A bit of Equine Stuff

Busy morning! This time hubby didn't wake me at 4 am! Whoo Hoo!

Our old pony is starting to show his advanced age. This past winter has been hard on him. He gets a stall inside at night as he is the only one who won't try and rip things apart. Throughout the winter he has had access to places where he can not only eat hay, but he could search for greens.

I checked our paperwork and we got him as a 4 yr old from our friends in Missouri. I always thought he was a 2 yr old when we got him. That would put his age at 32. This is the first year that I've seen him lose weight. 

He was a very happy camper all this week when I found patches of green for him to be tethered out on.

He is our weed whacker and trimmer for tough spots.

In all of his years of being tied out, he has never ever damaged a vehicle nor has he ever gotten tangled up. 

This is 15 years ago when I had him tied to the tractor.

He surely has had a good long life being a Guard/Yard Pony. His first job on our place was being a teaser for our mares. His retirement job is Guard Pony and Entertainment Pony.

Here he is ON Guard in 2009. I physically had to get out and move him out of the way.  

He is such a handsome fellow with such a fine temperament. He can prance and dance like a fancy high stepping pony. But considering that he has been handled every day since he arrived here, he is a breeze to lead around.

I love how he talks to me with his wee little whinny every morning and evening. He wants to make sure that I don't forget him.

And since I was going through older shots, I came upon a photo of our old 'string' of riding mules in 2005.

Left to right. Henry, Badger, Pipes, and Patchy. All from our Jack named Bruce. All half brothers.

Rich's main mount was Henry and mine was Badger.

Patchy now works in North Carolina as a pack mule doing training exercises with the military and was used to pack in supplies after last year's hurricane.

The others are no longer with us but always in our hearts. These guys were our 'cool' dudes.

Another quiet rainy, misty, cold yucky day in WI!

I love my mules!

I haven't had the mules out for a ride since October when I took my neighbor along for a ride down to the creek on my other neighbor's land.

With everything I have going on, I really haven't been able to do a lot with them other than brushing, cleaning their feet, and doing the chores.

I've got some great friends at our CrossFit gym. Last year two of her little girls came out to ride. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous because I didn't know how they'd act around the mules and how much riding knowledge they had.

They were actually pretty good and followed directions well. Gracie and Tory rode in September last year. 

Kids and Equine

I had such a great time with them ... and well, they've been asking about it again. You know girls and equine. There is something that just makes them 'horse' crazy.

Well, today I brought them home with me after our work out. Their littlest sister came along. They are 10, 8 and 6. I figured it would be a handful and maybe even a bit of crazy. But it wasn't. The girls were careful and got to work on cleaning up Sunshine and Siera.

Please excuse the yard, I haven't mowed this section again this week. [Mr. Pony will deal with trimming it first.]

Aside from trimming hooves, this is the first time since last year they were pulled out of the pasture.

[I go out to them to curry and clean their hooves]

The rest of the Motley Crew watched.

The girls wanted to ride bareback because after all they had learned to ride on their old pony that way. 

So we compromised and put a saddle on Siera and kept Sunshine bareback.

Gracie decided she could get on by herself.
And ...
she did.
I was pretty proud of Siera for 
not walking off.

[Yeah, I haven't given them spring haircuts either. But these young ladies did not mind one bit.]

The kids struggled a bit with figuring out how to operate turning, and the mules gals really wanted to be with their pasture mates. Neither mule put up a fuss.

With some encouragement and a little bit of work, Tory and Gracie got with the program. They still gave the mules a bit of mixed signals, but for what it is worth, the mules didn't really care.

Leesie on her first time on Siera....

There is a trick to this. My mules will follow me where ever I walk. So I walked ahead of Leesie and asked her to make Siera follow me. The confidence boost was amazing. She had no fear because in her head she was doing it just like her big sisters.

Eventually I had her walk about on her own. 

And then we switched things up.

We went to the bigger pasture. Big sister helped her little sister.

And they kept switching things up and taking turns until....the girls asked if they could ride double on Siera.

And Siera never batted an eye about it.

One sister slid off, the one behind got in the saddle and then I helped the other sister back on so she too could take a turn in behind.

And so it went.

In the long run, everyone got along fine. My mule girls figured out what their riders wanted even if it was communicated a bit differently than they are used to.

13 seconds:

I used to think, that allowing this to happen would totally ruin an animal. And I suppose it could. But the girls are open to learning how to be softer with their hands. After all, they learned on a hard mouthed and hard headed pony with no real guidance.

The sorrel mule is 26 and was trained by us to deal with the shenanigans of children. While riding and training her we'd grab branches and yell, squirm in the saddle, and do all the things kids will do. She is a solid equine. Will she ever show? No, but she'll do what is asked.

I got Siera when she was 3 and she'd been handled but not ridden. We spent a long time working together. She is great on the trail.  Unless of course a bicycle showed up in the woods or...even worse yet, a baby stroller. [She knows they eat mules]

Tory asked Sunshine to trot and when she started to jog, Tory got scared and slid off Sunshine by hanging onto her neck until her feet hit the ground.

Sunshine stopped and stood stock still next to Tory who tearfully told me she had gotten scared and slid off. 

I told her it was okay and that she did the finest emergency dismount I'd ever seen. She was more afraid that Sunshine would trot away and leave her. 

I kneeled next to her.

"Has Sunshine moved since you came off?"
"Um. No."
 

I reached out and put my hand on Sunshine. "She knows it is her job to take care of you and stay by you."
Tory tearfully nodded.
"Did you know that Sunshine loves you?"

Tory's eyes widened, "She does?"
"She does."

Sunshine took that very moment to nuzzle Tory softly.
Tory wiped her eyes and then asked, "Can I get back on her?"

"Absolutely."

The mules finally got tired of riding in circles and I called an end to the riding.

The girls brushed their mounts and cleaned them all up. 

It was time to put them away.

Tory's reaction?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I do know my mules since I raised them and trained them. They are solid equine. They don't get fussy and they absolutely adore attention and young folk. They don't mind mistakes and they almost never get stupid.

They have worked all of their lives to be just like this. Good quiet, and patient. I attribute that to their donkey side.

The girls and the mules filled my heart up today.

The First Snow & Charlie

 

There is always some childlike excitement over the very first snowfall of the season. I can't wait to get out in it and explore.

Rich generally gets pretty grumpy about it.

Last year it was October 16th. The snow came down in beautiful big chunks!

There was still a lot of color left on the trees and in the woods. Here a sumac shows off its brilliant reds.

I gathered my gear and got ready to head out.

Charlie crept closer to the little camera bag and gave me huge soulful eyes.

I reached for his electric collar [he wears a collar I can buzz to call him off from chasing squirrels, chipmunks, and deer. He stands only 7" high and is too easy to lose in the woods. I did that because I did lose him once and it took me a long time to find the little bugger who was tracking goodness knows what!] The Daschund in him makes him a voracious hunter. The Pekingese side of him makes him a lazy couch King.

We headed out and Charlie's reaction was one of pure joy.

He was into instant mouse tracking mode. Or anything he could smell mode.

If you didn't know how tiny he was, you'd think he was a huge dog. He is watching and listening for something to chase.

At the creek he tried chasing a small trout that was flitting about in the water. I don't think he could figure out what was making the splashes. Eventually he went under the log to dig a bit.

I sometimes wonder what goes on inside a dog's head. His/her thoughts must be only in the moment. 

Maybe that is a good thing right now.

Charlie doesn't keep an eye on me like predecessor dogs have. Dixie the big hound dog would run off 20 or so yards and then bound back to be at my side and slobbering into my hand.

Morris would find a perch and watch over me. He'd glance back if he were leading on a trail to make sure I was coming.

Charlie.

He is his own dog.

My job is to keep an eye on the little wanderer. Though he has gotten so much better with recall. The buzzer helps distract him. 

And if I holler out the magic word: Cookie???

He comes on the run.

I let him run around and have his smell-fest in the creek for a while and then started back towards home. It was late and the light was fading. 

Charlie trotted through the open pasture nosing lumps of grass and weeds. I imagine he was looking for mice. Once he finds them, he will simply just sit and stare.

I had to take a photo of how much different the meadow looked from the day before.

By the time we arrived home, it was time to get on with the chores.

I had some elderly mules calling my name.

Fred and Mica, they eat separately from the others and get Senior Feed.

Fred is somewhere around 34 ish, he is the little bay. Mica is in her late 20's and has always been a hard keeper.

The red headed sisters.

Funny how they group themselves.

And the bays. One is a horse, the other is Siera.

For whatever reason, these two hang out together also.

Charlie ran to the door. I let him in where he greeted Rich and promptly laid down in front of the heater.

I shut the door behind me as I heard Rich asking Charlie, "So how was the snow? Did you have fun?"

I smiled.

I don't ever recall Rich conversing with one of our pets over the years. He likes dogs, but he never was a fan of a house dog.

Yes, Charlie was worth it. The funny little dog that wormed his way into Rich's heart.

The Stall and This Old House

The stall is done! Finished!

Last night I put Fred and Mica [the elderly mules] in the stall for the first time. I was surprised that there seemed to be no fuss. They got to the business of eating. I'd given them plenty of hay and they each had a bit of sweet feed.
Our weather last night was to turn cold and snow/rain mix. This morning we do have snow on the ground.

In a little bit, as soon as it is light out, I'll give them their 'breakfast' and then turn them outside when I get back from CrossFit.

So there it is, not a masterpiece, but it is done. I put the plywood on the front and one side so that Fred will not put his head through the rails and try to lift them! Yes, they are heavy and anchored down, but Fred is Fred.
However, it seems he is content to be inside as long as he has company.

I have Amanda and Daryl to thank for finishing this up with me. The panels are heavy an awkward to move, but two people did it easily.
I learned how to use Rich's cordless drill and made holes in the plywood and zip tied them in.
I can add another skill to things I've learned this year!

On Sunday morning, I took my friends someplace different since the sunrise was just rather mundane.
I took them to the Abandoned House.

This looks like a winter shot but it isn't. It was taken in Infrared.

It was cold and frosty, however, here it is in living color with my friends acting as if they just found their dream house.

We walked around the house and peeked in the windows. The wrap around porch was long gone. In fact the first time I'd ever seen this house was at night in 1996 while Rich and I were coon hunting with our hounds. The dogs treed next to the house and we had to walk back to it. I have always wanted to come back and take a look inside since then.

At one time, I think it was a pretty grand old house.


~~~~~

Added note.
When I got out to the shed Fred decided he'd had enough of the stall and proceeded to literally try and tear things down.
Hmmm.
On to plan B.