A good ride...

for me anyway.  I'm not so sure how much Harry enjoyed it.  Poor guy, he's so patient with me and all my mistakes. 

Hubby took a bunch of pictures, and besides showing how much weight I have to lose, they show just how tight I hold the reins.  I'm having a really hard time giving up my dressagey "light contact" ways.  The reins go straight from the bit to my hand...no western drape AT ALL.  And the shame of it all, it that I THOUGHT, AS I WENT AROUND, THAT I WAS MUCH LOOSER TODAY than last time.  Poor guy.  It will be a miracle if I don't wreck his wonderful show gaits.  Thankfully, I have enough sense to know I'm not ready to lope on him yet.  We don't need to add THAT to mix yet.

He gave me just a bit of "I'm going to stop and not walk".  I used the extra rein to slap my boot and he walked off nicely.  He tried that one more time so in additional to slapping my boot I waved the ends out where he could see them.  I got a little more "response" than I wanted; nothing serious but he sure picked up his head and got 'steppy' on me.  Okay, note to self:  dial THAT back a little.  All in all, I had a good ride.  I learned a little bit more about Harry, learned a LOT more about me and got some good pictures to study.

Today was also farrier day.  He stood very nicely to get his shoes put back on.  This was his 3rd time with our farrier and he was the best today.  The first two times he acted very baby-ish:  didn't want to pick up his feet, would rock in the crossties, wanted to bite the farrier's butt when she was working on the front feet.  This time no rocking, very little chewing and didn't even try to bite.  He's coming along and settling in; finding out he has to mind his manners at our barn too.

I think having his shoes on definitely improved his jog: when I was better at riding, his jog was better.  Now that I've seen the pictures, I feel I want to go back and try again.  But, for his sake, I will wait until tomorrow.  I think having to put up with me for 20 minutes a day is tough enough on the guy.

He still took treats from me and enjoyed getting his forehead scratched so I guess he forgives me.

BTW, the weather is beautiful.  Low humidity and temp in the 70s with a cool breeze:  couldn't be better for riding!

Time for a bath

Today's picture was taken just 1 day after Harry and Daz met.  They decided to be best friends right away.   Daz is on the left.  Harry has the halter on.

Time for a bath:

Well, part of a bath anyway.  Harry needed his beautiful tail washed and braided.  Braiding the tail and stuffing the braid into an old sock keeps the hairs from breaking when it's being swish-swished at flies.  His tail had not been washed in a long time and was getting kind of gunky with Cowboy Magic moisturizer.

He was an absolute prince for his 'part bath'.  When I was done washing his tail, I let the hose run over him.  This was our first time seeing how he was with water.  I couldn't have asked for a better boy.  Hubby held the lead line and let Harry chew on the chain leader while I was busy at the 'business' end of the horse.

I turned him back out to pasture while I worked Daz, my other horse.   Harry loves Daz and doesn't mind if I talk a little about him in his blog.  I haven't ridden Daz in a long time and he has gotten fat (he plumps very easily) and out of shape.  I had him 10 minutes on the lunge.  We were both hot and sweating.  Enough in the heat!

By the time I finished with Daz, Harry's tail was dry.  I braided it with 3 strips of old bed sheet and then taped some bailer twine to the sock so he could still swish flies.

Let me tell you about Harry chewing on the cross ties.  Harry was a stud horse for 4 years and they tend to be mouthy.  Harry likes to chew on anything that comes near his mouth.    At his old house, his crossties were made of chain.  It can be risky to let a horse chew on chains...not good for their teeth.  His other mom and dad put the chains through sections of pvc pipe and Harry enjoyed chewing on that.

Our crossties are made of nylon cording...he would chew through that in no time.  I priced chains for replacement and that was way too expensive.  Besides, I wasn't sure my personality would go well with the racket that pvc pipe on chains made.  So, I decided to cut up some old garden hose and put that over the cord crossties.  I figured he would chew on it and I'd have to keep replacing it but it would be quiet and I have LOTS of old garden hose.  Seems to be a simple solution.

Well apparently old garden hose tastes REALLY REALLY  yucky because everytime he goes to chew on it, he spits it out and makes a face.  He has learned to stand quietly in the crossties without chewing.  He 'tastes' it every once in a while, but has not really chewed...gnawed...on it.  A wonderful solution that ended up teaching him how to stand in crossties.

We had a wonderful time together and are getting more and more 'in tune' with each other.  

I won't be riding for a while.  About 1 month ago, I had his shoes taken off.  We weren't going to be showing, he was just out to pasture with a little riding.  It seemed like a good idea.  Well, he doesn't 'go' the way he did with the shoes on.  I'm scheduled with the farrier for July 29 with a call in to see if I can push the appointment up sooner.  

In the meantime, it will give me a lot of time to work Daz and a lot of grooming and cuddling for Harry.  I'm sure he'll be good with that!  And so will I!

Hot and humid

Okay, I should say it right now:  I'm a winter person.  I spend most of summer in the a/c.  That makes riding a little hard because it's NOT  in the a/c.

I had already planned a day off today for Harry.  I rode Monday and Tuesday.  I'm not sure if it's okay to ride everyday or not so I decided to just groom him today.  I had planned to lunge my other Morgan who definitely needs exercise along with his diet.  But it's SOOOOOOOOO HOTTTTTTTT!  I think it's a little unfair to ask an obese, out of shape horse to work in the heat.  At least that's what I TOLD myself.  Too hot!

Harry came to the gate today when he saw me.  They were both out in pasture #3, about 500 feet from the barn.  My prayer:  "Please God, let him come to the gate, don't make me walk out there to catch him."  Yay, I didn't have to walk out in this heat.  

When I brought the boyz in I led them both at the same time.  This is a first for them and me.    I haltered them in the pasture and then opened the gate to bring them through.  Harry got a little stuck on the wrong side of the gate but he didn't mind it bumping him in the chest.  He figured out he needed to step AROUND the gate to get by my side.  So with a horse each side, we walked quietly into the barn and into their stalls.  Leading 2 at a time comes in handy when it's raining or it's very hot or very cold.  It's just something they should be able to do without making a fuss.

Harry got a thorough grooming and loved every minute of it.  And he didn't seem terribly upset that we weren't riding today.  He got fly sprayed and put in his stall with his fan, a flake of hay and fresh water.  Oh, and he got 2 apple cores.   He thinks life is good.

I forgot to say yesterday that we had a major big first success:  he pooped while I was riding and didn't try to stop!  Way to go Harry.

I'm back in the a/c finding all sorts of 'inside' work to do around the house.  Beginning of course with Harry's blog.  First things first, doncha know! :-))))

Teaching an old dog new tricks

I'm the old dog and Happy Harry is my western pleasure show horse.  I've had him 3 1/2 months and this western thing is all new to me.  I ridden dressage for 7 years and drove carriage driving for 14 years before that.

Harry is a six year old Morgan gelding.  He was born and raised in Greensboro, NC and made the long trip to his new home in Michigan on March 30 '08.  He's a wonderful boy for this old grandma and is very patient with me while I figure out western tack, western riding and get to know Harry.

We got off to a bad start with the wrong bit, wrong girth and me needing a lesson on how to put the saddle on.  I can take a carriage harness apart and put it back together in the dark, but could NOT  figure out this cinch/girth thing to save my soul.  Poor Harry put up with me putting it on and off about 10 times one day before I finally gave up...it was too far forward, too far back, the girth was too long, then adjusted too short, saddle pad kept moving (it was new and slippery clean) and HUSBAND WAS TRYING TO HELP!  Boy that will put me out of sorts in a heart beat.  Nothing like a know-nothing know-it-all telling me what to do.  Ya, I'm real good with that...LOL!

Finally got a less complicated girth, saddled up, got on and squeezed...as in giddy up!  Nothing.  He wouldn't walk.  Gosh darn it.  Hubby had to lead him to get him started (hubby IS good for SOME things ;-)  ) and so we were walking.  Did a little jogging and I was just absolutely delighted with that.  He's so smooth, like silk and it's way WAY less work than a posting trot.

We had ongoing problems with getting him to walk off, plus I had problems getting my old leg up and over the saddle.  I needed one person to hold him from walking off before I was completely on (not that he tried that) and one person to hold the stirrup so I couldn't pull it off center with my weight.  I had trouble getting 2 helpers together at the same time.  Finally, with the help of my friend, we figured out a way for hubby to hold the stirrup AND the reins at the same time.  Great.  NOW we're getting somewhere.  Golly, that only took the first 6 weeks!  I'm starting to feel like an old fool for buying a new horse by that time.

My next 'problem' was that the mounting block was too low and my leg wouldn't swing over Harry's rump.  I hated my riding breeches...the crotch was down around my knees...so I got a new pair, cool summer weight.  And I got a 3 step mounting block.

Okay we're all set:  hubby holds the horse and the stirrup, I climp up the mounting block, step into the stirrup and swing my leg up.  Well, let me tell you:  my new breeches are so stretchy that my leg went all the way up, all the way over so fast I darn new kicked hubby in the head and almost came right off the other side!  But, holy cow, I was on my horse!  I was elated.  Okay, so he still won't walk off but given a little lead and a few thumps on the side and he reluctantly walked.  Okay, now I've had him over 2 months and so far actually had ridden him  twice!  Not at all what I thought I'd have accomplished by then.  I thought I'd be showing him by then.  I was way behind MY schedule but apparently Harry was right smack dab on HIS!  

I'd made a few phone calls to his 'other mother' who was at a loss as to why he wouldn't walk.  We discussed equipment, riding, training everything.  I should say that Harry had spent his whole life with his other family so moving to be my horse was a huge change for him.  We decided he needed more time.  I quit worrying (a little bit anyway) about what I should be doing with him and tried very hard to just go with the flow.  I'm kind of a type AAAAAAA personality, so being laid back was something that didn't come naturally.  My whole family agreed that Harry was good for me in that regard:  as in....RELAX mom, sit down!

I'm getting much better at going slow.  I have to remind myself that he came from down south and southerners are pretty relaxed, so I must have seemed like a whirlwind to him.  Now I work on brushing slowly, stopping to give him scritches and yesterday I found out he loves to get fingernail scritches around his eyes.  He's actually standing in the cross-ties without chewing on them (another story for later) and resting a hind leg.  I like this boy.

My lastest idea to figure him out seems to be working.  I remembered when I looked at him that his rider mounted up and then sat there talking for about 10 minutes.  Then when DD and hubby went to pick him up, the rider again mounted up and sat there talking to DD for a few minutes.  I thought possibly no one had every mounted up and asked immediately to walk off like I was doing.  My plan for the next ride was to get on and sit there and wait to see what he did.

Yesterday was the day.  I got on (after a relaxing grooming and tacking up) and sat still.  And guess what:  he walked off all on his own.  The unanswerable question will always be:  did my relaxing have anything to do with it?  or was he about to walk off anyway?  At any rate, we seem to be over that obstacle.

I rode again today.  I have a hard time keeping him trotting...he wants to WALK!  My dressage back ground is hard to undo.  Riding on a loose rein is hard to do.  He has a very soft mouth and I find my hand bring the reins back to me...as in whoa?  Also, he keeps jogging better if I sit up very straight.  I think I'm cueing him to walk when I start to slouch.  

I have a lot to learn.  I'm having a really great time with him and he comes when I call him so I guess I'm okay by him, too.

I think this is the start of a life long love affair for me!