Horseflies.

Went for a ride today!! Went out at 12:30 and everyone was already tacking up, A had her grandson with her with was fun! :) He's about two or three. Mom felt up to it so she got Spirit to the barn and tacked him up, J had to help her carry the saddle since she can't lift over 4 pounds until 6 weeks post surgery. I brought Red down with the help of Bay-Bay and tied him out front with Patches and Hercules. Lady, C's horse, was lame, we think she tripped and hurt herself, so he rode Hercules. He gave Hercules to R awhile back so it's nice for him to have the ability to ride him! Hercules is actually Lady's colt. The horse flies were HORRIBLE today..the bugs weren't that bad but the horse flies were everywhere. Red stood really well and did fantastic while I tacked him up. He was sleeping the majority of the time so I doubted that he'd be energetic today! :)) A helped me figure out the breast collar because I still can't tie it right. Gonna invest in some of the clips for it, lol!! Got him all tacked up and fly sprayed a fly to death. At the last minute I decided to try my splints again so I got those on. They actually didn't slip as bad today so I'll see....medicine boots are so far in my dreams but I can't afford them ATM, so the splints will have to do. They worked well today. He came back with no nicks or anything on his legs and was much less bugged by the flies on his legs.

I hopped on before anyone else just so I could do some work on his mounting. He tends to want to move when I mount but he's improving little by little. He did SO good with it today!!! Got off because of ANOTHER dang fly but I got back on without him fussing. The fly left a pretty good mark on him so I was surprised when he just calmed right down when I got back on.. We just kinda sat there until everyone else mounted. He didn't walk when I got on him, which is what I wanted, since the others were still working I needed him to be quiet and not be a distraction, which he did perfectly, yay! After that, we were off...I took the lead and cantered Red up farther. He's a follower, NOT a leader, so I wanted to test him a little just to see how he did. Hercules was having some issues..It's only his third or fourth time out of the round pen, so considering that, he did really well. He ended up staying down there for awhile, lol. C worked on him a lot though and went on a couple of the trails by himself and we met up a few times. Red wanted to stop a few times so a couple smacks on his butt took place, lol!

Hercules and Red. NOTE: I don't allow my horses to get up too close during rides, but Hurk literally came running and I was taking a between the ears shot, this kinda just happened. :)) Red was moved up front about a second later.

We went through all of the trails and rode for about an hour. It was really hot out in the pastures so we stuck to the trails where it was shady. Once we got to the rockier area Red just stopped and I had to pick up a little twig and use it as a crop, a tiny tap got him going again. The rocks don't feel good, even when your horse has amazing feet, so I took it really slow. Once he got to the big open, ten acres, he was ready to run. I tapped him on the butt and he worked into a canter, then, finally WE GALLOPED! Yes!! :D I am so excited. Almost a year later..we finally gallop. Yipee!! We stopped shortly though. ;) Spirit wanted to run with us and mom had to take him way out to the end of the pasture, so once she was gone I talked to A and G-her grandson-and took a break in the shade, after that we walked around the creek line and I galloped a few more times around the pasture, cantered around the fenceline. G kept getting hit by Patches tail, he was doubling with A and kept saying, "PATCHES, NOOO! Stop hitting me!" and "Mimi, she's HITTING me!!"

Just a note: He had on a helmet but we took it off during breaks and A held onto him the whole time. :) The helmet was a bit large on him, lol!!

After that, mom came back 'round.

 Another stupid fly stung him and made him bunny hop, I dismounted to kill it because it kept trying to sting me plus I thought the test would be good. He REFUSED to let me back on but after about three minutes I was back on and he did great again,
 
We headed back after another lap. We went the long way around, where you pass about three hills that the horses tend to want to run up. Patches and Spirit were pretty insistent on wanted to go up them, but Red just followed and didn't mind. It was getting breezy and I kind of think he enjoyed the breezy, slow walk.

Once we walked back, we saw C on Hurk up near the house, so we turned back around. Red acted like he wanted to go back in the barn but once he noticed he was being left behind, he trotted up the hill and said hello. :) We all walked to the barn and got J to take some pictures.. A has some better ones of all of us on her phone so I'll have more pictures later, when she posts them on FB.


Once we were done taking pictures I took Red in the barn and tied him at his stall, near the fan so he could cool off. Got the sweat scraper and got all that nasty junk off. :)) He got some lovin' from G too :) He LOVES kids. No wonder he was a lesson horse ;) Gave him some treats and let him hang out while I put my stuff away.

Ignore his twisted splint, G was looking at them and asked why he had "cowboy horse boots on" and one of the straps got undone.

Pretty sure everytime I see him, I love him more. Despite his random stubborness, he did so good. Every time we go on a ride mom ends up saying something like, "ya know, he is just a good horse." or something along those lines. :) :) He really is a good horse, through and through. He's sound, he has a wonderful personality. He RUNS now, and wants to. Before he literally only walked or he would just be horrible. I'm so happy that he's actually enjoying his job now.

Him doing this every time I come to the barn or leave and whinny at me, plus just being gorgeous, helps a lot too. ;)

Hoping to get another bareback ride in soon, too. Probably this week sometime unless we get in another long trail ride. I'm getting back in the motions now so I should be back to riding at least twice a week now, just praying that mom begins feeling better. She was in horrible pain yesterday and has been light headed today. :P :P Until then, I'm the main babysitter so I can't just leave her. I take what i can get at the moment, it's nice to have her back in the saddle!

ALSO: Red's skin is doing great again and his tail is hairy!! Wooho!!! I'm kinda excited for winter because I don't have to worry and he'll have a nice tail.

OH! we will be having the thoroughbred and owner probably moving to the barn soon!! She's owned him since he was 9, he's 22 now. She jumps and does Dressage. :) Vet will be out Wednesday around 4. Gotta get Coggins pulled and some vaccines done..

Trot, canter, poop, trot, canter, pee, trot, canter poop again.

For all of you Equestrian's that are sensitive about poo, or just people who strolled on my blog to see cute ponies..sigh, I have no hope. I think Red pooped three times and peed once during our ride. He does this every time.....

Mom and I went out to the barn yesterday evening around 4:30 and decided to ride. Jeff was watching two babies, somewhat fussy ones, so we had to make it quick. I tied Red, groomed him, then tacked him up.
Let out a sigh of relief, as well.

Last time he was tacked up, he was foundering, and his tack barely fit, his breast collar didn't fit all all. This time, it clipped perfectly!! Perfect, loose fit again. Phew.

Since Red lost *another* halter, I already had put his bridle on and tied him with the reins, so I went ahead and mounted so mom could tie Spirit and get him ready. The driveway where we normally tie to the posts was full of cars so we didn't have room. :( Really excited to get our cross-ties built soon!!! :D :D


Red was a gentleman and let me mount over in the grass without spinning, let me move him around before I got on so I was on a hill and he wasn't, because hey, I'm only 5'3 and he's about 15.3 if not taller now, it's hard to mount him when your stirrups are fairly short and you are hot and sweaty just from lifting the saddle and tack, and your jeans are sticking to you. Sigh, I really want a pair of stretchy breeches for the Summer..

Anywho, A had some people out to the barn to help her work Tucker, Hercules and Jericho, just to let you guys know and brief ya a little, Tucker was a rescue, not sure of his breeding. He spent the majority of his life in a pasture and had only set foot in a barn when A bought him, he had no hoof care and he looked pretty bad. A cleaned him up and has been working him, but she's thinking about selling because she has 6(?) horses and she's never really felt a bond with Tucker, he had to be helped and so she was there. He had an abscess, a  terrible one, a couple months back and he's still acted a tad tender footed, but he needed to be worked desperately. Hercules is her husband's young TWH, I think he's four or five or something, they were recently given him by his owner who also boards, we'll call him C, at our barn and actually leases the property..we are confusing at our barn. ;) C is SUPER nice. Hercules is just now being broke and is doing amazing, but he doesn't know his cues at all and A wanted someone to help out with that. Last but not least, one of my favorite horses at the barn..Jericho is a skiddish Mustang, also a rescue. A is his owner, when she got him you could barely get near him and now he's improved like crazy. He's been a round pen horse for awhile but yesterday he *FINALLY* got to go outside of the round pen and did AMAZING! :) Yaaayy!!!!

Watching with those "I don't care" ears.

I was the first to walk out with Red and so I rode out to watch them working. One of the gates is right on a hill above the round pen about a hundred feet away, so I had a nice view and Red enjoyed watching Tucker..They brought Tucker out of the pen and he refused to move. After a few minutes we decided to walk Red out to see if Tucker would follow. I rode Red out the gate while the woman hopped on Tucker again, he bucked as Red was passing and the guy seemed a little like, "uh oh" and I hopped off, moved Red to the side so he'd get out of the way faster, don't want to be bucked, ;), and hopped back on. Somehow, I dropped my reins and I twisted in the saddle to grab them, all the while Red stood like a good guy and just waited for me to fix everything. I kicked him, pointed to the four acres and he went straight there. Clucked my tongue, he trotted up there, he went to the water in the four acres and kind of stood there like, "Uhhhh...could you drop your reins lady??" and I loosened them enough so he could drink. Tucker still didn't follow, so once he was done I cantered him back down the hill and tried again, this time talking to Tucker. He still didn't want to move, so I went and cantered into the four acres and to see if he would follow if Tucker would go if Red was out of sight. Nope. Cantered back. Nothing worked. :P A grabbed one of my crops and that got Tucker going a little. Finally, mom came up with Spirit, apparently chose to ride bareback because the only tack she had was her bridle and reins. ;) Back when my mom was younger, her first horse was well over 16.HH, she'd hop on that horse-apparently, I wasn't born yet, LOL-and go ride around with just a halter. She is known for her crazy horses. A wild App with a attitude named Beauty, her favorite horse she ever owned. Her heart horse. Before Beauty, who was actually an ugly App with a rat mane and tail and modeled skin, she owned several Arabians, all very hyper. She didn't like lazy, she wanted fast and hyper. She barrel raced, raced cars, rode into a side of public property even when a man threatened to shoot her and cussed her out because she was in "his property" and got her policeman friend to join her on a ride just to  clear it up. Later, when the man realized he couldn't do a thing about her riding, she would go there all the time with friends and their horses. So of course, when she found Spirit, she needed something a little more docile than she would've before, especially since she'd been out of the saddle for so long, but still wanted something with spirit, pun intended. We really weren't sure if he'd do okay bareback since he is very hyped up, but he did great! No pictures then because my phone was shoved in my boot and I couldn't get it out on the trails. :(

Once she was up there with me, we rode around the four acres for a minute, cantered the "pony's"  and headed to the trails. It was still muddy and we had to be home soon since Jeff was alone, so we didn't take the whole thing. Plus, we wanted to give the horses some TLC afterwards, so after about forty five minutes we headed back to the barn. Red led the whole time and I must say, he did fantastic!! He normally hates leading but he did very well. We galloped up the hill to get back, one of our steeper hills that Red loves galloping up, and I managed to hang out. :)) Tried to take me in the woods but I averted that crisis. ;) He wanted to race Spirit *so* *bad* but we didn't let them..:)) Mom bareback+Spirit's tiny hooves+Spirit's whole bucking at other horses too close thing+we weren't sure if they were still working down in the pen..yeah, didn't want to chance it. :)) I took Red the long way down and mom took the easier, shorter way. They were working Hurk then, one of Red's BFF's, so I got close to the round pen to watch for a minute then went down to untack him.

J, the owner of the whole farm, was down there with his colt that sadly got a case of rain rot and was brushing him out. Mom tied Spirit to put his fly mask on, sunscreen and fly spray and I untacked Red while he was untied..love having such a good horse! :D I randomly decided to take pictures after I got the breast collar off so here they are..ignore how ruffled and lazy I look..

Normally, I'd dress nicer even to just go to the barn, but it was a good 90 degrees and we had been working all day...

This sums up our personalities in a nutshell. Red's like, "What'cha doin' up there?"

Photo creds to my mom for those^^^^

Here's a selife.

 So I'm pretty much positive that Red has sweet itch, so I bought him some anti-fungal stuff to prevent rubbing and to cause hair growth..I forgot the name of it, I'll try and remember next time. ;) Anywho, put that stuff in his mane and tail, hopefully it works. Crossing my fingers!! He got the special treatment..fly spray, anti fungal spray, MTG on his chest where it's been scabby, SWAT on his nose and tail..Good grooming to scrape the sweat, cuddles and a treat. :)

Hmmmm?? Treats??? The only way to make his ears go up.

Once he was untacked I took some pictures.














 

Notice that tongue.

As for my schedule..I'll probably go by again tonight just to put the stuff in his mane but no riding. It's supposed to rain. :( Really not sure on my schedule. May ride again this weekend if we're able. Hoping to go to a rodeo Friday if we can find a babysitter. :)

UPDATE ON CHIP: Chip is settled in his new home!! Yay!!!

Nothing better than when we're together.

Saw Red for the first time in five days this evening. ^_^ Finally got to the barn about an hour ago, it's been surprisingly sunny today even though we had a 50% chance of thunderstorms, when we have more than a 20% chance it's normally going to pour, but it's been super nice in my neck of the woods..

Went out and J-the owner of the whole farm and a lovely man-had already stalled the horses for A, our barn manager, and was sitting out in the front and letting his colt graze..walked down to say hello. Step dad, mom, Petey and N, our newest foster baby, came with us so we couldn't stay for long. N is only 8 months so she isn't in to the DVD player yet, but Petey is always great in the car for awhile. We opened the side doors and N was pretty interested in looking around outside so she was good. I went in Red's stall, said hello and decided to bring him out before he ate. A wasn't there yet so I had some time to kill. Got his lead off of the new hook next to his stall-completely adore the convenience of that-and hooked it around his neck since he lost ANOTHER halter. Now he's lost his teal halter, two red ones, his green and purple one and his rope halter. :P Took him out and decided to put his bridle on so I could tie him without having to borrow a halter and find one that actually fit his big head. Before I brushed him out I decided to hop on and see how he felt..I walked him around beforehand and he seemed 100% fine, no more stiffness or anything. Didn't seem like his hooves were bothering him like they would with founder/laminitis. I hopped on a wooden bench and got him to get close enough which took a good while. :P Decided to be stubborn! :)) He finally let me mount and I hopped on bareback, didn't have the time to tack him up and to be honest I really, really love those quiet, random bareback rides around the farm. I walked him for a minute to see if I felt any lameness and he was great. A little stubborn in the beginning but after he got the hang of things again he was fine. Raven was up near the house grazing so I walked Red up there so they could say hi. There was a bunny up there too and it let us come pretty close before takin' off. We walked up and down the drive and around the house in the grass, since A hadn't been there yet and we knew she'd be arriving soon I didn't walk on the driveway or down the road and get in her way. I let him trot around the grass for a minute and he seemed to want to, but I still haven't gotten a hang of bareback riding enough to be able to trot without feeling like I'm gonna fall. :P We rode for a little while then A showed up and she said hello to Red, Red and I went down the driveway and went back and forth then, walked around the fenceline and walked to the gate leading to the colts and filly's old pasture-they have full turnout now but go in there to eat at night along with Spirit-said hi to Spirit on the other side until mom called him in the stall to brush him, fly spray and put his sunscreen on again. Plus he lost his fly mask and she needed to grab it. We rode around for about thirty minutes, then I walked back to the front and discovered something very very bad.

His mane is falling out.

UGHHHHH

UGH.

It's all from him *rubbing* so I'm buying him a neck hood ASAP, hopefully he won't get overheated in it. If he does I'll try something else but I really, really, really want this to work because it'd solve that problem.If any of you guys have any tips or have used a neck cover/mane saver or a sleazy-a horse hood-let me know!! Don't want him overheated, so I'm leaning towards the neck covers. I may buy some listerine because I've heard that helps with itching??? If any of you guys have ideas, please, please let me know. I'm not going to let him torture himself again and I LOOOVE his long mane. :( I don't want to roach it. Really, really don't want to roach. Florida has early Summers and Tennessee's starts later, I'm hoping he'll be alright. Obviously his weight/muscle will be okay, but I don't want scabs. At all. I bought a fly sheet for him for the rest of his body but I need something really bad for his mane. :(

I stayed on his back so I could really soak the mane with MTG, I mean I soaked it. All of it, not just the bad spots. Coated it with it, soaked it, his mane was drenched! :)) Then I put it in the forelock and tail. His tail is looking fantastic so that's good news.. It's starting to grow but that's because we've wrapped it, can't wrap his whole neck unless I get the neck hood, but I'm doing more searching on it before I spend $$$$ on one.

Got that all in then walked around for a few more minutes. He really needed to be groomed so after about 35 minutes I dismounted-WITHOUT any help or a mounting block, first time I've done it without falling, tripping or looking dumb woohoo-and tied him so I could groom him out. I brushed him out, he was coated with mud since it's been raining a LOT lately, horrible flooding in my neck of the woods here! His legs were nasty, he looked like a chestnut..You could barely see the black on his legs because the mud was so light. :)) I didn't comb his mane or tail out since we just soaked it, and it looked pretty good anyways. The mane was really straight and nice since we had soaked it and the tangles got worked out so it wasn't really needed. I loved on him for a few minutes then moved to his legs. got the back legs, checked his hooves and he picked them up without a problem, normally he's terrible at that, his hooves were clean so I just stretched them and did the same with the fronts. No heat or stiffness anymore. When he had the founder issue his stomach kind of sagged like a pregnant mare but today he looked perfect again. Phew.  No more signs of founder, he's drinking again and eating perfect.

Fly sprayed him, put MTG on his chest where he has those splotchy bald spots and FORGOT to put my glove on. :P :P Now my hand smells like MTG even though I've washed them like three hundred times. :( :( :(

Put him back in the stall with his fly mask since he'd be turned out right after eating. He's officially on low starch feed and he loves it!!! Cuddled with him more then talked for a minute and headed out.

Since my step-dad came he took some pictures of us riding, then I took a few of just Redman. He has a super nice phone with an awesome camera so I love taking pictures with it. ;)

So not use to seeing shorter hair on me...

On a brightside his face looks less horrible and flaky. :) :) Plus he's got a cute SWAT pink nosey!!

This is what I have dubbed his "seductive" face.

Soaked forelock!! MAN i love this bridle..

So he's got this high step thing goin' on..he's been doing it occasionally on the trails and it's so cute! :))

Meet Spirit's beloved, Bella the filly. ;) We brought Spirit in and it was love at first whinny.

My mom's horse Spirit :) Notice his blue eyes.

Bella saying "HEEEEEEY GUYS!!" Also, don't freak about the barbed wire. ;) The wires aren't super sharp and they are only in that pasture and they only eat in that one now. ;) Working on replacing all of it!! This WAS a cattle farm.

Pitiful conformation shot since he's relaxing and putting his hoof up, but look how tank-ish he is!!

This is us chilling in front of our HUGE fan in the barn!

Favorite!! Why you ask?? 1. My feet are proper and my heels are DOWN! 2. I love the background and how Raven is in it. 3. Red's eyes are cute and sweet. 4. He looks all coppery. 5. He's adorable and we look cute together. ;)

Step-dad with Bella! Look at her face!!

This is me rubbing MTG in his mane. ;) I LOOOVE this stuff.Totally putting this on their facebook wall or something.

Butt shot

My face is hysterical. This is my "OH SHOOT DON'T TROT DOWN THE HILL WHEN I'M RIDING YOU BAREBACK I'M GONNA DIE" face.

Now, here is a comparision..

December 2, 2012. Ignore my posture. :(

December 22, 2012

February 24th, 2013

April 29th, 2013

May 20th, 2013

May 23rd, 2013

July 8th, 2013

I didn't go that far back, but the majority of you guys know how skinny he was in September, he was bald, his ribs were showing and his butt was scrawny. He was a dull dark brown, now he's a beautiful bright, copper color. He's done amazing..Sometimes I get so bummed about his mane and tail problems and don't realize how far he's come. I mean, muscle and weight wise, WOW!Not only that but his color has changed SO much!! This horse is worth his albeit large weight in gold.

If he was a mare, I'd rename him and call him Penny.

I have an obsession and that obsession is tack.

Soo.....I bought Red yet another halter today..What??? There was a cute turquoise one at Tractor Supply Co. and it was calling my name!! "Kaaaaliiin!! Red would loooooove this!"

So I splurged.

And it's cute and huge and teal and bright and pretty.

And Eeyore looks pretty snazzy with it on. But he makes everything look good, so.

I wanted to get a conformation picture, but this was the best I could do...


Sorry if the picture is really large....I had to take it with the phone sideways. Lol!!! Doesn't he look great?? Let's do a quick comparison, shall we?

May 3rd, 2013. Once again, I apologize if the picture is huge. Keep in mind he is still VERY wooly here as it was still cold. He's lost all of that fuzzyness now and is slick.

Looks better, am I right??

We went out to the barn to drop some stuff off and chill out. I got Red out to groom him while step-daddy, mom, little bro and John, the owner of the barn, sat and talked. Red and I listened to some music and I broke down and used a little fly spray on him.

 I couldn't help it.

Old followers will know that Red has a minor allergic to fly spray, minor as in it doesn't hurt him, but some of his hair falls off, then he recovers in about a week if you don't use any more and use it very little. I haven't used it nor had to and I was planning on getting a natural spray to use, but haven't had a chance to ask my vet about it. He's been fine until tonight, and his legs were covered with the pesky bugs and I couldn't stand it, so I sprayed a TINY amount of Zonk It! on his legs and they finally went away, mostly at least. I was at the point of not caring how his legs look, I'm NOT going to let my horse be tortured by bugs just because I'm too paranoid about a bald spot. Going to get garlic powder and Apple Cider Vinegar to put in his food tomorrow which helps prevent flies and will be making a natural spray. Wish me luck.

PS: if you have a "recipe" for a spray, tell meeeee!! I NEED the ideas. And Red would like them too.

What kind of horse girl would I be if I didn't sneak in some pictures of us???

Mom took this one, way better. Plus we match!!! Hahahaha!

He stood still like a champ during the grooming. I got his mane/forelock and tail all brushed out and smoothed. His mane is so long now!!! Yay!! He wasn't dirty at all, just a little sweaty with some mud spots on him, so I only spent a few minutes on the brushing and spent the rest of the time hugging on him. :)

Going to post some more tomorrow, exciting stuff going on that I REALLY want to post about but I can't yet!!! Hopefully I'll get the go-ahead tomorrow. If I get it before then, even if it's 2 AM, I'll post! Rofl!

Til then!