vet check

Shyloh had her fall visit with the veterinarian today. She is as healthy as a . . .horse (sorry, I couldn't resist being corny). She was perfect (almost) in the cross ties while the vet checked her out. The only bump was when the vet was trying to touch her teats and Shy tried to cow kick her. The vet said it was a natural reaction, because we are not nursing so we have no logical reason (to her) to be there. Her advice was to make sure my hands are warm and use warm water and eventually Shy will appreciate a good teat cleaning.

Shyloh was a filthy mess! She was covered from head to hoof in mud. I am so sick of rain and mud. Fall is my favorite season, but this year the weather seems to have gone from scorching hot to rain to cold. 

I let Shy run around the arena with Forseti. They walked in circles a lot, stood by the door together, played with cones, rolled, and got into some kind of horsey mischief when no one was looking. They had a grand old time! I got them galloping around the arena together, too, it was beautiful!

Forseti and Shy love to walk around side by side

Synchronized rolling

Not sure what they were up to at one point. . .but I did not leave the arena like this!

More walking

Then, for some unknown reason on my part, I groomed her. Shy was just going back outside into her mud pit. But I think she enjoyed it. 

I will be spending the rest of the night cleaning my boots! They need it!

ooh la la

Shyloh sure has these geldings under her love spell! Except for Caesar . . .she does not like him and he does not really like her. They continue to stand in separate parts of the shelter and every time I put her back in the paddock, he bites her!  On the plus side, he is going inside very soon, although that leaves Shy without a buddy. And she likes to have a buddy.

Shy got a new halter! 

It is really odd that her and Caesar do not get along, she gets along with every other horse that she has met so far. Ryleigh has been bitten by the love bug with her and he has been bitten hard! Today Ryleigh and Sandy's horse, Forseti were in the arena together. It has been raining so much lately that the horses have not been going outside. And since Shy lives outside, I wanted to bring her in to clean her up and get her out of the mud for a bit. I asked if it would be okay for Shy to join Ryleigh and Forseti and it was. We already know that Shyloh and Ryleigh get along, so Shyloh and Forseti were introduced. All was well. . .

But then Ryleigh began to act like a stallion! He was strutting his stuff and he did not want Forseti anywhere near Shyloh! All I will say is that Ryleigh has a fantastic spin on his hind quarters. . .whoa. . .Shy did not seem to mind all the male attention. She just laid down and rolled in the middle of it all. She is so comfortable with other horses. 

Ryleigh was put back in his stall and Shy and Forseti got to hang out for a bit. Shy just followed him around the arena. She did get a kick when she sniffed Forseti's butt and he did not like it. But besides that they were great!  Shy did yawn a few times. . .it must be boring when there is only one gelding in the arena and no other geldings to fight over her. I swear she loves the attention!

There was a saddle fitter at the barn tonight. A few horses were getting fitted and Baby Bob was one of them. He is still gaga for Shy, too! Every time he would walk by her, he would slow down and just stare at her! I do not know why she has this effect on the boys!

After she was done being fawned over, we worked on poles again, but added the tarp. We went over on the lead at the walk and trot. We were going to try jumping again, but I could not put the splint boots on because her legs were too muddy. I did wash them, but then they were wet and I still did not want to put the boots on. Anyway, she did awesome! Shy did not even second guess walking on the tarp! We also worked on getting a bigger walk out of her and it was pretty successful. To wrap up our night, we worked on the mounting block. Shyloh is doing so good! 

The pole setup

Now I need some ideas about more ground work exercises to do. Any suggestions?

monday musings by shyloh #4

Ouch. . .Caesar is beating me up. But that is because I am trying to get his grain. Have I ever mentioned that I love grain? Why don't I get any? It is so good! But, what the lady doesn't know is that I get Caesar back! Ha!

You should see the other guy!

I must be turning into a sea horse! My paddock is flooded! It is raining, raining, raining! So much mud! But I don't mind. The lady comes and takes me inside, cleans me off, then puts me on dry land inside. And then I roll! Hey, a girl can't stay clean for too long, right? 

The lady does the craziest things! I don't get the purpose and she probably does not have one. Today, on the wall, there was a blue tarp. Never seen that before. I went up to it and sniffed it. But then the crazy lady wrapped it around herself and tried to walk toward me. Well, I was having none of that, so I ran away. But then the lady held out a treat. Food! How could I resist! So, I stopped and let the lady come up to me. I was a little scared, but that blue thing didn't do much except make funny noises. So in response, I made my thinking noise. 

The lady started touch me all over with the blue thing. I let her. It was not too bad, I guess.  She put it on my back, like a cape so I was Super Shyloh!! 

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Shyloh!!

And she put it over my head.

Why does she do this to me?

Crazy even put it over her own head! Notice how she did not add the picture of that. . .hmmm?

Gotta check it out

After I felt comfortable that the blue tarp was not a mountain lion in disguise, the lady put it on the ground. We circled around it a few times each way. Before I knew it, she was asking me to walk on it! What? I did my best to try and walk around it. I was getting the same result, right, getting closer to the lady. But that was not good enough. She wanted me to walk ON it. I had to make a thinking noise over this. . .Okay, I put my front foot on the blue thing. Nothing terribly bad happened. So, I walked over it. And I did it again. And again. And then we trotted over it a bunch of times. It was actually kind of fun! I got lots of praise and treats and pets for doing such a simple thing.

It's all good

Look! I conquered the tarp!

The lady decided to take a break and let me roam around the inside. It seems that when she trots, she gets tired. It must be that only having two legs thing. Much harder to move around. While I was doing some exploring, I came across the cones. I seem to remember Ryleigh (sigh, <3) playing with these. I never thought to play with them before! I checked these cones out. Pretty interesting. Then the lady moved some out of the corner for me. Fun! Then she put a scary whip in the cones, just like when Ryleigh was playing with the other day! The whip is not so scary when I have control over it! See what I can do!

I got some granola and apple for being such a good and brave girl today. And I did not bite! On the way back to my paddock, I saw some flakes of hay just sitting there, not being eaten. What's a girl to do but to grab a whole flake as we walked by? Like I said, I am a hungry girl! I did get that hay taken from me, but later learned that it was my dinner hay, anyway! When I got back outside, I was given my dinner. What difference does it make if I eat it on the go or in my shelter? None, I say!

I think I had a good day with the lady today. Now only if the rain would stop. . .

~Shyloh

good dog. . .bad pony

I went out to the barn early so I could take Cooper when I knew there would not be a lot of people there. He had a blast!

Shyloh, on the other hand, not so good. Her cut has not scabbed over and she seems sore on her back end (either from getting kicked or slipping in the mud). Caesar kicked/bit her a few more times since yesterday. Why won't she learn her lesson and stay away from him? I discovered that Caesar is now getting grain, so Shy is probably trying to steal it and he is not letting her. Mike gets real upset that Shyloh is getting beat up. I am not thrilled about it, but they are horses, so as long as she does not get seriously injured, a few kicks and bites are not bad. I was going to work with her on lunging and attempting to jump over poles, but I decided if she is sore, then we will just hang out in the arena. 

After a little bit, Caesar's people came and wanted to ride him in the arena, so I let Shy out to graze. When I went to bring her back in, she bit me! Ouch! And now I have a bruise.  At first, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe she did not mean it. . .but then I thought again and decided that she did mean it and was probably upset because I was bringing her in from grazing. I did let her know that biting is unacceptable behavior. I think this is more testing to see what she can get away with, as she gets more comfortable with me and the barn. But, I am so disappointed in her, I was just saying yesterday how she has not bit me since I verbally corrected her the first time. 

Cooper is napping as I write this, he is exhausted from his morning at the barn. He never rested, except to lay in mud puddles, as evidenced here. . .

and here. . . Why does he love to lay in mud??

Cooper and Shyloh finally met each other and he finally knew where all that good smell that I come home covered in was coming from.

First meeting! 

They played a little in the arena. . .

Sniff sniff

Shy following Cooper

Cooper checking Shy out as she rolls

And out in the pasture. . .

Cooper made a new friend, Murphy the barn dog! They were tearing it up, running up and down the aisle and out in the pastures!

Running so fast!

Vrooom! Cooper and Murphy! Cooper keeps up pretty good for his age!

All three of them in the arena

Fun times!

I think Cooper has earned himself some more trips to the barn. Now only if Maggie did not act like a wild dingo in public, she could come, too. But that probably won't happen. . .

supplement update

Shyloh has been on her supplements for a little over a month now. She is taking B1, Magnesium, and Red Raspberry Leaf. I think they are working, I mean, Shy had a child on her bare back! She has not been spooky, either, she actually seems quite calm.

Nom nom. Shy loved her supplements!

The other day we were in the grooming stall and a broom fell behind us (Thanks Baby Bob for continuously kicking the stall). Shy did not even flinch! I did, though, I was not expecting it at all. Today when I was bringing her inside, she walked over a tarp with no problem! We have not done any tarp work at all and I was very surprised that she did it. There was a tarp over an area in front of the entrance to the barn that is being worked on. I thought, well, I will try to bring her in over this tarp, through the dug out land, and around this pile of pea gravel. I figured, if she balked, we would just walk around and I would work with her later with a tarp. To my astonishment, she walked right through! 

If Shy does anything, it is more of a flinch than a spook. Shyloh has actually been very calm and cooperative with me! I am so proud of her! Today, she walked right up to me in her paddock and let me hug her without pulling away at all! It may be that she wanted to get out of the paddock so bad because she is not impressed with her new roommate. They do not hate each other, but they are not close friends. Caesar was upset that Shy got to leave out (even though he was out earlier) and he kicked her, right in the same spot that she hit the nail. She also seemed a little sore on her read end, so I think he got her a few other times, too. 

I was not able to do what I wanted today with Shy, so tomorrow we will work on it. But it was for good reason! We had a get together at our barn with people from there and people from our old barn. We honored Kathy with some beautiful framed pictures of Captain Morgan and a card. Mike brought pizza for everyone. Kathy was so surprised and grateful!  We miss the Captain!

social butterfly?

Maybe, but not quite yet. Shyloh had a very social day with horses, dogs, cats, and people. And she was amazing, yet again! 

First, she had a  new farrier come out to assess her hooves. He said that she had great feet and she was quite pleasant in the cross ties. I was quite impressed with her not being spooky while he moved the foot stand thing all around her. I was very happy with him, so Shyloh has a new farrier! He does barefoot, so it is perfect.

I put Shyloh in the arena for a few hours to dry off, it was raining again. . . I told Robin that she should bring Ryleigh in the arena, too, and him and Shy can meet each other (not over a fence) and play. She was a little apprehensive, but Kathy helped.

We HAVE to do this again!

Follow the leader!

Holy cow! Shyloh and Ryleigh were awesome together! They followed each other around, sniffed each other, groomed each other, and were just so great together. Ryleigh took in a big sniff of her "scent", and Shy kept sniffing his male parts. It was love!

Awwww! She is quite the mare of the barn!

They like long walks on the beach. . .in the sand. . .

At one point, Ryleigh grabbed a cone (he loves cones), which had a lunge whip sticking out of it. Shy was interested in what he was doing, so she went to check it out. Inadvertently, Ryleigh kept hitting Shy with the whip, under the belly, on the legs, in the face. . .and she did not care one bit! She was not afraid of the whip at all! She even tried to grab it from Ryleigh a few times. 

What kind of trouble and we get into together?

Playing together

Then Terry came to the barn and brought her dog, Addie. Ryleigh, Addie, and Shyloh played in the arena for a bit, then Robin took Ryleigh out to be groomed. So Terry brought in Resy. 

Pow wow in the middle of the arena

Resy and Shyloh

Including me, there were five people in the arena. Shy would go up to people, let them touch her, and not run away! It was quite a difference from a month ago! She is learning to trust others, too! 

Going right up to Rob while he is playing Angry Birds

I am teaching Shy a trick, how to wave her foot. I have been taking a dressage crop and tapping her leg so that she lifts it, then giving her a treat. She caught on really quick! After a few times, I did not even have to tap her leg more, I waved my hand, said wave, and she would lift her foot. This is only step one. Step two involved stretching her leg forward, which I will work on tomorrow. Shyloh is so food motivated, that she began lifting her foot for me, when she wanted a treat, even when I did not ask her! Smart girl!! But what have I gotten myself into?

the interrogation

So, last night I got a message from Beth. this is what the message said:

     Shyloh is the new escape artist! I came out to feed and she was behind the barn eating grass. . .She broke a small board by the stock tank n squeezed through under the fence. LOL! Put an extra board back up just in case she tries it again. . . It should hold her :-)

I told Beth that it was good that they were able to catch her, considering her catching difficulty! She replied:

     It's all good. . .She's ok n didn't run from us. Poor Caesar was still in the pasture cuz he couldn't fit under the board that was still up. . . He was looking at me n calling to shy, like wth. . . I wanna go too!

Shortly after, I got another message from Sandy:

     Your little girl got out tonite. She broke through the fence somehow. We found her in the back eating grass. She saw us coming and went into the fenced pasture that Bob uses. I caught her with some grain.

Remember the other day when I mentioned that Shyloh was getting comfortable in her new home? Yup, she is comfortable alright! I later learned that she went to graze near Chick. She must miss him!

When I got the barn, I had a little conversation with her when I brought her inside about her behaviors. I put her in the cross ties and interrogated her. . .It went like this:

So, how was your day yesterday?

Just fine? Hmmm. . .do anything fun? New? Exciting?

No? Cause I got a message from Beth and Sandy. . .so, you didn't escape?

Oh, it wasn't an escape? Tell me about the fence then. . .why is it reinforced now?

Oh, really? So you think breaking stuff is the way to go about getting things you want, like grass?

Wow, okay. . .explain this gash on your side?

You hit a nail as you were ducking through the fence? This is what happens when you do things you are not supposed to do!

I know! So, are you going to do it again?

Needless to say. . .I did not get the answers I was looking for from Shyloh. . .

day ten

No barn for me today. No Pretty Pony Pastures, either. Just resting and never ending laundry. And watching Bridesmaids! I have not seen it yet and it looks so funny! Plus I love Kristen Wiig from Saturday Night Live, she is hilarious!

Finally! The last day!

Day 10 - Picture of myself.

I like this picture for a few reasons. It is taken between Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, which are my favorite places in Michigan. I love it up there, it is so beautiful. And the city is very dog friendly, which is a plus! This was taken a few years ago when Mike and I went up there for our anniversary. Since we did not go on a honeymoon, every year we go on a weekend vacation around our anniversary.

monday musings #3 and day nine

The rain is back! 

I have been having a good ole time. . .I am getting comfortable in my new home. I was so upset last week since Chick was moved, that I couldn't even write, but yesterday I got a new friend! Caesar! He is a big boy and he likes to get dirty. Don't get me wrong, any time the lady tried to beautify me, I do my best to reverse it; but Caesar likes to get very dirty! 

And I have learned my lessons with horses past. . .I will not let him bully me! So I have been showing Caesar who is boss. Earlier, the foot guy came to give him a pedicure and I was not about to let him go out the gate without me! I tried to tell him that he better stay, I even pinned my ears and everything, but the barn lady still took him. But Caesar came back. I still won't let him on my side of the shelter yet. I barely know him and it is too early for that much intimacy. 

Nom nom nom

The treat dude came to visit me today! I love it when he comes to the barn! I got so many treats today. I even got some new treats from another lady who is always at the barn. Treats are so good!

Today, the lady took me inside and cleaned out my feet. I wonder if she has given up on brushing me, because I keep letting her know that it is pointless. Next she took me to the big indoor sand pit. I'm not sure what she wanted, so I hung out by the treat dude. But then she made me trot around for a little bit. After that, she made be go up the the thing that makes her tall. It is getting less scary. I go up almost all the way now and she asks me to get closer and closer, so I do. But sometime, if I get too scared, I move my butt away. So, after a few times when I did really good, we stopped. The lady does this crazy thing where she jumps off the block. At first I was scared, I didn't know if she was going to jump on my back or what! But now I know she won't, so it does not bother me.

Sticking my tongue out

I did not get any grass today. . .I have been getting grass in a pasture all to myself for the last few days! I loved it, plus all the boys really like me. And I like the attention. I just have to wiggle my rump a bit and it drives them wild! 

When the lady took me back outside, her and the treat dude were watching me. Caesar was getting too involved, so I bit his butt and told him to get moving. Then I shook the gate with my teeth. I wanted more treats from the dude! But he left and the lady went back inside. Then she came out with dinner! I was so excited! I trotted next to her (as much as I could in the mud) and at the same time I was telling Caesar that he better stay away from my dinner. I think the lady was going to put the hay in the shelter to be out of the mud and rain (she is a nice lady), but Caesar went up behind her and pulled it out of her hands! Ha! I don't care if my hay is muddy! I will still eat it up!

Muddy Caesar and me!

I think I like the lady more every day. I don't think she will hurt me. I keep testing her, though, just to be sure. I go in her space, I bit her feet, I paw the ground, I refuse to move, and I am hard to catch. She really does not put up with my shenanigans and lets me know, but not in a hurtful way. I will keep trying to find her limit though, just to make sure that she is a great as I think she might be. . .

~Shyloh

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Two Songs.

Song 1 - First Date by Blink 182
Blink 182 is my all time favorite band. And on our first re-date, my husband sang this song to me! This band is fun and goofy and has really upbeat music.

Song 2 - Kandi by One eskimO

I like this song, but really, I like the video! It is so cute!