winter, where are you?

Where has winter gone? The deluge of rain has melted all the snow, along with the 50-60F temperatures. What is going on?

Now that me and Shyloh were having a ton of fun in the snow, it's gone. Sad face. In the place of snow, we have mud. Tons and tons of nasty mud. 

Ewww. . .mud.

Since our fun had melted, I decided to tackle the whoa, then turn around problem we have been having. With a cart attached, Shy won't be able to bend around like she does, but it is not safe for her to continue to get tangled in long lines, traces, and tires. 

I was expecting a super muddy and wet pony when I got to the barn, but I was pleasantly surprised with an incredibly clean and dry pony. Not that I am complaining or anything, but I have the cleanest horse around! She doesn't lay in mud and tried to avoid it as much as she can. I even had sandy evidence that she rolled to dry off after the rain ended. Good pony.

I took Shy into the indoor arena to give her hooves some dry ground. I also gathered all her tack and grooming supplies to bring in there. These natural showers keep Shy really clean. Last winter, she was a dusty dirty mess. This year, her mane is really clean and she is not dusty at all. By the time I got done grooming her, another person came to use the arena so I had to keep Shy on her lead rope.

I tacked her up and went to put her crupper on, she scooted out from me. What? This went on our whole session. . .Shy was really jumpy. I had quite a few incidents of the quick feet. I could give a million reasons (we never work in the arena, it's dark in there, there was another horse being ridden. . .), but I really think she probably did not want to work after being rained on all night and most of the day.

The session started out rough. First, holding two long lines plus a whip plus a horse that does not want to stand still. But I kept at it, did lots of circles, and soon I had control. Shy's steering was spot on but she was still giving me trouble with "stand." We practiced a ton and I worked on telling her to walk on before she decided to do it on her own. I also worked on her moving her front and rear independently to get back in line with me when she moved over. With lots of praise, at the end of the session, I had a decent stand. 

While this session was not as great as the past few weeks sessions, it is to be expected, right?  Got to take the good with the not so good. 

Photo I forgot to post from sledding. Shy is cute sticking her tongue out

new things!

Oh my! The rain came down yesterday and re-flooded the almost dried up pastures. This was only a few hours worth of rain, too! Boo. Are we destined to live in a mud filled world? My jeans are never clean, my boots are always muddy, and my horse is very dirty!

They had to cross an ocean to get to the dry land. . .and grass

I got my order from Schneider's today! I put up the hay bag and it was a hit for Shyloh! Although, I am not sure it slowed down her hay intake much. The way she was chomping at that hay, I actually won't be surprised if I get to the barn tomorrow and the hay bag is destroyed. I don't need to use the tail bags yet.

I also attempted to use my new long lines. They are much longer than the ones I was borrowing so I have to deal with the extra hassle of the length. 

Not down with work today. . .

We definitely need another lesson, so I set one up with Beth. I need to get ready to ride and I need to get Shyloh ready to ride because I am asking for a saddle for Christmas! I want to be trail riding come summer time. But today, Shyloh was all over the place. We tried lunging and we were less than successful. 

No?

Then we tried the long lines. Again, I would not call it a successful attempt. 

Not this either?

I am hoping another lesson will help us get back on track so we can be one step closer to our goals. 

Barney the barn cat. He watched our whole cat-astrophe today.

I read this post from Kate over at A Year With Horses about the dangers of fall grass. Since Shyloh is an easy keeper, I have decided to keep her inside for tomorrow. And maybe for a couple days a week for a while, I'm not sure yet. All I know is I do not want her to founder! For some reason, it is a big fear of mine, even though she does not have a history that I know of or IR or Cushings and she does not get grain. As I have mentioned before, I prefer that she be outside almost always, but the only place where there is no grass is the big guy's (Percheron and Clydesdale) paddock. But having to spend the day inside trumps dealing with founder! Have any other Haflinger owners had an issues with their horses grass intake and/or founder?

Need your input, please!!

a lesson

Our lesson today was really good! I learned a ton. . .but I think, most importantly, I learned that Shyloh already knows all this and completely messes with me.

I made a comment yesterday that I do not have to fully groom Shyloh before my lesson, I just want to run a brush over her and pick out her feet. This was because I scheduled the lesson right after work and I was not sure how much time I had to bring her in and groom. Well, I came to the barn and was greeted with this. . .

Muddy pony! Eyes are closed in pure pleasure of making me work!

Never before has Shy rolled outside in the mud! And it was still wet mud, yuck. It is clear that she heard the words "lesson", "work", "tomorrow", and "5:00" and she was trying her hardest to make things difficult for me. Or she has an episode on animal identity disorder and thought she was a pig.

So, I groomed Shy up as best as I could and tacked her up. Discovery number one, which explained the majority of Shy's behaviors on the long lines. . .the bit was backwards. Dumb me! I had a feeling it might have been, but I was not sure. I corrected that and got immediate results later in the lesson. Discovery number two was that Shy's brow band is too small. Not overly small, not painfully small, but snug. Apparently she has a freakishly weird shaped head. Her forehead is ginormous!  I guess I am in the market for a new brow band. 

Now that the bridle was corrected, we began to lunge. Shy did pretty good on the lunge line and we worked on her transitions. They are rough. Not smooth at all. Beth (she is the barn owner/lesson giver) wanted to try side reins to see how Shy did. We were not sure if Shy ever used them. Beth found some pony side reins (grr! she is NOT a pony!), and attached them. Shy was a bit apprehensive about what was going on, but it was mostly because she does not like Beth that much. It's true and Beth knows it. But it is mostly because she does not spend much time with her aside from feeding and turning her out. Discovery number three was that it appeared that Shy has used them before. She was fine with them being on her and responded very well to them. Beth kept the side reins very loose and explained to me the reasoning behind using them for Shyloh.

Discovery number four was that Shy has really adjusted to the routine of being inside at the barn. According to her time schedule, if she was brought in from outside, so she should be fed. Every time we went past the arena doors, Shyloh made an attempt to stop and stare out the door in longing for her dinner. We trotted her on the lunge line in both directions until she decided that she was not going to stop. She must learn to listen to me, even if she thinks she is hungry (though very clearly she is not!). 

Next up, I attached the long lines. I got a much better response now that the bit was correct. Discovery number five was that Shy is much more responsive when I am correctly positioned and when I keep my hands close together. And that was an accident! I had looked down to make sure my hands were the same distance on each long line and put my hands together and her response was amazing! We worked on turning and straight lines, then we did trotting. Again, Shyloh is very extreme in her transitions. Ask for a trot and she takes off. Ask her to stop and she puts on the brakes. So, when I asked for the trot and she took off, the bit was pulled and she stopped. So we worked on easing into the trot and back into the walk. 

By now, she just knew that she had hay waiting for her to eat  (in reality, Beth had not fed yet) and pretty much only had food and getting out of the arena on her mind. We must have attempted the trot past the arena doors a million times before she did it without stopping. Finally we did succeed, with the help of a driving crop. Just having it in my hand was enough for Shy. Then we ended on a good note.

Shyloh has too much attitude for a little girl! I call her the most compliant horse with the biggest attitude. Shy does what is asked of her, but she will sure let you know that she she not happy about it. An evil eye here, a tail swish there, a toss of the neck. It is quite funny! We have a bunch of things that we are going to work and a direction that we need to head. I am glad I took this lesson and I look forward to another in a few weeks to see how we have progressed!

struggling

Today was not a good day in general (silly work), so it gave me lots of time to think. . .and what I thought most about was my decision to board Shyloh inside. I am really struggling with this decision. Living outside is so much healthier, healthier for her hooves, healthier for her respiratory system, healthier for her digestive system, and healthier for her mental well-being. It is just more natural.

I can't think of a worse time to transition Shy inside; it has been constant rain. Since she has been inside, she has only been out a few times. Shy was in all day today due to the rain, although I will be forever grateful for Kathy for turning her out in the arena when she is stuck in all day. Did I ever mention that the people at my barn are the greatest?

Picture sent from Kathy! I love getting pictures of Shy while I'm working!

Since being inside, I have gotten mixed feedback. She does fine in the stall and has not exhibited and negative stall behaviors, so far. Robin said that she is loving the attention of being inside. Shy has pressed her nose between the bars when Robin was in Ryleigh's stall and Shy was grunting at Robin to scratch her nose. Robin also said that she gave Ryleigh a flake of hay and he would take a mouthful, raise his head, and Shy would grab some from his mouth between the bars! I wish I would have witnessed that! Robin said it happened about three times, so she does not feel it was a coincidence. 

Behind bars. . .help I'm in jail!

But today, I spent some time with Shyloh in her stall and she was licking the metal. . . a lot. And I have noticed that she licks when she is anxious/uncomfortable/nervous. And she did this for quite some time. . .

Looking outside. . .longing to be outside?

When I took her out to work, she was ready to go! We did some lunging and she wanted to trot! I did not get a canter today, but I did get her amazingly fast trot. The real disaster started when I hooked up the long lines. Shy would take about five steps, then turn completely sideways. What? She never did this before. Shy was kinda craning her neck to the side. We went around the whole arena like this. . .five steps, craned neck, sideways turn, repeat. I made her go all the way around in case it was an attempt to get out of work, but it could have been anything really. Maybe the bridle needs to be adjusted with the new bit, maybe it was the torrential downpour (sounds much louder in the metal barn), maybe she just didn't want to work. I have no idea. . .

Bored?

Ready to go!

So, I am going to give her some more time to adjust to being inside, but if it doesn't work, I'll have to re-think my decision. In an attempt to cheer her up some, I dunked her Jolly ball in water and sprinkled some sugar on it. She has not touched it yet, so I wanted to get her interested in it. I think it worked!

Jolly ball tastes good!

Checking it out. . .

excessive. . .

. . .gas!

**This post contains a story regarding horse farts, proceed with caution**

** Also to be noted is that my sense of humor can be similar to that of a 16 year old boy**

Living inside has created a very gassy girl!  I now realize why all the other horses buck and run and fart as soon as they get turned loose in their pasture! It is probably because they do not get to move around constantly and once they get moving, their bowels are free. Shy never had this problem b.b.i. (before being inside) because she was used to a much larger space.

The only time that Shy had excessive backdoor breezes b.b.i. was, conveniently, when I was picking out her back feet. It was so pleasant. . .note, sarcasm. Perhaps her sense of humor is similar to a 16 year old boy's as well. . . and farting on me just tickles her fancy. If that's the case, Shy sure got it tickled today when we used the long lines. . .

Kathy was at the barn when I got there and she had let Shy out with Ryleigh to graze in one pasture, and her new guy and Forseti were in another pasture. Rain was in the forecast, so none of the horses went out in the morning and it was sprinkling when I arrived. Our horses had only been out for about an hour and a half or so. That means that Shy had a lot of pent up gas, just waiting to be unleashed on her least expecting victim.

I brought Shy in, groomed her up and brought her into the arena. We walked around a few times, then I had her trot while I ran next to her to warm her up. Toot toot toot she went. . . . Then we attempted the side pass. Shyloh was not having it. Okay, I thought, if she does not want to do this, she is going to do something, so we free lunged. 

Whoa! I think her farts where propelling her forward! After a few times around at the walk/trot/canter each way(yes! I actually got a canter, for a short time. . .a burst of hot wind may have contributed to this), we attempted the side pass again. She still kept resisting. I have no idea why (tummy ache, perhaps?), we have done this before. 

By now, she was dry, so I tacked her up and we did the long lines. I am so glad that we did because Shyloh did amazing! Our straight lines were much better, our circles were great! We even did the figure eight! This new bit is making a huge difference. Or perhaps it was the farts. Let me tell you, my position for the long lines was not optimal for Shy's gas. I was right in the line of fire and got crop dusted almost continually!

But, farts aside, we had a good day! We even trotted on the long lines. My steering and hands are improving. And I got to give a special Appy some love. He is the softest! Now time to shower. . .

Has anyone else experienced this? Or is Shyloh a gas machine? I am told this will change as she adjusts to being inside. I can only hope, or I am not sure how much more long lining we will do until I acquire a gas mask. . .

monday musing by shyloh #7

I sure live the life! I got a room inside the barn. It is okay. . .it's pretty spacious for me, but nothing can be better than all the space outside. But, I got a good spot. I see all the comings and goings in the whole barn! I can say hi to my friends, look out my window, and watch all the action. It is very entertaining. 

Me and Ryleigh, grazing in the sunset

The biggest perk about living inside. . .I get to go outside, on grass! I met a new horse friend, Ollie. And Ryleigh, who lives right next to me, is also outside with me! I think he is a little jealous of Ollie, he tries to chase him off, ears back and everything, but Ollie set him straight. Today, I split my time between Ryleigh and Ollie. Hey, a girl's gotta show some love to all of her admirers! 

Ollie!

Notch and Clutch are on the grass on one side of me. . .

These are some big boys!

And Mocha, Dante, and Lexi are on the other side of me. . . 

Dante (the darker horse) and Mocha (the browner horse), both are on the other side of the fence

I am surrounded by horses! I love it! And they love me! I am quite the pretty princess at the barn. 

We got another new horse at the barn, too. So much excitement going on lately. Kathy, who gives me massages (Allie, I think I am due for another. . .feeling kinda stiff, hint hint) got a new horse! Meet Melvin, the Appaloosa! What a good looking boy. . .I am going to have to get to know him better.

Melvin and Kathy

Allie has been making me do lots of work lately. Ugh, am I out of shape! Allie has us zigzagging all over the arena, it is quite hilarious. I am just going where she tells me to go, kinda. . .it's fun to mess with her. She put a new bit on my bridle today (thanks Jaime!). It worked much better, it was rubber and softer. 

Allie tries to steer me from behind with these long lines, but I pretty much know where I want to go. When we walk along the wall, I know we are going to turn at the corner. Is it my fault that I like to get the turn out of the way and do it before I am told? If it was up to Allie, I think she'd have me running into the wall! 

Yeah. . .I can say that I am a lucky pony! Good friends, good people, and good food! All the important things in life.

Bliss

~Shyloh

nap time

I went out to the barn to make sure Shyloh did not tear it down in a desperate attempt to go back outside. All was good. Shy was happily munching her morning hay. After a close inspection of her, I noticed a new gash over her eye. How does a horse get hurt in a stall all by herself? 

Nom nom nom. . .and barely visible gash over her eye

Geez. . .It was the feeding bin, or lack of feeding bin. When Notch had the stall, he knocked the feeding bin down, ripping most of it from the wall. All that was left was the part help on by the bolts. It appeared that Shy banged her head on that at some point. So I attempted to take it down. I got most of the bolts out, but Robin and Rob came to the barn with the right tools and saved the day! Ta da! No more left over feeding bin. 

Fuzzy wuzzy

It was raining out, so the horses stayed inside. I had planned on working with Shy then going home to do my house work, but I felt bad that the horses had to stay in. The lady that was cleaning stalls was letting the horses out, a couple at a time, into the arena so they could run around and stretch their legs. I did not want to take that away from them!

I pulled up a stool, put it in Shy's stall and just sat with her. I put my feet up, rested my back on the wall and just sat there, with my eyes half closed. Shy did the same thing! We took a little nap together. Shy used the wall her hold her head up. It was very peaceful.  I hope to one day see her lay down, since I have not gotten to see that yet.

Snooze

Shyloh is so cute in her high traffic zone! As horses were being lead to and from the arena, she nickered at the horses that she knew and liked! They nickered back. She is quite the popular pony at the barn!

After everyone got their turn, I groomed Shy, tacked her up, and led her into the arena. We did the same routine: lunging and long lining. As we were lunging, Shy kept stopping out of the blue. I was not asking her to stop and this was not her usual behavior. Something was not right. I looked at her reins that I tied up, and they were pulling on one side of her bit. I just took them off, they were a pain anyway and we did not need them. After that, the lunging was much better. Long lining was better, too! The way Shy's bridle fit, it could work between either of two holes in the headstall. I loosened it and Shy was much better! She was less over-responsive to my cues and I was able to concentrate on my hands more. It is still difficult, but getting better every time.

I attempted free jumping with Shy, but she did not seem into it today, so I stopped. I have learned that I need to listen to her (as above with the reins). She can tell me things that I don't pick up on as quickly. Since free jumping was a no go today, I turned Ryleigh out into the arena with Shy for a bit. I opened the doors for them and they ate some grass together. 

Love

Let's trot!

Yum yum

View from the inside looking out

Now that I am back home, with some house work complete. I think a nap with the dogs in in order! 

a move

We got a new horse at the barn! How exciting! Meet Clutch. . .and he is a Clydesdale!!

Clutch! Look at those feet!

Clutch is owned by Jaime, who also owns Notch. And since we did not have any open stalls (more on that tomorrow, hopefully!), that meant Notch and Clutch were going to be living outside. I was okay with Shyloh living with those two big boys, but after thinking about it, I decided to move Shy inside. The main reason was that the outside shelter is divided into two parts, and those big horses would take both parts. So Shy might not get shelter, and with the wind being as extreme as it is today and the cold coming, she needs to have access to shelter. I really do wish she could stay out, since she loves it, but I think this is best for her right now. At least, I am going to try keeping her inside. . .we will see how she does.

I did have her inside all day today. When I pulled up to the barn, she was in the shelter, but by the time I got out of my car she was up at the gate. No games today! I put her in an empty stall and gave her breakfast hay and supplements. She took her sweet time eating. Shy was too busy getting into more trouble! She took a bag a carrots off of Forseti's stall and kept knocking over a stool. 

The reason I brought her into the barn was because my dad was coming to visit! He lives on the other side of the state and he was bringing my grandma over to visit her friend. He wanted to meet Shyloh. She was her usual Shy self.

Being Shy

After we went to lunch and he left, Shy moved into her new stall. It is right between Ryleigh and the arena and right across from the grooming stalls. Ryleigh is quite pleased with this! He made a noise I have never heard from him before. I think that this is a good move for Shy. She will be exposed to the daily hustle and bustle of the barn, plus she will have more interaction with people. She will be seeing them bring their horses to be groomed and she will see everyone walk their horses past her to get to the arena. Hopefully everyone will say hi to her so she gets to know others when I am not around. Shyloh is still shy around people she is not familiar with. 

Another good thing about being inside is that she will have to be led out and in each day. I want her outside every day, even if other horses stay inside. As of right now, she will be going out with Ryleigh. I went to Tractor Supply to pimp out her stall. She got new buckets, a Jolly Ball, and an apple treat. I also put up a salt block holder I had. 

In her new home!

I lunged Shyloh again today. I had been free lunging her every now and then. . .mostly because it is easier for me, without the lunge line. She does really well free lunging. But I used the lunge line today and yesterday. My arms are not thanking me. After lunging, I hooked up the long lines. (we borrowed a dressage pad today, much better fit). We did a little better today! We were actually able to go straight, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done! I even tried to trot with her, but lost all control of steering at that point! Although Shy is cooperative with working, she is still not happy to be doing it. And she is jumpy any time something brushes her rear end. I can just see it clench up in anticipation of something. . .But she will learn I won't hurt her when we work. By the way. . .Shyloh does not like squash, either. So, I guess everything in the pumpkin/squash family is out for her.

driving (me crazy)

Things I discovered today:

1. Shyloh is a sassy, sassy pony. (Okay, I already knew that, but today she reinforced that fact).
2. Shyloh has too much fun playing Catch Me If You Can.
3. When Shy is on grass for the better part of the day, she doesn't take her nap and is a sleepy pony during work time.
4. When I do not go to the barn for a day, Shy's winter coat growth is very noticeable! 
5. Shy can hear the local high school football game from her paddock!
6. A surcingle looks funny with a Western saddle pad.
7. Long lines are a very good idea for working with Shy!
8. Speaking of work. . .Shy does not appear thrilled to be back at "work".
9. I CAN drive a big horse!
10. I found something Shy WON'T eat.

I do not even know where to begin today! There was a lot going on so I guess I will start at the beginning. When I got to the barn, Jaime was driving Notch. She asked me, Sandy, and Kathy if we wanted to try and we all took a turn! It was so much fun! Sandy and Kathy trotted him, too! Notch is such a good boy. 

After my little drive, I went to get Shyloh, who was in the pasture with Forseti. Of course, they were at the back of the pasture, so I walked way out there. Surprise! Shy appeared that she was actually coming to me, so I was happy about that. But, I was proved wrong when she took off trotting down the pasture. I got excited again when her and Forseti trotted right into the paddock (I had opened the gate). I thought to myself, well that was easy. 

Wrong again. . . as I got into arms reach from closing the gate, both of them ran out in different directions! Ugh. And Shyloh was having a grand old time, running and bucking all the way down to the end of the pasture. What a fun game!! (for her. . .) This is when I noticed the thicker hair growing on the back of her thighs (as she bucked away).

Growing in her winter moo-stache

My next line of defense was to get Forseti and put him in the paddock, hoping Shy would follow. I did this and walked him back to the paddock. As I was walking him back, Shy would graze, then trot up to us, stop and graze, then trot. But she never got close enough. Then she began to trot in circles, never far away, but never close enough to reach. Ooooohhh, little girl (what I call her when I am frustrated with her) was messing with me! Sandy came out and saved the day and I finally got Shy into the paddock so I could catch her.

Now, by the time I got her into the barn (funny how her walk was soo pokey now), the grooming stalls were full. So I put Shy in an empty stall next to Forseti. I put a stall guard up for her and (dumbly on my part) walked down the aisle. Next thing I know, Kathy is yelling and running to the stall. Shy had reached out and grabbed a plastic bag of treats that were in a bucket on Forseti's stall! She shook the bag until it broke open and treats spilled out everywhere. I did my best to get the majority of them before she ate them, but she is a quick little pony when food is involved. Sigh. . .

Probably wondering if she can squeeze under that

After the shenanigans that she has pulled so far, you think trying to work her would be a good idea? Well, I did! I groomed her and got out her saddle pad and borrowed Robin's surcingle. This made for a very goofy looking Shyloh. I guess a surcingle and long lines are generally used in English riding, but all I have is a Western saddle pad. Oh well. I am not committed to any discipline besides being safe. As I was tacking her up and waiting for the arena to clear out a little bit, Shy was falling asleep. Grazer girl didn't get her nap in, so now I had a sleepy, sassy pony to work with.

Droopy lip

When the arena finally cleared out, I led her in and she was being stubborn again, refusing to go. I think the idea of the saddle/surcingle around her and bridle on makes her not want to go in the arena because she knows she will have to do work. And, let's face it. . .all the stuff I have been doing was helping her, but I don't think she considered it work. Or she is being lazy. Or she really does have bad experiences under saddle. 

I lunged her for a bit then attached the long lines. Robin helped me out, which is a good thing because I had no idea what I was doing! She had Shy following her and helping me with my circles and straight lines. After working Shy on the long lines, I am so glad that I am doing this before riding! She is so incredibly sensitive! Ask for a small turn, she wants to circle. Correct it and we are circling the other way. I felt like a drunken sailor weaving around the arena! I need to learn to control my hands and make subtle movements to control her. I think she knew what she was doing, but knew that I did not. She kept her ears back on me, listening to me, but testing me at the same time . .you know, the make me move test. And she was a little jumpy during the long lining. This will be an ongoing process until we both get comfortable.

Sassy girl. . .needs an attitude adjustment, she has a lot going on here

As a treat, I bought Shy a pumpkin! I heard horses like pumpkin, so I was excited to give it to her and see her eat it. Wouldn't you know, she refused it! Shy rolled it around a few times, then had no interest in it. So, I broke it open for her. She sniffed it and walked away. I broke off a piece and gave it to her. Shy ate it, but would not take any more pieces! Wow, the first thing she will not eat! How ironic is it that her previous name was Pumpkin? What a day. . .