The Repurposed Horse

I've finally reached the point where I have the time to start working with Spring in a consistent manner.  On Tuesday of last week, I started to ride her in a lesson, but it didn't go particularly well; the saddle that had fit her up until that point (that I  had ridden her in the Sunday before without issue) apparently was no longer a good fit due to the fact that she's gaining weight pretty quickly.  She let us know about the issue pretty dramatically, complete with spinning and rearing, and I had to get off because post-surgery me cannot risk a fall right now.  Thankfully, Trainer K was able to get on her after the lesson (using a different, better-fitting saddle), and her brain came back pretty quickly. she's ~sensitive~ Lesson learned - saddle fit will now be checked before every venture.  I didn't feel comfortable riding her after that, so I spent the days that followed working her from the ground.  She definitely knows how to lunge, and does we...

I briefly mentioned in my last post that Leo has a new girlfriend - my neighbor's grey Arab mare. The property that I live on is actually a subset of a larger 12-acre farm, so the massive pasture "next door" is owned/maintained by my landlord, and the mare is his sister's horse. The hussy herself Last night, I went out to feed Leo before work, and quickly realized that although he had been in his pasture 2 hours before (when I had gotten home from CEC) he wasn't there now. That realization was followed almost immediately by the knowledge that my neighbor's fancy grey mare was ALSO no longer hanging out in her usual spot (aka right next to the fence, seducing Leo with her wiles).  At least she's cute, dude. I jumped into the car and drove up the rode to my neighbor's house, and spent a good 5 minutes banging on various doors before deciding that no one was home. Panicked, I called my landlord, hoping that he could get in touch with his dad (...

B has been in Colorado on a family vacation for almost a week now, which means that I've been alone on the farm.  It's been a little stressful - mostly due to my paranoia that the horses will get out again while I'm 30 minutes away at work overnight - and a lot lonely, despite having three dogs, a cat, a horse, and two ponies for company. although the animals are fantastic at providing snuggles This week was the most "normal" week that I've had in terms of barn work since my surgery and the move.  On the days that I do not work at night, everything is pretty easy and straightforward; I wake up, feed the assorted animals, head to the barn if I'm working a stall shift or hang out at home if I'm not, maybe work Spring (so far not a ton of that has happened as it's been ungodly hot), attempt to hang out with friends if our schedules align, feed the animals again, watch something (lately it's been Doctor Who), go to sleep, and repeat.  The one...

To join the new name, the blog got a bit of a facelift! Hope you all like it! A blog hop about supplements has been floating around for the last week or so - first seen by me when Olivia posted about it - and as I've recently moved Leo home and purchased a new (underweight) horse, supplements/feeding have been the subject of a lot of research/conversation/thought processes in my life recently. Let's start with Leo.  it's a little weird to watch your horse eat from above Leo has been on a 12% sweet feed basically since I brought him home.  It was included in my board at CEC, and he did really well on it; he muscled up nicely, his coat looked okay, and he didn't require much grain at all to maintain a good weight.  (Actually, if he gets more than a 1/2 can of sweet feed 2x a day, he blimps up pretty quickly.)  I did, however, feel that the grain he was getting was probably not providing him with everything he needed - his coat could look better etc. - so ...

Thanks for your feedback on my last post! I did change the title of my blog - I think that The Repurposed Horse fits nicely.  (: The last few days have been pretty crazy. Tiny feed room! Because I wanted to move Spring as quickly as possible, I spent a large part of the day on Monday running around to various farm supply stores, Wal-Mart, and Lowes, trying to purchase all of the things that our little farm needed for Leo to come home.  I texted a friend of mine, K, about hauling for me - it's summer camp season, so the usual people that I'd ask to haul are a little busy during the daytime, dealing with hundreds of  twenty or so small children.  K was able to haul on Tuesday, which was also supposed to be my first day cleaning stalls post-surgery.  The schedule was a little tight for me, but Barn BFF S agreed to meet me at the barn much earlier than usual in order to get stalls done on time.  The plan was for me to meet K at her barn, drive to the ba...

Of the blog, not the horse. Now that Leo is retired, and Spring is joining the family, I feel that "The Repurposed Saddlebred" is no longer most accurate of titles. So. Do I start an entirely new blog (with a new name) or do I rename this one? Which is the easiest for you, as readers? And what should I call it now? My first instinct is "The Repurposed Horse" - still accurate, as Spring is an OTTB, and still acknowledges Leo, who has in a way been repurposed once again (as a lawnmower. His new purpose in life is to eat all the things). I haven't actually come up with any other names, so... suggestions? Opinions?

sneak preview... loving this little house The move has happened, the things have been somewhat unpacked (like, maybe 1/3 unpacked? I can't do much still, and B works full time, so it's slow going with the unpacking), and life has been slowly settling in to a new normal. this part of the pasture will probably be the primary riding area Leo is loving his new pasture puff lifestyle. He seems perfectly content to spend his days chilling in the field - he definitely seems to think that pasture life is the best life.  The Equioxx didn't do much for him, so once the bottle runs out he'll go off that, and his super fancy footwear will come off the next time he's due to see the farrier - he was perfectly fine barefoot, and the shoes definitely didn't make enough of a difference for him to justify the cost. the cutest pasture ornament around Looking at potential new ponies has definitely helped to soothe the pain of retiring him.  Being able to see ...