long, long weekend

Well, as promised, an update... and a hoarde of pictures!

First off, I just havehavehave to give an update on Ace. He was a STAR all weekend, totally relaxed and calm and basically a completely different horse. He didn't even try to kick me TOO hard when I put his Freedom 45 on his hocks... hooray! Anyway, I rode him Saturday AND Sunday, and he was totally sound both rides, head down, riding on the buckle very, very quietly; he was alert but kind of had a "been there, done that" sort of attitude. I say bravo, Acey, because he was definitely a stud muffin.

Speaking of being a stud muffin.... that there is Ace, being a total P-I-M-P and checking out Alygal, my TB project. More on her later, but isn't my boy soooo cuuuute? He's seriously such a hambone, too. He and Aly both were literally begging for the camera all weekend. You know, the big eyes, stretched out neck, "I know that's not a treat but it's a CAMERAAA!" kind of face. Makes for kind of craptastic pictures, but it's pretty funny to watch.



And, here's my moose, Captain. I've had him for five years now, and the story of how I got him is kind of cute, really. My mom's friend bought him for an unspeakable amount of money six years ago (he's the Canadian National Pinto Champ in a ton of events and has an ROM for APHA), but then he sat in pasture. She had him shipped from Canada and everything. Well, anyway, she had him passed onto me, to tune him up to be sold and show him a bit, so she could advertise him as being retrained by an 11-year-old. I wanted a reiner, but I fell in love with Captain instead, so of course I got him for a third of what he's worth. Now he's a total family horse and unfazable on the trails (unless there's some spooky water, then he's just an idiot, LOL), and we have a ton of accomplishments on our belt--dressage, jumping, a little cross country, lots of western pleasure (the good kind, don't cringe), equitation, etc. He's now my mom and sister's horse mostly, but he's definitely the ranch favorite, cause he's such a clown. I mean, really, that horse has more personality than I can even explain, and he's so much fun. I'm his mommy and always will be, but he likes grandma and auntie, too. He just doesn't listen to them as well. ; )

Anyway, onto Alygal. She's off the track, but then was a barrel horse after her stint as a racehorse, so she's never really had that mentality "trained out" of her. Aly's lovely on the ground--except when she's nervous, then she sort of has little conniptions, or rubs ALL over me, which I hate--and lunges wonderfully. Anyway, after she was a barrel horse, somehow she ended up with the Asshat of the Year, Red. He used to work at the ranch on maintenance, but got fired after he bashed his girlfriend's truck windshield in with a Louisville Slugger. Yeah, I'm telling you, he's a real choice kind of guy. Red's also the same guy who completely neglected his horse, Trinket (who is now owned by a 12-year-old named Katie), and basically almost killed her trying to shove her into the trailer so she'd go to slaughter. So, basically, Aly's pretty messed up, but luckily Jamie (who works in the office) rescued her and now it's all happy days.

Jamie's not done much with her besides groom her, so I've taken her on as a project. She's a real pretty mare, a nice mover and all, and level headed despite all the craptastic things that've been done to her. I fiiiinally got on her on Sunday, and wow she was tons of fun. I have to ride her in a sidepull because she's got tumors in her mouth--oh, the joy of gray horses--but Aly responds really well to it. She was definitely waiting for me to give her the go-ahead to take off, but we were in the roundpen and Aly found that it was much easier to walk than to hop in place and try to run. It was all in good fun though, and as soon as she walked quiet I hopped off. I'm stoked to ride her again, to say the least.

My other main project right now is Cheyenne. My mom's friend owns Cheyenne, and she needs to sell her asap because her landlord is saying no more. She hasn't really been ridden lately--actually, in almost four years, but she's such a nice mare it really hasn't bothered her much. I've ridden her a few times now (actually, I'm going out tomorrow to do so again), and am very impressed. She needs some of the finishing touches, like collection and softness on the bit and moving off of legs, but she's basically dead broke. It's sad to have to see her go, but I hope she finds a good home.

Phew. I got tagged to do that "six things" meme, but I think I'll save that for a later date and quit my babbling. Happy trails everyone!

back on my high horse

Last night, Ace and I had our first ride since the end of March. The vet okayed him for 30 minutes of walking under saddle three days a week, something that even I know means he's getting better.

He was fantastic. He used to be a bit of a spaz when I used to take him out to ride him, and he'd walk around the tie pole until he'd twisted the lead rope around so much that he couldn't move his head--then he'd get offended and basically wig out. It was a real nice, endearing trait of his, let me tell you. Actually it really wasn't, but it's alright now because he didn't even THINK of doing that last night. Hooray! Ace was totally quiet when I tacked him up and got him all decked out for our first ride. I got to use my new saddle which I absolutely looooove (Billy Cooks are the best) and plunked down half a college semester for, but I've only ridden Ace in it about four times. It fits all of the other horses I ride, though, so it's nice and broken in, just not really for him. Irony hurts, right?

Anyway, I got on him and rode in the round pen, just so that he didn't feel encouraged to prance and put up a fuss. He really didn't do anything after he put up three huge bucks when I was trying to get my other stirrup. Really, he was fantastic, and much better than he was when I was even riding him full time in March. I think he might just love his mommy more now, just because all she's been doing for the past four months is take him on long handgrazes, stuff his face with food, and generally put up a fuss over him. Ace has decided his favorite shampoo, even--y'all will probably find me crazy, but if I uncap them and hold them in front of his nose, he takes a long sniff, curls his lip, and then nudges the one he likes best. I. Kid. You. Not.

I'm off on a tangent again, but he walked flatfooted around for half an hour, moving off my leg and keeping his head nice and level, a serious accomplishment seeing as four months ago my mom said he looked like a giraffe, no matter what I tried with him. Ace was sore, but the roundpen has lots of little pebbles and it felt like he was just kind of ow, ow, ow-ing over them, not really out of pain but just that his foot is tender after getting that humongous stone bruise cut out. His old owner called Ace a pansy because he did the same thing when he was shoeing him, but that was because the guy was some kinda Barefoot Nazi and trimmed him basically to sad little stumps. See picture in first post to know what I'm talking about.

In all, it was a really, really nice little ride, and I'm totally proud of him. I might put up a little blurb on Wednesday about our ride then, and after this weekend I'm going to dedicate a post to all of my current projects, and my other horse, Captain. Plus I'm going to take a horde of pictures this weekend, so those should come up sometime soon. Phew. I'm a busy person, I'll tell you.

the whirlwind of money, tears, and time

It's been a while since I've posted last, but I've been fairly discouraged lately. It's sort of the same old, same old with Ace's recovery--he's had three sonograms since I've last written, and though the tear in his muscle was healing, he was still off. $600 later, and he's still off? I don't have the money for this, I was thinking. I'm saddled with a lame horse. A lame, sweet, pretty, entirely too talented horse to be stuck in a stall his whole life. I know the vet and my mom (who used to be a vet tech) thought that something had gone wrong in the sesamoid region, the one he fractured, and to be honest I did too.

But, then, the farrier came out and everything changed. Ace had an enormous stone bruise that hadn't abcessed out, from hoof wall to hoof wall, again due to the shoddy farrier work. Needless to say, that's why he was lame the first few minutes I rode him, not his sesamoid. It was a goddamn stone bruise that never abcessed. For crying out loud, if I'd known that it would've saved me a lot of premature gray hairs (maybe not at 16, but I digress). But, in any case, I'm very, very happy, and the tear has nearly healed. Ace's foot is a little stunted right now from having the stone bruise cut out, so he still bobs a bit on the rocks, but otherwise he's totally sound. Ace was moved to a stall with a run next to another horse who's injured, and they've become the best of friends. The vet said another couple of months and he'll be totally better and useable, as long as he keeps on with his Legend shots and eggbar shoes.

After four long months, there's finally an end in sight.