That's more like it

I guess the saying "ask and you shall receive" applied here. We now have 70 degrees, HUMID and rain. Here are some pictures:

I'm dreamin' of a wet Christmas...

...Just like the one's I used to know...

I live in Central Texas. You know, cactus, scorpions, tumbleweeds and super hot. Except that right now it's below 30 degrees and today it did not get above 35.

(and the horse related stuff) Yesterday when I got home from work, the wind was blowing and the temp was around 30 and felt like 20!! I decided that my central Texas horse needed her horse blankie. I went to put it on her and she kept walking away. My kid had a band concert to perform in so I let Koda go without the blanket. We went to the concert and it started raining. Umm, rain in less than 30 degree weather = ice. When we got home, I gathered the halter (used my brain this time) and blanket. Koda had a layer of ice in her mane and on her tail. Poor thing was cold. She doesn't normally stand in the run-in shed, but there she was. I hope she doesn't get sick from me putting the blanket on her while her coat was wet.

I don't remember having it this cold before Christmas before. It usually doesn't happen until at least February.

(Oh the picture is from April, 2007 - Our rottie, Tama.)

Another Sunday

I did not ride at the church today. Our church had team sorting practice. It was interesting. For those who don't know: They have 2 round pens set up together and 10 numbered cattle. The object is to get the 1 calf selected by the judge into the other round pen by itself. This is difficult because the cattle run together or try to slip past the "gate" horse. There are 2 riders. One to cut the calf from the group, the other to block the other pen from the incorrect cattle. I enjoyed watching the teams and was surprised to see that one of the best riders was a girl about 6 or 7 years old.

I did not want to take Koda to the church for this because of the number of children running around. I don't like that I can't control her at the church. She kind of goes berserk when there are other horses at the church. So after we left the church ground, I decided to ride at the house. Now remember that Koda also tries to run away with me when I turn back to come home. (These are the 2 main vices that I find in Koda - reasons I don't let my kid ride the horse.) I live on the corner of a dirt road and a highway. I rode Koda down the dirt road just past the end of our property, then turned her back to the house. I had to keep her on the rocky part of the road to remind her to go semi-slow, but she didn't run off with me. When we got to the house, I past it and went south on the highway to the end of our property and turned around. Then I went north to the other neighbor's house and turned around. I walked back torward the house, and turned her around again. I am trying to stop her from running home so I kept taking her past it to keep her guessing.

I had a good ride and had very little trouble with her. Next week is my Kid's 4-H riding club meeting. We go so I can ride. The kid doesn't ride so much since her last horse wreck.

Thanksgiving Rides

One of my best friends came up on Tuesday before Thanksgiving to take my daughter to Oklahoma. Her youngest daughter got SICK (yuck) during the night so instead of Oklahoma, they hung out at our house until little girl felt better then went home. The older daughter and I went for a ride on our horses. We have ridden together before. She has a paint gelding that she has trained (She's 15 and amazing) to be a true western pleasure horse. Then of course there's my Arab speed walker/crazy mare. My kid was going to go on the old mare that we used to have that came to visit us for the day. She managed to find her out when the stirrup broke.

So the older girl and I left the house down the dirt road. We crossed a wooden bridge and about in the middle of the bridge, a bird flew out from under the bridge. My horse went about a foot sideways before settling down again. We decided to go to a friend's house that is just past the end of my road on the local highway. Between my road and the friends house, we found a lonely horse we thought was going to jump the fence to be with us, so we crossed to the other side of the hwy and continued on. Well, the friend was not home and it was time for my husband to start home so we turned around to head back.

The problems started. My mare already walks fast. On the way home she wants to run. She also forgets to listen to my "whoa" and "easy" commands. I have to one-reign stop her to get her to stop. I asked my riding partner if we could go a different route home to confuse the mare, and she agreed. This route goes all the way to the end of the local highway to a major highway. The major highway has half the road shut down for construction and would be safe to ride on. So here we go. We trot/walk to the dirt road turn off, with me getting off her back before she turns stupid. Then, she struggles for a while to figure out what I mean by not going home. I get back on the girl and she still wants to run out of my stops. We went for about a mile before I found a pasture to teach her that I really mean for her to stop. At the end of the pasture, there was a horse and very vocal dog. We skipped back to the other side of the higway only to find 2 more horses. Here's where my horse acts right and the gelding turns stupid. He forgot that he's NOT a stud. She had to remind him and then we were off again. There weren't any more crazy incidences, just silly, after that.

We got on the new section of the main highway and continued to head home. My horse all the while is looking at those orange barrels like they might attack her. There was a pile of asphalt rock left on the side of the road that was also very menacing. Both horses walked past it with their eye focused completely on that pile.

Of course for most of the trip, my speed walker was in front. I would stop her and wait for the other horse to catch up, then continue. On the highway, I actually turned her around, went behind the other horse and looped back. Both horses thought the world was going to end because the gelding was in front.

All in all, a 3 hour ride that was very exciting, fun, and educational.

I did not ride this Sunday, due to the need to get the prodigal daughter.

Weekly rides

I have been trying to figure out a way to get more riding in without making my husband sit around for an hour doing nothing. Our church solved the problem for me. The church has an arena. That was the first thing they built after raising the tent. I have used the arena a couple of times but feel weird going by myself or making my husband go. So today at church, the pastor announced that at 1 pm on Sundays, there would be guitar lessons. My husband plays the guitar some but wants to learn more. I want time to ride my horse there. Voila, I now have 1 hour horse ride built in every week. I rode around and around the arena, around barrels, in and out of the roping setup (you know, where the horses wait for the cattle to be released).

My pastor informed me from the pulpit that I needed to spend more time on my horse. When your pastor says to do something (as long as it's not against God's Word) you do it. Thanks Pastor Terry. :)

You know that saying "Grass is always greener..."

Our new baby is testing the theory. He is finding any possible way that he can use to get out of the pasture. Today, my husband came home and found him outside the fence. He put him back. I got home a little later and he was out again. I stopped on the road and called him to me but he didn't come. All he did was stand still and "Baaaaaaah" He had apparently decided that he wanted back in the fence but got stuck. I wish I had gotten pictures.

The riding

It's really weird. I completely enjoy myself most of the time when I ride my young mare. (That's not weird.) The weird part comes when it's time to ride her by myself. I get really nervous and worried that she'll freak out or that I won't be able to control her or something. I guess it doesn't help that I have occasional bad days with her.

Here's what's happened lately. I took her to our church playday. I could not ride her because she was so keyed up. She seems to have a combination of Buddy-sourness, group shyness, and being spoiled. So during the playday, I tied her to the trailer and she managed to rear up and break the lead rope. She ended up being fine and relaxing completely when I tied her to the trailer next to the other mare.

She also freaks now when I try to load her in the trailer. I think it has something to do with the fact that we carry her and the 4-wheeler in the trailer at the same time sometimes. So trailering her to the playday already had her nervous.

Any way. I finally had to submit to the financial crisis and remove a large part of my horse fee every month. I hated to do that. Our 30 yr old mare went home to her real owners. Thankfully, I think they are going to use her to give riding lessons. That eases my mind some. The problem is that she only gets her nutrients from senior feed. That gets expensive when you are having to cut unnecessary costs.

Now, my poor mare, Takoda, now is the only horse on our property. She's not alone though. She has 2 goats to keep her company. But here I am chasing rabbits and forgot the original point of the post.

Back to the weird stuff.

So I took Koda to the 4-H riding club meeting yesterday and tied her in the arena there. The leader had 4 horses there that were penned up just outside the arena. Koda stayed relaxed and calm the whole time she was tied up and then lunged perfectly and rode perfectly. We did turns, rollbacks, walking, and trotting. When it was time to go home, I rode her out of the arena, through a ditch and up a hill. We then went back down the hill, through that ditch again and then through another ditch. When we went through the second ditch, she found a natural, deeper water channel. That made her a little nervous. She went through it though. I really enjoyed the time I spent on her. I love riding.

So, again, why do I avoid riding when I enjoy it so much the times I do ride?

We have a new member at our ranch. I mentioned him earlier. His name is Bryan and he is a Nubien/Boer cross. He is 5 months old and has two jobs - become a daddy, and entertain our indoor-bound kid. (I say "indoor-bound", because the kid can't seem to find the out-of-doors) :)