Solomon and Ev go on an adventure!

Hey there folks,
Yesterday Solomon and I went on an adventure!
But first, when I was leaving the house to drive up to pope valley, I found this:



That's a big big moth!

When I got to the ranch, after chatting with Bo on the front porch for a while, I pulled Solly out of his pasture and let him loose by his favorite tree. He was a good boy, and he let me pick his feet out while he was loose. He could have gone anywhere on the ranch that wasn't fenced off, but he stood quietly for me while I messed with his feet. That's a nice feeling.

The two old mares, one retired and one semi retired, who usually live in the T-shaped pasture, were in the pasture next to theirs. The old fence is getting replaced with no-climb fencing, so they went to check out a spot they don't usually get to explore. They discovered the Water Trough of Ultimate Happy Fun Splash Time. The WToUHFST is not, you understand, like their own trough, which is wrought of plastic instead of metal. Clearly the trough they got to experience today is FAR more fun!





Nickers and Lilly.







Next, I haltered Solly and we went on AN ADVENTURE!

yes that's right, we took a walk down the road, away from the ranch! We went farther than I have ever gone before down that road. A little too far, as it turned out, but all was well in the end.

First we said hi to Sol's old nemesis, Mister Barn Wall.



On the way out, Solomon had to freeze a lot to take in his surroundings. He also had a couple of pieces of hay hanging out of his mouth the entire time. That's my country bumpkin boy!

It's the BABY!



Hi!



Proof that Solomon actually DID walk on the way out. I did not, in fact, carry him.



But this is what happened more often than the walking.



WHY HELLO THERE!



A-durr-hurr-hurrrr.



AAA COWS!



OMG brown grass and a fence!



I think it is safe to say that Solomon is kind of barn sour. Well, that's okay- it's just something for us to work on. Despite the need for a lot of coaxing, I really enjoyed our walk. Enough so, in fact, that I went way farther than was a good idea, given my body's limitations. Well, if I did a lot of coaxing on the way out, Solomon did a lot of coaxing on the way back. Whenever I started to slow and flag behind, he'd turn his great grey head around towards me and nicker. And if I slowed a lot, he'd slow himself down to keep pace with me. I had to hold on to his wither and hang off his back a little bit the whole way back, though for a little while I also held on to his mane. He was a good sport about it, and he lowered his head and pushed on, quite happy since we were heading back to the barn. I wonder if driving is something we could ever do? Solomon is not the easiest horse to control, so I don't know about that. But from a purely physical standpoint, I think he would be able to do the work.

And now, for your amusement, our adventure in three videos. I wish I had a way to combine them. I have Adobe Premiere, but it tells me that my compression type is not acceptable. Poo.







Next, Solomon spent a little time at the Patience Tree.

HAH, I locked the knot! What now, horse?



If he pawed, he got reprimanded. He figured it out pretty quickly. First, I took a tiny pebble, about pea-gravel sized, and bounced it lightly off his butt. The force was about like a large bee flying into you. Not stinging, just running in to you. Not at all painful. The point of that was for him to feel that, even though I was far away, I could still touch him. This was surprising and quite amazing to him. After the second time, I just had to say "AHHH" and he stopped pawing.

Solomon got bored.



And then, at last, he accepted being tied at the tree as he has come to accept being tied at the trailer.



After the tree, he did a little roundpenning.

Then he got to go back to his pasture, which he didn't resist so much today. He isn't being ridden any more, but he is still learning and he still has to get exercise to stay healthy!

After that I hung out with one of the other boarders, A____, and her horse Nick. Or is it Nicky? He's a good old cutting horse, now semi-retired. She still rides him on little walks around the property. He just loves her to death. He loves people. He hates grey horses, hah! I have to be careful when I have Solomon, because he'll squeal and pitch a fit if I get too close to his pen with my boy. He was at war with a couple of greys at his old barn.

He loves attention and snuggling!





Haha, Solomon is so tall and I am so short compared to this pair. Sol's neck would be a lot lower if he put his chin on my head, as the top of my head is at about the level of his wither.

So that was our day! I hope you enjoyed it. :}

Another day in the oven.

Hi folks,
So today I got to the ranch around 11:30 or 12:00, and I left the ranch around 7:30. Big day!

The first thing I did was run into the ranch house, hiding from the heat. This, of course, didn't save me, as it gets hotter and hotter out there in Pope Valley, peaking at around 5 or 6pm. I did have a nice long conversation with Bo about the nature of horses and humans.

We talked about how people will readily admit that a horse is stronger than they are. They will readily admit that a horse is bigger than they are. But a lot of people are very intimidated by the concept that horses think and feel emotions. Why is this? Do people want to think that they are not animals... that they are so special that they are above nature? That other beings, which we sometimes do terrible things to, cannot possibly have emotions? Does the thought make people feel guilty? Is it the thought that if they feel, they might also have souls? Now, people often say, "don't anthropomorphise the horse!"
Well of course the horse isn't thinking about having a cup of coffee or driving a car. But I think that it is arrogant of us to assume that we have a monopoly on emotions. I have seen horses express jealousy, anger, fear, joy, affection, nervousness, and contentment. I have seen them worry. I have seen them look forward to things. Perhaps we, as a race, should examine why we feel so threatened by the concept of the animals we keep having feelings and thoughts. They are different from ours, but they are there. I believe this.

So after a little helping of blueberries and some tea (thanks Bo!) I struck out across the ranch to see my horse. He came trotting over to the gate, nickering. My heart melts every time he does that!

Then Solomon had to tell Remmy what was what! Whose human am I? Solomon's human!



DeDe had gone to the show, and the trailer went with her, so I decided it would be nice to tie him someplace different anyway. There is a nice stout pine tree next to the tack room. Hmmm, I think I like it better than the trailer! It's shady and I don't have to lug the grooming box as far. Okay, so there's a bit of pine pitch that I could do without, but otherwise it's a pretty nice spot.

When Solly realized that we weren't going to the trailer, which wasn't there (OMG big shock to a horse!) he froze for a moment to re-evaluate his surroundings, but with a little coaxing he continued to follow me. I tied him to the tree, and he wasn't happy about not getting to follow me into the tack room. What was going to happen to him? There was no way of knowing!



First he discovered that pine needles aren't all that tasty.



Then he got a little worried, but was mostly curious as to what was going to happen next.



The grooming box was a cue for him, however, and he started to relax when he saw it. As soon as I came up to him with his pick and asked for a hoof, he settled right down, because we were going into the grooming routine, so all was well. I picked his feet, curried his coat which is still shedding out, amazingly enough, I fly sprayed him and brushed his mane and tail. His mane is starting to look better again. It didn't survive winter as well as I would have liked, and somehow he lost a chunk of it early this yeah, but it is all starting to grow out, and it really doesn't tangle much any more.



I love that it's blond while his body is white with little black speckles.

When I let him loose, he didn't immediately wander off, but instead stuck close to me and grazed. Grazed on WHAT I'm not sure, since all the grass is dead now. But I guess it was still interesting enough to eat.



And here I made a little video. Really it's a plea for people to consider properly retiring their horses instead of dumping them off at auctions or putting them up on craigslist. I DO understand that sometimes people end up in a financial crisis, and at that time it is important that the horse gets good consistent care. If you cannot afford to properly care for your horse, then do contact a rescue and look around for a new home for him. But if you CAN afford it and just don't want to pay for it, or you just want to get a new horse that you can ride since you can't ride yours any more, please do consider how much your horse has done for you. Please think about the fact that he has given and given and given to you, he has earned his retirement, and he deserves a safe, happy life, not one that is full of fear and pain.
Remember, a stranger is unlikely to love your horse like you love him, there aren't many people looking for companion horses and pasture puffs, and the kill buyers are making some pretty good money shipping horses off the slaughter right now.



So next, while Solomon was hanging out with his favorite tree, I went through the pasture, past Teddy Bear...



To the herd in the big pasture!
The first to greet me were Magic and her baby, followed by Breezy, who is the alpha mare.



Magic and the baby don't hang out together as much any more. At 3.5 month old, the baby has become rather independent, and the rest of the herd has taken over much of her teaching. Breezy and Jewel, being first and second in command respectively, were especially protective. The entire time I was with the baby, they were there, a solid, gentle presence. They said, without speaking, "we're here, and we guess you are okay, but don't you DARE hurt that baby!"

The baby is very curious these days.



Breezy kept her mouth on the baby quite often. She was saying, "this baby is MINE" while giving the little one affection and reassurance.



Jewel was also a little suspicious, keeping an eye on things.



Now, I feel safer being in a tight squeeze between Breezy and Jewel in the herd than I would between the more junior horses. The junior horses might get chased off, and they might bump into me while trying to get away quickly. The lead mares do not get chased, and they radiate calm and control. When they are calm and still, the herd tends to be at peace, though of course there is always communication going on, and some testing in the ranks.

But let's get back to the baby.



Here you can see that she wishes to explore. Horses are very tactile creatures, and often they use their mouths to understand the world around them. Such a young horse might also nip, however, so it is important to set a solid boundary early on. This can be done with patient, gentle reminders. Just push her face away, and give a little sound. It's okay to let her explore a bit, but if she gets TOO mouthy, just set a boundary. She'll get it eventually, with no one getting hurt, and without her losing any trust.

After I finished making this little video, I picked up her feet and messed with her body. She stood calmly and quietly, accepting the attention without reservations.

I am really loving her squirrel-tail!



Breezy was still a little wary, and also wanting some attention for herself.



While she had the baby and I to herself, the rest of the herd looked on. Except Jewel, heh!



On the way back, I spent a little bit of time with Teddy Bear and Lilah.



Sorry that a lot of the video was of horse flank, haha!

This was a major thing. Bo has been working with her about her chestnut touching aversion. If you just grab at them, she WILL fling herself away from you. Or she did. She has gentled about it, and I found that asking her politely and approaching with calm and confidence made a big difference. I knew that she had an issue with anyone touching her chestnuts, but I decided to see if we could work around that boundary, since it isn't really a reasonable one. To my delight, she calmly accepted my touch.

Then I went inside to meet up with K____, another boarder and just the sweetest woman you've ever met! She had some pictures from a team roping event she went to. I'm sorry to say, I don't think I like that sport very much. It looks like it's painful to the calves, and a lot of people, though certainly not all, are not concerned at all with how well they ride their horses, just with staying on and roping the calf. As a result, there seemed to be a lot of mouth-yanking with some pretty severe bits. Of course, these pictures were from an amateur event, not something that big time professionals do. This was not an event for cattle ranchers. It was something these folks did on the weekends. But either way, the calves did not look to be having a good time of it. I'm okay with team penning, but I don't see myself wanting to do team roping. One person ropes the horns (or the neck, if they don't catch it right) and the other person ropes one or two back legs. Then they stretch the calf out, usually pulling on both ends and taking it down to the ground. A good roping team, I am told, lets go right away so the calf doesn't get all yanked and stretched. But that seems to be the exception, not the rule, in the really amateur level.

Anyway, about that time I looked out and saw that my horse had gone into the hay barn! He KNOWS he isn't supposed to be there. I went out and yelled at him. He looked at me, but didn't budge... until he saw me putting my boots on. He knows that if I'm putting my boots on, I'm coming out there. So then he took off out of the hay barn and huddled at the fence with the herd of mares. Yeah buddy, sorry, too little, too late... it was time for him to go back in to his pasture with the Little Bay Gelding.



This is a very fun gelding game. I nip at you, you nip at me! The LBG likes to rear and shadowbox, but Solomon isn't so into that with his back legs being not so great. And LBG is around 3, whereas Solomon is around 17 or 18.
But notice that when Solomon has had enough, he tells LBG with body language, not physical contact. And notice that when I have had enough, I do the same thing, which he responds to. He was not raised on this ranch, and still has a ways to go when it comes to manners... but Solomon and Bo have taught him a lot!

Then there were CARROTS!
OM NOM NOM NOM!



Solomon is a little annoyed here because his mouth is so full he cannot intake another carrot, but it's RIGHT THERE and he WANTS IT!

Remmy and Poco Joe (probably mostly Remmy) knocked over their water tough and were playing soccer with it, kicking it over, righting it again, then kicking it around some more. They were thirsty when K___ and I did the rounds, watering all the horses.



Poco Joe had a nice roll after getting a little spray down.



Vinny and Leo are in the north pasture, next to Solomon and LBG. When they got sprayed, they got really really excited, and Solomon came cantering back to where I was. I was driving the mule, which is a little scary and a little fun, and Solomon was happy to follow along. It really makes my heart sing with joy to see him cantering on his own just because he feels like it. He wasn't walking very well, even, when I first found him. But now he is healthy and he is happy, and I am so glad.

The 5 stages of worming.

I have been rather ill, but now I am getting better again, so today I was finally able to go out to the ranch again!

For some reason I wasn't able to get to sleep until mid-morning, and I only got about 3 hours at that. Ever been unable to sleep because your body ached and you knew you had to get up early? Yeah, that was me today.

But I had to go see my boy! His wormer had FINALLY arrived.

Bo showed me a different way to give wormer to a horse. Instead of sneaking up on him, we acclimated him to the idea gradually. Bo showed him the tube, rubbed it all ove rhis face, neck, and chest, backed off, came back in, did the same thing on his other side, stuck a finger in his mouth, backed off, came back in, let him smell the wormer, put a finger in his mouth again, backed off, came back in, stuck his finger in Sol's mouth again, and then finally put the wormer in. He took a little longer than he had to because he was demonstrating how to do it, and letting me see what was going on with my horse.

Oh, but the photos.

So I present to you, gentle readers, the five stages of worming, from the perspective of the horse.

1. Denial.



This can't be happening! Not again! No! There isn't any tube of wormer here! Lalalalala!



Lalala nothing happening at all, I'm gonna get let go any moment to run off and graze! Yep! What tube?

2. Anger.



Oh you are NOT putting that crap in MY MOUTH!!!!!

3. Bargaining



Pleeeease I'm begging you man, I... I will stop knocking the posts out in the pasture over while scratching my butt! Really! I'll pretend to do DRESSAGE! ANYTHING!

4. Depression / Abject Horror



Nooooo I am such a sad pony, woe is me!



Life is so cruel!



This is it. They are poisoning me. I am going to DIE. How could life end this way? It's so unfair!



AAAAA UGH UGH UGH YUCK AAA POISON FOUL NASTY AAAAAAAA!!!!

5. Acceptance.



Oh FINE. Okay. I guess I'll live. Maybe that wasn't that bad. I mean I am getting attention now. Getting loves isn't so bad, I guess.

Next, we put a long rope around Solomon's neck, and we tried out a different horsemanship method, moving him around with body language. Sol responded better to Bo than he did to me, backing off and moving out of the way. I was too aggressive, and Solomon learned long ago that when things got iffy for him, he could cuddle up to me for reassurance. That's great in some cases, but not so much when one is attempting to work. So I learned to tone it down, but also block him out of my space. I'm not one of those "the horse can never be in my space" kind of person, but I also do recognize that it isn't always safe or productive to have your horse crowding in close, or to crowd your horse. Sometimes it is easier and safer to go around, and to have him stand still while you re-maneuver yourself. Solomon was game, though he really felt that he deserved grazing time after having gone through the horrors of worming, and he responded fairly well.

Then we tried turning Solomon by going around behind him with the rope, and then putting a brief bit of pressure on his upper leg/butt area so that he would spin around. This was tricky for me because I focused so much on Solomon that I ended up driving him instead of getting him to stand calmly while I went around him. We did work it out, however, and it was kind of fun to spin him from so far away. It's just another way to move one's horse.

I was only out there for about an hour and a half, but I was hurting and not feeling well at all. One week of illness and it feels like three months of inaction. But Bo says I'll get back up to where I was before soon enough, and he's right. I just don't convalesce terribly well- I always feel like I should be able to will myself better right away. But that doesn't work with people any more than it does with horses!

So now I'll share with you some lovely head shots from the end of the day, when these three boys decided to have some social time.

Solomon and the Little Bay Gelding...





Three gorgeous boys.



...being boys!