What a weekend. It started out with a tornado and massive loss of power. Luckily, my house has no damage and there is no damage to the barn or any horses. My power is not scheduled for service to be restored until Wednesday at 11:30 pm. PM!! I have been charging my phone in the car and walking around the house at night with a candle. Currently, I am borrowing power from a friend's business to internet. Terry had a tree fall on the back of her house during the winds and storms. . In all this mess, I did manage to make it out to the barn for some chill time and just to double check on the horses.
Oh hi there. We are all fine! I got this!
Shyloh is doing fabulous back in her giant pasture. She has managed to find all the burrs, once again. I was told by another boarder that Shy doesn't take the path back to the large opening, she prefers to go through the brush and woods. Of course. . .
Big burrs in the tail. . .
Tiny burrs in the forelock. . .and on the feather, and the belly, and the legs, and the chin. . .
Reba continues to follow Shy and gets upset when I take her away. Poor Reba is getting into scuffles with the other horses and is all beat up. The other ones have marks, too, so Reba is retaliating. Shy. . .well, Shy is mark free.
Eating together
I've been taking Shy for little walks around the property again. This week, I've been by myself when I've been there, so I won't get on her. And when I kidnapped Terry to bring her away from her fallen tree mess, we just loved on the horses.
Walking and grazing. And practicing a little bit of sidepassing and backing up while we are out and about.
Mustache tail says hi
Me and Shy did take Terry and Reba through the woods and Reba was not a fan. She kept trying to pull Terry back. And Shy was not understanding, there is food in the woods! Endless food! Shy even grabbed a branch of leaves and took it with her for the walk.
Woodland pony
When we got back, I just hopped on Shy and laid on her with my eyes closed while she napped. We totally interrupted her nap time and she was not afraid to let me know that.
Golden
While I didn't have quite the weekend I was planning on, I still got to get my pony time in. I think Shy is happy with our new arrangement. And from just one week, her hooves look even better than before. I think it is from the varied footing in the pasture plus more movement and grazing opportunity.
There is a neat piece of land that was created by Detroit Metro Airport for taking up other lands to build the airport. It is called Crosswinds Marsh. They turned this chunk of land into a wetland and wildlife preserve, built trails, and opened it to the public for free. I have taken my dogs there many many times and I have canoed the waters.
Arial view of the marsh. It has boardwalks (not for horses) and trails.
Today, I took Shyloh to the marsh. Jaime and Kyle picked us up and along with Notch and Clutch we traversed the equestrian trail.
Map of the marsh with the various trails
There was a local riding club there, so lots of people where out. Lots of people and their crazy horses and less than ideal handling. Jaime summed it up best when she said that she was glad that we hang with a group of people that really focuses on safety. They had horses going beserk in trailers, horses backing into each other tied to trailers, and people that seemed less than capable of handling these horses. Then there was the guy cooking hot dogs, who caught the grill on fire and threw it where there were horses all around!
But we did see baby geese!
I must admit, I was a little uptight. . .I did not trust these people. But we unloaded and tacked up. As usual, Notch and Clutch were the highlight of the trip. Everyone loves a giant horse! Really, how could you not love those two big guys? Jaime was driving Notch in the forecart and Kyle was riding Clutch.
Shy was a little nervous, most likely feeding off of me a bit. She wanted to walk, so I let her walk around me in circles and she was perfectly content just as long as she was moving. As soon as the forecart was assembled, off we went.
The first obstacle we faced was a wooden bridge. Shy wanted no part of this bridge. Jaime and Notch went over the bridge. Kyle and Clutch went over the bridge. Other horses went over the bridge. Shy would not go. We kept circling. . .I was determined to get her over this bridge by line driving her. Eventually, with a few taps of the whip we got over it. Then we went on our merry way. The more we trudged along on our 4.5 mile trek, the more comfortable Shy got. I discovered she likes to lead. We were in the lead pretty much the whole way.
And, Shy did not dive for grass once!
Jaime worked on bringing Notch and the cart up past her, since Shy seemed to be a little scared of that. After about three times, it was not a problem. I did feel a little bad because Shy was very forward and wanted to trot, but I could only run after her for so long. I did get her to a super slow jog where I could walk behind her as she was jogging, but she wouldn't keep that up for too long because she wanted to go! She really seemed to be enjoying herself. She had a low head and her ears would flick from forward to back on me. Shy listened incredibly well, too. I was very proud of her. And of course, Notch and Clutch were perfect gentlemen on the trails!
Good giant ponies
After a while, we came to a part of the trail where we had an option: walk through a giant puddle of unknown depth or cross a bridge. Jaime and Kyle were feeling brave:
But that puddle would have swallowed me and Shy! So, we tried the bridge. Shy put up a little fight (side note: there were other people around), but eventually went over it. Then I took her in the water as far as I dared.
I think she would have gone all the way in. She was splashing around here.
Jaime went back through and lost her boots! So I had to bring Shy back over the bridge, get a stick, and fish the boots out. I was prepared for a bridge argument, but crazy Shy walked right over it, no problem, on loose lines. Note: There were no other people around this time. Coincidence? Most likely not. One of Shy's major goals in life is to make me look like a fool.
Found myself a boot catching tool
At the final stretch, Jaime and Kyle raced their boys and me and Shy walked behind. I was aching. Jaime kept telling me to hop in the cart and we would pony Shy, but I wanted to make the walk. Shy was being very good while we were line driving. She even worked up a small sweat!
When we finally got back to the trailer, all I wanted to do was keel over. We untacked and loaded everything and everyone up and went home. It was a great first outing of the year. It was me and Shy's first real trail adventure. I think she did fabulous and I know what I will expect from her in the future. A little bit of a nervous start, a very forward pony, but listens well, and willing to lead or follow. I think I can deal with that! I think!
Oops. . .I did a bad. But the snake/hose did jump out and grab me when I wasn't expecting it and I had to get away. Snakes can be poisonous, you know! When I finally gathered my senses and stopped running from the snake/hose I realized I was kinda foolish. I wasn't sure how Allie would react to my bad behavior, so I stayed a little aloof for a few days (that is not hard for me to do, I am not the snuggliest horse). She was really upset.
Snake/hose is really not scary.
So after I ran away the nice barn people took me away from my cart (which I ruined, but Allie says is getting fixed),then they gave me some hay. Allie let me eat for a little bit but then I had to work. We walked all around where I was running and I was fine with it. I was super good for her cause I was really sorry for my outburst.
The next day, we did my favorite thing! A walk through the woods. I was so happy. . .
I smiled to let the world know!
There is so much stuff to eat in the woods. So much stuff to see. So much stuff to walk through. I love the woods! We lost our path and had to make one up through the trees and branches and everything. It was fun!
I see stuff here!
I see stuff over there!
This branch is tasty
I love looking at the woods
I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Allie. I searched her for foods. . .
Foods for me??
I knew she had a carrot! My nose can smell foods from a mile away!
I really need a mustache wax. . .
The weather is getting so nice. There is nothing better than napping in the sun. Ahhh!
I got to hang out with my bud Marshall over the weekend, too. Marshall used to drive a cart for the Amish, but he has a bad hock now so he can't do anything to strenous. He is owned by a little boy who just loves on him and brushes him and walks around with him. I just hope Allie doesn't have any grand ideas about special trainings or anything since I took off with that cart. . . So, even though the weekend started kinda bad, it ended really good! It was rather relaxing
The snow and ice are taking over! I have to be super careful not to slip when I walk. Luckily, my home is pretty ice free, but when Allie takes me out. . . slippy doo! Allie does try to walk me on the grass where there is no ice, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
I can't see you!
When Allie announced we were going to walk through the trails, I thought she was nuts! But once we got to walking, the trails actually have no ice. It was fun and I demolished a bunch of small trees. So tasty!
Looking through the woods
Fresh air!
We saw a bunch of different kinds of tracks. . .
Possibly raccoon? Looks like they are little fingers in the snow
Geese going into the creek!
Small deer?
And followed them for a while. Then I hopped between two fallen logs to nibble at a tree.
Mmmm, branches
Hungry horses eat anything!
Then I hopped back over and tangled myself into a little tree as I tried to eat it.
I'm all up in this tree!
I also found some leaves to much on. I am such a hungry Haffie!
Yummy leaves on the branch! It's like a delicatessen!
We walked over fallen trees and through low hanging trees. I considered this exercise since I had to lift my legs to get over the logs. But I didn't duck when the tree limbs were hanging, I just plowed through them. . .and then they bounced back and smacked Allie in the face and scratched her hand! Haha!
By the time we got back to the barn property I was a sleepy girl, but Allie was not done with me yet. She got out a bucket. I kicked the bucket away. She got the bucket back. I moved away from the bucket. She moved it closer, so I kicked it away again. And again. And again. Eventually, I lost the bucket fight and Allie climbed on the bucket and swung a leg over me. I didn't care. . .I let Allie hang all over me, tap all over my sides and butt with her feet, and just be overall a bother. Like I said, I was sleepy.
Sleepy eyes
But I wasn't too sleepy to try and steal carrots out of my grooming bag!
If they are in my reach, they are fair game!
After Allie had her weird sense of fun, I headed back to my horses and hung out in the shelter with Tony and Shea. Nap time!
I decided that Shyloh needed a little break from line driving, pulling, and the harness in general, since we had been going at it pretty hard core. This week has been devoted to clicker training, stand, and some fun stuff.
Shy got her hooves trimmed earlier in the week. She is always so good for the farrier. While we were waiting for him to get to the barn, I took Shy for a trail walk on one of the trails. I really think she is going to be a good trail horse. Heck, she probably is already a good trail horse, I just need to get my butt up there and go! And get a saddle. . .
Shy is very relaxed in the woods. Leaf sounds, branches scraping her, logs on the path. . .nothing is a bother. She had no problem walking over two pretty big sized fallen trees (yet when round penning her over ground pulls, she tried everything to avoid them).
She loves to eat leaves
We even found a turkey feather! But no sign of the turkey.
Another day, we worked on standing. I stood next to her and made her keep her head straight. Click and treat. Then I kept moving back until I could go all around her without her moving. And then I switched to doing the whole thing again on the other side. We have done this exercise before, so Shy just needed a refresher.
After that I worked on having her stand while I increased my distance from her. Click and treat. This worked well until she discovered some other horses poop that she desperately needed to smell. When I got a good stand, I let her smell it until she was satisfied. Then I had her attention back.
We also worked on smile since Shy had been getting lazy with this trick. And we continued to work on clicking and treating for picking up each hoof when asked. All in all, I am happy with how Shy is doing.
Another variant of the stand command was using it while walking together. So instead of asking Shy to stand and I walk away from her, I lead her, ask her to whoa, then ask her to stand. We did this around the property and Shy was pretty much perfect with it. Which shows she knows the command, she is just being a brat. I probably will go over these again and then start back with the line driving. It never hurts to go through some refreshers!
Allie took me from everything I knew and loved and moved me. At first I was like. . .no! I don't want to leave my barn. But then I saw the trailer and was like. . .yay! I like trailer rides, we go fun places. We got out a a new place and I was like. . .let's check this new place out. I was put in a paddock and I got some hay. It was all good. I was near some other horses. But then Allie took me to another paddock with a shelter and I was not real close to any other horses. I called out! It was getting dark. I was ready to go home. . .
But I had to stay. At least I found some other horses like me that I could see. Allie came back the next day. Then she left me again. Why couldn't I go home?
Allie came back again. She put me in the super giant pasture with trees. I walked around with her for a while, then I saw the other horses. I am not sure I like them too much, so I ran back. But Allie made me go meet them. It wasn't too bad, even though I preferred to stay up front. That is were all the action was anyway.
Soon, all the other horses came up front and some were mean! I let them know that I don't want to fight or be their boss, but I will protect myself! Then I found some nice horses to hang out with. Allie left and I had a good night. I didn't get beat up, even during feeding time!
And Allie came back once more. This time we had fun! We went through all these trails and I wasn't bothered by anything at all. No spooks!
Woods. . .check!
Fallen branches. . .check!
Trucks with trailers. . .check!
Riding lawn mowers. . .check!
Leaf blowers. . .check!
Halloween decorations. . .check!
Barking dogs. . .check!
Bikes. . .no big deal. Until the little girl who wanted to pet me walked her bike up. That made me step back and snort. But Allie made me touch the bike and it was all good.
We started the ride/walk with just me and two other horses, but then we met up with two more horses along the way. We walked through woods and fields, on the street past houses, crossed roads, and found a MetroPark, five miles Allie said!!. Fun day. . .I think I am going to like it here after all!
