Hi, I'm Ev. I'm training to become a horsewoman. These are my adventures and misadventures. I'm green as hell, but so far, so good. I'm now learning from Bo (and sometimes his wife DeDe) at D&D Ranch in Pope Valley. I am extremely lucky to have this opportunity, I feel quite blessed, and I feel that they, and horses, have really turned my life around.
Solomon is my baby- a big old flea bitten grey Appendix gelding who is very kind and way too smart! I love him so very much. He is a rescue and was meant to be co-owned rehabbed, and maybe rehomed to a good home. He turned out to be over 25 years old with injuries that ultimately do not make him riding sound, so he is retired.

Monday, June 30, 2008

My finger is orange!

Today Sol got to experience the joy of iodine.
I ended up getting help with his hooves again because I didn't have the stamina to hold them up long enough to scape them really well. It got done though, which was the important thing. My finger is orange and a bit of his fetlocks are orange, but his frogs have been cleaned and disinfected, which I am sure he cares about more than his coat color.
He got to go back into his stall today, which is now clean and dry. Let me tell you, he was happy about that! No one picks on him in his stall. I'm certainly going to try to get him more time in the arena though. Being able to walk around was a good thing. Being chased away from his food and the water barrel was not.
When I went to get Sol out of the outdoor pen, Prince (the tobiano troublemaker) tried to bite me.
Apparently his owner lets him get away with murder. She is also not going out and taking care of him- she's getting divorced, getting new boobs, and dating around instead. Bah.
So Sol came to me when I entered the pen, and was quite happy to get out. All that we did today was take care of his hooves and give him an extra senior feed meal. I went to wet the feed because he was having a bit of trouble eating it as just pellets, and he broke the lead rope! Gah! Luckily Hurcules' owner was there and he caught him and re-tied the rope. Sol is so food-oriented. I don't blame him, he needed groceries badly when I first got there.
Today a few people came up and told me he was a pretty horse. Awh. :) I'm proud of how far he has come.
I met some nice children there today, and ended up giving them a ride home. I get $10 off Sol's sponsorship next month for the favor, yay!
Now, my car is a serious beater. It's filled with trash, there are some holes in the body, and the driver's side mirror is held on with duct tape. I was embarrassed about giving a ride to people I don't know when it's so dirty, but I don't think the kids really cared. I drove carefully, and besides, I like horses too!
I dropped them off at their house, which was one of those "hi, we're moderately wealthy" type of places. Their grandparents were waiting for them, sitting in chairs in front of the garage. They gave me some kind of stiff smiles and waves. Heh. Yeah, my car is a beater. :p
I'm putting in an order for some proper thrush medicine. I don't think I can really swing driving out to pleasant hill. The iodine will work okay in the meantime, that combined with keeping his stall clean and dry and his hooves picked should take care of the thrush. Thank you everyone for the advice- it helps a lot!
Tomorrow is the day when Solomon is "mine." I think we'll probably make a lazy day of it, with walking around if the arena is free, and lots of hugs and skritches.

No comments: