Yep, I am a freak

As a typical horse freak there are some weird habits or quirks that I have and most of the time I can't belive that there are some people who still will claim me as a friend.  Overall most people think that I am just plain weird.  It is not my fault thought that they can not handle my awkwardness and awesomeness all at once. 

1) If I want you to stop moving I say "Whoa" and I give you only a few seconds before you have better have stopped moving.

2)  If I want you to speed up I will 'cluck' to you, and if I am behind you you had better respond quickly because I will smack your behind.

3)  When turning a corner my inside leg will move in an effort to keep the shoulder in.

4) I practice patterns while walking, especially if there is a show coming up.  Reining patterns are the hardest for me to remember so usually there is a lot of spinning and lead changes involved. 

5) Listening to music with me is an adventure because I will all of the sudden exlaim, "that is a great freestlye song!!  Find me a pen and paper."  I will then proceed to write down the song, artist and start a pattern all the while telling my friends to SHUSH!!



Then there are the things that just make me plain, traditional, psycho crazy and when people look at me they go, "Oh, she has horses".

1) During the winter, when we feed hay, my pockets are constantly filled with hay.  And not a little bit, almost another full bale!  In my jeans, in my jackets.  I preactically leave a trail. 

2)  If you were to look in my car you would see: rope, a hay bag, my riding helmet and a saddle pad.  'Cause you never know when you will need one of these items.

3) Once my horse start shedding I am no longer allowed to sit anywhere.  There is always hair attached to some part of my clothing.

4)  Any story that someone tells reminds me of a story about a horse.  It tends to drive my few friends insane.  I can't believe they have stayed as long as they have.

5) Every other picture on my phone is a picture of a horse, or a friend and a horse, or another horse item.

There are other things I do as well, like 2-pointing over speed bumps, and lengthening and shortening strides as I walk.  Having a particular way of tacking and untacking my horse. In fact, I rarely let anyone else unsaddle my horse.  They never put anything in the correct place!  Hmm, maybe this is why I only have a few friends who still answer my calls....

10) 

Cleaning up

Getting your horse clean

I have a gray horse.  His coat is white, which mean getting and keeping him clean is a pain in the rear end!  But, over the past couple years I have found a few things that really help get him shiny.  

1. I wash my horse with… Purex… shhh.  You know, the laundry detergent.  You have to be careful with this one though.  If your horse has sensitive skin, don’t use it.  I tried it in a small area the week before the show to make sure that he didn’t have an allergic reaction.

2.  The Cowboy Magic greenspot remover is the best thing for early show mornings to clean in manure stains.

3. Baking soda is good for getting really tough stains out of tails.  It takes a bit of scrubbing, but a water baking soda paste is helpful.

4. The Cowboy Magic detangler is awesome for brushing knots out of manes and tails.  I show Arabians, and mane and tails are our pride and joy, they have to look nice.  This product is great for untangling.

5.   Then after your horses are clean you can spray them with a body shine.  I have…..um, Cowboy magic…. *cough*.  It is a really good product line!

6.  

Washing horses is one of my favorite parts of working with the horses.  My horse tolerates the baths.  He couldn’t care less whether or not he is clean and clipped.  

It is especially fun if you can wash your horses with friends.  I wash and clip my horse the night before the show then wait until he is completely dry.  I braid his mane and tail (learned how to do a four strand braid recently!) then I put him in a smaller pen with hay and water so he can’t roll.  If he has the ability to roll I would have to completely have to rewash him the next morning.  I have had to do it before.  I will not do it again.

Once I get to the show, I pull Silver out, brush him down with a freshly cleaned soft brush, use my green spot remover to clean up his legs.  Then I take down his mane and tail and brush it our so it is long and flow-y and beautiful.  Use my awesome little horse shaver to take off any few whiskers I missed, use a wipe to clean out his  nostrils, hips lips and ears.  Spray on body shine.  If there are flies I will put the white SWAT in his ears and spray him with a fly spray.  Then we are all ready to show, and he usually stays fairly clean for the show.  

Show day

Horse shows are always an exciting experience for horse people.  Whether you are just beginning or if you have been showing for nigh on 40 years, there is something about a horse show that just gets you all hyped up inside.  Maybe it is the adrenaline rush when you finish a reining pattern or the pleasure in picking up the correct lead.  Maybe it is the elation you feel when your horse does a perfect pivot in showmanship.  Or maybe it is the delight when he does everything just perfectly all day.  Whatever it is horse shows are days that most horse owners look forward to and plan for all year, ok that’s a lie, I know it is coming all year, I start planning the week of and am usually franticly packing the trailer the night before at 10 pm.  Either way show day is always fun.  You get to see your fellow horsey friends and when you say something like, “Silver has not been soft on his vertical lately.” They know what you mean and are ready to offer advice about what to work on. 

I show a variety of classes, and my horse is an overall good horse to do anything on.  I ride English, Western, do reining, and I love showmanship!  I train all year for showmanship, I think that being able to get on a horse and look good is hard and for the most part takes talent.  But if you can show a horse on the ground, that looks amazing, and professional, and *sigh* a great showmanship performance makes my heart go pitter patter.  The only other thing that can do that is watching Andreas Helgstrand ride Blue Hors Matine in the 2006 freestyle. …. Yeah…… back to reality.  My horse and I have gotten to be fairly good at showmanship.  I can do a pattern without having to hold onto the lead rope, and I think that shows the bond that my horse and I have.

I also really enjoy reining, the fast circles, the slow circles, the run downs and the roll backs.  We aren’t great at reining, but we are decent enough to do well.  I prefer pattern classes to rail classes.  My horse isn’t what judges think a pleasure horse is, but he is obedient and does well in a pattern.  Unless it is trail.    We suck at trail.  Like crash and burn, hope the earth swallows you whole kind of sucking.  We can do trail at home and he will back through the “L” and over the bridge, side pass over the log, dude he would probably do a back flip, he also does really well on an actual trail (except for rushing water) but as soon as he gets in an arena we are lucky if we get to open and close the gate. 

Getting ready for the classes is also a fun part of hors e showing.  Horse showing is really the only time I do anything to my hair except for the occasional times I flat iron after blow-drying.  For a horse show I blow-dry, flat iron, pigtail braid it and put it into a long bun across the nape f my neck.  Using a total of 3 bazillion bobby pins and 2 cans of hairspray, my hair does not move, and the hat does not come off.  After having my hat fall off once and having four strands of hair keeping the hat hanging from the side of my face, I use bobby pins like they are staples.  My hat does not come off….. ever!  I love the feel of my freshly pressed jeans and button up shirt.  Pulling on my boots and mounting to quickly warm up and memorize my next pattern.  Waiting outside the gate for my name to be called, last minute pattern reciting, checking collars, cuffs, pant legs and the horses gear. 

Then riding into the arena with a smile on your face to show off your horse and do your pattern flawlessly.  Standing in line and listening to the names being called and counting off the people in the class, “and in fourth place number 241 not me! At least third) and in third place number 102 (not me! In the running for first!)”  If you have ever showed you know the feeling of realizing that you may have taken the top placing. 

If you own horses and have never shown in a horse show,, it is something you should look into.  It is a wonderful experience, and if you have friends to go with it is even more fun.  I mean, come one, hanging out with a bunch of horsey people and gorgeous horse butts, what could be better?  Well except  for watching Andreas of course.

Good times

Memories, everyone has them.  Hopefully the good memories outweigh the bad.  I realized today as I was walking to the back pasture to switch water that all of my best memories are centered around one particular house in Washington where I grew up and spent the best years in.  Just little things.  Small snippets of different days that I remember.  Playing with my cousins, trying to ride the horses, cooking with grandma, working with grandpa, or relaxing on the porch.  Some things I remember in great detail.  Other things I just remember feelings.  Tonight the memories were brought on by a smell.  There was someone barbequing close by and it smelled like the meat was a little over done, not charred, just….. dark.  For some reason this made memories come rushing back, and I couldn’t help but smile.

The memories of times I spent at that house come at random times.  Stacking wood in the shed.  Being taught how to cut kindling.  Trying to help carry horse food.  Getting locked in the feed room with my sisters, dad, and cousins.  Collecting eggs, running with a broken broom from the crazed rooster.  Two of us cousins DRAGGING a western saddle out to the corral to ride.  Big family get-togethers.  Thanksgiving dinner.  The tomato plants.  The wallpaper in the bathroom.  That really old tv.  The really yummy frozen juice grandpa drank.  Making grandpa ants on a log for his lunch the next day.

One my fondest memories was after school, the bus would drop me off at grandma’s house, she would be waiting on the porch, I would walk up through the gate and sit on the chair next to her on the porch.  Grandma would make me a peanut butter and honey sandwich and chocolate milk made with Hershey syrup.  We would eat on the porch and talk or look through Home and Garden magazines.  After lunch, I would play on the rope swing my grandpa hung under the bigger of the two apple trees, and I would watch and wait for grandpa’s little Nissan to rumble up the driveway, at which time I would run up and give him a hug.

Another one, one Sunday morning, before church, grandpa and I went out and saddled up the little Morgan mare he had, Tootsie, and we rode double down the road behind his property.  He loved to ride into and then back out of the irrigation ditches.

Let me see.  There was the time that we picked the big rocks out of the pasture and round pen and took them up to the front to make a small wall along the driveway.  He told me he needed a wall because every time my mother or aunt would back up to leave they needed a barrier to hit.  After working we sat on the front porch and drank a glass of tea.

Oh!  And how grandma always kept the clear, glass, pumpkin shaped candy jar full of those assorted Hershey candies, the one with the Mr. Goodbar, and the Krakle, and the regular hershey’s.

And grandma’s flowers.  In the summer I would water them, but I wouldn’t wear shoes, and that wood got freakishly hot, so I would get the wood wet stand in the puddle, and then water the plants, then the wood, then the plants. 

 Then there were the cousins.  Grandma and grandpa had two big apple trees in their backyard and one crab apple tree in the pasture.  We would pick the apples from the front trees, sit on the deck, eat them down to the seeds and then see who could throw the core the farthest.  We would also drink grape soda, which does not taste as good now as it did then, then spit on the ground to see whose spit was more purple.  Ahh, good times!

Ha!  I have so many more memories but I’ll end on this one.  My cousin and I (the two troublemakers) were in the back of the little red Mazda.  We were on our way home with grandpa in the driving.  They had a little maroon colored broom dustpan set they kept in the back seat.  I had the dustpan out the window in my hand watching how it moved in the wind and how tilting it would change what it would do.  Grandpa looked at us in the rearview mirror with those stern eyes and said, “Don’t you dare lose that dustpan out the window.”  Sam and I smiled, “I won’t grandpa, I am holding on to it tight.”  No more than 45 seconds passed that the little red dustpan was ripped from my grasp into who or whatever dared be behind us.  My eyes got huge, my heart plummeted, I looked at Sam, her eyes were huge too and I am sure her heart was at her feet.  We sat forward and didn’t say anything the rest of the drive home.  Neither did grandpa.  He never said anything about that dustpan to either of us.  We are sure he knew about it, but he never, I mean never mentioned the dustpan.  And we operated off of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

The memories of that house are wonderful and I love when I am lucky enough to get hit with another memory of times well spent in that house, with family and friends.  In all of the houses I have lived in, I am almost certain that the little brown , green trimmed house will always be my favorite.

Making horse shows a little easier

Let me set the scene.  It is the night before a horse show.....  That is about all it takes from me to get your knees shaking and your mind racing.  Not because of your nerves for the show the next day.  No, it is making sure you have everything ready to go for your horse show.  Tack, clothes, brushes, extra tack, food for you, food for your horse.  The list can seem endless and you always wonder what you are forgettting, especially for long distance shows.  You know that one of these days you are going to leave your horse behind. 

One of the easiest and most effective ways to make show a little less stressful is to have a list of items that you may or may not need in each show.  Have a list for local shows and a list for out of town shows that you can print off of the computer before each show.  You canb make a list in excwel and print it with the lines so that it is easier to read and you can check off the things on the list.  I like making it with a 'check box' om either side of each item so that I can check that I have everything the night before and then I can check it show morning before I leave. By doing this you can check off items as you store them in your trailer, and at the end of the show have a list of items that you will need to replace.

One other thing is to have a 'show kit'.  A box of items that always go with you to a show, small things you won't want to be without. 

Here is a list of show kit items:
Bobby Pins
Safety Pins
Hair Spray/gel
Small brush
Ponytail holders
Rubber bands
IbuProfen
Chapstick
Lotion
Deoderant
Hair nets
Pens
Black Marker

Now for the list of items that you will need to gather in general to take to a horse show.  What I have found easiest to do is to list out your items "For Horse" and "For Rider"  then under each of those to do what you will need for each class.  So what you and your horse need for Halter, Showmanship, western, etc. I also have a place for grooming equipment, a place for the riders makeup, ponytail holders, hair spray, gel, and things like that.  I also have a place for all of those miscellaneous items that you don't want to forget.

For Horse                                      For Rider



Showmanship                         Western/Showmanship


Halter                                      Cowboy hat

Lead Rope                               Show Shirt

Brushes                                     Belt

Fly Spray                                  Jeans

Body Shine                                boots

Spot Remover



Western Classes                         English Classes

Saddle                                               Helmet

Bridle                                               White Shirt

Saddle Pad                                      Collar and Pin

                                                          Jacket

                                                        Breeches

English Classes                                    Belt

                                                          Boots
Saddle

Bridle

Saddle Pad


Misc.                                                    Misc.

Bucket                                       Bobby Pins

Clippers                                    Safety Pins

hoof pick                                  Hairspray

detangler                                      Hair Gel

rubber bands                              Ponytail Holders

Vet Wrap                                      hair nets

Baby Wipes



I am sure there are things that are missing from this list. Especially of you show in a lot more classes.  so, add in all of the items that you use in your shows.
Next time you go to a show all you have to do is check your show kit for items you need to refill, and check through the list to make sure you have everything, then check it once more the morning before you leave.  Shows will become so much less stressful and you can focus more on getting you horse ready to show rather than worrying about leaving your horse behind. 

4H, Clinton Anderson random-ness

This year will be my fourth year in horse 4H.  I have ended up loving every year by the end and enjoy showing.  But what I really enjoy the most is when I get to work with and train the horses.  That is what makes working with horses fun for me.  The challenge of thinking like a horse and figuring out what I need to do to teach them something new, or do somehthing better.  While I may not be able to go through everything and tell you technically how to do each thing, I do know how to get a horse to move in different directions and it is fun for me.  I have a ton to learn but I think I am getting the hang of everything pretty fast.  I have been to a few Clinton Anderson Tour clinics and have learned so much from each of them.  The things I find stick with me the most are his one liners that make you giggle and/or think.  Like his "One hand for softness and control, two reins to die quickly"  Not only did it sound funny but I it helped me to remember that it is much easier and safer to stop a horse with one rein rather than two reins.  On top of that you won't start to create a hard mouth on your horse.  A few others  I like:
The more time you pick yourself up out of the sand the better your groundwork gets. (everytime you fall off the more you learn how important the grunt work really is.)
Do what you want kill me quickly. (talking about clenching up when you get nervous, pull your arms in, Do what you want, squeeze your legs, kill me quickly.)
I didn't hit him, he ran into the stick! (your horse cant come closer than the stick will allow so if it whacks him it is his own fault.)
Let them commit the crime first! (don't punish for what your horse hasn't done yet, you cant arrest a guy for standing outside a bank with a gun until he walks in and starts shooting)
These are the few that I could think of off the top of my head, there are a ton more.  But Clinton Anderson really is the king of idiot-proof horsemanship.  And listening and watching and reading his material has helped me improve my horsemanship so much over the past 4 years it is crazy!

New horse

I have a new horse!!!  O.k.a.y., "WE" have a new horse.  His name is Payback Mayday, 'barn' name is Captian Jack.  He is a sweetheart!  He is a Yearling, Arabian, Gelding.  I can't wait to start working with him.  It has been so busy around here, getting caught up after fair, and the wedding, and Aunt Shan here.  I haven't been out there much.  Hopefully I will get out there more over the next few weeks.  Pictures of Jack on the way.....

Silver Spurs Horse Show, Boise, ID 2010, Part 3

Kelsie and I found a ton of arenas, but we didn't know which of them we could or could not ride in.  So, with a lot of prodding from my parents, we decided that after lunch we would go to the main desk and see if they could tell us which arenas we were allowed in. 
We had decided to bring sandwich stuff for lunches.  Mom made the sandwiches because she didn't want our horsey hands in her food.  Kelsie, Sam and I saw the arena that Kelsie and I would be showing in and decided to take a look while we were waiting.  It was huge.  They had split it into two arenas with room in the front of the building to line up and wait for your class.  They were working up the ground and setting up panels, in preperation for the show the next day.  We walked back to the car in awe and saw that it was  our turn to let mom know what we wanted on our sandwiches.  We were given our sandwiches and we tried to find a place to sit where our food wouldn't blow away, which is hard to do in Idaho.  We ended up sitting in the tack stall on the bales of hay.   We ate our sandwiches and then started off to the main office. 
We passed the wash racks on the way down to the office and Kelsie and I were in love.  We hadn't used them but they looked amaZING!  Sam pulled us away from the wash racks of our dreams and we finished walking up to the main desk.
We got up to the office and our fast walk turned into a sluggish crawl.  None of us really wanted to get up there or be first to talk.  Kelsie finally walked up and asked who we needed to talk to about where to sign up for the show the next day and which arenas were off limits.  We were told that they knew nothing about the show.  They only handled the stalls and horse park grounds and that all the arenas were open to ride in we just weren't allowed in the grassy area, as it was under construction.  We thanked her, turned and did a fast walk outta the office, glad to have that over with and done.  We walked back to the stalls trying to gather together a plan.  We decided on riding a bit to let the horses stretch their legs and to get used to the arenas.

Sam is such a good cousin!

Kelsie and Rainy.

We were tired of lunging.....So we agreed it was time to ride!

We teased mom about this one.  "I have something on my head?  What??"

Again, isn't Sam the BEST cousin you could have??

 When we were about done in the warm up arena we were told that the main arena was open to ride in.  We figured better to go in and find things the horses are scared of now rather than while we show.  So, we rode in the massive covered arena for a while.  It was the coolest arena I have EVER ridden in, in my ENTIRE life!  We finished up, our horses were sweaty, we were sweaty and it was time..........  We got to use the WASH RACKS!!!!!  =D

Silver Spurs Horse Show 2010, part 2

We headed off to Kelsie's house to pick up her horse and her brother's horse.  These two horses plus my horse, made a full load in the trailers.  We now had 4 saddles, hay for two other horses, and two extra horses in the trailer.  My dad and brother took the two seats in the van pulling the horse trailer, and in the other van was my mom, cousin Sam, Me, Kelsie, Taylor, Kennedy, and Zoey.  Needless to say it was a tight fit.
Kelsie and I started out the trip nervous about the horse show.  Neither of us had ever been to a horse show that big, and out of town before.  By the time we had gotten a little ways to Boise our nerves had calmed down, but as soon as we took the exit off to go drop the horses off our butterflies decided to do a few rollbacks and spins.  Then we pulled up to the Idaho Horse Park.  This place was HUGE, and scary to think about remembering where it all was, and intimidating!  Very intimidating.  Since Mrs. Cindy wasn't able to come, Kelsie and I had to try and brave it on our own.  We had Sam there to help us which was GREAT!  She wasn't too nervous about the show the next day, so she was able to keep our heads on straight.
We got there and went in to have the Horse Park people unlock our stalls so that we could get our horses out of the trailer.  We decided that the easiest way to do it would be to leave the horses in the trailer, get all the tack put up and the stalls ready then put the horses in the stalls.  Most everyone helped with getting stuff put away.  Mom had the very imporant job of taking pictures of amything she deemed important or special.

Taylor was a huge help the entire weekend, constantly untacking and tacking back up for me so that I was able to change my clothes for the next class.

Nate was a big help carrying things into the tack stall.

It looked so nice for a few minutes anyway.  By the end of the weekend it looked nothing like this.  We should have taken a before and after shot....

Once we had the tack stall put together, we spread shavings in the horses stalls, brought buckets of water in for them, and put hay in there feeders.  I felt bad for making my horse stand in a trailer after driving for two hours so I added a bit, ok a lot, of grain to his feeder.

Then we decided to stand and rest for a minute or two before we got our horses out and put in stalls.

I had braided Silver's mane so that It wouldn't be such a pain to untangle right before the show.  It doesn't look too nice now, but it sure wasn't as knotted as before!

We got all the horses settled in and then we ate lunch.  After lunch, Kelsie, Sam and I walked around the Horse Park, looking for arenas to ride in and trying to get a feel for the place we would be spending a lot of time at.  We came to the conclusion that this was indeed a big place, but not nearly as intimidating as before and within a few hours my butterflies had started to calm down.

Silver Spurs Horse Show Boise, Idaho Part 1

This year I was informed of a big horse show in Boise, Idaho.  It was during our Church camp, and my sister's birthday.  Mom and dad decided that it would be a good experience for me and they said that we could go.  My best friend Kelsie and her brother decided to show as well and we were able to bring up my cousin Sam.  So, not only was I able to show my horse, but I would be with my two best friends.  I work for a lady who has been to the Idaho Horse Park, which is where the show was being held this year, and she was able to tell us a lot of information about the park.  She was going to join us and enter the Open Show on Sunday with a couple of her horses, but things happened and that wasn't possible.  So, going up, we had to figure things out on our own, which was an adventure in itself.  The first part of our little summertime fun starts with the packing.....

I wasn't prepared for this trip very far ahead of time.  This year, our 4H group has a few more English riders that usual.  So, I, of course, wanted to try English for myself.  I ended up liking it more than I thought I would and I was able to borrow or buy the things I needed to be able to show in English.  I ordered my English boots about a week ahead of time and had them shipped 3 day.  I ordered them in a size 8 (one size too big) and they had stretchy stuff in the back (hopefully to accomodate my big calves.)  I got them and...they were too small around my leg.  So we ordered a size 9 (2 sizes too big!!)  and they were still TIGHT!  I had to make them do though, because by now, the show was in 3 days and we had to be in Boise in 2 days.  I had to suck it up (literally) and wear the boots that were huge in the foot and tiny in the calf, or not show English.

The night before we had to leave for the show (Thursday the 10th), my cousin spent the night and I tried on all of my outfits (I had 3 of them) to make sure that I had everything and that I didn't forget anything. (HA!)  I tried on Engilsh first, which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I had everything, boots, breeches, belt, shirt, jacket, collar, pin, helmet.  All good.  Hang that up and put a grabage bag over it.  Next, Western: Boots, jeans, belt, chaps, shirt, hat.  All good there too! Hang, and garbage sack it as well.  Next, was my showmanship/halter: Boots, Jeans, belt, shirt, hat, again all good!  Hang and cover it.  By this time, I had turned into the Carrie Underwood of horse shows!  If you have seen a concert you will understand, she had at least 10 outfit changes!!   Then it was time to pack my bag of regular clothes.  Extra jeans, tee-shirts, socks, underwear, and p.j.'s. With a lot of help from Sam, we got that done and I sat down to polish the show saddle and bridle that my boss let me borrow for the show.  When I got that done, took another check of the room, wrote down a quick list of what not to forget tomorrow. (Again HAHA!!)  By this time it was midight.

6:00 AM
"SAM!! Where are my glasses??!"  Half an hour later we finally found them and tried to get back on track.  We neeeded to have EVERYTHING loaded and be at Kelsie's to pick up her horses at 9 AM.  We dressed quickly, and bounded up the stairs to eat, get things loaded and the house cleaned up.  In two hours, Sam and I had folded 5 baskets of laundry, cleaned out a cooler, packed all the food and loaded up the trailer.  Here are most of the things we shoved, neatly into the trailer/van. 
Saddles (3), bridles (3), halters (3), brushes (too many), hoofpick (1), mane detangler, shampoo/conditioner, show clothes, hay, grain, wheelbarrow, hose, spray nozzel, hats (2), boots (3), and a big green tub of things that we might need.  Oh, and buckets, a couple buckets for grain and water.  Most importantly Silver, my wonderful horse!  We loaded up the minivan and headed off to pick up 2 more horses and drive to Boise.

Blond moment

Alright, so I was sitting down on the floor with my little brother's bright orange hat on and my sister came up and tried to yank the hat off.  The keyword here being, tried.  In the process she had grabbed a handful of my hair and continued to pull until I yelled, "OUCH!"  Then she backed up with a horrified look and said, "Oh!  I forgot you had hair under that!"  *Eyeroll* Sisters.

Hunny's Story

The last few weeks I have sporadically been working with my 12 year old, Arabian, mare, Hunny.  She hasn’t really had very much done with her especially since she arrived at our house almost 2 years ago.  I have decided that I will have gotten on her at least once by April 26, hehe, wish me luck. 

Last year in February my mom, dad, and I went to a Clinton Anderson tour stop in Utah and I loved the way he trained horses.  The way he explained everything was so simple, (he calls it idiot proof horsemanship) and it seemed like he got very good results and they were easy to understand.  I really wanted a few of the training DVD’s but, ahem, they were *sigh* 150 dollars, each.  So that dream is gone until I have a job.  But, mom and dad did get me a lead rope, halter, and handy stick.  Anyway, I used this method with Silver and I LOVE it!!  So, I will use it with Hunny too. 

I built myself a round pen earlier this year and have used it so much.  It is like, the best thing in the world!  I have started the round penning exercise with Hunny, she really dislikes the halter.  The concept of Round Penning it to teach the horses that as ling as they are with you or looking at you they can rest, but if they are going to be stupid and leave then they are going to have to work (no horses like to work, they are very lazy creatures).  It also, teaches them that when you are wherever they are, they need to stop and look at you.  “You can out run any horse that is facing you” If that horses eyes never leave your eyes as you walk up to them you can always catch them.  “Two eyes are better than two heels.” 

The first thing you want is to get them in a round pen and you take the halter and lead off and get them going around the round pen.  You let them “find the arena” you let them figure out where the enclosure is.  After a few rounds you start to actually push them, you get them to lope/canter and let wait until they aren’t franticly running in circles (this can be quick or take forever) then you start to try ad grab their attention and ‘pull’ their nose into you.  Crouching and backing away will help them turn and look at you.  As soon as the horse turns and looks at you, you stop what you are doing and let them rest, “their biggest commodity at this point is air”, so as we let them rest they are going “Ha, I look at her and she leaves me be!  Then you carefully get them going the other way, and repeat what you had just done.  When you can consistently change direction, having the horse turn into you, you start crouching and walking in circles around the horse whenever the horse turns to keep their eyes on you, you let them stop for a few seconds then do it again.  Soon, you can walk around and they will follow you because they start to realize that as long as they are with you they get air!   

Doing this with Hunny takes quite a bit of energy that sometimes I just don’t want to even think about it, but then I want to be riding her by May, so, I go out and do my best.

So far, I have done three round penning exercises with Hunny and there has been an improvement, not a HUGE improvement but enough that I will continue trying.  She likes to throw many different stunts at me to see if she can ‘change my mind’ and let her off easily. 

Trestle Wood Stables week 2

The second week I was at Trestle Wood we got rained in about 3 hours after I started working with the horses.  It was interesting, it looked like a pretty nice day and then while I was riding one of the horses they are getting ready to be a lesson horse and then the wind picked up.  I had brushed a horse and detangled his mane and then Mrs. Bingham came back out after eating her breakfast and told me that we were going to work with, Sammy, one of their new horses that they had the saddle on once.

I was pretty happy that I was going to get to work with a horse that they had just started.  We got the saddle on Sammy and lunged him a bit.  He did a few little bucks when the stirrups would move but after a while he calmed down and we put him up.  Then Mrs. Bingham and I went out and caught one another one of their horses (I can't pronounce the name, let alone spell it), this is one of the ones they want to use as a lesson horse.  So she had me get on and make sure the horse will go forward, turn right, turn left, and stop.  While the horse would do all of those things, she was a little stiff.  She would relax but she felt stiff through the turns.  About 2:00 the wind started to pick up, I was still riding but I was cooling her out.  At 2:30 we went inside to eat lunch and have some hot cocoa, within a few minutes it was pouring down rain.  Mrs. Bingham started water for hot cocoa, it was chocolate, with white chocolate bits, and crushed peppermint sticks.  Oh and marshmallows, you can't forget the marshmallows.  Well, as we sat inside watching the rain come down, "Like a Texas rain," Mr. Aaron said, Mrs. Bingham decided that we would clean tack, hee hee.  I haven't cleaned tack in my life so that was very new.  

 She braved the rain and brought back a bottle of tack cleaner and an armload of bridles and reins.  While Mrs. Bingham and I cleaned the bridles, Mr. Aaron played the wii.  I guess he has only cleaned tack once in his life, Mrs. Bingham wanted to know when that was.... "Oh, right after we got married I cleaned tack.....once."  Mrs. Bingham informed me that they had been married for 13 years.
When 4:30 rolled around we had finished cleaning the bridles and I had 5 minutes before mom got there, so, they let me play their wii, hee hee.  It was a fairly easy day, but let me tell you when I got home I got my bridle down and I cleaned it.  Its actual color is a lot lighter than I thought.

Trestle Wood Stable

I also got to learn a new lunging technique, I am still trying to get the hang of it but hopefully I will soon be able to do it as fluidly as Mrs. Bingham does.  I also got to ride one of their horses one the first day.  I learned so much that day, the witches knots, catching horses you have never caught before, getting a horse to lope off on the correct lead.  I was amazed!  I got home and started working with Silver on the things that I learned.

I got home and I couldn't wait for next week and the things that I would pick up. I have been working on lunging like she showed me, I have been brushing my horses more and I have been working on a lot of leads with Silver.  So hopefully by this summer I will be better at everything that I learned. 

Sunday Fun

A couple of Sundays ago my family and I  went out and rode some of our horses.  My horse, Silver, is an Arabian.  He has to be the best horse in the world! ;-)  I mean come on, how many horses put up with a 7 year old boy who wants to go fast, fast, fast all the time??

 See how Nate is urging him to go FASTER!!

Then he likes to do the daredevil stuff like no hands, OK, so I showed him how to do it... but see the rein is slipping?

   Notice the rein is now on the ground, I had to intervene and help bro get his rein back.
My sisters rode Sackett, Taylor's little ol' Quarter Horse.  I have found that most people prefer to ride Sackett to Silver and I still can not figure out why.....
I was able to get my dad on Silver and now I think he may be hooked and wants Silver to love him like Silver adores me but with that Arabian loyalty he won't....Sorry Dad.
Once family was done riding Taylor and I took over and we decide to goof off a bit and made the mistake of giving Kennedy the camera and she caught our antics on the camera.

I am happy to say that the day ended with a tired, happy family and no broken bones or blood or any other injuries.