Maybe I am mortal.

So you know the feeling when you are in high school or even college/university and you just know that nothing can touch you? That feeling of immortality, you know logically you have just as much of a chance as anyone else of falling ill or getting in an accident but for some reason you never think it will happen to you.

My immortality is wearing off. I went in and met with my insurance agent today and we discussed life insurance policies. Also I discovered a new wonderful little blog called A Process of Learning about 2 days ago and have been thinking ever since. I will let you read Ashley and Ella's story because I couldn't write it better than she does but I just wanted to throw out there that sometimes reading someone else's blog really gets me thinking.

If something were to happen to me tomorrow what would happen to my horses? I know that Fiance, my sister and my brother would take care of everything to the best of their abilities but none of them are horse savvy. I have been thinking and thinking about what I would want to happen and it is very difficult because I would definitely want my ponies to stay in their home but I know T and her family can not afford to suddenly have 5 more horses to feed. So in the past 2 days while grooming and cleaning stalls and other horsey tasks that are perfect for thinking I have come up with a plan for each horse.

Titan. Now you all know that as much as I love the others Titan is a piece of my heart and I can't imagine him ever not being with me but knowing that may not always be a possibility forced me to think. If something were to happen to me Titan would be headed to Canada. Now all you crazies that think I am sending my baby to slaughter of course I am not. Titan would be headed to Newfoundland to be with Leila. Leila and I worked together in NY when we were camp counselors and riding instructors. She is an amazing person and a great rider. She would bring him along and train him right. She is soft and kind and I know I could trust her to always do what is right for him.

Margo. Margaret has only been here a short time but she is already a lifer. She would be going to Indiana (or where ever Ada happened to be living). Ada is my best friend from IWU. She would have so much fun with Margaret and would learn loads with her as well. I have no doubt in my mind that Ada would care for Margo the same way that I would and love her just as much.

As for the others it will be up to T to know what I would want to happen with them. She and I talk every day about the horses and about my plans for each of them. She would know how to go about selling them and the money would be split to help Margo and Titan's new owners get started. With horses coming and going as I try to better each of their place in life there may be horses here that I haven't mentioned but T would be in charge of figuring that out. At the moment Mace would stay with T, Tiki would go to C and Love would be sold. All of Titan's equipment and my English tack should go with him to Canada and Margo's equipment and my western tack should go with her.

Do your families know what to do with your horses if something should happen?

Dog Attack.

I have been so crazy busy that I haven't had a chance to sit down and post. Things are a bit of a mess right now. Well, let me start at the beginning...
The day before Easter (April 3rd) I had an AMAZING ride on Margo. Her jog is like and old pro and her lope was getting better each time I got in the saddle. She seemed to be getting a little bored so we were working on flying changes as well. Every time I ride her I feel like our bond gets stronger and stronger. It is so strange as I haven't felt a bond like this with any horse since getting Titan (and with training I ride a lot of horses). Sometimes you just click you know? Anyway I even called T and had her get out of the shower to come over and watch Margo and myself. She was pretty excited about the progress we had made in such a short time as well.
You may have noticed the jumps between past and present tense, sigh. There lies our problem. That was the last time I have ridden Margo. The next day (Easter Sunday) I was invited to go with some family friends to their family Easter since I have no family in the area and so I joined them. I first made sure that we would be back well before dark so that I could get a few rides in. We ended up getting back around 7 and I was beat from the long car rides so I decided to give the horses the day off. When I drove up my drive way there was a black pit bull that jumped on the car door until Chance chased it off. I came in and called a few neighbors trying to find the owners to no avail. I didn't really think too much of it because there are often neighbor dogs that wander up here and then they always go back home. I figured that Chance must have scared him off because I couldn't see him anywhere around the house. Around 8 I went out to feed horses and bring the mares in.
I walked into the pasture to get Margo and Mace. Margo knows when it is dinner time and came straight over to me. As I was about to halter her the pit bull seemed to come out of no where and attacked her. I booted Mace in the belly to get him to run away as Margo spun around and tried to jump the fence to get away from the dog. He grabbed her back right leg just above her fetlock and was hanging on for dear life. Margo did not make it all the way over the fence and ended up dragging her back legs down over the top rail pulling the rail down. I had to kick the dog to get it off her leg. After I kicked it, it ran off while Margo stood huffing and bleeding. I got her haltered and grabbed Mace and got them into the barn as quickly as I could as I was worried that the dog would be back (she did not want to move at all). Once I got her into the barn I was able to see the damage done. She was bleeding mostly from where he had bitten her (lower cannon on the hind right) but also from many of her other wounds.
I cleaned her up and then called the sheriff and vet. While I was getting her cleaned up the dog came back into the yard and I was able to get a rope around it's neck and get it tied up. The sheriff came and took my statement and took pictures of Margo's legs. He then loaded the dog into his truck (it tried to attack him while he did this). He said that any dogs that attack livestock are disposed of. At first I felt a little guilty sending the dog off to its death but then I looked at Margo's legs and didn't feel bad any more.
Here are some pictures. I don't have any of the night it happened these are a few days later but they give you an idea.
She is still very sore and when she jumped the fence she did some damage to her right front. I have consulted a few vets and it is mostly a waiting game now. There is a chance that she will end up being just a trail horse or even a broodmare for life. No matter what she ends up being she will be here for life, she is just one of those horses that I have a special connection to and I won't sell her.

Ride Goals.

I set goals every time I get on any of my horses. If I don't set a goal, even if we had a good ride, I don't feel like we accomplished much. I even set goals for out on the trail ride. I never really say them out loud but having them in my head helps drive the ride forward to a productive place where the horse and/or myself are learning something. If I get on and the horse isn't where we left of for whatever reason the the goals change but generally it works out really well.
Today I only worked from 5:45-10 and it was BEAUTIFUL outside so I got everyone worked and was able to spend time fussing over everyone.
Margo and Mace were first. I lunged her (and of course Mace too since he is part of the Margo package). My goal for Mace was to teach him not to run up at the lunge line. The other day when I lunged her he kept charging the line and even tried to jump it once. Luckily Margo's whoa is fabulous so I just dropped the line and said whoa and a possibly major accident was avoided. I didn't want to stop working her because he was there but more important was him not getting hurt. So today I decided to use a different line. It is a fat round purple one rather than the flat navy one that I normally use. I thought it would be more visible to him and it is much heavier so if he did try something stupid again it would drop to the ground if I let go. The navy one fell to the ground but when it landed it had loops sticking up that could get a leg. Every time he would try and charge it I would very firmly tell him no and wiggle the line. That seemed to get his attention and he very quickly got the picture. Mace goal: accomplished.
With Margo I wanted to get her responding to my voice better for gaits and also learn to walk on the lunge. She likes to go straight out at a trot and then trot and canter the whole time. Her whoa, like I said before, is great so I decided to work on transitions both up and down. She was getting much better at the end and even managed to walk long enough to cool herself out. Margo goal: accomplished.
Tiki and I desperately needed to work on her reaction to my legs. So my goal for her was to become more responsive to my cues rather than just reacting. To me reacting is an automatic response to my cues where as if she is truly responding then she has to think about what I want her to do. So today we worked on leg cues. She is very sensitive to my legs but every time my leg is on her side she thinks it is go faster unless I have pressure on the bit. Today we worked at the walk on lessening the pressure on the bit and increasing me asking her to move her body around. She was getting it but I think it is definitely something that we need to work on over more time. Tiki goal: in progress but better.
Titan and I had a ground lesson today. I have noticed in the pasture lately that he is much more pushy and I wanted to remind him who is boss. So my goal for him today was to get back to we were last fall with him reading my body language and listening to my voice commands. He did get in trouble a few times for trying to just walk over me but in the end we are almost back to where we were last fall. I am sure he will need many more refreshers in his life but for today he accomplished my goal for him.
With Love I worked on moving forward consistently. She prefers to stand still when I am sitting on her back. So we worked on walking with my voice and a little leg pressure rather than having to bump her sides with my legs. She did well but it took a while to warm up and since she is only 2 I only ride her for about 15 minutes at a time. By the time the little light was turning on in her head it was time to get off.
How about you guys? Are you like me with goals for every ride? Or do you just go by the seat of your pants so to speak and let the horse tell you what they need to work on that day?

Lovely Margo and 4-H safety talk

I rode her tonight! I lunged her for a bit and then just got on and walked around and am still totally in love with her! She was so good. We worked on leg pressure, neck reining, whoa (which is stellar) and backing. I didn't ride long since I had already lunged her and she hasn't really been worked in about 2 1/2 years. Mace was good though I am NOT a fan of trying to lunge with him in the arena. Most days he ignores us and goes off on his own and plays a little but today he decided her would follow mama along the whole time. He was puffing a little at the end as well!
Quick question- If you could tell people one thing about safety with and around horses what would it be? The leader of the 4-H group called tonight and asked if I would be willing to speak at their meeting tomorrow. I said sure and already knew that the first thing I would talk about is safety. It drives me CRAZY when I go anywhere there are horse people and kids are wandering around barefoot or parents are letting kids sit on horses tied to the trailer (with no helmet and no shoes most of the time). I even had a kid reach through the arena fence one time and try to grab my horse's leg while we were cantering down the rail. Of course said kid's mom was no where to be seen and I had to slam on the breaks to not snap off the kid's arm (there was a horse to my inside). Good old Scottie had amazing breaks and we didn't even touch the kid but then we got rear ended by one of those people that NEVER take their eyes off the judge, "LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!"
Anyway- My biggest thing with all of my lesson kids and anyone that rides with me is safety- which means a HELMET first and foremost!
What are your biggest safety pet peeves when it comes to horses?

Please excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin.

I am totally in love with this horse. I have been working with her the past week but all just grooming and such like that. Today I took her out in the arena and lunged her *drool*. She is almost freaky her legs are so good. She carries herself really well even on the lunge line. This is all in slushy snow as well! I can't imagine how awesome she is going to feel once I am on her back! She is also such a sweet mare, lets me do pretty much whatever I want with her or Maynard (also known as Mace now because sometimes Maynard is just too long). Margaret's nickname is Margo. Maynard's legs are pretty freaky cool as well *drool again*. Naturally really slow legged and has really nice flat knees and some crazy deep hocks. HOW did I get such cool horses at such an amazing price?!?! Also Chance still thinks he is part of their little horse family.
In other fun horse news...
Love had her 3rd ride today. T rode her around at the walk working on bending, turning and actually moving forward. It seems like there are 2 kinds of horses when you first get on their backs, those that don't want to move and those that want to toss you. Fortunately I have been lucky enough that most of the horses I have trained have been 'those that don't want to move' when they are first started. I would rather teach a horse to go forward that to teach a horse to stand still. I also think this may have something to do with all of the time and energy I put into them before I actually get on. I apologize that is isn't a very good picture of Love but it gives you an idea of how different she looks from when she first got here! Fatter and MUCH harrier!!
Gus had his first ride ever. He was great. As you know he is T's horse that I am helping her bring along. He is very mellow and also fell into the category of not really wanting to move when she first got on. After mounting and dismounting a few times I told her to stay on and ask him to turn his head both directions. Then after a bit of that we walked around a little. I say we because although I think Gus is mellow enough for her to handle horses are still unpredictable and so I had the lead on him for her first ride. She wants to do everything herself so with my guidance and support she is training him.
C had her first ride on Tiki today. She spent a while grooming and getting to know her and then just rode on the lunge line at the walk. I am really proud of C because I know she was a bit nervous but she did really well. I don't know if I told you anything about C's horse background? She rode when we were in middle school but never had a horse of her own. The horse that she used for 4-H died (either when we were still in middle school or in the beginning of high school) and she never really found a new mount that she was as confident on. She loved King and Hayley and she got along well with Reno (one of the horses I trained last summer) but she really needs a horse that is here consistently that she can learn on a build her confidence on. Tiki will also be used for her daughter to get rides on. I told her that she is going to learn to ride English this summer and she seemed semi excited/apprehensive. I don't think she likes hunt saddles.
Titan wasn't left out! We went for a ride out on the road and he was ok but a little spooky. On the way back he was much too forward and refused to pay attention to my legs or seat. So we worked when we got back. We worked out in the arena on using his body at the trot and listening to my legs when I am asking him to move his body around. It wasn't a long work but since he hasn't done much since November (give or take) he was puffing. As you can imagine is it hard to move how your rider wants you when the arena is still snowy. As much as I am looking forward to spring I am also dreading not being able to use the arena. Right now we are kind of in between the ground is no longer frozen and there is no ice but there is only one small spot of mud as it is all about 3-4 inches of snow (a few places as deep as a foot). In the next few weeks as everything thaws out there will be lots more mud and less working horses in the arena. Which usually means more trail riding but I am really itching to get back to work in the arena with all of the horses! Luckily I am on the top of a hill and am usually one of the first farms in the area to dry out!

What a day!

Today was great!
I'll start with the pictures in the last post. The pictures of Chance and Mo I just thought were cute. Then there are pictures of when I got Margaret and Maynard home yesterday. They settled in well. I spent a little over an hour just fussing over Margaret. She needed to be groomed SO badly and she loved it! I fed her and then grabbed brushes and went to town. She was so dirty. She is shedding a lot already and since it is only about 28 outside I blanketed her. I don't want her hair going back in just in time for it to get warm (which it is supposed to starting this week!!). I also haltered and unhaltered Maynard about 10 times and started working on handling his legs (he isn't a fan). He is starting to like to be scratched on the neck so he really struggles with whether he should let me catch him or not. Then today I got up and went out and fed everyone. After they were done Margaret and Maynard went out in the arena and Tiki went out with Titan, Love and Gus. I hung out with them for a while and debated taking his halter off but in the end I left it on since I was going to be out there the whole time anyway. Chance has decided that Maynard is his new best friend. Margaret won't let Tess go into the arena with them but she let Chance hang out with them the whole day.Chance and Maynard became fast friends and were playing most of the day. Except when Maynard or Chance needed a nap. I wonder if they each realize that the other isn't also a horse or dog. Titan and I went for a trail ride and we got stuck in a snow drift. It was totally my fault and I am super lucky that Titan is so mellow. There is one section of the trail that dips and then goes up a hill. We were going along and I completely forgot about the dip. The snow really piles up there and we walked straight into it. Titan is game for anything so he plowed on through until he couldn't move. Then my brain kicked into gear as he somewhat tipped over. He just kind of lay sideways into the snow (that at this point was touching my stirrups). I climbed off onto the snow and pulled his reins over his head. He had to think about it for a minute and then he decided that yes he would get up and get himself unstuck. After we got out of that self made mess we headed back to the barn and rode around in the yard.
Love had her first ride today! Normally I would put this in the 'her' blog but I have decided that I don't have the time or energy for 2 blogs so hers will be smushed back into this one. I mounted and unmounted for a while and we practiced bending and giving to the rein. Then we walked around a little bit and she was so good! Never offered to buck or run off. Since she was so good I put her away after that. I wish there was more time in the day and that I never had to go to work. That would be nice.

Pictures!!

Maynard

Margaret and Myself

The 3 of us


Chance and Mo sleeping

I need some advice.

So I have been horse shopping for a while now. Not super seriously as I am in no hurry but I would like another horse to work with over the summer as well as a lesson horse. I found 2 awesome mares and need your opinions on them. I went to see them today and love both of them.

Miss Tequila Brook (Tiki-pictured above) is a 10 yr old red dun AQHA mare. She is 15.1. She has been shown in English, western, showmanship, halter, and trail by an 11 yr old boy. She has been trail ridden quite a bit and has a very level head and isn't spooky. She has no health issues and is completely sound. She is up to date on everything (though could use a good trim- I trim every 6 weeks and some people around here trim every 10). She has great ground manners. Good for the vet and farrier. Easy to load and haul. She doesn't really have much on her papers but since she would be for lessons I don't really care. She did seem a little herd bound but we pulled her out of a pasture that she has been in for the last 4-5 months during dinner time. She wasn't naughty about it just whinnied twice and kept looking toward the pasture. She seems like she will be a super horse to have around for lessons and for friends to ride when they come out. The only downside to her is that she is pregnant. She is due in early May. She is bred to a nice registered stallion whom I also met. He is well mannered and very nicely built. He has done well shown in halter at shows around the state.

Margaretta Ville (Margaret- pictured above as a 2 yr old) is a 5 yr old sorrel AQHA mare. She is 14.3. She was shown as a yearling in halter and lunge line and did very well in both. She was also shown as a 2 yr old in halter, showmanship and walk-trot and did very well. Then her owner was unable to show because of health reasons. They bred her at the beginning of her 3 yr old year. She is VERY well built. Gorgeous little baby doll head. Great manners. Great to load and haul. SUPER friendly. Up to date on everything (again needs a trim). She is pretty impressive on paper as well. Again no health or soundness issues. Needs some finishing at the lope to show western pleasure and would need to get into a bit as they had shown her in a bosal. Yet again the downside is that she has a foal at her side. Early January foal. He is by the same stud that Tiki is bred to. He is very nice to look at- good legs, very muscled, nice head and neck, pretty cute little mover. Will probably be easy to sell come fall. He is her second foal, they sold the first at an auction for $400 or $500 last fall.

I REALLY like both mares and think that they would be perfect for what I need. I do have some experience with foals. When I lived with my trainer I was 'in charge' of the babies and did all of the work with them. I do not have any experience in actually foaling a mare. I have been reading up on the Internet for the past several hours trying to see if this is something that I am ready for.

Just because a horse has a uterus does NOT mean they need to be a mom! Even her current owners (who I really liked and actually know from about 8 years ago when I was showing on the same circuit as their daughter) said that they think Margaret is sick of her baby already. Of course she is! She is only 5! I truly think that neither mare should have been bred in the first place. Margaret because she is too young and Tiki because she is average and there are too many average horses out there!! Don't get me wrong some of the best horses out there are just average Joes but does that mean when the economy sucks and there are tons of horses out there being sent to auctions that we should make more?! NO!

Ok I am going to climb back down off my soapbox for a little while and ask what you guys think. Neither mare is super expensive and both are pretty much exactly what I was looking for (minus the babies). I will have the time to work with both babies and T has already asked to help with them. I do have space for both moms and babies. I do have a client that I trained for in the past that has a breeding barn that I can call with questions/concerns and she only lives about 6 miles away if I need her. I also use the same vet she does and she said he is great about being 'on call' when the foal is due.

What do you guys think? Do any of you have experience foaling? Is there anything that I am not thinking of that would be a big factor in considering the mares?