Felt so Good!

Today was another good day. I didn't mess much with Sunny. Caught her, put the halter on her and then turned her out into the pasture. Didn't want her thinking that every time I get near means she works.

Instead, Jet was the object of my affection today. I hadn't been on her since before the fair in August. Well, no, that's not quite true. I did mount once earlier this month, but August was the last time I tried to get her to move while I was on her.

But before mounting, I took her out for a walk. Not as long as the one Sunny and I took. This time I went up the road and around the corner and down to the pasture. Normally we take the short cut through the trees, but I wanted her to get out around some traffic. We had three cars pass us and aside from tensing up just a wee bit, she was fine.

Once around the corner, though, she became nervous. There are two horses out in a field over there, and of course they came running over to see who Jet was. Jet was light on her toes, that's who she was! I figured the grooms at the track must feel like I was feeling; Jet is 16 hands tall, after all, and a prancing pony of that height isn't one to take lightly. Thankfully, she's not totally squirrely and managed to focus more on me than the horses. It did leave her a watchful state, however, for the rest of our walk.

At home I worked her from the ground, then went in search of Darling's riding helmet. Once it was fastened securely to my head, I mounted up. I've not got a bridle for Jet, so the halter and lead rope will have to do for now. The paddock has shrunk in size since the barn addition, so there really isn't any place to go, anyway. The last time I tried getting some forward motion out of Jet, it wasn't easy. Mostly just turns and a few steps before she quit. But not today. Today she walked forward, stopped when asked, turned on both front and hind quarters, and backed up. Beautiful! This horse is a dream.

Less than a beautiful dream is the weather forcast for Friday evening...snow...

Desperate Horsewife
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Move over, Guy Woods!

Getting ready to hit the road

Okay, maybe not. Certainly Guy Woods did an incredible job with his mustang makeover horse, but I'm feeling pretty darned proud of Sunny today. Here's the scoop:

I'd been out doing my running around in town and on my way home I heard the weather report; rain moving in. No surprise there. But the sun was shining at that moment, so I took advantage of it when I got home and saddled Sunny up, said a prayer for safety, and headed out down the road.

She was a gem. Didn't try to stop and eat the long grass on the shoulder, just followed me at a brisk pace. We rounded a corner and spotted the UPS truck coming out of a driveway towards us. As luck would have it, we were on the only portion of road that had a small shoulder, so I tried to get her off the road just a bit. She really didn't want to move into the brush, but did managed to get herself off the pavement. Never batted an eye as the big truck went past. We hadn't gone far when a van came around the corner from behind. They swung to the far side of the road and Sunny just kept walking along like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

A quarter mile later, we were at the tree farm. This place used to be the old county dump site, but it's now been covered up. Half of it has a parking lot for horse trailers, the other half has a tree farm. A person can either head up the logging road where there are beautiful views across the San Juan Islands, all the way to Victoria, Vancouver Is., or they can take the short trail and circle the tree farm. I opted for the latter.

The tree farm has a road around it; dirt, with big rocks and grasses and weeds growing through. It's wide enough so that you can get a truck around the outside if you should need to. Plenty of room for Sunny and I to walk comfortably together. I swung the end of the lead rope ahead of me to knock down any spider webs (I hate spiders), an occasionally stopped abruptly when I realized one was higher than I'd been swinging. I didn't want to walk into it, after all, and end up with one of those creepy creatures crawling on me! Sunny had to put on the brakes a couple times to avoid rear ending me.

Halfway around, we heard an engine running. Good! Something to use for training. I glanced at Sunny, who apparently didn't hear anything. As we rounded a corner I saw that they had some sort of rig with one of those people baskets...the things with long arms that lift people up high into the air. Two guys were up trimming the tips of the trees. Terrific! Something really spooky! I looked at Sunny, who apparently didn't see anything. Sheesh...deaf and blind, now, she is! When the guys saw the horse, the cut the engine. That got her attention, lol! She looked to see what was going on, but didn't balk and walked right past. Excellent!

There was only one thing that Sunny hesitated over. Poop. She saw horse poop on the trail and insisted upon stopping at each pile to sniff. She was enthralled over horse poop. Guess I know what we have to work on, eh?

Needless to say, I'm very happy with our hour long walk yesterday. If only I could get on her... She's going to make a terrific little horse...someday...

I wish I'd brought the camera, but as it was our first time out I thought it best to leave it behind. Next time, though!

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Good Morning, Beautiful!

Spending time with Sunny has taken away from time with Quiet Storm and Jet. That's okay, really, because she's a bit older than they are and certainly in need of the attention over the other two. Still, Jet is jealous. Not jealous in a bitter, mean sort of way. No, she's far to sweet a horse for that. But this is the view that greets me each morning when I look out the window. Jet is always at the gate waiting with a friendly whinny.

And lest ye think she's just talking food, let me set you straight. Whenever I'm in the field or paddock working, Jet is by my side. Yesterday I had the 'tractor' (old lawn mower) and trailer in the paddock so I could clean. Jet was right there, refusing to get out of my way. When I finally made it out into the field to dump the trailer, she trotted along behind so as not to miss out on any of the action.

I can hardly wait to start this filly, just wants to be with people so badly! She's got such a great, long stride on her and seems to enjoy our walks together; I think she'll really love when we can get out on some trails.

Desperate Horsewife

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Back in Training

Patience is a virtue.

I haven't had Sunny saddled since my less than graceful dismount five weeks ago. With both fairs that Darling has been to, getting sheep ready and picking up hay, training has taken a back seat. Yesterday morning I woke up early, and as I sat at the computer the idea came to me that perhaps I ought to take Sunny out on a long walk. LONG, long walk. Saddled.

We live just up the road from an old logging road that has been maintained in recent years by the Back Country Horsemen. In my youth, the trails were maintained by us. Meaning, my folks lived just a mile down the road and when we were kids we'd blaze new trails and ride old logging roads up there all the time. It's been years since I've been up there, but why not take advantage of it's close proximity?

Just one thing stopping us. Well...two things. First, I've not got a trailer to get a horse down there. Second, Sunny's never been around cars, so leading her the 1/4 mile on the narrow, winding road probably wouldn't be the safest thing until she proved that moving vehicles didn't upset her.

My plan, then, was to keep this girl busy today and introduce her to cars. But first, it was breakfast time. I saddled her up, tossed a couple flakes of hay in the manger, and left her to stand for about an hour. That's a long time for some horses, but Sunny is patient and she didn't mind. No pawing at the ground, shuffling around or crying out for her pasture mates.

Sunny munches contentedly on breakfast.

After an hour, I took off the saddle. I had a few errands to run, so Sunny was left to be a horse for what she likely assumed would be the rest of the day. Wrong. Upon returning home in the afternoon I caught her once again and began working with her. I've got a plan for her right side; do everything from it. I'd saddled her from the right side in the morning, and now I did it again. I started grooming from the right side, tossed the saddle blanket onto her, then saddle. She didn't care. What's with this horse, anyway? So frustrating...

City Boy offers Sunny a blade of grass.

Once saddled, I began leading her around out in the yard where the whole family (well, the four of us) gathered around her face. For Sunny, her face has always been an issue; she's been very protective of it. Although she was a bit concerned about someone on each side and two people in front, she didn't panic or back away. Both City Boy and our son reached out to stroke and pet her from the sides and she stood right there. She's never had someone on each side petting, and for someone completely new to her to be on the right side while she stood patiently was surprising to me, to say the least.

From there, we moved on. The lawn mowers were being rearranged in the shed, parked for the winter. City Boy began riding one of them back and forth past Sunny, sometimes coming within just a few feet. The first time, Sunny turned to see what it was that was so loud. Lawn mowers are nearly as loud as airplanes, in my mind. Far noisier than cars. But Sunny was good as gold.

Takes more than a lawn mower to frighten Sunny.

Since the lawn mower didn't bother her, I went out to the end of the driveway to wait for a car. We don't get a lot of traffic, but Sunny was a good sport and waited patiently for a car to drive by. They slowed way down so as not to spook her, so I waited for another car. The second car slowed down, too. As did the third. Where are rude drives when you need them? Sunny passed the car test, needless to say, and I'm very pleased. If the weather holds, I'll try leading her down to the trail this week.

Cars? Who's afraid of cars?

And if this post wasn't long enough already...well, there's more! After unsaddling, I picked up both front feet and cleaned them without her batting an eye! Lots of gravel from the driveway, so glad I did. Couldn't quite get the back ones up, but she's letting me run my hand down to the hock before getting jumpy. Hopefully it won't be long!

Now, for those of you still interested in the Mustang Makeover results, I've got more posted just beneath this post. Sorry about the black text; it was a cut and paste job and I forgot that it doesn't automatically change to something a bit easier to read.

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A Long List of Horses, Riders and Prices

Are you sick of Makeover talk yet? Nah...I didn't think so ! Here's a long list of the horses, riders, and their adoption prices that I got last night. I can't guarantee their complete accuracy, but it's bound to be close.

Going home means back home with trainer!

----------------------------------------------------------

Horse - Rider - Adoption Amount

Rocky - David Walsh $2000.00

Captain Jack - Brenda Walsh $500.00

Maze - Michelle Vie Tobin $ 550.00

Searcher - Rachel Wall $200.00

Rock - Ashley Stevenson $350.00 (going home)

Patriot - Jamie Thomas $3800.00

Micah - Kathe Smothers $7500.00 (going home)

Reno - Ken Schwab - $2400.00

Buster - Robin Seacrist $1700.00

Snorts - Karrilynn Savage (1st place conditioning) $400.00

Larry - Dave Schaffner (Dave hurt, son road horse at auction. Purchase money (less $125.00 adoption fee) will be donated towards hospital bills $10,000.00

Boo - Wolfgang Remakes $450.00

Tamer - Greg Reynolds $950.00

Max - Guy Woods 1st place horse $6500.00 (going home)

“Q” - Asa Pippin $900.00

Pockets - Joseph Misner $3800.00 Shot off horse, roped, stood up on saddle,
horse bows

Cherokee - Ron Mobley $ 3500.00

Snoopy - Larry Lenon $1000.00

Winnemucca - Peter Lichau $400.00 (yet to be ridden)

Tang - Johnathan Lemons $300.00

Henrys Golden Boy - Jana Leniger $1000.00

Amigo - Chad Kelly $3100.00

Ranger - Kitty Lauman $7500.00 (going home)
Won sportsmanship award for profession trainers voted by other trainers. Prize $1000.00
October issue of Western Horseman

Jimmy - Tom King $1900.00

Freedom - Angi Keitel $2000.00 (Going home)

Trooper - Cody Keller $1800.00

Nevada’s Daily Double - John Haas Only 30 days training / Bows for rider to mount
Rubbed chain saw on him. $1200.00

Hidalgo - Weldon Hawley $2200.00
October issue of Western Horseman

Country Deacon - Abel Garcia (world champion rider) $3000.00

Chopper - Holly Davis (finalist) $4800.00
Tied for sportsmanship award for non-pro trainers

Algore - Zane Davis (finalist) $5300.00

Felix - Jeanie Curphey $4800.00

Arky - Jason Carter $ 1700.00

Nikko - Diana Caldwell $1000.00 (going home with trainer)
Only 5 rides

Slim Jim - Sharleen Bergum BIG horse 16h / 3 years old $2000.00
Carried a flag saying “BUY ME” Stood front two feet on Pedestal while trainer moved flag over his head. Kicks ball

Vegas - Jean Morehouse $1100.00

J4 Dwight Bilyk (finalist) $6000.00 Big horse / does it all / nice and soft

Ruger Jennifer Baird $1000.00

Chance - Vixen Barney $1500.00 Never had trained a mustang before.
Rode with two broken vertabraes in her back.

Nick Roeliff Annon $3100.00
October issue of Western Horseman

Pino Lonnie Aragon $2100.00
Started working horses in a prison program when he was a teenager.
Now works for the Air Force academy and teaches horsemanship.
October issue of Western Horseman

Gambler Josh Appleby $1500.00
Lost his house, barn. . recently by a Tornado.
Used borrowed tack and such to attend event.
MHF donating all proceeds to Josh’ family.

Sunka Wa Kan David Lee Archer $1600.00
Going home

Hail Yeah - Ray Ariss $50.000.00
Purchased by the City of Norco and Mustang Heritage Foundation
Ray also won “Mr. Congeniality” contest
He breeds / trains very expensive horses and said “this Mustang humbled him”.

Wellington - Evija Aunina $3800.00
First time training a Mustang. Jumps 4 feet, winning many shows already.
She rides English and this is a BEAUTIFUL horse.

Willie Ben Bowman $900.00

Waylon - Nick Bowman (finalist) $1400.00

Joshua - Cindy Branham $7500.00 (going home)

Joyee - Mary Lee Brighton $2400.00
Mary is with “Windhorse Relations” www.windhorserelations.org
They use Mustangs in various clinics, working with youth, Veterans, etc.

Nino Chico Jesus Castillo $2000.00 (going home)

Cowtown - Buddy Cooper $1200.00

Banjo - Bo Cordell $1000.00

Sundance - Chase Dodd (missed amount)

Ojos - Jeremy Dunn (finalist) $6000.00
Purchased by Jill Starr of Lifesavers Wildhorse Rescue
Will go home with Jeremy for further training

Hampton Steve Hayden $2000.00

Steel - Byron Hogan $3600.00

Othello - Excy Johnston
Aggressive horse. Going home with trainer Josh Applyby thru the MHF incentive program

Mac - Susan Kirk $1200.00 (going home)

Levi - Troy Koehl $3500.00

Otter be Good - Dixie LaFountain $700.00
Didn’t ride (compete) Otter came up lame. They don’t know why

Vegas - Bill Lopez (finalist) $5000.00

Cool hand Luke - James Malcolm $250.00 (horse going home)
Horse not rideable

Johnny - Rachel Mandic-Nowak $1500.00
Won sportsmanship for non-pro trainer ($500.00)
Youngest trainer - 18 years old

Slick - Dave McClelland $1500.00

Vegas - Jean Morehouse $1100.00

Big Un (aka Amigo) Ted Noland $1500.00

Reno - Sheena O’Gorman $6000.00
Trainer 5’ tall (tiny thing)
Horse was HUGE Like 16 hands / Moved beautiful, great hunter/jumper prospect

Shorty - Angie Robertson $500.00 (home with trainer)
A bit aggressive. Not rideable.

Shooter - Mark Robertson $1400.00

Gaucho - Volnei Rodriguez $4000.00
Western Horseman - October issue

Reno - Thomas Sheffield $2000.00

Diego - Steve Smith $1800.00

Max - Guy Woods (EMM 1st place) $6500.00

Medicine Man - Jimmy Thomas $1100.00
Horse got toxic poisoning Aug. 30th
Then laminitis. Told by Vet. And Farrier he wouldn’t ride in competition.
Farrier thought horse would need 6months to 1 year to recover.
Took 3 weeks. Trainer said it was the strength of the Mustang that allowed him to recover so quickly

Teton - Rachel Thorp $400.00

Hercules - Cliff Tipton $3000.00 (going home)

Slicker - David Tomasetti $2200.00

Blackjack - Jonathan Weisiger $4300.00

Desperate Horsewife
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Desperate Horsewife
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How much did they spend?

Okay, I've been blown away by how many hits this site has gotten since posting the top trainers this morning! Way more than I've ever gotten either here or at Carpenter Creek. And now that I've gotten some of the sales results, well, I just couldn't wait to share them!

Ready?

Lowest selling horse was $300. No clue who'd it was. Many trainers wanted to buy back their horses but they went for too much money. Kitty Lauman, who placed second, got Ranger back for $7,500. Many horses, say my sources, went for upwards of $10,000. And the top selling horse? Are you sitting down? $50,000!!!

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And the Winner Is...

It's been difficult finding information on the Extreme Mustang Makeover as it's happening, but one of the mustang lists had a member who's in Forth Worth and posting as results come in. Interested in seeing the winners? Well, here they are!

Guy Wood 1st place

Kitty Lauman 2nd place

Zane Davis 3rd place

Avija Aunina 4th place (she road English)

Dwight Bilyk 5th place

Bill Lopez 6th

Holly Davis 7th

Nick Bowman 8th

Cody Keller 9th

Robin Secrist 10th

Roeliff Annon 11th

Jeremy Dunn 12th

Steven Hampton 13th

I'm so happy to see Zane and Holly both in the top ten! Way to go, guys! I'm looking forward to hearing how the adoption portion of the event goes today. Wonder what the top bid will be? Wonder if my new friend,Susan, who lives in Southwest WA, will be able to buy back her Mac?

It was also announced that they plan on sponsoring two more Mustang Makeovers. Cool, eh? I'm thinking hard about whether or not I've got what it takes to do this. I'd like to give it a go...what do you think?

************

Brassy, up for 'adoption'

After the high of the EMM, here's a downer. Someone posted to the mustang message board that there are two BLM horses at CBER, a 'rescue' that has a shady reputation and has had several horses die while there. Truly, they are horse traders and nothing else. They've been banned on at least one message board from asking for donations. If you'd like to take a peek into the controversy, here's a link: http://www.speakforthehorses.com/CBER.htm

I have such a difficult time leaving them there. It's a difficult thing; you know that those people won't stop as long as others will buy from them, and you hate to leave the animal there because of the neglect. One of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations.

'Forgotten'...what a name. I hope she doesn't get forgotten.

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How did that happen?

Darling and I have been gone the past five days as she was showing the sheep at the Puyallup fair. We had fun, but the drive home was dark and the rain was driving harder than we were. It felt wonderful to sleep in our own beds, and had it not been for City Boy coming home after a night of graveyard, I doubt we'd have gotten out of bed before noon!

Upon going outside to do chores, I saw something just a little unusual. It appeared there was a large, dark horse shaped shadow in the horse pasture. A closer look and yes, there was Jet with the sheep! The four foot fence was still up, meaning the only way she got over there was by going over. Great. Let's face it, four feet isn't terribly high, but she's not had any desire to cross it before this. I suspect it was last night's storm that got her going.

Other than that, everyone is looking good, although those winter coats sure are coming in! Sunny didn't want me to get too close, but I'd left the fly mask on her while we were gone and I wanted to take it off, so after a bit of slipping and sliding in the muddy paddock she decided it wasn't worth the effort to continue trying to dodge me. I wasn't sure if she'd jump when I pulled the velcro apart, but she didn't flinch. The sun is shining this afternoon and will hopefully continue to do so; it'd be great if I could get that paddock dried up enough to start working these girls now that fairs are done for the year!

In other, bigger, more exciting news, the Extreme Mustang Makeover Competition is coming up this Saturday! If you live within driving distance of Forth Worth, Texas, I expect you to go watch, take plenty of pictures and give me a blow by blow update =)

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Flags, flags and more flags.

My friend Curt operates the hydrobull as a client works on her cutting skills.

I stopped at my good friends the other day and Curt asked me if I was riding those wild horses of mine yet. I was happy to report that two of them had been mounted and walked around a bit. But I also told him how Sunny is still dealing with fear, especially on the right side.

"What you need to do is tie her head up and get a flag and whip it around. Don't hit her, just whip it around until she gets used to it."

I love this guy. He's a very talented horseman. But you know how I feel about flags with horses that have trust issues. However, I'm always willing to eat my words if it means progress, especially with Sunny. I didn't think this was an issue that a flag would solve, but I up for giving it a try. Before the fair last month, Sunny had worked to the point of not caring about things flying around her; we'd reached a new level of trust in our relationship. I'd tossed my coat across her back and had it land on the other side (right side) without her flinching. I'd rubbed the saddle blanket all over her body, including her head and face. I figured one of two things would happen with the flag; she either could care less, or she'd flip out and I'd be forced to finish the job. But hey, let's wave that flag.

So home I came and I picked up the fly mask. Not a flag, but similar enough in the fact that it makes that spooky velcro noise and I needed to get into her personal space with it. She wasn't happy, but that mask is on. I led her around the yard, across the road to the mail box, back into the yard. And then I spotted a red plastic flag that'd come with the lumber for the barn. Great! I picked it up and waved it around. Sunny moved off into a circle with me on her left.

Did you know mustangs are lazy? Yes, very lazy. Plus, it was warm, so Sunny decided it wasn't worth the effort. We were once again standing placidly while I tossed the flag around her head and legs. I changed sides, over to that dreadful right, and she didn't care.

So my troubles are not rooted in things waving around her. It's not things being placed on her back. She doesn't mind my tossing things like coats from her left over the top and landing on the right side of her body. But my hand reaching over? That triggered a huge reaction last month, and right now I'm stymied as to what direction to head next.

One thing is for sure; it'll have to wait until I return from Puyallup. Darling and I leave early, early, early on Friday morning and won't be back home until Wednesday. Another vacation for my horses. We'll see just how Sunny handles this second break.

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For the Birds

It's been a big weekend around here; a weekend of firsts. While I've led each of the horses down to the sheep field for a bit of grazing, from Quiet Storm being there for an hour on her own, I've never left any of them there. On Saturday, however, I led Quiet Storm down and decided she'd be fine to leave for the morning. Upon reaching home, I decided why not try Sunny, too? So the two of them spent four hours grazing, which they loved.

Sunday morning Darling led Quiet Storm back down to the pasture and this time I brought Jet. Again, they did fine and were big and plump when Darling and I walked down in the afternoon to get them.

Of course, getting to and from the field gives my girls a taste of trail horse training; we've got woods and a creek to pass through. But the real training comes when you suddenly have seven hang gliders swirling above your head and landing in a neighboring field as you're trying to lead a couple of two year olds down the road. Jet's head went up and she followed the strange looking bird with her eyes as it circled above her before landing. Quiet Storm wasn't quite as interested; her ears pricked up, but she was more concerned with getting home.

What is that strange looking bird?

Additional trail horse training came in the evening as I tossed a flake of hay into the manger. More birds, this time in the form of chickens, fluttering around Jet's face. The rooster perched along side of her actually flew over her back to get from one side of the stall to the other! Birds will definitely not be an issue with this horse, lol!

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So close to done!

Sunny and Bessie

I'm just downright itchy to climb back on my horse. Reading through the Mustang Makeover blogs just about does me in. Goal for this week is to get the round pen up so I have a safe place to get on again.

The stalls are nearly complete in the barn. A divider needs to go up in the new addition, followed by dividers in the paddock to create individual runs. Each run will then open up into the pasture so that Darling and I can either turn horses out as a group or individually.

We've also got a load of gravel here for the paddock (soon to be runs) for footing. No more three inches of wet clay during the winter, hooray! The rocks will help the horses keep their feet worn down, plus make it so much easier to clean. Even during the summer months, the paddock has been difficult. During dry weather, it's fine and dandy, but a day of rain just melts the manure right into that top layer of clay, which has become a slick quarter inch mess all on it's own. I'm looking forward to things being just a little drier. Of course, it'll be next year before footing can be put into the round pen to make it usable during the winter months, but it's a start.

In the meantime, Sunny is hanging out at the gate. I wonder if she's waiting to go somewhere? I can only hope she's been enjoying our walks over to the pasture where she's been able to spend a little time grazing. There's a slight change in her attitude, a bit of relaxation in the past week. It's been nice to see that. Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of sunshine after the round pen is up and I can get a good jump into training prior to the winter wet.

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The Barn is Coming Along

City Boy's been working on the barn these past couple of weeks and it's nearly complete. Two new stalls, 12x12, opening to individual runs. The runs will then open up into the pasture. He's also adding a sliding window to each stall on the outside so that Darling and I will be able to feed without having to walk through the runs and be malled by hungry horses.

The other day I heard an engine back across the creek so slipped through the trees to see what was happening. My neighbor was out there with his baler, so I asked if he was keeping or selling the hay. Selling, he said, so I told him not to worry about picking it up, we'd be over to get it. Now I've got a tent (one of those from Costco) full of hay. Probably won't last the winter, but sure does put a dent in it!

Today I led Quiet Storm across this field and down the road a bit to the sheep pasture. I left her there for an hour or so to graze. She's completely comfortable being down there on her own without the other horses. Sunny is the same, as is Jet. None of the girls seems to mind not being with their pasturemates. So much for being herd bound when left in a herd situation, eh? I have a friend who's totally opposed to allowing horses to live in a herd atmosphere, and while I agree that getting hurt is an issue, I think my horses disprove the myth of a herd bound horse.

Sunny is progressing nicely enough. I've caught her up a couple of times and led her across the creek for a few minutes of grazing a couple times this past week. She's always very happy to get over here; always unhappy to leave. Once the round pen gets put up I'll be able to start working on the whole saddle thing again. Maybe this time I'll have someone hold onto her when I try swinging my leg over. Sound like a plan?