GRS Horse Personalities

So as every horse person knows, all horses have their own personalities. But when you buy a bunch all at once, sometimes it takes a while to get the hang of them... I'm starting to get there now. How many of these types do you recognize?

Sienna - if you've been reading the blog for any length of time, you'll know this one already. She's the egotistical sports star. Super calm and athletic most of the time, but when something she doesn't like happens in her little world she'll have a complete drama-queen meltdown and never quite get over it. And really, she'd prefer it if everybody just stayed out of her bubble until she chooses to invite them in. She lives at the end of the barn so as to only have one horse beside her and is quite happy with that scenario. Even if it does mean she gets fed last (which she tells me every day is not acceptable!)

Jack - is the kid who was smarter than the teacher in every class and knew it. But not the geeky one, this is the one who was friends with everybody. The type of class clown who amuses the class because they're bored. Super smart, reasonably athletic, and very personable. That last trait has saved him more than once!

Dixie - is the much older sister. Everybody else is still in highschool and she's finished university and got a job she's good at. Been there, done that, handed down the t-shirt ages ago. When she doesn't like something she lets it be known, but in the professional manner of filing a report with management.

Lissy - wants to grow up to be Dixie. And would prefer never to be apart from her. Lissy is mentally the youngest of the group (although not in years) and really thinks her entire job should be to run and jump and play. She's the little kid who had too much sugar and *really* wants to play with the big kids. That being said, she has enough maturity to turn it off when her job is to look after a new rider -- for them she stands quietly and walks and jogs like a 30 yo school-pony.

Apollo - is by far the most personable of the group. He adores people, horses, cats, dogs, anything that enters his bubble, he wants to be friends with. He's the kid in class who was always bouncing with their hand in the air "pick me! pick me!" May not always have the right answer, but tries super hard and always wants reassurance that he's doing it right and somebody loves him.

Nick - is too cool for everything and everybody. He's the only horse I know who can roll his eyes. Knows his job and is very good at it - if the boss is watching. But if he doesn't have someone telling him what to do, he's going to do the least amount possible and even that with a big sigh so we all know what an effort he's making. Couldn't care less what the other kids are doing -- or even if they're there. Equally happy alone or with others, Nick is fully confident with who he is and what he's doing.

hahaha well that was fun procrastination, out to the cold I go now...

Morning babbling :)

Driving on the 401 is not fun at the best of times.
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic is worse.
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic after dark is still worse.
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic after dark when you're tired is... you got it - worse.
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic after dark when you're tired with snow/rain/freezing rain compounds the worseness factor.
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic after dark when you're tired with snow/rain/freezing rain while in the Beast and towing Murray -- definitely worse!
Driving on the 401 in rush hour traffic after dark when you're tired with snow/rain/freezing rain while in the Beast and towing Murray with a horse on board who does *not* want to be there and is big enough to make the both Beast AND Murray move a couple feet...

Well let's just say I was *very* relieved when we made it home. And credit to Murray for still being in one piece! McBride definitely makes sturdy trailers. The drive up was much easier - nice sunny weather, daylight, no traffic... Except I followed a snow plow for almost an HOUR at a whopping 20km/h. Was not amused at that :( Esp as there was no snow to plow (the road ahead looked very much like the road we were driving on and when they left there was no discernible difference other than speed!). I have great appreciation for them *when it's snowy!* but have to admit would rather not follow them when the driving is good. (I assume they were salting or something but still...) All in all, a ridiculously long day spent on the 401.

So yes I did pick up another horse :) For those who knew Moe, he's a clone :) Not in looks but in general life philosophy. BIG lazy tb who can do everything (experience list kinda like Dixie's) but takes some convincing. As he gets fit it should take slightly less convincing, but I think he'll always choose "slow" as his gait of choice. Feels like he'll be able to jump a reasonable amount though and certainly enjoys that part of things.

For those of you who had weight loss or get in shape as new year's resolutions - have I got the plan for you! hahaha all you need to do is open a farm! No problem. Also the solution for anybody who doesn't sleep well. Before this month I can't remember the last time I slept all the way through the night. Now... 5 mins after I lie down I'm out till about an hour after the alarm clock starts beeping. Oops. On the plus side - sweet! On the down side - mornings are still as hard as they've always been. Ah well. hahaha and all it took was total and complete physical exhaustion. I'm hoping I still get to sleep as well once things settle a bit and my body gets a little more used to its new regime...

Ok off to feed the ponies!

Winter Hacking

Ever scan through your junk-mail folder in hopes there might be something good in there that got overly filtered? It’s a smaller version of the moment before you find out the winning lottery numbers don’t match yours... Ok, random. I know. But I caught myself doing that today and it made me smile.

So Crisper, the little cat I adore so much that I kinda inherited the first day I moved in, has learned the bunkie’s heated. Hahaha yesterday he followed me in and was soooo comfy and sleepy when I went out to ride that I left him alone. Later that eve I had a mouse issue so I went and got him. He was not thrilled at me waking him up and far less thrilled when we had to walk past the coyotes (me too admittedly) – although brave little kitty was growling his heart out at them. He settled as soon as we were back in the barn, dealt with my mouse issue, and when on about his kitty business.

But then this morning he wasn’t there following me around supervising the way he usually does. I was starting to get a little concerned that maybe he’d revisited the coyotes after I’d left. But then I had to pop my head in the bunkie to get something and when I opened the door to go back out I see Crisper beelining it from the barn to the open door. Waited half a second for him to get there and let him in. When I came back an hour later he was quite at home. I’ve seen him explore the couch and the tables, but he’s clearly decided the chair is HIS. Which is not necessarily the best life decision since he blends rather well in said chair and just may get sat on! Hahaha But it amused me how fast he figured out where warm and comfy was. So now he hangs out here unless I need him to catch some critters *g*

So a few days ago Rebecca was here helping me out – or more accurately being useful while I sat and watched *g* and we decided it’d be fun to go for a snow hack on Sunday. No lessons that day so the horses should be up to it. All good. So Sunday rolls around, and by the time it’s time to go hacking it’s bright and sunny and that kind of stunningly gorgeous that you only get a couple times of year. Why do you only get it a couple times of year? Well because it comes with the bitter cold. Like -20 cold. Brrrrrr. But being both determined and dedicated (those are the words I choose to use, although I will admit stubborn and insane were suggested) we bundled up and out we went.

Started our ride innocently enough in the arena. R had never ridden Jack before so I thought we should see how he’d behave and I wanted to work on Apollo’s canter a little (it’s his least confident gait). Well warming up I discovered A is incredibly one-sided. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s about 3x the width of the average TB and 1/3 the speed, I’d think he was off the track. Hahaha ok so that’s good to know, I can fix that. As to the canter, it’s there and it’s incredibly smooth. Sweet. Just what I was hoping for. R’s doing fine with Jack, although seems to think he’s not going to be her next EQ horse for some reason. Can’t imagine why >;-P (for those who might not understand that, R’s smaller than I am and Jack’s roughly the size of a small truck. Doesn’t make for the most traditional combination. Kinda like me on Apollo for that matter!)
So we head out on our hack. Jack’s being a little looky – and at the things he sees every day! Like his own paddock *g* hahaha but not bad, just looking and growing a little taller than absolutely necessary. Apollo’s wandering along, not terribly quickly, but not phased by much. All is well.

Then we get to where I turned Jack around the last time he was out here and he’s pretty convinced that’s what we should do again. Besides, there’s a SCARY THING up ahead (read xc fence :) . Fortunately Jack brought along a mac truck for safety, and with Apollo carefully placed between him and the SCARY THING, Jack was good to go. And seconds later in the lead again.

So we head down to the plateau. Navigating the hill was no problem at all – both horses come from backgrounds where hacking is part of life. My thought was we do a lap of the plateau and then head back. Partially cause it was stupidly cold but more because I woke up sore from hiking in the snow the day before so figured should take it easy on the horses. It’s deeper than it looks!

Our lap went well. R even took some photos! But of course the lap ends us back at the far end of the field where we started... And I kinda wanted to go up the other side. So figure we’ll just walk back to the other side of the field and head home. No problem right? After all, they’ve already been there.
Uh huh, you’re not new here... What *was* a surprise was which horse lost his little mind. That’s right. Apollo. Sainted, bombproof, husband horse had a complete meltdown and bolted. Now this wouldn’t have been a big issue in itself – after all, I can ride as fast as he can run. And let’s be honest – he doesn’t run all that fast! Hahaha and really, I almost doubt you could fall off him if you tried. The problem was that he was in such panic mode that he wasn’t focusing or paying any attention to where he was going – all that was going through his little mind was RUN and we were rapidly running out of space. And I had no steering. I dropped my dressage whip just-in-case that was exaggerating the situation, and while most of me was trying to figure out how to make Apollo turn or stop before we hit the fence (which I’m quite certain we would’ve gone through), another part of me was worrying about R on Jack. Cause if Apollo left, I was pretty sure Jack would’ve too. And R’s a great rider, but being quite happy inside the ring, she’s not quite as used to the random gallops as those of us who event...

So Apollo’s going as fast as he can, completely oblivious to the fact that he’s going to crash, when at the last second I get him turned. He’s still going, but now he can see Jack again and stops. Poor guy, I could feel his heart pounding rapid-fire. N he’s on super-high-alert mode. R, who had Jack well under control (me doing the concerned friend thing for nothing – I should know better :), comes over. “Ok now, everybody just breathe.” A was still having trouble with that idea. Jack has the horse version of an evil grin on his face. Apparently he too had gone for a run when Apollo left, but there was no fear in his, more of a “well if he gets to play, so do I!” mentality. R also lacked steering, but got him back to her fairly quickly. N really, Jack’s the smoothest thing on four legs, so all good. Just a little disconcerting when it’s not asked for! I think when we do actually ask him to gallop it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Well we’re now at the side of the field I wanted to leave from, but of course can’t take them home from that. So we had to go around again. A was super high the whole way. Started to go again a couple times, but I’d learned his signs and could stop him before he really started. He sort of does a couple quick steps with the hind legs first and then goes – needs to get a running start! Well that and I doubt he’s ever gone that fast in his life. He was probably just a *little* tired, although still running on adrenaline. He didn’t really come back down to his normal self till we were back near the paddocks. Jack was a superstar. Did the odd “can we bounce now?” move, but when R said no, he listened. As I’ve said, smart pony. Very smart pony. He led the way back, even stopping on the hill to let A catch up. Earned his carrots :)

So that was the fun and games of A’s first and J’s second winter hack :) Slightly more exciting than anticipated, but tons o fun and worth repeating next week *g* By summer they’ll both be xc pros!

Pics on the GRS FB page. Will put here later if I get home at a reasonable hour :)

There was once potential for this to be a fun post...

So I signed in here almost 2h ago with plans of writing a (potentially entertaining?) post of R's and my adventures this afternoon "just as soon as I finished paperwork" - well now I'm done paperwork and so tired my eyes have given up focusing... So I'm abandoning the blog idea in favour of sleep... Maybe tomorrow?

Busy? Yes. But I have a job that doesn't feel like work, so busy's not a bad thing :)

So yesterday it was time to school Jack. N while I adore Jack, he's a very physical ride, which some of you may know is not usually my first choice *g* And I was feeling somewhat uninspired. Till I walked out to get him and realized how warm it was in the sunshine. And how said sun was glinting off the snow... And how hacking through the snow is great for both fitness and mental state. hmmmmm didn't take long for the pieces to fit together and Jack and I went for a snow hack. hahaha soooo much fun. He was super good. He's going to be a blast XC :)

Today had a lesson myself (woohoo!) and Si was a superstar. Of course :) hahaha

So "the list" of things to do never seems to shrink. And I admit I've been kinda doing the ostrich thing of "if I don't look at it, it's not real" *g* I pick one or two things each day and ignore the rest of the list. But a huge part of me doesn't really believe that, hence why I'm getting home at like midnight every night. Today though happened upon "the list" from last week - that seemed so completely impossible and thus started the whole ostrich theory. And as I read through it, I realized every item on that list was done. Sweet! So while the list does indeed keep going, at least things are getting checked off it at a fairly regular rate. And the things being added are less intense now. Once I find that last school horse, things should be able to settle and organize fairly quickly. A couple interesting leads -- just have to find time to go see them! Ah time... Once upon a time I believed in your existence... Now, not so much *g*

Ok off to be a little more productive then sleep... For a second or two :)

Time mysteries

Practice ride night tonight - no lessons. So I had great intentions of getting all sorts of paperwork done and riding/lunging a couple horses. hmmmm. So I *did* make it to the bank (step 1 for said paperwork). And then all the rest... Well the hours somehow disappeared. I swear, they were there at the start of the day and then they were just gone!

Let's see if we can find them shall we? So some were eaten up with unplanned for but useful discussions with people. One about photos and marketing, one with the hay guy about round-bale delivery (trust me, the horses consider that a serious priority. Should've seen Lissy's eyes light up when she found a new roundbale in her paddock! Poor Dixie was still scrounging for scraps in the snow but Lis was right in it), and a quick chat with a girl I've been playing phone tag with whose horse may be the final schoolie...

Then it was time to bring the horses in. Seriously. Don't know how that happened, but it did. Brought them in, went to feed, and discovered a mouse helping himself to the buffet in my feed bin. Not amused. Even more not amused to discover the only feed he evidently likes is the most expensive one. Sheesh. But now I find myself with the issue of scared mouse running around trapped in my feedbin. Emptied all the feed in hopes it would see its way out the hole it evidently came in. Yeah, not so smart this one. Trying to figure out how to get him out of the box when I feel something brush against my leg... Yup, my favourite barn kitty who almost always follows me around when I'm in the barn. Picked him up, let him look inside the feed box. And approximately half a second later my mouse problem was no more. Although I have to admit I got a fairly good laugh when 5 min later the cat returned looking all proud of himself and hopped back in the feed bin (which was still open as I was cleaning it out) and looked around for round 2... So this minor drama made feeding take far longer than it should've.

Then there was some rabbit and beast shuffling to allow the plow to get the last sections of the property. Not a big deal, but ate some time. Then driver of said plow offered to use his tractor to bring in hay for me from the loft - as this is pretty much my least favourite chore I gratefully took him up on it! But again, more time...

Next I randomly decided I absolutely couldn't tolerate one particular pile of stuff that hadn't been unpacked yet (why that pile when there are half a dozen piles? No idea. But it was instantly critically important that it be dealt with.) So it got unpacked.

So then I decided it was too late to get paperwork done (I need several hours uninterrupted) so may as well drop that off the plan altogether. And only 2h left till night check and so much that needed to be done, may as well skip riding too.

First I had to try Jack's blanket on Apollo to get an idea of size as my wonderful personal shopper is going to bring one for me tomorrow. Yet another small time eater. And then I couldn't handle Apollo's dreads anymore so I pulled him out in crossties and got both mane and tail detangled. That was a slightly *larger* time eater, and arguably low priority but it was necessary for the sake of my sanity! I couldn't pull the mane yet because, well, R needs to see it before I do *g*. And of course as I was doing this I felt the need to locate all his own brushes and fill up his "tail spray" bottle and and and... And by this point I wasn't tired or cold anymore so suddenly decided I really *should* ride. hahaha

So I tacked up Lissy and took her out. She was an absolute superstar. From the beginning she's been the nappiest of the group and the most nervous of being alone, but she was a pro. Boot camp's paying off for her too :) Now we just need to fix that dressage and do some basic gymnastics to improve her jumping and she'll be set! hahaha one thing at a time (yeah right - have you read the last few paragraphs???)

And suddenly it was time for night check. Chat for a bit with some random people then close up and head home. Haven't even *looked* at said paperwork. Most of the horses were neither lunged nor ridden. Didn't teach anybody anything. Yet somehow I was still busy all day. Classic.

So I bought myself a god...

And if I'd thought of it earlier, all the horses would've been named after gods :)

So Apollo is... HUGE. hahaha and a sweetheart. I wanted to give him a day or two to settle and then start riding him for a couple weeks before putting him in lessons. Right - best laid plans of mice n men... Or something like that >;-P

I moved Apollo in and Dixie took immediate and dramatic dislike to him. So I switched her and Lissy so she wouldn't be next to him and all was fine overnight. Turning out, she clearly still wanted nothing to do with him, so she and Lissy got their own paddock (Si's still out with the boys since she really doesn't like the mares. I could comment on that, but maybe shouldn't :)

Ok so the day goes well. Apollo gets along well with everybody else n seems quiet and happy. Except when Dixie came in she had one eye shut and goopy :( Boo. Scratched it and had the typical TB overreaction. Sheesh. (follow up - she was perfectly fine the next morning)

So Apollo gets drawn into the lesson. I had picked up a saddle for him that am, so no problem right? It even fit! (well I cheated and picked up two -- of course the more expensive one is the one that fits. Sheesh). Problem? No girth. The 56 barely reached half way up his belly. Hmmmmm Tried a bunch of things fiddling and sorting out -- got a bridle that fit over his ears (with some extra holes punched) but the noseband and throatlatch didn't even pretend to do up. So they got banished -- hardly necessary items anyways *g* His perfectly-normal sized bit came with him, so no problem there. Ok so after some scrounging of still no girth I went the lateral thinking route and put Jack's dressage saddle on him. And it fit! Sweet. Those billets are super-long so figured I could put a pony girth on and be good to go. In fact a giant sized dressage girth actually fit! Sweet.

He tried really hard. Was a little confuzzled by the whole canter idea, but had walk/trot and cavelletti down no problem. And indeed super-quiet. So much so that I used him for a novice lesson the next day :)

More on the lateral thinking note - as I exerted more energy than I knew I had trying to push the two 10L water buckets UP the snow-covered icy slope in the wheel barrow to water the horses (never seemed like much of a hill till today!). And I look over and see kids going tobogganing. Lightbulb! Tomorrow the wheelbarrow is being ditched in favour of a sled :) hahaha if it's gotta be winter, I may as well use the winter toys eh?

Off to feed. Late. Oops :) Good thing they're enjoying their round bales. Nobody's likely to care *g*

Week 1

So it's been a week... That is completely unbelievable. Because on the one hand, it still seems completely surreal and entirely new, and on the other hand I feel like I've been there for years. A good thing I guess, but just sends me spinning when I think about it...

The last two days chores were done in a reasonable amount of time, so that leads me to think things are slowly getting organized :) I'm not trying to do 18 things at the same time -- down to about 7 now! So all good.

Next week's goals are business and advertising. So much less fun than unpacking and organizing the barn, but methinks arguably even more important. Need new students and preferably some boarders sooner rather than later! Well that, and hopefully buying the "last" school horse. We'll see :)

And speaking of buying horses - yes I bought another one :) Apollo is a Jack-sized paint. Super quiet. Was actually broke western so doesn't jump and will need some extra training, but bought him for his attitude. He was having a nap when I walked in -- and really wasn't disturbed enough to get up till his rider told him he had to :) He was a husband-horse (in the literal sense) bought by wife and sister-in-law who both ride so husband could join in, and he apparently babysat hubby like a pro till hubby decided this game really wasn't worth the money and decided to sell him.

Place was sort of interesting - drove down through suburbia. Nice row of houses -- not the clone types of houses you see in new suburbs, but different ones close together. Thinking I must be way wrong, but the directions were very clear... hmmmm Sure enough - house at the end has a paddock in the back yard. And far enough back a barn and more paddocks. Kewl. No arena, so we rode outside in the snow. She rode him around a bit and then I got on. After a few strides it was evident he was quiet as could be (but would keep going -- not lazy, just quiet) so I flapped around and pretended to be a pony kid and he was still a superstar. So I brought him home :) I think owner was a little surprised by that, but all good :)

So yeah pretty excited :) Only down side -- not enough time to write! hahaha well that and I have little-to-no Internet at the barn. Tricky. Well that and I think I have to sell Sienna :( Boooo. No students ready to ride her and can't really afford to have one just for me at this point. But riding all the others has made me appreciate her soooooo much more! Classic eh?

Alright - back to work :) Hey - that smilie typed itself. How often do you see a smilie after that sentence? That must be a good sign.

Just noticed the calendar changed...

So 2010 was an amazing year that disappeared somewhere in all the chaos! Let's see, Cuba with Kerri in Feb, Banff with Mum in August, and *finally* getting a home for my school... Yup, gonna be a hard one to beat! But 2011 has so far been fairly entertaining too :)

Still here :)

Wow. Those three letters sum up the last few days pretty well. I am so far beyond exhausted I have no idea if I'm even coherent anymore -- so consider yourself forwarned! hahaha but that being said I'm having so much fun with it :) Horses are all moved, settled and happy. Sienna's even been less of a grouch! I'm looking to buy 2 more this week. Lissy and Dixie have proven themselves to be superstars while Mr. Jack has found a fun new game that's gotten him removed from the school and sent to GRS Boot Camp *g* It's a good thing I adore him so much! Unpacking and organizing continues -- I'm at the point now where I have to hit up Ikea or Lowes or somewhere in search of shelving and organizing. In order to put stuff away, I need somewhere to put it! That being said, my new tack boxes are AMAZING!!!! I'm so excited :) Ok so it's the little things in life, but really - they're pretty much exactly what I wanted. Believe it or not, I have been riding. Not a ton, but have hopped on a horse a couple times while supervising first practice rides :) That way I can be there without coaching *g* Kinda. I tell ya, it's a lot trickier organizing timing for things (like horse shopping) when you have to keep coming back to feed etc *g* hahaha I suspect I'll get better at it, but for the moment I'm just spinning to get everything done. Each day is getting easier though as more and more stuff gets found and unpacked. And I relax as things get organized so it's getting better. And my computer and printer are all hooked up now, so I'm getting closer to getting business stuff done too :) Of course it's all sitting on the floor for the moment. Baby steps *g* I gotta say though -- when I walked in the barn the other day muttering because it looked like the lights were on and I *knew* I had turned them off when I left like 7h before only to discover they weren't on, but the angle of the rising sun flooded the barn with light and then the horses nickered for their breakfast... Well that was a pretty good moment. Later that day I decided the stalls could wait half an hour or so (cause really, who's going to care?) and took my camera for a walk :) So yes, I have been taking a minute here and there to play with my new camera. Which I love. And will love even more when I know how to work it! *sigh* Haven't figured out how to tell it what *I* want to focus on - so I see the picture in my head, know this camera is capable of making it happen, but don't know the inbetween steps to make the magic. Have still got some great shots even without that though, so pretty happy about that. Some day maybe I'll even have time to upload them *g* Speaking of uploading, I haven't forgotten about the nanonovel -- just dropped way down on the priority list. The finished version will go up. Probably some time before June since that's the last time I can get my free printed copy *g* Can't wait till the first week I'm organized enough to have time for Flash! Anyways - it's definitely time for sleep. Those of you who are getting one word responses to emails please forgive me - I AM reading and enjoying them, but at the barn I have the slowest internet connection since 56K dial-up and no time to type a real response... Feel free to drop by though -- you know where to find me!