Spring forward -- and a lengthy update!

Finally!

The clocks have gone forward, the days are longer and dare I say it, the weather is warming up. Which can only mean one thing...

Spring Mud Season

Yep, all the snow and ice we've had lying around is quickly melting into little estuaries and streams around the farm. There are giant mud pits around the gates and water troughs, but I don't care... I'm completely over winter and I'll take a muddy mess over frozen hands and toes and constant wind burn on my face. The new farm appears to have decent drainage and thankfully the owners know exactly just how muddy the property gets so we're not freaking out that the horses are making a mess.

Hello. I'm not a baby.

We've all settled in really well at the new place. The horses seem remarkable less feral, I think in part because they are handled on a daily basis. It's been really great to know that I have a stall just feet from Riley's paddock when the weather gets awful, or for when I feel like he just wants a break. Saturday night after a long day at the World Horse Expo, we wound up getting to the farm after dark to feed. I called Riley and he was the first to come to the gate (he actually knows my voice which is ridiculous) so that earned him a spot inside for the night. We are also trying to rotate some of the turnout scenarios because they have gotten VERY attached to one another! I think of all horse vices that separation anxiety might be my least favorite (especially since it can generate some dangerous behavior at times), so we're trying to shuffle them around enough so they stop acting like babies every time we take their friends away.

Saturday, we helped a friend out who was one of the exhibitors in America's Most Wanted Thoroughbred at the horse expo. It's held in Harrisburg, PA in a huge facility that also hosts dogs shows and other types of fairs. We had barn passes which allowed us to go check out all the really cool horses and ponies backstage! You know, being around TBs all the time makes me sorta forget that there are lots and lots of varieties of equines! Stabled behind us was a gorgeous group of mules, including a dappled grey! Across the aisle were two draft police horses (and a Percheron gelding that was probably the biggest horse I've ever seen). The next aisle over had a row of Fjord ponies and I thought my heart would explode every time I looked at them! It was like a little girls dream come true! I wanted to take more photos, but I felt like a bit of a creep, so I only got a few! Oh, and then there was the shopping...

I just wanted to take this little thing home and brush it's mane all day.

Really cool booth with all equine books!

I spent most of my time in this booth run by Horseloverz.com

I took this picture for Aimee! So many sparkles.

Nothing to see here, just a pile of foxhounds.

True story time... I am actually not that good in large crowds. They make me very, very anxious. I am okay at things like concerts and sports events because everyone's focus is in one direction for the most part, but I felt pretty stressed out walking around the trade show. It was very packed and poorly laid out and people seemed to have no direction or focus which made things feel very chaotic. I tried to stick close to my friend and just try to put blinkers on to what was going on around me, which worked pretty well. I helped her pick out things, while I debated whether or not I should buy anything at all (I am horrible about spending money on myself). In the end, I decided that since Riley's 6th birthday is coming up I would buy him a dressage schooling bridle because they were 50% off. But, because I was so overwhelmed in sea of people, I had to leave the trade fair, go back to the barn, eat something and go back for the bridle! I also snagged some rubber gripped web reins for a steal to go with the bridle (which came with lace reins I have no use for). Maybe now I can focus on keeping my hands in one place! And, my friend found me the coveted Happy Mouth Mullen full cheek at Maryland Saddlery for $15, woo hoo! *I'm curious to see how Riley will do if I school him on the flat in the Happy Mouth and everything else in the Dr. Bristol.

While the Northeast thaws out, I've been creatively VERY busy. I've been shooting a lot of film, working on my ear bonnet designs, I've got two paper cuts underway, plus another super secret project* and I'm finally settling in to my apartment. I had a terrible leak in the main window for months and I finally got my landlord to fix it so I was able to set up my creative space! This giant window was a big reason I wanted this place and it makes me sooo happy and inspired to be able to work here.

My happy space/place

The left wall is all pony stuff, all the time. I want to hang one of Riley's shoes up too.

The right wall. Featuring one of my favorite artists, Steff Bomb.

 I digress.

Sunday, I did something CRAZY. I rode my horse!

But, before we went for a ride we decided to introduce all the horses to the Equiciser! We brought them out in pairs and everyone seemed to get the concept very quickly. Most of them have either been on one before or have at the bare minimum, put on a hotwalker. I was actually more worried they wouldn't go anywhere near the thing, but they couldn't have cared less. A little tiny video of Riley figuring it out...

This will serve as a nice tool for light exercise when the weather is uncooperative, or the ground is too wet. The footing inside this is a rubber mix that is very easy on their joints/tendons. We only had them on for 5 minutes each direction trotting and a few minutes of walking, but they were all blowing a little after! I know I talk about this all the time, but Riley is such a good dude about coming back in to work. He's been pulled out for a little ride once a month since November and each time he was really terrific. What a great brain he has! He definitely gave me the hairy eyeball when I came at him with my tack and was a bit squirrely to get on, but otherwise, we set out to explore the hacking around the new farm and he took it all in stride. We found a really cool stone dust road about a mile from our farm and it's perfect for trot sets. It's about 1.5 mile long with a very slight grade and very few distractions. It was slush covered when we rode on Sunday, but the footing was still really nice and we got some long trots in on it and also up and down the road. I'm not sure there's much that makes me feel better about all the decisions I've made regarding Riley's training and his slow progress with his feet, than trotting him on asphalt and having a soft, forward horse underneath me. I was beaming.

The start of the stone dust road. Airplane ears, activated.

OMG Mom, so tired, need water... I'm just gonna drink out of this dirty puddle.

The fun wasn't over yet for Sir Riley though. I tossed him back out with his buds with no blanket (hooray for 50 degree sunny days)! We grabbed lunch and I brought him in for a good grooming and mane pulling. His mane was not only long and crazy, but it had been mashed under his neck cover for weeks, flattening it all on the wrong side. I managed to get it pulled and respectable in 30 minutes and I braided it all on the right side. I cannot wait to give him a bath and clip up his goat hairs! There's a nice horse under there, I swear!

Sensitive boy survived winter with only very minor blanket rubs.

Modeling the new bridle. The nose and brow bands are actually quite thick and padded, and they still don't look that big on his face! This is fine for schooling and it matches my saddle:)

I think that's all the news for now, sorry for the jumbled post! I will try to get back on track posting more frequently now that there's actually something to talk about!

*Super secret project involves the BLOG!