Baby bellies

 Got to visit J the other day (owner of the Beamer daughter we know as Sparkle) aka Jazz. She had her bred and I got to see her baby belly 😀

Sure am looking forward to meeting this foal! Jazz will be 13 this year and this is her first foal. 

Then there is Jayne, she is looking large; this is her 9th foal. 

She is such a sweet old mare- turning 20 in May.  I am hoping for another filly from her, specifically a black or bay filly of course! Gotta get my wish list in there! If it is a filly, it will be staying in the Diamond Lazy H herd, either with me or with Shayla. 

Then there is Sophie. Not sure what to think on her. I was chatting with her previous owner who said she was with the stallion until August 1st, so if she is indeed in foal she could be brewing a June/July baby. 

She seems to be larger on one side, also she stocked up on her hind pasterns yesterday. Probably needs to get out and move . It has been too icy to ride or go for walks so I may open up the next pen for her to roam around in.

Speaking of Shayla. there has been a new addition to her herd. She has acquired an aged stallion (same age as Beamer) who has a great speed pedigree. 

And he's black 😊

He will have Shayla's mares in his court this year- including Belle ! That should be a really nice cross.

Eli update

I said goodbye to Sparkle today, and I hope that wherever she ends up she will get a chance to sparkle and shine for whoever is lucky enough to get her.

Eli's owner came over yesterday, and we did a run to North 40 in Sandpoint where she bought farrier supplies and I got some dewormer and rope for making halters. Then we spent some quality time with Eli, culminating in getting his front feet trimmed. I wish I could say he was good, but he did protest quite a bit; but with persistence he got done. He was really kicky with his back feet and that earned him some discipline and some work until he decided that maybe, just maybe, it was easier for him to let us pick up his back feet. So that is what I will be working on before her next visit.

Here are some cute photos of them, you can see that Mel is quite smitten with him.

 

You can tell she is a farrier, those are strong arms!

Eli is almost all shed out now. His tail will keep a lot of that light colour mixed with the black, just like big brother Rio. In fact he is a lot like Rio.

I told her she is going to have to teach him to bow so he will be easier to get on to ride! 12. 2 at the hip at only 3 and 1/2 months old....

Back in the water and some changes

The hot days are upon us and what better thing to do than ride to the swimming hole. I had a new trail riding partner yesterday, with her lovely Arabian mare Mya.
As we approached the river I was quite surprised to see a big ole stump right in the middle of the river- it wasn't there a few days ago and we didn't have any rain that may have washed it down the bank somewhere.

I wasn't sure if Gussie would be willing to go in the river, as the last 2 times I was there she refused to go in more than a few feet, and the other lady had the same concern with her horse. We both broke off a willow branch to use as a motivator as we wound our way through the shrubs on the river bank. It definitely helped, but once Gussie and Mya started in they really seemed to enjoy the water and we had a pleasant time wading around, and just standing in the water up past their bellies. No swimming this time though as I didn't want to get my saddle all wet.

The water was just right, not too cold. I may go back several times over the next week or 2 as we have a heat wave coming.

Eli's owner is coming to see him on Friday and I'm hoping she will want to trim his feet (she is a farrier) . He is really shedding his baby coat and coming in with that deep chocolate colour that is typical of Belle's smokey black foals. I will work on getting some good photos of him when she is here.
Booncat is really roaning out now, I just can't wait for all that bay hair to be replaced with his real colour!

He is quite the little charmer. I have decided that if he doesn't sell by weaning time at the end of September that I will take him off the market until he is a little older, as he is quite small and probably will only be 14.2 when he's all grown up. It will be fun for me to do all the ground work on him over the next year or 2 and then I will decide when to market him. Who knows, maybe I won't want to part with him! He will be gelded next year.

And then there is Sparkle...
You all know that I don't like it when my herd doesn't get along. The reason Sparkle is separated from the herd and put in with Drifter was because she was kicking the crap out of Sassy and generally being a crabby mare to the others. I don't mind ear pinning and posturing, all mares do that, but to outright kick the others is not allowed. It would be different if I had 20 acres for them to roam on, and bigger sacrifice pens, but with a smaller set up like mine, herd harmony is paramount . I don't need injuries and vet bills.
Since being in the separate pen, however, she has started picking fights over the fence with both Belle and Sassy. (Gussie is wise enough to stay out of it). One morning the hotwire between the pens, which is above the panels that I lined with wire mesh, was broken down . It was pushed into the main pen so it was obvious that Sparkle was the guilty party, as well, she had bite marks on both sides of her face . She had been picking fights with mama Belle, and got put in her place. After that, she started picking fights with Sassy again. I caught them going at it one morning and took after them both with the stock whip, and got them momentarily broken up but they just moved down the fenceline and went at it again. So they both got TOLD. I thought that might have a lasting effect but sadly, no. Yesterday there was a wire down between the pens, all stretched out and a staple missing. I use double twist wire, like barb wire without the barbs and it proved it's worth as there were no injuries, but I will need the metal detector to find the staple. That was the final straw. So on Saturday, I am hauling her back to her former owner, as we had an agreement that if Sparkle didn't fit my program that she would take her back. It's kind of sad, because there was a lot of potential that she would be my cowboy dressage mount, but it wasn't to be I guess.

Riding day 54

Summer jobs

Summer is in full swing now, complete with thunderstorms, rain and hot days all mixed up. But not too hot to get work done with the horses. Booncat progresses, he is fairly easy to catch now and is starting to lead and turn. He is usually busy playing with the lead rope knot!

Eli is eating his foal ration well now, although I still have to mix it with alfalfa pellets. I'm working on getting him to hold his feet up longer, as the next time his owner comes we are going to rasp his feet. He and Booncat play now, they are both instigators and pesky with each other. The size difference is amazing. I measured Eli today, he is 12.2 hh at the hip already! and just over 3 months old!

Trimmed Drifter's feet yesterday, he was not bad; a bit fidgety; I had my friend Dave helping and when he got too restless I had Dave walk him out to help reset his brain. He only jerked away once where I had to let go, and only got cussed out once.
 😁
He is getting big too- 14.2 and a half at the hip at 14 months. He's looking pretty good though!



I worked Sparkle a couple more times, bitting her up first and then riding one time, then just riding her 2 more times, all in the small pen. I tried riding her out of the pen into the yard but it didn't feel right, she was very looky and spooky so I figured she isn't ready for that just yet. More arena time with her will help me get to know her better, but that means hauling and as we only have one truck and Ted uses it to get to work it kinda makes it tough to just do my thing. I rode Gussie down to the river on her own twice and ponied Sparkle once to the river- she loved it! She was a bit looky going through the yard though and shied once as we got going, so I may not trail ride on her for a while. After riding my good solid Gussie I just don't want to deal with spooking any more. Getting too old for that!

Took another ride on Gussie today before it got too hot, cruising through the bush down to the river and back.

What's not to love? A lovely day, the creak of the saddle and a good horse to ride. My kind of relaxation!

Riding days 50, 51, 52 and 53

Schooling ride

Today was all about checking out what Sparkle knows as far as arena riding goes- all the basic stuff that a broke horse can do.
As promised here is the progress in her saddling; note that she is not tied solid. She has come a long way from my first attempts at saddling her !

Once in the pen I did a little groundwork on giving her hip and changing directions smoothly, that showed progress in that she only gave as much as I asked for (progress for me as well in asking as softly as possible) then it was time to ride. This time I bridled her and stepped up with no preliminary exercises.
I apologize for the pooh pile in the foreground of the video! I need to get a tractor in there and scrape the piles- that one is Drifter's stud pile.
In the video, I do a few simple exercises: lateral work, same rein serpentines, sidepassing the box, and spiral into a front crossover. All of it needs improvement, but she has the basic understanding of what I'm asking. Remember, she was not ridden in a bit for the last few years although her original training was in a snaffle, so she is dealing with reacquainting herself to that feel as well as that she hasn't been asked for this kind of work for a while . I thought she did really well, considering the distractions of a helicopter flying low overhead on it's way to hovering over cherry orchards to blow the rain off them (keeps the cherries from splitting) and Drifter banging away on a log in the adjacent pen.

Once I am happy with her work at a walk, I'll progress to a trot. Another day or two I think. Then I will need to find someone to ride with me on a local trail ride- I am really looking forward to that!

Riding day 49

Wordless Wednesday

Riding day 48

It's time to get to work!

It is time for me to stop procrastinating and get to work with Sparkle. The foals no longer take up so much of my attention although their cuteness is sure captivating! Booncat is very friendly and I do need to get him haltered more often, and Eli is learning to eat his foal ration when I catch him and bring him out of the pen, more on that another time.

It had been a while since I worked with Sparkle. Yesterday I started back on her training program. My goals: Have her stand at the hitching rail to be saddled is #1. Not necessarily tied, looped over is fine as it gives her a bit of movement to back up if she gets concerned, but she does have to stand for saddling. So, yesterday she chose working in the round pen over being saddled at the hitching rail. However it only took less than 10 minutes for her to remember that it's a lot of work to say no, and I got her saddled. Part of the plan is that I don't ride her unless she lets me saddle her from the start, so instead of riding her after saddling, I put the snaffle bridle on her and bitted her up. She is not accustomed to wearing a bit, so she fussed with it a bit but didn't really have much problem in giving to the rein pressure.

Today, I gave her the chance to say yes and she took it. Which brings me to goals: #2  Riding her only after she is good on the ground.
I saddled her with the lead rope only looped around the hitching rail, she backed 1 step when I threw the saddle up which to me is acceptable on this particular horse. Then I took her into the bottom of the foaling pen, which is kind of like a mini arena, to do some ground work and assess her some more. It was interesting finding her points of resistance and learning how to get past them without adding too much pressure; she is super sensitive and too much pressure gives a huge reaction with her.

The reason I ask for the horse to step over on the hind end in this exercise is because it sets them up for the one rein stop which is crucial for safety, especially on a green horse or one I am unfamiliar with.

Sorry about the barking, Tay thinks when I click to the horse that it's a signal for her to help.

After the ground work I bridled her and checked her around using the off side rein around the saddle horn and getting her to follow the rein around turning away from me. 4 times each side - good on the left turn but had to work a little more on the right turn. After that, I thought about stopping but decided to once again give her the benefit of the doubt.

She followed me in a nice join up so I figured it was a good time to step on. At first she was a little concerned about the bit when I picked up the reins, but as soon as she realized that I wasn't taking a firm hold she relaxed and we had a nice little ride. I used two hands at first to make sure she was ok with guiding  (Janice only rode her bitless) but soon went to one hand and used legs and body to turn with minimal reining. I think a few more days of riding her like this and making sure she is comfortable with me using the snaffle on her and we should be able to go out  to a bigger arena and then on to trail riding. Am I being cautious, maybe too cautious? Perhaps, but better safe than sorry. If she spooks at something on the trail I want her to completely understand what it means when I pick up a rein and do a one rein stop in a hurry.



Time to give this mare a purpose in life!

Riding day 47

On the trails

It has been a while since I have ridden. I did have a short ride on Gussie a week or so ago, but with new foals and working with Sparkle and trimming feet, on top of hot weather that has me hiding out in the house, I have been neglecting my riding.
Yesterday was a good test for Sparkle. I saddled Gussie, then got Sparkle and saddled her up. She was only minimally twitchy about it ( grin) so I rode Gussie and led her. I wanted to see how she would do going through out pond so that's where we headed first. Last time I rode through there the water was over my stirrups and this time it was only up to Gussie's knees at the deepest part. The river is almost back to it's summer level.

No problem, no hesitation. Good girl!
We headed on down to the dyke and I was monitoring how she was doing on the rocky ground. No ouchiness, also good as I plan to keep her barefoot. Gussie is good barefoot so rides like this help keep their feet conditioned.
Once we got to the furthest part of the ride we relaxed by the river for a bit.

Took a different route going back, through the trees. I was happy that branches rubbing on her and the noise they made scraping across the saddle didn't seem to bother Sparkle. There is one place in the ride where there is a scary looking stump that looks like a black hole- as you can see in the next video she did give it a good look. It's near the end of the video.

I'm pretty happy with miss Sparkle and I can't wait to hit the trails with her! Now I just need a riding partner. I think our next outing will be upriver to check out the swimming hole.

Riding day 43 and 44

When a plan comes together

So- this happened today. All the pieces are falling in place. 

Willing, soft eye, only minor anxiety. So- I put my riding boots and helmet on and headed to the round pen for a quick test ride.

Stand still for mounting - check.

Wait to be asked to move forward? - she moved when I shifted my weight in the saddle before I actually asked for forward, so I asked for a dwell and then step forward- check.

Turn on direct rein? - check; nice and soft.

Respond to leg pressure? Check. She is nicely responsive to leg in the turns. 

Stop? Check, again, soft and willing. 

Back up? Check. A slight hesitation as she got used to the feel of the bosal, but then stepped back nicely. 

Was I smiling? You bet! Finally riding my very own Beamer daughter!

Looking forward to lots of this view!

Now I definitely need to go saddle shopping- or get this one fixed as my Wade that I use on Gussie doesn't fit her.

Progress

(See previous post to see why this is a big deal )

Today, we had major improvement. There are, in actuality, 3 issues I am dealing with here, and I am hoping that by starting with Sparkle accepting being saddled, and maybe even liking being saddled.... !!!....that the pulling back issue will fix itself, but I think I have to get her over her aversion to things touching her. She needs a lot of desensitization, but I refuse to do it to the point of numbness; I want her thinking things through and not just terrorizing her into accepting those scary things. Because, after all, when I ride, I am trusting my horse with my life.

The next step(s)

I did some thinking about how to deal with Sparkle's issues. For sure I don't want to wear myself out for 20 minutes every time I saddle her, and for sure I don't want to have her pulling back and forcing her to stand for saddling. So- she has to want to be saddled. How to accomplish that?
The words of a great horseman come to mind- make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.  The right thing? Standing still.
The wrong thing? Moving her feet when she should be standing still.
The process? Make her move her feet when she doesn't want to, so that the reward is standing still.
The challenge? Getting to her mind so that she wants to stand still.
So- off to the round pen, the classroom for horses.
Last night, I did the round pen session with her. 20 minutes to saddle her, but she did stand reasonably still for it. And no halter on her.
Today- I can't say there was a lot of improvement over last night, but I did get more times when she stopped and thought about it. She eventually stopped and stood, even waited for a few minutes while I fixed the cinches which had fallen out of the keeper. I won't bore you with the half hour video I took for my records. But here is a short video of the end result of our first round pen session.

Eli is on the next step too. It's time for him to improve his leading, he has been saying "no I don't wanna" a little too much, and he's getting too big for the butt rope so I moved up to touching his butt with a stock whip, just enough to get him going forward. 2 sessions of that and he is much more respectful on the lead rope. Soon it will be time to introduce him to foal feed; he is 2 months old now and I like to take plenty of time to introduce feed to colts before weaning. Of course that means I take him out of the pen away from the other horses, so it will be a process. It will also mesh into teaching him to trailer load.

Booncat is on his next step too. I have had a halter on him a few times, and today he got to go out with mama while I let her hand graze. He is both sweet and a handful at the same time! Entertaining little guy.

He wasn't too impressed with being haltered and taken out of the pen with mama- but once he figured out that he got to eat grass he mellowed out about  it.

He makes me smile! I think both the colts I got this year are exceptional and since they are both for sale it is going to be tough to let them go!

Stand still please

Because I am getting older, I am pretty cautious about what horse I throw a leg over. They have to be pretty solid and respectful on the ground first. Sparkle is definitely respectful, she doesn't invade my space and has good manners. However, getting her geared up to ride is an issue. She pulls back if you tie her up when you go to saddle- although she stands nicely tied for trimming her feet or grooming. So I just put the lead rope over my arm as I prepare to saddle her. As you can see in  the following video, her evasion is to back up. If she was tied, she would pull back hard enough to break something, which she has done in the past. I will deal with that after I get her solid with being saddled, as that seems to be the trigger. So what I do, is every time she steps back even a little I ask her to move her hip over, then when her feet stop, I try again.  As you watch this video (sorry it's a bit long, but that is the time it took to get this done) you will see places where my timing is off, but she got the idea anyway.

Once she is saddled, she stands quietly. It's that motion of putting something on her which makes her antsy. So of course, once she is saddled, the next step is to sack her out. In this case, I used my slicker. In the following video, you can see and hear just what she thinks of this! Little grunts and squeaks as if she expects it to hurt or sting or otherwise turn into a horse eating monster....

and once again it was all about her having to work whenever she wouldn't just stand calmly for me. This is actually really an important part of her training for me; I want to be able to trust that she isn't going to jump out from under me if I have to take off my coat or if a branch gets caught in my jacket and makes it flap.... 

It may take a while, but I have time. I would probably be able to step on and ride her, because I am told she is really nice to ride, and I know she does well out in the bush when I pony her- but I need that mental connection and peace in her mind before I will be comfortable riding her. Especially as most of my riding this year will be solo rides. So- I'm not in a hurry and a session spent doing groundwork and making progress is just as valuable and enjoyable to me as a refreshing trail ride. 

Oh- and in case anyone was wondering, the dog in the background wasn't an issue at all.

Waiting and wild weather

Sassy continues to hold her foal hostage. She is actually still well within her expected gestation, it's just that I'm getting impatient to meet the little one!

Her bag is full, but hasn't turned to milk yet, it's still clear and sticky. But that can change in a heartbeat!  C'mon baby we all want to meet you!

The smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta (10,000 people evacuated in many small communities) had spread all the way down here, and I saw a map that showed it going all the way to the mid eastern US.  I think Far Side said on Facebook that they were getting the smoke there.  Well, yesterday we had a crackin' thunderstorm and heavy bouts of rain that cleared the air.

No smoke! And it's a beautiful day today.
As I sit in my trailer near the horse pens (foal watch) I get to observe the horse herd behaviour. I watched something interesting last night....

Sparkle and Eli have a thing going! Belle and Gussie seem to be quite ok with her taking over babysitting duties. And I say Gussie too because the other night at my midnight check, Belle and Sparkle were standing in the shelter and Eli was sleeping in the soft dirt about 20 feet away and Gussie was standing guard over him. Anyway, after I took this video, Eli and Sparkle were mutually grooming each other and then he was trying to nurse off her, and she seemed to be ok with that! Which is all good, because I want to try to get her pregnant at some point, and seeing that she is fond of babies is a good start to amping up her maternal instincts.

The water level in the river and the pond has gone down considerably. I had pics and a video of the pond but they all seem to have gotten lost in cyberspace when I downloaded them. The water in the pond was just over stirrup deep , my feet got a little wet. Gussie seems to enjoy wading through the water. Once the river is back to its summer normal it will be swimming time again on the hot days! I sure hope the fire season, which is already horrendous, doesn't escalate and be as bad as last year. Can't do much riding in the heavy smoke and darn sure not safe to trail ride in the bush. Can't we just have a good balance of sunshine and rain?

This last week was all about getting the horses feet trimmed. 3 down, 2 to go! Well, 1 and a half. I got Drifter's front feet done and I still need to do Sparkle. But I have to wait until I have someone to help hold those 2.

Riding day 42

Just stuff

Spring runoff is in full force here. Our pond is full....

and the route down to the dyke is under water too as the pond is overflowing.

It looks like just a leaf covered trail but it has about 8 inches of water. When runoff is in full force this can get knee deep on the horses. Fun! I love riding through water.

Time for an Eli update! Actually, I have taken to calling him Lijah. He is quite a little character, sometimes as sweet as can be and sometimes opinionated!  But mostly just curious and cute.

and good looking! He's a mama's boy for sure, doesn't go full tilt around the pen like Nitro did, has some of Stella's dance moves and is just a nice mixture of all the endearing attributes of all his siblings. He will be 4 weeks old tomorrow (Friday) and we have begun the teasing process with Belle as she should be coming into heat soon.

That hip! He sure is built! He finally decided he likes butt scratches, which makes it easier to catch him.

As far as Sparkle goes, I haven't ridden her yet. She has been here for a week now and the herd has accepted her. This morning in the rain, she was eating hay in the shelter and Gussie came in too- and didn't chase her out, which is what I was waiting for as I want to pony Sparkle from Gussie and I need them to get along to do that. 

So that's what's next.

ENTER THE CONTEST FOR SASSY'S FOAL!

Riding day 39

Contest #2

Sparkle is settling in well with the herd. Hasn't been any drama for a few days now (Gussie is sporting some missing hair on her hip from a scuffle a few days ago) and being the low girl on the totem pole, she got a job the other day.

Drifter turned a year old the other day. He is growing up... and up... and he is finally looking like a palomino. I put hotwire up at both ends of the alley between him and Beamer so he could get out and graze for a while every day.

I did end up having to halter him every time to get him through the gate, and he is really enjoying the grazing. Beamer greets him and then ignores him.

Sassy is getting large and is really slowing down, just kind of waddles around.

She is at 311 days today, and since I have a gut feeling she is going to foal early it's time to start the second foaling contest! Since this is her first foal, I have no history to go by. Foals are considered viable after 320 days, so she could foal any time after May 23rd. Technically her due date is June 15 which would be 343 days, but mares never go by the book! 

So get your best guess in: colt or filly, day, time and colour and I will start a chart on the sidebar. 

I have done a coat colour probability chart on her and I am going to assume that she is aa for Agouti (meaning she won't throw a foal with black points, as Beamer also doesn't carry Agouti).

Offspring Color Probability 

25.00% -	Blue Roan
25.00% -	Black
25.00% -	Red Roan
25.00% -	Red (Chestnut/Sorrel)

Bringing you up to date

Got a little catching up to do!
Rode Beamer the other day, just a short ride as he was really ouchy on hard ground, I had trimmed him a few days before.

Look at that unruly mane! I wanted to ride him through the pond, but it is rocky bottomed and with him being ouchy , not a good idea.

Then since we had a nice hot day (several of them in fact!) I figured it would be a good time to introduce Drifter to something he is going to have done to him a lot during his life- bath time! Although I only hosed him not shampooed. For the first 5 minutes he circled me trying to evade that darn water that kept following him but he eventually figured it out.

You  can really see his palomino colour when he is wet, he still has white baby fuzz that needs to shed off. You can really see it on his belly in the next photo.

Then on to the big news....

My friend Janice who originally bought Belle and Beamer's first foal, Sparkle N Peppy, (you can read about her by clicking on my sidebar under the label, Sparkle) asked if I was interested in owning her again, and since I didn't get my Beamer daughter this year from Belle, I agreed and she arrived yesterday. Sparkle was born in 2008 so she is 11 this year. She is just under 15 hands, unlike all her brothers who are 15.2 and 15.3. Perfect size for me!
When she got here I put her in the foaling pen so that she can socialize over the fence with the rest of the crew before being turned out with them.

So pretty! Doesn't she remind you of Mesa?

She got her mama's big booty!

She has Beamer's signature silver upper lip

Pretty happy to have this lovely mare back! And it sure seems that I have a habit of buying back horses that I have sold!!!! This is the third one!

Riding day 37

Wordless Wednesday

Lesson weekend

Shayla and I hauled up to Janice's with Josie, Clancy and a gelding called Tonka that Shayla is working with. We had a 2 hour lesson from Bruce Koch with the mares, working on basic ground work moves with the goal of improving our horsemanship and timing. I find that I really need to improve my timing and improve how I use my energy. Clancy got quite bored, you know how when you have to repeat something you give a heavy sigh and roll your eyes- well if she could have rolled her eyes, she would have. But I got the help I needed. Shayla had an interesting work with the gelding, but that's her story to tell.
Janice's mare Jazz is half sister to Josie, both of them are Beamer daughters  and they sure show it!

Jazz is 6 years old now, and Josie is a long 2 year old.

This next photo is my favourite:

Josie did well at the clinic, her quality shines through, and the good work that Shayla has put into her really showed. We came away from it with some things to work on, and some ideas for what to do next.

Clinic weekend

I spent the last weekend attending a Bruce Koch clinic over at Janice's. Once again, I am impressed with this instructor, and how both horses and riders make improvements every day. From bossy dominant horses who push their owners around, to nervous horses, to horses who have little hissy fits when they are pushed to not be lazy, everyone made vast improvements. Without boring you with details, I'll just say I was impressed enough to book Josie in with him for next year. She will have 2 months of basic training with him, and some light riding from me once she comes back. Here are some of my fave photos from the clinic.

This is a Beamer daughter: she went from being petrified of the flag, especially above her.....

to standing quietly right next to it, even though she didn't actually touch it. This was a huge improvement.

This 17 hh draft/thoroughbred cross complained when pushed, but her girl worked her through the issues and got some nice work done.
 Look how precise she is in foot placement:

This next horse was dominant over his owner, basically flipped her off and did what he wanted.

At this point, he had just blown out and refused what he was being asked- I believe it was something simple like moving in a circle and then yielding his hip- a very resistant horse who was used to getting his way. We weren't sure his owner would even get on him- but it all came together with consistent handling and patience on Bruce's part.

By Sunday afternoon, he was relaxed and his owner was actually enjoying riding him for the first time in a year or more.
Then there was the big blue Percheron/quarterhorse cross. He was ok until he was pushed, kind of like the paint mare but more aggressive in his resistance.

He is a powerful horse, but he didn't intimidate his rider, a young gal from Australia. She just kept on working him and did really well.

Of course, at lunch time we had a little light entertainment from Dave's golden labs, older dog Tucker and pup Gus.

I hope Janice does a post on the clinic, her blog is Own A Morgan & QH

Beamer's kidz

Headed up to see Janice and her horse Jazz on Saturday, Shayla trimmed her and did a follow up to the body work done on her earlier in the month. This mare is full sister to Rio, Kai and Nitro, and she is a beauty.

She had several spots that needed adjusting. Aurora was asking for more info on using Essential Oils on horses; they are a part of everything I do including caring for my horses. In this instance, Shayla would hold a bottle up and wait for the horse's reaction- if she showed interest, the oil was used, if disinterested, it was a "no, I don't need that one".

Where the oil is applied depends on the properties of the oil. For example, this oil is StressAway, if she had liked it, it would have been applied in her nostrils. Oils that are for the release of spasms in muscles would be applied directly to the area being worked on. Other oils, perhaps on the belly for the digestive system, like the other day when Jazz was showing signs of colic and Janice applied DiGize oil blend as she hand walked her for an hour- with good results I'm happy to say! One oil that horses seem to like is Release, and most people like it too. It releases negative energy, either mentally or the negativity that can be toxic to flesh. We always use it on areas of the horse that are the most tight and painful. Another one is Grounding, usually applied on the poll, which Shayla is doing in this next photo.

All the oils I use are Young Living oils, the foremost leader in essential oils in the world, with their Seed to Seal guarantee.
They are unbelievably effective. I have been using them for nearly 10 years and won't be without them.
Here is a photo of one of the stretches that she did, the "drunken sailor" pose:

Heeheee looks worse because I had the camera on an angle, but if I straightened the photo it would cut off part of the horse.
Anyway.... we have some news...... drum roll....... Shayla now owns Nitro! Dave gave her a good deal on him and he will be staying with us for a little while until Shayla can take him to Alberta with her, probably in the spring, which is prefect- she is putting a couple of weeks training on him and then he will be given time off for his knees to close up and go back into training next year when he is 3.

Of course, she's over the moon about it! I'm very glad she got him- he will have a future as a barrel horse, which I have always believed is what he is called to do.

Also..... more drum rolls please..... I made a deal with her on half ownership of Josie  I'm excited for the future of these two horses, they are in good hands! And she will have her hands full too because she also has another yearling barrel prospect!
I was asked for an update on Rio- Shayla did one on her blog. While you are visiting there check out her posts on her time at Sandy Collier's in California!