Summer?

Well, as we all know, this summer really isn't acting much like summer. Its been so rainy and cold and icky! Its June for crying out loud! But today it is actually summer-like! Its been sunny and super warm all day. I'm a fan of this, it can stay. And I found out yesterday that because of this stupid weather we've been having lately, people all over the Northwest are having difficulties in breeding their horses- the mares don't know what to do! It acts like winter or fall or whatever, when it's really summer! So yes, Gypsy has been bred twice now, and was still in heat today. WHAT?! Yes, she was flirting and talking to the tease stud, so back Mario came today and we bred her yet again. We are desperately hoping that she takes this time- my teacher, and the lady that is in charge of breeding, is feeling more confident about this one. So lets really hope this one takes... Third time is a charm?

Anyways, I rode her today before all of that, and decided to finally start riding her over jumps. I set up a baby little cross rail with a trot pole in front, and over we went. We just trotted over it, and she did great! So I put the jump blocks standing up, instead of laying down, so that the cross rail was a little bit higher, and we jumped that too. Gypsy did awesome! She stayed pretty calm and controllable, and would come back down between jumps and listen and lower her head. I am thinking she will be a good hunter...She's getting to have that real low, level headset without a whole lot of rein contact! That's her trot anyways, her canter is still really crappy, but her trot is beautiful! I want to get a chiropractor to work on her when I bring her back home, and I think that will probably help a lot.

In other news, spring term is over! Finals week is this coming week, and that means that my horse training class is over. So I had to say goodbye to my training mare yesterday....it was bittersweet. I mean, she has been getting on my nerves lately because of the whole random bucking issue, but for the most part I thought she was pretty fun to ride, and had a really friendly personality. I will probably miss my big sausage horse. Did I write a blog entry about the OSU Colt challenge we competed in? I don't recall, and if I didn't, I don't feel much like writing about it now. But I got pictures from the trail course today. So this picture will be dedicated to my training mare. She came such a very long way, and taught me a lot about training a horse from scratch. I am proud of her!

Breeding

Ok well so yes. We have been having Gypsy-in-heat issues, so we popped her a pgf2a shot the other day to bring her into heat, and it worked just like magic. She came into heat around Monday or Sunday or whenever it was, and we bred her on Tuesday. But I wasn't able to be there [BOOOOO] because I had to give a presentation in Animal Science class. Lame. But she did not go out of heat like she should have...instead, she was SUPER in heat today hahaha. So Gypsy was re-bred today to Mario, and I got to be there this time! It was cool! Mario is such a wonderful boy. Gypsy is usually teased to a stud who is very noisy and kind of wham-bam about this breeding business. But Mario is the wine and flowers sort of guy. Gypsy saw him from a hundred feet away and started neighing to him. My horse is officially a hussy. Ha. So anyways, Gypsy got used as the tease mare for the AI collection from Mario today- a first for my mare. They teased, and they loved each other! It was adorable.

And then we went to collect, and Gypsy was like...UHHH? Haha, it was funny. And when he leapt up on the shadow mount, Gypsy squealed like she thought he was jumping onto her.

So yes. She should definately be good and bred this time. Ha.

In other news...Do I have other news? Um.. Well, I am moving back home on the 12th of this month. Which means that I will have to unfortunately leave my work ponies behind. But I am so ready to get out of here and go back home. It will be nice to have Gypsy in my backyard again haha, and be able to go out whenever I want to ride and see her. And I'm sure she will appreciate being able to be out on grassy pasture....theres no such business here at school. Except now that she is bred, I was told she can go next door where school horses get put sometimes- a big lucious grassy field! See Gypsy, there are perks to having hands shoved up your butt!

The week of weirdness.

Ok yeah so weird week for Gypsy. She has been getting teased for the first time in her life, and she wasn't so sure how that goes at first. She would kick and squeal and hate the stud, then turn her butt to him and start showing a few heat signs. She is confused. Haha. She hates palpation with a fiery passion, as well as ultrasounds. Speaking of which, we ultrasounded her the past few days and she was showing a follicle looking pretty ready, but it just looked bizarre and not right. Vet said that it was an abnormal follicle that didn't ovulate right, so she is infertile for this heat. So miss Gypsy gets to not be bred for another week or so. If we wait for a normal heat cycle it will be too late in the season, so in a week or so we are gonna stick her with a shot to bring her into heat, and breed her then.

Other weirdness too! But happier weirdness. I have been oober unmotivated this week, who knows why, not I. So instead of having a real ride yesterday, I hopped on bareback with nothing but a lead rope around her neck. I was totally expecting her to take off and kill me. But no! She was actually a very good girl! We walked around, turning both ways and stopping. So we then trotted around too, in circles and figure eights! It was amazing, and mucho fun!

And then today I really wasn't feeling well at all, so I decided to try something different...again. Ha. I set up a little jumping chute and tried to free jump my pony. Ok, I don't think she really likes jumping all that much, but she was trying for me. She just gets nervous about anything high enough to be called a legit jump. Haha, ok she's not really that bad. But I can't lunge her into the chute to jump- she just doesn't do it! She gets her evil hat on, and ducks around or runs to a corner. So I would grab her halter and lead her up to the chute entrance and then let her go, and then she would jump! Haha. Oh boy. But it was neat.

Babies? Babies!

Ah yes, the epic decision has been made. My little Gypsy is going to be bred! I am mucho very excited about it. Because if you think about it...all of Gypsy's silliness is training-related. She got a very late start on some decent training. But she is calm, and super friendly and gentle. She is built beautifully! Fine boned and straight, with a gorgeous typey little head, and that famous Arab floaty trot that is smooth-smooth-smooth when she is behaving. So, she is going to be bred to LS Andretti, aka Mario. He is a beautiful beautiful bay Arab stud. He has amazing bloodlines that you couldn't ask more from, is sweepstakes nominated for his foals, and has a futurity title under his belt. I've met him in person a couple times, and he is so quiet and sweet. He seems like such a nice boy. So! Today was Gypsy's first teasing session! I had no clue as to what expect from Gypsy...She's never been bred before.

So we took her over to Ace- a paint stud that is at our barn. He was the teasing extrodinaire for the day. Gypsy got to sniff noses with Ace (who was in his stall). She wasn't too sure what to make of this noisy boy at first, but she definately warmed up to him! She decided he wasn't so bad at all, and turns out Gypsy was in heat for her very first teasing! Well done, Ace! Haha. So currently the plan is to ultrasound Gypsy tomorrow to be sure of her heat, and then Mario will make a trip to our barn for some Gypsy romancing! Haha, except we are going to AI Gypsy...So I suppose there will be no actual romancing. Ha. So yes, I'm very excited. This should be a very nice foal. I am hoping for a NOT-Grey filly.

Then I lunged her around to rid her mind of silly boy thoughts, and rode her. And she did amazing! After not riding since...ohh...friday? Hopped on bareback (as always, right?) and she was being soft in the face and very nice. Walked and trotted around, and I think it was our best trotting yet! Success!

In other news....At work, drafty mare has been hitched to the cart for a second time. She did awesome. And TB gelding is doing great too! I rode him outside, and he has now had his first two experiences of cantering outside! He was a good boy....bucked me off once...but he was behaving wonderfully before and after that little incident. Ha. So if you ignore the buck-off, he was awesome. ...Right.

And in a completely random and unrelated sidenote, I found a baby starling in the barn today. So I grabbed it and threw it outta the barn. It wasn't too thrilled about this idea, as you can see. Hehe. Too bad I'm a tard and forgot to rotate the picture. So just tilt your head.