The Weather has Cleared

I felt like I could jump and sing on Saturday. I arrived home Friday, 9-24, ready for ride. Romeo and I had taken a little walk in the drizzle Tuesday (9-21), but he slid in some mud, and smashed my knee into the walk through gate. Totally, 100% not his fault.. The poor guy carried my hobbling self to the trailer, and then politely walked back to his stall, wrinkles over his eyes apologizing. Poor critter.

Anyway, I digress. I got home Friday, ready for ride! Much to my dismay, it POURED again at my house. One of those small-reaching "cells of storm so ugly it's pink on the radar center" bursts hit my house - the road was flooded, my side yard flooded, the pasture low spots flodded. Heck, there was a river across the driveway. My very sad depressed self stayed inside, and pouted. I was none too happy about the crappy weather. I took it out on my house, and cleaned like a ninja.

Finally, Saturday, it was done raining. However, somewhere in the day, my body decided I was dehydrated. A severe headache took over my plans. I drank and drank and drank (water, that is), and it eased up, some. Went outside to feed the boys, and the headache came back with just a little sweat. Back indoors I went.

The highlight of my Saturday horse-world? Harley arrived! I haven't yet got good Harley pictures, but I'll get ya a few. Harley is four (?Ithink?), out of Skys Blue Boy. He's a little fellow, about 15H tall. Harley was delivered, and I released him into his new pasture, adjacent to Ransom. I figure my senior showhorse can mutter good vibes to him over the days. Harley is here a while, for me to ride, educating him, and me. I'll be including his name in the titles, and adding a new keyword for easy search.

Sunday, it was finally nice enough to get things done.
I grabbed Ransom, his twisted wire bit, and a lunge line. I figured at most, I'd lunge & ride bareback. At least, I'd lunge. Well, the rain brought lots of green grass. High green grass, in fact. The arena was tall with grass, lush yummy grass. It nearly broke my heart to mow it, taking away some of Ransom's munchy goodness. Anyways, I lunged him a while, and found on the side reins in his twisted bit, he was very upright.. Hmm.. how else to say it... He had his neck arched more than previous sessions, and still flexed nice at the poll. And very forward.

Ransom lunged about 20 minutes, then stood patiently while I cleared the poles, standards, and cones from the arena to mow.

9/20/10 The Show That Didn't

I got in great rides last week, despite the weather. The arena held up just good enough, and we were able to work through all the gaits, and mentally ride through the two tests.

However, it absolutely poured down all weekend, both at my house, and at the show grounds. The show manager (barn owner) and I already had a little scuffle about registration. She was clearly irked I didn't register earlier, and I was equally annoyed I didn't have control over the previous weeks' weather to know if I'd be able to register. Suddenly, I was owing extra funds for not registering early enough, and not "committing seriously" to the event. Nevertheless, I obeyed all the rules, and got about my weekend of planning.

Saturday afternoon, after cleaning tack, washing & ironing clothes, polishing boots, and clipping Ransom, I checked the radar, again. Pouring down both here, and there.
Email came in around 6pm, suggesting that it was now up to popular opinion whether the show would go on, due to the weather. I stayed quiet. Honestly, I didn't "have a dog in the hunt", since my monies hadn't been paid. We were to get an official answer "by 6pm at the latest".

At 6:15, another email pours in, now containing pictures and another "please tell me what to do" request. So I did, sort of..
Here's a thought to consider, if I have any say at all in the matter..Are the horses going to risk injury in the soft muddy grass? Is any show ribbon in the series worth injury? If I get there, and see no safe sound place to warm up, I will pay my tab, and leave. I love to show, but I feel a greater sense of responsibility to not put my horse in harm's way. Maybe consider if you would put your own horses in the riding areas to warm up for a show such as this...
The response I got, was something like this...
The only reason I'm considering it is some folks are begging me to have the show. If you are concerned for your horse's safety, and you have every right to be, scratch now, for no charge.

And I did. The pictures still bug me. There was a covered arena for show, but that's only 10% of the overall ride. The warmup was going to be held outside, in grassy areas, obviously completely saturated with water. Puddles covered the outdoor arena, and areas around those marked for riding.

I love blue ribbons, I love to show. But I love Ransom more.

The rains have continued since, thus my lack of riding. This afternoon, my bigger dog, MacKenzie is going to the vet, so I don't see saddle time tonight, either. Either way, this week, I will be going down the road aboard a horse, even if I'm covered in my oilskin coat, and admit my saddle might get wet.

09/09/10 Hurricane Hermine

Hurricane-Pain-in-My ... Oops.. Rated PG-site, behave myself..

Hurricane Hermine slammed into Southern Texas / Northern Mexico late Monday, into early Tuesday. But that didn't stop it from bringing a lot of rain with her.

Not just a little rain, but according to the amount of water running across roads around my house, and the enormous puddles that now occupy my side yard, I'd say we got about 10"+ of the wet stuff. Some of it came as just rain, but for Tuesday and Wednesday early morning, it came as windy sideways rain, with heavy downpours.

The boys are muddling through, figureatively and literally. There's mud in all the normal places, and some abnormal places. The weather calls for a bit less rain today, though I'm hopeful the shower this morning was the end of it. Then the rain can begin to soak up into the ground, roll to lower places, and give me and my outdoor children some relief.

What We've Been Up To

It's hot
Super hot
Stupid super hot

No riding since the last update. I did buy a watermelon for the boys, and that was a hoot to watch. I've got some pictures I'll work on getting posted - Ransom devoured his, while Romeo took a little nibble & left the rest go uninterested. Ransom was delightful to watch, pushing his whole mouth into the melon quarter, juice & slobber running out his mouth. :) Cute!

Went out to feed last night, and found Rans lost front left shoe. Not a surprise - they're a few days over due. Both are scheduled for trims (Rans reset) on Friday. With the heat, it's not heartbreaking we'll have to take it light.

Monday night, R and I went to a church-group house rebuild project, and helped out. He framed out a window & got the window set. I did light lifting, a little hammering, and some clean up of scraps & demo trash. Nice to "get out there & feel a little useful" in the community.

07/26 What Pony Do I Have?

Is he a dressage superstar winning high score ribbons?
Is he a dressage wannabe, with weenie horrid scores, and Momma who doesn't prep enough?

Nah, he's a hunter! Just ask him! Ransom and I enjoyed a really relaxing 30 minutes under saddle Monday night, and, about 20 minutes in, I heard thunder.

So I lightened the work. I quickly got some canter in both leads, but shortly slowed to trot/walk transitions.

He was sweet. We got some nice work in, but managed to stay quiet despite the weather. Yup, weather. Thunder loomed to the north of us, and the clouds spooked the sky. Quickly, the thunder was atop of us on three sides of the pasture. I called it good, and done.

After I unsaddled,
hosed him off,
put his crib collar back on,
and got him to his pasture,
the skies opened up,
and for about fifteen minutes,
it POURED rain.

Thank goodness I got my ride in before the weather hit. It rained some Monday, Tuesday, and today, while it wasn't raining, the arena is too slippery to chance it. We'll try again if the ground allows tomorrow.

The Weekend I Should Have..

Should have ridden more...
Friday, R and I went out to dinner with friends. =) A restful time, and a relaxing evening.
Saturday, I should have ridden. But it got hot, I got whiney, and the newly installed thermal-backed curtains talked me into staying inside. R and I went out to see "Despicable Me". And Oh my gosh it's funny! Funniest part? As Gru walks into the "Bank of Evil - Formerly Lehman Brothers" ... *snort funny*

Sunday, the weather finally broke just a little. So I got my tail feathers back in action.
Romeo worked in his hunt seat, in the side yard. I am happy to report his walk/halt/walk is back to picture perfect for him. Head low, light contact. The trot is coming back, with the occasional head-tossing lack of muscle development.

He really didn't believe me that he could canter for 7-9 strides in the side yard, but he did. They were ridiculously ugly, I supposed because he was more worried about the small space than the actual gait he was travelling in. Fair enough, it'll get better as his muscles improve again.

Total work, while a thunderstorm loomed a few miles off, and harsh winds whacked us about, around 30 minutes.

Hurricane Alex

The hurricane didn't make landfall here, and for that I'm thankful.

It did, however, make a mell of a hess =) of the property. I got home last night to puddles in all the normal heavy rain spots. In an effort to keep Ransom calm, and reduce the hoofprint damage to the arena & pastures, I stayed in last night. Tonight will be more of the same. This means I'll be travelling to BRM for lessons tomorrow with two horses that have had over a week off each.

Normally, that might mean goofy/spazzy/crazy. In the case of Romeo, it'll most likely mean quiet, somber, responsive, willing to please. For Ransom, it'll mean stiff to start, then very eager to please. I'm looking forward to the trip tomorrow.

As preparation, I get to bathe both boys tonight, in the puddles. Yuck!! I do need to think up a plan to keep 'em mostly clean. Otherwise, I'll be spraying off caked mud tomorrow morning before departure. Double Yuck!

The long 4th weekend doesn't bring anymore exciting plans than that. Hah! It just now occurred to me, I'm off on Monday. I get a 3-day weekend after all. Extra time to catch up on all the chores that will be put off tomorrow. *sigh* That's relieving! Better, and I bait the crew with partial news... I'm going out of town on Thursday thru Saturday...

wait,, wait.. If you read FFI's, you'll see there's a show coming on the 11th. So why o' why, would I schedule being out of town three days before a show?! Am I n-v-t-s? Nah, I just trust Ransom that much. But will I tell ya where I'm going? Not a snowball's chance in.. oop! Blog's rated G, I'll behave..

Who wants to guess where I'm headed? C'mon!! It'll be fun! Maybe if I can think up something nifty, I'll even toss in a prize for the closest guess. Miss Jennifer, you can't play, sorry sweetie. You're part of the big plan, so you can't give away the surprise!! shhhhh....

The long holiday weekend

I sat at my desk Thursday afternoon, and said right out loud, "If I had to work Friday, I'd call in dead." I can't even type about what happened, but it happened Tuesday late morning, and it was pretty crummy. At some point, it'd be a neat learning experience for the "closet chemists" among us, but not worth repeating just yet.

So, riding, back to riding. Things in life always seem better from the back of a horse, don't they? Thursday, let me think...
Thursday, I think I rode. Yeah, Ransom. Dressage again, thinking he would need a few steady days back to work post-mosquitoes before any airplane arm silliness. He's awesome, he needs very little warmup, and after about fifteen minutes of all gaits light contact, he stretches down into collection, and, well, it's heavenly.

Friday Friday Friday.. What the hoo did I do on Friday?! The boys got new feet, which is awesome. Mr D saves the day with nice short feets and happy shoes. Love it! He's great, keeps track of the schedule, calls me a week ahead of time, and tends to my boys without demanding my presence. Love that! I also did laundry, housework, ran errands, decided my rump needed more horse time. But what to do? Oh yes ... Bareback, about 35 minutes before the mosquitoes from hell arrived in the arena. Walk, trot, canter. Yeah, that trot, with his new legs, wow! A little hard to sit bareback without serious collection. Now, his canter? Honey, all day long! No problem. Gosh it's smooth.

Saturday. Romeo Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo, with your newly trimmed toes, and your happy little self? Ransom? Yeah, you're covered in sweat from the heat, don't think I'm riding you today.

So Romeo, let's go play bareback in a halter, hmm? We're just gonna walk, nah, let's trot a little too. Oh yeah, sassy pants? You think you're gonna be silly at the trot, tossin' that happy little noggin? Oh yeah?! AH! Well, that's why God put mane on a horse. Wadda mane, cluck, kiss kiss, squeeze. WHEE! Oh yeah! That's smooth, toO! Now, it ain't Ransom smooth, but sweetie, it'll do me just great! Love that bareback Mo canter, too!

My boys spoil me. No long warmup lunges, no silly side reins in circles, and no "bracing for terror" gallop in the warmup. Love them for that! Especially when it's so frigging hot out, so early in the year, that we're all dying after the ride ends.

Rides Since Then

I have had one moderately decent dressage ride on Ransom since 5-20. And the rest? It absolutely, completely, no doubt about it, poured rain with heavy storms on 5-21 and 5-22. I estimate about 10”of rain or more at my house between Friday & Saturday.

As a result, there was a puddly, muddy arena. Then, there were and still are, mosquitoes. Some things are bigger in Texas, and these blood sucking bugs are no exception.

I’ve been confined to trail rides down the road mostly. Those started out as a good idea, but then I realized I treated more of my property with bug killers than my neighbors did.

The one dressage ride was good, but short. I got about 20 minutes of decent ride in, taking advantage of Ransom’s new hocks with a really nice set at sitting trot. I felt my butt tuck underneath me, and I was able to push him forward without holding on with my legs. Really nice. I thought I’d reward the good brief work with a walk down the road. We both ended up coated in mosquitoes & frustrated.

The walks out the road have been mostly uneventful. Ransom spooked at a flatbed trailer/truck combo. Romeo jumped sideways at some barking dogs. Both have been quiet around traffic, other quieter dogs, which has been nice.

I’m eager for the bugs to ease up, to get back in the tack, and get back settled in my hunt saddle on Ransom. I miss my stirrup-free airplane arms.

5/18/10 Polar Opposites OR What You Can Do in the Puddles

I’m torn between the two titles for the entry from last night. I got home after work, changed shoes only, to some nice rubber boots, and sploshed through the puddles back to Ransom.
He’s terrific. Never before has a horse walked up to me from across the pasture and dropped his head into a halter as often as he does. With the days he’s had off due to puddly stormy weather, he walked with great eagerness to me, and dropped his head straightaway into his halter. Love that!
I saddled him up western, in his twisted wire bit. Snapped on my helmet, tightened the girth, and got to walking. Since my side yard is nearly underwater all over, I walked him through it, testing a few things. What kind of mood was he in, and, if faced with a puddle across the road, would he go through it. Well, his belly got splashed with water he was so eager through the puddles.
Down the road we went. I walked away from the mailboxes first, eager to see just how far my courage would take us. He almost broke to trot, but was settled with a few half halts. I love that about him – he never tried to turn back to home, never weaved around the road, but settled in just on the edge of the gravel, and tromped happily. We didn’t see any deer, but encountered a few bunny rabbits and a few territorial dogs. One would yap her little head off when his toes hit her grass, but if he got his toes back on the gravel road, she’d hush. Funny! We walked five driveways down, which I believe left only one more at the dead end. We made it all the way to the last pond on the right, halted, and turned back to home.
Ransom slowed to a crawl. He poked tail the whole way back to the house. I realized it hadn’t been but a 15minute ride at this point, and it didn’t seem fair to quit just yet. Back up the road, towards the mailboxes. And again, how far would my courage take us? Would I see the neighbor’s goats splashing in his hideous pasture, and chicken out for home? Or would the incoming traffic send us trotting back to the trailer?
We made it! All the way to the road’s end, made a 180 turn, and headed for home. No goats to fear, just one silly car-chasing terrier cross that thought she could conquer Ransom, until he started walking towards her. Ransom pinned his ears at her, dropped his head, and I *swear* he was trying to cut her like a cow! It was hysterical. That dog was running from him, barking all the while, and Ransom stayed right along with her. So funny!
As we completed our journey, Ransom carried me safely straight back to the trailer, as if he knew he’d gone as far as he was going to, the adventure had come to a close. He let out a huge heavy sigh on the way back as we crossed into my property, as if satisfied with himself. My horse isn’t eager to get back to the barn, he’s eager to get going away from home. The polar opposite of a “barn sour” horse. How fabulous!

5/14/10 – 5/17/10 Weather Related Delays

Ransom’s all good to go back to full work.
Romeo’s wondering why he’s standing around with shoes on.
And I’m pouting.

Okay, not really, but I had to find other things to do sans ponies this weekend. It rained Friday afternoon pretty hard, Saturday morning it poured, and Sunday was too muddy & puddly for anything but feeding. Monday, I got home from work with high intentions on riding, and was rewarded with a storm just far enough away it wasn’t pouring at home, but just close enough I knew if I got out a horse or saddle it would rain.

Friday, R & I travelled to Houston for a “His & Her” shopping trip. We visited a few gun stores, guitar shop, and the saddle shop. We enjoyed lunch at our favorite stop, George’s on Dairy Ashford. Yum-O! Love the food there bunches! Hit the massive evening thunderstorm on the drive home – thank heavens for back roads outta Houston proper. Otherwise, I can’t imagine what that trip would’ve been like. Heavy rain, thunder, lightening, wind, and traffic? Nah, not so much.

Saturday brought more early morning rain, housework, laundry, errand running in town. We went to the gun range in the afternoon to blow off a little steam, and had a blast! Literally and figuratively. I’m getting better with each trip, my comfort level is up enough I don’t feel like I need watching with every trigger pull, so that’s good. My general position & accuracy are improving as well. One of these trips, I’m getting a target all my own, I’m going to blow a few dozen holes in it, and hang it on my office wall, I swear…

It was a muddy puddly mess at the house this morning, but determined to get a fix, I think I’ll hop on somebody bareback tonight and walk around the muddy puddly pasture a bit. It’s necessary to maintain my general sanity, at least keep it at its normal level.

5/13/10

I finally found a way to make Ransom eat – stall lockup. For about three meals straight, I locked him up in his stall for a few hours, with water & grain. No hay, no attention. He got the hint – if he wants freedom, he’ll eat. J Works like a charm.

Thursday after work, the wind was howling my name. Howling “boo look at me.” I bucked up my courage, and got in the tack.

Ransom was delightful. We rode all three gaits, both directions, and even looked at the cows a few times. Yes, cows. They were grazing in the pasture next to us, and a few even laid down for a rest. Right where they usually are that spooks him. He didn’t flinch. That was absolutely delightful.

Knowing that dressage is getting boring & repetitive for both of us, I asked for some leg yields at walk. Sweet, and pretty. Stepping it up, I asked for leg yielding at trot. Heading to the right (left leg pressure), he was gawgeous! Heading left, a little stickie, but it got better the longer we did it.

I rode for about 40 minutes before admitting that weather had more wind and sprinkles than I had courage. We did have fun, though.

1/18/10 Update

When the cold finally broke, I think I squeezed in one lunge on side reins, and one dressage ride on Ransom. He was pretty good, but the lunge-day was plagued by some snappy winds & goofy air pressure changes. He worked through it, but not without a pile of coaxing, soothing voices, and "hey good boy" any time he'd go underneath the hi-power lines & not booger-spook.

The dressage ride, as best I can remember it, we had some electric co-op employees working in the neighbor's pasture, watching us half-interested. I took advantage of the opportunity, and rode all of my 20m circles in the center, and worked some rising vs sitting trot switches. I even got a couple of diagonal passes of extended trot, but not without much effort.

Then, the rains came. Puddles, Mud, Rivers for a lawn, the roadways covered in all the low spots on the way to my house, and more puddles. I had to splosh through the water just to get back to feed the boys a few days this weekend.

Saturday found Jen and I scouring my closet, searching for HorseMaster appropriate clothes. Long sleeves, no red, no white. Um, geez, boss. With a little shopping, I now have a few short sleeve blue tops I'm fond of, a pink, purple, green, and black long sleeve tops. Hopefully that handles the people shopping. Oh, and she assisted me through Target looking for *gasp* makeup. Aw, geez, I'm gonna have to dress & do-up like a girl & stuffs. Yuck... =) We finished up our day giving Ransom a quick scrubby bath & spraying him down with LaserSheen. Daylight ran out as he was drying...

Saturday night was a dinner fun of R, me, Jen and her DH. We cooked, and laughed together. A fun time had by all, including R's dog Abby and my two. All the girls got along well, and only one Canine Uh Oh. Bad girl, MacKenzie! grrrrr...

But Sunday brought absolutely beautiful weather. After church R and I had lunch, ran to BestBuy for some Christmas giftcard usage, and I scrambled home. I gathered all my things, got the music tunes going, and grabbed Ransom.

And he's now body-clipped, again. There's a hair-covered front lawn by my porch, and when the lines grow out a bit, Ransom will look awesome. He behaved good. Better in some parts, worse in others. It seemed to go a little faster than the last time. The LaserSheen coat clipped easy, but he had a few wiggly spots and tickly spots. His face went MUCH easier than the last clip job, thank goodness. I only had to bicker with his ears... Nothing we humans couldn't handle.

So, there's the weekend. No rides to talk about. I'm hoping tonight I have at least 1/3 of a dry arena.. Maybe 2/3. I know realistically the back 1/3 will still be under water, and that's okay. It's supposed to stay pretty dry for at least a week.

1/10/10 Determination

Sunday morning brought 5am really early. Or so it felt. Maybe it was just the little sleep, or the worrying & stress, or just the cold... But early brought horses that needed tending to.

I got them warm-watered and fed before dressing for 8am church. Just as the service ended, my mind had already planned out all that needed done.

Chewie and Romeo got switched out so the Chewmonster could get some pasture walking in... Blankets got switched out & changed, and Romeo snuck in a little western work.

Mo and I enjoyed walk, trot, canter, both leads, with some issues picking up his leads. Neither direction was pretty. When he did get them correct, it was a nice even tempoed canter, moderately slow. Also worked a bit more on reminding the neck reining and leg yields. Total work about 40 minutes.

Then I gathered up Ransom, who chose this day to act as if the hunt seat girth just doesn't fit him. When I finally got ready to ride, I had two holes up on one side, and three on the other. So it does fit - he just didn't want me thinking so.

Ransom and I played in my hunt saddle, all on the flat, me focusing on those darn shoulders. I rode a little trot and canter at two point, and snuck in some walk to canter transitions. He felt good... steady and still forward without being a goofball. Another 45 minutes of action.

More bundling, and more warm water for the evening. I knew there was only Monday morning of this water heating nonsense, and then the stress would be over until the next cold snap. All the outdoor weather dressings could be put up, and I won't have nearly as much to worry about during the day.

1/8/10 Waking up & Stretching Out

I got up good & early, and when I got outside to the boys, it was 18F. Cold! Yeah Yeah, all you Northern folks call that a heat wave. I call that South Texas Ridiculous Cold! BRR!

Chewie was okay, just hungry
Romeo was doing good, chillin' under his heat lamp
Ransom was toasty roasty in his three mighty layers, but P'Od Momma locked him up.

And I had running water! Well, inside I did. We didn't remove or drain a hose, and we forgot to cover the only unhosed spigot outside. So there was only water at the faucet under the well covers. Bring on the bucket carrying.

Before long, R and I had all the boys settled with warm water, breakfast, and hay. R had to make a visit trip to Houston, so I settled into my weekend laundry & housework. With those chores completed, and a little sewing done, I ventured outside.

Undressed everybody. Put my boys in their lite sheets, and got down to it. I grabbed Ransom, cleaned his feets, took all off but his sleezy cover, and walked him to the round pen. He did a little walk, trot, canter, and had some easy down transitions. They weren't pretty, but I didn't have to argue with him either.

I couldn't help myself. I tied the lead rope on his halter like reins, and hopped on. I rode for about ten minutes, mostly walking. Chewie stood off to the side, watching observantly.

After a half hour's work, I switched ponies. Romeo and I did much of the same, less lunging, more riding. Also worked on Mo's neck reining, and stops. He did great like always.

So even in the cold, I gots my riding fix. That night, I decided to get the water warming, the blanket switching, and the grain feedings all done before dark. And I accomplished it. After much praying & worrying, R arrived back in town at his house sometime late after 9pm.

01/06/09

Woke up to barely running water, which later froze solid. No water, in any faucet. Lovely....

Got my day moving, talked to Jen, and, well, added a temporary occupant to the barn. See, I have a stall that was set up for holding lawn equipment, a wheel barrow, and a few other supplies in it. And Jen has a critter, one you all have heard of before - Chewie. He's been living at her house, and since I know he's a little winter-sissy-fairy, I helped out.

R and I cleaned out the stall
Hung tarps for a temporary wind block
Put shavings in
Set up water buckets
And he came to visit us for a while.

Chewie settled in real good - eating and drinking. He was inhaling supper just a while ago, munching hay happily.

Expecting a low of about 17F tonight. So I added a layer to Ransom, locked him in his stall without any paddock access, and borrowed an outdoor cook stove and some really big pots. That was used to warm water for their buckets. I did a batch of warm water this afternoon, and another with supper. We also hung a sheet of plywood on Romeo's stall door - it's just the right size, and a great wind block.

The water well and all it's assorted pipes are wrapped in insulation, covered in tarps, and there's a shop light under the tarps. I've done all that can be done except hope and pray nothing freezes again.

May the boys keep warm, and the water stay thawed. This be too far south for this much cold. I don't like it one bit. Global Warming my Ta Ta s say "BULLY HORSEFEATHERS!"

Ta Tas.. those froze off this morning, I Swear. Must ask MrsMom what freezes off next.

12/15/09 It's A Deer!!!

Ransom in his hunt saddle, and me bundled up in a heavy coat, pink beanie hat & full chaps... Off we went to the arena.

I peered at the crossrail set up in the arena. I stared at it. I chickened out.

With the new shorter stirrup length, I'm finding the overall ride a bit easier. It's also getting a little easier to feel sunk down in my heels, especially at the canter. Working on moving with him, and not feeling so bouncy in the tack.

About 6 deer popped up into the pasture just outside the arena. I think they saw Ransom, and knew he was working. I also don't think they saw me. I ended up making a boogerload of noises, hollering at them, near them, around them. Finally, they scampered back off into the woods, two of 'em still standing in the pasture edge munching.

Now, did Ransom go bonkers-goofy-spooked? Nope, not one bit. He looked hard at them once, realized what they were, and went about his merry working ways. We played together for about 35 minutes. The sharp north wind, combined with some drizzly sprinkles cut our action short.

Still, much fun. A whole heckuva lot better than sittin' inside watching the weather channel. Even in the winter here, it's not super-cold, and with the right gear, is tolerable to ride outside.

12/14/09 It's a Cow ! ! ! !

Ransom and I played dressage last night.. However, so did the #$*^& neighbor's cows.

Stupid Cows!
Ransom had the "lookie loos" at the cows. I don't mean peek & get back to work. I mean head & neck in complete denial of forward and away from the cows. He was flexed OUT at the rail facing the cows.

I rode through it for nearly 30 minutes. In his cool down, he got fussy crabby again, and really stopped paying attention to me, as if he needed to know why the cows were coming closer to him. I dismounted and hand walked him over to the cows. I stood & waited with him until he started to drop his head & relax.

We ended up walking back to the trailer in near dark. Undressed & put his sheet on, in the dark. I hate winter here - dark & dreary. Not cold enough to be called winter, not snowy, not even sleet. Just dreary.. and dark.

When he did work, it wasn't too shabby. In the cooler temperatures, getting forward is really quite easy. Transitions aren't beautiful, but that's expected since my rides have been so irregular.

Getting Back on Track

Last week... It rained mostly, but
I got a bareback ride in on Romeo, concentrating on his "go" and "whoa". It was blustery with a cold wind whipping around the yard, and he in no way wanted to be working. He settled in, but I do wish we would've had enough dry land to lunge at that moment.

On one of the drier days, I lunged and rode Ransom bareback. Walk & trot. He did great. In all of the nasty weather, he's lost some muscle up by his withers, so I kept the ride short.

Thursday, I rode him dressage, w.t.c. It went really well. Made me a bit sad I'd decided to not show in Katy on the 12th, but we got a great ride in on the drier side of the arena.

Friday, it was a hunter day. I shortened my stirrups a hole, after the last lesson, hoping this would help my overall balance. Worked like a charm. Had a really nice ride. The wind was howling around the arena, but I've come to discover Ransom loves cooler weather. He moves out great, transitions great, and has a really nice forward going.

Otherwise, not much riding going on around here (thus the lack of blogging). R and I travelled to Eagle Pass yesterday, and I've got a funny Border Patrol story to tell later today or tomorrow. On the way home, we went to see Mister Tom the Hay Man. He had the latest batch tested, 21% protein. It's not as thin or quite as green, but as we were unloading & stacking, Ransom nearly tore two bales from our hands, grabbing mouthfuls. Both boys are seeming to be enjoying it, so mission accomplished there.

Countdown to holiday travel, 6 days. UGH. My gifts are mostly bought & shipped, with a little bit more to do. I'm hoping for a few more rides this week in & around directly after work. They might be short, but I need my "fix", before being away from the boys for a bit over a week.

12/07/09 I'll Settle For

A little grooming & mud scraping. Yup. I had the best laid plans when I left work.


Come hell or high water, the Good Lord willing & the creek don't rise.. I was going to either lunge or ride, but I was doing something. Somebody was getting their day sheet off, and I was going to get some horse time.


I bounded home, realized Ransom would have to wait another day, sliding just trying to walk around his pasture. I ran inside, hurried the dogs to potty, changed my boots. I was doing this. I ran to the trailer, grabbed my bareback pad, grooming things, bridle.. wait.. what's that sound??


Pit, Pat, Pit, Pat, thump, thump, trickle trickle.. Crap! That's the sound of More Rain, ruining my plans.


I stuffed the bridle & pad back in the trailer, and took my grooming things to Ransom's stall. I gave both boys some hay, and while Ransom munched, I groomed. I curried the mud off of his legs, combed his tail & weed-growing mane, and we had some bonding time. He nuzzled his head into my arms, smeared some horse-loving mud in my jacket, along with a little snot just to keep me honest.


I hope tonight meets my plans a bit better.