It's a real drag

literally.

when we bought our property we needed to put in all the things for a proper equestrian establishment. I wanted a full size dressage ring for working in. Since we owned the property for about a year before moving in I spent that year traipsing around the fields in all sorts of weather to see what the best spot was. I discovered that the top of the hill had the best drainage and there was often a nice breeze to carry away the bugs. I claim no expertise in ring construction but I've ridden in many many rings. I asked various people about their ring- what did they love, what would they do different, what would they recommend. I tried to get some estimates. I had one from a recommended company. The quote said, essentially- 1 20 x 60 metre ring $20,000. We didn't have that kind of money and besides it didn't outline what we'd actually get. A few never returned my call. In the end we decided to be our own subcontractors. We armed ourselves with lots of advice from knowledgeable people and went for it. We hired a company to clear and level the spot. I was very clear- it needed to be square and had to measure 66' by 200'. The day the guy finished I was away. Ed refused to pay him until I gave my okay. I came home and measured. It was off on one side. I phoned and said that I would pay when it was done. The owner was annoyed- not with me but by his worker who screwed up. they fixed it the next day.

We then left it all winter to settle. In the spring we borrowed a harrow and brought up a ton of rocks. We then spent a few weeks raking them by hand and moving them with the tractor. I actually developed tennis elbow from all the raking. I also determined that I wanted a sand and rubber mix. Being in Canada, the frost can stay in the ground for a while. Every outdoor ring that I've ridden in that had rubber stayed usable much longer. I investigated various sand types. I went to quarries and brought home samples and then showed them to my personal 'expersts' for opinions. I settled on a natural sand of mixed sizes. I sourced some rubber locally (score!) and hired a friend's partner to haul the rubber for me. The sand came first and we spread it using the tractor and the rake (more elbow pain). Then the rubber was delivered. Irish was quite excited by it, Steele not so much.

I love my ring. it's absolutely fabulous to ride in a full size ring. There is so much more you can do with geometry. And the view is pretty nice too. :)

There are two more things left to do. One is to get a real drag. I would have loved one of those fancy drags but it's not in the budget this year (not if I want to keep my other plans). I settled on this- one side is smooth to level and the other had teeth to bring up the compacted sand. It should be here soon.

How geeky am I that I find this exciting??

The is the way we wash our.....

sheath.

yes.

it's that time of year.

Let me explain for those of you who have never heard of this- a horse's penis retracts into their belly. Not because it's cold out but so that it's out of the way. You can imagine trying to gallop across the plains with that slapping around your hocks. The pocket of skin that the penis retracts into is called a 'sheath'.

This sheath needs to be cleaned periodically. Now I'm not that obsessed about it and I tend to leave it alone. Irish is done about once a year or less. I've noticed that Steele's has been looking a bit. Well. Grungy.

I've spent the past several months getting him desensitized to me messing around there. Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking. Horse ownership is not all rainbows and kittens you know.

Last weekend I decided it was time. I boiled some water, a towel and grabbed the 'Excalibur'

After 5 minutes of 'soaking' it was time to rinse. He actually was pretty good about it all, despite how personal I got. Although he did dance a few times and was a little bit non-plussed by the whole thing.

He's now squeaky clean.

And for your viewing pleasure, I give you....

The Sheath Cleaning Song: 

A Dog Story

Not only am I owned by 2 horses but I also belong to two dogs.

d'Arcy is my border collie. He's lovable, goofy and essentially a lab disguised as a BC:

why yes, I do have a stick. why do you ask/

Belle is my Australian Shepherd. She's a rescue. We got her at 4 years of age after losing our beloved Aussie. She had spent most of her life up to then locked in a cage. She's adapted well to being a princess but has a few issues that require management. When we first got her she would go into defensive barking and growling and would even bite any young man that came into our home. I suspected that she had been teased/abused by young boys because that was the population she reacted too. Now she's pretty good but we are careful of her around guests. Her other issues is dogs. She's not that keen on other dogs. She's also lovable, smart and beautiful.

Last month I was in my bedroom when I spied a canine in the horse's paddock. I thought it was a coyote at first and then realized it was a dog. I then spied the woman from next door calling the dog who came home. Later that day the dog returned. d'Arcy was already outside but I left Belle in the house. I went out to feed the horses and the dog hung around. He seemed okay and quite interested in d'Arcy. After I fed I started walking to the neighbour's house with d'Arcy and the new dog following. I met the woman part of the way. She commented that it was weird that he started coming over after we'd been here for a few years. He is an Australian Cattle Dog named Cooter.  I told her that the horses would chase him out and might kick him. She said that he was used to horses and should be okay. sigh. I then said that while d'Arcy was fine my other dog would likely attack. I just wanted her to be warned. She said okay and then took him home. In the rural area of Nova Scotia people often let their dogs roam.

Fast forward to a few days later and Ed says to me 'when did Belle make a friend?"
"what friend?" I asked.
"that dog" he answered. I looked out and my jaw dropped. There was Belle playing with the new dog. I went outside and they were having fun. The only thing I can figure is that he has such a calm energy that she was not intimidated.

Since that time Cooter has been a regular visitor. He really is a lovable sweetie.

Today when I was driving home I saw Cooter heading along my fenceline to his home. His whole body posture screamed 'sad dog'. As I drove by he stopped, looked at my car and his eyes lit up. I drove in my driveway and looked over to see him trotting with his tail up and his body language saying 'oh good you're home. Can d'Arcy and Belle come out to play?' I let them out and they all had a play. After I had done my chores I took the dogs on a short walk. Cooter came along and then I heard a jingle. Martin the cat decided to come too. Feeling a bit like the pied piper off we went. d'Arcy and Belle were tearing through our woods sniffing everything. Cooter stayed close to me and Martin followed close behind.

When I got back to the house Ed was driving in. We went into the house and Cooter stood on the deck. Ed looks at him and says 'it's time to go home Cooter'. Off he trotted to home.

Country living is full of surprises.

who can resist those eyes?

Do you know what's really cool?

Steele was out in the paddock dozing in the warm spring sun. His ears were floppy, his hind leg cocked and he looked quite relaxed.

 I came out to the barn and called "hey Steele do you want to come play?"

One ear wiggled, then his eye focused. Two ears came forward. I looked at him brightly. With a sigh he came wandering down to the barn.

Now that's cool.

Lunge Session #3

Yesterday spring finally arrived. The sun was warm and it was so pleasant to be outside. I spent the morning doing barn chores and then after lunch I decided it was time to play with the horses. I put on my breeches and went outside.

Irish took one look at me and headed out of the little paddock - he was definitely saying 'um, I think I just want to doze in the sun thank you very much'. Steele of course was hanging around. So by default he was first.

On the left rein he was lovely. Walking, trotting and halting like a pro. He has a tendency to dip in towards me on one part of the circle but I was working on that by pointing the whip at his shoulder to encourage him to move away. I then switched to the right. A little more 'ragged' but still good. But I made a mistake and my brain wandered for a millisecond. In that time frame he took off. Stupid me! But I dropped the whip, went with him and got him back under control. He then switched and went the other way. So I halted him, turned him around and sent him back to the right. But I could see the wheel's turning in his head. Sure enough, he did a quick slam of the brakes and a deke back the other way.

This was not a spook. This was a test. While I was correcting it I was considering how athletic he was. Anyway, I halted him and put him back the way that I wanted. He then tried taking off again. I brought him back and then before he could do his spin I used the whip to get him to move forward (no I didn't hit him). Hmm this was not what he wanted. Again I could see the wheel turning. As he came around I saw him drop his haunches and then take off . I was ready, going with him and keeping him on the circle and not letting him stop. Two more times this was repeated. By now he was getting a bit tired and it was no longer fun. So back to the walk and few walk-halt-walk. A scratch on the nose and we're done.

Walking back to the barn Irish decided to blast by us in the paddock. I didn't even tighten the lead. I just kept walking and said 'easy now'. Steele did a little jig sideways but never came against the lead and then settled at my shoulder again.

After that I rode Irish. He was so good in the ring that after about 30 minutes I decided to go for a hack. Apparently his energy was hiding in the woods because once we got in there he was 'up'. Not spooky (although he could have turned that way) but 'whee'. Of course the footing does not allow for 'whee'. I went on a short hack and on the way home he was trying to barge through the aids to get home. I hate that. I can't hold him because that creates a fight, I can't circle anything because there's no room so I have developed this  technique- half-halt, release, count to 3 and repeat. This way I keep him with me but there's it's short so there's nothing to fight. His 1/2 TB comes to the fore in these times and trying to stop the forward motion all together is losing battle because he begins to spiral mentally and then physically. I have to let him move but in a controlled way. Once we got back to the barn he was 'oh good and tried to amble to a stop'. No way I said. Back up to the ring and more work. I cannot reward bad behavior with a break. So we worked for another 15-20 minutes. And then we were done. As for how Irish is doing he's the same. the medication seems to be keeping him on an even keel right now. Sometimes he has trouble maintaining the right canter, he  really has trouble moving his weight off his forehand. It's tricky trying to find the balance of building/maintaining the right muscles without stressing his spine.

After this Ed and I tightened up the fencing. After the winter it develops some sag. We were closely inspected by Irish and Steele. d'Arcy (my border) and Belle (my aussie) kept us company as well.

By then I was sweaty, tired and dirty. All in all it was a good day.

Spring is in the air.

As you may recall last year I introduced Steele to the concept of lunging. A few weeks ago I brought him out the ring and he was perfect. We worked on walk-halt-walk and walk-trot-walk. He caught on so quickly and seemed quite proud of himself. I kept the session short and sweet so that it was all positive.

Then it snowed. And snowed. And froze. So I couldn't continue the lesson.

Today was my day off. I work extra time so that I have every other Monday off. I love having them off. As luck would have it the weather was actually spring like. I checked out the riding ring and it was pretty bare. That's what I love about rubber- it helps to thaw the ring so that it's usable so much sooner.  I rode Irish first. He did pretty good. I'm trying to figure out what he can do without straining or stressing anything. He definitely felt 'springy'. But because he's 13 and out of shape it doesn't last too long and he doesn't get too carried with it. Steele hung around in the paddock.

Then it was Steele's turn. I brought him in to get him ready. At Christmas time I brought him a set of boots to protect his legs in case he gets silly on the lunge. I put them on and then go myself organized. It was cute- he picked up each foot in turn and waved it about with a look of curiosity on his face. He wasn't upset just not sure.

I led him out of the barn and headed up the hill to the ring. Irish came trotting by us and Steele was NOT impressed that he wasn't allowed to go too. But he listened and stayed beside me, but he was definitely 'up'. He pranced beside me. This time I knew I wasn't in for the calm and easy session as last time. As I prepared the line and whip he stood still beside me but I could feel the vibration. When I let the line out and told him to 'walk on' he interpreted that to mean 'engage in full self-expression'. Unfortunately the ring is not fenced yet. Once it all thaws Ed is going to enclose it for me. That will be helpful for days like today. But for now I need to make do with what I have. While I am not the most graceful of lungers I do have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. The trick with a horse that it is building up a full head of steam is to not try to hold them because that can lead to a fight or, heaven forbid, a wreck. So gave periodic tugs on the halter with the lunge line to keep him off balance and going around me while moving with him. He tried to run off a few times and I just gently brought him back and when he did told him that he was wonderful. Other things that he tried out was to roll (nope) or slam on the brakes and go the other way. A little body language and judicious waving of the lunge whip convinced him that neither was a good idea. I could see that he was not impressed with me impinging on his freedom of expression. Oh well. This is just the start of the many things he will have to learn.

We were settling into the rhythm of the work when something caught his eye in the distance- he slammed on the brakes, his head went to it's full height, his eyes were huge and his ears were so far forward they practically pinged. He then started to snort. This is a really loud sound that horses do when they are alert and considering flight. I don't know what set him off- there could have been deer in the next field or he heard the cow or Belle was chasing mice in the grass. I tried to get him back to work but it wasn't working. His tail was up and his trot was about a foot off of the ground. He would scoot every now and then and I was glad that he had the boots on. I think that there were a few caprioles in there:

I realized that the work was not helping so I asked him to 'whoa'. I then went back to our leading exercise work from last year. I figured that this being 'old lessons' would settle him. And it did. As I walked beside him I concentrated on keeping my body language calm and gave a few deep sighs. This worked well for him. I then decided to walk him over by the 'scary place'. This could have backfired but I had a good sense of it so over we went (I did have a plan if it all went south). He stood stock still staring. I quietly blew and rubbed his shoulder. He then blew gently and lowered his head. This is the opposite of what I would have to do with Irish. If he's all upset over something and I let him look at it he gets worse. If I work him through it and stay in charge then he settle.

After a few minutes I walked Steele away toward the top part of the ring next to Irish.

Through all this Irish was riveted. I could see him watching and I'm pretty sure that he was saying things like 'that's good kid. Try to get a bit more umph into it. That's it!'

At that end of the ring we went back to work. He did so well- walking and trotting to voice commands. There were a couple times when he tried to reverse but I was able to head him off. After a few minutes I told him 'whoa' and then walked up and rubbed his head. He nuzzled me and looked  a bit tired from all of it. We walked back to the barn and I gave him a nice groom. I then took him out to let him loose. I fully expected him to go bursting out to Irish but, no, he turned around and gave me a nuzzle. And then hung out in the barn while I put stuff away watching me.
How cool is that?

Mary Poppins/Mary Schoppins

Today was a wonderful day spent with Cindy- she's a fellow horse person and just a great girl to hang out with. We had a lovely day visiting a tack shop (bought recently by two other friends), lunch out (I have a new love- it's called Peanut Butter Cheesecake!), a run to a used tack sale and ending with visits with friends and seeing their barns/horses. I love days spent with people that you can talk about horses and they never get that far-away tolerant look of non-horsey friends and family.

In one conversation a friend was telling me about how her horses became freaked out by an umbrella. Umbrellas are pretty spooky for horses. I remember early in our show career Irish and I trotted down center line at a schooling show and did a perfect halt at X. At that moment the large patio umbrella providing shade flew up in the air with a gust of wind about 3 feet to land upside down in bushes. it stayed there by "M" fluttering for the rest of our test. All Irish did was shuffle two steps sideways. I couldn't believe that the judge had to nerve to knock us down for 'not staying square at X'.

So tonight when I was giving Irish a nice groom I decided that I should see how Steele reacts to umbrellas. I went out to the car and brought it back in. Irish was wary in his stall but Steele was all "what is it? can I see it? bring it here"

I brought it closer nice and slow keeping it low.

His eyes were big but not with fear but interest.

I raised it up

He sniffed it. And then tried to eat it.

I opened and closed it, like a manic Mary Poppins. His eyes got bigger with excitement "ohhh, cool. Look Irish, it moves! Let me try, Let me try!'

I put it down and brought Steele out to groom. Once we were done grooming I put on my gloves and snapped a lead line on him. We walked up to the umbrella. I picked it up. Steele was still trying to take it from me. I put it up over his head. "hey! what happened to the lights? oh it's up there. Let me sniff. Yup, still the same. Let me put it over your head.'
I moved it down his body both sides.

he yawned.

I put it on his haunches and moved it up his body. He tried to steal Irish's hay.

So I put him in his stall and did one last thing. I walked up and down the aisle way letting it bob and swing. Irish was quite impressed with my performance and made sure I could see how 'brave' he was. Steele, however was eating hay.

Umbrellas.

Nailed it.