Checking out the shipping boots for the first time.
Day 51 & 52:
The Nevada days parade and the 'Great Migration', as Marialaina calls it, is upon us. I've spent the last few days with Opal getting her as ready as she can be. She's been exposed to shipping boots, and while she accepted them, she was not exactly happy with them. When the first one was put on, she looked at it on her leg, touched it with her nose, then spooked in place. In time she stopped high stepping with them at the walk and was moving around like normal. She also got more exposure to flags when Greg and his horse Amigo were working with the flag.
First day with shipping boots. Not a very happy girl.
Second day with shipping boots and a much happier girl.
We will be doing a lot over the next few days. There's a trail ride, the parade, maybe going to observe some wild mustangs, and the play day. Not to mention the trailer ride, being in a new place, and new surroundings. Right now the plan is to have Opal tacked up and walk the parade, if she's calm about it all, I will ride her. I'm not pushing for it though. She's got a great brain and I don't need to fry it to make a point. We have nothing to prove to anyone but ourselves.
Nevada Day's is coming up quickly and there is a lot to get done. One of the riders at the barn wants to try to ride carrying the American flag on his mustang Amigo. The three of us have worked once in the round pen with the flag, both rider and horse did amazingly well. This time i took Opal into the arena while we worked with the flag in a bigger environment. If we do have a rider with a flag, Opal will need to be exposed to it ahead of time. Amigo did spook at the flag once, but after spending some time building back up to it, he and his rider Greg were walking around like nothing happened. Opal didn't seem to mind the flag much, but wasn't fully on board with it, but did what I asked.
Working with the flag.
The goals for Amigo and Opal for the parade are very similar. 1 - Have a fun, positive experience for the horses, which may mean we walk. 2 - If horses are calm, we ride. 3 - If Amigo and Greg are calm and confident, they will carry the flag. Our priority is making sure the horses have a positive and safe experience above all.
Day 50:
DAY 50!!! How did this happen?!? Wow. Opal and I enjoyed a nice ride at the walk and trot in the arena. She's standing at the tie pole well, letting me pick out all for of her feet, but we are still working on our half halts. Right now, any pressure on the bit and Opal will come to a full halt. She's got great breaks and has no problem using them....just makes it hard when she's at an extended trot and I want her to ease up a bit.
I did get to see her turn into a bit of a fire breathing dragon before the ride. She was all puffed up, snorting a bit, and even crow hopped a few inches off the ground. The cause of such dragonish behavior? My daughter in the play yard in the arena. Opal has seen the play yard, the wagon, and my daughter in them outside the arena and has never acted like this. What the difference was, my daughter was playing in the sand, moving around and Opal couldn't see what or who it was. Once my daughter got into the wagon and Opal could see her, she calmed right down as if nothing happened.
The scary, horse eating, play yard.
After our ride, I un-tacked Opal in the arena and walked her over to her favorite rolling spot where she flopped right down for a good roll. She's comfortable enough to let me stand within a few feet of her while she rolls around.
Nothing like a good roll.
Day 51:
Opal and I have a short time left for Parade prep, but it's also going to be a long, fun 3 days. I wanted to take a break from the push and have fun playing with her in the arena today. We walked around, brushed her all over, then she rolled, we said hello to the neighbor's gelding who had been turned out in their arena (Opal talked to him a lot), and played which hand is the carrot in. After our games, I realized while Opal and the sand are close in color, she should have a bath before the parade. I know, I know.... I'm a mean Mom, letting her roll then washing her. The horror.
This was her first full bath while at the tie pole. She did pretty good standing for it. It is a nice sunny and warm day here today, so while it will take her some time to dry with her fluffy, winter coat, she's not cold. I also noticed she looked a little higher in the shoulder vs her hind, perhaps she's going through a growth spurt.
Opal seems a bit shoulder high, maybe she's growing?
Bath time.
Ehawee:
Ehawee was lounged again today. 15 minutes walk and trot. She would have prefered to graze with her friends and kept trying to stop with them. She's got her fluffy winter coat now so on these warmer days, I have to watch that she doesn't get super sweaty.
Opal and me having a chat at the show last weekend.
Photo by Sarah Takahashi
Day 48:
With such a busy weekend last weekend, Opal has been enjoying a few days relaxing and grazing. Normally I like to post in groups of 2, but had to post about today's ride now! Before I get to that...here's a few more pictures taken by Sarah Takahashi or her mom Tracy at the show last weekend.
I just love them all! Thanks Ladies!
Ok, so back to today's ride. My plan was to work on some figure 8's and walk/trot extensions and collections to help get her build her stamina up. Opal's figure 8's went very nicely, nice smooth turns and she's really beginning to move off my leg pressure...yay!
Figure 8's.
I hated doing these as a kid, now they are my go to routine.
After the figure 8's, we went to the rail to start working walk/trot collections and extensions. Extending is easier because any 'break' and Opal stops dead in her tracks. At least she has breaks. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she doesn't understand what I'm asking her to do, so she'll raise her head and try to avoid the bit. I just talk her through it and try breaking it down another way to help her understand.
Perfect example today was the side pass. While I did not intend for us to do this, she did, so we went with it. My outside foot hit the white fencing making the rail line shake, Opal stopped to look, so I took my crop and tapped several of the lines to let her see it was ok. She then turned to face it and was side passing along the rail line. Figured I'd give her the cues since she was already doing it. She got frustrated with me just before I took the video, but I don't like ending on a bad note, so I asked her again.
I really think I need to get a Go Pro and mount it to a post.
After the side pass, we started working on our trot. She was not the biggest fan of me sitting the trot, she would lift her head up and out, but if I posted or 2 pointed, she'd go into a better and smoother rhythm and frame. Its something we will keep working on. As we collected and extended, she was a bit sluggish changing gears, so I gave her a little more leg encouragement and BAM! She picked up the canter. Yep....cantered to the left 4 strides before she halted. The cowgirl in me took over as I shouted ya-hoo and praised Opal. Well, now we had to try the other side. Once again she eventually hopped right into the canter....then took a stumble in the deeper sand (ugh....the winds have been so bad blowing the sand around) Since I was getting ready to halt her anyways, I just walked her out and left it at that.
Opal's jeweled bridle lost some jewels on it after 3 rides (bummer!) but the tack store I bought it from Horse Town Tack let me exchange it for a new one. It's the one I was originally thinking of getting anyways. I like it, and I think it looks great on her. Opal decided she wanted some coffee this morning as well. Yep, she's my horse.
Mmmmmm, coffee!
Ehawee:
Ehawee got another round of walk/trot lounging today. She got a bit distracted when some of the other horses were getting their treats and she was stuck working. Otherwise she lounged well. She's not sore, stiff, or lame so that makes me happy. I'm glad she can be worked, she's lost so much muscle from having to be off for nearly the last 10 months.
Ehawee lounging.
After the two girls got to graze on some nice green grass.
I have a lot of video here, so they will be at the end of this section of the post. We were invited to go over to Cypress Stables for their fun class play day. It's a whole whopping 2.1 miles from our ranch and owned by a friend of several of us at Kickin Back Ranch (KBR for short). Opal was loaded last in the trailer, mostly to make sure she would load into any part of the trailer.
All set to go.
Photo by Sarah Takahashi
With Mustang Sancho, Gypsy Rose, and Opal all loaded (as well as Whiskey and Tesoro in their trailer) we were off to Cypress Stables for the afternoon. Opal unloaded well and we walked over to the back of my car to get tacked up. She stood well for me without needing to be tied. I decided to put a red ribbon in her tail as a warning to other riders that she may kick. A red ribbon in the tail is a universal sign that the horse may kick, but not always (Christmas shows, 4th of July parades tend to have them in tails just for decoration rather than a warning). While Opal has not kicked out under saddle with me, she has kicked at one mare who crowded her while turned out. In Opal's defense, this other mare started kicking Opal first, but still, having other horses in the arena, better safe than sorry.
Getting ready to ride.
Photo by Sarah Takahashi
First surprise of the day, we were riding in a covered arena. Great for staying dry on rainy days, staying cool on summer days, but some horses don't like the echos and harsh shadows they create. Opal didn't mind it.
In the covered arena.
We did every game played plus worked the outside trail course a bit. We did the marshmallow on spoon class; Red light, Green light (Opal did this once, she was getting frustrated with walking 3 steps and having to halt so quickly); single barrel relay; single barrel pumpkin relay; pole bending; and clover leaf. Each event Opal wasn't sure what I was wanting her to do. She catches on fast, but with patterns changing every game, she'd get going one way when we needed to go the other. Each round she got better and better though. Prime example her clover leaf round 1 was 1 minute 40 seconds and her round 2 was closer to 54 seconds. I had not planned on trotting her as much as we did, but she decided to go for it and I let her.
After the classes were over, we went outside to work on 2 obstacles we didn't have set up at home, a rope gate and a mail box. No scary monsters there, Opal had no problem with either of them.
Working on the obstacle course.
Where we did find a challenge was at the end of the day. It was about 6:30 p.m. when we were ready to load and go home, but Opal was hungry (she'll tell you she was STARRRVING) and it was dark out. Being in the back of the trailer, she has more room to stand, but a shorter entrance into the trailer. I think between those three things, she decided she wasn't going in the trailer. I tried treats, we tried a rope, finally we hung up a small amount of alfalfa hay in a hay bag....she jumped right in. (Note to self, take alfalfa in trailer to Nevada) Once home, Gypsy and Opal shared an arch barn stall and paddock for the night since the pasture had already been fed dinner. She was one hungry girl.
Gypsy, Sancho, Tesoro, and Whiskey were all wonderful as well. Sarah and Gypsy did lots of trot work in the classes, which was not the original plan, but Gypsy said "Let's go Mom" and they were off. Marialaina and Sancho did half of the classes in hand and rode a few as well. Angie and Tesoro were solid in their walk, trot and gait during their ride. Tesoro wanted to keep moving, so standing still between races was hard and he was getting frustrated. Angie got off of him and called it a day before he got too frustrated. Whiskey was ridden by Angie's brother Fernando and led via lead line by their father Mario. Whiskey was calm and just went with the flow of things.
The horses and riders at Cypress Stables also did well and were a pleasure to ride and compete with. It was a nice mix of riding abilities and levels with both barns. Thank you for a wonderful first show out for Opal and a wonderful experience for all out horses and riders. I know I can't wait for the next one.
I also have to thank Yvette, Tracy, Sarah, and my husband Matt for the videos and pictures. They have all been jumbled up now and I'm not exactly sure who took what picture now.
Red light, Green light
Single Stake Relay
Single Stake Pumpkin Relay
Pole Bending Relay
Opal's Clover leaf round 1 and round 2
Opal and Gypsy work the rope gate
Day 47:
After a great day at the show yesterday, things were slow to get going this morning. Gypsy and Opal were slowly eating their breakfast in the paddock they were sharing, while Satin and Ehawee had finished hours ago. I decided to lounge Ehawee for 10 minutes to see her move out and start her back on the road to riding. (She's been recovering from a hoof injury that occurred in late January this year, good news is her hoof is almost fully grown out and has been cleared to lounge a few days a week) I was happy with how she did, she wasn't sore or lame. She needs work to build her muscles back up, but that's what happens when you have to not work for nearly a year.
Remember the wonderful crew from Cypress Stables? They came to play on our turff today! Several of us went out to the horse course and spent the afternoon riding and working on different obstacles. Opal was shown the drag (a small log on a rope) with me on the ground pulling it while leading her. She wasn't sure about it at first, but was at least walking with me and relaxing with each step. Gypsy got to pull the drag while being ridden. Gypsy and Sancho go with their adopters in a few weeks for a Trail Trail competition. It was the perfect weekend of horsing around for us all.
KBR and Cypress Stable riders all ride the horse course at KBR.
