Catching Pixie

I spent 30 minutes in the pasture with Pixie today, rubbing her with my hands, the rope and giving her lots of hugs and kisses.  It was the best de-stressing therapy I could have asked for.

Still lots of poop in the basement.

Last night the sewer backed up into our basement.  I mean really backed up.  For nearly seven hours sewage gushed out of the toilet into our basement.  Thirty inches of poop later, it finally let up and we had to start digging our way out (see above photo).  

Sadly this caused me to miss the second equine soccer night in a row.  I miss Pixie so much and really hope I get to see her soon! 

Ouch! I accidentally poked Pixie in the eye last night as I was rubbing her face. I was trying to “quiet” her, which means holding her head really low and still with both hands. She didn’t like it too much, and as she jerked her head up my finger went right into the inside corner of her eye! Dang! Although it didn’t seem to faze her, I was heartsick and spent a good time just rubbing and petting her before I left the pasture. I don’t think she’ll hold it against me.

Last night I went to Steenbock Memorial Library on campus for the first time (it’s on the sciencey end of campus) and checked out a bunch of equine behavior books. The first one I started reading is called The Revolution in Horsemanship, by Robert Miller and Rick Lamb. It follows the evolution of natural horsemanship. I’ll let you know if it’s any good.

Finally, last night was lesson night. What’s new? Surprisingly, I completed my first jump! Accidentally of course, and the jumping post was only about 10 inches off the ground, but it was a true jump nonetheless. I’m not sure how I feel about jumping. I know when you’re pleasure riding, you might have to jump things that get in your way on the trail. And that, of course is a lot different than “event jumping.” But I’m still not sure how good it is for the horse and if I want to learn more.

Thanks for reading!

I hope to be on a more regular blogging schedule as soon as Leopard arrives in the mail. That’s Mac OS X Leopard. This updated operating system will grant me new and magical powers on my iBook (in addition to writing my own blog from home, I’ll be able to watch CNN video, plan trips with Google Map and be able to open Snippets of Gratitude – one of my favorite blogs out there).

Back to horses…I had a short, but very sweet, visit with Pixie Sunday afternoon. I only spent about 20 minutes with her, but it was definitely worth it. I started out rubbing and petting, rubbing and petting, then I’d bring the rope up to her neck and she moved away. But she always came back. I did this for about 19 minutes, alternating sides. But it was the twentieth minute that was heaven. I was standing facing her, her head was over my left shoulder and I had my left arm wrapped under her neck, petting and scratching the right side of her face. I held her there as I slowly brought my right hand (with the rope) up to her neck. And she stood there! She let me start rubbing the rope on her neck and then all over her left side- her back, her tummy, her hindquarter. It was so cool. When it comes to horses, patience and repetition really pay off.

This website is called “Catching Pixie” because Ted once said, she’ll be a hard one to “catch.” None of the horses at Harmony Horsemanship wear halters in the pasture. It’s dangerous because the halters can get caught on fencing, feed bins, water fixtures, all sorts of things. Also, the thick web halters wear into the horses skin. However, take a drive in the country and you’ll notice many horses in their fields (some filled with old farm equipment) wearing halters. This is because it’s easier to catch a horse with a halter on. All you need is a rope and the ability to get close enough to grab the halter. A goal of natural horsemanship is to have your horse catch you. Paulette (Ted’s business partner) can walk out of the barn, look at her horse Misty in pasture about 75 yards off and draw her towards the gait. Once Paulette gets into the pasture, she’ll hind quarter Misty and walk away. Misty will follow her and then allow Paulette to put a rope halter on her. It’s beautiful and it takes a lot of work. That’s my goal with Pixie. However, that’s a long way off and in order to train to that level, the truth is, you need to catch your horse first.