We’ll See

The good news is we have lovely new fencing around the field [photo].
The bad news is built-up dirt along the fence line has sent all the water towards the driveway and the barn.
The good news is the gravel raised most of the flooring above the water line.
The bad news is the entryway needs to be handicap access. Any raised barrier to water would also be a raised barrier to Mathilda
The good news is trenches around the barn divert the water.
The bad news is Thunderpaws dislikes being wet, so he stands just outside, stomping the trenches into oblivion.
The good news is he is amenable to staying in a stall for the duration of the bad weather.
The bad news is if Rodney is in Mathilda will stand in the corner of the pen most likely to flood.
The good news is we have figured out how to keep the barn & all 8 hooves dry.
The bad news is someone has to be here to oversee the flood channels.
The good news is our lifestyle is such that I can usually be home for rain.
The bad news is even I like to leave the house occasionally. Cancelling riding lessons is okay. However, non-horse folks don’t truly understand, “I can’t meet you. It’s going to rain.”

And so on.

Rapprochement

Hubby thinks Rodney and I are coming to an agreement.

A few nights ago, Rodney and I had a minor kerfuffle during evening chores. When I put him in his stall he took a funny step. I led him back out and circled the pen once or twice to see if he did it again. Nope. Everything’s fine. When I led him back into his stall, he spooked at horse-eating gremlins outside the barn. This resulted in a discussion of personal space, his and mine. (He was concerned that I was about to turn him back out in the rain. Silly cupcake.)

Horse is figuring out rider. When he first arrived, Rodney took everything we said far to seriously. A minor reprimand would cause a Sky Is Falling! overreaction. He still flies up into the trees but now he only makes it as far as the lower boughs and a few pats on the nose will talk him down.

Rider is figuring out horse. With Previous Horse, you had to get into his face loudly and immediately, or he wouldn’t listen, or would possibly bite you. As I’ve said before, Previous wasn’t evil. He was, however, an extremely unsubtle horse. Messages had to be short, sweet, and convincing. It is slowly sinking into my reflexes that dealing Rodney requires much less vehemence on my part.

Hubby saw the entire exchange and later complimented me on my handling of. Whether this has anything to do with our eventual under-saddle career remains to be seen. Festina lente.

Psyche Songs Sought

Lola’s songs worked great. I played them in the grooming stall before lessons. I played them at the stalls before the show. I even sang parts of them to her. “I met her in bar down in old Soho …” kept us at a walk more than once. “Her name was Lola …” would get us started trotting. By the time I got to “… yellow feathers in her hair …” we would be sorted out.

220px-Born_to-be_wild-steppenwolf-45Now, I’m compiling a second motivational mix tape/playlist for general use and for horses who don’t have their own songs. “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf is an obvious choice. I’m looking for others. Please note, I have the music ability of a pat of butter, so the beat must be unmistakable. Lyrics will stick in my mind better than orchestral music. With the exception of, say, the 1812 Overture. Even I can remember that tune.

Whatcha got for me?

(45 cover image from Wikipedia entry.)

A Bit of Progress

My lesson barn has plenty of brushes, However, the brush boxes have usually been mauled by munchkins, so I can never find the brushes I like to use. I bought a set to take with me. Picky, moi?

bitWhile I was at the tack store, I wandered into the riding section. Back when, I didn’t ride Rodney enough to settle on which bit worked best for us. Previous Horse and Mathilda both preferred fat simple snaffles, eggbutt and loose ring respectively. However for a big horse, Rodney doesn’t have a lot of room in his mouth. He objected to the fat mouthpiece. Plus, it seemed to me that a the point of a regular snaffle came too close to the roof of his mouth. I’m told that a straight bar is actually more severe. I settled on a 6″ knock-off German silver/copper French link. A Dr. Bristol looks similar but is a much harsher bit.

Hubby sees my willingness to spend money on a bit as a sign that tack is in Rodney’s future. I won’t go that far, but I will grant that finding a comfortable bit is the first step.

Tiger Whistle

original-xpHubby proposed a theory. If Rodney has been suffering from digestive upset, then perhaps he has long-term damage. Is there anything we could be feeding him to support/change/improve his digestive process? I asked advice from Karen Briggs, author of the book Understanding Equine Nutrition, the guest post The Oily Truth, and the blog Writing from the Right Side of the Stall. Briggs recommend nutritional yeast. I have placed an order for a bag of Diamond V.

Since we are trying to cure an ailment that may not exist in the first place, we may never know if or how well this works. Still, the idea of feeding Rodney’s gut flora seems logical to my medical adviser and the supplement is likely to be beneficial for general health. If Madame will condescend to eat any, we will try it on Mathilda as well.

Do you have any experience feeding yeast to horses, cows, people?

Book Source

cov DotyThanks to Paperback Swap, The Monday Horses by Jean Slaughter Doty (bio & bib, also here) is now in my To Be Read pile. I wonder if it will be as good as I remember. Thanks to Jennifer Bryant for introducing me to Paperback Swap. For the price of postage, my books go to good homes & I get free books in return.

Not a joke. See last year’s post for my thoughts on April Fool’s Day. In sum, unless very cleverly executed, pranks are merely socially acceptable cruelty.

Update: To prove that I have a vestige of humor, Google Nose is cute.