Friday, June 08, 2012

A week of rain and horses


Last Sunday after doing some work around the farm with the help of a friend, Guinevive convinced Chuck that it was time for a ride.  As the boys are in the furthest paddocks, we loaded up the truck with saddles and other riding essentials and drove on out.

Chuck on *Sun
Guine pulled *Red out and started to saddle him up, only to discovered that the girth she thought would fit did not, so she decided to ride him bareback.  Chuck pulled out *Sun and put the Barefoot, a treeless saddle, on him but left him in a rope halter for the ride.  As it was the first of the season they had already decided to keep it short.

Guine on *Red; Chuck on *Sun
Chuck climbed up onto the tailgate of the truck and I brought *Sun up to it.  Chuck got on and we made sure everything was adjusted correctly.  Then he began walking *Sun and I went over and gave Guine a leg up onto *Red.  Off they went.  They kept at the walk, except for a couple of trots that *Sun offered that were easily brought back to the walk by Chuck.  They meandered down 2/3rds the length of the field and then decided to climb off and walk the horses back.

Monday brought out Linda Corey, our Equine Dentist.  Linda has cared for our horses since 2002 and does so without sedation.  Those horses that need sedation I get our vet to do later (that appointment is set for next week).  I am all about having a horse have a pleasant experience and have no problem calling it off if I think it might be otherwise.  We started with *Red, and while I held the halter and kept my left hand on his nose to keep his head lower, Linda floated away.  For those of my readers who are unfamiliar with dental care for horses, the dentist uses very large files to file down sharp edges and hooks that develop from chewing their grass and hay.  Horses have their complete tooth in their jaw and as they chew and wear it down, the tooth erupts further.  Rarely do they get cavities due to their diet although occasionally they may develop a problem due to an accident.  All in all, we got three boys and three girls done.  For more information and a great video visit Traditional Equine Dentistry.

Tuesday, I did manage to take both Silken and *Walker for exercise walks up and down our hill before I had to get ready to substitute teach.  Both of them are beginning to develop better muscle tone.

Silken trots at liberty
Guine & Silken
Thursday Guine and I took Silken down for Guine to test the waters on the ground.  It has been three years, at least, since Silken was ridden.  I’ve worked her this year, but Guine had not and wanted to make sure she would listen to her.  She took her through walk/trot/canter up and down transitions, some disengagements and worked on side passes.  Then we set up cross rails and she jumped them a few times.  While Guine was working with her, I was busy taking photos and video.

Guine and Silken trot on!
Saddling Silken
Today, I brought *Red to the round pen and showed Guine how I work with him.  Then it was time for Silken again, but this time Guine rode her, first in the round pen and then outside the round pen.  Outside she took her on a brief canter as well and then rode her up to her paddock.

You might wonder why I included rain in the title?  That is because it rained, at some point, every day hampering our ability to work with more horses than we got to.  Oh well, there’s always next week!

6 comments:

Linda @ Creekside Curlies said...

Glad you are getting some rain on the other side of the country too! It is SUPPOSED to be nice here by this time of year...but, alas, we are swimming in rain, weeds and mud...I feel your pain ;-)

Anonymous said...

10 iBonjour from Québec,
I am looking for a curly horse and i like the look and the "caractère" of your Leo.
Can you tell me how tall i is now.
I am looking for a 15'(+/-)horse.
Merci.Camille

Adria said...

Hello Camille,
Leo is not 15H and I cannot say if he will make it there or not. The last time we measured him he was just 14.2. I will measure him tomorrow and report back to you.

bon nuit,
Adria

Adria said...

Camille,

I was wrong. Leo is only a bit over 14.1H, so definitely a pony.

Adria

Anonymous said...

Hello Adria thing you for your time
if a pass by your nice montain i will look for your place.Leo is "très beau" but he is too small.Camille

Adria said...

Merci beaucoup, Camille. He will be the right size for someone!