Swingin' From the Rafters

Lisa posted about taking Apache through a "vine simulator" obstacle, which is basically a bunch of hanging twine, with the purpose of desensitizing your horse to approaching strange objects and moving through them without being concerned about all those strings touching its body. That's one exercise I've been meaning to do for years. Not only did I need to make more room in my tack room by getting rid of oodles of twine, but I was curious as to how my horses would react.

I hung the twine from the barn overhang rafter while the horses were busy eating lunch, otherwise they would try to knock down the ladder while I'm on it. Hanging fly traps every summer takes two -- one to hang the fly traps and one to distract the horses so that they don't try to knock down the ladder and the person hanging the fly traps. They are such characters.

When I finished hanging the vines, I went inside the house and got busy with the next series of chores. When I came out later to start the desensitization lesson, I found the horses eating the hanging vines as if they were spaghetti. Not good. One of the first things my mentor taught me was to always clean your twine up off the ground, because if the horses swallow it, twine will do a number on their intestines. You may even find yourself paying out your life savings for surgery to save your horse's life.

So, I knew I had to do the desensitization exercise, take some pictures, and tear it down as soon as I'm done. I haltered Bombay first, led him right at the hanging twine, pulled some aside for him for pass through, and he walked right through. Going in the other direction, I cracked a whip behind him to encourage in to push through it on his own, and he did. We walked through together several more times, and since he seemed so unconcerned about it, I released him.

Next I caught Gabbrielle. She was a little nervous, but did everything I asked. By the end of her session I could tell she was having fun. She's always up for new games.

Lostine did not want to do this exercise at all. I spent more time chasing her down with the halter than actually leading her back and forth through the twine. Unfortunately, she had a bad experience on her second attempt. Two pieces of twine got caught around her neck, and when she pushed forward to break free, the twine broke and snapped up hitting the roof and making a big bang. I ended up having to pass her through several more times until she relaxed and trusted that it wasn't a strangler. I suspected something like that might happen because I put the twine so close together.

Gabbrielle got obsessed with the hanging vines and started experimenting with various ways to play with them. I got some hysterically funny shots of her antics that I will post later under my humor label with silly captions. Eventually, the horses started walking through the vines on their own without any encouragement from me. It was like they were saying, "I'm braver than you. Check me out."

Each time I brought out my camera, Bombay and Gabbrielle competed for my attention. When I was photographing Gabbrielle, Bombay came up from behind me, bit the waist of my jacket and pulled it up over my head! I had better not let him get a hold of my underwear.

While I was photographing Bombay while sitting on the salt block, Gabbrielle started licking my jeans as if I were part of the salt lick. Eventually, she found it and started licking the salt block as I sat on it taking pictures of Bombay. I just sat there hoping she wouldn't bite my butt.

My photography sessions had to be broken up throughout the afternoon, because each time I went outside, my annoying neighbors came out and started doing something to distract the horses. The little boy who has been staying with them all weekend kept coming out and riding his scooter or running the dog back and forth behind my barn, and the horses would all run over to the fence to greet him. I figured his grandmother sent him out to do her dirty deed of spying and eavesdropping. They had visitors coming and going all afternoon. It was really frustrating tying to keep the horses attention on the hanging vines with cars and people showing up every few minutes.

These photos were taken with a telephoto lens so that I didn't have to move in so close as to disturb them during their horseplay. Even though I didn't get to ride on Monday, I had a lot of fun photographing the horses' shenanigans.

THE END.

Sunday, Sweet Sunday

Saturday and Sunday were like night and day. The neighborhood was so busy on Saturday that the best I could do was get a little groundwork in with each horse while the neighbors and all their guests watched and asked questions. On Sunday, everyone left the neighborhood and I was able to get in a ride on all three horses.

I knew I couldn't take them to the Fairgrounds because by the looks of all the horse trailers moving past my house, I knew there must be a rodeo or gymkhana show. I saw in the newspaper that the Fairgrounds are booked up pretty much every weekend this summer with activities. It looks like I'll have to go out on the week evenings if I want the facilities to myself.

I also didn't want to take a chance on the trails, because people who don't hike on a regular basis tend to hit the trails on holiday weekends, which means I would run into dogs off leash with owners who have no control over them and people who don't know the rules of the trail regarding how to behave around horses. So, I was relieved to actually be able to ride at home.

Of course, as soon as I got ready to mount Gabbrielle, my door-slamming neighbors drove up and began their routine of SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! It went on for a good 40 minutes... slamming the driver's side door, slamming the passenger side door, slamming each of the back doors, slamming the trunk, slamming the front door to the house. In and out, in and out the woman went. Every time I thought she was done, she'd come right back out and do the same routine over again as if looking for something she lost. A car can only hold so much junk, and in the number of trips she made between car and house, one would think her car were like Mary Poppins carpet bag. Lamp, anyone?

What I don't get is that when I do my marketing, I get out of the driver's side and shut the door (not slam it), I pop the trunk open and leave the trunk open until I am done carrying all the groceries into the house. Then I close the trunk, followed by the front door. I only close three doors during the entire process. I'm not sure why this lady has to slam each door and the trunk if she knows she's going to be right back to get something else out of the car. I've been watching these TV shows on OCD and am thinking this woman's behavior is a fit for that condition. It would explain why she does the same action over and over without seeming to care that she's distracting and/or spooking my horses in the process. She couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. That's gotta suck.

A New Routine

With such extreme weather changes comes a change in routine. We went from the 20 to 50 degree range for the past six months to the 75 to 100 degree range overnight. All the people who have been suffering from cabin fever during the long winter came out in droves and made lots of noise. The construction workers came out to build their latest projects, the visitors and vacationers from distant states came out in their RVs, the ATV and motorcycle riders came out, the pilots came out and one flew just a few feet above the roof of our house, the joggers and bicyclists came out triggering the barking of dogs, the horn honking from near misses of too many people on the road and the sirens for those who didn't miss came out.

The amount of trespassing on my property has been outrageous this Memorial Day weekend. I had gone outside to dig all the sand and pebbles out of the concrete hole in the ground where I place the pole that blocks vehicles from turning around in my driveway, but I forgot to put the pole in the hole after I backed the horse trailer down the RV lane.

You know that saying from the baseball movie, "Build it and they will come?" Well, all I have to do is take the barrier down at the end of my driveway, and within a few minutes strangers will just start randomly turning up my private road and turning around in my driveway or worse yet, parking in my driveway and coming to our door or calling me out of the barn or round pen to ask for directions. There have been several times when my husband had to get dressed and climb into his car to show someone how to get where they needed to go by having them follow him. He's too nice. If someone doesn't understand my verbal directions, I direct them down the street to the 7-11 for a map of the area. With all the GPS features on cars and in mobile phones, you'd think people could figure out where they are going without having to bug the locals. I have so little time to spare that I don't want to be distracted from my activities by anyone for anything. That's part of why the barrier is there.

Anyway, sure enough this big van pulled into our driveway, driving right over the cement hole I had just dug out and knocking all that sand and rock right back in there. It was a solicitor. Like me, my husband has no tolerance for salespeople or anyone who ignores our NO TRESPASSING signs and comes to our door unannounced while we are busy, so he quickly dismissed her and told her not to come back. I had to march back out there, re-dig the hole and put up the barrier.

The majority of my neighbors had visitors coming and going. My nosy neighbors sat on their porch all afternoon and evening with their visitors preaching the gospel to one another and watching me do my chores. I kept waiting for them to leave so I could ride a horse without any sudden surprises that would spook my horse, such as a child on a scooter shooting out from behind my barn or the bushes, but I had no such luck. These people would not leave. Apparently, they had plenty of time to kill and didn't know what to do with themselves. I can't relate to people who are bored. I have so much to do that I don't have time to be bored. Because I work 60-hours a week, I look forward to a holiday every now and then so I can get some personal work done.

I was exhausted from all the physical labor and collapsed in bed. I didn't have a good night's sleep, though, because with the temperatures changing so quickly, the dogs haven't had time to shed. So, they kept walking into the bedroom and panting really loudly, waking us up because they couldn't sleep with the heat. I'd get up and chase them out of the room and tell them to go lay down some place else. Eventually, my husband got so sick of it that he locked them out of the room.

Then this morning I heard what I thought was a horse kicking a stall door, which made no sense because I had actually left the horses outside last night without blankets on. Up until yesterday, the horses had been kept inside their stalls with blankets on at night for the previous six months. I knew the change in routine would upset them, but Lostine had such bad cabin fever that she had actually chewed a hole right through the wood siding of her stall and I didn't want her making it any worse. There was no reason for a horse to be kicking a stall door, because they were free to come and go.

Normally, the kicking is a quick series of raps and then it stops before I can get out there to tell them to quit. However, on this morning, the noise went on and on and on. I thought it sounded more like hammering. My neighbor was building something on his driveway yesterday afternoon and evening, so I thought it might be him. This was at 5:30 on a Sunday morning. I was furious. After being woken throughout the night by panting dogs, I wasn't about to tolerate a neighbor doing construction that early on a holiday weekend morning. I don't get to sleep in often, but when I do, it's only on holidays or weekends.

So, I threw on some slippers and a coat and marched outside in my pajamas ready to give him a piece of my mind. I stopped short when I realized that the pounding noise was coming from my own horse! Bombay had the fits and was galloping all over the paddock, rearing and bucking, waking up the whole neighborhood at 5:30 AM. I'd swear that these animals joined forces to keep us awake all night. Now I don't know which is worse -- Lostine chewing a hole through her stall or Bombay galloping around in my head in the wee hours of the morning.

I think tonight I'll try locking up Bombay and Gabbrielle in their stalls and just letting Lostine stay outside. I'm also going to brush the dogs until every inch of loose hair comes out so that they don't have to pant so much. As far as all the interruptions and lack of peace, quiet and privacy at home goes, I'll just have to trailer a horse and go somewhere quieter. I don't think there's anywhere I can go nearby where there aren't people, but there are places I can go where there are less people or people with my sensibilities who appreciate the sounds of nature and their alone time.

On the other hand, based on the number of horse injuries I've been seeing reported lately in blogs, I'm thinking I should lay low for a while since something bad seems to be in the air. I hate to see horsemen and women spend the best part of horseback riding season in traction and recovery, and I'm so sorry for those of you who have been injured. It seems most of these are unavoidable freak accidents, but it prompts me to spend more time doing groundwork before climbing into the saddle, especially on a holiday weekend when so many people are out. Horses are very sensitive to changes in routines and their environment, and I think I'd rather not risk an accident. I don't get time off from work to ride very often, but I think it would be wise to wait out the activity. Eventually, people will start getting sick of the sun and heat and start hibernating again. Then I can ride without surprises.

We've Got Sunshine!

We only had to wait six months until Memorial Day weekend, but we've finally got some real, down home country sunshine here in Northern Nevada. I did a lot of yard clean-up and as soon as I walked into the paddock to halter a horse, out came my neighbor, up went his garage door, out came the huge planks of wood and the saw. In came a car, out came a child and scooter, and that was the end of my silence.

What are you doing? Are those your horses? Do you know their names? Can I pet them? Do you know this dog's name? How do you know this dog's name? Did you know I found a prairie dog hole...

Actually, I didn't mind all the chatter from my neighbors' visitor. I expected the neighborhood to be active over a three-day weekend, so I set my sights low for quiet time. It's been a long time since I've talked with a young child. My own kids are teenagers now. I used to be the Pied Piper of children. I'd walk down the street and before I knew it I had a half a dozen kids following me, all asking me questions as if I'm the most interesting person on earth. Sometimes I miss being an elementary school teacher, and then other times I say NAH.

I just did some ground work with each of the horses in the round pen, and I have to pat myself on the back because Gabbrielle is the most well behaved, well trained horse of the bunch. She's the only one I alone have trained. Lostine came to me fully trained and I sent Bombay off for training with a couple of professional trainers. I forget that just because I've been riding Bombay and Lostine for years, it doesn't mean I can skip past doing some ground training with them every once in a while.

I did some Clinton Anderson exercises and Gabbrielle remembered everything. Bombay went into a panic because he thought I was punishing him by waving a stick in the air around him. I had to take his training in baby steps to calm him down. Lostine was completely oblivious to what I was trying to get her to do. You know that exercise where you try to get the horse to back up by waving the stick, then tapping the stick on the lead rope, and finally beating the stick on the lead rope until the horse backs up to get away from the pressure? I was beating that lead rope so hard and Lostine just stood there staring at me like I was nuts. I ended up going back to my old way of asking her to back up, which involves pulling backwards on the lead rope just under the chin while walking toward her and saying BACK. She had no problem understanding that.

I'm not going to give up on the Downunder method with her, though, because she's been crowding the gate lately and I need her to back up without the help of a halter and lead rope. Right now I can smack her in the chest with a stick and she still won't back up. Maybe I should just always carry a halter when I enter the gate, so that she'll run away. Ha Ha!

Santa Barbara Horse Show: Locomotion Medley

I love all the different ways that a horse can move...

Santa Barbara Horse Show: Happiest Couple

Santa Barbara Horse Show: Sitting Pretty