Nobody Listens to Me

Hi.  I'm Reggie, aka David's horse.  I want to tell you about my day, because nobody around here listens to me. 

Here I am, first thing this morning, staring at the neighbors.  This isn't a nice picture of me;  I have very good conformation and I'm not base-narrow, it's just the way I was standing.  Anyway, I tried to tell the humans that there was a problem next door, but nobody listens to me.  Even my brother Paj wouldn't listen to me.

The  humans got in the car and went over to Jan's.  Here she is, watering her manure pile compost heap.  Who does that? 

Mom and Jan went to Elvis' fancy-schmancy show barn.  They drove right by the neighbors.  Mom even said "Oh, I wonder where the other mare is" as they drove by.  I tried to tell them, but nobody listens to me. 

Mom and Jan watched this big horse rehearse his freestyle for Championships next weekend.  They ooohed and ahhhed.  Big deal.  Who wants to work that hard?  Not me.

On the way home, they finally saw what I tried to tell them all morning - the neighbor mare was loose, and she was trying to get back into her pasture with her buddy.  The neighbors have a really bad fence, and the mare was so upset the humans were scared the mare was going to try to jump or run through the barb wire.  They called Dad to help.  I'm kind of proud of my humans, because they were able to get the mare back in her pasture safely, even though two sets of other neighbors had tried and couldn't do it.  Of course they should have listened to me in the first place, but they're only human.

Boomer Update

Boomer's doing good.  This morning he had a three-way grooming session with Reggie and Paj at the magical spot where the runs, pasture and paddock come together.  Then I hand-walked him in the dressage arena.  David walks him down the lane, but the dressage arena works better for me.  I don't have to worry about him trying to graze, which is bad for my collar bone and his neck.  We walk the tests, with me saying silly things like "German corner here, big guy".

                                                                           photo by Dave

Today is the last day of medication.  Tuesday we will confer with Dr. Gary, but we feel confident that  he's truly better. 

Remember the Hail?

Remember our 4th of July hail storm?

The inspector came today, and like everybody else in our neighborhood, we need a new roof.  Make that two new roofs.  We need a new roof on the house, and a new roof on the barn.  That means boarding the horses for a few days, which I don't want to think about, what with Boomer and I not being at our best right now.  But of course winter is coming, so I have to think about it soon. 

Boomer is quickly getting his mojo back.  David is hand-walking him twice a day, and he strides out and uses his head and neck like a horse that feels fine.  I wish he could talk.

I am doing pretty darn good overall.  I can do almost all of the housework, I can feed the horses, I can weed, and I even scrubbed out a water trough today.  But it's funny how some things take you down.  I made zucchini brownies today, and the chopping and one-handed stirring nearly reduced me to tears!  And I thought I was tough!  I thought about Miss Chef over at Flartus' blog (click here), and I thought about how hard her job must be. 

What was Boomer Thinking?

We've had a scary incident.  David had to go to The Big City for a meeting today, so he made an early morning trip to the barn.  He took a load of trash with him, and put it in the dumpster, which is behind the barn.  Boomer freaked.  He galloped to the end of his run and jumped the 5' gate.  He didn't make it over cleanly.  He hit it on the way over, took a tumble, then cantered around the paddock.  David opened his run gate and Boomer came in while David fed breakfast.  David looked him over and walked him, and Boomer seemed fine.  But a few hours later, Boomer didn't seem his usual perky self.  He looked stiff and uncomfortable, so of course we called Dr. Gary.  Dr. Gary examined him thoroughly, and thinks that he may have hurt a ligament in his withers.  We are treating him with pain medication and have hung his hay and water high so he doesn't have to lower his head to eat.  Dr. Gary also took x-rays of his withers with his portable machine, but because Boomer is such a large, heavy bodied horse, the x-rays were unreadable.  If he's still uncomfortable in a week, he will get x-rays in the clinic with a big powerful machine.

We are just aghast and perplexed over this incident.  Boomer is the most unflappable horse we've ever been around.  What was he thinking?  Why did this happen?  Coyotes?  They were very vocal last night.  But I've seen Boomer calmly grazing 20' from a coyote stalking a ground squirrel.  Deer?  That's the only thing I've ever seen him stirred up over, but the other horses weren't stirred up.  They were looking at Boomer, just as perplexed as we are.  David doing the trash?  David does the trash every day, just not that early in the morning.  And Waste Management comes and empties the dumpsters once a week, with a great thumping that makes me spook, but doesn't bother the horses.  We just don't know.

Live Feed Today

There is a live feed for the Dressage Festival of Champions (click here) for all of us who enjoy dressage. 

A Pretty Day

It's such a pretty day.  David and Jan took Boomer for a drive down the lane.

The pasture is awash in wildflowers.

The lupines are a bit past their prime, but plentiful.

My Guardian

Niles has appointed himself my guardian and health care professional.  He has decided I have a concussion, and must never sleep.  By day, he entertains me with kitten-like antics.

Should I doze off, he sneaks up on me and administers a good smack.

At night, should I fall into a deep sleep, he howls.  Sleeping isn't good for people with concussions, you know.  Geez, Niles, I'm fine.  Or at least I was before you started taking care of me.

Dressage in the Rockies

Sunday Jan took me to Colorado Horse Park to watch her horse Elvis compete.  He did First Level Tests 1 and 4, and earned 70% in both classes! Yay Elvis!  Here's a short clip of the canter work from Test 4 -

We also watched Suzanne's horse Phamous.  Phamous is a spunky 19 year old Arabian.  These days, he's teaching dressage to the younger generation.  Here's a clip of Phamous and 14 year old Lysette competing at Training Level -

Elvis and Phamous have qualified for Championships, which will be held at Colorado Horse Park the first weekend in September.  This year, both RMDS (Rocky Mountain Dressage Society) and USDF (United States Dressage Federation) Region 5 Championship classes will be there.  I am really looking forward to cheering on Elvis and Phamous.

Dave's been Busy

David's in overdrive.  Besides taking care of me and the horses, he's completed two huge projects.

He moved the hay shed to the back of the barn where it will be so much more convenient, and it won't block the view of the barn from the bedroom.

We are dreading winter, but preparing for it.  It will be so much nicer having hay close to the barn.  Now I need to paint it.

David also finished the dressage arena.

Now, there's something to look forward to!

I am feeling pretty darn good, and I'm even being a little bit of help again.  I can feed the horses and I'm doing more and more around the house and in the barn.

A Summer Day

Diana and Bob took their big Clydesdale Boomer for a drive this morning. 

The flora has changed yet again. 
We still have early blooming wildflowers like Indian Paintbrush and Spiderwort, but plants in the sunflower family are taking over.  We have large drifts of Sprawling Daisy and patches of
Hairy Golden-Aster.

Sunflowers say summer to me