Chapter 3: Crisis Averted

I used to be amazed at how much stuff I had to pack to take my babies out for just a few hours. However, that was a piece of cake compared to going away to a horse show.

Earlier in the week Ed suggested that I would not need the truck for the weekend since I was paying someone to haul Steele. I didn't even try to hide my laughter. He was a bit peeved but I did point out that putting hay in the volkswagon might not be the best idea.
"oh you need to bring your own hay?"
"yes dear I do"

I began making up my list a few days before (thank heavens for Iphone apps):

• saddle, girth, bridle
• extra pair of reins
• 2 saddle pads
• 3 bales of hay
• 2 bales of shavings
• feed
• feed tub, water bucket
• strap to hang the water bucket
• hook for bridle and halter
• extra halter and leads
• grooming kit
• show sheen
• braiding equipment
• bucket for bathing
• pitchfork
• broom
• wheelbarrow
• saddle rack
• lunge whip and line
• towel
• sweat scraper
• fly spray
• hairspray
• big plastic tote on wheels to hold a bunch of the stuff listed above
• carrots. god, don't forget the carrots!

And that's not even my stuff. When I left the truck was packed to the brim. In fact, if I didn't have Cynthia I think that it would have taken a lot longer. She has the gift of being able to pack like it's a giant 3D puzzle. I just kept handing her stuff and watching it disappear. 

When I arrived I set up Steele's stall. I realized then that I had forgotten to bring water from our place. Sometimes horses don't like strange water and will refuse to drink. In my defense for forgetting I was still recovering from the flu and Irish never refused water. Since Steele is less of a fuss-bucket than Irish I figured that we would be okay. However, by 1:00 he still hadn't drank anything. I watched him sniff the water and turn away repeatedly. I began to fret. He hadn't had a drink since 7:30 that morning. Some people gave suggestions of putting apple juice or a sweetener in the water but that has never been successful. 

I was beginning to think that I needed to drive home and pick up some water but I decided to try one more thing. I took a flake of hay and I soaked it. Once it was completely soaked and dripping I put it in his stall. I figured that if he ate it he would get some fluid that way. I was pleased to see him hoe right into it. Thirty minutes later and he drank half of his bucket! Yay. Success. I think that eating the hay allowed him to get used to the taste of the water. After that he drank like he normally does and there were no further issues. 

How long is your list? 

Chapter 2: The Attack of the Killer Flowers

I let Steele chill in his stall for a couple hours while I hung about and acted as his social director.

"is this Steele?"
"yes"
"I love reading about him on the blog"
"thank you"

Around lunch time I figured he had been admired enough and took him out for a walk. I had permission from the show manager to take him into the ring during lunch so that he could see everything. We moseyed around the grounds, peeked in the warm up ring and headed to the main ring.

I should explain that the ring is inside a hockey arena. In the summer they bring in dirt and take out some of the glass. It can be a bit freaky for horses the first few times. The entrance is through a huge open door that leads into the arena. It's used to let in the Zamboni in the winter and the ring drag in the summer. Irish refers to it as the "cavern of death". The first part is an open area with bits and pieces stored along the edges. The next area leads to the arena. To the left is along corridor that is the perfect hiding place for horse eating trolls. Steele walked in warily but he didn't bulk and followed me right in.

We walked around looking at everything. I then stopped down at 'A' and allowed him to look around.

Note where his gaze is fixed. These are artificial flowers used as decoration.

When he asked to move closer I thought 'oh good' and let him sniff them. Suddenly he grabbed the fake grass in the middle and pulled back. With that the flower pot came flying at his head like it was spring loaded and the flowers flew wildly. Startled he leapt backwards and then stood stock still, surrounded by a litter of flowers with the fake grass sticking out of his mouth. His eyes were big and he looked at me
"whoa, did you see that? Those flowers attacked me! " he chewed "and this grass tastes funny"
I'm laughing so hard that I can barely stand. I try to pull the grass out of his mouth but he's resisting. I finally get it out and hand it to my friend who is gathering up the flowers and stuffing them back into the pot before we get in trouble.

Three hours in and we're still creating a sensation.

Steele and Teresa's Awesome Adventure - Chapter 1

So Steele and I are back from what turned out to be an incredible experience. As I was enjoying myself I was mentally logging things that I could blog about later. I have too many things to put in one post so I'm going to do in instalments. Like the serial novels that they used to publish in Newspapers Not that I'm equating myself with such greats as Charles Dickens. I am simply a woman keeping an on-line journal that some people seem to enjoy. I hope that I don't bore you too much. I find myself quite easily entertained with the small stuff.

Travelling in Style

Due to some last minute hiccups with my trailer I had to hire someone to pick us up saturday morning. I woke up really early and could not get back to sleep. After laying there for a while mentally reviewing my packing list I decided to get up and feed. I fed both horses and then let them out for a bit before James came with the trailer. We had settled on 8 a.m. as a very civilized time to depart. At 7:30 I stood up to refill my coffee mug and saw Irish staring at the road. I followed his gaze and saw the trailer parked there. I went out, brought in the two horses and walked down to meet this man that I was trusting my baby with.  He seemed nice enough and I showed him where he could pull in for loading Steele. I explained that it was his first time travelling since he arrived at my place a few years ago (really? has it been that long? Seems like yesterday). He had brought a big stock trailer with two box stalls. He said that these are good for the young horses because they can move around.

 I walked Steele up and he sniffed at it curiously. I stepped up (it was a step up trailer) and he jumped up beside me. When he did that it rattled a bit which startled him. He danced a little but when he saw that I wasn't panicking he calmed down. I walked him to the back and James closed the stall door. Steele looked around and was definitely up, but not too stressed. We let him figure out where he was and that there was hay (life is always better with hay). James and I discussed the best route. At the end of our road, if you go left it's the most direct to the highway but very twisty. If your go right it's more straight. We settled on right. I watched him leave with my baby, did a quick trip to the barn to check on things and was heading to my truck when I saw that Ed had let the dogs out. I brought them back in, gave Ed last minute instructions on Irish and left in the truck. 

It took a long time to catch up to James. Not that he was driving fast- he wasn't but I had dilly-dallied too long. I was just beginning to wonder if he hadn't turned left after all and I had passed him (what if he broke down and you missed it? Shut up head! James has my cell he'd call. Not if he crashed. Knock it off) when I saw him ahead. I followed the rest of the way. I have to say that he gave Steele a nice and easy ride. 

The show grounds are about an 80 minute drive so it doesn't take too long.  When I went to get Steele I could see that he was alert but he was neither sweated nor stressed. And all his hay was gone. I walked him to the edge and James told me to not be surprised if he hesitates. "some horses leap off, others take a while". I gave him the lead line figuring that he was more experienced than I was. Steele was funny- sniffing the edge of the 'cliff', peeking down and looking at me. James rubbed his head and said "doesn't matter to me if you take 3 hours buddy. You take your time." Since I was paying him by the km and not the hour I was impressed with that. I realized that my friend had been completely correct in her recommendation. James and I chatted idly for about 15 minutes when I saw Steele ready him self and carefully bring his front end onto the ground. Now he was half on-half off the trailer. Three seconds later he was totally off. He looked quite pleased with himself. And rightly so. 

I rubbed his forehead. 

"Now we're going to walk over to that big barn. When we get there there's going to be lots of excitement- horses, riders, servants etc. Don't worry. I'm with you"

"okaaay"

He followed me through the parked cars and trailer up to the barn just like we were home. At the door of the barn I hesitated to give him a chance to take it all in. We then walked in and up to his stall. 

Now I should explain about his stall. In the Windsor Exhibition Show Grounds there is an ancient barn with stalls of all types. Knowing that Steele can escape at times I booked him into a big one made out of portable panels. that way I knew he'd be safe. So there is a cement ledge on which sits the pipe of the portable stall. All in all it's about 4 inches high. Steele looked at that and froze. He could not figure out how to step over it. He tried once and banged his toe so he stopped. 

"sorry, it's blocking me. I can't get in"

My neighbours came over to help. A couple were gently tapping on his hind quarters while I urged him from the front. I even tried treats. Nope. He wasn't refusing, he just couldn't figure out how to do it. I also think that he enjoyed the attention. After about 10 minutes of this I asked Danielle to hold the lead line and I went up and took his front leg. He's used to me lifting it to stretch out the skin after I tighten the girth. This time I picked up his right leg and placed it into the stall. 

So now picture this adorable young Andalulsian with one leg in, three legs out while three women are coaxing him in and he's completely frozen. Like a statue. 

With a sigh I take a hold of his left leg and place it inside. Now he's half in -half out. In 10 seconds the penny drops and he goes 'oh!" and comes in as nice as you please. I thanked my helpers. One thing I love about the shows here is that everyone goes out of their way to be supportive and helpful. 

We had arrived and were already getting attention. 

do not tell that story! 

um, where's Irish?

It's too late now....

To back out. I feel much better today- just little to no stamina. However, all my preparations for our big 'Road Trip' are done.

I think.

I'm just sitting here now and trying to not entertain visions of all of the potential disasters or how I will make an idiot of myself.

Part of me knows that I'm over thinking it. The other part does not care about things like logic and reason.


But it's too late. Today I gave Steele a thorough bath, cleaned all the brushes and packed everything on my list. The truck is full. Irish knows that something is up. He's been to enough shows to recognize the signs. He's been keeping a close eye on me as I bustle about. I hope that he doesn't pine too much being alone for the weekend.

The plan is that the hauler I hired arrives early tomorrow to take Steele to grounds. I will follow in my truck. For Saturday and Sunday we will hang about and absorb all the bustle. I hope to lunge and ride him in the warm up and at least walk him in the show ring when it's now being used.  On monday we're in a lesson with the judge. I've done clinics with him in the past and really like his style. I have to keep my goals for this weekend clear in my head:

1. stay alive
2. help Steele realize how much showing can be
3. have quiet(ish) rides on him
4. do a braid that will stay in for the lesson
5. not make a fool of myself or let Steele down

Those seem  reasonable. 

I tried  Steele's black bridle on today and it's now too small. So we'll have to ride in his brown schooling one. I hope that it's not too awful that I'll be riding in a brown bridle and black saddle.

no one will be looking at my tack with me to look at!

A bit of curve ball

Yesterday was another lovely day. Cynthia came out again to join me in riding. When I went to get Steele he gave me a bit of a look but came in easily enough. The weather was once again warm.  I  noticed in the cross ties he was napping. When I got on he was a bit sluggish.
"Don't you think it's too hot?"
"Nope, we'll be fine"
"but it seems that we should just enjoy the sun and, I don't know, have a nap"
"after"
"sigh"

After a bit of encouragement he picked up and we could work. I even introduced the concept of leg yield at a trot. It was a baby one but hey, we moved from the quarter line to the fence and he was not worried about it.

After I opened the gate from his back and we headed out to hack around the field. Once again he led Irish. It was funny, this time he noticed stuff that he walked by with no issues yesterday. One was the pile of rail ties- the sun and leaves were creating a dappled shade. But he went by with a bit of encouragement. The other was my trailer. We let Irish go first at this point.

Later Cynthia and I headed to the Petite Riviere Winery. After tasting we each bought a bottle of 'Rissers Breeze". If you can find it, I highly recommend it.

However, later that afternoon I began to feel ill. I went to bed and woke up with the flu. So that meant today I've been laying around feeling sorry for myself. But I have to get better because I have big plans for the weekend:

 On saturday Steele and I are heading to a local dressage show. We're not actually showing, we're just hanging out. I want him to experience a show environment without the stress of competing. I will play it by ear but I hope to ride in the warm up and take him into the ring during the ribbons. On monday the judge is giving a clinic and I signed us up for it. *gulp*.

In preparation I've been working on teaching Steele to load. I even brought Royce out to do a session. Here's a video clip.  In this he'd finished teaching him to load on one side and was getting him to load on the other. You can see Steele is confused by this.

"Okay, I'll get in. 
Wait, you're in my way.
 Um., just move a bit and I'll get right on. 
Hey buddy you're in my way. 
Oh, you want me to go in this side? Why didn't you say so? 

Wish us luck.

Off to a Good Start

Day 1 of the stay-cation was brilliant. The weather was sunny and warm but with a nice breeze. I got up early and went for a run. Then my friend Cynthia came and we tacked up the horses for a ride.

 I wish I could accurately describe how incredibly rideable Steele is. I took off the grab strap last month because I wasn't using it. I find that as long as I stay balanced in my aids and don't over do (which I tend to do) he will find me. Our bending through corners is getting much better and our circles are getting to look like circles. Yesterday I worked on a figure 8 with the goal being to maintain the bend and rhythm and switch. Like all horses there are parts where he wants to bulge out and parts where he wants to fall in but now I'm starting to figure those out and am working on preventing them before they happen. We're doing a lot more cantering too. The right canter is farther along than the left but we're getting there. I find that he's seeking the contact more and more and is very steady in his head (most of the time). And he's just so dang comfortable. When we were done the ride I put the dogs in the barn and we went for a short hack around the edge of the field. Steele led the whole way and was completely calm. I kept a somewhat shorter rein just in case but I didn't need it. In fact I was more concerned that the red head might spook behind us and create an issue. But that didn't happen either.

I could watch them all day. Look how light Steele is getting

After our ride we had a drink on the deck (cranberry and ginger ale- I highly recommend it). I ran into town for a few chores and then took the dogs to the lake for a swim. I sat outside under the oak tree and read a book and then it was time for supper and evening chores. The light was golden so before I went to work I grabbed the camera for a photo shoot.  I finished up watching a movie on netflix and eating chips.

By the time I hit my bed I was like a kid after a long day at camp: exhausted but happy. I know that I'm fifty but some days I feel like I'm 12. Well inside anyway. My joints and muscles seem to delight in telling me how old I am.

Stay-Cations

Today I started a short vacation and I'm spending it at home. I love these stay-cations- letting each day decide itself.

Not that I don't have plans. I am continuing to progress with the 'couch to 5 km' program I started. I am so close to the 5 km goal that I should achieve it this week. I no longer feel like a lumbering bear, more like a uncoordinated lab puppy.  I want to tackle tack cleaning and cleaning of the tack room.

And ride. I plan to ride every day. Yes- every day.

What could be better?

I understand why you would be excited, but EVERY day? 

And I have a huge plans for the weekend. Steele and I are going on a road trip.