More Rain and Early Morning Rides

We are currently getting hit with more rain that is expected to last through Saturday. So that means all of our rides will be indoors. Thank goodness for having an indoor arena for times like this. We knew the rain was coming so yesterday morning I set out to enjoy some time with the horses outside. One of the biggest advantages of having them on slow feeders is I can ride whenever I want. There isn't feeding times to work around :) So yesterday I rode at 7am :) As I said before mornings are my favorite time of day, so it would only make sense for me to ride in the morning. I decided Pixie and I would just go for a bareback hack. Nothing exciting just walking around the barn and by the river. She was super good, well after her walking away on my first attempt at mounting, lol. After grooming and riding Pixie I went and got Navi out. She was one dirty little white horse so we brushed and brushed. After a good grooming session we went for our walk around the barn, during the walk I let her graze for a bit. She is still on a restricted protein diet meaning she can't graze on fresh grass too much, but I figure a small amount won't hurt. Navi is looking more and more like an adult horse. She is losing her baby look. I think she will be a stunning adult horse though :) Good news on Navi she is starting to bite and nibble less. Thank god...maybe she won't be the death of me after all, lol. She is a little pipsqueak with a big attitude :)

Navi is growing :)

Much Needed Rain

We finally received some much needed rain in our area. Unfortunately mother nature decided it should try to catch up all at once and rained for three days. What happens after very little moisture in months and then three days of rain fall...well lots and lots of standing water. My horses little pasture turned into a small lake. We referred to it as Lake Standing Rock (the old name of the ranch) So out came the horses. I can't have Pixie and Jess in mud day in and day out because their feet can't handle it. So for two nights they were inside in stalls and out in the smaller pens during the day. Once it stopped raining on Monday all four horses stayed outside all day and night in their little pens. They all hate it, but its better than standing in a lake. However yesterday we discovered Willow isn't drinking while in the pen. She won't stick her head through the opening to the automatic water. So we made the decision to move her and Navi back to their pasture. Both of them have very good feet and will be okay now that our lake has dried up and is only covering some of the pasture. There is enough dry area for them to stand. We still can't use our slow feeders because the "lake" surrounds them, but we have nibble nets hung on the fence for them as back up :)  So for the next few days my little herd will be separated with Pixie and Jess in smaller pens and Willow and Navi in their pasture. 

Yep...That was a scream

Haha...I almost forgot to mention. Last week we went for a ride over the the island. (Luckily because now the river is too high to cross) I decided to take Jess instead of Pixie. Oh boy...It made me miss my slow poke bear bait horse, lol. I am so used to Pixie taking her time to get home that riding Jess is a whole different experience. He is a rusher when its time to come home. He would much rather trot then walk and really wants to be in the lead. Well this time I made him stay behind Willow he wasn't happy but he did it. So when it came time to cross the river bed instead of paying attention he was in a hurry and not listening real well so we ended up in the deep sand. Well Jess doesn't like deep sand...and we come up and out very quickly like all four feet in the air and head down buck. Not what I expected to say the least...so I screamed. Yep, like a little girl, haha. I didn't come close to falling off and it really wasn't that scary it was just unexpected. My partner was in front of us and turned around, but of course by then we were back on the rocks and all was good. We both had a good laugh and made our way back to the barn. Oh wait we headed back to the barn after I had to dismount and go get his easy boot that was left back in the sand. Then after both the boot and myself were back in place we headed back to the barn. :)

The new routine seems to work

Our new arrangement of taking Navi out of the paddock at night seems to be working. Her knees and joints seem to be doing much much better! I am pretty sure she hates it, but at least she has a little neighbor at night. There is a paint mini in the pen next to her. His name is Zachary and he is as cute as can be. He is black and white like Navi :) Navi however isn't his biggest fan, but he sure loves her.  We had to work on manners for a few days when leaving the pen in the morning, she was getting so excited to go back to the herd and food that she was becoming a bit naughty. So after a few lessons on manners we are walking back nicely in the am.

Speaking of naughty...Navi is a teenager! She has been a pill lately. My quiet little baby that would sleep when tied and let us do anything is no longer around. Now she is full of energy and is nipping and in general being a butt-head,lol. She isn't being dangerous, just naughty. We have had a few times where she just had to be tied and left to work on her patience. She stomps really hard when she is mad, its kinda funny to watch her. We really can't do much work right now with her joint issues, so we are focusing on tying quietly and hand walking. Everything else is put on hold.

Jess has earned free roaming rights at the barn. So some afternoons we let him roam around and graze. He is a good boy and stays right around the barn for the most part. Only twice have we had to go fetch him out of the main houses yard...oops! It makes the girls supper mad that they can see Jess out walking around without them...maybe someday when they are in their 20's they can earn the same right :)

Willow and Pixie have been great! We have been riding two to three times a week. This last week was only once, but we had to plant our pallet garden :)  Pixie and I are doing our ground work to get ready for the open house on June 22. I am a bit behind in practice, but its crunch time now and we will get down to business.

My heart horse!

Pixie saw the new cows behind the barn...we had to take a break from our work session.

Will update soon...until then a few pictures.

Breakfast time!

Navi's sun and fly protection

Jess grazing after his first bath of the season :)

Navi's bath was a fail...so we played in the river :)

Things have been pretty busy lately, but I have managed to get in plenty of time with the horses. Now to find the time to write about the time spent with them. Will update soon :)