XC Schooling Baby Edition

We rounded out the busy baby filled month with a our babies first trip to Inavale for some baby XC schooling! Mystic is currently on the slow track to getting back into shape but I figured a little walking around a field with brief trotting moments wouldn't hurt so he got to come be the baby sitter. I am so impressed with how our horses have done this month. They are seasoned travelers and very well behaved and well mannered in new places.

The babies

The babies got to stand tied to the trailer while I quickly tacked up Mystic and then we were off to explore the woods. I rode Mystic while ponying Mylo and my friend led her baby Jolene behind us. As we were walking on the trails we got our usual "Is the Mystic!" from a lady on a horse out there. I was telling my friend that I cant take him anywhere looking homeless (I quickly rebraided before we left) because someone always recognizes him, even if I dont know who they are! He is somewhat of a local celeb around here ;)

The babysitter who would rather not but still puts up with it

My boys <3

We came out of the woods (where I was supposed to come out of them at the horse trials I got us lost at... still a bitter subject!) into the second main field that has the banks and ditches in it along with some small logs and began throwing stuff at the babies. Logs? No problem. Banks? Up or down didnt matter as they both did it without hesitation. The dreaded ditch? Who cares, not these ponies! The big test came at the water complex in the next field over. I was happy to see that it had a lot of water for this time of year. I didnt figure Mylo would care and he didnt, as usual, and walked right in to enjoy a little splash in the water. After taking Mylo through I traded my friend for her filly and we solidified our perfect outing with her walking right in also. These babies are going to be SO easy to show once they are riding! Then to make the outing that much better we decided to see if Mylo would self load into the trailer. Its a big 4 horse gooseneck with a rear tack which makes the last stall small. If your horse cant back out or is any kind of uncomfortable in that space there is no way it would work. Even with Mylo I have to squeeze inbetween him and the wall, thankfully he is really good. I walked him up to it and he loaded right up! Best. Baby.Ever.

Mystic LOVES to just stand in the water!

Double fisting the babies

On the mend

Thankfully all my animals seem to be on the mend this week. My poor bionic dog (who has already had a full hip replacement and TPLO knee surgery) has been growing fatty lumps and warts. They havent bothered him and we knew they were fatty so we hadnt had them removed. He decided to try and remove one of the warts on his toe and was semi successful. Needless to say since he was already going to be under for his toe we just had them all taken off. He resembles a patchwork quilt right now, poor guy! At 10 years old I told him he is more than welcome to not need any more surgeries. Luckily he is doing really well and has already had his drains removed.

At the vet with his sad eyes!

The rough life after sx with his nasty drainy t-shirt

Mystic seems to be improving also. Today marks 3 weeks and he is finally sound and on individual turnout in a small pasture and I am riding him. So far we have done lots of tack walking with some trotting mixed in. Tomorrow will be our first day cantering, as long as all goes well he will get to go back out with the boys! I am SO happy I finally have someone to ride with, a barn friend bought a new horse, so that makes all these torturous walking rides bearable.

This tail though

Houston, we have a saddle!

The last 3 weeks have been filled with many hair days

Last weekend we bagged on taking our babies to the show as I headed up to my dads house to celebrate his birthday, watch my cousins football game, and hang out with family. This upcoming weekend we are going to take them to Inavale to tackle some fun baby stuff they have out there. We are going to take our riding horses to pony them so we can do the water, ditches, banks, and just walk the trails and such. It should be a fun outing although it will kill me to not be able to jump any of the xc fences :)

One day his front end will catch up... one day!

Perrydale Trails

Yesterday we resumed Alyssa and my baby torture month, this time Alanna also came along. We loaded up our babies and headed up to Perrydale Trails! For those not in this area, Perrydale is a farm that is dedicated to outdoor trail obstacles. There are about 3 different fields that you can travel between and within those fields there are around 100 total obstacles! Thankfully a lot of them were very baby friendly and Mylo conquered them all! There was everything between logs on the grounds to water obstacles to big fake animals.

Our first animal friend, he was very intrigued by them!

Our last animal friend, this one was a little sketchier on the approach!

I was super happy with how Mylo took everything in. He never once refused to try and pretty much just walked right up to/on/over/etc every single obstacle. The great part about him is his curiosity so his first instinct is to always go check it out versus getting away from it.

He was more interested in eating the rope... Thats a Gypsy for you!

First one over the big boy bridge!

He walked around the whole time on a loose lead and was very respectful of my space. Overall I really couldnt have asked any more from him. This boy is going to be worth his weight in gold with a little time under saddle. Sadly reality hit that I wont be the one riding him because as you can see in the pictures my legs are longer than his by a long shot HA!

Another bridge

Such a cutie he is!

He climbed right up with me!

Navigating a mound

He has become a well seasoned traveler and that is with only 4 trips under his belt! This upcoming Saturday we are hitting yet another schooling show (heading back to the same place as his very first show) and we will see how the Perrydale trip helps his in hand trail class :) We are still working on what we are going to do with them the last weekend of the month. Then he will get a nice long winter to just be a horse, grow up, and enjoy his last winter not having to work because come next fall this boy will be under saddle!

So alike yet so different

Mystic and Mylos sire, Pride, passes on the best brains to every single one of his foals. I have yet to meet one that isnt super smart, willing, and level headed. The fun part about having half brothers is that you get to see all of the similarities and difference between the two. Looking at them they are like two peas in a pod as far as markings, minus Mylos mostly black face, but as far as personalities go they are much different.

His cookie face

Mystic would be the humble popular guy in school who would do anything for me. Deep inside, okay not that deep, he is a big chicken but he doesnt want everyone to know and he draws a lot of confidence from me. We work together and have so much success because of our relationship. He is a long term commitment kind of a dude :)

Top: Mid June 2014 Bottom: Today

Mylo would not however be the humble dude! He would be funny guy that knows everyone and is always goofing off. He is more than happy to work for me but would be just has happy to go work for anyone who will give him some attention. He is much more independent and brave than Mystic, infact he was almost leading Mystic down the beach the other weekend! If people are there then you are sure to see Mylo close by. So far his personality has been a huge asset to beginning his training!

Looking all cute in his braids

After ground driving tonight for just the 3rd time I decided to start him on pulling things behind him, one thing that sets Mystic off. I started by dragging a post behind him while I was holding the rope right next to him so he could get used to the idea of something following him. He definitely noticed it but trucked right along next to me. After a could rounds of that I looped the rope through him surcingle but instead of tying to just to him I held onto the other end just in case someone happened and I needed it to release. He was great! He pulled it behind him with no issues what so ever. Next I took a trash bag filled with pop cans and started by throwing it on/around him. All he really wanted to do was grab the bag, pick it up, and try to get the cans out! He didnt mind the noise, it flying around, etc so I tied it onto the surcingle and walked him around with it, once again with no issues. He actually ended up reaching around, ripping the bag open, and started pulling the cans/bottles out! I am so looking forward to next fall when I can start him under saddle, he is going to be one fun pony!

Eating the bag.... oh Mylo!

Mystic is still on stall rest but has improved a lot since day 1 which is a good sign. I upped his hand walking time a little for this week and hopefully by our 2 week mark we will be sound. I have been really good about keeping him on a schedule as far as hand walking, wrapping, etc. Tuesday I went to trot him to see what he looked like and he decided to wanted to do more. Normally, even on stall rest, he is very manageable and good but he definitely got a wild hair as I was skiing behind him holding on for dear life. Needless to say I marched back to the barn for his bridle for a little manner reminder ;) After that he trotted almost sound and I got my hopes up a little too much. He seemed to warm up out of his slight funkiness and looked 99 %normal after just a few circles. In total he trotted mate 2 minutes between each direction. The next day, when I had extra eyes on the ground, I trotted him again and he was ever so slightly worse but once again seemed to 'work' out of it a little. So he will stay on stall rest with handwalking 25 minutes a day (with his hand grazing also, obviously) with no trotting till at least Monday. If no improvement then its time to think about having the vet out. I just hate to do it right away because 99% of the time with lamenesses like this they say "Bute, stall rest, and hand walking". Then you just wasted your money for them to tell you what you already know! At least this way I would feel good about going straight to diagnostic stuff like xrays should the lameness persist even after his rest.

Hand grazing this boy, its his favorite part :)

The good, the great, and the... not so good

I like to think that I am a positive person, so we will start with the great :) Baby Mylo went to his 2nd show today and I am proud to say that he is slowly losing his "Baby" title! This boy is SO smart and willing it is insane, just like his big brother.

A brief reminder of how his 1st show went:
-loaded/hauled great
-stood tied to trailer with occasional screaming/pawing
-antsy in classes but well behaved beyond that
-tried to roll his entire time in line for showmanship
-still had a little too much testosterone in him and thought that mares were pretty (especially chestnut paints!)

Overall he had still exceeded my expectations but there was definite work to do. Honestly, between then and now I havent done much with him. He has ground driven 2 times and we have done a day or two a week of basic ground work. Nothing special, right? This show he improved so, so much and was a very solid baby citizen. He practically runs into the trailer then unloaded and stood great once we arrived.  While waiting for the show to start he quietly grazed outside the arena, after all he is a Gypsy! In the show ring he improved the most, he stood almost completely still the entire class and even 'set up' for inspection. Horses came trotting in behind him, it was a decently scary arena, and he had to be decently patient while the judge looked the horses over. We ended up going into 3 halter classes then ended with a showmanship class. I never thought I would be saying those words but, when you have a baby, there are somethings you got to suck up just to get them the show experience! 

Considering we still havent practiced our haunch turns he did great. Obviously we didnt win but we did get a ribbon and the judge did comment on how well behaved he was (along with how adorable his head is!). Overall I was SUPER happy with him and all the progress he has made in this short time with limited work. A true testament to my aunt and uncles breeding program  :)

One thing he does do that is ummm... strange, is that he is almost always dropped while in his classes. He was not study at all and I would not even know he was doing it if I didnt see my mom in the stands pointing (and the other competitors saying "wow he really likes to hang all out" haha) but I dont know how to break that habit. Im hoping with time it will get better. Otherwise I will be that person with a million pictures of her horse hanging loose, hes got to keep it interesting!

Now the not so good news. Mystic continues to be on stall rest. I have been cold hosing, hand walking, hand grazing and wrapping him daily or 2x daily in hopes of keeping him a little more sane. The good news about all this is that I have gotten someone decent at putting standing wraps on him which is not an easy feat with all the feather. Tonight was the first time I have trotted him since discovering his lameness on Wednesday. I only needed to trot him 1/4 of a circle to know he was still lame. It does appear that he has popped a splint but for the life of me I cant remember if it is new or not, bad mommy moment for sure. The swelling is all gone and now it is just a splint like bump. I will continue my current plan and see how he progresses. I am not sure if the cold hosing/wrapping really helps, especially if it is a splint, but I figure it cant hurt. Heres to hoping he doesnt lose his mind in his stall and we can get back to riding soon, he has been on his best behavior so far :)

For the better

I guess not getting into ODS Championships or going to Aspen worked out for the better. The only thing worse than not going would be to think you are and your horse going lame right before! Mystic has a puffy right hind that he is slightly lame on. Good news is that he is in good spirits (besides doing his normal super bored "ive been locked in a stall all day long" stuff) and is happy enough to go out for a hand walk/graze.

I picked up some standing wraps from work yesterday, I got rid of mine after selling Tolo because who would ever try to wrap a Gypsy Vanner, and headed out to see him. I put some mineral ice on, threw his standing wraps on, and headed to the arena for a walk. I hand walked him for 20 minutes then hand grazed him for another 20 minutes before taking him back to his stall. Since he gets so bored, and pushed on his stall front, I filled a hay bag of hay and hung it up for him. Im going to head out there this morning for a walk then again this evening for another walk and to rewrap him.

Hopefully with a little bute and stall rest will do the trick and he will be good as new in no time!

ETA: this is how we cold hose ;)

And yes he stood like that for 15 minutes while I redid his hair!

Perfect example

Today was a perfect example of why you breed/buy horses for their minds over anything else. I just got lucky and have both the brains and the beauty! They may not be the most talented horses that ever lived but they would run circles around those talented horses in the brain category! This morning my friend and I loaded up our 4 horses (my two and her two) and headed to the beach for our first outing of our big time baby month. I am known for being game for just about anything even when it might not end well and if there was anytime for something to go wrong it should have been this trip. Here we are taking our 4 horses to the beach with just the 2 of us. This was her babies first long haul, Mylos first time being ponied, and both of their first time at the beach. Sounds like a potential disaster, right?

Here is how the day actually went:
-horses loaded right up
-hauled quietly
-unloaded and stood tied to trailer like pros
-walked on narrow path to beach with no issues
-never spooked at anything
-walked right into the ocean
-walked right into over knee deep pool of water
-didnt bat an eye at the dogs/people/kites
-loaded right up and hauled quietly home

How much better could the day have been?! The babies were amazing and never once spooked, tried to get away, or did any naughtiness. Instead they walked quietly on loose leads the entire time! We were beyond happy with them. Next baby outing is potentially on Saturday at a local small schooling show :)

The whole gang :)