Faking scared, and who is overcoming what...

Just to tune up for this weekend's upcoming trail challenge, I rode Tex Saturday behind the shop, and on Sunday, into the woods. On Saturday, he was a little rusty and had quite the bad attitude. All we did was walk and trot and walk near the edge of the woods. About three times he did this seemingly fearful jump, wheeling, and trying to run away from the woods- coincidentally toward the barn that was in sight. Or was it a coincidence?
I THINK what he was doing was trying to fool me. He may have been initially frightened by a small thing, but he took his actions much further than his fear warranted. I think he was looking for a reason to spook so that he could get away with running back to the barn. I pulled his head around the first time and just held on tight. The second time, same thing. By the third time, I let him have it- spur, one rein, pushing him around, and letting him know that I would have none of that.

That was the first day. On the second day (Sunday) I took him to a different location in our front yard and a small distance into the woods. During my last trail ride at Brushy Creek (that's another story for another day) the downhill treks did not go so well, so that's what we did in the woods- went up and down some steep, long hills. He seems to get a little nervous going downhill (ok, maybe I get a little nervous too). So we did that big hill sideways, up, down, stopped in the middle, backed up the hill, backed down the hill, and stepped over logs on the hill. I made him do it over and over until he would calmly walk instead of rushing.
Going back toward the barn was a little bit of a power struggle, but I expected it and had planned ahead. The day before, I realized that he performed better when his mind was occupied, and acted stupid when he was bored. So I brought my rope on Saturday, and on the way back to the barn, roped a dead rattley pecan limb and drug it behind me. That kept him occupied for a little while. Then after he got bored with that, we side passed down the fence toward the barn, moved hops & shoulders, and then just walked. Sunday was much better than Saturday- only one of those bolting episodes when the dogs came out of the woods behind us.

We have a long way to go with this whole "riding outside the arena" thing. I'm still overcoming some old fears associated with wrecks I had years ago outside the arena, and he is overcoming, well, I'm not sure what. Maybe he's not really overcoming anything- just learning to listen to me in all circumstances, not just within the boundaries of the arena. I'm not going to lie- I am really hoping for terrible weather on the day of the trail challenge so that it will be held inside the arena.

TM

At-home trail riding

Why is it that I'm more nervous about riding at home than I am in other places? My husband and I took our greenest horses out yesterday for about a 1.5 hour trail ride around the place. Tex jumped and crowhopped a couple times when the two dogs ran up behind him- once on the trail and once in the pasture.
We rode on trails, up and down a few hills, and in wide open hay fields. In one of the hay fields, I asked Tex to lope off in a circle, and he threw a little fit. After a few more circles and asking him to move in and out of the circle at a lope, he was sweating like crazy and had no more energy to be stupid.
The rest of the ride was peaceful.
TM

What to improve on

This is my score card from the trail ride. It looks like we need to improve on backing and being smoother on lateral movement.
I can't wait for the next one!

Judged trail riding

When my friends and I decided to go to the Equitrek trail challenge, it was really just to go spread the word about the cowboy church and have fun riding together. I never expected to really do well on my first time doing it. Tex has only ridden outside an arena probably less than 20 times in the four years I've been working with him. I was prepared for the worst- jumping, spooking, even a little crowhopping.

When we arrived and saddled up, I took him into the arena there and did some circles and worked on him just giving me his mind and willingness. We also worked on rate transitions a little. Tex is pretty good at responding to just my seat. When we are at a trot and I settle into my seat, he slows it down to a walk easily. At a lope it is similar.
As a matter of fact, he never has much resistance at slowing down. It's the going faster that he resists most.

When we rode out, I began to see that I had one of the calmer and more laid back horses on the ride. Our first obstacle was sidepassing to take a raincoat of of a hay bale and moving it to another hay bale. I knew he wouldn't care a bit about the raincoat- I throw stuff onto him all the time. Also, we sidepass to the right all the time when we are in line at roping practice. We did that one with no problem.

Next was backing through the L twice. Tex didn't want to back for that long, but he did it anyway. It wasn't as fluid or as willing as I would've liked, but he definitely was listening and obeying.

Then our group missed a ribbon and ended up making the whole trail before seeing any more obstacles. So, we had to backtrack back to the obstacles we had missed. This worked to my advantage. Tex's weakness was going downhill and uphill. We've done very little of that, and he was a little nervous about them. During our trek while we were lost, we went up and down at least 6 or 8 ravines and had plenty of practice.

The jump was next. On the pro level, I had to canter, jump a log, and continue cantering. This was definitely new for me and Tex, but I really wasn't worried. I knew he would do it, although I wasn't sure how pretty it would look or if he would hesitate.
He didn't, we made it, and it wasn't half bad. I may have a little jumping pony on my hands. :)

The last two obstacles were a ravine and a steep uphill. All of our practice helped tremendously. Tex listened carefully to my seat and words, tried hard, and took it really easy. He took good care of me. I was so proud.

When it was all done, I realized our strength is his willingness to do anything I ask him to do. He trusts me to not get him into any bad situations, and I expect him to do what I ask- period. Now if my kids would only be that good...

We won something

This weekend Tex and I tried something new- a competitive trail ride-in Zachary with Equitrek. Although it was our first time, I entered into the pro division because the pro obstacles weren't that much harder than the novice, and there was only one other person in the pro division.
My friends Shelley and Melissa and Calvin rode with us, and Shelley and Melissa were first timers as well.
Long story short, we side passed, went up and down ravines, did a jump, missed a part of the trail, and sort of got lost. Kind of.
And then we cleaned house! Tex and I took 1st place in pro and 2nd place overall. Shelley and Melissa took 2nd and 3rd in novice.

It's a long story to explain how I felt the whole time, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what Tex and I did right. But if the judges were giving points for calmness, that would explain it. Doing a few obstacles, on a horse I know, by myself, was nothing - compared to all the day camp trail rides Josh and I have done, where we were in charge of ten 7 and 8 year olds on a hilly trail ride. :)

Dog "shopping" is hard...

There is some bad news on the home front. Our beautiful 1.5 year old blue heeler, Gus, disappeared. He was last seen (with I'd name-plated collar) on April 20th. We've exhausted all resources of finding him. It's heartbreaking to lose a dog, especially one you've had for a couple years and raised from a puppy. Especially when you just got him out of the puppy stage. Especially when he's the dog who entertains your kids and "vacuums" under the high chair after every meal. And especially when he's the protector of your chickens.

Since Gus's disappearance from the wide open country, two of my chickens have been eaten and we've trapped or shot two raccoons in/near the chicken pen. Jolie is a great dog, but just isn't quite the aggressive protector that Gus was.

So, we're in the market for a dog. Our favorite dog ever was Jade, a small short-haired border collie/blue heeler we got from my best friend a few years ago. She died from a spider bite before we got Gus.

Since blue heeler/border collie crosses are not exactly a popular breed, we've been scouring petfinder for options. And I've run into a few problems.

First, apparently in south Louisiana, labs and pit bulls are by far the superior breed to have, because that's all I can find at the pound. Or, maybe the border collies & heelers all stay at home while the labs & pits wander off. Regardless, there are not too many of the herding breeds to choose from at this time at the local pounds. There are, however, a few in Oklahoma...

2. The more I think about what breed we need or want, the more confused I get. Do we need a hound to protect the chickens? A large guard dog? A smaller herding dog? High energy? Laid back?

My dream dog is a border collie. I'd personally like a border collie mix because they're so smart, but they can also be timid, which may not be best for my toddlers. I've always enjoyed working with smart herding dogs, but do I really have time to train one now? Would they chase the horses to no end? Would one from the pound be very trainable?

I love coon hounds for their loud bark, but they may frustrate me because they're a little dull.

Another problem (3.)- The more pounds I visit, the more my heart breaks for the dogs there. I know that's uncharacteristically sentimental of me, but I just wish they could all have a loving home.

Problem number 4:
It's so hard to know how a dog is going to do at our house. Will they stick around the yard? Will it refrain from killing my chickens? Will it be nice to Jolie? Will it be patient with my kids?

And problem number 5:
The more I look, the more I wish we just had Gus back. :(

Tara

The garden- an obsession!

This is a progression of pictures of the garden from when we worked the dirt in mid-March, to now, May 2nd. I just fertilized two days ago, and everything is shooting up like crazy (including the weeds.)

The newest handsome male figure around our house

This young guy is a Partridge Rock. I wasn't shopping for a rooster when June and I went to pick up her young Easter chickens, but he was too pretty to pass up.
When I think of the word "rooster" in the dictionary, this is what I imagine the picture should look like.
Mr. Rooster does his reproductive chores; however, he does not crow (yet?) and he has a cough!

Cash- giving to the bit

As I've mentioned (and maybe whined a little about) recently, Cash tips his nose upward when I put any pressure on his mouth. He also ignores and protests against lateral flexing requests. Both of these are a major problem that must be overcome before I can proceed with others goals on him. Tipping the nose up is dangerous and inconvenient not only in the roping setting, but also on the trail when I need Cash to slow down in certain areas, and especially if I need to stop or slow him quickly.

So, what I've been doing is starting with lateral flexion on each side, on the ground, in the saddle, and everything in between.

Two of my young ones- together

Last week, after I was so frustrated about how my horses performed at roping practice, we took the horses over to the covered barn the next Thursday just to ride around. I rode Tex first, then gave him up to Josh and my daughter, and I hopped bareback onto Cash with just a snaffle bit bridle. More on Cash later... This story is about my daughter and her favorite horse- Tex.
She rode with me for a while, ride with her Daddy, came and rose bareback with me, and then got enough courage up to ride all by herself, without us leading the horse! This was her first time to steer a horse by herself. I stayed on Cash and helped direct Tex away from the side a couple times, but he performed quite well for her. It looks like Tex may end up being her horse after all. :)
TM

Headset of roping horses

Two weeks ago, Josh rode Cash in a round robin and I was able to snap some photos.
Cash has significantly improved in the box- I have no complaints there. But his headset while in the roping pen- wow. That's a bit of a problem. Now, I've seen worse, but that doesn't lessen the expectations I have for my two horses, who I know naturally like to keep their heads low.
This is what I got in the pictures. (Note that Josh did insist on having the tie-down on him while roping in the competition.)
1. Good- I'll take it. Not too bad.

B.E.E.R. Bread

Beer bread- a wonderful combination of self-rising flour, beer, sugar, a sifter, and about 40 minutes at 350 degrees. I don't remember if I've ever made this or not, but it's a favorite of ours made by our friend Tanis. She makes everything with beer bread- cobblers, muffins, and of course just the bread itself.
It's heavenly, it has approximately four ingredients that are usually on hand, and it takes about 5 minutes to prepare.
And a note from experience- it tastes great with Jambalaya. TM

Have Cash, Will Rope

As I've mentioned, Josh's roping horse, Jethro, is lame right now due to what is believed to be heel pain, so Josh has been roping off my new horse, Cash, as well as heeling a little on Tex. A couple weeks ago practice turned into a round robin, and Josh rode Cash for the whole night.
Here are some examples of where this horse is now, and where we must go in the future.

Picture 1a: A little too far behind the steer,
1b: Wearing a tie-down.

Roping horses= useless.

Tonight's roping practice was, well, disappointing to me. I caught about 3 out of 20 steers that I chased down the pen on Cash. The thing that's so frustrating is that I don't know what I'm doing wrong. If I could figure out what I'm doing wrong, I could fix it.

Then, everyone (in true team roper form) started pitching in with their unsolicited advice. "Get your elbow down." "Put a tie-down on that horse." "Looks like your horse's teeth need floating." And so on. I appreciate all the help I can get. The elbow thing was true- I was doing that wrong, and when I started getting it right, I was catching. The teeth floating thing may be true- I'll have to check on that. The tie down thing just plain annoys me though. A tie down doesn't solve the main issue- a horse that tosses his head UP instead of tucking it DOWN when I pull back on the reins. It's my one complaint about Cash, and the one thing I think could take him from "good" to "great" if he could just learn it.

My roping skills are a struggle mostly because I'm having trouble staying motivated. I started out going to team roping practice just to have a specific, kid-free, riding time on Wednesday nights last year. Then, when I began to ranch rodeo a little more, I realized that to do well at it, I needed to be able to rope. This year, my work schedule has me booked up for every ranch rodeo for the first 5 months of the year. I guess that's good in a way, because it gives me more time to practice. But, it's bad in a way too, because I'm lacking the motivation of actually seeing and doing the ranch rodeos.

On another note..
Josh has been heeling on Tex for the last two weeks because Jethro is lame. This means he's riding in the Jr. Cowhorse bit with a curb chain, neck reining, and roping off him. I just try not to watch. I'm proud that Tex is tracking the cows nicely. But, I'm just not agreeing with the roughness in the hands that Josh is using. It looks to me like horsemanship gets sacrificed when there's a rope involved. Tonight, those suspects were confirmed. At the end of the night, I rode Tex on the heading side for a few runs, and he was antsy in the box! I was shocked! Tex has NEVER been a prancy, jumpy, or rearing horse, and here he was, pawing, getting light on his front end, and acting an idiot- jumping every time a cow moved in the chute and not responding to my cues.

Last week was a round robin competition, so Josh rode Cash and I rode around on Jethro. When I asked him to go to the heel side, or to push cows up, or to sidepass to the left, he threw a major hissyfit. I have no patience for that horse. He's what I categorize as a typical team roping horse. High headed, high strung, and just a butthead. 

I've just about decided that many of the good roping horses out there are about as useless as a barrel racing horse. They're always looking for a tie down, don't know how to do any lead but their left lead, and only want to run one routine in the roping pen and then be done.


So, that's it. No more sacrificing horsemanship for the sake of roping on my little grulla horse. I will rope off him ONLY when he's calm in the box, collected, and happy.

What have you been doing today?

Today I:
*Tried to sleep in.
*Heated up yesterday's breakfast for myself and the kids. Josh finally joined us at around 9:30.
-Fed and caught my two horses.
-Helped the neighbors move some calves on Tex.
-Went to a crawfish boil for a few minutes at my in-laws house.
-Went with the horses & the family to cowboy church in Zachary.
-Rode Cash there.
-Played with the kids.
-Went back to our house to unload & feed the animals.
-Went back to the in-laws' for a part two of the crawfish boil.
-Got home & put the kids to bed.
-Unloaded & reloaded the dishwasher
-Cut up my flat of strawberries from my dad and put them in the dehydrator
-Swept the kitchen
-Finally got in bed.
I am pooped! So WHEN exactly do people have time to watch TV?

First time working cows in the pasture

We just finished hping some neighbors gather some calves from the pasture. At first Josh rode out on Tex because I had to stay with the kids. But, that group of cows jumped a fence and were not able to be caught.
Long story short, the guys worked a few cows in the pen, and then decided to do another group of calves, just as I had hopped onto Tex to just ride around. 5 of us rode out onto the grassy, hilly pasture in this breezy, sunny day on horseback.
We loped out to catch up to the group, and at first I thought it was going to be a mistake to ride Tex. he was hyped up and nervous. I got a little firmer with him for a while. The calves would get close to the pen and then bolt- again and again, and once they split into two groups. We kept having to walk the calves slowly toward the pen, and then lope back out to go get them.
By about the third time we loped back out, Tex realized this was WORK, not play, and he tried to pull the lazy card on me. :) Well I know that trick too well, and didn't put up with it.
About 40 minutes worth was all it took for him to get worn out and realize that he didn't want to run anymore.
At one point I did have to run down a calf and turn him. Tex did fine, but I wasn't sure of my ability to do it. Once we got going, I realized he was going to be fine and I made him speed up an turn the calf.
It was a wonderful experience- one I've been waiting for for three years now. I am soooo proud of Tex and how great he did- how much he neck reined, how he settled down, and how he chased down that one calf. I stinking love my horse. :)

Note to self- adjust the stirrups up after Josh rides my horse before going out to work calves.

The cutest helper in the world