New Kicks.

Went out to ride today around 3 ish. When we pulled up, Spirit was out playing with the others and seemed fine, but upon closer inspection we came to the conclusion that our farrier was right and he may need shoes, at least short term. I'm a big barefoot advocate, not one of those, "SHOE ALL THE HORSES!" types, but I do think some horses really need shoes and Spirit may be one of them..dreading the fee for it but looking forward to less lameness. We shall see when and if he really gets his new kicks. We're still hoping that he will be okay without them but right now mom's sure that he'll get them. She doesn't like shoes either but she likes healthy horses, obviously.

Anyways, we went and all of the horses were in front, yay, A and R pulled up right behind us which was awesome. Got Red on the lead and Tucker went after him and had a little fiasco. My first time in the middle of a horsey fight. :P Red freaked, which isn't normal. He typically just lays back but he wasn't expecting it. He ran in a few circles and pulled away from me. I ran after Tucker and shooed him away, then calmly walked to Red, held my hands out and called for him. Finally, he settled down and walked straight to me and refused to leave my side. No wounds, just a scare!! Red didn't go after Tucker but ran off which I think made it worse. :( I took him to the fence to tie him and he got lots of lovin'.

We ordered some stuff from Chicks before we left for Florida and got it from a wonderful neighbors house where they were getting our mail. :) Little things..two pairs of spurs, a clip for my breast collar so it snaps instead of fastens, some stirrup straps since I was borrowing A's after mine disappeared, and a new curb strap for Spirit. Got my breast collar and stirrups fixed!! Woohoo!! I no longer have super long stirrups and it was ah-ma-zing.

I somehow managed to tack this while lugging my saddle, pad, and breast collar to tack him up.He says, "please, no pictures. I am far too gorgeous for your silly blog."

While I was getting beefcake all tacked up, mom decided to walk Spirit to the barn and try to bridle him to see how he did. He really wasn't acting in pain so mom decided to hop on him bareback if he checked out. No limping, so she tried it. But more on that later...

Worked on Red's standing still while mounting. A and I went ahead on the trails while mom got Spirit-boy settled. She apparently mounted easily but stayed behind us for awhile since we got a head start.

I started using a pair of blunt spurs, like these:

 Because Red's been having some little issues with stubborness. Not to jab at him or anything, but when he acts up, just to give him a little poke. These are really mild. As far as I know, he's never been spurred, but I think he probably has. Can't say for sure. He didn't act up at all with them. I only had to use them, maybe, 3 times tops. Once at a hill we go down and twice in the front pasture that we rode in after the trail ride.

He did great with them, never acted up once and didn't seem fazed. He responded to them well so I'm excited.

A and I trotted around the back pasture a lot, the stirrups. Le sigh, they made such a difference. :) I also open reined today. I need to keep my reins lower and it helped a TON. Plus Red did SO much better with it and it allows me to sit deeper easier. They could still be lower but it improved drastically today.

Once we were done there and had ridden for about 30+ minutes we decided to head back since we hadn't seen mom for awhile..needed to check on Spirit. When we got back she was in the run in with Spirit. He had acted up a ton, she thinks it was mostly from not being worked for a few weeks because he didn't seem tender. :(

I took Red out to the front pasture since we had only ridden for a short period of time and rode around for another 30 minutes. Pretty easy work, only trotted a couple times and worked into a really fast trot.  His trot is about the speed of a typical Quarter Horse canter so we were booking it up the pasture. :)) He is always stubborn in that area because he wants in the run in but didn't fight me as much today as normal. The babies were loose in that pasture so that didn't help, but they stayed in the run in and never bothered us, as per usual.

Excuses are bad, but the only reason my reins are so high in this and I'm not open reining is because we were slowing to a stop and he was being a brat about it. :))

Later, A joined me. She had ridden Patches but switched out with Bay and rode her bareback.

Me: "I AM KING OF THE HILL!" Red: "Shut up mom, you are so, so, so embarrassing!!"

See my heels, they are DOWN. Woot.

And now, photo dump.

He looks so cute.

Muh hur.

Whata butt.

Going to the tree...

Around the tree..

I had one fail moment that I SO wish was caught on video. Red and I, we were running full force. All of a sudden he's like, "NO I MUST RUN INTO ALL THE THINGS" and ran me into a really annoying tree with very annoying, pesky limbs. Kinda like this tree:

And I literally had tiny sharp leaf thingies IN my shirt and IN my pants. Red wasn't fazed although R laughed at me. A lot. :( It was hilarious though.....although said sharp leaves really hurt when I trotted. LOL.

We played around for a few minutes then mom got on Red because she hasn't ridden him in months. Apparently she thought Red was still lazy and I was just having to push him a ton to get him going but as soon as she got on, Red proved her wrong. :)) He took off galloping with her. She claimed her canter felt like he was bucking. :( But she still admitting, AND I QUOTE: "He has a rough gait and probably always will but he's the best horse ever." IN YO FACE SPIRIT.

Took Redman back to the barn after about an hour+ ride and untacked, loved on him. Talked. Gave him a massage with the magnetic curry thingy that he adores and hung out.

"I refuse to put my ears up woman."

So yeah, fun day. :) He got to run around the barn because the stalls were all taken up but he loved it. He ran to each stall like "bahahaha I'm out and you areeeen't!!!"

Jericho is lame right now, not sure why, but we were checking on him and Red peeked his head through the stall next to me and kept trying to eat my shirt sleeve until I came out and gave him his treats. Attention hog.

Go barefoot!!

Perhaps it's because I've always hated shoes in general and I tend to walk around barefoot-not around my horses, of course, I wear boots then ;)-everywhere, but I'm a big barefoot advocate.

 
 I don't have anything against shoes, really, but I DON'T like them unless they really need them.

A nail going into a hoof makes me cringe..

 I just hate the idea of drilling a hole into a hoof, and I'm super happy that all of my horses are barefoot. My horse's hooves are trimmed every six weeks, unless they really need it before hand OR there is an abscess or something. My farrier drives around an hour to get there and does all 11-now 12-horses hooves that day. He puts shoes on two of the horses fronts and then trims the rest.

Terrible picture, but you can see Red's barefeet!

 Here are some things I found interesting:

Facts About Having A Barefoot Horse:

 

The benefits of using barefoot hoofcare with your horse are endless. By using the wild mustang hoof as a model we can replicate the form and function of their hooves on domestic horses. This overview will give you a few key reasons to consider this option for you and your horse.

 

*TRACTION: a barefoot horse has better traction on any terrain due to the natural ability of the foot to grip the ground.

 

*JOINT SUPPORT: a barefoot horse has 7 times less stress put on its joints and ligaments than a shod horse!

 

*SHOCK ABSORPTION: the frog acts as a natural shock absorber each time it hits the ground.

 

*NATURAL FUNCTION: a hoof is made to expand and contract with each step to circulate blood throughout the horse's body.

 

We can ease the transition to full barefoot performance with the addition of boots and pads, as needed, to stimulate hoof growth. With a variety of boots and pads, finding the level of comfort for your horse as he transitions is a very simple application. The need for boots varies depending on work load, living conditions, and rehabilitation needs. I can provide any boot, any size, and pads to give your horse optimal support and comfort.

The Effects Of Having A Shod Horse:

 

*Horseshoes raise the foot off the ground and without the ability to touch the ground, the sole can become weak and thin and increase the risk of stone bruising or abscesses.

*The frog, the natural shock absorber of the hoof, is unable to perform its job due to being raised off the ground. This increases the concussive forces on the joints and ligaments of the horse.

*Nails used to hold shoes on can open channels for infection which can potentially cause lameness.

*Restriction of expansion and contraction of the hoof due to a shoe's hold on the hoof limits blood circulation throughout the entire horse! An atrophied frog is a direct result of this lack of blood circulation

A common misconception is that we've bred good feet out of horses.This just isn't true! Understanding the mechanics and physiology of the hoof proves this theory wrong. Natural Hoofcare can benefit all horses regardless of breed, age, or discipline. 

Of course whether or not you shoe your horse depends on not only you and the horse, but the place where you live. I ride in mostly soft ground and grass-I'm a trail rider. If you have a police horse or something and ride on concrete, maybe you should shoe. But I would look into boots beforehand.

All in all, I'm a barefoot lover. :)

Hyperness & Farrier's.

I just want to say one thing. My farrier is stinking amazing. Today, our farrier was comin' out to trim the horse's hooves and put some new shoes on them. Chip's owners had left for FL and he hadn't had his hooves trimmed....here's the before.

Front hoof, on the left.

The front hooves were the worst, and the right back hoof had a split, but wasn't as awful.

During the work:

Notice the abscess.

And after:

Front left hoof.

I have more pics to upload later, but til' then, you guys get the gist. The after shot was after ONE trim, and after two more trimmings, hopefully it'll be completely healed! Dont think the owner doesn't care, he DOES love these horses, he's just learning, and has been out of town. Hopefully this will be the last bad trimming. Our farrier is awesome and did a fantastic job, as per usual... :) Very thankful to have such a great farrier!!

Anywho, my cousin who hasn't rode a horse in quite a number of years and her family decided to ride before the farrier was out, so, we took them and let them ride some. :) Emily, my cousin's daughter who is 4, LOVED Red!!!

My cousin and Red. My mom is on the right, Emily is in the pink dress and the guy in the blue shirt is my cousin-in-law.

My cousin and Red.

Doubling!!

Such a good pony!!

Doublin'!!

Before they got on, I mounted near the round pen and rode up to the ten acres. Red was feeling good today and REALLY wanted to gallop, so we cantered the whole time, around the edges of the ten acres and spent about 20 minutes or so switching from trotting to cantering.

He's kinda developing a *little* of an attitude, nothin' bad, he's still the same old Red and has excellent manners, very sweet and willing, but he's NOT lazy! We just took him off sweet feed and the bugs are bothering him, I'm 100% positive that's what is causing it. I'm going to be making or buying a natural fly spray for him since he can't handle normal spray on his skin. He had a few bald patches-from rubbing and playing with the horses, nothing terrible- and bug bites so I rubbed some MTG on those and he, as always, tried to lick the MTG off.....Maybe he thinks it tastes like bacon, since it does smell like it!

In mid trot!

He still listened very well and stopped when I told him to, and I used the leather hack that he responds a little stubbornly to, so I think I'm gonna use the rubber nosed next time and see if he is less eager to RUN. I love the pace and enjoy trotting, but I'm still a beginner and I can't run all the time especially since his gait is so bumpy.

 

After we rode, Red had worked up a really bad sweat so I walked him, then tied him out in the shade so I could brush his tangled up mane. Once I was done, he was cool enough to go in his stall after a drink of water and hang out til the farrier got to the barn! There is a fan near his stall, and the stall is shaded, so he was able to cool off in there, too.

We left with my family, dropped them off, then went back to the barn. The farrier was working on Patches, the other App, first because she has to be sedated, and it's best to do her first so she can relax in her stall. After her, he did Bay, Red's gal. She was acting super stubborn and kept trying to lay down..She always tests Cody-the farrier-and I think it's because she knows him. He used to own her and compete in rodeos. :) :)

Pretty girl.

After her, Red was brought out. He did really well, only took about 20 minutes to trim all four feet and he was done. It took a little longer though, because one of the walker colts got out and took off running. Cody ducked under the barbed fire fence, got covered in manure, I ran to get grain while Red stayed put and looked at me like, "MOM! IS THAT FOOD FOR MEEEE?!!!" and everyone tried to get Raven. John, Raven's owner, immediately said, "doesn't that horse have a gorgeous gait?" and Cody, Raven's halter in his hand, tugged the horse back up, said something about the manure covering his back, and made his usual sarcastic jokes about TWH's. It was scary, but after a few minutes, we were all dying laughing about John's words. Raven was soon put up in his pasture and given a stern talkin' to!!

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I just wanted to play!!"

Anywho, after that, Chip was taken out.

And thus the major work began...

I normally don't like this horse all that much, he's kinda mean and bratty, but he really is a sweet horse when he is worked and the people around him KNOW how to deal with him. He acted perfect tonight, had his head wrapped around Ann the whole time and chilled. I really felt for him and all of a sudden I feel something towards him I've never felt and I honestly like him now. Don't know what changed.

This horse is a stunner. Leopard appaloosa, built like a muscled tank, 16+ HH....Gorgeous!

On a random note, Ann, the caretaker of the barn surprised me with a birthday gift today. :)

Belt buckle from Ann.

She gave me a VERY VERY needed leather cinch for my saddle's and the above beautiful belt buckle. :) I am so blessed to be boarding at this barn!!!!

Anywho, I must go now! :D Toota-loo.