Winter wonderland

Christmas day, Ted and I went out to a friend's place for a wagon ride. They have a team of Fjords.
It was a perfect day for it, cold but not too cold, and the sun was poking through.

Sunday Stills: Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright;

Round yon Virgin, mother and child; Holy Infant so tender and mild

For me, that's what it's all about, celebrating the birth of Jesus. The evergreen tree symbolizes the everlasting love and mercy of God; the lights on the tree remind me that Jesus is the light of the world, and the nativity set is a visual reminder of all that happened so many years ago. 

Sleep in heavenly peace, everyone. 

Merry Christmas 2015!

Sunday Stills: Home

Home ... is all about the little things. Like a nice shelter for my horses to call home.

We live in a mobile home, so we have one corner that we can fit a little Christmas tree in; this year it's a balsam fir.

What's a home without pets?

But mostly, home is a place where you can just get comfy and enjoy life! (Sorry about the crappy cell phone pic, Tess was on my lap so I couldn't get up to get my real camera.

If anyone is interested in doing Sunday Stills again. Linda over at Just Another Day on the Prairie has started informally putting up a photo suggestion a week beforehand.

This time I won!

I entered a contest on Far Side of Fifty blog to try to win one of the wonderful hand carved, hand painted ornaments that she makes.... and I was one of the winners! I was pretty excited to get this loon ornament, because I have mostly birds on my tree, and every year I like to add a new one. This one will last forever, not like some of the cheapo feathered made in China ones I have. I love it! Thanks, Far Side!

It fits right in, my theme this year is Gone Country.

And of course the angel topper:

Saddling and the winning photo

I've mentioned a couple of times that Clancy has issues with being saddled. She is getting better about it; for example she doesn't swing away any more, and isn't nearly as anxious but she still does have some anxiety about it. I've done all I can think of to make it a good experience for her, like being gentle with placing the saddle, not cinching up tight at first; in fact I barely cinch it tight enough to stay on at first; and making sure the saddle is not placed too far forward as to interfere with her shoulder blade when the leg is extended back.
But- she still does this:


She is slowly improving..... I'm giving her every chance to relax that I can. I plan to start using my essential oils next time I saddle up to see if there is a difference; the one I will use is a Young Living oil called Release.
We went for a nice ride down the road and into the west field that isn't ploughed up yet. I worked on getting the soft feel and she is starting to give it for a few strides now. Also worked on those same rein serpentines- the first time I asked her was near the beginning of the ride and she did her little Clancy protest- swung her front end around fast and leaped forward (a few inches! Lmbo) she is so funny. Of course, that just got her more work......
Also worked on getting the soft feel and asking for walk trot transitions, I had to regain the soft feel before each transition but we did get to the point where she stayed soft. I foresee lots of transitions coming up. When we got back to the yard I worked her in the L and we didn't hit any poles this time... good Clancy!
Got this photo in from my halter contest winner, Jenny

Looks good on him! Glad you like it Jenny.

A spot of sunshine!

Well- finally! After a couple days of torrential rain that left lakes in Beamer's pen and the mare pen, the sun broke through today.....  oh how wonderful it felt, especially as we get close to the shortest day of the year, and it has just been so gloomy out!
Got home from work and hustled out to saddle Clancy. Fortunately she was standing close to the gate so I didn't have to wade through mud to get her out.
She still has a little issue about being saddled; when I put the saddle pad on her, she bites the hitching rail- I'm sure it has to do with her previous life and saddle fit or some other issue related to saddling. I just take my time, bring her head around and give her a rub, then take my time saddling; I back her away a step from the rail, and if she grabs it again, just bring her attention back to me and let her know there's nothing to worry about or get upset about. I really take my time cinching her. I try to make saddling a pleasant thing for her.

We started off in the round pen with some ground exercises, and because she was pretty fresh after being cooped up for over a week in a muddy pen, I sent her around before getting on.

She likes to keep her right eye on me; when changing directions from right to left she wants to do an outside turn, but when she is going left she invariably does a proper inside turn. So I worked her on that until she was giving me inside turns both directions.
I'm happy to say she stood still for me to get on, and that opening the gate with her is much improved. Still need to work on sidepassing to the gate once we have gone through so I can close it- so I took her to the L that I made of poles to do a little work on that.

See how nice and neat it is..... well not for long! I think every pole got rolled! Oh well, I know what I have to work on now. We have good shoulder and hip yields now, but I have to put it all together now for the sidepass.
 I did one exercise that's really fun; take the rein out to the side and get in time with the reaching front foot, then bring your elbow close to your hip and use leg on the same side to hip yield, and do a series of shoulder over/hip over; it's fun and really makes you work to get your timing perfect. You can do it like you do in ground work where you ask for a hip over then sweep the front across and change direction and ask again, or you can do it so that you are asking for the same side all the time (when you're riding)- shoulder to the right, hip left, shoulder right, hip left etc. then switch directions and do the other side.
We also took advantage of the puddles in the yard to make sure she would go through them; of course, she did.
Sure felt good to get back in the saddle again, even for a short time.
Another thing that brightened up my day is the fact that some of my flower baskets are still alive even after all that cold weather and hard frost we had. It's been raining for quite a while and the frost has gone out of the ground; back to mud! But look what I found.....

Took this photo looking south; that bald area on the mountain that is in line with the fence line is where the forest fire took out all the trees last summer. That is really close to the border, it was the day they shut the border down because of the fire.

Into the dreary part of winter

This is an El Nino year, which means mild and wet where we live. And sure enough, after that little blast of winter that brought minimal snow but lots of ice, it started raining. My plans for riding were put on hold- first because it was too icy to pull the horse trailer out of my driveway; my pulling truck is 2 wheel drive- and now with the rain, I can haul but still can't ride the fields, which have been cultivated and are now a muddy mess.
 Gah! I remember how nice it was in Alberta when I could just saddle up and go in just about any direction.Well at least I can ride down the road now; and I think Clancy is just as bored as I am.

Once in a while I'll do a little ground work with Josie- not flagging just moving her feet, and she remains feather light on the lead rope. I measured her yesterday and she is 57 inches, which makes her 14.1 hh- and still growing.

And then there's Beamer.... he's feeling pretty good since I started him on herbs for arthritis, and I do take him for a little ride now and then.

So- if we get a break in the rain today, I'll saddle up and go!

I was thinking yesterday about the horses I've had here this year, and put together a collage of the 4 horses that were here but have moved on to new homes.

Kai and Nitro, who have the most wonderful home, and Delia and Snoopy, mares that didn't quite work out for me; Delia was bought back by a friend of the seller, and Snoopy has joined a broodmare band in Alberta. All these horses, in their own way, contributed to my getting Clancy. Kai and Nitro I sold because I prefer mares, Delia was not a good match and Snoopy was a part trade on the sale of Delia- but even though she was a sweetheart, at 10 years old she wasn't broke at all and needed some farrier attention beyond what I could do.
I must say, I'm really happy with Clancy.  She isn't a push-button horse, but she has a good enough start on her that I can go on with her and not worry about her being silly- in fact, she takes really good care of me. I'm really looking forward to next year, I have lots of plans for her!

And the winner is.....

I don't like Random.org, it's too impersonal, so I put all the names on slips of paper, folded them up and put them in my hat......

Drum roll ........................

And it looks like the halter is going to New York!

Some thoughts on the Buck Brannaman clinic

Buck's clinics are large, and with that many participants he doesn't focus on individual attention unless it helps to get his point across, or if the horse is really stuck and the handler isn't getting anywhere.
Note I said that the horse is really stuck. Not the person. It is the participant's job to listen to Buck, and to try their best to apply what he is teaching.

 Now, of course, we don't just automatically "get it"- it takes trial and error before improvement comes. A case in point is a young man who was having difficulty with his big black roan horse in the High River clinic.(In the photo above, the horse in the center).  Buck did his usual demonstration and talk, and then he asks "Any questions?" before turning everybody loose to work on the exercise.
The horse I'm talking about was pretty wary of his person- and for good reason. The young man had really poor timing, no soft feel, and was way too aggressive with his flag.
The horse had pretty big reactions, and the more he reacted the worse things got. That horse was in a nervous sweat within minutes.
Now, Buck involves the audience- after all, they are all paying to audit the clinic and are there to learn too. So he invites the audience to watch what is going on, and see if they can see what is working, what isn't working, and learn from it.
Well, one ole gal hollers out "Buck! This guy needs help! This guy right down here with the black horse!"
I must say, Buck's reaction was classic.
He looks up and says, "Mind your own business!" ( I was giggling inside when he said that). He went on to say; this is my sandbox, and I know what I'm doing. If you think you can do any better you just get down here and try.
The lady started sputtering and making excuses.....
Well, I think Buck handled it well. The young man had just been centered out in front of over 250 people by this lady, and he was out there trying his heart out to learn- sure he was having trouble but he was there to learn- and Buck knew full well he was struggling. Now, Buck was once like that young fella, and I'm pretty sure he let him alone to figure things out on purpose. He didn't just take charge and show him what to do- he had just done that in the demo and talk. Like horses, we have to try things to find what works and what doesn't. That horse wasn't dangerous, just fearful, and over the next few days the horse still wasn't trusting his handler much, although the young man did make some improvement in his approach. So on the third day, Buck had his helper Dave Gamble give them some individual attention. Dave worked the horse with proper feel, timing and release, and the difference was huge.

Dave also spent some time talking to the handler and I think by the end of the clinic, that young man went home with lots of tools to help him on his journey.
Buck has been doing clinics for a long time- he said he was in his third decade of doing this. I want to point something out- a lot of people think his clinics are too big, that you don't get enough individual attention. Well, that may be- but if you think of it as a classroom instead of a private lesson it makes sense. You are there to absorb as much as you can from one of the masters of horsemanship, and his time and days on earth are numbered, and he wants to reach out to as many people and horses as possible. He can't give everyone individual attention, but if you listen and absorb, you will learn. Take notes too! The people he takes under his wing, like Dave, and the 3 young men he had with him at the Ellensburg clinic, are going to carry on the tradition and are available for more one on one help.

Yes, that's Nitro second from the left

It's all about the try. Buck didn't work individually with a lot of horses, the one he spent the most time on was one that had trouble backing up. This horse had learned that his owner would back up out of his way.... Buck noted that his feet weren't working properly and the horse was getting stuck backing up so he spent time with the horse until it understood how to move its feet in diagonal pairs as it backed. There were other times when he spent time working with horse/rider pairs, and most of these were people who approached him for help. He did pick out people going around the ring to help too, mostly to help make the point he was trying to teach. 

I think if you want a lot of individual help, a clinic is not the right setting unless it is a small clinic, just as a classroom setting isn't the place to get private tutoring. But if you pay attention and do your homework, you will learn. 

On that note...... I still have a lot of homework to do, the weather isn't cooperating as it got pretty icy here. Hoping for some snow so I can get out and ride the fields, and maybe haul once a week to the indoor. 

Giveaway time!

I haven't done a giveaway contest in a long time! Lately I have been making a lot of custom halters, thanks to an ad I posted on Facebook. So I figured since you, my faithful readers, most likely own horses or are friends with someone who does own a horse or 2, why not do a giveaway in time for Christmas giving?
The halter up for grabs is a horse sized halter made of 1/4 " polypropylene rope; it's black with a lime green/black blend parachute cord noseband.

 Here is a close up of the noseband:

All it takes to enter is to leave a comment. I will ship anywhere in the world! So that it can reach said "anywhere" in time for Christmas, I will close the contest at 9 AM Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, December 3rd. I will do a random draw, so check back on that day so that the winner can get me their mailing address (email me) and I'll get it in the mail on Friday.
Thanks to all of you who have stuck with me for so many years- and welcome to new readers and the "lurkers" who read but don't leave comments- you might want to, this time!

Winter is on its way

As the days draw shorter, and the skies grey up, the start of our winter is upon us. Yesterday I took down all my electric fence paddocks, storing it all away for next season when the grass once again sprouts green and fresh. As I was gathering it all up, I had that feeling of being watched, and sure enough, Mr. Owl was perched above me, and stayed there all the time I took fence down and gathered broken branches from the last wind storm to place in the burn pile.

As I was nearly done, another owl flew into  another one of the trees that ring my yard. This one looks slightly different- a female perhaps?

I did some riding last week, as well as in hand work with both Josie and Clancy. Josie is on her winter break, but I'll be keeping up with some of the ground exercises I learned in the Buck clinic. All the work Shayla did on her (25 ground work sessions) has really paid off; Josie was light as a feather on the lead line as I asked her to follow the soft feel. The only place she got a little stuck was backing the circle, but it is a new thing for her and won't take long for her to pick it up.

I'm really working on my timing with Clancy- with her, if my timing is off just a little, she gets heavy on the forehand. Lots of work to do with her and me!

I rode Beamer the other day- a lovely evening ride on my boy. This is the hawk's nest just west of us.

And what's a blog post without a horse photo?

The half moon, centered between Beamer's ears faintly visible as the setting sun lights up the Skimmerhorns.

Today, it's snowing, but there's sun in the forecast so more riding this week!

Another Buck clinic

Just got back from auditing a Buck Brannaman clinic in Alberta. We had  good trip as far as travelling went, the timing couldn't have been better; the day before there were high winds, and we saw 4 big trailers in the ditch, flipped on their sides; one was a Fed Ex truck, bet those parcels got delayed!.  The day after we got home we woke up to a couple of inches of heavy wet snow.
 Anyway, I brought Tess with me, because she had a date with Gus, and pups are expected in mid January- right about on my birthday! Should be exciting. This will be her last litter, and I really hope she caught this time. I'm keeping a female if she did catch.

I'm glad I audited this time, I think I got more out of it than when I rode in the Ellensburg clinic- it helped to put things in order, and watching everybody try so hard and being able to identify with issues my horses might be having was very helpful.
I really enjoyed watching Nitro in the clinic, what a beauty he is, and Kevin is doing a really nice job with him.

That crooked blaze makes him look like he has a big nose in this photo, but it actually looks like this:

I took lots of photos of them! Crappy indoor arena light so the photos aren't very crisp.
I really like Buck's program and I'm looking forward to implementing the things I learned when I ride Clancy. Lots of ground work exercises that will help and they translate to under saddle work. The thing that I got the most out of this clinic was the timing in connecting the rein to the reaching foot for lateral work, and the timing in when to cue for different movements according to where the important foot is- and which foot to be connected with.
I liked this demo Buck did:

He would apply pressure to the rope as the guy's foot was leaving the ground, and he was able to step smoothly in the direction of the pull. When he did that as the foot was about to land on the ground (past the arc of the step)the guy would about trip and stumble. And when he pulled when the foot was on the ground, it had no results at all. Timing your rein cue with the reaching foot became very clear!

Nitro again, I think they were working on transitions using the life in your body.

Buck was using a borrowed horse- too much trouble to bring one of his own across the border. Here he is demonstrating how to switch your hands with the leading rope and the flag after yielding the hind quarters to step the front across and change directions.

Random Nitro photo, I always like to take shots of the gear people use- like this one of Buck:

I have the opportunity to audit another clinic next year in Kalispell (3 hours away) at the end of July. Anyone want to join me? Tickets are at buckbrannamankalispell.com

Back up.

My horse trailer is more of a stock trailer (it used to be a 4 horse straight  haul and we converted it to wide open inside). Normally, I have the horses come out head first as they haul with their heads angled to the rear. Easy peasy. Since we are planning a show career for Josie, there will come a time when she will have to haul in a different trailer where she will have to back out, so yesterday, I backed her out. It was the usual story, she got quite concerned about where the ground was and it took a few minutes but we got it done without incident.
So, her lesson today started off with work backing up. A review of over the tarp work, then asking her to back off the tarp. Shayla soon figured that the issue was the poles that were holding the tarp down, so she worked her on a single pole, going over it and then backing over it. It was pretty funny when she did this:

Yep, Josie toes on top of the pole! She did end up backing nicely though.
I rode Clancy while Josie was being worked. I started off with ground work and flagging was fun because Clancy did get a bit reactive at first, but she is much to lazy to stay worked up when she figured out that her reaction caused me to get even bigger with the flag, and her feet stopping equalled the flag stopping. (Grin). I also did the half circle exercise from Buck's clinic dvd, it was a lot of fun. I need to work on my timing and finesse for that but Clancy did quite well.
After that I was just riding circles, trying to get Clancy to round up and carry herself in better frame; she tends to be heavy on the forehand and doesn't use her hind end well. Anyway, she tripped over her own feet and went down on her knees, pitched me forward but not off, and bless that mare she just stayed down on her knees while I righted myself and then got up. I love that mare! Shayla gave me a lesson on how to get her working better, using her shoulders properly instead of evading with them and diving into the bit instead of giving true collection, so that will be my focus for riding today. As Shayla was riding her I could see the difference when she started moving correctly, it was a pretty picture. I should have videoed it!
Then it was off to the teeter totter bridge. Clancy has no trouble going over it, even steps on from the high end and walks calmly across. Josie was not so keen on the bridge work, she wanted to pop off the side, or jump off before it teetered. Of course, that just created more work for her until she did it right.

That big saddle horn on my Wade saddle is just perfect for leaning on! Isn't that a lovely view?

Josie day 23

We are getting close to giving Josie the winter off; Shayla and I are going to audit a Buck Brannaman clinic November 14-16, so after that I'd like for Shayla to practice some of what she learns on Josie for a few days before we shut the lessons down for the winter. We are pretty much on track, I wanted to get 30 days of groundwork on her before winter.
Today Josie got introduced to the tarp box; a square of tarp held down by 4 poles. She was right in there being nosy as we laid it out, and walked right over it but the sound and feel of it surprised her and made her wary of going back on it, Shayla did a nice job of schooling her through it.



The funky noise is the autofocus on my camera, I haven't figured out how to get rid of it.
After that, more sacking out with the flag, which Josie wasn't too thrilled about.

She worked through it, and it was fun to watch all the other horses who were paying close attention to just what the heck Shayla was doing with that flag!

Tonka, Rhea and Visa, all Morgans, not quite sure they want any part of that flag!

Rhea giving the flag a raspberry

This was about the point where Josie started to soften- after a half hour of work! 

It was interesting when Shayla put the stick and flag on the ground in front of her and slowly drew it back and forth. As it went under her neck in her blind spot, she tilted her head so that she could keep an eye on it until it had cleared the blind spot and appeared in her eye on the other side. 

After that, a little crossing of the bridge and we called it a day.