Cross your fingers

I am looking into moving Cody about an hour north of where he currently lives. To make that work, we are also looking into moving to an apartment complex closer to that barn. If all goes well (we have at least three apartments to go look at this Saturday) I will live 10 minutes from my horse instead of 30, he will have a stall that is open to a nice sized grassy paddock, and we will have an apartment that has a washer and dryer! I plan to do partial board so I can know just how much he is being fed and adjust as needed. I wrapped a weight tape around him tonight and it came out at about 840 lbs. I think he could easily stand to make it to 900 if not 950. I'll have to keep track to see how he does.

Tonight was the fourth time I have lunged Cody in side reins. I'm working on rigging up some shims so my saddle doesn't sit low in the front so I have just been doing stuff on the ground lately. He is on the thin side but I figure we can work on building some muscle in his topline to help him fill out. He's doing fairly well, just needs to reach down and forward a bit more, but we're getting there.

A couple weeks ago I was trying to hose him off and he was being a dork, something spooked him and he took off into a field that had an open gate. The rope dragging behind him and sometimes wrapping around a leg was totally freaking him out and he was running mad laps around the field. Once I got him to pay enough attention to stop I tossed the rope at his legs (like I've done a zillion times before) and that was no issue, he just didn't like it wrapping around his legs and/or dragging while he was moving. So...tonight I also clipped an old cotton leadrope to the top ring on the surcingle so that it was dragging along the ground as he trotted around. The first lap he freaked a bit but half stepping in front of him and saying whoa got him to stop for a moment and let his brain settle back into place. After that he trotted around and around with the rope dragging alongside him. He was often at a bit of an angle so he could keep an eye on the evil rope but all in all it went well. I think I'm going to do that a few more times.

I have been terribly lax lately in updating this blog about my goofball of a wild pony, but with all the hopeful changes coming I'm going to try and keep it more up to date :)

Wish us luck in the apartment hunt!

Daydreams

When I was little, my older cousin and I used to draw designs and make plans for a place we were going to have someday that we dubbed "Dream Ranch". We had drawings of barns, trails, a 3-story octagon shaped house, and sheets and sheets of horses we were going to have. I think at the time we had planned to breed Quarter Horses and Trakehners, lol. I'm sure a lot of horse crazy girls have dreams like this.

That dream has never left me. My mind often wanders to day dreams of what I would make Dream Ranch today. There are thoughts of mustangs, of having an after school "homework and horses" program, a dressage ring and an "extreme" trail course, well, you probably get the idea.

I haven't given up on my idea, but lately I am torn. Right now I am in Florida, down in Miami. Dream Ranch isn't gonna happen in Miami and we don't plan to stay here more than 3-4 years. The talk after that is to possibly go back to Washington or to go north in Florida up between Ocala and Orlando somewhere.

I miss the mountains and I miss friends and family in Washington. What I worry about, is there any where to build my Dream Ranch in Washington? I don't want to step on anyone's toes and I fear I would be laughed at for such an endeavor.

Ocala is definitely horse country. Rolling hills and horse farms all over. From Thoroughbred farms to Friesian breeders and everything in between. My mother-in-law keeps sending me links to property for sale up that way. They hope to retire up near Orlando in about 5 years and would like their children and families to be nearby.

Could I build my daydreams in Washington?

My first trim

So...I got it into my head to try trimming Cody's feet. I want to keep him barefoot and so I've been reading about it and I emailed Andrea at Mustang Saga for advice since she trims her horses' feet. So far I have only attempted his front feet. What do you think? I figured if I didn't take too much off I couldn't screw up too badly, right?

Before, left front (he has always had that line you can see on his right front, there is an old injury on his coronet band)

Before, left front

After, left front

After, left front

Left front done, right front still to go

Perfect Day

More pics when I get them back from the photographer :) Cody was a star! This was all of the third time I have ridden him outside of the arena or round pen. He went past cars, people, small screaming children, with only a second glance at a flapping table cloth for about 5 seconds. It was a wonderful day, not only did I get to marry a great man and best friend, I have an awesome horse :)

Spring is here

Cody sporting a hat

The last couple of weekends have been really nice. Cody has been doing well, even if we are still just trotting around the round pen. I wasn't able to go out to the barn at all this past week, so the last time I climbed on him was last Sunday. He did great today! Tomorrow I may go back out to the arena. I also had a chance to talk to one of the other boarders today who goes on trail rides a lot. He is one who tends to go and and likes to GO, so I don't think we'll be tagging along with that group any time soon, but he said Susie, the barn owner, tends to go much slower and she goes on Saturday mornings, so I just may check into tagging along in a couple weekends. Well, first I have to ride him around other horses....just haven't had a chance to do that yet unfortunately.

I got some conchos and buckles to decorate Cody's bridle. You can't see them all that well, but they dress it up nicely :)

I think I need a new name for this blog

So I've been thinking lately (I know, scary thought) but I don't think Cody is going to have the movement to go very far in dressage. He has nice forward movement, tracks up nicely at the trot, has a nice smooth looking canter, but he just doesn't seem to have that little extra spark of pizazz that makes a good dressage horse. So I've decided that what I'd like to do is get into trail riding. Either competitive trail riding or endurance riding, still trying to see what I can find around here (especially since I don't have a horse trailer). Who knows, if I can get in better shape, maybe in a couple years we'll try an Extreme Cowboy Race....

So to that end, I found a new used saddle. It's in great shape and seems to fit him as well as I am going to find something to fit him right now (he still really needs to fill out).

So here is my western pony, what do you think?

In the arena

Video from our ride today.

New bridle

There is a place called Sunset Feed a mile from our apartment. Nice place, nice people, could use a bit more in the horse tack department, but it's not bad.

They had a sale awhile back (okay, it was Thanksgiving weekend) and clearance stuff was half off the already marked down price. How could I pass that up? I found a nice english bridle for a nice price, and a royal blue saddle pad.

Today, I went out to the barn and when we (fiance came with me) got out there it turned out there was a birthday party going on. Barn owner (nice gal) came over to talk when she saw us heading to the barn and she said the round pen was fine to use. So I got Cody all tacked up and off we went to play in the round pen. I have some video that needs to be edited that I hope to upload later.

Cody has been here two weeks today. The first week was just spent trying to brush out a lot of his shedding coat and letting him settle in a bit. Oh, and he has trimmed whiskers and a bridle path now. Never seen clippers before and he just stood there while I trimmed him up a bit. I wonder sometimes if he came in from the wild already trained...

This past week we were back to working by the moonlight. Turns out even though he has had the last 5 months off he hasn't really lost much. I even ground drove him with a bit for the first time this week. The arena was a bit of a lake because there had been a downpour earlier that day so we just went back and forth and did figure eights alongside the barn. Got one other ground driving session in before today, out in the arena and we wove in and out of cones and such. Climbed on bareback for about a minute and a half one night and once with my english saddle on for maybe all of three minutes this past Sunday.

Today we rode for 10-15 minutes, in the round pen, with a bit, with noisy kids and a fire going in a fire pit not far from where we were, with chickens wandering around along one side of the round pen, you get the idea. Cody didn't appear to care. We practiced turning and stopping and backing (I've never ridden him with a bit, just with the rope halter with side rings) and he did awesome.

At this rate, I think he really will be ready for me to ride him in my upcoming wedding (May 15). Lol, I basically have as much time to get him ready for that as trainers do for a Mustang Makeover, think we can do it?

Yes

Today, we stopped at a store on our way to his parents' house for dinner. This store happened to be a jewelry store. The item that was being picked up was an engagement ring! We had gone to "just look" yesterday (or so I was told) and I spotted a ring I rather liked. Today it is on my finger! When he got back in the car he proposed (totally unromantic I know, but sweet all the same) and of course I said yes :)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2009 is done and gone already! I wonder what 2010 will bring?

2009 has been a pretty eventful year for me. I moved to Miami, FL, I got a "real" job, I got a puppy, I climbed on my horse for the first time, I think it's been a pretty good year.

Now for those blue moon pics. The sky was cloudy but when I went out to snap a shot the moon was peeking through an opening.

And I think, for now, I'm going to leave them as dark as they were straight out of my camera.

The moon over our apartment building.

The moon peeking out over a palm tree zoomed in as much as my little camera could go.