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!

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 :)

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.