Tuesday, February 22, 2011

It's been a month since I posted last...


The last month has been pretty good.

We Texans lived through one of the coldest few days in 15 years. Lots of freezing rain, ice, sleet, snow...you name it, we got it. But after that, the next week was in the 70's. Go figure. Gotta love this Texas weather.


I have started riding my barn owner's little Arab mare, Harper again. (that is her in the winter pic above) She is doing good, but just needs a lot of miles. I started riding her because Summer had a corneal ulcer and couldn't be ridden for awhile. So I have become a little attached to her. She has a little attitude which is kinda funny. She tries to bully but she is slowly realizing that I am not the kind that is bullied by horses. One thing I can say, she is smart as whip.

I took her to sorting practice this past Sunday. She will be 10 years old in about April or so. Never been near a cow and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. She is an aggressive mare towards other horses and other kinds of animals. (She is only 14hh so I think she has little horse syndrome lol) Tracey watched as she chased a squirrel out of her pen. So with that news, I was hoping she would do the same with cows. She was a bit hesitant about going to get her cow, but once we were on one, she laid those ears flat back and she was off. She even unseated me a bit by lunging at a cow.

We did 4 runs and her owner came to watch as we did the best of the 4 so I was pretty happy about that. Barb (Harper's owner) talked to James (my instructor who is also a horse trainer) and he told her things he wanted in a horse before he took them on to train. So Barb and I are going to start Harper's ground work and get her ready. If she really takes to this, I am sure Summer will be happy for the break away from cows.

Summer and I competed in the February SWTPA and didn't place. I did 7 runs with her this past Saturday. Once it was all said and done, James told me to slow my brain down. In other words, I was going too fast for Summer's comfort level. Summer doesn't like to move into the herd too fast and I was putting to much pressure on her. All of the busts and what-not were not my fault, but there were a couple that I put too much pressure on my partner while they were in the hole.

I did have one short run in the 3 sort, but my partner couldn't keep them out of the hole cause they were coming from both sides. And on another plus note, I did run in the 8 mix twice. Once with James. He had 5 runs in that class and if I'm not mistaken, I was the only one of his runs that didn't bust. We only got 3 head tho, and it took 5 to go back. Oh well, I was a bit nervous as that was the first time he and I have competed together. I can't wait for our next lesson. Maybe I can learn to ssslllooowww down for Summer's sake. LOL

But in the end, I had fun. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about anyway? Because if it isn't fun, what's the point.

TTFN!

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