Dollar's Christmas Gifts

Since I'm not going riding today (it's way too friggin cold and I don't have the pleasure of having an indoor arena to ride in), I figured that I take some photos of Dollar's Christmas gifts.

His new leather halter

Name plate on the halter

My new helmet!!

I had gotten some gift cards for Christmas, so I spent them wisely.....for my horsey and me! Bonus part was that the halter and helmet were both on sale! Boo yeah!

Bakin' Time!!!

Woke up around 9:00 and dragged my lazy arse out of bed. Kelly was coming down around 12, so I had to make sure that I had everything ready for our baking adventure. Once I had double-checked everything, I lazed around the house until I got the text from Kelly saying that she was here. I told her which door to come through (if you go through the other door, it takes you into our basement tenants) and waited for her to come in. Once she came in, we talked for a bit and then Keith mentioned that we hadn't eaten yet. So while me and Kelly were talking, I quickly made some food for me and Keith and scarfed it down.

Once I was done eating, me and Kelly got to work. We had decided earlier in the week to make an Oat Cake and Carrot Crispies. Kelly was being really proud of herself that she didn't need directions this time! Yeah! And no accidents, roll overs, ditches or getting stuck! Lol. I warned her before hand. We grabbed everything that we needed and got to work making the treats. I was just hoping that Dollar was going to like what we were making, otherwise, I was going to be very disappointed.

We decided to make the Oat Cake first and got to work. It was pretty easy, but we kept getting distracted with all of our talking. And Keith threatening to throw Kelly in the snow bank, ankle deep, head first. Kelly was talking about rainbowfying Keith, so he kept threatening her with that. I was too busy laughing. Once we actually got to baking it, it didn't take long to come together. Only, it would take about 40 minutes in the oven. That's fine.

Oops. Accidentally cut off Kelly's head, surveying our mission. Lol.

Kelly plotting....

Yummy!!!

A controlled mess.

That's me!! Doing the slave work. Lol.

Beginnings of the Oat Cake

Kelly surveying the damage.

We were having a blast. Of course if you know Kelly (or me by any matter) the conversations were sick and hilarious at the same time. She kept going on and on about how she almost bought 2 lbs of walnuts when we only needed 1/2 cup. Lol.

Once we were done with the oat cake and it was in the oven, we started on the Carrot Crispies. I was measuring some stuff out and I told Kelly to measure and pour in the molasses. Bad idea. She got an evil look on her face and was like "Really? You're gonna let me pour the molasses??" Oh dear. But to her credit, she didn't make a mess. Lol. And then we came upon a delimna. See, the recipe called for bran, which I forgot to pick up. So my brilliant thinking was to just add more flour. And because it was supposed to be a doughy consistency, I asked Keith if there was any substitution that we had for Bran. He said no, but we could run down to the grocery store and grab some or grab granola. Of course then Kelly was going "Well, what about walnuts? Captain Crunch? Rice Krispies? Arm & Hammer? WALNUTS??"

Me: "Walnuts?? Why walnuts??"

Kelly: "Because. For some reason, I like walnuts."

Me: laughing my ass off.

Keith: rolling his eyes and probably wondering why he let me have Kelly down. Lol.

Once the Oat Cake was done baking, we took it out and put the Carrot Crispies in there. And we proceeded to decorate the cake. Lol. Basically I put molasses on the top and Kelly covered it in walnuts. Yes, we were having fun.

Oat Cake

While the crispies were baking, we were sitting at the table, just talking and laughing. Then made plans that once the crispies were done baking, we were going to head down to my parents place to try the treats out on Dollar. The crispies were done baking soon after, so we took them out to cool. Now the recipe said to cover then in confectioner's sugar. All I had was icing sugar, so I asked Keith if that was the same. He said sure. So this is what we did...

Carrot Crispies

Yup, just having fun. And then we had to figure out how to divide everything. I have only 1 horse, while Kelly has 6. So Kelly suggested that we each take a cake and then I figured out how to divide the crispies, we separated everything and then decided to go visit Old Man.

Got down to my parents place and headed to the back to experiment on spoil Dollar. I got him out of the holding pen and brought him up to the fence. I tried the crispies first and he almost took my hand off. He really did love them! And then of course, because of the molasses, he started doing the sticky mouth thing of opening and closing his mouth, while moving his tongue around like crazy. Totally hilarious. And thanks to Kelly for taking photos. He wasn't too keen on the oat cake at first, probably because of the molasses still in his mouth. So I tried it on Mars. Well, him and Reno tried to take my hand off. Guess it was good! Then I went back to Dollar and tried it again on him. And he liked it as well. I had only brought 3 pieces of cake with me, so I decided to take Dollar back into the pen and give the last piece to Sue.

So Dollar went back him and probably started bragging that he was the most spoiled horse there. I gave Sue the other piece of cake, which he scarfed down in no time. While I was watching Sue, me and Kelly were talking and Mars was standing by the fence. Now, Mars has no manners when it comes to food and gets really cranks when he doesn't get it all. So he was by the fence and so was Kelly. And I could see the gears start rolling in his head as he turned his face toward Kelly, with a look in his eyes, ears flat and teeth bared. Me being me, I went up to him and lightly punched him one in the mouth for that and warned him not to do it again. Well he went for it again, and this time got a harder punch for it. Then he backed away. Kelly was just laughing that I'd do that to Mars, but I don't take snarky attitude like that from him at all. Me and Mars have a hater/hate relationship.

After we were done there, me and Kelly headed back to my place and then Kelly headed home as she had stuff to do. Should definitely do this more often. Had a blast!

What?? I Have A Grooming Box You Say??

Yes, yes I do. Finally! I've been meaning to make my own grooming/supply box for a while for Dollar as if I leave my stuff at my parents place, it get's commandeered by my little sister and I never get anything back. So I got my own. All it is is a clever-latch box with a lid that actually closes and secures shut and has lots of room to store stuff. As you can tell by the photos, I've got all my brushes/combs (all labeled), some of his drugs, his fly-mask, his splint boots, stuff for showing, and my copy of 101 Dressage Exercises. Yup, that little box fits a lot in there.

#33 on 101 list: Orgainze all grooming supplies, label

October 2010 Goals Assessed and November 2010 Goals

Wow, fall is going by really fast. And I'm not liking it. This means that the inevitable winter is coming and will freeze my @$$ off if I go outside. Brr....  Nothing much has happened this month. Work has decided to give me more hours (which helps the bills a lot), but it's a lot of evenings, which start at either 2 or 3 and go until 10 or 11. So it really cuts into my riding time. Which really sucks. But I do manage to get out there when I can and take either one of my boys for a ride.

October 2010 Goals:
1) Start Dollar on more lunge line work - PASS
Been working on this as you can tell from this post (put link here). Just trying to get down there more often to do more work with him.
2) Start Reno on lunge line work (please pray that he doesn't kill me) - PASS
And I lived to tell the tale!!! Actually he was pretty good and you can read about it here.
3) Do 3 things on my 101 list
Umm....only got 1 thing done. Shucks. I did manage to do #56 on the list, which was to find/make a list of all the stuff needed for a show and put in grooming kit. I found a list of Dressage Winnipeg's website and absolutely loved it. So I printed one out and put it in my grooming box so that I have it for future use. Yeah!! Now I can quit forgetting things!!
4) Try to find more Dex for Dollar's Heaves - PASS
Boo Yeah!! Found!! And duh....at the Vet's. Pretty cheap too. Just have to go pick it up now.
5) Do conformation photos of both Dollar and Reno - PASS
Yup - did for both. And they both turned out really well too. Except for the evil grass that was distracting them. Oh well. Dollar's photos are found here and Reno's are found here.

November 2010 Goals:
1) Go for a minimum 2-mile hack at least once a week with Dollar and Reno
2) Winterize tails again and do PROPERLY!
3) Start working on more dressage-y stuff
4) Do 3 things on my 101 list

Trail Riding in Birds Hill Park

Woot woot!! Trail riding today!! Was up around 8:30 this morning as Keith has set the alarm. So we got up and Keith noticed a buzzing noise coming from the furnace fan. So he played around with the furnace controls a bit and then went downstairs to see what was going on. Seems like something went again on the stupid thing. Agh! Why does it always break down?? So we called the furnace guys, but they're closed until Tuesday because of the long weekend.

While Keith was dealing with that, I started getting all my stuff ready to go trail riding in Birds Hill Park with Kelly and some other girls. Grabbed all my stuff and left the house around 10. Did a stop by the gas station to fill up the truck and grab some snacks for myself. Once I was done there, I headed over to my parents place and hooked up to the trailer. Once everything was secure, I went to the barn to grab some grain, hay and protective boots for Dollar. My tack was at the pasture so I didn't have to worry about that. Got everything organized and loaded and then went to the pasture to get Dollar.

Got out there and grabbed Dollar (who was hiding in the bush), grabbed the tack and loaded into the trailer. Dollar seemed pretty happy to be going somewhere. Got everything in there and fully locked up and headed on my way. Sent Kelly a text saying that I'd be there in about 1 hour.

The drive there was uneventful, just had to drive on the #1 for a bit, which was a pain due to construction and it being 2 lane almost the entire way. Took a bit of a detour getting to Kelly's barn as I couldn't get directly onto the road that I needed, so I had to take a different way, but it all worked out.

Got to Kelly's barn with no issues (unlike last time), managed to get the trailer turned around. Didn'trealize how tight it was because last time I was here, ht etrailer hadn't been lengthened yet. Once I was parked, I went and found Kelly and asked her if I could let Dollar loose in the arena to loosen up a bit before our ride. She said sure, so I got him out of the trailer and let him loose in the arena. All he did was walk around and go look at himself in the viewing room window and walk around some more. Didn't feel like running at all. Since he seemed like he was done walking around, I grabbed him and tied him up in the alleyway and gave him his grain. I met Natalie (another one, not my sister) who was riding with us and Michelle, who also boards where Kelly is. We all got our horses ready and Kelly gave me the fly-mask that I asked her to pick up, so I put that underneath his bridle to keep the flies out of his eyes. And he looked so cute!!

Dollar looking cute in his fly-mask

 

Ready to go!!

Kelly had to kick out some horses and then we all got ready to go on our ride. And the nice thing is that this group doesn't run! Yeah! We headed off down the driveway, just all chatting away. Dollar seemed pretty happy to be out and about.

We walked all the way to Birds Hill Park and then proceeded to inside the park. Before we got in the park, we found something dead on the trail taht we were on. Me and Kelly couldn't figure out what it was, so we decided to take a picture of it. And then Dollar decided to step on it when he turned around. Oh boy.

The dead thingy

Michelle was having some fun with Renegade because Renegade wanted to do his own thing and kept going everywhere else, except where we were going. Silly Renners. We were heading out to some fields to walk around in the had some xc jumps, but we came across a little bit of construction zone. It almost looked like they were making a road going through the field for something. I tried getting Dollar to cross it, but he wasn't doing it. So we walked back to the road and that's where we saw a pony pulling a cart. Looked so cute!

Heeeere's Johnny!!

Pony pulling a cart

When we got across the main road, I saw the wall jump and was going to trot Dollar over there. I guess Dollar accidentally spooked Taffy, Natalie's horse and he ended up bucking off Natalie and trotting off. Natalie landed on her back. Kelly told me and Michelle to get Taffy and she would look after Natalie. I was slowly walking Dollar towards Taffy while whistling fo rhim, but he slowly kept walking away. So Michelle gave me Renegade to hold and she got a hold of Taffy. Natalie was up on her feet but was feeling a bit dizzy (she wasn't wearing a helmet), so we walked over to the picnic tables that were nearby and let her sit down a bit. She said she was fine a couple minutes later, so she hopped back on and then we went to the wall jump.

When me and Dollar got closer to it, he stopped about 5-10 feet away and just stared at it. Lol. Always looking out for me and scary stuff. I got him closer to the wall and then we continued on our way. On the next road, there was a paved shoulder, so I had Dolalr walking on there to help toughen up his tendons.

Walked all the way there and found the XC course. Played around in the water complex for a bit and then kept on walking.

Marching through the grass

Standing in the water jump

Kelly & Johnny

Found some small xc jumps and decided to try Dollar over one. Nope. I jogged him up to it and he just stopped, trying to figure out what this thing is. He tried putting his leg over it, but decided not to. Oh Dollar. So I found a smaller one and actually got him over it! He still seemed like he was being cautious, but that's OK, I'll take that. Kelly got some video of us doing the jump and then we just walked around the field for a bit.

At this point Natalie and Michelle changed horses and Taffy was pushing Natalie around, so Michelle offered to ride Taffy and Natalie took Renegade. We waited while Michelle re-did the cinch and lengthened the legs on the saddle before heading off to the ranch to grab something to drink.

Walked all the way to the ranch and Dollar just kept marching way ahead of everyone and I had to keep stopping him so that they could keep up. Seems that Dollar likes being in charge. Lol. Got to the ranch and tied up the horses to the hitching post and went inside and sat where we could see them. Got a drink and some pizza pops as I was pretty hungry, wtched the horses and chatted around the table for a bit. Pretty good conversations. After a while, there where some kids outside who started feeding all the horses some grass and all the horses seemed to be loving the attention. Nice.

Dollar waiting for us at the ranch

After we were done at the ranch, we got the horses ready to go and started haeding back to the barn. And the horses knew that we were heading back because all of a suddenly all the horses were marching pretty good. I was talking to Kelly during the ride back and I swear Dollar was trying to rush back. He was almost speed marching and tried trottingon me a couple times. Such a silly boy. But I got him back down to a walk and continued on. We got to the highway to cross and Dollar stood at attention while we waited for the cars to pass. Almost all the other horses were moving around and Dollar was barely moving a muscle. Yes, he's a gentleman. Got over the highway and continued the march home. By now allt eh horses knew that we were heading home, so we were all speed marching. Oh well, it's a good workout for Dollar.


Got back to the barn and started getting everyone untacked. No breathing issues with Dollar because we just walked so I wasn't worried about him. But by the time we got back, we had been gone for 5 hours!! 5 HOURS!!! OMG!! But me and Dollar really needed that. It was a good workout for us. I gave him the rest of his grain and got him ready to go home. Talked with Kelly for a bit more while Dollar finished eating and thanked her for the ride. Definitly have to do this again. Once Dollar was done, I loaded up everything and got ready to hed for home.

On the way home, I did a quick stop by Deacon's Corner to grab something to drink and eat and continued on our way. Got to my parents place in good time, dropped Dollar off at pasture along with my tack and then dropped the trailer off at my parents place. Went inside and Mom had some pizza left over so I grabbed that and shoved it down my throat. Natalie told me that I had to take Mars back to pasture because Sam was in too much of a hurry to bring him back before. Sigh. So I went to the back, put his halter and lead rope on him, hopped on and rode him back to the pasture. Wow, high as a kite. Natalie was picking me up at the pasture, so she drove beside us so that Madison could see Mars. Got to the pasture without Mars killing me, put him in there with Dollar and then headed home.

Got home around 8:30 and hopped in the shower as Keith doesn't like me smelling like horse. Once I was all cleaned up, I spent the rest of the evening with him and didn't get to bed until close to midnight.

So this actually took care of a couple things on my 101 list:
#27 - Go on at least 1 trail ride a year (1/3)
#45 - Try at least 1 XC jump with Dollar (non-competition)
#20 - Get a fly-mask

Sweet!!

101 in 1001 - Horses

101 in 1001 - Horses

The Challenge:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

I have another 101 list on my other blog, but decided to make one just for all my horses. So here it is. It's not completely finished, but I'll be adding to it as I go along.

Start: September 1, 2010
End:

1) Spend 30 minutes grooming, once a month (3/33)
2) Wash, dry and clean English pad - September 1, 2010
3) Help with fund-raising for a Horse organization
4) Set monthly goals for my horse (2/33)
5) Make/replenish horse first-aid kit before show season
6) Replenish/update grooming equipment before show season
7) Clean and organize tack and store properly
8) Attend at least 1 dressage clinic
9) Get more travelling supplies
10) Go to the race track at least once
11) Have professional photos taken of me and Dollar
12) Complete at least 1 Dressage show
13) Learn to scallop Dollar's mane
14) Learn to do button braids
15) Learn to do Diamond-weave braiding
16) Learn to do a Running braid
17) Complete my Dressage show outfit
18) Complete Dollar's Dressage show tack
19) Get Dollar a new blanket
20) Get Dollar a fly-mask - September 4, 2010
21) Enroll in the AQHA Horseback Riding Program
22) Work out a condition schedule for the seasons
23) Get a new English saddle
24) Get Dollar new protective working boots
25) Get a new helmet: December 28, 2010
26) Get a new saddle pad
27) Go on at least 1 trail ride a year (1/3): Spetember 4, 2010
28) Polish up field boots really good
29) Polish up paddock boots really good
30) Get proper riding gloves
31) Get proper riding breeches
32) Clean the tack room fully
33) Orgainze all grooming supplies, label: November 18, 2010
34) Make hooks for all bridles and label
35) Organize all blankets and put into bins labelled and sealed
36) Go through all hoof trimming supplies and replenish, orgainze into a bin label
37) Make list of missing supplies
38) Clean off work bench and organize into bins, label
39) Find English spurs (buy if can't find)
40) Work on my photography with horses -
41) Take 1 really good phot of each horse and frame
42) Teach Dollar a minimum of one trick
43) Get a horse tattoo
44) Go barrel racing at least once a year (0/3)
45) Try at least 1 xc jump with Dollar (non-competition): September 4, 2010
46) Learn to do a proper tail French Braid
47) Figure out how to get Dollar's tail to grow long & thick
48) Keep up to date on his steroid shots for Heaves
49) Put Dollar on Senior Feed or a ration balancer
50) Get his teeth looked at
51) Have a chiropractor look at him
52) See if accupuncture would be good
53) Work through every exercise in 101 Dressge exercises
54) Look into more Barefoot information
55) Make show contact sign
56) Find/make a list of all the stuff needed for a show and put in grooming kit - October 31, 2010
57) Start putting money aside for shows
58) Find a way to hang up all my plaques, medals and ribbons from showing
59) Buy new polos and wraps
60) Buy new bell boots
61) Buy carrying bags for tack (saddle, bridle, garment)
62) Buy carrying bags for supplies (bridle bag, grooming bag, )
63) Make a new grooming kit: September 1, 2010
64) Get a new tail bag
65) Get a new slinky
66) Find Dollar a new Dresage bit
67) Get Dollar a new halter with his name on it: December 28, 2010
68) Repair old saddle
69) Buy a breast plate
70) Clean birdle thoughourly
71) Find a way to wash Dollar's outdoor blanket
72) Get a new bridle
73) Replace old bit on old bridle - September 11, 2010
74) Buy my own clippers
75) Get my own whip/crop
76)Learn how to pull a mane
77) Look at getting Hoof Boots for Dollar
78) Try to go to 1 Reining clinic with Reno
79) Get a score higher than 63 in Reining on Reno
80) Figure out what to do with Reno's mane
81) Get Reno used to the clippers and all clipped up
82) Try Team Penning just once for fun
83) Bake horse cookies at least once a year - Decmber 4, 2010

Done - 10/101

Oh. My. WORD!!

The impossible has happened!!

This was my saddle pad before:

The back

The Front

And after 3 washes:

The Front

The back

Can we say OMG!!!!!

Yes, it was extremely filthy. And yes, the bottom was black. When it was in the barn and nobody was using it, so it just got dirty and filthy. And it didn't help that when Sam did use it, she never washed it. I don't think that it's been washed in probably about 2 years. So it was wayyy overdue for a really good washing. And it is clean!!

#2 on my 101 list: Wash and clean my saddle pad