Rough Day - The Long Version

I haven't posted on this blog in quite a while.  However, since this was originally meant to be my horse blog and I've got something horse-related that's really bothering me...  Here I am.

Today was a rough day.

It didn't start out that way.  We got up early this morning and went to buy a load of hay for Bo.  For a few years now we've been buying from a guy who lives about an hour away.  It is great quality and the guy is very nice.  It was nice to spend the time with Jeff, we talked about a lot of stuff on the way there and back.

At the barn, we unloaded the hay and I stripped out Bo's stall, while Jeff called his grandma to chat with her for a little bit.

Then the trouble started.

I won't go into details, but let's just say the scene before me evolved into 5 people trying to catch a frightened young horse who'd broken away from one of them.  The situation was getting ugly and I stepped in.  Longer story short, I caught the youngster and then helped them get him back into the barn.  There was so much about the situation that bothered me, from how it started to how they all tried to handle it.  On top of all of that, the whole thing was easily preventable.

I think what bothered me most is that the person the horse got away from is the person who is supposed to be training the horse.  Two of the other people were the owners, who were dropping the horse off for training.  They are paying this "trainer", who couldn't even keep the horse under control and then couldn't catch him when he (of course) got away from her.

I said I wouldn't go into details, but I decided I'm going to.

I was bringing in a load of bedding for Bo's stall when suddenly I see a horse coming down the aisle toward me, backwards.  I couldn't see what was happening, but I got the heck out of the way.  Here comes the horse, with a lead rope around its neck (??) towing the "trainer" along down the aisle...  while she is yakking on her phone.

The gate behind me was open, I'd just come through with my wheelbarrow, and the horse dragged her right on through it out into the field beyond where the barn manure pile and shavings pile are.  He was heading forward now and she had NO control.  I said to myself, "not my circus, not my monkeys" and went to dump my wheelbarrow in Bo's stall.  I wasn't going to butt in on her "training".

Then I realize the horse had gotten away from her and is now being chased by 3 dogs and 4 people...  the people screaming at the dogs, but of course the poor horse didn't know that.

I decided to go help.

Turns out she had put a halter on the horse..  an adult-sized halter on what appears to be a yearling colt - who is not even halter broke.  The halter had slipped off his face and down around his neck.  Everyone was repeatedly grabbing at the rope as he ran by them, and promptly getting it ripped out of their hands.  I even tried it once, picking it up as he walked by, but he panicked and took off.

Finally, Jeff was able to get the dogs under control and the rest of the people managed to get the colt cornered by the open gate leading out of the field, but on the wrong side of it.  I quietly picked up the trailing lead rope and snubbed it on the gate.  The colt tried to leave again, found out he couldn't, threw a bit of a fit, and then finally stood quietly.  The "trainer" went and got a different halter, still too big, but she put it on and I fed the lead rope through the noseband, still hooked to the halter around his neck in case oversized halter #2 came off. 

I kept the end of the lead snubbed to the gate, but started working on getting him to give to pressure.  He gave a couple of steps and then I was able to lead him to the barn.  He was afraid to step back into the barn and here's where the fun continued.  Picture this colt with 5 people crowed around him trying to bribe, baby talk, push, pull, drag him into the barn.  I was standing back, holding the end of the rope in case he took off again.  Hell, *I* was overwhelmed by whatever the hell was going on in that crowd.  In those moments I witnessed about every single way people try to get a horse to go somewhere they don't want to go and those ways DON'T. WORK.  Jeff, for his credit, had corralled the dogs in their run and walked by me with a look on his face that said it all.  He knew what was going on was a complete cluster and probably knew that I was getting pretty frustrated with the whole thing.

The "trainer" was pulling and pulling on the lead rope and at one point, he did give a little, to which she acknowledged out loud, "good, you gave" and I almost said to her "you didn't."  She kept pulling and pulling, no matter what he did.  I think I was just appalled, so much that I was speechless.  Finally she let go of the lead rope (so I had it) and went to get a whip.  She started rubbing him on the butt with that, while I kept an even pressure on the lead, still allowing him to toss his head and fuss a bit, without letting up on the pressure.  As soon as he took a step forward, I released.  Then some pressure, 2nd step, release.  After that I led him through the barn like he'd been halter broke forever.

Getting him into a stall was more of the same, but then it was over.  I took off all the crap on his head and neck and loved on him.  He's not even my horse, nor am I the one being paid to train him, but I tried to take the time to reassure him after all of that crap.

After Jeff and I left the barn, on the way home I had a surprising and unexpected reaction to the whole thing.  I started crying.  Jeff was alarmed.  I told him that I felt like life wasn't fair.  How is it that someone is earning money training horses who doesn't even understand the basic concept of releasing when a horse gives to pressure??  I know there are a lot of people who don't know things like this, or aren't good at it.  (I know there's a LOT I still could learn about, well..  everything.)  But if you are going to market yourself as a professional, you better at least have the basics down. 

I had, very briefly, tried training horses for other people years ago and all it got me was hurt and disgusted.  I ended up mostly with horses that were 7-8 years old, spoiled rotten, and dangerous.  They were owned by people who wanted a kid's horse in 30 days or a trail horse in two weeks (I'm not even kidding).  That was not the kind of training I wanted to be doing, so I quit.  My specialty is babies, building a relationship, taking an unhandled horse and creating a willing partnership, a horse that LIKES people, but is respectful too.  I won't toot my horn much, hell I don't think very highly of myself at all, but I will say that I am GOOD with young horses.  I've worked with many of them over the years, my own and others, and when it comes to horses, that is my true passion. 

It hurt my heart so much to see the amount of sheer incompetence that resulted in this little colt being so terrified today.  I know that if *I* had been hired to train him, things would have been much different for him.  It hurts me heart to think of all of the young horses out there who never have a chance, are never handled, never taught how to live with people, never given the insurance that good handling and training can provide.  Or the ones who are handled and trained, but are abused.  I had quite a good cry today, out of the blue, about all of those things.  It left me feeling drained.  I pretty much don't want to deal with people, as far as offering to train for others, and I don't have the resources to start taking in young horses and training them - as much as that is my dream.  So what do I do?  I don't know. 

The world feels heavy tonight.

Long Time, No Post

I've been neglecting this blog again...  it happens.  I've been really cracking down on myself to get back to posting on a regular basis on my Studio Blog.  I think that blog may take over as my main place to post, since I'm not very big into horses right now and I'm not sure I will be again, at least not for a while.

I found a home for both Leah and Pink.  (My Arabian mare and her 2011 filly)  They both went to a good friend in Colorado who runs a lesson and therapeutic program for little girls.  I know they will both be spoiled rotten - by my friend and the girls she teaches.  I'm very thankful that she was able to take both of them.  Her horses all have a lifetime home with her and she promises that if anything changes, they will come back to me.  It was very hard for me to give up Leah - again - but she told me that if I ever change my mind, I can come and get her.  I don't see that happening; I know Leah is safe there and has a wonderful home.  That was all I wanted for her the very first time I gave her away.

So now it's just me and my boy, Bo.  I go back and forth with my plans for him.  Sometimes I start dreaming big and think that I will try EVERYTHING with him - all the horsey sports I've wanted to try and all the training dreams I've ever had...  Sometimes it's enough to just go take care of him and hang out for a few minutes, listening to him eat his dinner.  I guess it's fair to say that I've been feeling a low grade depression off and on ever since I first gave up on horsey dreams - when Cazador left.

My husband and I still have ambitions to buy property somewhere in the area and start up our own little hobby farm.  Oddly enough it's now him who talks about getting more horses in the future.  I think when we can have them in our own yard maybe the fire will come back.  I do sometimes miss training - working with youngsters and the magic that happens when and unhandled horse becomes a friend and partner.  I would like to be a part of that again sometime.  It breaks my heart to know of the situation right now with he drought and the horse market.  I've seen numerous horses in my area given away.  Most, if not all, of them are untrained.  I would love to be in the position to take them in, get them trained up and back out in the world, with the insurance that good training can bring.  The world is a scary place right now - for animals and people.  I wish I could do more to help.

Ok, well, enough rambling.  I'll try and check in here when I think about it or when I have some horsey news.  For now it's pretty much time to hibernate for the winter and see how fuzzy Bo gets!  :-) 

A quick update

Much has happened in my little horse world in the past few months.

Earlier, I had made a post about a scare at the vet with Leah, my Arabian mare.  Well, just a little over a month after that, she became horribly injured, tearing a large chunk of her face away.  She spent 10 days at the vet where they first tried to stitch everything back together and then, due to infection and too much blood loss, ended up having to remove everything so that she would heal open.  The entire thing was a horrifying ordeal and very hard to deal with.  I'm so very thankful for my husband, who helped me through all of it and was the one who cleaned out her wound every day since I was having so much trouble even looking at it.  

I'm happy to report that now, nearly 4 months later, she is almost completely healed.  There is only a thin line down the side of her face to show that anything had ever happened.  She also had some nerve damage, which causes her lower lip on that side to droop, but even that has been improving.

Yesterday, we went on a long trail ride with some friends.  I rode Bo, and Jeff rode Leah.  I'm still dealing with some confidence issues when riding her so Jeff decided he would ride her.  He is what I would call a confident beginner.  She needs a rider who is confident and I know that my recent fear only causes a downward spiral when she spooks at things.  She and Jeff did very well on the ride.  She became spooky a couple of times, but quickly got over it and kept on down the trail.  Next time maybe I'll be brave and ride her out.  

Starting Over - Opposite Ends

Bo and Leah are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to horses.

Bo is... "dull" as another trainer put it. He's naturally very lazy, has a stubborn streak, and though he is friendly, he's not terribly respectful on the ground. He doesn't have much concept of personal space and he's not very responsive - at all. All of these things have continued to grow throughout the years and I've come to realie that he's gotten away with it all, because he's such a good horse in so many other ways. He's quiet, he's gentle, anyone can ride him, he'll do (just about) anything you ask - though he may be slow to get there. He's also pretty much unflappable, not much scares him at all. He's probably been coasting along with a comfortable "B-C" grade all these years.

Leah, on the other hand, is highly responsive. Anything you ask her to do, she does it yesterday. In the early years I fell off of her so many times, because I'd ask her to turn, she'd flip a 90 or 180 - and I'd be in the dirt. She's quick, flighty, tense, and afraid of ev-ery-thing. She's been a pretty good girl all these years, pretty easy to handle, scary smart, I'd say overall she wants to do good. She's been allowed to coast too.

Both of them have gaping holes in their training, primarily because their early years pre-dated me knowing much. I started them both under saddle and did all of their early education, but looking back there was SO much I didn't know. (there's STILL so much I don't know...)

I've learned that Bo needs sensitizing. He needs to learn that he can't coast anymore, when I say move, he needs to MOVE. Leah needs DEsensitizing, she needs to learn that she's not going to die at any second and that it's okay to chill out.

I've already gotten started in what is sort of starting over with them both. I've been doing groundwork, making Bo hustle his feet. Then I switch gears and encourage Leah to stand still as plastic bags go whipping past her.

I have to say that I think it is a great deal of fun working with the two of them. If Leah gets all spun up and I feel nervous about being on her, I can go get on Bo and decompress with an easy ride. If I get frustrated with Bo's lack of responsiveness, I can get Leah out and smile at her "snap-to" way of doing things.

I think they balance each other out quite well and between the two of them, I can learn a lot.

Baby Pictures and a Scare

My big project over the past 6 months that my husband was deployed was to go through all of my stuff. Most of the things I own have been boxed up in storage off and on for the past several years. It was like Christmas, going through some boxes that hadn't been opened in 6 years or so.

One of the things I found was a package of old horse pictures, among them were all of Bo's baby pictures. I'm planning to scan them in and put them on my webpage to start a photo gallery of my big handsome boy.

Leah is back and looks fantastic. She gave us a scare though last weekend. I found her in her stall, drooling and unable to swallow. After a trip to the vet, some druges and a stomach tube, they still didn't know what was wrong with her. She was left there for a night of observation and she was finally able to eat with the help of some Bute. (an anti-inflammatory painkiller for those non horse folks who may find their way here)

When we brought her home, I discovered Bo sticking his tounge out and making faces, much the way Leah had been when we first found her drooling. He didn't let it stop him from eating though - not much ever stops Bo from eating.

We finally came to the conclusion that it was a strange type of grass that popped up in a bale of hay they shared. The bale was chock full of some type of fluffy grass seeds that were smooth when felt one way, but like sandpaper when rubbed the wrong way. Bo didn't finish his portion of that bale, whereas Leah did. I think the vet's theory of the mouth or throat being scratched up was right.

All is well now, but it was a tense couple of days wondering why Leah couldn't swallow anything she tried to eat.

Strangeness

"The strangeness of this life cannot be measured." - John Dunbar, Dances With Wolves

That quote pops into my head from time to time and this is one of those times.

Just two months ago I reduced my small herd of horses to just one. I've been enjoying only having one horse to fuss over - one horse to care for and worry about and make plans with. At the same time there has been times where it feels strange to be at the barn. Once I'm done with Bo, I'm... done. Several times I've stood at the gate to his pen after putting him away and finishing chores and I've thought,

"Now what? ... Well, now I guess I go... home."

I think I've gotten used to it and have been enjoying having just the one.

Tonight I came home from a get together at a friend's house and checked my e-mail. I found a reply from one of the ladies who had given a home to two of my horses, an Arabian mare and her weanling filly. We've been e-mailing back and forth about the "girls".

I was surprised to see that her message was asking if I'd be interested in taking the mare back. She said she's just not working out for what they wanted her for. Without hesitation, I knew my answer would be yes. This was the arrangement I had made with them, for both horses. I gave both of the horses to them, under the condition that they be given back to me if things didn't work out. I wrote back and we've arranged that they'll bring her back tomorrow afternoon.

I'm not really sure what to do. This mare means so much to me and it was gut wrenching to see her go. I had decided at one point to keep her and Bo. That way my husband and I could each have a horse to ride and I'd have my two extremes again - Bo is the calm, quiet, lazy, "safe" horse (even though he's a stallion) and Leah, the mare, is the one with more get-up-and-go. She is a sportscar to his luxury sedan. When I had thought of keeping both of them, I had considered gelding Bo so that they could stay together. She has always been "his" girl. She was the first mare he bred and all through these years, he notices her more than any other mare.

When I decided to let her go, my husband confessed that the idea of gelding Bo had made him sad. He had been hoping that we would have a couple of Bo babies to raise up later on when we have property and when Bo is older.

Now everything is up in the air again. All I know is that pretty little Leah is coming home to me again. Beyond that we'll just have to figure it out...

Daring to Dream Again

After being spread so thin all these years with all the horses, it's been a slow, sputtering start to making plans again. I think, after toying around with the idea for years, I'd like to try and start training Bo for Reining. I've had an interest in that event for many years and I have always thought Bo might have the makings of a good Reining horse. He has the build for it and is a nice mover. He's willing and has a good disposition.

We have a LONG way to go to get there. Most of the required movements are things I've never done before and have never trained a horse to do. Things like flying lead changes, spins, and sliding stops... Then there's the fact that Bo is not very soft at all. He's got a good, soft mouth, but he's kinda lunk headed and doesn't have much finesse as of yet. A lot of that is my fault; back when I first started him I didn't know much more than how to get a horse rideable at a very basic level. He is very willing to please though and has a great mind. I foresee a bit of starting over in some areas.

Compound all of that by both Bo and I being pretty out of shape right now. Yeah, it's gonna be a bit of an uphill battle from the start.

I would like to put him in some local open shows this summer in whatever classes we can get ready for. I had planned to start with stuff like Walk/Trot classes and maybe... maybe Novice Reining - if we can get anywhere close to being ready for that. We both need a lot of conditioning and need to learn a lot more together.

I think it will be fun and if we can go to some shows and not make fools of ourselves, having done most of the work on our own, it'll be great.

The End of an Era

First off, I have to be the world's worst blogger... Once again it's been almost a YEAR since my last post. *sigh*

For anyone who doesn't know and might come across this blog and the possible cliffhanger of my last post... I'll give a super fast update. I decided to name the mustang Calen. His training went well, but we did not go to the competition in Fort Collins. It was right around the time of the EHV-1 scare and it turned out that a man where I keep my horses had taken a real liking to Calen and wanted to adopt him. So I was allowed to swap from the Makeover into their Trainer's program and let the man adopt Calen straight from the BLM and me, without going to the competition. I was sad to have missed out on going, but overall I think it was a great outcome. Calen got to stay right here where he was comfortable. This man is good with his horses and takes excellent care of them. Best of all I still get to see Calen every day!

On to my post of current events...

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Ok, so my title might be a bit dramatic but, for the first time in almost 12 years I only have one horse. (and I almost had none)

A few months ago as a result of health problems, escalating hay costs, and I'm sad to say some general burnout on a lot of fronts, I decided to find homes for my horses, Hay has been twice what it normally costs all year - when I can find it. With winter coming I didn't want to get into a situation where I couldn't feed my horses. I felt financially, physically, and emotionally exhausted. At one point I had decided that they were all going to go, I just couldn't do it anymore. The horses, the trailer, the truck, the tack, anything that said horse was going to go. Luckily my husband talked me out of such drastic measures and he wanted me to keep Bo.

I first saw Bo when he was a month old; he'll be 11 next year. Over the years he has been my faithful compantion, my steady mount, the one I can "put away" for months and then go for a ride like we were never apart. Over the years this has caused him to be put on the back burner while I worked with a string of youngsters and training projects - both mine and other people's. As of last week when my last other horse left, it's just Bo and I. It never really has been just Bo and I. From the time I first had him, I had at least one other horse and at most, 6 other horses. All of the other ones needed more work, more training, more attention.

Through it all, Bo just watched and waited. Now he will be my focus.

I've had a lot of dreams with horses flicker and die out over the years as life and a string of bad luck after bad luck interfered. I've been trying to stoke the fires for the plans I once had with Bo, before getting sidetracked by all of the youngsters who came along and all of life's inevitable interruptions. I think maybe next year he and I will finally do more together. I'd like to show him and spend a lot more time riding in the mountains.

This is the first time I've ever had just one horse, but what a horse he is!

Week Two update

First off, I think I've finally decided on a name... Even though Jasper has been in my head for a little while, it just doesn't seem to fit him. So I've decided to name him Calen. Although I'm still trying to decide on a pronunciation. I like "Ka-lon" - like Talon, with a C. However I think the actual name is pronounced "Kay-Lynn" - but that just souns feminine to me. We'll see, but at least I have something to refer to him as here, instead of just "him" or "the horse" or "the mustang". Calen it is!

There hasn't been a whole to report for the last several days. I gave him a few days off over last weekend. He did get to meet my other boys and they got along fairly well - although he is really not impressed with my colt, who thinks he's big and bad and rules the roost.

On Wednesday he got to meet a friend of mine. She was about to get up to him in the arena while he was loose and get ahold of his halter. She patted and poked and rubben him all over. The worst he tried to do was walk around her i a circle a couple of times, but he already knows "Whoa" and he stopped and stood for her. It was good to see him react favorably with a new person. A big part of my training with him is going to be having many different people handle and ride him. I want him to be at ease with other people, in case he does go to a new home in June. Mustangs have a tendancy sometimes to bond with one person and be distrustful of others, so it's always a priority with me to try and have other people work with them too.

Yesterday, Thursday, he wore a saddle pad and saddle for the first time. It was the second time I had tried to get a saddle pad on him - the first time he'd danced around and bolted away several times. He was starting off on the same foot and the friend who'd met him on Wednesday happened to call me in the middle of it. I told her what was going on and she said "Just put it on him, he's fine" I told her I didn't want to rush him, but she said her impression was that he was smart enough to handle a direct approach. Her advice was to be matter-of-fact and just do it. So I threw the pad up on his back and he walked around a bit, kinda unsure, but after a few more tosses of the pad, he was fine. I went around to the off side and threw it on and he didn't even react.

One thing I've noticed with this horse is that it doesn't seem to be as imprtant to expose him to things on both sides. General horse training knowledge says that when you are training a horse, it is like you are trainging two horses - the right side and the left side. Whatever you do on one side, you need to do on the other. I've found that to be true, but with this horse things are different. After he is exposed to something on one side, reacts to it, and then accepts it - I can go around to the other side and he is almost always immediately accepting. It is interesting for sure.

I told my friend that I had hoped to saddle him, but I thought that might be too much. Again she told me to just do it, he would be fine. So, I took her advice and gave it a whirl. She was right. I showed him the saddle and then put it on his back. He circled around a bit and wasn't sure what to do, but then he calmed down. I didn't cinch the saddle as I ran out of time, but I put it on him and took it off three times.

I had taken the camera out with me, but had left it outside of the arena. So I snapped a (crummy) pic with my cell phone:

After I took the saddle and pad off, I led him back through the arena, down through the barn and into his stall. I noticed a dramatic improvement in his leading, he was finally walking alongside me, instead of drifting along behind like he's done all along. Also, when it came time to go into his stall, he walked right in with me instead if hesitating. I think my friend was right and I've been kind of babying him all along. He needs a more direct matter-of-fact approach. I've been moving along at the pace I normally would, but it seems like that's just too slow for him. I think he's been bored with me!

I did some "relationship" work with him last night as well. When he first saw the saddle, I'd put it up on the roundpen fence. He was unsure about it and I had him loose in the round pen. I was talking to him and petting him and then walking away. A few times he actually came over to me. When I was talking to my friend, she said she'd noticed that he always faces me, always watches me and seemed totally relaxed around me. She saw that when I went to catch him in the arena, he was standing with his head down and hind leg cocked. I think even though I haven't been sure about it, he and I are building up a good relationship.

I'm excited about our next session and I'm planning to do more work with the saddle, hopefully I'll get it cinched up in the next day or two. I'm curious as to what his reaction will be. So far, even though he's been unsure about many things and has spooked now and then, he hasn't really blown up about anything. I'm curious if he will buck like a madman with the saddle for the first time or if he'll just accept it like he has everything else so far.

Videos!

We've taken several videos of Calen, the mustang, in the past week. I figured I'd throw them all together in one post for your viewing pleasure! :D

First is a clip of us working on some introduction to lunging out in the arena. This was Day 5 and oly his 2nd try at lunging. He did very well. He turned away from me once and I might have gotten too far ahead of him there. But we got back together and ended on a good note:




The second video is from Day 6. He was loose in the arena and I decided to film and approach and retreat as I petted him and then stepped away. He wasn't to sure about the camera thing I was holding, but he'll get used to being filmed with as much of a compulsive picture taker as I am! This video really shows off his beautiful coloring. Most of the videos I have were done at night and the camera makes everything green:




Third and fourth video are of us practing yielding forequarters and disengaging hindquarters. We're still working on the front end, but he has the disengage DOWN. This was the first time I asked him for a complete circle on either end:







A very shrt clip of us headed out of the arena after the session above:




The next video is of him meeting the rest of the bachelor herd: Bo, my black Paint stallion and Cazador, my overo Spanish Mustang colt. Cazador thinks he runs things around here, but he is so wrong. He didn't endear himself to Calen at all. After this video was filmed we noticed that anytime Cazador approached Calen, he met pinned ears. Calen was NOT impressed with the Spanish machismo, lol:



I think that about catches everyone up on the video end of things! I have some big news that I'll talk about, and show a crummy picture of, in the next post - right after this one!

Days 6 and 7

Yesterday I spent some time with him in his stall. I introduced him to some grooming and I think he enjoyed it. I also detangled and brushed out his mane. He has a beautiful long mane. He didn't look terribly thrilled in this pic, but he was really good for his first bit of a pampering session.

Afterwards, I let him loose in the arena for a while. We did a short training session, a bit of in hand work, followed by his intriduction to the saddle pad. It went well in the end, but it was definitely more of a challenge than when I introduced it to Onyx. It seems that he is quick to spook, but just as quick to calm down again - which is good. He'll jump and run away a bit if he can, but then just as fast everything is back to good.

Tonight all I did was love on him a bit. He had the day/night off from any training.

This morning I had left the house at 9am to go to town for business and to run errands. I didn't get back home tonight until almost 10pm. It was a long, long day. Tomorrow is shaping up to be just as jam packed. At this rate, I can't wait until Monday - when things will slow down and I can get back to work at the barn! For most people, the weekends are probably their prime time to work with their horses... for me it seems to be just the opposite!

Day 5

Today we had a short session with the mustang. Jeff went into his stall first and rubbed on him a little bit.

Then I went in to his stall and haltered then unhaltered him a couple of times. Next we headed off to the arena and did a bit of yielding hindquarters and forequarters. Then we worked on a bit of lunging. He started to learn a new bad trick, where he spun away from me and ran straight away, taking the rope with him. So for a few go rounds things were a bit rocky, but then we got back in sync together and finished on a good note. Jeff walked up to him and rubbed on him some in the arena. That scared him at first - a new place where two people were near him, but he calmed down quickly. Goring into the barn aisle from the arena, he spooked and launched forward, past me, but immediately stopped. He'd seen another person in the aisle behind us. I gave him a pop quiz on disengaging his hindquarters and we got turned around to go back to his stall.

Short session today and Jeff did take a couple of videos, but I haven't watched them yet. I'll take a look at them tomorrow and probably post them then. For now I'm off to bed! My arm is super sore from him jerking away from me those few times, I'm hoping I didn't tear a muscle. I'm anxious to see how bad it's gonna hurt in the morning!

Day Four - Graduation!

First, the big news -- Notice anything missing?:

Today was Graduation Day for the mustang! (Jasper? maybe..?) After our session tonight, I took off his necktag and then his halter. He hasn't been crazy about me touching his head, but after I took the halter off, he really enjoyed me rubbing where it had been sitting the past few days.

When I first got to the barn, I couldn't see him in his stall and then I saw the tips of his ears. He was laying down, taking a nap. After he got up, I took this picture and I love the way it turned out:

For our training session tonight, we went to the arena and did a bit of lunging work, then some more on disengaging his hindquarters. Then I turned him loose in the arena for the first time since we started our training. I left him there and came back a few times to approach and pet him, then retreat. He did well, only leaving me once. After my barn chores were done, I did more approach and retreat with him at liberty before clipping the lead rope on. Then we worked on some yielding of the forequarters and hindquarters.

After he was back in his stall, I undid his neck tag. I was happy to be able to get it off of him without cutting it. Onyx's tag was so gunked up with mud that there was no untying it, I had to cut it off of her on her big graduation day. I'd say that is certainly an advantage I have with him over Onyx - he is CLEAN.

His necktag, on the kitchen counter instead of around his neck:

After he stood so nicely for me to untie and unwind the necktag cord, I decided to give him a pop quiz on being caught and haltered. He was unsure, but he did very well and so I took his halter off. I then rubbed and rubbed his head and he seemed to really like that.

Today was a great day with him!

Day Three - Little Things

Today I worked on a lot of little things with my mustang.

I caught him in his stall and took him out to the arena. Everyday his leading improves more and more. I'm not focusing too much on refinement right now; as long as he goes with me and doesn't fall behind or charge ahead, I let him set his bubble of space. Once he gets more comfortable with being close to me, we'll get "proper" on the lead.

I put him in the round pen and practiced walking up to him to clip the lead on his halter. He did well with that, so I turned him loose of his lead rope. I went and cleaned his stall, then came back with a surcingle. I started working on some little odds and ends. Here's what we did today:

More rope work - flicking it over his back, neck, and rump. Also looped it around his neck, right behind his head and flapped it around to desensitize the top of his head. Then put it around his girth area and worked on his barrel - elbow to flank, tightening, flapping and just in general being "weird" with the rope. He wasn't too concerned. He already gets this look on his face when he gets comfortable that is like "WHAT are you doing??"

I've already told him a time or two that people are just strange, he'll get used to it. Haha

I put the surcingle on him and tightened it up. Not as tight as the saddle will be, but enough that he could feel it. He packed that around for a little while today.

We started work on disengaging the hindquarters and I gave him a pop quiz when I put him back in his stall - he passed with flying colors.

I introduced him to a jumping human. At first he freaked out and looked at me like I'd grown three heads. That was by far the thing that took him the longest to accept and boy was I glad when he did... My legs were burning! As soon as he accepted it, he dropped his head and looked half asleep when I did it again - and again.

We wandered out into the arena together from the round pen. There we worked on a bit of lunging and at one point he got a little too spun up and got away from me. All he did was end up trotting away, then stopping to sniff around. I strolled over, picked up the rope, and we got back to work. No big deal.

Back in his stall we had a couple of minor breakthroughs. First, he came and drank out of a bucket of water that I offered him. Secondly, he got all excited when I came in with his hay and came over to me - instead of me going to him. My standard feeding time gentling routine is working well on him I'd say.

I think I might also have named him, but I'm not 100% sure just yet. The name I'm considering is Jasper. My first EMM horse I had named Onyx and I thought I might go with a gemstone theme for my Makeover horses - of which I plan to have more in the future! Onyx was actually suggested to be named Onyxia - after a black dragon in World of Warcraft. (Yes, I'm a dork who plays WoW - though not very often these days..) I had thought of naming this guy after a red dragon in the game, but so far none of the names I've come across have seemed right. I'm not ruling out a dragon name, I think that would be cool too, but for now it's looking like Jasper might be it.

Here is a Day Three picture - this was back in his stall, still wearing the surcingle:

I was out there alone today, so still no training pictures of he and I together. Not that elementary groundwork makes for thrilling scenes, but I do want to post some pictures of that soon. :)

I also think his graduation from his necktag will be soon. I'm planning to take it off tomorrow. :)

Day Two!

Well technically today should have been Day Three, but alas I was knocked out of comission by the worst migraine of my life that hit early yesterday afternoon and didn't ease up until 6 hours at the hospital ER, an excruciating shot of painkiller, an IV, and about 8 frantic trips to the bathroom to throw up. Needless to say, there was no horse training taking place yesterday. I was very frustrated about losing a day already, but Jeff was kind enough to point out that I'll gain many more days than I had with Onyx due to it not being blizzard season anymore. The chance for a spring storm or two is still out there, but so far so good weather-wise.

(This is what I had to contend with while training Onyx, my first Makeover horse) --

(that's looking at the back door of the barn - the drift was over the barn roof - and it happened like this a few times that winter)

Anyway, today I started by working on petting the mustang in his stall and then I lead him through the barn to the arena. He was great at leading this time and didn't balk at doorways like our first trip through the barn on a lead. Once in the arena, we practiced just a bit of lunging. I was kinda shocked when he picked up changing direction after the 2nd time I asked him. I guess I still forget sometimes how smart these horses are and I think this guy is particularly bright.

After a handful of circles and a few changes of direction, I was able to stop him on "Whoa" and we went off to the round pen. He got to play and roll in there while I went to clean his stall. Then we did some rope work all down both sides and all around his legs. I handled both of his front legs and by the time I was done, he had his head down, half-asleep. He also stopped flinching right before I touch him. Anticipation of contact is common with the wild ones and they often tense up the instant before you touch them in the beginning. Jeff watched the whole session and it was fun to explain to him the things I was doing. Despite him watching everything and me having brought the camera to the barn - we still didn't get any pictures of me working with the horse today! I really need to get better about that.

I did get a few pictures of him back in his stall. He was watching as Jeff watered the other boys and he was very interested in the clicks and beeps the camera was making, though he wasn't quite brave enough to come check it out.

I noticed while working with him today that he was starting to get into being petted. He tried to move a bit closer to me every now and then when I would stop leading him. He's been following me at a bit of a distance so far, but when I stopped today, he would step up to stand close to me. I really think as soon as he figures out that I don't plan to eat him, he'll be a pocket pony in no time. The impression I get from him is that he really wants to be affectionate and hang out with us, he's just not quite sure it's okay yet. That'll come with time, but I see him being very sweet, very soon.

2011 Colorado EMM - The beginning!

It has been a whirlwind of a few days. On Thursday morning, we began our journey down to Canon City, CO to pick up my horse for the 2011 Colorado Extreme Mustang Makeover. On the way, we stopped in Denver to have lunch with one of my best childhood friends who I hadn't seen in 15 years! It was fantastic to see her again and we agreed that we need to get together again soon - certainly before another many years goes by. She is planning to attend the EMM event in June - it would be awesome to see her there.

Thursday night we stayed at a hotel in Colorado Springs and finally got a good night's sleep after having hit the road on only about 5 hours of sleep. The next morning we enjoyed a great breakfast at the hotel and hit the road again. Here is the rig outside the hotel:

When we arrived at Canon City, we checked in at the prison. We had to be escorted in to the facility and back to where the horses are kept. Someone asked me for my halter and they left to go halter my horse.

This pickup was even more mysterious that when I got Onyx. There, when I checked in they told me what I was getting. I knew she was a black filly and had her paperwork before I ever saw her. This time I didn't know anything at all and the chute was out of sight. So when Jeff backed the trailer up, we just had to wait and see what came down the alley. I heard calls of "horse coming!" from the guys working the gates. I saw under one solid gate, some big hooves running. As he first came into sight, I saw a BIG sorrel - he looked huge.

He trotted calmly up the alley and stopped at the trailer to sniff it. A guy waved a stick at him and he jumped in. One of the guys there called out "Oh, he's gonna be easy!"

I really wish I could have filmed the whole thing, the suspense was exciting, wating that alleyway and not knowing what I'd see when the horse appeared. Unfortunately no cameras or cell phones were allowed in the prison complex, so there are no pictures of when I first saw him.

At our first rest stop, Jeff took a couple of pictures:

Here I am peeking in and saying Hi to my new charge:

Jeff and I both marveled at his size and the length and thickness of his legs. He has the heavy feet and bones that Jeff had admired on Onyx, but I think this guy's legs are even heavier, and much longer.

I began reading his paperwork once we were back on the road. He is from the South Steens HMA in Oregon. He was captured at approximately 2-1/2 years old and is now 4. His height was estimated on his paperwork as being 15.1h.

Upon returning home, we decided to back the trailer up to the barn and unload him into the arena for me to start working with him. We wanted to take every precaution to prevent his escape and so we had quite a plan of panels and such organized to funnel him into the arena and to contain him if he jumped anything.

I instructed Jeff o stay on the far side of the panel down the aisle,to turn the horse back if he tried to go through or over the panel. Jeff decided to set up the camera to record, right before he went over the panel and waited. I'm glad he filmed this, because after all of our preparations to keep this "wild" horse contained - this is what happened:



He simply sniffed the trailer again, stepped off, walked down the aisle, around the corner, and into the arena. As I strolled along behind him, I looked over at Jeff and laughed. His comment was "this horse is gonna be cake." Haha!

Jeff took one picture of the horse exploring the arena:

Unfortunately we didn't take any more pictures after this, because we were both wrapped up in working with him. We opened the round pen and "drove" him in there. (again, we basically just pointed him in the direction and he walked in. Jeff watched as I got him caught and began to work on touching him. After I had been rubbing his shoulder and neck, Jeff then asked if he could work with the horse a bit. So he was able to touch a new wild mustang for the first time. Jeff and the horse both did great and Jeff continued the petting and rubbing until we had him comfortable with being petted from head to hip. Then I took over again and worked on leading. When we called it a day, I led him out of the round pen, out of the arena, back down the aisle, and into his stall.

For the rest of the day I went in and out of his stall a few times, getting him water, and hay, and petting him. He settled right in, eating, drinking, playing in his water, and watching me as I took care of my other horses. All in all it was a fantastic first day!

He is very curious and most certainly easy-going. I made it a point not to get him too worked up or moving too fast, but I can report that he seems to have a very nice, smooth-looking trot. I'm very excited about our next three months together!

In Like a Lion

March has arrived and found me to be busy, busy, busy! I am hard at work on my businesses (of which there are two at current count) and making preparations for the next three months of training a mustang for the Colorado Extreme Mustang Makeover. In just one week we will be packing up to make the trip to colorado and pick up my mystery mustang gelding. I wonder what he will be like? How big will he be? What color? Will he be easy to get along with? All of those questions will have to wait until next weekend.

The new truck is just about ready to go. We just had a Line-X bedliner put in, along with a brand new B&W Turnover Ball gooseneck hitch. This will be my first experience with the Turnover Ball. Prior to this I've dealt with fold down, Signature Series, and fixed hitches. I know the Turnover Ball system is popular and I'm eager to see how it will work out. We have a new Prodigy brake controller on the way and Jeff will install that when it gets here. He'll also be wiring in a 7-pin connector into the bed of the truck. That should be the last step in getting the truck ready to haul my trailer.

In other news, we now have a treadmill, something we've talked about for a while now. Jeff has been making good use of it, getting up and running every day before work. We've only had it for the last three days and I've been so busy and hadn't gotten around to getting on there until today. I just ran a mile and decided to quit on that for now. I have an ankle that was badly sprained a few years back and the same foot was most recently crushed by a horse. Most times it doesn't bother me, but the last time I ran on a treadmill I overdid it by quite a bit and couldn't walk normally for days afterwards. I think I learned my lesson, but we'll see; I love to run and I can certainly be my own worst enemy when it comes to that.

I am looking forward to getting a jump on getting back in shape this year. It has in the single digits and snowing here for a couple of weeks which makes outdoor activities unpleasant to say the least, but that doesn't matter now. It's very nice to be able to run at home.

A Horsey Valentine's Day

Yesterday was a very horsey Valentine's Day.

The mailman came in the morning and delivered my information packed for the Mustang Makeover and also a box containing the hoof picks that I'd ordered. I'm particular about my hoof picks. Years ago I found a style that I really liked and I have stuck with it. My last one disappeared a few months ago and I had bought a couple of the cheap basic metal ones to hold me over. But I finally had enough of trying to use them. After I wasn't able to find ones that are the style I like at any stores locally, I ordered two of my faves again. I get them from SmartPak and this is what they look like:

Awesome Hoofpick

After unpacking the picks, I read through the EMM paperwork and found out I'd be getting a gelding (yay!). Then the horsey day continued when Jeff got home from work. He had sent me a text message earlier in the day saying he'd gone to town and gotten me "stuff for valentine/mustang makeover day".

When he walked in the door after work he had a huge beautiful vase with a dozen roses, ferns, and baby's breath. Then he wanted me to go outside and there I saw that he had bought me a big heavy-duty wheelbarrow and a set of really nice hoof nippers. I was happy, but teased him a bit about getting me something to haul poop in for Valentine's Day. He kinda rolled his eyes and said he'd taken a lot of teasing from guys he works with for the same reason. He said they were calling him "Mr. Romantic" for buying his wife a wheelbarrow. In all seriousness though, I've been needing a wheelbarrow for quite a while now. I've been borrowing others' at the barn and they don't seem to mind, but having your own tools is always better.

As for the hoof nippers, they are very nice and they will complete my do-it-yourself hoof trimming set, joining the hoof knife and rasp he got me for my birthday and the Hoofjack that came on Christmas. Now I need to get busy trimming some feet!

A Clue!

This morning the mailman brought my information packed for the Mustang Makeover! In it I found the press release form that they send for trainers to give to their local media. While reading the press release for this one, I happened to notice that they said all of the mustangs for this event are geldings and will be 3 years or older. So now I have a clue on my mystery mustang! I'm happy that the horse will be a gelding. This means he won't disrupt my bachelor herd and I can work him alongside my horses without worrying about them being distracted. I can also turn him out with my guys. An added bonus is - there will be no mare hormones to deal with! Haha.

I'm getting more and more excited!

Like a Kid at Christmas

First off, although I suppose this could be horse-related as it is about a truck, I gotta warn you that this is a post falling under the "Etc" of my blog title. ;)

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I woke up this morning and started my semi-usual routine. Bathroom, get dressed, turn on the computer, brush hair, then go start coffee. On the way down to start my coffee I suddenly felt like a kid at Christmas, or more accurately, a kid the day after Christmas. I went to the living room window and peaked out. Yep, the big truck is still there.

Now, a bit of back story. I've had a thing for a certain truck for quite a while. My dream truck: Dodge Ram, 2500 with the Cummins turbo diesel, manual transmission, 4x4, quad cab, long box. Many year ago one of my uncles visited and he was driving that exact truck. That was the first time I had any up close experience with these trucks and that was when I fell in love with the beast. His truck was white in color and was beautiful.

For a time I owned a truck that was close... It met the criteria, except that it was an automatic, 2-wheel-drive and short bed. It did have several aftermarket parts which made it impressively fast for a big truck. Oddly enough, it was also white.

Shortly after Jeff and I met, we decided to start up a horse hauling business together. For that purpose he bought a truck which happened to meet all of my dream truck criteria. It was also flashy, being white with chrome accents. That truck got looks wherever I drove it. However, the longer we had it the more apparent it became that it had been abused by former owners. The truck had been overworked quite a bit before we ever touched it. Parts started to fail and we both got tired of it. Long after we decided to stop hauling we were still fighting the truck's hard working past. We finally decided to sell it. Even though it fit my idea of a "dream truck" in looks and options, I didn't trust it anymore. The truck had also been a source of tension in our relationship because of the business not working out and quite frankly I wanted it gone.

We had the truck for sale for several months and earlier this week it sold. The night before we signed the papers, I was browsing online classified ads, shopping for some used wheels for my "in-between" truck. I bought an old Chevy 2500 for a horse truck when we decided the problem truck had to go. I happened to see an ad for a Dodge truck just like the one we were selling. When I pulled up the ad, I was stunned to see the pictures; it looked just like the truck we were selling too! I called Jeff over and showed him, just because I thought it was kinda funny.

The next day we went and signed the papers to officially sell the other truck. Later that afternoon, Jeff asked me what the truck I'd seen was going for. Long story short, that night we ended up going to look at the one I'd found listed for sale and....

We bought it.

Jeff made the joke that we went without a Cummins for about 8 hours.

We had to wait a few days for the bank to send a check and to actually get the truck. We went and picked it up last night. Driving the truck home was, for me, a bit surreal. The truck is almost identical, inside and out, to the one we just sold. The one that I spent countless days and miles in, hauling livestock all over the country and taking my own horses places. The one I decided I wanted nothing to do with because of its breaking down on me a few times and the fights Jeff and I had had over it.

This truck is the same year, make, model, engine, transmission, cab, box length, color, and interior. The main difference isa that it has many aftermarket parts on it, like my first Dodge. All I can say about the upgrades is: Oh. My. God. can it MOVE. This truck is huge, even taller than the one we just sold because it has a leveling kit, raising the front end at least a few inches. It is creepy fast. When the turbo kicks in, it's hard to believe that something this massive can move so fast. Jeff and I both drove it around some last night, putting it through it's paces and glancing at each other wide-eyed at its power. This truck is in incredible shape inside and out and doesn't appear to have been abused like the other one. It doesn't even have an in bed hitch and the unlined bed is in great shape so we're quite sure it hasn't been used for much heavy work.

I'm still kind of in shock and had to go make sure that the truck is still in the driveway. It was strange to see another big white Dodge with chrome sitting out there.

There is a lot to do with the truck. We are going to have a spray in bedliner put in, as well as a gooseneck hitch, trailer brake system and wiring. Its maiden voyage pulling the trailer will most likely be to go pickup my mustang next month!

I have a busy show schedule planned this spring and summer with the Mustang Makeover right in the middle of it. I'm really excited that I'll be driving another dream truck! :)