Saturday, December 20, 2008

Cold and Cranky






Here is a pic from our last trail ride. We won't be doing this anytime soon. We have snow and with wind chill, it is cold. I was trying to get ready to drive down to Utah for Christmas, but with the awful weather, I decided to wait one more day. Belle appreciated it. We worked on her listening skills. I started with listening to the bit, then listening to leg cues. With her, I need to work on them separately before she remembers that I can cue her with something other than bit and voice. I think it has something to do with the fact that she was a carriage horse, but it may just be that she is ornery. Foxy did not get ridden today because the last ride had her sweating and she is now eight months along, but she still gets out and stretched her legs. In fact, I had to put her in the round pen and out of the riding arena. She tried to kick both Belle and the timid horse that my son was riding. She is really cranky. She used to be content to wait for Belle to be put away, but now she wants to be the first to be put away and she likes to throw around all 16 hh, 1200 lbs, when she does it. Fortunately for Belle, although she is only 15.3, she out weighs Foxy, so Belle just leans back and only one will get out of the fence at a time.

Here are some pics of the road conditions and the reason why I have not yet made it to visit my family yet. Last night, there were times that I could not see past the front of my truck. I took these from the passenger side, I was definitely not driving and taking pics.

Weather bug warned me earlier that it will be -30 F with the windchill tonight. I am glad that my horses are inside a relatively warm barn and out of this wind.

4 comments:

  1. I don't miss snow. That's for sure.
    Glad your ponies are in a nice barn!
    I bet you're right that bit and voice have been the only thing Belle has known for SO LONG that it'll take a while to un-do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Belle is actually not bad with leg pressure, as long as I have her complete attention. Otherwise, it seems like she is ignoring it like she would the shafts or pole from carriage horse days. I really appreciate the barn here. On good days, they have a huge outdoor arena, trails, and a round pen. On bad days, they have warm(relatively) stalls, mostly running water (it was fixed the next day)a nice riding arena and an indoor round pen. We also have a small tack and feed store attached onto the barn with people that live here. One of the women that lives here watched out for Belle the first week to see if she would colic because I could not get her to drink the water for a while and she was dehydrated. We also help each other out with feeding schedules for vacations and emergencies. Some people live far enough away that roads can close and they can't get to the barn. Although Stacey, you may still try to get through, when its snow and someone just a phone call away can get to the horse and feed and water, somedays its just easier to make the phone call. Snow is not like flash flood and the safety of the horse is a factor. I will still be getting through because I have no road blocks on my way to the barn, but some people have road blocks that have a penalty of fine or jail to pass. Come March when Foxy is due, I will be making early morning trips, lunch break trips, right after school trips, just before bedtime trips to the barn to check up on her. I will drive through snow, ice, etc. but I will get there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i like your blog but i find the red letters very difficult to read. it is a strain on one's eyes. please change it!! thanks

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the criticism, I will take that under advisment.

    ReplyDelete