Remembering To Be Thankful

Post-ride celebratory noms.

Add some carrots and you will have Harley's ideal Thanksgiving dinner.

I am thankful for a loving husband, Mom, and Dad, a caring extended family, a supportive and fun barn family and friends, a creative and challenging occupation, wonderful students and colleagues, a warm and cozy home, a ten-year-old Honda Civic that is still going strong, cheerful and chattering budgies, a smart and entertaining cockatiel, the health of my family and friends...

...and, of course, my horse, Harley.

I am so grateful for my sound, sane, fun-loving, energetic, versatile, and intelligent little buckskin quarter horse.  I am thankful every day and every time that I see his kind eyes, caress his soft muzzle, and swing my leg over his back.  Just how did I get this lucky?

Harley, always ready for action!

 Experiences outside of the usual, like the Turkey Trot, reveal Harley's character to me in ways that riding at home and in the arena cannot.  Pluck us out of our home and deposit us in an unfamiliar, busy environment with lots of different horses and riders who also exemplify numerous styles and philosophies of riding and Harley's preciousness will begin to shine through.  Take one of the last big canters in one of the last big fields of our ride for example.  A group took off in front of us and even though I am sure Harley wanted to run too, he did not tighten a muscle.  After I waited for some space between us and the group, I  whispered for Harley to canter and off he went, but it was not a breakneck speed, rushing-to-catch-up kind of canter.  His strides were big and ground-covering, which gained on the pack, but his ears continuously swiveled back to me.  His back was steady and comfortable.  It felt like the safest place in the world.  In mid hand-gallop, I checked to see if my horse would come back to me and Harley impressively shifted gears to a more dressage horse type canter, with an arched neck and rounded back.  I praised him immensely and then let him stretch forward again.  It is such a good feeling to be going at speed in a huge field, with a group of fast-moving horses ahead of you, and your horse still sees you as his leader and his first priority.  I know that Harley has a strong sense of self-preservation and after experiencing field jaunts and steep, descending slopes in the woods, I feel that it would be reasonable for me to conclude that he extends this self-preservation to me.  Thanks for keeping me safe, sweet Harley.

I have not forgotten you, my Blogger Friends!  I am thankful for your visits, your comments, insights, advice, anecdotes, and your blogging stories, photos, and experiences.  Sharing our lives with horses makes the journey so much more fulfilling and enjoyable.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Love,
Val and Harley

We Are Turkey Trotters

Guess what?  Harley is a prize winning trail horse.  What does this mean?  Well, on Sunday we went in the 13th Annual Turkey Trot pleasure ride/drive at the Horse Park of New Jersey.  We were entered in the open division and rode the long course which is about eight miles through Assinpink Wildlife Management Area.  The Turkey Trot is a very casual/fun competition and certainly not a competitive trail ride, but there is an undisclosed optimum time and we were only 2 minutes and 49 seconds off the optimum time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 25 seconds.  My team mate and I were awarded third place!
Go Harley!

My husband jokes that this means we were the third "most average", but I will take third out of 28 teams any day!  This was a repeat performance as team Harley and team Winston (our trail mates) were also third last year, but out of 41 teams.  Can you imagine that many competitors in a dressage competition?  Well, I cannot, but maybe you can!

Since the optimum time was not disclosed and we were not armed with any kind of GPS or odometer, we could not really try to keep pace, although we guessed that the optimum would be close to two hours like last year.  I used common sense and my horse's well-being as my barometer, walking in the wooded areas, trotting along short, open sections of trail, and taking advantage of fields for a nice canter.  This is exactly what we did last year, which leads me to believe that whomever determined the optimum time uses the same horse-centered pacing strategy.  I think that many riders are more interested in having fun and finishing quickly than trying to hit an optimum.  In fact, maybe they are trying to get as far under the optimum as possible!  We had fun and made it back to the trailer with plenty of spunk.  In the picture above, it looks like Harley is ready for round two!

FYI: I may have been wearing my new helmet camera...

Blanketing Question for the Blogosphere

Soooooo...

....I am changing Harley's turnout routine back to 24/7.  My in-at-night experiment barely lasted three weeks.  Although, my horse looked blissfully happy tucked in his stall with his dinner buffet, there have been  repercussions.  My horse has started coughing.  Unacceptable.  I noticed that he coughed a couple times when I was riding last weekend, but I thought that it might be the change in weather.  He does seem to get mild seasonal allergies (sneezing, coughing, and occasional slight eye puffiness).  When the pollen is high, we sneeze together.  We make a nice chorus, but it is nothing serious or lasting.  Then my barn owner called and said that Harley was coughing in his stall in the morning.  No fever and a healthy appetite, but I still called the vet and he is being treated.  I also spoke to the vet about returning to 24/7 turnout and blanketing.  Harley has been out all day and all night for two years straight with the exception of blizzards, tropical storms, and hurricanes (Irene!) and has not suffered any illnesses.  In at night for two weeks and he is coughing.  Hmmm.  This does not feel much like a coincidence and after speaking with my vet, the decision is easy.  My horse will once again be coming in for meals only and will be walked back out for his evening hay and the night with his good buddy, Cisco.  Cisco's mom will be very happy about this!  We both keep our horses bare and were commiserating about keeping them stalled at night.  Her trimmer (the same woman who taught me how to trim) could tell that Cicso was no longer turned out all night, just by looking at his feet.  I had not noticed any detrimental changes in Harley's feet, but my eye is not as trained as hers, so that could also have been possible.

Ta-da!  Harley looks dashing in blue!  This is the first horse blanket that I have ever purchased.  I stayed away from anything that resembled magenta, because I once purchased a pretty magenta halter and it was found with busted hardware laying on the ground by the gate.  Defective halter or horse with something against pink and purple?

Doesn't he look cozy?  I am liking this.

After reading like one-hundred million reviews, setting up and canceling several shopping carts, and shutting down my computer in despair at least half a dozen times, I finally decided to buy him a Landa Freestyle turnout blanket of medium weight by Weatherbeeta.  Please do not tell me that this blanket is going to fall apart.  After all that reading and researching, I just cannot take it!

Here is my question:  When should I blanket Harley?

My vet has given me her input and since we are past the fifteenth of November, he has probably reached his coat's maximum thickness, which is THICK.  I have never observed him shivering or huddled in the paddock during the winter.  In fact, he is usually out and about, walking around like he does all year round.  He has access to a shelter and I also purchased a fleece cooler which could double as an extra liner if need be.  I do not own a heavy weight blanket.  The reason I am considering blanketing at all is because his body reveals that he has lost weight and condition when he sheds out in the spring.  I do not live at the farm so I am not available to change/remove blankets during the day.  New Jersey can get very cold (freezing and below) in late December continuing into February.

I am curious to read your advice.  What do you think?