My fascinating herd...

For the first time, I've put all 6 horses out together. I've been keeping the 2 geldings separated - keeping 1 in the stall/large run while the other is with the mares and for the most part, Cowboy's had to be the one in lock-down. After all, he's only been here about 2 weeks. These are, for all intensive purposes, Gemini's mares.

Well, yesterday, Cowboy had a 2nd day with the mares while Gemini had to watch. I hate to do it, but I'm trying to be safe as possible and also try to get to a point where all the horses can find there place in a herd together. That seemed to go ok. This morning, no one had a bite mark or a worry. However, there was obviously lots of feet moving outside of the run where Gemini spent the night. The snow is majorly shuffled in that area. Nina seems a little defensive with Cowboy and she's staying pretty close to Abby. Which is very interesting.

So, I decided to let Gemini out and see what would happen. It was amazing and it went like this...

Gemini immediately went to roll. After 12-16 hours in a run, he needed to ROLL! As I stood there, my two mares Rain and Zarah trotted over to me and hung with me. They DO NOT like Cowboy. They both are offended by his very presence. They've obviously been buddying up. When Gemini was let out, they followed him around a bit but what was very interesting was that Nina and Abby followed Cowboy. Do I have 2 bands?

Gemini trotted around with some energy and Z stayed by his side like a faithful soldier. Rain followed him a little, with only a little energy, and then she did an amazing thing. She stopped, turned back to me and stood and stared at me. It was as if she was saying, "Aren't you coming?". Then, I just stood there and waited and about 2 mins later, she came trotting back to me from a whole pasture away!! She left the herd and came enthusiastically back to me! When Z took notice of what she was doing, she followed suit. When Gemini realized his mares were leaving, he jumped on the bandwagon and then all 3 were trotting back to me! Wow.

Cowboy stayed way out there and so did Nina and Abby. He slowly came back from across the pasture and his mares slowly followed him. I'm going to try to sit out there and watch more of the herd behavior after a couple of my work conference calls. I'm fascinated. The good news is that it seems there's little physical unrest - no biting, kicking, rearing. There's definitely antics, but it seems to be harmless at this point.

What a cool display of herd behavior. I love watching and learning about them and how they think and work.

My trail horse is back...

Today, I decided to get back on Z and ride. I'd given her a couple days off with all the filming we were doing before the year ended. We were really focused and working hard and I think she even looks a little thin today. Anyway, I asked D if he'd ride with me and he said "yes"! Funny, is that all I had to do was ask?

So, I trimmed a couple hooves, tacked up my 2 mares and off we went. D was pretty smiley the whole time. We had fun. It was windy today, but the air was warm. Rain was, of course, a great horse for my boy. Z was too! Z and I hit a rough patch over the past couple weeks where trail riding was very worrisome for her. I've just kept at it and today, finally, my trail horse was back. She was calm, easy and wonderful. I'm convinced that she's a RBI/RBE. She has some left brained tendencies, but innately she's RB. That's why I'm constantly rebuilding her trust in me. I'm learning a ton with that mare.

When we got back from a fairly quick ride, D went back to the tv and I took Z into the arena. We worked on bridleless riding at the walk and trot in the figure 8. I'm having amazing success with looking up to the sky for my turns and I can really feel how my body position changes when I exaggerate movement like that. I also have a great bridleless stop developing with Z. A couple more sessions and I want to take it up to the canter and get my bridleless canter riding going. Focusing my eyes up and out is making a huge difference.

Today was probably the end of the nice weather for the holiday break and soon I'll be back to the grind (blech!). I've had a great break and developed quite a bit with my horses.

I love my life.

Hidden Mesa for New Years Day

I was sooo tired... stayed out way too late for New Years Eve (3am). However, the weather was amazing and Kendall was game for some trail time. So, about 1pm I convinced Steve and Delaney to meet us at the trail and bike ride/run while Kendall and I rode horses at Hidden Mesa. So, about 1:45pm, off we went. One of my boarders decided to load up and head off with us.

I rode Cowboy - figured it was time to start seeing what he had to offer on the trail. He was actually quite awesome. I wasn't sure in the beginning how he was going to behave. He hasn't been on the trail in many months and I expected a little nervousness and worry. We started out down the trail and he was a little tense, but nothing extraordinary. I made sure that I was thinking and breathing to give him the best comfort from the saddle that I could. It's always a little tough on a greener horse or a horse that's been off work for many months. However, after about a half mile, he pulled it all together and settled into things.

Kendall wanted to do some trotting about a mile in, so we started to move out a little. He did really well! I spent about 1/2 mile doing trot-walk transitions and his down transition got better and better. He has a good amount of brace built-in from his past and I'll have to make that one of my focus areas. He doesn't give to the pressure of the bit very well when he has a better idea. I don't want to get into a single tug-of-war with him but it's really tough when you're on the trail!! He's learned to drop and eat grass when he's so inclined, and this is probably his biggest brace area. I have no concerns that we'll get it solved and quickly. He's a quick study.

We cantered some on the top of the mesa and he was feeling good. The footing was slippery at times and I wasn't sure, but it felt like he wanted to kick out or buck at this one point. He never did it any other time and it's possible that he was just losing his footing. Anyway, it was nothing so I didn't make a big deal out of it. I also was very wary of letting him be in a good position to kick Rain or Abby. I either stayed behind or asked Kendall and Krissy to stay far enough back to protect their horses. I just need time to learn to trust him and figure out what makes him tick. I want to keep everyone as safe as possible.

As we were coming back down, Kendall started to complain of being cold and I think it turned out to be too long of a ride for her after our late New Years Eve night. We had a late start and I wanted to head back to the trailer quickly to be sure it didn't get too much colder. Kendall wanted to be led and she didn't want to be ponied. So, lucky me, I hopped off and led Rain and Cowboy. For part of it, Kendall walked and for part she rode Rain. I ended up walking about 2 miles. It's ok, I just love to be out there with my horses in the great Colorado terrain and fresh air. It was just fine to me.

We made it back before it got dark (barely). It was a great ride with no incidents and Cowboy gave me a reason to think he's a fantastic horse and I made the decision that he's my next L3 horse. Krissy and Gemini might work out fine and they might not, but I'll focus a little more Cowboy moving forward. I'm excited about the possibilities.

There were some emails floating around a couple of the horse email groups I subscribe to about New Years Day. The idea is that whatever you want to focus on doing throughout the new year, you should make a point of doing on New Years Day. So, for horse people, you ride on New Years Day. People all over the country were chiming in about where they'd be riding on New Years Day. It didn't occur to me until I was half way through the trail ride. It was just natural that on a day off from work, I'd figure out a way to be on a horse and out on the trail. I love my life.