Happy Horses

This is how I imagine the ranch in heaven, acres of green grass, and my horses wandering up to the fence to say hello when I poke my head out of the barn. Spending the day puttering around trying to get some barn stuff unpacked.

Highboy has gained significant weight from the pasture since we got here and looks amazing. This has been the eatingest two weeks he’s ever had!  The Coloradan in me keeps thinking in the back of my mind that I’ve got to really make sure the pasture doesn’t get overgrazed … so far it looks fine and Owen remind me we are at the very beginning of the growing season.  I’m also well aware of the hazards of too much green grass from so many years working in vet clinics, but everyone is doing well so far. 

Oddly, they absolutely love their stalls.  Horses were not made to live in 12x12 boxes, but this group thinks that everyone all together in the barn is the greatest. Probably because they all bonded so strongly riding in the trailer together coming here. So far it’s a good mix of turned out all day and in at night.

Raven is Molting

Raven is shedding as fast as she possibly can….  It kind of looks like she’s molting since her summer coat is so much lighter brown than her winter coat.  I gave her a thorough currying this evening and got tons of hair off her. Those plastic shedding flower curries are magical when there is this much hair.

Daisy’s roommates today in turnout were the geese.  She mostly ignored them, but they are delighted with the short grazed grass and the easy access to bugs it provides.

Daisy tends not to play well with others, so I give her turnout sharing a fence line with the other horses but not all loose together. Daisy really wants to be out with them, but I can’t risk her hurting someone when I don’t have Dr. Landes here to put them back together again.  I’ll find a new vet eventually, but I’d rather not need one right away!

Pasture Turnout Fencing

In some places the big pasture fencing is serviceable, in other places the boys could walk right over… reinforcements are definitely on the short list! Thank goodness for grass in the pastures to make staying in them appealing.  Make good choices, boys!!

I have do have Dewey and Curio in the arena, which is in that pasture, so Highboy and Note do keep going back to the arena to talk to them rather than testing the perimeter….  So far… 

After feeding and turning out the horses, the morning’s first order of business was making many phone calls. I got contact info from the local feed store for suppliers, things like arena footing and gravel for high traffic areas such as gates and water tanks.  So far I’m leaving voicemails and texting, I imagine Monday mornings are hectic for them, too, which is likely why they’re not answering phones.

Then on Tuesday I made a trip to the store to get shavings and wood pellets for the stalls, and asked there about fencing and a hay supplier.  The guy who loaded my truck said the Amish around here are the best for that sort of thing. 

I asked him to forgive my ignorance, but do the Amish use telephones?  How do I contact someone?  He made a few calls (on speakerphone so I could hear as well) and got me a phone number for an Amish guy who often has hay. Apparently they will use cell phones for business/work but they don’t use them at home so I should only call during business hours. 

He said to the people he called to get me information, “A horse trainer from Colorado just moved here and she’s looking for…”  to which the people on the phone exclaimed, “Oh yeah, I heard about her!”  I was so surprised that people knew who I was, it’s kind of fun to be in such a small area that everyone knows when a horse trainer comes to town.  But I better make sure I’m polite or it will definitely come back around!  

First Ride in VA

First ride at the new place is in the books!  After digging through trunks and tubs I located some equipment, groomed Highboy, tacked up and hopped on.  He was a little “up” riding as just the two of us in the big fields, but behaved himself.  

My back feels a little achey on the right side, but otherwise good. This is my first ride on him since before back surgery mid-December, and even with all the time off and all the life changes he was still regular old goofy Highboy.

My border collies were singing the sad dog song from the barn because they couldn’t come.  We’re still working on perimeter training and I don’t want them to go bother the neighbors before I’ve even met the neighbors. They picked up the first verse when they saw me emerge from the tack room wearing a helmet and tall boots and carrying a bridle, and got loud during the chorus as they lamented not working during this first ride.

Highboy and I cruised around the arena pasture, the big hay field, and then walked in the arena a bit. He made some googley eyes at the thick trees, convinced something was lurking just out of sight, but it was mostly for entertainment purposes not out of fear. Then we headed back to the barn feeling pretty good about future rides here. I have a ton to do to get this transformed into the combined training facility I’ve envisioned, but I can definitely picture it and I’m excited to create it!

Hair Waffles

When I was in college I was distance runner, and I had a husky who could go the distance with me.  Those are iditarod dogs, bred for running 100 miles in the Arctic, so she loved our long trail runs. Along with the husky endurance came the husky coat, thick and poufy.  She “blew her coat”, or shed out the undercoat thoroughly, twice a year in the spring and fall.

It’s so much warmer here and humid (I’m loving it so far- lightweight tech shirts all the way!!). The horses just think about running or playing in the turnouts and they’re drenched in sweat with their heavy furry Colorado winter coats. A couple of them have decided to adapt by blowing their coats like a husky, shedding out entirely in a matter of a few days. 

Dewey, Note, and Raven particularly are shedding hair like we’ve arrived in the Bahamas… hopefully in another week or so they’ll be all slicked out and less itchy!

There is definitely something satisfying about grooming a shedding horse, and the many hair waffles that come out of the rubber curry!

 Years ago Miles the border collie was a puppy always in trouble, and he ate at least a dozen of the hair waffles in one morning before I could throw them away.  I was a little worried about him getting stopped up and constipated, but later that day he also ate an entire tin of saddle soap, which seemed to lube things up and everything passed just fine.

Last Container Arrived for the Barn

The container with the rest of my barn stuff arrived today.  While I waited for it this morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed about how to organize the barn.  I’m extremely tired and having some vertigo issues with the overstimulation of the past several weeks. These issues go along with performing a move of this magnitude while I still have to deal with the brain injury that prompted the move to begin with.  I found myself walking around in circles in the barn having the same thoughts repeatedly as I passed each area, which was when I realized I needed to take some of my regular medications and eat a protein bar.

Thankfully that helped.  I have a feed area of sorts, but I need to set it up differently so I can easily get to the feed but a loose horse couldn’t. 

Next is where to put the tack lockers.  How do I set up my tack room to maximize space and minimize the number of holes I drill into the tongue-and-groove walls? First world problems!

When the last container arrived with all the barn stuff they backed the truck up to the barn.  Unloaded, among other things, were my brown fence panels. Now I have a Daisy-proof grazing area for my houdini pony.

Daisy can see the next pen over, where I put Dewey and Curio for a few minutes while I made sure everyone had what they needed in the barn for the night. It’s not a bad view from there overlooking the lake.

This photo made me laugh- try to guess which set of haunches belongs to the warmblood and which belongs to the Thoroughbred!  Hint: Dewey, the OTTB, really likes to eat.

The border collies were surprised, possibly even a little insulted that they were not called upon to assist with unloading. They want to be helpful, it’s just the border collie way to be involved in everything, anticipating every need. So instead Rizzo crossed her paws and rested her doggie chin on them and she and Pascal supervised from their kennel in the barn.

Tomorrow the planning and organizing begins, then the unpacking.  How did we get so incredibly lucky to land here?

Thank you Scotty Epps Felton and Andrea Cooperstein for all your help with making this dream a reality for us!

The horses got to go out and run in the arena in pairs today, a good time was had by all!! Raven’s favorite was the mud puddle.

Tuesday Container Arrives

The horses are still enjoying pairs turnout in the arena, but tomorrow when the fencing arrives they should have another area to run around in.  There was a leak and burst pipe in my office in the barn which a plumber has now fixed, so the cats are still in their large kennel until i can get the tack room dried out and set up.

Two of the three containers with all our stuff (barn and house) have arrived. The guys who are unloading the containers for us have been awesome, which is good because the last of our family who was helping with the move flew home today. Mahzi, our house dog, got very attached to my husband’s dad over the past week and watched mournfully as he packed the rental car to take to the airport.  

Monday Report

Sunshine and 70s on Monday, I swear I can see the grass growing with my naked eye… All the horses have been good, but Dewey and Note have been the rockstars of this adventure. They have a calming influence through the whole barn and have been very smoochy with my in-laws who are here helping get us set up.  The dogs are acclimating to small periods of time in their barn kennel while I get horses taken care of in the mornings.

The day before was foggy and a little overcast in the morning, but still pleasant enough to walk the dogs in between switching pairs of horses for turnout.  This is like living at the park.

Horse Transport Across the Country

Tuesday night the horses were picked up in Colorado around 8:30pm. Because he refuses to believe he’s truly a gelding, Note was loaded first into the rig so he would only share a wall with Highboy. He hopped in like an old pro (blessed are the racehorses who are so well traveled) and Highboy eagerly followed. 

Highboy knew something was up all day, he continually stood at the gate to the barn, waiting eagerly to board the party bus for the greatest road-trip he’d ever thought of. His only complaint was that there was no disco ball inside the trailer. The shipper said Highboy and Note played and squealed and lip wrestled the entire trip. No arguing, but definitely some frat boy antics going on!

I then loaded the mares on the other side of the rig, and lastly Dewey and Curio in the center (the door to the semi-trailer is cut into the side). Dewey and Curio were much more interested in munching the extra hay in the center aisle than just eating their own hay bags! The mares were very business like and stood quietly in their box stalls.

Then they were on their way, with buckets of water available the whole time in each box stall, and plenty of snacks in hay bags for the road.

Wednesday I flew to VA with my friend (the brain injury makes it so I cannot fly alone and need a wheelchair), we crashed at the house Wednesday night, and the horses arrived at the new barn around 9:30am this morning.

Equine Express did an incredible job. Despise passing a few bad accidents that stopped up traffic outside of Nashville, they arrived in a timely manner and thankfully the horses were all in great shape when they disembarked from the rig in the pouring rain this morning! 

It was truly pouring rain as they got off the trailer, the ramp even was resting in a puddle!  We chuckled that the horses jumped some of the water, reminding them they are Eventers and water is not new to them…!

They each were tucked into their stalls for the day.

More photos to come when i have better internet connection!

The Exodus Begins!

Let the exodus begin! Jasi said “see you on the east coast!” to the horses since she and owen are driving the truck and trailer to VA with the small animals. 

Rizzo asked if we could please take her favorite bridge with us….

The horses are aware something is afoot but it’s not stopping them from taking naps in the sun.  

I sent Jasi, Owen, and the small animals on their way this morning, with my in-laws driving the Subaru behind them.  

Owen sent me this picture from the cab of the truck a couple hours later, with little Rizzo looking concerned.  

“Ah, Owen, I think you may have forgotten Kim at home... She always runs these road trips and as her regular copilot I feel it’s my responsibility to let you know we left her at the house.”

I’ll load the horses tonight here in Colorado with the shipping company. Then tomorrow I fly to the east coast, so I’ll already be there when the horses arrive and when my family arrives. Rizzo is in for a surprise Thursday when they get to the final destination and I’m there already!