Sunny looks so different in the summer- I look at him now and think, how could he EVER be slick and straight?? All I have to do is look at the later pics and remember!
January 22, 2008
pics from 2007
Sunny looks so different in the summer- I look at him now and think, how could he EVER be slick and straight?? All I have to do is look at the later pics and remember!
day after December 2006 ice storm
His favorite season is winter, mine is late summer/fall- I sense an issue here! Good thing he has room to run off that exuberance when he feels the need to (every month or so ;-)
a new adventure
I tried something very new and different last week- sidesaddle! I have concluded it was designed to torture women, but other than that it was really fun. It reminded me of my first day of riding when I was trying to keep track of 500 things at once. No, it's not a curly in the picture, but I hope to take some more lessons and eventually do it with Sunny or another Curly I might own!
top 10 moments with Sunny
I have been thinking about all of the things that Sunny and I have done together over the past year and a half. I came up with a "top 10" list-
1. the whole cougar incident (the only thing on here I really could have been happy without!)
2. Bribe Your Horse class- it was just so funny!
3. just sitting on his back while he grazes in the yard.
4. riding in the trail classes at shows and him doing super well- despite the fact that we usually have not tried anything even similar before (creaky bridges, tarps, backing in L's, etc.)
5. Riding into almost the center of town.
6. "conquering" the cows.
7. Exploring the whole length of Moore Cemetary Road, including a bridge with running water underneath (he was suspicious- I would have been too, it sounded wierd!)
8. Our first gallop along the road.
9. The Palmyra Parade, in which he walked next to a chicken, a calf, and a sheep.
10.Riding out at our county fairgrounds.
1. the whole cougar incident (the only thing on here I really could have been happy without!)
2. Bribe Your Horse class- it was just so funny!
3. just sitting on his back while he grazes in the yard.
4. riding in the trail classes at shows and him doing super well- despite the fact that we usually have not tried anything even similar before (creaky bridges, tarps, backing in L's, etc.)
5. Riding into almost the center of town.
6. "conquering" the cows.
7. Exploring the whole length of Moore Cemetary Road, including a bridge with running water underneath (he was suspicious- I would have been too, it sounded wierd!)
8. Our first gallop along the road.
9. The Palmyra Parade, in which he walked next to a chicken, a calf, and a sheep.
10.Riding out at our county fairgrounds.
some pictures from the past year.
I thought I would put some pictures of Sunny on here since I finally took the time to figure out how to do it! This picture is from last spring, before he got his mane so matted(while I was in Peru for a few weeks) that I had to cut it. I'm hoping it will grow back again, but he's cute with- or without. ;)
January 06, 2008
RAC January 2008
I have been really bad about keeping this blog updated! I will try to do better this year. :-) Since Sunny and I are doing the RAC (Ride A Curly) contest I thought I'd try to keep an update of our progress throughout the year. Yesterday we got our first ride of the year in. (cheers, bouncing of ceiling, etc.) Sunny did really well despite the blustery conditions outside our property. I posed for pics in the RAC t-shirt with a longsleeve shirt under that, but for riding out I had another sweater and heavy coat plus gloves because there was that much temperature difference.
Our cat joined me in the saddle for awhile, both today and yesterday. Today it was minus the saddle because I rode bareback. She is the goofiest cat, she just settled in and started purring. She looked way too content, but Sunny knew he had something different aboard so he refused to do anything silly. That's a good thing, because B.C. has sharp claws when she chooses to use them.
The weather is so crazy- just several days ago it was just above zero, and today it felt like a spring day with temperatures in the 50's. This is my kind of weather! But it's sure to change in the next few days. Whether you like the weather or not, it won't stay the same for long here.
I am really excited to see what fun adventures are waiting for us this year. It's always better to look at the world from between a horse's ears!
August 03, 2007
wow, been awhile..
OK, I havn't updated this in forever, so here goes :)
Right after I got home Sunny and I had the 4-H horse show, so we did that...
He was pretty good considering how little he had been worked with in the past several weeks! OK, so halter was a bit of a disaster. We went in and he did well for most of the time, including when the judge was looking at him for the first time. She asked me how old he was (since he could be more filled out I guess, but he still has several years for that) and if he was a curly! I was just like, "great, a judge I don't have to explain the breed to!" Then when she was coming back up the row, he managed to get the itchies under his halter and was fighting me because I was trying my best not to let him rub his head all over me like he wanted. So, we got second to last in that class!
Then we had western favorite gait. He was GREAT in that class. Until... we were foxtrotting, and it was right in front of the judge, and he stopped to go to the bathroom! I have been trying to work with him on this, but he simply refuses to keep moving. AAACK. Before the judge went back with the results she said, "you would have had the trophy if he hadn't broken gait. I was really disappointed" I thanked her but was thinking, "not as disappointed as I am", lol. So he ALMOST had his first trophy. I am still thinking through the whole showing thing, so I don't know if he's going to have another chance or not.
And then we had fourth in trail. So really, I am very proud of him since he had about 3 weeks without being ridden at all and then about 2 rides before the show.
I guess I will write more later.
Right after I got home Sunny and I had the 4-H horse show, so we did that...
He was pretty good considering how little he had been worked with in the past several weeks! OK, so halter was a bit of a disaster. We went in and he did well for most of the time, including when the judge was looking at him for the first time. She asked me how old he was (since he could be more filled out I guess, but he still has several years for that) and if he was a curly! I was just like, "great, a judge I don't have to explain the breed to!" Then when she was coming back up the row, he managed to get the itchies under his halter and was fighting me because I was trying my best not to let him rub his head all over me like he wanted. So, we got second to last in that class!
Then we had western favorite gait. He was GREAT in that class. Until... we were foxtrotting, and it was right in front of the judge, and he stopped to go to the bathroom! I have been trying to work with him on this, but he simply refuses to keep moving. AAACK. Before the judge went back with the results she said, "you would have had the trophy if he hadn't broken gait. I was really disappointed" I thanked her but was thinking, "not as disappointed as I am", lol. So he ALMOST had his first trophy. I am still thinking through the whole showing thing, so I don't know if he's going to have another chance or not.
And then we had fourth in trail. So really, I am very proud of him since he had about 3 weeks without being ridden at all and then about 2 rides before the show.
I guess I will write more later.
July 20, 2007
Peru and more
Peru was AMAZING. Defenitely the best experience of my life. One of my roomies posted a slide show on youtube of our team, and it kind of gives a flavor of what we were doing ( a drama performance called "Toymaker and Son" and work projects) http://youtube.com/watch?v=eliKoGpnovg
The whole experience has made me really think hard about some things, including my involvement with horses and Sunny in particular. I was feeling so burnt out before I left, and a little bit now as I came home. I am now thinking that was due to me trying to make them the center of my life. That just won't work. Horses cannot be my reason for living. They are allowed to be a bright spot but that's it. I am very excited about my newly found direction and I think this is going to be one of the better things that I have done. I have also come to the conclusion that showing is unhealthy for me and causes me to focus more on winning ribbons than on my relationship with Sunny, so I am going to be taking a break from that. I'll keep in touch with how that goes...
The whole experience has made me really think hard about some things, including my involvement with horses and Sunny in particular. I was feeling so burnt out before I left, and a little bit now as I came home. I am now thinking that was due to me trying to make them the center of my life. That just won't work. Horses cannot be my reason for living. They are allowed to be a bright spot but that's it. I am very excited about my newly found direction and I think this is going to be one of the better things that I have done. I have also come to the conclusion that showing is unhealthy for me and causes me to focus more on winning ribbons than on my relationship with Sunny, so I am going to be taking a break from that. I'll keep in touch with how that goes...
June 28, 2007
no show :(
Well, it's pouring down rain here- the show was canceled. On the bright side, they are considering rescheduling, and it would be AFTER I come back from Peru, so hopefully I can still get him to it.
Looking forward to some sunshine!
Looking forward to some sunshine!
June 24, 2007
whats been goin' on
I did go out for that test ride, and it was super great! Sunny was awesome. I was having some trouble with his canter (which is hopefully slowing down some to a nice easy lope!) but other than that he was perfect. We were out on our neighbors lane and I saw a small shape coming out of the bean field on the right. It was tan and small, and it just stopped and looked at us for a few minutes, then started coming towards us. I kept Sunny moving forward at a walk, but was a little nervous about this because of the light, I couldn't see exactly what it was. I knew it wasn't another cougar (at least the reasonable side of my head did, lol!) but I sure didn't want to meet up with a strange, possibly feral dog. Fortunately it turned, and I could see its ears. It was a fawn, which had been precisely what I was hoping it would be. We got within about 20 feet of it, which was really cool. (What a time not to have a camera along! grrrr.) THEN, when we were riding along the road, we came to the crossroads, and I looked down to the left, and there, standing right in the middle of the road, was what must have been the mom. She didn't stay nearly as long as the baby, but a lot longer than I would have expected. I think she was confused about a human smell coming from an animal! I was REALLY pleased with how well Sunny behaved with the new animals.
The rest of the week comprised of short bareback rides. Thursday through Friday I was busy baking for the 4-H foods show, which was Friday afternoon. (that went well, btw) Then Saturday I had a cousin's wedding. Then Sunday (today) was church and then a 50th wedding anniversary party. I am really tired. I did go for a nice ride this evening, just bareback with a halter again, and (oops) no helmet- it was so hot I barely could force myself to put on a pair of jeans, let alone a helmet. Good thing he was his normal awesome self. I went up and down the drive several times at a foxtrot, and around the house. Almost all the way back down the drive (which we walked, since the last time coming towards the house I always walk him) I just had the lead rope on his neck and both arms up in the air in a V sign. I was totally thrilled to be back on him again!! It felt T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C !!!
I have a show on Thursday, so I'll try to write about that this week if I have time.
OH... and the blog will be pretty quiet the weeks of July 2-15, 'cause I'll be in PERU!!! I am going with Focus on the Family on their Brio missions trip and so... yeah. I'll miss Sunny of course, but I know he's in capable hands, and I can't WAIT to soak in all the new experiences. It's not a sightseeing trip or anything, we won't see Micchu Picchu (sp.?) or anything like that, but I'm sure the whole experience is going to be awesome. Mom is happy about it too, for a different reason (NOT the fact that she gets all my chores since Dad is too busy!) She seems to think that I am going to want less fancy horse stuff after this. She's probably right (sigh). Our group will be spending time in Lima, basically in the slum sections a lot. We are sponsoring a child through Compassion International, so- I get to meet her, since she's from Lima!
Please pray for this trip ( and my parent's sanity as they worry about their 'baby' )
happy trails to all!!!!!!
The rest of the week comprised of short bareback rides. Thursday through Friday I was busy baking for the 4-H foods show, which was Friday afternoon. (that went well, btw) Then Saturday I had a cousin's wedding. Then Sunday (today) was church and then a 50th wedding anniversary party. I am really tired. I did go for a nice ride this evening, just bareback with a halter again, and (oops) no helmet- it was so hot I barely could force myself to put on a pair of jeans, let alone a helmet. Good thing he was his normal awesome self. I went up and down the drive several times at a foxtrot, and around the house. Almost all the way back down the drive (which we walked, since the last time coming towards the house I always walk him) I just had the lead rope on his neck and both arms up in the air in a V sign. I was totally thrilled to be back on him again!! It felt T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C !!!
I have a show on Thursday, so I'll try to write about that this week if I have time.
OH... and the blog will be pretty quiet the weeks of July 2-15, 'cause I'll be in PERU!!! I am going with Focus on the Family on their Brio missions trip and so... yeah. I'll miss Sunny of course, but I know he's in capable hands, and I can't WAIT to soak in all the new experiences. It's not a sightseeing trip or anything, we won't see Micchu Picchu (sp.?) or anything like that, but I'm sure the whole experience is going to be awesome. Mom is happy about it too, for a different reason (NOT the fact that she gets all my chores since Dad is too busy!) She seems to think that I am going to want less fancy horse stuff after this. She's probably right (sigh). Our group will be spending time in Lima, basically in the slum sections a lot. We are sponsoring a child through Compassion International, so- I get to meet her, since she's from Lima!
Please pray for this trip ( and my parent's sanity as they worry about their 'baby' )
happy trails to all!!!!!!
June 19, 2007
it came!
Yay, the saddle came today! I am so excited, it looks like it will fit perfectly. I'm going out for a "test ride" this afternoon to see how it feels.
June 17, 2007
new saddle- on it's way, club tour
I ended up ordering the gaited saddle (OK, so mom did- for some reason she doesn't trust me with a credit card, LOL) Hopefully it will be here in time for the 4-H horse show, which is the 28. The people at Country Supply said it would be. I guess I will find out if they were being truthful.
Yesterday we had the 4-H club tour- where everyone goes around to everyone elses houses and looks at projects too big to bring to the meetings. So I gave a demo with Sunny ( "how a saddle should fit" by viewing the one that doesn't!) and showed everyone my mini lop ( a kind of rabbit) We were the first stop, so I got to go in and clean up a bit before heading to the next person's place. I am wondering whose dumb idea it was to have the tour on a freaking 90 degree day at 3 in the afternoon!! I am the secretary, but my brain was obviously somewhere else when we decided date and time.
I rode Sunny a total of 3 times the last 7 days. It has been SO HOT. Poor Sunny is out in the real heat (even though we don't have air conditioning, our house is at least 20 degrees cooler) but he seems to be handling it much better than me. I whine; he just stands in the shade and swhishes his tail. He doesn't even fuss when I get the insane idea to put a saddle on him at 3 in the afternoon! I didn't put the girth on though, and I didn't get up there. I did however reluctantly don jeans and go (not so reluctantly) on a short bareback ride. That was fun, but I was quite glad to change back into my lightweight shorts for the rest of the tour.
stay cool!
Yesterday we had the 4-H club tour- where everyone goes around to everyone elses houses and looks at projects too big to bring to the meetings. So I gave a demo with Sunny ( "how a saddle should fit" by viewing the one that doesn't!) and showed everyone my mini lop ( a kind of rabbit) We were the first stop, so I got to go in and clean up a bit before heading to the next person's place. I am wondering whose dumb idea it was to have the tour on a freaking 90 degree day at 3 in the afternoon!! I am the secretary, but my brain was obviously somewhere else when we decided date and time.
I rode Sunny a total of 3 times the last 7 days. It has been SO HOT. Poor Sunny is out in the real heat (even though we don't have air conditioning, our house is at least 20 degrees cooler) but he seems to be handling it much better than me. I whine; he just stands in the shade and swhishes his tail. He doesn't even fuss when I get the insane idea to put a saddle on him at 3 in the afternoon! I didn't put the girth on though, and I didn't get up there. I did however reluctantly don jeans and go (not so reluctantly) on a short bareback ride. That was fun, but I was quite glad to change back into my lightweight shorts for the rest of the tour.
stay cool!
June 13, 2007
new saddle??
I've been poking around, looking for a new saddle for Sunny. I think I might get him one specifically for gaited horses, but I' m not sure yet. I don't want to rush into making the wrong purchase, but I DO want to have it before our next show.
I havn't ridden the past few days, so it's high time I get back on him. Hopefully this evening.
I havn't ridden the past few days, so it's high time I get back on him. Hopefully this evening.
June 12, 2007
re- parade!
Sunny was SO awesome. Believe it or not, he was the only horse in the parade! He had a lot of new things to look at, and there were TONS of distracting noises. He was perfect. No one could guess that it was his first parade. He walked calmly along while the band played ahead, streamers waved, engines revved, and kids were running all around him. We were with my 4-H group, and the theme of the parade was "back to the farm". So... we had a calf, a sheep, and a chicken besides him! It was hilarious, while the pictures were being taken of our group, Sunny was trying to take a bite out of the calf and possibly the sheep too, and it was a good thing he couldn't reach the chicken! I think he was fascinated by the texture of their hair.
I was using the borrowed saddle, and it came with a blue fleece pad and blue breastplate. I had a flag stuck through the saddle, and I wore faded jeans, my old boots, and my Curly contest T-shirt (of course!) He looked great. I would have loved to wear my cowboy hat instead of my helmet (small town parade, it was only three blocks for heavens sake!) Oh well.
Then we took him to a friends house to stay overnight in their round pen. I went to church with them the next day and gave a mini presentation on my upcoming missions trip to Peru.
Then, it was a rush to the show (that I didn't show in :( and after that we went on a trail ride and rode around the show grounds for quite awhile. I realized that day that I had left my bridle in the truck that Dad drove back to town, so I made do with the extra lead that I HAD remebered and fastened reins to his halter. It was pretty cool how well behaved he was with just the halter and lead ropes. He normally is, but I didn't know exactly what to expect with him being with strange horses and going to a busy showgrounds. Perfect, perfect!
happy trails, shows, parades, whatever!
I was using the borrowed saddle, and it came with a blue fleece pad and blue breastplate. I had a flag stuck through the saddle, and I wore faded jeans, my old boots, and my Curly contest T-shirt (of course!) He looked great. I would have loved to wear my cowboy hat instead of my helmet (small town parade, it was only three blocks for heavens sake!) Oh well.
Then we took him to a friends house to stay overnight in their round pen. I went to church with them the next day and gave a mini presentation on my upcoming missions trip to Peru.
Then, it was a rush to the show (that I didn't show in :( and after that we went on a trail ride and rode around the show grounds for quite awhile. I realized that day that I had left my bridle in the truck that Dad drove back to town, so I made do with the extra lead that I HAD remebered and fastened reins to his halter. It was pretty cool how well behaved he was with just the halter and lead ropes. He normally is, but I didn't know exactly what to expect with him being with strange horses and going to a busy showgrounds. Perfect, perfect!
happy trails, shows, parades, whatever!
June 08, 2007
parade (2)
It looks like I will be able to get there {the parade} as of this afternoon, (Friday!) nothing like last minute changes!!
I borrowed a better fitting Arabian sized saddle for it, and I am defenitely loving it- its pretty old, probably one of the "new" synthetic saddles, but it is SO AWESOME. I didn't ride yesterday (high winds) but I did try it on him Wednesday, and took about a 3 hour ride, which was really nice. OK, back to the saddle! It is an Abetta Cordura, and it probably weighs about a third of my present ill-fitting saddle. Which I'm sure Sunny appreciated as much as I did.
I am VERY happy I got to borrow it, since otherwise- no parade! (M+D nixed my idea of riding bareback - "it's on asphalt!" even though the parade is really short) As if I don't ride him bareback on asphalt NOW, but I didn't feel the need to bring that up to them...
I borrowed a better fitting Arabian sized saddle for it, and I am defenitely loving it- its pretty old, probably one of the "new" synthetic saddles, but it is SO AWESOME. I didn't ride yesterday (high winds) but I did try it on him Wednesday, and took about a 3 hour ride, which was really nice. OK, back to the saddle! It is an Abetta Cordura, and it probably weighs about a third of my present ill-fitting saddle. Which I'm sure Sunny appreciated as much as I did.
I am VERY happy I got to borrow it, since otherwise- no parade! (M+D nixed my idea of riding bareback - "it's on asphalt!" even though the parade is really short) As if I don't ride him bareback on asphalt NOW, but I didn't feel the need to bring that up to them...
June 04, 2007
parade
Stay tuned, I might be able to get Sunny to his first ever parade on Saturday. I'm thinking about printing up little fact sheets about Curlies and handing them out. I'll see. Another possibility is that I could take him to a show Sunday afternoon the day after the parade, but I'm not sure I can make the necessary arrangements. Besides that, I have to get back in the saddle and work with him this week!! Hopefully the weather is improving so I can do that.
last 10 days or so
Wow, I have really been ignoring this blog!!! Unfortunately, it wasn't because I couldn't tear myself away from all kinds of outstanding adventures with Sunny. Nope, nada, zip. (pouting) The weather and my schedule have conspired against me for the last week, and I have had very little riding time. Yesterday I rode Sunny for awhile bareback, even though the wind was almost 30 mph, and it felt SO GOOD to be back on him. Another day I might have been disappointed that we didn't get much accomplished- yesterday I thought it was a great accomplishment to be on him at all! He had been enjoying his little bit of time off from work ;-). I spent lots of time on the non riding days just being with him in the pasture and grooming him. So it wasn't a total loss, especially from his point of view ("I get attention AND I get to eat at the SAME time!!! This is heaven!") HOPEFULLY the weather will be improving. It's getting really near to my trip time, I leave for Miami July 2 and from there head to Peru for 2 weeks- so riding time is a precious comodity right now.
Happy trails!!!
Happy trails!!!
May 25, 2007
almost forgot- new goal!
I have been reading the book Seven habits of highly effective teens by Sean Covey, and I thought through what he had to say about goal-setting as it related to my horsey habit. (It also ties in pretty well to what you were saying Denise!)
I have decided to set the goal of completing the requirements of the American Bashkir Curly Registry for their Versatility award. (For the year 2008) That will mean a lot of work, but I'm sure we can do it, especially with the support of all my horse friends. I'm fairly sure that we won't get enough points to win the award itself, I don't even know if I'll sign up for the program.
It's just a personal goal I'm setting for us.
;-)
I have decided to set the goal of completing the requirements of the American Bashkir Curly Registry for their Versatility award. (For the year 2008) That will mean a lot of work, but I'm sure we can do it, especially with the support of all my horse friends. I'm fairly sure that we won't get enough points to win the award itself, I don't even know if I'll sign up for the program.
It's just a personal goal I'm setting for us.
;-)
farrier/ride
Today our farrier came, which was good since Sunny's hooves are getting pretty chipped up. I have been concerned with how much they are wearing even though I have not been riding him on the road recently. I have been keeping Rainmaker on them faithfully, but it hasn't been doing too much good. So John suggested putting some gelatin in his grain, and he said that with the Rainmaker should keep his hoof moisture at the right level. Sunny has such a sweet tooth, I doubt he will have trouble with some sweet gelatin of the apple or strawberry variety. ;-)
I rode mostly in the round pen but also went on a short ride down the lane. Sunny seems to have lost his head bob with the foxtrot, and without that I've heard it's not a true gait. Humph. I guess I have some reading up to do on the foxtrot and riding it well so I can see what I'm messing up on. Of course, I wasn't using a bit, I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. But it was a fun ride nonetheless.
:)
I rode mostly in the round pen but also went on a short ride down the lane. Sunny seems to have lost his head bob with the foxtrot, and without that I've heard it's not a true gait. Humph. I guess I have some reading up to do on the foxtrot and riding it well so I can see what I'm messing up on. Of course, I wasn't using a bit, I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. But it was a fun ride nonetheless.
:)
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