OMG

Omg guys, I know that like no one reads this, but just in case anyone does, I promise to start updating it at least one a week. I can't believe I haven't posted on here since Feb.

Anyways, new post coming this weekend....

Hey

More entries coming soon, I've been sooo busy, no time to blog. Promise a new entry within the next week.

Just some random horse talk...

Ok, so I know I promised you guys a blog on Saturday, but I've been so busy I haven't gotten around to it. I still haven't had time to get an actual post going, so I figured I would just let you guys have some random updates about what's going on with me, then you will have something to read until I get a post together this week.



So, Sidekick, the Quarab gelding that I did the training post on, is doing alot better. He now respects the bit, is getting very soft, and will hold a headset for a few minutes before I have to ask again. He still has a long way to go, but now he can actually be considered *broke*. We did a for sale video of him on Saturday, but we ended up rushed, and the arena was half-frozen, so it is not even close to a good video as far as showing how good and sweet he is. But, I will post it for you guys to see. Anyways, we are going to try and get a better one this weekend. Sunday, I rode him bareback, and he picked up his leads and loped circles, with his nose tipped to the inside like I asked. I didn't run into one problem with him on Sunday, no nosing out, or bracing. He was soft, he followed my hand as soon as I picked it up and moved it out. I even ended the ride walking and trotting him bridleless, with a rope around his neck. He turned, stopped, and backed with just the rope. So, here is the video, you can see, there is one little part where he is trotting, and he drops his head, and gives his nose, and looks great. Then, of course he raises his head back up, but we will get there... lol I know my riding is horrible in the video, I was riding "rushed" trying to get it over with because we had some things to do.
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=rbbdj8&s=5

Another update with me, while I have my mare at training, I am trying to leg up my older mare to run for this season until I have another horse to run. She is 13, perfectly sound, and a great running horse. I quit running her about 2 years back because I was running other horses, and so she got turned into my mom's trail horse. Now that I'm riding her again, she is doing so great, I think that the two year break really helped her. I hopped on her bareback the other day, and after riding her around, loping, etc. I realized that I hadn't ridden her bareback in 4 years or so, and she used to be my favorite horse to ride bareback. So I decided that on days where I wanted to work her lightly, I'm going to go bareback, because I had sooo much fun the other day.

My filly is going to be 2 in July. I can't believe how time flies. So, I have to start working her and getting a schedule going. I plan on starting out ponying her to try and get her legged up and in shape before she hits two, then ponying and lunging with a saddle at two, and going from there, probably going to get on her and do light work as a two year old, and start asking and teaching a little more when she hits three. We will have to see what she shows potential in, I'm hoping she shows some ability for barrels, but if she doesn't, I'll figure out what to do with her.

Usually, I take in one 'resale' horse at a time, and we put some training and time on them, and then sell them. Over the next couple of months, I'm going to be busy, because I have two resale horses, and picking up a third on Saturday. So I will have 4 personal horses to ride, my filly to work with, and now three more. The life of a horse person... lol

So, you guys tell me what you think about Sidekick, besides it being a pretty horrible video.. lol

New post coming tomorrow

Sorry guys, I've been really busy. Nine horses + winter + school and all that is alot to handle.
Will get a new blog post up tomorrow!

Bloodlines.... Make or Break?

Ok, so today I want to talk about bloodlines. Not specific bloodlines, but just bloodlines in general and how they affect your decision on a horse. Not every horse that is bred for a certain discipline ends up being good at it, and some don't even show potential. Then you get other horses who might be bred for something, but they have the conformation, mindset, the drive, and the potential needed to do something completely different. So, when you are shopping for a horse for a specific discipline, do you make certain bloodlines a requirement in your search, or do you look for a horse that simply has what it takes, and can do it? I understand if you are searching for a young horse, you would base a lot on their breeding, but I want to know, if you are looking a started horse, or an older horse, how much would you consider bloodlines.

So, let's say you are shopping for a horse for your discipline. You find two that you really like. One has the breeding for it, and seems like a good choice. The other also seems like a good choice, very nice, but he is bred towards a different discipline. Would you automatically say no to the horse that wasn't bred for it, or would you evaluate both fairly, and make your decision?

This question came to me the other day, when I went to visit a mare I have in barrel training. I was visiting with the trainer, we were talking about my mare, and other potential barrels horses, just basic barrel talk. We started talking about how his stallion was bred, and some of his colts. Then, the trainer turns to me... "Speaking of breeding, I meant to ask you how Mocha was bred last time I talked to you." He went on to tell me that she acted a little more on the hot/race bred side of the barrel breeding, but by conformation, size, etc. he had guessed she was either race bred crossed on something, or not race bred at all.

I laughed a little, and looked over at my mare standing in the paddock. "Nope, she isn't race bred. In fact, she doesn't have an ounce of barrel breeding in her. She's all old quarter horse, ranch breeding." With that said, he talked to me a little bit more about her, and then... "Well, so far she is coming along great, I think she'll make a good barrel horse. She might not run with the top horses, but she'll be good. Why did you decide to get her as a barrel prospect if she wasn't bred for it." I smiled... "That's an easy answer. I saw her and I rode her. Then I decided to get her. I liked her build, I liked her look, I liked her handle, and I liked her mindset. The only thing I didn't like was that she was about 2 months pregnant, and I knew it would be a while before I could really do anything with her."

We talked some more, I thanked him, and went home, pondering the conversation in my head. So what if my little mare isn't bred for what she is in training for. I'm determined to try and make something out of her, because I think she can do it, and do it well.

So, voice your opinions on that kind of thing, bloodlines and potential versus just raw potential and talent, bloodlines excluded. What would you choose and why?

Busy...

Sorry, it has been a busy, busy week. I will try and get a post out tomorrow. It will either be a little blurb about my horse that is at training, and her trainer, or it will be about bloodlines, and how they can affect your decision when it comes to a horse.

Training...

Ok, so after riding the other day, and working on a training issue, I decided it would be a good idea to tell you guys about my problem, how I went about correcting it, and then, I would love to know how you would have corrected it, had it been your horse.

I have a 9yr Arabian x Quarter Horse gelding in for resale. He is a decent little horse, very quiet, he walks/trots/lopes when you ask, has a decent stop on hi, he even has lead changes when he is paying attention. But he isn't BROKE, Now, anyone can ride this horse, arena or trails, he is safe, I would put a beginner on him. So, many of you are probably wandering what I mean when I say he isn't broke. When I pick up my reins, instead of dropping his nose in and waiting for a cue, he either ignores it or pushes his nose out a little. When I ask for a turn, I'll shift my weight, use my leg, and then pick up on my reins. Sometimes he turns beautifully, other times, he pulls his nose the opposite way, and braces himself against the bit, completely ignoring me. As far as a stop, all you have to do is say whoa, and shift your weight back, he stops. If I pick up my reins and also cue for him to stop with them, he tucks his nose and stops. When stopping, he doesn't ignore or evade the bit like with everything else. Backing, I shift back, pick up my reins so that I have contact, but I don't pull. Then I put my calf on him, and he backs, he doesn't nose out, even if I apply more pressure on my reins.

So, there is some info on the horse, to help you understand him. Now I'm going to tell you why I think he does this. When we got him, he carried his head unusually high, and was horrible about bending/flexing. The first thing I did was get the chiropractor out. He was out in his poll and neck on both sides. They also had him in myler bit, 5" shank, level one mouthpiece. Not a harsh bit, by most standards. But after riding him, I had a feeling that he was used to being jerked on, a lot. So, my theory is that maybe he knows what he is supposed to do with his nose and head, but when you pick up the reins, he is expecting to be hurt, and even if the reins don't hurt him, he doesn't want to flex or break at the poll because he had been out. So I had him adjusted by the chiropractor, and got to work. First thing I did was put him back in a smooth mouth snaffle. I got on him, and treated him like a colt that doesn't know how to flex and break at the poll. I would hold him until he gave just a little, then release. I worked on breaking at the poll, and then bending his nose to each side. After a couple times, I think he realized he could bend and flex without it hurting. He seemed to get it at a standstill, and so I quit for the day. Fast forward a couple of rides. He was bending, flexing, and breaking at the poll great at a standstill and a walk, but jogging he would just revert back to nose out, and bracing. He was softening up a lot in the bridle, but I seemed to be stuck when it came to picking up speed and him staying that way.

So I thought about it, and the next day I went out to ride, with a plan in mind. Now, before I go further, I will say, it's my first time fixing this specific issue, so I may have gone about it the wrong way, but that is why I wanted to talk about it on here, to see what others thought of how I fixed it, and get opinions on how they would fix it. So, back to my plan. I saddled him up, put his o-ring on him, clipped my training forks{also known as a running martingale} to the girth, ran a pair of reins through them, and just laid the reins on his neck. I grabbed my other pair of reins, clipped them directly to the bit, and then got on. So, I had two sets of reins on my horse, one set run through the training forks, then a normal set. Many people ride with double reins when using draw reins, but does anyone use double reins like I did? lol

Anyways, using my normal reins, I asked him to give and flex, then backed him a few steps before going forward. Then, as we walked along, I would use my normal reins, and then every now and then use the reins that were through the forks, so he could get the feel of them. He didn't brace against them, or do anything at all really, but when I would use those reins, his head would drop and he would listen to them very well. It made me wonder if he knew what the training forks were. So, we got him loosened up at the walk, and I asked for a jog, which he picked up. I picked up on the training fork reins, he dropped his nose in a little, waiting. I was surprised at the instant change. So, I continued to ride for pretty long time, and after asking a couple things with the training fork reins, I started using my regular reins again, then if he didn't do what was asked, I would pick up the training fork reins. By the end of the ride, I had dropped my secondary reins on his neck, and was riding him with my normal reins. He was doing a lot better, not bracing or nosing out, but not perfect. We will see if the lesson stuck next time I ride, and hopefully it stuck enough that I can continue working on the problem without the aid of the training forks.

Now, I know that probably wasn't the way to go about fixing that problem, but I thought it worked very well for that horse. Because I think he has known all along how to do what I need him to, but I think he was hesitant because of past issues. So, what would you have done, to fix this issue. I would love your suggestions, because we still have work to do, and the training fork lesson might not have stuck with him.