Cayenne's 2nd Championship Buckle!

My Little Cayenne won herself another buckle! We actually got a break and she got to compete in a class for horses 4 years old and under. I guess that's where she really belongs so it wasn't really a break, just out of the norm for us. The event was the Inland Empire Back Country Horsemen (IEBCH) Trail Challenge at Busy Bee Arena near Airway Heights, WA on Saturday, September 18th. We won the green horse class and took 2nd in the open class. I'm not sure how many people were in each class.

There were many obstacles on the course and each class rode the exact same thing but were, of course, only competing against the others in their respective classes. The course was broken down into four sections with one rider on each section at a time. That made it faster to get everyone through. After each section, you rode a short distance to wait at the next section. I thought it was very well organized. I rode the whole course twice since I signed up for two classes. I competed in the green horse class first. I figured Cayenne would do better the second time through but she did not!

Here is a breakdown of each obstacle in each section:

Section#1
A: Walk to and over bridge
B: Trot up to and around a stump, trot down and back to bridge, walk over bridge and walk to C.
C: Step over log, sidepass to mailbox, get map out of mailbox, sidepass back (log was marked where you stepped over & exited it)
D: Pick up left lead & lope to log
E: Walk over log & up hill to exit

Section#2
A: Walk up trail & around camp site (yellow dome tent)
B: Walk down trail & over logs
C: Walk between trees (next to deer spinal column on ground, fox pelts hanging on a rope & fake deer standing nearby)
D: 90 degree forehand turn, back through "L," 270 degree haunch turn
E: Walk into box, stop, turn 360 degrees, walk out to exit

Section#3
A: Open gate, go through, & close gate
B: Walk to log, drag log to post up the trail, hang rope on the post
C: Walk up hill to cone, turn 180 degrees on haunches, back up hill to next cone, & stop.
D: Walk down hill to post with log, drag log back to 1st post (log on left of horse this time)
E: Work gate again & exit

Section#4
A: Walk up steep hill
B: Move bag of cans from tree "A" to tree "B"
C: Walk to slicker, take it off tree & put it on yourself, take it off, & place it back on tree
D: Walk under tree arch
E: Walk through deadfall to the exit

One nice thing about having 20 obstacles judged by 4 different judges is that if you mess up on one or two obstacles, you can make it up on other obstacles, or if one judge doesn't care for your style (or your horse's style) their opinion won't ruin your whole score. Most of the obstacles were natural and it was a typical trail ride setting. My horse didn't even know we were actually "doing" anything on some obstacles like walking over logs or up and down hills.

Cayenne didn't actually do better than she did at the last two events we've been to. She was a bit edgy and worried about other horses she could see through the trees on various parts of the course. The "bad" things she did on course were:

Section#1: Stepped off sideways at the end of the bridge on the first crossing instead of straight off the end. Wiggled a step while I was folding up the map at the mailbox (I erred in judgment on this as I knew she was nervous & should have kept her moving rather than try to take extra time standing still), broke to a trot before I asked her to stop at the log (the second time through she gave me a nice sliding stop at the log).

Section#2: Didn't respond perfectly to cues on where to put her hind end on the "L" back through. She did "okay" the first time but was a total brat the second time as she switched her butt back & forth at the entrance, overreacting to cues to take "one" step over with her butt & knocked the "L" logs around. All the while tense with her head up trying to look for another horse!

Section#3: Perfect the 1st time but the 2nd time she was a little impatient but pretty good.

Section#4: A bit distracted the 2nd time so had to be cued too much to sidepass over & hold still to pick up & put down cans. Wiggled several times while I was putting on the slicker & looking through the woods for other horses. I should have been able to let her have a slack rein while standing there but that would have resulted in her walking off! I think she nickered once each time in this section, too.

The very good things she did on the course were:

Section#1: Trotted down the hill even though the ground was rough & had a good stop from a lope the 2nd time through
Section#2: Didn't bobble at all over the tent, deer spine, fox pelts, or fake deer. Good pivots the 1st time through
Section#3: Absolutely flawless the 1st time, perfect gate work, great log drag, perfect back up on a fairly steep hill
Section#4: Good with cans the 1st time

Overall, she did a good job but I need to work on her concentrating when distracted. She rides alone wonderfully but it's when she sees other horses through the trees that she thinks she needs to keep an eye on them or call to them. Part of the problem there was that she's been turned out "being a horse" for two weeks without her red raspberry leaves (drugs) so she's being a snot. Most people couldn't tell she was being bratty, except for the 2nd time through the "L," but I know her and she wasn't on top of her game. I get nervous and she feeds off of me, too. Just more to work on!

Thanks to IEBCH for a great event & to Aslin Finch for sponsoring the Montana Silver buckles! The 2nd place saddle stand was hand made by a member of IEBCH and is now proudly displayed in my living room with the saddle Mr (my gelding) won at a trail challenge in Santa, ID a few years ago on it. Photos of me riding Cayenne were taken by Laura McConnell. Thanks Laura!

ACTHA Ride at the Hatley Ranch

I rode down to Deary, Idaho with a friend and had a fun filled weekend on George Hatley's ranch. We got there Friday evening in time to go for a trail ride. Saturday morning, we went on the ACTHA Competitive Trail Challenge ride, which was sponsored by the Appaloosa Museum. It was a six mile loop with six judged areas. We got out in front so were able to flush a couple nice whitetail bucks, among other deer, birds, etc. I rode Cayenne in the Open Division. The course was as follows:

Log/Trail: Ride across a log, stop, turn 180 degrees, cross log again. Then ride back over log and negotiate a little trail through the sticks, bushes, and trees. Cayenne did fine, pivoting on a hind foot for both turns at the log.

Gate: Open gate, go through, and close. Cay did this with ease although I bumped her hind foot with the gate while closing it.

Water: Go to center of a shallow pool of water, stop, back 3 steps, continue straight out of water. Cayenne hesitated at the edge of the water, sniffed the water briefly, went in and completed the rest of the obstacle fine.

Hill: Ride up a hill, stopping in the middle for about 5 seconds. Cayenne did this perfectly.

Ground Tie: Dismount, lead horse through round corral gate, closing gate behind you, ground tie in center of round pen, walk a complete circle around horse, lead horse back out of round pen, and mount on off side. We did this well except Cayenne ate grass while ground tied! I also failed to check my cinch and headstall before remounting but am not sure if the judge was looking for that or not. I forgot about that little trail competition detail!

Back Up: Back a figure eight around a tree and a stump. Cayenne did great, backing and steering easily on a fairly loose rein.

The Pleasure Division, which my friend rode in, was slightly easier. We rode together but each of us stayed well away from the obstacle while the other was completing it. The differences in pleasure included: They did not have to do the turns at the log crossing, they simply crossed and rode out the little trail. They did not have to close the gate behind them. They crossed straight through the water without stopping or backing. They rode up the hill without stopping. They had to do the entire ground tie exercise but remounted on the near side of the horse instead of the off side. They backed a circle around the tree instead of the figure eight.

I think the ACTHA rides are a great way to get riders interested and experienced in the trail competitions. I like the ACTHA rides but I prefer more of a challenge. The other thing I noticed is that because of the small number of obstacles, if a rider doesn't do well on one obstacle, it pretty much takes them out of the running. Some competitions I go to have 20 or more obstacles so if a rider's horse doesn't do one obstacle or does poorly on a few, they can still be competitive. I think the ACTHA rides appeal to many people because they do get to go out and ride the trails. They are also low key and fun so are not intimidating to people who don't show horses. Overall, I have to say that the ACTHA rides are a great idea!

Cayenne and I ended up winning the Open Division! I was really happy! There were only three of us in that division but my competitors were seasoned riders on good mounts. I was also happy that instead of "ACTHA Bucks," the prizes were tangible items. I got to pick out a really nice hay bag for my Open win and also won "Best Dressed Female Rider!" I picked out a bottle of wine with Appaloosas on it for that. My wedding anniversary is coming up so maybe I can have a drink of wine to celebrate!

The second ride of the day was a fundraiser for the Appaloosa Museum. I hadn't planned on doing it but it was for a good cause and part of the money was jackpotted back. We rode the same course but went as a group with the judge riding with us. I wish I knew his last name but "George" was our judge and a very experienced eye. He critiqued each rider after each obstacle so it was a great learning experience! I think we would have had more riders if everyone had known it was going to be a lesson! I rode worse and Cayenne didn't behave as well on the jackpot ride! I would have thought we'd have done better the second time around. I think her youth came into play more as she didn't feel as comfortable leaving the large group of horses to go complete each obstacle by herself. She didn't do badly but it took a few obstacles to get back in the game. I was really happy that she did not eat while ground tied though! I corrected her with a voice command as she started lowering her head and she stopped and stood quietly while I walked the circle around her. We ended up winning the jackpot for our group.

On Sunday, I think there were 39 of us that went on a guided pleasure ride. It was a nice "thank you" from the Appaloosa Museum to all of the participants. We cruised around over various terrain on the Hatley Ranch as well as Forest Service ground. Since we were walking head to tail, and often two abreast, we got to b.s. the entire ride. It was a relaxing way to end the weekend.

The Hatley Pony Club grounds were perfect for the trail event. I look forward to another one next year! The cook shack was a nice gathering place for everyone to talk horse and eat. The volunteers were friendly and helpful all weekend. A big thanks to everyone who made it happen!

Last 2010 Cowboy Race in Sandpoint

The course for the last Craig Cameron sanctioned Extreme Cowboy Race in Sandpoint, Idaho was awesome! It was packed with challenges, which made it lots of fun! I rode Smart Little Cayenne, my 4yr old filly. I will list the obstacles in order and how I did on them:

Tunnel: The front of the tunnel was obscured by hanging tarp strips and pool noodles. You had to duck upon entering the tunnel as it was pretty short. It was constructed of wire cattle panels curved over the top and covered in black plastic. Cayenne hesitated at the front and then went on through.

Ground Tie: On paper, this didn't sound too difficult. In application, it was a bit harder! You had to ride towards a baby goat tied to the fence, ground tie in a pole 360 box, dismount and go about 15 feet to the goat, untie it, move it to the next fence post, retie it, and go remount on the off side. Cayenne stared at the goat from the starting line and I was worried she'd leave as soon as I left her "ground tied." I even left my reins up on her neck so she wouldn't step on them! She did great and didn't move at all! The goat refused to lead and pulled back as you tried to tie it so it was a challenge in itself!

Pony: You had to pony an actual pony in a figure eight around a couple obstacles. Cayenne had no problem sidepassing up to him, letting me take the rope off of the fencepost, and leading him on the figure eight. He had hung back on the person who rode ahead of me so I just led him at a walk and kept him in position.

Jump: Two 55 gallon barrels laying on their sides. We took it at a trot and I was able to push Cayenne over them fairly easily.

Tennis Ball: Pick up a tennis racket off the fence, stand in the saddle and hit a tennis ball hanging from a tree branch. Cayenne did well on this one and stood still while I hit the ball. I, on the other hand, didn't have very good balance so I sat back in the saddle immediately after hitting the ball so I wouldn't fall off!

Circle: Pick up a length of rope off of a spool and lope a circle around the spool while holding the rope. We did pretty well on this one although the rope wasn't tight all the time, which meant our circle was an oval!

Log Drag: Actually, a jump standard drag. Pick up the rope off the fence and drag the standard down the fence a ways before putting the rope on the fence again. Cay did fine. I trotted her while doing the drag.

Ball Carry: Pick up a big rubber ball sitting on a feed tub, carry it about 30 feet, set it on top of a 5 gallon bucket. Cayenne did fine but I was unable to make the ball stay on the bucket. I don't think anyone else did either.

Bridge: The loudest, scariest metal bridge that teetered on a ROUND pole! Everyone had issues with the bridge. Cay put a foot on it, pulled back and moved her hip right, out of line with the bridge. I got her straight again and pushed her straight over the bridge. I was really happy with this as I didn't think she'd go over it. She doesn't like questionable footing and that bridge was definitely in that category! She may have done the best on the bridge out of everyone.

Sprinkler: Ride through an oscillating sprinkler on the ground. No problem.

Ring Pick-Up: Three plastic rings were lightly attached to the fence. We had to go down the fenceline and grab them by hand. I trotted down and missed the center ring. That was no fault of Cayenne's, just my lack of coordination!

Spin Box: Spin twice left and twice right. Cay thought we were doing a rollback initially and attempted to leave the box. I stopped her and she did the rest of the spins pretty well.

Unsaddle: Dismount, unsaddle, remount bareback, go out of the arena out into the back part of the fairgrounds, pick a stuffed snowman/santa off of a treebranch, return to the arena, go all the way to the other end of the arena and through the finish line. I was excited to get to use my new cue to get Cayenne to move up next to the mounting block. I learned it from Bob, a fellow rider at the Pat Wyse clinic, just for trail competitions. I hopped on the mounting block, cued her, she stepped right over to me, and I jumped on with no problem. I trotted her out to get santa and loped her back through the arena.

It was a tough course to remember what came next! I really liked the difficulty presented. It was timed but time only counted for tiebreakers and in the horsemanship score. I trotted or loped Cayenne between most of the obstacles and she rated back down easily and quickly. I think everyone liked the course. There were five entries in the Open Division and I took 2nd place. I'm pretty happy about that! I don't expect Cayenne to be "trained" for at least another full year and more likely two. I'm happy with how she's working for me so far but have to remember that she's young and inexperienced!

The Cowboy Race was on Thursday. Friday I left for Deary, Idaho for the American Competitive Trail Horse Association competition on Saturday. That will be featured in the next post.

Thank you to Janene Grende for taking these and allowing me to share them! Janene is a talented artist and owned a relative of my Smart Little Cayenne. Her horse, "Grandma's Redsky," is featured in a silk painting by Janene that also graces some Montana license plates. Isn't that awesome?! Her site is www.janenegrende.com

Pat Wyse Clinic

I took Cayenne and Blaze to the two-week summer seminar at Pat Wyse's ranch near Townsend, Montana the last week of July and fist week of August. I have ridden in Pat's clinics for years. My riding always improves under him and I have a lot of fun!

Cayenne did well. Her stops are coming along and we made good progress on her turn-a-rounds. She changes leads too easily so I have to ride to the outside quite a bit, especially through the center where we "might" change leads. I really like to ride her and felt good about our progress.

Blaze did fine, too. I will have to count but I think I had less than 30 rides on him when we went. We kept it pretty simple for him. He is a very easy lead changer so we did some flying lead changes. He also did some stops, rollbacks, drop to trot lead changes, flexing exercises, etc. He was nice and calm throughout and I'm happy with how he's coming along.

It was nice to see everyone at the clinic and I also got to meet some new people there. Camp food is always delicious! I took my kitty, Abigail, so had company at night in the trailer.

Quick Update

I'm busy helping hay so don't have time to blog. Heck, I haven't even checked my email in a week! A quick update though:

I am NOT doing the Trainer's Challenge at the Horsin' Around Expo in Sandpoint this weekend. Blaze stepped on himself and cut his heel. It's not bad but I'm giving him some time off to heal. The Trainer's Challenge competition is a lot of work both mentally and physically and there is no sense in pushing him when he's not 100%. I considered starting Turbo, my two-year-old, but don't think it'd be fair to give him a one-week crash course before taking him. He's a sweet colt with a good mind but I shouldn't take advantage of him!

Several weeks ago, June 27th, I competed in the Extreme Cowboy Race in Sandpoint. I have yet to blog about it but will briefly later. It was fun but not many people turned out for it. I'm doing another one this Sunday on Cayenne. I also showed Cay at the Fist Full of Silver Appaloosa Show in Spokane on July 3rd. I took her just to contribute a "body" for the show as she is definitely not a show horse. I wanted to do the reining on her Sunday but had family in town so just did the first day of the show. I entered her in aged mares, most colorful, hunter under saddle, and junior trail. She really was a little trooper as she's hardly even had my english saddle on. Maybe fifteen minutes to ensure that it fit okay. She was really tired and somewhat cranky by the time trail class came around and she (and I) performed poorly. She was scared of some fake geese and couldn't get her mind off of them for the rest of the obstacles. I should have slowed her down and collected her but I was done, too! I rushed her through and was happy to finish an extremely ugly ride!

I shall return later. I am raking and baling hay for the rest of the day.

ACTHA Ride at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch

The ACTHA ride at Western Pleasure was wonderful! It was a world record attempt for the biggest nationwide trail competition. The trails at the ranch are just about as good as it gets! They were well worn trails winding through the trees, up and down easy hills and through lots of water from muddy standing water to a belly deep pond to rushing streams. It was one of the first hot days of the season but we rode in dappled sun and light breezes so it was perfect. The course was six miles long. There were six judged areas. Several judged areas consisted of multiple portions. Some judged areas were slightly more difficult for the open riders. This is what I did in the open class:

#1: Ride over a small bridge, into an "L" and back out, walk over a piece of plywood, sidepass over a pole to open a mailbox, and open and close a gate. This obstacle was near the parking area so you could do it first or last. Cayenne was strangely hesitant about the bridge and it took some urging. The rest was fine.

#2: Drag an ex-Christmas tree about 10' and then back up, pulling it back to the starting point. No problem.

#3: Ride into a ravine, cross a narrow section of moving water, and climb a steep hill. Cay was excited about horses she'd glimpsed up ahead of us and when she loped up the steep hill, I let her. I still scored well but should have made her walk. I schooled her at the top once we were out of the judging area.

#4: Wade through a belly deep pond. No problem.

#5: At cattle holding pens, sidepass through one gateway, turn on haunches and set up to sidepass through a second gateway, turn on forehand, back across corral until hind feet between two cones. Cay was sticky sidepassing the first portion, the rest was ok.

#6: Sidehill through trees, come down bank, cross rocky, fast moving creek, and go up moderate bank on other side. No problem.

Cayenne and I took 2nd in the Open. I'm not sure how many were in that class but I will guess 12-15. We also tied for "Best Groomed Horse." I guess the quick hosing at 6am paid off! I got a dog rain jacket from Muddy Creek and a gift certificate for 32oz of eZall for that. I got $100 in ACTHA bucks for the 2nd place. I have not decided what to spend it on but may get a rain jacket for myself from Muddy Creek.

The ride was the best ran I have been to all year. Janice and Roley Schoonover at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch have experience at putting on rides as well as other events. The riders went out smoothly, lunch was ready when we came back, and the scores were tallied in record time! The trails were also well marked and interesting. I'm sure it is difficult trying to decide how hard to make the trails. If they are too easy, they're boring for the experienced riders on experienced horses. If they are too hard, they become a safety risk for novice riders or horses. I would not have wanted to be on a green horse raised in a flat corral. I would have felt comfortable being on one of my own green horses that I trust to handle themselves over logs, up and down steep and muddy banks, etc.

I came across a fairly novice rider on a fairly novice three year old mare at the beginning of the ride. She was not a competitor but a volunteer who was going to hand out completion ribbons at the end of the ride. Her horse didn't want to go out on the trail by itself so I volunteered to be her buddy. Cayenne did great and didn't mind the mare coming right up behind us quite a bit. I normally like to trot or lope out for the first mile or two but I figured it would be a day to take it easy and help someone avoid a wreck. It was a good confidence builder for both the mare and the rider and I was impressed with how they both did overall. They were not judged on the obstacles, and held back while I was, but they did have to complete some just because they were the trail! The last obstacle, the bank and the rushing creek, was the only thing that panicked the mare. That was in part due to some excited paint horses that had came up behind us while we waited for the judge, and the fact that I had disappeared down the hill in the trees to complete the obstacle by myself. I doubled back to the creek bank to wait for the lady to cross but her horse got scared and took off across the hillside. The judge almost got ran over. The mare hit the judge with the point of her shoulder as she bolted past and the judge had to jump down the hill and skid to a stop on her butt to avoid continuing into the creek! The lady was going to go on up to the top of the ridge and hook up with another trail back to the lodge. I figured that was a bad idea so I came back across the creek. She was able to put her horse's nose in Cayenne's tail and she followed us right across. She just needed some reassurance! All's well that ends well!

Although Western Pleasure is just over two hours away from me, I will be inclined to participate in events they have due to the positives at the ACTHA ride. Their lodge is beautiful, they have a warm-up arena, and the shady lawn was nice to relax on while eating lunch and partaking in the awards ceremony. Good job, Western Pleasure!

Busy, busy!

I brought Blaze home from pasture yesterday. I need to get him going again for the Trainer's Challenge in Sandpoint. I wanted to bring Turbo and start him but I have too many horses to ride as it is. It's good to be busy!

I'm riding in my first ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association) ride on Sunday. It's six miles, six obstacles, and six judges. It's at Janice and Roley Schoonover's Western Pleasure Guest Ranch in the Sandpoint, Idaho area. Their place is beautiful and I heard there is a lot of water on the trail so it should be fun. Whether the water is normally there or if it's there because of all the rain we've had in the past couple weeks will be determined on Sunday! I'm riding Cayenne.

PDIA Extreme Trail Challenge

The 3rd trail challenge at Farragut was put on by yet another group, PDIA. I have to say that this one was well organized with excellent obstacles. Everyone was professional and friendly. A big thanks to PDIA (Play Day in Athol) for a fun event!

The obstacles were definitely challenging. I skipped two and didn't do one as intended due to their difficulty for my horse. We didn't place very well because of that but it was still my favorite trail event so far this year. I'm trying to get experience under Cayenne's belt and that's easy to do when there are 23 obstacles on one course! They can't all be easy or it'd be no fun!

I took Smart Little Cayenne and entered in the Extreme division. I'm not sure why I keep doing that but it doesn't seem right to compete in the Novice division. Even though Cayenne is inexperienced, I have won some pretty competitive trail classes. If I actually won in a Novice class (not that I would), I would feel bad for taking away a true novice's title. I wish there were Junior classes offered at these trail events so that Cayenne could compete against horses in her own age bracket.

It was pouring rain so I was pretty wet before we were even finished with the course walk. I brought rain gear and some dry clothes but didn't count on walking through brush and tall grass. Luckily, I was wearing rubber boots for that but my jeans were soaked up to my knees! It was warm though so really not bad. By the time I headed out on the course, Cayenne was so wet you could see all the spots on her skin.

The course consisted of 23 obstacles, judged 0-10, and was timed for points, too. I will describe the course as I rode it. My obstacle numbers may not be correct and I'm not sure exactly where the judging started and stopped on some of them:

Obstacle 1: A single log to jump. It was only about 18" so I trotted Cay and hopped over it with no problem. Galloped down the trail.

Obstacle 2: Stop at the bottom of a bank, back up the bank, around a barrel, and back down the bank. A little sticky backing the steepest part but not bad.

Obstacle 3: Pick a "candy cane" out of a barrel, wade into a pond, pick floating pool inter tubes/rings out of the water, get on dry ground, drop them and repeat until three "toys" were on the bank. Ride out through two trees. Cay hesitated at the waters edge but not bad. She was leery of the rings floating around but I was able to scoop them up without too much maneuvering. She needed to be more relaxed.

Obstacle 4: Bridge. It was high over the pond. Cayenne was hesitant once she got on it. She was looking off the side (there were no side rails or anything) like she might hop off. I drove her forward and even tapped her on the butt with the candy cane I was still carrying. Put the candy cane back in the original barrel. Lope off up the slope to the next obstacle. I let Cay hand gallop and she shut down great when I asked before some old pavement on the path.

Obstacle 5: Tire grid. I think there were 12 tires, 3 across and 4 long, that were bolted together but not staked down in any fashion. I have never stepped Cay in one tire much less a slew of them. She had new slide plates on and I was afraid that she might catch the trailing heel on a tire. If she got scared and backed up, we'd have had a wreck. I skipped the tire obstacle got those safety reasons.

Obstacle 6: Outhouse. Dismount at outhouse with pink balloons on the door. Go in and shut the door while holding onto your horse, come back out and remount. Cay stood fine for the dismount and wait but probably took a step while I got back on. She didn't care about the balloons.

Obstacle 7: Tunnel. The tunnel was great with masses of balloons hanging inside, pool noodles sticking in from the sides, and all sorts of streamers. Cayenne didn't hesitate at all.

Obstacle 8: Pick a golf ball off a barrel, head down a steep hill, deposit the ball into the top of a tall cone. The only hard part about this obstacle was the photographer crouched at the bottom of the hill next to the cone, complete with rain gear and a plastic bag over his camera! Cay stopped a couple times with her head up and ears hard forward trying to figure out what in the heck was down there! She didn't feel like she was going to take off but I was hoping the guy would stand up or say something to let her know he was a human! She realized it on her own when we got closer and getting up to him and the cone was no problem.

Obstacle 9: Hula hoop slide. A cable was strung overhead with several hula hoops on it. You had to slide two hoops from one side to the other. The gal doing the walk through said we could grab and wing them over but I took them and sidepassed Cay under the cable to get mine to the other side. I figured the level of difficulty was higher that way. Cay was fine for that.

Obstacle 10: Dummy carry. Pick a light dummy off a post and carry him back up the hill, hook him to a zip line, and push him back down. Cay couldn't have cared less. The main thing that made me happy while we were over the hill in the draw was that Cay was focused on me and the tasks at hand. She didn't nicker or carry on like she wanted to get back to all the horses up on the flat.

Obstacle 11: 360 Box. The box was raised about 2' up with ties on three sides. You rode up the sloped side, did a 360, and stepped off the straight side. Cay did great and hopped off with no hesitation.

Obstacle 12: Gate. Work a gate. No problem.

Obstacle 13: Jump. We skipped this one as the jump was really high. There was no stepping over it for partial points! I think it was about 4' high and made of sturdy logs. I headed over the bank again and am not sure if that trip was judged.

Obstacle 14: Ditch. Extreme riders had to go into a ditch, turn and back along the bottom of it before turning and climbing out the other side.

Obstacle 15: More jumps! This obstacle was a series of three log jumps. The highest was first and graduated on down. I walked Cay and stepped her over. The first on was almost as high as her belly so she had a little trouble getting her hind legs high enough to get over. She made it though and didn't mind. I guess that's where bushwhacking in the mountains pays off!

Obstacle 16: Mailbox. Stop, open and shut door, raise flag. No problem.

Obstacle 17: Pick up sack of cans off a barrel, carry them for a ways, drop them. I trotted Cay and shook the cans on the way and she never bobbled.

Obstacle 18: Concrete ditch. A good ditch with a concrete wall on one side and large boulders lining the other side. I trotted through. Cay looked at it but didn't hesitate too much.

Obstacle 19: Fishing. Pick a fishing pole out of a barrel, cast into a deep little pool, pull your magnet "lure" over a mason jar lid, reel the lid in, remove it, toss the lid back in the pool and put the pole back in the barrel. Cay was a little turd about this obstacle. The obstacle wasn't the issue; she thought I was going to make her go in the fishing pool. It was not horse friendly and she knew it! I spent way too much time trying to sidepass her up to the barrel to get the pole while she was resistant and downright refused to sidepass when we got too close to the edge of the pool. Once I got the pole, she stood fine while I used both hands to catch my lid. The pole, lid, etc did not bother her at all.

Obstacle 20: Sidepass logs. Side pass over logs in an "L." Ok but I had to use too much leg and it wasn't nearly as smooth and resistance free as it should have been.

Obstacle 21: Push a little ball (12" or so) with your horse's feet a short distance and between two markers. The wind took the first ball away from us too far so I put her on the second ball. It went in but steering a little ball against the wind, bumps and grass was challenging.

Obstacle 22: Trailer load. The instructions explicitly said you were to ride in and slide off your horse's butt. At many trail challenges, doing that would have been a safety violation. I actually prefer doing it and have practiced it on my horses with no issues. It's faster and you grab the top of the trailer once you kick your feet out of the stirrups. That way, even if your horse stops and sucks back or turns around, you are free of the saddle and hanging high enough to avoid most chances of injury. Cay rode right in and I slid off without incident.

Bonus obstacle: Use a broom to hit three little balls into a bucket. Simple.

We finished in just over 10 minutes. There were only 8 contestants in the Extreme Division. I think I placed 6th. I felt bad at first but then thought about the fact that I'd skipped and revamped obstacles. You can't do that and be competitive. You also can't ask an inexperienced horse to do dangerous obstacles and risk a bad experience or worse. I am happy with what I chose to do and happy with Cayenne's performance. I still have lots of work to do but we're well on our way.

Next weekend I won't be able to do any horsey activities. We're heading to Missoula, MT to a diesel dyno days event. We will run "Big Red," my Ford, on the dyno and see what kind of horsepower and torque she pulls before we do 80 horse injectors and dyno it in Spokane later in the month. The Cummins in it has some changes but it'll be good to know exactly where she stands. I love the power and the fuel economy compared to my old 7.3 liter motor. I'll miss watching the Chris Cox clinic. I wanted to go audit on Friday but I have a trainee going home that day so will miss all of the clinic.

The following weekend, on June 13th, I'm signed up for my first ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association) ride at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch near Sandpoint, Idaho. It's advertised as 6 miles, 6 obstacles, and 6 judges. It should be fun. I'm taking Cayenne.

"So You Think You Can Ride" Extreme Trail Challenge

I took Cayenne to this challenge at Farragut State Park in Athol, Idaho and it was much different than anticipated! It was supposed to be 10 miles with "natural" judged obstacles. It ended up being a 10 mile trail ride. The Extreme Division started with three obstacles at the camp site: Push a big ball in a circle with your horse, pull a bucket of cards up using a rope pulley and take two cards out, and cross a little stream with pinwheels alongside and floating balls, etc in it. I finally rode out at noon after being on my horse since 9am waiting. The trails were simple and good but not flagged well. Organizers later said that some of the flags were apparently removed by other park users. I trotted and loped 2-3 miles in the beginning with a couple double backs to get on the correct trail. I had completed probably half of the course and still not seen any judges or obstacles so was pretty worried I had gone off course or somehow missed a judge. I met up with another gal on the trail and she hadn't seen any either so at least we were in the same boat! We finally met a lady on an Arab who had already finished the course and was coming back to look for her mother. She told us that there were no obstacles but we had to stay on the flagged trail because we were being timed. We got back to camp somewhere between 2pm and 2:30pm and there were several trailers gone or pulling out because they were upset about paying to go on a trail ride! Rumor had it that the times were being thrown out because of the unmarked trails and that the organizers were going to set up a judged obstacle course near the BBQ area. Rumor also had it that there were no judged obstacles on the trail because the volunteer judges hadn't shown up. It would have been nice if they had reorganized due to that fact and gave us the option to go for a trail ride while they set up a course at camp. There would not have been so many confused riders out in the woods that way!

I tied Cayenne to the trailer, gave her some water and ate my lunch before heading over for the rest of the course. It ended up being several hours until the competition wrapped up. They did tally the scores quickly once the last rider was done. They immediately handed out lots of prizes and I pulled out of the park around 7:30pm. I definitely missed my dinner date with family in Chewelah at 6:30pm! Cayenne and I took 4th place in the Extreme Division. I am quite pleased with that.

Cayenne did pretty well on most of the obstacles although the two she didn't like, she did poorly at! The little "stream" in the beginning with all the miniature soccer balls and stuff in it was very suspicious in her mind. I let her check it out for way too long to be competitive and then I had to urge her over. She jumped it somewhat gently but I would have preferred she put a foot in the 12-18" stream. One of the evening obstacles was a 1/2 barrel full of water with slingshots and little balls in it. She didn't care to stand close enough for me to lean way down and get them so I grabbed a fish net (from another obstacle) and dipped the stuff out. She wiggled around a lot through that process while eyeballing the barrel but did stand still enough for me to drop the reins and use the slingshot to shoot a ball at the target. I'm not sure if the horse or the rider was judged on that one! She did excellent on the rest of the obstacles. She had no problem with pushing the ball or letting me raise the red bucket up next to her in the first obstacles. The evening obstacles included three barrels in a line with a board resting on two. You had to pick up the end of the board and move around forward to rotate your end 180 degrees and set it on the other barrel. In the Extreme, you then had to pick the end back up and back your horse up to place the end back on the original barrel. The next obstacle was picking up a plastic horseshoe and tossing it toward a spike. Again, I'm not sure who was judged on this because I didn't come close to getting a ringer! The slingshot obstacle previously described was next. After that, I used the fish net to scoop a water balloon out of another barrel and then tossed it into a little bucket a short ways off. Amazingly enough, I got the balloon in the bucket! The last obstacle was picking up a blue tarp off the ground (it was "tented" so you could reach it by leaning down) and carrying it through a "cowboy curtain" or "carwash," which is hanging tarp strips you push through. She did very well on the tarp/curtain obstacle as well as the rest.

We placed behind three very good horse/rider combinations. Jinny Dean on her mare, Jewel, was 3rd. Anne-Marie, on her 28yr old Arab stallion, was 2nd. A nice lady whose name I didn't catch won on her black horse. Unfortunately, I didn't see her ride so I must have missed watching a great team! I saw Jinny and Anne-Marie ride and they were very good. I figure it's quite a compliment to place right below a rider I admire such as Jinny!

I am considering returning to Farragut for a competition on the 29th, put on by a different group, but am not sure. I'm a little burnt out on the long days put in at the previous competitions at Farragut! I don't mind long rides by any means but I get geared up to compete and want to be challenged! I like that several groups are putting on trail competitions within a couple hours but would also like to see them ran more efficiently. The Farragut trail challenge that I rode in two weeks ago has many disgruntled riders because many of them, including me, were missing scores. The judges either didn't write them down, they got washed off in the rain, or the person putting them in the computer forgot them. Cayenne and I had excellent scores but two blanks. I don't care about the prize money or awards but I want to know how I did and where my horse and I really stacked up against the competition. One good thing about having so much "hurry up and wait" time is that I get to chat with lots of different people. Most people at trail competitions are friendly and it's nice to get to know them. There were quite a few people from out of state including a group of 20-somethings from Helena, MT. They were quite entertaining as they were drinking beer before we even did the first obstacles in the morning! One guy had a set of big saddle bags on his mare that were actually insulated coolers! By the time evening rolled around the Montana guys were really good for a laugh. One guy's hat ended up on the ground while we were waiting and instead of dismounting, he picked it up from his horse. The trouble was, as he was hanging out of the saddle, he was spurring her in the top of her flank! Needless to say, she was jumping around with him hanging off one side trying to get his hat! There were quite a few wrecks waiting to happen with many of the riders but luckily, nobody that I know of got hurt.

Bushwhacking

I re-explored some trails and logging roads up Burnt Valley Road today. I rode Cayenne and did three hours of hill climbing and bushwhacking. I'm glad I wore my chinks as we got into some really heavy brush. My arms are pretty scratched up as I was in short sleeves. Cay was game and we had a good day. I found a big elk wallow and game trail complete with major rubs on the trees. I think I'll try to get the game cam out there in the late summer or fall to see what there are for bull elk going through.

Competitive Trail Challenge at Farragut

Saturday was a fun trail challenge at Farragut State Park near Athol, Idaho. It poured rain pretty much all morning but 58 riders still came to compete! They had a six mile loop flagged with about ten obstacles. Four of those were right by camp so there weren't too many once you hit the trail. I took Cayenne and it turned out to be great experience for her. We competed in the "Extreme" class. She's not extreme but I'm not novice and there was no other option other than youth. I'm certainly not that any more! The trail was the same for everyone but when you were at a judged obstacles, some of them had harder requirements if you were in the extreme class. For example, one obstacle was to walk through a "car wash," hanging tarp strips. If you were in extreme, you also had to back through once you'd went through forwards. Not hard but a little more challenging and fun, which is what it's all about! Cay was a little amped up at first as she was determined that we must go with all the horses ahead. I long trotted her for a couple miles and passed the handful of riders in front when we came upon them in the woods. Once we were out front, she relaxed and we had a great ride by ourselves. The trails were clear and easy to navigate. The rain stopped when we were about halfway through the course. I would have galloped but the organizers had asked that we be safe and keep it to a trot because of all the rain. There were some parts of the trail that were a little slick but much of it was sandy/gravelly so the footing was excellent. I cruised back to camp at 12:15, about two hours after starting. My mistake in that was that I then waited until well after 4pm for the results! Cayenne and I got 6th place in the Extreme Division. I was happy with that because we were up against seasoned horses and riders. It would have been like competing against myself on Smarty or Mr. Definitely not equal! The main thing I need to work on is getting Cayenne to stop and relax so I can do the dismounts, mounts, or other quiet work. She always wants to keep moving. I don't like to stop when I ride alone so I need to practice, too!

The obstacles included: Dismounting, tack inspection, answering questions about what a rider should take on a trail ride, mounting, crossing a weird wooden siding/2x12 board bridge, opening and closing a gate with a tarp on it, going into a ditch, riding along the bottom and then climbing out again, going under a black plastic tunnel-like obstacle, going through and then backing under a "carwash," backing uphill, around a tree and back down to the trail, dragging an orange plastic sack full of stuff, zigzagging down a hill, dismounting and mounting again, and dismounting and leading through trees and then backing through them. None of the obstacles were particularly difficult or scary, which was good so as not to risk intimidation of my youngster. I imagine it was hard to judge the extreme class though as there were so many experienced trail competitors and they all probably did well on the obstacles.

The funniest part of the competition was running into a whole bunch of kids on the trail. Cay and I could hear them shrieking in the woods ahead. I slowed her to a trot when they came into sight. There were probably 25 boys age 5-10 or so all over the trail. There were no adults in sight and the kids all carried some sort of air (mouth) powered gun made out of white pvc pipe. They started hollering, "Intruder," when they saw me and scurrying around to take aim at me and my horse! I dropped my reins on Cay's neck and put my hands in the air like "I surrender" as I rode into the midst of them. Then I decided to pick up my reins in case one of the little buggers decided to fire! I had caught them off guard so they didn't really know what to do except keep their weapons trained on me. Some were only a couple feet off the trail and the turned with me as I rode by to keep me in their sites. I was sure one would shoot Cayenne in the butt but they resisted temptation! I wasn't sure what exactly they had loaded in their guns but in talking to other riders back at camp, they were marshmallow guns. Adults at the nearby tent camping area started calling the boys to come eat as soon as I got by so many of the riders didn't run into the group that I did. Many did see hundreds of marshmallows on the trail though!

There are two more trail challenges at Farragut this month. It's only about an hour and forty five minutes so definitely close compared to most of the other ones. They are being put on by different organizations and therefore, ran differently with different obstacles. I think staying close to home and getting some experience under Cayenne's belt (saddle blanket?) is a good idea. It's fun to travel to far off places but not very economical! Once she's a seasoned campaigner, it will make sense to get her out to challenge the world!

New Foal!

Well, a lot has happened since the last post. Pepper had her foal April 21st at 1:30am. A solid noncharacteristic bay filly named "Peppy." The registration name I'm requesting for her is Peppy Zach O'lena. She is a cutie. I was not in attendance for her birth as Ransom and I were in Maine. We flew out early Monday morning, the 19th, as good friend, Jeff, was killed in a car accident. Ransom's brother, Zach, survived. Very sad circumstances but I won't blog about the ordeal. I always told Zach I would name a foal after him so I figured now is the time, especially since she won't be for sale.

I did okay at the Supreme Cowboy Race. I had received the bad news late the night before I rode so my mind and heart were not on the course. Smarty was really pushy but Cayenne did very well for her level of experience. She did all the obstacles including a drop into a big pool of water that looked a couple inches deep but was actually a couple feet deep. It was a good course with lots of variety and fun obstacles. I'm not sure how many horses competed but I think there were 18-20 in the open class. Cayenne placed 6th and Smarty 7th. There were a lot of very good horses and riders there so it was a treat to watch what I did catch. The trip was a little over 900 miles round trip and I pushed steady for home, stopping only once in Ritzville for fuel and to let my dog go potty. Wonderful friends already had my horses fed and watered and the barn lights on to welcome me home! I pretty much put my horses away, completed some college homework assignments that were due online, slept for a couple hours and headed for the airport.

There was quite a crew caring for my horses. Twelve in all including customer horses. They didn't just feed and water, they cleaned stalls and paddocks, exercised the dogs, monitored Pepper's progress and then made sure she and the new foal were doing well. It was really nice having so many caring people to watch over everything while we were gone! My dad even slept in Pepper's stall and video taped Peppy's birth so I could see it when I got home! What a crew!

Quincy, my friend Tammy's mare, also foaled while we were gone. She had an exceptional filly by Smarty that is probably the best looking one I've seen by him! The filly is black with some white spots on the top of her hips. She has a deep heart girth, great shoulder and hip, and is just really nicely built all the way around.

Waiting on Mama

My mare, Pepper, waxed yesterday so I'm jumping with excitement waiting for her to have her foal. This is my only foal this year and my first by Smarty since Blaze in 2007! This foal will be a full sibling to my favorite, Smart Little Cayenne, so there's a lot of added excitement here! Pepper is only at 11 months and 1 day now so I wasn't expecting her to foal until after the Pat Wyse clinic, towards the end of the month. So much for planning on my part! She may hold on until then as she has waxed for weeks before without foaling. I'm probably leaving early Saturday to haul down to the Supreme Cowboy Race in Nampa, ID, returning Sunday night/Monday morning, leaving for the clinic on Wednesday, and not coming home until that Sunday night. That's a lot of being gone with a mare ready to foal. I plan to put her in a spot where my husband can see her from the house so it will be easy for him to keep an eye on her. I'm going to tempt her shortly and leave to go ride at the local outdoor arena for a couple hours. Hopefully that will motivate her to sneak a foal in!

I rode Cayenne and Smarty up on the hill across from my Dad's yesterday. It was nice to get out and the horses loved the long runs on the logging roads. Smarty was like the energizer bunny. I rated him back to a medium gallop for some corners, rutted road, big puddles and the like but other than that, he poured on the speed. I should say, "His legs went really fast!" He hardly broke a sweat and we went probably 1 1/2 - 2 miles uphill at a good clip! I haven't hardly ridden him so I don't know how he can be in that good of shape. He wasn't done when we reached the top but I had to get back and go to Spokane so didn't have all day to run. Plus I didn't want to kill him even though it was self-inflicted!

I'm getting the trailer and horses ready to head for the Cowboy Race. It'll be a pretty good haul at about 9-11 hours. I had wanted to leave Friday in case I had any trouble but unless Pepper pops, I'll hang out as long as I can. The weather is beautiful and supposed to hold for the rest of the week. That means I can get Smarty and Cayenne washed without them freezing. The race starts at 10:30 Sunday morning and the results are supposed to be announced at 4:30 that evening. That's a long time to hang out with a drive ahead. Hopefully I will know or find out if I placed in the top 3 and if not, head out as soon as possible. Of course, I want to be in that top 3 though! The Expo looks like it has a good lineup of clinicians, demos, etc. It'll be fun to peruse and watch some of the big boys. I'm excited!

Opportunity in Disguise

Blaze's wound is healing very well. He quickly learned to let me hot pack it AND continually kick a pinecone for my ball-crazy dog, Ziva. As much as I miss riding Blaze, I now have the opportunity to "save" him for the Trainer's Challenge at the Horsin' Around Expo in July. We can have up to 40 rides so I can just keep him laid off for the spring. I wasn't going to use him because I wanted to have many more rides on him than that by the time summer rolled around. He's a good candidate and will be a good example of Smarty babies.

I've been keeping up on riding Cayenne. I will be sending in my entry forms for the Supreme Cowboy Race in Nampa, Idaho on April 18th. I plan to compete on Smarty and Cayenne. It may be a bit much for her level but I'm confident it'll at least be good experience. She has more riding than Smarty did when I took him to the Craig Cameron Extreme Cowboy Race! He had a scattered 120 days or so and very little arena work and we tied for 11th out of 36. The building blocks I've been working on with Cayenne's spin are starting to pay off. I've not asked her to really spin yet but am speeding up her turnaround. She stays correct, is very soft and supple, and doesn't fall apart when I push her. I really hope that Pat Wyse will be happy with the progress I've made on her when we go to the clinic in Sandpoint in a few weeks! We'll go from the Cowboy Race to the clinic with only three days in between. She'll be tired by the time that whole week is over!

Ouch!

Pictures of Blaze's wound from rolling down a hill onto a rock on Tuesday morning! He loves to roll on steep ground and slide down headfirst while wriggling and flipping back and forth! It's quite a sight that I've meant to video. Maybe this wound will cure him of that fun activity though!

I feel fortunate that I saw the injury a very short time after he did it and got him to a good vet. Dr. Richardson in Colville sedated Blaze and pulled the flap back to reveal a deep puncture wound! After flushing and suturing the inner part, he laid the flap back and sewed it all up. He said it should heal up just fine. Blaze is happy and enjoying his stall and the accompanying attention. It's been two days since the injury and the site looks as good as in the "after" picture.

Extreme Trail, Roping, "Real" Trail...

I went back to Shannon's for another Extreme Trail practice. The emphasis was on swinging a rope, roping a dummy or bale, and dragging a log. Tammy went this time and her son and his girlfriend met us there so we brought a full trailer load. It was more productive than the last time because this time, everyone's horses were pretty well schooled, not necessarily on trail obstacles, but on general handling. Cayenne and I finally conquered the teeter totter bridge to the point where she'd just stand on it after it "tottered." It was shorter one than others we've worked on and not as scary.

I practiced roping quite a bit. Cayenne was pretty content to stand and let me rope the bale over and over. I also drug the log and a blue barrel. She was fine with everything. Since everyone got done working the obstacles so soon, we went for a nice trail ride up in the hills. There was a lot of climbing so it was a great workout. The prancy dancy horses weren't prancing anymore! I made Cayenne follow most of the time so she doesn't get locked in the mindset that she's the leader all the time. She was a little antsy at times, especially after she got her second wind, but did fine.

It was fun taking just one horse but I get lots more accomplished when I take a few. The Cowgirl Co-Op should be opening back up in a few weeks so the practice will be held there.

Brief Update on Cayenne & Blaze

My dad put new shoes on Little Cayenne yesterday. I had him put the small sliders on her to see how she works in them. She slides pretty well in regular shoes so I think mini sliders will be fun! I'd like to find out whether I can avoid super sliders. I want to show her in reining but my main focus is extreme trail. I don't want her footing to be in question while training for or competing in trail. From experience, I know regular shoes are not the best on some of the large rock outcroppings in the hills. The little sliders were worse, of course. I avoid the large, flat rocks when I can but I don't want to hinder my riding too much just so I can get a big slide in the arena! We'll see how it goes!

I've been riding Blaze sporadically. I took him for one ride alone up the hill from Dad's. Walk, trot and canter, down the hill under the powerline, through the brush, etc was all fine with him. He got a little humpy with me a couple times yesterday but I hadn't worked him in over a week. The "humpy" was more in his neck and pinched ears, so it was more of a thought than an action. I just pulled his head around to discourage him and squeezed him back out into a trot. He was feeling pretty spicy yesterday, from the time I brought him in, so I knew I was in for more of a challenge. I'm hoping to get shoes on him in a couple weeks and get him worked enough to take to the Pat Wyse clinic at the end of April. I have outside horses starting to come in so we'll see how much time I end up with for my own.

** Update on Blaze: I figured out why he was humpy the next day when I was brushing him. His hair was roughed up on either side of his withers. I double checked the fit of his saddle and he has grown too wide, making it perch up too high and hurt him. Simple fix! I had an excellent ride on him with the correct fitting saddle!

Blazin' Trails

I had a nice ride up the hill on Blaze on Wednesday. I hauled horses to my dad's and he rode with me when I took Blaze up. We walked, trotted and galloped out up the logging roads. It was Blaze's first time loping under saddle and he didn't bobble at all, just a little squeeze at a trot and off we went into a nice little smooth lope. I had Blaze lead sometimes and follow other times in all gaits and he had a good time. He walked out nice and seemed very happy to be up there. We took the "williwaw" trail, going up a bank, through brush, over logs, etc. Blaze has grown up in varied terrain so that didn't phase him. It made me feel good that he was so relaxed yet perky about everything. Our ice is pretty much gone so I should be able to put him to work a bit more seriously now!

I also took Cayenne and Smarty up on the hill. I climbed the ridge line on both and did lots of galloping. I had planned to go easy on Smarty since he's not in any sort of shape, other than round, but he had other ideas. I relented and let him charge up the hills hell-bent-for-leather until we reached the top. He was ready to keep going but I pulled him up made him walk a while. He has never poured on the speed for that long. He must be feeling really good after seeing the equine dentist last week! He was jiggy, which has never happened before either, so once I got him to walk calmly, I cued him into a long trot. We trotted for another ways and then picked up a lope again. I let him have his head a bit and he was tearing along the curvy logging road like a madman! I slowed him up before the sharper corners in case there were deer or elk in the road but otherwise, I let him run. After a few minutes, I slowed him up again and made him walk the half hour or so back to the trailer. He was still full of energy, although flat footed, and seemed extremely happy with himself and the fact that he'd gotten to stretch out. If he had longer legs, I might be able to say he was fast but his little legs were just going a million miles an hour!

The renewed happiness of my horses I had dental work done on makes me feel it was well worth it. I'm already seeing better lateral work and comfort. Having Smarty so free and "full of it" is different but good. Other than the habit of keeping his nose tipped slightly to the right this winter, I didn't realize that seemingly minor mouth issues were hindering my riding and training so much. Even 2% better is a huge difference in the long run. None of them had major issues except Smarty had a "wave" probably from a cap that stayed on too long, which resulted in a high tooth on the bottom left side of his molars. With his stud jowls pushing in, the edge on the high tooth was wearing on the inside of his cheek, resulting in the head tipping I started getting. I guess I'll be paying the equine dentist to work on all of my horses annually from here on out!

Extreme Trail Practice Day at Shannon's

I hauled Smarty, Cayenne, and Blaze to my friend, Shannon's, to practice on her indoor extreme trail course. There were about 8 riders total so it wasn't too crowded but you definitely couldn't lope around in the arena.

I worked Cayenne first and she was pretty nervous just getting to the arena. There was the usual array of farm junk laying around as well as dogs standing on the top of a pickup. She's not fond of dogs, especially when they're the same height as she! I didn't pressure her much once we got into the arena. I just let her familiarize herself with it. It was a coverall so white fabric sides with a variety of "things" stacked along the edge. There were also cages and pens with ducks, peacocks and goats. Once I walked her around a bit, I took a turn on each of the obstacles. There was a flat bridge, a taller curved bridge, a blue tarp, sacks of cans to drag, a "carwash," and a variety of other obstacles. Many of the other horses were resistant to do the obstacles at first so it was interesting to see the methods used to convince them there were no monsters under the bridges, etc. After doing the obstacles several times each and just riding around, which took a couple hours, I traded Cayenne out for Smarty. He's never actually practiced on most of the obstacles he's seen on the extreme trail courses including a simple carwash. He's just a nice guy who likes to do whatever silly thing I ask! He quietly completed the course without a hitch and I took him back to the trailer.

We broke for a hot and delicious lunch of home-made chili and corn bread. Yum! It was nice to drink a cup of coffee and visit with some of the riders. There was a gentleman riding a beautiful bay arab mare. He tied her to the arena wall framework and she entertained us with her prissy attitude. She danced and pranced and nickered in abandonment, successfully knocking her bridle on the ground and trampling it twice. We watched as her owner, a lady, went to comfort her. The mare thought the bowl of chili in her owner's hand was for her and took a quick dip. The expression on her face was priceless!

Blaze had been saddled and IN the trailer for his own protection. He is currently determined that he must be where Cayenne is and will have a mini-tantrum if left without her. Although he must "deal" with it at home, I didn't want him pawing on the side of my aluminum trailer or injuring himself while alone outside. After saddling him when I got there, I put him in the trailer with the window open. Smarty was tied outside to "babysit" his unruly son! All went well.

After lunch, I led Blaze to the arena. I had brought him for the experience and figured he would be too excited to be safe to even get on. I hoped to be able to lead him in the arena and show him the obstacles, at least from a distance! He surprised me by being a very good boy. He was nervous, of course, but didn't overreact to the "normal" things like the plastic bag or the feed sack on a stick being worked over him. I moved on to another familiar, the blue tarp. He was nice and calm. He was very curious about all of the other horses in close quarters. He easily maneuvered over both bridges and looked at the ducks and the goats. The car wash was our nemesis the only other time I've taken him to an extreme trail course. This time, he was calm and I was able to take him through several times with the tarp strips tied back. After that confidence builder, I let down first one half and then the second half of the strips (and pool noodles) so he could go through them. I placed him in front of them and then just let him think. He had a concentrated look on his face as he slowly poked his head through and then slowly walked all the way through as if wishing he could fit his whole body within the 3" path he chose without having the strips touch him.

Although I hadn't planned on riding Blaze there, I went back to the trailer for my helmet, did a little more groundwork in the arena, and mounted up. I had all of the horses' teeth worked on by a horse dentist yesterday and although he said I could ride today, I just had Blaze in a rope halter. He's my sensitive horse and if anyone needed a break, it was him. I steered him around a bit and then asked him to do some various obstacles like the bridges. The arena was getting a bit packed by then with some horses skittering around in fear of the car wash so I chose to not try to take him through it while mounted. If we had had the area to ourselves, I would have, but I was having trouble enough maneuvering him between swinging butts! I didn't want him getting ran into or kicked by another horse. He remained relaxed although I do think his mouth was hurting some as he really didn't want to give his head. I took him back to the trailer and unsaddled after a short but positive ride. I was impressed with his accepting attitude. I thought it unlikely he would make a good extreme trail horse because of his "hot" side but he may do great!

I resaddled Cayenne once I put Blaze up and went for a group trail ride with everyone. It was mostly road riding with a jaunt back and forth across a creek and up a hill through some trees. Cay did ok but really wants to lead the pack. She relaxed when I let her up front and was later able to have a better time of it in the middle of the pack. As I have known prior, her main problem is her hyper attitude. She wants to go, go, go! Sometimes I need her to stop and wait for me to do something. She's very competitive natured and fun, but needs more practice reining in some of that type A personality!

I'm glad I went to Shannon's. It was a productive day and the sun even came out for our group ride :)

Back in the Saddle

Picture of Blaze ready for me to work him while Smarty looks on.

I rode Cayenne in the short shank Monte Foreman curb to pony Blaze today. She did fine as she’s pretty good about neck reining with some reminders. I tied Ziva up with a braided twine “rope” to keep her at the barn while I rode up the paved road. I intended to get to the gravel (mud) road and take Cayenne and Blaze for a good gallop. I hadn’t made it far when Blaze kept listening behind us. I looked back and there was Ziva, trotting along with a short chunk of twine on her collar. I just had to smile and turn back. She’s afraid of strange dogs and leery of strange people so it would be no fun for either of us if she went up the road with me and we ran across either. She can’t help herself and won’t listen 100% when she’s scared and I don’t want her hurt or lost. Kelsie was my 100% dog. She would listen if the world was falling down around her ears.

I’ve had two days of good working weather since our ice slick has dissipated. I’ve been ground driving Blaze but rode him yesterday and today. He’s no trouble and seems to want to stay on his hind end like his sister. Today, I drove him out through the woods and then got on and rode the same path once we got back to the barn. I left him tied while I cleaned pens and then rode him on the same path only in reverse. It’s just a short loop that takes probably four minutes but it’s something. I trotted him a bit towards the end of the last loop. I wish the ground was better so I could start loping him. He’s pretty behind for eight rides compared to where I know he could be (even though five of those rides were last fall) but it’s not his fault. He’s turning on the forehand with ease and getting some leg yield steps out in the open. He’s very sensitive, which I like, and wants to learn. He’s my resident hot-head though so it’s probably good that I’m forced to take it slow!

I did more ground work with Smokey. She has such a sweet personality. She picks up on things quickly. If the weather holds, I should make good progress with her.

Smarty got ridden yesterday but I ran out of time today. He moved back into the barn after I accidentally let him out of this other pen on Monday. It’s not a good feeling to feed in the morning and discover your stallion is gone! It’s the first time he’s escaped and I just assumed that all hell would break loose if he ever did so the silence was disconcerting. The girls were unmolested in their pens and the boys were just hanging out waiting for breakfast. I started calling and looking around when Smarty’s head poked out from behind the house. He walked up like, “What are you hollering about?” From what I can tell, all he did was eat on Pepper’s alfalfa round bale and empty the twine trash and eat all the hay pieces out of it. He didn’t even try to get into the grain barrel or visit with the other horses much. Ziva would have barked and/or I would have heard them if they were squealing or running. I swapped Pepper back into the hillside corral and put Smarty in the barn. His stall isn’t finished but he doesn’t care. It’s easier having him handy to ride.

A Beautiful Day!

I had a great day working horses! The weather was beautiful! Sunshine and blue skies with only a couple inches of crusty snow.

The holidays are over and I’m looking forward to a wonderful riding season. I’ve ridden Cayenne somewhat regularly over the past couple weeks but the rest of the crew has been mostly neglected. I’ve worked Smokey a bit on the ground as her manners need improving. She’s not mean in any way, just overly pushy and non-responsive to pressure for me! I like my horses a touch on the hot side (just a smidge) and she’s not, which is great of most people. That will help her in the kids/novice rider department later.

Today, I ponied Blaze, my now 3yr old gelding. I ponied him yesterday and ground drove him. I looked at my calendar and I put a total of 5 rides on him last fall but he’s not a dead head I feel comfortable getting back on so green! After ponying him today, I ground drove him and then got on and rode him for a few minutes a couple different times. He has been nothing but a gentle character under saddle but I’ve seen that boy move out in the pasture! If I can train him up right, he should be an amazing athlete.

In the midst of working with Blaze today, I took Cayenne for a ride around the property and up the road a ways. She’s full of energy and it’s unfortunate that I can’t lope circles and work on stops and such. The footing in the meadow was good enough to do some stops and rollbacks at a trot. I’m trying to work on all the slow stuff I neglect when I can lope around doing flying lead changes! I’m walking her in lots of circles and winding her down to a hind foot pretty good.

I brought Smarty into the barn and tied him opposite of Cayenne. Thankfully she’s not acting in heat and didn’t cause any trouble. I rode Smarty and sure do enjoy that guy. I have been contemplating gelding him since I don’t breed many mares and would rather spend my time and money riding than buying mares and raising foals. One or two foals every other year would be plenty for me and although I love Smarty’s foals, I can probably buy prospects rather than raise them. His foals have all been very easy to train and showing to be quite athletic, as they should be. While working with and riding him today, I asked myself, “Why would you want to geld a stallion that is so easy to deal with?” He said not one word or took one misstep and is a true pleasure to ride. I guess I’ll just start hauling him to more extreme trail competitions this year.

I put a bridle on Smokey, which I haven’t done yet. I put my fat three-piece “dog bone” snaffle on her and let her get used to it in the round pen for a bit. After working Blaze again, I did some groundwork with Smokey. She’s very smart and picked up quickly. I was a bit put out by her ground manners earlier in the week but she redeemed herself in a snap. I took her out for a walk and some groundwork where there were more distractions. Since the ground is too icy in the round pen, I intend to drive her for a while and do as much on the ground as possible before getting on her out in the open. I’m sure she won’t do anything as she doesn’t seem to have an excitable nature but I’m better safe than sorry!

Every day is a good day when working with horses but particularly good days really make the spirit soar! Today was motivating. I have a good group to work with and feel very fortunate!