wood county fun

I went to Wood County in Ohio, sans Shyloh, to watch some friends show their horses. It turned out to be a really fun day! There were Haflingers, Belgians, Percherons, and other ponies pulling carts and wagons. Me and Jaime made a pact that next year I will bring Shy and she will bring Isaac. . .we will see about that. I took a ton of photos from the hitch show, even though I missed the unicorn, 4, 6, and 8 hitches. But I did get to see a pony pull! They called these horses ponies, but they were built like brick houses! They started pulling 1,000 pounds and got all the way to 8,000 pounds! Crazy! 

Enjoy the photos!

Becky and Jasi

Art and Beth

Art and Beth in farm class

Becky, Maddie, and Jasi

Percheron! 

Unicorn. We think these may have been Haflinger/Paint crosses

Look at that front leg action!

Same farm where Notch came from!

Haffie mares, took first in their class

Art and Curly. . .Curly's first show! He rocked it!

Art and Curly with party hats on. . .we celebrated Jaime's birthday.

Jasi, sporting some awesome sunglasses and dual party hats!

Curly and Art. . .love Art's soft eyes <3

Pony pull, 8,000 pounds!

Digging in!

They call these ponies. . . 

Made to pull, they even have studded shoes.

I have more photos at Shy's Facebook page!

monday musings by shyloh #27

The Haffie, the Panther, and the Tattle-tale

A story by Shyloh

Once upon a time, in a land far far away from civilization there lived a Happy Haffie. She got to hang out with her horse friends, eat grass, and just be Horsey. She was a Good Haffie, too. . .at least as far as Haffie's go. So far she had only broken one fence and dumped her two legger only once. . . okay, twice. But when a Panther is growling behind her, the only logical thing to do is run. Fast.

This particular Haffie was exceedingly Smart and Beautiful with a Golden Flowing mane and tail (just like me!) and she was doing some driving drills in the dreaded indoor arena. She watched as the Big Black Percheron pulled the non mountain lion toboggan around the arena. The Haffie then followed the Big Black Percheron, went next to the Big Black Percheron, and went in front of the Big Black Percheron. And all was good with the Haffie.

If the Haffie did get scared, she froze. This particular Haffie is not a Bolter. . .usually.  Then the harness and blinders went on the Haffie. My how cute this Haffie looked, if I do say so myself. The Two Leggers repeated the exercise, but this Haffie was now being driven and not led. The only time she got scared was when they passed the toboggan and it was dragging behind her. But she froze, let it pass, and then was able to walk on with the toboggan behind her. And all was good with the Haffie. 

Now here is the beginning of the scary part, so be prepared. The Big Black Percheron went away to an unknown land (or just out of the arena). The Brave Little Haffie walked right up to the toboggan and let the Two Leggers attach it to her harness. She is such a Hero! She lined right up and pulled that sled with minimal Scaredy-Cat Behaviors.

Each time the Brave Little Haffie felt overwhelmed or scared, she stopped. This resulted in her  Two Legger procuring a sorry excuse for a driving whip (which was really a lunge whip). Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap and the Stubborn Haffie walked on. All was good with the Haffie.

The Amazingly Brilliant Haffie was doing so well at pulling the sled (perhaps she had done this before?) that the  Two Leggers  made the executive decision that she could pull one of them. So as the Two Legger went to sit on the steps of the seat of the toboggan, a Panther growled from behind her!

Now, keep in mind with the blinders on this Frightened Haffie could not see behind her. She only heard the Panther growl, surely ready for attack. This Haffie did the only thing she could think of to save bother herself and her  Two Legger. . .she ran. Lickity-Split. See ya, wouldn't want to be ya! Unfortunately, the  Two Legger tumbled right off the back of the toboggan. The Speeding Haffie did not realize it until she was three times around the arena with sled attached that she had out run the Panther! She finally stopped, all out of breath, certain that her Lightening Quick Speed had gotten both her and her Passenger to safety from the evil attack of the Panther.

But wait. . .if the Two Legger was standing in front her her, who was on the sled? No one? Uh oh. . .Only one good thing could come of this. Maybe the Two Legger was now scared and the Huffing Haffie could be done working?

No such luck. The Hard Working Haffie had to keep working and pulling that toboggan. But one good thing did come of the extra work. . .the Tattle-tale. The Tattle-tale got behind the Haffie and made her drive. The Tattle-tale was good and actually knew what she was doing. She used words that the Haffie understood, like gee and haw. Then the Tattle-tale told the Haffie's  Two Legger that she knew what she was doing more than they thought she did. The Secret was revealed! This Haffie could no longer play lazy and do what she wanted to mess with her Two Legger. The Tattle-tale Told! But this Haffie was grateful for the Tattle-tale telling her Two Legger that she needed to have more contact with the bit and not be so bouncy in her Haffie mouth. And now her Two Legger knows that she needs to be the one doing a lot more learning, at least in this Learn-ed Haffie's book.

The moral of the story. . .The Two Legger needs to work on her balance. And toboggans really can turn into Panthers then back into toboggans within three laps of the arena.

The End

Disclaimer: This may or may not have really happened. Okay it did happen. But I did learn a lesson. . .bolting still makes me do work. So maybe I won't do it anymore. 

~Shyloh

operator error

I feel so lucky to have such a great little pony! Shyloh is so patient with me; when I fumble with the bridle, when I botch a saddle removal, when I attempt to put her halter on inside out and backwards, and when I give the wrong cues, she just looks at me like let's get it right this time, okay?. But she never throws a fuss. Even when I have her all tacked up in the arena, and I get lost in conversation with someone else, Shy just stands there so calmly. Her only protest is a series of yawns (apparently, our conversation is boring to Shy) and maybe a tap or two with her front hoof to let me know that she is bored. But she is never pushy and she never tries to take off.

Braided what little forelock Shy has. . .but there is new growth coming in!

We took another trail walk today with Sandy and Forseti. We went in a different direction than than before and encountered tornado sirens, a helicopter, a motorcycle, and a truck hauling farm equipment. Shy took everything in stride. She even walked over plastic pop bottles and a two by four. She was not bothered by anything. What an amazing little horse!

Shy on the road with Sandy and Forseti

On our walk, Shy kept invading my space and walking into me. I was getting frustrated with her and kept pushing her over (thinking to myself that boundaries is what we will be concentrating on immediately). She usually respects my boundaries pretty well, so I did not know where this was coming from. After doing a self assessment of my position, how my hands were, and how I was holding the reins, I discovered it was MY fault that Shy kept walking into me! I had not realized that I was inadvertently cuing her over with the reins. As my dad always says, when stuff goes wrong, it is usually operator error. I have a feeling that I will be making a ton of operator errors with Shy, which is why I am so glad she is patient with me!

Just plodding along

Another operator error that I am battling is Shy dive bombing for grass, or clover, or leaves, or anything that appears to be slightly edible. I know that this is entirely my fault for letting her graze with her halter on and now it is something we must correct. But I did want her to graze and sometimes there was not an open pasture for her (excuses, excuses). On our walk, I actually have to pull chunks of grass out of her mouth because she stuffs in so much grass and she has difficulty eating it with a bit in there. And I discovered that she has a taste for fallen leaves, as she ate several on our walk.

Shy loves to close her eyes!

When we returned, Jaime, a boarder at the barn, helped me out. She has a beautiful Percheron, Notch, that she drives. I asked her if she had any long lines that I could borrow to work with Shy. My thought behind using long lines is that it will help me get my cues and hands correct for when I ride her. Jaime did have some long lines and a surcingle. We did not get a chance to try the surcingle on Shy today, though. But, we did try two of Notch's saddles on Shy. One was WAY too big. I mean. . .the Percheron to Haflinger ratio is rather large! The other saddle fit pretty well. Shyloh is on the petite side for a Haflinger; she is not that wide and not very long. I guess a saddle with full quarter horse bars and a rounded skirt should be the most comfortable for her. We will see. . .I am not to that point yet. 

I think a third goal might be added to my list. . .driving! It looks fun and it is rumored that Shy knows how to drive. So yet again, it will be me doing most of the learning here and making those unavoidable operator errors!

Notch in all his driving bling! Handsome boy!

Very cool!

As I am writing, I hear my husband in the other room cheering for a Detroit Tiger score. I have to throw a shout out for our Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions (5-0)!