Archie

Pfeil und Ochse

Okay, technically, it should be Fett Bogenschutze und Ochse, but Pfeil makes me think of Pferd and has a nice symmetry.

When last I wrote of the kiddos, I'd let my trail buddy hop on Archie for a few minutes.  I'd fallen off Archie a few weeks prior.  And I was having problems keeping my goddamn self up over fences on Ox.

I haven't eaten dirt lately (knock on wood), and things are actually looking pretty damn good.  All things relative.  I mean, Archie has been blowing abscesses out of his left hind coronet band periodically over the last couple of months.  In an effort to perform cheaper diagnostics, we're ruling out the shitty wet pasture he was in before we run tests.  He's perfectly sound.  I mean, as sound as he can be...


I took his sheet off one cold afternoon and he immediately started shivering.  So I bought a Weatherbeeta quarter sheet in blue for all of $20 from my BM.  Question from the deep South:  if you wear it over your legs, how do you keep it from pulling backwards?  Don't wear it over your legs?


And I cracked a jump up a few holes to reintroduce myself to a little bit of height.  It boggles my mind that I was jumping 2'6" regularly with Ox at the beginning of the summer and have now only started to think about that height again.  It's not fear of refusals.  The big bastard will jump the moon, or overjump the moon.  It's always been the landing side of the fence that scared me more.
Just a little raise.
This hot pink vertical was horrifying.

Trail buddy and I worked on basic h/j courses (line, diagonal, diagonal, line) until we both agreed that I had it down.  My ass is still eighteen inches too high above the saddle, but I'm not supermanning nearly as bad with my lower leg.  So we've started incorporating some bending lines and sharper turns.  I love that part of me remembers this.

And, following the direction from Liz' post, I made the Big Orange Booty a new rope halter.  I purchased some of the rope she recommended and followed the video she also recommended.  Really, really friendly project!


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    6 comments

    1. L.WilliamsJanuary 18, 2017 at 11:19 PM

      Sucks about all the abscesses but I hope the big Arch man is okay and you guys figure out whats causing the high frequency

      ReplyDelete
    2. emmaJanuary 19, 2017 at 8:04 AM

      Ha it boggles my mind to see some of the stuff I used to jump too. They say it comes back tho...

      ReplyDelete
    3. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2017 at 8:45 AM

      Ugh that abscess looks nasty!! But yay on jumping!
      I have a quarter sheet that I can put over my legs, but I don't. I find that it pulls back, and I don't like how it feels when I am posting the trot (and it rising up and down as I do kind of defeats the purpose IMO). Plus I worry about if I fell off getting tangled up in it. So I use it either how you show, or over the top of the flaps of my saddle. That way my leg isn't against cold leather.

      ReplyDelete
    4. AmandaJanuary 20, 2017 at 11:10 AM

      That style of quarter sheet is tough to get over your legs and have it stay there. When I put mine over my legs, I wrap the front edge of the sheet down and back under my leg. It's not a great solution for actual work, but it's good for warming up or hacking out. Typically, if it's over my legs instead of under it's because I've decided it's a day where I'll use or need it only for warming up & cooling down, so it's over my legs so I can take it off and hang it up, then grab it again when he's cooling down.

      That abscess looks awful, I'm so sorry you're dealing with it. :(

      ReplyDelete
    5. Liz StoutJanuary 20, 2017 at 12:16 PM

      I want a hot pink jump! And I'm so glad you were able to follow those directions. Handmade homestead is the boss.

      ReplyDelete
    6. Britt at Red on the RightJanuary 25, 2017 at 11:12 AM

      Ouch- that was a heck of an abcess!

      ReplyDelete

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