How to start young horses under saddle ... or not.

Is this seriously how some people start a green horse? No helmet. SNEAKERS. Clearly very little preparation.
I understand that even with tons of groundwork, some horses might react like this. But this dude seems to just
climb on, and start thumping the horse's sides. Both horses appear nervous, confused and then when they buck 
the saddle nearly slides up their neck and the rider goes a flyin'. Not everyone has a ground person available, but this guy does. Why did he start out without their help? The one little grey (both horses are very cute) does eventually come around, especially after the ground helper leads him around for a little while. I don't get it. He rides the second grey like a rodeo bronc ... keeping one hand in the air. Is he trying to show off? Why not try to difuse the buck? One rein stop maybe? I dunno! Sheesh.


.. oh yeah and another strike - CREED as the background song. YUCK!!!

No heat wave to be seen.

Well it's back to single digit temps and once again the arena and every possible piece of land available is frozen, slick and not safe to work a horse on.

Although I can't complain too much because it appears as though some of the more southern states are getting pounded with a major ice storm this evening.

Not much else to report except Hampton seems warm and comfy in his blanket. Surprising since it's a hand-me-down from T-Bone, has a big ripped hole over the rump and numerous other tears. I  noticed the other day that is is starting to rub Hampton's shoulders just a little bit. I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now. I promised Hampton he could have a brand new blanket for NEXT winter (because I am sure he will just outgrow this hand-me-down anyway) but I may have to break down and get him one soon if it continues to rub (I did make some adjustments), and gets any more ripped up.

I've also been seriously considering fostering a horse from Friends of Ferdinand. I can't financially commit to another horse right now, but the foster program would allow me to work with an off the track Thoroughbred and minimize my costs. Hopefully this ball gets rolling soon.

Rain. I'll take it.

Finally, the temps hit almost 50 degrees and the arena was melted, although sopping wet. It was rainy, windy and chilly. But I was determined to work the horse. The arena is sand, so it was still perfectly fine to work in. Hampton was superb. He lunged well (although he did want to bulge out a little bit on one side, not unlike him) and I hooked up both side reins for a little while. I have lunged him with the inside side rein on quite a few times, but this is the first he's had them both on. He figured out the concept right away, although he could use some more miles in them before he gets his balance. He's a bit unsteady but that's normal. No freak-outs whatsoever. The reins were of course very loose, but he could definitely "feel" them and reacted appropriately. Not bad for a 2 year old that hasn't been worked in a couple of months. Every part of me wanted to climb on and take him for a ride, but I didn't. Mostly because I wasn't dressed to ride. Plus, I scratched my eye yesterday so I have to wear my old, very crooked glasses for a while. Not the best to be riding young horses in.


(this photo is from the summer on the day when Hampton wore a saddle for the first time)

The Red Pillow

So I have this big red pillow that my mother made when she was young (a teenager maybe? not sure). Anyway, it spent many MANY years in my grandmother's house, and now I have it. Almost everytime we went to grandma's, I would snag the pillow and sleep on it. Nowadays, it's great for propping up my head to watch TV, or during bad acid reflux episodes. It also seems to be quite the cat magnet. I mean I can see why. It's the perfect size, and it's soft and fluffy. My cat T.C. LOVED the thing. And now Grover is especially fond of it, too. Thing is, that there are two other cats in the household (they don't belong to me) and they never sleep on it. At least I never catch them. Grover sleeps on it no matter where I put the pillow, and he's pretty picky about where he sleeps. In any case, the big red pillow is getting a little flattened down lately since Grover is not .. uh ... a slim kitteh. It's also covered in cat hair. I'm not sure there is a point to the story of the big red pillow, except that I have always had this weird adoration for it ... like it gave me some sort of comfort, seeing as how it's so red, and fluffy. And my cats apparently get the same.

Still stuck with the ice

No improvement on the footing out at the barn. Both arenas and now even the roundpen are ice. The only possible place for me to work is to walk out into a farmer's corn field but I don't want to do that because 1) I don't think I'm allowed to and 2) the footing is probably just frozen and lumpy out there, too. *SIGH*. Very aggravating. I guess Hampton's vacation is going to be a little longer than planned. Oh well. He's still just a baby so that can't be a bad thing.

He seems fine after the incident the other day. No lameness (that I can tell, there isn't anywhere for me to jog him) ... so swelling or otherwise offness to his legs.

I made him a mash of soaked alfalfa pellets and molasses today. He seemed to like it alright, although he is very picky whenever something new is introduced. It takes a few days for him to really like something new. Even though I have been feeding him alfalfa pellets for some time now (dry), I guess it threw him off to have them in soaked format with molasses on it. Geez, horse. He did eat most of it though.

I really wish I had a trailer so I could at least haul to an indoor if but once a week. This ice crap is really getting on my nerves.

Guilt

 

Since today's temps were a balming 40 degrees, I decide it's time to work the horse a little bit. I wanted to see how he was looking and plus test my belief that horses do not forget previous training - even after some time off. Granted, the giant 2 year old has only been out of work for about a month and a half but I've had several people (trainers, mostly) tell me that young horses will forget and you will have to start all over if you don't work them every day. I do believe they need routine and consistency (especially in the beginning) but I don't think they "forget."

So I tacked up Hampton (who couldn't have cared less) and the roundpen was the only area with decent footing (just snow). Everything else was sleet and ice. ugh. So things go well at first on the lunge - Hampton is a little frisky (he even kicked out at the roundpen panel once), but he isn't obnoxious. Walking and some easy trotting is all that's on my agenda. So I change directions and things again start out well ... until one of the donkey's breys (sp?) and Hampton gets a bug up his ass. He goes to scoot (in preparation for one of his bucks) but the footing is too slick for that and his back feet go out from under him and boom - falls down on his side. He got right back up, looks at me confused and I told him to walk on. Made him go around a few more times at the walk to make sure he was ok. Seemed no worse for wear but I felt pretty bad about it. I mean maybe we shouldn't have been working at all today, I dunno. Makes me feel like a terrible training when my horse FALLS DOWN on the lunge line. Geez.

I hope the footing clears up soon. The arenas are fine when they are wet, but obviously not with this ice crap.

Probably won't work Hampton again tomorrow, but I will check out his legs to make sure he didn't injure himself. ugh.

Very cute :-)

The only good thing about winter

Took Hampton's blanket off today and decided to let him have a romp in the arena. The footing there is level and not frozen (well, except for the layer of snow) so I figured he might enjoy moving around. Like many places, the pasture is just too lumpy (from where mud has frozen) and too hard that I don't think the horses play much in order not to hurt themselves. Anyway ... here's the show Hampton put on.

Heh ... this is about where he realizes the footing is pretty good ... annnd ... he cuts loose.

(edited to add that I did indeed put his blanket back on before returning him to the herd)

Mean girls of Pony Club

Found this cute video while wasting time on YouTube this afternoon. I'm not sure what game the girls are playing, but they are apparently "fighting" over some sort of object. Anyway, at around 1:28 one of the girls pushes another one off her horse. LOL!!! I love how they fall off and then just hop right back on, plus they are all wearing helmets. Good fun.

Stowaways

I should really know better than to leave my truck open at the barn. 


I arrived today and unloaded a bag of alfalfa pellets (new addition to Hampton's diet) out of the back of my truck, lugged it to the feed room, dumped it in its own tub, then returned to my truck and closed the tailgate. I proceded to go collect Hampton, fed him, etc. etc and put him back out in the field. I went hunting for a little red bucket I have so that I could take some pellets home tonight to make a nice warm mash for Hampton tomorrow. I looked all over for the bucket and decided maybe I should look in the bed of my truck one more time. I opened the tailgate and WHAM - 3 barn cats were like bats outta hell out of there. It startled me so much I yelled a little (thinking I had little varments in my truck) ... then laughed when I realized the barn cats had snuck in there. If I had not gone out to look for that bucket - they would have gone home with me and who knows when or if I would have discovered them. Sheesh.


So we'll see how Hampton does with the addition of alfalfa pellets to his diet. Introducing them slowly, so it will be a week or two before he's getting what he really needs. He is otherwise happy and warm. The mounting block in the arena was sitting up against the fence today (instead of just lying flat like usual) and Hampton snorted at it and eyed it VERY suspiciously. But that's about the extent of it. I am happy that he is (so far) very well behaved in this weather (several horses are maniacs just walking to and from the pasture). He is due for another trim soon, too.

Flippin' 12 degrees today

Too cold to do much of anything outside, so I went to the mall to spoil myself since I had a giftcard, then out to the barn to feed Hampton. He seemed well. I thought my fingers were going to freeze off, even with gloves. Hampton is a bit thin for my liking ... he's not severely underweight by any means, but I would like him to be more "round" (and juicy ... lol). I think his ribs will always show no matter what for a little while longer (he's growing so much), and you can't see his spine but he could use a little more cushion over his hips really. Anyway, he gets free choice hay (mostly oat hay and grass mix), plus he gets fed grain once a day. I simply do not have time to drive out there and feed him twice. He gets Purina Omelene 100, plus 1/2 cup Omega Horseshine. I just started the Horseshine, so I am going to see if this helps any. Any other ideas? Suggestions?