Simon Cannot Stand on 2 Legs

Wednesday afternoon I was picking out Simon’s hooves when he tried to stomp a fly with one of the three hooves he still had on the ground. Normal he is quite talented at standing on two hooves, but he got something wrong this time and started to fall over. To catch himself he smashed the hoof I was holding up into the ground, with the pointy, iron shod toe, smashing directly into my big toe (I did have jodhpur boots on)

Ouch.

No really, major ouch!

I hopped around for a few minutes, feeling like I was going to barf, but managed to get him tacked up and climbed on for a ride. I cut is short as my boot started to feel uncomfortably tight in the toe region, and pulled my boot off.

Here is a photo of my broken big toe, which is very hurty but appears straight and a little purple, but is otherwise in good order.

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by riderofchaos on June 1, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Tagged blue ridge pony

Posted by riderofchaos on June 1, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/06/01/simon-cannot-stand-on-2-legs/

Salty Simon – 2012

Following up on yesterday’s blog post, I pulled Simon out of his pen and tied him to the trailer several times during the weekend.

Not the most flattering photo, it makes him look short necked and looong backed.

When I first traveled with Simon I brought along a small stall/travel sized salt block and put it in a small bucket for him to enjoy throughout the stay. He immediately dumped it and smashed the salt into the ground. I did not replace it knowing that he would just do it again. I thought about buying one of the much more costly Himalayan pink salt blocks that comes on a rope so I could tie it up and prevent him from destroying it. But they are quite pricey. I am glad I did not indulge because I was at a horse and tack auction last fall and they had these same blocks up for auction. I bid and picked one up for $2, new in box. A fraction of the retail cost! Score.

I have since kept it hooked up in the trailer for Simon to enjoy during trailer rides. He does tend to get in a few licks when we get back to the trailer from a trail ride, although I am not sure if Simon licks it because he feels the need for salt, or because it’s just something to do. Regardless, it was a good purchase that gets lots of use.

I kept the salt on a rope hooked up to the trailer for him, along with a hay bag and a bucket of water. He spent a lot of time licking the salt, as well as bashing his bucket around, blowing bubbles in the water, pulling out the hay and dropping it on the ground, and other such nonsense.

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by riderofchaos on May 31, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Tagged salt

Posted by riderofchaos on May 31, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/05/31/salty-simon/

Simon The Entertainer – 2012

Memorial weekend, my mounted games team took part in a USMGA competition in Ranson, West Virginia at the Jefferson Fairgrounds. A lot of the competitors, including teammate, Carol Ann, and I camped out at the grounds with our ponies. Carol Ann and I erected temporary paddocks for Simon, and Carol Ann’s pony Zeke.

Zeke and Simon in their portable pens

We usually camp at our competitions and we put the ponies in portable paddocks when the grounds we are at permit it. It saves the cost of a stall and bedding and it also allows our ponies to move around and stretch out a little more. Our fence is electrified, although I forgot to turn mine on for most of the weekend and Simon respected it just fine anyway.

Cowboy barrowing some much needed nap time in Zeke’s pen

It is nice to wake up to a happy pony face and a welcoming nicker, although Simon woke us up the first morning at 5am. He had dumped his water bucket and was tossing it around and kicking it continuously. Like an alarm clock. I eventually had to get up to stop him. He would stand with it underneath of him and then alternate knocking it with his front and back hooves. Every time I filled up his bucket he would take a quick sip and then dump it and begin tossing the bucket around. I took it away from him after the first night and offered it to him frequently throughout the day so he would stay hydrated and quiet.

5am wake up call from alarm Simon

He also managed to drag his feed bin, which was left just outside of his pen, into the enclosure and stomped it. And he did the same with his lead rope. He looked very smug when I got up.

In typical Simon fashion he attempted to entertain himself by entertaining us all weekend. He would lay down and graze, roll around and then look to see if we were watching. On several occasions he would flop on his side and flap his tail. He nickered at us continuously, and meticulously spread every flake of hay I gave him all around his pen.

One day I left his navy and yellow petal boots on between sessions and he pulled the petals out with his teeth. When I went to get him ready for the next session I found 6 ripped up petals on the ground and several destroyed but still attached. I learned my lesson on that one. Cha ching.

I believe Simon enjoys these events and being able to be as close to us as possible. He certainly enjoys the extra attention and I am sure would happily attempt to force his body into my tent at night if I would allow him. He is such a people pony.

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by riderofchaos on May 30, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games

Posted by riderofchaos on May 30, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/05/30/simon-the-entertainer/

Cub Run ~ Runkles Gap, After the Burn

Simon happy to greet us in the morning.

Simon spent the night in the dog yard and nickered at the house every time he heard me or Rich in the house. Rich put up a saw horse and bin of dirt to keep him from pushing his way into the actual house.

I find it a funny that Simon is in the dog yard, and Daisy is in the background outside of the dog yard. You can also see part of our garden in the background behind the dogyard in its own fence.

In the morning we got tacked up and headed off to one of our regular quick ride spots, Cub Run at Runkles Gap. It had burned due to arson recently and had just opened back up.

This is what Cub Run looked like while it was burning.

Upon entering National Forest there is a fire road that bares off to the right. Below the road is mostly private property. Above the road is National Forest. It mostly burned above the road. The fire only hopped the road in a few spots, and we could see evidence of the forest service cutting the forest to prevent it from spreading on that side where it did skip over.

It was a nice, relatively short ride. I am interested to return sometime this summer and see how the forest recovers.

Rich took a turn riding Simon.

We saw this turtle crossing the fire road.

There is a lot of dumping at Cub Run. You can see tons of bottles here that survived the fire. Gross.

We stopped at this swim spot on our way back out.

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by riderofchaos on May 17, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Trail Riding

Tagged blue ridge pony, cub run, national forest, runkles gap, trail ride

Posted by riderofchaos on May 17, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/05/17/cub-run-runkles-gap-after-the-burn/

Power Damn Road Hack

Rich standing with Simon and holding my helmet for me.

One and a half weeks ago I took Simon on a road hack in McGaheysville. We stopped and said hello to some neighbors along the way. Simon got some carrots and lots of pats. We rode the back roads and came up to Power Damn. It is a place just a bit from our house that we can put in our tubes, and float down to the boat landing for pick up. It’s also a place that people like to go for a dip and get their fish on. Power Damn is an old damn that is being rebuilt. And since last fall, they have closed the parking pullover so it won’t be the best put in any more, since we won’t be able to leave a vehicle there while we float.

The bouncy foot bridge

Simon and I headed down the short foot trail to the put-in spot, so we could see if anything had changed. It hadn’t. Along the path there is a foot bridge that crosses over water flow. It was too muddy for Simon to go through the creek bed, so I hopped off and we jogged over the bouncy bridge. Probably not the safest thing to do. I doubt it was designed with a pony in mind. But Simon is a sturdy thing and fully trusts me so without bulking we crossed it just fine. We also recrossed it successfully on our way back to the entrance.

After inspecting our usual put in, and ascertaining that nothing had changed, we popped in the damn entrance. There are no signs about no trespassing, and I believe it is community property. So we jogged along the gravel and dirt roads in the area, checking it all out. We eventually came out at a nice walk in spot to the river. So we walked on in and Simon had a good time pawing the water and splashing himself with the chill water.

I saw a couple random, uncracked eggs on the ground. A little smaller than a chicken egg.

Then we had a nice canter along the river, following the vehicle path along the side. We went for a little while before deciding to turn around and head back home. There were dark clouds approaching in the distance and it was going to be dark before too long.

We set a good pace and were in sight of our driveway when the sky opened up and dumped on us. Rich ran outside and helped pull off Simon’s tack and get him settled into the dog yard for the night. His job was to mow it down, since it had reached near hay mowing heights. Simon got to work and we went inside to get dried off.