C.S. Wilson's Blog, page 12
March 16, 2016
Rocky Mountain Horse Expo - Saturday
We got to the barn bright and early on Saturday and it was wonderful. Nice and calm - only a handful of people there working with their horses.
Skeeter and Copper needed to come out of their stalls for a bit; being cooped up was making them antsy, so we took them out on a short walkabout. I put Skeeter in the outdoor round pen and tried to work her, but she was too interested in being a big dog. She wandered the outskirts of the pen, smelling all the smells. I didn't push her too hard to work, I just wanted to get her out of the stall.
After about ten minutes, she came up and asked to be haltered, so we left the round pen and Copper went in with Jay. The boys spent a few minutes in the round pen, then we went back into the barn to clean the stalls and get them fed. They stood tied to their stalls nicely and, in general, acted like well-mannered horses. It was wonderful.
Copper wishing Jay would hurry up with his room service.
Standing tied like a good girl.
It being the day of the Saint Patrick's Day parade, we played dress up with Copper, who took it all in stride. Don't tell anyone, but I think he secretly liked it.
We were scheduled to work the booth from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., so we settled in to answer questions and talk to the few people who walked by. I'd nodded and smiled at a few, when a familiar face walked up. He started to reach across the table to shake hands when his cell phone went off and he stepped away from the table to answer it. I looked at Jay with wide eyes and mouthed, "That's Val from Unbranded!"
When "Uncle Val" finished his phone call, he came back to the table to introduce himself. It was such an honor to meet him and I told him so. The movie Unbranded has brought a lot of awareness to the wild horses, but Val stole everyone's heart. The movie might have been about Ben Masters and his friends riding BLM mustangs border to border, but Val was the heart and soul of the movie. To have him standing in front of us was a dream.
He'd found our coffee pot the night before and was coming to refill his cup (I think he lives on the stuff), but thought it would be polite to introduce himself before he got himself more coffee. We had a great time talking to him - what a sweet and genuine guy. He was not acting in the movie;what you see is what you get - a weathered old cowboy who loves life and the people around him.
Janna (another booth volunteer), Jay, and I listened to his stories for about twenty minutes before I asked for a picture, which he was more than willing to oblige. The wealth of knowledge he has is astounding.
Jay, me, Uncle Val, JannaHe was in and out throughout the day and what was most amazing to me is that he remembered everyone's names. This is a gentleman in his 70s who had to have met hundreds of people throughout the weekend, yet could remember every person's name. He took the time to come meet our horses (and complimented us on them), met Mom and Bill (and apparently Asset, but that might be a sore subject), and generally brightened everyone's day.
I can't think about Saturday without beaming - he brings such joy to everyone around him. Meeting Uncle Val was the highlight of my weekend. You know there are some people who you are better for just having met them? He's one of those people.
Okay, I'll stop with my fangirl moment and move on to the rest of the day.
They were both good Mustang ambassadors (for a while)
I wanted to get Skeeter out and about again, so when Kathy (our boss) pulled her gelding out to bathe him, I pulled Skeeter. She likes to be sprayed down with the hose and I thought she'd like to at least see the horses' "shower room" (or whatever they call it). I pulled her and she followed Doc nicely, but quickly got jittery with everything going on. We tried to stay, but she had to move her feet, so back to the round pen we went.
She rolled a couple of times and sniffed around, but was still pretty "up". Mom and I disagree a bit - Mom thinks she was looking colicky, but I think she was just too amped up from over-stimulation. She had been pooping and peeing well and was fine until the energy in the building went up. Suddenly, there were people and horses everywhere, plus the train was chugging by. I wasn't worried about her wanting to roll, because she hadn't laid down in her stall at all and there was a lot of really nice dirt for her to take a dirt bath in.
After a few minutes, Jay and Copper were there waiting for the round pen and one other person, so I pulled her to wait for Jay.
Copper is super sensitive, so Jay was actually able to work him in the round pen. Skeeter and I were just going to wait on them, but it was all suddenly way too much for Skeets and she lost her mind. A little rear and buck and then she couldn't keep her feet still. No amount of circling could get her attention back on me, so as soon as I saw a gap in the people and horses, we headed back to the barn.
We did a lot of stopping and breathing (for me) before we made it back to her stall. I'm fairly certain that she actually looked forward to getting locked away from the craziness.
I'd just finished getting her new water and hay when Jay and Copper returned. Copper - nice, laid-back Copper - lost his shit, not because we left, but because there was a little mini pulling a covered wagon. That damn mini was going to eat Copper, he was certain of it.
Both horses were looking a little drawn up and we couldn't tell how much they'd been drinking because they kept playing in the dang water, so we went on a search for electrolytes. At the Brighton Saddlery booth we found one of the Likit things with 'lytes in it, so we bought that to hang between their stalls, then we found the Agape booth, which had samples of EquiPride. After talking to the lady at the booth, she gave us a sample with instructions and sent us back to the barn.
Skeeter thinks that if humans eat it, it's good for horse to eat, too, so getting her to try the EquiPride was no problem. Once we were certain she'd eat it, we dumped some into her water. Copper, though, thinks we're trying to poison him with people food, so he was a bit more leery of the stuff. Jay dumped some in his water anyway. With the Likit hung between the stalls, and the EquiPride in their water buckets, we decided to go see more stuff. When we came back a couple of hours later, both buckets were empty and there was no sign of them dumping it. Whew, potential crisis averted.
After a fun dinner with the rest of the USWHBA volunteers (lousy service, but fun company), we called it a night. Mom and Bill headed to the horse trailer to camp and we headed to our hotel. Sunday was going to be a big day.
Skeeter and Copper needed to come out of their stalls for a bit; being cooped up was making them antsy, so we took them out on a short walkabout. I put Skeeter in the outdoor round pen and tried to work her, but she was too interested in being a big dog. She wandered the outskirts of the pen, smelling all the smells. I didn't push her too hard to work, I just wanted to get her out of the stall.
After about ten minutes, she came up and asked to be haltered, so we left the round pen and Copper went in with Jay. The boys spent a few minutes in the round pen, then we went back into the barn to clean the stalls and get them fed. They stood tied to their stalls nicely and, in general, acted like well-mannered horses. It was wonderful.
Copper wishing Jay would hurry up with his room service.
Standing tied like a good girl.It being the day of the Saint Patrick's Day parade, we played dress up with Copper, who took it all in stride. Don't tell anyone, but I think he secretly liked it.
We were scheduled to work the booth from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., so we settled in to answer questions and talk to the few people who walked by. I'd nodded and smiled at a few, when a familiar face walked up. He started to reach across the table to shake hands when his cell phone went off and he stepped away from the table to answer it. I looked at Jay with wide eyes and mouthed, "That's Val from Unbranded!"
When "Uncle Val" finished his phone call, he came back to the table to introduce himself. It was such an honor to meet him and I told him so. The movie Unbranded has brought a lot of awareness to the wild horses, but Val stole everyone's heart. The movie might have been about Ben Masters and his friends riding BLM mustangs border to border, but Val was the heart and soul of the movie. To have him standing in front of us was a dream.
He'd found our coffee pot the night before and was coming to refill his cup (I think he lives on the stuff), but thought it would be polite to introduce himself before he got himself more coffee. We had a great time talking to him - what a sweet and genuine guy. He was not acting in the movie;what you see is what you get - a weathered old cowboy who loves life and the people around him.
Janna (another booth volunteer), Jay, and I listened to his stories for about twenty minutes before I asked for a picture, which he was more than willing to oblige. The wealth of knowledge he has is astounding.
Jay, me, Uncle Val, JannaHe was in and out throughout the day and what was most amazing to me is that he remembered everyone's names. This is a gentleman in his 70s who had to have met hundreds of people throughout the weekend, yet could remember every person's name. He took the time to come meet our horses (and complimented us on them), met Mom and Bill (and apparently Asset, but that might be a sore subject), and generally brightened everyone's day.I can't think about Saturday without beaming - he brings such joy to everyone around him. Meeting Uncle Val was the highlight of my weekend. You know there are some people who you are better for just having met them? He's one of those people.
Okay, I'll stop with my fangirl moment and move on to the rest of the day.
They were both good Mustang ambassadors (for a while)I wanted to get Skeeter out and about again, so when Kathy (our boss) pulled her gelding out to bathe him, I pulled Skeeter. She likes to be sprayed down with the hose and I thought she'd like to at least see the horses' "shower room" (or whatever they call it). I pulled her and she followed Doc nicely, but quickly got jittery with everything going on. We tried to stay, but she had to move her feet, so back to the round pen we went.
She rolled a couple of times and sniffed around, but was still pretty "up". Mom and I disagree a bit - Mom thinks she was looking colicky, but I think she was just too amped up from over-stimulation. She had been pooping and peeing well and was fine until the energy in the building went up. Suddenly, there were people and horses everywhere, plus the train was chugging by. I wasn't worried about her wanting to roll, because she hadn't laid down in her stall at all and there was a lot of really nice dirt for her to take a dirt bath in.
After a few minutes, Jay and Copper were there waiting for the round pen and one other person, so I pulled her to wait for Jay.
Copper is super sensitive, so Jay was actually able to work him in the round pen. Skeeter and I were just going to wait on them, but it was all suddenly way too much for Skeets and she lost her mind. A little rear and buck and then she couldn't keep her feet still. No amount of circling could get her attention back on me, so as soon as I saw a gap in the people and horses, we headed back to the barn.
We did a lot of stopping and breathing (for me) before we made it back to her stall. I'm fairly certain that she actually looked forward to getting locked away from the craziness.
I'd just finished getting her new water and hay when Jay and Copper returned. Copper - nice, laid-back Copper - lost his shit, not because we left, but because there was a little mini pulling a covered wagon. That damn mini was going to eat Copper, he was certain of it.
Both horses were looking a little drawn up and we couldn't tell how much they'd been drinking because they kept playing in the dang water, so we went on a search for electrolytes. At the Brighton Saddlery booth we found one of the Likit things with 'lytes in it, so we bought that to hang between their stalls, then we found the Agape booth, which had samples of EquiPride. After talking to the lady at the booth, she gave us a sample with instructions and sent us back to the barn.
Skeeter thinks that if humans eat it, it's good for horse to eat, too, so getting her to try the EquiPride was no problem. Once we were certain she'd eat it, we dumped some into her water. Copper, though, thinks we're trying to poison him with people food, so he was a bit more leery of the stuff. Jay dumped some in his water anyway. With the Likit hung between the stalls, and the EquiPride in their water buckets, we decided to go see more stuff. When we came back a couple of hours later, both buckets were empty and there was no sign of them dumping it. Whew, potential crisis averted.
After a fun dinner with the rest of the USWHBA volunteers (lousy service, but fun company), we called it a night. Mom and Bill headed to the horse trailer to camp and we headed to our hotel. Sunday was going to be a big day.
March 15, 2016
Rocky Mountain Horse Expo - Friday
The alarm went off very early Friday morning.
3:30 a.m. early.
Early, early.
But we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and get moving. We quickly packed the clothes we needed for the weekend, then packed the vehicle with all of the tack and horse gear, and hooked up the trailer. Everything went according to plan, and we were ready to load up the horses by 4:30 a.m.
We grabbed their halters, went into the pen, and haltered them in the dark without issue.
Skeeter followed nicely to the trailer, stepped her front two hooves in and then came to her senses. It was like she finally woke up and realized we were putting her into the trailer in the dark and she suddenly didn't want to go. We circled and did a little ground work before trying again. This time, she got her front two hooves in, realized there was hay in the manger and put the third hoof in before she came to her senses and bolted back out of the trailer.
We did that several times before I looked at Jay and told him to give Copper a try. Certainly, if we could get one horse in the trailer, the other would be willing to load. And certainly, since Copper had just come from the trainer's twelve hours before, he'd remember his trailer loading lessons and step right on in.
I should have known the morning was going too well.
Jay worked to "drive" Copper into the trailer. Copper got two hooves in, came to his senses, and bolted backward out of the trailer. I was holding Skeeter on the far side of the trailer, when I heard a holler and, "Babe! Copper's loose!"
I looked over to see Copper trotting away (all of twenty yards before he stopped) and Jay on his knees, holding his hand. The first words out of my mouth were, "Do you still have all your fingers?". It's a terrible question to ask, but an important one when dealing with horses.
Jay assured me he did, but I didn't believe him until he turned on his cell phone flashlight and checked. I walked over to Copper and picked up his lead rope, handed my gloves to Jay and they tried again. Jay wanted Copper to know that even if he pulled away, he'd have to get back to work. A few tries to load later, we gave Copper a break and tried again with Skeeter.
The frustrating thing is that both horses have been loaded into our trailer. Not at the same time, but they've both been in the blasted thing!
At 6:00 a.m., we threw in the towel, put the horses back in the pen, unhooked the trailer and headed to Denver without them. When we got into cell phone range, I called Mom and let her know we were headed down, but without the horses. I texted the person in charge of the Pleasure Class we were supposed to compete in and scratched us both from Friday's competition. We figured we'd try again during daylight on Saturday, but we were supposed to be in a meeting at 7:00 a.m. in Denver (we were definitely going to be late), and be ready to help set up the U.S. Wild Horse and Burro Association booth. We were scheduled to volunteer from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., so we really didn't have any time to fart around with the horses.
While talking to Mom, I told her that if they brought their trailer down on Saturday and hauled the horses to the expo for us, we'd pay their gas. They did us one better - a couple of hours after I talked to Mom, I got a text from L.E. that the horses were loaded into the trailer and they were headed our way. Mom texted right after L.E. and let me know they (and the horses) would be there by noon.
I felt pretty bad about it, because I know there were some events that Bill wanted to see in the morning and he missed them to go pick up our two boogerheads. However, I was glad that they were on their way.
"We refused to get in our trailer, and now we're in jail?!"Mom and Bill made great time and the horses were in their jail cells stalls just a hair before noon. We hung water buckets and hay nets, then headed off to see the Colt Starting Challenge. A couple of hours later, we got back to the barn to check in on the horses and I was told that Skeeter caused a bit of excitement.
In her boredom, she started pawing at her hay net and got her leg caught in it, which then caused her to panic. A passerby saw what was happening and started to go into the stall. Luckily, our "boss" caught her before she got in and told her to stop. Kathy (our boss) grabbed Skeeter's halter and go it on her fairly easily. Once the halter was on, Skeeter calmed down and stood nicely. Kathy had the passerby come in to hold Skeeter while she cut away the hay net.
It was a cheap hay net, and I hung it far too low. I didn't even give it a second thought because she'd eaten out of a similar hay net, hung at a similar height from a trailer, but I didn't think about the boredom factor. I was lucky that Kathy and the other lady reacted so quickly. Skeets was fine, but because of her both horses got to pick their hay out of the shavings instead of eating out of their hay bags.
Copper didn't do anything as drastic as Skeeter, but he still managed to cause some trouble by playing with his water bucket. Jay must have filled it at least five times on Friday. Copper would pick it up with his teeth, pull it away from the wall, then let fly. When he got bored with that, he'd stick his head in the bucket and slosh it back and forth. His stall was one muddy mess. It was impossible to see how much water he was actually drinking because he kept emptying his bucket out in other ways. Jerk.
Despite knowing there was nothing in the stalls they could hurt themselves with (anymore), I was pretty paranoid the rest of the night.
Mom, Bill, Jay, and I had tickets to the Mane Event that night, so we cleaned the stalls, fed, watered, and spend an evening being astonished by the acts in the Mane Event. My favorite was the Fjords - they did "tandem driving"; the riders rode one horse, while driving one in front of them. I had never seen anything like it. I mean, riding correctly is hard enough; and driving correctly is hard enough. Who in their right mind wants to do both at the same time? It was incredible.
Eighteen hours after we left home Friday morning, Jay and I were able to check in to our hotel room and call it a night. Poor Mom and Bill had to drive all the way back up the hill to the lodge. We couldn't be blessed with a better support system than those two.
3:30 a.m. early.
Early, early.
But we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and get moving. We quickly packed the clothes we needed for the weekend, then packed the vehicle with all of the tack and horse gear, and hooked up the trailer. Everything went according to plan, and we were ready to load up the horses by 4:30 a.m.
We grabbed their halters, went into the pen, and haltered them in the dark without issue.
Skeeter followed nicely to the trailer, stepped her front two hooves in and then came to her senses. It was like she finally woke up and realized we were putting her into the trailer in the dark and she suddenly didn't want to go. We circled and did a little ground work before trying again. This time, she got her front two hooves in, realized there was hay in the manger and put the third hoof in before she came to her senses and bolted back out of the trailer.
We did that several times before I looked at Jay and told him to give Copper a try. Certainly, if we could get one horse in the trailer, the other would be willing to load. And certainly, since Copper had just come from the trainer's twelve hours before, he'd remember his trailer loading lessons and step right on in.
I should have known the morning was going too well.
Jay worked to "drive" Copper into the trailer. Copper got two hooves in, came to his senses, and bolted backward out of the trailer. I was holding Skeeter on the far side of the trailer, when I heard a holler and, "Babe! Copper's loose!"
I looked over to see Copper trotting away (all of twenty yards before he stopped) and Jay on his knees, holding his hand. The first words out of my mouth were, "Do you still have all your fingers?". It's a terrible question to ask, but an important one when dealing with horses.
Jay assured me he did, but I didn't believe him until he turned on his cell phone flashlight and checked. I walked over to Copper and picked up his lead rope, handed my gloves to Jay and they tried again. Jay wanted Copper to know that even if he pulled away, he'd have to get back to work. A few tries to load later, we gave Copper a break and tried again with Skeeter.
The frustrating thing is that both horses have been loaded into our trailer. Not at the same time, but they've both been in the blasted thing!
At 6:00 a.m., we threw in the towel, put the horses back in the pen, unhooked the trailer and headed to Denver without them. When we got into cell phone range, I called Mom and let her know we were headed down, but without the horses. I texted the person in charge of the Pleasure Class we were supposed to compete in and scratched us both from Friday's competition. We figured we'd try again during daylight on Saturday, but we were supposed to be in a meeting at 7:00 a.m. in Denver (we were definitely going to be late), and be ready to help set up the U.S. Wild Horse and Burro Association booth. We were scheduled to volunteer from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., so we really didn't have any time to fart around with the horses.
While talking to Mom, I told her that if they brought their trailer down on Saturday and hauled the horses to the expo for us, we'd pay their gas. They did us one better - a couple of hours after I talked to Mom, I got a text from L.E. that the horses were loaded into the trailer and they were headed our way. Mom texted right after L.E. and let me know they (and the horses) would be there by noon.
I felt pretty bad about it, because I know there were some events that Bill wanted to see in the morning and he missed them to go pick up our two boogerheads. However, I was glad that they were on their way.
"We refused to get in our trailer, and now we're in jail?!"Mom and Bill made great time and the horses were in their jail cells stalls just a hair before noon. We hung water buckets and hay nets, then headed off to see the Colt Starting Challenge. A couple of hours later, we got back to the barn to check in on the horses and I was told that Skeeter caused a bit of excitement.In her boredom, she started pawing at her hay net and got her leg caught in it, which then caused her to panic. A passerby saw what was happening and started to go into the stall. Luckily, our "boss" caught her before she got in and told her to stop. Kathy (our boss) grabbed Skeeter's halter and go it on her fairly easily. Once the halter was on, Skeeter calmed down and stood nicely. Kathy had the passerby come in to hold Skeeter while she cut away the hay net.
It was a cheap hay net, and I hung it far too low. I didn't even give it a second thought because she'd eaten out of a similar hay net, hung at a similar height from a trailer, but I didn't think about the boredom factor. I was lucky that Kathy and the other lady reacted so quickly. Skeets was fine, but because of her both horses got to pick their hay out of the shavings instead of eating out of their hay bags.
Copper didn't do anything as drastic as Skeeter, but he still managed to cause some trouble by playing with his water bucket. Jay must have filled it at least five times on Friday. Copper would pick it up with his teeth, pull it away from the wall, then let fly. When he got bored with that, he'd stick his head in the bucket and slosh it back and forth. His stall was one muddy mess. It was impossible to see how much water he was actually drinking because he kept emptying his bucket out in other ways. Jerk.
Despite knowing there was nothing in the stalls they could hurt themselves with (anymore), I was pretty paranoid the rest of the night.
Mom, Bill, Jay, and I had tickets to the Mane Event that night, so we cleaned the stalls, fed, watered, and spend an evening being astonished by the acts in the Mane Event. My favorite was the Fjords - they did "tandem driving"; the riders rode one horse, while driving one in front of them. I had never seen anything like it. I mean, riding correctly is hard enough; and driving correctly is hard enough. Who in their right mind wants to do both at the same time? It was incredible.
Eighteen hours after we left home Friday morning, Jay and I were able to check in to our hotel room and call it a night. Poor Mom and Bill had to drive all the way back up the hill to the lodge. We couldn't be blessed with a better support system than those two.
March 9, 2016
Last Work Day Before CMD
Sunday was our last work day. Jessica wanted me to go out and ride Copper before he comes home, so I headed out there with Mom and Bill in tow. Actually, the trailer was in tow and Mom and Bill met me there. I dropped off the trailer for Jessica to work with Copper on, because it's such a small trailer compared to Mom and Bill's. It took an hour to get him into their big trailer to take him to Jessica's, so we knew he'd take some work to get into our little two-horse, straight-load trailer.
Jessica had me do his whole routine - round pen work, ground work, and riding. He worked like a perfect gentleman and his power steering is much better than Skeeters. I know this after riding them back-to-back. He really was amazing. I spooked him once by slapping the saddle strings against my leg, but he recovered quickly.
When we were done, we headed back home to work with Miss Skeeter. She and I had a really bad work day on Friday and I wasn't comfortable working her by myself. When I say bad work day, I mean bad - she got all hard-eyed and kicked out at me a couple of times while working on the circle. I thought maybe just she and I were feeding our frustrations off of each other, so I had Jay work her and she did the same thing. One moment, perfect, soft-eyed and willing; the next, hard-eyed and kicking.
I had been bragging about how she'd gone through estrus without me even noticing a change in attitude and it bit me in the butt. I think she just wasn't feeling well post-estrus and was letting us both know. No matter the reason, I felt it prudent to wait until I had back-up just in case she was able to connect if she had more "episodes".
Of course, once I had more ground support, she was excellent. Truly amazing, which makes me believe even more that she was suffering from some post-estrus nastiness.
She was so good that I rode her (in her beautiful new saddle) around for about ten minutes.
And then Mom rode her around for about ten minutes ...
The stirrups were a bit short, but Mom made doFinally, Bill crawled up on her. By that time, she was pretty close to being done, so he only rode for about five minutes ...
If that look doesn't say "I'm done", I don't know what does.I'm pretty proud of her for being so good. Three different riders on a horse with less than fifty rides - only about five rides at home - without a fit is wonderful. I could not be more pleased with her.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been any more time to work with her this week, so the next time I'll be up on her will be at Mustang Days on Friday. This week has been filled with brand inspections and vet visits for their health papers. Jessica has been a God-send; she handled the brand inspector and the vet for Copper so I didn't have to take even more time off of work. Additionally, she has worked Copper with the trailer so when we go pick him up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday we shouldn't have a battle.
My hope is that Skeeter loads up nicely, because I haven't worked with her on it at all. She's been trailered places, but not in our trailer, though she has loaded up into it previously. Positive vibes for an easy loading at 4:30 a.m. would be appreciated.
Jessica had me do his whole routine - round pen work, ground work, and riding. He worked like a perfect gentleman and his power steering is much better than Skeeters. I know this after riding them back-to-back. He really was amazing. I spooked him once by slapping the saddle strings against my leg, but he recovered quickly.
When we were done, we headed back home to work with Miss Skeeter. She and I had a really bad work day on Friday and I wasn't comfortable working her by myself. When I say bad work day, I mean bad - she got all hard-eyed and kicked out at me a couple of times while working on the circle. I thought maybe just she and I were feeding our frustrations off of each other, so I had Jay work her and she did the same thing. One moment, perfect, soft-eyed and willing; the next, hard-eyed and kicking.
I had been bragging about how she'd gone through estrus without me even noticing a change in attitude and it bit me in the butt. I think she just wasn't feeling well post-estrus and was letting us both know. No matter the reason, I felt it prudent to wait until I had back-up just in case she was able to connect if she had more "episodes".
Of course, once I had more ground support, she was excellent. Truly amazing, which makes me believe even more that she was suffering from some post-estrus nastiness.
She was so good that I rode her (in her beautiful new saddle) around for about ten minutes.
And then Mom rode her around for about ten minutes ...
The stirrups were a bit short, but Mom made doFinally, Bill crawled up on her. By that time, she was pretty close to being done, so he only rode for about five minutes ...
If that look doesn't say "I'm done", I don't know what does.I'm pretty proud of her for being so good. Three different riders on a horse with less than fifty rides - only about five rides at home - without a fit is wonderful. I could not be more pleased with her.Unfortunately, there hasn't been any more time to work with her this week, so the next time I'll be up on her will be at Mustang Days on Friday. This week has been filled with brand inspections and vet visits for their health papers. Jessica has been a God-send; she handled the brand inspector and the vet for Copper so I didn't have to take even more time off of work. Additionally, she has worked Copper with the trailer so when we go pick him up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday we shouldn't have a battle.
My hope is that Skeeter loads up nicely, because I haven't worked with her on it at all. She's been trailered places, but not in our trailer, though she has loaded up into it previously. Positive vibes for an easy loading at 4:30 a.m. would be appreciated.
March 2, 2016
Our New Tack Room (f/k/a Living Room)
We took Jay's saddle to Jessica's on Sunday and determined that it fits Copper nicely. Without stirrups (irons, if you will), there was no riding being done in the saddle, but we at least knew it fit.
Sunday was a most excellent day because JAY RODE COPPER!!! We have video, Jay just needs to edit and upload it, but both he and Copper did so very well. I'm proud of both of them.
After his lesson, we went horse shopping to get things we needed for CMD. Important things like stirrups and silly things like feed bags and water buckets. Jay found a cute consignment tack shop in Longmont and they were awesome to work with. Since we had his saddle in the car from trying it on Copper, they suggested we bring it into the shop so we could try out blankets and stirrups to find the right combination of what we needed.
He chose some nice endurance-type stirrups and a pad thin enough to use under the saddle. The ladies at the shop were kind enough to not only put the stirrups on the saddle, but adjust them to fit him. Oh! And he was able to find the exact rein he's been looking for for almost a year.
Looks pretty good, doesn't it?We picked up some leather conditioner and are working it into the leather every few days. This saddle is going to ride completely different than the western saddle Copper has been worked in, so Jay's going to take it to Jessica's and have her start him in it.
We've been living with the saddle in the living room for a couple of days and I joked that it was becoming our tack room, but last night *my* new saddle was delivered and now the living room is really a tack room.
Jay's saddle was the first one I'd ever purchased, but the one I'm riding Skeeter in doesn't fit her well, so I ordered a new Wintec synthetic saddle for her and it came last night. I had to unbox it, but until I know it fits her (I'll try it on her tomorrow or Friday), I'm not taking all of the protective coverings off.
(We're using the broomstick to turn Jay's stirrups)
I made a tactical error in buying my new saddle though - it's black. Everything I own is brown, so I guess that means I need to buy Skeeter a new black headstall and reins. :)
We do actually have a tack room, but it's easier - for now - to have the saddles in the house. We can continue to work leather conditioner into Jay's saddle and I can continue to admire my new one. By Friday, the living room will be back to being a living room.
Sunday was a most excellent day because JAY RODE COPPER!!! We have video, Jay just needs to edit and upload it, but both he and Copper did so very well. I'm proud of both of them.
After his lesson, we went horse shopping to get things we needed for CMD. Important things like stirrups and silly things like feed bags and water buckets. Jay found a cute consignment tack shop in Longmont and they were awesome to work with. Since we had his saddle in the car from trying it on Copper, they suggested we bring it into the shop so we could try out blankets and stirrups to find the right combination of what we needed.
He chose some nice endurance-type stirrups and a pad thin enough to use under the saddle. The ladies at the shop were kind enough to not only put the stirrups on the saddle, but adjust them to fit him. Oh! And he was able to find the exact rein he's been looking for for almost a year.
Looks pretty good, doesn't it?We picked up some leather conditioner and are working it into the leather every few days. This saddle is going to ride completely different than the western saddle Copper has been worked in, so Jay's going to take it to Jessica's and have her start him in it.We've been living with the saddle in the living room for a couple of days and I joked that it was becoming our tack room, but last night *my* new saddle was delivered and now the living room is really a tack room.
Jay's saddle was the first one I'd ever purchased, but the one I'm riding Skeeter in doesn't fit her well, so I ordered a new Wintec synthetic saddle for her and it came last night. I had to unbox it, but until I know it fits her (I'll try it on her tomorrow or Friday), I'm not taking all of the protective coverings off.
(We're using the broomstick to turn Jay's stirrups)I made a tactical error in buying my new saddle though - it's black. Everything I own is brown, so I guess that means I need to buy Skeeter a new black headstall and reins. :)
We do actually have a tack room, but it's easier - for now - to have the saddles in the house. We can continue to work leather conditioner into Jay's saddle and I can continue to admire my new one. By Friday, the living room will be back to being a living room.
February 26, 2016
Skeeter's Field Trip
Colorado Mustang Days begins exactly two weeks from today.
My neighbor owns a riding school and has kindly agreed to let me use her arena in preparation for CMD. Today has been absolutely beautiful, so it was a perfect time to get to work. Skeets hasn't been ridden in almost a month (again). Our last ride was 1/29/16, but she has been so good. I haven't had much time other than just loving on her - no actual work has occurred, so I wasn't sure how today would go.
She was such a pro today. I spent some time grooming her while purred like a cat. She didn't actually purr, but if she was a cat, she would have been purring. Despite how ugly her mane is, I've decided to just leave it. She's a mustang - her mane doesn't have to be perfect. We did some circling work and I picked up her feet. She tried to tell me she didn't remember how to pick them up, but I reminded her that she did know how to do it and she finally picked them up nicely.
I tacked her up and headed out to my neighbor's. We'd visited once before, but just for a few minutes. I anticipated that she'd be distracted, so we did more circling work in the neighbor's driveway until she remembered I was the boss.
Once in the arena, we did even more circling work and direction changes until her brain engaged. My neighbor teaches young jumpers (kids), so there were some low jumps set up in the arena that we used as obstacles. She did a great job walking over the ground poles and a couple of the poles that were maybe 6-8" off the ground, so we went to some that were a little higher, maybe 10-12" and she dragged her back hooves over them. She didn't knock them over, but she didn't fully pick up her back feet either.
I knew I was stretching her a bit, but I then had her walk over the taller poles. She got her front hooves over well, but knocked them over with her back. I set up the poles and we tried it again. She dragged her back hooves again and knocked it down, so I set it up again and just left it.
I had gone over with the intention of riding, but knowing that if Skeets was not behaving or I felt in any way that it would be a bad idea, I would just abort and do in-hand work instead.
She was being so good that I went ahead and mounted up. I only rode about ten minutes, but it was a good ten minutes.
My neighbor owns a riding school and has kindly agreed to let me use her arena in preparation for CMD. Today has been absolutely beautiful, so it was a perfect time to get to work. Skeets hasn't been ridden in almost a month (again). Our last ride was 1/29/16, but she has been so good. I haven't had much time other than just loving on her - no actual work has occurred, so I wasn't sure how today would go.
She was such a pro today. I spent some time grooming her while purred like a cat. She didn't actually purr, but if she was a cat, she would have been purring. Despite how ugly her mane is, I've decided to just leave it. She's a mustang - her mane doesn't have to be perfect. We did some circling work and I picked up her feet. She tried to tell me she didn't remember how to pick them up, but I reminded her that she did know how to do it and she finally picked them up nicely.
I tacked her up and headed out to my neighbor's. We'd visited once before, but just for a few minutes. I anticipated that she'd be distracted, so we did more circling work in the neighbor's driveway until she remembered I was the boss.
Once in the arena, we did even more circling work and direction changes until her brain engaged. My neighbor teaches young jumpers (kids), so there were some low jumps set up in the arena that we used as obstacles. She did a great job walking over the ground poles and a couple of the poles that were maybe 6-8" off the ground, so we went to some that were a little higher, maybe 10-12" and she dragged her back hooves over them. She didn't knock them over, but she didn't fully pick up her back feet either.
I knew I was stretching her a bit, but I then had her walk over the taller poles. She got her front hooves over well, but knocked them over with her back. I set up the poles and we tried it again. She dragged her back hooves again and knocked it down, so I set it up again and just left it.
I had gone over with the intention of riding, but knowing that if Skeets was not behaving or I felt in any way that it would be a bad idea, I would just abort and do in-hand work instead.
She was being so good that I went ahead and mounted up. I only rode about ten minutes, but it was a good ten minutes.
February 25, 2016
Jay's New Saddle (Maybe)
My friend, Mrs Mom/Momma Bear/whatevershescallingherselfthisweek, has a bunch of tack that she's trying to get rid of for a friend of hers. Jay and Copper don't have a saddle, so I thought I'd do the friend of a friend thing and buy one of the used ones. She had an Aussie that looked like it would fit both Copper and Jay, so I bought it and had it shipped from Georgia to Colorado (God, the shipping was painful).
I've never bought a saddle in my life, now that I think about it. I've always used Mom's hand-me-downs from the livery. Hmm.
Anyway, when the UPS truck pulled up this morning, we were both pretty excited to see Jay's new-to-him saddle in real life.
The box was so big it almost didn't fit through our doorways.The saddle looks to be in good shape, though there are straps that I don't know anything about.
Please excuse the cat-damaged couch.At one point, I laid down a strap I had no clue about, shot a picture off to Mrs Mom and asked, "what the fuck this is?"
Apparently it's an over-girth. I've heard of 'em, not sure I've ever dealt with one by itself. Thank God for YouTube - I managed to find answers to all my questions about this crazy saddle and am now feeling much more confident.
Jay will take it with him to his lesson on Saturday to see if it fits Copper. If it does, we're golden. If not, Mr Mrs Mom wants it, so it'll get shipped back to Georgia.
And in other news ...
Gizmo has claimed the box as her own.
I've never bought a saddle in my life, now that I think about it. I've always used Mom's hand-me-downs from the livery. Hmm.
Anyway, when the UPS truck pulled up this morning, we were both pretty excited to see Jay's new-to-him saddle in real life.
The box was so big it almost didn't fit through our doorways.The saddle looks to be in good shape, though there are straps that I don't know anything about.
Please excuse the cat-damaged couch.At one point, I laid down a strap I had no clue about, shot a picture off to Mrs Mom and asked, "what the fuck this is?"Apparently it's an over-girth. I've heard of 'em, not sure I've ever dealt with one by itself. Thank God for YouTube - I managed to find answers to all my questions about this crazy saddle and am now feeling much more confident.
Jay will take it with him to his lesson on Saturday to see if it fits Copper. If it does, we're golden. If not, Mr Mrs Mom wants it, so it'll get shipped back to Georgia.
And in other news ...
Gizmo has claimed the box as her own.February 23, 2016
Jay's 4th Lesson
Since Jay and I have such weird opposite schedules, there's not always someone available to video his lessons. The weather has also slowed down Copper's training, so though he's been at Jessica's quite a while, not every day is a work day.
For Jay's 3rd lesson, Jay got to work in the round pen and on the lead line and then got to lean over Copper bareback. That lesson happened before we went to SHOT Show in January. Then the weather and work schedules screwed everything up again and Jay wasn't able to get to his 4th lesson until February 13th - almost a month later. I, unfortunately, had to work, but Jay was able to talk his brother into going to video tape his lesson.
Things are going well. Jay's a bit tentative around Copper, which makes Copper nervous, and it starts a whole cycle, so Jessica's suggestion is that Jay act silly around him - do random things when they're leading. You know, be obnoxious like Grandpa Bill.
(Warning: the wind noise is really bad, so watch with the sound off.)
At the end of the lesson, Jay stepped up into the stirrup! Copper has been ridden by Jessica and her student, but Jay's getting closer and closer to his first ride too! It's pretty exciting to see the progression.
On Monday (2/22), Jay had another quick lesson, in which Jessica had him doing all of the work with Copper from beginning to end (no video). They ended the session with Jay sitting astride Copper for the first time. I'm so sad I wasn't there to see it (stupid adulting). He's got another lesson scheduled for Saturday - maybe he'll get to take a few steps at that point. I'll be working again, so I'll miss it (again), but I can't wait to hear how it goes.
Jessica and Jay have decided that Copper is going to stay at her place until the morning we leave for Colorado Mustang Days. Jessica thinks it would be too much stress for him to go home for a week, only to have his world uprooted again - plus that gives her an extra week or so with him.
CMD is coming up so fast! Jay's decided to do his classes in-hand with Copper and I'll ride in my classes, unless we just fall apart. The beauty of the open CMD classes is that everyone understands the point we're starting from and is so supportive. We're both just going for the experience.
For Jay's 3rd lesson, Jay got to work in the round pen and on the lead line and then got to lean over Copper bareback. That lesson happened before we went to SHOT Show in January. Then the weather and work schedules screwed everything up again and Jay wasn't able to get to his 4th lesson until February 13th - almost a month later. I, unfortunately, had to work, but Jay was able to talk his brother into going to video tape his lesson.
Things are going well. Jay's a bit tentative around Copper, which makes Copper nervous, and it starts a whole cycle, so Jessica's suggestion is that Jay act silly around him - do random things when they're leading. You know, be obnoxious like Grandpa Bill.
(Warning: the wind noise is really bad, so watch with the sound off.)
At the end of the lesson, Jay stepped up into the stirrup! Copper has been ridden by Jessica and her student, but Jay's getting closer and closer to his first ride too! It's pretty exciting to see the progression.
On Monday (2/22), Jay had another quick lesson, in which Jessica had him doing all of the work with Copper from beginning to end (no video). They ended the session with Jay sitting astride Copper for the first time. I'm so sad I wasn't there to see it (stupid adulting). He's got another lesson scheduled for Saturday - maybe he'll get to take a few steps at that point. I'll be working again, so I'll miss it (again), but I can't wait to hear how it goes.
Jessica and Jay have decided that Copper is going to stay at her place until the morning we leave for Colorado Mustang Days. Jessica thinks it would be too much stress for him to go home for a week, only to have his world uprooted again - plus that gives her an extra week or so with him.
CMD is coming up so fast! Jay's decided to do his classes in-hand with Copper and I'll ride in my classes, unless we just fall apart. The beauty of the open CMD classes is that everyone understands the point we're starting from and is so supportive. We're both just going for the experience.
February 1, 2016
Grandpa Bill's Turn
Bill has been on Skeeter before - last year when we were just getting her used to having weight on her back - but no one has ridden Skeeter other than me since she came back from Jessica's.
Mom really wanted to ride, but she's having trouble with one of her hips and decided to wait until after she sees the orthopod on Thursday.
When I dismounted, Skeeter was still doing so well, I asked Bill if he wanted to ride and he jumped at the chance.
I was so proud of her!
Mom really wanted to ride, but she's having trouble with one of her hips and decided to wait until after she sees the orthopod on Thursday.
When I dismounted, Skeeter was still doing so well, I asked Bill if he wanted to ride and he jumped at the chance.
I was so proud of her!
January 31, 2016
Breakthrough!
The weather was gorgeous on Friday - 58*F, sun, and no wind! I had to get in the pen and work with Skeeter. The constant sun/cold/sun/cold had made sheets of ice outside of the pen, so surprisingly the pen had the best footing.
I hadn't been up on Skeeter in a while - about a month. It's been a long time. I had intended to ride her the day we fell apart, and that had been a couple of weeks since our previous ride. I was absolutely determined to get up, even if was only to flex her each way. Things on the ground went so well that I hopped up and we rode around the pen for a little bit. She's quieter with the combo bit than with the snaffle and much more responsive to it. When I dismounted, I was on cloud nine! It was by far the best work day we'd had in a very long time.
Saturday was supposed to be our last nice day for a while, so Mom planned on coming down. After only one day of riding in the pen I knew I'd get bored in no time, so I spent Friday night plotting ways to make it more interesting.
We have a big pallet that we'd been planning on using for a bridge, so I knew I'd pull that out to walk over. Then I started thinking about the scraps we have around the house and came up with some PVC pipes. They aren't very long, but I could pound them into the ground and have 'poles' to work on turning. I was starting to get excited.
When Mom and Bill got to our place on Saturday, I remembered we had some wood things that could be used to hold trot poles, but I didn't have any poles. But we do still have the long 2x4s that we used to extend the pens to 6' tall.
In no time, between Mom, Bill, Jay and I, we'd constructed a make-shift obstacle course. I caught Skeeter and walked her through it.
(She looks cresty, but it's her mane growing back. She rubbed chunks of her mane off on the feeder while at Jessica's.)
She did pretty good, so it was time to mount up and RIDE! :)
I hadn't been up on Skeeter in a while - about a month. It's been a long time. I had intended to ride her the day we fell apart, and that had been a couple of weeks since our previous ride. I was absolutely determined to get up, even if was only to flex her each way. Things on the ground went so well that I hopped up and we rode around the pen for a little bit. She's quieter with the combo bit than with the snaffle and much more responsive to it. When I dismounted, I was on cloud nine! It was by far the best work day we'd had in a very long time.
Saturday was supposed to be our last nice day for a while, so Mom planned on coming down. After only one day of riding in the pen I knew I'd get bored in no time, so I spent Friday night plotting ways to make it more interesting.
We have a big pallet that we'd been planning on using for a bridge, so I knew I'd pull that out to walk over. Then I started thinking about the scraps we have around the house and came up with some PVC pipes. They aren't very long, but I could pound them into the ground and have 'poles' to work on turning. I was starting to get excited.
When Mom and Bill got to our place on Saturday, I remembered we had some wood things that could be used to hold trot poles, but I didn't have any poles. But we do still have the long 2x4s that we used to extend the pens to 6' tall.
In no time, between Mom, Bill, Jay and I, we'd constructed a make-shift obstacle course. I caught Skeeter and walked her through it.
(She looks cresty, but it's her mane growing back. She rubbed chunks of her mane off on the feeder while at Jessica's.)
She did pretty good, so it was time to mount up and RIDE! :)
January 16, 2016
Doing It My Way, Part II
I had realized the night before that I was trying to be someone I wasn't and that was killing my confidence. I was constantly second-guessing myself, wondering if I was doing it "right".
I woke up excited to work Skeeter. We didn't have a lot of time, but I was going to work her by my rules.
Holy cow, what a difference a day (and a change in attitude) makes. My confidence came flooding back and Skeeter snapped right to.
Julie always says to use the amount of pressure that motivates change. I was trying to be nice and quiet, with very subtle cues, but that wasn't cutting it. Once I went back to what I know I felt so much better.
I asked, expected her to do what I asked and if she didn't, I immediately escalated. For example, she's a bitch about backing. She would evade the correction by just raising her head without moving her feet. However, once I changed my attitude she didn't even think about evading. I gave the lead rope a slight wiggle to ask her to back and she didn't, so I immediately escalated and told her to move with a big, scary correction. After the first correction, it took just a wiggle of the rope to get her to back up. After that, all I had to do was wiggle my finger without moving the rope.
We did circling work (again, I don't think we'll ever be done with that), lots of change of direction, backing, and standing ground tied. She's by no means perfect after one session with the "new" me, but leaps and bounds better than with the "faux" me.
It was a much shorter session than the day before, but when we ended both of us were in a much better place mentally. I'm actually looking forward to working with her again. I hadn't realized that I was dreading working with her before, but now I realize how much my lack of confidence was weighing on me.
I woke up excited to work Skeeter. We didn't have a lot of time, but I was going to work her by my rules.
Holy cow, what a difference a day (and a change in attitude) makes. My confidence came flooding back and Skeeter snapped right to.
Julie always says to use the amount of pressure that motivates change. I was trying to be nice and quiet, with very subtle cues, but that wasn't cutting it. Once I went back to what I know I felt so much better.
I asked, expected her to do what I asked and if she didn't, I immediately escalated. For example, she's a bitch about backing. She would evade the correction by just raising her head without moving her feet. However, once I changed my attitude she didn't even think about evading. I gave the lead rope a slight wiggle to ask her to back and she didn't, so I immediately escalated and told her to move with a big, scary correction. After the first correction, it took just a wiggle of the rope to get her to back up. After that, all I had to do was wiggle my finger without moving the rope.
We did circling work (again, I don't think we'll ever be done with that), lots of change of direction, backing, and standing ground tied. She's by no means perfect after one session with the "new" me, but leaps and bounds better than with the "faux" me.
It was a much shorter session than the day before, but when we ended both of us were in a much better place mentally. I'm actually looking forward to working with her again. I hadn't realized that I was dreading working with her before, but now I realize how much my lack of confidence was weighing on me.
