Beau is a keeper

Oct 032011
 

Time for an update. I hope to keep up with my blog more this winter. I’m planning on posting horse stories here and not spend so much time on FaceBook.

I got in two short rides in before my trip, a ten minute bareback ride and another in the round pen.

Then I was off to India a few days later. I was gone for two and a half weeks. Then I was sick for another week and a half after I came back. I feel like I lost the entire month of September.

In any case, our first ride on my return was at Elijah Bristow State Park. Beau was pretty high headed for most of the ride and got a bit excited by other horses running around. It was still a great first ride together. It was really nice to know that I could take him out and just ride. I found that he loves water. He walked right in and took a nice long drink. I had to keep him moving when he started to paw, as I felt his knees start to buckle! I didn’t want to take a swim myself.

This is one of my favorite shots from the day, even though it’s not entirely in focus. My good friend, Candee, took it, along with all the other photos of me riding so far.

Right after I mounted up.

I had signed up for a Connected Riding clinic with Diane Sept months ago. It was last weekend and I decided to take Beau. Aside from some trailer loading issues, he did really well. He seemed to like being in a stall. I wasn’t sure how he would take to that. The clinic was a good opportunity to try both my saddles on him and experiment with different bits.

He definitely needs his teeth done, so I’m just riding him in what he seems most comfortable for now, which is two reins, one off the cavesson and another on a Myler, ported curb. He sees the vet for his teeth a week from Saturday. After that, it will be easier to make some decisions on bitting. In the video below, I was trying a Myler comfort snaffle and you can see that he is chewing on it pretty consistently.

I took him into the arena Sunday morning before the clinic started to get a bit of time riding alone. I am going to use this video as a baseline. It will be interesting to compare this to how he is in six months or a year. This was our first canter together as well. We rode for a few hours later in the day. We were both tired at the end of, but it was definitely worth it. I learned new things and reinforced stuff I used to know.

Needless to say, I am very happy with Beau. I look forward to working with him and seeing how he muscles up and develops. I also hope that he and Lily get along, as they will have years together. They are sharing a fenceline for now. I moved Beau to my boarding barn just last night. He is temporarily in a paddock behind Lily and Sasha. He was trying to snake the mares through the fence. Sasha was flirting with him and Lily was telling her to stay away in boss mare fashion. Lily is very good at making snarky, mare faces, which she continued for most of the time I watched them.

This evening, I put hay on both sides of the fence, so that they could spend a bit of time together. Beau reached his head over very carefully, as the top wire is hot electric. He had a bunch of hay sticking out of his mouth. I don’t think that he realized it was there. Lily was reaching towards him, but not to say “Hi”. Instead she grabbed the hay and pulled it from his mouth. Beau was startled and spun away. After than he was very deferential to Lily through the fence. I think that they’ll be okay together.

Rehoming Spanish Mustang Horses

Aug 142011
 

This deserves a blog post and not just a FaceBook update.

Meet the newest Eugene resident…

In early June, I found out about three SMR horses who’s owner wanted to surrender them to a rescue or rehome them in some way. He preferred for them to go to homes that knew what they were. So I started networking to make that happen. One was a 20 year old mare with a bit of a sway back. The other two were teenage geldings. They were a family unit, dam, gelded sire and son.

After much organization, they arrived in Eugene late last night. This morning the mother and son left on their way to northern California. The younger gelding will be making one young lady very happy. He will be Maida’s first horse after her two small ponies.

The older gelding is staying in Eugene. His registered name is Bowdrie. He was bred by Kim Kingsley and lived in eastern Oregon and eastern Washington most of his life. I understand that he has had quite a bit of trail experience, but hasn’t been ridden in the last couple of years. I can tell from the morning that he has a lot of power and go.

Here is Maida going out this morning to catch her new horse. He’s the dun roan in the front. He came right up to her.




The hardest part was when Bowdrie was left behind. I had him on a lead while the others were being loaded. After they left, we walked around the property, met the other horses and did a little work in the round pen. He was good with all that. Taking him back to the paddock that they had all stayed in last night made him realize that they were really gone.

I stayed with him a while longer. When he had settled some, I removed the halter. He continued to follow me around. He’s a smart, sensible horse and it will be fun to see what he knows. I won’t have an update for a month or so, as I’m headed off on a trip. I had hoped that they could have come earlier, but they didn’t. I trust that this all happens they way that it’s supposed to.

Funds are still needed to cover the costs of this rescue for the California bound horses.

Maida’s story

Donate to Wind Horse Foundation
WHF blog

Checks should be made to Anne-Marie Pinter, (Director) with WHF in the memo.
Mail to: 6061 Summit Drive, Garden Valley, CA 95633

Or donate through PayPal: ampwwr@yahoo.com. All donations are tax deductible retroactively by the end of the year.

THANK YOU to those who have helped with funds already, including The Lido Fund (a great place to donate ongoing) and also to those who will donate in the future. And special thanks to those directly involved, Maida, Anne-Marie and Candee. Without very deep pockets, it takes a coordinated effort to make this sort of thing happen.

Anything You Want

Aug 042011
 

Today’s Thankful Thursday is a book review.


I took this sweet little book into the backyard on this balmy Thursday evening, stretched out in my favorite chair and read it straight through. I know that I could have bought the Kindle version and read it on my laptop, but I like a the physicality of a book. There is something so very satisfying to me in turning pages and feeling the paper stock chosen by the printer. It is more personal than reading words made of pixels and light.

This quick little read is chock full of excellent and sometimes surprising ideas. They are presented in a story about a business and one entrepreneur’s journey, but are really about so much else. There was much about the author that I could relate to, the enjoyment in solitude and learning new things, the self sufficiency. I have worked as an employee in various businesses by now. I’ve seen it from that side well enough. I’ve tried a couple on my own, but rather feebly. I may be time for me to see it from the other side soon, and in a more inventive way that I have tried in the past.

I am passing it on to both my children. I will be sure that they read it and we will spend time discussing it as well. And I will be checking out more of the books put out by The Domino Project.

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

  • Sit back, take a few deep breaths, and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
  • Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
  • If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
  • Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.

    • Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs
  • The Pony Expression
  • From the Horse’s Back

    • Sasha update

    Aug 012011
     

    Looking a little spaced out

    I drove up today to see Sasha at Bend Equine. She is improving, but she’ll be in for another night. Hargobind and I hung out with her and took her for a walk. She was alert, but tense. She had a good appetite for grass, though not for her mash when we went back to her stall. She wasn’t too keen on being touched much, though did like me rubbing her eartips and lips for a little while.

    She has passed some manure, but it’s not normal yet. I sat with the Shannon (vet) and Gina talking about strategies. She needs to have buddies, as she gets stressed alone. Shannon also thinks that she may have ulcers and she’s going to be on UlcerGuard for a week or so and is to have hay available as much as possible and fed soaked BP and pellets a few times a day. Her weight looked really good, an improvement since last week.

    Getting tubed

    She was tubed again just before I left at 3:30 with the addition of mineral oil. They can tell when that comes out, so it’s a marker to see that she’s cleared of any blockages. She was an excellent patient. They tubed her with no sedation. Shannon will check on her at 2 am and again at 8 am. She may tube her again in the morning. She did say that it can be hard to get a rehydrated horse to start drinking again, so wants her on probiotics and electrolytes and loose salt put in her feed.

    Several people at the clinic noticed that she was different than your average horse. I got to talk about Spanish Mustangs (surprise, surprise) and told them that she was descended from the real San Domingo of the Margaurite Henry book. And one of the other vets came up to tell me that he had never seen a horse like her and that she was obviously unique.

    What did you expect?

    I am glad that I was kicked into doing the IV fluids, even though it added several hundred dollars to the vet bill. I’ve gotten Care Credit, where the vet will be paid and I have 6 months to pay it off with no interest. Kali, Gina and their friends & family also have some fundraising ideas and offered to help. This is very kind and generous of them! It was a hard decision yesterday to go over that $1,000 mark, but now that it’s done, it’s right. The total will likely end up close to twice that. assuming that she goes back to the ranch tomorrow morning. It’s amazing how fast emergency care can add up.

    Donations to her medical fund are welcome and can be sent to simrat@akalranch.com via paypal. Or if you are in Bend, they can be sent c/o Pony Pros.

    A huge thank you to the folks that have already donated and especially to Kali, Les and Gina.

    Help for Sasha

    Jul 312011
     

    I had started a happy blog post about Sasha going to Bend for training at Pony Pros. A ride serendipitously was found and she went up on Thursday, July 21st.

    I visited her the next Saturday and talked to Gina Papa, the assistant trainer at Pony Pros. Sasha looked great and meeting Gina was a pleasure. Gina already had her learning to smile.

    Sasha was doing well, but has had a setback. Yesterday, she started to colic and is now at Bend Equine Medical Center on IV fluids. Kali, Les and Gina have been just great, providing care and communication. I know that she has had excellent care.

    He vet costs are already well beyond anything I had in reserve for her. So I am asking if you are reading here and have anything to spare, that it would be most helpful. Some lovely people have already stepped up and offered. THANK YOU!


    Bleh … technology … The paypal button doesn’t seem to be functioning correctly. Donations (not tax deductible) may be sent to simrat@akalranch.com. Please add a note that it’s for Sasha. Thanks!



    I sincerely hope that I have good news to report tomorrow morning and that Sasha will have improved. I have cancelled my morning meetings and may drive up to see her.

    At the same time, three other Spanish Mustangs are on their way to a way station in their journey south to new homes. They were picked up at the same time that Sasha was on her way to the clinic. The Lido Fund has helped with some costs of their transport. If, by any chance, there are extra funds, they could go to help with gas and transport costs for those horses as well.

    I never intended to get so involved in SM rescue, but it seems that is the way of it these days. I keep having horses come to my attention that need new homes or help in some way. It is very hard for me to not help. The key is to keep it within my resources. I guess I’m not doing so well on that front lately! It is not my way to ask for help, but now I am.

     Older Entries  Newer Entries