I'm Not Sure I Deserve Skeeter

It's been two weeks since I've had a chance to climb back up on Skeeter. (As I typed that, it sounded like I was going to confession - ha!)

Maybe I needed the almost two years without riding to appreciate what a gem of a mare I have. I mean, she's still pushy on the ground, and opinionated, but she really is a special horse and I'm glad she chose me all those years ago.

She eagerly met me at the gate when I called her, and remembered her manners as we were leaving the pen. Last time, she got in big trouble for trying to push past me instead of waiting until she was asked to follow. We did have a bit of a discussion about approaching the hitch rail. She prefers to be tied to Pearl's hitch rail, because then she cleans up everything Pearl has dropped out of her bowl. When we walk by Pearl's rail and head to our own, she gets sad and stubborn. It didn't take too much to remind her that she needed to walk up nicely to her own hitch rail, but it's definitely something we'll have to work through.

She stood like a rock star while getting groomed and saddled. Which, she should, being an old broke horse, but we're out of practice.

She still doesn't like the mounting block, and prefers me to mount from the ground, but until she loses some weight and I gain some flexibility, that's not going to happen. I'm super thankful for all of my Estes training, though, since Skeets likes to walk off as I mount from the block. She doesn't when I mount from the ground. Do I know that I should dismount and keep at it until she stands still? Yes. Am I willing to invest the time in that right now? No. That's something that we'll work on when it's just the two of us, not when L.E. and Pearl are waiting on us. Yes, I know that makes me a "bad" owner/rider, but frankly, at this point, I'm picking my battles.

We only rode for about 15 minutes around the backyard, working on serpentines, figure eights around a tree and the mounting block, a few laps each direction. When she wanted to pick up a trot, I let her and kept her going a few more steps when she wanted to come back down to a walk. My body is remembering what it's like to be astride and I was much more relaxed this time. Still had to remind myself to breathe while posting, but that'll come back as well.

L.E. and Pearl

It's not a ride if I don't get a picture of her derp ears.

Our backyard has changed a lot in the past couple of years,
the horses don't seem to mind the changes.

The pallets that make up the walls of the greenhouse used
to be our bridge obstacles for the horses.

The ride was short and sweet, and I asked Skeeter to drop me off at the mounting block. I don't recall the last time I dismounted onto the mounting block, actually, I'm not sure I ever have. After a moment of confusion she stepped right up and allowed me to dismount without moving a muscle. It felt very weird (for both of us, I'm sure).

After our ride, I wanted to take her through the archway in front of the greenhouse. It's something I want to work on, because I want to take our Christmas pictures there and it didn't go so well last year. I had laid cardboard down to kill the weeds, and none of the horses liked walking on the slippery cardboard. This summer, I was able to get the flagstone put down and some creeping thyme planted, so it's more like real ground instead of cardboard ground.

L.E. was kind enough to take pictures for us, and I'm so thrilled with how well Skeets did walking through the arch.

You can see how thrilled she is. Willing,
but unimpressed.

Even less impressed with forced cuddles ...

"Ugh, Mom! A kiss?!"

"Are we done yet?"

Funny how she never balks when we're done riding, and we're headed back to her hitch rail to get undressed after a ride, isn't it?

Someone looks pretty proud
of herself, doesn't she?

"Don't forget my 'good girl' treat, Mom."

She's so out of shape that even the short time we rode, she lathered up between her legs and couldn't wait to throw herself on the ground for a good roll. We'll keep with the short rides for a bit, and gradually increase our time as her fitness improves. Now that we're both middle aged, it takes longer than it did when we were young 'uns.

I Finally Rode My Horse!

The last documentation I have of riding Skeeter was from November 13, 2023 at my neighbor's arena. I rode with the Bionic Cowgirl and L.E. I always take pictures of our rides for documentation, even though the pictures are basically always the same, and kind of boring. However, I'm glad I'm in the habit of it, so I could look back to see how long it's been since I rode.

671 DAYS!

That's almost two years. Holy cow, I feel bad about it. But you know what? I have the most amazing, pain in the ass mare you'll ever meet. I pulled her from the pen, did about five minutes worth of ground work (no longing - I don't believe in it for "getting the wiggles out") with her, to make sure she was paying attention to me, then saddled her up.

The saddle used to fit. It used to fit quite nicely. Almost two years ago. Now that she's been sitting and is chonky, her clothes don't fit at all. 

She is a big girl right now.

Unlike human clothes, though, just letting out the cinches a few notches, and loosening the breast collar, made her saddle wearable. Does it fit well enough for a two hour ride on the mountain? No. Does it fit well enough to piddle around the yard and the farm roads to get exercise to start getting the weight off? Yes. She stood like the well-broke horse she is while I adjusted everything. 

We did just a few more minutes of ground work while we waited on L.E. and Pearl to get home from their lesson. While we were waiting, I thought I'd get her bitted up. Y'all. The girl's face got fat! I had to let out the bridle by a hole on each side. I probably should have loosened her chin strap as well, but she did okay with it, and I'll double check it again next time we ride.

As usual, she gave me some attitude about wanting to use the mounting block. She much prefers me to mount from the ground. However, with her increased girth, the stirrups are about an inch too high for me to reach from the ground, not that they were ever easy for me to reach to begin with. After a few refusals at the mounting block, we got our poop in a group and I climbed on my horse for the first time in forever.

Obligatory between the ears pic.

L.E. was kind enough to take pictures of us.

Ignore the brimless helmet - my hell hat brim
came off and I haven't replaced it.

We rode for only about 10 - 15 minutes, but it was enough to get started. Enough to remind both myself and Skeeter that we can do this. It's hard for me to look back and see all of our great rides on the mountain, and then realize we're back here, not quite to square one, but close.

The plan is to ride at least once a week, now that gardening season is wrapping up. While I don't mind her going into winter a bit on the heavy side, this is extreme, and we've got to get some weight down before bad things start to happen.

Well Child Checks for the Wild Ones

The Wild Ones were way, way, way overdue for their annual vet visit and shots. I intended to get them done last April - of 2024! - and blinked, now it's almost the end of July, 2025. Ugh.

I haven't been spending nearly enough time with the horses and they're basically pasture ornaments at this point. Skeets gets loves and kisses through the fence, as does Copper, but as far as any handling goes? Yeah, nothing of that sort happens unless the farrier is coming. I'm not proud of it. At all.

But ... I finally did get around to calling our fabulous vet for their "well child checks". They needed their shots and their teeth floated. Our two also needed dewormed, but L.E. is great about keeping Pearl on a deworming schedule, so she didn't need that.

I was appalled when I pulled Skeets and brushed out her mane. She's developed a cresty neck. Now, I knew she was getting chonky, but with her split mane I had assumed what I was seeing was her cowlick from her mane splitting. Yeah, no. Very recently, she's developed a cresty neck, which worries me.

With her mane all brushed to one side,
it's easier to see that she's got a big ole
fat deposit on her neck.

Our horses are free fed with a hay chix net, and I knew that she was a bit pudgy. Luckily, I'd already ordered a new "extreme slow feed" net and had plans to replace the old one yesterday. Our vet wasn't overly worried about her cresty neck, as she hasn't developed big fat pads over her withers. He gave her a body condition score of 8/10. A diet and increased exercise should get her back on track. I guess this means Skeets and I are back to taking evening walks. It'll do us both good. The problem with "air ferns" like we have is that once they hit middle age, the easy keepers can become fat keepers.

I'm super proud of how well our pasture ornaments behave for the vet. There's never any drama with injections, or getting their good drugs for floating. They really like the vet and his wife, which makes everyone's lives so much easier.

Skeets did require a second dose of
the good stuff. The vet's wife said she
was just making up for missing
last year's dose.

Skeets was drunk-drunk after her second dose of drugs, so I thought it would be okay to put her back in the pen. I didn't think there was any way she could eat, and therefore choke, while she was in that state. I should have just tied her to the hitch rail during Copper's turn, but I figured she'd just go take a snooze.

This is what I expected - just a snooze while the drugs wore off.

Chonky girl had other plans. She wasn't eating, she was using
the feeder as a pillow. She's sound asleep.

Copper is always everyone's favorite. There's a reason his name is Copper Casanova - he's gorgeous, sweet, and everyone falls in love with him.

I've always thought of him as our "big guy" - he's drafty, sure. But he also runs a bit chonky. Or so I thought. The vet rated him 6/10 for body condition, explaining that his body type just makes him look fat(ish). He's our true pasture ornament, since we can't ride him for more than half an hour, and only on the flat due to a congenital stifle issue. How is it the horse who gets the *least* exercise and handling is the one with the best BCS? 

Overall, I'm very happy with the way our vet visit went, and I'm so pleased that our vet and his wife are happy with the way our horses behave. They might make me crazy sometimes (I'm looking at you, Skeets), but they behave "in public" when other people are around. It reminds me a lot of when my kids were growing up - they had the capacity to be absolute shits at home, but they knew better than to embarrass me in public.

The vet always compliments us on how easy they are to handle, and tells us it's a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other mustang owners. I know that my mustang friends understand how important it is to have good horse citizens, especially for mustangs. However, a lot of "horse lovers" who have no business owning horses adopt mustangs under the mistaken belief that they're "rescuing" them, and have a romanticized image of what it's going to be like. The reality is, that if they're not equipped to either do the initial gentling themselves, or can't afford to have a professional do it, and then keep up on it, they're doing themselves, their horses, and the mustang image a disservice. They're the reason why it's hard to find vets and farriers who are willing to work with mustangs.