I was pretty excited to share my equine notes after the last post went up. Today’s post is most of my April notes, and just a few notes from February.

That being said, I was fortunate enough to receive my Purvida Conditioning Spray refill bottle on 2/2/2023. They were so nice too, I ordered 2 stickers and they included 4 total and one I reused on the outside packaging. I made an effort to get my Parisian Blue halter out to Red Rock Ranch so Cayenne wouldn’t have to wear my rose gold one anymore. On 2/13/2013 he got to wear blue for the first time. We went down to the round pen and honestly had a really fun time together in there before heading back to the barn.

Due to the abrupt weather change Cayenne has been shedding like a mad man, and he has been leaving hair everywhere when I take him out. In an effort to decrease the hairballs Aunt Lori put up some crossties in his stall so he’s fully contained. It’s been nice to keep him in one spot, but I miss the airy aisle view as I groomed.

Speaking of grooming I feel like his tail and mane took a plunge off the deep end, they look worse than when we started. I hope to remedy this before he goes off to Colorado to be a wild horse on 80 acres. I’ve washed it, and conditioned it twice so I’m hoping that helps.

4/12/2023 (today) is the first day I have given him a full bath. I used a bit of my Medica Medicated Shampoo, but it spilled in my car leaving me with a lotion consistency and I don’t think it activated. I think all the sudsy properties spilled out unfortunately. I then grabbed some Mane & Tail Shine shampoo from the rack on the back of the barn and it worked. He stood for the most part, but man was he terrified of the tail soaking bucket. While it was funny, it was hard to work with so I just washed it by hand. At the end he didn’t like the hose, and we think it’s because it’s neon yellow…but we really don’t know. His mane is great at keeping braids in especially since it is so hot out, but they tend to snap after about 36 hours from his rolling.

At some point my grooming tote will be getting a huge update, Silver Honey I am looking at you. Until then, I will be on a mission to curry all of Cayenne’s winter coat off so he looks stunning. His dapples look amazing, so incredible in fact Horse Guard reposted us. This made me feel like maybe to blog is coming back to life. The last time we were reposted by them I was still leasing Capone. What made me feel even better, was the fact that they used it to essentially say “if your horse doesn’t look like this after winter you should consider their diet”. I can definitely see our future in that bright shine of his. He has gotten so dark he’s nearly liver chestnut, and his clip line is mostly gone.

Cayenne is still struggling with standing still for photos, which would probably be resolved with a couple clicker outings, but I honestly haven’t had the spoons. Cayenne has four basic carrot stretches these days, to the toes, to the left shoulder, I swap sides and ask for a chest touch and a right shoulder bend. He eats his FLIX for this, and it has been helpful for cracking any bones back into place with a stretch and for his flexibility.

I learned he cannot tolerate mohair tack, or felt unless it’s kept insanely clean. We use the Airflex cinches currently and as long as they are clean he is a happy camper with minimal skin issues in that department. To keep all his other skin and tummy agitations at bay he is on a soy free diet and only gets a bit of sugars. He is on GutX, hemp seeds for riding days, California Trace supplement until the bucket is empty and the FLIX I give him. The grain he eats is the Kalm n EZ soy free grain and a bit of wheat bran to soak up all the supplements. As any smart barn would do, Lori supplements hay with pellets for AM & PM. While the old Lakin Lite pellet recipe apparently didn’t say they had soy bean husks in it, they did, and the new mill owners had to redo the packaging. Luckily it is the same product. Cayenne has eaten these pellets since he was a foal, and he doesn’t mind the small amount of soy husk in the formula. With that in mind, Cayenne gets one soaked scoop AM & PM along with his free choice bag of bermuda, teff etc. I say etc because sometimes it’s a mix, or sometimes it’s what was in the hay area making a mess. He just doesn’t get to eat much alfalfa, which is good for me.

While we have had some amazing rides, our arena work needs some help. We can’t canter comfortably, the transitions are hard and choppy, but we’re figuring it out. If it comes down to no arena work for our partnership because it’s a perpetual circle then I would love to explore some more ideas with him. Aunt Helen and Cayenne cow sorted, and I think that would be mad fun to try. My boss Mindy has also offered the P&M trail course many times, and I would love to take him through it officially.

I can’t wait until the next update, Pepper Boy & I are having a lot of fun together. As of 4/15/2023 I tried my leather halter on him, and it fits snugly on the last hole. While he looks amazing in it, I don’t enjoy the fit of it on him. I would much prefer a Horse Education Halter or a Remarkable Leather Halter of our own. This leather halter was very much Capone’s back in the day and clearly I’ve outgrown it in more ways than one.

I have a bunch of rides and plans with this handsome gelding in the future, and I would love it if you guys joined me on the next post about him.