Wet Saddle Pads

It was beautiful out last night.  A little warmer and more humid then it has been but it was still very nice weather so I headed out to the barn to play with Cat.  Once saddled we did some groundwork.  She has a very good departure on her LFR.  She's already picked up when I'm preparing to do a change of direction during LFR stage II so I spent some extra time just moving the stick to my hand and then moving it back without changing her direction.  She wastes no energy running to me when I yield her hindquarters.  I'm waiting for the day when she knocks me over because she runs up and puts her forehead on my chest as if she's saying in a wheezing voice "please let me stay here, I promise I will be good".

After doing some LFR stage I & II I worked on my desensitizing.  I think this was the first time she didn't flinch when I slapped the ground with the stick/string.  She was tired and just wanted to stand still.  She didn't care what I did as long as I didn't ask her to move.  Next we worked on some YFQ and YHQ and then I backed her up to the yard and worked on sending her into and out of the ditch.  I even managed to back her up out of the ditch (the same ditch MIL said was too steep to back Sis out of).  She was so hot and tired! 

I decided since she was already hot and tired this would be a perfect opportunity to ride out (off property) alone.  We headed down the road and about half way between the farm and the neighbors she spooked when some birds flew out of the ditch grass.  It was a nice jump to the side and stand still spook.  I prefer those over the jump to the side, buck and then bolt spooks.  Getting back in gear we headed towards the farmers path.  The cattle across the street caught her eye but she continued to move on willingly.

With the rain there was a pretty good sized puddle in the middle of the path.  I asked her to go through it and without much hesitation she did.  I love how willing she is.  Moving on down the "trail" we crossed a few more small water run offs.  Around the bend Cat and I noticed 3 raccoons scatter into the trees.  She really didn't care about them but the deer on the hill caught her attention.  She caught theirs too but instead of running away they started to come towards us.  I'll admit - that made me a little uneasy.  I had visions of Cat spooking and me hitting the ground.  Luckily for me as we continued to approach them they finally turned and ran.

We headed down the hill, over the creek and up to the top of the hill to be greeted by a few more deer.  To my surprise the farmers hadn't planted the back field so I took the opportunity at hand and worked on my ORS and passenger lesson.  The magnet to the field entrance was pretty strong so it wasn't as easy as I had anticipated but I managed to make some progress with her.  I was wishing I had John's I-pod loaded w/"Jessie's music" while I was cantering.  Cat was just hoping I'd let her stop.  I finally let her stop and air up facing away from the house/trail before heading back.

On the way back we visited the big scary tarp.  She could have cared less and has already learned if she touches it I will leave her alone.  A tree stump caught her attention before turning the bend so we touched it too.  Once we hit the dirt path I bumped her back up to do some more ORS at the trot.  I can feel her starting to think about stopping from my seat, she just isn't there yet.  The ride home was pretty uneventful.  We visited the cows and then rode down past the drive to visit with the neighbor (Cat doesn't like her dogs).  It was 9:30 before I got her back into the barn to unsaddle her and she was exhausted!  I'll admit, I'm a bit sore today too!

I was very pleased with how well she did on her solo ride.  Not a single nicker and just one small mild spook.  I think she's going to be a very level headed, willing to please horse.

Ride #24

Ride 21, 22 & 23

Nothing too exciting but I want to blog to keep track for myself.

Ride 21

Last Tues. MIL came over to ride since her drill practice was cancelled. I was going to clean stalls while she rode with the kids but she nagged me until I finally decided to get on. I couldn’t find my bridle so I put the bosal on Cat and jumped on bareback. I didn’t do any groundwork with her but she started out ok. She was a little nervous when one of the kids would come by (they scare me too) but what really got her was the neighbor, her gator and her dogs. They’ve been in Texas for 6 months and now they are back.

After a few attempts to spook, I finally decided I’d better get on the ground before she put me there. If she would have been saddled I would have ridden it out however my balance isn’t that good bareback so I opted not to try. I hopped off and did some groundwork with her until I got her focus on me. Even though I didn’t get to ride for an extended amount of time, I still had a good ride.

Ride 22

Thursday I decided to join MIL at drill practice. When we arrived I did a little bit of groundwork in the arena and then decided to hop on. I grabbed the mounting block and ended up finding a spooky horse. For some reason she was determined the mounting block was going to eat her so we worked on a bit of desensitizing. Looking back I’m not so sure she was afraid of the mounting block as much as I think she thought I was trying to yield her hindquarters. Heck maybe it was a bit of both.

I mounted up and we headed into the arena. Even though we haven’t been there a lot she has already learned how to open the gate for me with her nose. Tuff used to do that so it made me smile to see Cat following in her mom’s hoof steps. To my surprise there were a lot of horses there. Cat was pretty worried about where Sis was so I tried to keep her away from Sis. As soon as practice started Cat and I moved to the outside of the arena. I took this as an opportunity to get her focused back on me. Anytime she would nicker I would do LFR Stage 2. It didn’t take her long to figure it out and rest quietly by me.

We were able to get in the arena and w/t/c during their breaks. The arena has what is called the “crows nest”. It is a small two story building used by the announcer during the shows. It has stairs going to the second level and a window on the first level. She is a bit nervous around the crows nest (as most horses are) but when a young boy ran up to it and then up the stairs it gave her quite a fright. I think she’s telling me I need to work more on my desensitizing.

All-in-all she was very well behaved. I was happy to be able to move her in and out of the other horses with ease and to be able to have them come at her from different directions without making her nervous.

Here is my tired little girl at the end of the night.

Ride 23

Saturday the weatherman forecasted rain so DH and I decided to try to clean out the barn. MIL took the boys with her for the afternoon so I got started on stalls. Cat was a mess! She had rolled what looked like 20 times in the mud and was covered from head to tail in mud. The weather was wonderful though so I decided to forget cleaning and go for a ride. After spending 20 minutes trying to clean Cat off I decided to just EzAll her and then go for lunch while she dried.

After lunch DH and I saddled up to hit the road. I used one of the shavings bags to desensitize her with but it didn’t faze her. Beyond that, I didn’t do any groundwork with her knowing we were in for a long ride. She was goofy before we even left the driveway. Again, something at the neighbors had her attention and “Brave Bell” was not going to be the leader of the pack. I finally got Cat out of the drive and down the road. As we approached the neighbor’s house I noticed a woodchuck in the field. Shortly after I noticed it Cat noticed it too. She was sure it was going to kill her and of course a car was approaching. I pulled her to the side and waited for the car to pass and then moved on with “Brave Bell” following behind.

When we got to rollercoaster road I decided to lope the hill to get some excess energy out of Cat. I heard Bell nicker and looked back but didn’t see her. Did she pick up a stone? Did something happen? Why wasn’t DH loping behind us? He was! She was just that slow. At the top of the hill we gave the horses (Bell) a bit of a break. I didn’t let the break last too long because I didn’t need Cat catching a second wind.

From the hill on out Cat and I worked on ORS at the trot. She is starting to think about stopping on my sit but she just isn’t there yet. She is going to be a stopper! I had no problems navigating her though the puddles on the side of the road and for the most part after the hills she was a good, quite little pony until……………………the dreaded dog! Luckily the dreaded dog was tethered but it sure did have Cat on high alert. We did some more ORS at the trot and then had a nice section of open road to canter on.

About a mile from home Bell decided to finally pick up the lead. Along the way there were a few spooky things (cattle, deer, horses, etc) but Cat was too tired to care and with Bell in the lead her confidence went up a bit.

My tired little girl when we got back. You can see the dirt I didn’t wash off on her face.

I had hoped to get her out into some trees before this weekend but I don’t think that is going to happen.

Bareback Flip Flop Ride

It was 92* and humid yesterday and I was beginning to wonder if I was still living in Iowa. MIL was planning on meeting me at the barn after work and I figured with the temps it was the perfect opportunity to give Cat an EzAll bath. I grabbed my flip flops and headed out the door.

When I got to the barn MIL was there and was ready for a ride. A ride? I didn’t plan on a ride. I didn’t have on jeans and I didn’t have any boots with me. What was I going to do? Duh! Ride anyways (ride #20).

I pulled Cat over to the concrete wall and jumped on. I’ve never gotten on her that way before so it did come as a bit of a surprise but she did pretty well. I had on slick exercise pants so adding that to my already poor balance and I knew I was going to be hurting tomorrow.

A gentleman just finished tearing out the dead and little trees in the timber so MIL and I headed down there. Cat isn’t used to riding in trees since we don’t have any in the pasture so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to get her used to them. She was pretty nervous when we got down there but so was I! Every time we’d go up an incline I thought I was going to slide off of her butt!

After a while I got so sore I decided to dismount but I wasn’t done by any means. The footing in the trees is wonderful! If I had a round pen or if I could put an arena back there I would. So I seized the opportunity and did some LFR stage 1 and 2. That was boring though so I decided to see if I could get her to go down the bank and into the creek. She ran between me and the creek a few times and I reminded her if she took my toe off she was going to die so the next time to my surprise she jumped the creek. When she did – she landed in mud clear up to her hocks! I was getting ready for her to panic and fly out of there but she kept her cool. When I asked her to come back to me she slowly worked her way out of the mud and back across the creek.

We moved down the creek bed a little and worked on going in the creek again. This time she managed to find the green grass growing on the other side so I couldn’t get her OUT of the creek (she was standing in it eating). I finally got her out and headed out of the trees. Chase picked us up on the four-wheeler as MIL and Sis had already gone ahead. He got to going at a pretty good clip and Cat was following right behind. She wasn’t paying attention when he stopped and ran into the back of the four-wheeler. It scared Chase but I told him she’d pay attention next time.

A VERY dirty little girl.





She was also a very tired little girl



It took a LOT of jumping and waving for MIL to get her ears forward for this pic. It reminded me of Sis at the TX clinic



I wish her head would have been forward in this one because I think it would have been a good pic. Now it is just a goofy head pic.

Stepehen's Forest

Saturday MIL, Chase and I met up with some friends for a nice trail ride. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The horses were great, the trails were pretty good and the weather was beautiful!

Here we are all gathered on the other side of the bridge. Danny’s horse didn’t want to cross the creek so Lu and I went first to give her a little more confidence.



MIL and Chase trying to cross the bridge. Black was not comfortable crossing the bridge. She got to this point and then backed off of the bridge. She was ok following but she was not ok leading.



Chase following Lu and I across.





Here is the bridge we opted NOT to cross. It didn’t look safe. The “bridge closed” sign has been washed out along with the bridge.



View from the other side.



Just plunking along.



It was hard to see the trail with all of the leaves on the ground. This trail was covered with trees and leaves so we don’t think it had been ridden much.





Such a cheesy smile.

Farm Life

I thought I’d share a few photos from the farm.

Our silver laced wyandotte chicks


The pekin ducks enjoying some time outside. They are just now turning white.


Their dirty “pool”


"In the steady gaze of the horse shines the eloquence that speaks of love, loyalty, strength and courage. It is the window that reveals to us how willing is his spirit, how generous his heart." ~ L. McGuire



Tomorrow we are going on a trail ride. Chase, MIL and I are meeting up with some friend. I can’t wait!

Our first “trail” ride!

Last night Shari came out to ride so I helped get the kids saddled up and off into the pasture. Ty has been busy with his gator now that I got him a new battery so I was free to do what I wanted. Well I wanted one more day on Cat so I saddled her up (ride #19). She was being good and the kids were getting a bit bored in the pasture (can you blame them) so I asked my dad if he would watch Ty so we could ride the “trail”.

The “trail” really isn’t a trail but it has always been a good starting point for young horses. It is the drive the farmers use to get back into their fields. Part of it is dirt, part of it is grass, there is a small creek crossing and there are a few trees. The downside is you have to ride down the road to gain access to the trail. I gathered the kids up, made the rules as clear as possible and we were off. Cat was in the lead with Sis following close behind and Black bringing up the rear.

When we got to the entry Cat was a bit nervous so I had Sis go first. Cat isn’t used to hearing the trees move in the wind since we have none in our pasture. She was fast paced but seemed to be taking things in well. I just continued to circle her to slow her down and pretty soon she was lagging behind bringing up the rear.

Shari was very nervous about crossing the creek. “I’ve never crossed a creek before” she told me. I reassured her and had Chase cross first stopping just shy of the other side to help prevent Cat from trying to jump the creek. I asked Cat to go in and she did but I could feel the tension underneath me so I backed her out. We did this around 3 or 4 times until she was all of the way in the creek and then we finally went all the way across issue free. Shari followed us across with a huge smile on her face.

Once we were past the creek we were in open fields. When we reached the top where we could see all around us I told the kids they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they stayed in view. Chase and I decided to lope off. Shari tried to join but Black was content staying at a long trot.

The kids were very excited about all of the wildlife we saw while riding. We saw two ducks, two Canadian geese, a raccoon, and five deer. Cat was very curious about the geese as they were sitting in the field walking slowly away from us as we got closer.

As we headed back to the house Cat got a little bit slower and a little bit further behind. The giggles from the children were echoing through the open fields. It is very heartwarming to see them having so much fun together.

Cat walking in the open field

Here first water crossing

The kids headed back to the house

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Last Friday night MIL came over and we went for a ride. I saddled up the old lady and she saddled up Sis. We rode down behind the house where the fields are open and unplanted and just let loose. It was such a wonderful feeling for both of us to just let go and run. I’m not so sure the horses would agree however Black wasn’t too fond of letting Sis get in front of her. We rode into the timber and stopped for a brief moment to check for mushrooms. I found a few but the horses found a swarm of mosquitoes so we decided to head back.

Sunday my father, BIL, nephew, Chase and I went mushroom hunting. My Father, BIL and nephew rode down on the four-wheeler so Chase and I doubled up on Sis. Chase and I had a good time but he doesn’t think it is very comfortable to ride behind the saddle. I’m not sure if Sis has ever ridden double before but she did a great job.

Monday night I decided to get Miss Cat out. We did some LFR Stage 1, LFR Stage 2, the outback exercise, yhq stage 1, yfq, circle driving and some desensitizing. She very much wants to please but I find we end up fighting a lot. I’m sure it is me so I’m trying to “chill” and just go with it. During LFR she has an energetic departure but she also has a lot of draw when I yield her hq. Where our first argument comes into play is during the outback exercise when I try to back her back to the outside of the circle. She tries to take off vs. backing which usually gets a “fight” (for a lack of better words) started between the two of us.

LFR Stage 2 she is doing awesome. She was starting to get nervous when I would move the stick and speed up but she was also anticipating so I spent some time just moving the stick back and forth until she relaxed a bit. She really didn’t relax a lot but she did relax some.

During the desensitizing w/the stick/string she is getting much better. She usually flinches once or twice when I whack the ground but she doesn’t move. By the time I go to the other side she’s standing quietly.

YHQ Stage 1 she is doing very well. I just need to refine it a bit and get her to plant her foot more. I didn’t push it as she does have yet another injury on her front left leg.

YFQ was very ugly and I’m glad no one was around to see it. I’m hoping it is a bit better tonight when I try again.

Circle driving made her nervous. She was afraid she was going to get whacked with the stick so I changed things up and put the string on my stick and “flogged her with kindness” as she went around the circle until she relaxed.

I ended the night by clipping her. She HATES the clippers so I’ve decided to clip a bit each night after working her when she’s dog tired. It seemed to work well as I was able to clip a bridle path, her jaw line and muzzle, the exterior of her ears and part of her legs.

Last night I rode over to drill practice with MIL. I wasn’t sure if I would ride since my last ride on Cat was 03/16 but took my saddle so I could at least work her in it. I saddled her up as soon as we got there and headed to the arena to do some LFR. I didn’t stay on stage 1 very long as I didn’t want to “fight” the backing with an arena full of horses. The sand was nice and deep so she had to work twice as hard. Her turns weren’t quite as precise as I would have liked but she was listening to me and trying. I can barely move in the arena so I decided to cut her some slack.

I’m not sure how long I did LFR Stage 2 but it was long enough to make her want to die. She was pretty warm and when I drew her into me I don’t think she could have run fast enough. We left the arena so the drill team could run their routine.

I took her behind the trailers and did some desensitizing with the stick/string and then flapped the stirrups. She was good as gold so I decided to go ahead and mount up (ride #18). I rode her in small circles around the parking lot until I felt comfortable and then we ventured off. We went out of the arena grounds and onto the road. She was a bit nervous but not bad. I had forgotten how fast the cars drive on that road so I was thankful she didn’t mind them. She called a few times for Sis but she did keep moving. When we got to the end of the road I turned her around and headed back. The team was still practicing so I dismounted and let her eat grass.

During their break I mounted back up and went into the arena. To my surprise Cat is ok with me opening the gate while mounted. We went into the arena and trotted a bit but we weren’t able to stay in long before the team ran again. I decided this time to stay on her and just “sit”. I don’t do that often so it was good for her. It took her a little adjusting to figure out how to maintain her balance while just standing. She tried for grass once but once she was told no she left it.

When the team was finally finished we went back into the arena. The sun was quickly disappearing but I wanted to lope her before leaving. She did pin her ears at a few horses but I’m going to ignore that for now. I think if I start to pick on everything I will create more issues. If she still pins after she’s been ridden around other horses consistently then I will get after her but I don’t think she will.

Once the arena was free I asked her to lope. I didn’t do a bunch of ORS but I did temporarily shut her down after a few strides the first two times and then I let her go. She was literally running circles around Sis. She broke a few times and once or twice I had to whack her. Each whack was followed with a small kick up. Once she was loping out freely and away from Sis I shut her down and dismounted. She really wasn’t arguing about that.

Our high today is 67* but it won’t be raining so I’m hoping to get just one more day in on her tonight so I can get my three days in a row.

I Love Lucy!

No, not the TV show – the horse! Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous spring day in Iowa. My mom was kind enough to take the boys to the movie “Hop” so I had the night to myself. It was time for a ride!

A friend of mine who hasn’t ridden in 12+ years decided to join me last night. I put her on Black and saddled up Lu for me. The cattle are out of the fields behind us so I decided to head down there. I warned Mel that Black would probably test her but I didn’t realize just how much Black would test her! Black was a royal PITA! I don’t think I’ve ever seen her act the way she did. I asked Mel “are you sure you aren’t squeezing her?” She didn’t think she was so I showed her how to do a ORS to shut Black down.

After a bit if time Black and Mel finally started to work together. There was a plastic shavings bag hanging from the fence a little ways in front of us. Lucy started to get that “look” so I prepared for her to spook – she didn’t! We walked right up to it, she sniffed it and then we moved on. A little ways further on the trail and there was a huge tarp on the ground. This tarp must cover a semi or something because it is big. They have it all balled up and it usually freaks the horses out big time. Again, Lucy went on alert so again, I took her towards the tarp. Even though she was “on alert” she walked right up to it, sniffed it and then stepped on it.

The only time I had trouble with her was the water. Oh that dreaded water! Of course it was a creek and they always seem to be worse then rivers or ponds. It took some coaxing for that but I finally managed to get her over it. Finally – we had acres and acres of open fields in front of us so I let Lu go! It was fun for about 3 strides and then she quickly slowed down. I think she saw how far we could go and said – no way! lol

Her bending is getting better each ride. I’m still amazed at how well she retains things once she learns them. Right now I’m in the process of trying to teach her to pick up a hat. She has the concept to go to the hat but she isn’t mouthy so getting her to actually pick it up could be fun.

Re-count

I'm posting this here because somehow I got off by one so I don't want to have to look back again.

Last night was actually ride 17!!! This is pretty pathetic but here are my ride dates since I started Cat.

1st ride – 1/16/10 (bb)
2nd ride – 03/19/10 (bb)
3rd ride – 03/23/10
4th ride – 03/27/10
5th ride – 03/29/10
6th ride – 03/30/10
7th ride – 04/01/10
8th ride – 04/20/10
9th ride – 04/30/10 (bb)
10th ride – 05/01/10
11th ride – 05/02/10
12th ride – 06/12/10 – road ride
13th ride – 10/22/10 (bb)
14th ride – 02/05/11
15th ride – 02/12/11 – drill practice
16th ride – 02/13/11 – road ride
17th ride – 03/16/11

Cat – Ride 17

Boring title I know but I want to keep track of where I’m at with her. Her last ride was the rode ride on 02/14.

It was over 60* yesterday so I headed straight to the barn from work. We do have an extra hour of daylight but it still isn’t nearly enough time when it comes to the horses. I saddled up Cat and headed out to the pasture to do a little groundwork. I started with a little desensitizing and then moved to LFR Stage 1. Whoa! When I pointed she was out of there like I’d zapped her with a hot shock! Besides slowing her down I need to work on getting her head tipped to the inside. After a few laps I yielded her hq and drew her in. She ran right up to me and then snorted in my chest. It wasn’t a “I’ve got stuff in my nose” snort, instead, it was one of those snorts they let out after they’ve been running and prancing around. I have NEVER had a horse do that to me before.

I sent her back out and she was off like a rocket again. A few laps later I drew her back in and she snorted again! Obviously someone was full of it so we moved to LFR stage 2. The next time I drew her in she was ready to stand in front of me because she was huffing and puffing. I let her stand for a bit and then went to desensitizing. I bought a new lunge whip at the last sale so I could crack it is so cheap it will barely crack. I did get it to crack a bit and on her left side she was ok. She flinched but she didn’t move. On her right side she flinched but she also grunted like she was holding her breath every time I would get the whip to crack.

It was finally time to saddle up! I actually had a plan in mind this time – ORS at the trot until she starts to listen to my seat. Well I semi followed the plan. When I first got on her she felt like she wanted to collapse (poor thing probably did since she isn’t used to working that hard) so I moved her off instead of flexing her. Once I got out away from the barn, fence, concrete, etc. then I stopped and flexed her. Then we tried to do some ORS at the trot. I think she’d been dippin in the green beer a day early because a straight line was not on her agenda.

I decided to go to the road hoping she would follow it but we had to get past the big, bad, horse eating mailbox first. That actually didn’t take too long. The road was going well. She wasn’t getting the stop off of the seat but she was going in a straight line. That was until………………she decided she didn’t have to stay on the road and she could go in the ditch. If you’ve ever been to the farm or seen pictures of the farm you will know the ditch by the road north of my parent’s (where I was riding) is pretty much a drop off. I decided this needed to be fixed before I continued so I jumped off and sent her down the ditch and back up it several times. Since it is a steep ditch it takes a lot of effort to get out of it (she pretty much jumped in with ease which really surprised me). After a few rounds in and out of the ditch I could finally tell it wasn’t looking as appealing as it once had.

I remounted and continued on my path to get a stop off of my seat. After a few more laps I finally got one going away from the barn (surprised?). I wasn’t sure if it was a fluke so I continued to try. Yep, it was a fluke. By this time it was getting late and she was getting tired so the next time she stopped even if it was a fluke I was quitting. Soon enough I got another stop away from the barn so I dismounted and stood on the road with her for a few minutes to let her “think” about what had just happened. Then we headed back to the barn for some time on the PP.

I’ve got my hands full!

Finally! We are having some nice weather and extra time at night to actually enjoy it!

Tuesday it was in the 50’s with a slight breeze but it was still lovely so I took the boys out to ride. The hair is just falling off of the horses so between the mud and the shedding grooming is taking a bit longer then normal but we finally got them cleaned up and saddled.

Chase was off in a flash with Black and I don’t think he stayed in a walk for more then about 2 minutes. Since Nikki hadn’t been ridden in a while and Ty is only 4 I decided to put her on the end of a 14’ line and just let her walk a circle around me. Well, that was what I thought I was going to do anyways – Ty had other plans. I was informed very quickly that “I can do it myself mom” and was told to “let me go! I can train her myself”. Ok!

I took the lead off of Nikki and off they went. Of course Ty wasn’t happy at a walk either so he quickly got over by Chase and asked Nikki to trot. She did and the giggles echoed over the pasture. By this time I finally had to tell Chase to cool it with Black. The poor old girl looked like she was ready to have a stroke.

I think both of the boys enjoyed themselves. I think Chase is enjoying Black and I’m hopeful she instills some confidence in him so when Abby is back he is not intimidated by her. Ty……………..I’ve just decided that kid is going to be a handful!

Time out!

Little miss kit Cat is in a time out right now. The older she gets the more she reminds me of her mother. This isn't a bad thing but somedays it makes me want to kill her.

Lately she's decided it is optional to stay behind my electric fence. I'm not sure if it has a short in it or if she just doesn't mind the zap but last night she went through it 3 times!!! I had her in the back pasture w/Lu and Bell and she decided the front pasture with Abby, Black and Nikki looked like a better option. After the 3rd time I said enough was enough and put her in my round pen by herself w/some hay and a bucket of water. She's going to stay there until I have the fence zapping w/enough voltage to really shock her when she tries to walk through it again.



Abby seems to be healing well. She's going to go spend some time at MIL's. MIL is worried though since Sis despises Abby for some reason. I told her she has two pastures - put one in one and the other one in the other one. Here is an updated photo from last night (cell phone + dark stall = poor quality). You can see it is healing pretty well. She still has a small hitch in her giddy up but she does seem to be improving.

Frozen tundra of..............Iowa?

It seems I haven't updated in a while but then not much has gone on. I did sit down and have a talk with Chase about riding this summer. I told him I wasn't going to bring Black home if he wasn't going to ride. He assures me he is going to so I had MIL bring Black home on Sat.

Sunday we went to a horse sale. I had to sit on my hands twice. Once was when they brought in a 6 yr. old bay mare. She was about 14 hh and not very wide. The guy riding her did a fine job of spurring her in the belly and yanking on her face. She had a "dead" eye to her. She looked so lifeless. I figured if she could keep from dumping his dumb ass she'd be great for a kid. She sold for $50.

The other one was a beautiful black/white colt. He was 4, unpapered and I'm pretty sure uncut. He was scared out of his mind. Poor guy was shaking in the ring. I think he sold for $40.

After the sale Chase and I headed out to chore. We were going to ride but it was pretty cold so I told him maybe another day. He had this "look" to his face and when I asked him what was wrong he replied "but I was really looking forward to riding". Told him if he didn't think he'd freeze I was happy to saddle up - so we did.

Lucy seemed happy to get out for a ride. I think she was getting a bit jealous of Cat. Black - not so much. Chase had some issues getting her to go down the road and pulling through his rein (not a new issue) so I had to teach him to bump ehr. Once she learned he was capable of handeling her she was fine. He was a bit frustrated but I explained to him why she did it and that soon she wouldn't even try because she'd know he wouldn't allow it.

The rest of the ride out was pretty nice. We did some trotting and Lu was dead on w/my seat cues. I think I only had to remind her once with my rein. On the way back the wind cut through us like a knife so I broke a rule and allowed Chase to lope home. Lucy was in a nice, slow, cadenced lope w/her head low to the ground. I loved it!!! She's such a good pony.

Poor Chase - Black can long trot as fast as Lucy can canter so it took him a bit to get her going. Both of us had to go into the house to warm up before we untacked and put the ponies away. I've got to say - I'm pretty proud he wanted to ride on such a cold day.

Giggles, puddles, and mud bugs

Yesterday at MIL's we saddled up Sis and Black and let Chase and Shari, my niece (8), ride. I made sure both of them weren't going to get killed and then turned them loose. When these two get together their giggles are infectious. MIL and I sat on her back porch watching these two trot and giggle and then canter and giggle and all the while the horses were being good as gold. I swear they know when they have precious cargo on board.

My niece reminds me of myself when I was little. My parents were non-horse people and I would do anything my uncle told me to do just to get a chance to brush that old nasty mule. His name was Jack and it was quite fitting for an a.s.s. - I mean mule.

Shari will do anything in the barn just to be near the horses. My sister and her husband are non-horsey people so I love it when she gets a chance to ride. Usually we have to drag her off as she never gets tired. Yesterday her ride was cut short by the rain. We let them ride in the sprinkles for a bit but we were lucky to get them in the barn before it completely let loose.

When she came inside she was still all horse and drew this picture.



When I asked her if she had a good time she replied "yes, until the STUPID rain came down." lol

While Shari and Chase were riding Ty decided to go play in the water puddles. You can only be a kid onces so mom said "go for it buddy!". I thought DH was going to stroke when he saw Ty jumping up and down in the water puddles. He had water EVERYWHERE but he also had the biggest smile. Molly was enjoying running in the puddle with Ty too so both of them got baths before we went home. Molly was one tired pup after a fun day of play.



Abby is back home. We brought her back Sat. She seems to be happy to be back home. I have her out during the day and in at night. Talked to the vet a bit about her shoulder. I can x-ray to see if she does have a fracture but when I asked him what the treatment for that was he basically said "time off". Well I can do that w/o paying for x-rays.

My horses are a muddy mess! When I went out yesterday Cat decided to roll 3 times to make sure she was covered good for me.

Here she is sniffing a pile of pekin feathers. Lucy didn't want them in the pasture with her. Luckily the pekin made it to the other side of the fence with just a few missing feathers.





This is not Abby! Oh what a mess! Yes, I know her feet are long, she gets trimmed Monday.



If you look closely in this picture you can see where Cat has the "split" in her chest from her injury last summer. I call her three boobs. :D

Sunday Stroll

Sunday MIL came over and we went for a road ride. The temps were lovely but it was a windy so it was a bit colder then anticipated. I did a little bit of GW with Cat and then we headed out. Our first spook came less then 100 yards from the house. She was looking at some moving grass in the ditch when the neighbor’s horse came running up the pasture. It was a small spook but she wanted to break into a trot afterwards so we did lots of circles.

She was very good about the cars. We stopped for the first couple and then after that continued on. The road was a soggy, wet mess but she didn’t hesitate to go through the water puddles. After we crossed the highway we trotted and then did some ORS. She wasn’t anticipating them like normal so it was nice. Sis was unusually spooky. I’m not sure if it was the wind, the first outing or if she was just feeling her oats but I told MIL she wasn’t doing a good job being my calm leader.

Once we hit roller coaster hill the fun began. I love making the horses work up the long hills. I asked Cat to trot and she was thrilled to move out until the 2nd half of the hill, then I had to push her to keep her moving forward. The next hill we cantered up. Again, she was full speed ahead for a few strides and then I had to push her to keep moving.



MIL all bundled up



On the way back I asked MIL to take a picture of Cat and I. This is what she got. Lol



Notice Cat’s head? She keeps it pretty low naturally. I will need longer reins if she keeps it up.

MIL did manage to get one of the “whole picture”.



I look huge and Cat looks so small! She’s still my baby.

I giggled w/MIL because Sis spooked more on the ride then Cat did. The only thing that really got Cat was when a car passed and splashed water. She did one of those drop and stop spooks (the kind I like) and then was over it. The other things on the road that most horses would spook at actually grabbed at her curiosity. Hopefully curiosity doesn’t kill this Cat.

The Thrill of Drill

Saturday the drill team had practice and they were a rider short so I was asked to fill in. Since this was their first practice and they were just going to walk the pattern I decided to take Cat. Surely she’d be ready – right?

We got there early to check on Abby so we were one of the first ones in the arena. She had sticky feet compared to normal and I didn’t have my stick so I ignored it. As the horses started to funnel into the arena I could feel her tensing up a bit. I decided to go ahead and mount up. I rode w/just my halter/lead as I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

She wasn’t sure what to think and was getting pretty nervous (for Cat) so we did lots of circles. There was one horse that she did not care for at all and would pin her ears at. I didn’t correct it since it was her first time around other horses and she was already nervous.

Once the pattern was started she did better then I anticipated. I felt bad because I had to control her speed and we haven’t worked on that yet. She wanted to walk a lot faster then the other horses. I was happy with how she did in the group but not happy with how she did overall so once the team was done I got her back out. This time I went ahead and put her bridle on her.

As the horses left the arena she got nervous and started to fight me. She decided to rear (her way of protesting) so I quickly introduced Mr. Crop to her butt and did some yielding of the HQ. It didn’t take long for her to get the picture. I didn’t do any ORS since she anticipates them; instead, we went straight to the passenger lesson at the trot. She felt really good moving out.

Next it was the passenger lesson at the canter. She was moving out! She never moves out. It felt good and I felt comfortable on her. As she started to get tired she started ducking in but I maintained my seat and pushed her on. She was dog tired when we got done but I felt good about where we finished.

(ride 14)

Abby Update

Saturday we took Abby back to the vet for a recheck. Good news is he doesn’t think it is infected and he still feels it is healing well (even though he can still stick his entire pinky finger inside of her).



He was a bit concerned about her shoulder but said she couldn’t have picked a better place for an impact like that. He said w/deep muscle/bone bruising it can take up to 3 weeks to heal. She is on stall rest and bute and she does not like it!

She’s not eating her grain. I’m not sure if it is from the stress from being stalled, away from her buddies, in a new barn, having bute in her food or a mixture of all of the above. Mona only has a few boarders so Abby has the entire west side of the barn to herself.

Back to the vet

Abby will be returning to the vet again on Saturday. Sometime earlier this week she managed to pull her wound open and pop her staples. I'm not sure if she got to messing around or if the wound swelled. Then with the cold weather the exposed tissue froze. MIL called me last night to let me know that Abby wouldn't leave her stall & is limping again on her front left leg. MIL took out her drain tube last night and she said it wreaked of infection.

I told Chase it looked like it could be a long recovery and he might be riding Black this summer. He looked kind of down so I asked him what was wrong. He replied "I thought I could ride Lucy". I started laughing and told him fat chance! I'm hoping there is no major damage to her leg and that she just bumped it and is sore again. Will post more after her appt.

Catz outta the......................

Saturday MIL and I decided to go ride. We were going to ride on the road as the weather was decent but it started getting cooler so we decided to head over to Mona's. I was going to take both Lu and Cat but since we planned on going to the sale later that night, I decided I only had time to take one. So I picked Cat.

Lucy was kind of funny. She was looking at me like "hey, what's going on? why aren't you taking me?" while I loaded Cat in the trailer. Cat loaded like a charm and off we went.

When we arrived at Mona's, a boarder was using the arena so we put Cat and Sis in a stall and chatted with Mona for a bit. Once it was time, we cleaned up and saddled up. I realized that Cat hadn't had a saddle on her since June of last year (our road ride) and that I hadn't ridden her since our bb ride in October. I approached w/caution but she took it like she'd been saddled just the day prior. I only had one problem, the girth needed to be let out a notch!

I headed to the arena and did some desensitizing and LFR with her prior to getting on. She was doing some awesome rollbacks in her LFR Stage 2. I'd say they were almost as good as Lucy's. Once I felt she was going to be fine I decided to mount up. I had brought in my bridle but decided to just use my halter instead and do some one rein riding similar to the videos below.





After doing a handful of ORS at the walk/trot I decided to move onto the passenger lesson as she was starting to anticipate my stops. I did a few ORS at the canter to make sure she wasn't going to hump up. I felt comfortable she was going to be just fine so we continued to canter around. This is NOT her favorite exercise. She is very lazy and she doesn't like to maintain the canter so I had to squeeze, cluck and spank a few times. She did kick her back legs up once when I spanked her but nothing too big.

One thing I noticed about her is that she is very curious. Mona has several "spooky" objects in her arena and instead of spooking, Cat went to them to investigate. I think I'm going to like that! It feels so weird riding her. She is so much wider then Lucy and her strides are so different. MIL and I joked around as I told her I could not be a monogamous horse owner. I love the different qualities that both Lu and Cat have.

Abby Update

Abby went back to the vet yesterday for her recheck. Jason (the vet) was amazed at how well she looked (he looked a bit surprised) and was very pleased with her progress. She has quit limping on her left front leg and seems to be moving very well.

He is keeping the drain tube and staples in for now and I will be removing them next week after Wednesday. I didn't take any new pictures because it really doesn't "look" that different. It does however "feel" different. You can really feel the insides of her healing up. There is one pocket left to close but the rest feel like they've healed together very well.

Jason thinks she might have a small scar and possibly a lump from some scar tissue but I'm very optomistic that it is going to heal and not be noticable.

I decided to take her back to MIL's instead of taking her to Mona's. She seems to have healed this well being out with Black so I wanted her to be able to be out on pasture as well as be in a stall. I think the movement is good for them. She seemed very happy to be back "home" last night.

On a side note - I have been very impressed w/Jason and have not been overly impressed w/my current vet. My current vet is supposed to be one of the best in the state, however I feel his ego knows that and he tends to be a bit arrogant on my checkbook. I've decided to try this vet clinic out for all future needs. Hopefully we are just talking coggins, health certificates and a few shots and nothing else like what we have now. They do have an equine vet that I have worked with in the past (she left and just now came back since they changed ownership) and liked. I might though use Jason when I can. I not only liked his personality and his enthusiasm to do a great job, but he was also very easy on the eyes. :D

After the ride

When we got home from the ride Abby and Cat where standing in the pasture. Abby was in the round pen and Cat was by the big bale. I thought it was odd that Abby didn’t run to the trailer but at the time thought nothing of it. As Chase was trying to get a picture of Lucy and I with our ribbon, DH yelled at me that Abby had stepped on something and to get down to the barn. When I approached the barn I noticed she was holding up her left front leg. As I walked around to her side, this is what I found.



I thought it looked like Cat had maybe kicked her so we put all of the horses in the barn so we could inspect it better. As we started looking closer we notice the hole went deep and deeper. As I ran out of the barn to grab my phone to call the vet I noticed my fence between my dry lot and my front pasture was on the ground. The wood post that held it up had been snapped off at the ground.



When I called my vet I got a message that he was gone and so was the other vet in his office so we panicked to find a vet close by to look at her. We finally found a cow vet about 15 miles away so we loaded her up and headed out.

When we arrived the vet cleaned it up as good as possible. He said it was very contaminated w/hair. I’ll bet he spent a good 30 – 45 min. just cleaning it. He said she went through both the first and second layer of muscle and almost completely through the third. Had she gone through the third she would have collapsed her lung. He said it is still possible she has a small pinhole in her lung but she was breathing fine so he wasn’t worried about it.

Before closing it up -



I thought he did an exceptional job of closing her up.





We took her to MILs because I have no way to keep her separated from our horses right now. I went and checked on her yesterday and she seemed to be doing better. We turned her out for a bit with Black and she seemed to be very happy. She is still very sore on her left leg so I’m worried about it.

Here is what I think happened. We have a gate w/a sure-latch gate latch on it. It was partially opened to the front pasture. I think she was in the front pasture and tried to run through the opening (Cat chasing her???) and got the gate pin in her side. As she continued forward the gate would have come with her digging and ripping deeper into her side. Her left shoulder would have hit the gate post causing it to break.

You can see from this video that she really doesn’t want to put any weight on her leg.



We have to take her back on Friday to have her rechecked and possibly for the staples to come out. After that she is going to a friend’s heated barn closer by so I can keep an eye on her.

ACHTA Ride Results

Saturday morning we got up and headed over to Jester Park for the ACTHA ride. We arrived shortly after 9:00 so we had plenty of time to check-in and get warmed up before the ride started. We had access to use the indoor so that was nice. Lucy was a bit suspicious about the garbage cans and the buggies next to the arena but she got over it. Sis was psycho. I’m not sure what her deal was but she was full of it. She was spooking at the overhead door going up and down and just being goofy. Yes, I realize she’s had some time off too but she’s normally better then that.

At 10:30 we got the obstacle list and a brief orientation on how things worked. I was placed in the last group with DH (the safety rider) so we weren’t schedule to go out until 12:15. MIL was the trail boss and left with the first group at 11:30. When we got to the first obstacles (uphill) it was backed up. Apparently there was an accident in the indoor arena so the judges weren’t at the obstacle. We waited for a bit and then turned and rode the trail back to camp just to keep the horses moving (a few in our group were not very happy about standing still).

When it was finally our turn for the hill it was a bit greasy since we’d had a warm up and all of the other groups had already been up it. We were required to take it at a walk. Lucy did well. I had a bit of a tighter rein on her then normal and after thinking about it I wish I would have just left her on a loose rein and corrected her when I needed to. She did take a few trot steps but I’m honestly not sure if it was avoidable.

In the meantime, DH was at the bottom of the hill with Bell. She got a bit antsy that her buddies were leaving her but he just kept turning her in circles and she eventually calmed down.

Obstacle #2 was going downhill at a walk. Lucy did fine for the judges but she got a bit rushy for me so I got after her. I don’t think the judge could see it from where she was standing. We waited for the other riders in our group and then headed on down the trail.

To my surprise Bell was walking right out in the lead. Lucy was slowly bringing up the rear. A pile of snow fell from a tree and spooked Bell and the two horses behind her but both her and Brandon handled it well. It was cold down by the lake. My toes were starting to take the brunt of the winds.

Obstacle #3 was to pick up a set of sleigh bells and jingle them 3 times. I thought Lucy did well at that but when I read the scores there was a comment that she took two steps to the side. That was because they had a barrel on the ground and she wasn’t sure about it. I didn’t realize it counted towards the bell score.

Obstacle #4 was to pick up a hat off of the ground with a stick. They had a driving whip and a Santa hat so it wasn’t very easy for me. I couldn’t get the stick in the hat far enough to get it off of the ground w/o the hat falling off. I finally did manage to get it in my allotted time frame but I will have to keep practicing that one and/or teach Lucy how to pick it up for me.

Obstacle #5 was a sled drag (so glad I practiced that the other weekend). Lucy was perfect! The judge almost got ran over by one of the contestants.

The final obstacle was an emergency dismount. I don’t practice these and I wasn’t moving very well in my thermals, jeans and chinks so it wasn’t very pretty.

Finally we were done so I could warm up! Since we were the last group we didn’t have to wait very long for the awards.

Below are my scores and the placing.

There were 22 riders total. 3 in Junior, 3 in Open and 16 in my division.



Here are my individual scores & comments:



And Lucy got a pretty halter plate and ribbon!

It's official!

I'm signed up for the ACTHA ride this weekend. There is no turning back now.

MIL and DH are going along as the safety riders so I'm a bit more excited. I told the ride organizer she'd better put MIL as the front safety rider and DH as the rear one. Bell will be fine I'm sure, she just isn't confident enough to lead the pack.

I'm hoping Mr. Weatherman is wrong about the forecast (or a day off). It is supposed to be 35* Friday but only 21* and windy on Saturday. Yes, that is still a fair amount warmer then what it is now but it will still be cold.

Wish me luck (and warmth)!