Oddities of Nature

This morning P.S. and I tried out a de-spooking exercise involving one of us opening and closing an umbrella while the other one lunged a horse in half-circles between her and the umbrella.  With each half-circle we moved the horse a few steps closer to the umbrella as it was opening and closing, spinning, and waving around.  As soon as the horse showed concern, we stepped back to offer a release

Weekend Horsemanship Clinic

Sam's mom of How Sam Sees It called my attention to a natural horsemanship clinic being put on in our area this past weekend by the Parellis.  I didn't think I could go due to shaky, but previous plans, but as those plans fell through, I decided to go at the last minute since P.S. (Parelli student) could meet me there and bring me a ticket to get in.  So, I watched most of the show on Saturday

Walking on Eggshells

It's fly season here in Arizona and the Fly Eliminators, the fly attractants in fly traps, and the fly sprays all seem to be completely worthless, so I'm trying to keep the fly masks on the horses. The vet asked me yesterday why my horses weren't wearing fly masks. I said, "Because they rip them off each other's faces and dunk them in the water troughs."

She just smiled knowingly and continued

A Visit From the Vet

I'm still learning the ropes with the equine vets around here.  When you've lived in one place for so long and used the same service providers, you take for granted how easily everything flows because you've done it so many times before.  I know all the equine vets in my old neighborhood, their philosophies, their rates, their routines, and their attitudes about ranch visits.  I knew one vet for

More Fun With Distractions & The Big G Gets Her Day

All my close neighbors went to work today, so I saddled up Lostine to work on holding still at the mounting block.  I noticed that all the horses were on alert, "pointing" toward some trees coming up out of the arroyo.  I hiked around, hoping to find what they were alerting on, but whatever it was stayed under cover.  Then the horses changed the point where they were staring, so I got out my

Sitting With This Evening's Critters

I finally got some shots of the Cardinal. The first few were through a window and screen door, so they didn't turn out well, but I did get a couple of clear shots after I stepped outside and caused the Cardinal to fly away...








I nearly stumbled upon this litter of babies while walking out to the barn.  I figured that as soon as I took their picture, they'd run down their hole, but the

It's a Zoo

Now that we are consistently in warmer temperatures, all the critters are coming out, so it is time for me to get into the habit of carrying a camera with me each time I step outside.  I learned my lesson yesterday afternoon.  While cleaning the paddock I noticed a bunny lying on it's side, all stretched out like a centerfold in the shade of the horse trailer.  I wasn't willing to stop my chores

Mr. Spooky Gets a Taste of Real Danger

The horse trainer wanted me to ride the horses out on the trails alone and report back to her on how they did for me, since they've been doing well for her lately. It had been a while since I rode Bombay out there, so I gave him a try. He was sticky-slow on the way out and I had to use a lot of leg to keep him going, but that's way better than having to use a lot of rein to slow him down like

Best Trail Ride Yet

The Parelli student has the week off to handle personal business, Tuesday's horse training session was canceled due to rain, and I hadn't worked with the horses in over a week thanks to being stuck in medical care hell.  I wasn't sure if the horse trainer would show up today, because I vaguely remembered her saying that she was leaving on vacation around the 10th.  When she did show up, I

New Local Lessons for Me

I know that the timing I have scheduled for the horses' barefoot trims (every 8 weeks) must be right on, because every time my horse trainer mentions that the horses' hooves are chipping and asks when the farrier will be out next, it always turns out that he's scheduled to come the very next day.  In Nevada, I only had to trim their hooves every 12 weeks, probably because of a variety of

Thankful for Backup

It's so nice to have backup when it comes to training horses and managing a barn.  When I lived in Nevada I often had to be put on a waiting list to get someone to train my horses or give me equitation lessons.  I felt like I was always begging people when soliciting their help, or worse yet being put through a job interview when I'm the one offering to pay for their services, but I'm finding

Nature Walk

This morning I stepped outside and got a chill, so I went back in to get a sweater.  I knew I had to take advantage of these nice temperatures before we soar into the 90's, so I grabbed my camera, my walking stick, and my horse.  By the time I got the halter on Bombay, it was time to shed the sweater.  Literally only minutes had passed since I put it on.  Once we hit the trails just minutes after

Horse-wise

Horse-wise, I've been concentrating on groundwork and building a bond based on trust this past week or so.  I'm reading old horse training books again to try to better comprehend what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, what I might be doing wrong if the horse isn't responding, and how to correct various problems.  Then when the Parelli student comes over to play, I show her what I learned from the