Getting Ready & Getting Irritated

Today's weather was totally weird, sort of humid/hot/cold/weird before-the-storm sort of weather. When the sun went behind the clouds you wanted to be inside but when it flashed back out it was too beautiful out to resist. I spent the morning cleaning out my trailer and washing Desire's tack, getting ready to leave Friday for Rides of March. I washed her pommel pack, bridle, reins, and breast collar in the washing machine (hey, I rinsed it after..) and sprayed down her mohair girth and saddle pad; after they dried out the hair scraped right off so that worked surprisingly well.

One of her front Gloves had lost the screw that holds the gaiter on at the back and the washer part on the inside was crammed halfway through the screw hole. I was a little worried it had stretched the hole too much and would make repair a PITA but a new screw, washer, and the other inside screw-y end--careful, scientific terms here--all went together smoothly and the boot is good to go! I also took the Power Strap off the spare size 0 Glove I got from N. I've asked her to look for a used size 1 Glove at the AERC convention this weekend and I'm so hoping she finds one, but if not I do have an old-style clamp Easyboot in size 1 that I will carry for now. Rides of March is supposed to be mostly sandy, friendly footing but I just have to know that I have some sort of spares at my disposal.

I've never used a cantle pack before so it was entertaining putting the snazzy new blue cantle pack on my saddle. I got it to where I think I want it and filled it with the spare Easyboots, my med kit, leather strings for random repairs, spare snaps, and a roll of vet wrap. It has two water bottles on it and I have 2 water bottles in my pommel pack and usually wear my CamelBak for my water. I ordered some E-Lyte human electrolytes that i'll be adding to my drinking water to help in my quest to avoid heat stroke and such-like ill feelings at endurance rides.

I've decided I'll pack Desire's fleece cooler and winter blanket but also Blaze's cooler and winter blanket for spares in case the weather is really shitty. Right now NOAA.gov says Reno weather will be: Friday: Rain likely. Cloudy and breezy, with a high near 57 and Saturday: A chance of snow. Cloudy and breezy, with a high near 45. So not very encouraging on the weather front, but could definitely be worse! Our forecast for the next week here calls for rain, starting tonight, but there is no actual front headed our way on the radar so far, so who knows. 

Joey's blanket I ordered was on back order but the company didn't see fit to notify me of that so I decided to cancel it and order him something else that will actually arrive in the foreseeable future. I was really hoping his would be here by today or Monday but now it will probably be mid week, and of course it's supposed to rain all week. I put Blaze's blanket on Joey tonight in case it rains because of the two Joey definitely needs a blanket more. Blaze still has a nice winter coat--and some fat to keep him warm, too! Desire got her blanket this evening since she has no winter coat left, and Sheza absolutely WOULD NOT let me put her blanket on, we had quite a little go-round about it which eventually devolved into me just wanting to get her to walk through the gate back to her pasture politely. Oh, this is where the part about getting irritated comes in, if you hadn't guessed. For whatever reason she would squirt through the gate, hit the relative "end" of the rope, and then spin around and do a half rear. It took 5 reps of in and out of the gate to get her to walk quietly. Oy VEY. Sometimes I really wonder about her when she acts so brainless. Last time I put her blanket on I threw it on her loose in her paddock, this time she wouldn't let it near her. *sigh* I hope when she eventually chooses to have one personality it's the quieter one of them.

Less than a week til our first endurance ride of the season! It's going to be a looong week if it really does rain the whole time and I'm stuck inside...

Hanging out with Joey & Friends

Took Joey out for walk with the goats, to sample all the grass around the place and say hello to the other horses and goats. What a beautiful spring day!

Out for  walk with Nan & Maizie goats 

 He matches my hair pretty nicely for a bay!

 Goats out for a wander

 Sheza looking pretty for her boyfriend cousin..well it IS Bangor so maybe both  ;-)

 Lex & Clark, SuperTurkeys

Sheza & her turkeys..not so spooky after all?!

Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde

My mare has officially gone springtime cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Or cuckoo for something she ain't gonna get around here, anyway! As much as Blaze *thinks* he is a studly man (and yes he had been known to mount mares in pasture, despite his gelding status) he isn't one! But if you judged by the way Desire is acting, he is the sexiest beast around and the father of her future babies. Yesterday she ran herself into a lather screaming for Blaze when he wandered down the hill to the other end of his pasture. I mean dripping, lathered sweat! At mealtime, generally Desire's favorite time of day, she didn't even eat her mash at first because she was too busy parking her rear end against Blaze's gate. Good ole Blaze is blissfully smelling the proffered rear end any time it's available, of course. I have no doubt if they were in the same pasture right now he would get some big ideas in his head, and that is why I'm grateful to have multiple paddocks to keep the madness at a minimum. 

So check this out, for a Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde situation. I pulled Desire this morning to go meet N at the lake for a ride and little miss mare was prancey, stretchy, angsty, couldn't stand still or even stop her mouth from moving constantly. She galloped and paraded around the arena twice as long as normal and tap danced in the cross ties up until the second she went in the trailer. I drove my usual 1/2 hr or so to the lake, she came out at the trail head quiet, dry, relaxed. N, myself, and our mares had a totally awesome, relaxing meander around the horse camp loop and mutually agreed we'd had such a nice peaceful time we would just leave it at that instead of heading out on the other trails. Back in the trailer went Desire, she waited quietly while I got diesel and again when my husband flagged me down heading out to the fishing hole and wanting to say hello. She came out of the trailer FIRED UP (not sweaty, but mentally fired up) and was squatting, calling, staring over at Blaze's pasture. I gave her a warm shower and put her away--right to Blaze's gate she went where she squatted and squirted at him. Honestly the horse at home and the horse at the trail head could NOT be more different! Of course it's a fine arrangement of things, I'd rather she was a quack at home and fine on the trails than the other way around but good grief what a fool she is being at home! Spring is here and my mare is cuckoo!

New boy Joey seems quieter today, he is still obviously not thrilled the other horses are across the property but  calling is at a minimum and he is finally working his way through his hay. The mashes are always gone and the pan licked clean, and he is doing lots of grazing of course. He came right to the fence to have a few carrots when I got home and kept his eye on me while I was cleaning up the cross tie area and trailer. Everyone is settled down now for an afternoon nap in their respective paddocks--and I might have to join them, on my respective couch!