"Crystal"

Crystal it is!

Tonight I brought Crystal into the yard to graze on the green grass. As soon as we were through the gate, she put her head down into a patch of tall grass and started eating fervently. I guess it tasted good - but she was partial to the longer grass that was still around the trees after the lawn was mowed this week. Even though she was excited to be in a new area, she was still very well behaved. I could feel her energy up, but she never got silly or pushy.

Christopher and Sammie came out to visit with the new mare by the picnic table, which happened to have a bunch of tall grass under it. I told the kids to stay at the table so I didn't have to worry just in case Crystal felt her energy get a little too crazy. I explained how she liked the long grass and both kids would pick a handful of grass and put it on the table for her, and each time, Crystal watched and then ate every bite of the grass they put on the table for her. It was precious. They both got to pat her nose while she was there, and again, she was very well behaved despite her excitement.

The only time she was at all "pushy" was when we were getting ready to go out of the gate she pulled with her nose to get one last bite of tall grass on her way out. I couldn't blame her. I think we'll try an hour out with Arwen tomorrow so she can start getting used to the grass. She hasn't had any grass in quite a while - there was none where she was seized from, and none at the holding facility, so we will take our time there. I'll be home all day and can keep an eye on everybody.

It seems like it is officially spring here in Texas - the grass is starting to grow, and the temps the next few weeks are all in the upper 60's - low 70's. I am going to be outside as much as I can while the weather is so beautiful!

Happy Mare!

Here are some photos of my new foster horse - name yet tbd...











I love the way she always turns to look at me. :)

I got up early this morning before taking the kids to school to feed, and she had eaten every scrap of the half bale of hay I had put out for her last night. She was so happy to see me - met me at the fenceline, and met me at her stall door inside the barn, too. It is so amazing the changes I can see in her already. I know that yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind for her, coming to a new place, meeting new horses, and wondering what kind of a human I would turn out to be. She was anxious yesterday - well behaved, but not quite sure of me. Well, until I started feeding her handfuls of grain. Then she decided I was okay. :)

She is about 16hh and weighs only 920 lbs - Sweetie is the same height and weighs at least 1200 lbs.. Can you imagine needing to gain 300 lbs? :) Geez! I am hoping she has put on 50 lbs in the last 24 hours - well, at least that is how much she has eaten in hay! Good golly! :) That girl knows how to chow down! But after cleaning out her stall/run, it was clear that things went all the way through... :)

I was hurried this morning so did not get to spend much time with her, and looked forward to it all day. When I got home and went out to the barn I walked up to the fenceline, bent my arms across the top board and sat my chin on my hands - but not for long. She came right up to me for scratches and rubs on her head/neck/withers. You could see in her eyes that she was starting already to trust me. How nice to have a human that visited regularly - and brought hay and grain to her!

After barn chores and getting the other horses in the barn, I opened her door and easily put a halter on her - and cross tied her in the barn to groom her. She stood very well for me. Wiggled a little here and there, but basically just soaked up all the grooming. I took the pictures as soon as I could - but the sun was already setting. Her ribs & spine don't show nearly as much in the photos as they do in real life, but don't worry, that won't last. She already looks better than yesterday!

I even picked out her front feet! I will wait another day for the rear. I forgot to look at the tattoo - was in too much of a hurry to get photos in daylight so I could post them, and then it was dinner time for the humans. :)

Samantha has asked on more than one occasion if the new horse could be "hers" until we find her a home. I tell her she can certainly help me care for her, and remind her that she belongs to the rescue, and will someday find a home with a family that loves her. She seems okay with that. We have not yet named her, although we are tossing around "Diamond" and "Crystal." "Snow White" was mentioned, and although I think it fits her personality along with the white body/black mane/tail, Sammie and others have said it's not quite right. We will see. More soon!

The best laid plans...

Ever feel like a higher power sometimes steps in and changes the plan for you? Today I volunteered for Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society - I went to trailer my new foster horse to my house and 2 others to another member's barn. I had high hopes that I would be bringing home a sweet pony for Samantha, but someone up there had other plans for me today. The cute little mare that I had seen only in pictures turned out to be uncatchable. Very smart, but wanted nothing to do with humans, which did not bode well for the idea of a little girl's pony - at least, not without intense training and time, and even then the personality of a horse is not likely to change that dramatically. So I ended up instead bringing home a 16hh gray mare, who I suspect is an OTTB due to her tattoo (which I will look at later). In the pen with 3 other 13-14hh horses, she looked like a giant, and was not what I was planning on bringing home. However, her kind eyes spoke to me and she walked right up to me in the paddock while I was trying to catch/separate the other mare.

She loaded easily and trailered well. You could tell the way that she walked right into the barn without hesitation that she had been cared for well at some point in her life. I will have to get a reading on that tattoo and find out who she is. She did not pause at walking into a stall, either. Both of those things surprised me somewhat, but at the same time didn't surprise me coming from a mare off the track.

She spent the afternoon sniffing the other horses and figuring out that I really did keep bringing her handfuls of grain with flakes of hay.

Tonight, she rewarded me after I had let all the other horses out and was cleaning the barn, she poked her nose into the aisleway and let me rub her forehead and stood for quite a while as I scratched and rubbed on her neck - just like Penny used to. I wasn't expecting that, but was so grateful for it. Even Arwen wanted some scratches ,too. I guess they missed me on my vacation. It is so good to be home and back into helping horses - they really need me. And somehow, this girl chose me to help her get back to health. I am looking forward to the journey. More soon.

Sammie rode Arthur, too!

I forgot to mention that Sammie rode Arthur on a nice pony ride through the field with me leading her again. She directed me the whole way telling me which way to go, when to turn, and which puddle to walk through. :) She again closed her eyes and made some "snoring" noises, but to see her up there grinning from ear to ear she was far from sleeping. Arthur was very well behaved for the whole trip. And Sammie was absolutely adorable wearing real riding pants! I bought two pairs at a great discount at the Bluebonnet Horse Expo in 2008! I have been holding on to them just waiting for the day when they would fit her. :) I will have to take pictures next time to share with you how CUTE she was!!! :)

Another ride on Rocky!

I got to ride Rocky again today! We just walked around the ring again - enjoying the beautiful sunny day. It was so warm I had to take off my sweatshirt and ride in a t-shirt! Of course, it didn't last. At the end of our ride, a cold front blew in. Its always weird to feel the temperature drop 10-15 degrees suddenly as the cold air comes in on a breeze. It will be back down to freezing again tonight, so blankets will need to go back on. But I feel great that I had another chance to ride! Rocky is enormous, but so sweet and he loves the attention so much! Again, thank goodness for his sweet personality! We've been together since the moment I helped pull him out of his momma in 1996 - and he's such a good boy!

Beautiful winter ride with Rocky!

This morning when we woke up the ground was beautifully white with a very thick frost - it had been foggy early, and the fog added to the layers of frost. Thankfully, the sun came out and the frost melted away rather quickly. I warmed up quickly by getting the barn ready for the horses - picking stalls, putting out hay and grain - and the sun felt so warm I had to ride.

I pulled Sweetie out of her stall first - I wanted to get her back into her Rambo blanket that I had taken off after all the rains the other day - the "replacement" just didn't fit her quite right. Plenty long from head to tail, but her belly always hangs out way below it like it was designed for a sleek TB - oh, wait... Sweetie is a TB, lol, just with a big belly. :) (how embarrassing! :) ) But her belly was well earned while carrying Rocky around in there, and she is just as beautiful as ever.

Sweetie decided that she was a little perturbed that I would bring her out of her stall before she had a chance to finish her hay, and was making ugly faces, so I groomed her and put her back in her stall. I wanted to have a nice relaxing ride - and some days you can just Tell they are going to be silly, 23 years old or not.

And there was Rocky. It has been about exactly a year since I last rode him - my injured back and then kidney stone and then injured ankle had kept me off of him for the whole year! Oh, my, again, how embarrassing... :) But he leaned out of his stall window towards me trying to get closer and see what I might do - and I couldn't resist that big red guy. I pulled him out, took the blanket off of him and groomed him. I decided I would lunge him a little just to see what he would do before I bothered putting a saddle on him.

We got out to the ring and I was reminded how much I have already taught Rocky - I just pointed to the left, and off he went to the left. I pointed to the right, and off he went to the right. Every time I said, "whoa," he came right down to the halt and faced me. A slight jiggle of the lead, and he backed right up. He was being great, and so relaxed that we went back into the barn and put the saddle and bridle on him. He was easy to mount up, and we just walked around the ring. Halting occasionally, did a few circles, but just walked and enjoyed the sunny day.

I also noticed while I was up there that there was an area of ground that had sunken in about a foot outside of the ring - it is where there was an old well - and shortly after moving here (and finding the depression) we had filled it with a dumptruck load of sand. The area was generally 2-3 feet higher than the ground around it (still from the sand) but the center had gone down a foot or so. I guess the rains recently have helped some of the sand settle more than it has the last 10 years. After my ride I went out and leveled things out quite a bit, making sure the ground was now firm in the area. It was pretty easy to do as it really was just filling the center in with the extra sand that was already there. But I will be keeping an eye on it!

Rocky loved all of his treats and was so happy to have had a "job" for the day - I was reminded how much he loves attention - and recognized that he had been a little bummed that I had not been riding him lately. He is so affectionate. I love how well behaved he is - how friendly - since he has been well handled since the moment he was born (by me!) I really have taught him quite a bit. :)

I am also thankful that he is so laid back for such a big horse! I keep thinking I need to find myself a quiet, 14hh QH someday, but Rocky is just as calm - even if he is 17hh! It is such a long way down from up there! I love the big guy and look forward to our future adventures!

A healing day with Arthur

Today, I finally got Sammie back out to the barn. I'm not sure how much was her anxiety and how much was the weather, but I was really glad I finally took her out there again. When we first got out there she was in her "contrary" mood and pretended the horses were different horses - like Sweetie was Rocky, etc., and that Arwen was Penny... she even said she wanted to ride Penny... I did my best just to listen and then remind her that Penny was in heaven, and she looked at me like I had lost it and said, "I know, Mom!" She joked around some more and finally said she wanted to ride Arthur, even though it was a little chilly for her taste.

Sammie gave Arthur a few small handfuls of alfalfa for a treat, which he loved. We tacked him up, lifted Sammie into the saddle, and went for a walk through the field with me leading Arthur around. We went down by the pond and saw how it was actually overflowing around the edge, and followed the water until there was a tiny waterfall as it headed down into a very small ravine/creekbed that I have never seen any water in before. I'm sure it always has some when it rains as it is the low point of our property (and the others around us) but it usually is very dry - especially in the summer when we venture down there. We then walked up the back of the "tank" (pond) and just were amazed at how full it was, and how beautiful. We traveled along the fenceline by the crazy cacti in the neighbor's field, and made sure to pass by Penny's favorite rubbing tree - Sammie's idea. Its all the little things that we point out that somehow the kids remember. I had a special tree growing up - or rather, it was just a funny looking tree along the road in a national park that my parents dubbed "Elizabeth's tree" - and they always pointed out to me when we went by. I finally had my picture taken sitting on that silly tree when I was soon to be engaged to my husband.

We traveled up to the front of the property - nearly to the end of the driveway (and the mailbox!) It was a fun idea to go get the mail, but Arthur started tossing his head and Sammie knew Arthur wanted to go back to the barn, so we started our way there. As we were crossing the field, I looked back when I heard Sammie giggling, and there she was with her chin up and eyes closed - and the biggest grin I have seen in a while - just enjoying the movement of the horse below her. I saw myself in her - I have done that so many times, although not in quite a few years. I will have to remember to close my eyes for a few steps next time I ride Sweetie. (Of course, it would be safer to have someone leading me around on her... lol).

Sammie really had a great time, and gave Arthur more handfuls of alfalfa after the ride. It felt good to be out there enjoying the horses together.

One last note - Arthur and Sweetie started shedding today! I don't know how it always seems to happen so suddenly, but I left the barn with horse hair tickling my nose - and stuck all over my shirt. :) Nothing like a good ride followed by a good grooming to help your heart.