Grooming

Since riding is completely out of the question right now due to weather, I decided to work on one of my other goals for 2015 - grooming!

P actually got a pretty thorough grooming this weekend. I usually just use a curry comb and soft brush, although I also have a softer curry for the legs. I don't know how P manages to get her legs so dirty! It's hard to get all the mud and manure off the legs at this time of year.

It's also hard to do anything with the mane and tail right now. P's mane and tail could really use some detangler, but first I think they need to be washed. Unfortunately, horse baths are also out of the question due to weather.

So I ask fellow horse bloggers - are there any products out there that can be used to clean and detangle dry hair? I wouldn't want to get the hair really wet in the cold weather, but if I could use it on a few spots on a warmer day, that would be nice.

2015 goals

I've had a lot of fun reading everybody's 2014 reviews and 2015 goals, so I decided to write down a few goals for the coming year:

1. Ride more and have fun

Sometimes life gets so busy, or I get so caught up in just getting everything done to take care of P - and we run out of time to ride! We do have a lot of weather-related issues (bad weather, bad footing), but we definitely need to make more time to ride and have fun in 2015.

2. Blog more

I'm a terrible blogger, and I'll try to be better!

3. Pamper P a little bit, especially as she gets older

This goal actually includes a few things:

- Start P on a joint supplement. I'd like to see if a combination of glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, and hyaluronic acid help her at all.

- Be more diligent about grooming, especially mane and tail care. When I get busy, I tend to slack off on grooming. I would like P's mane and tail to be a little less tangled.

- Possibly schedule some massage sessions for P - if I can afford it. I've seen bodywork do a lot of good for horses, and I think P would really like a massage!

4. Try to eat healthier and lose a little weight

This goal could actually be for both P and me - but it's mostly for me! Because I'm so busy, sometimes I don't eat healthy foods, and I always eat on the run. If I eat a little better and lose a little weight, I think it would help my riding.

I think that's it for now. Thanks, bloggers, for inspiring me to write down some goals. Happy New Year!

The holiday season, hay, and joint supplements

Hello, bloggers! Apologies for the lack of blogging - I have to say that I am a pretty bad blogger. The holiday season has been busy, and it feels like the month of December has just flown by.

P and AP are doing well, although the weather has not been particularly nice lately, so I think they're a bit bored.

They're standing around and picking at their hay more. We currently have a decent batch of hay, not overly sweet and green but also not stalky and yellow. I'm pretty picky about purchasing hay because it's so important to find hay that P is able to eat. But we've had some tough hay seasons recently with a lot of rain, so it's not an easy task!

I'm also considering starting P on an oral joint supplement for the winter. I know there's a lot of controversy over whether or not oral joint supplements actually work. There are many people who believe that they don't, and there are quite a few anecdotes from people who think they do. I feel like such a supplement junkie between considering ulcer supplements for the ulcery horse and now a joint supplement for P!

I've been comparing different supplements and ingredients but haven't made a decision yet. SmartPak has a lot of different supplements with a lot of positive reviews. I think it's a matter of finding a high quality supplement with different ingredients and giving it a try with the individual horse.

P does not have bad arthritis, but she's getting older and occasionally shows some stiffness which may actually be from some sort of past unknown injury. She's not a high-level athlete by any means but I figure it can't hurt anything but the pocketbook.

I hope everyone and their horses had a happy holiday season!

Extremely busy, finally some pony time, and considering SmartPak supplements

Hello, blog world! Sorry I haven't been around much lately. Seems like it's been one thing after another around here, and just when you think you're done, something else pops up!

Finally got some quality pony time in this weekend. P needed a good grooming, and we went for a very short hack. The weather was finally cooperative, and the footing seemed fine. Really wish I had more time for quality pony time like this!

In other news, the ulcery horse has been on the aloe vera, slippery elm, glutamine supplement for about six weeks now. It seems to be helping a little bit - the horse's attitude is a little quieter, although I'm not really sure how much of a difference we're supposed to see or how long it takes to get there. I think I would like to see a little more progress.

The supplement is actually not from SmartPak, and there was talk of switching to one of SmartPak's SmartGut supplements. I don't know what the final decision was.

I try not to feed too many supplements, but I do think they have their place, so this might be one of those places. I think SmartPak does a lot of marketing, but they do have quality supplements with quality ingredients.

Not much to blog about

Hello, blog world! I haven't written in a while, as there just hasn't been that much to write about. With the lack of daylight and uncooperative weather, I've only been getting regular horse care done and not much else. Life has also been busy, so I haven't even had much time to read blogs. I hope everyone and their horses are well and enjoying better weather than we are!

Wouldn't a 5-day weekend be nice?

Have you ever had one of those weekends when 2 days just isn't enough? I must admit that I have those weekends pretty much every weekend - but this one seemed worse than usual!

On one weekend day, there were a lot of chores and other things to do that severely limited pony time. On the other weekend day, uncooperative weather severely limited pony time. Pony time is really precious this time of year - in the time of ever waning daylight - and I'm sad that it didn't work out this weekend.

If only there were more weekend time! I definitely support switching to 2 weekdays and 5-day weekends!

The ever waning daylight

Weekends always seem especially short during the fall season. There's so much to do and the ever waning daylight doesn't make things easier. Seems like a lot of people out there in the blog world are dealing with rainy weather and the huge temperature swings of fall. We're dealing with the same, and so far the ponies are tolerating it.

I've been busy tidying up the barn area for the winter and making more room for hay. There really aren't a lot of weekends left before winter will be upon us, and I like having everything in order before the cold and the snow arrive.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!