Riding Day! Times Two!

Lots of fun times yesterday! The brothers in law came over yesterday afternoon, my day off, and asked me if I wanted to go riding with them. They were both going to get their horses out. Rusty is back from the trainers, and this was the first time he had had to get him out since he came home the beginning of the week. I wanted to get Daisy out so bad! But the mother and father in law had just left and little girl can't quite watch herself yet, lol. But I did go out and watch/help!

The little BIL got his horse out first. She hasn't been rode in quite a while, at least a year. He had some health issues all last year and is just now getting to feeling better. But she did really well! He lunged her quite a bit before hand, getting her listening and working good. Then he saddled her up and worked her some more before climbing up. She went along nice and quiet. Her only problem is the bit. They keep riding her in that dadgum tom thumb -_-. She does not like it and roots against it a lot. Anyway, he walked and trotted her a bit then asked me if I wanted to ride. Of course! So I climbed up and put her through her paces.

She is very green but willing enough. I worked a lot on trying to get her to slow her trot a bit, which made her round up at the same time, though that wasn't really what I was going for. I did some tight circles with her trying to get her to give a little and she gave in pretty easily.

So after I hopped off the older BIL was coming back with his horse. This was when all you know what broke loose. She had an absolute FIT! See, they used to be pastured together, which if you remember right from a previous post, caused all sorts of problems. When he got back from the trainer they put him in with Skip, the sister in laws gelding. So Daisy and Stormy have been together (Scarlet has left the premises, the FIL gave her to the trainer that Rusty went to, he is going to put some training on her and sell her).

Anyway there was NO containing her, the little BIL was just spinning in circles trying to keep her from running over him. Thankfully he was till in the round pen with her. Rusty was also getting quite excited, but nothing like her. Anyway the big BIL took Rusty a ways away and she settled down a bit. At this time I had to go back to the house to put little girl down for her nap. By the time I got back Stormy was put up and Rusty was being saddled. They had planned originally to ride together outside of the pen, but after the way they both acted, they decided that wasn't wise, lol.

Before we move on to Rusty, here is some Stormy picture spam! Click on the pictures to see it bigger. (bear with me, I am loving my new camera and I get even more picture happy then before!)

 

                                                                                                                               Check out the tongue, lol

                                                             Baby girl having fun!

                         The husband said while I was riding she kept clapping for me every time I went by, lol! --->

So this was the big test! How was Rusty going to do after coming back from his training? Same? Better? Would the BIL want to keep him or go ahead and sell him??

Well I have to say I may have to eat my words! From what I saw yesterday I'd say he is a MUCH improved horse! Its like all the fire has been tamed and he is just relaxed and obedient. He got rode quite a bit while at the trainers so I don't know if it was just wet saddle blankets he needed, or someone to put him in his place, or both, but whatever it was it worked! At least as far as I can tell. 

The BIL lunged him for just a few minutes and tacked him up. He stood there falling asleep and also did very well while the BIL got on. He only rode him in the round pen briefly before venturing out. The trainer rode him for miles on the trails and was really pleased with him. He told the BIL if he decided to sell him to give him first bid! lol.  

He did perk up remarkably once he was out in the 'wide open' but didn't do any funny business. The BIL walked him around near the round pen a bit, then up around their yard, down the driveway, etc.

Before long he was done and asked if I wanted to ride him. I was hesitant at first, but then was like well why not, I'll kick myself later if I don't! So I said sure, and jumped up. Try not to laugh at my high water jeans, sigh, I really need to get some actual riding jeans! They are just SO EXPENSIVE. I have to have a 36 inch inseam to have jeans long enough when I ride. They don't sell those in regular womens jeans! Anyway, I really enjoyed him! We went exploring and he moved out nicely, but not too fast. He responded well to the bit to me, and we walked over some logs and went and saw my husband who was doing very scary things behind our house with a saw, lol. As we were walking to the corner of the house to go behind it, he couldn't see around the house to see what was going on. So he didn't really think it was a good idea to go over there! But I persuaded him he wouldn't die fairly easily and we walked around to where we could see my husband and stood there a bit. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to stay around so I had to make him turn back and face the saw a few times. After he was still a few moments we went on back towards the round pen. He was fairly level headed and so calm most of the time. Such a good boy.

So all in all a very productive day! All of us were busy today but I wish we could have gone out again, its been so pretty here and I just know the cold weather is JUST around the corner. I hope everyone else has a great weekend! Till later!

Visiting...

So Chloe and I went out visiting today. We manage to see 6 horses today! ;)

First off we went to visit Daisy girl. I felt pretty safe this time since the main trouble maker (the BILs horse) isn't here right now. The BIL decided to ship him off to a cousin of his to get some training. He seems to be doing pretty well so far. We'll see!

Daisy and Stormy are the only ones in the pasture now. They were of course chilling in the shade on the far side of the pond.  I just got a AWESOME new camera for my birthday so you will def be getting some picture spam in this post!! Its my first dslr and I feel so inferior!

My little buddy :)

I sent the BIL down the lane to fetch Daisy, I didn't want to be in that lane with Chloe. He tried and tried to get her to come with him back down the lane to no avail. I was just giggling. He pulled and pulled on her head (no halter) and her mane. Then I suggested he try tapping her with his walking stick while he pulled on her mane. Nope! He was smacking her with it and she was like, huh? So funny. So then he gave up and came towards me to get the halter and of course THEN she decided she would come visit! 

I then decided to park Chloe outside of the gate because I saw Stormy headed down with us and I was taking no chances this time. Little girl had a bunch of leaves to play with so was good for a while, lol. I had brought a little stiff brush with me so I brushed Daisy girl down and got her shining as well as I could. She definitely could use a bath! Her head is so dusty as you will see in the pictures. After that I sprayed her down with some fly spray and let her loose. I then pulled out my camera and went crazy taking pictures. She was so cute! She just stood there looking at me and posing, lol.

Then I turned my attention to Stormy and got a few of her.

She is such a pretty color, what girl hasn't wished they had a dappled grey?!

After that we left the girls dozing, well Daisy at least, and headed out the gate down the road. At the end of the road is the pasture I jumped Daisy in a few years ago, and where Skip and the FILs horse is now. But they decided not to be sociable and I couldn't get any photos of them. On down the main road back to the neighbors pasture where Tuff now lives! It was too cute when I called his name that he answered me. You think he misses me? I couldn't get many pictures of him because his buddy wanted all the attention and kept running him off. I think he thought we had food and was not going to share!

And thats about it! All seem to be happy and healthy. I REALLY want to get out and ride Daisy but either the time or someone to watch Chloe is not available. And when the husband is home its either late or we are going going going! I guess I need to just set the time aside and DO IT!

Hope all is well with everyone else! Say a prayer for Andrea, she lost her beloved mare this week and its such a heartbreaking story... http://eventing-a-gogo.blogspot.com/

A New (Old) Home For Tuff

Well my sweet boy has returned to where it all started! The pasture of his birth is now where he will live, hopefully, for the rest of his life. We sold him to our super nice neighbors that I mentioned in my last post who let us use the pasture for Daisy and her foal when he was born.

Baby girl was down for a nap when he came out to the in laws to get Tuff. Thankfully the BIL was able to go get him for me. Chloe woke up a little bit later and I loaded her into the stroller and headed out there. The in laws and neighbors were all standing in the front yard talking while Tuff blissfully ate up all the grass in sight, lol.

We all talked there for a while. His wife just loves him. I told him all the things he knows, and doesn't know. Mainly we all just 'talked horses' for a while. I love it! Very rarely do I get to do that. The hubby is indulgent and a good listener, but definitely does NOT 'talk horses' with me, lol. I also liked how the mans philosophy about horses ran very parallel to mine. Its not often that happens!

After that we headed on out to the pasture to see how Tuff would do with their other horse. He is a 12 or so year old Saddlebred.

There they go! After we got to the gate he went and put a halter on his horse and they talked over the fence for a bit. All seemed to go pretty well. Tuff was mainly interested in eating the grass, of course, lol. His horse is definitely the higher strung breed of horse and was VERY interested in him. He squealed a few times at Tuff but that was about it.

 Then the BIL took Tuff in and put him in the far pasture closest to the house. There is a fence separating the pasture in two. He's going to leave them like that a few days before putting them together. I think Tuff will be fine, but I'm a little worried the other horse (Bo is his name) will try and run him and basically be mean to him. Hopefully they will be good buddies though! Geldings generally make good pasture buddies.

There is Chloe chilling in her stroller like a good girl! She is chewing on the pasture gate keys, lol. Little girl is going on 14 months now! Can you believe it?? Still pretty much bald headed, yes, but we are growing a bit more fuzz then we were! LOL.

So after we watched them for awhile I headed on back to the house. Here is the last shot of them:

Bo is trotting along the fence to get back to Tuff who went to meet the BIL and neighbor. I hope they do well tonight! I'm sure Tuff will be fine, he's been in that pasture several times since he was born and the hot wire is very well marked.

So! I went out and visited Daisy the other day with little girl. It was, um, interesting to say the least. Scary actually would be a better word. I'm never going out there with Chloe again. Not unless it is only Daisy. The BIL's horse and Stormy scared the living DAYLIGHTS out of me. That gelding has gone plum crazy when it comes to 'his' mares. Dangerous, really.

Daisy was in the lane by the pond so I pushed Chloe on out there in her stroller and put her in a safe spot and got Daisy haltered and started brushing her down, checking her over, etc. I had already done the same thing earlier with Tuff and had a lot of fun. (Skip is totally harmless and Scarlet ignores us, lol).

Stormy has been on the side with the older horses for a few months now. Somehow she broke in there and we just left her since she did well. There needed to be one less horse on the babies side anyway. So as I'm brushing Daisy, the BILs horse and Stormy decide they want to come in the VERY NARROW lane with us. Well thank GOD the BIL was there and shooed them off with his hat.

That SHOULD have been the end of it. It wasn't. He kept on, and kept on, and kept on trying to get over there to Daisy. And then Stormy came over there as well and they are all trotting around in a very SMALL space with the gate, pond, and lane (with us in it) in a small triangle. I'm getting very nervous at this point. And then all of a sudden Stormy is trying to run over me, Daisy, AND MY BABY in her stroller! I could just see her making a flying leap over the stroller and kicking my child in the head. :heart stop:

So I am SCREAMING and yelling at Stormy to get out of there and NOT to run into/jump over us (BILs horse is on the other side of her STILL trying to get to us and pushing Stormy INTO us; much kicking and squealing is going on). So finally Stormy thankfully decides its a bad idea to run over the screaming crazy lady and gets out of there.

But he is not done. He goes to the other side of the pond and GETS IN. He starts walking into the pond!! I look at the BIL with a dazed expression and say "he is going to try and SWIM over here to get to Daisy" And sure enough he did! Before he got over there though I had taken the halter off Daisy and got OUT OF THERE with my child. We went out the gate and watched as he swam over to a log, tried to REAR OVER it, and then finally got over to the other side of the pond to where his 'mare' was and heaved himself out onto a huge bank. UNbelievable!!

I was just in shock. I've never seen a horse act like that! Ever since Stormy got into that pasture I've heard reports of those two acting strange. And sure enough, there was the proof. My gosh. I guess it doesn't help any that he was cut late and also bred a horse before getting cut. UGH! I swear, it was ridiculous!

You might be asking, what was Daisy doing through all this?? NOTHING. She stood stock still with a foot cocked and her head up with a look on her face like WHAT is going on?? Thank the Lord she is so mild natured. If I had had to deal with her as well who knows what would have happened.

Anyway, I've definitely learned my lesson and will NOT be going out there with Chloe any time soon. I don't know how I'm going to ride either if he is going to insist on being near Daisy at all times. Gosh, what a mess!! I basically begged the BIL to let me put his horse up for sale but he won't do it. Sigh. Hopefully he will see the light soon. Theres no reason for him to have to have a horse that is no use to him as opposed to a horse he can actually work with and ride. I for one would LOVE having someone to ride with AND get rid of a nuisance!

So on that happy note! LOL, I hope all is well with everyone else! And hopefully I will not take so long to post another entry! Till later!

Tuff Goodbyes

 

Hi everyone! Sorry its been such a looong spell without a post! Terrible of me! But there really hasn't been anything to report! Thanks to this child of mine and the weather horse happenings have been ZILCH.

I did get to tool around on my girlie a few weeks ago for awhile in the round pen. That was fun. The horse trimmer had been out that day and she was in there chilling while the other horses were getting done when I got home from work. So I took my little self over there and thought YES, prime time for a little ride! So I pushed her up to the side of the pen and started to climb up on the bars. And she promptly decided to swing her hiney out. -_- So again I pushed her over, same result. By the third time of this I decided I had better come up with a different game plan, lol. So I thought, maybe if I try to get on the RIGHT side, she will be tricked and stand still! HAH, I am so smart. She stood stock still and I climbed right up. Sucess!

It felt awesome to be back on a horse. Gosh its been a long time. Not counting riding Tuff a few months ago. So we walked around a bit, I had to flip the lead rope over her nose a few times to guide her, but she did pretty well sticking to the rail. Then we did some trotting which was fun! Although my balance of course wasn't as good as I'd like!

Anyway, it was BLAZING hot so I didn't ride long. After that I walked her out of the round pen and back to her pasture. Thankfully the husband came home just about the time I was walking down the driveway and he followed me out to her pasture and drove me back. It is a TREK out there the long way. The short way isn't as bad but you have to go through the other 4 horses. NOT FUN. And grandma walks about .1 miles per hour. She is SO gimpy on gravel. It was really amusing. She would walk as far off the road as she could just to get away from it. And if there was a hill or some reason she had to get back on the gravel she would mosey her self on over to the other side and walk there.

So on to the post title. I may have found Tuff a home! And it will be permanent I have a good feeling. I think he will most likely be a permanent pasture puff! LOL. Which is perfect. He is happy doing that. Although he would make someone a good little trail horse with some training as well. They may ride him a bit, not sure. Anyway its my neighbors! They are the ones that let us use their pasture for Daisy to have Tuff in (the one with the little red barn) and we used it off and on until the man got him a horse a few years ago. They are just down our driveway. Really nice people.

Ever since Tuff was born the mans wife  has wanted Tuff, lol! Anyway, the other day I heard some of my husbands family saying that she still wanted him. I thought, what?? Why?? He is small and really has no riding training. But they seem to think she just loves that he was born in their pasture, lol. The man also likes him and has a little horse experience. Tuff is pretty easy going, so I don't think they would have a lot of trouble with him if they did decide to try and 'train' on him a bit. Immediately my mind starts turning. This could be a really great place for him. He'd get cared for very well, have a buddy, and a run in shed. They have a nice two horse trailer. And he is going to fence in an additional pasture, so he'd have plenty of grass. They are a middle aged couple with no kids, so you know what that means. More money and they make their pets their 'kids'!

And I could see him anytime I wanted, and probably work with him as well. It is a little disappointing that I put all that time, work, training into him, and then send him off to someone else, lol. But it wasn't in vain. A horse goes so much farther in the world with good training under him. And lets face it, I have NO time for horse things at this point in my life. My other priorities have to come first.

So I haven't talked to them yet, I don't even know how much to sell him for. I'm afraid of going to high. I might just let them name me a price. We will see! The husband is loving the thought of someone else paying for his care and feed, though! ;)

I will keep yall updated! Hope everyone is well! Take care!

ps, couldn't leave without a picture of my girl! Chloe is nearly a year old! Where has the time gone?! 

RidingTuff Part II

Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me SO LONG to get this posted. Mainly its because I had nearly an hour of video to cut down to 7 mintues! Phew!

Anyway! Like I said before, he was a super star!! I mean even I, who knows him best, didn't think he would do THAT well! I was just editing the video and he even RESTS A FOOT while I am sitting on him. Such a good mind on that boy!

So I was thinking of riding him that day, but also knew it was asking a lot of him since I had not worked with him in nearly a year but once (last week) and he probably needed more time for me to refresh him on things we had done. But I did bring my helmet and the saddle out there just in case. I knew if nothing else it would be good for him to carry the saddle around a bit. I also grabbed the driving lines so we could work on that.

So the husband was on babysitting duty, though she very obligingly decided to take a nap not long after I got out there and he laid her down in his parents house with the mother in law supervising. (the round pen is just in front of it in their front slash side yard)

I lunged him a bit to begin with and he was awesome. You wouldn't believe the inside turns we were getting! They were SO GOOD. Even turning back to the right, his bad side. I was SHOCKED. I guess I wasn't doing too much wrong, he just needed a bit of practice. :D His cantering was good as well, tho a bit lazy. His right lead was a little sticky as usual but if I really got after him to jump into it out of his trot we usually got the lead.

Then I took him to the side and put his saddle on. He was pretty unconcerned. It took us probably 20 minutes or so to just get the darn cinch where we could get it tight enough. Thank goodness my husband was out there, he rigged it up good on the off side so I could get it tight enough on the left. He stood quiet like a good boy!

I walked him around a bit to make sure he was cool, he was, so I brought the long lines in and got those run through the stirrups and off we went! This part was a bit hairy. He hasn't been ground drove in a long time and it took him a few minutes to understand what I wanted. But he was SO calm and 'whatever' about it. After a few rounds we had it figured out pretty good, but he was still really sticky about his 'woah' and turning was still a bit tough as well. All we were using was the halter. So it started getting dark and I figured if we were going to ride (which was becoming a serious possibility with how well he was behaving!) I'd better get over there and get started!

I took him back to the side and the hubby came in for support. I did some hopping beside him, then some stepping in the stirrup, then laying on my tummy, etc. He started getting tired of me pulling his saddle to the side I think and started moving forward. So I went back to just putting my foot in there until he settled, then back to the other. And then up I went! You can see the husband get all startled and nervos on the video! Its so funny! He said to me, "your supposed to let me know before you do that!" Sorry!

And what did Tuff do? Nada! He moved a bit to distribute my weight but that was all! So I slid off pretty quick and then went back up, etc. So fun! Then I moved him to the middle where we had a good 'runway' and climbed back up and had the husband lead us around. He was walking so slow and careful, and when we made the turn my husband said he was moving his legs more sideways then forward, haha. So we stopped a few times and went the other way and then I called it a day! GOOD BOY TUFF! It was too fun! I decided against hooking reins to the halter and guiding him myself since he had been so 'sticky' ground driving. We need more work on that and besides, there is no rush. I need to get him a good bit and have him working well in it. Should have done this already, really. The full cheek I bought him last year is too small now for sure. Next time I may work him some in the bitless bridle and see how he does with it. If that goes well I may ride him in that until I can get a bit.

So that about does it! I loosened his cinch right after I got off as reward and then took him to the side and untacked him. Then the husband took him back to the pasture and he got his grain for the night.

I am SO PLEASED with him! I wanted to ride him again this weekend but it didn't work out. Hopefully soon!
Here is the video! (you m ay want to click on it and open it on youtube, its a little large for my layout and you can watch it in HD there)





As for long term plans...well, the husband thinks we need to sell him. :( He is too short for him to ride (and too short for me really and truly). I guess he is never going to be more then a big pony. He said he would ride with me if I would sell Tuff and buy him a dead broke horse he won't have to worry about. I'd love to keep him for Chloe later on, but what would he be doing in the short term? Thats at least 4 or 5 years from now. And we can't afford 3 horses at this point...

Sigh. Its going to be hard to find him a good home. He is unregistered, small, and green broke. Yeah I'm going to get him riding pretty well before I put him up for sale, but he will still be just starting his riding life, therefore, not good for kids just yet which is really where his niche will be. Much thinking to do!

On the other hand, it is exciting to think of getting another horse so I can actually have someone to ride with! The husband said he wants a Friesan. LOL! But would be okay with a Percheron, oh okay darling. Lol, seriously though, he just wants something that isn't ugly, lol, and will take good care of him. SO DO I. I will have to have one that I know will never take off, buck, or rear with him. Being pluggy/lazy is OK with me though, lol. I shopped around a bit the other day. Most times you need a couple thousand for something like this, but maybe we can run up on a deal. We won't be able to spend more then $700 or $800 on one. And that is pushing it! But we also dont need something registered and it doesnt have to be show quality. JUST SAFE. I'm thinking on at least getting $500 out of Tuff. IF WE SELL HIM. I still haven't made my mind up about this! Lol, Ive put a lot of time and and emotions into this horse. Plus him being Daisys baby. Sniff. TUFF WHY DIDNT YOU GROW?! :(

Okay! After an excessively long post, I will say...until later! Stay safe and have fun everyone!

Riding Tuff!

Dont have time for a full post but thought I'd tease yall with this picture! Muahaha, I know I'm evil! I will say it went AWESOME! He was perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better first ride! Go Tuff!

Lunging Tuff

Hey all! Hope everyone is doing well, we are good!

I got out and was able to work with mr Tuff the other day! The original plan was to lunge him then ground drive him with the surcingle and halter. Welll, seeing as I had to take little girl out with me I only got the lunging part in. But thats way better then nothing! And I had a lot of fun. It was SO good to work with a horse again!

So I planned going out about the time my girl goes down for her nap, I was counting on the stroller walk out there to put her to sleep. And it worked GREAT. By the time I got out to the pasture and had gotten Tuff tied up to the rail she was just about out, and it wasn't long till she was. Whoo hoo!

So I got him all cleaned up, even brushed out his tail etc, he seemed to enjoy it! He was easy to catch as well (which is nothing unusual he is the first to come up and see you out of all 4 of them). Then I called the BIL out to push little girl over to the round pen for me while I lead Tuff. I wasn't sure if Tuff would be keen on the stroller. But really all he did was sniff towards it and that was about it! None of the horses seemed real concerned when I walked up to the pasture with it, surprisingly!

We got out to the round pen and I sent him on out. We did a lot of walk, trot, walk, halt, etc. Then a few inside turns. Which he remembered pretty good, but still bad to the one side. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I can't ever get him to make a very sharp one, I always have to get out of his way :/. Anyway, by this time the BIL had decided it was a good idea to feed all the OTHER horses and then Chloe decided she had had enough and started screaming. So I got a few canters in to the left, which he did AWESOME with, then we did the right which was a little harder to get him in to (his weak side) and he picked up the wrong lead originally but did a flying change and did well after that.

Here is a few clips from it. Chloe is also in it at the end! You can see her after I rescued her from her stroller, lol. She gets to sit on her first horsey too! Which is Tuffs first rider sitting up, haha. You can see him go, who are you? And then keep eating. :) Then later for her first time sitting on the grass! (If you go to the actual youtube page you can watch it in HD. This was shot with my new camera! Looks SO much better!)



So not much else going on lately! The weather has been pretty junky last week or so and haven't gotten out. Today its finally back in the 50s! Although apparently we are getting another winter storm this coming week. OH YEAH! -_- Please hurry spring!

Until later!

Snow Days!

Hey everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year since I haven't talked to ya! All is well here, my girl is growing so much! Over 5 months old now!

We got nearly 5 inches of snow Sunday night!! Thats CRAZY for us! Although its kind of a bummer because we got half an inch of ice on top of that, which makes it kind of scary! We've been stuck here for 3 days! I grabbed my bareback pad and bridle yesterday thinking I could sneak in a short ride, but then I almost fell on my butt 2 feet from my porch and thought, hm, probably not a good idea. :)

Hopefully tomorrow will get better. We are supposed to be almost 60 Sat, weird weather!

Anyway, just thought I'd share a few pics of the horses I took the other day in the snow. We have been snowed/iced in since Sunday night!

Snowy pasture!


Horses down in the trees!

Tuff sampling the local trees, lol

Pretty pic of Skip I made black and white

Hi Tuff Tuff!!

Hey Daisy and Rusty! (notice the bloody fetlock, ughh, its superficial thankfully, probably a stick in the woods)

Icicle tail!

I'm not liking how thin she is looking, she is usually an air fern horse, but she is getting older and its cold! Going to start her on some senior feed as soon as I can get to town again!

Hope all is well everyone else! Chloe says, see ya later!