Workin' again...

Yesterday, E took her first ride on Curly since last July. She was ecstatic when I told her they could travel around the arena at a slow walk for 20 minutes or so. She didn't waste time saddling up, choosing to ride bareback instead. Both horse and rider were so happy to be working together again!

E made quite the funny picture once the ride was done. Riding bareback had left large dirt stains on her backside, plus so much horse hair she was actually able to curry it off. The fact that she wore mis-matched boots yesterday just made her seem all the sillier:

The post-cleaning version of E's outfit...

Why the mis-matched boots, you ask? Her ankle has been acting up again, necessitating the use of an ankle brace. When wearing the brace, she needs my (larger) left boot. Funny looking, but effective!

I also think she just likes to be weird sometimes. :-)

Should I?

Last night was 4-H ride night. Curly is still having lameness issues, so E had to ride Chance. A few small jumps were set up in the arena for the girls to practice with; E has decided that she really likes jumping. This does not help my blood pressure.

While we were there, I saw a couple of horse-for-sale flyers posted on the tack room door. Times are tight, feed is expensive, and we're all beginning to see more and more animals up for sale. The two from last night are priced to sell (only $500!) due to divorce. A friend (our barn manager) knows the owner and the animals and says that they are good, sound horses. So should I go look at them????

There are two things holding me back at the moment. Number one is the lack of available feed. Good hay is scarce around here at the moment. I was given a couple of new leads for hay suppliers last night, though. :-) The second thing holding me back is E's back and forth on what she wants to do with horses. The last couple of times she's ridden, she's really enjoyed the arena stuff and jumping. The two horses listed at our barn happen to have ridden only trails up to this point in their lives. My hunch is that they'd go nuts riding around in circles in an arena.

But....there will be more good animals coming up for sale in the next little bit - and I'm sure that some will also be priced to sell like these two are! So, I guess I just talked myself out of looking at these two particular animals...but left the door open for future purchases!

Fruitcakin'

All of the horses out at the barn were jazzed up by the blowing wind and cooler weather yesterday. You could hear thundering hoof beats all over the pastures and we watched as they bucked and ran everywhere. It was fun to see...but of course Curly appears to have taken it a bit too far and now has a sore leg (right rear). We think he must have slipped in a muddy spot while fruitcakin' around. Will he ever be sound again????

(Side note: "Fruitcakin'' has become a favorite word....I heard the barn manager say it yesterday and it just made me smile. So descriptive and silly! I love the imagery it creates in my mind.)

E spent some time picking Curly's hooves (found two stones), putting linament on his leg and just generally loving on her horse.


R, on the other hand, found a warm spot in the barn and curled up in the hay to play.


By the time we left, she had finger-crocheted an incredibly long yarn chain.

I love the horse barn....