Um ... That was my finger ...
Monday was the start of the first summer session at ASU and I dove head-first into my Drawing IV class. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself although I'm less than halfway finished with the piece I'm working on it should still prove to be quite productive.
Tuesday I set out to work a couple of horses, namely my mom's two and one of mine. I got Rowdy out and worked with him a bit, doing some stretching and bending and doing just a little sending off. He is turning much better in the roundpen, looking too me rather than towards the fence. From there I set about desensitizing his face. He doesn't like things being stuck in his mouth, specifically dewormers and since Mom was considering getting some banamine paste to give him before long rides (he has ringbone resulting in some stiffness in his right leg) he needed to be messed with and get over his problem with things in his mouth. I didn't have any syringes on hand so I started with using the lead rope and giving it to him like a bit until he accepted it without fuss. I then used my finger and stuck it in the corner of his mouth like one would the syringe.
I worked with both sides of him and had been doing it for over a half hour when it happened. As he was fussing he finally got his tongue around my finger and sucked it up to his molars. Needless to say my finger did not appreciate being compressed between his cheek teeth. My response was to shout "OUCH!" as I extracted my finger and walloped him on the neck.
Rowdy became rather unapologetic and made great improvement in his tolerance of my (other) finger being poked in the corner of his mouth. Every time he didn't fuss at it I removed the offending object and rubbed him on his face and neck. From there I decided to call it a day and returned Rowdy to his pen. Pleased at his marked improvement towards the end of the session, but slightly less pleased at the status of my finger.
I came inside and rinsed it off, and checked the damage. He managed to get it right at the last joint of my index finger. The top half was a neat shearing of the skin, nothing hanging off, however the more fleshy bottom portion of my finger had a good flap of skin that needed to be removed and was quite neatly laid open. I cleaned it up, bandaged it, and decided that I wouldn't be working any more horses that day.
It is healing nicely, though and thankfully it wasn't my pinky or ring finger because I use those a lot (riding) and it would not have been terribly comfortable. It's also on my left hand, which means it doesn't interfere with normal writing (or drawing) functions and I don't have to worry about getting pastel all over it. The upper wound is starting to seal up and the lower section seems to be doing its proper healing thing as I realize that the slicing underneath was a little more extensive and I wonder if I should snip off more of the dead skin or not.
In other horsey news I went on a trail ride with my parents this morning and took Panda. The big girl and I lead out for the first bit and were drawn back as Mom screamed and then shrieked "SNAKE! A snake!" I turned around just in time to see it slithering off the path and towards the wash. It was rattleless, although the head did appear like a pit viper's, but it could have just been my angle. I believe sidewinders have rattles (and this snake was traveling straight forward anyway) and apart from rattlers I don't think we really have any other poisonous snakes. I assume it was a gopher snake. Probably three feet long and just cruising casually along.
Apparently Dad and Rowdy had walked right over it and Mom had stopped Dakota short of stepping on the thing. She initially claimed that both of us had walked over it, but at the rate the snake was going and the pace Panda and I were setting I severely doubt it. And I also doubt that I'd be quite so blind as to not see it. Dad might have been positioned so that Rowdy's neck blocked his view of the trail before him, but I would think he would have seen it, but he might not have been looking to the side.
All in all Mom's reaction was quite entertaining.
Panda did quite well for the trail ride and she leads out wonderfully. She does tend to get a little strong when she's not in front though, not trying to pass the other horses, but if they pick up a trot she wants to be sure she doesn't get left behind. I worked with her on that as we headed back. Stopping her for a moment and then picking up the walk once the other horses were several yards a way. Each time she picked up the trot without being asked I bent her neck around in the one-rein stop and waited for her to stop and give. I'd release, she'd take a step or two forward, and around her head went again (alternating sides) until she decided she could stand still and wait for the cue to move forward, which I then surprised her by asking for a couple of steps back before cuing to walk on. After doing this a couple of times she was quite content to simply walk the last quarter-mile to the trailer without so much as a half-stride trotting even with me shifting around on her back as I stroked her neck, hip, and shoulder.
She's turning out to be quite a good horse. She's really loosened up since we first got her a year ago (March). When we first purchased her the slightest bit of rein pressure on one side would send her walking around in circles. Now she flexes nicely in both directions while still responding lightly to rein cues while in motion. She's also coming on the bit better and giving requests for vertical flexion. She does have a long way to go with her canter, but she has come a long way from there as well (when I tried cantering her the first time to took several minutes of effort of me bumping my legs, kissing, and generally encouraging until she finally fel into it). I got her going a little bit this morning, but she's a bit unbalanced and heavy on the front (and we nearly ran into a tree...). She also didn't want to pick up the left lead, but I probably should have backed her off a lot more in the trot before trying to change her flexion and ask for it. Must to trot-canter-trot transitions in the arena more.
Art-related stuff: I finished the drawing of Zel and scanned it, though I haven't cleaned it up yet and I'm debating on whether I should mail it to them now or wait until Christmas ... I don't know. The piece I'm currently working on in class is a 19"X25" (approx.) pastel piece on Canson paper. Our assignment was to combine geometric and organic forms and I chose to depict Kywehn (Grihfohn/gryphon character) perched on a tree sitting on a grassy cliff overlooking some farmland and there's some clouds in the sky. It sounds a lot lamer than it looks. I finished the base coat yesterday and moved on to the fun part, which is layering on the hard pastels for detail and form. I'm almost done with the sky and am debating where to move to next (either Kywehn or the farmland ... maybe I'll jump between the two).
Now it's time for dinner and that about sums up the day.
Well, there is the matter of the kid being bitten by Blaze, my parents' dog, but I'll elaborate on that tomorrow. Poor guy's going to have to spend a few days at a vet under quarantine.
Tuesday I set out to work a couple of horses, namely my mom's two and one of mine. I got Rowdy out and worked with him a bit, doing some stretching and bending and doing just a little sending off. He is turning much better in the roundpen, looking too me rather than towards the fence. From there I set about desensitizing his face. He doesn't like things being stuck in his mouth, specifically dewormers and since Mom was considering getting some banamine paste to give him before long rides (he has ringbone resulting in some stiffness in his right leg) he needed to be messed with and get over his problem with things in his mouth. I didn't have any syringes on hand so I started with using the lead rope and giving it to him like a bit until he accepted it without fuss. I then used my finger and stuck it in the corner of his mouth like one would the syringe.
I worked with both sides of him and had been doing it for over a half hour when it happened. As he was fussing he finally got his tongue around my finger and sucked it up to his molars. Needless to say my finger did not appreciate being compressed between his cheek teeth. My response was to shout "OUCH!" as I extracted my finger and walloped him on the neck.
Rowdy became rather unapologetic and made great improvement in his tolerance of my (other) finger being poked in the corner of his mouth. Every time he didn't fuss at it I removed the offending object and rubbed him on his face and neck. From there I decided to call it a day and returned Rowdy to his pen. Pleased at his marked improvement towards the end of the session, but slightly less pleased at the status of my finger.
I came inside and rinsed it off, and checked the damage. He managed to get it right at the last joint of my index finger. The top half was a neat shearing of the skin, nothing hanging off, however the more fleshy bottom portion of my finger had a good flap of skin that needed to be removed and was quite neatly laid open. I cleaned it up, bandaged it, and decided that I wouldn't be working any more horses that day.
It is healing nicely, though and thankfully it wasn't my pinky or ring finger because I use those a lot (riding) and it would not have been terribly comfortable. It's also on my left hand, which means it doesn't interfere with normal writing (or drawing) functions and I don't have to worry about getting pastel all over it. The upper wound is starting to seal up and the lower section seems to be doing its proper healing thing as I realize that the slicing underneath was a little more extensive and I wonder if I should snip off more of the dead skin or not.
In other horsey news I went on a trail ride with my parents this morning and took Panda. The big girl and I lead out for the first bit and were drawn back as Mom screamed and then shrieked "SNAKE! A snake!" I turned around just in time to see it slithering off the path and towards the wash. It was rattleless, although the head did appear like a pit viper's, but it could have just been my angle. I believe sidewinders have rattles (and this snake was traveling straight forward anyway) and apart from rattlers I don't think we really have any other poisonous snakes. I assume it was a gopher snake. Probably three feet long and just cruising casually along.
Apparently Dad and Rowdy had walked right over it and Mom had stopped Dakota short of stepping on the thing. She initially claimed that both of us had walked over it, but at the rate the snake was going and the pace Panda and I were setting I severely doubt it. And I also doubt that I'd be quite so blind as to not see it. Dad might have been positioned so that Rowdy's neck blocked his view of the trail before him, but I would think he would have seen it, but he might not have been looking to the side.
All in all Mom's reaction was quite entertaining.
Panda did quite well for the trail ride and she leads out wonderfully. She does tend to get a little strong when she's not in front though, not trying to pass the other horses, but if they pick up a trot she wants to be sure she doesn't get left behind. I worked with her on that as we headed back. Stopping her for a moment and then picking up the walk once the other horses were several yards a way. Each time she picked up the trot without being asked I bent her neck around in the one-rein stop and waited for her to stop and give. I'd release, she'd take a step or two forward, and around her head went again (alternating sides) until she decided she could stand still and wait for the cue to move forward, which I then surprised her by asking for a couple of steps back before cuing to walk on. After doing this a couple of times she was quite content to simply walk the last quarter-mile to the trailer without so much as a half-stride trotting even with me shifting around on her back as I stroked her neck, hip, and shoulder.
She's turning out to be quite a good horse. She's really loosened up since we first got her a year ago (March). When we first purchased her the slightest bit of rein pressure on one side would send her walking around in circles. Now she flexes nicely in both directions while still responding lightly to rein cues while in motion. She's also coming on the bit better and giving requests for vertical flexion. She does have a long way to go with her canter, but she has come a long way from there as well (when I tried cantering her the first time to took several minutes of effort of me bumping my legs, kissing, and generally encouraging until she finally fel into it). I got her going a little bit this morning, but she's a bit unbalanced and heavy on the front (and we nearly ran into a tree...). She also didn't want to pick up the left lead, but I probably should have backed her off a lot more in the trot before trying to change her flexion and ask for it. Must to trot-canter-trot transitions in the arena more.
Art-related stuff: I finished the drawing of Zel and scanned it, though I haven't cleaned it up yet and I'm debating on whether I should mail it to them now or wait until Christmas ... I don't know. The piece I'm currently working on in class is a 19"X25" (approx.) pastel piece on Canson paper. Our assignment was to combine geometric and organic forms and I chose to depict Kywehn (Grihfohn/gryphon character) perched on a tree sitting on a grassy cliff overlooking some farmland and there's some clouds in the sky. It sounds a lot lamer than it looks. I finished the base coat yesterday and moved on to the fun part, which is layering on the hard pastels for detail and form. I'm almost done with the sky and am debating where to move to next (either Kywehn or the farmland ... maybe I'll jump between the two).
Now it's time for dinner and that about sums up the day.
Well, there is the matter of the kid being bitten by Blaze, my parents' dog, but I'll elaborate on that tomorrow. Poor guy's going to have to spend a few days at a vet under quarantine.