Gobie over the fence

I have been feeling like junk for the last week, especially physically speaking, so I decided it would be a good idea to make a quick visit to the horses and keep it low key. It was cloudy out, but pretty warm, and thinking about raining. The horses were all in a pretty lazy mood, too. It seems like they're getting along pretty well now a days.

The trees have been dropping leaves like crazy, so as the horses were grazing you could hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of them shuffling around in the leaves with their hooves and their muzzles looking for grass. The crows, too, seemed to be out in force today looking for bugs and other things in the dirt. For some reason they are quite leery of people and extremely hard to photograph, but trust me when I say these are some of the fattest and largest crows I've seen around. Not all the trees have lost their leaves. There's one on the other side of the fence in the woods that is still big and yellow. Inside the horses' paddock though most of the leaves are on the ground.

And some of the horses like to eat the leaves, which apparently doesn't agree with their digestion. Either Gobie doesn't eat as many leaves, or they don't upset his ponys-will-eat-anything stomach, but whatever the reason I'm glad he doesn't seem worse for wear.

Honey was pretty friendly over the fence today and was the first one to come up and say hi to me. But immediately I could tell that Gobie was putting everyone in check to today, including his girlfriend. He came up to the fence and I gave him a treat and he tried shooing a too-nosey Honey away. It was pretty undramatic, but even after he left me at the fence line the other horses were mindful of where he was pushing them around. All the same, our visit was pretty nice. He seems like he's healthy and content and with the impending colder weather that's all you can really ask for. I took a video of the visit over the fence.

Featuring: giving treats, Honey and Bo getting shooed, and me getting my hand licked by Gobie. Enjoy!

Late Afternoon in November

This weekend I went out to spend some quality time with Gobie and the gang. It feels like it's been a while since I just came to sit and relax in the field with the herd. Now that things seem to be sorted out between the horses, it's safer to do so, I guess. It was a pretty afternoon--just cold enough to let you know that it was November but just warm enough for it to be comfortable. It was a wintery sun, though, that kept playing hide-n-seek in the silvery clouds that were languidly making their way across the sky in the chilly breeze.

First, I wanted to check out the wooded trail by the back paddock. Bonnie's place is surrounded by a modest woods, mostly pine trees. I walked along the fence where there seemed to be a path into the trees. The ground was covered in pine needles which seemed to insulate everything, making the entire woods seem quiet and footsteps imperceptible.

Peaceful.

I followed the path back through the woods, and there seemed to be a couple off-shooting paths but I wasn't sure where they went. I didn't want to accidentally trespass on a neighbor's property so I headed back. I came out on the left side of Bonnie's house, facing the front paddock along the driveway.

Gobie, having a drink.

I squeezed myself between two of the fence rails and already Gobie was standing right next to me to see what I was up to. I gave him a treat and a once-over. It looks like the scrap/bite under his mane is finally starting to grow hair back.

Looking much better!

The order of the day was some prime relaxing and nature appreciation, so I settled down under the orange and yellow leafed tree in the paddock. It was a pretty comfy spot with a cushiony layer of leaves to sit on, and a comfortable trunk to lean against. Belle the Corgi came out to sit with me, too.

Being vigilant.

Gobie came over to see what I was up to. I've done this before--that is, settling down near a tree in a paddock with the horses--but every time Gobie wants to investigate and play with me a little. I wonder if it's instinct. After all, if your horse pal is laying down by a tree you want to make sure they're not sick or hurt in some way. It's probably a little dangerous to be sitting down in a paddock full of horses, but I'm mindful of where they are and how close they get. I'm fairly confident that Gobie won't accidentally trample on me. Being near a tree helps, too since it's a pretty visible barrier of something a horse doesn't want to knock into or rough-house around. Even so, it pays to be mindful of where you legs are in relation to any horses.

Legs and the leaves.

Of course my favorite thing about Gobie is his in-your-pocket friendly curiosity. He knows I'm usually well-equipped with tasty tid-bits.

Got any treats?

He is a bit puppyish in that if you do play hard to get with the treats, he's happy to lick your hands and search your pockets and try all of his charms to try to get you to give him one. It usually works! I really enjoy his company, and it was doubly lovely, sitting beneath a tree in autumn colors. The photo below was going to be a heroic picture of Gobie, but his true colors shone through.

Put that tongue away!

If anything, he's sincere, though. And properly apologetic. And a down-right schmooze. He played with my hair, and was very interested in snuffling around my face--maybe because I was wearing peppermint-scented lip gloss?

Nuzzling my knee.

He would come and go from where I was at the tree, which was fine by me. I enjoyed relaxing, watching the horses from a far, appreciating the weather and all the good nature around.

See you later, pony.

After a while it was time to go, so I walked to where Gobie was mingling with the herd in the field. I gave him a treat, and some scratches on the withers. He must have been in a cozy mood, because he started reciprocating the grooming, by working on my shoulder with his prodding upper lip, licking and even nibbling a little, on my jacket. He also tried mussing with my hair a little.

Getting groomed.

I'm not sure if Gobie didn't link how Booboo was looking at us, if he was trying to come over to break up the niceties or what, but as our mutual grooming session was coming to an end Gobie whisked himself away from the party and ran after Booboo.

Defending my honor, no doubt.

It was a short lived event, though, and I wasn't in any danger from it. Before heading back to the car I stopped by Gobie again to fuss over him a little more, tousle his hair, and steal from heat from under his mane.

Thanks, good friend.

Wormin' and Walkin'

This weekend all the horses had to be de-wormed. It's a regular health maintenance thing--every two or three months you medicate your horse with a deworming paste to keep any parasites living in their guts in check. Horses inevitably get worms from eating grass, grain, hay and other stuff on the ground. If you're not careful, humans can get worms, too!

We worm the horses on a rotation, meaning we use dewormer with a different active ingredient every so often. Different medicines are better for getting rid pf certain kinds of worms, and switching it up helps prevent any resistance the worms might build up from a particular kind of medication. This month we dewormed the horses with Strongid, which is supposed to be good for killing bot fly larvae. Good, since if you remember, Gobie had some bot fly eggs laid on his legs.

As you might imagine, the horses aren't crazy about getting dewormed. The paste must taste pretty yucky! Most of the horses are very good about taking their medicine.

I dewormed Gobie by myself. First I got an estimate of his weight, since the amount of wormer you give them is based on how fat they are. You measure a horse's weight by holding them in your arms as you stand on a scale, and subtract your own weight from the total. JUST KIDDING. Actually they make a tape measure that you put around a horse's body, at the girth behind their shoulder, which gives you an estimate. Gobie is a bit over 800lbs. The first time I did this, Gobie was a little afraid of the white tape going around him, but since we've been doing so much work together it didn't bother him at all this time. When it was time to deworm him, he did the usual throwing his head around. But we were patient, and when he stopped tossing his head around the wormer went away. Soon I was able to put the wormer against the corner of his mouth without him being ridiculous about it. Then it was just a matter of speedily sneaking the syringe into the corner of his mouth and pushing the plunger. Of course there was a lot of licking and head tossing afterward which got some wormer all over my jacket, but all in all, not too bad!

The other horses were much better at it. Old pros! I held the horses while Bonnie gave them the medicine and I helped hold their head up to swallow. That's a trick Bonnie showed me after I had wormed Gobie. Next time we'll see if that decreases the amount of wormer I get on me!
Between the deworming of Gobie and the other horses I took Gobie for a walk around the property. It's a nice little exercise in ground manners. Walking a horse in hand is something you do all the time--leading them from one place to another. It's important for a horse to be polite and not try to run ahead of you, stubbornly plant his feet, or crash in to you if he sees something scary while he's being lead around. So I took Gobie out of his comfort zone, and we walked around the property in place he's seen but never actually walked around in. He was an extremely good pony. If he saw something scary he just stood still, but for the most part nothing really concerned him. He walked along politely beside me and was very mindful of when I stopped, turned, asked him to back up and so on. Basically he's the perfect pony.

Walking down the drive way. The asphalt under his feet must have felt weird and you could hear the clip-clop of horse hooves on the road. I think he was most nervous about this part--plus we were under the pine trees with all the pine needles laying around. Even so he was good--vigilant but not spooky.

Teasing friends by the fence. Look where I am! It was funny--as we walked by the fence Honey and Boo-Boo ran right up as if to say, "Where are you going? What's it like on the other side of the fence? Don't leave us unsupervised!"

We also walked under the trees in Bonnie's side yard. There were lots of leaves on the ground. He ate a couple, but mostly wanted to nose around in them.

It was a good visit, as usual! I was glad that I could help Bonnie with the other horses, and get some low-key but still important training time with the pony.

Changes

Have I mentioned that October is a super busy month? Even so, visiting Gobie at least once a week takes priority. This weekend was a big event at work, though, so the visit was brief. But it was more than enough time to scope out all the changes going on at the barn. Coming up the drive way was like traveling down the yellow brick road--the pine trees lining the drive have all been dropping bright yellow needles that carpet the path.

Amongst the needles, I spotted this wooly bear caterpillar:

Heralding a milder winter. 

There were lots of crow around in the fields, too. It had rained pretty good up in Marriotsville, and I think they were taking advantage of the moist ground and bugs. I walked down to visit Kahlua's grave where Rose had planted some yellow mums and made a protective barrier around the plant to ward off nosy horses.

Peaceful. 

Gobie and the rest of the horses were in the side paddock. I was a little cautious about going in with them because the new horses was there. I didn't think he was a troublemaker or anything, but the social dynamic of a herd always changes when there's a new kid. Never the less, I squeezed in between the fence boards and gave Gobie a hand grooming. The first thing I noticed was those crazy yellow pine needles caught in his mane like some witchy hair accessory.

Augmenting his highlights, don't you think?

I brushed over his back and withers and legs with my hand, unsettling the dust but he was otherwise pretty clean. I started tussling his mane again and that's why I found this:

Ouch! 

If you can't tell, there's what looks like a big scrape that runs perpendicular along his mane above his withers. The hair was all gone and the skin was dry and wrinkly but otherwise pretty healthy, or at least healing pretty well. He didn't have it last weekend, so it couldn't have been too old.


Of course, bites and kicks and scrapes are kind of par for the course when it comes to horses hashing out the herd pecking order. Bonnie had already given me the heads up that Gobie was jealously protecting Honey from the new horse, so it wasn't too surprising. The new guy had quite a few more nicks than Gobie. I hope they sort everything out between each other soon, and start acting more polite!


It was around feeding time so Bonnie came out and asked that I lead Gobie to one of the other paddocks while she got ready to give the gang their grain. I took him out of the side paddock and walked him across that pine needled driveway. He was a little nervous about the whole thing, but he minded his manners quite well and soon he was in the other area.

Feeding went on without a hitch. After Honey finished the grain her her bucket, she went over to socialize with the new horse.

Fraternizing.

The new horse is about Gobie's age, and a cremello Mountain Horse gelding. He's white haired and pink skinned with blue eyes. His name is Boo Boo. Pretty appropriate for Halloween I think--looking a little like Casper!

According to Bonnie, Boo Boo was picked on at his previous barn, too. We wondered if it was his name ("Boo Boo? of course he's picked on!" "Boo Boo, after all the boo boos he gets?") but I think it might be because of his unique coloring.

After everyone ate their grain (plus some treats and supplements for Gobie) Bonnie asked me to guide Honey and Gobie to another paddock so she could move in Boo Boo, Cinder and Bo. All I had to do was walk along the fence by Gobie, down to where I wanted them to go. "He really likes you!" she said. Aw, shucks!

With everyone in their happy field, the gang all settled down for a good nosh on some hay.

Boo Boo and arch nemesis, Gobie.

Before I left, though Gobie came back up to the fence for one more treat.

Naughty, but still handsome.

Good Feet, good weather

Friday was another farrier day, so I left work early to make it on time for the appointment. It was sad not to have Rose and Kahlua join us, but Cinder's person Meredith was there. She gave Bonnie a framed photo of Kahlua--it was very sweet.

The whole gang. Gobie was very good at being trimmed. He probably doesn't need it every time, but I keep it consistent because he really is getting better at standing politely with all the practice. Plus the farrier is such a patient fella. I remember how dry and chippy and cracked Gobie's feet were before. Now they're looking beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Fancy! 

A horse barn in autumn is the best thing in the world, and Friday night the weather was perfect. There's nothing like being greeted by some furry friends:

Oreo the cat, and Furby the dog being pals. 

And watching nature embrace the changing seasons:

Halloween spider. 

I'm hoping for more excellent weekends in the future!

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.