Quick Ride And Possibly The Last.......

Got the barn early again this morning to help clean then once we were done (around 11), I headed outside to grab the hairy beast and get another work-out done. Gave him a quick grooming and then tacked him up and headed into the arena. Got him warmed up with lots of walking and stretching out his neck, just asking him to collect and then release and repeat. Once we was good with that, I moved him into a trot and basically kept him to that pace for the rest of our work-out. We did a lot of work on keeping collected to work on his top line. We even managed to get an extended trot out of him!

Dollar in pasture enjoying his breakfast

Once we had gone both ways, I asked him for a canter. And I realized that if I really sat the canter and asked him to be collected, he started raising his shoulders more and started getting more up in his canter. Yeah!

After doing that both ways (and realizing that we were both out of breath,) I brought him down to a walk and cooled ourselves down. After walking around for a while, I hopped off of him, (it'd been close to an hour already) and decided top put him away.

Untacked him and then let him in the arena again so that he could roll, and roll he did. Once he was all good to go, I brought him back outside and headed home myself.

Little did I know that this was the last time that I'd work-out my Old Man for a very long time.....

Serious Work-Out Time

OK, so this morning was pretty foggy and frosty. Sheesh, I had thought that we were getting closer to spring, not going back into winter!! Aahh!! And even with it foggy and frosty outside, I decided to head down to the barn today to go ride the Old Man.

Got to the barn around 10 and headed outside to grab Dollar. Wow, could barely see the pens from the back of the barn, it was that foggy/frosty. I managed to make my way into Dollar's pasture and grab him from there, all the meanwhile taking photos of my very frosty pony!!


The outside pens this morning


Finding the horses in the fog


Frosty pony!!


Yup, full of frost, but the tail is still in!!


OK, seriously, that frosty??


Hehes. Cute

I was surprised to see that his tail was still in, which probably means that when he was at Dad's, it was the other horses pulling it out for him. Well, at least now it's staying in. I managed to halter him and pull him away from his food and bring him inside to go for a good workout today. Seeing as I wasn't working today, I had lots of time to do a really good work-out on him.

Once we got in the barn, I tied him up and got to grooming and tacking up and once we were ready to go, headed into the arena for a work-out. He warmed up nicely with the walk/trot and once he was warmed up, we did some more work on the long trotting, just getting him to stretch out fully with his legs, neck and back. Again, he was wonderful while doing that, but then we had to go down to one end and stay there while Brenda was working some Reining circles with her 2-year-old. And since they had a round pen at that end of the arena, I didn't have much room to work in.


Dollar's not sure about this...

And then I got a great idea to work him on his side-passing and turning on the front. Yeah, it was a good idea that I had decided to wear my spurs earlier. Lazy Man was definately being lazy and didn't want to move his fat arse, so he got hoofed by my spurs a couple times for some good reminders.  Once we had that down pat, we worked on some more trotting around and then called it a day.

Once he was untacked, I brought him back into the arena to do some rolling and he seemed pretty happy to be doing that. I think he laid down to roll a couple times, but he was also a slighty bit sweaty. Once he was done rolling, and he seemed cool enough, I brought him outside.



Looking for a place to roll


And....rolling


Look at that face!!

And this is where I love my horse. I was walking outside with him, but not holding him. He had his leadrope on his halter, but just walking beside me without me holding him. Ah....gotta love him.

Walking off without me

Barn Cleaning and Riding

Was up around 5:30 this morning in order to drive Keith to work and head on my way to Richland Ranch to help clean the barn. Got to the barn by 6:45 and helped grain all the horses and then started kicking them outside and got to cleaning.

Once we were done cleaning (which was around 10:30), I went outside and grabbed Dollar from his pasture so that we could do some riding and start getting rid of his belly fat. I let him loose in the arena to warm up a bit and roll and then we got to work. I quickly saddled him up and got to working.


Dollar having breakfast


Choosing breakfast over me. Lol.


Dollar in the indoor arena


Hey Mom, what we doing??

Once I got him ready to go, I brought him into the indoor arena, mounted up and got to work. He warmed up nicely at the walk and trot and then I started asking him for a more energetic trot. He nicely obliged and we went round and round the arena. He was being pretty good with his head, but the more trot I asked for, the lower it went. Damn you Western Pleasure!! We just stayed with his long trot around the arena for a while just to start getting him in shape.

Luckily for me, I remembered to bring my Dressage Exercise book with us, so I made him work some of the exercises and found that we really have to work on our leg yield. He was being pretty sluggish with it, which did not impress me much. Mental note for us to work on. We did work on his canter a bit, which was pretty good. But you could tell that he is out of shape. He was huffing and puffing quite good. So I let him just walk around for a bit to get his breath back and make sure that he didn't stiffen up. Once he caught his breath, we worked on some stuff the other way and then called it a day.

Once we were done, I brought him out of the arena, untacked him and then, because he was quite warm and had broken out in a sweat a bit, I threw my "cooling sheet" on him, which was basically a light blanket that I grabbed from home and then went to work on his mane and tail, braiding them. I started out with his mane and just braided it normally, and then I went to work on his tail, winterizing it. Yes, I'm aware it's a bit late to do that, but that will probably stay in until a show or something. So once it was all braided, vet wrapped and had a tail bag over it, we were good to go.

This thing better stay in this time!!!


Dollar with his braids and "colling sheet"

By this time, he had cooled down enough, so I put my blanket away and then kicked him outside. Now I'm hoping that this thing will stay in!!

Dollar's Moving!!

Well, moving Dollar to his new home today!

Got up around 5:30 in order to drive Keith to work this morning and then headed home to do devotions and clean up the house a bit before I had to go get Dollar ready for moving. Dollar was moving around 10, so I left the house around 9:00 as I had to run to work, grab my schedule and cheque and then go to my Dad's place and get him ready.

I got to the barn close to 10, so I ran to the back, grabbed Dollar from the holding pen, said good-bye to Reno (I'm gonna miss him) and got Dollar in the barn so that I could wrap him up. Well, it seems that his legs got extra hairy this winter, because I couldn't wrap them with my fleece and polo wraps! Fat leg boy. Lol. I decided not to wrap him because I couldn't fit them around his leg and just left him as is.


Dollar eyeing me and my plan


Fuzzy whiskers!!

Then I grabbed some of my stuff that was there (my polos, show blanket) and brought them to my car. That's when Sam came home. I went in the house and told her that I was moving Dollar because of all the stress and tension at the house. She just shrugged and didn't look too surprised. Then she started asking me if I had this, and if I had that. Wow, wasn't expecting that out of her. Then I went downstairs with her and she was checking to see if there was anything else that I needed to take with Dollar.

Then I looked outside and Saskia's trailer was here, so I ran outside and she had already beat me to the barn. I quickly went to check to see if I could get him out of the pen with the people gate, but the chain was frozen shut. Oh well, that just means I have to walk Dollar through the tack room. So I grabbed him and promptly walked him through the tack room. Saskia took him to the trailer so that I could run and let the rest loose for water and grab my Western saddle and blanket. Once I made sure that I had everything, I put my stuff in my car and told Saskia how to get back to the main road. Sam said that she'd come with me (I'd regret this later) and she was going to take her own car. So I hopped in my car and followed Saskia to the barn.

Once we got to the barn, we unloaded Dollar and then tied him up inside as I wanted to ride him right away (hey, gotta make use of the heated indoor arena!!). I went back out to my car to grab my saddle, bridle and grooming box and got to work cleaning him up. Once he was all ready to go, he was sniffing my tea that I had picked up this morning and was wanting some. Silly horse. You don't need coffee!


Dollar wanting some of my coffee


All ready to ride in the heated indoor arena!!

We had to wait outside the door though for a bit because they were doing some video work inside, which only took a couple minutes. Once we got inside, I hopped on and started out first actual workout in a couple months. Or so I thought.

It turned out that Dad had called Sam while I was hopping on Dollar about something and she told him that I moved Dollar there. Well, of course he got mad and called me twice before I felt my phone ring (it was in my over-sized sweater pocket) and proceeded to bitch me out for moving Dollar. Excuse me? Yes, I didn't tell him before hand because I knew that he'd try to change my mind, but still. I make all the decisions regarding Dollar and I do with him. No one else, especially not my Dad. And then we went on a rant as to how he's done this for me and that for me and gloating  all the stuff that he's done for me. That's great an all, but still, my horse. And then, to make matters worse, he started calling me ungrateful and selfish. Seriously?? Wtf?? So I was basically in tears over this whole thing and the entire time I was on the phone with Dad, Dollar was just walking around in circles calmly, just like the gentleman he is. Sigh. I love my horse.

So, after I was done with Dad on the phone (and not realizing there'd be more to come), I continued walking Dollar around for a bit and then called it a day. I was just pissed off as to what happened with Dad and I know that no matter what reason/excuse I give, it won't be good enough.

Once I had Dollar out of the ring, I untacked him, brought all my stuff to the tack room and put it in it's new place (and where Sam can't get it!!) and brought Dollar out to his new pasture to meet his new buddies. And he looked happy to be there as he promptly wandered to a pen beside him to get food. Lol. Always thinking with his belly.



Settled in his new home

And then more drama started on the way home and when I got to Natalie's place. Apparently Dad had called Natalie and told her that I moved Dollar. Wtf? Why do you have to tell everyone what I did?? Fxck. So I talked with her for a bit and then Dad called me up and gave me more shit. Seriously, it's old and done already, leave it alone. But no. And then he said that I'm the reason (what I did today) that it makes harder for him to get back together with Mom. Wtf? Blaming me for your problems. Great way to guilt trip me. And then he threatened to disown me and then said that he 's no longer talking to me. Wtf? All because I moved my horse?? Messed up for sure. I didn't say anything, just basically crying because I felt like shit, and knew that for sure, Dollar was not going back there. I know my Dad and he does this just so that he can get his way. Dollar is my horse and I make the decisions regarding him (so does Keith money-wise), so he is staying there.

When I picked up Keith later from work, he asked me how Dollar's move went and if I had told Dad. I gave it to him in a nutshell and he said that he wasn't surprised at my Dad no longer talking to me because he's that controlling. He asked me what I told Dad as my reason to move Dollar and I told him what I said. He said I should've just told him for the indoor arena. But I told him it wouldn't have been good enough. I know I did the right thing and it's my Dad that looses in the end.

I'm happy where Dollar is and so is Dollar. That's all that matters.

Fixing Dollars's Blanket

Well, now I'm not happy. I went to the barn the other day to grab Dollar's blanket to fix as I was told that he had ripped it quite good.

How good?? This good.....



That's just one part. WHY OH WHY HORSE!!!??? I swear he's trying to be destructive, or the other horses are. Either way I'm not impressed. There are a couple other big rips in the blanket, so my job now is to try to sew the thing back together. Sigh. And I might have to find someone with a heavy-duty sewing machine to fix the ones on the straps, as those ones are thick.

Hopefully soon, I'll have this fixed up.....

Big Changes Coming....

Sigh. I'm so not a happy camper as to how I had to make this decision. And at the same time, I'm super excited!!

After my fiasco with my Dad yesterday and talking with my Mom about it, I was trying to decide whether or not to move Dollar away from my Dad's place. It's not that I don't love my Dad, but with my parents split, and my Mom no longer living there, the tension is getting high and I don't deal well with that.

So I'm making the decision to move Dollar. I had posted on Face Book last night that I was looking for a cheap barn around my area within easy driving distance. A little while later, S, who owns Richland Ranch (where I got Dollar back from) asked me what price range I was looking at. My price range is pretty low, around $100/month because I only work part-time and help pay for everything else. S said that she's get back to me by Monday.

She got back to me Monday and made me a REALLY GOOD DEAL! Basically, I could have Dollar there on outdoor board for $100/month as long as I help out with chores 5 times a month. And I get access to everything! Outdoor arena, heated indoor arena, wash rack, tack locker, he gets to come in for bad weather, and I get to hitch a ride with them to shows! Seriously! Woot!

Of course, I had to pass this by Keith and after discussing it (and basically telling him that I no longer want to go down to my Dad's place), he let me make the final decision. So I opted to move him.Yeah!! So our plan is to move him on Thursday (I'm not working).

The only hard part is that I'm not telling my Dad. Otherwise, he'll try to convince me to keep him at home and try to control what I do with my horse. I'm done with that. I make the decision regarding Dollar and no one else (well, except for Keith, he has say too. He's in charge of the $$$).

Can't wait for Thursday!!

Riding the Boys and Frustrations

Finally, got out to ride again today! Seeing as it was pretty nice outside, I decided to ride Reno and Dollar today. And this is sad to say, but I don't remember the last time that I rode Reno, probably in Fall. Ouch. I made a quick stop by Timmie's to grab some tea and then headed to the barn. Oh, and as forewarning, if they screw-up your order over the speaker phone, check your coffee before you leave the serving window. I should've.

So once I got to my Dad's place, I headed to the back and grabbed the barrel reins to ride. And then took a sip of my “tea.” It wasn't tea, it was COFFEE!! I DON'T DRINK COFFEE!! Fxck! That irked me. And can't do anything about it right now. So then I went and grabbed Dollar and Reno from the holding pen. I opted to ride Reno first and get him done with and then spend time with Dollar. I grabbed the barrel reins, clipped them onto Reno's halter, brought him up to the fence and proceeded to try to hop on. Obviously he hasn't been ridden bareback for a while because he wouldn't stand still at the fence for me to hop on. With much patience, I finally got him close enough to the fence to jump on. Sigh.



The kids waiting for me


Sue


Reno looking none too happy

I couldn't do much work with him because our arena is just covered in snow and a lot of it is really deep because the horses aren't allowed in the arena that much. So we were only able to use about ½ the arena due to all the snow. He actually behaved quite well, for not being ridden in a while and being in halter and lead rope. Quite impressed. We kept to walking around because I know that with him, you don't really have control unless you have a bridle on him. One of the only problems we had was that he didn't want to stand still. Dollar was in the arena by the manger eating hay, so of course, Reno's attention was elsewhere. So I stopped him on the rail at the opposite end and made him stand there. He wasn't too happy about that and proceeded to start pawing away (maybe his way to China). So every time he started pawing, I'd kick his shoulder with my leg. He pretty soon got the idea that maybe we should just stand here and wait for Mom's signal before moving. Some days he's a smart horse. I continued just working him at a walk and called it a day after about 15 minutes. It was pretty cold outside and I still wanted to play with the Old Man.


Reno showing me that he can flex!


The view from Reno


The gate that Mars wrecked

So I hopped off of Reno, let him loose in the arena, put the barrel reins on Dollar and brought him up to the fence to hop on. Apparently, he was watching Reno before and figured that it would be a good idea to move away from the fence as soon as I had one leg over him. So I'm hanging on the fence with one leg, have one leg over him and trying to pull him closer to the fence so that I could get on. Nope. So I jumped (fell?) off of him, gave him a good smack because he knows better, got him closer to the fence and tried again.

This time he stayed near to the fence so that I could get on properly. Once I was on fully, we got to doing a bit of work. We did some walk/trot work and worked some more on our straight lines. I really can't wait for Spring to come, so that I can actually do some proper work again! After about 15 minutes on him, I decided to call it quits and bring him into the barn to play.


Dollar not looking too enthused

Once we got in the barn, I tied him up and grabbed his treats so that I could work on his “no” trick. He actually seems to be catching on more and more with it. It only took about 2 reminders about what he was supposed to do, before doing it when I asked for it. And he even did it quite a few times when I asked him for it without reminders! I think it was the treats that had him going. Lol.

After we were done working on our trick, I loved him up and tried to take some photos of him in his new halter. Again, not having it. Sigh. He loves my camera, but when I try to model something on him, he doesn't stand for it. Don't worry, I will keep trying.

So after the fail of no halter photos, I kicked him outside and put both him and Reno back into the holding pen with the rest of the kids. I grabbed my English saddle to take home for cleaning and also grabbed his blanket that he nicely ripped up so that I could try to fix it. I loaded everything into my car and headed for home.

And this is where shit hits the fan. I was about 1 mile from my Dad's place, when he called me and bitched me out for not coming in the house and saying hi. Excuse me?? The house was completely dark and I didn't see anyone walking around in the house. Yeah, I didn't check the house or garage, but SO WHAT?? I'm going to get bitched out and yelled at over the phone because I didn't come in the house 1 TIME?? WTF?? I was in complete tears because of what my Dad was doing, and completely furious. There was no reason for that. None at all. Because now I felt like complete shit.

So I went back to Timmie's, got my tea made right this time and called my Mom to complain about Dad. And she felt bad that he did that, but she has no control over him anymore because they split almost 2 months ago. Yup, fxcked up family. So then I went home and started contemplating having Dollar moved. I really want to because I'm getting tired of all this bullshit that keeps happening at my Dad's place and that I keep getting bitched out for nothing.

Sigh. I'm hoping to find a solution soon.

January 2011 Goals Assessed and February 2011 Goals

Ok, right now my brain can't think, but here's my January 2011 goals assesssed and my new ones for February.

January 2011 Goals:
1) Complete 3 items on the 101 list:
PASS! I actually did manage to do this! I ended up completing #41 (Take 1 really good phot of each horse and frame) (did this back in fall), #42 (Teach Dollar a minimum of one trick), and #70 (Clean bridles thoroughly). Woot!! Seeing as it is winter here, the list gives me a bit more time to do some stuff indoors. Lucky me!
2) Start a riding program to start getting Dollar back into shape
FAIL. To put it bluntly, it was just to DAMN COLD! Seriously, we got 1.5 ft of snow in one day and an entire week of -40*C. Not riding weather. At all. I'm hoping for better weather in the coming months.
3) Ride at least once a week
Kinda Pass. Like noted above, it was friggen cold outside this month. I did manage to get a couple rides in on him, but I really do need warmer weather (or an indoor arena) to ride him more. It's quite a bit of work for him to go tromping through the snow all the time.
4) Find something for his joints
PASS! I found some MSM stuff for him that I'm gonna start putting him on. I've found that it's helped before, so we're gonna go back to it. Luckily right now, he's not showing any signs of stiffness or soreness in his joints, but we're just gonna be on the safe side. I need him around for a long time.

February 2011 Goals
1) Look for a new place for Dollar to move to
2) Complete 3 items on my 101 list
3) Bring saddle home to clean
4) Start getting back into shape