Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

3/21/09

Springing Forward

As I have said - many times - I hate falling back and love springing forward. This year however, I wondered what the heck we'd sprung into - weather was bitter cold, then warm with severe thunderstorms - even a tornado touched down nearby - then back to bitter cold. Ewwwwww!

Spring must be close though because Indy and Ami are shedding like mad. Since Indy loves to be scratched anytime, shedding season is heaven for him. I could use the shedding blade on him all day and he would be in total bliss.I actually wear out metal curries and shedding blades on this hunk. Once the little points on the blade get dull, he doesn't like it any more. I'm thinking of getting a large paddle shaped piece of wood and driving case hardened steel nails into the back so that they stick out about a quarter inch on the front. Maybe that would hold him for a while!

Actually, the real problem is Ami. Unless she is extremely itchy, she has no interest in being groomed. Her attitude in fact is something like, "Touch my body and die!" Of course, it is her body, and I do my best not to aggravate her unnecessarily, but sometimes she needs to be groomed whether she thinks so or not. It doesn't matter what grooming tool I use on her - she hates them all.

Shedding or not, it hasn't been very springlike here except for a few days here and there - and naturally, it poured rain on those few relatively warm days. We've been under a flood watch for weeks since all the rivers in the area are over flood stage. We have a little creek behind our property - called the Wyland Ditch - that empties into the Tippecanoe River. It has at times back up into our back field but nothing like this:

As you can see, the water was almost up to the cross fence. Never seen it even half that far up the field. The rain, coupled with a few above freezing days, has softened up the ground at least, and Ami is moving much better as a result. I've even taken her off bute - finally! I've never had her on such a high dose for so long.


Spring has always been my favorite season and still is, even though the First Day of Spring 2009 wasn't very impressive around here: chilly and breezy, it didn't feel like spring at all. Still, it is spring and it's gotta get warm soon. Indy and I always love springing forward much better that falling back. I know Indy loves to spring forward because he does it often - sometimes when I'm on him. And that's way better than having him fall back...

5/26/08

A Walk On The Mild Side

What a great couple of days Indy and I have had. On Saturday I rode him for about a half hour, and he was even more responsive to the sidepull than the last ride. I think he's figured out that if he's good in the sidepull, he won't have to wear a bit. Since he much prefers the sidepull, that's a powerful incentive!

We had a great ride - heck, it wasn't even hot, not even for Indy. For some reason, Ami got quite perturbed every time she looked up and Indy wasn't immediately in sight. She would come crashing into the barn so she could look out the back window and see us around the corner. I could tell Indy was thinking, "What's with her?" I guess it could have been the fact that Mike was mowing with the tractor, plus the kids next door were racing their ATV all over. Whatever, it didn't bother Indy. As usual.

Yesterday, I decided to take him out into the open field for only the second time - with the first time being over three years ago. With me on the ground for this initial time. I wanted to make sure I knew what he would do if Ami started throwing fits. After the way she acted the day before, when we were just in the paddock like always, I figured his going outside might bring on some real fireworks.

Ami did not disappoint in the fireworks department - she threw a real hissy fit! Running, bucking, squealing, you name it. Indy was startled enough to look around when she started, but ignored her completely after that. I guess I found out what I wanted to know!

Indy was just about perfect on this tour. Oh, he was scarfing down the edibles, but I couldn't blame him. The pasture is almost ready to cut, and there was clover that was knee high. I considered trying it myself...

He never pulled on me or tried to go his own way, and he came back inside the gate with no fuss at all. Of course, as I was trying to get the gate completely closed, he was trying to push it back open with his nose, but all was well and he let me secure the gate. I think he felt better about the whole thing when I started telling him what a good boy he'd been.

I rode him for just a very few minutes, and he didn't try to insist on going out again or anything. He was just his usual self - "What, me worry?"

Next time we ride out. I know, I know. I've had Indy for 6 years, he is Mr. Cool, and we still haven't ridden in the open field. It's incredible to me too. I intended to go slow, but not this slow!

Sigh.... Many factors, most of them quite unlikely, went into this delay. But, that's a whole other post.

5/4/08

The Best Of Times; The Worst Of Times - Plus Six

I can hardly believe it's been six years since Indy first set foot on this property. It seems impossible to me that it has been that long. May 5th, 2002. I had lost my precious DJ on March 6th, and I was very much still in shock.

I'd spent my time - day and night since I couldn't sleep - searching the Internet for another Morgan. I knew getting another horse was the only thing that would get me and Ami through, just as finding DJ all those years ago got me through losing Sirron. Normally, I would have looked for a different breed like I always did with dogs, but being with DJ for twenty years had convinced me that it had to be another Morgan. Not a flaxen chestnut though. DJ was my flaxen chestnut.

Since I was looking for a different color, I was surfing the Rainbow Morgans web links and happened to find myself at Valley Stables in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It so happened that they were reluctantly offering for sale a green coming four year old colt named VS Golden Desperado.

The more I read about this horse, the more something inside said, "Yes!" It was eerie - I felt exactly the way I had when I set eyes on DJ. DJ was only a few weeks older than Indy when I found him; he was very green - with only the basics under saddle - just like Indy; the month was May when I found DJ, and both horses were foaled in May as well. DJ was foaled in 1978, Indy in 1998. I bought DJ without having ridden him myself, and the same would be the case with Indy if I purchased him. I watched DJ's trainer ride him; I got a video of Indy's trainer riding him. The similarities go on and on.

Now, I'm quite the skeptic when it comes to the paranormal and all that, but Indy hooked me like a fish on the line - just like DJ. After seeing the video of his first ride under saddle - as a three year old stallion in mixed company! - I was more convinced than ever that he was Mr. Right.

His breeder, Brenda Vincent, was being extremely careful about who she sold her precious Indy to. We talked on the phone several times and exchanged a number of emails before she agreed that he and I were meant for each other. However, she asked for my word that if the time ever came that I couldn't/didn't want to keep Indy that she get first refusal. That's what I call responsible breeding. Too bad more breeders aren't as conscientious regarding the horses they bring into the world.

Of course, I could not leave Indy as a stallion - no matter how much Ami screamed and cried - so Ron and Brenda had him gelded after my purchasing him was a done deal. Then they would deliver him themselves after about a month.

Those weeks passed quickly, and before we knew it Ron and Brenda were at the gas station where we had agreed to meet them and lead them on to our place. I looked into their trailer, and there he was. He looked at me as if we'd known each other forever, totally relaxed and peaceful.



It only took a few minutes, and we were pulling into the field and up the hill where Ami was anxiously waiting. She missed DJ as much as I did, and her cries for him were unbearable. Now she watched this trailer on high alert.



She stood like a statue as Ron unloaded Indy and Indy started to calmly munch on the grass.



When Ron took Indy over to meet her, they both acted as if they had known each other forever - just as Indy had acted with me. There's just something about Indy - he seems to love everyone and everything, and it never seems to cross his mind that he might have anything to worry about.



Ami was obviously interested in making Indy's acquaintance.



And he was equally interested in making hers.



Ron let Indy graze for a few minutes to let everyone settle down. In all honesty though, no one seemed to need to settle down, because they weren't worked up in the first place.



After those few minutes, I lead Indy into the large paddock, and he and I walked up and down in our first walk together. Except for one big look at the huge rock by the outer gate, Indy was perfectly relaxed.



Then we turned him loose to graze in the big paddock and watched as he and Ami continued getting acquainted over the fence. No squealing or kicking - they just continued to sniff and get to know each other.



And, that's the way it's been for the last six years. Indy has more than lived up to his promise - for me and Ami. He is sweet, intelligent, mischievous but willing. He has an overwhelming curiosity that gets him into everything, and he seems to fear nothing.

I was still very much in grief mode for DJ, but no one could fail to love this golden stinker, and he soon made his own place in my heart.

4/27/08

The Rights Of Spring (And A Couple Of Wrongs)

Ah, SPRING! My favorite time of year! Really now, isn't this picture a lot better



than this one? Come on!



Isn't the sight of Indy and Ami grazing with their dear, deer friends lots more inspiring than all that snow? I realize the horses love cold more than heat, but I'm willing to meet them halfway. Well.... maybe not halfway, but I don't require 80s. 70s maybe. Heck, I can't even groom when my hands are freezing, and Indy especially wants his grooming, scratchaholic that he is.

Spring, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

No more electric water buckets. Those buckets are a godsend, no doubt about that. I don't know what we would do without them - too horrible to contemplate. Still, they are bigger and heavier than regular buckets because of the false bottoms enclosing the heaters. And then there are the long cords to gather up or else step on/trip over when you take the buckets down to clean.

We can leave the water on instead of having to turn it off and on under ground every time we need it. We keep a small heated tank to top off the buckets, but the water still has to be turned on/off and the hose connected/disconnected and drained at least once a day, and often twice a day to keep the buckets clean and full. A bit of a pain, to be sure.

I can go outside without having to spend twenty minutes getting dressed. Not only is dragging on all those layers a pain in itself, their weight makes my back hurt, the heavy gloves make my hands hurt and the heavy boots make my legs hurt.

Although it was fairly cool today, it's getting warm enough that even Miss Ami will consent to having her body groomed by her Personal Attendant (that would be me). Since it stayed cold so long, and I got a late start getting them shed out, it's quite a challenge for my hands and wrists to get the job done on both of them at the same time. Not that they are concerned about that mind you.

All the cats are enjoying the weather too. They're all over the place. Every time you look out the window you see another set of kitties lurking, trying to sneak up on birds, butterflies, blades of grass or each other. They are seldom successful in any of these endeavors, but they love life so much they don't care. It's the journey after all.

Of course nothing is perfect, and I'm afraid that goes for Spring too. Sometimes there is scary weather. And the bugs - face flies, gnats, deer flies, horse flies, fly flies. I've already started using the fly masks on their faces, and soon I'll probably be getting the full fly sheets out. And, then there's the spraying before and after riding and before turning out for the night. Fortunately, they both understand what the spray does for them and stand well for it.

Worst of all, there's the fact that they have to stay in the paddock until late fall instead of being out in the full pasture. The paddocks are quite large, but it isn't the same, I know, I know. Still, it's better than obesity and/or founder. Even they have to agree with that.

Even with these minor glitches, Spring is the most glorious, beautiful, wondrous season of all. I mean, how can you beat this?

"From my earliest memories, I have loved horses with a longing beyond words." ~ Robert Vavra