Ground Work!

Last night I worked with my sister and Chase on ground work. Heather (my sister) is very nervous around the horses, extremely Max. Nikki (the pony) could commit murder and she wouldn’t think twice (well she would but…), but Max just looks at her and she’s squealing. So, what did I do? I made her work with Max. I figured if she learns she can move him she’ll be more confident around all of them.

We started off desensitizing to the string. Max fell asleep for Heather. Chase was getting frustrated because he kept whacking Abby with the popper but she stood like a champ for him. Then it was the stick and string. Max was still asleep. Chase did much better with the stick and string.

Then we moved on to yielding the HQ stage 1. To my surprise Chase and Abby did very well. So did Heather and Max but she was a bit hesitant to tap him when needed. I showed her how to do yielding the HQ stage 2 but didn’t have her do it. We moved on to yielding the FQ. We need to work on that with Abby. She just flexes her head and Chase couldn’t tap her hard enough. Max of course was a champ.

We ended with Heather backing Max up and then I made her just rub him. I think she felt a bit more confident at the end.

Pictures as Promised

Here are some of the pictures I promised from the show.

Grandma & Ty just hanging out



Warming up (look at those ears!)



Our pleasure class



Loping



MIL & Sis (don’t they look great!)



Here are a few pics from last night

Getting ready (Abby got to stand in for Sis last night for drill practice)



Max

Preparing Cat

As previously mentioned I’m trying to prepare Cat for a halter show this weekend so I’ve been “exercising” her every day for approx. 10 minutes a day. I know that round penning & lounging young horses excessively (IMO this is excessively) is not a good idea so last night we switched things up a bit.

I got the 4-wheeler out and away we went down the road. Probably not the smartest thing I could have done since a) she’s never been lead behind the 4-wheeler b) she’s never been on the road c) she’s never had cars pass her since she’s never been on the road d) she’s never seen cattle since she’s never been on the road e) I think you get the idea.

Well like always, when I expect problems I don’t have them. She was wonderful. She trotted joyfully behind the 4-wheeler all the way down the road and back. We stopped for the cars and she ignored them and we trotted right past the cattle with hardly a look. The spooky garbage cans and the white wolf like dog didn’t even faze her.

I kind of like this method of exercising her. It leaves my LFR for respect and not for exercise and also allows me to exercise her on gravel for her feet so I kill a few birds with one stone.

It’s Show Time!

A lot has been going on lately but to update you briefly we were in the process of selling Max but the sale seems to have fallen through. I will bet money they will contact us in a few weeks to see if he is still available at which time we will inform them he is (if he is) but at a higher price. I’m a bit bitter if you can’t tell.

We took the horses to a schooling show this weekend. MIL took Sis, I took LLL and Chase took Abby. We showed up early so I could do the passenger lesson with LLL. I’ve needed to do this for a long time but it just doesn’t work in our pasture. We trotted and trotted and trotted (my thighs are killing me today) and she did great. For me this is the hardest gate to keep her in and she did awesome.

Then we loped. She’d kick up in protest and I’d whack her on the butt. Finally she started moving around nicely without the protest. I tied her up to the trailer to cool her down and jumped on Sis.

One of the drill members has been working with her (she’s going to use her for the queen contest at the fair) so I jumped on to see how she was doing. She did well. A little stiff but that’s nothing new for Sis.

Then I got on Abby……………..needless to say we had to leave the arena and have a “talk” elsewhere. She wants to buck in protest when you ask her to lope. This hasn’t been much of an issue since she’s never asked to lope but she does start to throw her head with Chase at the end of a barrel pattern in protest so I figured it was time to fix it. Needless to say by the time we returned to the arena she was happily loping where I wanted her to go. She could also benefit from the passenger lesson.

The judge of the show was either new or didn’t realize the difference between a breed show and a schooling show because she wasn’t placing horses that should have placed based on their bits.

Lu did very well. We placed 5th in walk/trot and 3rd in western pleasure. I’m not sure either were deserved but I was very pleased with her attitude during the classes. She had her ears perked forward the entire time and was in a very good mood. She looked good too! (Pictures to come I promise).

I took Abby in barrels and poles and needless to say she was more than happy to be good for Chase when it was his turn.

I’m starting to fit Cat up for the PHBA show in October. We have our first “practice” show next weekend (if it doesn’t rain). It’s a larger show but I need to get her out and get her used to being in different places away from the other horses. If she doesn’t place well at these shows we won’t be going in Oct. The nice part about fitting her is it is forcing me to actually work with her. A novel idea I know.

Our last performance!

Friday night Max and I had our last performance together. The arena was a mess! It had rained heavily the night before and earlier that morning. The horses were really struggling to make it through the performance in the deep mud but they made it through and we didn’t look too bad.

They’ve put another member in my spot for the next performance and if they should need me I’ll have to use one of the Captain’s horses since I promised DH I’d stay off of Max after this performance.

Saturday we took Max over to a farm not too far away for some people to look at. They are looking at him as a hunter/jumper prospect for their little girl (11) who has been leasing and taking lessons for over 2 years. I told MIL Friday night that I always trust my horses to tell me if it’s meant to be or not. It seems like when it is they are good as gold and when it’s not, they either get hurt or they are royal pains in the butt while the people are looking at them.

Saturday, Max was good as gold. He carried the little girl like he was on eggs and jumped the jumps like he’d been doing it for years (they know we haven’t jumped him). Their daughter immediately fell in love with him and kept yelling at her parents “this is the one! I want Max!”. LOL

They hosed him off, brushed him and just messed with him for a while before we left. They said they’d talk and get back to us but thought they’d go ahead and go through with a vet check. They gave us an offer and talked about picking him up Aug. 1st depending on how the vet check and the next ride turn out. They would like to try him out one more time (Tuesday night) so their trainer can watch them go. I’m not too horribly worried about that as I think Max will do just fine.

Yesterday my sister and I saddled up and went for a road ride. We didn’t leave until late because it was very hot yesterday. Abby kept trying to turn back for home (like she does with Chase) and that started to frustrate Heather. LLL was being a bit goosey (can you blame her). When we got down by the cattle some birds flew up and she jumped and tensed up quite a bit.

We rode down to the stop sign and over a road until the horses were moving calmly and quietly and then turned back for home. Of course they were much better on their way home.

When we got back Chase jumped on Abby for a little bit in the RP while I worked on yielding the hindquarters at a standstill on LLL. Chase tried it on Abby but his legs are a little too short.

Then we just walked/trotted around the round pen playing with upwards and downwards transitions. I recently watched CA’s tv show where he visits Green Valley (where LLL came from) and he hummed when he wanted a downward transition so I tried it last night and what would you know, Lucy made the downward transition. Now I’m going to have to go back and watch the DVD over and over to see if I can figure out what else they do.

Quick Update

The Winterset rodeo was last night and tonight (weather providing). DH and I got into quite the argument prior to the rodeo last night so I didn’t use Max. I used Cody the Captain’s horse. One of our new members rode for her first time (the one who was afraid to canter). The performance wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great by any means either.

We will perform tonight as long as it isn’t lightening out (it’s raining right now) and I will be taking Max for his last performance. I’m sure he’ll do fine. Tomorrow we will be taking him to an arena for the gal that is interested in him to try him out. Keep your fingers crossed he does well.

Have a great weekend.

Cat is practicing for the Lipizzaner show!

I’m debating on taking Cat to a Palomino show this fall so I decided I’d probably better start getting her out now so there won’t be problems if I decide to take her. We had practice last night so I decided to take her with and let her stand tied to the trailer while we rode.

When we first got there the horses were drenched with sweat from the ride over. The heat and humidity was horrible and the stale air in the trailer didn’t help. I let Chase warm up Max for me so I could see how Cat would handle things. When he left the trailer Cat decided to get a little goofy (not bad but enough to annoy me) so I decided to do some LFR to get her attention.

She picked up quickly on what I was asking so I tied her back up to the trailer where she practiced her “Airs Above Ground” on the side of the trailer. I’m sure by this time quit a few of the members thought I was crazy for bringing this crazy horse with me but you know, they have to learn somewhere. She reared at the side of the trailer for probably 5-10 minutes and then slowly tired herself out and started to just stand.

After our second run I let Chase cool Max down and I grabbed Cat. I took her into the arena with the other horses and did the C pattern with her. A few times she got her butt whacked pretty hard for not paying attention but she quickly decided it was better to watch/listen to me. By this time we were doing the C pattern almost flawlessly through the arena with horses on both sides of us. I asked her to back up but then had to stop because the dang clip had come undone (I don’t like the new clips).

We went back to the trailer so I could untack Max and she stood like an angel. LOL When it was time to load I decided to ask her to load first. I was pretty certain that it wasn’t going to happen without a bit of a fight but she put up a bit more than I expected. She’d get to the opening of the trailer and then rear (she wanted to go to Sis and Max) so I’d run directly at her and then push her forward again. Then we did LFR right by Sis and Max and I putt he pressure on when she was by them and let it up when she was away from them.

One of the old members (the gentleman who helps out when needed) stayed to watch. He was surprised by how “aggressive” I was with Cat. He said he’d never seen me like that before. LOL He just sat and watched and didn’t offer up any advice (which I preferred). I think he was in awe a bit by how I was doing things. Pretty soon Cat found her resting spot. We started by loading just the front feet a few times and then the entire horse a few times before we finally loaded up for good.

When we got home she back out just as nicely as the other horses (it’s quite a drop for her). Thursday and Friday should be my last performances with the drill team however I have offered to be an alternate (horse providing) if they need me. I’m going to try to start focusing my time and training into Cat and Lucy.

Back from Wisconsin WWT

Thursday night we had our drill performance at the rodeo. It came and went. Max was a turd and he knew it.

Friday Ghostface and I left for Wisconsin to meet Barnsweet, Ponygirl and Jenniferg for the Wahl Walkabout Tour.

These are some photos from the tour on Saturday.

The man of the hour.







Telling fish stories





The colt starting "filly". Can you tell she was worried about the crowd?









The "real" man of the show!









He looks tired. A year on the road and I think he needs a vacation.



The pushy horse







Sunday we went to Temple Farms to watch the Stallions.





Here are some pictures of the foals.



The bully foal





What happens when you don't release the pressure at the right time











The barn was beautiful!



We got back late last night. GF is headed back home today. I'm tired but it was a good time.

Getting my softness back

Last night we had drill practice (yadda, yadda, yadda, we still suck). I took Max to see how he felt and he seems to be feeling much better.

The people who where supposed to look at him tonight and take him this weekend changed their plans to the following weekend (which actually works better for me) so I figured it gave me some time to get his “softness” back. Katie had commented on how he looked “stiff” in the pictures of Cari riding him and I tend to agree with her.

I put my el-cheapo English bridle on him and we warmed up for drill while asking for vertical flexion. He was a bit resistant at first but quickly started to soften. He looked so pretty with his head tucked and he even lowered it and flattened it up enough that he almost looked like a QH doing HUS.

We ran our first run (which was horrible) and I seemed to lose my brakes somewhere along the way so this time between runs we worked on softness & brakes!

Our second run was better. I could tell Max was loosing steam quickly but he made it through the routine. When we were done I let Chase cool him out and every time Chase would pick up on the reins Max would tuck his head. It was too cute.

It's good to be back

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. I spent most of my weekend trying to clean my house so I was ready to come back to work today.

Thursday night for drill I used another member’s horse since Max still wasn’t feeling up to par. Wow did I miss Max! This horse made you work to ride him and his strides were so uncomfortable that my sides ached when I got off of him.

Friday and Saturday I didn’t do much (except clean house). Yesterday I met a gal who was evaluating Max for me. He was a bit stiff (no vertical flexion) but he did very well all considering (DH has been riding him in a shanked gag and we rode him in a D with a French link).

Here are a few pictures. He still wasn’t feeling 100% but he did very well.



I hate his ears in this one but I love how he’s moving out.





I love how he just “floats” here.





I love the extension of his leg here!









Like our “make shift” jumps.



We are supposed to meet up with the gal that is looking at him on Wednesday night so keep your fingers crossed I can find him a good home. DH is having second thoughts so I could just about strangle him. I don’t think he thought I’d have this much interest in him this quickly and I think he realizes that replacing him is going to be a tough task at hand.

I have drill tonight. I’m going to take Max to see how he does for at least one run. Tomorrow I have a “day off” so I’ll probably be packing for my WI trip, Wednesday I will be meeting the people with Max, Thursday I have the bull-a-rama performance and then Friday I’m off to WI for 4 days. Woo hoo!

9-1-1, How may I help you?

As some of you may know DH has decided to sell Max. He has his own “picture” of what a roping horse should be and Max just doesn’t fit that picture. I have finally come to the conclusion that I’m better off trying to help him sell Max so I can ensure he goes to a good home. “If” we sell him then DH will be responsible for finding his new horse and training it (if it needs training). I’ve done it the last two times and it just doesn’t seem to work.

With Max’s size and his power I’ve always felt he was best suited to be an English horse. Anytime we would ride in an English barn I’d hear comments about how I had him in the wrong saddle so I’ve decided to market him mainly as an English prospect. I sent out a few e-mails and I have a gal who would like to come evaluate him for a buyer on Sunday.

Last night I set out to take some pictures of him with the English saddle on and a few of him going over some jumps to show his form. Since he wasn’t feeling the best (vet says it’s just a cold and to give it a week or so to clear) his form wasn’t the best. By the time I got him “jumping” the jumps instead of just barging through them he was warm and it was getting late. I had DH bring me my bareback pad and decided to see how smooth he was over the jumps.

My sister asked me if I wanted my helmet and I said no. I figured if I was going to fall I was going to fall. DH stood pasture with me and like the dear sweet husband he is he flipped open his phone so he could take a picture of me “falling off”. To my surprise I was in sync with Max more last night than I’ve ever been and it took me back to my childhood days as he went over the jumps.

By the time I got done he was hot so I let him cool off. I wanted to check with Katie to see how the girth on the saddle was supposed to go on (which side the elastic goes on) before I took pics. I figured if I was going to post pics they’d better look like I know what I’m doing.

Katie will be here next Thursday and said she’d look at him for me and help me get some good “English” pictures. Hopefully she’ll be able to evaluate him and tell me if I’m crazy or not for thinking he’ll go English.

And no, I didn’t fall off! Come on guys – have a little more faith in me than that will ya.