monday musings by shyloh #26

Presenting. . .

The Three Butt-kateers! Me, Casi, and Chick got to hang out in the arena. It was so muddy outside and we couldn't run like we wanted to run, so inside we went. We had so much fun! I love hanging out with my buddies.

One for all and all for food!

Did we have excess energy we needed to get out? I am not sure, you tell me. . .

Guess what? I am learning another new trick! I like to learn new things. These tricks are easy and I keep getting treats or grain. Except for this trick. . .Allie is a little too tall for it, but I am managing to try my best. 

I also got to hang out with Ryleigh for a bit. That was nice. We just walked around and chatted in our horsey way. Sometimes, love needs no words. He does get jealous of my friendship with Casi, but when there are only three other mares at the barn and two of them are not friendly at all, what's a social pony like me supposed to do? Not hang out by myself! Hopefully one day, we can all hang out and graze grass together.

That's about all for now. Things have been pretty low key around the barn. I was forced to harness up and I had to encounter a very scary horse eating sled. Or so I thought. . .turns out, it was just a sled and I got treats just for going near it. All that nonsense from Allie (I thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown over this) and all it took was some granola. Who would have thought? Anyone who hangs around  haffie, I would think!

~Shyloh

the braidy bunch

What a day! Sunday is my working day at the barn and with the help of Robin, I got done really quick with mucking. More time to play with Shyloh!

Shyloh's mane is crazy frizzy. It looks like she blow dries her hair every day, especially her forelock. What to do with it. . .?

Braid it of course!! Casi's mane is growing out and starting to fall to one side, so I braided his, too! And somehow Ryleigh's tail got knotted all around the leg straps of his blanket, he got a tail braid to prevent this!

Hopefully these braids will help tame her mane. Or perhaps I should just get some Frizz-Ease or something.

I had time before feeding to harness Shy up and work with her on line driving and dragging stuff. She did really good with the line driving, but the dragging stuff was another story. 

Going this way. . .

Going that way. . .

I did a few things to prepare Shy for dragging a toboggan. Before I even put her harness on, I showed it to her, had her approach it, and drug it behind me like a fool. After I put her harness on, she refused to get near it! I admit, I was getting frustrated with her. Shy refused to go near it and if I tried to drive her by it, she completely stopped. I also tried to lead her to it, but she was not budging. I tried a few different methods to get her near the toboggan, but I was unsuccessful.

Hey, I am not supposed to be doing the pulling here! Shy is just watching.

Then, I had an epiphany! Click and treat! I grabbed my clicker and a handful of granola. I asked her to step up and as soon as she put a leg forward, I clicked and treated. I kept at this until she was right at the toboggan. Amazing! And so simple! Soon she was touching it and I was walking all over it and Shy was fine with it. Then, I scooted the toboggan. Shy started, but remained put. I scooted it again and she had no response, so click and treat. I did this a few times, but she was distracted by the sound of Clutch and Notch running like a whole herd in their paddock. 

Or, what we thought was Clutch and Notch! Turned out that some unidentified horse managed to lift the gate between Clutch and Notch's paddock and the pasture where Ryleigh, Mocha, Dante, and Caesar (the wild boys)  are. The two herds switched places completely and the wild boys thought they were awesome. It was them that we heard running back and forth, playing in the muddy paddock, running around the shelter, and just having themselves a good old time. So one broken gate and four very muddy, rowdy horses later, we finally rounded everyone up and got them to where they needed to be. Whew.

Silly braids

So, back to Shy and the harness. I really need to get more consistent. But these darn things called a job, family, and other responsibilities keep getting in the way! I am going to try my best to harness her up and work on pulling stuff at least once a week. I also need to work on the whole riding thing. . .

haflinger's aren't born. . .

. . .they are made! Made from the hair of Halfingers already in existence. 

Since it is only February and I have already gotten so much hair off of Shyloh, with much much more to go, I must ask a question. . .

Why would anyone buy a second Haflinger? All you have to do is collect hair from the Haflinger you already own, put it in a bag, add some hay,water, and carrots, and *poof* a brand new Haflinger!

You could get an extra Haflinger every year! I asked for another stall the other day for my brand new Haflinger baby. The rate of growth for this baby is exponential! I cannot believe how big he is getting and so quick! Now we just need a name for this fur ball. . . 

I shall call him Fuzzy and he shall be mine

He is pretty cute, right? I hope Shy and Fuzzy get along, because it seems that they will have to share the stall.

On another note. . .will this precipitation ever end? Rain, snow, sleet. . .it all melts and makes mud!

hobby horse blog hop #1

I have decided to participate in the Hobby Horse Blog Hop at Living a Dream. I have never done one of these before, so it should be interesting.

Here are the rules:

Answer one or all of the prompts. Link back to Living a Dream's post. Visit other blogs.

Here goes. . .

1. Tell us about your first horse, real or imagined.

Shyloh is my very first horse! You can read all about here here, on my blog. She is funny, sassy, and really starting to come out of her shell.

2. What lessons have I learned from my horse?

Patience! Lots and lots of patience. Slowly but surely we are getting to our goals. . .slowly. 

3. What riding discipline intrigues you the most?

Probably trick riding. How cool! I can barely sit on my horse, let alone even imagine doing all that crazy stuff!

monday musings by shyloh #25

Excuse me! I have an announcement!

Shyloh, the Haflinger Extraordinaire presents. . .

My new trick! It is a kiss. Aren't I just the cutest? Tricks are fun, mostly because I get treats! I get all different kinds of treats: carrots, blueberries, and grain! Yum! And they are not too hard to learn, either. I wonder what we will be learning next. . . 

Okay. . .I would also like to point out that I was not in on the whole Equestrian Johhny Depp. He is not my style. THIS is my style. . .I give you Equestrian Haflinger Stud:

Now this is the real Italian Stallion!

Ooooh, that mane! Those eyes! I'd have his foal any day! And I will tell him exactly what I ate today; grass, peppermints, carrots, and hay!. So yummy! Normally I don't share my food, but I would share with you, Haflinger Stud! Wink wink. I would even share my granola and bananas. 

Anything else sexy Equestrian Haflinger Stud?

He is so shiny! And all the way from Tyrol!

Oh, you like it when I roll? That's a good thing, because I like to roll.  Take a look at this!

Enough with Haflinger fantasy time and back to reality. I think I am going to be ridden soon. . .

~Shyloh

and the countdown begins!

I am going to Equine Affaire!!!! If you can't tell, I am pretty excited. I have never been, but one year, they had this. . .

How cool! Haflinger heaven! I cannot wait to see what is going to be there this year. And I can't wait to buy lots of stuff for Shyloh! If I could, I would be doing backflips right now!

Me and Shy had a fun day today! The weather was decent, but the sun was out so it warmed up a bit. I took Shy on a trail walk. I decked her out in her rhythm beads and saddle so she could get used to them, then we walked through the fields.

Ready to go!

Once we got out a ways, I put my foot in the stirrup and just put some weight on Shy. . . just to see what she would do. At first, she kept stepping away, but eventually, she stood there. Yay for us!

Can't resist eating grass

She is ready for the trails. . .but am I?

When we got back, Shy and Dulce played around in the arena. She likes having a girlfriend amongst all the geldings. And since they both have some junk in their trunk, the song is most appropriate.

As of today, there are 53 more days until Equine Affaire! Anyone else going?

equestrian johnny depp

I posted a photo of Equestrian Ryan Gosling on my Facebook the other day. It's a pretty funny concept, but Ryan Gosling doesn't really do it for me or Shyloh. So I created my own version. 

I present to you. . .Equestrian Johnny Depp!

Okay Johnny Depp, may I call you Johnny? I will tell you ALL about how cute Shy was today. 

Shy started her day eating hay out of a wheelbarrow. I am not sure if you are aware, Johnny, but hay out of a wheelbarrow is much better than hay from the ground in the stall. If the wheelbarrow has hay and poop in it to pick through, bonus! 

Nom nom! No poop here.

As soon as I got to the barn, I checked on Shy's leg. Johnny, you might not be aware, but yesterday Shy had heat in her leg, which is a bad thing. Today, there was no heat and she still did not show any signs of pain or stiffness. I was fully prepared to keep her inside and cold hose her leg all day long. I even had my epsom salts. But, since she didn't have any heat in her leg and seemed fine, I made the executive decision to let her go out with her herd.

Johnny, that was the best idea I made all day! The weather was spring-like (in the middle of February!!) and all the horses were in a playful mood! Shy, Casi, Chick, and Dulce were so cute playing in the muddy pasture. Of course, I did not have my video camera when I wanted it the most. 

But I did have my video camera when I called for Shy to come in and she came to the gate to see me! Johnny, you have no idea how happy this makes me! It has taken us seven months to get to this point! She did this yesterday, but I thought it might have been a fluke. Looks like this might be the newer cuter side of Shy. And I had another successful day of putting her halter on her without a peppermint bribe!

I brought Shy inside and checked her leg again. No heat! This is a good thing, Johnny! We walked through the barn to explore some more and I gave her a little hay to eat. Kathy shared some carrots with Shy and Casi, which they loved! 

Then I gave Shy the royal spa treatment. I used all the brushes I had. I got all the mud off of her legs and tail and where ever else the mud landed on her. I conditioned her hooves. I braided her tail. I attempted to tame her mane. She was really enjoying herself in the cross ties and was falling asleep. She loves to be pampered! Very cute.

You should see her Johnny, she is so smart! The last part of our day was spent working on our new trick. Shy is coming along very well so we should be unveiling it soon. The trick is not fantastic by any means, but it is our start into doing more and more tricks. 

So, is Shy not the cutest pony you have ever seen, Johnny? Yeah, I think so to! Any time you want to listen to me talk about her, I am ready.

So right. 

there's a hoof in the bucket. . .

. . .dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hoof in the bucket, dear Liza, a hoof!

Brrr! The water is cold!

I had to put Shyloh's left rear leg in a cold bucket of water today. I was picking her feet and that leg, from the fetlock down to the coronet band was warm. I double checked the warmth I felt by feeling the rest of her legs and they were cold. I asked Kathy and Beth to feel her leg and they agreed that it felt warm. The bottom of her hoof was not warm at all, just that general area. 

But. . . it was not swollen, Shy was walking just fine, she was bearing weight on it, and she was not showing any signs of pain with it. 

In fact, when I went outside to get Shy, she had me smiling from ear to ear! She was in the way back of the pasture and I called for her. She looked up and ran toward the gate and me! She stopped right before it got really muddy, pooped, then navigated through the mud all the way to the gate. She let me halter her without a peppermint and we walked out of the pasture. Then we trotted to the barn. Shy was completely fine and really willing to trot next to me. Fun times!

Helping Aunt Kathy clean up the hay!

Once we got in the barn, she was in a great mood. Shy was very curious and I let her poke about the buckets and bins along the aisle way. She also picked up as much fallen hay as she could. She was walking fine and at this point I had no idea we could be having a potential problem.

Nosy pony!

Any hay under here?

I put Shy in the cross ties to groom and de-mud her a little bit. She is a shedding pony! Look at all that hair! I am sure that this is just the beginning of a massive amount of hair loss.

I am building Shy a brother Haflinger from her extra hair.

Then I picked her feet and felt the warmth. Beth advised that I cold soak her leg, preferably with epsom salt. I had never done this before, so I filled a bucket (minus the salts, we had none at the barn) and made my first attempt at putting her leg in the bucket. Shy was willing to let me lift her leg, but a little hesitant to put it in the cold cold water. Eventually, she did lower her leg and stand there. I was pretty amazed! She only tipped the bucket twice and that is just when she tried to move, otherwise, she was great!

"Don't look at me like this!"

After her cold soak, I put her in her stall and we worked on our first trickonometry trick, which required no movement on Shy's part. We are off to a good first start, so soon I hope to have a video of her first trick!

I am very surprised that I am not totally freaking out about this heat on Shy's leg, but besides it being warm, she is fine. I am a bit worried and anxious to see how she will be in the morning. I picked up some epsom salts on the way home in case I need them tomorrow or in the future. Beth is guessing that is it not an abscess and not laminitis. Perhaps she just did something, like twist it,  from the mud?

Does anyone have any ideas of what this could be or any experience with something similar to this?

Still sassy! Even with a bucket hoof!

guess what?!?

And. . .

I bought a saddle!! I kind of just snuck up on me. Jaime from my barn mentioned that she knew someone who was selling a saddle that would be perfect for Shyloh and it has a round skirt. 

So when I got to the barn today, Jaime and the saddle where waiting for me to try. Kathy helped me fit her and let me borrow some tack. The saddle seemed to fit Shy really good. The next question was. . .was the saddle comfortable for me?

Oh no. . .this would mean that I would have to get on her! I was not prepared for this. I guess that fall really messed me up more than I originally thought. I was fine with the fact that my butt is still slightly numb and my tail bone is still sore. As long as I felt this, I would not ride, right? Be safe. On a scale of one (one being totally fine) to ten (ten being scared out of my wits), I think I was at a 6.5. I did the only logical thing and asked Beth to ride her to try out the saddle. 

Wanna ride?

Oh my gosh. . .Shy can move! I knew this, but watching Shy with a very experienced rider on her was pretty cool. Her little legs are so quick! Scary quick! Beth walked, trotted, faster trotted, and cantered Shy.  She has the fastest little trot I have ever seen! 

Shy was on the move!

Beth did say that when she tried to slide the saddle over so it was even, Shy started a bit, but by the end of the ride, Beth was able to shimmy that saddle around. A few times, Shy kind of scooted underneath herself, but she never spooked or freaked out. Shyloh was actually really good and she is super cute in her saddle. Beth said she was fun to ride, but fun for a person who has been riding since birth equals scary for a person who has not been riding that long! I am still kicking myself that I did not take video. Guess I'll have to ask Beth to ride her again. 

She was so cute!

I did end up getting on Shy. I sat on her and tested out the saddle. I was pleased with it. And the price was so right! We did not move forward today, but at least I got on. That's a start, right? Next time, I'll do a little more. At least this time I will have a seat to hold me on if she decides to spook!

And for fun, Kathy rode Clutch!! What a big boy!

monday musings by shyloh #24

Allie is a watcher. She watches and watches. Take a picture, I say! It lasts longer. . .but then I remember she does take pictures. Lots of pictures. I do my best not to shoot her nasty glares or roll my eyes, but after a hundred photos, I get tired of all the posing. I am definitely not cut out to be a model. Plus I don't think I am the right size and I could never get used to the diet of a model.

Watching me eat. . .

Allie will come into my stall and just watch at me when I eat. How rude! I don't stare at her when she eats. . .okay, maybe I do. But her food is so delicious! And sometimes she gives me bites when I put on my super cute look. She watches me when I walk and run and she watches me when I roll. She watches me when I pee and poo (gross) and she watches me  play. I know I am good looking and all. . .but can't a mare get a break?

Watching me sleep. . .

Another thing Allie does is watch me trying to get my groove on! I got my eye on Shaman  lately and we have been flirting over the fence. Of course. . .Ryleigh does not approve, but I am a girl with needs! And sometimes Ryleigh can be a little possessive, but he is still my number one. I do like to test the waters. But Allie has got to stop watching me when I am turning on my charm. I can't be giving away all my secrets of what attracts the geldings to me. . .like the song goes "I'm sexy and I know it!"

Watching my mojo at work. . .

But what Allie doesn't know is that I watch her, too. Oh yes I do. I watch her walk up to me with that lead rope and halter. I watch her let me get away with certain things. I watch her by the treats to see if she is getting one for me. I watch her by her locker to see what she is getting out of it and to see what work I have to do. I watch her with other horses and I watch her with people. I am very watchful.

I analyze her every move. Sometimes she is so predictable. Sometimes she can be tricky and catch me off guard. Sometimes I know what she is going to do next and I can predict my next move based on what I already know. I am no dumb blonde. And sometimes, most fun of all, I push her buttons and watch how she reacts. 

I've got my eye on YOU!

~Shyloh

more sass in the snow

I have no idea what has gotten into Shyloh this weekend, but she is full of sass! She has been acting in ways that I have never seen her act! My sweet sweet Haflinger has turned into an ear-pinning beast! My easy going, gets along with every horse mare has begun to step it up a notch in her herd! Okay. . .she is still sweet, but she has been pinning her ears back lately, which she never does.

In this video, Shy is telling Dulce and Resy to get away! She wanted in first! This was new, usually Shy is the very last one to want to come inside. I was actually surprised that when I called for the horses to come on in that she joined them! Normally, she stays at the far end of the pasture until the very last minute. But today she stood right at the gate and let me put her halter on, without a peppermint again! It's the little things that make me happy!

However, this evening's behavior was a far cry from this morning. I had her in another pasture and when her herd went out, I wanted her to join them. Since her English is a little rusty, she was not understanding me when I said that I wasn't bringing her in to work, just move her to anther pasture to join her friends. All she saw was a halter, a lead rope, and me walking towards her, and she was off! This time I had to use a peppermint to catch her and move her over.

Devious diva! -in the shadows with pinned ears.

I am thinking that Shy is trying to move herself up in her little herd. Of course, she picks little old Resy (he is 28!) to be a jerk to. Maybe she is tired of being a pushover, not that she gets picked on or anything. Maybe she has completed her assessment of her herd and is thinking she will be boss mare.  (This is the most likely scenario, given Shy's assessment and cognitive skills.) Wouldn't that be something! Any which way that it is, as long as she is not mean, she can be all the horse that she can be.

Don't mess with the best!

sassy snow day!

Today was by far the coldest day of the winter! Shyloh and Casi went outside, but only for a little bit. It was bitter cold and windy. 

I did play with Shy a little bit outside. Boy, is she a sassy girl! Clearly, at this point she was not ready to go in. I wasn't trying to catch her here, just trying to get her to move her legs a bit. She told me in no uncertain terms what she thought of that. . .

Shy also tried her hardest to get to the teeny tiny bit of grass is that left buried beneath the snow. Look at those lips move!

At least they got outside for a short time. I think they were happy to go out, but grateful to come back inside. When it was time to come in, Shy was ready and let me walk right up to her, halter her, and take her in. . . without a peppermint! 

This is what Shy's whiskers look like after she has her nose buried in snow!

"Do I have something on my face?"

Needless to say, it was too cold to do any actual work. . .but we will get back into a schedule soon. Soon. . .

made it to the barn

I finally got to the barn tonight but I did not complete anything I had planned to do.

Make video? Nope.

Teach new trick? Nope.

Lunge? Nope.

When I arrived, I was the only person there. Yes! I thought I could make my video in peace. I really did not want to have to make these videos with people at the barn. . .I am kinda of embarrassed by it. Blush. But as I walked down the aisle to Shyloh's stall, I noticed that she was in it and not outside. I had no idea why she was not turned out with her herd, it was strange. So I put her in the arena and checked her out. She seemed fine. 

I set up the video camera so we could tape. But since Shy was cooped up all day, she wanted to run and play and not come to me and do a video. She stopped and rolled around on the ground, then continued to play catch me if you can. Grumble. By now, someone had come to the barn so I put up my camera. Oh well. I think I need a script first anyway. I think I will work on it tomorrow and tape tomorrow night (if no one is there) or Saturday morning.

Instead of taping, I finally caught Shy and we took a walk around the property so she could get some fresh air. We walked around, stopping every once and a while to graze. . .

nom nom nom

. . .and we met up with the big boys. Shy seems to have (another) new admirer in Clutch. Oh pony love, so sweet. 

hey there big boy!

Then I brought Shy inside and took my time grooming her. Sometimes it is nice just to groom her and talk to her and not do work (not that we do much "work"). I think we both enjoyed it. I got all of the mud off of her legs, dipped the muddy end of her tail in water to de-mud it, and put some Corona on the underside of her tail. I guess her tail bag had rubbed it, so I have been treating it and not using the tail bag anymore. Hence muddy tail. 

Jaime was there and it trying to convince me to show Shyloh this summer with her, Notch, and Clutch in draft class. She also wants me to go to some driving clinics with her, she says that they are really fun, everyone is really nice and helpful, and there are a ton of Halfingers! I am pretty sure I want to go to the clinics, not so sure about the showing. We will see. . .If cuteness and sassyness got points, we would win for sure!

more work. . .eh. . .not so sure. does it involve eating grass?

missing shyloh

I've been sick this week, so I have not been out to the barn. Basically, this is what I have been doing all week. . .

Sleep sleep and more sleep

Stretchy sleep

The sickness required a full day off of work and I missed yoga. I had been looking forward to yoga most of all. Oh well. I am back on the mend and should be going to see Shyloh tomorrow. I am positive she missed me just as much as I missed her goofy self.

The one good thing about being stuck on the couch is the hours on end of Law and Order. Just what the doctor ordered to make me feel better! And I got this book in the mail!

Click on photo to take you to the site

I am excited to teach Shy some of these tricks. But I am slightly confused by the book. In the introduction, the author, Carole Fletcher, talks about not teaching a horse to rear (which I would never do anyway!) but there is the picture, right there on the front of the book, of a horse rearing. The book does not teach you how to stand on your horse, either, as it shows on the front, thank goodness! Misleading. So far, that and the lack of color pictures are my only complaints. I do like how she states that the tricks should be taught in a certain order based on how the horse learn and to build off of one another. So the tricks starts out simple, using the head, the mouth, the legs, then the body. Look for videos of Shy being super cute to be making an appearance! I also like how Fletcher discusses using trust and love, not force, to get results. She also points out that the relationship between horse and human is important and that the horse must have basic ground manners before beginning to learn tricks.

On a final note (and a shameless plug). . .voting for the Equestrian Social Media Awards ends this Friday. Me and Shy somehow made it into the final 10 for Best Blog (Category 17). I am not even sure how we got into this, but since we are here, we will do our best!

We need some help from you guys. We need to make 2 one minute videos. One is an acceptance speech in case we win the category and one is a general message of support in case we do not win. 

Here is what I am asking. . .

Any ideas on what I should do or say? I am at a loss when it comes to this kind of stuff. Oh, and I only have until Friday February 17th to submit it. Thanks!!

monday musings by Shyloh #23

Not everything I am unfamiliar with is a mountain lion in disguise.  Not everything I am unfamiliar with is a mountain lion in disguise.  Not everything I am unfamiliar with is a mountain lion in disguise.  And repeat. . . I have to say this to myself every time Allie brings me something new to do.

In my harness get-up!

For those of you not in the know, mountain lions, aka pumas or cougars, reside primarily in the west (sorry Pippin and Doc). So, I guess me and Camryn (still on the lookout for saber tooths, though) do not have to really worry about them here in Michigan. Although aside from humans, mountain lions have the largest range of any other animal in the whole western hemisphere! So, in theory they could make their way into my little corner in Michigan. Wolves are more of a probable enemy that I should be worrying about. They live in Michigan, but not really in my area.  But they could make their way down here! They were just taken off the endangered species list! Now coyotes ARE something to be concerned about. They DO live in my area, Allie has seen some! Okay, one. . .but not by where I live, closer to where she lives. 

But back to the reason I am talking about mountain lions/wolves/coyotes. Allie brought this thing out again. . .

dum dum duh dum. . .

It was super scary at first. Everything is a little scarier when I have my blinders on because I can't see as much. A coyote could come attacking me from the side and I would not even know it until it jumped on my back!  We played touch with the thing and it was not so scary. Just a little bit. I walked over it and touched it some more. It got a little less scary.

Then we did some line driving in the arena. It is still really muddy outside, which is why we didn't go out there. I know this because I have been going out and I have to walk through a lake to get to the grass. Allie almost fell over into the mud when she came outside to get me. I wonder if she fell if I would have had to do work. . .Look at my beautiful tail! A mud mess, my legs, too! Yuck!

Grossness

Allie attached the contraption to my harness and hooked it in somehow so it would stay. I was scared again because it was making some strange creaking noise. But Allie kept walking right in front of me where I could see her and telling me it would be okay. I decided to give her a chance to see of she was right, so I stood still. Okay. . .almost still, I just jump a few times, but I did not run off and away from the thing like I wanted to do.

Look at me! I am so brave!

Allie got behind me and told me to walk on. I did, but the thing was dragging behind me and making more noise! And since I couldn't see, I thought maybe it was a mountain lion or wolf or coyote! How was I supposed to know? So I scooted real quick, but Allie remained calm  and told me easy, and so I calmed down. Before I knew it, I was going along, dragging the thing, and it was just fine. No attacks. Yay me! Which is why I have to say to myself, not everything I am unfamiliar with is a mountain lion in disguise. Some things are not so bad. . .

We are on the move!

~Shyloh