The Rehabilitation of Storm......Back to the Trails.....

Part 1


Ideally the best thing to do for Storm would have been to get him right back out on the trails the following day but as usual the weather was not cooperating with that plan. The winds were hollowing and the rain going sideways, not good for any kind of riding at the park.

By the time the weather did cooperate I no longer had a friend available to ride Dandy. That meant if I was going to continue any kind of trail work with Storm I was going to have to do it on my own.
Considering Storm's reaction to that troll grabbing his hock, I was pretty sure I shouldn't be trusting Storm to carry me safely even on these little trails at the park. There were just too many places for gremlins to hide and it wouldn't be smart to test fate. Storm may have reeled himself in pretty well the first time but there were no guarantees he'd do that again. I sure didn't want to be dealing with him alone in what could be a dangerous situation.

Still, once I get something in my head, I pretty much stick to it. I was determined trail riding was a good plan for Storm and I was equally as sure, for it to be effective, it needed to be a regular thing. Waiting for someones help just wasn't going to cut it if Storm was to get the full benefit I expected trail riding to provide so I conjured up a plan to get Storm used to the trails and to keep me safe.

I figured the best way to go was to do my arena work with Storm first. That always began with lunging the horse bitted up until he got totally responsive to my cues. With these intermittent training days, a totally responsive horse could take a while but at least he was fighting with himself and not me. Once that was done, I would ride the horse working on the exercises I'd gotten from Wendy Potts and the lateral work I had already incorporated into his training regimen.

That first day back to the park after I got done with this arena work, I led Storm off to the trails. I kept his bridle on and just walked beside him heading back towards the woods. If there was going to be any spooking, it was going to be in hand with me having both feet on the ground and where I could control the extent of Storm's reactions.

Because Storm is barefoot there is a part of the park I wanted to avoid. It goes through a nice open area that would be good but it is hard gravel road which is very wearing on unshod hooves so instead of going my usual route, I headed behind the caretaker's RV spaces and up to the woods through a big grassy open area.

To get to his location meant we had to cross over a log. Even though Storm is not an experienced trail horse, he has been turned loose here on our farm in the back pastures. These fields have a creek running through them and the appropriate flora and fauna you'd expect. That means we get downed trees and such that I figure Storm has played with just like every other horse I own. I figured a log to walk over should be small potatoes for Storm.

Of course, Storm had other ideas. He may have seen logs on the ground before BUT that was at home. This log was different. It was in this scary place where trolls lived and even dragons lived. He wasn't going anywhere near that thing. Snorting and blowing with those eyes bugged out of his head Storm refused to take another step closer to that log.

When he realized that I was insisting he shook his head at me trying to tell me I should be scared. I laughed at the intensity of his refusal and immediately saw the expression change on his face. I could see the wheels turning, "Mom's laughing at me.......that means I'm being silly..........aw shucks.........." as he lowered his head and snorted at the log. I took another step closer and Storm very cautiously followed me. His head was still lowered and those snorts were still quite audible. The horse was stretching forward trying not to move those rear feet again but eventually he did. Then he leapt over that log and cleared it by at least two feet. I almost lost hold of the reins he so caught me off guard.

Back and forth across the log we went until the horse finally quit snorting and he stepped over it normally, well, normally, for a troll searching horse. Storm was not relaxed by any means but he was doing as asked so we continued on towards the woods.

Walking across the open space was not much problem but he did look like an Arabian horse on parade. His tail was flagged, his head elevated and his nostrils flared as he pranced beside me up the small hill towards the woods. His snorts were there but rather subdued. I'm pretty sure he didn't want to look silly again but he wasn't quite convinced he shouldn't be on such high alert.

As we walked by the RV spot where the troll had grabbed him, I turned Storm and walked he through the scary place. The horse was not going to be tricked this time. The brush grabbed his hock and he only scooched his butt down but did not leap or snort or jump in the air. We were making progress.

To be continued......................

The Deer Trails.......

This picture is Dandy with one of my all time favorite dogs, Hobie. This guy was a rescue blue heeler. He was so awesome around the horses and as you can see he and Dandy were good friends.


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The Rehabilitation of Storm....... Encountering a Troll.....

Part 1

Behind the horse barns there are two large camping areas that are for a couple of snowbirds who spend their summer months helping out at the park. They come with their huge RV's and park for free in exchange for hours worked keeping the park in order in the summertime. These spaces have been personalized by the people living there, more like small backyards than camping spots, really, with a low rail fence perimeter on three sides with an opening at the back for easy access to the woods.

To early in the season for the snowbirds to have returned, my friend decided to leave the woods through one of these spaces. She made her way through one of those openings in the fence on the back side. I looked at her line of travel and decided it was really too tight for the inexperienced Storm so I turned him through one space over. This opening was not only wider but it did not have the high bushes and trees on both sides like the other spot had. Although it was not completely devoid of fauna, there was a tree on the right side of the opening and some small bushes next to the tree.

We did pretty well going a different way than Dandy but Storm had his eyes on the big gelding the whole time. It was just as we went by that tree with it's bushes when it happened. Some strange troll in the form of a small shrub reached up and grabbed Storm by the hock. While the contact must have been brief you would have thought a real monster had grabbed the horse.

Storm leapt into the air and bolted. The force of his upward momentum threw me above the saddle and a startled utterance escaped my lips as my adrenaline spiked. I landed kiddywampus straddling the saddle with one leg actually up on the pummel. As the horse raced, I grabbed the horn and corrected my position. Luckily for me Storm ran right into the bit. The instant he felt the snaffle he rolled over and came down from the spook without much intervention from me because I was still busy fixing my seat.

The "bit" he hit was nothing more than the normal light contact I ride. When the horse threw his head into the air in terror, he hit that obstacle in my hands. Even though I was correcting my body position I had not relinquished hold of the reins and the dutiful horse responded in what I'd guess was about three strides from the feel of that contact. Considering the horse was in high gear, I'd say three strides was a pretty fast response from a terrified horse. It was over as quickly as it happened.

The only hint there'd been any problem was the sound of my friend laughing at my absurd utterance and Storm snorting and blowing and maybe the sound of my thumping heart. I turned the horse around to look at that troll and his eyes continued to bulge. I could feel the horse shaking between my legs just looking at that space. There was no way Storm was going through there again, or at least that's what his expression said.

When my friend could stop laughing, she asked if I wanted her to have Dandy lead the way. Knowing that would be the easiest way to get Storm back through there again, I agreed backing off just enough to give Dandy room. Of course, Dandy could have cared less about what had just happened, he walked on through that space more than happy to be heading back towards the trails.

Storm on the other hand, was not really sure what to do. He started to follow Dandy but it was like only his head and neck were following. His two back feet were planted firmly on the grown. As his body stretched forward, I squeezed my legs and Storm reluctantly stepped off from behind diving with his nose for Dandy's tail.

As we hit the actual spot where the troll had grabbed Storm, the horse scooched his butt underneath himself and scurried through the opening. My friend knew immediately what I wanted so she headed Dandy back through that space for Storm to follow.

This time I talked to him telling him to walk as we went through that opening. The horse crouched underneath me but walked as told although he did rush just a bit. This time I turned him around to walk through by himself and Storm accommodated the request although I'm pretty sure he wasn't all that happy about it. Three or four more times we walked through that place before we called it good.

I won't say that Storm totally relaxed because I don't think he really relaxed at all but it was as good as I was going to get. There was no point in pushing the horse for something that was probably going to take days to accomplished. We headed back to the horse trailer and got our horses untacked and headed home.

I don't think that Storm has ever been happier to see the inside of that horse trailer. Normally he's challenging whatever horse is inside making sure they know he's the man, screaming and striking. He just can't help himself. He knows he's going to get into trouble but he just has to push it until I chastise him.

But on this day, he sheepishly looked for Dandy to load behind him. Then I saw him nuzzle Dandy through the small opening where the feeder is and I heard a deep sigh. I'm pretty sure the big brave stallion was feeling more like an overwhelmed little boy looking for more comfort from the grumpy old gelding. Normally Dandy has no time for the foolishness of colts or stallions, but he must have sensed Storm's need so he quietly reassured Storm. There were no wild antics to correct. Just a very quiet trailer ride home.

To be continued................

Back to the Trail......

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A Little Holiday Weekend Murphy's

They say this weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer. Well, you sure couldn't tell it here. It is so cool for this time of year. Ten degrees cooler than normal they say. The weather finally cooperated this afternoon with the rain stopping and I did feel some sun although I sure didn't see it.

Even though it was late in the day, I put a few horses outside so they could play. You'd think doing it late like that the horses wouldn't have enough time to get into any trouble BUT when Dave went to bring Gypcy in she had gotten herself into some kind of mess. The front of her neck and down her chest was scraped open with three very long scratches through the skin and into the muscle. Nothing that could be stitched up but definitely ugly and full of junk.

I cold hosed it and got it all cleaned up before treating it with Manuka honey. It also looks like she is accumulating some fluid between her front legs. I don't know what I'll be doing with that. I sure hope it doesn't develop into something that must be drained.

We have no idea how she did this although Dave went looking around to see if he could find something that made sense. He couldn't find anything that looked like it could have done this. No hair on the fence anywhere either. Who knows. How come it always seems to be holiday weekends when the vet's away that stuff like this happens??

Confronting the Deadly Arabian Horse Eating Dragon

I hate to be complaining about the weather again but it's hard not to when it's nearly June and the weather is not above 60°. It's been so freaky here today it's hard to walk to the barn without being soaked or worse yet, struck by lightning.

Still the horses need to be cared for so those trips to the barn are a must. Each of us has been creative in the methods we've employed trying to get stuff done with as little impact from the weather as possible. Not an easy task on such a strange day with thunder, lightning, torrential rains and pulverizing hail.

You would think since we've had such unusual weather conditions all year, the horses would be used to whatever measures we humans take to make our jobs a little more comfortable. I know my horses have encountered the deadly Arabian horse eating dragon on numerous occasions this season. I keep thinking the "next" encounter will be the one when they finally figure out they have nothing to fear but the "next" time just never seems to come. At the sight of that dragon, many of my beauties climb the walls.

Now, Dandy and Legs are not bothered by this dragon. As a matter of fact, I think they scoff at the foolishness of the rest of the herd. And, well, little Surprise isn't all that affected either. Her princess size attitude more than large enough to take on any dragon but no so with many of my horses. They are convinced that dragon is going to eat them and there is no doubt about it in the behaviors they manifest.

I know it's said that horses don't see colors but you'll never convince me of that........and most probably my horses. I've seen plenty of instances that suggest my horses differentiate colors, spooking at things of one color and totally relaxed around them in another. I don't know how those so called experts explain that but I do by saying my horses are reacting to a difference in color. I can see no other explanation.

Because, you see, that deadly Arabian horse eating dragon just happens to be a very bright yellow rain slicker. It does not matter who sports it, Lindsay, Dave or me, the horses are sure they're going to be eaten. Climbing the walls to escape and snorting thunderously with bugged eyeballs, they recoil in terror at the first sight of the monster. No amount of coaxing, soothing talk or even bribes can change the fear in their hearts as they try to do as they're asked and still protect themselves from that dragon.

Stall cleaning can be accomplished around them.....carefully........of course. Feeding, watering, any other chores can be completed. Andy even allowed that dragon to blanket him today but he was tightly wedged in the corner with his neck telescoped to the rafters and his eyes bugging their buggiest as he hoped, maybe even prayed, that dragon would not touch him in the process of slipping that blanket over his head and fastening the buckles. A tender scratch on the neck did not trick him into believing he had nothing to fear..........the horse knew better. Every fiber in his being told him he must be afraid.......

Now before you decide that it isn't the color at all that is affecting my horses but maybe a crinkly sound or something, let me tell you about my blue rain slicker. My horses could care less about that one. There are no snorts, no clamour of hooves climbing the walls. They've even been known to lick droplets of water off the sleeves of the blue slicker. It is that bright neon yellow one that strikes fear in the hearts of my horses.

Hood up, hood down, it doesn't matter. Take it off and set it in the corner, they will stand riveted watching it, waiting for it to pounce. They are convinced that yellow slicker has a life of its own. Heck, for all I know they might even think that yellow slicker has consumed us when we're wearing it. Who knows what goes through their brains. All I know is I needed that darn yellow slicker today to get to the barn to feed lunch and as much as my boys like lunch............they weren't coming anywhere near it as long as that deadly Arabian horse eating dragon was in the barn.

NOTE: This picture is Dandy the day he was born with my youngest son, Nick. I'm not sure who was more curious about whom at this meeting. I remember Nick couldn't get over how soft Dandy was and Dandy was very very curious about Nick.


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The Rehabilitation of Storm....... The First Trail Ride.....

Dandy was the perfect horse to use as a companion for Storm on the trails. Not just because the horse has tons of experience but mostly he just plain loves trail riding. I don't think the horse ever showed any kind of concern right from his first trips into the woods. He has always been confident and bold, moving out like the woods are his kingdom. A pro from his very first trail ride those 15 or so years ago.

Over that time Dandy has introduced a number of horses to the trails including Legs and a number of riders too. He doesn't take on the nerves of fearful riders or those of unsure horses. Dandy knows the woods are fun and he can't get enough of them and he doesn't mind sharing his wisdom with other horses. I think he actually likes the role of "big brother" on the trails.

The problem was getting the weather to cooperate when I had someone available to ride Dandy for me. Seemed like every time we had things set up the torrential down pours came or 50 mph winds. It was sometime in mid January before we finally got Storm out onto the trails and the unsure Arabian horse wasn't quite sure what to think.

Because Storm has been unusually studdy in his behavior since he returned home, I had some concerns about how close to Dandy I could allow Storm to be. The horse, on the other hand, decided he couldn't get close enough to Dandy to really be comfortable. He wanted to ride with his nose tucked right into Dandy's tail hiding his face. His rate of travel always seemed to be a notch higher than Dandy's normal long strided pace. Storm was pushing, pushing to get this ride over with.

The wise old gelding wasn't really concerned about Storm's intrusion on his space. He could feel the horse's nerves and need for comfort. It was my concern that Storm's apprehension might just wane just long enough for his hormones to become active and I didn't want Storm trying to mount Dandy in those woods. Not that Dandy didn't know how to deal with such behavior, but most certainly for the safety of the rider or me I didn't want to see anything resembling stallion behavior. Luckily Storm was so worried about being out there in the woods, breeding was the last thing on his mind.

The trails at the park are a combination of wide almost road like trails around the perimeter and dissecting the wooded portion and skinny little deer trails that wind all through the stand of firs. For Storm's first trip, we stuck to the wide open trails. I figured the stimulation of brush against his body and legs would probably be too much for Storm.

Still, that gave us plenty of ground to cover and some of it was uneven with enough ups and downs to make him work. We wound our way up and down the wide portions of these trails twisting an turning our way through the area that is used by the nearby high school for training for their cross country kids.

There were barking dogs on the outside perimeter that needed to be coped with. At the first sounds of their barks Storm thought the earth had opened up and was about to swallow. He tucked his tail and pushed up into Dandy snorting under his breath but it didn't take him long to realize he'd heard those sounds before even if they were different dogs. The pitch was very much like Sugar and Delilah at home. Once Storm made that connection he backed off his nerves just a bit. His tail came back up and his neck lengthened just enough to get his face out from under Dandy's tail.

Dandy never flinched. Here Storm was trying to literally hide himself underneath Dandy's tail and the big gelding just kept plodding along like nothing had happened. I think it was Dandy's lack of reaction to Storm's spook that gave Storm the confidence to think his way through this problem to even get to the point he recognized the sounds of barking dogs.

Next some kind of power tools could be heard as we got near the one perimeter fence. Sounds that Storm has been exposed to at home but now they took on new life in these strange surroundings. His ears perked forward and his eyes darted as he tried to spot this impending danger. Then at the sound of my soft and low response to his alarm, Storm cocked his ears my direction and thought about the possibility there might not be danger..........but did not totally give the idea up, still trying to hug Dandy's tail and hide his eyes. Dandy just plodded on probably thinking what a dunce Storm was being........put patient, none the less.

Storm was alarmed when we first came to the fence line that is the small farm complete with horses. At the sound of hooves on rocks, he startled and crouched wanting to explode. I couldn't help but laugh at this reaction and Storm immediately knew he was being stupid. He cautiously rose from his crouched position desperately looking for something familiar. I could tell when his gaze finally rested on a horse by the depth of his sighs. Dandy was still in front working his way down that fence line enjoying the ride.

We did not stay out on these trails for long. Dandy was out of shape and Storm was just too stressed to torture for long. It might have been half an hour tops when I decided to call it a day and directed my friend to make her way out of the woods. Both horses were showing signs of sweat and I suspected Storm wouldn't have relaxed had we taken hours to explore these woods.

As far as he was concerned these woods were as foreign to him as if I'd taken him to Mars. We might have been heading for home (the horse trailer) but we weren't there yet and Storm was still on high alert. The question was were there really Martians in these woods. We didn't have much to find out.......but then when did it take a lot of time to scare a horse half to death.........

To be continued................

Encountering a Troll....

This is a picture of Dandy with Scandalous. Yes, that really is Dandy buried underneath that pile of hay sleeping like a baby....


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Blogger Fits.........

Is anyone else having problems with Blogger? It's giving me fits and the list of reasons seems to be growing. I got a comment from Winter Prospario in the form of an email because Blogger wouldn't let her post it directly to my blog which I totally understood because I'm having the same issue with comments I am trying to post on the blogs I am reading. Some go through fine others don't recognize me as being logged in and will not let me long in despite many attempts. Very frustrating.

In addition Blogger won't let me post comments that have come in for moderation from my email or my phone. Whenever I view my blog it shows me as not signed in AND while I'm at it I might as well gripe because it ADSENSE says my blog doesn't exist AND despite all my attempts to add like buttons etc to my posts, they don't show up. I have been unable to resolve either of these issues and when I do get a Blogger tech (which can take MONTHS!!!) I get a canned response that DOES NOT WORK!!!!!

I'd really rather be blogging about horse things instead of blogger issues. I guess I should be happy it's letting me post at all since that was last week's issue but it would be really nice to have a stretch of time that was problem free.

Now, it seems I can't get my scanner to work either, so no picture with this post. I will have to reboot and see if it will reset and work for me. Otherwise you'll have to just imagine the next picture of Legs giving his mother, poor Scandalous, what for....

The Rehabilitation of Storm

. I have posted all about the journeys I have taken with this horse from the first trade through the second trade when we came to the fork in the road on that which lead to the lawsuit It seems only appropriate that I continue on with his story as long as there is still story to tell so that brings us to the story of his rehabilitation.

Before the horse came home I suspected Storm would have some issues. I had seen enough at BG's facility to know that the horse was probably being worked by the kids who are at that facility and none of them had enough knowledge to be training a young horse. It was only when I first turned him out at his homecoming that I got a chance to see the true picture.

I had never seen a horse so compromised in movement that the horse was affected even when he was loose. Everything about his way of going seemed to be artificial. His legs swung underneath him more like paddles than real legs and his shoulders didn't seem to be engaged at all. There was movement from the hind end but the range of motion was not normal for a horse with the kind of natural ability this one should have. Storm's forward was definitely broken.......and broken badly.

Knowing that there were be lots of criticism of anything I had to say about how the horse was going, I took him to the Wendy Potts clinic. Wendy turns out beautiful moving hunter horses and I knew that she would easily see Storms problems. It would be good to have her backing up my statements about the issues the horse had when I got him back and it wouldn't hurt to get some additional ideas on what to do to help him.

I had only ridden Storm about a half dozen times when I took him to the clinic so it was really after the clinic when the rehabilitation of Storm really began. The sad part was the weather was not cooperating and there wasn't much riding time. I had those ideas from Wendy I wanted to put to use but stringing two days in a row when I could ride just wasn't happening. The arena was just too wet and Storm spent more time spooking at puddles than we did getting any forward. It was hard to pull him around in those little circles without finding more puddles to make Storm snort......and fight. It just wasn't working.

With the arena a mess at the park I even tried working in the yard just to work on those exercises from Wendy Potts. I had the one area in the yard that would do for them but Storm was very naughty and got pretty broncy on me. Because other horses were turned out where he could see them he was thinking with the brains between his legs instead of those in his head. There was air between me and my saddle a couple of times and I was pumping plenty of adrenaline. It was not a fun ride and we didn't seem to be accomplishing much but getting my heart rate up.

The year before when rain was an issue and the arena unusable I would take Legs and ride him on the trails in the back part of the park. After Lytha came to visit I began thinking I might just have to go back to the trails if I was going to get any riding time in. She and I had gone trail riding there with Dandy and Legs during her visit. Storm hasn't been a part of that escapade because he has never been on the trails but I was thinking maybe he should have been.

This only getting to ride half a dozen times in two months was getting pretty old. Not to mention how can you measure any progress when you can't even remember the last time you rode. Mother Nature felt no obligation to me to make Storm's rehabilitation any easier. The clock was ticking and no riding was getting done because the arena was just soup on the days it wasn't raining but the trails were holding up pretty well. If I could get the horse out on the trails I could be putting some time on him there. Even if it wasn't arena work, I figured it would be good for his brain.

Storm wasn't really taking to anything new all that well but trail riding really seemed like the way to go for Storm. I figured I would probably have to get him a buddy to travel with the first time or two but whatever it took I was going to get Storm going on the trails if it killed me, that's figuratively, of course. I wanted it to be a safe experience for both me AND the horse. I began looking for someone I trusted to help me get Storm introduced to trail riding.

To be continued..................

The First Trail Ride....

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The EHV-1 Virus Affects Arabian Horse Shows..... Information on Resulting Regional Qualifications... and an Opinion....

Even though the Region 5 of the Arabian Horse Associations Board of Directors meeting yesterday was NOT because of the EHV-1 situation, as you can guess this topic took up a large part of the meeting. Horse show season is in full swing so horse shows are being affected by people's reactions to this scare. What to do? seems to be on everyone's minds and that's not just what to do with your horse.

Once the meeting got underway, it was a given we would discuss the virus. The reason for that is the cancellation of two Arabian horse shows. One in region 4 and one in region 5. The HACO show in Oregon was supposed to run this last weekend and the IEAHC concurrent show in Spokane was supposed to be this coming weekend.

Because our system of showing relies on qualifications to show at regional and national events, cancelling qualifying shows affects those upper level shows as well. To deal with these extraordinary circumstances the AHA Board of Directors in teleconference last week voted that all horses entered in cancelled shows would be considered "qualified" for their regional championships.

Specifically that means for a horse to be eligible for this "waiver" it must have been entered in the show as well as entered in the particular classes for which they now want to claim regional qualifications BEFORE the shows were cancelled. This is a one time waiver for regional championships and only fits this particular situation of the affected shows because of the EHV-1.

If the situation continues in a way that could impact any of the national championships, those issues will be addressed at that time. For those not familiar with Arabian horses and their national championship shows, we have four of them, Youth Nationals, Canadian Nationals, Sport Horse Nationals and the US Nationals.

The other question regarding Arabian shows at our meeting was the Region 5 sport horse qualifier and regional championships that is coming up the first part of June. It is too early to know what to decide about the fate of that show since the appropriate incubation period of the virus for horses that might have been exposed by the return of affected horses from Utah has not passed yet. We were told at the meeting, the decision about that show would not be made until the 30th of this month based on that incubation period.

While that will be very short notice with the show dates June 2-5, it is the only way an informed decision can be made. No one wants to cancel the show if it is not necessary nor do they want to run a show when it is not safe. I would assume IF there are no new cases of the virus diagnosed by the end of that time frame, the show will be run. And, of course, if there are new cases everyone will be scurrying to figure out what to do next.



I think it's important to say this topic of conversation began before the meeting ever got started. The rumor mill is running rampant and in the process it is doing some real damage. People who don't know what they are talking about are causing serious issues for innocent people by spreading stories that affect the livelihoods of others. Think before you speak.

As an example of this problem, there was a trainer at the meeting that has been affected by the rumor mill. The internet says this trainer's husband was showing at the Utah show and that they have an affected horse in their barn. The husband (nor the trainer at our meeting) does not train cutters, he trains reining horses and he was no where near the Utah show or any horses who attended that show.

I can only imagine what the rumor mill is saying based on the amount of upset I could see on this trainer's face but whatever it is, it is causing a problem for these people AND it is absolutely wrong. These two people make their livings and support their family based on their training business and they have become fodder of the rumor mill due to no fault of their own. Not good.

I would venture to guess that rumors of this type will cause as much, if not more damage, than the actual virus will. I do not understand people who are willing to believe whatever they read or are told on the internet or any other source that feeds the rumor mill and, even worse, to pass it along AND even add to it. Do people not understand when they feed this rumor monster, they damage the entire industry?

The horse industry has taken enough hits with the poor economy and now this virus. It sure doesn't need the help of those who have nothing better to do but to spread stories to do it further damage. People need to get smart and be responsible so the industry doesn't take anymore hits.

Happy Birthday........Baby...........

I've had a really long day attending the Region 5 Board of Directors meeting in Ellensburg (other side of the mountains) today so I'm way too pooped to post BUT I can't let this day go by without birthday wishes for this very special boy! This is one of my favorite pictures of the little charmer. As you can see his mother is quite tolerant of the dog checking out her foal......or is it the foal checking out the dog? Whichever, this boy turned out to be quite a lover of small animals. He even has his own cat, if you can believe that.

Right from those first days as a kitten, Squeaker used to jump into his stall to visit but because the stall has a dropped floor she was unable to jump out when she wanted to leave. Instead when she would cry to get out and he would pick her up by the nap of the neck and place her on the ledge on top of the short wall so she could jump out. Have you ever seen a stallion carrying a kitten like a momma cat? I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. He's one very unusual horse if you ask me.

If you haven't guessed it from the picture or the story, the happy birthday boy is none other than Legs. I can hardly believe he's 15 today. It seems like only yesterday I was teaching him how to breed mares. If you haven't read that story, believe me it's worth the read. How far we've come since those days.

Happy Birthday, Scandalous Legacy!

Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.......the Final Championship.....

Part 1

Not long after my friends left it was time to get heading up to the arena to school for our last class. By this time I think Legs had pretty much had it with horse showing. He had worked more at this horse show than he had the entire months preceding it. My poor Arabian horse was plumb tuckered out...........and so was I.

When I held up the bridle for him to take the curb, he gave me a look I've not often seen. Normally he grabs the bit readily even when he is tired but not on this day. I got a plaintiff sigh and his head almost dropped to him knees as he tried to find some way to avoid taking the thing. I swear if my horse was capable of rolling his eyes that's what he'd have done. He was that sick of the whole show thing. Well, maybe it wasn't showing as much as it was work of any kind. Legs was pooped.

I was tired enough I didn't have the patience to be dealing with a less than cooperative horse but I tried not to take it out on him. I did use the toe of my boot to tap him on the chin to get him to lift his head up to my level. Even that effort was almost too much. If he hadn't accommodated my request, I was darn close to giving up.

Legs had pity on me raising his head he made an attempt to grab the bit as it went by. It would have been comical if we hadn't both been so pathetically tired. The bit ricocheted off his cheek and struck me in the hip. Visions of slap stick humor played through my head. The two of us fumbled together trying to get the curb in the right place, grateful when it was finally done.

Legs stood there quietly glazing over as I tied the leather thong that acts as a throat latch and buckled up the curb strap. Then as I turned to walk out of the stall, Legs gave another sad sigh as he followed. We were quite a pair.

Our warm up was as half hearted as bridling my horse had been. I had to remind myself to stay focused so I could give Legs a proper warm up, still I didn't push too much. I just wanted to do enough to have him properly warmed up for the class without doing anything extra. I was hoping I could come through this class still having some horse under me.

At least this time there were other western horses in the warm up arena. It wasn't going to be just a two horse class. Like this AAOTR class had been, the select rider was a combined championship with both the 18 to 39 riders as well as the 40 & overs. It looked like there would be 7 horses to show.

As usual I lined my horse up on the ramp early so we could be the first horse into the ring. I tried to keep my horse rounded up while we waited. I was afraid if I let him stretch out I wouldn't be able to get him back for the class.

The championship classes were running pretty quickly so it didn't take long for our class to enter the ring. I think I was relieved when the gate opened just because I knew it wouldn't be long and it would be over.

Legs didn't want to jog when I asked. I had to actually use my spur to get him to move. Once he did, he was good about continuing the pace. He didn't try to stall on me at all although he was a little bit tough to keep together. At this point all I wanted was a clean ride without any kind of spooking. If it hadn't been for those kind of issues, I probably would have scratched this class and given my horse a break.

It always amazes me how long a handful of riders can take to get into the ring. With only 7 horses the gate should have been closed in no time flat. Yet I was almost around the arena before the gate closed. As the announcer called the class to order Legs gave another one of those knowing sighs. He knew it wouldn't be long either.

I'm not always pleased when the judges run through the classes quickly. I figure I paid my money I should get my time in the ring but for this class I was ready to be done. I was the one that breathed a sigh of relief when they called for the lope. Legs' transition was pretty good, I think. To be honest I'm not sure if it really was or it was just the blur I was in.

As we loped, I realized that Legs was throwing me off to the left pretty dramatically. I had not noticed this in the warm up and I worried that maybe he was getting sore. My best efforts to keep myself centered were not going well but Legs plodded along doing his best. When they called for the transition down to the walk, he waited for me to ask then walked out of the lope just a smidge on his front end. Not bad considering how tired we both were. I was surprised I actually remembered to round him up before I asked for the downward transition.

This time they had us walk farther than they did in the AAOTR class. Legs wasn't taking any chances of getting poked with my spur. He walked off just like it was the first class of the show and not the last. When the announcer asked us to reverse, Legs tried to turn one way while asked for the other. For a moment we kind of sat there figuring out what to do. I was feeling pretty disconnected from my ride and it showed.

I had to hold Legs briefly on this transition into the lope. He was not quite as round at that moment than he had been. Once he got it together, he was pretty solid. This direction he was not throwing my weight to the left, another sign the horse was probably getting a little sore from all the work. His rate seemed to be ok compared to the others in the class but then this was the select rider division. Those horses tend not to be quite as together as the AAOTR riders.

I can't tell you when I have been so grateful to hear the last call for the jog, maybe when we had that stallion stalking us at Region 4 two seasons ago. Jogging down the rail I waited for the call to lineup knowing it would be quick. I have to admit as tired as I was, I was very grateful my horse does not dive for the line up. Even on a day like this Legs waited for me to guide him into line.

Only when we stopped did he sigh again and let down his frame. I don't usually let Legs stand with his neck out flat and his nosed pushed out in the line up. I tend to ride with the mindset that in the ring is about collection and outside is for letting down but it had been a long show and I let Legs be.

As we sat there waiting for the results, I ran over my ride in my head. It had been a decent ride much like the earlier one except for one transition, not bad for the select rider division. I figured over this show, Legs had improved a little each ride. In my mind anyway, we were definitely in line for most improved.

We placed third on judge Susan Witte's card and fourth on Bill Melendez's card. Looking at the movement and frame of the horses that placed above us I had some notations to make in my book about judges. It seemed to me that Susan Witte seemed to go more for good movement while Bill Melendez seemed to be more interested in a rounder frame over that movement.

Normally, I like to stay and talk with the judges at the end of the show and considering my observations it would have been nice to clarify them with the judges. However, they had reining classes scheduled at the end of the afternoon session and I had my youngest grandson's birthday party to attend so I had to skip that part of my usual show routine. I wish that had not been the case. I would really liked to have some input from both of these judges.

Officially the Daffodil Spring Show was over for Legs and me and I couldn't wait to get packed up and outta there. I think Legs felt the same way. When we got back to the stall and I began stripping the saddle off, Legs turned his head towards me and fluttered his eyes at me like he couldn't wait to nap. I tripped over my spurs as I turned to leave the stall and fell into the door scraping my saddle. I couldn't help but laugh at this ending to a great weekend.



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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show....... a Surprise Visit........

Part 1

Legs was not the only one tired on that Sunday morning. After the adrenaline from getting caught short and preparation time for the class had finally waned, I was dragging big time. It's a good thing I had enough to get me through the class itself because I'm not sure how I'd have been in that wall came thundering down while riding.

It was on the walk back to the stalls that I felt the crash. It was seemed almost instantaneous in its dawning. I really don't know when it happened just that I remembered being by the big overhead ride and then "coming to" as I walked into the barn. I'd clearly spaced out over half my walk back to the barn. It's a good thing that my horse behaves.

With only 8 classes between the AAOTR class and the select rider championship, I decided the best thing to do was to just tie my horse in the stall and wait. I figured I had about enough time to take a power nap and maybe that would get me through this next ride. Heaven knows my eyelids were made of lead at this point and I wasn't sure that even an adrenaline rush could pick them up.

I did manage to remember to throw a cooler on my horse. I didn't want him standing tied in the cool air of the barn and getting stiff. I swear he actually groaned as I covered him with that thing instead of pulling the tack. The horse has been to enough shows to know that signaled another ride.

I wondered if I should set my alarm just in case my power nap got too serious. I didn't want to be sleeping through my class. Crystal would never let me live it down if I did. I knew it would be fodder for her jokes for the rest of my days........so I did, I set my alarm......... just in case....

I should have known better. To need an alarm one would have to sleep. I am not a person who naps easily and I sure don't nap in public. Sitting in the open in a barn wouldn't be the kind of place "safe" enough for me to sleep no matter how desperately I needed it.

Even without the nap, I felt better just sitting with my eyes closed and resting for the time. Well, if you can call it resting as I rerode my class in my mind while sitting there in that chair, but I did feel "better" even if "rested" didn't apply, that is until I decided to stand.

One thing about sitting there in that cold barn, I had been the one that had gotten stiff. I had problems getting myself up and outta that chair. My legs didn't want to change position and they sure didn't want to support my weight. Legs had gotten a cooler but I hadn't thought about something for me. Now I was thinking my legs were not going to bend. Nor were they going to forgive me for letting them prop me into that darn bag chair. I was definitely feeling old........

I try to not get caught up in feeling sorry for myself about that "old thing." I've gotten pretty good at refocusing on something positive to get myself through the little betrayals my body throws my way. At this particular time the obvious distraction was to listen for class calls to see when I needed to be ready. As if on cue, I heard the sound of the paddock announcer's voice coming over the loud speakers. I had four classes to go before Legs and I would next enter the show ring.

I decided to check my show program to get some idea of how big those classes might be. As I went to locate the thing, I saw two familiar faces coming down the aisle towards me. They were both smiling and definitely coming my way. I have to admit I wasn't quite sure what to think.

Remember that half-Arabian colt that I trained for halter during the course of my contract with Storm. These two people are the owners of that colt. Since the lawsuit, pretty much everyone from that barn keeps their distance from me, either out of discomfort or just plain anger. Whatever, it is, these are the first to look glad to see me.

As they got closer they called me by name and asked me about Rhet. He was a yearling at the same time and shown at the same show. I guess in some way that gives them a kind of kindred connection, at least it did with these folks. It was nice to see them.

I briefly mentioned the lawsuit only because I was unclear if they knew, or maybe if they cared. I guess I wanted to know them being glad to see me was no accident. Their response to me was they didn't care about that kind of "political stuff." They like who they like and that's that and it was definitely obvious they were glad to see me.

I must admit I was pleased to hear this and I thanked them for not discarding me because of what had transpired. It's hard to just walk away from two years worth of relationships because I stood up for myself. I knew they had been grateful for the work I had done with their colt but I didn't know if that was enough to carry through the last year's events. It was nice to see their feelings were not negated by the situation with LF and BG.

With that out of the way I asked them what they were doing at the show. They told me they had come to deliver their horse, TK, to their son's barn so he could begin training under saddle. This gelding had not had anything done with him since he'd been shown two years ago. They had taken him home right after regionals and turned him out in the field where he spent his time growing up.

When they went to retrieve him to make this trip, he'd walked onto that trailer like an old pro and he travelled that way as well. They were very pleased and, I think, a little bit surprised by his behavior. I think they thought because not much had been done with TK in the interim that he would have forgotten what he was supposed to do. I assured them his basics were pretty solid if nothing had been done to undermine them, he should have behaved exactly as he did.

I got the impression TK's good behavior loading had something to do with them looking me up at the show. Whatever the reason was, I was sure glad they did. Had I not had a class coming up soon I would have gone back to their barn to see TK. It sure would be fun to see how he has matured. He was a gangly yearling but I figured he was going to be a lovely western pleasure horse some day. Hopefully I'll get to see him in the ring sometime next year.

To be continued.................

The Final Championship...

This picture is Scandalous Image.

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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.........Western Pleasure AAOTR Championship......

Part 1

Once the first showmanship class was over I headed back up to the barn to wait out the time until my class. With two more showmanship classes to go I expected that to take a while but it actually came upon me much quicker than I expected. Before I knew it I heard the paddock announcer calling for class number 133 and I hadn't even begun tacking my horse up yet. With my adult amateur owner to ride (AAOTR) class being class 136, the mad dash was on getting my horse and myself ready.

It always seems by Sunday at a horse show I'm functioning in a pretty low gear. Everything I do seems to be in slow motion even when I'm pushing myself but the adrenaline that comes from thinking I might miss a class definitely got me jump started. I was whirling around Legs getting him saddled and greased so I could move onto getting myself dressed.

Besides making a change to my work boots, I decided to make one other change as well. LF had "sold" me on the clingy, stretchy pants that she wears back when I'd had problems getting my leg bent enough to even reach the stirrup over a winter I'd gained some weight. Those pants had worked for me at the time but over the last year I've lost that weight and more thanks to stomach issues during the lawsuit.
Now I was thinking those pants were a little slick for my liking. With issues not feeling balanced in the saddle and the fact I still felt a bit more secure schooling than showing even with the boot change, I decided I'd dig out my black jeans and show in those instead.

I'd come from home wearing those black jeans and I'd left my boots on after I schooled my horse and it was a darn good thing. I was running out of time but thanks to these changes all I had to do was put on my chaps, change into my show shirt AND, of course, grab my hat. I'd put my earrings on much earlier anticipating a problem getting the studs through the holes, so I was ready to go in 5 minutes. All I had to do was bridle up my horse and we were off to the warm up arena.

We got to the warm up ring just as they were calling class 135 into the arena. That's pretty much perfect timing as long as my horse is good. It gives me the length of one class to warm my horse up. As long as I didn't end up with some kind of schooling issue, we'd be ready to go when called.

I must admit right from the start I wondered where all the western horses were. According to my confirmation of entries there should have been 6 horses in the class. When I first got to the warm up Legs and I were the only western horse there. Soon we were joined by one more but that was it. When the class was called, there were only two horses lining up on the ramp.

Because the AAOTR class is my measure of where my horse in terms of competitiveness, I always look forward to this class. I have said all along I'll know that Legs is right when he can win in this class. Now as there were only two horses entering this class, I was disappointed the measure I count on wasn't going to happen because so many riders had scratched this class. As the gate closed behind us I settled into what I considered to be just a schooling ride.

I knew my horse was going slower than he had been two days before but I wouldn't get to see how he would compare against those slower horses from the AAOTR class I'd ridden on Friday. The horses that are striving to compete at the nationals level had scratched once they'd earned the qualifications they sought. I would have to be content to work on logging miles in the show ring, building up Leg's comfort level after spooking situations past.

Jogging down the rail, Legs seemed relaxed enough. He didn't seem bothered by the light coming through the tarp seams at the far end of the arena. Any time my horse can be comfortable at that end, I figure I'm making headway against those troll memories he seems to foster.

When the announce called for the lope, I pushed Legs up into the bridle and held him just a moment before I asked. His transition was as smooth as the ones he given me in the open class. I was glad to see we hadn't lost that just because he was tired. I was even happier to see he was holding together pretty well. Mostly just coming off my legs to round back up, instead of needing that direct contact he has leaned on to get "right." His lope was even and comfortable but I was feeling him throwing me to left, just a bit.

The announcer asked us to walk and Legs waited for instructions from me despite his obvious reaction telling me he'd heard and understood the call. That's something that Legs has always been particularly good at, waiting for instruction even though he knows what's coming next. You just have to appreciate a horse that waits until he's told instead of taking things upon himself.

When I did push my feet forward and sit down, my horse rolled up underneath me and walked out of that lope. Galloping the day before in that open class had really helped his confidence in the curb. Legs was on his butt and his shoulders were up where they belonged. The transition was flawless which is something totally new.

Because Legs was tired he didn't really walk off with the true stride I prefer. I had to push him being careful not to push him past the walk and into a jog. Legs actually cocked his head just a little listening for a cue from me. I responded with a low drawn, "W A L K."

It seemed about the time I got him walking at the rate I wanted the announcer asked us to reverse. Legs wanted to stall instead of change directions and I had to pump him with my spur to keep him moving. Only a few steps later and the lope was called.

Legs seemed almost glad to be asked to lope instead of continuing on at the walk. As I pushed him into the bridle to get ready for the transition, his ear perked up and he easily rounded for me. As he got to that "right" place to ask, the horse moved into the lope without even a kiss from me. He cued totally off my thought and the transition was very smooth.

Normally working to the right is Legs' good direction. On this day, I had to work harder to the right to keep him together than I had to the left. He was still moving off my legs and not requiring that firm hold of the bit but it was taking a lot of leg to keep him together. By the time they asked us to jog, my legs were feeling like rubber, still his transition down was better than usual. It was a decent ride.

We were barely into the jog when the announcer called us into line. Thankfully we were on the rail directly across from the place designated by the ring steward for line up. I was thinking if we'd had much farther to go, Legs would run out of gas as I continued to push him with my legs to keep him together.

Normally, Legs is a bit of a busy body in the line up. He likes to look around at the other horses to survey who's there. On this day when we got to "the" spot, Legs stopped and hung his head. He was pooped and we still had one class to go.

I heard the announcer say there was a unanimous decision for the championship in this class. I was surprised to hear that unanimous champion was Legs. I think I had to wake Legs from his nap to get him to move up for the presentation. He lurched a little into the jog to collect his championship ribbons and first ever neck garlands in a riding class.

To be continued........................



A Surprise Visit......


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The Weather Warms......and the Computer Freezes.....

I can't believe it. We actually had two days of warmer weather with NO rain although our creek is still over its banks and there is water in one of my barn aisles. The temperatures were only in the mid 60s but considering it hasn't been since October that we've had four days in a row with temps in the 60s, it feels warmer than it really is and it was like heaven here.

I spent most of my day outside trying to gain some ground on all that work missed because of our lousy weather. As I work out there, I ran tonight's post through my head. Laying it all out so I could just sit down and type, the thinking part already done.

The only problem with that strategy is my computer didn't cooperate. When I finally got time to get to my post, my computer was frozen solid. I'm sure it must have been working on some level because it did finally break loose and shut down.

Nothing reeks more havoc with blog posts for me than computer issues. In the frustration and time lapse my post fragmented in my head so I guess for tonight what I've got is the current status here. That status would be, I'm off to bed for an early rise because we're expecting more clear skies for tomorrow and I'm hoping to give those colts another run. My championship ride in the amateur owner class will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm hoping I don't spend my sleeping hours thinking computer strategies instead of getting a good night's sleep. I'd much rather be dreaming horses than locked up Internet explorer windows......or picking rocks, which was also part of my day.



This picture is the same colt as pictured yesterday. As you can see from this picture, he's still having trouble trying to figure out those legs.

Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.......Out of Balance......and Thoughts on Showmanship......

Part 1


Sunday morning I was off to the horse show in plenty of time to get my horse schooled before the morning session began. I worked at getting my Arabian horse a little more collected and with that a little slower at the jog and the lope. Not that he's not going at the rate of most horses out there, it's just that he can go so much slower and do it correctly and our goal is to be the best that we can be.

Dave had done a superb job on my clunky winter riding boots. I showed them to Crystal when arriving at the show and she didn't even recognize them. She thought they were a totally different pair and was quite surprised when I told her these were the BAD looking ones she'd seen the day before.

During my open western pleasure ride Saturday afternoon, Legs felt really square underneath me. Yet Sunday morning it felt like he was throwing me to the left just a little as he loped. It really didn't matter which lead, it was still to the left. I just couldn't seem to find a way to get myself square over him.

Of course, I have had this issue with Legs before. It is a symptom of his initial injury, that rotated pelvis, that occurred when he was an foal. However, I have learned it doesn't always mean his pelvis is out of place. It can be simply because the horse has reverted to the way he moved all those years to compensate for the injury.

It did not surprise me the horse had gone from being perfectly square right back to his old way of going. In fact, at this point in time, I almost expect it. Because Legs is not used to moving correctly, the likelihood is that he gets sore easily when he does. His muscles are just not used to that kind of work so he reverts to that old way of moving to compensate and lessen the impact of the work.

It will take time for the horse to learn that he will be less sore by maintaining a square frame. Hopefully, the length of time it takes to get the horse truly back to moving squarely again will get shorter and shorter and with that Legs will build the strength that keeps him from getting sore while travelling square.

Because of this incorrect movement, I decided to keep my schooling session as short as possible. All I wanted to do was warm his muscles up and get him moving as squarely as was reasonable under these circumstances. I had to keep into account the fact the horse was getting more work at this horse show than he had for the entire past month. Again, reminding myself to ride the horse that I have instead of the one I am striving to have.

Both of my championship classes were scheduled in the morning session. The first one was the Western Pleasure Adult Amateur Owner to Ride Championship. This was a combined class with the riders for the 18 - 39 age division and the 40 & over age division and it was the 9th class of the morning.

With three showmanship classes beginning the session, I figured it was possible I would have plenty of time to get ready for my class. I used the show program to count up the number of kids entered so I could guesstimate how long these classes might take. Using this as my gauge, I figured that showmanship would take at least two hour so after our schooling session, I untacked my horse and let him finish his breakfast while I went to the ring to watch the showmanship.

One of the horse's I was stabled with belong to a kid who does showmanship so I was there on the rail like others from the barn, cheering her on. I have to admit, I don't know all that much about showmanship. For some reason the adults on the Arabian horse show circuit do not show in that class. It's not that the rules don't provide for the class, because they do, but shows do not provide them in their schedules. I suspect there are not requests to add them either.

The end result is adults don't show in showmanship classes at Arab shows. I would imagine there are plenty of adults who could benefit from having the kind of control of their horse that showing in showmanship would teach them. I think it's probably a good idea that 4-H requires kids to show in that class and I think to earn certain awards in pinto, they must show showmanship as well. I guess it's a moot point as far as the Arabs are concerned. I doubt that showmanship for adults will make it onto show schedules anytime soon.

To be continued................

Western Pleasure AAOTR Championship....

The foal in this picture is a full brother to the one in yesterday's post. As you can see by this picture, he hasn't figured out how to use those long legs yet. I can't help but wonder what he must have been thinking as he tried to figure those things out. What do you think?

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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.......A Little on Balance.......and Boots.......

Part 1

During the show, I had realized I was having an issue with my show boots. I know that my legs are in two different positions when I ride. It stems from an old injury. My right leg comes out of my hip at a slightly different angle than my left and therefore my right leg "hangs" in the saddle a little differently than my left.

Now, I know all the dressage riders must be having fits at this point. Sitting squarely and correctly is a big deal to getting the horse moving correctly. I get that but I have also learned that balance is really the key in how we affect the way the horse moves. I know that my balance is not compromised by the angle my leg comes out of my hip because I have lots of experiences riding with air between the horse and the cinch or girth and that can't be accomplished without perfect balance. I am notorious for having a saddle that sifts as I get off my horse because I ride with the cinch that loose yet I rarely have to adjust the saddle when I ride.

The dressage teacher I worked with all those years ago actually let me ride an entire lesson on Dandy with several inches of air between the girth and my horse. It was only when I went to dismount that he stopped me knowing the saddle would roll and I might get hurt. When I asked him why he'd let me ride that way, he told me he had enjoyed seeing how correct my balance was.

I know that my body is not going to be corrected on this point or the fact my shoulders are rolled slightly forward either. That too is the result of an old injury and the physical therapists could not get it fixed. I may be able to push the very tips of my shoulders back but my back is not affected. It may look better that way but it doesn't help my horse because it is not the real correction in posture that needs to be made.

It is frustrating to know that my body is my worst enemy when it comes to riding. In dealing with this I have to remind myself of a conversation I had with a very successful BNT many years ago. While his comments weren't particularly sympathetic to the horse, they did make a very important point. A horse can be taught to move correctly even without the rider being in a perfect position.

Considering the success and the posture of this particular trainer, I would tell you what he said was correct. Without perfect posture, we much find a way to compensate that will help the horse to carry us. For me it has to do with how I place my feet in the stirrups or irons. When I get my feet right, I can get my balance right and with that I can get the horse right without causing a problem for my horse.

I have always been aware of my "compromised" position but I haven't been particularly aware of how I compensate to "fix" it. This only became obvious to me at the Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show when I found myself having trouble with my balance but only for my classes.

Once I realized that I was not having an issue when I was schooling but only when I was showing, it didn't take much to realize that my show boots were causing the problem. My big clunky winter boot gives my foot no room to move out of the correct position while the narrower show boot leaves room for movement.

With my big clunky winter work boots, my foot takes up pretty much the whole area inside the stirrup and supports me quite well. I can maintain the angle I place my feet to affect how I carry my body weight on up through both legs. My show boots are much narrower and I can't really say that I have ever noticed it to be a problem before the show this spring. That doesn't mean it hasn't been a problem though, only that I didn't notice it until now.

I think the reason it was more obvious now probably stems from the fact, like my horse, I too am out of shape from lack of riding time this winter. The lack of strength made it harder for me to maintain the position of my foot inside the stirrup with the narrower show boot. The only way I could figure out how to fix this was to ride in my clunky winter boots.

I've made no bones about relaying the kind of conditions I school my horses in at the park. The footing there is sand and with this winter, that means very wet sand. My tack, my boots, my clothes and my horses all show the signs of these conditions. That means my winter boots are NOT pretty! and believe me when I say NOT pretty I mean it even with the thorough cleaning I did before taking them to the show.

I had begun to put the pieces of this dilemma together on Friday but it wasn't really until Saturday morning that I began to realize the correlation to the width of my show boots. I tried the leather cleaner I had to spruce up my winter boots but they still were not pretty but I convinced myself that only my toe was going to show so I showed with them anyway.

The result had been that open western pleasure class where my horse felt so nice and square underneath me. I had not struggled in that class to keep my saddle in the middle of my horse and if anyone notice d my ugly scuffed up toes on my work boots no one had mentioned it. Before riding championships on Sunday, I took those boots home to be polished by my husband. With years of military expertise, and many many payments for polishing others boots for inspection, Dave is an expert at making UGLY BOOT beautiful again. I knew he could fix it for me and Legs wouldn't have to deal with my being unbalanced in the saddle again.

To be continued................

Out of Balance......and Thoughts on Showmanship....

I think this is Scandalous Chase not too long after he was born.

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Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show......Charity Night......

Part 1

I must admit the ride I had on Legs in that open western pleasure class ranks right up there with the national's ride I had on Dandy in the hunter pleasure class in Bonanza all those years ago. I will always remember the feeling of that ride.

Having my horse so tuned in to my every move was something amazing. I couldn't have been more pleased. In addition, it was just so much fun. Even today I still feel the pleasure of that ride.

It was my only class of the day and it was nearly the last class of the afternoon session. I had a friend coming up from Olympia who was hoping to still be there by the time my class rode but I had no idea if that had happened or not. Once I got my horse put away, I went back up to the show arena to look for her.

I never did find my friend, although I heard later she found me. I was engrossed in a conversation with another friend and she didn't want to interrupt. With my double vision I only take in what I need to so I didn't even see my friend from Olympia. I knew she couldn't be gone long so I thought she was long gone by this time.

People were milling around the courtyard waiting for the evening's activities to begin. There was an exhibitor dinner being run in conjunction for a huge and quite fancy silent auction.

The Daffodil Arabian Horse Association has taken on a charity the last two years at their horse show. This year's therapy was the Children's Therapy Unit of Puyallup and the horse show had a number of events during the show to raise money for this group.

There were a couple of different raffles. One was for a $1000 gift certificate to Show Season's and the other was for some very fancy jewelry. Kids were selling raffle tickets for both raffles throughout the show. Sometimes those kids had ambassadors with them to help solicit tickets. Those ambassadors just happened to be mini horses decked out with daffodil garlands around their necks.

One of the events was called Ride a BIG Buck. To participate in that event, you had to collect as much money as you could for the charity and present it at the show office for a regular buck to ride in the Ride a BIG Buck class. The person who collected the most funds won a prize and the person keeping their buck under their leg the longest was guaranteed $?? You can tell I don't ride bareback because that guaranteed prize didn't stick in my brain.

The biggest portion of the fund raiser was the silent auction where they had tables and tables displaying all the things that had been donated. There were all kinds of fabulous items from vacations, artwork, wine cabinets complete with an assortment of wines, jewelry, baskets galore including one specifically for pooches, riding lessons, etc. You name it, and I swear, someone had donated it.

Dinner was free and cooked by the Cowboy Cook, Jeff Tracey, from Oregon. Margarita's flowed. The barbecue was awesome and served over 250 people. The silent auction racked in the bucks. Before the night session began over $9000 was raised for the Children's Therapy Unit and a fun time was had by all.

My friends, Wendy, Candy and Bev, joined me to watch the evening session. My single Martguerita took the entire session to wear off. Then I tucked my horsey into bed and got my fanny home for an early rise since I had two classes in the morning session. That meant early morning schooling and a 5 am rise time. I was really glad the evening session did not run late but it was a very enjoyable evening at the horse show. No stress.......and lots of fun. It's been a while since a horse show has been like that for me. It couldn't have come at a better time.

To be continued...................

A Little on Balance....and Boots.....

Do you know who this cute little redhaired foal is?

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Spring......... and Colts........

What is it with boys and springtime? They don't even have to get close enough to a mare to smell her to know that something is up. I swear the sun just needs to come out for the colts, and some bigger boys too, to be acting ridiculous. Screaming, rearing, striking, all kinds of boy play abounds in the springtime, like it or not. This just might be the reason I consider myself to be a mare person.

Today was a beautiful almost warm spring day. After the wet, cold spring we've had, temperatures in the lower 60s felt warm. For the first time I was able to shed my long underwear when doing something outside. I actually got down to real short sleeves for the first time this year. I couldn't believe it.

I decided to take advantage of the dry day by working colts. I've been trying to up the number of horses I work each day but Mother Nature has just not cooperated at all so I figured I better not let this nice day slip by without beginning some kind of work routine with these boys. Heaven knows they need to have their brains exercised if they're going to be manageable.

Considering this winter and spring had not been conducive to work time for any of them, I knew I would have testosterone boiling out all over the place. Since even the slightest disruptions can cause the boys to loose their brains, I figured the best line of defense was to be prepared. That meant I used a chain on each of the little buggers when normally that's not something I do.

I started off with Andy who unfortunately has been on the short side of the kind of work I normally do with my colts by the time they reach his age. The lawsuit last year and the nationals campaign the year before but he and his brother on the back burner. Now, I am paying for that because he's near mature size and very full of himself. His playful antics aren't that cute in a big horse.

I have to give Andy credit. The horse is smart. That chain under his chin speaks directly to his brain. The colt just couldn't help himself but rear when the geldings lined up along the fence line to view the show but the minute that chain rattled at him, Andy was back to work and being mostly a good boy. Of course he couldn't completely resist a few ground slapping strikes as he resumed working but it could have been so much worse. I was pleased with his behavior considering........

Then getting him back to his stall, he was good until he spied Legs and thought maybe he should challenge his dad. After all, the broodmares were all out in the back field and mom's not shaking her head THAT BAD! Oh...........boys...........

I lunged each of them until they began to break a sweat. Depending on their level of excitement over the sunshine, mares outside and gelding gallery, that was anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Then I hosed them off before putting them away.

Each had at least one incident standing on hind legs and pawing the air trying to convince me that they had better things to do than listen to me. Nothing was particularly aggressive towards me, just more a show of how " See how big and strong, I am, mom!" They always come down with a stern word from me and most don't like seeing me shake my head knowing it means they're in trouble.........or silly.........which is equally embarrassing when you're trying to show off for the girls.

I worked six colts before the weather changed. After Andy, there was Patriot who has been equally neglected and was equally rebellious just in a different way. Then the ones with more handling who were all a bit naughty too. Rhet came out of his stall like a star then tried to run past me through the door. When he had to do it over three times to get it right, you'd think he'd have figured out rushing me wasn't going to work BUT he was full of himself so he had to try. Suede surprised me with a little rearing too. He's normally pretty laid back but that springtime air just got to him. The older, supposedly wiser, Reflection was pretty animated until he figured out it was about work. Once the geldings lined up to watch his humiliation, he was working like a western horse about out of steam. Storm made up for Reflections lack of enthusiasm but used it all to scream what I think he believes are love calls to the girls..........who just couldn't be bothered.

When it was all said and done, I was exhausted and so were the colts. I took a short break to recharge before I put Legs on the lunge line. I figured he'd appreciate the chance to stretch too but before I could get back out there, thunder storms moved in. The rain is currently beating down and the lightning strikes are telling me I shouldn't be on the computer so I guess that Legs is going to have to wait for a break in the weather tomorrow to get his time and I'm going to shut down my computer before Mother Nature teaches me a lesson I don't want to learn. Hopefully, it won't be another month before I get to work with these boys again. Heaven knows they need it regularly.........

Blogger Ate My Post......and All Its Comments........

I don't know what the problem has been with Blogger over the past couple of days but whatever it is, I see in resolving it Blogger has eaten my May 11th post about my open western class and all the great comments I received. I guess it's a good thing I didn't get my post up for the 12th or that would probably be missing too.

Last time I checked the Blogger status board, it said they were in the processing of trying to restore all the posts that had been deleted so I guess I'll give them a while to locate my post about the western class. In the meantime anyone who missed it can veiw it in my notes on my FB page. The open western class is here. If you're not a friend on FB, I guess now is time to give it a try or you can wait for Blogger to find my post or me to repost it, whichever comes first.

All I can say is this is the part about computers that makes me nuts.........loosing things! In the meantime does anyone have a clue what happened that caused this mess? I know in my five years of posting blogs, I have never seen Blogger down for such an extended time.

UPDATE: Here's on what caused this mess. 20.5 hours is right about what I'd have guessed that Blogger was in that read only mode. I wonder how many of the posts I read through my reader and was unable to commment on are actually still there today.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger is back

Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.......... Riding the Open Western Pleasure Class.......

Part 1

I'm lucky in the respect I can put things behind me as soon as I begin riding. I don't usually carry residual stress about getting ready for a class once I can focus on my relationship with my horse That might be because my fear is more about missing my class than it is about how my ride goes. I feel pretty confident I can deal with most anything that can happen in the ring so when the gate opened and the paddock announcer called my class to order, I actually felt relieved.

I would have been the first horse to enter the arena if I had not forgotten my cowboy hat. Now, I was lucky I was making it into the arena at all considering I hadn't even thought about asking for a gate hold to help me get my hat and my horse back together before entering the ring. Now I was just grateful to be entering the ring at all as Legs and I made our entrance into the arena trailing behind the other exhibitiors.

The gate closed behind us and I heard the announcer stating the class was now in session and we were to show our horses at the jog. My horse was not as round as I would have liked, more like the lengthened frame we'd used across the parking lot to retrieve my hat, but he was listening pretty well and rounding up a little better on each request. By the time I had him about where I wanted him, we had been asked to lope.

There are a number of things I would fix if I had to do this horse show over but transitions were not one of them. That has not always been the case. It has been a struggle getting my Arabian horse to do the kind of transitions he is capable of. Despite my efforts to round the horse up before the transition, he's been unable to go into the gait underneath himself the way he should. Instead of being smooth, he's needed me to hold him and push him further into the bridle for sometimes as many as 5 strides before finally attaining the smooth lope he's capable of.

That was not the case at this horse show, however. For the first time consistently the horse was rounding up easily and moving forward into the lope as smoothly as his older brother. I have always said that my measure of a good transition is based on Dandy and I knew that Legs would finally be fixed when I could get that kind of transitions from him. Well, the Daffodil Spring Show of 2011 will be my marker for Legs finally getting it. His transitions were awesome, every darn one of them.

The lope was not as slow as I know we can get but I was pleased with the rate we had all things considered. It didn't take long before the announcer asked us to move into the hand gallop so I moved my hand up my horse's neck, leaned forward just a bit and began kissing to him. My horse immediately moved off into a real hand gallop, not that faster than the lope but still a lope thing I'd gotten in the warm up. I was surprised.

I don't think any of the other horses in the class did a hand gallop at all. I had expected that and that's why I had been happy to get that faster lope in practice. Since I had the real thing, I was going to make the most of it. Nothing helps Legs get over his fear of the curb bit than galloping so I used this opportunity to work on pushing him deeper underneath himself. I didn't mess with the reins at all, I just used my legs and seat to push him deeper.

My horse responded my lifting his back and his shoulders and booking around the arena. Not too fast to be penalized by the judges, but a nice controlled round hand gallop. My horse was light and smooth and my steering was freaking awesome. Just the slightest movement of the rein towards his neck and my horse was responding. It was a blast!

They asked us to come down from the hand gallop directly to the walk. I had wondered if they would do the transition to the walk or back to the lope. Either can be difficult with a horse that is being strong but there was nothing strong about Legs on this day. As I moved my hand back to it's normal position and straightened my body and moved my feet forward, my horse nearly sat down in the dirt. His response was instantaneous and smooth. I couldn't have been more tickled.

Legs walked out of the transition with the smooth ground covering walk I love to show. It was the prettiest hand gallop to walk transition the horse has ever done. I couldn't wait to hand gallop the second way of the ring to see what I had there.

Considering how quickly these judges were calling these classes, they let us walk a little longer than I expected. Not that I was in any hurry to get turned around and loping again, but I clearly remembered them letting us walk a while for only four horses in the class before they asked us to reverse.

I laid my rein on my horse's neck and put my leg on him and Legs sat back on his haunches and pivoted around until I asked him to stop. I chuckled a little at this response. I've worked long and hard to get Legs to make that kind of turn as a schooling exercise to get him more underneath himself. I sure didn't expect it in a class.

We did not walk far this direction and we were asked to lope again. I pushed my horse off my inside leg, then up into the bridle raising my hand just a bit and asked him to lope. Legs' transition was smooth and his rate was pretty good. I looked down the rail at some kind of distraction outside the arena and decided I'd cut the end of the arena short. Laying my rein on the outside and using that leg I asked him to turn and my horse easily responded.

It was then it dawned on me that this is about the best steering horse I have ever had in the bridle. I always felt like I had good steering with Dandy but with Legs it's almost push button feeling. His responses are so definite I never question I'm getting what I ask. It was a good feeling to realize it's actually coming together.

Before I finished cutting the far end of the arena the announcer called for the hand gallop again. I had not practiced this direction so I wasn't totally sure what I was going to get. I moved my hand forward and leaned slightly into it and Legs was moving off into the hand gallop before those kisses ever left my lips. I couldn't have been more pleased with his response.

Coming down the rail, my fingers felt like I was losing a grip on the reins. I have a finger I broke many years ago that doesn't not close all the way and sometimes it feels odd on the reins. I suspect it was that finger that caught my attention. Whatever, it was, I adjusted my grip by just moving my fingers a little and my horse thought I was talking to him. As my fingers moved, Legs came back to the lope.

Instantly, I began kissing again. I think I even moved my hand a little more forward so Legs would know I hadn't wanted him to lope. As quickly as he came down, he went back up into the hand gallop. I could not believe my horse was responding to the slightest movement of the rein.

We hand galloped around the corner and halfway down the rail before the announcer called for us to lope our horses. I half way laughed at the thought considering how light my horse was being to the rein as I moved my hand back very slowly and straightened my body. I kept my movements slow so the horse would not shut down to a walk. I swear in one stride my horse went from the hand gallop to the lope without hesitation. It was an awesome feeling.

His transition down the the jog was every bit as smooth. By the time they asked us to line up, I was pretty happy with my ride. I figured there wasn't much chance I was going to place well in this class but I couldn't have asked for my horse to be more responsive. Considering we'd been jogging across the parking lot scurrying after my cowboy minutes before, my horse had settled down to business very well.

With a former national champion and a national's judge representing two of the four horses in this class AND my horse not quite as slow at the jog or the lope as either of them, I pretty much knew where we would end up. As they handed out the ribbons, we got third from Susan Witte and fourth from Bill Melendez but I couldn't have been more elated. Riding in the open western class had been great fun and ribbons have never really been my goal. I'm pretty sure I"ll be riding in more open classes in the future. No more avoiding them because amateurs "don't belong" as I've done for years.

To be continued................

Charity Night....
Scarlet at about a week old, I think.


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