into a creek. Eeek.
He vetted through with AAAAAAA and an A- on gut sounds (he'd only eaten for 15 minutes by then - not nearly enough time to stuff everything in).
In conclusion, it looks like Roo really knows how to take care of himself <g>. Not for him the stupid rushing about on the trail, exhausting himself into an early grave. No, no... He'll putz along, never overdoing it, and keeping happy. :)))) We had so much fun! He was on a loose rein within half a mile of the start, he only spooked once, he did some really great downhill work: jog-trotting tons of downhills while feeling very balanced, and best of all he ate and drank and drank all day - and peed about 58 times. <beam> I was really proud of him. Now if we can just get him comfy enough to do hills without feeling like he's going to poop out every ten feet, he'll be phenomenal. The other amazing thing was how good I felt. I was never pooped out
all day, or uncomfortable. My main problem was my toes going numb on my
right foot and my right knee getting crunchy, which just means it's time
to get off and walk for a while. Roo was a joy to be around - pleasant,
easy, and quiet. He didn't stand on me, he didn't trample any passerbys,
he didn't piss off any other horses (unlike some pintos I know
* * * * I forgot to say, I think we came ~56 out of 76 at the ride. I had no idea there were that many people behind us (at one point I thought we were 6th from last).
31 October Today I inspected his body minutely for wear and tear and discovered slightly galled armpits. Sheila recommended Body Glide to avoid this, so I'll try that. I was using a neoprene waffle cinch and maybe should try the mohair (I just liked the neoprene one better because it had elastic at both ends so I thought it'd be comfier). He also has the beginnings of a nice fat loin rub. I can't say I'm surprised at that, considering he has virtually no hair and given his mom's tendency to gall. I had the same problem with Mouse this time of year and I know loin rubs can be a "change of coat" thing (not that he has a coat). I could maybe experiment with *very* <g> careful placement of ShowSheen over the rubbed area or again, the Body Glide. And maybe also switch to pft's saddle, since it's a little peaked in the back and that helped Mouse (except that Ann has pft's saddle at the moment, to ride Mouse in, hmmm). Or try a different pad - my old Skito is very short-napped, so that might help. It's good that he's not going to get ridden for a couple of weeks. Maybe he'll grow some hair between now and then. Maybe. I rode Zinnet tonight for 45 minutes for the first time this year. I think the last time I rode her was at the East Bay ride where she colicked, September 2005. pft rode her a little in the summer, but she went lame at the end of June, so has been off since then. She felt really good, which I was relieved about. She also felt HUGE compared to Roo (she's maybe 15 hh... but a lot chunkier feeling than him). She's a fun horse to ride. Hopefully she'll stay sound and we can do some real riding with her this winter. |
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