making it a habit

We have (finally!) started working with our horses regularly. During a recent stretch of gorgeous Spring weather, we rode in the outdoor arena ~ three days in a row!!

Brad riding Cierra
4-9-22

It has been very windy, adding to our dryness. Dried oak leaves whip all over the place. The windiness brought out a couple minor spooks from both Koda and Cierra. There always seems to be one spot in any arena where monsters lurk.

I have been a-walking around trying to loosen Koda up. I miss my walk > trot > lope progression. When I am arena riding, I like to move out. I think Koda does too. I can feel and see him thinking, so is this when we pick it up? Regardless, he is listening really well at our slower pace. It is probably good for both of us. Altho boredom sets in quickly. Our rides are very short. I do a little in hand ground work with him. He hasn't done much in the past, and neither have I. 

We are a slow work in progress. 

I don't have my seat back yet. It has been so long since I actually worked with a horse, getting them back into supple shape. I forgot much of what I learned in my many years of lessons. Some is coming back. I think. On the other hand, Brad has continued weekly lessons for many many years. When we ride, he is a man of few(er) words. He is dialed into his horse, busy doing his own thing.

Lucky for me, my horse is forgiving.

Even when I saddle Koda. Which has been a struggle for me lately. I can barely lift/swing my heavy saddle into the right place. Adjusting it is out of the question. It either has to be placed correctly with minor adjustments, or restart with the saddle pad. When it takes three times, I am cussing like a sailor. Hopefully I will regain saddling mobility soon. For Koda's sake. He just stands there and looks at me. Wondering.

Brad rides much longer

The above photo made me think of Shirley. Thanks for the over the back shot reminder! I saw it and therefore took it, while hand grazing.

As for Koda's recommended weight loss and arthritis, this is where we are at:

Brad tried feeding a large bale a little at a time. Guess what? A split large bale lasted our horses the same amount of time as when it was put out all at once with a slow feed net. Needless to say, we are back to feeding one large bale vs wheeling it out daily in sections. It makes no difference. It is a lot easier feeding IX with a machine vs 10X by hand. 

We both feel what Koda (actually all our horses) need is to move. It is up to us to make that happen.
 

Harmony, Nemo and Cierra L-R

Koda was at the feeder
He is usually part of the nap club and Cierra is at the feeder.

I decided glucosamine would be good thing for Koda to try. There is a ridiculous amount of contradictory information on glucosamine supplements, and just as many products and comparisons and supposed studies. Dose? Also debatable. I should have asked the vet, but my guess is the suggestion will be to refer to the product label. Probably Cosequin. There are variables with that product too.

I just want reliable facts so I can make an educated decision. SO much with any health care is opinion based!! It is mind boggling.

The good news is, Koda does seem to be moving a little better just from regular activity. We have a long way to go, but things are looking up!

Is it supper time yet?

We rode outside again on Sunday, Monday and in the indoor on Wednesday afternoon. We need to work Harmony into our horse plans, or try to get her girl to join us once in a while. She seems to want something to do. 

Don't let Harmony's sweet innocent look fool you.

She easily gets BIG with her redhead personality.

(Leo photo bombed)

We plan to ride with gusty winds again today. Will see when the time comes. It might be another indoor ride.

our red heads day in the sun

Friday the 13th was our red heads day in the sun. Nothing unlucky about it. As expected, Harmony was on high alert for her outdoor arena debut. However, she did okay for her first time. At least the part I saw. When I asked how Harmony started out, Brad replied "ohhh, she got big - and I mean BIG". She must have been a horse kite in the beginning, for him to say that. By the time I got out to the arena, she was still full of excess energy but doing pretty good. I took a quick video, then switched to taking photos with my camera. Nemo did not like having Harmony out of his sight, and called out the entire time she was gone from the pasture. Consequently she was preoccupied communicating with her pasture buddy. You will hear them, and notice she is rusty at listening to gait and directional changes. 

 

She has been primarily free lunged and hasn't done much twirling at the end of a rope. At least not the way we do it. Free lunging has its place when done correctly, but neither of us are fans. Brad was forgiving and reassuring while working with Harmony, exactly what she needs.

on fast forward

resting bitch face

calling out and needing a nudge
to unglue her feet and switch directions

I was so happy Harmony got to expand her world, and get one-on-one time!! I wonder if she will continue waiting at the gate while we ride the others? Probably. It was interesting, there was zero calling when Brad took Nemo out to the arena right after Harmony got her turn. 

good job Harmony

she has always had a naturally shiny coat

On a semi-unrelated note, I was pleasantly surprised how our outdoor arena is handling moisture. It rained the night before, and turned into flakey snow. Some of it stuck around. It definitely got cold, but warmed up and the footing was great by afternoon.

We have continued riding Koda and Cierra, and hope weather allows us to keep up some consistency until the end of the year. We hope to get more rides on Nemo too. It will be a looong time before anyone get's on Harmony's back. She may be 20 but there is no reason Harmony can't be ridden lightly,  if  when she calms downs. Will see what kind of mood Mother Nature is in this Winter. If we can't ride, then we will do some walk-a-bouts as weather allows.

Harmony and Brad
walking the new tree line path back to the barn

Harmony and Brad (deep in thought)

 

start at the very beginning

Where do you (re) start a horse that hasn't been worked in over two years? Well, you start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you read you begin with a-b-c. When you sing you begin with do-re-mi...oh, sorry. I am suppose to be blogging, not singing.

Now that our outdoor arena is done, we can begin the long road of getting back to where we left off. With hopes of going beyond, and living the dream of peacefully riding on our very own land. I wonder what that feels like?? Not having to haul anywhere, or deal with drama. The feeling of riding together with my horse, without fear. Is that even possible?!! That is one tall order for this girl. Time will tell.

Altho I have the knowledge and ability to restart Koda, and have several times (with much less time off) I asked Brad to work with him first. Koda is a tester, always has been and always will be. I don't need my nerves shattered and my shoulder injured to the point of needing surgery. Brad is much better with horses than I am, and more than willing to get all our horses going again.

For now, I am a spectator and assistant. Who tries, but sometimes fails at keeping comments to themselves. Either Koda is not used to Brad's lunging (which he isn't) has selective hearing, or slipped waaay back. I know every thing Koda learned and knows is in there somewhere, and will come back.

Between the heat, bugs and every other distraction of life it took a while for us to get working with our horses. We started using the arena August 17:

Koda was the first horse in the new outdoor

(Tank is not that lanky shape, my phone distorted the pic)

walking the perimeter in-hand

Koda did okay. He kept balking at something. I think a reflection shining off some metal junk our neighbors to the south have stacked near the property line. He wasn't listening very well when Brad lunged him, and would randomly bust out. Koda certainly wasn't horrible, but needs works. Consistently.

We can hear the horses calling from the pasture (most likely Mr. Nemo) but can't see them. This will be a change from their usual routine for sure. It is so good for them! 

Cierra was up next.
Brad just hopped on her, and away they went.

So hot, humid, dry and dusty.

It made me so happy to see him riding Cierra, at home! Below are a couple short video clips of their first ride, at home!! Yep, I said it twice, and I will say it again - at home!!!

Brads current plan is to work two horses a couple times a week before/after work, and once or twice on the weekend. We are still in the midst of multi large projects, with yucky summer weather - but off to a great start!! 

the making of an outdoor arena

Our outdoor arena came together by first choosing a location, arena style and size. The logical most level spot was one field strip over from the barn, keeping hay field impact and proximity to the barn in mind. It is a short walk to get to the outdoor arena, across a small wooded strip. We settled on a rustic looking brown wooden post arena, called Ponderosa Fence. The posts have rounded tops for safety & water shed. Our arena is 100' x 200' with rounded corners, and 4 brown steel metal side railings. There are two gates, with easy open top latches. A four foot (Brad wanted 6', but they don't make them for this fencing) and a larger sixteen foot gate on the far end for machinery.

Brad built our arena 97% himself, by choice. I offered to help, so did our son, daughter and even our neighbor. He wanted to work on his own, and I get it. It is a one time build, as in we have never and plan to never build another one. Unless you count snapping together panels. Sometimes it is just easier to do things yourself. 

With decisions made, Brad measured and then worked with a co-worker to draw out an initial arena plan. He mowed our arena-to-be, over and over. It stayed a mowed grassy area for what seemed like forever, while we waited for supplies to arrive. Brad just kept a-mowing it. 

Our outdoor arena took a little longer than expected. It was manufactured by Priefert in Texas, and as you know the pandemic has slowed everything down. It was a happy day at our place when it finally arrived! 

sooo many pieces!

The manufacturer made some minor adjustments to our preliminary plan, and sent us final building plans and eventually materials. That is when the fun started! Our neighbor/co-worker plotted out the arena using a fancy schmancy gizmo, and his son helped pound in stakes.

The base "brains" figures & sends exact coordinate signals

Checking coordinates

I was fascinated by the orange prism (above) that receives a laser beam from the base unit.

our mowed arena being surveyed
(neighbors barn in distance)

Pounding stake, after stake

Now it was time for the hard(er) work to start!! Brad worked on the arena every chance he could, through a very hot humid August July. 

end posts went in first

Brad drilled post holes with a bobcat attachment

The wooden posts came pre-drilled

double checking height

securing posts with dry bagged concrete

Tank supervising as Brad fills water buckets

watering the posts, so they don't grow anywhere

One finished pole, and many to go (56 total posts) 

drilling away

making progress

Gates are up, getting closer

Tank and I helped pick up

One good thing about living in sand country, we didn't have to haul any sand in. We had the arena rototilled, and whala our outdoor arena was completed and ready to use early August!!

first outdoor 2018 ride

Hi, remember me?! I am finally finding my way back to my blog.

2018 is turning out to be a trying year for us, and not necessarily the way we expected. Among other things, sickness of one form or another has kept it's ugly grip on both Brad & I for most of the year. We aren't completely out of the woods, but *finally* feeling more like ourselves and getting some much needed energy back.

We failed miserably at our attempt to get back to riding our horses on a regular basis. Somehow a month flew by without even seeing them :( The only thing that kept my mind at ease is knowing who they live with. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - if our horses can't live with us, then we would want them to live with our trainer. 

Besides our building project and being sick, I left for a Northern Lights photography trip to Alaska for 9 days. Conditions were not favorable, we only saw the lights once briefly. I've been dreaming forever of seeing them dance overhead in color, so I'm pretty disappointed. The saving grace is all the other amazing things I saw & photographed during the day, including Dalton Highway views (featured in the TV show Ice Road Truckers), moose, caribou and the Iditarod. I've done a series of posts on my Facebook Photography page. It's open/public if interested, link on sidebar. Alaska was absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to go back someday and try again! 

I'm happy to report we started back to riding on Tuesday. Koda is a little tender on his left front, so we are keeping it at a walk. We also took advantage of a beautiful Spring day last weekend, and rode outside for the first time this year! It felt wonderful!!

Walking Koda in to tack, from their turnout pasture

I clipped his mohawk & brushed, and brushed and brushed, until I couldn't brush anymore. It's an endless job in the Spring! 

See Nemo underneath the gate at the far end of the arena?
Poor guy, he just stood there watching while we rode

Nemo was pouting, and wouldn't let Brad pet him while he was on Cierra. He is sooo jealous and wants Brad to spend all his time with him! Kinda funny tho that Koda and I were allowed to give him some love.

After riding in the outdoor, we went on a field ride

Brad has a ranch clinic coming up in a few weeks, and needs to focus on Cierra. He spent some one-on-one with Nemo after our ride, brushing his fine flyaway white hair - and that made Nemo happier.

Just when I think Koda could care less,
he does stuff like this.

Cierra & Nemo had walked off to roll and/or graze, but Koda hung by the gate. I went back into the pasture to give him more hugs, before heading back home.