OMG!!!!! Dentists, Riding Bareback, AND a saddle ride?

(How I hear Jellybean complaining to Cash)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!

Those people are soooooo, like, mean!   They had those mean old vets come out and hurt my mouth, shoot me full of drugs against my will and then...  THEY RIDE ME!   What are they thinking?  The indignity!  I am not a riding pony!  I am a princess pony.  I eat when I want to. I sleep when I want to.  Gah!  So embarrassing.

Did you see it Cash?  They took me out to the round pen on Tuesday and tricked me.  We walked around for a while and then that lady I like made me trot and canter and walk.  I think I am starting to understand what she says but, its still people speak and its soooooo complicated.  Why can't she just neigh?  

Then the unthinkable happened.  That big old meat head of a boyfriend tricked me.  He got me over next to the nice lady people and held me there while she sat on me!  She actually SAT on me Cash!  Robert led me around the pen to shame me even more.  what a jerk.   Then they did it all again from the other side.  Just awful.

Wednesday night Robert wasn't there so Amanda got Jeannette to lead me around while she sat on my back.  What is this they are doing?  

Thursday was the worst!  Robert was back and Amanda wanted to shame me even more!   this time she put that smelly pad and heavy leather thing on me first.   Then they did that same tricky move and Amanda sat on me again.  I tried to be really good so they won't make me do it again.  Cash, do you think they'll make me do it again????   You are my boyfriend horse, you'll stop them right? 

Striking while the Iron is Hot!

     So yesterday was just another one hundred degree day at the barn... And for some reason I decided it would be fun to go out after lunch, since my science failed for the day. What a mistake! I cleaned out Jellybean's stall while she socialized with her boyfriends. She is Cash's girl, but sometimes other guys try to make a pass. Marvel was trying to get fresh with Jellybean, and Cash lost his marbles. They had some rearing and pawing, then Cash kicked Marvel, hard, in the chest. Marvel walked away, defeated. 

     After stall cleaning time (about 230pm) I grabbed Jellybean and we went to the round pen to work a little bit and try to get the fluid moving, as her back legs were stocked up. We worked on walk, trot, canter transitions with voice commands. Then I kidnapped Jeanneatte (who writes 14 Hands and Counting) and she helped me ride Jellybean again. We completed the same exercise as yesterday, I slide on from the fence then we walk one round of the round pen before I get off and repeat from the other side. In case you are wondering, Jellybean is still not herself from the Rabies. I expect she will be much better today and tomorrow. Maybe she will even feel fiesty again...

     Speaking of feeling fiesty again, I am reminded of a food dilemma  Jellybean is still sitting under 700 pounds. She is definitely in that awkward teenager stage constantly growning, and I want to make sure she gets enough calories. She is currently eating two scoops (six pounds) of 12-8 pellets per day plus about four flakes of coastal hay. She also gets about a cup of canola/corn oil and about an ounce of Red Cell per day. She is barely on the threshold of light work, and she's supposed to be a quarter horse!! I thought they just breathed air to be fat... 

     I am considering adding some weight gain or rice bran to her feed but I want to see how the teeth float affected her eating efficiency. I'll keep you posted.

First Ride on Jellybean

     Some of you may recall that Jellybean is very lethargic after a rabies vaccination from the last time she had shots. As a result, I decided it might be a good time to get on Jellybean. We walked her out of the stall, and over the round pen. I walk/trot/canter warmed Jellybean up, just enough to make her realize she was lazy at heart, and feeling poorly to boot. Then Robert led her around the round pen with the halter and lead before I climbed over on her back. She didn't do anything, not even a tail swish! Now this could be due to fortuitous timing, or she just likes me too much to throw me in the dirt (unlikely). In any case, this is just a small step towards the bigger goal of having a broke horse. 

My Goals for the next six months, not neccessarily in this order:

• Accept bridle
• Ground driving with bridle
• Lunging with side reins
• Accept rider
• Drive under saddle
• Accept leg pressure

As the fall comes back, (which will be sooner rather than later) I want to set up a weekly ride with her, where we work on the basics of giving to pressure and accepting more advanced cues.

All of this is great, but I was REALLY REALLY excited to sit on the back of my pony yesterday :)

The Dentist Comes for Jellybean

Yesterday was a big day at the farm.  The vet came out for annual vaccinations, coggins tests, and dental work!   All of this before noon!  Jellybean's normal wake up time.

Jellybean needed all of her vaccinations and dental work.  She had a rough morning and it was not made any easier with her being an obtuse and unfriendly mare to the vets.

They started by trying to take her vitals.  Normally this would be as easy as a stethoscope and a thermometer but, Jellybean had her own mind about these things and decided to try cow kicking at everyone in her stall.  The vets were good though, no twitching and no sedation to get the vitals, just patience and perseverance.  Then came the sedative for her dental work.  I timed it from injection to stoned pony...  only 45 seconds for the drugs to kick in.

Alright, enough bring stuff.  Show you the pictures right?  Well, she had to have her teeth floated and two wolf teeth removed. (little teeth that reside in the gap where the bit would sit.) So they used a speculum to hold her mouth open.

Somehow we ended up with a bionic pony!   Bigger, stronger, faster than before!  oh! and she can now chew through metal!   Nah, that is the cool little device they used to open her mouth...  But it sure looks funny.

As you can tell she is pretty much out of it from the drugs so she is being a REALLY good pony.  They actually let me in the stall to take pictures of this, so what did I do?  I stuck my phone right up in her mouth and took a picture.  Say hello to Jellybean's molars.

Huuuuurrrrr  duuuuuurrrrrr.  My mouth is big!  Believe me these are going to be blackmail photos when she finds out about them. So they had the device ready and then they began floating her teeth.  This was way cooler than I thought!  The vet used a power drill with a grinder wheel on it.  Here is your video:

My apologies for the quality.  If this kind of stuff keeps happening around the farm I may have to upgrade to a fancy verizon smart phone with a better camera.

After the teeth float the vet extracted her wolf teeth.  I don't have any pictures of that since it was deep in her mouth and I got kicked out of the stall.  After all of this indignity suffered by Jellybean the anticlimax to the day were the vaccinations shots.

The vets packed up all their tools and pokey things and moved on to the next horse.  I walked over to Jellybean and she was still rather out of it on the drugs.  Her ears were forward and she even had some will to nip at me.  I knew she was fine.

She may be sore and stiff for the next few days but, she has no idea what awaits her now that she can be bridled without the pain of wolf teeth.  Enjoy your rest Jellybean....   there is work ahead for you.  muahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

A successful exercise for Jellybean and me

Amanda was busy last Friday night and did not get the opportunity to train with Jellybean.  Amanda had a lesson to co-teach and me being the good guy that I am did not want Jellybean to feel left out.

So...  while Amanda started her lesson, I got Jellybean out of her stall and started grooming her.  She did fine with brushing on her right side but, her left side is her temperamental side.  She tried to squish me between her and the rail!!!   what was she thinking?  Now she is a 700 pound horse but,  I do not squish easily!  I knuckled her in the haunch to tell her to move over and, after a few more squishing attempts she gave up and stood still for her left side brushing.  Next came the care of the dangerous end...  the hooves.  Jellybean let's Amanda pick her hooves no problem but, I am new to her so she challenged me.  her front hooves went well; with just a few stubborn moments.  her hind legs however, she wanted to fight for.  I know horses kick and i know Jellybean is opinionated so I was prepared.  As I went to her hind leg she kicked out.  with a firm but fair hand I reminded her that kicking at people is NOT tolerated.  We had this talk three or four times but in the end she gave me her hoof and showed the respect she should.


Then we moved on to her lesson for the day.  She is currently learning voice commands for whoa, walk, trot, and canter.  she is learning upward transitions as well as downward transitions.  It seems like a lot for a two year old to get.  As we moved out to a walk circling right she did fantastic.  She moved out on the word walk and stayed in her circle.  She moved up and down her gaits on command and even came to a stop direct from a trot.  She really is a good pony!   So we switched over to her not so good side.  Circling left she would not hold her circle. She kept cutting in and all she wanted to do was trot.  We worked a lot on our commands circling left.  I had to pull her in to remind her what walk was and give her constant reminders not to cut the circle.  In the end we both had a good work out and we both had our horsemanship improved by the lesson.

Amanda was very happy for the work done and another boarder at the barn also commented about how nice it was to have someone to do things while Amanda was busy.

It was bittersweet to do the training with Jellybean.  It made me miss Ginger a whole lot.  It was the first time I had worked with a horse since she died almost three weeks ago.  It felt wonderful to work with the horses again and I was told that these feelings reaffirm that "I was a horse person before I knew I was a horse person".

Three Common Annoying Young Horse Habits

Evention posted this video regarding annoying young horse habits, which I think I like. Jellybean has not experienced one or two, and she doesn't quite do three, but its always good to have more resources!

Happy Birthday Jellybean!

     With all the business going on all week, we missed Jellybeans birthday on Tuesday! So Friday night we made Jellybean a birthday hat and took some pictures :) She is officially two now! I am also wearing my birthday hat :)

You guys are so annoying!

Do you have snacks?

"Don't Cry for the Horses"

     As many of you know, we said goodbye to Ginger on Saturday morning. Friday afternoon around 3:30 pm she began lying down and looking uncomfortable. Her pain and discomfort increased through the afternoon, and the vet examined her around 6 pm. Ginger was then taken to the vet hospital for more comprehensive care for what appeared to be an ileal impaction. We left the hospital around 10 pm, with optimism for her recovery. At 3:30 am, the vet called to discuss surgery and euthanasia. Ginger's pain was not controlled by medication for longer than 20 minutes, and there were indications that sections of her intestine were dying. We made the difficult decision to euthanize Ginger, and stayed with her during her last moments. 

"Don't Cry for the Horses"

Brenda Riley-Seymore

Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free
A million white horses
Forever to be

Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band

They were ours as a gift
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep

Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against the blue sky

Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved

Manes and tails flowing
They Gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine

Don't cry for the horses
They will be back someday
When our time has come
They will show us the way

On silver wings they will lift us
To the warmth of the sun
When our life is over
And eternity has begun

We will jump the sun
And dance over the moon
A Ballet of horses and riders
on the winds
to a heavenly tune

Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here

Don't cry for the horses
Lift up your sad eyes
Can't you see them
As they fly by?

A million white horses
Free from hunger and pain
Their spirits set free
Until we ride again

I can haz hay?????

Jellybean and I had some quality time together tonight.  We had treats and grain and hay! She even let me in her stall while she ate to pet and love on her.  We did have an ear pinning event but, it turns out horses get friendlier if you push them around a bit.  She finally accepted the inevitable and let me pet her. After she ate her grain I went and worked on our poor broken cavaletti.  The wood had split on one leg of each cavaletti so I had to splice the two together.  It worked out very nicely.  All told a good day at the barn.  I threw jellybean her two flakes of nice fresh cut hay and took some pictures.

Jellybean nomming her hay!  Happy pony.

And the new "old" cavaletti

Amanda is away and I get to take care of the Bean tonight

Amanda had to make a trip to Houston today.  This means that I get to have all the fun at the barn by myself.  Feeding, grooming, gossiping, and projecting. There are some cavaletti that need fixing and I am sure there is some sheath cleaning that I will be forced to endure.  Anyway, just thought I'd let y'all know that even when mom is away the fort is solidly held down.

First post as a contributor.

Hello all you horse crazy people out there!  I am Robert and it looks like I have been given permissions to contribute to Dusty Summer's diary.  I promise not to slide too far into the ridiculous... But I am after all a guy posting on a blog about his girlfriend's horse.

Just to ease in to it, here are some candid shots from earlier this week

Even Ginger takes self shots!

It was also bath day,  she dries in zebra patterns

And of course, me and the horse:

thanks for reading and, stay tuned for more wild horse antics.

Blog Changes!

     I have decided to make a few changes to the blog, in order to have more topics to post about and more accurately reflect my obsession with horses. Currently the blog focuses exclusively on Jellybean, but I will be expanding the topics I post about to include training articles I find interesting and also the exploits of Peanut Butter (who will henceforth be referred to as Ginger, since the name changing didn't ever stick). I will also be opening up the authorship, and allowing Robert to write a few entries about his opinions and training exercises. I hope that expanding will provide me more topics to write about and entertain the masses :)

#awkwardselfie

Jellybean as a flirt?!

     Jellybean was being naughty yesterday. First we had a talk after she was making eyes at the other horses across the fence [I'm looking at you Cash!]

photo credit: Jeannette Bayer

     Even after our talk, she would still make eyes through the fence at the other horses... Well yesterday I put all that behind me and decided to let Jellybean explore the cutting pen next to her paddock a little. There is currently a few breezy shrubs growing and a low spot currently filled with water, I thought these might be good opportunities for Jellybean to explore. However, she had other plans! There are several horses stalled along the arena, a yearling palomino that was recently gelded, a one eyed old gelding, and a stallion. Jellybean went strutting past each of the stalls, sniffing at the stallion and even flirting with the palamino! She pawed at the ground and tossed her head, teasing him for being in a stall! I am a tad ashamed that she was flaunting herself! During the entire incident, Peanut Butter was calling for Jellybean, because she was sooo far away... In any case, looks like Jellybean is ready for a more intense version of "the talk"

Paddock keeping

     Today was a work day at the barn (again). The paddock needed to be cleaned out since its the first weekend without rain in awhile. Robert scooped out the poop while the ponies looked on, confused. Jellybean was especially interested in why Robert needed to move her poop... She followed the fork from the initial site to the wheelbarrow, and then to the gate when Robert went to dump. The other cleaning point was the leftovers of the first round bale. The hay was pretty gross, the ponies stomped it into the mud and peed all over it... we tried to move it out, but most of it was already part of the ground... In any case, they get a new round bale this weekend and they can start munching again :)