Who needs a trailer???

Water, water everywhere

...but not a drop to drink. AGain, I realize I should have gotten the camera out to take a picture. Darn it. I'm really not very good at this blogging thing. Shiloh (my horse) was playing with Jessie (the pony) yesterday and managed to crack the water main on the farm. I guess the people who built the farm didn't bury the pipes very deep. Or the wind erosion has uncovered some of them. I hadn't noticed this particular pipe as being at the surface.

The resulting crack left us with a 15 foot geyser in my front yard. I wasn't here when it happened, but Claire did her best to cut the pressure to the main turning off whatever valves she could find. When I got home it was reduced to about 12 inches tall. I had to turn off the entire pump so that we could wait for the water to recede to begin repairs. I still don't have it fixed wonderfully as I was working by the headlights on my truck last night.

I'll go out this morning and tighten up the clamps to hopefully get it to hold and not leak.

I have a middle school girl shadowing me today. I imagine she is going to be sadly disappointed to see how little my job actually has to do with horses.

Show results

We spent the weekend at another Pinto show at Mullet hall. It rained all day Friday and dumped absolute buckets on the grounds. The start was delayed almost 3 and a half hours Saturday while they worked on getting the rings to dry out. We didn't get to school before the show started but all went well. Paula had a great Saturday taking another reserve in her equitation division, and placing well in the 3 foot working hunter.

Nikki (formerly Nicole) rode well in her short stirrup division, but we had to scratch the rest of the day as her horse wouldn't drink and became dehydrated. We are going to have to work out a managment plan for the upcoming shows to avoid that happening again.

Nicole took a reserve in her w/t/c division. She has only been riding Whistle for a week, and only jumped her once before the show, so we were quite pleased. We did move her up to the short stirrup division on Sunday. Whistle behaved quite a bit better over the slightly larger fences. Nicole and Nikki traded placings all day Sunday in their division. Hopefully at the next show the splits will fall so they don't compete against each other.

Gia was a real trooper on Saturday as she faced disappointment. Since Jessie her pony doesn't have a lot of show miles she was not fond of the wet muddy conditions so we scratched Gia's day after just one class. I rode the pony extensively Sunday and she did very very well. We have high hopes for the upcoming shows. The more experience she gets the better she seems to do. Which is exactly as it should be.

We had a great experience taking Rosie to the show. I have had Kaijsa riding her for the last several weeks in preperation to sell her. Karen her owner agreed to taking Rosie to the show for marketing purposes. Rosie had a nasty trailer accident the last time she was hauled so Karen was quite nervous about her going. Everything went spectacularly. Rosie trailered better than any of the other horses. You would never have known that she ever had anything happen. Rosie brought home a third in her equitation class and a fifth in her go as you please. The best news of the weekend...Karen has decided to keep Rosie and try to show her for awhile.

We have two weeks of down time now. Our next show will be the 4-H fun show at Mullet hall. We will be taking 9 riders down for the day. Hope to see you all on March 8th.

Want a mule???

This may be a first... A couple from Montana were out riding on the range, he with his rifle and she (fortunately) with her camera. Their dogs always followed them, but on this occasion a mountain lion decided that he wanted to stalk the dogs (you'll see the dogs in the background watching). Very, very bad decision. The hunter got off the mule with his rifle and decided to shoot in the air to scare away the lion, but before he could get off a shot the lion charged in and decided he wanted a piece of those dogs. With that, the mule took off and decided HE wanted a piece of that lion. ; That's when all heck broke loose for the lion. As the lion approached the dogs, the mule snatched him up by the tail and started whirling him around, banging its head on the ground on every pass. Then he dropped it, stomped on it and held it to the ground by the throat. The mule then got down on his knees and bit the thing all over a couple of dozen times to make sure it was dead, then whipped it into the air again, walked back over to the couple (that were stunned in silence), and stood there ready to continue his ride as if nothing had just happened.
Fortunately, even though the hunter didn't get off a shot, his wife got off these four pictures.




Happy Trails to You!

Showing traditions

We will be spending this weekend showing at Mullet Hall. We have spent all week pruning and packing. I swear I will post some pics soon. Hang in with me. We body clipped both Jack and Tansey. jack went from his near black self, to the fanciest Grulla you have ever seen. Hence the need for pictures. We are taking quite a full load this weekend. We are taking 5 horses Jack, Tansey, Jessie, Rosie and Whistle. There will be 6 of us riding over the course of the weekend.

We would love to have any/all of you come cheer us on. It doesn't matter how many times I do dthis I never cease to be amazed at the amount of work it takes. The activity started Monday as I prepared all of the paperwork necessary for registration, record keeping, and transportation. Then Tuesday I packed most of my equipment as the trainer I am responsible for having everything that someone else might forget. I also started clipping Jack on Tuesday. I got his legs belly and one bum cheek done. Then I spent about 9 hours Wednesday clipping the majority of his body. Diane worked on Tansey along side me to get them done. Clipping can be done faster, but I unfortunatley have sold my large set of body clippers. I'll have to get a new set for next winter. Then yesterday I finished clipping Jack's head, and Tansey's legs. The kids were all out to pack the trailer last night. Hopefully everything got in. I did catch a couple of things this morning.

We'll load the horses about 10 this morning after moving a couple of big round bales of hay for the horses staying home. Beth and I will get the show horses settled into their temporary stalls this morning. Then I'll come home to teach a lesson before heading back to the show grounds to school (practice) the girls when they get out of school today.

I am also initiating a new farm tradition this weekend. I will be presenting one person with a spirit award for their performance at the show. It will go to the person who either has an outstanding ride, but perhaps their pony just didn't behave, or the person who really goes above and beyond to help out another team mate, or even another competitor. I can't share what the reward is just yet, but it doesn't necessarily have to go to someone who is showing. So for all of you cheer leaders be on your toes you never know you might just get it.

Hope to see you guys there!!!

Absenteeism

It's been a full week since the last post. My apologies to everyone. Kenzie had surgery to remove her tonsils last week. We all then got hit with a nasty virus. Which has left me with my second ear infection.

Here are some training updates...

Paula and Jack had a rough couple of weeks since the last show. He has been leaning very hard out of the corners. Just today we took him out of the pelham we used at the show, and put him back in the eggbutt. They sucessfully got around 3' courses today. I'm feeling much better about them showing this weekend.

Jessie has started lunging better, and is riding much better after warming up on the lunge line. So I have high hopes for her and Gia at the show, but am still a little apprehensive about riding her myself. I have such a hard time balancing on her as she is so small.

I can confidently say Jake has acceptable ground manners now. As soon as my body quits aching I will get on him again.

Sierra has come about as far as she is ready for at this point. Now she just needs some constant work at the walk and trot focusing on the turns. It seems all semblance of buck/rear is gone. She will be getting delivered on March 2nd to her new adopter. Congratulations Hunter!!!

Rosie has been doing very well for Kaisja and will be going to the show this weekend. I'm sure Karen would love to have everyone come cheer her on on Sunday afternoon. She will be showing in the first year green walk/trot.

We are taking a good crew to the show this weekend. We will have 5 horses and 6 riders (if you count me) there.

I'm feeling really bad that I haven't been putting more media up lately. So here is a link to a great game that I was forwarded. I warn you it is addictive, so watch out.

http://www.horseridingcoach.com/jumporama/

Busy Weekend

I got quite a bit of training time in this weekend.

Jake-- was back under saddle. He is starting to respond to the bit solidly at a walk, but bolted with me at when I asked for the trot. He then settled back down and would give me short spurts of trotting as long as it was in a straight line.

Sierra--I had a working student on her to see how she would respond to a new rider. She did exceptionally well. We'll continue to work her. More coming.

Turner--The chiropractor was here to adjust him for what we hope is the final time. She signed off on his back as being completley normal. We will flex him out midweek to see how his recovery is going.

I did get some trail riding in both days. Even Dan got out with me on SAturday. Gotta love the woods.

Sunday was quieter. But, I did go out with a client to look at a potential horse. I think we're going to pass on the horse. She was a trained barrel racer, and will take a lot of retraining before she is ready to jump.

Training Report

Well it has been awhile since I had a chance to do any training. I was down for the count last week with a virus and then we were at the show all weekend.

I have ridden Sierra several times this week. She is coming along nicely. She is still showing resistance through her back. We are trying to get her in to the chiropractor this weekend. She is softening in the turns and her willingness is increasing. Yesterday was bath day. She handled the water well, but got very nervous when I approached her with a sweat scraper. Which leaves me wondering if she has been hit with a crop. She had her feet trimmed today, and was fantastic. I then had one of my working students get on her. She was very willing to accept a new rider, and a different style. All in all I'm very happy with her progress. We may go back to some round pen work and see if I see the fear surge with a lunge whip in hand.

It has been so warm here that all of Jake's training has centered around ground manners. He will now stand quietly on the cross ties for grooming. He will lift his feet for picking, but still won't hold them long enough for easy farrier work. He is shedding out tremendously, so hopefully will be able to get back to ground driving soon.

Succesful Weekend

We had an excellent weekend. It was a great learning experience for everyone. We have come home with a long list of areas for improvement. At the top of the list is body clipping a couple of the horses. The only problem being that I don't own clippers. I'll have to find a set I can borrow from someone. The girls were real troopers. Everyone was coming down with the sinus infection I had earlier in the week, but rode through it. Nicole had only ridden Tansey three times before the show started, and did good Saturday. For Sunday we added spurs to get Tansey moving forward. It payed of Nicole placed much better on Sunday.

Gia had a great growing opportunity on Saturday. Jessie gave her a run for her money in her over fences classes. Gia stuck to the saddle in a way unheard of for a crossrails rider. She had 4 complete strangers come up to her and comment on what a great little rider she is. Even the judge from the other ring commented to her about what a good rider she is. We have decided that Jessie isn't quite ready for fences yet. She needs to get some more exposure to the show environment. We will be riding her on the flat for awhile until she learns to settle down.

Paula had an outstanding Saturday. She rode so well in the 2' 6" division that we moved her up to 3'. She improved her ride with each attempt. Sunday didn't get off to a good start as the division beore Paula's was scratched so we were racing to get to the ingate. In hindsight we probably should have scratched her from the division. Jack fed off Paula's anxietey and wasn't near as sharp as Saturday. After a couple of not so good rounds it was clear the judge wasn't going to look favorably upon us. We scratched the 3' for Sunday. The big decision that we need to make now is whether to show the 2'6" or 3' for the season. We'll see how things go over the next 10 days before deciding.

The team would like to extend their gratitude to all of the friends and family who took the time to drive down and cheer us on. Your support means a lot to every one of us.

Horseshow Weekends

We got the horses moved to Mullet hall yesterday. For you out of towners...no it has nothing to do with hairstyles. Just the name of the county park that the show is held at. We are in stalls 120-123 if anyone wants to find us this weekend. We had a bit of a rocky start schooling last night. We didn't allow enough time for the horses to settle in. It was getting dark by the time we were trying to school, so none of them were very happy. Hopefully, they will get all of their jitters out over night, and be ready to go this morning.

Horseshows are sort of like theatre productions. When the dress rehersal goes bad opening night goes perfect. Let's hope and pray for a good day today.