A Collection of Updates

Who's that big red working horse? Oh shoot, that's my filly girl, Sheza, excelling at Moore Horses!

 Scrappy's saddle rubs are growing hair back beautifully with the aid of Dy's Liquid Bandage, and in his off time he is glorying in his breed transformation to a pinto poopaloosa.

Wonderful endurance friends stepped up for me big time in the last week, and I am so very grateful once again both for the great community and camaraderie present in the sport of endurance, but for the silly social networking site Facebook, which has enabled so many horse and tack purchases, new connections, learning opportunities, and hey look--2 treeless saddles to try!

Sensation English and Sensation Hybrid. Thanks LCT!!!

 ***Crazy Wiener Dog interlude!****

my husband crossing a fork of the river with the pups

tired wieners are good wieners! ;-)

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Five years ago this week I drove a few hours north to check out a craigslist ad that I had been looking at off and on for months. The horse I went to see was a 12(ish) year old, 14.3 hand(not!), Arabian(?) gelding with an unblazen face--and the unlikely name of Blaze. He pranced and trumpeted and bucked at the canter on our short test ride and when we got back to the barn I declared "Sold!" and spent an hour trying to get him to load in my 2 horse straight. 

Blaze the day he arrived at our then-rental, May 2009

Since that perhaps inauspicious beginning Blaze has pranced through gymkhanas, sorted cows, given many a child their first horseback ride, taken my mom and husband on special rides with me, ponied many the project and youngster horse, gone thousand+ conditioning/trail miles with many good friends, and completed 190 AERC Limited Distance miles (25-30 mile rides at a time) with me all over northern California. 

cache creek ridge ride LD 2011

Georgia riding Blaze who is telling past project Joey to STAY for me

My niece Araceli riding Blaze

 Wild West 2013 Blaze completed 2 LDs

 He has a farm plug walk, a kidney pounding trot, a build that makes people call him Fat even when you can see his ribs--and he's the best darn little horse I've ever had. I have a big grin as I type this just thinking of Blaze, and that's even after having perhaps the most frustrating and ridiculously slow ride on him ever yesterday. It simply doesn't matter what this fella throws at me, all he has to do is turn that big soft eye at me and I'm melty again.

see look, RIBS! as well as that luscious belly

 once you hide the ribs any notion of svelte is long gone but he's so adorable <3

A of GoPony had mailed me a full cheek Myler bit to try out so I rode Blaze in that yesterday and that was the most satisfactory part of the ride for sure. He carried the bit nicely and responded to it very well with no giraffey shenanigans and A was kind enough to sell me the bit after I decided I liked it! Scrap will try it next as he has been bumped back from the hackamore and has been going pretty well in the same 3 piece Herm Sprenger snaffle that Blaze was. Tack hoarder and expert friends rock!

Blazey rocks our first Myler

 I will attribute the appallingly slow pace of the ride yesterday to a surprisingly humid day (both horses were *soaked* after 10 miles), a bad pairing of horses in Blaze and Willow as neither of them is a forward leader, Blaze being barefoot in the front which he milks tragically despite always going barefoot at home and in the hinds-- and finally the gigantic pee that Blaze desperately took in the cross tie stall when we got home. He's not a great drinker so he had an electrolyted mash with breakfast hay, drank and ate and pooped wonderfully out on the ride, but just had NO forward momentum. I pedaled my little legs off and vacillated between extreme frustration and concern that he was dying, but when N's Willow finally decided to trot in the lead for a bit Blaze immediately perked and *charged* forward in fine fettle, so I decided that 1) he was dogging me and 2) he probably had to pee. I did of course pull off trail, spent time on foot, we stopped to graze a few times; he certainly had chances to pee but he held it, and it sucked for all involved. In a perfect world I would have stayed out there til he peed and/or got his act together but we were all just done after 10 miles so we called it a day.

lovely day for a plod ;-)

 Yet another great buddy helped me out and we have now finally gotten RC Rory's fecal run, 3 different ways no less, and concluded that she has a low dose of worms that is totally safe to be treated with a standard dewormer like the fenbendazole Safeguard dewormer that I just happened to buy the other day! Woohoo, progress! Rory has shed out quite a bit more and is finally getting some shine to her but her ribs are still showing and I was nearly certain she came with worms but didn't want to dose her until I was sure where we were at.

Treeless saddles to be tried, a boarder filly coming home Wednesday, Sheza done with training and coming home in a few weeks, ah, the fun never stops! :-)