Goodbye to Sawyer

Last night Sawyer colicked. The bad kind. The desperate, throwing himself on the ground, grinding himself into the dirt, really bad kind. So, all of my dithering and indecision about how bad he really was, whether I could/should keep him going despite the look in his eyes over the last several months - all of that is over.

Panic in the dark, ask John to stay with him while I gather supplies. Scramble for my headlamp, a tube of sedation, injectable banamine and syringe/needles. Find my gun muffs and get back out there. Send John for his rifle. Then wait for the sedation to take effect so Sawyer could stand still.

There was no sense calling a vet, I've helped enough clients through the same situation enough times, and I know my horse. And I don't like injectable euthanasia for horses. It's too slow and they can make it just into the excitatory stage and do backward cartwheels. It's very dangerous and ugly.

Sawyer was shortly more comfortable with the drugs onboard, and he passed quickly and painlessly. He doesn't have to suffer anymore. I miss him. I miss our complicated feeding routine. I will miss our uncomplicated rides, very much. There aren't many horses as good as him. What a good boy. We sure have been lucky to have known him.

If anyone has any recommendations for someone to make tail hair keepsakes, I'd live to hear them. I'm thinking a mecate and a hat band.

I can't believe this weather

We're still getting out to ride in late November!

Lots of rides at home.

Halla is making progress. Lots of fear at the mounting block, but then tons of licking and chewing and yawning and walking with her head and neck long and low. She's realizing she's not going to die. Literally. Poor horse, to be so worried!

I got a thermal waterproof riding skirt on Etsy for Christmas and I LOVE it. I would have preferred brown. If you go searching for it look for the ones made by Gala Grin in Ukraine. Her store is called Horse Related Gifts. Some of her stock is in the US so gets here fast, as with this skirt. I could have custom ordered brown but I didn't want to wait. It's great for chores too.

Old man, not feeling like riding.

Beautiful Hala.

She doesn't have bitch face!

Scout man

Wenalmost missed our ride yesterday! See John in the truck engine?

But I saddled up as he worked and we made it!

Getting ready at a new friend's house:

Road riding is not my favorite but it allows for some experiences you don't get on the trail, like crazybhorses and mules running up, semis driving by, and bad dogs creeping through the grass trying to follow us. :D Also, it's always good to make new horseback riding friends!

I'm not proofreading, so forgive any heinous typos or auto corrects! I gotta run!

Heyburn State Park

We had a lovely ride at Heyburn today. I have a new riding buddy, Priscilla, and she brought along a young friend to ride her other horse. Her horses are Indy the buckskin TWH, and Louvisa, the dun Fjord. She has cushings, which is why she has the long coat.

Here Louvisa and Scout are having a splashy party.

The trail here is rocky which made them all want to walk on the edge, which isn't really cool. Luckily the edge is strong and not crumbly.

My good, good Sawyer at the viewpoint.

There was a forest fire on this part of the trail a long time ago. It was an eerie woods, totally silent with no animals, not even birds, until we saw a couple deer, then eventually I heard a few ravens.

This was a sleep pull! Poor horses:

Plummer Creek:

It was a long ride, especially for Sawyer. The mileage on the map was not correct. But he was a trooper. He's been feeling better since I stopped feeding him hay, and about a week and a half ago I started giving him Equioxx daily rather than just every now and then. No more colic episodes, unless he sneaks some hay from the donkeys under the fence. I like that better than thinking of putting him down.

Tomorrow we're going on a shorter, easier ride close to home. I'll take Buster, these boys deserve a break!

I may try to catch up with some other ride notes and pics, but I might just try to start up again from here. I miss blogging!

Quick Hello

Hi! We're all still alive here. 

Cracking me Up

On our ride today Buster was choosing the route and it was pretty funny. We followed an old logging g road, then a wide trail, then a game trail, then we ran out of trail, and he would occasionally stop and think, then keep on trucking. I had a general idea where we wanted to go but he seemed to have a very definite idea. He'd never been to this area before and was headed directly away from where we started. Eventually I had to give him some guidance, which he took into consideration. At one point he refused my guidance and headed into a gully, fast, fighting the bit. That was when he didn't get to lead the expedition anymore. Still, no big deal, he is sure-footed and I felt pretty good about things. Opportunity for improvement. We worked on our stops some more after that. :)

Today was his first ride out with a horse he doesn't know, and I think his 6th trail ride. He did great! He loaded into someone else's trailer behind the new horse, fully saddled. Way to go, Buster! Went to a new area, and I rode the whole time without dismounting but twice for gates, not because he was being impossible or anything.

The two rides before that were uneventful. One short ride with 2 friends on Scout and Sawyer and 3 hikers and 2 dogs. And the next ride was a super relaxing sunset ride with John and Scout and 3 dogs. Too many dogs! They all had too much energy in too many different directions. No biggie for Buster.

Sawyer has gotten out a bit too. We met some new riding buddies the other day and that was fun.

We even had a loose horse along for the ride and it was just fine. 

Liam has been getting Sawyer out and riding him briefly at home almost every evening lately too.

I rode Halla tonight. She was a very good girl. Not totally comfortable with everything, but she's so responsive compared to any of the boys. Sawyer never knew a lot of the finesse stuff, Scout is like a big distracted school bus (although he does try), and Buster is a donkey. He does what he thinks is a good idea, in his own time. And he's still learning, of course. Halla is a fat ballerina. Not really. She's a fat over-achiever though.

She didn't want to come out of the dojo. I think it's nice that now the round pen is a safe space to think rather than a place to run.

This would have been a cool silhouette if she hadn't turned her head just enough to make her neck look too short and thick. Well, she does also have those big ears. :)

Pretty much a good day. :)