They are big and strong, and the spooky, flighty characteristics that have kept them alive on the plains for centuries can make them unpredictable. And Sham has a little too much unpredictableness. Last week he kicked at a barn worker who was taking food into the pasture. She tried to quietly shoo him away from… Read more »
Cal
Farewell to Cal
Today Cal left our barn and embarked on the grand adventure of being possessed by a young girl who is utterly beside herself with the happiness of first time horse-ownership. We said good-bye today as her new owner held her lead-rope and asked about her favorite treats. I, for one, am happy that Cal is… Read more »
Feeling Better
Today Robin and I went to the barn with more or less the same plan as yesterday: she catches Sham and continues to work with him while I grab Steen and do an easy ride. But things didn’t quite go as planned. Some things were better, others not so much. We knew Cal was being… Read more »
The Fog Must Be Crazy
Today the weather was warm (34) and foggy. Brian and I headed for the barn around 10:30 to meet Gay and take the horses out on the trail. I had a feeling things with Steen weren’t going to be great, but hoped the presence of his buddies, Cal and Doc, would get him through with… Read more »
Snowed Out
Steen spent most of the last week snow-locked in his pasture. The main problem was the door into the indoor arena from the pastures was covered in a huge drift. So, being unable to get him inside anyway, I didn’t see him after my Tuesday visit until yesterday. Sunday morning found Brian and I driving… Read more »
Catching Up
I’ve fallen a bit behind on the horse blogging lately. I started with my trip home for Thanksgiving. Although I did go on one nice long solo ride on my sister’s horse, Jak, it was a largely horse-free week. We returned to Iowa and I was quite Steen-sick. We went to the barn the day… Read more »
Aid and A Bit
Brian went out last week for a solo ride on Cal, and things didn’t go so well for the two of them. Although she is trained Western Pleasure, Cal’s neck-reining sort of comes and goes as far as effectiveness is concerned, and Brian encountered increasingly frequent moments when she took his directional guidance with a… Read more »
Hard to Beat
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… Read more »
This is November?
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. The weather has been gloriously, unseasonably warm the last few days. We found Steen and… Read more »
Mostly Mended
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… Read more »