Riding Pens

It rained 7/10s last night and the arena was a gigantic mud hole! We did some ground work and a little concentrated training south of the feedlot in the horse pasture and then rode through the pens.
Bear seems to really look at cattle and takes an interest in whatever particular one that I sort out. He doesn't mind them running around or running beside or behind him; as feedlot bunches sometimes do. I haven't had a steer come up and nose his tail yet, so we'll see.

We got in some first calf heifers earlier in the week that'd gotten into the neighbors and I was pleased with this gelding's willingness to work. The heifers were feeling pretty good and Bear just kept at it. It had been a heck of a long ride before that too, rode through all of the sandhills, but he did fine.

Checking cattle at the Prairie Pearl Ranch

We went down to the Prairie Pearl on Wednesday, checked the cattle and gave Bear the opportunity to experience some new things!
As you can tell, we haven't had any rain and it's looking like the dead of winter on the south west end of the ranch.
Bear got to climb up and down rocky canyons, check out big ol' scary mossy rocks, go over tons of big logs and go down into scary, narrow and deep creeks.

Bear's fifth ride

Rode a long ride out of the arena today and I think it did great things for Bear's mind. I can't imagine what it must be like to run wild and then be put into a 50' x50' pen. He has been doing well in the arena, but yesterday I felt like he wanted to stall-out all of the time in the canter. So today, out we went!
I started out with about 10 minutes of ground work; backing, yielding hindquarters and forequarters, and trot, pivot, turn, and then went for a ride with a friend on Cimarron.
We probably walked a half a mile before I asked him for the trot. He did great! Did tons of small turns and bending, yield the hindquarters and forequarters through and plenty of walk to trot and trot to walk transitions. After about three miles, I asked for the canter. He moved out without hesitation and settled into the canter quite nicely. We loped for probably 15 minutes or so and it did wonders for both of us! He has a real nice, smooth trot and lope and is easy riding.

Once again Gabby didn't disappoint for spook-proofing my mustang! The irrigation water had filled the bar-ditches and she romped and played with incredible gusto. Bear would look her way but that was about it. He didn't even seem to mind her running RIGHT up behind him and then zooming by. He simply laid the one ear back and kind of followed her with it. What a nice horse!
We also rode over our first obstacles today! The irrigation pipe was crossing the road and was set up on a tie block so it was approximately 2-2 1/2 foot high. Bear smelled it and then walked over it like he'd done it a million times! He wasn't the least bit afraid of the water gushing out of the end of the pipe into the ditch either. I think he wanted to get in!

All in all, it was a great ride and the perfect way to spend a July 4! Now it's off to work and a long night of, I hope, nothing serious!

Bear's First Ride!

Training is coming along quite well. Bear handled his first saddling without any problems and ponied like a pro.
We ponied a couple of days and, the first day, were in the round pen for a few minutes and then out in the arena; yeilding forequarters, hindquarters and trotting and loping out. Day before yesterday, Cimarron and I ponied Bear out in the pasture and by the feedlot. He has such a can-do attitude! I love it. We rode through some tall kochias; he is a little afraid of going into tall weeds, and up and down the tall banks of an old pond and over tons of fallen trees. I'm curious where he came from. Rocks, hills, bushes, what?

He certainly had plenty of desensitizing to something running up behind, to the side and UNDER him! My golden retriever is such a good helper! Ha! She is a crazy, crazy dog but will definitely break a horse in to spook factors! After the first couple of charges, Bear simply took Cimarron's lead and looked her way, "Oh. Just Gabby". He seems real interested in the feedlot cattle so I think it might be a possibility to do some cow work on him...we'll see!
Here we are yesterday, on the fourteenth day of training and Bear's first ride! With lots of groundwork behind us, the day went wonderfully. He still has that, "Okay. What next?" willingness and is just a joy to train. The walk, trot, canter and small turns were done without a hitch. He has a smooth trot and canter. I was wondering about that, because he looked so long- backed and tall when I first got him. He's starting to fill out a little and maybe he's not as long as I thought. He is tall, though, and feels EXCEPTIONALLY tall when I get on from the off side! Ha! I weight taped him last night and he is approximately 886# and 15.2 hh

Can't wait for today' training! Maybe next week I'll ride him at the ranch in Pritchett.

Extreme Mustang Makeover!

Welcome to your new home, Bear!

Around 6pm we got home from Pauls Valley, Oklahoma where we had picked up my BLM mustang for the Extreme Mustang Makeover! #4473 loaded in the trailer like a champ. About an hour into the trip, we made our first stop for a soda and Bear was chomping on the hay I had for him and looked up with a mouthful, as if to say, "Okay. What next?" Every rest-stop he was quiet and he even stepped toward me in the trailer and smelled my arm! The trip was long, but un-eventful.

He explored his new corral but was very wary of the shelter and never went near that side of the pen. I stood quietly in his pen for about twenty minutes and he came up to me several times to smell and would then walk on by. I could hardly wait for today to come and his training to begin!

Wow! What a great day it's been! I figured that he might be a quiet horse, because he was pretty quiet loading at the facility, but I have been amazed at how willing he has been today. We did well round penning and I was able to get a hand on him after a short time. He has been petted all over, except the hind legs, rubbed down with fly spray, is yielding his hindquarters and leading out six steps in both directions.

I just got back in a few minutes ago from walking up to him at his feeder and petting him down his face so, hopefully, tomorrow it won't take long to get a line on him and review.

Road to the Horse!

We had a real nice day today and I got in a lot of riding! Pretty has been coming along quite nicely.
We had an opportunity for practicing standing-still while the rider mounts last week. Education is a wonderful thing! I'm not certain why she wanted to move around; she has been very quiet with mounting since the very first time I stepped up in the stirrup, but, last Wednesday and Thursday she felt the need to walk a few steps forward while I was moving toward the stirrup. Make the wrong things difficult and the right things easy... We had the opportunity to review yielding the hindquarters, several methods of backing and a little bit of C-pattern on the ground and she found that she did remember how to stand quietly with mounting and dismounting!
This week she is back to her wonderful self and has been very attentive and soft. We did some arena review; yielding hindquarters to bending, backing up, transitions up and down, and stop-on-whoa. After about an hour of arena work, we took a leisurely ride through the first calf heifers and their babies to check for sicks. I think she could be a real good cowhorse if the new owner ever had the inclination!
We went to Road to the Horse over the weekend in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. WOW! What a ride! It very definitely could have gone a couple of ways, but I am very glad that Chris Cox won, he has a way with horses and that's all there is to it...Tommy Garland's methods were very interesting and I was thrilled to watch him work. I have always had an inclination to do an endurance race on an Arabian athlete, but have never had the opportunity. I haven't even ever been around Arabian horses...so it was fun to watch him. -and then there was Mike Kevil. I still think that he is a damn good cowboy. I got the opportunity to talk with him and told him that I was glad he entered up. I have always admired his colt starting abilities. After he established some respect with his colt, they did quite well. -and he has a terrific sense of humor! If you haven't ever gone, you should go.