Comanche

It’s been a while but I can honestly say that when one retires the days actually get shorter as there doesn’t seem to be enough time for me to accomplish all that I want in 24 hours.  I used to be able to do handstands and run a house, kids, garden, horses, show dogs AND a full time job.  No maid either.  But here I am with little or nothing to do and I can’t seem to fit it all in!

 Comanche is coming along really well.  However there has been a hiccup in his re-schooling.  He had progressed very nicely but then started to call for his buddies and refuse on the trails.  It was very frustrating and the fault is partly mine.  I have not spent as much time with him as I should.  I am trying to run the stable and make sure all is done as it should be and Comanche has suffered.  So we went back to baby steps.  I started by sitting with him and not even looking at him.  Not talking or chatting, but doing absolutely NOTHING.  Spent about 20 minutes each day being totally undemanding.  He would come up to me and when he touched me I would touch him, but not before he made the first move.  I spent some time just being there and looking at everything but him.  And actually it was nice to just relax too.  Then after about 5 days of this I started the groundwork all over again.  He actually really enjoys it and looks forward to it and I take him out on his leadline for long trail walks.  After a few more weeks of on-the-ground schooling I intend to start re-training under saddle.  Hopefully all will go well.  It’s amazing how patient I have become with this horse.  When I was much younger I used to ride like the hounds of hell were snapping at my heels and I was a real blood and guts rider.  But age has made me a lot more patient (and wiser I think) and I am going to take all the time needed with this project.

Last month I contacted the Director of the National Stud Farm and asked if I could get information on Comanche for a project.  He very graciously invited me to Ipoh and two friends and I made the journey from KL to the NSF. 

I was amazed and awe struck by the beautiful surroundings there.  The horses were in wonderful shape and it is evident that their care is exceptional.  I actually got to meet Comanche’s sire and his dam and I can see where he got his good looks.  The pastures (sorry paddocks) were huge and well groomed and all of the horses looked to be as happy as the proverbial bug in a rug!  The grounds made me want to move up there to be able to experience the wonderful atmosphere and look out over the horses quietly grazing in their paddocks.  It is evident that the Director is an exceptional caretaker as the condition of his charges gave us the impression that this is a primary responsibility. 

We met some wonderful little yearlings and weanlings and there were a couple I could have taken home with me.  But sorry to say they wouldn’t fit in my purse and I was watched much too closely to actually be able to smuggle them through the gate.  What a great experience and how nice to be able to see where my little horse started.  I came home with details on Comanche’s sire, dam, siblings and some great photographs.

Someone who knew Comanche in his previous home stopped by the stable last week and asked to see the starved horse.  The individual was actually standing right beside Comanche and did not recognize him.  Our syces got a really big chuckle out of that.  How far this horse has come!

I actually have some lovely pictures to post but for some reason today, it just is not happening.  My computer is often NOT my friend!  Perhaps in a few days.

Who’d have thunk!!!!!  It’s all beginning to come together.

My boy Comanche is doing so well.  He is actually sweating again.  We had trouble with anhydrosis and Peter went to the trouble of getting some “Sweat Again” from Australia and donating it to Comanche.  After one week of this miracle powder, he started to “Sweat Again”.  The horse, not Peter.  So the product is very aptly named.  Thanks Peter.  We, Comanche and I, truly appreciate your generosity.  Voila!!!!!

I had a real tussle with Comanche being barn sour. He absolutely refused to go out on the trail.  I tried hand walking him - no problem, long lining him - no problem, walking him out and then mounting him to come back - no problem.  But once I got on him at the stable and pointed his nose at the trail he balked and fought.  I tried working him in the arena with figure 8s, circles, etc.  Just keeping his feet moving until he got tired and hot.  Then I would point him at the trail again and again he would balk.  He’s very strong and when I would finally get him to step on the trail path he would balk and turn back for home.  It was a real PITA.  However a savior in the form of Zak bin Husup arrived on Monday for a short visit from his job at STC.  He worked him in the arena and then physically forced him onto the trail.  He did very well.  The next day I took him out and he was just great.  He responds beautifully to leg aids and I could literally throw away the reins.  He is totally bomb proof as demonstrated when a huge. bright blue combine (?) belching smoke came up behind us and a bird flew out from under his front feet.  I think I got me a nice trail horse folks!!  Maybe now my enthusiasm will return and I can get back to enjoying my mostly solitary but sometimes accompanied rides again.

We have another new horse at the stable.  His owner also lives in Singapore.  This horse is  an OTTB who only knows racing.  He is truly a nice looking horse and easily the best looker in the stable.  He needs re-training but for now he is settling in.  I did do some longeing with him and he had absolutely no idea what I wanted at first, but then Zak stepped in and helped out and by the time he was finished with him, he was longeing nicely.  I love being able to pass off chores to youngsters.  They enjoy accomplishing the job and showing their ability and the horse learns and I get to take it easy and just watch.  No losers there!  I am dying to ride this horse and he looks to be a really great mover.  SSSSSHHHHH - don’t tell anyone, but in my humble opinion he would make a really nice dressage horse.  He is still very young - only 7 so he should have a good life ahead of him.  His owner is a young man who is very enthusiastic so hopefully this will work out for the horse and owner.

To actually have two new liveries in the stable is great for the owner of the stable, SP.  She has been supporting the stable out of her own pocket for years and it is nice to see her begin to break even now.  She started with a stable for just her own horses and then Zak recommended her to us and us to her and it clicked.  We moved our horses from Leisure Farm to WWW and never looked back.  The first year was hard as we had to commute to see them but after a year we moved ourselves up to Kulai and so far we really love it there.  It’s a nice little town where almost everyone knows everyone else, but it’s growing.  That may be good or may be not so good for Kulai.  Time will tell.

I will leave you with one more picture of Comanche and his old buddy Yuma (formerly known as Stranger).  Yuma seems to have gotten around in his life and I was surprised recently to hear that Peter used to own him.  He is in his dotage (once again - the horse, not Peter) and just loafs all day. His life as a pasture decoration is a good one. 

Until next time take care - I am off to trail ride.  YES!!!!

I have no pictures this time but great news.  Comanche has been out on the trail and so far has been very accepting and placid.  However he is a little barn sour and that will have to be worked on.  I took him out on the trail the first time for just a few minutes and he was very calm.  In fact I hand walked him out for about 20 minutes and then found a steep roadside bank and mounted.  We then calmly proceeded home.  When we get this barn sourness taken care of, he will be a great little trail horse and that’s what I am aiming for.  He still needs more musculature but looks better than a lot of regular riding horses I have seen recently.

We have a new boarder at the stable.  He is over 17hh and a handsome chestnut.  He needs a few groceries but the ribs are beginning to disappear. Everyone knows Olga likes horses round!  He is a very sweet boy but lacking in some ground manners.  He was inclined to try to run over you and didn’t have a great attention span .  However he is getting a lot of on-the-ground training as his owner lives in Singapore and is unable to get to the stable as often as she would like.  His syce has started teaching him on-the-ground training and they are both doing really well and learning together.  And in fact, at liberty the horse follows his syce around like a puppy dog and is becoming very attached to him.  They have followed a technique in which the horse responds to his handler’s body language which is a silent language they both understand.  It follows the concept of not forcing a horse to do what you want, but rather having the horse want to do what you are asking.  As this horse is a livery we would be overstepping the boundaries of teaching as much as we would like, but we have another horse at the stable that is a prime candidate for this concept. 

This second horse is owned by SP and has a very sore back and withers.  He has been rested for months with no discernible improvement.  He is, at present and probably always will be, unrideable because of the condition.  SP has opted to keep him in spite of his infirmity, (which I think is highly commendable), and this method of training will give him the personal attention he enjoys.

We also have started a new round pen construction.  The location of the first round pen was not wisely chosen.  I can take the blame for that.  And SP opted to keep it as a dry lot for cooling the horses and the new pen will now be closer to the road so the horses will be worked (lungeing, long-lining) within view of passing motorists, which will also help with bomb proofing them.  The horses, not the motorists! 

So we actually have three on-going projects and it keeps the syces interested and happy to be accomplishing objectives.  We also hired a third syce who is a long time friend of our current syces.  I believe in the adage that birds of a feather all flock together and I am hoping this will mean that this new syce will be as hardworking and proactive as our present two.

We are due to pick up yet another livery at the end of this month.  This horse is also owned by a Singaporean.  The horse will be shipped to KL from Singapore this week to complete its quarantine and then will be coming to us.  So all in all everything is going smoothly and I promise next time to have some pictures of Comanche and maybe a few of his room mates too!

By the way, in case anyone is wondering - I don’t work at the stable but I am there every day and try to keep SP informed of all that goes on.  She is a very busy person and doesn’t have the time to oversee.  So I guess for me it is a real labor of love.  Meanwhile - happy trails!

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Yes - the above is our own Comanche in his glory days.  What a fall from grace and now - wait for his comeback.  He is well on his way!!!

I just realized that it is Leap Year so I have decided to ask my husband to marry me all over again!  Bless his heart - he really turned out to be a keeper.  He puts up with all my little foibles which include numerous horses and all our other four legged creatures too.  I sometimes tell him that he thinks too much but his comeback is that he has to do the thinking for both of us!  I believe there’s an insult buried there!

One of the above mentioned foibles is our own Comanche.  Greg of VetPlus managed to get his hands on a win picture of our boy and you can see it above.  He looks in perfect shape with well rounded hips and it’s a pleasure to see what he used to look like.  He is fast recovering those good looks and I even threw a saddle over him a few days ago and rode him for about 5 minutes and he was a little peeved that he was being asked to work again, but there was no meaness, just a little stubborness.  I guess if I had been on vacation for the past 6 months I would be a littled peeved too.

We have had a friend from the US visiting us for the past two weeks.  She is scheduled to leave tomorrow.  This is her second visit to Malaysia as she came about two years ago and evidently enjoyed herself, hence her return.  It has been interesting hearing her views on all things horsey.  She had quite a few suggestions and thoughts on Comanche and was appalled to see all the photographs we had taken of him when he first arrived at WWW.  She took herself out trail riding in the plantation and seemed to have enjoyed the time spent relaxing with no pressing engagements other than getting up in the morning for her teh tarik.  We have had a great time introducing her to the foods that were foreign to her and she tried everything with an open mind.  It is such fun to watch people realizing what a great country Malaysia is!  I am very happy we decided to settle here.

We have a new boarder at our stable.  I will introduce him to y’all in a later post.  He needs to settle in and develop some musculature in his neck area.  He seems to be a real sweetheart but a whopper of a boy.  We will need a step ladder to climb on and the dismount would be a long drop.  He is settling into the groundwork really well and seems to have a few more brain cells than Comanche.   SSSShhhh - don’t tell him I said that!

CNY is almost over and hopefully I can get some uninterrupted sleep soon as the fire crackers have been keeping me up late.  So until next time - keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you are up to!

Comanche is coming along in leaps and bounds.  He is a very curious horse and nickers to me every morning.  I don’t flatter myself that it’s me he wants to see.  Rather the apple or carrot I carry in my pocket.  We have been doing the never-ending ground work and he is finally beginning to concentrate solely on me instead of watching everything that moves or makes a noise.  I was beginning to wonder if he lacked a few of his brain cells but I guess he needed to gain some confidence. 

I took him for a hand walk in the palm oil plantation a while back and he took in every tree, plant and bush.  However what he didn’t notice, and neither did I, was nasty old black cobra coiled in the grass.  When I finally spotted it, I had almost stepped on it.  It must have been in a benevolent mood as it slithered away BETWEEN my feet.  Thank the Lord I was wearing my half chaps, although it made no attempt to strike or spit.  I jumped about 20 feet in the air though and am sure it was a world record.  Neither Comanche nor the dog paid it the slightest attention and only seemed to take notice of the unintelligible yell that came out of my mouth.  At least I think I made the unearthly noise!  It sounded a bit like  AAARRUUUUGGGGOOOOOAAAAWWWW.  Needless to say my attention was focused on the ground for the rest of that walk.

I was interested to learn that there were two more horses in Johor that needed rescue.  But along the same lines as Comanche’s story, one of the horses had died before help arrived.  I had not heard about this until I read the equine rescue blog.  It sounds as though help is finally arriving for our neglected friends in Sabah.  I do hope that there will be some action taken in this case, not only to rescue the horses but also to bring someone to justice over this matter.

 I recently got railroaded into (entertaining) someone for a (friend). I put both of those words in parentheses as they are debateable after the incident.  I  thought I was doing someone a favor.  Silly me!  Anyway to cut a long story short, this person claimed to be an animal communicator.  Yeah, I know - what a load of old cods wallop!  She proceeded to “tell” me some strange things about our horses.  Most of which were almost laughable.  It was an entertaining afternoon but in my opinion it was a total fabrication.  After the session she then asked me to take instruction from her (for a fee of course) as she felt I could do so much for horses.  Do I look that stupid?  You don’t have to answer that but I certainly did not get off the boat yesterday.  It made me think though, that some people have paid good money to these kind of “communicators” who often prey upon emotions.  While there may be some people who can “talk” with animals, I haven’t yet met one.   However this person travels around the world doing what she did which entailed her “waving her hands and passing energy to and from the horse”.  She informed me that our 26 year old ex-polo pony was staying alive because a young girl that he had been emotionally attached to 10 or 12 years ago was now pregnant and he wanted to be sure that the baby would be in good health.  She did say that Yuma would pass away in about three years or sooner.  Doesn’t take an Einstein or a communicator to figure out that 29 is a ripe old age for a horse.  The only thing Yuma is interested in is when is his next meal due and how can he get out of doing any work at all!

 I guess I am just an old cynic but it amazes me that people would pay good money for services such as this.  And also that they cannot see that they are being taken advantage of.

Happy New Year to all and hopefully the next blog entry will have some more photos of that ole Comanche.

Here we are again in another new year.  Never in my wildest dreams and younger days did I ever think I would survive this long.  I sure would have looked after my body a little better if I had known.  However I am hoping against hope that I shall survive to a ripe old age and be able to continue riding and playing with horses for a long time yet.

Yesterday we had a visitor to our small stable.  Greg of VetPlus stopped by and we spent a couple of hours together and talked each other’s ears off.  It is the first time I had seen him since John and I left Kuala Lumpur for the wilds of Johor, although we had kept in touch telephonically.  So we had a lot of catching up to do.  He is still the same pleasant and friendly individual he always was and I did enjoy our chat.  He actually stopped by to see Comanche as he had not seen him in the flesh.  Only in photographs that I have posted here.  He said he was amazed at how far along the horse had come and that his condition was vastly improved. 

I also managed to get his opinion on our barefoot policy here.  He seemed to think we were doing the right thing and I am once again grateful for the apititude of our syces.  We have learned the barefoot routine together.  I have to admit that all of the feet in our stable are in excellent, rock crushing condition.  But a lot of it is because the wet bedding is removed every morning and then topped up.  And also because each time the horses come in from grazing their feet are cleaned and dried and then they are popped into a dry environment in their stalls.  I do realize that this is possible because of the size of our stable and it would be hard to copy these conditions in a larger environment, but it works well for us.

Greg was one of the individuals who donated feed and advice for Comanche and I want to express my gratitude to him again.  I think many people would have let Comanche “go” at the outset but I truly felt that the horse at least desrved a chance at life.  And he seems to have grasped at that chance with all four hooves!

We are still feeding Rice Power and it seems to suit him well and I intend to keep him on that.  He is still ribby but not terrible so and this will improve.  I recently had the opportunity to view some pictures of several horses in the US that had been rescued from a neglectful environment.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being emaciated, all of these horses were scaled at 1 or 2.  None of them were in the pitiful condition that Comanche was when we found him.  On that scale I would have had to mark him as a minus 2.  All of the above mentioned horses were removed (confiscated) from the owners and placed in a foster environment.  And the owners now face charges of animal cruelty for allowing them to get into the sad condition they were in.  While I have no desire to see anyone prosecuted, I would like to see some viable alternative to allowing animals to remain in neglectful and/or cruel conditions.  But I cannot change the world and can only make a difference in one life at a time.

Greg very kindly offered to try to find for me a “win” picture of Comanche (Kranji Pioneer) in his heyday of racing.  I hope he can, if only for the fact that I would like to see a photograph of him when he was in excellent condition.  Meanwhile he remains the same, sweet natured trusting fella I know.  I am dying to ride him but it’s too soon yet.  And I can be patient even though no one I know believes that.

No pictures this time. I will add some more when he has made another jump in condition.  Thanks for reading this far without falling asleep.  Not terribly exciting stuff, but it keeps my ticker pumping.  Ma’as salama.

I am packed and ready to leave this Christmas Eve.  We are heading off to Indonesia and will not return until 4 January 2008.  BUT, and this is really sad, why am I worrying about the horses?  I know that they are very well looked after and that the syces are trustworthy and will call the correct person in the face of an emergency.  I know that SP will make sure everything is going well and that the horses will be fine.  But why is there that nagging doubt  that they cannot survive without me?  Maybe it’s because of the “empty nest syndrome”.

I taught the boys some long-lining yesterday and now they wander around calling me “Teacher”.  They are such good kids and I do appreciate their efforts and their willingness to learn.  They were taught the basics by Zak who is now working at STC.  He gave them a really good background and, in the process, they picked up his work ethic too.  The language barrier still looms large.  My Behasa and their English is improving though and we manage to make ourselves understood.  In spite of that they both had questions yesterday.  So it would appear that they aren’t just learning to do something because they were told to, but rather they want to know the reasoning behind it all.

I think the one big drawback to Malaysia (for me) is the fact that one does not have to learn the local language because English is so widely spoken.  When we were in Saudi I had to learn some basic Arabic, but here my lazy gene kicks in and I just slide along.

 I hope the latest pictures of Comanche were not too confusing.  The first one is one that I took on his first day with us.  The other three were taken a few days ago. 

Finally got those pictures downloaded - using my old digital camera.  Still haven’t figured out the new one….

 Here goes:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Rurutiki/Day1Robin.jpg?t=1198217269    

No prize figuring out which one eats well……

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Rurutiki/HiMom.jpg?t=1198217669

Two months later

 http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Rurutiki/113_1312.jpg?t=1198217775

Today - 3 months later

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b169/Rurutiki/113_1309.jpg?t=1198217864

Another one of him taken today.  He still has a way to go but his coat is beginning to look as though someone cares about him.  I think that he should look his best in about another 4-6 months.

Hey, hey, hey, here we are again.  I cannot wait for y’all to see how well that darned little Comanche has progressed, but I am going to make you wait as I have not yet downloaded the pictures I took today.  And I actually should not be calling him “little” as he tops out at 16 hh.

 I have to admit I took a scad of pictures of him yesterday but I must have eaten an extra bowl of stooopid for breakfast as none of them turned out worth a damn!  Sometimes I think I may be mentally challenged but then the light hits me - and I am sure.  While on the subject of pictures I had left little notes around the house for John about a certain new camera that I wanted for Christmas.  A Canon Rebel no less.  I made sure he knew the price and where to obtain it and, bless his little pea pickin’ heart, he went out and bought me a camera - but the WRONG one.  So now we have something by Sanyo which also takes videos.  I have been fairly gracious and told him that it was a nice thought when I really wanted to clobber him.  Why, oh why can’t men get the right idea when it comes to gifts?  And to make matters much worse the instructions for the darned thing must be written in Sanskrit because I cannot make heads or tails of them!  I guess I should put on my big girl panties and get over it and pretend I am thrilled!

Anyway - back to Comanche.  I have been sitting in a stall with him doing absolutely nothing.  And this is a very good time of year to do that as the rain has been bucketing down.  He has gotten used to me just sitting, not speaking, not touching, just being companionable.  The last couple of days he has come straight to me and stood over me with his head hanging down and his chin at times resting on top of my head.  I like to do this with a new horse as we humans usually get to the stable and go get the horse, get on him and ride.  I wanted him to know that there are times I just want to hang out with him.  It also seems to have fixed his attention on me whereas before he was always watching what the hell was going on somewhere else……

His syce and I take turns lungeing him and he is up to 30 minutes a session.  His rear muscles are forming well.  He still needs more muscle in his topline and across his hipbones, but if you see him from a distance he looks darn near normal.  I have been standing him beside the mounting block, (yes at my advanced age I do need one), and leaning across his back to check his reaction to weight.  So far, so good.  He just seems to be very ho-hum about it all.  His spine and withers are still very prominent but with more muscle mass that should improve.

So that’s my latest update.  I will get moving and get those pictures downloaded and add them tonight.  Meanwhile if I don’t get another chance - have a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.  We shall be celebrating the holidays in Bali with daughter and son-in-law.