New Developments

Bourbon

Last week, I rode Bourbon five days in a row.  He's doing really well, remembering what leg pressure means and I only have to sit back to get him to stop.  We've only worked at the walk so far, due to his toe crack and the possibility that he's still a bit sore-footed.  I haven't seen any lame steps, but I had never seen him offer to gallop in the pasture until Monday.  Now that I know for certain that he's not sore, we're going to up the ante.  That being said, I haven't had a chance to ride this week due to weather, etc.  Instead, we have been desensitizing, mostly with the plastic bag.  He was doing very well with the bag today so we went for a walk down the road, during which time he had four heart attacks.  Two were caused by one of the barn cats - she would wait until we were right next to her then freak out and run from the trash cans and out between Bourbon's legs, while we were trying to pass through a small gate *sigh*.  If he was the kind of horse that didn't respect your space, I'd probably be injured right now.   Luckily, he really tries to be a good boy and didn't jump on top of me.  When I turned him out, he was wound so tight that he galloped away - poor guy.

Ginger

Ginger is the little Appy/Arab mare that I mentioned in my last post.  She was ridden today for the first time in years.  She is getting better regarding the pushiness but is still having some issues rushing through gates, etc.  She is now very respectful while lunging.  She's also getting better about being separated from her buddies - because she's never seen people as leaders, she started out extremely buddy sour. Jennie, a horse trainer and the lady that is placing her, said I can ride her when I come out to visit again next Thursday.  I'm looking forward to it :)  Also, Jennie was originally told that Ginger is 6 years old...according to paperwork, it appears she's actually around 11.  When Jennie has her teeth done, we will verify Ginger's age.   

Other Happenings

Jennie is affiliated with (I think she's vice-president of) the local mustang rescue.  She has a training/boarding barn and takes and rehabs some of the mustangs.  Today she asked me if I'd be willing to help out with a Wounded Warrior/mustang project that she's putting together.  The plan is to pair military veterans with an untamed mustang that they will be responsible for gentling.  Being a vet myself, I said hell yeah!!  I don't know what role she'll need me to fill (perhaps liaison with the local bases?), but I'm definitely looking forward to it.  Jennie also asked if she can start training with me for endurance rides - she wants to complete Tevis with one of her mustangs.  Another hell yeah.  She has various upcoming obligations and can't start training until next summer.  No worries - if Ginger works out, there's nothing saying I can't start training earlier than next summer.  And if Ginger doesn't work out I was going to ask Jennie to keep an eye on the mustang rescue for a likely candidate for me anyways.  I have no Tevis plans/dreams myself but it's exciting to think that I'll have someone to condition with and possibly even share fuel costs with at future rides.

And because I have no other pictures to share, here's a pic of me and Eclipse during my last riding lesson.  Not too shabby. 

First ride on Bourbon

I've been taking things very slowly with Bourbon, both for his sake and my own (considering that he has bucked off two other people).  Today was our first ride.  We just worked on giving to the bit and leg pressure at a walk in the round pen - he was fabulous.  He stood perfectly still for saddling and mounting - we do need to work on accepting the bridle/bit but that will come.  Tomorrow I plan to set up some obstacles in the arena, just to keep things kind of interesting as we work on control at the walk.  In case I haven't explained before, Bourbon is extremely green and hasn't been worked consistently since he was broke as a 3 year old - he'll be 7 in February.

He looks so good in lime :)

 Afterwards, I headed out to Lithia to see an Appy/Arab mare.  Her name is Ginger and she's possibly the pushiest horse I've ever had to deal with - in fact, the first time I tried to get acquainted with her, she threatened to run me over.  Since then, the owner has arranged for 30 days of training so I went to see how she's progressing.  She has much more 'give' in the round pen and didn't try to run the trainer down - a marked improvement.  Ginger's dam is boarded at the trainer's facility and was supposedly the same way.  She was put through some training and is now very nice mare being ridden by a young girl who adores her.  I believe Ginger has a lot of potential.  One thing I know for sure is that she has heart.  I'll go out again next week to see her and get an update on how she's doing - this may be the one. 

Notice the rivulets of sweat streaming down her legs - it took an hour to get a modicum of respect. Yep, heart (known as extreme stubbornness when working against you).

Today's antics

Bourbon is nearly ready for our first ride, I believe.   First, we saddled up then did some desensitizing with the plastic bag - he is absolutely terrified of plastic bags!  I have no idea how this all started but his owner told me that at one point, she tied plastic bags to his saddle and turned him loose in the round pen...this may have had an effect opposite of what was actually intended.  What I have been doing is tying a bag to the end of my stick and wiggling it around in front of us as we walk. This way, I'm between him and the bag, and he's 'chasing' it and (hopefully) building his confidence.  We did this yesterday and definitely made progress.  Today he was doing so well that I thought it'd be a good time to start swinging it up over our heads - Bourbon thought this was a terrible idea. I heard hooves scrambling, saw the lead line falling away, and turned to watch Bourbon crow-hopping away.  He was brave enough to let me approach him to about 10 feet with the terrifying horse-eating monster scary bag before I threw it aside and caught him.  He was snorty for a few more minutes, and then everything was fine again.  I did take the opportunity to tie a string around his neck and throw it over the saddle horn, to discourage future bucking/crow-hopping but it wasn't needed.  We did some more chasing of the bag, then went into the round pen.  He did great today - no rushing, no bucking, calm turns when asked, trotting when asked, walking when asked, stopping when asked.  I was impressed.  So, I figured it would be a good time to fit my bridle to him - and then I realized that I left one of the bit-hangers at home, darn it!  Instead, I did a lot of rocking the saddle and jumping next to him like I was going to mount up.  He did fine so we practiced lining up to the mounting block.  I leaned onto the saddle and touched his rump, etc.  I'm just making sure that he knows what's coming and that he's relaxed about it.  He is starting to trust that I'm going to do things gently and slowly, which is something I believe he needs. 

Oh, and apparently Bourbon has never seen a person put on a helmet before...and watching him watching me was hilarious.  He shuffled backwards as I put it on my head, then streeeeeeeetched until he could sniff it (yes, it was still on my head), then he was cool.  He has the goofiest personality. 

In the meantime...

My riding abilities are increasing by leaps and bounds.  I'm not a great rider, but I'm surprising myself.  Things are starting to click and I'm completely comfortable in the saddle - even on unfamiliar horses going faster than asked, or not turning like they should.  This is a huge improvement for me.

And, there's always Bourbon.  Bourbon's toe crack has nearly grown out and he's sound.  Yesterday we started work again.  His usual saddle doesn't seem to fit quite right, so I tried my hubby's western - much better.  It looks pretty spiffy on him too.

He still has bucking on the brain and isn't the happiest that he may have to become gainfully employed, which is the reason for the western saddle - when you're used to an English saddle, you feel like you could ride through hell and back in a good western saddle.  Let's hope that none of our rides will be quite that exciting though, shall we? 

He's been very fresh when round-penning, then settles down nicely and starts to think.  I'll probably wait for his on-order bit to get here before I clamber up there.  Hopefully by early next week.  Until then, we'll continue to work on ground exercises and getting his brain working.

Oh, and tomorrow, I'll be heading over to meet a lady with a mustang rescue.  She has a couple of horses that she wants me to take a look at.  Crossing fingers. 

On frustration...

My last post was so happy-go-lucky that this post will probably make me seem bi-polar.  I have been looking for a horse for six weeks now and am still hopelessly horseless.  Horse-buying is nearly as stressful house-buying - it's a total rollercoaster ride and you're not sure exactly what's going to happen until the very bitter end.

I've gone to see several horses at this point - none of which have caused the stars to align.  A few were not what was advertised.  The half-Arab sometimes bucks when he gets mad - no thanks.  I went to check out a little Appy mare yesterday that goes in a double-twisted wire snaffle...When asked, the lady said she can be ridden in other bits, and she did change it for me.  Things didn't go smoothly but this little mare is promising.  She did ok with a mild curb bit, and I intentionally tried to get her to throw a fit (I rode her past the gate back home, when we'd ridden her out and back, changing tack three times already).  She did try to duck through the gate at the last second, but there was no head-tossing, wringing tail, or bucking when I pushed her past.  That being said, around here leg pressure of any kind must mean 'Go dammit!!!!' - at one point, I thought this little mare was going to run off with me because I asked her turn with my leg.  She is not the first horse that's reacted this way.  But she stood perfectly still for tacking up (each time), was great about picking up her feet, was easy to catch.  We'll see.  I asked the owner if I could take her on a trial.  She wants to wait in case someone else wants to purchase on the spot.  I'm ok with that. 

I saw another mare last week.  She was a total cutie and, other than some slight steering issues, seemed to be a great little horse.  A few days later, I had Marie come out to check her and she was a completely different horse.  In fact, she was so 'light' in the front end that I thought she was going to rear at one point.  Marie helped me get her calmed back down and we left.   

Anyways, I know that it will happen.  And I am reasonable enough to recognize that six weeks isn't really that much time.  Back to looking through the BLM online gallery :)