Moar Rain

This rain is the worst. I can't teach lessons, I can't make money, I can't get new tires for my car. The jumping ring is totally under water. But there has been some fun!

In a break in the rain yesterday I hand-grazed Lex for awhile. She's so perfect.

Dr. Slim was there!

It's hard to see in this pic, but she's hella dappled.

BFFs

 And today, Lex learned something new!

Gimme that muck rake!

I can clean my own stall!

I mean, if it keeps her occupied!

Zephyr has been having fun. Last night I crashed the other instructor's lesson because it was happening in the field, not the jump ring for obvious reasons. It was a group of advanced riders and they were all happy to have Zephyr along because he's so pretty and cute and everyone loves him. Considering it was his first ride out of the ring that I know of, and he was with a group of five other horses, he was very very good. I mean, he wasn't rideable exactly - he was doing his best giraffe impression and he thought standing still was stupid. He'd paw at the ground, turn his head around to look at me (he has a very long neck!) and nibble on my toes. But! No explosions of any kind. The canter was sideways as often as it was forward, but he didn't buck, spin, or bolt. You know? I'll take it. He's no Lex, but he's a'ight.

Zephyr Hearts Puddles

We have been getting a disgusting amount of rain here in Florida. I have a whole bunch of greenies to ride. This combination isn't always great. Yesterday, Riley wouldn't go in the ring because it was too muddy - it took Kris and I awhile to get her in there, and then she spooked at every damn thing she could think of. Shadows, footing, lawn mowers, horses kicking walls in the barn. I love her, but jeez.

By contrast, today I was hand-grazing Lex and a huge branch fell out of a tree. I was standing right where she could jump on me if she'd wanted to. She just watched the branch fall, hit the ground, and was like, "Huh." Back to grazing. You can't put a price on a brain like that.

Yesterday's ride on Zephyr was also interesting - someone keeps taking the stirrup leathers off the dressage saddle I'm using on him. I was in a huge hurry, I grabbed the leathers I thought were mine, and... they weren't. They were children's leathers, and even on the longest hole, they were like jockey-length. Sooooo I made the questionable decision of taking them off the saddle and riding the enormous green six-year-old with the 17-foot canter stride without stirrups. My legs hurt real bad, but he was actually really good. I got back on him today and the ring was a swamp, but he had a LOT of fun splashing in the puddles. I didn't make him work long, it didn't seem fair. But I was very encouraged by his bravery with the water - maybe we'll make a cross-country horse out of him yet.

Lex is getting so close to the end of her stall rest! Today when I said goodnight to her after finishing the evening feeding (which takes over three hours, it's insane), she was all sweaty, poor thing. It's insanely hot. The vet also recommended I keep a fly mask on her to keep all the dust flying around in the air from getting in her eyes, but I think it makes her hotter. She's got a fan and three water buckets. I'm not sure what else I can do for her. I'd love to not worry constantly about that horse!

"Your Horse Doesn't Act Normal"

"She acts like a person."

That's what my vet said today, and it's totally true. Lex really has a human quality. She's funny and smart, and I know she's bored out of her skull and sad that she doesn't get to go outside much. I'm hoping she feels better soon. The vet said I can really probably hand-graze her for longer than ten minutes at a time, and that it might be smart to do it in the round pen so that when I turn her out in there, she won't be like "WHAT IS THIS NEW PLACE?!" She's a smart lady.

The vet came out today to do a hyaluronic acid shot in her stifle, which is a bit puffy. Nothing to worry about, just trying to prevent synovitis. The vet sedated her to work on it, and she enjoyed the opportunity to have me hold her head. She's such a good girl.

I rode Riley again today, and she bucked a lot at the canter. I think it's because she hurts. She's only 17 days off four months of stall rest. I'm not 100% sure she should be doing all this stuff, but what do I know. The barn owner and her husband are vets. I love getting to ride her, but I don't want either of us getting hurt doing stuff she's not ready for. I won't have a chance to ride her tomorrow, so we'll see what her owner says if she rides her.

Also, lovely commenter and fabulous friend Shellian posted this video of Pal in the comments yesterday, and you should all see it because he is really cool. I think he just needs some consistency in his life.

Sleepiness is taking over, but I thought that what the vet said about Lex was too adorable not to share. I have a ton of lessons tomorrow so I'd better get a good night's sleep!

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Trailer

Today my mom told me that Rocket is 13.2hh at the withers, 14hh at the croup, and string tests at over 17hh. I won't be at all surprised if she gets over 17.2hh. That'll be fun. Stacey at Behind the Bit has a fun post on foal height from a few years ago.

In other huge-horse news, Zephyr has been kind of a butt lately. Yesterday he broke the cross-ties AND his bridle when he took off after I'd put the reins over his head. I'm just glad the camp kids weren't in the barn at that moment. It was scary, watching all that stuff dangling around his very expensive legs while he galloped away. The thing that really made me mad was that he wasn't scared or anything. He just decided he'd rather go graze. I caught him, R fixed his bridle, and then I lunged him for awhile, and rode him as long as I could. He was great under saddle, he's just a moose on the ground.

When he is good, he is very very good, but when he is bad, he is horrid.

Today I got the chance to ride a very good horse who I've been in love with for a long time but for one reason or another, never got to ride: Duchess's four year old daughter Riley! She belongs to the lady who owns the barn where I used to board Lex (I still work there).

Snugglenose.

Before I bought Lex, I was sure I could never love a horse as much as I loved Riley, and I hadn't even ridden her. It never worked out for me to get on her, and then she was on layup for four months after she had an ultrasound-guided injection into her stifle to treat her subchondral cysts. What is it with me and bay fillies with stifle issues? Anyway, she was awesome. This was only the third time she'd been under saddle after coming off stall rest. She's got a great mind and will be a very good horse for someone who has a whole lot more money than I do.

Then I hopped on a gelding who belongs to Kris's friend, Pal. I don't have any pictures of him, I'll have to try to get some. I wouldn't call him a handsome guy, but he's a sweetheart. He's a cremollo with blue eyes. We're interested in him for the lesson barn, so I'm going to see if he'll be a nice solid citizen. He was spicier than I expected, which I like. Kicking isn't my favorite game.

Speaking of spicy, I also got another ride on Sahara, that palomino pony we're trying at the lesson barn. I haven't used him in any lessons because I don't have any riders who are both small enough and big enough. I think I'm much too big for him, which is too bad, because I adore him. I'd snap him up if I was about 40 pounds lighter and a few inches shorter. Alas. I don't think he'll work for us, because he's too hot. He's not a kid's pony. If anyone wants a FANTASTIC pony jumper prospect, please call me. He's wonderful. He's stopped his bucking, but he did bounce a horse-length one-stride the other day in a lesson with the other instructor. He's got the athleticism, enthusiasm, and the intelligence. He's just too small for most adults.

Last but the opposite of least, all Lex wants to do is snuggle. I spoke too soon about her puffy leg, which was a little puffy again today. The vet is coming out tomorrow anyway for some follow-up stuff, so she'll take a look. I was almost alarmed at how cuddly she was today - I hope she feels okay. I'm sure she's depressed. She started whinnying when I rounded the corner into the barn. My poor girl. I'll be out there for hours tomorrow because I'm doing the evening feeding, and I'm looking forward to being around her more.

Happy Three Months, Rocket!

My little girl is three months old! It's weird - instead of being all "I can't believe she's three months old already," I feel more like, "She's only three months old? It feels like she's always been here!"

Without further ado, here are a ton of pictures my mom sent me this morning. No, that's not a yearling. That's Rocket.

I am a mysterious lady.

Rocket and her uncle TJ, who is the size of an elephant.

Pretending to be demure.

Head over the fence: Done. Over the gate? Getting there.

Please note also that her butt is higher than the fence.

Ol' Knobby Knees.

The End!

Jump Chutes!

I've had the opportunity to do a lot of cool things with horses over the years, but one thing I'd never done until this past weekend was put horses through a jump chute. It was a really cool experience, and I got to meet Teddy O'Connor's breeder and put her pony Cash through the chute several times!

Teddy!

We took Fynn and Zephyr to the clinic. Fynn showed some talent but got really nervous. Zephyr crashed through a bunch of jumps for awhile and then seemed to figure it out.

It was a well-run clinic. The lady running it had me walk the horse through to sniff all the poles and see what he was supposed to do, and then she started building crossrails - there were three jumps, and the first one stayed a crossrail, the second became a vertical, and the last an oxer. The heights varied according to the horse's fitness and abilities. Neither of our horses got to jump anything huge, which is fine. They'll get there.

Me and Zephyr waiting for our turn in the chute ring.

There's nothing handsomer than Zephyr.

Fynn overjumps a bit.

Fynn is adorable but it took us like 10 minutes to get this shot.

Zephyr eventually figured out how to tuck his knees. Good boy!

The photos above seem to be choosing their own order, so sorry if they don't make sense.

Lex is doing well. She enjoys her handful of minutes of hand-grazing every day, and tomorrow she's getting cleaned up. She's pretty gross from lying in her own poop all night, and sometimes brushing just isn't going to be good enough. I took her stitches out yesterday, though, so I can finally give her a bath. Also, I haven't seen a return of the puffy leg. YAY.

Without taking away any of the snuggling I'm giving Lex, I think I'm gonna commit to bringing Zephyr along, especially while she's on layup. He's a very nice horse, and he can be my project for the next few months. Maybe he'll be an eventer, who knows.

Pony Games

Pony camp, y'all. It is the most draining thing I can think of. TWELVE children. ALL day. For a week.

I need your ideas for mounted games that kids can do without having to hold the reins in one hand because I am running out of ideas. Oh, and they can only walk so far. Yesterday we had a relay race in which they'd go to the end of the ring, circle the mounting block, and come back. Today we did "pole bending" and "barrel racing" around jump blocks. We aren't going to be doing bareback rides.

I also need your ideas for not strangling know-it-all kids who yell at me when their horse doesn't stand like a stone statue or doesn't walk at mach 3 or whatever.

In other news, Lex is doing well. She has a new best friend. His name is Slim.

That's DOCTOR Slim to you.

Slim likes to supervise hand-grazings, excursions into the tack room, and water bucket filling. He is 90 million years old and a mangy flea-bag and I adore him to pieces. He reminds me of the cat from Coraline. I imagine that he sits on Lex's window ledge and talks to her at night.

After her ten minutes of grazing, I took her back into her stall and unwrapped her standing wrap so I could re-wrap it. I was standing with my back to her while she munched her hay. The next thing I knew, she'd sidled up next to me and leaned her shoulder into my back. I scratched her chest, rubbed her head, and just hung out there, for a long time. She was really snuggly last night, too. I think she is really starved for contact since she doesn't get to hang out with her buddies in the paddock at night. I also think she likes me. My trainer said to me one day that he thinks she's a tough horse, and that we have to make sure she's tough for our team. I have a feeling we'll be able to accomplish that. She's such a good horse. All of this mess is definitely worth it.