a how to guide

How to get on a Shire bareback without a ladder.

Step 1. Climb on the hay loft.

Step 2. Lower yourself onto giant horse.

Step 3. Success! You are now on your Shire.

And bonus, Reba did not care that she had a person falling from the sky onto her back. Shyloh, on the other hand, saw something suspicious going on and gave a wide eyed stare to the situation.

I got on Shy bareback, too. I couldn't find my taller bucket, so I had to use a shorter one, which caused me to have to jump and swing myself over a it more. I was not sure how Shy would handle it.

Well, she handled it by not even lifting her head from her hay. That actually made it harder for me to get on, since I didn't have her neck to hold on to as much.

But, it made me feel good that after a couple sits like this, Shy could care less that I am on her back. A big difference from the first time when she shot her head up and wouldn't breathe. Now she doesn't even lift her head. And instead of being frozen in place, she moves around a bit like she does when no one is on her back. I can move around and be wiggly with no reaction. Shy even decided to play with a bucket while I was up there. She has this thing when buckets being flipped over. She likes to turn them right side up. We are both getting comfortable with each other.

And I am not sure what this means, but when I sit on her, she yawns and smiles. It's goofy.

Now, if it wasn't so damn bitter cold out, I would want to take her to the round pen to ride! But for now, I'll take sitting bareback because it is super warm.

giveaway winners and blogger gift exchange

. . . and the winners are Jen from Cob Jockey and T. Myers from A Filly's Best Friend. Congrats to you both! Hope the hat keeps your heads toasty warm. Contact me with your information and I will get them sent right out to you. Thank you again from Horze for yet another giveaway.

I think I am a little tired of giveaways for now. Whew.

Tracy over at Fly On Over is hosting a Blogger Gift Exchange. How fun! If you want to participate, head over there to sign up. 

Wishing everyone a relaxing and Happy Thanksgiving!

monday musings by shyloh #110

It is so so brr cold! Good thing me and the minions have ample hair to keep us warm! 

Allie brought us all in the barn for a Shyloh and minion spa day! I love spa days.  Well, Allie grooms me every time she visits, but spa days are special. I get extra grooming and treats!

Hee hee

First I get a curry combing. It's like a massage all over. Then a get a double brushing, once with a stiff brush and once with a soft brush. Allie spent a long time with my feather cause they had frozen mud on them. Gotta keep those clean to prevent ouchies.  After that, an extra soft brush cleans off my face and my mustache. Next it is time for my mane to be brushed, it has gotten tangly from all the wind and rain. And finally, my hooves get picked out! That's my most favorite part. I am so good, I pick up all my feet and hold them out. Ahhhh, a spa is only complete with a treat and a hay snack. 

They have no idea of the awesomeness they are in store for.

Allie went on to the minions next. They were super dirty because 1, they are boys and 2, they like to be mud rollers. Gunny likes to drag his face on the ground, must be a hinny thing. Meatball and Dexter like to roll in the mud and had muddy backs and faces. 

The supplies. . . and a cat

Meatball is always a little leery of being groomed. But Allie is patient and cleaned him right up. He even let her pick his feet. He is the most hairiest minion ever! So much fluff!  Also, Meatball is much heavier than he looks. I was trying to get him out of my way and he wouldn't move, so I stuck my head under his belly and tried to flip him. . .no go.  So then I just had to show him my butt and he got the idea to move. Ha!

Gunny actually enjoyed his grooming, which was quite surprising since he doesn't like to be touched all that much. His hair is much coarser than the other horses' hair. 

Dexter didn't seem to enjoy the extra grooming attention all that much. He tolerated it, but I think he prefers to be left alone. . .wild and free, like me. Unless food is involved. 

When we went back outside, I think we all forgot how chilly it was! The wind was howling! But Allie through us some hay to keep our bellies warm, so we were happy. I sure could go for more of these spa days!

Mmmmmm!

Seriously almost the cutest! That's why I sometimes have to be mean to him though, cause he is not cuter than me!

Let's hope they stay clean.

And, only a couple more days left of the Horze Hat Giveaway! Don't forget to enter!
~Shyloh

relatively relaxing weekend

Fuzz butt!

If this a precursor of how cold our winter will be, I think I'll be moving soon. I can take the cold, just not the bitter wind! This weekend was definitely not as packed as my previous weekends, but we worked on getting the fencing up for the back pasture and just hanging with the ponies.

Dragging corner posts with tractors and four wheelers

I have been sitting bareback on Shyloh lately. Just sitting and not asking her to do anything. I figure that this is a way to get us both used to each other. I have not sat on her in a while and when I do, I tense up because tends to scoot. The scoots are a bit scary because I don't have the best balance and me and Shy go in the cycle of she is nervous so I am nervous so she is nervous. . .

Always ears back on me, waiting for me to ask  her something

The just sitting and not asking anything of her lets me relax and work on unfurling from a fetal position and lets her breathe and relax as well. Shy tends to hold her breath until she relaxes. The just sitting has been going really well. Shy relaxes much quicker and lets me hop right up without evading the bucket that I use. She actually has been doing really well, no spooks, even with crazy cats making all kinds of noises and wind howling at the barn. 

Smelling my Muck boot

Except for the other day. She kept stepping away from the bucket and I kept trying to get on. Finally, she stood, I almost hopped on and off she went! She didn't get far and I was hanging off the side of her until she stopped and I slid off. I reprimanded her and she looked at me, then put her ear to my chest. It was a strange gesture. I told Shy, hear that? You made my heart beat fast. She kept her head there for a minute before moving on with her life. Shy is not a touchy, lovable horse so it was an oddly moving moment. 

Aww, she can be sweet. . .

I did end up getting back on her and she was totally fine. I did a lot of moving around and wiggling, just to get her used to that. There was a time when the creak of the saddle would send her scooting forward. She is so much better now. I think we are ready to get to riding.

Not down with the idea of working

I put a Stall Snack up in her stall to keep her entertained when she gets done with her hay. She is only in there for a few hours overnight, but, I figured why not?

Mmmmm, peppermint

We hung out in the barn and Shy was very in my face looking for treats. It's nice to relax and not do anything. I stayed as long as I could before I decided it was time to go home and work on a paper for school that is due tomorrow. So glad this is a short week! More pony time!

Can hardly separate these two!

Oh yeah, and don't forget about my giveaway!

a horse box

I have been seeing posts about these horse box and bark box things all over Facebook for a while now. Then Karley who writes a blog that I am new to reading, All In, did a review from the horse box that she ordered.

"Why are you flashing that thing in my face when I am trying to eat this delicious treat?"

Yeah, it was pretty cool! A Horse Box is a box of horsey items that get shipped right to your house every month. Each box is different, so you never know what you will get. It is kinda exciting, the wait for the box and the anticipation of what cool new things that will come in the box. I know I was excited for my box to arrive.

You can order a one month or a six month subscription of A Horse Box. They have mini boxes (what I got in my unsuccessful efforts to save money), regular horse boxes, and tack boxes.

The mini boxes have two to three items inside. The horse box has four to seven things in it. The tack box is a one time gift box that has the same items in it every time. This would make a great gift for those who show.

Ok, on to my box!

Nicely packed box and easy to open!

Majesty's wafers. I met them a couple years ago at Equine Affaire. Even though Shyloh doesn't need these supplements, it is nice to have. It included an Omega wafer, a Bio + wafer, and a Flex wafer. Good stuff, but not something I feel Shyloh needs.

Nicker Baits! I have been wanting to get some of these for Shy. I am sure she will love them. Looks like peppermint, banana, rock candy, and maybe sweet potato cookies

Dermacloths. Perfect for winter because they are rinse free. 

Muck Off body scrub for me! How nice since winter brings on the super dry skin that makes me itchy.  And I may or may not have had a little taste. . .hey, its sugar, mandarin orange and grapefuit!

And a sticker and pen.

So I technically got more than the two to three items in my mini box, which makes A Horse Box even better than advertised! What will next month's box hold? 

And. . .hats are clearly not as cool as hoodies and coolers. . .but I am still holding the contest. I mean, it's free, so what can it hurt to enter? Hit up this post and give it a whirl!

horze hat giveaway

******This contest is over******

Horze has given me yet another chance to giveaway some of their products! This is thanks to all you guys who read and comment because, let's face it, Horze is looking for more traffic to their site. So when you guys click on a link from this blog, they know. The more clicks they get from here, the more opportunities I get to give away their products! More products! Better products! It's a win for everyone!

We have officially had our first snowfall of the season and although it did not accumulate or last long, I did have to bust out the ice scraper for my windshield. While I do like the snow, everything else like wind and ice can stay away. And driving in it. Seriously, I thought we were supposed to have teleport machines by now. It would totally cut down on travel time. 

This time around, Horze is letting me give away not one, but two knitted hats. These cute pom pom hats have a fleece lining for extra warmth. They come in a dark blue and are one size fits all. Winter hats are nice, whether you are out at the barn or doing other fun winter things like sledding or skating. Sorry to all my warm weather readers, you are lucky to not really need super warm hats. 

And a bonus for hats. . .you don't have to worry about your hair, just throw the hat on! And when you take it off, just blame your fro on hat hair.

I promise you will not look creepy like her in this hat

Two lucky readers can win this B Vertigo LUKE hat, all you have to do is: 

• Go to Horze.com (again, need the clicks to give more away stuff) and look around at their winter gear for you.
• Comment under this post with what piece of winter Horze gear you would be most likely to buy and why. They have these Thermo Tallboots that I think would keep my feet toasty warm and dry in the cold. If you would like a hat for style reasons, but live in the warmth, you can find what you would think you would need if you ever had to experience sub zero weather. 
• And of course, extra entries for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and your own blog to let others know about the contest. Share the link so I can see. 

That's it, easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Giveaway will end Wednesday November 27th at midnight EST. Open to US shipping only. Good luck!

Shyloh in her new Horze halter. It's so cool, it make her forelock stand up.

monday musings by shyloh #109

Allie's got some tricks up her sleeve again. . .

There I was, just happily munching my hay (which was brought to me late, by the way), when Allie done went crazy on me!

She actually hopped up on me! I thought my scoots had kept her off forever. Well, I was not pleased to be disturbed in such a fashion when eating my brunch (as we will call it, since it was clearly not breakfast). I popped my head up and stopped eating. And I stopped breathing. It took a minute for me to relax, but Allie's friend Haley, fed me some of my hay. And then I was finally able to breathe.

I was still un-nerved and not sure if I should be eating my brunch or not. I tried subtle ways to slip Allie off me. I cocked a hip and rested one foot so I was crooked. No go. . .so I did it to the other side. Allie was a-leaning, but she wasn't coming off. Boo. 

So I just decided to eat and ignore. It worked for me!

Allie hopped down and up a few times and I didn't even care anymore. She even got me to take a few steps forward then started saying she rode me bareback and bridleless. Ha! Haley just shook her head at this declaration. 

After this, I got to take a little boy on a trail ride with Allie leading him. I did so good, even in the wind and over the creek. Nothing bothered me at all and I even trotted with him. I was then his favorite horse of the whole herd! I do like being the favorite, it comes with more treats!

~Shyloh

filling the weekends

I feel so lucky that my weekends have been jammed packed with horsey fun! Really, I have to get all my horse time in two and a quarter days since I can't make it out to the barn at all during the week. Luckily, school and internship are done in April, but work is never ending. . .

Last weekend, we went to a local horse expo. I found the one thing that I always wanted for driving. . .

It's a chariot!!

I already blogged about Isaac's first actual ride and trying Gunny in the cart.

This weekend we had a local Christmas parade (already!!). We took the boys and the hitch wagon. The totally un-horse parade people put a marching band behind us. . .not cool. Jaime made the decision to excuse ourselves from the parade. It was a good decision, better safe than sorry. Notch and Clutch weren't spooky or bad, but the band was loud and the wagon was packed full of people and the horses were just comfortable. We took a side street back and they were much more relaxed being out of the parade atmosphere. 

At the line up

Kyle and Tommy

Tommy working the wrecker that we used to take the hitch wagon to the parade

Dog with a cart! Too cute!

Haley came up again and rode Isaac. He is a really good horse and not bothered by having a rider at all.

Isaac the elephant!

Good boy!

Jaime shaved the defining feature of Clutch. . .he has scratches and the feather had to go. He also go his mane roached to match Notch. Jaime is not a fan of hair on horses.  

Bye bye feather. I tried to shave a leg. . .I am a terrible clipper!

And, we are putting a new, bigger pasture out back. This is how we made sure our pasture lines were straight.

We just had Kyle point the truck at a cone and drive towards it!

It was a bumpy ride! We also tried to spray paint a giant smiley face in the field, but ran out of spray paint.

Gonna cut this up for corner posts.

The only crappy thing for me is that Shyloh is probably going to have to stay up front in a small pasture because the big one will have a round bale. And she just can't handle having access to all the hay.

Terry had some friends out to experience riding and driving Reba. That is a good mare, but such a handful! She loves to work and even though she was a sweaty mess from driving around out back, she didn't want us to unhook her from the forecart. 

She looks good in yellow!

We also rode the 4 wheeler around out back. The mini Aussies love going for rides!

Haley and Bindi

Piper hopped up for a ride with me

Four wheeler...also how we take poop out back

And I acted as a dead buck. . .with a corn cob pipe that I found on sale!

Now it is pouring rain with a tornado watch. Yuck. Oh, and I will be holding yet another contest from Horze this week! Happy weekend!

Enjoy this photo of Clutch as a turtle with a chicken on his neck.

marshin' it

Hidden Creek Draft Horses took a chilly trip to Crosswinds Marsh for what will probably be our final ride/drive there this year. I took Meatball, Jaime drove Dexter and Kyle, Terry, and Haley rode Clutch, Reba, and Notch. It was pretty amazing how we packed three giant drafts and two minis into the trailer.

Meatball is such a spunky little dude, he sees the opening to the trail and wants to go! While we were waiting for everyone else to tack up and get ready, we were driving around on the grass. Every time Meatball saw the trail opening, he honed in and wanted to go go go. So finally we started by ourselves (just to go a few feet then circle back and wait) and Meatball got all crazy!

He started pawing the ground while waiting, then tucked his back legs under himself. I thought, What was going on? He is not trying to roll is he? Nah. . . We walked on a bit. Then he did it again, pawed the ground then laid down! With the cart on! I hopped out of the cart so quick, with the plan to grab his head and pull him up. But he got up on his own. Eek, what the hell? What horse does that, attached to a cart? I made him trot it out, even though I think he loves going fast. 

He also loves being in the lead and when he hears those draft hooves thundering behind him (and they do thunder) he wants to keep up with them as they pass. He has the cutest trot and even canters under harness. It's pretty fast, but he is completely controllable and really smooth. He really has no idea that he is tiny. 

This time Meatball did not run out of gas, I think he was having so much fun since we trotted and cantered practically the whole loop. Once again, all the horses were so great and we had a blast.

Cutest, fuzziest mini butt!

Setting out on the trail

All bundled up!

Big black horses go through the water crossing, the minis would have drowned and opted for the bridge instead.

No more leaves on the trees.

Haley and Notch

Terry and Reba

Jaime with Bindi and Dexter

Meatball was not too sure of the boardwalk (in the non horsey area). The actual boardwalk didn't bother him as we walked over wooden bridges many times, I think it was the water on all sides.

Cute dude!

Sweaty pony! Too much cantering!

Kyle and Clutch goofing off

Cantering a long path

On the boardwalk

So pretty out there!

Group shot, minus Terry and Reba

Looking down on us from a Shire

:)