msu stallion expo

I went to the Michigan State University Stallion Expo yesterday with Jaime and Kyle. So much fun!! It was like a mini Equine Affaire. Vendors, tack, education, and horses! 

I got to meet Mary Procopio of New Horizon Haflinger Farm and her amazing stallion Stellar TVR. Mary wrote an article a while back on Haflingers being Warmbloods. Shy discussed it in one of her musings. It was a very interesting article and she said she is writing another. I can't wait!

Drool

Look how handsome Stellar is! I had instant forelock jealousy. And if there was ever any doubt about his Haflinger-ness, he passed the test. Jaime had a plastic bag and it made a noise. Stellar stopped what he was doing to investigate. Later, same thing, he walked over to Jaime to check it out. I have a theory that Haflingers are not afraid of plastic bags because they know food comes in them. 

We talked to a rep from ADM nutrition. When Shyloh was getting grain, she was getting Ultra-Fiber, a high fiber, low starch, low NSC grain. They make a few different feeds and mineral supplements and I really like their concept of Forage First. I would like to get Shy on their mineral supplement, but first we need to convince the local feed store to carry them. And bonus, ADM feeds are made in Michigan! We got large samples for all our horses. 

I also got to meet a fellow Michigan blogger and Haflinger owner at the expo! Janine from Hoofprints of Kaspin was there. And though we only had a few minutes to chat, it was fun to meet a blog friend.

I took a ton of photos. . .

Arab in costume

Donkey! Looks like a mini Tony

Gypsy Vanner 

Two rowdy mini studs

I liked his color

I liked his paint pattern in the back. I thought he looked lame on his rear left. . .later in his stall we saw a masseuse or chiropractor or something working on his rear left. My eyes are getting better!

Belgian Hitch team from Heritage Hitch Farms in Adrian, Mi

Leader mini!

So cool!

Love me some Double Dan!!

Amazing at liberty work!

Zelda the Zorse. Zebra and Belgian, 16 hands, 1600 lbs!

Cowboy Dressage. . .

More Double Dan!

Step one. . .

Step two. . .

Step three!

Look at the height!!

And made this video of the show they had in the evening. The Michigan Multijurisdicional Mounted Drill Team and Colorguard that were present at the presidential inauguration came in to sing our National Anthem. Double Dan Horsemanship came out twice to present. I love them! There was also a Pasa Fino show, a Zorse, and a six horse Belgium hitch. I was pretty much in heaven! Enjoy!

float on

Shyloh got her teeth floated this afternoon by Doug LaRose. I had heard great things from him from fellow Michigan blogger Kristin and her OTTB, Laz. Doug also has Clydesdales, which Jaime liked and booked Doug to come down our way. When I got to the barn, Shy was laying down and napping. By Lukas. I think he is her new love target since Jesse is gone. And I have not seen Lukas be mean to her in a while. I have seen Shy pin her ears at him a few times when I am near her and he moves in, thinking I have food for him. When Doug got to the barn, he said that he heard I had a pony, so of course I had to correct him. Turns out, he was joking with me since he floated Jaime's horses at her barn first. 

The mouth opening contraption

Doug was very patient and gentle with Shy and she took to him pretty quickly. At first, of course, Shy stuck to her namesake and wanted to keep her distance from the new person. But real soon she had no problem with him or any of the tools he used. I like that Doug would show Shy the tools first and run her nose with them before he started using them in her mouth. He also didn't keep Shy's mouth cranked open when he did not need it open.

She did keep her eye on me when he was floating

Doug let me look in Shy's mouth and I got to see her pointy edges. They were not that bad, but they were rubbing a little on the sides of her mouth. He said that it would explain the behaviors I described. But he also said that her teeth were not bad and he recommends that a year is a good interval for her. 

Doug wanted to work with Shy on the grass. . .Shy wanted to eat the grass!

After he was done he remarked that Shy was a good horse and very well behaved. Yay Shy!

Post float eating. . .silly face!

No more sharp edges!!

After the float, I hung out with Shy and all the mud at the barn. The beginning of spring is the worst. We went into the arena to get on some dry, non-muddy ground. The horse that a year ago would wander around the arena and stay away from me now chooses to stick to me like glue. The horse that would not come near me if I stood on the mounting block or was in any way taller than her now will walk right up to me when I stand on this mounting block. And this is a tall homemade mounting block. I love that Shy is a relaxed horse and has such a natural curiosity.

View from Shy at the top of the mounting block

This weekend, we will be back to working with the cart! I am excited, it's been too long!

monday musings by shyloh #78

Ahhhh. . .I am so glad Allie got back to stretching me. I just love it so. . .even if I had to lunge first. Although the last few times I was not so ready to buck and go super fast. 

Back leg stretches. bringing it forward.

Reaching down into the stretch!

My favorite stretch! Tail pull!

Circles with the front legs.

I am such a spoiled pony. I got to spend some time in a heated barn and in a stall. I picked through the straw and ate all of Buddy's hay scraps (it was okay with his mom, she insisted), then Buddy's mom gave me a flake of hay all to myself! After that I got an apple, a hay cube, and I got to dunk my head in a bucket and take as many hay pellets as I could fit in my mouth. . .three times! All this, even after I accidentally knocked over Buddy's mom's hot chocolate. Sorry. . . But even so, Buddy's mom, Belle's mom, and Jose's mom spoiled me silly! Buddy's mom was even impressed that I didn't poop in his stall. Yay, I am good like that.

Is anyone else ready for the ice to melt, the puddles to be gone, and the sun to come out? I sure am! But I hear that more snow is on the way. I knew I was hanging on to my fuzz for a reason!

~Shyloh

loving lazy sunny sundays

Such a sunny, beautiful day out. . .I could barely tell it was under 30 degrees! When I got to the barn, Shyloh was taking her usual between noon and one nap. She was standing, so I went to the heated barn to chat and have a sloppy joe lunch with my barn buddies. When I got done, Shy was just beginning to move, but it was not because she was awake. . .she moved to another sunny spot to lay.

I love love love that she lays outside. Have I mentioned that before? She never did that at the old barn, but here, I catch her napping and laying quite often. 

I was hoping for some snuggle time, but Shy got up. Oh well. We did our lunging and stretches, then went back in the sun to hang out. And Shy got her wormer.

Kisses anyone?

Shy was very mischievous today. She stuck her foot then her head in a bucket. . .she dumped her food. . .she kept grabbing a towel out of her grooming bag. . .she kept kicking and picking up another bucket. . .ate a carrot off of a snowman's face. . .then she would smile in my face about all of it.  Silly pony!

There was no reason for the foot in the bucket. . .

She was convinced something tasty was in there

Shy would much rather eat from the snow

My friend Terry came to visit and Shy was extra cute for her. . .it helped that Terry had brought some carrots! Then Terry headed Shy and I climbed up on her. Ugh. . .my balance is atrocious! I need to work on that!

And. . .has the shedding begun?

It's there, I promise!

See that? It is a lone hair from her blaze, fallen out all on her own. 

Why is Shy the only horse that has not begun her shedding? All the other horses are shedding like crazy. I tried pulling hairs out, but they are rooted in deep. Perhaps Shy wants to be a shaggy beast for forever? Perhaps Shy's body knows something about the weather that we don't? I hope not! While I am not looking forward to all the shedding, I am looking forward to sleek and shiny pony. 

More naps. Pony life is hard work!

What a pleasantly perfect Sunday at the barn.

herd changes

Sassy pony got that buck out that she was holding in during yesterday's lunging session. It was only cute because I was not on her back. And Shyloh was going going going again today. I have to believe that it is because she is not moving as much as she normally does. Yesterday the pasture was a flood, today it is ice. And for some reason all the horses choose to stay in the flooded/icy part instead of the higher ground that is not flooded or icy. I will never understand that. . .

Look at that eye. . .she was interested in something outside

I am predicting a change in herd dynamics. . . Jesse moved to a new barn and Zanna is off for training for an unknown length of time. Jesse was Shy's best pony bud, but she doesn't seem to be missing him. He could be a bit of a bully to other horses, but was always nice to Shy. Zanna is a sweet, pretty mare. I will miss her. She was near the bottom of the herd hierarchy and Shy could move her off of food by pinning her ears.

Tony grabbed the lead rope

I am curious to see what happens with the dynamics. Just today, I saw Shy stepping up her game. Shy  was pinning her ears at Lukas (who is the boss, as in he runs all the others off the food) and even nipped at him. Although he didn't run away, he did back down a little and did not retaliate. Then Shy went after Tony the donkey when he got in her space. Movin' on up? Other boarders say Lukas was at the bottom when he first came and he made his way to the top. So, maybe Shy does have ambitions to be boss mare.

"Get away Lukas, those that's my treat lady!"

I am going to watching this situation unfold. . . and I have no idea if or when any new horses will arrive. Interesting!

Maybe they will be buddies now