Escape Artist

This morning, like every other morning, we went into the barn to give the horses their morning feed; however, when we got in the barn Cody was not in his stall but rather in front of his stall. How did this happen? Last call at the barn was at 10pm the night before and all the horses were safe in their respective stalls..with the latches latched! We soon discovered that Cody's latch and lock were broken...like perhaps a horse was pulling a Shawshank Redemption moment. I have to wonder how long he has been honing those skills. You have to wonder. He is too smart for his own good that one! Not only did he leave his stall but he knew enough not to go towards the end of the barn where Alpha is. We would have known if he attempted that because Alpha would have longed at him and broken through his stall door like he normally does if you walk any male horse past his stall.

Once Cody was put safely back into his stall....actually, one point of the finger from Ian and a "what are you going out" sent Cody right back. He knew what he was doing. Mr. Smarty Pants!

Good thing Peyton is gone....I am sure if she wasn't and this happened we would have walked in on a party!

Update on Peyton

I went with Erika to visit Peyton last weekend. She seems to have grown a little since I last saw her (ha,ha...both Erika and Peyton have grown). Either that or I am just not used to standing beside a 17 hand horse.

We played with Peyton in the arena. Gosh, does she have energy. She was zooming around the arena, kicking and bucking and shaking her head all the way. YIPPEE!!! I thought for sure that I was going to get a swift kick right in the head. Good thing I tried to stay behind Erika for the most part.

We set up some jumps for Peyton and she did just great once she got the hang of what we were asking. I think Erika was quite pleased with her gal! Watch out Ian Millar ;-) I can't wait to see Erika and Peyton in their first show this year.

How fitting...just as I finished my last post a friend sent me this.

Subject: exercise and horses

Response to Dr Phil's comment on horse ownership as exercise.

At this time of year, after the holidays, ads for weight-loss programs saturate print media and the airwaves. Even TV talk shows devote time to the battle of the bulge. I caught part of a Dr. Phil episode in which the prominent self-help guru was evaluating the situation of one overweight guest. The woman commented that she'd like to buy a horse so she could get
exercise via riding. "That's great for the horse," responded Dr. Phil drolly, "but what good is it for you?" Clearly, the good doctor doesn't own a horse. At least, not the right horse.

A quiet, well-broke, agreeable mount may indeed not offer much in the way of fitness training. But the right horse (and most of us have owned 1 or 2, haven't we?) will provide a body-building, cardiovascular-enhancing workout that would make Richard Simmons envious. Allow me to explain...

With the right horse, you begin your fitness program by walking out to the pasture. As you stride briskly, you carry the halter and lead rope behind you, pushed up high on your back so the lead doesn't drag. The purpose of this is to tone your chest and upper-arm muscles (because
you're not fooling your horse- -he knows what you're carrying). As you approach to within a few feet of him,he'll walk slowly away from you, then stop. This will be repeated several times in succession, until you're ready to jog. At that point, the horse will trot, then gallop around the pasture. If you're at the advanced level of fitness, you may continue chasing after him for maximum aerobic benefits. Beginners may prefer to toss the halter and lead on the ground, bend forward from the waist, and engage in heavy breathing and chanting (that's what we'll call it, anyway--chanting) as the horse continues to circle the field. When the horse determines you've had enough of this w arm-up session, he'll allow you to catch him.

Now comes the total upper-body workout of grooming. The right horse, of course, will be caked in dried mud. The cement-like consistent of it will require work-to-exhaustion effort of your biceps and triceps. Next comes the bending, stretching, and toning of hoof-picking. Bend over, pick up the horse's left front foot, then be prepared to jump back as he stomps it back down to the ground. (Keep your knees bent as you jump, to protect your lower back.) Reach down and pick up the foot again, hopping about with the horse to maintain your grip as you attempt to pick
what seems to be dirt mixed with Super Glue from the hoof. Eventually the horse may stand still; you may be chanting by this time. Repeat the entire circuit 3 more times, with the remaining feet.

Once you can stand erect again, it's time for the insect repellent exercise. True, with this one, your horse may actually get more of a workout than you do, but you certainly get more of the repellent. It goes like this: Squirt!-circle-circle. Squirt!-circle-circle. Squirt!-circle-circle---and so on, until you're completely misted with repellent.

With the right horse, saddling up provides both aerobic and strength building benefits. The trick is to keep your feet moving as you heft the saddle blanket over and over, trying to keep it in place on a moving target. The blanket exercise warms you up for the saddle exercise, for which the routine is the same, only the weight is much greater--perfect for buffing those hard-to-tone shoulder muscles.

Now comes the mounting exercise. With the right horse, it's left leg up, hop-hop-hop, left leg down. Left leg up, hop-hop-hop, left leg down. For balance, go around to the other side and continue the exercise (right leg up, hop-hop-hop, right leg down, etc.). When your heart rate begins to exceed your target range, look for a bucket. Bend over, pick it up, place it upside-down next to the horse, wait for the horse to move away, then bend over, pick it up again, place it next to the horse, and so on. When the horse deems you've had enough of these repetitions, he'll stand still and allow you to actually mount.

At this point, of course, you'll be too exhausted to ride. It's best not to overdo it, so dismount, grab a protein bar, and head to the shower.

A proud moment! One worth documenting.

Because these moments seem to be few and far between, I have to tell you how proud I am of Cody, my almost but not yet 2 year old yearling. Most of you know that Cody is going through a "growing pain" stage. He is growing and it is a real pain....for me!

The other night Sophie, the brat, Andi, the joker, and Cody were out in the same paddock. Cody, being the good boy that he is...ya, right!, came to us no problem. So off we went to put him in his stall for the night. However Sophie and Andi decided that they wanted to play games and run around and not come in for their food.

Given their silly antics, we left them both outside and tried again later in the evening. Do you think they got it the first time...NO! We had to play the chase game with them again. In the end , we won but it was not something I particularly like to do when it is -15 outside. Needless to say, those two will be separated for the next couple of weeks.

Silly horses....tricks are for kids! Oh yeah, they are kids!

Monkey see, Monkey do...or should I say Horsey see, Horsey do!

Sophie, aka The Brat, has a very bad habit! That habit is carving totem poles out of our new fence posts in our new paddock. This is very annoying because we built it with our own bare hands. The line of hot wire doesn't even keep her away. She still manages to find away to chew on the tops of the post and avoid getting zapped. It is times like this that I wonder why is it that I spend most of my hard earned money on these animals. Just so they can destroy all of it! To make things worse, Cody has now decided that this is a fun past time too!

All the horses are on a great feeding program and have access to various salt and mineral blocks. In addition, they have jolly balls and other toys in the paddocks to keep them busy.

Watch out my little brats, if this keeps up I will fix you all...I will put a grazing muzzle on you that way you will still be able to eat hay and grass but you will not be able to eat the posts.

I will keep my fingers crossed that it is only a phase that the yearlings are going through.