Santana

Santana

"my favorite person who also happens to be a horse"

May 9, 1997 - April 17, 2024

 

Hard times

Midway through my last post, I discussed the possibility probability that my life was to get worse rather than better.

Well... truer words have never been typed,

Less than twenty four hours after publishing that post, I bought a last minute plane ticket to deal with an emergent situation in California.

The flight itself was extremely pleasant. The plane was empty and I had my own row.

My sisters picked me up at the airport, and we made the long drive from Berkeley to Pasadena together. That part was fun.

there's always that one sister

Since then, however, things have been really tough.

Situations like these require an emotional support horse. Fortunately, there are still a few members of my carpet herd here, gathering dust in Mom's basement. 

Every time I visit, I select one horse to come upstairs and hang out with me while I'm here.

Since this trip is especially difficult, this time I chose two. Rocky (lying down) and Treacherous (standing) were part of the Stablemate set that came with a green, cardboard barn. The barn is long gone, but somehow these two remain, rubbed but remarkably whole. 

It's a small thing, but seeing them standing - and lying - on the nightstand in my old bedroom does, in fact, help a little bit. I think when this is all over, I'll take them back to Colorado with me.

Hard choices

The last six months of my mother-in-law's life was really hard, not just for her, but for everyone in her orbit.

I thought that things would be, not better, but easier after she passed, and they were for maybe a week. 

Since then, however, life has been really complicated, not just at home but also at work and the barn.

I have this whole list of things I need to do but have been putting off until life is easier.  

Yesterday I realized life might not ever get easier. As much as I didn't want to, it was time to tackle the to-do list. One of the first items on my agenda was canceling BreyerFest.

This was hard. I love BreyerFest. I think everyone who is part of the hobby should attend BreyerFest at least once, and probably twice since there's no way you can do everything you want to do in a single year. 

I can honestly say that the last BreyerFest I attended was one of the most fun weeks of my entire life.

If my vacation time, money and energy were unlimited, I would be happy to go to BreyerFest every year.

Sadly, that is not the case.

As much as I love BreyerFest, it's always a long, hard, expensive, hot week, the kind of vacation that requires a second vacation immediately after for recovery.

This year I want - no, I need - something easier.

So yesterday, I cancelled one vacation and booked another.

I know it was the right decision. As soon as it was done I felt better, lighter. Still, it's bittersweet. I will really miss being part of the Resin Renaissance staff, and I am especially sad to be missing time with so many of my friends, especially Anne and Anne, two of my favorite people who I don't see nearly often enough.

I hope everyone who attends this year's BreyerFest has the best time. Please take lots of pictures for me - and everyone else - who will be attending the event from the comfort of their homes.

Spring ruffles

It's the middle of April, and Spring has officially sprung.

Signs of spring are everywhere: warmer temperatures,

shedding ponies...

and new spring merchandise at work.

The store is filled with soft, springy colors, like the fern and walnut on Olive's new LeMieux Vogue halter.

PS of Sweden has taken it a step further. Their spring line features more than just new colors...

There are also pearls and ruffles.

The ruffles aren't just on the saddle pads.

They're on everything.

Everything!

My full sized horse does not actually need this feature, but my model horses just might. Is there any hobby tack maker - looking at you, Maire - enterprising enough to tackle this. I would really love to see it!

Pig training

This is Nutmeg. She was a house pig living in a city that doesn't allow house pigs. She escaped one too many times, so now she's living at my barn while her owners petition city hall to have the law changed.

Shortly after she arrived, I told Sarah, the resident trainer, that I wanted to introduce Olive to Nutmeg. Sarah has seen more than a few Olive outbursts, so she laughed and said, "Only if you're holding Olive!"

"Deal!" I responded. Then I added, "It's probably going to be a non-event. I don't think she's going to be afraid. Olive really, really, really likes small, hairy animals."

I wasn't present the first time Olive met Nutmeg, but Sarah sent me a video. Sure enough, Olive wasn't scared at all, just really, really, really interested.

Since then, I've been begging Sarah and Reece to get Nutmeg out for her daily walk in the morning, while I'm at the barn. 

A couple days ago, it finally happened.

Olive and I were ready.

This was her first time seeing Nutmeg without a fence separating them.

Olive didn't hesitate.

She wanted to touch the pig.

She really, really, really wanted to touch the pig.

It turns out, the only difficult thing about introducing Olive to Nutmeg was protecting Nutmeg from Olive.

Kaffi also met Nutmeg.

His response was equal parts curiosity and caution.

I hope Nutmeg's owners succeed in getting her returned to their care, but maybe not right away.

Like Olive, I really, really, really like having her at the barn.

Spring training

You may have noticed that there haven't been any ride posts here for a long time. There are several reasons for this, the most significant of which is, despite the best efforts of her care team, Olive still isn't one hundred percent sound. My vet has urged me to continue riding her, and I do, but it's mostly just short, bareback, walk toodles around the property.

More often than not, however, our time together is spent with me on the ground.

We go on a lot of walks, both alone...

and with Karen and Kaffi.

We always try to fit in some training challenges. Water crossings...

and bridges are easy for Olive.

This little wall,

golf course maintenance men...

and the poop bag dispenser are significantly more difficult. Go figure.

We're also learning to better deal with random bits of trash.

Olive wasn't ready to touch this one, 

but she did eventually settle down and graze next to it. Good girl!

Our in-hand schooling sessions aren't limited to the trail. We've also logged some good training hours in the arena. I don't have pictures, but we've worked on mounting block manners, turns on the forehand and haunches, side-passing over logs and backing up. She was pretty good at most of these things before, but with this extra time and effort, she's really leveled up.

Finally, we've been working on a few silly things. These include giving kisses...

and grooming Olive with stable tools.

There's no real reason to curry your horse with a manure fork, but considering how twitchy she used to be around long handled objects this feels useful.

After all, she might someday be asked to carry a rider with a sword.

She's a Buxton horse. Stranger things have happened.

This isn't exactly what I'd hoped for when I got my own horse, but weirdly, it's been surprisingly enjoyable.

Of course, I am still hoping for a return to ride posts in the future, but for now, we're doing fine.