The Ramblings of an Artistic Equestrian

Since the pandemic isn't getting any better I finally just asked my dad about doing a contactless pick-up or drop off. He chose drop off and swung by this morning. I was filling Jolene's waterbucket and everyone else was inside. He passed slowly as he left and saw me, waved, exchanged some words and away he went.

There was a pillow my grandmother made, two framed prints, one from my grandparents' house in California of children painting pictures on a little grey pony, and several dolls from Oma. Of course the thing I was most excited about was Opa's typewriter.



It works and still has a good ink ribbon. I have had a mild typewriter obsession, not enough to buy one, but I've come close! I'm glad to have my grandfather's now and just need to find a good place to put it. It is not light!

( A bunch of pictures under the cut )

There is a place that services them in Chandler and I plan on doing some research to find out more about this model.

The day of the Draft Expo Marty mentioned she had someone interested in Hershey and Dakota. By that evening they were loaded up and gone. I didn't even see the truck and trailer. Dad hasn't sent me anything relating to them. We'll see if they've canceled the board payments or not next week. If not I get to mail them back.

I went back through some old entries a couple weeks ago because Marty was trying to remember when my parents brought Rowdy down and Dakota was (thakfully) removed from the herd and became part of "the boarders." I forgot how long I've been mildly disgruntled about taking care of my parents' horses.

They never really took horse ownership very seriously and I was constantly picking up the slack. The worst was when they bought Hershey as she had a foal at her side. I was very explicit that Mom needed to be out and messing with the foal regularly. I missed the bus from one campus to the other (saved me over 40 miles on my car not driving to the main university campus plus parking costs) at least once because I had to chase Réo around in order to get his fly mask on because he was never handled. As a yearling they sent him up to Utah to "grow up" at my Opa's place. He fell and broke his neck before the week was out (on Chris and I's anniversary no less ... I really didn't want to go up that week, but it was supposedly the only week my parents could). That was horrendous.

Way back when Mom at least used to come out and hold her horse for the vet and farrier, but she stopped doing that and I can't recall if it was before Lizanda or not. I should have written up an actual board agreement, but you figure it's family, right? They're not going to screw you over and take advantage of you right? Hahaha.

I guess Dad had the gall to ask if the people were willing to pay for the mares. At twenty-five and two years out of work plus Dakota needing medication for the rest of her life (plus due for shots, farrier, probably needing their teeth floated, and dewormed), they're lucky they found someone willing to take both of them!

I've known Dakota for twenty years. Opa bought her as a five year-old with a foal at her side. She came down here in 2005 because the glorious pastures in Utah made her fat and she foundered. My Opa bought Hershey for my parents in the end of 2008 I believe so Dad would have a horse to ride with Mom (none of mine are gaited) so Hershey has been around for eight years too. It's a little weird having them not there. It's strange not having to toss hay to them or check their buckets.

I do have to say it is sad to see them go, but at the same tine a great relief. I hope the people that took them put them to use and they get the brushing and doting that they deserve and never really got from my parents. Did I mention that Hershey got rainrot in the summer due to my parents not hosing her off after rides? She also got it the last couple years because my parents never came out to groom them since they weren't riding. NEVER. Guess who was the one who discovered the summer soar lesion on Dakota's belly and then spent two weeks treating it daily? Yep, me. I did get paid for it, but I don't think Mom even came out to look.

SO!

Enough dwelling on the past. What does Dakota and Hershey's departure mean for me? I am out $400 in board a month, however I probably spent $200 on hay for them. I've also gained an extra 15-20 minutes a day that would have been spent feeding and watering them. I now have space to take in a horse or two for training should I feel so inclined or open up to board client horses (clients only!!) with an iron-clad boarding agreement and a list of "additional charges" for anything outside of feeding the horse and giving it water.

Farewell Dakota and Hershey. I hope your new owners love and care for you better than your last ones. Good luck old ladies.

As usual I start with reviewing and commenting on last year's goals.
( Conveniently under a cut )

Art
Share some drawings here monthly.
Finish the driving drawing!
Start a painting of the house (at least do some thumbnails and get the final sketch transferred).
Use my Polaroid/instant film ...

Writing
Finish editing and properly name STP-REALLY!
Another 10 pages on Fire Forged Key. (Slow and steady wins the race guys.)
Start case report on Zetahra.

Horses
Tru-D pulling tire and drag. Walks around neighborhood, ponying, at least introduce the cart, start riding!
Cinnamon- break the Stink to drive!
Kitt dressage show, driving show, driving around neighborhood.
Get someone off-property a couple times a month, even if it is just across the way. Help keep them sane.
McKlintock- turn him into a good lesson pony who can fill Chewy's shoes.
Get McKlintock's eyes taken care of.

Work
Take lessons myself for continuing education, maybe attend a clinic.
Promote driving side of business.

Religion
Temple work, idealy once a quarter at least.
Be a better visiting teacher (which means I need to take charge and not wait around for my partner to contact me...)
Continue reading Qur'an.
Read at least one book about religion and/or church history
Keep up with lesson reading for the Book of Mormon this year (preferrably in German!)
Build family history folder, preferably for both Chris and I, but at least get my side going first.

Self/Life in General
Have a healthy, baby boy #3 and get used to life with three kids.
Do some exercise daily outside of normal horse work, try toconvince Chris to join me.
Two-point for 15 minutes.
Do monthly goals and evaluations about overarching resolutions. This should help everything else fall into place.
Once things are settled see about doing counseling with my parents again. I've been at peace just leaving things as-is, but would like to have some sort of healthy relationship if possible.

Thursday I had another lesson with Carrie K. from the North valley. I admit I haven't done nearly so much active riding this pregnancy as I was with the last two, Regardless I'm trying to get what I can from these lessons. I wasn't able to make any last month so I'm going to try and double up this month. I'm not sure if I'll try for one in November, but we'll see! I definitely plan on picking back up in February and see where we go from there. I'd like to rotate between Kash and Kitt at that point, but Mr. Fancy can wait to make his debut until I am no longer expecting. He tends to be a bit of a knucklehead the first time to a new arena and I don't need that.

Anyway, we worked on moving her hip over and leg-yield both nose and tail to the rail. She's much better going left than right andbwe discovered that when we put her on a circle. To the left she was volunteering a shoulder-fore position and to the right she was a bit stickier.

We had some really nice tail to the rail yields (not quite a shoulder-in) in the trot that she held well. I like the idea or her holding her "shape" better on her own without a reminder to keep crossing over. I just started reading Nuno Oliveira's "Reflections on Equestrian Art" and one of the things he mentioned is that the horse should carry the movement, whatever it is, until there is an active change in request. That means when properly trained and conditioned you should be able to "shape" your horse into a half-pass, travers, etc. and have the horse maintain it until you request a new movement or transition with minimal rider correction.

It's so nice finding an instructor who actually knows what they're doing and can make me feel like I'm moving forward and learning things. I know I have missing pieces and it's so nice to have started finding them! I'm still debating if I should try a lesson or two over at CARA to have a go on more advanced horses, but the things I've heard lend me to think the horses have not been trained in a manner that one might term as "classical."

I should have written about it the day of or Friday, I'll try to be better about that next time.

Sunday we packed up and headed to California. The boys got their first trip to the beach Monday and after wearing them out thoroughly we had lunch and visited my grandparents.

Opa insisted on sending us off with money for dinner and Chris was super stealth sneaky and phoned in dinner for them tonight. Italian and carrot cake from a place we found while we were there.

We drove home today and had an uneventful drive. This week is pretty booked up and the schedule is filling nicely for the winter months.

I can't remember if I mentioned Marty and Dave acquired a puppy from the shelter while we were in Utah. Her name is Charlie (sp?) and she is some Poodle cross, possibly a havanese. She looks a little like Appy, but taller and lighter colored. Rolo was not sure what to do with her at first, but Marty managed to get them to settle in and now they run and hase each other around until Rolo passes out because Bulldogs got no stamina.

Tomorrow I have four or five lessons. We need to hit Costco for some vitals. I do not have the art class because they are on their fall break. The farrier is coming tomorrow, Chewy's bloodwork came back good so I can stop with the SMZs (yay!), and I am making my way through month six. Ten more weeks before the Nudge has permission to disembark.

Also Kelhan and Baby Puppy looked pretty sporty in their sunglasses on the drive home.



Ah yes, and after sharing a hotel room with the boys for two nights we have discovered that Kelhan still is a Grünter. Just not as terrible as he was while an infant. He only grunts and mumbles occasionally rather than constantly, but it's still enough to get you up to check on him only to realize he's still perfectly asleep.

The morning started out with a very lame Charm-N. I fed the horses loose so I could clean the stalls and she was hobbling pretty good from pile to pile. It looked like it was mostly her right fore, but she looked a little ouchy all over.

I went ahead and did the mucking. I Charm-N's stall was nasty per usual. When I have an extra set of hands I need to put a rubber matt under her feeder. She likes to pee, poop, and stand in the same spot, which compacts into nasty cakes of shavings and manure and dirt that takes some muscle to scrape out. She is the dirtiest horse I know when it comes to stall cleanliness. Chewy's a close second, but she at least goes in the half of her stall away from her food.

I filled four of the big cans. Charm-N's stall took up three-quarters of one of them. Messy, messy mare. I was feeling industrious and did about half the arena as well because it was just only 100 today.

After the cans I fed the herd their second half of breakfast in their stalls, though I played a little musical ponies and put Kitt in Charm-N's stall, Tru-D went in Kitt's with access to the small turnout, and Charm-N was in the arena with the small stall so she could move or not at will (and not be tempted to bicker at Ruby).

I cleaned out Charm-N's feet and they were just packed with a combination of dirt, manure, and ROCKS. So many rocks! There was no heat in her feet or pulses and there was no sign of swelling. I am hoping that it was the rocks and maybe I saw her just after a good thump from Ruby, who knows. She was moving about 90% better this evening. I may still have Chatham out for a look tomorrow and I sent Kevin a note that he may want to pick up some pads and shoes depending on how she hoof tests. I'm partial to thinking it's higher up as she allowed me to clean out all four feet fine, but we'll see. I hope she moves even better in the morning.

Saturday I had a cancellation so I pulled Tru-D out and played with some long-lining. I have re-watched both the Clay Maier Training Your Horse to Drive and Nate Bowers/Pat Parelli Driving Horses Vol. 1 (some day I may get the other two) in the last couple weeks and took a little different approach this time.

I started slowly with just asking her to move her forehand and haunches independently a step at a time before playing with a little bit of sidepass. She did very nicely and I was pleased with how soft and calm she was. I finished by double-lungeing and while she did zip off when I changed directions and asked for the trot she came down pretty quickly and stayed on the circle better than she has.

I don't know if I mentioned that we introduced the tire noise the other week, which she did really well with. I have a breastcollar on order for her so we can progress to actually pulling things as it cools down.

Today we had an assessment for Kelhan. He has a hard time with making consonant sounds and we were a little worried about him being behind. Our state has some awesome programs for early child development if you just make the calls (or at least have your pediatrician make the calls).

The lady who came out was really nice and tolerated the boys' attention-seeking antics well. Apparently Kelhan is at the top of the charts in everything except for his communication skills, however the communication is a grey area and he could go either way. She is recommending him for an evaluation with the speech therapist and we go from there. The speech therapist, even if he isn't behind enough to qualify, (s)he should be able to give us thoughts and ideas to help him along. After he turns three, if he is still behind the schools can pick up from there through their Pre-K programs and such.

Options are good. The woman today was very impressed with Kelhan overall in what he can do and his comprehension skills. We hope to keep that up and bring his verbal skills up to par.

I also can't wait to see my working students come back with the cooler weather because I'd love to be working horses for two hours Monday morning instead of mucking. I'd also love to see the arena and stalls completely clean the on the same day twice a week instead of getting the stalls clean one day a week and the arena clean the other. I don't like seeing fly maggots when I scrape up the manure. The birds (and sun) make short work of them once I move to the next area, but I'd rather get it picked up while they are still in their eggs.

Thursday I got the base color done on the mountains. Or as I called it: Mountains Phase One.



The paint has been consistently drying darker, which has been a bit annoying, but since this was just the base layer for the mountain I made do. I also failed to mix enough paint so the bottom left ended up looking a bit wishy-washy, but that will be remedied in another layer.
( Painting progress and a Fjord shirt )

Tru-D had walk number two off property today. Just down to the stopsign at the corner and back. She was much more terrified of the neon pink yard sale signs than she was the semi truck that drove by. She is a funny creature. She eventually got over it after walking back and forth multiple times and we walked back home just fine. The more she does it the better she will get.

I pestered Cinnamon again this week and she was much better about moving off of the far side whip aid, though she still thought kicking at it might be a good answer for a bit. She shall learn.

I also played with the buttons on Tru-D this week and she was very confused about being asked to move her hip towards me. This seems to me more of an issue with sensitive horses who are very respectful of your personal space. They find it hard to teust moving towards a person despite the stimulus being on the opposite side.

Hoping ro finish the mountains this week for sure (need snow and some light grey rocky bits) and get the rest of the middle/background done. The ground is just going to be flat. I can add in blades of grass later if desired, but I think it will be fine keeping it simpler.

Wendy said one of the sponsors wanted to donate the original to the silent auction that will be going on during the evaluation. Part of me is REALLY curious to find out what it sells for. Of course I have to get it done first!

Thursday I had two am lessons and worked Molly before three afternoon lessons. Friday I had seven lessons scheduled, though one was a half hour and didn't show up so I only (ha!) taught six. I rode Charm-N during the first one, Chewy in the second, and used Tru-D twice to demonstrate with the Horsemanship 102 class as we were working on lungeing skills. The last lesson I rode Kash. We also hit the feedstore and got groceries during my breaks. Today I had two lessons this morning and worked Cinnamon Strudel on the long lines before working with Bud and Sue and coming back for two more lessons, in which I rode Kitt during the second one. I am ready for my day of rest Sunday!

Of course that doesn't mention all of us going to the zoo Monday (plus one lesson), hitting the Barrett-Jackson auto auction Tuesday with Tristan and Chris (plus two lessons), and four leasons and a horse worked Wednesday.

Cinnamon did better than I expectedn but was still a bit of a knucklehead here and there. She eventually settled into the work, but I don't plan on getting on again until she is settled and workmanlike consistently. Of course it would help if I could find the time to work her consistently... she's going to be 10 in December. I have to get her consistently broke some time! And I always go back to my defense that she isn't mine and she's just had crummy timing: I got her greenbrokeish just before I was pregnant with Tristan, I started breaking Z to ride and drive after that, pregnant with Kelhan, finishing Z's training before she passed, and crazy-busy schedule now with Tru-D's training to work on and Tabbi if we can get her gaining weight again.

We have an appointment Tuesday morning with the vet to get Tabbi's teeth checked/done and pull some bloodwork. Monday we're getting our taxes done too and I need to run to the bank because I have a really big deposit to make and my bank account knows it because it feels sad and empty right now.

I also woke up with a ball of something in my throat and think I am threatening to lose my voice. Chamomile tea with honey and lemon juice it is.

Last week Chris went with me to work Bud Wednesday. I didn't realize how nervous Chris had gotten driving, but I don't think we've hitched up one of ours since the Sedona trip in March. We had an open stock trailer come up behind us, which made Bud a little nervous, but he did really well. Chris was less chill about it, but survived. We trotted just a little bit and kept to the road insdead of crossing the wash to work in the desert.

Saturday Sue was still recovering from a stomach bug so Henry joined me. We went out to the desert area and Bud was feeling really good so I asked Henry if he minded I try the canter and he was good with it so I had my first purposeful canter in a cart. Bud did awesome. He was questioning, but didn't get flustered at all about the faster speed and what the cart was doing. I allowed him to peter out and asked two more times. He isn't quite speedy or graceful in it, but soft and slow is fine by me right now!

I am really pleased with how Bud has come along. He started out as such a knucklehead it's great to see how well he goes now, especially with how he and Sue are coming along together. I may work myself out of a job with them yet. It may not be for another year or so, but the progress is steady and good.

Tru-D is closing in on being kindof greenbroke to ground drive. The last time I pulled her out she was a bit zoomy to start, but did settle into some nice work. I may dona couple regular lungeing sessions the next couple times I work with her and am debating on how long I should work in just the halter before shifting to a sidepull or some such.

Poor Tru-D did get stomped on my Charm-N yesterday as the two of them tried going through the gate at the same time. We did some soaking with epsom salts today and gave her some Bute this afternoon. She is putting weight on it, if moving gingerly, and it actually doesn't appear swollen at all so we're giving her another day and see how she is. Hopefully itvs just bruised and nothing major.

I was looking at Tru-D the other day and realized something...



I think she has Kash out-massed! I don't quite know when it happened. I need to measure her again and see where she is at now.

Monday for Tristan's birthday we had planned on going to the zoon but it was raining so we went to the "indoor zoo" instead, which is Cabelas' and on the other side of the valley, but the boys enjoyed it with watching the big fishea and turtles as well as seeing their collection of stuffed/taxidermed animals. They also enjoyed getting fudge, some lunch, and playing at the shooting arcade, which lead into them really wanting these toy rifles that make shooting noises (they do not fire, so no actual shooting). We had some time aftet we got home tongrab some last-minute things before Marty, Dave, and Chris' brother Brad plus family came over. There was pizza and instead of a cake there was cookie dough, which made Tristan's freshly four year-old heart giddy. Tristan enjoyed his gifts and had fun chasing and being chased by his Trout cousins.

Still haven't heard back from my older brother. Dad apparently stopped by Dave and Marty's, which I'll expound on later.

Two weeks ago I cantered Royal for the first time. He may have a rough trot, but his canter is NICE. Debbie got to experience it briefly last week a bit unintentionally, but she agreed it was lovely. Today we tried out a Monte Foreman "Balance Ride" saddle that Janiece W. thought would be a great fit. Janiece is somewhere between 60 and 70 I think and trained under Monte Foreman. She can TALK and knows that she knows a lot, but she's also a bit set in her ways and seems a bit inflexible. I haven't had a lot of experience with her, but my farrier does her horses too and her daughter put a couple months on Toby (anyone seen "Wild Horse, Wild Ride"? That would be Wylene) a few years ago.

Anyway, she was basically trying to sell Debbie this saddle for $1500 and it looked older than dirt. The leather was still good and soft, but I wouldn't pay that much for something that looked like they had been used hard for the last 20 years. Anyway, the big idea behind the balance ride is that the stirrups are hung further forward and the seat is pretty much flat. The rigging is in-skirt so less bulk under your leg and the stirrups have a really interesting double-adjustment system that I couldn't even start to describe. You'd have to see it.

I didn't really like how it sat on Royal, it looked "down" in front and the back of the saddle curved up away from his back, like the rock was too steep for his back shape. I tried it anyway and Devbie and I discussed how it was put together and what it was doing to my position. I liked that my knees stayed over my toes, but I could definitely feel my lower leg was not under my seat. The flat, wide seat felt like it was prying my thighs apart and rotating then outward uncomfortably and it forced me to sit almost entirely on my seatbones. Walking was manegable, but posting the trot was pretty hopeless. My thighs ran into the swells and as the stirrups were forward returning down and in balance wasn't quite happening as it should.

I've ridden in some sub-par saddles and had to make due, but this one combined with Royal's thrusty trot was not doing me any favors. Royal started out okay, but towards the end was less than happy with my lack of balance and I told him he was a good boy for at least humoring us.

We talked more about saddle fit and also about how it should fit the rider. What the flat seat causes and why saddles have that rise from the seat instead of being completely flat (Janiece called the rise a "ball buster," classy). I think the flat seat would work for people comfortable sitting on their glutes instead of their seat bones, but when you are used to the three point contact of seatbones plus the pubic arch a completely flat seat isn't going to do it unless your pelvic anatomy is so devious as to have the pubic arch and seat bones at the same level (typically your pibic arch is higher than your seat bones).

Anyway, Debbie was glad that she didn't have to buy another saddle. Janiece seemed to be of the opinion that the Monte Foreman saddles will fit ANYTHING, but I have found that is not the case with horses. I think the only piece of tack that fits every horse is a lead rope and that isn't even directly touching the horse's body.

And I need to hit the hay otherwise I'd keep going.

It was COLD this morning and we are expecting another hard freeze tonight.

Barring any cancellations I have 29 hours scheduled next week between lessons, client horses, and the private school classes. This does not include travel time, record keeping, or the hour a day that the horses get for general maintenance (feeding and such).

If I keep this up I might have to raise rates on new clients. Of course the initial plan was to save that until I was using the property regularly, but there is that supply and demand thing and if my time is in short supply it becomes more valuable. Maybe what I may do instead of the $20 discount off of four I do currently I'll drop it to $10 so the individual cost stays the same. Something to think about.

We'll see how I manage mini_wrimo or something like nanomango this month if this keeps up, hahaha!

In other news, Tristan made a good ghost:




We couldn't convince Kelhan to wear his more than two seconds so he just went as himself and we have no photographic evidence of his costume. Better luck next year. Tristan did one round at the trunk or treat and then thoroughly enjoyed handing out candy with his little brother. I think that was more fun for him than getting candy!

Also we got part of the yard fenced for Rolo so she can roam without worrying about her sneaking under the horse panels.

I'll scan these things in and show them off properly. These were at the beginning of August the day before Kelhan got his hair cut. That child's hair was out of control. Marty is still disgruntled about the cut, but that's okay. The curls didn't die because I cut it and they will be back soon. He went almost 18 months without a haircut, it was time!



( Four more )
Kelhan loves riding the bikes. We have two little push bikes the boys cruise around on at home and Kelhan is just tall enough to operate his now. Tristan zips around like a mad man and can balance for quite the distance on his own. I will be SO HAPPY when not-summer arrives and I can let them run around outside without having to worry about them getting overheated. It's supposed to be under 100 all week. The end is near!

Yesterday I was looking up possible places to process the 4x5 and it looks like Tempe Camera does it. They will also do pretty much everything else and I could just get the film processed and not get prints, which would save some. Granted I thoroughly enjoy visiting Mr. Grant and don't mind giving him my business as I have for the last 15 or so years.

I do like that the 645 has the option to go up to 1/1000 for the shutter speed. I still love the Mamiya (and I guess I should just start calling it the RB since they are both Mamiyas), but the lenses I have only go up to 1/400. I do need to break out the instant film some day soon and play with that. I think my problem with the previous packs was they were so old the adhesive for the tabs was toast. It wasn't fun having to use tweezers to pull what was left of the paper out so I could access the print! I look forward to a more pleasurable experience next time.

I am also looking into getting a changing bag for the 4x5 film because you have to load the film sheets into the individual holders and had a vague idea of processing my own film, but I haven't processed film since high school and I just sent off my old Paterson tank (figures). I would also have to sacrifice a roll in order to re-learn how to reel the film with confidence let alone thinking about where and how to store the chemicals. That and the 4x5s require a separate set-up to process than the 35 or 120 film. Let's not forget having the time to sit there and agitate it while it processes so no, self-processing will have to wait until I have something like free time and no toddlers to get into it.