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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

Christmas Weekend Riding and Reading

I went for an exhilarating ride on Little Cayenne yesterday! It got up into the 20's, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. She was full of herself and determined that the neighbors falling trees and burning slash across the road were monsters. I finally rode her down to see them and she quickly determined that they were not that bad but monsters must be somewhere. Anywhere! Since our place is so icy, I long trotted her up the road, next to the pavement. When we hit the gravel road, I galloped her out. She's never been up there so the neighborhood goats, cows, large dogs, wolf (in a chain link pen) and miniature horses kept her motivated to move! I slowed her up and turned back for home after a mile or so. She moved out briskly but felt better. She had a closer look at all of the critters on the way home. There was still a couple hours of sunlight left so I tied her to the trailer with her cooler on to dry off. First I tied her to my incomplete hitching rail for a picture.

I found a great little article about Ima Little Lena in an old(April 1988) Appaloosa Journal the other night. Ima Little Lena is Smarty's maternal grandsire. A photo of him graced the cover of the magazine but I didn't recognize him. He was sitting like a dog with a rider (Bill Freeman) on board. I thought, "That's a cute little horse but what's he doing sitting on his butt?!" It turned out that it was Ima Little Lena after a round of cutting at the Augusta Cutting Horse Futurity. Apparently, he was the only Appaloosa out of 160 horses and one of 15 brothers and sisters sired by the AQHA stallion, Smart Little Lena. After Ima Little Lena's work in the semi-finals, Bill Freeman had him demonstrate his trick horse abilities by taking a bow. After cutting as the fourth horse in the finals, Ima Little Lena added laying down and sitting on his haunches like a dog to the show, resulting in a standing ovation from the crowd! The Appaloosa stallion ended up placing 5th out of the 160 horses in the Augusta futurity. I think that's mighty impressive! It's too bad he was sold overseas before siring more foals in the US.