Ride in the desert

I had three places I wanted to trail ride: mountains, foliage, and desert. I've now done all three this year. Today was the desert.

I have a friend with a property that backs up on Canyons of the Ancients, so we parked at her place and went out the back gate. Is there prettier desert? Oh yes, but this was pretty darn nice.

It was a lovely day for a ride and my friend had warm water too so I was able to give Naners her pre-Las Cruces bath. Yes, she's going to get dirty before we leave on Thursday, but at least she'll be cleaner than she was. I've now decided I really, really need warm water for baths. So much more enjoyable for us both.

Oy... not so pretty

I am generally obsessed with pictures of myself. I can't stop looking at them. I think I've found an exception: the pictures from the dressage show, which can be found here

They're not pretty.

Ollie enjoys an unconventional grooming tool

sdfnjdas eridfsdfv

That's how my brain has been for the last week.

As soon as I got back from the dressage show it was full speed ahead on the paper I had due the next Sunday. Which sounds like plenty of time, but Daniel Stewart was coming to town on the weekend, so I needed to have that paper done on Friday. I spent five solid days, nose to laptop, getting that sucker done. My prediction is I'll get a B on it. Not my best work, but it shouldn't be regarded as sucky.

Daniel Stewart was awesome, as he was last year. He was seriously pleased by how much my equitation has improved, and it has. I got through the clinic not doing a single situp. I have friends that did like 500. I was thinking so much about myself Banana wasn't looking that fabulous on the flat

Photographic evidence

Oh well.

After he left I have spent this week brain dead on the couch watching tv. The dogs have enjoyed the cuddling. Banana and I have been out for a couple of down the road trots as in two weeks we'll be in Las Cruces and it would be embarrassing if we couldn't get around the xc course with the 6" jumps.

More Shiny

Because I simply cannot get enough of the giant freaking shiny ribbon

We also won a scrim sheet

It's a bit small on her, but whatevers. I'm just amused by the thought that something like this would possibly keep dust off her when just about every time we show there's high winds and dust blowing around. Not to mention she's frequently already dusty before we show up. Hazards of desert living.

DQ land

Despite the big, shiny ribbon above, Banana and I had a rather inconsistent weekend in the land of DQ's. Our first test on Saturday, Intro B, we got a 60%. Then we got a 52% on Intro C. Then Sunday a 50% on Intro B, then we rallied and got a 65% on Intro C. It would have been much higher but our canter transitions were shit, giving us 4.5s, but there were a whole lot of 7s and an 8. I was thinking about too many other things than the smoothness of our canter transitions. The judge really nailed me on Saturday for rigid arms, something I struggle with. Intro B on Sunday I was shooting for no rigid arms, but then we had a crappier test. Talking to some friends, one of them gave me a tip that help. I also realized my reins were far too long. With those two fixes, up went the scores.

So, DQ land. Warmup was not insane. Banana was the fastest moving horse out there. Plus, because the tests are longer not as many people are warming up at the same time. Also, at least from this sample of riders they actually spent less time warming up than most eventers I've seen. Only a couple were warming up for more than half an hour. They all seemed friendly, but the barns were almost quiet. Very rarely did I see horses being hand walked, a constant activity at an event. There were some freaking gorgeous horses there though.

I finally did the scallop braids on Banana and they stayed in all weekend. She needs a little more hair for them to lay right.

dressage show prep

Naners and I are going to our first recognized dressage show next weekend. As such, I'm trying to figure out how to best give the DQs heart attacks while not breaking any rules.

For example, the rule book states "saddle pads are optional, but should be white or of conservative color." What am I pondering? black with our horsemasters logo in purple on it, my favorite navy pad with the white piping and white lattice ribbon, or black with hot pink piping. Ultimately, I will probably go with my navy pad, because we look spiffy with me in my navy coat and helmet with it. I will wear my white breeches one day because I'm hoping those things will die and then I'll never have another pair unless forced to by silly attire rules. I'm doing black gloves as 1) white gloves, like white breeches, are silly 2) why in heavens would I bring more attention to my not so fabulous hands?

(Side note, even though I have noted that white gloves will bring more attention to crappy hands some of my PCers just had to go out and buy themselves some anyway.)

We're nontraditional anyway, with me in my Volants, the brown and black jumping saddle, and the fact that Naners will be fuzzy. I'm just going with that flow.

Finally! Mountain Foliage Ride

Since I've had horses here I've wanted to ride up in the mountains while the aspens are changing. Six years later it finally happened.

All below pictures of me by my friend JG.

Yeah, really can't complain about that parking space.

It's hunting season. But, I think wearing orange in the orange aspens is rather silly, so I break out the hot pink. No one was going to miss me.

See?

Naners was her usual awesome self.

I am spoiled for real life.

The glamorous life of home horse keeping

My barn, despite its constant battering by wind, has developed a smell. It's not poop and pee, but is still a stench that permeates my clothing when I'm out doing chores. It's annoying and while it's been there a bit for awhile, it's now really quite strong.

So, where is this smell coming from? My best guess is the dirt itself has started to smell for whatever reason, but I had to investigate all possible sources. Under the mats in the one stall? Nope. Where else?

These are the interior walls of my barn

There is space between the two walls for crud to accumulate, and oh how it has accumulated. And, it can't just enter and fall all the way to the ground because the people that built the barn put a board across the bottom of the wall, basically making a three sided box at the bottom perfect for catching shit.

With a hay hook, I have slowly been getting what I can out. The crud under the wall, what crud I can get from in the wall. Some of it was a lesson in sedimentary rock formation: a semi-solid brick of dust, shavings and hay. Note I haven't used shavings since I had Fudge, so some of this stuff is from 2009 and earlier.

I've spent several days at this project now and have taken five wheelbarrow loads of crud out.

Something will need to be done about the walls, but it's not in the budget for this year. I have determined the smell has to be the dirt, specifically in the stall without mats. Fortunately, in the budget for this year is gravel and mats for it.

Also in my barn cleaning was scrubbing the shit Foster Mare left on the walls. Ugg.

Sad Landfill Trip

This morning we laid Foster Mare to rest. She really needed to go a month ago, but I couldn't get a backhoe. I still can't get a backhoe and she was suffering so for the first time I took a horse to the landfill.

Obviously, you can stop reading now if this subject bothers you, but I think it's important to share.

Very interesting it was, taking a horse to the landfill. There are two in the area that take horses, one an hour one way, the other an hour in the other. The one to the east charged $67, the one to the west $19. Way, way cheaper than getting a hole dug.

My vet lightly sedated her and we loaded her on the trailer. then she sedated her more and I left the trailer and held the rope from the outside. Then she injected the pink stuff and escaped quickly, since some horses flail. Foster mare just slid down the wall and was done. We took off halter, shut up the trailer and went on our way.

I've never actually been to a landfill before. I've seen them of course, but it's unfamiliar to me. Lucky, there were signs saying everyone has to park on the scale and talk to the attendant. I parked on the scale, went in and talked to the attendant. She asked what had been wrong with her (old age) and said she was sorry and I paid the $19. Until I actually went in I just couldn't believe how cheap it was on their webpage and was convinced it would be more. But it wasn't.

Then we pulled the trailer up next to their animal burying hole. Yes, the landfill had one, so it's not like she was buried in trash, though really, trash, dirt, what's the difference? A big tractor came over, the guy was kind and friendly, then he hooked some chains to her feet and very slowly and carefully pulled the body out of the trailer. Then we drove off, he picked her body up with the bucket, put her in the hole and buried her.

It's funny how many people are so against their animals going to the landfill. I honestly may start going this route for everyone, but we'll see how I feel when Banana goes (which better not be for a long time.) It really wasn't traumatic for me, but I've seen quite a few euths now. Could I have done it for Fudge? probably not. But, I didn't have a trailer then either so it wasn't an option.

Unless you really want the grave so you can visit it, does it matter where the body goes? I've decided no, it really doesn't. But that's me, and I've become quite pragmatic about these matters.