Enjoying a Quiet Morning

Last night and evening (Wednesday) it was very, very windy. The wind lasted until early this morning. So, Morgunn and Sugar spent most of the morning enjoying the sun and slight breeze.

 

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Betty on Morgunn

Here's a short video of Betty riding Morgunn out to our round pen on Monday morning. From my viewpoint this is a primer of good riding posture. Just my biased (because I love her) opinion ;)

 

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Riding Again

Yesterday, Wednesday, was actually my first day riding after my hernia surgery. Betty had Bible study at church so I rode both Morgunn and Sugar. Both did pretty well.

Today, Thursday, Betty and I both rode. Betty worked with Morgunn on his right turns, his difficult side. She made some good progress with him.

The fun thing is when she led him to our mounting block, he did a 'trick.'

Actually, we think it was Morgunn's sense of humor and just something he wanted to do. In any case, it made a pretty good picture.

Now if Betty can get all four feet up on the block :)

 

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Update on Our Horse Training

There are a lot of horse and riding trainers out there and we have sampled a lot of them. The test of any trainer, in my opinion, is how well the student does when they get back home on their own with their horse.

Does the training you receive translate well into how you work with your horse at home?

With that test in mind, there is no question in our minds that our work with Jennifer Bauer and Larry Whitesell in Cookeville, Tennessee has been the best. Every time we work with them, the training translates well to our work at home with Sugar and Morgunn.

We worked for three days with Jennifer in July. Since we have been home we have seen real results in both our riding and our horses. Jennifer is excellent in helping us be better riders which translates into Sugar and Morgunn being better horses.

Betty is making real strides with Morgunn. His gait (tolt) has always been excellent. She is able to transition him from a walk into his tolt in a smooth way. She is able to do shoulder-in's with him along the fence rail on one side very well. Don't worry if you're not a horse person and don't know these terms - it's not important - just know that it's an indication of how Betty is riding and getting Morgunn to understand and move with her.

Morgunn used to be very head strong and would move the way he wanted to go sometimes. Jennifer helped Betty a lot with that and it's paid off well. He rarely does it any more and, when he thinks about it, Betty knows what to do to get him back in line with her without pulling on his mouth.

My work with Sugar is going well too. She stops and backs softly with the lightest body cues. This is an improvement because she got into a habit of walking through her stops and not backing up. Most of the problem was with me and Jennifer's coaching was a big help in the two of us getting back into line together.

Sugar doesn't do a shoulder-in as well as Morgunn, but she's starting to respond well to leg-yields. All we're doing now is going for a lateral step or two and that's working well. She also is responding well to transitions in speed - from a slow walk to an extended walk and back to a slow walk.

On Wednesday, her gait was really trotty. I wasn't concerned because I knew she needed to build her muscles after the long lay off in July. Yesterday, Friday, her gait was much smoother - a more balanced Rocky Mountain Horse gait. So I was pleased.

So, is Jennifer Bauer a good trainer? Using my test mentioned earlier of taking what she taught us and using it at home with Sugar and Morgunn - you bet she's a good trainer - one of the best!

 

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Back in the Saddle Again

At least for Betty.

I can't ride until June at the earliest because of my surgery, but Betty is working again with Morgunn. While she rides him, I have been doing a little ground work with Sugar - nothing strenuous, just changes in direction, getting her to follow me, backing, etc. It's a way for me to stay in touch with her.

Betty did well with Morgunn given it's been over a month since she worked with him. He does a whole lot better when she gets him moving forward at a good pace. She actually has more control of him when she moves him out - even doing circles and figure eights. She did a good job with Morgunn and finished on a good note.

 

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Morgunn in Black

Betty and I worked with Morgunn and Sugar Monday morning after a two week layoff primarily because of the cold weather we've had. They both have some things to work on and we'll try again today and Wednesday as the weather is supposed to be good those days.

I ran across this video today and it could be Morgunn if he were a black horse. In the same situation, Morgunn could do exactly the same things.

 

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Never Stop Worrying

When our two boys were at home, we would always worry when they got sick (still do, even though they're grown with their own families). Now, we have horses that we worry about.

We've had Sugar, my Rocky Mountain mare, for over four years. During that time there have been 3 or 4 times when she would be under the weather. She wouldn't want to eat and was a little lethargic. In all of those times, it passed in about an hour and she would be fine - eating, drinking and pooping, all the signs of a healthy horse.

This morning she was a little slow coming in for her morning hay. A couple of hours later we needed to go out for a few hours and, as we were leaving, we noticed there was still a lot of hay left and Sugar was laying down. I went out to check and I could hear some bowel sounds so I assumed she was having another one of these small bouts of stomach upset.

The concern with horses is colic which is an impaction in their bowels. If serious, it can even be fatal. So, that's always the concern.

When we got home, Sugar had not recovered to her old self. I walked her a little and even offered her a little hay which she had no interest in. Since this had lasted well beyond an hour or so, I called our vet. He suggested we give her a shot of Banamine which we keep available here at the house. Banamine is a pain killer. He also wanted me to take her temperature.

So, Betty and I went out and Betty gave her the shot of Banamine. I took her temperature and it was normal at 98 degrees F so infection was ruled out as part of her problem.

Banamine works pretty quickly and that happened this time as well. Within less than five minutes she was eating the hay in her stall I had put in there earlier. She also came to the water trough outside our kitchen window and drank some water. We haven't seen her poop, but she may have and we just missed it.

We'll go out to feed them their evening hay at 4:00 PM and we'll see how she eats then.

Here's a picture of her resting with Morgunn standing guard.

Kids! What's a parent to do?

 

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Fun Pictures

Every once in a while you take pictures just for the fun of it.

I was out cleaning up the horses' manure and Sugar was lying down. So, I took out my cell phone camera, laid down beside her, and took this picture from her level.

Morgunn was curious as to what I was doing on the ground so he decided to walk over to check me out.

I love having these two horses.

 

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A Good Day Horseback

Betty and I had a pretty good morning working with Sugar and Morgunn, yesterday (Monday). After we do our ground warm ups, we head towards our mounting block. We use a mounting block every chance we get to preserve Sugar and Morgunn's backs.

 

 

 

We work with both horses in separate areas. Betty starts out in our round pen. This is her heading Morgunn in that direction. I start out by working Sugar in the more open area outside of the round pen. We have four orange cones that we use to work them first in large circles and then in smaller circles using a clover-leaf pattern around the cones.

Working separately gives us the opportunity to work with them without them being distracted by the other horse.

After awhile, we swap and I work Sugar in the round pen and Betty works outside.

 

Of course, after a hard morning's work, a girl has to have a bath, even if it is a dust bath.

 

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Christmas de Caballos Parade

Yesterday was the annual Christmas de Caballos (Horses) parade in Corrales where we live. Betty and I are the 'official' photographers for the horse association that sponsors the parade. Here are some of our pictures from the parade (warning: lots of pictures).

We met with a blogging friend, Lisa, who lives on the other side of the mountain from us. This was her first Christmas de Caballos parade with her horse Apache.

The start of the parade.

Naturally Santa Claus is always the Grand Marshall.

Lots of wagons of all sizes.

And lots of horses and mules, of course.

Including our friend Lisa on Apache.

The parade supports the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and all the riders bring toys.

Finally, here are those brave volunteers who do all the clean up behind all the horses.

Thanks to all who put this on the parade was a great success.

 

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