Horse Swap!!

So, it looks like I'll be "swapping" horses for a couple months! Should be fun I think. See, Pie right now, he reeeaaally needs his shoes pulled and to just go barefoot for awhile to let his foot grow out, he's just not staying sound right now. So, I was poking around on craigslist a few weeks ago, and came across a link for a horse for lease, a 9 year old TB mare who has a knack for jumping. The owner is pregnant so can't ride at the moment and wants to find someone to lease her mare until July or so. She said either the mare can be kept at her pasture, or can be boarded somewhere. So I emailed with the proposition that I take the mare to my barn, and my horse, Pie, goes and lives at her pasture, barefoot. My idea was met with great enthusiasim and it looks like it will work out perfectly.

I went and took a look at the mare yesterday, her name is Callie, and she's little! Probably about 15.2hh and very petite in her build. Pie is built like a tank, she is the exact opposite! She's a little sorry looking right now, poor girl, she's lost weight being out of work and has no muscle definition at all. Part of it is that she's living with two arabs, and she needs much more food than they do, but there is no way to separate them at the moment, so while the arabs are fat and happy, she's been dropping pounds. It'll be good once she gets to my barn and she can eat all she wants in her own stall.

While she's nothing super duper fancy, she's really cute and has a super sweet and quiet look to her eyes. She can be a little marish when saddling and if you nag her with your leg--but otherwise she is DEAD quiet and compared to Pie, lazy. At least right now, once she gets fitter and puts on weight I expect her to perk up a lot. She is in desperate need of a clip and mane trim, which she will get both asap once she arrives!

I'm excited to have a sound horse I can ride on a regular basis, and one I can jump! I was telling the owner of the barn I do chores at about it, that I was looking forward to jumping again, and he said that they will be getting some jumps soon, that makes me really excited, I won't have to pay $$ to go down to the local boarding stable to use the jumps there.

Not sure yet when the swap will take place, probably in a week or two, once we do paperwork/contract stuff and let my barn know, things should all be good to go. Yay!

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What a good horse

So, I went back and re-watched my last Cross Country round I did on the horse I leased for awhile, Wild Yonder (more affectionately called "Buddy boy")... I had a blast! It was Novice at the 2008 Colorado Horse Park horse trials. Though, looking back at it today, I realized something... that horse saved my butt out there!! More than once!

He was such a saint of a horse, pretty much did whatever I asked him to, even if I put him to the jump at a really awkward spot, or didn't have him properly in front of my leg (that was our biggest issue). Ahhh what a good boy! His new owner is one lucky lady, I hope to see them at a few events this year :)

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It's monday

Packers won the Super Bowl. Yay. I'm only happy because Pittsburgh didn't win another super bowl title... I'm not a fan of the Packers, however I do like Aaron Rogers, he strikes me as a good guy, not to mention he's a darn good quarterback.

I'm scheming on something regarding Pie and a possible way to let him go barefoot for awhile, which is something I think he really needs. This scheme would also include an alternative horse for me to ride (and jump!), we'll see if it works out or not. ;)

Nothing else, it's monday... it's busy... it sucks. Ready for summer. Just a few more months and things will start to thaw!

Oh yeah, and I also wanted to say... the Darth Vader kid VW comercial during the super bowl last night was a total win in my book. Too cute!

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Super bowl sunday ramblings

So, nothing terribly interesting to report on. We've managed to make it back above sub-zero temperatures, it was 21*F this morning when I went out to start my truck to head to work and dangit if it didn't feel WARM! That's sad... lol

The super bowl is today, and... me, football loving me, hasn't watched a lick of football this year. I blame it on work, school, and not having cable for the past couple of months. Of the teams playing, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, I don't like either team, however I DESPISE the Steelers, right alongside the Patriots. Grr... evil teams, both of them. So, that said, while I do not care for the Packers, I am rooting for them, simply because I do not want the steelers to win another super bowl!!

In horsey news: I MISS RIDING!!! But most of all, I miss jumping :( Big time! I haven't taken a horse over a jump in about 6 months. No bueno, no bueno at all! Pie got his feet done on the 1st, and he's a little bit better, he's still oh so slightly off in that right front, and I'm not sure what to do. The crack is looking good, but I think that his heel is just waaaay too high. The farrier said he's leaving the heel a tad high to help him land more toe-first to keep from pounding that inside heel too much. I agree with him, but this foot grows so clubby and heel-high to begin with, he really doesn't need any extra help when it comes to landing toe-first. Not to mention, when that heel gets high, he goes lame. It's a one to one relation, he's sounder when that heel is kept low. Then, because he tends to rest that right front a lot, putting more weight on the other foot, the left front gets pretty pancaked and tends to have underrun heels, his feet couldn't be more opposite. I'll have to get pictures here, but it's crazy. I noticed this time the farrier placed that shoe quite forward, or, at least, didn't use a big enough shoe to give enough heel support. Once again, I'm going to take pictures and analyze them with some lines in photoshop to show what I mean. We'll see how Pie goes for the next week or two, if no improvement in soundness that farrier is coming back to re-do his work. I love that he is being so pro-active with getting that nasty crack under control, but no so pleased yet with how he's shoeing the rest of the foot. He's not a bad farrier, I'm just picky.

Auuumm... last little tid-bit, we got a rooster!! We saw an ad on craigslist for Barred Rock Roosters and called the lady up and got one. We love him! He's so beautiful, and he looooves his hens lol. Our little flock is complete :) before the hens were very wary of coming out of the coop, shy and skittish. Now they are happy to roam all over with their knight in shining armour watching over them. He's so cute, he'll herd them around, hide them in one of the corners of the yard if he feels there is danger present (aka our pooch named Fiona...), and he's full of it!! Flaps his wings and ruffles his feathers, letting the whole world know how big and bad he is. He's awesome, and he needs a name... so far I've shot down "Cocky" "Prince Poppycock" and another not-so-appropriate-name... my dear hubby has a dirty mind *blushes*.

Leading his ladies around. So cute! I'm thinking he needs a "Sir _____ " name because he thinks he is all that and is on such a high horse lol. We'll see.

Beyond that, nothing else I can think of to write. Think today at work I'm just gonna sit and read a book inbetween calls, haven't done that in awhile.

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Hungry anybody?

So, it's the beginning of the year, time to start paying attention to the Derby prep races, start looking through stats and deciding which 3-year-old thoroughbred has the best chance of taking those roses. Time to watch those wonderful prep races, the Wood Memorial, the Santa Anita Derby, the Gotham Stakes, the Arkansas Derby, the San Felipe, the Rebel Stakes... AAAHH!! So exciting!!

I don't really pay any attention to 2-year-old races, because, most of these colts don't really come into their own until like March and April when the prep races start heating up. A lot of the colts who show early speed as a 2-year-old, winning races such as the Juvenile at the Breeders Cup, are often caught by the REAL winners in the spring, the ones who mature a little later, and are able to show the stamina that is needed for the triple crown races, something 2-year-olds just don't posses.

That said.... I was looking over somebody's list for the top 20 3-year-olds who currently have their noses pointed at Churchill Downs. And one caught my eye and me do a double take! http://www.drf.com/news/kentucky-derby-137-mike-watchmakers-early-top-20-contenders

His name is "Gourmet Dinner" ... really?? WHO in their right mind would name a horse Gourmet Dinner?? That's like, just aaassking for him to be made into alpo! Gah, poor horse!! I bet he is the brunt of endless jokes around the barn. His owner's musta been on crack when they picked that name... again, poor horse!

Ok, so I just looked up his pedigree... I've forgive his owners, a little. http://www.pedigreequery.com/gourmet+dinner2 He is out of a mare named "Potluck Dinner" who is out of a mare named "Romantic Dinner" ... seems like the names just got progressivley worse in this family LOL! Nobody in his pedigree really stands out, so we'll see. So far he's won one G3 stakes as a two year old, and came in third in the Holy Bull just this past weekend.

Currently, the leader in Derby pointed horses is a colt named Uncle Mo, and he is because of his win in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile. Go figure. Buuuut he is trained by Todd Pletcher. He hasn't raced yet as a 3-year-old, but that's not surprising as we are only one month into the new year. Only time will tell. I can guarantee you one thing, we'll see that top 20 list change a LOT as horses win, and lose, races.

I can't wait!

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Frozen!

Holy moly, had a farrier appointment today, it was about three below zero. And to add to frozen fingers and toes, Pie was not cooperating! I think they got left in yesterday, so all he wanted was to go OUT!! Standing still to get his feet done was not on his to-do list for the day.

But now that he's got new shoes on that head bob at the trot should go away.

As for me, I was completely frozen by the time I finished the stalls and got home.

And for news in the eventing world, the deadline for applications for the United States Eventing Team technical advisor and Chef d'Equipe position was yesterday. Of the know applicants, I'm most excited about Leslie Law and Jimmy Wofford putting their names out there for the job. Can't wait to see the short list!

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