Look who's here

 Remember I mentioned to stay tuned for more horse news? 

Here ya go!

Yes that's Gussie! Shayla is going on a mountain trip in August, right about the time Gussie is due to foal, so she brought Gussie here for me to foal out and breed her to Beamer on her foal heat. 

She's close to foaling, could be any day now or in a couple of weeks, so I'm on foal watch. 

She's pretty big! 

Yes Gussie, tell me all about how you are going to release that hostage asap!

It's nice to have Big Red back for a while! Such a sweet mare. 

Shayla spent some time with Ruby while she was here and gave me a few things to work on with her. It was nice to see someone else ride her and especially nice that Shayla liked her. 

Meanwhile, we are back into cool rainy weather and even have our furnace on today. I have most of my hay in, just need a few more bales and we will be set. It's so nice to have a lot of pasture that the mares can graze until there's too much snow. 

Lots of misty mornings lately, along with heavy dew. No drought here! I saw the news about all the flooding in Nova Scotia and hope our blogger friend TeresaA wasn't affected by it. 

The garden and flowers are thriving. The tomatoes are not too happy, too much rain for them . 

The Zinnias have started blooming and the Cosmos will be popping soon too. 

It seems that July just flew by....

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sunday Silence

 

Trees and kittens

Our house is in close proximity to some very tall poplar trees. The landladies decided to put a new roof on the house after we had some leaks from some of the torrential rain we had. The asphalt shingles were rather worn out, and they decided on an overlaid tin roof. Since that's a fairly large investment, they also decided that it was time to get rid of some of the trees that could possibly land on said roof  in a wind storm- and we sure do get wind in Alberta!

So the tree guy came and down came the trees! 

First tree

They were very good at placing the trees exactly where they wanted them.

All together they cut down 9 trees. 

That last one was right in line with our bedroom. Glad it's gone! 

Before

After

I also took down some of the stuff in the gazebo that I wasn't fond of - the white wrought iron railings- and will replace them with something a little less foo-foo and probably rustic/western.

Here's an updated photo of the 3 barn kittens. 

Now to get them named! The 2 dark faced ones hang out together and the lighter faced one doesn't follow them much on their adventures. She's a mama's girl- at least I think its a she. When I feed them in the mornings they are getting better at not running away and hissing; they only go to close hidey spots and peer at me .

Andee has come out of heat without being bred- she never got to the stage of a standing heat, so she will stay until her next heat and we shall see how that goes. 

All the girls visiting Beamer. The tail swishing is only for fly swatting. Since my girls haven't come back in heat I sure hope there are a couple of foals brewing! It may be possible that at her age Velvet doesn't carry a foal to term, but she's in great health so I hope there are no problems. 

We are back in the heat wave. It's time to get back to working with Ruby in the mornings now that I'm not using the round pen for Beamer. 

Smoke n critters n flowers

 It has been a rather quiet week here. The land is once again heavy with smoke, and thunderstorms roll in every evening. 

Smoky sunset thunderheads

I didn't get anything done with Ruby this week, mostly it was just moving the horses to a certain pen next to the round pen, and putting Beamer in the round pen to be close to them to see when Andee comes into heat. So far, for the last 2 days she's more interested in him but not in full standing heat yet, which we know for  certain as we tried breeding today. She is supposed to have fairly subtle heats so it's a bit different trying to know when is the just right day for breeding. I'm sure she will let us know! They get about about 4 hours a day there. 

Another good thing about having Beamer close to them is that I can keep an eye on my mares to see if they come back in heat. So far, no! (Yay)

A family issue has kept most of my attention, and the Calgary Stampede on Cowboy Channel has kept my afternoons occupied. Happy that Canadians won 4 of the 6 events! 

My flowers are blooming now- at least, some of them. 

Lots of Calendula, which I harvest the flowers as they start to fade for making tea, and I may try a calendula salve. The rose is in it's second bloom and a dianthus that my sister gave me popped it's flowers today, turns out it it the Raspberry Parfait Dianthus. The Zinnias should be opening soon; it's so nice to have flowers!

The barn kittens are getting more adventurous and have started associating me with their breakfast; I call them when I bring the cat chow and they are getting it figured out that they don't need to hiss and run away. 

Not the greatest photos- cell phone in low light-  but here are 2 of them. They hang out together, and I think the other one sticks close to it's mama. 

Mutual grooming

Stay tuned for some more horse news in the near future! 

Off day

 Sunday after church we went to the local Pro Rodeo. Man it was hot! Hottest day of the summer so far. It was nice to have a "date day " though, it's been a long time since we went anywhere together just for entertainment. Didn't take my big camera but got a fun video with my cell phone:

Ruby got Sunday off, but Saturday and Monday I worked her on the ground and on trailer loading. 

She has off days; I can usually tell within a few minutes what kind of horse I will have on that day. Saturday, she was doing her robo-horse thing where she kind of shuts me out and just goes into what I call dude horse mode: doing things out of habit and not tuning in to me. So I worked her in hand, asking for hip yield followed by shoulder yield/change of direction. It took her a bit to get smooth with it. Then I worked on whoa. I have a 3 step program that I use, giving them the best chance to respond to the lightest ask first. Verbal command, followed by reinforced by body position and a stronger verbal command, then a louder WHOA combined with a flip of the lead rope. She pretty much totally ignored the first 2 and I had to resort to #3 several times before she ended up stopping consistently on #1. 

I chose not to ride her in that frame of mind so I took her over to the trailer  to work on trailer loading. I haven't done that with her since I bought her. The seller loaded her just fine into his big stock trailer, so I wasn't anticipating much of an issue. Wrong. She didn't think it was a good idea at all. So we worked through that until I could load her once all the way in and have her wait until I asked her to come out. 

Monday we had storms in the forecast. I was planning on riding her before we got the expected thunderstorm, but I ended up with a strong attack of vertigo so I just did a rerun of trailer loading. I suspected that she had time to think about it, and sure enough she was much better. Minimal arguing, and I loaded her a few times and had her back out. (Saturday she was turning around in there and stepping out. )

Ruby is proving to be a prime example of a double swirl horse. Some days everything is just tickety boo, other days, she puts up walls. So I am learning to read her and deal with the horse I have on that given day.  

Around the farm

 Just a few things from around the farm - always something to see here!

We have a lot of birds here, and there was one I couldn't figure out as I couldn't get good photos and it was always in the glaring sun so it was hard to see the markings. I finally spotted it when I had my good camera handy, so here it is-

Marianne, you were right, it is an Eastern Kingbird

I set up the trail cam in the barn one night to see if I could catch the new kittens coming down for groceries. Looks like all 3 of them are doing well! I do see them out and about now but it's hard to get photos, they are quite shy so far. 

On the subject of cats, there is no doubt at all now that Bandit is indeed a boy cat- he is full grown now and his boy bits are very visible! He and Smokey continue to be buddies and come running every morning to get their breakfast in the barn where I keep Thumper and Foose at night; feeding them canned cat food has made them happy to see me! I even got to pet Bandit as he was checking Foose's bowl. 

These mushrooms have been popping up all over, I'm pretty sure they are the edible pasture mushrooms but I'm not about to experiment. 

And then there's Connie. 

Connie the 'Coon that is! She came visiting to check for cat food, and it was pretty obvious that she is a nursing mama. 

It's cute how her nose wrinkles when she's chewing. We try not to encourage her to hang around, but she must have been hungry to come around in daylight. 

Next, and not from our farm, but I thought you might like to see how awesomely Drifter turned out. His people love him, and Drifter loves the little children. He is a working ranch horse now and is siring some really nice foals. You can keep up with him on Facebook  on their page, Diamond H Ranch. 

Then there is a new equine here for a month or so- Andee was delivered yesterday for breeding to Beamer. Sherry from Fern Valley Appaloosas brought her in, and it was nice to get in a visit with her and her husband. 

And yes you absolutely should tell Sherry to start posting on her blog again!  By the way, Andee is a quarter horse despite that Appaloosa looking mane!

We go out walking

 The last couple of days with Ruby have been pretty good! Due to the unpredictable weather- bad thunderstorms and muggy heat then rain and cold days, even had the furnace on, I have been able to work her mostly in the mornings. Fine with me, I'm a morning person. 

Ruby, on the other hand, seems to enjoy a mid morning nap.

Haltered her as she lay there.... this is a first. Apparently I am in her good books now. 

My routine is to work her first in the round pen, playing around with different patterns on the little wagon wheel style course, then open the gate and not let her go through; work her again and then ask her to go through, one step at a time. No rushing or anticipating allowed. 

She is greatly improving on moving off my leg, I can pretty much steer her without the reins, but can also steer her with just the reins. She is a bit heavy on the reins and  I found that I was relying a bit too much on the reins causing that heaviness. I found this on Rudy Horsemanship's page and realised that I was guilty of just that!

"This morning a student said, “But he’s hanging on my left rein!”I replied, “Do a quick give.”
Rider gives and retakes, and the horse immediately softens.
I asked, “Tell me again who was hanging on the left rein?”

So with that in mind, I lightened up my contact and had a much happier horse. That being said, I do have to teach her to soften in the bridle, and it's slowly coming. I got some nice trot transitions where she was carrying herself in balance and the result was a nice smooth transition. Now to work on rating her speed! All that will come once I get out of the round pen and give her room to move. 

Speaking of which, we did just that today. I have been doing little rides out of the pen and letting her go back in, where she gets worked, then out again and today we only had to go in twice. I pointed her at the pasture gate and off we went! 

Spot the mosquito?

The first few steps were a bit up headed as she sussed out the view. then she relaxed and off we went. 

Thumper was out there mousing, and refused to move as we rode past him, we actually had to go around him! That is a very self assured cat. 

I finally made it to the river! It crested about 2 weeks ago and has dropped about a foot. Ruby was relaxed while we were moving but when we stop she gets a bit looky and wants to move her feet and look around. Time to really put some miles on her!

On the way back, there was that darn cat again in exactly the same spot and he wasn't about to move for us again. 

It was a good ride, finally. It's so nice to have gotten past the road blocks she set up! I have the feeling that Ruby is one of those horses that does best with regular riding. 

Got one more thing to share with you- saw the darndest thing today; this comes under Things You See From the Gazebo. 

This young buck waded upriver for a long ways; he seemed to be quite enjoying himself! I could hear splashing and thought it was just him crossing the river, but to my surprise he hove into view walking upstream! And kept on going , right past me and up around the bend. We have been seeing him around here the last few days; the does are chasing him off as they have their fawns now. 

We have seen one fawn and are watching for more - I want photos!

Building confidence

 It's a journey, isn't it, this horsemanship thing. Every horse presents something different. They all give us something to learn and perhaps something to teach. Sometimes it's a mental game and sometimes there's physical stuff that presents the challenge. And sometimes it's both. Not just for the horse, for us too.

I have been doing a lot of reading on some of the horsemanship pages on Facebook and have come across a few that both hit home and made me think. One was by Keystone Equine  on aging. I copy it here in it's entirety: (Written by Lee McLean) 

Keystone Equine

  · 

One of the things I hear from people my age and older, is that they just don’t seem to be able to ride as they once did, back when they were kids.

Specifically, what has happened to their courage?

Turns out, after listening to an expert on how the brain is wired during a drive into town yesterday, there is science behind why we feel as though we’re losing our youthful gusto and mastery over our bodies. In most cases, unless we’re mindful about our own mental and physical conditioning, we are.

As I understand it—after following a ten-minute interview, so I’m no authority—as we age, our brains form new neural pathways that take over from the instinctive brain messages that ruled us in our youth. This is why we seemingly have to think things through and practice what once ‘just came naturally’.

More fascinating, our brains and our bodies are wholly intertwined. If our brain says that this is hard, our body tenses up and waits for further instructions. Will this be safe? Is it doable? Would it be better to rethink this, preferably while slowing down to a standstill?

Now, rather than moving without conscious thought, we are wracked with questions and self-doubt.

Our brain begins to send us messages that we would be wise to worry. This is why so many of the things we did as children—from swimming our horses in the forbidden river, to galloping bareback for miles over rough terrain—seems as farfetched now, as flying to the moon. Our brains are telling us that should we continue to do this, we will likely be hurt.

Of course, once we think this, the chances of it coming true multiply. Our new fears, if this is what is happening in our riding, are not simply the voice of experience over hope. Our bodies are listening to the messages received from our brains. When we get word from above that we are in over our heads, our physiology changes.

We begin to clench our muscles. Our posture turns inward. We become stiff. Our breathing becomes shallow and rapid. These are survival mechanisms that date back to the caveman days… and surprise, they also happen to be the very responses that unsettle our horses. Understanding why we feel as though we’ve gone backwards, that our riding might be tentative, downright fearful or stiff, compared to the snapshots of ourselves as cocky teens in old photo albums, can be a help to us, moving ahead.

We have not simply 'mysteriously lost our nerve'.

Giving birth, becoming the sole breadwinner or caregiver, surviving a grave illness, having painful joints, seeing or reading about accidents, experiencing your share of close calls… all will change how your body reacts to messages from your brain. This is not just ‘in your head’. It is science. It is in our nature.

So, we are not the same as we once were. We have evolved to protect ourselves and our loved ones, as we age. Knowing this, practicing our breathing, staying on top of our fitness, riding regularly and finding ourselves paired with the right horses—which are often very different horses from those we might have chosen, once upon a time—are key to riding confidently and with ease in the future.

If we have been many years out of the saddle, only coming back to our horsemanship after decades of childrearing and earning a living, we have a challenge ahead of us. Our balance, reactions, body control, response time, courage and instincts will have changed to the point that we mightn’t recognize ourselves.

I want you to stop comparing yourself to the kid who rode like the wind over fifty years ago. You are not the same and there are very good reasons why. It’s not all bad, either, you know.

I like to think that we’re also a heckuva lot wiser and perhaps, more compassionate than we used to be, once upon a time!

************************************************************************************

Some of this hit home with me. Well, a lot of it really. Look how many horses I have gone through in the last 10 years. Clancy, Delia, Rosalee, Coulee, Sparkle, Sophie, and now Ruby. For different reasons they weren't quite right, and I learned to not hang on to one that didn't fit me. 

That being said, I am going to hang on to Ruby! Some other posts that have helped me are ones that talk about trigger stacking (Warwick Schiller and Rudy Horsemanship) And even ole Eddie Landers with his common sense approach to dealing with barn/buddy sour horses. 

So part of my journey with Ruby is coming to terms with my own limitations now that I am *ahem* officially an older rider. And not feeling bad about it when I can no longer be as brave and physically able as I once was. (There's that mental and physical thing. )

Ruby is progressing. Well, Ruby and I are progressing together. I am learning what to do to get to her mind and she is learning how I want her to use her body. 

She improves every day. Catching and saddling are non issues, and bridling has improved but not yet perfect. She does tend to back up, but it has gone from a couple steps to a half step. I am consistent in asking her to lower her head for bridling and unbridling, and am patient in waiting for her to think about it and open her mouth, as well as making her slow down when I am taking the bridle off. She stands perfectly at the mounting block; but does move as I get in the saddle-yesterday she walked out as I got on and today only a half step out. 

Yesterday I worked her only in the round pen, and instead of just going around and around, I gave her something to think about. 

Lots of different patterns available there! Changing directions between the poles, go through the narrow gap between the barrels and do an immediate turn to the nearest pole, and many other configurations. Including learning to sidepass over the longest board. One side step at a time.  I worked on getting her to move her hip off my leg and to move her shoulders over (forehand turns and haunches turns) as well as renvers and travers as we went around the perimeter. She neck reins well and steers off my legs and is soft in the back up. However her trot transitions need work. She is still bracing in the bridle and I think it will be a while before I can get her softness to come from using herself better. Lots of pole work should help. But at least she is thinking now and not shutting down. 

Giving her something to think about has made all the difference. Today, after working in the pen I opened the gate off her (something that worries her) and leaving it open , rode out and did a 50 ft. circle around the horse trailer and then back in the pen. Did that again and again, going to different spots every time and making the exits bigger and longer each time. (Thanks for the 50 ft. trail ride inspiration to Warwick Schiller). Once she was relaxed about riding around the yard I got off out there and hand grazed her for a bit after unsaddling. I pretty much was smiling for my whole ride today, and praised my mare a lot. (She lapped it up. )So different from the other day! Good girl Ruby. We got this.