Location Location Location: ASSFS Blog Hop

Well - we've been out of commission so long, most of our readers have probably forgotten all about us. I've been struggling for a while with how to make the transition back to posting. A Soft Spot for Stars blog hop seems like a handy way to "get back on the horse" so to speak. Thanks so much to those of you who checked in.

Always hogs the frame

Equestrian life is challenging here on the Outer Banks. Land is hard to come by, we're very remote, and the climate can be harsh, so overall even basic horse-keeping is an expensive endeavor.

• Hay / Feed

The nearest decent hay source is a 7 hour round trip to SE VA. Nice square bales of second cutting orchard grass are $10 - $12 each, usually weighing around 50 lbs. Val consumes 150 bales a year. I can store 100 bales if I cram the two hay barns to the rafters. Best to do this by December to have all the same crop. (to do otherwise invariably leads to frustrating hay strikes when switching to the new flavor) That will usually last until hay is harvested again in the summer.

To find the true cost, I have to figure in fuel and travel time. This adds another $200 to the truckload - usually fifty bales, making the per bale cost more like $16. (multiplied by three or four trips a year)

Luckily, the local Ace Hardware carries Southern States, so feed is just a twenty mile drive. They are great about special ordering, and give rewards on all purchases. TC senior is $25 a bag, beet pulp $20, and my ration balancer $35.

[A slight digression: This fall I had stocked all the winter hay by October and was super psyched about my stockpile. Then there were two hurricanes in one month. The second storm (Matthew) brought the worst flooding in at least a hundred years. My property has never flooded before, and I had three feet of salt water covering the entire farmette. Both of the hay barns and the tack room flooded.

Less than 24 hours after the flood waters receded, the wet hay was almost too hot to touch, and had to be un-stacked to avoid the barns spontaneously combusting, sorted to salvage what I could, and disposed of - about half of the hay. I didn't even document this part because I was in shock and then utterly demoralized. I lost all the animal feed, many tools and machines, the entire garden, and my tack room was an utter disaster area.

Biggest bummer: the bottle of hoof dressing tipped over in the tack room. While floating around it covered everything touched by the water in sticky black oil. (which was everything)

SO very lucky: I had taken all my tack out to clean and it was stored in the one building that didn't get water.

Still unclear on the state of the Brenderup... haven't been able to face that situation yet, beyond obsessively rinsing and spraying anti-corrosive on all parts that got under salt water. *heavy sigh*]

:(

Starting to recede finally. Val was unimpressed...

• Boarding

There is only one barn that boards, and they advertise full board at $450, "scheduled feedings twice daily along with free range of hay and turnout, stall cleaning twice daily, bedding, parking for your trailer on the premises." Turnout is in the riding ring, which doesn't meet my safety standards due to fencing issues and debris. There is no pasture or grazing here.

• Property

Real estate here is expensive. My nearly three acres was initially $250k, which I eventually got for $110k. This was basically raw land. Still saving towards house building...

Last week. It took months of work to get back to this.

• Lessons / Equestrian Scene

The nearest quality dressage instruction is 3.5 hours away in SE VA. When my trainer was still teaching, lessons were $50 for an hour. She generously let me come up for a weekend to get two or three lessons at a time, and I traded barn work occasionally. It was an ideal situation for me. I was lessoning regularly, progressing as a rider. I miss her terribly. Sadly, I haven't had a lesson in years, with none on the horizon unless something can be worked out with remote technology.

Most of the local riders are trail riders - a pretty spectacular proposition with 70 miles of beach to explore. There are thriving dressage and eventing scenes mid-state - a round trip of 10+ hours. The nearest showing (I've flat out given up on this possibility) is also either SE VA or mid state. I'm contemplating Working Equitation at the moment, and with a more well suited horse in the future I'd like to try endurance.

Nearest tack stores are also SE VA, and are expensive. With all the online options this isn't an issue.

I pay $40 for a trim. Not sure what shoes cost as we've been barefoot for about six years. For the last several cycles my farrier has just done a few corrections. I am taking over the trimming responsibilities. I've done this out of necessity because our farrier situation is always tenuous. He travels over 3 hours to get here and generally has to stay overnight to get all the horses without rushing. I don't think he makes much on his trips here.  I arrange the schedule for him and make sure all the horse owners "show up".

I'm searching for a natural balance dentist at the moment. My former dentist doesn't want to come this far out of her way - she was traveling from MD. With her, Val had his teeth done standing in his run in, un-sedated and at liberty. The nearest dental practices in Va are vet connected, and will probably insist on sedation. I'm leery of trailering that far and having to withhold hay on the return ride because of sedation. If anyone in SE VA or eastern NC reading this has a dentist recommendation please share. :D

The nearest equine vet is also 3.5 hours away in VA. They do not come to the island. I give all the vaccinations (excepting rabies) myself, and the small animal vet kindly pulls a coggins and gives Val a once over at the same time. He actually removed a melanoma from Val's anus (tmi) over the summer, saving me time and money. I assisted for the surgery - it was pretty cool actually. Val is a super cheap drunk - he had half-rations of anesthesia and proceeded to cut major zzzzs while the cross ties barely held his big 'ol head off the ground.  

• Climate

Summers are hot and humid - generally in the mid 80's with 80% - 90% humidity being the norm. This is hard on Val and me. (landscaper) Thank goodness a jump in the ocean is never far away.

Fall and winter can often be very mild and comfortable, with less humidity and mosquitoes. This is the best time for riding, with average temps of 40's to 50's and the occasional nighttime dip into the 30's. A hard winter here would be several weeks of sub-freezing temps. It rarely snows, but is almost always windy, so big wind chills are common. Spring can be beautiful, but it is often stormy and unsettled.

Basically - life on this island swings between insanely beautiful and ruggedly inconvenient. It's not for the faint of heart, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

At the Barn #60 - By the skin of our teeth...

Don't forget the dentals! The natural balance dentist came, all the way from Maryland, and oh do we appreciate it. The horses were very relaxed. They seemed to understand that the poking and scraping is a good thing. It helps that K, our practitioner is so thoughtful and respectful with them. No power tools, and the speculum is released periodically. It's always amazing how cooperative horses can be when we come to them in the spirit of helping.

K tests her work by listening to the horses' jaw while sliding their bite laterally. I could even hear when the bite wasn't quite correct yet. The sound reverberates through the jaw and nasal cavity. The connection between the mouth, the TMJ, and your horse's way of going is facinating. K told me things about Val's and Cowboy's movement just from the condition of their mouths.

I showed K something that I thought might be a melanoma on the underside of Val's dock. She agreed it probably was. The plan is to photograph it so I have a baseline picture. She hasn't met many greys who don't end up with melanomas. Better believe I'll be watching it like a hawk. (This is where OCD tendencies come in handy. If only I could apply them to time management!)

The best part of the day was K's assessment of Val's condition - kind of like a good report card. Weight - 6. Muscling - 6. He looks like he's being worked properly - topline is happening. She thought my ottb was a warmblood. ♥Love♥ those sturdy thoroughbreds - kickin' it old school.

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I spent the (whole) weekend doing chores - taxes (boo), and finishing setting up my studio. (!) These are chores that I've put off for too long, (I should do a series of posts about procrastinating... maybe one day) so riding was not the priority.

Saturday afternoon I took a break and fly sprayed Val, intending to drag the arena and then get in a ride. After the relief of being bug free set in, Val promptly dropped to the ground, laid out flat and started cutting some serious zzzzz's. I didn't have the heart to fire up the tractor. It was probably for the best. The flies are super bad right now. I'm guessing this is how we pay for June-uary.

In the Arena #69 - Stuck in the middle with you...

Our dentist recommended that in the first ride after her visit, we just work long and low. She also said that it would probably take three rides for Val to get accustomed to how his mouth feels now.

Happy to report that steering was great in ride one. Hard to say for sure why. I was super secure in my seat today, staying down evenly in both of my legs, at least partially because I cleaned and conditioned my tack the other night, and I felt extra grippy. Another good reason to keep your tack clean. ;)

The grippy-ness was very helpful just a short time later as we started our trot work. Val put his head down, and surged forward with a buck, crow hop and several strong canter strides. Surprise!! I haven't come anywhere close to tapping this horse's power. Can't wait until I'm brave enough.

Stayed put on my horse through his shenanigans, thank goodness. Then I hopped off with my knees feeling totally like jelly, adjusted the saddle and continued the ride. I took a deep breath and asked for the trot again. No problem... more trotting, turns on the forehand, transitions and cone work. Val was anticipating my requests, which made me laugh, and also plan some different activities for our next session. Other than his saddle discomfort protest - we had a very productive ride.

Saddle feels better now...

Afterwords we grazed in the Bermuda Triangle of horse eating monsters. Val was the calmest he's been in that area, only looking up from his grass a few times at some loud birds. He ignored Cowboy's calling when we were out of sight, and led back to the paddock keeping perfect pace with me.

Doesn't it look scary to you?!

Lord knows what's lurking here!!

We had a rinse off, some carrot stretches, and then did a little trailer loading practice. Twice with no delays. Per-fect!! When a boy is that good he should definitely reap the rewards. :)

We love it in the trailer - there's gingersnaps in here! :)

At the barn #39 - Just say ahhhhhh...

Last week's busy-ness carried over the weekend, and this week looks much the same. Work is really picking up as spring has definitely arrived. Plants to plant, beds to weed and lawns to mow. Add to that several deadlines related to my jewelry business, out of town visitors throwing delightful dinner parties - great meal lingering over the table for some fine company and conversation that kept me up well past bedtime - and then where the heck do you squeeze in horse chores? I don't know how exactly, but I did it.

Friday was hay run day. My friend, the owner of our dearly departed Ginger and her daughter Honey Bee aka the brat, and I took my flat bed trailer and headed up the road to a new hay source. This one didn't disappoint. Gorgeous 65 lb bales of orchard grass, that despite being the same age as all of the substandard hay I've dealt with since last October, was still green, not dried or faded or musty or dusty and without any noxious weeds. Hell-o all you hay brokers out there - apparently you can successfully store quality hay through the winter so it's still worth paying through the nose for - just sayin'...

The only snag was a too many cooks in the kitchen moment while I was negotiating a drastically tight squeeze backing my trailer, which by the way I actually do daily for a living. The farm owner and his wife were both giving me (contradictory) directions as well as S. who had to put her 17¢ in. Let's just say that it took everything I had to block out the two unnecessary voices and hear the one that counted + not blow up and use my lower brow vocabulary. Serious self control. I'm so not kidding :)

Dropping off  Honey Bee's share...

 "mine all mine!!"  ;)

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Today was horse dentist day. I love my new dentist, a practitioner natural balance dentistry. I found her in a round about way due to Kate from A Year With Horses. Thank you so much Kate!!

Briefly, as I understand it, the idea is that rather than just flattening out hooks and waves on the molars, attention is paid to the incisors, facilitating the smooth side to side motion of the jaw, as well as how the upper and lower jaw meet in the front of the mouth. This should affect, besides grinding hay, the ability and willingness of the horse to flex at the poll and laterally, as well as give to the bit, accept contact and round.

K. was professional, had a lovely way around Val - giving him frequent breaks from the speculum. She explained what she was doing at every stage, and used the minimum amount of sedation necessary. She mentioned immediately that she found unevenness in Val's incisors which was likely impacting his flexibility to the left. I'll reserve final judgment for after we have a few rides under our belt, but we have had recurring struggles with bending and turning to the left since I brought Val home, which I had hoped wasn't completely due to me, as my best efforts have not totally resolved that issue.

My one regret is that I had intended to take pictures, but got so wrapped up in the process that it was too late when I remembered. Val got the afternoon off. I'm looking forward to a ride and status report in the next day or so.

At the barn #28 - Communication - it's a two way street...

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Still waiting for the snow that's been predicted. So far only rain make that freezing rain and lots of wind. Grey horses do look fantastic against a white background...  I'm still hoping we'll get some photo ops later on this afternoon. 

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I'm constantly amazed by how our horses communicate with us, and often wonder how frustrating it is for them that we (sometimes) take so long to figure out what they're trying to tell us. Just another testament to the generosity of spirit our horses share with us.

Before our last ride Val was rubbing his gums along my leg. That seemed strange, so I inspected more closely. I saw a tinge of bleeding, and what looked like some of his evening mash kind of collecting at his upper gum line. After our ride, I gently brushed his teeth with a soft brush. Then I made a saline solution, and used my dose syringe to jet it around where the bleeding was. I've done this every day since. 

As I pondered what might be going on, I eventually remembered noticing that Val had also recently been biting his metal gate, chewing on his tack room door and doing some different, strange looking jaw stretching / tongue action. It suddenly hit me that Val's Nibble Net and the cold weather must be to blame. Because it's so cold, I've been cramming extra hay into the hay net - to the point that it's hard to get closed. The hay he's eating now is pretty coarse and more chopped than long and stringy. For him to pull it out through the small holes of the hay net he is abrading his gums on the webbing.

Besides treating his gums, which he totally cooperates with, I'm dividing his hay into two nets so it's looser and easier to get out. Obviously Val was trying to tell me something.

Lesson: if your horse suddenly starts up with new, different or weird behaviors, it is worth looking into. I feel really bad that he was suffering while just trying to eat, but I'm so glad he's smart enough to let me know. Interestingly, all of this went on at the same time as I've been working out scheduling with a new, natural balance horse dentist. Synchronicity!

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As far as Christmas goes, suffice it to say that Val won't run out of treat options any time soon... possibly in this lifetime. He also got a heavy duty increased capacity storage container for his treat riches. (He got his main present a while back - a pair of Cavallo boots.) Actually, I noticed that he was sort of busting out of his back-up blanket as I tried to buckle it this morning, so some rationing will probably be necessary.

Due to Christmas meal preparations, we missed out on a great day for riding yesterday. Next year we're doing a Christmas Eve dinner instead! Luckily we're expecting a number of pretty days in a row with temps in the 50's this coming week - more like the usual conditions here - so Val and I can work off some of our holiday indulgences. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday - we sure did :)

Look what Santa left me under the tree...
Guess what sound the alarm makes!
And who knew such a thing existed?