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.

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?

Schooling Show

obe·di·ence:  noun [oh-bee-dee-uh ns] Doing what you are told in spite of your better judgment.

Obedience.  That’s what got me into the Evil Transporter Device and off to the neighborhood schooling show.  It looked harmless enough standing there wide open in front of the barn.  There was nice fresh sawdust and a picnic lunch.  So I got in.  I haven’t been in it in years. Not even for a Sunday drive around the block.  Maybe nothing bad would happen.

Well, something did happen. Brita tied me up and the back closed.  I got swallowed up just like always.  I wish it wouldn’t do that.  When the doors close and I’m left all alone I panic.  I lurch about and look for an escape route, and I yell for help.  When help doesn’t come, I start pounding.  And I pound the whole way hoping someone will hear that I’m trapped in there all alone.  It does not matter if we go only five miles, and never leave the 45 mph zone.  I throw a half ton fit.

This time the Evil Transporter Device stopped almost as soon as it had started.  But for me it was an eternity.  With all my pounding, and panicking in 10 minutes I was dripping with sweat.  When the door opened and a familiar face appeared I was more relieved than I can tell you.  As soon as the back doors opened up and I was able to look outside I regained control of my senses.  But when I stepped off the ramp I gave a big snort to announce my presence and claim this new territory as my own.

Where we had landed appeared to be a horse farm.  I haven’t been off my own farm in five years and I can count on the nails of one shoe how many strange horses I’ve encountered. Besides Face-Off, the pony and an occasional Amish horse trotting by, we live a rather secluded existence.  Here I was in the midst of a field of Evil Transporter Devices with strange horses tied to them calling out greetings.  Because of my extreme relief of having survived the transport and the excitement of seeing so many horses at once I was feeling high as a kite as I floated along on the end of my rope snorting and flagging my tail.

Brita took me to a very big barn, the biggest one I’ve seen in a really long time.  There were people standing around staring in awe at the huge, snorting silver horse with the flying tail.

Bystander:  "He's pretty.  How old is he?"

Brita: "Ten"

Bystander: "Going on five?"

Me: "SNORT!!!"

Brita was worried that they were awestruck at such a display of uncontained energy and pointless snorting, but I’m sure they were admiring me.  I hadn’t actually done anything wrong.  Except startle a few people.  One man asked if I was a Lipizzaner and could I jump in the air and kick out?  Why yes, yes I can…

We walked all around the indoor arena stopping to say hello to people behind a big window who smiled at me and tapped on the glass.  I reached out my nose in greeting and put nose smudges on the window.  The people appeared to be admiring me so I didn’t worry about the window anymore.  There were so many things to see.  Barrels and hay piles and driving carts and at one end a box of the littlest, shaggiest ponies I’ve ever seen.

Pretty soon Brita said the show was about to start and that we should get ready.  We went to a stall where Mom and Tim brought all my stuff from home.  

So this is a working vacation?

 As we went through the familiar tacking up routine I began to feel more comfortable and soon Brita was on my back and we were headed out to make new friends.  We went outside and walked around with the other horses.  I actually saw another grey horse!  I liked him right away.  And there was an all black horse.  We were complete opposites.

We stood and watched the other horses getting ready for their classes.  Some people commented on how fast I calmed down.  Well, I am a well-trained riding horse.  I can control my shenanigans when it counts.  We practice standing around in the driveway talking to Mom at home all the time.  I’m good at it. 

There were a lot of high headed, fancy looking Saddlebreds, and Arabians and Morgans.  People in the barn would clap and cheer for the horses who were working in the big arena.  This fascinated me.  I stood at the door and peered in, watching in wonderment.  I love to hear clapping and cheering and I couldn’t wait for my chance. 

Tim came and tried to polish us up so we would look our best.  I felt all gritty from dried sweat, and this time of year I am like a white haired hurricane so everything in close proximity will soon be covered in hair.

When our class came I was so excited!  I was wound a little too tight and everything I did I did quickly.  When you live mostly alone and always exercise alone, being in a herd of running horses can be quite a heady experience.  The corners come too fast and horses rush by and it’s hard to ignore what they are doing and concentrate on what you’re supposed to be doing.  Especially when someone does something naughty and threatens to bump into you.  And there was a metal sliding door at one end which made a loud pinging noise if you kicked dirt against it.  That worried me.

But I remembered my lessons and even though I hadn’t had to work with other horses since that time at the County Fair, I behaved respectably and didn’t make any big mistakes.  I got my leads and managed to weave my way in and out of all the other horses in a tight space.  We got to try a second time and I was more relaxed and we moved up the ranks.  I was just having so much fun being with other horses.  What do I care about the finer points of navigating a circle like not dropping your shoulder and not staring at the worrisome objects and relaxing and accepting the bit?  It was just so much fun!  Wheee!  And the people clapped for me!  And Brita won some new grooming tools.

In a couple of short hours it was all over.  I had worked up quite an appetite, and lunch was late.  I actually walked with eagerness towards my Transporter with visions of that picnic lunch dancing in my head.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to get back in, obedience or not, but when I saw a pail of alfalfa pellets, my eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas and I loaded myself right up. 

I would like to report that I rode the five miles home quietly, but alas, that was not the case.  I pounded and shook the Transporter even worse.  Brita is sure that the people in town thought she had a wild elephant caged in there.  I did recognize our own driveway though, and I was standing quietly hopeful when the doors opened.  I was just as excited to be home as I had been to be at the show.  There was my own barn, and my own barn cat, and my own pony, and the cows and everything.  I just couldn’t believe it!  Out and back and home safe for a late lunch.  That’s not half bad.  Brita let me go right out and roll in the sand and dry off all the tickly drippy sweat I’d worked back up.  Oh it feels so good to be home.

Things are drying up around here.  I'm running out of mud.  I had to excavate a mud containment area in the chute to the back paddock.  It took me a whole afternoon.  You should have seen me when I was done.  With all this mud stored up, I can be out of my horse show splendor and back in my comfies in no time flat.

The Joy of Spring

The weather is fine and I have a spring in my step! There are teeny tiny shoots of grass. Ever so rare but juicy and tender.

I've shaken out all the winter dust, and cleared my pipes.

I'm working out all the kinks.

It feels so good to get out in the warm sunshine and get things aired out and fluffed up.

Drainage Issues

While we are waiting for the fields and such to dry out, I've been taking my exercise along the roadside. It is straight, and level and provides excellent footing except for this one spot. Puddles are rather troublesome elements. From a distance, they reflect the clouds and the sky and appear to be a tear in the very fabric of reality through which a careless horse and rider might plunge to their deaths. A cautious horse will approach a puddle with care to ascertain it's actual depth and consistency.

See now, this amount of water will never dry up if allowed to sit here and muddle.

This water must be spread out on the road to dry.

What we need here is an experienced excavator like myself to deal with this properly.

Pptthhhh... What? Do I have some on my face?

Horse and Rider Communication

Nothing says "I'd rather not be ridden bareback" like a little arena sand. I was afraid I went too far and she would mistake this for "I'd really like a bubble bath".

Wouldn't it be more fun to take the day off and throw some snow around? If I had hands instead of hooves, this snow ball would be much better.

You still want to go for a ride? Well, OK.

Brita took me in and did her best to clean me up. She did ride bareback (secretly my preference) but she had to sit on a towel. She was amazed when she dismounted to find that almost all of the dirt had magically faded and I was floofy and grey again..

Happy New Year!

My New Year's Resolution is to stay cleaner.

I'll start tomorrow.

Mmmm... snow cones.

Casual Friday

Have you ever had one of those days when you just couldn't be troubled to get all spiffed up? And you didn't want to waste any time on the nonessentials when there were more important things to be done?

Brita has finally stopped interfereing with my glorious mud spa routine. After all, I'm just going to have to re-do it after she leaves. The first couple of years, it was all primping and blanketing. My clothes were laundered once a week, and my tail wash washed and fluffed. Now, the clothes reside cozily in the tack trunk all fluffy and clean smelling and only come out when I'm feeling icky and shivery. I'm coated from head to toe in two inches of muck, Brita only carves out a clean spot where the saddle goes. Sometimes it takes awhile to work out compromises so that everyone gets what they want.

Like a Heat Wave

OK, it's not LIKE a heat wave. It actually IS a heat wave. All weekend we had temperatures in the eighties. Which is about 20 degrees warmer than it should be. Way to warm to be running around in your winter coat, but I did anyway. We had a good gallop around the cornfield. It was firm and dry and made really good "clop" noises. Then we took a stroll in the woods. All this activity got me really sweaty. Brita washed my tail and waited for me to dry off so she could scratch my itches, but it didn't really happen. Not to worry, I have a solution to wet itchy coats.

For our purposes today, we will need to find some dry dirt. Wet dirt is good for lots of things, but not for drying sweat.

Then you get yourself situated directly over the deepest dusty spot.

Drop down and get right in it.

Make sure you get your wet neck deep deep into it and scratch back and forth.



Then "Alley-ooop" and get your props back under you.

See? All nice and dry.

The Mud Spas and the Aftermath

I have been spa~ing it in the mud. I am so happy with my messes. First I apply a primer coat, then a base coat, and finally a finish coat. Sometimes I wear mud pies on my rump. It's very flattering.

Brita attacks it with a shedding blade. Can you see all the dust flying? She even puts on a dustproof-hairproof suit.

Then she measures the pile to see how well she did. This one was 3 inches deep and a hoof pick wide.

This is how I look with the mud removed, half an hour later. Still not clean by any stretch of the imagination, but at least Brita isn't ashamed to be seen in public with me, and my dapples show through.

Really, it couldn't have been too bad... see how clean my saddle pad was? Mom even turned it over to see if the expected dirt was hiding on the other side. The key is I did my trot work and hills and didn't break a sweat. I am getting fit quite fast. what does Brita think I do all day? Sit around? Nope, I DO stuff.

We even found a little green grass. It wasn't much but oh it was so good!

Afterwards, when Brita left, I went out and repainted my blank canvas! I can't waste all this beautiful mud!

The Best Thing About March

.... is no bugs. I can nap in the sun and not worry about getting bit. I get soooo sleepy.

I managed to stay dry until Brita got here today. We went for a nice little ride on the flat route and did quite a bit of trot work. She says I did really well and that without shoes on I have more extension in my stride.

When we were done, I went back out in the sun and rolled in the mud.

Both Sides. I'm sure she's glad she didn't waste much time on the beautification routine.

What?