Dec 19- recovery time, ride #83

Sherlock has been improving steadily with his cut legs, and has been sound for light lunging and extreme rampaging about at dinnertime. We don't remember very well how to lunge with the rope on, must practice.

I find myself saying he doesn't remember how to do things, but then I realize I am not holding up my part of the bargain- by not giving him the cues he understands. Lunging is tough for him, and if I don't move my feet to make some noise he has to keep looking for me when I am on his blind side. So it's both of us who need to practice.

12/11 Massage/chiropractor came and worked on a bunch of horses. She used a massager-machine that is put on like a saddle. Sherlock was a bit twitchy but settled into it. His back was sore and some ribs out on the right side.
After massage I let Sherlock eat a little bit and grabbed out both my new saddle and Amy's. I have purchased the wrong saddle model. Mine has the deeper seat, with a stronger cantle angle. Which makes the cantle higher. Still it seems to fit the same- if I can just balance it.

Busy week with a big blizzard. Not much turnout. Backing off meds to 1g Bute every other day. I can give more grain on days with no Bute. If he has a whole scoop of grain with Bute in it, he skips the bad-tasting part. If he has a half-scoop he eats it all no matter what's in it.

12/19 ride #83 Rode 30 minutes mostly walking. New saddle and reverse-wedge pad, rope halter. Mounting tough with saddle slipping around- pad compresses once weight hits it, and that makes the girth very loose when I try to get on. Might cut it back off the withers. Sherlock did stop to have the pad adjusted once- will need more duct tape to secure pad. Better with pad adjusted, trotted well. A bit stiff for sure. Neck stretches, turns on forehand, shallow serpentines.
Good ride, willing if a bit creaky. Nice ride to end the year on!

Dec 10- saddle woes, ride #82

OK!  November checkin!

After the lovely Halloween party, the weather changed and Sherlock was keen never to have his belly touched again.  Ride #79 November 6th I rode and practiced doing the usual walk/trot workout with voice and weight cues ONLY, almost no leg. Nice to build those skills for the days when he has bad-weather-belly.

Snowed- blanket bingo.

November 14th Ride #80. walk/trot, stretches, lots of transitions, shallow serpentines NO LEG. Sherlock is looking for a cookie whenever we go to the mounting block. Offering to bow instead of stand for mounting. No cookies in pocket during rides. He knows how to stand well now, he can take it.



November 22 Ride #81. Got new Wintec saddle just like Amy's, changed black Medium gullet to red Wide gullet with an hour of cursing and whining. Yes, it's easier than having the whole saddle re-flocked or buying yet another saddle. (I have 5 saddles now. Where is my brain?) BUT the screws were rusted in and stripped, got all 4 screws out and went to Ace Hardware. At some point in the endless parade of screws I mentioned these saddles are made in Australia and we finally found the METRIC screws for the outer slots. The inner ones are by inches. The outer ones are metric. WHAT!?
Anyway, I put my new pride and joy up on my horse and it's very cantle-high. Severely downhill. Just walked Sherlock a  little to stretch out my back, but couldn't really work with the saddle fitting so poorly. Ordered a reverse-wedge pad to lift the front of the saddle.

November 28th I opened up Amy's saddle a bit and her gullet is white- Extra Wide. Ordered white gullet. Maybe I will send the pad back. Accidentlly walked Sherlock into the barn door instead of the doorway. I think in the snowbright, he couldn't see which dark shape was the doorway.  Pay attention, Cooper.

December 2nd I got a call at 4:00- Sherlock cut his leg. Went straight out, RF knee very swollen, 2 cuts. One deep, one long across the inside of the knee. No sign of joint fluid. Knee very stiff. Mud all down R side. Gave small amount of PM grain with Banamine. Barn management walked the entire fenceline and made minor repairs.

Ouchie.

December 3rd Cleaned and rewrapped, Banamine in grain. R hock also swollen today, 1 cut and some surface scrapes. Did he fall off the little bridge in the pasture?  Hock was too sore and swollen to wrap. Turnout in small Doves paddock with Prince and Dusty and Vern.

December 4 Cleaned and rewrapped, Sherlock is walking well. Swelling much reduced, Grain with Buteless. Turnout in Doves.

December 5 Whole leg swollen again and knee stiffened up. Should have stuck with meds. Bute in grain, rewrapped knee, hand-grazed. Turnout in Doves.

December 6 Walking well- AM rewrapped, Bute. Walking very well. Trotted after haycart for dinner! Got wrap off, rewrapped for the night.Turnout in Doves.

December 7 AM grain with Bute. Turnout in Doves. Galloping and playing in turnout. Removed wrap PM.

December 8 AM grain with Bute. Turnout in Doves. Walking great, swelling nearly gone- only localized to front of knee. Deep knee cut closing, long one making some efforts, hock cut weepy. Reportedly showing off some flying changes in the paddock!

December 9 AM grain with Bute. Walking well, all cuts closing up, long knee cut making a scab at last. Turnout into pasture.

December 10 Ride #82. So I got both the reverse-wedge pad and the gullet. Haven't unpacked the pad since I think I won't need it once I have the right gullet plate in. I changed the gullet with less cursing this time but the gullet set came with only 3 screws. So I still have one of my Ace Hardware best-matches in. Very happy, all set. Sherlock walking great, all cuts scabbing up. AM grain with a bit less Bute today. Saddled up and it looked downhill. Got on and it felt downhill. Should have brought the pad. Mounted fine with minimal cookie-begging, walked a just a few minutes since the saddle was not right.
Now Amy's saddle fits perfect with no extra pads. Maybe I need to change the flocking- this is an air-flocked saddle. Instead of wool between the tree and the horse, it's basically a balloon, or 4. More research needed. Will ask Amy to help me out. There must be a solution.

Getting ready for the holidays- tons of chores, shopping, and work to be done before I can leave!

Enjoying the sunny day

Nov 2- Halloween party, ride 78

SO Busy! Working really hard on new Sounds True project and doing a huge warehouse re-arrange at Serenity Tibet with new helper Eric.

Have had a couple excellent riding lessons with A! Working on transitions and lateral movement, and keeping my hands in the middle instead of crossing over the horse's neck. Rode Sirah mostly Western so getting back to English Equitation is a challenge...

Sherlock in his hat

Sherlock has been very game in the lessons, he does get tired and has to be convinced to try once more, but he tries hard. I've been riding in A's Wintec saddle that fits Sherlock well, and finally have a winning bid on one just the same off eBay! Saddle that fits. Finally. It's a WIDE gullet, I really didn't think he was that wide but A has a Wintec gullet-measure-er like I have been trying to find ALL summer. And Sherlock should be wearing a Wide.

Rode bareback outdoor one day and Sherlock was happy and eager to go forward, with no pinching saddle- very sore the next day but it was fun.

One day of cold rain the 22nd, had to use Sirah's wool-lined blanket that is a little small but warm.

Halloween Party was great! Had a lesson beforehand so got Sherlock and me all dressed up at about 11:30, rode over poles and moving away from leg, soft serpentines on weight, rode her horse Hope a little bit as well when Sherlock got tired. Then the party! I gave Sherlock a break in between since everyone but me was running late (What? Again? Always!). Drink of water and some hay. Then back to a very busy arena full of little kids on hippety-hops!

Sherlock and Watson!

Sherlock drank from the bobbing for apples bucket but didn't try for an apple. We won the egg-and-spoon race on a good length of trot- even with a jerky transition, he maintained it well. He was a bit treat-happy but overall really excellent. We were supposed to play horse soccer with the big ball, but some horses were scared of it- esp. Hope! Sherlock was casual about the ball rolling at him and bouncing off, and even pushed it and played a bit.

SUPER proud of my easygoing and brave boy!

Yesterday I rode outside- having trouble reconciling aids that Sherlock thinks are working against each other. Back, then stop- is very difficult but we broke through some of that and backed out of an L! Introduced the vacuum, good on R but more anxious on L side- looking at cord. Needed it again today, but I just turned him out to get dusty again. Turnout in Meadow pasture again, he is very comfortable there and is making friends with a new horse Scout.

OH- and I heard the Cs lost their lease. About time. I hope someone cool will buy the place and board horses there again.

Oct 3- Busy-ness and rides 70,71,72

Wow- I have been working a lot! Another trade show and desperately working on finishing one Sounds True project so I can get going on the next one! Still, I've been at the stable almost every morning to give Sherlock his grain and turn him out. The geldings have been out in the Meadow pasture for several weeks, which has been great for Sherlock. Meadow is closer to the barn and very comfortable for him.

Anyway, I've been riding Sherlock just a little bit, getting him used to the indoor arena, building fitness for both of us. I started longing him lightly every morning last week to get some muscle building. He's gaining weight and remembering some things about being a riding horse.


This week Sherlock had dewormer, vaccinations and started going to the West Pasture. First day I walked him out to the waterer and when I let him go he galloped off with the other horse, and raced them around. So glad to see him happy and having some fun. Later in the day he came up the breezeway for water and had trouble figuring out how to get back- they thought he was going to bust the gate to Meadow- but he settled once his name was called and they took him back down.

Yesterday no drama going down to West pasture, I hope he is settling there.

New trainer A has arrived and I'm going to take a lesson tomorrow, wish us luck!

Looks like most of my pics from last week are of our super-adorable new kitten, Kaylee!
Here she is for your viewing pleasure. It's tiring but super-amusing to have a kitten around again...

Sept 8- The In Crowd, Ride #69

So Sherlock is still working on fitting in with the larger herd of geldings at Heart&Soul. He's willing to go out in the large East Pasture but he comes in again shortly, all the way up the breezeway and stands as close to the barn as he can get. He has been in the smaller Meadow Pasture and liked that better, but it was rotated out of use for 2 weeks.

Sherlock in the East Pasture

Next week we'll introduce him to the West Pasture, also a big pasture facing the road. This one has its own water and does not usually connect with the breezeway. So he will be stuck there, though there should be plenty of distance to be had between him and the herd if he wants to stay away from them.  I sure do miss Sebastian.

It's frustrating to walk all the way down to the pasture and leave him with the quietest friendliest horses and have him still follow me all the way back to the barn, or even have to follow him back there if he doesn't feel like waiting for me or listening to my protests that he should like it here.

Anyway, I go out pretty much every morning or evening and give him grain and love. He's such a sweet-natured horse, he always seems to be getting petted by someone.  I moved him here so he would be happy and healthy. He's not happy yet. He's gaining weight, though he is getting bitten by someone.



I rode on September 9th, just saddled up Western and made a short introduction to both arenas. He was very calm in both, actually. I am very pleased with that.

I bought a half-blind horse. That's my reality. Really, I have a wonderful horse. He just needs some extra time to fit into this herd, and lots of space.

Sherlock hiding behind the halter rack. Note the VERY long walk downhill to the pasture.

August 30 More moving

So, on 8-21 we moved Sherlock to Heart and Soul. I am so happy. He did gain weight at Kiowa Creek and I was sad to leave super-cute mustang Sebastian behind.

Sherlock and his little friend Sebastian

Sebastian hiding behind Sherlock

But Heart and Soul was one of my top choices -just on the edge of my acceptable price and distance range. Sherlock is doing well there and starting to learn to go out to pasture with a whole herd!

Sherlock in the round pen at Heart&Soul

Sherlock eating hay like it was his job

More pictures later as Sherlock learns how he fits into the herd and we get to use our arena!

July 4th- Today

And today, Sherlock is in his new home! It's a bit further East but not too much further to drive.

Sherlock grazing under the cottonwood tree.

I watched Max pass his pre-purchase exam, and then loaded Sherlock to be Liz's first horse move of the day! She took Max to his new home in Colorado Springs and then moved her own 2 horses and Clover and the foal. Yikes! What a day!
Sherlock loaded very nicely, waited for me to get out and close the door, and came to the window to have his halter off. Perfect. Could not ask for more. When we arrived I stepped back in, put the halter on, and he stepped carefully out. He was so excited! We went in and started walking the fenceline, but anytime the little mustang Sebastian cam close Sherlock get very nervous. We circled back to the trees where there was a shady spot to graze, then tried the other side of the pasture, working back towards the gate to the water tank. He looked at the next-door horses a bit then we went back to the gate and I let him go. I got my white duct tape and watched sherlock run away from Sebastian for a few tense minutes.
"Pay attention!" I kept shouting as he neared the fence- and he'd put his head down and look, and turn. No mishaps. He followed me all the way out to the South end of the pasture along the fence before fleeing Sebastian again. Sherlock outruns him easily, and after a couple of laps settled again under the trees.

Water-cooler conversations 

When I reached the water tank this time Sherlock came to meet the others. He sniffed noses politely then tried to bite. Every time. Sniff- Squeal of anger from other horse. Sniff-Squeal. He wasn't so sure about the new water but I used it to cool his sweaty neck and shoulders and nose, and soon he was drinking it. I left him under the trees, with water, grass and a large amount of hay.

Sherlock and Sebastian

The next day things were calmer. Sherlock came running when I called and we walked to the water tank, and I gave him more hay. Lots of petting and no pressure.

Yesterday when I went to check on Sherlock,  I whistled and called to no avail. I loaded up the hay feeder and got my brush box out, then started hiking out to get him. Suddenly he saw me and came running in, whinnying frantically. OK, that's better.  Was starting to think I was forgotten. He ate his hay while I gave him a good grooming and slathered him with just about every fly repellent that can be purchased in Colorado.  Sebastian was quite shocked that Sherlock allowed himself to be sprayed with smelly, scary hissy stuff.

So, I am very happy with the new place. I don't have a key yet for the tack room but fellow boarder D let me put my saddle in. Sherlock is gaining weight already and looks happy. I hope to walk sherlock from his pasture up to the tack area and introduce sheep and very large horses into his life experience.