June 19- Ride 65,66 Exodus

MUD MUD MUD

5/29 Farrier came and Sherlock was very good. I hand-walked him all week, doing sidepasses and hip stretches so he would not be so stiff and sore. He was excellent. The gate is disgustingly deep in mud, manager is feeding the horses at the gate so they are trampling the hay into the mud. Everyone is getting skinny. Complained to the owner.

5/30 Ride #65- Rinsed off the mud then rode Western 30-45 minutes outdoor arena. I fell trying to get on, stirrups were SO long. But Sherlock didn't move much and got on fine the second time. Walked with other horses, threatening to bite but didn't. Sore-footed but tried hard. Standing with others, was spooked by runaway horse from barn, jumped 2 strides then stopped to watch, settled back down well.

6/1 Bought bale of compressed alfalfa hay, fed in the only dry corner of the paddock. MUCH excitement and drama, long story short and not getting into the fuss- L is taking her horses away at end of month. I'm starting to look myself.

6/3 Fed alfalfa in dry corner of paddock. New horse red Tobiano Mustang very aggressive, ran him off with whip. Sherlock coated with mud on L side, looks like he fell in the slimy mud. Complained to owner about gate and problem horse. Rumor is that the gate solution will be to open up the gate between dominant and non-dominant pastures. That way we could use the gate in the other pasture to go in and out, and feed could be spread farther. But my horse is all beat up right now, so I am worried about even tougher horses moving in.




6/5 Checked on Sherlock in the morning after Tornado went through just a mile or two North of us. Still muddy, I was planning to bathe him but got caught up in caring for Clover and her brand-new foal, Fiero. Cute smoky-black colt. I hung out all morning pretty much, getting the placenta ready for the vet, talking to the vet, etc. I am surprised no one bedded the stall or took care of the placenta or caught the mare after they found the foal. A could not get out of work (what?) so I waited for the vet, L came and did some basic care and paid the vet.




6/10 Gave Sherlock a bath and grazing today, I've been giving grain all week. Several shallow scrapes on L side under the mud- he definitely fell. Bite marks as well. Gave my notice that I'm moving Sherlock. What else can I do? He is dropping weight and getting bitten up. Owner refuses to believe there is anything wrong with the gate, even though I can smell the foul mud from yards away.



6/14 Feeding Sherlock and Beatrice extra alfalfa all week. Gate open and both herds have both pastures, but no real fighting thank goodness. Aggressive red Mustang has bonded with Sherlock and Bea after Max moved to 2-horse pen. Only treats today, as I had to run home for G to go to the Urgent Care! Spent all afternoon at Urgent Care waiting for kidney stone to pass.

Trail rides are not so scary when there's fresh grass

6/17 Ride #66- Trail ride with L and Tchai around back of property. Sticky, backed up into mud and stepped on LF, slight cut. I got down then and led him up the hill, got back on. Walked along back fenceline with only one other really bad stoppage. Walked and ate and relaxed a lot, Came back into arena no argument where I dismounted and gave treats. Big breakthrough.

Checking Sherlock's cut and giving grain last 2 days, doing well and not sore. I've decided to save money next month and take Sherlock to Kiowa Creek for his transition to good grassy pasture, then perhaps move somewhere with fancier facilities like Blue Cloud. Anyway, VERY stressful month so far, with driving to stables, trying to get weight on Sherlock, following Gray like a hawk in case he feels unwell, and working as much as I can at Sounds True trying to figure out a very troublesome web interface for the databases that will carry downloadables to the Amazon stores.


My recent talks with the other boarders have revealed that at least 12 horses are leaving this month. A's trainer did bring 2 of her horses into the stalls with runs- those horses and the barn horses are decently fed and cared for. The gate area is still deep in mud, even with no one using it, and filthy smelly. Owner said "what gate?" when I mentioned it again. I hope someone tracks that mud into her house.

SO! Big changes underway with the horse. Everyone is well and holding up despite challenges, and I hope Sherlock's new home will be a great relaxing place to do some very mild riding and get him to gain some weight.

May 24- More MUD +bits Ride 62,63,64

My training journal says:
MUD MUD MUD MUD Beer grain MUD

Cleaning up the grain bucket.

5/16 Ride 62. Rinsed him off decently. Very sloppy everywhere. Finally got the Courbette saddle from Hawaii. Tried it on him and walked without stirrups (I had left them on the old saddle) in the indoor arena. OK fit but pinching withers if he raised his head.


5/17 Ride 63. Outdoor arena with Courbette with homemade tester half-pad (memory foam bath mat cut in half lengthwise). Walk/trot, walk over poles. Sore-footed, definitely from standing in mud so much. Good-natured. Refresher in standing for mounting, turn on forehand, back, whoa. Today preferred front of arena and wouldn't approach the back corner nearest the pasture which is usually a favorite place to stop and watch Beatrice throw a fit that he's gone.


5/19 fed grain in pasture. MUD MUD MUD

5/24 Ride 64. Rinsed legs again, better manners this time. VERY stiff picking up both hind feet, wanted to stretch forward instead. Slipped in the mud? Seems likely. I don't think I can get the horse chiropractor out before the farrier comes on next Friday. Very short easy ride in half-flooded round pen (I will take a shovel to it next time I swear) with bareback pad and new Western bit. Trying to introduce leverage bit but he hated the single-joint mouthpiece and he hated the double-joint copper mouthpiece one today. I should sell them both and buy a Myler... Very fussy and easily distracted, but he has not had a lot of exercise lately with the footing being so awful.

At least the grass is growing nicely, and Sherlock gets to enjoy some hand-grazing as we walk to the barn and back. This picture as about as clean as he ever got this month. And still had mud in his mane.

The best part of the day- snack time

May 9- MUD

We returned from a wonderful but exhausting trip to LA, we drove this time and spent a day in BC with Mom and Mike.

And it was raining. And it has continued to rain all week. And it's likely to snow tonight. Crazy.

galoshgalosh

5/5 Sherlock was allowing the other horses to share the shelter until he saw I had carrots, then he drove everyone off. Lots of grumpy faces but he didn't actually bite or kick anyone. I cannot find my jelly-scrubber mitt. It's a soft rubber grooming mitt that Sherlock loves- I can even get mud off his face with it.  Went to Murdoch's to get a new one and they didn't have any. Went to Saddle Up and they didn't have any. Oh well. Plenty of time.

5/7 Early to work, so went to Foxcreek to get a jelly-scrubber. They were out of them, despite the owner and the clerk and me all staring at the wall of grooming tools willing it to appear. I don't know why we insist on continuing to search when we have looked at every single thing five times already and determined the needed thing is not there.






5/8 Day off work. SO I went to Colorado Tack to get a jelly-scrubber. YES! They had two left in stock and I got them both, so now I have a backup. $4 item and I drove all over the county to get it. Planned to buy some sandbags to improve the pasture drainage, groom and feed. Took one look at the hardware store lines and went home, drank tea and finished reading both Small Favor and The Third Man Factor.

Bea, Max and Sherlock demand carrots

5/9 Bought my first-ever pair of galoshes and went out to the stable with my new jelly-scrubber. Drainage has actually improved, it has cut a channel now and is running off instead of standing water at the gate. Mud at gate might be shovel-able tomorrow. Sherlock was ruling the shelter as usual, but he, Bea and Max all emerged for some carrots.

I got him cleaned up a bit with the awesome powers of the jelly-scrubber, he rubs his face on it quite happily. Still a lot of mud but cleaned up his topline where he's most likely to get rainrot. He really needs his legs rinsed and dried. I hope early next week it will clear a few days and give me a chance to get him totally dry.

A river runs through it today

April 17- Ride #59, 60, Spring in Colorado

Where does the time go?

March 28th Ride#59- Sherlock and I took to the indoor ring again. I lunged him over the trot poles until he was calm about them, then mounted up, warmed up and trotted the poles several times very nicely. No leaping, no trouble. A bit stiff picking up hind feet, BL Solution in grain.

Protecting my herd. 

March 30- Cat, Liz's OTTB in re-training, added to pasture. Lots of galloping and chasing. Sherlock and Max guarded Beatrice and stayed mostly out of the way.

March 31- Excellent for farrier! Really perfect. Much praise.

April 2- Snowing. BL Solution and Banamine in grain.

April 4- Shedding Season begins in earnest. Groomed, tight belly due to weather.

April 6- fed grain

April 8-Tried hangs-on-the-fence feeder but Sherlock was very flinchy about it. Worried about the electric wire probably even though I hung the feeder far away from the wire. Had to hold the feeder for him and groomed some afterwards.

April 11- Small birthday celebration. I brought 2 balloons to torment Sherlock with and cupcakes and apples. He wouldn't try a cupcake- sticky! And rubbed the purple icing all over my shirt.

April 12- Sherlock was grazing at the very back fence of the pasture and couldn't hear me calling him over the wind, or was obsessed with the tiny bit of grass available. He seemed quite startled when I appeared 10 feet away. Caught him up easily and took him over the the broken waterer, got on bareback and rode back to the gate. SO I guess that's ride #60 even though it was just a minute. He did fine, a bit nervous in just the halter but did fine. Beer grain and his usual.

Sherlock ruling his little herd of Beatrice and Max. 

April 14- Happy Birthday, Sherlock! Mints and grooming.

April 15- Snowing. Grain with Banamine and offered blanket but he was too busy claiming piles of hay from the other horses. I know once the hay is gone he'll hog the shelter all day, so didn't push him to take the blanket.

March 27- Spring arrives, Rides #55-58

Early March was snowy, rainy and muddy.
March 8 Ride #55 I brought Sherlock up to the roundpen, which was half-flooded but still better footing than the arenas. He had a good time splashing, and then I rode for a few minutes. Not as confident going through the water with me on his back. I think that's a balance issue.

The next day my car broke down on the way home from work. This made it hard to visit the stable. Not only was I dropping Gray off at work before going to work and then picking him up in the evening, but his little car did not do well in the very muddy barn parking lot.

March 14 I brought Sherlock up to the barn for grooming and grain, and free-longed in the indoor arena. Lots of bird sounds, and he was a bit spooky. Had trouble turning left.

Setting up the jumps. Not too daring today.

March 15 Ride #56 Sherlock was a bit grumpy and tight-bellied from the weather changes, I rode Western about 30 minutes in the outdoor arena, mostly just walking with a little bit of trot. Very "poppy" trot transitions, stiff. Walked and trotted both single poles and crossrails, calmly very nice. Good forward walk today, practicing some gate skills. Whoa does happen but not very exact, same with backing up. A bit sticky in the corner closest to pasture- Bea was crying the whole time.




March 17 Ride #57 Tried out a used Borelli saddle, really a better fit even though it seemed very wide. Walk/trot a little nervous about work noise outside the arena. More willing at trot today in different saddle. Back/trot transition improved the trot transition. Sidepassed nicely.

March 19 Free-lunged walk/trot/canter until he got sweaty.

What's with this "bit" thing again?

March 20 Vaccination clinic. I free-lunged Sherlock a few minutes then brought him up to the barn to wait with a dozen other horses.A bit fussy with so many horses around, some throwing fits about the shots, but did well. Excellent for shots, even let them check his teeth after one nervous head toss. Vet would like to see him gain some more weight.

March 21 Grain in pasture. Looks good, no reaction at injection sites.

March 24 Ride #58 Rode about an hour indoors (needed the shade today). Fussy for cinching, tight-bellied. Used bit for first time this year. Lots of bird noise in rafters, he was nervous at first but settled a bit. Wanted to look out the door facing pasture, but went past well enough. Rode well, poppy trot transitions but good strong trot and maintained pace in turns much better. Desperately need to put stirrup straighteners back on this saddle, my feet were cramped up after riding. Grain.

March 2 - snow and Ride #54

As expected, large blizzard 2/21. His leg looked good, no swelling after the stoppage of Banamine.
My friend T moved her horse to another barn. She was really getting treated pretty poorly. Boarder wars. Gotta stay out of them. Enough people left recently that I moved my tack into the main tack room for more space. Did like having the locked door, but I needed more room.

2/22 Still snowing. Here's a link to the horses running at mealtime. Sherlock is one of the blue blanketed dark horses. Likely the one that gets run at my the guys feeding. If you see a group that 3 dark horses, 2 blue blankets and a purple, that's Bea in purple and Sherlock and Max.

2/24 Weather warmed up- lots of snowmelt, pulled blanket off.

2/25 Rushed out early from work when it started snowing again. Sherlock was hogging the entire shelter and was barely even wet. Quick brushdown and blanket back on.

2/28 Ride #54 A little warmer weather and some sun. Good day to ride a little. Sherlock was a bit fussy about me cleaning his cut, just high energy. Free-lunged a few minutes to get his attention then saddled up. Just walking with a bit of trot, we worked on figure 8s, steering, stop and back. Good effort continuing to back up on cue "more", made it easy to start again without having to give the rein cue when he is getting grumpy. Good ride- he did want a carrot for every single thing a horse achieved, but I think me getting down is reward enough at the end of a ride. Grain afterwards and blanket back on!

Why not stay all day and hand out carrots?

Feb 23- catching up, Ride #53

My new saddlepad! He does look good in turquoise.

Jan 25- ride #53. After the saddle and pad experiments I found a used gel pad on eBay. It's Western and nice-looking. I could show in it if I want to later. So we tried the new pad with the English saddle- Sherlock was much more willing and eager to walk over a little pile of poles and trot nicely.  Still very poppy coming into the trot, not using his back well. Practiced braiding, he was great for mane and for tail, but very fussy about his forelock. Pleased his tail has really grown and gotten long and pretty.


While G and I were in LA for Wedding #1, I got a text that they'd like to move Sherlock into the big pasture after he'd been threatening a new boarder. Well, I thought the King of the Wusses was probably ready to move up. So Feb 2 I moved him. He latched on to the horses he knew- Max and Bea.
He has done well there, he was pretty hard on the new group of horses but he's risen to a high status without getting in too much trouble.

2/13 I went out to the pasture with grain and a small dose of Banamine in prep for weather change so he wouldn't feel colicky the day I was planing to go to our first schooling show out at Plane View. And  he had a cut. A pretty good one high up on the inside of his front leg. Took me a while to clean it and get a little ointment on it.  Came back at 4:30 pm to check it, more swollen and sore, limping. Cold hosed and more meds- B-L Solution in grain.
All that week cold-sponging when possible (it being like 25 degrees), walking and Banamine. Checking his temp everyday was good training.

2/20 Stopped meds,  swelling seems done. Blanketed in prep for snow. Started snowing overnight.
A day or two of good weather and more snow forecasted.

Snowy Day in big pasture. Sherlock, Bea and Max sprt-of sharing.