Halloween!!

Yeah it's Halloween and I still get to go out trick or treating...well for canned goods for our school! :)

I'll post pics. later!! I was a cowgirl. Go figure.

Hay

Let the horses out to graze. I have to be very cautious now to just keep them in the back cause dad fertilized the front...so I'm keeping a very close eye on them.

Played with Dixie in the roundpen. She had a couple RB moments in the circling game. Got a good look at her baby teeth again. Did some backing by the tail, sideways, yo yo, maintain gate on the circle and then it was time to get hay.

Bought 24 bales of hay...and we put them in the trailer...haha So much for having a four horse trailer now.

Just a Stroll

Didn't get much other than a walk with the horses today..was super chilly. I was all bundled up! Dad walked Cocoa and I took Dixie and I was joking that we should have Lucy for mom to walk...haha They didn't go for that. The horses were happy to be out and about. They got a little aggravated with each other I noticed, when I got home from school Dixie had battle scars and Cocoa looked like she had mussed up hair. Ugg. They were a tad bit crabby I noticed too just in general. The weather must be taking a toll on them too.

Dixie was a fiesty snotty little bugger tonight but still super cute. I had her practice giving some more kisses. Then mom and I brought her in the barn and with a flashlight and all took a good look at her teeth. I'm pretty sure she's gonna lose them soon.

Had Dixie stand on the pedestal, she's getting the hang of it now. Then I just scratched Cocoa and Dixie too but forgot to watch out for her bites so she was none to happy about that. Whoops!

4-H Party

I can't believe I'm actually saying this...today Oct. 26, 2008 it snowed here in MN. Not just a couple flakes either it snowed for awhile and was windy on top of that. It was CHILLY!

I woke up late since I was up late babysitting. I headed over to Michelle's to borrow a belt buckle for my Halloween costume! We went out to see the horses and Colby got shocked by the electric fence and then kicked the board and down it went. So..we let him out with Ace and Victory. Ace luckily wasn't trying to kill him and let him go under the overhand! Yah!

So...I didn't do much with my horses. Just a quick grooming and gave them a lot of hay to keep them warm and the bellies full.

Then we headed to the 4-H Halloween party to set up. I was a cowgirl, spurs, belt buckle and all!! lol :) Even bobbed for apples..we had to do it all inside because of the icky weather that wasn't cooperating.

Riding All Day!

Beautiful day!! Wow! I woke up at like 9:30 and it was just gorgeous outside and I had to go for a ride at 10 am! I scooted out and had to get Cocoa all ready. I decided to go in the Wintec instead of bareback. Cocoa and I headed over and met Karin and Vic and then we headed out. Ace and Victory did really good with being seperated, we were expecting Ace to throw a tantrum. Karin and I went out on our ride and the horses were feeling great. Vic was tossing his head and full of himself just like when I rode him last week with Liz! Cocoa was peppy and just raring to go. She did some really nice slow canters and collected trots. Not too much to note on the ride. It went great, saw one hunter, the horses had a blast going up and down all the hills, and we were out till about 12:20. So it was a good ride! Victory was pretty sweated up but Cocoa was even sweaty at all!! That's my girl!

Then I let Cocoa and Dixie eat in the yard. Anna came over for a bit and we planned when we were going to ride to Amanda's. Cocoa had to go out yet another time!

I hopped on Cocoa bareback and we ponied Dixie with us and went to meet Anna, Pip, and Daisy. We didn't let the horses get too close since Pip and Daisy haven't officially met Dixie yet. Headed over and chilled with Amanda and Matt and then headed out on a short trail ride. Dixie was really chugging along slowly on the paved road and Cocoa was again raring to go... :) Not tired a bit! We went past a spooky ghost decoration and my horses didn't even blink an eye..Dixie hardly noticed it was there! lol Then we headed down the hill to the trail. When we were at the bottom Dixie just stopped. Just stopped out of the blue....and stood there. It took Cocoa and I backing up a couple times before she was just like "ohh...you mean you want me to walk." lol And then she continued on. Silly girl. She was a little pokey for most of the ride I'm not sure why, Pip and Daisy were behind us so maybe she was just trying to keep and eye on what they were doing but I thought she would be bouncing off the walls since I haven't got to play with her in a couple of days. Stopped to eat some grass...swampy grass. I trotted and cantered the horses which they did BEAUTIFULLY! :) Right beside each other...side by side! They were being very well behaved even though I've never actually ponied Dixie with other horses. We parted with Anna, Pip, and Daisy and Cocoa was doing her Lion Roar...literally! She does sound like a lion and she roars...not girly at all. She was calling to Pip and Daisy and totally disregarded Dixie. So I used that energy to my advantage...she did an amazing slow very uppity collected sideways trotting! :) It was beautiful and felt amazing. Then we did some very collected trotting and I swear she could have almost had a piaffe. All the while Dixie just followed us with not a care in the world at a slow walk. Then we cantered and trotted down a sand 'driveway' and Cocoa was off her RB energy moment.

They got to eat some more grass...and then I hopped from Cocoa to Dixie! Dixie didn't even blink and eye. I ponied Cocoa from Dixie!!! It was so diff. going from Cocoa to Dixie. Cocoa looked tiny when I looked down from Dixers. And Dixers has SO much topline and Cocoa is lacking...so I can just feel the muscle underneath..it's so cool. So we went like that for a ways did some walk, stop and a couple strides of the trot and then I got off and walked them the rest of the way home. I was so impressed with my girls.

Undemanding Time

A little chilly out, I didn't have too much time, and it was dark so I brought both of the horses in the barn. I put Cocoa in her stall and just had Dixie roam the little area since the pickup was in. Fed them their grain and then I started to just mess around with Dixie a bit. I did some backing up and sideways. We didn't have very much room to work with but she was very light. Then I did some practice with the Porquipine Game and following a feel. She did lead by the lip and lowers her head wonderfully. Then I did some desentitizing with her mouth. I put one finger and she chews and chews then finally stops and I take it out...and we keep doing that till I can get a couple in. I took a look at her baby teeth again today...I think they are going to fall out. :0 We'll see! Then I introduced the bridle to her...because she was curious. I had been just refreshing Cocoa on bridling..Cocoa totally was good about it, she still grabs and takes the bit all by herself. Dixie got a good lick out of it but didn't know what else to think of it. :) Then for the fun of it I semi- taught her how to kiss. I would blow in her nose and she would wiggle her little lip at me..She got the hang of it!

Then I just groomed them both and they were both begging for my attention. :)

Wet Wednesday!

It won't stop raining here. Just as soon as everything starts to dry it rains again and the pastures get all mucky AGAIN! So the corral and pasture is a mess....and speaking of mess. The horses are sopping wet and Dixie looks as though she rolled in a mud puddle. Wouldn't surprise me at all! I didn't do much of anything with the horses. Just let them eat grass all day while it rained when I got home.

Went over and watched PARELLI on RFD-TV! :) It was so good today!

Then later I went over and visited Jess. She just got surgery so we put in a little Parelli and watched that for a bit and just chilled.

Got home and gave the horses some more hay and their grain and that was about it.

Tuesday Twos!

Took both of the munchkins out tonight!

First I let them eat in the yard then I brought Cocoa in the barn. Trimmed both front hooves and then just spent some undemanding time and grooming.
Saddled up and pulled Dixie away from the grass and headed out. It was already pretty late so we weren't able to go too terribly far away. Just headed down the back road and did some trotting. Dixie didn't want to go any faster on the gravel road...I could see she was a little 'ouchy' with her flat footedness on the hard gravel. Headed down a very treey deer path..It literally wasn't much of a trail. We had a do a lot of ducking and little detours and came out covered in pine needles. Dixie cantered sanely beside us up a hill...I was impressed. She was ride in time with Cocoa and stopped when we did. Just followed the trail..Dixie had to go behind us for most of it because the trail wasn't very wide. We made it to 233 and cantered down a really long sandy driveway..it was too tempting to resist. The neighbors mini donkey and Paint ran along their fenceling beside us! haha That was cool!

Then farther down I let Dixie go and sniff noses with all the geldings. DJ thought she was cool but I told him he was too old for Dixie! haha And he's supposed to be Cocoa's boyfriend anyways...lol

Took a little detour home...and cantered (Dixie more like galloped) up a huge hill. She was having a little too much fun! After everyone calmed down we proceeded home! I stopped at the mail box and was able to grab the mail! Pony Express is back!

Monday

Back to school unforchantely.

I rode Cocoa through the shortcut to Jess's. She did AH-MAZING! I was so estatic. So I had just had the horses eating in the pasture and I pulled Cocoa straight from there to the roundpen to play around a little bit. She was keyed up and I had her cutting me..and throughly enjoying our little roundpen playday. She was able to canter a whole lap around the roundpen in the deep sand. Her back still looked a little tense but she didn't appear to be in any pain...So we did some very entergetic change of direction at the canter. Figure 8's at Liberty. Serpentine's off the fence. Then something she hasn't done in a long time...she usually only does this when there are no fences...but she did it in the roundpen today. Cantered right beside me in small circles! Then we just did some mirroring and Stick to me. Since all I had out there was the 22 ft. I did some playing with the flank rope. We did some circling game with it..she struggled a little at first and then picked up on it, we haven't done that task in a while. Did some backing with it and then after that I let her eat in the yard and then snatched her for our ride.

So we went through the shortcut..I was just bareback..and we cantered about the whole thing through all the low branches and trees...it was a little tricky but fun! Then we headed to the opening and did some lovely vertical flexion at the trot. I could feel her rounding her back!!! Then I was able to ask for a very slow rocking horse canter. Now that was fun.

I let her gallop up the hills rest of the way..and then we met Jess and Roxy. Let them eat a little clover and took the horses for a walk. Roxy and Cocoa were so happy to see each other again! It was so cute. We walked them down the road and on the trails. When we got to the horse camp..Cocoa went up to one of the 'curb' parking spots for trailers and while I wasn't paying any attention put one hoof up on it and was just staring at me like 'Look what I did!!' lol It was hilarious. So I had her get both feet up..she looked so proud!

Walked them the rest of the way on the trails and then back to Jess's. Cocoa and I had to scoot to make it home before dark...I always have a tendency to be out riding too late...just ask anyone! We did make it home in time and then I groomed Cocoa and fed the ponies.

Oh..and I almost forgot..I played with Dixie too. We did some traveling circling game and then some falling leaf pattern. After that I played with her in the roundpen. We just did some of the games basically and the Figure 8 pattern. Then like what I did with Cocoa...I used the 22 ft. line as a flank rope and had her back up by it and did some Zone 3 driving. She picked up backing by the flank rope so quickly. After that we practiced change of direction online some days she gets it and others she's a little stubborn/defiant about changing so we'll keep playing with that.

Joan's!

Hung out up at Joan's today with Joan, Mattie, Tyrone, Storm, Cloud, and little Gabbers! It was SO good to see them all again. The horses are all doing great and are happy! Got to help Joan with barn chores again..just like good 'ole times sake. :)

Came home and we took Mattie for walk. I had some major pasture cleaning to do when I got home for my own horses. They made a mess while I was gone...go figure! :) They were so hyper when I got home and I let them out to eat some more.

Then hauled some hay over for the neighbor and then finally got to head out for a snappy ride before it got too dark.

I rode Cocoa just bareback and then Dixie tagged along with us. We didn't get time to go too far but we did a lot of walking and stopping transitions, backing up together side by side, and trotting. They seemed to enjoy themselves, especially when we stopped for a little snack of grass. Got home and groomed them, let them clean up some hay in the barn, then fed them for the night and got everything ready for tomorrow...ugg SCHOOL! yikes, that's going to come early.

More Riding!

Went out riding with Liz today! We were out for a couple hours, I took Vic and she rode Michelle's Ace. They were definitely feeling good and spunky because of the cool weather! Liz was so much fun to hang out with and we had a fantastic ride. Victory even got a little gallop in and a few happy bucks! haha He was feeling really good. :)

Then in the evening I let the horses out in the yard to graze around a bit. Played with Dixie in the yard just a little bit and then hopped on Cocoa and we were off to Anna's. Cocoa did wonderful. I just went bareback cause I knew it was going to have to be a short but sweet ride. Went over the bridge....and there was A LOT of traffic..and big motorhomes and motorcycles. Cocoa did great with all that though. We took the warm up trail and did transitions the whole way. I had her on a lose rein the whole trail and then for the rest we did stop, walk, trot, and canter off just my seat. She was being very light and responsive. We headed a little farther and got a good gallop in and saw were they were logging. Headed back and did some vertical flexion, sidepassed around election signs in the ditch, and then finally made it to Anna's. I put Cocoa in with Pip and Daisy and went in to eat. When we came out all three of them were eating from the hay rack! We were both surprised that they were all getting along so well..they haven't seen each other in a while. Cocoa and I headed back in the dark...not enough time on our hands apparently. But we made it home just fine with no problems. After the horses were all fed Joan came to pick me up to go to her house. The end.

A Break from School!

MEA BREAK!

Haven't accomplished much with the horses yet. Everyone went to ND and I'm chilling with the horses. Stayed with Jess and Anna. Scrapbooked today! And now I'm heading out to play with my ponies! Finally!

Energy UP!

I got home from school and immediately let the horses out in the big grass pasture to eat! I could see they were pumped up. They go galloping down to it..and I in my school clothes and fancy white sandel shoes grab the carrot stick and run out there too!

I took Dixie's energy and used...I had her galloping all over the pasture and then running up and down the other paddock then coming back for her next task! After I had Dixie following me around and was satisfied she ran around enough I let her eat and went on to Cocoa.

Cocoa was PUMPED UP! I LOVE it when she's like that. She puts on her Arab face and arches her neck and streams her Arab tail behind her like a banner! She looks just lovely. I had her galloping to me, cutting, and rearing up! It was a blast.

With my shoes almost falling off I walked to the apple tree and picked them an apple and that was the end of that short but sweet Liberty playtime!

Dixie's Day - PICTURES

So..I finally did get mom to come out to get some footage before my baby is all grown up. I played with Dixie in the front yard for a tish. She had a couple of RB moments but for the most part she just wanted to eat grass. Did some trotting sideways, circling, and driving which was all mediocre.

She then stood proudly on her stump/pedestal. Got both feet up there...she offered!

Finally we went to the weedy pasture and just ran around. She really had her adrenaline up, and got RB for a couple moments. So I ran around with her till she got over that! She then mauled the barrel and then we proceeded to jump the single barrel which she struggled with a little bit tonight. Then went from that to totally blowing me away when she went sideways over the barrel from both directions. She did SO great with that! I would tell her at Phase 1 and 2 pretty much..and I would tell her to go sideways and then have her stop..and then continue over it..she really sensitive to my energy up and downs. Even did sideways over the barrel towards ME!

I had her paw the tree....that was hilarious. She totally understands it.

Finally did some backing by the tail, sideways, backing by hocks, recaps.

Then...dun dun dun! Big thing for the night! I was so thrilled!! :) I got her to go sideways from Zone 4/5 ish going to and away..It's definitely still shaky but she offered it and we'll definitely be playing with that concept. This was the WOW moment!

Went to the roundpen...did a little liberty. Not much to note...she was a little distracted with hunters, gunshots, and Cocoa. Which you can hear all of in the video! haha

Later...I brought her in the barn and groomed her up...or attempted too atleast. It rained earlier in the day when I was at school so I didn't get to take Cocoa out riding cause she was soaked. So Dixie doesn't look quite her best in the pics. and video but oh well.

Pictures Pending?

Well I'm heading back out to the munchkins. I think they had enough time free roaming and grazing the yard since I got home from school! I'm going to attempt to convince mom that YES I do need more pics. of the horses...haha :) The thousands I have aren't enough...and who cares if I'm 3 years behind scrapbooking because of it...so if I play my cards right, I might have some new pics. of Dixers up..that is if the computer cooperates too! :) We'll see!

Surprise Ride!

It rained yesterday morning but after I showed Michelle and Jerry how to take care of the horses while we're gone this weekend the sun finally started to shine! And boy was it hot and muggy then.

The little piglets got to eat in the grass the whole time so I put them in and let there bellies rest a little before I proceeded to take Dixie out. I brought her out in the the big pasture and I just had her on the 12 ft. line. We did a little bit of the Traveling Circling game. Then went on to the one obstacle other than trees out there right now, the barrel. So she jumped it and pawed it and all that good stuff. I tried a while back to get Dixie to go sideways over it and she has been slowly but SURELY getting better at it. Well today went great! I barely had to go to Phase 2 and she just was like "You mean do this?!" and sidways'ed herself over it with no hesitation! So I was like "Ok..that's great!! Now let's try the other side!" And Walhla! She did that with no problem either! I was so proud. Then we went on to the trees...which she loves to rub her head on then paw and paw and paw. It's so cute to watch her. Finally we just did some sideways with out a fence, some really fast sideways towards (She absolutely LOVES this!) and then just running around like lunies! :) Dixie got a kick out of this. At first we just did when I trot you trot, when I canter you canter beside me...but then we ran all up and down the hill and through all the tall weeds. She was bucking and kicking and having a good 'ole time!

Finally after some playtime we headed out down the gravel road for a walk. Cocoa wasn't necessarily pleased to be left behind but I told her it was Dixie's turn. Not much...just some Zone 3 driving...along the way. Found a goofy looking stump which Dixie pawed the crap out of and then to my surprise put one foot up and then the second!! She was standing up on it and it was like a 1 and 1/2 tall! She wasn't as graceful getting down...

We got to a car parking spot and I thought..."Mmm..perfect for mounting." Dixie lined her self up beside it and I hopped on. :) She didn't do anything so we proceeded to walk on and then after a little bit turned towards home. Now...it's such a good feeling to ride her! She has so much muscle and a really nice topline compared to Cocoa! I can't wait to see what she looks like when she's all grown up. Dixie has a long stride even though she toes out which is kinda a goofy feeling at the walk. So we just headed down the gravel road and Dixie acting like a seasoned trail horse not a 2 year old that has just been ridden a couple times. She turned great and we even had pickups passing us. She kept checking in and wanted to do lateral flexion and we did a lot of stop and backups. Then I got ambitious and was like I wonder how she would do if I asked her to trot...I've only trotted her once when my friend Katie hopped on Cocoa when we were coming back from the river and then I hopped on Dixie...and Dixie trotted to catch up. Well Dixie listens like a dream and immediately breaks into a trot. We trotted for about 10 strides and then I asked her to stop and she broke into a walk and then stopped and we backed up! Her trot was Ah-mazing, very controlled and smooth. Which surprised me the first time she trotted because she toes out...so I thought her trot would be rough but it was wonderful! So much easier to sit than Cocoa's, that's for sure. At that point I got off and then let her eat grass from the ditch! I was so proud of my baby! Walked the rest of the way home and she got a nice juicy apple I picked from the tree.

Out Riding

On Saturday morning I didn't necessarily wake up early and go out with the horses after homecoming like I would have liked.... :) I was tired!

But by afternoon I had Cocoa all saddled up and ready to go, Dixie played with, and we were off! (I played with Dixers in the round pen and she was hilarious! We just did some review...Figure 8 around the barrels, backing by tail, sideways towards. She had one RB moment during the circling game when I asked for a change of direction. She got bracy and was pulling backwards so I just drifted with her and then when she stopped licked and chewed I asked her to circle again and then change of direction went just fine! I put part of an apple on the barrel when we were playing 'Put your nose on it' and boy was she surprised when she found it! Then we moved on and played with a little liberty! I'm so proud of my baby...she figures things out SO fast. Just did a little 'Stick to me', backing, and 'Follow a feel'. Dixie totally gets 'Stick to me' she even pays more attention to the most subtle things I do than Cocoa does! I'll put one foot back and she'll put the same one..That about summed up our session..I let her go eat in the yard with Cocoa and then we headed out!)

Dixie is still having a hard time walking on the gravel road...she has flat feet like Chy did but not quite as extreme as when Chy first came to my house. So having Cocoa who loves to walk super fast and Dixie who is straggling behind makes it somewhat hard to pony! Cocoa is doing great though with finding a gait within a gait and that there is diff. speeds of the walk! We're getting a lot of vertical flexion in one these rides and that is great for her. Dixie just plugs along but for the most part stays right beside us.. I was just going to go down to the Tree Grove and have them graze but it was crawling with hunters so we just went and hit the trails. It took a little of reminding before Dixie remembered to stay on her side of the trail but once she got it we were able to canter a little bit! :)

We were out from like 12:30 to 4:30! Poor Dixie was pooped! We ran into two other riders and horses on the trails. One, ironically was the lady, Karen who I'm doing the painting of her horse for her! So we rode with them a little bit on the way home then continued our seperate ways. Dixie got to the point where we got to one hill and she just took a look at it and went 'no way' and Cocoa and I had to rest with her before we continued on our merry way! Stopped at Jess's and visited Cocoa's best bud Roxy. Then finally made it home. The horses rolled and took a long nap after that ride. It was SO much fun! Getting Cocoa and Dixie in shape at the same time!

Dewormer

Dewormed the horses today - Ivermectin


Still trying to do some research and get them on a herbal dewormer instead of chemical....

Wow!

Time has flown since I updated this! I have a lot to say about the past few weekends but no time to sit down and do the events justice...so that is why I've been putting it all off! I'm hoping to get new pics. loaded in if the computer decides to cooperate!!