A Glorious Saturday

So, I did another slide show. They are just much easier for me to upload pics too, and I don't think they use up my space for pics on blogger...so you'll have to live with the slides. If you have problems with the slide, please let me know.

On Saturday-yesterday- I cleaned my tack, as you can see, because on Tuesday I have evaluations. I'm not sure if I've explained evals on my blog yet, so I will. Tomorrow (Monday) Daisy is getting picked up by trailer by my 4H leader. I will ride her at my leader's house (she just got an indoor arena!!!) and Daisy will spend the night. On Tuesday I will ride both Bubba and Daisy at my leader's house, and Daisy will spend a night. On Wendesday Daisy and Bubba, plus another horse, Bella, who other members of the club are being evaluated on, will be trailered to our county fairgrounds. I will ride Bubba and then Daisy in front of a judge, who will have me do walk/trot/canter and ask me questions about horsecare, etc. At the end, the judge(s) will tell me what level I can show at: walk/trot or walk/trot/canter...Daisy will spend Wednesday night at my leader's, and on Thursday she comes home again. ANYWAY, I cleaned my tack to make sure it still looks clean. I'm glad I did because now it looks really nice.

Then I rode. I rode with just the bareback pad because my girth and breast collar, the things that keep the saddle on the horse, were in the wash. Lately I have been riding a 3 1/2 mile block around our house on the road. There are a lot of hills, so it feels like it's longer. I took some pictures, and on the first "hill" picture, if you look to the right, you can see the "intersection" I talked about in the pic beforehand.

On the last hill going down to our road there is a boat. The first time I road by it last Wednesday, Daisy was afraid of it, and I had to ride her by it a few times until she got used to it. Now she's fine with it. The view is gorgeous riding around there, and it really makes me appreciate the beauty of God's creation. I'm so thankful for my wonderful life--I'm SO happy. I really can't complain about anything-and I know that's rare...of course, I'm still a (choke, gasp) "Kid", but...

When I got back, Daisy was really sweaty and tired because on the last hill home we galloped the whole thing and it was a big hill. I hosed her off, and that's why she's so dark colored in the second to last picture. Hope this wasn't too long, and that you enjoy the pics!

10:04 PM

Miss Genevieve

Well, I made a post once about Groenemeyer, so I decided to do one on his sister, Genevieve. Genny is an awesome cat-I think of the two, she's my personal favorite, although I love her brother, too. She's more loyal, she hangs around at home, and more sensible. REALLY. He's just kind of a "head in the clouds" cat, who will love anyone, but will leave during the day and not come back until a few hours later. Genevieve, on the other hand, comes running as soon as you call, and purrs really loud as soon as you pick her up. We used to have a gray tiger cat named Puppi, who died in 2006, and Puppi never really liked me...she was shy, and very nice once you got to know her, but she didn't really let me get to know her. Genevieve has just about the same personality and looks as Puppi, and it's like having her back again, except this time, she likes me. She and her brother make an odd couple-he's kind of dumb, and risky, and she's there to kind of tag along and get him out of trouble, or watch the trouble take place from a safe place...anyway, I hope you don't think the slide is toooooooooooo long...Enjoy! Summer is here for me, now!

4:42 PM

BTW, you can make the pics go faster by clicking the plus sign ( + ) and scroll your mouse over each pic and read the captions, too!

Back to Riding!

So, on Monday we called the farrier and left two messages, one from my mom, one from me, asking (again) if he could come out and shoe Daisy. He called back, and he said he'd come the next day! He came, and checked out her hooves and said her front hoof was still very tender, but he'd shoe her anyway. SO, I had him make Daisy shoes for all four feed, and pads for her front. She has the pads so that she can walk on stones and such without getting bruised again. She also got borium on, which is a type of metal that's kind of rough on the shoe, so she doesn't slip when she walks. First he had to take a little while to 'customize', I guess, Daisy's shoes, and then we went into the barn to put them on, because it was raining. Daisy did just fine on her back hoofs-he aligned the shoes and nailed them in and then filed off the nails when they came out the sides (second picture). Of course, she couldn't let herself get the reputation of being a perfect horse, so she decided it would be acceptable to rear, oh, say, 3 times when he got to the front feet. It was scary-she almost touched the ceiling at one point, and the farrier would have to jump out of the way. The farrier took the halter and chain lead at one point, adjusted the chain, and gave Daisy a hard tug and a little speech about safety....it didn't work for long. She reared another two times, and that's when he suggested hay. Of course, Daisy being a sucker for food, stood very nice and still on the last shoe and chomped away...the little brat! She also had silicone sprayed under the pad on the front feet so that she has more cushioning...the pictures are labeled. The pic of her hoof that's not labeled is her back hoof. Well, after money spent, and shoes, pads, borium, and silicone, I can ride again! I took Daisy for a quick ride today because I actually went and rode Bubba after school today (I took the bus to my 4H leader's house) and it was great! Daisy's hooves sound nice on pavement ;-).

The last pictures are just some I took of Daisy tonight and the sky. Doesn't Daisy look great!? Don't ask what's up with the lead rope-I kind of just threw it on, it's actually just a rope...She's so slick and shiny.

Anyway, thanks for all the thoughts and helpful tips throughout Daisy's little hoof 'ordeal'! My school ends next Wednesday...finals this week and next, and then I might post more often! (or less often ;-)) Bye!

9:17 PM

Random Stuff

The pic above is now my favorite ever. I didn't see it until yesterday, but my mom took it in May...it says it all. Thanks, Mom, for it! :D

My dad was never really a horse person. I have never seen him ride a horse, but apparently he has. He doesn't mind horses, but he doesn't really mind any animal...except rodents, but anyway, he never led Daisy anywhere until the other day. I was at school, and had left Daisy in our "lane way paddock" (a paddock that runs along the driveway). My mom got a rope burn from Daisy last summer, so she's a little weary about leading her now. She wanted to bring Daisy to another paddock, because Daisy is a spoiled, picky horse and doesn't really like the grass in the lane way, but she was afraid she couldn't handle Daisy (Daisy has only one thing on her mind when being led by grass-eating it- so she will pull a bit to try to get what she wants). My dad offered to lead her over. Apparently, after a stern word for her not to gallop off by herself to the grass, he led her (for the first time) himself! WOW! And we got it on tape ;-). My dad, I have to mention, feeds Daisy on the weekend mornings and summer mornings, so I can sleep in. Thank you, Dad! Happy Father's day by the way! Without my Dad, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have Daisy. I love him.

These last pictures where taken by my mother...actually, all these were. Anyway, last month my parents went for a week long trip to Germany, and at one point they visited an old friend who happens to live right by some horses. I love these pictures, the sky looks gorgeous, and the horses are lined up so nicely in the second picture! I think they make good desktop pictures... ;)
Doesn't it look wonderful? Have any of you ever went to a foreign country?

2:20 PM

~BTW, I haven't reached the farrier yet (ugh....), so Daisy has no shoes yet, and I can't ride. Yesterday I went to our county fairgrounds, where I will be showing, for a showmanship clinic because for out 4H, you are required to do showmanship if you are showing an animal. In showmanship you have to make sure you and your horse look good, and have to stand in a line waiting for the judge to come to you. When they do, (depending on the test) you walk up to them and make your horse stand square, then face the horse, belt buckle to halter buckle. One of the key things is that you have to pretend the horse is cut into quadrants (yes, math class is coming in handy now) and you can NEVER stand in the same quadrant as the judge, so you have to move back and forth, but you have to be able to see the judge at all times. Then you have to do a pivot and trot back to the line, all the while on foot. I was practicing this with Daisy yesterday, and I have to say, every single day I am amazed by my horse. She is SO well trained. She normally doesn't like to do side passes on the ground, but I got her to step her front hooves over herself, which is a big part of pivoting, and she did awesome! She also got really into it, and now she automatically turns and places herself so we are buckle to buckle, and squares up. I love my horse, she rocks! :D

Dentist Visit and New Paddock

Daisy's dentist came yesterday to float Daisy's teeth, and I must say, I think he's a real horse whisperer. He's very calm and quite with Daisy, and "Ms. I always have my ears back if you're in even a 10 foot radius of me" had her ears foreword the WHOLE TIME! She was even leaning into the rasp! When horses get their teeth 'floated' the dentist uses something that looks like this.
They run it up and down over the horses teeth to file them down, so they don't get over grown and cause eating problems. Daisy did really well!
Thanks for all your comments on Daisy getting shod (put shoes on)! I have called the vet and hopefully she will get them on soon...I can't ride 'till then!
We always thought that we couldn't let Daisy graze on our sewer field because we thought that she might a) crush the pipes or b) eat chemicals from underground. WELL, our power went out on Saturday, and a man came to fix it who actually laid the base for our barn, and he said that as long as the field isn't swimming in chemical-y water, (which it definitely isn't) it's fine! SO, I put up a temporary fence on it, and now Daisy has lots of lush grass to eat! That's the first pic.

Have a nice end of the week! I'm planning another post for in a few days, too, so...

9:12 PM

Hot Weather & Bruises

So, the farrier came today. Daisy was getting better and better at walking all week, but when the farrier shod her she ended up being bruised *again*. Last year she was bruised on three of her legs, but today she was bruised even worse then last year on her right front (where she was laming) and her left hind. She also had some 'holes' in her hoof sole on both ends. The farrier said to keep soaking in Epsom salts like I am and to put Iodine on her hind leg. Then we'll take it from there, which probably means I have to put shoes and pads on her...*sigh*...just what we didn't want. But you've gotta do what you gotta do...the second picture is taken by a friend of mine, the rest are by me...Today it's 90 degrees out (WOW) and so I bought Daisy a fan, which she is totally loving...I'm having a barn sleepover tonight! IN THE HEAT! lol...it'll be around 70...well, that's it...thanks for all your kind words and insight!...This may sound silly, but how do you put iodine on a horse? Do I soak Daisy's hoof in it, or do I just put it on?

4:35 PM

Poor Baby Girl

Riding Bubba

Just a quick post so it doesn't look like I've quit blogging:

On Saturday I had a 4H meeting at my leader's house, and I got to ride her horse, Fat Chance, "Bubba", for the first time! He's an English Thoroughbred, who's 23 (or 22) years old. He's 16hh (one hand is 4 inches), which is really tall compared to Daisy's 14.2 hands! I'm going to be showing him in some walk/trot, maybe walk/trot/canter English classes at our county fair this summer. He was A LOT more challenging to ride then Daisy, but it was really cool/interesting to ride a horse like him. When you ride Daisy it's all on a loose rein with pretty much no contact, but with Bubba you ride with 'contact' (light pressure) on the bit at all times. It made my hands hurt! But it was really cool. I worked on circling him perfectly, so that he was aligned correctly, so that none of his body was off or into the circle. It may sound easy, but it's hard! The pictures of me and him were taken by my leader, btw! The third picture down is one with 'flaws', that I should look at and see what I'm doing wrong...I'm no expert, but I see that he isn't stepping under himself quite right, and his head is high like he's fighting the bit. Feel free to tell me more of what I'm doing wrong! Constructive criticism is good! :D

Hope you all had a good weekend!

9:42 PM