1 down – 3 to go

Show season is slowly dwindling down. It feels as though we haven’t really had much of a season with all of the rain we got at the beginning of the year but it has still been a good year. This past Sat. MIL, DH and Chase showed. I opted not to take Lucy because Ty was going with and I know how that usually works. Plus she really isn’t ready and it isn’t fair for her when I have high expectations but haven’t put forth the work. We’ll be ready next year.

Due to a lack of volunteers I had to help the judge so a few good friends helped out with Ty while MIL and DH were showing (thank you Brenda and Terry). Chase got to use Sis in w/t and while she was a bit fast from all of her long trotting during her rehab he still had the quietest horse out there so he placed first. I know MIL placed in w/t and WP but I honestly don’t remember what her results were. She didn’t do as well as she normally does (again Sis is strung out and fast) but she was still in the top 5.

DH didn’t place (not that we expected him to). Black was a bit gimpy in the back end. I almost asked him to come to the center but I didn’t want to call him out. He put her up after the class and that was the only thing she went in for the day.

Chase had a GREAT pole pattern and took first. He got a little “big for his britches” in barrels and while they gave him a 2nd place placing, I told him he wasn’t getting his ribbon because he broke patter. I know, I’m a mean mom but he’s moving up w/the “big boys” next year so he’ll get knocked off of his pedestal quickly anyways. He needs to practice more and quite blaming it all on the pony.

Abby was being a bit of a handful for him though so I popped my saddle on and signed MIL and I up for barrels. It was a good crowd so I knew I’d get the opportunity to “fix” some of her issues. At the end of the pattern she likes to crow hop so as we ran for home I prepared. As soon as I felt her head go down I turned her in and nailed her w/Mr. Crop and asked her to continue running in a circle. I think I caught her by surprise.

After that MIL hopped on. She had a nice run (no crow hopping at the end) and I do think she placed 5th.

I took Carmella back and MIL took Sis and Cat back to her place so I’m back down to 4 horses at home. It is kind of a nice break since DH will be leaving to help with harvest soon.

When we got home, as I was picking out Black’s feet (assuming the gimping was from thrush), I noticed some liquid. She has an abscess on her back left foot. It looks like she bruised her foot on one of our road rides last week. While I’m not thrilled about it, I’m happy that is what the problem was and that it wasn’t another laminitic episode (I was starting to question that too). So for now I’m soaking her foot once a day in Epson salt, ACV and water and I have her in an icthamol wrap. I bought some of the new Easy Care Glove boots for her back feet and so far I LOVE them! I’ve got one over the wrap and she seems to be feeling a lot better now that the abscess is draining.

This means that Lu is going to have to temporarily fill in at drill. I think this will be good for her but we’ll see what she thinks.

Where do race horses go?

Click on the link for a good video.

Where do race horses go?

It’s been a while

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog, but it seems like a lot of stuff has been going on (not all horse related). The horses got some much needed time off after the Carson Rodeo and MIL has been keeping me (and Black) busy with parades. They aren’t my favorite thing in the world but I can’t let her go alone. I have decided that this is Black’s calling. She just loves the parades! Walk, stop, yawn, and repeat.

This was taken at the Sweet Corn Festival:



Abby was a bit of a handful for MIL but the more she does the better she gets.

These were taken at the State Fair Parade in Des Moines. I love that you can see our gorgeous Capital behind us.



Notice Black’s tongue?


Last week the boys were gone for a week so I was actually able to get some ride time in on MY horse. I’ve been lunging Lucy on the 22’ line and watching her move. She seems to be improving and her cross-firing is becoming very minimal now. If I give her a minute to go into the lope, she has more time to think and set her self up and go into it correctly. Clockwise is still her worst direction but at least I’m seeing improvements.

On one of the nights MIL, DH and I all went for a road ride. Lu was perfect. Her alignment issues seem to be getting resolved and I barely had to move my hand at all. She is also moving out more willingly as well. If finances are available I’d like to board her this winter so I can actually work with her.

On a positive note: Sis is improving and the vet no longer feels that surgery is in her future. MIL has been able to kick her up into a trot and was even able to use her for the State Fair Parade. It is still going to be a long recovery but it looks like it will be a promising one.

In addition to the above I’ve decided to become a distributor for Gomers Inc., the manufacturer of Karbo Combo. This has been very nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. I feel this is a wonderful product and that it does sell itself but at the same time, I’m not a born entrepreneur so it will take some time to get off of the ground.

Chase started school on Monday and I have about a month and a half before DH leaves for his vacation up at the farm for 1 ½ months so things will be dwindling down and I have a feeling my horse time will become less and less.

Blast from the past

Sat. night we headed up to Carson for the rodeo. It was a long 2 hour drive and we had to be there early to practice (the drill team was performing). Abby is getting better and better with each run. This is just what she needed & MIL is enjoying her more and more all of the time.

Black was a bit off when we arrived so I booted her all of the way around. When we hit the arena she was off and running so I’m not sure if adrenaline took over or what. We ran our run during the middle of the rodeo and all-in-all they had a good run.



We decided to stick around and watch a bit of the rodeo after the performance and to my surprise one of my old college professors was running. I knew she ran barrels but she was a little ways from home. She had a nice horse and a nice run but I don’t think she was in the money. Seeing her face brought back a lot of memories. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to her as we wanted to try to leave so we didn’t get caught in the traffic. It was nearly midnight before we pulled in the drive to unload the horses so I’m glad we left when we did.

Sunday was kind of a lazy day for all. MIL loaded up Sis and Cat and headed home and DH and I started to lay out the fence for the drylot. Luckily the tractor was broken so we couldn’t actually work on the fence like planned.

I got Lucy out and worked her on the long line for a while to watch her movement. She seems to move better on the 22’ line vs. the 14’ line. I did a lot of long trotting with her in both directions until she was fairly warm and then took her out to the hot walker & tied her up (using it as a patience pole). Around and around she went. She kept it moving (who needs a motor).

Mom had fixed supper so we headed in. I looked out and notice the walker wasn’t moving anymore. Woo hoo! She’d finally decided to stand still! I looked out again about 5 minutes later. It was in the same spot so I started looking to see where she was and guess what? She wasn’t on the walker anymore! I walked down and found her in the barn happily munching hay. Little snot!

I grabbed a cross tie and took her back out to the walker and tied her up. I sat and watched her. When she gets mad, she reaches for the middle of the rope, bites and pulls down. This is exactly where the quick release snap on the chain was.

While she was throwing her fit Chase hopped on Abby. We’ve been working bareback in the round pen to get Chase’s balance. He did much better this time sitting Abby’s trot. She’s not very easy to sit. He says he wants to ride her every day this week. I guess we’ll see if he holds true to that.