I was having horse withdrawl. I did get to meet up with a friend (aka my twin) in OKC and I got to ride one of his horses. That was fun! But I was ready to ride one of my own. This is Madison's horse Red...who used to be our friend Jay's horse. He is such a puppy dog...and he loves when we hang all over him. I had a few minutes so I hopped on and gave him horse hugs and kisses. It felt so good...it really does do something for the soul.
Red and Wyoming are friends.
Zephyr says she has friends too!
They boy is her friend...he knows the best places to scratch her and it feels sooooo good!
I was cleaning out a corner of the barn to stack some hay, and these little birds were watching my every move.
Then one day I had time to go ride...I took Wyoming out for a spin. What can I say about this little mustang? Lots! He is still nervous and jumpy, and he would rather lead a group of horses rather than follow. Judging by the way he acts, I would say it is because he knows the last one in line gets eaten by the bears and mountain lions! He is very smart and sure footed, and his instinct for self preservation is very strong. He is so different than Tripp...but both are wonderful!
When we ride alone, life is good for us. Usually only a couple big spooks and so far we have survived them.
We were riding up the hill under tree cover...and this field was lit up bright on our way out. The picture doesn't do it justice.
WYOMING: "Okay, can we be done now so I can go eat grass? For those of you who don't know me, the Girl takes me to the grassy area to eat before we go home. She says it is my reward for being the best horse ever. Wink, nicker snort!"
A friend of mine was out of town for a weekend and we were on goat milking duty. I had not milked goats since I was a little kid so I went over one evening for a refresher course. I am on my own here. There were only two of them and they were awesome! Not easy to milk for a girl with man hands, but they were so well behaved. We kept 1 quart jar of milk and the pigs got the rest.
Tripp got to go on a trail ride...again. He thinks he works too hard. Just ask him.
TRIPP: "If I give a cute shadow shot maybe we can go home. I am tired."
Brian went to a Sweep In and one of the classes he took this year was on carving. Brian's is on the right done with the darker wood. I was very impressed! Last year he made a bunch of brooms.
Another trail ride for Wyoming. Here is the deal....when we ride alone, life is great. If we are riding with a group and see other horses, life is great. If we are riding alone and he hears or sees other horses he loses his mind. It is like I am not even there. Instead of fighting a fight I might not win, when I sense his mind totally detached from me I hop down and walk him past the group. I make like it isn't a big deal and the goal is for him to learn that he can see them, he can even talk to them, but it won't kill him to leave them behind.
This particular day I showed up to the parking lot and there was another trailer there getting their horses ready, and they were waiting on friends. I really didn't know how it would go, and I was prepared to do a lot of walking if I needed to.
Three riders showed up and were talking to the people at the trailer. I did some ground work then got on and decided to see what happened. Wy was awesome at this point! He looked at everyone and he was ready to head down the trail. The group of three gals started in behind us and we made friends. Wyoming was the engine for a while, and he was the caboose for a while. This group of gals were very nice and they were fun to ride with.
Wy thinks this gal is pretty keen! She knows that he deserves treats. :-)
Left to right: Hugo, Blanc and Wyoming.
WYOMING: "Look at my new friends! Blanc likes to walk fast which is awesome because sometimes I like to walk fast."
WYOMING: "Oh look! The parking lot people are here with their friends! Hmmmm, there are some cuties in that group! Nicker nicker...." (That is the horse version of Hubba Hubba...)
Flash and Wyoming loved each other.
Wyoming sure is cute!
The two parking lot riders and their friends. They ended up joining in our group for a while. So we had eight of us riding and Wy was in the middle. We only had one time where I pushed it going up a hill. Blanc scooted right along and I thought I would ask Wy to go faster. It scared him and he did a little crow hoppy buck thing and we circled around. I think the energy from the group got to him in addition to we have not practiced cantering. It felt weird to him. :-)
Us in the middle of the group...we hit a point where the group behind us kept going on the trail, and the three gals I started with cut their ride short to head back to the trailer. Flash was getting a little ancy. They thought it was because of the energy of the bigger group and I totally get that. I decided to follow the other group and walked Wy down the trail a ways before I got back on. He only called to his friends a couple of times then all was good again. I never did catch up to the group of four, which was fine. I like my quiet trail time listening to everything around me, and to Wy's hooves hitting the ground. It was a fun day!
One evening I took Tripp to the back woods to ride. The woods are thick so there isn't a lot of brushy growth back there. When I got back this is what I found.
Brian had Zephyr saddled up. He said she didn't bat an eye at it. Yay! I almost told him to work with her when I left but decided not to. He will do it when he gets time and is ready. Well, this was the night! We were told she had been trail ridden, but not for quite a while so Brian is going to start with ground work. There are so many things she handles in stride, and other things I would think would be no big deal that are. So he is going to start from scratch and go from there. He really wants to ride her so it is hard to remember that he NEEDS to start from the beginning so she is comfortable with some of the every day things around here...like the tractor. She does NOT like the tractor. Even as many times as she has seen it go by. Training has nothing to do with a time schedule... (I say this as a reminder to myself too)
Zeph is one cool chick!
This is a small part of what has been going on in our world. That and work.
Until later...Karen and Tripp who says Zeph looks ALMOST as good in camo as he does. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment