Thursday, March 18, 2010

Out Of Shape

I know I keep harping on how soft and out of shape my horses are....

But they aren't the only ones!

I AM SO SORE!!!

I tell ya, the reprieve from having to do chores this winter, coupled with sitting in an office...and I am one out of shape old woman.

Who on earth would think that riding for three days in a row(short rides at that) and trimming two horses would make me sore all over?

I'm going to blame it all on Shooter!

He's the one who was jerking me around.;-)


Did I fail to ever mention that we did get our 20 acre place bought?

Yea, though so...sorry.

Yes, we did close on the new "ranch"(LOL-I say that tongue in cheek) at the beginning of this month. It's officially our mess.

Meg and I walked the property yesterday, picking up garbage, checking fences and measuring for gates. I'm not sure exactly how the irrigation works on it. But we won't have to worry about that for another month.

I believe it has been used for hay ground, but it doesn't look in all that good of shape. The plan is...we are just going to use it as pasture for the horses this year and see how the grass shapes up. If it looks like we could get some hay off of it, we'll pull the horses off of at least 10 acres and hay that. If it's crap, we will simply let the horses graze it this year, tear it up this fall and replant it.

Ten acres of irrigated hay ground in this area should produce at least half of my yearly hay, depending on just how many ponies I end up bringing and maintaining out here. They usually get at least 3 cuttings of grass.

What little bit of alfalfa I will need is easily bought.

Sorry-I did take the camera to get pics...but forgot to use it. Don't worry, I'll have ponies moved over there in the next few days and after that, there will be plenty of pics popping up.

There's a lot of crap laying around, but a friend of MH's is going to bring over an industrial sized dumpster and I think I can have a good majority of it cleaned up relatively quickly. A deal is being made with an electrician friend...they check out all the wiring and make sure it is up to code and they get the massive amount of electrical supplies left. I'll pop an ad onto Craigslist to see if anyone is interested in the bio-desiel stuff and that should pretty much take care of getting rid of all of the junk laying around.

Sometime in April we will have the mold issue remedied and then I will get the house cleaned up, carpets shampooed, walls repainted and the place will be as good as new.

There is already an area at the front of the property that has been worked up. MH is trying to figure out how to get his drag from here to there so he can drag that area for me. It's going to be a while before we can afford a 'real' arena, but having a nice area to work horses in will be plenty good for me.

The BO was kind enough to offer his round pen to me anytime I needed to use it and he said I could drop horses off there anytime I hauled in late at night and needed stalls to put horses in. What a super guy. None of his family is interested in horses like he is, so I think he has really liked having others around to 'talk horse' with.

I'm pretty excited for this weekend to get here. We are finally getting something I have been wanting for a long time now. Any guesses?

14 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

Tell me about it-- my Muffin Top Hates Me. And it's going to continue to hate me- about 10 horses on the book for today, three tomorrow, and two Sunday. Come Monday, someone might need to check and see if I am still breathing.... ;)

Something you've wanted for a long time...hmmm..... I got nothing....

BO is just a nice guy! Bet he misses your horses and you guys!

Once Upon an Equine said...

Congrats on your new ranch; a lot of work, but 20 acres! That is so nice. When we moved from the burbs to 5 acres, we thought 'wow, this is great.' Now we think, 'woudn't it be nice to have 20 or 40 or 100 acres?' Would be so nice to have land to grow hay. Good luck with all your improvements.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

I hear you on the sore muscles! funny how fast we fall apart

Unknown said...

Right on! It will be hard work cleaning that up but it will be worth it in the end.

Maybe you will find some treasures! Another option for selling the old equipment maybe a Pawn shop. I have taken lots of old stuff to our local pawn shop - they don't pay the best price, but not the worst either and its quick and easy and the stuff is out of my hair and I have cash in my hand. Just an idea.

Michelle said...

So exciting! I am so excited for you! And 20 acre farms are a surefire way to get back in shape, no worries there! Can't wait for photos....

LuLo Designs/Blue Eyed Tango said...

I'm walking a bit funny this week myself! I've really been in the saddle! Gets harder every year!

I was wondering if you had access to a round pen? Now I see you do. I'll tell you what works for us and you can take whatever from that. I'm not saying we've done everything right but neither of our youngsters have reared up to try to strike. They are not being bad usually they feel trapped. We have two rules 1. I cannot get hurt and 2. the horse cannot get hurt. A round pen verses lunge line works better with keeping everyone safe when training young horses! With the little ones, they need a bit more space so they don't panic and feel trapped. You have to also be careful in the round pen to not crowd them too much or they might try to jump the fence. Also, we turn ours A LOT especially if they choose the wrong answer, like try to turn on their own. You can also "read" your horse better from a distance back from them in the middle of a round pen. I'm not opposed to lunging at all. I realize some do not have a choice but if you do have the $$ to swing one, they're worth their weight in gold!! I round pen every one of our horses no matter what age. I don't know what we would have done without it. I'm not talking about running them around the pen until they're panting like a dog either....(that's what many do) but the younger ones you have to be careful. 1. you don't want to hurt their growing legs/feet. 2. It's not necessary to get good results. The more respect you can gain from them in the round pen the better for all, then lunging is easy! I have not taught Romeo to lunge yet and he just turned 2 last week. I have not shown him so I didn't need it because we have the round pen. We'll be working on that soon. Besides, it's fun when they start to really join up because they want to not because someone pulled the lunge line and told them to stop or come. They come to you after you're all finished and YOU ask them to come. You HAVE to gain that trust as early as you can. The key is all in the turning not the running around. Here's the routine. I turn the yearling or foal in the round pen with no halter or lead rope, just let him be a horse. He usually rolls then sniffs everything then he may or may not start running around like a maniac. I stand outside of the pen and do not enter yet. After he's done with the silly antics and is calm, I enter with a lariat. Go to the middle of the pen and slap the lariat on my leg and ask him to walk. If he starts to trot or canter, this is when I start the turning until he stops and then ask him to walk again. If he does it again, repeat. You can completely control him with your body movement and it's cool! Walking toward his shoulder makes him stop or slow down as well but I turn him so he gets the point sooner especially if he's running around again out of control. (You probably already know all this stuff if you've had foals before). I have never had one charge me they stay to the outside of the round pen. If they come in my space, I throw the end of the lariat at them and get them out. I know many people "feel" more out of control without a lunge line on them but you actually have more control and it really does work. Hey if you have any questions at all, feel free to drop by! Most of all have fun....they're a hoot! You can pretty much know them like the back of your hand and what they'll try. Hope this is helpful!

SunnySD said...

Husband called me to gloat and hold the cell phone out to I could hear the clip clop of horses' hooves this afternoon because HE got to go riding. I have another three hours of work and 2 1/2 hours of driving to do yet today. I fully intend to laugh at him when he limps tomorrow! I'm so jealous of all you riders!

Unknown said...

How fun I bet you can't wait to move in.

Hmm something? A new saddle? Hahah trailer?

Mikey said...

Hmmm, hard to guess. You're going to a barrel race?
Congrats on the new place. That's going to be awesome. Take some pics for us!!!

cdncowgirl said...

Congrats on the new place!

I have a feeling I should be able to guess what you're getting but I can't quite figure it out. lol
Guess I'll have to wait for the post :)

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Here's a hint on what I'm getting;

Think much, much smaller!!

And it's alive.;)

BET-You did a fabulous job of explaining working a horse in the round pen. Eventually Shooter will be in the round pen and beginning that phase of his work. I'm pretty minimilistic about round penning and longing youngstock though.

What I'm working Shooter on now is more along the lines of proper leading etiquette and the beginnings of Showmanship manuvers. Think more along the lines of the 'original' Parelli games...walk beside me, maintain space, moving shoulders, bending around me and backing.

I definitely appreciate your round pen advice though. Not a lot of people get it. They often think it's just chasing a horse around and around.

City girl turned Country Girl said...

I am SO glad to hear that you closed on the ranch already!! I cannot wait to see more pics!! Don't worry you'll be back into "riding shape: in no time!

Small and alive....A dog?!

Rising Rainbow said...

Twenty acres, what I wouldn't do for that much land. Funny how five looked adequate in the beginning and now looks like a postage stamp. LOL

Can't wait to see pics of the new place but sure glad I'm not the one having to do all that work. The thought it that cleanup makes me tired. LOL

Small and alive???? Cat or dog....maybe baby horse???? Sorry cannot remember what was on your "wish" list but can't wait to hear!

LuLo Designs/Blue Eyed Tango said...

Hey I didn't realize you did the Parelli games. I missed that somehow. People don't realize the round penning I do allows you to do the exact same thing as the games and without any aides. I do the same thing without even having to have a halter/lead rope or touching the horse at all for that matter... the only thing I have not done is the Showmanship because I don't show and teaching them to set up or pivot you would need a halter and lead rope to start out. If the round penning is done right they naturally want to obey and walk right beside you from the very first training session. The professionals all have different methods but arrive at the same result. Goes to show you that there's more than one way to train a horse for sure. We don't work the babies or yearlings hard either....maybe 15 for a session. They don't need a long drawn out thing. I do John Lyons. Have fun! I'm thinking about getting a chicken or two for fresh eggs. I'll have to read that post next!