Fancy- a fine little mare with attitude

This horse's name is Fancy, and she lives and works at the camp in Marble Falls where we used to manage the horse program. She was my very favorite horse to ride there. She was all of 14 hands tall, cinchy, had a sour attitude when you asked her to lope, and tried to scare everyone. She didn't scare me at all. I loved her, and loved her attitude as well. She was pretty well trained and taught me a lot about sitting firmly in the saddle and steering. If I oversteered her or accidentally put an unintentional foot on her side, she would let me know!
We took her to this team penning event one time. Unfortunately, she didn't seem too interested in cows, which surprised me.
Regardless, as much as I like Tex, I would love to have Fancy here to ride.

2011 Horse Goals

Here is a video of our ride at the house on Dec. 23rd, 2010.

I have recently realized that I underestimated the amount of work that goes into breaking a new horse. No wonder people sell well-seasoned horses for over $1000! There are SO many hours that go into making a horse great.

Stacy Westfall wrote a great article in the January America's Horse magazine (the AQHA magazine) about making new goals for your horse. She touched on deciding what to give up to reach your goals. I wish the article was online for sharing!

First, an update on my old goals: (on my previous post)

1. Help him learn to focus on and trust me when I'm riding him. This seems to improve with every ride, but needs, more than anything, more hours!
2. Desensitize him to many different obstacles, in preparation for the stock horse association trail competitions. I have continued working him on the ground with a log to cross, a wooden platform, pieces of plywood, and a set of 3 tires in the round pen. This week maybe I'll do it from his back.
3. Sensitize his turns. Going VERY well! I'm feeling very happy with his turns at the walk and trot. He could use a little more work to the left. I have been riding him in his rope halter that has knots on the nose and poll.
4. Let him learn to hold a snaffle bit in his mouth. He's only done this three or four times, but always by the end of the day of being tied with a bit in his mouth, he's very quiet. When should I start riding him with a bit, or a bit/bosal combination?
5. Teaching him to "send" into the trailer, instead of being led into the trailer. Tex is definitely resisting this one. He will send into the stall, around me, and just about anywhere else, but won't send into the trailer. He loads perfectly when I lead him in, though.

This past week, I set some definite deadlines for goals, and they are as follows:

Dec 20th-March 4th- Ride 3-4 times per week
Between Dec 20th and Feb. 28th- Use my birthday money to take a lesson with a good instructor I know, on a seasoned horse, preferably a large horse. I need to overcome my fear of large horses.
February 1st- Ride Tex out on a trail or two from time to time.
February 25th- Trailer to the team sorting event in Port Allen and at least ride around the other horses in the unfamiliar setting.
March 2nd (this one is a MAYBE)- Trailer to the LA Stock Horse Show in Lake Charles, LA and enter the trail competition only.
Beginning June 1st- Ride Tex regularly on the trails with other horses with the summer youth camp horses down the road.
July 2011- Introduce Tex to working cows. He has seen and been around cows at roping events we've trailered him to, but he has never worked a cow. I can hardly wait for this one!
August 2011- Participate in a team sorting, even if I lose sorely!
September 24th, 2011- Participate in the LA Stock Horse show at BREC's Farr Park. Trail and at least one or two other classes. Maybe all of the classes?

Other undefined dates and events:
*Ride in an extreme cowboy race with my horse friend Katherine in Amite, LA in 2011.
*Ride with another horse friend, Che Che, and get input from her, no matter how embarrassing it may be. I realize that it's important to surround myself with people who are better than myself, and this will be a good step in that direction.
*Trailer Tex and ride with Katherine at her house about 1 hour away, just for the experience of riding elsewhere.

My fears are as follows:
1. Embarrassing myself in front of the instructor and my horse friends. Hopefully they won't have high expectations of my horse skills, because they're not as good as I'd like them to be.
2. Showing up at an event and chickening out.
3. Trailering long distances. I can make the straight trip to the vet's office no problem, but I break into a cold sweat anytime I get above 50 mph.
4. Large horses. It's further to the ground if you fall off! I don't really know where this fear came from. I've ridden some pretty large horses, but still feel much more afraid when riding a big one compared to a short little cow horse.
5. Getting bucked off. This is a fear that is fading, but still very real in my mind when I have to ride alone. I was thrown 3 times in one year in 2008, and that was plenty for me.

Stacy Westfall's article says, "if you have written goals, you are much more likely to succeed." So, here are my written goals, which are also on my refrigerator for constant reminders.
Peace out!
TM

I have been riding Tex! My husband took and rode him regularly for 4 days, and I'm sure pushed him pretty hard. He came home a much more respectful horse. He is keeping his speed more constant, going when I ask, and definitely stopping when I ask. His stop is great! Now, I feel comfortable working Tex at a walk and a slow trot, and almost feel safe to ride him without the husband around.

It's become more obvious to me that Tex's bad manners in public were due to a severe lack in confidence. It's made me realize that my job is to help him gain confidence in himself. In doing so, however, I also gain confidence.

Many people would have told me that with my experience level (I would consider myself a low intermediate rider), breaking a horse wouldn't be a good idea. And that's what I would recommend for others too. However, I do have a VERY supportive and knowledgeable husband who has given me wonderful advice throughout the process, and he's been there to hop on Tex when he's giving me trouble and not be afraid of a little bucking or acting out.

Here are some current goals I'm working toward with my little guy:
1. Help him learn to focus on and trust me when I'm riding him. How? When he loses focus, I change directions.
2. Desensitize him to many different obstacles, in preparation for the stock horse association trail competitions. How? Right now, I'm sending him over many different obstacles on the ground.
3. Sensitize his turns. How? Riding circles & figure 8's in a bosal right now. I'm considering using the tighter rope halter instead. He seems to respond to the tighter halter better.
4. Let him learn to hold a snaffle bit in his mouth. How? I put the snaffle bit (full cheek snaffle) LOOSE in his mouth with no reins, latch the throat latch, and leave him locked in his stall to figure it out for a couple hours. He has done this about 4 times and has come a long way. Why loose? I read an article once that said the only way the horse would learn to hold the bit correctly was to let him figure it out himself. I'm happy with the technique, and it seems to work for Tex.
5. Teaching him to "send" into the trailer, instead of being led into the trailer.

Remember my struggle of whether or not to teach my horse to flex? Here's a neat article I found about why teaching your horse to flex is important, from Jody Cunningham, a trainer from Crockett, TX.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4713905426627294583

My favorite bird. And, bucking.

On a random note,
I've decided that these little white birds (cattle egrets?) are some of my favorites. It's such a great example of mutualism (a biological interaction in which both species benefit). I wish there was a laundry bird that would follow me around my house and put the dirty laundry in the hamper.


Regarding Tex, this is my husband's facebook status Tuesday night: "Rode a tractor for a while, then the dozer for a while, but for some reason couldn't stay on the horse very long. That could have been because he looked like a saddle bronc. Thanks Jolie."
He had decided to ride Tex away from the barn on the circle. They rode past the house in the back, past the pond, into the woods, and back to the barn. Sort-of. Apparently near the pond, Tex was spooked by something and jumped. Then, Jolie, my innocent little dog, came out of the woods and spooked him again, and Tex unloaded my poor husband. From the way he tells it, he technically didn't get bucked off, because he came off the side.

I'm not too concerned. He's a young horse, and he was spooked. He did what he thought best, and many horses would have done the same thing. It will take time for him to learn a different response.

Husband did get back on and rode Tex all the way back to the barn, but I think he's been a bit sore and hasn't ridden since. At least it wasn't far to the ground! :)
TM


"Hurry up, we're hungry!"

One year anniversary, and 15 weeks to go!

April 9th marked the one year anniversary of Tex's transfer of ownership to me. I found some of the pictures from around April 15th that I took to help mark his progress. Today, I took some pictures of him for comparison. It looks like he has filled out quite a bit in a year. And, he has definitely shed out his winter hair sooner this year. He's pretty handsome, if I do say so myself!











The other pics are the alien crop circles that Tex leaves in our grass every time I tie him up. He had a break over the weekend, but today he's back on his tying schedule. He's still pacing, but as soon as he decides to sit still, I'll release him to go eat grass with Breezy and Sonny.

Also, here is a link to a short video of Tex's third ride ever on April 4th, 2010. It was his first ride in 2010. I had stepped onto his back and ridden him twice in 2009 right before I found out I was pregnant.

Tex's third ride ever- a very short video

Only 15 weeks until I can ride!!

High expectations, and 16 weeks left....

This pic is one taken at home, when husband is mounting up. No problems, calm horse.


These two are a little different. He's so tense!

It's 10 weeks till the baby, 16 weeks until I can ride!

Last Friday husband and I took Tex and Sonny to their first event- a team sorting practice in Port Allen, LA. Tex loaded like a champ into the trailer, as usual, and Sonny gave husband some trouble with trailering, as usual. They seemed happy to be together and had no problems on the trip.

When we arrived at the arena, Tex was the first one off the trailer. After all four feet landed on the ground, he went nuts! He charged past me, swung his rear end from side to side, raised his head, whinnied, stomped, and pretty much acted a fool, in front of all the other horses and a few people. This was not supposed to happen! My horse is the calmer one on the ground normally. Sonny is usually the one who is scared of everything on the ground.

Tex's behavior didn't improve the entire night. We saddled him and left him at the trailer while husband rode Sonny during the warm-up time. Later, I held Sonny while husband went to get Tex, just to lead him around and let him see things. That didn't help matters either. At one point, Tex violently kicked three times out at a SHADOW. Poor thing, he was a nervous wreck.

I would have liked to just tie Tex up at the arena, but there really wasn't a place for it, and I was afraid he would kick someone coming by. So, he eventually went back to be tied up at the trailer for the rest of the night.

Once again, I cried. Apparently the end of pregnancy is when all my emotion-causing hormones have set in. My expectations for Tex in public were so high, and he disappointed me greatly.

However, it made me realize something- Tex doesn't stand still when he's tied very well, even at home, when Sonny isn't around. Therefore, every day this week, he's been tied up far away from Sonny and Breezy, until he settles down. I have a few worn down circles around trees now, where he's paced and pawed until he couldn't do it any more. Too bad I didn't use him to plow up my garden! He's improved every day, and calmed down faster and faster. It was a much needed lesson for him, and for me.

High expectations are what got me in trouble. I expected him to act like a charm, and he was just the opposite. This is a lesson that I hope to carry over to other aspects of my life....

Spring = Time to ride

My husband works commercial construction turnarounds right now, which means he works REALLY hard, long hours for a couple months and is laid off in between. Lucky for me, he was laid off this past Thursday, just when the weather turned out beautiful! I thought long and hard about it, and decided that I wouldn't mind if he did the first 10 rides on my horse (he says that a horse who is going to buck will most likely do it within the first 10 rides- we'll see.) Husband also has a young 3 year old, Poco Tiveo Cee (aka Sonny) that he purchased last October from Mr. Frank Perkins, Perkins Ranch, Tyler, TX, who he hopes to shape into a roping horse for himself. Sonny has had 30-60 days of riding on him at the Perkins Ranch before he was sold, but not much since then.

On Saturday, the husband decided it was time to ride our two young horses. He started with Sonny. The young bay performed quite nicely in the pasture and handled himself well. OK, so really, I wasn't really paying attention to what Sonny was doing, because I was anxious about Tex's third ride ever that was soon to come. I did, however, snap a few pictures of Sonny's ride.



Next was Tex. I brushed him while husband unsaddled Sonny, and discussed with him (Tex) all the reasons why he should behave well and remember everything he had done on the ground with me. Husband threw a saddle on him, put the bosal over his nose, and all too soon took him out in the pasture. I asked him to please only work on "go" and "stop" that day. Husband stepped his left foot into the stirrup and swung over, ready to go wherever my poor little horse might take him.

Tex stood still, sniffed husband's foot, sniffed his other foot, and then kept standing there. Husband put the reins forward and kissed, asking him to go forward. My suspense was killing me by this point. I wanted to just take control and tell my horse to go forward like we were lunging. Tex turned his head to the right, trying to figure out what husband wanted him to do. Husband continued to kiss, kiss, kiss, and finally took the end of the rein and touched it to Tex's rump. VOILA! He walked! And once he started walking, he kept walking (except for one small detour- he tucked his nose to the ground to "cut" my dog out of the pasture at a walk, then kept walking). Even better, when it came time for the WHOA, he remembered what that meant, and he stopped. After several repetitions of this kiss, kiss, kiss, and then WHOA, he figured out that kiss means walk forward, and that WHOA, even if it's from his back, means stop.

After it was over, I finally breathed, we unsaddled, fed, and I went inside to start supper. And then I cried. I wanted to do that third ride myself SO BADLY. I wanted to feel what it felt like up in that saddle.

I was so proud of my horse, but so sad that I couldn't do it myself. After some reasoning, I figured out that I probably would have had husband do the first 10 rides anyway, pregnant or not. Now, after I have the baby (11 weeks from baby, 17 weeks from horse riding)I'll be able to hop on with a little more confidence, having seen that Tex isn't going to throw a fit.



Now, I'm hoping that I'll love the baby as much as I love Tex.....