blackroseraven

[blackroseraven]

I am still sick, but I did some exercises with Quattro today. Nothing major, just haltered him, groomed him up really nicely, then I did on/off a few times. He was very Big Mad about it, especially because we've had five days of rain, which meant five days of not being able to do anything with him, on top of me being exhausted by the plague.

I think it was overall successful, though. He paid attention to me more than the other horses even with Q constantly right up on him, he didn't do any full rears, he kicked and was angry, but he never tried to buck me off. Fine with me laying over his back but groused when I actually tried to sit on him. A big dork, that's what he is.

Maybe I have to build a stage or something. Lordt. Now there's a thought.

I had him run around a little, baby lunging, but that seemed enough to help him get in the right mindset. He only did one angry little huffjump when I tried to hop on him from the front block.

It didn't feel like much, but it definitely tuckered us both out. That mental stimulation, though, you know?

It's weird starting from what feels like square one, but at the same time it feels like a good idea to get things back in perspective, to help him acclimate more, while I make sure that I'm doing something with him even if I'm not feeling the greatest. So I'm glad for that.

I gotta stop thinking about progress as a straight line and work a little harder on recognizing where we are now, and what to learn from here. And remember, there's always time.

Just gotta make the most of it.

#horse #quattro

[blackroseraven]

I currently have the plague, so that sucks.

But at least today it looks like it's not going to be an outside day anyway.

covid also sucks dumbass JUST made biscuits and i can't taste them AT ALL ugh

#horse #q #quattro #zara

[blackroseraven]

butt scratch

#horse #q

[blackroseraven]

#horse #quattro #q #trashley #cat

[blackroseraven]

Rode my idiot horse today.

Also look baby jail for Q. It. Helped? I mean it kept Q out of the way, but Quattro was super anxious being completely alone in the "arena" with me. I need to really figure out how to make it a better... arena, and we need to spend some time just... doing ground work, I think, doing little things to build that sense of safety.

He reared a few times, was extremely Big Mad, freaked out a little. But I also got nervous, I'm not going to lie. He probably would have been more than fine with me getting on but I freaked myself out because this is all new to me, too, and I never really thought about how having... an arena, and more than that, knowing there were people around, and a sense of familiarity, how much that helped with my anxieties about riding alone.

Had to fight off some bad thoughts and just finally be like "fine if he throws me he throws me" and get on. And he was fine.

I worked hard on being patient. With us both. And when we distracted ourselves with brain things, he did really good. No problem with our "cycles," the little pre-pirouettes we do. No problem yielding or anything like that. Wanted to run but... he was feisty and I was anxious and I know better.

Look at me actually learning. ugh.

Afterwards though, it was really funny, because... I took off his hack and he itched his face and then ran up to me and insisted on following me for a little bit until finally taking off up the hill to stand outside Q's baby jail.

Q also did a lot better than I expected. A lot less screaming than I thought.

Just going to take practice, and consistency. And overcoming my own anxieties.

It'd be nice if life could just freeze up for a little while.

#horse #quattro #q

[blackroseraven]

This incredible piece is by the wonderful artist Arareroll, of my Luna from my silly fanfiction universe where she's a Valkyrie. And had her horn punched off her head and thus turned it into a spear.

It means a world to me because he's always been an artist I adore, and who was very kind to me and more generous than he needed to be. I am not sure where he is these days, but I've hoarded this picture to myself long enough and it deserves to be seen, because it really is amazing.

#horse #sketch #art #luna #princess luna #mlp #arareroll

[blackroseraven]

Farrier came by today. Expensive visit but also like the horses were in better shape than expected? And he was super patient. Especially because we had to do it. On the gravel driveway, in the rain, and Quattro was skittish, Q was an asshole, and Zara was Big Mad.

Like Quattro I expected to be weird about the whole thing.

Q? Sort of. He did some angry hopping, which I did not expect. He also bit the shit out of me. A lot.

Zara was a huge bitch about her front hooves. Snorting, headbutting, bodychecking.

Anyway. I am covered in nips and horse hair and wet and grumpy. But. It got done and it was ultimately very worthwhile overall, very glad to have made some more connections with a guy who is able to handle the troublesome trio.

#horse #quattro #q #zara

[blackroseraven]

Yesterday I fenced in the front yard to let the grass rest, as that's where the horses have been eating it nonstop.

So of course I wake up at 5:30 in the morning today to see Q standing outside the bedroom window, staring at me, very proud that he's somehow trapped himself in said yardage.

#life #horse

[blackroseraven]

He says he's a big boy who doesn't need a nap.

#quattro #horse #sleepy eepy

[blackroseraven]

Here's the cute little monster who bit the crap out of my right hand so badly I couldn't use it for two days, and am now waiting for the wounds on to close/heal so I can go digging around in the barn again.

Adorable old tom who has been getting extremely friendly over the last month, to the point of even trying to come in the house. Ada loves him and Trashley was tolerating him until Friday, when he showed up, and when I pet him he grabbed my hand and then just... BIT as hard as he could and held on like a little weasel until I pried him off.

I don't know what made him so mad. He's got kind of a funny ear and one of his eyes looks a little swollen so maybe I touched a bump or something and he reacted to that.

Have I been resuming petting him?

Yes, but carefully. Not opening the door all the way or anything anymore, especially because Trashley is the most protective cat I've ever had and she jumped in front of me the moment he bit me and hissed at him and was ready to murder him, and she very loudly told him off the next few times he showed up and has gone back to growling in the background at him over the last day.

Farm life always has something going on, I suppose.

#cat #life #stray cat

[blackroseraven]

He doesn't actually want to come inside but he likes the door being open because he thinks the Inside is Neat.

I did manage to ride Quattro today. He actually did a full rear when I tried to get on, it was very pretty, but also like not the right time for it. But he calmed down after I took him to a different spot. Part of why he gets so upset when I try and get on seems to be that he doesn't like where I've been doing so lately. I don't know why, but. That's not a difficult fix.

Especially since it means I won't land on driveway if I do fall off him.

He was like half-good, half-asshole today. Definitely threw his head down and threatened to buck me a bunch. We did do some nice canter, though. Finally found the confidence for it. We even did a flying lead change, although partly out of necessity.

And then when I asked him to canter he was just like "nah." and we walked for a bit. Then when I was ready to cool down he decided to canter again and tried to blast off and got really mad when I slowed him down and bucked angrily around.

So yes.

But when he wasn't being a jerk he was listening very nicely. Even after Q ran down and basically cantered into us. Before the Super Asshole that he is, he literally just. WANDERED AWAY back up the hill to eat peacefully next to Zara.

horses.

I ended up cleaning up poop around the front yard, stirred the compost pile, did some minor but important cleanup. I think I've figured it out. I'll just keep telling myself I'm going to take the day off to rest and then I feel bad and then I end up doing something.

anxiety for the win woooo

The horses are already lined up outside, staring at me, wanting me to feed them dinner, which is not for an hour. Between this and wanting the door open but just wanting to stand in it, I'm starting to think they're not big dogs, they're just large cats.

#horse #quattro

[blackroseraven]

So I was cleaning the barn today, and I got most of the back room cleaned out but realized that there was a single board above my head, supporting a whooole bunch of crap someone clearly just put up there to get it out of the way.

I thunked it with a few things and tried a few ways to lever it safely - relatively safely - out of place, but it was still sturdy enough it didn't want to come down QUITE yet. However, I also didn't want it randomly coming down in the middle of the night or while the horses were hanging out nearby or something and causing some kind of unnecessary problem.

So we got the jeep down there - getting that hunk of metal moving was a task by itself - and then winched it out of place this evening.

Cleaned a bit of broken glass and stuff up, got the area safely closed off again. Honestly surprised by how well the barn is holding up, all things considered.

At this rate, we'll be able to get it all cleaned out in a few months, and then I guess it'll be time to look for someone to help us figure out how we can get it fixed up.

#life

[blackroseraven]

Had a decent ride. Even after THIS asshole showed up to follow us around and start trying to cut us off in the arena so he could play.

#horse #q #quattro

[blackroseraven]

I have removed like twenty more feet of barbed wire, and more importantly, managed to hack my way back to the post where the wire run starts and remove the rotten wooden post and the rusted iron post holding it in. As long as I keep doing it in chunks it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I honestly never saw myself doing something like this by myself. Life is weird.

The horses were very helpful in overseeing this process.

Quattro would please like to continue overseeing me inside.

#horse #life #quattro

[blackroseraven]

Q thought the dry ice was super cool. No pun intended.

#horse #q #quattro is also there but q was hogging the ice mist

[blackroseraven]

#quattro #horse #q

[blackroseraven]

So yesterday we had a massive storm roll in. It was so bad it knocked one of the gates off its hinges, flooded the road, and flooded our basement.

Like partner said he drove through water as high as the hood of the car on the way to work, and the water in our little creek, which is normally just a dribble, was rushing over the concrete "bridge" across it. The basement flooded and our driveway is a mess and needs to be repaired.

So yesterday ended up being a bust, and today I got up and we had a cold front overnight that froze everything. I was very glad I got the sheets on the horses to give them a bit of extra warmth overnight.

But hey, there was one good thing, too, and it's that I found Kook! The little dude had managed to escape a few months ago, but somehow the corn snek survived his ordeal. I even found a shed skin on one of the supports, and some snake poop while I was cleaning the flooding. So. Yep.

He ate yesterday, and settled comfortably back into his repaired and fortified terrarium, and uh. He seems very content to just stay put for a while now after his adventuring.

Today I finally got out to ride Quattro, though, and it ended up being really nice. He was pretty ready to go on and only a little grumpy about me getting on. Q actually left us alone while we worked in the arena, too, which helped a lot. We even got to canter a little today, and that was really nice.

We ended up going over to the barn to make sure it was, you know, still standing. It doesn't actually look that much worse for wear. Honestly surprised how tough the old structure is.

So yeah. Making progress, bit-by-bit. Just gotta keep getting out there and not let the weather slow me down too much. Always things to do.

#quattro #kook #horse #life