Cold and Still Icy

After the dressage clinic I was determined to get out and try to school some basic stuff on Gwyn, just working on her reaching into the contact. I had visions of us trotting around the arena. I like to pre-visualize my rides. It helps me mentally prepare what I'm about to try and do physically.

Kaylee also wanted to ride when she saw me heading out to the barn so I waited for her to get dressed before leaving the house. It was fairly 'warm' compared to some of the recent temperatures in that it was almost at freezing and there was no wind.

Kaylee made sure to brush out all the shavings from Gwyn's tail

 Since Kaylee wanted to ride and in her saddle, I lunged first to see how Gwyn was behaving.

Lazy. And while the arena was no longer a full sheet of ice, it was basically like concrete (edit: Eric informs me that that IS a type of concrete -.- ) with pockets of ice and snow. Pretty much the sand was waterlogged and it had frozen. Ugh. No trotting. And definitely not even a forward walk.

 Kaylee at least had a blast and Gwyn was in the "this footing is terrible, I'd rather not move" frame of mind so we really had a chill time.

 An instagram friend was selling one of those awesome rainbow metalled bits in a size and style that fit Gwyn and I jumped on the chance to buy it because pretty.  So we tested that out today.

Favorite View

 Kaylee opted to go inside once she was done. I switched everything over to my tack that I intend to take to the dressage show. All that's missing from this set up is a sparkly brown browband with purple/rainbow accents to match my bridle. I'm also using my nice cushy reins that I got at WEG.

Mom, do we HAVE to practice connection?

 I kept things to a walk and my big goal was to not have giraffe moments and to keep a semblance of bend to the inside without her dropping her shoulder. It all went pretty well. My new portable speaker worked great. I got to ride to music which kept the monotony of just walking bearable.

Gwyn tried to shut the gate on Saffron

 Then Saffron pushed open the gate and I thought, why not ride the hill in the pasture. So we did that too.

The hill is not icy, but the ground has no give to it. I do wonder if the front pasture might be better cushioned if it has more grass. Or if the farm fields are better.

Mare nuzzles <3

Then Gwyn voluntarily walked back into the pasture and we just hung out for a bit. I hopped off so I could bring in my mobile mounting block (my 3 step ladder is frozen into the sand) 

And I officially signed up to ride Intro A and B at a schooling show on February 24. I just want to be able to school some trotting before then and I need to strategize how I'll accomplish that.

Also, should I braid for this? When I talked to the show organizer I got the impression that when they've held this in the past, the adults have gone all out to practice everything, while the kids stick with a nice winter type shirt (no show coat).  Gwyn's mane is in this in between crud from her roach and I legit have never braided short mane before.

I plan to wear my white breeches, tall boots and then I'm torn on wearing a coat or just a nice sweater or a long sleeve wool shirt with a vest. I don't have a legit riding coat, just half of a suit coat from job interviews that could pass. Any advice there?

Winter Thoughts

On Saturday, with one kid refusing to come outside and the other intent on 'hleping' (intended typo there...) the SO and I went out to deep clean the runs.

Full disclosure, I am a lazy horse owner and clean outside the barn the way I clean in the house, leaving little things until they're big things and then doing a major deep cleaning. The stalls stay good and the pasture stays good, it's just the dry lot that gets looking bad...

The runs needed a deep cleaning and this was the second day in a row of above freezing temperatures, so thawing manure had to go.

Gwyn and Saffron were taken to the spring pasture, much to their delight.

View this post on Instagram

Sometimes you just have to be snorty because the neighbor is going for a walk! #horseoftheday #horsesofinsta #donkeysofinstagram #donkeyoftheday #stonewallsporthorse

A post shared by Quantum Chromatic Aberration (@quantum_chrome) on Dec 15, 2018 at 4:52pm PST

I hooked up my trailer to the ATV and just tackled the giant pile of poop with the gates wide open to facilitate moving things around.

My 'hleper'

I managed to get all of the not too frozen poop out of the run, and boy was it a HUGE improvement.

My 'helper'

Meanwhile, Eric determined that we needed a new manure pile spot because he apparently has something against using the trash service to haul away manure. So he raked in the old straw from the original manure pile that was there when we bought the property and then made a barrier using the T-posts and some of the pallets we had lying around.

After that, he fixed the stall liner that was coming off the wall for me and then helped me take down the electrobraid that gives me three runs so that the animals could have one giant dry lot. It's just Gwyn and Saffron so I don't really see a need to have three separate runs. It'll make replacing the footing, which needs to happen at some point, easier if it's one big space.

So now my dry run is much nicer and cleaner. And so every night since I've been making sure to pick up what new poo has acccumulated and you know what?

My fingers don't go numb when I do this.

This may sound like a strange revelation, but I have some poor circulation issues, a combination of Reynaud's and cold urticaria. Most nights in winter even the thickest gloves would leave my fingers like ice, and super painful.

If I do a brief poo sweep, and fill my manure bucket, not even the full wheelbarrow, all I need are my Back on Track liners and I come in with hot hands. Just adding that little bit of activity is enough to push me into blood moving versus normal barn chores and it's been lovely.  My barn is cleaner and my hands are happier each night when I go back inside.

I've also now used the Magic Brush twice in a row. I love how mud just disappears and how soft it leaves Gwyn's coat. Tonight I tried it on Saffron. If Gwyn is a sappy, loves any kind of attention that could be semi-related to grooming kind of horse, Saffron is the opposite. She is standoffish, she is not affectionate and she tolerates me grooming her (she'll stand still for the kids for hours though)

I think she likes the Magic Brush. Which means it's definitely magic. And bonus, Donkey winter coat is super wiry and thick. Normal horse brushes really don't work well on it unless they're super stiff and yet the Magic Brush cut through and lifted dirt off of her. I couldn't believe it.

So now I need to get Saffron her own. Maybe two for Saffron so the girls can brush her at the same time.

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.

Gwyn got a bit of a break as I was away on a long weekend in Vegas for a meetup with some people from my online Mom group. We've been friends for almost 7 years now. It was a great trip but I was glad to be home. I got not nearly enough sleep and I'm still recovering three days later, though life hasn't been helping in that regard. Like my flat tire. And the shit hole that is my job.

I will always find the horses

 I'll probably do a whole Vegas write up on my non-horse blog. That's been sadly neglected lately. Same for the farm blog. But there's a shit load to talk about. But really, what this meant was that I needed horse time. In a major way.

You've got more mints, right Mom?

 So last night, after having a minor cry fest at work, and after the kids were in bed I went out to do my barn chores and just... exist with Gwyn. I deep cleaned the stalls (since Eric doesn't if I'm away) and that felt good and periodically called out in the darkness for Gwyn and Saffron. It took a little bit but soon I heard hoof beats and Gwyn came galloping up from the summer pasture back to the barn, ears pricked forward.

They got grain, and then I pulled Gwyn out to give her her final dose of Adequan, which also means I should schedule another chiro to see how her SI is doing since that got majorly adjusted last time. Then, with grooming gloves on I just stood and itched her. She must have been sweaty at some point, since her coat felt like it had a bit of salt crust and was itchy because of it. She's also shedding a bit and I pulled a lot of those short summer hairs to the surface. I was getting mutually groomed very vigorously so I assume it felt good and when she couldn't reach me her lip was stuck out stick and wiggling.

At least my horse offers feedback on my performance.... And appreciates me.

She got mints for being a good girl for the shot. And then I check out her feet. The velcro tape for the Megasus is already partly off, but I'm reserving judgment since I know I didn't exactly follow the instructions for application. But this is good to know that it won't last if you half ass the steps. Her hind feet were starting to pancake so I took a rasp to the trouble spots to try and prevent major chipping. The farrier won't be out until Monday. He was supposed to be out this week but had to reschedule. So she got more mints for being a good girl for my amateur farrier work.

I did end up buying the fly boot things as I suspect that she's stomping herself out of her shoes. So far so good! I dont' see nearly as much stomping out in the pasture. Of course there are now three horse shoes still unaccounted for plus both of the megasus covers. 

First Ride of 2018! New Stirrups! A question about manes!

Due to the deep freeze and snow storms across the east coast, me actually getting home (a separate post in itself for my non-horse blog) took ALL YEAR.  😂😂😂😂😂

No but seriously, today was the first full day I was at home in 2018. AND it was getting progressively warmer throughout the day and night, which meant that my designated riding time (after 8pm) would be actually warmer than the daytime!  SCORE.

So what's a horse girl to do when she can ride in a rain jacket and no gloves and not freeze her cheeks off? Ride of course!

Fat!Pony is not impressed with the the fact that her stall is closed and her halter is on. (Please ignore the dirty stall, I cleaned it after)

Use the arena floodlights for the best lit selfies

Unless your Fat!Pony wants to rub her face on you and becomes a blur monster

But then she gives you kisses because it was 8 fucking days apart and that's practically torture and don't you know she was SO hungry and cold even though the nice neighbor lady came and fed her every day.

I love this view

The snow is turning to slush it's so warm

We practiced stepping under and using her back and also our geometry. 10 m circles are easy to evaluate in the snow

More circles!

Ugh that poor mane. Super thick and long near her head, wispy and thin toward the withers. HOW FIX, BLOG WORLD? HOW?!

 You may note that my stirrups are super reflective!  Woefully, I have been searching for a good winter boot to wear whilst riding.  Everyone suggests Mountain Horses, but the tall boots that would fit my ginormous calf are not being sold any more in my foot size. Joy.  Since I need a wide footbed in addition to a wide calf, I tried ordering a pair of mens Ariat paddock boots, Extreme H20. It was too tight across the top of my foot and I immediately started to lose feeling in my foot while wearing them. Definitely not gonna be good for riding.

I also ordered a pair of ovation winter paddock boots. These things are a two layer system that just sucked. Nope. Getting returned. If the ridiculous thinsulate booty was not a separate thing from the boot itself it might have worked, but I couldn't get my foot in the boot when the pieces were already together, and if I took the booty out and slid my foot in already in the booty, my toes got jammed up and cramped by the booty in the boot and it never loosened up.

I'm picky. And both of those are getting returned.

What I currently wear in the barn in the winter is my muck boots, super thick rubber and plastic, but my feet have never been cold in them. But they're super duper unsafe for traditional stirrup irons because of the lack of heel.

So, I figured since I do endurance, and they make stirrup irons for non-traditional riding shoes, why not embrace the muck boots and just get a safe stirrup iron? It would do double duty as a wide bed stirrup for endurance rides and a safety thing for winter if I wear my muck boots.

So merry christmas to me! I ordered from Distance Depot with my swell discount for being a new AERC member and they arrived while we were gone!

They are, obviously, in purple beta with reflective overlay.

My muck boot fits well in them, I'm not fighting to fit the ginormous boot into them, so it gives me confidence that they'll work well in the summer too. I'll have a bigger shoe option to wear for endurance.


But really, the big question I have for you all, what do you do with a mane that's super uneven in thickness? Gwyn is half friesian, so I tend to err on the 'let it grow' mentality and just braid it in the summer when it's hot. I would like the mane to be more uniform, so I might as well work on that now. How do I do that? I'm already supplementing with Biotin for her hooves (which has worked out wonderfully, btw)  What else should I be doing for care? I minimize brushing it, but will finger pick the worst. She doesn't rub it (to my knowledge), doesn't wear a blanket regularly, and really never gets it super tangled.

Day 18 - Grooming Routine

Day 18- Your grooming routine


From Clover Ledge Farm

I feel like I'm going to need to break this down into different routines based on what I'm doing and what season it is but I'll try to just add a ton of asterisks instead, LOL.

To start, Gwyn is basically out 24/7.  She has access to the barn 24/7 as well, but I let her decide what she needs and she's a wild thing, getting super fuzzy in the winter and dirty as she pleases. This influences my grooming of her.

If I have limited time, I do a couple essentials but really don't do anything thorough. I always groom in some manner as it serves as a good way to do a visual check of her body to see if there's anything concerning or new. Similarly, every day I'll make sure I have eyes on her outside at some point and watch her move, is she limping, does she look different than her normal.

Even if I don't ride, I always at least do a full body check of them both at dinner time too and run my hands over them for lumps and bumps. I love having my horses at home. I know their routine intimately and I'll know if something is off.

When riding on short time (I got side tracked) I'll curry out the mud, really focusing where the saddle and girth go but always doing a full body. I don't use boots every time so I don't get nitty gritty with her legs. Then I use a body brush and brush with the lay of the hair. I'll brush her mane (if it's not in braids*) but not her tail if I'm in a rush. Lately the tail is in a mud knot** so I don't have to bother. I'll pick her feet out checking for thrush and chips and then tack up.

When I'm not as rushed, I stretch out the brushing per how I was taught as a child. Curry in circles. Then a stiff brush to smooth out the hair and get rid of the major dirt, then a body brush in circles and a soft brush to add final shine. Hair brush in mane and tail, I'll add detangler here if it's causing issues and then braid the mane if it's hot since Gwyn has a super thick mane. I don't braid her forelock. I'll use fly spray if it's fly season.

After picking out her hooves I'll put hoof dressing on them. Then I tack up.

After riding in the summer I'll spray her down with the hose and scrape the water off with a sweat scraper. Then I toss her out in the pasture and let her roll as she will.

For shows***, I bathe her and really lather her down and get things clean. She doesn't have white, so I'm a bit spoiled in that stains just REALLY blend in. Sometimes it's hard to tell if she's muddy. She also doesn't tend to get manure stains so again, lucky and requires minimal bathing effort.

If her tail gets gross after a heat cycle, I will do just a tail wash and dunk it in a bucket with shampoo to get the crusties out. Every so often, but not regularly, I check the gunk between her teats and pick that out with my fingers. I don't bother to use any soap as she just lets me (gooooood mare) and will make silly faces because it feels good.

Even though I'm a friesian owner, I do not pick her tail, I brush that sucker and toss the extra hair to the birds. It grows just fine without needing to be babied.

In the spring, I curry her EVERY day to help the shedding along. Just a quick pass as she eats grain and then kick the hair pancakes out for the birds.


*Summer only
** Winter only
*** Showing only