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.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Solomon is safe and sound in his new home!

...and I was in such a rush to get him to his new place that I forgot my camera. Heh. Don't worry, tomorrow is the big discover the pasture day, and THAT I'll get on video.
Another boarder at the old barn gave us a lift. It took all of 10 minutes. Those roads really weren't safe to walk along with a horse, alone, or anything. Lots of sections were sharp corners with no visibility and zero shoulder. We wouldn't have survived an attempt. As for trails there, I really don't know where those were or how long they were.
Anyway, Solomon loaded fine when old barn boarder took him on. I didn't know how, have a better idea now. Of course, the whole way there it was *STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP* "RHEEEEHEHEHEHEHE REEEEHEHEHEHEHE!" *STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP*
When he came off the trailer he was a little freaked out. Head high, ears straight up, really big eye and flaring nostrils. He was sweaty too. He calmed down on the walk to his new home. Just a couple of minutes after I put him in his mare motel, the feeding guys came by on their John Deere.
"How much do you want us to give him?" they asked.
Holy crap, he can now get enough to eat, how cool is that?
So Solomon got 2 flakes of yummy high quality orchard grass.
He'll get 2 flakes of alfalfa in the morning, and some supplement in the afternoon, then 2 flakes at night. I will possibly cut that down to 1 flake of alfalfa, the supplement, and 2 flakes of grass hay once he is at the ideal weight, but we'll just have to see what works for him.
I washed Solly in the cross ties with the nice heated wash water and spray nozzle with a bunch of different spray options. He still hated it, but not nearly as much as the cold water. Cleaning his face with a sponge was a lot harder, and I ended up getting soaked myself.
Then I thought I would take him on a walk down to the soda machine at the other end of the property so he could dry out in the sun a bit. He saw some deer, froze, and whinnied, but when I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to walk again he unfroze. The covered arena, however, was Big And Scary, especially since they had it all set up for a show with colored flags and OMG COLORFUL FLOWERS LOOK OUT! So he spooked. He spooked and sat down for a second. Goodbye bath! But dust is better than manure, so I'm still glad I washed him. I made him stand in the Big Scary Arena with me while I bought a bottle of water, and then we left again. He high-tailed it out of there, and I had to make him turn a circle once or twice because he wanted to go faster than I was able to. My ankles were Very Displeased with me walking from one side of the property to the other and back again twice, heh.
Then I took him back to his paddock and let him loose. He set himself to eating like there was nothing strange going on. Well, it was HAY, and really TASTY hay at that! I sat on the ground ant watched him, something I would never do in the deep, soggy manure mash of the old place, if there were even room for me in that stall. I gave him a bit of fly spray. Tomorrow he'll get the curry comb and the brush, and he will be shiny and white again, unless of course he lies down in his own poo even though he has a much bigger space now. He's a white horse, so Murphy's Law says that he probably will.
The people that I met there said that he was a nice boy and he had a pretty face. :D
I called the vet's office up and told them that I had found a ride, and they were very happy and relieved that I got out of the old place and took him to Hossmoor. He went from a dirty bad reputation place to a clean excellent reputation place. Yay!
I wanted to stay there all night, but I needed to get home. Tomorrow I may well go up there twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. There's a lot of stuff going on AND there's a show this weekend at Hossmoor, so that'll be interesting. I really want to hang out with my horse in our new home though!

3 comments:

The horse lawyer said...

I love love LOVE good news. Be warned that there is always barn drama wherever you go; you got your Dr. Phil places, your Oprah places, your Jerry Springer places, and your Masterpiece Theater places. However Hossmoor turns out, it certainly sounds about a thousand percent better for both of you. Just remember that it's the people that cause all of the sagas; and you'll be fine.

I'm glad you got him out of there. It sounds as if the trailer ride was noisy but doable.
*blinks* I am still in shock over the "enough to eat" comment. That isn't even a question. Horse needs food, horse gets food. End of story. I hope. If the hay here is lots better you may want to make sure he doesn't get the runs for the first few days. Alfalfa can do that sometimes. Make any feeding changes as gradually as you can.

Hugs and carrots.

Willow said...

It sounds like he went from hell to paradise. I'm so happy for you and Solomon.

all-canadian said...

If he's been getting crap hay for a while now, you might not want to switch him to all really rich hay. I think grass hay still puts weight on a horse pretty well... just a thought. I have little hands on experience, so you'd probably want to ask a vet or other fugly-ites :)

Solomon looks awesome... SO much better than he used to. He has a nice round bum now. I'm so glad you were able to help him, I hope you can find a part boarder for him.

And the new place seems incredible... definitely an upgrade for Sol!