Turning the page

Bar greets Forrest

Today was an interesting and exciting day in our horse family, and certainly the start of a new chapter for Katie, Sammy, and an OTTB named Forrest View. Sammy stepped right off the trailer and into her new family, barely looking back at us. After finally deciding to load at his racing trainers' barn, Forrest rode mostly calmly through Sebastopol, then climbed out at our barn and into the next phase of his life.

Katie felt really good about the family who bought Sammy, and the balloons on the mailbox cemented it for me--especially the one that said "Welcome Home!" And then the woman said, "Isn't she gorgeous?" about Sammy--who is cute, but often got secondary notice next to Romeo when they were out together--and we all knew it was the right place for Sammy.

Then came the wait for the call from Devon that they were headed back to their ranch so we could pick up Forrest. Katie was amazingly patient.

When we pulled in with the trailer, Forrest was immediately suspicious. He apparently doesn't like trailering much, but especially away from the barn since that has (up until now) meant back to the track. He likes the track. He likes he activity and other horses. He even likes to work. He just didn't like to actually race. At any rate, the trailer was immediate cause for concern. Perhaps ignoring it would make it go away.

Forrest pretending the trailer is not there

He did finally let Katie get the halter on him, though was not interested in the very tasty horse cookies she offered as a bribe.

Okay I'll go along with you and see what happens

Loading still took us awhile, plus some creativity, but when he finally decided to get in, he was fine nearly all the way home. Only minor trailer rocking through downtown Sebastopol, which all things considered is pretty good.

Katie was careful unloading, but he was a perfect gentleman and came out soft and easy for her.

Forrest arrives

Katie walked him around, let him eat grass and check things out. He came up to meet Bar and Lena--Bar was sweet, Lena was sassy.

Not squealing. Yet.

For all that he is an OTTB, a "crazy" Thoroughbred, Forrest was easy to control and settled quickly. He had never been in a round pen or an indoor arena (let alone one with jumps and obstacles on the ground) and he handled it all with only minor dancing and all the while listening and responding to Katie. He is not as volatile as Bar was, not quite as hard to handle and a bit less opinionated. It is giving me more perspective to watch this younger horse with the same background walk through these new experiences--experiences that must have been new to Bar, too, despite having been around the track a few more times.

Forrest and Katie staring at something

As for Katie, I have never seen her connect like this with a horse. I've seen her grin like this because of horses, but never while levitating off the ground with absolute joy and excitement.

Getting to watch this will definitely be an interesting next chapter for a few of us--not just Katie and Forrest.

Finding Sammy a new home

On a student's budget, Katie has to find Sammy a new home before she brings Forrest home. And not just any home, she wants to find a place Sammy will be happy, loved, and have a job.

That hasn't quite happened, yet, though--amazingly enough in this market--she's had a lot of interest and response to her Craiglist ad.

I know, I know.. watch out for those Craigslist horses, right?

Sammy really is a horse you can jut get on and ride without any hassle, be it in the arena or on the trails. She even handled ending up in the middle of a mountain bike race once.


Katie thought she had one lined up, but it fell through so is investigating a couple other options, including donating Sammy to a therapeutic riding program.

It's a hard decision to let a horse go when you decide you need something different. I wish Katie all the wisdom and insight possible to make the right choice for Sammy.

Puffy horse

When I got to the barn tonight, I noticed Bar had hives. What?! I thought perhaps he had gotten stung or that the liniment I'd been using could have caused a reaction. I worked him lightly--possibly not my smartest move--but he seemed fine, normal attitude and all, and then he got a nice bath. I thought it would help with the hives, and it did. What it didn't help was the baseball sized nose and swollen eyes!!

Katie said, "Why does stuff always happen to you?!" Meaning Bar, not me.

We called the vet and after a few questions--yes, his gum color and breathing seemed normal--she advised Banamine, elevating his hay and checking on him an hour or so later.


We came home for dinner and then turned around and headed back to the barn. We found a much less swollen Thoroughbred with no hives. Phew. Except Sammy now has a swollen eye! It was probably a sting or bug bite of some kind in Bar's case--it looked like a very allergic reaction--not sure what Sammy did to herself, yet.


If it ain't one thing, it's another.

Sammy's tummy

Katie called me from the barn the other day because poor Sammy had some irritation on her stomach. She had given her a bath with medicated shampoo, sprayed her with medicated spray, and asked me to keep an eye on it.

Sammy's belly is pretty bald, but not irritated any more. It is weird to see a horse belly so bare, though.

Not sure what it is, yet, but it is a new horse ailment for us to figure out. Kind of fun, in a weird way, for horse nerds like us. Fun, at least, because it's not causing Sammy any pain or discomfort.

I was reminded, however, that horses can be a little moody. Sammy got me with side kick when I sprayed her belly--luckily I was close (like my vet told me to be) and it wasn't too bad. I did let her know it was not okay for any reason to kick, however.

Sammy's first trail ride

Katie has been dying to get Sammy out on the trail since she got her, but the weather here in Northern California has not been as cooperative as one might hope. Not that we in the drought-stricken state are complaining, just noticing that the trail riding opportunities have not been as plentiful so far this year.

We decided to take Lena just because she is the more experienced horse. While Bar actually tends to be calmer, Lena is definitely more confident most of the time, and we thought that would be key for Sammy's first time out.

We were a little worried about too much mare in the mix, but they actually did quite well together. Lena is more dominant, but Sammy holds her own and isn't particularly herd-bound with Lena, which is good. Bar is extremely attached to Lena, and that has lead to him getting very stressed when she gets out of sight. Sammy was content to be by Lena, but didn't need to be. Of course, that backfired on us a little when we came across a terrifying trickle of water. Lena went across fine, but Sammy wanted nothing to do with this mud nonsense and it didn't matter that Lena and I were on the other side--not one little bit. Bar is more afraid of being separated from Lena than of almost any obstacle. Sammy wasn't sure that heading back up the hill away from the water--and Lena--wasn't the better plan but Katie convinced her that going through was way better than facing Katie's wrath.

The ride was only a little bit challenging for Sammy physically--since hills are not a part of arena life--but she wasn't too stressed and did great with both the uphill and downhill. She is definitely a good example of why Quarter Horses have that good, solid, golden retriever reputation--but she is not boring, which is good. Can't have Katie getting bored, after all. That would be bad.

Katie was very proud of Sammy, and we were all glad to get away from the arena today. Bar, on the other hand, was a bit miffed at being left behind. We got a loud whinny and a very sad, soulful look when we got back to the barn and came up the hill leading Sammy and Lena. Someone missed all his girls, but I promised him he'd get to go next time. He was only somewhat mollified, even after several carrots and some tasty grass, but hopefully he'll forgive me eventually. After the next outing, is my guess.

As it was, Valentine's Day appeared to be all about the ladies today and since it's an artificial event (in my opinion, anyway), that's probably okay.

Back to horses

Dad would want me to write, even if--possibly especially if--it bumped his picture down the page.

So we'll go back to horses, though there continue to be bursts of overwhelming sadness mixed with chuckles when memories surface. Matches the weather out here today, with the sun peeking through the clouds off and on and filtering down through the mist in the river valley below us.

All three horses got out yesterday, and all three were very glad for it. Steve and Lena had a nice romp, and Katie and Sammy helped Bar with his other-horse anxieties. Or at least they gave me a chance to do some training around that issue.

Having not been out in three days, Bar was very frisky and really wanted to play. He walked pretty quietly next to me down to the arena, but I could practically hear his muscles and nerves singing in my ears--sproing, sproing, sproing. It makes me wish (again) for a place to turn him out with Lena, and now Sammy, so he could play with other horses. It's a bit difficult for me to keep up with his long Thoroughbred legs and he says I take things way too seriously, like nipping for example.

Katie was already down there, and Bar was determined Sammy should notice his handsome self bouncing around in the round pen. He did finally settle down and work nicely for me, despite the overwhelming urge to show off. Sproing. "Sammy, look over here!" Sproing, sproing. "Yoo hoo... Sammy.." Sproing.

After we were done in the round pen, I got on him for a few minutes bareback, hoping it would knock my spine back into place. (My back has been out for three days and it's getting really annoying.) Bar still really wanted to play with Sammy, but I convinced him to work over obstacles and do some bending instead.

He actually did great until I got off and Katie zoomed by in jockey position on Sammy--then we got a little dancing and spinning as we left the arena. He always moved away from me and always pulled himself back together--even when we got into the barn aisle and he realized both (!) exits were blocked by other horses. He definitely wanted out (OUT!) of the barn, but he stayed with me and didn't rush too badly as we headed out into the sunshine.

All in all, I was pretty proud of him and his big brown bouncy self and glad to be back at the barn, too. It doesn't make me miss Dad less, but it does soothe my soul, which is a good thing.

Bar manages the arena with other horses

This afternoon, the stars aligned for Bar and me to have a test with other horses and riders in the arena, so we did it and he was awesome.

Katie was already going to ride and one of the other boarders and her boyfriend were there riding two of the mares Bar knows from the big pasture. (They hang out by his paddock all the time and he's quite fond of them.)

Since the two folks besides Katie are good, relaxed horse people, I went ahead and saddled Bar and went down to the arena. Everyone else was already here, and he stayed quiet as we went inside, just eyeballing the various bodies with a slightly worried look. I had him work at a slow trot inside the round pen first (our round pen is at one end of the indoor arena), quietly talking to him and keeping him focused on what we were doing, not what was going on around him.

He was attentive and cooperative, so we moved out into the arena with everyone else. I wasn't really interested in giving him a hard workout, mainly just keeping him on task and relaxed with other horses and riders around him. This is as much for me as for him since (as I've mentioned before) I do tend to tense up with others in the arena.

At first, he kept trying to get close to the other horses, but we just redirected his energies and did obstacles until he settled down and just walked the arena with me. We did try to walk next to Katie and Sammy, but Sammy turned around and snapped at Bar, so we backed off of that for now.

Once the other two riders left, I had Bar trot around the outside of the round pen while Katie trotted Sammy around the whole arena. The work around the round pen helps him bend, and having Sammy come up behind him and me insist he maintain discipline was also good. For both of us.

We'll ease into harder work with other riders around, but I was really pleased with his behavior today. There was only one time I could feel him start to go--he makes this funny noise, you see--kind of like a muffled, frustrated, squeal in his throat. Katie and Sammy were trotting up behind us, he started to bunch up under me and there came that noise. I just waggled the reins and warned him not to go there and he subsided from the edge like a well-poured beer.

My goal was to treat this as a situation where he could be relaxed and responsive to his rider, even if he wanted to go socialize, and he did a great job. Maybe it seems like baby steps, but I'll take it as a win anyway.

Entering the next decade

Supposedly, all horses have birthdays today, which means Lena is 9, Bar is 10, and we don't yet know how old Sammy is. On day one of the new decade, Sammy was purchased for real, she and Lena got ridden, and Bar and I enjoyed a walk down the driveway and some puddle training.

Lena was very glad to get out, Steve had a pretty good ride, and it went a small way towards making her feel less neglected. It was bad enough when Bar came along and she had to share, but adding another horse has her Royal Spottiness feeling a little more bent out of shape then normal these days. Bar, on the other hand, reached through his pen bars after Katie put Sammy away as if to say, "Welcome to the herd!"

Lena will just have to get over it.

Katie paid Peter $1 and got the bill of sale for Sammy today, plus wrote her own check for board. She said she's never been so excited to give someone money before and has been picking up more work already to support her new horse habit. Luckily, we have more than enough extra tack (shocking, I know) for her to not have to worry about that part of things for now.

Sammy is loving the attention, even getting her mane and tail trimmed a little more today. The first time we took her out, she had huge tangles in her mane and her tail was dragging on the ground. We cut the tangles out of her mane, but it looked a bit like a hack job, so Katie has been cleaning it up over the last few days. Sammy has a great tail, and it just needed some TLC to get it looking even better.


Unfortunately for Bar, the indoor arena (it being rainy here today) was too full for us, even though he was in a super mellow mood, so I decided to groom him and take him for a walk down the driveway. If it had just been Steve and Katie in there, we would have gone ahead, but there are just a few folks who get nervous when we get in the arena, which then makes me nervous, which in turn makes Bar nervous. It's just not worth the headaches. Yes, one of the goals for this year is to get us past that with at least most of the people at the barn. (There are always going to be a few we will studiously avoid.)


While cleaning his feet, though, his left front (the upright) felt warm to the touch. Hm. He was putting weight on it, didn't seem sore, and wasn't limping on or favoring it at all, so we went for our walk. Nothing. No head bob at a walk or a trot, no stumbling, nada.

So we worked on going through puddles and some of our basic ground work skills, then walked back to the wash rack and rinsed his foot with cold water, just in case, and applied lots of iodine. He's probably fine, but we'll keep an eye on it over the next few days.

Then we took silly pictures of him and me while waiting for Katie and Sammy to finish their ride. This one is my favorite--my expression looks awfully guilty, like we got caught smooching. Notice he is licking my jacket, too. He is such an affectionate horse, much more than Lena. Not sure if it's a gelding thing, or if it's a racehorse thing, but while he can and usually does give me proper space, he also really likes being loved on. As you can see.



Happy 2010, may this decade bring new (but good) challenges, many rewards, and lots of fun and adventures to all!