Finally...

Never finally made it to the trainer's barn yesterday, but it wasn't as straightforward as I was hoping it would be.

The day started out well. I fed everyone and turned them out in the pasture and put Never in the round pen, which he was not happy about. Last Monday we had to load hay in the loft, and to do that I had to move Rho to the round pen to get him out of the way. That meant I had to turn Never out in the main pasture. I was afraid he would get dominant and pushy out there, but Cora kept chasing him away from the herd, so he spent most of his time grazing elsewhere.

Anyway, I expected the trainer to arrive at 10am, so I got some work done on the computer and did some cleaning around the house. 10 comes and goes, then 11. I went out to check on Never, give him hay, and put on a fly mask as the flies were really bothering his eyes. At noon I called the trainer, and after much discussion the problem was revealed. Apparently, my appointment had been lost and the directions to my house were accidentally deleted. We got it all worked out, and the trainer's assistant headed out with the trailer.

After a couple of calls and a wrong turn, she arrived around 2:30. We chatted for a minute, then went to catch Never and load him up. Unfortunately, he didn't want to be caught! He usually comes right to me, but he just kept avoiding me. I figured out what was wrong pretty quick: it was the first time he had ever worn a fly mask, and I don't think he really realized it was me! It took about 10 minutes to calm him down and catch him, 5 minutes to hop in the trailer (good boy!), and then I hopped in my truck and we were on our way.

I followed them back to the barn, and even with the window down I was sweating all the way (no AC in the truck, and the car is out of commission. Long story.). We get to the barn, I finish signing some papers, and then we unload Never and take him to the communal pasture where he'll be spending his training days. It seemed like he had to check out every pile of manure! The creepy thing is, it was so quiet. There was no squealing or neighing or anything! The assistant said that they put most of the squealers in the pastures near the barn, and the ones in this particular pasture were more mellow.

The first one to come up to greet Never and check him out was a Paint/Pinto named Joker, who apparently lives up to his name. Then a couple of Pasos came to see him, and then he went on a grand tour and I lost sight of him for a bit. I walked back to the barn with the assistant, and sat down with Holly the barn manager/secretary/ all around go to person to figure out when my lessons were, and to chat in general.

I finally left around 6pm. I debated stopping at the mall complex on the way, as I'm out of yellow printer ink, but I decided I was beat and just went straight home. I got back about 8, hung up Never's halter and lead (they use their own equipment for training), did chores, and watched Super Troopers before heading to bed. It was a lovely day, even if it had a few bumps in it.

Flymasks and paychecks

I was going to head to the fairgrounds early today, but after checking the schedule again, I decided to head off later. The hitch classes start around 5 or 6pm, so I'm going to get some work done around here and avoid most of the heat.

Two good things came in the mail today: Ken's paycheck (woohoo I can pay bills! *S*) and the full face fly mask that I ordered for Glory. I'm not used to horses with lots of white on their faces, the ones that I did know didn't burn much, maybe the tip of their nose. A little cream, and they're fine. Glory is a medicine hat patterned 3 year old mare, cute in a fugly sort of way. She hadn't burned in the past, which is why I didn't worry much about her this year. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I did a pasture walk with the lady that sold me Heather and saw Glory's face covered in flies and scabbed pink skin! Horrified and embarrassed at the very least, guilty and sorry for her are in there too.

So, that very day I went looking for a fly mask with a nose cover. I eventually found one at my favorite online 'tack shop' Valley Vet Supply. I picked up the horse sized Crusader Pasture Long Nose Fly Mask on Tuesday, and got it in the mail today. Great service, fast delivery, and they take Paypal! I love these people.

I headed out to the pasture with the mask in hand to try it on. She didn't want to come anywhere near me as long as I was holding it. So, after playing 'ring around the Christel' for a bit, I got smarter: I brought her into the barn, gave her a bit of grain in her stall, and then tried it on her. For some reason, she's a lot better about doing things in her stall, anything from putting on her halter to picking up her feet. Anyway, the mask fit great, she seems to be taking to it well, and it doesn't look too awful either. I think I may have to pick up a couple more horse sized ones for Cora and Zora, as they wanted me to put Glory's on them while I was walking around. Valley Vet has a Buy 2 get 1 free deal going on right now, maybe I'll pick up 6. It never hurts to have extra on hand.