August 27- Ride #41 hints, switcheroo

Ride #41, August 24. Simco Western saddle with the wither-fill pad. It looks like two felt ping-pong paddles attached by a nylon strap. The paddles fit into the hollow area on either side of the withers to hold the saddle up off the backbone.

Fussy for grooming since other horses were working in indoor arena, but settled. Took him in and let other horse out. Introduced sack of cans, dragged it around a bit. He stepped on it and startled himself, I need to remember to hold it farther from his feet when we start again.

Got on at the mounting block and walked a few minutes- then he brought me back to the mounting block. And stood there and ground his teeth. I put my hand under the edge of the saddle and decided the wither pad had shifted. So I got down, loosened the cinch and rearranged the pads. Got on again and he was much more willing, walking faster and more relaxed. Thank you for the hint, Sherlock.

Walked and trotted all the way around the ring sweet and cheerful. Still very giraffe-y with his neck but balance is much improved, head set comes later. 

Get off and fix the saddle, please.

August 25 came out to feed and the barn sign warned that horses were rearranged and would be fixed that night. Seems the gate between the Pony paddock and the Non-dominant pasture was left open and almost everyone decided to try something new for the night. Only Sherlock was left in the Pony paddock with everyone but Eva from the Non-dominant. He was hiding in the shelter when I called him, and I put him the pasture with his herd after he ate his grain.

At 6:00 I came back and helped catch everyone to go back into the Pony paddock. Allie was a challenge but Tooie was a perfect angel once I'd caught Allie. Sherlock was excellent as usual, if a bit carrot-focused.

August 22- rides # 38,39,40 & saddle shuffle

Lots of riding pics this time!

Bareback stretching

August 1, ride #38. Rode bareback in indoor just to stretch out my sore back. Casual strolling and then some hand-grazing with Rocket. They get along very nicely.


August 4. I'm starting to feel stomach troubles again. Likely just the stress of 2 freelance jobs and 2 eBay selling jobs. Got my custom bridle from Uiseach Saddlery in Ireland today! Thank you G for a great anniversary present!




August 8, grooming and tried on new bridle for pics! Clipper introduction, after photos did some round pen work walk/trot. SO hot. Ugh.

Handsome in new blue-stitched bridle!

August 10, back from overnight trip to Steamboat Springs.  Sherlock's right knee swollen, small cut on the outside of the joint. No heat, not sore to touch. Added  B-L Solution to feed.

August 12. Sherlock saw me coming with grain and came galloping in! Clearly not lame on still-swollen knee. Watching for possible joint fluid leakage on front of joint still squishy, but swelling everywhere going down. B-L Solution and beer grain.

August 17. Trimmed by farrier M. Did great today- another very successful day. Stood well and calmly, we let him stretch between and front and hind feet today instead of after every foot.

August 18, ride #39. Light ride trying out King western saddle. Nice narrow tree with a high wither relief gullet, but twist was too wide for me. I was sore within 20 minutes.


August 21, ride #40. Light ride re-testing Simco western saddle. Still sitting a litle too low and pressing on withers, but was a good fit for me. Talked to A who was aout riding Trigger, and he had a wither fill pad he got at Saddle Up. Went right over and bought one! Can't wait to try it out but this weekend may be full of Sounds True Wake Up Festival instead of horseback riding.

Western today!

July 31- Back..from vacation

Titled as such because I returned from a wonderful week in Vail with a very sore back.

Sherlock did well under CC's care, I think he even gained a bit of weight. He did well with the citronella bands and his feet weren't chipped up or legs stocked up! They were starting to fade over the course of the week, then I took them off due to mud. I expect they will not last the listed 5 weeks- but even 2 weeks was very helpful.

I just said hello the first day back and gave out some carrot slices. The new POA mare, Maya is in with them and Sherlock is a bit grumpy about her but seems peaceful with Trigger now.

Tuesday we had a hand-walking day. Up the hill to the pond, Sherlock was nervous up there. Came back down and grazed the edge of the hay field along the back edge of the lesson horse pasture. Strong walk coming back. Still a little nervous passing by Lady and her foal Dobby.

Went back to the barn and free lunged just a few minutes. He was stiff at first but opened up well. Walk/Trot very nicely. Had grain and groomed up, went home.

I had to go out early on Wednesday, and I beat the girls feed truck. It was already raining quite hard. I just gave him a small amount of beer grain and took off the fly bands for rinsing. Pics of mud coverage for the day- quite good, I guess 85%.

July 18- ride #37, busybusy

Wow-working very hard during this time at two part-time jobs and selling items on eBay.

Sherlock looking good in blue.

On July 3 the pinto mare went back to the lesson horse pasture and Trigger moved in. Large disruption. Sherlock was very desperate to get back on top and they seemed to be fighting a lot, new bites and scrapes all the time. Really hot, 93-97 degrees for days.

July 9 Rode in indoor. Walk, small amount of trot, walked over poles. Free longed more trot afterwards for conditioning.  Recall game over pole when he realized I had carrots! Grain and some alfalfa hay.

Then it began raining every day and making everything really muddy and slick.
July 12th I fed Sherlock in the paddock and got trapped in the shelter by a thunderstorm. Sherlock was good a while and then he'd push Trigger outside, so I drove him out too. After a couple times getting wet he hid behind me and was good. I hope this helps.

July 13 Worked in round pen 30 minutes- walk/trot/canter, and over groundpole. Just enough to need to catch breath twice, worked up a sweat. Hosed down.

July 16 Good grooming, all mud scraped off, worked indoors, w/t/c. Put on citronella leg bands and collar to keep flies off without needing flyspray while I'm away. Smelly! But they work- almost immediately stopping the stomping.

Getting ready for Vail vacation. C is going to feed Sherlock his grain while I'm gone. Glad to have someone watching over him.

June 25- Ride 36, how tall is he?

6/20 I dropped my Western saddle off to get the small repairs/updating it needs and ordered some Western safety stirrups. Was planning to ride but it was windy and Sherlock was very excited in the barn, so I free-lunged him in the round pen instead of risking a fall. I set up a small jump and worked him over it both directions.
What we learned was this: Sherlock only refuses or overjumps when turning left- with his good eye towards the rail. Whether it's an attention problem, a vision issue with the jump appearing faster than he'd like, or a vision issue that he can't see my cues so is uncertain what to do, I can't tell.

After the battle.

6/22 Planned on a 30-minute easy walk to stretch my sore hip and back. Went out to outdoor and mounted up. The gate is still off so it's permanently open. Sherlock was keen to go out again. We walked and trotted around a few minutes then he was fussy at the gate when the other horses went out. So I figured I'd go out, let the others go back to the barn, and practice coming back in. Sherlock had a fit- dancing sideways and threatening to rear if I got him facing towards the gate. So I dismounted, lunged in little circles just a bit, and made him go back in the arena.



Got back on, walked and trotted a bit, came out the gate, asked him to go back in. He had a fit. I was more successful in moving him forward so we walked over towards the paddocks, along the little internal dirt road. He acted up again at a place where the roads met, but we got around there and headed back towards the arena. Again he blew up, I got off and lunged and made him go back into the arena.
 Re-mounted and took a break there. Walked him straight out the gate and turned around to face the gate. He started to get sideways but I just kept this head pointed at the gate and let him stand there when he was straight on. I gave him a light cue to walk every so often but didn't push hard. After about a minute when I leaned forward he sighed and slowly walked into the arena.
The moment his whole body was in the arena I jumped off, lots of praise, scratches on the sweaty itchy neck, loosened the girth, and relaxed a few minutes. M was riding and asked me to take some pictures, and she took one of us. Didn't want to torture his poor brain by getting on again so yet another pic of me on the ground! Hosed him off and fed him his beer grain.
Wow- I'm tired and sore and bruised legs, probably from emergency dismounts.

I'm tall!

6/23 I posted the pic on FB and realized he looked really small, with the photo taken by M from atop her horse! So today I brought a pocket full of carrot slices and hoped to get another picture. I got Carrie to take some in the barn showing how tall he really is, 16 hands exactly. Often people say,"Wow, that's a big horse!" when we arrive in the barn. Partly he looks big because I'm short. But 16 hands is about where people start to say the horse is tall. Anything shorter is a short horse. Anything taller is tall.  Put Sherlock away clean and fly-sprayed with some extra hay.
I was just pulling out when the farrier pulled in. I thought I had time for lunch before she arrived! I turned around and came back- no, I had it written down wrong! She trimmed him in the paddock and he was really really good. I walked him and stretched when one of the backs was done, and he was much less stiff with the final back hoof.


Last 2 days I've been slightly sick with sore stomach again, Tums are a food group. I've just been visiting to feed Sherlock his grain. It's rained in the afternoons but the flies are starting to bite. So today fly mask and fly sheet, all set for the bugs.

Sherlock goes undercover.

June 17-Ride #35 gaining

Very busy week working, fed Sherlock beer grain mixed with his usual grain every day.

6/11 Ride #35- Tacked up at tie rail in front of barn, new English bridle fitted and went out to the outdoor. Gate is still broken so we stuck to the non-gate end, walked some poles and pole bending before it started thundering and lightning strikes to the North of us. Did a circle around the arena (scared of passing by gas of shavings but handled it calmly given a few moments to stare) and dismounted and went back to the barn.

When we reached the tie rail, the trash truck was just arriving. So I moved Sherlock a little farther back, where if he did get spooked he had room to move without endangering himself with the farrier's truck.  He stood his ground and watched them pick up the dumpster, set it down, compact the trash, and drive off. And he watched them drive off and pick up next door, and go away off down the street. No snort, no spook, just fascinated until the truck was out of sight. Farrier was pretty impressed.

Took him in the barn and fed him his grain, then grazed the grass on the way back to the paddock. Really good day, super well-behaved.

Sherlock at the hay net.

6/12 Raining, groomed and fed grain before Dr. Deb arrived to adjust him. He picked up all 4 feet for her and stretched nicely, sore over hips in SI joint and in withers, neck was pretty good. Weight-taped 870#, gaining well!

6/13 Fed grain and measured for custom bridle from Uisce Saddlery of Ireland! Liz suggested her and I think a custom bridle for half the price of a decent show bridle is quite the deal!

6/16 Fed grain and tried on new royal blue sports boots and bell boots. Looking good for Halloween- bought saddlecloth rayon material and felt for numbers. Now I just have to find my iron...

6/17 Fed grain, cleaned hooves and hung out with Terri and Rocket. V left today and the girls who feed are happy about that. Note to self: never make an enemy of the person who takes care of your animals.

June 4-Ride 33,34 groceries needed

Sherlock 5/20 

Wow- really busy here with several freelance projects. A book to edit, a website to arrange, and a bunch of super art to sell on eBay!

Sherlock has been having some time off to gain weight, but I did get to ride some in late May.

5/20 Ride 33. Indoor arena English/sidepull. Walked over poles, worked on stretching and forehand turns.
Started compressed alfala-mix hay for additional calories. Measured for protective boots- he'll take a royal blue Medium in the boots I'm planning to get for him.


5/26 Ride 34. Round pen bareback pad/rope halter. Still a bit short-strided on the harder ground, walk only. Lots of backing a few steps, turns on forehand. L said he was caught in the electric tape- no cuts, no sign of trouble today.

5/29 Groomed in barn, farrier was there doing hot shoes. Good experience watching and smelling that, while eating a bunch of extra hay. Weight-taped 835#. UGH! Asked stable girls to feed more, and they gave them all lunch. They have a new hay that a lot of the horses won't eat, apparently. Sherlock will. I wonder how good the hay is since it must be last-year's. It was such a wet spring that almost no one has cut hay yet.

6/1 Small facial cut. More hay, added new fat-booster supplement for grain. Thinking about getting a month worth of ulcer meds. Give the new feed a chance. Still no sign of beer grain...
Lady did have her foal, a buckskin colt, and I keep forgetting to take pictures!

MacDuff at one day old