Stormy at five weeks old

Are words really necessary? I realized that I was in deep trouble when I caught myself watching her sleep the other day. I have to say, I really think she is just about the most beautiful thing I have ever seen (aside from Luna, of course). She leads, picks up all of her feet, and loves to be brushed. Now, if I could only find a halter to fit.....

New Rescues, Fussing with Luna, and truly disgusting pictures!

This weekend was sorta nuts. Friday was spent in a moronic daze, running here - there - and everywhere, while it was about 150 degrees outside and Murphy's Law ran amok. I was going to have to be up and loaded and gone by 6 a.m. on Saturday, not being able to return home before the barrel race that night, so I had to pack everything I needed.

The reason for having to be up and gone so early was my sister. Well, her horse anyways. Patches used to belong to me, but J has always loved her, and so I sold Patches to J's husband for a birthday surprise. She hadn't even had her a month when Patches cut her foot something awful. So...off to the vet (at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning) we go. BTW - it looked like this :

Barftastic. The Awesome Doc at Equine Surgery and Medicine fixed her right up (after making J gag several times, lol) and she has to go back in two weeks for a cast to curb the development of proud flesh.

Saturday afternoon was spent swimming with the kids and giving Luna a bath. She sure is pretty all cleaned up. Then we headed off to the barrel race! Where we ran the most awful run that we have ever ran. It started off well. We came in the gate going all out, Luna's little ears laid back flat on her head, my heart pounding and everything just felt right. Then....a part of my attire got caught on the saddle horn. I panicked going into the first turn and accidentally pushed her past the barrel.

The second barrel went just as badly but it was because Miz Luna decided that we were just gonna be done and as she came out of the turn she headed for the gate, lol. I wasn't expecting that. So we got lined out and the third barrel was a beauty but by then it was far, far too late. Arrrg! It's okay. We had a good time running and it was also neat because it was the first time any of my family had come to see us run (probably another reason the run was horrid - I was nervous!). Besides, I vented my frustrations while I was untacking Luna. I calmly and cheerfully, in a nice and soothing voice, told her exactly what I thought of her turn around the second barrel, that I should have named her Alpo, that her grandma was a yak...and so on and so forth.

Sunday morning dawned to a phone call from a gentleman that needed help. He had taken in two yearlings out of pity and they were in real bad shape. He had enough honesty and courage to admit when he was in trouble. He brought them that afternoon, a filly and a stud colt. They are both Appaloosas (unpapered, of course) and barely handleable at all. The filly is the one with the red halter and the skunky look to her tail.

They both have wounds from being run through a barbed wire fence by a large stallion. If you thought the above wound pictures were nasty, you might want to just skip the rest of this.








Looks awful, doesn't it? Fortunately, both of the poor things are sound with no limp or lameness which would indicate major trouble. As bad as it looks, it is a flesh wound, and should heal with time and care. Since the wounds were already a few days old, we cleaned and medicated them after speaking with our vet. He is always willing to check things out via email because we are over an hour away. Plus, I really didn't want to stress these guys out with another few hours in a trailer.





We are going to trim up the dead skin this evening and then apply more medicine. We are supposed to leave it open but medicated and watch for any signs of infection. Both of these kids got a tetanus shot when they got here so if we can hold off infection we ought to be in good shape. We all wish that the wounds would have been in a place that wasn't impossible to wrap but, although they will have a gnarly scar, they should heal up just fine.





This week is the Pretty Prairie Rodeo (KANSAS LARGEST NIGHT RODEO!!!!) and we will be riding in the Grand Entry Parade every night. I will try to take some pictures but it is nearly impossible to get anything decent when Luna is just waiting for me to let my guard down so she can try to kill me. Jk, she knows I love her.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot!

Ugh. My fellow Kansans, the heat is here.

Yesterday was awful. We worked on the outdoor arena all morning (yay! Its coming along!) and then mowed the lawn and bathed horses in the afternoon.

The heat is a trial that we all have to go through. We lug around our sunscreen, fans, cool drinks, beach umbrellas, and all sorts of things to help keep us cooler and protected from the sun. Have you ever thought what life would be like without those things? If you had to work outdoors, in the heat, without any aids? You would still tolerate it better than your horse.

I recently read an article by Teresa Pitman entitled "When the rider is hot, the horse is a lot hotter". The article says that a horse that is being exercised moderately in hot weather can dangerously overheat within 17 minutes. That is 7 to 10 times faster than humans.

Another interesting fact that it stated was that people tend to work their horses in the morning or evening hours when its cooler and then go to an event that is held during the heat of the day. The article recommended building the horse's tolerance to the heat by working in the heat of the day in small doses, getting the horse used to it before riding in a competition.

Finally, the last thing was that you shouldn't use a cooler or sheet on a sweating horse. The best way to cool a horse is to soak it in cool water, scrape the excess away, and then soak again, repeating this until the horse is cool. The most important part is to scrape the extra water away because the heat from the horse will heat any water that is trapped in it's coat to the same temp as the horse.

You can find the entire article here at http://atguelph.uoguelph.ca/

Remember to make sure that your horse always has clean, cool, fresh water and plenty of it. Provide a mineral block to replace lost salts, etc. Ride smart and have fun!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

So, I wish that I was computer literate enough to do a little jazzing up of the blog for the 4th of July. You know, maybe playing a snippet of the Star Spangled Banner or one of those little pictures that move. Sadly, I am not. So you'll just have to settle for a snapshot of us getting ready for the 4th of July Parade in downtown Hutchinson yesterday.

On the right, on the big sorrel with the blaze is Dustin. The horse is Badger (who really thought this parade business was a bunch of bull**** and wanted to run all the way home). We were lined up on Avenue B and waiting for the route to begin. We ride with the Pretty Prairie Saddle Club and we all wore long sleeved white shirts, red white and blue bandannas, and white cowboy hats.

I rode Luna (of course!) and she, as usual, recognised a chance to perform and made the best of it. She dropped at the poll, arched her neck as far as it would go, and with her ears perked up, pranced her way down 20 blocks of screaming and adoring fans. I am pretty sure she thought the event was organised especially for her. I love it when she does her parade trot, it is a super slow and easy but high stepping trot. It looks like a very fancy prancy version of a collected trot.

Of course I used puff paint to paint red white and blue stars on her butt and I fishbone-braided her tail halfway down and tied it with a red ribbon. Hopefully, I will get the pics back from the family that took them for us soon and I can post them here. I had to grin every time I heard a little girl squeal "OOOhhh, look at that one, the black one!!!" She really did look beautiful.

Badger handled everything much better once we got moving. Every time we stopped he looked around at the crowd with an expression of extreme dislike and fidgeted a bit but Dustin kept him calm and well in hand, talking quietly to him most of the ride.

A friend of ours rode our youngest heathen's horse, as he had pulled some muscles and couldn't ride. Splash carried her like a trooper, never being bothered by the moto-cops with their flashing lights, the crowd, the firecrackers, the music, or the other horses. He is a super star.

Speaking of the crowds - I was honestly amazed at how little regard for their children's safety people have anymore. Can anyone tell me why in the world a person would think its okay to allow their three or four year old to run out in the middle of the street into a crowd of horses to try to pet them during a parade?!?!?

Listen Up People - Horses do not like to run people over as a general rule. I imagine we're squishy footing. However, when a horse is scared, cornered, or furious...exceptions are made. I saw a little girl nearly run underneath of a palomino yesterday. The horse was already nervous and it was only by quick thinking on the rider's part that the girl wasn't trampled. I get so frustrated with this. I think some people honestly think that all horses are like Flicka, the Black Stallion, Black Beauty, and Mr. Ed rolled into one. Sheesh.

Anyways, for the most part it was a wonderful day. We barely missed getting rained on (which was good because the white shirts go transparent when wet) and no one, including horses, got hurt or had a bad time of it. Hutchinson looked so pretty with the flags a flyin' and the streets lined with people, it made me feel good to know that I was part of celebrating our country's birth.

So wave your flags, pop your fireworks, and give thanks that we have the freedom to live the way we choose!