Clinic and updates...

The clinic was so much fun...I woke up at 7:00 am to the sounds of the golf cart rattling across the front paddock which startled me so I flew to the window but it was my daughter who usually (here at home) isnt up much before 8:30...Moved the 2 horse, moved the backhoe, the bobcat, the grove machine (all hubby's toys) so we would have room for all the rigs...Caitlin let me leave my two goosenecks where they were...gee thanks!
Anyhow ten riders (and all their supporters) showed up as well as my blacksmith who trimmed and reshod three of the horses while they were here, then gained another half dozen folks for clientele as they were so impressed by his work...He joked that he would have to move down here (he is from Ocala...trips to our place are worth the 2 hour drive!) and then he asked us to take in his new Paint to train...I wanted him to ride Cleo (he is normally a dressage rider) but he got busy and by the time he had a free minute, it was thundering and lightening. Caitlin moved the crowd to the indoor barn, and the kids asked tons of questions. This is a terrific group! Luckily we had empty stalls for most all of the horses; the rest were loaded onto the washrack to wait out the storm.
Anyhow Renan got to see me ride and he was very complimentary! I am pleased as the gym work has helped my legs (knee stays tight, heel stays down, and toe stays slightly tipped out...) Priscilla has the world champion mare and she too said it looked like my form has improved. When other riders note that your form has improved that gives me great faith...
I actually got Cleo to cross the new water-box my husband built...you could sail a boat in that thing...it holds water and lots of it...she stared at it, whooooofed twice, and with Caitlin kneeling down and showing her it was just water, stepped into the box and gingerly crossed it without the disaster it was the LAST time we crashed and sank our old water box...
I was so excited! Will ride her again tomorrow and try it since the trail course is still all set up...
Crush stayed out all day until the storm came; he loves his free time and can be hard to catch but he let me walk right up to him...I didnt saddle him today (he was saddled until late last night but I didnt get a chance to ride) so I will ride him as well tomorrow.
Kaely tried on the shirt I made her and it fit perfectly; I was so relieved as I hate that material since it has been such a bitch to sew...Now all I have to do is add the crystals and the cuffs (the kid is a bean pole with arms like a monkey!!!!) and she will wear it at the state show in 3 weeks.
Anyhow today was great despite the weird weather...two really awful rain storms but I am inspired by the comments people gave me when they saw me and Cleo working...Sometimes I let my age get me feeling like I may never get as far as I want with my horses, and I ain't getting any younger...
Pictures coming from the clinic today...just gotta remember where I left my camera!

Clinic on Sunday

We are holding a trail clinic here on Sunday...if I hadnt mentioned it before, my daughter is a trainer...one of those 'overly' talented youth that went straight from youth classes into pro trainer. Of course this leaves me in the mud so maybe this post should be on one of the blogs where they are fat middle aged etc...but I am trying to spend less time on the computer and more time doing actual saddle time...which is working.
Anyhow the clinic takes place in my arena...7 riders are coming. I have been invited to participate on Doofus...Gee, thanks! Think I would rather survive the day and ride Cleo who is my show mare...It has been really discouraging on the Doof...he does well one day, sucks the next...I am staying out of using harsh methods other than 'look bud, it is so much easier if you would just...' So pending this post I am headed out to ride before the rain hits.
I appreciate all half dozen or less of you hanging on there...I have no clue as to why my blog wasnt added to the list. I dont think I insulted anyone...
Picture...need a picture...
Okay this was this picture that made me decide to join a gym (what an ass!!) and get a sewing machine so I could lengthen my pants...I also decided I didnt want to show the short fat horse anymore...I want MY mare Cleo back so now we are a team again and I cannot wait for the fall shows. We have been practicing showmanship in the evenings...

Until we meet again...I will bore you...

If anyone even reads this blog anymore...
The story of Doofus...
whose actual name is Rockin to the Core...registered APHA/Breeders Trust/Pinto horse too...so with all this royalty (Grandpa is Dirti Rocki) why does he give me so much grief...
Day one...Doofus is born...actually at night...
ME: OH SHIT!!! It is a Lethal White...(tears and sobs...what else can go wrong in my life?) Waaaaiiiittt a minute...(pulls gently on snuffling little face emerging from mare) There's a medicine hat!!!!! (Relief) Oh wait!! He doesnt have an ear! (shit!!!) Oh wait! It's there just mashed down...
Anyhow he was born with a 'crushed' ear...all tangled up and turned inside itself...I named him "Crush" for a barn name...
Cut to a couple months later and multiple arguments with a blacksmith looking to get fired...but what the HELL do I know? I call the vet who determines that Crush/aka Doofus DOES have a club foot and if something isnt done LIKE TODAY I may as well put him down...it is BAD! I KNEW IT! By that afternoon I am on my way to Gainesville with a borrowed horse trailer...OH! I forgot to mention the day before we had lost our barn to Hurricane Charlie as well as our BRAND NEW Exiss gooseneck lying wheel up in the road since a tornado picked it up and tossed it and we couldnt move it until the insurance company saw it...SHIT! My life and welcome to it...anyhow, Crush, despite all his issues, hops right onto the borrowed trailer, a bumper pull, and waves buh-buy to mommy...welcome to weaning! We are on our way to Gainesville. Upon arrival I practically have to throw him off and turn around to race home as there is ANOTHER hurricane coming...Big kisses to my now weanling baby boy, admire his crystal blue eyes, his returning-to-normal ear, and I am back on the road battling 40 MPH winds and praying this borrowed trailer doesnt meet the same demise as my Exiss...
TWO weeks later, the hurricane debris is cleared from the med center at Gainesville and I can go pick up my baby boy...the board bill is $2000. He spent most of the time 'hunkered down' in the clinic kitchen with a group of trapped med students who treated him like a prince...I don't think he even missed his dam...Party on, dude.
So after that, his weaning was non-existant to me, his gelding at one year was uneventful, and when it came time to start saddling him, he took everything in stride...then one night he cracked his head open in the barn...I mean, open skull-this-is-it-get the backhoe kind of injury...Clint came in the middle of the night, picked the bone frags out of his poll, did meatball surgery on him for an hour and assured me he would be fine...Frickin' horse...Love my vet. He has hands that could sew up humans...
We deal with this...for 3 months, Crush recovers...quiet time in his dark cool stall...he loves it...
We start saddle time again...this time he is in the round pen and finds something imaginary to jump. He lands on a panel, cutting his hind leg to the bone...about a 2 inch swath. Cannot sew it so I tetanus him, pain killer, clean it and clean it...Now it is just a scar...
A year later...he is doing well. I decide to take him to his first show for just showmanship...no other horses, show off the trailer...his first time out for a real show...He wins his first class of 12, green horse showmanship! I am completely thrilled and he is such a good boy. We come home with great pride and feelings of accomplishment...let's get ready for the next show and I will ride him...Not to be.
The next day, a sunday, I turn him out for an afternoon in the woods. About an hour later I call him; he is standing oddly to one side of the pump house...he doesnt move...very unusual as he almost always comes flying in...I walk out to see his OTHER hind leg cut to the bone...I sob all the way in from the pasture; Clint will make me put him down...this is bad...
I don't call Clint (my vet)...I wash the wound out, tetanus, bute for pain, penicillin for infection, and scrub his stall down...In he goes for the next 2 months of complete stall rest.
Six months later...he is sound again...his hind legs look like someone dragged him down the road with a meat cleaver but he is sound. I take him to a show...he wins showmanship, green horse w/t pleasure, w/t horsemanship, and goes high point green w/t horse....I am living in fear of his self-destructive nature.

Guess this was'nt a plan...

Picture of Beats Being Broke, a well loved and much missed gelding we trained and sold a couple years ago...


Well I have requested addition to the list of Blogs twice now and since it hasnt been acknowledged, I guess we are dead in the water here...Thanks to everyone who DID participate but now I am thinking it wasnt a needed blog...

The misconceptions...

At your shows, your friends can be a huge source of support or they can create all kinds of chaos...
Last year we took ownership of a halter gelding for a friend who was going through some serious health issues with her husband. He was so sick with cancer that she was gone from their farm all the time to the hospital. They are not young, she is 67 and he is 71. They kept a TON of cattle, 4 horses and all the dogs and cats, pigs and goats a huge farm might have even though they lived on a small 16 acres. She wanted us to show the horse, get him some points in APHA and expose him to the show ring. She would cover all his expenses, we didnt charge her anything, and she was to do all the 'homework' (neck sweat, lights, etc) to keep him ready for halter showing...
It was a disaster.
All went well for a while...we hauled the horse to several large out of state shows where he either won the class (youth geldings was his specialty!) or I came in 2nd and 3rd with him in large amateur classes. In 3 shows he earned his ROM in open, youth and amateur. The judges adored him and our halter friends gave us major 'secrets' to go above and beyond the horses that might beat him...None were dangerous or cruel (special rolling techniques to flatten his crest, etc) and in fact were things he might enjoy. This gelding came to us with horrible manners, he had basically run rough-shod over the woman and we were constantly straightening him out.
After a few months, when we would go pick the horse up (at our expense of tolls and gas) we noticed he was getting hairier and furrier, and that his neck was soggy and he was just generally out of shape. She didnt want to pay us to keep him at our place so after this one show where he didnt place due to how bad he looked, we started wondering if we were fools for trying to help this woman out...We were spending all our time AT the shows trying to make up for his condition and trying to stay competitive with him...we felt like chumps. Our own horses werent getting the time under saddle and it was a huge juggling act to do halter and then have our showmanship patterns down...
Long story cut short: At the huge March show, terrible weather prevailed. The woman decided to come with a friend and "help" out...What a disaster...I handed her the papers BACK to this horse and said so long...She had not only screamed at me about our techniques of showing, but had railed at me that she had done all this for US because my daughter didnt have a halter horse!! WHAAAAT?????? If Caitlin wanted a halter horse, I damn sure can afford to go BUY her a halter horse but she didnt particularly WANT one and after this episode she doesnt care if she ever has one!
In the meantime, a trainer friend had told us this woman had run around to all the halter trainers and asked THEM to take her horse...Sure, they said, we'll take him, but not for free...We had FOOLS written all over us...I am still recovering from this awful example of friendship. We will never do something like this again...
We have our show friends...we see them at shows. We loan them stuff, they braid in a pinch for us, we check their kids at night if they are gone, we are all supportive during ring time...But we worry that a situation like this would arise again and it sure did put a damper on my confidence.

Rainy days

Today is the aftermath of a terrible storm...last night we all huddled in the living room, eyes glued to the TV hoping the power would hold...a tornado had been spotted less than two miles away...I clutched my shihtzu while Caitlin had her dwarf hamster at hand in case we all had to pile into a closet...and of course we cringed inside for our horses. Four yrs ago during Hurricane Charlie, a tornado tore down our barn with 6 horses and 4 dogs inside...We couldnt get to them. In the dead of the night and the aftermath of a frightening blast of a storm, we heard nothing from the shattered barn. Caitlin was inconsolable. I couldnt breathe. My husband Jimmy scaled the 16 foot high pile of splintered 6 X 8 beams and got 12 pair of shining terrified eyes...the dogs were okay, the horses were trapped. Outside our brand new gooseneck lay wheels up, dented and twisted. The house had a single cracked window. My little filly Sushi had missed being speared by a 60 ft water oak by a mere 3 feet. She huddled in her stall, quivering and staring at the massive tree pile-drived into the center of her stall.
I will try and find pictures from this mess; I have long since tried to forget the scene we saw the next morning when dawn came.
My question is to all: What would you do in this kind of situation for your horses...we were smack in the middle of show season, I was the treasurer of a large Paint horse club, and I was due to be at a show the next weekend...Needless to say I ended up going horseless as my kids were too traumatized and I had no trailer.

Ground rules

Read the rules...that's the first thing they teach you in showing a horse...so for this blog I must insist that everyone respect everyone else...don't care about your language, just no hammering on someone because of how they may do things...I hope this blog will help everyone who goes to a show with their horse will understand that there are certain things to do and ways to make it as fun as it should be, as well as making it a competition to see just how well you are doing with your horse at home. I do not want to play moderator so here's my request at the start...
I love pictures, lots of pictures...lots of advice...lots of stories about what went wrong, what went right, and about horses (or mules or minis...whatever equid you show). This is not a blog to hammer trainers (my daughter s a trainer) or judges but please do relay stories of good and bad instances...no names please...
What shall we talk about? Horses and showing, what you do to prepare, how you practice, working shows (been there done that and wish I had better computer skills!!) tolerating politics, short cuts, tips, tricks, training, clothes, and all the fads...Let's hit it!!!