Horse rescue!

It was last Thursday afternoon when I was out doing chores. Watering horses, making my rounds as usual. I went into the run-in shed and paddock where the colts and stud were kept to find our stallion Ace laying on his side, moaning.

Horse people will know, this is never a good thing. My mind raced thinking it could be colic and this was probably going to end badly. I let myself into the shed to urge Ace onto his feet and get him walking. The ground was packed and it looked like he'd been down for quite some time. Not good.

Ace moaned and groaned and lifted his head and put it back down in defeat. I saw his problem. It wasn't colic at all... he was cast! The old shed had slatted wooden partitions in it used for tie stalls at one time. He had laid down in one of the double wide tie stalls only to get his hindquarters and back legs underneath the boards. That was what kept him down.

 Al was late getting home from work so I was on my own. I tried pulling, but of course I could not pull a full sized adult horse. Rolling him was not an option as his legs were stuck. I came up with either a) remove the boards or b) get a tractor and pull him out. I tried A first.  I found a big sledge hammer and got the board holding the partition loose only to find it firmly anchored into the hay manger at the front of the stall. Looked like only a chain saw could get him out this way and since it was close to his hindquarters, that did not seem a good option.

That left B... tractor. I looked around for a long tow strap but couldn't find one so I patched together a lead rope and a ratchet strap. Not ideal but I was running out of time. Ace had been down a long time and I worried about damage to his organs from being cast. I started up the old Oliver 1655 and pulled slowly forward. The rope broke in minutes. Ace was now on his belly with head up rather than laying flat.

I went to find a longer rope and tied an old lasso to his halter and to the ratchet strap and lead rope. Again, not ideal for heavy pulling but I had to get him up! I inched the tractor ahead once more, watched the rope go tight and then... SNAP! Rope broke!  Bad thing was it came flying in my direction right at my head. There was a lot of pressure, luckily I was watching behind me to see into the shed. I ducked in time.

I put the tractor in neutral and go to check on Ace. Miraculously he was on his feet!  He appeared to be very stiff and sore but resumed eating and moving about the same evening. He was ok! I was so glad to see him up I gave him a big hug. I was starting to run out of rope and ideas.

When you have more that one horse, every once in a while one will get itself into some trouble. Luckily in this case everything turned out alright.

Updates & things

Hello again, sharing what's new on the farm:

First horse updates: 2 year old colt, Steel is still training well. He's very polite ground driving and doesn't scoff or refuse to cross ditches or under the clothesline (oooh scary! -least to a horse). He is ready to be driven in a bridle soon and after that, our first shot at riding...

2yo Steel is very agreeable. Tall and lanky like his sire.

Dora- I've been driving her too. It's a great way to get her used to cues needed for riding. She is a smart little thing and has a very soft mouth. She's a little more spooky than Steel about new things but is learning each time. C even sits on her back for a little while. It's a nice start. I'm fairly certain C has the horsebug just like her mama.

Blue- R's pony turned out to be rather headshy. He doesn't like bridles, flyspray or baths. While this is disappointing, he does lead very nicely in a halter.. I don't know if somebody was just mean to him or if he's trying to be a little jackass about it. However his polite leading doesn't add up. He might just be an alright pony with a few kinks. He might work out as strictly a leadline pony we will see.

Also, just to let you know while the blog has been horse-central for awhile we also have baby piglets due to arrive in several weeks. Hopefully our batch of guinea fowl eggs will hatch that our in the incubator and there's a mama hen with 5 chicks.  See, I can talk about more than just horses...

Identity Confusion...

Last Saturday was another "funshow" for our saddle club. They're called fun shows because they do not count for year end points, you don't have to wear fancy show clothing and are typically smaller and more laid back in atmosphere. That's the beauty of a fun show, being relaxed enough to try a new event.

I woke up that morning about 7 a.m headed straight tot he barn and re-bathed Skyler. He not only had manure stains on his hindquarters but also managed to demolish the bottle of Cowboy Magic Green Spot remover I'd hung on the gate to his pen. Brilliant. No choice, bath it was.

Then it was time to get dressed and ready to go. I was riding in 2 English classes: equitation and pleasure and then gaming in the afternoon. Most of the other riders wore jeans for those classes so, rather than changing outfits I just opted to go western.

I put my green/tan plaid shirt by Panhandle Slim, Wrangler jeans, Ariat belt and Laredo boots. Wow, that was a change! Typically for any horseshow I'd be going in breeches, tall boots and a hunt coat. I felt kind of strange at first.

As the day went on I got more used to my new "look". By the end of it I decided I liked "western" and that it could work for me. Some of the outfits are pretty fun!

From the horse aspect of things: We placed 3rd in English pleasure and 1st in equitation. We had a bit of a larger turnout at this show and were a couple more people in English this time.  Skyler did really well and was trying to listen very hard. They even asked us to do a little pattern for the eq. class.

Then we did gaming: egg & spoon, pole weaving, key race and barrels.  I even got signed up for the surprise class which was called "The lemon pucker".  We had to run down and around a barrel then bite a lemon off a string hanging from a pole and ride back. Got 4th in that.

I did discover that Skyler's teeth were bothering him however. He reared at the gate. I checked him when I returned home and sure enough, sharp edges along his gums.  A trip to the vet is in order to have his teeth floated.

All-in-all it was a nice day out. Got to visit with horsepeople and ride. At first when I moved to this area I was kind of bummed at the lack of English and huntseat shows around, but now just maybe I'm learning to adapt...

Breaking Steel

First off to clarify, Steel is a horse. A two year old Appaloosa colt to be exact. This post is not about welding, iron works or anything like that. However I did like the play-on words.

Al recommend we break and sell Steel soon so I figured I'd better get to work. At two, it's legal to train horses to ride, especially if you're a light weight rider and don't do anything to over-stress the joints. Steel seems pretty agreeable so I didn't think I'd have much trouble.

After two times lounging him he already learned to walk-trot and stop when I ask. He doesn't get spooked easily and when I lounged him with a saddle he did not react to it, which is awesome. Sometimes you'll get a nice set of crowhops out of a greenie with  a first saddle!

After our most recent lesson yesterday of lounging I took Steel back to the barn, tied him in the tie stall and proceeded to put weight on his back. He didn't mind when I bellied him so next I swung my leg over. I sat on him for about 5-10 minutes just petting and talking to him. His biggest aggravation was stomping at flies. Didn't mind me one bit.

I really enjoy working with young stock because you never know what they'll do. It's also rewarding to ride that horse or watch someone else ride and know that he learned all that because of you. Breaking a horse not only makes them employable and easier to find homes but, I also think they like having a job to do.

More updates and Steel photos to follow as his training progresses. Next is ground driving.

Steel is a 2010 homebred colt out of Doka Doll Fleet by Plaudits Black Ace

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/steelntheshow

Pony Hunting (not with weapons)

My last entry spoke of a desire to get the kids a pony. You know, something smaller to the ground, hundreds of pounds lighter and something less intimidating for them to learn to ride on? Well last week turned into an all out, full-scale pony hunt!

It started when Al decided to sell his mare Lady. We hadn't time to ride her and she would be of better use to someone else. That left room offically for a pony! So I started searching online for the perfect one. In my Googles I came across several prospects. A pair of mini geldings Smoky and Goliath, a pair of young Shetland mares, a pinto Welsh pony mare, and a paint Shetland gelding. But which one to get?

Al suprised me most of all when he suggested getting not one but TWO ponies. "Are you nuts?" I thought. I didn't think he'd want two of the buggars around since he'd like fewer horses around. His reasoning was simple: The kids would fight over one. True I thought. Two it was.

I had emailed and called a few people. Mainly on the two mini geldings but we concluded they'd be awful small. Golaith was 9 hands. The Shetland mares were unbroke. Breaking two would take quite a lot of time and I've already got Deuce & Steel (our appaloosa colts) to work with as priority. The Welsh mare sounded good. Has done leadline was 4, not a bad price but things turned out different.

We went to the horsesale on Saturday to sell Lady and scope out pony prospects. Al rode her in the ring and she went to an older fellow who is fans of her sire, Royal Contender. He wanted her for a broodmare. As for ponies there were about 10-12 there. Six minis, two shetlands, and one larger Morgan type.

The bidding started... We passed up one pony for $400. He was the first to come in the ring. Later on this lovely mini came in, a 4 year old grey/white paint. Said she was "broke to ride and drive" but was led in a halter... hmm....   Well I started bidding and got her for $240. Not bad!

C named her pony Dora :) 40" tall

I told Al all about my bargin and he said "Well there's a differnt story on her. I just talked to her owner and she came straight out of pasture and just had her first bath." That's pretty drastic from "Broke to ride and drive"!!!   Luckily, I'm in no hurry and can do plenty of groundwork with her. Never believe the auctioneer!

Sunday we set up an appointment to look at "Blue" a 4 year old paint Shetland who does leadline. We were to meet his owner in Crosby which was 1/2 way from her house and ours. I sent Al (to suprise the kids) and he brought him home.

Blue and R seemed to get along great! R led him in the barn up and down the aisle. At one point he tripped and dropped the lead. Blue stopped in his tracks, and dropped his head. That's a good pony right there. Turns out he's not 4 either, his teeth show 14. Guess I should remind Al to look in their mouth next time. We are still happy with what we paid for both ponies. The kids like brushing them everyday and with a lot of supervision they can become great little riders.

R's pony 42" tall

I want a pony...

No seriously I do, well not really for me, for the kids. Now I'm not about to trash talk our horses (Skyler or Trigger) but to be honest, they're well... Too big!  Try boosting a 4 year old up onto a nearly 15 hand high horse. Doesn't go well if you haven't got manly upper body strength let me tell ya.

Skyler is doing great leadline with R & C but I think it would be less intimidating for them to start riding on a pony. It's closer to the ground, makes sense to me. I learned to ride on a few great ponies at the lesson stable myself. I later worked my way up to horses. I think my kids should have the same experience.

Only problem: Al. Doesn't want a pony. Granted he wants to raise cattle, not horses anymore. Another mouth to feed wouldn't be good in his eyes. However: Ponies are smaller and eat less. Most are easy keepers and very hardy. I even asked R if he'd be more comfortable on a pony closer to the ground and he said "Yes". What more proof do we need? To a kid a horse must seem giant, even Skyler at 14.3.

I'm currently trying to get a lead on a good pony. We'll have to see what we can come up with here.

This guy would be perfect! 18 year old gelding broke to drive only 10hh.

Skyler at the funshow

Last Saturday was our saddle club's funshow and I decided to pull ol Skyler out of the pasture and give it a try. I hadn't had many chances to ride this spring yet and wasn't quite sure how he'd do. Getting time off when your husband farms and works when you've got 3 small kids is somewhat difficult.

So the weather was in the 50's and there was a chance of rain but mostly it was a nice day. It was great not to have to worry about the kids. My 4 legged kid stayed tied to the trailer and caused me no trouble. As for the show part: He got 2nd in English equitation and pleasure and in the gaming we won $9 in the jackpot classes for barrels, poles and jumping figure 8. Keep in mind there was a small turnout and it was only a funshow.  Even so, it was a nice time off. I bet Skyler wouldn't agree, he had to work!

An extra feather in my cap: I drove the truck & trailer myself. Loaded and unloaded my horse. Skyler was a bit stubborn about loading but I got him. I had everything packed up and was rolling out just when the rain started.

Project for next funshow: our mare Doka Doll Fleet. She's got more of the pleasure horse type build and Al and I think she'd be worth a try in the show pen. If she does well we'd try a WSCA show later in the month of June. -Skyler will be doing leadline with the kids

Next project

I appologize but there are no pictures, my cameraman was babysitting 3 kids and had his hands full. Maybe next time.