We woke up to -6 C (21 F) this morning, a good hard frost that should be the end of the flies and maple bugs.
Thumper, tell us how you really feel about cold weather!
The frost makes for good photo ops though!
Frosty misty morning
Even the weeds look pretty
First frosty mane photo
I checked the river to see if it had any ice, but it didn't. The water level is lower than I have seen it in the 3 years we have been here.
The mares are always at the barn in the mornings, awaiting their ration. I love that they are so peaceful together now that Rally isn't in the mix as she tended to boss Velvet around.
Speaking of Rally, I got a cool update. He has been saddling and ponying Rally and the other day he sent me videos of his granddaughter getting on and riding while he ponied Rally. Boy o boy that gave me a huge happy!
Look how calm Rally is! Just goes to prove that I was right and her bucking with me was my fault for not preparing her well enough. I think she is in good hands now and I am so excited for her future.
When I originally bought Rally, I had big plans to breed her to a good stallion, to produce foals that would suitable for rodeo events. However, since she seemed so trainable, I put that plan on hold while I worked with her. About a month ago, her former owners came for a visit and were really pleased and surprised with how well she was doing. I told them that if they wanted to buy her back, I would do that for them; they have a daughter who barrel races and a grandson who is a steer wrestler. We delved into her pedigree and I showed them all the top notch speed horses in her pedigree. They discussed it as a family and took me up on the offer.
Today they came to pick her up; she will go to a trainer in southern Alberta who competes in calf roping and who starts colts, and has his own indoor arena.
The young fellow who is leading her is another grandson who will be ranch riding her once she is started.
It took a while to get her loaded, even in his big stock trailer and with her former bff mare in it.
Unloaded Molly to see if Rally would just follow her in.... ummm hard no.
We ended up using my round pen and loading both mares together at liberty; it took quite a bit of pressure for Rally to think better of saying no and jump in with Molly, her nice quiet friend.
I am going to miss her!
A few days ago, Shayla came and picked up Patsy....who of course was an absolute angel to load! I am going to miss her friendly self too.
Patsy was a real pleasure to have around- no muss no fuss, just an easy to please filly with the sweetest personality.
Velvet will not miss Rally, she was always getting chased off and nipped, poor old girl. She now happily has Gussie all to herself.
Following my little bareback ride on Rally, I decided to step it up and try getting on her saddled.
I did the prep work; longeing, bitting her up and longeing, asking her to give to the bit as I walked beside her, etc. She was willing and all seemed to be going well enough for me to get on.
I had Ted with me to make sure all went well. She parked nicely at the mounting block for me, so I climbed on.
All went well.... until it didn't.
I made the mistake of not doing enough to test her limits of tolerance. In retrospect, I should have stepped on and off her several times, as well as prepping her previously by attaching things to the saddle - such as things with weight, things that flap, etc. to get her used to strange things and see what she tolerated and what needed working on. I assumed that since she was so good with things like the tarp and ropes, that there would be no issues. Mia Culpa.
With Ted side walking, I asked her to move out, which she did. However, within about 20 ft. she tensed up and went to bucking. I am no bronc rider, and I hit the ground hard, twisting my knee on the way down.
She stopped on the opposite side of the pen, staring at me on the ground with big eyes. Since I was in no shape to get back on her, I opted to bit her up again and work her around the pen. both ways, until she softened up and paid attention to me. And no, not a single buck did she offer. She actually has never bucked before that moment, so it really caught me by surprise.
I will continue to work her saddled, once my knee is sound again. But erring on the side of caution, I probably won't be the one to get on her next time. I don't blame Rally, I blame myself for skipping a step in preparation for riding.
Rally now saddles and packs the bridle whole longeing so the next step was ground driving. I have a nice set of biothane lines made by the guy who also made the saddle I use on Rally. The wet grass doesn't affect them, so they are perfect for starting horses and yes we still have moisture- no drought here. While we do have lovely clear skies, we are barely above freezing in the mornings with fog along the river and heavy dew.
Rally took to ground driving easily, I started with one line to the bit and longed her, then added the other line and moved more to her hip and eventually right behind her. It didn't take long for her to get it all figured out. Today was her 3rd short session; I did manage a short video but it's kinda hard to do with both hands on the lines.
Yes I could have tightened the cinch a bit more....
We worked on steering, whoa and backing. She is pretty light and responsive once she figures things out.
We started getting our hay in, now that the farmers have sunshine they are cutting and baling like crazy. I now have 3 round bales that are 1500 lbs each, even our big tractor had a bit of a groan unloading them. Next up is waiting for the call to pick up the small square bales and we will be done! It's always a relief when all the winter's hay is in.
Speaking of winter....
this has been going on for the last 3 days, and the poplar trees are getting yellow leaves. It seems summer has finally arrived but fall is knocking on the door. I predict an early winter with lots of snow, which wouldn't be a bad thing for the many areas of this province that have been in drought for a few years now.
Yesterday was one year since I made the call on Beamer; it was a bit of a tough day but it was made a bit brighter when Jared sent me a photo of Theo. He sure does look like Beamer, although his head is more like Velvet.
His owner is still quite happy with him.
Rally is keeping me busy; I have sat on her a few times now, and started putting a snaffle bridle on her when I longe her.
She didn't mouth it for long and is longeing well now but I still haven't asked her to lope in the round pen yet, due to heavy morning dew making things slippery.
I am happy that she has shown zero inclination to buck and hope it stays that way!
As you can see in my last post, I have started sliding on to Rally, not completely with my whole body, but getting her used to the feel of it. Today I did the same; we had a rain delay so I didnt do much of that, just worked on some ground work sidepassing, working with her hind feet and trying to get her ok with me closing the trailer door.
Todays session:
After I took the video I actually did take my foot off the rail but didnt slide up - without someone there to assist I figured it was better to be cautious and not push my luck.
She is getting better with her hind feet but not yet at the point of letting me hold by the toe.... it will come; she is quite good with her front feet now.
I am longeing her and marvel at how smooth her movement is, she has a lovely jog. No loping yet as my round pen is grass that is quite slippery from all the rain.
Since I am still waiting on the hives to heal I have done a few different things with Rally. I have a lot more done on her hinds now, still have to use the rope to aid in picking up her hind feet, really saves on my back. I reward her when she rests the toe on the ground; there I can clean them and do a little with the nippers too. Yesterday and today I was able to hold the left foot up by the toe and nip the toe on it, all except the very last little bit and it wasn't worth fighting any longer for that as she started out being a little kicky and had to be Told. A side note here, Rally is very good at reading my energy and absolutely knows when she has crossed the behavior line. No need to get physical.
You can see the last little bit just past where the straw is pointing
.
Looking much better so far
Once I finish nipping and can rasp to dress it up, that foot should look decent. Next up, finish that and do the right hind, tomorrow's project.
I have also got her crossing the barrels asking for her to pause once her front feet are over and then step back.
She now steps over and waits to see if I want her to go forward or back. Good girl Rally!
I have also been working on sidepassing from the ground. Her go to when she is confused or just not wanting to do what I ask is to threaten to bite. So I am aware of that and make sure if I see that building in her to make my request even more clear. And love up on her when she does it right. Today she did a couple steps each way correctly, so that was enough.
Trailer loading has become her reward- she sure has come a long way with that!
I always start each session with her feet; clean the fronts and see what they need; today I asked her to bring each foot forward and put it on the trimming stand so I could rasp the flares and round the edges, and that was a success!
Proof!
There is still a bit to clean up on her soles and frog but that can wait now until I get the hinds done. Overall I am pretty happy with her progress.
Patsy update- all back to normal. This morning they had tipped the salt tub over and spilled both blocks and the loose salt. Oy! Refilled and we shall see if they do that again. We had a rocking thunderstorm last night complete with torrential rain, big boomers right overhead and some pea sized hail. All 4 mares stood quietly in their shelter. I think having those older mares not worrying about all the ruckus is good for Patsy, she was as unfazed as they were.
Yesterday when I brought Rally up to work with her, she was covered in hives.
So that meant no saddling. One step back...
I did do some sacking out getting her to drag the tarp, no issues there. I also managed to get her to lift her right hind enough to nip and rasp some.
Today, those hives had erupted overnight.
They were heavily encrusted and it took a bit to get them cleaned up.
Poor girl, they are quite sore. I put calendula salve and Melrose oil on as well as lots of fly spray all over her.
I figure these are deer fly bites, and she sure did have a reaction to them. I am going to the vet to see if I can get anything for her over the counter as well as lots more fly spray.
The other horses don't seem to have any bites or issues at the moment.
We had a lovely session today. I started by going back to working on her back feet. She is still reluctant to hold the foot up and I'm not going to fight her about it (I would lose) so I did more work on using the rope to get her lifting without kicking. It took a while but she finally rested her toe on the ground , left hind, so I went ahead and trimmed the heel flare and rasped it for balance. I wasn't able to do the toe, but I will take that as a win. Next time will be the right hind.
I decided to work with the slicker without the saddle for starters, here are a couple videos of that.
As you can see, it was another non event.
Next, I worked on positioning her at the mounting step, she pretty much has that perfect. I can stand on it and bring her along side and get her to step one foot at a time for that sweet spot. Then I drape myself over her back where the saddle goes and rub her off side from her chest to her tail. I was able to get my feet off the step so all my weight was on her.
I take my belt off for this so the buckle doesn't dig in her. I get my ribs right over to the off side of her spine mostly for my balance, I am quite tall and no lightweight.
I think Rally looks forward to these sessions as much as I do. She comes to the gate to be caught, and when I turn her back in the herd she stays with me.
This mare is building my confidence as much as I am building hers. If you would have told me this spring that I would be starting an unbroke 9 year old horse to ride I would have called you crazy.
I had a couple days off from working Rally, but today we got back at it. I like to step things up a bit every time, so today instead of saddling her in the round pen I took her over to the trailer and saddled her there. She is a curious horse, likes to check things out but in a calm manner, not spooky. She had to inspect the trailer hitch as we walked by, and watch as I opened the tack room door to pull out my gear. Saddled her up like an ole broke horse, and she ground tied while I took her photo.
Led her to the pen, and I had it in the back of my mind that if anything untoward happened, it would be then, but I needn't have worried.
I tightened the cinch another notch and went straight to asking her to move out.
If anything, she has more whoa than go. Which suits me just fine.
Next I flapped the stirrups, getting her used to some commotion.
I think tomorrow I will step it up by adding the tarp or a slicker to the saddle, maybe get her dragging a rope. She sure seems to take everything in stride.
We are in the summer heat now so I am keeping it to short sessions in the early morning.
It was back to the trailer to unsaddle, again just like an ole broke horse. I think this is her third time saddled and asked to move out, and she has never bucked or scooted. Mind you I haven't asked her to lope saddled yet as the pen has been slippery but now that it has dried up with the heat, I reckon that is going on the agenda next too.
Rally: Bring it on
Crappy cell phone photo, she really isn't that rump high. With a horse this quiet, it sure is tempting to skip a lot of steps and just get on and ride- 25 years ago I probably would have done just that. But with age comes greater self preservation instincts, because, we know, we just don't bounce like we used to, so taking my time to go through all the checks and balances will pay off in the long run. There are so many things I can do with her before I ever get on, and it will be fun for me and for her.
One of the things I did yesterday with Rally was to bring my step stool into the pen so that I could get her used to someone above her. She looked a little surprised at first; remember horses don't normally look above them in close quarters unless they raise their head and are looking for danger. I proceeded to rub and pet her head and neck, then along her back. She was relaxed, so I leaned over her back and rubbed her on her off side. She was fine with that so I put my weight on her as I leaned over her. She was fine with that, which made me really happy!
Today I started on her back feet again- not a lot of progress, but less desire to kick out.
Then I figured, what the heck, so I went and got a saddle pad to sack her out with. Well that was a non event. Threw it up on her a few times and she looked at me as if to say, what next?
That pad looks good on you, Rally!
Note the ground tie
Well what next indeed? So I went and got my little saddle. Let her sniff it and check it out, then plunked it on her back.
Ok, another non event. So why not.... I went ahead and fastened the cinches.
Well, no problem. Note the ground tie again. So here I am thinking, what will she do when I ask her to move? Because that is often when they blow up on their first saddling.
Can I just say, I love this horse? I got the distinct feeling that she has been waiting for this for a long time. I like to take things slow with her, partly because it keeps me focused and patient.
There are lots of things to work on with her, such as getting her to trust me with her back feet, getting her ok with being closed in the trailer as well as hauling, and longeing her saddled.
I may even ride her at some point....time will tell.
I finally got a decent trim on Rally's front feet. Now I am no farrier just an old lady with a bad back, and Rally is not really foot broke, so it has taken me a long time doing things a little at a time. I found that she is willing to lift her feet much better when I ask with my lariat.
Eventually her feet look like this:
The next day I did clean up the sole with my hoof knife and rasped more flare from the hoof wall.
A long way from perfect but so much better than this, which is what they looked like the day I bought her.
Today I started on working with her hind feet. They have been self trimming lately; with all the rain and soggy pasture her feet are pretty soft and some chunks have come off. She wasn't too happy with me lifting and holding her foot so I went to square one, just asking her to lift her feet with my rope- so much easier on my back.
I did this with both hinds, and when she would lift and set each foot down without kicking, that was enough for today.
I was also able to send her in to the trailer twice today, yay! She kinda looked at me as if to say, "aren't you coming in?" No, Rally, you are a big girl now you can do it on your own!
I have also done a bit with Patsy, she is so refreshingly easy after working with Rally!
I got her started on longeing, she goes over the bridge without any worries, and the tarp work was easy too.
In fact, so easy that Shayla asked me to introduce her to being blanketed.
Easy peasy! Patsy also heads straight for the trailer if I turn her loose and has to check for grain in there. One thing I do have to work on with her is backing, both on the ground and backing out of the trailer.
The last 2 days, I went to plan C with Rally. I could see that she wasn't mentally ok with being sent in the trailer, so made the decision to only go in with her until she was really solid on loading without hesitation. Yesterday she had only minor hesitation. She backed out nicely of her own volition, and I loaded her a couple more times, then stepped out and let her dwell in there. Today, well.... she decided that being caught was optional. ( It wasn't.)
Rally: You can't catch me
She led the mares on a romp through the pens. They are currently in a series of interconnecting pens, so I just kept closing gates until I got the other 3 in the small foaling pen, then caught Rally and kicked the mares back in their pasture.
Then because she was a bit ramped up I opted to do something different with her before the trailer loading.
Look Rally, it's a raggy old tarp. No monsters lurking.
Rally: It's more fun than trailer loading
Surprisingly enough she was perfectly ok with the introduction of the tarp.
This mare is full of surprises, the things I think she will say no to she is perfectly fine with.
After that, I led her into the trailer, no hesitation. Loaded and unloaded 3 times, no problem.
So now she gets a break from that and it's time to get back to working on her feet .
