Stormy In The Spotlight

At certain angles she has such a pretty, feminine face

Okay, first of all I'm kinda ticked at blogger. Apparently my posts have not been being published when I tell them to be. -_- I had one from a few days ago that never showed up, so I went and REpublished it and now it is finally showing up in my list. So annoying. Anyway! Yesterday afternoon I pulled into the drive and saw the little BIL getting his horse out of the pasture (they are in the front one by the road right now). I was like oh! Horsey goings ons! Of course one of my favorite goings ons there is! So I stopped and he said he was going to go lunge her, so I asked him if his dad was helping (the only one at the house with a good bit of horse experience) and he said he 'reckoned'. So I hurried home and changed out of my work clothes, grabbed my camera and waved at the husband as I went back out, lol. He had just got to the round pen basically by the time I was dragging my bike off the porch.


She was pretty nervous for about 15-20 minutes. Trotting around pretty quickly, neighing and calling when she heard her 'beaus' calling for her (they were a bit upset at her departure!). The round pen is about half a mile? from the pasture she was in. Maybe less. She did good though! She settled in and was listening pretty well. Of course the little BIL is a newbie to horses anyway, so they did good for both being green!

He lunged her for quite a while, took him a bit of work to get her to lope, he hasn't figured out how to use the whip and control her at the same time real well yet, lol. Then they got the saddle out and put that on her. You could see she was a little iffy about that at first, but within seconds she was fine with it. The FIL decided to lunge her around a bit (after a comment from me) with it before the BIL mounted up. She was pretty unconcerned.

So without further ado he mounted up! She stood very well for that and all the stirrup fiddling. When they first walked off she had a few issues with wanting to turn and go her own way, or trying to back up. But the BIL did very well with correctly her quickly but gently, and that was all the trouble they had! She seems to have a good mind on her. Thank goodness!

The round pen is GREAT. Its a good size and was very helpful for something like this. We have no idea how many rides this filly has on her, and they have only rode her once since we bought her. So its nice to have a round pen to keep things controlled!

After he walked her around a bit he decided to try trotting her, something they had not done before. She did super! Did not take much urging at all and off she went! She quit on him pretty quick, but it didn't take him much to get her going again. Super job.

I wanted to ride but we had plans that evening, so it will have to wait! I left soon after that to get ready, but I heard later that the older BIL and then the FIL also rode her, and she did just as well. Good girl!


So that is about it! A good showing for Stormy, and a great start to our round pen usage, ;). Can't wait to get my horses in there!

Here is a video I put together of all that went on!



Thanks for reading, have a good weekend all!

BEHOLD!

The Round Pen.

:sounds of awe:

Two Videos!

Hey guys! Sorry its taken me so long to get these up. But here they are now!

First one, Tuff Ground Driving


And Tuff being a good boy for the farrier (who likes to talk way too much)


There you have it! Hope everyone has a great weekend. Becca, how did your show go at the fair??

Farrier Part Trois! Good or Bad?

Drum roll puhlease!! Was Tuff the monster and major PIA that the guys all said he was last time?? Or was he the angel we ALL know he is?? ;)

Well he was an angel of course!

So last night I had a dream that had me waking up pretty happy. I dreamed the farrier came out and he did so great and everyone was complimenting me on him. Now, usually I would have had an anxiety dream with him being a total terror. But thankfully that wasn't so!

I was not too happy when I got to the driveway though and saw the farrier already out there doing Stormy. I was like crud! He was at least 10 minutes early! I had wanted to be out there to brush him down and work him a little. So I rushed home got my nice work clothes swapped with my comfy ones and tried to get my camaro to get out of the mud where I park it (the rain is endless here!!). It wouldn't come out! So I flew out of it and into the truck, yelling at my husband to hurry who by then was coming from his parents. I got out there and walked up to Tuff and saw he had a huge brier in his tail, so I reached back to get it out and he starts walking off. -_- I reach for his halter and he walks faster until he is basically running from me, but I got the sucker! Hehehheh. So got the brier out and held on to him until Stormy was done (who did well for her first set of shoes! We weren't sure how she would react, haven't had the farrier out since we bought her, although I heard she did roll the farrier across the ground a few times, haha, apparently her shoe hooked his chaps).

Then it was his turn! He did pretty good with his first front, he tried to pull away once but I held him, and then called in the husband for back up. (he's stronger them me of course!) So I handed him the lead and took pictures. After that he did pretty good! No trouble with the backs of course, and his other front he thought about pulling back a few times but didn't. (I got that leg on video but can't upload it until tomorrow when I get to work) So all our work has paid off!

I bet it didn't take 5 minutes. And after that I was like wow, what an anti climax! Which is totally fine with me. Of course he needs to be a good boy another half a dozen times at least before it is likely that he won't be a problem. But this was a good sign! I joked with the guys before I left, how I still didn't believe he was such a pain last time. ;)

So after that we headed to the house to get the checkbook and a halter for Daisy while the BIL and FIL went on out to the other pasture to round up Rusty and Daisy. We did Daisy first, she was a star as usual. Although she did think my fingers were carrots a few too many times for my comfort, lol. I brought some out for Tuff to distract him and he didn't even want it! Neither did Stormy or Skip! Weirdos! Okay, yeah, they were a little frozen and really old, but still! I knew Daisy would eat them, of course she did. And Rusty even liked them. So those youngsters need to stop being so picky! Lol.

Rusty was next, he gave a little trouble with his fronts, pulling back until the farrier lets go, thats his usual stunt. But he wasn't bad. At one point he picked up the farriers rasp from his little roll around cart and held on to it by the handle! It was so funny, the farrier tried to get it back and he wouldn't let go! He is super silly. Lots of personality. And goofiness!

So thats about all! Sorry I still haven't gotten the ground driving video up yet. Stupid vimeo took all day to get to 84% just to tell me that there was an error and it couldn't finish. GRRR! So I'll try again tomorrow! (I got it down from over 10 of uncut video to 5 minutes, yay me! lol)

Have a good night/morning all!

Ground Driving Part Trois

Or part three in case you aren't up on your french, lol. (believe me I am not, had to google that one!)

So first off, Tuff hasn't been ground drove since March of this year, and if you all remember (post here: A Tough Tuff Day) it didn't go as well as I would have liked! Although in his defense, it was only his second time.

So Saturday morning I drug my surcingle and lines out to the pasture with me. I had a little bit before we had to go get hay and wanted to get out there and work with him. (D-day is tomorrow!! Farrier part trois as well)

He did SO good. I was very proud. First of all I lunged him around a bit, just to make sure he was listening and acknowledging who was in charge, and that would be moi. Gosh, what is it with the french words today?? So sorry. By then the little BIL had showed up on his four-wheeler. I was thinking, oh good! Then if I need help for any reason I have an extra set of hands. I thought about having him stand at Tuffs head to begin with and then gradually go off, but I have never done that with him, and he's always been pretty good. I also didn't want Tuff watching/listening to the BIL and not me...sooo, I just had him stand close in case I needed him. And then I asked him to video for me, thats why its on the ground at first, and then up, lol.

Turns out I didn't need him! That little grey fuzzy butt went out there and waltzed around like he had done it thirty times instead of three.

Of course he wasn't perfect. We still need to work on:

• Stopping on cue better
• Backing up better
• Not moving forward after backing
• Turns could be better
• A little 'pluggy'
  

Now for things he did good!

• Walking off on cue, very well!
• Yielding to the halter fairly well most times
• 'Parking' nicely most times
• Staying steady, not speeding up
• Staying calm and unconcerned
• I saw him licking and chewing a few times, very good!
• Totally unconcerned with the surcingle, only his second time in it!
  
• Also very unconcerned about the long lines

So all in all a very good lesson. I have never tried backing him on the lines before, so that was a first. He did pretty good! Except for always wanting to step forward again right afterward. I'm not sure what that was about! You'll see it in the video. Next time we might try a bit of trotting! We'll see!

I worked him in the halter that day mostly because I forgot my bitless bridle. He had no problem in it. The first few turns were a little sticky but after that he went pretty well! I'm halfway thinking of measuring his mouth and getting him a full-cheek. See what he thinks. He still has such a small mouth though, that it will have to replaced sooner or later when he gets bigger...

So we practiced the farrier routine a few times after that. He did pull away from the BIL once -_- I just told him to quickly pick it up again and he tried a few more times but didn't get away and he quit. I wanted the BIL to do it because he is bigger, more like what the farrier will be, and I knew it would be harder for him to keep his balance. Thats why he pulls away, he thinks he is falling and has to get his balance. So after that he was good, and did well when I did the rounds.

I'm gonna try to get out there again today one last time before tomorrow. Not sure if I'll make it, depends on what is going on. It is my birthday today, so not sure what they might have planned. :)

Backing...

I will try to get the video uploaded tomorrow and posted. Its LONG, I think I need to go through and cut it again, lol.

Have a great week everyone!

Heartland

Okay, the first episode of the new season just started Sunday, so I thought, hey, I need to let my horsie readers know about this GREAT show.

Most of you probably haven't heard of it, and its no wonder. This tv show is actually filmed and shown only in Canada. But thanks to youtube and torrents (utorrent.com) anyone in the world that has access to the web can watch!

It is based (very loosely I might add) on the book series for young adults by Lauren Brooke that began in 2001 and has 25 books and some 5 special editions, named Heartland.

I read the books when they came out and when I heard about them filming a tv series I was super excited! And then super dissapointed when I found out I wouldn't be getting them on my tv. Some of you lucky people that have the CBC channel on their satellite can watch it!

Anyway, here is a link to the first season on youtube, check it out! Its addicting, my husband (not so horsey) even loves it! As do my in laws, and my mom and niece...etc. The scenery is beautiful, and its CLEAN. No sex, drugs, smoking, cussing, etc. Thank God! There are SO FEW programs out there like this.

I admit some of the horse stuff is cheesy, but its better then a lot of things I've watched!

Heartland Season One

And here is the first part of Episode 1:



There ya go! Enjoy!

All I Need Is A Tuff Pick-Me-Up

Well yesterday started out fine, was going good...and then I found out my violin was stolen. :( In case yall don't know I've played for about 15 years, I taught for about 7. It's a big part of my life. And its gone now. I don't even want to think about it. I'm going to trust God with it...(it was stolen out of my car behind work) Here's me playin a while ago...



So I got home feeling pretty crappy. I was like, okay, I need to see my horse. I'm sure you all can relate!

I got my shoes changed and grabbed my camera and a light coat (its getting cool at night!) and hopped on my bike. I left it at the end of the lane that opens into their pasture and walked down the hill. I was hoping they would be close, but there I saw hide nor hair of them. *sigh* So I started calling "Tufffff, TUUFFFFFF" and rattling the bucket I had picked up with brushes, lead rope etc in it. I wasn't real optimistic, but I figured I would try. And then lo and behold! Here he came!!



Let me tell you that is where my whole night turned around, folks. Such a sweet boy. So we walked around a bit doing the same sort of stuff as the day before. Pivots improved! Trotting off promptly did as well. Then I decided to lunge him a bit. Did some good trot circles. It was getting DARK though and all of a sudden Tuff flew off in the other direction spooking bad at something. I knew it had to be Lee, who had called a few minutes ago saying he was coming out. It was so dark I couldn't seem him but Tuff could!

Well he flew to the end of the lead rope (and drug me a bit, but I wasn't letting go yet!!) and I just held on and yelled WOAH at him and finally he stopped backing up and I reeled him in, lol. Right after he spooked he calmed down and that was it! I put him back out on the line and we resumed our lunging. Good boy.

Then I had Lee hold him while I played farrier again. He did very well and no pull backs with the hinds at all. He also wasn't slamming his fronts down when I put his hoof down either, which he does most times. Then Lee did the rounds and we let him go because it was DARK. But our eyes had adjusted pretty good and we got back to the house without any trouble.

So talked to the FIL last night about the round pen again. He says it needs to try out more before he can work it more. *SIGH* It rained again this morning a it, so hopefully it will dry out soon. I want to be using it!!

Bye for now!

The Object Is To Be A Good Boy

So the brother in law said he was going to call the farrier out sometime this week the other day. And immediately I was like, uh oh, I better get out there and work with Tuff! I usually go out there about once a month to refresh him up a bit on all the things he knows, and have never had any troubles with him really. He remembers things pretty well I think.

But allegedly, yes, ALLEGEDLY, he was a major PIA last time the farrier was out. I had to work so I wasn't there. Ugh, I wish I had been there! Apparently they had to twitch him and STILL couldn't get him to behave. Lee said he was striking out with his front feet and everything. What the?! My ANGEL! No way! I still don't believe it. He has NEVER even half way acted that way before. Not even when he was a colt! Anyway! It apparently happened, though I have no idea why. If I had been there I might have figured it out and fixed it, I don't know. I definitely plan on being there this time!

So yesterday afternoon I drug Lee out there with me to play 'farrier', lol. Drug being the key word here -_-. So as we were walking down the lane to the pasture my lovely husband thought it would be amusing to find a stick and hit me on the butt and legs with it. Thanks a lot. So I was making quite a bit of racket trying to get him to stop. And then we heard rustling and out popped Tuff Tuff! Yeah! :) Thats him coming to see us in the top picture.

So I grabbed him and did a bit of walking and attempting to pivot, which he was doing terribly that day! And then trotting off and stopping promptly. And some setting up, which he is getting quite good at! (he should, I've been dong it with him since he was 5 months!) Then I held him while Lee picked up his feet a bit, but when I told him to put his front hoove between his knees he said no way! I'm not a farrier, so I had to get him to hold Tuff while I did it, picking up a rock and 'rasping' on it as well. Which he stood very well for.

Now his hind end was not so good. He kept trying to pull his leg back, not hard, but it was annoying. I growled at him a bit and smacked him on the butt a few times, no help. So I grabbed the lead rope from Lee and whipped his butt around in little circles both directions a few times and then gave him back to Lee and picked up his back leg again like nothing happened. He tried it a few more times but after the butt smack he decided it wasn't worth it to go through the circles again I guess! Because he stood very well. I went up and did his other front, then his back, and had no further issues! He stood like a good boy. Which IS the object, right Tuff Tuff?? ;)

Then I took the lead rope from hubby and told him it was his turn, lol. He did the rounds again while I took pictures (of course). We were out there for about 30 minutes I guess. This picture here is hilarious, have you see a horse blink with one eye before? Or maybe he is just winking at me, lol. Yeah, thats it.

So thats about it! Stormy and Skip of course were a little pesty. Wanting in the bucket and getting in the way. But we chased em off. It was funny, one time I was trotting Tuff towards them and they scattered like we were chasing them.

Skip has beefed out! I don't think I got a good picture of him, but he is CHUNKY and still short, haha. I think he will have another growth spurt soon though. Tuff is filling out a bit, but nothing like that. Thats okay though, I don't want a chunky monkey! Nicely muscled is good. I can still see a huge difference from a month ago to now though, check it out:

First of August

And yesterday the end of September

I know the first picture is a terrible angle, but still. I see a big difference in his overall body condition and he just looks more 'mature'. Looks like hes going to have no withers like his momma though, and a longish back. Forgive the terrible feet and mustang mane! Both are being remedied soon ;).

So good news! The round pen is all painted and ready, but the bad news is that its STILL not up. -_- The inlaws are a bit slow about things. Although it DID rain nonstop virtually all of September. The FIL is wanting to get the ground leveled out before we set it up. He has done some work on it, not sure how much he lacks. I'm SO READY to use it!

Things I Want To Do In The Round Pen With Tuff:

1. Lunge
2. Ground Drive
3. Free Lunge
4. Saddle Work
   
5. De-spooking Stuff (work with tarps, bags, etc)
6. RIDING (when his body decides to grow into an adult horse)
   

So I'm pretty excited! There are a lot of things its going to be soo useful for. Sure I can do these without one, but it makes it SO much easier and makes me a lot more comfortable.

I'll keep yall updated! I'll leave you with a few more pics!

Other side!

"Good boy"

Now does this look like a wild thing?

A neat tree in the lane

Tuff following us back