Got a couple of pics of Merry an me 'jumping' a cavalletti a couple of weeks ago.
He's a bit hesitant on the take-off yet, so I have a tendency to get ahead of him a bit, as you can see in the pics. (If you want to see pretty jumping pics, go look at the ones of me & Toad.) We're working on it, though. May have to try starting at the canter one time to see if the extra momentum helps him. We've been trotting over them (he really wouldn't have to jump them at all, though he does a little hop anyway) and he loses speed & momentum on the approach.
One time last weekend he took off too early and that made for a rough take-off & landing. He's trying, though. He might not always make the right decision about how best to make it over, but he's thinking about it.
I went out to meet my friend Bonnie's new pony, Rocky, today and ride him a little. He's a Welsh/Thoroughbred cross in a distinctive red roan. She has pictures of him on her blog. He's in his late teens, so far as we know, but he's got that pony spunk despite being overweight and out of shape from being little more than a pasture ornament for the past few years.
I brought out my hands measuring stick and my bit fitter to get his measurements. He stands 14+ hh, and needs a 4.5" bit, so you can definitely see the Welsh pony part of the cross in his size. He's got a bit of a naughty streak to him, too, which just says 'pony' to me. (I love ponies, but they do like to poke and taste, investigate and test everyone and everything.)
He's very sweet & friendly, if a little disgruntled about having to work for a living again. He's quick to forgive, though, when treats are offered. ;)
Bonnie & I both forgot our cameras, so I don't have any pictures of him in my saddle (which I brought out to see if we should be looking for a wide tree saddle for him or if regular would be okay -- my wide fit him nicely). She thought he looked cute going around in it; you'll just have to imagine a little strawberry roan wearing a caramel hunt saddle (with a tartan pad).
Rocky's got a ways to go before he's back in shape and able to go on long rides, but I know Bonnie's very excited about getting him there and will have fun with the process. Then they can have lots of fun together.
Congratulations, Bonnie!
While, um, browsing for horses that I'd like (but can't really afford right now) to buy, I discovered a neat site. It's called All Breed Pedigree. While their database is far from complete, they do very well on Arabs and Thoroughbreds (though it's still by no means complete).
They've got all sorts of tools available to those who purchase membership, but the basic pedigree report is available to anyone for free. I pulled up Merry's pedigree for fun. Quite a few of the horses in his pedigree also have photos to view on the site (denoted by the asterisks), which is nice. I'm going to have to pick a nice photo of Merry to add to it.
Some pics of Zahr from a few weeks ago:
So, yes, as promised quite a while ago, I have tackroom and kitten pictures.
First, though, we have my hay field...
Some of the bales ended up in a standing-stones-esque upright position, which was a little odd looking. Splitting 50-50 with the sheep rancher who cut & baled it for us, we ended up with about 160-some square bales. They're pretty good sized, too, and packed tight. My resolve to stick to the "no new animals for the rest of the year" rule wavers every time I look in the very full hay shed and think about the batch from the next (hopefully next two) cutting.
The panelling is partially done in the tackroom now, which has enabled me to put up my two wall saddle racks and three of my bridle hooks.
Also my fancy halter hooks. Rose & Tyler are admiring them here. There's another, higher up with Merry & Zahr's halters & leads.
My tool belt not only worked good for keeping my hammer and nails to hand whilst working on the walls, it also made a great kitten pouch. Owen is modeling here.
My goal for the holiday weekend was to ride Merry every day. I rode Friday and Sunday, but it was extremely windy on Saturday, so I concentrated on doing the wall panelling in my tackroom instead. Never cared much for feeling like I'm about to be blown out of my saddle.
On Sunday, I jumped Merry over a cavelletti for the first time (under saddle). Okay, so it was only on its middle height, and he hopped more than jumped, but he didn't stop and he didn't try to run out, so I was very proud of him. If the weather is decent on Wednesday (after several weeks of overtime, I'm back on my "flex" schedule where I get Wednesdays off for working 10 hour days the rest of the work week) I will ride and set it up to full height (about 18 inches) and try that. I really need to not sleep in so late so we can get out before it gets hot & sticky. I suspect Merry might be a bit more enthusiastic about the whole thing if we did. I'd like to work up to crossrails by the end of the summer, but he needs a bit more "oomph" than he's been displaying in this heat to get over them handily.
I have some pictures of the tackroom, with its nice new walls & my racks attached to them, but I haven't got them off the camera yet. Soon, though, I swear I'll post them soon.
I'm beginning to hate Friday evenings. Those who've been reading this blog for a while will likely recall my traumas of last summer involving my gelding Zahr. Both of his major freak-out incidents happened on Friday evenings, including the one where he ran away and was missing until midday the following Saturday.
Tonight the feral male cat that occasionally hangs around the farm got into my tackroom while Rose and her older kitten Tyler were out playing in the yard and I had gone into the house for a drink and to scrounge a quick dinner. He killed the female kitten Toshiko before Rose and Tyler made it back into the tackroom and chased him off. I got out there just as she was dying.
She was a little too fearless for her own good. I'm sure she went right over to the feral when he jumped over the gate I had up in the doorway. Her brothers were in the kennel together, while she had been playing out in the middle of the floor. I do believe that she saved their lives by being out there and being attacked first. Her cry alerted Rose & Tyler so that they could come to the rescue before the feral made it back to the others. If they'd all been in the kennel together, he probably would have killed them all.
Intellectually, I know that things like this happen to farm cats. If this hadn't happened, she could have got killed by one of the horses because she wasn't being cautious enough, or wandered into the road and got hit by a car, or been eaten by a coyote. I love my animals, though, and she was one of my little babies and a favourite, so I find it very upsetting.
I buried her out in the 'memorial grove' where we planted the oaks as part of the memorial for my grandfather this spring. There are also some older maples and pines over there, and it's a very pleasant spot. It seemed appropriate.
The kittens were exactly one month old today, ironically enough. I'm probably going to be in or near tears every time I play with the boys for a bit, but I'm glad that they survived.
Finally got the farm sign up this week & have a few pictures of it.
Gimil (and I) posing in front of the sign. Please try to ignore me - I wasn't exactly prepared to have my picture taken. As much as I love my Birks, they aren't exactly classy. Focus instead on how cute Gimli looks in his wee saddle. He's practicing for giving little kids rides.
See...
I just got around to reading my weekly USEF newsletter and found out that Theodore O'Connor (Teddy), the 14.1 hand TB/Arab/Shetland eventer pony & 2007 USEF Horse of the Year, was put down on Wednesday. He suffered an accident at home - spooked on the way to his morning workout and slipped as he ran back to the barn, severing tendons & ligaments in his hind leg.
How typical is that? It's always that stupid shit that you can't anticipate or do anything to prevent that gets you, it seems. As much as I love watching Merry get revved up and run and play, I'm always worried that he'll slip or trip and hurt himself (he can be a total klutz at times).
The news about Teddy has made me very sad. He was a very special pony - absolutely amazing to watch. They always talk about racehorses having heart, but this little horse had the biggest heart I've ever seen.
If anyone is interested, there is a memorial obstacle being planned for the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and contributions can be made here: https://www.usef.org/_auaiframes/disasterrelief/teddy/teddy.aspx
Yesterday morning, moments before I went into the barn to feed everybody by the looks of things, Rose had her kittens. There are only four, so I'm just going to keep them all. She actually had them in the kennel in the tackroom, rather than in some inconvenient place like the space between the desk & wall or somesuch.
He did very well. It took me a little bit to get used to his big walk stride again. Initially, I always feel that he is about to try to run off with me, but then I settle into the rhythm and realise that, no, that's just his walk. We did some walk-trot, walk-halt, and even some trot-halt-trot transitions. I'm finding he's got quite one-sided over the winter (left). I'm going to have to pay special attention to working his right side -- I may do a little extra on the longe line on that side.
I broke out my breastplate this time, tacking Merry up. He's finally got enough in the chest & shoulders that it fits him. The caramel leather looks so handsome on him, and its addition makes him look more fully dressed. Ever since I started using one on Toad regularly to keep the saddle from slipping back when we worked, I've felt my horses look only half-dressed without them if they're in hunter/jumper tack. With the breastplate, Merry looks like a serious, working horse and not just some lightweight. No pictures yet, I'm afraid.
