The wind finally died down enough to have some fun in the snow. What else to do but take the horses sledding! Me and Shyloh used to do this all the time last year, but this year we opted out. Instead, the big horses got to pull the sleds.
Terry and Reba
Notch, you can't see Jaime and Kyle in the sled
It was Terry's first time horse sledding. Reba was a champ and could have cared less. I swear, nothing bothers this horse! Terry and Reba went for a spin in the front year, where Terry learned she couldn't make sharp turns. . .she flipped the sled and landed face first in the snow! Reba didn't skip a beat and kept trucking on all the way to the barn.
After that, we went out back. There was a couple icy patches which the horses seemed to know about without seeing at all. They did their best to avoid those spots. I love that these horses are so good.
Except when Reba knocked Terry over while we was taking her back. . .
Reba wondering why Terry is down.
Shy was all up in arms about the horse sledding. She was running back and forth. I am not sure if she wanted to join in or was happy she was not a part of the action. Either way, we are still on our break from harnessing and driving.
What ch'all doin'?
It is supposed to get even colder this week, if that is even possible. Keep warm everyone!
The sun was shining this weekend and I was feeling frisky! Allie pimped me out again for some sled rides. I didn't mind too much, like I said, I was feeling frisky!
Tryin' to hide
I took two little kids on rides and boy do they not have any balance. They could't stay in the sled! I had to keep stopping so they could get back in. They kept yelling faster and faster!! and this is awesome!! so I was trotting faster and faster then, bam! They would topple. But it was all in good fun.
Then I took a big kid for a ride. I guess she works with Allie or something and she brought the little kids. She has fun too! I got to trot lots, but kept getting distracted and stopping. There was a lot going on around me and since I can only see a little bit with my blinders on, I had to stop to take it all in. It wasn't scary or anything, I was just being nosy.
s you can see, Allie barely touched me to keep my trot up, but my butt was feeling super sensitive that day. I have a fickle butt, sometimes barely a tap will send me flying other times nothing will get me to move. Ha! I am hopeful that the temperatures continue to climb and the sun keeps shining. Plus. . .if the snow melts, I don't have to give sled rides! But then I have to deal with mud. Allie took my tail out. . .look how long and lovely it is! Back up it went, cause I kept stepping on it. Now if only my gorgeous forelock would grow longer instead of thicker, I would be the most beauticious horse around!
Every single day I spend with Shyloh, she just amazes me more. She has a confidence about her now that I never would have thought she could have when I brought her home. The difference is so mind blowing. Sometimes it is hard to appreciate through each day, but when I look back it is just wow. And sometimes just a single event makes me realize just how truly amazing this horse is.
The snow fell through the night, so what a perfect day to go horse sledding. Plus, it is much easier to work on my contact when I am not walking behind Shy. I got everything out and took her to the outdoor arena. Eek, it was pretty icy under the snow, so I decided to stick to the roadways on the property. I did a few minutes of line driving then hopped in my sled. Whoa! Something got Shy going and she took off. But I kept myself together and got Shy to stop. Then we continued on. I let Shy pick the path she took, as long as was going where I wanted her to go. She seems to have the ability to sense ice under the snow and can avoid it.
She was listening really well. Until we got to the gate. The gate to the herd and pasture. The gate we always have trouble with. We will conquer this gate!
On a good note, Shy can tangle herself all up in long lines and traces and not care a bit. With Shy's growing confidence comes a new set of problems. Nothing that consistency and firmness won't fix, but problems none the less. We have the gate sour problem, the won't move problem (fixed that with the whip), and the won't stop problem (new and kinda scary).
With the gate, the whip does help to keep her moving, but on the sled I can't really reach her with the whip. I just have to keep working on it. The won't move problem was not a problem today. Shy was actually trucking along at a nice pace and I was really happy with that. The won't stop problem. . .eh. . .After our gate issue, I did some line driving behind her to reiterate her cues. When I asked her to whoa, she kept going. Usually Shy is really light in the mouth, but as I pulled back, she was pulling forward. I had to put a lot of pressure on her mouth to get her to stop. We did walk whoa, walk whoa until she stopped without issue. And we worked on stand, which is finally starting to sink back in. But I am not happy with her trying to blow through the whoa. Any ideas what I should do?
And I continued to prove just what a klutz I am . We were still doing the line driving. Shy had straightened herself out and was doing really well, so we were walking back to be done. And I fell on a rut. Ouch. There were some ruts in the roads from the tractors when it was rainy and muddy earlier in the week. Took a few steps forward then just stopped, looked back, and waited for me to compose myself.
Cart time! Shy is so curious about the cart. I put the cart on some rails in the indoor and sat on it. Shy came up to me. I walked the cart around the indoor arena. Shy followed. I put the cart down and walked Shy in the shafts. This time, she went all on her own. . .with the help of a peppermint. But still, a big improvement from yesterday when I had to attach her lead rope, line her up, and coax her between the shafts. This is where the confidence is really showing. She is not leery of the cart. There is no excessive thinking noises or running way from the cart. There is no difficulty in getting her near the cart. Tomorrow, I hope to have help to hook her up!
I, Shyloh, demand payment in the form of hay for all the hard work I have done this weekend. I have given a grand total of 5 sled rides and those do not include the hour long rides with Allie. I am one pooped pony. I am not used to working this hard.
I'm too fuzzy to work hard!
Believe me, I tried my best to get out of it. I thought if I gave Allie a hard time, she would give up and put me with my herd. No such luck. . .
I tried to make it hard for her to attach the sled, but Allie was persistent. I spun around and got all tangled up, but Allie just untangled me. I even acted spooky one day in hopes that I would scare Allie into not hooking me up, but that was useless. I tried not stopping when asked. I tried not standing still. I even tried standing so still that I didn't move at all. I tried to go one way when Allie wanted me to go another way. I even turned myself all around that when I was facing Allie in the sled, I scared myself! None of my tactics worked.
I guess I'll have to live by the motto, if you can't beat them, join them. The one day there was so much stuff going on and I was a super pony. There was a horse freaking out in it's stall and banging around. I could hear from the outside, but I wasn't scared. The manure spreader was idling and in our way, but I just took Allie right past it. Some horses were scared of us and our strange contraption and we almost got ran over by them, but I was cool as a cucumber. Ice was sliding off of the roofs, I did a little jump at that, but to be fair, so did Allie. There were horses in the paddocks running and bucking around, but it didn't bother me none. I did freaked out some of my herd when we took the sled past them. I went up to them to let them know it was okay, though.
Also, there were pieces of hay on the ground.
I do have to say, even though giving horse sled rides is hard work, it sure is fun. But it would be more fun if I got some hay out of it. Seriously.
I bought a new sled. Since it had just started snowing again, most of the sleds were gone, but I did find a pretty pink sled for us to use. After my purchase, I promptly headed to the barn.
I went out and caught Shyloh, groomed her, and tacked her up. We were going sledding! But Shy was in no mood to make to make it easy for me. As soon as we got in the outdoor arena, she wanted to go go go and she didn't even have the sled attached. I did my safety precautions of walking her around with the sled first. Then I attached it. . .or attempted to attach it. Shy would not stand still. It was almost as if she was saying, if you want to sled, you have to work for it. I finally got her still and hooked her up without a problem. Sassy pony. I did my second set of safety checks of line driving with the sled attached and checking her brakes. We were good to go!
Around and around the arena we went. Back and forth, circles and figure eights again. Trotting. Shy's steering was good and so were her whoa and stand. I felt comfortable enough to take us out of the arena. This time, I cleared the arena fencing and took a different, less rocky road.
We went all over the property! Shy was so great. She did have one issue. . .she got stuck. I am not sure why, but when we got to the front Shy refused to move. Just stood there like a statue. One of the ladies at the barn helped me out and got Shy going by walking at her head. After that, we were problem free! We went past people and horses with no problems. I was having so much fun!
We were sledding for about 45 minutes to an hour so I steered Shy towards the tack area to give her a break. She got a carrot and a little rest. Then we had some sledders!
Another boarder brought her three kids to sled with Shy. Back to the arena we went. Of course, Shy was on her most sassy behavior and was causing all kinds of ruckus when it was time to attach the sled. She turned into a top and kept spinning, spinning, spinning. But after she tangled herself in lines and I untangles her, she straightened out. I put the lunge line on her, just in case. Can never be too careful with kids. . .
Shy was great for all three kids and their mom! She walked for them, listened to them, but really made them mean it when they said trot. I wish I had photos to share, but I was holding the lunge line and making sure Shy was on her best behavior. It makes me so happy that Shy was good for other people. I can't wait to do some more horse sledding!
Poor sled. You will be missed. We had some fun times with you. You are the one that really taught Shyloh how to pull things. We used you over gravel, over straw, over grass, and over snow. Once, you scared Shy so bad that she took off on us, causing rope burns. But you were there to help get Shy comfortable with noises behind her that she couldn't see. Sled, you had Anthony as a test dummy when Shy pulled her first person in the snow. Then you gave rides to some people at the barn. But our time now has come to an end. Just when we were beginning to have a ton of fun with you, you break and leave us sled-less. So sad sled, so sad.
so sad
Anyone care to take a guess how the sled broke?
a. plastic snapped from coldness
b. sledding accident
c. went over a rock
d. Shy stepped on it
I finally made it to the barn to see my pony! The temps have been below freezing with the windchill. But I got out there today with a plan. Sled! Shy was in her pasture, all cute with snowflakes on her back. I grabbed her, groomed icicles off of her and just hugged on her for a bit. I really needed that!
Then I tacked her up and walked our dearly beloved sled to the outdoor arena. I got Shy used to the sled again, dragging it and kicking it and what not. Shy was a good pony. Then I did a little line driving behind her, testing her brakes and making more noises with the sled. Check.
I gathered up my courage and plopped on the sled. It was my first time riding in the sled alone.
And it was fun!! We walked, we trotted, we did circles and figure eights. Shy was great. She listened to my voice and my reins. Here, come for a little ride with us. . .
Sorry about the part where I dropped the rein. After this, I decided to take her down the little roads in the barn.
First, I want to mention that I have a hard enough time driving a car, not sure what makes me want to drive a horse! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I hit curbs when turning. . .So as we make our way out of the arena, I made the turn too tight. The single tree hit the fence and Shy's feet moved. Fast. But she didn't go anywhere. I told her easy and she calmed right down and we went on our merry way. Soon, we came to a rocky road. I guess we went over a big rock and a heard a different noise than I am used to hearing. Shy heard it too. I also felt something. . . Shy wasn't too sure what was going on now (and either was I), and she was getting a litte antsy. So I told her easy, told her whoa, then stepped out of the sled to investigate. Crap, the sled had a crack. Well, I was having so much fun I wanted to keep going. But we only got a few more steps until the back end of the sled hit another rock and busted right off. Again, a scary noise, but Shy was acting like an old pro. Cue happy dance!
So those of you that answered c were correct!
Shy has hay radar, she uncovered some hay hiding in the snow
I was very happy with how well Shy did today! We went outside of the arena, we trotted, and we overcame some scary noises and new obstacles. I was pretty bummed about the sled, I would have kept on going until dark time! Guess I am going to have to get a new sled now.
I guess the two leggers have made a new sport out of me. . .horse sledding. I tried to get out of it by pretending to be afraid of the sled, but I quickly realized that Allie doesn't fall for that anymore. Crap.
Allie had her friend, Anna, come out to give me a test spin. Allie put a lunge line on me, just in case. . . But it wasn't needed at all!
I was real good. Then Allie got on the sled.
This was her first time! We trotted around a lot and I was super good for Allie.
Next, Allie had a new lady I never met try sledding. We went round and round.
I was doing so good, Allie let go of my safety lunge line and let the lady go by herself!
I do have to admit, I was having fun. In fact, I rather enjoyed myself. Allie just needs to get a more durable sled. . .And this sled left her with a wet butt! Haha!
See what the two leggers cooked up for me? This is what happened when Allie puts an ad for a crash test dummy on the internweb. Anthony replies!!
I should have known something amiss was going on when Allie started sliding the sled under my legs. I would see it go under one side and come out on the other! Mind blowing! But eventually I got used to it. I didn't particularly care for it, but I put up with it. And the treat guy came to visit! We went for a wonderful winter walk together and I got carrots! Yum!
I was good for the treat guy.
But soon after than Allie started tacking me up. I figured, no big deal, I am a tire pulling champion. Doesn't bother me at all any more. Funny thing though, I didn't see the tire anywhere, just the blue sled. . . hmmm. . .Where is this going? Allie did rig up a homemade bit warmer using her gloves. It was much appreciated.
nice and toasty
And this is what happens when Allie gets grand ideas. And when I am really good at pulling tires, this is what I have to do in return. . .
At first I was all like, whoa sled, you make a funny noise back there! Are you going to eat me? But then I realized that maybe the blue sled wasn't a horse eating monster. In the end, I did have a little bit of fun pulling Anthony around in the snow. Maybe we can do it again some day soon. Maybe. . . Although I do have a feeling this is preparing me for bigger things to come. . .
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