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Moutaineer

Oh, dear...

Moutaineer

Nice pic, Tanga. I'm sorry today's outing didn't go according to plan Exvet. Judging can be a headscratcher sometimes. I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, though I keep finding different and interesting bruises. My poor left hand is black and blue again and my right hip is a range of colorful sh...

Moutaineer

Thanks for all the sympathy, my friends! Not feeling too bad today... a bit stiff and sore in places, but I'll live. And who knew how much sand could fit in an eyeball? It's still feeling scratchy after multiple flushings, and my eye was a sandy, stuck together mess when I woke up this morning. I th...

Moutaineer

I'm not having a good week so far. We've been feeling rather pleased with ourselves that we have finally got him to relax through the spooky corner and past the door, and with the arena gloriously empty of contractors, we have been able to make full use of the whole of the ring. Today, as I'm trotti...

Moutaineer

I'm afraid my horse was "that horse" today--a cold, snowy, windy Monday. He ripped the lunge line out of trainer's hands and took of around the indoor like a bat out of hell--being chased by the lunge line. He eventually came to a screeching halt next to me (I was guarding the door into th...

Moutaineer

You know that thing when you grab a load of laundry out of the dryer and dump it on the kitchen table while you sort out the next load?

So do they...

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Moutaineer

I just bought a Kieffer Rachel. I think it was $230. I really like the crown piece. It has an anatomical cut back around the ears and is padded in such a way as to reduce the pressure on the poll. And I like the way the cheek pieces are set back. The flash come off. And the noseband is nicely padded...

Moutaineer

Nice to see you again, Sue B! Interesting (in a good way!) ride today. Deck guy almost finished so we had almost the whole arena to work with. After weeks of riding in circles, we tackled straight lines again. "Wait, what? You want me to canter all the way around the arena? With my neck between...

Moutaineer

So, what is for dinner? After two weeks of cooking and eating all the things, I am a bit out of steam. I have half of a roast chicken in the fridge, nice russet potatoes to bake and salad materials, but it isn't hugely appealing as it proved to have been a rather athletic bird--tough and a bit strin...

Moutaineer

Trainer just called and told me not to come to the barn as they are buried in nearly 3ft of new snow. Fortunately we've only had about half that amount here, but I've still got to dig out and the roads are an icy mess. So, not a promising start to the training year! But it is winter in Utah, and we ...

Moutaineer

Beautiful wings. Very cool.

Moutaineer

My big goal in 2023 is actually to make it down centerline for the first time in 4 years. This goal period, I have a clinic in 3 weeks and I need to get my stuff together for it as I'm supposed to be some kind of third level guinea pig. We've been focusing really hard on rideability and basics so I'...

Moutaineer

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, Aleuronx. That is indeed sucky. May the barn remain your happy place.

I feel like I've ended 2022 a much better rider than I started. And Potters is in a really good place, too. And thats really all I could ask for.

Moutaineer

Quelah... oh yes, I remember it well!

Shes coming to give us the low down from a judges perspective on the new tests, amongst other things. It should be useful. I rode with her last year and found her helpful, if a little terrifying. However she was encouraging and liked my horse

Moutaineer

Productive ride this morning, refining lateral work which is giving us a much more active and through trot. It really is lovely to sit once you get some elastic "boing" going, and its so much easier to get the movements from.. And we are starting to get some real jump and expression in the...

Moutaineer

I agree it would be very helpful to consolidate the categories quite rigorously. Personally, I miss stuff because it's not in the ones I regularly visit, because there are so many options. and I might not post a question because I'm not sure how many people will see it. I'd collapse all the not-hors...

Moutaineer

Late to the party, but yes, I find this board a very valuable resource that I would be happy to contribute to financially.

Moutaineer

You can see him coming up and widening under your seat, Flight.

(Nice to hear birds and summer noises in the background

)

Too darned cold to ride today. Going to go finish my Christmas errands after lunch when the roads have thawed a bit instead.

Moutaineer

How good to hear from you, Demi. I'm so glad you have Besa there for you. Just chugging along here. This week is a bit of a bust as the weather is going to be ugly for the next couple of days and the indoor is full of men at work busily building the new observation deck and installing mirrors. Its a...

Moutaineer

There's a difference between "weight from force" and "weight from connection," I feel. I'm always striving for that high that I get when the horse accepts my hand and gives me a two-way conversation, with a soft jaw and neck. Some of that is in my hand, some of it is in the horse...

Moutaineer

Potters is much happier with his anatomical bridle. Don't know if its the set back cheeks, the poll relief crown piece, the higher-set noseband, or the lack of flash, not that I ever tightened the flash, or the noseband for that matter. Wicked cold here today but bright sunshine. It got down to -9F ...

Moutaineer

I dont think so Chisamba. I did think about it but I believe we caught it in time before it got really ugly. It wasn't that nasty pitting type swelling and you could still make out the structures, and it went down quite a bit with exercise. He was happy to hand walk and trot about a bit on the lunge...

Moutaineer

Nice updates! And Saiph does not look like dirt--she looks very lovely. Hoping to get back on Potters tomorrow. He's had a few days off as the scratches that I thought I had a handle on really blew up over the weekend and he had a fat leg on Monday and was miserable. I've never dealt with scratches ...

Moutaineer

Zevida, how exciting to go to FLA for the winter. We expect full reports! I'll go look at the CoTH scratches thread. We do have the vet involved in a couple of cases, but ours isn't that bad, yet. Apparently, my small animal vet riding buddy is supposedly the purveyor of Magic Ointment--I just haven...

Moutaineer

LOL, Aleuronx. My poor trainer would have an aneurism if I went anywhere near her precious indoor arena with a can of paint! Chisamba, glad to see you back at it! Khall, lots of good progress. Kyra's Mom, at least the foul weather is forcing you to focus on yourself! Blob, it's just impossible to im...

Moutaineer

Its funny what they react and what they totally ignore. We've had a gigantic yellow track hoe digging all over the property, including on the road directly above us when we've been riding in the outdoor arena. Most of the horses (including mine) have completely ignored it. Today, a very small lost b...

Moutaineer

The right heading tape is the key to all things curtain. I can bang them out pretty quickly nowadays!

Moutaineer

Chilly and snowy here. Spent a couple of hours both days over the weekend freezing my tush off watching Mette teach a clinic, and picked up some useful gems in the process. (I'm glad I didn't do it, though. Far too cold for me! I'm grateful to be boarding at a barn with heat!) With her voice in my h...

Moutaineer

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Moutaineer

Phoebe has bounced back beautifully from her surgery, I'm happy to say. It was tricky keeping the two hooligans separated for that long, but now she is healed they are back at it... The Jazz, I keep half an eye on them, and the Utes, so I can make intelligent grunting noises with clients... The curt...

Moutaineer

The good news is that we have our canter departs back now I have him in front of my leg and with some semblance of collection. Funny how that happens. The bad news is that the spooky corner has become spooky again now it seems like it might be a way to divert attention from actual working. But no, m...

Moutaineer

I hate to tempt fate, but Potters seems to have a very different vibe about the indoor arena so far this winter even though it's still a bit chaotic in there and full of things that would have sent him over the top last year. I had a nice ride this morning but we do seem to have completely lost our ...

Moutaineer

Oh frabjous day! The indoor arena footing is done and I've ridden 2 days in a row! All 3 gaits! Unsupervised! I might even remember how to do this if I work hard at it :) I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've been having real trouble shaking off the remnants of the pneumonia and so I am not at...

Moutaineer

Good to see, Chisamba. That convalescence went by quick!

For those of us with less dramatic aches and pains, I've just discovered that Back on Track make breeches. I've just ordered a pair and will report back on whether they help with my achy SI joint, sciatica, etc. Has anyone else tried them?

Moutaineer

Belated Happy Thanksgiving. We went to dinner at a friend's house and our hostess got completely plastered. (Again.) Its a wonder we got dinner at all. So now I have someone else on my "I'm worried about you" list. One of the other guests had spent the whole previous day slaving over 3 bea...

Moutaineer

I had a nice little ride in the sunshine this afternoon. Still rather hard underfoot, but fine for a walk and trot. Indoor is moving along, but I was right, it'll be next week before it's rideable. So we will just pootle around outside until then. I had my flu and pneumonia shots yesterday afternoon...

Moutaineer

I love that, Chisamba! I can get a bit "teeth gritted" in a test riding situation, rather than going with the flow, and that just leads to the horse gritting his teeth, too. Don't you overdo it with that new hip, now! The indoor arena as predicted has been closed all week. And the outdoor ...

Moutaineer

SF, yes, its brilliantly sunny out there, so one might think the footing was thawing, but its also well below freezing. It wasn't safe in the outdoor yesterday, so Mr P got handwalked and long lined on the trails in the big bowl out the back of the barn. Hoping for more thawing today... If we hadn't...

Moutaineer

20221113_121641.jpg This little girl is now 8 months old! She's going in to be spayed on Thursday, which makes me a bit anxious. But it does need to be done. Keeping her quiet when she comes back is going to be a trick. "Kittens" and "quiet" don't seem to belong in the same sent...

Moutaineer

I had a lovely ride yesterday, between gasps for air. Injecting the coffins made him a really happy boy. I dont know whether this is good news or bad news, but I guess I'll just go with the flow for now. I continue to be astounded by how incredibly blase all the horses are being about working in the...

Moutaineer

Exvet, sending good vibes for your SO. It's a challenging time, for sure. And I hope all the other stuff gets sorted out without too much hassle. Nice pic, Chisamba! You'll be back at it in no time! It was just grey and raw and miserable here today, which is preferable to snow this early in the wint...

Moutaineer

Oh happy day! I managed to ride for about 35 minutes today, WTC. Quite a few walk breaks to find my lungs, but I did it! (And Mr P was a good boy with a bunch of stuff going on including snow coming off the roof--way to early for that nonsense.) Potters had a going over from the vet after I rode. He...

Moutaineer

Rye, yep, no Soy here either. Dear old Walker couldn't tolerate soy, it made his gassy and colicky, so I got into the habit of avoiding it. Potters just gets timothy pellets and ricebran (plus some appropriate supplements that are carefully screened for flaxseed.) and a grass/alfalfa mix hay. That s...

Moutaineer

Back to our normally scheduled programming... or not as the case may be... pouring with snow, very cold and miserable today, so I decided I dont need to be driving over a mountain pass in that nonsense to go ride, especially with my lungs still acting up a bit. Maybe tomorrow. But I'm trying to be c...

Moutaineer

Well. He was covered in hives, treated on repeated occasions with dex and antihistamines to clear them up and back they came within days of finishing the treatment, tested off the charts high for flaxseed via the blood test. removed flaxseed from his diet and the hives went away, so I'm fairly convi...

Moutaineer

Rye, I'm by no means anti-alfalfa and fed it almost exclusively to my horses at home for many years. However, Potters seems to have a level of tolerance of protein that once he surpasses it, he turns from being a sensitive sportscar ride into a twitchy, spooky monster. (I had the same experience wit...

Moutaineer

Goal #1 is to get myself healthy and back in the saddle again. The last period was a bit of a bust for me. We did have a very good clinic with Mette, but followed up with a fight with a wheelbarrow, 3 weeks out of town and the last two weeks utterly down and out with walking pneumonia. I'm starting ...

Moutaineer

Kiddo has a nice seat and leg, LSP! Lol, exvet :) I'm going to try and tottering down to the barn this afternoon and feed my horse a carrot, at least. This sickness has really knocked me through a loop. I keep thinking "Oh, I'll be better tomorrow." But I'm not. Probably need to go back to...

Moutaineer

I audited the L program, some years ago. It was worthwhile. I'd like to do it again now with a bit more knowledge under my belt.

Glad everything went well Chisamba!

I still feel like hammered poop. I thought I was feeling better yesterday evening, but apparently that was a passing illusion.

Moutaineer

Late to the party, but thinking of you today, Chisamba!

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