Do I have to?

An invitation to join a newly forming 4-H club about 2 1/2 years ago is what started us on the road to horse ownership. Both E and I were so excited to find this group of people and she happily became a member of the Thundering Hoofbeats. And she continues to happily join in all the activities that the club regularly does....except one. Updating her record book. You'd think we were impaling her with hot pokers every time she has to sit down and document her horse-related activities! I forced E to spend an agonizing 15 minutes (Yes, it really only takes 15 minutes!) filling in her activity calendar. And yes, I am a "mean mom." :-)

Since it's snowing again, we've had to limit our horse-time to mucking stalls and tackling unruly manes. On the way out to the barn today E snapped a few pictures of the beautiful winter landscape.

Kicking up his heels

Sorry for the long hiatus. School, work and a little mini-vacation seem to have eaten up all our time lately. Last night was our first trip out to the barn in a whole week - and boy what a mess we had to clean up! Unfortunately, Quinn prefers to use his stall as his bathroom too. This wouldn't be so terrible, except that he pees in the stall as well. Uber-gross! (Note to self: get some pellets for the stall!)

While cleaning, I decided to let Quinn loose in the round pen (mostly because he kept putting his big hairy body right in my path!). He was super happy to be led out of the stall and I was happy to see that he is remembering to stay behind me as I lead him. Such a smart boy! Anyway, I took him into the pen, undid his halter and then watched him run and buck and have a grand ol' time for a few minutes before I headed back to my chores. I felt good inside, being able to give him the pleasure of a little space to run around in. He's been cooped up in his stall and run for way too long now.

E was off taking care of Curly's stall. When she finished that job, she brought him out under the barn lights so I could pick out at least one of his dread locks. There are currently 3 snarls - well, actually 2 now, since I combed one out! - making a hideous mess out of his beautiful mane. It took quite a while to get the one out. The last two will be tackled this weekend, barring another run of bad weather. After that, we'll tackle Quinn's tail....the whole thing is just one huge dread lock. Uhg!

E spent some time with Quinn in the round pen and it became immediately obvious that he has never learned how to work in that environment. This was probably his first time in one, in fact. She had him moving in a circle at a fast trot at one point and when she tried to get him to stop, he freaked out (spooked by her hand? the halter rope?), he bucked, slipped and fell onto his side. Both E and Quinn were okay, but he was a bit of a nervous wreck at that point. She'll work with him on this on another day....

When I got home, M asked how my day had been. I answered, "Great!" His reply: "Ah, you spent time with your horse, I see."

Now back to our regularly scheduled season...

I knew that the spring-like weather was not going to last, but boy was I sad to wake up to cold, foggy days!

I had forgotten (blocked?) how miserable it can be on a 4-H ride night when the temps dip below freezing. And Tuesday was not as bad as Wednesday and today. We had freezing fog off and on all day. Both E and I weren't too disappointed when our trainer called to cancel this afternoon's lesson. Getting cozy next to the fire was very appealing in this damp weather!

On a different topic...I was told about another potential horse this week. A family nearby is looking for a good home for their 10 year old QH mare, Ginger. They say she is super sweet but that she needs a job since their daughter announced that she no longer wants to ride. I talked to them at length today and plan to go take a look at this horse soon (Although not as soon as I really would like....we are going on a trip this weekend and then the other family leaves when we get back!). It sounds like Ginger has all that we're looking for, with the added benefit of having done 4-H showing before as well - something that Quinn has not done. Anyway, we haven't fully committed to Quinn yet, so I'm still open to other possibilities.

Lesson time

We had our first lesson in ages today...and it was great! E and I have decided to get instruction with our trainer twice a week for the next few months. She needs to brush up on her skills and I, well, I just need to get some skills!

I spent some time brushing both horses thoroughly this weekend, in preparation for today. As we drove up to the arena this afternoon, however, I could see that all my efforts had been in vain. Both horses had rolled in the dirt sometime this morning and they were caked with mud Oh well, at least they appear to have enjoyed the wonderful spring-like day!

Since Quinn is still an unknown quantity, and we were riding at the fairgrounds - which is not fully fenced in and a new environment for this guy, to boot - we decided to just acclimate him to his surroundings and not saddle up. He became a little nervous when his pal Curly was led away, but overall his behavior wasn't too terrible. It is obvious to both our trainer and me that he is young (in temperament), which contributes to his inability to stay focused, but that in general he wants to work with us and is trying to figure out what we want from him. I walked him around for a bit, and again, he was a little all over the place. He did try to strike out at me at one point, but was corrected for that inappropriate behavior and made to stand tied for the remainder of the lesson time. [E says a better description of this would be "We popped him in the nose, jerked his head down and then tied him up." :-) ]

Curly, on the on the other hand, was a gem. We had all anticipated a rough ride since he has had so many months off. But E had a great time and he kept his mind focused for the majority of the lesson and actually acted like the trained, well-behaved animal we have been striving for. It was amazing! He is terribly out of shape, however, and after 30 minutes he was ready to head back to the trailer. All of us were happy, though, and didn't mind cutting the lesson short.

First pedicure...

We've been unable to get hold of our regular farrier (I think he's traveling in Montana at the moment), so a friend offered to take care of Quinn's hooves for us today. I was a little worried about how he might behave - we haven't done anything more than feed him and clean his stall since he arrived at the horse barn.

Prior to our friend's arrival, E walked Quinn around the barnyard to help him relax in the new space. He was obviously excited to be treading in new territory, but overall his manners were pretty good.

Friend Z, trimming Quinn

We decided to have E hold his head, rather than tie him up at the rail, while friend Z trimmed his hooves. Quinn freely offered his feet and was fairly well behaved during most of the process. He got a bit antsy towards the end and pulled his back hooves down a time or two, but I'd have to say that he performed better than Curly ever does. It was another point in Quinn's favor! So far he seems like a keeper.

As I had said in an earlier post, his hooves were in sad shape:

Front left - before trimming

back left, pre-trim

Friend Z said it looks like he hasn't had a trim in about a year or so. But the hooves appear to be sound...and they definitely look healthier than Curly's! Quinn's right front needs to grow some before the correct angle is achieved, plus there is a spot on the front of that hoof that looks like either an old injury or abscess that hopefully will grow out.

Front hooves, one on left (right front) post-trim, one on right (left front) pre-trim

There are still some splits in the front, even after trimming, but Z did not seem concerned with it. She did note that his right front has grown a little oddly and hopes that it can be corrected with time and good care.

right front, post-trim

Quinn was quite happy to be released back into his stall after the whole ordeal. He was a little tender-footed, of course. We hope to try him under saddle either tomorrow or Monday.

(By the way, did you notice the green grass in the background of the first picture? All of the snow has melted and the weather is almost spring-like. We've been worried about flooding, but so far the river has stayed within its banks.)

Ice rink

Yet another storm is on the way so the girls and I made a trip out to the barn this afternoon. We hacked away at frozen poop piles, replenished grain supplies and moved hay bales on the sled, knowing that it might be quite a while before we can come out again.

Both horses were happy to see us and made nuisances of themselves while we tried to finish our chores. The poor boys are bored and restless; Quinn (yup, we've settled on a name!) has even broken one of the rails in his run.

The girls discovered that "Lake Curly" has become an ice skating rink. They twirled and slid around until their toes were frozen in their boots. (I'll post pics as soon as I have a camera cable around - hubby M took ours on his trip to sunny, warm FLORIDA. I'm so jealous!)

1/10 addendum:
Here are the promised pics --

It was so cold outside! Curly's tail had so much frost on it that it looked like it had been dipped in a paint can.

R had a grand time on the ice.

Best laid plans

Today was supposed to be a day of major cleaning and brushing. Both E and I hoped to get the stalls and runs thoroughly mucked out and then we planned to spend some time combing out manes and tails - both horses need this done desperately.

But when I woke up this morning, it was snowing. ARGGGHHH! I was so happy to finally be able to drive on clear, dry roads yesterday and here it is, only 8:30 in the morning and at least 3 inches of new snow has fallen. I no longer think this is fun.....