I got an email recently about a Hollywood Dun It grandson for sale...a 4 yr old stallion that is under saddle. He's a dunalino. I don't know if that's interesting to anybody but I'd be happy to forward the email to anyone interested.

Given how famous Hollywood Dun It is, I was surprised to see this grandson for sale for $5000. I guess I would have expected a higher price. Anyone more familiar with QH's able to explain why he's priced so low??

Had the first day of my internship today- it went great!

I also bought a book on drupal last night, to prepare for my internship, and it is so cool the way drupal is set up. Very smart and definitely something that will continue to gain in popularity I would guess. Fascinating reading at any rate.

Rode Sage in my el companero both yesterday (with halter and rope...bit of a disaster) and again today for close to half an hour (with the dr. cook's bitless) and it was great. Just goes to show I still use too much rein and not enough leg. It was awesome riding my horse though! Best of all, after 30 minutes of walking over poles and doing figure eight's and serpentines, he seemed to be moving better, not worse. Definitely evidence of him needing 'horsey physical therapy' as opposed to more time as a pasture puff.

I really *do* love my el companero...it is just so grippy!

With all the time spent outside with the horses lately, I'm getting really tan (from the neck up anyways).

Got to ride...really ride...today in a lesson with my trainer. True to her word, the slightly skittish Curly mare that I ride really is much calmer and less likely to spook or buck people off. I had a wonderful lesson where i was even able to get a few minutes of really good sitting trot...I was bracing through my shoulders at first but once I loosened up it was great, really nice and fluid even though the mare I was riding is fairly bouncy. I was on top of the world by the time I left.

Then I dashed off to Sage just in time for the vet to show up and pronounce him almost back to sound. Either the new pasture arrangements have allowed him to relax and heal or the Linda Tellington Jones bodywork and herbal release spray have really helped. his tail was totally relaxed today, and he was comfortable at a walk at least. Very cheerful and happy to see me as well, which tells me he's not in pain. Hmmm...maybe its the herbal bute my mom gave him for a few days...

He got the rest of his shots and then we went off for another little walk in the other direction. Then I RODE MY HORSE!!!

:-) He had a fit over not getting to eat grass, and kept insisting to me it was dinnertime and he couldn't possibly be ridden right now. It was, in fact, dinnertime, but he did survive his 15 minute ride, and was quite proud of himself at the end of it.

YAY for riding twice in one day!!

Sage was doing so well for a good month there...but is now lame again. As far as we can tell, it looks like he slipped in the mud in the pasture fighting with Brad. They are BOTH lame. Big huge skid marks all over one section of the pasture. Sage also has little dots of scraped skin all along his face. Much as we suspected beforehand, having one mare out with 2 geldings is just asking for trouble.

Sage has been really difficult to catch lately too. He's happy to see me, and runs up to the fence to greet me and stands there as long as I talk to him or scratch him. But as soon as I try to halter him he's off like a shot. I don't know if this has to do with him being in pain and so being afraid I will do exercises with him that hurt, or, if it relates to 'can't leave my mare out there alone with Brad.' I suppose it could be new spring grass, but I've been allowing him time to graze in the section that isn't fenced in and therefore has the BEST grass. Hasn't made any difference around catching him...

The past 2 days I've gone out and used this stuff called "release" (it's an herbal spray) and also sore-no-more which is an herbal liniment with arnica in it. I did some Linda Tellington-Jones bodywork on him, along with a bit of massage and Reiki. The vet comes back out on Friday to acupuncture him, but it appears there will be no riding him til at least next Sunday. Which worries me a bit, given our clinic is in early June...he may not be sound by then. I've started looking for a substitute horse...

Sage seems more cuddly since I started treating his owies. Perhaps there was a day or so in there where he was in pain and I hadn't noticed yet. He's limping at the trot and only does a few steps before thinking better of it and dropping back to a walk. His tail is all clamped again too, and once again he does *not* want to pick up his feet. (I made him though, for the LTJ bodywork.)

Saddle hunting isn't going very well either but I think I've made some progress. I found a new abetta saddle called the Trinity endurance, which has this super cushioned seat that I LOVE. I have previously associated abettas with being excruciatingly uncomfortable, if one of the only saddles that fits my horse and is in my price range. But this abetta is like sitting in an easy chair. It's too heavy for me to lift the way it comes out of the store, but I would modify mine in much the same way dreamswept has modified hers, and replace the western fenders with english leathers. That would take it down from 17lbs to about 11 or 12lbs. Not bad. I also like how much security it offers for trail riding; high pommel and cantle that really keep you in the saddle, even if you're going downhill at a trot on a steep grade I think (do not want to repeat that experience in my el companero pad ever).

The frustrating part is that the three treeless saddles, all barefoots, that I found for sale, sold by the time I emailed about them. So did the one trekker saddle I found for sale. The barefoot london that I could have (and probably should have) bought for $700, which included everything, went up for auction on ebay again and sold for $760 with nothing included. The pad went separately for close to $100. The stirrups and girth were no longer up for auction.
The abetta trinity that I brought home from the tack store was too wide. I am also a bit worried it is too long for Sage's short back.

My new saddle love is for the barefoot Tahoe, which is stated to be good for short backed, wide, low-withered horses, has a high pommel and cantle, plenty of dee rings, and looks all around fairly sturdy. Still light too, about the same as the abetta at 12-13 lbs without western fenders.

So everyone wish me luck in finding a new saddle, and also in getting my poor boy back to soundness once again.

EDIT:::All THREE horses are lame! While watching my mom work with Thea today I noticed a huge crack in her rear hoof. My mom told me it was dirt, but a few minutes later, she looked again and realized it was a big crack. She has thea trimmed by a barefoot trimmer, and he comes out every 10 weeks. Her hoof cracks like this on a fairly regular basis. My barefoot trimmer comes out every six weeks, until she knows the horse can go 8. Never does she go 10 weeks between trimming the horses under her care.
In light of the fact that all 3 horses are lame, and everyone but Brad has huge swaths of facial hair missing due to nasty tooth marks, they have all been separated. :-) Everyone is in rehab for now...

Also, I may have found a substitute horse for my clinic in June. *fingers crossed*

So...having done 20 rides or so on Sage in a western saddle last year, I renewed my search for a saddle today with very mixed feelings. I used to 'do dressage' and that was my horsey identity and it was all nice and clear what i should wear and what tack i needed to buy, etc.

Now that I've done western for a year, I've realized I really like natural horsemanship, cowboy boots, and riding in jeans.

I DO NOT like riding in western saddles. Feels like sitting on a wooden board to me, and I always get sore seatbones. :/

After much flailing about on the internet, emailing people, contacting dealers, researching lightweight endurance saddles vs. lightweight treeless saddles and deliberating extensively over what to prioritize in my upcoming saddle purchase, I got all frustrated with myself and simply drove to my local tack shop.

I realized I get frustrated with the virtual world of shopping. I really don't feel comfortable buying something as expensive as a saddle without seeing it in person and trying it on my horse first. I know you can demo saddles...but I get sooo lost trying to figure out which ones I should bother to demo.

In the last day I have considered everything from buying an uncomfortable but economical and lightweight abetta endurance saddle (turns out treeless are even lighter at about half the weight), to buying a barefoot saddle, to buying a trekker talent, to getting a dressage saddle.

I'm still not sure what I'm going to buy, but going to the tack shop was fun, and even helpful. Sitting in County dressage saddles is a wonderful experience (*ooohs and ahhs all over again*) and they just hired a new staff person who was extremely helpful.

So was trying the saddles on Sage and looking more closely at the one saddle that does fit him. Its a thornhill extra wide, made for draft horses / icelandics. No wonder EVERYTHING else is too narrow...this is what fits Sage even with his new diet!!!

Obviously finding a saddle that is comfortable for Sage has to be a high priority. But with more research tonight, it looks like I have a chance at finding something that's comfortable for me too. I still have no idea whether to go treeless or not. I guess the problem is I really don't know what a treeless saddle feels like, aside from a cashel soft saddle. If that's what treeless saddles feel like in general...I think I want a dressage saddle!! Being in such a vulnerable position myself, both with my health issues and my severe lack of recent riding, I reaaally liked the deep secure feeling of the county dressage saddle I sat in today. The thornhill feels more like an all purpose saddle and i could deal with that...I like that much better than western anyways. But I really love dressage saddles! I'd forgotten how much!

I think it may be almost time for me to incorporate what I've learned through natural horsemanship into riding dressage...and vice versa. For awhile I wasn't sure if what I was learning thru NH meant leaving dressage behind entirely or not. I also didn't know where it left me as far as what tack I needed to buy.

I think it may be clearer now...

Or at least, I guess what is clearer is that I can't entirely ignore what I like in a saddle...it has to be something I'm comfortable in too...

I just finished my last exam for the semester, have finished all my final projects, have sent my last emails to my professors...I'm DONE!!!!

My poor horse has been very lonely for the past week, with only one small session to occupy his brain. We did accomplish two cool things: 1.) I let him graze in the field for 10 minutes on YUMMY SPRING GRASS and then got his attention and had a willing cooperative attentive horse within just a few minutes! Slight power battle, but I was very pleased with how quickly I was able to get his attention, and how willingly he gave it to me. Maybe he's just a very bored horse and training seemed like more fun to him than fresh grass, but I'd like to think I was skillful in gaining leadership.

The other cool thing I did was REALLY get control of Sage's feet. The electric fence is 3 strands, and is a real PITA for leading the horses in and out of the pasture...so I'm lazy and just lead Sage out through the hay room. He goes through one nice wide stall-like door...and then through a little tiny for-humans door, but he fits and it doesn't faze him. He has to step up into the hay room, and then back down again on the other side. So as I was leading him back in, I stopped him and asked him to lift just one hoof to step up. He's very used to stepping up on something with both front hooves, and being very proud of himself for performing such a cool trick, but this was the first time I've gotten him to lift just one hoof (or at least the first time in a long time). His facial expression let me know he thought that was pretty pointless and stupid, but that he understood what I was asking. I was thrilled to communicate something that precisely to him. :]

Soon I will be out at the barn, enjoying a few weeks of semi-vacation before my exciting internship gets started and summer classes start up...

Fun with ( needles. )

The vet my mom uses came out & did spring shots for Thea today...and did acupuncture on Sage. :-)

I've been looking forward to this appointment for awhile now as I really wanted this particular vet's opinion on Sage's injury.

The first thing the vet did was poke Sage all over with something that looked similar to a sharpie pen. Sage reacted a lot to the point behind his left ear, which the vet said indicated problems with his right hind. (Uh-huh.) He also reacted strongly to two points on his right shoulder, and a few different Liver points. Apparently Liver in chinese medicine does not literally mean 'the liver.' It indicates some kind of stagnation in the chi and...something else...I didn't quite catch that part.

Then he put needles in Sage (3 inch long needles) and Sage squirmed for a few of them, but mostly dozed in the sun. It took awhile for his needles to 'cook' and not much happened in that time, just kinda quiet...and sunny.

Then, as the needles came out, the vet checked the point behind Sage's left ear again and Sage had *no* reaction whatsoever. So we wait a week and then needle him again along with spring shots (oi) and the whole sheath & teeth bit.

I am very much hoping the acupuncture helps alleviate whatever pain Sage is having and also helps move us along the road to both of us being in better health...*riding* worthy health. :-)

A fellow equestrian was selling her horse's Dr. Cook's bitless bridle...the very same bridle I have wanted to get for Sage for awhile now. Very exciting to buy it for half the price it is new, with the added bonus of it arriving already broken in and without all the hassle of wrestling with new stiff leather.

Which is a good thing because I'd forgotten my horse has a huuuge frickin' head. I had to readjust it for him 4 times, with the last being with the larger noseband in and everything adjusted out to the second-to-last hole. :-) Chunky poneh.

( here's pictures )

Very exciting that spring is on the way and this year I have a rideable pony...as soon as he's sound anyways. :P

Pictures cross-posted to equestrian.

I think that says it all.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at my mom's house, playing with her Mustang mare Thea, and her boarder, an OTTB named Brad. Brad is the horse that seemed absolutely retarded the first time I met him, but now that he is experiencing good food and weight gain, he has a bright and lively horsenality. He is also herd bound now that he's allowed to have opinions about things.

Oooh...time to go to the barn, will post later about yesterday, Sage's massage wednesday...etc.

Sage was still lukewarm towards me when I showed up at the barn tonight. Gah! Get over it already! He did seem more cheerful, at ease in his body, and his tail was nice and relaxed, which says to me the bute is helping.

The barn owner got his mineral trays up last night! When I first got there I groomed him while he ate his hay, and felt a bit disappointed he wasn't eating his cal-phos supplement. I mean, I know, I know he's not going to eat the stuff 24/7 but it's nice to know it's there for a reason. Once Sage was done with his hay he did start licking more of the cal-phos though! It made me ridiculously happy, why, I don't know...

Once he ate his grain (I got to be food lady, yay!) I went to put a borrowed surcingle on him (it was a piece of crap that was old and rusted to boot) only to realize that the holes weren't big enough for the girth strap to work. So I ended up using my hoof pick to enlarge the holes. Who knew hoof picks serve double duty as hole punchers? I put it on very loose, and then fiddled with my 22' lines for awhile, getting them strung through the metal rings on the surcingle, and attached to his rope halter. Then we were off! We went around his gargantuan stall a few times, then I backed him out of his stall into the aisle. Hahaha he thought I was loony for making him do that. He kept turning his head around to look at me like "are you serious?" but I just let him know I was and he kinda said "ok" and then lined himself up and backed right out. (Good boy! There's a bit of a drop...takes real trust in your human to go backwards with new equipment on and your human BEHIND you...)

Then he instantly marched himself back in, aiming for his hay pile which he felt he had now earned. Nope! Backed him out again and practiced going down the (short) barn aisle, turning around and back the way we came. Third time around...I was asking him to turn...and the whole thing suddenly tilted and slipped off to the side!! It's hard to maintain that illusion of alpha mare when your equipment fails you. He said "haha!" and headed straight back to his hay pile with an "I won" look on his face. So I righted his surcingle, made him back up a few steps away from his hay and stand...then gave up on it and undressed him as I had to leave soon anyways.

Loads of fun though for an "I've got a spare 10 minutes" kind of a session and next time I'll know to put the girth on tighter (means poking more holes arghh), and put the lines thru the lower set of metal rings, and probably use the dually instead of his rope halter as well, as I think he's more likely to go longer and lower in that. He was giraffe boy today.

:-) It was fun...and I think we're taking steps in the right direction...for slowly strengthening his injured butt. :-)

Just to prove that fuzzy is fashionable too...


Don't you *loove* my curly forelock? I'm the Fabio of the horse world...

( Fuzzy Fashion Is In!! )

The barn owner / herbalist / AC etc. was out with the horses last night when I arrived. She hauled out all her high quality mineral supplements for me to give to Sage.

I may have mentioned the Bossy Horse (aka Skip) may be finding a new home since the barn owner would like to get this new mare? Well, apparently Skip is taking the news a bit hard. Almost as soon as his owner decided to try and find him a new home, Skip developed a mysterious fever. When the vet came out, his only thought was an infection in his gut??? So barn owner has been tending to him everyday, and he is all lovey-dovey right now and defenseless due to being so ill. So it was kinda fun that I was able to feed the supplements to him too. He licked my hand and was well-behaved when usually he bites you if you stand within range...

The reason I was wanting to give Sage some supplements was because he keeps eating leaves and dirt.







His eating leaves doesn't bother me, although I do wonder if they could give him a bit of a tummy ache in the large quantities he eats them in? But gouging at the dirt like that leaves me a bit worried. And then on Sunday he was licking poo off the grooming stall mat...ick! He does *not* usually do that!

So we went through them. I brought him a little salt. EWWWWW!



Next was the calcium phosphorus 1 to 1 ratio, called, for reasons unknown to me "detox." Sage loooved it!!! Licked it all off my hands in a heartbeat and then ate the 2 more scoops I put in his feedtub. The whole idea with these is to free feed them from little trays you mount in your horse's stall. But we don't have the trays up yet...so my hands got very slobbered on. Next up was a supplement called Izmene, which is full of trace minerals. Sage didn't want that one either, but Skip loooved it! I guess you need more trace minerals when you're sick...

It's totally irrational, but I felt much much better about my abilities as a horsey mom after Sage ate the cal-phos supplement. I put liniment on his muscle knot too, and discussed more websitey things with the barn manager, and then left. Sage was still kinda cranky with me for having not seen him in so long, but I know in another day or so (or maybe another bute or so) he will get over it.

See how his ears go back? I took this video so I don't go through another round of "Is my horse really lame? maybe it's all in my head..." Granted, he is by no means very OBVIOUSLY PROFOUNDLY lame here, but I am betting others will see a slight difference between his right and left hind end. I recommend turning the sound off unless you *want* to listen to me saying "trrr-ot!" a million times along with the ever popular "Goood boy!"

Oh, and I should mention, that's a boogie on the camera lens. Sage's boogie specifically. Remnant from a previous video clip that features mostly the inside of Sage's nose. :-)

Very excited to go tromping through the snow on horseback tomorrow especially since the weather is supposed to be nice & warm. I just hope it doesn't rain a day early. I am off to ride Annie, the chestnut Curly mare again. As always I have some prickles of fear about riding...especially riding a green mare that I don't know terribly well up the side of the mountain again...

Honestly, she was VERY well-behaved last time and is the kind of horse that looks to her human for reassurance, which means as long as her human is ok, she is ok. Great deal, huh?

Oh, another random thing, my trainer loved the el companero I loaned her so much that she's ordered three of them directly from the company. :-)

Ulcers suck but saddles are exciting. 1/07

Synthesis! (of my previous experience with horses...and what I know now...) 2/07

So my new 'riding instructor' who teaches sessions on "The Zen of Horses" recommended to me that I go into Sage's stall at some point this week, and just do the same deep breathing exercise that she had me do in my lesson.3/07

Started out my riding lesson as always except that I was feeling brave and decided to ride Curly Mare down to the ring, and then was amazed at the level of panic I felt riding in an open space. 4/07

Sooo...like 10 days ago I went out to the barn and brought the puppies with me. 5/07

Sage is still in training...his visit has been extended a little bit, which is nice. 6/07

Sage has had his first 10 rides, and thensome. 7/07

Here is a short boring video of me riding Sage bareback, at the walk, in circles. :-) Yay. 8/07

The vet came out last Friday to look at Sage's weird growth on his right hind pastern... he looked at it and said (I quote) "huh...dunno what that is." 9/07

Went out and saw Sage before my shift at work yesterday.10/07

Sage is going to get better :-) 11/07

So I've been going out to the barn every other day and working with Sage. 12/07


What have I learned?? Wow am I a boring-ass writer. :P

Five things I accomplished this year with Sage:

1. Sage is now under saddle!!! Yayyy!!!

2. Sage & I went on a kick-ass trail ride where he carried me up & down a mountain!!!

3. I bought an el companero. :]

4. I got more confident on the ground with Sage & better at asserting myself in a friendly way with all horses.

5. I cantered for the first time in a few years and for the first time ever through deep snow! (Unfortunately that was on Annie, not Sage).

Five things I WANT to accomplish with Sage in 2008:

1.) Health & weather allowing, I'd like to put 100 hours of riding on Sage this year.

2.) Finances allowing, I'd like to take him (trailer him) to 4 trail rides / clinics / events.

3.) It goes without saying that I want him to be fully sound, healthy & happy for 2008. I think the sound part is getting there.

4.) I'd like to tape our Level 1 and send it in. It's high time...

5.) I'd like to try riding him without a bridle / rope halter / hackamore... :-P Ok, this one might take a little longer. :-)

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to good health and being with the ones you love...

Went out to the barn yesterday and managed to get there before dark for once. All the horses were clustered right by the fence, in full anxiety mode about coming in for dinner before dark. It was 3:30 in the afternoon.

So I told them to all stop being such wussies and haltered Sage. I wanted to long line him but knew the light was fading too fast for us to really do that. So I led him out to the ring and it turns out he and Spike haven't been going in there on their own at all, even though the gate is open. So totally unbroken snow, 2 feet deep, covered the entire area. I realized that probably just leading Sage through the deep snow for 10 or 15 minutes would be helpful in building up his muscles a little bit and helping him lift his back, so off we went. Stomping through snow like that is hard work and after walking halfway around I stopped for a minute because I figured if my legs hurt, then maybe Sage's did too. Then off we went again. I went way out in front of him to see if he would be smart and use my tracks, but for the most part he didn't. After one trip around he thought I was being quite the boring human and started trying to yank me towards the fence posts so he could eat them (they have bark peeling off of them). He didn't get away with that more than once but still made it clear with facial expressions that he thought this sucked and was very boring.

After two trips around I was getting tired of it too, so I led him a bit to the inside where the snow was still all fresh and then we played circling game. :-) I did less work and his brain was kept more active. Lots of half-circles and changes of direction since the only gait change going on was walk to halt. I was soooo tempted to get on his back for a few minutes since the snow was so deep and I thought maybe even at almost-30 I still had it in me to get on from the ground bareback in the deep snow. But I decided not to be that stupid given there were no other humans on the property.

Brought him back inside by himself, and he dove into his hay. Clearly the deep snow walking had made him hungry as it was quite warm out and fairly mild and he no other good reason to be so engrossed in his hay.

Brought my terrier out to the barn with me and put him on Sage's 22' line which was so funny!!! He charged through the snow with the buckle so big it was dragging!! Hahaha! He wanted to charge right into the pasture and tussle with the horses, but that's why I keep him on a rope. Terriers have a frickin' death wish they're so lively.

Then he went in the car and I did some long-lining with Sage in the barn. He was cranky about it, but did it, just pulled me back to his hay a lot, so it ended up being a bit of a tug o' war. I got a few good turns out of him then let him go back to his hay. It seemed we'd done enough for one day.

Then all the other horses were being ninnies and galloping around like the world was ending so I called the barn manager and she said it was ok for me to bring them in. Well, in the process the Mean Evil Bossy horse got loose (whoops I didn't know he fit under that rope...Sage does too, eveil escape artists), and started stomping around in the snow behind the barn which FREAKED OUT the other loose horses. Am happy to say I was laughing the whole time because they were being such idiots and got them all safely in their stall using some body language and their familiar lunge whip. So um, yeah.

Nice to be not afraid of the bossy horse anymore. He still warrants caution for sure, but I think most days I am emotionally fit enough to handle him now, especially since we figured out my parelli carrotstick frightens him big-time.

Ok...time to go back out to the barn...things to do there. :-) Yay vacation...

Went & saw Sage tonight a little after dark. He was tucked into his stall all nice and cozy. His eyes were very soft tonight, and he was very friendly and interested in me. I put his halter on & did a little tiny bit of parelli with him in his stall. Instead of being cranky about leaving his hay, he seemed excited to have something to do and gave me two eyes and his yes ma'am look right away. So I practiced standing in one spot and directing him into one corner or the other, having him turn and face me, backing up into a corner, or half circles. It was fun. Nothing new, but fun.

Then I directed him to his hay pile and tried to give him permission to eat by putting pressure on the rope to push on his poll a bit, but he didn't get that, so I had to walk up to closer to him and pull downward more directly. He seemed almost disappointed to go back to eating his hay.

Then I "installed an up button" on his shoulder... Meaning I taught him to lift his head from his hay whenever I tapped on his shoulder. That took him awhile and pissed him off a little bit when I was doing a phase 4...but then he got it, and the next time I asked him he popped his head right up and turned to look at me like "aren't you proud?? I got it right didn't I?" He's so funny.

Definitely good to go to the barn after a slightly turbulent day at the dog park...the dogs were fine...Some of the humans on the other hand...

Still doing Linda Tellington Jones stuff on his hind end, thought not much tonight. I have a second 22' line now to long line him with too...