you'll shoot your eye out kid

Shyloh has continued on her never ending attempt to poke her eye out. I am not sure what happened this time (or any time, really), but it involved a broken halter, Notch out of his stall area and standing on the poop sled, and a barn that looked like a rave happened overnight. 

Layout of the barn, note the gate swings  back in to the area. So the Percheron had to swing it in and maneuver the poop sled to get to the other area of the barn.

Hay was everywhere, blankets strewn about in sawdust, and a plastic bag that once had sawdust in it was empty. Notch had somehow opened the gate to the other side of the barn, rifled through the hay, and then ended up on the poop sled and stayed put. I have no idea what Shy was doing, but she did not spend a long time in her stall because that was clean. 

Somehow during their horse free for all, Shy busted out of her halter which broke the metal ring on the side and almost took her eye out. Again. I am a little sad because this is the second halter Shy has broken out of, never has she done this before. I hope this does not become a habit. 

Sad face. I loved this halter. 

In this padded halter, she never slipped out of it. But in her regular nylon padded halter, she can remove it and go about whatever business she feels that she has in the middle of the night. The other night, that halter made its way into Isaac's water bucket. . . 

How? This is the set up. . .Horse's heads cannot fit through the openings. What goes on when no one is looking??

Past attempts at eye removal have happened right before a couple shows and other random times when she feels like seeing is not an almost necessary part of horse life. I will say, she is getting better and better at getting closer and closer to actually getting her eye ball.

• First documented attempt at eyeball removal. I had to put silver spray on it because every time I went out to the barn she had shavings in the wound. 

When I wrote about this, I also wrote that she keeps doing this and in the same spot. . .so this is not the first actual time.

• Second documented attempt called for a much longer gash. After this attempt, I duct taped everything I could think of that she could have been hitting in her stall. At this time, she had a box stall. I am pretty sure there were more cuts at this barn, I just may have never mentioned them.

Same eye as before, cut is a little higher up, but longer.

• Third documented attempt, new barn, no stall. This time, the whole eye was swollen and Shy kept it closed for a couple days. Perhaps trying to figure out what it would be like if she actually lost an eye?

Not as large as the rest of them, but noted due to the swelling. Shy was able to go about her normal life without the use of this eye.

• Fourth documented attempt had Shy trying at poke the other eye out. Here we can see that she is working her accuracy, as she is now getting much closer to the actual eye ball. Again, this could have been done in any way, as Shy was pasture boarded. 

Also, right before we went to our clinic last year.

• Fifth documented attempt at stabbing her eye out was a mere few weeks later before our first show of the season. Note that she went back to the original eye that she wants out of her head. She also tried going under the eye instead of over it. 

A little less close to the eye this time.

• Sixth documented attempt at eyeball elimination, the most recent attempt. This is another under eye attempt. It has the closeness to the eye that is scary to see. This is the first attempt at this barn, Shy is outside the majority of the time and only comes in late at night to eat and is out first thing in the morning before work. Not much stall time at all.

Shy says, no worries, this eye will come out!

So, if I ever have the news that Shy is missing an eye, don't be surprised. Someone must have given her a Red Rider BB gun on Christmas past. And she is intent on shooting her eye out.

how to break a saddle

. . .or how to ensure no one will ride you ever again. . .or at least until another saddle is found and bought. . .

Step 1. Run out of tack stall at full speed.

Step 2. Get saddle horn caught on low overhang.

Step 3. Continue running until front of saddle is ripped back and you are freed from overhang.

Step 4. Stop and eat some grass.

Step 5. Run again as two legger gets near, just for fun and because smoke is coming from her ears. 

Needless to say, I am pretty upset over this. For some reason, Shyloh does not care for the tack stall. It really is just a stall with wood flooring. She goes in every time, but does not like to stay in it. I think it might be that she can't really see out of it, but who knows. Usually, she just calmly tried to walk out, like no big deal. Previously, I could tack her anywhere and she would just stand. Here, she is a little more antsy, even during our stretches. I am sure she is still getting comfortable with the place.

I tacked her up just fine and we had a great lunging/stretching session. I actually got sweat! And there was even foamy butt sweat! There was only one other time Shy had foamy butt sweat and it sure wasn't from me lunging her! I can already tell a difference in Shy from one week of being out all the time. It is nice to see and I was looking forward to riding sooner rather than later. . .

And, I asked the feeding lady to leave Shy's hay out since I was getting ready to work her just as she started feeding and she did. Yay. The only downside to that is I have to feed Shy in a paddock and wait for her to be finished, then put her back with the herd. I do really love that Shy has the whole pasture at her disposal, to walk around and explore as she pleases. 

But at the same time, I don't dislike it, but I wish things could be different. For instance, I wish they had feeding spots where they could each go to feed. And I wish I had a spot where I could take Shy and just hang out, like we used to in her stall. Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain all day. So there is no point in me even heading over to the barn. I will have a wet pony I can't work and no where to just spend time with her. It can be frustrating. But other than that, Shy seems to be adjusting well. No major chunks are removed from her flesh. I am going to reserve some thoughts about this place until I get a little more comfortable. Nothing that has to do with the care or safety of the horses or the people, just some personal thoughts about what I want for me and Shy and our future. 

In the mean time. . .anyone have a saddle for me?

trophies, books, escapes, and broken things

What have me and Shyloh (awesome proper grammar, but I feel too formal writing Shyloh and I) been up to lately?

Hi there!

Besides the Barn Fun Day (here and here), we have been doing pretty much the same old stuff.  I did forget to mention the trophies!!

Trophies with style . . . courtesy of my dad

Baby Bob and Beth got a trophy because Bob was the only horse to actually lose his handler and take off, Jillian and Dulce got a trophy because they did really great and Dulce was the only horse who chose to jump the pool noodle obstacle, and Terry and Dulce got a trophy because Terry did not think Resy would do any of the obstacles and he did all of them!

I have read four horse related books. The first, 101 Ground Training Exercises for Every Horse and Handler by Cherry Hill was a bit of a disappointment. Not to say it was not informative. . .it just was not anything new for us. The best thing that I got out of that book was that we have done almost every exercise in there. That was kind of a booster for me since I have been feeling a bit down about our lack of progress lately. 

The second book, 101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises English and Western: A Ringside Guide by Cherry Hill was much more useful. There was a handful of lunging exercises that I think may be helpful for both myself and Shy. Some Beth already discussed with me. . . now we just need to do them.

Equine Fitness: A Program of Exercises and Routines for Your Horse by Jec Aristotle Ballou was a very interesting read! There was a ton of explanation on how the muscles of the horse work and provided details on in hand and ridden exercises and stretches. The back of the book has cards with each exercise that can be tore out so I don't have to carry the book around. There were even exercises and stretches that focused specifically in the rear end, Shy's weak area. After some warm up, we have begun doing a couple of the stretches. The book also shares signs that your horse is relaxing into the stretch. It is a nice touch. The author also stresses the danger of over-stretching.

We also tried backing up our little asphalt hills. That was hard work! Shy was not too thrilled about that exercise. . .

The last book was for me, The Rider's Fitness Program by Dianna Robin Dennis, et al. I have read it and made copies of the workout routines so I can do them. Then I got the flu, but I am better now. . .so I just need a huge push to get started!

In other news, Shy escaped out of a pasture yesterday. She went right under the fence and ran to the big, much grassier pasture with the pond. Then Shy proceeded to give Kathy a hard time being caught to get her out of that pasture. I guess she ducked right under the fence to get out. Good thing that is not her regular pasture! Later that day, she busted a ring right off of her surcingle right before we got to the arena, effectively putting an end to the lunging lesson I had planned. Luckily I know someone that has the capability to sew through leather to fix it.  

Escapee. . . see those little hairs at the top of her tail? That's not rubbing, it is new tail growing in! Her mane is doing the same thing.

Aside from that, chiropractor and farrier next week. Shy seems to be doing good, but she is still a little jerky with her left rear leg. We actually had a true affectionate moment the other day, initiated by Shy! I was picking her rear feet (and I was not farted on for once) and Shy rested her head on my back. It was cute.

Anything exciting happening in your equine news? Ready for winter? Shy's hair sure is filling in! She is getting fuzzy!!

Patriotic Shy!