Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Oh boy... Narrow minded sheeple
I frequent a few different horse forums. This morning I read a comment on one of them that got me thinking about the sad state of the world. Well, the horse world anyway, I suppose. Anyway, the poster said that until they heard how many World Champions someone had trained and how much money they had earned, she wouldn't listen to what they had to say. I thought "man, what a narrow-minded statement!" There is a LOT to learn in this life and I'd wager to say I've learned a whole lot more about horses from non-World Champs than I have from World Champs. Not to mention, stories abound about high ranking trainers who are crooked. A certain World Champion western pleasure trainer comes to mind who had a horse found in his barn that was horribly abused. Also a top ranked Arab trainer who was convicted of several counts of having plastic surgery and a myrid of other surgical procedures done to FIX conformational defects in his Halter horses. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in anything either of them have to say. Maybe I'll never be a World Champion because of that - so be it. I find it really sad that some people are so narrow minded. The whole thing kinda falls under the category of two things I dislike - people with closed minds and people who are sheep, blindly following along without thinking for themselves. Both of those types of people seem to be in abundance. Has the world gone crazy or am I the one who is mad?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Checking In
*sweeping away the cobwebs*
Hello all my faithful readers! *cough, cough* It's dusty around here...
OK, yeah I'm a little odd.
It's been a couple months or so I guess since I last posted here. I got a wild hair up my butt just now and figured I'd write something.
I've been keeping busy with my horses and various projects. Right now I only have two horses of my own. My faithful Paint stallion, Bo and my newest addition is a yearling Spanish Mustang colt I call Cazador. (Spanish for "hunter" - or so the online translation sites tell me) I actually got him back in... late February/early March I believe it was, while I was still training Onyx. He was pretty rough when I first got him - shaggy, skinny, wormy, covered in ticks and pretty wild. He didn't want much at all to do with people. He's changed quite a bit and is now a slick, shiny, friendly young stud. He is a flashy dun overo and seems to turn heads wherever he goes. That's good, because I have quite a career planned for him. His main purpose will be to serve as an ambassador for the Spanish Mustang breed. There are only somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 Spanish Mustangs in existence (depending on which figures you read). They are descendants of the Conquistador's horses, the first horses brought to this country. In addition to being from a rare breed, my young Cazador also carries a rare bloodline within the breed. His dam has two doses of a stallion called Scarface. I've been told there isn't a whole lot of Scarface left in the breed. I certainly haven't been able to find him in more than a couple horses in my searches so far. So I plan to campaign Cazador quite extensively and use him to spread the word about the breed. Big plans! So far he's already been out in the world a handful of times and he has gotten rave reviews from everyone who's seen him - horse person or not. The future is looking bright!
The latest development in my horsey life is I believe that, for the first time, I'm going to hang out my shingle for horse training services. It's definitely something I LOVE and I suppose I'm pretty good at it. I don't consider myself an expert and I certainly don't know everything (NO ONE does, no matter what they think) but I can train a horse for sure. For many years I've resisted the idea of training for other people because, quite frankly I like horses more than I like people. But when my adventure with Onyx came to an end, I was pretty bummed not to have a training project anymore. Bo is far from "finished" and there is a lot more I can do with him. I do have Cazador, but it will be a couple of years or so before we get to do any riding. I've found myself missing the days years ago when I had SEVEN horses of my own, all youngsters and all in training. I used to spend hours everyday on chores and training and I loved it. I think it would be great to have more horses to train now, but my finances certainly don't allow having my own herd again quite yet. My business has been stagnating for a little while and I have my feelers out for a 9-5 job (yuck) but until the right one comes along I have a whole lot of hours in the day I could be spending with more horses. So, I think the time is right to dip my toe in the waters or training for other people. I've spent the last several days editing and re-editing a contract, picking other trainer's brains on what to charge and what to expect and composing an ad. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also looking forward to seeing how it goes. Wish me luck!! :)
Hello all my faithful readers! *cough, cough* It's dusty around here...
OK, yeah I'm a little odd.
It's been a couple months or so I guess since I last posted here. I got a wild hair up my butt just now and figured I'd write something.
I've been keeping busy with my horses and various projects. Right now I only have two horses of my own. My faithful Paint stallion, Bo and my newest addition is a yearling Spanish Mustang colt I call Cazador. (Spanish for "hunter" - or so the online translation sites tell me) I actually got him back in... late February/early March I believe it was, while I was still training Onyx. He was pretty rough when I first got him - shaggy, skinny, wormy, covered in ticks and pretty wild. He didn't want much at all to do with people. He's changed quite a bit and is now a slick, shiny, friendly young stud. He is a flashy dun overo and seems to turn heads wherever he goes. That's good, because I have quite a career planned for him. His main purpose will be to serve as an ambassador for the Spanish Mustang breed. There are only somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 Spanish Mustangs in existence (depending on which figures you read). They are descendants of the Conquistador's horses, the first horses brought to this country. In addition to being from a rare breed, my young Cazador also carries a rare bloodline within the breed. His dam has two doses of a stallion called Scarface. I've been told there isn't a whole lot of Scarface left in the breed. I certainly haven't been able to find him in more than a couple horses in my searches so far. So I plan to campaign Cazador quite extensively and use him to spread the word about the breed. Big plans! So far he's already been out in the world a handful of times and he has gotten rave reviews from everyone who's seen him - horse person or not. The future is looking bright!
The latest development in my horsey life is I believe that, for the first time, I'm going to hang out my shingle for horse training services. It's definitely something I LOVE and I suppose I'm pretty good at it. I don't consider myself an expert and I certainly don't know everything (NO ONE does, no matter what they think) but I can train a horse for sure. For many years I've resisted the idea of training for other people because, quite frankly I like horses more than I like people. But when my adventure with Onyx came to an end, I was pretty bummed not to have a training project anymore. Bo is far from "finished" and there is a lot more I can do with him. I do have Cazador, but it will be a couple of years or so before we get to do any riding. I've found myself missing the days years ago when I had SEVEN horses of my own, all youngsters and all in training. I used to spend hours everyday on chores and training and I loved it. I think it would be great to have more horses to train now, but my finances certainly don't allow having my own herd again quite yet. My business has been stagnating for a little while and I have my feelers out for a 9-5 job (yuck) but until the right one comes along I have a whole lot of hours in the day I could be spending with more horses. So, I think the time is right to dip my toe in the waters or training for other people. I've spent the last several days editing and re-editing a contract, picking other trainer's brains on what to charge and what to expect and composing an ad. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also looking forward to seeing how it goes. Wish me luck!! :)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A Recap
Ok, I did it again... I fell off the blogging wagon the past few weeks. Bad Bobbie. I figured I'd better at least compose a recap of the event and a the last few highlights of working with Onyx.
I guess we'll start back before the Makeover competition...
* Onyx had her feet trimmed a couple weeks before the show and she did really well. She was a bit suspicious of the farrier at first but he went a little slower introducing himself and then bent down to pick up her leg. She gave her foot to him and after that she stood like a pro while he did all of her feet.
* I caved to "peer pressure" I suppose and decided to clip her fetlocks a couple days before the show. Some people said it would make her look neater and that it would be better for the judges and potential buyers to be able to see her legs. So for the first time ever Onyx had the clipper running on her legs. I was THRILLED with how she handled it. I did the clipping in her stall and I didn't even have a halter on her. I clipped all 4 legs and she didn't fuss at all. What a good girl.
On to the show! This blog entry would be a mile long if I tried to tell everything that went on, so I guess I'll just type some highlights for that as well...
*Early on (the first night there) I met up with two WONDERFUL trainers who helped me SO much through the weekend. Dennis Auslam (you may remember I had met him at our Horse Expo here back in March) was there of course and he introduced me to TJ Clibborn. The two of them jumped right in when I told them I was struggling with finding the confidence to ride her in front of thousands of people. So that first night they helped me a ton. Right off the bat I learned two things that have been working against Onyx and I all this time. 1) My saddle didn't fit her. Didn't fit her to the point where it was pinching her shoulders and causing her pain. 2) Her neck was out of alignment and she needs chiropractic treatment. Both of those were things I had wondered about, but hadn't had confirmation of until Dennis and TJ. They went to work right away. They did a bit of adjusting on her neck and massaged it too. She felt a lot better after that. Then TJ loaned me a saddle to use for the weekend! The first time I rode her in the practice arena in the borrowed saddle and right after they'd worked on her neck, it was like I was on a different horse. Dennis and TJ were both there all weekend and they took time out a couple of nights to help me with Onyx.
* I opted not to ride her in the riding part of the competition. She seemed to be hurting and she was cranky. It didn't help that she came into heat at the same time. What with all the weather setbacks we'd had, I went to this event with only about a dozen rides on her - and even those were spaced out because of the crazy weather here. I was nervous about the thousands of people in the stands and the professional competitors we were up againt. All around I decided it was best to lead her through the riding course. Once I made that decision, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I had agonized over what to do for days. I knew that if I didn't at least try *something* in that big coliseum in front of all those people that I'd regret it. It was a relief to just decide that it was ok to lead her through. And everyone, from Patti Colbert (the executive director of the Mustang Heritage Foundation) to Dennis and TJ to other friends I'd talked to all backed me up and said it would be ok to do that. I had been afraid I'd be the only one leading through, but as it turned out a few other trainers did the same thing with their horses. With a big fat zero in riding our overall score was pretty low. BUT we were the highest placed of the "non riders" so I guess that's something. Ha!
* The horse fair was absolute insanity. I don't know what the attendance numbers were but I know that each time I had to take Onyx back and forth to the arenas, we were walking through a sea of people. She was a very good girl, she never really spooked, even though there were a LOT of new and scary things there. She was very curious and wanted to investigate everything.
* On the last day all the horses were auctioned off and most of the prices I heard while waiting for our turn were pretty low. I was nervous going into that, afraid that she wouldn't sell or would only bring the minimum bid. As it turned out she actually sold for MORE than some of the horses who were in the top 10 finals, so that was a very nice surprise. On the evening of the day we had moved in to the grounds, I met a guy who was wandering around the mustang stalls. He stopped and chatted with me for a while. We must have talked horses for over an hour. During the weekend, he'd stop by and visit again from time to time. When auction day came, he was the one who bought Onyx! All those times we visited I never even knew he was "shopping". I was so happy he got her, I had worried about her going off with some stranger I'd never even met. But this guy was really cool and I think she'll have a great home with him.
Overall I had so much fun at the event. It was stressful, especially at first because I had no idea what to expect. Unfortunately all this time I had been wrapped up in the competition and the fact that I'd be up against professional trainers and people who'd trained a lot of mustangs before. It really had me stressed out. I fell apart a few times at the show and hid in my tack stall crying. Wondering what I was thinking being there and thinking I didn't belong there. I just wish I would have realized long ago that the competition is just a side thing. The REAL priority, and really all that matters at the end of the day, is getting the horses trained and into a good home. I did that much and it was fun! :) I have to say that I'm hooked now and I can't wait to do it all over again. There are several other Mustang Makeovers still to come this year and I plan to apply for one or maybe even two more. :)
I do have some pictures and video to share, but the cable for my camera to hook to the computer appears to be MIA. Hopefully I can find it soon.
I guess we'll start back before the Makeover competition...
* Onyx had her feet trimmed a couple weeks before the show and she did really well. She was a bit suspicious of the farrier at first but he went a little slower introducing himself and then bent down to pick up her leg. She gave her foot to him and after that she stood like a pro while he did all of her feet.
* I caved to "peer pressure" I suppose and decided to clip her fetlocks a couple days before the show. Some people said it would make her look neater and that it would be better for the judges and potential buyers to be able to see her legs. So for the first time ever Onyx had the clipper running on her legs. I was THRILLED with how she handled it. I did the clipping in her stall and I didn't even have a halter on her. I clipped all 4 legs and she didn't fuss at all. What a good girl.
On to the show! This blog entry would be a mile long if I tried to tell everything that went on, so I guess I'll just type some highlights for that as well...
*Early on (the first night there) I met up with two WONDERFUL trainers who helped me SO much through the weekend. Dennis Auslam (you may remember I had met him at our Horse Expo here back in March) was there of course and he introduced me to TJ Clibborn. The two of them jumped right in when I told them I was struggling with finding the confidence to ride her in front of thousands of people. So that first night they helped me a ton. Right off the bat I learned two things that have been working against Onyx and I all this time. 1) My saddle didn't fit her. Didn't fit her to the point where it was pinching her shoulders and causing her pain. 2) Her neck was out of alignment and she needs chiropractic treatment. Both of those were things I had wondered about, but hadn't had confirmation of until Dennis and TJ. They went to work right away. They did a bit of adjusting on her neck and massaged it too. She felt a lot better after that. Then TJ loaned me a saddle to use for the weekend! The first time I rode her in the practice arena in the borrowed saddle and right after they'd worked on her neck, it was like I was on a different horse. Dennis and TJ were both there all weekend and they took time out a couple of nights to help me with Onyx.
* I opted not to ride her in the riding part of the competition. She seemed to be hurting and she was cranky. It didn't help that she came into heat at the same time. What with all the weather setbacks we'd had, I went to this event with only about a dozen rides on her - and even those were spaced out because of the crazy weather here. I was nervous about the thousands of people in the stands and the professional competitors we were up againt. All around I decided it was best to lead her through the riding course. Once I made that decision, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I had agonized over what to do for days. I knew that if I didn't at least try *something* in that big coliseum in front of all those people that I'd regret it. It was a relief to just decide that it was ok to lead her through. And everyone, from Patti Colbert (the executive director of the Mustang Heritage Foundation) to Dennis and TJ to other friends I'd talked to all backed me up and said it would be ok to do that. I had been afraid I'd be the only one leading through, but as it turned out a few other trainers did the same thing with their horses. With a big fat zero in riding our overall score was pretty low. BUT we were the highest placed of the "non riders" so I guess that's something. Ha!
* The horse fair was absolute insanity. I don't know what the attendance numbers were but I know that each time I had to take Onyx back and forth to the arenas, we were walking through a sea of people. She was a very good girl, she never really spooked, even though there were a LOT of new and scary things there. She was very curious and wanted to investigate everything.
* On the last day all the horses were auctioned off and most of the prices I heard while waiting for our turn were pretty low. I was nervous going into that, afraid that she wouldn't sell or would only bring the minimum bid. As it turned out she actually sold for MORE than some of the horses who were in the top 10 finals, so that was a very nice surprise. On the evening of the day we had moved in to the grounds, I met a guy who was wandering around the mustang stalls. He stopped and chatted with me for a while. We must have talked horses for over an hour. During the weekend, he'd stop by and visit again from time to time. When auction day came, he was the one who bought Onyx! All those times we visited I never even knew he was "shopping". I was so happy he got her, I had worried about her going off with some stranger I'd never even met. But this guy was really cool and I think she'll have a great home with him.
Overall I had so much fun at the event. It was stressful, especially at first because I had no idea what to expect. Unfortunately all this time I had been wrapped up in the competition and the fact that I'd be up against professional trainers and people who'd trained a lot of mustangs before. It really had me stressed out. I fell apart a few times at the show and hid in my tack stall crying. Wondering what I was thinking being there and thinking I didn't belong there. I just wish I would have realized long ago that the competition is just a side thing. The REAL priority, and really all that matters at the end of the day, is getting the horses trained and into a good home. I did that much and it was fun! :) I have to say that I'm hooked now and I can't wait to do it all over again. There are several other Mustang Makeovers still to come this year and I plan to apply for one or maybe even two more. :)
I do have some pictures and video to share, but the cable for my camera to hook to the computer appears to be MIA. Hopefully I can find it soon.
Monday, March 30, 2009
A couple more things
I forgot...
In the video you may notice the snow drift INSIDE the arena. The arena is an indoor and it's fully enclosed, but our last blizzard packed 80 mph winds in its arsenal and managed to ram snow INTO the barn and the arena. Funny thing is, Onyx seems to love the snow. The first time I rode her in there, she kept making her way over to that big drift and just standing in it.
And now I can't remember what else I was going to say. haha I guess I'll have to add whatever it was later on.
That is all.
In the video you may notice the snow drift INSIDE the arena. The arena is an indoor and it's fully enclosed, but our last blizzard packed 80 mph winds in its arsenal and managed to ram snow INTO the barn and the arena. Funny thing is, Onyx seems to love the snow. The first time I rode her in there, she kept making her way over to that big drift and just standing in it.
And now I can't remember what else I was going to say. haha I guess I'll have to add whatever it was later on.
That is all.
Updates and MORE Snow
Well we are hunkered down inside for another blizzard. I figured it was high time I posted some updates. (does anyone even read this stuff? who knows...) ANYway...
* Onyx has no problem letting me pick up all 4 feet now. I can clean them out, wiggle her hoof around and tap on the bottom of her foot and it's all no big deal. I'm trying to get her ready for a trim before the show.
* We did some more work with the bit yesterday. I started off lunging her in the surcingle and I introduced side reins to give her some pressure on the bit. She's comfortable carrying the bit around now, but I'm still not sure how far we'll get with it in the next couple of weeks. I've been debating weather or not to ride her in a halter for the competition. If she's not comfrtable enough with the bit by then I just might do that. I'm not sure if it will help or hinder us at the competition, but at the end of the day I'm going to do what's best for her. She's totally comfortable in the halter and is very responsive to it so I see no reason to rush into the bit for the sake of the show. I'll continue to work her with the bit of course. If her new owner wants to ride her in a bridle I want her to have been exposed to it.
* We also did more in hand practice yesterday. I discovered that there was a wooden bridge in the pile of props in the arena. So I dragged that out and set it up. I was pretty sure it wouldn't pose much of a problem since she'll follow me anywhere I ask her to. Sure enough, she hesitated the very first time and afterwards we clopped back and forth across it several times. No big deal. Next I'll ride her over it and then we can cross that off the list. I've also introduced her to walking over a "pole". Hidden in the "prop pile" I found several long PVC pipes so I brought one out and had her walk back and forth across it. Again, she hesitated the very first time and then she was fine. I'm very glad to have found the bridge and the pipes there because I had started to wonder where to find poles to practice with and I had just asked Jeff if we could build one of the bridges. My only concern with the PVC pipes is that they are pretty small. I think the "standard" walk over pole is a much larger diameter, so I hope that doesn't cause a problem if we are required to walk/trot over some poles at the show.
* We've had a couple more rides in the past week. She's been pretty grumpy and I'm thinking it may be "that time of the month". She'll do what I ask of her, usully without a fight, but she was doing some pretty ornrey stuff as well. Our last ride this week, we worked on trotting circles and I did some more work with her on responding to leg pressure. She was doing well, but a couple times she swung her head around and tried to bite my boot. During the first couple circles at a trot, I felt her pop her butt up once. Not a proper buck, but she was letting me know there were ither things she'd rather be doing. I just pushed on through and she cooperated after that. She seems to throw little tantrums from time to time, but it seems that the trick is to just keep riding her through it and she comes out the other side more willing to work. She is a silly girl.
* On the grooming front I've been going after her every day with my trusty shedding stone and her coat is really starting to look good. She's not "slicked out" but she has this overall "plush" look to her, I think it looks nice. She's been introduced to the clippers and yesterday I did some trim work on her. I got rid of what Jeff called her "man beard" (the long hairs under her jaw) and did some other touch ups here and there. I unbraided her mane and brushed it out, then did some more scissor work to try and even it out. Her hair is SO thick and now that it's shorter it's pretty bushy. She has this long pretty section of hair at her withers and I haven't had the heart to cut it yet. I guess it would look pretty goofy for her mane to be all 4-5 inches long and then have a foot or so at her withers so I imagine I'll have to break down and trim that too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave her fetlocks and whiskers natural. I read in the rules that they aren't supposed to penalize for that. I'm no clipper whiz so I'm afraid if I tried to do her fetlocks I'd butcher the job, lol. Faces I can do, but I've never really done more than that.
I think that about covers it all except for the big piece of news....
Jeff rode Onyx!!
On Friday afternoon I was just getting ready to ride her and I asked if he wanted to come and watch. I walked her around, worked on turnarounds and did some trotting, stopping and backing. I also had him walk up to her and pet her. She gets really insecure when I'm on her and there are people around. So I wanted to work on that. After I dismounted, he asked if he could ride her. I hesitated, not sure if it was a good idea. He's only been on a horse about 5 times or so and I wasn't sure what would happen... She was a little nervous when he got up next to her to get on. Then after he was up, I walked around a bit and she followed me wherever I went. Then I told him if he was ready he could take her out solo. So he turned her away from me and... Well, I'll let the video speak for itself...
She did SO well! (and for the record Jeff did really well too - heehee) I had expected some sort of crazy rodeo scene, but I just don't give either of them enough credit. At dinner that night I told Jeff that I'm not good at taking credit for things I can do with horses. I've had so many people tell me that I've done a great job with Bo, my stallion. I usually just shrug and say "well he's a good horse". But I told Jeff that I think I should take some credit for this one. Just over 2 months ago she was a totally wild horse and no one could even touch her. And now, someone who's only ridden a few times can get on her and ride around. He said yes, I've done a good job with her and I should take credit for that. *blush*
I've selected a song for the finals, if we are picked for the top ten. According to the rules all trainers have to provide music for the finals and all trainers should have a finals performance ready. My goal in the beginning was to be in the top 10. Because of the setbacks in the weather and so on, I had downgraded my aspirations to just not making a complete fool of myself. But I'm back to daring to hope that I can make the top 10 again. We still have a LOT of work to do, and I'm certainly NOT happy about beig snowd in again. But I think we still might be able to do it. So I've selected a song and I've started envisioning what we can do for the finals. I think I've got a good "show" planned, hopefully we'll get to do it!
* Onyx has no problem letting me pick up all 4 feet now. I can clean them out, wiggle her hoof around and tap on the bottom of her foot and it's all no big deal. I'm trying to get her ready for a trim before the show.
* We did some more work with the bit yesterday. I started off lunging her in the surcingle and I introduced side reins to give her some pressure on the bit. She's comfortable carrying the bit around now, but I'm still not sure how far we'll get with it in the next couple of weeks. I've been debating weather or not to ride her in a halter for the competition. If she's not comfrtable enough with the bit by then I just might do that. I'm not sure if it will help or hinder us at the competition, but at the end of the day I'm going to do what's best for her. She's totally comfortable in the halter and is very responsive to it so I see no reason to rush into the bit for the sake of the show. I'll continue to work her with the bit of course. If her new owner wants to ride her in a bridle I want her to have been exposed to it.
* We also did more in hand practice yesterday. I discovered that there was a wooden bridge in the pile of props in the arena. So I dragged that out and set it up. I was pretty sure it wouldn't pose much of a problem since she'll follow me anywhere I ask her to. Sure enough, she hesitated the very first time and afterwards we clopped back and forth across it several times. No big deal. Next I'll ride her over it and then we can cross that off the list. I've also introduced her to walking over a "pole". Hidden in the "prop pile" I found several long PVC pipes so I brought one out and had her walk back and forth across it. Again, she hesitated the very first time and then she was fine. I'm very glad to have found the bridge and the pipes there because I had started to wonder where to find poles to practice with and I had just asked Jeff if we could build one of the bridges. My only concern with the PVC pipes is that they are pretty small. I think the "standard" walk over pole is a much larger diameter, so I hope that doesn't cause a problem if we are required to walk/trot over some poles at the show.
* We've had a couple more rides in the past week. She's been pretty grumpy and I'm thinking it may be "that time of the month". She'll do what I ask of her, usully without a fight, but she was doing some pretty ornrey stuff as well. Our last ride this week, we worked on trotting circles and I did some more work with her on responding to leg pressure. She was doing well, but a couple times she swung her head around and tried to bite my boot. During the first couple circles at a trot, I felt her pop her butt up once. Not a proper buck, but she was letting me know there were ither things she'd rather be doing. I just pushed on through and she cooperated after that. She seems to throw little tantrums from time to time, but it seems that the trick is to just keep riding her through it and she comes out the other side more willing to work. She is a silly girl.
* On the grooming front I've been going after her every day with my trusty shedding stone and her coat is really starting to look good. She's not "slicked out" but she has this overall "plush" look to her, I think it looks nice. She's been introduced to the clippers and yesterday I did some trim work on her. I got rid of what Jeff called her "man beard" (the long hairs under her jaw) and did some other touch ups here and there. I unbraided her mane and brushed it out, then did some more scissor work to try and even it out. Her hair is SO thick and now that it's shorter it's pretty bushy. She has this long pretty section of hair at her withers and I haven't had the heart to cut it yet. I guess it would look pretty goofy for her mane to be all 4-5 inches long and then have a foot or so at her withers so I imagine I'll have to break down and trim that too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave her fetlocks and whiskers natural. I read in the rules that they aren't supposed to penalize for that. I'm no clipper whiz so I'm afraid if I tried to do her fetlocks I'd butcher the job, lol. Faces I can do, but I've never really done more than that.
I think that about covers it all except for the big piece of news....
Jeff rode Onyx!!
On Friday afternoon I was just getting ready to ride her and I asked if he wanted to come and watch. I walked her around, worked on turnarounds and did some trotting, stopping and backing. I also had him walk up to her and pet her. She gets really insecure when I'm on her and there are people around. So I wanted to work on that. After I dismounted, he asked if he could ride her. I hesitated, not sure if it was a good idea. He's only been on a horse about 5 times or so and I wasn't sure what would happen... She was a little nervous when he got up next to her to get on. Then after he was up, I walked around a bit and she followed me wherever I went. Then I told him if he was ready he could take her out solo. So he turned her away from me and... Well, I'll let the video speak for itself...
She did SO well! (and for the record Jeff did really well too - heehee) I had expected some sort of crazy rodeo scene, but I just don't give either of them enough credit. At dinner that night I told Jeff that I'm not good at taking credit for things I can do with horses. I've had so many people tell me that I've done a great job with Bo, my stallion. I usually just shrug and say "well he's a good horse". But I told Jeff that I think I should take some credit for this one. Just over 2 months ago she was a totally wild horse and no one could even touch her. And now, someone who's only ridden a few times can get on her and ride around. He said yes, I've done a good job with her and I should take credit for that. *blush*
I've selected a song for the finals, if we are picked for the top ten. According to the rules all trainers have to provide music for the finals and all trainers should have a finals performance ready. My goal in the beginning was to be in the top 10. Because of the setbacks in the weather and so on, I had downgraded my aspirations to just not making a complete fool of myself. But I'm back to daring to hope that I can make the top 10 again. We still have a LOT of work to do, and I'm certainly NOT happy about beig snowd in again. But I think we still might be able to do it. So I've selected a song and I've started envisioning what we can do for the finals. I think I've got a good "show" planned, hopefully we'll get to do it!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Best Day - Then Another Setback
On Sunday I had my best day with Onyx. (so far!) I went into her stall and was able to groom her from head to tail without so much as a halter on her. Then, for the first time, I picked out all 4 of her feet, again with no halter or rope on her. She was SUCH a good girl! For somewhat of a reward I turned her loose in the arena and she ran and ran and played and looked to be having a lot of fun. Then we saddled up! She was SO much better for that ride. She didn't fight me and I actually forgot I was on a mustang with only a few rides on her. We strolled around the arena, going in and out of the narrow chute into the round pen and walking around by the barrels and cones in the corner. It was then that I realized a side benefit of her having a traffic cone for a toy in her stall. When she first saw the cones in the corner they had concerned her, but now she could care less! One cone was off the stack and she walked right over it. I had expected a reaction out of her before I realized - "duh, she has one in her stall!" So big orange cones certainly won't be a concern with her in the future.
Then we worked on trotting. She was unsure at first and I was a bit unsure too, because I'm not used to a horse with so much "forward". Bo is slow and lazy and most of the time I have to really get after him to get him to move out at all. Not Onyx! After we both worked it out (she knew she could trot with me on her and I knew when she launched into it she wasn't trying to bolt off with me - haha) all I had to do was say "trot" and she powered off into these huge strides. It was impressive! This girl can really cover some ground. Even her walk is done with a purpose, she wants to get somewhere. She's going to be a heck of a horse for whoever buys her.
So we ended the weekend on a high note. And then came another setback. This weekend our weather was gorgeous and on Sunday it was 75 degrees! That night it all went downhill and we awoke Monday to high winds and tons of rain/sleet. We had been under a blizzard warning for Monday and Tuesday. By early Monday afternoon the blizzard was in full force and everything was shutting down. The interstate from Wyoming to halfway across South Dakota was closed and they were advising no travel anywhere else. We couldn't even see across the street for most of the storm. It lasted until yesterday (Tuesday) and then finally quit around noon or so. We went out driving to view the aftermath and found several roads blocked by drifts that ranged from 2-12 feet high. Yet in some places, you could see bare road or bare grass. The wind howled for two days, they recorded a gust of 80mph, and blew the snow everywhere. It always amazes me to see bare ground right next to a 10 foot drift after one of these storms. So I've now lost another couple of days. The 10 day forecast looks pretty bleak, rain and snow and no temps over 40, or so they say. I don't have much choice but to bundle up and get back to work. Three weeks from today I'll be hitting the road for Wisconsin!! I really hope we have at least a few more nice days between now and then...
Then we worked on trotting. She was unsure at first and I was a bit unsure too, because I'm not used to a horse with so much "forward". Bo is slow and lazy and most of the time I have to really get after him to get him to move out at all. Not Onyx! After we both worked it out (she knew she could trot with me on her and I knew when she launched into it she wasn't trying to bolt off with me - haha) all I had to do was say "trot" and she powered off into these huge strides. It was impressive! This girl can really cover some ground. Even her walk is done with a purpose, she wants to get somewhere. She's going to be a heck of a horse for whoever buys her.
So we ended the weekend on a high note. And then came another setback. This weekend our weather was gorgeous and on Sunday it was 75 degrees! That night it all went downhill and we awoke Monday to high winds and tons of rain/sleet. We had been under a blizzard warning for Monday and Tuesday. By early Monday afternoon the blizzard was in full force and everything was shutting down. The interstate from Wyoming to halfway across South Dakota was closed and they were advising no travel anywhere else. We couldn't even see across the street for most of the storm. It lasted until yesterday (Tuesday) and then finally quit around noon or so. We went out driving to view the aftermath and found several roads blocked by drifts that ranged from 2-12 feet high. Yet in some places, you could see bare road or bare grass. The wind howled for two days, they recorded a gust of 80mph, and blew the snow everywhere. It always amazes me to see bare ground right next to a 10 foot drift after one of these storms. So I've now lost another couple of days. The 10 day forecast looks pretty bleak, rain and snow and no temps over 40, or so they say. I don't have much choice but to bundle up and get back to work. Three weeks from today I'll be hitting the road for Wisconsin!! I really hope we have at least a few more nice days between now and then...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Great ride!
Yesterday I rode Onyx for the first time since she had gotten sick. We got off to a rocky start and I have to admit that I was getting intimidated up on her back. She wasn't doing anything horrible, but she was tossing her head, not wanting to listen to me at all and not wanting to stand still or pretty much do anything I asked of her. I started to second guess myself thinking maybe I should just get off and do some more ground work with her. Prior to getting on we lunged and did some in hand work in the outdoor arena. I also long reined her, driving her around the arena. She was doing great with all of that. Then we had gone to the indoor arena to ride. It was a beautiful day yesterday, except that it was very windy. Not wanting to push my luck in the wind since it had been a couple of weeks I took her inside to ride. There were a few people in the round pen in the corner working with a spunky green horse. Also another trainer was riding one of his green projects in the arena. Onyx was distracted by all of that, but mainly the antics of the horse in the round pen. Actually I don't think the horse bothered her, but the people standing around there certainly did.
Anyway I decided to stick with her since we are running out of time. As it turned out it's a good thing I did because I think we accomplished a lot. I decided to work on side flexing and circling and ended up working on thos while using them to teach her other things. She's good at "whoa" and will stop with me on her back, but then she immediately want's to keep going. So she was fighting me a lot on that... until I had her circle and circle and circle and she was getting tired of that. Then she was willing to stand. Her next bit of rebellion was to refuse to continue walking when we reached the gate on laps around the arena. After circling at the gate, she decided that wasn't a fun place to stop anymore.
In the end we had a good ride, I think she learned some things and I stuck with her through her little tantrums. We trotted for the first time, just a few strides, but it's a start. I also started her on her "socializing" yesterday. I had a few different people stop and fuss over her as they passed through the barn. Then after I finished riding, someone came over and got on her for a few minutes and I led them around. She was pretty upset at first about someone else being that close and then stepping up onto her, but then after we started walking around she calmed down and it was no big deal.
Today's supposed to be our last nice day before another big storm comes in. They are predicting a bad thunderstorm which is supposed to turn into a blizzard. There has been a blizzard wrning since yesterday for the next few days. So I plan to ride again today and get as much done as I can before we have to batten down the hatches again. *sigh*
Anyway I decided to stick with her since we are running out of time. As it turned out it's a good thing I did because I think we accomplished a lot. I decided to work on side flexing and circling and ended up working on thos while using them to teach her other things. She's good at "whoa" and will stop with me on her back, but then she immediately want's to keep going. So she was fighting me a lot on that... until I had her circle and circle and circle and she was getting tired of that. Then she was willing to stand. Her next bit of rebellion was to refuse to continue walking when we reached the gate on laps around the arena. After circling at the gate, she decided that wasn't a fun place to stop anymore.
In the end we had a good ride, I think she learned some things and I stuck with her through her little tantrums. We trotted for the first time, just a few strides, but it's a start. I also started her on her "socializing" yesterday. I had a few different people stop and fuss over her as they passed through the barn. Then after I finished riding, someone came over and got on her for a few minutes and I led them around. She was pretty upset at first about someone else being that close and then stepping up onto her, but then after we started walking around she calmed down and it was no big deal.
Today's supposed to be our last nice day before another big storm comes in. They are predicting a bad thunderstorm which is supposed to turn into a blizzard. There has been a blizzard wrning since yesterday for the next few days. So I plan to ride again today and get as much done as I can before we have to batten down the hatches again. *sigh*
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