After having two weeks off we had practice again last night. As you may recall DH has been riding Max and we’ve had a few “discussions” about how we ride differently. Well last night I found out that Max has lost his brakes! It’s amazing how fast they loose things.
Practice was quite interesting to say the least. Going from 10 to 8 riders really changed things around and it took us a while to figure it out but we finally got it.
For the first time since we’ve started MIL enjoyed herself. I haven’t seen her act as happy as she did last night in a long time. She was hooping and hollering and just having a good old time. It’s good to see that every once in a while.
Not much else to report. The weather is lovely today so I’m hoping to get out tonight and work Abby and Lucy.
Tuff E Nuff Quarter Horses
Lucy
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
A blast from the past
I got on update on Oliver (Ace). He’s doing great and Lisa still loves him. She sent me some pictures and a video of him. You can see his progress at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/OliverPac1105
Rain is now residing with a Mary, a NWC member in VA and she is doing very well. She is in foal but that was a surprise to everyone so it will be interesting to see what she has. Mary tells me that Rain stands over 16 hands now! Can you believe it?
Tuff is with Vicki, a NWC member in AZ. Vicki tells me that Tuffy is doing great out there in the warm AZ weather. I miss her so much! I’m hoping to take a vacation to AZ next spring to see her.
As for the black mare, I haven’t heard anything about her. I’ve tried to e-mail the new owner and she hasn’t returned any of my e-mails. I’ve talked to Randy (my trimmer) who was supposed to trim for her and she’s never called to schedule and appointment with him. I can only hope that she’s doing well.
http://www.youtube.com/user/OliverPac1105
Rain is now residing with a Mary, a NWC member in VA and she is doing very well. She is in foal but that was a surprise to everyone so it will be interesting to see what she has. Mary tells me that Rain stands over 16 hands now! Can you believe it?
Tuff is with Vicki, a NWC member in AZ. Vicki tells me that Tuffy is doing great out there in the warm AZ weather. I miss her so much! I’m hoping to take a vacation to AZ next spring to see her.
As for the black mare, I haven’t heard anything about her. I’ve tried to e-mail the new owner and she hasn’t returned any of my e-mails. I’ve talked to Randy (my trimmer) who was supposed to trim for her and she’s never called to schedule and appointment with him. I can only hope that she’s doing well.
We Don't See Eye to Eye!
My DH and I grew up in separate areas of the equine world. He grew up riding "cowboy" horses and I grew up showing so needless to say we don't ride the same.
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm bitchy and that I'm a control freak when it comes to the horses.
I don't let a lot of people ride my horses. It's not that I don't trust my horses, I typically don't trust the riders. DH is no exception and that doesn't sit well with him.
One of the reasons we got Max was because Tuff developed bursitis in her knee and I was unable to ride her as hard as I wanted to. DH didn't ride enough to justify buy a horse for him and a horse for me and selling Tuff so we could both have a horse wasn't an option. We got Max and within a week we were riding out on the roads and he was doing great.
Every once in a while DH would get a wild hair and would want to "work" his horse. I'd comment on what he was doing wrong and he'd get mad.
I'm sure you can see where this is going.
Let's skip forward to the present. DH, Chase and I went out for a ride yesterday. DH has been riding Max a lot more lately and I think that's wonderful since he is his horse. I've been riding LLL and loving every minute of having a horse all to my own again.
Abby has recently decided to try to turn for home when we go out so Chase has been a bit frustrated the last few times we've ridden out on the road. Plus she thinks she's starving since she has a muzzle on while in the pasture so when she sees that fresh green grass on the side of the road she tries for a bite. It takes all of Chase's strength to try to keep her head up.
I had finally had enough this weekend and I walked up behind her with LLL and whacked her on the butt as hard as I could with the crop! She jumped about a mile and took off trotting down the road. We caught up and went on our way. A little while later she started again so I nailed her again! BAM! She took off again. I think LLL was actually enjoying this.
We road North of the house and then down "roller coaster" road. I love this road because of the hills. It really helps get the horses in shape. Max and DH were hanging back. Max knows he walks fast so when he catches up he stops and waits. When we got to the big hill I told Chase to see if he could get Abby into a lope. He asked for a trot and then asked for a lope and to my surprise she went into one. I stepped LLL up into a lope behind him and I think Abby thought she was going to get whacked because she picked up the pace. I didn't know that pony could run that fast.
On one hill I tried to "kick" LLL up into full throttle but her fast is slow! We turned around and headed home. We encountered one deadly mud puddle that LLL thought she could go around. After a quick meeting she decided to go through it. The entire time the cows were watching to see what that "crazy" horse was doing.
We trotted to catch up with the boys and once we did I found DH trying to back Max but not using the cues that I had used to teach him. I made a comment and well I'll bet you can guess how well it was received. That last 1/4 of a mile was a long ride! We got back and I untacked LLL, stretched her legs, brushed her up and turned her out. Abby was so happy to be home and Sis (who I had left timed to the patience pole) was still bouncing around.
The weather is supposed to be nice the first part of this week so I hope to get back out. Tuesday night I have drill practice and Saturday we have a performance at the Greene County Horse Fair in Jefferson. We have one practice to learn the routine with 8 riders instead of 10 due to the accident at the Horse Fair a few weeks ago. I know it sounds easy but that moves positions quite a bit.
I'm going to try to start working LLL in so that I don't have to use Max anymore. Since the chiro appointment she's been working a lot better and when I do get "tude" I think it stems from memory of pain more than anything else.
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm bitchy and that I'm a control freak when it comes to the horses.
I don't let a lot of people ride my horses. It's not that I don't trust my horses, I typically don't trust the riders. DH is no exception and that doesn't sit well with him.One of the reasons we got Max was because Tuff developed bursitis in her knee and I was unable to ride her as hard as I wanted to. DH didn't ride enough to justify buy a horse for him and a horse for me and selling Tuff so we could both have a horse wasn't an option. We got Max and within a week we were riding out on the roads and he was doing great.
Every once in a while DH would get a wild hair and would want to "work" his horse. I'd comment on what he was doing wrong and he'd get mad.
I'm sure you can see where this is going.Let's skip forward to the present. DH, Chase and I went out for a ride yesterday. DH has been riding Max a lot more lately and I think that's wonderful since he is his horse. I've been riding LLL and loving every minute of having a horse all to my own again.
Abby has recently decided to try to turn for home when we go out so Chase has been a bit frustrated the last few times we've ridden out on the road. Plus she thinks she's starving since she has a muzzle on while in the pasture so when she sees that fresh green grass on the side of the road she tries for a bite. It takes all of Chase's strength to try to keep her head up.
I had finally had enough this weekend and I walked up behind her with LLL and whacked her on the butt as hard as I could with the crop! She jumped about a mile and took off trotting down the road. We caught up and went on our way. A little while later she started again so I nailed her again! BAM! She took off again. I think LLL was actually enjoying this.
We road North of the house and then down "roller coaster" road. I love this road because of the hills. It really helps get the horses in shape. Max and DH were hanging back. Max knows he walks fast so when he catches up he stops and waits. When we got to the big hill I told Chase to see if he could get Abby into a lope. He asked for a trot and then asked for a lope and to my surprise she went into one. I stepped LLL up into a lope behind him and I think Abby thought she was going to get whacked because she picked up the pace. I didn't know that pony could run that fast.
On one hill I tried to "kick" LLL up into full throttle but her fast is slow! We turned around and headed home. We encountered one deadly mud puddle that LLL thought she could go around. After a quick meeting she decided to go through it. The entire time the cows were watching to see what that "crazy" horse was doing.
We trotted to catch up with the boys and once we did I found DH trying to back Max but not using the cues that I had used to teach him. I made a comment and well I'll bet you can guess how well it was received. That last 1/4 of a mile was a long ride! We got back and I untacked LLL, stretched her legs, brushed her up and turned her out. Abby was so happy to be home and Sis (who I had left timed to the patience pole) was still bouncing around.
The weather is supposed to be nice the first part of this week so I hope to get back out. Tuesday night I have drill practice and Saturday we have a performance at the Greene County Horse Fair in Jefferson. We have one practice to learn the routine with 8 riders instead of 10 due to the accident at the Horse Fair a few weeks ago. I know it sounds easy but that moves positions quite a bit.
I'm going to try to start working LLL in so that I don't have to use Max anymore. Since the chiro appointment she's been working a lot better and when I do get "tude" I think it stems from memory of pain more than anything else.
Introductions
Hello
As far as I know anyone reading this blog should know me but just in case we haven't talked in a while I'll introduce my "herd".
My name is Courtney and I am married to a sometimes wonderful husband
and two lovely boys.
We have one dog (Cy) and one cat (Bang). We also have 4 horses.
Little Dry Step - Barn Name: Lucy and often referred to as LLL (Little Lu Lu) is a 3 yr. old AQHA mare. She is here on loan from a friend in AZ. Lucy came from Green Valley Reining and had 30 rides there before she went to Jaimee. She came to me Thanksgiving of 2007 where she was given some due time off to just be a horse.
Max - Barn Name: Max is my DH's 8 yr. old APHA/Arab mix. I found Max when he was 4. He had been given 30 days training by a JL trainer when he was 2 but then got to large and learned to push his owner around. She had a muscle disorder and he was too much for her so by luck he came home with me. DH fell in love with him at first site. I've been using him as a trail horse and currently as a drill horse but DH would eventually like to rope off of him.
Abby - Barn Name: Abby is my DS's 7 yr. old grade POA sized pony. We purchased her last October as a birthday present for Chase as he needed something with a little more size and spunk. Unfortunately she doesn't have much spunk but so far she's been worth her weight & then some in gold.
Reg. Name Pending - Barn Name: Cat (Clinton Anderson Trained) is my yearling FQH filly. She is out of my mare Tuff who is currently residing in AZ.
That is it for my herd but let me also introduce you to:
Nikki - Barn Name: Nikki. Nikki belongs to my parents but we used her before Abby came along. Chase still enjoys riding her and I'm sure Ty will ride her when his time comes. We do all of the work with Nikki so sometimes she gets included in our head count. We believe Nikki is IR so you may see me refer to that in some post. This picture was taken at a show last year before Abby came along.
Baby Dollz Sissy - Barn Name: Sis (sometimes also known as Psycho Sissy) is my mother-in-law's (MIL's) 8 yr. old solid colored APHA mare. Sis is also out of Tuff and was given to MIL as a Mother's day present 8 years ago. This is a picture of her taking Chase on a very, very, slow pole pattern.
As far as I know anyone reading this blog should know me but just in case we haven't talked in a while I'll introduce my "herd".
My name is Courtney and I am married to a sometimes wonderful husband
and two lovely boys.We have one dog (Cy) and one cat (Bang). We also have 4 horses.
Little Dry Step - Barn Name: Lucy and often referred to as LLL (Little Lu Lu) is a 3 yr. old AQHA mare. She is here on loan from a friend in AZ. Lucy came from Green Valley Reining and had 30 rides there before she went to Jaimee. She came to me Thanksgiving of 2007 where she was given some due time off to just be a horse.
Max - Barn Name: Max is my DH's 8 yr. old APHA/Arab mix. I found Max when he was 4. He had been given 30 days training by a JL trainer when he was 2 but then got to large and learned to push his owner around. She had a muscle disorder and he was too much for her so by luck he came home with me. DH fell in love with him at first site. I've been using him as a trail horse and currently as a drill horse but DH would eventually like to rope off of him.
Abby - Barn Name: Abby is my DS's 7 yr. old grade POA sized pony. We purchased her last October as a birthday present for Chase as he needed something with a little more size and spunk. Unfortunately she doesn't have much spunk but so far she's been worth her weight & then some in gold.
Reg. Name Pending - Barn Name: Cat (Clinton Anderson Trained) is my yearling FQH filly. She is out of my mare Tuff who is currently residing in AZ.
That is it for my herd but let me also introduce you to:
Nikki - Barn Name: Nikki. Nikki belongs to my parents but we used her before Abby came along. Chase still enjoys riding her and I'm sure Ty will ride her when his time comes. We do all of the work with Nikki so sometimes she gets included in our head count. We believe Nikki is IR so you may see me refer to that in some post. This picture was taken at a show last year before Abby came along.
Baby Dollz Sissy - Barn Name: Sis (sometimes also known as Psycho Sissy) is my mother-in-law's (MIL's) 8 yr. old solid colored APHA mare. Sis is also out of Tuff and was given to MIL as a Mother's day present 8 years ago. This is a picture of her taking Chase on a very, very, slow pole pattern.
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