Nice, quiet evening with my Summer and getting ready for the DTC.

Well, since the darkness comes at 6pm now, not much riding gets done during the week. I could ride around the barnyard, but I love the trails better. And with the early darkness, I get a little lazy and just want to go home and veg with my family. So...instead of riding or vegging with the family, I ground work Summer in our lit round pen. Doing some exertions of speed to help with her wind. As that is what we do in the sorting pens when we are hauling butt after a calf. She pants worse than most of the stock horses and it seems it takes her longer to stop panting. So, we need to work on that at home. Once we are done in the round pen she goes on the hot walker to cool down. While she is doing that, I am cleaning her pen and feeding all the ponies on "pony row". That is where Summer, Amira and Gypsy live as there are more ponies on the lane than there are regular sized horses.

After I put Summer back in her pen, she got a nice grooming. The full treatment. A brushing with all three different brushes, hard, medium and soft. Then a mane and tail brushing. A face brushing. Hooves picked. And a spraying with Mosquito Halt. She didn't know what to think that I didn't saddle her up for a ride after that grooming. I need to do that every night. I did that with Fawtal and we had a much closer bond than Summer and I do. Summer and I are a good team (or so I'm told), but we are not close like Fawtal and I were. Maybe it is a gender thing as he was a gelding and she is a mare. Who knows. But I do know that grooming is good bonding time with your horse, so I will be doing it much more often and without expecting her to work afterwards every time.

Last night after our routine that I have started as stated above. I got my cart out that I am taking to the Driven Trail Challenge this weekend and washed it. Tonight it gets a new coat of paint so by Friday it will be good and dry for me to load into my SUV.

I think this might be the one big thing I am getting tired of the most about doing any type of competitive trail anything. The packing of the truck and trailer, and the trying to not forget anything. That is the most time consuming and racking of the brain thing that there is. Meaning, probably more stressful than the actual competition its self! LOL At least for me.

But this weekend will be fun. Seeing folks I haven't seen for months and trying something new and praying that it works so we can have more of them.

God has yet to bless me with another great weekend.

What can I say but thank you Lord.

The weather was just too absolutely beautiful Friday to stay at work. So I asked my co-worker Sharri and my Sergeant if I could just take off the rest of the day and that is where my blessings began!

I left work at 1pm, went home, changed into fun clothes and headed to the barn where Tracey already was. She was off this day too. So I did my chores, we saddled up and went for a very lovely ride. The sun was shining, the temps were perfect and the horses were good. What a great way to start the weekend.

Friday night I had a hard time falling asleep. I had a sorting lesson with my instructor on Saturday with my friend Robin. I was excited and nervous as I realized Friday, Summer was in her monthly season (if you know what I mean). And during that time she usually seems extra spooky. I think I fell asleep about midnight.

Well, I woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning. Yuck! Of course when I woke, my mind started working and there was no shutting it off.

Got to the barn about 8am. Did chores (again). Got the freshness out of Summer in the round pen. And she was feeling her oats. Running, bucking, snorting.

We got to James' at about 10:30am. And started our lesson at about 11am.

Summer is getting more and more relaxed with sorting. She still gets a little nervous about the breaking the herd up, but she is more willing to try. Our lesson lasted about 2 1/2 hours. During one point of the lesson, James pushed the calves from the round pens to his larger arena. He wanted us to practice heading the calves. That was fun! It was sort of like cutting, but on a more distant scale. We weren't right in the calves face like a cutting horse is. Summer was very responsive to me. Again I rode in the S-hackamore with a neoprene cover on it for comfort. She is doing very well in that rig. Then James had me ride another horse of his that is for sale as he has already sold Larkn. I was bummed, but I couldn't find that buried treasure so it wasn't meant to be. But he quoted me a price on this guy that I might be able to do. Gonna ride him this next Friday night to see if we "mesh". Sorrel is not my favorite color, but like I have said before, no good horse is a bad color.

Anyway, back to Summer's lesson. Once I rode the sorrel for a minute, I got back on Summer and we pushed the calves back into the round pens for more sorting work. Robin and James ran several times while I watched, then James and I would run while Robin watched. But the thing that happened that I was REAL proud of Summer for was this; when Robin and James would bust, he would talk to her about what happened and why. While he did this, I would push the calves back into the other pen for their next go around. I really noticed Summer penning her ears snaking her neck at the calves when we were doing this. I wondered, "would she take a nip out of one if I let her get close enough?" So I tried, and she did!!!! Now, that is not allowed in sorting as it is called "roughing up the stock" and can be grounds for DQ. But I was just AMAZED that she is getting so comfortable with them that she did that. I started laughing and told James and Robin what she did. That she must have wanted to see what steak tasted like. LOL

As for our lesson it was GREAT and I can't WAIT for this coming Friday night. James is bringing the sorrel up for me to ride too, but I will be on my Tennessee Walking Cow Pony as well! LOL

Sunday brought ANOTHER beautiful day. My plans were to drive Summer to make sure she is ready for the Driven Trail Challenge at C-Bar next weekend. So I drove her around the barn yard a bit with Tracey riding Amira. Once I knew Summer was relaxed, we headed out on the trails. And she was SOOO good! I gaited her out there and she would come right back down to a lovely relaxed walk when asked. So I think we are ready for next weekend.

This is to be the first Driven Trail Challenge and I SO want to see it succeed. My barn owner is going and so is my friend June. They want it to succeed as well. If it does, we are thinking of holding one at our barn. We have enough mileage to do it and it would just be great fun!

Anyway, that is my blessed, horsey weekend. My "do-it-all" horse, did it all this weekend! LOL

Thanks for reading.

Another great weekend...

Went sorting Friday night...again. Had a good time. We didn't win this time but we didn't bust either, so that was a good thing. We just didn't have the luck of the cow.

I sorted with Robin and a girl named Kim. Robin and I didn't bust on the first go around, but we did bust on our second, we just didn't bust with a cow. Sound odd? Well, as we were switching places, our left knees collided and it hurt like hell. However, I shook it off and went after the calf that she had trouble with. I never thought to look back to make sure she was okay. Mistake. I was bringing about 5 calves around and when Summer and I turned around to face the hole, there was Taz with no Robin. CRAP! I pulled Summer up and a couple of guys were jumping in the pen to back the calves off. Robin was bruised up but not broken. I never thought that our colliding would knock her off as it didn't knock me off. But 20 years of riding compared to 7 months, might make a difference. I felt HORRIBLE! I was so focused on that number 4 calf (see, I even remember which number I was going for!) that I didn't realize that the spectators were hollering at me to stop. Maybe had they hollered my name I would have realized they were talking too me and not just yelling cause they were excited about the action. Heck, they may HAVE hollered my name. Stupid Tunnel Vision! You have to get out of that tunnel vision if you're going to do this sport I guess.

Kim and I finished with 4 head. Robin and one of her other partners finished with 9! I was real happy for her. She has had several wins but is still having some confidence issues. She and I are having a lesson this next Saturday so we can work on our team skills. I want so bad for her and I to have a win together. We practice together and we jackpot together a lot, but just no wins. Our horses are even starting to get along we run so much together! LOL

Robin and I talked for about 30 minutes Saturday morning and all was good. I just told her that I felt bad as Kim's dad wanted me to run with her so he paid for her to run an extra run with me. I told Robin that I felt like I wasted his money. She told me to quite thinking like that. I told her that Kim and I have never run together and we only did 2 practice runs that night. I think we just need more practice runs together and we should be fine if we jackpot again. But, Kim and I didn't bust, so that is a plus.

Summer was real "on" again. She worked REAL good for me. She was working that hole like a experienced Quarter Horse. 3 times, she used her chest to block a calf. I put her chest right on the corner of the hole to block a calf and she totally listened to me and did it without loosing her cool. One of the three times, the calf was going to go through no matter what, it pushed it's way between Summer's chest and the pen and she still didn't loose her composure. That was a win for me. Just her not loosing her cool when a bust was going to happen no matter what we did, even with a calf pushing it's way through the hole. I told Robin that even when you don't actually win $ at the end of the night, you still have to look at the personal wins. And Summer working that hole like she did was personal wins for us.

Saturday morning, about 10ish, found Summer and I on the Trinity Trails in Fort Worth with Tracey and a new friend, Toni James and her beau, Kelley. Tracey got to go as something happened with someone that was to come look at Gypsy that morning. Not sure of the story, but I talked her into going with me as I didn't leave the barn till about 9:20am. So she threw her saddle and Amira in the trailer and was glad she did!

That Toni is a hoot!!!! We had a great ride on good horses. Toni had never ridden there and was pleasantly surprised. I just think it's neat to ride near and around the city. I love regular trail rides, but it's nice to change up the view once in awhile.

We stopped at the little train station in the Trinity Park and the kids had a blast. We let them sit on the horses while parents and grandparents snapped pictures. Once the train was ready to pull out, I made Summer go stand next to the engine as it pulled out, then we started gaiting with it as it moved down the track. She was so good. She left the other three horses to do this and did it willingly! Toni said I looked like a train robber! LOL But the kids and families ate it up. I was glad we could be a part of their day.

After our ride and practicing city type obstacles, we went and had lunch and promised that we would go to places that neither of us had ridden. Tracey has been to more local trails than Toni and I, so she promised to be our guide! LOL And Toni has never been to the Six-O ranch, so I think if the weather holds up, that will be our next destination!

Sunday was chores day. I got all me pens cleaned and I cleaned the bathroom as June is always the one doing that. Tracey had some folks out to look at Gypsy and they fell in love. I let the experianced 8 year old daughter ride Chompers and she just rode him and he behaved like he had been doing this forever. No lead line. She just took him off and rode him around while her mom rode Gyp. Her dad took video and they said they would send Tracey the vid so I could have it too. It was so cute, here is her mom on Gyp and her on Chomps riding down the barn rode. Tracey called them David and Goliath. LOL

After they left, we went to lunch, got back and I harnessed up Summer. The last time I drove Summer she actually scared me. She was a ball of nerves and was NOT good. I had worried that doing the sorting was screwing her up. Barb said no, it was not. She was not an idiot and sorting would not mess her up. So I ground drove her last night and she was good. Tracey helped me hitch her up. I asked Tracey to get her helmet and Summer's lead rope and ride with me. If Summer started to act up again, she could get out and go hook to her halter while I still had the reins. But Summer was her old sweet self and we had a good drive. Tracey had to remind me that even horses can have a bad day and she said like Barb did on that bad day, Summer was just having her bad day. I guess we all deserve to have our bad days every now and then.

Thanks for reading!

Update on equines part two...Hansom Hank.

*********************So good he ought to be in print!*****************

Well, Hank and I had been getting ready for our first driving show. I admit, the closer it got, the more nervous I got. Had I been taking Summer I would have been fine. I know how she reacts to new situations. But Hank...I have never driven him off the property and never driven him in a situation I was about to take him in. On the good side however, it was an Arena Driving Trial, not a Combined Driving Event. You do basically the same things, but in an arena setting. So it is more controlled for green horses and novice drivers.

I had been driving him quite a bit and felt pretty good that he was going to at least not kill us. And I was right. However, there were a couple of times I was very glad I had a helmet on. (smile)

We left Friday morning (July 24th) as it was a one day show in Tyler, TX at the Texas Rose Horse Park http://www.texasrosehorsepark.com/ on July 25th. It is a very lovely place. VERY "fru-fru". You saw no one there with a western saddle on, only English riders.

Once we got there we unloaded and got the ponies comfortable in their stalls. After a brief rest and a look around, we took turns harnessing and hitching up for each other. We got June off and then Barb helped me with Hank. She didn't harness her pony as she is kind of my instructor and wanted to help me. I have to say, Hank was a pretty good boy. There were a lot of things there that were kinda scary to him, but he handled it to my approval. They were going to do the dressage test outside as they thought the indoor arena might not be big enough. But my oh my, that ground was horrid! It was WAY to rough. But, Hank was wonderful. We imagined where the letters were (as they didn't have them out yet) and drove our test. Barb was very proud of us. I told her after we were done, if he didn't place at all, I was very proud of his results just on Friday. He calmed down and respected my reins. After we unharnessed, I helped her harness her pony and off she went.

After everyone tried to drive on the "dressage field", it was determined that it was WAY to rough by everyone. Even folks driving horses and large carriages. The show manager and some other volunteers measured the indoor arena and thankfully it was plenty big enough for the dressage tests.

It was a little hard sleeping Friday night. My mind wouldn't shut off. What is nice about driving shows is, your horse is comfortably stabled in a nice barn and you are housed in a hotel room. So not like what I am used to doing CTRs! LOL

We got up and headed to the farm at about 6:15am. Barb's test was at 8:10am, June's was at 8:30am and mine was at 10:35am. I harness up about 9:30 to warm him and settle him down. At 10am was my safety check on my harness and cart.

At 10:35, we entered the arena. I actually dressed up a bit and was thankful that I was wearing a vest with my sateen shirt. It was hot and I was sweating like crazy! We entered and I drove him around a bit. As we were fixing to pass the judge, she asked me if I was ready, and we started our test. I tell you, I couldn't have been more proud of him. He looked like he had done this a 100 times. He executed every thing I asked. If he was crooked or anything, it was pure driver error. Once we completed our test, all I felt was relief. With dressage, it is like golf, the lower your score, the better. Barb and June always seem to get low to mid 50's. So I was hoping for a 60. I would have been thrilled with that. About 2 hours later, they posted my classes scores. Would you believe, I got a 47.4! OMG! There were 5 ponies in our class and Hank and I came in second! Once again, I cried. We accomplished something neither of us had done before. Now my thoughts were of the obstacle course and the cones course. All I had to do was try and run a clean course. This means, don't knock any of the tennis balls off the barrels or cones.

Once our test was over, I unharnessed Hank and put him up. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt for the next two events. I had about two hours to rest and get a bite to eat.

About 45 minutes before my next event. I was hurried by Barb to tack up and get ready to enter the arena. I knew I had awhile before my turn, but did as I was told because I had never done this before and didn't want to do anything wrong. Well, due to hurrying and tacking up, it seemed to upset Hank. When I started driving him off, he was REALLY acting up. To the point, I couldn't stop him. This actually scared me because he has never acted like this before. He wanted to canter so I did my best to keep him at a trot, but still couldn't stop him. I drove by the barn and hollered to June that I needed Barb, there was something wrong with Hank. When Barb came out to the field we were on, I took him straight to her. She told me that I was tense and to calm down. That he was feeding off of me. I told her that he has never acted like this before. Then she checked his mouth as he used to get his tongue over the bit. Well guess what? His tongue was over the bit. He was trying to get away from the pain. It must have happened when he was fidgeting with me bridling him. Once we corrected the problem, he became my sweet boy again. But during this whole incident, I was so thankful I had my helmet on!

About 25 minutes after this, we entered the arena for our obstacle course. We didn't haul butt, but we ran a clean course. Both June and Barb were eliminated after their obstacle courses. Barb did the wrong course first and June did a letter backwards. So I was relieved when I was told that I was safe.

About 1 and 1/2 hours later was my time up for cones. Barb is a dear friend, but once again, she was trying to rush me to re-harness and hook up. I told her not yet. I told her that I was just as anal as she was about doing my equine things on time, but Hank is not the type of horse that you rush. And I was right. I re-tacked him and hitched him and then just stood in front of his stall and let him watch the action. He was so relaxed. When I saw the person that was ahead of me head for the arena, then I started that way as the cones only take a couple of minutes to do. Well, we ran a clean cones course. I did go over my allotted time by 3 seconds so received a -1.5. But I was okay with that. For every tennis ball you knock off is a -3. I'll take the 1.5 over even a single 3 any day!

The others that scored a higher dressage score than I did, needed to make up for it in the obstacle and cones to try to knock us out of 2nd place. Well, they didn't succeed. Some of them hurried and received several faults compared to my little -1.5. And Hank and I took home a second place ribbon and some great memories!

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Thanks for reading!

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BTW. forgot to mention, no one in my class was eliminated, so I was competing against 5 other large ponies the entire time. Way cool! (big grin!)

Update on my equines...It's been awhile! Chompers...

Let's see...Well, first off, my mini man, Chompers, is officially broke to ride and drive. As a 14 year old stallion, he had never done either. He did his first birthday party pony ride at his previous owners house. Her name is Nancy and her grandson had turned 5 and was having a big party. I offered to bring Chompers for riding and my friend June brought her mini named Jarret for cart rides. The kids had a blast and both ponies were perfect gentlemen. We couldn't have asked for better behaved ponies. After it was over, I had to admit to Nancy that, that was Chompers first time as a riding pony. She said she figured, but knew Chomps had a good temperment and was a good boy. I was real proud of him. Here is a picture of him giving a ride to Rylan.


*****************My mini man being a perfect little gentleman*********

The rest of the following week I spent training him to drive. Near the end, you always need help from second or third parties as you can't do it all by yourself. When it was time to show him the cart, June helped me. He could care less. Barb was our main assisting person, but when we were ready to drive him, she wasn't at the farm. So June and I slipped the shafts in the tug loops and just let him pull it around with me driving from behind the cart and her holding his lead rope. We didn't hook him as if there was an emergency, he would just slip out of the cart.

Once Barb got to the farm, we hitched him up and I ground drove again from behind the cart. We only did this for about 5 minutes and then all agreed it was time! I was so excited! I know Barb and June will let me drive one of their many ponies. But I wanted to drive MY pony! So we headed to the out door arena and I got in the cart. They had two lead ropes on him and they each got on either side of him. Again, in case of an emergency. After we did once around the arena. June took off her lead rope. Barb lengthened her rope and gave me all the control of him. After another time around. We agreed it was time for me to take the controls. She let go and he drove off like he had done it all his life. I admit, I cried. I am not a trainer, but I felt such an accomplishment at teaching another one of my kids to drive. Here is a picture of our first solo drive:

**********************Isn't he just the cutest thing!******************

He is still very green of course. Still has a lot to learn, but hopefully next year, he will be ready for his first show.

B-B-Q and trail ride 06-14-09

This past Sunday we had a cookout and a trail ride. It was kind of a last minute thing, but turned out real well. One of the other boarders at our barn had invited a few of his friends from his other barn and I think some from his riding club, so we had a pretty good turn out. I was especially happy to see Summer's sister Shelby show up with her new owner. They took her in and tied her in the covered arena. So I took Summer in the barn and Shelby's ears perked up and it was so cute to watch them nuzzle, then I almost caught the cutest picture ever when Shelby licked Summer muzzle. The picture shows Shelby's tongue going back in her mouth after giving her sister a kiss. Summer and Shelby have the same daddy.

Another boarder named June just thinks Shelby is the cat's meow and has always called her Miss. Licks cause all she does is lick. And here is a pic of June visiting her and Shelby licking the fence right before she started licking June's hand for peppermints.

After June got done visiting, I went up to her and she reached over the fence and licked my face like she remembered who I was. AAAWWWW....

After we all visited and ate hot dogs with all the fixin's, we mounted up and took out for the ride. I guess there were about 10 riders or so and it went pretty well. Even the Appy that didn't want to cross the Honey Hole, finally did.

Once we got back to the barn, I had promised a lady named Donna a buggy ride on the trails. She had had an unscheduled dismount from her horse a week prior and couldn't ride this weekend, but I wanted her to enjoy the trails as well. Plus, it is good for Summer to both ride and drive the same day. I got Summer harnessed up and we drove about a mile around the barn yard. I even let Donna take the reins and I think she had a blast. I believe I heard her hubby Scott, say, "No, I am not buying you a cart!" as she drove by. LOL I took the reins back and asked her if she felt comfortable if I cantered Summer and she said yes. I think she kind of liked that part too. LOL

We took off out into the pasture and she really enjoyed herself and said she would absolutely be back out to ride next month, broken ribs or no! I think we were out there longer than some folks expected cause her hubby called her and a few minutes later, June called me, checking on us. LOL

If you go to Tracey's blog you can see a slid show of pictures from the ride: http://traceysrandomramblings.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading

Pleasure Drive at B-Tex 06-06/07-2009

Well, on June 6-7, we had a pleasure drive for North Texas Whip. Tracey and I sort of did the safety thing/ mounted guide thing on Saturday. She lead the open buggies and I had to go back to the barn as we had left without the Welsh pony team, pulling a surrey. So I waited on them to get hooked up and off we went. By the time we got to the trails, the others were gone. We had a very nice time and all the horses were pretty well behaved. Well, that is for Boogie the Hackney pony, because he truly lives up to his name. He likes to boogie on down the trail. Tracey had said he even reared while they were on the trail. He was with a horse trainer, so no accidents and Tracey said he did eventually calm down.



Above picture are the really pretty Welsh pony team. Very well behaved too.

Once the drivers headed back to the barn, Tracey and I took Lori (the only rider to come out, she had decided to ride instead of drive) on all the trails that the buggies couldn't go on. Lori had a blast. I think she said this was her boy Timmy's 2nd trail ride ever. He was so good for her, and very pretty to boot. Here is a picture of Lori and Tracey in the flowers.

Sunday was mini only day. I decided to drive the Mule out with the ice chest and first aid kit and pony Chompers next to it so he could be in on the Mini action. He was one big ball of energy and boy did he get a work out next to the mule. Tracey rode safety again and got some great photos. I tell you, there were mini carts going every which way, I think about 8 drivers came on this day. It was a very fun day. Course, it got a little nerve wracking when I was in the woods on foot, trying to find a nice place to stand and take photos of the drivers entering the woods. When I almost stepped on a dark gray, approx 4 foot long with a 2" girth, snake. It laid very still, but the first think I noticed was the viper shaped head. At that point I decided that pictures weren't an option as he was on one of the two trails that could be taken by a pony. As the first driver came in, I directed them to stay on the right path as there was a poisonous snake on the left path. The first driver stopped, as she did, one of the dumb barn dogs ran right over the snake, the snake lunged and struck at the dog then turned and struck at me then took off. Scared the pee out of me. I am not usually scared of snakes, but I do respect them if I don't know what type of snake I am dealing with. The first driver, Juanita, stated that was a Texas Gray snake and non-poisonous, but flattens its jaws out when nervous to resemble a viper. I of course, had to Google the thing and found the exact picture and the true name, Yellow Bellied Water Snake and its defense is to mimic its looks to look like a Cottonmouth. Anywho, once that commotion was over, on with the drive.

We took some lovely photos of the drivers in the flower field. This is June and her boy Jerrett.

And I had to take one of my handsome black stallion Chompers. Isn't he just pretty?

Then the group had to go play in the water.

Ponies and pooches playing in the water. After everyone drove for a bit longer, they started to head in:

After lunch and a break, I decided to hitch Summer up so Tracey and I could enjoy a drive and we sure did. I think Tracey thought it was kinda cool when we got back near the power lines and I cantered Summer under harness. I just love to watch her canter from that angle. You don't appreciate the power that animal has until you are that angle watching those muscles work. Here are a few pictures from that outing:

Letting Tracey take the reins.

Most every one's favorite because she is right on the bit.

And then my favorite that is framed and on my desk at work:

That evening, I just had to drive Hank for a bit. The clouds rolled in and the temps dropped a few degrees. So Tracey saddled up Gypsy for a little bit of easy riding and I hitched Hank. Tracey took a fabulous shot of him standing so pretty and some of him moving, here are a couple of shots:

My mouth looks funny because I am talking to him, but he is really moving up this gradual incline like a pro! I am so proud of the progress he and I have made.

Well, this was longer than I had planned, but I can't wait for the next pleasure drive weekend we will have. This one was great!
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Thanks for reading!

Tammy, Summer, Hank and Chompers

Update on me and my equines

Been a bit since I have posted about my four legged, hoofed critters. So here it gos...


Summer was turned out on a 100 acres for about 4 weeks while her pen was having fresh dirt hauled in. It took awhile for them to finish as the rain would hold up progress. While out, Summer became Alpha mare, as usual. But she is a good leader, she is not too vicious with the other mares. I do see her get crabby when I am out there visiting with them. She pushes the other girls away from me and won't let them get close. Jealousy maybe. Anyway, I am sure she has gained a least 70lbs. I had to drop her girth one hole, which is about 2 inches. But she is a much happier girl when she is out romping with the herd. I may turn her back out in a week or so for a bit as I need to focus on Hank and get him ready for his/our first show in July.


On July 25th, he and I will be competing in our first arena driving trial at http://www.texasrosehorsepark.com/ . I am so excited and nervous. When Hank is good, he is REALLY good. But when he is bad, it takes patience and nerves when he acts up. He acted up the other day when we had a mini drive day at the barn. All the action had him up. Hackney Ponys are like miniature Arabs. Full of spirit and energy. Always ready to go and very faithful, but when they are having an off day, it shows. I can say that as I had a few Arabs in my horse life time. When he is a toot, I am always thinking of a plan of action. It won't hurt to fall out of the cart, but if I let that happen and he bolts with the cart chasing him, he may never drive again. And that is always in the back of my mind, "Don't let him get hurt." Anyway, after a short time during the drive, he did settle and I received many compliments on him. I was also told that this ADT would be a great way to show him as it is wonderful for greenies such as he and I.

Chompers is doing great. He was to be gelded this past Monday, but when my vet learned that he was about 14 yoa, she didn't do it. She is uncomfortable doing an older stallion in an unsterile area. She said that older stallions bleed a lot and wants me to have him cut at a hospital and wants me to wait until November to do so. So the lucky boy gets to keep his gems for 6 more months. She also checked his teeth the other day, and due to his teeth, she is going to have to buy a mini speculum just to do them. They have huge hooks in the front and she can't do them by hand. However, they are not interferring with his eating or his bit. He just looks like he is smiling all the time. LOL BTW, a mini speculum is about $500! OMGosh! But with her mini patients growing, she needed to buy one anyway.

I have not been riding much. We (Barb, June, Tracey and I) have been getting the trails ready for a weekend pleasure drive/ride on June 6/7. They are looking great. Mark and Mel are coming out this weekend for a ride. Mel isn't riding as she is to be a mommy again. But is bringing her new mini Appy pony out for a driving lesson with Barb.

Tracey finally drove her first horse during our little drive the other day. She drove miniature horse Sir Jerret, who belongs to June. I think she had fun. At least she looked like it with that smile on her face! LOL We might have her hooked, but she said she only wants to do hazards and cones. Which are a blast because they are speed events. Course, once she sees a driven dressage test, she may like that too as it is pretty to watch.

Well, TTFN

What a beautiful weekend!

Saturday, Tracey and I loaded up the girls about 11am and headed to the Six-O ranch in Cleburne. What a beautiful day. The girls were good, the temps were just right and the calf fries were crunchy! Yes, you heard me. Kim, the co-ranch foreman, had made some calf fries for her son that is home from college. This is a working cattle ranch, so I guess they let nothing go to waste here. And to my surprise, they were quite tasty. I am a fan of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on one of the travel/learning channels, so I have been getting brave on new foods. I tried Raccoon last year and it tasted just like Roast Beef. The smell, texture and taste were exactly like roast beef. No joke. The calf fries, at least Kim's, tasted a lot like chicken fried steak. Again, no joke.

Anyway, back to my original story. I wanted to try a saddle that Tracey has for sale. Needless to say, it didn't work. Summer wears a SQH bar saddle, but this SQH seemed extra narrow. I could tell by her stride and her mannerisms, that she was uncomfortable and probably a little sore. So we took a short cut and headed back to the trailer and I put my saddle back on her and used one of Tracey's Toklat woolback pads. As of Saturday, I am getting one. We did a good little conditioning ride with some gaiting, cantering, hauling it through the deer plots, going up the twisty, windy side then down the steep side of the big hill, and just having a good ole' time. We got back to the trailer and Summer had a perfect sweat pattern on her back. Plus, no sore loins. I have a pad that is great for her saddle, but have never been able to find another one. It is a gel pad that, thank you Lord, my barn owner gave me. I am affraid that I am going to wear it down and then be without. So, I have been on the search for another pad that will work. I have not been able to find a pad that works on Summer with that saddle without causing some sort of soreness issues. But thanks to Tracey and her owning more than one of these pads so that I may try one while she rides in her other, I have found another pad that is going to work. So, yeah for me and Summer. WooHoo!

Sunday, mom and Amanda came out to the barn. I harnessed Summer and put her on the "Dub" cart. She had a bit of an attitude at first but quickly quieted down. It has been a while since she has been driven. Barb harnessed up one of her mini's named Jon-Jon and June harnessed one of her mini's named Jerret. Mom got in with me and Amanda hopped in with June and off we went down into the pasture. Of course with Summer's "full sized horse strides" we lead the way, stopping ever so often to let the other catch up with their little "mini-legs". It was too cute watching those ponies take the trails we normally ride. But I knew which trails the cart would fit through and we all had a great time. Amanda even drove Jerret for a little while.

Once we got back to the barn, mom hopped on June's cart for a "mini-spin". Next thing I know, June handed the reins to mom. It was too cool seeing my mom drive her first horse and it only being the second time in a cart. A couple of minutes later, I turned back around to look at mom and June, and I watch June hop out of the moving cart! Course it was going pretty slow, but there was my mom, driving the cart by herself. Amanda was walking next to them with mom's camera and was taking pictures. It was so cool! June and I are trying to talk mom into going out there on Tuesdays and learning to drive a cart and that would give her some girl time as it is only ladies on Tuesdays. I really hope we can talk her into it.

I just had a blessed and beautiful weekend, and I am very thankful for it.

Oh, will post pics when I get them...

Loretta Lynn concert and Thanksgiving holiday

Well, it was a very nice concert. I just can't believe that she is 74 years old and still sounds so good. And I just love that accent. Listening to her talk makes me miss Tennessee and my grandma.

Mom had a wonderful time. The concert didn't start until 10:30. So we ate at the cafe in Billy Bob's, then we went a played some games, went to the gift shop, looked at all the hand prints of singers who have played there and at 9:00 was the live bull riding. Mom had never seen that, so we took her. Amanda had a blast because all the cowboys were her age. Mom also got to see a good wreck, the cowboy walked away tho, so that was a big sigh of relief.

We had a nice Thanksgiving. I made a 15lb turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and gravy. Mom and Dad made the rest. We ate at their house. We ate till we were full and then watched Jeff Dunham's Christmas DVD. He is a hoot! Here is a sample of his comedy. Achmed sings Jingle Bombs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wskT6YfVB6E

Friday I drove for Billie in Frisco Square. I drove Dolly. She is a Belgain mare. She is my favorite of her horses. I don't know why, but I like her best. Unfortunately, she coliced, again. This is her third time to colic after a job. I told Billie I think she needs some Long Slow Distance conditioning. Or known to distance riders as LSD, but not the bad one. (smile) So, Dolly may be coming to my barn in the next week or two for some driving and riding to condition her. She is about 20 years old, and that would be like asking a 60 year old person to walk 5 hours if they aren't used to it. So, I really believe that some LSD will really help her with her job. BTW, Dolly doesn't drive every weekend and this is the first time she had been driven in months. So Dolly may have a rude awakening for her own good.

I have been getting ready for the Christmas at Six-0 ride. I am the ride secretary. I am having a lady named Barbara Cooper ride Summer. I have talked about this before, but I am still a little nervous about letting someone else ride my horse. I just hope Summer doesn't act like a moron and I hope Barb has a nice ride. As for the ride, I just can't wait for it to be here and over. It is a hard job. Now don't get me wrong, I love seeing all the riders have a wonderful time, but putting it together is a booger. Trying to remember everything and get everything done. Heck, I left the house this morning and forgot the paperwork I was supposed to copy today! Now I have to go home during lunch to get it. Oh well, it will get done.

Well, TTFN

Proud to announce...

Hank the Hackney pony is back in the shafts!!!

Sunday, Barb, June and myself, harnessed Hank, put the cart to him and I told Barb she was the first test subject. (smile) We took him to the outdoor, fenced in arena for his first time out. He was a little up but did great. Barb then asked me if I wanted to take the reins. So I climbed in the cart and off we went. He did great! I was so excited!!! We finished on a good note and unharnessed him.

Next, we put Summer to the wooden roadcart I had been refurbishing. She did great of course! I even took two new boarders for their first time cart ride. I was a little worried because a wooden cart makes different noisies than her metal cart. But she was an angel.

Monday, we put Hank back in the shafts and drove him in the open dressage arena. Again he was a little up, but did great. Barb drove him first then I drove him and once again finished on a good note.

After Hank, I put Summer back in the wooden cart and gave another boarders little cousin a cart ride. I was real proud of Summer for being such a good girl.

Yesterday, I wanted to drive Hank again. Barb and June were getting ready to go out of town. So I decided to hitch him myself. After harnessing him and putting him between the shafts, I unclipped the cross ties. I gathered up the reins and stood next to the roadcart. Hank started to fidgit and move around. He has down this the last two times and that is why we used someone to head him. But I stood there, talked to him, used the reins and he just settled right down. After a few seconds I climbed in and asked him to walk on. I didn't know Barb was watching me. We drove around the dressage arena then I took him out on the property road. He did great! Barb told me later that evening, she was real proud of Hank and me. That made me feel real good.

What a lovely drive tonight

I harnessed Summer up tonight and hooked her to her cart. She and I, and June and Little Bit were going to practice our driven dressage. I took Summer out on the arena and she was SPOOKY, jumpy, and WOULD NOT maintain a trot. So, we just drove the arena and tooted around. June went in and did her test. This size of an arena is the large one, which is much larger than the standard mini arena. And Little Bit is a 28" miniature horse. So she can only make one pass and it was pretty good. At least I thought, but I am just learning this too. So to me, just remembering the test and getting your horse to maintain gait is an accomplishment.

After June and Bit finished, Summer and I entered again and she had settled enough that she did a wonderful second round. She maintained a trot, and being a Walker is hard cause she does have a tendancy to switch to another gait (running walk, pace, etc...). Then I had to bring her to a walk for a small part of the test and then bring her back to a trot (which is part of Training Level Test 1). I calmed myself, lifted my hands slightly and on a loose rein, asked her to trot her last leg of the test, and was wonderfully happy that she did it. We trotted back to "X", saluted to the invisable judge and exited the arena. If she can do this on the 17th, I will be happy. As long as I don't forget the test and she maintains the proper gaits for dressage, I will be so happy to accomplish those two things. I know her maintaining her gait is part my job too, so I will try not to let her down. We just need to make each other look as good as a green team can be without any formal training.

Once we exited the arena, we were done. I didn't work her anymore, finish on a good note.

I am really proud of this mare. No matter how silly she can be, spooky she can be, or down right awnry she can be, she can, in the blink of an eye, remind me why I love her.

TTFN

A weekend Summer drive...

Well, while most everyone I know will be at the Supreme Trail Challenge in Decatur, Summer and I will be honing our driven dressage, or at least try to remember the test. I have driven her the last three nights, getting her used to blinders. I drove her the first year in an open bridle and she does just fine with that, but not too fond of the blinders. However, she is doing pretty good. For driving shows, she has to wear them, so we have no choice. I am also going to work on our wooden roadcart tomorrow and try to make it show ready. I asked Barb (barn owner) if she could get her guys to strip the old paint off as soon as possible. She said yes and that will cost me about $60, but they did a real good job on her carriages. Then I have to fix a stress fracture on a shaft, it is just cosmetic, so no harm. I need to find the back to the seat and re-attach that. So I will be busy tomorrow. I will get Amanda to help and and pay her a little bit too.

I love doing NATRC but I love driving too. To have that animal listen to you and the only control you have is the reins and bit, is pretty thrilling. Summer is already learning to trot on command. But it helps that I am learning how to que her with the reins. Being that she is a Tennessee Walker, if I hold the reins a little to tight, she will break into a running walk, pace, rack, anything but a trot. If I hold the reins up and a little loose, she will go into a trot. Which is what I want for the show. Her trot is ROUGH to ride, but looks so pretty when she is under harness and hooked to a cart. We (Barb, Paula and I) put her between the shafts of the wooden cart last night and I was disappointed that I will have to put shaft extensions on it for it to work. But at least I have a set, I just need to clean them up.

Well, gotta go to work!
TTFN

Thought for the day:
God rested after six days of work,
and the world didn't collapse.
What makes us think it will if we do?