SANTA

Fly On Over's Secret Santa that is!

On Christmas Eve I received my Secret Santa present and I was so flipping excited to open it!!  This was the first time I participated in the Secret Santa and had a blast getting a gift together for my blogger, and was so excited to see what someone had thought up for Mollie and I.  Plus I just like horse-y presents, ok?

One of the things I'm loving about this swap is finding out about new blogs, like Nicole's at Equinpilot!  I admittedly haven't read her blog before but she seriously spoiled me and will definitely be a blog I follow from here on out.

First up was a gift for Molls, which is really what this was about in her opinion.

Inside was a equine Russel Stover's box!  Nicole included all sorts of treats for Mollie to sample, and even had a handy little print out explaining what each treat was.  Spoiler, Mollie hasn't turned any of them down yet.

Sorry this is upside down.... I'm still not fixing it.

Also upside down.... you get the point.

Next up was this adorable bracelet.... or maybe necklace?  I admittedly have not taken it out of the package but I love the pendant :)

And in case Nicole hadn't done enough (she had) she really went over the top with this last gift.  Let me just say I am absolutely BLOWN AWAY with the framed cross stitch she sent of my girl.  It looks JUST LIKE MY HORSE.  She obviously used a photo from this blog and turned it into an absolutely beautiful keepsake that I will seriously treasure forever.  I still can't get over how perfectly this turned out, the photo doesn't do it justice.

Thank you so much Nicole for the gifts, and thanks to Tracey as well for organizing this!

Not My Horse

Thanks to all for your comments on my last post.  The post was inspired because I had a "discussion" this weekend with the new BO about how much hay I thought was appropriate for Mollie.  That discussion was inspired because my horse has been acting... well not like my horse.  Mollie has always had pretty impeccable ground manners if I do say so myself.  She makes a decent mess in her stall but aside from that is an easy horse to have around.

Until now.

This is what Beaver Molls has been up to lately.

Please note that all of these photos are from different locations in her stall where she is straight up just eating her way through.  What the hell horse?

This chewing has been going on for a few weeks and has honestly baffled me.  Mollie has NEVER chewed wood before, never mind to this extent.  We tried a Quitt supplement but I had a feeling boredom/being hungry was the actual culprit.  You see, at the last barn, Mollie basically lived at a 24/7 buffet.  She was never without hay/grass in front of her face and that is no longer the case.  She now gets 2 flakes at breakfast, another 2 at lunch, 2 more at dinner, and 1 last flake at night check.  The problem is after she's gobbled up this hay (in 10 minutes flat) she just stands around, bored and hungry since she is no longer out on grass.  In my opinion, she's also dropped a bit of weight.

Right after moving to the barn

This weekend :(

We established a plan that we would increase her hay by an additional flake at each meal, just for a month to see what happens.  She's also going to get a bit of hay stretcher thrown into her morning and night grain to see if that helps.  Mollie has never eaten much grain to begin with so I'm hoping the added forage will be enough to curb her appetite and prevent her from eating the barn.

A Question & An Awkward Photo

First, a question.

How much hay does your horse eat per day?

Feel free to specify how many flakes, how they're divided up, and whether or not your horse is out on grass in conjunction with hay-age.  Just running a little "focus group" so to speak to see if my idea of appropriate forage is wildly unrealistic or not.

And as promised, an awkward photo.

This is how A Mollie likes to eat grasses.

Double the Loving

Snowy night at the barn

Headed out to the barn after school today for a cruise on the Mollie-Wogs.  I have been riding her in her snaffle for about 2 months now.  It started back at the old barn, because I wasn't riding very often and it just kind of carried over to this place when we moved in November.  Since she was out of shape I felt kinda bad stuffing her in it right away.  When I first introduced her to the double my instructor explained it by saying that a double bridle truly allows you access to a horse's skeleton.  That's a lot of access for a 17 year old out of shape QH who isn't built to do this anyways.

But alas, Mollie has been feeling SUPER fit lately and it's been showing in our rides.  Tonight seemed as good a time as any to go back, so on the double went.  Fun fact: when putting your horse back in a double bridle again you should probably attach the curb on backwards.  That way when you put it on her in the middle of the barn during dinner time when she's trying to run to her stall you can take it all off to fix it, put back on her head, and try not to kill her in the process.

I do love all that leather and metal....

Tonight was also about 30 degrees and super raw, so Mollie got to wear her wool cooler for the first time this season.  Unsure about whether or not your thighs are active and engaged while riding?  Just try to hold a wool cooler in place for an entire ride and you'll find out.

Hot pink polo wraps to spice up your Tuesday

 I eventually got the bridle sorted out, got to the ring, and hopped on.  Mollie had a SERIOUS case of the zooms from the second I got on.  This doesn't work out so well because a zoomy Mollie means a heavy, on her forehand Mollie, and that's no bueno.  I tried SUPER hard to just keep my hands soft and still, my body in perfect alignment, and be very persistent in my requests.  And can I just say.... damn my horse was good.  I really think that people who don't enjoy dressage just haven't really experienced it the right way.  There is absolutely nothing like collecting my reins from a long walk break, aligning my body just so, closing my legs around my horse and feeling her pick herself up right in front of me.  Then finally having my reins short enough for contact but feeling nothing because she's just that light up front.   It's really freakin cool.

Mmm carrot slobbers

I only rode for about half an hour but got off beaming.  This horse seriously keeps getting better and better, and even when she gives me a run for my money so many of our rides have been positive lately, and I couldn't be happier.