It's Always Interesting

The road trip between Western CO and SD is always interesting. It was 'summer' weather when I left home.

Still winter in the mountains...


And I got the joy of driving right into a typical Eastern CO/NE spring storm. Hail...

Complete with funnel clouds and everything.

We survived. The pickup only ended up with one hail ping and the trailer escaped unscathed. Thank goodness.

Thanks to the weather, the trip took extra time and I had some tired ponies when I reached mom's place.

Everyone recovered just fine though and Strawberry was being such a little freak about the mares that were in heat, we promptly hauled him out and dumped his butt in the pasture.

Beretta really liked hanging out under mom's barn...

I may have waffled back and forth about whether I liked this little girl a bit over the winter, but I sure don't have any major complaints about her now...

Actually the only think I hope changes on her is her rather big jaw. If she grows into that rather than it continuing to grow with her, she is going to be stunning. The rest of her suits me just fine!

This yahoo remembered immediately that inside this barn is where he got grained...

He really, really wanted back in. Cause ya know, grandma is always good for some grain...LOL.

Sorry bub...your grain days are over for a while. It's grandma's lushious, magical grass for you.

So he decided to go get acquainted with his new running buddy instead...

I'm going to miss my babies, but it is so, so wonderful for them to get to spend the summer living out in big country. I know mom will take wonderful care of them too.

One day is all I got to spend though. I had to turn around and head back to CO.

Ooohhhh did the wind ever blow those two days. Gahhhhh!

I waited it out until sunset and headed out. I don't mind driving at night and when it gets hot, I actually think the horses travel better then. I drove until I couldn't anymore, pulled off for a couple hours snooze in the trailer and got back on the road.

The sunrise was beautiful...

Although I couldn't quite get it in the photo-LOL. It's kinda hard to drive and get those photos just right. ;-)

I didn't make much headway hauling horses back to SD though. My intention was to get Strawberry and the two youngsters out of my way and pick up another horse to get seasoned on barrels.

I ended up bringing a motley crue back to Colorado with me though.

Mighty Mouse, the pony came...

I'm kind of hoping the guy who boarded my horses over the winter will take The Mouse for his grand-daughter. Mouse really needs another kid to love and spoil him. But more than anything, he needs a full-time farrier to keep his little hooves trimmed down. Mom tried to get a couple of different people to come trim him in between my trips home and couldn't, so I have some work ahead of me to get his toes back to right.

At the last minute, I decided I had better bring Gunner with me too...

So much for getting rid of babies right?

Gunner is gentle, but he is not broke to lead, nor good about having his feet handled. Meg and I will get that remedied in no time, so I can get this guy's toes whipped into shape as well. Gunner's legs straightened up, but his toes are long and he has a difficult time standing straight. His legs are much like Beretta's were, without the lumpy joint issue. We will have him fixed up in no time though as all he really needs is trimmed and balanced a couple of times and he will be right as rain.

Finally, there is the horse I had intended to bring back...

Turk...In all his straight out of the pasture glory...LOL.

Normally, I don't especially like to have to drive all the way home and not have time to actually get anything done...lord knows there is a ka-jillion things that need to be done...

But My Honey and I had other plans for this Memorial Day weekend...

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Now, I have some rest to catch up on....

There's A Lot Involved

It seems I have started the topic of conditioning a competitive barrel horse...A LOT....

I just never seem to get very far with it...as far as the blog is concerned anyway.

I haven't gotten as far with Moon as I think I need to yet either.

Darn life keeps getting in the way...the kid in school, cleaning and trying to keep the weeds from taking over the new place, the Honey Man is working...ALL THE TIME (bless his heart), Eight head of other horses to take care of too...

Well, you guys all know how it is.

But as soon as I get home from delivering the babies and poor, outgrown Strawberry back to the ranch in SD, picked up yet another project horse and the pony and I am ready to get completely focused on getting Moon into tip-top shape.

He's not in bad shape now though.

At least I have been able to stay fairly regular with him.

The thing is, riding is really only part of the equation when it comes to keeping a horse in top-notch shape.

The other things that take just as much time include;

Working out the best feed program-In Moon's case this includes spending the night in the pasture getting his belly full of green grass, the day in his pen with multiple flakes of green grass hay and his grain. Right now he is on whole oats. I am probably going to switch him to steamed, crimped or rolled oats. He gets a gallon a day-split into 2 feedings. His supplements include-Lamphley's Basic Mineral, 2 scoops of MSM per feeding, 1/2 c Apple Cider Vinegar. I am looking to add some fat to his diet, but have not settled on exactly what...Rice Bran? Flax? Corn Oil?

Performance horses need fat in their diet. Actually, most horses need the addition of fat to their diet vs. protein/carbohydrates. It does tremendous things for their stamina and their disposition/nerves.

Stretching-At least once a day, but preferably twice a day I need to put Moon through a full round of stretching exercises.

Grooming-Becomes more like a full body massage vs. just cleaning the daily dirt off.

Hydrotherapy-It is important to at the very least thoroughly groom the sweat off after each ride, but it is better if Moon can be rinsed with cool water and a brace to assist in cooling his muscles down quickly. I also spend time running cold water over his knees, stifles and hocks. Every other day or every third day, I thoroughly massage Lamphley's External Rub into his stifles and hocks.

Not everyone in the herd gets the full extent of that treatment, but as each horse progresses towards being competitive, the level of commitment to keeping them happy, sound and not sore increases. The riding part...that's the easy part-LOL.

See ya'll in a few days!

Where To Look

Since Breathe asked, I figured explaining where to look might be more effective in a post.

The simplest way to explain it, is to simply say, you need to look where you want your horse to go. Just like any other discipline. The most effective way to get your horse to travel from point A to point B is to simply look at point B. It's amazing how effective a person's body becomes at getting a horse into position to travel that distance in the proper frame.

There are two styles of 'The Look' in barrel racing.

The first and probably the most recognized is the old classic style, where the rider runs to the barrel looking between their horse's ears at the rate spot on the pocket. When they get there, it's usually one more stride for the horse to be around the back side of the barrel(when they are all out running), then the rider turns their head and looks at the next barrel.

Like this...

The second style of 'The Look' is more directed at keeping your eyes focused on specific points in front of the horse as he turns the barrel.

Like this...


Either style is effective and correct, but it does depend on the horse you are running. If the style you use is not bringing the horse around the way he needs to be coming, then you need to look into doing something different.

I have seen more than one horse blow completely out of a barrel, the rider is looking at the next barrel and it is very difficult to get your horse back on track.

My problem however, is that I am very good about picking my rate spot, getting my horse there and then rather than using either of the appropriate looking methods, I am simply letting my eyes slide down my horse's neck and fixating them on the top of the barrel.

Similar to this...


Can you see how different this horse is turning the barrel vs. the horse in the first two pictures?

He's dropping his shoulder and bracing into the barrel. The other two horses are bending around the barrel.

It's a bad habit to get into and one that can be a bit difficult to get out of.

A horse will go where your eyes are telling them to go and with me looking down at the barrel, Moon, being the uber broke horse he is, is like 'You want me to roll over more? Okay!' and he is cutting back on top of the barrel. The ducking and diving between the barrels is happening because Moon is cutting to close to the barrel. I have become literally fixated on the top of that barrel and I'm still looking at it as Moon is trying to leave. He has no idea of where to go.

Bad Mommy!!!

A more forgiving or solid horse may not react as much as Moon is to the problem, but this particular horse can go from 0 to 60 in a single stride and simply drop back to 0 in mid-stride. It's one of the things that makes him remarkable. But it does make him difficult, as it gives me little room for error.

Personally, I am more of a fan of the way Charmayne James and Ed & Martha Wright train themselves to look at specific points in front of the horse during the turn, rather than the sideways look, especially during slower than competition speed practice. But it does take more practice to get it right. Rather than try to re-explain it, here is an article written by Charmayne that shows her Axis Point pattern and her philosophy....The Eyes Have It.

Enjoy!