Spring Clinic Campout

 There were highs, there were lows, but a weekend with horsey friends is always going to be a fun one.

Tradey/Reggie/Buddy came along. (I give up settling on a barn name! I’m terrible for just calling him Buddy which is not what I wanted to stick. He definitely has Buddy the Elf energy but I do not need that to be a self fulfilling prophecy :D For the sake of clarity moving forward I’m just going to call him Reggie here and hope it finally transfers to my brain in real life too.) 

Life has felt unnecessarily complicated of late, and one of those complications is that our truck died last week and the mechanic shops are completely backed up until next month.  That left me without a way to actually get to said event. Luckily, I have the best friend living nearby, who offered to take us along with her and was conveniently full of faith in my baby horse and his ability to not be an orangutan in her beautiful trailer. I don't mind tent camping and Reggie doesn't need any tack or gear, plus town is only a few minutes away so it wasn't a big deal to pack quickly and lightly and rideshare.

I lucked out and found Reggie a nice outdoor stall neighboured by a tree on one side and a vacant area on the other. Ideal because he had friends around within eyesight, but no direct neighbours to annoy. As more people arrived, he ended up with a front row seat to the main campsite and all the associated festivities for the weekend which I think actually quite suited his busy and social self. 

view from my tent

We had a shared lesson first thing Saturday morning. I had zero expectations…honestly my goals were already surpassed when he took to overnight camping in a new to him place so easily. I just wanted him to have a fun and positive time. As a general background, he’s not done much. He leads, because he goes hiking with me. He does basic horse management related things like standing for the farrier or getting groomed. So we were going in pretty cold compared to the folks that longe and do groundwork patterns and exercises and are a bit more serious about such things. Never fear, though. He’s your typical smart and overachieving welsh cob who reads your intentions like a mirror. There was absolutely nothing presented he wasn’t willing to try to figure out. We had the building blocks just via basic handling. I send him through one of my gates at home before me and so the gap between that and sending him on a circle or waiting for me wasn’t a thing at all. Leading over logs on the trail is the same as poles on the ground as far as he was concerned. Anyway, he behaved exactly how I would have predicted - bold and curious, sensitive and super willing.

Day 2 was a bit rougher. Sleep deprivation and the aforementioned festivities were catching up with me, and two days in a stall was not doing a two year old high energy pony any favours either. He was literally vibrating with pent up energy so we started our day with an hour hike up a nearby hill/mountain. At the top of said summit, the fleeces and hoodies I’d piled on earlier felt a bit much. But when I went to take off layers I dropped the lead rope. Reggie immediately turned for home without me and I immediately aged about 10 years ;)  It’s going to be a super funny story in the future because the ridiculous monkey just walked 1 step in front of me until about halfway back down the mountain. Calm, but ever so slightly out of reach. Just as I was contemplating texting someone a heads up to intercept him on his way back to camp, he turned around and waited for me. Pretty sure he just thought he was leading me for a change, but of course I spent the entire time imaging worst case loose horse scenarios.

Our lesson was immediately when we got back, and there were some super fun moments and cool things tried. He’s so light and tuned in we were somehow making it look like we knew what we were doing. “Leg yields” , shoulder in, haunches in but on his own at the end of the rope just via reading my energy. So fun, I’m really interested in seeing how it translates under saddle one day. We played a little too with cues to get him to just chill out. He’s a pretty high energy guy and obviously nothing good comes from trying to force him to slow down, so I found the parts where we were exploring good places and cues as reminders for us both to pause and take a breath really interesting. 

If I’m keeping it real, there were moments too where he was pretty sure he’s a rock star that knows everything, with some tantrums expressed when the answer wasn’t what he wanted it to be. 45 minutes of lesson time was absolutely more than enough for his brain and mine. I also think I had a little residual anxiety coming straight in from our inadvertent mountain adventure on Day 2 and he's sensitive enough to be well aware of that! 

Everyone (including me) was super impressed with how he handled himself all weekend. Definitely a baby but he far exceeded anyone's expectations. 

The only super low spot for me was heading home - he really didn't want to load in friend's trailer. It has a rear tack which he found a bit confusing to navigate around, plus I'm guilty of letting him turn around and walk out in mine. So I think the combination of being unsure about the corner he needed to turn once in, plus worrying a little about backing out had him flustered. He's a good boy so he'd hop in like it was a straight load, but wasn't fully comfortable turning to walk right up to the tie. Totally on me, he's so confident with everything normally I kind of took it for granted he'd load right up and didn't think to practice ahead of time.  I messed up with my choice of halters as well, because why not (an old leather one that has lived outside for years) It must have been rotten because he pulled back the teeniest bit backing out and the headpiece broke at the buckle. And...guess what, I got to experience the loose horse anxiety spiral one more time :) He's surprisingly independent so he went on a forest adventure and could have cared less about us or his friends in the trailer. Luckily, I have good friends who talked me off the ledge and assisted in wrangling my feral pony. Reggie loves himself a bucket, so when we found an empty coffee can at a nearby home and got distracted with that we were able to catch him. Said coffee can was intriguing enough to lure him into the trailer too.  Another adventure that will be hilarious one day but I need time to get there ;)

Shout out to Folgers for saving my day

He trailered perfectly. Once we got home it turned out no one missed him at all. In fact his buddy Buck was actually Not Impressed to have him back in 'his' paddock. G took care of things over the weekend and before I even told him of our adventures and poor Reggie's homecoming reception he was like "it was the weirdest thing, I thought the horses might miss him but it was SO quiet and peaceful all weekend, the energy around there was completely different". It seems like maybe most of the things I chalk up to 'ridiculous ponies!' at home is actually just 'Reggie!!!' because as you can tell, my weekend contained plenty of ridiculous pony energy :D

Actual clinic photos were taken and going to be forwarded to me, but for now you just get Reggie camping pictures

Filed under 'things you don't know until you know', I really appreciated him living in stall/small pen for 2 days but I don't think that's setting him up for success. Next time I'll trailer in for the day and take him home overnight. I suspect it will be fine once he's older and going under saddle and we can burn off energy via actual work, but for now it's a big ask for where he's at mentally - he needs room to run and burn off steam and be a baby pony for at least part of the day.

Thinks he needs a job, but child labour isn't what we're about here

All in all, a very fun weekend. My good friend who trailered us is hilarious and understanding - "thank God he wouldn't load and made dumb baby pony choices last night, otherwise it would have been weird how perfect he was" :D

Vet Day

No hurt feelings if you want to skip this one, it's just a recap of our annual vet check up and some notes for future reference.

Sophie:

- Funny because she is the silliest, anxious mare, but the vet and all her helpers arrive with all their tool boxes and gear and Sophie's just chill and like "oh hey, haven't seen you in a bit, what are we doing today? Where would you like me to stand?"

- Discussed recent ulcer treatment and relation to some lingering stiffness in her lumbar area. Vet could immediately feel where the issue is and felt there was a very good chance it is just a lingering muscle stiffness/'knot' from Sophie holding herself differently when her stomach was sore. Everything else checked out fine, range of motion etc through her back seems good. She treated with acupuncture  - a first for us.

- Has a slab fracture on one of her molars. Sensitive to it, but it doesn't look like it extends to a worrying depth and fingers crossed will not need any intervention. Keep an eye on it. Husband asked if she needed a crown (and was calculating what a gold crown might cost on a horse sized tooth) but the vet kindly explained how horse teeth erupt and how it should grow out eventually :)

Buck:

- Uncomplicated. Had his teeth done and vaccines and a check up. Some little sharp edges, but minor and expected as he's 2 and it was his first float.

Has been practicing life without a buddy for a few hours a day

Tradey:

- Clown show. One of the techs that was here was also there for his gelding appointment a year ago - apparently they were laughing in the truck on the drive over about how ridiculous Tradey/that appointment was and how it was her first farm visit on her first day on the job and it felt like everything went wrong. Tradey was at the gate whinnying at them when they drove in this time. He never whinnies at anyone but he must have fond memories of the last time he traumatized everyone.

- The vet opted for a moderate sedation to start this time to hopefully not have the techs questioning their career choices again, and of course Tradey immediately turned into the lightest of lightweights and was falling down drunk. He then decided now was the perfect to get the party started despite being completely unstable on all four legs and snoring. 

Would totally be that annoying friend that way overestimates their ability to hold their alcohol

Luckily he's not at all worried or dangerous or anything like that, just super annoying - like 'oh hey I kind of want to grab your glasses out of your vest but I'm in super slow motion and whoa I'm falling over now, someone hold me up' kind of stuff. The vet has a good sense of humor and everything was fine. Sedating him apparently only served to magnify his inside voice that's full of all the bad ideas. 

Vet was like "oh wow he's annoying today :)" I broke the news to her that he is annoying every day (but we love him)

- Actual teeth/check up absolutely normal and fine. I think for next time we keep in mind he's prone to some interesting reactions to sedation. We've got a couple of barn improvements in mind, I'll think on it and see if there's anything we could do to improve workspaces for vet and farrier days.

Spring Things

 We've been pretty lucky out here, the weather has been absolutely perfect. With the long days, there has also been no shortage of pony time. One thing that has been unfortunately lacking is me remembering to bring the 'nice' camera, or really documenting or achieving much of anything interesting. After the wacky and stressful start to the year, I think it might be inevitable that I needed to exist without a plan for a bit.

Reggie trimming the rose bushes while Buck distracts me

But! But. That spark that was missing last year is still here, and plans have resumed for many Fun Things. First off is a 'camping'* trip and clinic in a couple of weeks with some good horsey friends. Most likely I'll be taking Reggie. *It's our local club grounds and backcountry staging area, so it feels weird to say camping like I'm off on a big adventure. Yes, it's camping at an equestrian campsite, but also it's 20 minutes from my house with amenities like outdoor stalls and Starbucks 15 minutes away in town :)

The spark has recently turned into a bit of a fire under my butt. Because guess who let apathy take over when things were a bit difficult elsewhere in life and didn't do the things like renew trailer insurance or club memberships? It's me.

Ponies staying busy mowing lawns

Keeping tabs on vaccine records or other documentation you might need if you actually wanted to take a horse somewhere this spring? Yeah, no, didn't happen. And if I didn't do that, you may also deduce that I have no idea what gear is or is not currently living in my trailer tack room, where all the camping stuff is, or even wtaf I was thinking when I put building supplies in the hay storage. 

Replaced the gate post, and Sophie malfunctioned and forgot how to go through it to get to her field

So, the past little bit has just been getting rid of the disorganization and backlog of things. Fixing fences that need it, getting the leaky trailer tire fixed, booking the truck in for a tune up before I tow anything, tidying my barn space, booking the vet for spring teeth and vaccines, getting the farrier out, cleaning the trailer, putting tack away properly...all those routine things I managed to put off. 

Awkwardly growing, still handsome

Disclaimer here - the vet is only a couple of weeks past due. The ponies have all been doing some serious self trimming this year so farrier just pops out every three months or so and makes little corrections if needed. We joke I need to market my 'majikal' program when really it's just good pony genetics allowing them to wear their feet evenly, plus them being active equines all winter on my gravel paddock bases. When life happens, low maintenance Welsh Cobs are here for you.

High maintenance Sophie ponies need to be shown this is still the same place you can enter and exit from. Take your wins where you can.

I had a quick visit with Bridget last night to check out her saddle situation. In true Bridget fashion, she was about as excited to see me as an inanimate object might be, but I gave her a hug anyway so she could hate me just a little bit ;) She looks fantastic, but she seemed smaller than I thought? Makes me think I need to measure the boys properly again, my perspective is apparently changed!

 

First Day

Life outside of my happy bubble has been a bit of a challenge lately. Like almost comically challenging...is this real? Am I actually in some crazy reality TV show? (if so please let me win the million dollars?)

But! You know what counteracts all the bad stuff?

 Ponies.

(And G, plus possibly also chocolate and tacos and sunshine and gardening) 

But for the purpose of this blog, ponies. Ponies living their absolute best lives on the first day of summer field turnout.