A very busy week on the farm

Let's see, where to begin?  Other than Daisy the pony, who is her usual sweet self and whose main job is to stand around, look cute, and give the occasional pony ride, all of the horses in my "family" have had momentous weeks.
My farrier's mare, Heather, whom I've been mare-sitting for about six months, foaled a nice big, leggy bay filly (might turn gray, I was certain at first but now am not so sure) on the 25th, at the very polite hour of 11pm.  No troubles, a textbook delivery, and the only problem I have is that the mare WILL NOT be caught.  She's out in the big pasture eating grass, hanging out, and being feral.  So the filly is minimally socialized but I'm hoping mama will soon get tired of the bugs and the sun and decide to come in.  

Erika's got a pregnant horse at her place who will be coming here in a week or so to foal as well.  I kind of like the idea of having a nursery--have some mares around, babies and youngsters all over the place, and keep the "going" horses in training at Erika's place.

Which brings me to the more depressing part of the update.  Bonnie became off a couple of weeks ago, progressing to the point where she's now quite lame.  Last year she developed an odd bump on her pastern, but X-rays were normal at that time and she was sound.  Glad I got the films done then--new X-rays done this week show some ossification up high in the lateral cartilage, or in other words, she's growing a sidebone.  Not terribly surprising given her big body and somewhat less than elastic way of moving, plus she's had a couple of hard clobbers to her ankles.  Prognosis uncertain, starting with 3 months off and hoping to get a lameness vet to check her over soon so there's no missing the forest for the trees.

But to keep it on the upbeat, the idea of a Bonnie baby has been growing on me.  I wouldn't say she's solidly earned her place in the gene pool with her competitive career, but she has the best temperament, really good legs and feet (current condition perhaps notwithstanding) and yes, I'd take another one like her.  Haven't made up my mind yet, but things have a way of happening for a reason, which is how I'm looking at this lameness issue.  Stay tuned!

Keebler has been doing great, nice and shiny and a lot happier, it seems, since I changed him from my regular ration balancer to Ultium.  I'm giving him some TUMS, as well, which he thinks are horse treats, just in case his tummy is bugging him.  He is 100 times less cranky and generally is being a happy dude.  He is back at Erika's now while I switch all these mares around.  He'll get to hang out with his gelding buddies and act like a hooligan without an emotional mother-to-be grouching at him all the time.

This weekend we went to May-Daze and did our first Training HT together.  Dressage was really pretty darn good, and if I'd had the horse in the ring that I had in warmup I think our score would have been even better than the 37.7 we got.  I know it's not an earth-shattering score, but the improvements have been huge and I think it'll keep getting better.  Dressage shows, poor Keebler, are in the future.  Stadium went well once we got past the first jump!  Something distracted him on the way in or he decided it would be a really good time for naughtiness, but I found myself going sideways on our opening circle, and I swear he never even saw fence #1, plowed right through it.  I should have circled again before sending him but didn't think I had time since the judge had blown the whistle the moment we went in.

I hate to show this first picture, but compared to the second one it is a great illustration of the difference between Keebler Not Paying Attention and Keebler Realizing It's Time To Go To Work.  The first picture is jump #1, the 2nd picture is just 8 or 9 strides later, fence #2, with Our Act Together.

Cross country was a blast, and although Keebler had one big spook at a shiny black ramp (the smallest jump on course!) which genuinely seemed to surprise him--he got sideways so fast I was nearly on the ground--he absolutely was perfect everywhere else and literally ate it up.  Felt fantastic, and I can't wait to do it again!   Next weekend I'll have my chance at Indiana.

Helmet cam video is a little large for our satellite to handle without coughing up a hairball, but it came out great and I will post it later.

Horses might not be my son's cup of tea, but . . .

I must have done at least an adequate job indoctrinating him.  Today after school he decided to invent some of his own Pokemon characters.  After the obligatory death and destruction-types (with powers such as "nuclear blast", "TNT", and other such boy things) he was at a loss for the next one in the series.

He looked out the window for a few minutes and said "GOT IT!".  Who or what did he see out there?  Why, his pony, of course!  Standing by the corner of the paddock, looking hopefully up at the house to see if maybe dinner might be three hours early today.

"PONY is the name of the new Pokemon, Mom, and it has only one power".

I'm thinking "bite" or "kick" or "trample" or maybe even "run underneath a tree branch", knowing ponies.

Nope, the awesome pony-power is . . . CUTENESS!  Could anything BE cuter?

He may not be a horse kid, but at least the pony has made an impression, and that's something at least. 

A gravitational shift at Rolex, courtesy of one courageous iconoclast named Allison Springer

Many people are aware of my stand on wearing helmets while riding. For those who don't, it's easy-peasy. Never, ever, throw a leg over a horse without an approved helmet strapped on.

Pro: might save your life, or better--prevent a devastating, permanent NONfatal head injury.
Con: umm, you will have helmet hair

Yes, I'm aware that things can happen, especially with horses, that helmets won't protect you from. Yes, I'm aware that just walking down the street has its hazards. But please reference the list of "cons" above. So??? No-brainer, pardon the pun.

Eventers are probably farther along than most groups of riders in terms of wearing helmets, but something that's puzzled and completely irritated the hell out of me for years is the "fashion" of putting on fake helmets for dressage, awards ceremonies, and other times when helmets are not strictly mandated.

Yes, I'm aware that most riders don't, in fact, wear helmets. And on that topic I can only muse on the veracity of the old axiom that "there's no cure for stupid" and on Darwin.

So today at Rolex, the premier competition in our sport, and its pinnacle on American soil, a singular and unprecedented shift in the gravitational field of the "world" of horse sports occurred, in the unassuming person of one Allison Springer, a lovely rider who is knocking on the door of greatness. What she did was throw tradition and "fashion" to the spring breeze and trot down the center line wearing an approved helmet, defying the (literally) centuries-old tradition of wearing a bowler or top hat. An anachronistic relic that has long since needed retiring if there ever was one!

Doesn't she look great? And to emphasize how much dressage judges do NOT care about what's on top of your head, she is solidly in second place in a large field. I'm rooting for her to win, although she has already achieved a gigantic victory in my book and a singular place in the eventing pantheon. Brava!

Take Manhattan, just gimme that countryside

Actually, I love Manhattan. I've always fantasized about having a really cool little apartment right there in the middle of everything, and spending six months living in the city. Just six months, no longer. I'd be hating it by then and I don't want to hate NYC, it's the playground of my youth.

But living on our little farm is the greatest. THE GREATEST. I love the seasons, (well, three of them) and how the deer and the turkeys and the foxes and the coyotes and all the other varmints keep right on living here like they always did. I love every inch of the place, and even though we've only been here 3.5 years, I feel like I know every inch of it, too. There is nothing like spending a day doing stuff around the place, and finishing up and not wanting to go inside. Late, late sunsets (and it's not even summer yet!) really help to make the days seem endless and like there's plenty of time to do everything.



The current herd is settling in well and getting along: Daisy the pony, Keebler, and my farrier's wife's mare Heather, who is gigantically pregnant and staying here to foal. A win-win deal--I had a mare to keep the pony company all winter and someone to eat all the hay I bought last year AND I get free shoes and trims while she's here, and Mike and Kim get their mare looked after. This will be my third foal--the foaling stall is all ready (one of today's projects), the video camera is ready, and it's almost time to start the big countdown. She's due in early May.

Bonnie is spending the summer at GLEC and Erika is going to compete her, get her past that "almost Training level" point for me. I miss having her here; she's the real boss of this place and looks around in a more proprietary manner than I do when she's "home". There's not a turkey that walks out of the woods that she isn't aware of. The boss mare. Keebler has cheerfully adopted the duty of "stallion" and feels like it's his job to herd the two mares around with his head snaking along the ground and ears flat back, chasing the potentially horse-killing barn cats away from the herd. They humor him, both the cats and the mares. It's good for his ego, which actually needs no stroking.

Last weekend we went to Kentucky to the Spring Bay Horse Trials and he performed very admirably for a horse who hasn't gone cross country in almost two years. Turns out he's extremely agreeable out on cross country and perfectly easy in stadium. Dressage remains a work in progress, but we have definitely gotten somewhere these last few weeks. I need to find a dressage show somewhere. He'll love it.

OK, now I will get to the new horse

To continue the saga . . .

I have been an active member of the Chronicle of the Horse bulletin board for, well, sort of forever. They know me there, and there are dozens of people I see at shows that I "know" from COTH; it's always fun to meet up with people at shows and exchange code names. Sort of like a secret society. Anyhow, in my typical fashion I got to musing out loud over there about being at sort of an eventing crossroads and wondering if I should find another schoolmaster.

Enter Seema, a fellow COTHer, fellow (although former) Michigan eventer, fellow medical person, fellow eventer, and owner of a little spotted horse named Keebler who has as colorful a pedigree as he has a personality. Part Holsteiner, part TB, part Appaloosa. All boy--what was I going to do with a GELDING? She was looking to place him in an eventing barn with a really good trainer and my barn and trainer certainly fit the bill, if I do say so myself! Was I interested in a year-long lease on a little horse with all the jump in the world and (to quote his owner in her introductory note) a little bit of an Appy-tude?

(I didn't realize before I met him that the part between the ears for Appies is generally more colorful than their hides)

Sure I was! Gwen came to me completely in a spur-of-the-moment decision, nudged along by another eventing buddy. And the horse had never met a jump he didn't think was meant for jumping--just like Gwennie, and PRECISELY what I needed. The deed was done, and late last fall Keebler arrived up north after spending lots of time in Florida and Alabama--just enough bunny fur and plenty of warm blankets to see him though a real winter.

Excited, I tacked up for our first ride--first check: Bonnie's girth SWAM on him, hmmm, so do all my saddle pads and boots and coolers. Luckily he came with bridles and lots of halters--I will explain why later--and I borrowed a little girth and off we went. I realized within a few minutes that I now had the ride on two horses that are as opposite as opposite could be, in almost every way imaginable . . .

Bonnie: girl, big horse, little gaits, must be pushed to use herself and big, free movement does NOT come naturally. However, she is obedient, easy to ride, and cheerful about almost everything. Although not athletically gifted, she is always ready to go for a ride. A good egg, easy to have fun with but hard to get a great performance. Not entirely her fault. Nature endowed her with big, sturdy hooves and limbs and a great temperament, but not with glorious gaits.

Keebler: boy, little horse, big gaits, uses every bit of himself all the time but no aversion to sending each of his four limbs in random directions. Supple does not begin to describe him--think "gumby". Big walk, big stride, lots of movement in a small package. However, how shall I say it--NOT obedient, NOT easy, and decidedly NOT cheerful about dressage! Plenty of go, but a little light on submission and cooperation. Verdict? Bruce Mandeville had him pegged in 30 seconds: "there's a lot going on in there". Smart, smart, smart, clever, clever, clever. Opinionated, prickly and makes you figure things out on your own.

I was going to learn a lot from this one.

And this is Bonnie as a grownup, her 2nd-ever Training level HT in Kentucky in 2009. She totally has the capability, but doesn't always remember that--every time we go XC I get the feeling that she is "this close" to totally getting it and becoming bold and confident. "This close", however, can be a fairly large gulf when the rider is lacking in courage.

The other photo is of the incomparable Gwennie, age TWENTY, ripping her way around another cross country course, clean, fast, and flawless. EVERYONE needs to have a ride on a horse like this once in their life--or preferably many, many more times than once!

To continue introductions

This is Bonnie, a few moments after she was born. Her mama is an OTTB I bought as a rising 5 year old in 1993. She is a pretty, fancy mare and passed on her easy, sweet temperament to her daughter.