tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15511107576012428982024-03-12T16:39:53.558-07:00Life With My HerdAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.comBlogger582125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-10536553933341141042018-06-18T22:08:00.000-07:002018-06-18T22:08:01.113-07:00Why I only have one horseIn my previous post I mentioned that I only have one horse to ride. Well there are reasons for that. <br />
<br />
1. I sent Killian off to a potential new owner. He is on an 8 week lease with an option to buy. So far it is working out well for everyone and it is my hope he has found his perfect person. If not, he can come back and I will just keep him with me. <br />
<br />
2. Melody is out of commission. She recently was in a pasture with a new horse who promptly claimed ownership to Trax, and kicked the crap out of my mare. She has a hairline fracture and is 6 weeks in to her 90 day rehab process. It is truly killing me not to be able to ride her. The mare that did the kicking didn't stay long. She was a horse I was trying out. It ended up not being a good fit. <br />
<br />
I am, however enjoying the ability to focus more time on Trax and our Barrel Racing. Things are finally starting to come together. We had some pretty bad runs, but finally pulled down and 18.871 which is our fastest time yet and earned us a little check in the 4D. 3rd place to be exact. <br />
<br />
Here are a few shots from the night.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUYrrUxpmkgb2cn3cg5kXu0QNaDSUTVkUt7ftZW19ZtkMt_pt51FIbFkvOUEBLlm9OO9DHJIhAR1PdV3_JHmKXCw8t01k2t9EqXBw4RUR7AHj0cPNDEiNig64FDZ1IccT7JWr3pMRk7Ub/s1600/06-15-18.1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="604" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZUYrrUxpmkgb2cn3cg5kXu0QNaDSUTVkUt7ftZW19ZtkMt_pt51FIbFkvOUEBLlm9OO9DHJIhAR1PdV3_JHmKXCw8t01k2t9EqXBw4RUR7AHj0cPNDEiNig64FDZ1IccT7JWr3pMRk7Ub/s320/06-15-18.1.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like this one. My eyes are up and we are looking good. </td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz2bFQw5RgAgS9Z40iv7RBVwxurhnqHslVBiTrEdYQ_5xiWHYrS-hgEtMBe5QCgPDlGrXaBnoBUGM3YCJ4NUkUl3I6NAy2riGpZwnr39ZZK5sHBq4ZZKw0_L93D5uK3EswoaCMeaRZFFB/s1600/06-15-18.2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="602" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz2bFQw5RgAgS9Z40iv7RBVwxurhnqHslVBiTrEdYQ_5xiWHYrS-hgEtMBe5QCgPDlGrXaBnoBUGM3YCJ4NUkUl3I6NAy2riGpZwnr39ZZK5sHBq4ZZKw0_L93D5uK3EswoaCMeaRZFFB/s320/06-15-18.2.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this one we are both hunting for the next barrel and right on track</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pAa8k7wj9jK3JF92rNhgAHRdHDGuOc5pHqmaS-NwgtpJW2pae-IlLs9f_517Quu1tB5zIBsdNUy8o4Wf-2qnARxiMLn_MSNkTzRcuXnTD1L1y3JdUClgWNT7hglUTkj45TmYj86dWn15/s1600/06-15-18.3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="597" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pAa8k7wj9jK3JF92rNhgAHRdHDGuOc5pHqmaS-NwgtpJW2pae-IlLs9f_517Quu1tB5zIBsdNUy8o4Wf-2qnARxiMLn_MSNkTzRcuXnTD1L1y3JdUClgWNT7hglUTkj45TmYj86dWn15/s320/06-15-18.3.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was my first time running him a tie down. It seemed to make a difference for him mostly right here, where we struggle with balance. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgBhyphenhyphenxXTz4XhifAIact5o4C5Fd7TvTsp9goFtBFkYZaTPft6PCHFQx7PVo-vt_3G0-cfwU0yyf-ifytRgNUOZRs8TFnP8jcA7hyT2YSz0l1EtwHwdeDtEaFr06J_WKOJIeQrGxGNEHj-H/s1600/06-15-18.5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="601" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJgBhyphenhyphenxXTz4XhifAIact5o4C5Fd7TvTsp9goFtBFkYZaTPft6PCHFQx7PVo-vt_3G0-cfwU0yyf-ifytRgNUOZRs8TFnP8jcA7hyT2YSz0l1EtwHwdeDtEaFr06J_WKOJIeQrGxGNEHj-H/s320/06-15-18.5.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this one the first thing I saw was where I was looking. He is following my eyes.</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioW3byEoSF6JYD2heKPBmwj50ZchK3zoR-1cdADCNit1nQlLRRwjEJh9_K2OJVfK2gVkZuJvTmzHV-6yjTD3U22HMjU4UFeQ_-Fv7hlKHftmgO1QzqyBDhldKZP_6qIr6VtVdP7Wo19FtJ/s1600/06-15-18.6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="603" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioW3byEoSF6JYD2heKPBmwj50ZchK3zoR-1cdADCNit1nQlLRRwjEJh9_K2OJVfK2gVkZuJvTmzHV-6yjTD3U22HMjU4UFeQ_-Fv7hlKHftmgO1QzqyBDhldKZP_6qIr6VtVdP7Wo19FtJ/s320/06-15-18.6.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As soon as I looked up, so did he. </td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_uLFPM26s_w3FRe3Wfnwj26xemwhkdppIV9-Yqu7Dmsn7YTkOFZVgxnwBRtX2i_czgwneY4lHSHD525uD-CSfr00sOW0p2KVh7VpvMsV7qBvLVZagu6wr4kKGRqWJmkFeMVBEbELYnQO/s1600/06-15-18.7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="594" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_uLFPM26s_w3FRe3Wfnwj26xemwhkdppIV9-Yqu7Dmsn7YTkOFZVgxnwBRtX2i_czgwneY4lHSHD525uD-CSfr00sOW0p2KVh7VpvMsV7qBvLVZagu6wr4kKGRqWJmkFeMVBEbELYnQO/s320/06-15-18.7.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I always like these because they show how hard he is trying. <br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
I have to be honest. I was almost ready to give up on all of this, but as always, the biggest problem with my horses is the rider. I'm not going to sit here and try to convince anyone that he is a sweet innocent old guy who only does what he is told. But for the most part, he really wants to get along, and really likes barrel racing. He tries really hard to follow my cues, and he just didn't understand why he was getting in trouble for going exactly where he thought I wanted him to go....I was staring at the barrels and so that is where he went. Even though he didn't often knock them over, he would run into them and then have to jump to one side or the other, or just stop all together. Once we fixed where my eyes are, and where I cue him to turn, suddenly everything fell into place. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We still have a long ways to go, and he is never going to be a 1D horse. But I'll never be a 1D rider either, so it works. We are currently sitting 1st in the 2D senior division for the year end awards of this club. I'm pretty excited about that! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-54667006348495577802018-06-18T21:36:00.001-07:002018-06-18T21:36:43.832-07:00Cow Presence<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Tonight
the meaning of the phrase "Cow presence" became crystal clear to me. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Melody has
major cow presence. When you ride her into a group of cows they look up at her,
scream like little bitches, and run. She laughs like a mad woman, I laugh like
a mad woman, and it is cool as hell. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Trax has
ZERO cow presence. When you ride him into a group of cows they look up at him
like they want to make out with him or something. I usually hang my head in
shame. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Since Trax
is the only horse I have left to ride (for now) I took him over to cow night at
Rattlesnake Arena. It was oddly quiet this night, which I was actually glad
for. It was just me and one other friend...and six cows to have our way with. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Trax and I
do a lot of "stop, back up, roll back and move out" but we do it for
no apparent reason, and he always thought I was just torturing him, I am sure.
So I tortured him some more tonight and then we very slowly moved some cows
around using the same routine. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>Now this
is not his first time doing this, but Trax is a front end horse. He can spin
around faster on his front end than any horse I know, so he has held a cow on a
fence before...just not correctly. Tonight I asked him to do it correctly. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>At some point
in the evening, something in him clicked. He suddenly realized that all the
fancy foot work torture we have been doing for all this time had a purpose, and
that purpose is to have our way with the cows. At one point I managed to get
off of his face and he managed to start moving off of his hind end, drop his
head and follow my legs and seat. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>I'm not
talking world class cutting here, but there were some serious moments of
clarity for us, and we did manage to shut the cows down. Even when one got away
from us, we headed him off and turned him around. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>And the
paint horse suddenly was having fun! <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<strong>He still
doesn't have that presence that Melly has, but he had purpose and it was a
great start. Who knows, maybe he'll be able to be a sorting horse after all. <o:p></o:p></strong></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-62295276499868855502018-03-11T20:32:00.001-07:002018-03-11T20:32:38.783-07:00Barrel Racer Blues<br />
<br />
Trax and I are in the beginning of our season with the Queen Creek Barrel Racing Association. So far it has not gone well. We have had 2 races and ended up with broken pattern and a very last place with a 22 second run.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/10216286028562141/" target="_blank">Here is a link</a> to the 22 second run. His first barrel is almost always pretty nice, but 2 and 3 we seem to lose all forward momentum. <br />
<br />
Our broken pattern run was my fault because we were wide on #3 and when I put my leg on to push him over, he side passed right over past the the barrel. I'll own up to that one as being my fault. I don't have a video of that.<br />
<br />
The one I won't own up to was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/10216330577315832/" target="_blank">This little dirty trick he pulled</a>. That duck on the 3rd barrel was all him. However I am less concerned with that than I am our other two turns. If he does it again, then I will be concerned. But today I am talking about one and two. Once again, we lose forward momentum.<br />
<br />
This was not at the QCBRA, which I was really glad for, because these sorts of runs will not get us anywhere near a year end award. (which is my goal) It was another little local race and I was glad I went, and while I didn't hate the run, I think we can do better. <br />
<br />
I'm no trainer, and of course I get lots of great advice, and I am working with a trainer who I like. But at some point in time I have to do some of my own thinking. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate every bit of advice I get from all my friends and my trainer. I pay attention and try all if it and keep what works and file away what doesn't for another time, or another horse. However, the one thing I always come back to is that this is my horse, and nobody knows him better than I do, so sometimes I get further by using what I know works over what someone else thinks I should do. It doesn't always work that way, but sometimes. <br />
<br />
So I think on it, and I think on it, and I think on it. I lose sleep over it. (stupid I know)<br />
<br />
How do I get him to keep his momentum going around the barrels. <br />
<br />
When I am riding it feels like two things are happening. <br />
<br />
First my trainer has me saying "Here" when I want him to rate down to turn the barrel. I sometimes wonder if he isn't confusing it with "whoa". Lord knows we have worked on that command for a really long time!<br />
<br />
Second, this horse has a really bad habit of planting his front foot and swinging his hip to turn. I blame it roping, but who knows. It could just be how he has always done it.<br />
<br />
So he "stops", swings the hip slices off the back of arch and then comes around. Often times he comes around really wide. Although we seem to be getting better about full turns so that is good. <br />
<br />
We are losing our shape. <br />
<br />
I work on shape with this horse constantly.<br />
<br />
At a trot he will shape around that barrel like a pro. <br />
<br />
The minute I add any speed at all, he slices and dices like a damn food processor. <br />
<br />
Part of it could be me. But I don't think it is all me. If I ask for the shape and there is no barrel, if we just do a random turn, he generally does fine. So I am not sure what the deal is. <br />
<br />
So after a lot of thought and watching some videos of some better horses I came up with a plan. Today we tried it. <br />
<br />
Today's goal was to move out a foot wider from where we usually are in our turn. It was my hope that doing this will make it easier for him/us to keep our shape instead of slicing. <br />
<br />
We worked on it for about an hour and a half. It was a lot of arguing between the two of us. <br />
<br />
We didn't start on the pattern. It started with nothing but right hand circles, and we switched to left hand, and then we switched them up, and then we went to the pattern. <br />
<br />
I would say "go wide and round and keep your momentum"<br />
<br />
And he would say, "slowing down for the short cut!"<br />
<br />
And I would back him up and slow him down and we would do it again.<br />
<br />
and again<br />
<br />
and again.<br />
<br />
When we got it at a trot we progressed to a lope.<br />
<br />
He really hates to slow lope a pattern. He will trot it just fine, but loping not so much. However today I insisted. When we lope he tends to want to just trot when we get to the barrel. But what I really wanted was for him to keep the slow lope even going around. In order to do so he had to really get off of my leg which I admit to hitting him pretty dang hard with. I did try asking nicely first but he just blew me off. <br />
<br />
It took many many tries at a lope to get it right, but finally he did.<br />
<br />
Then I asked him to go faster and to do it right.<br />
<br />
The first time he went right back to slice and dice on the very first barrel. I got after him pretty hard and we went back and did again. <br />
<br />
The second time he made a perfect beautiful arch around the first barrel and kept his momentum. He came out of it and picked up his lead so I pushed him on to number two. I had quit saying "here" and started saying "nice and round" and he went out and around with out losing his speed. He was a little bit wide coming out of it, but I wasn't going to split hairs at this time, and it wasn't out of control so we just went on. His 3rd barrel was a perfect arch and so I let him have his race for home. <br />
<br />
Of course I told him how amazing he was, and that I knew he could do it, and he trotted around the arena very proud of himself and licking and chewing, so I knew he was thinking about it. I let him work out his anxiety and then cooled him down. <br />
<br />
The poor guy was drenched in sweat. He still has a ton of hair and it was pretty warm today, so he was pretty hot. He did get a nice cool bath and got to roll in the pasture afterwards. <br />
<br />
So here is what I think. I think that being who he is, I am better off making him take those turns just a little wider to help him stay round, until staying round is second nature to him. I am not going to say "here" anymore because I really think it confuses him. I am going to keep insisting that he run the pattern at the speed I choose and not let him push me around just because he likes to run. That way I can make sure we are doing it correctly before we just go. <br />
<br />
Oddly enough, all the fear of him going too fast or being out of control is gone. I still get nervous before I run at an event, but not afraid. That part is a big deal for me. So YAY!<br />
<br />
These are a few of my favorite shots from the 22 second run. Our confidence is growing, and we are way better than we were even a few months ago. I know it is a process, and I'm working with tough horse and zero experience on my end, but I am happy with our progress. I really hope this new plan helps. I guess we will see soon enough!<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-60032470123096111462018-02-18T09:02:00.003-08:002018-02-18T09:02:42.457-08:00FearlessnessThe word fearlessness keeps coming up to me these days.<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Someone said to me "I admire your fearlessness"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Someone else said, "It is so cool to see older women out
there competing" (in regards to riding)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are a lot of us
actually, I think. We are the ones who have always loved horses, but had to get
out of them for one reason or another, and now are back and trail riding isn't
enough for us. We want more. We want to compete. We want to race, we want to
work cows, we want to rope, we want to be better horsewomen. It isn't that
there is anything wrong with trail riding. We still do that too, and I darn
sure am not making fun on people who are content with that. So please don't
think that I am</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Maybe it is a midlife crisis sort of thing. Perhaps we are
trying to buy back years of our youth by pushing ourselves in events that are
generally dominated by younger women.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">The funny thing is that while I think, like anyone, we want to
be competitive and win, for most of us it is more about the DOING. It is about
not going to our grave regretting the things we did not try.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">Are we scared? Hell yeah we are!!!! But damn, most of us have
been through some pretty hairy stuff in our lives and lived through it. So why
in the world would we let fear take us out of the game now?</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">Every single time I
compete in any event, whether it is barrels, sorting, or Versatility Ranch
Horse, on my way to the event I am literally sick to my stomach with nerves.
Once I get there and get into the saddle, I am much better. But that 3 or 4
minutes right before I take my turn, I generally am shaking from nervousness</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">It isn't fear of getting hurt, it isn't that I am afraid of my
horse, and I really don't care about making a fool of myself. I don't know why
I am so nervous. I just am. For the most part, once I clear the gate, I'm ok.
(maybe not so much in barrels- but in everything else)</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">So when the person
said to me, "I admire your fearlessness" I laughed so hard. My fear
of dying with a ton of regrets, just happens to be stronger than my fear of
failure</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">About a year ago, I got bucked off that buckskin horse Smokey.
He got me good and face planted me on a patch of dirt that was hard like
concrete. I ended up at the hospital, nothing broken, but my shoulder will never
be the same again. I have bones sticking up and limited movement. There are
times when the entire right side of my body goes numb.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">When it happened, TC asked me, "So are you done with horses
now?"</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">What?</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I got hurt but I am no where near done yet! As soon as I was
able to get myself back in a saddle I was there. Of course I had to have
someone else saddle my horse because it was 2 months before I could lift a
saddle up the high.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">I still think about
that day when I am riding from time to time. Not in the "Oh I might get
hurt again" frame of mind, but in the "What could I have done to shut
that horse down before he dumped me" frame of mind</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">Since that day instead of slowing down, I have sped up. I go faster,
I ride harder, I ride more aggressively than I ever did before. Maybe because I
got bucked off and I didn't die? I don't know.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">All I know for sure is that I refuse to be held captive by my
age, by my trepidations, or by someone saying to me "You aren't good
enough."</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-size: 10.5pt;">I don't care. If I am not good enough, I will keep trying until
I get better. Or maybe I won't get better. Maybe I'll keep looking like the
worst rider out there, but the smile on my face will be huge because I
am........OUT THERE!</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-29464724855971588652018-02-10T17:39:00.004-08:002018-02-10T17:39:52.093-08:00Dear Boarder.....Dear Boarder,<br />
<br />
Your horse is a pain in the ass. Remember how your previous facility told you to find someplace else to board? There is a reason for it. <br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
The person who takes care of your horse.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-63510265099518815412018-01-25T18:02:00.001-08:002018-01-25T18:05:49.404-08:00A Paint Horse Conversation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWegxct8tlCoqPRkOm9E2hQ-9p70PWqgEHzsbWibVAxpu1H8liv5HQwsa5FqVjryR4x_usRaAPQup0-aGxSa4XzItQ9MwePG48ai0RvPdmpNm5cMwg0zc63l988I4Efi6zOcW5kBiCYCj/s1600/26230551_10215786951645530_8050059129264195072_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWegxct8tlCoqPRkOm9E2hQ-9p70PWqgEHzsbWibVAxpu1H8liv5HQwsa5FqVjryR4x_usRaAPQup0-aGxSa4XzItQ9MwePG48ai0RvPdmpNm5cMwg0zc63l988I4Efi6zOcW5kBiCYCj/s320/26230551_10215786951645530_8050059129264195072_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
It is no secret that I love this horse to pieces.<br />
<br />
Even when I hate him, I love him.<br />
<br />
He loves me too.<br />
<br />
We have a connection that transcends anything I have with any of my other trusty steeds. Melody is special and I love her too, and Killian is just a solid rock. But Trax.....we are connected.<br />
<br />
When Trax needs to tell me something that he deems very important he does a thing. He will walk up to where I am and touch my hand with his nose.<br />
<br />
This is not like "Do you have treats?" touching. It the equivalent of the kid tugging on your pant leg and then pointing at something they want.<br />
<br />
He will touch my hand and then point his nose at want he wants me to see. He will do it again and again until I get the message. It is his, "Mom, we need to talk" signature move.<br />
<br />
A long time ago, before I had split all my stalls into the size they are now, they were big enough to house 2 horses easily. He had been gone at a trainers for a while, and a different horse had been moved in with Melody so when he came home I put him in with Killian. They have known each other for a long time, and I think that this was before I realized that Killian had decided that he hated everyone.<br />
<br />
Trax came to the gate where I was standing and touched my hand with his nose and then looked over at Melody's pen. I didn't get the message. He walked a circle and then came back and did it again. I still didn't get the message. He did it a 3rd time, and I did get the message. It was "Please let me go over there, this guy is going to kill me tonight." I said back to him, "Oh you will be fine, you've lived together before."<br />
<br />
The next day I came out to Killian pinning him in the corner biting the crap out of him. He was a torn up mess, and terrified. I felt so bad.<br />
<br />
So now when Trax says, "Hey Mom, we need to talk." I always listen.<br />
<br />
Recently I have been trying some different feeds with him. He doesn't really need grain. He is a fat boy. But because of the joint supplement he gets, I need to have something to use as a top dress. I have switched back and forth from Progressive Grass Balancer, and Nutrena Special care. Both are low starch, special care I believe is also lower in fat. Both are loaded with Amino Acids for muscle. I believe the Progressive is a little higher. I've also switched between a couple of different joint supplements, trying to figure out which one I like.<br />
<br />
Usually he goes right for his food, pushes the pellets out of the way to get at what ever yummy stuff he can find.<br />
<br />
Last week he went to his food, nosed around for a minute and then came to me, touched my hand and looked over at his tub.<br />
<br />
I said, "Sorry buddy, what we have is what we have." But made a mental note of his request. Clearly he was asking for something that was missing, but I really didn't know what it was because of all the swapping. .<br />
At this time he was on the Progressive, and Tight Joints, and Topline Extreme.<br />
<br />
The next day he did the same thing.<br />
<br />
And again the day after.<br />
<br />
In the morning I would check to see if he left something uneaten, but he is eating everything, which is typical of him.. But he really wanted something else.<br />
<br />
Today I finally brought home some Special Care. I didn't change anything but that. He went to his food, took a small bite, looked up at me and bobbed his head, and then went to chowing down.<br />
<br />
He doesn't like the taste of the Progressive. I find it odd, because it smells much more palatable to me. But what do I know, I'm not a horse!!!<br />
<br />
Luckily the Special Care is much cheaper, so I am good with his decision! I just think it is cool that he has figures out such a solid way to communicate with me. It isn't like I ever taught him this. He is a pretty smart old man.<br />
<br />
<br />
In other news our barrel racing is coming along. We still have so much to work on, but my trainer says we are making progress. Here are a couple of more pics from a recent Gymkhana. If things work out right we will hit a race down south on Saturday.<br />
<br />
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I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I hope my cold weather friends are able to stay warm!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-78749361843099095962018-01-23T18:35:00.000-08:002018-01-23T18:37:14.371-08:00The "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" club.A few weeks ago, BEC and I were at a sorting, and as usual I just couldn't "get anything going". I had some ok runs but nothing to write home about and definitely not in the money. We were joking around about how funny it is that the riders enter the jackpots, and of course everyone wants to win money, but when it comes to the buckle runs it seems as though everyone loses their minds! It is like that buckle is ten times more important than any cash reward.<br />
<br />
I laughed and said, "If I go through this season without getting a buckle I'm going just gonna go buy one that says 'Never won a darn thing'."<br />
<br />
She laughed and came back with, "Now I know what to get you for your birthday! A buckle from the Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda Club!"<br />
<br />
It was pretty hilarious, and I went in and rode my best that day but not good enough and once again went home empty handed and a good amount broker than I was when I got there.<br />
<br />
BUT I did have a good time and learned a little more so that was good.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to the next weekend.<br />
<br />
I had been chatting with my young friend Jillian who used to board here and work for me. She likes to sort too and is pretty darn good at it. We had not gone together since she moved her horses home to her new horse property. I asked her if she wanted to tag along and to my surprise she said yes. So I picked her and her trusty steed Spur up and we headed to the other side of the <strike>world</strike> valley.<br />
<br />
It was cold that day, and I guess because of that, there were not as many people there. I called BEC, she was otherwise engaged, and my other close friends S&J were also not there. But I still knew most of the folks who were there. There were some pretty good riders there. The same riders I lose to almost every week, so I went in with zero expectations.<br />
<br />
In fact, with as cold and windy as it was, I had almost talked myself out of going. I had a flat on the trailer the night before, it was wet and cold, and it is a long drive, and I thought, "Why do I put myself through this?"<br />
<br />
But Jillian was ready to go, and for her sake I did not want to back out.<br />
<br />
I<br />
am<br />
so<br />
glad<br />
I<br />
didn't!<br />
<br />
<br />
We did a few practice runs, Melly and I did pretty well. One of my partners let some cows through, but it was only a practice so it was no big deal. Jillian and I did 2 runs together and totally kicked ass. Her horse (who I had the chance to buy and passed on- kick myself every day for that decision) is so damn cool. She is a pretty handy rider too.<br />
<br />
First up was the Jackpot. With my first partner I got 3 cows. Not great, but clean. The cows were sticky that day so everyone was pulling low numbers. With my second partner I got 7 more. I knew that some teams had gotten higher so I was just sitting there holding the cows, minding my own business and they called out the winner for the jackpot. It was guy I will call GRRRR. (inside joke) He won with 12 cows. Then they said the second place winner was Cindy with 10 cows.<br />
<br />
WAIT<br />
<br />
WHAT?!?!?!?!<br />
<br />
OMG! I just took second!!!!!<br />
<br />
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<br />
I literally could not stop grinning. Yes I was excited that I won some money, but mostly I was excited that I wasn't last.<br />
<br />
We didn't win by default.<br />
<br />
We actually beat some pretty decent riders.<br />
<br />
We didn't suck!<br />
<br />
Next up was the 1-2 class buckle run. My first run went pretty well. I was with a rider that I had ridden with before and we went in and did a pretty good job. I was having a little trouble getting a certain cow and got to going too hard and fast. My partner yelled at me to slow down, and when she did I came back to my senses and we got the job done. We came out of that run with 5 cows.<br />
<br />
On my second run I was paired up with a rider I knew was pretty decent too. She was riding a pretty little roan mare and of course I was on my great big roan. So we went in joking about roan power!<br />
<br />
I went in first while she held the gate. I put Melly on our first cow but she got a little too into it, and accidentally cut him back the other way. (This is where my playing with cows in the practice pen may have got me into trouble) But we got him turned around without too much trouble. It cost us a little time, but after that things started to roll pretty smoothly. This was the better herd of the 3 we had to use, so they moved along pretty nicely. My partner did her job and I did mine both in the gate and in the herd. We came away with 7 cows.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/10215847501119229/" target="_blank">You can see that run here</a><br />
<br />
To be honest, I had lost track of how many cows I actually had and I was sure that someone else had more. When they called the winner of the buckle and I heard my name my first response was, "No Way!"<br />
<br />
Then I almost cried.<br />
<br />
Next up was the buckle run for the open class. There were only 4 riders.<br />
<br />
My first ride was with GRRR and we did a pretty decent job. He yelled at me, I yelled back at him, and we made up when it was all done, because the run was clean and I think we had 8 cows. He is a good rider and pretty darn competitive, so I was glad I didn't mess up.<br />
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<br />
My second ride was with a gal I had been watching. She was good...really good...and I went in the determined to do my best. They had changed the herd out for this series of runs, and this was the crappy herd. The 1 and the 7 cows were just bad. They wouldn't do anything you wanted them too do.<br />
<br />
She and I were hittin and gettin and those dang cows were coming through like butter. I am not even sure what number we were on, I just knew that we were having a pretty darn good run. I also knew that we were running short on time. She was bringing 2 cows towards me from the left. I was facing towards the right after chasing off a different cow. All I had to do was push my horses shoulder over and peel off that inside cow while she drove the good cow through.<br />
<br />
I don't know what happened. I put my spur on my horse and she wouldn't move.<br />
<br />
So I kicked her again even harder and she finally moved but that 2 second delay let that dirty rotten sucker get past me and we got a no time. I felt so bad for the other gal because, although I didn't know for sure, I was pretty sure she was in the running for that buckle. I hate it when I screw up someone elses chance to win.<br />
<br />
GRRR ended up winning the open buckle. It was cool, he earned it. But later the announcer told me that if I hadn't let that cow through, I would have walked away with both buckles and 2nd in the jackpot.<br />
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<br />
So there it is, my first ever buckle! I didn't get one till I was 54 years old. But of course I didn't even really start trying to win one until a year or so ago. So I am pretty happy with that. I know it wasn't a big win against a ton of riders, but hey, we all have to start somewhere!<br />
<br />
I know I posted about this on facebook and everyone congratulated me there, so please don't feel like you need to again. I just wanted to share the entire story.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-11077350229195546382017-12-10T07:50:00.003-08:002017-12-10T07:50:48.361-08:00"Counterfeit" or "Surviving our worst fears"After our very pretty but very slow run on 12-2 Trax and I went back to the practice pen. SS had told us that our patterns are really nice but that it was time to start riding more aggressively. So that is what I decided to do. <br />
<br />
Sometimes my neighbor uses my arena-vator and whenever he does he works my arena too, which is super nice. However one of the last times he did that my barrels somehow got moved down towards the middle of my arena. Due to my extremely busy schedule, they have just stayed there. But at the gate end of my arena there is also a wooden trail bridge. So "riding more aggressively" has almost gotten me into trouble when that bridge comes up so fast. SO, I took the time to put my barrels back at the far end of the arena where I like them. That gives me an extra 20-30 feet to stop before we are forced to jump the bridge. <br />
<br />
It was 6 am last Tuesday morning, there was pretty good chill but it wasn't even cold enough to need gloves or a jacket. Just a hoodie kept me plenty warm. I pulled my mighty steed from his stall, and gave him half a flake of hay to munch on while I tacked him up. I never work my horses on a totally empty stomach. <br />
<br />
We did our usual warm up routine. We WTC until he feels soft and relaxed and lopes with his head down. Then we work on our smaller circles and my body position. We work on posting, on me relaxing my rib cage so he will relax his. You know, all the things my great trainer has been teaching me to be a better rider.<br />
<br />
We did our usual trotting of the pattern, and then a slow lope of the pattern and every thing was right on the money. <br />
<br />
Now before I go any further, let me back up just a little. One of the reasons I have always been trepidatious about letting Trax run full speed, is because I have seen him buck. I'm not talking like out in the pasture buck. I'm talking about in the round pen, full on blow up and rip the lead rope out of my hands. I have seen back feet higher than the top of the round pen. I have always been just a little bit afraid that if he ever took to bucking when we were at a full run, he would kill me. <br />
<br />
Over time and as we have been practicing our sprinting around the arena, I have gotten over that and was finally at a point where I was beginning to trust that he wasn't going to do that. Granted there are time when he will do a "oh I think I want to buck" crow hop, but he isn't dedicated to the buck and I can always bring him out of it very easily. Usually it is coming out of the 2nd barrel and he is usually telling me to get my spur out of his side. The fact is, I had laid aside my fears and begun to trust my horse again.<br />
<br />
Now back to that morning.<br />
<br />
So we were at the point that I was ready to "go for it". I felt good. My horse seemed to feel good to me. We were working well together, the time had come to just do it. We trotted a circle, and I took a deep breath and pushed him into a left lead lope. We lined up with the center barrel and I pushed my hand forward and asked him to go. <br />
<br />
We came up to the first barrel, and I waited till the perfect moment to sit down and say "easy" and then we powered around that barrel with what felt like a text book turn. My hand was right where it was supposed to be and it was flat like it is supposed to be. My butt was in the saddle and I drove him forward with my seat. We exited in the correct lead and completed the second barrel just as nice. We committed to the full turn, powered around the barrel and raced off to number 3. The 3rd barrel is usually our best so I was very excited for our progress! We made a beautiful turn and I let go of the saddle horn and we raced for home.<br />
<br />
Right about the time we past the barrels my 18 year old broke freaking horse blew up.<br />
<br />
This was not "Oh I think i might buck"<br />
<br />
This was, "Oh yeah, I'm bucking!"<br />
<br />
He bucked all the way to the end of the arena. Including the extra 20-30 feet I added by moving my barrels. <br />
<br />
I did not come off, but I just barely stayed on. Luckily it wasn't the 2 hind feet over head buck, but it was the all four feet off the ground buck. <br />
<br />
I finally got him stopped by running him into the fence. I should have pulled his head around, but to be honest I was just trying to hang on at that point. I yelled at him to knock his shit off, and then took him around the arena at a fast trot for about 20 laps. Meanwhile I am doing the instant replay through my brain to figure out what it was that set him off. <br />
<br />
I had spurs on, but they are short shanked ball end spurs. Very mild. Just enough to get him off my leg when I need. Maybe my leg went back behind the rear cinch. Maybe I kicked him to hard (no I wasn't kicking- I don't think). Maybe it is the cold. Maybe his shoulder hurts. Maybe he stepped on a rock. <br />
<br />
OR<br />
<br />
Maybe he is just a counterfeit SOB who will never be able to be trusted. <br />
<br />
Ouch. <br />
<br />
That one hurts. It hurts my heart to think that about my favorite horse. But lets face it, we are not talking about a 3 or 4 year old green horse. <br />
<br />
I stopped and took my spurs off.<br />
<br />
Then we kept riding.<br />
<br />
When my hands quit shaking we went back to the pattern. Not quite as aggressively, and we did not race home anymore that day. He was fine the rest of the time. <br />
<br />
On the bright side I know that my biggest fear just happened AND not only did I survive it....I rode it out.<br />
<br />
On the down side, my trust level with this horse took a serious step back. <br />
<br />
Today is Sunday. I have not been back on him since. <br />
<br />
Of course that isn't all due to trust. Part of it is time related, and to be honest, he jacked my back up a little bit and it took me a few days to get over it. <br />
<br />
I had planned on racing him yesterday. The only reason I didn't is because BEC texted me and reminded me that there was a buckle run at my favorite sorting facility that day. So I scratched the race and went and chased cows instead. <br />
<br />
Today I will ride him. I have decided that I will go back to round penning him before we ride for now just so he can get any of that crap out of his system before I get on. I used to do that before every ride. But he has been pretty good so I stopped. Maybe some horses always need that. I don't freaking know. <br />
<br />
I will try to figure out what caused it. If he pulls it again.....I just don't know what I will do. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-51063393146100881302017-12-07T16:19:00.002-08:002017-12-07T16:19:29.728-08:00Getting our Groove Back Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The race we went to was part of a 3 day event. We entered in 2 of the 3 days. Part 2 is what happened on day 2.<br />
<br />
Day one was pretty decent. I was so happy with how calm he was and how well he ran. I was super excited to get out there again, and not mess it up.<br />
<br />
Saturday I went out early and fed the horses, in order to give Trax plenty of time to eat. I came out later and he had not touched his food.<br />
<br />
Terrific.<br />
<br />
I threw some hay to him instead of pellets and he went to munching so I knew he wasn't sick. But now it was time to go, so he was forced to eat his breakfast on the go. I put him in the trailer and off we went.<br />
<br />
This time he was quite a bit more nervous, where as I was totally calm. We did our time onlies and they were fine but I could tell he was wound up. I put him back at the trailer and let him munch for most of the day. As always we were at the end of the pack so we had plenty of time.<br />
<br />
About 30 riders before us I usually get back on and start walking him. I don't work him to death, but moving his feet keeps him calm so we walk.<br />
<br />
It was pretty warm that day so we stopped in some shade next to an unused announcers booth next to the warm up arena. Some one on the other side made a noise and my "broke horse" lost his shit. First he went sideways, then he went straight up. I had my hat in my hands and my silver and leather hat band came off and bounced against the saddle a few times which set him off even more.<br />
<br />
I finally got him calmed down. Got off of him and side passed him from the ground about 20 feet in both directions. Then I got rid of the hat band, and got back on him. We rode around until it was our turn to go. He seemed pretty chill other than continually asking to leave the staging area. But he asked nicely so I didn't get too concerned about it. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once again we started off looking pretty good. My confidence was up so I was going for it!<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYageWAM6rL8i8fSiaLT2Xvy5jMzkU2OBUvxcu4Ke1acfeE5uumyc4MpUztUlZj87flz5h99mZNdWR8evWofL7aCGty_Mlfs3_zne4SsjbgMG2Lx-UqLtCVmWYPz6TmU5_CEBGtd34JEWe/s1600/oops.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1293" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYageWAM6rL8i8fSiaLT2Xvy5jMzkU2OBUvxcu4Ke1acfeE5uumyc4MpUztUlZj87flz5h99mZNdWR8evWofL7aCGty_Mlfs3_zne4SsjbgMG2Lx-UqLtCVmWYPz6TmU5_CEBGtd34JEWe/s320/oops.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We got to the first barrel without mishap other than me forgetting where my hands should be<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VZ3kkUfWeogPs2H9HrhWGzScqkglMAGsENSHjSJFI94CyGAR_O4nX1Mp1cHJgXhEY0pkcmQUWsr7RVWHVY2CuViPMA1t90H6DfLbCFYHxy6Ok5_pUJ9Tx0mjFMqTYF2HI2l6r8wG89LY/s1600/not+too+bad.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1140" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VZ3kkUfWeogPs2H9HrhWGzScqkglMAGsENSHjSJFI94CyGAR_O4nX1Mp1cHJgXhEY0pkcmQUWsr7RVWHVY2CuViPMA1t90H6DfLbCFYHxy6Ok5_pUJ9Tx0mjFMqTYF2HI2l6r8wG89LY/s320/not+too+bad.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At this point I was still really happy with how things were going<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYqtbQ46D3Bz__ilVc60gXC22zlZsEG_sgslnoNqwtW83XP1LZeDehJQO3CObhzvEa4nO4KWqwN_11EPDPtQEI9b2NLi7ROg6FgC9FO63cgpyY15jxdF7iYZ_3-kh2r-NeMQmc5vUW0w_/s1600/um+no.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYqtbQ46D3Bz__ilVc60gXC22zlZsEG_sgslnoNqwtW83XP1LZeDehJQO3CObhzvEa4nO4KWqwN_11EPDPtQEI9b2NLi7ROg6FgC9FO63cgpyY15jxdF7iYZ_3-kh2r-NeMQmc5vUW0w_/s320/um+no.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like how we are both looking for the next barrel.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QoLYHt0ha3raQipWHMXsf7bGvSX68Ho9hnNwjdlhsb-rDU9RXEBI4SE-twlp0xdvRWV-WUWylC6MScUj66zYt-pTGxsxvAYM8NOiaaNc7UAJv1GQE28ElAjI8UnwdQASoFMHwHrkYZ_m/s1600/at+least+I+looked+up.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1261" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QoLYHt0ha3raQipWHMXsf7bGvSX68Ho9hnNwjdlhsb-rDU9RXEBI4SE-twlp0xdvRWV-WUWylC6MScUj66zYt-pTGxsxvAYM8NOiaaNc7UAJv1GQE28ElAjI8UnwdQASoFMHwHrkYZ_m/s320/at+least+I+looked+up.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still feeling good about it all<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAHBeZdd6QvsXO1Yil4_oXnS4NsGwphs1T2c32r4rsma5IXZGqNIF77gJJCZCdLw7MCnQiy66K11Mini2ywnvtYxlQAdAc5Ez68SvIAN_YD0dXYjRZFzqXJE3358uBAAcYeyt0pSQQ65C/s1600/pretty+ok.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="1054" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAHBeZdd6QvsXO1Yil4_oXnS4NsGwphs1T2c32r4rsma5IXZGqNIF77gJJCZCdLw7MCnQiy66K11Mini2ywnvtYxlQAdAc5Ez68SvIAN_YD0dXYjRZFzqXJE3358uBAAcYeyt0pSQQ65C/s320/pretty+ok.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">came out nice and strong</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhywJt5UHJR9bbzSw_M5jlr_Lg-f9w-weyVigppV7UfYflmRvtZmL_H6L58HB-46rJjUi_PLWgru8qzyXSEDL87-vEWb19HGw6Vpl5MDHPcdnHWhEuEfmW_v_JfJ97_LOefCzKZrcQ1m76/s1600/strong.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1074" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhywJt5UHJR9bbzSw_M5jlr_Lg-f9w-weyVigppV7UfYflmRvtZmL_H6L58HB-46rJjUi_PLWgru8qzyXSEDL87-vEWb19HGw6Vpl5MDHPcdnHWhEuEfmW_v_JfJ97_LOefCzKZrcQ1m76/s320/strong.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And still felt ok at this point</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgmAHWubf_tAxj4LDh2lJYVHxlLONb-iMy2XMuflRo1JGgL4gJQ9CS_kS6Tt4Bl93Fh8q2RCoF5leEjQXVDwGmrAy9av3-NqqjEqaqkaAzkgiRTS9uSjVGxJQgovgyszM5x3Mx7Ex-ECE/s1600/wide.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1065" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgmAHWubf_tAxj4LDh2lJYVHxlLONb-iMy2XMuflRo1JGgL4gJQ9CS_kS6Tt4Bl93Fh8q2RCoF5leEjQXVDwGmrAy9av3-NqqjEqaqkaAzkgiRTS9uSjVGxJQgovgyszM5x3Mx7Ex-ECE/s320/wide.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't recall being so wide on the second barrel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXjhJX8E_026dhNWtJhmons8lo7izwuvqOkrsTsUO6Yj9pVB2teDlywXmRliTL8MbJc3_zPvczNUwrh9z2_OwkVxuZpaTziIRbkRMJgKtW8fmCQFkERR1UX7K234uvgUAELfaqjKagJSo/s1600/where+it+went+wrong.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1052" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXjhJX8E_026dhNWtJhmons8lo7izwuvqOkrsTsUO6Yj9pVB2teDlywXmRliTL8MbJc3_zPvczNUwrh9z2_OwkVxuZpaTziIRbkRMJgKtW8fmCQFkERR1UX7K234uvgUAELfaqjKagJSo/s320/where+it+went+wrong.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But obviously we were</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybpBb-i3rjAEFgrgM24btccWTKDdmmqbjln6QcgjUc5iyjII07hgkjE9qwWQwxrRYL8gL7A2qOZoSkAXmi4OtA5eIB4zeJ1pYZYyZlHI2YN0Vqk7pOzDL0Sc5BpY8dMfFlSgXc0mmS984/s1600/his+mind+was+made+up.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1066" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybpBb-i3rjAEFgrgM24btccWTKDdmmqbjln6QcgjUc5iyjII07hgkjE9qwWQwxrRYL8gL7A2qOZoSkAXmi4OtA5eIB4zeJ1pYZYyZlHI2YN0Vqk7pOzDL0Sc5BpY8dMfFlSgXc0mmS984/s320/his+mind+was+made+up.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where things all went wrong</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptDtwpV06jm9HXEZYUUOEK69Y4fhR04u9TZswPIE2Y7erO-S6s5zagZJo_35BB6nLqH5djhGK-OGC0i2NSJnMMMBAdxwB0Y3S9-_6o_BNSaApdr67fQX_DWkxArXm5vVkf962fLim9blh/s1600/oh+snap.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1062" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptDtwpV06jm9HXEZYUUOEK69Y4fhR04u9TZswPIE2Y7erO-S6s5zagZJo_35BB6nLqH5djhGK-OGC0i2NSJnMMMBAdxwB0Y3S9-_6o_BNSaApdr67fQX_DWkxArXm5vVkf962fLim9blh/s320/oh+snap.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where he decided to show me a short cut to the gate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnobN0oBJwihgmuk_ZKbmqNRva1UEgYnSrzl59m1832r6eEynOxaTFyQc9v6dHPkm5gDgHxx0XllKo5Z3yNgBmHubJ81FBEgvjAdf-xbVOwfD1qEy4wQLrEREP4jQEMw7N-IzifoCLOmi/s1600/run+for+the+gate.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1373" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnobN0oBJwihgmuk_ZKbmqNRva1UEgYnSrzl59m1832r6eEynOxaTFyQc9v6dHPkm5gDgHxx0XllKo5Z3yNgBmHubJ81FBEgvjAdf-xbVOwfD1qEy4wQLrEREP4jQEMw7N-IzifoCLOmi/s320/run+for+the+gate.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where I said, "Oh snap! He's headed towards the gate!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_K3J3Tgv306H-MWGH-cb-CpGh68fP2GhxgOmgCRZ1Yh087dViCrIgfXPpk57pmoQ4eE5pUCOd3kxUkYBKBBQ5JIKhdbn8K3XwsPcR5ZogiHgRfL9SR2NgSZuk_DKbdBJDFYKqgcDzcmt/s1600/sorry+buddy+going+this+way.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1362" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_K3J3Tgv306H-MWGH-cb-CpGh68fP2GhxgOmgCRZ1Yh087dViCrIgfXPpk57pmoQ4eE5pUCOd3kxUkYBKBBQ5JIKhdbn8K3XwsPcR5ZogiHgRfL9SR2NgSZuk_DKbdBJDFYKqgcDzcmt/s320/sorry+buddy+going+this+way.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sorry Buddy- Still have one more barrel"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KIapUYRrhdzRtCg7gSJJkp2JMQsh-7feFb3l0oGBfeTj13ccM52ONgEeZ-e93PuSppYipXfzMnc9YCL61I6rKNu9qVI3vtBjZl2N6TOqrNtw5wZ-9zM6ZVrMbFrgwMef2UUogGNZIol2/s1600/let+go+of+my+face.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1068" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KIapUYRrhdzRtCg7gSJJkp2JMQsh-7feFb3l0oGBfeTj13ccM52ONgEeZ-e93PuSppYipXfzMnc9YCL61I6rKNu9qVI3vtBjZl2N6TOqrNtw5wZ-9zM6ZVrMbFrgwMef2UUogGNZIol2/s320/let+go+of+my+face.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He is clearly not happy with me hanging on his face</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIdpuShN-D7bKMulRAioMQ5R-a8OVf1VINtaCaNqwknFEGKfNzltfjDtA_nbcRIecu7hNSooFQMlsmk2NOvk7krhi5cQBVPYyj6g_eiOBP3by41RzObzhAEobrYAyhuiql1hKzYkhaJBJ/s1600/eye+on+the+gate.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1060" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIdpuShN-D7bKMulRAioMQ5R-a8OVf1VINtaCaNqwknFEGKfNzltfjDtA_nbcRIecu7hNSooFQMlsmk2NOvk7krhi5cQBVPYyj6g_eiOBP3by41RzObzhAEobrYAyhuiql1hKzYkhaJBJ/s320/eye+on+the+gate.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at where his eye is looking even though he has started to give in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_oAzFAIxkQm1FLllxaokLTJ-VhLlTA7JNCFPGGU1sDiHOtzCFDvf2CS34hctTiW9qtBbvxm6TIl9880alupA8rbG2rlSvIeRuvnMBPFZhqW7Fr79qgamlw52nNM4F_2qC9DZpxYU6K4y/s1600/finally.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="1059" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_oAzFAIxkQm1FLllxaokLTJ-VhLlTA7JNCFPGGU1sDiHOtzCFDvf2CS34hctTiW9qtBbvxm6TIl9880alupA8rbG2rlSvIeRuvnMBPFZhqW7Fr79qgamlw52nNM4F_2qC9DZpxYU6K4y/s320/finally.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally got his attention back</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXv-rjgrrxYi0nJjTBH_59KY7NkC1xt2FfksWW5_j_v_qUbQNm21Z7VhzMbiHlO7ScYGcjP67D5Hp92ZVWQTCiDcvYJTi_goTlWTyky3Swmu76ir0LEtW6bOE6CVU8zMGZs3a74Hhd8p1/s1600/x.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1060" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXv-rjgrrxYi0nJjTBH_59KY7NkC1xt2FfksWW5_j_v_qUbQNm21Z7VhzMbiHlO7ScYGcjP67D5Hp92ZVWQTCiDcvYJTi_goTlWTyky3Swmu76ir0LEtW6bOE6CVU8zMGZs3a74Hhd8p1/s320/x.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love those butt muscles! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfOL4G7KAYzvsPHAZXkDdoZwAhzDTvlV24NgoYeof5DvsPAKMbar6-mf42mu8wrHJhqDcbzlweAWhkBNqvEX8Zj72gWW9GrPDBY6xCX7PaJBuV3UVMG8CGNNf-qTySjUPXBArkBH6AYYh/s1600/ok.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1020" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfOL4G7KAYzvsPHAZXkDdoZwAhzDTvlV24NgoYeof5DvsPAKMbar6-mf42mu8wrHJhqDcbzlweAWhkBNqvEX8Zj72gWW9GrPDBY6xCX7PaJBuV3UVMG8CGNNf-qTySjUPXBArkBH6AYYh/s320/ok.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We went in to #3 kind of ok</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXBrSbqDWOX-l4_oh1IW3g0MY1AVw5HIznuIh0DSXAhbYFNP8SRyLnS1wLJfah767USGJZpHsclUB9ED7eg1Mud9g-jr_ShRdXcIX4SEibEoCCdzLDq2uUIpKQtq8147JrJjcaUT2Lnkr/s1600/why.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1049" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXBrSbqDWOX-l4_oh1IW3g0MY1AVw5HIznuIh0DSXAhbYFNP8SRyLnS1wLJfah767USGJZpHsclUB9ED7eg1Mud9g-jr_ShRdXcIX4SEibEoCCdzLDq2uUIpKQtq8147JrJjcaUT2Lnkr/s320/why.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Until I went blank and forgot every bit of training. Talk about money not well spent!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2DHcoH1o0tCJNHgxy8jNRNz_8xTIH-wNzrGrrLyZaD-aC87U7MPJbrCvxepYD-Y3aTMFnXP2qOEvDOZErjq3us9KItwWn-2lincsIubPbShrrClqZoDlwpv839G3VzYEMAFpZwPKycfo/s1600/why+why.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1046" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2DHcoH1o0tCJNHgxy8jNRNz_8xTIH-wNzrGrrLyZaD-aC87U7MPJbrCvxepYD-Y3aTMFnXP2qOEvDOZErjq3us9KItwWn-2lincsIubPbShrrClqZoDlwpv839G3VzYEMAFpZwPKycfo/s320/why+why.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I guess neck reining your way around is the new "thing" LOL<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMrzcMWkohYvcwBO2pbPj4AMeCC-9673pUQeYN5B3dZ1GedGFHRom9o69W24VOS43YkjW7J7PSRyfxFBnmsCcMjF_TSKDP9Q1KJqNAkx32RlH6Gn1xQ1fZ54uzHfhFQ2Vk2zgB0p_9KDl/s1600/wee.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1039" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMrzcMWkohYvcwBO2pbPj4AMeCC-9673pUQeYN5B3dZ1GedGFHRom9o69W24VOS43YkjW7J7PSRyfxFBnmsCcMjF_TSKDP9Q1KJqNAkx32RlH6Gn1xQ1fZ54uzHfhFQ2Vk2zgB0p_9KDl/s320/wee.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then I finally regained some sense and we got moving again. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWp20weWYBdMaLanfL3jeoVVJJXpNn6UWFHCpb84tLQZ3nDH8JJpnwhA_pXWuGUizsKFTqWGtH1IcKUbeWEjvdbec96V8Igvn7-Gv0LeDaOH8iQxsIsLq9_0O4MU1LSwHC6F4-PNh2d91i/s1600/finallyu.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1044" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWp20weWYBdMaLanfL3jeoVVJJXpNn6UWFHCpb84tLQZ3nDH8JJpnwhA_pXWuGUizsKFTqWGtH1IcKUbeWEjvdbec96V8Igvn7-Gv0LeDaOH8iQxsIsLq9_0O4MU1LSwHC6F4-PNh2d91i/s320/finallyu.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of course racing home is what he does best. </td></tr>
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In the end, that attempted short cut ended up costing us dearly. We ran even slower than the day before. 24 something. But we never broke the pattern so I guess that is a plus.<br />
<br />
Back to the practice pen we went. We had another lesson and cleaned some things up. The biggest one being where my hands are. <br />
<br />
When I look at these pics I totally cringe. I feel bad for my horse, and wonder if I should give it up. But I won't give up. As much as I hate seeing myself dragging him around by his face, on the other hand I know that he isn't helping matters some times by trying to do things his own way. <br />
<br />
We raced again a few days after our lesson. It was a real pretty correct run and where as we are usually about 6-8 seconds off of the fast time. On that run we were only 5. So that is major improvement. Our last race with this particular club is in 2 days. <br />
<br />
I have high hopes for that day. I probably shouldn't, but surely at some point it has to get better...doesn't it???Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-64368065419256693462017-12-02T10:16:00.000-08:002017-12-02T10:16:20.558-08:00Getting our Groove Back part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Many of us are friends on Facebook as well as blogger so some of this may be redundent but for those of you who don't do facebook, here is an update.<br />
<br />
For years I've tried to figure out what it is that my favorite paint horse is good at. I mean he is a great trail horse, but I've always felt like with his build and his energy level, there must be some event or physical task that he could excel at.<br />
<br />
We tried Ranch Versatility and while he didn't totally suck at it, it was pretty clear that he didn't enjoy it either.<br />
<br />
We tried sorting. Again...he doesn't suck, but he doesn't enjoy it. He gets pretty nervous in a small pen with a bunch of cows. Like feet stuck, can't move, going straight up in the air type of nervous. He really just isn't very cowy at all. Where as Melody will stomp the crap out of cow if you give her the chance, Trax likes them very much and really just wants to be friends with them all.<br />
<br />
I go to a lot of barrel races. I watch all my friends race. I've taken Melody a few times and while she runs a wickedly pretty pattern, she is sloooooowwwwww. So slow that when you watch the video you have to look to see if it is set to slow motion. She does love barrels though and really believes that she is running as fast as the wind. She redeems herself in the sorting pen though, so its all good!<br />
<br />
Anyway, I digress.<br />
<br />
A year or so ago I thought that maybe Trax would enjoy barrels and gymkhana type events. So I let my young friend O work with him a little and run him a couple of times. They did ok. I even ran him myself a couple of times. It was ugly.<br />
<br />
I admit to not having a clue how to teach a horse to get around the barrels correctly. I had no clue how to get myself around that barrel correctly. AND the biggest issue of all.....I was afraid of my horse.<br />
<br />
I have not been able to trust him ever since the day he bolted with me out the arena. That was, what...3 maybe 4 years ago? I made the mistake of researching his ownership and heard of all the bad things and then had our own mishap and I was terrified of him.<br />
<br />
Well maybe terrified is the wrong word.<br />
<br />
I darn sure didn't trust him. Every time he got a little ancy, I freaked out. I was afraid to let him go fast for fear of losing control. When I freaked out, he freaked out and it was a recipe for ugly runs, and lack of partnership.<br />
<br />
So I made a commitment to him and to myself. We were going to get past it. We were going to rebuild the relationship. I would let go of the past and focus on each day as if he was the best horse in the world. Which really he is. He is a good boy with a lot of try and he really wants to get it right. He wants to get along.<br />
<br />
So we started our patterns slow. I got advice where I could but mostly we just practiced being calm. And then we would practice sprinting around the arena. Each time I let him go faster and faster. And every single time, he paid attention when I said it was time to slow down. He didn't run off, and I didn't get hurt.<br />
<br />
So we started going to some time onlies. They were still ugly, but we got used to being in strange arenas and we got used to getting over all the eyes watching us (and quit worrying about being judged). We started having fun....sort of.<br />
<br />
It was becoming apparant that Trax actually had a knack for this sort of thing. Let's face it, he darn sure isn't slow. He has the hind end that a horse needs to really be able to power around the barrels, and he was actually starting to hunt for the next barrel. But I didn't know what to do next.<br />
<br />
There is a gal I know who gives barrel lessons to so many people in my area, many of them are friends of mine, and I have watched them go from total beginners, to bringing home checks on a regular basis. I shot her a message and asked if she would be willing to work with Trax and I.<br />
<br />
"I thought you would never ask."<br />
<br />
So now we do lessons.<br />
<br />
I don't get near enough practice in between lessons, and that is seriously slowing down the process, but it is still helping.....A LOT!<br />
<br />
My trainer is SS, and working with her is like being under a microscope. I don't even know how she sees all the things that she sees.<br />
<br />
"Hand forward, watch that pinky, chin down just a little, not so far, flatten your hand out, relax your rib cage, now your hand is too far forward, put your heel down....." on and on it goes.<br />
<br />
and we are getting better.<br />
<br />
At this point in my life, my favorite words in the world are, "Oh my gosh you guys look so pretty!"<br />
<br />
And with each lesson I hear them more and more.<br />
<br />
Our first lesson I started to tell her our history and she cut me off, "Nope don't tell me, it doesn't matter. All that matters is today and where you are going from here."<br />
<br />
SS does not allow for negative self talk, or for saying negative things about my horse. Even when he is being a turd she has me correct him and then love on him and we just go back and do it again. It is always positive, it is always progress...even when it isn't. Even when I go and do the EXACT thing she says not to do....it is progress because it is a lesson learned and I don't do it again.<br />
<br />
She will not let me stay stuck in my comfort zone. She makes me push the envelope just a little bit further every time. Sometimes it is scary, but because of it, I am learning to trust my horse again.<br />
<br />
So last weekend we went to a 2 day race.<br />
<br />
The first night I was so nervous my hands were shaking. My horse was as solid as a rock. He was calm, he was focused and he was ready to race.<br />
<br />
So here is the play by play of our run. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rTPUz218MizJWWxGgFBb8u_nru6FlmNbR51Q3YMPrv1AmiADOCnbNOc_FhklszqomRaS2gtTMRPwzeqSZu6y514FDzTeZOmQByswbUmpKb4pGaytPp-Hiappzbl4kO4HilY1iFUNCl83/s1600/focused.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="977" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rTPUz218MizJWWxGgFBb8u_nru6FlmNbR51Q3YMPrv1AmiADOCnbNOc_FhklszqomRaS2gtTMRPwzeqSZu6y514FDzTeZOmQByswbUmpKb4pGaytPp-Hiappzbl4kO4HilY1iFUNCl83/s320/focused.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out how focused we both are coming out of the gate. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ImNhdiiJtjMC-x7towH7_1IMGoHGjgnkvuTkOzcI9nYdN5KYqwAvP4MsaD9yPiFX5aVvGrH-GfxBoVggUsmEA4LjLrPmCXoocRVR_Jpvv68c8pPWaNNkszgZtmyYzCKkN6pjWYGn4Tm3/s1600/stupid+hat.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="979" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ImNhdiiJtjMC-x7towH7_1IMGoHGjgnkvuTkOzcI9nYdN5KYqwAvP4MsaD9yPiFX5aVvGrH-GfxBoVggUsmEA4LjLrPmCXoocRVR_Jpvv68c8pPWaNNkszgZtmyYzCKkN6pjWYGn4Tm3/s320/stupid+hat.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then my stupid hat came off and in my mind <br />
there were all kinds of crazy scenarios. I should have just let it go. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_INDTV5MoFGLSF20oRzGqBRLn9TBsJPbdVkn8Ldqf_WSUSWC6XN23hzbGZF_jqk7ZxymDmJLs1AXmLMShzaLVhuxFskoiBoCA4Fv6DwZqqBCjTAMEqtB5X8e9gG3D0o_TivFLokvC_QHE/s1600/walking.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="972" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_INDTV5MoFGLSF20oRzGqBRLn9TBsJPbdVkn8Ldqf_WSUSWC6XN23hzbGZF_jqk7ZxymDmJLs1AXmLMShzaLVhuxFskoiBoCA4Fv6DwZqqBCjTAMEqtB5X8e9gG3D0o_TivFLokvC_QHE/s320/walking.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We ended up walking around the first barrel- cost us a good 2-3 seconds if not more</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisw411FK8n7Zm_RLFKdbSxdxtejld8_qUbOD-po28FGTmQdej-BNK0igzdUZnBB8UTqotP_jN2bOYN82SxcudMmuSI6P0-ce4534aQBk3XEnd32BU2TcaZXLFpg5Xx1mc3XJhISoltlaON/s1600/ok+lets+go.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="972" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisw411FK8n7Zm_RLFKdbSxdxtejld8_qUbOD-po28FGTmQdej-BNK0igzdUZnBB8UTqotP_jN2bOYN82SxcudMmuSI6P0-ce4534aQBk3XEnd32BU2TcaZXLFpg5Xx1mc3XJhISoltlaON/s320/ok+lets+go.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But then he was ready to go and came out pretty strong</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLZ4CNJmaZtLwVHWX3Ka7izAM7TSB3l8G-rLuYXnOhnoLLSv7eT06z_XfJY-vllNjPiruTRncaxFFtgg8MhxmZn3CkBe8zbOdFTgTf2_2cD0DInFLfzxBNPxuwL4YOOcDVnoNW5gbmR4Y/s1600/hat+gone.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="972" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOLZ4CNJmaZtLwVHWX3Ka7izAM7TSB3l8G-rLuYXnOhnoLLSv7eT06z_XfJY-vllNjPiruTRncaxFFtgg8MhxmZn3CkBe8zbOdFTgTf2_2cD0DInFLfzxBNPxuwL4YOOcDVnoNW5gbmR4Y/s320/hat+gone.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This time I did let my hat go and he was all about the second barrel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZSJZohPgwkBtka4FZv9G5Lo_AoZ44sXROvONOTMHuns7LdVcbyTB-4-QtkDiSV5jIMkh3dOqV_AS0HQY7CLkMHchOBh8kdwvPy5MholUFsLqwEmXq5-W4UknmoYM02QAmU4GwpwbXgeJ/s1600/24232490_10215363735905401_1301690073701439190_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="941" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZSJZohPgwkBtka4FZv9G5Lo_AoZ44sXROvONOTMHuns7LdVcbyTB-4-QtkDiSV5jIMkh3dOqV_AS0HQY7CLkMHchOBh8kdwvPy5MholUFsLqwEmXq5-W4UknmoYM02QAmU4GwpwbXgeJ/s320/24232490_10215363735905401_1301690073701439190_n.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We did pretty good on the second barrel at first</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_Sqftx-2Lt9nInDc7Q7GsXPIWbnjDtneAazKTFcK30TrRi2qIxy8YlY3UT7LJFjdQoTdnxJQN961rjsYcHnuZqeZlBVaWIaI_KH4odLOr33DD_13HEmuShtVsfoabyY2om1nGXMwBkA4/s1600/power+around.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="987" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_Sqftx-2Lt9nInDc7Q7GsXPIWbnjDtneAazKTFcK30TrRi2qIxy8YlY3UT7LJFjdQoTdnxJQN961rjsYcHnuZqeZlBVaWIaI_KH4odLOr33DD_13HEmuShtVsfoabyY2om1nGXMwBkA4/s320/power+around.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SS says that I have a bad habit of not making him commit to the full turn<br />
on barrel #2 which lets him run wide coming out</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV6rVKzkVfKVLZ57YozNOYoiRtieWH4v4fKGo_N_HEHm_P7RTxvDI6dNi0uyjD3AU6JpPRV6EQJzVaark515BmOj82Cho-0pp5l7sic88Hq7NMMh5rmFNKXgTBCZNwA8Ai-7HEeVC4Fso/s1600/hanging+on+his+face+and+saddle+horn.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1043" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguV6rVKzkVfKVLZ57YozNOYoiRtieWH4v4fKGo_N_HEHm_P7RTxvDI6dNi0uyjD3AU6JpPRV6EQJzVaark515BmOj82Cho-0pp5l7sic88Hq7NMMh5rmFNKXgTBCZNwA8Ai-7HEeVC4Fso/s320/hanging+on+his+face+and+saddle+horn.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was using a lot of rein and not enough leg to get him back in line for #3</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6ZgYfPi623qVxFOLGQ26nhWLJaJycJS_GjzxIgLTXdkEVpk4NUPf8iqcDZlNbF0fPUBTgfJQgXKjrxu4OlEAqCUaaJ2KQMTZkdv97igk3tWa7qHjvroMaoXRSYz5GClNnx5fftQmytZl/s1600/better.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1024" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6ZgYfPi623qVxFOLGQ26nhWLJaJycJS_GjzxIgLTXdkEVpk4NUPf8iqcDZlNbF0fPUBTgfJQgXKjrxu4OlEAqCUaaJ2KQMTZkdv97igk3tWa7qHjvroMaoXRSYz5GClNnx5fftQmytZl/s320/better.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But I did get him back in line again</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXh8h8Gmtq2OX6NJE0ekfn1mY_t_flm3CgAQx4yiPkqosxWn_qRCbM6FC2wFwytljxeHAudzhHNeWTYMN1RW0B-p42V8JpYLH6M7v1s_Fb2FtT_EdZcfggBMJrAgOVYcI3S53QItTR-gUK/s1600/23916067_10215363736345412_8127073990644352647_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="960" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXh8h8Gmtq2OX6NJE0ekfn1mY_t_flm3CgAQx4yiPkqosxWn_qRCbM6FC2wFwytljxeHAudzhHNeWTYMN1RW0B-p42V8JpYLH6M7v1s_Fb2FtT_EdZcfggBMJrAgOVYcI3S53QItTR-gUK/s320/23916067_10215363736345412_8127073990644352647_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We looked great coming into the third barrel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ULgyc9fIf0LKt-j_2QD9FZCp6T6lB6zejtfQ0fwqZW5uO3lEQcD3K4cG68cRXLVNgEXNaU8vVZARjnSg1RgkQd6Pu2H-Mth_jWeTdje28IeTlV8XhLSaXry0UeSyrHp27Wu9HjEWoHre/s1600/coming+out+strong.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1043" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ULgyc9fIf0LKt-j_2QD9FZCp6T6lB6zejtfQ0fwqZW5uO3lEQcD3K4cG68cRXLVNgEXNaU8vVZARjnSg1RgkQd6Pu2H-Mth_jWeTdje28IeTlV8XhLSaXry0UeSyrHp27Wu9HjEWoHre/s320/coming+out+strong.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And he came out soo strong and straight</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pbivFu3ZhyphenhyphenvjYPD_N0LRq4TjYSuC-Oq3hM60Zd1qcHrusYrBFKJa65wabfkZNWEtPBUM5j-h0JaKQBo3Op5aqTNVbDvr1UmHIzcou2ZjuyrFha-JkP4Hm0KvB4oedbruDAu9ZBMuMU26/s1600/24173059_10215363651423289_6576544814819540059_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1458" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pbivFu3ZhyphenhyphenvjYPD_N0LRq4TjYSuC-Oq3hM60Zd1qcHrusYrBFKJa65wabfkZNWEtPBUM5j-h0JaKQBo3Op5aqTNVbDvr1UmHIzcou2ZjuyrFha-JkP4Hm0KvB4oedbruDAu9ZBMuMU26/s320/24173059_10215363651423289_6576544814819540059_o.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then he poured it on and raced home. </td></tr>
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I was so happy with him that night. He really went out there and did his best. I messed us up and we ended up running a 23.something. But the run was pretty and that was all that mattered to me. I just knew that if I came back the next day we could do so much better. <br />
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I will talk about that in my next post.<br />
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I also want to give big props to Vin O'hare from Southwest Barrels, who does all the photography for these barrel races. He takes the most amazing shots. You can follow his facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/southwestbarrels/" target="_blank">here</a>. A mere 20$ gets all your photos dropped into a digital file for you to use how ever you wish. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-83489443666340950752017-07-25T08:26:00.001-07:002017-07-25T08:26:51.762-07:00Less than StellarOnce a month I make the 3 hour trip to Mormon Lake AZ to compete in a 2 man ranch sorting. Last time I went my tranny was acting up and I ended up limping home. We thought the problem was electrical, and while I didn't feel like a 3 hour trip with a horse in the trailer in the middle of summer was the best time to "test drive" TC swore I would be fine.<br />
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So with fingers crossed I loaded up Melody at 4 am Saturday morning and we headed up north. My truck did ok until we got to Pine. Then I had to shut it down and let it sit for a bit so it could reset it's little brain and then we made in to the sort. <br />
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I got my girl all settled in...<br />
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...with her smorgasbord of hays and pellets. I never know what is going to make her happy so I give her many options. This time she chose a little bit of each item. She has gatorade, water, alfalfa hay, alfalfa pellets, and grass hay. She is a goof ball. </div>
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I had some time before my class started so I went up to the stands and did some armchair riding. </div>
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We had some wicked clouds looming over head and was sure that my class was going to get dumped on, but it turned out to be just the right amount of coolness to make the day really enjoyable. <br />
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I have no pics of me sorting, or videos. I'd be embarrassed to show them anyway. I had a couple of good runs going, but anytime we got more than 4 cows, we ended up blowing out and getting a red flag. I did have 2 clean runs with 2 cows each. That did put me "in the bubble" for the second go, but both times my partner let cows through the gate. <br />
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I'll admit that my riding was less than stellar to say the least. I could have done much better. I had some really good partners who were kind enough to ranch hand with me. They held the gate while I went and got cows. It is slower that way, but since I blew out my first two runs right away, we all agreed that maybe it would be better if I stayed out of the gate. <br />
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I tried to be very careful about not bringing my partner more cows that they could handle. I tried to go slow and easy to just pull out the cow I was after. Sometimes those cows were just bad. Really bad. However, I can't help but wonder what is different for me and my horse from last spring. <br />
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Last spring we would drive to Wittman every weekend, and it wasn't long till I was pulling down some 10 runs. I mean we were doing really well. Now I get up here, and I can't even hold a cow. <br />
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I am considering taking Melly back to where I got her from. Not to sell her, but to get her tuned up. Along with that, I would go down 2x per week and get some sorting lessons. It would give me a chance to get some coaching on actual cows, from someone who knows my horse. The price she quoted me is more than fair, and it is about an hour from my house, so I could get up early and go before work, and then just change my work hours to be a later day. <br />
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I have a friend who has a cabin right by the arena so I stayed with them, and the next morning we went on a trail ride. Melody is not a fan of trail riding, but I made her go anyways. While I was waiting on my friends, I rode her up through the trees. She made it about 20 ft in, and then did the most gorgeous reining spin and hightailed it out of there. Obviously it was a little too claustrophobic for her. Either that or she saw a bear. Lol<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jI84OPftb0F7PmeVssCI-5ouoiIr5uwcEFV4E5sjjS6JwDnYQiepXRQsjk4LKn9po1O2qB9CloOia4gRKXDNWUXxrOi6QvNb8_zOR_JoZ63QJtq3LUd5HZNy_86tLF1GBQIkzGdPIqnW/s1600/IMG_20170723_084216007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jI84OPftb0F7PmeVssCI-5ouoiIr5uwcEFV4E5sjjS6JwDnYQiepXRQsjk4LKn9po1O2qB9CloOia4gRKXDNWUXxrOi6QvNb8_zOR_JoZ63QJtq3LUd5HZNy_86tLF1GBQIkzGdPIqnW/s320/IMG_20170723_084216007.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was right before she spun and bolted</td></tr>
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When my friends were ready, we rode out together. Melody does much better in a group and I was quite proud of her. She stopped over all sorts of things and even rode up into the trees. We stopped and had a little picnic, before riding back to civilization. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMRDcXokm4A80QTodlyFH7xIBSsSBv_B2PpxM96fuwZx6b9hp6Yr2cl9tGt32NN8ADtUteAaM44Zv5t6BcCdrlMxErwm80q-VwbrI9xlXo122E_WeblxXYPyyD_UhrDz-EuSGWkHLT7Acx/s1600/IMG_20170723_093023505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMRDcXokm4A80QTodlyFH7xIBSsSBv_B2PpxM96fuwZx6b9hp6Yr2cl9tGt32NN8ADtUteAaM44Zv5t6BcCdrlMxErwm80q-VwbrI9xlXo122E_WeblxXYPyyD_UhrDz-EuSGWkHLT7Acx/s320/IMG_20170723_093023505.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is her "I do not like riding in trees" face</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6p83IH-NaMf_4AXM2uaLOWj7DfDGCLh1r9SRg_csso_ehPnwpSPFc6gPimUjVvlXJ6gY2gdA9f6DUBM143XrAKKFyNJqnRAXaI76f1czse1fZl53G26_5tRkJ7nIntPpQN_JJRgh_2-_/s1600/IMG_20170723_095432108_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6p83IH-NaMf_4AXM2uaLOWj7DfDGCLh1r9SRg_csso_ehPnwpSPFc6gPimUjVvlXJ6gY2gdA9f6DUBM143XrAKKFyNJqnRAXaI76f1czse1fZl53G26_5tRkJ7nIntPpQN_JJRgh_2-_/s320/IMG_20170723_095432108_HDR.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friends daughter and her horse Godlie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksAGB9rZukHnnsxauL39A-ftqVwqf6E0cnJCyL2Bz5aeWjMjRr2Q5hkHAJvW3s3tnmbcENwk-2rJwFkLj-G3erw3gSJPTyjh1lmYLw4sU4pXS1iZwKw_gQD72QLbGIf4Ugs9tfb5xmsYe/s1600/IMG_20170723_100032621_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksAGB9rZukHnnsxauL39A-ftqVwqf6E0cnJCyL2Bz5aeWjMjRr2Q5hkHAJvW3s3tnmbcENwk-2rJwFkLj-G3erw3gSJPTyjh1lmYLw4sU4pXS1iZwKw_gQD72QLbGIf4Ugs9tfb5xmsYe/s320/IMG_20170723_100032621_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend and her two daughters</td></tr>
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When we got back I quickly loaded up all my stuff and my horse and headed back down the mountain. I made it most of the way through the big canyon between Payson and Apache Junction, and my tranny messed up again. This time I couldn't get it to reset, so I called TC and he headed towards me, I had an hour to wait so I sat in the trailer with Mel. It was nice and cool in there, and just me being in there kept her nice and calm. I laid one of my Indian rugs down and had a little nap. It was a little smelly, but not too bad and before I knew it TC was there and we swapped out the trucks.<br />
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The plan was for me to limp my truck home and he would get the horse home and out of the trailer. Go figure, my truck shifted just fine the rest of the way home. I should have just sat longer before I called him. Regardless it is going to a tranny shop. I did some research and what is happening is that the TCM is putting the tranny into "limp mode" (not allowing it to shift out of 4th gear) because it either has low voltage, or I have a plugged filter, or something. </div>
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So..... until I get that fixed, my lessons get set aside. </div>
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Bummer. </div>
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But I guess I'll just keep riding until then. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-80678822604402686972017-07-08T20:40:00.002-07:002017-07-08T20:42:25.579-07:00Among FriendsThere are things I just can't get away with saying on Facebook. There are things I really want to say on Facebook, because the people who REALLY need to hear them live on Facebook. They do not set foot in blogger land. <br />
<br />
It is probably for the best, though. It is nice having a place to be among friends and be able to share the things that absolutely drive me up the wall. <br />
<br />
Things like the customer who called my store today.<br />
<br />
I just happened to be there on my day off. I was fixing a little computer issue and buying a waterer for my chickens (YESSSS I have Chickens now! But that is a story for a different day) when the phone rang and of course I answered it because my associates were all busy. <br />
<br />
"Hi, I spoke with Cass yesterday about some bales of hay we purchased that had weeds in it?"<br />
<br />
"Yes, and you would like to exchange them? We would be happy to do that.'<br />
<br />
"Well I only have one full one left and half of another. My daughter fed the other one, and when I came out and saw the sticks in the stall I thought someone was trying to poison my horses."<br />
<br />
"I'm so sorry about that, my guess is that it is Cotton stems, but regardless I will exchange the bales for you. I will gladly give you 3 new bales and take back what ever you have left."<br />
<br />
"But Cass said she would give me 15% off of more hay."<br />
<br />
"Ma'am we cannot give discounts on hay, but I am giving you 3 free bales so you don't need to buy more."<br />
<br />
"But I already paid for 3"<br />
<br />
"Yes and you are returning 1, and I am giving you 2 more."<br />
<br />
(It is easier for me to write off a bale of hay that it is for me to discount it- my bosses are weird about that)<br />
<br />
"But I don't want to have to drive down there again, this is a big hassle. Surely I should get something extra for my time."<br />
<br />
"Ma'am, if you will give me your address, I will gladly deliver the new bales to you right now, and pick up what ever you have there that is bad."<br />
<br />
"Well I still feel like I should be compensated."<br />
<br />
<i>*Are you kidding me right now*</i><br />
<br />
"Ma'am, can your horses have treats? I can bring you a free bag of treats."<br />
<br />
"Well I guess, but why did Cass tell me I could have a discount on my hay, if she can't do that?"<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>*she didn't I'm sure*</i><br />
<br />
"Ma'am I am sure I don't know but I will be talking with her about it. May I have your address please?"<br />
<br />
So she finally gives her address. Keep in mind that I am in my stall cleaning clothes, which consist of cuttoff's and a tank top and slip on sketchers, and have not even brushed my hair yet. I have my loader put three pretty bales of grass hay in my little company pick up, and proceed to drive to her house. <br />
<br />
Said "ranchette" is in a "fancy" horse neighborhood, with white plastic fences and perfectly manicured front yards all perfectly matching as per some very expensive HOA instructions. They were really pretty and neat and not to my personal tastes at all, but I'm a wide open spaces gal myself. <br />
<br />
I called when I arrived and a woman young enough to be my daughter comes out with her husband who is close to the same age. I backed in as far as I could but their boat and camper trailer were both in the way so I could not get close enough to the hay shed to load the bales in directly. This meant that I had to carry out the bad bale, pick up all the loose hay and flakes off the floor and tie it up and get it out, and then carry each 100lb bale from my truck to the hay barn and stack it. <br />
<br />
Keep in mind that I am 53 years old, she and her husband are both early 30's at the most. <br />
<br />
She and her husband calmly stood there and watched me as I lifted and carried these bales back and forth. <br />
<br />
Eventually her husband just went back inside while she stayed and watched. <br />
<br />
I get it, it is my job, but in my mind I am thinking....<br />
<br />
What kind of man lets a 50 year old woman stack his hay while he watches without so much as a, "I wish I could help but......." <br />
<br />
Maybe they have medical issues, I don't know. You would think if that was the case they would be having their hay delivered all the time, rather than picking it up themselves. <br />
<br />
Maybe I am just too intimidating, and his manhood was impugned so he had to go inside and hang his head in shame. <br />
<br />
Maybe he is just a jerk.<br />
<br />
When it was all done, I handed her the bag of free treats, AND a 15% off any shelf item coupon, and made sure she knew that she could use it the next time she came in, but not on hay. <br />
<br />
I got in my truck and drove away wondering if I really want people like that coming to my store. <br />
<br />
Yes I know I do. <br />
<br />
I did take great satisfaction in the recognition that the particular fancy housing development that they live in is built right on top of an old dump that the Air Force base used to use. I distinctly recall a day about 30 years ago when I was out there looking for old clorox bottles and such, when I found some old mortar rounds half buried. They were Korean war era, and of course I took one home. But last I knew the rest were still there. I wonder how long it will be before the trash starts coming to the surface of their yard. <br />
<br />
I shouldn't be that way. <br />
<br />
I should be happy that they gave me the chance to fix it. That is what customer service is supposed to be. <br />
<br />
I am happy that I was able to make things right.<br />
<br />
I still drove away with a smirk though. and I admit to not feeling bad about that smirk. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-25978705599032337822017-06-19T08:59:00.000-07:002017-06-19T08:59:03.393-07:00"Vacation"I am not sure I would call it a vacation so much, as I really didn't get to do much that I would have liked to do, but I did have a good time just the same. <br />
<br />
TC and I made a quick trip up to WY to bury his Mom who passed away in March of this year. She lived to be a ripe old 93 years, and in her own words, "Was tired and ready to go be with Jesus." There was a lovely service for her at her church and all the family came from all over the country. She was a tough old bird who lived and died on her own terms, and I only hope that I can remain THAT true to myself when I am her age. <br />
<br />
I did very much enjoy the hotel in Buffalo where we stayed. It had a creek running next to it and big back patio which was a fabulous place to enjoy my morning coffee. The weather was a bit chilly, and there was still snow on the Big Horns, but that was not unusual for that area. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaHCygFhd75wmVT30HtuIPWX6O2yr0vqVHm5HSsYbud62OhBSGY5YJ4IUAH3FgaSLIu4Bu0Z9KvyxBmM1CxgNIi0hhoshX4ZdB_uwEuvlXMpJAEVI6KWdg-5Tuc8wXaZvEgxYq4FjQooP/s1600/IMG_20170615_131704187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaHCygFhd75wmVT30HtuIPWX6O2yr0vqVHm5HSsYbud62OhBSGY5YJ4IUAH3FgaSLIu4Bu0Z9KvyxBmM1CxgNIi0hhoshX4ZdB_uwEuvlXMpJAEVI6KWdg-5Tuc8wXaZvEgxYq4FjQooP/s320/IMG_20170615_131704187.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I do miss those wide open spaces</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUcs7X5Qa7drySO0Udg1ZAmsqwWFZm5shulkiEw03mP-Hz8jycrwGuTjFsai6IdHX3jKBeoocGf2CDuFU6tDkp1394RnnSuE2N8eM6udIfpIZDp6Dvs18VXEX31dIsxb_1pn3DNtgBB-p/s1600/IMG_20170615_155820504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUcs7X5Qa7drySO0Udg1ZAmsqwWFZm5shulkiEw03mP-Hz8jycrwGuTjFsai6IdHX3jKBeoocGf2CDuFU6tDkp1394RnnSuE2N8eM6udIfpIZDp6Dvs18VXEX31dIsxb_1pn3DNtgBB-p/s320/IMG_20170615_155820504.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kickin it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRK3zHftlrKqE4kC-SYBRBv5JONSmCOHwnFyCVVFMx2dug7WDDvUuw6QGPD7IjSnzGTc56Z8QR9gE1DA5dSWsX9hN3iNe6NLKvP0IHR2KSFqGEIpi6I5m_0OYlERC9d_9uYk7b0tkOrj0/s1600/IMG_20170615_160747814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRK3zHftlrKqE4kC-SYBRBv5JONSmCOHwnFyCVVFMx2dug7WDDvUuw6QGPD7IjSnzGTc56Z8QR9gE1DA5dSWsX9hN3iNe6NLKvP0IHR2KSFqGEIpi6I5m_0OYlERC9d_9uYk7b0tkOrj0/s320/IMG_20170615_160747814.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw this little guy and posted it on facebook<br />I was amazed by how many people thought I should have<br />Killed it. Poor little guy was just trying to get a little sun!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2e-JXXvboyO08o6ZBSl_v1r2GMf2-P2ggYfJlN5Ni22H_wGrEpFqIXN51erjOj8gQJDpbGyssaXJnLrUzcpApb8jpEBTJdOUePoYfKDLqAypy1YUdjVYE1xXpdWCbketiIDPBIBmyEH_f/s1600/IMG_20170615_162632901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2e-JXXvboyO08o6ZBSl_v1r2GMf2-P2ggYfJlN5Ni22H_wGrEpFqIXN51erjOj8gQJDpbGyssaXJnLrUzcpApb8jpEBTJdOUePoYfKDLqAypy1YUdjVYE1xXpdWCbketiIDPBIBmyEH_f/s320/IMG_20170615_162632901.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very clever</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhXjOmfbQ0Q30_JG09weznOq-wBml083yv4hX9XuV9Mr3R2onWsSAak7G5oyytBgIeyMQuCPdGGM-_v6S9PA88Y5_PzDJvUMXdBuGhyEh6cuTj0ktvQSJF5YIuar1dJS0gHDUPz6Rgzhz/s1600/IMG_20170616_062220055_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhXjOmfbQ0Q30_JG09weznOq-wBml083yv4hX9XuV9Mr3R2onWsSAak7G5oyytBgIeyMQuCPdGGM-_v6S9PA88Y5_PzDJvUMXdBuGhyEh6cuTj0ktvQSJF5YIuar1dJS0gHDUPz6Rgzhz/s320/IMG_20170616_062220055_HDR.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great way to start a morning</td></tr>
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<br />
While we were there we spent some time with his grand kids, which is always a joy. They are such good kids and so much fun to be around. I got to meet a bunch of his cousins, who are some pretty interesting folks. By interesting I mean like, teachers, and missionaries, and Pastors, and Ranchers/farmers. So when I say interesting, I mean it in the coolest way possible. <br />
<br />
After we were done there, we spent a day in Casper with my son Colton, and his son Nik. Nik is always shy when I first come around, but all it takes is a little bit of play time for him to come around. There was some sort of big shindig going on at the park by their house so we walked down and Nik and I played in all the bouncy house things. He loved the big slides the most. <br />
<br />
After that we went and had some dinner. It was just a the Texas road house and Nik and I had a great time busting open peanuts to get the prize inside. He was super excited the first time he got a double! It was hilarious!<br />
<br />
For lack of anything better to do we finished the night by going to the College National Finals Rodeo. Colton is not a horse person in anyway, but he was a good sport and went along anyway. Nik had never been to a rodeo before. It took me showing him a video of bucking bulls before he wanted to go, but once he saw that, he kept saying over and over, "When can we see the cows?"<br />
<br />
Because he hasn't really been around that kind of lifestyle, I didn't really expect him to enjoy it so much, but he was sooo excited! We got there early and so spent some time walking around the event center to check out all the vendor booths. Of course we ended up getting him a little stuffed horse, who he promptly named Ruby. Just to be clear, Ruby is a boy horse. Then he wanted a rope too, so he got a rope and I tried to teach him to rope. He had a little trouble remembering to release when he threw, but we had fun and he kept that rope and Ruby very close the entire time. <br />
<br />
Through out the entire show he was entranced, and made sure that Ruby was where he could see also so he could learn how to be a rodeo horse. I had to laugh when he told me that the roan pick up horse during the saddle bronc riding, was Ruby. He thought those pick up horses were pretty cool. I have to admit I thought they were too. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXONGHHnrxVRS39uPXaSvcbc6ImtZ9NT1lQnVmrMZ1SJ6PefmeLwzqAKqV358JdDhD6-vsNYl0Z5pJhMnucX4Jj96pBuuQwaCfXbmKcSl26gZc5oRlssPqEj5YhtICa2zUjViuvoRWzbk/s1600/IMG_20170617_182740108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXONGHHnrxVRS39uPXaSvcbc6ImtZ9NT1lQnVmrMZ1SJ6PefmeLwzqAKqV358JdDhD6-vsNYl0Z5pJhMnucX4Jj96pBuuQwaCfXbmKcSl26gZc5oRlssPqEj5YhtICa2zUjViuvoRWzbk/s320/IMG_20170617_182740108.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nik, Ruby and I</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-8G17YZXIBlo35BjFosbw3oWfstnnlxU8a_uhwHauZSy1kY7ZWLb8HjQygBSgC0_DbF1r5aDsZ-JJwXQl27h26W2G16W5bI2IVsHl485I1S6DQewWDLvy_4RvjewlnZWwKn8vN-DHqmD/s1600/IMG_20170617_183257805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-8G17YZXIBlo35BjFosbw3oWfstnnlxU8a_uhwHauZSy1kY7ZWLb8HjQygBSgC0_DbF1r5aDsZ-JJwXQl27h26W2G16W5bI2IVsHl485I1S6DQewWDLvy_4RvjewlnZWwKn8vN-DHqmD/s320/IMG_20170617_183257805.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colton and I</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDN1biFcz0gc5Ffb5WvhHcCAP7P4q3NLgshPhfrBF9zReo4lKvheSofzIY9-xaXyyE_d5x2sbZoSS4zfETX-0qS_E-eGAXe7PQeDqEcIo2609sec76Z2G6JqIiPniixLFty8ZVSTiXiUw/s1600/IMG_20170617_183329461_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDN1biFcz0gc5Ffb5WvhHcCAP7P4q3NLgshPhfrBF9zReo4lKvheSofzIY9-xaXyyE_d5x2sbZoSS4zfETX-0qS_E-eGAXe7PQeDqEcIo2609sec76Z2G6JqIiPniixLFty8ZVSTiXiUw/s320/IMG_20170617_183329461_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TC watching Nik</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4Mu2xicr6mQRnrbWoM9_vTPutrsT4EvyEroZ9MV5tGsv0J3NOF4DKZTo-45N2-7vQmwGDEm4Z3pG63GbOm1STs48MaRPRAwUtY8trGPhRs8rowXJNmU-RiywaX06f4RJODTrQ3z-uAXz/s1600/IMG_20170617_183342839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4Mu2xicr6mQRnrbWoM9_vTPutrsT4EvyEroZ9MV5tGsv0J3NOF4DKZTo-45N2-7vQmwGDEm4Z3pG63GbOm1STs48MaRPRAwUtY8trGPhRs8rowXJNmU-RiywaX06f4RJODTrQ3z-uAXz/s320/IMG_20170617_183342839.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He had Ruby lassoed! </td></tr>
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We had so much fun! I wish I lived closer to Nik, he is such a cool little kid and I only get to see him about once a year. <br />
<br />
Now we are home again to forecasted highs of 115-120 this week. Everyone is freaking out, worried about how they will keep their horses cool. I hose mine down and hope for a breeze, make sure they have shade and plenty of fresh cool water. This isn't their first Arizona summer, so I suspect they will be fine. Half the time they don't even use the shade, but I make sure they have some if they need it. I read somewhere that you shouldn't hose them down because it magnifies the sun and makes them hotter. I am having trouble buying in to that theory just because if it were true then I don't think sweating would do us much good either. I know that if I am hot, hosing myself down feels great. So if it feels good to me, a mammal, then I can only assume that it will also feel good to the ponies who are also mammals. <br />
<br />
I'm actually more worried about the chickens than anything, but I've just been making sure they have plenty of options for cooling off, and then throw them some frozen fruit in the afternoon so that they have a cool snack. <br />
<br />
Well, now it is off to work for me. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-80558537758268610242017-06-11T12:32:00.000-07:002017-06-11T12:32:25.719-07:00Product Review Recently I came to terms with what I like to call the "Melly Dilemma"<br />
<br />
The Melly Dilemma is defined as the need to <strike>sedate</strike> calm a horse for a specific event or task, without any long term side effects, so as to still have a fire breathing dragon under your legs when it is time to perform. Long term would be anything lasting over 5 minutes after said task is complete. <br />
<br />
In Melody's case, I need her to calm down enough to get into the damn trailer, ride down the road, unload out of the trailer, and stand quietly beside the trailer while I get her tacked up. Once I put the bridle on though, I need that dragon horse. I need her to be hyper focused, and on point. I need her to be high energy and ready to jump at any little thing. <br />
<br />
I'm sure some of you are asking why in the name of the sweet baby Jesus I would want her to be a total spaz under saddle. Clearly that is the most dangerous time to have a spaz on your hands.....right?<br />
<br />
In most cases that is 100% correct. <br />
<br />
With Trax or Killian, I could care less how spastic they are on the ground, but when I step up in the saddle I want calm and relaxed.<br />
<br />
Leave to to Melly to be the oddball. <br />
<br />
Melody is her most dangerous when you are standing next to her. Not because she is mean, and not because she bites or kicks or any of the nonsense. Melody and I have constant conversations about personal space and for the most part she does respect it, but if Melly gets frightened, she jumps to the side. She jumps right to the one she expects to protect her, she jumps right into your lap. She is the worlds biggest lap dog. <br />
<br />
<br />
*perhaps this where the argument about imprinting foals would fit in- but that is conversation for another day*<br />
<br />
However, if you are on her back and she gets frightened, you are already with her so the jump still goes sideways, but then she stops and listens and trusts you to talk her through it. (in most cases)<br />
<br />
So with that mind, I'd much rather be on top of her than standing next to her.<br />
<br />
Along with this train of thought is what she "does for a living".<br />
<br />
Her job is to chase cows. That is it. Every thing we do is in preparation for the next time we are in a sorting pen. She is not a young girl anymore, and just like the rest of us old girls, it take a certain amount of adrenaline to not wear out in the middle of a job. So that nervousness, or spastic energy, or what ever you want to call it. That is what gets her through her job.<br />
<br />
I admit that I love when we ride into the arena to warm up and she prances in, nostrils flared, neck arched and on high alert. <br />
<br />
Is it the right thing? Probably not. <br />
<br />
But is it cool? Hell yeah!<br />
<br />
I'll trot her out like that for a while and then we will kick up to a lope and she looks so freaking amazing and everyone stops and looks and as we ride by people always comment about how gorgeous she is, and I smile and say thanks, and it is like the best day of my life all over again. <br />
<br />
We stop and do some spins and then roll back and forth and she is quick and light on her feet...well as light as she can be for her size... and it is bad ass. <br />
<br />
And for a minute I feel like I might even look like I know what I am doing. <br />
<br />
Then we go and stand and wait for our turn to go into the sorting pen. They call our names and she prances in. I move her off my leg, left and right, to make sure we have our steering, and then we go for it. <br />
<br />
When I first started this we went slow and easy. Now we hit it and get it as fast as we can from the minute we cross the line and she goes after those cows like she wants to stomp their heads into the dirt. She sees nothing but cows. It doesn't matter what is going on outside the arena. She is hyper focused on her job and I'm doing the best I can to stay out of her way, while communicating which cow she needs to go after next. And yes it is a freaking blast! <br />
<br />
If she is on calming paste, she flat out cannot do her job. She has no energy, she has no adrenaline, and the cows can out run her. <br />
<br />
So that is why I needed something to calm her down, that didn't involve adding anything to her system.<br />
<br />
Then I saw this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhU5Td_NOAupawZNw7RBFgAMCxlv4bp3aBOtpoFWimUCGWY0qVnM0ehI660IhBG-A6RZcdYShQEo13m7IJ0LvQJNr6OOl6kDXrFmhuk_83D0b0f7iHBYHrdP-iOo5Xiw26jjJqk1i7_SK/s1600/18951122_479896932354934_2777462063522516478_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhU5Td_NOAupawZNw7RBFgAMCxlv4bp3aBOtpoFWimUCGWY0qVnM0ehI660IhBG-A6RZcdYShQEo13m7IJ0LvQJNr6OOl6kDXrFmhuk_83D0b0f7iHBYHrdP-iOo5Xiw26jjJqk1i7_SK/s320/18951122_479896932354934_2777462063522516478_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
This is the HIDEZ Equine compression mask. <br />
<br />
It is like the Thundershirts made for dogs, only obviously for horses. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.equihidez.com/" target="_blank">Here</a> is a link to their website. They have several different products. <br />
<br />
It works like a compression vest, but it also specifically targets the calming pressure points on a horses head. (allegedly)<br />
<br />
Sooo, I ordered one. It arrived yesterday. <br />
<br />
This morning I knew that we were going to revisit trailer loading practice so I decided to give it a shot. <br />
<br />
I was not even sure how I was going to get it on her, given her dislike of having her face messed with, but I rolled it up like a stocking, and fit it over her nose. Once I got that part on, she dropped her head and let me put it on. <br />
<br />
I was amazed. She immediately started licking and chewing. She did a little head shaking as she got used to it, but after a few minutes that ended. <br />
<br />
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<br />
Red really is her best color!<br />
<br />
I let her wear it for about 30 minutes while we got the trailer loaded and ready to go. <br />
<br />
Then we asked her to load up. She balked the first time, so I walked her away, moved her feet for just a few seconds and then asked her again. She went right in like it was nothing. <br />
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<br />
The important thing I see is the lack of white in her eye showing. She is calm in both pics of her face. <br />
<br />
It really is a big deal. <br />
<br />
When we got to the public arena she backed out of the trailer like a pro. We saddled up and I took the mask off. <br />
<br />
BOOM! <br />
<br />
I had my fire breathing dragon back, and we went into the arena and everyone ooh'd and aah'd over how pretty she was, and I had a blast riding her and it was just as perfect as it could be. <br />
<br />
When it was time to go home, I put the mask on while I untacked her, and then when it was time to load, I didn't not even have to ask. <br />
<br />
She walked up to the trailer and hopped in, turned around and looked at me and said, "What are we waiting on?"<br />
<br />
*Mind Blown*<br />
<br />
Here is my disclaimer.<br />
<br />
I don't know for sure that the mask was the determining factor, but it darn sure seemed to help. She was not biting at the air while standing in the trailer, or pawing the floor, or any of her normal antics she does if she has to stand in there for even a few seconds. <br />
<br />
It cost me $100 for that stupid mask. I can tell you that at this point, it seems to me like it was worth every penny. <br />
<br />
The next test will be to try it on Trax. Since calming agents have a reverse effect on him, it will be interesting to see what this mask does for him. If it works, and he can go to a public even and not require an hour of riding to relax, then he will get a pretty blue one. If it doesn't work, it won't matter, because it worked for Melly!<br />
<br />
I have a friend who bought one for her barrel horse who really has an issue with ally's. She raced him in the mask Friday night and he went up the ally like it made no difference to him at all. Flipping amazing!!<br />
<br />
So that is my review. It is easy to put on, it seems to work, and no dopey side effects. If you have an anxious horse- you might want to try this. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-9184051712805146352017-06-06T10:13:00.000-07:002017-06-06T10:13:31.188-07:00Cuz' Shirley SaidSo.......I was bitching about facebook (on facebook) yesterday, basically complaining about how boring it is and how much time I wasted scrolling through the exact same stuff<br />
<br />
every<br />
<br />
single<br />
<br />
day!<br />
<br />
<br />
At that point our good friend and fellow blogger (see title) so kindly reminded me that there is a much better place to spend my on line time. A place where there is a whole lot less drama; a place where the people tend to be more understanding, and less judgmental. <br />
<br />
*cue music from Cheers*<br />
<br />
So here I am, back at my blog, sharing a little bit of what is going on with the herd. <br />
<br />
Since it has been forever since I posted, I will just stick with the high points. <br />
<br />
First off, I am back to working full time. I am managing a feed store. I worked for this company before, left to do my saddle shop, then came back for a little extra money. From there it morphed into me driving 120 miles (round trip) each day to manage a store way out on the other side of town. It was a cool store though, and I took it from barely making any money at all to being uber profitable and looking better than it ever has. <br />
<br />
At that store I got to do business with folks like Al Dunning, Brandi Lyons, Cory Cushing, Brad Barkemeyer, Matt Mills, and lots and lots of high dollar Arabian breeders whose names mean nothing to me, but mean a lot in the Arab world. That part is pretty cool. <br />
<br />
Fast forward a few months and now I am managing a different store, right by my house. I like that part, but it came with a price. I still have to assist with the managing of the managers of the other two stores, so I do still spend quite a bit of time driving. It is my hope that very soon they recognize my potential and move me up one more spot within the company. But I'm not going to elaborate on that too much until it happens. <br />
<br />
Now- lets talk horse stuff. <br />
<br />
I finally quit worrying about my horses being "ready" for events and just started showing up. <br />
When I say ready, I mean as in totally trained and not going to make any mistakes. <br />
<br />
My new motto has been "Show up, Saddle up, and have a good time."<br />
<br />
Once I adopted that attitude things like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10212433004318943/?type=3" target="_blank">This</a> started happening. I have decided that I love sorting. The bonus is that I have a horse that enjoys it too. We actually managed to get a couple of perfect runs in last winter, which was a big improvement for us. <br />
<br />
I'll be honest. There just are not many places to practice sorting. I guess because cows aren't cheap, so it seems that our competitions is where we learn. It isn't cheap, but we get better with each run and most people are pretty understanding if you are just starting out. <br />
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<br /></div>
I have a girl who works for me. We will call her J. <br />
<br />
She and I started hauling around to different sorting events and even though we had no clue what we were doing, we still went and figured it out. It was a ton of fun, and each time I showed up, I was a little less nervous. <br />
<br />
She has a pretty cool horse named Spur. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10212432965957984/?type=3" target="_blank">Here</a> is a video of her sorting as well. When we started all of this she had never even practiced this before. Her horse is a total bad ass, and everyone is seeing her as the up and coming competition. <br />
<br />
<br />
When sorting season in the valley ended, we started looking for more things to do. She wanted to barrel race so that is where we headed. I am pretty much sick of sitting in the stands watching everyone else ride, so now I barrel race....sort of. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10213530952686966/?type=3" target="_blank">This</a> is what happens. Not fast, but she runs a pretty pattern!<br />
<br />
The real reason we went to barrel races was for J and Spur. Let me show you <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10212742083405727/?type=3" target="_blank">Why</a><br />
<br />
I decided that Melody needed to save herself for sorting and since Trax really wasn't doing much and loves to run, I thought I'd give him a shot a barrel racing. Sometimes I run him, sometimes I have a young friend who runs him. Mostly we are still in the training stages, but some serious progress is being made. <br />
<br />
We have gone from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10212642449754948/?type=3" target="_blank">this</a><br />
<br />
all the way to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cindy.durham.18/videos/vb.1196370193/10213578833763963/?type=3" target="_blank">this</a><br />
<br />
Unfortunately I don't have any videos of me running him, because if I'm not filming, no one is there to do it. But the important thing is that we are both learning and having a good time. We are getting out there and not worrying about what people think, what they say, or if they laugh at us. Well Trax might care if they laugh, but I don't. <br />
<br />
I love the fact that in the first video he was looking for the gate at the second barrel. But in the second video he was looking for that 3rd barrel. <br />
<br />
Doing this sort of riding had really forced me to step outside my comfort zone. Not with Melody so much because I trust her an awful lot, but with Trax I still carry a lot of fear. I have really been pushing myself to go just one step further each time we ride. <br />
<br />
I practice going fast with him. I am learning to trust him again. We sprint up and down the length of our arena. Did you know that if you don't go fast on a horse for 30 years, you have to learn how to ride it all over again?<br />
<br />
This is what learning how to go fast again looks like. <br />
<br />
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<br />
<span id="goog_2067835121"></span><span id="goog_2067835122"></span>I am actually pretty impressed with the old guy (he is 17 or 18 now). It has only taken him 3/4 of his life to decide that he is a broke horse! Ha Ha!. No actually I'm just impressed with how hard he tries. We did a little sorting with him too, and he doesn't do too bad. He does get a little balled up if there are too many cows around his back side and since you sort in teams, I decided that it isn't fair to my team members to lose out because he is worried. So I still take him to practices when we can to help him get over it, but I don't compete on him yet. For now, I think he will just stick to racing. The more we do it, the more he enjoys it (or so it seems) and to be honest, I'm having a good time with it too. <br />
<br />
In other news Princess Melody has a couple of bad days. We went through some bad trailer loading issues. It took a couple of months but we finally got her past it, and she was loading up just great...until one day when she didn't.<br />
<br />
We were out at the trailer working on it, and she had two feet in the trailer. The next door neighbor was working on a tin shed at the same time. He dropped a sheet of tin (accidentally) which freaked her out, and she went straight up. She pretty much ripped her face off. <br />
<br />
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<br />
The vet came out and stitched her up and she got a couple of weeks off. Now she has a nice M scar on her face. The M is for Melody Moody Mare. <br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
It took quite a bit of work but we do have her loading in the trailer again. It actually wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be since every single one of her fears involving trailers had come true. She still doesn't love a trailer, but she will load, and that is about the best I can ask for I think. <br />
<br />
I manged to trade myself into a remote control mechanical flag, and we do a lot of practicing on that. This mare, who seems slower than molasses in January, loves to work if she gets to chase stuff. It is so funny to watch her videos because it seems like she is hardly moving, but when you are on her it feels pretty darn fast. <br />
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In a couple of weeks we are headed up to Mormon Lake to do a summer series. I'm pretty excited. I have some friends who will be up there also, so it will be nice to hang out with them AND get to ride horses too. The series is one weekend per month for the entire summer. It is a couple of hour drive, but totally worth it to get to cooler weather. <br />
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So....there it is, my first discombobulated blog post in eons. Now to go do a little reading and see what everyone has been up too! .<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-41219620937766291842016-02-09T10:27:00.000-08:002016-02-09T10:27:00.495-08:00Still AliveWow, I have not been here since the summer!<br />
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I admit to being pretty busy at all times, but still I could at least stop in once in a while. It was a nice quiet treat to go through and catch up on my favorite blogs. <br />
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Quick recap of my fall and winter.....<br />
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I went to work in a feed store for a while, but then left because I was going to go open a store with business partner Mary. At the last minute, some of the "business plan" that we discussed through up some big red flags so I back out. Her store is thriving, as I knew it would, however I am glad I will not be involved when Tax time rolls around. <br />
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With that being said, I started putting a little more time into Bonanza Saddle Shop. My son made me a new website <a href="http://www.bonanzasaddleshop.com/">http://www.bonanzasaddleshop.com/</a> which is awesome. And I secured a new saddle supplier out of TN, who has been hooking me up with some amazing saddles at very nice prices. I am gearing more and more towards higher end saddles, a little bit of high end tack, and not wasting my time with junk stuff. I know there is always a need for low dollar items, but I cannot compete with Mary and her pricing, so I let her stick with that stuff, while I stuck with the nice stuff and our friendship remains in tact that way. <br />
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I have had boarders come and go, which is a given. A few of my favorites are leaving because they rented their own horse property, but more will come. I am getting pretty good at weeding out the high maintenance, potential nut cases in the first conversation I have with them. That is always a bonus! <br />
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I did buy another horse. Not because I wanted one, or needed one, but because he needed to be bought and the owner was not going to let him go just anywhere. His name is Smokey Joe. He is a pretty awesome little guy, half mustang, half QH. I have had him a month and have been riding him pretty consistently just getting him used to being ridden again. He is so easy going, super smart, just a real pleasure to be around. He had gotten used to doing what ever he wanted, but the minute someone else takes control, he is totally cool with that. He is just a good all around horse. Not finished in any direction, but could be. <br />
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I knew that eventually he would be for sale, and I actually have turned down some pretty lucrative offers on him. I just wanted to get to know him a little better before I just sent him down the road. It is pretty hard to match the right person up with a horse, if you don't know the horse...right? A good match is much more important than money. <br />
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The other day I got a phone call from a man who was looking for a place to board a horse. He had not bought said horse yet, but was starting to look for one and wanted to have his ducks in a row. As it turns out his wife had been diagnosed with a Brain Tumor, and when that happened they made the tough decision to sell their 3 horses so she could focus on getting better. That was a few years ago. Now she is ready to ride again, so he wanted to buy her a horse for her birthday. <br />
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"I think you need to come see me."<br />
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They came on Sunday. I have never seen a horse take to someone so quickly as he did to this young lady. I showed them what we had been working on, rode him around a little, and then offered to let her ride. She was very nervous, but he took great care of her, and soon they looked like they had been riding together for ever. <br />
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When it was over, she sat on the mounting block at the gate of the arena and he stepped up and nuzzled her ear. It took weeks for him to do that with me. <br />
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A perfect match. <br />
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So now Smokey already has a new owner, I have one less horse to keep ridden (Yay), and I have a new boarder too. Oh, and I have offered to let them use Killian for trail riding on the days that the two of them want to ride together. Win Win Win!<br />
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I love it when everything falls into place. <br />
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I have been taking lessons with Melody. We have learned that my horse totally has my number, and I am learning how to properly post a trot for the first time in my life. At the rate we are going, we may miss the entire show season...but I'm learning stuff and that is what is important. <br />
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Trax has been lame for several months. For a year he had gotten progressively more broncy. I tried different saddles, tried chiro, tried a trainer, tried everything, but couldn't figure out what his problem was. Then he came up lame.<br />
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Then I visually saw that he has one leg longer than the other and by putting shoes on him and making his feet symmetrical, I added an inch or more to the longer leg. This in turn jammed up his shoulder. He had been telling me all along that he was in pain, and I couldn't see it. <br />
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I pulled his shoes, trimmed the one foot, and have just been letting nature take its course ever since. I rode him very easily the other day and there was no favoring of the shoulder at all. I can still see where his shoulder blade is higher, but he has an appt with the best Chiro in the valley, which hopefully, will take care of that. I miss riding my go to guy, and am really looking forward to having him back. <br />
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The last bit of news is an "on the fence" deal. I have been offered a position as the manager of a feed store in Scottsdale. It is a long drive, but a decent amount of money, and I have a VW at my disposal, which would make it less expensive to make the drive. I can't decide if I should take it or not. A lot will depend on whether or not they will work with me on which hours I work. If I am stuck in peak rush hour traffic, I will be driving 3 hours a day. Plus the 40-45 hours a week, plus a boarding stable, plus saddle sales on the side, plus trying to have time to ride and show, plus being a mom, and wife-ish person. <br />
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It is a lot, but on the other hand it will give me the opportunity to squirrel away some money for my next big equine adventure. I can't talk about it just yet, other than to say that it is going to be expensive...and time consuming....and super awesome!!!!<br />
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For now though, I still clean saddles to pay the bills, and I have one waiting for me right now, so I shall stop typing and go do that. <br />
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For any of my blogging friends who I am not friends with on facebook, I have missed you all very much. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-34263733286625176622015-09-21T10:47:00.003-07:002015-09-21T10:47:50.807-07:00The day that Killian blows us all awayThrough my travels of trying to invent my own ranch versatility horse, I have been asked by a couple of people (BEC being one of them) why I never tried using Killian for it. After all he is an honest to goodness ranch horse (something I assumed Trax was- but now know he never was), has been around the block more than a few times, and is in fact dead-freaking-broke.<br />
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My answer was always that I didn't think that he could do it. "He just doesn't have the finesse or the moves to do that sort of stuff." Hell, it took 2 years to even get him to lope on the correct lead once in a while. Back in WY, when I went to my first ranch horse clinic, I took both Killian and Trax. I rode Killian first saying, "This is my good horse." and by time we were done the instructor said, "If that is your good horse, your'e in big trouble." It was an accurate assessment at the time. <br />
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I assumed from that day forward, that with his age, and all the crap he threw at me that day, he was better off just being a trail horse. <br />
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Through time, as some of you may recall, I have managed to get a better handle on the big red horse. He started loping better for me, he moves off my leg (which he has always done), and he surely does have a killer stop. But through and through I still believed he was better suited for trail or roping. <br />
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Insert a whole bunch of money on riding lessons for me which has made more difference in my horses than I realized. Suddenly I found myself being able to get on Killian and actually getting cooperation out of him. Of course it only stands to reason that it would be that way. Killian is a leader, he expects his rider to lead, and if the rider does not then he is perfectly happy stepping up to the plate, Of course if he is the leader he is going to use his entire bag of tricks to show you all the reasons why riding, and working is a bad idea. <br />
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For so long I was just a passenger, but clearly that has changed in the last year. <br />
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Still I was so focused on Trax and Melody that Big K was just getting left to sit, and get fat.....really fat, and really lazy. So I started trying to find someone to come and ride him. As most of you will recall, I tried a few different people but none of them quite worked out. <br />
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Then along came Rhiannon. (who I now call Rah Rah) Rah Rah wants to rope. She is pretty dang handy with a rope, usually catches what she throws at, and is a pretty confident rider at that age of 14. However, she did not have a horse capable of handling the physical strain of roping. She has a little gelding who has a ton of heart, but is older than Killian, very weak in the hind end, very sway backed, and small in stature. He did his very best though and chased after each an every one of those cows, and could easily catch them, but if he had to pull one of any size, he was done for. <br />
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So I offered to let her come and get to know Big K, and get him back into shape and see if she could rope on him. He does know his job, that we know for sure. Through the last month or so of her riding him, we have learned that he actually loves roping. In fact he loves having a job to do as long as that job doesn't include loping endless circles. <br />
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I realize that some of this redundant, but bear with me please....<br />
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So during our riding together she also started riding Melly some, and I offered to let her ride in the a Ranch Versatility Show. I rode Trax, she rode Melly, and that was all chronicled in our previous posts. However, after that event she asked if she could go back to riding Killian, and if she could try him in some of the classes at the next show. I said, "Of Course"<br />
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As it turns out, Melody ended up getting kicked again, and so was out of commission for 2 weeks, and Trax, came up lame the very same day. (I'll do a seperate post on that) So all of our attention was focused on Killian. <br />
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She came and rode when she could, I got her a lesson with my trainer, and then I rode him when she couldn't. We only had 2 weeks to get ready, and I really had my doubts if we could pull it off. One night my trainer even got on him, and boy did he throw a little temper tantrum. However, Dana is not one to be trifled with, and pretty soon, he gave in. Still it seemed like the more we practiced the harder he got to work with. <br />
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The night before the show we had a club sanctioned practice at my arena. Rha Rha was up on him, and he wasn't doing to bad at first, but as the night wore on he became more and more difficult. He didn't want to do trail obstacles, he didn't want to do anything. I told her we may have to cancel .<br />
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So I stepped on him and we had a little discussion. We loped some circles, and practiced side passing and went through the obstacles. I showed her how to set him up for success, knowing what his weaknesses are, then I had her get on him. <br />
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She took him through the trail pattern again, and suddenly a light bulb went on for him, and for her. I told her to quit thinking of them as trail obstacles and to just imagine she is out in the desert "ranching" and all these things are things she has to do in the course of the day. I think it did the trick. Suddenly they became a team, and started working together. Sure there were still some missed steps, but it was tons better. <br />
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Then we practiced the reining and other patterns, and things went pretty smoothly so we decided to go for it. <br />
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The next day we loaded up and headed to the show. Killian hasn't been to a public event other than the roping arena down the street in a long time so I really was not sure how he was going to do. He was by far the calmest most relaxed horse there. Almost too relaxed, which kind of worried me too. <br />
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She saddled up and took him to the arena to warm up and I reminded her about envisioning a ranch instead of an arena, and by golly I think it worked. <br />
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Killian went out a totally ROCKED that show!!!!<br />
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First was Ranch Trail and he successfully complete every single task. He stepped on one of the logs during the side passing task, but he still did the task. He dragged the log around like an old pro (Of course) and even backed through the L relatively smoothly. He loped in the correct lead, and basicly just handled it all as if it were nothing. He got 1st out of 3 riders.<br />
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Then was Ranch Pleasure. He was the only horse in that class, but he did his leads correctly, they did the pattern correctly, and so got first in that. <br />
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The third class they were in was Ranch Reining and the other youth rider was riding her moms reining horse, so I figured Rah Rah and Big K didn't stand a chance of winning that class. I just told her to go out and ride him like the ranch horse that he is, rather than trying to force him into being a fancy reining horse that he isn't. <br />
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Killian was up first. Rah Rah knew the pattern so I wasn't worried about that. She got out there and did her first run down, stopped, backed up and did her 1/4 turn to the left. Perfect! Departed for her left lead circle in the wrong lead, as she went past I whispered "wrong lead" and it took her 2 strides to fix it. She completed her 2 circles and went to her lead change. He didn't get the lead change the first time, so she simple broke him down to the trot and he grabbed it right away. 2 more circles to the right and then came the next lead change, she moved to the center of the arena and before she could even break him down for a simple lead change the big red horse executed the most fluid gorgeous flying lead change I have ever seen in my life!!!!! <br />
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I turned to my friend standing next to me and said, "Did you SEE that???" We were both completely blown away, as was Rah Rah! <br />
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She did her next two run downs and didn't quite go to the markers, which was my fault as I forgot to mention the markers to her, and her spins were more like spirals, but they did the correct number of spins and so she got a complete score in the class. I was so dang proud of them both!<br />
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The other girl clearly had a better horse but she hadn't studied her pattern very well,or she got nervous, but she did the incorrect number of spins both times and technically that is a DQ. However, being youth and only two riders, she still got scored, but Killain and Rah Rah won the reining. <br />
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The final class was flag work (in lieu of cows) and the other girl won that one. But Rhiannon and Killain were the high point youth riders of the day! <br />
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Here is the part about Killian that blew me away. He did mess up a few times, with leads or with side passing, but you could clearly see that he was trying, and when asked to correct his mistake, he did so without a fight. And that lead change!!! Oh! I think with a little more practice, he could actually do really well at this, and here all this time I didn't think he had it in him. I told him that day that I will never ever underestimate him again. He seems to <i>want </i>to do thing for this little girl, and that makes me happy beyond words. <br />
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Here are some pictures of the day. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totally Relaxed</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-54234249696077859952015-09-04T08:23:00.001-07:002015-09-04T08:30:26.928-07:00Ranch Versatility showThe weekend of our show was finally upon us. Having the part time job has really cut into my riding time, but I was still managing to get in 3 rides a week, some times more, and while I knew we were far from perfect, I felt pretty decent about how it was going to go. <br />
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The plan was for me to ride Trax in all the RV classes and my little friend Rhiannon would ride Melody in the youth classes, minus the trail, and I would also ride Melody in the Ranch Reining and work a cow. I can only have one point horse at the show so I chose Trax, and Melody was just for a judged score and critique....and the practice at working a cow on her in a big arena. I have only done sorting and reining on her, so was excited for the chance to try holding a cow on the fence with her. </div>
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I ended up being sick all day Friday, behind schedule all day Saturday, and a nervous wreck by Sunday. Luckily the kid was calm and helped me relax as well. It seemed like every time I turned around some little thing was going wrong and I was starting to think we were never going to make it there at all...but we did.</div>
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It was 106 and 85% humidity. It had rained hard t the arena the night before, the warm up arena only had one spot that wasn't under water, the second warm up arena was completely under water, and half the parking lot was flooded. The storm the night before had also taken out the well pump so there was not much water available for the horses either. Luckily I carried my own, but when I got there and saw that the cows (which I had secured and was responsible for) had no water, I was livid!!!<br />
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I managed to get that handled, got our horses saddled, and we started warming up the ponies. Melody mostly just needs to get limber and acclimated to her surroundings. Trax isn't bothered by surroundings as much as energy in the air and it usually takes 30-45 minutes of riding to get him to a place mentally where he is ready to relax and remember that he has a rider on board. <br />
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In 10 minutes we were all dripping in sweat. <br />
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The arena was covered so we had shade and that did help some, although sometimes the air was more stifling under the cover than out in the sun. I had originally planned on wearing a long sleeve white western shirt. But was wearing a sleeveless western shirt while warming up. I was so hot and ready to die, I never did switch to my show shirt. I probably should have, and would have looked more professional, but by that time I didn't care, and the club rules state "An attempt at western wear", and I was wearing a western shirt....soooooo. <br />
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I never did feel like I was able to connect to Trax that day. We would do our usual "Lope nice big relaxed circles" but in a few minutes he was so hot I had to stop. I don't know how to explain this, but I don't think it is the hot and tired part that "warms" him up. It is more like it is the number of foot falls that he makes. <br />
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Melody looked like she had just been hosed down in about five minutes and pretty much stayed that way all day. <br />
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Looking back I can admit to being more nervous than I should have been. I knew my horses would do okay. I know their strong points and their weaknesses. I know my own short comings as well. <br />
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We had a lot of new contestants this time around, and lots of them were really good. One trainer from Tucson brought several of his students up with him, and they pretty much monopolized the show, I am not complaining in the least. It was nice to have good riders there so that we could see what it is we are striving to become. These riders were friendly and gracious and, as I found out later, just as nervous as I was! <br />
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I'm not going to go into detail about every class. Lets just suffice to say that Trax and I DQ'd in almost every class. I forgot patterns, he forgot I was there, I forgot where my hands belong, and a few times I used 2 hands. <br />
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Melody really struggled with the classes that required her to work in and out of trail obstacles. Rhi, got her through it, but it knocked her placings down to second out of 2 every single time. However she did excellent on the flag boxing AND got first in youth reining. <br />
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The one thing that really kind of screwed things up for me was when they rearranged the class orders which had me riding Melody in adult reining before Rhi was done with all of her classes. That meant that I did not have time to switch saddles our and ended up doing our reining in a youth saddle. Still we completed the pattern with no major flaws. However, the judges did not realize that a non-point horse still gets judged, so they wrote down no notes at all, gave me no score what so ever. So I have no idea where I did good and where I did horribly. <br />
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When it came time to work the cows, I was up first on Trax. I have to get major props to my paint horse. He did really really well. Granted he doesn't make the fancy cutting moves like Melly does, but we held our cow, on the end, on the fence AND turned it in a circle. He was working hard to keep his butt up underneath him, and I was not at all unhappy with our run. He ended up placing 5th but from what I understand was later bumped up to 4th because one of the riders was scored on 2 horses and should not have been. <br />
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Once Trax was done I yanked his saddle and threw it up on Melly. The sun was down by now and a storm was rolling in so it was much cooler. I had soaked Melly down some with a wet rag and she was no longer dripping in sweat like she was before. Her energy level was back to normal and Ifelt pretty good about the up coming run. Keep in mind that I have only ever worked her on a cow in a sorting pen.<br />
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We called for the cow and I pushed it up along the fence. We then turned it up the fence and pushed it down towards the other end. The cow was kind of getting away from us so I kicked her up to a run. We caught up with the cow and he looked like he was ready to stop and turn back so I checked her down some. Just that instant the dirty cow saw that tiny sliver of day light in front of Melody and took off again. Well so did my horse. She was NOT going to let that cow get away so she bolted after him, and I was ready for it. I had both hands up towards her ears urging her forward past the cow. When she got just past his head she did her job and cut back to the left to push him back from where he came. <br />
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That is where she lost me. <br />
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She cut left, and I was not in my seat where I should have been and I went right off the other side. <br />
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I landed on my hip and my shoulder, and I clearly recall cussing as I went down the other side. I also clearly recall thinking "Please God, don't let my foot get caught in the stirrup." and looking at my foot to make sure it didn't.<br />
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I don't know how long I was on the ground. Not too long, I was told, but I got up and the next thing I knew my horse was there next to me, dancing nervously, and I got right back on. <br />
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The announcer said I still had time left and before I even had time to think about it, Melody was turning and heading after the cow again. <br />
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Its is a shame that no one got any of it on video,<br />
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I was told it was a graceful fall and that once I went off Melody continued to work the cow. She held it on the fence for about 5-10 seconds while I got up off the ground. The minute she saw me up, she ran over to me, danced in place next to me, as if to say "Hurry up, he's getting away". and then we still had a full minute to work our cow, which we did. I can't tell you for sure what we did, but we held the cow where we could and pushed it where we could until our time was up.<br />
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I knew that fall was coming some day. I have been told more than once that if I didn't learn to sit back I was going to go over, and that is what happened. However, my horse came right to me, and I could not have been happier with her. She did her job and did it well.<br />
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Thinking back over the earlier portion of the show, I wanted to blame Trax for all the issues we had in the arena, but after looking at the pictures I know that I was just as much at fault as he was. I was trying to ride one handed as much as possible and for some reason I cannot seem to remember to lower my one hand. <br />
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So here are a few of the photos a friend of mine took. I am sharing the good and the bad here, where as I did not share the bad ones on facebook, just because I don't trust most people not to be downright cruel about some of my riding abilities. I can take criticism, in fact I welcome it, but not in the form of rudeness. <br />
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I had told my trainer type person, that perhaps Trax really isn't cut out for this, but I think I shall retract that statement. He has not been to a public event in a very long time, and he is not the same horse he was in WY. He handled most of this pretty darn well, all things considered. If we get through a year of shows and he still is able to relax any, then I will re-assess where we are going as a team. But for now we will just keep plugging along. <br />
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One of my boarders went to watch me, and told me that she thought that Trax was the ranchiest horse out there. I asked her to elaborate, and she told me that my ability to work through things with him, rather than having a horse who never batted an eye at anything was more reminiscent of her ranching days than any thing else she saw. Of course she may have been a tad biased! <br />
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I did get a lot of compliments on both of my horses. Many people commented on how nicely built they both are. That always makes an old gal feel better!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-91426537056922005322015-08-19T17:01:00.000-07:002015-08-19T17:01:40.789-07:00Little girls to Love Him<div>
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It is no secret that I have been trying to trace Trax's ownership ever since I got him. I thought that I had pretty much reached a dead end and was reduced to comparing him to registered horses I saw and dreaming of what his parents looked like.<br />
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Recently I was going through horse papers so I could send off Sassy's papers to BEC. I ran across an old faded copy of an auction receipt which I knew came with Trax when I bought him. I had contacted the person who was listed as the buyer but had never been able to find the seller. </div>
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The buyer was the one who had told me about how every time he tried to rope on him he got bucked off. </div>
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I looked at the name of the seller again and thought "what the heck" and I plugged the name into Facebook. The name came right up, I could see that she was a horse person and was from Northern WY, so I was reasonably sure that I was on the right track. Then I noticed that she and I had a mutual friend. It was none other than the love of my life, TC. Figures!</div>
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So I sent her a message with a photo of my boy. I sent it from my account and from TC's. I waited a couple of weeks and got no response so I figured I must have had the wrong person or perhaps her experience was so bad she didn't want to talk about it. </div>
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This morning I was drinking my coffee,checking my Facebook and much to my surprise there was a response.She told me that,yes they had owned him and his name was "Sota". They had purchased him from somewhere back east and brought him to WY. He was a trail horse when they bought him and her girls had ridden him a lot and he loved those girls very much. They were equally fond of him. Then they trained him to be a fair heel horse and ran him through their production sale. </div>
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I was really surprised by this story as I would never in a million years feel safe putting a kid on my run away freight train. not even one who was an experienced rider. He is just too unpredictable. </div>
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I had to ask how old her girls were and if they ever had a problem with him when they were roping. </div>
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She swore that they never did and she sent me this. </div>
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This is her 12 year old daughter riding him bareback in a halter. </div>
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She doesn't even have a death grip on him!!</div>
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He is not trying to run away with her. He doesn't even looked concerned that her legs are dangling by his side. </div>
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(keep in mind that the one time we tried to ride this horse bareback he bolted uncontrollably and my friend who was on him had to bail into a mound of dirt. If I even kick my feet out of the stirrups when walking, he gets very upset instantly)</div>
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It kind of brings to question, what the hell happened to this horse?</div>
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How did he go from being a perfectly good trail horse, safe for youth to ride, to being a run away freight train who is so unpredictable I'm afraid to let hardly anyone else ride him. </div>
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Of course I may be a bit over reactive because I am sure that any experienced rider could handle him just fine. It isn't like he is a bad horse.</div>
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Anyway, once I got done crying over this picture (more happy tears than not) I started thinking about what I know about his journey. </div>
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We will start at the beginning. </div>
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He was born in 1999 somewhere back east. (that was the most she could tell me there) He was a perfectly acceptable trail horse. He was purchased by the MC family whose young girls rode him extensively (bareback in a halter). I was told that he absolutely loved those girls. The MC family buys and sells horses for a living, so they taught him to be a heel horse and then put him in their production sale. He was a perfectly acceptable heel horse, according to MC herself. </div>
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He was purchased for the sum of $3000 by the JC family. The Matriarch of this family is listed as the buyer. She is a barrel racer and roper. She has several sons, one of whom decided that he was going to take "the paint horse" and further his roping training. He didn't get far with this though, as every 5th or 6th cow the paint horse would "take to bucking, and he weren't nice about it either. Put me in the dirt many times." Now just for the record, I do not know the JC family personally, but TC grew up with them. They are Bascos and known for their short tempers. Also livestock are not feeling animals, but tools for them. So one can imagine all sorts of evil scenarios, but a middle of the road guess is that he took to bucking one time too many (for what ever reason) and it became a clash between the short temper and a horse who is pretty good at shutting down and getting himself out of what he considers to be a bad situation. </div>
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The JC family sold him to a kid who was living with the daughter of a family who ran rough stock. I know that he tried to rope on him, and according to the girls father she "tried some of that fancy nonsense training" that everyone is into today but it didn't work with him. He also said that they had attempted to use him to round up rough stock but that went very badly. Of course one has to ask, did they also attempt to see if he would make a decent bareback bronc? Of course I'll never know the answer, but one can always speculate. Especially since clearly he used to be fine with bareback riding, and now he isn't. </div>
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Then he was sold to SM for who only bought him because he felt bad for the kid and the girl who "needed money badly." SM rode him 2 times in the year that he owned him, but most of the time he was left to stand in a pasture with two other horses. SM had no clue of his history what so ever. No one said "He can be a little broncy" or even that he was hard headed. They just said, "He'd make a great heel horse, we've roped off of him a few times." SM did not need a horse, did not want a horse, but wanted to help the folks out so he bought him. </div>
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I bought him a year later and of course the rest of that is chronicled between here and face book. </div>
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Sure there is a lot of blanks which will never be filled in. And of course I will never know how accurate MC is with her info, or anyone else for that matter. But the picture doesn't lie. She is riding that horse in a halter, which is not something I would ever attempt. </div>
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I want to go out and hug him and tell him I am so sorry for what ever happened to him. I know it won't matter to him, but it might. What I do know matters to him is that he is my horse now, and will remain so forever. </div>
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For some reason I have concluded that my search for his past is over. I did not press MC for more info. I did not elaborate too much about the horse he is now, other than to say that something had gone terribly wrong in his life and that we have been working for years to get him over his fear of ropes. She was happy to hear that he has a good home now, and she said she would make sure her girls knew too. She said they always remembered him for some reason. </div>
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I guess knowing that someone loved him once, besides me, is enough. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-80807202028333918242015-08-18T09:43:00.002-07:002015-08-18T09:43:32.597-07:00What I have learned about running a small boarding stable after 1 yearI know I have been very absent for a long while. With out boring job to keep me in front of a computer all day I find I have very little time for blogging. I can do facebook from my phone pretty easy and on the go. Blogging takes a little more conscious effort.<br />
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Anyway, it has been a little over a year since I started boarding horses for other people and taking their money. I have learned a lot in the last year and as I reflected upon those things this morning I thought it would be a nice post. So here it is:<br />
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1. Manure Happens......A LOT!!! It took me a while to figure out what to do with all the excess. I had more than I can feasibly spread on my small pastures. It was suggested that I spread it in the arena but I decided against that as well. My reason is because right now I have a good amount of sand in there and when it rains it never gets soupy. It drains off quickly and with a quick once over with the tractor is gorgeous. I have learned that manure holds in the water and will get mucky pretty quick. I was filling up a trailer and hauling to the dump once a month, but that was not practical for summer months,. The flies were awful. I finally found a company which dropped off a small dumpster. I can fill it up all week long and they come and get it once a month. Plus I can put all my other trash in there as well, so I only have one trash fee for the whole property and the fee is reasonable.<br />
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2. When deciding who to turn out with whom, always know who your alphas are. I had thought that mares with mares, and geldings with geldings would work. I could not have been more wrong. What I have learned is to put my Alpha mare in with the geldings, and the Alpha Gelding in with the mares, and everyone gets along just fine. At least that is how it seems to be working right now. <br />
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3. While there are some "pain in the behind" owners out there, most boarders are pretty easy to get a long with as long as you care about their needs and about their horses. I try to follow my boarders feeding directions to a T and don't make changes without discussing it with them first. However, I have found that most of them prefer to defer to "What every you think, Cindy,"<br />
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4. Pasture time makes for happy ponies.<br />
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5. Mosquito's make for unhappy ponies. (I have done a lot of research in mosquito control and found a really awesome product called "Mosquito Bits" which I put on my pasture right after irrigating. It has cut the pest population in half and is safe for grazing animals.)<br />
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6. Mosquito's seem to prefer dark meat. For some reason the dark colored horses are just plagued by them even after being sprayed. The other horses seem fine once they get sprayed. <br />
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7. By the end of a summer of irrigation and mosquito's, even the most stubborn horse will stand quietly for spraying even with out a halter.<br />
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8. Maintaining a nice pasture is a lot more work than most people realize.<br />
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9. Don't sweat the small stuff. <br />
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10. Shavings in a stall are wonderful for keeping your horses clean, but they are a pain for cleaning...just saying. I prefer my dry lot pens where I rake it into a pile and scoop it into the tractor.<br />
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11. Always maintain your tractor. You will be most unhappy if you don't and it breaks.<br />
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12. Non horsey members of your family will be very reluctant to assist you in your endeavor, and will not understand why you are busy every single evening. They will start asking for things like dinner, and clean laundry, and help with homework.<br />
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13. It does not take long to find yourself with a waiting list of people who would like to board at your facility.<br />
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14. If you think you have time to work a part time job and properly take care of nine horses, you are probably wrong...well at least not if you plan on having a life, and definitely if you want to ever ride again.<br />
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15. Cleaning stalls absolutely sucks when it is 115 outside. (just saying)<br />
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16. If one horse gets hurt, you can bet money that every single horse on the property will try to one up that horse by getting hurt even worse. It is like a competition for them!<br />
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So that is what I have learned this year. I actually quite enjoy my little endeavor so far. Of course there are some days when I just wish there were no horses at all out there wanting my attention, but for the most part I love what I do. <br />
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I did make the mistake of taking a part time job at a feed store that just opened up down the road from me. And while I do enjoy that job, I still question whether or not it is the right thing to do. <br />
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On a side note, my horses are doing very well. Trax is back to his normal self, and Melody is looking fabulous and is totally back up to weight. We have a show coming up in 2 weeks and I do promise to do a blog post with pictures after that. I will be taking them both. Killian is being ridden by a young girl who wants to rope on him, which I am thrilled about. I think he is happy about it too. He pretty much does what ever she asks him too, so it is a good match. Sassy is no longer mine. I sold her to BEC and she has been bred to Firewater Fooler. I still have her here for now, but she should be heading up to her new home sometime in the next 2 months. I will miss her very much but I know she will have the best possible care, and will produce some lovely little foals for BEC. <br />
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I hope all my blogging friends are doing well. I have not even logged in until today in a very long time. But I hope to start back at it. I miss it very much.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-67384132270308196362015-05-19T06:26:00.003-07:002015-05-19T06:26:21.668-07:00Input please???A couple of years ago just as I was planning trip for our move from Wyoming to Arizona, I believe I did a post about fly sprays. However I cannot find it now. <br />
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Everyone gave me some great info on what they use, and I was given some recommendations on a couple of brands that you buy on line in gallon sized jugs. I ended up buying one of those jugs, it worked great, and now I can't recall what they name of it was. If you have a favorite fly spray that you use, please list it in the comments for me. <br />
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CNJ, if you are reading this, I would really really love to have the name of that feed through you had told me about. Was in called TNT? Because I cannot find that email either. <br />
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Thank you in advance for your input folks. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-76920461815466402072015-04-27T10:01:00.002-07:002015-04-27T10:01:42.695-07:00Still Catching UpI still have some catching up to do after being gone for so long. I try to keep it pertained to just the big events, which is easy because my days pretty much run together and become a blur. Day to day happenings seem to just be part of the routine and are filed away in the "not so important" part of my brain. <br />
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Last month TC's 92 year old mom came down for a visit. She lives in WY, and wasn't really up for a drive so TC drove up and got her, they hopped on a plane and flew down. Then he flew with her home again and then drove back to AZ. <br />
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She is a lover of all animals, has donated most of her children's inheritance to various different rescues, and has a little dog and an angry cat of her own. It was hard for her to leave her critters behind, but her younger sister stayed with them for her so that she could enjoy her visit without worrying.<br />
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It was hard to know what she could handle and couldn't handle as far as sight seeing, and for the first few days she was here, one of TC's daughters was also here with their kids so we stayed pretty close to home. I did quite a bit of cooking and Edith was always asking what she could do to help. I didn't want her to have to work while she was here, so I told her "nothing" and urged her to go enjoy her time to relax. <br />
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On the 3rd day she got up and said very sternly, "I have to have something to do!!!" So I handed her a broom and let her go. She pulled weeds for me, and helped with the cooking, and was much happier then. She liked to pull the weeds and give them to the horses. She decided that since only some of the horses would eat them, I was not feeding those horses enough. <br />
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She absolutely loved the kitties, and the dogs. <br />
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Oh...the dogs.<br />
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I almost forgot. How could I forget?????<br />
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The first morning she was here we lost our sweet old dog Butch.<br />
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He had been fine the day before, had his walk, fought with the dogs next door through the fence, ate his dinner just fine, laid there and barked at the voices in his head as we watched TV, and then went to bed in Simon's room. The next morning I got up and could not find him. <br />
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I went to the back yard and he was laying in the grass which was soaking wet from the sprinklers. His breathing was very labored and he was shivering. I brought him inside and we wrapped him in a fuzzy blanket. I knew what was happening. <br />
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We all knew. <br />
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Simon sat there with him for a while, while I went and got TC. We gathered around our sweet old guy and rubbed him till he stopped shivering. He took a deep breath and exhaled and that was it. His heart stopped and he was gone. <br />
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It was hard....oh so hard, but I could not have asked for a better ending for him, or for Simon. We dug a big hole out behind the arena, and laid him to rest. Simon made a cross for him, and every time I ride, I get to say hello to him. <br />
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Even Edith cried for that one. It was almost as hard on her as it was on us. Like I said, she is a true lover of animals. <br />
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I believe these were the last two photos I ever took of him. He was such a good dog. Never gave us any trouble from the day I brought him home. Morning walks just aren't the same without him. <br />
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Anyway, we did finally take Edith to see some sights. She insisted on walking everywhere. We went to the Casa Grande Ruins, and the Desert Botanical Gardens. I believe she enjoyed them both very much. <br />
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We also drove around the Superstition Mountain a little bit. I think she is less impressed with the desert than I am. Understandable I guess. <br />
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So now it is back to life as usual, I am at full capacity on boarding now, but am loosing two horses in a few days. They are going up north to cooler weather. <br />
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I have gotten all my pens divided so I have 9 all together. That is enough boarders to actually support all of my horses. I will have 2 empty spots when the two walking horses leave, but I don't think they will stay empty for too long. I believe I have gained a pretty decent reputation in the area for being a great place to board at. <br />
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Two of my boarders you folks have not met yet. <br />
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One of them is "Buddy", a retired rope horse of about 20. He bears the marks of a horse who has worked hard most of his life, is easy going, and starting to thrive nicely with his new owner. She is very hands on, stops by several times a week, and is great fun to hang out with. She is a retired roper too, so they are perfect for each other. <br />
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The other one came in with no real name. They just called him Mr. Grey. Mr. Grey has a truly touching story. He was at an auction in TX, was purchased by a kill buyer, and was waiting to head to slaughter. The kill buyer has a sister in law who rescues, and he is always will to sell her any horse she wants off of his truck at meat price. She found the big grey horse a new owner, and he was transported to AZ. They had a temporary housing for him while he was fully vetted and quarantined. His new owner is just getting back into horses with the help of a friend who barrel races, and so a boarding facility needed to be found. Turns out, barrel racing friend and I know each other, although the new owner didn't know that when she called to inquire about boarding. <br />
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Mr. Grey came to us just last week. He is still a little underweight but his owner has been working hard to get him healthy and he is starting to look good. He is huge! Bigger than Melody and when he gets back up to full weight, will be as wide as Killian. Mr. Grey also just got his name yesterday. It is Sterling. It fits him perfectly. <br />
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Sterling is another wonderful horse. 11 years old, he is actually a registered QH and they are working on getting his papers. His original owner loaned him to a guy to try for heading, and the guy was supposed to come back and pay for the horse. However, he never came back, phone got disconnected, and owner never saw his horse again. The rescuers contacted him and asked if he wanted his horse back, but he is just happy that he has a good home, and said no. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddy is the dark guy and Sterling is the big grey<br /></td></tr>
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Buddy and Sterling really like each other. They spend a lot of time grooming each other, and hanging out together. Trax hangs out with them too. I am really hoping that once the two spotted walkers are gone I can put Killian in with the other three geldings and have an all gelding herd that gets along. OR....Killian will just have to be alone.<br />
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For now it is time to go clean pens, and get some saddle work done. The season has slowed down here, but I still have lots to work on out there. <br />
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I think that catches me up on all major events. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-81154749978717266922015-04-20T13:32:00.001-07:002015-04-20T13:32:43.687-07:00Killian and the CamelLast week I was going to go sorting for the first time in quite some time. I was super excited, and woke up that morning full of life and energy. I went out to feed my horses and Sassy and Melody had managed to tear down 2 panels, and Melody was standing there with a torn up leg.<br />
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It wasn't serious, and I was pretty pissed and swore I was going to sort on her anyway. 4 pm rolled around and she was starting to stock up and I had to admit that there was just no way that she was up for it. <br />
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Sooooo I pulled out the big red horse instead.<br />
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Rather than use his saddle I went for my Crates Cutting Saddle, (because I have yet to sort in it) It is a wide gullet so I felt it would be good enough for him. I mounted up and headed down the road and around the corner to our sorting location. <br />
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At the end of my road I ran into my farrier and his kids all on their horses, they were headed over to a different neighbors to go roping. All his kids rope, both boys and his 5 year old daughter. Its pretty awesome. We exchanged a few pleasantries and I headed on my way. <br />
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Killian got a little ancy, and wanted to go back with them. I kicked him forward and he gave me a couple little crow hops.<br />
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<b><i>WHAAAAAT??????</i></b><br />
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I scolded him severely, got off and checked his saddle, saw that the rear cinch was a little tight and managed to get it secure on the veeeeery last hole to loosen it up. Clearly this saddle is not for him after all. But no matter, we moved on. <br />
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When we got to where we were going, where the camel also lives (the one I expected Trax to lose his mind over but didn't) I felt that given the crow hops, it would be best to play it safe and approach on foot. <br />
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We walked up the drive, and made it about 100 ft from the camel and Killian's head went straight up and he started sounding the alarm. You know, that huge exhale whistle that a horse will do when there is danger. I laughed at him, told him "Easy big boy" and took another step towards the big scary beast. <br />
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I then saw a side of Killian I did not know existed. He bolted and ran for the far corner of the property. By doing so he ripped the reins out of my hand, and they were flying behind him like hair extensions on his mane. <br />
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When I got to him he was still whistling with every breath, he was literally shaking, and his eyes were as big and white as I have ever seen them. <br />
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I got him caught easily enough and we spent the next 10 minutes trying to get him to just walk forward. I tried side passing, backing up, but as soon as he got near that camel he blew up again. He never did stop with the whistling. <br />
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Mike, the camel came to the fence to touch noses and be friends, Killian tried to rip my arm off in his attempt to get away from him. <br />
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Finally Lori brought her horse over to Killian, put her between Killian and Mike, and we did our best to get Killian to the arena. It finally worked and then I spent another 20 min just moving him in circles (lunging on a split rein- which totally sucks). He would calm down for a a second and then start with the alarm again. His eyes never stopped bulging from his head. <br />
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I said to Lori, "I don't think sorting on him is going to work tonight."<br />
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"I wouldn't get on that horse, look at his eyes, he is not thinking of anyone but himself right now."<br />
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Looking back I think to myself, if I was a real cowgirl, I'd have gotten on him and worked him out of it. <br />
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Guess I'm giving up the cowgirl status then because there was no way in H-E double toothpicks, that I was going to ride him right then. <br />
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So then came the daunting task of trying to lead him back out past poor Mike, who wouldn't hurt a flea and just wants to be friends. <br />
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In the process of that he almost ran me over a couple of times. This is Killian. He has the most respectful ground manners of all my horses. So when he darn near knocked me down, we went to war. I smacked him with the reins across the chest. I started pushing him sideways and I got really big and scary with him, until he started to notice that I was there. <br />
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I led him back out the front gate, asked him to stand still and he ran circles around me. So I pushed him sideways half way down the road. I admit to cussing and call him all kinds of nasty names, and while I never wailed on him or anything like that, I darn sure was not nice. <br />
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Finally he calmed down enough to walk behind me...still whistling, and huffing a puffing, but at least not running me over. Once we turned the corner I asked him to stand still so I could get on. Instead he chose to run circles around me, so I chose to push him sideways some more. <br />
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Lather, rinse and repeat multiple times until we got to my road. He finally stood still and I got on. Then I kicked him up to a trot and we went down past our house to the other end of the street and back up again. We turned in the driveway and I know he thought we were done....but he was wrong. <br />
Now that I was on him, he was going to work, and so I took him to the arena and rode the hair off him. <br />
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Poor guy (pfffft!!!) was exhausted by time we were done. We loped circles, we did roll backs, we did sliding stops, and we did it again and again and again until his head was dropped and he said, "I give."<br />
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I walked him out, till he was breathing normal and then he got a hose down and treat. He got the treat just to let him know that we were still friends. He got his butt worked just to let him know that even though we are friends, I am still the one in charge. <br />
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I don't think I have ridden him since then until yesterday. We went on a desert trail ride with my new boarder. He was a total gem for the entire trip, until........<br />
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He saw a baby ground squirrel on the power pole. <br />
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Apparently, ground squirrels look much like camels. <br />
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Luckily this time all he did was shy sideways (I was told it was poetry in motion) and then snort a few times.<br />
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Goofy old horse!<br />
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<b><i><br /></i></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-61483623788350484172015-04-19T07:34:00.001-07:002015-04-19T07:34:23.868-07:00Hello Stranger! I realized the other day that it has been forever since I have done a blog post. In fact I don't think I have done one since Trax was sick. <br />
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Obviously time flies when you are moving slow!<br />
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So some quick updates:<br />
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Trax is doing great. Last blood tests showed that his liver enzymes were darn near normal, and all other blood work was dead on where it should be. BEC was kind enough to send me some info on herbal supplements for liver health and he has been on those ever since. He has gained his weight back, without going overboard, and is back in training for......well what ever it is I am training him for. At this point I just don't know. However we have another little local western and ranch versatility show 7 days from now, and he will be entered. <br />
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He appears to be less than thrilled about this news. We have been working on our reining patterns, stops and "spins". The sad part is that his stops would probably be fabulous if I could just learn to sit them right. Dana taught him that when you touch his neck, the stop is coming. I gotta tell ya, it is one of the coolest new tools in my toolbox. When I touch his neck, he stops...right now. <br />
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It is such an amazing tool I have carried it over to Killian and Melody. Again, it would be perfect if I could just sit the stops correctly, but seriously when you touch Melly's neck, she stops so fast, sometimes she almost loses me. Killian has begun surprising me by laying down some of the most gorgeous 11's in the dirt I have ever seen. They aren't 20 feet long mind you. But hey, 3 ft sliding marks from a 21 year old horse is pretty darn impressive in my book. <br />
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The sequence is supposed to be "touch, whoa, lift" I tend to be more like "touch, lose my balance, and throw my hands up in the air". Yeah I have no clue what that is all about, but I'm working on it, and when I can get it right, even Trax gives me some pretty nice stops. Dana has been coming semi regularly to help us out, so I know I will eventually get it figured out. She is quite good at figuring out how to get me to understand, and physically carry out a task, even when "normal techniques" elude me.<br />
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Yesterday Trax and I worked on log dragging. It has been a while since we have visited this. In fact I am not sure that we have done it since "that day" when things went so terribly awry. I have spent much time contemplating what I should have done differently. Not so much on "that day" but just in general. obviously there was a terrible hole in his training....a large, swallow you up, bury you in darkness, and get you all jacked up, hole. We fell into the gaping chasm, and it is up to me to get us out and to fill that hole with concrete. <br />
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I thought back to where we first started, in WY. I clearly recall asking Mark, "Can I have him ready for the show in 1 month?" He promised to do his best, but he also said that he would not be "really ready".<br />
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We had done the task at the show, we had done it even in practice. But every time we did it, there was always tension in him, and me, and I was constantly having to check him back. He was doing it, but he was never relaxed about it. <br />
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I rushed it. <br />
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So yesterday we started at the beginning. I rubbed him with the rope and he was fine. Head down, no stress. That was good. Then I hooked the rope around the horn and we started dragging. He was jiggy and nervous, I left a good length of rope behind us until he calmed down and stayed calm. Then I shortened the rope up so there was a little more tension. We did figure 8, after figure 8, until he did 2 in a row without throwing his head up or even taking one unrelaxed step. He was licking and chewing, with his head down. I resisted the urge to keep going further and stopped right there. We took the log to the fence and when I released the tension he let out a huge sigh. I loosened the cinch right there and gave him major lovins. It was a good place to stop. <br />
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Next time we will do the same thing, I have decided that I will stay on the ground with him until we can do this 3 separate days with no tension in him what so ever. Once we can do that I will get up on him. So, that means that if he is not ready to drag a log by next Sunday, we will take the DQ and not attempt the task. It isn't worth it to me just for a silly old ribbon. <br />
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See, I really do learn! <br />
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Princess Melody has been on her own medical rehab. She put her hind foot through a fence while fighting with Sassy. I found her shortly after it happened, with some pretty good scrapes running from the hock to fetlock. A couple of small cuts were also present, but she was not limping on it, so I didn't worry about a vet. I scrubbed her up, slathered on some <a href="http://www.naturesedge.net/">Natures Edge</a> to keep it pliable and keep the flies off and gave her a small dose of bute. <br />
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The next day she was pretty stocked up, and not lame so much, but clearly stiff and sore. She got more bute and the cleaning ritual. That was about a week and a half ago. She has remained a little stocked up, but completely sound, so again, I am not too worried. When she is out in pasture and moving around me the swelling goes down to almost nothing. Exercise seems to be the key to keeping the swelling down. Makes sense to me, so I went ahead and saddled her up for a ride yesterday. <br />
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Can I just say that I have never in my life met a horse so stubborn and set in her ways as this one. What she knows, she knows well, and as long as I communicate clearly, we do fabulously. But this mare has ZERO interest in learning anything new. I mean none whatsoever. I realize that I have to be tougher that her, and insist, but after hours of fighting over the simplest thing, I finally come to the point where I start to question if it even matters. Is it ok for her to <i>just</i> be a reined cowhorse, and give up on things like stepping over poles?<br />
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Oddly enough, a few weeks ago I took her to a neighbors house who had some barrels set up and on a whim we did a little barrel pattern, first at a trot and then at a lope. We loped the first barrel she didn't shy away from it like she does at home, we headed towards the second barrel, she did her lead change before I even asked for it and turned the second barrel with out me really even asking her too. Then she headed off towards the 3rd like she knew what she was doing, made quite a nice little turn and headed for home. <br />
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I was flabbergasted. <br />
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Granted, I am not going take her out and start running barrels on her, I just don't think her hind end could handle it physically, but I swear this horse is an anomaly to me.<br />
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There is much more to update on....Killian and the camel, the new boarder horse, Jimmy the sheath cleaning guy, and just life in general. But those are all posts that will have to come on another day. The sun is up high, ponies are banging around the feeders, and dogs are stalking me for breakfast.<br />
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It is nice to be back here where I can write down all my thoughts, and share them with others. It was also nice to go through your blogs and get caught up on what has been happening in your worlds. I have missed being here. I need to come back more often. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-5956413669079160042015-03-09T13:31:00.001-07:002015-03-09T13:31:36.631-07:00Dress Up DayThere has been an influx of new saddles at my place...well I mean that is an ongoing situation, but I am referring to new saddles that I want for myself. While I sometimes want to keep lots of saddles for myself....<div>
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Like this one<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eZ7dnU_PFOmR6SKti4kCyp4A5W6SKQS4H8n_0BoHQYdmJaXL6mGXygwnwu8ZpR42SfX7uzV7Fn05VErwbirwSI7Mz47zYxytb2iQ2ypK4gUfoU39jcpPeoWpXR_1Csl132i8CAtQ2mk-/s1600/10389328_10206388989462349_6810222807026322896_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eZ7dnU_PFOmR6SKti4kCyp4A5W6SKQS4H8n_0BoHQYdmJaXL6mGXygwnwu8ZpR42SfX7uzV7Fn05VErwbirwSI7Mz47zYxytb2iQ2ypK4gUfoU39jcpPeoWpXR_1Csl132i8CAtQ2mk-/s1600/10389328_10206388989462349_6810222807026322896_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15.5" Dale Martin rope saddle</td></tr>
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Or this one</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWmsJg-A8PZY1LYyx0bg82Xe1OYa24s0_eCjV76QoJG_iJ_2qANwnPzy88caNtGLm3O-3XpyD_3mPlj4wWtte-61z4teVNf03jPtAkCmQ_NEXUWB3XIkIupXiY6I6r0vGfdJcdt4Noq51/s1600/10981919_10206397836323515_622971199246491655_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWmsJg-A8PZY1LYyx0bg82Xe1OYa24s0_eCjV76QoJG_iJ_2qANwnPzy88caNtGLm3O-3XpyD_3mPlj4wWtte-61z4teVNf03jPtAkCmQ_NEXUWB3XIkIupXiY6I6r0vGfdJcdt4Noq51/s1600/10981919_10206397836323515_622971199246491655_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15.5" Salt Creek Saddlery Association Style rope<br /></td></tr>
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Or even this one<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZNxxuiPEPR_sTEL_9cck18Qy35Wucm3ioLqOUv_EQ69jQ7ac-SLF1_X8abncqgPJrVcKk_2pggxpMn9JR6LtncqWWzJAHlWkAYecA8S5V3m1jUlJkXZiy0lFLzheu8wxBs_B3YvVpsKH/s1600/11019464_10206397643398692_8548916575378604491_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZNxxuiPEPR_sTEL_9cck18Qy35Wucm3ioLqOUv_EQ69jQ7ac-SLF1_X8abncqgPJrVcKk_2pggxpMn9JR6LtncqWWzJAHlWkAYecA8S5V3m1jUlJkXZiy0lFLzheu8wxBs_B3YvVpsKH/s1600/11019464_10206397643398692_8548916575378604491_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15' Ammerman/ Saddlesmith Roper<br /></td></tr>
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I find that these are usually really good money makers and to be honest, I'm kind of over the whole "My saddle has to weigh 500 lbs and be strong enough to drag a full sized bull" thing. <div>
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Lets face it. If I want to drag a bull I'll call one of the ropers down the street. Roping and me mix like oil and water. </div>
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However, I did keep the Crates cutting saddle I posted about last week, and have really been looking for a Fallis Balanced ride (at my trainers request). Just for the record, those puppies ain't cheap! </div>
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Then last week I found this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU_ZG_kbJZn3Koyaz0Mucx6O8sfm-Buu_6wvv8C8jKBwNur9Tp5jQSimLtGfwP-6qG7I7egDGsMhL484D8_Oae8dc_EH_jvsXv1WjnxKK1WnDEF6AdiA2xEeUhugiitUG7djRiBz1pxCQ/s1600/553351_10206403796312511_7913621142899539449_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNU_ZG_kbJZn3Koyaz0Mucx6O8sfm-Buu_6wvv8C8jKBwNur9Tp5jQSimLtGfwP-6qG7I7egDGsMhL484D8_Oae8dc_EH_jvsXv1WjnxKK1WnDEF6AdiA2xEeUhugiitUG7djRiBz1pxCQ/s1600/553351_10206403796312511_7913621142899539449_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On FB I posted that it was an original Slim Fallis<br />But it isn't. It is a 1984 John Fallis, but still very cool<br /></td></tr>
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Ever since TC purchased the 7-D hard seat Wade style roper for Killian, (which is by far one of the best saddles we have owned) I have started becoming obsessed with the hard seat ranch style saddles. I cannot get over how comfortable they are. Most balance ride saddles I see are padded, so when I saw this one for half the price of what I have ever seen one go for, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Yes I admit to putting myself into debt for this one. </div>
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I had a big pro rodeo to work this weekend and pruchased the saddle just 3 days before it, so riding in it just wasn't an option. There was just no time. But I grabbed an old saddle pad, threw it up on Melody and put the saddle on her. </div>
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My heart sank. No matter what I did, I could not get anything to sit straight. It was tight on her shoulders, yet sticking up in the back and the pad kept sitting cockeyed. I tried Trax, and it was the same thing. I figured I would have to sell it. </div>
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I did ride Melody in it for just a minute, and I love the way it sits, I love where it puts you in relation to the horse. I understand why it is called a "balance ride".</div>
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So I thought I'd try Trax instead. I put it on him with the same old pad and it was just as bad. I called my boarder, who is looking for a saddle for her little Spotted Walker, and told her to come and try it. </div>
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She tried it yesterday and called me while I was working and said it was way too wide for her horse.</div>
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Wait!</div>
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What????</div>
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Okay, maybe I needed to revist that saddle fit.</div>
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So today we played dress up day. </div>
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I started with no pad so I could see what was really going on. Here is Trax with no pad</div>
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When I rub my hand under it is a tiny bit tight on the shoulder, but seems to be good everywhere else. </div>
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Here is Melody</div>
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The leather of the right front of the saddle curls out more than the other side. I think I can shape it back in to place, but I actually quite like the way it sits on her with out a pad. </div>
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Then I pulled out the good pads, rather than the one that is 5 years old. </div>
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First Trax</div>
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That is a 1" felt pad, with just a few rides on it. I think it is just a little bit too tight on his shoulders. However, I'm not unhappy with how it is sitting over all. The first time I put it on him it was sticking straight up in the back it seemed. I have that issue with him and saddles quite often because he is hollow behind the shoulder (well he was....then he went to training and wasn't....then he got sick and now he is again) but never as bad as this was the other day. Not even sure what was going on that day. </div>
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Perhaps I had it on backwards. </div>
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With Melody I tried something different. </div>
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This is a thin pad. I think it is an Equifit Tacky 2. I really like this fit on her except for one thing. She is VERY hollow behind the shoulders and for some reason it is accentuated once I put the pad on. I took the inserts out of my Sharon Camarillo pad and put them in those spots, and this saddle lifted up off of her shoulders and had a nice even fit all the way down. </div>
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With that in mind, I will try that with Trax as well, and see what it does for his shoulders. </div>
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Since we were playing dress up I decided to pull out the Crates and see who it fit the best. The crates is very wide, so I had a pretty good idea how it was going to go. </div>
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Just as I suspect it, it falls right down on top of their withers. However, when I added the saddle pads....</div>
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It fits much better. However, even with that super thick pad of Melody's (1" felt with a fleece lining) I can see the skirt popping up just a bit in the back. She did not have the inserts on under this one. It fits Trax about perfect. I have never ridden in that extra thick pad so perhaps it can go back on the for sale shelf. I think a 1" is plenty. </div>
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So I am pretty excited that my new saddles can fit with decent pads, or the right pads. The old pad that I used for my original fit test, obviously needs to go in the trash, or become a dog bed or something. Of course it isn't like I didn't get good use out of it. It was the same pad I have used on Trax since I bought him, which was in 2012. I used it for everything, all the time, so it has a lot of miles on it. </div>
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Once we played dress up I let everyone out to the pasture. They have been locked up for four days and I am sure they were happy to get out. </div>
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The vet was here Friday and drew more blood on Trax. His white blood cell count is normal, and his liver enzymes are half of what they were the last time we checked, which is fabulous! However they are still not in the normal range. We will draw blood one more time and if the liver enzymes have dropped even more then it will be safe to say we are out of the woods. </div>
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Tonight WE RIDE!!!!</div>
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ps. I can actually lift both of these saddles up easily onto my horses. So they weigh at least 15 lbs less than any saddle I have personally owned! </div>
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