As many of you know, I have really wanted to learn how to do ranch sorting, and since I have Melody, cow horse extraordinaire, I have been diligently searching for a place to practice and learn, without having to drive a long ways OR end up being made to feel like loser for my lack of skill.
That was not as easy of a task as it may sound. While I could always take her down to the place I bought her from because they have practice every Wed night, it is over an hour drive, which has me getting home really late, plus uses up an awful lot of fuel if I go regularly. On the up side, they are very patient with me, and know my horse so were able to give good instruction.
I had a place to go in our neighborhood, but the cows were roping cows and very aggressive and the last time we tried that, Melly got bonked in the nose very hard with a sharp horn. Sorting like that teaches both the cows and the horses bad habits. It is counter productive.
There is an arena in Apache Junction which has weekly sorting, the price is fair, but they are also roping cows, and it is run just like a competition. You get your 60 seconds and then you are done, so for a beginner like me, I don't really learn much.
There is a place in Coolidge which has practice every weekday morning. I called and asked which day was best for total novices to come and was basically told that there is not a good day for that. The pros sort there, and really don't want folks like us getting in their way.
Enter "Heidi".
Heidi started out as a client of mine. She bought a saddle, returned the saddle because she was told it fit her horse but not her, and then came back and repurchased the same saddle because she decided to trust what her body told her instead of what someone else told her. She loved the saddle and felt very comfortable in it. Then she brought me her old saddle to sell.
In the process of all this, she was looking for a place to board, and while I really wanted to accommodate her, I just didn't have an opening at this time. We talked about sorting and Stock Horse, and Ranch Versatility. All things she wants to get into, but she is a beginner just like me.
She ended up boarding right around the corner from me, and so we have been spending just a little saddle time together and trying desperately to come up with a place to practice and learn at a beginners level. Well Heidi, is much more diligent than I am because she found some folks right in our neighborhood, that I did not even know about, who sort, and they have the cattle, AND best of all are more than willing to allow us novices to come and practice at their place for a small fee.
So last night was our first night.
I rode Melly over, she spooked at everything. The mail boxes, the painted lines on the road, the same dumpster she spooked at on Monday...pretty much everything. Goofy horse.
As we rode up in the yard the gal who owns the property, and who would giving us the benefit of her experience, asked if my horse had ever seen cattle before. I explained that she is a reined cow horse and has seen plenty.
She said, "I think you misunderstood...I asked if she had ever seen a camel before." and indicated to the pens at the right.
"Oh Shit! Nope! I'm pretty sure she never has."
Apparently camels are not near as scary as dumpsters or lines spray painted on the road. She never even gave it a second glance.
I warmed up my horse and then we got down to business. The gal, "L" pulled out one cow and gave us each a chance to see how our horse reacted to the cow. Heidi's horse did very well. Then it was my turn.
I did something I have never done before. I rode my horse in, sat down in my seat, dropped my hand and asked her to do her thing. Without any guidance from me, she held that cow for a good 60 seconds. Back and forth she went, and I just held on and trusted my horse. I tried to keep myself centered to keep her from losing her balance, tried to focus on my riding position, and tried to stay out of her way. She was having a blast and so was I. Then I shut her down, and she stood there quietly, quite proud of herself.
I was pretty proud of her too.
The rest of the night was spent slowly learning how to read a cow, how to split the cows out of the group, how to work with each other, and all the other cool things a person needs to know to be successful at this.
When Heidi's horse got to hot and reared up on her, we slowed down even more, finished the round and then she took some time to lope her horse out and reset her mind. We sorted one more very successful round after that and stopped on a good note.
It was fabulous. I learned so much, and had the best time without the pressure of trying to keep up with people who are far more advanced than me. There was not clock to stress us out, and no one standing out side with the heavy sighs clearly saying, " I wish these novices would get out of our way and quit wearing the cattle down."
Afterwards I rode my horse home in the dark. She was tired enough to not really spook, just to look sideways at things. It was a great night and I cannot WAIT to go back again next week.
Eventually I would like to Trax to see how he does....aaaaaand to show him a camel (that will probably be a blog post in itself!) but for now Princess Mellypalousa is earning her keep again as a sorter. I am learning to trust my horse and keep my hands out of her face, and learning how to read a cow.
Good Stuff!
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Methinks the Princess Doth be Lazeeeeeeee!
" Melody, we are going to ride over to the neighbors arena and work a little today."
"What????? You want me to go down the road? A princess must ride in the trailer to the arena!"
"Not this time Melly, it is just one street over."
"OMG! Did you see that? It tried to EAT ME!"
"It was a mailbox, it has no teeth and does not move"
"It had a mouth...I saw it's mouth."
*Shakes head and kicks the mare in the side to keep her moving*
"OMG What is THAT thing?"
"It is a dumpster and you are going to walk past it through that gate."
"A Gate? Oh HELL NO! I do not DO gates!!!"
"Melody, you go through gates every day."
"Yes, but usually you are on the ground and go first so that I know it is safe. And those are my gates, I know what is on the other side. I do not know what is on the other side of this gate. It might be dangerous. You go first."
"Melody, you are a grown up horse, who has been through many gates. You can see through the gate, and see what is on the other side. Look, that nice young mare who is half your age is going to hold the gate open for you, so you do not have to be afraid."
"I will RUN through the gate!"
"Now you will walk back through the gate turn around, and do it again at a walk. Melody this is embarrassing."
"Fine I will walk through the gate."
*We go to the arena where she proceeds to get bug eyed at poles, barrels, and other horses. Finally we get down to work*
"Melody I would like you to lope."
"Gosh ya know, I'm kind of tired after that LONG walk over here and the big tadoo at the gate. I don't really FEEL like loping today. How about if I lope three strides and then we just trot again."
*KICK* (no spurs)
"Well that was kind of rude!" (evil tail swish)
"Melody I would like you to lope nicely AND do a lead change"
"I don't feel like loping nicely or doing lead changes....I want to trot."
*Borrows a bat*
"Melody, I want you to lope now and do lead changes"
"Nope...not really feeling it toda-"
POP!!!!
"OH SHIT!!!! Oooooh, so that really wasn't open for discussion was it?"
"Here let me just do some lead changes for you!"
"Would you like big circles or small? How fast would you like me to go? Oh you want to go fast? Okay! How about some slower small circles now? Oh you would like me to spin? Sure thing!"
"Gates? Oh I love gates" No I'm not scared at all."
It is just amazing how pushy even a well trained horse can be when left to their own demise.
"What????? You want me to go down the road? A princess must ride in the trailer to the arena!"
"Not this time Melly, it is just one street over."
"OMG! Did you see that? It tried to EAT ME!"
"It was a mailbox, it has no teeth and does not move"
"It had a mouth...I saw it's mouth."
*Shakes head and kicks the mare in the side to keep her moving*
"OMG What is THAT thing?"
"It is a dumpster and you are going to walk past it through that gate."
"A Gate? Oh HELL NO! I do not DO gates!!!"
"Melody, you go through gates every day."
"Yes, but usually you are on the ground and go first so that I know it is safe. And those are my gates, I know what is on the other side. I do not know what is on the other side of this gate. It might be dangerous. You go first."
"Melody, you are a grown up horse, who has been through many gates. You can see through the gate, and see what is on the other side. Look, that nice young mare who is half your age is going to hold the gate open for you, so you do not have to be afraid."
"I will RUN through the gate!"
"Now you will walk back through the gate turn around, and do it again at a walk. Melody this is embarrassing."
"Fine I will walk through the gate."
*We go to the arena where she proceeds to get bug eyed at poles, barrels, and other horses. Finally we get down to work*
"Melody I would like you to lope."
"Gosh ya know, I'm kind of tired after that LONG walk over here and the big tadoo at the gate. I don't really FEEL like loping today. How about if I lope three strides and then we just trot again."
*KICK* (no spurs)
"Well that was kind of rude!" (evil tail swish)
"Melody I would like you to lope nicely AND do a lead change"
"I don't feel like loping nicely or doing lead changes....I want to trot."
*Borrows a bat*
"Melody, I want you to lope now and do lead changes"
"Nope...not really feeling it toda-"
POP!!!!
"OH SHIT!!!! Oooooh, so that really wasn't open for discussion was it?"
"Here let me just do some lead changes for you!"
"Would you like big circles or small? How fast would you like me to go? Oh you want to go fast? Okay! How about some slower small circles now? Oh you would like me to spin? Sure thing!"
"Gates? Oh I love gates" No I'm not scared at all."
It is just amazing how pushy even a well trained horse can be when left to their own demise.
Old Ranch Hands
Most of my riding attention has gone to Trax lately, and the other horses have been getting pushed aside. Part of the problem is that he is and probably always will be my favorite horse to ride. But I knew it was time to devote some time to the rest so when I was invited to go out on a little trail ride, I loaded up Killian, and we went for a little jaunt.
One of the reasons behind this trail ride, besides the "Hey I wanna ride my horse" reason, was because one of my clients was going to sell her horse and my partner Mary was thinking about buying him. She wanted to see him in person and see how he was out and about.
The horses name is Winston, and he is a big (as in wide) sorrel, 18 year old retired ranch horse. At one time he was built like brick house, now he is just out of shape and flabby, a little hollow behind the shoulders, and very hard to fit for a saddle, because like Killian he has very wide shoulders. ( I will spare you the story of trying to convince this girl that I knew exactly which saddle he needed and it was sitting right in my shop) Regardless of that he is a good boy, very handsome, and probably a very good buy for the money she was asking. The only thing that completely turned me off about him, was that there were times when he seemed less than sound to me, although not actually lame either. ( I have a perfectly good baby sitter who is totally sound, as does Mary, so neither one of us will be buying this horse. )
As we rode along, Mary on her own horse, Winston carrying his rider, and another gal on a lovely grey gelding, I kind of took a special pride in realizing that except for the young grey who competes in barrels on a regular basis, my old horse was actually in better shape than the other two horses who are younger than him. This was particularly amazing since he doesn't get a ton of exercise. I think some of it is genetics, but I could be wrong.
Anyway, we rode next to Winston he and Killian matched each others paces, never pinned an ear at each other, and handled all the distractions like the seasoned horses they are. They both have that nice easy lumbering trot. The kind that eats up ground but doesn't require posting. I call it the cattle searching trot. They rode through water, up and down hills, under bridges, past traffic, past flapping flags. Just good solid mounts. No training needed.
At one point I dropped back to ride along side Mary and Winston moved up with the grey and out of our line of vision. Killian totally took me by surprise by calling out to Winston. I won't say that he doesn't call out after his herd mates, but never on a trail ride, and never to a horse he just met. Once Winston came back into sight, he stopped calling.
We experimented a little. The gal rode Winston down into the lower part of the wash and I rode Killian up high. He called and called, and even when he could see him, did not take his eyes off of him to see where he was going. Darnedest thing I have ever seen.
When we returned to the trailers before we gave them a nose to nose minute to say good by. They rubbed noses, kind of nuzzling and wuffling each other, no displays of dominance, just saying good bye I guess. When Winston drove off in his trailer, Killian gave one last call of good bye and Winston called back once. Then Killian turned around and loaded up in the trailer to go home.
I guess they were two old ranch hands swapping stories about their lives.
One of the reasons behind this trail ride, besides the "Hey I wanna ride my horse" reason, was because one of my clients was going to sell her horse and my partner Mary was thinking about buying him. She wanted to see him in person and see how he was out and about.
The horses name is Winston, and he is a big (as in wide) sorrel, 18 year old retired ranch horse. At one time he was built like brick house, now he is just out of shape and flabby, a little hollow behind the shoulders, and very hard to fit for a saddle, because like Killian he has very wide shoulders. ( I will spare you the story of trying to convince this girl that I knew exactly which saddle he needed and it was sitting right in my shop) Regardless of that he is a good boy, very handsome, and probably a very good buy for the money she was asking. The only thing that completely turned me off about him, was that there were times when he seemed less than sound to me, although not actually lame either. ( I have a perfectly good baby sitter who is totally sound, as does Mary, so neither one of us will be buying this horse. )
As we rode along, Mary on her own horse, Winston carrying his rider, and another gal on a lovely grey gelding, I kind of took a special pride in realizing that except for the young grey who competes in barrels on a regular basis, my old horse was actually in better shape than the other two horses who are younger than him. This was particularly amazing since he doesn't get a ton of exercise. I think some of it is genetics, but I could be wrong.
Anyway, we rode next to Winston he and Killian matched each others paces, never pinned an ear at each other, and handled all the distractions like the seasoned horses they are. They both have that nice easy lumbering trot. The kind that eats up ground but doesn't require posting. I call it the cattle searching trot. They rode through water, up and down hills, under bridges, past traffic, past flapping flags. Just good solid mounts. No training needed.
At one point I dropped back to ride along side Mary and Winston moved up with the grey and out of our line of vision. Killian totally took me by surprise by calling out to Winston. I won't say that he doesn't call out after his herd mates, but never on a trail ride, and never to a horse he just met. Once Winston came back into sight, he stopped calling.
We experimented a little. The gal rode Winston down into the lower part of the wash and I rode Killian up high. He called and called, and even when he could see him, did not take his eyes off of him to see where he was going. Darnedest thing I have ever seen.
When we returned to the trailers before we gave them a nose to nose minute to say good by. They rubbed noses, kind of nuzzling and wuffling each other, no displays of dominance, just saying good bye I guess. When Winston drove off in his trailer, Killian gave one last call of good bye and Winston called back once. Then Killian turned around and loaded up in the trailer to go home.
I guess they were two old ranch hands swapping stories about their lives.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Wiped Out
I'm sitting here in my big fuzzy robe, it is almost 8 am and I do not have the energy to even get dressed. TC was nice enough to feed the horses for me this morning, but eventually I am going to have to get some clothes on, and do something....anything at all.
My partner Mary, and I have spent 8 out of the last 11 days at the Buckeye Equestrian Center selling our wares. We set up on Jan 1st, which took us all day to set up. With each new event we add more racking and awnings, and of course merchandise as well. So each event is like starting over and we have to reconfigure how we will lay things out, and how we will get everything to fit in our allotted space. We have yet to actually "fit" and usually end up paying extra to be able to spread out just a little.
On the 2nd of Jan, there was a big tack auction close to where we were, so after working all day, we closed up shop, ran down to the auction and invested in some more inventory. I wish I could say it was all super high quality tack at spectacular prices. What it really was, was mediocre tack which they tried to convince us was top of the line. However, most of the bidders were pretty smart about what they were buying and we managed to keep the prices low enough to make it worth our while. There was some tack and saddles that were absolute junk, which of course we did not bid on, and then some that was better. I spent way more than I should have, as did Mary, but we came home with a decent selection of very pretty midrange quality tack at affordable prices, which we can now offer to the public for less than full retail.
As much as I want to only offer the very best tack you can buy, I have to be realistic in what most of the public can afford, so that is why I invested in the items that I did. Still the plan to also offer some very nice, one of kind custom tack for affordable prices is still in the works.
Anyway, by time the auction was over and we collected our items and made it back to "home", it was after midnight. Then we had to get up at 5:30 am and do it all over again. Our first 4 day weekend, we did very well, selling a few saddles, and tons of other smaller items. It was very cold that weekend and we were the only one selling gloves, so you can imagine we did very well with those!
We had not originally planned on staying longer, but were approached by the Classic Equine Futurity Folks, and asked to stay for 2 more weeks. We had gotten mixed reviews from other vendors on whether or not it was worth it, but they said we didn't have to tear down our booth in between events, so we opted to give it a shot.
We left everything there, came home for 3 days, tried to feel normal for a minute, and then headed back out again on Thursday morning.
I have to give a huge shout out to the folks at the Buckeye Equestrian Center. They treated us like family, made sure we had everything we needed, kept an eye on our motorhome and trailer while we were gone, and were just so darn friendly. They really made the trip worth it, and I do look forward to working there again.
Our first day there, before we even got unloaded, we sold another saddle. We had hoped it was going to set the tone for the rest of the weekend. However, it didn't. Friday was soooo slow. Very few people came through, and those that did had no intention of actually buying anything.
Saturday started out pretty busy until it started to rain. Then we had to throw tarps over everything and the crowd evaporated. It did give us time to post a bunch of stuff on line, which worked out well, because Sunday morning we had folks driving out just to see us, which resulted in two more saddle sales. It also resulted in a couple of saddle purchases which tends to hurt profits a little, but they were good deals and in the long run will bring in quite a bit of money.
I am most excited about buying a nice little Circle Y Martha Josey Balanced Ride saddle. I had seen a new one in Vegas at the NFR, and almost bought it, but was afraid I wouldn't get my money back on it. As luck would have it, a gal brought me one that was used, and I got it for a smoking deal. She had "ruined" the saddle by using duct tape to hold a pad for her broken tail bone on the seat. She thought that the glue from the tape would never come off.
As you can see it came off just fine, and I now have a very nice, like new saddle which I can (and will) sell and a very fair price. While these are still not the best of the best for barrel saddles, it is a very decent saddle with a nice feel to it, and I have a lot of local girls who will be thrilled to have a saddle like this.
So Sunday was a a fair day, but over all the weekend was not the big money maker we had hoped it to be, and since space fee's were not cheap for these events, we opted not to stay for the next event coming up in 3 more days. This required tearing down the entire booth, packing it all in the trailer and bringing it all home. We plan on going back at the end of the month for the big Pacwest race, and could have left the trailer there in a back lot, but I nixed that idea. I need my saddles home as I have a long list of folks wanting to buy on my side of town, and not having my inventory with me, really hurts my sales.
Here are a couple of pics of our booth this time around.
In other news, Trax and I had another lesson last week. We are graduating to flying lead changes now, and I am excited about that. True to form, Mister Anticipator, likes to show off and do them before I ask. While I thought it was pretty cool, Dana says he has to wait for the cue, so we had to back up a little bit and work on our set up. Ok, so let me rephrase...we are working on MY set up. Once I get my set up right, my horses both will be able to handle it just fine. I can't wait to get out there and practice.
I am supposed to go to a Ranch Versatility clinic next weekend, but I may hold off for one more time. Trax and I are coming along nicely under Dana's tutelage, and much of what she is teaching me is tweaked specifically to match how my horse learns. (which of course is not how many horses learn) Normally, going to a clinic you would find that teaching is pretty much standard across the board, but I have to be careful at this stage of the game. It would be very easy for someone to try to teach me something the way most people do it, and for me to try to implement that would confuse both me and my horse. I guess I am saying, if something is working (and it is) it is probably best not to mess with it.
I have not been on Melody in a while, so it is time to get back to riding her as well. She actually gets upset when I go and take Trax out and not her. She does not care for semi-retirement, and likes to be busy, so busy she will be. Killian needs to get busy too, so maybe I can get some desert time in for those two.
Other exciting news....we have been trying to get some sorting practices going on close to home for some time now. One of my new saddle clients, has just started boarding her horse down the street from me, and she is also just getting in to sorting. We have been working together to come up with a venue, and the cows, and we have finally done that, and it is right here in our neighborhood. So very soon we will have a designated practice night. I am so looking forward to that. I have the horse to do it on, now I just need to learn how.
So I guess it is time for me to get into the shower and go get something done. I am still pretty sore from yesterday, and a hot shower sounds pretty good right about now! Hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!
My partner Mary, and I have spent 8 out of the last 11 days at the Buckeye Equestrian Center selling our wares. We set up on Jan 1st, which took us all day to set up. With each new event we add more racking and awnings, and of course merchandise as well. So each event is like starting over and we have to reconfigure how we will lay things out, and how we will get everything to fit in our allotted space. We have yet to actually "fit" and usually end up paying extra to be able to spread out just a little.
On the 2nd of Jan, there was a big tack auction close to where we were, so after working all day, we closed up shop, ran down to the auction and invested in some more inventory. I wish I could say it was all super high quality tack at spectacular prices. What it really was, was mediocre tack which they tried to convince us was top of the line. However, most of the bidders were pretty smart about what they were buying and we managed to keep the prices low enough to make it worth our while. There was some tack and saddles that were absolute junk, which of course we did not bid on, and then some that was better. I spent way more than I should have, as did Mary, but we came home with a decent selection of very pretty midrange quality tack at affordable prices, which we can now offer to the public for less than full retail.
As much as I want to only offer the very best tack you can buy, I have to be realistic in what most of the public can afford, so that is why I invested in the items that I did. Still the plan to also offer some very nice, one of kind custom tack for affordable prices is still in the works.
Anyway, by time the auction was over and we collected our items and made it back to "home", it was after midnight. Then we had to get up at 5:30 am and do it all over again. Our first 4 day weekend, we did very well, selling a few saddles, and tons of other smaller items. It was very cold that weekend and we were the only one selling gloves, so you can imagine we did very well with those!
We had not originally planned on staying longer, but were approached by the Classic Equine Futurity Folks, and asked to stay for 2 more weeks. We had gotten mixed reviews from other vendors on whether or not it was worth it, but they said we didn't have to tear down our booth in between events, so we opted to give it a shot.
We left everything there, came home for 3 days, tried to feel normal for a minute, and then headed back out again on Thursday morning.
I have to give a huge shout out to the folks at the Buckeye Equestrian Center. They treated us like family, made sure we had everything we needed, kept an eye on our motorhome and trailer while we were gone, and were just so darn friendly. They really made the trip worth it, and I do look forward to working there again.
Our first day there, before we even got unloaded, we sold another saddle. We had hoped it was going to set the tone for the rest of the weekend. However, it didn't. Friday was soooo slow. Very few people came through, and those that did had no intention of actually buying anything.
Saturday started out pretty busy until it started to rain. Then we had to throw tarps over everything and the crowd evaporated. It did give us time to post a bunch of stuff on line, which worked out well, because Sunday morning we had folks driving out just to see us, which resulted in two more saddle sales. It also resulted in a couple of saddle purchases which tends to hurt profits a little, but they were good deals and in the long run will bring in quite a bit of money.
I am most excited about buying a nice little Circle Y Martha Josey Balanced Ride saddle. I had seen a new one in Vegas at the NFR, and almost bought it, but was afraid I wouldn't get my money back on it. As luck would have it, a gal brought me one that was used, and I got it for a smoking deal. She had "ruined" the saddle by using duct tape to hold a pad for her broken tail bone on the seat. She thought that the glue from the tape would never come off.
As you can see it came off just fine, and I now have a very nice, like new saddle which I can (and will) sell and a very fair price. While these are still not the best of the best for barrel saddles, it is a very decent saddle with a nice feel to it, and I have a lot of local girls who will be thrilled to have a saddle like this.
So Sunday was a a fair day, but over all the weekend was not the big money maker we had hoped it to be, and since space fee's were not cheap for these events, we opted not to stay for the next event coming up in 3 more days. This required tearing down the entire booth, packing it all in the trailer and bringing it all home. We plan on going back at the end of the month for the big Pacwest race, and could have left the trailer there in a back lot, but I nixed that idea. I need my saddles home as I have a long list of folks wanting to buy on my side of town, and not having my inventory with me, really hurts my sales.
Here are a couple of pics of our booth this time around.
In other news, Trax and I had another lesson last week. We are graduating to flying lead changes now, and I am excited about that. True to form, Mister Anticipator, likes to show off and do them before I ask. While I thought it was pretty cool, Dana says he has to wait for the cue, so we had to back up a little bit and work on our set up. Ok, so let me rephrase...we are working on MY set up. Once I get my set up right, my horses both will be able to handle it just fine. I can't wait to get out there and practice.
I am supposed to go to a Ranch Versatility clinic next weekend, but I may hold off for one more time. Trax and I are coming along nicely under Dana's tutelage, and much of what she is teaching me is tweaked specifically to match how my horse learns. (which of course is not how many horses learn) Normally, going to a clinic you would find that teaching is pretty much standard across the board, but I have to be careful at this stage of the game. It would be very easy for someone to try to teach me something the way most people do it, and for me to try to implement that would confuse both me and my horse. I guess I am saying, if something is working (and it is) it is probably best not to mess with it.
I have not been on Melody in a while, so it is time to get back to riding her as well. She actually gets upset when I go and take Trax out and not her. She does not care for semi-retirement, and likes to be busy, so busy she will be. Killian needs to get busy too, so maybe I can get some desert time in for those two.
Other exciting news....we have been trying to get some sorting practices going on close to home for some time now. One of my new saddle clients, has just started boarding her horse down the street from me, and she is also just getting in to sorting. We have been working together to come up with a venue, and the cows, and we have finally done that, and it is right here in our neighborhood. So very soon we will have a designated practice night. I am so looking forward to that. I have the horse to do it on, now I just need to learn how.
So I guess it is time for me to get into the shower and go get something done. I am still pretty sore from yesterday, and a hot shower sounds pretty good right about now! Hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
That's Gonna Leave a Mark!
When ever I turn Trax out of his pen, he comes out bucking and playing.
Always.
Well no, not always. If he is haltered he is the perfect gentleman, but if he is left to his own demise he is coming out guns blazing.
I know my horse, he isn't being mean when he does this, he isn't trying to hurt anyone, he usually is plenty far away so that he isn't going to connect with anyone. Even still I know to stand clear, just in case.
On this day I was late getting out this morning to feed and turn out. Some days, it is just easier to dump food in the pasture (which looks more like a dirt lot right now) and then open the gates and point and tell my horses where to go. Melly never gives me a lick of trouble, Trax doesn't either, Sassy only rarely. The boarder horses, haven't quite gotten how it works yet so they still get haltered.
I put Franny out, then turned Melly out, and then went to open Trax'x gate. His new pen has a narrower gate and for some reason instead of staying behind the gate when I opened it, I ducked to the other side.
Yes not the smartest move I ever made.
He came out, and the gate swung back towards him pushing him in my direction...he was bucking and cow kicking and one of those hoofs caught me square on the butt cheek.
Took me a few seconds to recover from the shock, but then I went after him. He saw me coming too and knew that he was in trouble. Of course he took off.
He ended up going back into Melody's pen, where I shut the gate and reached up and kicked him back! I wasn't nice about it either.
Then I made him let me catch him.
Once he knew I wasn't going to kick him anymore, he leaned his head against my chest. (not something he does normally) I do believe he was trying to say he was sorry. Or maybe he was just trying to get where I couldn't get a square shot in again.
It hurts. Burns pretty bad right now, but I can still walk, and the more I keep moving the less it hurts. I'm pretty darn lucky. If I had not been turned the way I was he'd have got me right in the gut, or on the hip bone.
Lesson learned. Stay behind the gate, or halter the damn horse.
Always.
Well no, not always. If he is haltered he is the perfect gentleman, but if he is left to his own demise he is coming out guns blazing.
I know my horse, he isn't being mean when he does this, he isn't trying to hurt anyone, he usually is plenty far away so that he isn't going to connect with anyone. Even still I know to stand clear, just in case.
On this day I was late getting out this morning to feed and turn out. Some days, it is just easier to dump food in the pasture (which looks more like a dirt lot right now) and then open the gates and point and tell my horses where to go. Melly never gives me a lick of trouble, Trax doesn't either, Sassy only rarely. The boarder horses, haven't quite gotten how it works yet so they still get haltered.
I put Franny out, then turned Melly out, and then went to open Trax'x gate. His new pen has a narrower gate and for some reason instead of staying behind the gate when I opened it, I ducked to the other side.
Yes not the smartest move I ever made.
He came out, and the gate swung back towards him pushing him in my direction...he was bucking and cow kicking and one of those hoofs caught me square on the butt cheek.
Took me a few seconds to recover from the shock, but then I went after him. He saw me coming too and knew that he was in trouble. Of course he took off.
He ended up going back into Melody's pen, where I shut the gate and reached up and kicked him back! I wasn't nice about it either.
Then I made him let me catch him.
Once he knew I wasn't going to kick him anymore, he leaned his head against my chest. (not something he does normally) I do believe he was trying to say he was sorry. Or maybe he was just trying to get where I couldn't get a square shot in again.
It hurts. Burns pretty bad right now, but I can still walk, and the more I keep moving the less it hurts. I'm pretty darn lucky. If I had not been turned the way I was he'd have got me right in the gut, or on the hip bone.
Lesson learned. Stay behind the gate, or halter the damn horse.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
A few Photos
I don't have much to tell, other than the last event of the season for our booth was a huge success! We had people who showed up just to come shop with us, and folks who had no clue we were going to be there, but ended up spending a ton of money anyways. Anytime I can get 3 saddle sales out of one event...I call that a success. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
On top of that Mary and I have been trying to find the right person to help us with some custom leather work. I kept telling her of guy I had met once before and have been trying to find his card. Out of the blue, he rode up on his big paint horse, we got to talking, I introduced him to Mary only to find that they already knew each other from years ago. She just didn't know that he was doing leather work. This should work out great as he can do things that we cannot, and we can get things that he needs at a discounted rate.
These two pictures are of the saddle line up I had prepared for the display the next day. I even have a Crown C in there, which did not get near the response I was hoping for, and I'm starting to wonder if purchasing it was a smart move. However, it won't end up being a money loser.
Here are some pics of our booth
Here are a couple of the pics from the NFR
I took a day off on Sunday and got some riding done. I think Trax is wishing I would hurry up and get another lesson so we can work on our communication skills. I was pretty proud of myself though for recognizing that he was not doing proper roll backs (turning the hip instead of the shoulder) and remembered what to do to fix it. First I fixed my riding position and clarified my cues. Then I reached down and popped him on the shoulder with a rein. Not hard of course but just enough to make him say "YOU HIT ME!!" However, it sure got his feet moving like they were supposed to, and MAN can I feel the difference!
After that we did pretty well. I've started trying to work on our counter archs, and at first we really struggled, till BEC suggested that perhaps I was asking for too much arch. So the next time I tried it, it asked for a little less and a few less steps to start with, just to be able to reward the try. After that things started falling into place.
I rode Princess Melly that night too. I guess I need to just make the time to get her back to the desert. There isn't much to teach her, and we are getting our lead changes down, so the best thing for her would be just trail riding and going back to getting her a little less reactive. It isn't going to happen in the arena I don't think.
In the last 4 days I have taken in so many new saddles. I bought an old Heiser for next to nothing, which is my next before and after project. I'm pretty excited about that one. Then on Saturday, I took in 3 more consignments. Sunday brought 4 more and another Heiser which I will recondition for a gal. Monday, I went and picked up another at the post office which I bought on line. That does not include the 3 I picked up the week before. So I have plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks. I can whip out a conditioning job pretty quickly these days, depending on how bad the saddle is. I've got a good system down and have figured out which products work best for different situations.
Yesterday it seemed like I was running crazy and as the sun was sinking low, I stood in the doorway of the shop trying to figure out which saddle I should start on. Then I heard a noise behind me and the geldings were over in their pasture tearing things up. They do this often at the end of the day, when they are impatient to come in and have their supper. I took the two spotted walker and put them away, and then grabbed Killian.
I put a rope halter with an extra long lead on him, tied it into a rein, and led him up to a car trailer so I could climb up on him. We took a little walk around the block and it was nice to just enjoy the ride, without having to "work" on anything.
Killian is the only horse I would try that on, as he is the only one I know beyond of a shadow of doubt isn't going to spook or try to make a run for home. These are the times when he redeems himself. I just wish I had someone to ride with me more often so that he didn't sit for so long between rides. But how can you not love a horse who can sit for as long as you need him too and still be as safe as if he was being ridden every day.
I feel a little melancholy these days, perhaps it is because for the first time in years, I'm ignoring the holiday. Simon is leaving for WY, TC and I don't really do the gift thing to each other, and all my other kids are off doing their own thing with their in-laws. Maybe Christmas day I will get TC to go for a ride with me.
For now I want to wish all my blogger friends a safe and Merry Christmas. May you get to spend your time with family and friends .
On top of that Mary and I have been trying to find the right person to help us with some custom leather work. I kept telling her of guy I had met once before and have been trying to find his card. Out of the blue, he rode up on his big paint horse, we got to talking, I introduced him to Mary only to find that they already knew each other from years ago. She just didn't know that he was doing leather work. This should work out great as he can do things that we cannot, and we can get things that he needs at a discounted rate.
These two pictures are of the saddle line up I had prepared for the display the next day. I even have a Crown C in there, which did not get near the response I was hoping for, and I'm starting to wonder if purchasing it was a smart move. However, it won't end up being a money loser.
Here are some pics of our booth
Here are a couple of the pics from the NFR
I took a day off on Sunday and got some riding done. I think Trax is wishing I would hurry up and get another lesson so we can work on our communication skills. I was pretty proud of myself though for recognizing that he was not doing proper roll backs (turning the hip instead of the shoulder) and remembered what to do to fix it. First I fixed my riding position and clarified my cues. Then I reached down and popped him on the shoulder with a rein. Not hard of course but just enough to make him say "YOU HIT ME!!" However, it sure got his feet moving like they were supposed to, and MAN can I feel the difference!
After that we did pretty well. I've started trying to work on our counter archs, and at first we really struggled, till BEC suggested that perhaps I was asking for too much arch. So the next time I tried it, it asked for a little less and a few less steps to start with, just to be able to reward the try. After that things started falling into place.
I rode Princess Melly that night too. I guess I need to just make the time to get her back to the desert. There isn't much to teach her, and we are getting our lead changes down, so the best thing for her would be just trail riding and going back to getting her a little less reactive. It isn't going to happen in the arena I don't think.
In the last 4 days I have taken in so many new saddles. I bought an old Heiser for next to nothing, which is my next before and after project. I'm pretty excited about that one. Then on Saturday, I took in 3 more consignments. Sunday brought 4 more and another Heiser which I will recondition for a gal. Monday, I went and picked up another at the post office which I bought on line. That does not include the 3 I picked up the week before. So I have plenty to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks. I can whip out a conditioning job pretty quickly these days, depending on how bad the saddle is. I've got a good system down and have figured out which products work best for different situations.
Yesterday it seemed like I was running crazy and as the sun was sinking low, I stood in the doorway of the shop trying to figure out which saddle I should start on. Then I heard a noise behind me and the geldings were over in their pasture tearing things up. They do this often at the end of the day, when they are impatient to come in and have their supper. I took the two spotted walker and put them away, and then grabbed Killian.
I put a rope halter with an extra long lead on him, tied it into a rein, and led him up to a car trailer so I could climb up on him. We took a little walk around the block and it was nice to just enjoy the ride, without having to "work" on anything.
Killian is the only horse I would try that on, as he is the only one I know beyond of a shadow of doubt isn't going to spook or try to make a run for home. These are the times when he redeems himself. I just wish I had someone to ride with me more often so that he didn't sit for so long between rides. But how can you not love a horse who can sit for as long as you need him too and still be as safe as if he was being ridden every day.
I feel a little melancholy these days, perhaps it is because for the first time in years, I'm ignoring the holiday. Simon is leaving for WY, TC and I don't really do the gift thing to each other, and all my other kids are off doing their own thing with their in-laws. Maybe Christmas day I will get TC to go for a ride with me.
For now I want to wish all my blogger friends a safe and Merry Christmas. May you get to spend your time with family and friends .
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
A Whirlwind of Activity!
I just realized that it has been over a month since I have done a post. Where does the time go? I find it amazing that I have less time now that I am unemployed, than I ever did when I was working. I wish I could say it was all horse time, but sadly it hasn't.
Trax is back home again and looking fabulous. I made the mistake of rearranging the herd and put him in with Killian his first night back. It was a huge mistake, and Trax got beat up pretty bad. So now we are in the process of dividing all the pens in half, and everyone will have their own.
I have 2 pastures now, so its geldings in one and mares in the other...Trax gets to hang out with the girls. I just can't sit and babysit to make sure Killian isn't going to pull any of his crap. I will tell you that Killian got his ass beat for beating up on Trax. I looked out the window and saw it happening so I was able to go out and discipline at the appropriate time. It scared him pretty bad, didn't really hurt him much but it got the message across.
I have ridden Trax twice since he came home. I'm worried about undoing his training so for now we work mostly on what I have been worked with by my trainer, which is mostly proper riding position and proper cues. It is amazing how differently my horse responds to me when I ride him correctly! Who Knew???? Okay so I guess a lot of people did, but I didn't realize just how much I was hindering my horses by lack of skill. It was less evident in Trax because he did not have the training anyway, but it was clearly evident when riding Melody. I will be taking a lesson a week, on Trax so that I can catch up to his training. We will be going to a Ranch Versatility clinic in Jan, and I hope to at least know how to ride my horse by then.
Speaking of Melody, my equine therapist took a look at that muscle in the back. She did a couple of little things right then (she was only there to drop off Trax and did not have her tools with her for a treatment) which made a difference right off the bat. So once she gets some treatments we should see some real progress.
Sassy has taken a turn for the worse again, the deep cracks and thrush were back so I had her shoes pulled and have been treating her vigorously. She is back in the boots temporarily, but eventually will go back to shoes. I could have treated the thrush with the shoes on, but the cracks just kept getting deeper and deeper so when he pulled the shoes and trimmed her, I had him open up the cracks so I could really get in there. So while she took a turn for the worse, she is doing better now, and is on the upswing again. I think my farrier thought I was unhappy with his work, and I tried to explain that I am not. I just needed to get to her feet is all.
The new year will be bringing a lot of changes for Sassy anyway, but I won't be sharing about that just yet.
Killian came down with some sort of fungus. I guess it would be girth itch. But it got pretty ugly for a bit and required some shaving of his sides and chest. A visit to the vet, and some internal and topical meds seem to have taken care of it. He will find himself back under a saddle sooner than he likes I am sure!
The saddle shop has been keeping me super busy! I have teamed up with another gal who also does tack and then expanded into western clothing and bling. I don't even want to deal with those items, but when we joined forces and combined our resources for the mobile booth...HOLY MOLY!!! You couldn't miss us. With my 20' trailer, 12 saddles out front, and all her shiney pretty things, plus all the small pieces of tack, then more saddles inside...yes we got quite a bit of attention.
We set up close to home for the AZJRA last month, and did very well. While we were set up, some folks on the committee for the Globe rodeo asked if we would come set up at their event in 2015. Then I sent a picture of our booth to the NBHA and asked about their final race of the year which is in Apache Junction. The gal couldn't get us the vendor form fast enough. Then she asked if we would please come and set up at the first race of 2015 which is a four day event in Buckeye. From what I understand this is a huge event, and we are excited for the opportunity. With that in mind I have been scrambling to get inventory that is more barrel racer friendly.
It was quite helpful that I had a run on saddles lately, and have sold quite a few of them in the last few weeks. It gave me just enough funds to buy more of what I need. I sold some of my really good saddles, and even managed to get rid of some of the junkier ones that I was sick of dragging around. Even sold one all the way up in Vegas...which worked out well since I just happened to be going to Las Vegas.
TC and I were very fortunate to have been invited to go to the NFR with BEC and her hubby. It was a total blast! I can't recall the last time I had that much fun watching a rodeo. BEC had told me it was like watching a live action movie and she did not lie. There is no down time, in fact you hardly have a chance to catch your breath from one event to the next and if you need to go potty, you'd better figure out which even you can live with missing. There is no intermission to speak of.
When we weren't at the rodeo, we spent some time walking around the different vendor booths. Clearly I have saddles on the brain all the time, because I could not go past a saddle booth and not fondle the merchandise. I did a good amount of research, which will be helpful down the road as I am moving towards buying more saddles on line from out of state, and less local sales. I find that bringing in fresh inventory that has not made its way around the valley yet, boosts sales immensely. Having sat in, and physically seen so many different saddles makes it easier to make those online decision now.
One of my favorite custom saddle makers is Hickman's Boot and Saddlery out of Idaho. They used to be in Washington, but have since moved to Post Falls. I have one of his older saddles for sale in my shop right now, and was just blown away by the quality of the work that Bob Hickman does. I actually was able to speak to him on the phone about the saddle I have, and thought it was pretty cool that the minute he saw the saddle he was able to tell me everything about it, including the name of the person he made it for (which happens to be the person I am selling it for).
I had heard that he might be going to the NFR, so was kind of watching for his booth and sure enough, we walked right smack into him. I introduced myself, and we chatted for a bit and then I asked if he had any body who distributed saddles for him. He only has his shop and website. I asked if he would consider doing that, and he said yes, and yes he would like to do that with me. That means I would be the only person in the country with the ability to by his saddles at a wholesale price and redistribute!!!!! We will be getting together via phone and email after the first of the year. If you would like to see what I will be distributing you can click on the link here.
(Thank you once again BEC for suggesting that I ask about that) gotta give credit where it is due!
I could hardly contain my excitement about that for the rest of the trip and I am pretty sure that BEC is about sick of listening to me talk about saddles and saddle sales!
So anyway, the NFR....if you ever get the chance to go....jump on it! Too Much Fun!
Now we are home and it is back to business as usual and trying to get ready for the weekend. I've got saddles coming in left and right, some nice affordable ones, some middle of the road ones, and if everything goes according to plan, will have at least 1 or 2 high end saddles here in the next week or so too!
With all that being said, I should probably get off the computer and back to work. I want to get some mandatory saddle time in today as well. As in mandatory "butt in the saddle" time!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!!!
I will try to have pictures for my next post!
Trax is back home again and looking fabulous. I made the mistake of rearranging the herd and put him in with Killian his first night back. It was a huge mistake, and Trax got beat up pretty bad. So now we are in the process of dividing all the pens in half, and everyone will have their own.
I have 2 pastures now, so its geldings in one and mares in the other...Trax gets to hang out with the girls. I just can't sit and babysit to make sure Killian isn't going to pull any of his crap. I will tell you that Killian got his ass beat for beating up on Trax. I looked out the window and saw it happening so I was able to go out and discipline at the appropriate time. It scared him pretty bad, didn't really hurt him much but it got the message across.
I have ridden Trax twice since he came home. I'm worried about undoing his training so for now we work mostly on what I have been worked with by my trainer, which is mostly proper riding position and proper cues. It is amazing how differently my horse responds to me when I ride him correctly! Who Knew???? Okay so I guess a lot of people did, but I didn't realize just how much I was hindering my horses by lack of skill. It was less evident in Trax because he did not have the training anyway, but it was clearly evident when riding Melody. I will be taking a lesson a week, on Trax so that I can catch up to his training. We will be going to a Ranch Versatility clinic in Jan, and I hope to at least know how to ride my horse by then.
Speaking of Melody, my equine therapist took a look at that muscle in the back. She did a couple of little things right then (she was only there to drop off Trax and did not have her tools with her for a treatment) which made a difference right off the bat. So once she gets some treatments we should see some real progress.
Sassy has taken a turn for the worse again, the deep cracks and thrush were back so I had her shoes pulled and have been treating her vigorously. She is back in the boots temporarily, but eventually will go back to shoes. I could have treated the thrush with the shoes on, but the cracks just kept getting deeper and deeper so when he pulled the shoes and trimmed her, I had him open up the cracks so I could really get in there. So while she took a turn for the worse, she is doing better now, and is on the upswing again. I think my farrier thought I was unhappy with his work, and I tried to explain that I am not. I just needed to get to her feet is all.
The new year will be bringing a lot of changes for Sassy anyway, but I won't be sharing about that just yet.
Killian came down with some sort of fungus. I guess it would be girth itch. But it got pretty ugly for a bit and required some shaving of his sides and chest. A visit to the vet, and some internal and topical meds seem to have taken care of it. He will find himself back under a saddle sooner than he likes I am sure!
The saddle shop has been keeping me super busy! I have teamed up with another gal who also does tack and then expanded into western clothing and bling. I don't even want to deal with those items, but when we joined forces and combined our resources for the mobile booth...HOLY MOLY!!! You couldn't miss us. With my 20' trailer, 12 saddles out front, and all her shiney pretty things, plus all the small pieces of tack, then more saddles inside...yes we got quite a bit of attention.
We set up close to home for the AZJRA last month, and did very well. While we were set up, some folks on the committee for the Globe rodeo asked if we would come set up at their event in 2015. Then I sent a picture of our booth to the NBHA and asked about their final race of the year which is in Apache Junction. The gal couldn't get us the vendor form fast enough. Then she asked if we would please come and set up at the first race of 2015 which is a four day event in Buckeye. From what I understand this is a huge event, and we are excited for the opportunity. With that in mind I have been scrambling to get inventory that is more barrel racer friendly.
It was quite helpful that I had a run on saddles lately, and have sold quite a few of them in the last few weeks. It gave me just enough funds to buy more of what I need. I sold some of my really good saddles, and even managed to get rid of some of the junkier ones that I was sick of dragging around. Even sold one all the way up in Vegas...which worked out well since I just happened to be going to Las Vegas.
TC and I were very fortunate to have been invited to go to the NFR with BEC and her hubby. It was a total blast! I can't recall the last time I had that much fun watching a rodeo. BEC had told me it was like watching a live action movie and she did not lie. There is no down time, in fact you hardly have a chance to catch your breath from one event to the next and if you need to go potty, you'd better figure out which even you can live with missing. There is no intermission to speak of.
When we weren't at the rodeo, we spent some time walking around the different vendor booths. Clearly I have saddles on the brain all the time, because I could not go past a saddle booth and not fondle the merchandise. I did a good amount of research, which will be helpful down the road as I am moving towards buying more saddles on line from out of state, and less local sales. I find that bringing in fresh inventory that has not made its way around the valley yet, boosts sales immensely. Having sat in, and physically seen so many different saddles makes it easier to make those online decision now.
One of my favorite custom saddle makers is Hickman's Boot and Saddlery out of Idaho. They used to be in Washington, but have since moved to Post Falls. I have one of his older saddles for sale in my shop right now, and was just blown away by the quality of the work that Bob Hickman does. I actually was able to speak to him on the phone about the saddle I have, and thought it was pretty cool that the minute he saw the saddle he was able to tell me everything about it, including the name of the person he made it for (which happens to be the person I am selling it for).
I had heard that he might be going to the NFR, so was kind of watching for his booth and sure enough, we walked right smack into him. I introduced myself, and we chatted for a bit and then I asked if he had any body who distributed saddles for him. He only has his shop and website. I asked if he would consider doing that, and he said yes, and yes he would like to do that with me. That means I would be the only person in the country with the ability to by his saddles at a wholesale price and redistribute!!!!! We will be getting together via phone and email after the first of the year. If you would like to see what I will be distributing you can click on the link here.
(Thank you once again BEC for suggesting that I ask about that) gotta give credit where it is due!
I could hardly contain my excitement about that for the rest of the trip and I am pretty sure that BEC is about sick of listening to me talk about saddles and saddle sales!
So anyway, the NFR....if you ever get the chance to go....jump on it! Too Much Fun!
Now we are home and it is back to business as usual and trying to get ready for the weekend. I've got saddles coming in left and right, some nice affordable ones, some middle of the road ones, and if everything goes according to plan, will have at least 1 or 2 high end saddles here in the next week or so too!
With all that being said, I should probably get off the computer and back to work. I want to get some mandatory saddle time in today as well. As in mandatory "butt in the saddle" time!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!!!
I will try to have pictures for my next post!
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