Trail riding

Apart from all the guinea pig drama, I had some of the best moments yet with Crispin during those last two or three weeks. We finally hit the trails for real and he has been nothing but great! I'm totally thrilled with his trail qualities.

We have some really nice trails here but none of them are easy to get to. There is always the Autobahn to cross *scarry*



and the the Canal.



Plus there is usually a lot going on (Boats, Biker, Dogs, Cars... you name it). Unfortunately, in the past Crispin was already super excited just to leave the property as it was, without needing any more distractions or scarry stuff to wind him up even more. I guess that's basically why it took me so long to really go out there.

But after being quite excited at the start of every single trail ride it seems that all he really needed was just a few more real trail rides to figure out this whole trial riding thing. By now he's mostly relaxed from the start. He walks, trots and canters without any problems and is happy and relaxed no matter where he goes (the middle, the end or even the front). On our last ride he even lead over the Autobahn!

Guinea Pig Drama!!!

Here it is, one more guinea pig post. And oh my, what a drama it was finding Zorro a new partner. There even was bloodshed! Poor old girl got bitten by a nasty stranger:

But let's start from the beginning. After Bob died, I pretty much started looking for a new partner for Zorro right away. Guinea pigs are just so unhappy being alone and they feel unsafe without one or more other guinea pig(s) around.

Since Zorro has lived with a neutered male for years and isn't the youngest piggy anymore, I though the most sensible choice would be to get her another older neutered male for company.

Not an easy thing to find. But I did find a rescue that had a few older males to adopt in Unna (a 70 km drive). So, I packed up Zorro and drove to Unna. She was supposed to chose a partner herself. She did find one she seemed to like, so I packed up both piggies and drove home.

Couple of hours latter I was on my way back to Unna again. Turns out the male (about twice Zorro's size) was scared of her and quite agressive towards my little girl. Not cool! So he had to go.

The next pig I got from the rescue was an older neutered male used to living with a group of girls. Very confident fella. He started to chase and mount Zorro right away (to show his dominance) but she wasn't having any of that. They started fighting and Zorro got bitten in the nose. Maybe I should not have seperated the two after that, but I was so shocked by the nasty cut that I did. The male went into an extra cage over night and back to Unna the next day. (Thankfully the bite healed quickly.)

Thinking about it, I realized that Zorro simply wasn't used to not being the boss. With Bob she'd always been the boss and honestly, I never even realized that this wasn't the way it's supposed to be with guinea Pigs. Bob and Zorro were always so harmonious with each other.

Back in Unna the rescue lady and I decided to forget about the old males and try two young females as new partners for Zorro instead. So, I packed those up and went back home. Determined to make things work out this time.

During the following week I tried to get the three girls to play nice with each other. The two new ones lived in a seperate cage and I only let them meet zorro on neutral ground. Unfortunately, Zorro was in no mood to meet any more strangers. And to make matters worse, one of the little ones was quite a dominante little thing herself. Whenever they met, she simply chased Zorro for a bit and Zorro was just terrified by her, running and hiding. Another deal breaker. And even though I really, really like that little pig, she too had to go back to Unna.

Thankfully, the other little one was a perfect fit and she gets to stay! I call her Io.

Io:

Io is about 4-5 months old and very shy. She was a little scared of Zorro at first but at the same time interested in her. At first Zorro was also a little scared of little Io, but only for a day or two.

Zorro and Io day two:

They have been living together for two weeks now and everything seems to be working out just fine. There was no fighting or chasing at all, only some gestures of dominance from Zorro here an there. Perfect. 

Amidst all that piggy drama I also extended the cage.

Before:

And now:

Notice, there is now room for three piggies...

...to be continued!

Goodbye Bob

This is about something else for once. Or someone else. Today was a sad day because Bob, one of my two guinea pigs died today.

He wasn't the one I was worried about. I did realize that he seemed to develop some breathing issues during the last one or two weeks, but he seemed fine otherwise eating well and going about his guinea pig business. Yesterday he wasn't eating well and this morning he didn't want to eat at all and his breathing was very labored.

I took him to the emergency vet, he got a couple of injections but it was too late already. I think the visit to the vet was already too much for him. An hour later he died. It looked like a stroke or heart attack. It was quick.

He was old, almost 7 years but still, I'm very sad. It's always very hard when one of my guinea pigs dies and there never seems to be anyone around who can really relate. After all, it's just a guinea pig. People are always nice about it but still. They just don't really get it.

But I live with them, I interact with them daily, morning and night, I teach them little tricks and they are always, always there, every day for 6, 7 or more years until the end of their short little lifes. Of course I know that they are short-lived little creatures. But still I am devastated whenever I loose one...

So, goodbye Bob. It has been my pleasure having you and may the grass indeed be greener on the other side...

Happy 5th Birthday

It's been busy and even though I've been pretty much mia I did not of course forgot Crispin's 5th birthday.

Here are the pics to proof it:

...here they are...

...the pictures of the new saddle on Crispin. I'm not 100% sold yet but I also don't know if what I see is actually such a big deal or if there even is a better option out there (after all, I have been looking for a year now).

I 've had a lesson today, took off the saddle pad after that and put the saddle back on without it. The girth is tight but not "ready-to-ride-tight".

 

As you can see, the fit isn't bad at all. The panels are nice and short, the iron is wide enough (could be widened if needed). It sits nicely behind his shoulder and there is no slipping at all. BUT, I think the deepest point of the seat is juuuust a tad to far to the back. It should be in the middle of the seat or even better just a tad in front of that. Big deal or not?! I don't know...

Tarp Games

Since yesterday was a little more stressful for Crispin than the average day, being ridden twice to check the fit of the new saddle and free lunged before that just in case, I decided that Crispin deserved a fun day today.

We did some groundwork, playing around with some of the exercises from the "Gelassenheitsprüfung", his favourite being the tarp. Here's a little video from today: 

At the end he decides that he isn't quite finished with the tarp yet.

The Saddle

Yesterday was the big day. My saddle arrived (or better, the fitter was in the area, came by and brought/fitted the saddle).

He arrived late in the afternoon and once he was done fitting it was too dark to take any good pictures.

Since we're all girls, here's most important thing: The color is gorgeous! Not as orange as I though but a very, very lovely dark brown.

Even though the fitter had ordered the saddle with a 33 iron (the trial saddle was a 31.5) he had to widen it two more times (half a cm each time) and ended up with a 34 iron. He also did some changes on the flocking after the first test ride. So far it looks good, but I will not let my hopes get up too high before I haven't ridden in it a couple more times, though I really, really hope this is the saddle.

Pictures from now, taken in my living room:

The saddle is a Sommer "Diplomat" with "Espritkissen". 18"Seat, 33 gullet (widened to 34 already). The color is called "moro".

 ...looks like it'd fit a draft!

 It's almost level on my barrel shaped footstool!