rain expected all day

The rain started yesterday, but at least it started late so the horses had time in the field and the donkeys had some time in the paddock before they all had to come in. It let up some just before dark, and my daughter took the geldings in the arena and did a group free lunge session so they could get some exercise, giving me three empty stalls to muck and top off with new shavings.

Today it's supposed to rain pretty much nonstop, and it's always a challenge to keep everyone in the barn content.

I don't like anyone to have to stand in stalls for too long without moving around a bit, so we play musical stalls and give everyone a turn on the side of the barn with the shelter. The donkeys have the barn aisle to march around in, but that gets old when it lasts an entire night, a full day, and another night. But at least they're not stuck in stalls all that time.

If the rain lets up we try to give some time in the arena. The footing drains really well out there, and the screenings mixed in with the sand do a good job of cleaning the feet out.

We'll listen to NPR and feed hay and keep waters topped off and clean. And since it's so warm right now, I won't fuss if the geldings choose to go out and stand in the rain in the field. Tomorrow the cold front comes through, and hopefully sunshine with it, as the hardest combination is rain and cold wind.

This is one of those days when I'd love to have a barn with double-sized stalls and adjoining paddocks with partial shelters, that all opened to a central area, where I could have some comfy chairs, a desk, lamplight, and a small kitchen to make horse cookies and hot tea.

saddle fitting and a funny sign

Keil Bay's saddle got checked yesterday and I have to remind all you riders - if you haven't had yours fitted in awhile, or if you have been having funky little things happen like finding a foot repeatedly floating in a stirrup, a saddle pad bunching up or jamming down, feeling unbalanced in the saddle, etc., it could be something easily solved by a simple saddle fit check.

I've been noticing for a few months that Keil Bay's pad ends up jammed down over his withers by the end of a ride. One day it was so bad he was stretching down and turning his neck and shoulders trying to free himself up. I got a new, stiffer pad with more "swoop" at the withers and that helped but did not solve the issue completely.

My saddle fitter arrived yesterday and I was tacked up and riding when he drove through the gate, so he could see what happens. He had me remove the saddle so he could measure the Big Bay's Very Broad Back and compare notes to the last visit. Keil has gotten a bit narrower through the withers, and the wool flocking in the front of the saddle had gotten very soft. The combination of those two things meant the pommel was tipping forward when I rode.

Well - I didn't feel so much like *I* was tipping forward, but have noticed myself having to put my legs back further, which I suppose was my effort at maintaining the balance.

Keil Bay stood and watched while David worked, completely intrigued with the plastic bag of wool flocking, the crunching sound that I suspect he thought *might* be indicative of a treat, and the satisfied look of a horse being fitted for work. Keil Bay loves being fussed over.

David fixed the flocking and tried the saddle on sans pad. He worked some more, tried it again, and showed me that it was totally stable. He then saddled Keil Bay up for me (a rare treat) and sent us into the arena to try it out.

Wow! I was back in my comfy deep seated saddle again. My legs were perfect. The rising trot was smooth and forward and easy. The pad stayed right where it was supposed to be.

I was lucky that when I bought Keil Bay his previous owner agreed to sell me his custom-made saddle, which happened to fit me perfectly too. I didn't know until I had David out the first time, but it was actually his father who fitted Keil with this saddle originally. The saddle fits him well, as long as I keep a check on it and get things adjusted as needed.

A badly fitting saddle can do terrible things to a horse's back and a rider's position, which in turn throws the horse further off balance.

If the subtle issue I had addressed today made such a huge change, I can only imagine how dramatic something bigger would be.

On a totally different note, I woke up this morning and sent out some emails regarding the current novel. The very instant I sent the last one, the phone rang. I didn't get to it in time to answer, but the caller ID said Feature Film Inc. There was no message, and I'm sure this was some sort of sales call, completely unrelated to anything. But I take it as a sign of something good to come for this novel.

Which, by the way, I feel would make a QUITE FINE feature film, so if you know anyone looking for a project, send him/her my way. :)

woohoo wednesday

I had the dreaded dental appointment this a.m. and was very pleasantly surprised that all he had to do was put the crown back in, properly, using the proper materials. I'm as good as new with no trauma involved.

This was inevitably helped by the two-hour long hot stone massage I indulged in yesterday. H. was due to come anyway, but I selfishly co-opted the equine massage time and added it to mine! I decided that Apache is getting enough attention right now with acupuncture, warm towels on hocks and warm water bag on hips. Cody is getting the supplements and is moving like a dream. Keil Bay gashed his face yesterday a.m. and while he might have done well to get a massage, my gut feeling said he needed some ointment, some arnica, and an afternoon of soaking in the sunshine while he munched on hay and grass. Salina and the donkeys seemed so peaceful I decided not to mess with that.

All excuses, I admit, but H. agreed - it was time for ME to get some indulgence.

The massage was, as usual, incredible, and I hereby swear never to let myself miss one again.

Yesterday after the massage I got an email from my saddle fitter, saying he could swing by today to take a look at the Big Bay's saddle. He's impossibly busy and usually it takes months to get on his schedule, so I seized the opportunity and will be out riding Keil at 3 today so that David can see what his saddle pad is doing and fix whatever it is that's off.

And then, the week's scheduled events are OVER. I can ride, write, read, clean, hang out, and not have a single thing to "get ready for."

My favorite way to hit the end of a week.

big strides and a bobcat

Yesterday's ride on Cody was quite good, once I got past the initial struggle with a pair of stirrup leathers that had to be put on his dressage saddle.

The moment I mounted though, things were good. He walked off with a HUGE stride, markedly different than his normal gait. Cody has had some tendencies to not use his hind end well, and we've always done exercises to work on that. Getting the shoes off was the first positive step, and then finding our current trimmer, who doesn't take much sole off those hind feet.

We have encouraged Cody to really stretch out and use his body, and to forget the small, mincing steps he learned in his Western Pleasure training. He's made tremendous progress but has always needed praise to "walk out." He seems to enjoy it but is also anxious that he's doing the wrong thing.

Anyway, yesterday, after not riding him myself for a month or so, I was struck by the movement of my seat when he walked out. It felt much more like riding Keil Bay, who has a huge stride, and it was relaxed and rhythmical from the first step.

I knew from watching my daughter ride that he's been looking quite nice this fall, but yesterday's ride went even further. After a long walk warm-up, we trotted, and the big relaxed stride carried through. He did well at the transitions, and I could feel in every single stride his back moving up and through.

He's on day 5 of his supplement to deal with the kidney stone, and I'm wondering if that is being dissolved and his hind end comfort is rapidly improving. In any case, I'm thrilled with his progress.

Later in the evening, while getting everyone set up for the night, the Corgis started barking like mad and in response there was, right at the woods' edge by the back yard, an odd shrieking bark-like sound that was so loud and intense I marched over to see what it was.

I actually thought at first it was my daughter playing with the Corgis, pretending to bark at them, but then I saw her walk by the glass doors inside the house, and realized then it was an animal.

My husband came out and went looking with a flashlight. Dickens came marching out of the woods, totally calm and not at all scared, and in a few moments there was a bounding crunch of leaves as something ran along the fenceline. Shortly after that a small herd of deer bounded by.

We never laid eyes on the shrieking creature, but I'm almost certain it was a bobcat. I've been finding bobcat scat and I guess last night the bobcat had a confrontation with Dickens.

Bobcats are solitary and symbolize secrets and silence and the power of the life force. They also represent clairaudience and the ability to know what isn't being said.

My first response was: "I want it relocated."

Which today makes me laugh, because wouldn't that be convenient - being able to relocate the "messages" that make us uneasy!

a coloratura day

It's 50-something and sunny, with a slight breeze that is perfectly wafting leaves of various hue through the air and to the ground. I've opened up the barn for the day, and put the geldings in the front field where they are walking around, stopping for hay breaks, and taking mini-naps in the warm sun.

The sun makes squares and rectangles of light in the stalls as it moves across the sky. I often feel like making a sort of clock that tracks time by the movement of the shapes through the barn over the course of the day. NPR is playing in the tack room, and alternately the classical station.

Salina and the donkeys are in the dirt paddock for a change of scenery, with their own hay and the same sunshine. Rafer Johnson and Redford are quite happy because there is some activity going on next door involving tools. They immediately went to the far end and stood side by side and alert, surveying the action.

My daughter's dressage lesson got canceled for today, so suddenly we have nothing on the agenda except a run to the feed store later and our regular chores. We'll be riding and then it's time for me to tackle Keil Bay's hooves in what will be my first effort at a minor trim. I have sketches from our trimmer, and a rasp, and hopefully Keil Bay's cooperation as I work.

Cody is not at all liking the digestive enzyme tablets, so for now I'm making sure he gets the other supplement. He is willing to eat his food out of my hand with the enzyme in, but that takes a LONG time and I think it will be easier to mix up the crushed tabs with some blackstrap molasses and syringe it after he eats. I want him to enjoy his meals, and while he will eat it from my hand, it's obvious he doesn't like the possibility of that bitter enzyme exploding in his mouth. Even Keil Bay flapped his lips at the digestive enzyme! Funny, because he slurped his right up, but this is a different kind, and it's intriguing that he won't eat it. I think on some level they know what they need.

I'm reading through the novel, which I've set up in a corner of the living room by a window that looks out onto the forest. Wild muscadines have climbed across the screen, and the shadows of the leaves make beautiful patterns on the curtain and my legs.

The Word of the Day email just popped in and what a fitting word:

resplendent

Indeed it is.