February 2009

Back to January • Forward to March

Forgot to say, we repositioned the heater in the trailer so that it could blast towards the room instead of into the corner. This means the next year's worth of rides we go to will be so warm we won't need to use the heater.

It also means that we now have a bunch of small holes in the wall covered with small discreet pieces of yellow electrical tape. You'd never hardly notice they were there. So long as you didn't look at them.

Sunday 1 February - Uno Goes Alone

Chili stayed at home again so that Uno and I could set forth into the woods unthreatened by "monsters".

We were on a mission to do a grown-up ride - Uno was wearing his borrowed size 2 Gloves on his fronts despite the slippery mud, and we rode along the lane, down the Powerlines and up Old Greenwood Road, trotting, trotting, trotting. 

Uno balked at the first turning and tried out his new-found trick of walking backwards but such antics were met with my trusty, ever-present whupping rommel and hopefully he'll give up on this idea soon as it doesn't work that well. He was definitely a bit miffed at having to go out, but predictably cheered up on the way home. 

Graph showing Uno's demon speed. 
Apparently he never, ever, goes 4.7 mph. 

He's still a little slug-like for my taste, but since he was out on his own, I'll cut him some slack. And considering he hasn't done much recently, we climbed some hard grades (the Powerlines is 450' in 0.45 miles) and he did very well - trotting almost the whole way up Old Greenwood Rd (~400' up in a mile). I was also exceedingly impressed by his footwork coming back up the Powerlines on the really treacherously slippery clay section. My plan had been to get off, but he was intent on continuing uphill so I stayed aboard and sat as quietly as I could. Even with the boots on, he felt very solid.

His indiscretions included one large leap sideways (apparently a fish jumped in the small lake next to the road); attempts at balking; a bit of a scuttle from a deer in the woods; another jump because a hawk tried to attack him (OK, there was a hawk nearby, and it took off); and another scuttle when we were coming up the driveway and I ducked under some low hanging branches that scraped on us.

In an effort to prevent him sticking his nose in the air when he decides to accelerate from 0-60 in two seconds leaving me no hope of stopping him, I put him in a running martingale today to see how that would work. It wasn't bad, but then I couldn't do any useful one-rein stops. A better idea might be a single-strap running martingale with a central ring, as I think they still allow for one-rein stops. More research needed. He's wearing the Myler bit I bought on E-bay - a snaffle with curb chain. He jingles a lot and that's all I can really comment on that bit. I'm not sure any bit has made much difference with him.

Monday 2 February - 8 of 8

They wouldn't all stand in the same place at the same time, but these pics were taken mere seconds and feet apart so it's nearly the same. The sad thing is, my mind doesn't even think this is that many horses any more. The bank account thinks otherwise - our hay bill is up to about $700 a month right now... :-(

From left to right: Jackit, Provo with Zini behind, Mouse, Roo, Fergus' back end, Hopi and Uno (non-workers paddock on the left, workers paddock on the right)

Guitar - I have now learned three chords on the guitar. And can't play any of them particularly well. It still seem that my fingers are too short.

Tuesday 3 February - Tevis Training Starts

A somewhat inauspicious start, give the molasses-like quality of Roo's enthusiasm as we headed out. My plan to do a "quick blitz around the 6+ mile China Wall/Dead Truck loop before dark" was foiled completely when he had to stop and stare fixedly at every-single-rock/downed tree/tree stump/bush along the way. Apparently he was privy to some insider intel regarding the terrorist activities of such objects because as far as I could tell, they looked exactly like normal innocuous rocks/downed trees/tree stumps/ bushes.

Still, this was his first outing since DVE so he has been lounging for five weeks. He puffed his way up Dead Truck trail and was so tired that he had to stop and eat grass several times. Of course, I worried that his feet hurt (he was barefoot), he was suffering mild colic (poop was a bit runny), he was too hot (shaggy horse, shedding out), etc. so babied him along. And of course, once we headed for home, he took off like he was jet-propelled along the narrow ledge of trail. And continued to do so despite the failing light. So that's where the Tevis practice came in - we practiced travelling at speed on narrow trails where we couldn't see much. Good enough.

Drop-offs on my right still bother me more than on my left (good news for the California Loop).

Roo felt kinda funny to start with after riding Uno for the last month - narrow and small, and much easier to maneuver. There were several occasions when undergrowth snagged us and had it been Uno, it's entirely possible that he would have levitated off the side of the trail. But then again, it's also possible that we would have gotten back before dark, since we wouldn't have had to stop and stare at every single rock/downed tree/tree stump/bush. Funny things, horses.

Guitar - Today I learned "Ode to Joy" on the guitar. This involves plucking individual strings and moving your fingers about, almost like a real guitarist ... so long as you ignore the long gaps between notes while I rearrange my fingers, and the plunky wrong notes when I go the wrong way.

Wednesday 4 February - Several Things

There are several things I neglected to mention about yesterday's ride:

• It was like spring out there - lush, green and ferny - and quite lovely.
• We saw about five or six red-bellied sierra newts walking about and avoided standing on them. Breeding season is approaching, so all the males are commuting down to the creeks to get ready for the influx of females.
• I ran about half a mile down to Little American Creek. Funnily enough, this made my ankle hurt.

Monday 9 February - x-rays

It has been four months since my last x-rays, and these were to be my last. My Dr says I'm doing great and signed me off - giving me all my x-rays to keep (there are about 7 sets).  He said most people my age with the break I had will limp for about a year, so I'm doing pretty good there - I only limp when I overdo it.

Tuesday 10 February - Uno at Cronin

Tuesday late afternoon, Uno and I managed to dash out to Cronin for a quick loop around the outside. He was a good boy again - except for feeling a bit like I was riding a horse with the hand-brake on until we turned for home. 

He did show me one of his more useful traits - once he's going along, he'll just keep going and going. He's by no means fast, but reminds me of a wind-up toy - you point him where you want him to go and he pads along cheerfully.

He had a pouty moment when we passed the turn off to Magnolia (the other trailhead) and he was convinced we were parked there, so should turn. After that, it was like riding a horse suffering from strong sideways gravitational pull for a while until we reached the top of the hill.

The only thing he was spooky about were some puddles when it was nearly dark and the light was reflecting off them and he wasn't sure what they were, otherwise he was spook-free and seems to have given up on the "stop and walk backwards" idea that he was working on last week. A couple of times he stopped, but was persuaded of the error of his ways with a bit of encouragement from the rommel.

Sunday 15 February - Rain, Snow, Snow and More Rain

Wednesday at work a big storm rolled through and Patrick and I made a dash for home, getting there too late to miss the snow, but early enough that we did get home. It snowed on and off Wednesday night, so was about 4-5" deep on Thursday morning - not a big deal unless you take into account our 300' long, 10% grade driveway - that's exciting <grin>. I went to work (Patrick had to stay home to meet a guy who was buying car parts from him).  Thursday night was clear, but Friday we woke up to more snow - and no power. No power isn't a problem, except that we're on a well, so no power = no water, which gets old, fast. Until you have no water, you have no idea how many times you need to wash your hands a day when you're dealing with pones and mud. The power came back on again around 2 pm, so I was able to get some work done. The snow melted some, but then came again with a vengeance Friday night and by Saturday morning, even though it what had already fallen had mostly mostly melted off, it was half as deep again. We stayed home.
	< Our mailbox is under there somewhere...   Poor plants on the front steps that > were starting to bloom in the warm weather. There's a rose bush and a lavender amongst others in there...
	< Tie-up rail Wednesday night >  and Thursday morning... Below: views around the place, Thursday morning
	Going to work along Andy Wolf, Thursday morning
	Poor mucky ponies. Mouse, Jackit and Zini who was practically doing the splits trying to walk on the slidey side slope. The mud under the snow turned to slurry and all is disgusting everywhere... The snow runoff ran off into the paddocks. Did you know, you can broom-sweep slurry?

So I played some guitar. My fingers are now nicely calloused, but have been numb on the finger-tips for three weeks now which is a bit disconcerting. I'm working on strumming and chord transitions. Some are quite good and Patrick announced the other night that I was actually making music instead of plinking. <beam>

And I got lots and lots of quilting done. I had this dread all weekend that the power would go out again and I wouldn't be able to do anything, but even though Sunday was rainy and very windy, our power stayed up. Yay! 

	I've gotten to a tricky bit on my "Hunter's Star" quilt, necessitating laying it all out on the carpet to figure out which part needed to be sewn how. Saturday I went to bed with it all laid out, happy in the knowledge that I'd be able to get right to it Sunday morning.  Not.
	This is what I woke up to this morning. Initially, I just thought the cats had been rolling on the pieces and "playing", but upon closer inspection discovered that some of the blocks were soggy. Euww. &%*#!!&$ CATS!  The pieces got rinsed in the sink and sprayed with Nature's Miracle and left to dry. They are now presentable enough to sew with, pending a real washing in hot water, which I can't do yet, since they are all still paper-backed.
	Despite this setback, this is where I've gotten to. I ran out of papers, so need to make more copies, but it's coming together nicely. And the pieces are now laid on a blanket that I can roll up and put away when I'm not working on it.

The good thing is I've given up on the idea of going to the Cuyama ride next month, so am-un't pouting about the concept that it is going to rain/snow for the rest of my life. If the pones are filthy and unfit, so be it. I'll feed and muck them and not think about it.

Chili got her toes dremelled again tonight, although we missed last weekend's appointment. She's not thrilled with it and suffers in sad silence (see pic for sad, dog face).

Chili hasn't been enjoying the cold, wet weather much either. No fun for wimpy dogs who's teeth chatter in the cold, even when they're wearing their nice outdoor coat.

Saturday/Sunday 21-22 February - Hay Hoops, More Rain and Mud Wallowing

By Tuesday it was raining again but with the hay cupboard bare I was forced to go and relieve Garden Valley Feed of 5 bales of orchard and 5 of grass/alfalfa. Pricey stuff at $17.50, but enough to tide me over until Saturday when the rain had stopped for three days..

Saturday my hay place in Shingle Springs was in chaos from the recent rain - they hadn't been able to get any trucks in, so it was slim pickins. I came home with a mishmash of hays - all the teff they had left (7 @ $14.50); some "oat" that looked suspiciously like 3-grain that I found hidden behind a pile of bales (6 @ $13.50); some 50/50 alfalfa/orchard that has the density of giant bricks (7 @ $15); and - score! - $11 "4-way" (rye, oat, wheat & barley) (24). Looking at this hay, I was a little skeptical to begin with: it's a tad grungy on the outside and kind of yellow, but it's fine stemmed and they are gobbling it up cheerfully. If only I had storage space, I would be tempted to go back and get another 50+ bales at $10.50 each. But alas, the barn is stuffed to the gills so I'll just have to hope they have more next time I go back. 

By Saturday night it was raining again which meant a continued lack of riding - rats that I couldn't get out on Friday when it was beautiful - work was being a little intense (understatement - I had to work on some maps for the head of the Department of Water Resources to show to Senator Feinstein in a meeting... does this make me famous?). 

As far as riding, February has been a complete wash out if you'll pardon the pun. Sunday morning we woke up (again) to Uno and Hopi on the front lawn and Fergus grazing in the orchard, so at least they had a chance to self-exercise slightly. 

But I'm trying to stay positive about the lack of riding (OK, I'll admit my positive approach is crumbly at the edges) in favour of indoor pursuits and Sunday chipped away at the Hunter's Star quilt. I'm having to carefully piece each block to make sure it fits in its specific location but by Sunday evening have finished with the main fiddly bit in the center. Now I have an even fiddlier outer row to do, before it starts to come together fast with big border chunks. Whoo.

And I worked on my guitar callouses. I'm starting to be able to transition from chord to chord with only a minor hiccup in between.

Course, what would horse ownership be without some mud wallowing? Before fetching they hay on Saturday, I worked hard on the shelters to get them ready for more onslaught, dragging a ripped, tired rubber stall mat out from under a foot of squelchy mud and splitting it into two pieces, and rearranging mats so that they didn't slide out into the adjacent stall. My efforts worked and it has made it slightly easier to muck out when full of wet manure and wet horses. And a new manure fork rounded out my good weekend. And they think girls want jewellery?