Hard to Beat

November 8, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

Today Brian and I returned to the barn. With weather this beautiful, we just couldn't help ourselves. We pulled our horses out of the pasture, tacked up and headed out. Both Steen and Cal were calm from the start, and we proceeded down to the bottom of the strip. We turned around and started heading back up and then Jean on her thoroughbred, Schooley came down the hill and up to us. She said she was going to ride around the surrounding fields for a bit and would we like to come along? We said sure and headed on to the edge of the corn field and away.

Schooley is a large, confident, 19 year-old dark bay, and Jean has owned him for 13 years. He's trained in dressage and is fit, sleek and full of energy. He led the way, and Steen and Cal both followed willingly enough. We made it past the corn-field, then crossed a little bridge, rode around in a soybean field, throug...

This is November?

Robin

November 7, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today found Brian and me at one of the oddest stores in town.

Buying grain.

To haul to the barn. Luckily this was possible, since all our tack is no longer in my trunk, but rather in a tack locker. Read more

Mostly Mended

Robin

November 2, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It's been a busy couple of days. Yesterday morning Brian and I went to the barn, he saddled up and hopped on Cal while I took Steen to the strip to hang out and graze. Steen was still showing no reluctance to eat, so I wasn't too worried about him.

Jim appeared a while later to give Steen shot number two. We went inside for this, back to the stall where teeth were done. Steen was behaving much more like his normal self, snorty but not spooky. I held his head up, Jim stuck the needle in his neck and then a girl who had just finished her ride lost control of her mare. The mare ran out of her stall, up and down the aisle a few times, then ran into the open stall next to Steen's where a gelding was tied up. The gelding tried to kick her, she spun and smacked into the wall next to Steen and then ran back out into the aisle and away, and someone finally caught her.
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What A Day

Robin

November 1, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today was fall vet day. I'd planned to get Steen's teeth done, as it's been a year. I hadn't been out to the barn since Wednesday, and Brian and I decided to go early so we could get a little ride in before the chaos started.

Well, we'll just say sometimes things don't go as planned. I don't know what got into the herd today, but the whole lot of them were freaked out by something. We pulled Steen and Cal out of the pasture, took them inside and they were both behaving very badly - yanking us off our feet in their attempts to graze, fidgeting when tied, and behaving in distracted, uncouth ways in general. Then Steen pooped, and it looked like a cow-pie. Last week, I observed the same thing, and since that meant the loose stools had been going on for more than a few days, I got worried. Also, Steen appeared to have lost roughly a million pounds since I was last out th...

Best Yet

Robin

October 30, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On Wednesday I went to the barn in the morning. I was a little tired. It was a little cold and a little muddy. I went and got Steen from the pasture, groomed him and briefly considered going without saddle and just doing an indoor bareback easy day. But I rallied, thought about how sick of indoor rides I'll be in a few months, tacked him up and went outside.

At first, he was a total pill. He was having a "starving" day and trying to eat grass was at the forefront of his mind. He wasn't, however, pulling his turn-around stunt, so I was willing to take the eating attempts in exchange for walking in straight lines. We went all the way down to the very bottom of the strip, I tried to turn him to go back and then, inexplicably, he started refusing to go back to the barn.

Mystified, I let him go where he wanted. He promptly reached over and dove into a thick s...

Barn Weekend

Robin

October 26, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Last week we got a lot of rain. I went out for a solo ride on Tuesday, during which I was having a hard time getting Steen to walk away from the barn. Then it rained and rained and rained for the rest of the week.

On Saturday the farrier came, so I held Steen and Brian held Cal and they were both good. I showed Duke the split in the back of Steen's right-front hoof and he said it is better if they don't have cracks there but this one is not deep enough to be concerned about yet. He said such splits are often caused by wet and mud - which means, I suppose, Iowa. He just said to keep an eye on it, and if it gets worse I can start trying to treat it. So, not great news but not horrible. I think it formed because he got thrush in that foot and the frog shed out rather deeper than normal and so that part of his hoof had less support than it is supposed to.

Anyw...

Big Day

Robin

October 17, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On Thursday, Brian got his wisdom teeth out. All four. So I hadn't been to the barn in a few days. However, he's recovering with remarkable speed, so we decided to load up and head out to visit our noble steeds this morning. Harvest time has come, so the corn that made the strip a strip has been knocked down and carted away. This definitely changes the aspect of the place quite a bit.

Mini and the bare field.

We arrived and were at first encouraged by the fact that Cal didn't make any attempt to r...

Inside

Robin

October 15, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Yesterday I went to the barn after a meeting with some clients. I decided last time I rode that it was probably high-time for Steen to remember what ground-work is all about, so I decided to have a non-riding, getting to know the new interior day.

Steen's been looking good lately. His leg is healing nicely. He's rebuilding the muscle he lost in his convalescence, particularly along his spine and in his haunches, thanks to all the walking up and down the steep hill on the strip. He's still not bulky, but I think I may just have to accept that he's a thin fellow by nature and that's just how it is.

I brought him inside and gave him a thorough grooming. Then we did groundwork in the section of the indoor arena that is clear. It's not really big enough to ride in, but it is large enough to do some good work on a line. Steen was actually surprisingly good with ...

The One I Forgot to Title

Robin

October 12, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On Wednesday I returned to the barn and had a short solo ride. The good news is Brian and I now have a tack locker! For our tack! Meaning I don't have a saddle, two bridles, two halters and a million other accouterments in my trunk anymore! This is a welcome change. I got my trunk mostly emptied out and went to fetch Steen. He was muddy, and since I haven't had anywhere to tie him for quite a long time, I took advantage of being inside with a tether-area to leave him tied for a while and turn my attention to the detail areas I've been skipping a little. Mainly, I brushed all the way through his tail and scrubbed all the mud off his lower legs and ankles. He was very good, but the downside was I lost track of time a little, so by the time I hopped on his back, the watch on my saddle told me I only had ten minutes to ride. Oops. And they weren't the greatest ten minutes. Steen was st...

I Could Get Used to This

Robin

October 6, 2009

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On Sunday, Brian and I returned to the barn, where we first made a few modifications to the saddle we're using. I replaced the nylon tie-strap with a leather one, since the cinch is also nylon, as is the off-billet. Although Cal is not our horse, I have pretty strong convictions about nylon and soreness, and also as my rather valuable husband is going to be spending time on this mare's back, I want her to be comfortable.

We also added some leather bits to the bottoms of the stirrups so Brian can get more traction with the balls of his feet, and fashioned some make-shift hobble straps to replace those that this saddle no longer has. Before we went to the barn I moved the bit Cathi is loaning us onto Steen's old headstall (which works well with a curb, so that is convenient), cleaned it up and attached Steen's old reins. So, the tack situation was greatly improved for rou...