Well, it is Friday! March 2nd has very significant meaning for Mitch. It means a day of humiliating photos and costumage unless there is rain or I'm in a hurry. I will try to get one good shot of him in a fedora if I can, but we shall see.
Anyway Happy Birthday to the bestest golden pony butt in California. A whole 13 years old! Welcome to teenhood, Mitchster.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Is that a mecate on your sidepull or are you just happy to see me?
Oh my gosh!! I was going to wait until the end of the month to order mecate reins from Sunset Halters because the February giveaway was for a mecate rein set.
Now all I need to do is order a mecate for Mitch because Jet gets the pair we won from the contest!!
Yay!!
Now all I need to do is order a mecate for Mitch because Jet gets the pair we won from the contest!!
Yay!!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Mitch and Jet Will Have What He's Having...
Life would be so much simpler if I could feed hay to Mitch and Jet, and have them poop out moneybags. Then, I'd stuff them so full of hay, they'd barely be able to walk. Free choice hay = lots and lots of green for meeeee!
And then I realize I live in the real world. And all that comes out of the back of my horses is poop. Which isn't even that green. Le sigh.
Today was one of those days. I had to go to the feed store to buy more MSM for Jet, Oatmo (O&M) for the both of them and some more Omega Horseshine. The Omega Horseshine was $44, which is actually cheaper than buying it at Smartpak, but that's before taxes (on the other hand, I don't really order anything else from Smartpak at this time, so I'd have to pay shipping, plus it would take a week to get here and I needed it now. I also bought the big tub of MSM this time instead of the little bags. It'll last longer, and be cheaper in the long run. Oatmo is good stuff. I don't feed grain because neither Mitch nor Jet need it, and while the oatmo has oat hay and molasses, there's not that much molasses because it's pretty dry. And a little oat hay never really hurt nobody (high glycemic index or no.) I don't give Mitch a whole lot, just enough to top dress his supplements and mix it in. All he gets is Equine Saver and Omega Horseshine. Jet gets more oatmo, but then she's got a regular apothecary of a supplement tub. Raspberry leaf, paprika (to keep her dark), MSM and Omega Horseshine and Equine Saver, plus her glucoasamine supplement.
Obviously, my horses eat better than I do. Not to mention I'm taking advantage of all the free grass growing around my paddock to let them do a little grazing while I muck. They're only getting about 10 minutes of eating time, but they go at it with a vengeance. Mitch is a regular lawnmower on hooves. The nice thing about letting them out to graze is that they're eating the grass down within reaching distance, so that removes the temptation to leeeeeeeean through the fence when I'm not around, and maybe rub their manes.
I need to make a few small orders here and there at various sites for little bits and pieces that I need, like stirrup turners. My ankles are starting to hurt, and I think turning the stirrups will help alleviate the pressure. Also, since there's a concern for California's drought this year due to the fact that we've had almost no rain, and a possible fire season of epic proportions ahead, I want to make sure I've got emergency halters in plain view with 10-foot lead ropes. I picked ye old generic black for them because I didn't want something pretty that would fade and make me feel bad about it. I keep my good leather track halter for Mitch inside my shed along with Jet's rope halter and their 14 foot leads, hence why I need generic black nylon halters outside in the event of an emergency. This all means,
GOODBYE MONEY
... if only moneybags came out the other end. I'd be set for life.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Still No Clinic Update
Sorry gang, I've been a busy bee. I've been riding, and working and doing stuff, and just haven't had time to update from the clinic last weekend. And it didn't help today that I went down to Santa Anita with a friend (the same friend I went with to Kentucky, and to the clinic last weekend, and just about everywhere) because it was sort of a last minute thing when we realized that Amazombie, the Breeders Cup Sprint winner we saw in Kentucky, and The Factor -- one of the horses my friend and I follow -- were running in a Grade II stakes race. So down we went.
I love going to Santa Anita. We've been down there so often now (and to Hollywood Park where we visit Barn 55, and see Zenyatta's little sister along with some of our other favorites) that it just feels like home. I never bet, really, but I like to visit the horses. Making the connections we've been able to make, and visiting the stable area of the track is really a special experience, and I love it. We've gotten to really get to know a couple of the trainers and have made some pretty cool friends.
So for Amazombie and The Factor's race, we went into the saddling paddock. It's pretty fun being out there because I can get some pretty good pictures. And then for the last race of the day, a maiden claimer, the horse that won belongs to a trainer we've gotten to know pretty well, a big time guy by the name of Doug O'Neill (does the name, Lava Man ring a bell?) and we were down by the entry gate to the winner's circle to congratulate Doug, and he invited a whole group of people including my friend and me into the winner's circle to get our picture taken with the winner. Cool or what? Picking the win photo up next week when we go back down for the Big 'Cap, so I'll share for sure.
I hope to write up my clinic reports this week. Until then, be content with this picture of Mitch after our ride the other day.
I love going to Santa Anita. We've been down there so often now (and to Hollywood Park where we visit Barn 55, and see Zenyatta's little sister along with some of our other favorites) that it just feels like home. I never bet, really, but I like to visit the horses. Making the connections we've been able to make, and visiting the stable area of the track is really a special experience, and I love it. We've gotten to really get to know a couple of the trainers and have made some pretty cool friends.
So for Amazombie and The Factor's race, we went into the saddling paddock. It's pretty fun being out there because I can get some pretty good pictures. And then for the last race of the day, a maiden claimer, the horse that won belongs to a trainer we've gotten to know pretty well, a big time guy by the name of Doug O'Neill (does the name, Lava Man ring a bell?) and we were down by the entry gate to the winner's circle to congratulate Doug, and he invited a whole group of people including my friend and me into the winner's circle to get our picture taken with the winner. Cool or what? Picking the win photo up next week when we go back down for the Big 'Cap, so I'll share for sure.
I hope to write up my clinic reports this week. Until then, be content with this picture of Mitch after our ride the other day.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Presidents Rode Ponies Too
Yessir, them Presidents rode ponies all right. Lookit William Henry Harrison. He rode a pony, and it killed him!
I spent all day at the barn. I went out to feed at 8:30, and then had 2 days worth of pooper scooper-ing, and then tacked Mitch up with the 40 pounds of AWESOME Billy Cook Wade and worked on some round pen exercises before I got into the saddle and we did some exercises I learned at the clinic. Then it was lunch time and I grabbed some fast food before tacking Jet up.
I think if I ever had the money to go to a clinic, I'd take Jet. She's just more sensitive than Mitch is. But Mitch would come along because I want Buck's cute assistant to ride him.
Sick of my split reins. I want pink mecate rope reins for Jet, and what the heck, a turquoise mecate for Mitch!
Sold my Tex Tan. It didn't fit any of my horses, and someone wanted to buy it. Using the money to pay bills rather than buy a dressage saddle. Which is sensible. But my birthday is coming up, so maybe Mitch and I will get a nice surprise then, eh?
I spent all day at the barn. I went out to feed at 8:30, and then had 2 days worth of pooper scooper-ing, and then tacked Mitch up with the 40 pounds of AWESOME Billy Cook Wade and worked on some round pen exercises before I got into the saddle and we did some exercises I learned at the clinic. Then it was lunch time and I grabbed some fast food before tacking Jet up.
I think if I ever had the money to go to a clinic, I'd take Jet. She's just more sensitive than Mitch is. But Mitch would come along because I want Buck's cute assistant to ride him.
Sick of my split reins. I want pink mecate rope reins for Jet, and what the heck, a turquoise mecate for Mitch!
Sold my Tex Tan. It didn't fit any of my horses, and someone wanted to buy it. Using the money to pay bills rather than buy a dressage saddle. Which is sensible. But my birthday is coming up, so maybe Mitch and I will get a nice surprise then, eh?
New Look!
I'm fiddling around with the blog this morning. It's gonna get a changeover real soon.
Home from the clinic. Learned so much. Will be posting stuff in the next few days.
Home from the clinic. Learned so much. Will be posting stuff in the next few days.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
With a way hey, blow the mare down....
Sunday was Pony Spa Day. Mitch and Jet got baths (apparently putting other horse owners to shame because they were so clean and yet were still getting bathed) and I braided their manes and tails, and put their tails in tail bags.
I have secret dreams that this will be the year when Mitch will finally get the Haflinger mane he came to me wearing ... before he went and rubbed it out on the fence so bad I had to roach it and it's taken a long time to grow back in. But so far, so good. I got about 8 fat braids. Here's hoping they stay in. And grow. The same goes for his tail. Which isn't so much of a problem, except the bottom seems stained permanent pee-and-mud color, it needs to grow long enough to be able to trim that off. I bought a Fabio-pony, dammit, he might not exactly fart rainbow butterflies like those Magikal Gypsy Vanners, but by golly, he'd better have a hair swish like a manly man.
And as for Jet, she is supposed to be like ink, like-so-black-she-sucks-out-the-light. Therefore, she got bathed with Quic Black. Which will be used frequently to get her back to a nice dark color rather than that mousey grey of a grulla she looks when clipped out. She's getting a bit of paprika in her diet to make her darker, along with dried raspberry leaves for her 'Mare Issues'. Add in the flax, and it makes me wonder if I'm seasoning her up for something.
I have not ridden since Friday. Saturday was kind of eh, weather-wise, so I just worked with the mare and pony in the round pen. Sunday was bathing day, and then between the horrendous wind we've been getting starting yesterday through today, I've only managed to do round pen work with both of them. It's awful wind. The kind where if you aren't careful, a big gust can really batter you around, I think the shed doors done near flew off the hinges when I went in to get hay.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better, although the weather report has a wind warning out. Urgh. Maybe by Thursday I'll ride, but that might be my only chance. Friday, I'll need to get ready to go away for the weekend (no riding then, but I'll be around horses) as I'm going to a Buck Brannaman clinic. I so wish I could ride in it, but there was no space four months ago. Just going to audit.
I have secret dreams that this will be the year when Mitch will finally get the Haflinger mane he came to me wearing ... before he went and rubbed it out on the fence so bad I had to roach it and it's taken a long time to grow back in. But so far, so good. I got about 8 fat braids. Here's hoping they stay in. And grow. The same goes for his tail. Which isn't so much of a problem, except the bottom seems stained permanent pee-and-mud color, it needs to grow long enough to be able to trim that off. I bought a Fabio-pony, dammit, he might not exactly fart rainbow butterflies like those Magikal Gypsy Vanners, but by golly, he'd better have a hair swish like a manly man.
And as for Jet, she is supposed to be like ink, like-so-black-she-sucks-out-the-light. Therefore, she got bathed with Quic Black. Which will be used frequently to get her back to a nice dark color rather than that mousey grey of a grulla she looks when clipped out. She's getting a bit of paprika in her diet to make her darker, along with dried raspberry leaves for her 'Mare Issues'. Add in the flax, and it makes me wonder if I'm seasoning her up for something.
I have not ridden since Friday. Saturday was kind of eh, weather-wise, so I just worked with the mare and pony in the round pen. Sunday was bathing day, and then between the horrendous wind we've been getting starting yesterday through today, I've only managed to do round pen work with both of them. It's awful wind. The kind where if you aren't careful, a big gust can really batter you around, I think the shed doors done near flew off the hinges when I went in to get hay.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better, although the weather report has a wind warning out. Urgh. Maybe by Thursday I'll ride, but that might be my only chance. Friday, I'll need to get ready to go away for the weekend (no riding then, but I'll be around horses) as I'm going to a Buck Brannaman clinic. I so wish I could ride in it, but there was no space four months ago. Just going to audit.
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