Slow Down Hay Feeders

I mentioned this in an e-mail and was asked to post about it here so here goes.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard me mention the slow down hay feeders but they are made here locally and I found out that the barn I ride at has them.



I really like the concept of the feeders so I asked Mona how she liked them and she took me to an empty stall and said “I don’t, do you want to try one?” I told her that MIL had talked about buying one this spring but they were too rich for my blood (they run around $400 each). She told me to take one to MIL to try for the winter and said if she liked it she’d sell her one for ¼ of the cost.

I took one to MIL a few weeks ago and her horse (and my horse) seem to have figured out how to get the top off just like Mona’s horses did. I’m glad we got the opportunity to try it and learn we didn’t like it before buying one.

I’d really like to try to make one. Check out the one on Swedish Hoof School website. While some of them aren't exactly ideal IMO, I do like this one.

The gravity works the same as it does in the other feeder only this one has a lip so they can't get the top of. Plus if I can just find some grid (I think they said 2 x 2 is preferred) then I can easily make one.

Until the I think I will place an order and try a few of these at least in the stalls.

So do you have any thoughts on "restricted" feeding?

On a side note: Between the holidays and the weather I've hardly seen my ponies. I'm hoping after the new year I can get back on track.

Snow, Snow, Go Away

Don’t come back another day. We’ve been getting snow and freezing rain is in the forecast for later today and into tomorrow. I was however able to take LLL to WWF last Saturday to ride. I went with the friend who owns Mr. Bishop (remember the OTTB).

We started off with some desensitizing and then some yielding the FQ and HQ. Then we moved on to LFR Stage 1. I really can’t believe how much information LLL retains. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but she was calmer in the beginning like she was at the ending of our last session. When I bumped up to stage II she wasn’t as reactive and didn’t trip on her feet but moved with a little bit more finesse.

I’m starting to get a bit picker on her backing. She backs fast but she doesn’t back straight so we are starting to work on straightness vs. speed. She’s not thrilled with that.

Once up and on we worked on flexing. She’s soft but she’s not very fast to bring her head around. Then we refreshed our ORS at the walk and trot. Since it has been so long and since it was cooler out I refrained from loping her. I think we need to build those muscles up at the trot first.

We also worked on yielding the HQ. Yielding off of my right leg was not so good but yielding off of my left leg was great. After that we moved on to the passenger lesson at the trot (her least favorite exercise). She was very vain and wanted to constantly check herself out in the mirrors. LOL

She decided that trotting was no fun and bumped herself up into a canter hoping I’d do a ORS and shut her down (which I did). We moved back to the passenger lesson at the trot and sure enough she popped back into the lope. I remembered CA telling a gal at the NE clinic to let her horse lope as she’d get tired soon enough so instead of shutting LLL down I let her lope. She kept picking up speed hoping I’d shut her down but I didn’t and sure enough she quickly dropped back down into a trot.

I tried working on the bending exercise with her but a) I didn’t have any spurs on and b) I think I’m confusing her. I think she thinks I’m giving her a cue that I’m not. I’ve found working with her is harder then working with a normal horse since she does retain so much and since I have no clue how she was ridden before. She has so many buttons that I have no clue how to push.

She was hot so I jumped off of her and jumped on Bishop (he looked stiff and gimpy) so Terry could see how he was moving. I ground tied LLL in the corner while I rode. Bishop moves slowly but man was he rough! Terry could see what I was talking about and while I was trying to get him to move out and stretch his legs LLL decided she needed to get down and dirty. Terry headed towards her and LLL looked upset that her spa treatment of sand and grit was cut short.

In the meantime I put Bishop into a lope. He wants to kick up at the lope on the lounge line but Terry said he hasn’t tried it under saddle. Well he did! If he is asked to move out at all he bucks. I wonder if his knee bothers him or if he’s just being a shit but I didn’t feel comfortable pushing the envelope so I put him in a lope one more time and then dismounted. I’m just now healing up after Max and the last thing I’d need to do is push him and mess up his knee or get myself hurt.

We decided to finish and loaded the horses up to head home. WWF entrance/exit is not a fun one and we were in Terry’s truck with her trailer (she picked me up). It is a small lane that goes out to the highway and it is pretty flat for the most part but you have a slight incline before the highway. To the right are trees and a small hill that people “pop” over and to the left are trees and a blind spot so getting out is tricky even when the lane is nice and dry.

As we approached the highway we saw cars and had to stop. When we tried to accelerate to get on the highway the truck tires just turned. We were going to have to make a running start again. Terry tried backing the 22’ trailer down the hill but she doesn’t back well so in her frustration she stopped the truck, put the emergency brake on, got out and told me to do it. I got out and as I went around to the driver’s side the truck started to slide with no one behind the wheel. I got in and started slowly backing down but my front tire got off in the small ditch which was enough to put us at a halt. I was NOT about to call a man for help so after putting some hay under the tires and rocking the truck/trailer a lot we finally got it unstuck and got our run up the hill.

Terry stood in the road and gave me the OK and out we went. It was pretty uneventful from there. We are getting more snow and we are expecting freezing rain tonight so between that and the holidays I doubt you’ll hear too much from me in the form of blog updates.

I hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's about time!

Sunday I was finally able to play with the ponies! I loaded up Lu and Abby and we headed over to the indoor to play.

I had no intentions of riding since it had been so long since I’d done anything with them. It was a good thing too! First rule of winter in Iowa – make sure you have a padlock that won’t freeze on your tack compartment of your trailer! Luckily my stick & string and a hoof pick was in the truck so I was at least able to pick out their feet.

Abby unloaded a lot faster then I would have liked but unfortunately the drive was icey and LFR just didn’t seem like a good idea so I reloaded her and unloaded her one more time but didn’t push it. She was nervous but not in the cracked out type of way. When I opened the garage door (to get into the barn) she drew herself back and her eyes got big but she kept her feet still. I walked her into the barn and tied her up and headed out to get Lucy.

Lucy was a bit impatient as she wanted to get to Abby. She had no fear of the barn but she’s been there before too. After I picked their feet we headed into the arena. I tied up Lu and started with Abby. I walked her around first so she could check things out and then headed to the middle of the arena to do some desensitizing. The cats kept trying to get the end of my rope and she wasn’t sure what to think of that but she did keep her feet still.

We did the following exercises –
Desensitizing to string
She did just fine
Desensitizing to stick & string
No problems
Flexing
She is very soft. I had to bump a few times to get her to give but once she decides to give she gives all of the way.
Yielding HQ
She tried. I’m having issues here and need to find out what I’m doing. I always do better w/o the halter/lead.
Yielding FQ
She bends her head around to her belly (like flexing) to avoid the stick but eventually does yield her FQ
LFR Stage 1
Much better then before. I did get some attitude when I asked for a lope but not nearly as much as normal. She kept an nice arch on the line and moved when asked.
Backing Stage 1
Good. She picked up on the concept fairly quickly and really hustled when asked
Desensitizing w/the stick & string (slapping the ground)
Good. I had low to medium energy but this normally sends her over the edge so we found a starting point.

After that she was pretty warm so I tied her up and moved on to Lu. She fell asleep during the desensitizing exercises. She anticipated the yielding the HQ exercise and she moves faster then I can on the yielding the FQ exercise. Flexing we need to work on. She comes around and she’s soft but she’s in no hurry at all.

LFR stage 1 went well. She trotted out nicely and when asked to lope she only kicked up her heels once. She’s still having problems staying on the same lead (she cross fires) but her balance is getting better.

When I’d yield her HQ to stop she wanted to anticipate going the other direction so I would take a long pause before going the other direction. So then when I’d stop her she’d back up (I don’t like that either) so I started sending her, yielding her HQ and then drawing her to me. Backing her back out to the circle and then going the other direction. She was starting looking forward to coming to me which I like because she’s a very antisocial horse.

Then we did LFR Stage 2. When we started Lu turned so fast that she darn near tripper herself up with her front feet. I remembered what CA told one of the gals in the NE clinic & I slowed myself down and thought more about the steps instead of what Lu was doing and her turns were much better. She was smoother and not in as much of a hurry nor was she as pissy. LFR stage 2 seems to ramp her up and LFR stage 1 seems to make her dull. She needs a happy medium so I played between LFR stage 1/drawing her to me and LFR stage 2.

After that I did some backing and focused on getting her to back straight since she’ll back fast. She wasn’t a happy camper about that but did it. It probably was not to CA’s satisfaction but it was a good start for us.

I then tied her up and hopped on Abby bareback while LLL cooled down. Abby was very soft in the halter but a bit nervous so we did some ORS until she relaxed and then we loaded up and headed home.

The weather is going to turn bad this week but hopefully the roads will be cleared off by Sat. or Sun. so I can go again.

This and That

Thursday we went over to MIL’s for Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law, new brother-in-law and the kids were there and Pieper (my niece) had been our riding Sissy since they arrived on Wednesday. It was cold out but any chance she got she was out petting Sis or riding her.

A couple of times when I looked out the window I could see MIL going after Sissy and just giggled to myself wondering what Sis had done wrong. Sis was doing what MIL asked just not with a lot of energy.

We had our family Christmas (yes Christmas) and the kids all opened their gifts and started to play. MIL went out to feed Sis and when she returned she informed me that something was wrong that Sis wouldn’t eat.

Sissy always eats so I went out to check her. By the time I had gotten out to the barn I Sis had laid down. She wasn’t rolling or anything so I grabbed some Nicker Mickers (her favorite treat) and offered her one. She accepted it but just held it in her mouth, she didn’t chew it up.

I went in and got MIL and we took the grain out of her stall, filled up her water bucket, offered her hay and I walked her for a bit. When we returned her to the stall she would look at her belly and kick a bit but not bad so we decided to hold off on the Banamine to start.

We checked her a few times and she finally drank a little bit and defecated but she still wasn’t feeling well so we decided to go ahead with the Banamine. After a few hours she was finally munching away happily on hay.

MIL gets pretty freaked out when Sis gets sick. She couldn’t figure out why she’d coliced after all of these years being colic free. I asked her why she got a belly ache? Shit happens.

Saturday MIL called me to tell me Sis still wasn’t acting right. She said when she thought about it she started acting strange Monday or Tuesday of last week. That turned the light bulbs on.

I’m beginning to wonder if Sis is depressed. She has been with our herd since January. We brought Max home Sunday and by Tuesday she wasn’t eating. So in order to “test” the theory Cat is going over today to visit Sis. If that doesn’t work MIL will take her to the vet but I have a feeling when there is competition for food Sis will perk up quickly.

I hate giving Cat up but it’s not like I’m doing anything with them at the moment. I was supposed to take Lu and Abby over to the indoor Friday but DH forgot he did a time trade and has to work so this entire week and most of next is shot.

The lack of pony time is starting to take its toll on me.

Max is Back!

Sunday I took MIL back her RP and picked Max back up. He’s had quite the vacation and I could tell as soon as I walked into his stall. I immediately whacked him on the chest to back him into the corner and remind him who I was. I don’t think he was thrilled.

I had to have a short discussion with him when it came to loading but he quickly saw things my way. When we got home the girls were going nuts. I had kicked them off of the big bale earlier so they were already full of it but it only got worse once I turned Max loose. They ran and played and then quickly settled in.

My big bales are going fast! I sure hope I have enough to make it through the winter. I might have to start rationing it if they don’t slow down soon.

Nothing else is new. I *think* DH is back home so hopefully after the holiday I can start working with Lucy and Abby.

Another bale

Well in less then 18 days the horses have managed to plow through a 1200 lb. bale. I had to put my 2nd bale out yesterday. I know this isn't really an exciting post but I want to blog is so that next year I can compare.

Max will be coming home next weekend so I'm sure this next bale won't last as long. :(

I also found out that I have 3 black horses living in my pasture and my 3 have gone missing. They are COVERED with mud from head to toe!

Glad I made the Switch

I'm sure glad I moved my blog from NWC (No Worries Club) to here. NWC recently changed to a new format and when they did all of the past blog information was lost.

The new format is nice. It is more like Horse Grooming Supplies or the John Lyons borad although I'm not thrilled with their new "Chat Room".

I'm still here. I'm still not doing anything with my horses although I think DH will be home Friday night (works Saturday) so hopefully Sunday I can spend some time with them. I really need to winterize my barn.

Well I'm off for now. Headed out to the Dr. to see if my leg is broken from 9/27 fall (no I'm not kiddin). :)

ETA: Back from Doc and no breaks or fractures but he does think I've torn some ligaments. Can't remember how he explained the bump on my leg but sounded like dried blood under the skin??? Anywho lots of Advil (was hoping for an Rx) and cold therapy.

Proof they are still alive

No, I still haven't had time to do anything with the ponies but I did snap a few pics last night as I was shoving them out the door.

Size comparison



I like big butts!



Baby’s got back



Healthy pony (notice the dapples still)



Very healthy pony (she also has dapples)



The goober. I have no clue what she’s doing but she can put herself in some of the most awkward positions. Her legs really aren’t that crooked.



Does this remind you of the picture in my signature line on NWC?

My First Big Bale

Yikes! I had to put my first big bale out yesterday. The horses were trying to kill me when they'd see a bale of hay (even though the pasture is still green). I was hoping I'd make it until Nov. but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

I did put it in the RP so that I could shut them off from it if I thought they were just being lazy and not even trying to graze. I have 12 bales so hopefully we have a mild winter and I have leftovers come spring.

An update on Max – MIL said he is doing fine and looks to be healing well however he is getting very pushy. He blew past her the other day when she let him out of his stall and scared the snot out of her. She went to back him up and then figured it probably wasn’t a good idea with his hock injury (I’d agree).

I gave her some ideas on things that *I* would try but told her she needed to call DH to see what he wanted her to do sine he’s his horse.

I’m hoping this weekend that I can get out and work my poines. I know I can’t work them 3 days a week but would like to try 3 times a weekend. Maybe work them once in the am on Saturday and then again in the afternoon and then once or twice on Sunday. I know it’s probably not ideal but I don’t have too many choices at the moment.

Elkhorn, NE Clinic

Well I still haven’t done anything with my horses. DH is still gone and the daylight must have followed him. The colder temps are starting to come more often as well. I’m just not ready for winter yet.

This past weekend MIL and I went to watch a CA clinic in Elkhorn, NE. It was nice to watch compared to a tour. There were 18 horses there Sat. when we showed up but by the end of the clinic only 16 were there to receive certificates.

I would really like to do a CA clinic so it was nice to see the format and what to expect. My goal is to do a CA clinic on Cat in 2010. Hopefully by then I have the $$ and she’s had a little bit of riding (she’ll be a 3 yr. old then).

I was amazed at how many participants had no clue and how pushy/disrespectful some of the horses were. One horse constantly charged and tried to attack the other horses so CA put Krista on her and every time she’d pin and try to charge another horse Krista would whack the horse between the ears hard with a crop. At one point CA got another horse and “tempted” the grumpy horse but the horse just pinned her ears instead of attacking so CA said they had found their starting point.

This horse also refused to go in a straight line. During the passenger lesson she zigged and zagged all over the place trying to lose Krista. By day two the rider was riding her all over the place in a straight line. It was cool to watch the transformation.

There was a beautiful OTTB that was spooking at a corner so Krista got on him and did some rollbacks and circles. This TB was very athletic and turned before Krista and Krista fell off. CA of course informed Krista what she did wrong and she re-mounted and continued. I felt bad for Krista but it did make me feel a little bit better about my past incidents. We are all humans and shit happens to the best of us.

There were two girls there who you could tell had practiced the methods. One I was told was on the waiting list to be an apprentice but wasn’t old enough yet. She had a nice cow bred filly that reminded me of Lu. Ears back when she backed her and when she’d change directions. The other gal had a nice grey horse. It was great listening to CA explain to them how to refine things.

MIL had a few epiphanies and she’s pumped to work with Sis now. I learned a few things in regards to refinement that will be nice to put into practice if I ever get the chance to work ponies again.

I would highly recommend auditing a clinic if one is near you.

P.S. – if you are a club member I was told by an “inside” source that 2009 would be an awesome year for members and that the discounts would be even better.

I’m sore!

No, I didn’t get bucked off again. I helped build fence all weekend so my arms are killing me from driving post.

Just a quick update since nothing much has happened since my last post. Max went over to spend some time at MIL’s. We re-did her fence this weekend since the original post that were put in were dry rotting and weren’t put in correctly so they didn’t keep the fence tight. We also split her pasture in half. She has a nice, huge pasture and Sis doesn’t need it all. She’s going to try to bale the other half next year & if that doesn’t work she will have two nice sized pastures she can rotate the horses on.

You all should be proud of me. Max’s hock is swollen again (not bad but it’s still swollen) so I told DH I’d call the vet today to find out if he wanted us to do anything about it. Then I realized “DUH” this is the shit that gets me into trouble and told DH if he was worried about his horse he could call the vet. I know, it’s not much but it’s a step.

I’m going to take a shot at building a restricted choice hay feeder. I think the concept is pretty neat & with hay prices as high as they are I think it’s worth a shot.

http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/hayfeeders.htm

The inventor of this one lives about 15 minutes from me

www.slowdownhayfeeder.com

I’m putting Lucy and Cat back on the Progressive feed. While Lu did gain weight on the other stuff I do think that part of her new skin problems (major bug bites) are from the feed. Cat is the only other horse with the bites (although not as sever) and she was the only other horse on the feed.

I am however putting all of the horses on Daily 72 to see if that makes a difference. Sis was here this year and her mane and tail got very dry and brittle and her coat looked coarse. Nothing else in her diet changed except for out pasture which I believe is lacking in minerals.

DH leaves Wednesday morning so the boys and I are on our own. I’m kind of looking forward to the peace and quiet.

So maybe she wasn’t so crazy

Last night I RP’d Max to watch him move. He’s never moved freely at a canter on the line and I wanted to really watch him move. Counterclockwise he moved ok but I wouldn’t say he looked “free” but clockwise was another story. He could only maintain the canter for a few strides before you could see him stumble and lose it in his hind end. When that would happen he would turn and face up with me as if to say “I can’t do it”. I didn’t want to push too hard because I was sure he was sore and I didn’t want to injure him anymore then he probably already was. I didn’t put any DMSO on his leg nor did I give him any bute as I didn’t want anything to impede the vet’s diagnosis.

DH took him to the vet this am. I’m still waiting to hear back from the vet so I have my information straight from him (vs. from DH) but what I know so far is this:

Max has a severe sprain in his right hock. The vet drained the hock and the fluid was blood tinged (I guess that means it was pretty bad). He injected the muscle surrounding the hock and Max is off duty for 30-45 days.

So I guess the crazy trail lady wasn’t as crazy as I thought.

Sign, Sign everywhere a Sign

Just like the song says, there are signs everywhere. Unfortunately they don’t do you any good if you don’t read/listen to them.

Let’s go backwards to Friday night………………………

Friday I had Chase ride Max in the RP so he could get used to the feel of him trotting and loping. I was going to let Chase use him at the show on Sat. instead of Abby and didn’t want him trying to stay on buy squeezing with his legs. He did really well. Max was hesitant to lope and kept coming towards me but all of the horses do that in the RP.

I decided to jump on Abby and ride her a bit to see if we could work on some of her separation issues. I rode her down the road a little ways and then came back and worked her around Max. Of course she had no issues (they seem to stem from the other horses leaving her not vice versa). We worked on WHOA and she’s a long ways from there! We did have a ground breaking moment though as she didn’t throw her head at the lope but just loped like she’s supposed to.

Saturday MIL came over and we banded up Sis’s mane and got her ready for the show. We hauled over and I braided Max’s mane (I took him in English Pleasure). MIL rode in the Miz Queen contest (for members 40 and over) and won. She was so thrilled until she noticed that her prizes consisted of Depends, Ben Gay, etc. She also got to wear around this big fluffy crown all day (sorry I couldn’t find my camera).

I took Max in for English Pleasure. I was asking questions from seasoned English peeps before the class but I wasn’t too worried about placing. Max did great except he was listening to the announcer and not me! Going clockwise I felt him lose his lead in the back but he quickly got it back and the judge apparently didn’t notice. We placed 1st. I’d woo hoo it but there were only 3 in the class and the one gal didn’t get her leads right.

Then we had a quick tack change as Chase’s walk/trot class was next. Ty was in his stroller playing in a bucket of water while I was swapping saddles. Somehow he managed to pull the stroller over and he took a head dive into the bucket. When he came back up he had blood all over his face. Spazmasta boy Chase went into panic mode. MIL thought he’d broke a tooth but it was just a bloody nose.

We finally got Chase up and in the arena. He was doing fine until they asked for a trot. Max started off nice and slow but you could see him increasing speed quickly and pretty soon he was in a canter. I yelled at Chase to do a ORS and he did and brought Max back down to a walk. In the line up Max wouldn’t stand still. Chase was trying to flex him but his foot was back so Max was yielding his HQ instead. I finally told Chase to dismiss himself from the class.

He had a look on his face (I thought he was mad at me) but when I finally got it out of him he said Max had scared him a bit. I decided to put him on Abby for poles and barrels. We already knew the worst she’d do was toss her head at the end but she’d ignore Chase’s leg cues.

MIL placed 2nd in walk/trot and then had me take Sis in pleasure. We didn’t place (not sure why) but that’s ok. The adult classes were HUGE! There was no room on the rail to move at all.

Chase went in and did his pole pattern with Abby and it was going great! It was the best run they’d had all year until…………. Instead of turning for home he started to weave again. He stopped, thought about the pattern and then came home the way he was supposed to but it took off from his time.

Then it was my turn. Max and I headed down to the end of the pattern and turned to weave. I all of the sudden had drunken horse who refused to weave the poles but instead kept throwing his head and trying to shoulder into them. We made it through, turned for home and half way home he blew! He bucked and I came off. I rolled a few times and when I came up to where I could see what was going on he was still bucking around the arena and I mean bucking! One of the members got him caught, I re-adjusted my saddle and we did the pattern again. This time it was smooth and perfect.

I took him out of the arena and over by the trailer and did some bending exercises. I didn’t want to discipline him per se for bucking because I think something is physically wrong with him. That’s just not his personality. But at the same time I didn’t want him to think it was acceptable either.

By this time Chase was in doing his barrel pattern on Abby. MIL said they did great and I looked up long enough to see Abby loping home with her head up and ears perked forward (no head tossing).

I unsaddled Max and scratched my barrel class and started looking him over. He had some swelling on the inside of his back right hock. Was that enough to cause his bucking fit? I don’t know. We headed home and I put some DMSO on his leg and gave him some bute.

I’m fine. The biggest thing hurt was my pride. There is nothing like getting dumped hard in front of your peers. My left leg is sore. For those of you who remember me going into the concrete wall with Buddy I think I re-injured that but other then that I just have a few some muscles. It was pretty soft ground and I was able to hit with my shoulder and roll.

Yesterday when I checked Max his hock was still swollen (although he doesn’t appear to be lame or sore). I have a call into the vet today to see if we can get him checked out.

Hindsight’s 20/20 after the fact but I think Max presented us with plenty of signs. They just weren’t clear enough for us to read. I think his final sign was his way of saying “can you hear me now!”.

First his cross firing going clockwise, then his misbehavior with Chase and I’m sure there were several others we completely looked over. I don’t think this was a disrespect issue at all (I’m sure some will think it is). Max has only ever kicked his feet up once with me since we’ve owned him but he has never bucked. Also, most horses that I see buck to get the rider off quit once the rider is off. They don’t take a full lap around the arena at a buck just for shits and giggles. If Max was typically a pushy, disrespectful horse I could see it being a training issue but he’s not.

As the days go by

Last night I tried to pick all of the bug bites off of LLL. There are so many and they don't want to come off with brushes. The only way to get them off is to pick at them with your fingernail & I could tell she wasn’t very happy with that. I decided to try to give her a Chlorhexidine bath to see if I couldn’t “soften” the areas (not sure how to describe, they are like little scabs) up and encourage them to come off.

Of course LLL wasn’t thrilled because it’s not exactly warm here at night. I figured while I was at it I just as well Selsun Blue her mane & tail. After I got done I put her fly sheet on. I’m hoping this helps clear up the bumps. Now I need to find a new feed. I think my current feed is part of the problem.

Tonight MIL is coming over. We have our last show tomorrow and she wants Sis to look all perty. I think I’m going to let Chase ride Max and I’m going to ride Abby (couldn’t ride Lu even if I wanted to with the bites on her back). DH said he’s not going to ride and since this is Chase’s last chance to run barrels and poles he just as well be on a horse we don’t have to worry about having a fit because it has to go fast.

The drill team will be performing their last run of the season. Of course it wouldn’t be normal if something didn’t happen right? Well one of the members thinks her horse pulled a tendon so now we are rushing to find a horse or someone else to fill in the spot.

My blog is probably going to start getting a little boring (if there are even any updates). The sun is going down sooner so I have less of a chance to get out and ride and DH is getting ready to leave to help harvest. He’ll be gone almost the entire month of October so it will just be the boys and I which will make riding pretty difficult.

I need help!

Yes, I know, some of you have known that for a long time. Seriously thought I need some advice on how to “ignore” things and how to bite my tongue.

Last night “we” went roping again. MIL, DH and Chase went and took Abby, Max and Sis. When we first got there I did some LFR with Abby before putting Chase on her. Then when she was moving well I put him on and had him do some flexing. When he flexes he puts his foot into her side and it confuses her. He was also going back to his “bad” hand position and pulling past his hip.

Once he got it I told him to trot her off and do some ORS. That went pretty well (minus the foot creeping up here and there). After he had that down I had him do some ORS at the lope. When he whacks Abby he has two whacks. The one is soft and annoys her and the other is hard and really pisses her off. I need to find a way to show him an in-between whack. On the positive side she didn’t toss her head with him at all when she loped even though he didn’t go very far.

Now for the negative – I didn’t let Chase go out to round up the cows with the boys and Abby is starting to have separation issues. Right now it’s not “horrible” but I see big issues in the future if it’s not resolved here shortly. These are the things I see.

MIL was having fun on Sis and besides dragging the rein over Sis’s neck (neck reining in a snaffle and pulling too far) they looked really good and I think she was having fun.

DH did take things slower with Max last night and for the most part didn’t do too bad. He still refuses to listen to me about how to properly warm Max up though and he’s going to hurt him. It’s just a matter of time.

MIL had me get on Sis and ride her and Chase decided he was done riding Abby (I think he was a bit frustrated with her). Sis did very well tracking the cows (which just sets DH off even more). When the arena was clear we did a lot of counter bending serpentines at the trot. At the end of the night we did some rollbacks on the fence. She did one quick enough to almost lose me. My fault I know – I need to work on my balance more.

When it came time to load up is when my frustration kicked in. DH asked Max to load and as Max went in DH unknowingly put pressure on the lead. Max stopped ½ way in the trailer so DH backed him out and “put him to work” (not really but that’s what we’ll call it). He whacked Max on the butt (trying to do LFR) but since his hand wasn’t up and he was focusing on the hip Max yielded his HQ (like he was being asked) which frustrated DH even more.

He asked him to load again and again put pressure on the lead so he repeated the above. By this time I lost it and yelled at DH (he either ignored me or didn’t hear me). He asked Max to go in again and this time gave him more slack and Max went in. Of course DH thinks he “showed him” but in all reality he’s the one who caused the problem.

On the way home (we drove two separate vehicles) I asked Chase if he wanted me to help him or if he wanted to figure it out on his own. I told him if he didn’t want my help I’d leave him alone. He said he wanted my help.

As for Max, I do feel sorry for him but DH does need to learn by making his own mistakes. My problem with that is that he is around my horses and I don’t want him using “his” methods on my horses.

I’m going to try really, really, really, hard to ignore what goes on with Max. Oct. 7th we are pulling his ad. After that if he chooses to try to re-list him in the spring it will be his choice and if he ask for my help some ground rules will be established very quickly.

I’m going to try to back off of Chase a bit. I know I’ve expected a lot out of him. Mainly because I don’t want to see him hurt but I don’t want him to get frustrated enough to quit riding either. He’s not a bad rider but he’s having a harder time with Abby since she tests him more.

It’s a No Go on Max

But that’s ok. I didn’t feel very comfortable with her anyways (you know how you get those gut feelings). She left me a VM while I was out to lunch. She felt he was a nice horse but thought that he was stiff/lame on his one back foot more so then just having long toes. She said he was also a bit hesitant to go on the gravel road and gimped a little bit. I’m sure he did. He’s barefoot and he’s been standing in mud in the pasture so his feet are soft. Depending on where she rode (on the side where there is a lot of gravel or in the middle where it’s rock hard) I’m sure he was a bit ouchy but nothing boots or shoes couldn’t fix.

She’s been dealing with a chronically lame horse though so she doesn’t want to deal with another one. I can’t say as though I blame her but I think she’s on crack if she thinks Max is even remotely lame.

I really wish we had the cattle to work with. I think I could easily get Max going with a little bit of time and patience.

PB & PBF

Last night I headed out to the barn to grab Max and of course he’d had a fun day playing in the mud. I quickly brushed him up, clipped his bridle path, muzzle and the outside of his ears and EZAll’d his legs. I was hoping to get there soon enough to jump on him for a minute since the last time I rode him was when we chased cows but by the time we got there I had just enough time to brush him up and get some of the bott eggs off of his legs (the botts have been horrible this year).

PB (potential buyer) and PBF (potential buyer’s friend) “examined” Max for probably 15 minutes. They ran their hands up and down his legs and picked up his feet, etc. Max looked at them like WTF are you doing look. Then PBF saddled Max up with her English saddle and I bridled him. I asked him to flex once both directions before she mounted since I wasn’t getting on him first.

By this time most of the drill members were starting to show up. PB told PBF to take Max down the road. I politely told her that I preferred that if she wanted to take him on the road that she only went from the one arena drive to the other (which is actually further then it sounds) as one of the members told me last time that there was a dog that has been known to attack and I didn’t feel like taking any chances with Max’s safety.

PBF didn’t act too comfortable with taking him too far so PB told her to go in the arena and ride before all of the drill people started riding. From what I could see Max appeared to do well. He didn’t back the greatest but then she didn’t ask him the same way I do.

By then the drill members were starting to enter the arena so PBF took him out and down the road. I was in the arena trying to get Omar to walk but when I saw her return on him he appeared to be calm and relaxed. They unsaddled him, brushed him and tied him to the trailer. I tried to go over to talk to her but Omar has issues with going back in the arena once he’s left so I stayed in the arena. PB told me she appreciated me hauling him over and she’d call me later.

I’m not going to hold my breath and DH said he’d rather keep him and just not have a cowy horse if he can’t sell him for enough to buy a good prospect. I think he’s starting to realize that he has a nice horse and that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

As for drill, there was a major storm moving in so we had time to get one run in before running home! Omar was full of it at first. He was leaping into the lope and then gave me a few feel good kicks up in the air. Unfortunately he ran out of steam fast! I told Terry he was starting to lose steam and she just told me to push him more. I don’t feel comfortable doing that so I didn’t push too much.

He’s old (mid 20’s to early 30’s) and hasn’t been ridden much this summer so he’s out of shape. He was coughing here and there and tripping a lot too. We cut corners a few places to save energy and we made the run with out it looking too bad. He was ready for a break!

While I cooled him out Chase got on Anna’s horse to ride. He thought he was pretty hot stuff (I think he has a mild crush on Anna). He did well though and kept Scout at a walk.

We unsaddled and got ready to load up. It is inevitable that one horse at drill has to have loading issues. It is kind of fun to sit back and watch all of the “techniques” people try to load. Of course one of the horses had an issue last night and I just sat back and watched. Terry asked me afterwards why I didn’t help. I replied telling her I would be more then happy to help if I was asked for it but that I didn’t feel this particular member wanted my help nor did I feel she’d be comfortable with me whacking her horse (which is exactly what he needs).

She had every excuse in the world for why he wouldn’t load. She has a huge, open 3 horse slant, a bucket of food and he stands with both front feet at the edge of the trailer. Hmmmm – is he afraid to load? Oh well, not my problem.

Quick Update

I’m not feeling to well today so this will pretty much be short, sweet and to the point.

I took Cat to vet on Friday. I’m pretty much SOL on her face. She has scar tissue and unless I want to do surgery it is what it is. $224 later I should have just used Underwood Horse Medicine (www.underwoodhorsemedicine.com) and saved myself $200. Bumps on her back are from bugs (same as LLL).

DH and Chase rode Sun. DH rode Sis and Chase rode Abby. Not sure what all they did but DH said Abby was good for Chase. I know they pulled a tire off of both horses and I told DH I wish he wouldn’t do that. Abby nor Chase are anywhere ready for that. Nothing like skipping steps.

I was lazy and didn’t do anything all weekend. I was going to clean up Max for the gal that was supposed to look at him this weekend but surprise, surprise she never showed. I’m glad I didn’t waste anytime cleaning him up. I have a feeling if I make it through the day today I’m going to crash when I get home tonight.

Hello! McFly!

Last night MIL came over to work Sis but wasn’t feeling well so she asked me if I would work her. I saddled her up and grabbed a new leverage bit to try on her (for WP) and headed to the RP. It didn’t take much to get her head down where it needed to be.

Unless we are trail riding or going down the road for a leisurely ride I don’t typically walk much so we moved up to the trot fairly quickly. Sis’s trot is either too fast (for WP) or too slow and she breaks into a bumpy walk (her version of a trot) so we did a lot of counter bending. I’ve found that this makes the horse stretch and use their shoulders more which gives you a flatter knee and when you turn them back straight they are happy to just go.

When I first put my leg on Sis to ask her to yield her shoulder you would have thought a bee stung her. She jumped off of my leg very quickly and in a very reactive manner. I ignored it and continued to move her side to side until I got the desired speed and then I’d let her go straight for a few strides and stop her.

We worked on this for probably ½ hour or so and she was finally starting to relax to my legs and move very well (probably the best she’s moved all year). I finally asked her to lope and wow! Her lope was amazing! Her lope has sucked all year but it was awesome! She was using her shoulders to get lift and was driving from behind. She was slow yet cadenced.

I wanted to work her some more but didn’t want to continue to use the leverage bit so I changed bridles and went out into the pasture. What I didn’t realize was that I apparently left the good horse in the RP.

She was an idiot! She was listening to everything but me. I worked her for a good 45 minutes and I still wasn’t happy with how she was listening to me but unfortunately I was running out of daylight so I decided to stop and flex her to at least end on a soft note.

This isn’t Sis. She usually pulls this stuff with MIL or DH but not with me. I really think her lack of exercise has affected her brain. I talked MIL into leaving her here until next weekend (we have a horse show) so I can work with her. Another gal wants to look at Max this weekend so I’m thinking I’ll haul Max, Abby and Sis out to the arena and work them all. I’d take Lu but she’s still covered in bumps head to toe. Sis needs to be reminded what a real workout is.

Cat goes back to the vet today to look at her face. I think it is healing well minus the bump but I do think it has gotten smaller. Wish me luck!

Steer Soccer

Last night we went over to Dean’s to work with the cows. Since Sis is here I told DH if he wanted to use her he could and I’d ride Max (since he’s such a horrible cow horse). We loaded up & headed over. We got there, saddled up and headed to the arena to loosen up the horses. There were already a few other people there who were warming up as well.

Dean decided instead of 500 (exaggeration) people chasing the cows around that he’d play a game of steer soccer. He set up “goals” (two barrels) on each end of the arena and the goal was to get your steer to go through the two barrels. There were two teams and each team was given a steer.

My team consisted of DH, Chase and I and the other team consisted of a father/son (roughly the same age as Chase) and another gentleman combo. The steers were released and it was pure chaos. There was no rhyme or reason to anything and people were basically just chasing the steer around the arena so Max and I just sat in the corner. Once my teammates decided that wasn’t going to work and decided to listen to me we devised a plan to work together and we were able to get the steer in the goal with minimal efforts.

After that I sat out and let another gentleman ride in my spot. The steers were released and again it was pure chaos but it was fun to watch.

Between rounds I worked Max in the arena and boy was he moving nice! He’s got such a nice trot and such a smooth lope. Dean even jumped on him for a bit (and looked like a jockey in my saddle). He told DH that Max just got too excited and overshot the cattle. DH interpreted that as “won’t track” and I had to tell him that wasn’t what Dean said. Then Dean tried to drag some tires with Max. We apparently need to work on that as it made Max a bit nervous. He then went to a smaller, lighter log and Max did better.

Abby was being very lazy with Chase. He could hardly get her to trot so he decided after a while that he'd sit out with me too. I was actually pretty proud of him for doing that and allowing others to "play".

All-in-all it was a fun night. I’m pretty sure Sissy isn’t going to complain about doing pleasure after her workout Tuesday night and last night.

As for Max – I got a call back from the lady who looked at him Tuesday night. She really likes him but she’s concerned about his legs. They look puffy to her and bigger then her Arabian’s legs. Maybe that’s because he’s not a full blooded Arabian and he has some substance to his bone? She wants her Standardbred friend to look at him to see what she thinks of his legs. Me thinks a vet would be a wiser choice. She also thought he dragged his back toes on the gravel rode when she rode him. I guess I’ve never noticed that but he is due for a trim so I guess it is possible but I’m guessing that her Arab has animated gaits and Max just feels different. She wants to come back and look at him with her friend next Tuesday night before drill again and maybe let her friend ride so I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m not going to get too worried about it at this point in time.

What Now?

Monday night DH went out to chore and we’ve decided LLL’s name needs to be changed to “what now”. He called me to inform me that she had bumps all over her body from head to tail. I’m assuming she’s having some sort of reaction to the bugs. She seems to have VERY sensitive skin.

The last drill performance was re-scheduled due to the rain and one of the members can’t make it to the new performance date so they asked me to fill in for her so I went to practice last night. It worked out well because I had a gal who wanted to look at Max and I don’t like having people look at horses at my parents’ house. There really isn’t a safe place to ride either so I told her I’d meet her at the arena.

DH is working on MIL’s fence so he brought Sis home with him last night. I took her with and figured I’d use her for the first run so MIL and I loaded up and headed to the arena. We got there plenty early and brushed down the horses. Their legs are covered in bott eggs so I spent some time picking the eggs off (I haven’t ever had any luck with the knives).

I didn’t want to saddle Max because I never know if they are going to ride in their saddle or mine so I decided to jump on him bareback (halter) and play with him in the arena until she came. She pulled up and wanted to see him w/t/c before she rode him so I just made a set of reins from the halter and did as she asked. After that she saddled him with her saddle and rode him in the arena for a bit. He did very well for her. At this time I was trying to get Sis ready and everyone else was pulling in. She came out of the arena and asked if I minded if she rode him around outside a bit. I told her no, I didn’t mind.

I took Sis in the arena to warm up and about 15 minutes later we were getting ready to start. She came back with Max and said he did great and that she got to see his big, bad, spook. She said he didn’t like the gravestones in the cemetery. What? I can’t believe she rode him in the cemetery. She then went on to say how she took him down the road, in and out of some fields, here and there; he saw some deer and just looked at them, etc. My jaw just dropped.

I understand wanting to try a horse out but I would NEVER take a horse I didn’t know out like that for the first time (not that I don’t trust Max). I would have ridden out with someone to see how he did in a group and if he did well then I would have tried to go out by myself. I also wouldn’t have ridden in someone’s field without asking permission or in the cemetery.

By the time she got him back and tied to the trailer the team was waiting on me so I started the run with them. She unsaddled Max, brushed him down and left (remember our run is between 12-15 minutes) so I have no clue if she felt he was good enough to write a check on.

For the second run I used a horse named Omar. He’s a 20 something Arabian (might be a ½ Arabian) who is the “typical” hot Arab. He was fun! He likes to run and I think the more people choke up on the reins the more he wants to go so I let him trot as fast as he wanted but wouldn’t let him break into a lope. That was only fun (for him) for about 15 minutes and then he walked. I have to say both of our runs last night were pretty good but the last one was awesome! Hopefully we can do that in a performance.

I have another gal that is hopefully going to come look at Max either tonight or tomorrow. Friday Cat goes back to the vet to check her cut. It does “look” better but there is still a small knot under the skin.

Granular Tissue

The vet told me to wait 7-10 days prior to removing Cat’s stitches so Wednesday we removed them (10 days). I hot packed her face prior to removing the stitches because there was a little lump (assumed puss) that I was hoping would go down with some heat.

Last night on my way home from work I get a call telling me that Cat has torn her face back open. I went out to look and the “lump” wasn’t puss but tissue. I called the vet and he said he can’t re-stitch it (I didn’t figure he could) and that it was granular tissue so I needed to get it dried out by using wound dust or wound powder.

Of course what do I catch her doing right after I put the wound dust on her? Itching her face. I’m pretty sure that’s how she tore it back open in the first place. I’m hoping that by her tearing her face back open that this is a blessing in disguise and that we can get the tissue cleared up and out so she doesn’t have a huge, obnoxious lump on her face for the rest of her life.

9/11

I need a camera man!

Last night we took Max to the arena to try to get some better video. I turned the camera on mute (which you’ll probably notice didn’t work) and told DH to try to stay steady.

This is what we got –



Here is his trot. In this video I’m trying to get his head in frame & let him move out at a more comfortable pace for him. Vertical flexion isn’t something we really work on a lot.



This one I was trying to get a slower trot. He’s really not going fast so if someone can tell me why my camera makes him appear like he is I’d love it (in all of the video he looks like he’s going much faster then he really is). Oh and nope – I rarely let him trot on a loose rein if I’m sitting. His comfortable trot (for him not me) is not very comfortable for me so I have to post it. He doesn’t speed up or slow but he’s just not as smooth as the QH’s I’m used to so if I want that smooth trot I ride him with a bit of contact.



Right lead



Left lead



Did you catch his stops at the end? I was having so much fun with him that after the camera came off we did some rollbacks and sliding stops. He can really get down and stop in the right footing.

DH started to question why he wants to sell him. I think he’s starting to realize that Max is our most dependable horse at the moment. He said if Max had even the slightest amount of cow sense to him he’d keep him. He keeps trying to compare him to Lucy the first time I had her around cows and I told him that’s not a fair comparison. I’m going to try a few things with Max to see if I can’t get him tracking better. We have an endurance rider coming to look at him on Friday (weather pending) so we’ll see what happens.

Feel free to critique. I know my legs need to come back more and I see a few other issues.

Starting Over

Saturday afternoon DH, Chase and I hauled out to the arena to ride. I told Chase that I was going to work with Abby first and after I was done he could get on her for a little bit.

DH saddled up Max while I went into the arena to do GW with Abby. I forgot to get my starting point video but I’ll put where I think she’s at for comparison sake.

Desensitizing to the rope went fine. She’s pretty much like LLL with this one.

Desensitizing to the stick and string – She’s ok with this as long as it is the over the back, wrap around the legs desensitization.

Yielding HQ – She actually does very well with this & keeps her front foot planted. I was having fun “drilling” her foot into the ground.

Yielding FQ – not so good. She prefers to try to bend her head around to her belly vs. moving but we got one or two good steps.

Slapping the stick/string on the ground - That’s when things got a bit ugly! We really need to work on this. There was no standing still and that was with the stick and string as far away from her as I could get it. Once I got her to stand quiet I quit because my shoulder hurt and I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up.

LFR Stage 1 – she’s not bad with this. Counter clockwise is her “up yours” side. She’ll go but when I ask for a lope I get the hoof (human version of the finger). I’ve also noticed that on this side she never picks up the correct lead when I initially ask her to go.

Once I was able to get her to go this direction without problems I desensitized her to the rope again and then saddled her up. I flexed her from the ground and then mounted and flexed her from the saddle. We then did yielding the HQ under saddle. It didn’t take much of me lifting my crop for her to move. LOL

Once I felt that was ok we moved to the ORS. I had DH time me so I knew I did them for at least 5 minutes (I know, not very long but it sure does seem like it). At the trot she kept wanting to break into a lope so it was good for her and she’s smart so she picked up quickly.

When it was time to go into a lope I let her lope about 2 strides before shutting her down. The first time I tried she ripped the reins out of my hands (this is what got me into trouble last weekend) so I jerked to get her attention and then did the ORS. We did this for a while and then instead of quitting her on the lope we did a little bit of the passenger lesson at the trot and lope and then yielded her HQ and backed her up a bit (she doesn’t know how to back at all).

After that I switched saddles and let Chase get on. When he tried to flex she wouldn’t stand still (I think his legs were on her) and he was releasing her at the wrong time. For some reason he’s decided to hold his reins upside down (palms up) so I made him get off, sit on a barrel and practice the right way and then let him get back on Abby.
Once he got it right a few times I let him walk the barrel pattern. Right now until he learns how to ride better I told him he can no longer go out of a walk (he’s not too happy with that). His riding skills have been decreasing instead of improving.

The one thing I’ll say about Abby is that she didn’t kick up her heels or shake her head this weekend when asked to lope (a huge improvement for her). I’m going to try to keep working with her if the weather will cooperate.

By this time it was 2:00, DH was complaining that he was hungry and my shoulder was killing me so I didn’t get a chance to work Lucy. I’m beginning to wonder why I even own a horse.

When we got home I played with her in the RP for a few minutes and then laid her down (no halter just the leg rope) for my niece and gave Lu treats while she was down. I think she enjoyed it. She has some nasty skin on her tummy that I picked at while she was down. By the time I let her up my hands were black! Yuck.

It was late so we chored and headed to the sale barn where we managed to pick up a few needed items.

Sunday the boys and I went over to grandma’s to help her with Sis. She pulled her mane and boy does she look different (I’m not sure if I like it or not). Her lope is getting so slow! MIL doesn’t like it. I told her she needed to decide if she wanted a WP horse or not then because that’s how it needs to be. I think once Sis builds up a few more muscles it will feel better.

We have rain in our forecast all week so I doubt much happens.

Our Starting Point - Part 2

Yielding the QH and FQ. I always seem to yield the HQ better off-line then I do on-line. I see her front feet are still moving. She does better yielding her FQ without the stick which is why I dropped it.



LFR Stage 1. This is the one you need to turn the volume up on if you want a giggle. Lucy was well…………..being Lucy. Is it sad that I get a chuckle out of this behavior? I don’t see it as disrespectful as much as a young horse feeling her oats on the end of the line. It’s been a LONG time since we’ve done LFR Stage 1. She’s normally not this full of it.



And just for S & G’s I took a quick LFR Stage 2 video just to show you how athletic this little fart is! We don’t do stage 2 because I was trying to get her better (less reactive) at stage one and well………you know how far I got on that.

I’m dismissing her ear pinning when she turns. I don’t think it’s any different then when Mindy does it when CA turns her. I think its Lucy’s way of concentrating. It’s that “cutting” look.

ETA: Yes I am asking her to turn at the same spot so that it is easier for my camera "woman" to get the video & so that you could hopefully see her facial expressions (didn't figure you could see the pissed off look she gives me if her butt was pointed towards the camera).



Once we were done messing around I decided to lay Lucy down. Here are a few pics from that.

Meet “dead horse”





She hates having her nose messed with when she’s down.



Good girl!



No, she’s not eating. She’s just to lazy to pick up her head.




Tweets! Have you got tweets?



I still think she’s half donkey some days!

Our Starting Point - Part 1

I’m going to break this up into two posts because I’m having problems with PFI and I don’t want to lose what I have.

Over the last few years I’ve been on a handful of discussion boards. What I noticed quickly was that those who were the first to offer advice/critique of videos/pictures (even if they weren’t asked for it) that were posted were those who never posted any videos/pictures of themselves.

I’ve been hesitant to post video because I hate being judged. I’m not perfect in my horse training skills and I’ve never claimed to be but what I do seems to work for me. Can I improve? Most definitely! That being said I have a greater amount of respect for you guys and your opinions which is why I’m posting this here.

John, after following your blog with Jessie I decided I needed to video my starting point with Lucy. I really want to challenge myself to work with her and get her where she needs to be. I really want to do this with all of them but we’ll start with Lucy.

Here are a few pictures of the princess. She’s really starting to fill out and mature (physically). It’s hard to notice when you see her everyday but she’s finally thickening up!

She's standing downhill in this one.



I love this pic!





Her normal "goober" look.



Last night I had my sister take some video of me doing some of the groundwork lessons with her to establish my starting point. It’s a bit shaky at times and my niece is in the background riding (turn the volume up for her commentary – it’s pretty funny) but it will do.

Credit needs to go where credit is due though as Jaimee did a lot of groundwork with her prior to her coming up her and if you look back I really haven’t done much.

For you reference- MFF = monkey f*cking a football

In this video I was desensitizing her left side to the rope. Yes – I’m rope challenged! Can you hear my niece? She’s learned that if she takes Nikki to the bottom of the hill and she’ll trot up to the top of it. She cracks me up.



I’m desensitizing her right side in this video. Take note that my left shoulder blade has been very sore again and it feels like someone is jabbing a knife in it every time I move it so while I typically look like a MFF on my left side this is a bit to the extreme.



Here is my desensitizing to the stick and string. Doesn’t she look frightened? Actually she needs to quit looking away but we weren’t fixing problems last night we were showing where we are at for starters. When I was on her right side she was a bit nervous with me whacking the ground in the end only because she got whacked a few times (oops). I need to work on my left side a bit more.

Pictures

Here are the pics of Cat's face. I told you it wasn't that bad but I wasn't taking any chances since it was on her face. It did get the meat a little but you can't see that from these pics.




After the lovely drugs and 5 stitches



Her jaw area is still very swollen. I'm not sure how long before the swelling is supposed to go down but I might try a warm compress on it tomorrow if it's still swollen.

Now look at this and tell me what you think it's from. This is Abby's bum. She has three small holes in it and I have no clue from what (I know what *I* think it looks like).

Roughing it

Friday night MIL, the boys and I all loaded up and headed to Elk Rock State Park for a camping weekend. We already had out site picked out (the last one they had) so we knew exactly where we were going.

We got to the camp site around 7:30, unloaded the horses and then organized the trailer. We figured we’d use the night to settle in and let the horses settle in.

We were pretty warm after unloading everything so we cracked the windows in the trailer. When it started to cool down we closed them. That was a HUGE mistake!

The moisture had started to condensate on the roof of the trailer and got the blankets damp. It made for a very cold night. I was cold enough that at 5:45 I decided to get up for the morning (remember I’m NOT a morning person).

DH got there around 8:00 and we cooked bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast. Then Chase, DH and I saddled up to hit the trails. We decided to hit the 2 mile loop to begin with since it was Abby and Chase’s first trip out.

They seemed to do just fine but Abby would trot up to Max anytime she’d get just a little bit behind. Chase also couldn’t get her to stand still when a group would pass but it didn’t seem like a big deal.

Since they seemed to be doing well we went and rode the 6 mile loop and then headed back to camp. We ate some lunch and then we were surprised with some visitors. DH’s grandparents were camping down the road about a ½ hr. and decided to come visit. It was a very nice surprise and we had a great visit.

After they left MIL, DH and Chase went out for a ride while Ty and I took a nap in the trailer. We had MIL’s generator so we turned it on so we could run the A/C. It was noisy but we were tired and comfy so we didn’t care.

When the gang got back we had some supper and Chase had his smoors. MIL decided to take the boys back to her place for a bath and she wanted to sleep in the comfort of her own home. LOL

Saturday night we were able to run the generator until about 9:30 when the park officer told us it was too loud. That was enough to take most of the moisture out of the trailer so sleeping wasn’t nearly as bad.

The killer snake!

Sunday DH and I got up, ate breakfast and then decided to head out on the long trail. I decided to ride Abby since she had been a bit chargy on the hills with Chase the day before. DH rode Max and ponied Sis. Since we didn’t have anyone at the trailer to watch her we knew she’d have a fit and it was just easier.

On the way out we passed a water hydrant with a long red hose attached to it. Abby didn’t much care for it so I decided to take her back by it. DH kept going down towards the trail and Abby basically went over the edge. She reared up, jerked the reins out of my hand and then jumped sideways. Needless to say my ass hit the ground. All the while DH was yelling at me to grab my horse. I wanted to tell him a thing or two but I refrained.

I grabbed Abby and took her back over by the killer hose/snake until she half way calmed down and then re-mounted. Most of the first mile was spent doing circles. She was freaking out thinking Max and Sis were going to leave her.

She finally started to slow and relax down the ride but on the way back when they turned a corner and she couldn’t see them she was back up to being nervous again so we circled and circled and circled until she relaxed.

On the way back to the camp site she started getting nervous around the scary snake/hose again and I asked DH to slow down. He didn’t listen and Abby started to get nervous again. At this time Sis decided to help me out by trying to kick Abby. I decided I was safer to dismount.

MIL and the boys got back to camp the same time we did. I told Chase (and DH) that he wasn’t riding Abby until we did some more work with her. I told him if he wanted to ride again he could ride Max.

So that afternoon MIL and Chase rode out while DH and I cleaned up the camp site (we decided we couldn’t take one more cold night and DH had to work the next day). MIL said Max was great for Chase which was nice because I was a bit nervous sending him out on him. Not that I don’t trust Max, I just know shit happens.

Sore butt and all we loaded up and headed back to MILs.

How High Can She Go?

When we got back to MIL’s I put Cat in the stall so we could do a U turn in the pasture. We unloaded the horses and just turned them loose to graze. They deserved it (well I’m not sure if Abby did but……….).

DH pulled the trailer back up to the drive to power wash it and I closed the gates. Cat was having a mild temper tantrum so I decided she could stay in.

You know how CA says if they can get their head over it they think they can get their body over it? LOL Well Cat was trying that. She was rearing up to the top of MIL’s stall door (estimating it at 10 ft. high) and getting her head over it. I started egging her on “come on Cat – you can go higher then that”. LOL

Well it was funny until she came down and had a white spot on her face. I thought it was just cob webs but then I noticed the blood. I grabbed a halter and sure enough she’d sliced her cheek open. DH came and looked and we decided to call the vet.

The Amish built MIL’s barn and when they did they didn’t turn the nails down or break them off if they went through the boards. She apparently caught her cheek on one of the nails as she came down.

MIL was upset. I tried to tell her that the Amish probably didn’t foresee a horse being that high (they’ve obviously never been around a pissed off yearling) and that shit happens.

The vet came out and 5 stitches later Cat was heavily medicated and happy to be back in her stall.

The stitches will come out in 7-10 days. I’ll have pics tomorrow but it really isn’t that bad. If it had been on her leg I’m not sure we would have stitched it but since it was a facial wound we did. Her jaw is still very swollen.

Labor Day

Labor Day was just that! We had a lot of things to do. In the morning we cleaned out stalls and then I had a gal from KS come look at Max. I think she liked him & he was very good for her so keep your fingers crossed for me.

After she left MIL and I finished cleaning up the trailer and I loaded the horses up to head home. It was 6:30 before we got back. I though Lu would be excited to see her buddies but she could have cared less. LOL

Needless to say it was a very long 3 day weekend and I’m happy to be back at work and resting today.

This is how trailer loading is done!

I lowered Max’s price so now we are getting a flood of new inquiries on him. Some of the questions we are asked are pretty silly but I try to be polite and answer them to the best of my knowledge.

One of the main questions is how does he load. We were heading to MIL’s last night so I decided to video him loading.

How do you think he loads?



I had to laugh. I walked Max up to the trailer (but not close to it) and DH asked me how to run the camera. I walked over to show him and as I did Max loaded himself in the trailer. I told the gal he was a self loader. LOL We had to unload him to get video of him loading.

And unloading?



Here he lounging (not LFR but LF whatever reason most people lounge for LOL)

I figured most people won’t do LFR so why show it? If they know it he’ll do it but most of the people I’ve met don’t know it and it confuses them.



And here he is taking the bit.



Sorry but I’m not going to post riding video. I know my riding sucks already & Max didn’t want to give to the bit (it’s been a while since I’ve ridden him).

Tonight we are loading up to go to Elk Rock State Park to ride for the weekend. If things go well someone might come look at him on Monday either at the park or at MIL’s. She liked what she saw on the video (which I thought was horrible) so hopefully if she comes she’ll like him enough to take him home.

Natural Horsemanship Humor

Sorry but I couldn't resist. This is funny!

Down She Goes!

Last night was MY night to ride so I told DH I was going to take LLL to the arena to ride. There wasn’t much of a point hauling a ½ empty trailer so I asked Chase if he wanted to go ride and spend some 1 on 1 time with mom. He accepted so we headed to the barn.

When we got to the arena we saddled up and headed in. I told Chase there were a few things we were going to work on together. I wanted him to do some ORS with Abby at the trot and canter so he could get her go & whoa buttons working better for him (since she knows the difference between the two of us).

I worked with LLL on the same thing for a bit and then we moved to the passenger lesson at the trot. Chase was still having some issues with Abby throwing her head at the lope so I told him to whack her and when he did up came her back legs. I told him to stop her and get off. I grabbed her and my crop and we had a little “discussion” about go and go NOW!

After that I had Chase get back on and ask her to lope in a circle (instead of wherever she wanted to go) so that her head was already tipped in, in case he needed to do a ORS. She did much better and actually loped without throwing a fit. Once she did that I let him stop her and walk her to cool her out and “reward” her for loping well.

I did some trotting passenger lesson with LLL who thinks it’s lots of fun to go over to other horses when we do this. It was ok in the beginning but I was done with it last night so I said “fine, you want to be by Abby? Let’s lope circles around her!”

So I asked her to lope a circle where I got a big ‘ol up yours! This is getting old too (I’ve been ignoring it) so I pulled her into a tight circle and reprimanded her for kicking up her heels. I think I caught her off guard just a bit. LOL

I made Chase lope Abby one more time and she did well again. I told him I was going to trot LLL around the arena (follow the fence) two times each direction and then lope one time in each direction and then we’d leave. I had my trotting done and was just starting on my loping when I heard a noise. As I turned I noticed Abby on the ground getting ready to roll and Chase next to her.

Seeing him on the ground the other weekend when he came off didn’t phase me but all I could think of was her getting up and dragging him (not that I see Abby doing that but you never know). I flew off of LLL and yelled at him to get his foot out of the stirrup. He said it was out so I told him to get up and kick the shit out of Abby. He couldn’t figure out what I was telling him so I got her up and then proceeded to put her butt to work as soon as she was on all 4’s!

Once she though she was going to die I made Chase get back on. I asked him if she had her head down before she laid down and he said yes so I told him to keep it up! I loped Lu around to finish her off and then we headed to unsaddle and go home.

I had seen some breakaway stirrups on RFD-TV the other day so I went on-line today to find out about them. Youth ones START at $400.00! Yikes!

I think Abby just needs a few more miles put on her. I’ve had plenty try to lay down on me (LLL actually tried last night but not while I was on her) so I don’t think she was being a shit as much as she was being a hot horse.

We are going horse camping this weekend so we’ll see how she does. I’m sacrificing and leaving Lu at home so we only have to take one trailer so Abby might get a bit more ride time this weekend.

Loss of Patience – Utter Frustration

Friday night we didn’t get to the barn until late so all we did was feed the ponies. When I went to let them out Sis started with her head bopping. This sends me completely over the edge. I turned everyone out back and then went in and haltered Sis and gave everyone (family) the heads up. I took her out to the dry lot and did LFR.

Idiot mode set in quickly! She forgot how to come off of pressure, she wanted to turn when she wasn’t asked, and she wanted to back up instead of coming forward. Needless to say she got whacked in the jaw a few times.

I started to lose it when she went for the manure pile and my dad yelled at me to stop. Well guess what? Sis started dragging me over by the pile so she could stop. I started to lose my temper quickly but it wasn’t at Sis (well not as much).

Sis is 8 yrs. old. Her head bopping isn’t a new issue. It’s one I told MIL previously that she needed to get control of because it can be very dangerous (she’ll actually rear in the stall). I ended up tying Sis up in the stall for 2 hours (she was ready to go back in) and then left her in all night.

Saturday we went to MIL’s last drill performance. It wasn’t a very good one either. One of the members had a difficult time keeping her horse in a lope (remember the member that I told you was afraid to lope?). It looked really bad and the performance was dragged on. There were a lot of frustrated members.

The second run wasn’t “as bad” but it wasn’t great either. There was a minor collision but all-in-all it looked much better. MIL said that she started crying on her pinwheel when she realized it would be her “last” pinwheel. The “team” has one performance left in September.

Sunday the boys got up and rode. Chase did very well with Abby. He’s trying to saddle her all by himself. Unfortunately she’s a bit tall and his saddle isn’t any too light but at least he’s trying.

My niece saddled up Nikki so the kids rode together. It’s so fun watching them ride together and listening to them giggle. They trotted all over the place and I only had to yell at Chase to relax a few times. When he was almost done he came into the RP to lope Abby a little bit. Her attitude was much better and I think he had fun. MIL said that the guy at the feed store said that Abby could make one heck of a heeling horse in just 3 weeks. She seems to be like by quite a few people. She’s a good pony and a purchase I don’t regret one bit.

DH saddled up Max and “tracked” my nephew who was riding the 4 wheeler.

That afternoon we took Sis and Cat over to MIL’s. I told her she could have Cat over there on 1 condition – she uses her to teach Sis some manners. Turn Cat out if Sis throws a fit leave her in all night and vice versa.

When we got there I rode Sis to show MIL a few things. She was surprised at how well she was flexing (still not that great). I told her that it didn’t take me that long to get her that way but that she needed to be consistent. I got on and did the bending exercise with Sis and then we did some rollbacks. Her lope was so slow and her head was so low! I think MIL could show her on a higher level if she would just devote the time and consistency to train her but she’s not my horse and I need to quit seeing the potential in other people’s horses and devote the time to my own horse (who had a lot of potential).

With work slow I’ve asked my boss if I can take ½ hr. lunches and leave ½ hr. early (I hardly ever leave for lunch as it is). He was fine with that so I’m hoping to get some more time in on the ponies before winter sets in.

Putting together the pieces

The pieces of Max’s pedigree are slowly starting to come together.

His sire is Maximum Strength

His mother’s name was Lady. She was not registered but was out of two registered Arabians. I’m still trying to find out more information on her Sire but I finally found out about her dam. Her name was Sunkist Bay (we were having issues with the spelling).

The gal that located the information for me on her had this to say:

Sunkist Bay is by a Straight Egyptian stallion by Ibn Moniet El Nefous, one of the prettiest and most well known Egyptian stallions of all time. She is out of a mainly old Crabbet mare.

We are still searching for more information on her sire.

ETA: Found his sire's information. His name was Crystal Adonis. So the pieces are all there if someone wants to know where he came from or wants to spend the $$ to register him (besides myself).

She’s not afraid of cattle

So last night Chase and I went to roping practice. Chase took the Abster and I took Sis. MIL thinks that Sis is petrified of cattle. No she’s not! She didn’t want to get right in and kill them but she did show an interest in them. Dean (the gentleman that runs the roping) really liked her.

We got two offers on Abby last night. I told Chase is he doesn’t quick screwing around I might just take one of them up on their offer. I ended up getting frustrated with him for not listening and following directions again last night so I made him quit riding and put Abby up. He wasn’t very happy with me but he needs to learn. He seems to lose all ability to listen once we get there. He is a little cattle hog and doesn’t pay attention.

DH didn’t get to go last night but one of the guys that was there is the BIL of one of DH’s friends and asked if DH wanted to start doing the ranch ropings with him. I think it’s great! DH really needs to have a place to ride with “the guys”. The only draw back is getting Max sold so he can find a horse to do it with.

I did contact the stallion owner (Max’s sire) via e-mail and she responded. She thinks she remembers his previous owner and was going to see if she could find her records on when her mare was bred. Max is eligible to be registered as a Pinto (less expensive then the Half Arabian Registry) so I’d like to at least have his dad on the papers. I did ask her if she had some better pictures of the stallion so if she sends any I’ll post them.

Lu is really starting to change. I need to get new pictures. I realized that she’s not only putting on weight (finally) but she’s also filling out and maturing a little bit too.

Nothing too exciting the rest of the week. It’s raining today and I think it’s supposed to rain into the weekend. MIL has a drill performance on Saturday and then Sissy goes home.

Good News!

Finally some good news! I just got a phone call and guess what! The gal that owned Max prior to me buying him is more than happy to help in whatever way she needs to in order to get him registered! Woo hoo! She remembered his daddy’s name (he’s nothing spectacular but he does have nice lines) and remembered his mom too!

The only downside is that his mother was the Arabian and she didn’t register her so in order to register Max we have to register her. DH saw $$ in his head I see -$ by not doing it.

Here is a picture of his daddy (the only one I could find on the net and not a very appealing one at that). He is a son of Blue Max. His ad says he’s only 15.1 so I’m not quite sure where Max got his height from.

Pictures from the fair!

Yes these are proofs but they are the ones that turned out the best. You should be able to see what I was talking about just by looking at the pics. I don’t necessarily think Sis was quality enough to win the entire thing but I think she “could” have made the cut. Oh well.









You can view the entire album at:

Why I need to quit riding other people’s horses

Last night we had drill practice. Even though I’m no longer performing with the team I told them I would fill in for them when they needed an extra person. MIL is in Utah visiting my SIL so I filled in for her.

DH has been on Sis once since last weeks fall but he just walked around the pasture with her so basically she’s been on vacation for a week.

When I got on we flexed side to side (this is finally starting to feel like pulling on a bungee cord vs. pulling on a 2 x 4). Then we worked on softening the rib cage. What I wouldn’t have given for a set of spurs!

I finally got her moving off of my legs and man what I wouldn’t give to have a month to work with her. After a few rollbacks (which she greatly needs more improvement on) and softening work she was starting to do sliding stops and had a very nice, collected lope (something we’ve had issues with in the past). She also had a trot to die for!

I don’t want to send her home! I want more time to ride her to see what she’s actually capable of! Unfortunately she’s going home Saturday after her performance. It’s ok – I really need to start working Lu a little bit.

Max's Evaluation

So here is the evaluation the Dressage Trainer gave Max. I took it as a compliment when she told me I'd done a good job with his training (minus the Rolkur LOL). He's a good horse though so I won't take too much of the credit - just some. ;)


Max would be a nice lower level dressage horse. I say lower level because his competition will most likely be the bigger moving warmbloods. However with the right rider Max could do very well. At this point I’d say about 2nd level. He is well balanced, light to the aids, light in your hand and accepts seat and leg. Max is at a very moldable stage and with a patient rider/trainer will progress quickly. He has three nice gaits that are free flowing and regular. As Max develops the correct muscle to carry himself I believe his trot will get better as he will step underneath from behind to allow his shoulders to come up. Lateral work seems to be easy for him and due to his early Western training, collection will not be a problem. Max has a nice temperament and an excellent work ethic. This is an assessment after one ride.

Dressage Anyone?

Friday night I took Max over to one of the barns that I ride at on occasion. It’s an English barn that has very few boarders (by choice) but the owner is very nice and let’s me use the indoor if I need to.

Since we had rain in the forecast almost all week last week I called to see if I could use the indoor on Friday so I could keep Max going. The owner said yes and said that she would have BT (barn trainer) there as well.

When I got to the barn they were having their barn meeting so I tacked Max up and waited for the go ahead to go inside. The forecasters had lied (of course) and we only had one day of rain so the BO said I could ride outside if I wanted to.

I started off flexing Max and just walking him around. I wasn’t half way around the ring before BT said “let’s see you trot him”. So I trotted him. “Do you post the trot or sit it?” She said. My reply was “it depends on how fast he’s going”. I was told to post. LOL

Then she gave me a few helpful tips on my posting and had me go around one more time. She also told me to quit tucking his head like I was and accused me of doing Rolkur. LOL She’s more classical so she doesn’t want the head that low or tucked. She had me do a leg yield with him and then had me lope him off once. By then she was ready to kick me off of him so she could ride. I’d maybe been riding for 5 minutes by this time.

So we went in and changed out saddles and she jumped on. She was very impressed with how soft he was. I think he exceeded her expectations and she really enjoyed his attitude and willingness to learn.

He was very stiff going clockwise but I know that is an issue of mine not his (I didn’t realize I was as one sided as I was). All-in-all she kept repeating what a nice horse he was and she said she felt he could easily do level 1 or level 2 dressage with some work. She said that might not sound very high but it’s pretty good.

BT said she would help me work with him a few times and get some video of him with the white leg bandages, the white pad and the dressage saddle/bridle. He looked so lovely with her riding him.

Saturday we went to watch a ranch horse show. It wasn’t quite what I had expected but the people seemed nice.

Classes constist of:

Ranch Halter – We weren’t there to watch this part but apparently you walk in (saddled), unsaddle, the judge inspects and then you re-saddle.

Ranch Pleasure


Ranch Versatility – this was basically like a trail class.

Ranch cutting (theirs wasn’t quite this pretty)


Working Cow (again, theirs wasn’t nearly this pretty) – you have to start off by boxing the cow at the end to show you can control it. Then you have to do the fence work which is taking it down the side and turning it twice. After that you have to figure 8 the cow.



Last was ranch roping – for this they have X amount of cattle loose in the ring and as you ride into the herd they call out a number. You have to rope that number and then when you do they call out another number for you to rope. You rope three cows. It looks harder than roping out of a box.

Sunday we went and bought a new (different) bit for Abby. I wanted to see how she would do in a curb bit. I know this is what they rode her in previously and I thought it might be easier for Chase to ride one-handed when he was trying to rope. She did well but we need something a bit milder. Since we’ve been using the snaffle on her this was almost too much.

DH rode Sis around and threw the rope off of her a bit and then I got out Lucy. We started off just standing and I threw the rope off of her a few times at a dummy DH made that attaches to the back of the 4-wheeler. She could have cared less. I do have to work on myself a bit though as I whapped her in the head a few times. Ooops.

Since she was doing well at a standstill I had DH move and we tried a few moving shots. She did well (and I didn’t do too badly either). Then I decided to ditch the rope and just “track” DH. Lucy did very well but she was being a bit of a piss head so I decided to change things up a bit.

She didn’t want to lope away from home so that’s what we did. We’d lope a bit, ORS, lope a bit, ORS. When I could lope her away from home and not have her zig zag, stop and back up softly then I got off and walked her home.

After that we gave all of the ponies baths. Her mane and tail is so soft now! I just wish her mane would grow! If it was all the same length she’d have a very long and lovely mane.