Annnnnnd We're Back.

The Boy and I managed to safely return to the real world sometime on Tuesday.  I think the plane landed around 4pm, but our body clocks adamantly screamed that the actual time was somewhere between midnight and 3am.

Regardless, we were both thrilled to be back home and get a chance to squeeze a few of our creatures ensuring that our clothing resumed having the appropriate amount of pet hair smeared about.

The horses have yet to see either of us, but hopefully that will change as soon as I stop craving lunch at 2am and successfully stay awake at late enough to watch Jeopardy....

The trip itself was over the top fantastic.  The animals were incredible, the scenery was storybook and our time together was really just fantastic from start to finish.  The low point was really not getting to ride either in a jungle or on a beach, but I tried to enjoy the fabulousness sans horses... (It wasn't actually that hard).

But we are back, the mares are good, and hopefully I get to see them soon.  The biggest downside of taking almost 3 weeks off work is that I have a ton of backlogged visits to our other locations to get done... and I'm pretty sure that's going to make it hard to sneak in midweek visits to the ponies.

I did figure out that one of my meetings next week is about 15 minutes from BBM.. so hopefully I can stop for a ride after.  I've already informed my colleague that they may have to endure a three hour pit stop brief delay so that I can squeeze in a lesson...

Can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs! I promise I will soon!

P update (hula hoops, thermal imaging and new boyfriends)

I'm woefully behind on my horsey updates, but I'm going to try to catch up.  Last week was packed with Visiting P, visiting Prairie and continuing our trailer hunt.  Lots of updates on all fronts, but first things first - the main mare, Miss P:

Wednesday was a pretty lovely day.  The weather called for predictable February drizzle, but by the time Maisy and I pulled in to the farm, it was warming up and the sun was breaking through. 

the herd in the morning gray..

I scampered out to visit the yak-mare who was hanging out by her new boyfriend (she broke up with the gelding across the street apparently).  After the obligatory hugs and pats I headed back tot he barn to finish my coffee and figure out our plan for the day.

yak-mare

yak-mare hunting for treats

Our agenda included:
An arena play day for P. Followed by cold laser and adjustments for the little dog, then lunch, then a trail ride, then watching a new horse get let out with the herd for the first time, and finally - some thermal imaging of P with our vet's fancy new thermal camera. 

Pretty good Wednesday, especially with the sun appearing to shine for the day...

Cowboy Man went to fetch the mare, and while she was very friendly and willing toward him, the appearance of a human, or rather her human, makes her rather disagreeable towards other ponies, as evidenced here:



But, the P walked nicely (sans halter) to the barn and has grown up enough to have her snack and groom session without a halter.  (what a mature P).  Also of note was the fact that P now stands quietly and happily for her feet to be trimmed.  Cowboy Man pulled her front shoes to help her heels expand a bit and her feet look fabulous for it.  They've come a long way in the last 9 months.

Good P eats snacks, not farriers.

Here's a shot of how well P does at the barn now.  I know she has snacks in front of her, but still.  Not running to the hay, not running to the herd, not meandering around like she owns the place.  Such, dare I say it, manners? The other mare is China, a CUTE little Holsteiner who moves like a cloud and had really similar social issues as P when she first got to the farm.. they are peas in pods.



and P... standing happily while her toes get done...



Bear in mind she used to have to be held for the farrier.. and at the height of her shoulder discomfort, a little sedation was necessary to work on that left front properly...  but this - this is a happy horse.

After her toes were touched up, we headed to the ring.  P did a great job of showing us just exactly how you stick with your join up work.  About halfway to the arena, she decided that walking with Cowboy Man was nice, but maybe she wanted to go somewhere else.  She bolted (bad mare), but notice that immediately Cowboy Man is after her, and P even comes back to him as he gets close.  It's sorta cool.
This is where it might take an hour to get the horse following you all the way to wherever it is that you're going, but when they do, it's entirely free choice and you have that connection established.  Not always the fastest way to do something, but I like it.




Once she actually made it to the ring, it was time for the stuff that she's good at.  Running around, playing tag and targeting with some toys (ball, hula hoop, sticks, barrels..).  I took lots of short clips of that stuff, but I got bored of uploading to youtube, so I'll spare you the 42,000 mini videos.

I will share this one of P in the backing chute again.  You might not be able to tell on the (iphone) video, but her back is way looser and she's able to rotate her hips much better than last summer.  Small, small victory, but I am really feeling like this mare is getting more comfortable and happier by the day.




After her antics, we threw the mare back out with the herd.  There's a strand of electric fencing that keeps the herd from mingling around the barn when horses are being "worked."  Usually it just gets dropped to the ground when it's not being used, or if a horse needs to walk past, but today P learned how to go under.  Not exactly rocket science, but I just love how calm and willing she is.  a year ago this would have not gone quite as smoothly.  It would have been the sort of question we might have had an argument over.  but now? Now the mare just stares, sniffs then moves forward.



As I have to run to meetings I guess the summary of our Thermal Imaging, Trail ride and lunch (ok

Trailer (Almost Final Answer?)

OK, so, assuming this baby doesn't disappear between now and us getting back from the big trip, I think this might be the one.

The more (and more) I peruse goosneck options, the more (and more) I'm liking the "2+1" format.  I really like having the extra square footage in the horsey area for hay/bucket/whatever storage and I really like having the option for a smaller third stall if I want to haul 3 beasts (I've assured The Boy that this won't in fact force me to buy a third horse).

This Logan seems to fit the bill.  It's new, but discounted since it's a 2011 and it has all the features I want. Side ramp for loading/unloading, door in the bulkhead (makes the trailer into a "porch" of sorts that can help keep the tack room a bit cleaner, rhino lined under the gooseneck, water tank, lots of lights, lots of big windows and MASSIVE straight load stalls that come in at 94" from butt to chest bar (HOLY MOLEY).

I also like that the dressing room wall is at a slant, which does make the dressing room (and the + 1) space a bit smaller, but that also keeps the trailer to a really decent length of a 22' deck, which isn't much larger than a normal 2 horse straight load (20').  Totally helps us achieve the goal of keeping this thing maneuverable, while also giving a good amount of storage and flexibility.

The only downsides are  that 1) the trailer is in CA (although northern CA), so we have to deliver it.  and 2) that it's an extruded aluminum floor.  I really wanted to find a Rumber or WERM floor if we were shopping for new trailers, but this does have Logan's "Whiz Proof" vortex coated floor, so that's several steps up form a normal aluminum situation.

True to form, this is about double the cost of my original budget, but that just really shouldn't be too surprising to anyone (dammit).  What do you think?  Hate it? love it? total steal, should I snap it up before we leave on Wednesday????

Sooo, I'm liking it.  The Boy likes it, and it looks like we're headed back down to the Mountain Trail Clinic again in April... Which would be the perfect 4 day trip to have the new rig for so that both of the mares can go play on bridges and in ditches and out in big fields.


Sounds fun right!?

Non-Horsey Post - Celebrating 100 years

I know I always say I try to keep the non-horsey stuff out of the horsey blog, but every once in a while I"m so damn excited about something it's hard not to share (new shoes, new husband... you know.. the big things).

This seems like it might fall into that category, so forgive the lack of horses (although there are some pictures of horses involved).

2011 marked the 100th year that my family has had it's weird little business.  I am the 5th generation to come to work for the company and hopefully I won't be the last.  For the most part, our industry has seen small independent companies rolled up into big multi-national conglomerates, and while there are a few family owned businesses still out there - we are certainly the strongest in the Northwest, and among the largest in the nation (GO TEAM FAMILY).

The following is a quick little video (14 minutes) that chronicles our history and how it tied into the development of Seattle.  It's pretty cool.  Forgive the lower quality intro (we were running out of time before our big party last weekend), the actual history part is very well done.