We started with a little schooling refresher, and she was just lovely, soft and responsive so off we went for a nice leisurely stroll
through the daisies and on down to the river.
Hope you enjoyed the ride along!
Riding day 45
Friday, June 28, 2019
Come for a ride
With me and Gussie!
We started with a little schooling refresher, and she was just lovely, soft and responsive so off we went for a nice leisurely stroll
We started with a little schooling refresher, and she was just lovely, soft and responsive so off we went for a nice leisurely stroll
Thursday, June 27, 2019
The 3 weeks photo shoot
DLH Booncat Peppy is 3 weeks old today.This little guy is so entertaining! Because I don't have my Nikon camera anymore, I am only able to use my phone camera, which means the action shots are blurry- he zips around so fast! So please forgive the ones with focus issues, and just enjoy the show!
All milked up and ready....
Maybe a nibble of something for extra energy.....
And off we go!
Airborne!
Turn and accelerate!
Stretched out and full speed ahead!
Airborne with a kick!
Videos will give you a better idea of the athletic ability of this colt- I call his moves the Booncat Boogie!
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Thursday, June 20, 2019
On the trails
It has been a while since I have ridden. I did have a short ride on Gussie a week or so ago, but with new foals and working with Sparkle and trimming feet, on top of hot weather that has me hiding out in the house, I have been neglecting my riding.
Yesterday was a good test for Sparkle. I saddled Gussie, then got Sparkle and saddled her up. She was only minimally twitchy about it ( grin) so I rode Gussie and led her. I wanted to see how she would do going through out pond so that's where we headed first. Last time I rode through there the water was over my stirrups and this time it was only up to Gussie's knees at the deepest part. The river is almost back to it's summer level.
No problem, no hesitation. Good girl!
We headed on down to the dyke and I was monitoring how she was doing on the rocky ground. No ouchiness, also good as I plan to keep her barefoot. Gussie is good barefoot so rides like this help keep their feet conditioned.
Once we got to the furthest part of the ride we relaxed by the river for a bit.
Took a different route going back, through the trees. I was happy that branches rubbing on her and the noise they made scraping across the saddle didn't seem to bother Sparkle. There is one place in the ride where there is a scary looking stump that looks like a black hole- as you can see in the next video she did give it a good look. It's near the end of the video.
I'm pretty happy with miss Sparkle and I can't wait to hit the trails with her! Now I just need a riding partner. I think our next outing will be upriver to check out the swimming hole.
Riding day 43 and 44
Yesterday was a good test for Sparkle. I saddled Gussie, then got Sparkle and saddled her up. She was only minimally twitchy about it ( grin) so I rode Gussie and led her. I wanted to see how she would do going through out pond so that's where we headed first. Last time I rode through there the water was over my stirrups and this time it was only up to Gussie's knees at the deepest part. The river is almost back to it's summer level.
No problem, no hesitation. Good girl!
We headed on down to the dyke and I was monitoring how she was doing on the rocky ground. No ouchiness, also good as I plan to keep her barefoot. Gussie is good barefoot so rides like this help keep their feet conditioned.
Once we got to the furthest part of the ride we relaxed by the river for a bit.
Took a different route going back, through the trees. I was happy that branches rubbing on her and the noise they made scraping across the saddle didn't seem to bother Sparkle. There is one place in the ride where there is a scary looking stump that looks like a black hole- as you can see in the next video she did give it a good look. It's near the end of the video.
I'm pretty happy with miss Sparkle and I can't wait to hit the trails with her! Now I just need a riding partner. I think our next outing will be upriver to check out the swimming hole.
Riding day 43 and 44
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Eli
Hey- Eli!
Who, me? You talkin' to me?
Yes, you Eli, I have some news for you.
See that horse trailer over there? You are going to learn to load in it this week.
No problem, I can do that, but why?
Well. I have some news for you.
You need to learn to load because in October, you are moving to your new home.
Oooooohhhhh..... I see.....
No problem, I can do this!
Yes it;s true, I have a buyer for Eli and he won't be going too far away, less than 2 hours away to a lady I have known for many years. She has wanted a Beamer baby for a while, and this was the one!
She will be coming to meet him in a couple of weeks, I'll be sure to get pics for you!
Monday, June 17, 2019
When a plan comes together
So- this happened today. All the pieces are falling in place.
Willing, soft eye, only minor anxiety. So- I put my riding boots and helmet on and headed to the round pen for a quick test ride.
Stand still for mounting - check.
Wait to be asked to move forward? - she moved when I shifted my weight in the saddle before I actually asked for forward, so I asked for a dwell and then step forward- check.
Turn on direct rein? - check; nice and soft.
Respond to leg pressure? Check. She is nicely responsive to leg in the turns.
Stop? Check, again, soft and willing.
Back up? Check. A slight hesitation as she got used to the feel of the bosal, but then stepped back nicely.
Was I smiling? You bet! Finally riding my very own Beamer daughter!
Looking forward to lots of this view!
Now I definitely need to go saddle shopping- or get this one fixed as my Wade that I use on Gussie doesn't fit her.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Progress
(See previous post to see why this is a big deal )
Today, we had major improvement. There are, in actuality, 3 issues I am dealing with here, and I am hoping that by starting with Sparkle accepting being saddled, and maybe even liking being saddled.... !!!....that the pulling back issue will fix itself, but I think I have to get her over her aversion to things touching her. She needs a lot of desensitization, but I refuse to do it to the point of numbness; I want her thinking things through and not just terrorizing her into accepting those scary things. Because, after all, when I ride, I am trusting my horse with my life.
Today, we had major improvement. There are, in actuality, 3 issues I am dealing with here, and I am hoping that by starting with Sparkle accepting being saddled, and maybe even liking being saddled.... !!!....that the pulling back issue will fix itself, but I think I have to get her over her aversion to things touching her. She needs a lot of desensitization, but I refuse to do it to the point of numbness; I want her thinking things through and not just terrorizing her into accepting those scary things. Because, after all, when I ride, I am trusting my horse with my life.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
The next step(s)
I did some thinking about how to deal with Sparkle's issues. For sure I don't want to wear myself out for 20 minutes every time I saddle her, and for sure I don't want to have her pulling back and forcing her to stand for saddling. So- she has to want to be saddled. How to accomplish that?
The words of a great horseman come to mind- make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. The right thing? Standing still.
The wrong thing? Moving her feet when she should be standing still.
The process? Make her move her feet when she doesn't want to, so that the reward is standing still.
The challenge? Getting to her mind so that she wants to stand still.
So- off to the round pen, the classroom for horses.
Last night, I did the round pen session with her. 20 minutes to saddle her, but she did stand reasonably still for it. And no halter on her.
Today- I can't say there was a lot of improvement over last night, but I did get more times when she stopped and thought about it. She eventually stopped and stood, even waited for a few minutes while I fixed the cinches which had fallen out of the keeper. I won't bore you with the half hour video I took for my records. But here is a short video of the end result of our first round pen session.
Eli is on the next step too. It's time for him to improve his leading, he has been saying "no I don't wanna" a little too much, and he's getting too big for the butt rope so I moved up to touching his butt with a stock whip, just enough to get him going forward. 2 sessions of that and he is much more respectful on the lead rope. Soon it will be time to introduce him to foal feed; he is 2 months old now and I like to take plenty of time to introduce feed to colts before weaning. Of course that means I take him out of the pen away from the other horses, so it will be a process. It will also mesh into teaching him to trailer load.
Booncat is on his next step too. I have had a halter on him a few times, and today he got to go out with mama while I let her hand graze. He is both sweet and a handful at the same time! Entertaining little guy.
He wasn't too impressed with being haltered and taken out of the pen with mama- but once he figured out that he got to eat grass he mellowed out about it.
He makes me smile! I think both the colts I got this year are exceptional and since they are both for sale it is going to be tough to let them go!
The words of a great horseman come to mind- make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. The right thing? Standing still.
The wrong thing? Moving her feet when she should be standing still.
The process? Make her move her feet when she doesn't want to, so that the reward is standing still.
The challenge? Getting to her mind so that she wants to stand still.
So- off to the round pen, the classroom for horses.
Last night, I did the round pen session with her. 20 minutes to saddle her, but she did stand reasonably still for it. And no halter on her.
Today- I can't say there was a lot of improvement over last night, but I did get more times when she stopped and thought about it. She eventually stopped and stood, even waited for a few minutes while I fixed the cinches which had fallen out of the keeper. I won't bore you with the half hour video I took for my records. But here is a short video of the end result of our first round pen session.
Eli is on the next step too. It's time for him to improve his leading, he has been saying "no I don't wanna" a little too much, and he's getting too big for the butt rope so I moved up to touching his butt with a stock whip, just enough to get him going forward. 2 sessions of that and he is much more respectful on the lead rope. Soon it will be time to introduce him to foal feed; he is 2 months old now and I like to take plenty of time to introduce feed to colts before weaning. Of course that means I take him out of the pen away from the other horses, so it will be a process. It will also mesh into teaching him to trailer load.
Booncat is on his next step too. I have had a halter on him a few times, and today he got to go out with mama while I let her hand graze. He is both sweet and a handful at the same time! Entertaining little guy.
He wasn't too impressed with being haltered and taken out of the pen with mama- but once he figured out that he got to eat grass he mellowed out about it.
He makes me smile! I think both the colts I got this year are exceptional and since they are both for sale it is going to be tough to let them go!
Friday, June 14, 2019
Stand still please
Because I am getting older, I am pretty cautious about what horse I throw a leg over. They have to be pretty solid and respectful on the ground first. Sparkle is definitely respectful, she doesn't invade my space and has good manners. However, getting her geared up to ride is an issue. She pulls back if you tie her up when you go to saddle- although she stands nicely tied for trimming her feet or grooming. So I just put the lead rope over my arm as I prepare to saddle her. As you can see in the following video, her evasion is to back up. If she was tied, she would pull back hard enough to break something, which she has done in the past. I will deal with that after I get her solid with being saddled, as that seems to be the trigger. So what I do, is every time she steps back even a little I ask her to move her hip over, then when her feet stop, I try again. As you watch this video (sorry it's a bit long, but that is the time it took to get this done) you will see places where my timing is off, but she got the idea anyway.
Once she is saddled, she stands quietly. It's that motion of putting something on her which makes her antsy. So of course, once she is saddled, the next step is to sack her out. In this case, I used my slicker. In the following video, you can see and hear just what she thinks of this! Little grunts and squeaks as if she expects it to hurt or sting or otherwise turn into a horse eating monster....
and once again it was all about her having to work whenever she wouldn't just stand calmly for me. This is actually really an important part of her training for me; I want to be able to trust that she isn't going to jump out from under me if I have to take off my coat or if a branch gets caught in my jacket and makes it flap....
It may take a while, but I have time. I would probably be able to step on and ride her, because I am told she is really nice to ride, and I know she does well out in the bush when I pony her- but I need that mental connection and peace in her mind before I will be comfortable riding her. Especially as most of my riding this year will be solo rides. So- I'm not in a hurry and a session spent doing groundwork and making progress is just as valuable and enjoyable to me as a refreshing trail ride.
Oh- and in case anyone was wondering, the dog in the background wasn't an issue at all.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Booncat
Sassy's baby is filling out and what a little character he is! His registered name will be DLH Booncat Peppy, so I'm just calling him Booncat.
He is living up to his cutting breeding genetics, some of his moves are pretty fancy!
It's almost impossible to get good action shots of him- he is so quick! I do manage to get a few little videos though.
He is so pestiferous too!
That was a prelude to this:
Chomp the mama!
Booncat just exudes sass- so I can see why his mama was named Sassy because I bet she was just like him when she was a baby!
It's so entertaining watching him that it takes me extra long to do chores .
I had to pull hair for his dna test, so that meant haltering him. The first day was when he was 3 days old- my smallest rope halter, the one I used on Eli, was way too big for him. So the next day I found an old nylon halter and I have been using that.
The video makes his head look huge and his body small but it really isn't like that!
Sassy is still quite protective of her baby and I am quite reluctant to put them in with the herd until Booncat is a little bigger. So I'll have to do some shifting around so they can get some room to move. Once he is leading a little bit I can put them in the mare pen while they are out on the grazing paddocks, so that should be fun to watch him exploring.
Can't wait to see what he looks like at 3 weeks old and is filled out a bit!
He is living up to his cutting breeding genetics, some of his moves are pretty fancy!
It's almost impossible to get good action shots of him- he is so quick! I do manage to get a few little videos though.
He is so pestiferous too!
Chomp the mama!
Booncat just exudes sass- so I can see why his mama was named Sassy because I bet she was just like him when she was a baby!
Sassy, letting Drifter know that he is not. allowed. to. visit.
His cuteness makes up for his sass!
It's so entertaining watching him that it takes me extra long to do chores .
I had to pull hair for his dna test, so that meant haltering him. The first day was when he was 3 days old- my smallest rope halter, the one I used on Eli, was way too big for him. So the next day I found an old nylon halter and I have been using that.
The video makes his head look huge and his body small but it really isn't like that!
Sassy is still quite protective of her baby and I am quite reluctant to put them in with the herd until Booncat is a little bigger. So I'll have to do some shifting around so they can get some room to move. Once he is leading a little bit I can put them in the mare pen while they are out on the grazing paddocks, so that should be fun to watch him exploring.
Can't wait to see what he looks like at 3 weeks old and is filled out a bit!
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Getting it figured
I am so enjoying watching this colt figure things out! He is light on his feet, and has some spunk. He shows the cutting moves he was born to do, and a little of his daddy's reining moves- did a nice sliding stop today which of course was before I could whip the phone out for a video.
But there is enough cuteness anyway! In fact he gets cuter by the minute!
The legs are all where they are supposed to be, no issues.
Yesterday he was straining to pooh so I gave him and enema; a little later he was still straining so I gave him a second one. I use the Fleet enema for children, it's just the right size. This morning he is all normal and full of bouncy happies. Which I get so bemused watching him I forget to get photos for the blog!
Sassy is being a very good mama. She is watchful, very careful with her feet, and has no problem with me messing with her precious boy.
Tonight I will leave the stall door open, as baby has learned to follow mama in and out of it.
This colt looks the most like Beamer of all the ones he has sired.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Delivery day D Day
As I settled in to my cozy bed in the barn around 9 pm, June 6.... I realized that there was no sense getting comfortable because I could see Sassy hunting for a spot- to foal. Sure enough, she lay down...
.
and it was time!
The delivery was fairly quick, less than 10 minutes which is probably due to him- yes it's another colt- being so small. First time mamas tend to have small babies, I think Tumbleweed was an exception and I had to assist his mama. But this little fellow was born easily, and he and Sassy lay quietly for quite a while. He was looking for her though, so I managed to get him up beside her head so she could see, smell and lick him.
Because it was so wet out- we had just had a heavy downpour a couple of hours before he was born- the bedding pack was very soggy and I wanted him in the stall asap so I helped him find his feet and steered him into the foaling stall, with mama close behind.
Then it was all about making sure he nursed and pooped- but also making sure that mama was ok with this new little creature Sassy was a little bit befuddled at first not sure what to make of him but as soon as he nursed those motherly genes kicked in and she fell in love with her baby.
.
I had to halter her to make sure she stood still for him, which really helped and soon he was latched on and slurping happily away.
A few hours later I left them for the night and this morning couldn't wait to head down to the barn to check on them.
Yup- all is well!
He is a rich bay colour at the moment and he is definitely a roan. Apparently Sassy does carry a copy of Agouti, and since I didn't include bay roan in my list of colours, the closest guess was Betsy who guessed blue roan colt for June 5th. Betsy can you shoot me an email at diamondlazyh641 at hotmail.com for your mailing address if you would like a Diamond Lazy H Quarter Horses ball cap!
So everyone- here he is- DLH Booncat Peppy!
He has his daddy's eyes and cute head
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Waiting and wild weather
Sassy continues to hold her foal hostage. She is actually still well within her expected gestation, it's just that I'm getting impatient to meet the little one!
Her bag is full, but hasn't turned to milk yet, it's still clear and sticky. But that can change in a heartbeat! C'mon baby we all want to meet you!
The smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta (10,000 people evacuated in many small communities) had spread all the way down here, and I saw a map that showed it going all the way to the mid eastern US. I think Far Side said on Facebook that they were getting the smoke there. Well, yesterday we had a crackin' thunderstorm and heavy bouts of rain that cleared the air.
No smoke! And it's a beautiful day today.
As I sit in my trailer near the horse pens (foal watch) I get to observe the horse herd behaviour. I watched something interesting last night....
Sparkle and Eli have a thing going! Belle and Gussie seem to be quite ok with her taking over babysitting duties. And I say Gussie too because the other night at my midnight check, Belle and Sparkle were standing in the shelter and Eli was sleeping in the soft dirt about 20 feet away and Gussie was standing guard over him. Anyway, after I took this video, Eli and Sparkle were mutually grooming each other and then he was trying to nurse off her, and she seemed to be ok with that! Which is all good, because I want to try to get her pregnant at some point, and seeing that she is fond of babies is a good start to amping up her maternal instincts.
The water level in the river and the pond has gone down considerably. I had pics and a video of the pond but they all seem to have gotten lost in cyberspace when I downloaded them. The water in the pond was just over stirrup deep , my feet got a little wet. Gussie seems to enjoy wading through the water. Once the river is back to its summer normal it will be swimming time again on the hot days! I sure hope the fire season, which is already horrendous, doesn't escalate and be as bad as last year. Can't do much riding in the heavy smoke and darn sure not safe to trail ride in the bush. Can't we just have a good balance of sunshine and rain?
This last week was all about getting the horses feet trimmed. 3 down, 2 to go! Well, 1 and a half. I got Drifter's front feet done and I still need to do Sparkle. But I have to wait until I have someone to help hold those 2.
Riding day 42
Her bag is full, but hasn't turned to milk yet, it's still clear and sticky. But that can change in a heartbeat! C'mon baby we all want to meet you!
The smoke from the wildfires in northern Alberta (10,000 people evacuated in many small communities) had spread all the way down here, and I saw a map that showed it going all the way to the mid eastern US. I think Far Side said on Facebook that they were getting the smoke there. Well, yesterday we had a crackin' thunderstorm and heavy bouts of rain that cleared the air.
No smoke! And it's a beautiful day today.
As I sit in my trailer near the horse pens (foal watch) I get to observe the horse herd behaviour. I watched something interesting last night....
Sparkle and Eli have a thing going! Belle and Gussie seem to be quite ok with her taking over babysitting duties. And I say Gussie too because the other night at my midnight check, Belle and Sparkle were standing in the shelter and Eli was sleeping in the soft dirt about 20 feet away and Gussie was standing guard over him. Anyway, after I took this video, Eli and Sparkle were mutually grooming each other and then he was trying to nurse off her, and she seemed to be ok with that! Which is all good, because I want to try to get her pregnant at some point, and seeing that she is fond of babies is a good start to amping up her maternal instincts.
The water level in the river and the pond has gone down considerably. I had pics and a video of the pond but they all seem to have gotten lost in cyberspace when I downloaded them. The water in the pond was just over stirrup deep , my feet got a little wet. Gussie seems to enjoy wading through the water. Once the river is back to its summer normal it will be swimming time again on the hot days! I sure hope the fire season, which is already horrendous, doesn't escalate and be as bad as last year. Can't do much riding in the heavy smoke and darn sure not safe to trail ride in the bush. Can't we just have a good balance of sunshine and rain?
This last week was all about getting the horses feet trimmed. 3 down, 2 to go! Well, 1 and a half. I got Drifter's front feet done and I still need to do Sparkle. But I have to wait until I have someone to help hold those 2.
Riding day 42
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