The Long Lost Babies

So is everyone sick to death of hearing about Moon? LOL...I gotta story to tell about that dork...(for those of you who are not with me on facebook)...

But today it was all about a few of the others.

I had to put off doing much with the youngsters this summer because I simply did not have the time.

Well now I am going to have the time and school is about to commence. I thought I would start with a spa day. The kids were looking a little raggity.

There's Shooter...Poor ugly Shooter...

All this time I have held back expressing the disappointment I have felt because Shooter sure didn't show ANY inclination that he was going to have barrel horse potential. Everything about him just screamed 'show horse' to me...and he sure didn't have any desire to go anywhere fast. These last couple of months I have watched him transform...he's starting to figure out he can r.u.n....and he is liking it. I have absolutely no idea if he has the same kind of speed Moon has...but when I think about it...Moon was 8 or 9 before I even had an inclining he had any speed. So I am not giving up on the possibility that Shooter will eventually mature and be just as good as his big brother. :D

Then there is the lovely Miss Beretta...

Need I say more?

Oh, I should probably mention the fact that her hind leg has straightened out and she is completely sound. Miss B will be going to the performance pen and I can't wait. She's actually my favorite.

And then there is 'little' Guns...

The dork would not stand at the trailer, so I could get a good picture of him. It's time to split him and Beretta up...he is way too attached to his big sister. Gunner isn't mine. He's Megan's, but she ditched the horses again, so I am just going to get him riding and take him back to South Dakota. He's only a 2y/o, so if he gets a couple of years to hang out at the ranch and Megan still isn't into horses, I will probably bring him back and do something with him. It would be a total shame to let such a nice colt go to waste.

And then there is Moon's other brother...

 The tubby, little sorrel isn't as tubby as he was before. I still have a long ways to go to have him in really good shape, but he is riding like a little dream. We have been to some barrel racings, down the road and out to the desert. Nothing really seems to phase him. Bugs is another one I didn't really see as becoming a barrel horse...but I sure don't mind eating my words. Just because it's what I do...I started patterning him on the barrels. LOL...He can't even lope a proper circle...but in 3 sessions the little stinker picked up on the barrel pattern and will lope to, rate down to a trot, circle the barrel properly and head to the next barrel...pretty much on his own. Sooooo...guess who is staying this winter instead of going back to South Dakota?

I have GOT to stop liking these horses so much. It's hard to slim down the numbers when you like everything you have. :-/

I figured something out about why Bugs is so goofy about his head and why he is prone to pulling back. As he has been losing weight, I started to notice that his carotid artery was very thick and lumpy. I started doing the massage techniques I learned from RuckusButt on him, as well as some stretching/bending exercises I watched Ed Wright do to a very head-shy horse that was at the last clinic and within a couple of weeks I noticed a tremendous difference. No more head-shyness and no more pulling back. I am still doing all of that stuff to him every.single.day...sometimes 2-3 times a day and am seeing continued improvement. His carotid artery is not nearly as thick and definitely not as lumpy as it was before. Interesting huh?

Oh...I gotta show you guys what L and I saw on our desert ride today...

Do you see it?...

Here ya go...

A baby horny toad!!!

It was soooo stinking cute. I tried to put my finger down so you could see how tiny he was...but he took off. He was only about an inch and a half long and about as big around as a quarter. We actually saw several of them over our hour long ride. First time I have ever seen any out there.