I can't believe it is this coming Saturday. It has been almost 5 weeks since our last sort and Summer's last contact with cattle. I hope she is mentally ready for this Saturday. My game plan is to get up there early again (even tho they are talking more rain) and just do what I did last month. Just hang out, ride a bit, tie her to the trailer with a hay bag in front of her and just let her chill before the sorting starts. That really seemed to do the trick last month as she was very relaxed and her game face was on.
If her game face is on this month, I will be more aggressive this time. I really wished I had been more aggressive last month as I really think we would have done even better than we did. But my nerves got in the way as I was afraid to mess up and bust.
I plan on doing 5 runs again and hope to get the partners that ran with me last month, Robin, Anthony and Allison, and do 2 draws again. I want to do some penning, but really would like to just get Summer moving thru 30 head of nervous cattle before I possibly waste my money and others money before I actually sign up to compete. I need to see what 30 cows will do to Summer's mind first. She may take it like a champ or say "forget you, I'm outta here!". You just don't want to waste others time if your horse isn't going to do well at it. I mean, it took several months before Summer's nervousness settled down in the sorting pens. But with my determination and aggressive riding in the pens, she has really learned to just do it and trust me. My instructor was impressed at how responsive Summer is to me. And I am always humbled by his compliments to me and Summer as he is a very good competitor. I believe her "inner cow horse" has really come out to shine.
My last two blogs were borrowed from a web site that I found and those tips REALLY helped me and I hope they help others as well.
Watch the blank and have a blessed week...
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