So a friend reminded me I’ve been quite the slacker with the blog so we are back at it.
When last I updated, I mentioned a Halloween show! Well, it was quite the success and I have pictures to share. Firefly made his Halloween debut as a Budweiser Clydesdale. I used raver boots for feathers and ground drove him as the driver/cart. The costume definitely made him an insta-celeb around the barn. Being that it was horsey humor, we elicited many guffaws from pleased spectators and competitors alike. We even brought home our first ribbon for most creative contest! He was quite tolerant of the prep work (about 90 minutes worth of work and untold amounts of trial time getting the feathers to stay up …) but, once he was in the spotlight, he was a star! He is a true show off and will be fun to bring into the show ring. I painted on a blaze with Halloween make up (much to his chagrin) and covered the tops of his feathers with a little paint to blend them and make them go up higher. He was not thrilled with the whole face paint process but got more tolerant with more cookies. 😉 I had several people ask if he was truly a baby Clyde! To which I responded, “… No he’s about as far from Clyde as we could get …” He handled the show aspect very well – lots of excited horses in funny clothes. We had one get loose outside of the arena and lose her rider, which wound up all the horses. After an initial spook, we stopped and I gathered up my lines to go stand at his head until things were under control. They had called an ambulance for the rider, just in case (she hit the ground pretty hard and there were worries of head, neck, or back injuries. Well, it seemed like the whole fire and medic team in the unincorporated county showed up. We had 3 police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck show up to our ranch. I’m happy to report that the rider ended up with nothing more than a few bumps and a bruised ego. Better safe than sorry. However, this was a lot of stimulus for a baby horse and he passed with flying colors. We got many compliments and I can look forward to future costume shows!
Before Halloween, I decided to do a little clipping practice. Mostly for him to get used to being clipped (noise, feel, standing still, etc). Well, he got used to the noise and feel but got low marks for not standing still … I feel like there’s a lesson here about not doing detail clips on fidgety babies. Anyway, it’s grown in a bit now and looks a bit less like a starfish. The original goal was a shooting star … Until he stepped away at just the wrong time and made one of the legs look deformed fat. Ah well … You win some, you lose some. We got a lot of flack for it at the outset but most people seem to like it now. Not that it matters what everyone else thinks of my horse at this point!
Firefly has become quite the little beefcake – big changes from 9 months ago. His legs have thickened up quite nicely. The medium SMBs that I bought back in March just barely fit now. I’m reluctant to trade up a size until I know these will be too small bit am fairly sure we are headed for a size large (at least on the rears) fairly quickly. His chest has broadened a fair bit – a welcome change from the narrow frame we had when I first met him.
We’ve had a fair number of things to work on recently – the weathers been a bit tough (cold … wet … typical winter nonsense that makes horse activities difficult ) so it’s been mostly a matter of keeping up the skill set and building new ones as the opportunity presents itself. We have done a bit of ground driving (making it painfully clear that I’m out of shape currently …) to work on lightness in steering and stopping as well simply just standing still, a skill that is quite difficult for him to grasp currently. Now that he’s gotten taller (yes … again …), it’s clear that we need to work on the “head down” cue. For the love of Pete, Firefly … You are not a giraffe. It’s getting there slowly but progress is progress, as we say.
So that brings us to more or less recently. I’ve been making a habit of laying over his back every so often, just so he gets used to it, as well as jumping up and down next to him and putting weight in the stirrup (quite confusing to him). Well, recently, I’m pleased to report ….. We had our first ride! *cue much fanfare* I kept it low key and low stress. I’d hopped up there a few times while he’s been saddled, had him just stand there and relax, and hopped back down. After a few times of that, he was comfortable enough for me to ask him to walk out. A little unsteady and wobbly, but better with each step, we made our way around the round pen! Thanks to relentless ground work and tireless ground driving, he knew exactly what I wanted when I asked for left, right, and stop. First ride and both steering and brakes?! You bet all that work is worth it. We still have a lot to accomplish before spring on the ground so saddle time will be fairly limited. Mostly just getting up there and working on steering and stopping. If the weather would cooperate, I’d be able to do more. Just a couple more weeks until it stays light after 5pm! Can’t get here soon enough.
Alright. So here we are at present, finally. Since it’s really dark (and quite chilly, usually … You know, for California) by the time I get to the barn through the week, we can’t really work much more because he gets to sweaty. Well. I gave in. I made the decision to do a minimal trace clip him. Basically, I started up under his jaw (his head is quite wooly!) and went down his neck to his chest and under his belly all the way to his belly button. Given the episode with the deformed starfish bubbly star on his rump, I fully expected a wiggly baby who made clipping absurdly difficult. To my great surprise, he stood nearly stock still. I KNOW. MY 3 YEAR OLD. STANDING STILL. I’m as shocked as you are, dear reader. Simply shocked. But, for nearly 2 hours total (90 min in one go and them back for a 30 min touch up), he stood there while I, with my inadequate A5 clippers, clipped the hair off his neck, chest, and belly. Like a big boy. He stood better than my drafty ‘stang who is 15 years older than him! So I made fairly quick work of him – keeping the clippers cool and the pony placated. He only got antsy near his belly button – I find him to be quite ticklish! I just had to keep talking to him and pushing on him so it didn’t tickle. Very pleased with him. And our weather is mild enough that I don’t need to get any thicker blankets for him.
We have hit blanketing season and he’s now more or less filling out a 78″ blanket. Talk about beefcake. We will see how much bigger he gets. As of now, he has room to grow into a 78 and it still be comfortable for him.
And one just because. Firefly and one of his ladies. He’s quite the player.
So here we are now. A 3 1/2 year old with a minimal trace clip who is more or less ready to go under saddle. Now, we are waiting on his body to catch up and his brain to be fully ready.
Some goals, just for funsies.
– there are a few pretty nice endurance rides towards the end of summer 2014 that we are shooting for
– schooling shows end of summer 2014
– having fun getting him started and enjoying the journey
Thanks for sticking with me through this journey – we have many adventures in the horizon!
Stay hungry – stay foolish!
<3, spark.
Spark A Firefly 