Summer on the Playground

Now that the incessant rain has let up, and the outdoor arena has become somewhat usable again, my playground equipment has come out of storage.  It's so much fun to be able to run and jump again.

Wheee!  I love it!

Having playground equipment is supposed to be much more fun that just trotting around in circles and usually it is.  But you see that big X of poles on the ground at the far end?  

Brita has mapped out all sorts of games for me... correct me if I'm wrong....

That's just a whole big bunch of CIRCLES isn't it?

That's A Lotta Bull...

What has the Evil Transporter Device brought us now?

Welcome to the farm Clarence!

I think my cow problems just got bigger....

I will have you know, I am still King of this hill!

Riding Hazards

This year's weird weather has posed many new hazards in my exercise routine.

The hay fields are swampy and full of water hazards.

Which attracts noisy white clouds which settle on the ground

And larger more fearsome creatures that hwonk and hiss and fuss at me

The alien space ships have returned the cow pasture

Which even has the cows alarmed...

And when cows gather in a group

especially spotted cows

nothing good can come of it.

Carousel

My Little Pink Person is cheating on me!

TGIF

Happy Casual Friday

Do ya wanna spend your barn time groomin' or ridin'?

Little Pink People

Our barn has been invaded by Little Pink People.  Historically, I've been very wary of LPP. 

But this Little Pink Person is quite friendly.

She is very wiggly but she has a LPP sized horse brush and she likes to help brush my mane.

I have decided to allow her to ride.

Greetings From Mudland

I haven't blogged in a long time because not much interesting happens around here.  Since I've become an older, more solid citizen, I take most things in stride and not much alarms me anymore.  It's all old hat.  Summer in the Northeast has been cool and wet.  It's been so muddy that twice already I've turned my right front shoe into a flip flop.  Brita does not like getting called at 9pm on a Sunday evening to come and help me finish taking my shoes off so I've gotten a new, permanent addition to my equipment.

Italian made rubbers.  Only the best for muck boots.

Another nice thing about the cool summer is that the flies have not been too bad.  Until today.  My gnat hat failed to protect me.  This fly went straight for the jugular.  Nasty thing.

Today Brita and Uncle Dad finally hauled my playground equipment out of storage so maybe in the coming weeks we will have more to blog about.  Mom is usually our photographer and she has been very busy keeping an eye one the newest little horseback rider around here and doesn't have a lot of time to take pictures.  ... of horses.

Mud

Hmmm....  a puddle.

Well, since mud season is here, we may as well enjoy ourselves.

Embrace the Mudness.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas

from WP

Rain + Mud + Sand =

The rain washed all the ice away so we could go out on the side of the road and gallop!  We've been stranded indoors long enough for that to sound like a wonderful idea despite the fact that it was pouring down rain.  When we got back inside I was so itchy.  The water was streaming down my legs and felt creepy in my coat.  My considerate owner decided to let me take care of that my way instead of giving me a hot bath and a warm, fuzzy blanket like a human would think was appropriate.

I feel so much better.  And I've dressed myself up with new markings.

My people made some rather unflattering comparisons about some of them.

This is not my first experience with being rained on and having to dry off with sand.

This marking is a rather common occurrence.  Spiffy huh?

Happy Thanksgiving

Mud

Mud... such a prohibitive substrate to jump from.

It can interfere with your take off.  Sticky stuff.

Hmmm... I don't recall putting my foot here....

The Sweet Spot

I still have a lot to learn about jumping.  This week, my oxer was giving me trouble.

Everything looked fine at first...

But my joints started to feel creaky.  And I began having trouble finding that sweet spot.  My legs just wouldn't do what I wanted them to do.  

Whoops!  How embarrassing!

So, back to the cross rail with it's ground pole to help me find the take off spot.

When I step over the ground rail, I should be perfectly placed.  X marks the spot.

I was finishing up my workout with one last try at the cross rail after totally demolishing the oxer.  I had just stepped over the ground rail and was at the point of no return when off to my left from the barn, I heard a whinny of encouragement from the pony "You can do it William!"  My ear flicked that way, and for a moment I hesitated...  but wait, I was in the middle of something... wasn't there a jump around here somewhere?

So I took a page from the Thelwell Jumping Manual.  I am no quitter.  I have committed to this jump.   From a stand still I jumped as high as I could straight up off all four.  Certainly that would do the trick!  To my right I heard Mom start laughing.  And up above, Brita was sitting there wondering:

#1. Would we ever come back down?
#2. Which side of the jump will we be on?

Not to worry, my Herculean effort paid off.  I had just enough forward momentum to carry us over.  We landed safely on the other side.  And I got to quit because, by golly, I didn't touch anything.
And thankfully, no one got it on on tape so no embarrassing photos will ever surface.  You will have to rely on my description.  I was gazelle-like. In the best possible way.

Dappleganger

doppelgänger (German for look-alike, literally a "double goer") (pronounced [ˈdɔpəlˌɡɛŋɐ]) is a paranormal double of a living person.

dappleganger:  same thing, only in dapple grey

Weird huh?

Oxers

My work on my new playground equipment has me feeling fit and as sleek as can be.

We have gymnastic grids where first, I trot through poles, and then...

...we bounce out.  (I like to bounce)

The cross rails keep me aimed in the right spot.  These are easy.  We trot up to them to keep me from getting over eager.

But there is something more complicated ahead.  And it is sporting fresh, new, bright lumber...  I give it the "stink eye".

It's an "oxer".  Back in Merry Olde England, where fields are fenced with hedges, they would put a rail on one side to keep the cattle (oxen) from rubbing and pushing through the hedge.  This rail was called an oxer.  So, and hedge with a rail was an "oxer" .  A rail on each side made the hedge that much more formidable for the hunters to jump.  They could not just brush through the tops of the hedge. They had to jump the full height.

So, two jumps side by side, just as wide as they are tall, are called an "oxer".  I am getting used to oxers gradually.  Mine has a rail down but I still look at it funny because it is bright and new.  Brita threatens to paint all our equipment white next year....

But still I have fun!  I am the Horse with the flying tail!

New Equipment

My Playground has new Equipment in it!

We are practicing and practicing on the old equipment while we get good pictures to show you how much fun I'm having with my NEW equipment!

It's so much fun!  I feel like I'm flying!  I always keep a happy face...

...Brita has to concentrate lots.  She keeps her "OMG I'm too old for this" face on.

Yee Ha!  Let's go again!