Scarlet Gets Rode

Hello again everyone! Hope you are all getting the gorgeous weather we have been blessed with lately! Its been in the 80's all this week and most of last. Love it!

Anywho, the same day last week, Wednesday I believe, that I worked Tuff the FIL got his little mare out as well. My memory card was full of Tuff from earlier, so didn't get as much footage as I would have liked, but I got a bit!

So at first she was a little spazzy. He lunged her to begin with and she was a little racecar in there. She kind of looks like she is running scared. But when he asks her to woah, she WOAHS. And then looks at him hopefully like, "can I come in to you now??"

So he did that for a few rounds and then got out his saddle and bridle. That was a bit interesting, lol. We're not sure how many times she has been tacked up (and rode for that matter) but it can't have been many. You'll see how skittish/nervous she is in the video below. It's almost like she is expecting someone to mistreat her. She has a hard time keeping her feet still when you are messing with her. Even just brushing.

Anyway after he got the saddle on her he lunged her around some more with the saddle, she didn't buck or anything but she was definitely moving on out. After that he put a bridle on and thats where she had serious problems. Any time he tried to pull on her outside rein just standing next to her she would have a complete come apart and he would have to let her go. So he would calmly go and collect her and try again. Same thing 2 or 3 more times. So finally he told us to watch her and went and got some driving lines.

Now at this point I'm thinking to myself, okay something is not right, we need to go back to the beginning here and sort it out. And get that dang tom thumb out of her mouth. But of course its his horse so I'm not going to tell him how to train her.

Anyway, he comes back and hooks her up to those and she has one nasty episode (its hard to describe what she does, she doesnt buck or rear or jump, she just has a spaz attack!) and he hauled her in and made her back up and give to the bit. And BAM. She was a different horse. Head down, docile, do whatever you say, whenever you say. He walked her around that pen turning her both ways for another 10-15 minutes and she never picked her head up or offered anything that he didn't ask for. When they woahed, she stopped and stayed there. It was like a light switch flicked on! Crazy! He said is the way she has done when he's worked with her before, its like she has to have her little moments and then she just gives up! His phone even rang when he was on her and he walked around one handed talking on it and she didn't have any issue at all with it.

I'm hoping its because of the way she was handled before and that eventually she will figure out that we aren't going to hurt her and she doesn't have to put her defenses up every time we work her. Hopefully!

So after that he took the lines off and started pulling on her saddle, putting weight in the stirrup, etc, and then just swung up and walked her off. No problems! They rode around for quite awhile just walking and trotting. She looked relaxed and a okay with everything the whole time.

Here is the video of the saddling, a little of her spastic lunging, and them walking and trotting
around the round pen. (thats my handsome hubby assisting, hehe)



So anywho, definitely ended on a good note. I hope she remembers that and starts out that way next time!

Next Post: Tuff Has His First 'Riders'!

Tuffs First Saddling/Bridling

Tuff says "um, what did you put in my mouth,
and why is it still there??"

Here it is! The promised post! Sorry it took so long to come about!

So anywho, last Wednesday we had a gorgeous day! High 60's, low 70's. When I got home I left the husband mowing the lawn and packed up my saddle and bridle.

I was hoping the horses would be up at the house eating hay, but of course they were out in the pasture eating grass! So the two dogs and I traipsed out there. I was calling them the whole way and once I heard Tuff call back, but no sign of them. So I finally hit the back lane and saw all of them clustered at the top of the hill. Then they all came running down the hill, eep! I still worry about Missie (my mini schnauzer 5/6 month puppy) around the horses (not to mention my unborn baby!) so I yelled WOAH and put my hands up. That got them all to stop in front of me. Scarlet and Stormy were up front of course, but Tuff was right next to Stormy a little back from Scarlet, so I called to him hopefully and he actually stepped right up and I got him hooked! Phew, did NOT want to get into the middle of them in that lane.

So I walked back with him, Stormy and Skip following, and Scarlet was my little pest the whole way on my other side or right next to him. I think she didn't believe that I had not hid grain from her in the bucket of brushes I had, lol. "What? I just know your holding out on me!" -->

We made it back to the gate without incident. (Missie ran on ahead, she is pretty determined about not getting near the horses. I'm glad, harder to get stepped on that way!) The gate was a little hairy, with Scarlet wanting to escape with Tuff, but thankfully he knows the drill at gates and I was able to keep her in. Phew!

We walked to the round pen and parked just inside by the gate. The older BIL had come out and was my helper the rest of the afternoon, which was super of him! I so much appreciated it.

So first we tracked down the lunge line and whip and then I brushed him for a bit. He is starting to lose hair and it had been awhile since he'd been brushed, so that took a good 30 minutes I bet, lol. His mane was a mess. But finally I got that straightened out and clipped the lunge line on.

I sent him out on the lunge, just acting like it was something we do every day. The first time I had him in there I walked him around myself a few times on the perimeter, just to give him a chance to acclimate. But I didn’t think it necessary that day. He was a little lookey, but not terrible, and we just did some walk/trot for a bit. He was better about the pulling this time, probably because he wasn’t as giraffe necky trying to pay attention to everything but me!

So I decided the footing was well enough to do a little cantering, it was a little loose, but only muddy in a few spots. I tried to keep him out of the worst. He has only cantered on the lunge once two summers ago and I’ve been wanting to get him comfortable doing it for awhile.

So anyway, he did pretty well! He transitioned up to it very easily, like he had been doing it forever. I used the standard kiss and "canter" in a higher tone cues. He dropped back to it pretty quick once he hit the corner and then rocketed away again after he got into it. I think some of his playing up etc was him trying to stay on his feet/get his balance. Anway, I was pretty happy with him! You’ll see all this in the video I’ve got below the BIL was nice enough to take.

So after the first canter (actually I think he was galloping, lol) he was pretty up, so I did some trotting with him a bit, then some walking, etc. We did a few more transitions that way and then reversed. This way he got a little cheeky and bucked up a bit and kicked out which I growled at him about and the last transition up and down was very nice. Quiet and easy. So its something we just need to work on a bit and I’m sure it will be ho-hum in no time.

Question! When I was editing my video, I started looking at his legs…they look…funny. Like, he isn’t cantering, so I thought…is he galloping? At times when I slowed the video waay down I can see a distinctive 1,2,3,4 footfall sequence. But then I’m like, is he really going fast enough to be galloping?? Is he cross-firing in the back maybe? Or what? The hind legs are what look wonky. I don’t know enough about footfalls to be sure. So yall more experienced eyes let me know what you think!

So after we were calm and doing well on the lunge (every woah he did was excellent by the way, yeah!) I gathered him in and we went over by the gate again and the BIL got my saddle and bridle out of the car for me. I had tried to find my bareback pad earlier, but with no luck. I’d planned on using the girth off of it for the saddle, since Daisy’s is way too long for him. Boo, well I still wanted to get him used to it being on and off his back. I sat it on the panel in front of him for a few minutes while I swapped the lunge for his lead rope and he sniffed it a few times, ladee da. Then lifted it off, let him see it, then just plopped it on his back. And he did SUPER. No problems at all. On and off a few times, wiggle wiggle. Baby stuff for him, apparently.

So then I decided well, what the heck lets just waltz around. I of course was sure to admonish him before we started to NOT, under any circumstances, dump my pretty saddle that was given to me in the dirt!! (thanks again Becca! ;) If I thought he was going to be a problem though, I wouldn't have done it. But I've had stuff on and off his back since he was 6 months old with no difficulty at all.

Here he is looking so cute and grown up:

So I didn't do that but maybe one or two rounds and then had the BIL grab Daisys bridle from the car. (Did I mention he was a good helper??) I was pretty sure it would be much too big for him so I shortened it up and then looked at it and thought, okay too much. So I let it out to one smaller then Daisys normal setting after I held it up to his face. I definitely would rather have it hanging in his mouth then choking him! Well turns out that was about right! I always knew Daisy had a cute little head ;).

So he did well when I put it in his mouth, I was just patient with him and let him figure out what I wanted. It took a little bit for him to decide he wanted to open his teeth but after that no probs slipping his ear in the bridle, etc. I love having a horse that will keep their head low and calmly take a bit, so I am very careful to be slow and easy with him. Who loves bridling a horse with his head in the air like a giraffe?? Not I!

Well of course all he did after that was chew chew chew on it. You'll see at the end of the video how he is concentrating so hard he isn't picking his feet up high enough, lol. But he was calm and pretty okay with it all, so I was happy. I took it off and put it back on again, being careful to not bang his teeth, etc. and he did awesome. He even stopped chewing for a second! I took it off real quick when he did that, lol.

So here is the video!



So all in all a good session with Tuff Tuff! We do need more lunging work (kicking out and playing up are not to be the norm) and only time will get him doing well with a bit. I'm still so happy to see that he is okay with leaving his buddies and not being able to see them, and not being distracted by that at all. I will try to remember to measure his height next time, I'm curious. I'm hoping we are real close to 14.3! But not holding my breath...lol ;).

I ordered him a full-cheek off ebay, maybe I'll get it this week. I'm afraid it will be too small...I forgot to measure his mouth when I was out there! But it was only .99! (well, $8 of shipping, lol) So I jumped on it. We'll see. Like I keep telling my husband, you can NEVER have too many bits. Its impossible. ;) He doesn't believe me.

Well, until later! Have a great week everyone!

Some Pictures...

Hey everyone! Still alive and kicking! (and being kicked! No, not by the horses, my little cowgirl! Yup, we're having a girl!)

It is starting to get nice around here!! Supposed to be 70's today. Though we still have those 60 days. But I think we are about done with the freezing weather, maybe one more shot! But hopefully not.

Nothing to post as of yet...just thought I'd share some pictures from the other day. On one of my days where I go into work later, I took the dogs out for a walk, and myself of course, to the in laws and then on out to the horse pasture. There they all are on the far side looking at us and the two puppies. They all seem to be pretty good buddies! Yeah, Scarlet is in with the other three, I think the FIL was afraid she'd get beat up on in the other pasture, plus she is able to come up to the house in this pasture to be fed, messed with, etc.

So without further ado!

The 'girls' coming to check us out, you can see Tuff is real concerned, lol

Stormy girl!

I love this pic, they were staring at the dogs, too cute. They seem to get along well

Next Post! Tuff wearing his first saddle and bridle!

Another New Addition!

Hi guys! Hope all is well with everyone! All is going good here, still in a holding pattern waiting for the warm/drier weather! I had a bit of interaction with Tuff Saturday. He was out dozing in the lovely sun and I gave him a brush down and leaned over his back a bit. He's a good boy :). I saw Daisy from a distance as we went for a walk through her pasture Sunday, she was too busy eating grass for visiting ;). Doesn't look like she will be the pony ride horse this Sunday like I thought. Another lady that goes to our church is bringing 3-4 of her horses so I thought it unnecessary.

Anywho, on to the subject of my title!

Her name is Scarlet (tentatively; its in her registered name, but that doesn't mean thats what they will name her!) I forgot her registered name, but she has a lot of old foundation blood way on back there. Doc Bar, King, Leo, etc. She is to be the father in laws riding horse.

She is a March '02 model, so almost 8, right? And about 15 hands is my guess. And probably a couple hundred pounds underweight. She was a freebie and also a rescue, I guess you could say. Her owner had a stroke or something of that kind and is not able to get out and care for the horses anymore. So they sit in their stalls in huge piles of manure all day. They don't have any pasture. Thats so ridiculous to make a horse life like that. They also have feet that look like this and worse:
Anywho, when he first walked her up to the house (the people that owned her are only about a mile down the road so he walked her home) I looked at her and went, ick. She looks like a TB racehorse just off the track. All scrawny and drawn up. She had her head up and her neck looked short. Her mane and tail are all scraggly and pulled out, and she needs a hoof trim and bath in the worst way. I have to say I was expecting something different from what I had heard him saying about her. Supposedly the guy liked to cut, and so I figured I'd see a stocky, thick QH sort of along the lines of my Daisy girl, but shorter. Hm, not so much! But, after a few months on pasture and some good nutrition I think I will definitely have to reevaluate her.

So he took her up to his house so all the folkes there could look at her and they brushed her down some. She was pretty antsy, watching the boys and Stormy (they were talking to her, lol, although we never heard her make any noises) and wanting to go visit. He took her to the round pen and let her loose and worked her a bit in there. He's worked her before when he went over to their house to help with the horses after the man had his stroke. She did really well. Listens to his body language well and even walked up to him on command after he was done. Here's a video of a bit of that.




So, as you can see her feet are making it impossible for her to move naturally. But she seems to genuinely want to be be around people. She would come up to us at the side of the pen and just hang out there, rather then be away from us. Her eye just has something in it that says, "love me, please?" So we will see! I'm betting she will get put out with Rusty and Daisy, I hope they get along well. There's already 3 horses in the other little 'herd', although that herd would probably be more welcoming. I have a feeling the other two are going to run her around quite a bit.

She is supposedly saddle-broke and labeled as 'cold-backed'. But the FIL thinks its because someone cowboyed her and didn't take the time to train her right. So we'll see how she does with quiet, understanding training. The only think I'm worried about is the FIL being too big for her. She is more of a 'lady sized' horse to me, not a 200+lb man size. I don't think its real wise...but what can you do? Maybe she will fill out with good care... :/

Here are a few shots I took of her:

I think she was happy to be out of her stall in the pretty weather! This was
her darting away from the fence back towards us

Her head is her best feature. It is adorable! Sadly I missed her cute little ears, they are also adorable (the sun was so bright on my camera screen I was guessing at most of my shots!)

Relaxing...ugh those feet! No white at all on her
except for a little bitty star on her forehead. Sigh, bays are so boring!


I think they are both smitten ;)

So not much more to say! I will keep you all updated of course.

In case anyone is wondering, my pregnancy is progressing well! I am in my 17th week now (just over 4 months) and we have a big event this Friday! Ultrasound day! So hopefully we will be finding out if we are having a little cowgirl or a little cowboy! We are both leaning towards boy, but will be estatic with a girl as well of course. I'm mainly praying that the ultrasound will show us that everything is looking great and just as it should be with my little guy/gal. I should start feeling little kicks and punches any day now! So excited.

Have a great week everyone! (and say a prayer for in2paints mare Lilly, she has a ultrasound this week as well on an injury, we want to hear about good results!)