I had the chance to visit Zoe at the trainer's last week and let me tell you that she's getting a reminder on what is expected of her! I thought I had her ground manners under control but this trainer has this mare saying "Yes Ma'am! Right away Ma'am!" instead of "Oh, ok."
Unfortunately, the trainer had a vacation planned during the first 30 days so Zoe didn't have much done yet. They have been working on lunging and giving to pressure on the bit, breaking at the poll, bending, and overall obedience. She's coming along nicely, the trainer likes her a lot!
At the end of the lesson, Zoe got a quick hose down...she really worked hard so she was dripping with sweat! She will be nice and fit when the trainer is done!!!
I'm going to be visiting her again next week and this time she's going to have me ride one of her reiners to see what I can expect Zoe to be like at the end of the 90 days. I'm really excited!
Anyways, the trainer said that she fully expects all horses that she is working with to be able to be handled safely on the ground by anyone, kid or adult, beginner or experienced so that's why they are working on ground stuff right now instead of jumping on her and riding right away. I appreciate that. She's a no-nonsense, knows what she wants trainer and I believe I made the right choice bringing Zoe to her.
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"There are no original ideas. There are only original people."
-Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Friday, August 9, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Preg Check Results
We took Star to the vet and...she's NOT pregnant. Let me follow that with a long story. If you choose not to read, at least you have the results and your sleepless nights of wondering if Star was pregnant or not can now be over (only kidding...)!
We made an ultra sound appointment with the vet 21 days after Star's last day of breeding. Star was a good girl and loaded into the trailer and we were off. I led her into the stocks and she was almost in when she decided she didn't like the big, black contraption! We opened the side of the stocks and she walked in that way like a good girl. The vet came around and "got to work".
Once he had her uterus on the ultrasound screen, I came over for a look. He said, "Yup, she's about 13 days pregnant." We told him that wouldn't be possible. So he looked around and said that we have a couple possible situations: 1. She's not pregnant and has a cyst. 2. She's pregnant and the fetus is under developed. If we have situation #2, Star could either abort the fetus herself, the fetus could be absorbed or we could pump Star with hormones for the first 100 days of her pregnancy and hope it helps the foal. NOT the news we were looking for.
We decided to wait and see if she came back into heat since her next cycle would've been in the next 3 - 5 days. We kept an eye on her but had a busy weekend so we weren't able to determine if she came into heat.
We made another appointment with the vet a week later to see if the thing we saw had grown. If it hadn't grown, then it was a cyst. If it had grown, obviously it was a foal and then we would have to make a decision.
I wasn't able to go to the vet appointment because of work so hubby took Star for me. I really wanted to go so I made him promise to call before any decisions were made.
He called when the appointment was over because it was determined that Star had a cyst. The vet said to try breeding her again because he's seen mares with more and larger cysts get pregnant and there's no reason she didn't get pregnant. So there you have it. We will try again...this weekend.
It's getting REALLY late to breed her but I just have to have a foal out of Star before it's too late. I got a picture sent to me of one of Star's foals (he's the same age as Zoe) and he's beautiful and extremely talented! The people that own him said he is their dream horse and don't think they will ever own another horse like him in their lifetime! They pretty much love him. Which fuels my fire to get another good foal out of Star and reiterates why I want something out of her to keep.
I have more news, but that will have to wait for another post!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius."
We made an ultra sound appointment with the vet 21 days after Star's last day of breeding. Star was a good girl and loaded into the trailer and we were off. I led her into the stocks and she was almost in when she decided she didn't like the big, black contraption! We opened the side of the stocks and she walked in that way like a good girl. The vet came around and "got to work".
Once he had her uterus on the ultrasound screen, I came over for a look. He said, "Yup, she's about 13 days pregnant." We told him that wouldn't be possible. So he looked around and said that we have a couple possible situations: 1. She's not pregnant and has a cyst. 2. She's pregnant and the fetus is under developed. If we have situation #2, Star could either abort the fetus herself, the fetus could be absorbed or we could pump Star with hormones for the first 100 days of her pregnancy and hope it helps the foal. NOT the news we were looking for.
We decided to wait and see if she came back into heat since her next cycle would've been in the next 3 - 5 days. We kept an eye on her but had a busy weekend so we weren't able to determine if she came into heat.
We made another appointment with the vet a week later to see if the thing we saw had grown. If it hadn't grown, then it was a cyst. If it had grown, obviously it was a foal and then we would have to make a decision.
I wasn't able to go to the vet appointment because of work so hubby took Star for me. I really wanted to go so I made him promise to call before any decisions were made.
He called when the appointment was over because it was determined that Star had a cyst. The vet said to try breeding her again because he's seen mares with more and larger cysts get pregnant and there's no reason she didn't get pregnant. So there you have it. We will try again...this weekend.
It's getting REALLY late to breed her but I just have to have a foal out of Star before it's too late. I got a picture sent to me of one of Star's foals (he's the same age as Zoe) and he's beautiful and extremely talented! The people that own him said he is their dream horse and don't think they will ever own another horse like him in their lifetime! They pretty much love him. Which fuels my fire to get another good foal out of Star and reiterates why I want something out of her to keep.
I have more news, but that will have to wait for another post!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius."
-Josh Billings
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Boot Camp
Saturday morning I woke up early. I didn't want to oversleep and I was way too excited to sleep anyway! My plan was to feed and then give her a bath. I threw some hay and filled the water and then went inside for my coffee. I went back out after about 45 minutes thinking she would be done. Apparently she doesn't eat her breakfast very fast because she had a lot left to eat! So I changed my plans. I decided to just do a really good grooming and trim up her bridle path. That would save me a TON of time!
So with all of this extra time now, I got the truck hooked up to the trailer, made sure the current Coggins was in the truck and went inside to start getting my family ready. My youngest son is very hard to wake up in the morning, we call him the bear, so it takes some time to get him up and ready to go. He growled and moaned until I threatened to throw water in his face (works every time!). Ok, so let me tell you that by this time it was 8:30 am and I put all the kids to bed the night before at 9 pm. Plenty of sleep. Hubby said he wanted to leave at 9:30 am to give us enough time (we had to be there at 10 am) so these kids needed to get breakfast and dressed. On a school day it we give them an hour or so to get ready so I figured we had better plan on the same time frame.
At 9:00 am I got Zoe from her breakfast. She was still eating. Seriously. Still eating. I tied her to the trailer and did a thorough grooming. She was as shiny as a horse without a bath can get. Her mane was nice (except for the spot where she rubbed her mane out and is starting to come back in so it stands straight up!) and her tail was gorgeous. I trimmed up her bridle path but left her whiskers and her fuzzy ears alone. No point in taking the fuzz off with all of the flies - we're not going to a show so I never trim up those areas. I sprayed her good with fly spray and cleaned her feet. Then it was time to go! Hubby was impatiently waiting for me to load Zoe. While I was grooming, he had loaded the kiddos in the truck so he was ready.
I led Zoe into the trailer but she only put her front feet in and stopped. WTH? She always loads so I didn't know what was different this time. Oh wait! The smell is probably different than the last time. We own a stock/horse combo gooseneck trailer and a neighbor (our feed guy) borrowed the trailer to haul some steers. When we got it back, it was disgusting. We cleaned it the best we could but I'm sure that's what she was smelling and wasn't so sure about. I just gave her a little time and coaxed her a little and she jumped the rest of the way in. I shut the door, climbed into the truck and we were off!
The drive was uneventful and we got the the trainer's barn in plenty of time. Zoe was calling excessively when we arrived. There is a beautiful, palomino stud there and he wasn't even interested in her, although a big bay gelding was VERY interested. He answered her every call. It didn't take long and the trainer was out at the trailer. We talked some business talk about what she was going to do, what I expected, money, etc. Then it was time to unload. Zoe was a hot mess in that trailer. She had pooped and it was on the runny side so her backside was messy and of course she stomped in it so now her feet were messy and she was all sweaty. I guess all that grooming and extra TLC that morning was for nothing. Dang mare. Zoe unloaded fine but was very alert. She was good but had to be reminded a couple times that she can't push me around just to see what was around her.
We put her in her turnout behind the barn. She was being penned next to two geldings on one side and a big gelding on the other. She immediately set out to sniff the perimeter - not caring about the horses in the pen next to her. At this point the stud actually acknowledged that she was there only by looking her direction. He never called to her the entire time we were there - amazing!
We did some more small talk and it was time to go. As a side note, I really like her. I think she has the right methods for training. She's not a bully but has expectations of the horse. She expects them to behave and lets them know when they aren't (Zoe needs to be reminded of that). She knows what she wants and how to ask the horse for it, which is also very important. She said she will work with Zoe everyday and if she misses a day during the week she will make up for it on the weekend. She was going to let Zoe settle in for a couple days and start working on Monday. We've been having extreme heat (in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity) this week so I wonder what all she did. She was going to start on ground work and see what holes are there. She will move on to saddle work once she feels Zoe is ready for it. The pace is going to be set by Zoe so if Zoe decides she wants to learn it could go very quickly. If she decides to be difficult, it will take longer. That's another reason I like her. So I've been dying to text her to see how things are going but it's only been a few days so I don't want to seem over anxious...ya know? I will wait until next week...I guess.
Sorry about not taking any pictures. I was way toonervous excited to even think about taking pictures! Maybe when I go for a visit I will remember to take pictures!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Smile, it's free therapy."
So with all of this extra time now, I got the truck hooked up to the trailer, made sure the current Coggins was in the truck and went inside to start getting my family ready. My youngest son is very hard to wake up in the morning, we call him the bear, so it takes some time to get him up and ready to go. He growled and moaned until I threatened to throw water in his face (works every time!). Ok, so let me tell you that by this time it was 8:30 am and I put all the kids to bed the night before at 9 pm. Plenty of sleep. Hubby said he wanted to leave at 9:30 am to give us enough time (we had to be there at 10 am) so these kids needed to get breakfast and dressed. On a school day it we give them an hour or so to get ready so I figured we had better plan on the same time frame.
At 9:00 am I got Zoe from her breakfast. She was still eating. Seriously. Still eating. I tied her to the trailer and did a thorough grooming. She was as shiny as a horse without a bath can get. Her mane was nice (except for the spot where she rubbed her mane out and is starting to come back in so it stands straight up!) and her tail was gorgeous. I trimmed up her bridle path but left her whiskers and her fuzzy ears alone. No point in taking the fuzz off with all of the flies - we're not going to a show so I never trim up those areas. I sprayed her good with fly spray and cleaned her feet. Then it was time to go! Hubby was impatiently waiting for me to load Zoe. While I was grooming, he had loaded the kiddos in the truck so he was ready.
I led Zoe into the trailer but she only put her front feet in and stopped. WTH? She always loads so I didn't know what was different this time. Oh wait! The smell is probably different than the last time. We own a stock/horse combo gooseneck trailer and a neighbor (our feed guy) borrowed the trailer to haul some steers. When we got it back, it was disgusting. We cleaned it the best we could but I'm sure that's what she was smelling and wasn't so sure about. I just gave her a little time and coaxed her a little and she jumped the rest of the way in. I shut the door, climbed into the truck and we were off!
The drive was uneventful and we got the the trainer's barn in plenty of time. Zoe was calling excessively when we arrived. There is a beautiful, palomino stud there and he wasn't even interested in her, although a big bay gelding was VERY interested. He answered her every call. It didn't take long and the trainer was out at the trailer. We talked some business talk about what she was going to do, what I expected, money, etc. Then it was time to unload. Zoe was a hot mess in that trailer. She had pooped and it was on the runny side so her backside was messy and of course she stomped in it so now her feet were messy and she was all sweaty. I guess all that grooming and extra TLC that morning was for nothing. Dang mare. Zoe unloaded fine but was very alert. She was good but had to be reminded a couple times that she can't push me around just to see what was around her.
We put her in her turnout behind the barn. She was being penned next to two geldings on one side and a big gelding on the other. She immediately set out to sniff the perimeter - not caring about the horses in the pen next to her. At this point the stud actually acknowledged that she was there only by looking her direction. He never called to her the entire time we were there - amazing!
We did some more small talk and it was time to go. As a side note, I really like her. I think she has the right methods for training. She's not a bully but has expectations of the horse. She expects them to behave and lets them know when they aren't (Zoe needs to be reminded of that). She knows what she wants and how to ask the horse for it, which is also very important. She said she will work with Zoe everyday and if she misses a day during the week she will make up for it on the weekend. She was going to let Zoe settle in for a couple days and start working on Monday. We've been having extreme heat (in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity) this week so I wonder what all she did. She was going to start on ground work and see what holes are there. She will move on to saddle work once she feels Zoe is ready for it. The pace is going to be set by Zoe so if Zoe decides she wants to learn it could go very quickly. If she decides to be difficult, it will take longer. That's another reason I like her. So I've been dying to text her to see how things are going but it's only been a few days so I don't want to seem over anxious...ya know? I will wait until next week...I guess.
Sorry about not taking any pictures. I was way too
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Smile, it's free therapy."
-Douglas Horton
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Another Successful Lesson
I dropped Zoe off at the trainer's on Saturday...but that's another post for later...
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out."
-Elizabeth Bowen
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
First Lesson
The day started as any other day would. Busy - trying to get out of the door to work on time. Work was VERY busy and it was a struggle to leave on time. I HAVE to leave on time, I kept telling myself.
4:45pm rolled around and I was running (well, walking quickly) out to my car. I had to mail out 3 packages at the post office and then I could be on my way home. Please don't be busy, please don't be busy! Thankfully, the post office wasn't so I was on my way in a short amount of time.
Let's see... the lesson is at 6pm and it takes me a half hour to get home and then another half hour to get to the new barn. Dinner? Let's hope hubby has that going already!
The phone rings, it's hubby. He tells me dinner is almost done and to hurry up so I have time to eat before we leave.
I got home at 5:15 pm leaving me 15 minutes to eat and change my clothes. Middle daughter was ready to go already (what a good girl!) and dinner was on the table (grilled chicken, broccoli and biscuits - I got myself a good man!!).
I ate as fast as I dared (didn't want to get indigestion while at a barn!!) and then excused myself to change my clothes.
As middle daughter and I headed out to the car, oldest son and youngest son said they wanted to come along and watch. No problem - just get in the car quickly!
We left on time and thankfully arrived on time.
E (riding instructor) was there waiting for us. We gave E the poster middle daughter made and then it was time to start. Middle daughter was given an assignment the week before. She had to read a packet and then draw a poster with some of the stuff she learned. It was cute! She drew a picture of Ty and labeled different parts of the horse. Then drew a saddle and bridle and name the parts on each.
E showed middle daughter were the helmets and brushes were kept and then it was time to take Sara (show name is Serendipity) out. E put her in the cross ties right in front of her stall.
E and middle daughter went over horse safety, the brushes and grooming techniques. Middle daughter knew all of it so it was a quick lesson. Together they saddled up Sara and it was time to go riding. Even though I had told E that middle daughter wanted to do western riding, they used an english saddle. They don't have a western saddle small enough for middle daughter. I was fine with it and so was middle daughter. It won't hurt for her to ride in an english saddle...that's how I learned!
They rode in the indoor because surprisingly, it was pretty cool inside that barn! The boys and I sat in the lounge and watched. I couldn't hear what E was saying but middle daughter looked great on that pony!
The whole lesson was about 45 minutes long and then they were heading back to the cross ties. They untacked and brushed Sara and put her away.
Middle daughter's first lesson was officially over. She had a great time and is excited for her next lesson! :)
I couldn't be happier! However, I also learned a lesson...never take youngest son to the barn again. 'Nuf said on that. We are all looking forward to next week Monday to "do the dance" all over again!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius."
4:45pm rolled around and I was running (well, walking quickly) out to my car. I had to mail out 3 packages at the post office and then I could be on my way home. Please don't be busy, please don't be busy! Thankfully, the post office wasn't so I was on my way in a short amount of time.
Let's see... the lesson is at 6pm and it takes me a half hour to get home and then another half hour to get to the new barn. Dinner? Let's hope hubby has that going already!
The phone rings, it's hubby. He tells me dinner is almost done and to hurry up so I have time to eat before we leave.
I got home at 5:15 pm leaving me 15 minutes to eat and change my clothes. Middle daughter was ready to go already (what a good girl!) and dinner was on the table (grilled chicken, broccoli and biscuits - I got myself a good man!!).
I ate as fast as I dared (didn't want to get indigestion while at a barn!!) and then excused myself to change my clothes.
As middle daughter and I headed out to the car, oldest son and youngest son said they wanted to come along and watch. No problem - just get in the car quickly!
We left on time and thankfully arrived on time.
E (riding instructor) was there waiting for us. We gave E the poster middle daughter made and then it was time to start. Middle daughter was given an assignment the week before. She had to read a packet and then draw a poster with some of the stuff she learned. It was cute! She drew a picture of Ty and labeled different parts of the horse. Then drew a saddle and bridle and name the parts on each.
E showed middle daughter were the helmets and brushes were kept and then it was time to take Sara (show name is Serendipity) out. E put her in the cross ties right in front of her stall.
E and middle daughter went over horse safety, the brushes and grooming techniques. Middle daughter knew all of it so it was a quick lesson. Together they saddled up Sara and it was time to go riding. Even though I had told E that middle daughter wanted to do western riding, they used an english saddle. They don't have a western saddle small enough for middle daughter. I was fine with it and so was middle daughter. It won't hurt for her to ride in an english saddle...that's how I learned!
They rode in the indoor because surprisingly, it was pretty cool inside that barn! The boys and I sat in the lounge and watched. I couldn't hear what E was saying but middle daughter looked great on that pony!
The whole lesson was about 45 minutes long and then they were heading back to the cross ties. They untacked and brushed Sara and put her away.
Middle daughter's first lesson was officially over. She had a great time and is excited for her next lesson! :)
I couldn't be happier! However, I also learned a lesson...never take youngest son to the barn again. 'Nuf said on that. We are all looking forward to next week Monday to "do the dance" all over again!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius."
-Anna Pavlova
Friday, July 5, 2013
Riding Lessons
I mentioned here that hubby and I were looking into lessons for middle daughter. We had it down to 2 possible instructors and we made a decision on one this past week. What did it for me was that this instructor (we'll call her B) was all about classical riding principles. She is a dressage rider/trainer and is very active in western dressage. It also turns out that she went to high school with hubby - small world!
We called B and she said she had only 2 openings left! I quickly spoke up for one of the openings and we took a drive out to the barn to meet everyone and to get a tour. After meeting her and her assistant (we'll call her E), we got to meet the pony, Sara, that middle daughter will be riding. She's a cute POA that's been there, done that. At 20 years old, she's seen and done a lot!
Lessons will officially begin next week. E will start off evaluating what she knows and will fill in any holes. Once she has the basics and is walk/trot/canter competently, she will move to B's class. If middle daughter is comfortable, she will go into a group lesson of no more than 2 other girls her age. If middle daughter doesn't like that, she can still have private lessons. Another thing that stuck out that I really liked was they stop when the lesson is learned, not when the clock runs out.
The barn and everything about the farm is beautiful - I will get some pictures next time! HUGE indoor riding arena, nice outdoor arena, beautiful stalls, green pastures, white fencing, and CLEAN!
I don't know who is more excited about lessons, me or middle daughter!!!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
We called B and she said she had only 2 openings left! I quickly spoke up for one of the openings and we took a drive out to the barn to meet everyone and to get a tour. After meeting her and her assistant (we'll call her E), we got to meet the pony, Sara, that middle daughter will be riding. She's a cute POA that's been there, done that. At 20 years old, she's seen and done a lot!
Lessons will officially begin next week. E will start off evaluating what she knows and will fill in any holes. Once she has the basics and is walk/trot/canter competently, she will move to B's class. If middle daughter is comfortable, she will go into a group lesson of no more than 2 other girls her age. If middle daughter doesn't like that, she can still have private lessons. Another thing that stuck out that I really liked was they stop when the lesson is learned, not when the clock runs out.
The barn and everything about the farm is beautiful - I will get some pictures next time! HUGE indoor riding arena, nice outdoor arena, beautiful stalls, green pastures, white fencing, and CLEAN!
I don't know who is more excited about lessons, me or middle daughter!!!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
-Seneca
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Trainer
Back to Zoe again...if anyone is actually reading this blog, they might be asking about what happened with Zoe and the trainer (we'll call her K)? Well, we haven't been able to get a date lined up for Zoe to get dropped off. We are now looking at bringing her next week. I have to call K on Monday to firm up on the day.
I'm still very excited about the prospect of having Zoe riding better. I don't expect her to be perfect, but I'm tired of riding a ticking time bomb so if K can figure that out so I don't have to take anymore falls that would be awesome!
I'm also looking forward to lessons with K. Once Zoe has been there for 3 weeks I am to start taking lessons on her with K. K will teach me what she has taught Zoe so there is good communication between us.
I'm not sure how long Zoe will stay at K's, it all depends on the first 30 days. If K determines that Zoe will make a good reining horse, she will stay longer. If not, she might come home - that just depends on what else we need to accomplish before she comes home. I'm not one of those people that expects the horse to conform to a time frame. K can train Zoe at Zoe's pace and if that pace is slow, than so be it. I want a horse without holes in her training please!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Seeing through is rarely seeing into."
I'm still very excited about the prospect of having Zoe riding better. I don't expect her to be perfect, but I'm tired of riding a ticking time bomb so if K can figure that out so I don't have to take anymore falls that would be awesome!
I'm also looking forward to lessons with K. Once Zoe has been there for 3 weeks I am to start taking lessons on her with K. K will teach me what she has taught Zoe so there is good communication between us.
I'm not sure how long Zoe will stay at K's, it all depends on the first 30 days. If K determines that Zoe will make a good reining horse, she will stay longer. If not, she might come home - that just depends on what else we need to accomplish before she comes home. I'm not one of those people that expects the horse to conform to a time frame. K can train Zoe at Zoe's pace and if that pace is slow, than so be it. I want a horse without holes in her training please!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Seeing through is rarely seeing into."
-Elizabeth Bibesco
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