Friday, March 18, 2011

Like I Didn't Have Enough...

To keep me busy that is.

No...Not adding to the equine number around here. LOL

I'm off to a j.o.b.!

Just picking up a night or two on the weekends at the local salebarn restaurant. I guess even with a 15% unemployment rate around here, it's hard to find reliable help.

I don't mind though...It's not like we have a very exciting night life on the weekends around here and I can always use any spare cash to keep my horses in the style they have become accustomed to.


Things are good on the horse front. Really good.

I have been using an un-farmed field next door as a conditioning track and it has been quite effective. The soil is soft and deep and there is 20 acres. The ponies have been getting some good workouts in. I alternate riding days over there though because the soil is so deep. I don't want to fatigue anyone and end up with an injury. The other days are spent riding out in the desert or in my own little riding area-working on softening, suppling, turnarounds, transitions, etc., etc.

Frosty is continuing to lose weight and is really moving out nicely for me these days. I've even been able to check out his race-horse gears a little and boy can he really stretch out and cover some ground. His suppleness is coming along as well. It gets easier and easier for him as the weight continues to come off and he builds some real muscle. He is without a doubt a future barrel horse in the making.

Turk is still stuck in just shy of a run-away gear at the lope. Lots of work yet on him to get him into shape and using the proper muscles to balance and handle himself. Can't expect years of muscle memory to disappear in a month...probably more like 3-6 months to really get him solid again. He's trying though and as long as he keeps trying to give me something there is hope for him.

Spooks is traveling out much better these days...as long as the ground is soft. I'm going to treat him for deep tissue thrush (per the lightbulb going off after reading Mrs Mom's post on it) and use a sole hardener. Hopefully that gets him over his tender-footedness. If not...it's back to shoes for him. I almost didn't think the horse had any inclination to run...but I opened him up in the field the other day and gave his butt a good spank...he can run. I guess he will be sticking around this year to see what he is capable of.

Moon is making some great progress as well. Been using the field to practice letting him stretch out in a sprint and then rating him down in a straight line-sprint-rate-sprint-rate. It's improving his ability to handle his speed, which is a problem for him. There is not doubt the horse can run, he just has a hard time handling all that speed. His back is changing as he is building up better muscle and I have found his saddle-fit issue to be less of an issue. His shoulder work is coming along. As I have worked with him, I am realizing that his problems really seem to be stemming from how he bends in his neck. When I ask him to bend and give 'face' to the left, he wants to move his left shoulder out (to the right), rather than bend his neck. I have been working on specifically making him keep that shoulder straight and giving me the neck and face. To the right, he gives his neck and face correctly, but has a tendency to drift his shoulder to the inside. His left shoulder is overly limber, his right is a little stiff. It's just little things like that that end up causing big things when he is running barrels. Hopefully consistent work on correcting that at home helps him maintain some correctness in competition.

Other than that...it's just the same old, same old around here. I think of lots of things I want to write about, when I'm riding and then by the time my day is done...I'm too exhausted to think anymore.


12 comments:

Mikey said...

Girl, is it safe you to be working at a salebarn? Are you going to be able to have some restraint and not buy any horses, lol?
Glad you're doing it though. Good help IS hard to find!

Vaquerogirl said...

How great to have an un farmed field next to you! That is somewhat uncommon around here!
Mrs Mom is full of great info isn't she!
Careful at that sale barn! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I don't think we have to worry about you and the salebarn. You've already got a little friend waiting for you to bring him home right in the neighborhood. So, when ya going to do that, huh?

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Hahahaha-No, I never was safe when I worked at the sale barn during the horse sales in Sturgis.

Won't be working any horse sales at this sale barn though. No sales on Friday or Saturday nights and on Wednesdays, it's a cow sale. ;-)

I'm not sure what to do about the little paint horse OS. Megan has expressed an interest in taking him on, but she is currently struggling in school. I can't justify getting him (even if I am fairly confident he would be a profitable venture), unless Meg is willing to help with him. I have one horse in training, another I have to get re-started and will be bringing my 3y/o out here in another couple of months.

cdncowgirl said...

A little extra cash is always a good thing... helps that you'll be working on cow sale nights lol

Sounds like you've got your ponies on a good conditioning/suppling program. You and Moon should have a good year and the other ponies will get a nice start.

Sooo, if you're looking for post ideas... what about one on ground. Barrel racing ground that is.

Rising Rainbow said...

Sounds like you've got plenty on your plate without adding in work and possible another horse.

I immediately recongized that shoulder issue. I went through that with both Dandy and Legs. With both horses it was related to old issues, one the EPM and the other his injury as a youngster. I think once a horse has learned to travel in tha manner, it's a tough thing to fix.

Sounds like you're getting a pretty good response. I imagine that means it's a newer issue and not one that's had a chance to get very established. That's really a good thing.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Lisa-I would love to oblige...but I don't know anything about ground. I just go, ride in it and decide what it feels like and run accordingly. If I'm not the first barrel racer, I just watch a few girls to see how their horses are handling it and go from there. The NBHA girls are frantic about good ground. Rodeos are getting better, but basically you have to run in whatever conditions come your way. Remember when I went to that rodeo in SD and there was standing soupy water and Moon refused to run in it? LOL...That was funny.

MiKael-I think Moon's propensity to travel that way is a bit from his natural tendency to be a front-end horse. His mother was weird about her shoulders too. I always chalked that up to my using her as a guinea pig to learn how to do all that stuff. Moon is so much like her though that maybe it wasn't all my jacked up learning how-to's? LOL

Kristen said...

glad you're getting some riding time in, I haven't ridden in a month! We've just been so busy I can't get away from the kids long enough to go ride. :( I start my new job this Monday so who knows when I'll get to ride again! And of course spring has officially sprung so it's wet as could be! So what kind of sale barn is this? A livestock one? Cause watch out, you might just add to your equine stock! :)

Angie said...

LOL.. isn't it funny how our minds race w/ ideas and then when we get to the table the thoughts are gone.. I have the same problem.. lots of ideas of what I want to do with Tia or around the house but when I get home somehow it doesn't happen :)

Callie said...

Honestly, I hear ya, been thinking about a second part-time job myself, Not sure if I can handle it though.....Kudos to you! And I have to tell ya, a sale barn would be a dangerous place for me too, LOL! glad there's not one close enough to me to even visit.....Steve would kill me!

Leah Fry said...

I hear you about the extra money. I just don't have the energy to drag my sorry self to a second job. Sometimes I battle staying awake on my drive home from my full-time job.

Crystal said...

Hmm would be kinda nice into having a weekend job. the extra money would be nice!