The Bad News Horse

Tue May 30, 2006

What a helluva year for my poor lil' guy. Gets his tail broken in February (it wa'rnt no "contusion", that thing was broke and now it's bent funny, dammit!), gets holes chewed in his chest, gets his ear nearly skinned a couple of weeks ago (though most the big chunky scabs and bits of skin and hair have fallen off and there's a fine white fuzz growing back)...this evening he now has TWO swollen eyes! Don't ask me why, don't ask me how, I have NO idea!!!

He looks like the Northlight Mule for God's sake!!

The eyeball itself is fine, nothing swollen or red or inflamed or protruding...just the "eyebrows" are puffy and huge!!! Nothing oozing or runny...it doesn't hurt for me touch them, so that rules out him getting kicked in the head...all I can figure is the hot/wet weather all weekend has brought out the mold in the pasture and he's allergic to it! He wasn't in that shape this morning when I stopped out on my way to work!!
Maybe he got stung by a bee!

*sigh*

Always some damned thing!!! See how he is in the morning after spending the night in his clean, dry, non-moldy, bee-free stall!

Well, this morning the left eye is back to normal, but the right is still swollen. Might have been a nasty bitey fly bite. There's some tiny black flie that, when it bites me (usually around the eye or ear), the bite area swells HUGE...once my eye swelled shut...maybe it was the same fly, who knows.

He was sure full of P&V this morning, LOL...been working with him in the morning trying to remind him of good ground manners re: being unhaltered. He did pretty good today, and only galloped off like a loon once I opened the gate to the pasture...awaaaayyyy he went!

Rained over night, which means more bity bugs, hoorah!

(Aain't naught like the smell of an old horse barn w/tom cats on a humid morning, hooohah!)

Injury Update

Thu May 18, 2006

Hard to believe it's only been 1 week since the lady who'd been giving me lessons got tromped and stomped by that crazy mare last week, but 'tis true! Even harder to believe that when I went to the barn after work tonight, she was there, walking around, laughing, and looking damned fine!! The cast is off her arm (wasn't broken after all), she got her stitches out (and insisted on showing off her re-attached ear...looks good, considering)! Boy O Boy, that just made my day, for sure!!

Speaking of injured ears, it rained ALL day, so Cusco's ear is nice and clean, most the blood is washed out of his forelock, and the poor lad was shivering from head to toe when I brought him in from the pasture tonight! (42 degrees, 15 mph winds, steady rain). I had a bag of bran in my locker, so I made him a HOT bran mash to enjoy, and after about 10 minutes he stopped shivering...good deal!

Bob got a new shipment of horses in Tuesday night (a HUGE 18-wheeler horse transport pulled up w/14 horses from Minnesota!)...he's got two BEAUTIFUL Belgian mares out in the front pasture, one's tail is so long it's dragging on the ground, phew! Tonight one of the Teens was working with this awesome Bay with legs up to "there"...turns out he's an Arabian/Mustang mix! Beautiful head, classic Spanish profile, and could he move, whew! A trot to drop DEAD for!!! I briefly (only briefly) considered trading Quzqo in right then and there, LOL!

Twilight Show Fun

Thu May 18, 2006

Well, we survived the fun show at the fairgrounds last night! Damn, I was SUCH a nervous wreck...as you know, LOL! Course I didn't need to be, I ended up getting to the barn in less time than I figured with tons of time to spare!!

Things started going downhill when I got out to catch Quzqo...at first I thought he'd rolled in something, as his forelock was brown! No, make that reddish-brown...no...red...as in BLOOD! SHIT! Somebody had CHEWED and bit his right ear, peeling half the hair off and some of the skin, a bit was hanging loose, and two small chunks were missing off the outer edge!!! He'd apparently bled down into the forelock and poll, and the rain had diluted it & washed it off!! He let me put his halter on (carefully avoiding the ear) and I brought him in. Could forget about any touching of that ear, it was Off Limits!!

Tried at least to clean up his forelock, LOL...forget that, he wasn't letting anything near his head! I did manage to band his forelock at least. Luckily the damage was to the upper half of the ear, not the lower part that might touch a crownpiece or browband. Yeah, I'm a mean horse mom, I dragged him to the horse show anyway. Although I was depressed about it (and the damned rain didn't help, and the fact my friend's Paint mare likes to paw/kick at the trailer JUST as Quzqo's about to step into the trailer, scaring the shit out of him...he's getting harder and harder to load...I wonder WHY?

We got to the fairgrounds w/o incident (no flat tires, no getting lost), got signed up, and only as we had the horses unloaded (Coos is getting worse about that as well, *sigh*, not waiting, trying to rush out, he stepped on my boot, but missed the toes within), did the damned RAIN re-start in earnest. Not a mist or drizzle, but a RAIN! COLD rain! (let's see, this makes it over a full week of rain and cold....little sick of this!). Lucky I have a synthetic saddle, and the rain started rinsing the blood out of his forelock, so it turned his face pink, *sigh*

Was not much of a turnout for the show...a good gang from our barn braved the weather, and I saw the huge trailer from the Arabian barn where I used to board, and a few others I knew...seemed to be mostly the under-19 crowd showing (and their long-suffering parents, lol). The fairgrounds had totally rearranged things, erecting fences everywhere, so you could only take ONE route to get to the arena (between two tall buildings, lovely), and they also moved the gates, which was good, because Coos WAS familiar with that arena, but now he couldn't bolt for the gate, because it was GONE, LOL!

There were only 4 of us riding in the arena for warm-ups, probably because it was POURING RAIN...but hey, I had to do something, ain't no way I'd take him into a class w/o getting some of the kinks out. The rain and wind helped keep his head down though, LOL, and he was moving slowly because of the mud and puddles. I was sure he'd jump the puddles, but he went through them or around them.

Finally the ridden part of the show started (they have two showmanship classes first), and we did our Huntseat, 19/0ver. He did SO good!! No problem at the walk, he trotted pretty darn nice (not as supple and rounded as Saturday, but that's because we didn't have a proper warm-up to get the P&V out!), but my biggest surprise was the canter! He pooped out twice but I got him back into a canter with a couple of strides, and he did SO nice...slow, and rounded and balanced...to say I was delighted is an understatement, lol! Granted I was pushing him with my seat and propping up his inside shoulder with that rein, lol, but I didn't have to also hold him up with my legs (he did get a pop on the butt with my crop to stop him from pooping out on me)! That horse is WORK! He did much better the other direction (which is his "good" direction), and even backed up half decently!

LOL, due to the rain, my number pretty much melted off my back and landed in a mud puddle, and that happened to two others in the class, ha! Might be time to invest in a permanent, laminated number I think!

There were only 5 entries in the class (last time I did that show there were 9)(and we didn't place due to SOMEbody's wacky cantering and bolting for the gates, lol)...my friend with the Paint placed FIRST, and she about fell off her horse with surprise! The look on her face was priceless, BWAHAHAHA! She just started riding English this winter, after everyone telling her all summer she should show her mare English because her horse has the action for it! Another friend from the barn placed 2nd, even after her horse apparently bucked during the class (judge must have missed that...she was one of those "stare at one point of the arena" judges). And WE placed THIRD! Hoo_HAH!!! Hey, I'm delighted! Not only is that my best EVER placing at a Twilight Show (not counting novice)...even riding Tezlu...it's also Quzqo's first placing of any kind in an Open class!!! Okay, I've only taken him in 4 open classes in his life, but still! Way chuffed, me!

Luckily the rain stopped shortly after our class (it's so fun, posting in wet breeches!), which was good for the Western riders (all those fancy saddles wouldn't get wet). The show got done around 8:30, pretty early, but all the classes were quite small...considering the weather, that's no surprise!

A Gay Time in Gaylord

Tue May 16, 2006

Coos and I went to our first show of the year Saturday, the NWMHA Open Horse Show in Gaylord, MI, leaving the barn around 6:08 a.m. w/my friend, Sandy, and her paint mare, Sienna. Actually we had a convoy of trailers leaving the barn, but the owner's daughter took her own route, and we followed our farrier for about 15 miles before they turned off into a McDonald's for breakfast, LOL! Course my friend, "knew" the way to Gaylord, turned left when she should have turned right and we ended up getting a 30 mile tour of the back boonies of NW Michigan (not the most pleasant of locales, bleah!) before I insisted we stop and ask directions...yep, we were heading North instead of East, LOL! Yeah, I bet the horses just loved the additional half hour in the trailer (it's a 2+ hr drive w/o the scenic route!)

Weather was NASTY...upper-40's/low 50-s, a near constant drizzle-mist rain (glad I have a synthetic saddle), and wind gusting up to 20 mph! The arena was MUD (so bad they fenced off one end, which was miserable footing!). The show committee were a bunch of morons with ridiculous amounts of paperwork for entering (you had to fill out a complete sheet
(name, address, age, horse name, gender, age, Coggins number, then sign, then print ...for EVERY class!). Not a very well-organized show, the best part was the access to flush toilets and easy-to-get-to water faucets.

Quzqo was kind of "up" but not screwy...course only after I got him out in daylight did I see all the poop stains on him, LOL! Poor guy had to get sponged off with cold water in the afore-mentioned weather conditions...he never dried off in time for our halter class, LOL...luckily it had been raining, so he was sort of generally damp all over!

There were four entries in Pleasure Type Geldings...oh, gee, guess who entered! The apparent 2004 MAHA (Michigan Arabian Horse Association) HIGH POINT HALTER HORSE! (or so proclaimed the trophy cooler he was wearing before the class). A HUGE bay Arabian, whose handler spent a good amount of time before the class whipping him into a frenzy (she wasn't hitting him with the whip, just flipping it in his face and yanking on the chain and getting him all worked up. Quzqo, on the other hand, stood quietly watching the Stock Geldings being judged, lol! This swayback Morgan went in the ring before us, and I trotted Coos in a VERY nice floaty trot (but I didn't get him all freaky-deaky about it), then Mr. High Point came in in a HUGE Park Trot, head high, tail ramrod straight up! Beautiful beautiful beautiful!!! Yeah, I knew who'd win...but a big surprise was right after him came in a HUGE Friesian!! With a good two feet of tail dragging on the ground behind him! Where the hell did THAT come from!

Yeah, well, at least we beat the swayback Morgan, *sigh*. Yep, 3rd out of 4, for the little broke-tailed Arabian with wet spots on his flanks. But at least it took a High Point Champion to beat us, and a Rare Breed of horse! Yeah, yeah, that's it!



Had a ton of time before our ridden classes, since I was taking him into Green Horse and me into Green Rider Equitation (lol...walk-trot weenie classes). Got to ride him in the arena during the lunch break, and he did pretty good...all our work with lessons was paying off, re:the keeping rounded, head lowered, etc. Was a pretty damned cold wait for our class...why did I buy a short-sleeved hunt shirt ! BRRR! (I'll be glad come June and July I suppose). Finally our class, and Quzqo completely surprised me by REARING at the in-gate! You little shithead, LOL! No, he didn't WANT to go into the arena, and he was going to hold up the class by rearing and balking and trying to spin...oh, great first impression for the judge, horse! I kicked him into the arena (didn't have a whip with me) and we got on the rail. Once in the ring he settled down and other than being uneasy about a group of people sitting in the bed of a pick-up with a horse cooler across their laps, he did VERY well!! We had a few little disagreements about the headset, but nothing major ...he even backed up pretty well for me! LOL...in the line-up, the judge mentioned the "head issues"...yeah, well, tell me something I don't know, sweetheart!

We placed SECOND out of 6! Hoorah!!! (all adults riders)

The very next class was the Green Rider Equitation, so we pretty much went out one gate and right back in...and yep, he REARED and balked and tried to spin, but I figured he'd pull that, and got heels in his sides for his trouble...he did better this time around, settling down, tucking his head, rounding up and just floating along, walking nice, a real nice back and calmer in the line up. This time the judge mentioned my main problem was that I had my hands too low and far apart! BWAHAHAHAH! That's what Deb, my lesson lady, TOLD ME TO DO! HAW! That's the best way to make Quzqo lower and tuck his head! Ah, who knows, if I had kept my hands in the proper huntseat position (up by the withers)...because I placed SECOND out of 4! WhooHOOO! That's my BEST Equitation placing EVER! (on Coos or Tezlu!) Guess those lessons paid off!

Bummer was they didn't give out rosettes, but big flats ribbons like you'd get at a a model show! C'mon for $4/class, I want a damned rosette!!! Never mind the $2.99/gallon gasoline and the 200+ mile round trip! Ah, well.

Our last class was Trail...no novice trail, but the REAL deal! The trail was set up in a field next door, and it was pretty weinie... walk to the mailbox, open, remove paper, put back in, close...trot over poles (which were actually VINYL RAIN GUTTERS!...we screwed that up because I was surprised to see RAIN GUTTERS and didn't want my horse stepping on 'em...he trotted one, jumped the rest and took off cantering,...which is good because next thing was to canter, turn to the left, stop and back up into the "box" (which was white chalk marks on the grass)...we overshot the stopping point by about 20 feet, so we just
came back, got into position, and he backed SO nice! At least we did that right! Then walk to a PVC pipe on the ground and side-pass...not a chance! I tried three times, I didn't even get a step to the side...oh well...next was to walk to the "bridge" and walk over...he did that perfectly, no worries at all! The judge said that at least we did the two most difficult obstacles (the mailbox and bridge)...guess a lot of horses had problems with that. I saw one kid's horse actually walk sideways off the bridge, LOL.

Was all for naught, because they never did announce the results of the trail classes, and when I went to ask at the show office, they said they couldn't figure out the judge's paperwork, so THERE WOULD BE NO RESULTS! No, no offer to refund the entry fee either! GRRRRRR! I hope they eventually post the results on the Association web site at least, I'd like to know how we did for gosh sakes!

So, we had a good bitchfest on the way home, as you can imagine. My friend also did the Trail (and other than her horse taking the wrong lead, she did very good). After about an hour she commented that her mare is acting up in the trailer...sure enough, the trailer was swaying back and forth and the truck sort of wobbling...this kept up for a bit, silly horses...I glanced at the gas gauge, which was nearly on "E", and asked if we were going to get gas? (duuuh!). Luckily we were on the outskirts of a town, and as she turned to go to the Shell station, there was a loud shuddering sound from underneath the truck...Uh oh...that didn't sound good! We pulled up to a pump and I checked the trailer tires, all looked well! Went on in to get a Pepsi, and when I came out...the left rear tire on the truck was flat as a pancake! Sandy was on the verge of getting VERY upset, and was on the phone to her husband, LOL! You could hear the air hissing out, and see the very shiny silver head of the nail stuck in it!

Damn, we were SO lucky!!!! (Imagine all the worst-case scenarios, eh?). Best place to discover a flat is at a gas station I say! Would have been luckier if it was earlier in the day because there was a tire store right down the street, but almost as good was that the Shell station had an ample supply of Fix-A-Flat! Yep, while she re-filled the tire with air from the pump, I bought a big can of the stuff,, we reinflated the tire w/the sealant...you could see it spitting out the nailhole, then stop spitting....once it was filled, we were on our way (per the instructions on the can)...We took it slow, and I kept an eye on the tire w/the side-view mirror...damned if it didn't inflate even more and after about 10 miles, looked as good as new!

LOL, her husband kept calling her on the cell phone about every 15 minutes for progress reports...he was upset and complaining that it was a brand new tire (well, it was a brand new nail!), and that "is it worth it?" this horse-showing business, etc. We figured she should ask if he got a flat tire on his way to the golf course, would it be "worth it" to keep playing golf??

Long story short, we made it the 50 miles or so back to the barn safe and sound!

Next show...TOMORROW NIGHT! Assuming she gets the wiring on the trailer fixed so we can drive at night, LOL!

Hmmmmmmm

Mon May 15, 2006

Went out to the barn tonight and found my horse in the wrong pasture, wearing a halter, with a 6 foot long lead rope hanging from it (and him stepping on it when he moved). Very very very VERY odd!

Wasn't anybody around that I could ask WTF is going on...was not happy to find my little sweetie angel (cough cough) in the "Bad Boyz" pasture with the crazy geldings, nor was I happy that he was wearing a halter, and I sure was NOT happy to see the long lead hanging from it (they can step on it and break their own necks for God's sake!!).

My only theory is that maybe they caught him and were in the process of bringing him in for the evening, when he spooked or started to act like a jerk, and bolted, and if they were also bringing in horses from Bad Boyz, he could have dashed through the wrong gate and gotten away. He's been known to run away from Bob, LOL!

Course *I* had no problem catching him (he just stood there and looked at me like "look at ME! I'm in the wrong pasture with a lead rope hanging from my face...see, I can step on it!"). He was a little shitwad while I was brushing him...kinda glad I wasn't planning to ride, I'd have me a good time if I did, LOL! Snake-necked nipping little turd!

A Near Miss

Fri May 12, 2006

Well, I guess not really, but it sounds good that way.

Last night a bunch of us were riding/working horses in the indoor arena (due to the cold/damp/windy weather outside), and Deb, the trainer (and my Cusco-training/riding instructor) was working with some young horses. She was in the process of mounting a young sorrel mare when I guess the mare shot straight upwards before Deb got her right foot in the stirrup, and just took off crow-hopping and sunfishing like a Bronc! That horse was airborne, all four feet up in the air, and poor Deb bouncing around like a rag doll! On the third buck Deb flew forward off the horse and apparently managed to roll, but the horse came down ON TOP OF HER with all four hooves! She started screaming as the horse launched skyward again and proceeded to buck on around the arena (That horse was easily 1-2 feet up in the air with each hop).

One of the moms called 9-11 even before I could (but she was closer to the phone on that side of the arena, I had to get off Quzqo and run to the other side), two of the other ladies ran to Deb who was sobbing and screaming (good sign, I guess), one of the teens caught the bronc, and my farrier hurried over to Deb (he didn't get too close I noticed...but got a lot closer than I did!).

Long story short, the local volunteer paramedics showed up after about 10 minutes, and the real ambulance about 5 minutes after them, and they got her stabilized and on a backboard and off to the hospital...they didn't use the siren, which is good (means they weren't in a hurry, which means her injuries weren't life-threatening)...I guess she was complaining of severe pain in her right hip, her chest (trouble breathing) and a huge flap of scalp and ear was torn loose from her head. God.

I'll admit, I about passed out twice, and probably annoyed God with all my prayers, but she was joking with the paramedics about wanting a face lift when they stitched her head back together, and a boob job as well...and she could move her arms, and never lost consciousness (I bet she wished she had). Her husband showed up (they live about 5 minutes from the barn) and went with her in the ambulance.

Kind of put a damper on the evening, I sure didn't feel like riding any more. I'm glad in a way, that a BUNCH of the teens witnessed the accident...if that could happen to an experienced horsewoman...maybe they'll start being more careful and maybe WEAR A DAMNED HELMET! Granted a helmet wouldn't have prevented the hip or chest injuries, but chances are it would have deflected the hoof that scalped her!

Really sad because she was going to the horse show with us this weekend to compete and "coach" her students from the rail...most the ladies from her classes are going (probably all going into "Green Rider Equitation", lol). Damn, though...such a horrific accident. I can relate to any hindsight she might be pondering today (assuming she's not flying on painkillers)... shoulda lunged the horse, shoulda done this, shoulda done that...

Makes ya think though.

The Quickest Way to Get a Horse Filthy

Tue May 9, 2006

Is to give him a bath the day before!

Quzqo got "spot-cleaned" last night since it was mid-70's...mainly the poop stains on his belly. I should have known better. He was SO tired yesterday (from being out in the field all night), it's apparent last night he ZONKED out on the floor of his stall...because this afternoon, he was ENCRUSTED in pee and poo stains! AAAUGH! His whole armpit area was RED with pee stains (horse pee turns red when it hits the air...don't ask me why, I have no idea)(that explains all the red-stained snow in the pasture in winter...oxydized horse pee). BOTH sides of his barrel/belly were crusty with poo bits...it was like he deliberately ground himself into every bit of poo he could find, just to spite me! He even had green dots and splots on his neck! He musta zonked out, LOL! And mercy, the smell!! Hoo-Hah!!!

All he earned himself was ANOTHER trip to the wash rack, luckily it was 70 or so, still warm enough to hose the horse, LOL...I got most of it scrubbed off (what an aroma!), but he's got these "brownish" tones on his barrel, that might be roaning, or poo, I can't quite tell, he's so blotchy normally! *sigh*

Gads, he was in a pissy mood, LOL...glad I wasn't going to try to ride him. That quiet, wonderful horse of last night was nowhere to be seen...instead I had a pawing, ear-flattening, take-shots-at-Sue-with-the-mouth EVILE EMPEROR KUZCO! (change his name to Palpatine, lol!) Threw his dirty ass in his stall & left him making love to his bucket of sweet feed, fine for him. I'll deal with him tomorrow when he's well-rested (oh boy)

My strategy will be to leave him out in the field Friday night so he's tired Saturday for the horse show, LOL...hey, it worked that one time last year!

5 Days Til Show Day

Mon May 8, 2006

5 days 'til our first show! It's 2 hours away, which means we have to leave the barn at 6 a.m., AAAGH! His tail didn't heal up right from the break this past winter (DAMN!), so he's got a lump at the top, but I figured if I fluff up the hair at the tailhead and zap it with hair spray, it "looks" normal from a distance...so we'll still do halter.

Luckily this show has no Novice Showmanship, so we dodged that bullet, LOL, but it will have Novice Pleasure (open) and Novice Equitation (open), don't know if my friend with the Paint will go Novice or into the Grown-Up class (she just learned to ride huntseat this winter, so I'd think that'd qualify her as a Novice!).

Anyway, we had a great lesson yesterday with the trainer, along with two other ladies and their young horses (Novices on Young Horses = Wacky Hijinks!) (there's a difference between a "novice" rider and a "novice" SHOWER...we're all experienced riders, but novices at the Showing aspect) (and there's a SHITLOAD of difference I found out, lol). Coos was copping a big 'tude even while I was brushing him...it was 11 in the morning on a sunny day, can't blame him for feeling his oats, so to speak, and even lunging him in the round pen barely got the edge off (sadly he never raised his tail past the horizontal, ah well).

Well, the lesson was pretty much the trainer harping (nicely) on me about Quzqo's headset and his head-tossing, trying to avoid "giving" (he'll "give" if he's in the mood...if he's not...screw YOU!), yet going on about keeping my feet right in the stirrups, and sticking my chest out...I'm supposed to do all that AND "bump the horse" and "see-saw" with the reins when he tries to take the bit away from me (i.e. suddenly plunging his head down and yanking the reins from my hand). He was
wearing his nummy copper-roller snaffle, so don't think I had some rusty bicycle chain mule bit in him and was abusing the boy (LOL...the softer copper parts of that bit are now dented with toothmarks from his chewing and playing with it). A lot of it was just "The Emperor Declines Your Request To Give To The Bit"!

After about an hour (there WERE periods where he did drop his head and round up and we just FLOWED across the dirt, much to the delight of the trainer and the other ladies), the trainer asked if SHE could ride Himself. Sure, be my guest! She wanted to see if she could work on his headset. I was looking forward to seeing how beautiful my horse is under saddle, lol...hell, I can't tell from riding, and that split-second glance at our reflection in the show booth's glass window. She got on him (from the ground, grrr...the woman has 5 foot long legs I swear!) and off they went, and boy, did he give her shit, LOL!! He wasn't going to behave just cuz she was on him, nuh uh! Arena sour little shit, snrk.

But she wouldn't give and he couldn't surprise her and yank the reins from her hand, and he gave her some shit at the gate forcing her to spin him in a circle (huh...that's what I look like on trail rides! Pretty spectacular!)...after a few minutes he DID give up and tucked his head nice (not cranked to his chest, just a pretty above-the-vertical) and trotted with so much extension he looked like a danged dressage horse! Phew! Pretty boy!!

When she got done she was out of breath and said I deserve a million "gold stars" for putting up with him, and she now appreciates how much effort it is to ride him, keep him straight (not veering to the gate), and the headset nonsense. I got back on and the difference was amazing...he was behaving, LOL! He tried a couple of times to yank, but I did what she told me, and it must have reminded him of what SHE was doing, because he'd give up and just hold his head nice, be rounded, and trot along!

The trainer insisted I ride with her during the week so she can nag me, LOL! I guess I need it!

When I was done riding, Quzqo stood like the End of the Trail horse...head down to the ground, tail lax, poor tuckered thing. But when I turned him loose in the pasture, the little shit TORE off at a canter up the hill, LOL!


--------
Next Day....

Guess yesterday's lesson stuck with him (and me!). That, and he was half-asleep since I don't think he came in last night and thus camped out in the pasture, lol!

He got a partial bath (just worrying about the manure stains on his tummy), tomorrow a cold front comes through and no baths for a while. Nice thing about having such a normally dirty-looking blotchy grey color, you can't tell what's dirt and what's not (unless it has greenish tones). Supposed to rain the next two days, so maybe he'll get some of that dust washed off his butt!

We tried a new hairstyle tonight (I'm trying different French Braids to see which looks the nicest)...yesterday I did sort of a triangle, but it kind of flopped around. Tonight I did a tighter braid up along his crest, and when he tucked his head it looked AWESOME! Phew! Need to get some white/light grey yarn so I can tie up the end properly-like (since there's around 15 classes between his halter class and our novice classes Saturday, I think I'll have plenty of time, lol)

Ah, me. And so it begins!

At The Clinic, Auction Fun, New Breeches, Poker Run

Mon May 1, 2006


There was a showing clinic at the barn this past weekend. They also had a used tack sale at the barn up in the viewing room/club room, and I spent most of Saturday monitoring our two tables (me and four other ladies ganged up). I personally did "okay" selling my crappy old stuff and some Breyers, think I made around $26 or so. Spent nearly that much, LOL...bought Quzqo a new bit (like he needs any more). A cool Dee-ring snaffle with copper rollers on the mouthpiece! Haven't tried it yet, we'll do that tomorrow! Also got him a "new" used set of splint boots, cool rigid plastic/vinyl in PURPLE (an Imperial color at least)...his old set of splint boots are torn to hell from him striking his inside right fetlock w/his other hooves.

And got myself a new used pair of Breeches, BIG and comfy, LOL...not a 30" waist like my current pair that I have to lay down on the bed to zip them up, ha! (they were free, can't complain). Tack sales are always fun!

That late afternoon they had an auction of NEW horse equipment...the barn owner's buddy from downstate came up w/his big trailer full of stuff to sell, they do that a couple of times a year and SOMEhow I always end up finding things I MUST HAVE! Damned auctions, LOL! Ended up w/5 rolls of VetWrap ($1.50 ea), a PURPLE ladies' lunge whip (lightweight, and matches C Quzqo's new splint boots!) (I now own 7 whips...that's scary!), got a nice pair of leather work gloves for $5, a set of saddle bags w/water bottle holders...only later did I discover they were pommel bags, which fit over your saddle horn! Except my saddle doesn't HAVE a horn! GRRRGH! Have to figure out SOMEthing I guess. I also invested $9 in a set of stirrups which fit over your saddle for kiddies to ride...you can adjust the stirrup length to little short legs...except..duuuh, it has to slip over a SADDLE HORN...again, an object my saddle is lacking! ARRGH! Again, I'll have to figure out something, *sigh*.

Best buy of the day was a "Jolly Ball" horse toy...thick rubber ball w/a "handle" on it, puncture-proof, squishable...no, not for the horse, but for the dogs! LOL, when I got home that evening I tossed it to the dogsters and they went right for it, grabbed it by the handle and bombed triumphantly around the yard, delighted out of their minds! When I threw it to Leela the Dal, the idiot dog didn't "get" the handle, and was trying to bite the ball (it's about 10" in diameter), LOL! She got mad and started barking at it...Monty the Corgi looked at her like "What? Are you stoopid???" ha! As of this date I have NO idea where it is, they lost it somewhere in the yard already, *sigh*.

Sunday morning was the benefit Poker Run trail ride, something I was looking forward to! Keep in mind though...I hadn't ridden Quzqo since THURSDAY...and to say the lad was well-rested would be an understatement, heh heh.

First and foremost, I did NOT fall off the horse! Huzzah! In fact, nobody on the trail ride suffered any injury or mishap worse than a couple of horses deciding to drop and try to roll at some of the card stops (got some good ideas for live show Trail setups, lol).

Perfect weather Sunday, temps in the mid-60's, high overcast, good 10 mph breeze (blew the bugs away), could hardly ask for better! A good crowd showed up, around 25 horses & riders, from 3 yrs old to 60+ (okay, the 3 yr old rode double with her mom, but still). A good cross-section of horses too...lots of QHs, Paints, a Morgan, 3 TWHs, a pony mule, and... of course...ONE particular Arabian!

When I dragged my boy, Quzqo from his stall (after bringing him in from the pasture to see if he had to pee), he was like a sulky 10 yr old who didn't want to do chores...slogging, dragging, dawdling, shuffling along..."I don' wanNA!", LOL! Good, he must be TIRED (ha ha, right). We all got our first cards (Jack of Diamonds, that was a good start), and we were off! Right off riding along a roadside, which normally would fill my heart with terror (the horse isn't afraid of the traffic, but I've been so traumatized by riding along the road with spooky Tezlu [let's SPOOK and swing our hindquarters out into the lane of traffic with an 18-wheeler coming our way!], I'm normally the basket case). Luckily the sight of 25 horses along the road caused any car/truck to slow WAAAAY down, if only to gawk, LOL! (hate it when they go whizzing past at 60 mph, their rear view mirrors passing within a foot of your toe in the stirrup!)

The horses were as excited as the people, was amusing to see the normally blase' show horses who so nicely plod around the arenas, doing "the Big Ben" sideways down the road, LOL, and I was well-pleased that Coos was walking smartly onward, past the scary mail boxes and dumpsters, and gradually falling behind.


All went well until we reached a neighboring horse farm...the lady there raises beautiful TWHs and has granted permission for trail riders to use the sandy two-track along her property to reach the State land behind it. Unfortunately that road follows her fenced pastures full of VERY active TWHs! She had a gorgeous dark palomino in the front paddock who was BOMBING back and forth along his fence, tail flagging, neck arched, snorting and whinneying. Now Quzqo is a gentle sort, tries to stay out of trouble and doesn't like conflict. Let's just sum up the following events by saying my horse was TERRIFIED of that horse...and the horse in the next paddock which was also running and snorting, and Coos was from then on totally APESHIT with TERROR at EVERY damned thing along the two-track! In fact, I couldn't even get him onto the two-track, he decided he'd gone close enough and it was time to go home, and started to rear and spin! Not his normal little bunny hops, we're talking Hi-Yo Silver AWAY!


I didn't have time to be afraid, I was more frustrated and pissed off, frankly, but all I could do was keep spinning him in circles, the second we stopped, he'd rear up and spin again, once he even started off back to the barn, but a one-rein haul yanked him back to Earth! Thankfully four other riders had slower horses than me, and were coming up to us, and even though their horses were also upset by the TWHs, their presence helped Coos make it onto the two-track (that and a pop to the ass w/my dressage whip).

It was an adventurous 200 yard ride down the two track, because then everything was terrifying for ALL the horses...bales of wire, a manure spreader, and much to our despair, up ahead there was a band of 6 horses all galloping back and forth, harassing the trail riders up ahead of us. Thankfully those riders kept that band distracted and they never did notice us...last thing we wanted was a herd of horses galloping at us...I knew Coos would totally lose his brain if that happened. But as bad as that was, the horrific terrible PILE OF CINDER BLOCKS on the right side of the road was worse...Coos jammed on his brakes, reared and spun backwards right into the QH behind us, smacking into his shoulder! I felt bad because that was the woman w/her 3 year old riding behind her, but they were okay.

Got past that mess into the woods, where suddenly the horses decided that stumps and logs were SCARY!! Quzqo was a total brain-free idiot, jamming on the brakes, rearing and spinning (fun w/trees all around). Pretty soon that settled down
into mere veering off the side of the trail, giving the offending stump the hairy eyeball. We got into the deep woods, free from galloping, snorting horses and stray manure spreaders, but Coos was still upset because we were behind the other horses and he had to keep up! JiggyTrotJiggyTrotwalkwalkwalkTrotTrotwalkwalk! AUUGH! Eventually we oozed up in front of the others, and with a clear path ahead, the horse just settled right down, heaved a big sigh, and trucked onward on a loose rein!

With his long Arabian stride, we soon left the QHs far behind us...if I tried to stop and wait, Coos got upset and wiggly, so I figured they didn't really need us, and it was upsetting my horse, trying to keep him slowed down, and we were on the side of a hill with lots of trees that wouldn't be pleasant to rear into, so I just let him go forward. The rest of the riders were so far ahead of us, we couldn't even hear them. So we were pretty much alone in the woods. The change in the horse was amazing! He settled right down, listened to ME (we are going to WALK over that log, we are not going to JUMP it), and he dropped his head and sniffed the ground like a bloodhound as we walked along. Heck, I finally was ENJOYING the ride!! He even stopped for me and stood still as a rock while I snapped some pictures. THAT was the horse I know and love, thank you!

Caught up with the other 20 riders at the trail camp/watering hole & got my second card (Queen of Hearts), and once the stragglers caught up (Coos and I were a good 10 minutes ahead of them, lol), off everybody went again! We got stuck in the middle of the pack, which, needless to say, upset the horse, and again it was JiggyTrot JiggyTrot walkwalkwalk TrotTrotwalkwalk HeadTossHeadToss JigJigJig. One thing owning Tezlu for 15 years taught me was techniques for maneuvering through a pack of trail riders to get to the front (Tez HAD to be in the front, nothing else would do)....eventually we got ahead of the TWHs which were leading the pack (because they were the fastest, most the QHs ended up in the back). Once we got in front of them we were able to keep ahead by a good 15 feet or so, and the ride became enjoyable again. Got to the third card spot (the barn owner's son-in-law just drove to the spots w/his pick-up & waited, ha. After the first stop, the first horse to arrive was Coos!) Think that was a 6 of Spades for me. Bleah!

Managed to keep Coos pretty much in front the rest of the way, and I thought he was finally tiring out (3 hrs into the ride!), because he was letting the other horses pass him. After the next-to-the-last card stop (Ace of Hearts), the horse recognized the road and knew where he was! Uh Oh! When we continued on (after 4 or so riders had to dash into the woods because they apparently couldn't hold it for another 30 minutes!), all bets were off, Coos was headin' HOME! We passed the TWHs in the front (Grrr...Smug riders as they gait along w/o a care, grrrr) and left them in the dust as Coos got into his GOOD trot...his long-striding floaty trot that is NICE! Heck, we left 'em ALL behind...nothing nicer than a long, empty dirt road! I didn't know that the gal riding one of Coos's Pasture Pals was following us...I also didn't know that she couldn't control the horse, so now, in retrospect, I feel bad (a little). After about half a mile (including through some woods) I saw motion out of the corner of my eye, and up comes that girl on the sweaty grey QH! Apparently he'd just took off after Coos, leaving everybody behind! Which ticked ME off because the instant you add another horse to the mix, my horse stops listening to ME...and since the girl couldn't control Colby, HE took off trotting, which got Coos wanting to race after him, and we were entering a forest with narrow winding trails and logs across the trail....yes, the jumping thing raised its ugly head!

My mistake was trying to stop my horse while the other horse took off cantering....I got him turned around, but he started rearing and spinning and trying to bolt to keep up with Colby. I was fuming by that time and have to admit that I sort of lost that fight. I did slow him down enough that he was able to STEP over the log instead of leaping it, but I gave up after that, and once I released the rein pressure, the horse calmed down and slowed down to a civilized trot. Once we got to the dirt road leading to the barn, I made him trot when he wanted to slow down, and we kept pace with Colby until we approached a couple walking a dog. I made the girl slow her horse down...using the dog-walkers as the excuse, plus she needs to learn trail etiquette and not to gallop back to the barn. By that time the horses needed a chance to cool down, lol!

Once we got back on the barn property, Coos just mellowed out and happily do-bopped along the fenceline, probably imagining the big buckets full of golden grain waiting just for HIM (yeah, right). And in the grand tradition of Tezlu...we were the first back to the barn, beating the rest of the riders by a good 20 minutes, LOL! In fact, when I had dismounted at the barn, the first of the riders were just coming off the dirt road into the field...a good mile away! HA! (Tezlu used to just trot so fast and so far, we'd always beat the rest back, even when he was a 26 yr old fart!) One of the barn moms was there and even asked me how "Tezlu" did on the trail ride, because she saw us coming back first, LOL! We agreed Tez must have posessed Coos' body and took over, ha!

We got our last cards, mine was some totally useless black card I don't even remember. One of the ladies got a Royal Flush, and the barn owner's 5 yr old grand daughter got a really good hand too, can't remember what though. Well, it got me out in the fresh air, I learned some things about my horse (like, don't go out w/more than one other horse!), I didn't fall off, and got my adrenalin rush for the week!

Did a little research online this afternoon re: rearing, and turns out I did the EXACT recommended thing when the little shit reared...release the rein, yank 'em in a circle, and kick them forward (or pop 'em in the ass with a whip). Keep them moving forward, they can't rear if they're moving forward! Good to know!

Tonight I stopped out at the barn after work, and the little shit was already in his stall, throwing an Imperial Hissy because His Food was Not In The Imperial Bucket! Oh Horrors! He got brushed for his effort, and lunged as well (had to try out the new splint boots). Amazing after he got lunged and a little Clinton Anderson Desensitization Treatment (I did the thing where you flick your hand in their face until they stop flinching...Coos has Issues with his right side...but he settled down to lick & chew rather quickly)...a little showmanship practice (we're horrible! Absolutely wretched!!)...totally different horse. Very calm and cute and cuddly and nice...he's a wimp at heart, LOL!

12 days until our first horse show! Let the adventure begin!