Barn time

I think I forgot to blog the past couple times I have been out to the barn. Last weekend my brother was in town and I did not make it out. (But I did the weekend before) This affected my overall attitude for the day more than I realized it would have. Wow. So I made sure to get out there today as soon as the kids went down for their nap.

Had a chat with Cindy when I first got there, then pulled Sinwaan out and started grooming. He wasn't too bad but his feet were fairly packed. His frog really shed as I was picking out his feet. Saw a little black and white in one hoof (the one with the shed frog) but it didn't smell too bad and the other three hooves looked normal. So I tacked up and out we went. He stood nicely for me to mount up and walked fine to the field. Then the fun began, as it always does now.

I sometimes feel like I am on an Lipizzaner stallion, trotting in place although without all the hair and properly arched neck. Nay, Sinwaan has his head up in the air, dancing around like a moron, not watching where he's putting his feet. He stops, tries to eat and I don't allow it since he isn't behaving and we aren't on a trail ride training for endurance anyway! He could take a lesson or two from Ernie's horse Spot, who can eat on the fly without breaking stride. He walks sideways without me asking for a sidepass. Needless to say it is a test of my own horsemanship - will he buck for real today and will I stay on?

I think he is just full of beans. We used to go out on a straight road and after a short warm-up walk he could trot until he tired. Now I make him walk until he behaves and sometimes that takes a while. I think it is driving him a little nuts. He wants to GO for once in his life and I am telling him NO. At least for now. I too ache for the open road, a destination, instead of circles in a field.

He spooked pretty good at...what? I didn't see anything...not really like him. Maybe the mailbox? Or the sound of a water sprayer hitting a pole? He acted like the shadows of the leafy trees were going to get him. Who is this horse? I steadied him with my voice but twice had to give a quick pop for really acting up. Once we moved up to trotting he did better, finally a place to channel his enthusiasm. But he stumbled twice and then I thought he was a little off. Felt like the same hoof that shed the frog. Not knowing enough about the natural hoof I decided to call it safe and call it a day, not wanting to add to injury if that was indeed the case. By then he was doing reasonably well - it is important to me to end on a good note. All he really wants is to be done so he can EAT anyway.

He is due for a trim again, starting to chip a little. I have not felt that I am out enough to have him shod, although it would be nice to not have to worry about taking to the gravel roads and getting more miles for my time out there. I used his boots once this year, but they were fairly time consuming to get OFF, and I don't always have much extra time right now.

Ah well...at least I am back in the saddle, trying though it may be.

A long time coming

Went out to the barn today. Thought about going yesterday while we had some cloud cover on these hot summer days but just didn't make it. So this morning I was feeling determined. One problem: Ellie. I waited for her to take a nap. It didn't happen until about noon! So there goes any hope of riding in cooler weather. Full sun and 89 degrees. Felt a little hotter than that!

Sinwaan heard me open the barn door and came trotting over. Slightly unusual. I think it's because Cindy has been feeding him treats in my absence so he was expecting a goodie. Too bad, he just got me. Because I rode the motorcycle out and didn't want to carry a backpack in this heat I didn't take any carrots. Poor horse.

He wasn't too dirty so grooming went quickly. I gave his bridle path a trim with scissors...horrors!

Tacked up and took a bucket out with me to use as a step-up. Sinwaan stood still as a stump. Hmmm. Well so far, so good. Confidence.

We headed down the gravel driveway and I glanced over and noticed that the surrounding fields didn't seem to be planted with anything in particular and 3/4 of them were mown. So I turned Sinwaan around and headed onto kinder footing (he's still barefoot). Almost instantly Sinwaan started to jig. He had his head up and was all out of sorts, acting like he wanted to just tear around. Yeah, this was the horse I expected last time I rode. Almost a year off is not good for anyone or anything. Although to his credit, riding in groups he is a perfect gentleman. By himself you had better be an intermediate rider. I knew this time I had my work cut out for me.

So I did my best to keep him to a walk. We turned circles. We halted. We backed up. We turned more circles. We walked laps around that field, changing direction frequently. At first I was sure this was the day I would fall off. I could envision being drug around by the stirrup as he bolted for the nearest hay pile. Withering confidence!!

Finally he settled into more of the horse I remembered from regularly being ridden. So we trotted, up and down and all around. Once when I brought him back down to a walk (headed for home) he gave a little faux buck. Bad horse! At least he is too lazy to follow through with most of his misbehaving. And I was still on. Confidence coming back...

After we finally had a solid good 10 minute jaunt I turned him back in to the barn. He's going to take some more work but at this point I don't think it's anything we can't work through. I am just going to have to get out there to ride more often. It's hard to get motivated when my only ride for the year was cancelled...

It was hot out so he got a bath and then I worked on detangling his mane. I didn't want to turn him out damp again (last tine he rolled right away) so I led him out and let him graze while he dried.

All's well that ends well, and we ended on a good note.

First ride

It has been a long time since I rode, probably last September sometime, before Sinwaan broke my leg in the AHA halter class. This weekend Ruth and Heather agreed to come out to the barn where I board Sinwaan so we could all ride together. I was really glad to have their company because one thing I have learned is that Sinwaan is a much better-behaved horse with company. He prefers to follow, and when he has someone to follow that works out well.

I got there a little earlier so I put Sinwaan in the round pen and worked on walking and stopping. He did great so I brought him in and started grooming him. Just then I heard the trailer pull in so the girls had great timing! We all got tacked up and were ready to go at the same time. Sinwaan's girth was only 1 hole bigger also. I wasn't sure how much weight he might have gained with all this time off but apparently it wasn't much. And it was closer to only being 1/2 hole bigger but I didn't want to make it too tight. He practically threw his head into the bridle, I think he's missed our riding time together.

I also put his red front boots on him since he is currently unshod. I was glad he had been trimmed recently, they went right on without too much fuss.

I was a little worried about getting back in the saddle, but I used an overturned bucket as a mounting block and popped right up. Yeah! Man it felt good to be aboard again.

We headed down Elliot and we walked until we got to the turn, then we did some trotting to the railroad crossing. We walked more to the dirt road and then did more trotting. It was getting warm but while trotting we had a nice breeze. It was a fantastic ride.

I could tell Sinwaan was out of shape because when I would ask for him to transition to a canter from the trot he would stumble on his hind end. He also was slowing down on the way home, instead of speeding up like he usually does.

The hardest part for me of the whole day was getting that last boot off. The first boot was not as tight and popped off pretty easily. The second boot, man, I had to really work at it and I was glad that Sinwaan was cooperative!

It was fairly hot by then so I hosed Sinwaan down before turning him back out in his paddock. The first thing he did was go and find a good spot to roll. What a pig! He looked comfortable and I was thrilled to have finally taken him out for a ride again.

Easing back into barn time

Well it's been a very long time but I finally found myself at the barn again. Chad was scheduled to meet me at 1 pm for a farrier appt. I got out there a little early so I turned Sinwaan out in the paddock surrounding the round pen so he could nibble on some greenery. In the meantime I scrubbed out his water tank and started refilling it. In no time at all I heard a truck coming up the driveway so I went out and caught Sinwaan and brought him in. I didn't notice the time then, but when Chad was done with the trim it was only 1:07 so he must have been pretty early. While Sinwaan was getting his feet trimmed, I worked on detangling his mane again. It sure gets knotted up! I gave him a good grooming, trimmed his bridlepath as best I could with scissors (it looks terrible but works) and then we went out to the round pen for a little refresher. Well Sinwaan started out at the trot like he always does but wasn't as frantic about it as I remember him being when I first started working him when he arrived on western soil. It didn't take too long and I had him walking both directions and stopping on command. Good enough! I took him out of the round pen and held his lead so he could hand-graze on some grass...he earned it today. I am looking forward to the day when I can climb back aboard. Seems our one endurance ride for this season might be cancelled, so there goes my motivation to really get him in shape quickly, but we can still enjoy some rides with Ruth once I am ready.

Leisurely Sunday

Sunday the weather was beautiful. I wish I could have been out riding. A grooming shall have to do... the family accompanied me out to the barn and while Levi chased cats, I gave Sinwaan his spring cleaning. Now that spring has sprung, he is shedding out, I could have made a sweater with what came off of him from just a quick brushing. He was looking good today, no more signs of gas or whatever that problem was a couple days ago. His mane was all in knots again but came out easier this time. His feet looked good but he will be needing a trim shortly. I trimmed his bridle-path as his mohawk was getting quite unruly. Having only scissors it doesn't look fantastic but it will have to do for now.

My mom had given me two boxes of apples so we took one out to the barn for everyone to enjoy. Sinwaan does love apples. It was nice to spend some time with him again, though limited.

False alarm?

Had a bit of a scare last night. I went out and tossed Sinwaan some hay and he was in his usual spot, behind his shelter socializing with the stud colts. He came around and took a bite, so I went to the opposite run and looked for Norman. In the time it took me to do that I noticed that Sinwaan was acting strange. He was turning around in circles and his tail was lifted slightly. He was obviously agitated and not eating (not like him).

I went and fed the stud colts and Garreth, and came back to check on him again. He was down on his knees with his rear up in the air. He was acting like he wanted to lay down but couldn't. So I went into the tack room and called the vet. My first concern was colic and the sooner we could get him help the better his chances would be. Well it was after hours and there was another number to try. That was an answering service but I had to leave a message. I do not have a cell phone and do not answer the owner's phone at the barn so I left a message that I would try back again in 10 minutes. I went to check on Sinwaan again and he was backed into a corner next to his water tank and the railing, standing still. Hmmm.

I knew I still had chores to do so I went out and fed the other six horses on the other side of the property. I was looking around for Jen because I had seen her going out on a ride as I pulled in. She works at the vet clinic that I frequent and perhaps would have some advice, or at least a stethoscope so I could listen for gut sounds and heart rate. Checking on Sinwaan again he was quiet now but still not eating. So I got back in the truck and told Matt to drive around and look for Jen (it was dark out by now). Just as we made the turn around the driveway I saw her coming in. She came over with me to take a look at Sinwaan and what do you know, he is acting normal as ever, eating away on his hay pile. Jen said she would be out there another 20 min and would check on him again before she left.

I went home and then at midnight before bed, we drove back out to check on him. He was standing in his shelter, sleeping. I tossed him a little more hay and he dove into it with his usual gusto. I am not sure what to make of this mystery.

This morning when I went out to feed he was his usual hungry self and acting as normal as could be. I am relieved that he did not need treatment last night but wish I could have had some answers to what was going on with him. :-/ ...puzzled....

Out at the barn

Monday I was home sick from work and starting to have cabin fever. It was a nice enough day so I decided to run a couple errands with Levi to get us both out of the house and into the sunshine. On our list of things to-do was to stop by and visit Sinwaan and feed him some carrots.

It was a busy evening at the barn. Jennifer had just left on Phoebe, I could see her riding out across the barren field. One of Garreth's owners was there with him in cross-ties, with a boom box blaring sound effects. Barking dogs, a crowd, fireworks, trying to desensitize him (I guess) as he is still a young horse.

We went out to Sinwaan's paddock and he had drug his salt block base over into the mud so I went over and put that back on his mat under the shelter and then dug his salt block out of the manure. Not sure if he will have any interest in it now but I couldn't very well leave it there.

Levi watched with great interest as I showed him how to feed a horse - it's tricky to feed a round treat on a flat palm!! I offered to let him feed a carrot a couple times but he was shy, or nervous, about those big teeth. He did want to pet Sinwaan and got in a couple of pats on his face and neck. Not sure if he'll be a natural little cowboy or not. "Sinwaan eat carrots mama!"