Video is Back Up!

Thank goodness! Apparently it was a blogger thing and not my fault. Yeah!

So nothing to report really, sorry. I've been the busy girl this last week and was gone most of the weekend until monday on a camping trip with the in laws ;).

Daisy did get herself a set of shiney shoes Thursday! And behaved very well. Only one little hiccup when she didn't want to have on of her back feet doen for a moment, lol. A slap with the lead rope and growls did the trick. Rusty on the other hand was a bit of a handful the farrier had his number. Every time he went to pull his foot away and be a pain he grabbed the lead rope and made him run around in little circles until he decided it was just easier to stand still, lol.

I was planning on having Tuff trimmed as well but it was 55$ just for Daisy and the husband wasn't wanting to pay the farrier any more of our little amount of money. *sigh* So next time.

Not sure when I'll be riding again. I want to keep working on her neck reining so it gets very good, and start some side passing, rollbacks, etc. Those are fun. I like to have a horse that will put its feet where you tell them, no matter the direction. I also need to teach her haunches out to help with lead cues. Hm, what else...maybe letting me swing/climb up on her bareback? hehe. That reminds me, while the BIL was having Rusty done I found a stump and climbed up on her bareback in the pasture, that was fun. I tried neck reining her a bit with the lead rope, but mostly ended up having to flip the lead rope from side to side, lol, good thing she doesn't mind a lead rope swinging over her nose lol.

Well hope all is well with everyone elses horses! Ta ta.

p.s. Here is a short video from the last ride of the big BIL and Daisy, they trot! hehe

Stupid Video

Okay I swear I had a video loaded yesterday on my previous post and it was working just fine. Now its saying theres not one loaded. -_- So check back later and I'll try to fix it and add my other one too from that day. Thanks!

GREAT 3rd Ride!

Yeah! I knew it would get better next ride! Well I hoped mostly, lol. And I did act more intelligently this time as well.

So, I got home from work Saturday and was vegging on the couch thinking how I was planning on riding, but the couch was comfy and I was a little overstimulated from work...so I grabbed me a bowl of ice cream and vegged some more. Then the BIL calls:

"were you going to do anything with Daisy this evening?"
"um, I dunno, why?"
"I was just wondering..."
"oh, were you going still going to get your horse out to give him a bath?"
"nah."
"oh, were you wanting to ride?"
"well, I don't care...Jessie wanted to."

So I say okay, I'll be over there in a few mins. Got dressed boots on, etc, grabbed the bridle and head over there. They already had the tack and brushes in the back of their dads old truck and we were set! I'm glad he called, was the kick in the butt I needed.

I let the little BIL tack her up, which went okay, although he did put the saddle a little too far back, had to fix that. No biggie!

So I put her back in her grazing curb bit just for kicks, and to see just how well she did in it. Well she did okay, she does settle with it very quickly after she gets it in her mouth. But she has next to know turning or stopping with it, which a bit of it could have had to do with her not having a curb chain (forgot it on my other bit)


Here's a few pictures from then...

Cant you tell she loved it! lol She's like bleck!
This one was neat, looks like we're cutting or something lol! Well, minus the cow.


So, hopped off and changed that, undid the straps on each side and Daisy decided she was fine just holding onto it, lol! The look on her face is like "what? what did I do??" hahaha

So I finally got her to let go of that and put her mullen mouth back in. She was such a good girl during all that. I hopped back up and headed around with that one, she responded much better with it. After that I jumped off and let the little BIL ride. He had a bit of trouble understanding how I wanted her to rein him. And I think Daisy knows she can get away with stuff with him, lol. I don't know why she didn't try that with Kristy (SIL). She knows even less then the BIL so maybe she knew she shouldn't mess with her or she'd prolly fall off! lol

So anyway he was having trouble getting her to turn, and then when he would turn her around back toward us she'd start trotting, very slow and easy, head down, nice as you please, hahah. That is so unusual for her, she's usually so lazy! I kept asking him if he was squeezing her or something, no, he says. She did it like three times, he'd stop her right after but it was funny. After he got off we were adjusting stirrups and such for the older BIL to ride and saw that the cinch buckle had gotten all twisted (its a cheap piece of crud my FIL had on his saddle) and it was poking her in the side in like three places, lol. It's a wonder she didnt buck us off! Goes to show you how unperturbable she is. Wow, wonder if thats spelled right, doubt it.

So we fixed that and of course big BIL had no trouble with her, but he also knows how to ride pretty good. Here they are:

Stirrup adjusting... Daisy looks wild. ;)
Daisy looks awesome here. She's so pretty. I got her for a song and she's just great! Worth so much more. Wish she were about 10 years younger...oh well.

So after the big BIL rode awhile I got back on and tried riding 'one handed'. Although I did have my pinky in position to help with direct reining if she wasn't getting the neck cue. Predictably she did great when going 'home' but any other way not so good, lol. Although it got a lot better after a few mins and I was even guiding her a bit going straight, not just neck reining the turns. AWESOME! So fun, I love neck reining, it makes you feel so in control and like your on such a broke horse.



So all in all, a great day. Daisy put up with us getting on and off her so well, bit changes, stupid pokey cinches, etc.

Oh, I almost forgot. After I got back on again after the big BIL got off we rode on down the road again. BIL distracted Rusty with some grain so he didn't come running around crazily until a while later, lol. Got down there and up to the main road, walked up the hill, and she turned and was looking at the bushes, thought she was thinking something was in there, but turns out she was looking behind her at Rusty who had come running up. So we walked a little farther, turned around and I made her stand for a few seconds.

She moved off twice, but then stood quietly for a few seconds and so I told her to go on back down the hill and back to the gate. She made me a bit nervous with how 'up' she gets, but her 'up' is her head isn't dragging the ground and her ears are pricked, lol. I'm such a wussy. I'll get better though, the more I learn to trust her, and she learns to trust me too. I hope!

I made her walk past the spot where the gate was a few times, making her listen to me, and not going where she wants to, etc. She did pretty good. Then I walked on back up where we were riding and did the same thing, because I knwo she was expecting me to get off after we got near the gate. Nope! Hehe.



Here's a vid of us! :)

So that's about it! Didn't get a bosal to try, although the FIL says he has a homemade one...hm, not sure, but I'll look at it. I'm okay with the mullen right now I guess, just wish she wouldn't chew on it so much while turning, etc. I wish we had a trailer and could cart her up to the vet to do her teeth. I bet that might help. God knows when she's had her teeth done. NEVER probably. We did buy a trailer this weekend, but it only fits a lawn mower or four wheeler, lol.

Oh! Tuff had a excited time that day too! He wore his first saddle! :) I was proud of him. He was pretty scared of it to begin with, didn't want it too near him or touching him at all lol. I had the little BIL holding him for me and he backed up from it for awhile, but eventually I rubbed him with it, held it high by his side, set it on his neck a little, etc, and he was totally fine with that. So then I set it on him, ready to grab it off, but he didn't give a rip. After he figured in his mind it wasn't anything to worry about the didn't care what it did, lol. Yeah! So of course I got a picture, lol. He looks worried doesn't he! The picture right before this had his back foot cocked, but his eye was flashing so I like this one better. Gosh he loosk wormy again. I swear I worm him a lot.

Sigh. Well guess thats all for now, bye!

Boring Post

So, haven't been able to ride or do anything with the horses last couple of days. Thursday had a ho use warming right after work and then my husband and bro decided they had to work on their piece of crap dunebuggy (more a sand rail) until 10:30. -_- And yesterday was cold and depressing!

So! Hopefully today will have some horsey stuff to it. Its beautiful out supposed to get nice and warm. Although right now I am stuck at work until 3 pm. Boo. The older BIL was talking about taking his horse out to the house and giving it a bath, I really need to do this with Daisy as well, although I'm not sure he's going to wait for me to get home. I told him to, but then said you don't have to, so who knows lol.

Farrier did not come on thursday. I told BIL to cancel cause it did NOT want to stop raining. And then turns out he was at the hospital with a nephew and wasn't planning on coming anyway. Nice. Thanks for calling. -_- Farriers are so freaking annoying. So hopefully he will get out mon or tues. I think I've decided to shoe Daisy all the way around. Might as well she's just so ouchy on gravel without them and will work to avoid getting on it, lol.

I did see mr Tuff Tuff last night. He was looking good, looked bigger from the week ago that I'd seen him, his tail is getting long. Quite a ways past his hocks. He has also slicked out on his shoulder and chest but thats about it lol. Need to get some wormer in him again. He was chomping down on some hay and I made him back up and held on to his head, moving it this way and that. He tried to get away a few times but not hard and I was pleased with his reaction. His eye stayed soft the whole time. Hesa sweety. e also didn't spook when I rode my bike up to the fence where they were like his buddy. Good!

He could also use a bath, or some more water training. He seems like he will be easy to mess with, as far as the water is concerned. I messed with it a month ago or so with just letting it run next to him and then gradually getting his front feet wet. He moved a little but wasn't unduly concerned. Then a week or so later I got his feet wet up to his knees and his back feet wet pretty high and he did great. So! We'll see! Maybe do some work with him today since it will be warm.

Well thats it!

Not So Great 2nd Ride

Well I call it the 2nd because its the second one in a long time!

So yesterday I got home from work and wanted to try out my new correction mouth bit, my husband was working late, and even though it looked like it was going to rain I got myself suited up, grabbed the tack, and headed to the pasture. The thought that I'd have something to write in my blog was a big encouraging factor. Yeah for the blog!

So got out there and the little BIL (bro in law) was out there just finishing feeding them, so they were by the gate. Grabbed Daisy out and saddled her up. I was not pleased to see her trying to avoid the saddle blanket -_-. I moved her back to where she was and growled at her a bit, and tried again. She moved. I think the 3rd time she finally stood still. She didn't move when I put the saddle on, so I guess that's something.

Then came the bit, which initially I had it too high so I took it out, adjusted it, and tried again. She HATED it. I think it's too small for her mouth for one thing (looked like it was digging into her jaw where the bit attatches to the headstall) and just too much mouthpiece. She was gaping and had her head in the air, chewing, yawing, etc. So I quicky took it off and swapped it back to the mullen mouth that she seemed to do well in the other day. She was much happier! I also adjusted it a bit lower then it was.

By that time my husband and his other brother had shown up, so I was able to recruit him to adjust my stirrups after I got on, and the cinch that turned out to be way too loose. Nothing went very smooth! Nothing like the other day.

So I finally was able to move off. She did woah better then the other day, turning still caused a lot of chewing. As long as I'm not touching the bit she has no chew reaction. :sigh:

We did do some nice attempts at turn on the haunces. Then I decided to try and fame her up a bit, tuck her nose. That didn't go well at all. She wanted to stop, and then her head came up and her tail went to swishing. Then she tried backing up, and that was when she finally tucked her nose a bit and I stopped cueing. Which I don't want her to think she is supposed to back each time...

So I tried it again and was much softer with my cues this time, that went better. But she was still confused as to what I was wanting. She was getting the woah cue along with the go cue and was like "WT??"
Don't have a whole lot of experience teaching this, so not sure what I did wrong, where I should go with that. Any one who wants to comment and help me is more then welcome!

We trotted a bit, that was fun, but the area I have to ride in is REDICULOUSLY small. The only other place is the gravel road, which is no good until I have her shod all the way around. Or the pasture, where the gelding is and he is a huge pest. And usually whenever he gets close to her she gets a marish squeely attitude. Don't want to be aboard for that, lol.

I think she was in a bit of that mood yesterday, dunno if she is fixing to go into heat or what. She wasn't as relaxed or in as good a mood. After I let her go she trotted off down the hill squeeling at the gelding, so who knows.

I'm really thinking about ordering some Mare Magic and seeing what that does. This mare is literally nearly always in heat. It's very tiresome.

I think the farrier is coming out this afternoon, though I'm not sure now, its raining and supposed to rain basically all day. You know how horse shoers are. Like cats, they don't come whe you call them and they don't go out in the rain, lol.

So I'm glad I got to ride, but wished it would have gone better. My next resort with the bit issue is I think a hackamore. :shrug: I dunno, seems like every horse I've had has had some kind of bit issue. I kinda feel like I'm giving up if I just take the bit out of the picture entirely. There was a bosal at the flea market for 20$ maybe it will still be there next week. Speaking of, I think Lee got her business card, maybe I can call her and have her hold it for me. :)

Ta ta for now!

The Beginnings of Tuff

Or Tuff Tuff, as I frequently call him, :). I figured I should do a post about him since this blog is not all about Daisy ;).

First of all, a little background on his mama, and then we'll get to him.

Tuff was a bit of a suprise! A very HAPPY suprise, but a suprise nonetheless. I bought Daisy the summer of '06, just after the fourth of July. I remember Lee's (my husband) dad telling me about a mare he had found that a friend of his owned at the 4th of july party we had for the church. His middle son was wanting a horse so they were looking at her for him. Well he decided she was too slow/stubborn for him so passed on her. (dummy!) The FIL (father in law) kept remarking on how pretty she was and she was so quiet ect. I was intrigued!

So I took my mom over to check her out one day. She was all sweaty (it was july!) and half her mane had been chewed out, her feet were horrible, and she was backed up in a little falling down shed thing with a ugly nylon purple halter on. I have pictures to illustrate but the SIL has my flash drive hostage -_-. (oh wait! I found some on a website I uploaded them to, lucky for yall!)

Anyway even with all that I thought she was just so pretty! With her flaxen mane and chestnut color and her muscles everywhere. I've always been a sucker for a big hip, and she had it goin on!

We messed with her a bit and she took it all very well, though she did want to keep eating the grass lol.

A few days later I haggled my husband and his dad enough that I got them to take me out there so I could ride her. Brought my saddle and stuff, used the bridle that the BIL had used on her when he rode her. She did great. She did steer real well but I was most impressed with her attitude as her pasturemate when careening all over the pasture because she had been left. Even though we were just on the other side of the road from where the pasture was.

She got both her leads and didn't try any shenanigans, that was very nice. Not the smoothest gaits but I just wanted a horse I could ride that would behave and I wouldn't have to worry about. (I had just come out of a bad 'relationship', you could say lol with a mare I bought as a greenbroke 2 year old and had for another 4 years before I finally sold her)

So I scrapped up $600 and bought her! I was told from the previous owner that he had had a stud in there 2 times to breed the two mares, but he didn't think she had took because she kept coming into heat. So we were like oh, okay...didn't think about it again.

UNTIL, hm, it was around November and December I believe that she started to get just plum FAT. So at first I was like, well she just must have a hay belly, or is plumping up for winter, etc. But she started getting bigger and bigger, and I started to get very suspicious. Now she was still coming into heat and everything! (she is a huge hussy with Rusty, lol) The FIL thought there was no way she was pregnant just had a hay belly. But the MIL and I had different ideas...this picuture here is when I first started to wonder. Sorry its from a cellphone.

So I finally decided to have the vet come out and do a check. And that is when the second picture was taken and he confirmed her in foal. With a BIG baby he says! lol

I was SO excited I jumped up and down and started yelling I knew it! And the FIL was just totally shocked lol.

Anyway, that was how Tuff Tuff came into existance! A few months later he made his cute little appearance into the world. It was just the most amazing thing. I had bought a milk testing kit that was supposed to let me know within hours of when she would go into labor. Well it worked GREAT. Sunday April 29th her milk got very white and thick and we knew it was going to be any time. We all parked our lawn chairs out at the barn and played games, read, talked, etc, lol. Daisy grazed all the way up to within maybe 30 mins of when she went into labor. Then she went down into the darkest corner of the pasture. We went down there to go put her into her stall and she did not want to go! She was making funny noises and just planting her feet.

But we finally got her up the hill and into her stall, turned the lanterns low and got very quiet. I don't think it was but maybe 10-15 mins later and we hear this GUSHING water sound. I jumped up and was like did she pee or was that her water breaking?? Well it wasn't pee!

The labor went so fast, the FIL and I went into the stall and watched, she got up twice, Tuffs little legs poking through at this time, and then she layed back down and out he came! All I remember seeing was WHITE. His legs, nose, hoofs, everything! I got so excited, lol. After he came out most of the way I broke his sack open and cleaned his little nose and mouth out, it was so neat. Daisy got up a lot faster then I wanted her too, but everything turned out okay.

Tuff wasn't real quick in the beginning. He had a terrible time getting on his feet and the FIL finally had to help him because he got so exausted at one point that he just layed there on the ground and started breathing really strangely. So he held him up on his feet until he kind of got the hang of it, and then we took him over to Daisy to get him to nurse.

Well THAT took a long time too! By the time he finally latched on I had milk all over me, his nose, and her teats, lol.

We were shocked when we saw him the next morning in good light. He had white all over! Four white stockings, a belly spot! And a spot above his right eye, not to mention his blaze. Wow. I think Daisy may have had something to do with that! We had the greatest fun watching them the first day out in the pasture, Daisy was spinning circles to keep up with him, didn't want him 2 feet from her! Thats him all tired out from his first day out :). The next picture is him about a week old, what a difference a week makes right!

Well I don't think I mentioned his sire was supposed to have been a gray. Well, guess what, that 50% chance of him going gray happened, lol. I saw the beginnings of it at about a week old around his eyes and then his face and chest and hind end quickly followed. He didn't turn fully grey till about 4 months or so. Thats him at 4 months there. He turned out to have the cutest head and eye, definitely something he got from his mommy. She has a beautiful head and her eye is big and pretty. Although I might even like Tuffs eye better then hers. He got her hiney to an extent, but we'll have to wait and see how much, probably won't really see fully until 2 or 3 years old. My last QH didn't develop fully until her 4 year old year.

So we weaned Mr Tuff Tuff at 6 months old, on my birthday actually, lol, Oct 12! Just worked out that way for some reason. He did very well, no hollering or anything, we just locked him in his stall with a bucket of grain and left him in there for a few days before letting him out. He had grain and hay and water and was a happy dude. He didn't even care Daisy walked out of the gate and left him! I was amazed.

When we let him out the first time he had a bit of a fit though. He screamed so pitifully for her a few times that my heart just about broke. He raced around for awhile and then came to us in the barn and settled right down. I didn't have any worry leaving him after a few more minutes. He just went out and started grazing. Good boy.

So I'll end this post here and post later about what training has been done with him etc.

Another New Bit! (yeah yeah, I know I just tried one!)

Well I was in tractor supply this afternoon and was looking at the bit section and saw one for around 20$ and I was like HUMMMM, hehhe, one I haven't tried! So originally I was going to grab the full cheek snaffle, always wanted one of those anyway. But then I saw a correction mouth curb bit. I KNOW, idiot me pickin up the curb again, but I have also always wanted one of those as well, so I grabbed that one. (It was cheaper too, lol) The horses at the college I used to ride did so well in those bits.

So I had her bridle in the car from the other day and decided to go over to the pasture and try it out real quick. Well I thought I had it in there, but turns out I had the other bridle, the one I have for showing. Which has no reins. -_- So anyway I put it together anyway and grab a long strap off my laptop bag for a 'rein' lol.

The horses are conveniently near the gate so I climb through the fence and put it on and it turns out the bridle wont adjust high enough. Great. So she chews and chews and yawns and yawns and finally settles. She responded very quickly when I flexed her both ways, but sometimes would chew when I did it. So really not sure if she likes it or not, not feeling confident. But I'll get her bridle she normally wears that has more adjustments and try it out.

Anyway, just a small update! Fly sprayed her and gave her some wormer too. Shes such a good girl just stood there with her foot cocked the whole time nearly. Loves her!!

Adios...

First Ride in a LONG Time! (and trying out the new bit)

My pretty girl and the MIL...

So I've been having fun reading blogs by FHOTD and her friend, and decided I wanted one too! So here I'll be recording my rides on Daisy, my 18 year old AQH, and my training sessions with her son, Tuff, a yearling gelding. (of course not riding until he's 2 or so)

So I hadn't (is that a word??) rode Daisy since Jan or Feb of this year, and decided it was high time! (and it had been nearly a year before that because of her being pregnant then having a foal at her side, ect)

I had picked her up a new headstall and bit at the flea market that morning so wanted to try them out. I've been trying to find a bit she is really happy with for awhile now. I bet I've gone through at least 6 or 7 different bits with her. The consensus seems to be she doesn't like anything that moves, because she goes pretty well in a grazing curb bit, so I got a mullen mouth snaffle at the flea market, only 5$ so I figured it was worth a try. Previuosly Ive tried many snaffles, and even a billy allen curb, which she did like the best of all. But there is the leverage issue, as with the grazing bit.

For those who don't know much about horses, you generally don't ride two handed, as in, one rein in each hand and pulling the horses nose in the direction you want to go, with a leverage bit. A leverage bit is anything with shanks on it. A snaffle has just rings of some sort on the side and has no leverage, so is better to ride two handed with.

Now if you neck rein, pressing the rein into the side of the neck in the direction you want to go (i.e. press the right rein in the horses neck to 'push' it to the left) it is perfectly fine, and actually preferable to some, to use a leverage, or curb, bit.

SO! All that to say Daisy doesn't neck rein very well yet so I need her to have some sort of snaffle bit. Just can't seem to find one she really enjoys.

So back to Saturdays ride. I recruited the mother in law to come out and watch, for one its not safe to ride by yourself, and another I get so lonely! Its much more fun with an audience, and someone to help, lol.

So Daisy is pastured with a QH gelding of my brother in laws. He's a bit of a rouge, they bought him as an unbroke 2 year old, who had been gelded not long before, and broke him out at the place they bought him from, and brought him home. Well at home they find out he was never taught to tie and is a SERIOUS and CHRONIC puller. Also his demeanor changed quite a bit and he is very spooky/looky, ect. All very bad things for my BIL (bro in law) because he is just getting into horses, doesn't know a whole lot about them, especially the riding part.

Here's Rusty, not a very flattering picture, he's actually put together very well, just wish his brain was put together just as well, lol. He does have a longish back it looks like though...
Anyway, I had the MIL (mom in law) help get Daisy out of the pasture and we saddled her up. What I love most about this mare is her temperament. She is normally so ladee da and very quiet. So relaxing! The biggest indicator of this was I think when I took her to an arena she had never been to before at night! And there were trains and she was alone etc, she was fantastic. I don't know that she has even been ridden in an arena. Her previous owners mostly trail rode her, and before that who knows what. I think they even hunted off her, lol.
I do know shes had at least 2 foals, 3 now with Tuff. I got a hold of I think her 2nd owner, who is the last on her AQHA papers, and he said she had had 2 with him. Both colts ;)

So anyway threw a blanket and saddle on her and adjusted her new headstall, which was a bit of a pain. The leather on one cheekpiece did NOT want to go into its buckle. Finally got that going, let her settle with it a bit. And it didn't take her long. I flexed her both ways (pulling on one rein until she gave and then the other) and didn't have any chewing, YES. So I was happy about that, told the MIL that maybe we had found a winner!

So checked the cinch one more time and got up! So nice to be back in the saddle, it felt really good. I flexed her again a bit, and she wanted to move a little when I did that from the saddle, not sure I've ever done it from the saddle with her, just with a halter and lead on the ground. She thought I wanted her to move off. But quickly stopped and got the message. She was very light off the leg cues, not usual with her, if I'm wanting her to really work I need spurs. And towards the end she was getting a bit 'sticky'. So walked off down the fence line (its on my right in the first picture) and Rusty followed us ever step lol. He is VERY attatched. Halted her and she did NOT do well with that. She'd slow, maybe stop, but would walk off right after. Took me quite a few times of woahing her before she actually stood there. Then I turned her back around and walked a few steps, halted. That was was MUCH better. And as I went on she figured out what the feel in her mouth meant and did some very nice halts.

But her mouth was going very time I told her to turn, or in other words, got in her mouth. Although I don't believe she did it when I told her to woah. So seems like its only when I pulled on one side or the other...she may have wolf teeth still that may be bothering her. Either way, she was not annoyed or upset with it, I could tell, just every time I asked her to turn something caused her to react by chewing. I don't believe it was pain, or I would have seen that in her face. (my SIL [sis in law] came by and she rode a bit, so I was able to watch her facial expressions.

So anyway, I think I will try it for a few more rides, maybe lower it a notch this next time, I had it up where there were two wrinkles in her lip, might be too high. Might get a better response with it lower in her mouth. We'll see! Hmm...just searched around to see what the internet says about bit wrinkles, and apparently the conensus is 2 wrinkles, but I also found a site that had Julie Goodnight on it saying this:

You'll also need to check where the bit lays in your horse's mouth to see if your bridle is adjusted correctly. If the bit is too high (causing wrinkles in the corners of his mouth), he'll feel constant pressure and will have difficulty responding to light aids. If the bit hangs too low, it may hit his teeth and flop around in his mouth. I like the bit to touch the corners of my horse's lips, but without showing any wrinkles. This way, he'll hold the bit the way he wants in his mouth and respond to the lightest movement of the reins.

Makes perfect sense...so I think I'll lower it a hole def next time. Maybe I'll go ride this afternoon, gonna be hot as heck though. Might grab the BIL he likes to ride.

Anway, after I got her going pretty good in that area I went out along the road a little bit. Of course the first thing she wanted to do was grab at the tall grass on the side of the road. I my work cut out for me trying to keep her going down the middle of the road, or at least away from the grass enough that she couldn't snatch her a bite. The bit is very mild. I could pull on it a good bit trying to get her head up and she was unconcerned.

She is quite ouchy on gravel so I tried to stay in the bare spots as much as I could. After we got to the end of the road where it meets the blacktop, I rode her up a hill that runs along the side of the road, and she didn't want to go back down onto the gravel! I think I'm going to have to shoe her all the way around if I plan on riding her much this summer.

A truck with a rattely trailer full of four wheelers went by and she started at it and then as soon as it was gone settled right down. The next time one went by she just raised her head, good girl! Her pasture buddy was going crazy racing around his pasture, even though we were in plain sight. Dummy. She seemed to be a little concerned that he was being so rowdy but not to where I ever got worried.

We didn't stay up there long, I didn't want Rusty hurting himself, so we went back down the drive to the pasture. The whole time her head was down and she was so good. I decided to trot her the last few feet and that was fun, she wasn't as bouncy as I remember lol. Could have been 'cause she was tip toeing on the gravel ;). After that I just rode her around that area working on her neck reining and woahs, did some backing. Was a little rusty to begin with but she did well after a few tries. The SIL even got her to back very easily after she got on, which made her exclaim, "HOW COOL!"

A lot of the time we just stood and chilled while I chatted with the SIL and MIL, I love that I can drop the reins and stirrups and trust shes not going anywhere and she just cocks a foot and takes a nap, lol.

Perfect example in this picture. So it took a bit but I convinced the SIL that she should get up and I would lead her around a bit. She doesn't know much about horses and hasn't really rode since she was a little girl. She has a yearling gelding a week older then Tuff that she is wanting to ride when he is old enough, so I told her she needs to practice! :)

Daisy packed her around like a pro. She is such a good baby sitter. It took a bit of work to get the SIL on, and she stood so still for it all and didn't blink. And I really enjoyed the chance to watch how she does with someone else on board. You miss a lot by not being able to see the horses eyes, I read a lot from a horses eyes. They tell you so much. Speaking of, I ws just going through my pictures again to resize some of the ones with my SIL aboard, and I really do think I had that bit cranked up in her mouth, dummy, I thought about it briefly, thinking hm, maybe I should try it down one...but didn't do it. Oh well I will next ride.

So here's a few photos of Daisy packing the SIL around. She did very well. Can't think of the last time she rode a horse. I led her around awhile, until she got comfortable, then I briefly explained how the reins work and off she went. She did good, her mom told her to put her heels down and they didn't come up the hwole time after that, lol. Daisy took good care of her.

So that is about it. Finally! This got a lot longer then I had anticipated. Hopefully I'll have something new to add soon!

Thanks for reading!