These pics open myself up for ridicule, but I feel it is important to realize that there are bumps in the road, and those bumps can be overcome. Bolting is a bump!
And we continue on with our trotting. The important thing is to continue like nothing has happened. Did I smack him in the mouth with the bit? Of course, he caught me by surprise, but he will learn that bolting is uncomfortable, and being a calm, relaxed horse is easier.
Andi is my Icelandic gelding. He is almost 6, and I've had him since he was 11 months old. He started his saddle training one year ago with a trainer that I trust. Andi has always been a horse prone to panic and bolting. I know there are those that disagree with me, but I firmly believe this panic/bolting behavior is bred into the Icelandic for the "showiness" in the competition ring. Not all Icelandics are like this, but there are enough in a breed that has low numbers to have it be a concern to breeders. Some bolting in the Icelandic are due to poor saddle fit and training. But there are still enough horses out there like Andi who have had good, kind, training, and proper fitting tack that it is time for the breeders to get their head out of the sand.
Andi's panic and bolting came out to the extreme this past summer as I was attempting to train Andi to a harness and a cart. He got the nickname "little yellow freight train" after bolting thru a 16' pipe corral gate in a panic. After more training, Andi proved he did not have the correct temperment for a driving horse, and I saw that I really had to get a handle on his panic behavior and re-train his mind. Some horse trainers say to control the mind you have to control the feet. I disagree. I think that to control the feet, you have to control the mind. I use clicker training to control the mind. This type of training is based on 100% positive training and no punishment. Wrong behaviors are ignored, and correct behavior is rewarded. This gives you a horse who wants to work for you, work with you, and wants to please you. After all, a horse is a prey animal, and to a prey animal, punishment means he is going to get eaten.
In the past, I have refrained from lunging Andi because he lunges in panic mode, and goes faster and faster until he is in a blind panic. Well, this then was the perfect place to start. I started just walking and whoaing. Andi got clicked and treated for nice, calm walks, and smooth transitions from whoa to walk. From there we progressed to calm trots. It took a lot of time, patience, and carrots to get a calm trot on the lunge. Today was the first day I asked for a canter on the lunge. I set my camera on the fence and filmed part of our session:
Andi and I are progressing quite well. Andi is learning that speed does not mean he has to run for his life, and I am learning to trust him more. Andi is the type of horse who can read your mind. Since he is so overly sensitive, I owe it to Andi to become a better rider, so I've also been taking equitation lessons on Andi, and we are improving as a team. We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go. Here are a couple of pics from my last lesson:
Andi has gotten the thickest winter coat already, and it's only the first week in November. Since a horse grows it's winter coat based on the amount of daylight, and not the cold, he is WAAAAY overdressed for our 60 and 70 degree weather. I had done a lousy clip job on him last year. I say lousy because while I own clippers, they are not heavy duty clippers. So I asked my friend and neighbor, Sharon, to clip him for me and she agreed. Here is the outcome:
Sharon did a beautiful job! Lucky for me, she used to clip for competition horses, so her being a clip perfectionist just makes Andi look all the more sexy in his new haircut! And now, he doesn't get so overheated and soaking wet when he gets ridden. By the time the bitter cold nights of January and February get here, the clipped areas will have grown in enough to keep him warm.
Whisper and I went to the High Desert Classic Endurance Ride with the intention of doing Saturday's 30 mile Limited Distance Ride. Ride Camp was located at the Boy Scout Camp at Fort Churchill on the Carson River. We have been to this camp many times for trail trials, trail rides, and this was Whisper's first camping trip over 2 years ago. Whisper and I got to camp by 1pm on Friday afternoon, and we got a nice choice spot that would provide Whisper shade no matter the time of day. I don't go out in the camper much by myself, so was quite proud for getting set up, the propane turned on, and the hot water heater turned on by myself. Here is Whisper settled in quite nicely in camp:
She even looks ready for a nap here! Luckily, Whisper is a very good camper and is content to be tied to the trailer. She has plenty of room to move around, and would be able to lay down if she desired. Of course, having a full hay bag in front of her at all times helps! Under her number on her hip, I placed a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon. This is October which is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, after all!
My friend, Jaimie, was due to arrive before dinner. She was going to help me and be my crew. She also used to do a lot of endurance rides, and was going to help me find someone safe and sane to ride with the next day.
5:00 AM Saturday morning, I got up, got Whisper a new bag of hay, started up the generator and put on a pot of coffee. The 50 miler's started at 7:00 AM, and we 30 miler's were to start at 8:00 AM. I got Whisper booted up in her Easyboot Epics, tacked up and was mounted at 7:30. Whisper was cool as a cucumber - and this was only her second ride! We wandered over to where my ride partners were, Peggy and her granddaughter, Brittany, and they weren't quite ready so we wandered around camp a bit. I was joking with Whisper to "calm down" because if she was any calmer, she would have been asleep. I was quite pleased by her demeaner! It's way easier to hop up a horse than it is to calm one down! Finally, we headed out to where the starting line was, and started out about 8:20 since we wanted the "hot shoes" to get a good chance to get out of sight of our horses. To get to the start, we had to ride a trail parallel to the highway before we crossed over it. Whisper had never been that close to fast moving traffic before, and had never seen an 18 wheeler, let alone one going 65mph. She acted as tho she had seen traffic daily! What a good girl! The ride to the vet check was close to 16 miles, and we went up and down hills, over a railroad track, paralled the railroad for several miles (all the while I was praying no train would go by) and about 2 1/2 miles from the vet check, Whisper had a good trip, but recovered, but then slung her head back at me several times. This did not bode well. I did take a couple of pics while we stopped and Peggy opend and then closed a gate for up. Peggy is dismounted, and I also got a good pic of Brittany on her 1/2 mustang. The last pic is Princess Whisper.
Once at the vet check, Whisper trotted out for the vet (the famous "Duck") and he said to go remove Whisper's boots and come back because she seemed "off". We were both hoping that there was a rock in her boots. No such luck. Evidentally, there was a rock on the trail with Whisper's name on it, and her ride was done. We got a trailer ride back to camp on the ambulance trailer with another horse, a 50 miler, that had a rock on the trail with her name on it! Oh well, that's part of the heartbreak of an Endurance ride. When we got back to camp, I found another vet who verified which foot was bothering Whisper with the hoof testers. He did find an increase in the pulse to that hoof, but no swelling, so he recommended at least a week off. Whisper had on boots with pads, and even if she had on shoes with pads, that same rock may have found her. Here is a link to our trail that was downloaded from my Garmin 305 GPS with heartrate moniter:
If you go to the map, then click satellite, then below the map, click google earth, you can zoom in and see the trail. This is a really cool feature of the Garmin 305.
Peggy and Brittany finished in time and got their completions! I may not have gotten a completion, but I met new friends and had a great time doing it! That's why the sport of Endurance is so much fun! The people are the best anywhere! We stayed for dinner and the awards ceremony and enjoyed a good night's sleep in the camper before packing up and heading home at around 10:00 AM Sunday morning. By then, Whisper didn't seem owey on her foot at all just walking around camp. Now we have all winter to get her feet in condition along with the rest of her!
Here I am sitting in my hotel room in Hawthorne at my second job, looking at the mountains with a dusting of snow, 23 days left until the most historic Presidential Election, wondering, "Where on earth did the summer go?" And, oh my goodness, I havn't written in my blog since July 12? Lazy, lazy, lazy...well, not really, more like busy, busy, busy. So, what's been happening since then? Well...
I have been riding Whisper regularly with my friend down the street, Sharon. Sharon is a 3 Day Eventer, so conditioning her horse is simular to Whisper's conditioning for Endurance. With one BIG exception - Sharon would like to do canters and gallops, and Whisper does these annoying "whoohoo" bucks when I ask her for speed, and since I would rather not get launched off my horse at 18mph, I tend to keep the speeds down. We are cantering on a regular basis, just not fast enough for Sharon's horse, Phynn, to get in a good canter gait as his stride is so much bigger than Whisper's. At least riding with Sharon is pushing my envelope and making me do things I have been afraid to do in the past.
With my rides on Whisper getting longer and faster, Mom just didn't have the ability to keep up, so Raven now has a job! After getting ridden maybe 6 times in the past 2 years, Raven is now the "mom horse". Of course, since she is fat and out of shape, Mom has had to slow down and shorten her rides for me and Raven. Raven is enjoying her job, and now winnies at me when I go out and get a horse. Raven and Whisper vie for who is going to go first.
Andi got a break from riding as I had been concentrating on training him to pull a cart. I went to a couple of clinics with him, and he freaked out over wearing blinders and went crashing thru a 16' pipe corral gate going full speed. I worked with him another 6 weeks, but I just don't think I want to put in the time to make him a driving horse. So I will begin riding him again after next weekend.
What happens next weekend, you ask? Well, Whisper and I have a 30 mile Endurance ride out at Fort Churchill. Even tho it has been snow flurries all this weekend, next weekend it is supposed to be in the 70's, so it should be perfect for an Endurance ride. She will be wearing her new saddle, a Specialized which I am able to tweak and fit perfectly to her back. She will also be wearing Easyboot Epics on all 4 hooves instead of shoes. So I will be able to see if I have everything "tweaked" correctly after doing 30 miles in 7 hours.
Bruce and I went on a camping trip in September. Bruce ended up inviting his department at work to meet us there, and we all had a great time. With disel prices pushing $5/gal. we stayed fairly close to home and went to Berlin-Ichthiasaur State Park about 90 miles away. Here is a slideshow I put together of our trip:
Last weekend, we took the Amtrak from Reno to Truckee. The train follows the Truckee river and stops just short of Donner Pass. It was breathtaking and !cheap! at $23 round trip per person. The train ride was just over an hour, and not nearly long enough, so in January or February, we will take the train on over to Sacramento and spend the night and return the next day. It should be beautiful going over the Sierra's in the snow and I am looking forward to it! Here is a slideshow I made of the train ride:
Well, that's the quick catch up! Hopefully I will have a successful Endurance ride to write about after next weekend!
Yesterday, I had no one to ride with (Whisper will not go out alone), so my plan was to try her Easyboots with the dome pads in the front, and go up and down our gravel road to see how she did in them. When I took her up to the mountains with a hard pack road and rocks, she was very owey even in her boots, so I thought the pads would help. Anyway, after booting her up yeasterday, my neighbor Judy, rode up with her very expensive and highly trained cutting horse, Julia. They were going on a trail ride and asked if I wanted to go, so off we went! Whenever Whisper and Julia get together, they are both full of beans, so we trotted about a mile to get them to settle. They are both in good shape and very fit and well conditioned, and neither of them was puffing and Whisper's heart rate was only about 120 for the trot. That is her usual trotting HR. We backed down to a walk, and suddenly, Julia just stopped. Judy thought she had to pee, so we gave them a chance and when it was obvious they didn't have to pee, we asked them to move on. Julia refused and she doesn't normally do this so Judy knew something was wrong. She immediately dis mounted and tried to lead Julia forward to no avail. Julia wouldn't budge even one foot! She was tying up. This is a veternary emergency with a horse where the huge rear end muscles cramp up. First thing you do is DON'T MOVE THE HORSE. Second thing is get it to the vet as quickly as possible. The horse that has tied up needs immediate attention by a vet because this can lead to death at worst or even kidney failure. However, we were in an area of the desert that was inaccessable to a horse trailer. We needed to walk Julia a mile to get her to an area that a horse trailer could get to, but Julia was going nowhere while she was tied up. Luckily, both Judy and I carry a cell phone with us while we ride and I had the local vet pre-programmed into my cell. The vet would give Judy a shot of Ace which would relax Julia enough to uncramp her muscles and allow us to walk her to where we could get a horse trailer. Our other neighbor, Sharon, was called and just happened to be in the area of the vet, so she would pick up the Ace and I would ride Whisper home and bring Sharon back in our quad since the area we were in was inaccessable to anything but a quad or a Jeep. But this would mean riding Whisper home alone, and she has refused in the past to go out alone. I told Whisper we HAD to do it and that Julia needed us. So off we rode towards home. Leaving another horse behind on the trail is also a big challange, but Whisper rose to the occasion and not only went home, but went home at a trot the whole way without the slighest hesitation!
Once home, I untacked her and put her up all sweaty and dirty and didn't even take her boots off! What a bad horse mommie! I did shove several carrots in her mouth and promised her I would take care of her later, and I really think she did understand the situation. About the time I finished getting water in a container for Julia, Sharon arrived with the shot of Ace and we went tearing out into the desert back to Julia. Judy administered the shot, we gave Julia some water and waited for 30-40 minutes for the shot to take effect so Julia would be able to walk. We then got Julia walking the mile to the point where Judy could get her horse trailer and Sharon and I waited with Julia while Judy took the quad to her house to get her horse trailer.
I later talked to Judy and Julia is doing fine and the vet says Julia was treated just in time and the best thing Judy did was not move her when it began. Forcing Julia to move at that point might have ended up either killing her or ruining her kidneys which would have eventually killed her.
I am so proud of Whisper I have no words. She came thru for me and Julia when it was needed. I think she knew we were on a rescue mission and I was depending on her. She is the best mare in the world!
My Mom turned 75 today, June 28, 2008. Wow! That's 3/4 of a century! Yesterday, in celebration of her birthday and to stick her tongue out at aging, we went on a 10 mile trail ride on our horses! How many 75 year old's do you know that are capable of saddling up her own horse and go riding for 10 miles? Not too many, I'd wager!
When Mom goes riding, she is a minimalist who rides in jeans and moccasins. Due to our heat in the desert, I talked her into getting a camel pak to ride with to make accessing her water during a ride easier. I have been riding with a camel pak for over 4 years now, and I love mine and even wear a small one in the winter. A regular camel pak was too big for Mom, so she got a child size one. So armed with her camel pak on her back, and a fanny pack attached to her waist to carry carrots for her horse, she felt overloaded and thought she looked like she was outfitted to climb Mt. Everest! Wonder what she thinks about me in all my crap!
Here is a video I took of our ride:
I'm not certain I will live to be 75, let alone still be on the back of a horse then! Mom still has dreams of doing a 25 mile Endurance ride with me. At this rate, I think she'll make that ride this year!
On this Memorial Day, 2008, it's time to take a pause and remember that Freedom isn't free, and there are those who paid the ultimate price so that we may enjoy our lives and enjoy the freedom we have here. My father was one who paid the ultimate price, and this is dedicated to him. Commander Thomas Paul Frank, was an A-7 pilot who made his first flight during war in Korea, and his last flight in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. He was not shot down by the enemy, though, his enemy was the sea. The salt in the sea, to be exact. You see, his multi-million dollar plane which was launched off carriers on a regular basis, had a nosegear that was made of salt corrosive metal. Over time, the salt ate away the metal on the part of the plane that attaches to the catapault that launches the plane off the carrier. Four planes had been launched into the water before my father's plane. But we were in a war and accidents happen. Then the day arrived for the accident to happen to my father's plane. The plane was launched off the Carrier the Oriskany, and my father's plane was launched at full speed and flipped into the water off the end of the Carrier. His official cause of death was drowning, but it should have been stupidity. There are a lot of dead heros out there whose official cause of death should be stupidity. But they are heros out there who gave their lives so we can live ours free. Whether you agree with the current war or not, take a moment to thank those that give the ultimate price.
When I first came to Fallon for my interview, one of the first things I saw as I was driving into town was an A-7 on a stick in front of the local Chevy dealership. That was a sign to me that I was home. One day at work, I was talking with a patient about how we ended up in Fallon. I told her I wanted to move west to be able to have horses in my back yard, and the plane was one of my signs that I had found the right place. Especially since it was the plane my father was killed in in Vietnam. As it turned out, this patient's husband was in charge of taking the plane down to repaint it, so she said she'd have her husband put my father's name put on the plane. She kept her word, and now as I pass this plane every day on my way to work, I am reminded of the price of my Freedom, and I always thank a vet. WWII Vets are getting fewer and fewer these days and a little thank you can make their day!
From the book, "HORSES TALKING" by Margrit Coates:
"The more we understand that horses mirror out thoughts, fears and self-doubts, problems and behaviour, the easier it is to work at letting go of these issues. The incentive is a better rapport with our horse. The horse also mirrors our healing actions and good intent. "
If you have a gaited horse, you know exactly what I am talking about. If you are lucky enough to have a multi-gaited horse, figuring out what gait the horse is doing when you are in the saddle can be tricky. I have spent the past 8 years trying to understand gait in the gaited horse. It's easy to see the difference between a trot and a pace, but there are several gaits that fall inbetween that spectrum that is difficult to tell the difference until you train your eyes to see the footfall of the individual horse. Starting with still pictures is best, then graduate to video where you can see the gait, then go back and pause to stop the action and see the individual footfalls will help train your eye.
But how do you transfer that knowledge to the saddle? You have to know the gaits, the footfalls, and what the body does, and a big clue from the saddle is the motion of the head. Here is a video I took from Whisper's back when she went back and forth between the Stepping Pace and the Saddle Rack:
Most people who have gaited horses have them for their smooth gait. Frankly, most of these gaited horse owners don't give a damn what their horse is doing as long as it is smooth and doesn't jar their dental work! Then, when the horse falls out of gait, they mistakenly go to a bigger bit, or heavy shoes in front or back to try and get the gait back. How stupid and sad for the horse! Gaited horses change gait depending on the balance point of the rider; therefore, if the rider is too far forward, or more commonly, too far back in the saddle, the horse's gait will change. Hand position of the rider affects the head and neck position of the horse, and that also affects what gait the horse will do.
Gaited horses are becoming more and more popular as baby boomers are getting back into horses and want something smooth to ride. A gaited horse is marketed as being "easy" to ride, but it takes more skill and balance and an independant seat to ride a gaited horse properly. For more information on the different gaits of the gaited horse, go to Amazon.com and order the Bible of Gaited horses: " Easy-Gaited Horses" by the late Lee Ziegler. I was fortunate enough to get an autographed copy of Lee's book before she passed away from Lou Gherig's disease. Lucky for us gaited horse owner's, Lee left a great legacy in her book. It is also lucky for the horse, because she shows how to get gait without all the horrible bits, weighted shoes, etc. Thank you, Lee!
We are lucky in this area to have one of the premier equine dentists available for our horses. Dr. Scott Greene is not only an equine dental specialist, he is also the developer of dental power tools for horses. Dr. Greene says a horse should have his first visit with the equine dentist before he is bitted for the first time, and yearly thereafter. A lot of people don't understand how dental health affects horses and their behavior. From my own experience, I have seen both Whisper and Andi develop aversions to being bridled, so I switched them both to hackamores knowing I needed to get them exams by the dentist. As it turns out, both Andi and Whisper had wolf teeth (1st pre-molars in humans) that needed to be extracted, and in Whisper's case, she had a blind wolf tooth that caused pain when the bit would hit it. A blind wolf tooth is quite rare and happens when the tooth does not erupt thru the gum, but grows along the jaw bone under the gum.
A horse does not chew or chomp it's food like people. In the horse, the lower jaw goes in a circular motion and has the effect of grinding the hay or grass they consume. A horse's TMJ is up near the ear, so any problems chewing their food affects the poll, which affects the entire spine, which affects the horse's behavior in every aspect of it's life. Taking Whisper as an example, she started flinging her head and got almost dangereous when I went to put her bridle on. At first, I thought her browband was a bit tight, so I got a bigger one and I also switched her to a hackamore. I knew something was hurting her, I just didn't know what it was. I have gradually, with patience and clicker training, gotten her cooperative in the bridling process with the hackamore. Dr. Greene suggested I try the bit again in a couple of weeks, but she goes so well in the hackamore, I may just stick to it.
Here is the video I compiled of the dental exams:
There is a very important lesson to be learned here: ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR HORSE! I did not know what Whisper's problem was, but there is almost ALWAYS a physical reason a horse does not cooperate with you. Horses are not bad on purpose, they are usually bad because they are in pain.
Took a little 10 mile ride with our friends, Sharon and Phinn. Phinn is a 3 day eventing Holsteiner who has huge strides. Poor Whisper has to canter to keep up with his trot, and if Phinn goes into his easy canter, Whisper has to flat out gallop to keep up! We have to watch those gallops, tho, as Whisper's legs got a bit puffy after a long gallop with Phinn last summer. Anyway, here is a video of us cantering a couple miles:
I did have to ask Sharon to slow down a tad to keep Whisper from getting up to her fourth gear, especially since she was getting a bit bucky.
Oh, and don't worry, I will be securing my helmet cam a bit better to my spare helmet so it will not wobble and you will not get motion sickness watching!
I have finally gotten my mother to come over to the light! She had been having trouble with her Spotted Saddle Horse, Fireman, seeing Quads on the trail. He would get all nervous and upset, so I finally convinced her a bigger bit was not the answer, but clicker training was. I hate the idea of trying to control a horse thru pain, as this may lead to a bolt or even more dangereous behavior. I've been having such good luck with clicker training with my mare, Whisper, I finally convinced my mom to give clicker training a try. We started in the arena with basic target training to a soccer cone to get Fireman to understand that a click is the key to the vending machine. From a soccer cone, mom got him to target the quad sitting turned off in the middle of the arena. After he was targeting the quad turned off, we turned the quad on and got him to target it. After that, mom climbed on board Fireman, and got him to target the quad once again while it was turned off (everything is different when you are on the horse). Then, again, with the quad turn on. End of that session! Fireman paired the quad with treats so well that day that he didn't want to leave it and go home!!
Next session, mom got Fireman saddled up, but we started from the ground. She had been working on the head down cue, which leads to a calm down cue, and I would ride past Fireman on the quad. Luckily, I got videos of that training session.
We did this in our own back yard, in case Fireman had a real hard time and Mom had to get off, she wouldn't have far to walk. Mom has always said she doesn't want to be a horse trainer, but I have finally convinced her that 4 years of being just a passenger on Fireman has led to the "problems" he now has. It is time for her to step up to the plate and become her horse's leader, and I must say, she is doing a very good job. Plus, clicker training has such fast, visable results, she is inspired to continue becoming a horse trainer.
Fireman also has a tendency to jig home the last couple of miles; so, she is using clicker training on the trail and clicking for walking calmly, whoaing, head down, and they are doing fantastic!
My friend and neighbor, Sharon, and I loaded up our horsies and went to the beach at Lake Lahonton State Park! We were greeted at the gate to the park by a ranger, which meant the time had come where there is enough traffic for a ranger to man the gate. Oh well, time for Whisper to get used to seeing campers, boats, jet skis, and running children on the beach. There were campers at the parking spot we usually go to, so we went down a few more parking areas until we found one without campers that also had a pottie (I have a small bladder!).
When we pull up to our parking spot, there was a kid heading to the pottie with an AK-47 - I'm assuming it was a toy! But this IS Nevada! Whisper jumped out of Sharon's 3 horse slant load like it was a huge jump. She is used to a 2 horse straight load and backs out of that. She was so high headed I commented to Sharon that no way was I planning on riding a horse with a head that high. Last fall when we came, the lake had been deserted, now it was not. After saddling up and a bit of lunging to tighten up the girth, I mounted up and Sharon and I went down the beach and towards the water. We got to a ledge in the beach just before getting to the water, and both horses thought we were asking them to jump off the Grand Canyon. The ledge was 4" high. After a bit of convincing and clicking and carroting, I got past the ledge as did Sharon, and then we had to convince our horses to go into the water. Even tho they were practically swimming in it last fall, this was different with the activity around us. I didn't get any pics today as I had my hand-held camera and I wanted to keep both hands on the wheel. Here is a video I took at the same place last fall:
We walked up and down the beach, and went in and out of the water. Whisper did fine and was out front quite a bit, and went in the water in the opposite direction of her buddy when Sharon and Phinn decided to canter over a huge log. We actually spent quite a bit of time going in the opposite direction of Sharon and Phinn with never a balk or backwards step. She even went in the water on her own far away from Phinn. Once Whisper gets over her initial fear of going in the water, she actually enjoys it and likes to trot in and get in pretty deep. It is still a bit too cold for me to get wet, but my shoes did get sopping wet. Sharon and I played around for almost 2 hours before we decided the horsies were tired and we headed back to the trailer for the ride back home.
Whisper is certainly becoming my brave girl, and I am proud of her!
I took a test ride today on Whisper in the Specialized Saddle. It gets two thumbs up from me and as long as it works for Andi next weekend, I will be placing my order!! We did a 6 mile ride mostly at trot, canter, and her gait, which is a saddle rack. We threw a boot, so I had to get off and put it back on (thank goodness for the gaiter, it did not get lost, and I knew immediately when it popped off). So there I was, in the desert with no mounting block, no rocks, forget stumps - there are no trees, and a horse I have not been able to mount from the ground in the treeless saddle. This was to be a test, but the saddle passed with flying colors. I will admit, I do not have a spring to my mount anymore and I have to "drag" myself into the saddle. It did not budge! Whisper was comfortable in the saddle, and trotted with her head down and rounding her back up into the saddle. We were both happy campers. Here are a couple of pictures of the sweat pattern the saddle made:
I palpated her entire back, and she had no soreness anywhere. So here's praying it will work for Andi as well. I can't say enough good things about this saddle and the ability to tweak saddle fit is at the top of the list of good things about this saddle.
I received my demo saddle, the International Saddle by Specialized Saddles. I managed to get it on both Whisper and Andi and try and tweak the fit. The nicest thing about this saddle is that you can change the width, angles, flair, rock, and everything to fit the horse exactly. Then 6 months down the road, when the horse's shape has changed due to fitness, you can change it again and always "tweak" the fit. This is also a saddle that you can fit exactly to different horses for the cost of another set of pads: $26! Do that with any other saddle! Here are some pics of the fitting process with Whisper:
Here is the saddle upside down to show how the main pad attaches to the bars of the saddle with velcro. This is the 3/4" pad, they come thicker or thinner to make the saddle either narrower or wider, depending on your horse. Then there are various thickness shims that you can add anywere beween the pad and the bars to fill in for rock, flair, at the loins, to make sure there is even contact with the bars completely on the horse. You can match the angle of the horse to the saddle, and change it anytime! The stirrup has 3 positions to accomidate the rider. I am riding with it in the middle position for now.
Here are two pictures showing how shimming can make the saddle fit exactly. In the first pic, there is excessive flair, and the second pic shows how a shim cut and placed in the correct position will fix this. Since Whisper is a prima donna who will let me know in a New York minute if something is bothering her, I will be able to tweak this saddle til she is happy. Here are a couple of pics of the same saddle on Andi, with the shims adjusted to him:
My biggest concern on Andi was if the saddle was going to be too long for his short back. Here is a pic with him all girthed up in the saddle, and a video of him moving in it:
Now, the real test will be riding both horses in this saddle. So, stay tuned to Saddle Fit, Part 2.
I used my helmet cam to video my ride on Whisper yesterday. It was a great ride, and when I went to edit it, I saw something very amazing. Whisper's ears were almost always on me! This may not seem exciting to a lot of people, but that is evidence that Whisper is looking to me as her leader, and waiting for me to direct her, and is LISTENING to me and for me! I attribute this turnaround in her to clicker training and TTouch methods by Linda Tellington Jones. I will have to be honest and tell you I used to poo-poo the TTouch methods when I first heard about them. It honestly was out of sheer desperation that I bought her book, "The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book" read it cover to cover, and started applying her methods. It is amazing how certain touches can bond a horse to you and strengthen your relationship. Instead of butting heads and fighting with a 1000 lb. animal, we are on the same page and working as partners, both of us enjoying the other. Here is our video:
You probably noticed Whisper slinging her head near the end of the video. This is her expressing her frustration at having to be behind Fireman. Keep in mind, this was a mare who would not go forward unless she was on another horse's butt! And previous to this ride, when she got frustrated at being behind another horse, she would buck! So, since this ride was to be for Fireman's problem, I knew I was going to be behind at times, so I put the Promise Wrap around Whisper before we headed out on the trail. You can see the Promise Wrap on her at the end of the ride at the end of the video. It did stretch out a bit on the ride, and I will not ride with it that loose again, but the Promise Wrap kept her from bucking out of frustration. A little head slinging was her only expression of her frustration.
As to Fireman's problem, he has been having ants in his pants lately. I attribute a lot of his antsyness (as well as that of my horses) to being on an all alfalfa diet. And as much as I would love to cut down on the alfalfa hay and feed more grass hay such as Timothy, we live in alfalfa country and that is all I can get. Since alfalfa is not nutritionally balanced, Mom's horse, Fireman, as well as my own, have been receiving a mineral supplement that includes magnesium. It is a fact that a lack of magnesium in the diet can make a horse antsy, spooky, and "hot and racey". Fireman had been on his daily supplement for 2 weeks, and we wanted a positive experience, so we let him stay in the front. That is where he is happiest. He did fantastic and did not have as much ants in his pants as he did prior to his supplement, so I can only expect him to get better.
Moral of the story: Don't blame the horse! If you are having problems with your horse's behavior, first look at tack, saddle fit, teeth, type of training, and nutrition. A horse just wants to get along, so if he is being bad, there is usually a reason other than it being the horse. You are supposed to be the intelligent one, so it is up to you to figure out the problem and fix it.
My horse's have always been barefoot. It is as nature intended. But there are times when some form of hoof protection is needed. Most of my rides take place in the desert, and the trails are two track jeep trails primarily composed of sand. But if I want to take my horse someplace to ride, and the terrain is rocky, I'm certainly not going to put on steel shoes for one ride! That's where the Easyboots come in. Easyboots are a life saver for the horse and for me. They may seem expensive at first glance (about $60 per boot), but they will last for years, so are cheaper in the long run than putting on steel shoes. They are also healthier for the horse than steel shoes!! Here is a picture of Whisper in her boots:
Whisper is wearing the new Easyboot Epic on her front hooves, and older pre-2005 Regular Easyboots on her rear hooves. Ther rear boots are spraypainted flourescent pink in case I loose them on the trail, I can find them easier; but so far, she has not lost a rear boot! The new Epics on the fronts, have gaiters which go around her pasturns, so they do not come off.
The boots are difficult to put on the first few times, untill they are a bit broken in, but once you get used to putting them on, they are easy. It takes me 10 minutes to clean feet and boot up all four hooves.
The company, Easy Care, Inc., is dedicated to the sound, barefoot horse, and they are very easy to work with, and they offer all kinds of customer service and will walk you thru any problems you may have with your boots. Their website is: http://www.easycareinc.com/
I know this sounds like a commercial, but I am so happy with my boots and it is so much better for the horse to remain barefoot, I just have to share my enthusiasum for their product. I have tried other boots in the past, but had rubbing issues. Imagine going on a hike with shoes that rub your heels - that's what the other boots did to Whisper. The Easyboots fit her well, and I have never had any rubbing issues with these.
Bruce and I loaded up the truck with the camper and the trailer with the Jeep on Wednesday night, March 12, and left at the crack of dawn on Thursday, March 13 for Death Valley. We wanted to beat the wind storm that was coming into the area. We arrived in Beatty, NV around 1:30pm and got our camp all set up. We relaxed the rest of the day, and I was just a few feet away from BLM land to walk Hoss. Hoss enjoys vacations with his mommy and daddy in the "midget" house.
Friday morning, we headed out and our first stop was the Rhyolite Ghost Town just outside the entrance to Death Valley. There is still a lot left standing in this old mining town. From there, we entered Death Valley and went to Furnace Creek, where we had lunch at an oasis picnic area. We then proceded to Bad Water Basin, the lowest point in the U.S. at 287 feet below sea level. From here, you can see snow capped mountains that are over 11,000 feet in elevation! Pics and videos from our first day in Death Valley can be seen here:
On Saturday, March 15, we decided to take the back road of Titus Canyon Road. This was a beautiful drive thru the mountains of Death Valley which opened up at the end to Death Valley itself. It was an amazing drive, which included what I term "oh, shit" roads. These would be steep roads which are located on the side of the mountain and drop off. They leave no room for error. It is a good thing this is a one way road, as there would be no room for anyone to pass! Here is our Titus Canyon run:
Sunday was cooler and windy, so we took that opportunity to visit Scotty's Castle since Hoss would have to wait in the Jeep. Then, all too soon, our long weekend was over, and Monday, we headed back home to reality. Here were the rest of our pics taken in Death Valley:
We were lucky in that we got to see Death Valley in bloom, a rare sight, indeed! We also missed the horrible weather Fallon received while we were in 70* bliss in Southern Nevada!
If there is any group of people who are dedicated to finding proper fitting saddles for their horses, it is Endurance people. They are always looking for good fit. What fits for 5 or 6 miles, isn't going to cut the mustard after 50 or even 100 miles, so if you want comfort in saddles or rider wear, that is the place to go! I went to the AERC Convention in Reno with 3D cutouts of the backs of three different horses: Whisper, Andi and Tosca. What I found in treed saddles was truely amazing and quite eye opening. Treeless saddles for distance are not working out for most people. Seems people have found, like me, that unless you are a featherweight rider, they don't do well over the 10 mile range. I had even noticed on the underside of my Skito pad increased dirt marks on both sides near the front of my pad. What I have been told is that this corresponds to where the girth attaches to the saddle, so when I tighten the girth, it causes a pressure point there. Hmmmm, maybe that is why my mare gives me an ugly face back to my leg at the beginning of a ride, and then it goes away as the pad(s) squash down and the girth loosens into the ride??? Anyway, while my treeless is going to stay here and be used for short rides (those under 8 miles) I knew I needed something with a tree to give more support over the longer miles.
The newest innovation in treed saddles are flexible, hard plastic. Well, maybe not new, but widespread enough now that there are lots of options and brands to choose from. Not flexible as in discs, or "broken"up trees, but hard, flexible plastic surrounded by different types of foam to create a truely flexible saddle that will fit many horses. And in the majorityof cases, these are shorter saddles, and the way they flex, they will not bridge once in the saddle, and this also alleviates the possibility of loin rubs if the saddle is a mite too long. I had 3 of the widest, roundest backs there, and I found many saddles that would be a good fit (and in fact, the same saddle would have fit all three horsesin my bag!).
OK, here are the specifics on all the saddles that the"backs" of the 3 horses I took to the convention fit.
Specialized Saddle: This saddle comes in 3 different trees: mule, regular and wide. All three of my backs(2 Icelandics) fit easily with in the regular tree. With this saddle, you get a foam and "shim" kit and fit the saddle to your horse's back exactly. Since I think in pictures, and am not good with words, I will let one of the dealer's websites explain this process: http://www.lostjuniperranch.com/FittingYourSpecializedSaddleDoc.html It also has a DVD for fitting instructions. This saddle will allow you to change the fit as your horse's back changes with either more work or lack of work. Here are all the models they have along with prices: http://www.lostjuniperranch.com/SpecializedSaddles.html Just for the record, I have researched this saddle for a couple of years, and it is most likely the one I am going to end up buying for Whisper and Andi, and I will just switch out the shims when I change horses. And much to my dismay, I did not get any pics of this saddle at the Convention since I already knew so much about it
.Boz Saddle: I was very impressed with this saddle and on my You-Tube video you will see how the tree flexes. The man who makes these built the saddle around a person sitting on a horse bareback. While he makes a very good case for the forward position of his stirrups, they are adjustible because they are attached in a Y style similar to Y girthing, so you can put them in a more "centered" riding position. He says most saddles are designed to set you to the back of the cantle, while his does not because he wants you right behind the wither, where you would sit if bareback. The flex also eliminates bridging and pinching, and because of this, if the saddle happens to be an inch or two too long, it will not come into contact with the loins (unless you had a humpbackedhorse - which you wouldn't be riding anyway!). Hiswebsite is: http://bozsaddlery.com/ I was extremely comfy in one of his english style sheepskin saddles!
Native Spirit Saddlery: This saddle was very impressive, as well. I took a video of it flexing,but it is a bit dark. I don't think the video showshow well it flexes front to back, which will eliminate bridging. I should have taken a pic from the back, but I didn't, to show how the panels flex. In the front, on the pommel, there is a screw (?) for an allen wrench that allows you to adjust the gullet while riding (if need be). The leather on this saddlewas buttery soft, and I fell in love with it! Here is their website: http://nativespiritsaddlery.com/
Timberline Saddles: This saddle takes what was good about the original Ortho-flex saddles and made their own company. If you look at the pic I took head on ofthe black english saddle, you will see where the saddle attaches to the tree/panel. This very much concerned me and I asked what prevented that area from digging into the horse, and his reply was 20 years of digging into the horse. He assured me they had that problem solved. I sat in the English style "Comfort Rider" and this saddle was absolute heaven to sit in! He said the panels could be made shorter if you had an extreme short backed horse as in one who was shorter than the majority of Icelandics. The two Icelandicbacks I had would have plenty of room with most of his saddle styles. This is their website: http://www.timberlinesaddlecompany.com/
I wanted to look at Reactor Panel Saddles, but they were not there.
Here is the videos/pictures I took:
I want people to know that there ARE options out there for people who want a treed saddle. I am not bashing treeless saddles, and I plan on keeping mine. They are not perfect, however, and you don't have to settle for treeless if you want/need the support a tree gives and still want it flexible instead of rigid.
I left for my second job this afternoon in the spitting rain. Actually, it's supposed to rain off and on all weekend, so I'm glad to be at my second job making money since I won't be able to ride anyway. Here is the beautiful view outside my hotel: So I guess I will be on my computer this weekend when I'm not at the hospital doing x-rays and Cat-scans! This will be me:
Hopefully, I won't spend too much money on the internet as the AERC Convention is next weekend in Reno, and I plan on buying a couple of riding outfits and some new boots for Whisper.
This little town of Hawthorne is a quaint little town, and home to the Army Depot where they dis-assemble ammunition. My hotel sits on the south end of town, and I took a couple of pics of the clouds nestled in the mountains looking up town, and the snow capped mountains looking south of town.
I was near the end of a near perfect ride, when I bit the dust off Andi. Mom and I left for a trail ride this morning. Her horse had ants in his pants, so we took the wash trail which has deeper sand, hoping it would slow him down some. But the sand is not as deep in the winter because of the moisture in winter. Mom was getting pissed at her horse which was making him worse, and Andi was being his perfect Andi self, so I told mom to park her horse behind Andi. We rode like that off and on (mostly on) for 4 1/2 miles. A couple of times, Andi shook and Fireman would bump into him. Andi was OK with that. Boy, was I ever proud of Andi.
We were within a mile from home, and mom came out from behind us, and sure enough, Fireman started prancy dancy towards home, so she put him back behind Andi. I **think** Fireman pinned his ears, or lunged at Andi (don't know for sure because I was looking ahead and he had been fine). Anyway, Andi shot forward like a rocket, and when I one-reined him,I got off balance, and hit the dirt (well, sand in my case). I sat there in the sand and watched my Andi Pandi head for home as fast as his legs could carry him. Then mom got off Fireman before he decided he needed to join Andi. As soon as we rounded the corner for home, I saw a car in front of my house and people coming down the driveway. My neighbor had put Andi in my corral, then was coming to look for us. I thanked them, and I'm OK, but I have a very sore shoulder where I landed first. At least it is my left shoulder and I'm right handed. Poor Andi was scared and jumpy when I got him out of the corral, so we did some easy clicker work like getting next to the mounting block and trailer loading before I put him up. Other than the rocket boost, Andi was a very good boy and acted like the old been there, done that horse. That's why I am pretty sure Fireman did something towards Andi that last time he got behind him. He has been knownto pin his ears at Andi before. I think I just was expecting too much of my green boy, even tho he is99.9% of the time the perfect horse.
Oh, and I decided he has Tina Turner hair going down the trail!
I went to a workshop with Josh Foster yesterday. He is the trainer in Palomino Valley who saddle trained Andi for me (and did a FANTASTIC job). I have the utmost respect for Josh and consider him the best trainer AND teacher. Here is his web site: http://www.joshfoster-theequinespartner.com/ There were 10 participants in his workshop, and I rode Whisper while Andi came along to learn to be tied to the trailer all day. Andi was a bit upset at first when I left him, but he soon settled down, drank his water, and ate his hay. He also peed at the trailer. All this might seem mundane to a lot of people, but if you are going to travel with your horse, it is important that they eat, drink, pee, and poo normally away from home.
The workshop started with ground work, then we mounted and flexed and disengaged the hindquarters, and moved the shoulders over. I also learned that I have been doing a one-rein stop ineffectively! I just bring my hand to my hip, but Josh says that allows a horse to move in the direction of his opposite shoulder, and almost everyone has experienced that: a horse still moving with his neck flexed all the way around with his nose at your toe. The correct way has you moving your hand out and up in front on your body. This acts to lock that other shoulder so the horse can not move in that direction. I should say here, that Josh is a mule man, so a lot of his techniques he has adapted for the smarter, more sensitive mule. After we learned to move the shoulders and the hindquarters properly, we played some games that put those moves into use. Josh had a barrel set up with sacks in a bucket that we were to go up to and pick up. Sounds easier that it is!! Here are some pics from that exercise:
We also rode side by side with another horse with a piece of Police Caution Tape between us. Josh handed out the strips of tape for us to allow our horses to get used to it, and one horse freaked out and bucked the owner off. So when I got my tape, I clicked Whisper for looking at it. Since we have played touch the goblin games before, Whisper was familiar with this game, so looked at the strange, flapping in the breeze tape, as a way to get the vending machine to work! I have to admit, tho, I hid the fact that I was incorporating clicker training from Josh, as he is not a clicker trainer and it was HIS workshop, so I tried to respect that (and at the same time, use the clicker where I thought it appropriate for my horse).
It was a fun and successful day, for both Andi and Whisper, and they had their trailer ride home in the dark, which was probably more scarey for me than for them! We got home at 7pm where we were greeted by loud winneys and a huge heehaw from the herd since dinner was late!
It reached 60* today! After not riding for a month because of cold, windy, snowy, weather, this was a treat! I called a girlfriend last night to see if she wanted to go riding with me, and she said she'd bring over 2 horses, which is great, since I had 2 horses in mind to ride, too. My mom was feeling better after a 4 week bout with a cold, so she joined us for our morning ride. Cheryl wanted to ride her 4yo filly first with a steady horse, so that would be my newly saddle trained Icelandic gelding, Andi. Believe it or not, only 4 months under saddle (and not ridden for a month) and he is my steadiest horse! I had a fanny pack full of carrot slivers to click him for whatever I felt necessary. It was Andi's first trail ride in his new hackamore. It is a rope hackamore similar to Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridle; it is also called an Indian Hackamore by some. I've heard good things about this, and terrible things about this hackamore, so I decided to let Andi be the judge. I know one thing - he likes it better than his bit! I've also recently introduced a "saddle stablizer" thingie, so I can mount my treeless Sensation Saddle from the ground if I have to get off for any reason (the treeless rolls unless you use a mounting block). This stablizer attaches to the off side on the saddle, goes under the horse's armpit, and attaches back to the saddle. This has the horse's armpit acting to hold the saddle in place as you mount from the other side. Today (with the clicker, of course) I was able to lift myself all the way up to the saddle 3 times with Andi standing completely still. Now, I need to get a pouch to store it in so I can carry it on the saddle.
Andi came upon his first mud puddles today - some as big as a lake! Being in the desert, it isn't often you come upon puddles in the desert to train your horse in. We've had such a wet (as in snow) winter, with the warmer weather, all the ice has melted to make big puddles. Andi drank from them, and got c/t for every forward movement in the puddle. Before I knew it, he was all the way in! That's my AndiPandi!
When we got home, I took a good look at the areas where Andi was wet with sweat and I decided I am going to give him a little clip job this weekend so he stays a bit cooler untill he has finished shedding. I clipped him a bit this past November, and I think he needs to be re-clipped because he has some really thick hair and I'm afraid he will overheat. Besides, the WORST of the winter is over. (Knocking on wood!)
Second out today was Whisper. We rode with Cheryl and her paint horse, Captor, to see how compatible their gaits were. Cheryl wants to start riding in some Endurance rides, and like me, she just wants to do it for fun, and not to win. When Captor jogs, it is the perfect speed for Whisper's saddle rack, so I think they may be compatible. We will continue to ride together and see how they do. Whisper was feeling very relaxed and happy today and I think she enjoys not having a bit in her mouth, too. I got an S Hackamore for her and her lips and eyes are more relaxed. Of course, she is also getting clicker training, and she enjoys that. At the start of the ride, she kept stopping to beg for a treat, but that is a small price to pay to see her going down the trail a happy horse instead of a miserable horse. She had a couple of "airs above the ground" but they were happy airs and not anxious airs. I knew the difference immediately as my own heartrate did not go up, and I was not fighting her. She was just a bit exhuberant! I did not go trotting or cantering down the trail after that, tho. I did not think I could stick in the saddle with that kind of exhuberance! On the way home, Whisper was licking and chewing, and I would have done more head down exercises, but I had run out of carrot slivers (note to self: wear the bigger fanny pack that holds more carrots). She never once got "fish butt lips".
I did wear my helmet cam today fastened to my leg just above my knee. However, there was so much camera motion that I couldn't even watch them back. Guess I will have to find another place for the camera.
I was introduced to Clicker Training shortly after I brought home Andi. Andi was an 11 month old Icelandic colt, and I knew I couldn't start his saddle training until he was at least 4 1/2 years old, but that didn't mean I couldn't do other training! I had heard some things about clicker training, so I bought one of the best books on clicker training horses: The Click That Teaches: A Step-By-Steo Guide in Pictures by Alexandra Kurland. This is one of the Gold Standards in Clicker Training for Horses.
Briefly, what clicker training does is mark the exact behavior at the exact moment and rewards that behavior. The "mark" in this case is a mechanical clicker, and the reward for my horses is a sliver of carrot, piece of apple, or a store-bought apple treat. I have since graduated to doing a click with my tongue, because I find I would need a third hand to ride with, otherwise! Besides, I always have my tongue with me and I never worry about being out of position to mark the desired behavior. When you begin, you first teach your horse to touch an object (a soccer cone in my case) and this brings on a click and a treat (c/t). At first, I put the cone only inches from Andi's nose, so he would have no choice but to touch it, then c/t. Lots of repetitions of this, and it only took 10 minutes for Andi to realize that by touching the cone allowed him acces to the vending machine (me). Then I gradually brought the cone lower until it was on the ground, and from there placed it away from me until Andi was walking to it to touch it to get his c/t. Watching the "lightbulb" moment in the horse when he realizes what he has to do to get his treat is a very rewarding moment. That is when you know you are communicating with another species without the use of pressure, spurs, whips, etc... Touching an object like this is termed Targeting and this leads to other behaviors. I used targeting his cone to trailer load Andi without a halter or lead rope and NO PRESSURE what-so-ever! He learned to trailer load on his own by me putting the target further and further in the trailer until he was loading and unloading easily. Then I put his halter and lead on and asked him to go on without any problems. Thus, the trailer was never an issue for him and he only had pleasant experiences with it. We also went for walks in the neighborhood and did Touch the Goblin exercises. In this exercise, you c/t when the horse first looks as something they might perceive as a monster, like a trash can, plastic bag, etc. What I did, was c/t for everything that did not "belong" in the environment. It didn't take long for Andi to take me to every piece of trash in the desert and stick his nose in every empty garbage can on trash day! This goes against a horse's natural instinct to be afraid of everything "out of the ordinary" for self preservation. I later used clicker training to teach Andi to get into position beside me at the mounting block, and stand still for mounting. Here is a video of the beginning of that process when I was first putting weight in the stirrups: (excuse the belching of hubby - he is only a man and can not help himself!)
Now that I am riding Andi, I have a bold little trail pony that is curious about his surroundings, and if his ears perk at something different, I will let him investigate on his own and he gets a c/t for it.
Tonight, I am sitting in my hotel room in Hawthorne. This is the first decent weather we've had in 3 months, and I have to be at my second job instead of home, riding my horses. But my weekends here not only allow me to have my horses and our toys, it also is my reading and relaxing weekend. So I decided to start this blog as my journal. It will also give me a chance to look back and see if I am making progress with the continued training of my horses. Speaking of which, let me introduce them.
Raven was the first horse I bought when I moved here to NV. She is a solid black TWH. She was 18 months old and untrained. Somehow, I was convinced that since I used to ride (15 years ago), I could somehow train a baby. If I only knew then what I know now!! Raven is 8 now, and riding her has taken a backseat to conditioning Whisper and Andi for Endurance.
Whisper is Raven's half sister (same daddy). Her mother was an Arab tho, so she is 1/2 TWH and 1/2 Arab. She is grey, so while she was born black, she is getting lighter and lighter every year. She is 7, and has been under saddle for 2 years. I got smart(er) and had a professional train her. Since she is 1/2 Arab, I decided to give her (and me) a try at Endurance Riding. I love trail riding and Endurance seemed like just a really long trail ride. We did our first LD (limited distance) last April. A 30 mile ride in our own Stillwater Mountains. It was a blast and now I'm hooked! Due to some training issues with Whisper, that was the only ride I was able to do last year; but, I have several on my list for this year! I ride Whsiper in pink to promote breast cancer awareness even when riding. It is my way to combine both my passions.
Andi is my palomino, Icelandic gelding. He will be 5 on April 15, 2008. I bought him when he was 11 months old and he didn't have a rider on his back till this past summer. I wanted to be the one to start him, and I did! On his third ride, I came off and decided Andi needed a real trainer, so I sent him to a trainer I admire and trust for 30 days of saddle training during the month of October. I hope to start him in some LD Endurance rides this coming summer.
And then there is Foxi, a half Icelandic, half Shetland; and her son, Vinney. Vinney's daddy is Andi, but Andi is gelded now, so Vinney will be his only baby.
And last, but not least, is Daisy the Donkey. Daisy was gotten to be a companion for Raven, because I was only going to have one horse! But horses are like potato chips - you can't have just one!
My name is Susan, and I have 2 major passions: Horseback Riding and Breast Cancer Awareness. I am a mammographer in my small town, and I try to promote Breast Cancer Awareness when riding. I mostly trail ride and have started doing Limited Distance Endurance Riding on Whisper, my 1/2 Arab 1/2 TWH mare and Andi, my palomino Icelandic gelding. I live with my husband, Bruce, and our dog, Hoss and cat, Nicholas on our little 10 acres here in the high desert of Fallon, NV.
These pics open myself up for ridicule, but I feel it is important to realize that there are bumps in the road, and those bumps can be overcome. Bolting is a bump!
So I guess I will be on my computer this weekend when I'm not at the hospital doing x-rays and Cat-scans! This will be me:
mountains looking up town, and the snow capped mountains looking south of town.
exercise:
Raven's half sister (same daddy). Her mother was an Arab tho, so she is 1/2 TWH and 1/2 Arab. She is grey, so while she was born black, she is getting lighter and lighter every year. She is 7, and has been under saddle for 2 years. I got smart(er) and had a professional train her. Since she is 1/2 Arab, I decided to give her (and me) a try at Endurance Riding. I love trail riding and Endurance seemed like just a really long trail ride. We did our first LD (limited distance) last April. A 30 mile ride in our own Stillwater Mountains. It was a blast and now I'm hooked! Due to some training issues with Whisper, that was the only ride I was able to do last year; but, I have several on my list for this year! I ride Whsiper in pink to promote breast cancer awareness even when riding. It is my way to combine both my passions.
