Is It Cheating?

I'm beginning to realize that I don't have the time to consistently work with Zoe.  I've been going back and forth with the idea of sending Zoe to a trainer to get her some consistent training.  I know that I could do what needs to be done but my time is very spotty.  Some weeks I have tons of time, other weeks I don't even have 10 minutes to round pen her.  Plus, it looks like I'm going to be getting more hours at work so that eliminates another day during the week that I normally have for working with the horses.  What I'm realizing is that I'm running out of time to get her trained because of my busy schedule!

I don't need the trainer to do much, just get her riding consistently under saddle.  Ground work is something I work on everyday so that's good.  I'm pretty sure that 30 days under saddle would be all she needs but it needs to be consistent work - not like I've been doing. 

So I've been doing some research on a good local trainer that would be good for the job.  I have a few but would like to get some references...is that normal?  I don't want to take any steps backwards with Zoe so finding the right trainer is crucial for this training.

Once she's been broke to ride better, I'm going to put some hours in the saddle and send her off to a reining trainer.  I have the trainer all picked out.  I'm so excited for our plans!  I just hope I can make a decision on the first trainer soon!

Until next time!


Quote for the day:
"Believe you can and you're half way there."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Bath Time!

We finally had some decent weather and the time to give the horses a bath!  I wish I had a camera to take some before and after pictures cuz those girls were nasty!!!  You can really see the difference on Zoe because of her lighter color and Star's coat just glowed!  I had wanted to give their tails a make over too but I was running out of steam so only their manes got the attention.

On a whole, the first bath of the year went good.  Zoe dealt with the water being sprayed on her until I got to her back.  After that getting her to stand still so I could get her but and belly was virtually impossible to do by myself.  Hubby saw my struggle and came to my rescue.  He was able to hold her while I finished spraying.  Then middle daughter and I got to scrubbing!  Zoe got a little anxious at first because Star was running around in the field - not waiting patiently for her turn.  But Zoe relaxed eventually and really enjoyed the scrubbing.  All the winter fur was very itchy, I'm sure!  We got a good portion of winter hair off but she still has more to go!  After the final rinse, hubby took her to the yard and held her while she ate.  Can't turn her out while she's still wet because all that hard work of washing would've gone to waste - turning her into a big mud ball. 

So while Zoe was drying, we got Star out.  She just wanted a bath so she could eat while we washed.  That would've been fine but she kept walking while we were trying to scrub and that gets annoying.  So we had to move out to the driveway so she had to just stand there.  Star had more winter hair left than Zoe did so we got TONS of hair out (and dirt!).  Oldest son was there to help with the scrubbing this time so I was able to just hold her while the kiddos did the work. :)  After the final rinse, middle daughter took Star to eat some grass while she dried. 

I gave Zoe and quick brush down and turned her out.  First thing she did was roll.  Dang horse.  So I went back out with a brush and tried to get the dirt off right away.  I got one side done before she just wanted to play.  Oh well.  Hubby came with some hay and she got to eating.

I took over with Star and just relaxed in the sunshine while Star ate.  What a beautiful day!  Once Star was dry, I brushed her quick and turned her out with Zoe.  Usually Star will roll ASAP but she didn't want to miss out on the hay so she ate instead of rolled....I may be on to something here...

After bath time was all done, hubby and I decided we need a wash stall so I can do the horse bathing by myself if need be.  So I guess we just added another project to our already too long list of projects!  I'm sure that by the end of summer, Zoe will do MUCH better.  We do a lot of baths throughout the summer so she will come to enjoy them on those hot days.  She showed a lot of curiosity with the water and almost tried to take a drink.  I remember Grace (APHA mare that we had to put down a year or so ago) used to enjoy drinking directly from the hose.  I miss that mare and her puppy dog attitude.  Some day maybe I will write a post about her.  Still hard to talk about her without tears.

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Peace begins with a smile."

-Mother Teresa

The Horse Eating Pitch Fork

Not much going on here.  Too much rain to do anything of any significance.  I did have one issue show its nasty head one day, that required some attention:  Zoe met a pitch fork.  OMG!  A horse-eating monster!  Or so she thought!  My little guy was in the barn with me and the hubby playing with the hay.  He picked up the pitch fork to move it and it was at that exact moment I was walking with Zoe out to the pasture.  She lost it!  She flew sideways and backwards with her eyes about popping out of her head.  She wanted nothing to do with that awful pitch fork.  Zoe is usually pretty good about coming back to me when she gets frightened and will investigate the object once she's calmed down.  This was not one of those times.  Every time I tried to get her close to the immobile pitch fork (little guy put it down on the ground) she about plowed me over trying to get away from it.  She DID NOT want to investigate it.  Hubby came over to see what was going on and helped me with the next step.  If she wasn't going near it, we were bringing it to her.  She's going to have to get used to seeing it without losing her mind. I held her and talked to her while hubby slowly brought it to her.  She tried to get away but I didn't budge.  Eventually she let it touch her legs, then up to her shoulder.  She was still very upset about it but tolerated it so we ended it there.  When I bring her hay to her on the fork, she doesn't mind it one bit but seeing it all by itself was apparently terrifying!  We will have to work on more desensitizing...might be more work there than I thought!!!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible."

-Arthur C. Clarke

Fuzzy Wuzzy

It's finally shedding season at our barn!  The horses are itchy all over and would rather have scratches than their dinner - or at least Zoe did.  She finished up her grain and I was taking the grain dish out when I gave her a quick scratch.  She picked her head up out of her hay and just stood there.  So I continued to scratch and pull hair out (I didn't have a brush with me).  She didn't move a muscle!  I bet I scratched her neck and chest for a solid 5 minutes before I stopped and let her eat.  I was COVERED in blond hair.  Yuck. 

I picked up some Cowboy Magic for the girls.  I will be ready for their first bath at the first opportunity, just waiting on the weather to warm up.  They are so yucky and gross from the winter and mud!  Last year Zoe rubbed part of her mane off so I am going to work on getting that grown in so her main will be nice and even.  She has a really thick black mane and it's gorgeous!  Her tail is really long and has waves in it too.  I can't wait to get the detangler in and get to work on that tail!

When I went in Star's stall to get her grain dish, she tolerated me while I scratched her.  She'd much rather eat at that point.  She's very food oriented.  For example, when I first started working with Star she could only be caught if I chased her into her stall or had a grain bucket with me.  It was a long summer but at the end, she was coming to me to get caught.  Just had to have treats in my pockets every time I visited her.

I was told when I bought Zoe back that she can be hard to catch at times (which was not the way she was when I sold her) but since she's been home, she waits for me at the gate and dives right into her halter.  I wonder if she remembers me from when she was a young filly?  She still has all of her scratchy spots that she did when she was a baby and follows me around like she did before I sold her.  She's definitely more reactive than she was before but I'm guessing that's because of her lack of training/handling since I sold her.  I'm just so happy I have her back.  This is her forever home and she doesn't have to worry about the expectations of anyone else but mine - and I'm pretty easy to get along with.  I digress....

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

-Lusious Annaeus Seneca

A Good Weekend

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous!  We had perfect weather for being outside all day so that's what we did.

After stalls were cleaned, I took the horses out for some much needed exercise in the round pen.  I wanted to see what each of them remembered since we left off last fall.  Ok, mostly Zoe.  I wanted to see if Star was sound.  We have issues every summer...I'm thinking it's got something to do with the rich grasses, but we'll see.  I'm going to change the way we summer the horses this year to see if I can keep her sound all year.

Anyways, Zoe was a rock star!  She behaved very nicely while being led around and when it came time to round pen, she knew exactly what to do.  I didn't ask her to go any faster than a trot because there was a spot in the round pen footing where it was still a little wet but Zoe decided she wanted to go faster.  As soon as she hit the bad spot she almost fell on her side.  We took a quick break and assessed her.  She was fine.  Not even spooked at all. 

We worked for about 5 minutes each direction and called it a day for each mare.  I got some nice relaxed trot work from Star where she stretched out nicely.  She also wanted to do some cantering but knew to avoid the bad spot.  She looked great, by the way.  Nice floating trot, head was level with her withers...poetry in motion.  Canter looked very energetic and forward but I wouldn't call it relaxed or collected.  We'll work on that.

I round penned both girls every day this weekend for about 10 minutes each.  Not long, but they are both out of shape.  I will continue at 10 minutes each until Friday where I will up it to 20 minutes.  Once I have the 20 minutes of round pen work for a week, I will start with the saddle on Zoe and do a short ride on Star.  That's the plan so far.  Gotta take it slow with Zoe to see what all she remembers from last year.  I DO NOT want to end up on the ground because I skipped some important steps with her.  I made that mistake once last year and do not care to repeat that experience again.

In other news, I bought a rope halter for Zoe.  I have found that she respects that halter more than the nylon one we were using.  We only did a quick back step before she realized the new halter.  After that, she was in tune to me.  If I took a step, she did.  If I stopped, she did.  Never had to touch her face at all with pressure.  She's like that in the saddle too.  Very tuned in to her rider.  If I lean back for a stop, without touching the reins, she stops.  A very nice stop, I might add.  If I turn my hips for a turn, she will turn.  Don't even need reins on this mare!  She might be a good candidate for bridleless riding if I can get her broke!  I'm so happy with my decision to purchase her!  She's exactly the horse I've been looking for!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Doubt whom you will, but never doubt yourself."

-Christian Nestell Bovee

The Farm

It just occurred to me that I never gave any kind of background on our farm.  As you may have guessed, I don't board my horses because I have them at home.  We live on a small 10 acre hobby farm with my 2 horses, my hubby's several rodeo cows (I can't keep track of how many anymore) and a few bucking bulls.

You can't leave out our dog, Riggin.  He's an Australian Shepherd and is the smartest dog I've ever had the privilege of owning.  He's great with my 5 children and is protective of all his barn cats.  When it comes to strangers, though, he's not a dog you want to mess with.  If he doesn't know you, he won't let you out of your car or through our door.  He's good like that.

Anyways, back to our farm.  We recently bought a few egg laying chickens, which has been surprisingly fun!  I have never been a lover of beaked animals so I wasn't thrilled with hubby and his idea of raising chickens.  But they are generally low maintenance and we happened to get friendly chickens.  I really enjoy having the convenience of the unending supply of eggs.  We get about 7 eggs per day in the winter and 10 per day in the warmer months.  Tractor Supply was selling chicks so hubby decided he wanted to try his hand at raising the chicks and used the excuse that the kids would learn responsibility.  Needless to say, the kids did really good at taking care of them when the chicks were little but now the chicks are bigger (have their feathers now), the kids don't frequent the chicks anymore.  Lesson learned.

Did you catch that word I used to describe our cattle?  Rodeo?  Yes, we have cattle that are bred to buck.  They are their own "breed" now and have a separate registry.  We have been raising these cattle for about 7 years now.  My hubby is passionate about his cattle like I am about my horses.  We own a retired PBR (Professional Bull Riders) bull, 590 Felix.  He is our breeding bull right now and is a really cool looking bull.

Just to clear the air about the misconception on how rodeo bulls/cows are treated, we have never and will never mistreat our animals.  The ability to buck is bred into them just like the ability to run is bred into a Thoroughbred.  We don't abuse them to make them mean, it's their natural instinct to protect themselves.  In fact, we probably take better care of our athletic bovines than the beef and dairy industry does of their cattle.  We need our cattle in the best health possible so they will perform to the best of their ability.  They get wormed and vaccinated on a regular schedule, as do the horses.  If we notice one is being pushed off her feed, we separate her so she can get her fill.  We love all of God's creatures and treat them all with love and respect.  Oh, and we DO NOT tie up the bull's testicles to make them perform.  It's simply a rope wrapped around their flank to annoy them...that's all.  Most bulls will buck without that rope being there.  If you have any questions regarding our cattle operation and the way they are treated please ask.  We have nothing to hide and welcome visitors and their questions at any time.

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn't know you left open."

-John Barrymore

Lessons

I mentioned before how my hubby and I were looking into 4H for our middle daughter.  Our decision?  She needs to have some formal lessons first to decide which aspect of horseback riding she wants to pursue.  Right now she rides around the yard very well but doesn't have a clue about the different types of riding out there.  She's heard us talk about jumping, barrel racing and reining but there is so much more out there for her to learn.  She really has a knack for riding and is very good at it.  A natural - much better than I was at her age!

I started my search online (gotta love Facebook and Craigslist!) for a local trainer for her to learn from and have a few to pick from.  I've managed to narrow it down to two top ladies...Sarah Johnson and Becky Botsford.  Sarah trains not too far from our house at a local APHA breeder's barn and Becky trains in a small farm community about 20 - 30 minutes away at a BEAUTIFUL barn.  Both ladies train in the same disciplines and seem to know what they are doing.  My next step is to contact them.  I want to know what their methods are for teaching/training and of course, the cost.

It would be great to have middle start with one of the trainers soon so that next year she will be ready for 4H or maybe some open shows.  If I like them and it works out, I might take some lessons too.  It's been a long time since I had any formal lessons and I know I would definitely benefit from them.  Like I said in my About Us page, I want to do reining and I think Zoe will be a great mount for that, if I can get her broke!

If anyone who is reading this knows anything about these two trainers, please comment.  I would love to get the scoop on them from someone other than themselves.  I want to know how they treat their horses and students; how they train their horses and students (methods); are they easy to get along with or are they pushy?  You know, that kind of stuff.

Until next time!


Quote for the day:
"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell."

-Harry S. Truman