All posts tagged horse

Severus Poe? – 2015

February 16, 2015

I have been listening to the Harry Potter audio books (for about the 100th time) and I just finished the part where Harry sees Snape’s memories in the pensive in the Deathly Hallows. This part always makes me happy sad. Poor Snape is such a grumpy sour puss but with a good heart under it all. Underestimated through the whole series, he comes out as one of the most sacrificing and courageous characters at the end.

“After all this time?”
“Always,” said Snape.”

Then I got to thinking, that’s sort of Poe like. Poe has an amazing heart, and really is a loveable thing, but in sort of a secrete way. Just like Snape. Poe acts like an old grumpy sour puss pony. He has this, death-to-all face when he is in competition like he is evil and dark. Normally he is all pinned ears and evil looks towards Simon and Spike. But when he thinks no one is around I’ll catch him sharing his hay, and loving on Simon and Spike. And he loves on me all the time.

I suppose if I were to change Poe’s name (which I am not), I would rename him Severus Snape. I think it would be quite fitting.

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by riderofchaos on February 16, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Tagged equestrian, harry potter, horse, pony, severus snape

Posted by riderofchaos on February 16, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/02/16/severus-poe/

Games Practice – 2/8/15

February 12, 2015

This is what games practice looks like on GPS.

We had another awesome games practice on Sunday. This one was very laid back, slower paced, and refreshing. It was our base group, Zoe, Val, Becca and myself, so a nice small group. We set up three lanes of races so we had ample space and we leisurely worked on skills as we went through a few races.

We warmed up with speed weavers, and then moved onto ball and cone. I felt my ball and cone was particularly strong this week, both picking and placing. Then we moved to two flag. Which again went very well on my part. Val was a little off on this race, I think its her having to adjust for her changing balance. We went onto 3 mug, which was nothing special on my end, but Zoe was whipping through those on Petal like she was a race car. We spent a good bit of time working on pony pairs, which went unbelievably well right from the start. This was Becca’s first time playing this race, and although she kept Jiggy at a trot, he made excellent turns and her pick-ups and drop offs were outstanding. Zoe, Val and I all went well together regardless of order, but in the end we found that Krista to Zoe to Val went really well (noting that for us later). We laughed a lot through this portion of our practice. We also did ball and bucket, which believe it or not was my pick. I went first and was so sloppy. I slowly got a clean dunk and then had to tighten my girth to remount. Sloppy. So I went again and was very pleased with myself. We finished with litter and I was very happy with my performance in this race. We worked on the pickup and correction skill for litter a little and we all finished with successful runs.

After practice we grabbed a bite to eat together at the Kabob place in Winchester. It was good food and good time spent chatting about games. We are all clearly looking forward to the season!

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by riderofchaos on February 12, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games

Tagged equestrian, horse, mounted games, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on February 12, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/02/12/games-practice-2815/

Trail Report – 2/7/15 – Marshall Run Loop 235

February 10, 2015

***Again, my phone cut off the tracker, and it did not complete the circuit for me. Please add about 2 miles and about 25 minutes to it. ***

Trail ride Saturday, and the weather was unseasonably warm in the 50s. I decided to step up our shorter 5-7 mile conditioning rides and make this one longer. Although I was shooting more for an 8-10 mile ride, but my exploring got the better of me and we ended up going closer to 13 miles.

I went back to Marshall Run. There were already two trailers parked there, mine making three. I hit the fire road and stayed on the main one, bearing right. The snow had melted from the forest, but the snow on the road had melted and refrozen several times making a nice solid sheet of ice almost continuously back to the fire road gate (about 1 ½ miles worth). I had planned to get a nice trot going up the road, and was becoming frustrated with it. Simon was ready to stretch out some and seemed intent on walking directly on the slipperiest parts of the ice, instead of the very narrow shoulders on the sides. The dogs were running and sliding out on the road, which was actually rather funny. I hopped up onto one of the unmarked side trails about ½ way up the road. It is on the left hand side as you go up, at one of the bends to the right in the road. Is a step but short step up, and leads to a rather smooth trail. I saw signs of horses having used the trail somewhat recently, and some encroaching branches that had been snapped back but there were a few more recent logs down that needed a chainsaw to eliminate them. Only two of these were too big for Simon to step over, the first one being easy to ride around. The second one had some snow around it, making it a bit slippery at the ride around, so I decided to save this trail for another day and went back to the road and continued up.

Icy fire road on the way out.

I explored a few other turn offs but none that were that enticing. Which left me ready to take the loop, in the opposite direction as is typical. I passed the fire gate, and over the creek and along the fire road, and then I turned off and into the forest. It is a well-used but unmarked trail, with several creek crossings. I came head up to three riders, from the other two trailers, and we stopped for a good fifteen minute chat before moving on. I continued down the trail, past the turn, which was uphill to the right, and very easy to miss. I just to see what was ahead. Although, knowing that the loop is already a good ride, and having added a few miles already with exploration, I returned to the turn off. We headed up the hill and enjoyed the terrain, eventually coming back around to the fire road. By going this way I had saved the gradual downhill for a longer part of the ride. Which gave me the opportunity to work on Simon’s downhill. We trotted quite a bit of it and cantered some as well. The road was nice and clear, with just a few snow spots on shadier places.

Eventually we reached back to where we had turned off and continued the ride back. Again being annoyed by the icy conditions for the last 1 ½ miles. I did note that there had been considerable melt while we were on our ride, making the shoulders wider and some of the ice areas much smaller! The whole loop was clear, freshly so in some places (THANK YOU), and made for an excellent ride. The actual loop, if I had left off all my exploring, would probably have been close to 10 miles, I’ll try to track it more accurately in the future.

I was also pleased that Simon was still peppy at the end, eagerly picking up a trot or even canter. Although I was a little sore the next day, I think our conditioning is coming along.

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by riderofchaos on February 10, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Trail Riding

Tagged equestrian, horse, national forest, pony, virginia

Posted by riderofchaos on February 10, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/02/10/trail-report-2715-marshall-run-loop-235/

Simon had “Mild Gut Discomfort”

February 9, 2015

On Saturday Simon and upped the anti, and doubled our ride time. We have been doing 5-7 miles or so recently to get us back into some type of trail riding condition. Saturday we did a longer conditioning ride that was about 13 miles. Saturday we were also having a winter heat wave with temperatures in the upper 50s. It was really nice and the perfect day to put on some miles. We didn’t push the pace too much, but we did step it up, finishing in a little under 3 hours. Simon was still peppy and energetic at the end. The trail head was also only about 15 minutes from home, which is lovely.

We got home and I put Simon out. He got a nice roll in, and hit up the water, than waited impatiently for dinner to be served. I did a few barn chores and then brought dinner out just a bit later. He scarfed his food down with plenty of gusto while I filled the hay barrels.

When I went back by to take his halter off and release him to the hay he looked mopey and off. He just stood there. I went about releasing the other ponies and finished filling the hay barrels and he was still standing there looking rather despondent. I did some other out-door chores, and checked in on him every ten minutes or so. The next check in he was laying down. Then he was standing, then he was laying down again. So I pulled him out of the field and hooked him to the grooming tie to observe him.

He started to kick at his belly and kept swatting his tail. I listened to his belly and heard gut sounds. He gave off a pathetic pony moan when I went to get the thermometer. Following Murphy’s law, the thermometer was not working, swell. This is about the time a horsey friend gave me a call. We briefly discussed Simon’s situation and I hung up to call the vet for some professional advice.

With the call placed, I went back to observing Simon while I waited for a return call. Simon let out a rather loud fart, and then seemed to perk back up. He nosed at my pocket for a cookie and stopped all signs of distress. The vet returned my call about 15 minutes later and while we were discussing the situation, Simon farted again and then tried to untie himself to reach the hay nearby.

The vet hedged that Simon probably had some mild gut discomfort, and the passing gas probably helped relieve this. I was careful to explain that Simon is a rather sensitive and dramatic pony, and this would not be out of character for him. The vet said to call back if his symptoms returned or I felt the need. I put Simon out in the private paddock in front of the house for the night, noting the level of water. Simon dove his head right to the ground and started to eagerly crop the grass.

I checked on him a few times, noting how greedily he was eating, that he had perked back up and that he was following me around the paddock (while I looked for fresh poo) and was eagerly muzzling for treats that he was sure were in my pockets. After he had pooped, and was clearly back to his usual self, I called it a night and went to bed.

In the morning he had drank plenty, and was eager to go back into the field with his buddies. I gave him the day off and kept an eye on him, but he seemed to remain his usual self.

What did I learn from this experience? I need to redo my equine first aid kit. I also need to refresh myself on basic equine emergency first aid.

What was I pleased about? I noticed Simon did not seem himself very quickly and was attentive and observant. I know my ponies personality and could see the changes taking place and what was normal and not normal. I did not panic or get flustered. It was really nice to have the ponies at home for this situation, and to have the ability to separate Simon into a small private and observable paddock.

The sum: Simon showed about 45 minutes of uncharacteristic mopey-ness, and then about 15-20 minutes of more recognizable colic symptoms including laying down, kicking his belly and swatting his tail. The drastic weather change and long ride, combined with Simon bolting his feed seemed to be the combined culprit. I am happy that everything worked out and both Simon and my wallet did not suffer.

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by riderofchaos on February 9, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Tagged colic, equestrian, horse, pony

Posted by riderofchaos on February 9, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/02/09/mild-gut-discomfort/

Two Days of Road Hacks

February 2, 2025

It’s still snowy and icy so riding at home sucks. The trails and fire roads, which are in the mountains, are probably worse. And I am not sure if I can get my trailer out and back in anyway. So Simon and I hit the roads this weekend. Simon is my only stead equipped with shoes. And luckily I planned ahead this fall and upgraded him to shoes with Borium so he has nice road grip.

Saturday January 31, 2015

I repeated the loop I had previously ridden. It’s a nice mostly unpaved 5 mile loop with some good views and a few spooky critters along the way.

I was aiming to push pretty heavy for lots of trotting. And I managed to accomplish this for a good portion of the ride. Although the roads were pretty icy in some places and that slowed Simon and I down some.

There were a lot of critters along this ride. Alpaca, sheep, cows, goats, dogs and a few fields of horses. We managed all of these, even the most scary; small-dog-on-rope.

All in all a good hack.

Goat on the side of the road.

Sunday February 1, 2015

*note the straight line on the map above should follow the road. The app cut the mileage and time down and did not follow my GPS track for the end of the ride.

Sunday I headed out early and tried a new loop. This one was slightly longer. I tracked it in my car and it was just a bit over 6 miles. Unfortunately my iPhone app tracker, map my tracks, stopped tracking (as you can see on the map). This is getting very frustrating because it has done this on several trips now.

This hack also included some icy roads, cows, goats, horse and dogs. There were two cows in particular, #7 and #44. They followed us along the edge of their field for a ways, bucking and mooing along. Simon was amused and kept stopping to watch.

Another good ride.