So I had a beautiful, cool morning cruise with either a ground covering business trot or a Lippizan-worthy prance, alternately. I hit the perfect time of morning where work traffic has left and near-noon traffic hasn’t started, so the dirt roads were dead quiet and I got a lot of trotting in, covering about the same distance as I did yesterday on Desire, but ten or so minutes faster despite over a mile of pavement to walk on. The woolly man was sweaty but by the time we were walking home he was all dry and fluffy again.

 Eyeballing the Neighborhood Terror, Donkey #1.

It’s a beautiful warm day so Blaze got a bath and then gave himself a prompt dirt spa follow-up. Rain is forecast for the next few days and I am happy to say I *finally* finished stripping my 6 giant stalls down to bare bones, ready for winter. I still need to decide what sort of bulk bedding to invest in, I’m leaning towards shavings but they sure aren’t cheap!

Hope everyone is happy that the election nonsense is over and is out enjoying this beautiful weather like I am!!

 After a great visit with my mom I was ready to hit the trails this morning. My custom bridle from Distance Depot came on Saturday and I was itching to try it out. As you can see it’s just a thin strip of beta attached to the bit and not quite visible is a loop at the poll that goes around the halter and pops back onto itself so there is some sort of security without the brow/throat latch/noseband.

 It went on really easily and Desire didn’t sling her head with the simple slip over the ears, not having to pull her right ear through the browband seemed to solve the problem as I had hoped. I checked it throughout the ride to make sure it wasn’t too thin and biting into her poll but she seemed comfortable in it and it’s very light and easy to tie onto the saddle which I did at the end of the ride as I was walking in. I love having the rope halter on her so there is some bite there if I need it. Overall, VERY happy with a very affordable custom piece.

5 miles out from the trailer I stopped at the local fishing hole just to see and Guess What–my husband was there! He was just getting into his truck to head home but it was nice to catch each other and our mini doxie, Wilbur, hung out with me in the saddle for a while 😉

 Lots of grass sprouting along the trails and Desire was happy to grab mouthfuls as well as turning her head back for the occasional bite of carrot. She pooped and drank and grazed but held her pee again until back at the trailer. *eyeroll*

 Miss D started out pretty mellow but got balky on the way home. She wasn’t as forward as usual today and I thought I felt a few funny steps in her hind end. You know how when you ride alone and think you feel something and then would give anything for a riding buddy to watch and see if your horse looks sound?!! Yeah, that happened. I got off and walked a couple of times, and watched her walk a couple of times too, she looked sound and felt mostly sound but once those things are in your mind it’s hard to make them go away without backup opinions at hand.

 Now we know where Sheza’s cranky white-eye look came from! GIVE ME CARROT

 I activated the haunch pressure points lightly and evenly with hoof picks and her spine popped a bunch of times like when the bodywork gal did it last week. This muddy Desire pcitured below is muddy because she was washed–and then she rolled and rolled!

Definitely much more frequent rolling since the back adjustment and further pressure point attention from me. I am happy with the Renegades, loving the Woolback pad for her, and like her new bridle however I am concerned about arthritis in her hind end/stifle popping/mysterious weird steps I felt. She is on Smartpak Smartflex III supplements currently, with electrolytes and salt daily in her mashes. I’ll be keeping a close eye on things and hopefully am just being paranoid!

 She wanted to be scared of the cart but there was FOOD in it. WHAT, free choice FOOD in this annoying tie contraption?! She can hardly believe her luck

 Suited up for battle

 Left front, ready for a trim

 Left front, shedding out sole, finding those heels, cleaning some heel tags, about ready for a mustang roll

nipping away

 Who needs a hoof stand?! Oh wait, I do, this is really hard! haha

 Left front about done, right front untouched

 always watching

 4 hooves done, looks about right!

 Sheza-brat 🙂

 Napoleon/Bandito gets a GOOD workout while his ladies are gone, he gallops and squeals and protests until he’s wringing wet! 

 Have you hugged your turkey today?

Desire’s extra lightweight custom bridle from Distance Depot came yesterday, I look forward to trying it out! It’s basically just a strip of beta that will attach to the bit, put that on over her rope halter, with a loop at the poll that wraps around the halter for some security. I hope it will help both of us–she is sensitive behind her right ear, hates having it pulled through the brow band and sometimes slings her head quite hard away from it, putting my head in danger if I don’t move quickly. The bodywork gal I had out last week found Desire was out of adjustment on the right side poll and worked on it quite a bit but it seems to always be a bit of a sensitive spot for Desire so I hope this simple light bridle with no brow band will be more comfortable for her. For me, having the rope halter there under it will be nice for handling her when she’s feeling Haat!

Off for a Sunday constitutional around the neighborhood with my mom, I  think we’ll take Georgia dog and Sheza-filly–I’ll let you guess which one I’ll have my mom lead    😉

My husband made it home early yesterday and I suddenly found myself with a few free hours and a truck and trailer already hooked up and loaded–what could I do but grab a horse and hit the trails! It was way past Blaze’s turn to get some time out without ponying a greenie so I loaded him up and went for a nice 10 mile ride at the lake by my self. It was peaceful and actually refreshing to ride Blaze who, while very lofty at the trot and as such not super comfortable, is extremely responsive and light in the bridle and doesn’t have the “No, I know better” initial reaction to my every request, like a certain white mare we know. I rode him in his S hack which means he didn’t collect worth a damn but being a little snorty at the trails he hasn’t seen in a while kept him rounded and in decent form most of the time. 😉   I can almost think where I want him to go and he does it, now if I can just work him over some cavalleti and get him picking up his front feet better THAT would be good. He’s actually better with his feet than Desire in that he does look for the best line to take on a trail instead of just blundering forward over whatever is in front because he Must Win the (nonexistent) Race, like D does. 

 I just love the picture below. Someone on Facebook commented it looks like he is folding his hooves and saying a little prayer before he drinks, haha! I was thinking he was clicking his heels together in hopes of whirling back to his paddock and avoiding the workout that was to come. Either way, he is very cute and like I said, not the best with his front feet…Yes, he is standing *on* himself, he does that sometimes.

 my little dragonheaded steed

 You can hardly see the neck for the winter coat!

We did the same 10 mile loop Desire and I did with N on Saturday, but Blaze and I cut an hour off the time without even planning to, just having a good time and some nice trots out on the beautiful fall lake trails.

There is a night of rain forecast tomorrow but otherwise lots of sunny, cool, ideal riding weather in the forecast. I’ve been having lots of familial drama in the last month but my mom is finally able to break free from her coastal obligations and come visit later this week, so I’ve taken her up on that opportunity instead of going to the Lake Sonoma ride this weekend. I was pretty ambivalent about Lake Sonoma to begin with and sometimes you just need to spend some time supporting and enjoying family. There *are* some rumblings of a redhead Death Valley adventure in December, however! Stay tuned.

 Toting hind boots

 Notice anything odd about this tree? Eagle eye N did as I rode blithely plast it blabbering

 Desire was in *a mood* today. A hinky, spooky, balky, MARE mood! Oh and don’t forget space cadet–this morning she lost focus during the 10 seconds of trailer loading process, looked away at the last minute, followed her head, and walked right into the trailer door itself before I could stop her. Talk about unfocused forward momentum! She did the same with the solid metal caution poles out on the trail, glancing away in forward motion and almost crashing into it, though this time I steered her unfocused feet around it before too much impact. *le sigh* The grace of Arabians. Something interesting though, Miss Never-Rolls (and I do mean almost never rolls) dropped right to the ground in her pasture and had herself a good roll after her bath this afternoon. Makes me wonder if that back adjustment didn’t do her some real good!

Post ride clean-up

 Our giant pumpkin finally stopped growing. My husband really wants to move it, something perhaps best prepped for before the thing weighed 900 lbs. 🙂

Can we move this thing? Sheza can’t wait to find out

 My husband and with the pumpkin and the Sheza photo bomber

 Hot mashes for all

 I trimmed Sheza’s fronts in an epic battle on Sunday, and today while waiting for the equine bodywork gal to make it out for Desire, I trimmed Sheza’s hinds. She was much better for the hinds and I got them done in half the time, taking out lots of old gunky sole and shedding frog, and take plenty of toe. Now we are back around to Desire again, she’s got some toe to take off, and I did Blaze’s fronts the other day but need to do his hinds. I am loving having the knowledge, power, and good tools to be able to take care of my horse’s hooves whenever and wherever I want!

The equine bodywork was a good experience! I have used 3 or 4 different people now and I liked this lady the best and will have her back if I need anyone. Desire’s shoulders and hips were out of whack, as well as her spine crackling like popcorn back into place when she hit the pressure points in the quarters that trigger them to lift their frame. Desire was very snarky faced in reaction to some of the work, no doubt it was uncomfortable, but the releases were obvious in her softened eye, licking and chewing, and head shaking, if not obvious audibly and visibly! I had the lady look at Blaze as well but as usual he was declared quite loose and well adjusted. She found the comparison of two of the same age horses quite interesting, and I have to agree. Blaze and Desire are both 16 (Blaze give or take a year, he isn’t papered), and from what I know Blaze has been used harder in his life. Desire was started late and while trail ridden, only did 2 50s, as a 14 yr old, before I got her. Blaze was passed around a lot in life, has done everything from gymkhana to working cows to being a lesson horse to a couple hundred miles of LDs. Blaze rolls multiple times every day, stretches on his own time, and is quite flexible. Desire never rolls, doesn’t stretch much, and is overall a tenser and more uptight horse. Her flexibility isn’t as good and she is overall stiffer and creakier than Blaze. Interesting!

And now some pics of my beautiful filly!

 Naughty about to spazz face

 Never go anywhere without your SuperTurkey sidekick

 What’re you doing?? Trying to take your picture, go away. Why? What are you doing??

Always curious about what’s going on Out There

 Critters ready for some sunlight after the storm

 A look at the flaxen potential of Sheza’s glorious mane!

 It’s really gotten long!

 “Who me?” Joey

You’re annoying. Blaze