Pony pwnage - Easter at the barn
Apr. 17th, 2006 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
murakoziRambly stuff about the horses
Easter Sunday is almost always a quiet day at the barn. Don usually asks me to come in and keep an eye on things alone then lock things up a little early. This year was no exception, though there was a little more activity than usual.
As I always seem to do when working holiday Sundays solo at the barn, I neglected to bring anything to read to pass the time. The barn has subscriptions to a bunch of horse magazines though, so there's almost always somethin on hand to read anyway. The usual holiday Sunday has me arriving at the barn, checking the boarder horses to make sure they're all okay, going out to the pasture to have a gander at the school horses, then trying to kill a few hours before feeding time. Sometimes someone will come by to ask questions about rides or lessons or just to look at the horses. Often a boarder or two will stop in to visit or ride their horse.
Yesterday was downright busy by holiday standards. Billie, one of the trail guides, came in with her husband and daughter to do some riding. We caught two of the school horses in the pasture and tacked 'em up. The third, Zip, was already inside. He gets turned out with the boarders. Got 'em all set up and out they went. They got back around the time Sandy and Carol showed up to longe one of the school horses. Poor Dan had torn his left rear leg up really badly a couple years back and it took forever for it to finally mend fully. The injury was just below his hock, so just him moving around reopened it a lot. It's been healed fully for a while now though he'll have a scar there forever, but he's spent so much time not working that he's gotten to be quite the round horse. Dan is a really big stocky quarterhorse, or was anyway. All that muscle on him has turned to flab from his inactivity, so he's getting exercised a bit to get him back into shape. I don't know that Dan had ever been longed before. It took him a little while to figure out what was going on. He seemed a little off on his right front leg, so the workout didn't last very long. Not long after that, one of the instructors arrived followed by a couple students/friends. They rode a bit in the indoor ring, finishing up just before 3, which was when Don had said I should close things up. As they were leaving Billie and her daughter returned. They thought maybe they'd exercise Casanova a bit, but changed their minds, when they saw I was about ready to head out.
One of the things I really love is being out in a pasture with horses. I can stand or sit there and just watch them herd around for hours, given the chance. I just find it really relaxing and fun to watch them interact. When I went out back to check the school horses, a couple of them approached me, either being friendly or in search of treats. Others saw the pair getting attention and must've decided that meant there were treats to be had, so they came over too. It wasn't long before I had 10 or 12 horses and ponies all mobbed around me, wanting attention and checking for treats. Gotta love all that attention from so many whuffly noses. I'd brought on of the 35mm slr's with me (having discovered some film in my fridge and deciding to use a roll) and it ended up getting inspected often, just in case it was edible. I'm gonna have to wipe the dried pony slobber off it tonight before putting it back in the case.
Being spring, Firecracker has decided that mares aren't just there to bite and pick on. As usual, he has a flock of them following him around while he looks all full of himself. Even at his age, he's a very handsome horse and his spring coat is all dappled and shiny. Even Cascade, the bossmare who he doesn't get along with, was in his little harem.
The day turned out to be a nice one overall. Now I'm going to have to get off my butt and see if any of the pictures I took are worth sharing, assuming I ever remember to take 'em in to get them developed.
Easter Sunday is almost always a quiet day at the barn. Don usually asks me to come in and keep an eye on things alone then lock things up a little early. This year was no exception, though there was a little more activity than usual.
As I always seem to do when working holiday Sundays solo at the barn, I neglected to bring anything to read to pass the time. The barn has subscriptions to a bunch of horse magazines though, so there's almost always somethin on hand to read anyway. The usual holiday Sunday has me arriving at the barn, checking the boarder horses to make sure they're all okay, going out to the pasture to have a gander at the school horses, then trying to kill a few hours before feeding time. Sometimes someone will come by to ask questions about rides or lessons or just to look at the horses. Often a boarder or two will stop in to visit or ride their horse.
Yesterday was downright busy by holiday standards. Billie, one of the trail guides, came in with her husband and daughter to do some riding. We caught two of the school horses in the pasture and tacked 'em up. The third, Zip, was already inside. He gets turned out with the boarders. Got 'em all set up and out they went. They got back around the time Sandy and Carol showed up to longe one of the school horses. Poor Dan had torn his left rear leg up really badly a couple years back and it took forever for it to finally mend fully. The injury was just below his hock, so just him moving around reopened it a lot. It's been healed fully for a while now though he'll have a scar there forever, but he's spent so much time not working that he's gotten to be quite the round horse. Dan is a really big stocky quarterhorse, or was anyway. All that muscle on him has turned to flab from his inactivity, so he's getting exercised a bit to get him back into shape. I don't know that Dan had ever been longed before. It took him a little while to figure out what was going on. He seemed a little off on his right front leg, so the workout didn't last very long. Not long after that, one of the instructors arrived followed by a couple students/friends. They rode a bit in the indoor ring, finishing up just before 3, which was when Don had said I should close things up. As they were leaving Billie and her daughter returned. They thought maybe they'd exercise Casanova a bit, but changed their minds, when they saw I was about ready to head out.
One of the things I really love is being out in a pasture with horses. I can stand or sit there and just watch them herd around for hours, given the chance. I just find it really relaxing and fun to watch them interact. When I went out back to check the school horses, a couple of them approached me, either being friendly or in search of treats. Others saw the pair getting attention and must've decided that meant there were treats to be had, so they came over too. It wasn't long before I had 10 or 12 horses and ponies all mobbed around me, wanting attention and checking for treats. Gotta love all that attention from so many whuffly noses. I'd brought on of the 35mm slr's with me (having discovered some film in my fridge and deciding to use a roll) and it ended up getting inspected often, just in case it was edible. I'm gonna have to wipe the dried pony slobber off it tonight before putting it back in the case.
Being spring, Firecracker has decided that mares aren't just there to bite and pick on. As usual, he has a flock of them following him around while he looks all full of himself. Even at his age, he's a very handsome horse and his spring coat is all dappled and shiny. Even Cascade, the bossmare who he doesn't get along with, was in his little harem.
The day turned out to be a nice one overall. Now I'm going to have to get off my butt and see if any of the pictures I took are worth sharing, assuming I ever remember to take 'em in to get them developed.