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. 

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. 

Biding My Time

So far this winter has been much milder than the last, or the one before that. We'll see how long that lasts, we could get four inches within a week. Originally I thought that was great. I thought a warmer winter would mean that I could progress further with Gambler. I'm not sure I agree anymore. Snow is cold, but as long as it isn't icy it's not bad for riding. Mud on the other hand . . . And snow is cold, but if you bundle up you stay dry. Rain on the other hand  . . . Snow is cold, but it's pretty cushy if you fall. Half-frozen mud/dried grass on the other hand . . .

But who knows. Maybe we'll get warm, dry weather and Gambler and I will have a ton of fun. Or maybe it will get cold and snow and Gambler and I will have a ton of fun. Or maybe it will stay wet and muddy and Gambler and I will find a way to have a ton of fun.

I didn't get very good photos today because the light was fading. That and the camera doesn't like cold weather. Even forty degrees is too much for it. I had planned to put the bareback pad on Gambler in the cross-ties, but he was a muddy mess. So instead we worked on picking out the feet. His front left is really good right now. He still kicks with his right, but he used to kick free and he doesn't now. It's clear that he isn't really committing to getting his foot free, just complaining a little. He is still bad with his back feet. He will pick them up if I squeeze his hocks, but if I try to hold them he kicks out. Little by little will get over this stubborn hill.

"But mom the wind is scary!"

He decided to roll in the mud. I tried to groom him, but there was no point.

I took this picture by kneeling on the ground to steady the camera. Gambler is asking me why I'm on the floor

Consistency

Today was the perfect winter day. I would be overjoyed if the next four months were like this. The snow melted, the temp cool but not below freezing, the ground damp but not slippery or boggy: it was wonderful.

I think the western saddle might be too narrow for Gambler (*cough* fatty *cough*), and even if it isn't he has been working himself up during the saddling process. So I put the bareback pad on him instead. I know that he doesn't have an issue with the bareback pad because I put it on him way back in June or July without any negative reaction. Today, however, he tried to get out of it by moving around and grunting. I know for sure now that the grunting is an excuse. He is not colicking. I haven't put a saddle on him for weeks. He doesn't grunt consistently. Not to mention that he was grunting before the girth even touched his belly. How does that work? It just so happens that I have one of the goofiest, smartest, brattiest little horses out there.

I longed Gambler walk/trot in both directions with the bareback pad on. I would have asked for a canter, but the ground was still a little sketchy. He didn't react at all to the bareback pad once it was on. Then I sent him over a "jump." It was a pole on a tarp on the ground with buckets on either side. He didn't jump it, which didn't surprise me because it wasn't jump-worthy, but the point wasn't to jump it. The point of the "jump" was to give Gambler something interesting to think about so that he didn't get bored.

After that I did more mounting preparation. I've gotten on him before, but I want to slow down the process. So many horses, both green and fully trained, have a horrific habit of taking off when the rider gets on. Right now I want Gambler to learn to stand calmly and quietly while I get on and off. He is doing much better. I can now stand on the mounting block, rub his back, and lean on his back without him moving around too much. He still gets fidgety when I jump up over his back though.

I have pictures, but the light was fading and neither Gambler nor I were holding very still, so they're blurry.

I think the biggest setback in Gambler's training is the lack of consistency. When I spend time going over the same task three or four days in a row he picks up new skills quickly, but when we take a few days off he falls behind again. The barn owner installed a light on the side of the barn that shines into the arena. It doesn't give a lot of light, but I think it's enough to get some basic stuff done. I want to see what I can still do with Gambler's on Tuesday and Thursday, even after the sun has gone down.

Pictures

It's been a long time since I've posted. I still see Gambler every Tuesday and Thursday, but due to daylight savings time I don't have any daylight on those days. Today I had plenty and time and wonderfully warm weather, but as luck (aka my forgetfulness) would have it I didn't have my helmet so I couldn't do mounting prep. On top of that the ground was soggy, so I didn't want to longe him or anything like that. So we just had a low-key grooming session in the pasture. Kezi and Gambler both wanted attention. Gambler was being a little snot and pinning his ears at Kez to chase her away from me. They've both been grumpier since the grass died.

Such grumpy faces.

Sniffing the coffee and Subway (notice that in this picture his mane has been combed nicely).

I was trying to get a picture of Gambler's double swirl here. You can't quite see it, but the second swirl is above his left eye.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday I went out to the barn just to do chores. I meant to get a lot done with Gambler over Thanksgiving break, but yesterday I was just in too much of a funk. I did spend some time with him, grooming him and thinking about how happy I am that he is alive. It is too easy to take the things in our lives for granted. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I guess they aren't used to the hunters yet. If you look closely, they are watching an orange-clad figure near the treeline.

I love taking pictures of them through the windows.

Still watching the hunter. You can see him a little better here. I can see why they wear orange, it's very visible.

Chowing on the hay as Mom and I were leaving.

Today it snowed. Big fluffy puffballs of frozen water floated down from the sky to cover the ground in a untainted white carpet. I've been saying that if it only snows on Thanksgiving and Christmas I'll be happy, so far that's how it is. We just have to see how long this snow is going to stick around. Today was the first time I drove in snow. I'm not fond of it. Driving in the snow makes driving in the rain look easy. I don't like driving at all - it freaks me out - and driving in winter weather is not fun. The things I will do for this crazy horse.

They were pretty worked up today. I'm not sure if it was because of the snow, the hunters, or the hunger . . .or all of the above.

They would not hold still. 

That face.

Gambler walked into his stall and then right back out of it before I could shut the door. The barn door was shut, so he just wandered around in the barn getting into trouble. He went into an empty stall (I say empty, but it was full of random stuff) and scared himself, but in the end was no worse for wear. It's a good thing the little stinker is easy to catch.

It was so beautiful. I have discovered that I love taking pictures in the winter. The snow adds an artistic element to even the most mundane objects. The trees look so magical with snow clinging to their branches. Since the light was fading, I'll probably try to get pictures with better lighting sometime.

Looking at these pictures I realized that I have pictures of the barn in every season now. It's been a long (and still very short) eight months since I got Gambler. He has challenged and changed me in ways that I never even imagined. I've learned so much about life and hard work and determination. God has used this little horse to teach me to be thankful for every moment and never take things for granted. Even on days that seem pointless, when I am in a rut or Gambler doesn't understand or the weather isn't cooperating, I am learning to look on the bright side. The next moment could be the last. I have to press on so when it's all over I can look back and say, "I made the most of every moment." I am so blessed. Somedays it doesn't seem fair how much God has given me when I see what people around me are going through. Of course most of the time I selfishly wish I had more. I encourage everyone reading this to take a moment to realize how precious life is. Its too easy to forget.