My Back in the Saddle Weekend

Show me some love, handsome!

What a weekend! Having three days off is always nice, it means more horse time for me, so I won't complain. The weather was also agreeable. It was finger-numbing cold, but there was lots of blue sky so it was a fair trade-off. I headed up to the Painted Creek to see my horse. My plan was to saddle him up, longe him out, and ride. And I did!

By the time I got up there Saturday, it was late afternoon but it still felt like a chilly morning. I love the afternoon light as the sun begins to sink low in the sky. It's my favorite for photographs. Everything was covered in dew, it hung from the arena panels and clung to the grass. My Boy's hoof prints from last weekend were now frozen in the dirt.

An eerie fog hung around in the trees and fields. I could see My Boy's breath, and couldn't tell where it began and the fog ended.

I was glad for my warm chinks, what a difference they made! I have to tell you though, I've been wearing my warm and comfy muck boots so often this winter that I could barely even walk in my riding boots! I felt like I was wearing high-heeled fashion boots, for goodness sakes!


These are not my good riding boots (my Twisted X.) I had to walk through about 2 inches of watery muck to get the arena and no way was I sinking them into that.

I asked Paint Girl if she would come outside at some point and take some pictures of me riding My Boy. I always take a gazillion pictures of my horse, but I rarely get any of me with or on him. She said she would. But when it was time for her to take the pictures, as daylight was fading fast.... I found her curled on the couch under a blanket, napping to the sound of a football game, one of her favorite kitties tucked in next to her. Oops. Luckily she was kind of enough to rouse, bundle up, and head out to take a few pictures for me. Thanks, Paint Girl!

It felt good to be back in the saddle again!

Riding into the fog.

Sunday night, Paint Girl and I watched a few of the reined cow horse competitors from the AQHA World Show, that she had taped off of network television not long ago. I have never seen a reined cow horse competition but I loved it. A horse that can do a reining pattern is one thing, but a horse that can follow that up with the real action and turn a cow is another! It was fun to watch Carol Rose ride (I think she was the only woman to qualify in this event) even though she spun the wrong direction in her reining pattern. My farrier said that he has shown under Carol as a judge at an AQHA show many years ago and that she is best known for being a breeder of performance horses, cutting and reining horses in particular. For example, here is a link to the stallion Shining Spark. Oh Nellie, can you say gorgeous!?

Afterwards, Paint Girl and I ate popcorn and watched Silverado, a western remake from 1985. Kevin Costner was so young in this movie! We had fun trying to figure out how often they switched out the "horse actors." We only really picked up on the pinto being switched throughout the movie. Only horsey people notice these kinds of details in movies!

On Monday, it was shoeing time. I gave My Boy a bit of bute with his breakfast to help ease the aches of farrier work. I have done this once before and he was much better about having his hind legs done. Not that he's ever been really awful, but at times he was obviously cranky and uncomfortable about standing on his arthritic hocks.

After his bute, as promised, I cleaned out the run-in shed and gave My Boy some fresh shavings. He thinks he might wander over and help me out. I'm sure he's just wondering if I have any more handouts for him.

Nope, this was not My Boy in the snow. This was how frosty it was, even at 1:00 in the afternoon! Everything in the shade was coated in a thick layer of white. I longed him out and then we waited for the farrier, who showed up a bit late. Luckily I have a very patient horse, he'll stand forever. It's a very redeeming quality. We just hung out together, walking and standing around, trying to keep warm in the sunlight. He was perfect for the farrier this time. I let him graze before putting him away, this time without his blanket. It's been cold but it isn't supposed to rain for a while, and his blanket was beginning to rub the hair off his shoulder a bit. So long, clean horse!

For those of you who took a guess on the mystery bay gelding in Sunday's post, here is a shot of his whole body (although it doesn't help much that he's wearing a blanket, I suppose!)

For those of you that guessed he was a Morgan, you are correct! This Morgan gelding is owned by the barn manager at the stable my mom boards at. Being a fan of Morgans, I had to snap his picture when I was there over the holidays. He'd just been turned out in the snow and was not that thrilled with walking around in it. He is a handsome boy and was going to be a dressage horse by his previous owners, until they discovered he was gaited.

I hope you all had memorable weekends! Happy MLK day, too!