Snickers' weight

Since moving to the stall, Snickers has lost a lot of weight.  I don't like how his hip bones stick out and, comparing his pictures from before I got him and even when I got him, he hardly looks the same.  I've been trying various things and talking to people about how to get it back up.  Janet at DA suggested using DAC in my buckets of food as well, but I couldn't find it at the Horse Expo.  Plus, there's so much in his buckets already, I wouldn't want to overload him with nutrients and whatnot.

I was thinking it might be stress.  The weight loss was really obvious after our incident with having to rope him.  Since then, he's calmed down quite a bit in the stall as well as out with me, so hopefully he'll start to bring his weight back up.

He's been getting extra food from the feeders (I think it's 3 flakes, and they feed 2x a day, so 6 flakes total), as well as my buckets of food.  I'm being somewhat more generous with the beet pulp now and have always been with the alfalfa, so hopefully that'll get a little more in him.  He's an excellent eater, with all his food gone within an hour or two, including his buckets.  I never see any hay left on the ground.

I wormed him (and Flash) with Ivermectin shortly after I got him, but I went ahead and wormed him again just in case.  I think it was Zimectrin - either way, it's strong stuff and should take care of just about anything in there.

With all the rain, he's also gotten a bit more of a break instead of putting miles on, even though he's been in the round pen and arena.

He's looking like he's put a little more weight on, but I'm really waiting for that rump to fill in.  His belly is looking good though.  It's just that bony butt of his that bugs me and makes him look very awkward.  He's still doing good on his workouts and is very alert, but we'll see where he goes from here.  Maybe it will just take time.....

Naked Flash!

So Flash's fluffball of hair kept on shedding and shedding, with hair going EVERYWHERE and getting all over EVERYTHING (one time, Trevor even saw a hair on the table while eating dinner lol).  Of course, this did *wonderful* things for my allergies.  I really didn't see brushing him as any solution because I couldn't do it very long and never seemed to make much difference.  So, after seeing Crystal shave her horses out at Dusty Acres, I decided I was going to shave my snowball of a horse.

I borrowed my dad's clippers and bought some oil for them and I was off.  When I first turned the clippers on, Flash was quite weary of them and backed off.  However, I had my trusty clicker handy and ready, and after a click or two he was ready to go.  He stood really well :)  Unfortunately, the clippers stopped working 2/3 of the way through my horse!  It was really stressful because I didn't want to bring broken clippers back to my dad and Flash looked quite ridiculous.  However, deciding it must be a dull blade, I had to put him back and come back the next day.  This whole ordeal prevented me from riding, unfortunately, and it resulted in a pretty frustrating day :(  I had Snickers tied up the whole time, which was a couple of hours, to teach him patience.  He seemed to calm down after a while, though got all excited again as soon as he saw Flash walk by.

So then the next day I picked up a new blade ($40! but dad is going to pay for half).  It worked wonderfully, and soon I had a naked horse :)  His hair isn't THAT much darker :S (I was hoping for a horse that looked more like a palomino when I was done), but it's getting there.  You can see darker spots where he's had his nips and whatnot, so I know it'll get darker.  It wasn't a very pretty job shaving, as Trevor pointed out, but it's functional, and I got his bridle path done as well (I didn't bother trying to work on that with Snickers...).  The next couple of days were going to be in the 80's and even low 90's - I believe we set a few heat records - so I'm glad he got all that hair off.  Unfortunately, our wonderful Idaho weather dropped down to have lows in the 30's the following week, but he's ok.

Well, I don't sneeze anymore!  And he does seem to be a bit darker now, as his coat is growing out.  It can only get darker from now.  But I'm so glad I don't have to worry about all that hair anymore :)

Before I shaved Flash:

Halfway done:

My blade went dull!!

Back in the pasture to try again tomorrow....

Day 2 (before):

After!  All done!

Snickers has come a long way!

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted, and there's so much to write about!  I'm going to separate this into a few posts, since they're different subjects and whatnot over what has happened.

Snickers has come a really long way in the last month and is almost like a whole new horse.  He's excited to see me when I come to get him and willing to go to work, though, of course, he still whinnies but only on occasion.  I don't think that will ever go away haha.  We've been going out on the trails quite a bit (check the miles log!), but that doesn't even come close to reflecting the miles we're ALSO covering in the arena and round pen.  His entire attitude and obedience has changed, and he seems to enjoy our down time together when we're brushing rather than being preoccupied about getting back to the pasture.

On the trails, we've been really watching our speed and I started taking his pulse, then waiting for him to come down.  I've gotten decent with the stethoscope, at least on his body (sometimes other horses take a bit to figure out).  The only trouble is that he has a hard time standing still, though we've been working on that a lot and he's doing much better.  I've gotten a little aggressive with him :( but not bad, and it seems to have gotten my point across.  Plus, when he does stand still long enough for me to get a good read on his pulse, he gets a treat.  I've started carrying apples and carrots on me, which never fail to make him happy (as Trevor recently helped me discover, he actually drops for carrots lol).

It's been raining a lot, which is why we have a lot of miles we've covered in the arena and round pen, but it's helped us get a some good discipline work done.  I've been working on his head, neck, and topline (with many questions to and suggestions from the English riders at the barn! Horse people are - generally - so nice), and the other day I set up the poles, a cavaletti, and a low jump to go over.  He had to take a look at them first, but after that he worked over all of them quite willingly.  I did raise the jump up little by little and was working on jumping a tad at the end (Trevor wasn't too happy about that when I told him....) and Lou took a look and said we were looking good - I just need to sit a little more forward in the seat.  Overall, I was really proud of him and have been in general.

Last night the paths had dried up, so we finally got to go out for a trail ride.  The trails were good, but there were still a few muddy spots and puddles so we put those to good use.  We worked on just powering right on through them without having to stop and sniff every one.  He caught on pretty quick and is trusting me more and more, so by the end we were doing pretty good, though he still wanted to dodge around the ones he could of course.  On the bigger puddles, we're pretty successful as long as we slow down to a walk just before it, which is safer anyway so he doesn't slip.  On the biggest one, he did stop and sniff it, then took a few steps and sniffed it again, then proceeded to get a good drink!  I guess he's fine with the water then haha.  It'll be interesting to see how he does with actual running water now...

I finally got all of Snicker's papers back and my registration card for AHA.  They have the Frequent Rider Program (FRP) and Distance Riders programs, and so I signed us up for both!  I need to log my hours and I'm excited to get credit for our competition miles, though I'm tempted to also sign up for the other distance program that requires a competition membership.  For the first two, you get certain prizes when you reach the milestones, but this other one sends you a plaque and then little plates for every 500 miles you complete to add to your plaque.  That's pretty cool!  But it seems pretty expensive - I'll have to check it out later.

Snickers' stall hasn't had any covering on it, and it went from 90 degrees last week to lows in the 30's this week with rain and even some snow and hail, so it's been a tough week.  Yesterday, I noticed they've got the first tarp up over the stalls where he is at, so hopefully they'll finish that up soon.  It'll be nice for him to have some shade :)

I think that's about it!  I'll have to post more often, but we'll see.  Life is just so busy!

Poor Flash waiting patiently...

Still waiting....

All decked out in our endurance gear :)

Another Update

From Horseforum.com

Just a quick update - today I turned both of my horses out into the arena as soon as I got there, greeting Snickers with treats and giving him one when I left him in the arena. I went and took care of some things, then went back to the arena calling them. Guess who came to meet me! Snickers actually beat my colt to me, which resulted in much treating haha. I walked away, and Snickers kept his attention in me and followed me, even though my colt took his time. Snickers was the first to me every time! After walking away, having him come up to me, treating, catching, and treating him again a few times, I left them alone for a while. When I came back, he came to me again! This time, I didn't treat him until after he was haltered. He backed up a few steps, but I he was trying to keep his attention on me, I think, rather than get away. I just had to move around to his side and tell him woah. He didn't walk away from me at all! After all this, we called it a day, especially because it was quite windy. While I was waiting in between sessions, a new boarder came that the owner of the property asked me to watch out for, and she moved her GORGEOUS friesian into the stall next to Snickers to stay in for the first few days before he gets turned out with the other horses. I got along with the lady quite well and we're both going out there, so we're going to turn her horse out with Snickers and Flash tomorrow morning while I practice catching and releasing Snickers. I'm excited to see how it goes with another horse tomorrow and am very happy about the bond we are forming!

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/cant-catch-my-horse-118092/page4/#ixzz1tRMXnznH

Rodeo Time

It rained a lot last week so I got to go see my boys (since I got to cancel horse lessons!), but not ride on the trails as they were really muddy.  I did manage to get two trail rides in, about 4.5 miles each, but the first one was really muddy and quite nerve racking since we were slipping everywhere and the second was really choppy and a little stressful since I couldn't get Snickers into a good extended trot and to pay much attention.  On top of that, on the sloppy and slippery day, just as we were getting back, another guy was just starting down the trail towards us.  Snickers had been watching him and his little grey horse come down the road to start on the trail, but after watching them move toward us on the trail for a minute or two, he completely lost it.  He was ready to take off back down the trail again, AWAY from the barn that was right there!  And they were still a good 50 feet or so away!  Thank goodness for clip-on rope reins and his halter on underneath - with how slippery it was and how may badger holes there are, I got off and clipped the reins to his halter like a lead rope so that he could dance around me in an area I knew was safe while they passed us.  They only went a little way down the trail and then came back, so I waited and let them pass us to make sure Snickers could get his head on straight and let them walk by while still staying calm.

Speaking of spooking, Snickers also busted the new light blue rope I bought for him.  Flash and Snickers were tied up side by side, and Flash knocked down a rake.  Of course, Flash stood there like "oops" but Snickers lost it and didn't stop pulling back until the rope broke out of the metal clasp.  Since then, I got him a royal blue one that matches the rest of our stuff better, but I'm being super cautious about it, especially since our halter/bridle combo finally came in and I do NOT want to bust that halter!  Snickers also broke my phone, but that was kind of my fault.  On one of the days he was pretty tired, I decided it was as good of a day as any to try bareback - he'd been collecting VERY nicely for me, and has been quite a bit now.  Still foaming like crazy though :(.  Anyway, I left him tied and brought the stool up - BIG mistake!  He was fine for me getting on, though I was quite cautious about it.  But then he tried to move forward, found he was tied, and braced back against the post again.  I gracefully slid off, but my phone slid out of my pocket and not-so-gracefully busted the screen.  A few hours and $20 later, the phone was as good as new, but still!  I'll be more careful about that - this is at least the second phone I've lost because if fell out of my pocket on a horse.  Of course, I think Rocket stepped on the last one.

Anyway, so now for the "rodeo" part (which I am reposting from a horseforum.com post cuz I'm lazy)...

Snickers started to get less interested in being caught since I moved him out to Dusty Acres, due in part to me working him so hard every time but also I think contributed to by the fact that he's king of the herd (while Flash, ironically, is the bottom), but it was not really an issue until last Friday, when he flat out refused to let me approach him and I had to have the help of a trainer to corner him. During this event, she recognized he needed to have some serious respect and obedience training, so we went immediately to the round pen and worked with him for 2 hours until he stopped when we said "woah" - he stops immediately when I'm on him, but isn't as responsive when you're on the ground and especially when he's not "caught". Before this lesson, he was way too busy whinnying for the other horses to pay much attention. However, since this lesson, he stops VERY well in the round pen and even now if I work him free in the arena.

Unfortunately, the lesson didn't stick as the next day, he wouldn't even let us corner him and I ended up having Al rope him. It was quite an ordeal (he's very spooky) in which Snickers then proceeded to stampede (it looked like a wild horse herd!) until he finally ran himself into a corner huffing and puffing and Al grabbed the rope, and afterward Al did quite a bit of desensitization in the round pen with the lasso. He was so sweaty and exhausted after all of that, I didn't have the heart to make him work anymore. Rather than returning him to the pasture, he went to his new stall and has been there since. I've worked with him on stopping with "woah" and coming to me afterward in the round pen and even the arena now, but he really doesn't seem all that interested in me and kind of does things on his own time and how/when he feels like it. Worst of all, as soon as I introduce another horse (which I did by bringing Flash into the arena and turning him loose), all the progress we've made simply disappears. It's like he's never even heard the word "woah" before.  I've been riding him, but only 30 minute short ones that don't work him into a sweat, mostly working on collecting in the arena. My ideas are to keep doing what we're doing, as well as trying to turn him out in the arena with other horses and catch-treat-release over and over. If that goes well, I think I'll turn him loose in the pasture with a lunge line attached (yes, the 30 feet of line really is necessary in this case) and do the same thing. Hopefully, since I truly think I am part of the issue here, I can teach him to want to be with me. But right now, I just feel so discouraged!!


From this post, I've gotten a few good replies and more encouragement, so I'm going to stick with it.  It was pretty tempting on Saturday, after our "rodeo" to just sell him and go buy the mare at Belesemo Arabians, but after all the advice I've gotten and talking to them about the conditions with the mare, I think it's best to just work through this.  Thank goodness Trevor was taking me out to dinner that night (finally we got to go to Texas Roadhouse), and he really supports me and thinks this will just make me (and Snickers!) all that much better to have worked through this issue.  Snickers has been quite a bit more sensible since the whole ordeal, including letting me put the bridle on without issues, but I really just want to be able to catch him, but I also feel like I'm missing out on that wonderful bond that Arabians are supposed to have (and the bond Flash has with me!).  Hopefully this will improve soon.  I guess it's  just going to take time and work.

I'm still planning on volunteering at the Tough Sucker II, btw, and am hoping that the Owyhee Fandango will be our first race.  I was tempted to try and make it to the Tough Sucker, but especially with this setback, I'm not going to worry about it at all.  Plus, I really do need to volunteer first and get my bearings a little more.  Snickers has unfortunately dropped a lot of weight after all this too :(  Oh well, that gives us about 2 months to get where we need to be.  I sent an email to see if anyone will be able to drive us there....

I also talked to Doc Washington yesterday about Snickers's fitness and I got a lot more awesome advice than I was asking for!  We also talked about our current issue with the catching, and he said it sounded like I really recognized what we needed to work on before we move into more endurance.  Here are some of the key points from our conversation about endurance, though:

• I need to condition faster than I plan to ride
• We need to be getting above that 20 mile mark each week, but not go over 30 miles
• For an Arabian or half-Arabian, any conditioning will have them ready for a 25-miler,
• Especially for the first year of endurance conditioning, you need to take care not to get your horse sour (like I'm running into) - take some easy rides and put a lot of emphasis on bonding and enjoying each other as well
• As a personal preference, we should be loping rather than extending our trot (good news for me!) if we're working at 13mph speeds.  He was saying something about it being less taxing on their joints and whatnot.
• I had originally called about whether I should have him do a once-over before I race him since I never had a PPE, but he said that'd be overkill since I know that horse's background and he's never really DONE anything, so there's no reason he should have issues since he's been good so far
• As for a stethoscope, I should look for something in the $15-$25 range - between $25 and $100 there's not a whole lot of difference and the $100+ would be overkill for me

Anyway, so that's about it.  I have more videos, so I'll see if I can get some of the highlights uploaded.  Hopefully, things improve with Snickers :(  I feel so bad with him in a stall all alone!  Not to mention that the reason he's in there is because he wants nothing to do with me.  *sigh*

Here's a few videos related to this post:

Snickers after Al's rodeo, which involved roping Snickers to catch him and then desensitization in the round pen.



This is what we're currently working on with Snickers and demonstrates pretty well his behavior:

A week's worth of riding

It's been raining and windy pretty much all week, so I couldn't give horse lessons except for Saturday.  However, that means there was plenty of time for me to ride!  I figure I can't decide what the weather will be like during my endurance rides, so I might as well get experience in all types of weather that's reasonable (though, here in Idaho, the endurance season months are generally dry and sunny, though they can occasionally get windy, like on the day of my outdoor wedding reception!)  I've got four trail rides to catch up on, plus one day's work in the arena....

Sunday was windy, but I went ahead and saddled up.  Snickers wasn't too keen on being caught, so I worked with Flash first and did some ground driving.  He did really well!  He's not fast by any means, but he gets that when I pull one direction, he turns that direction, and visa versa.  I did get it on video, too.  I don't think he's nearly as frustrated as he was during our first attempts at ground driving, with the bridle and bit and a makeshift surcingle.  The right tools make all the difference.  And a patient horse!  Good job Flash!

I did catch Snickers, and we went for a ride similar to our first one, to the mangled car.  He really fought going out on the trail and kept turning back toward the pasture - can you say herd-bound?? - but we eventually got going after a little antsy dance, particularly when he saw the dogs at the house.  It's not bad, especially once he gets going because he's a LOT better, but at first he was really fidgety and ornery (sp?).  It's amazing the difference it's made to get him out regularly and work him around things he tends to be afraid of.  He did stop to look at the car from a short distance and was a little shifty going past it, but all in all it really wasn't a big deal.  Now that I've seen it closer, I really have no idea if it's a car or not, but it's definitely a giant heap of rusty mangled metal!  We followed the trail to where it bends left at a fence, where we trotted a ways.  There were a couple of shiny, flappy silver board things on the ground that he shied at, but all in all he really works through things well.  Out that direction, we did see the train go past and I thought about riding all the way to it, but we came to a spot where the entire trail was covered by a mountain of tumbleweeds and decided it was probably a decent turning back point.  All in all, it came out to a little over 6 miles.

Monday or Tuesday I went out there but didn't ride at all.  Instead, I caught Snickers, who was being his little Prima Donna self and whinnying and dancing all over, and decided to leave him tied while I worked with Flash first.  Oh my goodness he was NOT happy!  Oh well - that's what a good knot is for!  With Flash, I groomed and groomed him, (as usual), and then set up a bunch of small jumps for him to work over.  I figured that would be good trail experience for both of them just in case we ever have to step over something.  Flash was so funny!  He willingly tried all the "jumps", though he knocked down every one that he could.  I love it though - even when the jump was falling down under his feet and the poles on the side were falling on top of him, he stood there like it was nothing.  Good boy!  I definitely need a horse like that to contrast Snickers, who, as expected, wasn't exactly calm when he worked over the same jumps lol.  I eventually put Flash away, and then Snickers was up, who had at least stopped whinnying constantly and was pawing instead.  I brushed him down, rearranged some of the jumps, and then off we went.  As we started walking up to the jumps, he suddenly realized there were all these scary monsters around him and went into "OMG" mode, dancing around wide-eyed and shaky-legged.  I was patient and led him up to each one and gave him time to figure out what it was, then coaxed him to step/jump over it, which resulted in much praising.  In the end, I got him to go over each one multiple times, and he didn't hesitate too much over the ones that were just low poles.  He just always needs to sniff things first, but that's ok.  I was so proud of him working so hard and being so "brave"!  Where Flash isn't phased by really anything, Snickers has such a big heart that he'll work to overcome what he is afraid of.  I'm so proud of him :)  It is pretty funny to see the contrast between the two on video, since it was the first time for each of them seeing these jumps.

Wednesday was another windy day, but we went ahead and braved the weather!  As I started out, there was an older gentleman starting out just ahead of us with his dog.  I recognized the saddle as the one that sits next to mine in the tack room because he has the same endurance stirrups as I do.  I struck up a conversation and it turns out he did do endurance, but not anymore.  His name is Lou and his horse is the one that Sandy's (the lady from SWIT&DR) daughter is riding for endurance.  Snickers was being a herd-bound turd again, but we got out there ok.  It was hard to talk to him because we kept getting ahead of him thanks to Snickers.  After a bit I said goodbye and trotted on ahead.  Snickers could not figure out what the heck the grain stuff was on the ground though and kept dancing around it as I tried to get him to look at it.  He seemed to do ok about the dog - he was just spooky all around though!  Once we got out there a little more on our own, he did fine.  I wish that was the Snickers people could see more often!  He can be such a scaredy-cat at the barn, dancing all over the place.  We ended up going under the power lines and following the trail left to Kuna Mora Road and then back, just over 8.5 miles round trip.  Overall, once he got over the stuff at the barn in the beginning, he did great.

That night was the SWIT&DR meeting, where I sat next to Sandy and her husband.  I am now an official member with dues paid and all, and I met and talked to a few more people, particularly about volunteering at the Tough Sucker in April.  The lady I talked to (I believe she's the treasurer...) suggested I get my own stethoscope and learn how to take a horse's pulse, especially because that's what I'll be doing most likely for my volunteering day.  Plus, then I'll get used to taking Snicker's heart rate.  I really enjoyed the meeting and learned a lot (though the speaker was talking about composting, something I can't really do since I board and, though I did mention it to my dad a little, I doubt he'll ever take the initiative to do it).  I'm glad I joined the club!  Also, Sandy said she'd trailer with me to rides she goes to that her daughter doesn't, so maybe that will work out!  I really want to get some award next year, and I think the Rookie Rider award should be easy enough to get (there wasn't even a rookie rider last year), but it would be really cool to get the rookie horse award for Snickers.  That means I'll have to make going to rides a priority and maximize the amount of riding we can do!  It's a cool goal to work toward!

Thursday we rode again, and it was a pretty sweet ride.  I worked him a little on the lunge line first, and I think that helped him use his brain a little more.  He was a lot better about striking out for the trail.  It was still windy, but we just struck out under the power lines and then back again in a straight line.  Past the trail intersection, the trail wasn't as good, but good enough and I could still see any holes.  The best part of the ride was that we totally had a Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron moment - There was a bald eagle flying along with us!  I couldn't believe what I thought I saw, so we did some loping to catch up.  At one point it landed on one of the poles, and I'm fairly positive it had to be a bald eagle. It was pretty sweet :)  It was a really nice ride, and the loping was great!  I felt a little more secure in the saddle, something that still feels weird to me on Snickers and in this English saddle.  We didn't do a whole lot, but Sandy suggested doing a variation of speeds so we threw it in there.  Plus, it was pretty sweet to be loping along in the wide open with a bald eagle flying above us :D  We went just over 8 miles.

Shelley called and said my tack was in, so I went to pick it up before class Thursday.  I picked up the pad and breast collar, and grabbed an English hackamore while I was there.  The bridle came in, but it turns out the bridle/halter combination she ordered was one of the ones that clips on the bit and the halter has a brow band on it.  I wouldn't have been able to use the snap-on headstall with it, so I decided to wait until Shelley was in to figure out what I should do.  Then I decided (mostly out of impatience and the weak rationale that with Snickers's bridling problem the snaps would probably cause more issues anyway) to go back and get the combo.  Then, as I was pulling out, I realized that since it had a brow band, I would need to pull the halter over his head (and that's when he freaks out) in the pasture just to get the halter on, and that wouldn't go well.  So I brought it back.  Shelley called the next morning and is going to order the right halter for me.  Hopefully it gets here soon!

We took a break Friday since he got a really good workout Thursday, but Saturday we went ahead and did a "short" ride.  It wasn't raining while we were out there, but the ground was really wet and muddy.  We tried a new trail going right at the first fence, which leads west.  It went into the area where there was a fire - I think that may have been one of the fires last summer from this really strange electrical storm that started a bunch of fires around our house.  We came out toe Pleasant Valley Road, and there is a track along the road, probably for ATV's.  Either way, it was really nice and wide, as well as flat, so we went ahead and rode South along the road.  At one point, there was a giant puddle that covered almost the entire track, so I decided to take advantage of it and work with Snickers on water.  He was pretty funny, but so brave!  It was wide enough that he couldn't dance around it, and finally realized he was going to have to go through it.  He put his nose down and sniffed it a few times, blowing the water away in ripples.  Finally, he decided it was safe, and took a couple of steps, then sniffed it again to make sure it was still water.  He did the routine a few more times until he was all the way through the puddle, and I told him how good of a job he did :)  We went a little further, loping some of the way, until we reached the railroad tracks.  There was a cattle guard there that I got him decently close to, again just letting him get used to anything and everything, then turned back.  I let him lope a little bit and let him lengthen out pretty fast, but then practice slowing down in between trotting and loping.  I think we need some more collecting lope, which I plan on doing today in the arena.  We went through the big puddle and a few smaller puddles, and he did really well!  He still had to sniff the puddles every time, but didn't have to stop and sniff again once he was actually walking through them.  He felt a little funny coming back, but I think that was because of the mud and that he really wanted to get back!  Again, we'll need to work on some discipline today in the arena.  All in all, we did a little more than 6 miles, totaling about 41 miles for the last two weeks.  That's great!  I'd like to average about 20 miles/week in conditioning, and so far, so good!  I'm setting a goal to make it to the Owyhee Fandango at the end of May, but MAYBEEEEE we can make it to the second Tough Sucker.  That might be pushing it, though, so I'll really want someone to check him out for me to tell me if they think he's ready.  I should go ahead and get that stethoscope soon so I can start checking Snicker's heart rate myself and get a good idea of where he's at physically :)

Well, that's about it for my horse exploits for the week!  It was a good week.  I'm excited to get Snickers's bridle - I'll have to take a picture of him all decked out in pretty blue!!  IT looks really good so far, so I can't wait to complete the set!

8 mile loop

We went 8 miles Thursday!  Snickers was actually less sweaty than last time - maybe it's because I don't think I pushed him quite as much haha.  We took off down the main trail that goes under the power lines.  He did pretty well, and trotted out for me just fine.  He was a lot less spooky, but what he lacked in quantity he made up for in quality.  The biggest spook was when a flock of tiny black birds, those one that hang out in a giant black, morphing cloud, took off from the ground 50 feet or so ahead of us - far away enough to not be any cause of concern, but close enough that it surprised Snickers.  But, he worked right on through it!  The funny thing is he doesn't really even break his gait when he spooks or shies, he just trots slower and around the monster and takes a good look at it.  I saw a coyote as well, but I don't think Snicker saw it because he didn't spook.  I stopped him and let him take a quick break while the coyote (at least 100 ft away) ran away into the brush.  He did, however, smell it a moment or so after we started going again.  He'd take a couple steps, freeze, stick his nose in the air, look around, and go again after a little prodding.  It was only for a couple of minutes or so, though, and then he was back to normal.  I'm so impressed!

Snickers extended really well when I asked him too, and it's getting easier and easier.  I think it helped him a lot when I just let him extend last time as we headed back to the barn, but checking him when he broke into a lope.  I think he's got the idea of what I'm asking for, and is more than eager to give it to me.  Since I think he's more or less got it down, I'm going to tone down the speed and just ask him to trot nicely for a distance.  I did ask him to extend every now and then, especially where the trail was really good, so I could reinforce what I wanted.  I checked our speed, too, and it looks like he gives me a slower, collected trot at 7mph, and his big, extended trot is around 11-13mph.  That's pretty sweet - we were cruisin!

We took a right where the main trails intersect, headed North (there's a map of our ride at the bottom of this post).  One of the guys from the barn had mentioned that it loops back around and I was a little curious, but mostly I just wanted to continue exploring the trails.  I kept a close look at the time, though, and kept going "just a little further" - and eventually we ended up right on Kuna Mora road!  Instead of turning around, we went ahead and followed Kuna Mora back to South Vista, then walked South Vista all the way back to Dusty Acres for his cool down.  He really didn't have much trouble with the cars, who were mostly nice and moved over.  I'm not a huge fan of riding along the roads, but it was probably the quickest way back (and he'd already gone 4-5 miles), there was a nice, wide dirt(ish)shoulder, and it was good to know how he'd do around cars anyway.  I'm not sure if Snickers caught on that we were actually getting closer to the barn rather than farther away still, but it was nice not to have that "return trip" so I know he was still concentrated on what I was asking rather than just trying to get home.  It's a fine line between cruising home and barn sour lol.  He did really well with a couple of other scary monsters along the way, including a torn up mattress and some other garbage thrown out along the trail.

All in all, I was pretty proud of us and can't wait to get out there again.  Good boy Snickers! Backing up a little, I did lunge him with the lunge cavesson (which I got in the mail last week), which he freaked out about like the bridle when I tried to put it on.  It took one try with the clicker to get him to keep his head down, though.  I think I'll just have to include my clicker in my pack (probably buy a few extras as well), just in case I'm ever out on the trail and need to get him to behave with the bridle or anything else that might come up.  He calms right down and concentrates with it, but it'd sure be nice if he just got over this issue all together.  He also cross fired (of course) while lunging, and I got after him some, forcing him to get back on the right foot.  I did get him to do it a few times, but I'm not very satisfied with it.  They horse shoeing lady was there, and she said she sticks them in a round pen and works, works, works them.  I'll have to worry about that later.  On the bright side, I'm not so worried about lunging him before I ride anymore - it's more to get him to let his air out so I can get the saddle tight at this point. He also doesn't let me catch him without a treat.  It's kind of funny, though - he doesn't "avoid" being caught so much as has the attitude of "bring me a treat first."  Whereas when Smoke'Em was in his "don't catch me" phase, he would be very cautious and move away from the halter/lead rope even when I had a treat in my hand, Snickers just wants to munch away while I'm putting the lead rope around his neck and lets me put the halter on really nicely after that.  He is so alert and keeps me in front of him, so if I don't have a treat he just backs up so I can't get to his neck, then loses interest and walks away from me.  However, if I have a treat, I just offer it to him, move around to his neck, and put the lead rope around it while he's having his snack.  The little stinker lol.  Oh well.

Well, I think I've effectively described my whole ride with Snickers in reverse order, and I guess I'll continue to do so since I briefly worked with Flash before working with Snickers.  Flash was super sweet about being caught, of course, and walked right up to me and stood still.   He's shedding like crazy, so I spent a long time brushing him down.  There were quite a few giant ticks in him that I felt, so I pulled out my jar and tweezers and got all the big ones I came across plus a few little ones.  One of the ladies I see out there every now and then asked me what I was doing, and we talked for a while while I tracked down the nasty little suckers lol.  The lunge cavesson was a little big, but I tied it up just like I did the surcingle and it worked fine.  It's still twisting around his mouth, though, but he did fine for the most part.  He did pretty good with the long reigns, actually.  He's starting to get it and turn nicely when I ask.  Just a little work every now and then I guess and we'll get there :)  I'm not  in any hurry!  Though I sure am excited about riding him - he's such a sweet heart and everything I could ask for in a quarter horse!

I also went shopping this week - I got some good money from horse lessons and decided to go ahead and get the saddle pack and some stuff to keep my cinch clean along with the blue rope reins they'd already ordered and gotten in.  Still no saddle pad, but that should be in by the end of this week or maybe the beginning of next week, as well as my other tack that I ordered!!  I'm so excited - I decided to take the plunge and order my royal blue Zilco halter/bridle combo (which will be much nicer to work with getting the bridle on Snickers since the halter fits nicely under the bridle to hold his head down if need be) and matching breast collar.  I can't wait to be all decked out in my blue endurance stuff!  It looks so cool on everyone else's horses lol.  And I will still have my very pretty all-leather bridle, of course, when I want to look classic haha.  We're gonna be hot stuff!  I decided I really like the blue - it's pretty color that really pops, will match Snickers well and even Flash (though it's looking like they'll each have their own tack anyway), and it's Trevor's favorite color so I'm excited to be all decked out in it :)  I'll have to take a good picture once I get it all in! You know, I just thought of this - those nice blue rope reigns will double really well as a lead rope out on the trail, especially since all I have to do is unclip them from the bit and clip it onto the halter ring :)  Awesome!  One less thing I'll have to carry! (maybe lol) Ok, well I think that's about everything.  I'm planning on going riding after this.  I wasn't sure because, despite the semi-nice day we've had so far, it's supposed to rain - but I guess that's what endurance is all about!  I'm not going to get to pick the wether for the races, so I might as well work him either way!  Dang, this sport is addicting ;)

A week off

I haven't gotten to ride since Monday and I don't think I will until Sunday so the boys are getting a week off. I've been at an out-of-town work conference since Tuesday morning and will finally get home tonight around midnight. I have horse lessons all day tomorrow and then the SWIT&DR banquet, so I likely will not see the boys until Sunday, even though I have a lot to do then as well. It's been a tough week because, not only do I not get to work with them which I have done almost every day for the last couple of weeks, but also because Flash and I left off on a bad note and I still have his raw lips in the back of my mind and hanging over of my head. However, I now have a lunge cavesson and a surcingle on the way to redo the ground driving. First, we're going to take some steps back and work on renewing the relationship and eagerness he had with me before. Once we're back on track, we'll move into ground driving with just the cavesson and surcingle, and eventually add the bridle and bit back in, but not for a while. I'm excitd to get him working again and making progress. And having a better relationship again like we were having before. I left a message on the group for Dusty Acres for someone to please check on Snickers and Flash, and someone from there messaged back as well as Steve, the other owner, who said I could just text him. I did yesterday and he texted me back today to tell me they were fine and the winds we were supposed to get yesterday never came. It feels good to know my babies are in good hands :) I've been very happy with Dusty Acres! It'll be cool to go to the banquet tomorrow and meet everyone in SWIT&DR and see all the awards and achievements for last year :) I've eaten out at this conference all week, so we'll see how the dinner works out, but oh well. It should be good :) Can't wait to be home and see my boys (incuding Trevor!)

My personal playground!

It's been a good couple of days for horses :) Thank goodness, after all the stuff last week!

Since last Saturday, I've was trying to find a new place to keep Snickers and Flash. I posted a couple of things on the bulletin boards for the Meetup group as well as SWIT&DR. I didn't get any replies from SWIT&DR, but I got a couple of responses from the Meetup group. One of them recommended checking out Dusty Acres, and I called them that night. They have pasture for $105/mo (cheapest I found!), three round pens, an outdoor arena, and even an indoor arena! Plus, it's got direct BLM access, so I could trail ride whenever I wanted to, though it's mostly just flat desert. But it looked pretty good! Susan, the owner, was going to come Tuesday (the next day) to pick up my boys! However, she ended up running late and I has a bit of a tight schedule, so she came and got them after my lessons Wednesday. Turns out her stablehand, Oscar, is a guy I worked with when I was mucking stalls when I was 15 haha. Small world! But anyway, things worked out really well. She even picked up my strangles vaccine for me and is going to do their vaccinations. The "resident vet" is actually my vet, Doc Woodington - he makes regular trips out there to do stuff for a lot of the boarders all at once and I got on his list for shots on March 4. Susan also took the rest of my hay - a ton and a half - to pay for the first month and a half for boarding, so that was really good. She came and got it tonight :)

I didn't actually go out to see Dusty Acres until last night, a day after they brought Snickers and Flash there. They put them each in their own outdoor stall for now so they could get settled in, and she's going to turn them out in the pasture with other horses tomorrow. I walked flash around the indoor arena and of course he was fine. Snickers did better than I expected him to, but was still a little spooky (little for him haha). I did end up riding him, briefly in the arena, then down the round pens, and we did a little work in the roundpen. As I was making my way around I asked some of the other boarders about where stuff was and how things worked, and I was still a little confused so I called Susan that evening. Turns out I'll need to get all my own stuff, like brushes, a lunge whip, a saddle stand, etc. But that's ok, they're not all that expensive. At least now I know where I'm at!

I went out there again today and spent a lot of time on Snickers. It was about to get dark just when I got there - I love having a lit indoor arena! I was able to ride until well past dark - I'll just need to get a flash light for walking the horses back and forth from the pasture because it's very dark back there. One benefit I didn't think of with boarding was having other people around to help me figure stuff out with the boys. I was struggling to keep my seat on Snickers in the English saddle and getting him to be soft and drop his head at the same time, but there was a girl there, Stevie, that offered to help. She traded me horses and set up my reins like draw reins and worked with him to drop his head. She did a really good job with me and showed me how to hold his head and post. She changed the reins back to normal and showed me a little more, then traded me back. Snickers and I did a lot better after that. I'm going to have to get used to his faster movement (at least for now) and post, but once I get that down, we'll do pretty well together. I was really glad for her help because it could have been pretty frustrating working with him without it.

Snickers does need to calm down, still. Maybe it'll help to have him out in pasture so he can get some more energy out, but we'll see. Definitely some consistent work though! I did work with Flash, too. I was just going to brush him, but since he's been cooped up in a stall I lunged him on the lead rope. I'm going to need to get a lunge line so that I can lunge in the arena after dark. For his first time lunging on a line, he did excellent and figured it out pretty quick :) He was really calm the whole time, though Snickers was whinnying over and over and Flash was winnying back quite a bit - I'm glad they like each other and are excited to see me when I come :) Hopefully that means they'll be easy to catch even when they're in the pasture! Anyway, after I exercised him some I brushed him down really well and took him back to his stall. I'm hoping to get a chance to go see them tomorrow again, but if not, I'll have all Sunday afternoon since I got it off :)

There were two more major events this week. First, on Monday, I went off a horse for the first time in years! I was loping on Snickers in the arena, and he felt really funny under me. I don't think he bucked or anything, but something he did (I'm thinking he slipped) unseated me, and then he stopped cold, and without my seat I went right over the front and landed on my left side. He'd turned right so he didn't come anywhere near me and just stood on the other side of the arena until I came and got him. It took me a bit cuz I was winded pretty bad. The marks on the ground looked pretty funny because you could see the "slip" skid mark, the dead stop marks side by side, and then my body print all in a row. Of course, it was the day my camcorder was dead and the first time I rode him without a helmet. I'm not going to ride him without the helmet anymore! Especially since this was all in Melinda's Western saddle that I stick in really well (usually!) and now I'm in the English that I'm much less more unstable in. It's a good point to tell my students, too, why we don't lope! It's so much easier to have something happen! But oh well, I'm not sore anymore haha. Though it really sucked to get the sand out of my eyes during class Monday night! and my arm... and cheek... and ear..... and everything else on my left side....

The other thing that happened is way exciting - I sold my piano! So now I have the money for my endurance stuff! I called Shelley at Legacy Thursday and, since she was going home before I could get there, we met today to get all my "starter stuff" for endurance. I got straps for my stirrups, a full bridle and reins set that's way cute with flowers and everything, a lunge line, a girth strap, shin guard things that I have to wear, a martingale for training, soft cotton roping reins for endurance..... And I'm sure a few other things. I ended up having to exchange the straps for longer ones later and returning the roping reigns because I'm getting a blue pad (they don't have purple) and I want to get blue reins to match. So they're ordering me blue reins, a blue pad, and a sponge. We decided to hold off on the heart monitor. I'm going to take the martingale back tomorrow, too, since it was $100 and it seems that draw reigns will work really well. For now, I'd rather spend that money on something else - like grooming supplies, saddle rack and the other stuff I need now that I'm all on my own, and a pack for the back of my saddle! However, since it's my birthday tomorrow, I'm going to have to wait to buy anything else so Trevor has a chance to buy my gift haha. I'll go back and get the tack set and whatnot soon, though, if he doesn't get them for me. I just thought I'd give him a chance haha. Anyway, Shelley was awesome and spent an hour and a half with me today picking out tack. She gave me a couple of hugs when we were done and told me how excited she was for me :) I can't wait to get my new pad and matching reins, and especially to get going on endurance!

Anyway, so that's about it! It was a good week, and I really feel like I've got my own little playground at Dusty Acres with my two boys that are everything I could ask for (especially with my budget). I can ride anywhere and do anything, and I've got two very different horses to both challenge me and to enjoy myself with :) Things are good!