War...Huah! What Is It Gooood For? Absolutely Nothing! Say It Again!

As some of you know, the creation of The Salem Blog turned out to be very incendiary, which was never its purpose. It was meant simply to follow Salem's progress so Ruby can keep track of his daily life and see pics and videos of The Boy. Also, it's uber fun and tons of other peeps have horsey blogs and I wanted in on all the hot blogging action.

Weeellll, Miss Jennie interpreted the creation of The Salem Blog as a challenge to her love of Phantom. The reasoning was, "Well, if Meghann is creating an entire blog dedicated to Salem, I must create an entire blog dedicated to Phantom." My announcement of this blog on the barn's whiteboard was definitely the straw the broke the camel's back. She officially declared war! Hahaha. Yup, now it gets fun...

Enter the I Heart Phantom Blog . Let me take a direct quote -- "oh yeah, and also cause this girl at my barn set up a blog for her horse and is totally 'trying me'... so now i have to make a blog for Phantom and have it be alot better than her blog...if anyone reads this please become a follower to my blog!!!!! i'm in major competition/war with this other girl and need to have more followers than she does. " Lol, Jennie, I ♥ you guys! [Sidebar to Ruby -- everyone at the barn knows Salem is yours, not mine! Maybe Jennie's just stirring the pot and trying to create another war?]

It's totally all in good fun and we're both having a great time. I told her that I am a peace-loving vegetarian who was raised by hippies, so I want no part of war. (But, if I did, at 13-4, Salem and I would be kicking a$$ and taking names!) Anyways, here's how our barn whiteboard now looks:

Ooohhh, man, I missed being out at the barn! I get to ride and hang out with fellow weird-os and engage in fake blogosphere warfare and get all sweaty and covered in hay and horse hair. Oohhh, yeah -- I am officially back!

*waves white flag* Can we commence peace talks, Jennie? Salem ♥s Phantom...and, all he is saying is, "Give peace a chance." ☮

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

So, can you tell from the title of this post that Salem was an excellent, well-behaved little boy today? :-D

I arrived at the barn an hour early, thank goodness, because Gigi and Jennie were already there and Heather got there about 5 minutes after I did. Conspiracy to ride without me FAIL! Hahaha. As usual, there was much activity going on, what with all the running-around-screaming children, turned-out horses, in-session riding lesson, etc. In the washrack, Salem was being his usual lookie-loo self.

The big bloke is just very, very interested in everything that's going on around him. He rarely spooks, but he does love to pretend he's a meer-kat and turn his head every which way to take everything in.

Once I got on, we walked around with the rest of the group -- Heather on Sid, Jennie on Pirate, and Gigi on Bonnie -- and Salem, ever the social butterfly, kept trying to sidle up to each horse and invade their personal space. He's just a big, social baby and is very much a, "Hey! I'm Wingman! I mean, um...Salem! I'm from Ocala! Let's be friends!" kinda guy. Too cute! Sometimes, though, the other horses don't quite agree that it's cute.

Other than a bit of rubber-necking, Salem was such a good boy. Gone was the too-forward, bucking freight train of yesterday. He was quiet, soft, and relaxed. At one point when we were cantering, I took my leg off and he broke to the trot. I was like, "Oh, you mean I have to actually use leg today, Horse?"

Yes, Salem still has a lot of work to do; he's a bit of a wiggle worm and does what Gigi calls The Snake, where he kind of weaves around like he's had a few too many vodka shooters. He also needs to use his back-end more, get a better steering wheel, round his back up, stretch down into contact, etc., but he is doing very well, if I do say so myself. Even Elaine, the trainer who was giving one of the little girls a lesson while we were riding, said she thought he was very cute.

Afterwards, we all played musical horses (well, other than Jennie, who had gotten off early due to Pirate's lack of forward-ness). I ended up on Bonnie, Gigi was on Sid, and Heather was on Salem. Heather said she really, really liked Salem and could tell that he tries very hard to please his rider. They looked cute! She also helped me while I was riding -- she always catches my mistakes! I tend to drop my outside hand too low and use too much inside rein. I also round my shoulders, but I am convinced it's because I carry the Hunchback Gene (hey, ya never know...).

I think I need to teach Jennie about Zoom ;-)

As per our post-ride ritual, Salem got a nice cool shower and a very long drink out of the hose (which he adores)...

...and was tucked into bed. I love how much this horse loves to work! He's willing and eager and really appreciates all of the attention he receives. I usually spend about three to four hours with him each day and he eagerly laps it up like a puppy. Best attitude ever!

Hot as Hades

So, have I mentioned how hot it is here? ;-) Imagine this, if you will -- there is a steam room located in the most fiery pit of hell. You are sitting in said steam room wearing long underwear, snowpants, Uggs, a ski-cap, mittens, and a wool sweater. Ta-da! That is precisely what it currently feels like here in the 3-0-5.

Yesterday, the plan was for me, Gigi, and Heather to meet at the barn at 5:00 and ride together. We figured 5:00 would be late enough that it would be cool(ish). We figured wrong. I arrived a bit early and Heather was already out hand-grazing Sid along with Jennie and Phantom, so I grabbed Salem and we joined the munch-fest. Within two minutes, I felt like my skin was burning and melting off of my face like some kind of creepy wax-doll in a horror film. There was zero breeze and the air was thick with humidity. As soon as Gigi arrived, we all agreed that the conditions were definitely unfavorable and we would pass on riding. Call us crazy, but we felt that dehydration and heat stroke were bad things.

Once again, I worked the big lad through a short in-hand session where we worked on turns on the forehand, backing, stopping on voice command, etc. Then I spent a short amount of time working on having him line himself up to the mounting block, which didn't go quite as planned becuase my dressage whip is too short (don't worry, I was tapping, not whipping!). I got one decent effort out of him and we ended on a good note. After a brief muzzle/bridle path clip which he handled like a seasoned pro, he got a nice long shower and a hand-graze.


Today, I got to the barn a little before 5 and it was actually almost bearable -- still hot and humid, but at least there were some clouds to block the sun. I got the boy out and started grooming him in the washrack. It began sprinkling, but I thought, "We're not pansies, we can ride in a little drizzle," and continued tacking. I had to walk into the barn to get my helmet and, precisely as we stepped into the aisle, the downpour began. I seriously started to think that maybe the Climate had an issue with me and was doing everything in its power to prevent me from riding.

Well, HAHA, Climate, I was victorious! Salem and I chilled in the barn for about twenty minutes and watched the rain. Well, I watched the rain; Salem was bored and decided that picking up a chair with his teeth, breaking into the cat food repeatedly, and attempting to steal my Diet Coke would be acceptable time-passers.

So, on to the actual ride. It was pretty much a mental hazard obstacle course beacause Nora's four horses had just been turned out and were galavanting around; several loud, shouting workmen were making all kinds of hammering and loud drilling noises; and the neighbor (who, I swear is out to get me) was also doing goodness-knows-what and making a huge ruckus. Plus, we were all by our lonesome little selves for the first time. Oh, and I had pulled Salem out of his stall right before feeding time, which puts a lot of horses in a very pissy mood. Awesome.

Recipe for disaster? Well, for most Green-bean ponies, yes. But Salem did not spook once, not even a little bunny hop. He did, however, think it would be really fun to put on his ostrich neck and go around all hollow and quick and corner-cutting. It took a loooooot of, "Hello, Horse, I am up here and would like you to shift it down a gear and pay attention to me and I would really appreciate it if you could nix the rubber-necking," before he gave in and decided to be a Mr. Goodbar.

Now, I have to admit, I'm sure some of it was caused by me. As I have mentioned, I'm still a bit weak from taking eight months off of riding and really need to work on my own position. I also have a bit of a "driving seat" that tends to push horses forward -- this was developed after years of riding horses who stopped dirty at fences (*cough, cough* Bandit). It's something I really need to change in my riding, I am aware. So, in addition to thinking about Salem's position, I am also thinking, "Stretch up, lift the chest. Don't drop your inside shoulder! Stretch the legs down and around the horse. Gah! Shoulders back! And, for god's sake, stop pushing the horse forward with your damn Electric Butt!"

The above pic is from Monday and I seriously have no idea what the heck I am doing. Blech.

Well, as for the Salem-boo, he was, as mentioned, quite forward and feeling his oats (well, okay, feeling his Triple Crown Senior and handful of sweet feed). When I asked for the right lead canter, he picked it up beautifully...but then threw in a couple of bucks. They were certainly not big or hard or anything near broco-like. I really think they were more of the, "Whhheeeee! I feel good and SO much is going on right now!" variety rather than the, "I hate you and your f-ing Electric Butt, Rider, and I want you off NOW!" variety. A few half halts and "Eeeeeaaassssy, boy"s and he softened up a bit. At the end of the ride, we did a bunch of small trotting circles where he slowed it down a few notches, softened, started bending a bit, and decided to really listen. That was good enough for me, so I gave him a loose rein and walked him out.

Tomorrow should be a good one because Heather, Gigi, and Jennie will be joining us for a 6:00 ride. Heather, who has heaps and heaps of show experience and really knows her stuff, promised she would pick at me and point out my weaknesses. Hooray for Heather!

★Video Killed The Radio Star★

It only took me a week, but I finally discovered the "Add Video" button. Sweet! So, here are some not-so-exciting videos of His Royal Cuteness getting familiar with his new digs (and new neighbor) on the day of his arrival:

Riders Up!

"Three and a half days is long enough, right?" This is what I kept thinking to myself on Saturday, the fourth(ish) day of Salem-ness. I had been itching to jump on his back and take him for a spin ever since he had arrived. However, I do tend to err on the side of caution (well, okay, maybe paranoia would be a more appropriate word) and I wanted to make sure that I didn't push him, especially given the afore-mentioned ball-busting heat. Saturday, my patience meter hit Maximum and I could resist no longer.

A big part of the reason that I decided to make it The Day was because a fellow boarder, Gigi, was tacking up her mare Bonnie for a ride. Gigi is an absolute pleasure to ride with/chat with/drink wine with and I knew that her little Paint mare Bonnie would be a calming presence for Salem should he need it. It was like Bonnie was Salem's track pony and Gigi was my track pony. It was the perfect scenario.

Me on Salem & Gigi on Bonnie

Of course, Mr. Salem was a perfect gentleman and I would bet money that he would have been just as well-mannered if we had ridden on our own, but it's always more fun to ride with others. It was still blisteringly hot, so I kept it short and just did a lot of walking and trotting, worked on circles and figure-8s, and called it a day. We walked all around the perimeter of the arena on a loose rein, with Gigi and Bonnie by our sides, and had a nice, relaxing end to the ride. Salem did not spook once -- he didn't even take a sideways glance at the Scary Sand Pile in the corner. (Have I mentioned how unflappable this guy is?!)

Scary Sand Pile

Sunday, Salem got away with a short longeing session (again because of the ridiculous Gobi desert heat) and a nice refreshing bubble/liniment bath. The horse is such a riot -- he absolutely loves drinking from the hose and would most likely stand there all day having you squirt water into his mouth if you let him. No worries of dehydration with this guy! But, just in case (see, I told you I am an overly-cautious worry wart!), I put a packet of Horse Quencher in one of his water buckets. He loved it! Within a few minutes, he had sucked down all of the water and was licking the dregs at the bottom.

Monday, it was back to work. Again, we were joined by Gigi and Bonnie, and this time we had an official photographer, Jennie. (Sidebar - the above pic was from Monday, as well. I didn't have a photographer on Saturday)

Either my helmet is tipped back or I'm stargazing (let's just go with the helmet thing)

Let me say, Salem and I both have a lot of work to do! My equitation is severely lacking -- I haven't ridden much lately, plus my old instructor always put me on "problem" horses, so everything was all about the horse. I never got much eq. work. But, I digress. This time, we still kept the session short, but also cantered both directions. Salem was awesome! He even picked up his right lead (his sticky side) perfectly the first time.

Gah! Horrid equitation!

He had one tiny spook, but it was at the end of the ride, when we were strolling around the perimeter. We were right by the road and a huge truck came zooming by and made this really bizarre, scary sound. Salem did a tiny bunny hop and then went back to his normal Mr. Chillaxed attitude.

I like the reeeeeaaallly far-away shots...my eq. doesn't look as bad!

I really do think that Salem enjoys working and having a "job" to do, whether that job is in-hand work, longeing, or being ridden. He craves attention and just gobbles it up like it's candy. And the guy is a sweetie and has such a great attitude. He has obviously had wonderful treatment for his whole life because he loves people.

All tucked in for the night and munching on carrots

Yup, I think Salem has officially settled in and decided that he likes his new home. Can't say that I blame him. ;-)

Monday, October 12, 2009

Settling In

The next few days, I let Salem settle in and adjust to life at our barn. Work was kept to a minimum, partly because I didn't want to push him and partly because we have been experiencing record-high temperatures here in south Florida. Seriously, if there was a swamp located directly on the surface of the sun, it would have to be named Miami because that is exactly how it feels down here! In light of the unseasonably caliente weather, we did a lot of hand-grazing, turnout, grooming, hosing, and long walks.

By Friday, I figured it was time for a bit of work, so I got out the longe line and did a short session with the boy. I'm not sure if he's ever worn exercise boots, because I put my Eskadrons on him and he piaffed around like a Lippizaner for a few minutes! He was slightly quick during the longe work and was being a bit of a lookie-loo, but I really didn't blame him, as there were workmen doing some roofing repairs on the house. Yes, Salem was doing a really great impression of an ostrich, with his head way up in the air, but he was still a very good boy (of course!)

Plus, I finally got to try out my new Arc de Triomphe bridle! I had been dying to use it since I bought it last February. I must say, Salem looked quite handsome sporting it.

Salem also spent some time making more horsey friends and bonding with his new bestie, Phantom. Usually, Phantom is a bit of a Mr. Crankypants (sorry, Jennie!), but he and Salem seem to have realy hit it off -- maybe because they've both got Halloween-y names? Here are some pics of the Dark-side Duo:




Salem also made friends with Phantom's "brother" Sid. They hand-grazed side-by-side and shared a pile of hay (mostly) without incident.

Sid

And, although I haven't personally seen the two together, Salem apparently is also quite fond of Pirate, who is turned out in the paddock next to his in the morning. I also heard a rumor that Salem, Pirate, and Phantom (who gets turned out in another adjoining paddock) like to engage in a freaky three-way strip tease and take eachother's fly masks off -- kinky!

Pirate

There are a few things of which Salem is not a fan -- fly spray (he's gotten much better, but at first he thought it was horse-dissolving acid), curry-combs on his body (such a typical TB!), and "The Lagoon," the spot in front of our wash-racks. The wash-racks are concrete underneath with rubber mats on top, and there are rubber mats in front, as well. Unfortunately, the water runs down around the mats and doesn't drain at all (we have coral rock pretty much right beneath the topsoil down here). It gets kinda nasty, with deep mud holes. The first day, Salem stepped into one of the yicky spots and thought he was sinking into quiksand, poor guy! He was fine, but he does give the spot a sideways glance and steps very gingerly -- can't say that I blame him!

The Lagoon

Quicksand-y spot

Pretty yucky, huh? Fortunately, that big pile of sand that you see in the background will be used to remedy this sticky situation. Yay, no more Lagoon!

Stay tuned for the story of our first Miami ride!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Wingman Cometh...

Wednesday, October 7th was The Day. The night before, I had gone out to the barn and clucked around like a mother hen preparing a nest for her precious egg. Wingman's stall was selected, scrubbed down with bleach and water, and stocked with tons of floofy shavings, clean water buckets and feed bin, and a high-powered fan. I had managed to get him one of the coveted stalls that attaches to a big paddock (*score!*) and I de-cob-webbed and disinfected that stall like the OCD clean-freak that I am. Horse Stuff + Cleaning = My Personal Zen.

Around 11:00 am on the 7th, I stood in front of his immaculate stall and spied a two-horse trailer pulling up to the gate. Of course, my immediate reaction was to jump up and down and squeel like the little 12-year-old horse-crazy girl that I will always be. Thankfully, I managed to compse myself as the trailer rolled down the drive.

I believe that it was only Wingman's second trailer ride, his previous one being to a local schooling show that he had attended in September. And yet, Courtney said that he had trailered like a champ and that she had barely even felt him moving back there. Sure enough, she opened up the trailer and he was standing there all relaxed like he had been taking 6-hour highway trailer rides his whole life, and he backed off all calm and chillaxed.

Papers were signed, checks were written, and the big boy was led to his new home. Poor Courtney had to turn around and drive all the way back to Ocala in order to make her 5:00 lessons. I have to say, she was a pleasure to work with and she made the whole process very easy. If anyone in the Central Florida area is looking for a horse, a trainer, or a boarding barn, I highly recommend her! http://www.huntersedgeec.com/

So, now that the man was home, he had a new name. It seemed that Ruby was in the Halloween mood, because she had decided that his barn name would be Salem and his show name would be Witching Hour. I had been worried that he would be stressed out about the new barn, new neighbors, etc...I needn't have worried.

Salem chillin' in his new crib

At first, Salem stood at the opening to his paddock and whinnied to the horses in the neighboring pasture. He seemed confused, like, "What is this strange portal at the back wall of my stall?" It took him a whole two minutes to figure out that it wasn't an opening to a parallel universe.

Howdy, neighborooni

Stop embarassing me in front of my new friend

More horse-y greetings

*Munch*

*Stroll/Munch*

*Still munching*

*Stroll*

I've got this portal thing down

Hay + Fan + Floofy Shavings = Happy Horse

His new favorite spot, in the fan-corner

This place is alright, afterall

Hey there!

Salem's next-door neighbor and

new BFF, Phantom

*Smooch*

In the barn for a grooming

He looks calm enough, right? Well, about a minute later, he

pulled back and broke the cross-ties! I have no idea what

happened, like if Sid bit him or I hit a sensitive spot or

who-knows-what...but it was the calmest, slowest "freak-out"

I've ever seen!

This was supposed to show his tail highlights, but

the lighting was too murky

I thought the fly-mask might freak him out,

but he didn't bat an eyelash

I love this pic because it looks like he has a popcorn kernel stuck in his teeth :-)

All in all, it was a fairly laid-back first day. I stayed with Salem until about 7:30, alternating between fussing over him and letting him settle in to his new home. He went on a stroll around the property, made a few new friends, had a nice shower, got fed a ton of hay, and was generally spoiled rotten by everyone. Ever the neurotic foster mother, I made sure he got doses of UlcerGuard, electrolytes, and probiotics (made sweeter with molasses) and carefully measured out his grain for breakfast the following morning. At the end of the day, he got a kiss on the nose and a couple of carrots and was tucked into bed a happy, content little pony.

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