Somber Weekend

This Sunday I visited Gobie and we kept it pretty mellow. Bonnie called me this weekend to let me know about Kahlua and it was kind of a shock--yes she was old, but colic always comes so suddenly. It must be hard to lose a companion you've known for decades, and have seen grow from a silly, leggy foal to a mature, stoic matriarch.

Bonnie also let me know that she's looking for another boarder. Bills have to be paid, after all! It will be interesting to have another horse in the herd and see how the dynamic changes.

She also told me that I better get a move on training Gobie to ride--since she's without a trail partner now. No pressure! Ha!

When I arrived I came out to say hi to the horses milling around the side paddock. I visited Honey to see how she was doing and gave her a treat. I could tell she was feeling a little sad--standing by herself in the field.

Gobie came over to stay hi, too. I figured we should probably do a little work at least so I got the halter on him and lead him to the work area. It was a looong walk because he would stop and refuse to move once we got nearer to the gate. I don't know if it was because he didn't really want to work (we got down to business last visit) or if he didn't want to leave Honey or if he wasn't excited about sharing a fenceline to Kahlua's resting spot.

Regardless, we made it to the paddock and I gave him a good grooming. His hair was looking pretty fabulous and messy. Unbrushed it looked like he had highlights in his forelock. Such a fashionista!

His hair is always a little wonky and flips on both sides of his neck. Ideally it would fall on just one side. I could probably correct it by shaving him a bridle path, or by braiding it all to lay on one side.

One braid, for funsies.

His hooves are looking fantastic. It's amazing what some consistent, skilled hoof trimming will do. He's got no chips or cracks in his feet at all now and his feet are so prim and cute looking. A little Peter Pan-ish even!

One thing that I wasn't excited about seeing--bot fly eggs! When I first met Gobie last Fall he had bot fly eggs, too. Basically there's a species of fly that lays its eggs on shafts of hair of horses, usually along their legs. This mostly sucks because if the horse ingests them--by rubbing their nose or lips on the eggs to itch--they can make their way into the horse's digestive tract and cause problems.

Our grooming routine included flyspray and scraping some of the eggs off. Gobie acted quite dramatically about the flyspray bit, but settled down about it quickly enough. I had a lava stone to scrap the eggs off, but they are super difficult to remove. He had quite a few of them, too, and it was nearly impossible to get them all off. I consoled myself by remembering that at the rescue he didn't have someone dedicated to getting rid of these eggs and he turned out just fine.

We did a little lunging just because he seemed to have a little bit of energy, but it was more of a token exercise to keep his memory fresh. Honey was also starting to call out--neighing all by her lonesome--so I figured it was a good time to reunited the two pals.

I hung out in the field a little bit more with the horses. I noticed that there were some pine branches along the fenceline in the field, where it looked like someone had trimmed them and let them drop where they may and then left them. I was happy to pick them up and chuck them over the fence so the horses didn't have them in the field. I'm sure they weren't a danger or anything, it just seemed like a productive use of energy.

Gobie thought the whole thing was pretty interesting. He came over to investigate and "help" by standing on some of the needles while I tried to chuck their branches over the fence. It reminded me a lot of Cinder, who was always right beside you as you worked around the field scooping poop or doing whatever chore it was.

Supervising.

Just another quality I really enjoy in Gobie: his willingness to just pal around and be kind of a pest. It's nice to be sought out, even if you are trying to get something done.

Goodbye, Kahlua

Sad news, everyone. Kahlua passed away on Saturday.

She started colicing on Friday and Bonnie stayed up all night with her. The vet was called out and after assessing their options with Kahlua's owner it was clear that she was in her final moments.

Kahlua had lived at Bonnies her entire life, ever since she was a foal. She was one of those rare, lucky horses, to have lived with consistent care in a happy and familiar place her entire life. Kahlua was 30 when she died--a long life for a horse.

She is buried in one of the back pastures, by the pine treeline where in life she could find shelter and the company of her pal Honey.

Rest in peace, Kahlua. You will be missed!

You can tell by the smell of the wind

It's cooling off, finally, and you can tell that autumn is in the air! And you know if the people notice it than the animals definitely notice it and that was certainly the case today when I came out to visit Gobie.

Bonnie is on vacation so one of the long-time boarders is looking after all the horses. I said hey to her when I arrived, but she left to run some errands which left me to the horses. With the cooler weather I was excited to do some actual work! The stuff I had ordered from online had finally arrived, too which meant I had exactly zero excuses for dragging my feet on doing some novel training with Gobie.

Gobie and the rest of the gang were down in the far pasture hanging out under all of the pine trees. When he saw me coming he started heading over, so it was an easy job of putting the halter and lead rope on. Walking back to the work area took a little time, since he wanted to stop and challenge being lead a little bit. I think that was the first clue that his change in routine--that is having someone other than Bonnie around feeding and telling them all what to do--had him out of his regular mood. But we made it up to the work area and I left him off the rope.

As soon as I did I could tell he was feeling a little wiggy. Usually when it gets cooler the horses start feeling a bit silly and energetic. I don't know if it's the more comfortable temperatures, or just the change of seasons or what. But he was definitely on high alert, his brain preoccupied with the crisp air and rustling leaves. I decided that today wouldn't be the first time to try out the new equipment: a surcingle and bitless bridle. Instead, I thought it'd be better to channel some of that energy into lunging instead.

First, though, we started out with the usual yielding exercises. It's no good trying to anything without establishing the "you have to listen to me" rules. He went through the motions well--backing up and turning on the forehand quite well.

Then it was on to some despooking. I thought we might as well since it was a little full-of-it as it was. He ran around a little bit, more than in our couple of last sessions, so it was a good refresher. Soon he was mindful enough to do a little lunging.

For the first time I remembered to actually bring the proper lunge line so he had enough length to really get going. And it helped that he had a bit of run in him anyway. We worked through going clockwise and counterclockwise pretty well, and stopping. I didn't work too much on his "gears" per se--that is telling him to walk, trot, etc. Since I've always been horrible at lunging it was more of a refresher for me on "can I get this horse to move in a circle." And I did, if somewhat ungracefully. Hopefully kinks we can work out as we practice!

We ended the session with a good grooming, and then I let him out with his pals. We socialized a little over the fence, too.

All in all a good visit! It somehow lasted almost two hours but don't ask me how that happened. I hope the weather stays nice and we're able to get some consistent sessions in.

Changing Seasons

I'm posting this retroactively because I forgot to post last weekend. I did go out to visit Gobie, but it was short and sweet. Now that I've started school again in the Fall my time is at a premium. But here are some pictures:

Bed head?

Some visitors to the paddock. Deer!

The leaves starting to change.

Our shadows.

Hurricane and Family

Recently Hurricane Irene came up the coast scaring everyone silly. Fortunately we're far enough in-land that it wasn't much of a problem. Bonnie said the horses handled it no sweat, and that it was just a bit of wind and rain as far as they were concerned.

This weekend my family was in town and my sister came up to meet Gobie. It looked like Bonnie was out for a ride with Honey, and Gobie was in a little bit of a tizzy. He saw us and came right over to the fence. I let him in to the work area and had Jan and Sam each give him a treat.

A kiss for a treat? Something tells me Jan's not in to it.

After the cuddly bit, we showed off some of the training that we've been working on. I noticed that he had a scrape on his left foreleg so a little grooming and big of doctoring was in order. I sprayed a bit of fly spray on him which he tolerated pretty well. And then we showed off his other de-spooking talents with the plastic bag on the end of the dressage whip. We also did some leading around, and yielding exercises. The lunging he didn't do so hot with, but to be fair it was short lead line and it was hot out. Sam I think was pretty impressed, since he knows how far Gobie has come since we got him in April.

After all of that, it was time for some food! So I went in the tack room to mix his black oil sunflower seeds, supplements, and a smidge of grain.

Being nosey!

I had him stand politely before I gave him the bucket of food but he still oinked it right up.

Om nom nom.

It was pretty hot out so after he finished his food I turned him back out with the rest of the gang. He seemed much more settled than when we got there though I'm sure he was super excited to see Honey all the same when she got back. We weren't there for the reunion, though because we had to get Jan back to the airport!