practice and getting comfortable

The Good Old Days show is just over a week away and we have a lot to get ready for in order to show! I have the bearings for the cart, but having some trouble putting them in so Shyloh has not been hooked to a cart since the last show . . .eek!

On top of that, my tail bun and mane roll skills are less than stellar. Since Jaime's sister is showing the new Shire mare, Reba, and she doesn't know how to do any of that, it gave me a chance to show her and practice myself. And since Reba has a long tail and the rest of Jaime's horses have short tails, I was the only one who knew how to do it. I think Shy's tail came out pretty good. . .my best try yet!

Tomorrow, we work on the mane roll and lead line kids are coming out to practice.

Jill (Jaime's sister) took Reba line driving around the property. Reba is a good horse, especially for being a pasture puff for the past six years and not being worked at all. 

I worked Shy in the round pen for a little bit, with her harness on. I was Richard Simmons-ing her. . .doing leg lifts myself while Shy trotted around. We are going to get Shy in a shape that is not round!

Then I took Shy for a short line drive. Ooh, she started out so bad. She wanted to go go go and was jumpy and was trying to really pull through the bit. Not really like Shy at all, so I re-assessed what was going on. Ahha! I had my lines run different. I fixed them, then Shy was perfect. Lesson learned: when a horse is acting different than normal during work, they are not always being bad, they are trying to tell you something is wrong. 

I went to put Shy back in the pasture and she gave her cute little nicker again. Isaac nickered back and they met up. . .then the X rated stuff happened. Shy threw her rear end at Isaac and he wanted it. . .bad. He thought she was a sexy beast even in her fly mask. I just hope he had a thorough gelding or we might end up with Haferons or Perchlingers and we don't want that. 

After I separated the love struck horses, I saw a sure sign that Shy is comfortable at the new barn. The first time I saw her roll there, she made she was off away from all the other horses. Well, this time, she practically rolled on Shady! Then her and Isaac had a quick nuzzle before Shy got up and they went to graze. 

And Jaime has a name for the barn! It is Hidden Creek Draft Horses and it's on Facebook. Give it a like, along with Adventures With Shyloh's page!

plus four, minus two

I had heard through barn gossip grapevine that our little herd was expecting three more horses. I was not upset over this, rather a little bummed because the herd was quite calm and content. Any additions or subtractions would send the herd back into limbo as it figured itself again.

I had not been to the barn over the weekend because we went to celebrate Beth's birthday and tear down the inside of Jaime's new barn. 

I had also heard from a friend over the weekend that one of the new horses had fallen head over heels with Shyloh. What is it with that mare? 

Big hunka loving. . .she has something about her that all the geldings love!

So when I got to the barn today, I was rather surprised to find not three, but four new horses in the herd. And two horses had moved to the next pasture. Traveller and Prince, the little Arab that always hangs around Shy but she could care less about where moved. I guess they had not been getting food, so they were separated so they would be able to eat. It is good to know that the barn staff pay attention to that stuff!

Two of the new horses, Kota and Ranger, came together. Kota is the Arab (I think), and he is smitten with Shy. Ranger really likes her, too. In fact, they run other horses away from her, would not leave the fence line when I took Shy out, and nickered at her when I brought her back in the pasture. Oh, Shy's magical powers of gelding attraction never cease to amaze me. . .

Kota and Ranger

Sharing

The other two new horses are a pair of Thoroughbreds. I am pretty sure they are not used to a herd environment because 1) they did not know to come up from  the back during feeding time, the feeder had to go get them, and 2) they had no clue what to do and just stood around not eating. It seems that they were used to getting grain dropped off right in front of them, most likely in a stall. I took the second bowl of grain that Shy was working on away from her and gave it to them. 

Handsome fellas

Shy seems to be in a weird predicament. She also seems to be the only horse without (new herd related) marks on her. I watched her hang out with Rainy and Dancer as Kota and Ranger moved them around (not so much Shy, but the other two). Then I watched her hang out with Kota and Ranger and when she got annoyed with them, she let out a little squeal and a poor excuse of a kick. Shy was hanging with both groups (I guess all the horses are not fans of the TBs, they went out back by themselves), but the old group would not hang with the new group. 

Dancer, Rainy, and Shy

I think Shy misses Traveller. Both of the horses that were removed from the herd hung around the fence and Shy stayed near them, too. I watched her stare at in with her ears perked. I wish I could read her mind because I would love to know what was going through her head. 

If I had to guess, Kota and Ranger are used to being at the top of the herd and are bullying the old gang. The old gang had two of their herd removed and now are struggling to find their places in this new set up. It is interesting to watch. Even more so that Shy is just so "whateva" about everything. She gets along with all the horses. She is so confident about herself and her placement in the herd. I wish this would transfer to driving and riding! For both of us!

monday musings by shyloh #89

I'm in love!

His name is Traveller and he is a big, handsome fella.

I like to be by him and just be touching him.

At all times if possible. 

He loves me back. How could be not? I am so beautiful.

I am not sure if Allie totally approves of our love, because every time she sees us together she scrunches up her face and says how disgusting we are. Hey, sometimes you can't control nature. Or love.

~Shyloh

the many loves of shyloh

Oh Shyloh. She sure has a way with the geldings. I am not sure if it is her beautiful blonde hair, her shapely butt, or her amazing personality but the boys do love her!

It started out with Baby Bob. . .

Snuggles over the fence

Next in line was Chick. . .

So cute!

Then Forsetti. . .

Just walking along. . .

And Ryleigh. Poor infatuated Ryleigh who still throws a fit if Shy is not in his direct line of view at all times. . .

Love!

Let's not forget Casi, her bud. . .

They love to run together!

And finally Shaman. . .

Caught with another!

Oh, then there is Notch, her trailer buddy. . .

Sharing hay on the trailer

And Rambo, her show love. . .

What is cuter than two Haffies in love?

And those are just the geldings that Shy gives the time of day! With all her human fears, I am very grateful that Shy gets along really well with all the horses, mares and geldings alike. She can be in a big herd and she is also just fine by herself. 

So are Haffies generally fast little whoreses? Rumor has it that we might be getting a 13.3 sport pony, gelding of course. . .wonder what that will hold for Shy's love life?

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?