Wonderful Post-Hurricane-Irene Weekend!

We are beginning to get back to a sense of normalcy after Hurricane Irene. Most of us have had our electricity restored, the stoplights around town are working reliably again, and we are beginning to buy perishable foods again for our refrigerators. And the first weekend after the hurricane gave us some decent weather and a three-day weekend, courtesy of Labor Day! So I spent all three weekend days at the barn with Buckshot and had a great time.

On Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011, I took him to the barn to be groomed for the first time in two weeks! He was a bit fuzzy. He munched on the special alfalfa hay I put in his grooming stall, and I’ll bet felt much better after his spa-day grooming. We went to the arena and started our phase one warm up. I decided to include lots of circles in our walking work, as I had read recently on a good blog by a woman named Val, who has a wonderful horse named Harley (her blog is Memoirs of a Horse Girl) click here. Val wrote about the many benefits of circles in one of her older posts (I’m reading her archives as well as her newer posts). I realized that I hadn’t worked on circles for some time. So instead of having Buckshot walk on the rail for our warm up, I continually moved him in large and medium sized circles, curves, serpentines and turn arounds. I worked on using my leg aids primarily, to help improve them. I estimate that he moved accurately from my legs about 80% of the time, with the other 20% needing the addition of a rein aid. I thought that was pretty good progress on legs, and on circles.

After a while, the other Saturday lesson students arrived and we walked around the arena. Our instructor, the BO, gave us a challenging canter pattern to do. It was fun to circle cones, come down the rail, try lead changes, and follow the pattern, all at the canter. Buckshot and I did pretty well. We then walked on the trail to the reining arena. The trail had some debris on it but not too much for riding. All of the horses handled the trail challenges just fine. We spent a few minutes at the reining arena and then returned to the main arena. I untacked Buckshot, praised him for his work (we rode for 1.5 hours!), and gave him a medicated shampoo bath, and walked him slowly back to his pasture.

My regular routine at the barn is to help with the late afternoon feeding of three of the farm’s six barns. So, later on Saturday, I went to Buckshot’s barn and fed the five horses up there. The barn at this group of pastures has five stalls for horses, with open doors, so they can walk in and out as they wish. The sixth stall is the feed and hay room, where the barrels of grain, supplements and bales of hay are kept. I began my usual procedure. I fixed Buckshot’s and Lucky’s dinner, and walked it over to their stalls. I closed Lucky’s door while he eats. Then I checked and filled the water tubs. I next fixed grain for the other three horses, followed by getting flakes of hay for each horse and carrying it to the places in the pasture where they eat hay.

Then, I did things in the feed room. I had to make the breakfasts for each horse, and open the breakfast hay bales. I also organized some letters that have fallen off of Buckshot’s name sign that hangs outside of his stall. I planned to get some glue and reattach them later in the weekend. I saw some wasp nests so I brushed them down. Busy with these tasks, I was focused on making sure all the chores were done. Well, I then turned to go and stepped out of the feed room, and who was standing right there, by the door, big as life, watching me- but Buckshot! He had gotten out of his pasture and walked around to the feed room! And just stood there, looking at me, as if to say “what cha doing?” I was shocked! Buckshot! I said, What are you doing here? And I reached behind me for a lead line and gently put it around his neck and walked him back into his pasture! By then I was laughing! How funny! He had his hay to eat, and usually he digs right into it with gusto, but Saturday, he decided to come find me, or to explore! And the funny thing is, compared to other horses who have gotten free, and who are usually a little bit antsy when they are free (as if they are thinking about running to the next county, now that they have a chance to!), he was as calm as a cucumber, in his freedom. Like he never even thought of going anyplace, just right over here to the feed room. It was so funny! He is such a dear horse. I laugh every time I think about it!

He must have gotten a laugh about it as well, seeing my total look of surprise when I stepped out of the feed room and saw him escaped from his pasture! (And to explain how he got out of his pasture—I never close the gate, I just pull it into the closed position because Buckshot always goes straight for his hay and doesn’t even look at the gate. Then minutes later, I’ll let Lucky out of his stall, and say goodbye to Buckshot, and then I’ll latch the gate closed….. hmmmm.)

On Sunday, Buckshot proved his worth many times over. I think he is worth his weight in gold – triple! And with the current price of gold, that’s a lot. The weather was hot and humid but I was looking forward to practicing the canter. After our warm up, I asked for a trot and Buckshot did the most wonderful, lovely, floaty trot ever. I asked myself if his feet were even touching the ground, it was so light and airy. And this was a working trot, not his powerful extended trot. I was charmed by his trotting, and rubbed his neck enthusiastically.

A little later we were joined by the BO on her horse, her husband on his horse and another boarder on her horse. After a warm up for their horses, we walked through the woods to the reining arena. The boarder’s horse started bucking, almost unseating the rider. After that, the BO led all of us around the arena in patterns at the walk. I knew that three of us wanted to practice our reining exercises, and go fast, and canter, but the BO was kindly deferring to the horse that was nervous and would buck, so we all stayed at the walk. I used the time to work on my equitation, by going over my new mental guidelines to improve my posture and balance. I thought: stretch from abdomen to neck; good boobies (!); shoulders like a princess, hips like a whore; shoulders back but not that far; etc. (And yes, these guidelines do make me laugh; they also really help me – LOL!). Note: the guidelines are from a terrific blog by Carol, who has a wonderful horse named Rogo. Her blog is Dressage Training Blog click here.

As we went back into the woods to return to the barn, I stayed just in front of the excited horse. This is where Buckshot’s former work as a track pony is invaluable. He is never bothered by nervous horses near him. He just plods along like nothing is going on. So I feel very safe on him, and extremely proud of him. We turn to his reliable experience in times like this and he is a rock. Several times during the trail ride, when we came to hills, I told Buckshot we had to go slow, to not create a gap of space behind us, lest the horse get nervous about being left behind. And Buckshot slowed his walk, and behaved just wonderfully. I really think he knows what is going on, and he does what is needed. Again, he is worth his weight in gold!

But then, on Monday, Buckshot wasn’t quite so perfectly behaved. During our warm up we had an audience of the BOH and some farm workers, and Buckshot wanted to walk out of the arena. So we walked over to the people and said hello, and then returned to the arena. No one else was riding, and it was a quiet day at the farm, so I later headed us down the farm road. I thought Buckshot and I would ride down to the reining arena and work there for a few minutes. Although we have never actually done it. But I was optimistic. We got just a very short way down the road and Buckshot didn’t want to go any further. He turned around, and when I turned us back around, he walked sideways, and this way and that, not prancing, but just in a “don’t want to go that way” manner. So after just a mild argument, I turned us back toward the barn, as if it was my idea all along, and we went back to where we started. Oh, well, I guess I will have to work on this in small steps. In the past, we have gotten much farther down this road when I walk him in hand. But when I am riding him, and we don’t have another horse with us, he is reticent.

I then thought, well, that’s okay, we’ll walk down the trail instead! We have done this by ourselves, just once, but we have done it. So I headed him to the trailhead. Well, we didn’t get very far and not even close to the trailhead, and Buckshot turned us back around, and walked to the side, and this way and that. So he didn’t want to go on the trail alone either. Since it wasn’t critical or for safety reasons that we went on the trail, I didn’t make an issue of it. I just turned him toward the trailhead and walked him two steps in that direction, then I stopped him, turned him around and we went back to the arena. Like it was my idea. I don’t know why, but he wasn’t feeling confident enough to go on either ride that day. Amazingly, several weeks ago, we did go on the trail by ourselves for the first time, without a hint of reticence by Buckshot. I don’t really know what his mindset was that day, and why it was so different yesterday. I didn’t notice any difference in him all day, like his not feeling well, or not feeling like himself. But we’ll work on it again in the future.

Still, even with his inconsistency with riding alone, he is a wonderful horse and I am delighted that I got a three day weekend with him. I hope you had a great weekend with your horses.

Earthquake and Hurricane- What a Week!

Well, I finally have a chance to catch my breath and write down what has happened. About ten days ago, Virginia had an earthquake! A fairly large one, it measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. This is a very unusual event in Virginia. It did a lot of damage in the county that housed the epicenter, but much less damage elsewhere. I went out to the farm where Buckshot lives the next day and learned that the horses on the farm weren’t upset by the earthquake. They just stood still in their pastures and didn’t run around in worry. The farm didn’t have any damage from it, either. Good news.

Last Saturday, Hurricane Irene hit the entire east coast, doing a lot of damage in Virginia (as well as in other states). The Richmond area, where I live, had massive power outages, tree and water damage. Luckily, my home wasn’t damaged, but I lost power. Such extensive power outages cause worries about other services. First, communications- will cell phones work? Will landline telephones work? Telephone service, by all means, was spotty and sporadic. A lot of land lines were cut off because the wires were damaged. Also, will gas stations be able to operate? Will gas become scarce? Are businesses able to operate, such as my employer? Will ATM’s be operational, allowing for cash withdrawals? And are my family members alright, with ice and water?

So the first few days were all about survival. I checked on my family. I drove very little, although I had made sure I had a full tank of gas before the hurricane hit. I conserved my gas for several days until I was sure gas stations were operating. That’s why I didn’t drive out to Buckshot’s barn to see him. I was pretty sure that he was fine; the horses had endured twelve-plus hours of rain and wind, but they all had shelter and usually will run away from a crashing tree.

Without power, I focused on the essentials. The company I work for had electricity and was operational. At lunch and after work, I searched for ice for my coolers. I ate shelf-stable food I’d bought in preparation for the hurricane. It doesn’t taste all that good, but it will keep you alive. I topped up my gas tank at every gas station I passed. I learned to read by flashlight and keep myself occupied at home. Don’t tell Martha Stewart this but on Sunday, sitting all day at home without power and bored, I washed my bathroom floor by flashlight!! I hate housework, so it really shows how bored I was. I tried to read a book about horses but my mind wasn’t really on it. I listened to the radio to learn anything about local conditions and repairs. I learned to do sponge baths.

It sure does require some mental discipline to survive things like this. Mentally, you have to be patient, as there isn’t anything you can do to hurry up getting your power back on. You have to be resourceful, to carve out places and times to get food that doesn’t need refrigeration, as well as ice, water, and gas. You have to be able to have your life turned topsy-turvy and keep doing the essentials, with grace and politeness. Even though you are grumpy, you have to hold it in and be as nice as is humanly possible, because everyone around you is also dealing with the difficulties of surviving and sorting out various problems. But then, when your power comes back on, you can let loose and do an actual little dance of joy! Oh, yes, a sense of humor is invaluable, too!

On Tuesday, I called the farm where Buckshot lives. Telephone service continued to be unreliable whether landline or cell phone, but I got one message from the BO: “The farm is fine, static, static, static…” And that was all I needed to hear; they were fine. I was sure Buckshot was fine.

I finally went out to the barn on Wednesday after work. Luckily, his farm hadn’t had a lot of damage. A few trees had come down, a few roof shingles had come off, and a lot of debris was everywhere, especially the woods and the trails, but all the people and animals had made it through the hurricane. I went to Buckshot and gave him lots of hugs, and told him how much I had missed him and how was he? He seemed just fine. Some of the gutters on his barn have come down, a lot of boards on the adjacent round pen are on the ground, but he and his pasturemate were fine. That made me feel just wonderful, to see him and talk to him and hug him. He was glad I came to feed him.

And after driving back home last night, I arrived to electricity!! Wonderful to have lights and air conditioning back! I did the “power back on” dance in my kitchen!! There are still many, many people without power here, but I am glad to have mine back.

So there will be a lot of restoration here. And hopefully, this next hurricane, Katia, won’t hit the east coast again. That would be just terrible to have another hit after just barely getting over Hurricane Irene. This weekend I look forward to good weather at the barn and spending time with Buckshot. And it’s a three day weekend so I will get extra time with him. Wonderful!!

I do hope that if you were in the path of this hurricane, you and your horses and loved ones are all doing fine. And if you were lucky enough to not be anywhere near this hurricane, I hope you and your horses had a great weekend! Now that my power is back, I’m looking forward to getting this post on my blog and going to your blogs to read what is new with each of you! Thank you so much to Kate and Juliette – your comments of concern for Buckshot and I were very kind!

Goodbye, Hurricane Irene!

I'll just post a quick note to say that Hurricane Irene hit our area last Saturday, and things have been terrible ever since. I didn't have electric power from Saturday until late Wednesday night. Life has been filled with shortages, worries, fears, problems, etc. But Buckshot is fine, and I and my family are fine. Getting by day by day.

Now that I have my electricity back, I can write a more detailed post later tonight.
Hope you and your loved ones are safe if they were in the path of the hurricane (which was pretty much the entire east coast!!).