No Time to Write

I was going to write words to go with all the pics, but I haven't found time.

One thing I did want to say is that I got his ancestral DNA results back from Texas A&M. Good thing I did it just for fun, I don't find it super believable. #1 fjord or Icelandic horse, #2 Paso breeds, #3 Belgian heavy draft. I looked up the results other curlies have gotten, and nobody else got Paso breeds, but there were a couple fjord/Icelandic results and quite a few with Belgian or other draft influence.

Still waiting for results on the PSSM and other tests. I'm actually kind of looking forward to finding out what color he is. At this point I'm pretty sure he's not black.

Lots to say on a real keyboard

Oh, it feels so good to type on a real computer keyboard instead of trying to blog from my phone! My phone is dead at the moment...

We had another great hike today, 6 miles worth, out in the mountains.  No real water crossings this time, although there were a lot of puddles.  The trail was a little rutted from motorcycles, and we ran into two pairs of motorcycles while we were out there.  They were polite, but I still don't like running into them on that kind of trail.  Nowhere to go, and you're not sure if they're going to see you before they run you over.  It was fine, but Duncan was rattled after the second set.  The rest of the hike he was more worried.  Luckily we only had a little over a mile left.

He's a pretty sensible guy, paying attention to where he puts his feet, ducking under branches, looking to me for input.  I am really enjoying getting to know him better.  These hikes really put him outside his comfort zone, but he handles it really well.

He trailered great too!  I tied him in for the first time ever, to keep him from stepping on Scout who was in the first stall.  Scout, by the way, was a dancing turd all the way home.  Duncan didn't seem too bothered by it though.

John got to ride his horse as much as he wanted, for a first.  I'm still not allowed to ride (although I did ride briefly yesterday, which was probably a mistake).  He hiked and rode, to give Scout a break since he's super out of shape.  Scout was a rock star!  John is so tickled with him.  I love it.  I hiked the whole thing and I was a little achy internally toward the end. I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day.  Well, trying to.

I just got done moving Bella and Pedro to new digs.  John was awesome and dragged the water trough to the new location and ran billions of hoses out to get it filled.  Now they're out closer to the boys, and I don't have to go to two different locations to feed.

Yesterday I got my new saddle out and put it on Scout.  It's so light!  I didn't have any trouble throwing it up there, even in my unfit state.  I think it fit him too.  Honestly, I didn't check it super carefully.  He didn't mind it though.  I climbed on and toodled around in the field, then decided to cross the boggy ditch, which is about 2-3 feet wide.  He doesn't like boggy stuff, so he jumped it, and that barrel saddle horn kinda bumped me in the belly.  STUPID.  Right where my guts were rearranged.  It didn't hurt at the time but I ached all night, which of course made me worry.  Might have been from all the pulling on the lead rope, though, when I got down and insisted that he WALK across.  I won't ride again, at least not anywhere I might get into trouble, until I get the go-ahead.

Oh, but what I meant to say is that I really like my new saddle.  Comfy seat, closer contact, free-swinging fenders, light weight.  The only thing I don't like is that saddle horn.  If I end up keeping it I might cut the horn off.  That would pretty much make it impossible to re-sell, but I would feel safer. Or I wonder if I could just unscrew it from the tree and replace it with something better.  I didn't get any pics of Scout in my saddle because my phone is dumb and it totally crashed and deleted all my stuff.  John fixed it though.  He's so handy.  He also fixed my truck when it broke on the way home from our ride/hike today.  Just a blown fuse...

I better get going, my growing teenage son is starving to death, there are many dishes to do, and a bloody mary calling my name.

What a great day!  I wish they were all like this.

(Wrote this yesterday, forgot to publish until this morning.)

 We had a really nice hike today.

 He liked my sister's baby horse a lot.

 Then I pretended to tether him to a tree and let him graze. I just wrapped the rope around. It worked well even when he got his rope caught on his leg.

 He's such a good boy!

Here's a better pic of my sister's baby that shows her pretty blanket.

She's a Nez Perce horse, which is a cross between an appaloosa and an akhal teke. They're supposed to have excellent strength and stamina in the mountains, and good minds. Her name is Wesa (way suh). She's a super level-headed girl.

Progressing Well

I love this goofy picture. He looks like a Muppet.

I put a fly mask on him for the first time. He doesn't love it. That morning I had to leave before the sun came up.

I also put fly spray on him for the first time. He was very upset. Each time I sprayed him he jerked like he'd been hit with electricity. Scout wanted the treats I had, and ended up crowding and blocking Duncan's attempts to escape. It almost looked like he was trying to help him cope. Whatever he was doing, it worked. Duncan still didn't like it but he settled down and accepted it pretty quickly.

Here you can see how one is able to focus better than the other. :)

We worked on desensitizing with the lariat. No prob.

And ground driving. We need a lot more practice but it was an excellent first session. He got confused but not overly upset about it. I can't wait to play again today. :)

This horse really is something else. He takes to things so quickly.

Yesterday we had snow, sunshine, snow, and sunshine. It was a beautiful spring day.

Day two of the new routine - working together in the afternoon. I walked out to get my boyo and he brightly joined me. We went out to the far pond again to graze, and this time he didn't look back toward the other horses even once. 

While we're walking we practice crossing all kinds of small water. Thin trickles, wide boggy spaces, wide running water. Not going into the ponds though. I don't trust myself not to fall if I walk into the muddy bottom and I am trying to promote relaxation so I don't want to send him in alone.

We went into the round pen and he walked circles. He's such a good boy. At each direction change I brought him in to me, stood and relaxed, then asked him to drop his head to the ground. There is much less resistance there now when I put my hand on  his poll. Of course he's still perfect when I use halter pressure.

I showed him the surcingle but didn't put it on him. I need to decide whether I want to use a bit or not. I don't see why he needs to have one to go down the trail, but I also feel like it communicates more clearly for precise work. I will probably add a bit to the equation today, and the surcingle tomorrow. I may not start driving him for a while because pulling is still  on the verboten list for me.

I am hurting worse after two days of overdoing it, but I don't want to give up this new routine, so I'll probably just cut it shorter. Maybe the bit can wait.

Turning Point

I'm at the two week mark post-surgery and I feel a lot better. Still painful of course, but more capable. I can walk almost at a normal ground-covering pace now, just being careful not to jolt. On rough ground I have to take it slower.

I got Duncan out for the first time, counting on him to be good so I wouldn't accidentally hurt myself. He was. :) I was a bit slow for his taste, which made for a good teachable moment.

I gave him a lot of time to graze at the far end of the pasture so he'd feel like leaving the other horses was a good thing. It's hard for me to stand and do nothing. A good teachable moment for me. :)

We did some walking circles in the round pen. Not asking for anything but continuation, waiting for him to relax. It took a while, but it happened.

Another thing we're working on is dropping his head willingly and keeping it down until I release him. He does great in the halter but has some resistance when I signal with my hand on his poll. Eventually I'd like to turn it into a cue I can give from the saddle, using pressure on his neck.
I've been reading a book about endurance riding and getting a lot of food for thought about proper conditioning, balance, and teaching the horse to use its body correctly, which of course means the rider needs to ride well. I don't plan on ever doing a 100 mile ride in one day, but with the things I ask my horses to do in the mountains, they could use some better conditioning.

Getting Bored

I'm feeling a little better each day, and along with that comes boredom. I'm almost inspired to start up a new hobby like wood burning or something. Almost. Right now I'm all gorked out on pain meds so a nap sounds good...

I've been getting in a walk or two every day, visiting with Duncan and Pedro and letting the dogs run off some excess energy. The weather is actually kind of nice, with sunshine at least part of every day.

He is the cutest horse ever!

Huckleberry lays down and dies if he gets cockle burrs.

Surgery done! & Another Saddle

Had my surgery yesterday. No way is it "no big deal" as I'd been told, although it might have been if it had been more routine.

The surgery itself, which usually takes an hour and a half, took three and a half hours. My uterus with its fibroids was 7x4x4 inches. I think it's supposed to be more like 2x3.

The pain has been really hard to manage, I think because my innards are so offended. They were so compressed before, and then all that rooting around, and now they have room again, which I guess might make them angry for a while. So I'm still in the hospital instead of going home same day.

I feel a lot better this morning. More human, but still hurting. No reason to think I won't go home today after they transition me to oral meds.

In other news, I sold Duncan's Crates saddle. It just wasn't comfortable and was very cheaply made. Now we're trying out a Billy Cook barrel saddle, which is super comfortable and has rough-out, which I really like the idea of for first rides. I don't like the skinny barrel horn but it seems low and out of the way, even if it doesn't look it.

I only have crappy pics, but I'm going to share them anyway.