Blanket Weather

Idk wtf hes doing with his hind legs but that isn't how he normally stands lol

Pats for good babeh!

While Merlot is significantly older than Czoltar, his lack of consistent training  always make me question how they each will respond to something "new".

For example: because I've had Czoltar nearly his whole life and have maintained his farrier care hes nearly reliable to be trimmed and isn't too fussy. On the other hand, because I just got Merlot and finally brought him home, his past farrier care has not been regular his whole life. So when the farrier came out to trim him, he acted like Z did at 6 months old and was a spooky hot mess. 

For the most part, my training with Z has been pretty lax. In a large part because I'm so busy, but also because he only turned 2 in June. I want him to just worry about being a horse while he grows up, but I have worked to make him easy to catch, easy to halter, easy to lead, and easy to load. Besides that, there isn't much more I would want him to be able to do as a 2 y/o. Since hes largely just been turned out on pasture his whole life until we moved to the new RWF, I've never worried about a blanket. But now that hes in the barn and goes out every day for group turnout, I thought getting him desensitized to a blanket would only be beneficial for his future training. 

Merlot on the other hand spent most of his life (to my understanding) in a dry lot with no blanket or no cover. Hes a tough little dude. But hes always been on the ribby side and I want him to be a healthy weight and not have to spend all my money feeding him to keep his weight up. 

So last week when I knew it would be cold at night, I brought out Riesling's old blankets (because I'm too lazy to measure them to buy their own) to try them on the boys. Because Merlot is broke to ride, I thought he would be good to put a blanket on, but hes also been super spooky so I wasn't 100% sure. Like a champ, he snorted at the trash bag containing the blanket, snorted at the blanket, but stood like a rock for me to put it on and let out a long sigh after everything was adjusted to fit. 

I decided for Czoltar's first meeting with the blanket I'd try it on in his paddock where he would be more comfortable rather than the cross ties. He also snorted at the blanket and was a little noodly to rub it on his shoulders but really he was behaving pretty well. I was able to drape the blanket folded up on his back and he didn't seem to mind. As soon as I began unfolding the blanket and pulling it across his back though, he went bug eyed and "ran" forward (mostly like a strong power walk). I had my BF holding him for me at the time (I know I'm mean) and advised him to just walk him in circles until he relaxed. This happened rather quick and then I began to buckle the chest straps and rub my hands on top of the blanket all over him. He rushed forward to avoid the pressure again, but after a seconds of walking determined everything was ok. 

Because it was Riesling's though, it was swimming on him and I didn't feel like it would be safe to keep on him so I began to pull it off his hind end towards his shoulders. Rush forward, circle, rinse, repeat. Once it was off I rubbed the blanket over him again and despite his bug eyes he stood to take his torture. Really a rather uneventful first meeting to the blanket despite how I made it sound.

Smaller rain sheets are now on order for both boys! No more nekky ponies in winter!

Review: Equifit Hanging Boot Organizer

Terrible quality because my iPhone doesn't like to function

Price: $34.95
Purchased From: Riding Warehouse

Initial Thoughts:

When I first saw this online I thought it was a cool idea compared to getting a janky over the door shoe organizer and for $35 was worth a shot. There are 24 mesh pockets with elastic tops and it fits 12 pairs of boots. Or so it says, I wanted to test the claim and see how many I could actually stuff in there.

Final Thoughts:

The organizer seems durable and hangs from two metal loops. I think its kind of a dumb design but I'm not sure if I could personally come up with better. It does get the job done. I screwed some screws in my door for my tack room and hang it off of that.

The bottom row holds a set of 4 Dalmar cross country boots. I don't think these boots would double up well. Above that I have a set of Equifit open fronts and you can see I stacked the ankle boots on top of the fronts and that fits well. Medium DSBs can fit a pair per pocket but large or extra large requires each boot to have their own pocket. I currently have 11 pairs of boots shoved in there with 6 more empty pockets (which is good because I have more boots hiding somewhere). Overall this can hold more than 12 pairs if you are a hoarder like me. I think for the price this is a really great way to store boots. If I had a bigger door I'd probably buy 2 of these and hang them side by side that's how much I like this.

What storage items do you have for your tack room that you love?

The Storm

From left to right: Czoltar, Vermont, and Merlot!

Ever since I've started back at school I've just been in this overwhelming rush. Nothings been getting done and my to do list just keeps stacking up and I can't get it to go down. On top of all the Riesling depression, I just found out the hound dog has thyroid cancer. This time of year all my bad karma catches up to me.

So I've made a decision. Fuck it. I've gotten through life thus far on the seat of my pants I'm not going to worry about all the things I never got done.

Best view out my kitchen window

I'm taking each day at a time and really taking a step back. I'm dropping a class in school that I really don't need (while still graduating on time) and probably won't spend much time riding for the rest of the year. I haven't been able to take care of myself and that comes first.

My horses still get out and get loved every day. I'm still going to take my tests and pass my classes, just probably won't read any of my textbooks.

Skeptical doggo is skeptical. Need to introduce her still!

I just need to take care of myself for once. I normally can get going on a kick for 3 ish months before something happens and I'm doing the bare minimum. I want a high standard of self care to be my new bare minimum.

Also I really enjoy reading blogs and writing them, so I'm making that a bigger priority. With one of my classes gone I hope to use that time instead to read and write. What is it with fall that my life seems to always go haywire?

Gone.

Wednesday I said goodbye to my best friend of 8 years. 

While I haven't been actively blogging lately, I think you all can see why it happened. After his weight started to decline and he was getting less and less sound, I brought him in to the equine hospital for a professional outlook. 

 I kind of already knew what was going on. He had many reasons to be lame, between his left hind fetlock, shitty thoroughbred feet, arthritic hocks, and beginning neurological symptoms starting last year with the seizure. 

The vet confirmed my thoughts and we both agreed he didn't deserve to be in pain any longer. 

 We put him in a cushy stall where I said my goodbyes, and Riesling really told me he was ready. In a stall with rubber mats and a foot deep of shavings Riesling tried so hard to roll. He went down on his front knees but despite his groans couldn't get his back end down. 

It was hard. I didn't watch him pass. 

Right now his body is resting on 100s of acres out in the country while his spirit is running up above.

Riesling was my stability growing up between my parents divorce and moving all the way to Idaho for college. He gave me a love for OTTBs that will never go away. 

He taught me about dressage but showed me that my true equestrian love is flying high over fences. While we never had the funds to compete all that much, he gave me some of my most treasured ribbons. 

I can't begin to explain the hurt. I so wanted to have him out in my backyard greeting me with a nicker wanting his daily cookies for the next 10 years. But I keep having to tell myself I did the right thing. 

Even though he was a princess and really not all that talented, every horse I ever get I will compare to him, and really, nothing will.

The Fourth

You may have noticed in my last post I mentioned having four horses. But wait..I thought I only owned three? There is Riesling, Czoltar, and newly acquired green bean Merlot. 

And then there was four. 

I want to say I briefly mentioned unicorn mare a few times in passing on my blog, but I'm also too lazy to go read back my posts. 

Back in early spring, Best Trainer CJ got bombarded with calls from an unknown number for days. Because her phone number is on the internet, she avoids calls from people she doesn't know and lets them leave her a voicemail if they want her to call them back. Normal. One day, CJ just couldn't take it anymore that this unknown person wouldn't stop calling so she answered. And who would it be? This mares old owner. She will be in my life a lot more so I will call her Horse Show Grandma (hey- she told me she wanted to be that to me!).

 

HSG got CJ's number from a friend and was contacting her to see if she wanted a horse. CJ had a history of getting horses that were injured and needed layup and rehab in the past. Well, HSG had this lovely young mare that had a suspensory injury, and despite having a 99% chance of full recovery and 4 months left of stall rest, decided that she herself was getting older and ultimately it was in the horses best interest to find a new home. 

HSG came to CJ's barn one day to check the facility out (and this is when I met her too!) and see if it would be an optimal home for the mare. You see, HSG had this mare custom made and didn't want money out of her, just really wanted to know she would have an amazing life. After some talk and HSG approving of CJ and her facilities, CJ would be receiving the mare for $1 and provide her a good home and also breed her (HSG didn't want to see her sit and do nothing so they both thought breeding her was a good alternative to her not being a riding horse right now). 

Magical mare came to CJ's  and I was instantly obsessed with her. This lady is drop dead gorgeous! Through CJ and HSG I learned more of her history. Her name is Meghan Leesha Moore. She is a 7 y/o Irish Draught mare that was bred in California for eventing. She did some YEH stuff and competed recognized Intro as well as schooling BN as a young mare. She got hurt while playing in pasture last year and HSG had done stem cell therapy, aqua therapy, and all sorts of other things to make sure she would have a full recovery. 

CJ told me that her plan was to sell her to me as my future forever horse next spring after she had her baby. The plan was perfect because Evita was to be bred at the same time and both of their babies would grow up together! 

But as luck would have it, neither of them took. At this point I was already leasing E so CJ wasn't super bummed that it didn't work out for a baby this year. But it left her with a mare just sitting around her farm and doing nothing. 

She spoke to HSG about her plans, and offered to have me buy Mae for a small price just so CJ would get some of the money back she put into her from shoeing, hay, ect. Of course I couldn't say no. But there was one condition. I wanted Mae to have another ultrasound confirming a full recovery of her suspensory and a vet's clear prognosis with no limitations or future soundness issues. 

Earlier in August I hauled her over to Idaho Equine Hospital where she was foot perfect in her manners from me taking her out of her stall to the ultrasound being performed. The vet I spoke with had studied her previous ultrasounds prior to our appointment and did a lameness evaluation first. 100% sound. Next he ultrasounded (because I don't care how cheap a horse is, I want to be damn sure I'm not getting a money pit) and showed me his findings. While the suspension wasn't "normal" per say, he told me it was 100% healed and having a normal suspensory didn't guarantee perfectly sound. He saw no evidence that there would be any future soundness issues caused by it down the road, and ultimately if she was slowly brought back into fitness, she had no limitations. 

I've paid for her and shes officially mine. Am I a little stupid to buy not only another horse but another horse that already had a major injury? Eh yeah..a little. But professional advice assured me she should be sound. So why not take a little risk? She could be my horse of a lifetime (I mean nothing comes above Riesy) or maybe shes just destined to be a broodmare. But I'd hate myself for not taking the time to find out.