Waiting For Rocky

The past week’s temperature had been in the 40s. Finally, yesterday was warmer and the sun was shinning. It has been a long time since I have gotten on Lady and I thought that since the day was gorgeous I would go up there before I fed and ride a little.

I have to keep my tack at my mom’s house because my house is too small for all of it. So I stopped by to gather my things, say hello to the pony, and head on over to the field where Lady is. I pull into the drive and noticed that Malin was there with her trailer. She is the woman who is helping me tremendously with Lady and she was the one who set us up three years ago. She told me that she was getting her horse Rocky to bring him to her house for a little bit because the dentist was there for him.

Rocky walked onto the trailer like a gem. The girls on the other hand where screaming. They didn’t know what was going on and why Rocky was leaving. I told Malin that I was going to ride but I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn’t going to happen now that Rocky was leaving. I knew that Lady was not going to behave and the fact that I haven’t ridden her in a long time; it wasn’t going to be a good mix.

Malin gets the trailer all set and ready to go and drives out onto the road. Summer, the other mare in the field with Lady was screaming her head off like it was the end of the world. Lady on the other hand was just standing there watching and listening to the truck. She knew where it was and watched it pass in the distance, she so very smart.

Once Lady could no longer see or hear the truck she flipped which got Summer going too. They ran and ran, bucking and kicking and farting and making a racket. It was fun to watch and it lasted for quite some time but once they calmed down I got Lady’s halter and lead and tied her up to the fence post.

I got her all clean and shinny and looking like new. She’s so beautiful. Her winter coat has come in which has made her super soft. Once she was clean I just stood there with her and we hugged. I was waiting for Malin to come back with Rocky so that I could feed him and while I was waiting Lady and I were bonding.

We stood there for quite some time just cuddling and she started to dose off on my shoulder. I was just petting her softness and telling her that I love her and she’s a good girl. After a while there was a dog in the upper field that ran over and the girls and to go investigate. During this time I thought that it would be a good idea to get Lady’s dinner and get her blanket on for the night since I knew that the temperature was going to drop again.

The grain was in Lady’s bucket and Summer was doing her normal routine of trying to steal it. I had to get Lady’s blanket on and I knew Summer was going to push Lady away from her grain so I got a handful of the tasty stuff and put it in a separate bucket for Summer just to keep her occupied for a moment. I always talk to Lady when I go to put her blanket on because she likes to have an attitude but the most that she does is pin her ears back. But to my surprise she goes to kick me. I was leaning on her hip to get the blanket up and around her back and she kicked. Luckily it was only her hip that got me but I was so mad! This was the first time she has ever even tried to kick me in the three years that I have had her. I ran after her and yelled and screamed at her letting her know that kicking is not acceptable. I told her to go eat and to stop the nonsense. Once she was eating I again put the blanket on her. She tried to have attitude but I made her snap out of it.

Once that whole ordeal was over I was still waiting for Rocky to come back. The girls went up to the round bail at the top of the field and I got Rocky’s grain ready for him for when he arrived. I checked the water and filled it but still no Rocky. I then went up to sit with the girls and finally after another hour Rocky showed up.

Malin and I fed him and she told me how well he did. It was dark out by this time and I was a little tired. Luckily it wasn’t cold yet. Rocky is a great boy. I put him back in the field, locked up the gait and went on home. Maybe today will be a better day for riding.

Feeding Time

Now that Lady is at her new place I have to go feed her and the other horse there named Rocky at night. I like to get there around 6pm but now that it is getting darker earlier I think I have to start getting up there a little sooner.

It’s not just Lady and Rocky in the field, there is another horse there named Summer. She is a trotter and is, well let’s just say she doesn’t need any cookies, she is a little big for her size but she is a darling. All three of the horses there are bay in color. It is funny when you drive by; you have to really look to figure out who is who. I can usually spot Lady right off since she is the smallest at only 15.2 hands. Summer is that size but again, she is much more round in the belly. Rocky is taller and pushing 16 hands.

Due to the fact that Miss Summer is bigger and she could use a diet she doesn’t get any grain. I only have to feed Lady and Rocky. It is sometimes quite difficult with Summer being around. She is always trying to get at Lady and Rocky’s grain and I end up having to chase her away the whole time which is not something is enjoy doing.

I was talking to Summer’s mom about how I always end up chasing Summer away the whole time while I am there and she suggested either tying her up to the fence or just hopping on her back and riding her around the field while the others are eating. I thought to myself “ahh yeah, I’m gonna ride her.” Her mom said to just grab a halter and two lead ropes and jump on. I was a little skeptical at first but I had a good feeling about it. I got the halter and lead ropes and brought Summer over to a stump that was just the right size for getting on her. She was so good for me. She stood right next to the stump and waited for me to hop on.

Once I was on I was still a little nervous because I new Summer wanted to be with the others who were eating, she always tries to steel their grain, she is sneaky. But I made her stand there while I gathered myself up and then I gave her the smallest of smallest squeezes and we walked on. I knew that if I gave her any more of a squeeze or a click she would take off but she was great. I was telling her to teach Lady how to be as good as she was being. We walked around the other horses while they were eating and I gained my confidence with every second that passed. I was having a good time even though we were just walking around.

Lady and Rocky were done eating so I hoped off Summer and told her she was good and as always she ran over to the grain bowl to see if there was anything left that she could munch up. I just watched her and thought “ok, I’m going to do this every time!”

The next day, there I was, on the back of Summer. This time I had more confidence and we walked over to the water buckets to see if they were full enough. I knew on the way back that she was going to go faster to get over to the others who were eating and she did. Her being a trotter it felt like I was sitting on my couch at home, she was so comfortable. Normally a horse’s trot, well at least Lady’s trot, is bouncy but Summer’s is like I was flying. I can’t wait to go tonight to feed them!

Dealing with August Heat & Humidity

How do your animals handle the intense heat and humidity of summer? Yes, normally August is hot hot hot and we should all be used to it by now, however this year we have had such crazy weather patterns here in the northeast. Between the weeks of rain in June and July, and this very high percentage sticky humidity with highs in the low 90’s…it has gotten unbearable at times!

I live in CT and currently have two dogs and three horses.  While we keep the dogs mostly in our house which is air conditioned, we also have a little kiddie pool out in the yard that they like to ‘dip’ in occasionally to cool off.  We keep our walks and car rides to a minimum and the trips to the lake to swim frequent, and there is always a full bowl of nice cold water for them to drink. Our dogs seem to not mind the heat under these circumstances, so summer is just another month for them.

As for the horses….it seems to be a different story lately. My horses usually spend all day outside grazing in the fields and then are in stalls overnight with hay. The stalls each have a fan for them overnight, so they stay nice and cool even when humid 24 hours of the day. I have friends that switch it up in the summer and turn their horses out during the nighttime and keep them in during the day while it is this hot….however, I live down the road from my horses and am a bit leery about them being out at night without any supervision…just in case!

Outside, they have a nice big run-in shed out in the field that was built ‘into the ground’ sort of speak, so it stays nice and cool. There is also a fan running all day in there to keep the air moving and the bugs out.  While the rest of the year, they are normally out in the field 90% of the daytime and in the run-in shed 10% of the daytime, I am finding that over the last few weeks of this hot/humid/sticky weather, they are spending just the opposite. That would be 90% IN the run-in shed and only 10% out in the field grazing! They hole themselves up in the nice cool shelter standing in front of the breeze from the fans, run out and eat some hay or graze for about 15 minutes, then run back into the run in shed!  Even they are ready for some rain and cool weather to show up!

They have a HUGE water trough right outside the run in that I keep filled with clean cold water for them to drink to keep them hydrated, and we fly spray like crazy this time of year to keep the bugs away….even though it doesn’t always work……and they each wear a fly mask as well. Beyond the fans and cool run-in shelter, we also do ‘hose-downs’ or baths during the hot day to keep them cool and comfortable.  Other than packing them up and moving to a cooler/drier climate every summer, this is the best I have thought of so far………  I am trying to make them as comfortable as possible.

Does anyone have any other great suggestions for how they deal with the heat and humidity of summer with their pets they would like to share? I am sure there are many things people do that work that I haven’t even thought of.

Until then…..bring on the Fall!!!

Lady in the field

My friend Calli came down to visit me from Maine one weekend. I thought that it would be great fun to take her riding. We had never been riding together before so it was something we “needed” to do. My horse Lady, I don’t trust her with anyone due to her crazy, flip out moments. But my landlord had a horse, Moe, at the house that I knew was safe for her.

Moe was the type of horse that I could but my five year old sister on and not be worried. He was one big lug. He was a chestnut with a star and was about 16 hands tall; a big horse but with no worries. I had always enjoyed riding him because he never gave me any lip. If I wanted to jump he would jump, if I wanted to canter he would canter. He also had breaks, which is key. He was a great horse to ride, comfortable too. He was so good that when it came to dinner time, all I had to do was open the gate and he would run right into his stall without any problems.

Lady on the other hand, she is a whole other story. She was a rescue and an ex-racer so she came to me with only one thing in mind, to RUN! She doesn’t know much about anything when it comes to commands and keeping things slow and that’s why I don’t trust her with anyone else. I have been trying to train her to jump but when we get up to the rail she rears. Even if the rail is just simply sitting on the ground she freaks. If I want her to trot, it turns into a canter and ears back in I want to run mode. She really needs an experienced rider, someone who has the confidence and knowledge. Now, I’m not saying that that is me but it will be if I keep riding her.

There is a field at the end of my road that I have always wanted to ride in. Just hop on and take off! So, Calli got Moe ready and I got my crazy girl ready. We walked them down, I didn’t want to ride them because I was unsure of how they would be with all of the traffic. The field has a small wooden fence with a couple of breaks in it so that people can get through. There is a base ball field on one side and a soccer field on the other. We walked them through the break in the fence and hopped on.
Moe was great of course! Lady…not so good. She freaked! She was rearing and wanting to run, run home that is! I tried and tried to calm her down but she got so scared that she took off running toward home which involves crossing a busy road. I realized what she was thinking so I made an emergency dismount. The second I hit the ground she stopped, looked at me like she was asking “what are you doing down there?” I was so mad! This was the first time I have “fallen” off of her.

Calli came over to make sure I was ok. I got up all in a huff and got back on. I rode her around a little bit more just to make sure she knew that I was not going to give up. Eventually I really wanted to take off. So I jumped off of Lady, handed her over to Calli and hopped on Moe. When I got on him I knew it was going to magical. He took off running, moving like he was flying! It was beautiful! I had never been that fast and in control before. Having such a big animal under me, I could feel his power. My hair flying in the wind, the breeze on my face, it was amazing! I came back around to where Calli and Lady were and got off of Moe with a huge smile on my face.

It was time to go home. The horses were tired and we were tired. On the way back out of the field I knew there was a little brook in the woods and I thought that the horses would like to get a quick drink before heading home. I walked Lady down to it and she, of course, didn’t like the idea of being there. I turned around and walked us back out of the woods. When we got to the edge of the tree line I stopped just to get my bearings. I stopped, but Lady didn’t. One moment I was looking over at Calli and the next I was looking up at my horse’s feet and belly. It all went in slow motion. I curled up in a ball, trying to get out of the way. Her feet never touched me. I got up, Calli ran over to me to make sure that I was ok yet again. Lady just stared at me again like she was asking me “how did that happen?” I was ok, no cuts, scrapes, bruises, or broken bones. I was lucky! By this time, I was furious with her. We walked back home and I didn’t let her miss one step. I put her back in the paddock and that was it until dinner time.