Tonight after arriving home from daughter's lesson I marched out to the barn and called in the Big Bay. Husband was weed-eating and the three geldings were "trapped" in the back field. They started running the arena fence line, and then suddenly Cody turned around, picked up speed, and galloped through the gate right past the scary weed-eating monster!
Keil Bay came in when husband turned it off, snorting and blowing and standing up to his "big horse" stature (about 17.3h).
Fortunately I had done a good groom this morning so I didn't have much to do except tack up. By the time I entered the arena it was dusky, he was fully alert, and I figured the ride would definitely be interesting.
The thing about the Big Bay is that it's pretty easy to transform his "upness" into nice dressage work if you aren't nervous yourself. We did some really nice big walking and he wanted contact immediately. It took a couple of circuits to get him to notch down his alertness level a few clicks, but at that point he was nicely forward and I shifted into shoulder-in, some well-timed turns on the forehand, and alternating between big walk and a more collected walk to keep us focused.
We had one small spook at the end of a full circle of turns on the forehand but I used that little bit of impulsion to head down center line.
By the last bit of 20m circle work, we found the magic with very soft contact and a lovely bend.
The interesting thing was that when I dismounted, he was still very "up." That weed-eater really had them going today!
I wondered if he would stand at the tack room door, but guess what? Even the weed-eating demon is not enough to put Keil Bay off his end-of-work treats!
After several handsful of pellets and oats he marched off to the front yard, completely by himself, in the dark, and I cleaned all three of his bridles, his saddle, and am still happily breathing in the scent of Effax oil.
Lesson today: sometimes weed-eating jumps you up a level!
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Monday, May 09, 2011
Sunday, May 08, 2011
week's end catch-up
Busy week - with a lot of little dramas here on November Hill. Mid-week Redford started a new conversation with me in the mornings during breakfast tub time. He has learned to open the feed room door while I'm inside, and then waits 'til my back is turned so he can sneak in.
We go back and forth, him sneaking, me saying "you stay there, Redbug," and then he sneaks in another step.
He got a bit too far in at one point and I had my hands full so called out "Redford! No!" He backed out in a hurry and gave me a look, then used his nose to slam the door shut. It was hilarious. Of course he couldn't stand it for very long, and opened it back up again, but now if I ask him to back out, he does, and slams the door for good measure.
On Thursday the Carolina wrens fledged the nest. My daughter went out to feed Salina lunch and I heard high-pitched squeals - I thought something had happened to daughter and went dashing out the back door. She was in the barnyard, trying to keep the baby wrens safe. They were in the barn aisle flying and then out into the barnyard. Dickens managed to grab and eat one nearly whole, but the remaining four or five were safe.
At one point birds were flying, daughter calling, Corgis barking, Salina neighing, donkeys braying, and a hawk was circling overhead. Mama and Papa wren were squawking. It was chaos until the babies got their wings enough to get up in the oak trees.
My daughter says the wrens sometimes have a second brood so we're watching the nest to see if they return.
This weekend is writing group, and tonight I read the first half of the first chapter of the second book in the Magical Pony School series out loud. It's amazing to me that when it's time, the book comes. I've been juggling three very different books in progress, and Fiona's voice is the one who came clear this weekend.
We also went across the lane today and met our newest neighborhood "herd." A Quarter horse named Pablo and his four goat buddies. Turns out Pablo is a Zippo Pine Bar baby just like Cody (although older, at 11) and it's easy to see the resemblance. He's still settling in. It was fun seeing the barn. A few years ago that barn was right by the lane and home to a herd of ATVs. Now it's back behind the house and a lovely space for a horse and four goats. That's the kind of transformation I love seeing!
In other news, we brought home the last round bale of 2010 hay and are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off long enough for the 2011 crop to be cut, dried, and baled. Our hay grower has some square bales he held back that we will use in the interim, and if I have to, I'll locate some timothy to fill the gap. We've had so much rain lately it's been hard to find enough clear days in a row to do the haying process. I've seen a few farmers doing parts of a field at a time trying to work with what they had weather-wise.
And, it being May, I woke up at 3 a.m. and feel like the cicadas are buzzing from inside my head. Spring is always a "loud" season in general and I have found over the years that May is always an intense month for me. Everything seems busy and noisy and I seem to feel it from the inside out. About the time I think I'm going to explode, it all dies down and the long lazy summer kicks in. Here's to middle of the night blog posting, the slow fade of the annual buzz, and maybe, if we're lucky, a mild summer.
We go back and forth, him sneaking, me saying "you stay there, Redbug," and then he sneaks in another step.
He got a bit too far in at one point and I had my hands full so called out "Redford! No!" He backed out in a hurry and gave me a look, then used his nose to slam the door shut. It was hilarious. Of course he couldn't stand it for very long, and opened it back up again, but now if I ask him to back out, he does, and slams the door for good measure.
On Thursday the Carolina wrens fledged the nest. My daughter went out to feed Salina lunch and I heard high-pitched squeals - I thought something had happened to daughter and went dashing out the back door. She was in the barnyard, trying to keep the baby wrens safe. They were in the barn aisle flying and then out into the barnyard. Dickens managed to grab and eat one nearly whole, but the remaining four or five were safe.
At one point birds were flying, daughter calling, Corgis barking, Salina neighing, donkeys braying, and a hawk was circling overhead. Mama and Papa wren were squawking. It was chaos until the babies got their wings enough to get up in the oak trees.
My daughter says the wrens sometimes have a second brood so we're watching the nest to see if they return.
This weekend is writing group, and tonight I read the first half of the first chapter of the second book in the Magical Pony School series out loud. It's amazing to me that when it's time, the book comes. I've been juggling three very different books in progress, and Fiona's voice is the one who came clear this weekend.
We also went across the lane today and met our newest neighborhood "herd." A Quarter horse named Pablo and his four goat buddies. Turns out Pablo is a Zippo Pine Bar baby just like Cody (although older, at 11) and it's easy to see the resemblance. He's still settling in. It was fun seeing the barn. A few years ago that barn was right by the lane and home to a herd of ATVs. Now it's back behind the house and a lovely space for a horse and four goats. That's the kind of transformation I love seeing!
In other news, we brought home the last round bale of 2010 hay and are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off long enough for the 2011 crop to be cut, dried, and baled. Our hay grower has some square bales he held back that we will use in the interim, and if I have to, I'll locate some timothy to fill the gap. We've had so much rain lately it's been hard to find enough clear days in a row to do the haying process. I've seen a few farmers doing parts of a field at a time trying to work with what they had weather-wise.
And, it being May, I woke up at 3 a.m. and feel like the cicadas are buzzing from inside my head. Spring is always a "loud" season in general and I have found over the years that May is always an intense month for me. Everything seems busy and noisy and I seem to feel it from the inside out. About the time I think I'm going to explode, it all dies down and the long lazy summer kicks in. Here's to middle of the night blog posting, the slow fade of the annual buzz, and maybe, if we're lucky, a mild summer.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
horses, baths, and field maintenance
It seems like every time I go out to ride lately I end up bathing a horse. Or two. That's what happened yesterday when I went out to ride. Salina came and stood by me, I looked her over, she seemed itchy, and since it was a warm day with a warm evening predicted, I shifted gears and bathed her.
She stood and stretched her nose forward, enjoying every moment of her bath. I used a very soft-pronged curry in one hand, soapy sponge in the other, and ended up removing about another half-pound of shedding hair. The bathing part is actually not what takes the time - it's the rinsing. I'm not sure why, but she seems especially hard to rinse - the shampoo seems to really cling to her coat and skin. Fortunately she loves being rinsed, so after a moment's difficulty when Keil Bay sauntered down the grass paddock and she was determined to go with him, I just dragged the hose and finished her rinse under the holly tree.
We got into it together, the sound of the water, the flow of suds off her back and down her legs, the cooling. Even when Keil got bored and led the herd back up to the barn, through the aisle, and across to the big barnyard, Salina and I stood entranced and connected by that stream of cool water.
I was still planning to ride, but when I got to Keil Bay, he too seemed itchy. In his case, he had a few ticks attached in the groin area, and he was fussing (by walking away) each time I tried to get them off. So I got his halter and a lead rope and we went to the bathing area for his first real bath of the year. Keil likes being bathed too but he is very nudgy as he tries to pull my arm with the hose to different parts of his body - do this part, do that part - mostly he just wants me to hose right beneath his jaw, but carefully so he doesn't get sprayed in the face.
Yesterday, though, he stood nicely while I sponged and did tick removal (easier with soapy hands and skin), rinsed him thoroughly, which took about 1/4 the time it takes to rinse Salina. You're done, I told him, but he followed me to the barn where he clearly expected to be treated for his time. You can see with Keil Bay how the expressive horse gets rewarded for being expressive, and thus it blooms into even more expression.
All through his bath he kept presenting his muzzle to me to be kissed, and when he comes along to the feed/tack room and stands patiently, it's absolutely impossible for me to not give him a handful of something. Yesterday he got a handful of alfalfa pellets for my interrupting his grazing to get bathed, and then he got a handful of oats because... well, just because he asked and I love saying yes to the Big Bay.
By this time it was dusk and I still hadn't checked and refilled water troughs.
With springtime and growing season there are many more chores to be done.
The week before last I cleaned and dragged the arena, last week I mowed buttercups, this week it's rotating/dragging fields, and the next big thing to do is weed-eat.
And grooming gets more detailed. Brushing, bathing, checking for ticks, dealing with biting pests, and managing the heat... all this is partly why spring is NOT my favorite season. But right now it's still more my favorite than this long, cold, wet winter we just came through!
On another note, we have a certain kind of cicada emerging right now by the dozens. They are everywhere, and anywhere there isn't a live cicada, there is the shell of one. These are like no cicada I've ever seen - they have golden wings and red eyes, and resemble little insect demons. Is it a coincidence that the leaves, every single leaf, on the squash and cucumber plants are now simply gone? All that remain are stems and blossoms.
May! I can't quite believe it but it's here.
She stood and stretched her nose forward, enjoying every moment of her bath. I used a very soft-pronged curry in one hand, soapy sponge in the other, and ended up removing about another half-pound of shedding hair. The bathing part is actually not what takes the time - it's the rinsing. I'm not sure why, but she seems especially hard to rinse - the shampoo seems to really cling to her coat and skin. Fortunately she loves being rinsed, so after a moment's difficulty when Keil Bay sauntered down the grass paddock and she was determined to go with him, I just dragged the hose and finished her rinse under the holly tree.
We got into it together, the sound of the water, the flow of suds off her back and down her legs, the cooling. Even when Keil got bored and led the herd back up to the barn, through the aisle, and across to the big barnyard, Salina and I stood entranced and connected by that stream of cool water.
I was still planning to ride, but when I got to Keil Bay, he too seemed itchy. In his case, he had a few ticks attached in the groin area, and he was fussing (by walking away) each time I tried to get them off. So I got his halter and a lead rope and we went to the bathing area for his first real bath of the year. Keil likes being bathed too but he is very nudgy as he tries to pull my arm with the hose to different parts of his body - do this part, do that part - mostly he just wants me to hose right beneath his jaw, but carefully so he doesn't get sprayed in the face.
Yesterday, though, he stood nicely while I sponged and did tick removal (easier with soapy hands and skin), rinsed him thoroughly, which took about 1/4 the time it takes to rinse Salina. You're done, I told him, but he followed me to the barn where he clearly expected to be treated for his time. You can see with Keil Bay how the expressive horse gets rewarded for being expressive, and thus it blooms into even more expression.
All through his bath he kept presenting his muzzle to me to be kissed, and when he comes along to the feed/tack room and stands patiently, it's absolutely impossible for me to not give him a handful of something. Yesterday he got a handful of alfalfa pellets for my interrupting his grazing to get bathed, and then he got a handful of oats because... well, just because he asked and I love saying yes to the Big Bay.
By this time it was dusk and I still hadn't checked and refilled water troughs.
With springtime and growing season there are many more chores to be done.
The week before last I cleaned and dragged the arena, last week I mowed buttercups, this week it's rotating/dragging fields, and the next big thing to do is weed-eat.
And grooming gets more detailed. Brushing, bathing, checking for ticks, dealing with biting pests, and managing the heat... all this is partly why spring is NOT my favorite season. But right now it's still more my favorite than this long, cold, wet winter we just came through!
On another note, we have a certain kind of cicada emerging right now by the dozens. They are everywhere, and anywhere there isn't a live cicada, there is the shell of one. These are like no cicada I've ever seen - they have golden wings and red eyes, and resemble little insect demons. Is it a coincidence that the leaves, every single leaf, on the squash and cucumber plants are now simply gone? All that remain are stems and blossoms.
May! I can't quite believe it but it's here.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
promoting Signs That Might Be Omens today
Today I'm promoting my adult literary novel, Signs That Might Be Omens. If you've been considering buying it, go ahead and do so today and help push the ranking at Amazon!
If you already bought it, I thank you. If you've read and enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate your taking the time to write a review on Amazon - the reviews do help with new books. It's also very helpful if you "agree with" the tags that you feel best represent the book. All of this works on Amazon to bring the book onto various lists where other readers can find it.
I also welcome invitations to do blog interviews, talk via Skype with book clubs or groups, and any other word of mouth promotion you might give.
You can get a free sample of all my books on Amazon, but I've also pulled a Signs excerpt from further in and posted it HERE.
And remember, claire-obscure, hailed by Eight Cuts Gallery as "a delightful, enigmatic masterpiece," is a connected book to Signs. Both are part of the Claire Quartet, and both are available on Amazon. Click the covers to your right to go directly to the sales pages.
Explore November Hill Press to find out more about the press, the books, and the writing life.
If you already bought it, I thank you. If you've read and enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate your taking the time to write a review on Amazon - the reviews do help with new books. It's also very helpful if you "agree with" the tags that you feel best represent the book. All of this works on Amazon to bring the book onto various lists where other readers can find it.
I also welcome invitations to do blog interviews, talk via Skype with book clubs or groups, and any other word of mouth promotion you might give.
You can get a free sample of all my books on Amazon, but I've also pulled a Signs excerpt from further in and posted it HERE.
And remember, claire-obscure, hailed by Eight Cuts Gallery as "a delightful, enigmatic masterpiece," is a connected book to Signs. Both are part of the Claire Quartet, and both are available on Amazon. Click the covers to your right to go directly to the sales pages.
Explore November Hill Press to find out more about the press, the books, and the writing life.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
lessons in riding, 4
I went out late this afternoon thinking I would groom the Big Bay and we would have a ride. The sky was shifting from sunshine to dark clouds, and I was hoping we might find a chunk of cloudy sky time to ride in so it would be cooler and the insects might disappear.
Keil came into the barnyard for grooming and it became clear that he needed to be brushed, curried, scraped, brushed some more, and then all of the above yet again - his hair is shedding in huge packets right now. At one point the wind was blowing as I was brushing and his hair was swirling around me like a mini Keil Bay fur-nado.
Still though, I intended to ride, and kept working until he was shining and clean and I was dirty and sweating. I realized he was being besieged by black gnats on his belly, so out came the fly spray and a cloth to wipe it on. Just as I finished up, Rafer Johnson literally wedged himself between me and the Bay and asked for his own grooming, so I set the fly spray aside and got my brushes going on Rafer. He's shedding too, which is unusual so early in the season, but he enjoyed getting a nice groom and some neck scratches.
About that time, Salina came out of the barn and started switching her tail between her legs, over and over. I thought for a moment she wanted me to groom her, so I did, but she kept up the tail swishing. Then I thought she wanted me to STOP grooming, so I stood back. She looked at me and switched the tail about 15 times as hard as she could. Finally, I got the message. Look where her tail is pointing. And there was a hard knot of a tick bite with not one, but two ticks attached on the inside of her hind leg. I rubbed my fingers around and onto the bite area and she stretched out, curled her upper lip, and said, YES, that's IT.
I removed the ticks and then went in the feed room to get a cold cloth and the calendula tincture. She waited for me in the barnyard and stood while I held the cold cloth on the bite, then swabbed with the tincture. She sighed and walked on. No more tail swishing - relief.
When I went to put the calendula and cloth away I heard some tiny chirps. A Carolina wren built a nest in my tack cleaning bucket, which hangs on a hook in the feed room. The eggs hatched on Easter, and as I glanced into the nest today, I could, for the first time, see the neck markings on at least five baby birds, all tucked in a row, and then disappearing as they lifted their heads and opened their tiny mouths in unison.
I think it was then I realized this was just not a riding day. I let Cody and the pony through to the barnyard and watched while all of them milled about, grazing, enjoying the breeze, and simply being equines.
There is a little voice inside my head that tells me I need to get that ride in. I'm not sure where it comes from. Keil Bay and I are on the path to pleasure, with no plans for competition or getting to a certain level of dressage, or even to a specific level of fitness. I love when we make little leaps forward, and I especially love when we find harmony in motion, but it's a whimsical path we're on, not a driven one.
Periodically I get a bee in my bonnet about wanting to get on a schedule and ride a certain number of times a week, or ride daily, and I have to stop and remind myself that for me, there is a fine balance when it comes to routine and schedule - I like having both, but I hate when I allow myself to be ruled by the schedule to the exclusion of being in the moment and following my gut, and Keil's.
Today it was hot, the weather was funky, bugs were profuse, and everyone in the herd had things they needed me to do. The right thing for today was to listen, to offer my hands for holding brushes, giving scratches, and removing ticks. It was a day for watching Keil Bay sink knee deep in a compost border as he reached for the perfect bite of grass. And for watching the pony march around like he was playing I-spy for the best mouthful to be found in the barnyard. For taking time to stop and peek at the baby wrens, who had needs too - and to know that their mama bird would soon be there to feed them.
Today's lesson in riding: it's okay not to.
Keil came into the barnyard for grooming and it became clear that he needed to be brushed, curried, scraped, brushed some more, and then all of the above yet again - his hair is shedding in huge packets right now. At one point the wind was blowing as I was brushing and his hair was swirling around me like a mini Keil Bay fur-nado.
Still though, I intended to ride, and kept working until he was shining and clean and I was dirty and sweating. I realized he was being besieged by black gnats on his belly, so out came the fly spray and a cloth to wipe it on. Just as I finished up, Rafer Johnson literally wedged himself between me and the Bay and asked for his own grooming, so I set the fly spray aside and got my brushes going on Rafer. He's shedding too, which is unusual so early in the season, but he enjoyed getting a nice groom and some neck scratches.
About that time, Salina came out of the barn and started switching her tail between her legs, over and over. I thought for a moment she wanted me to groom her, so I did, but she kept up the tail swishing. Then I thought she wanted me to STOP grooming, so I stood back. She looked at me and switched the tail about 15 times as hard as she could. Finally, I got the message. Look where her tail is pointing. And there was a hard knot of a tick bite with not one, but two ticks attached on the inside of her hind leg. I rubbed my fingers around and onto the bite area and she stretched out, curled her upper lip, and said, YES, that's IT.
I removed the ticks and then went in the feed room to get a cold cloth and the calendula tincture. She waited for me in the barnyard and stood while I held the cold cloth on the bite, then swabbed with the tincture. She sighed and walked on. No more tail swishing - relief.
When I went to put the calendula and cloth away I heard some tiny chirps. A Carolina wren built a nest in my tack cleaning bucket, which hangs on a hook in the feed room. The eggs hatched on Easter, and as I glanced into the nest today, I could, for the first time, see the neck markings on at least five baby birds, all tucked in a row, and then disappearing as they lifted their heads and opened their tiny mouths in unison.
I think it was then I realized this was just not a riding day. I let Cody and the pony through to the barnyard and watched while all of them milled about, grazing, enjoying the breeze, and simply being equines.
There is a little voice inside my head that tells me I need to get that ride in. I'm not sure where it comes from. Keil Bay and I are on the path to pleasure, with no plans for competition or getting to a certain level of dressage, or even to a specific level of fitness. I love when we make little leaps forward, and I especially love when we find harmony in motion, but it's a whimsical path we're on, not a driven one.
Periodically I get a bee in my bonnet about wanting to get on a schedule and ride a certain number of times a week, or ride daily, and I have to stop and remind myself that for me, there is a fine balance when it comes to routine and schedule - I like having both, but I hate when I allow myself to be ruled by the schedule to the exclusion of being in the moment and following my gut, and Keil's.
Today it was hot, the weather was funky, bugs were profuse, and everyone in the herd had things they needed me to do. The right thing for today was to listen, to offer my hands for holding brushes, giving scratches, and removing ticks. It was a day for watching Keil Bay sink knee deep in a compost border as he reached for the perfect bite of grass. And for watching the pony march around like he was playing I-spy for the best mouthful to be found in the barnyard. For taking time to stop and peek at the baby wrens, who had needs too - and to know that their mama bird would soon be there to feed them.
Today's lesson in riding: it's okay not to.
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