My horse was glad to see me today! She perked up her ears (normal) and walked all the way over to the gate (not normal!) Dixie is not a snuggly cuddly pocket pony, so just having her walk to meet me at the gate is a HUGE breakthrough, and it made me so happy all day.
5.86 miles in 1:53. That includes our long walk-and-stop-to-stare warmup - it's less pitiful as 4.5 miles in 1:13. It wasn't really the ride I planned on, but I think it was the ride she needed.
I wanted to ride out to the Road to Nowhere, then cut up to Sky Canyon and do some road work. The Road to Nowhere is a real road that's not a real road. The Mines trail crosses it, and it runs about .7 mile from a cul-de-sac to Sky Canyon, but it's blocked off at SC with a chain between two posts. It's a perfectly nice normal gravel road, for a subdivision that never got sold. Every so often there's a short post in the ground with a numbered letter, I guess showing where Lot #Whatever is. Nobody uses it for anything, so it hasn't been plowed and it's still covered with a couple inches of mostly-virgin snow. Pretty nice footing right now. Interestingly, it predates Google's sat maps of the area, and it's not listed on road maps.
When we got down to the Road to Nowhere, Dixie was pretty wired, so I let her rack up to Sky Canyon, about a quarter of a mile. Then we turned and I asked her to walk to the cul-de-sac end, but she thought that was a horrible and unreasonable request and kept breaking into a rack. Every time she'd break out of the walk, I'd circle her, she'd slow back to a walk, and we'd walk in one or two big circles, then continue on our way. Sometimes we'd go 20 feet, sometimes we'd go 5 feet before she tried to take off again. I just kept at it, and eventually she figured it out and we walked at a good clip down to the end. The gravel cul-de-sac, on the side of a hill, is the closest thing we've got to a dressage arena, so that's where we're going to work on bending nicely.
You know how horses are affected by an invisible black hole centered over their barn, so they always want to lurch toward the barn and balk on the part of the circle away from it? That's what I worked on today. I'm left-handed, so I tend to make left turns whenever I'm circling her, and it really shows. She figured out what I wanted and made some surprisingly nice counterclockwise 20 meter circles, but clockwise? Terrible. She really can't bend at all to the right. Ugh. We kept at it til I got a couple of nice half-circles, then we quit.
We headed back down the R2N to the intersection with Sky Canyon, then went down into a little wash and back up a trail that would lead us to home. Once we got up the hill onto the flat sand trail, I asked her for a rack and just let her rack on as far as she could. I've done this once before with the GPS, and she racked for .16 miles before she slowed to a walk - and that day she was pretty fresh. Today, after all that previous work, she went all the way from the canyon to the turn for the trail leading home, .28 miles! That's decent improvement, I think.
A couple of times today she'd offer a trot, but it was that super-bouncy Big Trot, and when I'd post it she'd break up to a canter. I know it's because my weight is shifting off her back, but I'm not sure how to deal with it. She'd trot, I'd post, she'd canter, I'd sit back down and half-halt her, and she'd rack. Gaited horses are even more of a mystery than w/t/c horses.
Today I offered her barely-soaked beet pulp with delicious alfalfa leaves mixed in. Obviously I was trying to poison her. I put a little more alfalfa on top, and she delicately nibbled off the dry hay and tossed her head in a fury when she'd get wet nasty beet pulp in her mouth. I suppose I will break down and buy some bran for her. Silly spoiled horse! Eventually I put it in the feeder in the pasture, in the hopes that another horse will eat some and she'll get mad and eat it just to get revenge on the other horse. It's not poison, really it's not!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Confusing mare
We did a short fast ride today - no one will ever know how short or how fast, because the GPS was out of juice. And the iPhone GPS was sure it couldn't find any satellites. The iPhone also had an adventure on Saturday - when I got out of C's truck, I dropped it, stepped on it, and didn't notice it was missing til I got home. S had visitors over that night, and somehow none of the 5 pickups ran over my poor phone! It was muddy but seemed to work ok when I found it Sunday. Except it just would not lock on to a GPS signal today - I suspect the antenna got frozen or something.
ANYWAY. We rode along the hill toward the Mines, cut down to the Road to Nowhere, then gaited up and down the road a couple times. Saturday I couldn't get Dixie to gait, which was weird. Today I couldn't get her to trot. She was either racking or doing that annoying thing in between a trot and a canter. I'd really like to get my posting groove back, which requires some practice!
It must have been the footing. The Road to Nowhere and the trails back to S's are gravel or deep sand, with a good bit of wet snow on top, but nothing's packed down - just some hoofprints from traffic. The roads at the ride Saturday were gravel, with deep, cold, packed down then churned up snow. I think she sinks right through the wet stuff at home and gets good traction on the ground.
Dixie was kind of a horrible monster on the way out. I didn't have the heart to be really annoyed, though - she did so well Saturday. She spooked and bolted from Cersei at one point and made it three strides before I one rein stopped her. She was really glad to get to gait FAST, and she was really attentive on the way home. I use the last 1/4 mile to work on contact - I try to get her to stretch out and chew the bit and slow down a bit, then pick her head back up and walk faster with more energy, then repeat. Some days she's just not willing to participate, but today we got a very nice dialogue going.
My Princess will eat beet pulp if it's not too gooey and it's got some bran on it. I'm going to cut back on the bran slowly, maybe add in an apple sometimes. And I rasped a bit on that wonky front toe, smoothing out the foot she paddles on.
I want to do something different Wednesday. Maybe we'll head over to Palomino Valley and do some riding on the roads over there?
ANYWAY. We rode along the hill toward the Mines, cut down to the Road to Nowhere, then gaited up and down the road a couple times. Saturday I couldn't get Dixie to gait, which was weird. Today I couldn't get her to trot. She was either racking or doing that annoying thing in between a trot and a canter. I'd really like to get my posting groove back, which requires some practice!
It must have been the footing. The Road to Nowhere and the trails back to S's are gravel or deep sand, with a good bit of wet snow on top, but nothing's packed down - just some hoofprints from traffic. The roads at the ride Saturday were gravel, with deep, cold, packed down then churned up snow. I think she sinks right through the wet stuff at home and gets good traction on the ground.
Dixie was kind of a horrible monster on the way out. I didn't have the heart to be really annoyed, though - she did so well Saturday. She spooked and bolted from Cersei at one point and made it three strides before I one rein stopped her. She was really glad to get to gait FAST, and she was really attentive on the way home. I use the last 1/4 mile to work on contact - I try to get her to stretch out and chew the bit and slow down a bit, then pick her head back up and walk faster with more energy, then repeat. Some days she's just not willing to participate, but today we got a very nice dialogue going.
My Princess will eat beet pulp if it's not too gooey and it's got some bran on it. I'm going to cut back on the bran slowly, maybe add in an apple sometimes. And I rasped a bit on that wonky front toe, smoothing out the foot she paddles on.
I want to do something different Wednesday. Maybe we'll head over to Palomino Valley and do some riding on the roads over there?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Epic win!
We had about the best first endurance ride possible!
The good: Dixie loaded, ate, peed, pooped, and kept her cool remarkably well. Diego did the same, and they got to be trail buddies - but not so BFF4LYFE that we couldn't leapfrog each other. The horses saw NEDA driving carts for the first time - they're like homemade chariots. They were a little snorty but didn't come unglued!
The bad: Iffy footing. No drinking. I led that horse to water no less than four times - two different types of water - and she just wouldn't drink. I definitely have to work on that - I think I'll try offering her flavored water at home (ACV? apple juice?) so when I offer her flavored water at a ride, she won't think it's unusual. And I think I'll give her some salty food first thing in the morning before a ride, so hopefully she'll be a bit thirsty when she steps off the trailer. Thoughts? Suggestions?
I talked ~C into signing up for the 20, but we should've just signed up for the 10 mile. Woops. It was one 10 mile loop, ridden once or twice - all roads, and all covered in about 4-6" of snow. The snowy bits were excellent, but there were miles of that slippy ice you get from traffic on snow. The iffy footing was one of the main reasons we decided to stop at 10 miles.
The horses got all big-eyed about the carts heading out, but we just hung out for a few minutes extra at the trailer til most of the riders headed out. Then I mounted up and ~C led Diego and off we went. Diego was doing his best snorty bug-eyed tail-up wild Arab impersonation, and Dixie kept wanting to rush off faster and faster, so we both made lots of circles on the side of the trail. Every time Dixie got tense and rushed, I pulled her into a big dressage circle and rode the circle til she focused on me again. Diego got to run in a circle once, but otherwise he just gradually calmed down on his own.
We walked probably the first three miles, before the horses had settled in enough to pick up the pace a bit. I asked Dixie to gait a few times, but the footing wasn't good for it - she'd start to rack, slip a bit, and trot instead. So we trotted. Dig's slowest trot is faster than Dixie's fastest flat walk, and Dixie does not believe she can trot any slower than she does, so we started leapfrogging. I'd trot ahead a bit, then drop to a walk, and Diego would jog past, then we'd repeat.
Amazingly, we passed a group of three riders. They'd started out a bit faster, but we caught up and passed them some time after the halfway mark. One guy on a green horse stayed behind us the whole time, so we came in 5th and 6th from last (on the first loop) - pretty respectable. I think most of the greenies only did 10 miles.
Dixie worked up a good sweat on the last half of the loop, but I really haven't conditioned her to trot for miles. She wasn't exhausted, and she seemed to have a good time. We came back to camp, offered them water, pulsed in (58, then she got mad about the stethoscope and went up to 60), let them eat for a few minutes, and went back out for about a mile, just so they'd get used to ride -> eat -> ride. I think we did the 10 mile loop in 1:45 - not record breaking, but not embarrassing.
Next official ride I'm planning on is the LD at Rides of March. I've got plenty of time to put some speed on her, and if she's still yaklike I'll clip the underside of her neck in early March.
The good: Dixie loaded, ate, peed, pooped, and kept her cool remarkably well. Diego did the same, and they got to be trail buddies - but not so BFF4LYFE that we couldn't leapfrog each other. The horses saw NEDA driving carts for the first time - they're like homemade chariots. They were a little snorty but didn't come unglued!
The bad: Iffy footing. No drinking. I led that horse to water no less than four times - two different types of water - and she just wouldn't drink. I definitely have to work on that - I think I'll try offering her flavored water at home (ACV? apple juice?) so when I offer her flavored water at a ride, she won't think it's unusual. And I think I'll give her some salty food first thing in the morning before a ride, so hopefully she'll be a bit thirsty when she steps off the trailer. Thoughts? Suggestions?
I talked ~C into signing up for the 20, but we should've just signed up for the 10 mile. Woops. It was one 10 mile loop, ridden once or twice - all roads, and all covered in about 4-6" of snow. The snowy bits were excellent, but there were miles of that slippy ice you get from traffic on snow. The iffy footing was one of the main reasons we decided to stop at 10 miles.
The horses got all big-eyed about the carts heading out, but we just hung out for a few minutes extra at the trailer til most of the riders headed out. Then I mounted up and ~C led Diego and off we went. Diego was doing his best snorty bug-eyed tail-up wild Arab impersonation, and Dixie kept wanting to rush off faster and faster, so we both made lots of circles on the side of the trail. Every time Dixie got tense and rushed, I pulled her into a big dressage circle and rode the circle til she focused on me again. Diego got to run in a circle once, but otherwise he just gradually calmed down on his own.
We walked probably the first three miles, before the horses had settled in enough to pick up the pace a bit. I asked Dixie to gait a few times, but the footing wasn't good for it - she'd start to rack, slip a bit, and trot instead. So we trotted. Dig's slowest trot is faster than Dixie's fastest flat walk, and Dixie does not believe she can trot any slower than she does, so we started leapfrogging. I'd trot ahead a bit, then drop to a walk, and Diego would jog past, then we'd repeat.
Amazingly, we passed a group of three riders. They'd started out a bit faster, but we caught up and passed them some time after the halfway mark. One guy on a green horse stayed behind us the whole time, so we came in 5th and 6th from last (on the first loop) - pretty respectable. I think most of the greenies only did 10 miles.
Dixie worked up a good sweat on the last half of the loop, but I really haven't conditioned her to trot for miles. She wasn't exhausted, and she seemed to have a good time. We came back to camp, offered them water, pulsed in (58, then she got mad about the stethoscope and went up to 60), let them eat for a few minutes, and went back out for about a mile, just so they'd get used to ride -> eat -> ride. I think we did the 10 mile loop in 1:45 - not record breaking, but not embarrassing.
Next official ride I'm planning on is the LD at Rides of March. I've got plenty of time to put some speed on her, and if she's still yaklike I'll clip the underside of her neck in early March.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year!
May this year be better - and calmer - than last year. This time last year I was living in Mississippi with three horses - my good horse Champ, my retiree Silky, and my crazy Dixie. I was perfectly happy to become a Mississippi good old girl and never leave that beautiful messed up state, but life happened. The economy sucked, and my husband's job (at the time) transferred him to Ohio. Silky's congestive heart failure got to the point where I decided to put her down in February or March, then we had to pack up everything and move.
Ohio was the most perfectly normal place I've ever lived. I don't thrive in normal :( I had the horses at a very nice barn, but it was very arena and show oriented, and I never felt like I fit in. In April, Champ died, very unexpectedly. He had undetected liver cancer and it hemorrhaged - my husband and I hauled him to OSU for possible colic, and in about two horrible hours it became clear that he was dying. It was a huge blow. I still miss him, and I feel so lucky that he was so patient with me and taught me so much.
Dixie went from being my project mare that I would one day be good enough to train to being my only horse that I had to do something with. It was really tough, and we spent a lot of time (we are still spending a lot of time) going one step forward and two steps back. In retrospect, she was not trained to do anything other than rack fast and not buck. And I am not a horse trainer - I have just figured out, through lots of introspection, asking stupid questions, and trial and error, how to train MY horse.
2009 was a really mixed bag. I made a lot of progress with my horse, and I moved halfway across the country, then all the way across the country. I love Reno, and I feel like I've landed in endurance heaven. If I hate endurance, it's still trail heaven! But this is the Year of Endurance. Dixie and I shall make our 20 mile debut tomorrow, at the NEDA ride in Silver Springs. Well - we're going to sign up for 20 miles. Crysta and I are sure we can do the first loop, and we'll see how the horses feel after that. If I pull, no big deal - this is more about keeping Dixie calm and focused than testing her physical conditioning.
She's had about two weeks of light work, so I want to give her two more weeks of LSD conditioning, then I think it's time to start adding in some speed work, weather permitting. What have you done to take your horse from "pretty fit" to "badass equine"?
Ohio was the most perfectly normal place I've ever lived. I don't thrive in normal :( I had the horses at a very nice barn, but it was very arena and show oriented, and I never felt like I fit in. In April, Champ died, very unexpectedly. He had undetected liver cancer and it hemorrhaged - my husband and I hauled him to OSU for possible colic, and in about two horrible hours it became clear that he was dying. It was a huge blow. I still miss him, and I feel so lucky that he was so patient with me and taught me so much.
Dixie went from being my project mare that I would one day be good enough to train to being my only horse that I had to do something with. It was really tough, and we spent a lot of time (we are still spending a lot of time) going one step forward and two steps back. In retrospect, she was not trained to do anything other than rack fast and not buck. And I am not a horse trainer - I have just figured out, through lots of introspection, asking stupid questions, and trial and error, how to train MY horse.
2009 was a really mixed bag. I made a lot of progress with my horse, and I moved halfway across the country, then all the way across the country. I love Reno, and I feel like I've landed in endurance heaven. If I hate endurance, it's still trail heaven! But this is the Year of Endurance. Dixie and I shall make our 20 mile debut tomorrow, at the NEDA ride in Silver Springs. Well - we're going to sign up for 20 miles. Crysta and I are sure we can do the first loop, and we'll see how the horses feel after that. If I pull, no big deal - this is more about keeping Dixie calm and focused than testing her physical conditioning.
She's had about two weeks of light work, so I want to give her two more weeks of LSD conditioning, then I think it's time to start adding in some speed work, weather permitting. What have you done to take your horse from "pretty fit" to "badass equine"?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
10 Happy Things
First - cause yall know I like words - the caveat. I don't believe things can make a person happy. Other people can't make a person happy. Happiness comes from inside oneself. I'm sure you know somebody who "has it all" who's totally miserable, and you know someone with "nothing" who is just genuinely happy to be alive. I strive to be the latter. Still, I can come up with 10 things I enjoy about life! These are in no particular order.
Living in Reno
This state rules, and this town rules pretty hard too. I got used to seeing slot machines everywhere pretty fast, but I'm still pretty gleeful when I can go buy liquor at any time of day on any day of the week. No more planning ahead! I'm particularly glad I live in Stead - the valley floor is all smogged up from the temperature inversion trapping crap down there. I don't mind driving down to a thriving town to eat in great restaurants or shop at good stores, but it's nice to be breathing cleaner air up here in the boonies of Stead. I hear the California Sierras are gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to packing at Granite Chief with the BCH this summer. And there's all those good rides, all over western Nevada and eastern California! And as soon as I save up a grand (i.e. don't spend it on the horse), I can take my husband to a once-in-a-lifetime meal at the French Laundry.
My husband
He rules. I rarely write about him, because this is my horse blog, not my Funder's Weird Life blog, but he is truly my best friend. We have been together 9 years now, and it feels like forever, but in a good way. I say I'm lucky to have him. He says he's lucky to have me. Maybe we're both right?
My Dawg
Cersei is the best dog ever, hands down. Even when she eats a gallon ziplock of frosted mini-wheats, then farts all night and makes us think we've been attacked by biological weapons.
Dixie
Sometimes I get totally furious with her, and sometime's she's just perfect. This is one area where my general life philosophy of "live in the now" doesn't always pay off - I get mad because I feel like I haven't made any progress with that damn brain damaged yakmule, and I am such a horrible excuse for a horse owner - but then I think back on how far we've come, and I feel better about things. And I have it all written down, in case I ever doubt how crazy she used to be. Today, on the trail, I got off and led her a couple of times, then got back on. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be able to calmly mount Dixie on the trail as another horse walked away from us, I would have never believed it. We're getting there, we really are.
Memory of Champ
He was such a fantastic horse. I would have never considered buying Dixie if I hadn't had so many hours with Champ. He was fugly, opinionated, trotted if you dared to make him go faster, and had the roughest canter I've ever felt. He had a heart of gold, though - he tried to figure out what this bumbling idiot on his back wanted, and he never quit and never got mad. I loved that horse so much, and I'll always carry a torch for him. I feel lucky to have spent two years with him.
Cats
Our cats are wicked little brain-damaged monsters, and they bring us so much amusement. The Kitten plays fetch with a clear plastic tube, unless she loses it. The Crazy One yowls at the walls sometimes, and I think he thinks we're hallucinations or demons sent to torment him. Both of them love Cersei, who is confused and disdainful about the little monsters. They are extremely funny pets.
Friends
I met some of my best friends through this blog. That really surprises me, on so many levels - that I've kept yapping long enough to have readers, for years no less, and that people think I'm cool enough to email, chat with, and meet up with IRL. Yall make me happy!
Being alive for 2010
My younger readers will be totally blase about this, but anybody my age (30s) or older will understand. DUDE! WE LIVE IN THE FUTURE! Where's my flying car? Ok, there's no flying cars, but the Internet is just as good. We made it through 2001, and we made it through 2009, and 2010 will be the best year yet.
Having a warm house
I glossed over it in my blog, but for two months two winters ago I lived in a house with no heat. There were no physical gas lines running from the street to the house. I didn't realize the lines were cut before I moved in, and it took two months of wrangling to legitimately legally break the lease and move. I only took my clothes off to shower and change at friends' houses, and I slept on the couch with a Cersei-puppy on my chest and a Fluffy Kitten on my head. It was HORRIBLE. But it was life-changing in a good way, too. I am a total wuss about being cold, but two months in a frozen house made me realize there's cold and there's cold. My whine level went down markedly. And now that I've lived through the house with no heat, I am so much more grateful and happy with what I've got!
Is that 10? No?
Digital music
Here's another one that'll date me. No more mix tapes! Freed from the tyranny of the radio! And nothing obsolesces - yesterday I found a mix CD from 2000. It sounded exactly like it did in 2000. I don't miss cassette tapes one bit, not at all.
Ok, there's 10!
Who hasn't done this meme yet? Who wants to do it? It's actually a lot of fun to list things that make you happy. I am terrible at passing these things along - I feel like I should give it to everybody I read, but then it wouldn't be ~special~, so just comment if you are doing it, ok?
Living in Reno
This state rules, and this town rules pretty hard too. I got used to seeing slot machines everywhere pretty fast, but I'm still pretty gleeful when I can go buy liquor at any time of day on any day of the week. No more planning ahead! I'm particularly glad I live in Stead - the valley floor is all smogged up from the temperature inversion trapping crap down there. I don't mind driving down to a thriving town to eat in great restaurants or shop at good stores, but it's nice to be breathing cleaner air up here in the boonies of Stead. I hear the California Sierras are gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to packing at Granite Chief with the BCH this summer. And there's all those good rides, all over western Nevada and eastern California! And as soon as I save up a grand (i.e. don't spend it on the horse), I can take my husband to a once-in-a-lifetime meal at the French Laundry.
My husband
He rules. I rarely write about him, because this is my horse blog, not my Funder's Weird Life blog, but he is truly my best friend. We have been together 9 years now, and it feels like forever, but in a good way. I say I'm lucky to have him. He says he's lucky to have me. Maybe we're both right?
My Dawg
Cersei is the best dog ever, hands down. Even when she eats a gallon ziplock of frosted mini-wheats, then farts all night and makes us think we've been attacked by biological weapons.
Dixie
Sometimes I get totally furious with her, and sometime's she's just perfect. This is one area where my general life philosophy of "live in the now" doesn't always pay off - I get mad because I feel like I haven't made any progress with that damn brain damaged yakmule, and I am such a horrible excuse for a horse owner - but then I think back on how far we've come, and I feel better about things. And I have it all written down, in case I ever doubt how crazy she used to be. Today, on the trail, I got off and led her a couple of times, then got back on. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be able to calmly mount Dixie on the trail as another horse walked away from us, I would have never believed it. We're getting there, we really are.
Memory of Champ
He was such a fantastic horse. I would have never considered buying Dixie if I hadn't had so many hours with Champ. He was fugly, opinionated, trotted if you dared to make him go faster, and had the roughest canter I've ever felt. He had a heart of gold, though - he tried to figure out what this bumbling idiot on his back wanted, and he never quit and never got mad. I loved that horse so much, and I'll always carry a torch for him. I feel lucky to have spent two years with him.
Cats
Our cats are wicked little brain-damaged monsters, and they bring us so much amusement. The Kitten plays fetch with a clear plastic tube, unless she loses it. The Crazy One yowls at the walls sometimes, and I think he thinks we're hallucinations or demons sent to torment him. Both of them love Cersei, who is confused and disdainful about the little monsters. They are extremely funny pets.
Friends
I met some of my best friends through this blog. That really surprises me, on so many levels - that I've kept yapping long enough to have readers, for years no less, and that people think I'm cool enough to email, chat with, and meet up with IRL. Yall make me happy!
Being alive for 2010
My younger readers will be totally blase about this, but anybody my age (30s) or older will understand. DUDE! WE LIVE IN THE FUTURE! Where's my flying car? Ok, there's no flying cars, but the Internet is just as good. We made it through 2001, and we made it through 2009, and 2010 will be the best year yet.
Having a warm house
I glossed over it in my blog, but for two months two winters ago I lived in a house with no heat. There were no physical gas lines running from the street to the house. I didn't realize the lines were cut before I moved in, and it took two months of wrangling to legitimately legally break the lease and move. I only took my clothes off to shower and change at friends' houses, and I slept on the couch with a Cersei-puppy on my chest and a Fluffy Kitten on my head. It was HORRIBLE. But it was life-changing in a good way, too. I am a total wuss about being cold, but two months in a frozen house made me realize there's cold and there's cold. My whine level went down markedly. And now that I've lived through the house with no heat, I am so much more grateful and happy with what I've got!
Is that 10? No?
Digital music
Here's another one that'll date me. No more mix tapes! Freed from the tyranny of the radio! And nothing obsolesces - yesterday I found a mix CD from 2000. It sounded exactly like it did in 2000. I don't miss cassette tapes one bit, not at all.
Ok, there's 10!
Who hasn't done this meme yet? Who wants to do it? It's actually a lot of fun to list things that make you happy. I am terrible at passing these things along - I feel like I should give it to everybody I read, but then it wouldn't be ~special~, so just comment if you are doing it, ok?
BLAH
Winter is blah! I am, surprisingly, not very cold or bothered by the snow, I'm just sick of the lack of sun. And the fact that my horse looks like a yak, so I have to be really careful to not let her work too hard and get too sweaty. And I can't see the trails, so neither can she, so we have to go extra slow lest she step off a ledge and break her leg. It makes for some boring midday rides.
But the wildlife has been spectacular. When you last heard from us, we'd just seen yeti. Since then, I've seen coyotes three separate times!
Right before Christmas, I went out with S and the dogs, and she spotted a coyote on a hill about 30' above us. The horses never saw it, and the dogs never saw it, and eventually we moved on and left it to look for rabbits. Then right after Christmas, we were riding down in the canyon and I spotted the remains of a peacock. Somebody in her neighborhood had a nice young peacock, but a coyote snatched it and ran down in the canyon to eat it. Nothing left but wing feathers and a few tail feathers. As I was driving down the hill back to the highway that day, a coyote ran across the road a little in front of me.
Then yesterday I went out alone with Dixie and Cersei, and ALL of us saw TWO coyotes. Dixie and I were coming up on a fork in the trail, where if we went left we'd go out further and if we went right we'd go home sooner, and we were gearing up to have a big disagreement about which way to turn, when she stopped dead in her tracks and stared straight ahead. I looked too, and saw a big coyote with a cottontail in its mouth. It looked at us for a while, then looked to my left, so I looked to the left and saw (presumably) its mate. The one on the left was smaller, so I'll call that one the female. She stopped for a while and looked at all of us, then circled around to stay about 50' away and rejoined her mate. Cersei, bless her heart, had been snuffling around in the snow, completely oblivious to everything, but she finally noticed them. She puffed up like a hedgehog and started jumping up and down, stiff-legged, barking at them. She started to run over to investigate them, but I called her back and she came. (Of course she came - she really is a remarkably good dog.) Everybody watched everybody else for a bit, then I turned Dixie to the right and we left them alone.
I'd been planning on going left and doing the Mines trail, but I kind of wanted to leave the coyotes to eat their rabbit in peace. I am a softie, I know. :)
Weather permitting, I have a big weekend planned, but I have moments of being totally superstitious and I don't want to jinx it by talking about it!
But the wildlife has been spectacular. When you last heard from us, we'd just seen yeti. Since then, I've seen coyotes three separate times!
Right before Christmas, I went out with S and the dogs, and she spotted a coyote on a hill about 30' above us. The horses never saw it, and the dogs never saw it, and eventually we moved on and left it to look for rabbits. Then right after Christmas, we were riding down in the canyon and I spotted the remains of a peacock. Somebody in her neighborhood had a nice young peacock, but a coyote snatched it and ran down in the canyon to eat it. Nothing left but wing feathers and a few tail feathers. As I was driving down the hill back to the highway that day, a coyote ran across the road a little in front of me.
Then yesterday I went out alone with Dixie and Cersei, and ALL of us saw TWO coyotes. Dixie and I were coming up on a fork in the trail, where if we went left we'd go out further and if we went right we'd go home sooner, and we were gearing up to have a big disagreement about which way to turn, when she stopped dead in her tracks and stared straight ahead. I looked too, and saw a big coyote with a cottontail in its mouth. It looked at us for a while, then looked to my left, so I looked to the left and saw (presumably) its mate. The one on the left was smaller, so I'll call that one the female. She stopped for a while and looked at all of us, then circled around to stay about 50' away and rejoined her mate. Cersei, bless her heart, had been snuffling around in the snow, completely oblivious to everything, but she finally noticed them. She puffed up like a hedgehog and started jumping up and down, stiff-legged, barking at them. She started to run over to investigate them, but I called her back and she came. (Of course she came - she really is a remarkably good dog.) Everybody watched everybody else for a bit, then I turned Dixie to the right and we left them alone.
I'd been planning on going left and doing the Mines trail, but I kind of wanted to leave the coyotes to eat their rabbit in peace. I am a softie, I know. :)
Weather permitting, I have a big weekend planned, but I have moments of being totally superstitious and I don't want to jinx it by talking about it!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Yeti sighting!
Yesterday we went out with S, Summer, and the dogs. I brought the camera - I don't even bring it when I'm riding solo, because odds are I can't stop paying attention to my mare long enough to take pictures.
We threw Christmas rump rugs on the horses - tree skirts!
We saw carnivorous yeti!
If you can't see them, click on the picture to make it bigger. You can see their poisonous horns, and you can imagine their slavering fangs and clawed hooves. Treacherous beasts!
There was another on the slope to the south. Clearly, they were planning on circling around from behind and eating the horses.
It was really beautiful out there.
Cersei had a wonderful time chasing Oscar (S's young dog), but she is on the injured list today. The snow is old and icy and crusty, and her pads took a beating. She's got pretty tough feet, but the tips of her pads are split. She is snuggled up next to me on the couch.
Dixie did pretty well with Summer there to keep her steady. I got really uncomfortable a couple of times and thoughts of our gory death flashed through my mind. :( We did the mines trail, but the actual canyon part of the ride has a couple of rocky sections. We didn't want to take them over the rocks with the snow covering everything, so we cut up to the top of the hill and then back down to the sandy part of the mine trail. S fearlessly rode calm Summer sideways up this steep sandy hill, and hot Dixie went plunging up after him, but I couldn't deal and turned her to go straight up the slope. Then once we got on top, she really got nervous, and we still had to get back down! S went back down the side, but I thought it looked way too steep, so Dixie and I went further along to where the slope was easier. It was pretty nerve wracking, but she stayed surefooted.
Went to Crysta's Christmas party last night and had a good time! I met a gaited horse person, and some fun non-horse people, and made faces at the CUTEST baby girl. She thought I was awesome and stared at me nonstop. Then her mom handed her to me and she burst into immediate tears. As soon as I handed her back, she went back to staring and smiling at me. I was only acceptable from 2 feet away :)
I may sit on the couch and watch football all day. Happy Solstice Eve, yall! If I'm doing the math right, then Monday morning will be the actual solstice. That means today is the shortest day of the year, so I might as well nap on the couch, right?
We threw Christmas rump rugs on the horses - tree skirts!
We saw carnivorous yeti!
If you can't see them, click on the picture to make it bigger. You can see their poisonous horns, and you can imagine their slavering fangs and clawed hooves. Treacherous beasts!
There was another on the slope to the south. Clearly, they were planning on circling around from behind and eating the horses.
It was really beautiful out there.
Cersei had a wonderful time chasing Oscar (S's young dog), but she is on the injured list today. The snow is old and icy and crusty, and her pads took a beating. She's got pretty tough feet, but the tips of her pads are split. She is snuggled up next to me on the couch.
Dixie did pretty well with Summer there to keep her steady. I got really uncomfortable a couple of times and thoughts of our gory death flashed through my mind. :( We did the mines trail, but the actual canyon part of the ride has a couple of rocky sections. We didn't want to take them over the rocks with the snow covering everything, so we cut up to the top of the hill and then back down to the sandy part of the mine trail. S fearlessly rode calm Summer sideways up this steep sandy hill, and hot Dixie went plunging up after him, but I couldn't deal and turned her to go straight up the slope. Then once we got on top, she really got nervous, and we still had to get back down! S went back down the side, but I thought it looked way too steep, so Dixie and I went further along to where the slope was easier. It was pretty nerve wracking, but she stayed surefooted.
Went to Crysta's Christmas party last night and had a good time! I met a gaited horse person, and some fun non-horse people, and made faces at the CUTEST baby girl. She thought I was awesome and stared at me nonstop. Then her mom handed her to me and she burst into immediate tears. As soon as I handed her back, she went back to staring and smiling at me. I was only acceptable from 2 feet away :)
I may sit on the couch and watch football all day. Happy Solstice Eve, yall! If I'm doing the math right, then Monday morning will be the actual solstice. That means today is the shortest day of the year, so I might as well nap on the couch, right?
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