Category: Horses

I brought Lily home yesterday. This sounds much easier than it was, considering Lily had never been here before, and had never been turned out with any of the horses here. I had been mulling over how to trade her and Hap, since Hap is capable of a full workload, and Lily is still being rehabilitated from her tendon injury. I would rather have the horse I can ride at my trainer’s where there is an arena.

My trainer came up with the plan. Bring Lily home, and take Rags and Hap to my trainer’s place for a while. This would give Lily a change to get used to the place without having to contend with any horses besides Smoke, who is remarkably passive when it comes to meeting other horses. My trainer volunteered to help me with the move on her day off, which is Wednesday.

The move went surprisingly smoothly. We had to do a little barn rebuilding where some of the barn’s siding had loosened so it was only hanging on a by a few nails. I kept Lily in a stall while she and Smoke became acquainted. We had put Rags and Hap into the round pen in the new field. She snarled a bit to impress Smoke that she was top bitch, and he sighed and agreed. I let her out of the stall and she started checking out the areas where she might find hay. She did a little trotting around to check out the field, but didn’t to anything to worry me that she might reinjure hereself.

Hap and Rags jumped eagerly into the trailer for the trip to my trainer’s place. Rags used to live there before we had facilities here at home, so he is familiar with the place. Hap had only been gone for a week, but the horses in the gelding field still all had to check him out and squeal their greetings. Then Hap went down to see if there was enough water in the stock tank to be worth emptying.

Horses have the same reaction to a clean white T-shirt as a vandal does to a freshly painted wall. This is why I have a lot of T-shirts.

Yesterday got off to a rocky start for me when I realized that it was 6:58 and although I had planned to leave the house at 7:10, I hadn’t yet dressed nor eaten breakfast, nor had I fed the horses or dogs. I somehow managed to get to the barn by 7:32 anyway, two minutes after I was supposed to be there. Since I had agreed to drive my truck and horse trailer, my presence was important. My trainer was taking the same two horses ridden by the same two students that had shown so successfully in July.

The turnout for this show was much smaller, but the overall quality of the competition was higher. In our private barn lingo, there were some “nice horses” there, ie expensive horses from barns with good trainers. Although Danny (in photo) and Indy are cute grade horses, they are not expensive. I happen to think I have a very good trainer, but our barn is small and rarely goes to shows, so we aren’t particularly well known.

Unfortunately, once again we had to give the kids and their parents the “you know, you don’t always place in every class” talk to try to manage expectations for future show. Actually, Indy did not place in one of his classes: he tried to duck out of the in gate during one of his rounds, presumably getting eliminated for bad manners. This was a different judge from last time, and she liked Danny and Indy too. I kept staring at our little grade horses, then at the big fancy Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods, and shaking my head.

Of course, there were also plenty of other non-fancy horses. I particularly lost my heart to one old Appaloosa, who had a swarm of three small riders. One rode him while the other two little girls would attempt to lead him simultaneously in opposite directions. He would occasionally roll his eye as if to say, “See what I have to put up with? Aren’t I a good horse?” I think he placed in most of his classes as well.

Yesterday, I put a saddle on Lily for the first time since she injured herself. It is too soon to be riding her, but after having handwalked her for several weeks, it is time to start longing her at a trot. I rarely use side-reins when I longe a horse, but they do give me a little extra leverage and control if the horse decides to play on the longe line. Since I don’t have a surcingle, I run the side-reins from the bit to the billets of the saddle.

So far, Lily does not seem tempted to play. However, I only asked her to trot five circles in both directions the first day, and eight circles in both directions today. So far, she looks blessedly, beautifully sound as she trots, with no strain apparent afterward in the injured leg.

During summer, I almost always have the bedroom windows open. Last night, I was reading in bed when I heard a tremendous clatter, followed by a squeal. I waited for a few tense moments, but heard only silence. I wasn’t dressed, so I called to Jack and asked him to check the horses. Then I decided I should go out as well, since it was warm enough for my pajamas. I put on my sneakers and grabbed the flashlight.

As we approched the barn, I could see Rags and Smoke standing in Smoke’s stall. We turned on the barn lights, and the two horses gazed at us with great innocence. Jack went into the stall with them and couldn’t see any fresh scrapes on either horse or new damage to the barn. I wonder what they were doing?

The vet came by this morning to check Lily, who attempted to bow a tendon two weeks ago. We were all extremely pleased to see that the injured left leg, which has been in a gel cast for two weeks, is now identical to the perfect right leg. The vet couldn’t get even an ear flicker as she palpated the leg, so Lily is not feeling any tenderness. It couldn’t be better at this stage.

For three days we will keep her in her current tiny paddock (made by closing off the end of a long run) without any cast or other support. Then, if all goes well, she will be allowed into the larger ran. In ten days or so, I will begin handwalking her. Despite the good news, we still have a lengthy rehabilitation ahead of us.

Yesterday morning I went to my trainer’s barn to help her with a class. She has one little seven year old girl who is a beginner beginner. My trainer doesn’t usually take them that young, but this little girl’s first word was probably “horse.” We quickly learned to never ask her if she has had enough riding, because she is never ready to get off the pony on her own.

Usually I work with the beginner while my trainer works with the other kids. However, yesterday morning she handed me the megaphone and took the little girl into the center of the arena to work with her. I had to figure out what to do with five students of varying ability without using the center of the arena. There was one advanced teenager on a fiery Thoroughbred named Cappy; a not very advanced teenager on my trainer’s old show hunter Havoc; the perfect kid on the grulla Indy; the kid who is a pretty decent rider but doesn’t get out much on Danny, the small Arab cross; and the kid who wants to show on Major, the impressive looking Percheron cross.
Continue reading A Good Day Goes Bad