Clifford - Day 13

Well, Day 10 went great. I rode Clifford for an hour and he was just like his old self. I remembered why he earned the nickname "Zoom Zoom". I was holding him back. A truck went by us up the hill, and he even wanted to chase it like he used to do. It was our best ride in a couple of years.

Yesterday I took him out again. He was a little slower than he was on day 10. He did stubborn tricks of trying to turn around. He was, quite frankly, a brat. He didn't feel stiff. I think he needs to build up some strength in that leg, and I had read somewhere that the best way to do this is to trot over long distances. So I was asking him to trot a lot.

We had a bad fall while trotting a couple of years ago. It was when he first started having serious problems with the knee. That day, he stumbled, HARD, and I went somersaulting over his head. I hit the ground rolling, thinking for sure he was going to fall or step right on me. But when I looked up, he was standing off to the side. He had avoided me somehow. But I was sore for a few days after that. I have fallen off this horse A LOT over the years and normally I am not worried about it. But this was different. I've been really timid about going fast ever since.

But yesterday, I wasn't worried about it. We trotted. I knew that if he was stiff, I would feel it. His trot has always been rough. He kept doing a little skip-hop type thing, trying to break into a canter. I think a canter might be easier on his knee. And he has always preferred to canter anyway. But I wanted him to stay in a trot.

We went for an hour, mostly at the walk. When we got back, he showed no signs of stiffness or wanting to limp. I have not seen him limp at all now in over ten days.

I am officially at the halfway point of my test run now. So far, so good.

A Treat for Horse Lovers

My friend Polly has a beautiful new website!

www.littlebrookfarmmorgans.com

Cliffy and Me

Amanda took a few pics of Cliffy and me yesterday. The weather was so lovely! Boy it is sure nice to see spring finally arrive. Clifford was really good, just walking around and posing with all that tempting spring grass under his feet. As usual, he put his ears up the moment he saw there was a camera. He's so funny!

"Mom, where are your boots?!"

Girl's Day Out

Little sis Amanda has been spending a few days here. We had a blast! Here are a few pics from yesterday.
Back-to-back fun!

Noogies!

Cliffy - Day 7

I took him out and longed him both directions for a good 20 minutes today. He was not nearly as enthused today, but it was hot, he is fat, and this was work! Plus, may have been sore from his antics yesterday. He walked and trotted. He stumbled a couple of times, but that's normal for him when he's out of shape and his feet are long. I noticed some stiffness/discomfort when he was using the leg at a canter. But when I walked him to cool down, he did not limp at all. I thought that was a good sign.

I will be able to tell more when I get him under saddle. He had worked up a little sweat. He was grateful to quit, and I left him standing in the cross ties while I went and got the camera. Then I led him out, stretched him and dropped the lead rope. He immediately put his ears up and started posing! He is such a ham!

This is one of the pics I took -- I airbrushed the black lead rope out.

Clifford

Clifford has had a couple days off due to my packed schedule but we got out today.

This is Day 6 of the new product. I'm going to give it 30 days and just see what happens. I took him off the glucosomine supplement so I wouldn't confuse myself about what was working. I want to wait and see how it works before I say anything or recommend it.

Lately it has been pretty disheartening to see him hanging back when he sees me get the halter out. He doesn't want to work. But today he was more like his old self. He stepped right into the stall and stuck his head into the halter.

His stifles were clicking and locking, but that is normal for this time of year when he's fat and out of shape.

We walked down the road with the dogs. On past occasions he has started to limp on the way back, so I have opted to take a shortcut home. Today, he clopped along happily with me looking around at all the budding leaves. A couple of four wheelers drove past us. He's seen those things so many times it doesn't faze him at all, of course. We reached the corner where we normally turn around, and came back.

It was clouding over and a cool little breeze was kicking up. As we turned down the long driveway, those four wheelers came buzzing back up the road. Clifford sprang straight up and did an about-face in mid-air, landing in the opposite direction to face them, while I still held the lead rope.

This is one of his classic tricks and he was just playing a game, pretending to be "ascairt". But he has not performed this stunt in a couple of years. My laughter has always tended to egg him on, and now he began doing a piaffe beside me, blowing and snorting, eyes all ringed in white. We got to the base of the hill with him still prancing and arching his neck.

"Okay," I said. "I'm gonna let you go. Ready?"

I unhooked the halter and he took off, blasting up that hill with his tail up and the dogs in hot pursuit.

I ran behind him swinging the lead rope and he did a beautiful extended trot all around the back yard, his tail flagging, in that floating gait I haven't seen in so long.

I don't know if this is due to the increased exercise, increased sweet grain (to mix with the new supplement) or the warmer weather. Or maybe he's just having a really good day. I am staying cautiously optimistic but boy, it was really neat to see him jumping, bucking and playing with the dogs like he used to do!

Tuesday is his birthday. He'll be 17.

Today's Project - You Know Who

The funny thing is, even with having him for 15 years, I have never painted Clifford. The only renderings I've done of him (or Tude for that matter) are the black and white drawings for the book illustrations. Why is this? I'm not sure. Maybe they are too intimate and I'm afraid I can't capture them.

Anyway, this is the first color portrait I've ever done of Cliffy. It's conte and oil pencil, on black pastel board. It's taken from one of my favorite photos of him. He was actually running for his life in the picture. We had turned him out with my cousin's big bully Arabians up on Drummond. While the herd embraces Trudy, they run Clifford off. This day, he was galloping full blast straight toward me, with them in hot pursuit. Though he was pretty freaked out, it made a nice photo!

Today I took him for a walk, a couple of miles along the road. It was sunny and warm. He was pretty content to walk along with me and didn't do any limping. I am trying a new product on his arthritis and waiting for results. Will write about it if things work out well.

The Morgan Horse Calendar

Well, the images are finally all loaded and the calendar is done! I am ordering my own copy. I've been very happy with the quality of products from Zazzle so far. Here's the link:
http://www.zazzle.com/foxbrush/product/158999827332106704

Today's Project - Morgan Filly

Prada Blue is, yes, a Morgan. Are you sensing a theme here? *smile* Actually I am accumulating some pieces in a horizontal format for my Morgan Art Calendar.

Prada belongs to Theresa Kroells, who generously sent me some neat photos of her. This is pastel, about 9 x 12".