Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts

6/7/09

Can This Last?

What can I say? Nothing but good news to report. How 'bout that?

First, I rode Indy last Sunday - the last good day we've had for riding incidentially - and he was fantastic. He did look in the window a couple of times, but other than that he was his usual self again. No tension, no bouncing, just good ole Indy. Ami was quiet as well. Whatever it was that was bothering them, it's either gone or they don't care about it anymore.

Not only was Indy his calm cool self, the first time we rode up the "playpen" he stopped and started an attempt the stretch into urinating position. Since he's never urinated under saddle yet, I tried to encourage him as much as I possibly could. No dice. He straightened up and continued walking.

Now, you may be asking yourself why I bring all this up - and I couldn't blame you. LOL! It's just that many geldings have problems urinating under saddle. It's not that they can't, but I guess they don't think they can, or, maybe they think they're not supposed to. In any case, some geldings NEVER learn to urinate while being ridden, and others only after witnessing another gelding doing it. Needless to say, on a long trail ride this can become extremely uncomfortable for the poor horse, so I wanted Indy to catch on even though he didn't have another gelding to "set an example."

So, I kept taking him back there where there were lots of old shavings to tempt him. Finally, he stopped and tried it again. This time he did the Deed! I praised him to the skies and stroked his neck and everything else I could think of to let him know that this was a goooood thing he was doing. Sure glad there was no one else around though...

Hopefully, this will carry over. Like I said, I haven't had a chance to ride again, but maybe tomorrow.

The only "bad" note is that I'm sure now that Indy does not like the French link bit. After observing him with different bits now that he's more used to the idea of bits in general, I'm convinced that he still likes the Myler bit the best. Maybe it's the thinner mouthpiece. Or the slots it has for the headstall and reins - this may hold it more steady in his mouth and give his tongue more freedom. Whatever it is, it's his mouth so he gets the bit he prefers.

I'll use the Myler for our next ride and see how it goes.


9/22/08

The First Day of FALL! What Happened To SUMMER?

Okay, I know I say this every fall, but dang it, fall and winter pass SO much more slowly than spring and summer. Hopefully we will have a nice "Indian summer" this year so Indy and I can make some more progress.

We did have a nice ride a couple of days ago. It was longer than usual, and he was higher than I think I've ever seen him. Maybe it was just getting out to the grass, because I know he's really hungry - more about this later - or possibly it was the adjustments I made to his sidepull - I raised the noseband because it looked too low, but he didn't seem to like that at all. So, it was a bit more of a ride than usual in addition to being longer.

It all pointed up how out of shape I am. Indy was fine, but the muscles in my legs were - and still are - really sore, with my arms and hands a bit of a problem as well. I readjusted the sidepull, but I think I'll do some more ground work, possibly with the bit, to get him a little lighter. I just hope, like I said, that the weather will give us a break.

The reason I knew Indy was really hungry was because we've had to cut down on their ration of hay - again. I've mentioned that we had a lot of clover this year, and they have already started gaining weight from our hay! Dang! They were already on a diet, and we've cut them back as much as we feel like we can. And needless to say, we never feed grain or any other concentrates.

If we have as much clover next year, we're just going to have to kill it out. These two just can't handle the calories, and they need to be able to have at least enough hay to keep their digestive systems healthy without getting obese. It's no fun being an easy keeper, as I know from experience. I was always an easy keeper myself, gaining weight on a claorie count that most people would have lost weight with.

Since my muscles are much to sore to try to ride - or even do ground work yet - I've just been grooming. But - I'm having no end of problems with one of our half grown barn kittens. I named her Terror when she was just a baby, little knowing how well that name would fit her. Oh, she's very friendly. In fact, that's the problem. She won't leave me alone while I'm trying to work on the horses.

She's incredibly persistent - if I try to ignore her she will leap from the stall rail half way across the stall, landing on my neck. Needless to say, this can be quite a shock. It also can be quite painful when her little claws dig into my skin, protected only by a thin shirt. At least Indy doesn't spook when I scream into his ear.

If Terror isn't launching herself onto my back, she's wandering around the stall under Indy's feet. As one can imagine, this is most distracting. She is such a sweet kitty, and I love her dearly, but if she doesn't lose interest in this game pretty soon I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the little demon. Oops! My bad - Demon is another pesky little half grown kitty that's always under foot.....

8/1/08

Report From The Zoo

Thought I should check in to report progress - or rather, the lack thereof. A couple of days ago I was feeling much better, but during the night on Wednesday, I started hurting again. The muscles in my ribcage feel as bad as they did a week ago, and I have no idea of what I might have done to reinjure them. To say I feel totally bummed would be the understatement of the year.

Still, I try to keep my spirits up as best I can, and there certainly is never a dull moment around here. I'm not sure if the flooding we had around here in the spring had anything to do with it, but we are seeing sights we never saw before.

I mean, the deer have always come around, but now they are grazing in the back yard! And not just occasionally either. On Wednesday morning about 5:00 AM - as it was just getting light - I happened to look out and there was a buck with a rack grazing just this side of the paddock fence. Unfortunately, it was still too dark to attempt a picture, but I could clearly make out the antlers even if I couldn't quite count the points.

As I watched in rapt attention, I noticed movement on the other side of the hay feeder - which is just on the other side of the fence from the deer. It was Indy, contenedly munching some scraps of hay off the ground while the buck continued to graze. They were quite aware of each other and couldn't have cared less. Not only that, there were cats all over the place - as usual - and they didn't care either. Just one big, happy family.

A few weeks ago I saw something in the field that I didn't recognize. With the help of some binoculars, Mike and I determined that it was a fox - something we hadn't seen here before. Later, we realized it wasn't a fox - it was an entire family. We saw both parents frolickinig in the field with several cubs. Again, neither Indy nor Ami glanced at them twice, so I'm sure they weren't a new sight for them.

The last time I rode Indy, the Fox Family was again romping in the field - while we were riding there too - and I don't think Indy even glanced at them. While I was certainly glad Indy accepted our new "neighbors" I was worried about the barn cats, especially the very small kittens.

That concern seemed to be settled just a few days later. It was at dusk when Mike and I saw both adult foxes up by the front door of the barn - the very place where the kittens like to gather and play. The foxes were strolling around checking things out, the kittens were running and playing, and cats and foxes were totally ignoring each other. I know coyotes will kill cats, but appearently foxes very seldom will attack cats, even kittens. Around here, I'm sure the foxes have more than enough to eat without risking the wrath of a momma cat that's almost as big as they are!

Then, there was the turtle. This guy had a shell larger than a dinner plate, and he (she?) was moseying purposefully across the back yard, totally oblivious to the crowd of curious cats around him. We've seen him about three times, always in a different part of the yard.

Well, well. I took some time off from typing this and watched the news, They had a story about tagging turtles for some study or another, but it seems they were leading the people - including the police by now - to patches of marajuna! Seems turtles love the stuff. Who knew? Marajuna sniffing Police Turtles!

Honestly, I've never smoked a joint in my life, but I'm about ready to try anything. Now, where is that darn turtle...

4/7/08

Acute Spring Fever

Is spring finally here? I cannot remember a winter more miserable than the one (I hope) just past. That's quite a statement from someone who's always hated winter anyway.

It wasn't just the cold - although it was very cold very late in the season - which is always hard to take - it was me, my body and mind. My back, always touchy due to congenital lumbar stenosis, decided to have a fit at the worst possible time. The heavy clothes I had to wear to the barn made my back scream, which made my legs scream, which made it difficult just to walk back and forth to the barn, let alone do anything when I got there.

Twenty-five years of making a living using a keyboard have left me with severe tendinitis in both hands and carpel tunnel syndrome in both wrists - both of which are quite sensitive to the cold. The extra effort of working in heavy gloves greatly exacerbates the tendinitis, making gripping anything very painful.

Definitely not helping matters was the fact that there was so much stall cleaning to do, especially in the morning - my very worst time. No, it wasn't Indy and Ami. They are pretty darn neat in their stalls, even in very bad weather. Rather it was the barn cats. Yes, I said cats - about 20 of them using the stalls as litter boxes. Ewwwwwwww!

Not only did we have to practically sift the stalls to find it all of it, cat poop makes horse poop smell like Channel #5. Not great exactly the greatest on frigid mornings when one already feels like Dead Person Walking - under 15 lbs. of layered clothing. The worst of it was that all this took so long that it was almost time for their lunch by the time we finished.

Several times I was so exhausted when we finally got back in the house that the only thing I could do was crash so I would be able to fix Indy's and Ami's lunch and take it out to them - which of course involved getting all dressed again. I was truly miserable. There were mornings when I honestly questioned whether I would be able to get dressed - no small feat at 10 degrees - stagger to the barn, clean up, mainly after the cats, stagger back to the house, get undressed, rest for maybe an hour before lunch.

So, on those mornings while I was lying in bed wondering if I could make it through another bone chilling morning, did I wish I didn't have to go out in the cold? Certainly. Did the thought that I might be better off without horses ever cross my mind? Certainly not.

Why not? Because my life would be so empty without them. Because, for me, horses are Magic. No matter how bad I feel and for whatever reason, the moment I'm with my horses I'm fine. These glorious creatures are as necessary to me as the air I breath - air preferably wafting the warm, earthy smell of horses my way.

I was born addicted to horses, and I will die addicted to horses. It's no more under my control than the color of my eyes or the fact that I happen to be left handed. It just is. And I am so grateful for it.

Well, then, what about all those cats? What can I do? I mean, I couldn't get along without Princess, or Precious, or Zip, or Cudzy, or Tab, or Ranger, or Scout, or Pepper, or Blue, or Bobby, or Scritch, or Frosty, or Nose, or BK, or Speed, or Mr. Gray, or Bash, or Bunny, or Boots, or ...

Oh well. They hardly ever use the stalls when the weather is decent.

1/22/08

Where Is Global Warming When You Need It!

Cold? Who's Cold? It was a balmy 29 degrees when we went out to feed the horses this morning. Balmy compared to the last few days when temps toped out at 10 or 11 degrees that is. Yesterday we started out with -4.

The footing was so bad that even Indy was reluctant to venture out into the field. It was so warm and so wet just a few weeks ago that the ground was unusually torn up - and then it froze that way. Indy just doesn't like it, but poor Ami gets foot sore. She always did that. I've had her since she was a yearling, and her soles always gave her problems on broken, frozen ground.

It will be better for them today though. Not only is it a bit warmer, we're getting snow. It's surprising how much cushion just an inch or two of snow can provide.

Besides, Indy especially loves snow, and not just to romp in either. He eats it. I've watched him at his outside hay feeder take a few bites of hay and then a mouthful of show. It's just like the sip of water he takes every few bites at the inside feeder. Well heck, hay is dry stuff.

We all had an interesting adventure on that -4 morning though. I was preparing the inside portion of Indy and Ami's breakfast - couple of soaked alfalfa cubes and their Omega 3 supplement - when I glanced out the kitchen window and there was a deer in the backyard! Actually, there were two deer in the backyard, just a few feet from the window. I got my Mike's attention, and we started watching them.

I know they could see us in the window, but they didn't seem to care. They just looked around, occasionally munching a bite of grass. Then one of the barn cats started coming to the house. When she saw the deer, she stopped short and hunkered down. She stared and the deer and they stared back - ah, predator and prey! Well, not exactly.

In fact, one of the deer started toward her to check her out. The deer wasn't worried, but the cat was. She hunkered down even further, but the deer stopped, distracted by something more interesting.

I peered around toward the barn to see if Indy and Ami were catching any of this. They hadn't been there the last time I looked, but they were there now, standing side by side at the fence, ears forward in interest but hardly alarm.

Finally, the deer got bored and wandered away. I'm sure this scenario has happened before, even if the dumb humans didn't see it.

Like I always say, never a dull moment!

12/22/07

Bullseye!



We here in Warsaw, IN certainly dodged a bullet with the ice storms that have plagued so much of the country. We only had one day when it was really slippery, and we never lost power at all. However, we weren't quite so lucky with this last winter storm. It was snow instead of ice - thank goodness! - but little ole Warsaw saw some of the heaviest snowfall of the entire region - some 14 inches, and that's not counting the fact that there was a lot of blowing and drifting...

Even though it wasn't bitter cold, the wind continued to howl the next day, and even Indy seemed a bit intimidated by it all. Later in the day however, I saw him venture out to the gate even though he didn't go outside the paddock. They both seemed content do stay up by the barn and munch hay.

I knew Indy couldn't contain his curiosity for long though. Sure enough, today he was venturing all the way to the cross fence - and there was Ami right behind him. Some of the drifts were knee deep even for him, and he seemed to take pleasure in galloping through them. The more practical Ami just walked.



Actually, the most difficult part was just getting to the barn the first morning. The drifts were impossible to walk through, even for Mike. He couldn't even dent them with a shovel. Finally, he had to pick his way, clearing a path around the drifts. It wasn't the most direct route to the barn, but under the circumstances we weren't complaining!

The barn cats however were complaining. There was a snow drift blocking their regular "kitty entrance" in the front door of the barn. There they were - all 28 of them - sitting right behind the door when we opened it! What a cat-tastrophe!

Even when the kitties got out of the barn, the drifts were too deep for them to maneuver - they just sank! It didn't take them long to discover our path though, and they've been frolicking up and down, to and from the barn ever since.

By now of course, Indy and Ami have their weaving trails all over the pasture. Viewed from upstairs it looks like a bunch of drunks have been wandering around out there. Horses are constitutionally incapable of walking in a straight line. It must be a prey animal thing. They have been enjoying themselves, and that's the important thing. Indy - who was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - says this is the first decent winter he's seen since he moved here to the southland.
"From my earliest memories, I have loved horses with a longing beyond words." ~ Robert Vavra