Sunshine and monsters

I am so thankful for this weather that allows me to get out and do horse stuff! We have very little snow and it is loose and soft, so it's pretty good footing, at least for walk and trot. Although the horses gallop around in their pen! It's not what I would do while riding.

I saddled up Gussie and Mesa the other day for her first ponying saddled up session of the year.

Look at Mesa standing there like a little broke horse!  She has no issues standing tied, no issues with being saddled, in fact I sure wish she was a rideable age!
Off we went, Mesa ponied very well.

In fact, she was better than Gussie! We just got up onto the dyke and Gussie spotted a rock sticking out of the snow. She was positive that it was a horse eating monster, crouched up and ready to pounce on her!!!!! Her head came up; she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at it, her body tensed up and felt as hard as the rock she was staring at. She thought about wheeling and turning but I was ready for her and talked her down, calmly turned and headed in the other direction. I pick my battles, and ponying a 2 yr old was not the time. We stood in a nice spot overlooking the river and waited until Gussie calmed down and started breathing and relaxing again, then went back down off the dyke and rode through the trees instead. Through all this Mesa was calm and quiet. What a good filly! After I put Mesa back in her pen, I schooled Gussie for a while. Which was all fine and dandy until her bridle fell apart! So glad it didn't happen when I was ponying Mesa.

There are 2 Chicago screws there, one on either side of the braided keeper, both missing their backing  part. That is the underside of the cheekpiece, I just twisted it so I could see what was going on. I hope I can get someone local to sew it in place as I would like to eliminate those screws.

The next day I figured I'd just ride Gus, and started off with a schooling ride. She was a little bit amped up; what she does is collects herself up and over flexes her neck and does a really slow little shuffle. While it sounds pretty, it's actually an evasion, her version of a protest. Which is so much better than what Rosalee's version was!  So I worked on getting her to relax down, at a normal walk. Mostly just by asking her for a lot of things that required her to pay attention; two track, backing, different sized circles, haunches turn followed by turn on the forehand. Once she was doing everything willingly off we went on a trail ride. This time, although she was watchy she didn't believe in monsters and we had a lovely ride.

Look at that beautiful river..... no ice to speak of this winter, unlike a couple of years ago when we had so much ice and when it started breaking up it overflowed the banks of the river that weren't dyked. I actually hope we get a big dump of snow in February to replenish the ground water as our wells are shallow wells that depend on the water table.

Riding day 5&6

Winter's beauty

I sure am enjoying this mild weather, it's perfect for winter riding! We got a snowfall the other day which improved the footing without being too deep, just a few inches.

I have been working on lining the foaling pen with stucco wire to prevent horses poking their heads through and pulling back like Stella did; I saw Drifter doing that and having to turn his head sideways to get out- could have been a wreck if one of the mares had threatened him at that moment.

That should do the trick! It's a small weave so little foal feet won't go through it.

As I was working on it, I was watching Beamer, he was feeling playful, rearing and leaping around and snorting. I felt sorry for him so I took him for a ride. He so enjoyed getting out, love the way he steps out so eagerly.

Eagerly, that is, until we got to a certain log.... but I'll get to that farther on in the story....

Today was just as lovely, so I rode Gussie. She was feeling a bit "up", so instead of ponying Mesa like I had planned I took her down the trails. She was a bit looky at stuff like big rocks that were partially snow covered, must have looked odd to her like they were floating? Anyway, we got to the cement barriers and I was about to ride her around them instead of through them and she spotted one of those rocks and did a 180... but she telegraphed that she was going to by doing one of those front feet stomp and drop the neck before she wheeled around so I wasn't caught unawares; no different than riding a rollback.  I kind of laughed at her.... and then we rode past it no problem. 

Remember that log I mentioned? 

On the way back we spotted this lovely bit of colour:

Oregon Grape in it's winter loveliness. I noticed all the Mountain Ash berries are starting to rot, too bad, I'll miss their bright cheerful red.

Gussie got a bit prancy as we neared home, so she had to do a little bit of work- writing her name in the snow!

Lots of rollbacks and backing up to do that. Cursive writing! She was backing crooked so I had to use a lot of leg to keep her straight. It was fun for me! Maybe not so much for her haha. Then I leg yielded her the rest of the way back- you wanna hurry home girl you will have to work! Hopefully next time I ride her she will be a little more relaxed as I really want to pony Mesa. 

Since it was still early, I brought Drifter out and went for a walk with him. Guess what.... he was on his best behaviour! 

Much softer eye! He was curious about things and not spooky at all. 

(Gussie, are you paying attention? )  I worked him in the round pen, he did really well. A few times he thought he should stop at the gate, and a few times he sped up; just normal stuff. He did keep away from me as requested, and worked well both ways. I'm just working him off a standard lead rope so he is only a few feet away; it's easier to teach them close and then let them get farther and farther away as time goes on and they figure out what I want.

I dropped the lead rope for photos and he just wanted to face up and follow me (good boy!) so I tied him to the rail for a photo- excuse the stains, it's too cold to wash him!- to show how he is bulking up. He is gonna be a big boy!

As you can see, he is in a growth spurt! He is 13.2 at the hip right now and 13 hands at the wither. I can't wait to see him all shed out!

Riding day 3 & 4

Kidz day out

It seems to me that as soon as the January full moon is over the weather gets better and the days seem longer- I know they are, but it just seems more noticeable. I didn't get to see the full moon eclipse due to cloud cover but by morning it did clear off a bit and I got to see the beautiful bright super moon as it sank behind the western mountains.
It was a good day to work the youngsters. I started with Mesa. I checked her mouth to see if she had wolf teeth- she doesn't- so I put a snaffle bridle on her for the first time. No reins, just wanted her to learn to wear a bit.

Thumper of course was very helpful.



After saddling her up I led her down to the round pen just to be sure she wasn't going to do any thing silly.... I needn't have worried.

After moving her around the pen a few times we went for a stroll. Such a fun little horse!

I think she is okay with the bit now....

Next up was Drifter. Started out on the walk and he promptly bit me..... bad boy! and bad me for not getting to him before the actual bite. I am much more vigilant now! I went and got a riding whip so that I would have an equalizer if he tried it again. There were a couple of times he thought about it, I could see it in his eyes when I asked him to do something he wasn't inclined to do,  but being ahead of the action paid off and he didn't try. He also tried a time or two to get away (and back towards the mares) but he learned that I am undraggable. Trying to pull away from me is about the same as trying to move a tree.... 
All this behaviour I expect, he isn't the first stud colt I have handled. What I like about him is that he may try something but if it doesn't work for him he doesn't get all worked up about it. He's a thinker. I may have to get after him a few more times on some of these issues but I bet he gets over it all quickly. As soon as he is handling well on walks it will be time to pony him, let him see the sights. Also time to do more groundwork with him, that's coming up next month.

He's such a hairball!!!!

DLH Sunfrost Drifter officially!

I finally got the results of Drifter's dna! I sent the paperwork to AQHA just after we bought him in mid October. AQHA mailed me the dna package on December 5th (!!!!!) and I got it January 10th..... pulled hair and sent it in and and phoned for the results yesterday. Happy to report that he is 5 panel NN so the he gets to keep his boy bits and go into training as a stallion prospect!

He'd better listen to Beamer's advice!

I had him out at the hitching rail the other day trimming his front feet. He had a bit of a pout on about that!

He stomped his li'l back foot and even tried to nip me a few times- good thing I had my thick coat on! All that bad behaviour earned him boot camp training! On the schedule are going for walks with me , learning to stand square, leading and backing up with a soft feel, and when the weather is better, trailer loading and hauling. 

Most of the time he is pretty sweet though. 

I think the mares have spoiled him a bit, he is kind of everybody's darling and never gets in trouble. I watched him approaching the feeder between Belle and Mesa the other day, Belle gave him the pinned ears and mare glare, he just paused and then quietly sidled right in there without any repercussions. All the girls tolerate him, so when he had to actually be separated from them and have to do something on my agenda he was a bit put out! But he learns fast and will get used to the new routine quickly.

Meanwhile, there is this!

Some dancing going on in there!

So excited!

Hello sunshine, nice to see you!

When the snow and ice turn to slush you know it's time to up and ride!
The fog turned to sunshine, and Gussie seemed like she wanted to get out for a bit,so that's what I did. I'm a bit bored with the trails so I opted for a schooling ride. And it was just lovely! It was one of those rides where I just had to think what I wanted to do and move my body just the teeniest bit, not moving my hands, and Gussie followed the soft feel. For about 10 minutes... then I decided to go from a slow jog to a working jog, and she woke up a bit, snaked her neck around, got growled at a couple of times, and then settled down and got back to work. I got some lovely two tracking, halt and back up and roll backs from her. I find that to stop all I have to do is squeeze my knees- don't touch the reins or stick my feet forward- just squeeze my knees and she melts to a stop and backs up if I keep the squeeze but stands still if I relax. I think I will find a place to set up a Cowboy Dressage court this year, it will really help me focus.
 After that we rode over and watched the mares for a bit, soaking up that lovely sunshine. I was so relaxed I didn't want to get off.

With the exception of Mesa, the rest of the herd was soaking up the rays too....

She was so full of herself that I figured a walk would do her good. So off we went, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Isn't her mane lovely? It doesn't get tangled much, a couple times when it was windy and rainy I had to sort it out, but mostly it looks like that.

She is going to look lovely under saddle someday! She has Beamer's natural carriage and his cute ears.

I took her over the foot bridge, just to see if she would do it....

When she heard the first hollow sound it startled her a little, so I wondered if it would make her shy to go over it again. Apparently not:

Such a good girl!

Riding day 2

El Nino means wet and mild

Weather has been a big deal lately. While it's mild and should be good riding, it's the footing that is holding me back.Too much ice! We had a lovely snowfall the other day, but during the night got heavy rain on top of it, and yup more ice. Wherever there are roads or paths it all turned to ice. Then today everything turned to slush as it warmed up... and we got heavy fog. All day.

Hopefully I will get some saddle time this weekend, really wanting to get Gussie out and I hope to pony Mesa a bunch over the next 2 months. 

So no riding stories, but I did get some soggy horse photos!

Drifter's eye, reflecting blue from the snow:

Big Red,. enjoying some time off.

Miss Mesa, always right beside me wanting to know what I am doing!

It's interesting looking at the fur on the different horses.

This is Sassy: 

She has dense short fur, looks wet but is dry next to the skin. Then there is Drifter.....

He has very long fur and it is only wet on the surface, he has an inch of dry hair! 

He is also one dirty little boy, loves to lay in the mud. I keep hoping we will get enough snow to clean him up a bunch!

He has a curly tail, and the wet muddy hair along his flanks is curly too! And then there is his mane....

Gorgeous curly mane! He is going to be really cute when he gets cleaned up and sheds out. I finally got his dna kit forms from AQHA, it took 5 weeks in the mail from Texas to here! I sent in for it at the end of September, they mailed it December 5th, and I got it January 10th.... no wonder nobody wants to use the postal service any more. I went across the line to mail the completed kit Priority post, so I hope we can get the results by the end of January. I wish AQHA would use Animal Genetics instead of U of C Davis- so much quicker. Mail it in and within a week you get an email back with the results!

I got Mesa's feet trimmed, and did the fronts on Mama Belle; her hinds are next and then Drifter. We are supposed to get a few days of sunshine so hopefully I can get in a ride or two. 

I'm counting down the days for mama Belle's foal! 2 and a half months or so to go!

I will run another foaling contest, this time I will have some Diamond Lazy H swag up for grabs. I finally got a local company to digitize my logo.  I will probably start taking guesses around March 8th, she will be at 320 days then. And that's only 9 weeks away! So excited for this foal!

Kai Update

Yup that's Kai on the head rope, he is a full fledged rope horse now!
This is what his owner says:

He loves his job. He always loved charging into his lope... now that's his job. That boy is a power house and FAST!!!

Pretty proud of my Beamer babies and especially the ones from mama Belle, they have all proven themselves as ranch and rope horses as well as Rio's career at showing and barrels. I am so excited for Belle's foal this year! Her due date is March 31st. (I always call day 343 of pregnancy the due date). My plan is if it's a filly to keep her and if it's a colt it will be sold.

I'm hanging on to Mesa until Belle foals out, just in case she has a colt, then I will still have my Beamer daughter. I trimmed her feet yesterday and she was so good. She will be going back into training soon.

First ride of the year

This sure is the mildest January I've seen in years. We have no snow to speak of, just enough to pack down in wheel tracks and footpaths and make ice. I finally got around to my first ride of the year today; I think I will keep my goal at 100 rides again this year. I opted for a bareback ride on Beamer to start the year's riding off.

Starting out we kept off the ice,

and headed through the bush towards the river.

It was threatening to snow over to the west, the mountains were socked in and obviously snowing there. We made our way to the river, and just savored the sight and sound and the peacefulness of the flowing water.

Refreshing to my soul!
I spotted the remnants of some kid's fort, and imagined the fun they had building it and hiding out there.



We bushwacked our way back and just after I slid off my trusty steed, the snow started- just a small flurry though, not even enough to cover the bare ground.

I have been procrastinating trimming hoofs mainly because my own "hoof" was giving me major pain for a few days; I googled it and it was metatarsalgia. Fortunately it went away, but now I have no excuse, I have to spend time every day to get the horses done. Even if I only do a pair of feet a day, it will help.

Riding day 1