Can you see it?

I realize this is hard to see because it is so dark, but if I lightened up the pic, you could not see what I am talking about. Tell me what you see?

Do you see the face on Radar's side? Right in front of his hip? It looks like the Great Gazoo to me, that little green martian from the Flintstones. Some people thought it was Jesus, or some reggae dude with his dreads piled up--it might have been a form of the devil, based on his attitude on Saturday. I would not mention that if we had not figured out what was wrong and fixed it--did I already tell about that? I have learned to take his word for it--if he is acting up, there is something wrong. Remind me of that the next time I am complaining about him, he is probably justified.

I may be coming out of this illness. I managed to work all day, and deworm babies after work, and completely obliterate my big toenail with the bottom of a gate at the farm. That may send me back to bed before it is all over

Radar's solution

Anyone who saw Radar act up at Ghost Hollow last month had to know there was something wrong with him--bad wrong. He has been developing some quirks since last fall, mostly about having the headstall put on him, and touching the top of his head, and I suspected something was not right--but that weekend made it super clear. It was more than a violent reaction to having his headstall put on--but that he was like a powder keg under me, just spoiling for a bucking fit, and that is not something that is in his repertoire. It was horrid-and scary. After I got over my mad, I was really worried about him.

As soon as we got back, I had the vet check his teeth. My vet is a teeth fanatic. His comment was that they were not bad enough to justify his behavior, so it had to be something else. We were busy with other things, and I knew in the back of my mind what I would need to do next, so I let it go.
That something was to call Troy Brandenburg, who I used when Twister set to consistently bucking for no apparent reason. Troy fixed him up in one visit. Saturday was the day that Troy could come over, so we assembled a group of horses from the surrounding 100 miles that maybe could use a treatment, and set in for the day.

Radar went last and as usual, I learned so much just watching Troy work and listening to his suggestions and thoughts of what was going on with each of the other horses. When he finally got to Radar, Troy already knew what was wrong with Radar just by watching him stand in his stall waiting his turn. It is in fact his teeth--which are not horrid, but they are bad enough for a horse as sensitive as Radar is. It is not just the teeth, but the problems they have caused--he has super tight muscles along his jaw, and that tightness ran all the way to his shoulder. This was caused by the accommodations he was making for his teeth--chewing to one side for a long time, then switching sides from pain. His back was out too, but I do not know if that was related--it could have been. Essentially, my baby Radar hurt from top to bottom, front to back, and just could not bear any more.

The more we talked about it, the more info I could come up with and it all just solidified his diagnosis--like how he is so demanding about having his bit EXACTLY right in his mouth--can't be the wrong one, can't be 1/4 inch off of perfectly placed, stuff like that--which is really encouraging to me, because it makes me more confident that we have really found the problem and can fix it.

I guess I never thought beyond the obvious problems teeth can cause-like soring the mouth where a hook pokes him, or something. We stay pretty on top of teeth issues here, but I guess we have been lucky--Radar just must have very little tolerance, as compared to most of my others.

Anyway, the first thing Troy did was fix his back--pop pop pop and ol boy was standing better already. Then he started to work on his jaw, his poll, his shoulder--everything that had gotten out of whack from his teeth being a tad off kilter. He put the magnet blanket on him for a while to relax him, then really dug in deep and got to work. At first, you could not even touch Radar's poll without him going batshit. By the time he had massaged him for a while, and used that accupressure thing on him, he was happily dropping his head and leaning into the massaging he was getting. Even the look on his face was markedly different, and he would sigh every once in a while, like he was saying "Finally, some relief!"

Sunday, I did his massages and then let him out of the stall to play with Cash in the bullshed. That will get him moving--and it did. It was so dang hot, I hated for him to be stuck inside like that. I will get his teeth done this week, and keep up on the exercises. Troy was pretty sure he would be back to normal within three or four days of having his teeth done--I would love to take him camping next weekend but that will probably be too fast for him. I will keep working on him every day to keep him from tightening up again before his teeth are fixed. It is so satisfying that he is letting me do it, when at first he would not let anyone touch his head. It's amazing.

Stay tuned for updates!

Ham-Cam: Hammer's medium-sized adventure

Tonight was Hammer's first trail ride near the farm but not on the farm. You would think that would not be a big deal--but you would be terribly wrong. As far as I know, this was his first RR crossing. Most horses will do it once, but wig the second time---or put up a good fight repeatedly, until they get used to it. Baby Hammer rolled right over it the first time, and then on the way back I took this pic. Although he appears to be standing at high alert--he was seeing and recognizing that he was home, and not at all bothered by the tracks.
I will admit that he was not as good as he was in the Shawnee, but that is to be expected, because so much of the riding behind the farm is on a mowed path, rather than a real challenge. He paid a little less attention because of that, but he still did exceptionally well. We ventured off pioneering, like he likes to do, and ended up in the dry creek bed. He is in his element in tricky terrain.


I so wish I had my real camera, as this one just does not capture the colors like the good ones do.
There are about 300 acres to ride on, but the bean fields are blocking access to a lot of it. Still, we can get in 90-120 minutes easily without backtracking, and we still find new things everytime.

This sort of mowed path riding is not my favorite kind of all, but beggars cannot be choosers. These are the paths they have cut in anticipation of hunting season, which starts October 1, and will mark the end of the riding at home days for us. We are sure having a good time packing in as much as possible until then.


This is what some of the paths around the edges of the fields look like.
I did not realize until I loaded this photo that the leaves are starting to fall. That makes me sad, but it sure makes for some pretty after-work jaunts.

On the Radar front, he was heartbroken to be left behind tonight. That did my heart good. I am going to take Jodi's suggestion and leave him be for a few days, then try a quick change bridle on him. Once I buy one, that is. I have one, somewhere, but it has a browband and that defeats the purpose.

Uno is doing fine. He was out of his stall when I got there this morning, which put me off my game by thirty minutes. The most appalling point was that evidently his deworming has been very successful. Enough that I noticed it when trying to catch him. And then I stepped in it. Now that is nasty.

The only other news of the day is that I did half a spinning class (stepping in wormy horse shit can make a girl late), and half an aerobics class (my bodyfat session ran late) and weighed in. I hit a new low! Go me! I do not know how, as I surely did not deserve to have lost it, but I will take it.

One more day in this week--two workouts tomorrow, and perhaps an after work ride. Then this sister is going to take a BREAK! Barry won't be home again, so I can sleep and catch up on things. I am so looking forward to it

Odd behavior--need suggestions

Ok, let me preface this by saying I am not an idiot. All evidence to the contrary, I really am not an idiot.

What I am, is spoiled. Mostly, my horses do what they are told. I have been blessed with excellent horses, most of whom had years and years of training before I got them--they are virtually impossible for me to screw up. With the ones we have raised, we have been exceptionally lucky that they have been so trainable, and that we have had really good people to start them for us.

Because of all that, it is odd for me to have a situation like this arise, and the regular things not work to fix it.

Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love Radar and what a great horse he is. He has always acted like a grown up, even when he was 2. Now that he is four, he is even better. With the exception of the last week. His weirdness the day of the Great Battle was so strange that I blogged about it and whined about it for days. That was the first time he acted squirrelly about his left ear. It was really irritating, but it was not out of the question that something was wrong with it--like a tick up in there, etc.

The next ride on him was completely uneventful...that time it was just Madison and I on Radar and Gyro. All the things I love about him were there, in spades. The following day we rode with five other horses and he was wacky again. He still protested the handling of his left ear--although I could sneak the bridle on by working from the off side and forcing the issue a bit. Then he was normal until he had little spats of jackassery on the trip--nothing like on that Thursday, but not his regular self.

Being a dutiful horse owner, I called the vet to come handle it, and his teeth in case that was an issue, etc. Immediately upon his arrival, Radar proved there was nothing wrong with his ear. Doc handled it all over, and got no reaction. Not a thing. He was 100% sure there was nothing wrong with his ear, he just does not want to be bridled. It actually kind of pissed me off, because I felt stupid. It did answer the question of whether there was something wrong or if it was behavioral. His teeth were not great, so that was handled and I gave him the night off.

Tonight, I got to him late after my personal training session, but had promised Mad we would go out again, so we hurried to saddle up. That was fine, of course, but immediately upon trying to bridle him, he upped the ante. I had him tied at the trailer, so I untied and just held the rope while I tried to bridle him. He actually came off the ground that time, and had his head so high in the air that I could not reach him. I then worked from his other side, which is so awkward, but ultimately got it on him. As soon as it was on, he was totally fine, and we had an excellent ride, lasting until almost dark.

When we got back, I unsaddled, and then decided I would unbridle him in the stall so he could not try to get away from me as he had been attempting to do. That so did not help. I got it off with less trouble than I had gotten it on, and immediately set about trying to desensitive that ear. He completely anticipates that I will irritate him, and it seems his refusal/reaction starts earlier each time. He would let me scratch my way up his neck, and even massage right behind the ear (unhappily, but that is something), but once I got my hand between his ears, he would yank away from me. More than once, he wagged his head right into me--I swear I thought he had knocked my teeth loose once. And in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit I wacked him in the shoulder/chest for it. Had he hit Mad that hard, he would have sent her flying, and I am not having that bullshit. Even worse, wacking him seemed to help, which frustrates me.

I made him stand there and take the scratching and handling his ear area, with the intent of letting him go as soon as he put up with me touching that spot he did not want touched. I should have known we would be there awhile. And we were. Ultimately, I quit just short of there so we could end on a good note as I have a life to live and needed to get to it----having already missed America's Next Top Model over this, I was not about to miss Top Chef too.

I turned him out and went on about my other business of doctoring Uno--who is being so good, compared to yesterday. He was very still for digging around in it and getting new Underwoods--it is a pretty deep puncture wound, but the swelling is going down already. He is earning his way out of that stall and into a pen, I think, that is how good he is being.

I could not stand to leave without another try at Radar, so we got him out again--which is a whole other issue. If he is so pissed, why is he standing at the gate to get caught in the dark? Makes no sense. Had he run off to play or do other stuff, he would have gotten a pass. I decided to try a one-ear headstall on him--with the one ear thing going over the ear that does not piss him off. Rather than figure out if it bothered him, he just reacted. I got it on him, etc...and off, and turned him out. I did not consider that an improvement over earlier at all.

So I need suggestions. Battling it out like this is not going to work. He is stronger than me, and I do not want to deteriorate into phsyical struggles. I know to keep working on desensitiving his ear, but I have to have a go-to or I will never get to quit on a good note. Any thoughts?

Daily farm chores

This is what a stoned pony looks like. It was float day at the farm, and that always makes for some funny scenes. This is Radar after we were done with him. Blech he says!

This is him in the process. Radar has had his teeth done before of course, since he is four years old, so it is old hat to him to be a gentleman. Then again, a generous be nice cocktail helps everyone get along! We determined there is nothing wrong with his left ear--it is just attitude. Good enough, now we know. His teeth were pretty rough though even though it has not been that long since he was done--so maybe that will help him not be so adamant that his bit be exactly right all the time. That is kind of a pain in the ass.

This is baby Hammer's mouth. Once again, if I had my old camera you would have been able to see just how much damage occurs in the mouth of a horse even this young--he is only two, but already has ulcerations inside his cheeks just from chewing, etc. My vet is a fanatic about teeth, and swears that most people should be horse whipped for neglecting them--so I was on his good girl list today for being so on top of things. Even I could see the sore spots--and once again, Hammer had failed to complain about it. Sometimes, horses are really tough creatures. He did great getting his sedative--he is not a fan of shots, but this time was no problem. He got his first Coggins drawn, and I gave him all his shots, so he is ready to roll when someone wants him.

Look how much root was on his wolf teeth. They were massive. I should have put something in this pic to show size. It was a big ol honking root--but they popped out easy. Hammer was glad to have a little snooze in a stall after this session!

All that- and a pile of Coggins- got done over my lunch hour, and I toddled back to work where I spent all afternoon thinking about drunk people beating each other with bottles. Fun times, I tell you. Funny how my day can shift so dramatically within minutes.

After work, I went to the farm to play and feed, and while Madison was loping all over tarnation--her new skill--I discovered this mess in the back hay field.

This is the yearling gelding Uno. He has evidently stuck something up in there. He is swelled up a little crazy, but oddly enough it is not hurting that much. Explain that to me. He is walking on it fine. We wrestled him up front and got him to a stall. He is a wily character- he wanted no part of leaving his friends, but ultimately he learned how to stand there like a good boy for his cold hosing, and cleaning it out, and taking all his shots, and what the hell, a little dewormer while we were at it. I started him on SMZs and threw him in a stall. He took exception to that, which he demonstrated by standing on his hind legs and trying to climb over the gate. Oy vey. This is how I know he does not hurt too much. I moved him to another stall, and put him on lockdown--if he can act right for a day or two, I will move him to one of the new pens where he can move around more, but still be separated to stay on his meds.
While watching Madison ride, I had a visitor. Or two. Finally, a picture that shows how teeny short stuff is. The cat with her is less than six months old, so that gives you an idea how little. I figured out that if I put her in the back of the truck, she cannot get out really quickly and thus is not underfoot while I am doing something kitty sensitive. It only worked a couple of times though til she was launching herself out. That one is a handful.
All in all an okay nite---and I love this photo of Madison walking her little sister home.

No hail for hammer

This pic was taken from the same spot as the top pic in my last post--two days later when it was not getting ready to hail. Way more to see huh? It is a pretty high point.
This is what baby Hammer looks like on day 3 of hard riding. He got better and better every single day. There was nothing he could have done better.
I never had to worry about him worrying the reins when he was tied for a break, because he was too tired!


Isn's he darling? I never thought I would be able to say this, but this one even tops Radar on his first hard trail ride. Someone will have a handy little horse when he gets a new home---any takers? You won't be able to throw anything at him on the trail that he will not take in stride. He will hop logs, climb out of steep ravines--he will drop his little butt and shimmy down the side of a cliff like he has done it a million times--and when he slipped in one, he burn the hide off his fetlocks and still has not even told me about it. He is a stoic sort, and I sure did not expect that from him. He thinks he is big--and thereby able to climb out of creeks like the other horses, even when the edge is almost over his head. And then by God, he does it, even if he has to crawl on his knees to get up it. I could not be more shocked by him, I swear.

The area is much prettier when the sun is shining, isn't it?
Hammer went up and down this washed out climbing spot---I admit that on the way down, I shut my eyes, laid back and let him go--hoping he could handle the weight shifts and be sure footed about it. He did it better than the other horses, and I do not think he considered for a second not doing it. Going back up, he just dug down and got after it, and the only side effect was my lost hornbags who could not handle the angle
There seem to be a lot of pics of roads here, and we rarely even ride on a fire road. This year's rain has worn out some of our regular paths, so that they are just rutted gravel--far more slickery than the rougher terrain we are used to.
This was a rare moment when Hawk was not torturing Jodi by rubbing his head on her to scratch. He is a scratchy dude. They got along fine--she liked him. As she said, he is a bit of an asshole, but he rides nice so she liked him. He comes across as such a thug and I do not know why, as he really is not--and he is so brave, I swear he holds his breath and just throws himself into any new challenge. I do not think he has any fear about anything either.

Here, he was asking Head if he could maybe have a drink of beer. I do not know how he made out on that deal. I suppose if Hawk really wanted it, he would have knocked Head off his perch and taken it.

Linda has a long horse--it makes it easier to get phone reception in the wilderness. Even out there, there is always something demanding attention back home--so thank goodness The Dirty Cowboy knows how to hook her up with a high point to take a phone call.



Radar rode only on Monday, and that is when we realized that he and Hammer have to share a headstall for their bitty heads. I was not about to give it up, so Barry had to make do with a closer fit. Not very close at all, actually--about a half inch too long, and the buckles on the throat latch thing were missing. Because we are fancy, Barry tied it in a knot under Radar's jaw--which of course would not stay. There was no curb chain either--so this poor feller was in a bit of a snit about his ill-fitting equipment. He and Barry do not get along like Radar and I do, so they argued for a while, until they reached a truce. And now I have an excuse to shop some more!

Look how far down on his head that browband is--pathetic, huh? He is still awfully pretty, but I guess we might as well admit that he will always wear a yearling halter and have to have his headstalls adapted to fit his pea head. I guess there are worse problems.

We had a great weekend, and there are more pics to go through, but if I waited to post until I was recovered, it would never happen.

I love these weekends with Headleys and Jodi, and various other people that come along-- they rejuvenate me. I am lucky to have friends like this to spend time with, and lucky to have a constant supply of home grown babies that make me happy to be around, and ride. What more could anyone ask for?

Scenes from an almost perfect day

Finally, I got back to doing what I love--riding horses. I am so busy that this quite often gets put off to some other day--and then does not happen. But TODAY-- I went trail riding with Randy, Linda and my mom, about an hour away from here. Sure some things went wrong (flat tire on trailer, potentially stolen tractor when I got home, etc)....but the rest of the day was awesome.
Mom rode Gyro, probably for the first time. Gy is always a treat in every way so mom had lots of fun. The weather was perfect--about 70 degrees. In August, for Pete's sake.
Radar and I had a great time--every time I get on him, I am reminded how much I love this horse. I mean really love him. I am not selling him. So there Barry (please don't be mad, I just cannot do it). I love him.
Due to all the hangups getting there, I arrived sans-beer. I know--almost unheard of right? But a safe move when one is going to meet Head. He always is stocked. He can hook a girl up. The only thing to make a day horseback better is a cold beer at the rest points, so it is good that he is reliable in this way. But when Head busted out these little bitty beers, I cracked up. He had a selection of regular size beers and beers for midgets or children, and you could not know which one you were getting when you stuck your arm in the saddle bags. It was like some bizarre game of spin the bottle, I swear.
And you know he is a real horseman, just by this scene back at the trailer. A real horseman never takes his spurs off--he just changes boots instead.

When we got home, I discovered some unfortunate things- my head almost spun plumb off my shoulders and I had the beginnings of a full-blown come apart. The details of that may or may not come later. I did not want to skimp on Hammer boot camp due to fury though, so we got him out and went through the motions of his refresher course of saddling and stirrup flopping. He was so good tonight that we decided to push our luck, and ended up having a great ride. Hammer was the same horse I brought home from the trainer three weeks ago and not that raving lunatic that I dealt with last week. We played around in the hay field for a while, until Madison got bored with me. She set up a bunch of obstacles for me--cavaletti, scary diesel cans and wadded up tarp stuff--anything she could think of that happened to be laying around (and that can be just about anything in my world). Nothing put Hammer off--even kittens jumping out at him at Mach 2--he was a rock star. We played til dark, then gave him the night off.

It is amazing how that turned my world around. I was so proud of us. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Two of a kind

We have some serious brotherly love going on here.

Radar was one of the victims for the farrier today-- he and three of his friends needed shoes for Labor Day camping. After each one got done, I put them in the front pasture which has been empty so it could be scalped to de-weed it. That is why it is so short right now--it looks like a low-rent golf course. Anyway, Radar and Hawk have been separated in different pastures, until today.
I do not know how much Hawk cares about Radar, but Radar thinks Hawk is the second coming of Jesus. I forgot about Hawk until several hours after I had turned everyone else out, and had to go back over there to turn him out. When I put Hawk out, Radar came running as fast as he possibly could to greet him like he had not seen him in years. Forget the fact that they had been stalled next to each other all day.

It is really interesting to see them interact.

I kind of suspected this whack was coming. Hawk seems to inspire this weird sort of worship in a lot of horses, so he is used to having to tell someone to get up off his ass. He is pretty nice about though, and almost never has to make actual contact. Radar is kind of relentless though. Notice Radar's ears--he is not saddened by being told to back off...I think it is part of their game with each other.

And they immediately return to palling up and hanging out together. I had been hoping for one of those wild horse scenes where they stand up and strike at each other--it makes great pictures. I did not get it though. Obviously.

Radar is going with me tomorrow to Sam Dale, so we will get to relive this great reunion scene again when we get back.

Horses are so funny.

Boys will be boys--and more school

Today started out a typical way for me--we had a nice brunch at a friend's restaurant, and I made sure to make a fool of myself on the way out. I got through the whole meal, and after I paid, I knocked over the specials board. Leave it to me--it made a huge clatter and evidently, I said "oh shit". Imagine that. So Billy, the owner tells me--"hey, this is a f%$&n family restaurant". Which of course made me laugh even harder, so anyone who missed it that I had knocked everything over knew then.


Oy. Next step was to get some odds and ends done at the farm. While Barry was teaching Mojo how to get in the BIG trailer, instead of the three horse which is much lower to the ground than the Mack Daddy trailer, I watched the 3 year old geldings play. Note: It was doing some sort of weird precipitation thing out there that I will not call snow, because that is blasphemous, but there was a certain dampness that could not be ignored. Especially by me, in tshirt and Crocs like every other day.

This is my precious Radar aggravating Boogie--Radar is almost always the instigator of Playtime. Biting, nipping, rearing and kicking and striking are how colts play, and how they provoke each other to play back--no damage is done in these episodes, but it is a miracle sometimes, as they can get really rough with each other.

Young horses like this, especially geldings, play hard but have short memories--they are kind of like a pack of first graders. They can have it out in a game, and be cuddled up together the next minute. I do not know if that is because of short attention span, or just an unwillingness to hold a grudge.

However, there is always one in the pack who is more sensitive, and here it is Boogie--he is more timid, and gets his feelings hurt---I know he would rather be pounded on than ignored, so I know he enjoyed this. It cracks me up to realize how much I liked watching him get in the fray with the others

Boogie was quick to jump in and play hard with Radar. I have not seen that a lot as he is normally standing off the side like a wall flower, hoping to get picked.
He played awhile but he was also quick to call it off--after he got his licks in, of course. Lest you feel sorry for Radar in that he got popped early on, don't--he starts it and Boogie was not his first victim of the day. Most of the time, they do not even make contact when playing like this.
And see, they made up. Ignore that doofy line of fence--we were moving horses all over and did not put it back correctly until we were done.


This is what first got my attention---Radar and Hawk, who are two peas in a pod and best friends, were circling each other. I know were that leads, so I just kept clicking away.


Round and round they went for a while, like boxers waiting for the other to take the first poke.


I do not know if Hawk did not really want to play, or what his deal was, but he threw a kick in early.
Which did not even slow Radar down--he upped the ante by popping up on him and the game was on.
They crack me up how they carry on.
After this, I started wondering about Radar's sexual orientation, so I will stop this line of photos right here. Note how Hawk's ears are forward like he is fine with this behavior. He is an odd one as well.
Poor Target tried to get in the game and BAM--see what he got for his trouble? Poor fool. I think he feels left out sometimes too, since Hawk and Radar are attached at the hip. He did not play much in this game today, but instead stood around and posed for me. Everyone knows someone like that, don't they? He is the one that would rather look pretty than get dirty in the game.


Much more went on after the games were over. Hawk was on the schedule to be one with the trailer this week. He was going to get the 24/7 trailer experience this week, as he knows full well how to get in the trailer, but may not choose to do so on any given day. And when Hawk decides he is not going to do something, he is NOT going to do it.

But as you see, he ruined my plan by getting in and out of the trailer four or five times so easily that it seemed kind of silly. I wondered in the back of my mind whether something had scared him on a trip and lead him to his refusals to load--but evidently not. He did so well loading and unloading repeatedly, he got to go back to the pasture.As I said, Mojo learned how to get in the big trailer. He was so cute. It really is a much bigger step than he is used to. No problem though---look at his big effort trying to get out. Isn't that funny?
He had some other milestones today--he HATES having his mane brushed and I had not messed with his tail much. Today he got a good grooming, and his tail braided just because I could not think of anything more we could be doing with him, and he leaves on Friday. He also got his vaccines and more loading practice. He did so well, he too was chucked back out in the pasture.
Next, we did baby booster shots and gave them all a hit of ivermectin---and I noticed that Tango's hind fetlocks are goofy looking. They are much bigger than anyone else's. There is no heat, she is not off. It does not feel squishy like it is swollen, but it is also not just hair making them look puffy. They feel like normal joints, but are clearly larger than everyone else's.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what in the world might be going on there?


All in all, a productive day. Trailers are all moved around so that the transport company can get in and out at the farm on Friday. That means that there are SIX trailers of some sort in my yard at my house--two horse trailers, the boat on its trailer, the red flatbed trailer, the small trailer for the lawnmower, etc, and Barry's work trailer. We look like hillbilly heaven.