Mama's Helper

Luna is obsessed with the wheelbarrow.

I went in to scoop some poop the other day and she insisted on coming along.

You put your left hoof on the wheelbarrow handle, and you shake it all about....

Who me? I didn't do that.  No, I'm not cleaning that up!

By the way, Luna's pinned back ear look always cracks me up. She gives that to me on the longe line when she doesn't want to go to the left and tries to turn around on me. She can be such a teenager!

Luna also loves to play in the water. I noticed her trough was pretty muddied up the other day, I think she got a leg in it. And she dumped the muck bucket of water from a corral at the ranch. To try to help her need to be playful, I had an idea.

Ranch Boy and I got a Jolly Ball at the feed store. Well, she looked interested.....

But then something more interesting on the other side of the fence caught her eye.

What could it be?

Oh, of course! Pets and loves from Ranch Boy's daughter and her new Palomino pony, Misty.

Aw shucks. The ball has sat in the pasture untouched so far. I thought for sure she'd pick it up by the handle and play with it. We shall see.....

I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Ranch Girl

Luna's First Boo-Boo

What is it with my luck with new horses?  You might remember this post about Loretta going through one of the ranch gates, that was on my first official day of owning her!

Today when I got home from work, I decided to bring Luna to the ranch for a workout. Between foul weather and late hours for me, I haven't had her out since Sunday. Even today was spotty with sun breaks then dark clouds rolling in and dropping showers for fifteen minutes off and on.

Of course, the minute I took Luna out (in the sun) and started walking her down to the ranch, the dark clouds rolled in.  On the way we passed a CAT working on smoothing the dirt road, and a huge dump truck and trailer that hauled in the CAT. Other than just "looking" at them with perked ears, she handled all that very well!

I decided to put Luna in the arena while I got out her grooming and longing equipment. She didn't run around like I wanted her to, she kind of stood by the gate. I was moving some wooden poles from the center to the side of the arena and she began to run and buck. Howdy the colt was running in his corral across the dirt driveway from the arena. I went to the barn  to get the line and groom tote. The weather was changing and she was whinnying a bit anxiously at My Boy, who she could see and hear far, far away across another horse field.



It had gotten a little breezy and was starting to pelt some rain. Luna was running a bit more and as I was coming back from the barn I looked down to the far corner just in time to catch her up on the wooden fence. The fence is a bit low along this side of the arena and in this corner. In fact, I've seen larger horses standing next to it and have been a bit worried they could almost hop right over! I am not sure what she did, but she almost looked like she had tried to jump it, or perhaps was running to the corner too fast and could not quite stop. Whatever she did, she extracted herself without much fuss. She appears to be fine, other than a superficial skin scrape long the lower chest/upper leg.

I found it ironic that she would try to jump a fence when I led her over ground rails on Sunday and she banged and stepped on every one of them.....a hunter-jumper I don't think she'll be! Quite honestly, if she'd approached that fence straight-on and been determined enough, she might have been able to get over it. I don't want to think about that, though!

I caught her and she was still pretty hyped up and a little warm (despite the rain it was a bit muggy.) I walked her around to cool her out and make sure she was okay, then took her over to the hitch rail to to put medicine on the scrape, then took her to a grassy area to graze for a bit. I decided to skip the longing workout as she'd ran around a lot and I wanted to make sure she didn't have any sore bumps and bruises.

 

After we walked back home I put her in the pasture to take some photos of her, the ones that are accompanying this post. She was being awfully sweet following me around, being the love bug that she is.

I feel like I am finally starting to get to know her (tomorrow is only two weeks that I've owned her!)

However, Lordy it's scary to think of all the troubles babies (both human and animal) can get themselves into as they grow up. Hopefully I'll be lucky with this girl and we'll stay out of any major trouble. I am hoping that this 3-day weekend we'll have some decent weather so that I can get some more work done with my little "wild" pony!!

Thinking of you, your lost loved ones, and our brave veterans this Memorial Day weekend!

Ranch Girl

My Weekend Stinker

I had a very busy yet productive weekend! On Sunday I rode one of the new ranch horses on the trail. He is a "handsome is as handsome does" kind of fella. Of course in his defense, this photo does not do him any justice.

Jess is an older, dark brown Quarter Horse gelding whom is lacking in the handsome department. However, he has proven to be quite worthy on the trail and in the arena, this mellow fellow just knows his job!

On Sunday, Ranch Boy and I walked My Boy and Luna over to the ranch, as I planned to ride My Boy on a trail ride. I didn't want to leave Luna alone at home because the 35 ranch horses, which normally neighbor our pasture, were also at the ranch, meaning Miss Luna would have no horses in sight! Eventually I will have Ranch Boy take MB down the road and I will stay home and watch Luna to make sure she doesn't panic and get through the fence or something.

Another fabulous I-Phone shot....I caught the bars right across her eyes. Brilliant, Ranch Girl!

I put My Boy in the corral next to the colt Howdy, then Luna in a panel pen next to My Boy. It was full of grass and weeds and she did a good job "weed eating" it for me!

A few hours later I took My Boy out to get ready for our ride. Luna looked concerned for a moment as we walked away, but was then fine and didn't even whinny. She could see plenty of other horses in the corral to the left of her, so that was good.

My Boy was great while I tacked him up. The Arab/Appy/TB gelding next to him on the hitch rail was anxiously fussing the whole time, swinging his hiney into My Boy, and MB just stood there without a care in the world. It is one thing he is pretty 100% perfect for (being tied, groomed, and tacked up.) I thought it was going to be a great ride.

But it wasn't. We rode in the middle of a large group or horses, and behind a pony mare that he knows and has been ridden with before, but perhaps was a little "too interested" in. He shook his head and pranced every time the mare got too far ahead of him on the trail. Generally, it was not a pleasurable ride, but none of the behaviors were anything that I haven't seen from him from time to time on the trail, nor were they unmanageable. I would have liked to school him more on the trail but with the nature of the ride (it was all younger children) I could not do that. But when we got home.....let's just say while the other 19 horses were being un-tacked and put away, My Boy got put on the longe line and got his hiney worked! That is part of the problem. He is over-fed and under-worked right now. The horse gets fat on air, I swear! He is carrying too much weight (you can see how soft he is on the hiney in the above photo, even though he is resting a leg.)

Another issue is the head-shake, or as Ranch Boy calls it, his "tic." It started several years ago and seems to be worse in the spring. He is easily irritated by flies, but it isn't always flies. It almost seems like a nervous system issue...perhaps a photo-sensitivity reaction that I have heard horses can get. Maybe he is developing an eye condition. I am not sure. It is a vertical head jerk, a quick nose towards the chest kind of thing. At this point it doesn't interfere with his comfort level, even when being ridden. But it could, down the line.

Secondly, the weight issue is probably not helping his arthritis. He is not any more "off" in the hind than he's been since I've had him, but as he ages, it certainly can't be getting better. I'm going to add MSM to his joint supplement. Sometimes I wonder if his head-jerking isn't a reaction to a bit of pain, too. I'll never know 100% I can just try to keep him comfortable and usable.

I do know that the majority of the time he is a such good boy in so many ways, but at times needs a refresher course in respect. This is true of any horse, whether they are 18 year old like MB, or just 2 years old like Luna!

So that is the update on My Boy. Our weather has changed a bit so I am not sure I will be getting much done with my horses this week....but I am hoping the arena stays safe enough to do some more work!

Ranch Girl