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I worked with Billie yesterday afternoon, having not worked with her in months. It's almost like starting over, but not quite. She's testing me to find out if I remember the rules. We did okay, and I had her go both directions in the round pen free lunging. I want to work back up to getting a halter on her and eventually lunging/ground working her for starters. My ultimate goal is to get her ready to be at the farm with the boys. She'll have to be a lot more broke before we will do that; it's all baby steps.
The boys at the farm got peddies today. Decker got a new set of shoes, and Al, Bo, and Ghost got trimmed. Bo also had to make a trip to the vet for a swelling on his jaw. The vet is pretty sure it is an abcess caused by the splinters of the cactus plants that end up all over these guys. What a pain. But he loaded on the trailer like a trooper--we haven't loaded him since we brought him to the farm over a year ago.
Thought I'd try riding Decker today after he got his shoes. He's learned to fit in at the farm and seems quite happy. But why did I think that he'd be ready for a ride? When I got on his back he started prancing around and tossing his head right there next to the barb wire fence. Yikes! I dismounted quick as I could and gave him a lunge. Guess I'll have to try riding next time when we can be out there for a bit longer, including a lunge.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Changing my focus
This blog has been about my adventures halter-breaking Billie, a mustang I brought home with the help of the Mustange Heritage Foundation.
It is now time to shift the focus because I have a total of 5 horses in my life and I can't just write about the one anymore.
For instance, this weekend I moved my showhorse, Sir Decker, to the farm, and it made for a doozie of a weekend adventure. I decided to move him for financial reasons, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue riding him as a show hunter, plus find more time to spend with my trail horses at the farm. The trail horses, Bo and Al, have been at the farm since December 2007. Ghost, my retired thoroughbred hunter (retired for health reasons) moved out to be with the quarterhorses at the farm last spring. I had hoped to move Decker to the farm in September, but changed my mind when it seemed too complicated. Well, money talks, as they say, it was time to cut some expenses, and moving Decker seemed like a good choice.
We'd been talking about making a move sometime this month (January), and last week I was trying to pin Charles down on a date. After all, it was time to pay board again--should I pay for the month? for a couple of weeks? What? Friday mid-morning, I brought it up again because I was on my way out the door to ride, and should leave a check for board.
After a few minutes of chatting, it was decided that Friday was as good a day as any, and we had a few days that I could spend out at the farm to help with the transition. So mid-day Friday, we drove out to Lucy's, loaded up all mine and Decker's crap, and took him to the farm. I got a few days rations to tie us over till I could switch to a new food, thinking to pick up the new feed on the way.
Problem #1: No one seems to be carrying the feed I was set on switching to! The feed at Lucy's is a super nice feed, but wholesales for close to $40 per bag--not in my budget. The feed I was hoping to switch to is Farnam's Platform Performance.
Well, we wasted close to an hour stopping at a couple of feed stores, to no avail. I called a few others Saturday morning, but nobody has seen this feed on the shelves for a few months. Not a good omen. Topping this off, getting the other horse feed has been hit or miss at best. The other horses (the other 4) get Farnam's Pleasure Horse. They all look really good, except for Ghost who is a hard keeper at best. But the rest have wonderful shiny coats, good feed, yada yada, so I'm sold on Platform feeds. What I'm not sold on is the lack of options to purchase it.
We made it out to the farm about 3:30 on Friday, needing to leave by 5:30 to make dinnner in town at 6pm. Decker was a good boy and went into the pen at the barn with no problem. Funny how the other horses at the farm seemed to know something was up and they all came galloping up to the barn just as I was untying the rope halter. Decker's pen was separated from the other horses by about 30 feet. They could all see each other, but nobody was going to get to directly interact. Decker was absolutely not interested in the other horses. He has his eye welded to the pasture scene where about 20 cattle reside. I think he was wishing to be let out in the pasture.
Al, Bo, and Ghost stayed in the other end of the pen the whole time we were at the farm. I put down a big flake of hay for Decker, he had water buckets full, and I decided that since he was not interested in hay, just he cattle pasture scene, the skipping supper rations was a good option.
We got back to the farm about 8pm, so I checked on all the boys at the barn. Decker still was ignoring the other equines for the most part, and seemed a bit more settled. He'd not drunk much water, but seemed to have eaten some hay. I put more down, and went to bed. I heard him whinny a few times in the night, most likely when the others would leave the barn pens.
In the morning, I first went to check on everybody. All four were at the barn, Decker in his insulated from everybody pen. He'd only had a little water, a bit conerning, and I couldn't tell he'd eaten any more hay. I put feed out for everybody, and Decker seemed to get started eating his. Then I went to get my own breakfast.
Later, I went back to the barn, and decided to let Decker out of his pen and into the bigger pen where he could interact with the other horses over the fence. I planned to stay and scoop poop. I scooped 3 wheel barrows full, in between shouting to break up equine interactions, and then it was time for lunch.
Lunch seemed to be taking awhile, so I went back up to check on everybody at the barn. I realized at this time that Decker had not eaten his breakfast--I don't know what I saw when his head was in the bucket and he was munching--I took for granted that he was eating. He was not eating hay or alfalfa, and he was doing his superman stretch for all he was worth. He'd been in the water trough, drinking--I thought, but he may have just been playing in the water with his new "friends" (the trough spans through the fence).
I decided it was time to call the vet for a shot--superman stretches are not a good sign.
The vet arrived within the hour. Decker seemed okay except for not wanting to eat or drink and playing superman. $200 and an hour later, he seemed perfectly fine, was drinking water, and seemed ready for hay.
After a few more hours, I decided to risk putting him out with the other guys. He already had a few battle scars from fence play, and the other horses would not be hanging around at the barn for ever. Getting him out on the house lot was, thankfully, not as full of drama as when we put Ghost out there. There were no races going on across the pasture, but there was much more jockeying for position, mainly with Bo, low man on the equine list at the farm.
I had locked the horses out of the barn pens for safety, so this morning had to go find them to bring them in for feeding. Decker ate his usual rations, Ghost got full rations, and Al & Bo ate their fill. Decker and Ghost had battle wounds addressed--Decker always gets really beat up! Then everybody was let back out for grazing, including a new round bale of coastal.
Later, Charles & I made a trek to Tractor Supply in Georgetown and bought panels and gates to make feeding pens for everybody. We tried them out this afternoon--another drama. Ghost was led into the first one, and as soon as the gate was shut, he started freaking out. I was sure he was going to burst through! Decker went into a pen next to Ghost, and that made Ghost mad again. Decker is a stall horse, so he was quite content to be in a stall. Good things happen in a stall, like food! Next, we were able to get Al to go into a stall, and he wanted right back out. He was not as big a fool as Ghost, but he definitely does not think horses belong in stalls. Last, I spent about 10 minutes coaxing Bo, Mr. Difficult, into a stall. Once everybody had a bucket of feed, the doubters settled. It took a bit longer for Al & Bo to figure out that there was also hay on the floor--it's a pretty good gig in a stall, you know.
When everybody had eaten and was mostly finished with hay, it was time to exit, another fun time. It was not as wild as entering the stalls, but not a lot less confusing for certain equines. When they were all safely out of the stalls, and seemed to be getting along, Charles & I left the barn pens to get ready to go home.
When we left, the horses were all camped around the round bale on the other side of the house lot. The house lot is 21 acres.
It is now time to shift the focus because I have a total of 5 horses in my life and I can't just write about the one anymore.
For instance, this weekend I moved my showhorse, Sir Decker, to the farm, and it made for a doozie of a weekend adventure. I decided to move him for financial reasons, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue riding him as a show hunter, plus find more time to spend with my trail horses at the farm. The trail horses, Bo and Al, have been at the farm since December 2007. Ghost, my retired thoroughbred hunter (retired for health reasons) moved out to be with the quarterhorses at the farm last spring. I had hoped to move Decker to the farm in September, but changed my mind when it seemed too complicated. Well, money talks, as they say, it was time to cut some expenses, and moving Decker seemed like a good choice.
We'd been talking about making a move sometime this month (January), and last week I was trying to pin Charles down on a date. After all, it was time to pay board again--should I pay for the month? for a couple of weeks? What? Friday mid-morning, I brought it up again because I was on my way out the door to ride, and should leave a check for board.
After a few minutes of chatting, it was decided that Friday was as good a day as any, and we had a few days that I could spend out at the farm to help with the transition. So mid-day Friday, we drove out to Lucy's, loaded up all mine and Decker's crap, and took him to the farm. I got a few days rations to tie us over till I could switch to a new food, thinking to pick up the new feed on the way.
Problem #1: No one seems to be carrying the feed I was set on switching to! The feed at Lucy's is a super nice feed, but wholesales for close to $40 per bag--not in my budget. The feed I was hoping to switch to is Farnam's Platform Performance.
Well, we wasted close to an hour stopping at a couple of feed stores, to no avail. I called a few others Saturday morning, but nobody has seen this feed on the shelves for a few months. Not a good omen. Topping this off, getting the other horse feed has been hit or miss at best. The other horses (the other 4) get Farnam's Pleasure Horse. They all look really good, except for Ghost who is a hard keeper at best. But the rest have wonderful shiny coats, good feed, yada yada, so I'm sold on Platform feeds. What I'm not sold on is the lack of options to purchase it.
We made it out to the farm about 3:30 on Friday, needing to leave by 5:30 to make dinnner in town at 6pm. Decker was a good boy and went into the pen at the barn with no problem. Funny how the other horses at the farm seemed to know something was up and they all came galloping up to the barn just as I was untying the rope halter. Decker's pen was separated from the other horses by about 30 feet. They could all see each other, but nobody was going to get to directly interact. Decker was absolutely not interested in the other horses. He has his eye welded to the pasture scene where about 20 cattle reside. I think he was wishing to be let out in the pasture.
Al, Bo, and Ghost stayed in the other end of the pen the whole time we were at the farm. I put down a big flake of hay for Decker, he had water buckets full, and I decided that since he was not interested in hay, just he cattle pasture scene, the skipping supper rations was a good option.
We got back to the farm about 8pm, so I checked on all the boys at the barn. Decker still was ignoring the other equines for the most part, and seemed a bit more settled. He'd not drunk much water, but seemed to have eaten some hay. I put more down, and went to bed. I heard him whinny a few times in the night, most likely when the others would leave the barn pens.
In the morning, I first went to check on everybody. All four were at the barn, Decker in his insulated from everybody pen. He'd only had a little water, a bit conerning, and I couldn't tell he'd eaten any more hay. I put feed out for everybody, and Decker seemed to get started eating his. Then I went to get my own breakfast.
Later, I went back to the barn, and decided to let Decker out of his pen and into the bigger pen where he could interact with the other horses over the fence. I planned to stay and scoop poop. I scooped 3 wheel barrows full, in between shouting to break up equine interactions, and then it was time for lunch.
Lunch seemed to be taking awhile, so I went back up to check on everybody at the barn. I realized at this time that Decker had not eaten his breakfast--I don't know what I saw when his head was in the bucket and he was munching--I took for granted that he was eating. He was not eating hay or alfalfa, and he was doing his superman stretch for all he was worth. He'd been in the water trough, drinking--I thought, but he may have just been playing in the water with his new "friends" (the trough spans through the fence).
I decided it was time to call the vet for a shot--superman stretches are not a good sign.
The vet arrived within the hour. Decker seemed okay except for not wanting to eat or drink and playing superman. $200 and an hour later, he seemed perfectly fine, was drinking water, and seemed ready for hay.
After a few more hours, I decided to risk putting him out with the other guys. He already had a few battle scars from fence play, and the other horses would not be hanging around at the barn for ever. Getting him out on the house lot was, thankfully, not as full of drama as when we put Ghost out there. There were no races going on across the pasture, but there was much more jockeying for position, mainly with Bo, low man on the equine list at the farm.
I had locked the horses out of the barn pens for safety, so this morning had to go find them to bring them in for feeding. Decker ate his usual rations, Ghost got full rations, and Al & Bo ate their fill. Decker and Ghost had battle wounds addressed--Decker always gets really beat up! Then everybody was let back out for grazing, including a new round bale of coastal.
Later, Charles & I made a trek to Tractor Supply in Georgetown and bought panels and gates to make feeding pens for everybody. We tried them out this afternoon--another drama. Ghost was led into the first one, and as soon as the gate was shut, he started freaking out. I was sure he was going to burst through! Decker went into a pen next to Ghost, and that made Ghost mad again. Decker is a stall horse, so he was quite content to be in a stall. Good things happen in a stall, like food! Next, we were able to get Al to go into a stall, and he wanted right back out. He was not as big a fool as Ghost, but he definitely does not think horses belong in stalls. Last, I spent about 10 minutes coaxing Bo, Mr. Difficult, into a stall. Once everybody had a bucket of feed, the doubters settled. It took a bit longer for Al & Bo to figure out that there was also hay on the floor--it's a pretty good gig in a stall, you know.
When everybody had eaten and was mostly finished with hay, it was time to exit, another fun time. It was not as wild as entering the stalls, but not a lot less confusing for certain equines. When they were all safely out of the stalls, and seemed to be getting along, Charles & I left the barn pens to get ready to go home.
When we left, the horses were all camped around the round bale on the other side of the house lot. The house lot is 21 acres.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
September 18, 2008
I am exhausted. We got back to the room a bit ago, and I got to have a little nap. It felt like dead sleep. Now we head back to the place for schmoozing with the press and the talent show.
Charles was a giant help today. He's getting into leading Miss Billie around and seems unfazed enough that she can relax and show her good girl side.
Our competition was today; we survived. Charles took her out while I went to the walk-through meeting. The course was no big deal, and we got to talk with the judges and ask questions. My turn was posted at the very end (3rd from last), so I figured I could watch a few. It's amazing how entering a huge arena with a lone baby horse changes the angel at the end of the lead into something else. Lots of "mistakes" were happening, some from nervous handlers (thank goodness I'm not the only one) and a bunch from nervous whinnying yearlings. About 10 into the list came two really good trips. Nice to see. I want to emulate, right?
Charles met me in the arena with a good report on Billie. After a bit, we headed over to the barn to check on her and start to get ready. That's when I heard the announcement that my ring was doing away with the list, and please just come when you are ready. Crap. So I got dressed in my nicer duds, pulled the boots on, brushed the horse out (no bath, thank you) and we made our way to the same arena we practiced in last night. There is a warm-up area right there and we went in. This was no angel on the end of my lead. She lunged a little, fitting a few bucks in, mostly trotting, mostly to the right. She managed a few piaffs, just to keep me on my toes. The best ones came while I was trotting her around the warm-up area. I then decided to head down for our body conditioning score, since everybody had left the warm-up area and this might be part of our behaviour issue. She seemed to settle a little, but started pawing pawing pawing. What does that mean? She want to roll, roll, roll. In the warm-up area, I finally saw someone else's yearling roll. Hurray! It's not just mine!
Billie stood for about half of our conditioning scoring time. I think they will count off for fidgets. Then we had to wait a bit more to actually go into the ring. I took her outside to the concrete, thinking that this would keep her from wanting to roll. Every time she'd paw, I'd make a right-hand turn (one of our maneuvers). By this time, the butterflies were roiling. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. But I need to present this little filly like we just got offered a million bucks, right?
We headed in for our turn. This started out okay. I went to the first cone; we paused till acknowledged by the judges (I remembered). Then we walked toward the stock trailer to load and unload (our one good trick). Billie was breathing so hard, so I kept saying good girl, good girl. We turned to make the trailer approach, I stepped up, she paused like she does, she sniffed, she put one front hoof, she put the other front hoof, she stopped. She started to heave herself onto the trailer. She stopped. She backed off the trailer. Oops. I invited her again to join me in the trailer. She said "no thank you" and made to back away, a new trick. Oops. So I decided we were nixing the rest of the trailer load/unload. We walked to the next cone. We made our 360 turn to the right. It was not our best, but she was worried. We stopped. This was the time to pick up feet. I picked up LF. I went to pick up LH--she moved. Tried again and got it. I went to her RF. She waddled away, but I got it. She was having none of RH, moving moving moving, so I just ran my hand down her leg to show I know that's what I'm supposed to do. Somewhere in this maneuver, she ended up in the air, but we continued on.
Next, we trot. We are headed over the low jump, then through a serpentine of cones. I think we made it over the jump (maybe she walked while I trotted?) and she was trotting when we entered the cones. Then she was airborn again and having a fit. Continue continue use the energy yada yada. I bailed at this point and decided that we would walk the rest, if we could trot we would. We walked to the box; she was leaning in on me as I was pushing out on her. She kind of turned the 90 degrees, kind of backed and turned into the chute. Definitely walked out of the chute. We were supposed to trot a curved set of poles over to the exit poles. We started to trot, and she started to leap, so we finished with a walk.
I was in tears as we exited, not in disappointment, I don't think, but sheer terror. Charles took her over from me and she quietly led back to the barn.
Later, another gal told me that they gave up on the list since so many had to scratch, not being able to get to the arena in the first place. I'm shocked. At least we made it there. I spoke with one of our judges, Ken McNabb, and he told me to consider that at least I was out there working to make the mustang accessible. It doesn't matter how my trip went. He said some other things, too, to help me to see where I should be proud of my job done, and I am. It's nice to have it put in perspective: an untouched animal 100 days ago trusts me quite a bit today. It's not perfect, but I have no experience and am learning as I go. It's really a great thing.
Charles was a giant help today. He's getting into leading Miss Billie around and seems unfazed enough that she can relax and show her good girl side.
Our competition was today; we survived. Charles took her out while I went to the walk-through meeting. The course was no big deal, and we got to talk with the judges and ask questions. My turn was posted at the very end (3rd from last), so I figured I could watch a few. It's amazing how entering a huge arena with a lone baby horse changes the angel at the end of the lead into something else. Lots of "mistakes" were happening, some from nervous handlers (thank goodness I'm not the only one) and a bunch from nervous whinnying yearlings. About 10 into the list came two really good trips. Nice to see. I want to emulate, right?
Charles met me in the arena with a good report on Billie. After a bit, we headed over to the barn to check on her and start to get ready. That's when I heard the announcement that my ring was doing away with the list, and please just come when you are ready. Crap. So I got dressed in my nicer duds, pulled the boots on, brushed the horse out (no bath, thank you) and we made our way to the same arena we practiced in last night. There is a warm-up area right there and we went in. This was no angel on the end of my lead. She lunged a little, fitting a few bucks in, mostly trotting, mostly to the right. She managed a few piaffs, just to keep me on my toes. The best ones came while I was trotting her around the warm-up area. I then decided to head down for our body conditioning score, since everybody had left the warm-up area and this might be part of our behaviour issue. She seemed to settle a little, but started pawing pawing pawing. What does that mean? She want to roll, roll, roll. In the warm-up area, I finally saw someone else's yearling roll. Hurray! It's not just mine!
Billie stood for about half of our conditioning scoring time. I think they will count off for fidgets. Then we had to wait a bit more to actually go into the ring. I took her outside to the concrete, thinking that this would keep her from wanting to roll. Every time she'd paw, I'd make a right-hand turn (one of our maneuvers). By this time, the butterflies were roiling. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. But I need to present this little filly like we just got offered a million bucks, right?
We headed in for our turn. This started out okay. I went to the first cone; we paused till acknowledged by the judges (I remembered). Then we walked toward the stock trailer to load and unload (our one good trick). Billie was breathing so hard, so I kept saying good girl, good girl. We turned to make the trailer approach, I stepped up, she paused like she does, she sniffed, she put one front hoof, she put the other front hoof, she stopped. She started to heave herself onto the trailer. She stopped. She backed off the trailer. Oops. I invited her again to join me in the trailer. She said "no thank you" and made to back away, a new trick. Oops. So I decided we were nixing the rest of the trailer load/unload. We walked to the next cone. We made our 360 turn to the right. It was not our best, but she was worried. We stopped. This was the time to pick up feet. I picked up LF. I went to pick up LH--she moved. Tried again and got it. I went to her RF. She waddled away, but I got it. She was having none of RH, moving moving moving, so I just ran my hand down her leg to show I know that's what I'm supposed to do. Somewhere in this maneuver, she ended up in the air, but we continued on.
Next, we trot. We are headed over the low jump, then through a serpentine of cones. I think we made it over the jump (maybe she walked while I trotted?) and she was trotting when we entered the cones. Then she was airborn again and having a fit. Continue continue use the energy yada yada. I bailed at this point and decided that we would walk the rest, if we could trot we would. We walked to the box; she was leaning in on me as I was pushing out on her. She kind of turned the 90 degrees, kind of backed and turned into the chute. Definitely walked out of the chute. We were supposed to trot a curved set of poles over to the exit poles. We started to trot, and she started to leap, so we finished with a walk.
I was in tears as we exited, not in disappointment, I don't think, but sheer terror. Charles took her over from me and she quietly led back to the barn.
Later, another gal told me that they gave up on the list since so many had to scratch, not being able to get to the arena in the first place. I'm shocked. At least we made it there. I spoke with one of our judges, Ken McNabb, and he told me to consider that at least I was out there working to make the mustang accessible. It doesn't matter how my trip went. He said some other things, too, to help me to see where I should be proud of my job done, and I am. It's nice to have it put in perspective: an untouched animal 100 days ago trusts me quite a bit today. It's not perfect, but I have no experience and am learning as I go. It's really a great thing.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
September 17, 2008
We've had a lot of good work since the clinic in Marble Falls. Monday, I realized that I probably should try lunging Billie since I'd not done that yet, and with her staying in a stall for a few days it might be a good skill to have under our belt. Bev helped me with this on Monday. I nearly had a heart attack, too. Way too exciting for my likes. Bev handled the first part of getting her going around on the lunge line. Okay, really, Bev handled the wild maniac at the end of the lunge line till she settled down, then she turned her over to me. Something about using the energy that's there. Whatever.
I'm still having trouble directing this excess energy that Billie creates. No, really, it's gotten better, my reaction to it, but it's still coming out. What can I say...she's a horse.
I lunged her in all corners of the ring, till finally she had no more energy left. Then, she had to roll in the sand at the end of my lunge line. Not funny. But no exploding horse as I ended up with Sunday.
Don't you know, this morning we loaded her up to head to Ft. Worth. She was pretty good loading. Then the long ride in the trailer. Still good. Then unloading in Ft. Worth. Amazingly good horse. Sure, she looked around, had a startle or two, but really an absolutely trusting horse. After a bit we headed over to get her brand checked. They ended up shaving the hairs above the brand, and now it stands out really nicely. She was actually pretty good with the clippers! After, I took her in a practice ring to lunge. She was so hard to get going. I kept having the feeling that the little smartie-pants was getting ready to roll. Know what? She did! How embarrassing! One gal on horseback laughed and not too nicely. She quickly apologized, but big deal. We survived, and no exploding horse, thank God. She spooked periodically at the weird noises, yada yada, but generally seemed to relax.
I put her back into her stall, fed her, brushed her, then headed over for the marathon trainer meeting. Later, I took her over to our arena for a practice session, or should I say the practice session from hell? Let's see...it was crowded...some trainers were lunging/reprimanding/showing off in the arena. Then, some fool was moving chairs that scraped acrosss the concrete. Next, the same fool was dragging a heavy metal table/stand across same concrete. It's so much fun to have a bucking horse at the end of a lunge line while the other fools are lunging/reprimanding their horses right behind you...NOT. A bit later, some crackling noise, maybe a pop-gun? went off--Billie ran almost over me, made me fall, I did not loose the line, and she did a nice bring-the-hind and then came back to me as I got back up. Ouch. Oh, yeah, she rolled...again...what a pain. Some nice old guy tried to make me feel better (again, someone was laughing rudely) by telling me that Billie must feel very comfortable/trusting in my presence in order to feel comfortable enough to roll in this strange environment with all these horse around. Whatever. So, I'll try to take this as a pseudo-compliment. To ice our cake of a crappy warm-up (yes, there WERE some good moments), Billie flipped out while trotting over a raised pole (I didn't notice what the impetus was) and ran over me, slipped out of my hands, and was loose in the arena. Yikes. Of course, she circled back to me and wanted me to take up the lead again. What a baby. My goose is cooked. I'm really not having so much fun.
Oh, and I found out tonight that I go 68 in a total of 70 competitors. Isn't that fun? The event starts at 8am with the walk through with the judges. Great. Actually, this should give me lots of time to watch a lot of the others, learn the course, and lunge my maniac mustang. A good thing, right? Of course. Maybe I can get her to roll before we head into the arena. I can hope.
I'm still having trouble directing this excess energy that Billie creates. No, really, it's gotten better, my reaction to it, but it's still coming out. What can I say...she's a horse.
I lunged her in all corners of the ring, till finally she had no more energy left. Then, she had to roll in the sand at the end of my lunge line. Not funny. But no exploding horse as I ended up with Sunday.
Don't you know, this morning we loaded her up to head to Ft. Worth. She was pretty good loading. Then the long ride in the trailer. Still good. Then unloading in Ft. Worth. Amazingly good horse. Sure, she looked around, had a startle or two, but really an absolutely trusting horse. After a bit we headed over to get her brand checked. They ended up shaving the hairs above the brand, and now it stands out really nicely. She was actually pretty good with the clippers! After, I took her in a practice ring to lunge. She was so hard to get going. I kept having the feeling that the little smartie-pants was getting ready to roll. Know what? She did! How embarrassing! One gal on horseback laughed and not too nicely. She quickly apologized, but big deal. We survived, and no exploding horse, thank God. She spooked periodically at the weird noises, yada yada, but generally seemed to relax.
I put her back into her stall, fed her, brushed her, then headed over for the marathon trainer meeting. Later, I took her over to our arena for a practice session, or should I say the practice session from hell? Let's see...it was crowded...some trainers were lunging/reprimanding/showing off in the arena. Then, some fool was moving chairs that scraped acrosss the concrete. Next, the same fool was dragging a heavy metal table/stand across same concrete. It's so much fun to have a bucking horse at the end of a lunge line while the other fools are lunging/reprimanding their horses right behind you...NOT. A bit later, some crackling noise, maybe a pop-gun? went off--Billie ran almost over me, made me fall, I did not loose the line, and she did a nice bring-the-hind and then came back to me as I got back up. Ouch. Oh, yeah, she rolled...again...what a pain. Some nice old guy tried to make me feel better (again, someone was laughing rudely) by telling me that Billie must feel very comfortable/trusting in my presence in order to feel comfortable enough to roll in this strange environment with all these horse around. Whatever. So, I'll try to take this as a pseudo-compliment. To ice our cake of a crappy warm-up (yes, there WERE some good moments), Billie flipped out while trotting over a raised pole (I didn't notice what the impetus was) and ran over me, slipped out of my hands, and was loose in the arena. Yikes. Of course, she circled back to me and wanted me to take up the lead again. What a baby. My goose is cooked. I'm really not having so much fun.
Oh, and I found out tonight that I go 68 in a total of 70 competitors. Isn't that fun? The event starts at 8am with the walk through with the judges. Great. Actually, this should give me lots of time to watch a lot of the others, learn the course, and lunge my maniac mustang. A good thing, right? Of course. Maybe I can get her to roll before we head into the arena. I can hope.
Monday, September 1, 2008
September 1, 2008
I am exhausted and as red as a lobster.
We took Billie to a clinic today that was geared toward folks participating in this mustange makeover. We learned so much! The basics were covered. We also got exposed to SO MUCH SCARY STUFF! Charles took pictures, and I will try to get these uploaded in the next few days. After today, I feel really good about how things will be in Ft. Worth. We've got lots of practice on our basics to get in still, and lots of scary things we need to find out about, but overall, I feel we'll be just fine.
Of course, it was dark when we left the house, and I forgot to put on my sunscreen, and then when I was out in the arena shading my eyes, realized I didn't have my hat on either. ARGH! The big shocker was seeing myself in the mirror when I got home--red red red.
We took Billie to a clinic today that was geared toward folks participating in this mustange makeover. We learned so much! The basics were covered. We also got exposed to SO MUCH SCARY STUFF! Charles took pictures, and I will try to get these uploaded in the next few days. After today, I feel really good about how things will be in Ft. Worth. We've got lots of practice on our basics to get in still, and lots of scary things we need to find out about, but overall, I feel we'll be just fine.
Of course, it was dark when we left the house, and I forgot to put on my sunscreen, and then when I was out in the arena shading my eyes, realized I didn't have my hat on either. ARGH! The big shocker was seeing myself in the mirror when I got home--red red red.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
August 30, 2008
I'm thinking that I probably will take Billie to Ft. Worth. Somebody gets to win the big bucks, and maybe it will be us. Monday there is a mustang clinic in Marble Falls--might be worth taking her.
We've been traveling around the outside of the pen the last few days. Mostly she is unconcerned about anything but getting to eat grass. This morning I learned that the caliche drive in front of our house bothers her feet. We'll try that again tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, I'm planning to work with Bev again. I'll take Billie over to Switch Willo and see what fun stuff she's been doing next door. Christy should be on hand and can show off Billie's tricks to me!
We've been traveling around the outside of the pen the last few days. Mostly she is unconcerned about anything but getting to eat grass. This morning I learned that the caliche drive in front of our house bothers her feet. We'll try that again tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, I'm planning to work with Bev again. I'll take Billie over to Switch Willo and see what fun stuff she's been doing next door. Christy should be on hand and can show off Billie's tricks to me!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
August 27, 2008
I've spent some time each day since Bev's visit on Monday taking Billie outside the pen. It's no big deal anymore. It helps that I trimmed the tree outside the gate so I do not have to duck anymore.
Christy took Billie over to the stables again today, and tells me that Billie was a Super-Star. They walked and trotted over poles, an X, and a gate. They even put a scary saddle pad across the X and she still went over it!
I'm planning to meet up with them on Sunday and see how it's done!
Christy took Billie over to the stables again today, and tells me that Billie was a Super-Star. They walked and trotted over poles, an X, and a gate. They even put a scary saddle pad across the X and she still went over it!
I'm planning to meet up with them on Sunday and see how it's done!
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