My girls coming home

It looks like my girl will be coming home on the 12 of April right after our clinton anderson tour stop in Redmond OR. I am so darn excited I can hardly stand it. She comes home one week from the first Gymkhana. Yes we will take it slow but were going and I am super excited to get out there and ride my good horse.

More training

Well cross communication happened today at our barn, mom told me she wasn't putting the horses in and I said ok. I then decided to take another day off...Well whent I got to the barn the horses were in..So since I was late I figured what the heck lets go ride in the old garden... We were going along and you could feel him wanting to do something of some sort. I kept changing directions keeping his attention focused on me. Then he let out a sigh and dropped his head, but he was tricking me into thinking he was relaxing. He then bolted forward into a trot, I caught him and we started spinning circels of course to the left hehehe...He will learn to go left one of these days...After that he started listening and doing as I had asked. My brother is new to riding but been on a few horses and on a few trail rides. I asked him if he wanted to claim on but I would keep a line on him. I know Zip well enough to say that he listens to me on ground and comes right out of a trot. While my brother was riding I observed a very confussed, uneasy and nervos horse. He isn't used to someone that dosn't know how to ride something he will over come. My brother around 10 mintues then claimed off, Zip even thou uncomfertable handled himself well. I told mom for now experienced riders on him, or a line with new riders untill he is used to him. My brother wants to get on the trail but he has to wait for the babysitter horse to come home...Yep my mare is miss realible...

The new gelding

All I can say is I miss my already trained mare but I love a challange so its been fun...I have done 3 great rides on him. I was really nervos the first day but we settled in together and are doing great... I have him trotting now and it is learning it great... He dose not like to go left, heck were almost neck reining to the right already!!! We worked around cones, ground poles and a barrel and he is having fun..I can tell his heart will be in the trail however...He hates any type of pleasure work, if his mind is thinking then were good...I plan to ride him on wen. then thur morning then let my novice brother on him... My brother isn't a complete novice but dosn't have lots of hours..This horse was bought as an extra horse and so its time for him to get used to new riders...He was well started when we got him, however he sat for a year but it is coming back to him quick...

There Off

Well I justs watched the trailer pull away, my mare and the gelding securly snuggled in for the next 7 hours. I took some pictures this morning and will post them later. I brushed her a bit so they still show some dirt but not a lot. She stood like an agnel for the pictures even got her ears up for one that is a mircle she normally dose what we call donkey ears expression. Finally got the right combination in her stall for her Dry Stall, Dryden and Shavings and her stall looked wonderful this morning. I was very pleased!!! She will be gone for over a month so it may be a bit quite on here. However while she is gone I will be putting hours on a new horse who will be our spare horse. Supper excited to meet the new guy on Sunday, he is another Araloosa. Our other one needed a lot of chiropractor work, light rider and light riding. He is going to the lady we are getting our new horse from, ( we traded another mare for the new horse plus a breeding to one of our mares ). We are putting our gelding in her care on care lease, she has a light rider that wants to do some riding. She also has local access to a chiropractor unlike us who has to travel to one. She said that if he dosn't work out she will turn him loose on her 30 arceas with the broodmares. It is nice to find a good retirment home for him I sure am going to miss him we have had him for close to 5 years so it was a sad day at the barn.

Testing

My mare loves to test the waters every once in awhile... She knows what the word stand is and she chose today to act like she didn't know what it was. I eneded up having to put her halter on and giving her a lesson on what it ment. She quickly pulled her act together and stood like an angel. We got the post in for the new cros fence just got to them set in the ground before they can go out and play. Dolly has settled right down into her stall and loves it again. I pulled her off of hay today, she wasn't raised on it and would rather waste it then eat it. It makes cleaning her stall a joke in the morning and its not fair for her to have to sleep in it even though she makes the mess. Right now she is getting Alfa pellets with a complete feed and that should be good for her. She leaves for one month on friday I am going to miss her.

Wild Horse

Well when mom got off work she hitched up the trailer to bring Dolly back to the ranch. I go out to catch her and she decided to wanted to play instead of being caught it was so damn cute. We played for 5 mintues and then she let me walk up and catch her. Then we loaded her up and headed to the ranch. She was snorting and dancing around but I thought what the hell and jumped up figuring she would settle down. Umm nope she was a ball of fire waiting to explode on me. So I go off and decided that I would turn her lose with the gelding for a bit and then take her into the barn. Since I had to go to work I left her halter on her making it easier for mom to catch her since somtimes she can be a challange. She tore across the field neck arched tail flaring, if I didn't know better I thought she looked like a darn Arab. She got to play in the field for a while and then mom had a hard time catching her. She is currently in her stall still full of energy, looks like the lower field will be closed to maintance of a new cross fence she it will be lunging time for her for a few days. Wish me luck, I might get to go for a ride on Wen. my aunt don't work and she said we might haul out. I don't get excited over things like that becuse normally they don't happen. However, I have to get that extra energy off of her. She hasn't been on a trail ride since her main training quite a few years back. I did a little bit about a year or so ago around the ladies property but never with other horses and she was used to the area we were in. So it could get interesting to say the least.

not much

There hasn't been much going on around here... We got the new stud pen up for Buggs so he should be going in it today. I plan to take my mare back to the Ranch as she has been at home the last few weeks. I will put her in the the stall and turn out daily, I also am going to try and get some weight on her for some reason she dropped weight and I can't get it back on her.

Barbara