Still Life with Camera

My good friend, Susan, is a psychologist and a horsewoman with a strong interest in Equine-assisted Therapy. (Here are a couple of links if you want more info about it. She uses her wonderful Andalusian gelding, Fiado, in this therapy. She's on her way to a Bettina Drummond clinic in Michigan right now and gave Fiado a beauty treatment yesterday as part of the prep. He's white after all and loves to roll in the dirt and whatever may be on the dirt (if you get my drift). Anyway, we thought it would be a great opportunity to take some new pictures of him and to update her website with them. He's a great horse with a lot of personality and the day was beautiful. We got some great pictures! Fiado and Susan Isn't he gorgeous? And photogenic.

In case you're not familiar with the Parelli method, here's what they say about it on their web site: the Parelli method of natural horsemanship is a holistic approach to natural horse training based on developing a natural relationship with your horse through understanding his/her nature and understanding the world from the horse's point of view. I'm a beginner at it so we're still at the 'On Line' level, meaning we're using a halter and a lead rope - get it - the horse is on the line... I'm enjoying it immensely. Since horses are herd animals they're always re-negotiating their place in the herd. If I were a horse, I'm guessing I would always be at the bottom of the heap because I'm such a marshmallow. That's not a good thing since Spirit outweighs me by at least 1000 pounds. Don't get the wrong idea, he's a sweetie, but I need to be the one who's deciding which way we're going, how close he can get to me...

The IDCTA (Illinois Dressage and Combined Training Association)Finals were held over the weekend at Silverwood Farm in Camp Lake, Wisconsin. Two of our friends from Sunflower Farms were in the Finals and Susan and I drove up Sunday afternoon to watch them ride. It was a perfect fall day. Susan in the Viewing Stand (I waited until after she stopped sticking her tongue out at me before I took the picture. Such self-control.) Warm-ups with riders and horses of all shapes, colors and sizes. Here are Joann, her mother from Greece and her horse Annie Oakley. Annie's mouthing off here, kind of reminds me of Mr. Ed. She did a lot of whinnying yesterday, probably because she hadn't been away from Sunflower Farms for 2 years and she was calling for her friends. Joann and Oakley warming up. Connie, our trainer and teacher, giving Alyssa and Taylor some last minute tips. I love this picture. Alyssa and Taylor.

The State of Illinois is billions of dollars in debt, which means that money promised to the University of Illinois ,where I work, hasn't been sent. Clearly the University's primary missions are education and research so the institution is agonizing over how to meet this vast short fall in funds without endangering those missions. So, furlough days, or, if you'd prefer, a short term cut in pay. A furlough day is a mandatory day off without pay where you are absolutely not allowed to work. Generally not a problem for the kind of work I'm involved in where we can cover for each other most of the time. However, lots of people on the commuter bus to the train station (who talk while I unintentionally eavesdrop) are involved in research or patient care and they would rather keep working for less pay. The pay cut was not offered as an option at first. I have a feeling people like my bus mates made the case for it. The University thought these options were more fair than firin...

My friend, Susan, arranged for Laura Amandis to be at Sunflower Farms last October for an afternoon clinic. Laura was working at the Bristol Renaissance Fair as Mistress of the Joust and the Fair is only a couple of miles from Sunflower so it was convenient. Her ground work with horses is amazing! And she and her horse, Acierto, are amazing in a totally different way.  He's a gorgeous white Andalusian stallion.  After she had worked with a  couple of horses, she brought Acierto in to do a demonstration of his Liberty Work.  He came into the arena and took a victory gallop around.  When he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he preened and whinnied and neighed at himself.  He did this multiple times - it was hilarious! So, this Sunday, January 10th, Laura will be at Sunflower to do a 9-5 clinic.  I'm looking forward to it.

This horse owning experience has been very interesting for me. Let me first say that I'm an older beginning horse rider and that I've loved horses since I was a little girl. I think it's a gene that skipped generations. My grandfather had work horses as a farmer early in the 20th century and family lore has it that he loved them more than he did his own kids. My mother and my children are afraid of horses; my sister and I can't get enough of them. When I first thought about buying, it was the fulfillment of that little girl's dream. And somewhere along the way I had developed the certainty that I wanted a horse so I could learn to ride dressage. I knew it. I had been taking dressage lessons on and off for a couple of years on a few different horses. My best horse buddy, Susan, is very into dressage and the positive effects it has on her, both physical and mental. She says if it weren't for riding, she would be on some anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drug. She...

My trainer noticed that Navi is lame again in the right hind. So the vet was out to take a look. She told her assistant on the way that he was very easy to deal with, based on the first time she saw him. And of course, then he was awful. Managed to strike the assistant on the right arm while she was trying to walk him and was just generally not cooperative. I'm sure it didn't help that they arrived just at feeding time. He did NOT want to leave the hay in his stall. They tried twitching him at one point - it sure looks like medieval torture to me, but the vet assured me that it releases endorphins and therefore can be calming. But Navi wasn't having any of that either. He's so strong, I was afraid we were going to pull his muzzle right off. We're never doing that again.  I'm all about safety for the vet, her assistant and any other bystanders, but no more twitching.   Next time, I'm all about food treats, if possible. Anyway, the vet blocked various nerv...

The hock injections seemed to solve Navi's hock issues. Hooray! So cross your fingers the effect is lasting. I do notice now that he doesn't give me as much trouble when I lift his right hind to pick his hoof. He was probably trying to tell me the whole time that it was bothering him and I wasn't picking up on the signals. But like the child who's not quite as easy as some, his newest issue is his spookiness. He's super sensitive to almost anything new, but sounds in particular seem to bother him. So, that little patch of sunlight that wasn't on the arena wall the last time we rode by is SCARY! Sarah Brightman belts out a high note as we ride by the speaker, OHMIGOD! He's been pretty revved up ever since I got him in June, but it seems to be getting worse rather than better. We all have theories, of course. Maybe it's the cold - we don't think he's ever spent a winter where it's as cold as it is in Northern Illinois. Maybe his grain has t...

Fall is definitely here. I forget on an annual basis how much rain we get in September and October so I'm always unprepared. Navaroan and the other horses at the barn have to wait their turn for a turnout spot that's not too muddy. That and the cooler temperatures makes for some pretty fresh ponies. A couple of weeks ago, Navaroan seemed to be tripping over his hind legs an awful lot, but I thought it was because his feet had gotten so long. He gets reshod every 6 weeks but he could really use it every 4-5, if I could afford it. Last week I had a dream that something was wrong with his hind end and the next day my trainer called and said he was lame. The vet couldn't come until Monday, so she did flexion tests and hock xrays and then thought she really needed to make sure his suspensory ligaments weren't involved. She came back yesterday and did some blocks. The good news is that it really is "just" his hocks, both sides. She says he's a 2 on the 0-5 l...