Back to Sparkler time

After a break because of my broken toes, Dawna and I resumed our time with Sparkler. I sat on the mounting block and Dawna had all the fun. All went well with lunging and ground work until we got out the fly spray. Last year I had them both fairly used to spraying, but there's been some regression. I'll have to keep working on it.

Next week is the Fourth of July and I'll have to put horses on hold. I've got to get to out cabin. We haven't been up there yet and there's a ton of work to do to get it open.

Fence #2 done!

It rained all day yesterday, which we needed since it's been very dry. I'm glad I took a day off from work as we had a beautiful day to get the gate up on the new fence and finish the job. This leaves only one more major fencing project. Bob says it can wait until next year...

Toe update

It's been 2 weeks since my toes were broken. They are still swollen, black and blue and hurt, but I can put on a pair of Dan's old, two-sizes too big tennis shoes and hobble around pretty good.

Drill bite

Dang it - almost but not quite! We've been working on the fence on the west side of the pole shed for more than a month. We sunk the gate posts first, a week later attached the boards around the gate sections. We sunk the rest of the posts yesterday afternoon and finished getting the boards on. All that's left is the gate... Bob started drilling through the post for the gate bolt but the bit got stuck and the drill battery died.

Bad luck does run in threes!

The doctor looked at my Xrays today and guess what? I have three fractures, not one. One in my big toe and two in my second toe. The good news is in three weeks I should be walking normally and totally healed in 6.

Jessi's offer

I've placed an ad to sell Red. That doesn't mean I won't work with, him but I need to spend more time with Sparkler. I'm certain Red will be a great horse with more training, but I'm simply not strong enough and don't have enough time.

Jessica has offered to take him in September and train him if he doesn't sell on Horsetopia. In Florida, horses sell well around Christmas.

A run of bad luck

They say bad luck runs in threes.

First Sam -- he ran into a deer and totaled his car on Tuesday.

Thursday, Lisa's boyfriend's dog attached her and gave her severe wounds to her hand. She needed surgery on Friday to clean out a terrible infection that had set in.

While waiting for the third shoe to drop on Dan, it got me in the foot instead. You-Know-Who stomped on my foot last night while doing some ground work.

So I went in for Xrays this morning and found I have a broken toe. Damn, damn, double damn. Hurts like hell. I go back to the doctor on Friday to make sure I don't need a pin. So, I missed golf tonight and probably for a few more Mondays.

A new lesson learned - always wear hard-toed shoes!

This is also the third injury from Red.

Help from Dawna

Dawna stopped over tonight. I need riding lessons and just plain horse handling help.

Sparkler is an angel. She wants to please and seems to love the attention and exercises. She won't accept the bridle yet so we worked on ground training. She backs pretty well, flexes the neck, walks, whoas and is off to a very good start. Next week we'll get the saddle on and work on the bridle some more.

Red's for sale

Happy Anniversary!

It has now been one year since I began my horse odyssey. I have come so far. First I have to thank my husband, and Vicky, Dawna, Sally, Art and Vickie, Gary and Darlene, Jessica, Mindy, Larry and all the rest who have held my hand, listened to me and given advice.

What have I learned? Let's see...

• Command respect from your horse. Don't let them get away with shit (yes, the word is needed). That doesn't mean you can beat your horse (although there is a time to use force) - you just have to figure out where that line is and that is the hardest thing I've had to learn.
• If you've trained a dog you can train a horse. Just because they are bigger, don't expect any less.
• You need to observe and really understand a horse and this takes time (in my case a whole year). What I thought was the behavior of a bad horse was his reaction to my poor handling
• Horses are going to be unsettled, bucky, rear a little, be pushy and challenge you--especially young, untrained horses. That's what they do. Keep a healthy distance and be CAREFUL but don't be afraid
• Expect excellent behavior of your horses. I used to tie them when I groomed because they wouldn't stand still. Okay, it was partly because I didn't know what I was doing. But now I don't. I expect them to stand in one spot and if I drop the lead rope they will stay in place. Mary made this point during the academy workshop. If they paw the ground, tap/kick their leg and tell them no. If they are supposed to stand still and they move one step, make them move back one step. Or two steps. I found an excellent article about standing still that talks about this and more
• Here's the tough one. If they do something very dangerous (bite, kick, etc.) you need to inflict some pain within 3 seconds. After that they won't know why you are being mean. Of course that means you need to have a whip in hand or be able to slap in the appropriate body location without causing real harm after they've done this. You can't do this if you are knocked on the ground (voice of experience here), so BE PREPARED
• Do fencing the right way from the start and you won't spend countless hours rounding your horses up :)

Awesome day!

Jessie, Tony and Heather and Christy stopped out. Jessie needed her riding fix. I needed Jessie's assessment. It was awesome. She first lunged Red because he had SO much energy. He nearly tore Jessie's arms off just getting him in the arena. But he tired pretty quickly. Jessie rode and then I rode.

It's obvious he doesn't understand riding cues, but the good thing is he is very responsive. You don't need to kick him a lot to get him to move. Its as if once you are on him, he knows he has a job to do and he is very quiet. Jessie thinks he's got a lot of potential.

Sparkler had much more energy and got lunged a bit longer. She spooked once under Jessie and sidestepped when the saddle made a noise.

Lisa rode next. Sparkler spooked from the stirrup moving when Lisa tried to mount, so Jessie slapped and banged the stirrup around on both sides until she stopped freaking, then Lisa was able mount and ride for a few turns.

Another new experience - hosing

I've never tried this because they've been so sensitive to the sound of the spraying. They loved it!

Art and Vicki making progress

Our neighbor Art's brother-in-law, Dale, was up from Montana and helping Art and Vicki with their riding horses. This morning Vicki called to say come on over and watch the fun. After Dale lunged them in their round pen in the barn, he warmed the horses up, then Art and Vick rode. Vicki tried my Abetta saddle on her horse and it seems to fit them both pretty well. If she's interested I'll sell it to her as it doesn't fit my Walkers.

Then it was off to Mom's this afternoon for a family gathering. Brother Tony's kids and families are up from Missouri and Florida. Jessie's daughter, Rilee, is a wiggle worm and cute as a bug's ear. She is so good natured and happy. And she has her mom's determination, for sure. Tony and Heather's son, Seth, has grown so much and is still a very smiley, happy boy.

South pasture is open

I've got a long weekend with Friday and Monday off, and an even longer to-do list. Yesterday I dealt with retaining walls and flower gardens. Today I put up the tape around the south pasture and we let the horses into it. Of the three pastures, this one is the best quality - full of clover, alfalfa and dandelions, which they seem to really love. They ran up and back, over and over. I never tire of watching the show.

Tomorrow, Mom is having an open house for my nieces and nephews (Tony and Donna's kids) who are in town visiting. Jessica has an eight month old baby girl, Rilee, who I can't wait to see. I'm hoping Jessie can sneak away on Monday to our place and check out Red and Sparkler. She boards horses at her stable in Jupiter FL and competes with her paint, Kachina.