Kind of busy around here, we got the trailer to the point where I can now use it, still need to paint and line the divider and install the puckboard but I can haul with it until Ted gets back. It's safe and sound now!
Beamer has been a busy boy, much to his delight. He had a girlfriend from Alberta come over and both her and Coulee were in full standing heat at the same time, poor guy didn't know which one to talk to! The Alberta mare belongs to the good folks who already own 4 of his babies and they are pretty excited at the chance to raise one of their own. She will be heading home today.
It took a while for Coulee and Chino to buddy up
Then next week the paint mare comes back- remember her? She foaled a perfect black and white stud colt last year.
We had a heck of a rain storm here yesterday- sure hope it hits all the areas that are tinder dry and/or burning.
Raining so hard you can't see past the paddock fence.
I got a parcel in the mail today; I wasn't expecting anything so it surprised me. A good surprise! It's from Aurora over at Equine Expressions blog- it felt just like Christmas as I excitedly ripped off the wrapping.....
and I am super pleased to get THIS!
I have always wanted to read Mark Rashid's books but never got around to buying one. I'm going to bury my nose in this one!
Thanks, Aurora for picking me to win the giveaway that went away! Loved the note card and letter too.
Removing the rusted rail where the divider pin goes.
Replaced with brand new steel tubing, although they had to cut off the old pin bracket and weld it onto this new rail.
This is the trailer when we first brought it home- see those rust pock marks on the panel in front of the wheels? That is from a horse inside pawing as there was no kick boards, just the steel panel. So of course, Ted replaced it....
Old panel removed; they had to cut the square tube support and it is being replaced too-
Fitting the new piece in and getting ready to weld it.
We will be lining the inside of the trailer with puck board, 4 ft. up to protect horse legs and the steel panels. Today Ted welds the new sheet metal in place and replaces the rub rail on that side of the trailer. They are also sand blasting the old paint off the divider. My job is to paint all the interior up to the 4 ft. level prior to installing the puck board. Ted has to leave for work tomorrow so we will likely just get the puck board done on this side where the front feet go; the other 3 sheets are on order and won't be in in time. But at least the trailer will be usable- yay!
My wonderful husband is rebuilding the horse trailer we just bought. Went through it, tore the floor out and is replacing all the boards as well as some of the metal that is not up to par.
Using the jack to get a tight fit and keep everything straight
This spot for some reason didn't have angle iron and it's right where the horse's front feet would go- so he welded another piece in there.
I don't know why there was no angle iron there- I had visions of a pawing horse getting it;'s foot stuck between the frame and the sheet metal of the wall. You can see that a pawing horse has battered the metal of the wall; there are no kick boards anywhere on the interior of this trailer so Ted is putting puck board around on the inside.
There are a couple more fixes to do, like the square tubing along the sides where the divider attaches that need to be replaced but they can wait until next time as he is heading out for another 2 week tour of work.
Yesterday I did a photo shoot of a lovely little 3 day old filly, a perfect little black darling with a future as a barrel horse.
I had to clean Beamer up for his date with Chino yesterday so I also hopped on him bareback and rode for a few minutes. Gotta love a stallion that you can do that when he hasn't been ridden for ages. Since there was no traffic on our road, I decided to see how Thea would do following along. I took her mentor Tess with us and we went for a very short little ride.
As you can see, she did quite well, but it will be a while before I trust that she will be ok on a real road, but I think she'll be okay on bush rides.
Beamer's girlfriend arrived last night, we teased her today and she is pretty close, maybe tomorrow.
Beamer is a funny boy. Even though I made his pen 4 times bigger, he still prefers to hang out in the original part. One quirk this guy has is that he actually likes small spaces. Go figure!
Hanging with the guys. Never mind the dirty face.
Some good news for him- he will be getting a girlfriend today! A mare is coming from Alberta and should be here for around a week. Thanks to her getting an ultrasound, we know that she will be ready to breed for the next 3 or 4 days, so it's perfect timing. I hope he remembers his manners! Cause if he doesn't, he will get reminded!
We are hosting a big birthday party for Ted this weekend, his birthday is actually in the middle of the week, but a long weekend is the perfect time to have a party. Especially since we are getting rain, so what else is there to do?
My Martin Frobisher rose is 9 ft. tall and in full bloom.
I spent the last week beautifying the yard and doing my spring cleaning. Gotta look good for the party!
Part of the reason I didn't get much time to ride is that I have been setting up the electric fence lines for the grazing paddocks. I built one for Coulee that is in the area where the round pen is, and I hooked it into the landlord's powerful cattle fencer.
The other pen is larger and it basically is a 30 ft. border on two sides of our lawn, kind of an L shape that connects to Beamer's pen. I had to get a little creative for some of the posts as well as buying 15 more step in posts to finish it- but I finally did and turned him out in it for the first time today.
At first, he didn't wander far past the original boundary of his grass paddock.
Then he spotted the opening.... but didn't quite get all the way to the end. There's one place that is a bit of a bottleneck so I grabbed his halter and lead him through there. Then he could see Coulee in her pen, and they both got to calling each other for a few minutes before settling down to some serious grazing.
Does everyone recognize Nitro? This was his first branding and it sure looks like he loves his job.
What a good boy! Sure am pleased with all those boys.
I finally got to ride Coulee today. I was trying all last week to find time to ride, but so many things got in the way.
She's like Geez lady, just climb aboard would ya?
Ted has to replace the floor boards in my new trailer, and we sold the old one so I just rode in the round pen for our first ride. I'm happy to say she is everything I hoped she would be. Super light to the rein and leg, nice turnaround, sidepasses, turns on the haunches and forehand, has a really nice whoa and back up. We'll see how it all holds together once we get into the big arena and out on the trails, but I don't anticipate any issues there.
She does have some holes in her training, as I expected; she is reluctant to accept the bit- probably because of her teeth not being done for so long. However, she doesn't really evade, just doesn't want to open her mouth. I just wait on her and don't make an issue of it.
She is a little jumpy with sudden movement, and again, it's just something I can work with. She's very suspicious of flags, or if I flap the stirrup leathers- so of course I do just that. :o)
Here's a little video I took, some leg yields and turns and her stop and back up, all done one handed on a loose rein.
My wonderful husband did me a big favour this week. I have been looking for a 2 horse angle haul trailer for a while now, and found an affordable one on Vancouver Island- all the way across the province. Since Ted works on Vancouver Island he went out of his way to go look at it, and gave it a thumbs up- and he and his boss, who travel down there with a pick up truck, brought it back for me. So I now have a decent trailer! It needs some minor work before I use it; 4 floor boards to be replaced and the divider needs to be taken out and rebuilt- the padding is about all gone and it needs to be painted (the divider, not the whole trailer).
It has a water tank, and a slide out saddle rack in the tack room.
Oh and a bunch of truck parts that Ted brought back for his truck . I thought he'd pack it full of way more stuff.
Anyway, I'll be travelling in style now! No more rusty old grey trailer!
It feels like August. Summer seems to have hit before spring is over. There are wildfires raging already, and as many of you know one northern Alberta town of 80,000 people was evacuated and as of this time is burning with the fire out of control. As well, 2 other fires in Alberta have evacuation alerts.
By the time I get home from work it's the hottest part of the day, and I usually wait until it's a bit cooler before working Coulee. I had her teeth done yesterday, like I figured her mouth was locked up and her poll was out as well as one vertebrae in her neck.
He took advantage of the sedative to adjust her poll and neck.
I noticed yesterday that Coulee is in heat- full squat and pee heat, so I am postponing riding for a couple of days so that I will have her full attention for our first rides. Of course, Beamer would love to spend some time with her, but he is such a good boy; he called out just a couple of times to her while I was working her.
I worked her in the round pen again today, just some basic stuff and then the flag work. I spent less than 5 minutes on that and she is so much better. Still a little feely on her right side; I am doing more right side work than left side to help get her balanced out.
This evening I talked to the girl I bought her from, just to ask a few more questions. She said she would just step on and ride, no longeing, and no silliness from the mare; that she ditch rode her and traffic or other horses in fields didn't bother her. She rode her out alone too, which is good because I do most of my riding alone.
Don't forget to watch the Kentucky Derby on Saturday! I think Gun Runner will win, but if I was going for a long shot it would be Suddenbreakngnews. I didn't like the way Nyquist finished his last race and even though he is the favourite I don't think he will win the Derby.
Saturday, I headed down to the Cowboy Dressage clinic. I could only go the one day, as I couldn't get someone to look after my dogs both days.
Jenni Grimmet was the teacher; she doesn't claim to be an expert but she is happy to share what she has learned from Eitan Beth- Halachmy . There were 10 riders in the clinic, just right so that everyone got plenty of individual attention.
The morning session was groundwork, getting your horse to be with you and using your energy to do transitions, not relying on your cues; cue, then use your energy- or focus, if that makes more sense. Her saying is: "Thou shalt not dwell on rein or leg" . Ask with an aid if you need to, but don't keep applying the aid. Ask, then use your energy, if he doesn't get it then ask again. Also, punishing the horse is out of the question; if he doesn't get it, don't get after him, just find a way to make it easy for him to understand.
Since CD is all about soft feel and the connection with your horse, it makes sense that you have to start on the ground- just as you do with any discipline. So- no dragging your horse along with the leadline, or pulling him into a stop. So, for example, if you stop, and you prepare your horse for the stop with your body slowing and an exhaled breath, your horse should stop with you. If he doesn't, you don't move your feet; you stay stopped and use your lead line or stick to reposition his body to where he should have stopped- right beside you with your shoulder between his jaw and withers. It took some of the horses a few tries, but most of them had it figured fairly quickly once their handlers realized that they actually could reposition them without moving their feet!
Sounds like pretty simple stuff and pretty much in line with all the natural horsemanship gurus out there.
Jenni demonstration leading with a soft feel and using energy to speed up the horse
When it was riding time, that's when the holes in the ground work show up. So if a particular horse was lagging behind during the ground work, sure enough he was pokey and disinterested under saddle. Or a horse that was too forward on the ground was too forward under saddle. It was interesting to see how Jenni worked with each person to get them through each issue and by the end of the day, there was lots of improvement.
This horse was really interesting- he is gaited, kind of a singlefoot gait when he speeds up, although he does trot too. Here you can see the rider with her energy up- but a tight rein.
And here, she has exhaled, and dropped her energy level - and loosened the rein- and the horse just relaxed down with her.
The Cowboy Dressage Court is perfect for helping a rider focus on where and when to do a transition- much like a traditional dressage court but with a few more elements like the octagon in the middle, and ground poles at certain points. It is 20 meters wide and 60 meters long. Here is a link to their Rules and Guidelines.
This clinic only scratched the surface of what I have yet to learn about this discipline. Wish I could have gone back for the second day as they covered working over the ground poles and riding a test. But- she only lives an hour and a half away, so I could get my paperwork in order and haul down there a few times this summer for instruction.
I did come home with some things to work on with Coulee. I did the basic leading, and there are plenty of holes in that! She tends to walk with her shoulder at my shoulder- kind of taking charge. Then she also tends to lag behind if she isn't sure of where I am going, so we worked on her position today. Also worked on her stopping square with me; I only had to fix that twice. Coulee hasn't been out of her pen for a few days, so I figured she would be a little wound up. I did some in hand bending work, (stuff from the clinic) and she is starting to loosen up much better in the neck, flexing both ways. I took her halter off and sent her out; we were in the round pen, moving her out at the trot and lope. as I figured, there was a little bit of bucking as she broke into a lope- nothing serious, more like she was flipping me the bird for not having taken her out of her dry pen for 3 days. She settled in after a round or two.
After that, I did some flag work with her. I had previously seen that she was nervous about the flag;sure would like to know more about her past training. I think they did a lot of free longeing because she is good at that but not much in hand work.
Anyway, she was giving it the hairy eyeball when I picked up the flag, so I just led her around as per our earlier lesson only this time I was taking the flag out in front of me, swishing it back and forth on the ground. Horses will be more curious than afraid if it's something they are following rather than something that is coming at them. Then I picked it up and walked with it in the air- and it was interesting to see where her comfort level was with that. At or above eye level was better than below eye level. I did several other things to get her to look with curiosity rather than fear, and my goal was to be able to rub it on her neck while she stood still. As you watch this video, notice how she is more comfortable with the flag at eye level. See how much she backs up as I hold it just below eye level, and how she stops and accept it when she can see all of it? Just as I was shutting the camera off, she was licking and chewing. I think she will be better with it tomorrow.
It's also interesting that she is more reluctant on her right side, that is also the side she is the stiffest on. Teeth being done on Tuesday- should make a difference and I am finally going to get on her this week!
