2013 in Review

     Happy New Year! 2014 is here, along with lots of new ideas goals and dreams! Before we move on to 2014 goals, I think it will be good to reflect on Jellybean's past year!

January
Jellybean made it to the farm on January 5th, and we got started working on ground manners immediately. I convinced her she had to pick up her feet, and she wasn't allowed to be aggressive towards me, even at dinner time! We played in water puddles, and got started in the round pen.

Jellybean also got to wear a blanket and then tried to jump out of the paddock! During a Texas warm snap, Jellybean even got a bath (which she definitely didn't like). Benny helped Jellybean learn to pony around and then Jellybean learned the basics of long lining with the halter. At the end of the month, Jellybean got her rabies vaccination and took a few days off.

February

February started off with a bang, when all the horses escaped to the hay field next door, except Jellybean, who preferred to be alone. She also moved into a stall and started getting breakfast.

In between the rain showers, Robert learned how to work with Jellybean in the round pen and Jellybean learned more about long-lining. The saddle was also introduced, and Jellybean didn't really have any concerns! Robert built some cavaletti this month, which Jellybean has barely used, although many other horses have used them extensively. We finished out the month with some good saddling exercises.

March

Jellybean wrote her first blog post and then had a snotty nose!  Jellybean also met her new sister, Ginger. We tried calling Ginger Peanut Butter, but it never stuck. 

Ginger moved right into the training program, and helped up with Jellybean by ponying her around.

April

Jellybean banged her leg and got to wear wraps for a week or so. Then we worked on long lining with the saddle. Jellybean got a cold, and had to learn about penicillin and needles. Jellybean  hit a new low with her treatment of farriers.

May
May was the big move into the paddock! Jellybean and Ginger moved into their own space as soon as Robert and I redid the shelter to make it a bit safer. Jellybean learned how work on the line instead of just the round pen. It rained a lot again.

June
School was finally over, and I was hoping to spend some more time with the horses! Jellybean started coming into heat and started being a scandal! She started flirting with Cash and some of the other boys through the fence. June was really hard for us, as Ginger passed away. The official report said salmonella poisoning, but I don't even know. Jellybean officially turned two on June 11th! Robert spend more time working with Jellybean on the ground, and then the vet came! Jellybean had her teeth floated and got all her shots up to date.

The real excitement of the month came after the vet, when Jellybean was lethargic from the rabies vaccination again. I rode her! Jellybean had a lot to say about that, and the month ended on a good note :)

July
I was on vacation in NC for half of the month, and Robert worked on Jellybean's training. I did bring her some new clothes and toys when I got back. Jellybean learned all about the bridle in July, and made some massive progress. At the end of the month, we missed barn time with the condensing of apartments into a house.

August
More riding in August, and building on fundamentals. Jellybean had lots of turnout time, and then developed some eye goop. After a lot of rinsing with saline, she seemed to clear up. She went on a trip to pick up Jeannette's horse Panda, and gave no fuss about the trailer. We also dealt with the farrier aggression, and that is luckily not a problem anymore. Jellybean also let me trot around with her for the first time, and started tweeting!

September
September meant the beginning of crazy work. Jellybean still got worked, and we ran into an issue with moving forward. Jellybean didn't really understand what my leg pressure meant. The rain started for real, and our daily training sessions disappeared.

October
Jellybean wasn't impressed by the cutting pen, and was a little bit naughty. I made some serious plans in October, because I felt I wasn't giving Jellybean enough time. This is certainly true, and I was feeling very overwhelmed with teaching and research and teaching lessons and riding and sleeping. Then we continued building to Halloween! We even had some spooky events when the feed keep being overturned and eaten. Pesky raccoons.

November
The rainy season was building, and the stalls flooded very badly; Jellybean even got moved for a few days. At the beginning of the month we bought Oberon, and Robert told everyone his first impressions. Most of this month was spent feeling guilty about not riding Jellybean and dealing with the massive mess the rain made. We also went out of town for a week during Thanksgiving.

December
Whew. End of the year. Robert and I continued to be extremely busy, but we did manage to spend a little time dreaming up goals and dreams of 30 day plans. The ponies enjoyed our busy-ness, as they got to spend a lot of time hanging out, instead of being ridden. We did have a memorable experience with the farrier, who informed me that Oberon apparently has navicular... And then it was Christmas, and then the end.

Looking back on this year, I am completely impressed by how far we have come with Jellybean. I think I need to be a little nicer to myself, and remember, Jellybean isn't even 3 yet. Plenty of time, and this time I feel like we aren't progressing will be well spent grow-up time for Jellybean. Stay tuned for some beginning of the year glamour shots :)

Merry Christmas from the farm!

     Christmas is winding down after a family packed week! Rob and I are exhausted, and the ponies are probably bored of hanging in the stalls all day. Byron is tired of us playing with his emotions. We took him to see Robert's parents then left him and came back... then left him at the house alone for a night while a friend helped up feed him. Whew! And now we are finally home (at least until next weekend when we travel for work).

Naps at Christmas time!

     So yesterday we had a great day riding some ponies, after a little bit of struggle before Christmas. We have been dying to try Oberon over fences (Ok, myself, Jeannette and Maggie). Finally I made some time during one of my lessons. I expected to be a great example, but Oberon had other plans. We went over a cross rail and he bucked a little at the end and off I plopped. Oops. Robert said my form was ok, I rolled past my head and shoulders. Except then I splatted on my lower back. I got back on and decided jumping crossrails could wait for another day.

     Sunday Robert and I had some extra time (haha apparently, this means I manufactured time for ponies into the schedule. Robert is forever telling me that we don't have extra time...) and we decided to work the ponies. Robert wanted to work on his communication with Oberon. Oberon requires one to ride with constant contact of the lower leg and constant contact through the bridle. Robert is learning how to do this, and practiced at the walk yesterday.

     Jellybean has been sporadically ridden, so I decided to go back to the round pen and work on walk/trot/canter. Unfortunately the round pen bit me, and I didn't get to canter around after I jacked my knee. Jellybean did well, and I think I need to focus on riding her in the cutting pen. I have also been trying to decide if she should be characterized as green broke instead of unbroke. I don't know where the line actually lies... Let me know what you think!

Good ride on a chilly day

     Happy Monday!

     This weekend blew by, but we did make some time on Sunday to ride the ponies. Jellybean was up first, and Robert lunged her on the line in the cutting pen. Then I hopped on her and walk/trotted around the pen. She did awesome! She trotted off on command (but only until she got tired) and slowed right down on command. She was getting better about turning, but she putzes out when she tries to turn at the trot. 

     It all boils down to Jellybean is super lazy. She is kind of spooky about the cutting pen, and especially the standing water on the other side of the fence. She also spooked off when someone driving down the drive splashed some water. The other awesome aspect of this ride is that we were not the only people riding in the arena! Jeannette was riding Cash, and Jellybean wasn't paying him any attention! I am so glad we had a good ride, and I hope the good rides keep on keeping on :)

All the ponies had fun running around the jump field!

Another day at the farm... and a rant about farriers

     Thursdays have been interesting the last two weeks. I have been "forced" to take the day off from work because the farrier. I guess this isn't completely true, because I have been growing things at work)This has ended up being a nice way for me to spend some extra time getting projects done at the barn, and a little bit of riding in. Last week, the farrier gave us the run around, saying that he was cancelling (a day out) because it was supposed to rain (which matters not, as we do farrier work under a shelter...). Then he said he would be out, but his truck had problems, so maybe later. Then nothing. I spent the day working with the ponies and cleaning out the nasty, nasty horse stalls.

     So this week, the farrier was scheduled to come at 10am. Good early morning time! Then the day before he rescheduled to 12pm. Ugh. Starting to be annoying. I went out to the barn and piddled, not wanting to ride because I wanted my horses done first. And piddled. Then we decided to grab lunch and got behind, so we texted the farrier to ask him to let us know when he was on his way, if we needed to run. He said he had to get some tools and he would be out soon... Cue 2:30pm and here he is. Starts working on Oberon and first thing tells me that he has navicular because of sensitivity to hoof testers.

     Now navicular sounds pretty bad. Basically, inflammation and degeneration of the navicular bone and the surrounds tendons, ligaments, and tissue cause lameness and pain that increases with time. Long story short, its degenerative, and causes lameness in the front feet and culminates with your horse becoming a pasture ornament. No bueno. Of course, I was very interested in how this works, so I spent some time researching and chatting with people.

     The symptoms of the syndrome include lameness on both front feet, with the horse avoiding stepping on his heel. One foot will likely be more sore than the other. So when a person sees their horse limping (being lame), they will usually ask the farrier to check them out or take them to a vet. The farrier can make some educated guesses, and the vet can x-ray or ultrasound the foot and get a picture of whats happening. Working together, the vet and farrier can usually come up with a treatment plan that maintains the horse's comfort and longevity.

     Anyways, to summarize that last paragraph, diagnosis occurs with radio graphs and ultrasounds and other in-vet hospital tests. In Oberon's case, I haven't seen him be lame... and this is a major red flag to me. The next red flag is the farrier diagnosing a degenerative condition with one small test, that could mean lots of other issues. The final flag is that the farrier said regular shoeing until he becomes lame, then fancy (ie expensive) shoes, then pasture ornament. Nothing was mentioned about working with a vet for a treatment program...

     I guess my summary here is that I am miffed that the farrier jumped to a very serious sounding disease with minimal diagnosis and no referral to the other side of the treatment (aka vet). I think its pretty much bs and a great way to charge me for unnecessary therapeutic shoes. He may certainly become lame later on, and I will deal with that when it comes.

     Ranting...I especially have trouble taking you seriously when you waste my entire day. Just because we can take texts to update ETA and reschedule, doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your original appointment. And please don't make your excuses less compelling when you don't apologize for being late and then tell me how you were working cows this morning, when you should have showed up at 10am. Ugh.

     And before this blog post gets completely ridiculous and long, I will end on a good note. I have written many times about Jellybean's questionable behavior and sometimes outright aggression to farriers. Well, with the assistance of the dressage whip, Jellybean was a saint. The excellent thing was when the farrier responded to my description of her behavior by saying it was my responsibility to discipline my horse. Why has no one said that before? Communication is clearly the key. Now all the ponies are trimmed, and hopefully staying dry as the rain comes again.

Well the weather outside is frightful...

     Boy is it cold here. I know, I know. Friends up north reguarly endure temperatures near 30 for extended periods of time. I guess I was spoiled here in Texas last winter. We had a week of 20/30 and then back to 50-70. In any case, its been cold the last week (lows in the mid 20s-30s) and rainy drizzle. You can imagine this tanks any motivation to do anything. Lately we have been running out to the barn to feed and pick up a few piles of poop and then retreating into our cozy houses. So much for the thirty day plan... Although I did pick the absolute worst time to get started. Hopefully we can continue to move along even without the structure. I think it helps that we have worked at all three gaits now. Worst case scenario, Jellybean takes off and I just have to ride it out. While she isn't particularly comfortable right now, I don't think its impossible. Regardless, I have my fingers crossed for some nicer weather!

Brrrrr!

I almost got away!

As we near the end of year one of my captivity with my people I have been refelcting on the torture and all of the crazy stuff they have asked me to do.

Since I was adopted by Amanda and Robert they have made me do everything from walking through a water puddle to cantering under a stinky leather saddle.  All the other horses around here tell me this is what it means to be a horse.  I don't think they really understand who I am.  I am a princess pony!  I do not walk in water! I do not suffer my feet to be picked up by strange men with tools.  I am certainly not a working class pony.  I am Dusty Summer! 

With all of this in mind I saw my chance last night.  Amanda and Robert had brought the new guy, Oberon, and me in from the pasture and left our stalls unlocked while they made our dinner.  I was very cautious and quiet in my escape.  I waited until they were deep in discussion with Jeannette, then nudged the stall door open and made my break for it! 

Alas, my instincts and the people's snitch ruined my chances.  As I made my break down the aisle to freedom I saw some tasty hay and grain that had been left on the floor!  I tried to ignore it but it looked so tasty!  I stopped to take a bite and that is when I heard Oberon snitching on my escape!  He was pacing and nickering in his stall and then Robert looked over and saw me!  Shoot!  No escaping now!  He came down the aisle and tricked me back into my stall. 

These people are fools.  Maybe next year will be a better year to escape. 

I'll have to keep my gaurd up around these two legged animals....

Until next time.  Yours in captivity,

Dusty Summer (aka. Jellbean)

Oberon's One month Anniversary

So, it seems time flies by a lot faster when you are busy!  It seems like just last week when Jellybean met her "mail-ordered boyfriend", Oberon.  She was very excited and Oberon has grown very fond of his new stable mate.

A little bit of catch up on what he has ben doing lately.  First off, he had to get used to everything at the new place.  Whenever Amanda or I would ride him he would act like Doug from the movie Up.  "SQUIRREL!!!", oh that's right, we are riding....  "SQUIRREL!!"....  oh yeah, trotting here.  "OH MOTHER OF GOD! IS THAT A COW!!!!!!!!"  right....  cantering away now!  and don't forget all the scary flappy things like tarps of tin roofs or dogs, cats, kids...  a practical menagerie of new and scary things to see.

Well, he finally saw all there was to see and started getting bored...  I think bored horses are worse than bored children...  they don't get in as much trouble but, they are orders of magnitude more expensive when they do something stupid.  Sooo, we set up a work out routine for him.  long and low is his new torture (build that top line Oberon),  also a lot of circles to get that balance and strength back.

Other than that it has been a rough semester,  very little time to do more than ride 1-2 times a week.  I am hoping this will change now the undergrads are gone. I really hope we can build him up and see how he likes jumping in the spring!   Maybe even some fancy prancing dressage...  who knows.

Stay tuned for more fun.

p.s.  he has a twitter account just like Jellybean.  Follow him @oberonthehorse.