Soft Kitty

 After staying home for two days wallowing in my covid-induced misery, I felt a bit better on Friday. I was able to mask up to hit the feed store and the tack store that was having a sale.

I went in with the intent of not spending much money, and I managed to stick to it. The planned purchases were Vetrap and horse cookies, and potentially a glittery saddle pad that I had seen previously and was on sale for only $30.

This wasn't the first time I considered buying this pad. The glitter doesn't come through well in the picture, but trust me, it's there.

In browsing through the store, making sure that I really didn't need anything else, I saw the Hands On grooming gloves. I have a pair but the rubber nubby bits on some of the fingers are falling off. The gloves were about the same price as the saddlepad, so I told myself I can get one or the other.

I'm sure that the saddlepad would look great on Stitch, in it's dark blue all-over glittery glory. But he really seems to like a good scrubby grooming, often swinging his butt towards me when I get to his hind end with the curry.

The gloves came home with me. I might forever lament the lack of glitter in my saddle pad collection, but watching Stitch's upper lip stretch while he got scrubbed with my gloved hands confirmed that I made the right decision. 

After hitting those two stores I had just enough energy in me to head out to the barn. I popped Stitch into the arena for a play. He's still learning that free arena time is play time, but tonight was the first time he had any sass in him. Enough that he even let out a few bucks. That was the first time I'd seen him do that.

Good news - he did not miss his calling as a bronc horse. His back end got sufficiently high, but his front end didn't get very low. His neck kind of stayed level and long, it should be easy to sit if he ever tries it under saddle. 

Didn't get any video of it because, well, didn't expect it.

But I did get lots of pictures of Stitch checking out Jerry, one of the barn cats. He's seldom in the arena, but for some reason this night he meowed his way into the middle of the ring. 

Forget about the glitter. Enjoy the cute.

I'm Blaming the Oncoming Sickness

It's a good thing that I lunged Stitch on back-to-back days Monday and Tuesday this week, because not only did the wildfire smoke come in at hazardous air quality levels, after 4 1/2 years of avoiding it, I finally succumbed to Covid on Wednesday. Mid-way through my week of vacation.

That's a definite positive.

So far, I'm either too hot or chilled, have a cough, and all my joints and problem areas ache. It's only been about 30 hours so who knows how the next few days will go. I've had four vaccinations so hopefully they work their magic and keep the symptoms minimal.

Anyhow, on the Tuesday I tried to capture the lunging using my new Pivo Pod X. This is the one that I Kickstarted back in October 2021 and it finally shipped this spring. After I didn't have a horse to ride, of course. 

I tried it once just after it arrived without reading the instructions and didn't have much luck. I thought I'd try it again, knowing that lunging wasn't going to be the best option to test it.

The Pivo Pod X is the one that moves on an x and a y axis. Meaning that it can tip up and down as well as go sideways to keep the selected item in focus.

I'm currently 0/2 on using it.

The first problem is that I didn't put my phone in landscape mode, which is required for horse tracking. If I had bothered to check it after a couple of minutes I would have seen the message saying so, but I did not.

When I put my phone onto the holder in portrait mode, it was angled up towards the rafters. I thought that once it found the horse it would self-adjust, but for 80% of the video the top 3/4 of the screen is rafters. For some reason it did adjust down towards the end, so I've got the couple of circles seen here.

I don't think lunging is easy for the Pivo to keep the horse on the screen as it has to be set up outside the the circle. I'll try it again though, and see if the problems were all user error.

I also realized I can try the Pixio. If I attach the tracker to the saddle then it should track the horse while on the lunge. I can pop it in a case of some sort before clipping to a d-ring.

So, here's a whole 40-some seconds of Stitch on the lunge.

His left lead is the stickier one, and this might be the best transition he's done so far. He's starting to find some balance at the canter and I'm happy with how quickly he relaxed into it.

He wants to fall out to the right when tracking left so I try to use the walls to encourage him to stay straighter. The sessions are very short because homeboy has zero fitness. Not necessarily bad for a baby horse for the first few rides!

One More Thing Sorted Out

I've got the bridle sorted out for Stitch (Phantom's Ps of Sweden bridle and a Herm Sprenger Dynamic KK eggbutt) - now it's time for the saddle.

Earlier this summer I used the Wow saddle gauge on Stitch to determine which parts for a Wow saddle would be needed for Stitch. By which I mean would I be lucky enough that my existing Wow saddle that I had for Cisco could also work for Stitch?

In theory, it looked like all the parts should be the same. He needs a flat tree and wide DXWG panels. Instead of the 5U headplate that Cisco went in Stitch is currently narrower and needs a 3U, which I also happen to have (I think I used it for that one week when Cisco was actually skinny). 

I'd popped the saddle on him a couple of times and hand-walked him with no concern on his part. Last week, I decided it's time to lunge him in the saddle. He's been ground driven a bunch with a surcingle on, but that's pretty well just at walk and trot. He might tun into a bronco at a canter.

For the first lunge, I didn't want to risk damage to the expensive saddle so opted to sacrifice my treeless saddle instead. He knew it was on him, but other than initially giving it the hairy eyeball when it continued to follow him around there wasn't much of a reaction. Even after I dropped the stirrups and let them dangle.

The saddle definitely slid forward through lunging. I had used a shaped Total Saddle Fit girth, and thought maybe that I didn't need that style. Didn't really matter, this was a one-off with this saddle.

The sacrificial saddle is a no go to be ridden in.

On Monday, I popped on the Wow saddle. The goal is to get this saddle girth setup sorted out this week because there are a bunch of sales this weekend, so if I need to buy something new, now is the time.

Look who isn't super bum high this week. I didn't think that he had a forward girth groove until I looked at this picture. (Also, I must say that I missed having a shiny horse. Gray horses just don't get that shine.)

I didn't think his girth groove was all that forward and that I wouldn't need the point billet. I tried it with the TSF girth while tacking up, but didn't like how it fit. The billets were definitely sloping forward which meant that the saddle would move that way once he got going. I swapped to the h-girth, still without the point billet, and lunged him - it still ended up on his shoulders.

The saddle pad stayed in place, but the saddle was pulled forward.

So point billet it is.

I don't typically like to lunge on back-to-back days, but I was on a bit of a time crunch to sort this out before the weekend sales and it also looked like the forest fire smoke was going to blow in this week. So Stitch thought he was going to die for the whole 12 minutes that he lunged, at least half of which was walk.

An obviously lucky to be alive pony who's saddle seems to have mostly stayed in place.

But the saddle seemed to stay in a much better position. So this is what we are going with. Happily, it doesn't cost me any money. We just need to play with the Flair panels.

And then sort it all out again in the spring. 

Hand Me Downs -Take 2

My attempt at salvaging Phantom's old Rambo fly sheet to use this summer on Stitch was a fail. The mesh started shredding along the bound edge on his butt. When I stitched the binding on, I didn't do anything to the edge of the mesh which is where I think I went wrong. I think that the mesh edge needed to be rolled or folded first so that the binding would have something to grip onto and not just pull away.

Oh well, it only cost me $5 and some time. I was going to try to salvage it once again and finish the edges differently, but since there were a couple of spots that the mesh was shredded a couple of inches I don't think I had enough fabric to work with as his butt was already poking out.

So, on to the next hand me down option.

The circus tent fly sheet.

This one came from Greenhawk last year. It's a textilene sheet that was on sale for $50 or $60. My motto for horse clothing is that the cheaper it is, the prettier the colour gets. But I still think it looks like a circus tent.

It's probably about 2 sizes too big still for Stitch, but since he's filled out quite a bit and now has boobs and a butt (not much yet, but way more than he did in the spring) it didn't completely hang off of him around the neck. I can deal with the extra length over his tail, but because of that length it hung a bit low around his hind legs. 

I just made a couple of temporary adjustments to the blanket to render it wearable. A dart in the neck closed it up enough in the front. Don't try this at home kids unless you have a beast of a sewing machine! Six layers of webbing and three layers of textilene pushed the limits of my heavy-duty machine - thankfully it only needed about an inch of stitching that I could baby it through. 

To solve the length around the hind legs I chose to just fold up the corners and stitch around the edges. It will keep the excess from hanging too low, and next year I can take the stitches out and the original shape of the blanket will be restored.

I might have to deal with a bit of poop on the leg strap clips, but that's minor.

So far this has worked out much better than the Rambo. That one survived only a couple of days before shredding, and Stitch has been wearing the circus tent for a couple of weeks with no issues.

The other hand me down that has been getting use is Phantom's PS of Sweden bridle.

It fits Stitch nicely and looks great on him, though I have to change the browband on it - that was Phantom's for a long time.

He seems happy so far in the Sprenger Dynamic KK bit that I tried first so we'll see if that ends up being the bit we start with. His teeth will be getting done next week and then we can get serious about learning big boy things - the countdown is on to be sitting on him in September!

A Fresh Start

I feel like I'm in a bit of a weird space at the moment. Not bad, just weird.

To be honest, saying goodbye to Phantom a little over a week ago has been a bit of a relief.

There were a few times over the winter that I thought she really wasn't comfortable and that I might to have to make the decision sooner than later. After Cisco left in March, Phantom seemed to have a harder time than usual sorting out the new hierarchy with her longtime companions.  I don't know if Cisco looked out for her more than I thought.

There were also moments where I wondered if she was having some vision issues in her left eye. She would sometimes make a point of putting me on her right side when I went out to catch her, and when leading her on her left she sometimes bumped her head into me.

She just hadn't been engaged or interested in much for quite a while.

Except her hay. Her very large belly for the last couple of months was indicative of that.

If Cisco hadn't gone I might have made her appointment in the spring. But I couldn't do that to myself at that time. However, when I refilled her Prascend in April, I only got the small box.

The original plan wasn't to get another horse right away. But, since plans changed, I knew that this summer would be Phantom's last. Once her Prascend ran out, it would be scheduled.

So I had about 3 months to get used to the idea. Thus, I've dealt with my grief and I'm ready to move forward.

A big part of moving forward has meant cleaning out my tack box and getting it down to one horse worth of stuff. I don't really want to get rid of anything yet until I figure out what Stitch will end up going in, so that means bringing it home and trying to figure out somewhere to store it. I have enough blankets to fully clothe 3 horses, all the same sizes, that are too big at the moment but will probably fit Stitch next year. They're all getting washed and stored in vacuum bags to try to squish as many as I can into a few containers in the garage. I think I pulled out 3 halters, 3 breastplates, and a couple sets of reins just off the one door - they all got dumped in a bin.

This was two grooming kits that I had to thin down to one. I found the Swat I knew I had but couldn't find - that stuff is coveted up here because we can't buy it any more!

I also now have the ability to take a night off from the barn since I don't have to dispense medication - not that I have as of yet. It's been my routine for the last three or four years to be out almost every day so it's taking a bit to break that habit. It's going to happen this week though, as I have an event to attend on Wednesday evening and a late work shift on Thursday. Not to mention I fully expect to wake up on Tuesday morning with a stuffed up head to go with Monday's sore throat and croaky voice. That might be a good reason to take a day off.

So things just feel a bit weird. The greys, who were very much a pair in my mind, are gone. I have a new horse, in a new colour, who I am very excited about. We're taking the slow road, but that's OK- I've already told him he's not allowed to go anywhere for at least 15 years. I might be over this year by that point.

The End Of An Era

It's the end of an era for me. I no longer have any grey horses.

I've known for a while that it would be happening this summer. Despite her daily dose of Previcox, for the last few months Phantom just hasn't seemed very comfortable, and I know that she is a horse who has always disliked anything that made her uncomfortable.

I hope that Cisco was waiting for her and they are forever sharing their piles of hay.

Hand Me Downs

With a new horse usually comes the need to purchase a bunch of new things.

However, with a baby horse, new things might not fit for very long and require another purchase of new things within a short time period.

I am trying really hard to not buy new things for Stitch just for the sake of buying new things for the new horse. The kid still has a lot of growing to do.

It looks like the WOW saddle I had for Cisco is going to work for Stitch. I suspect that they will be of a similar shape - round and wide. I might need a 24" girth for him when I start him this fall, but I'll probably try to borrow one for a month or check out the local consignment options. Next year my multitude of 26" gitths should fit with no issues.

Bridles won't be a concern. Phantom's PS of Sweden bridle looks like it will fit him just fine. Again, I have many more in storage to choose from if need be. No idea what bit he'll choose, but a quick glance in his mouth makes me think that he doesn't have the fat tongue issue that my last two had. Fingers crossed that he's a bit more straightforward about what goes into his mouth.

Then there's blankets. Sigh.

As much as I want to spend all the money and buy Stitch a complete wardrobe, this is the one place that I've made a conscious decision to be frugal. I did buy him a new 69" 100g turnout for a really good price in the spring which he wore a couple of times in cold, wet weather. I also bought the same blanket in a 72" for a really good price for next year. I find the 100g blankets to be the most versatile and use them as a shell over a liner all the time.

But I have not been able to bring myself to spend any more money on blankets for him, including flysheets that will only be worn for two months this year. If I know what size he'll be next summer maybe I'd bite, but I already have a bunch of 75's ready for him when they fit. 

But the bugs have been bad. So I got crafty.

Phantom's Rambo Protector didn't really make it through last summer, which was probably it's 7th or 8th. The mesh on top of the tail flap and the butt above it had basically disintegrated. However, the rest of the blanket was still in pretty good condition, especially considering it's age.

I don't know what the mesh is made of, but it feels like tail hairs were woven together.

That blanket is a 75. Stitch fits about a 69. So I figured I could cut a few inches off the tail end of it, rebind it, add a tail flap, and Stitch could wear it for this summer.

So I did. And you know what? I'm pretty happy with the result.

I ended up moving the leg strap attachments up higher before he wore it.

I admit his butt sticks out just a wee bit. But I didn't really have much of an  option on how much to cut off to get rid of the damaged material. To compensate, the tail flap that I added is a bit wider at the bottom. It's only stitched across the top so that he is able to lift his tail up to poop. I'm hoping it doesn't get tugged off by a pasturemate.

The best part of giving this blanket a new life was the cost. I salvaged the binding from the piece that I cut off and the textilene that the tail flap is made of came from my fabric stash of to-be-completed projects I'll probably never start. I paid a whole $5 for the binding on the tail flap and that was the only thing that I didn't have on hand.

It's not super pretty, but it's more than functional. It just needs to last for two short months and then I can give it the funeral it deserves. 

Positivity

Stitch has been learning to do big boy things. And he's done them all with little to no drama.

We are still a couple of months away from me actually sitting on his back - he doesn't officially turn 3 until the last week of July - but we've been working on things that will hopefully make that day easy.

A couple of weeks ago we started ground driving. This meant wearing a surcingle and a tight belt for the first time. The wearing of the surcingle was no biggie - no bucks at all. The tightening of said surcingle wasn't his favorite.  Not that he was really bad about it, he just walked circles around me. I gave him a couple of days of this then used clicker training to encourage him to stand still. He figured it out right away.

He's worn a saddle - it was just so I could figure out if I will need to get a shorter girth for him. I think that my multitude of 26" options will work this fall.

This kid is smart. And food motivated. He loves positive reinforcement. Especially the kind that ends with a cookie in his mouth.

We've also been working on lining up to the mounting block. He got the idea pretty quickly, but not quite right. He was always one step too far back and his butt was swung away - all the better to make the mouth cookie-accessible. But he knew that the mounting block was the place to be, often stumbling over the steps in his eagerness to get there.

To get him to swing his butt towards me, we went away from the block and used the method where I tap his butt with a dressage whip, and reward him when he steps towards me. Some horses find this difficult to figure out as they only want to move away from the whip, but the idea is that you keep tapping until they take the slightest step towards you and then take the whip pressure off. Clicker training works really well with this method - they figure it out really quickly.

Sure enough, Stitch figured it out fast. On the second day, I tapped him once with the whip, then just held it up and he continued to swing his butt towards me.  Smartypants.

He was so proud of his new trick, that for the next few days, every time I stood next to him he swung his butt towards me in the hopes that it would earn him a reward. Or towards the person we were trying to show our new mounting block trick who was holding a poo-picking fork. Or the person in the barn I was chatting with - although that was probably more asking for butt scratches.

Now, I'm not talking swinging his butt to put you in kicking zone by any means. It's a definite attempt to line himself up with the person keeping them at his wither area, where he is supposed to line up at the mounting block. 

Much to Stitch's dismay, he doesn't get rewarded for these attempts. He only gets rewarded when he is asked for the behavior, and it's generally ignored otherwise. 

He is now starting to make adjustments at the block to get himself correctly lined up. I've also started to give him his treat on his right side by reaching over his back, which eliminates his desire to turn his butt away from me/head towards me, though does create the problem of me getting knocked off the block when his belly (which is getting rounder every day) shifts left when he bends right.

 

And when he's standing there, it would be so easy to slide a leg over and just sit on him....

Soon!

Weeks 2 & 3

Weeks 2 and 3 with Stitch have been a continuation of finding out what he knows, what he likes, and what he has to learn to put up with.

My challenge has been to keep our schooling sessions, such as they are at the moment, varied and not drilled. Stitch has been a very good boy and has been trying hard to figure things out and we don't need perfection in the groundwork exercises that we do.

We're been primarily working on two systems of groundwork. The TRT Method groundwork has been interesting in showing how he wants to use his body. When doing the exercise on his right side where I bend his head towards me and ask him to stay bent right and move around me he has a hard time not falling onto his right shoulder. His front right wants to step out towards me instead of under himself and away from me. Under saddle this will mean a horse who will overload the right shoulder and be hollow left. It's slowly getting better - last night he gave me three good steps before he lost it and the front right came towards me again.

I couldn't deal with the long mane so shortened it up somewhat. He is now also sporting a bridle path, though it was done with scissors instead of clippers.

The other thing I am slowly working on with him is a series of in-hand exercises from a Facebook group called NoBackNoHorse. The exercises are based on straightness training and focus on encouraging a horse to carry themselves in a manner that strengthens their core and back. We're still very much in the beginning stages, which is mostly getting him to walk with his head lowered into a horizontal balance, but we'll continue through the summer with the hopes that it sets him up nicely when we start under saddle.

Despite the rain we had last week, we are still at a high risk of wildfires in this area.  We woke up on Saturday to hazardous air quality due to smoke from the next province over - this sadly seems to be our new normal for the spring and summer months.

He wore the nebulizer and made the obligatory Darth Vader sounds. Not regretting this purchase with our smoky summers.

I needed to make sure that Stitch wasn't going to have any issues getting onto his German car, which is a straight load with a ramp. Getting on was no problem - getting off was! The poor guy's legs were shaking as he slowly took teeny backwards steps down the ramp, but he kept trying and wasn't dramatic about it. He was much better the second time so I left it there for the day.

Stitch has continued to get better about his ears being handled- he doesn't get his cookie when I put him out until he's dropped his head while I grab at his ears. Next, I need to switch to a halter that I pull over his ears instead of flipping the strap behind his ears to prepare him for being bridled.

Phantom met her new little brother. She told him to stay away from her and they'd get along just fine. He took her advice.

He's also gotten much better about being caught. Sometimes I stop a few feet away from him and let him make the decision to come to me and he's been responding nicely. I don't know if he'd let anyone else easily catch him yet, I'll have to find opportunities to enlist barnmates to help me work on it.

So far, the only thing that he's been oh hell no about has been when I asked him to leap across the water filled canyon. By which, I mean the puddle that formed across the outside of the overhead door leaving the barn. Stitch is not going to be a water hippo. It took some convincing, and he tried really hard to find a way that was not going to get his toes wet, but in the end he bravely stepped into the inch of water and safely made it to the other side (a whole 18" across). 

I guess there's some drama llama in there after all.

Tailored Attire

I know there was a reason that I felt the need to inimediately ensure that I had at least a basic wardrobe to fit Stitch when I brought him home.

We had a full day of slushy rain last week and about 30 hours straight of rain this week. The good news is that this should significantly lessen the wildfire risk in the area for atleast a little while. I saw some scorched earth along the highway to the barn this weekend so concerns have been mounting.

Soaked at the 24 hour mark.

Stitch is still in the gangly young horse stage of having more leg than body. He's narrow with no boobs or ass - Kim Kardashian, he is not.

I don't want to spend a bunch of money on blankets that will only fit for a year (actually, I want to spend the money, but for once in my life have decided to be financially responsible). I suspect that in a couple of years he will fill out and will fit into my very extensive collection of 75" attire that I've acquired for three consecutive horses. I just need the basics until then.

The smallest thing I own is a 76" Century rainsheet. Cisco only wore it a couple of times - it was a bit snug on him so it became a backup that I never needed.

On Stitch, it was fine lengthwise when snugged up in front. But his lack of cleavage meant that the buckles sat a bit low. Also, the stomach straps were miles too long. They were knotted to shorten them from Cisco wearing it, not a chance that it would fit Stitch.

So, I did some repairs. Not sure if I mentioned this on the blog previously, but last fall I convinced my mom that we should get a heavy-duty industrial sewing machine. This thing powers through 6 layers of webbing like it's butter. I've been doing repairs for myself and some barn-mates all winter. I love it. 

The beast weighs something like 70 lbs by itself - it's staying at my mom's house.

Originally,  I planned to do the strap/d-ring thing like Schneider's blankets have along the neck to be able to make it smaller. A Google search suggested a different idea of just pinching the webbing at the neckline and stitching there. This creates a dart, doesn't stitch through any fabric other than the webbing, and would be easy to remove once the horse fills out.

Just a little dart did the trick.

The stomach straps - well, they were really long. It took me three attempts to get them the right length. Should have used a measuring tape in the beginning, I guess. First, I cut 6" off them. They were still way too long. Next I folded up about 10" and stitched that above the slider. Still long. The final version involved folding the previously folded part up against the blanket, and stitching through the 5 layers of webbing. That was finally the right length, and when he chunks up I will be able to pull the stitches out and expand the straps. 

That's 5 layers of webbing on two straps, and 6 layers on the back strap where the leg-strap d-ring is attached. Your home sewing machine won't manage that!

Since the plan is to hop on Stitch a few times in the fall and then let him grow until spring, he's not going to be working over the winter, which means he won't need to be clipped, and won't need to be blanketed except in extreme weather, which, realistically, will be more for me than for him. Thus, his basic wardrobe will consist of his rainsheet for the crappy summer days, his new Champion 100g blanket for the cool and wet days, and I'll add a layer to that with a vintage 1990's BMB stable blanket that fits him well enough when we get the -40's that we get every year. 

This was originally Farly's, who wore it for many winters but was super easy on his blankets so it's still in great shape.

He's set, right? Lots of horses live perfectly happy all year round without blankets. I can have a naked horse in the winter for the first time in 30 years and that won't make me a terrible horse mom, right? Right?

The First Week

I had the last week off from work  which worked out great to be able to spend time getting to know Stitch.

And, I've got to say, he is a pleasure to work with.

His previous owner did a fantastic job of making him into a young man who is light and respectful to be around. He leads beautifully - I've barely had to give any tugs on the lead rope all week. He ties, stands to be groomed, is fine in the arena by himself, and has been adored by the other horses in his field.

He lives in a group of mostly bay geldings. It can be tricky figuring out at a glance which one is my bay gelding! (It's the dead looking one on the left.)

He's not perfect - there are a few things that need to be worked on. 

He's not great about having his ears touched, especially his left one. We've started clicker training to be able to get this sorted out. I am too short to deal with giraffes.

He's a bit sticky about picking his feet up. I think that this is mostly a difference in how I ask for it (squeezing the tendon) and how I suspect he was taught (pulling up on his fetlock hair).  The first few days he stiff-legged it and I had to kind of make him bend at the knee, but there has already been significant improvement.

He can be a bit tricky to catch.

I was warned that he sometimes didn't like to be caught, so went at it cautiously. The biggest problem hasn't been Stitch running away from me, but the other horses getting too close as I'm trying to put his halter on. They don't mean any harm, they're all just overly social, but their presence worries Stitch and then he leaves. It's been getting better as he gets more comfortable with me and I don't think it will be a problem for long.

And really, those have been the only problems to pop up so far.

Not that we did much this week. I had dug a hole I had to crawl out of on the first day when I zapped him not once, but twice on the end of the nose with a static shock. He was horrified, and I had to put a lot deposits into his trust bank to get back to a positive balance. Thankfully, he loves food and can be easily bribed for forgiveness. That meant that we spent most of week just trying to be friends.

He got to wear his new blanket because it was cold and wet for a couple of days. The blanket survived intact - here's hoping he's not a blanket destroyer!

I have a feeling that I could easily flood this horse by throwing a bunch of things at him and he would take it, but he would shrink away from me and it would erode any trust that has been created. So we're adding little bits slowly.

Today was the tarp on the ground. He walked up to it pretty confidently, but then scared himself by kicking dirt onto the tarp. His reaction was to take a step back, snort, and give the tarp the hairy eyeball. I asked him to walk forward, he took a couple of tiny steps with a release in pressure with each one, and within a minute he walked quietly across.

That seems to be how he deals with things so far. Stop, have a good look, take a few slow steps, then walk past giving it a cautious look, and all is forgiven. Little drama.

So far, I'm liking my new little man!

Bay Flannel Horse

After losing Cisco last month, I was planning on waiting for a while before looking for my next partner. I was hoping that Phantom would be able to step up and do some light rides on a regular basis with me, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to happen. 

I started casually looking at ads online. I've heard many times that horse prices are high these days, and yeah, they are. Lots of "Untouched 9 year old - if you can catch him, you can have him for $9,000." Yikes!

I was hoping to find another Andalusian (full or cross) or a Welsh Section D. Ideally between 2 and 6 years old, unstarted was fine. There weren't too many options. Nothing Welsh that I could find at all. But there were a couple of Azteca's that I liked (Andalusian/QH cross), and in my price range.

One was a 5 year old mare who had been lightly started. She'd be ready to get going right away. But she was a day's drive away, and the owner didn't get back to me with any video. (Looks like she has since sold, so maybe that's why.)

The other horse was a 2 year old gelding (3 this summer) located a little over an hour from me. I didn't dislike what I saw on video, especially considering the video was from February and it was frozen and a bit slippery underneath. I had a couple of concerns about his feet from the posted pictures, but I talked to my farrier and she was happy to review pics before I made a final decision.

So off we went to have a look at him. 

The owner, who was his breeder, showed me some of what she's worked on with him, and he gave me the impression that he had a solid temperament.  He didn't do things perfectly for her, but he quietly tried to figure it out and didn't overreact. I liked his floaty trot,and especially considering how bum high he was, his canter was balanced and uphill enough for my liking.

I sent some better pics of his feet to my farrier and she didn't see anything she'd be concerned about, so I said I guess I'm buying a horse!

We picked him up the following weekend. I enlisted a friend to haul him for me as I haven't really driven my trailer for the last couple of years and just wasn't confident about it. The new guy hopped right on and traveled great - far better than I did! I got hit with some car sickness - not normal for me at all, but it hit me hard. Like, puked multiple times hard. It was a horrible drive home.

So, meet the new kid - Stitch!

His registered name is WZ Stich. The show name I'm giving him (not that we'll ever use it) is Snitches Get Stitches.

He has lots of growing up to do so we'll be taking our time. He's a about 14.3 in front and probably close to 2" taller behind. He's got some pretty good bone in his legs so I think he'll fill out quite a bit over the next couple of years. I hope he does - there's no junk in his trunk at the moment.

Stitch calmly hopped off the trailer when we arrived home, calmly walked out to his new field, and calmly met his new roommates. He was immediately adopted by one of the TB geldings and they've been side-by-side ever since.

And thus, the journey begins again.