Montana Snapshots

Here are a few photos from Montana...check out the previous blog for the full story!

Me and Randy

Out on the trail with Ranger

Trotting, trotting, trotting...

Keepin' those feet movin'

Moving the shoulder and front legs

Riding in National Forest land

This was what I woke up to on Tuesday morning...it continued to snow all day, but was gone by Wed. afternoon

Sunrise on Saturday as I was leaving the ranch...Heaven on Earth!

Old homestead cabin on the road to the ranch...picture-perfect Montana

View from my arena apartment

Montana sunrise from my front porch

Tuesday evening after the snow

The arena, barn, and apartment...my home away from home

Really, I traveled east but I had the ultimate American West experience

Blog Rewind

As promised, I am going back in time to catch up on things that have been going on since March. When I left off, I was in the process of deciding between a few colt starting clinics and clinicians/trainers to whom I could take Bailey and get help with getting her really going under saddle. I will spare everyone the details of my worrisome 2 week debate on who to go to and all the whys, hows, pros, and cons of each option. I will just say that after giving it MUCH thought I chose Randy Rieman of Montana. After speaking with him a few times on the phone and, as in my case, much prayer, I felt he was the right man for the job...and let me add, that it was apparent during my week with him, that God's hand was definitely in the whole thing. For more info. on Randy and his amazing place in Montana check out his website about Pioneer Mountain Ranch.

I headed to Montana in mid-April to spend a week with Randy working with Bailey. I also took Ranger so during Bailey's down-time, I could be working on other areas of my horsemanship. Little did I know this one week would equal the trip of a lifetime...though I do plan on returning to Pioneer Mountain Ranch as soon as I can. :)

To give you a little background...I first saw Randy, over a year ago, on RFD-TV in an episode of Aaron Ralston's "The Ride". It was actually about colt-starting, lucky me. I wrote his name down and didn't think twice about it until I came across it in March when I began looking for help with Bailey. Randy's resume is impressive, having worked for 9+ years on the famous Parker Ranch in Hawaii starting all their colts. This guy knows colt starting. He also worked closely, for many years, with Joe Wolter and Bryan Neubert, who are in my opinion, two of the best, if not THE best, colt starters in the world. If you haven't seen their video "The First Week"-GET IT! Anyhow, Randy is one of the best. What impressed me more than his qualifications was Randy, himself. He is supremely honest, has a genuine desire to help people be successful with their horses, is a great teacher and outstanding horseman, loves the horse, is one of the most humble people I have ever met, and loves God. He also has an amazing wife, Kim, who is one of the most interesting and lovable people I have ever encountered. I was instantly in awe of them and will forever cherish my time with them.

On to the horse stuff...Randy rode Bailey for the first time at the ranch, as I was still a bit unconfident about riding a hardly started, full-of-herself filly. She did great and I ended up riding her for my first time at the ranch on our third day. She was never worried about me being on her back in the slightest. Randy talked me through every detail...saddling her, warming her up/checking her out before getting on, getting her soft while "lunging", getting her attention, etc. Then, while mounted, we worked on holding her attention by keeping things interesting, keeping her feet moving (mainly trotting), flexion, moving her hip, moving her shoulders and front feet, and backing. We did a lot more, but I won't bore you with a bunch of long lists. By the time the week was up I felt comfortable saddling her up, getting on and going somewhere. I knew where to go from where we were at. My homework was to take what we had learned and advance it....getting things better and better with each ride.

While at the ranch, I also rode Ranger, working on softening him up, as he is often bull-headed and pushy, probably from his years as a camp trail horse. He likes to try to to pull the reins out of your hand and push on the bit, sticking his nose out. He will also dart downward and pull you out of position so he can get a bite of grass. By the end of week, he definitely had a different outlook as did I. One of my favorite activities of the week, and something that has long been on my "bucket list", was getting to ride Ranger out on the ranch and into the adjacent National Forest area. Now I can check "riding my horse in the mountains of Montana" off my list. The scenery on our rides (3 to be exact) was unbelievable! I did not want to leave, but when Saturday rolled around I was back on the road headed home. I loved Montana and I loved my time with the horses and Randy. I hope the photos in the following blog show you a little bit of what I experienced while at Pioneer Mtn. Ranch. I wanted to put all the photos together to make it easier for uploading, arranging, and viewing. It was a blessing to go and I hope to return soon. A big thanks goes out to my wonderful hubby for being so supportive of my going on this adventure. I can't wait to take him with me on the next Montana excursion!

A Great Day

I know I haven't blogged in a really long time, but I am going to fast forward to yesterday and then I promise I will go back in time after today to get the blog up to speed. I have so much to share...so much has happened since March!! I am just so excited to share another big first that happened with Bailey.

Yesterday was gorgeous and the hubby had the day off, so we decided to make the most of it. We went property shopping, fly fishing, and rode the horses. I took Bailey for lessons with a natural horsemanship trainer in the area last week and I loved it. So, we are progressing by leaps and bounds every day now. Our big first of yesterday was riding by ourselves out of the arena and in the big pasture for the very first time! She acted like she had been doing it every day of her life. We trotted all around and she totally relaxed the entire time. We are still working on going in a straight line and, at times, in the general direction I want to go in, but overall she is doing great for only having about 20-30 rides on her. Here is a video and a couple of photos from our ride. More coming soon!!

How do you know its Spring?

You can go by the writing on your wall calendar that states today is the first day of spring. You can go by the scheduling of your kids' spring break from school. You can even go by the physical change in the weather or the time change springing forward. I choose to listen to my animals. When the horses start shedding out their winter coats and stretching their legs a little more and being playful after a cold winter, its spring. I also know its spring when the big yellow ball comes out of hibernation. The horses were reintroduced to the big yellow ball again over the weekend. I love watching how they interact with the ball based on their different personalities. Bailey, of course, loves the ball. She thinks it is her best friend and pushes it all around the pasture, bites it, and basically won't let it out of her sight. Its even better for her if it is touching her in some way even as she quits playing with it and begins grazing. She will not let it wander too far from her. Ranger acts apathetic about it. He is only remotely interested in it. He will walk up to it, smell it, and then push it away from him. Then, he goes right back to grazing and could care less about playing with it. I think its just a front. I think he is really interested in playing with it, but he can't really boss it around like he can boss around the other horses. It just doesn't respond the same and he's a sucker for the response (the "yes, sir, you are the boss" response). Scout is the complete opposite of Bailey. She is totally left-brained, confident...for all you Natural Horsemen/women. Scout is right-brained and unconfident about new things. He has played with it before, but at my request and because I am the leader. Of his own accord, he will walk up to and think very deeply about touching it with his nose. He stands at just the right distance away...so that he has to stretch his neck out as far as he can and be able to barely touch it. In the video I took of him with the ball, he does just this. He is very cautious and what I love about the video is that it shows his ears. Throughout the process of just touching the ball, his ears are twirling every which way, checking out his surroundings, and verifying that it is safe to touch the scary, big, yellow thing in front of him. At least now, he is curious about it. Several years ago, he may well have left the planet if a big, yellow horse-eating thing was in his pasture. I can't wait to ride and play with the ball. That's next on the list for this great spring weather we are having. So glad its Spring!

A Birthday to Celebrate

I almost neglected to blog about this, but I am slowly getting around to catching up on everything so here goes.  13 years ago on Feb. 28 my sweet Scout was born.  Time sure does fly.  I can't believe I have been his human now for almost 7 years!  We sure have come a very long way together and I couldn't imagine life without him.  Gee, sounds like he is my first-born or something...well, most of the time it really does feel like that.  My horses are my children and Scout is my first true horse-love.  He has been the greatest teacher, therapist, and friend a gal could ask for and I hope to have many more years with him as my equine partner.  Anyone who knows me can attest to my attachment to this horse.  In a few days we are going to the vet to have a large lump on the left side of Scout's rump checked out.  I have to admit, I am secretly a bit terrified that it will turn out to be something horrific like cancer.  I know that I am probably just getting myself all worked up and it will end up being nothing, but I think I always subconsciously try to prepare myself for the worst when the future is unknown.  It is usually fleeting, but since I couldn't get him to the vet right away the fleeting worry keeps coming back around.  Send some positive thoughts our way, we sure could use 'em.  I will try my best to remember to blog about the results of our vet trip.  On to more cheerful things...A belated Happy Birthday Scout!  You are truly one in a million!

 Scout at 13

 Scout and I in the beginning (Scout at age 7)

Thank Goodness for Horses and Horse Husbands

I love how horses are so photogenic...always.  I got a new camera lens and have been taking advantage of both it and the amazing weather we have been having.  I have captured some neat candid shots of my kids just being themselves.  Also, I have to give credit to my husband.  For without him...There would be no horses.  There would be no new camera lens.  There would be no great riding partner on sunny February days.  There would be no one to take photos of me with my kids.  There would be no clinics, trucks, or trailers.  There would be no, "You're doing great, babe."  There would be no help unloading 300 bales of hay.  There would be no one to feed while I am gone.  There would be "no" a lot of things.  The support (and often times hard work) of a great horse husband is unparalelled, unconditional and undeserved.  C'mon gals...you know what I'm talking about.  Hooray for horse husbands and thank you especially, Lord, for mine.

 

My Horse Hubby...gettin' ready for a ride 

 

Bailey...just started working with her again now that winter is in on its way out...love the trot! (taken with the old lens)

  

Scout after a good ride 

  

 

  

  

Sweet boy 

  

Full of sass

 

Oh, Yawn...

Have you ever had that one horse that just doesn't really know he/she can't play with you like you are a horse?  Well, I have one of those.  Miss Bailey is desperate to play these days.  The boys don't really want to play with a "kid" and none of them are that crazy about running around the pasture anyway as they have already learned about slippery ice and snow....saw Bailey do a nice sliding stop a while back.  Lately, Bailey will see me head out to the barn from the house and be at the gate in a jiffy.  When I get there she consistently, more like every time, greets me with a playful low nicker, what I have come to recognize as her "I want to play with you" nicker.  This would be all well and good except that she truly hasn't learned that she could hurt me if she were to really play with me like she plays with her brothers.  I have to take my carrot stick out in the pasture with me or chance being run into, kicked at, squealed at, dive bombed, and nipped.  Now, I am not complaining...I love that she is so playful as I know it will pay off down the road.  I consider it somewhat of an honor that she would consider me to be another horse! :)  I would never do anything to truly break her of it, but she still has to learn where my boundaries are and that I am the leader.  Aw, but she is still so cute.  So, I started trying to teach her these things are not ok.  Of course, I chose a nice, warmer, crystal clear, sunny day to start and she was, of course, on her "worst" behavior being more playful than usual.  Things were going well at first.  She always has to be in the middle of things and is definitely an attention seeker.  She loves humans!...and dogs. :)  We were loving on the other horses and she came over and nudged her way into the mix until she was the center of our attention.  As the hubby tried rubbing her, she went to nip and we made her back up until she went freely without pushing back on me (aka: "Backing Cures Biting...always works, just not immediately).  She offered a couple of good rears and a whole lotta attitude, but I think she finally got the idea...the following photos show the aftermath and proof that backing really does cure biting and also causes extreme exhaustion. :)

 

yawn...

  

yawn...

  

yawn again...

  

big yawn..

 

and....another