OUTDOORS!

Sat Mar 31, 2007

Coos is progressing SO well with his driving training! This past Wednesday I ground-drove him outside the barn, off into the fields and around the outdoor arena, he did SUPER! So today, after having ridden him to tucker him out, I hitched him up and we ended up driving outside! Never mind it was cloudy, 50 degrees, and WINDY!

He did even BETTER than Super!! We went all around Bob's front lawn (it's quite large), serpentined the trees, then off into the big empty pasture, which is very hilly...LOL...poor Coos had to haul my butt up and down hills...and he was WORKIN'! He'll have some new muscles before long I'm sure! My main problem was that it WAS dinner time, and he definitely showed more enthusiasm whenever we headed back towards the barn, LOL!

Bob was driving a tractor around with a manure spreader...Coos didn't care one bit. The Mares were going ape because this horse with a strange appendage was going by their pasture...he didn't care! We ended up back in the indoor arena, and he got driven some more, even ended up giving Bob's two tiny granddaughters rides in the cart! They loved it, and their Grandma was very impressed (how depressing...she's exactly the same age as me, LOL!). We even gave HER a ride, but that was a mistake...the woman's no lightweight, plus my weight, LOL...let's just say the cart wasn't balanced at all, but Coos pulled us around the arena twice (I didn't ask him to trot). What a trooper!!

What REALLY chuffs me though...I hitched him ALL BY MYSELF! Alone in the barn...all the teens and Grandchildren had gone out to the outdoor arena to ride, Bob was off on the tractor. What the hell, I know my hoss! I just tied him to a post, and was able to get the cart hooked up with NO problem whatsoever!!! My good horse, standing so nice and still!!

Can't count how many times I had to get in and out of the cart...opening gates, fixing strap adjustment (I noticed before driving out of the barn that I had the left trace OVER the left shaft loop! Yikes!), but Coos stood rock solid and was good as gold! He got a little fussy while I was opening the gate to the empty pasture, but other than that...very good!

LOL...when I was giving Bob's youngest granddaughter a ride in the cart, Coos cut it too close to the round pen in the arena, and we caught a wheel on the fence panel! He stopped before that though, and I had NO problem backing him up a few steps, angling him away from the round pen, and walking on! Impressed the hell out of Bob's wife, LOL! Impressed me too! What a good horse!

That was fun.

Where No Quzqo Has Gone Before

Thu Mar 29, 2007

Didn't feel like riding last night, so now I have a fun alternative in driving! This was Quzqo's first venture OUTdoors in the blinders & all, so no cart was involved.

On a scale of 1-10, I'll give him an 8! He marched right out of the barn, up the hill, tried to veer to the left where the yummy grass was, but since he had the overcheck on, he couldn't lower his head and lunge for it like normal (ha ha), and kept going straight. We ended up walking around Bob's house, along the road (well, not IN the road, but next to it)...cars whizzed by, he didn't care. We walked along the outside of the arena, into an empty pasture, around that, even along the scary woods, he didn't care, just kept walkin' along, stopping when asked, Gee-ing and Haw-ing like a pro (seriously! I'd just say the word and he turned w/o me doing anything with the reins!). Back out of the pasture, back along in front of Bob's house along the road, along the front of the barn...

I had BillyBob the Corgi with me (since I knew I wasn't going to do any chase-able activities that he might harass the horse about) and he was keeping right up, running in front, beside, behind the horse. Well, he shot in front of the horse and for some reason, Quzqo SPOOKED...granted, he spooked in place, didn't veer off or lunge sideways or anything! Then he was on high alert, and Bob's big gooseneck flatbed trailer was obviously carnivorous, because then Coos SPOOKED at that...LOL...spooking is easier to deal with when you're standing 4 feet behind the horse in question. We got past that scary thing and back around and back into the barn!

All in all I'd say he did VERY good (other than the two spooky bits). Might do that a few more times before trying it with the cart. I wish my farrier would open up the gates to the trails around the property so I could at least ride them and judge whether a cart would fit or not...but since he doesn't live in his house any more (the divorce thing)...it might not get done. Grrr.

Some stinking filthy horse in Quzqo's pasture tore a CHUNK from his left stifle! GRRRRR! Fur...skin, and actual MEAT...granted it's maybe 1/16" deep, but it was raw and bloody and obviously tender...though thankfully he wasn't limping...just did NOT want me touching it to clean it. Dayum! Here he'd gone early 2 weeks w/o a bite!

Driving Miss Quzqo

Sun Mar 25, 2007

Or Mr. Quzqo I guess.

Drove the little bugger again today, HOORAH!! Happily he was still tuckered from yesterday's trail ride, and I rode him English for about 45 minutes beforehand...ha, couldn't get a canter out of him, he was pooped and unenthused! But we did enough trotting in the lovely mid-60's temps to get him sweaty in his Spring fur!

Happily my friends showed up to ride their horses, so they helped me hitch Himself up. It went MUCH smoother this time...lowering the shaft loops didn't make any difference, because I added a maroon saddle pad borrowed from Bob, and that raised it up an inch, LOL...so guess next time I'll not use the pad, which will then lower the loops that inch, and maybe it'll work out.

Led Coos around the arena once, because my friend was worried her TWH mare (standing in the round pen, curious as to why she was tacked up and standing in the round pen!) would freak if she saw a horse pulling a cart. So, I led him around, the mare didn't bat an eye, and all was well. Got in the cart & sat there a minute or two...I do NOT want him to get the idea that when he feels me get in the cart, he should take off (like he does when I'm getting on him for riding, LOL...but he did that from Day One)

He did SO good!! At one point we had the afore-mentioned friends on their horses, and a teen with her Shire/Paint gelding, and her little sister riding her little white pony all in the arena at once...only had one near-collision when the Teen wasn't quite watching where she was trotting, but Coos stopped on a dime when asked and we didn't crash, LOL!

He's REALLY gotten the hang of turning and corners, you can see him using the shafts to turn the cart...very neat! And...we TROTTED! YeeHAW! That was fun as heck, I was surprised, LOL! He enjoyed it too...we went around the corners with no problem! Should have videoed THAT, because everyone was exclaiming how gorgeous he looked, extending his trot SO nice...I was too busy having fun and trying not to slide around in the seat when we cornered...really had to lean into it ala Ben Hur, ha!

Drove him for about half an hour...fun a'plenty!! Maybe if it dries out a bit outdoors, I'll ground-drive him outside, but wouldn't even think of driving him until the puddles are gone!

Second Trail Ride of the Season

Sun Mar 25, 2007

Took Himself out yesterday afternoon for a multi-mile trail ride! He was a pistol, nice to see him full of piss & vinegar, yet not insanely so! The snow isn't gone from the woods yet, so we didn't ride in the woods too much...very slick and slushy, Quzqo was NOT pleased.

Once we got to our favorite dirt road, I got him cantering and gave him his head...the little shit TORE off at a gallop and we went maybe 3/8 of a mile like that...that was SO fun!! At no time did he feel out of control or out of his mind, we just flew down that road and had a great time!!! He slowed down on his own and when we reached the turnaround (before it turns into a two-track into the woods, which was all snowy and icy)...we turned around, and cantered back the other way at a slower pace! Had to do more road-riding, but he did terrific, not even flinching when a big pickup truck whizzed by! Since he's going barefoot now, I didn't trot him on the gravel, kept him walking.

Did some more cantering on the dirt road near the barn, and was thrilled that I could steer him at a canter using neck-reining...course maybe he was avoiding those dips and puddles in the road on his own and it was merely coincidence I'd asked him to move left or right at the same time, lol! Needless to say little fat boy was puffin' and sweaty, so I got off him and walked beside him up this steep hill (one-lane dirt road, blind spot, scary). Of course my real motive was to pick up the beer cans I spotted on our way down earlier, LOL...hey, got 5 of 'em...that's 50 cents with Michigan's deposit law! My new pommel packs I bought worked out great for toting empty beer cans!

Hopefully he's tuckered out today (I know I am!), and won't need too much tiring out before harnessing this afternoon!

First Trail Ride of the Season

Sat Mar 24, 2007

Took Quzqo out on the trails last night (loving the extra hour of daylight! Thank you, George W. Bush). Luckily he was already tired out from his busy day, so we didn't have ANY issues. Did a little bit of road riding to get to a dirt driveway that goes into the neighboring hayfield...the path along the road was under 3-4" of snowmelt water. Cars, trucks blasting by, Coos didn't care one bit!

Had to go through some snowmelt anyway, but again, he didn't care, and kept stopping to fladdle his lips in the water and to paw at it. Did some trotting along the fenceline, and the little goober picked up a canter on his own and cantered maybe 50 yards on his "bad lead" (the left) before tuckering out down to a trot (it's all uphill, poor flabby lad). No theatrics at the corner where we turned away from the barn up the trail...the fact my farrier still has the gate shut probably helped. Up across the hayfields to the dirt road, down the dirt road, and when he wasn't suspecting it, we turned around and came back, went past the hayfield, then turned around and came back (he was expecting to automatically turn in there...don't want him doing that) & back to the barn, through all the standing snowmelt without a problem!

Was NOT happy to see my farrier's house/property up for sale...bummer. He's getting a divorce, he moved out, moved his horses to Bob's barn, and the wife and daughter are in the house, but not with it for sale. $300,000+, probably 30 acres, two barns, nice place. Hope it doesn't get bought by a developer for a subdivision, or bought by some assholes who won't let us ride along the property line to get to the trails (otherwise it's 1/2 mile of road riding on a busy county road). Too bad

Today I'll taking Coos out again for a longer ride, get to play with the new trail stuff I bought at the Michigan Horse Expo (pommel pouch, new saddlebags w/bottle holder, etc). Not as sunny and nice today, but that doesn't matter, it'll just be nice to not be riding around in circles!

Quzqo Drives!

Sun Mar 18, 2007

WE DID IT!!! HooHAH!!!

With the help of one of the other boarders at the barn, and only after Himself was seriously tired out from being free-lunged
for 20 minutes (the little booger GALLOPED circles for 10 of those minutes...he'd been in his stall ALL day due to the farrier being there today), then he got ridden for an hour with lots of cantering and trotting, THEN he got his feet trimmed (going to try keeping him barefoot this summer), THEN he got harnessed up and ground-driven for about half an hour until the arena cleared out (the Barn Owner's daughter's boyfriend was playing Cowboy with a young horse in the round pen, I didn't want to try hitching Himself up with some young QH bucking and rearing in the round pen).

We got him hitched to the cart okay, though he was a little fidgity compared to last time with the Barn Owner's pony cart (which WAS in the evening when he was worn out). Wasn't quite sure on the adjustment of the shafts, it seemed the ends would be digging into his shoulders, but being the stupid monkeys we are, we went on ahead and started leading him around. After the first turn he started fussing and protesting and balking and carrying on...by the 2nd set of corners he finally balked and refused to move and refused to move, and started to swerve and lean back on his haunches...we got him straightened out and figured the ends of the shafts WERE causing him distress, so we unbuckled everything we could, shortened up the traces, moved the shafts and cart forward until the ends were level with the points of his shoulder, then re-buckled everything and tried again.

He moved forward tentatively, like he was expecting something to jab him in the shoulder, but no, with the shafts in the correct position, the cart moved WITH him, and we made the corners neatly....halfway down the arena side he let go a HUGE sigh, and we knew we were all right, LOL!

I got into the cart, with my friend still holding the lead, and we walked around the arena, but with me actually driving...she was just the safety spotter so to speak....after that, I shooed her away and we went solo!

He did GREAT!!! I was worried it'd be difficult, but you DO get "in the zone" even when you're driving, and become one with the horse, even though you're sitting 3-4 feet behind him!! Granted, we just walked but he did SO good!!!

My friend got a few minutes of video with my digital, and I'll upload it to YouTube tomorrow from work (cable modem), but in the meantime, here's a pic of us before the maiden voyage. Damned straight I wore my helmet, LOL!

Really looking forward to what adventures await!

LOL, Bob showed up about halfway through our driving around, so he probably will try to get me to pay him more money for the horse now, LOL! (he's been trying for the past 2+ years...I just threaten to hand him a bill for the training!!)

I love my horsie!

The Cart IS cool...but amusingly...remember at first all they said was that they had GREEN carts, no black, then suddenly she "found" a black one in stock? Turns out the metal seat frame at least WAS green, and PAINTED black, LOL...some of the paint got scraped off...and green is beneath it! Well, at least I know I could touch it up with some black Rustoleum probably

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC8hRi_WGcE

It's Here! It's Here!

Sat Mar 17, 2007

Sneaky FedEx guy! He apparently snuck up like Santa and left the boxes for the cart by my garage without me hearing him (tricky, since I'd been seated at a table by the front window much of the morning, painting a horse & keeping watch!!!). Went out to get the mail (none, grr), and was surprised to see them leaning up against the doors!!!

Yaaay!!!! Before 10:30 a.m. too! Crap, now what do I do with the rest of my day, LOL! Hm, could still make that auction 2 towns over...naw, I think I'll play with the horse this afternoon instead, & start assembling the cart!

The chickens were also very excited, as you can see in the above pic, LOL!

By Popular Demand - Quzqo on YouTube

Thu Mar 15, 2007

By popular demand:

My first video of Himself, wandering prettily in a snowy pasture. All those lovely dapples and dark legs are gone, alas. He was around 6 years old in this video. Also sad, this was before he got his tail broken, so he could flag it proudly back then...:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xHdvwY90TI

This is from winter 2006, just his fat self playing in the round pen! His tail wasn't broken (yet), but he had no inclination to raise it up anyway, LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-IGR0yNXIM

I need to buy a bigger memory card for my digital camera, and get some new video of him, hopefully hitched to my new cart!!

I Dood It!

Mon Mar 12, 2007

Just ordered my two-wheeled cart, HooHah!! And yes, it's got a solid floor and front so I won't get splashed by mud kicked up by Quzqo's little hoofies!!

WHEEE! 4-10 days for delivery via FedEx Freight!

Black finish, cob sized (72" shafts). Happy Happy Happy!!!

Here's what it looks like, though this is their mini horse sized version:

http://www.horsecart.com/images/miniblkwood.bmp

Well, poopy, they don't have the cart in black in stock, but they do have dark green, so I guess I'll go with that! Luckily grey horses match any color. I could get a black one with a mesh floor/front, but not only would it cost $25 more, (the others were on sale)!

It'll be delivered to my house, and it'll be in multiple boxes, but comes with the tools for assembly, HA HA! The testimonials on the site proclaim it was "easy to assemble", and looking over the PDF instructions, that'll probably be true.

Not like there's anything tricky about it...no drive chains or transmissions or brakes. I put together my Mantis Tiller, I can do this...and have a Big Brother who loves to help, LOL!

Hm, I'd better assemble it AT the barn though, shouldn't I? Would look odd, towing it behind the car, heh heh. No, I couldn't ride Quzqo to my house, and then drive him back to the barn. Not yet anyway.

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The cart lady found a BLACK cart! It'll be shipped tomorrow!! YAAAY!

I really didn't want the green one. But I wanted a solid floor more than a black cart.

YAAY!

Now to find a red fleece harness saddle pad to match my red Show Shirt! That'll look so sharp with a grey horse (though he's getting SO fleabitey that he IS starting to look pinkish!)

Yes indeed! I figured maybe I could have painted the green one with black Rustoleum, LOL!

I could employ my brother to help me assemble it, and then he could haul it to the barn with his flatbed trailer...or his pick-up. The thing only weighs 90# assembled for gosh sake.

My friend with the Paint is trading in her Tahoe for a pick-up, so in theory, IF it works out, she could haul the cart to off-site horse shows too, heh heh.

Talk about putting the cart before the horse, LOL! Gads..it takes 20 minutes to put the harness on, another 10 to hitch it up...that'd take up the whole 30 minute lunch break most shows have before the afternoon performance classes, which usually start with the driving and saddleseat (and usually jumps straightaway to Huntseat Equitation, because nobody enters the driving or saddleseat classes in these parts)

Eh, won't worry about it now. No sense building up more dreams to be cruelly crushed beneath the heel of Reality.

Quzqo the Terror

Wed Mar 7, 2007

Got to the barn around 7 last night, and the horses were still out (grrr)...the teens never showed up (understandable, since we had VERY heavy snowfall and the roads were horrible), so Bob's daughter, Sarah & her boyfriend, Cowboy Brian. were doing the evening chores (Bob & his wife took off to FLORIDA for the week, dirty dog! So that's where my board money is going!!).

Sarah asked me to go ahead and open the gate of the Bad Boyz pasture to let the geldings into the "holding area" near the barn, so she could start bringing them in. They were more than ready to come in, and I opened the gate, and in flowed around 10 big ole' Geldings, from the new 4 yr old QH named Emmett, to the Shire! Cusco hung back and waited until everything cleared out, then he came ambling and nickering to me...still wearing his blanket this time!

Got his halter on, and wondered HOW the hell I'm going to wade through all those milling geldings congregating by the gate! With the lead rope in my left hand, we marched into the fray, and only had to fling the rope at that damned Buster the QH...but amazingly...without Quzqo or me doing anything...the other geldings immediately moved away...and I mean FAR away...about 6 of them went to the far end of the paddock, the furthest distance from the gate...a few more backed off about 10 feet, and only Emmett hung by the gate, and a tossed lead rope shooed him off...and we were able to exit without anybody pinning ears or charging or crowding!

I've heard stories of how Coos acts at the gate when it's time to come in...pretty much hogging the gate, squealing and kicking like a maniac at any horse who comes near, LOL!! So maybe he's taught those other horses what the Little White Horse can dish out!! I believe it after that demonstration last night!

No new bites on him either, though the scabs have peeled off his old ones, leaving disgustingly bloody oozy-looking ouchies...all part of the healing though. *sigh*.

Size matters not! That's what Coos taught them horses, LOL!

Quzqo Gets The Shaft

Sun Mar 4, 2007

Or Two of them to be precise!

Yep, yesterday evening, for the first time EVAH, Coos got hisself hooked up to a cart! I got that annoying pre-teen to help out (she's a good kid when she's got something to do and some focus), and I harnessed Himself up, and ground drove him around the arena for about 15 minutes (after he'd been ridden & tuckered out previously...I could only ride for 15 minutes, but it was all trotting and cantering, until the pain in my chest got too much to bear). We got Bob's cart out, and with the kid holding Quzqo's head (rope halter over the bridle), I wheeled the cart up, raised the shafts up over his back, and gently lowered them, where they promptly GOT STUCK ON HIS BIG FAT BARREL!

BWAHAHAHAAA! Quzqo was too WIDE for the shafts, LOL!!! Couldn't even get them mid-point on his fat ole sides, LOL!! They were wedged there, but better still, he didn't care. Nope, he was fine, just standing still with the kid petting his nose, didn't care what was going on with his sides, LOL! With some squidging I managed to get the shafts a couple of inches lower, and they were pretty much just held in place by his gut, didn't need straps or traces or anything, ha!!

But, put the straps on the shaft anyway, the traces were too long for the cart (I guess it was a pony cart after all), but I hooked 'em up anyway, didn't matter that they were slack, since the shafts were held in place by somebody's previously-mentioned fat gut!

I started leading him forward, and after a split second's hesitation, he started walking, and the cart rolled easily behind him, and he didn't seem to know or care, and was doing just great!! We made two big circles around the arena before calling it quits. I wanted to drive him (walking beside the cart, not IN it), but not with a cart being held up by somebody's fat gut, so that'll have to wait. (just to clarify, I DID attach the required straps as well, it wasn't just balancing on his ample girth) He did SO well, especially considering I totally skipped the stage of training that consists of the horse dragging a pair of dummy poles to get used to the feel of the cart shafts...kind of figured I didn't need that, and I was right!

Yep...next step...a cart that'll fit him, HA! Time to start shopping! Bob has a big 4-person carriage, but I don't think that'd fit Coos either, plus he'd look ridiculous hitched up to that big thing. Luckily next weekend I'm heading down to the Michigan Horse Expo, and maybe they'll have something there, if not, there's quite a few online dealers with decent prices on 2-wheel jog carts. Tsk, there goes the $$ I've got saved up for Breyerfest!

I was also thrilled that I COULD ride him, even if it was for 15 minutes...took 10 minutes before my chest started to ache, so that's an improvement!

Found out that one of the Teen Girls was riding one of Bob's new horses yesterday, the thing took off bucking, and she got bucked off and broke her arm as a result! Yikes!! Thank goodness for the Michigan Equine Liability Law (i.e. if you get hurt while being around a horse, it's your own damned fault), but still...well, she's got plenty of time to heal up before horse show season!

Poor Coos got FIVE new chomps to himself yesterday...+ a new hematoma on the opposite shoulder of the first one (which is almost disappeared and healed up). Today he's wearing his new winter blanket, for protection if nothing else! GRRRRGH! When the snow melts, the herd will disperse and hopefully he won't be thrashed upon!

I was thinking when/if he ever cripples me for good, I can still enjoy horsey activities by driving him, LOL! And when gas gets to $5/gallon, I can drive him to the grocery store (will need a bigger cart)

+++++++++++++++++++

SOMEhow he got out of his blanket today...I found him in his stall, and his blanket hanging on a rail in the aisleway...looks like he did some serious rolling in the snow and when velcro gets filled with snow and ice, it doesn't stick, and the velcros came undone, so the helpful(?) barn person (whichever teen girl it was) just removed it from him, rather than brushing the snow off and putting it back to rights. Got it all stuck back on, and added the leg straps (since he doesn't give a damn, whereas Tezlu did the high-steppin' hoochie-koo when I tried using leg straps on his blanket, lol!). See if it stays on tomorrow...at least it apparently IS protecting his torso from bites, which is the point. And the wind chill today was around -5, so that was a bonus. He's been shedding for a month, so the ole' winter fur isn't quite as thick as it was in January.

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Got my driving bits from eBay last week, so he had his Real Official Driving Bit too, which at least LOOKED appropriate (2 NEW driving bits for $9.95...didn't NEED two, but oh well).