Good Weather=Good Mood

We have had AMAZING weather the last two days. Yesterday it was high 80's, today, 80's. It feels WONDERFUL; like summer. Daisy's still shedding out her coat so I don't think she fully appreciated the warmth :P but that's ok.
Riding her has been ok...today's ride started out pretty not good :P. We turned left off our driveway (not right towards the minis, the way Daisy likes) and we rode a bit and then, Daisy strategically placed herself between two houses with neighbors in the yard to throw a "temper tantrum". Her form of a tantrum consists of just ignoring me, out of the blue. She isn't jumpy or pushy; she simply refuses to listen. She stops, and won't do anything-back up, walk forward, trot, side-pass, etc-except turn around. So I smacked her once with the end of the rein and used my stern voice, but it got me no where so I got off her back and made her trot up the street next to me until we were a distance from the neighbors who were blatently staring and using us as entertainment. Once I was far enough away, I mounted, and gave her a good smack with the reins and I gave my typical manly "GET!" growl and she went (relucantly). In exchange, I promised a trip to the minis tomorrow :P (turns out I probably won't have the opportunity to ride tomorrow anyway...sorry Dais' :P). After that, our ride was actually pretty darn good. She was dull until we got out on the big open rode and then she was great. One time she had a right-lead canter hissy fit, but she got over it pretty good with me reminding her who was in charge (*ahem*) and that was all. One rode back (as mentioned two posts ago) is about a 1/4 mile and we gallop it and Daisy has the annoying habit of trying to gallop and jigging in place as soon as we turn onto the road. It's not dangerous or really bad, just annoying. Today, I expected her to do that, but she was AMAZING. I got her on the bit and we walked a little bit until I finally gave her a soft signal to canter and she sprang walk-canter into it perfectly and was really good. I was in two-point (which I stink at, so I do it whenever I get the chance) and about half-way along the road I realized she was sort of not controled anymore; going a little too fast (Before I was so astounded with her good behavior I was basking in it and forgot to think about speed :P). I tried half halting, but then just told her "woa" and she brought herself right back down to an acceptable canter. :) YEY!

And going up the BIG hill home she was amazing :)

Afterward, I went to Jean's planning on riding Bubba, but ended up riding Paulie, a new horse, because Bubba refused to be caught...
Paulie was born at Jean's farm out of a rescue mare 2 1/2 years ago. He's since been with a new owner and is incredibly well trained. Jean wants to buy him back and has him on trial. It didn't occur to me until after that I rode a STUD, that was only TWO AND A HALF! He was so great. I always sorta thought only really good or really insane riders rode stallions, but he was so good. He was a little nippy on the ground, but otherwise, SO well behaved. He can walk/trot/canter, turn on the hindquarts/forhand, sidepass, back up, etc, already. That's me on him in the second picture :P
He's being gelded on the 29th, and Jean offered for me to be there along with a small group of kids from the trade school. She said it would be interesting for me to see him gelded, especially since I'm interested in vet school.

So my question is, has anyone ever witnessed a stallion being gelded? :P Is it worth seeing? Is it interesting? Should I see it? What stood out to you most?
If you haven't, would you want to see it?
Just wondered, thought it was interesting.

Also, on a sort of off-topic note, out of Listerine and apple cider vinegar/tea tree oil mix, which do you prefer for daily thrush prevention? I can't decide; Lately I've used Listerine.

Happy Easter, Everyone! May you celebrate your risen Savior! :)
And eat chocolate. It's required. :)

Trimmer's Visit

(this photo is a few weeks old...it is NOT that sunny and pretty these days...taken at Jean's farm)

My natural trimmer came today. I was assigned all the evening barn chores, so I didn't get to chat/really look into Daisy's hooves, but I was informed (Though I sorta knew anyway) that Daisy has thrush in...a lot of her hooves. I'm not sure exactly how many, but I think all of them, to some degree. All this snow, and she STILL has thrush!

Daisy also has slight laminitis in the white line of a couple of hooves, because of the alfalfa hay she's on at Jean's...It completely didn't occur to me about the whole alfalfa=more sugar thing :-/. At my house, Daisy's on grass hay, so Daisy is (of course) loving the alfalfa, and now...yeah. Luckily, she's coming home in probably just a couple more weeks, and then she'll be on grass hay again. I just need to stay on top of spraying her hooves with tea tree oil/apple cider vinegar spray...which while I'm at it, I need to ask, does that stuff get "old"? The stuff I have is from December, and it wasn't kept in a fridge or out in the barn...so should I still use it or mix new spray?

Otherwise, there's nothing new to report...I have some videos of Daisy and I and a friend from the barn riding yesterday, and I'll try to fix them up and get them online...we shall see.

Until then, have a great night everyone! We have (I think) about a foot of snow on the ground...ohhh, fun. ;)

It's a Mountain...

Last weekend, I was riding Daisy in a 'valley'. Yesterday, a mountain again. Go figure.

I took her in the arena and worked on getting her on the bit at a trot and canter; she did really well! At the end, I *actually* got her on the bit for a canter around a complete side of the ring, so I let her finish with that for ring work. I took her out and headed out into one of the (snow covered) alfalfa fields and rode all the way around it (it's a big field). I cantered a good portion of it, and actually galloped for the first time in awhile. I gave Daisy her head and she ate it up; she had a ball. She was thrilled to be outside again, cantering and galloping, and so was I. It was pretty uneventful; we passed by a man-eating-extra-large-dead-weed without dying, so that was good...

In all, I have renewed faith in my horse that she does have a heart and isn't a complete idiot every day. I really do love her ;)

The pics are from my phone while out riding today...sorry the first one is so bright. It was so sunny out there, I couldn't properly see the screen on the phone, so I adjusted brightness a few times and just guess ;)

Sunday Stills: The Elements

The Elements: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth.
I tried... :-P
The sun on the water, the wind making the water ripple, the tree for "earth", and, well..."water" should be obvious.

This is the lake near our home, and where I spent a bit of time at the beach last week. :)

Slideshow

Hello, again! Here are the pictures I *promised*.


The first...30??? or so pictures are from the parade. Then there are 2 pictures from a show that I went to with Jean and Bubba, then some random pictures. I went on an Equine Careers Camp with 4H and we went to a Standard bred breeding farm, a vet clinic, an Arabian training stable, and 2 other farms...so those are pictures. I forgot to include pictures of the show, but my pictures of the show are limited, so I may put some up separate in a little while.

Sorry it's so long.... :)
_________________________________


By the way, I'm not sure how many of you know, but I have another blog, if you're interested.

http://lifeoutsidethebarn.blogspot.com

Autumn...

Photos by my mom yesterday...

Fall is here. Last week (Wednesday) it snowed and, though the "in town" there was NO snow on the ground, we had 2 inches EVERYWHERE. Luckily it melted that day and the next. Now it's just kinda mushy on the ground. On Thursday I didn't ride Daisy because it was raining, on Friday I didn't ride because the farrier came and pulled Daisy's shoes for the winter (and you know what she did? She REARED AGAIN! I coulda' killed her. (I don't actually mean that). Normally she only reared when he'd hammer in the shoes, but she reared just because he was taking them off! TWICE! Once on each front hoof. The little brat.), and on Saturday I didn't ride because...*scratching head*...maybe I did ride? Anyway, either Saturday or Sunday I went out for a ride and rode on a road we don't normally go on. Since Daisy hadn't been ridden in 2 days, she was really hyper. I told her I thought she was a quarter horse, not an Arabian! lol. We were cantering at one point, and she saw a puddle, and she lept in the air! Not reared, just bounced up. It was funny. So then I had to tell her all the scary things a puddle can do (Daisy-Mae, it can eat you up! Oh my goodness, look at you go by it! You're so brave! Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I can't believe we survived passing it! It's a miracle!, etc, etc) and we got by. Then we visited a few horses that we've never met. I think they're retired, because they are old and skinny-ish, and I never see someone ride them. Then we went home...

So that's all.

I just had to include those last two pictures of my "little man". Forgive me. :)

Oh my goodness. I just realized the pictures posted in the opposite order that I wanted them to :-/....well...look at them backwards now. :D

Long-Overdue Post

First of all, I have to make the usual excuse for not posting: It's summer, and I'm tooooooo busy....I'm sorry! This week up until Thursday my cousin Anika was here, and when Anika left on Thursday, my Uncle Greg came, and then on Friday my cousin Renie came, and ahhhhhhh, I just haven't posted. I'm sorry (again!)! Tomorrow we are seeing the musical, Wicked (YEY, YEY, YEY!) and on Tuesday Daisy is going to Jean's house, and on Wednesday I start "camp"-I'll be staying for 10 days at Jean's with Daisy, practicing for the show on Daisy and Bubba, and then next Sunday is an open show at the fairgrounds, on Monday is an open show at the fair, and the rest of the week I'll be showing at the fair. We will be getting a stall for every horse at the fairgrounds, and spending everyday there, then trailering them home to Jean's at night. I will try to post on Monday, but I guess I'm not promising anything. I did go and visit my brother, Markus, last weekend, and I still haven't posted the pictures from there, even though I want to. I tried to upload the pics to slide.com before, but it didn't work.... :-(

In the meantime, I leave you with this picture of my brother's new horse, Buck!!! ISN'T HE CUTE?! He is. :) Talk to you soon!

9:31 PM

Daisy's Mini Vacation

So, yesterday afternoon Daisy got picked up and taken to my 4H leader, Jean's, house. She was in the trailer for about an hour and a half as we had to make multiple stops before we got home. She did awesome! She went right on the trailer with me, and she got off good, too! She would stop and whinny at all our stops, which included a bank, the 4H office, tractor supply and blockbuster. It was so cute! Here you see some pics of her on the trailer and at Jean's.

I rode her while Jean rode Bubba on a 4 1/2 mile block in the rain yesterday. Today I rode her for about an hour in the indoor arena that was just built, and around 40 minutes on the trail. In the arena I did some barrel racing, and first she was slow and lazy, but I got the crop and smacked her a few times ;-) and she did much better! She's quick and she turned really nice around the barrels! Tomorrow are the evaluations, so I'll probably post tomorrow or Thursday and let you know how they went.

9:32 PM

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

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

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

And Here are the Promised Pictures

Well, here are the promised pictures from the post below this one! The white appaloosa is Shania-she's pretty cool ;-), with Stephanie riding. And, of course, Daisy and I... I think Daisy really enjoyed being with another horse for a change...Even if she did pin her ears whenever Shania came over! :D....she was also exhausted when we got back! I normally ride her 40 to 50 min. a day, and we rode about an hour and a half! But it was fun...just wanted to share the pics! Have a wonderful week everyone, and think of us if it's warm near you because here it's only 50 degrees! :D

8:41 PM

A Pleasant Saturday...

Hello! This post will be a little confusing.....the pictures are totally out of the order I want them in, but we'll make do. Anyway, yesterday (Saturday) was pleasant!...wow, I sound so extremely cheesy. Starting with the 6th picture from the top, where Daisy is eating hay, those are the pictures I took yesterday morning. The sun was shining and it was so pretty out....you really can't capture it on camera. The picture of Daisy grazing was taken yesterday afternoon. We rotate her between 4 grass paddocks, and we let her go in that one for the first time yesterday, so she was really happy. Now, the first pictures of the cat were taken at the same time as the picture of Daisy eating grass. We are opening a German restaurant this summer, and we have to grow hops for decorating the outside seating. My dad was putting rope on the side of our house so the hops can grow up it. Well, cat's LOVE string, and our cats thought that big thing of string was awesome! It was so funny to watch them play with it. The fourth one down shows Groenemeyer with the string-he crouched and bolted into the bundle, and then he ran away trailing it! The other one is just Genevieve playing and sitting on our bird feeder, watching the action.

I also had a very nice ride yesterday morning with Stephanie and her Appaloosa mare, Shania. We went riding on my road and my trail and her trail, and it was a lot of fun, and both horses liked to see another of their kind! More pictures of that will come later, in another post.

7:53 AM