Day 220 - 365/2014

Day Two Hundred Twenty

Things fell into place today and I was able to take Sue to the barn to see her horse Kleegal.  Sue's daughter Devon (and Devon's boyfriend Sam) (and dog Jasper) were there to do some work with the other horses and Devon brought Kleegal in to clean him up a bit, check his feet and ears, do a little work to start to desensitize him to Sue's crutches, and then to lunge him in the arena.  I got to help lunge Kleegal a bit towards the end (with Devon standing next to me) but then it was time to let Kleegal cool down and run around and roll in the arena, get a few carrots from "mom", and then go back out to the pasture.  (Devon trains horses and does private lessons for owners.)  It was a very good day.  Kleegal really needed some groundwork and Sue really needed to see her baby...this was the first time since her accident that she has seen him.

Here are a whole lot of photos from the barn...

Jasper

Devon going out to get Kleegal from the pasture by the other barn (where the stalls are).

Kleegal was being a major brat and was very hard to catch.

Success -- Devon brings Kleegal in through the arena.

Desensitizing Kleegal to Sue's crutches.

Sue told me that horses stand like this when they are trying to relax and submit to what you are doing.

Devon cleaning Kleegal's feet.

I wish this photo wasn't blurry!

Lunging begins...

...slow trotting...

...faster trotting...

...cantering...

...hard to tell, but he is REALLY moving in this shot...

...reverse the direction...

...doing some more groundwork.

LOL...this is the only picture with me holding the lunge line...I had to use two hands once we got going.

Good workout!

Awww...Sue gets to see her guy up close for the first time since her accident.

Carrot time!

Kleegal rolling in the sand in the arena...goofing around.

Play time is over...time to go back to the pasture.

See you next time!

Later -- much later -- tonight (after feeding the cats and having my dinner) I dragged the chair I am going to alter for the upcoming Northville Art House chair auction down to the basement to see if I could start sanding off the layers of old paint.  Ha.  I didn't get very far...this chair is going to need to be stripped first, then sanded, before I can do anything to it.  I have my idea/plan...I think it will work out fine.  I hope it will be a chair someone will want to bid on.  

The chair -- before.

Seat detail.

The chair after sanding with the electric hand sander and coarse sandpaper...it needs to be stripped.

For tonight I think I have had enough.  The sand floor of the arena at the barn is really deep and it is much more of a challenge to walk in than taking a walk on the beach.  I am just not able to take much of that anymore with my bum feet/knees/back.  Helping to lunge Kleegal was a blast, but walking across the arena (from gate to gate) a couple of times was waaaaaay more than I am used to now.  I am beat. 

Oh -- and I like my new camera a lot.