Sunday, July 8, 2012
July 8
Did another early morning 8 mile ride today, and met up with Heather. We passed a wood-chipper that was running but had no one operating it. Sinwaan moved out well and led part of the time. Heather thought she heard a loose shoe towards the end of the ride. I checked them when I got to the barn and maybe a hind is a little loose but not by much. Still, time to call the farrier and hold off riding until I can get them reset. He is overdue on the fronts anyway.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
4th of July
Planned out a long ride with Heather for this morning, it looked to be about 10 miles. We were doing decently on time so we added a bit to our ride. Turns out we did close to 14 miles (13.9), and Sinwaan had no trouble with it. I am glad to see his fitness to this level just in time for the endurance ride. We trotted long stretches at a time. We had some hills in our ride today and he powered up them. Heather showed me some new roads that were quite enjoyable - nice scenery and very little traffic.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
July 1
Put in our usual 8 mi ride today and the weather was 85 degrees. I didn't blog about this at the time, so now I can't remember anything interesting that may have happened.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Wildlife
This morning I did not want to get out of bed, what else is new? 5 am is tough to take when you don't get to bed before midnight. I had checked the weather forecast and it looked like lovely weather for a ride this morning, followed by thunderstorms all afternoon. Levi heard the alarm and sprang out of bed, feet pattering to our room. I told him it was too early, he should go back to bed. He said "But I really want to play with Legos." So I said okay, as long as you are quiet.
Driving out to the barn the temperature was a perfect 60° and I was even a bit chilly. Sinwaan saw me coming and walked a couple steps the opposite direction. He was not in the mood to work today! I really don't like taking him out before he's had any breakfast, but I do let him munch along the way to make up for it. We pass a couple of alfalfa fields that have some overgrowth at the roadside where it isn't mown.
The conditions were perfect this morning and I was so happy I had decided to put in a ride. Along the way we saw two bunnies hopping across our path, and even a little family of killdeer - three chicks and a protective mother, whom they didn't pay much attention to. Sinwaan was a bit slow heading out but once we turned onto Last Chance (2 mi in) he took more initiative at setting a faster pace. We did a lot of nice trotting and just enjoyed the lovely (calm!) weather and sunrise. I was pleased that we were able to maintain more of a steady pace today, even heading back towards home he was steady. We had a brief canter towards the end, and then a walk to cool out the last 1/4 mi. He still seemed willing to move out and not as tired has he has been at the end of our rides. Fitness is building!
The heat crept up on us during those 8 miles and by the time we got back to the barn it was already in the mid-70s. Sinwaan had started to sweat today, which was expected, but hasn't been usual for him lately with the cooler temperatures - and wind. He was glad to rub his big itchy head all over me once I took off his bridle. And then it was straight to his breakfast.
:)
Driving out to the barn the temperature was a perfect 60° and I was even a bit chilly. Sinwaan saw me coming and walked a couple steps the opposite direction. He was not in the mood to work today! I really don't like taking him out before he's had any breakfast, but I do let him munch along the way to make up for it. We pass a couple of alfalfa fields that have some overgrowth at the roadside where it isn't mown.
The conditions were perfect this morning and I was so happy I had decided to put in a ride. Along the way we saw two bunnies hopping across our path, and even a little family of killdeer - three chicks and a protective mother, whom they didn't pay much attention to. Sinwaan was a bit slow heading out but once we turned onto Last Chance (2 mi in) he took more initiative at setting a faster pace. We did a lot of nice trotting and just enjoyed the lovely (calm!) weather and sunrise. I was pleased that we were able to maintain more of a steady pace today, even heading back towards home he was steady. We had a brief canter towards the end, and then a walk to cool out the last 1/4 mi. He still seemed willing to move out and not as tired has he has been at the end of our rides. Fitness is building!
The heat crept up on us during those 8 miles and by the time we got back to the barn it was already in the mid-70s. Sinwaan had started to sweat today, which was expected, but hasn't been usual for him lately with the cooler temperatures - and wind. He was glad to rub his big itchy head all over me once I took off his bridle. And then it was straight to his breakfast.
:)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Shot, check. Ride, check.
Friday I trailered Sinwaan in to the vet to have his WNV vaccine. If you recall, we did not give it to him when he got his 5-way because last year he had a bad reaction and we were not sure what from. So this year he got them separately and my vet kindly only had me pay the exam fee once even though she saw us twice.
I checked in at the office and went back out, unloaded and started grooming Sinwaan. I felt a couple raindrops and there was a breeze but I wasn't too worried about it. I was just about done when a vet tech came out and asked me if I would like to take Sinwaan back into the sheltered area to wait to get out of the rain. I agreed and not two minutes after she left us the wind really picked up and the rain started hammering down. Talk about great timing! Sinwaan was quite uneasy in the covered area. Partly because it is full of scary things like stocks (for horses and cattle) and has a concrete floor that he slips around on with his shoes. He would much rather be out in a storm then in a shelter. We had some reminders about personal space and manners when standing around, he kept testing me and yanking his head out towards the dirt and rain.
We were early to our appointment so the wait didn't surprise me. Finally the tech came back out and we put Sinwaan in the stocks. After a slight initial hesitation he walked right in and gave us no trouble. When the vet came out I told her since I saw her last I had been riding him 16 miles a week. She said that is great and commented that he was looking better. I said "well he still has a dimple in his butt and looks fat" she said she could tell that he had lost some weight. (My girth says otherwise, but he is much fitter now) She got out the weight tape and measured him. She said he had dropped 100 lbs. I couldn't believe it! That is great news. It is motivational in helping me to continue with our new program.
Sinwaan also has two new lumps that I have just recently noticed. One is near the base of his left ear, and the other is on his right side, just behind where his girth goes. She looked at them and said she could biopsy them, but without doing that she couldn't tell me what they were. They could be cysts, or they could be melanomas. I decided to forego the biopsy today. I will keep a close eye on them and see if they get bigger, or if more appear. I know melanomas can be common on older grey horses. She said often they turn out to be benign and they just remove them.
He got his vaccine and we loaded up and left. As we were leaving the sun started shining and the rain let up. That was nice because I was hoping to work him a bit before leaving him at the barn. Thanks to the grass and weeds that have been growing in the round pen, it wasn't too slick to work him even with all the rain. I had him trot both directions 10 times each and then put him back out to pasture.
Cindy called to report that he wasn't interested in his 5 pm dinner feeding, but before bed she was able to coax him over to eat a handful of alfalfa and from that point he ate his hay.
* * *
Sunday, I woke up at 6 am (horrors) and headed out to the barn. The sun was shining (a rarity this week!) and it looked to be a perfect day. Of course when I got to the barn the wind picked up and I was questioning how wonderful this ride would be. I needn't have worried. Sinwaan was really mellow and perhaps a little stiff still from his shot, although I was happy to see no swelling this time, and his appetite was normal. I let him stop and eat grasses and alfalfa along the way on our ride this morning. We did our usual 8 mile loop and he did not fight me for speed heading home, which was a nice change. We had the pleasure of seeing Jenee' as we rode past heading back as well. The wind was only bad at the beginning and end of our ride, we didn't notice it the majority of the time. Not our full 16 mi this week but the 14.5 we managed is pretty close, and I am happy with that, given the weather.
I checked in at the office and went back out, unloaded and started grooming Sinwaan. I felt a couple raindrops and there was a breeze but I wasn't too worried about it. I was just about done when a vet tech came out and asked me if I would like to take Sinwaan back into the sheltered area to wait to get out of the rain. I agreed and not two minutes after she left us the wind really picked up and the rain started hammering down. Talk about great timing! Sinwaan was quite uneasy in the covered area. Partly because it is full of scary things like stocks (for horses and cattle) and has a concrete floor that he slips around on with his shoes. He would much rather be out in a storm then in a shelter. We had some reminders about personal space and manners when standing around, he kept testing me and yanking his head out towards the dirt and rain.
We were early to our appointment so the wait didn't surprise me. Finally the tech came back out and we put Sinwaan in the stocks. After a slight initial hesitation he walked right in and gave us no trouble. When the vet came out I told her since I saw her last I had been riding him 16 miles a week. She said that is great and commented that he was looking better. I said "well he still has a dimple in his butt and looks fat" she said she could tell that he had lost some weight. (My girth says otherwise, but he is much fitter now) She got out the weight tape and measured him. She said he had dropped 100 lbs. I couldn't believe it! That is great news. It is motivational in helping me to continue with our new program.
Sinwaan also has two new lumps that I have just recently noticed. One is near the base of his left ear, and the other is on his right side, just behind where his girth goes. She looked at them and said she could biopsy them, but without doing that she couldn't tell me what they were. They could be cysts, or they could be melanomas. I decided to forego the biopsy today. I will keep a close eye on them and see if they get bigger, or if more appear. I know melanomas can be common on older grey horses. She said often they turn out to be benign and they just remove them.
He got his vaccine and we loaded up and left. As we were leaving the sun started shining and the rain let up. That was nice because I was hoping to work him a bit before leaving him at the barn. Thanks to the grass and weeds that have been growing in the round pen, it wasn't too slick to work him even with all the rain. I had him trot both directions 10 times each and then put him back out to pasture.
Cindy called to report that he wasn't interested in his 5 pm dinner feeding, but before bed she was able to coax him over to eat a handful of alfalfa and from that point he ate his hay.
* * *
Sunday, I woke up at 6 am (horrors) and headed out to the barn. The sun was shining (a rarity this week!) and it looked to be a perfect day. Of course when I got to the barn the wind picked up and I was questioning how wonderful this ride would be. I needn't have worried. Sinwaan was really mellow and perhaps a little stiff still from his shot, although I was happy to see no swelling this time, and his appetite was normal. I let him stop and eat grasses and alfalfa along the way on our ride this morning. We did our usual 8 mile loop and he did not fight me for speed heading home, which was a nice change. We had the pleasure of seeing Jenee' as we rode past heading back as well. The wind was only bad at the beginning and end of our ride, we didn't notice it the majority of the time. Not our full 16 mi this week but the 14.5 we managed is pretty close, and I am happy with that, given the weather.
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