Get on that tarp, darn it!

An interesting day yesterday. Beauty and I and some friends were playing in the arena - lovely day, warm sun, such a nice break from all the cold, wet weather.  We had set up several obstacles and I had the idea to work on my arena cantering with Beauty.  Soon, other horses started to join us, and it became a bit crowded.  A trailer arrived and unloaded a big sorrel quarter horse and several people. A woman tacked him up and joined us as well.  The tarp was set up about 30 feet from the entrance to the arena, and I noticed that the horse did a mini-spook and snort when the woman asked him to approach the tarp. She skirted around and headed to the end of the arena and started trotting circles. 

My friends and I continued on with our obstacle play as other horses came and left.  After a few minutes of trotting circles, the woman and the big quarter horse made their way back to the gate to exit the arena.  My friend was on her little mare who was standing on the waded up tarp and she was flicking the tarp with her carrot stick & string while we all stood around chatting - no one really noticing the woman trying to open the arena gate.  A few seconds later, the woman called out to my friend - "Hey, can you stop doing that (flicking the tarp with her stick/string)?  It's freaking him out.  He was scared as a colt and I don't need him to be scared right now!"  The flicking stopped and we all watched in silence as the woman and horse maneuvered the gate and exited the arena.  One of my friends immediately said, "I'd want my horse to be exposed to things.  That's how you teach them not to be afraid."  She is not a Parelli student, but is very natural and knowledgeable. A good horsewoman.  The others of us agreed, and we went on about our business of play. 

Shortly thereafter, back comes the horse, this time being towed by an older "cowboy gentleman."  "Hey," he says.  "Can I use your tarp?  These guys (apparently the horse owners, husband & wife combo) bet me I can't make this horse get on the tarp."  So, for the next several minutes, the horse was lunged, snorting and spooking all around the tarp. It was a painful process to watch.  Other horses would walk by, step on the tarp, in an effort to calm the big quarter horse - to no avail.  Eventually, I couldn't watch anymore and left the arena to go use the potty.  When I got back about 5 minutes later - success - he had the horse skip quickly across the tarp.  I'm not sure what happened, but I think from a comment, one of my Parelli friends interceded and offered some advice - but I'm not sure.  Anyway - the old cowboy declared victory and they left the arena.  It was just one in many similar days over the course of my horse owning years that I am Oh SO Pleased that I've found the Parelli program, and have learned so much from it.  And from the look of that poor quarter horses face, I know my horses are happy too.

Murphys Horse Laws - swiped from another horsey blog...

*If you do a thorough check of your trailer before hauling, your truck will break down

*There is no such thing as a sterile barn cat No one ever notices how you ride until you fall off

*The least useful horse in your barn will eat the most, require shoes every four weeks and need the vet at least once a month

*A horse's misbehavior will be in direct proportion to the number of people who are watching

*If you're wondering if you left the water on in the barn, you did

*If you're wondering if you latched the pasture gate, you didn't

*Hoof picks migrate

*Tack you hate never wears out

*Blankets you hate cannot be destroyed

*Horses you hate cannot be sold and will outlive you

*Clipper blades will become dull only when the horse is half finished

*Clipper motors will quit only when you have the horse's head left to trim

*If you approach within 50 feet of the barn in your "street clothes", you will get dirty

*You can't push a horse on a lunge line

*If a horse is advertised "under $5,000" you can bet he isn't $2,500

*The number of horses you own increases according to the number of stalls in your barn

* An uncomplicated horse can be ruined with enough schooling

*You can't run a barn without baling twine

*Wind velocity increases in direct proportion to how well your hat fits

*There is no such thing as the "right feed"

*If you fall off, you will land on the site of your most recent injury

* If you're winning, quit.

My crash and burn stories

(I had to delete the photo - just couldn't stand seeing it when I log on.  That was a painful day!)
Lately, I've had nothing but sunshine and roses to write about.  And, I've been thinking - it wasn't always this way.  I thought I'd document some of my more "cloudy" times with my horses - if for no other reason than to remember how far we've come, and as a reminder to myself to stay alert and pay attention to their body language at all times.

About 6.5 years ago I answered an ad on Craigslist to sponser a horse. I had just started a new job, my kids were pretty self-sufficient, so I had the time and the money to do it.  I met with the horse owner, got about 20 minutes of instruction, and off we went.  There were 2 horses that I had access to.  I quickly migrated to the younger, and it's a miracle that I'm still here to write about it.  Corey...  she bucked me off one night on a night ride with my soon to be friend Kimberly.  The saddle horn put a grapefruit size bruise on my stomach and thigh and I ended up on Corey's neck.  I finished the ride going home on Rosie - Kimberly's mare. Not long after, I was trying to get Corey to go into the round pen so I could work her a little. Like a typical greenie, I stood in the the middle of the gate entrance, facing Corey dead on, and pulled with all my might.  I wasn't thinking about what I would do if she actually came - she'd trample me getting through the gate.  I needed Parelli bad at this time, but it was still in my future.  After about 5 minutes of pulling, Corey got tired of it and squirted through the gate opening, slamming my face up against the bar, and I thought at the time, fracturing my cheekbone.  But, it was just a bruise.  Lucky for me!

Then came Jeffrey.  I had been the proud owner of Jeffrey for about 2 whole months the night he bucked my butt off in the arena at Franklin Canyon.  Still not knowing much about horses and having seen other owners give their horses some grain or mash at night, I bought a huge bag of Equine Adult.  It's mostly molasses, I think.   After about 2 weeks of 1 coffee can each night, Jeff was as high as a kite!  I was of course too green to know this - I just thought he was feeling good (and he looked magnificant!).  On the night in question, we made our way to the arena so I could turn him loose (he running mad, crazy circles around me from his stall to the arena).  I let him go and he went careening off, screaming at the top of his lungs.  He ran for about 45 minutes without even looking my way.  About 2 hours later when he was fairly calm, I got a wild hair.  "Why don't I jump on bareback and go for a little ride" (in the arena - thank God.)  I led him up to the mounting block, which was just a touch too short for me to get on. So, I had to jump a little.  :)  You're seeing where this is going, right?  Well, I jumped on and OFF he went - taking about 6 gallop steps - and went into a massive buck!  Off I went, flying straight up in the air, over his ass, and landed in the deep, soft arena dirt flat on my back.  This is the first time I probably should have been killed. And, it was the only time I've been bucked off. Not a fun experience. Needless to say, I took Jeff off the Equine Adult that night.

Out on the trail, again at Franklin Canyon, Jeff and I were on a trail ride with my friend Carol & her gelding Sedona. On our way home, I got too close to the edge of the trail and a broken limb from a bush caught my jacket.  I pulled the whole bush forward about 2 feet (it was dead) and then it snapped back in place, making a deafening noise.  That was when I learned about the butt tuck.  A nifty move that a horse can do where one minute you're sitting on their back, and the next - nothing - just plain air.  They tuck down and spring forward into a mad dash to escape whatever was just about to eat them (the bush in this instance). Anyway, he bolted down the trail until we got to a turn in the bend that had a little 2 inch stream of water going by.  Thank God he was afraid of crossing water (and was not a big fan of jumping either)! I survived.

Fast forward a couple years and we're now boarding at Kutchera Ranch in Antioch. I'm usually the only one at the ranch - going out after work and playing with my horses for 2-3 hours each night.  The last day stragglers are usually leaving just as we're getting warmed up. So, one very dark, very windy, and very alone night, Jeffrey was his typical nut job self and had gotten himself all worked up and sweaty. I didn't want to put him away like that so I decided to hop on (bareback w/a halter and one rein) and walk him until his sweat dried. We made it about 1/2 lap around the indoor arena when a monster jumped out from behind the bushes and bit him on the butt (or maybe it was just a cow in the field behind us - who knows...).  Jeff did his famous butt tuck, but this time I wasn't so lucky.  He careened away from the noise that startled him and was heading straight for the arena pipe paneling at a speed I knew I wasn't going to survive when he turned to avoid the fence. I had probably just finished that thought when I went flying off his butt again - rolled about 10 times (I left a skid mark of about 15 feet) and came to a stop.  My mouth was full of dirt - I had dirt in every nook and cranny of my whole body - including inside my underware, and I was pretty sure that I had broken my foot. I hobbled back to his stall, put him away (did my chores like a good mom), and made my way to the hospital.  Not broken, just badly sprained.

Sometime after (or before - it's all cloudy now), I was lazy and wanted to mount and ride rather than walk to the arena to turn him out (yes, Jeff again). I climbed up on Rosie's paddock panneling, swung a leg over, missjudged, and fell straight down on my back looking up at Jeffrey's belly. Bless his heart - he just stood there looking down at me - Watcha doing mom??  X-rays revealed that I had NOT broken my back. Whew!

Beauty's turn.  This is probably my most painful and embarrassing story to date.  I had just gotten Beauty back from training, maybe like 3 days prior.  I had not yet purchased my BG panties and was still a little intimidated riding her - even though she was doing really well under saddle.  So that afternoon, I saddled her up at my trailer and was about to mount when I noticed that the little bit of baling twine that I had used to secure her stirrup to the saddle (I had lost a screw and had made my repair with baling twine - I'm writing a book about the million uses of baling twine - but that's another story) had come unraveled. So, standing square facing her belly, mid body of the horse, I started fiddling around with that stupid white twine (snake - I'm sure she thought it was a snake).  Here's the embarrassing part - I'm sure she had given me about 10 signals prior to kicking me, but I wasn't paying attention - I was focused on the twine.  And yessss, did she kick me.  She swung her butt towards me and cow kicked the $$#@^%&% out of my right thigh. One minute I'm fiddling with twine - the next I'm sitting back in my trailer door wondering what happened. Beauty went on munching grass like she had just swatted a fly off her back w/her tail. It happened so fast, and took me so much by surprise, that I really had to sit there for a few moments and try to figure it all out. My whole leg was numb - the pain came later. But, like the stuborn B___ch that I am, I went ahead with my lesson, only on the ground - no way could I have mounted her.  It wasn't until several hours later that I thought she might have actually cracked my femur. X-rays again proved me wrong - luckily!  The best part was the AMAZING bruise that developed!  From the top of my hip to below my knee, my whole thigh was BLACK, front and back.  Then it turned red, green, and finally months later, a sickly yellow.  I still sport a sore, dead spot in the shape of a half moon that will be permanently dented.  I had so much fun freaking people out and would drop trou at the drop of a hat to show it off.  Good times!

Well, that's it!  I'm still alive and kicking and will hopefully, God willing, not have any more stories in the future to add to this!  Happy trails!

Other things to do when it's raining...

Haven't been sleeping well, so have been hoping to catch up a bit in the morning hours on days off.  Thus, I wasn't going to make myself available for todays trail ride at 10:30.  I headed out to the ranch at 11:00 (never did sleep, but sat on the couch in a daze from 7:30 to 9:30 and pretended to sleep).  The girls were gone and I started with a nice groom on each of my horses.  Jeff was first and I was just starting to work up a sweat when it got dark and a low rumble slowly became more audible and I realized we were getting ready for a really strong weather event.  It started hailing/raining/sleeting and kept growing to a deafening roar.  Now, mind you, I'm in Jeffrey's little 12x12 stall with his little 12/24 ft paddock off it.  I had just tossed him a flake of hay and when the weather hit, I stopped grooming, cocked my leg and just rested my hand on his shoulder (I was on his off side so wouldn't get trampled if he careened out into his paddock like all the other horses were doing.)  Needless to say, he didn't even lift his head from his lunch pile.  :)  I just stood by calmly, with my hand carressing his shoulder, talking softly and slowly to him and he never moved an inch.  I could feel his 1200 pounds of muscle flexing under my hand, but, he stayed calm, as did I with my foot cocked, massaging his shoulder.  It was a truly amazing moment for my Right Brained Introvert. 

After the hail stopped, I haltered him, hopped on, and we had a really nice session in the arena.  I was riding in his halter with his lead line turned into reins.  I dropped the reins onto his shoulder and went about our lesson - just using my body and suggestion for everything I was asking.  I got beautiful backups, just with my seat alone and some slight leg - change of direction, bow tie pattern, sideways - anything I could think of - all bareback w/no reins in my hands.  Long story not so short - I was very happy that I decided to sleep in and miss the trail ride this morning!

Next came my little Beauty.  Earlier in the morning, Kimberly had turned her out with Jeffrey and told me over the phone "she is in quite a mood.  Just getting her to the arena was an interesting feat.  Don't get on her until we get back, cuz I want to get it on video!"  What are friends for??  :)  She wanted to make sure if I was going to crash and burn, it would be well documented!  After my WONDERFUL session with Jeff, I was feeling confident and haltered Beauty and headed for the arena (on foot - I'm not a fool).  At the gate however, I spurned kimberly's advise and turned her halter/lead line into reins walked her to the mounting block, and with abondon, hopped on.  :)   She was great!  It could have helped that I had a pocket full of cookies, but I think she would have been the same w/o.  We rode for about 30 minutes - very light direction by me on the reins, stopped, backed up (with seat & legs only), side passed, anything I asked.  I love this girl!  I hopped off and decided to see if I could teach her to touch objects with her feet like I taught Jeff.  I swear, it took all of about 3 seconds.  I pointed to the first object - sent her to it, she sniffed it and started to come back to me and I stopped her - sent her back and lifted my foot and kicked in the air.  She lifted her foot - kicked the object - looked at me - I gave her her "ding ding ding" signal that she was right and that was all it took.  First try.  We did it to about 20 different obstacles for the next 10 minutes, and she got faster and had more fun each time.  I was bursting with glee by the end. 

Anyway - a solid, fun filled arena day today in the middle of this nasty weather.

Tomorrow both of my horses are headed out on the trail.  A friend will ride one, and I'll ride the other.  I'm so proud of them and so happy to have found this natural horsemanship method.  Happy, Happy, Happy!

Big Girl Panties

Today (2/13/11)  I have to say that Beauty and I BOTH were wearing our Big Girl Panties.  :)  After yesterday's little concern about crossing the little waterway - today we would have leaped it with glee in our hearts (me and I hope her too).  Beauty is a girl that needs a job, and today at Contra Loma, she had a job.  We jeeped all over the hills, up and down the ravines, trotted, cantered, just had a good time.  I'm sore, but will go to bed tonight with a smile on my face.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show soon too.  :)

February 12, 2011

Today was a really confident day on the trail.  I'm not sure who was more relaxed, Beauty or myself. It's been a tough road over the last couple years letting go of all the "learned fears," but with the help of fun, confident friends, I'm really enjoying our outings now.  So, on this trail ride, we started on the main road at Round Valley, then made our way to a side path.  This path took us to a little waterway that was mostly mud.  Leading down to it was a rocky area that the horses had to pick a path through.  Casi and Rosie made their way through easily, but I think I impeded Beauty a bit with my concerns (will she get her leg stuck in between the rocks, will she slip and fall, will she jump the ditch???), all stupid questions of the type that torment me on most of my outings.  Anyway - we made our way down, she took a look at the water, deciding where to cross, changed her mind and together we turned back and took another look at it.  I had decided to make my way around a bit farther when Kimberly suggested that I get off and help her with her confidence by walking through it myself.  Whew!  Good idea.  Anyway, what started off as a concern for me ended up with a nice mounting lesson!  Also of note today was seeing 3 coyotes come trotting down the road towards us as we made our way home. They were all about 20 feet apart from each other, and didn't even give us a look.  We usually see lone coyotes on our rides, but it was the first time we saw 3 together!

Getting Started

Yup - here I am!  Just tracking my journey with my two horses, Jeffrey and Beauty.  Jeff is a 20 yr-old Standardbred gelding, off the track, and Beauty is a coming 5 yr-old Arab/Freisian mare that I purchased at age 1.5 and have started myself (with a little help from Dave Ellis!) and two very good friends.  So, the purpose here is to record my progress and check back in now and again to see where we were and where we've come.  More to come!...