The Ramblings of an Artistic Equestrian

Wednesday I loaded up the truck with a whole bunch of training gear and headed North. It was a bit over an hour drive with just a brief sticky spot at one of the freeway interchanges.

Coors was the first horse, a three year-old liver-colored tobiano gelding. He had spent some time with a trainer before heading out this way. He was supposedly working towards driving, but his reaction to the PVC pipe dragging was pretty dramatic! He jumped sideways and tried to kick it. It took several minutes before he stood still and stopped threatening the pipe with his foot. There will be a lot of work on that response because as I learned with Olaf you don't mess with kicking!

We did do some harness shuffling as he was just about bursting out of his girth. Next week I am going to bring my long tape and get measurements for a harness that will work for both Coors and Trinket. She had three other harnesses, but one (Gypsy's) was too big and the others were too small (she has a hackney pony too).

I started out asking him to move his hips and shoulders around. He was a bit sleepy about it so it took a while to get a response out if him. After that I worked him briefly on the long lines and got a nice little walk and trot out of him in the sidepull (the bit she had was a twisted wire french link halfcheek and I don't use twisted wire anything, sorry). I'll bring the sidepull again in case her other bits are too narrow.

We moved on to Trinket, who is a red roan tobiano with a mane to her knees. She's four and was pretty much untouched until Cindy got her. She was more interested in eating the PVC pipe than anything. When it came to moving her hips and shoulders she was quick and light, just about the opposite of Coors.

She hadn't long lined yet so we stuck with lungeing. It was a bit more exciting than I had hoped! It was well over 90° and she decided to rip around like a lunatic instead. I worked on keeping her from running me over (staying to the outside) and really wished I had my Snazzy Stick(TM). I'll bring it next time.

Changing direction was a no-go to start, but when she finally realized I wasn't taking bolting off for an answer she finally yielded her shoulders and we had a lightbulb moment. She did three more nice direction changes and she settled into a walk and called it a day. Both of us were puffing and sweaty, which is not how I wanted her to be at all, but I did zero driving after initially asking her to step off.

So we definitely have work to do with where they are at before we move forward. Cindy is interested in improving her own skills and I will start integrating her into the work as I get a better feel for her two horses. We'll also be adding Gypsy in to work on Cindy's driving skills. Cindy has a friend with a POA who might be joining the docket so the weekly trip northward should be pretty productive.

Chroi was in the cart for the first time (this year, third time total) Saturday. It started out pretty well, had a rough patch, and ended on a good note. I have a list of things to work on to make the second hook better and continue to build and move forward.

Video from Friday, which I was pretty pleased with.



Chroi's owner was there for the hook and took some video. She was very pleased with how it went, even if we had some rough spots that I'll give more detail on later. It does appear that the Gypsies are multiplying in my life.

I have discovered propping my phone on the mounting block. No audio to speak of and no zooming in on interesting detail, but I added in some text commentary.

This one was three videos from the past week.



This was yesterday.



Today I had him on the long lines and he marched pretty well around the arena. He got stuck in the same corner going right and thinks he should park himself at the station going that way too, but overall did quite well and I'm proud of how far he has come. I have three more sessions left with him and am waiting to hear from Deb about where she wants to go moving forward.

I do think Olaf can work through this, but it is how much more time and training she wants to put into him over moving him on and finding something ready to go.

I really do appreciate how hard he is trying and thinking and that he is stopping when uncertain rather than just kicking out at what is bothering him.

I was able to work Tru-D again yesterday morning because my 8am was sick (so many sick people canceled this past month). I used the Parelli feather lines again and attached them between the cheek pieces and throatlatch in the cross-under configuration. I had Susanne mucking in the arena so I took Tru-D out and around the house.

She did pretty well. We have some work to do on her bravery. With the work on the driveway and some other things moved around things Were Not The Same so she was a bit suspicious the first couple of passes. There were a couple moments of jigging that she came back quickly from and also a couple moments of trying to eat.

I definitely think the weight of the beta lines was the issue with her drifting backwards as she once again stood pretty solid when asked. I may work her a few weeks in the feather lines before going back to tbe beta lines and see what happens.

I did take the new whip as I worked her and it had a good reach. It is ridiculously light for its length and I like the lash length in addition. I need to get a longer lash for my other one. I need to start focusing on getting Tru-D calmly responsive to the whip aids while I ground drive her. She tends to speed up right now as she moves over so I need to step back and reinforce her moving sideways off of it.

Thursday I had Nelson with Roy and Molly. He had the farrier out the other week and the farrier and Molly had a bit of a disagreement. Nelson had mentioned that we haven't been tying her solid. She has a tendency to set back and rather than have her break things we do a couple loops around the post to create a little friction to have her feel some pressure, but not enough to go into a full panic. If she sets back you just ask her to step back up and snug it back down. It's a lesson I learned with Judy's mare Sweeti who broke more halters and lead ropes than you could shake a stick at. It's no big deal and Molly has been getting better about standing "tied" with fewer incidences of setting back and coming forward quicker after it. Nelson had noted a couple months ago that the farrier appreciated that Molly was being better about her feet since I started working with her. This last session, however, the farrier's assistant got it in his head that he was going to "teach her" and snubbed her down on the post, which resulted in her setting back (surprise), fishtailing, and ultimately scraped her chest on the hitching rail as she came back forward. He was not able to get her back feet done at all.

I had offered to bring out my tools and at least knock the rough spots off. I forgot last week, but remembered Thursday. She had been good for Nelson cleaning her feet so I figured it wouldn't be much of a deal. We had built a decent rapport the last six or so months and I was hoping it would be no problem.

No such luck. She saw the bucket with the tools in it and her hind end became a 100% no go zone. We were back to square one with her spinning circles if I even got near her flank, let alone her hip and foot.

She reached one point where I was able to pick up her foot and was feeling like she needed a mental break so I spent a couple minutes putting the bridle off and on Roy. Royal is doing consistently better about his right ear, but is still touchy.

When I went back to Molly I was able to work her left hind and knock out the extra sole as well as trim the wall and do some rasping. Unfortunately we had to call it quits there. I was back out today. Molly was a little reluctant to be caught, but she just walked off about 50 feet and that was it. Nelson lead her up under the shade where we usually tie them, but when he went to put the rope over the rail she rocketed backwards. She was then wary to be under the shade at all and I had Nelson pause when she gave him a couple good steps forward before I took over.

Knowing her high anxiety under the cover I didn't push it and just kept her in hand. She was wanting to spin and I changed up strategies, instead of putting pressure on her gaskin as she walked and spun I slipped the rope around her leg and put some pressure on it. With my hand on her gaskin she would slow down, but it would take several steps (or spins) and she really was locked into a bad mental pattern. With the rope around her pastern I picked up pressure and she rethought her tactics very quickly. I kept the pressure on until she would relax the foot and then I would let it go. I was able to work down to touching the foot and eventually got both of them cleaned out before grabbing the hoof knife and focusing on her right hind. I had to use the rope again, but she settled quicker. She had worn out most of her sole so there wasn't much for it and gave her foot back before heading over for the nippers.

I can't remember if it was with the nippers or rasp that she kicked out just as I was about to give it back. Molly thought for sure I was going to explode on that one, but I just picked up the rope, quietly grabbed my tool, and worked to get her foot back, fussed with it again, and moved on.

I rasped the left hind a little again and then gave Nelson directions as to how to work on it until I came again Tuesday. He doesn't quite have the skill and timing to do it exactly as I did, but he could work on getting her comfotable again with him approaching and rubbing her barrel, hip, and eventually the leg.

Nelson and I talked quite a bit as I was working with her both days and while I didn't quite say my full thoughts we both came to the conclusion that the "teaching" that his farrier and his assistant did the week before last almost put us back to square one with Molly on her feet.

I admit I was not happy to see all of our good work pretty much flushed down the toilet because some idiot thought he was going to be a macho man and teach a horse how to stand tied by snubbing it to the post. Especially a horse that already has a history of setting back and in particular before she had a chance to do anything "bad!" Talk about setting her up for failure.

Nelson mentioned that Molly actually gets a little anxious when she sees the farrier's truck, which tells me he was already a source of anxiety. Nelson also said that his (soon to be former) farrier had set in his mind how Molly was and kept the opinion she just wasn't a good horse despite her improvement over the past six or seven months.

Molly definitely has some self-protective habits, but she certainly isn't a mean horse. The bucket of tools was definitely something she associated with People You Do Not Trust so it took a while to reconvince her I wasn't a threat.


I am of the mind that it isn't the farrier's job to teach my horse how to accept being trimmed and shod, but he certainly shouldn't make the horse worse! I gave Nelson Kevin's number and we'll see how that goes. I think we'll try to schedule it so I can be there when he comes out the first time. Not that I doubt Kevin's skill in handling horses, I did a 150+ hour internship with him for my Equine Science degree, but I don't think it would hurt if Kevin heard my direct perspective and be there to hold Molly if needed. Nelson is getting better, but he just doesn't have the years of experience to hold a horse that is working through issues.

In happier news we hooked Ruby and Charm-N up to the carriage again today and I think we finally have it set the way we need it. I'm ready to take them out and about! Once Ruby and Charm-N chilled out a bit Chris even drove them for a bit and the little men joined us. Tristan went around a couple times before deciding riding his bike was going to be more fun, but Kelhan hung out until we were done and then had to be persuaded to get off. He climbed on again as soon as we had the horses unhooked and was pretending to drive his team while Chris and I detacked the horses. I didn't take any pictures, but Chris managed one.

Life is at one of those places where there's almost too much going on to get down properly so we'll start with the big fun thing and go from there.

Chris and I did our annual thing going into Tonto Basin for the Draft Horse Driving Clinic. This was, I think, the eighth year they have held it and the fourth time we have attended.



We got to drive a four-up hitch with the sulky plow, which was a first and awesome! Especially once they got the lead mare's right rein sorted and we weren't relying on the left leader to make her turn!

They also broke out the walking plow, which we didn't try, but got a few pictures of. They had a grader hooked up to one of the forecarts, but they were juggling horses around and I only got to drive it to park it. It did balance the cart out nicely and made it easy to unhitch!

At the last minute Thursday I decided to take both of the Mamiyas. I filled up my film holders, which I have two of for the RB67 and four for the 645. I grabbed my oldest (read: terribly expired, but still good because they get stored in the fridge) rolls, plus a roll of Ilford B&W (couldn't tell you the last time I shot Ilford...). I ended up taking four rolls of Portra 160, my last roll of Ektachrome (sp? my last chance to shoot it, Kodak stopped making it), and the roll of Ilford. I'm not super keen on color print film anymore, but since the Portra was free (thanks Mr. Grant!) I'll shoot it.

I shot two rolls in the RB67 and two in the 645 the first day, which meant I didn't do too much driving that morning, but that's fine by me. I made up for it in the afternoon. Saturday was a bit cloudy and dull to start so I saved my last two rolls until it cleared up.

Chris and I hooked Red up single at one point because all of the teams were occupied. Bill said he'd never driven him single, but we should be okay with him. Daniel later informed us the gelding had been driven single, but probably not for a good decade. Red was a perfect gentleman, if a bit vocal. He walked like a slug, but rather have that than too much!

I do admit the adjustable axel on the White Horse forecart is awesome and, even with just an implement seat on it, it rides very nice. Maybe someday we'll upgrade our forecart, but a nice pleasure/marathon cart first.

Kitt's new bridle arrived, but the browband was smaller than discussed. I'm going to just get a second browband because maybe Tru-D won't have such a fat head and she'll eventually inherit it, ha! And spare parts aren't bad.

Speaking of Tru-D she got her first experience with the bit today. I don't plan on working her with a bit until she has a full mouth (after all of her adult teeth come in, about five years old), but I do want her to get used to just carrying it like I did with Z. Tru-D did well taking it, but wasn't too keen on not being able to spit it out. She kept gaping and expecting it to drop out of her mouth. I took it off after fifteen minutes or so and plan on repeating it now and again as I remember.

Eclectic Horseman is running a sale this weekend on their Horseman's Gazette. It is 50% off the 24 DVDs they currently have in print (the first one no longer is). It's 48 hours of footage on mostly horse training. It is what I had initially hoped Equestrian Essentials(i.e. The Julie Goodnight Show, ppffft) would be. Information from many different trainers in the industry. I've been thinking about it off and on all day and dividing it out it ends up around $16 a disc, which is an awesome deal.

I do think I have managed to talk myself out of it for now. I technically have money for it, but I want to get Kitt a new driving bridle that actually fits her. I used her today for the horsemanship classes and everyone got to drive her around a bit. She did fabulous despite the many hands on the lines and I only had to save us from running into the fence a couple times (lack of direction on the students' part, not Kitt's fault at all), but I am reminded that the bridle fits a bit awkwardly and it has no noseband so I either leave her halter on or grab a caveson, neither of which look very sleek or fit superbly well. I've already contacted the woman at Camptown Harness about making one after the New Year and while it won't be cheap it will FIT and function and will be exactly what she needs and I want. I might have mentioned before I was hoping I could replace the browband so it fit her forehead better, but the winker stays are stitched into the browband and I'd be replacing half the bridle and there's really no replacing anything on it with how it is constructed. So $100 for something that might not fit and won't work for competition or $250 for something guaranteed to fit and will be perfect for the type of driving I ultimately want to do ... or $380 for 48 hours of horse videos that will take me years to watch, hahaha, I think the bridle wins.

I need to ask if lines are included in that and maybe see about getting a set with colored stoppers as I had contemplated earlier this year. It will be the most I have ever paid for a bridle, but driving bridles are not cheap. Whole lot more leather than a normal one!

My 8am canceled last minute so I did some mucking and pulled out Kitt and her harness. I haven't harnessed up one of mine in WAY too long.

I pulled out the tire and hooked Kitt up and we dragged the arena. She was playing with the bit, but not really being fussy. I think she's gotten used to not having one with the bitless bridle. I might also look into more driving bit options down the line. I currently use a French Link Butterfly (three loops, drive her on the snaffle) on her with a copper link

She pulled like it hadn't been a day and was nice and light off of the reins. We dragged some of the wetter areas and what I would give for a harrow! The tire will have to do for now, but maybe once I get my card paid off I'll get one. I think I can improve the footing a bit in the arena if I had the ability to dig into the top soil a bit rather than just push it around as I do with the tire.

After Kitt I had Debbie and Royal. I took Royal out in her desert lot next door and worked him first. He was looky, but not nervous, more distracted. I mostly walked him and did some brief trotsn which were nice and forward. He jumped into the canter a couple times, but it didn't seem like he was "running away" and he came right back as soon as I bent him around. He doesn't have a bad canter from the few strides I felt, but rock and gravely desert dirt isn't the best place to be doing much canter work!

Debbie rode him in the roundpen and had a pretty good ride. He picked up the trot a couple times without her intentionally asking for it, but she is getting quicker and more confident in making the correction. They may make a decent pair yet. We just hit the year mark from when I first went out to evaluate her and Eden. My how time flies!

After that I had a break in which we went to Home Depot to pick up stuff to get the lodge pole bed in order for Tristan to move into that room. He's been pestering us since we mentioned it and we've been having to pry Kelhan out of the Jeep bed for weeks now so the boys are ready for a bed swap.

After we got the boys home I was off to work Oakley again. He started out really good with lots of long, stretchy walks and we were able to get down to business pretty quickly. I worked some circles, which he got quick and rushy on, BUT! he was offering the right lead canter rather than constantly throwing himself on the left lead. I finally had enough of the nonsense and sat him on his butt and backed when he would start speeding up through the turn. That seemed to help some. We had some good cater/gallops on his right lead and I worked on rating him back a bit and trying to find a nice, round canter, which came in handy when we made a couple of sharp turns (farm roads with irrigation ditches and right angles for the most part). He doesn't always come back quick, but he does at least come back. On the one hand I'm having a blast with a horse who has the energy, stamina, and desire to GOOOOOO! and on the other hand I'm annoyed by his constant creeping faster. He is very slowly getting better and we had some good gaits today that lasted for half a minute or more instead of just a couple of jumbled steps into a left lead canter.

I'm actually surprised he is picking up the right lead so quickly at this point. I was expecting to struggle more with it. Granted I'm not doing a whole lot of canter transitions, it's more "we're going to canter for a quarter to half mile now" rather than trot, canter twenty strides, trot, repeat. He might benefit from it, but constant transitions aren't in his main job description. I'm mostly playing off of what he is telling me. If he's wanting to rush off he gets to work on his stop and even backing. Or for a change of pace some one-rein stops until he stands still for several seconds. He's an interesting puzzle and I'm riding in a way I haven't had the opportunity to in years.

After Oakley I had time to say "hi" to the boys before heading out for my next lesson. An hour break for lunch/dinner and then two more lessons before the day was over. Tomorrow will be a little more relaxed. My new lesson postponed until next week and the other one bjmped to Thursday so I just have Roxanne and Bud for the morning before a break and then the art and equine science class. Their auto deposit didn't pan out this month so I'll pick up my check tomorrow and hit the bank on the way home.

And I had started writing this between lessons, but didn't finish it until just now. Written over the course of five hours! Ha!

Saturday was day two of the Roots N' Boots Rodeo. The ADHMA was invited this year to give a show/demonstration/expo thing on day two of the three day event. It flew by the seat of our collective pants and not due to weather (unlike the first time).

I have come to the conclusion that I need to just stop waiting around for anyone to contact me about these things and just need to step in and do it. Yes, Troy is the President and Jay the V.P., but I am technically on the show committee so that should mean I have some clout and say, right? Just because I am the same age as some of their kids doesn't mean I have to wait around for them to decide to do something, right? I can say "Hey! Let's do a meeting for this thing!" or "We really should get on about having a program for the show this year." and the like.

Anyway, Saturday dawned early and we fed the herd and finished loading up. Chris had taken Friday off to get things ready, but since he didn't tell me until Monday or Tuesday I didn't cancel or reschedule lessons (I had five). We did get time in to play with Ruby and Charm-N ground driving as a team again and loaded up the wagonette in the little red trailer among other things, but we didn't have nearly so much time together as I was running around doing lessons (two were off property).

Haley, the intern, was a good help throughout the day Saturday, even if there was quite a bit of hurry up and wait going on. Did I mention before that I picked up an intern from the same two year Equine Science program I went through? I did, and she's doing well I think.

We took Kitt and the forecart with the truck and horsetrailer and followed Chris who had the Whimobile and the wagonette in the little red trailer. Chris then went back to get Ruby and Charm-N as Haley and I lead Kitt around and got our bearings. The carnival rides were mercifully quiet.

Chris came back with the big girls and we started grooming up. I can't remember the exact order of everything, but I warmed up Charm-N in the forecart and was very pleased with how she did. While she wasn't completely loose and swingy in the walk the whole time she did walk for the majority of the time, which is a big change from her old "shut up and let me drive" mind set. She knows how to handle herself in a cart, she just doesn't always think she needs input from her driver.... I am also happy to report that she worked the whole time on the snaffle ring of her elbow bit with the low port. Up until this the last few drives under Michelle's instruction I have always worked Charm-N on some sort of leverage option either on the liverpool or the new elbow we acquired, but I think we have managed to come to a happy place where the leverage is not the go-to and we can happily work on the snaffle setting. Friday while we ground drove them Chris actually hooked her lines to the bitless bridle as a sidepull and she actually did pretty well with it. I have thoughts of acquiring a bitless driving bridle now for sheer curiosity's sake. Stopping wasn't the best under the sidepull option, but it was OK.

Chris hooked up Ruby and I tacked up Kitt and we cruised down to the arena to scope it out before the show officially started (bumped from a 9am start time to 10... ish.). Kitt was OK, though she did throw a few bucks on me. A little bit was nerves, some from the strangeness, some from the speaker noise, some from her not thinking she had to work so hard. She was really perturbed when Chris and Ruby left and I wouldn't let her vacate the arena. She finally settled and worked really nice once she realized that leaving the arena was not an option (even if the gates were wide open). I know there were spots that I could have handled better, especially when I realized I stopped using my legs at some point and guess what happened when I started activating them? She was a bit more obedient! Imagine that! Anyway, she got worked entirely in her bitless bridle Saturday from the morning warm-up to the breed demo that we did between the Unicorn hitch and the Four Abreast and the barrel race in the afternoon.



(Feel free to critique form. I know I am far away and there is a Clyde in the way most of the time [I was kind of hoping she would walk the horse around and not just stand in one spot...], but you can have at it just the same.)

I have some video proof of our demo ride. Chris hung out next to the in gate and shot it. Before I went in I had asked the lady with the Clyde if she wanted to join me as all three hitches were leaving the arena and I was thinking Kitt might enjoy the company. I was wrong. Kitt just needed to be told that the in/out gate was not the place to be and she then settled nicely. I even got her to gallop a bit and do some really nice halts. I haven't ever asked Kitt to go that fast before and she did it brilliantly once she realized that listening was a whole lot easier than arguing.

The show schedule seemes to fluxuate on Troy's whims. Did I mention that we had no judge? No placings, no ribbons, but also no entry fees so I guess it's all good.

I missed the Western riding class with Kitt because Troy had told us it was after the Street Cart class so I was with Chris in the wagonette waiting for the Street Cart class to start and then realizing that there were the Western riding people in the class... ah well. Ruby did great pulling the wagonette in the class, even with the carnival rides going full tilt (you see the ferris wheel and catch a brief glimps of one of the others, but there were four different spinning, twirling rides screaming people and all).

There was a lunch break in there somewhere and I got on Kitt again to hit the barrel race. No bucks during the barrel race (she did jump a pee spot another horse left coming to the third barrel) and she still had plenty of oomph and attitude to go. Kitt is in much better shape than I give her credit for with all the lessons she does. I had a lot of pony still left at the end of the day.

There was supposed to be a cart obstacle class, which we had hoped to run all three mares in, but it got nixed. There was also supposed to be a log skid, but that got nixed too because Troy forgot the log or didn't bring it. There was also no feed team race as Troy didn't bring the sledges (maybe a little too reliant on or fearless leader?).

Not that I want to harp on Troy or anything, but I do think that the club needs to decentralize a bit. Granted I do know that Troy probably has most of the experience out of everyone with his hitch that he tours with and demos all over the country, but he is a busy guy. He's also a good guy, but I do think the club needs to be able to function without waiting for his word on everything, even if he is the president of the club.

So we didn't get to do quite as much as we had initially hoped, but it was definitely better than the first time we were invited to Roots N' Boots! I do hope they invite us back again next year and hopefully we can all get our acts together (read: I finally step up and take some responsibility and help get the thing organized properly) and make it even better.

After the last class a crowd of us managed to get together and have a pseudo meeting. We talked about the fun trail drive coming up at the end of the month, the Equistar show in May that is supposed to have draft classes, and the possibility of shifting the yearly show to be with Equistar Show rather than the Equifest Expo in September like they did last year (heard it was quite a bust). I also brought up the possibility of a vehicle maintainence clinic, which they thought was a good idea and something to do towards the end of the year as it cools down again (bring your own vehicle! Pot luck perhaps?).

I'd have pictures, but I was too busy doing stuff to take any. I'll have to ask Haley if she took some and pester my clients who were there as well (had a half dozen show up I think).

Edit To Add: The bitless bridle functioned great. I did have a slighty issue with the noseband creeping down towards her nostrils at one point, but I only had to move it once during the whole day and I am not sure if that was due to her head-dipping threaten-to-buck shenanigans or what (probably). I did want to mention that the reins stayed as they should and the crown didn't get twisted at all on her head. I do think that the throatlatch attachment is what makes the difference in this function in steadying the pressure so the crown doesn't twist. Five stars.

Our farrier comes Tuesday and I gave him fair warning that we had a bit of a wild hare being added to the bunch. He sounded self-confident and amused by my concern about her lack of training. I have seen him deal with some rank horses and some pretty snotty babies (my internship for my Equine Science Associates consisted of tagging along and taking copious notes as he worked with various horses from minis to Friesians and gaited horses to one that had suffered a broken shoulder) so a barely handled yearling really shouldn't be a problem.

That said it isn't the farrier's job to train the horse to be trimmed so I've been fussing with her feet since we went to look at her Wednesday. Yesterday I picked up her backs the first time and today I was able to pick them out. I think she's going to have nice feet once they are cut down to size! Her frogs are pretty wide and clean a surprisingnlack of thrush. The bars on one of her hind feet are broken over like Charm-N has a tendency to do (and Chewy on rare occasion, but Charm-N does it almost every cycle), but that should clean up along with everything else. Beneath the horrible flares her sole has a nice shape and her limbs also appear remarkably straight. She is steep in her hip, but less so than her dam.



She's getting much easier to approach and halter. She's even coming over and checking people out now if they hang around next to the fence and ignore her. She still isn't super fond with my arm passing close to her eye when I halter her so I start with the crown piece pretty far back on her neck and work it towards her ears.

Steady progress, not bad for not even a week of consistent handling! Of course I may completely blow her trust having Chatham out tomorrow to start her vaccines (dewormed, but completely unvaccinated) followed by Kevin the next day, but I am sure I will be forgiven in time.

Also: Have a video of me working the Fresno from the clinic. I am probably stupidly excited about working with this machinery, but I find it to be the coolest thing. I probably wouldn't say that if I was having to dig a root cellar or build a road this way, but how awesome is moving dirt with horses!

I rode Panda for the first time at the property. Roxanne and I went over to do her lesson and she warmed up Gypsy as I set the letters up. They are in by no means perfect position as I have them jammed in the cinder blocks, whichever one was closest to the measurement. I need to take some tape over and get them properly positioned (or acquire some stand alone letters).

I bridled up Panda and led her in before replacing the pole (nice thing about the set up: enter "gate" can be anywhere!).

I started Roxanne literally walking through Intro test A to get the pattern down before introducing the trot bits one at a time. Panda was a bit tight and a little worried, but since I was teaching I didn't really put her to work to move her through her anxiety. As it was she wasn't wanting to stand still well half the time and she felt like she was looking for excuses to jump out of her skin. She hasn't been off property since the New Mexico fiasco trip.

A landscaping truck went through the intersection and hit one of the bumps making a loud CLANG, which sent Panda scooting forward. I hyper-focused on the arena fence and had a slight panic myself before properly engaging my turning aids and swung her around 3/4s of a circle before bringing her back down. I admit for my part I was a bit up too so we had a bit of a negative feedback loop going. I went ahead and dismounted, standing with Panda out of the way as I taught the rest of the lesson. Wouldn't you know she stood stock still the whole time. Goober.

I finished the lesson with Roxanne and climbed on again as she was cooling out. Panda and I were both a bit up still and I could feel myself getting sucked forward and in her face. The moments I sat back and released more she did much better. I think I should throw the Western saddle on next time as I am more mentally secure in it (was Was in my dressage saddle, which is a little big on me too, doesn't help). She just needs to get out more again. It's been too long since she has REALLY been anywhere. It has also been a while since she has been honestly challenged in her work.

First of February I call Christa. Perhaps fate is conspiring in her favor to get Panda back.

Today was day one of the driving clinic! Mostly it was harnessing and unharnessing and hooking up to the carts and wagons. Dan had brought a White Horse forecart and man it was NICE. The axel adjusts forward and back to balance the cart according to your horse and load and the assembly for the pole or shafts just has a good sturdy pin keeping it in place, no wrench required! I would probably lean towards a nice two wheel pleasure/marathon cart, but the White Horse forecart is tempting! Bill bought the cart off of Dan before the day was out.

Dan had a new draft pony freshly shipped from the Midwest. Poor thing was a good 400lbs overweight. She came in on a scale at 1700lbs! They put a 27" collar on her and I bet if she lost weight she would drop down to a 23" her crest was so big. Her back had a noticable gutter and her tailhead was a mere dimple on top of her butt. She was also a bit downhill and in need of a farrier, but adorable in a clunky, awkward way. I'll have to post a picture.

Not a whole lot of new information, but you get different stories each time and the social aspect is fun along with getting to work with the horses. I drove the plow once and had a hand on each of the horses except for the grey Percherons (will have to drive them tomorrow). Tomorrow they should pull out the cultervator and the fresno.

I did poorly taking pictures, but being Not Pregnant this time I was busy doing!

We're thinking of asking Bill and Lori about doing a feed lease on Dick and Doc in the comming Fall. There was vauge thoughts last year, but we didn't quite have a place to put them. Once things across the way are more set up we'll certainly have the space and being down to five of our own we may just have some fun working them over the winter so they don't sit for three or four months before the clinic. Contemplations. Of course it will be good to get Ruby and Charm-N driving as a team too, but having one ready to go on loan might be nice!

To bed for another long day tomorrow!

With the rain last week training was postponed and I was able to squeeze in two days this week. Kitt doesn't know why I keep pestering her so much.

Yesterday we rode and warmed up over the cavelleti and got her cantering over them as well. It worked a bit better when I pipped my irons up and was able to settle into a better two point.

From there we hit the crossrail, which was the first in a three jump line consisting of two one-stride efforts so we had to come in at an angle, which Kitt took advantage of the first couple goes and then she realized I was insisting and she took it nicely. Then we added the plank jump, which she was a little backed off to start, but was eventually taking the two well also.

We then added the full line, the final one being a rather solid 2' gate. This is her second jump session with vertical jumps and 2' is definitely the biggest thing I've ever pointed her at and I am sure my own weird anxieties didn't help us in our first attempts!

It basically came down to Michelle reminding me that the most important thing in jumping is that the horse cross the obstacle. So when Kitt went to run out I stopped her, backed her up, and sent her forward over it (grabbing a bit of mane!). She can do a pretty impressive jump from a standstill!

At the end of one of our walk breaks as I was prepping for a canter depart she decided to dive into one of the stalls (Michelle leaves the gates open into the arena when her horses aren't in them). That resulted in a "Heck NO!" response, backing her butt up, and asking for an immediate canter depart and a nice, forward, and very determined ride down the line of three jumps! I kept her going after and brought her around again and she went right through it, no hesitation and we called it a day!

Today went slower than initially desired. I was going to work Bud at Horseshoe and then pick up Kitt and the cart for training, but when I unloaded Kitt yesterday I thought I heard a hissing noise, but couldn't pinpoint it. It honestly sounded like it was coming from the axel as the sound was about even on either side of the trailer. Sure enough when I went out this morning the left front tire was flat. Chris put air in it and I shot over to Discount and while they were patching the hole I had some pumpkin pancakes at IHOP (why not, right?). From there I went home, loaded Kitt, cart, and harness, and headed over to Michelle's.

Kitt was pretty nice from the get-go. She yielded nicely through the turns and didn't give me any opinion and simply complied when bending. She was a little resistent to back, but nothing like the head-flinging, butt-swinging tantrums she was pitching a few weeks back! We even played with some trot lengthenings. Michelle finally joined me in the cart now that we have most everything figured out and most of the big kinks ironed.

We did lots of big figures and moved to some tighter turns and direction changes. We ended the arena work early and took a quick walk out of the property and down the road. Michelle and I both admitted to being nervous when a big semi blew past,but Kitt barely flicked an ear at it. I think I may have a good driving pony.

After that I picked up Bud and worked him. Kitt managed to untie yerself from the trailer and was nosing through someone's leftover hay scraps. But and I reclaimed her and I tied her back up before finishing the ride.

Kitt went home and I discovered I left Chewy's water running. Took Bud back and picked the forecart back up from Michelle's before returning home.

Now I just realized I forgot to pull the cans to the road, but I can do that in the morning.