mane event

The day is drawing closer and closer to Shyloh's big day. What are my plans for the day? Well, a show is scheduled, but I am undecided if we are going to attend. My reasons are that it has been way too hot, we have not really practiced, and this week is funky due to my grandpa's funeral. And she is off on her right rear. I lunged her today for a short bit. She is jumping into the trot and not tracking up at the trot. But to be honest, I think the real reason might be that I do not want to get up at 4am! Even though I have my new show halter and new mane and tail decorations to show off! So, if I do not go to the show, I will be working and spending the day with Shy.

In the almost year that I have had Shy, she has been through many changes, physically, mentally, emotionally.  One of the most noticeable physical changes is her mane. My has it grown!

But her forelock remains the same length. . .guess it will never be a flowing forelock. The rest of her mane has seen many different styles over the year. She has had pink hair, a double mane, mane on the right, mane on the left, braids, braids, and more braids, and a unicorn forelock. . .just to name a few.

Other physical changes are her body. She went from being a little bit pudgy pony before she came home to a really pudgy, shaggy winter pony, and back to a sleek shiny show pony! Keeping and eye on her weight (an going through old photos is a real eye opener on just how chunky she was!) is very important to keep her healthy. I am thinking no grain this winter, I can't believe just how much the handful (literally) affected her. And I know now that her coat grows thick enough to keep her warm.

Next post will cover her mental and emotional growth. I think that is were I have seen the most change and improvement!

And. . .I have 50 followers now! Thank you everyone for following our little adventure! Special thanks to those who comment, I love to read the comments! I have learned much from them and many times I am able to see things in a different light. I really appreciate all who take time to read :)

not impressed

I had visions of a wonderful reunion with Shyloh. My dream included Shy grazing outside in her pasture, me walking up to the gate and calling her name, and Shy looking up and running to me, happy that I am home.

Well. . .none of the above happened. Apparently I rank below teeny tiny pieces of sparse grass. I did walk up to the gate and call Shy's name, but she did not even look up. I walked back inside, dejected. I tried again later, and I did get a slight acknowledgement, but not much. My illusion of wrapping my arms around Shy's neck and circling together in a hug were crushed. 

Oh well. Once Shy finally decided to come inside (after all the other horses were in), I spent some time grooming her. When her mane doesn't get brushed on a regular basis, she develops dreadlocks!

Once I started brushing her mane, I thought the conditioner I had put in it before I left had left her hair super soft. It had such a soft and nice texture, not the usual straw-like texture. But Beth burst my bubble when she said she had put some other conditioner in her hair, pre-bolt. I had Beth tell me three times what she used, but I still can't remember the name! But I know I need to get some!

Since Shy was so not impressed with my return to her life of a wild and care-free pony, I had her take a little walk with me. It was windy out!

And upon our return to her stall, I discovered Shy's ground manners have gone out the window! She was practically dragging me down the aisle to get to her dinner hay! I was not impressed with her lack of manners, and made her turn around and approach the stall until she was not pulling. She needs to get her manners back!

monday musings by shyloh #30

Whoo hoo! While the people are away, the Haflingers will play! Pippin, Doc, Camryn, come on over to my place! It's party time!

Allie went to some fancy schmancy place called Florida. I did a bunch of fun things while she was gone and some not so good things. I do not want to talk about the not so good things I did. . .

But for now, I am crushing on Chick again. He is so tall, he makes me look tiny!

Rekindling my love affair with Chick

I got super muddy running around the pasture with my friends!  Allie left me as a clean, pretty pony and I sure did not stay that way! Haha!  And the weather is so nice, I did not want to come ion from the pasture. Only when I was left all by myself did I decide that I should go in. 

Aren't mud baths supposed to be good for the skin?

Check out how long my mane is getting! Yeah, I'll probably be one of  those Haflingers. You know, the ones with the manes all the way down to the ground. On both sides. My forelock, too. Yeah, super sexy. Don't hate.

Now Allie needs to figure out a way to keep the ends from frizzing.

 I had a visit from my favorite farrier and his butt. I am always on my best behavior for him and his butt. I do love my mani/pedis!

Starving Haflinger that I am, I gobbled up all my food at each meal time. I swear that I am being neglected int he food department. I don't get nearly enough hay or other foods to sustain a Halfinger of my caliber of awesomeness. Can't you just tell that I am whittling away to nothing? No? Oh. . . Look harder. . .

Gobbling so fast, I'm blurry!

Here is an example of what Allie thinks I should look like:

All slim and sleek and hungry looking

Here is what I think I should look like:

Hay belly, full, and happy looking.

Do you think that there is a girth that would fit around that nice looking belly? Me either. Mission accomplished.

~Shyloh

something cool. . .

My something cool finally came in the mail! I was so excited! The something new was the harness and line driving down the road. The something interesting. . .well, it is still a work in progress and proving to be a little more difficult than I thought. But, for my something cool, I had walked to my front door with my arms full of stuff and saw a package on the porch. I dropped everything and jumped for joy! Even the dogs had to wait to go outside until I was done with my jumping.

But first. . .the reason I was walking into the front door was because I was coming home from the barn. It was a nice day, but so so muddy. I really wanted to take Shyloh on a walk outside, but we would have sunk in the mud for sure. Instead, we had a little spa day.

Shy was not impressed with spa day

I groomed her really well, took my time, and just talked to her. Shy is shedding already; her body is so confused by this weather. I put some hoof conditioner on her hooves because they seemed to be dry. This dryness was the cause of a minor meltdown the other day, on my part. I had no idea what was wrong with her hooves, but after settling down and becoming rational. . .I realized that they are just dry.  Kathy confirmed this for me, whew. Shy has been inside during the week days because the pastures are dangerously muddy. I have been letting her out on weekends when I was there to supervise. 

I played around with her mane and came up with an evening "do" for her. It is a side swept mane-style that exposes a little more skin than Shy is used to showing. 

Showing a little neck. . .ooh lala

It is much more sophisticated than her normal double mane. Kathy said she looks more like a horse and less like a pony with her mane on one side. I would have kept it for a while, but as soon as we got in the arena, Shy shook it out. Back to the double mane. 

We lunged for a while. This is something we have been doing every time I have been going out. It's boring, but useful. We have been working on whoa and transitions. I did make a discovery today, though. I already knew she would not canter on a lunge line, but I found out she has two different trots. I cluck gets a slow, bumpy-looking trot and a kiss gets a quicker, more elongated, and smoother looking trot. Very interesting.

Anyway. . .here is my something new!

It was made by Sand at Manitiba MoonSox and Me. She does wood-burned signs and has a website called Cantering Customs. She does gorgeous work! She came up with the design and it totally encompasses everything that Shy is. I love it! Thank you so much Sand!! I can't wait to put it on Shy's stall tomorrow.

braids!

The braids appear to be working! I kept them in Shyloh hair for a few days, then took them out. Yesterday, Robin sent me a picture of Shy. . .

Pretty in Pink

And her hair stayed parted evenly! Usually at the top it falls on both sides, then halfway down it flips to one side, and at the bottom it flips to the other side. Unfortunately, it is still slightly pink.

So, I went out to the barn today. The horses were in again because the pastures are still flooded. This weather is terrible! At night it gets below freezing and the roads get icy, then during the day the sun is shining and everything gets watery again. At least the road to the barn is not flooded anymore! And we did get some snow! But it did not stick to the ground.

I let Shyloh out into the arena to run around. Then I went to get Ryleigh. When I brought him in, Shy gave a little nicker! How cute! I made my finest attempt to get them running, but only Shy wanted to participate. She would run and run and Ryleigh just stood there. Shyloh literally ran circles around him, then tried to hide behind him! Those two are so silly!

I decided to braid Shy's mane again, but in smaller braids. Shy had other ideas, like eating hay, which made braiding difficult. . .but I persevered! I doubled the usual amount of braids down her mane. I also braided her tail. The braids just make her hair so smooth!

Slow feeder bag is now a hit!

Looks like centipede legs

I gave Shyloh and Ryleigh some apples, carrots, dried peas, and granola mix, then went home to warm up. I still did not get to ride. Hopefully tomorrow!

Ryleigh says Feed Me!!

growth

At the place that I bought Shyloh from, the horse she lived with had grazed on her mane as a daily afternoon snack. Here are today's pictures of her re-growth:

Needs some more growth at the end

This side is looking better!

On another note. . .I think Shy is really trying to test me and see what she can get away with. I need to work on being consistent and asserting myself. We played around in the arena today and Shy did very well. We worked on a trick (funny how she only "knows" the trick if she can see a treat is coming), worked on the side pass, and worked on the mounting block. 

After our work, I put her in her stall because Beth was bringing the horses inside. When she saw Ryleigh coming, she nickered for him! So cute!

They are cute!

I hung out with her for a little bit in the stall, then her dinner came. I went to say bye to her and she swung her rear end around at me so fast! I jumped out of the way (luckily there was no kick out), but I got the message that she did not want to be bothered when she was eating. So. . .we just found something new to work on, because that was unacceptable behavior. I let her know this, but I did not strike her. And I did get my good bye in. . .even though I was upset with her.

But as I think about this behavior some more, maybe it has to do with the move inside and maybe it could be that I discontinued her red raspberry leaf supplement? Robin suggested that Shy could be upset that I disrupted our schedule by going away for the weekend. But I might start the red raspberry leaf back up and see if anything positive happens.

On a funny note. . .Beth told me that she has been taking Shyloh and Ryleigh outside at the same time. She said the first time was a disaster! Shyloh stopped to eat grass and would not budge and Ryleigh was pulling to get to the pasture. Beth was being pulled in two directions, stretched out to the max! But the next time, both horses seemed to work out a system and walked just fine to the pasture.

Trying to squeeze under to go visit Ryleigh!

So, I need to re-connect with Shyloh and work on our bond. This will be my focus this week and we will be taking a break from the long lines. But not for long. . .

If you have Facebook and you want to see some more photos of Shyloh, like her very own page, here!