The Ramblings of an Artistic Equestrian

I'm going to try and be better at both posting and being involved here. I blame getting distracted by Discord and also writing like MAD. When I'm not working I'm most often poking at my manuscript(s), even if it's just bits and bobs and little snippets here and there. It feels good and I'm close to finishing book one, but I guess it isn't going to end there because I have three more planned, but! Yes. Anyway! This wasn't going to be me rambling about writing.



This comic pretty much sums up some of the feelings.

But yesterday! The little spaces in the physical journal aren't enough to cover it all.

I had my montly Rio Verde/Scottsdale grouping. They didn't want to start until 8am so I still got up around 5am and fed the herd and myself before striking off just after 6am. I had errands to run! I had left my bit bucket at Linda's Thursday so I needed to acquire that. From there I ran up to Amaris' place to pick up shaft tips that will hopefully work for Linda's cart and replace the shaft that Panda bent when she spooked early in her training.

I forgot there was no Mesa Drive entrance on that part of the 202, but wandered through Lehi/the Indian reservation to get to Gilbert Rd and swing up to Rio Verde. I made it just on time and managed to avoid most of the traffic.

We started with Kris and Carmella. The little Quarter Horse mare is coming along nicely and we're starting to get Kris on the lines more. She had some nervous moments, but that's okay. Carmella did quite well and is settling back into the job.

Knight was up next. We swapped out his bit to a 6" and while it took a bit to persuade the bridle on his head he warmed up really nicely in the new bit. He drove well and Brian and I discussed that maybe part of his bit-taking issue was the bit having become too small for his mouth. They're going to try out the glroy/victory mouthpiece as well and see how that goes over the next few weeks. There was a huge difference in how Knight long lined and drove over last time when he was very sour to the NW corner of the arena. He was much easier to maneuver this time and barely thought of falling towards his favorite corner after an initial correction in the warm-up.

Theresa got to drive Sharan's Welsh cross mare Ginger since Buttercup is currently waiting to hear back from the vet on her bloodwork. They suspect cushings. She had some pretty obvious sinus swellings last month and her energy wasn't up to where it usually is either. Theresa really enjoyed the chance to drive Ginger and feel out a four-wheeled vehicle as well as playing with cones and more precise work in the arena instead of just down the road.

Jenny and Galaxy were next and Galaxy put in a pretty relaxed drive. We even asked for the trot and did some work with the cones as well. He's slowly improving in how he handles the turns, but it does take a lot of concentration to be sure he carries himself through the turn instead of dive-bombing.

Sharan and Ginger were last. Sharan is pretty funny because she gets what she wants and doesn't want to belabor the lesson. She doesn't need to suck up the full hour and if she gets what she wants 30 minutes in she's perfectly happy. Fine by me!

We worked on precision to the cones and how to set herself up to come through them, even when they're just a few inches outside of her wheel base. The big thing for her was thinking about steering and setting up for the rear wheels because the front of a four-wheeled vehicle are so mobile and you have to line it up for the hinds and can change the front at the last second to make it through. She was starting to get it and was pretty happy with ther homework assignment to do inbetween.

From there it was to Pam's to deliver the wheels and axle she bought from Sue and Henry. The axle was the right width so we didn't have to worry about taking wheels off and on, however, it wasn't a simple matter!

The axle connection to the body was strange, a series of four bolts and plates that wedged against each other to hold it in place. I managed to get those pieces off and we went to slide the axle off and ran into the upright holding the seat up. Bugger. Ok, take out the four carriage bolts there. One of the bolts broke as I was unescrewing it so we sent Pam off to get new bolts.

Seat support removed, we moved the wheels back and ran into the support backe at the back of the vehicle between the floor and the base of the shafts. Crap.

I tried undoing the bolt at the last floorboard only to realize the piece of metal runs ALL the way to the front of the vehicle and includes ALL of the floorboards. So the top it was! It was only a 2" brace point, but it was that point that was supporting the top of the seats, the fenders, and the whole of the shafts. This made maneuvering the axle up and over it a trial. We ended up removing one of the fenders and still had to fight and wrestle the dang thing to get the old axle off and then more muttering and wrangling and resetting of the vehicle as it's trying to fall apart to get the new axle and wheels on. Those fenders are beastly things to deal with. We got the back end put back together in time for Pam to return with the new carriage bolts for the seat.

She missed the fun part, but also the slight heart-attack that may have been enduced by seeing her beloved cart handled so brutishly as we dismantled and put it back together.

Cart re-assembled I headed home. I made a stop to deposit money and made it just in time to do my 4pm art lesson.

I also got the idea for a new podcast episode featuring The Meadowbrook Cart: Carriage Driving Right of Passage.

Johnny's torsion axle cart is finished!



I still have April's cart, but the new plates for it shipped yesterday so hopefully the workshop will be devoid of extra carts soon!

Yesterday it stormed and I ended up with three cancellations. Chris and I took advantage and went to see Thor: Love and Thunder, which was fantastic. It knew it was ridiculous and just leaned into it with all it had. Good movie for laughter, though there were some creepy parts, shadow creatures and all that. It was nice getting to sleep in, only having two horses to work, getting to see a movie, write, pick up and hang with the boys before doing my final ride with clients.



I was actually able to SIT Ludo's canter today. It was amazing and I could really feel my core working! His canter quality has really improved, still a bit front-heavy, but he no longer completely slams his front end and vaults off of it!

My client carts came in Friday. Jason unloaded them and I intended to put them together today. I figured I would need to put the shafts and wheels on.

. . .

Nope!



The pallet.



Outer packing removed.



Chaos!



Nothing is labeled either. Nothing. I have three different sized carts here.

I dreamed about trying to put them together last night.

That said I have two sticking points, the torsion axel assembly and the order the ball bearings and bushing go in the wheel. Given that I don't think I'm too up the creek without a paddle. I left a message with the shop asking for just a touch of guidance. I'll go back today after working horses to see what I can accomplish.

Chris, ever the optimist, says I'll be at it for weeks. Psh! Naw. I would have gotten the seats together yesterday had a realized I needed a drill. I have the axel on one cart, some of the shafts together. The hole pattern for the riser on Sue's cart doesn't quite match up so I'm waiting to hear if they tell me to just use the wratchet and cinch the sucker down. The u-bolts on the one axle also didn't quite match and I ended up hammering them on and it worked fine so I suspect a little more man-handling will be expected.

I also had a weird dream last night, watching some movie that seemed to be from the late 80's early 90's. It had a bunch of supposedly famous people in it, name titles and an enthusiastic announcer included. The movie was split between live action and drawn animation. It was completely disjointed and made no sense. Chris commented in the dream it was "too British."

I haunt some groups on Facebook, especially the bitless and driving groups.

The bitless driving group had someone post asking about blinkers and their use.

For the interested this is what I wrote:

"Reasons for blinders:
Reduce distraction in the horse's peripheral vision. If something is moving in and out of the edges of your vision you find it distracting, doubly so with the horse who is designed to react to movement with "run now questions later." Overly simplified I know.

"Prevent anticipation of the whip aids. Some horses will try to anticipate movements of the whip, moreso if you are diving multiples and have one that is eager and another who is less inspired.

"Protection, horses have very large eyes. Way back when you had crowded streets with many horse drawn vehicles it prevented someone else's whip end or road debris from getting in your horse's eyes. If you ever get into driving multiples like Tandem, Randem Unicorn, Four, and more the blinkers prevent the lines if your leaders from rubbing the eyes of your wheelers and swing horses.

"Those are the reasons for blinkers in a nutshell."

Another person commented whom I've seen in other bitless groups and I generally scroll past, but she specifically called out not using blinkers with multiple hitches.

My initial response in my head was "O REEEEEEALLY!"

I restrained myself and hopefully didn't sound too skeptical in my response, which follows:



Now I will tell you why it would be difficult to rig up the lines so that they do not go past the wheeler's eyes, especially in a Tandem hitch:

Tandem is when you have one horse in front of another. The two horses work in line with each other, the wheeler is closest to the vehicle between the shafts and the leader is out front kept in position by the traces and lines.

Traditionally the leader's lines run through roger rings that are attached to the browband of the wheeler. The rings sit just below the wheeler horse's ears and you can imagine that running from the leader to the driver's hands the lines could rub the wheeler's eyes. From there the lines will go through a special set of terrets that keep the wheele and leader's lines separate. Where else might the lines run? Well the wheeler's lines go through the rings on the neck straps and the saddle terrets on the horse's back, the leader's go above the wheeler's. I guess you could technically run the leader's lines through the wheeler's neck strap, but guess what could happen with your leader's lines that low? If you have a busy-mouthed wheeler s/he might just chew on them. During a turn the lines might be pushed by the wheeler's nose. If the wheeler tosses its head and gets its neck over one of the leader's lines you could be in real trouble.

Driving a Tandem is screwy enough without having your wheeler's head and neck interfering with the leader's lines!

Now you MIGHT get away with running your lines low on a unicorn or four-in-hand/four-up since you would have the lines to the inside of your two wheelers, but you could still have issues with your wheelers messing with them or getting hung up on a number of things.

I'm sure the commenter meant for me to be impressed driving a single horse in a halter, but to me it just makes the person look ignorant. Don't tell people you can do something when all you have done is heard someone say it could be possible and not thought about the mechanics and contingencies!

I actually see this a lot in the bitless groups, they want so much to buck the tradition they fail to see that a lot of the tradition is about safety as well as function.

Anyway, someone was wrong on the internet and I had to say something.

Coors had his first hook Friday. Christy followed me home after we worked with her mare Dolly.

For the first hook I long lined him while she rolled and bounced the cart around with no issues on his part.

We hooked and adjusted the harness and then Christy had the lunge line while I stepped in and out of the cart a couple times before committing to sitting down in it.

I asked him to back a couple steps and off we went at a sedate walk.

We changed directions twice and called it a day.

Saturday I bounced the cart around him while tied before hooking a bit more efficiently (goes faster when you're not second-guessing fit) and Christy had the line again as we headed aroud the ring. A pass in each direction and then I felt out his trot, no problem.

We unbuckled the line and Christy shot this video with my phone.



Cindy is pretty ecstatic, which is great! She comes out Wednesday. We're probably looking at four more weeks to hopefully get us around 20 or so hooks before he goes home and then I'll work more with him and her up there.



Chris took a picture while I drove him today. I hooked him straight up and away we went. We did a full lap trotting both ways and I believe he is ready to hit the property.

Christy and Kadriya both plan on coming out to be extra hands on his first go out there tomorrow.

Cindy doesn't want to send Trinket off for training, we'll just work her up there with Coors, fine by me. I have two people I need to contact about bringing their horses in and getting that lined up.

Chroi is home with her people and Hana has gotten in four or five drives now, plus a ride. Hana is very pleased with where her mare is at and I can pat myself on the back for a job well done. She had her little hiccups, but she came through it beautifully. I was at the point where I could be picky about how she was moving and start improving her way of going.

Cindy wants to send hers down for two weeks at a time, swapping them back and forth while we work with the other one and Cindy and Gypsy at home (so she can up her driving skills). We just need to pick a date, really. I wanted to give the boarder area a little time to air (and me a little break).

Lessons are really turning up. I will be pretty busy this winter by the looks of it. I have more and more clients with their own horses and more driving clients as well. It helps to be one of three driving trainers in a 60 mile radius.

Speaking of driving lessons. I need to call Dana and see if I can set up some lessons on driving pairs! It may not be regularly, but I want to learn more about getting them started, how to set up the lines, and working with the breastcollar harnesses.

Chroi's last two drives.





I was solo for the last two so Chris and the boys hung out in the truck and watched while we worked.

Today I:

Participated in a Working Equitation clinic.

Sold McLintock, he went to Payson where he will be teaching a young girl the ropes. He should enjoy the wider spaces and cooler weather!

Went back to work on some WE obstacles, but had to bow out after the second one so I could do my driving demo.

Did a driving preparation demo with Kitt with the help of two of my clients (both drivers).

Took 5th in the dressage portion of the WE schooling show. Even got an 8 on the free walk!

More details and pictures to come.

I think Tru-D is getting a bit of a vacation until Chroi goes back home. I think Tru-D might miss the attention, but I think she will survive.

Chroi has gotten much better about lungeing. She has a much more prompt stop, walks and trots off well, and is changing directions without trying to blow out her shoulders. Today she thought about swapping on me and returned to her original direction only slightly grudgingly after a minor correction. We introduced the long lines today, though she has worked on long lines before I still moved them around her hips to be sure she was okay with them and flicked them over her back and hips.

She did pretty well on the long lines.



Chilling at the "station."

Yesterday I hooked to the trailer and worked on getting her in. She pitched quite a fit about it, backing and trying to shove her shoulders into me. I'm glad for the work I did earlier about moving her shoulders around or it would have been really ugly!

She got in the first time within 15 minutes and then she decided that once was all she was supposed to do and we had some words about not pushing her shoulders into me and moving forward when asked instead of backwards. She did more backwards when she decided that trying to go through me wasn't such a good idea. She also stomped on her tail as she was backing and pulled out a lot of hair.

After popping her front end several times and more backing she finally decided that maybe, since I left her alone when she moved towards the trailer, the trailer was a better place to be. She then loaded several times in a row with a point and a slight lift from the whip with me on either side.

She definitely has a strong independent streak and opinions about The Way Things Should Be. It was evident in the lungeing, but the trailer loading definitely highlights it. I'm hoping next week we will see her step right in so I can put the trailer loading aside until she is ready to head South.



Not such a bad place to be.

Today I (re)introduced the long lines. She also showed much improvement on the lunge line with only a brief thought to force a direction change, but gave it up quickly.

Next week we'll be playing with the tire more, introducing the rope traces, and pressure in the breastcollar. I did pick up a smaller tire earlier this week as the Jeep got a nail in it and we had to take it in. While Discount replaced it I asked for, and received! a car tire. I am sure Chroi can pull the small tractor tire without issue, but I didn't quite feel like dragging the beastly thing to introduce the noise. The car tire is nice as I can lift it with one hand! I may put a piece of board in it to keep it from filling with footing. It's not quite as noisy as I wanted, but will do the job.

In other news Debbie is moving to a smaller house without property. She sent Digur back to the rescue she got him from with the single consolation that she won't have to body clip him next year. They were a good fit and she quite enjoyed the little guy after spending so long struggling with Royal, but life happens and she needs a smaller house (her current one is pretty huge for a now-single lady) and horse property wasn't in the cards.

This meant that Pebbles the miniature donkey was looking for a new home. I knew I couldn't convince Chris we needed a mini donkey (he confirmed) and Marty didn't think it was a good time for her to acquire a new creature. I asked Dawn and she is content with her feed leased mini who is best buds with her mare Grace. I mentioned Pebbles in passing to Nelson and he said he'd think about it and by that afternoon I had found Pebbles a new home. Funnily enough she will be rejoining Royal. Since Nelson doesn't yet have a trailer I'll be loading and moving Pebbles on Wednesday. She hasn't seen the inside of a trailer in three or four years so we'll see how it goes!

In still other news I've ridden Bud the past few weeks.



Making use of the Trensen Knebel and playing with a new bit. He went well in it.

Next week I should have Sue in the cart again. Her back surgery recovery has been a lot slower than she had hoped and she is anxious to get back too it, but doesn't want to overdo it either.

Wednesdays might be Ride A Tru-D day for a bit. I have working students, but usually not lessons so I'm outside supervising, though both of them are really good at this point and I'm there "just in case" or if they finish a task and need direction for the next one.

I started by helping Susanne muck out the arena and part of the stalls before grabbing Tru-D. She might actually be enjoying the work now as she is no longer a pill about being caught. Of course as soon as I say that she might promptly decide that being caught is for the birds again, but we'll hope not!

I lunged her first and she had a little kick up in the canter. I think she might have been expecting the breeching on her butt again. I'll have to lunge her in full harness again and maybe snug up the breeching a bit more so it is less floppy. Other than that she was nicely responsive so I figured we were good to go. Swapped my hat for the helmet and threw on the vest before standing in the stirrup a couple times and climbing aboard. She stood great and this time instead of asking her to walk straight off I asked for some turn on the forehand first. She did quite well with that and we proceeded to have a nice short walk where she spent a lot of time stopping to check in with my balance, which I'm appreciating at the moment. She's trying to figure out that forward is still the easiest, just like with pulling when she tries to shift left or right to see if it is easier. We went a little over double the distance of the first ride, did a couple of turns, and called it good. Brief and positive is the best!

Speaking of other first rides, last week I leaned up on Grace for the first time. We did a lot of work on her right side because she was pretty skittish about me being up on the block on that side or bouncing so we did a lot of up and down on the mounting block, bouncing in place, and generally being a nuisance until she relaxed about it. I got her to take a few steps with me draped across her like a sack of potatoes and called it good.

Over the weekend I realized I was doing it the hard way when I had Dawn right there to assist so today after some initial up and down and being sure she was good with me moving around on both sides of her I had Dawn grab her lunge line and I had the lead rope. I stepped on and had Dawn lead Grace for a bit before feeding us out the lunge line. We walked and halted a couple of times and then called it good. I think she'll get going a little faster than Tru-D because she is more physically mature and also I'm working her twice a week (down from the three times we did at the start) and Dawn is great about doing her homework inbetween and asking questions when she has trouble.

As noted before Dawn said she was interested in doing All The Things with Grace so we'll be measuring her for a harness tomorrow as well as putting in another short ride.

I haven't started wearing the air vest yet, but I should. I think I've established that both of these greenies are going to be good and stand long enough for me to attach the lanyard so time to make use of my investment!

Yesterday I also did an evaluation on another Gypsy. His name is Olaf (Olav?) and I have no pictures because I don't have three hands. He's 14.3 hands and wears a size 4 shoe to give you an idea about his mass!

Olaf came from a lady who bought him from the local Gypsy breeder. The lady had him several years and didn't so much with him. He may have had some training from DJGV, but it's unclear what. I started out lungeing him, which he did stellar with. Someone put time into establishing good lungeing manners. I then got him outfitted in my training harness wkth the surcingle and breastcollar first. He took a little exception to the breastcollar and didn't think he could go forward and it was in his way. He got over it quickly enough, but still seemed a little short in his stride.

Deb had mentioned he was a bit goosey behind so I worked his tail gently and played with th end of the lunge line under it to give him the idea that lifting his tail gave him release. After that the crupper wasn't a problem and we moved on to the rope traces. I moved them behind his hocks, which he wasn't fond of, but got over and then I tested his reaction to weight in the breastcollar. He thought about backing up, but found the forward (just leaning) fairly quickly. I removed the traces before sending him out on the lunge line and having Deb make noise with the singletree. He was very much not a fan and had some opinions about that, but they didn't last very long. After tormenting him with the singletree we worked on the long lines, which he was quite respinsive to.

Overall he did quite well. He had a couple moments, but they didn't last long and I was pushing buttons to see what he knew and where we need to go. Obviously noise and getting him good about his hind end are top priorities. We're going to look at schedules and see about me working with him a couple times a week to move his driving training forward.

Busy days ahead, guys! It's kindof weird having about as many clients with their own horses as those that don't!

Saturday was the Draft Horse Expo in conjunction with the local rodeo. What started out as me checking in with the Rodeo people to see if they wanted us to participate again turned into me managing the entire affair.

Many things learned for next time for sure and also for the upcoming show in November (eight months, aaaaggggg!). I didn't feel like I could push the event until it was locked in and I couldn't lock it in until we had insurance information taken care of and I had to wait (weeks...) on another member to get that taken care of. The problem is that the group is in flux and disarray so she assumed we weren't doing any events and didn't renew the insurance (which covers three events) when it expired.

I had a couple emails sent out through the group as well as an event posting on the Facebook page. I had two other people express interest ahead of time and Troy (our former President) called me this week saying one of his sons would be there.

Friday evening I had Henry and Bud. Bud had a minor meltdown over some kids setting up a lemonade stand. In his defence it did involve a pop-up shade, ice rattling around, the chest opening and closing, small sneaky-looking creatures (children), and a hand-pull wagon. I could have just let him jig-jog past it, but we turned around and passed it again and again until he was walking without more than a half-glance at it. Since it was right next to home we had to pass it again and he would have been perfect had they no dumped some ice into the bucket, but I'll take the half-second side-step over the shenanigans he was doing before!

I finished up with Bud and swung by Bashas' to see if I could find a table covering becaue I knew a least one of my tables was covered in paint. I ended up not needing it because the second one was reasonably paint-less, but while I was there I got a call from Lea.

She was concerned about the arena we were supposed to be in. It didn't appear to be set up for what we needed to do. At first I was hoping she had her North/South directions confused. I decided I needed to see for myself and since it's just a mile from home I drove down and jogged over to the arena. Nope, she was correct on her directions.

What we were dealing with was an arena set up for roping. It wouldn't have been too bad, but there were three sets of loose panels leaning up against the fence rail, the cattle chute was not blocked off and of course the "boxes" on either side that work great for small horses to wait for the cow to pop out of the chute are a death trap for something larger, especially something larger pulling a cart or wagon! To make matters worse, the North gate that we had used two years ago had temporary panels blocking it. There was a gate there, sure, but it had a 6' arch over it, which would decapitate anyone riding a draft and be impassible with a cart.

Troy's older son Riley was there (Troy 2.0 he said as I initially hailed them with "Is that Troy?"). He figured they would move all of it and it'd be good by morning as he headed off, but Lea was not so easily passified. The other thing is that the arena is right next to the carnival. Not only that, but all of the obnoxious swinging, twirly rides were in sight of the arena. Even if we did go down to the South end and use the big gate there (passing the cattle chute and all), we'd have to travel between the arena and the rides in a 30' path.

So I called Brook, the lady I have been conversing with via email about the event and she booked it down to see what we were talking about. She passed us in her little golf cart, swung to the North end of the arena to see the gate, and came back with apologies about the state of it.

Now there is an arena directly South of Arena 4, the one we were supposed to be in. Arena 2 had nothing in it but their glorious red dirt (Arena 4 had had the red footing pulled and replaced it with brown dirt to cater to whatever roping event they held previously). It also had a larger set of bleachers. Lea and I asked what was going on in Arena 2. Brook said it was the Corn Hole Toss Tournament and it didn't start until noon. I don't know about you, but I think the corn hole toss requires a big set of bleachers for spectators, really glorious footing, nor a full 150x300' arena. Brook said she would check with the organizers and get back with me that evening about what they could do.

While farther away from our parking and staging area we could access Arena 2 from the side road and not have to go anywhere near the carnival stuff. We did have the carnival rides going two years ago and most of the horses did surprisingly well, but Charm-N and I did nearly end up putting the forecart in a post when one of them started up. I think individually the rides wouldn't be a deal. Moving thing, okay, somewhat suspiscious, but predictable. Flashing lights? Okay, again, if it's predicitable and consisted they can chill out about it pretty well. Add in people screaming at random? Well, every horse has its limits.

Brook called me as I was finishing up dinner to say we had Arena 2. I quickly sent everyone messages about the change and we were good to go!

In all we ended up with nine horses and ten people participating. I had Kitt, Ruby, and Charm-N along with two students, Olivia and Susanne. Chris helped out and manned the table. Had it not been so hot (95°F!) we would have hooked Ruby and Chris would have done some driving too.

Lea and her husband had her two Percherons, Christina brought down her two Clydesdales and two people (didn't catch their names), and Troy's son Hayden did a demo with a team of Shires. So we had the four major draft breeds (Ruby is a Belgian) plus a Fjord.

We started out a little behind. While Lea got there before us they were still loitering around as we lead our crew over to the arena to start the halter classes. We did have the horses saddled, but it made the tack change later quicker as we just pulled the saddles and stuffed them in Lea's trailer. We were about 20 minutes behind to start, but Christina had a two hour drive to get down here with her rig so all in all I don't think that was too bad of a lag. Of course had we had anyone volunteer to give demos between classes we could have filled the dead space, but ah well! Next year!

I served as the announcer and judge to start. Everyone said I did well, but I can't help to feel like I sucked. This is why judges should also be impartial 3rd parties as I didn't want to place my students high because that would totally look like favoritism, but I didn't want to place them too low either because, if I do say so myself, my horses aren't all that bad looking. It didn't help that all the horses were pretty well put together.

I figured the best thing to do with Charm-N would be to hold her since she probaly wouldn't be happy left tied to the fence as six other horses left her behind. She wasn't overly happy being 60' away from them either and I dropped the mic once as she stepped on the cord. My papers also flew off once so I was feeling all types of professional.

Maybe next year we'll have actual entries and numbers and information sheets for people. As it was it was Fjord #1, Belgian #2, Clydesdale #3, Clydesdale #4, Percheron #5, and Percheron #6 in order of line-up. If I remember right I placed them Clyde #3, Percheron #5, Belgian #2, Clyde #4, Percheron #6, and Fjord #1. Kitt got last because she failed to trot in-hand the first time out. I also wasn't clear enough in my directions to Olivia and she and Kitt left the arena after the did their initial attempt at jogging instead of coming back around behind the last horse.

As we finished up the halter Hayden appeared with his team of Shires and he put on a great demonstration while we did our tack change for the riding classes. I also called Brook to hunt down the barrels that we were supposed to have since I didn't see them anywhere.

We had a moment after Hayden exited as we were mounting up that Lea's two horses got loose as they were getting their bridles on. I was laready on Charm-N so I was able to block Greta's escape and while I wasn't confident to get close enough to grab her I did manage to guide her into the arena gate where Lea got her. Her gelding Thor didn't go far and then the rest of them mounted up. I headed in first followed by Susanne on Ruby and Olivia on Kitt. We started our walk as Lea and her husband Mike reorganized themselves. On one pass I asked if they were going to scratch or not and they said they were good and joined us shortly thereafter.

Charm-N was a little looky and wanted to cut in away from the crowd a little, but didn't do anything to out of line. Ruby was her usual awesome self swinging along with her ears up and eyes bright. I swear she loves the squishy red dirt at Horseshoe. She gets an extra spring in her step and you wouldn't know she had severe ringbone in her right fore. Kitt was good and calm as well and didn't seem to mind Ruby and Charm-N marching boldly ahead of her.

Christina was on the mic served as announcer and judge. We picked up the trot and at one point Kitt got a little strong on Olivia while heading towards the gate (surprise) and cantered a couple strides. She got her back down with no issue. Lea and Mike hung in the center and let their horses google-eye stuff rather than take them around the ring. We changed direction at the trot and everyone kept gait this time before walking and lining up in the center. Christina then had each of us back before making her decision. Susanne and Ruby took first, Kitt and Olivia took second, but only because Kitt broke gait, and Charm-N and I took third. Mike and Lea got honorable mentions for at least making it into the arena.

The barrels had arrived and Chris and I set them up after the riding class. Lea was the timer and off we went! Charm-N trotted mostly and rolled into a canter heading home. We managed about 52 seconds on our run as we were a little wide around the turns. Susanne and Ruby did a solid trot the whole way. With Ruby's ringbone I told her to keep it at a trot. I don't remember the time, but it was close to Charm-N's. Olivia took Kitt in and the little goober dove to the gate after every barrel. Everyone figured the little sporty pony would get the best time, but it took her over a minute! I decided the cheeky pony needed a little schooling so I swing up and after adjusting the stirrups a about four holes up (I have nubby, nubby legs compared to my students) Kitt and I went for it again. She was quite strong any time the gate came in view, but I checked her strongly around and we managed to do it in 42 seconds, taking the best time. From there the plan was some driving, which required another tack change. Someone pulled the barrels as we headed back to the trailer. I lead Charm-N and the two girls rode behind me.

I hosed down Charm-N because she was done for the day and we pulled the tack off of Ruby and Kitt. We only brought the Kutzmann cart so just one horse at a time. Ruby and Charm-N hung out in the trailer as we hitched Kitt and I took her down.

Kitt was very vocal as we left her buddies behind, but kept a steady walk down the access road. As I was getting ready to turn towards the arena I spotted a water truck heading our way and put up my hand to ask them to stop. I actually raised my hand several times in a stopping motion as soon as I saw him a couple hundred feet away, giving him plenty of room to stop a fair distance back. Despite that as I swung Kitt around in order to make the opening the truck rumbled within 20 feet of us which didn't make me happy and made Kittquestion hard about swinging towards the truck and then squeezing between the barricades. The road we just came down looked like a much better option. Chris finally came and I told him to lead her through. I had to remind him he couldn't pull her around as sharp because we were in the cart not the carriage. We got through and I took her the rest of the way into the arena without incident. I think had the water truck not kept creeping up on us we would have been fine, but the big rumbling, moving barricade was a little much for Kitt at the moment. It has been well over a year since she has been off property while driving after all.

We had lost the majority of our crowd at that point and it was just Christina and I with Kitt and her Clyde playing around in the arena as Lea snapped some pictures.

I got the chance to get Kitt going a bit. Sneaky little bugger got a bit strong in the trot and offered a couple canter strides as we headed towards the gate. She would then nearly die as we got near the gate so we worked on trotting smoothly past the gate and called it good once she trotted without stopping.

I will probably pull off the driver's wedge from the cart. While I have my little foot box to give my nubby legs some purchase the wedge puts me up another two or three inches and pretty much negates it. I ended up bracing my heels between the wedge and the seat to feel like I had enough grip to keep myself stabilized. It was nice to be able to trot her out and get some nice big figures going. The footing is not so condusive to carts, especially after horses have been riding in it creating innumerable divots for the tires to roll through. I also think a piece of pipe wrap or some vet wrap will be in order next time I have the chance to cruise in it as the heel chains are a bit annoying.

By that time it was over 90 degrees and we were hot. I asked Christina if she was okay with us nixing the obstacles and she was fine. We didn't hook up Ruby for the same reason. Too hot for our fuzzy Yaks. We cleared out of the arena a bit before 1pm. After loading Kitt and the cart Chris and I went back for the table and stuff.

I had contacted several breed organizations and told them about our event and that we wanted to share information about the draft breeds and most of them were very generous! People didn't take as much of the literature as I had hoped so I still have stacks of flyers and booklets from the Shire, Clydesdale, Percheron, Belgian, and Fjord registries. I forgot to grab the Suffolk stuff from Hayden, but that's okay. I was pretty impressed with their response and generosity and plan on having a similar display during the show in November, possibly adding the Haflingers (can't remember if I emailed them), Spotted Drafts, and maybe I'll contact the Gypsy people ... maybe. I remain unimpressed with some of their breeders.

Everyone seemed to have fun and I think it was good experience as I have a better idea of a few things for the show, primarily concerning tack change times. Definitely need a good-sized break between riding and driving classes!

I also have thoughts and ideas concerning this event for next year. I think the quieter arena suited us better. It would be awesome to get the covered one, but that spot is already spoken for and so long as it isn'1 too hot the uncovered arena is fine.

If I can get people to do demonstrations between classes that would be awesome. That has always been a bit of the trouble, filling time with tack changes and the like. Considering there were just four groups of us at work I think we managed to do really well. if I had another Hayden-like demo while we were getting the horses changed over from riding to driving we probably would have kept more of a crowd. Of course as we were breaking down the table we had a few people who were disappointed that they missed it.

A couple things I wish I had were solid information and flyers about the show in November, and membership forms for the club. I had emailed Kellie Thursday I think about it, but should have thought of it sooner. Drat. Well, next time!

We were pretty tired once we got home. We got the horses put up and the driving stuff away before cleaning up ourselves. The saddles and table are still in our horse trailer, but those could wait. We needed the driving stuff out of Dave and Marty's trailer first so we could park it back where it belongs.

As we were cleaning up Marty had sent me a text about Dakota an Hershey. Apparently her cousin's step-daughter was interested in them and possibly my parents' horse trailer. I got Marty the keys for both the property and trailer so they could check it out more. The tires on it are shot, which isn't a surprise. I don't think it has moved in a year and a half. We last put tires on it when we took Jed to the pleasure driving show in 2012 and it sits out in the sun all the time. Jeremy, Jessika's husband, climbed under it and discovered the back half of the floor is pretty much rotted out as well so they're going to consider what repairs will cost and make them an offer on it.

They decided free was a good price for Dakota and Hershey and they picked them up last night. It was a little weird this morning passing their empty pen and strange not having to feed an extra set of horses.

Yes I won't have the $400 in board a month for them, but close to half of that went into feeding them plus the chore of feeding and watering them. I also don't have to worry about being paid back for their vet and farrier work. The other week Marty had asked me about when Rowdy had first come over (the gelding they had before Hershey) and as I poked through my old entries I realized I have been a bit bitter and put out about taking care of my parents' horses off and on for a long time.

It's not that I actually mind taking care of them, but I very much mind thier lack of care for their own horses. I compared it to a child wanting a puppy and promising they'd take care of it and being the parent who ends up bathing, feeding, and cleaning up after said puppy that the child just HAD to have and was going to take such good care of.

I hope Jessika and Jeremy enjoy the two old mares and make their last years good ones.

In other news I now technically have space if I were to take a horse into training.