A “Second Opinion”?

Winter has arrived, at least for now.

Horses tend to get a little friskier when the winter comes, even if the temperature at that day is not terribly cold. With the changing daylight hormones change, and the shorter daylight hours may bring up instinctive ancestral memories of cold weather=increased…

Finally, a Lesson

When Thanksgiving, with all the travel and massing of people happened, I realized that it would be best for me to keep away from Debbie's rather large boarding/lesson stable for two weeks. This did not please me at all, Debbie gives me really effective physical therapy, telling me when I start losing track of my limbs and making sure that I keep my base of support on…

I'm Grateful I Got to Ride at All

I called Debbie last Tuesday to tell her I would not be riding at her stable this week. I am paranoid about her boarders/lesson students not being careful with Covid-19 preventive measures, a valid concern since I am usually the only person wearing a mask at the stable. I told Debbie I was following the news, and if her clients had been Liberal Democrats I…

Then Cider Changes Her Mind

It is getting into the odd season down here. I was just starting to get ready for my lesson on Wednesday when Debbie called, she had a sinus infection and she told me that one of her boarders had tested positive to Covid-19. With Thanksgiving being the next day and all the people coming into the barn I decided it was best for me to stop riding at my lesson barn for a…

Cider Finally Gives Me What I Want

For the last few years Cider has had problems going down-slope. This was very obvious on one side of the ring next to the fence, she would increase her flinching, slow down and pick her way carefully down the slope. She was not happy about it but she is a good mare and did her best to obey my aids even when her front leg joints protested.…

Nothing Much Happening

Except for a good bit of rain and being sort of sick.

I did get a few rides in, fortunately, though I did not have much endurance because of whatever it was that I had. I even got two lessons with Debbie!

The first lesson, on MJ of…

Sogginess and Wind Gusts

This week we had to deal with the outlying rain bands of Tropical Storm Zeta, and then the storm itself came through. The river is full, the creeks are full, and the earth goes squish when we walk on it.

I got Debbie for my teacher this week. She has been busy the last few weeks getting herself and…

Cider Said “Yes”!

When I called Shannon last Saturday night to see if I could ride on Sunday I excitedly told her that I finally had a double bridle made up for Cider. I asked if I could introduce Cider to it, and Shannon said yes! She told me she had never used a double bridle herself, and had not used one on a horse, and she was eager to see how it all worked. I warned her we would probably…

Sam Agrees About my Lower Leg

I just got my lesson in this week since we have been having plentiful rain at times.

Debbie was going off on a trail ride when I got to the stable so Tercel was out in the hall. I went up to say hi to him, and Debbie told me he had turned 20 years old. Apparently, from what Debbie has told me,…

MJ and I Try a New Bit

In my eternal search for a yet more perfect bit I decided to try one of Fager Bit's two new types of Weymouth curbs. Unlike the Mullen mouth Victoria curb these new curbs have a “port”, but it is not angled like the Cambridge mouth port which is parallel to the shanks of the bit. The Fager “port” goes up vertically from the line of the shanks of the bit. The Fager site…

R.I.P. Bingo

I was not able to ride at Debbie's for two weeks. When I got to the barn Debbie told me that Bingo had died, he had gone down, could not/would not get up, and the veterinarian put him down. The vet had known Bingo for many years, and she told Debbie that Bingo could well have been even older than the mid to late twenties we had assumed. Debbie stayed with Bingo during the process…

Cider is My Thigh Master

The past two weeks I did not ride at Debbie's stable at all, which means that I did not get a lesson and I did not get to ride with the double bridle.

I have been able to ride Cider, thank goodness.

Cider is so stiff now, and she…

A Taste of Fall

Last Sunday's weather was simply wonderful. When I stuck my head out of the front door it was COOL, so cool that I felt no need to wear my ice vest. In fact it was cool enough that I could wear my protective vest, a regular shirt, leather half-chaps, and I did not have to use my hanging neck fan. Together with the lower humidity it was glorious.…

A Truly Horrible Noise

At least Cider thought so.

Last Sunday I had my usual ride on Cider, and as usual lately Cider was not too eager to move—at all. Shannon told me that Cider had her hooves trimmed a few days before which probably explained a good bit of it, changing hoof angles can magnify pain until everything settles…

It Does Help, But

I actually had a lesson this week, on Thursday, and while the temperatures were “only” in the 70s F, the humidity matched the temperature. This is the one drawback of riding early in the morning, when I ride at the dew-point temperature the air is SATURATED with moisture. This reduces the cooling efficiency of my summer gear which often depends upon evaporation.…

Bit Measurements

For various reasons I did not get to ride this past week.

To drown my sorrows I got on-line in search of yet more titanium double bridle bits. During my search I ran into something really interesting, a company that sold its titanium bits measured in inches, not millimeters (mm). I FINALLY got to buy some…

Some of My Plans Go Bust

Last Sunday I did get to ride, and I continued my experiment to see if just wearing my hanging neck fan was enough so I could ride without my heavy ice vest.

It was not.

I started off the ride with the neck fan “upside down” so…

My Neck Fan Helped

My neck fan finally came on Monday. It comes with a very short cord to hook up to a charger, but no charger was included. Luckily in these modern time my house is littered with chargers, for our smart phones, tablet, and other electronic gizmos that clutter our lives. The neck fan did have a charge on its battery and it worked when I pushed the button. Before we figured out…

In Spite of the Heat

Hot, muggy weather, I deteriorate in the heat. I tend to deteriorate so much in the heat that I generally assume that summer is just not the time for me to make any changes with the horses because I am so afraid that I will give the horses an excuse to resist me.

Maybe I was worrying too much.…

We Introduce MJ to the Double Bridle

I had been worried about using a double bridle on horses during the summer heat since my body degrades so much. I was worried that my hands would not be good enough, that my coordination would be too bad, and that accidentally I would turn the double bridle into something scary to the horse rather than an advanced method of communication between horse and…