Last night my husband and I attended a church youth barn dance in a small country town. The dance floor was lined with hay bales and the D.J. was spinning tunes from a big flatbed trailer strung with white lights. The organizers did a great job decorating. The refreshments were yummy and the kids were having fun.
At the entrance were some ladies seated at a sign-in table to check kids in as they arrived. The dance music was loud and I probably didn't enunciate my words well, resulting in a funny exchange with one of the ladies.
Next to the table was a tub full of horse shoes for the kids to take home as a memento. Mr. OnceUpon made a remark that started this odd conversation:
Mr. OnceUpon: "None of those shoes would fit Misty."
Me: "Nope, they are way too small.
Lady: "Oh, do you have a horse?"
Me: "I have a draft horse and she has really big feet."
Lady: "Really?! Wow! Where do you keep your giraffe?
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Up in the air! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
As I was finishing my morning barn chores one day last week, I saw an unusual, loud, slow moving aircraft circling our property. I've seen an ultralight plane fly over once in awhile, but this was very different. It was small, bright yellow and had a rotor much like a helicopter.
A few days later my husband received this photo taken by a friend of ours who was riding in that odd little craft which I now know was a gyrocopter.
You can see me walking back to the house. Too bad the horses aren't in the picture, but they were in the barn happily chowing down on their breakfast hay.
Can you see my horse trailer, discreetly parked behind the house? It's a big pain to back it around the corner, but that's the place where I must park it in order to comply with our rigid homeowner's association rules.
You can see the circle in the front where I lunged Misty this summer before the grass got too dry and she started slipping on it. I really want a round pen. That would be a good place to put one, but alas, our snooty homeowners association won't allow a round pen at the front of the property. I might be able to put one in the pasture, but it would require some costly excavation.
Don't be alarmed. We haven't buried anyone in our backyard. (That would also be a violation of homeowner association rules). That's just our septic tank buried in what looks like a grave.
A few days later my husband received this photo taken by a friend of ours who was riding in that odd little craft which I now know was a gyrocopter.
You can see me walking back to the house. Too bad the horses aren't in the picture, but they were in the barn happily chowing down on their breakfast hay.
Can you see my horse trailer, discreetly parked behind the house? It's a big pain to back it around the corner, but that's the place where I must park it in order to comply with our rigid homeowner's association rules.
You can see the circle in the front where I lunged Misty this summer before the grass got too dry and she started slipping on it. I really want a round pen. That would be a good place to put one, but alas, our snooty homeowners association won't allow a round pen at the front of the property. I might be able to put one in the pasture, but it would require some costly excavation.
Don't be alarmed. We haven't buried anyone in our backyard. (That would also be a violation of homeowner association rules). That's just our septic tank buried in what looks like a grave.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Misty's Monday Muse - Something's in the Air
It's baaaack.
The inevitable has happened.
Yesterday afternoon, the sky was blue.
Yesterday, I took MyLady on a lead line walk to the pond.
This morning, the sky is all white and fuzzy.
Today, MyLady doesn't want to go for a walk.
Bella is happy.
She loves to roll in the snow.
Bella would like to go for a walk today.
(This snow won't last long, but it's a glimpse of things to come.)
(This snow won't last long, but it's a glimpse of things to come.)
It had to happen sometime,
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Me and My Mare - Horsemanship Clinic Getaway
Work continues to be very stressful and demand long hours of me. There has been little time for blogging or riding and it is going to remain this way through February. Every now and then, I have to TAKE some time to get away from work, and purposefully schedule some "Me and My Mare Time". That's what I did a couple weeks ago.
Misty and I attended a Debbie Bibb Horsemanship clinic and I had a blast focusing on my sweet mare. It was a real bonding weekend for us. The clinic was held at the CSU Equine Center in Fort Collins where we had a very nice, comfortable indoor arena in which to work and ride.
We started out with some ground control exercises, then rode a pattern to see where we are with our horses and what we need to work on. We walked along the left side of the arena, turned right, through two orange cones, over ground poles ,then turned left around another cone and trotted to the far end of the arena where we did two big circles that formed a figure eight when put together, then we continued back down the long side of the arena, trotting serpentines through about 8 ground markers, then to the right where we came to a stop between two parallel ground poles, then we moved forward at a walk, turned right, came to a stop and backed up.
Other exercises during the weekend:
We had a competition during the lengthening/shortening exercise. Four ground poles were placed to form a square (a box). We practiced riding straight through the box to gauge how many strides our horse walks normally through the box. Misty took 4 strides. Then as the competition began, we had to state how many strides our horse would take to walk through the box on that 1st round, then each successive round we had to add an extra stride. Sometimes strategy works if you lengthen your horses stride through the first round, then let them walk naturally (the easiest to predict and control) through the 2nd round. It can give you the advantage of having an extra round before shortening the stride gets really challenging. But sometimes it backfires. Most of us started with our horses normal stride. So first time through I said Misty would take 4 steps, and she did. 2nd time through I said she would take 5 steps; I shortened her stride and she took 5 steps inside the box. Next time she took 6 steps. If a horse takes fewer or more steps than you state, then you are out of the competition. Misty and I won the competition with 8 strides through the box. For fun we tried to do 9 strides, but didn't quite make it. She stepped outside the box on the 9th step.
We did another fun challenge near the end of day 2. Parallel poles were set up for us to ride through, forming a "shoot" (pictured above). We each took a turn riding up to the shoot, through the shoot, and beyond the the shoot. For example, a simple instruction may be: "Ride a posting trot to the middle of the shoot, then ride a sitting trot out." As we did this, we had to look ahead at Mark (Debbie's husband) and call out how many fingers he was holding up as we rode through this exercise. Debbie gave each rider different instructions on each turn. These were instructions meant to challenge us individually. My biggest challenge on my last turn was "trot up to the shoot (sitting or posting) and then in the middle of the shoot transition to a canter. Misty and I are both new to cantering under saddle together and I've had a tough time getting her into a canter when I've tried it on my own in a large arena. She just keeps trotting faster, faster, faster. (And the previous day, when we worked on walk, trot, canter transitions in a large circle, I worked only on our walk-to-trot and trot-to-walk transitions. We aren't ready to canter in a circle and have only gotten into a canter a few times.) So I was surprised when Debbie challenged me to canter. I wasn't sure if I could get Misty to canter in the shoot, but we had been doing so well together all weekend, I decided to give it a try. We trotted into the shoot, I asked her for the canter, and what did she do? She immediately picked up a lovely canter!!! I was really quite surprised. We cantered forward for a few strides, then back to the walk and I gave Misty lots of At-A-Girl pats on the neck and told her what a good mare she is.
Near the end of the clinic, we repeated the riding pattern we started with, to see how we had improved in just 2 days.
I had a great time at the clinic. Misty was super focused on me through all the exercises and I couldn't have been more pleased with her. I love my mare!
It was a busy weekend and I didn't have time for pictures, except for a few taken during our breaks.
During breaks we tied our horses to sturdy hitching posts outside the arena where they could relax and visit with their neighbor.
Next to Misty is a 2 year old Holsteiner gelding, not yet started under saddle since he is young and still growing. But his owner did just about everything from the ground that the rest of us did in the saddle, including the riding pattern by leading the gelding at a walk and a trot over poles, through and around cones, and in circles and serpentines. It was a lot of fun to watch the youngster progress from being scared to walk into the building at the start of day 1, to trotting alongside his owner confidently through the patterns by the end of day 2.
Misty and I attended a Debbie Bibb Horsemanship clinic and I had a blast focusing on my sweet mare. It was a real bonding weekend for us. The clinic was held at the CSU Equine Center in Fort Collins where we had a very nice, comfortable indoor arena in which to work and ride.
We started out with some ground control exercises, then rode a pattern to see where we are with our horses and what we need to work on. We walked along the left side of the arena, turned right, through two orange cones, over ground poles ,then turned left around another cone and trotted to the far end of the arena where we did two big circles that formed a figure eight when put together, then we continued back down the long side of the arena, trotting serpentines through about 8 ground markers, then to the right where we came to a stop between two parallel ground poles, then we moved forward at a walk, turned right, came to a stop and backed up.
Other exercises during the weekend:
- Controlling our horses feet and mind from the ground
- Leading exercises to get in synchronization with our horse and control their stride as we lead them
- Giving to the bit on the ground
- Giving to the bit from the saddle
- Riding exercises to help us with our seat and balance
- Sitting trot, to learn to move with our horse and not against the horse
- Emergency Stops
- Moving our horse's shoulders and hips from the ground and from the saddle.
- Walk, trot, and canter transitions
- Lengthening and shortening our horse's stride
We had a competition during the lengthening/shortening exercise. Four ground poles were placed to form a square (a box). We practiced riding straight through the box to gauge how many strides our horse walks normally through the box. Misty took 4 strides. Then as the competition began, we had to state how many strides our horse would take to walk through the box on that 1st round, then each successive round we had to add an extra stride. Sometimes strategy works if you lengthen your horses stride through the first round, then let them walk naturally (the easiest to predict and control) through the 2nd round. It can give you the advantage of having an extra round before shortening the stride gets really challenging. But sometimes it backfires. Most of us started with our horses normal stride. So first time through I said Misty would take 4 steps, and she did. 2nd time through I said she would take 5 steps; I shortened her stride and she took 5 steps inside the box. Next time she took 6 steps. If a horse takes fewer or more steps than you state, then you are out of the competition. Misty and I won the competition with 8 strides through the box. For fun we tried to do 9 strides, but didn't quite make it. She stepped outside the box on the 9th step.
We did another fun challenge near the end of day 2. Parallel poles were set up for us to ride through, forming a "shoot" (pictured above). We each took a turn riding up to the shoot, through the shoot, and beyond the the shoot. For example, a simple instruction may be: "Ride a posting trot to the middle of the shoot, then ride a sitting trot out." As we did this, we had to look ahead at Mark (Debbie's husband) and call out how many fingers he was holding up as we rode through this exercise. Debbie gave each rider different instructions on each turn. These were instructions meant to challenge us individually. My biggest challenge on my last turn was "trot up to the shoot (sitting or posting) and then in the middle of the shoot transition to a canter. Misty and I are both new to cantering under saddle together and I've had a tough time getting her into a canter when I've tried it on my own in a large arena. She just keeps trotting faster, faster, faster. (And the previous day, when we worked on walk, trot, canter transitions in a large circle, I worked only on our walk-to-trot and trot-to-walk transitions. We aren't ready to canter in a circle and have only gotten into a canter a few times.) So I was surprised when Debbie challenged me to canter. I wasn't sure if I could get Misty to canter in the shoot, but we had been doing so well together all weekend, I decided to give it a try. We trotted into the shoot, I asked her for the canter, and what did she do? She immediately picked up a lovely canter!!! I was really quite surprised. We cantered forward for a few strides, then back to the walk and I gave Misty lots of At-A-Girl pats on the neck and told her what a good mare she is.
Near the end of the clinic, we repeated the riding pattern we started with, to see how we had improved in just 2 days.
I had a great time at the clinic. Misty was super focused on me through all the exercises and I couldn't have been more pleased with her. I love my mare!
It was a busy weekend and I didn't have time for pictures, except for a few taken during our breaks.
During breaks we tied our horses to sturdy hitching posts outside the arena where they could relax and visit with their neighbor.
Hitching posts double as scratching posts.
That's the spot!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Misty's Monday Muse - Welcome Wagon
On her first day here my new roomie, Miss SaraJane, received a welcome gift from the Misters Pippin and Doc of Living a Dream. The boys' Mrs. Owner was kind enough to deliver it for them; I think they were a little shy about meeting the new girl.
Carrots (my favorite)! Horse cookies! A cute card! All tied together with the ever useful baling twine! I was so jealous! Then SaraJane shared her treats with me and I got over it.
SaraJane sends you carrot kisses.
XO, XO, XO,
Saturday, October 2, 2010
About SaraJane our Foster Filly
Misty was a lonely-only for several months this summer after her barnmate went to a new home. I considered purchasing another horse, but decided against it. I've made great progress with Misty since she has been an only-horse and she needs to remain my focus. My job is stressful and requires some long hours; upwards of 60 hours a week lately. The reality is: I don't have time to ride two horses.
But horses are herd animals and I didn't want Misty to be alone for long. So SaraJane has come to live with us. SaraJane belongs to a horse rescue and we are providing her a foster home.
SaraJane and her herdmates were picked up last Spring by the rescue after receiving a phone call from a concerned individual who knew the horses were in jeopardy. SaraJane and her herdmates were being kept in a junk filled pasture with no grass. They had not been fed in two weeks. Their keeper did not care about them at all so fortunately relinquished them with no argument.
SaraJane is as sweet as they come. She is a gentle soul who likes people. She seeks people out, follows people around, and loves attention. She is a beautiful rose gray color and cute as a bug's ear. She is 2 years old and apparently had no hoof care her whole life. She came to the rescue with a slipper foot, 8 to 12 inches long, on her left front hoof.
SaraJane's farrier told me when she walked, she rolled onto the outside of her deformed hoof. She had no heel to support her weight and her frog - what there was of it - did not make contact with the ground. He was not sure he could save her hoof, but started working on it little by little. In four months time it began to resemble a normal hoof. Below you can see her left hoof is still much smaller than her right hoof and her heel is contracted. But at least she has a heel now.
SaraJane's hoof is a work in progress. She needs time to just hang out, receive regular hoof care, eat good food, and interact consistently with people. Her future is a little uncertain, but the rescue's veterinarian thinks she will eventually be suitable for light riding. Time will tell. Until she is ready for more training or gets adopted, she is welcome at our home. She is fitting right in and follows Misty's lead, even napping in one of Misty's favorite spots....the ditch-o-poo.
Misty napping in the poo last winter.
SaraJane napping in the poo today, as Misty stands guard.
A girl needs a warm, cozy spot to nap on a chilly morning.
Check back soon to see the adorable Welcome Wagon gift SaraJane received from two handsome admirers.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Misty's Monday Muse - Lonely No More
I have a new roommate.
I think we will be good friends.
The End(s).
Everybody needs a friend,
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Baking Lessons
Misty and I had our 4th baking lesson with Sir Cowboy today.
I call them baking lessons because during lesson #1, Sir Cowboy called Misty a half baked cake. He said we need to turn up the heat and finish baking.
The heat is on and Misty and I are baking together. Stick a toothpick in us, and it will still come out with some batter on it, but we are progressing and on our way to becoming fully baked.
Lesson #1: We walked and trotted in the round pen, working on my use of reins and leg aids. Sir Cowboy evaluated my tack and made some adjustments and suggestions. He loaned me a breast collar and rigged up a makeshift flank set out of a light horse sized flank cinch, nylon straps and baling twine. (Baling twine...almost as versatile as duct tape.) It did the trick until a local saddle maker could make those items in draft size to fit Misty. It is hard to shop "off the rack" for Misty.
Lesson #2: We trotted a lot and did exercises around barrels. Sir Cowboy surprised me when he instructed me to put Misty into a fast trot around the round pen and kiss her into a lope. She kicked out a little bit the first time we moved into the lope. The furthest we loped was 1/2 way around the round pen. Loping under saddle is unfamiliar to Misty and it was the first time I had loped (cantered) in 25 years. Then we finished up with some trotting exercises so Misty could end the lesson with confidence.
During lesson #3, I was surprised Sir Cowboy didn't make us lope some more. Instead we did our turning and trotting exercises in the round pen. Then we ventured out of the round pen to the front pasture where Sir Cowboy had us trot through a line of poles suspended from a high wire. We worked on leg cues and releasing pressure through the poles. It wasn't pretty, but we did it with only one mishap. While turning around the end pole, Misty stumbled on some uneven ground and went down onto her front knees. Don't ya just hate it when that happens?! She recovered fine and I stayed in the saddle. Sir Cowboy said, "It's OK, she just tripped. You are riding a horse with big feet, you know." Next we walked over a wooden bridge Sir Cowboy uses for training. We walked over that bridge as if we had crossed it a thousand times. The next time over the bridge Sir Cowboy told me to stop Misty on top. No problem. Piece of cake (even if it is just half baked). But Sir Cowboy likes to challenge us. He told me to back Misty off the bridge. What? Back her off the bridge? We've ridden over these types of training bridges before, but always in one direction....forward! I'd never thought of backing her off of a bridge before. Misty was a little surprised with that first step backward off the bridge, but handled herself well. The next time, Sir Cowboy had me say the word "Step" to prepare her for the step down, much like I do when I back her out of her horse trailer. She stepped backward off the bridge with ease. I really need to have Mr. OnceUpon construct a bridge for us at home. I like riding over bridges. We ended that lesson by trotting a barrel pattern.
During the two weeks between lesson #3 and today's lesson, I've been practicing trotting in an arena, around barrels and through a line of orange cones. I've also been putting Misty into a lope on the lunge line often. That is something I have not done with her until the last 4 weeks. I've stayed in my comfort zone too long, lunging her at the walk and trot only and that's probably why she kicked out a little bit when we went into our first lope under saddle during lesson #2.
Lesson #4: Today we stayed in the round pen for the whole lesson. We started out with ground work to warm Misty up like we do at the beginning of every lesson. Then I mounted and we did some trotting. Sir Cowboy had me stop and get off while he made an adjustment to my saddle. He tied a rope onto the rings at the back of the cantle. I still tend to perch forward a little too much and he said this would help me get the feel of sitting deeper in the saddle and will give me confidence at the lope. He doesn't want me sitting back with my butt all the way in the saddle. He wants me sitting on my pelvic bones, with weight in the stirrups, but not pitched forward so much. He instructed me to hold the reins in my left hand, hold onto the rope behind my hip with my right hand, move to the rail at a fast trot and then move into the lope. Misty picked up the lope without kicking this time. We did this several times and she was very good, if only a little difficult to get into the lope because she was tired, and it is harder for a horse, especially a draft horse, to lope in a circle in a round pen. I was tired too and made some mistakes. One time Misty started trotting faster and faster, but wouldn't go into the lope and I felt a bit out of control. Sir Cowboy said I was tensing up and using my legs to tell her to lope, but was hanging onto her mouth at the same time; giving her mixed signals. We started over and I concentrated on moving my hands forward with her and not pulling back and we went right into a nice relaxed lope and traveled several times around the round pen. It was great and we are a little more baked.
Sir Cowboy wants me to practice loping Misty on my own when I take her to an arena. He told me not to lope around the corners, but to put her into a lope as we travel down the long side of the arena; start with a short distance and work up to loping the length of the arena. He told me to be brave and that I've got to turn up the heat to get to the next level.
And so we bake...
I call them baking lessons because during lesson #1, Sir Cowboy called Misty a half baked cake. He said we need to turn up the heat and finish baking.
The heat is on and Misty and I are baking together. Stick a toothpick in us, and it will still come out with some batter on it, but we are progressing and on our way to becoming fully baked.
Lesson #1: We walked and trotted in the round pen, working on my use of reins and leg aids. Sir Cowboy evaluated my tack and made some adjustments and suggestions. He loaned me a breast collar and rigged up a makeshift flank set out of a light horse sized flank cinch, nylon straps and baling twine. (Baling twine...almost as versatile as duct tape.) It did the trick until a local saddle maker could make those items in draft size to fit Misty. It is hard to shop "off the rack" for Misty.
Lesson #2: We trotted a lot and did exercises around barrels. Sir Cowboy surprised me when he instructed me to put Misty into a fast trot around the round pen and kiss her into a lope. She kicked out a little bit the first time we moved into the lope. The furthest we loped was 1/2 way around the round pen. Loping under saddle is unfamiliar to Misty and it was the first time I had loped (cantered) in 25 years. Then we finished up with some trotting exercises so Misty could end the lesson with confidence.
During lesson #3, I was surprised Sir Cowboy didn't make us lope some more. Instead we did our turning and trotting exercises in the round pen. Then we ventured out of the round pen to the front pasture where Sir Cowboy had us trot through a line of poles suspended from a high wire. We worked on leg cues and releasing pressure through the poles. It wasn't pretty, but we did it with only one mishap. While turning around the end pole, Misty stumbled on some uneven ground and went down onto her front knees. Don't ya just hate it when that happens?! She recovered fine and I stayed in the saddle. Sir Cowboy said, "It's OK, she just tripped. You are riding a horse with big feet, you know." Next we walked over a wooden bridge Sir Cowboy uses for training. We walked over that bridge as if we had crossed it a thousand times. The next time over the bridge Sir Cowboy told me to stop Misty on top. No problem. Piece of cake (even if it is just half baked). But Sir Cowboy likes to challenge us. He told me to back Misty off the bridge. What? Back her off the bridge? We've ridden over these types of training bridges before, but always in one direction....forward! I'd never thought of backing her off of a bridge before. Misty was a little surprised with that first step backward off the bridge, but handled herself well. The next time, Sir Cowboy had me say the word "Step" to prepare her for the step down, much like I do when I back her out of her horse trailer. She stepped backward off the bridge with ease. I really need to have Mr. OnceUpon construct a bridge for us at home. I like riding over bridges. We ended that lesson by trotting a barrel pattern.
During the two weeks between lesson #3 and today's lesson, I've been practicing trotting in an arena, around barrels and through a line of orange cones. I've also been putting Misty into a lope on the lunge line often. That is something I have not done with her until the last 4 weeks. I've stayed in my comfort zone too long, lunging her at the walk and trot only and that's probably why she kicked out a little bit when we went into our first lope under saddle during lesson #2.
Lesson #4: Today we stayed in the round pen for the whole lesson. We started out with ground work to warm Misty up like we do at the beginning of every lesson. Then I mounted and we did some trotting. Sir Cowboy had me stop and get off while he made an adjustment to my saddle. He tied a rope onto the rings at the back of the cantle. I still tend to perch forward a little too much and he said this would help me get the feel of sitting deeper in the saddle and will give me confidence at the lope. He doesn't want me sitting back with my butt all the way in the saddle. He wants me sitting on my pelvic bones, with weight in the stirrups, but not pitched forward so much. He instructed me to hold the reins in my left hand, hold onto the rope behind my hip with my right hand, move to the rail at a fast trot and then move into the lope. Misty picked up the lope without kicking this time. We did this several times and she was very good, if only a little difficult to get into the lope because she was tired, and it is harder for a horse, especially a draft horse, to lope in a circle in a round pen. I was tired too and made some mistakes. One time Misty started trotting faster and faster, but wouldn't go into the lope and I felt a bit out of control. Sir Cowboy said I was tensing up and using my legs to tell her to lope, but was hanging onto her mouth at the same time; giving her mixed signals. We started over and I concentrated on moving my hands forward with her and not pulling back and we went right into a nice relaxed lope and traveled several times around the round pen. It was great and we are a little more baked.
Sir Cowboy wants me to practice loping Misty on my own when I take her to an arena. He told me not to lope around the corners, but to put her into a lope as we travel down the long side of the arena; start with a short distance and work up to loping the length of the arena. He told me to be brave and that I've got to turn up the heat to get to the next level.
And so we bake...
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