You Want Me To Do What?

A couple months ago, my OH brought up something that he wanted us to do for his dad's Birthday. I told him that I wasn't too thrilled about it, but I said I would go ahead and do it, for him. He wanted it to be a surprise for his dad, which meant his dad would have no idea what we were taking him to do, until we got there. My OH found a day that would work for us, his dad, his sister and brother in-law for this "trip". On the morning of this excursion, I was not looking forward to doing what we were about to be doing, AT. ALL. I was nervous. I did.not.want.to.go.period. The phone rings. It was the "place" calling to say that our "trip" was delayed 3 hours due to weather. Lovely. That only made me want to stay home even more. The weather looked fine here, how much different could it be in the city, only about 40 miles south of us?

Once everyone arrived at our house, we loaded up in our car and hit the freeway. We figured we would go to the aquarium in the city to waste some time since our "trip" departure was delayed. I haven't been to the aquarium in years! It was so hard to take picture's, it was so crowded and everyone was in the way. Have I ever said how much I despise crowds? That is probably why I live way out in the country!

There were so many people in front of the Octopus tank, that I couldn't get any good picture's of him. He was big and really cool.



Jellyfish are so amazing, it is hard to believe that they are a living creature!



We saw many interesting fish. I have fish aquariums at home, but they are freshwater. Saltwater fish come in all shapes, colors and sizes!



Seahorses are so cool!



And of course we have seals.



Everyone was hungry, but me, so they ate at the aquarium cafe. I could not eat. My nerves were getting the better of me. We still had time to burn before our "departure", so we walked down the city streets and browsed through some stores. On our way back to the car, we saw this pretty horse giving carriage rides.



My OH's dad still has no idea where we are taking him. We ask if he has any idea at all. He said no. When we pull into the parking lot, his dad says "Oh, if I would have known we were doing this, I wouldn't have eaten as much. I thought the reason Paint Girl didn't eat was because she just wasn't feeling well". Um, yeah, I wasn't feeling well, but it had nothing to do with me being sick.



I don't like flying. I think it has to do with my fear of heights. But I tolerate it on a "bigger" plane. Now you see, we weren't going to be flying on a "bigger" plane. Nope. We would be flying on an 8 seat float plane. Yep, a float plane, with only 8 seats, can we say small? Taking off from the water, sightseeing from the sky, then landing back on the water. To be on a plane that small, that involves water takeoff's and landings, yep, a big fear, not to mention I am a little claustrophobic. I sure have a lot of "fear" issues, don't I? And to find out that my OH's dad has a fear of flying too. Hmmm....this could be very interesting.



So we go in to the airport and check in. They say that it looks like our plane is on schedule and for us to take a seat. We went out on the deck that overlooks the lake and another float plane that will be taking off with passengers to their destination. People actually commute to work in float planes, land them at this airport, go to work, then go back to the airport and fly home. All in a float plane. I sure would hate to have to do that! But I guess they wouldn't have to sit in rush hour traffic!

After waiting for half an hour or so, the guy comes out to us and says that our plane is stuck at the other airport, due to weather (seriously?), and won't make it back for our flight. Whew! But they wanted to reschedule. Lovely. So guess what I will be doing this weekend? Yep, going up in a float plane!

As we were being told about our cancellation for the day, we watched this plane head off on the water. This will be me in a couple days..........................

Gotta Love Sand!

I have been dreaming of sand for 3 years now. That is how long it has been since we put all that hard work of clearing, burning brush, bulldozer work and having 8 dump trucks of fill dirt brought in. I was happy to have a pretty level space to train my horses in. But there were still a couple things missing. Fencing. It was my next priority. I wanted to make sure that I had a safe place to ride and train. I had to have fencing. So after about 7 months of no fence, we were finally financially able to go out and buy panels.

I hated the hard ground. It became so compact and I just cringed when I loped my horses on it. But I had to ride them. I couldn't afford sand. We checked into sand prices, and it was just way too expensive. 3 years later....................

This is what I had been anticipating about for so long and it was finally here! The first delivery of sand!



My OH went out and talked to the driver to discuss the options of how he was going to drive back to the arena. We have 5 acres, shaped like a rectangle. My arena sits way in the back of that rectangle. We have a 16 foot opening in between the horse pasture's. We have had dump trucks back there before, but they have always had to back in. The driver walked out to the arena and felt he could drive in forward and still have enough room to dump sand and turn around and drive out. He had a transfer, which meant he could dump one truck into the arena, then go back out to our street and put the transfer in the dump and go back to the arena to dump another load. This prevents excessive trips out here from where the sand and gravel pit is. Since we were going to have 3 deliveries with 3 transfers, that works out to 6 dump truck loads of sand. 72 yards.

I wasn't the only one anticipating the sand delivery. Chance was checking out the big rig pulling up to her pasture. She wasn't that scared. Once he drove by her pasture, she would run a little, then come to the upper part of her pasture to see what was going on. Such a curious little thing she is.



The driver was able to spread as he dumped. It wasn't going to be perfect, but at least the 6 loads weren't going to be in big piles all over. That would make the job easier for us and our neighbor, who would be spreading the sand out as evenly as he could for us.



A beautiful sight to see.............



At this point, we still had another 2 loads to be dumped. This is when they had to back up to the arena.



Later that evening, I went over to my neighbors and asked if he could come over with his tractor sometime that week and spread sand. We had already talked to him about it previously and he said he would be over in a couple days.



Neighbor J spent hours in the arena. He was able to spread most of it, except for the edges, which my OH did by hand while I was out of town last weekend.



Just in time for me to take that cute Mustang filly of mine out and get some work done, in the new sand!



I still haven't had a chance to ride in it yet. I was out of town for a family reunion last weekend. But believe me, I will be out there this week! After 3 years, I can't wait any longer!

Have I Conquered My Fear?

My sister and I were able to get out for another trail ride. Our annual Pony Cousin's Stampede is weeks away and we haven't even been able to get our horses out on the trails to prepare for the big event. Unfortunately, weather and jobs have gotten in the way of conditioning our horses for this yearly event. So we have dedicated one day a week to get our horses on the trail, because the Stampede is coming up quick and you all know how we like to be prepared! It started out overcast, imagine that. The sun was supposed to burn off the clouds, but it happened really late in the day. All I can say is, at least it didn't rain!

Whoa! Wait a minute! Those aren't gray ear tips in the picture! How did those get in there?



I have decided that I am going to take Fritzy to our annual Pony Cousin's Stampede (more on that at the bottom of this post.) And since I have so much fear and confidence issues with Fritzy, I thought I better get her out on the trails before the trip. A lot of my fear has been slowly disappearing.......it really helped my confidence with Fritzy when I did ground work with her last summer. The other thing that has really helped my confidence is working with horses every day for a living. I handle all types of horse personalities day in and day out, and if I can handle a crazed Arabian, I should be able to handle a semi-crazed Paint, right? Well, okay, she isn't exactly semi-crazed, but my mind does think that way from time to time, especially when I let a little bit of that fear slip back into the brain from when she dumped me years ago. Okay, not a little, a lot of fear! But it has gotten better, believe me! It has been a really long process, I will never forget what happened, but I have forgiven her for what she did and I have come to the realization that it wasn't her being mean and intentionally trying to hurt me.
So, fear aside, I took Fritzy on a trail ride.

But before we loaded up to head out to the trail head, I took her up to my unfinished arena, and lunged her. I lunged her good. Once she realized the footing was nice and soft, she took off running and bucking. Oh dear. Just what I need, to see my usually lazy Paint running and bucking on the lunge line right before I take her on a trail ride! She does not do this. I can barely get her to lope on the lunge line. But I realized that she must really like the footing, it wasn't hard and jarring on her body. It was nice and soft. I had no problem getting her to lope. She even did a slower western pleasure lope. She would break into a trot, and I would just kiss to her and she would go right into the lope, something I haven't seen her do in years. I usually have to chase her down with the lunge whip and crack it to get any movement out of this horse. Once I realized that it was probably the footing that was making her feel good, and she calmed down, we were ready to load them up.



When we pulled into the trail head, there was no one there. Gotta love trail riding on weekdays! On weekends the trail head can fill up quickly and a lot of people pull in, see the parking area full, then pull back out and leave. Not to be this day. Although a truck and trailer pulled in right behind us. The women that were in that truck got out and asked us if we were familiar with the trails there and if we knew how to get to the "picnic" area. I told them that I was very familiar with the trails, as I have ridden there for 6 years. They asked if they could tag along with us. I said sure. They then asked if we were riding gaited horses. I told them that no, we were riding just a Paint and an Appaloosa.

The women were really nice. There was a grandma, mother and daughter, and a friend. The grandma was riding a pretty Appaloosa, the mom and 7 yr old daughter rode a Palomino Quarter Horse, and the friend rode a 6 yr old Mustang of theirs that didn't have very many miles on it.



Once we got on our horses, I realized that I didn't have any fear at all about being on Fritzy. Usually when I first get on her, my stomach gets all twisted in knots. Not so this time. I actually felt really comfortable. We headed out towards the stream first and followed the trails that take us to the "picnic/bathroom" area. The women wanted to know how to get there. Hopefully they will remember the route. I tried picking the easy way there. After a quick snack, we got back on our horses and rode out to the other side of the power lines so I could show my sister an area where they have recently logged. Some of our favorite trails used to be in that area.



On the way back to the trail head, the women asked if we minded that they jog for a while. I said sure. I have always loved Fritzy's jog. She has that really nice, smooth, slow western pleasure jog that you can ride all day long. Brandy has a slow jog, but it is choppy, not that smooth unless it is real slow, and it is almost an up and down motion, not side to side like Fritzy. I was feeling so comfortable on Fritzy that I was turned around in the saddle talking to whoever was behind me, not even paying attention to where Fritzy was going. Sometimes she can walk like a drunken sailor, and you just never know where she might end up.



I also realized that Fritzy has picked up some bad habits on the trail. I think my OH lets her get away with a little too much. I don't let my horses "snack" on the trail. I think it is a bad habit, and I want my horses to pay attention to me and the trail, not to a bush or tree they want to grab a bite out of. Brandy rarely grabs anything to eat. Maybe once or twice on a ride she might try to grab something, but she is very well mannered when it comes to that. I noticed right away that Fritzy had her head down or to the side constantly trying to grab a bite. I have always told my OH to not let her eat, but I think he lets her get away with it. I was constantly correcting her. I also noticed that she wasn't listening to my legs at all. I know this is partially my fault for not riding her much, and I know my OH doesn't use leg when he rides. He is still a beginner, and he just sits there and goes along for the ride. Fritzy also didn't back very well, and just overall wasn't very attuned to me and my aids. This is definitely something I will have to work on. I also know that Fritzy is a "brick" wall, unlike Brandy, who is very attentive to every leg and hand signal I give her. I have to remember that they are two totally different horses, and they respond a lot differently.

The only real "big" issue I had with Fritzy, was when we were almost back to the trail head, we ride on a paved road, and there is a small grassy shoulder on the left that rider's use. I could not get Fritzy over to the grassy shoulder. She wanted none of that. A car even stopped to wait for us to go by, not knowing what Fritzy might do. As I was trying to get her over to the shoulder, I still wasn't fearful of her reaction to the force of my aids to try to get her on the shoulder. I finally got her over. She didn't over react from the pressure. Fritzy is the kind of horse that you can only push so much. You can hit a limit with her and once you hit that limit, she has been known to over react. Thankfully I didn't exceed that limit. (No, there wasn't anything "scary" in the bushes, she was just being a big pain in the you know what, and she did not want to move over. I think she was just trying to show off to the guy in the car, who was very patient by the way. He stopped and waited until I had the "situation" under control. Not a lot of people do that. )



Back at the trail head we unsaddled the horses and went and got the email address of one of the women. They don't live far from the trails and we told them we will email them when we are going for rides. It is always good to meet new horsey friends and have more riding partners, if we want more people to ride with.



This is that 6 yr old Mustang that hadn't had many hours being ridden. It was really cute and did very well on the trails.



When we got home, we hosed the horses off, put them away and fed them their dinner. This is what Fritzy had to say about her day:



I am very proud of myself. I have just made one HUGE step in my confidence level with Fritzy. I now feel that I can get on her and ride her with confidence, trust and NO FEAR. That is to not say I won't ever have a fearful moment again on her, but to have a few hours where I could feel totally relaxed, comfortable and not have that twisted feeling in my stomach was absolutely amazing!

Just in case you were wondering why I am taking Fritzy on our annual Pony Cousin Stampede and not my trusted mount Brandy, is because Brandy does have her moments, like crazy moments. Sometimes I can't relax on a ride because she can get herself all worked up. That is when it is no fun for me. I want to be able to relax and not have a horse that might jig the whole ride, or spook at every monster around the corner. Brandy has gotten so good on trails, but she does have her moments. Fritzy on the other hand, is pretty mellow and laid back. She doesn't have multiple personalities, just one dominant personality. I can pretty much guarantee that she will give me many relaxing trail rides the whole time we are there. As long as I can keep my fear at bay......

I have been having numerous problems with my internet. I lost half of this blog post and had to start over. The cable company can't get out here for another week. So if you don't see me for awhile or if I am not posting, it is because I can't get online. I am supposed to be online all the time, but I think something is wrong with my cable modem, and it just goes out at any moment. I have never had this problem before and it is interfering with not only blogging, but also my email. I have a lot of things I want to share with you all, but with the internet issue, it could be awhile before I can fill you all in!

The Biggest Australian Shepherd Sand Box Ever!

My arena is almost complete. My neighbor came over with his tractor and spread sand for me, but he still has some spreading to do. I am not sure when he is going to finish so I will be going on a trail ride. I am hoping to be able to use the arena soon! Actually I am very excited to get out and work my horses in the new footing. While we were waiting for another dump truck of sand to arrive, we turned the crazy Aussie's out to see what they thought and to test it out.

This is what happened:

"Hey, is this for us? Are we supposed to play in it?"



"I don't care what anyone says, I am going for it!"



"Here I come, you sucker!"



"Take that Sadie! This is for all those unprovoked attacks on me! How do you like me now, tough stuff?"



"What? You had enough already? Can't take the face plant in the sand?"



"Come on Sadie, you think you are the toughest Aussie in town, you better get up and prove it!"



"That's what I thought, lil' girl! You ain't gonna catch me!"



"Can we call a truce?"



"Not on your life, lil' girl!"



"Take that tough stuff!"



"So you think you can out run me? Not a chance!"



"What's wrong? Had enough already?"



"So you wanna try some body slamming now, huh? Doesn't scare me any!"



"No breaks allowed lil' one! We are going to finish this!"



"Come on, get your scruffy butt up, we aren't done yet!"



"Now that is what I'm talking about! Take that you lil' stinkin', scruffy butt, no good, think your tough, Aussie!"



"Oh, wait............is this why we were brought out here? To spread sand? Dang it! I thought it was all for playing in!"



"Oh, alright, what area needs to be spread next?"



Speaking of Australian Shepherds, I was feeling ambitious one night last week, and Sadie no longer has long hair.........................

I Finally Got My OWN Horse Time!

I can't believe I am back on my own horse again! After my sand was delivered, my sister and I tacked up our horses and rode through the neighborhood. I usually don't lunge Brandy when she has been ridden consistently, but since she hadn't been ridden in quite some time, I took her over to my "old" arena and lunged her. I couldn't use my arena since it had sand and it hadn't been spread yet. I am glad I lunged her. She wasn't totally crazy, but she sure had some go in her!

This horse is my neighbors, who lives across the street from me. I have posted pictures of her before. Magic is a 3/4 Percheron, if I am remembering correctly. I haven't seen her owner ride her yet and she has had her for a few years. She just had to have her 35 year old Arabian put down about a month ago, and also had to put down her other older Arab and Standardbred last year. Tough times.



She bought Magic for a cart horse, but haven't seen her doing that either. So it looks like Magic is basically a pasture pet. It is so amazing how big they get and she is absolutely beautiful!



We weren't gone too long, we only rode one loop through the neighborhood. But it was a good, calm and relaxing ride. We knew that we were going on a trail ride the next day and I just could not wait!



When we got back to my house, I told my sister I wanted to ride the horses back out to the arena. I wanted them to get a good look at the new sand! Here is a teaser of the sand. I will be doing a sand post as soon as my neighbor gets it all spread out and leveled. Thank goodness for awesome neighbors! Even though the horses had front row seats for the sand delivery, they were still a little cautious about approaching the arena. Brandy was eyeballing it, then it was no big deal and I rode her through it.



Early this morning, my OH and I went and put the arena panels back up so our neighbor would know how far to spread the sand. I then cleaned out my horse trailer, added more shavings, hooked the trailer up to the truck and waited for my sister to arrive. I just wanted to get on the trails!

It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and it was in the upper 70's. Perfect riding weather! We headed out in the direction of the creek first. There are two ways to start out, and for some reason I like to go through the creek first.



I have never followed the creek bed before, not sure why. I actually just thought of it when I downloaded this picture. I might have to do that some day.



After you ride through the creek and head up the trail, my sister missed the trail on the left. But if you keep going, there is another trail that you can take. Well, since I usually take the first trail and haven't been past that trail in a long time, I didn't realize that most of the bank had washed out, which left a very narrow trail and a cliff that dropped straight down on the right. I have a very INTENSE fear of heights. I literally panic. Not a good situation, especially being on a horse that can spook at any given moment. When I saw the drop off, I freaked out. Brandy was eyeballing that drop off and I swear I could feel her body moving in that direction. There is absolutely no room for error here. I told my sister she better hurry and get on that other trail before I had a panic attack. Once we turned up the trail, I still felt the fear. I cannot handle heights at all. Heights is one thing I absolutely do not feel comfortable with, whether I am on a horse or not. I just can't do it. I told my sister that we will not miss that first trail again, EVER!



We rode the short loop, which takes you to the bathrooms, and then headed back to the trailer. It was about a 2 1/2 hour ride. It was wonderful, except for the drop off part! It felt so good being on the back of my OWN horse and just enjoying a beautiful day!