Grooming Session

I have always loved grooming. Some people hate it, rushing to finish or doing a sloppy job. There is a time for skimping out on the grooming process, but I like to take my time whenever I can. There are many pros to grooming your horse on a regular basis. First, the more familiar you are with your horse's body, the sooner you will catch injuries. Second, it is a good way to teach a horse to stand still and enjoy your company while respecting your space. Third, only regular grooming will yield a shiny coat. Lastly, it builds a bond with your horse. Gambler knows that almost every time I bring him in we are either going to work, or play high-energy games. So I like to just groom him, or hang out with him for a while, just to show him that I won't always demand something from him.

On Thursday, Gambler came into the barn spooky and soaking wet. 

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

A couple of useful tools

Wet, muddy hair galore!

Guess where Gambler and Kezi ran off to when we let them out.

The horse-eating-trees of course!

"Who me?"

Until they decided to head out to the far pasture.

Joke's on Me

So in my last post I talked about how Gambler is a young horse who needs consistent work in order to remember anything I teach him. That's an exaggeration, but you get the point. Well, apparently he's reading my blog and he thought it would be fun to prove me wrong. I was surprised, but I'm certainly not complaining!

It was 25 degrees at the barn yesterday, warmer than it's been for weeks. The wind, however, was blowing at about 13 mph. As I walked toward the barn, I said to myself (yes I talk to myself - a sign of genius or insanity or both), "The horses are gonna be spookified monsters today." Then Kezi whinnied at me from the gate, almost like she was replying to me. She whinnied again when I got to the fence. Apparently she was very glad to see the food-bringer.

We brought the horses in and dished out the grain, same as usual. Gambler was surprisingly calm. Instead of ignoring his hay and pacing the stall, he stood and munched away. Once he was done with his grain, I brought him out into the cross-ties. For the first time in the last few weeks, he acted as if he really had seen cross-ties before. Imagine that!

I brushed him and then addressed the picking up of the feet. I took it pretty slow, like I did when I first started focusing on his feet. First I just asked him to lift the foot calmly. It took some time, but in the end I picked out all four feet without any hopping, kicking, mini-rearing, or attempted biting. I didn't even have to ask Mom to hold him.

Then I put on the bareback pad. I haven't even brought the pad into the barn in weeks, so I expected the usual "I have never seen that object in my entire life" response. I was happily surprised when he allowed me to tighten the girth without a single complaint. Is this the same baby horse I wrote about yesterday?

On top of it all, I brought out the bridle again, to check the fit. He let me put it on first try without any problem. I felt horrible because I forgot to warm up the bit. I specifically prepared a hand warmer for that very purpose, but forgot anyway. I don't think he'll hold it against me.

He played with the bit a little, but not much. The bridle fits perfectly, except for the browband, which is definitely too tight. I guess he has the forehead of a quarter horse. The noseband was attached to the wrong part of the headstall, so I couldn't tighten all the straps. You'll notice in the pictures it looks a little awkward. The best part is, he was totally relaxed and accepting of the bridle, even though I haven't put it on him since . . . October? November? I don't even remember.

I guess my baby is growing up!

He's standing a little awkwardly, because he's so focused on the thing on his head. I have his halter - still attached to one cross-tie - around his neck, but he really wasn't tied. Thankfully, he didn't realize it. He just stood there thinking about what was on his head. 

When he saw me take out the phone he stopped messing with the bit, looked at me, and perked up his ears. I swear he poses for the camera. 

The Cold has Struck

Where have I been? Believe it or not, I have been at the barn with Gambler. I don't have a good excuse for not writing. I just didn't feel like writing the same thing over and over and over. That's what its been for the last week or so. Repetitious. There is nothing wrong with repetition, in fact, it's beneficial for a young horse. It is not, however, good blog material.

The cold has struck. Right now my phone says that its 0 degrees at the barn and feels like -7 degrees (Fahrenheit). Granted, it's nothing compared to last year when it was ten to twenty below nearly every night, but it is cold! As a result my sessions with Gambler have been the same every day. Bring the horses in, feed them, put Gambler in the cross-ties, put the bareback pad on him, pick up/pick out all four feet. He continues to improve. The bareback pad is hardly an issue anymore. He's putting up more of a fuss with his feet, but I think that is due to the cold and the fact that he hasn't had a good work out in several weeks.

Gambler in the cross-ties last week.

Last night we put the horses in their stalls overnight for the first time. I haven't heard how that went, hopefully Gambler stayed in his stall this time. We'll be heading over there in a couple hours, so I'll try to update tomorrow. 

Gambler in his stall last night. You can see his little purple ball hanging from the rafters. I was hoping he'd play with it, but so far he has just ignored it. 

Little Victories

I woke up this morning feeling absolutely wonderful. I slept soundly and woke feeling completely relaxed, refreshed, and rejuvenated. I didn't have to get up early or hurry to get anything done, so I just laid in bed a while thinking about how thankful I am (I'm aware that Thanksgiving was a couple months ago - deal with it). There was a time only a few years ago where I felt alone with nothing and no one. Now I am so happy. My dreams have come true. That reality never really will sink it.

Gambler, one of my own dreams-come-true, was amazing today. I am so proud of how far he has come. Looking back over our (almost) nine months together to write the overview post really put it all in perspective. It was cold and windy, so Gambler was spooky. But when I asked him to stand still, he did. When I asked him to circle, he did. When I told him to move away from me, he did. When I asked him to stop kicking up his heels and stand still a few feet away from me so I could take pictures, he did. 

Not bad for a phone pic huh?

Ever curious.

Even with the scary trees and the scary wind and the scary invisible monster in the empty field, he listened and licked and chewed. Every now and then he would get very, very still and then something would happen and he'd jump a little, but he never truly spooked.

I didn't do much outside. I longed him walk/trot/canter in the snow. It was soft fluffy stuff that wasn't too deep and his gaits didn't seem affected. I didn't do any mounting prep because I didn't have anyone to hold him if I did get on. So after he goofed around in the snow for a while I brought him into the barn. I had put the bareback pad on him before I took him to the arena and I just left it on when he and Kezi were in the barn.

Still phone pictures, I'm pretty impressed. 

After feeding him his grain and Sand Clear by hand (little stinker!) I switched halters and put him in the cross-ties. He stood calmly, even when the wind howled and I wandered all over the barn to get things. A far cry from April, when he wouldn't even stand still in the cross-ties to be groomed. I picked out all four feet and picked them up multiple times, making sure that I set them down. He kicked a little with both the front right and the right hind, but only a little. 

Now, I've been reading Liz's blog In Omnia Paratus and one thing I find intriguing is that she trims her own horses' hooves. I don't plan on trimming Gambler's hooves myself, but I find it all fascinating. She takes pictures of her horses' hooves now and then to show how they grow and change and improve. As I read those posts I found myself thinking, I wish my horse would let me do that . . . Since he was being so good today, I thought I'd try. He let me pick up all his feet with one hand and hold them to take a photo! It seems so silly, but Gambler has been a pain with his feet since before I even got him and I've worked so hard to get to this point. It may be a little victory, but it means a lot to me!

Back to a legitimate camera now.

Left front

Left hind.

Right front

Right hind

Gambler continues to improve everyday. I am so proud of my little buddy. My favorite part is still the fact that he is mine. He is a horse, but in some strange way, he is a friend. We understand one another. That means more to me than picking up feet or even riding.

Dem Dapples!

Honey, I'm Hoooome!

I'm back! Not that I'm happy about it. I definitely didn't miss my horse at all. Not even a little. Nope. Why would I do that? Why would I get homesick for the barn? I don't even like horses.

"There you are Jenna. Where have you been?"

Grumpy ears.

Hiding from the camera.

More grumpy ears.

This one's cute!

Even more grumpiness. 

And more grumpy ears.

When Mom and I let Kezi and Gambler into the barn Gambler tried to follow Kez into her stall. Such a snot! I guess he decided to welcome me back by causing trouble. If these two don't shape up we're gonna have to start leading them into the barn again, which is more of an inconvenience for us than for them. Can't you just walk into your stall like a good little horsie Gambler?

I was glad to get to the barn early today, because artificial lighting after dark doesn't do Gambler justice. He is one of the prettiest horses I have ever seen (Kezi is definitely up there as well) and I'm not saying that just because he's mine. I have always loved dapple greys. When I first got Gambler he was a boring mouse grey. I've always said that I didn't want a "boring" colored horse, no bays or chestnuts; I wanted a horse that would stand out color-wise. When I was offered Gambler, I didn't care for his color; but he was sweet, adorable, and he was mine. Since then he has become a gorgeous dapple grey. I couldn't be happier!

My gorgeous little horse was so good today. He was a tad spooky due to the cold and the wind (those Arabs love cold and wind sooooo much if ya know what I mean). Even so, he let me pick out all four hooves. He kicked out with the front right hoof a couple times, but never kicked free. I focused on picking up his feet over and over and holding them up for longer. I also tapped on them with the hoof pick (although Gambler is barefoot and doesn't need to deal with hammers). I pulled his front feet forward like the farrier does to put them on the hoof stand. Gambler was uncertain, but I think with time he'll learn to accept it. 

I put the bareback pad on him again. He put up more of a fuss than he did a week ago, but didn't grunt or move around much. While the bareback pad was sitting on his back (before I tightened the girth/cinch thing) he suddenly became tense. His head flew up. The whites of his eyes showed. He started pulling on the cross-ties. I glanced out the barn door to find whatever it was that had spooked him, but I couldn't see anything. So I braced myself for the spook. I took the bareback pad off again, unclipped the cross-ties, and held him in the aisle while continuing to search for the offending object. Gambler stood stock-still, ears and eyes quivering. And then I saw it.

Gambler loves little furry creatures. Trees scare him to death, but he will chase dogs. At his old barn he would chase the barn cats. The offending creature was, indeed, a cat. What I had mistakenly identified as a spook was excitement. Gambler wanted to go chase the cat. 

The cat.

Gambler watching the cat.

Once I realized that Gambler just wanted to play I put him back in the cross-ties and took pictures. What else could I do? The story was too cute to keep to myself. Eventually the cat wandered out of sight and I finished putting the bareback pad on Gambler. 

When we let the horses out to eat their hay, the wind was already picking up. We're supposed to get a big storm tonight.