Tweet!

I had a couple different things I was going to blog about, but I've been putting it off because 1)tired 2)aggravated 3)busy. Shall we say Barn Drama and Life In General and leave it at that?

That's a bit boring, so let me tell you a little Truby story instead!

I was over at the ranch, just visiting. Mostly give Truby hugs and brushing her.

A flash of red caught my eye, and the REDDEST bird I've ever seen was sitting on the fence. 

It was SO red, it was unbelievable! 

Vermilion Flycatcher 

I really wanted to get a picture, so I tried to causally sneak up on it.

Sneak, sneak, sneak.

I got about halfway across the ring, when I paused to take a picture.

Yeah...I needed to get closer. Or get a real camera! 

I took my picture, and then felt something smooshy bump my shoulder!

It was a Truby!

Hello! 

Truby had been sneaking up on me, sneaking up on the bird!

I snuck a few more steps to see what she would do, and she continued to tiptoe behind me. 

Yay! Being sneaky! Having adventures! 

It was adorable. 

I never did get a better picture of my bird. I was laughing too much, and petting and hugging Truby, grateful that's she's Truby, and always there to cheer me up. Seriously, cutest pony. 

The bird I was sneaking up on was a Vermilion Flycatcher and in addition to being the brightest, reddest bird I think I've ever seen, was also quite interesting. When it became alarmed that I was too close it would fly away. But instead of away-away, it would fly up and then do a loop and land quite near to where it had started. It was really cool to see it fly up into the sky, arc around, and come back to sit on the fence. I saw it do it several times, so I guess that's what they do. 

Truby: Birdwatcher, Sneaker Up On-er 

Altius Volantis - Soaring Higher!

A couple years ago I took Truby to her second horse show. Truby is really, really, really good at things at home. At home, she's easy to handle, usually unafraid of random things like tarps or other "scary things"...

barnmate bought out the Dollar Store

to help desensitize her baby horse

we played too

Unfortunately, as soon as we step off the property, LIFE IS TERRIFYING OMG!!!!!!!!!! I've owned Truby for almost her entire life, so this is 100% my fault. It's not a thing we did when she was young, and, um...it shows. 

So anyway, a couple years ago I took Truby to a show. I gave up a few minutes into the warm up, when she ended up standing in the middle of the ring mindlessly bucking and kicking out. Poor Trub. Her brain just falls out of her head and all that's left is panic. Our barn owner at the time took her little daughter to all the nearby shows, and said we could tag along anytime there was an open spot in the trailer. And we did. We'd go to the shows, and walk and scream, and walk, and walk, and scream, and walk...after a couple shows Truby actually started to keep her brain between (below?) her ears and realize Everything Was Fine. Huzzah! 

Kids, take your horses trail riding, to shows, to your trainer's, to your friend's barn, to wherever when they're young! It's easier than when they're old and set in their ways. Also, when you're old and set in your ways!

The second show Truby got exposed to had a costume class. It was a small, very friendly little schooling show, and you could ride or walk. We're pretty brave when everyone has their feet on the ground, so I figured it would be safe to enter, and a great experience for her. But first! A costume! I really wanted to do a My Little Pony costume, because I was born in the 80s and grew up with MLP. And I love the latest series, Friendship is Magic. 

I was kinda adorable back in the day

But I didn't want to do an all over color job, because I'm lazy and that's a lot of work...but I didn't want to do a cheesy looking blanket for body color thing. That's when it hit me...be a Wonderbolt!

Wonderbolts

I did dye her tail

so pretty!

I used a sleezy-type blanket as the uniform, some by-the-yard felt for wings, a see through mesh fabric for the googles, and vet wrap and tape for the legs. I dyed her tail purple (wrap her tail in tinfoil? no problem! Walk off the property? ZOMGNOOOOO!!!! Oh, Truby.) For the mane/forelock I used a little feather boa. I learned I hate crafting, I'm too impatient! But I got it done, and I think it turned out fab-u-loooousssss! 

My Wonderbolt

We got dressed while Leadline was doing their classes, then headed into the ring. Truby was antsy and nervous, and just looking for things to attack her. But we walked. And walked, And walked. There were quite a few people in the class, I think everyone that entered the show also entered the Costume Class, as it should be, it's for fun! Oddly, Truby didn't seem reactive to any of the costumes, just the fact that it wasn't home. But we walked. Probably the class went a little over long, (it was a "everyone gets a ribbon" class, and they had to come up with Best Whatever for everyone) but for us it was perfect. It allowed us to do what we needed to do, which was get comfortable in the ring. And guess what? Truby DID! She started to relax. Her walk slowed and lengthened, and even got a little swing-y. She started looking around. But quietly. To look in interest, instead of terror. I gave her tons of praise and cookies, and let her work through it. And she did great! And we started to have fun!

Relaxed pony and Big Smiles from her trainer!

My costume was simple, 

but I did make myself a Wonderbolts Trainer jacket

We survived! Yay! Look at her, she's *pooped* 

Stress is exhausting 

Altius Volantis!

It may not seem like much, but this was a huge step to help Truby feel more comfortable and confident away from home. We went to a couple more shows before I actually rode her in one, but the boring and endless walking walking walking really paid off. We need to do quite a bit of this kind of work in Tucson, because I'd love to go trail riding! But this method works for Truby. It works for me. It just takes time. But to help my horse feel comfortable, and for me to feel safe, it's worth it. All the time I spend with Truby is worth it. 

Truby's first ribbon!

Might be Hard to Explain: Part 2

Because there's always a Part 2. At least when I'm involved. Or horses. Considering it's me AND horses, I expect a Part 3 to most stories. Luckily, not this one. I think this is just a two part-er.

So I left Truby turned out. She seemed fine. I had things to do. I'd check on her later. We headed over to the ranch after dinner. I hadn't brought my purse or my phone, because why bother? We drove over in the husband's car. Which meant I also didn't have a flashlight, and Tucson is dark at night.

The ranch driveway forms a big U that goes behind the house, and curves around by the gates. The short end of the U points at the gate to the ring/Truby's nighttime pen. Husband stopped pointed at the gate, but basically in the middle of the drive. I asked him if he was going to pull over or just block the driveway. He said he was going to stay in the car, so blocking the drive won't be an issue. Fair enough.

A Truby in the Tucson desert darkness

I grabbed his phone for the flashlight, and gingerly made my way to the feed room to get some Bute made up. I survived the trip (Arizona is full of things that want to kill you, walking around in the dark in sandals is not good times, at least for me!) and gave Truby her Bute mush. It was nice to be out though. The moon shone, the sleepy horse snorts, a soft fuzzy Truby to pet.

After she was done, I locked up, got in the car, and...nothing. Car wouldn't start. Did all the sad, desperate things you try and do when your car won't start. Nothing.

Now, we've lived in Tucson for almost a year, but haven't really made any friends. Met some nice people, yes. But definitely no one you'd call when you need a ride home or a jump start. I'd actually been joking about this with one of my co-workers, and she told me if I ever needed it, I could call her. But...my phone was at home. I had no idea of her number, because who memorizes phone numbers anymore? We just tap them into our phones and forget it.

So we walked next door to where the ranch owners live, and knocked on the door. Luckily we could owner G right before he headed off to catch a movie (Kidnapped, he doesn't recommend it) and he let us borrow one of those solo jumper things.

Nothing.

It was a nice, cool night, and we lived nearby. So we decided just to walk home. We returned the jumper, rolled the car as close to the gate/out of the way as possible and headed home. We did peer hopefully at the vet's parking lot, perhaps if there was an emergency...but no. Everyone was home and healthy and happy. Anyway, we're only about a mile and a half, and we've been walking 1.5-2.25 miles almost daily. No sweat. We got home and decided to deal with it in the morning.

We started off by buying our own auto jumper. I've owned one before, and it's AMAZING. Especially for someone that has a tendency to leave their headlights on. Oops. I got two jumps out of mine before it stopped holding a charge, but it was totally worth the $40 I paid for it. So we bought one, charged it up, and headed over to the ranch. Truby got some more Bute and snuggles, and we tried jumping the car.

Nothing.

We went BACK home and decided to call a tow truck. G just happened to call before we did, and he told us he wanted to try jumping it off his truck. It might work since it had way more juice than the solo jumpers. No problem, never hurts to try.

how I spent my day off

I'm sure you know where this is going. Nowhere. We tried it all and husband's car is just dead. We called our insurance, and the sent a tow truck over. He got there in about an hour, and my husband worked on some schoolwork, and I wandered around petting ponies and talking to my dad back home in Maryland. It also gave us a chance to review the damage from Truby's "You won't like me when I'm scared" Incredible Pony Hulk experience. Luckily G had the same reaction I did, just laughed it off. No big deal, no one hurt, an easy repair, man aren't horses something?

She's definitely something!

watching the tow truck pull up

Already bored with watching the tow

To continue our All's Well That Ends Well theme, the tow was covered 100% by our insurance, and we were even able to pick up the car the same day. The battery was dead. 3 volts left and they said nothing was gonna bring that back to life. They checked out everything else, and it was fine, literally just the battery. 

So there you go. A wild "weekend" for us. Everything worked out in the end, and everyone, including the car is just fine today! Let's see how long this lasts...

Planning shenanigans. I know it!

This Might be Hard to Explain

Today is my day (mostly) off. I have something planned for the afternoon, but the morning was free, all for me to enjoy. I slept in a little bit, did some lounging around, did some housework, did a little yoga. I had enough time to go visit Truby. My plan was to deep condition her tail, give her a good grooming, and go for a short bareback ride.

Today's Truby Time

The weather is gorgeous today! It's sunny and warm, but (finally) not TOO warm. And there's a nice breeze too. A cool breeze. It's lovely, and almost feels like autumn. Almost. I had Truby tied to the hitching rail, it was a lovely morning, spending time with a lovely horse. 

And then....who knows what happened, but Truby threw herself backward while I was brushing her side. I immediately began with the 'whoa, steady, easy Truby, whoa...' routine that you learn to do so you can calm spooky horses. But instead of hitting the end of the rope and stopping, Truby kept pulling back...and then...

50 feet down the driveway...

Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Of course I didn't just whip out my phone to take pictures while she was freaking out. She had stopped and was standing. As I approached her, I figured I might as well grab a pic. Then Truby remembered that WTF IS GOING ON??? and starting running back again. 

I finally got to Truby. She had pulled SO HARD the knots on her rope halter got pulled overtight and stretched it out so much it slipped off her head and was just around her neck. I untied the rope from the hitching rail (knot slipped right out) and reset the halter. Truby was being to calm down, and as I stroked her neck and rubbed her forehead, I thought

How am I going to explain this to the ranch owner??????

So I texted over a picture and tried to explain what happened

I *think* Tru pulled slightly and the top weld gave away
That startled her and she starting pulling...

VERY SUSPICIOUS HOLE
She dragged the concrete right out of the ground

I managed to drag it back to where it started. That sucker

is heavy!

The only reply I got was that the ranch owner was glad neither of us were hurt. I think Truby will be sore, but she seemed to be okay otherwise. Ranch owners are really nice, understanding people, so I'm sure it will be okay, and they know it was just an accident, and hopefully not kick us out! Fingers crossed!

The pole parts were fairly light weight, but the concrete setting was HEAVY. I would say at least 75-100 pounds. I had a great time dragging it back in place! I left a deep gouge in the driveway. There's maybe one or two divots from where Truby pulled it down the drive - she's strong - especially when panicked! 

Rhett was sooo concerned the shenanigans outside his pasture,
can you tell?

Looking innocent

I decided to give her some Bute
It made her angry

So sweet and innocent!

Horses! I just don't even. At least no one was hurt? Sigh.

I have a problem

99 problems and a clean horse will never be one

No. Well, I mean yes. In addition to the chronically dirty desert pony problem, I have other problems. *gasp* I know, you're shocked. My problem is that while I'm pretty good at setting goals...I am terrible at follow through.

Then I discovered a trick. If I sign up for an event or contest, and set my goal around that, I'm about 98 million times more likely to follow through. 

I love you, lazy person. 

Because you're not too lazy to bring me cookies. 

Even though it's October, it's still quite hot in Tucson (have you heard? It gets hot here.) It's been in the upper 90s during the day, although it's getting quite chilly (50s) at night. Btw, my body DOES NOT APPROVE. It should be cold, or it should be hot, but it should not be both every day. 

So, it's pretty hot, which makes it hard for me to do much outside during the day. It's hard to be motivated to ride. Too hot. Too sunny. Will melt. 

Late evening is glorious though

Enter good ol' Pony'tude. I've been following her blog for years, and last week she announced the 2Pointober contest. Basically, you time yourself riding in 2 point (jumping position) and see how much you can improve over the month. While I've barely ridden all summer, there's a "most improved" category, so hope for a prize! Yesterday I did my baseline time, and it was short, but that only gives me room to improve! 

I'm quite excited about this. It gives me the motivation to make a riding plan, and stick to it. It will also help my other goal I'm working towards, which is a 5k. Because I'm a moron. 

Truby is less excited, and looks how my thighs feel today.

In a more perfect world, I would be able to set goals, and follow through based on the strength of own self, rather than requiring the approval of other people (ie contests) to follow through. But, not a perfect world. At least I have something that works! 

More cookies. Less riding. Less baths. Tao of Truby.