lessons in riding, 11

I went out intending to ride, and Keil Bay came right in when he heard me come through the gate, so it felt like he wanted to ride too. But after I fed Salina, checked her in the midst of abscessing hoof, and let Keil Bay into a stall so I could tack him up I saw that he, and all the geldings, had been out rolling and all three were covered in dried mud.

Salina left a bit of her meal, so I added some to it and fed it to Keil Bay. He wishes he needed an extra wet tub a day. He doesn't really, but every now and then I give him one just to show him that I will if in fact he ever DOES need it to keep his weight and nutrition balanced.

He was thrilled with his midday "senior" meal, and I started working on his mud while he ate.

It was cool and windy today and I decided to let the other geldings come into stalls and have some hay out of the wind. They all seemed happy to have some quiet and some individual hay. I realized as I got busy grooming Keil that it was probably one of those days when it felt right to spend a long grooming session than to try and squeeze in a ride. He was enjoying the brushing, and the barn was peaceful with the late afternoon sun coming in the windows, the horses all munching, and the rhythm of the brush felt good to me as well as Keil.

Keil started banging his feed tub around in the manger so I stepped up to take it and let him lick it out. This is a favorite ritual he and I have, and as I lifted Salina's red tub I realized Keil's blue tub had been left in the manger at breakfast and he was banging because some of the midday meal had managed to spill between the red tub and the blue tub but they were stuck together and he couldn't get to the "trapped" portion. I separated the tubs and held them both up side by side so he could lick.

I suspect Keil Bay has never had two feed tubs both with feed in them in front of him inside his stall before. He seemed surprised but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak, and he set forth to lick both, taking turns between one and the other. I could literally feel his pleasure. If horses purred like cats, Keil Bay was purring.

I've been doing ground work with him most of this week, and since I'd decided not to ride, I took him out in halter and lead rope to do a repeat of our work. The first day he needed a little urging to keep up with me but the past two days he has been sharp and perfectly focused. Today he was even more focused - clearly trying to anticipate my requests by watching my body. We were walking, trotting, halting, turning, backing w/o any cue passing between us. Keil is big and has a big stride, but he matched me step for step in every transition. It was impressive.

While we were working, Salina came out of the barn and began to graze in the big barnyard. She's moving, but still carefully, and this is the first day she's wanted to graze in about 4. The donkeys both asked to come into the arena, so, as it tends to go around here, my work with Keil Bay ended and some similar work with the donkeys began. Even the pony, who was in his stall with hay, came to his door to watch.

Everyone got groomed and worked and they're back in stalls with hay until dinner time, when they'll eat, get their blankets for the first freeze of the year, and head out to enjoy the cold, clear night.

Might I add that we noticed the sure sign of fall and winter on its way: flies sitting motionless, as if they were frozen in place. It's about time!

mare magic, part 3

This morning I wrote that Salina had gone up to the barn. When I got out there I realized she had done it b/c the abscess has burst - so no need to stand outside my window where I can see her!

It is draining - but my guess is that the inner "seal" that formed when it healed over 3 weeks ago has not yet cleared. I tried to get her to take a walk in the arena as that always helps loosen things up and get the gunk to clear out once it's open, but she's not quite ready for that yet. I washed with warm water and have put some epsom salt poultice on top with a very light gauze wrap to keep flies away and see if we can draw out the gunk. Need the remedy NOW - but will do an Animalintex wrap later today and see if we can move this along now that it's open.

She feels better but is determined not to walk too much yet. She knows best.

more mare magic

I wrote recently about Salina's abscessed hoof and how scary it was for me until it burst. After three weeks or so of being completely sound and feeling better than she has in a year, Salina is now suddenly in round two of the left hind hoof abscess.

Interesting though that this time she is not resting in her stall where I commented that not seeing her head in that window was alarming for me.

This time she is resting right by my bedroom window so that I can see her constantly. I have finally put hay and water right there with her since it seems she really wants to be there. She moves around and goes up and down to the barn when she wants to, but she is returning to my window at all times of the day and night.

I was worried yesterday because she didn't eat normally, but this morning she ate her full breakfast and just got a nice shampoo bath of all her legs and hooves so they are clean and less likely to attract the last bastion of flies that have set in here.

I find it amazing that after I wrote the blog post about her window, she has placed herself literally a few feet away from me so that I can check on her with one simple glance.

Send some good energy for abscesses bursting and clearing completely. This one seemed like a doozy in its first incarnation - on both ends of the process. How lame she was and then how completely sound she got when it burst out. I am hoping this is a clearing out of something in response to putting her on jiaogulan and that once her hoof clears itself we'll see her bounce back with some renewed vigor.

last night on the mountain retreat

On Thursday morning my two teenagers and I packed up, said goodbye to all the November Hill animal crew and husband/dad/solo farmhand, and headed up to one of my new favorite places on the earth. A good friend shared her mountain home for the second time - the first was the writing workshop back in June, and this weekend it's been a wonderful getaway and 3/4 of a family retreat.

We enjoyed the fall color on the drive here, and were absolutely thrilled when we got a few miles from the cabin and spotted what looked like a dusting of snow on neighboring mountaintops. The cabin is as wonderful as it was the first time, and I have loved seeing the rushing creek in its autumn outfit. We've done a little bit of walking, a little bit of riding on the Polaris up the mountain (daughter would not ride with me through sticky places - she got out and walked!), lots of creek watching, and some movie watching on the HUGE screen TV.

It's cold enough we've had the fire burning all weekend.

I've written a chapter in Fiona and the Water Horse, another chapter in Ava Lee's book, and been thrilled to sit here with Cold Mountain in my hands for a re-read. I had forgotten that a 17-hand Hanoverian gelding is in the book. Made me miss the Big Bay and also made me wonder - were there Hanoverians in the U.S. during the Civil War?

Daughter has finished her first research paper, done long exposure shots of waterfalls, and did a model shoot for my son in his ancient Greek garb.

Son has identified trees, gathered some wood samples, taken many photographs, and cooked some meals for us.

Tomorrow we're heading back to November Hill, but on the way we'll take a different route, stop by a favorite place for lunch, and see what else presents itself!

I had a terrible time uprooting from November Hill. It's always hard to leave. We've checked in daily and everyone there is doing fine so far.

Come chat with me and Janet Roper Tuesday night!

Janet Roper, of Talk to the Animals, will be chatting with me about horses, books, life, and who knows what else Tuesday night on her BlogTalk radio show:

GO HERE for the details.

And if you can't join us live, you can always listen to the recorded chat at your leisure!

Knowing me and knowing Janet and knowing the animals on November Hill, I expect this will be a blast in every single way!