We have been

cooling our jets all winter.

The girls have been stabled at a private place with tons of mud.  Tiny has been stalled most of the winter with strange lamenesses.  I now have an almost full set of xrays on her, which show no evidence of anything alarming.  She's now moving wonderfully.  Chev has been fine, lost a little weight over her first Oregon winter outside in the rain (despite her ridiculously expensive waterproof blankets).  They're both heading to a lovely full care barn at the end of the month where they'll share a mud-free acre pasture with a double-wide shelter.

I have been in a working more-than-full-time funk.  I get up before the sun rises, work all day, head to the barn, check on the girls, turn them out on grass, clean, water, feed, restock, put them up and head home after dark.  It's been, frankly, exhausting.

But, change is coming. 

And change is something we all need.

2 in one day!! Is she back?

So a friend of mine came out to see the horses the other day.

He's really interested in them, but doesn't know much about them yet.

Like most people who are just starting to work with an animal, there are some residual fear issues to overcome.

I think fear (for us) has a lot to do with the unknown.  We are afraid of horses not because of what they're doing at the moment, but what they're capable of doing at any moment with seemingly little provocation.

I had him lunge both the horses--Chev on the line and Tiny in the round pen.  I think it can be helpful to realize that they do respond in a predictable manner (most of the time).  And confidence can be built on the knowledge that they really are (mostly!) pretty easy to read.

I am a very nervous, high strung, worried person.  My stomach churns in new situations.  My nerves often get the better of me.

I was the kind of kid that couldn't even call and order a pizza because my anxiety about talking to a stranger on the phone was too high.

Ironically, about all I've done for work these last few years is talk to people I don't know on the phone, often in emergency medical situations.  Irony!  At any rate, I can adapt.  Very quickly, sometimes.

I think this hyper-sensitivity is an asset around horses.  I grew up with jumpy, unpredictable horses (Arabians, but who's keeping track anyway?) that would spin and bolt at the drop of a hat (or the buzz of a fly...or the appearance of a shadow...etc, etc ad infinitum).  I sympathized with them.  I, too, was a scaredy-cat afraid of everything.

I got really good at anticipating.

I could feel a spook in a horse way before they were going to bolt (often "wayyyy before" gave me a few seconds lead time).  I worked well with them.  I became the calm, confident one out of necessity.  We understood each other.

So I guess the point is, over the years I've developed a very calm way around horses.  And as a result, I have some really, really laid back horses that look to me for support in strange situations.

Tiny was a great example the other day.

I had the chiropractor out to see if anything could be done structurally to improve her way of going (there could--she was an absolute mess).  To do this, he had to take hold of the lead rope.

Literally no one has handled her but me in almost three months.  And before that, no one had really handled her at all.  She bonded fast and hard.  Now she's tough to get rid of (ha, ha).

She was pretty confused when I stepped back, and kept looking over  like, "Hello?  Hello?  Is this okay with you?  Should this be okay with ME?"

Anyway, it's sort of flattering when an animal acts that way.  But the ultimate goal is to have a sane, happy, confident horse in any situation.  We give them support and tools to feel secure.

So consistency is really the key here.  For my friend, it will take time to learn that horses are, for the most part, predictable animals.  That doesn't mean we should forget that they are potentially dangerous, whether that be intentional or not!  But I think there's a lot of trust that forms there in that daily relationship of predictable handling.

Horses are great mirrors of a person.

Certainly not the first time I've heard this said, but the best I've ever heard it said, comes from Mr. Brannaman.

"Your horse is a mirror to your soul.  Sometimes you might not like what you see…sometimes you will.”

The round pen & a round bale

There has been some serious slacking going on here over at the Chevelle Chronicles.

Part of my problem is now they are the Chevelle AND Tiny Chronicles.

Anyway.

I started a new job about a month ago working for a great equine hospital in town.  I have A LOT to learn.  But so far so good, and I'm checking into new barns that will be closer to where I'm working now.

I watched a girl work her horse in the round pen yesterday while I was picking out the girl's paddock.

The mom and grandma were also looking on, and the grandma was mumbling something about Clinton Anderson--"Well, that's what the Horse Whisperer would do".  Clinton Anderson's the Horse Whisperer, right?  To be perfectly honest with you, I can't keep all those guys straight.

The horse, a big chestnut TB-looking lanky guy, was about as unhappy as a horse could be.  The round pen was way too small for a horse of his build to move properly in.

She kept making all these "ARRRRHHHHH" buzzer noises every time he did something wrong, while simultaneously yelling "TROT"  "WHOA"  and "TROOOOTTT!!!!"  She couldn't catch him (which is a feat in a 50' round pen), couldn't get him to stop, and was getting increasingly annoyed.

That horse had an expression like he wanted to kick her head in.

He didn't though.  He was way too much of a saint for that.

Then, after several minutes of completely mind-numbing activity where the girl expected everything and didn't listen to a thing the horse was saying to her,  I heard the grandma say, "Get him to follow you around!  That's what the Horse Whisperer does."

So she tried that.  She called and called him.  That horse wasn't moving a muscle except to get AWAY from her.  The absolute LAST PLACE ON EARTH that horse wanted to be was next to her.

It kinda made my blood boil to see.

Horses are such forgiving, amazing animals.  I've made so many mistakes with training that I can't even count 'em all.  But one thing I really try to be is fair, and to listen.  But above everything is: being fair.

This horse was set up to fail, and he did.  She didn't notice when he gave her signals that he understood and was trying to comply.

More than anything, she failed her horse.

And the worst part is, she went away from the pen thinking it was his fault.

Ugh.  I'm going to have to start offering free clinics or something.  I'm not an expert by any definition, but I feel like I could at least help people to notice when their horse is trying, and to reward that try in them. 

Then maybe everyone could be happy.

My girls sure aren't perfect, but they are respectful, interested, and calm.  They throw their noses in the halter and go towards something new bright eyed, happy, and secure.

Speaking of happy...

The girls are eating their way through a 600 pound round bale, and loving it. The free choice hay gives them something to do all day, and they could both use the extra pounds before winter hits.  This was after 1 day of being on the round bale--about 100# of hay gone already!  I've since removed the wrapping--it was supposed to help keep the bale together, but they took no heed of that--so we'll see what kind of devastation I'm looking at when I get out there today.

Happy Labor Day weekend to one and all!  Don't forget to hug your horses :)

In which I talk about coming home...among other things

Well, we made it back.

Two horses, two kitties, one 1991 silver BMW, and a ton (literally.  ha ha) of stuff.

Although technically most of the stuff has yet to arrive.

Anyway.

Chev had a pretty rough time on the trip back.  A few hours from home she started acting colicy, hauler called me, and I kind of freaked out a little inside.  For the first few days I was worried I would lose her.  I nursed her along (ironically the baby, who had only ever been in a trailer once, was just fine) and now she's back to normal and doing great.

However, it does make me concede that I'll likely not be moving my horses across country again any time soon.

It's pretty nice here in the green, cool (seriously, what is up with this 90+ degree weather lately??) PNW.

I moved them back to a barn I used to board at, and the owner was nice enough to let the girls hang out in a pipe corral big enough for the two of them--24 hours a day.  They are doing great out there.

I had a bit of a set back with Chevy's feet: the second her toesies touched Oregon soil, they went all to mush.  I had my beloved farrier out shortly after their return (THANK GOODNESS for good farriers!) and Chev has just been on hoof rehab recently--until 2 days ago, when I climbed aboard my horse for the first time in two months.  I miss it.

Hoof comparison...On the left, soon after her shoes were pulled 5/8/12; the right, same foot yesterday, 8/12/12:

It'll probably be a couple trim cycles before her feet are perfect (I can see the shape is off and her toe looks long in the solar view--not so much from the side), but boy am I pleased.  She's still a little tender on rocks (I've been treating with Hoof-Tough, a mixture of iodine and formaldehyde), but she's doing SO great.  Her frog is firm but spongy like a good rubber ball, the deep crack is completely gone and her heel bulbs look great.  So yay for barefoot!  I'm glad I was patient with her and didn't slap shoes right back on without giving her a chance to mend herself.

I'm now working at an equine hospital in the area, and I'm pretty excited about the job.  It's giving me lots of opportunities to learn more horse (and cow, and sheep, and goat, and pig) things--and there's so much to know!  In fact, I better head to bed so I can get up early tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Chev shares her dinner in the pipe corral.  I honestly never thought I'd see that kind of sharing from this mare, but boy, is it cute.

Chev and the neighbor

Tiny looks worried when she's not stuck to Chevy's flank.

'Til next time!

2 more days!

I just got off the phone with the lady who will be hauling the girls for me.  She's in Cheyenne and will be picking them up tomorrow afternoon, right after the brand inspection.  They'll go down to a reining trainer's facility in Cheyenne and stay Wednesday.  Then they're on the road early Thursday, and I think they'll be back in OR by Saturday!

This actually works pretty well for my schedule--I'll have time to pack up the fencing after they head out tomorrow, and be on the road early Wednesday.  This way I think we'll get back about the same time.

Here's to hoping everything from here on out goes smoothly!

t-minus 6 days

...until my little silver car is packed, the cats are in the back seat and we all hit the road--the horses having left the day before, of course.

I am freaking out.  Of course it's a controlled kind of freaking out, which mostly involves how things are going to fit into boxes, stressing over boxes being too heavy, and trying to grasp exactly how much stuff I have.

At any rate, this time tomorrow I'll have a lot of it loaded into a u-haul trailer, and by this time Saturday, it'll all be in u-boxes.

I feel sort of sorry for the horses.  They have no idea that anything is coming, except that their grain has mysteriously stopped arriving twice a day.  The hay continues to show (almost a bale a day!), so they aren't too distressed.

Eating is a huge part of their day

I was curious about how Tiny would feel about having something cinched around her, since she can be goosey about some things--she didn't even bat an eye at the bareback pad.  It'll still be a long while before she's ready for anything serious, but I think she'll be easy when it's time. 

Where you going, carrot lady?

Why you on that side of the corral?

I've also noticed both Chev and Tiny's hoof soles have been shedding like crazy.  Chev has finally shed enough sole that her bare feet are starting to look normal.  The impacted bars have shed, and she only has a little old sole still stuck by her toe area.  Doesn't her foot look great? 

Chev left front (more pancake, previously bad) foot, 7/19/12--it just looks comfortable!

Here's how her hoof looked before on 5/9/12 and 5/12/12, a little more than 2 months ago:

Narrow frog which has now widened, impacted bars (look how far forward the heel buttress is!), and TONS of sole!  It looks very painful to me, not at all the feet she has today.

I am really looking forward to Chev's old farrier working on her feet again.  I don't think I've ever seen her move more soundly than she does now, and she's obviously very happy with her hooves even though they are chipped here and there.  I'm sure he'll be able to get them balanced and shaped just right.  This climate though has been awesome for rehabbing to barefoot, and I hope they'll stay nice when we move back to the soggy PNW!

A night of cellphone photos

This is the most I've seen the girls move in at least a month!  Chev is a LOT faster than Tiny ('course her legs are twice as long)...but isn't that picture of them drinking together adorable?