Well it’s not like if winter was very long but I feel so relieved it finally came, you can’t imagine! I can put back my flip flops, Oleander is shedding and I don’t have to worry about the mud all over my shoes anymore.
Yeah, this is nice weather. Unfortunately, we tend to forget that we are still in a terrible drought… And it’s not getting better. Drought after drought, it looks like this year the water restrictions are going to be bad. So we try to save water! Ole will only have ONE bath this year: right before inspection. Then she will be allowed to go back at being a dirty piggy.
Anyway! As you’ve probably noticed, I upload new pictures regularly, I try to keep this website as updated as I can but sometimes I am just too lazy…
Last weekend Ole had her first run in the round-pen! Not exactly the first one, as she’s already been in the round pen at Brookside, but it was her first time at this one! We have a really exiting life, have we not?
We’ve been “working” on going on the trails, and we have a lot of fun! Going up and down the hills is very fun according to Ole! But this time we went ALL the way to the arenas and the round pens and since nobody was in there, I decided to introduce Ole and the free lunge. I mostly let her trot/canter around, didn’t ask her much… She was a bit anxious. No horse was around and in this new environment she wasn’t the bravest one
Buuuuut she did really good and I finally had the chance to see how her movements had evolved. Actually, she trots really nicely! I love her hock action and the fact that she pushes very hard from behind. Her canter is… OK. I mean, there’s nothing special! She is very compact and she doesn’t have such a big stride. She has a good balance though.
I am going to let you see for yourself as the nicest husband on earth went with us to video tape!!
Ok, so it’s official, we will be at the WCCS ‘09 at Twin Rivers Ranch! I don’t know about Ole, but I am pretty excited about that. I also signed her up for her inspection… I’ve never been to an american inspection before so it will be new for the both of us. But I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes around here.
Other than that, here in California, the weather is turning crazy (well, actually, I think this is the case pretty much everywhere in the world) and Ole is wondering between shedding or growing more hair. And I am turning on and off the heaters at home… That’s pretty annoying but it’s not the worst: California only had something like 35% of the average water we usually have at this period. Scary! Hopefully, more rain will drop soon and we will feel more comfortable.
New picture, as soon as Ole stops eating all the time…
Things have been quiet here, as usual, I just don’t take the time to write very often. Between work, my family life, Ole, and Ember… It’s like time is flying without me noticing anything.
Anyway, Oleander is doing good now. She had a little episode a couple of weeks ago: she choked on we-don’t-know-what. The vet came out and tried to either push it in or out. After 2 hours of tube, we decided to take her to the clinic to do an endoscopy. Well I was scared this little incident was going to cost me my Christmas but fortunately, Ole heard me and just swallowed the thing during the hauling. Since then, she has been happy again in her pasture, eating and playing with friends. She actually has a new best friend: a little QH filly, she must be Ole’s age. They get along really well.
I uploaded a couple of pictures, not much. But I’ll try to put some more up as soon as I can.
Late Merry Christmas to all of you and a wonderful 2009. Full of joy, love and ponies in GOOD health!!!
Wow it has been a while. But I have to say that there isn’t much going on in our life lately… Ole is eating and eating and eating. Elise is working and working and working.
But last weekend, we had for a family hike with Leo. I wanted to take her out of her pasture for once and to walk her around in the pasture across the street. And she did really good (except when she smashed Leo’s ankle when she got scared of a cowboy), we went all the way to the arenas and we came back. Even when she got scared she didn’t take off or anything, she just came closer to me (ok really closer, she almost walked on me but niah…). So that’s good, she doesn’t seem very spooky.
And here is a little video of our afternoon. You will be able to see how Ole’s life is aweful.
Some of you guys may have wondered if Ole and I were going to the M & M Show at Brookside in September. Unfortunately you won’t see us there. I hoped I could make it but forgot I had sent my entries for a show with Ember (the horse I ride while Ole is growing up) at Pebble Beach the same weekend. Plus I had a transportation issue, too. So in the end I just gave up and thought we would do something next year. Time flies by and I just have to decide between so many choices.
But I am updating the gallery today with the photos Leo and I took today so you can forgive me. I thought that since I was not going to go to the M & M Show, I would just do my own show at home. Ole is dusty and all on the pictures (even though she is still so shiny and I can’t figure, for the life of me, WHY) but you can at least see how she is evolving. I have to say I am in a middle of a big brag time because I just love how she is maturing so far… So screw all of you that don’t think the same thing, I just don’t care!
Yep, she did it again! I had to call the vet on Monday because this little girl had a sore mouth (hyper salivation, she was dropping food and eating slowly). I had a look in it this weekend and couldn’t see anything wrong except a couple of Fox tails I took off her mouth. On Monday she wasn’t feeling really better so the vet came on Tuesday to have a look. At the beginning I was confused because she was eating so much better. I asked the vet to sedate her and have a look anyway, just to make sure. She couldn’t see anything wrong until she looked under her tongue. It was FULL of fox tails and it was lacerating her tongue. No wonder why she was not feeling great. So we took off everything and she went back to her pasture. Hopefully she’s learnt from her mistake and won’t try to eat that again… But I doubt that.
Anyway, I have updated the gallery, if you want to go ahead and have a look, you are welcome!
Here we go, Ole is home, and I am so glad I picked this place. The pasture is HUGE and there is not too many horses in it.
The trip went great, she got in the trailer in a heartbeat, traveled nicely even when we had to stop to grab a lunch: no crying, no stepping in the trailer,… She was a reaaaally good girl.
We arrived at the pasture around 1:45pm. The other horses were busy eating their hay, so I could safely put her in there. She first met the 1yo mule and was not really sure about him. Then she met a huuuuge Quarter Horse who fell in love with her. She was chased around a little bit by the alpha, but quite frankly not as much as I thought it would be. When we left (after 2 hours, I was anxious about leaving her alone right away) she was sharing her pile of hay with the big chestnut QH.
The funny thing is that she never panicked, she was clearly wondering what was going on, but she wasn’t cantering around crying and panicking.
So that’s good news, I’ll go have a look on her tomorrow morning before going to the show I am supposed to photograph (well maybe after, it is not really on my way). But so far she seemed great.
I went today to Livermore to deworm Ole and pick up her stuff (I won’t have the time to do that on Saturday). We worked a little bit in Hand in the arena… The beast was hot! But she was listening and watching out to not step on me. It feels good to have a yearling that actually doesn’t step on you every there is a sound. She is very respectful.
Ok and I uploaded a couple of pictures in the gallery: enjoy!
Well it’s not like if winter was very long but I feel so relieved it finally came, you can’t imagine! I can put back my flip flops, Oleander is shedding and I don’t have to worry about the mud all over my shoes anymore.
Buuuuut she did really good and I finally had the chance to see how her movements had evolved. Actually, she trots really nicely! I love her hock action and the fact that she pushes very hard from behind. Her canter is… OK. I mean, there’s nothing special! She is very compact and she doesn’t have such a big stride. She has a good balance though.
Ok, so it’s official, we will be at the WCCS ‘09 at Twin Rivers Ranch! I don’t know about Ole, but I am pretty excited about that. I also signed her up for her inspection… I’ve never been to an american inspection before so it will be new for the both of us. But I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes around here. 
