Channeling a horse

I have my own stuff on the internet. I have an email and a Facebook page and a Twitter account. I even have a YouTube channel. I wish I knew what the internet was. All I know is, MomToo tells me I have these things and humans ask me questions and say I'm handsome.

Maybe, although I'm not as spectacular as my friend, Bubba. No one is.

This is my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHOCfOy9ozXCq_L_DxCUqEQ

MomToo says this is her favorite video:




What's a video?

Did you guess yet?

MomToo is busy, so she wanted me to tell you that my foot is feeling much better. Auntie Niki let me trot on it today, but I tried to jump and buck and she said no, stop it. Sometimes Auntie Niki is strict.

Yesterday she asked a question. Anyone who answers it can get a copy of my book. I told MomToo that no one would want my book if they hadn't read a little bit of it, so here is a part of it:

MomToo says that people love baby pictures.

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There were two goats in the pen next to us. They were girl goats, about half my size and brown, and had funny little tails that stuck straight up. I usually ignored them, since they were not very interesting. It’s not like they ran around and played. They spent most days standing in the corner and eating, or looking for food to eat.

One night, I lay down to sleep and somehow woke up in their pen. There was a space underneath the metal bars just big enough for my body and I guess I scooted around to the other side while I dreamed. I don’t really know how it happened, but I went to sleep in the pen with Uncle Snowy and woke up in the pen with the goats.

At first, they liked playing with me. They ran around the pen and I ran after them. Then they came over and sniffed my legs. That’s when I saw their little tails wiggling.

I couldn’t resist. I reached over and grabbed one goat’s tail in my teeth and lifted. Her back end came off the ground, so I shook her up and down. She started yelling. I let her go and grabbed the other goat’s tail. I shook her, too, then I dragged her up to the gate. She yelled even louder.

I dropped her and ran after the first one again. It was a fun game, chasing the goats and grabbing their tails. I couldn’t quite throw them, but I could shake them up and down and drag them around the pen.

One of the ranch men came running. He caught me and took me back to Uncle Snowy’s side of the pen. He wasn’t happy with me. Neither were the goats. Uncle Snowy wasn’t thrilled, either.

“You are a doofus,” he said. “Leave the goats alone.”

“But it was fun.”

“It wasn’t fun for the goats.” He shook his head, making his white mane wave in the hot sun. “Look, I’m a pony. I’ve lived my entire life being a pain in the butt. But I’m small, so they don’t get that mad at me. I get cute points. You’re six months old and already as big as me. No one will think you’re cute when you’re as big as a tractor, especially if you’re pulling pranks.”

I trotted a big circle around him. “But Uncle Snowy, fun is fun. Who cares about cute points?”

“You will when they whip you for being bad. Listen to me, Snoopy. The humans here are very nice. Some of the nicest humans I’ve lived with. They do everything they can to make us understand what they want. But if we misbehave, they spank us, sometimes with the whip. Just learn your lesson now. Leave the goats alone.”

Even now, I don’t know what everyone was so mad about. I thought it was fun.

 

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Would you like to read more? You can win a book - just go to yesterday's post and answer the question!

A little too much help

Snoopy and I had a great show season. Starting in February, we went to one show a month, until August. I was concerned that it was pushing the envelope for his body, but I kept him seeing the chiropractor and monitored his physical condition. When September rolled around, I breathed a sigh of relief.

No more shows until next February at the earliest.

Then one morning, after Niki had schooled him, I got on and... he was limping. On the broken leg. Gah-d.

Thus we began a series of investigation/medication/lay-up to try to figure out why he was sore. We tried a few days of bute-plus-handwalking.

Nothing.

Then we had Dr. Pollard out to visit. He reported a strong pulse in the foot, then administered a block from the pastern down. With his foot numb, Snoopy trotted sound both directions. Dr. Pollard pulled the shoe and tested the hoof. He thought the inside was more sensitive than the outside. Based on these indicators, Dr. Pollard pronounced it an abscess.

I hate abscesses, but if there's something wrong with my horse's leg/hoof, that's what I'll vote for. Still, Snoopy has only had one abscess before, and it never actually popped, making it a frustrating experience. Especially since he was four months old at the time and we had to soak his foot every day. It took three of us - one to keep his foot in the warm water and Epsom salts, and two to scratch his withers as a distraction.

After the vet's visit this time, we soaked Snoopy's foot twice. I'm happy to report that Snoop was a more agreeable horse. Then Monte, our farrier came out to put his shoe back on.

That's when all the pieces came together.

Monte is always trying to make certain that Snoopy is sound and comfortable. This usually means padding and thicker shoeing to lift his heel and make certain his leg stays in the proper tracking. When Snoopy was last shod, Monte had put a new padding in that foot to raise it a little. Turns out he raised it too much.

This was basically like wearing a shoe with an arch insert that's a little too high. Yeah, your foot would hurt, too.

He swapped out the shoe and padding and Snoopy showed relief immediately. We're slowly putting him back to work, but it looks like new shoes solved our problem. (Seriously, when don't new shoes solve a problem?)

In the meantime, Snoopy and I are committed to posting on our blog every day in October. We are going to be asking questions, having contests, and giving out freebies. Stay tuned to see if what you can win! (Hint: It won't always be a free book. It might be a gift card or ???)

Today's contest: Answer correctly in the comments and win a free copy of Snoopy's ebook, in whatever format you would like.

QUESTION - What is the proper name for bute?

The fly.

Snoopy and I went to a horse show this weekend, in Burbank.

It was the last show of our season, The Pink Show, which honors the exhibitors who have survived cancer plus remembering those who didn't. Everyone wears pink and the show does a lot of fundraising for the City of Hope.

The weather was supercali-freakin-miserable. In the high 90s. Hotter than blazes. A dress rehearsal for Hell. Hot. The horse show tried to keep us all in bottled water, but even they ran out. The first day I rode, it felt like the world was spinning by the time I dismounted. The second day, Niki got a touch of heatstroke. I'm saying, it was bad.

We did our usual classes, Green Trail and Novice Amateur Trail. It's a great combo, because our trainer, Niki, rides Snoopy in Green first, then I ride in Novice Am. I get to feel more confident, since he's seen the judges and the course and everything by the time I show.

It was a really good show. I obeyed most of my two major rules:

1. Ride every obstacle. (No defaulting to auto-pilot.)
2. Keep my eyes on my horse at the gate.

I say "most" because on the first day, I got him through each obstacle at the correct gait and on respectable lines. It was going fairly brilliantly until I got to the very last maneuver (isn't that always the way?), a back-up into a chute.

In the warm-up arena, there were poles to walk over at the chute's end. In the show arena, there were no poles. He backed straight. Then, in the briefest of nanoseconds, I thought, "Hmm, no poles. Am I done? No, we need to walk out." In that-much-time, Snoopy swung his hip left and tapped the pole with his hind foot.

Seriously, Snoop? Whaddup with that?

We got a 4th and 5th in the class, which wasn't bad.

But that was nothing compared to the next class day. I was feeling pretty confident. The course seemed easy. We walked in between some cones, then backed to the gate. I opened the gate and walked him through. We straightened and I asked him to back up so I could close the gate. That's when it happened.



He was attacked by a fly. Niki had sprayed him nose-to-tail, but a fly landed on the inside of his leg and Would. Not. Let. Go. I pulled back on the reins, but Snoopy kicked out with his back leg, trying to get rid of his tormentor. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled. That's when he turned his head and tried to bite the damn fly, slamming our bodies into the gate standard.

I pushed away from the standard and got him to back up, latched the rope and sent him jogging out, which finally loosened the pest from his leg. The rest of our course was as divine as I'd imagined. We hit every stride, our lines were great, and even our left turn in the box was smooth and flawless.

We coulda been a contendah.

It was one of those things you can't help or plan for and it was still fun to ride.

One of the fun parts of the show was the Trail Classic. I didn't participate but my friend Christine and her horse Bubba did. Out of 40 competitors, they came in 7th! So cool!

The whole experience made me realize how much I love showing trail. No matter how awful the conditions, no matter how early I had to get out of bed to drive to Burbank, no matter how much physical labor is involved (I muck my own stall, thank you), I still have great memories of it all.

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If you or anyone you know is interested in Snoopy's memoir, stay tuned.  This Friday, we're having a special!

He said/She said

We're getting ready for our last horse show of the season, the Pink Show, held in Burbank. Our previous horse show was in Temecula last month. Since usually this blog is either written by me or Snoopy, I thought I'd give us both a chance to weigh in on what happened at the last show.

Fact: Usually, Snoopy is very excited to go to a horse show and spends the first longeing session running like he's trying out for the Preakness. Then he is quiet for the rest of the show.

Me: I don't understand why you didn't run and jump like a crazy beast on Thursday.

Snoopy: I had worked already that day. Remember? You rode me. I was crazy on the inside.

Fact: On Friday, show day, Snoopy longed like the Horse from Hell. Snorting, running, leaping in the air and pawing with the front feet.

Me: You wore yourself out, ya big goofball! Plus, you nearly took me dirt surfing.

Snoopy: Wheeee!!

Fact: Snoopy was tired and dull around the trail course.

Me: So, after running like an idiot, you were too tired to jog? I felt like I carried 1100 pounds around those poles.

Snoopy: I just wanted a nap.

Fact: On the last show day, Snoopy was back to his normal self.

Me: I learned a lot on this course. First, even if your horse speeds up and spins in the box, if he steps out at the end, just go with it, even if you are a little dizzy. Second, focus on one thing at a time, and do not adjust your reins while you ask your horse to transition from the lope to the walk. Third (and this is the Gayle rule only), never take your eyes off your horse at the gate.

Snoopy: I thought we did good. First, don't worry about being dizzy. I get dizzy all the time. Second, if you want me to walk, tell me to walk. I'll see what I can do about it. But when you tickle my neck with the reins, I get a little distracted. Third, sometimes you are very strict. I liked that rope. It tasted good.

Wish us luck in Burbank!

A guest post and a new opportunity

In between writing books, a newspaper column, keeping up two blogs plus contributing to a third, tending to my horses, helping out my trainer, and spending time with my family, I figured, gee, I'm not very busy.

I'm a currently a guest over at the Equestrian Ink blog, and they've asked me to be a contributor. Of course, I said yes!

In the meantime, come on over to the lovely E.I. blog and read about how I was able to write an entire book using my lovable goof's voice.

The very busy book launch

My apologies for being so late in this post. At first, my excuse was that I was exhausted from launching Snoopy's book, but ultimately it was just laziness keeping me from writing. Laziness and working on other projects.

Snoopy and I had a great time launching his book at the Lights, Camera, Action Horse Show in Burbank, California. It was a balancing act, to be sure. Each day, I made sure I rode first, then I'd go over to the show office and set up my table.

Sadly, my cool banner isn't working out like I thought it would. The stand for it is too weak to hold the canvas. I tried duct tape, hot glue, everything but a welding torch, but it just wouldn't hold in the frame.

Rats.

I sold seven books at the show. Not impressive numbers, but I sold a couple of books to judges who live in Texas, which means Snoopy's story will travel. Also, my buddy Steve Connell stopped by to meet Snoopy and get a copy.

Snoopy thought Steve looked pretty interesting, but I like to keep him from chewing on potential readers.

I also gave away a prize package to all of the AQHA Trail Circuit Champions, which meant they kept announcing my name all weekend. I swear, the first time Larry (Gimple, the show manager) said my name over the PA system, I thought I was being called into the principal's office.

As far as showing, Snoopy and I did really well on the first day and really badly on the second. We actually got a 2nd and a 5th the first day. On the second day, we messed up badly when we backed the 'L'.

It all started when I pulled up to the gate and turned to watch for the judge's nod. In the meantime, Snoopy was pulling a huge branch off the tree in front of the standard. That never looks professional. The rest of the gate wasn't bad, but when I tried to back the 'L', Snoopy informed me by swinging his hip, that he could take care of this. He was too early, so I tried to stop him, but managed to get wiggly in the saddle. The result was that we straddled the pole, then corrected ourselves, then went on our merry way.

I've been backing 'L's ever since in my lessons. (Amazingly, we ended up finishing 7th and 9th that day, out of 10 horses. I really expected to be dead last.)

I did make some errors that I wish I could correct, and they have to do with photo ops. I should have gotten a picture with Larry and the book, and a picture of one of the circuit champions with their awards. Damn.

But it was a good start to Snoopy's good book.