living with seniors: tight hips and ticks (and today a great ride)

Keil Bay and I got back into a morning ride routine last week and on Friday I was dealing with a tight left hip that he helped me straighten out by the end of our ride. It was enlightening to feel how his walk opened up and extended as my hip muscles began to release.

The start of the ride though was not a pretty sight - I had put my old stirrup leathers on thinking (correctly) that the length of the new ones would be too long for my tight hips. Turned out even the old ones needed shortening and my left hip was so tight I was nervous about adjusting from the saddle. Nor did I want to dismount so I begged dear daughter to get off Cody and come to my rescue. She did, and as the ride proceeded with shorter stirrups, the motion in the walk slowly worked the tension out of my lower body.

Thank you, Keil Bay!  (and dear daughter!)

On Saturday as I went into Keil's stall to get him out for grooming, he turned his rear to me. I don't remember him ever doing that, and although it was not a mean-spirited turning away, it did seem to say very clearly "no."

I walked to the door of his stall and waited to see if he would come join me. He didn't, but when I turned to look at him again, he had turned his head and neck to me and I went to meet him. He put his head in the halter, and we went into the barn aisle where he immediately seemed to stretch his hind legs out as though he needed to go to the bathroom. I groomed for a few minutes and watched him and he seemed a little antsy - so I put him back in the stall to see if he needed to go. He'd eaten half his breakfast - I'd reserved the other half for after our ride - and often he does go either right before or right after - but this time he didn't. I waited and did a few tack room chores and when he didn't use the bathroom I brought him back out again.

He stood more normally but there still seemed to be something wrong. I continued grooming and then found the culprit - a tick dug in deep way up in his groin. He stretched his legs out so I could remove the tick. Aha - that's what that was about!

I decided though that there was still something not quite right and I wanted to let him know that I was not only noticing but listening to what he was saying to me. After a thorough grooming and a very complete tick check, we went in the arena on halter and lead line and just walked together.

I expected sluggishness but Keil Bay was alert and attuned to my movement. We walked and walked and turned and walked some more. He was overtracking immediately, which was good. At one point I walked with very big steps and he offered a nice collected trot, so we alternated some walking and big trotting and he was great. No head bobbing, and a nice even stride.

We backed, we did turns on the forehand and haunches, and we did some poll flexions and neck stretches. All looked good.

I spent a lot of time just listening to his footfalls beside me. The rhythm was good, everything sounded balanced and rhythmic.

I'm not sure what the message in the stall was about - except that it was later in the morning than I had meant to ride, and the sun was fully in the arena, and I do know that Keil prefers a much earlier ride time - so perhaps he was stating his displeasure in my taking too long to get to the barn.

However - my body got a work-out as we walked and trotted, I was able to ensure that he was moving normally, and to be honest, it was nice to be "with" him with his eye just beside mine, and his head at my shoulder. Our connection was strong and maybe that's exactly what we needed.

This morning, the sun is out and it's raining at the same time. My grandma used to say that meant the devil was having a fight with his wife. I'm taking it to mean the weather is trying to appease me - we had a big rain last night and I really want things to dry out a bit before we get more!

PM addendum: I went out to get Keil Bay today for a ride and was very curious as to what he might say to me. He turned his head, then literally backed himself across the barnyard to put his head in the halter.

I put my stirrups up one notch and our ride went very well. He was alert and moving in big beautiful strides right from the start. We had some torquing at one specific corner that I figured out was me doing a funky thing with my shoulder. Later today at the chiropractor I discovered my sacrum was rotated, which I suspected. No wonder Keil Bay has not wanted to carry me around. Talk about crooked!

Anyway, this morning we did get some very nice trot work in and rode on through some rainfall. The trotting felt great to my back and my hips, and by the end of the ride my legs had stretched out nicely.
Keil Bay was happy as could be and so proud and nonchalant about his work. Love this horse, as if anyone doesn't know that by now!

Coming soon from November Hill Press!

 My newest book! 


I love the cover - the King of Zen himself in what I call the Tree of Life Bay photo, taken by dear husband who has done so many gorgeous portraits of Keil. 


What you don't see are that his hooves send down roots to the center of the earth, grounding me, and his energy soars right up to the sky and takes mine with it.


Which is what this book is all about!

a little sprucing up in the barn

Now that I'm out at the barn in the earlier hours of the day, before the heat really sets in, I've had renewed energy to do some cleaning chores beyond the basic daily routine.

This week I'm wiping down the wire stall dividers one a day. I may be crazy, but in the earlier morning hours, mug of coffee in hand, it is easier for me to look at these chores and get excited about doing them. I have a cobalt blue bucket that I use for this kind of thing. I squirt in some Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, spray in some water, get a clean rag and my stepladder, and away I go. It's been good to stop before I get too tired to enjoy the result - no webs, no dust, tidy and clean. Even when the spiders re-build overnight, they'll never catch up to where they were because in 6 days I'll be back around to that one to clean it off again!

Today I did my one wipe-down and was so enthused I went on to do a little tack room cleaning. I took off all the saddle covers and while they were in the washing machine, I wiped down saddles, replaced the changeable gullet in the Wintec dressage saddle with Cody's XW, put the sheepskin cover on to give it a slightly cushier ride, and dusted down the wall behind the saddle racks.

I wiped down the whip rack and dusted the whips.

I washed the lids of a couple of bins so they would be white again.

Daughter picked up a saddle pad on the rack to tack up Cody and a mouse ran out! This gave me the energy to get all the saddle pads in for washing and to re-organize things a bit so we won't be providing easy housing for rodents. (reminder to Dickens E. Wickens: you might be carrying the lounging cowboy thing too far! get in the barn and help us out!)

By the time I'd done all this, Keil Bay was ready for breakfast. After he ate, I brought him into the barn aisle for grooming and put his clean Summer Whinnies back on. Easy as pie with a plastic bag on the hoof so the socks slide right on. And Keil Bay knows exactly what to do - he holds his hooves up and pushes slightly away from the socks to help me get them on quick and easy.

I have to say, watching him walk out of the barn with those four white socks made my morning. Daughter has given him a new name.

Mr. Fancy Pants.

:)

two new hanoverians on november hill!

Sorry - I could not resist that title!

The two new Hanoverians are Keil Bay and Salina but wearing their bright white summer whinnies really does make it look like we have new horses out there. Four white stockings each adds some flash and of course the real purpose for the whinnies is that they are super at keeping flies off the legs.

I went into full scale battle this weekend, hanging more sticky strips, putting out a trap with attractant, and also gratefully getting the latest batch of fly predators in the mail. This is when I wish I could hire a huge crew of frogs to come in and feast for a long weekend, effectively wiping out the entire adult fly population on November Hill. I would pay them well!


We had a huge rain yesterday afternoon and things cooled down quite a bit. This was writing weekend, so I've been editing like crazy and enjoying the company of D. It was an all-writing, no-marketing weekend and just what we both needed right now. Sitting on the front porch while the rain pelted down was like a tonic - and this morning we had gray skies and a nice cool breeze which extended the effects of the rain and cooling trend.



I was thinking tonight that I might get my version of the geldings' "sport cut."  I'm feeling like short hair, at least for a season, might be a good thing. More on that if I actually go through with it!


I was going to say that I hope all are staying cool - but all are not yet dealing with the heat ... so ... hope all are happy, healthy, and enjoying May.

another week on November Hill

Last weekend we finished the last of the April birthday celebrations - April is our biggest birthday month here, and we have ages ranging from pre-teen to forty-something as a result! Lots of good food and green grass has been consumed.

I started this week with an early morning chiro and massage appointment - a rarity as I almost never schedule anything in the mornings that requires me to leave the farm. It's just too hard to get out of the driveway before afternoon. But this was all the massage therapist had so I took it, and once I got in the car and set out, I enjoyed being out in the world and on my way to something useful and nice all at the same time.

I've been struggling with changing my daily routine around, and this early appointment helped kick-start that process a bit.

On Tuesday Moomintroll (fanciful polydactyl feline) went to the vet and we discovered he is suffering from hyperthyroidism. We're relieved to know what's going on (ravenous appetite, weight loss) and will be starting treatment soon.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I did my last day of barn chores in the mid-day time slot. At two p.m. I was in the bottom of the front field, it was 90 degrees out, and I had a moment where I wondered if I could even make it up the hill to walk through the barn aisle and into the house.

Today I started the summer season routine: get up an hour earlier, get dressed, and have coffee in the barn. I did barn chores with the herd around me in the still shady barnyard. By the time the heat set in they had eaten, were munching hay in clean stalls they picked for themselves, with fans on, clean water in their buckets, and doors open so they could find the cool spots as the day progressed.

I've been hanging water bags in the barn openings this week, an experiment to see if they help with barn flies, which we seem to have more of than usual. I have double+ the amount of fly predators coming every three weeks and although we don't have the black clouds of flies I've seen in some barns by any means, we have more than our usual share.

I'm not sure yet if the bags are helping - of course I muddied the water by hanging sticky strips up too! But I did get lots of assistance as I perched precariously on the stepladder with string and bag and the need to hold on to something and only two hands. The handsome and helpful Cody came and stood by me so I could feel his neck against my hip. He helpfully nudged each bag to make sure it was secure after I hung it. And he gave his seal of approval to all so that no one seemed the least bit concerned by bags of water hanging every foot or so along the back shelter.

I was in by noon today, feeling quite chipper and eager to get the a.m. riding piece in place so I can start the day with one of my favorite things. 


Which brings me to this question: has anyone used the Cool Medic vests? I'm thinking about getting one and would love to know if they stay cool - as opposed to feeling warm and soggy after the first few minutes. If you know, please share!