I rode my horse!

Baron finally has enough hair that I feel okay saddling him up. I took him out for a short hack and did some trotting and cantering. He was a good boy, even with the psycho Arab mare calling out to him across the fence. The following day my trainee used him in a lesson with a 14 year old girl and she said he was great again. I’m really proud of his versatility and his happy personality.

I feel like I should update you on some non-horsey stuff that is affecting my horsey life. I have gotten involved with an organization that works to take little girls out of brothels in Cambodia. When I say little, I mean 5 and 6 year olds. I’ve always been really interested in women’s advocacy issues and now that I have a little girl of my own this issue had become very important to me. I have made it my goal to raise $1000 for the organization inn 2012. Thankfully I’m already at $850 and I have two more fundraisers in the works. I’ve also decided I want to visit Cambodia and see for myself what’s happening there and the good things that are being done. Plane tickets cost about $1400 bucks, so some saving is in order. That means no lessons and no shows.

Not to get all philosophical and sentimental on you, but I feel like raising funds and awareness about child sex trafficking is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life. With that in mind, horse shows and lessons have to take a back seat. I’ve sort of resigned myself to the idea that I’ll never have the time or money to become anything more than a ‘for fun’ rider because I’m not willing to give up my other passion and focus solely on horses. A much as I love riding, I can’t get away from how much rage I feel about what is being done to children half a world away from me. If I have to sacrifice one to make an impact on the other, I’m okay with that.

Spring

Baron has shed out most of his remaining winter coat and his new coat is coming in nicely. It looks like I’ll be able to ride in a month at the most. He is finally starting to look sleek and healthy again, thank God!

I’ve been able to bring my kids to  the barn and let them get an escape from Suburbia while I get some horse time. Baron has been awesome with my kids. They both sit on him and he lowers his head so they can pet him. He is becoming a wonderful family horse, and I’m thankful for the experiences my kids will have with him. I would have killed for a horse when I was a kid!

I always wanted a grey horse.

Baron has now lost probably 60% of his hair. Luckily it’s 70 degrees during the day now. At night it’s still cold, so he is blanketed every evening. My poor horse is so pitiful looking. I’m embarrassed to post these pictures, but in the interest of full disclosure, here they are…

I guess the good news is, it’s hair so it grows back.

My horse is going bald.

Baron has been stalled for a couple days because it’s been raining. I’ve been trying to keep him clean and dry, but the rain just keeps on coming! Today it was 70 degrees so I gave him a bath with medicated shampoo. It looks like he is going to lose most of his hair. Yep, that’s right. It’s February and my horse is going to be virtually hairless. I am a bit depressed about this.

My poor pitiful pony.

Baron is in bad shape with the rain rot. He had it two years ago pretty badly, and got a big bald patch on his rump. This time it’s worse. He has it on his cheeks, and down all four legs, inside and out. Luckily he hasn’t gotten it on his back or rump, so his thick fur is still there to protect him against the chill. It’s been up in the 50′s at night though, so not too chilly in these parts. I think the worst of it is over. He is already starting to grow new hair in the bald patches, but he is still losing hair in other places. Ugh, I despise rain rot.

I’m almost embarrassed to post these pictures, but they’re the truth about horse ownership. Sometimes your horse wins blue ribbons; sometimes your horse goes bald. For better or for worse, right? Two weeks ago he had a full coat of hair and today he is quite pathetic.

His neck and cheeks were two of the worst spots.

Bald patch on his leg. Awful.

Poor Baron.

Poor old Baron has had it rough lately. I showed up at the barn and found him like this. I immediately flipped out and thought he was colicking. He was dirty, which meant he had been rolling, and he looked pitiful. I could tell he felt awful. Turns out he wasn’t colicking, lots of tummy noises and he was back on his feet within a few minutes. I guess we all have an off day now and then.

Next, we got a new horse at the barn who came in with some rain rot. So now of course Mr. Sensitivity has contracted that as well. It has been unseasonably wet and warm this winter and that is paradise for the rain rot fungus/bacteria. It’s all over his cheeks and up around his ears. He looks like he has the mange. I’m too embarrassed to take a picture. The poor horse looks pretty pitiful. I can’t wait til summer when his glossy red coat comes back in!

Baron the School Horse

I let my trainer use Baron for a lesson today with one of her teenage students. They did walk trot canter and he was a prince. (It’s funny how he canters no nicely in the arena and gets kind of spastic out in the open.) I rode him from my barn down the road to my trainer’s barn and then back again after the lesson, so he got a nice workout.

Here are a couple pics from the lesson.

Cantering…

I figured out how to update my blog from my phone. So convenient!

I rode twice this week, despite the rain and dismal weather. It was warm, just grey and gross. Today was the first time it was dry enough to do more than walk. We cantered up and down the dirt road a few times and Baron was wonderful. He was relaxed and round and I didn’t feel like I was riding an explosive device. He was relaxed enough that I let go of his mane and rode with a loose rein. My canter seat (well, half seat actually) is not the best so I’m careful not to balance on his mouth. At the pace we were going I would have felt comfortable doing some crossrails. I felt totally in control.

Also, I’ve been riding Baron long enough to know his tricks. When he wsnts to be cheeky, he pulls his head down and pulls the reins through my fingers or pulls my upper body forward to throw off my balance. I get discombobulated and he gets a break from working. Lately I haven’t been falling for this trick. I don’t know if it’s more upper body strength or better balance, but I’m not so easily taken advantage of these days. I just hold tight and add leg and he realizes his trick isn’t working. I have to admit it’s very satisfying to notice these small improvements in my riding.

Me, my 18 month old and Baron.

Long and Low

This is what we looked like... courtesy of Yahoo image search for "long and low."

I managed to ride twice last week despite the abysmal rain and general dreariness of the weather. I actually like rain, but I don’t like the  muddy pastures and soggy arenas that result. We’ve been riding down residential streets and Baron has been a champ about confronting all manner of terrifying spectres, such as dogs and trucks. Satan’s chihuahuas love to bark at us and fling themselves willy nilly at their chain-link fence. It’s amazing how much noise such small dogs can make.

Yesterday Baron was kind of being a butthead and didn’t want to go very far away from the barn. I let him turn around, but I made him work in the arena so he wouldn’t get the idea that he could quit early. We did circles in both directions and then I tried an experiment. At the trot, I held my reins down low by his shoulders and wide apart. I’ve heard that would encourage him to drop his head and go “long and low.”

It worked! He gave me a very nice, even trot and dropped his head down like he was sniffing the arena dirt. He went around with his head low in a nice stretchy trot for several minutes. After a particularly good stretch, I hopped off to reward him.

It’s so fun to be able to influence him with my riding. Instead of being constantly hung up on my leg position or some other position flaw, it’s nice to be in a place where I’m riding well enough to  make changes that influence my horse positively. I still have such a long road ahead to be a competent rider, but it’s rewarding to see progress. And without a proper arena at that!

Horse Slaughter, or why I will never sell my horse.

I came across this horrible article on Madeline Pickens’ Facebook page. (She is the wife of a billionaire Texas oilman and probably the most vocal advocate for wild mustangs in America.) The article brings to life a horse owner’s worst fear- a horse you care about is given to someone who promises to find him a good home only to turn around and sell the horse to slaughter. Worst of all, the a-hole seller laughs at the well-meaning people who gave him the horses.

Every time I read something like this, it reinforces my resolve that I will NEVER sell Baron. I’m too terrified that he will end up broke down and sent to a kill pen. He’s mine for the long haul, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. We’re going to be a “horsey family” for many years to come!