Horses!

[Farmgirl283420]

I definitely second riding without stirrups to get fitter.

 

[Folly's place]

Very nice ride! And now you know how she feels about 'I'm done' and that gate. You saved what could have been an interesting gate jumping/ plowing into it situation.
Good for you!
Mary

 

[ChickQueen77]

I have a buckskin quarter horse gelding and he is probably like close to 30 by now and he is blind in one eye but he looked really good for the first part of July then now he is skinny its like it happened so fast I left on June 28th and he looked like we could ride him and I got back July 5th and he was skinny and its summertime and if he cant hold weight in the summer he cant in the winter so I think that this fall we are going to have to put him down we got him when he was about 20

 

[littledog]

it happened so fast I left on June 28th and he looked like we could ride him and I got back July 5th and he was skinny

I feel you, that's how fast it was when I realized my 31-year-old was ready to say goodbye.

 

[littledog]

Very nice ride! And now you know how she feels about 'I'm done' and that gate. You saved what could have been an interesting gate jumping/ plowing into it situation.
Good for you!
Mary

OMG! At the time, I never thought about her attempting to jump the gate, but as I'm getting to know her better, a nice girl but an opinionated chestnut mare who tends to be one step ahead of me, jumping the gate would be something she might try to do!

 

[littledog]

Today's ride was very brief, just because the gnats and flies were driving both of us crazy! Her grooming took longer than usual, because she had horrible bot-fly eggs ALL over her legs, flanks and girth area. Yuck, I hate those things. After scraping them off and spraying her with fly-spray (which seemed to not help at all) she kept stamping her feet, itching her face on me and biting at whatever parts of her body were getting irritated.
Same in the arena when we tried to ride, there was barely any shade and not only were the flies still all over her flanks and belly, they were buzzing around my face and getting up my nose!
We only rode for about 20 minutes, walked in both directions, some energetic trots to see if we could leave the flies behind (fail) then just one new thing - we went under the one shade tree and did a pirouette at the walk. Nice- correct, legs crossing over, so happy. Enough!
At least when letting her back in the pasture with her friends, she now stands politely while I let her go, instead of yanking on the lead rope to whirl around to her friends and kick dust at me, which she used to do when I first started riding her.
Baby steps!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Today's ride was very brief, just because the gnats and flies were driving both of us crazy! Her grooming took longer than usual, because she had horrible bot-fly eggs ALL over her legs, flanks and girth area. Yuck, I hate those things. After scraping them off and spraying her with fly-spray (which seemed to not help at all) she kept stamping her feet, itching her face on me and biting at whatever parts of her body were getting irritated.
Same in the arena when we tried to ride, there was barely any shade and not only were the flies still all over her flanks and belly, they were buzzing around my face and getting up my nose!
We only rode for about 20 minutes, walked in both directions, some energetic trots to see if we could leave the flies behind (fail) then just one new thing - we went under the one shade tree and did a pirouette at the walk. Nice- correct, legs crossing over, so happy. Enough!
At least when letting her back in the pasture with her friends, she now stands politely while I let her go, instead of yanking on the lead rope to whirl around to her friends and kick dust at me, which she used to do when I first started riding her.
Baby steps!

Thanks for sharing! I really enjoy reading about you and your new horse.

 

[littledog]

Thanks for sharing! I really enjoy reading about you and your new horse.

Aw, thank you! I feel like I'm monopolizing this thread with all my horsey musings, hope nobody minds. I should at least take pictures! Especially now that she's started to lose a bit of her brood-mare/hay belly (wish I could say the same for myself!)

 

[littledog]

Not knowing how my new mare trailers, I decided I wanted to tow my trailer to the barn and park it there for a month or two so I could practice with her. I hadn't used it since I moved my two late retirees three years ago, it's just been parked in the grass next to my driveway ever since I got new tires and had the brakes and bearings serviced in Spring 2023.
It's been used basically as a shed - storing bags of chicken feed, spare tack I wasn't using, other random stuff ... so this past weekend I got Mr. Dog to help me put the random crap where it belongs. Then cleaned the trailer really good inside and out, WD-40 on all the hinges and latches and jack, charged up the battery, cut down all the weeds and blackberries that had grown up around it, and hauled it out of there.
So happy how it cleaned up, it's in better shape than I thought it would be! A couple of the running lights up top don't work, but all the important ones - brake lights, side lights, turn signals, work fine, and the wood floor under the mats is in great shape. Even though it's older, a 1995, it's safe and in good condition, though before spring comes I need to fix those lights, and want to get stabilizers installed on the trailer, so I can use the ones I already have that go to my hitch.

I haven't tried to load my mare yet, just rode by the trailer several times, telling her, "look! this is your new trailer" as we passed it while riding up and down the hill that surrounds the big outdoor arena, after working in the arena. Not that she cared a hoot about it, she was much more concerned about having to walk through the water at the bottom of the hill, which she was good about after a bit of hesitation. But it made me feel better, like a teeny tiny beginning of introducing her to something new.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Ember!