Today’s weather was totally weird, sort of humid/hot/cold/weird before-the-storm sort of weather. When the sun went behind the clouds you wanted to be inside but when it flashed back out it was too beautiful out to resist. I spent the morning cleaning out my trailer and washing Desire’s tack, getting ready to leave Friday for Rides of March. I washed her pommel pack, bridle, reins, and breast collar in the washing machine (hey, I rinsed it after..) and sprayed down her mohair girth and saddle pad; after they dried out the hair scraped right off so that worked surprisingly well.

One of her front Gloves had lost the screw that holds the gaiter on at the back and the washer part on the inside was crammed halfway through the screw hole. I was a little worried it had stretched the hole too much and would make repair a PITA but a new screw, washer, and the other inside screw-y end–careful, scientific terms here–all went together smoothly and the boot is good to go! I also took the Power Strap off the spare size 0 Glove I got from N. I’ve asked her to look for a used size 1 Glove at the AERC convention this weekend and I’m so hoping she finds one, but if not I do have an old-style clamp Easyboot in size 1 that I will carry for now. Rides of March is supposed to be mostly sandy, friendly footing but I just have to know that I have some sort of spares at my disposal.

I’ve never used a cantle pack before so it was entertaining putting the snazzy new blue cantle pack on my saddle. I got it to where I think I want it and filled it with the spare Easyboots, my med kit, leather strings for random repairs, spare snaps, and a roll of vet wrap. It has two water bottles on it and I have 2 water bottles in my pommel pack and usually wear my CamelBak for my water. I ordered some E-Lyte human electrolytes that i’ll be adding to my drinking water to help in my quest to avoid heat stroke and such-like ill feelings at endurance rides.

I’ve decided I’ll pack Desire’s fleece cooler and winter blanket but also Blaze’s cooler and winter blanket for spares in case the weather is really shitty. Right now NOAA.gov says Reno weather will be: Friday: Rain likely. Cloudy and breezy, with a high near 57 and Saturday: A chance of snow. Cloudy and breezy, with a high near 45. So not very encouraging on the weather front, but could definitely be worse! Our forecast for the next week here calls for rain, starting tonight, but there is no actual front headed our way on the radar so far, so who knows. 

My mare has officially gone springtime cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Or cuckoo for something she ain’t gonna get around here, anyway! As much as Blaze *thinks* he is a studly man (and yes he had been known to mount mares in pasture, despite his gelding status) he isn’t one! But if you judged by the way Desire is acting, he is the sexiest beast around and the father of her future babies. Yesterday she ran herself into a lather screaming for Blaze when he wandered down the hill to the other end of his pasture. I mean dripping, lathered sweat! At mealtime, generally Desire’s favorite time of day, she didn’t even eat her mash at first because she was too busy parking her rear end against Blaze’s gate. Good ole Blaze is blissfully smelling the proffered rear end any time it’s available, of course. I have no doubt if they were in the same pasture right now he would get some big ideas in his head, and that is why I’m grateful to have multiple paddocks to keep the madness at a minimum. 

Okay, it just shows how ignorant I am of bloodlines, and by ignorant I mean *mostly* not very interested in the whole bloodline thing. BUT since acquiring Desire, and then going through the whole Sweepstakes/registry process with Sheza, I have had my eyes opened a little by bloodline-saavy friends. Still, somehow I didn’t realize until Dian from Global pointed out last night that our new little Joey is a Haat horse! See his registered name is DF Touch of Mojo, because at time of naming, early on, my friend L (the breeder) thought her other little stallion Mojo had snuck in there and was the daddy. But when they went to register and did the DNA, Joey’s dad was in fact the intended stallion, their other stallion: barn name Maverick, registered name RS Haat Flash. Son of Pico Haat Shaat! Desire is daughter of Blitzen of Pico, who’s dad is Pico Haat Shaat–and therefor, they have the same darn grandpa! The Global folks LOVE Pico horses and were so excited that our new addition just so happens to be a Pico Haat horse, despite not having it in his name. He certainly has the luxurious forelock, mane, and tail that Desire, Sheza, and the Global Pico horses all exhibit! Of course this means that Joey’s Grandpa is Sheza’s great-Grandpa, so she might have to keep dreaming on him being her boyfriend 😉

Joey’s dad, RS Haat Flash, turns 20 this year and still lives in all his glory at L’s. He is a BEAUTIFUL animal. I’ll have to get her to send me a photo of him to share on here.

Joey was in position in the shed this morning, ready for his warm beet pulp mash. He had eaten some hay but got 2 mashes yesterday and all the grass in the paddock to himself so I think he just can’t eat fast enough to get through it all, lol. He is really very cool, he just isn’t spooky and that characteristic never fails to warm my heart, especially in an Arab, especially after dealing with Desire and Sheza–hah! If I spend too much time around the ladies I start seeing creatures hiding in the shadows and behind all the stumps, maybe questioning my sanity a little–then I go hang with Blaze, and now Joey, and things just don’t seem to be so scary 😉

Welcome to the family Joey–but you were already part of it! 🙂

Luxurious Pico hair genes!

Or..If you forget your saddle pad and end up riding using a random blanket from the truck as a saddle pad….you might be a redneck…?

My husband had a great spontaneous idea for us to throw a horse in the trailer, his fishing rods in the Bomber, and head down to the lake together. I decided Blaze was overdue for some trail time and loaded him up. Bless his heart, I must mention that after 6 months without being in the trailer (time off after last season’s saddle fit issues, been riding him from home) he hopped right into the trailer without hesitation. He was sweaty and had nervous cow pie poops in the trailer, like he used to when I first got him, but I know he’ll chill out with a few more times out.

We parked near the diversion pool where J fishes, at a spot conveniently large enough to turn around, with direct access to my usual lake trails. I hopped out all excited, opened my trailer tack door and immediately saw  that my saddle pad was missing. That would be because I am so over the top on color coordinating that I pulled Desire’s blue saddle pad out so I could put his green pad in. Except I never put the pad in. So there I was on a perfect gorgeous afternoon at the lake with no saddle pad. Well I briefly considered trying the saddle without any sort of pad but couldn’t make myself do it. Then J spotted the very navajo-esque blanket I keep in the truck for my chihuahua, Georgia, to sleep under when she’s cold (and if it’s under 70 degrees, she is cold). I was dubious but I REALLY didn’t want miss an awesome chance to ride Blaze and with his winter coat and the sultry weather I knew riding bareback wouldn’t be fun for long. So I folded that random blanket in half, then took another fold in the front to sort of lock it in and make it the right length on his very short back, and strapped the saddle on that puppy.

My husband took a few cool pics of us. In the top one the big “hill” behind us is Oroville Dam. Below that I rode down the road a little ways with J to where he heads off to fish and Blaze was snorty snort snort at everything and standing on his Arab tippy toes, not wanting to go forward. There is a mountain lion in that area (that’s the spot our lab, Tady, ran off up a hill and came back with claw marks down his chest and shoulder) and we wondered if he smelled something because he was NOT pleased and it’s not like Blaze to make a big fuss over nothing. Still, cool photos:

We hit the trail around 3:30 pm, and ended up riding down to the Lakeland tunnel and back, some along the water and some winding on the trails above the water-side trail. It was about 7 miles in a leisurely hour and a half, I didn’t ask a lot of Blaze, just some nice trots along the flats, and I was paranoid as all get out the whole ride that my ghetto saddle pad was going to ruin him, or even just rub, either way, oohhhh nooo what was I doing to my horse?!

We wandered back to the trailer around 5 and I held my breath as I untacked the Blazer–and discovered almost perfectly even sweat marks! There was a bit of ruffed hair at the shoulder areas but that seemed to be more saddle fit than anything else, and I had changed my shimming for today as I didn’t think I had adequately thick shims at the hollows behind his shark withers. Yeah, he is a special shaped horse. But anyhoo my cheesy saddle pad improvisation worked a charm!

Blaze was dogging it on the last mile or so to the trailer but I’m pretty sure that was more the warm weather and semi-confusion at being on the trail again than being truly tired. Who knows. I had almost forgotten how incredibly painfully slowly he walks, I can literally walk twice as fast on foot and it makes it hard to appreciate the ride sometimes. I’m sooo impatient! Sometimes it feels like we’re going to go backwards he walks so slowly!! Desire’s brisk walk and smooth gaits have really spoiled me, but Blaze is the dearest soul in the world and I’m glad I got to spend a gorgeous evening on the trails with him.

My husband made an amazing dinner and when I went snooping in the freezer I discovered he had bought Ben & Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch too! Ohhh heaven, after spin class this morning and an evening ride, I’m digging in!

Tomorrow morning I’m going to pick up a new animal friend. I’m bringing the horse trailer 🙂