Ground meet Courtney, Courtney meet Ground

Last night I was asked to fill in for MIL at drill practice. Wanted to ride I accepted and headed straight to the arena after work so I could work Lu before practice. I figured I’d use Sis for practice since she is the one that will be running it and she needs to work on the pattern (not Lu).

I took over my big red ball to play soccer with before practice. The young girls were having a hay day and their horses caught on quickly. Lu was a bit nervous about it so we worked on getting her to focus on me (instead of the ball) and rate my seat. She did very well so we moved up into a canter. I’ve been trying to post a lot more (although not the 30 min. a day CA recommends) and I’m noticing that it is placing my body in a different position compared to how I normally ride. I seem to be more upright (like I should be) and more in cadence with Lu although I am still struggling to maintain my seat rhythm when she canters clockwise (her bad side).

Before I headed to grab Sis I had Lu move the ball some. Once she got the hang of it she was all over the ball. I put her away and grabbed Sis. She acted like the ball was going to kill her even though she’d played with it the entire weekend. I moved her out trying to stretch out her tight muscles (from her injury last year) and she quickly got with the program. We ran the run and it wasn’t very pretty. I’ve watched the pattern quite a few times but haven’t paid attention to MIL’s spot and apparently neither have some of the other riders. I’d get out of place but quickly fell back into place.

I got a chuckle out of a few gals when they said “so Sis can run”. LOL yes she can! I was in MIL’s saddle and the stirrups are too long but I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal – Sis is pretty easy to sit compared to Lu. As we came around the one bend Sis decided to turn before me and I popped out of the saddle and my hands landed on her neck. I recovered but I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Then around another corner she tripped. That time I maintained my seat much better.

As we were cooling down from the run one of the younger gals grabbed her weanling and was leading it around from her gelding. I was working on getting Sis to soften and tuck her head. One of the other gals asked me about my mecate wondering “isn’t that dangerous tying to yourself like that”. I explained to her that it wasn’t tied and it would come out if I’d come off. It wasn’t but about a minute later when I gave her a demo on how it worked.

I don’t know what happened but Sis jumped sideways and over her shoulder and off I came. The mecate got caught under my leg and Sis reared trying to get away from the pressure and whatever was scaring her. I thought a few times she was going to come down and land on my legs but luckily she didn’t. I finally got the mecate loose, got up and put her feet to work. She looked at me like “you want me to what”.

The gals watching think the foal spooked her. I don’t think she saw it on the side of the gelding and as he turned I guess the foal bucked and kicked out. I really don’t care why she spooked. I was very happy that I was able to maintain my composure and not let frustration get in the way when I got up off of the ground. I can honestly say that I wasn’t upset with Sis. While my body was a bit sore today I can say that for the first time my pride wasn’t hurt. I know I’m not the best rider but I am working towards being a better rider so if people feel the need to judge me – so be it. I’m frustrated that I can’t find my “center” but I know old habits die hard. Guess I just need to post some more. ;)

Beautiful weekend to ride

Friday night the boys and I headed over to MIL’s with the ponies. I took Cat over to stay at MIL’s so I could a) get some horses off of my pasture and b) focus more on Lu. Bell will be joining Cat and Black as soon as DH leaves to go harvest.

Black was very happy to have company again. She’s moving very well. Her abscess ended up being a sub solar abscess so her entire sole is lifting off. Hopefully it stays dry so she doesn’t get gunk underneath it.

Saturday was beautiful. We got the ponies out to ride (Chase on Abby, MIL on Sis, Ty on Black and I was going to ride Cat). When I unwrapped Cat’s leg it was pretty nasty looking. The wrap kept the fluid from moving down like it was supposed to but it also re-opened her cannon bone injury that had been healing well so I opted not to ride her.

The boys rode for a good while. I had to teach Ty how to spank Black because she was being super lazy (not a bad thing). He enjoyed that a little too much so I had to get after him a bit (not that he whacked hard). MIL worked on the clover leaf pattern w/Sis and Chase messed around.

I made Ty get off and got out the big ball. Black immediately got nervous (hence why I took Ty off). Very few things freak that old mare out but the big ball is one of them. Abby wasn’t quite sure about it so I rolled it away while Chase and MIL followed. The wind was blowing quite a bit so it wasn’t helping much. After a while I got on Sis and got her to move it around some then let Chase have a go. I gave him a crop and Abby got a little frisky so he got off and had grandma get on.

The next day I went out to work Abby. I worked on the clover leaf pattern but decided we really need to go back and work on our gas pedal. She’s all over the place because she is so lazy! I made her move her feet and soon enough she did go better. Then I put Chase on her in my saddle. That kid has some long legs but he wasn’t quite able to reach my stirrups so I took him to the RP (with Sis loose in there) and let him just ride while I moved Abby (and Sis). It was very good for him and he’s got a pretty good balance when he doesn’t have to worry about other things.

It didn’t take him long to get tired so I hopped back on. The ball was in the RP so I decided to play with it some. MIL hopped on Sis bareback and bridleless and rode her around with. Anytime Abby wouldn’t kick the ball I’d make her move her feet. It didn’t take that fat pony long to figure out the ball was the place to be. At one time Abby was flying around the RP and Sis decided to join. I thought MIL was going to come off but she didn’t. We were laughing so hard – man I love my horses!

I’m going to go fill in for MIL at drill tonight and I plan on going early so I can play with Lucy with the ball (using Sis for drill) and work on our stops. I think Chase is going to go with so it should be a blast. I’m really happy with the way Lu is going. I had to ride her w/my leather halter last week (MIL used my bridle for drill) and she was just as light and soft in it as she was with her bridle. Really makes me wonder what she’d be capable of doing w/a patient trainer.

Also, I want to thank John and Ranae for the tips on the bending exercise. I’m gong to try a few of them w/Lu tonight and see if I can get it to work or at least get a starting point.

1 month, 2 weeks, 6 days

Until the fun begins! Wow has time gotten away from me. When I put my deposit down for the clinic November seemed so far away. Now it is just around the corner and I feel so unprepared. My new helper asked me if I was nervous about going. I was, but now not so much. I just want to go have fun and learn. I don’t much care for riding in front of people but I’ll get over that quickly I’m sure.

I have been riding Lucy, just not as much as I’d like to. I think it will be a good 15+ years before that happens and by then she’d better be dead broke! Hopefully I’ll have 60 rides on Cat by then too. What I’m noticing is that the more I focus on me – the better she does (another duh moment I know). I have sore muscles where I didn’t know I could have sore muscles but I’m also noticing that along with that, I’m started to get more centered in my riding. I still have a long way to go but this is a start.

I have a horrible habit of looking down at my horse instead of where I’m going – I’m working very hard on that. I’m hoping this weekend to get the big ball out and play a little bit of horse soccer to get us both focusing on something so we can have fun while learning.

If I had one exercise I wanted CA to help me with it would be the bending exercise. I just can not for the life of me get Lucy to do it. Anytime I pick up on the rein and put my inside leg on her she sucks back and tries to go into a spin. If I try to squeeze to get forward movement she just increases her spin speed. A lot of the other exercises hinge on this one so I’m hoping he can help me fix it while in Texas. If anyone has any suggestions before then I’d love to hear them.

Play Time!

The weather was just beautiful last night so Lu and I went to the arena to play. On the way to the arena we stopped and picked up a friend to play with us. We had a blast and boy can I feel it today! Ouch am I sore.

For whatever reason she wasn’t nearly as soft when I started flexing when I first got on. She’s normally very light so I wasn’t quite sure what the deal was there. I rarely yield her hq under saddle so I decided it was time to get with it and do it. She did fine and only needed tapped a few times but those few times got her a bit wound up. After that any time I’d flex her she thought she needed to yield her hq and wouldn’t relax. This tells me we obviously need to work on this more.

After that we did some follow the fence at the trot. She follows the fence fine (sometimes too close) but I used it more to warm her up and to give me time to post. I’ve got to get this out of shape body somewhat in shape before CA kills me in Nov. On his last DVD he said if you could post for 15 minutes 2 times a day for 5 days……………..bwaaaa haaaa haaa haaa lets start with 5 minute increments and be happy with that.

After that I set up a pylon in the arena and did the clover leaf pattern at a lope. I figured Lu would be a drunken sailor but she did really well. What I found is that when she didn’t go straight – it was because I wasn’t looking far enough ahead to where I wanted to go. Duh I know but sometimes you have to catch yourself doing it. She was better on the right lead which was expected but she didn’t do too badly on the left. Next time I just need to start on that side. After a while I waited for her to lean so we could go the opposite direction she wanted to go. To my surprise she waited for me to give her directions on where we were going.

She got ample rest in the center of the pattern and was very happy to stop when I asked her. She did have difficulties standing still. She was very fidgety and wanted to back up and would flex w/o me asking (that is a nice problem to have I know). I really think she wanted to just drop to the ground. I didn’t want to let her end that way so after she aired up some we did some ORS at the trot. I want her to start rating my seat better then she was. She was tired enough that she reverted back to trying to rub me off on the other horse so I determined if she had enough energy to do that she had enough energy to do what I wanted. Finally when I sat she immediately sucked back and stopped, then flexed (w/o me asking again) and stood in the center of the arena w/o moving. I let her air up for a while and then repeated. After she did it again I dismounted and called it good. She was tired!

I had a blast though and it was just what we both needed!

Full of beans!

What a beautiful holiday weekend we had! The weather was just perfect and grandma was in a good mood so DH and I slipped off for a ride down the road Saturday evening. As we pasted the neighbor’s house their white (wolf looking) dog jumped out behind the trees barking at the horses. Lucy jumped and so did Bell but I think I did too. As we continued down the road Lucy found lots of items shy at so we did lots and lots of circles. When she wasn’t shying, I was working on getting her to rate my seat at the trot. It was a fun ride but I don’t think she’s been that full of beans since I first got her! Hopefully she was just feeling her oats and she’ll be back to her normal lazy self next ride out.

Cat’s leg is healing well. It is still pretty swollen but it is going down slowly. She’s self medicating (cleaning her leg) so I’m letting her do all of the work. Here she is resting her leg on the fence so she can lick the inside of her leg (she just got done licking as the camera snapped).

It is starting to get cooler here (54* this am) and the ponies are starting to fluff up. Black went over to MIL's to give my pasture a rest and Bell will be joining her in a few weeks when DH leaves to farm.

BBHRR = Bareback Halter Road Ride

Not much to report here. Black is suffering from and abscess and I think Lucy and Cat are trying to kill each other. It seems like if it isn't one thing with one of them then it is something with the other. Unfortunatly the KC doesn't help with injuries. If it did - I'd double their dose.

Lucy has cuts and scraps all over her body. Luckily none of them are too deep. Cat...............Cat is going to put me in a white jacket one of these days. Her cheese sliced leg is finally healing and her hair is growing back. Her chest fluctuates depending on what her and Lu have managed to do that day. As of last night it looked as "normal" as I think it is going to look. But now..........now she has a puncture wound on the cheese slice leg up above the knee. I have no clue what she could have gotten into. The pasture is mostly high tensil fence and minus a water tank and some hay bales - there really isn't anything in it. The only thing I can think of is that she poked it on a tree branch or something?

Needless to say her leg is swollen up about 3x the size of normal. I've wrapped her leg (which she despises) so I guess we'll wait and see. Once she's healed up she's going to go visit MIL for a while so I can seperate her and Lu. I don't need Lu getting hurt any worse before Nov. If I have to - I'll take Abby to TX but I really, really, really don't want to!

Lu has given me a few good/much needed laughs over the last few weeks. I made her go into the duck pond since she ins't a big fan of water. She pawed for what seemed like an eternity splashing duck poo water everywhere! After her third trip in she decided it was good enough to roll in. Yuck! She got a bath and I turned her out. I'm so glad those CA halters wash up well.

I did send Cat into it before her last injury. She wasn't as much fun as Lu but she went in. I'd never asked her to go in any water before so it was good for her.

Last night MIL and I rode bb down the road. I just wanted to "ride" so I didn't even bother to put a bridle on Lu. I just snapped some reins on her leather halter and we were off. We rode for and hour or so but quickly ran out of daylight.

Too Hot!

It has been horribly hot here! Too hot to ride – or at least it should be.

MIL and the drill team had a performance at the Carson Rodeo 08/7 and it was by far the worst performance they’ve ever had. They tried to get it back together but it didn’t happen and they left the arena w/o finishing the performance. They were scheduled to perform at the opening ceremonies of the Iowa State Fair in less then a week so this was not the confidence booster they needed.

MIL and I got back to her place around 2 in the morning and it took a while before we were able to fall asleep. We’d planned on getting up in the morning and going for a trail ride before heading home. Notice I used the word planned. By noon we finally got the horses loaded and headed to the trails. I think we should have stayed at home. The trails were horrible. They have had so much water this year that they haven’t been maintained. We got to the middle of one trail and the creek had been washed out. It had a “caution” sign. Caution? I don’t think you could get your horse through it w/o risking injury. IMO it should have been closed. MIL and I turned around and headed back.

We hit another trail and we could tell the horses (Sis mainly) were tiring. At one creek crossing she went to her knees coming up the hill. It scared MIL but I think she was just tired and missed her step. We headed back to the trailer and gave them a good rinse down before heading home.

Lucy did spook w/me for the first time. Luckily I was able to stay on. I’m not happy that she spooked but I was happy w/her response. She did a ORS before I could find my reins.

The drill team did perform at the Iowa State Fair Opening Ceremonies. I didn’t go but I was told it went well. You can see a few clips of them in this video talking about the new facilities at the fairgrounds.

State Fair Opens

Sis was used once again for the Cowgirl Queen Contest on Friday at the State Fair. Anna – our Jr. Queen made the cut for the semi finals. This is a pretty big deal to make the cut so we were very proud of her.

Anna doing the cowgirl salute on Sis (yeah can you believe she can run).

Catch me if you can!

Last night Lucy and I went to drill practice with MIL. One of the little girls had asked me to pull her horse’s mane in preparation for the Cowgirl Queen Contest next week at State Fair so I didn’t really anticipate riding much. While she was getting her horse warm for me Lu and I headed to the arena. I’m amazed at how much she changes w/the little amount of consistent work she gets. I’m constantly getting compliments on how good she looks and how relaxed and happy she looks. That of course makes me happy.

While the drill team performed I pulled Maggie’s mane while Lucy ate grass. After they were done with their run Lu and I headed back into the arena to play around some more. The team was standing in a group listening to their instructions for their rodeo this weekend so Lu trotted circles around them. She’s not rating my seat as much as I’d like her to so I’m trying to go back to the basics a bit.

Anna (the queen contestant) got on Sis to try her out. She still isn’t sure if she wants to use Sis or her horse. Lu and I had been loping around the arena (plunking more like it) when I told Anna to do the “Cowgirl salute”. She kicked Sis up a notch and I asked Lu to follow. OMG that filly finally found the gas pedal! She can book it when she wants to. I saw visions of my butt in the arena thinking if she moved just one quick step to the side I was a gonner! Luckily for me it didn’t happen. I don’t think Lu has ever gone that fast w/a rider before and I kind of think she enjoyed it.

After that I wanted to jump on Sis a bit. She was stiff and wasn’t driving the way I knew she could. We did some rollbacks and some bending exercises and then she decided slow and low was a better idea. While I was riding Sis another member of the team decided to get on Lu. I’m pretty picky about who gets on my horses but it was nice to see how Lu reacted w/a different rider. She had her head tucked nicely on a very loose rein. By the end of the night the mosquitoes got so bad we decided to get out of Dodge!

A little peace & quiet

Wow, I haven’t posted in a while huh? Last week/early this week the boys (DH and Ty) were gone to the farm so Chase and I had some quality one on one time. He’s been riding Abby and I’ve been a mean mom only giving him 1 rein at a time. Since he has been riding I let him take Abby to the show and run games with her. This was the first time he’d had two reins in a while and he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

I warmed Abby up for him (wore her out) so she didn’t have much get up and go when it was time to run but they did great! He’s got a lot of fast kids/horses in his age group this year and he still managed to place. Why? Because he got the pattern right and he worked with Abby instead of against her. I was so proud of him.

Sunday I took Cat and Bell over to MIL’s. I don’t have time to work Cat and trying to manage 7 horses by myself was starting to wear on me. Cat’s leg seems to be healing fine. I took the bandage off and she’s been licking it. It looks better w/her caring for it then it ever did with me trying to so I’ll let Mother Nature take her course.

Monday night MIL and I went to the arena while Chase stayed with grandma. Sis got a new set of shoes (yes I know) so the trimmer wanted us to check them out to see if back shoes were called for. We worked on what I think we will work on in TX and all I can say is that after 25 min. MIL and I were ready to collapse (the ponies weren’t looking much better). There is NO way I’m going to be ready for TX. I’m just going to face the reality now. It was a nice ride though and Sis looked great! For the first time since her injury (May ’09), she was actually almost hitting her front footsteps with her back feet. Normally she short strides so bad on that side that she look lame. MIL was excited and sad at the same time. We’ve worked long and hard to keep from shoeing but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Sat. the boys (Ty and Chase) leave for great grandmas for a week so I’m hoping to get some ride time in then.

Weekend ride

Saturday it was so hot! I hosed off the horses and put them in their stalls with the fans on. I decided to leave Cat’s bandage off to see if some fresh air would help her laceration heal a bit faster. I put some wonder dust on it to prevent it from bleeding and then put her in her stall. She proceeded to lick every ounce of wonder dust off (that had to taste good) until her leg was clean and started bleeding again. Needless to say the bandage went back on.

Sunday Chase, MIL and I went for a ride. I decided to pull the old lady (Black) out since I knew we wouldn’t be going far. We ended up riding down to the river and over the river bridge. Abby was very good for Chase and Sis was her usual lazy self. We trotted some and even loped a little on the way back. Black felt pretty good and was striding out. I had to chuckle on the way home as it was Black (25), then Abby (9), and then Sis (10) bringing up the rear!

Later that night Ty decided he wanted to ride so I pulled Nikki out for him. She’s a good pony but she’s learned a few tricks over the years (like diving for grass and snatching the reins away from her rider or shaking and unseating them) so I made up a set of grass reins before Ty ventured out. He likes to ride “by himself” so as soon as we made our way to the backyard I turned him loose. Nikki of course set her path straight back to the barn. When she learned the gait was closed she came back to the backyard (yes I was watching close by) and then proceeded to walk circles. He rode for probably 20 minutes before I made him get off. Little stinker thinks he’s big stuff now!

Not a thing!

I haven't done a thing since my last blog post! How sad is that?

I had the vet out a few weeks ago to check the horses. Lucy had some odd looking bumps on her face and belly and Cat had a big bulge on her chest. I was told Cat's was from a kick and it would take approx. 10 days to heal. Lucy on the other hand - I was told she had habronemiasis. I had a mild meltdown and then got over it.

I've had a few personal things pull me away from the horses lately so when I went out last week to check I had another meltdown when I noticed a laceration on Cat's front left cannon bone. It was late and it was too old to stitch so I wrapped it and decided to call the vet the next day. The vet told me to continue to wrap it. She said she could come out but she'd just be charging me to do something I could do. Ok, fine with me.

A few days later I still wasn't happy with the way it was healing and her chest still hadn't gone completely down so I had them come out anyways. I had ordered some steroids for Lucy because the topical was sending her over the edge so I had them bring that with. My normal vet (who didn't see them the first time due to a broken foot) was the one to come out and look at them. He gave me some tips on wrapping Cat's leg, told me NOT to use the Vetericyn, and said it was just going to take time to heal. He said the kick got deep into the muscle and it was going to be slow to heal. He informed me when it did that she'd probably have a Prophet's Thumb there. I hate to admit it but that kind of made me happy. Tuffy had a Prophet's Thumb on her neck and I always thought it was good luck in a horse.

I had him check out Lu on the way out and he disagreed w/the other vet (his co-worker). He said habronemiasis or "summer sores" usually looks more like open sores vs. the bumps she has. He thinks she just has sensitive skin and an overactive immune system and felt the steroids should help. Luckily for me she will eat all 23 and I don't have to mix them into a paste and give them like dewormer.

I honestly wonder if Lucy doesn't get anxiety so bad during training that she causes herself to get these bumps? People can do it so why can't a horse? She seems fine if we stay on the road or on the trail but hit an arena and OMG! She just gets so anxious. This is really making me re-think taking her to Texas. I wonder if her mind/body can handle the stress (her mind more then her body). I'm not going to give up on the thought of taking her but I think I will be pushing Cat a little bit more to get going, once she finally heals up that is.

On another note: The drill team has their first performance tonight. MIL is using Abby as Sis still isn't 100%. Everyone is nervous but I'm sure they'll do just fine. I won't be going but am wishing them the best of luck & a good run!

Rain, rain, go away – in the mud we will play!

Sunday we were schedule to have a horse show. It was a rain date for a previous show that had to be cancelled due to the conditions. Lately it seems like it has rained daily here and of course Sat. night/Sunday morning we got another 2”+ and the arena was a mess. The show didn’t start until 2:00 but we had to let the judge know by 10:00 if we were going to have the show. We decided “what the heck” and held the show.



I showed up early to ride Lu around. She doesn’t much care for mud or puddles but she did well. DH and the boys stayed home so I was able to focus a bit more on her and not worry about other things. Surprisingly people started funneling in by the trailer load. They were thrilled we were having our show because “no one else in the state of Iowa is having one today because of the mud”. LOL

There were a lot of “higher end” show horses there and kids trying to get practice in before fair. It was nice to have some new blood there. I decided to take Lu in w/t, Jr. horse wp, and wp. We haven’t “shown” since last year due to her arena anxiety issues. I don’t remember how I placed as I wasn’t too worried about placing. In w/t she was perfect (for me)! She was soft, cadenced and not nervous! “Technically” she had an illegal headset (below the withers and behind the vertical) but then technically I shouldn’t have snaps on my reins either - I didn’t care. I’m pretty sure we placed 2nd out of 4 in this class.

In Jr. horse she did well again. I chuckled because on her good direction (counterclockwise) she picked up the wrong lead but I quickly corrected her but going her bad direction (clockwise) she hit the lead perfectly! Again we were behind the vertical or below legal and a bit too fast at the canter but she did well. I think we placed 3rd out of 5 in this class.

WP wasn’t quiet as good. She missed her bad lead 3 times right in front of the judge but did hit her good one. We placed last in this class but I was still thrilled with her performance. She stood in the line up (no turrets or fidgeting), no nickering, she wasn’t sweating like I’d ridden her hard in 100* weather for 8 hrs. Outside of the ring she stood quietly and calmly as well. It is like the beginning of a new horse!

One thing I did notice – I had my little bump spurs on and switched to my longer rowels spurs. She immediately became a pissy pony so I went in w/o spurs. She has some serious spur resentment so I’m going to have to watch that a bit. I wish I could have gotten some video or pictures but I was just happy riding!

Down for the count

I’m pretty sure I posted on NWC about Sis being down and out for approx. 2 weeks. But will do a quick refresher here in case. Last Wednesday night, for whatever reason, Sis decided to go from my back pasture to my dry lot. This normally wouldn’t be a problem but to get from the front to the back she had to go over a 4’ cattle panel that was placed ½ way over my stock tank. When DH found her he also found she’d punctured her front left leg. She had quite a few scratches on the other legs and was significantly stocked up but other then the puncture wound she was fine. She’s now off for approx. 2 weeks until she heals.

Since Sis is off MIL is w/o a horse so she decided to use Bella in the parade on Saturday. Bella had some loading issues but once at the parade MIL said she was great. That made me happy. I was a bit nervous about MIL riding a horse she isn’t comfortable with in a parade when we didn’t know how she’d do.

The saddle club was giving horse and pony rides to try to make money for the club and my trailer was used as the “office”. MIL rode back to tie Bell to the trailer and Bell did get very nervous about leaving the other horses but once she was tied up she was fine.

Loading up to go home we got to deal with the trailer issues again. I was so thrilled (sarcasms) because it had been a long day. I was burned (even though I used sunscreen) and I think bordering on heat exhaustion.

Berry busy weekend!

I’m going to break each night into a separate post – just because I want to. :D

Friday night the saddle club had an all games show. They needed help at the gate so I said I’d come over to help. DH decided to go and take Bell along to play. We got there plenty early so he rode Bell around in the arena. I tried not to look but when I did she didn’t look like she was doing too badly. He had signed up to run some runs but then scratched himself. He said she was a bit goosey when they talked over the PA system.

He tied her up to the trailer and helped out a bit. She stood very well. Every now and then he’d go jump on her and just ride her around and then he’d tie her back up. When it came time to load up the plan was for him to load up, take her to a friends house (just down the road), drop the trailer in town and come back to get me. That was the plan anyways.

As I opened the gate I glanced over to notice Bell refusing to go in the trailer. By this time he had a “crowd” around him offering up their assistance. He yelled at me to come help him so I found a gate person and headed over. He had decided that the trailer was too high for her and he would pull forward to lower the end of the trailer and then she’d go in. Ok. He tried to load her after that and it didn’t seem to help.

I finally got out my handy stick and tapped her on the butt until she went in. It took some time since I was releasing when she went forward. It was VERY difficult for me to sit by and listen to the suggestions made by others on how to load her. Finally she stepped on. I put my stick up and headed back to the gate.

It was a bit frustrating for me since trailer loading is one of my pet peeves. I work very diligently to get mine to load so I don’t look like an idiot when they don’t go in after a show.

Next post to come in a few!

So? What's the big deal?

To some, when someone tells them they’ve accomplished something their first reaction might be “so, what’s the big deal? I do that all of the time.” But for those who have accomplished it, it is a big deal for one reason or another.

Last night I had a “big deal” moment with Lu. It was 90 something degrees and muggy. The horses were sweating just standing in the pasture. MIL had drill practice and I really needed some me time so Lu and I decided to tag along. Typically when we go w/MIL to drill we don’t get much done because the only time the arena is “open” is when they are warming up or cooling down.

It was so hot that the team was just standing around their trailers when we pulled up so Lu and I were the first ones in the arena. She started off right on track! Head down, tucked and soft. She was moving very lightly and felt great. She still has issues staying on the rail but she’s learning to pick up her shoulder and move back over.

I decided to do a bit of cantering before leaving the arena. This is usually where our troubles come into play. She cantered off and stayed light in the bridle and was driving from behind. She wasn’t able to maintain this on a straight run but was able to keep it on a medium sized circle. When I took my legs off she immediately set back and stopped. I got a few compliments on her & how she was moving which of course always make me smile.

We left the arena so the team could do their run. By now the sweat was just pouring off of Lu anyways and I don’t need to kill her. I tied a rein around her neck and let her graze while we watched the poor hot ponies run. When I thought they were finished I hopped back on Lu to go back into the arena. They decided to cool off by walking the pattern so Lu and I headed to the dreaded puddle (mini pond) at the end of the drive. It took a few rollbacks but she finally went in so we rested in the puddle. We played in the puddle for 10 minutes or so and then went and stood next to the arena. She still can’t stand still! She fidgets. One foot forward, one foot back, flex to the right, flex to the left, pick up a hoof, put it down. It drives me batty but she is getting better.

When they were all done Lu and I went in the arena for a few more minutes. We’d gone counter clockwise prior to warm up so I wanted to go clockwise a bit. Her trot was lovely but she is a little more resistant to picking her shoulder up and moving over this direction. I decided a good lope and we’d go home. I got her to lope 3 consistent circles, clockwise, with her head down and tucked and driving from behind! When I sat and said “whoa” and took my legs off she sucked back and did a mini sliding stop! I immediately jumped off and called it good! Yeah I know – you are asking “so, what’s so special about that?” For starters clockwise has always been her bad direction at the canter. I’m lucky if I can get her to stay in it w/o cross firing or breaking gait so to be able to maintain it, while asking for collection was a HUGE accomplishment for us.

I wish I could have gotten video but the camera lens would have probably fogged over. MIL said everyone was commenting on how good she looked. I think the mix of road riding/training is helping her a lot more then I originally thought.

Too hot to ride!

But we did anyways! Saturday the storms moved through. By the time they passed it was very hot and humid. MIL had brought Sis back over so I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. We decided if our horses (and ourselves) are to survive Texas in November we’d better not complain about the heat too much. DH and Chase passed on joining so MIL and I saddled up and headed out for the 7 mile loop.

I had troubles before we even got out of the driveway. My mom put little American flags on the mailbox so we had to do a bit of bending before they were accepted. Down the road we headed and then we hit another mailbox with wavy spooky stuff (ornamental grass), so we bended and did rollbacks again until it was no longer spooky!

I know, I know, Lucy isn’t normally this spooky you say………..well I wasn’t riding Lucy! I decided to try my luck on Cat. I told my dad I’d either be back in 5 minutes if she was really bad, 3 hours if she was good or he’d hear them call for life flight. I just looked back and May 3rd was her last ride! I knew it had been a while but wasn’t sure how long for sure.

I did very little groundwork before we headed out since it was so warm. I was a bit worried she’d spook at the cattle but she really didn’t care about them at all. Cars didn’t bother her a bit either. It took her some time to learn to carry me up/down hill since we’ve only been on level ground so far. We walked, trotted and cantered. What I really liked is that she wasn’t worried at all about Sis getting out ahead of her (this didn’t happen very often because Sis was moving at the speed of mud). Anytime she’d get too close to Sis we’d circle. Pretty soon when I’d pick up on the rein she’d just slow down.

We cantered up the big hill and I thought she was going to die! She was ready to let Sis continue on while she just walked but I pushed her through it. She got very nervous when we went past a herd of horses (2 ponies & 1 horse) but I just continued to circle her until she settled and that didn’t take very long. We passed a few more horses along the way and by then she was so tired she barely looked at them.

By the time we were on the road home she was moving with her head hanging on the ground. We were getting ready to pass another place with a horse and dog so I was prepared – or so I thought. She spooked and jumped forward like something bit her on the butt. I gained control (it really wasn’t that bad – just took me by surprise) and then the dog came out. I was surprised at how nervous the dog made her but we just continued to circle towards him and she finally relaxed.

I was VERY pleased with her behavior. When she did get nervous – it didn’t take her long to settle and come back to me.

Here are a few pics from the end of the ride and my tired pony. She had NO problems standing tied to the patience pole when we got done.

I wish she was this dark! She was just "that hot"!



Hasn't she grown up?





ETA: Ride 10

2+ hours, 7+ miles = 1 happy camper!

Last night I got home and headed straight to the barn. I got Lu up, cleaned up and then saddled up for a ride. As we headed out of the drive the other horses were nickering to us and running the fence line. Lu’s attention was on them so I decided to get it on me by kicking things up a notch.

Normally we walk a little ways before moving into a trot/canter but this time I started out trotting & asking for a nice, soft face. Anytime she’d sit on the bit I’d draw her to a stop and back her up quickly until she softened. She’s pretty smart so it didn’t take long for her to figure out that she needed to get off of my hands.

She was a little lookie Lu but not too bad. Anytime she’d loose focus we’d do serpentines, circles, etc. It was a lot of fun to “look” until we got to the top of the second hill. By then, nothing really bothered her. We saw wild turkeys on the road and lots of deer. We did LOTS of collected trotting and some cantering (not collected). By the end of the ride she was starting to look like a WP pony!

Before heading home we headed down the dirt path for some cantering. We really need to start focusing on this a bit more but then there are lots of things I need to be focusing on too. She got frustrated with me when she wanted to “charge” back towards the house and tossed her head in resentment. I quickly let her know that this wasn’t an option and she needed to do as asked. By the time she relaxed and settled she was covered head to hoof in sweat – but she was listening.

It was dark by the time we pulled back in the drive but it was worth every minute! Lu got her normal rinse to get the salt off of her coat. She LOVES playing in the water so I was just as soaked as she was by the time I got done. I sure hope we can get more rides in like this. We both need the long rides prior to November!

Quck update

It seems like things have gone hectic yet again. Sunday I drove to Emporia, KS to pick up some puppies for a fellow NWC mate. Monday she met me to pick them up so we went for a very quick trail ride. I offered Lu but she wanted to ride Abby. I got a good chuckle when she thought Chase’s saddle was the one she’d be riding in. I had to break the news that it was too small (she primarily rides English). When she grabbed DH’s saddle off of the top of the saddle rack you could see the shock on her face as her body adjusted to hold the weight. I was nice and tossed it up on Abby and saddled her up.

As we headed out Abby was being Abby. She didn’t want to go down the road and kept trying to turn back. One good whack would have solved that problem. We headed down the road to the small trail behind the house. Coming back we sped up to a trot for a few strides until Abby decided a lope would be better. I showed off the little that Lu has been doing and then we headed back to the house. It was a nice ride but it would have been nicer if we could have had more time.

Last night I took Lu to the arena while MIL practiced for drill. I really need to start working on her anxiety issues at the arena or I’m going to be in big trouble come November. She was awesome! She’s giving her head very well at the trot and when I sit back I have an absolutely stunning western pleasure jog! I was having fun so we jogged a lot! When practice was over I went in to canter. Her canter was ok but not wonderful (I have a lot of work to do there). I decided to ask for a little bit of collection and to my surprise I did get it.

My main issue on the rail is that she won’t track straight. She likes to go down the rail with her haunches in. I’m going to have to fix this at the arena because it is pretty hard to fix on the trail. For some reason she’s lost her “whoa” too so that is moving up quickly on our list of things to work on. I love getting compliments on how good she looks (moving and body wise). I know w/the right amount of CONSISTENT training she’s going to be an awesome horse. Look wise I can honestly say – if she doesn’t get worked more she’s going to have to go on a diet – she’s gotten FAT! I never thought I'd be able to say that.

It’s official!

PF now known as Bell or Bella is ours. DH picked her up Friday for a trial trail ride on Sat. When I got off of work we loaded up and headed to MIL’s. I left my girls at home. I figured I would stay back and watch Ty while MIL, Chase and DH rode. Then I didn’t have to see how she did to be part of the decision.

When we unloaded everyone at MIL’s we put Bell in the round pen. She didn’t seem too concerned about being in a new place. Later that evening we got the horses out and rode. Ty rode Nikki, Chase & MIL both rode bb w/a halter and DH on Bell. The worst horse was Abby. She was nervous around Bell. Since Chase was on bb and losing control he decided to get off. I hopped on and had a nice conversation w/Abby and all was fine. After that MIL got on Bell. Poor girl is going to be doing a lot of loping since she is so smooth.

The next morning we got up and everyone got ready to head out. Well what is planned never seems to work. FIL got into town early w/my niece and nephews. They are visiting from out of state for two week so MIL wasn’t able to go. Instead, DH, Chase and I loaded up and headed out to the trails.

When we got there I opted to ride Abby so Chase didn’t get killed and put him on Sis. The first 5 minutes was the worst of the ride. Abby HATES going from one surface to another and she is very aware of what she is stepping on. It took a long time to get her on the pavement and then over the cracks in the pavement and then finally onto the trail head.

Once on the trail Abby and I stayed out front doing some turns around trees, bending, etc. She was actually doing very well. A shy here or there at a pile of poo but nothing too bad, she is just very lookie lo. Of course Bell was being an angel. I can honestly say the way she was going that I would have trusted her to carry Chase. Kind of made me sick to my stomach she was being so good. She only spooked once and I’m not really sure if it was a spook or if she was just getting out of Abby’s way when Abby spooked at a deer and tried to land in Bell’s lap.

We didn’t stay out too long – maybe 4 hours. Bell is about as out of shape as Sis and I managed to sprain my ankle at the farthest point on the long trail so we opted not to ride the last trail. When we got back to MIL’s DH turned Bell loose w/the herd. Amazingly there were no arguments.

She is not perfect in any way. She has some tuning up to do. She has an iron mouth and doesn’t know how to neck rein. She also lacked a bit of confidence on the trail as a leader but seemed to do well by the end of the ride. That all being said – I think she’s a perfect fit for DH.

PF - Test Drive

Last night DH and I went out to watch PF go. When we got there she was already saddled up in the round pen. We made out introductions to the owner and then headed over. DH was taken back by her similarities to Sis and we laughed as Chase said “that horse looks just like Sis”. Lol

The gal did a little bit of round pen work with her and explained that she really doesn’t do much ground work with her before riding. Just enough to make sure PF is paying attention to her. It was fun watching someone else RP as all of her turns were made to the outside. When she asked PF to move faster it took quite a bit of encouragement – she doesn’t want to loose anymore weight! Lol When she asked her to come to the center she did and then immediately dropped her head to graze. That is so Sis and it had DH laughing.

She showed how she’ll give her hips nicely when you look at them. I did this with her the other night and she did do very well. Then we headed to the “arena”. She had a bit of a problem taking the bit but the owner explained that her son had bumped her a time or two in the teeth with the bit so it was very understandable. She had her in a D ring w/rollers similar to a bit we use on Sis but she had it very low in her mouth (almost to the point of falling out). You could tell PF wasn’t happy about it being so low but she picked it up and held it anyways.

Through our conversations we learned that it had been since last August since PF had been ridden last and she hasn’t been loped once in the 2 years the owner has owned her. The owner got on and rode off and PF moved off quietly and calmly. At the end of the arena she started to nicker back to her buddies but kept moving. She walked her over a log and then bumped her up into a trot. It was a forward moving trot but not a fast one. We watched her ride for a while and then I got on.

Since the owner was short I decided to ride in her saddle. Those Tuckers are pretty comfy. Anyways – PF did well except she wanted to cut the arena. The problem with this was the tree in the far end where she wanted to cut was a thorn tree. Ouch! When she’d get to that spot she’d nicker and you could feel her want to speed up to get back to the other horses. I turned her in circles and put my inside leg on to see if she knew how to bend. Not really but she did soften after a little bit. She has an iron mouth compared to what I’m used to. I bumped her into a trot and it was pretty cozy. Would be a lot nicer if she’d slow down just a tad but that probably wouldn’t be hard to do.

PF was being good so I decided to push it and ask for a lope. OMG! She has one of the smoothest lopes. Like Black, she covers a bit of ground. She wasn’t upset at all that I’d asked her to lope and continued in a nice, relaxed lope until she had an excuse to stop (me talking).

After that DH got on and rode. She was a bit different for him but by this time she was pretty hot and sweaty. When I say different, it wasn’t really in a bad way. He was trying to neck rein her and she doesn’t and there were a few other times where I felt there was a miscommunication between the two.

Once we were done we watched her owner bath her and clip her. She did well but kept talking to her pasture buddies. She wanted to be back with them and you could tell.

I wasn’t in a very good mood last night so when DH asked me what my thoughts were I was probably a little rough on him. Told him she was a nice horse but she’s probably going to need some work and I wasn’t doing it. I kindly reminded him that I’ve trained too many horses for him that he’s sold when they weren’t “good enough” and I wasn’t doing it again.

I’m not sure what he’ll do, if he’ll take her out again, make up his mind from here or just forget about it.

Shopping

Who wants to help me?

DH’s back seems to be back to normal so the hunt for a new (younger) horse is on. Black is doing well but I’m not sure we could have expected her to keep up on the trails we hit on Sunday as it even took a toll on our younger horses. On the way home, we discussed what it was that he wanted in a horse. He told me that he just wants a nice dependable horse like Sis to trail ride on. If he could just steal Sis he’d be thrilled but that isn’t going to happen!

A while ago I ran across a horse on CL that really caught my eye. She is almost a mirror image of Sis. I never pursued it because DH hadn’t ridden much because of his back and I figured he was still on the high dollar roping horse kick. After our weekend and our talk I decided to take a look to see if she was still available. Her ad was still there so I sent an e-mail. She was still available & the owner gave me her number to call her later in the day. Here is her current ad:

PF is a versatile mare that we have used for trail riding. PF is very athletic
with a sweet and willing disposition. She loves attention and will be the first
one to greet you in the pasture. She clips, loads, stalls and hauls with no
problems. We are selling PF due to lack of time to ride.

I did a little bit of google searching and found her previous ad from 2 years ago (previous owner).

She has been shown in 4-H in halter and showmanship. This is a beautiful
young mare that can go in many different directions. Great trail horse.
Used by family on overnight camping trips, ridden in groups and alone.
Husband safe. Has also been used to move cattle. Her sire, PP, is also on
allbreedpedigree.com. His offspring have points and are winning at AQHA
shows and in many other arenas as well. He is very line bred Poco
Bueno.

Classy and feminine mare
7 years old
15.2
Likes attention and people
Quiet to be around
100% Sound.
No health issues.
Clips / Loads
wellGood for the farrier

I talked to the owner on the phone last night. Sounds like PF (that’s what we’ll call her for now) hasn’t been ridden much in the past 2 years. -1 She purchased her for her husband/son and neither of them have ridden. She said she was a horse you could leave and then jump on and go. +1 She said she wasn’t for beginners. +0 She is still ridden in a snaffle. +1 She prefers to follow on the trail. +0 She doesn’t like to leave the other horses. -1 In a later e-mail the owner said she will not refuse to leave but will just nicker to the other horses. +0 The owner was fine w/me taking her on a trail ride but wasn’t to sure about letting me take her to the arena (flag). The feel I got was that she is semi-confident in PF’s abilities. Since she hasn’t been ridden – she just isn’t sure but she was ok with allowing me to ride her w/o her being there (I’m not ok w/that as I’d like to see her go once first before hopping on).

She is only a few miles from us so I did drive over and see her last night w/o the owner there but w/the owner’s permission. She has a very soft, intelligent eye but she doesn’t look like her pictures. She’s lost weight (which the owner was happy with) but with the weight loss she’s lost muscle as well. She looks more like a thin track horse vs. a fat QH like I expected. The tone of the muscle she does have is very nice though. She's still hanging onto her winter coat and looks wormy depsite being on a regular schdule. Nothing that a little Karbo Combo won't help with. She’s a bit more refined then Sis. It is nice in her face but I’d kind of hoped for that big chest and butt.

The bo got her out and I picked up her feet. She picked them up well. She needs trimmed but her feet weren’t horrible. She did have a noticeable bump on her left front pastern. The owner said this was from an injury as a foal and it was scar tissue. Her vet (a very reputable one) said it was no big deal and wouldn’t affect her. I’m still on the fence about how much I think it might affect re-sale value.

I took her to the RP and sent her off. She left but wasn’t afraid of the whip or me. She wanted to turn away when I stepped in front of the drive line (most do so no big deal). She sure can get her butt underneath herself. She’s athletic but on the lazy side. When she finally did learn to turn into me she figured that out quick but once next to me she thought the grass was more appealing. She did nicker to the other horses but didn’t get too upset. She also didn’t seem to mind Ty running all over the place.

I haven’t told DH about her yet. I want to ride her and have MIL ride her to see how she goes. Then if she passes those tests I will have DH look at her. I don’t want a project horse – I don’t have the time and DH doesn’t have the patience. Any thoughts? Anything strike out at you that I might have missed?

Time for the trails!

This weekend was our first show of the season. I opted not to take a horse and had Chase ride Sis since he really hasn’t worked Abby too much this year. MIL and Chase both did well. Sis wasn’t at her peak performance wise but that is another post.

At the end of the show I had two tired “puppies”.



After the show DH and I headed off to the trails to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We both chuckled as we set up “camp” for the night. It was a bit different compared to how it was 11 years ago when we first set out for our honeymoon. Back then we had a 2 person tent and it was so cold I slept in the truck w/the heater (running with the heater on) while he slept in the tent with the dog. This time we both slept in the well circulated trailer & left the dog at home.

In the morning we got up and fed the ponies their breakfast only to find Lu had decided to unsnap herself and help herself to some grass. The “neighbors” came over to let us know that the one horse (Sis) beat up the other horse all night. This isn’t the first time Sis has done this and she’s going to learn quickly what a set of sideline hobbles are for. I refuse to give her an entire hitching rail just because she’s crabby.

We were on the trail by roughly 9:00. DH rode Sis and I rode Lu. I was a bit surprised at how “energetic” Lu was at the beginning. Usually she’s the calm one. We weren’t 20 feet into the trail head before we hit our first hill. It was a fairly steep one so I was happy when Lu sucked back and went down slowly, step by step.

Here she is at the beginning. Ears perked forward and ready to go.


The weather was beautiful but the bugs were horrendous! As we got closer to the river you could feel the cool breeze coming off of it. Lu is not a fan of water so I chuckled when we had lots of small water crossings. That was until we got to this one.

Lu says: “You want me to cross what?”



Here she is trying to turn around and go back.



DH and Sis taking a break while checking out the best place to cross.



The top crossing was very rocky and it was hard to navigate so we opted to go through the bottom. It got deep enough to have water up to my shins. Man that is the best way to ride!

After the ride and back at camp. This was pre-bath. Lucy got a wet saddle blanket.



After a sponge bath – “Can I haz treats?”




Just chillin



We headed back home in the afternoon but had to swing by a tack store on the way home. I bought another Cashel Feed Rite Bag. Those are wonderful out on the trail or for a messy eater (like Lu). We also purchased a new Stacy Westfall activity ball for the horses.



I’m hoping this will be something fun for the kids to play with and something to help me challenge my training (is the horse listening to me or focusing too much on the object?).

Duck, duck, no goose!

Mom thought I was bad about the chickens as the boys and I have been incubating this spring. I have 13 eggs in the bator as we speak - that was until the ducks came along!

I bought 5 for each of the boys. 5 Indian Runners for Ty and 5 Pudgy Pekins for Chase. The boys just love them and my goodness have they grown.



The lady that does the wildlife rehabilitation asked if I'd take any fowl they got in as it seems most people don't want them. The wood ducks are very hard to rehab and they need other fowl to survive. I told her we would be happy to try. I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

So far we have gotten 22 ducklings in (wood ducks and mallards). To date we've lost 7 (I think). I know that might sound like a lot but I think it is pretty good considering. I'm learning the wood ducks stress very easily. The first batch we got had 9 and we lost 2 right away. Earlier this week one had got trapped behind the log in their pen and by the time we found him it was too late. Wednesday we got 4 more wood ducks but I noticed they were aweful quiet on the way home (not typically for wood ducks). Unfortunatley none of them survived.

Tonight I'm getting 9 more! Not sure if they are wood ducks or mallards yet. The wood ducks sure are pretty but the mallards are so much easier to care for. I'll see if I can get some pictures of the "flock" and post later.

No horse time for me

I haven't had hardly any pony time and I can tell.

Mothers Day weekend DH and I drove to KS and bought a new truck! I'm happy to finally have something that a) I don't have to worry about the motor falling out and b) something that is actually big enough to pully my ponies safely.

I'm hoping this one last me a LONG time!



DH got me two new leather halters for Mothers Day. I've been wanting them and was very happy that he'd actually listed. Later on in the day I started not feeling well.

I felt cruddy most of last week and went to the Dr. to be told I had a rib out??? Ummm how'd that happen? Didn't get much riding done since I wasn't feeling hot. Sat. I tried to ride but learned real fast that it wasn't a good idea. I paid for it later that night.

I still wasn't feeling well at the beginning of this week so went back. Had to see a different Doc & was told that it might be a blot clot vs. a rib. Took x-rays, got script and then was told everything was fine on the x-ray.

Tues. I wanted to test drive the truck so I took MIL to drill practice (only the 2nd one I've been to). I took Lu to stand at the trailer. She managed to get loose while we were there so I let her eat grass on the line next to me. When they were all done I decided to hop on. Again - bad idea!

Went back to Dr. today (this time my normal one). He manipulated my back and then told me he thought it was muscle. I felt worse coming out then I did going in. He gave me more drugs a told me to come back if I didn't feel better.

We have our first show this weekend. Chase is not prepared at all. If I take a horse it will be to stand at the trailer but I won't be riding. I feel like I'm so far behind though!

Here are a few pics from last Sat.

Lu dressed in her english gear. My saddle was at home & I was too lazy to go home & get it so rode english w/halter (yes I know the saddle is too far forward).



Cat pissed off that she got left.



My pretty little girl



Chunky Monkey!



Look at those dapples!

Lucy's Turn

Now for Lucy! I’ll start off by saying thoughts of selling Lucy crossed my mind! But only temporarily.

Thursday –

Worked on LFR Stage 1. She’s still pretty pissy when she changes directions so I worked on slowing her down, getting her to relax and work through her turns. That seemed to work well.

Hopped on and did some ORS at the walk. Tried to do that at the trot but she was on crack! Tried to ask for a few canter strides before we finished and she decided bucking was a better option. They weren’t big bucks but I wasn’t thrilled. Granted – it has been a LONG time since she’d be worked last.

Friday –

Did C pattern, LFR stage 1 and she was much better. Did ORS at the w/t but she was on crack again so decided to do the passenger lesson at the trot. She didn’t want to trot but instead wanted to canter (insert crazy smiley here). Decided to quit shutting her down and let her canter. She’d get tired eventually. She finally did and went back to a trot but it was very easy to tell she wasn’t happy about that.

Did some follow the fence at the trot and then a few laps at the canter.

Saturday –
MUCH better! Thoughts of selling are slowly diminishing. Didn’t do much gw, instead got after about 2 min of LFR. Had issues at the same gate gawking at the same ponies that Cat did so did do some rollbacks to get her focus on me. Today she decided she could actually trot. Did the follow the fence exercise at the w/t/c. Clockwise at the canter is her bad direction. She has more trouble staying on that lead.

Sunday –
100% better. Her trot had forward movement, her ears were forward, she was happy! Did a great job w/t/c doing ftf (follow the fence). Also worked on yielding the HQ. Worked on vertical flexion. Going counter clockwise was better then clockwise. That kind of threw me for a loop since cantering she’s the better the opposite direction.

I can say I saw HUGE improvements in both horses. I’m also exhausted! Getting up early to chore/clean stalls really kicked my butt (I’m not a morning person) and actually putting in time I’m not used to………………I was in bed by 8 o’clock last night!

I’m hoping to take them back over next Fri., Sat., Sun. and keep this up for as long as Mona, and DH will let me.