Unfortunately I couldn’t get my camera to capture the true purple of it but oh well. Sheza’s blanket, on the other, looks like the part of the movie Tommy Boy where Chris Farley plays “fat guy in a little coat” Maybe not everyone can call up this movie reference in their minds but its a favorite film of my brother and I and its all I could think of when I saw Sheza in her blanket:

 So though we had a very nice desensitizing lesson and progressed from wild eyed panic at the sight and shhing sound of the blanket to wearing said blanket in about 4 minutes, it doesn’t fit her at ALL. I’ll be mailing it back for…a pony size or something? They don’t make the foal blankets any bigger. Kind of annoying but oh well.

Last but not least into the cross ties for grooming was Mr. Blaze, who is keeping himself and the mini Napoleon quite slim and trim with his endless mini herding fun. Since I introduced slivers of the awesome locally grown alfalfa I scored recently into meal times Blaze has changed his push-over tune and is now herding and cutting and terrorizing the mini horse to his heart’s content, just as long as the mini stays away from HIS alfalfa all is well. Actually not really, I’ve noticed Blaze randomly running the mini up and down the hill when no hay is around either. They are together in our biggest pasture that has the arena inside and they run laps down the hill, around the arena, and back up. The mini actually looks good from losing a few pounds due to this exercise and Blaze hasn’t turned back into a hippo which is nice since he has been off work for almost a month now. Can’t wait for that saddle to turn up and get him back on the trail–he clearly has energy to burn!

It finally happened, after months of hemming and hawing (and thinking about it since this time last year) I ordered a Specialized saddle! Earlier this week I put a deposit on a Eurolight model so I can do a trial and make sure its just what I want. I rode in them in Utah last November but haven’t since and since its such a big price tag I figured I better be darn sure it was just the thing for me and my horse herd first! If it works out and I buy the Eurolight model I am totally getting all the little perks, an extra seat, some woolly fenders for riding in shorts…hey, if I’m going to do it I might as well DO IT right? I’ve never owned a new saddle before, in fact I’ve only owned and used two saddles regularly in my whole life. The first was a beautiful little handmade leather English saddle that was given to me by a friend of the family when I was a freshman in high school (prior to that I was either riding lesson horses as a kid in Maine or riding the neighbor’s fat Arab bareback when I arrived in CA at 10). When I got the saddle my mom, granny, and I had just flown back from spending two amazing weeks in Ireland. My granny, who went to college in Ireland and had been traveling there regularly for years, set up this amazing trip from Dublin around to Connemara and then all the way back to Dublin. And what did we do along the way on this drive? RIDE RIDE RIDE. Well I did, my granny and my mom mostly went off sight seeing and tea drinking. Though my mom did join me for one memorable group ride when we were all mounted on Connemara ponies and there was a galloping incident:

Anyhoo. It was the trip of a lifetime. And I’m scheming on when it can happen again. Returning to my main storyline, lost somewhere back before Ireland, on our way home from the airport we stopped to see family friends and the lady of the household offered me her father’s handmade English saddle. Apparently he had been an old time rancher and for some inexplicable reason rode English! Or had an English saddle, anyway. It was a really light, beautiful saddle and I took it home and used it on the gorgeous buckskin Appendix mare I somehow talked my parent’s into buying for me a few months later (credit to the step-dad there, mom didn’t want to spoil me! Huzzah for spoiling, re: horses anyway). Speaking of that buckskin, she was the most gorgeous creature. Phew. Miss her nutty self. I should write about her on here someday. I have trouble sticking to the point, don’t I? After selling the Appendix mare senior year to head off to college in Oregon I next used the little English saddle on the awesome little QH/Welsh pony mare I bought off my best friend for $100. 2 or 3 more years of use after that and then I bought my big panel saddle used from a friend and used that on MANY horses up until my issues with it and Blaze’s back this summer. So now I am embarking on the new saddle journey. I’ve always preferred used, broken-in things but its pretty thrilling to be expecting a shiny new saddle in the mail. I really hope it works out! There are a couple of different Specialized models I like so it’ll happen one way or the other.

My mom is *hopefully* coming to visit this weekend and if she does there will be some wine and memories of Ireland aired.

Today was so gorgeous and warm! I mowed our front lawn which was a big lush Amazonion jungle (and killed the mower 4 times even on the highest setting) and the fresh cut lawn and warm air just made me sooo sleepy all day. Not sleeping due to our dogs barking like nutters all night also made me sooo sleepy all day. This whole week of the “harvest moon” the dogs have been on edge and barkier than barky. Its ridiculous with four dogs because if one starts even with an idle half-assed bark all four in their various locations take it up and its like COME ON you don’t even know what you’re barking at but you’re going bananas?! Well I guess I am less tolerant of barking than some. I was saying today though that it’s like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The dogs bark at nothing SO often that eventually we stop checking what they’re barking at. And one of these days they are going to be barking at something important. So I am wishing they would preserve their barking for real security occasions rather than buzzards and phantasms only doggies see. Well that’s an idle wish but I share it just the same. Its pretty funny the whole selection of barks, actually. Our Catahoula hound mix does this crazy high pitched yodeling when he is messing with the cats or there is something to do with chasing prey. Wilbur the mini dachshund has an incredibly sharp ear splitting bark and isn’t shy with it, in fact he just barked out of nowhere in the quiet living room and startled the crap out of me!

Anyway another lovely fall day spent working around the place, only would have been better if I had been riding. Speaking of–big news! I’ve sent off the email initiating my order for a Specialized saddle through Desire’s previous owners at GETC in Utah. I’m going to do a trial on a Eurolight, and if it works out I totally want all the awesome options like fleece fenders (riding in shorts, yo!), interchangeable seats of fleece and leather, etc. I can’t believe the saddle is only 12 lbs. I rode in them in Utah a year ago but I have done so much riding since then I don’t remember the feel of the weight. I’m really excited, I’ve never bought a *new* saddle before, I know there are downsides to it but its still exciting.

The new winter blankets arrived in the mail yesterday. Sheza’s is a cute little navy blue waterproof turnout and Desire’s is a great bright purple! I will definitely have to take photos of them wearing them. And get Sheza used to having it on and off!

I’ve been grooming Sheza in her paddock every day and hanging out with her and playing with her Jolly Ball enticing her to play with it. She had a great time kicking around a red feed bucket in the big pasture this summer but I didn’t like the risk of the bucket and handle with her little legs so I threw a big white sealed jug and a Jolly Ball in her paddock instead. I really enjoy hanging out with her and our bond is getting pretty strong! She is so social, every when my husband pulls up she trots over to the fence and whinnies at him. Cars can come and go but she only whinnies at the truck and any time she sees or hears me. I am loving my filly! 

Let me start this post by saying @%(#^*@#$&!! I already wrote this post and edited it, and was pressing Publish when I had yet another mysterious gibberish error occurrence and said post disappeared into the black hole of computer error-land. I’m really tired and don’t feel like writing it again. But I’m going to. Call it a lesson in self discipline.

SO. My new barefoot trimmer came out this morning. We have Desire on a strict 4 week schedule so we can closely monitor her hoof growth and adjust it as needed. Her hooves were a hot mess this morning when I gave them a pre-trimmer clean out. I don’t know why I just feel like I should have my horses a little cleaned up for a farrier or vet. It doesn’t always happen, mind you, but I try to when I pull them early enough. Anyhoo Desire’s hooves were “shedding” for winter, as it were, and were a chalky nasty mess. Some low grade thrush happening again too as this sudden heavy ground moisture we got with the two brief storms of the last week.We had to get 6-8 inches of rain at least! The trimmer, D, said that the very good news was that Desire had grown a significant amount of new healthy hoof. In just 4 weeks she has grown enough hoof to give her a small jump start into concavity in her hooves again. Her fronts are scary flat. The move and pregnancy really wreaked havoc with her feet. But D keeps telling me all will be well. I am just mortified and frustrated to have my horse’s in any sort of bad state. But I have confidence in D and am really opening my eyes to hoof reality with Desire. She had little bruises along the wall of her fronts as well, internally caused we think. So yikes. Anyway, D helped all the shedding stuff slough off and the hooves looked much better. Desire has consistently grown hoof quite quickly since she has been here and D says that will be my saving grace in getting her back into healthy hooves more quickly. In the mean time we will continue to re revaluate her hooves every 4 weeks.

Now, to the big news! Sheza had her first farrier work today! Well technically hoof trimmer work but farrier just flows more in the sentence I think. I noticed a couple little chips in one of her front hooves and thought she must be due for some farrier attention (See, I’m sticking with it despite its slight incorrectness, oh well). Let me just say, my little junior redhead behaved SO WELL! I was really pleased with her today. I stood her on the black mats in the wash rack stall and stood at her head while D worked on all four hooves with her rasp. I have been picking up and cleaning/tapping on Sheza’s hooves since she was a couple of days old, but I have to say having a handler and then someone else working around her and rasping on the hooves no less! I was really proud. She stood quietly and was just very curious, snuffling all over D’s head when she could get it bust mostly the rear end of course because that’s what we see of our hoof trimmers and farriers, isn’t it? Sheza was also snuffling the ground for hay scraps even while her hooves were being done. Pretty relaxed I’d say. D is also an Arabian breeder and endurance rider and has a very nice quiet energy and Sheza reacted quite well to her. D corrected a couple of small things but pronounced the hooves sound and healthy. Sheza walked out with me so D could watch her stride quite nicely, despite being headed away from mom and the herd, and was a perfect lady for her halter to come off in her paddock. Very proud of my little redhead today!

The Tevis competitors are on the trail already and I am sending out good thoughts, wishes, and prayers for all horses and riders to get home safely after this unusual October Tevis with snowfall and trail changes galore! Hopefully many complete and have fun but ALL get back to their rigs safely.

Hoping for good results for Christoph, I see from the Tevis webcast that he is on the trail on Linnzell. How exciting, hope the day goes well for everyone!

 I’m sure everyone following already knows this but in case someone doesn’t, follow Tevis progress here: http://www.teviscup.org/webcast/index.php