Oh man.

I'm never going to be able to catch him again.


He was Displeased yesterday. Heh. Well I have a chiro appointment set up now, and we'll get to the bottom of all this. But that's just him trotting, when he really gets going he leaves a lot of the younger horses in the dust.

Got to meet some very nice folks today. :)
I learned a lot about saddling and stuff, which was good!
Not so good is that Solly was bucking, and it's clear that something in his back is bothering him. Hrm, he used to be okay under saddle, slow to stop but relaxed and appearing to be fine. Now he is bucking and squealing a little bit, ears pinned, tail swishing, and he squealed when I pulled on the cinch to "unlock" it. Not good. So. I am trying to get into contact with one of the two or so chiropractors who will come to the town Solly is boarded in. Hopefully they will gall back and have a rate that isn't entirely insane. Both that I was told about were recommended by a couple of people. Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong and fix it. If there's something that can't be fixed, I guess Solomon will retire and I'll sell his saddle.
But hopefully he'll be okay.
Saddle appears to fit but maybe it doesn't, maybe it's putting too much pressure on his hunter's bump, maybe I need a longer seat and a saddle that is a square skirt instead of round. Or maybe one of those short English saddles. Blargh, I don't know. But I'll figure it out somehow.
So here, have some entertainment! Dragon was having ticks removed from his sheath by a volunteer.

I'm back!

Back from visiting my folks! I am never driving all the way down I-5 again, arrgh!
I am going out to visit Solly very soon. I'll probably have a video for y'all of him tearing off into pasture today.

buuuh

Thomas had the car uh, 1 day? and this morning some ass broke the rear door handle off and left it lying there in the street. And he cracked the body of that door when he did it. WHY.
Man I need a shotgun and some rock salt I tell you what.


Went to barn to try out new wintec loaner. A kindly stable hand (love those guys enough that I'm considering learning to speak Spanish, really, it's useful anyway) held sol so I could get on. I'm getting quick. Sit down gently but get yourself in position fast with no pulling the saddle off balance. I AM A MOUNTING NINJA.
I thought the wintec looked balanced BUT
It was one of these options:
1. Mad about shitty ride yesterday.
2. The rainstorm.
3. poor saddle fit on the winted.
4. residual soreness from poor saddle fit from my saddle
5. hotness from being cooped up all day for a few days
6. "bitch I wanted to go flirt with venus"
7. Psychic horse brain scanorama detects insecurity, BLOOP BLOOP BLOOP!
that caused Solly to run off with me, fighting back against the 1 rein stop, to flirt with Venus, which I did not allow, and then when I got him away from there and back to the lot he decided to give me a few crow-hop bucks. BUCKS!!!!
I got off. Yeah I did, because we haven't established whether it is a behavior issue or a pain issue, and I am not going to punish him for being in pain by hurting him more. Once I have saddle fit down though? Nononoonooooo we will NOT be doing THAT crap.
Exasperated "wait just STOP AND STAND A MOMENT dammitt" worked and he stood calmly while I dismounted.
Found a Western lady to look, she said the gullet was low on the wintec, the fit looks great on it's own. Hm. I need to find a fitter for sure. And an equine chiropractor.
But once there is a fitting saddle situation and a back exam pass, I'm sticking to his back and we are WORKING. And before then we are doing serious ground work with me establishing my alpha HUMAN status nice and crystal crystal clear.

He gets a break and a nice lady at the barn will turn him out a few times. I get to drive to San Bernadino with no defogging or ac/heat in general vents and a tire that is slowly going flat. FUN FOR ALL!

Except while signing cards for the barn staff, who are awesome and I love them, I locked my keys, backup keys, wallet, info book, and phone in my car. AAA couldn't find me the first time. Second time they could but they woudln't help until I gave my parent's new address, as I am insured with them. It took two conference calls, a total of 5 people, and at least half an hour to get them to send out roadside assistance, who took 30 seconds to unlock my car and scan my card.

I got to know my wonderful barn owner a little better. I gifted her with flowers because I didn't know if she only liked skulls from things she'd killed herself or if any animal parts would do. She used to be picky, she told me, but now not so much. She did like the miniatrue rose plant though. Golden petals with pink tips. PRetty and loud, and kind of go with her kitchen. :)

After, the man took me to noodles. Mmmm noodles.

I need to teach Solly RESPECT.

A rather miserable day.

Cold and rainy today. Solomon was really pushy and rude. Today really cinched it, no more hand treats. He isn't listening at all on the ground.

My lunge whip was missing. I keep it in the ship holding vase thing next to the fridge in the tack room. It's next to my tack area, and I asked the woman who it belongs to if I could put my whips in too, which she said was fine, especially since people wouldn't mistake it for a trash can as often with more whips in it.
Turns out a lady whose tack is elsewhere (?) thought it was a communal whip and was lunging her horse with it. Dragging it in the mud, heh, but oh well. I don't care all that much. I got it back with a "thank you for letting me use it!" Haha, well technically she used it before asking, but I told her it was okay with me if she used it from now on, so long as it was put back and I knew where it was. Damned thing never works with my horse anyway.
Point in fact, today I tried to lunge him. Figured 3 days in his stall (there was a big storm) would make him eager to do it, but no. He trotted after me, tossing his head and annoyed, but wouldn't lunge like a normal horse. I leaned the whip against the arena bars and tried to lunge without it, no more success. Then he stiffed it, picked it up in his teeth, and followed me around, tapping me with it.
I think I need help with my horse. :<

So I tried out that bareback pad today. I am starting to wonder, actually, if maybe it's the scar tissue on that spot feeling a little achey in the cold, because if I press it he doesn't flinch, but if I run my fingers over it lightly he still does a little. Anyway, I'm going to have to get a pro saddle fitter out. I don't really see any way around it at this point.
So yeah. Bareback pad.
I cinched it up as tight as I could. Of course Solly was avoiding the mounting block like normal, and the picnic table trick didn't work a second time (for having such a small brain he learns way too damned fast) so I found a boarder who was willing to help get him in place long enough for me to get on.
Buh, I fail at bareback. FAIL. Fail fail fail.
I didn't want to press on his spine, so I tried to hoist myself up a little bit on my thighs so the weight would be on his sides and not his center line, but that was too much squeezing, and made him think I wanted him to trot, which I didn't. Cue pad sliding to the side. Cue me getting pretty worried- the road is a long ways down. Luckily he stopped when I asked him to. And he turned his head backa nd gave me a "WTF" look. Guy who helped me get him in front of the block said "uh, maybe you want to ride in the arena? I can close the gate for you?" Yes, yes that was a good idea.
So hey we did ride around for a bit. I did get a tiny bit better. But not much. And wow did it hurt. I was trying my best to be balanced and loose while not pressing on his spine, to make it as comfy as possible for him, but I wasn't balanced and he couldn't tell if I wanted to trot or canter or walk or WHAT and he actually got irritated enough to briefly pin his ears at me. He didn't when I had to lie forward for a moment and brag his withers so I wouldn't fall off, but eventually it was just too much and he went to the rain and pinned his ears. I had to agree with him there, and dismounted, because wow do I suck at bareback. :(
"Now you know why it was free!" said the guy who helped me with the mounting block.
Yeah, now I know.
So. I need a saddle fitter. I need a trainer. I can't really afford either. I feel like I'm failing my boy. But we'll find a way because I don't think I could find a good home for my stubborn scarred up old boy, and I don't want to lose him, but I want to give him the best chance possible should anything happen to me.
I am thinking of maybe looking around for an experienced horse person for a partial lease. Maybe even free if they are willing and able to teach him a thing or two. Have to figure out if anyone would be interested, and how to screen.
Unlessss of course Imaginethewolf is interested, eh? :o

I do have to say one thing though, once we were done and I was ready to untack him, I found that there was a horse between us and the halter, so I told Solly to stand while I went and got it, and he did. He didn't move a muscle, and was a very good boy. He also knew the riding was over and done with, and that dinner would be there soon, heh, so maybe that helped. But still, at the end he WAS a very good boy. And he did not throw me while I bumbled through bareback though if I were him I would have been sorely sorely tempted to do so.

Crazyday!

Well today Solomon was sore in that spot I was worried about, so there was no riding. I'm not sure if that saddle is going to work out after all. Very frustrating. And expensive. I can't afford another saddle either, so uh, hm.
Well I have that bareback pad. Maybe I'll just, once his back isn't sore, have to learn to be a good rider very quickly. Heh. We WILL find a way to get a new saddle though. I'll have to sell the old one first most likely. Perhaps I can find an English saddle this time.
The whole (slow and stubborn, but with lots of nuzzles) walk down to the paddock barn, he was calling out and being answered. I'd noticed that the herd was a lot smaller, and that his friends were missing. Turns out they were all in the paddock barn! Venus, Shadow, and Dragon were all in there, calling to him. When I walked him through they all nipped each other, crazy horses, even though they were so excited to her him calling. I out Solly in his paddock, which ended up being next to Dragon's. They stood side by side and one of them would slooooowly snake his head between the bars and gently nip the other, who would sort of quietly squeal, and then the other one would do it. Hey, if it keeps them entertained...





After that I had a chat with the barn owner. Not only did something sketchy happen with a buck and the grey horses yesterday, which ended with the buck having to be shot, but also a horse had an accident and broke his leg all the way through. :( Poor baby had to be put down. Broken legs are a terrible nightmare for a horse owner, right up there with a bad colic. I knew him, too, he was in the barn Solly and I moved from. Very tragic. My heart goes out to that poor boy's momma.
I picked up his wormer. I was considering hiring the barn staff to worm him, but I decided to give it a try. One of the nice boarders was around and she helped, actually she was the one who get it in him. Her hoss is named Dante, and he's a huge guy. I THINK he's some kind of warmblood. Very pretty boy, and very sweet. She clearly loves him a lot too. She said she had the same problem with him that I do with solly and worming. She was very parient through all his head tossing and eventually got the wormer in him. Oh he was so disgusted! I put his head on top of mine when she stroked his throat until we were sure he had swallowed. Oh the faces he made! And then he tucked his face under my arm and stood like that for a while. "Mommy the awful lady made a bad taste in my mouth HIDE MEEEEE!" Thank you, Dante's momma!
Solly is spending the night in his paddock today with Dragon, Venus, and Shadow. There's a storm and all his friends are in, so I think it'll be good for him to stay the night. Dragon keeps reaching his head over and playing with Solly's toys, which he mostly ignores.
On the drive home I came across a nice woman who was in distress, as two of her tires had blown out. There's a lot of random junk tossed alongside the road and in it, and her tires were shredded to a scary degree. I'm glad she didn't crash and was okay. We called AAA and I told them how to find us (she didn't know where she was, it's really confusing out there) and we chatted about horses. She wants to come meet Solomon, and I hope she does!
After that it was crackers and some cheese from Trader Joe's. I'm so cold though, the rain started and it was nasty, even though I had an umbrella. My skin is cold as ice!
Everyone be safe out there, it's going to be a rough one.

The outside of a horse is the best thing for the inside of a person.

So yesterday I found out that a dear friend of mine killed himself. She shot his dog, and then he shot himself. I was a wreck. I am very sad about it. Was hard to hear.
Today I decided come hell or high water I was going to go see my horse.
I went out, and there was ice on the road! Ice! Here! Hey you people in places where it snows, stop throwing things at me!
Anyway, I got to the barn and went out to the pasture with cookies in my pocket. Solomon was reluctant to leave the pasture, though he wasn't quite as stubborn as the other day. I did not want to spend an hour playing the "no really, you must come with me" game, so I pulled a cookie out of my pocket and held it between my teeth. Suddenly Solomon was very interested in walking with me. Yep, that's my boy. I told him, not that he understood, but I told him that he could have the cookie if he walked with me without resistance, but if it was a fight, then I was going to eat the damned thing myself.
Hey, those horse cookies smell really good!
But Solly decided that he really could be a good boy after all, and followed me fine, so he got his cookie when he was in the cross ties.
His feet look good. Quite good. Yay for the farrier!
So today I decided that we would try out the swayback pad and his tack. Today we were going to RIDE.
I've been really nervous about getting back in the saddle actually, but today for some reason I wasn't at all. So I saddled him, which took forever but I wanted to get it right, put on my heeled boots and helmet, and then bridled him, after trying to warm the bit up a bit. He actually was a very good boy and took the bit right away. Yay!
I had kind of high hopes for the mounting block, but he pretty effectively dashed them. He was up to his same old tricks again, swinging around and facing me when I climbed up the block, but this time he thought he could get away with it by acting cute and being affectionate. No, it is not cuddle time, it is work time when your bridle is on, Solomon.
So, did I want to play the "Haha you climbed the block and I am moving so you can't quite reach me" game today? No, no I did not. I eyed a nearby picnic table. There is a big lovely paint mare named Spirit in a paddock/stall combo next to the table. She's very attentive and interested in the world around her. Solly likes to stare at her. So I thought, aha, a distraction!
We walked over to the picnic table, and I acted casual, sitting on the table while he gased at miss Spirit. When they were almost close enough to sniff noses, I slipped the reins over his head and swung myself up into the saddle. Hah! Sucker!
That probably won't work twice.
Of course once I was in the saddle he was totally clam about it. He just anticipates too much. Heh.
So there's a trainer at the barn who will soon be moving to SoCal to train with an Olympic dressage trainer. He's such a doll. Just very sweet and soothing. He goes great work with the horses here, and I am sure will be sorely missed. He of course was passing by right when I executed my picnic table mount. Hah. I think he made some gentle "oh nice work" jibe, heh. He made it amusing instead of stinging though. It was kind of graceful considering, if I do say do myself.
So nice trainer said he would ride to the covered arena with me if I'd like. I thanked him profusely. Solomon did try to run off to his pasture with me, but I know the one-rein stop now, haha! It's circles for you, buddy!
Nice trainer fellow gave me a lot of good tips. He has a way of explaining things simply that just make them click. He told me to not worry so much about my heels being down and under my hips yet, to start with just doing what I needed to do to feel comfortable and balanced, and to move my hips with his back. And it helped! It helped a lot. Instead of worrying as much about looking proper, I was able to get in tune with Solly's movements more. He gave me tips on rein holding and making myself more clearly the leader, and why I should. I told him if I were rich and he were staying I would totally hire him. Haha.
Really I wish I could!
Anyway, Solomon and I did big wide figure 8s, and by the second figure 8 he was walking in very nice circles. Those dressage cones are actually quite useful for orienting yourself! So we practiced that, walking along the rail, walking on the center line, and walk-halts. Trainer fellow suggested getting him really comfy with the covered arena since it's winter and all.
After a little while I decided it was time to go back. Kind of a short ride, but I think we both need to be eased into it after so many months of inactivity. So! I opened the arena gate on his back! Yay! Heh, I unlatched it and pushed it open a bit, and then Solomon opened it the rest of the way. He likes opening gates. I should get him a ginat rubix cube or something to play with so he won't get so bored.
In the arena he got more and more responsive with the halts, but out of the arena he was not so into that, because the environment was much mroe interesting and he wanted to GO. Well, I got him to walk. Passed a trio of Western riders. Amazing! Heh, they were out trail riding. I was inspired by this site and decided that we would ride on part of the bridle path around the small apple orchard.
Well, the path on the other side of the orchard was covered in ice and frost! A rather novel phenomenon for around here. Solomon thought so too, because he decided it was oh so very much time to trot. Well, it was a day for new things, so I let him have his head for a little ways.
Funny thing, there's a fellow on one of my horse forums who is all about dressage, and all about Invasor, this lovely white horse from spain with a powerful neck. Invasor is amazing and can do all sorts of very very impressive things. I'm sure he's worth many millions. Anyway, his rider didn't do that stiff stiff posting that I see people do, instead he undulated with his horse's movements. I'm not olympic dressage rider, but seeing that helped me. I thought, well maybe instead of resisting and trying to pop up and down, maybe I can sort of roll my hips and my body with him when he trots. And lo and behold, it worked. I did not bounce on him, I did not slam on him, and I even got a quasi-post going, though it was not terribly easy on a giant trail/roping saddle with stirrups that my toes can barely reach, haha. Welll you aren't supposed to use the stirrups to post really, anyway, right?
So then we got back to the mounting block area. We circled the block and managed to stop NEAR it, but not quite near enough. I ended up dismounting to the ground, but somehow it didn't hurt, yay! I did my best to not drag on or hang off the saddle at all either. Yay, I felt like a real rider!
So then I untacked Solly, who had not a drop of sweat on him, brushed him, and gave him a back massage. Trainer fellow said that when I rode him he looked totally relaxed and not at all uncomfortable, which is always good to hear.
I did notice, however, that the very back area of where his saddle touches had a dark marking from the new saddle pad. That worries me. I think it might still be bridging a bit, and that's no good. I'll have to put a little more padding in the middle somehow. I have a therapeutic foam pad from Cashel. Maybe I'll put that overtop the swayback pad the next time I ride, to give the saddle something to sink into more so the pressure is more even, and to give me more of a visual idea about where the pressure is concentrated. Of course I want it even on his sides all the way down the length of the saddle.
It might also be that the pad just was dusty there or something, but I don't want to take any chances, so we'll keep working on it.

Here he is after the ride. You can see the grey bit on his back. Actually I think it goes farther back than the saddle did, so maybe it's actually a mud rolling spot that I brushed out earlier? He did have a lot of spots on him. What do you all think?
After getting Solly all taken care of and back in his pasture, I chatted with the one guy at the barn who does roping. I like him a lot! Really nice guy, easy going, doesn't put on airs. Not uptight at all. Actually people generally aren't uptight at my barn, they're really nice. Maybe sometime I can go trail riding with him. His horse is named "Rebel." Is that a roping horse name or what?
So when I headed out to the barn I was full of sorrow and grief, but when I left I felt elated, full of life and joy. I wish my friend Clif had tried working with horses like I suggested. Maybe he would have found a reason to stick around. But I don't know. Now no one will know.
Life is precious, folks, and there's so much in the world that makes it worthwhile. And once you're gone, you're gone. Maybe there's reincarnation, who knows, but this life that you have now, it's the only time you'll have it. So stick around. There are horses to hug. And tell the people you love that you do love them, because you never know. So as Joe from TB Friends says, be sure to hug your horses, and I'll add, be sure to hug all your loved ones. I love the world. I do.

My farrier is a keeper!

My farrier went out in the storm yesterday and caught Solly in the pasture, brought him in,a nd trimmed his feet without me there because I am sick as a dog. It's the flu. Blargh.
I need to mail her fee to her. I think I'll get her a card too.
She says his feet are improving a lot. Yay!
I hope I can get back out there again soon. I e0mailed the BO though, asking if it was possible to pay for someone to worm him. She mentioned the possibility last time. I think it's like $5 or $7. I can barely walk to the kitchen at the moment so handing an angry and disgusted Solly is not something I can do. I told them at the end to the e-mail that if they do it they'll want to worm him away from any low hanging roofs since he'd rather break his skull than take wormer, and that a twitch would be a good idea. I don't like the thought of twitching him, but it's better than him seriously injuring himself or his handler because he is a butthead about the taste of wormer.
I keep meaning to try the applesauce in the tube thing. Keep forgetting to buy the sauce. Though I think he'll be able to tell the difference before the paste reaches his mouth anyway.

Today at the barn.

I think I'm getting a cold. :<
But I went to the christmas party at the barn. It was in the indoor arena, but there was a nice cheery fire pit, yay! The BO asked if I wanted a marshmellow to roast, and I nickered, so she gave me one, haha. I talked to a lot of people, met some of the dressage barn people (they were actually really friendly!) and I am pretty sure I didn't make an ass of myself, so yay! :D

Went out to see my horse. It's cold out there. Some sort of arctic storm is supposed to be making it's way to California, somehow. I huddled up against the pasture horses. They were very warm. Venus tried to eat my Thor's hammer briefly. Hah! She came up to greet me, Solly was eating hay and occupied, but he did accept a cookie. I got his feet picked out (where does he find that stuff to step in? Eugh!) and huddled up against him for a while, but I think I must have been too cold for him, hah. It was dinner time and he takes eating pretty seriously. I am considering giving him some warm grain mash each day, though he seems to be taking the weather fine.

I decided to leave him out for the storm. He gets really upset sitting all alone in the paddock, and nobody else brought their horses in. The BO thinks he got hurt because they were all playing and he went through the fence on the hillside, then maybe hurt himself trying to get back in the pasture, who knows. Hopefully he'll do fine this time. They're all sticking pretty close together, feuds foregone because there's warmth in numbers. Our wimpy wimpy California horses! Horses in Minnesota are standing out in fields in blizzards, no blankets or anything, and we're worried they'll get chilled out here. It's supposed to maybe get to 28 degrees in this storm at some point. I might bring him in and blanket him if it gets that cold since he is still only a little fluffy. He does have a winter coat now though. It's so silky soft! A lot more white than his summer coat too I think, but then he's so often dirty it's hard to tell. He looks clean in the photos but believe me, he's not. His mane and tail are supposed to be almost pure white!

In which Solomon tries to play Ghandi.

Ahh, passive resistance. The noble protestor who does not fight, does not attack, but merely refuses to move.
This is actually quite effective when one weighs around 1300 pounds.

Solomon, you see, does not currently come running to me when I walk to the pasture gate. This is because (I'm fairly certain) lately it seems, in his mind, that when I come to the pasture gate, I approach him, say something exasperated, force him to LEAVE his beloved herdmates and his even more beloved new green grass, take him to the EVIL WASH RACK, wrap a bunch of random stuff around one of his legs with some neosporin, and force him to go on STALL REST! Noooooo!
So now he has associated leaving pasture with being trapped in a cage far from his friends. Oh, wonderful.
Solomon is, thankfully, a gentle soul. Good at embarrassing mom, but not mean. He is also unfortunately rather clever.
So he knows the "get them moving by going to the side or circling" trick. He will happily walk any direction that is NOT towards the pasture gate. But even if you circle him and get him moving, the moment he's turned towards the gate, he stops. A tap with the lead rope or even a dressage whip will get a sad little sound of protest but no movement. I'm not going to beat the hell out of him, even if I were that type, and I'm not, it didn't work for the previous owner.
My stud chain was at home from the time I wore it around my neck and forgot about it when I left the barn. So.
So it was a contest of wills. Who was more stubborn? I decided at one point that Solomon was a mule in disguise, not an appendix. :p He let me rock him back and forth. He let me pick up his feet. He even let me mess with his mouth like never before. I found a cut on the inside of his upper lip, but it's healing. I tried tickling the inside of his ear, which got him moving twice and then he just raised his head up higher than I could reach, and I don't want to teach him to be any more headshy than he already is, heh. Of course a number of people with their well-trained, well-behaved horses passed us.
So, we did circles. I carefully moved him by pulling his head to the side and pressing his butt so that we were about half a foot closer to the cross-ties every time we completed a circle. He got annoyed, of course he did, but he just tossed his head and grunted a couple of times. When we were almost all the way down the road to the pasture he finally gave in and walked with me. I have to say, I wasn't sure how long I could be patient about it, but I knew I couldn't let him win this battle. I was thinking "where did all those months of work go???" but he did finally give. He wasn't lame, he didn't flinch or even react at all when I poked his heel, I felt his legs and his whole body, no heat. He was fine. Just didn't want to go.
So we got to the cross ties and he was calling to his herd. Calling and calling and calling. And every time I went into the tack room out of sight, he'd call to me. Then when I came out he'd nicker. Yeah right, no treats for you today, buddy!
He got groomed, and then I checked out the fit of the saddle with his new swayback pad. Seems like the bridging is gone. Yay!
I also noticed that he's getting a little bit chunky. Hah, wow! Well, as long as he doesn't get fat, and doesn't founder... if he stays sound enough for a while, we'll start riding soon. Soon as I am sure he's fine and soon as I'm not too nervous about riding again. I'm nervous about starting up again. I know, I'm silly. :/
Anyway, I tried the saddle on him. I think I need to use the rear cinch with it anyway, even though I'm not roping cattle. We'll see.
Then I took the saddle off (oh he was making such a tragic face when I saddled him up, heh, this is a horse that has gotten used to not working) and made a point of walking him around in the arena. He was very good. He was downright sprightly on the walk back to the pasture, which just told me that he wasn't hurting in any way, he just didn't want to leave his herd and grass. He had to help me walk back up there because the struggle down the road took too much out of my ankles, but he was just fine with that- he was going back to pasture! He was kind enough to not toss the halter when I took it off him, but he did turn around and walk away rather brusquely, heheh. Eventually he'll see coming out of pasture as a good thing again. It'll just take a little time for the memory of stall rest to fade.
So anyway, I have pictures! Pictures of Solly and some of his friends out at pasture.
By the way, while Solomon makes a lot of little noises, the other horses in pasture are almost always silent. Silent and ninjalike. And they like to stand in a ring around me and, after giving a soft greeting noseblow, very gently rest their noses on me. And just stand there. Touching me with their noses. In a circle. Buh?

Solomon, out at pasture, looking suspicious. That metal trough is on the other side of the fence, prolly a holdover from the days when the barn was a cattle ranch. His eyes were all goopy, and I did manage to wash them when I got him in, though he was QUITE displeased about it.


His saddle:



No bridging now. Look at that belly though! He's getting wormed tomorrow, but I think that's a new grass belly, not a worm belly.

He had just whinnied up a storm here, and then I reappeared in the tackroom doorway.


Most of his herd, but not all of them! A very colorful bunch, eh?


Venus! She always comes up and says hi. :) She's usually hanging out with Solomon. I guess he won the fight for her?


To bite, or not to bite?


Bobby the 2 year old says "are you lookin' at me?" Actually he's really sweet and friendly too. He comes up to see me when I come out there as well.


YAAAAAAAWN!!!! I don't know his name.


He has a cute face


And a blue eye! Actually they are both blue. Horse pupils are kind of rectangular, like a goat's.

In which Solomon is impolite.

Solly is doing just great now.
I took him back up to his pasture. He was wearing his danceypants all the way up, so we had to stop a few times before he decided that rearing or trying to run to the pasture gate was a good idea.
Oh boy howdy was he ready to go back! He almost took off as soon as he was through the gate, but I got him to stand for me while I unbuckled his halter. Once the buckle was off though, he tossed it right off his head just like last time, and went CHARGING across the field. Got a few of the other horses running with him too, even though it was dinner time. Well then!



After he settled down to eat I took this video. Hm. I am going to lay off the hand treating for a bit, he's getting WAY too pushy and mouthy. My friend L said he was going to bite me, that it was only a matter of time, and I think she's right. Hand treats are a privilege, not a right, and he's getting too far out of line with it, heh. 'Course teaching him tricks with treat rewards has really made it worse, though he is good with the tricks!

Yeah, he bites Venus in the end of that video. He loves her, but he loves momma and the treats she gives a lot more.

But yay for his foot healing up! No sign of infection or proud flesh. I think we did well on this one.

No no, it's not what it looks like!

Well today after Solly's spa treatment (which I am adding a bit of betadine to) his scab was loose, so I pulled most of it off to reveal nice pink healthy flesh, yay! Also he did not visibly limp. Heh, funny boy. He got bored and acted up a bit while soaking- he managed to get a lot of his soaking solution on me. Cold Ev. Bad hoss!
So then he decided he wanted to go back to his old paddock. He was a little too dancey for my comfort, so I stuck him in the cross ties to dry while I went to get his stud chain, which I latched around my neck for convenient conveyance. Usually now the sight of it makes him behave. We both hate using it.
Of course when I got back he had a lot to say about me abandoning him there FOREVER, at least 2 minutes. He yelled at me, haha, I mean it was a cross between a nicker and a bellow!
One thing I can say is that he is very good and very careful when I crawl under him to tend his wounds, which are usually on the inside of his legs. Didn't move a muscle. Got a cookie, heh. "Thanks for not killing momma" treats, yay.
So I put him back for the night and drove to Trader Joe's, tired but craving goat cheese with honey. I did all my shopping and got in my car before I realized that I was visibly soaked from the crotch down, and I had this big chain around my neck. Hah!

Well, Solly is settling fine into his new digs. I do like the water better here. Don't like the paddock barn as much. He doesn't have a wall in this one, and there's a mare who is in heat right now, screaming and screaming. Solly is nervous, but he has food so it's all okay. He took to the move quite well, though he was confused when I left the pen without him. "Wait mom, aren't you going to take me back home?"
I moved all my stuff out of my tack locker. Bye bye, locker. Hello communal tack room. But the fridge is bigger, much bigger, and I secured a nice spot. Lots of room, really, and the whole tack room locks, which is a bit more secure. I do not think anyone will be stealing from me. That doesn't seem to happen at out barn, yay!
Tomorrow I'll go get some plastic storage containers with drawers. Hopefully I'll be able to organize my crap in a non-obnoxious fashion. I do like the saddle racks in there a lot. I think we'll settle in fine.
Solly is not limping much at all now. Yay! He is feeling better quickly. I am a relieved horse mom. Seems like it really was just a scrape from his hoof. He is wearing an easyboot loaned by the BO to help keep it clean, though I don't want to leave it on for long, since she could only find one. It must not feel great to stand all uneven like that. So probably just for the next day.
BO was very nice and quite helpful. And I know she wanted me to move over there anyway. So everyone will be happy. Solly and his pasturemates won't be freaking each other out. The BO will get her back paddock secton to herself and the volunteers. I'll put on my big girl panties and deal.
I also found out that the tack exchange stuff was still there, and I scored some awesome things I overlooked last time- I got a helmet that fits my head really comfortably, more comfortably than my other helmet. I got a bareback pad that I hadn't realized was a bareback pad the first time, but it's heavy duty, VERY thick and long and cushiony, with a fleece girth. Someday when I am a better rider I will try it. :)
It was dark by the time I was able to tend to Solly's foot. I put him in the cross-ties at the new tack room, and he was a scared boy. He kept half-spooking, eyes wide with lots of white showing, nostrils flaring, but he did try to be good. I couldn't see anything at first, but then the source of his fear emerged:
A kitty cat.
Heh. That's my boy.
It was one of the BO's cats, roaming around, hunting mice. Solomon was certain that the cat was in fact a lion. Telling him everything was fine only helped a little bit, so I shurgged and walked over to the cat, petting him and telling Solomon that it was fine, that the cat was a force of good and would not hurt him. See? The cat didn't eat me! So the cat will not eat you either.
Hah, and it actually worked. He calmed way down. I let him smell the cat on my hands. He let me mess with his foot and put that boot on him. When I left he was nomming on hay. The mare was screaming and pacing and presenting, but he couldn't have cared less.

I do look forward to him getting back to the pasture though. And to being able to ride again. I haven't even checked out how the swayback pad works with his saddle yet!

Guh.

My horse has been screaming and calling to the pasture horses, who have been whipping themselves into a frenzy trying to get to him. They broke down the fence. So now I have to move him to another section of hossmoor, to the all mare-motel area near the BO's house. Which might mean that he can't have any of his paddock toys to keep him occupied, if he makes a lot of noise with them at night. I dunno.
Back hurts, feel kinda sick, not looking forward to moving everything out of my tack locker and into another tack room somewhere. Bye Bye heated wash rack too. :( Guh.
I hope the filly didn't hurt herself. The day I led Solly limping out of the pasture, she actually tried to nurse off him. Way too old to nurse, 17 months, heh. But there she was. Doesn't work so well on a gelding!
I think they were upset that I complained about the water, too. Well, it was brown and scum was floating at the top. It smelled strongly of rotten eggs. I let them skim the top with a fish net and backed down because I felt like I'd get kicked out if I pressed the issue too much. The BO's son said they liked the water like that, and it had nutrients they needed. But it seems to me that Solomon drinks less, and the time we cleaned his water barrel out completely and refilled it, he immediately stuck his head and and started gulping water down, even tried to do it while we ran the hose.
Am I too picky? Am I being a demanding princess? Board there is very very close to the amount of rent I pay for my own home, I don't think that asking for fresh, clean water is asking that much. But maybe I'm being unreasonable. Maybe people don't usually clean water buckets once a week. Or more than once every couple months. Maybe I shouldn't make such a big deal out of it, and I need to be less overprotective?
Hoss people, please tell me, when is horse water too dirty to be acceptable?
He's a hay dunker too, heh.

Anyway, I'll move him. I don't want to fight over this, and if the herd horses and Solomon are getting really upset by being able to see each other but not reach each other, then maybe it is best that he be moved to a different area.

A bit better today.

Well, Solly's wound drained last night, quite a bit from the looks of it. It's still tender, and he is still limping, but not quite as badly. My friend L picked me up and we went out to the feed store, then we went to the barn. She got his face really cleaned up and de-itchified (he'd gotten a lot of scabs from tick bites) and I groomed his body. I put his foot in a bucket of warm water with epsom salt, which I think he loved. He didn't try to take his foot out of it, and only moved a little a couple of times. He was loving the attention and the skritches, and I think the epsom salt felt good, because he didn't want to take his foot out of that bucket, heh.
I got him a toy at the feed store- a Jolly Stall Snack.
http://tinyurl.com/5vuhem
I wonder if it will still be in one piece by tomorrow?
Thank you for driving out there with me and helping, L!

My boo is hurt again. :(

Songs of "vet bill" Solomon is lame today.


So we're on leg #3. I'm learning to not panic as readily now. But my poor baby. He was actually letting it SHOW how much he hurt. Limping badly. Whimpering at every step. Head bobbing really far every time he walked on his left front. At first he refused to walk towards the gate at all. He had that tragic look on his face.


Ah shit.


Venus, the little 17 month old filly, was trying to nurse off him a few moments before I snapped this picture. Both the babies were clinging to him for some reason. Bobby, the 2 year old, is back behind them I think. Solly isn't looking really forlorn here, but he was whimpering every time he walked or was asked to walk.

One of the Nice Boarder Ladies was there, very very sweet lady who likes Solly a lot, and she helped me coax him out of the pasture and to his paddock. First he walked with just encouragement, then he followed a fistful of hay, and then eventually we had to use the stud chain to get him to move, but once he realized that we were going to his paddock, he came limping along easily enough. We took it very slowly, but he behaved.
Washed the wound and it looked like this:



And his front legs look like this:

Nice Boarder Lady thinks the tendon might be swollen on his lower legs, but isn't sure. I can't tell. Anyone have an idea?

I asked one of the on-site trainer to look at it, which he kindly did. I was thinking at first that maybe it was an abcess that had drained maybe, but he thinks that Solomon kicked himself, maybe while getting up from rolling or something. He also thinks that he'll be okay. Probably it just hurts a lot. I hope. I just want him to be okay. And I want him to be happy. Yeah I want to ride but that is not the most important thing. Buh. Any thoughts?

A peaceful pasture dinner in the mist.



Heh, I don't know why Bobby in particular (the young 'un) was so fascinated with me today. Luckily Solly likes him. Earlier it was Nick-Knack coming up behind me. I didn't see her and she's a giant grey ninjamare, but Solly did, and he tried to tell me, heh. I chased her off because she has no concept of personal space with humans, and will attack my horse while I am leading him out of the pasture. Not so safe. It's too bad, because I like her, but yeah, she needs to keep her distance.

Looks like he is going well with the rest of the herd though. :) Three horses on one pile of hay! There are always a lot of extra piles, but there they are, peacefully eating together. Well mostly.

Still a bit of heat in his leg, but it does look like it's healing. If it stays hot or swells up or anything I'll call the vet again and get some antibiotics. But mostly what you see there is his old injury, which he has had for as long as I have known him. It doesn't seem to bother him, according to the vet.

Got ripped off on e-bay. I ordered a case of 18 rolls of vetrap. What I got was some off-brand, and while the auction claimed the rolls were 5 yards, they were half the thickness of the last roll of vetrap that I have. Grr. Here's hoping it can be dealt with peacefully.

I'm waiting for a swayback pad to arrive. Solly's saddle was bridging a bit, I'm still learning about fitting properly, and the pad should fix that. Not riding him until his legs is totally better anyway, but I'm also not going to ride him until I'm sure he'll be comfortable. I also got a better girth for him. Didn't like that old rope one.