Playday with Louie

I went to the barn this evening with the intention of riding Louie again. When I drove in, I could see the boys out in their pasture and Louie was looking thoroughly disgusted with Prize. Prize kept approaching him but Louie wanted nothing to do with him and was defending his space vigorously. I thought it might be a problem leading them up to the barn and considered bringing them in separately. But, when they came to the gate, they stood quietly and left each other alone. It's what I've been teaching them to do and I guess it's working. They led in quietly.

Once in his stall, Louie still looked out of sorts. So, I decided to just have a fun easy session with him tonight instead of riding. I first turned him loose in the arena to run and roll, both of which he did. Then we played fetch, practiced bowing and stepping up on the mounting block. I couldn't put anything down though as he kept picking thing back up and giving them to me. I then got out a ground pole and we practiced sidepassing over it. It's been a while since we've done this and he didn't get it right at first. I grabbed his halter at one point to get him into the proper position and that made him all kinds of disgusted. His expressions were priceless. He flattened his ears (not in a nasty way) and shook his head at me and you could just see he was saying, "give me a minute, I'll figure it out on my own!". When I continued to hold him, he just stopped trying. I let him go and he walked off in disgust. He soon came back though and was ready to try again, ON HIS OWN, thank you very much! LOL. And he did get it and did it very well.

When we were done, Louie seemed to be in a much better mood. When I led him into his stall, he suddenly stopped and snorted, then carefully lowered his head towards the corner. Well, there was Easter the goat laying in his hay happily munching away. I made a move to shoo her out of the stall and she jumped out and hit both of Louie water buckets in her rush to get out spooking the heck out of Louie and dousing me with water. Silly goat!

Three Good Louie Days in a Row

I had evening chores at the barn tonight and went over just a little early so I'd have time to ride. I brought everyone in and gave them a chance to eat. I groomed Louie in his stall because, as is his habit, he rolled in his stall as soon as he came in and was covered in shavings. He was very quite on the cross times when I tacked him up.

I did ground work with him first and he was very good tonight. Very attentive and responsive. He did his best cantering yet on the lunge line. Today I was trying the new Phelam bit on him so I did some flexing exercises from the ground with it first so he'd get used to the feel of it. It has the same mouth piece as the bit he's been wearing, but much shorter shanks. It took him a few minutes to start softening and giving to the bit. I then got on him and he was SUCH A GOOD BOY! Tonight I finally had my steering back. And he was responding to leg pressure again. Not perfect but quite well. At the trot he's been drifting to the inside really hard. He was still drifting to the inside tonight but I was able to keep him on the wall with just light leg and rein pressure. And he was keeping his head down. At time a little behind the bit but that is better then nervous and poking the nose in the air. I liked this bit much better. With the short shanks I could keep a little contact on him and had a better feel for him.  I made it a short session because he was just such a good boy.

When I was putting Louie away, MaryJo was there feeding her horses. She looked like she was having a bad day. I hope nothing is wrong.

Two Good Louie Days

Yesterday evening I decided to go over and ride Louie with MaryJo. I went over about 5:00 PM. Tracy had the evening shift to feed and I figured she'd already have been there and gone. I actually got there before her. So, I then felt bad I hadn't called her to save her a trip over. But, it was nice to see her. The three of us hung out and chatted for a while. Tell tales of all our worst riding wrecks we'd either been in or seen. This is always a great way to get in the mood to ride.........

Louie was quiet while I groomed and saddled him. I've bought him a new bit. It another Myler (Though I'm still not convinced they are worth so much money....) It has the same mouth piece, the MB33, that I've been using on him but instead of having a long shank, it's the Pelham So, it has short shanks but also rings on the side so it can be used like a regular snaffle. I want to do some dressage training with him and the long shanked bit is just not going to work for this. I took Louie into the arena and did some ground work first. I set up ground poles and once again worked with a pole bending pole letting the lounge line catch on  it and knock it over. One time when the line caught it very close to him, he thought about spooking away. I saw him get the look in his eye and he twitched but caught him self and stop and turned toward the pole. GOOD LOUIE! He did good over the poles. For the first time he got the strides right over them a few time in each direction. A few time he stopped over a pole and asked if he could side pass over it. Smart boy, he remembers when we worked on doing this before and I was rewarding him with treats. MaryJo came out while I was still doing ground work. She was riding Tanguary.

I took Louie out of the arena and put him back on the cross ties to get his new bit fitted to him. Then I went back in and mounted up. He was a very good boy last night. I did like the new bit better. I could get a better feel of his mouth. I'm having troubles with is steering lately though. Not sure what that is all about. But, he is going calm and quiet. At the trot though, he drifts away from the arena wall and it's very had to keep him on it. he's not responding to either leg or rein like he should. Guess I know what we need to work on. He was quiet enough that I asked MaryJo if she'd like to ride him. She took me up on the offer. He was very quiet with her though his steering was just as poor. It was a good ride though. We did quite a bit of trotting and he went nice, other then drifting away from the wall. I was overall very pleased with our ride last night.

This evening I went over and gave Louie a much needed hair cut. He is such a good boy about getting clipped. He was extremely quiet and was nearly falling asleep on the cross ties while I worked. There was a clinic going on in the arena and a few people around. It was commented  on a few times on what a good boy he was being clipped. (big smile!)

Many Distractions....

I had the evening shift at the barn tonight. I had planned to get there a bit early to work with Louie. But, life being what it is, that didn't go quite as planned. We have purchased a new car and I had to take Fred to the dealer to pick it up this afternoon. So, I didn't get to the barn until the usual time of just a little after 4:00 pm. I decided to squeeze in what Louie time I could manage anyway.

As usual, Louie rolled in his stall as soon as he was in it. So, I groomed him in his stall so that all the shavings I brushed off would be in his stall and not in the barn aisle. Then I put him on the cross ties and tacked him up. He was quiet and well behaved. I lunged him first as usual. There were a lot of thing going on tonight at the barn to distract the mulie mind. I was the only one in the arena but all three cats were running around and acting crazy in the arena. Louie is so good with other animals and just wanted to play with the cats. And the cats are not smart about staying out of the way. They kept getting right in Louie's path but he would just carefully step around them each time. There were also people up in the loft moving some hay. Louie was curious about that but thankfully not frightened by it. Bart was moving snow and/or manure with the tractor around the outside of the barn and that was making a lot of noise. This usually bothers Louie but he was ok with it tonight. Marie was absolutely pitching a fit about Louie being out of sight! She always calls to him when I go in there but tonight she was having a total fit!!! Louie did not react to this at all. And, the horse that is scared of Louie started acting up in his stall. It's hard to believe the horse could know that Louie was in the arena as he can't see the arena from his stall. And Louie never made a sound but somehow the horse did know. He was freaking out and doing big deep belly snorts. And Louie started doing belly snorts in reply! AGH! But, Louie wasn't upset or freaked out, just snorting back. Louie was really very, very good tonight. Usually that many distraction will cause him to just tune me out. But tonight he stayed focused on what we were doing. He was definitely keeping and eye on all that was going on around us but he still managed to keep focused. I was very pleased with this. I ran out of time to ride. I did get on him for just a minute and again he was very quite and good.

Fun Evening with Louie

I had the evening shift at the barn today. I went over a little early as it was raining out so I didn't think the critters would mind coming in a little early. And I wanted to work with Louie today.

Louie always rolls in his stall when he comes in. As he was wet from the rain, it then took a bit of work to groom him. He was very quiet and well behaved on the cross ties tonight. I took him into the arena and started with lunging. He was good. He shook his head the first couple times he cantered but I quickly corrected him and he quit right away. I then got out one of the pole bending poles and set it where it would get knocked down with the lunge line as he circled me. The other day when I was asking him to go over a jump we set up, I didn't get the lunge line flipped over the jump stand and it got knocked over and Louie spooked and bolted off. So, I wanted to work on desensitizing him to this. At first I just placed the pole close to him and pushed it over. He eyeballed it and moved away the first time but then was ok. So, I sent him off on the line and let the lunge line catch it and knock it over. That startled him but he just spun towards it and stopped. GOOD BOY! That is an acceptable response to something he is not sure of. I quickly praised him and we did this 1/2 dozen more time. He quickly relaxed with this and each time he just stopped when the pole fell over. I then got on and rode him. The ride went very well. He was quite relaxed right from the start. We did lots of walking but some nice trots also. He got long and low with his head and I was able to relax enough to let him do this. My lesson with Mary was paying off tonight. I'm hoping to ride 2 or 3 more times this week. I have another lesson with Mary on Friday and I'd like for her to see some improvement with Louie and I. I know tonight's ride on Louie was the best one I've had since probably October.

Riding Lesson with Madison

I had promised to take my granddaughter Madison over to the barn to give her a lesson on Marie. When we got ready to go, I found out that she didn't have her boots with her. She only had her sneakers with her. Nor did she have snow pants or any other warm clothing. It was cold out again today and even if it hadn't been cold you can't ride at the barn in sneakers. I talked Fred into going shopping for some boots and warm clothing for Madison that we would keep at our house. We ended up going to 5 or 6 stores before finding a boot that would be appropriate. We also bought her a set of thermal underwear and some nice warm wool socks. After shopping, we went to Friendly's for an early supper. Then we headed to the barn for a quick ride. Tracy was there tonight as she was planning to work with Prize. She had already brought the critters in. I saddled up Marie while Fred got Madison dressed in her warm clothes and new boots. Marie was very happy to see Madison as she knew it was going to be an easy ride. Louie mule was very upset that  both Marie and Prize were out of their stalls and he was being ignored. I apologized to Louie but he can't yet be trusted with precious cargo such as a 7 year old granddaughter. Tracy didn't work with Prize too long. Prize was feeling his oats tonight and with several people riding in the arena, Tracy didn't want things to get out of hand. Marie was wonderful as usual and Madison did a good job riding. Louie was much happier once everyone was back in their stalls where they belonged.

Riding Lesson

Today was a fun day at the barn. I had the morning shift for chores. It was cold this morning but tolerable. I took my time just enjoying being in the barn and chatting with MaryJo, Pam and Cierra. We were all having riding lessons today. Cierra was taking the first lesson at 10:30 am. She was going to be riding Marie. MaryJo had the second lesson at 11:30 am and my lesson was for 12:30 pm. I headed home about 9:30 am as I knew I needed to be dressed warmer before taking my lesson. I got back to the barn around 11:00 am and caught the end of Cierra's lesson. I had to assume it was going well by the size of the smile on Cierra's face. Cierra and Marie were looking great.  When Cierra was done with her lesson she was just about bouncing off the wall with excitement. She told me that Marie did a big spook with her today. They were riding by the viewing room window when the cat jumped up on it. Cierra was feeling good because she stayed in the saddle and quickly got Marie under contol. It was a good confidence builder for her. It just makes me so happy to see my Marie being enjoyed so much. She is one super special horse. Though it was pointed out by the instructor that Marie's saddle doesn't fit her. This is true. Cierra has been riding in my English saddle and it is too narrow for Marie. I rarely ever use the saddle. It has interchangeable gullets and there is a good chance I don't have the wide one in it as I think the last equine I used the saddle on was Ruby. I'll have to check. Cierra is a light rider and Marie hasn't complained but........ It was also pointed out that the throat latch on the bridle was too small. This too is unfortunately true. The bridle is ok with summer hair and a trimmed bridle path. But, Marie is untrimmed and wooly right now. Geesh, poor Marie. They simply left the throat latch unbuckled. Kind of made me feel stupid that I hadn't been paying more attention to these things.

I watched part of MaryJo's lesson. She was riding Tanguary and they looked good. Then I went and got Louie and brought him in to groom and saddle him. I lunged him a bit before the lesson to test his mood. He was quiet and well behaved. The instructor is Mary O'Rourke. This was the first time I'd taken a lesson with her and I liked her very much. Before we started I let her know that I was struggling with some fear issues as was Louie. Something I though we were both over after we'd had such a good riding season. I also told Mary that I definitely felt the bit I was using (a long shanked Mylar bit) was quite inappropriate and unfair to be using on Louie with the way I was riding him with my fear issues but that a shanked bit was all he'd ever been ridden in and I was not going to change bits without doing some re schooling on the ground first. She agreed with me but was willing to work with Louie and I as we were. The lesson went very well. With Mary's help, I was able to keep my hands quiet and relaxed and that allowed Louie to relax after a while. We mostly walked with just a little trotting. I have to fight the urge to snatch back on the reins with every move poor Louie makes. Louie starts to anticipate that and doesn't know what he's doing wrong (that would be NOTHING) so doesn't know how to avoid having his mouth yanked. And so the cycle goes. Anyway, Mary broke the cycle for today anyway and Louie eventually lowered his head, unclenched his tail and relaxed. Mary has only come across 2 other mules in her many years of giving lessons. So, she doesn't have a lot of mule specific experience. But, a good horsewoman is a good horsewoman and Mary could read Louie very well. She quickly noted how very sensitive Louie is to body language. When we were done with our lesson I had Louie bow for Mary and then he did his fetching routine. Mary was just delighted with the fetching and Louie was in his glory showing off to everyone.

I only did 1/2 hr. with Louie so I asked Mary if she had time to give me a 1/2 hr. lesson on Marie before she left and she said she did! Yippee!! It would be a fun stress reliever to ride Marie and it would give Mary a chance to see how I truly can ride and just what Marie knows. MaryJo had a second lesson on her horse Arthur after mine with Louie. Then Marie and I had the most wonderful and fun lesson. I'm glad I did it as Mary was quite surprised to see that I really do have a clue how to ride properly. Something that I didn't demonstrate too well with Louie. (Poor Louie) and Marie is really quite well trained despite the fact that I am her trainer. In no time I had Marie collected and rounded up and going around the arena looking like quite the dressage horse. Not Marie's favorite thing to do as it's hard work for her but she was game for it today and worked hard for me. And I learned how to do a proper leg yield today! It was a good day with both my equines. Mary is the kind of instructor that leaves you feeling very good at the end of a lesson. She is upbeat and positive. She looks for the things you do right and praises that and gently corrects the things you do wrong and patiently explains the things you don't understand at all. I know this is how you should work with equines and I must say it's very effective on us humans as well.

Mule Burgers Anyone?

When I got to the barn yesterday I brought Marie in first as usual. I Then went down for the boys which right now I'm bringing up one at a time with Prize being reluctant to enter his stall. Louie came up to the gate first so I halted him and would bring him up first The boys were both quiet and relaxed. I haltered Louie, opened the gate, asked Louie to walk through and he did. Oh yep, he went right through, looked right and kept right on walking. No bolting, not upset. Nope, he just walked off like I didn't even exist and never even hesitated when he hit the end of the lead line. I tried to hold him which was pointless and only caused me to drop the gate. Opening a wonderful opportunity for Prize who took it and out he went. If I carried a gun, I swear I would have shot my mule on the spot! 

Both mules went right over to MaryJo's horses who happened to be by the gate. Louie let me come right up and catch him. And when I got him, I put the chain over his nose and then very pointlessly and inappropriately gave some tugs and vocally vented my anger on him. I led him back to his turnout and led him in and out and in and out but that too was pointless because he knew  I was angry and was of course being the most perfect equine to be led on earth. And that made me even angrier as he was proving that he KNOWS what he is expected of him! Of course all this time Prize is having a good old time touring the grounds. He made one circuit around the front of the building at one point. Karen was in the viewing room and saw him go by the window so came out to see what was up and to help in whatever way she could. Catching Prize wasn't really a problem though as by that time I had just put Louie in his stall and was heading out to get Prize's halter when Prize spotted Easter the goat, who made a beeline for the barn with Prize  hot on her heels. Thankfully, Karen was right there and ran interferrance for Easter and I came in behind them and Prize let me catch him and put him in his stall with no problem. 

What is so frustrating is this pulling away is Louie is not getting better at all. And this pulling away thing has only developed since he's been at Upper Pond. I've never had to lead him with a chain all the time before. Even when he was boarded out last winter. The barn owner there used a chain on him but I never did! 

Anyway, my handling of Louie yesterday evening pretty well broke every rule in the horsemanship book. The "you must discipline within 3 seconds", abd the "never discipline in anger" and "don't discipline them if they let you catch them" ......... and the list goes on. I knew all this at the time but I was just SOOOO mad at him! Then, of course, I was feeling bad about it all night. I'm thinking he will never trust me to catch him again. And he would be confused now not knowing why I went psyco on him and so on. Poor little mule.........

When I got to the barn tonight, Louie and Marie were in the same turnout together. They were standing in the back of the turnout hanging out along the fence with MaryJo's horses. Louie sees me, gives a grunt in greeting and trots up to the gate to meet me. He sticks his head right into the halter for all the world looking like he was saying, "dont' worry mom, I'll show you what a good boy I can be",  and he leads like the most perfect equine on the face of this earth.  I had to go and get Marie as she was prefectly happy where she was and did not come to the gate. Louie kept perfect body position with me with no pressure on the leadline at all. Walked when I walked, stopped when I stopped. He entered his stall quietly, turned and stood quietly while I removed his halter..........

I still know my actions were inappropriate yesterday. I would not recommend them nor do I hope to repeat them.  but apparently Louie's smart mulie brain was able to process what happened yesterday in a constructive way. Now I am under no illusions whatsoever that I will have no further trouble with said mulie. And once again my mule disproved the theory that mules hold grudges. So, for today anyway, I love my little mule..........Tomorrow is another day....LOL

Round Bales and Silly Mules

Ugh! I have been sick all week. Each day I think I'm as sick as I can get and then the next day rolls around to prove me wrong! And Poor Tracy must think I'm crazy. She volunteered to take my evening shift the other night so I could stay home and rest. I had been wanting to pick up some round bales of hay before the bad weather that was coming the next day but between not feeling well and then Fred had to use my truck to pick up plywood, I didn't think I'd get it done. When Fred got home with the plywood, despite feeling quite poorly, I went out and helped him. The plywood was for the barn roof and so I lifted the sheets up to him. Before we were done, Adam came home and came out back to help. It was only 3:30 pm so I decided to go ahead and pick up the hay bales. So, I got the bales and then went over to the barn. I should have called Tracy right away and saved her the drive over. But, by the time I stupidly thought to call her, she was already on her way. So, we brought everyone in then we rolled the round bales into place. One in the boys turnout and one in Marie's. We discussed blanketing the equines the next day as it was going to be snowing and windy all day. We decided that if blankets went on, Louie would be turned out with Marie as Prize would very likely take it upon himself to disrobe anyone turned out with him. 


Email from Tracy the next day:
I kept debating about putting the blankets on since there isn't any white stuff yet.  Ended up putting them on and turning Louie loose in Marie's paddock.  Should have brought a camera as he ran and played just so excited to be some place new.  Then I brought Marie out and she saw him cantering around and she started doing this BIG trot in place next to me, getting hyped up.  I took her halter off, waiting to see her take off and play too when she does a big huffy, puffy blowing trot.....all the way to the round bale (ten feet).  That's it, Marie's show was over!  Silly girl.  Louie was too busy exploring to eat.  


Yep, that's my girl, food before all else! I really felt horrible when it was time to go over and feed this evening. I've developed a nasty cough and I feel weak as a baby. UGH! But, with the weather so lousy, I didn't want to ask Tracy to drive over. It's 16 miles for her and only 4 miles for me. I should have had Fred go over with me. Thankfully, MaryJo was there when I arrived. She helped me bring my critters in. She led in Prize who was doing his sticky feet thing. Silly boy. And he was quite agitated once in his stall so it took her a few tries to get his halter off. But, she is an experienced equine handler and managed fine. I was happy to see that both Marie and Louie's blankets were on and in place just fine. And I was oh so thankful that Tracy had filled their water buckets in their stalls that morning as I'm not sure I would have had the strength to fill them. Though I know MaryJo would have done it for me. Hopefully, whatever this is I have goes away SOON!!! sigh.........

Coyote Songs

Tonight the coyotes were yipping like crazy when I got to Upper Pond Stable to bring in my horse and the mules. None of the equines seemed too concerned and were actually all hanging out at the back of their turnouts much to my surprise. I brought Marie in first, then both the boys together. They led in quite quietly but........ we came into the barn and Prize sped up down the aisle kind of leaving Louie and I behind. Not something he's every done to me before though he did settle back to me when I gave a tug on the lead rope. But, when we got to his stall, he absolutely refused to go in it. No way, no how UH UH, NOT happening. Gulp.......Louie was just a little anxious with this development but didn't do anything. But, with Louie in one hand I didn't have any means to convince Prize to go in his stall. Nor could I go in ahead and lead him in.  Sooooo, I stepped forward with Louie and asked him to go in his stall. Thankfully he went right in and did not try to bolt back out. He did eyeball the door but that was it. Prize stood quietly while I put Louie in his stall and removed his halter. But then he still did NOT want to go in his stall. And when I did finally convince him to go it, he was very agitated. Took a minute to get him to stand still enough to get his halter off as he just wanted to glue his eyes to the window. By now the coyotes were full out howling. But, if it was the coyotes that worried him/them, I would have thought they'd have been nervous in the turnout or while being led in. But maybe he is not worried about them out in the open where he can see them but rather worried about being confined with them around. Guess I can't blame him if that is the case.

Before I left, I closed all the doors and opened Louie stall and let him come out. He is always anxious to get out of his stall and I wanted him to see that if he came out, there was really no where to go. I did make sure that he stood quietly and waited for me to invite him to come out. Unfortunately,  I don't think this was effective at all as he had a great time exploring the barn aisle. He carefully checked out every stall door thoroughly, examined each one several times giving special attention to the door leading out front. After about 10 minutes he finally came back down to our end of the barn and decided to settle in with MaryJo's hay. He didn't have a halter and when I picked his up and he took off! LOL. Jeesh, he doesn't run away from me in the turnout. Of course there was no where to go so he just went up the aisle then turned and came back to me. Silly boy.

Progress continues on the barn. Today Fred and Adam put the Roof top Guard II underlayment on the 2nd floor roof. This will weather proof it. It is rated to be good for up to 6 months on it's own without the final roofing on so now we  can take our time and wait for warmer weather to put on the metal roofing

Picture of the inside of the 2nd floor

The barn looks funny with the west wall not built! 

Starting the first layer of the Roof Top Guard II underlayment

Evening Adventure with MaryJo

I had the morning shift at the barn today. Pam and Cierra where there this morning and I talked to them to see if Cierra might be interested in trying CTR. They were both very enthusiastic about trying this. And I am very excited about having a Jr. to sponsor in CTR. We need more young people in this sport. MaryJo and I also decided to ride together in the evening. That way we'd have the ambition to actually set up some jumps and ground poles to work with. It's hard to work up the ambition to do this when you are riding alone. Since I would be coming back to ride in the evening, I called Tracy and told her I would do the evening shift if she wanted to save herself the drive to the barn. She gladly took me up on the offer. 


I got back to the barn at about 4:30 pm. to bring the horse and mules in and get them fed. Both boys seemed worried about something lurking behind their turnout. But Prize, good boy that he is, led in like a gentlemen. I brought Louie in last. It was just starting to get dark and Louie was VERY sure that there were mule eating coyotes sneaking up behind us as I was leading him in. He kept trying to spin around and look behind us. He did whoa the two times  I asked him to but he also did turn to look behind. Once in the barn though he lost it and bolted forward. I managed to hang on to him, barely........ So, to lead him back out of the barn, and back in, and back out about 20 times. He was still worried but payed attention to me. MaryJo arrived just as I was putting Louie in his stall. It was dark by now and I went down to help her bring up her three horses. Her horse Tanguery  is a bit shy about being haltered. MaryJo showed me the other day how she halters her so I tried it today. It was a success! 


We then went into the arena to set up  jumps and ground poles. MaryJo turned her gelding Arthur loose while we were doing this. We set up two jumps and laid down 4 ground poles. Arthur made great efforts to help us. I decided to bring Louie and and we would both play with the boys in hand. Arthur was being a bit naughty bouncing around and shaking his head in play. At one point as MaryJo was trotting him over the ground poles, he bit her quite hard on the shoulder. She promptly made him think his world was about to come to an end. Now Louie had been pretty quiet and his normal sweet self for the most part. He didn't know what to think of the jumps. He did quickly figure out he could knock them down and then walk over them. Unfortunately, he decided this was the correct thing to do. Then, as I was lunging him over the ground poles, he suddenly spun around, kicked right out at me and bolted off!!!! He was no where close enough to hit me with the kick, but it was absolutely the mule version of giving me the middle finger!!! So, I promptly made him think his world was coming to an end. Both boys were then much more subdued and better behaved. 

So, on to riding the girls. I saddled up Marie in her English saddle, took her out and warmed her up. Marie has always loved jumping. And though I have not done it in years, her ears perked right up at sight of the jumps and she was quite light of step...for Marie...She was very happy it was not going to be just boring circles around the arena. MaryJo had come out into the arena with Tanquery and was going easy with her to warm her up. I took Marie over the cross rail jump a few times and she was all excited about it. She went over very nice but seemed to land a bit funny. I thought I must be too far forward on the landing. So, I then took her over the straight rail jump and she sailed right over, landed nicely and promptly did a BIG buck. I went right over the front of the saddle, lost both stirrups and was laying completely along her neck with my chin nearly between her ears. I knew I was going to eat dirt. But, not so. She stopped and thankfully. And despite all 200 lbs of me laying on her neck, did not lower her neck much past wither height. Soooooooo, I was able to shimmy back down her neck and push myself into the saddle. If she had dropped her head, I'd have come off. BAD MARE!!!! But, fear being the strange thing it is, this didn't even faze me and I got myself settled and back over the jump we went. She once again gave the bucking thing a thought but I got her head right up and got after her and that was the end of that. She was a perfect girl after that. So, Tanguery was the only completely good equine tonight. 

We cooled both the girls down and put them away. Louie was having a total fit the whole time I was riding Marie and had pawed his hay all over his stall. And after I got home I realized I'd forgotten to dump the water from the outside buckets. Or put hay out in Marie's turnout. I got so excited about riding I lost my head!  

A Few Changes at the Stable

There have been a few changes at Upper Pond Stable on our side of the barn over the past few days. Nikki, who had leased 10 stalls moved her horses out. So, it's just Tracy, MaryJo and me for now. That's ok, the 3 of us get along well and all feel pretty much the same on how to take care of our horses and mules. With Nikki's horses gone, there were empty turnouts. The turnout between the boys and MaryJo's horses was now empty so I asked Karen if I could move Marie to that turnout. It shares the same water hydrant as the boys so Tracy and I would only have to hook up the hose once each morning to water both turnouts. And, it's slightly more protected from the wind. Karen said that was fine with her. So, I turned Marie out there there the other morning. She seems to be very pleased with this situation. There is a bit of grass in there for her to nibble on and she now has company on both sides of her. She really seems to like MaryJo's horses and will hang out with them if they are near the fence line. And she was nuzzling MaryJo's mare, Tenguery, through the fence this evening and it was ears up friendly nuzzling. When MaryJo's horses wanderd away from the fence line, then Marie would go over and hang out on the boy's side of the fence line.

Today was going to be cold and very windy. When it's windy, there is a problem with the hay that is put outside blowing off out of the turnouts. Not a problem with the boy's now that they have the round bale in the Big Bale Buddy . I was trying to think of how to keep Marie's hay in her turnout and remembered I had a collapsible manure/trash bag in my trailer. I've seen many people use them as hay feeders at endurance rides and thought that might be just the thing. Tracy had the morning shift this morning and the bag was in my trailer but......... my trailer is a bit.......disheveled ..... right now and I was not quite sure where in the trailer it was. I didn't want Tracy having to dig through trying to find it. She is a good friend but there are some things you just shouldn't ask anyone to do........ Plus, I figured I would need to put a big rock or two in the bottom of the bag to keep it from blowing away. I really thought it would be pushing the limits of friendship to ask Tracy to first, dig around in my messy trailer and then second, to go looking around for big rocks that, if found, would likely be frozen to the ground! So, I zipped over to the barn at about 6:30am with a couple rock from a pile we have here at the house. I also rounded up my heated buckets to put in Marie and Louie's stall.

I found the manure/trash bag right away by some fortune. I drove over to the turnout and lugged the bag and rocks out and set them up. All the while I figure I'm likely freaking Prize out as I knew he could see me from his stall window and such activity tends to upset him. I had not planned to do any more then set the bag up with hay for Marie asTracy was coming over. But, when I went into the barn to get hay to put into Marie's bag, they did not understand why I wasn't feeding them and were being quite pitiful in their pleas to be fed. They made me feel bad so I fed them. I went out and filled up Marie's bag with the hay and was quite quite sure this would work very well. By the time I went back in the barn, the equines were done eating and now wanted to know why I was not putting them out. So, I felt bad again and put them out.

MaryJo has previously expressed a desire to get her gelding into a different stall away from the back door. The only stall available on our end of the barn was a stall that was on the inside wall. But, MaryJo really didn't want to give up a stall on the outside wall with a windows. And, of course, there is the matter of needing to keep this horse next to that horse in sight of this mule next to that mule.....etc. We talked about it at length the other day and we all decided on a move that we thought would satisfy everyone, horses, mules and humans. So, I would move Marie across the aisle to the stall on the inside wall. I have not noticed that she really cares about looking out the window so did not think she would miss it. We would then move all the boys up one stall. That would put Louie in Marie's old stall. But, they would now be right across the aisle from each other and Louie would now be able to actually SEE Marie. He would also still have a window which he does seem to like to look out of. Prize would move into Louie's stall but would still have the same two companions on each side of him and a window stall. He is the most avid window watcher. And MaryJo's gelding Arthur would still have Prize next to him but would no longer be right next to the door and would now be able to see one of his herd mates that would be across the aisle. It was all a good plan in theory but anyone that knows mules knows how much they hate change to their routine.

I attempted to set up my heated water buckets out only to find out the cords were to short to reach an outlet. Darn!! Oh well, that's life. So, I headed home and just told MaryJo to explain to Tracy when she arrived why the boys and Marie were already fed and outside. When I got back to the barn this evening, Tracy had the stall move all done and the new stalls all set up. I brought Marie in first. When I put her in the new stall, her head popped up and her eyes got big for a second in confusion. As soon as she realized there was food in the stall, all was right in her world. I decided to bring the boy's in one at a time. I figured they'd likely be all upset about being put in different stalls and didn't want things to get out of hand. I brought Prize up first. Poor Prize has been lame for about a week. Tracy (and I agree) thinks he has a developing abscess. Prize had no reaction to being put in the new stall at all. He didn't even hesitate near his old stall and quietly went into the new stall. He quickly surveyed his new accommodations, found his hay bag now mounted right under the window and instantly approved of his new home. He can now eat and look out the window at the same time. When I brought Louie in, he also went into his new stall quietly. He too calmly checked things out and was excited to find out he could now look out into the riding arena from where he was. There was someone riding and he was just fascinated. You could just see the wheels turning in his mulie brain. He was a little confused, a bit unsure, but didn't seem at all upset. Karn came over to see how they were all settling in. Quite anticlimactic from what I expected. All in all I think everyone is going to be happy with the new arrangement.

I recieved an email that afternoon from Tracy. She said she was confused when she got to the barn, thinking she I got her days mixed up but that MaryJo set her straight. She went on to say that after chores she decided to go out and give the boys a good curry to try to get rid of some of the caked on mud they were both covered in. She did Prize first and had a curry in one hand and brush in the other. She said she needed two hands to curry so tossed the brush off to the side. Well, guess who brought it back to her right away? She said she was laughing so hard and telling Louie what a good boy he was but that she didn't need the brush that moment. So she tossed it to the other side of Prize and Louie went and got that too....! Poor guy, she felt bad as she had no treats for him and she said he got a little disgusted with her. Silly Mule.

Have I mentioned how much I like it at Upper Pond Stable........