#13 We are here!

Reba met me at 2:45 and we made it to the vet by 3:15, just barely. Got health papers, Kelly met us and we were on the road. We had no problems, enjoyed the ride and got to the Young County Arena around 5:30. Got Gray settled into his stall, asked a guy to help us with getting the goose neck off the truck, and we were on our way to our hotel.

When we got to the hotel, our room with the 2 queen beds had been given away. It was either two queen beds and smoking, or a king with a roll away. We decided to try our luck at a Holiday Inn Express that was just down the road from the arena. Kelly and I waited in the truck while Reba checked in. Who should go in right behind her but no other than Clinton Anderson himself. He was obviously headed to a men's room, cause he walked right by Reba... and kept going. We honked, but she ignored us. He came back out and got on line behind her. Kelly called her on the phone and told her that he was behind her. She finally turned around and spoke to him. As she headed toward the truck, she looked as if she would swoon. It was hilarious. So.... quite accidentally we are staying at the same hotel as he and his crew.

After we had a good laugh in the hotel room, we headed to Subway for a quick lunch.

Tomorrow is the day!!

#13 Our Great Adventure starts tomorrow....

Well, I went to Jim's tonight and picked up his truck and Nicholas' rodeo trailer. It is a two horse goose neck, which will be easier to pull than my bumper pull trailer. It also has a changing room, place for saddles, hay and feed. We are all set.

Tomorrow Reba will meet me at the house, and Kelly will meet us at the vet to get the final health papers. Then we will be on the road. I decided not to stress about not doing anything since Sunday. Trying to finish up school, decorate a little, then Joseph got in last night. I am meeting myself coming and going. My plan now is to just relax and learn. Wish I had a laptop so I could write nightly, but I am taking a notebook, so I will transcribe all Sunday night.

I am packed and ready to go!!

#12 Kelly came by....

Kelly cut the bridle path on "Grady" (trying out different names...). She also trimmed his ears, face and fetlocks. He looks very nice... I showed her how much better he backs up and flexes. We still struggle a little with the yielding the hindquarters, but she was impressed with how much better he is doing. I got him to lunge a bit for her.. We visited a bit too long, and I gave up the idea of taking him to Jim's arena. I will try to do that Tuesday, and tomorrow I will ride around here. Today I just picked out his feet and turned him back out.

#11 Made a bit of progress yesterday..

Yesterday morning was drippy and cool, but I got outside anyway. I was all prepared to get my horse to yield his hindquarters. I had studied up and reread part of the book. The other thing I did was watch Clinton's first episode. I had downloaded it to my computer. It was on round penning. He does suggest to do that with all horses, not just beginners. His initial step is to get them to move out and not change direction. Then he gets them to turn, but to the inside. Very quickly he goes from there to getting them stop and turn to face him. If the horse does not face him, he sends them off getting their feet moving. Well.. I fed the horses a little oats early on and shut the trap gate while they were eating. In the meantime, the dogs and I went after hay and caked the goats. We also discovered the paint goat had had a beautiful paint nanny. Quite large. I expect Curled Back Horn to kid any day. Thank heavens the weather is a little better. Anyhow, when I got back and entered the trap with the halter.... both horses ran off towards the gate that was shut. So... once they realized they could not escape, I sent both of them off swinging the halter rope. Very shortly, Major stops and walks up to me. You do have a good horse... just needs the ground work. So... I let him out the gate. I sent Gray off a few times.... he never really faced me, just kind of gave up. We really need a 50 foot round pen. We may have to cut down a tree to keep it where it is, but even Ricky is too big now for the little round pen. I really think I will be ready to work with him.

Back to my horse..... I go through all the things we have learned..... desensitized with the lead rope, desensitized with the stick and string, flexed his neck on both sides, backed him up 3 different ways, and then we tried moving the hindquarters. Well.... we made progress. He can do it pretty well on one side, and is halfway there on his stiffer side. Somewhere in the middle of all of this I realized that his feet were solid with mud. I didn't want him lame, so I picked out his feet. He is so good about that. I pretty much just tap his leg, and he lifts it up for me. Good thing we stopped, all kind of rocks and mud. After that I lunged him... somewhere in there I was pretty frustrated and tied him up and cleaned off the porch to get ready to hang Christmas decorations. It calmed me and I went back to it. I don't remember if it was before or after I tried to lunge him. But.... we got that going again. Wasn't real pretty on our stops where he should turn and face me, but at least we can get it going. I am hoping to get the advice I need to make better progress this weekend.

The big thing I wanted to accomplish this weekend was to get more confident loping. I was a little more apprehensive yesterday because we were trying the new snaffle bit. I know he is way more used to the severe roping bits that they have used on him in the past, so I decided to only ride down the driveway and around the house until I felt comfortable. I am supposed to be able to do a one rein stop on both sides. I tried that as soon as I got on the horse. He didn't like it worth a darn, but he started to understand on his good side. The stiff side wasn't as good, he wanted to keep going in a circle, but finally he would stop. If I reined him like he was used to, we did just fine... So I know I can stop him, we just have to work on other methods. He sure wanted to go yesterday, even broke into a lope heading down the driveway. So.... I took another break... Tied him to a tree and worked on the house some more. The porch looks great!

About 30 minutes later I tried again. This time I lunged him with the saddle on... then we headed out the gate. He is doing better about not moving off when I mount, I keep his head tilted towards the saddle. That happens to be his good flexing side. I did a lot of stopping when he would break into a faster gait without me asking. I am also trying to get him to chill when we stop. He wants to always go. We headed towards the alfalfa field, I didn't want to tear up what Mike had plowed. When we got to the field, I let him lope the entire length... that is a pretty long field. We did a slow trot across the width... I was tempted to say good enough, but about 2/3 the way back up the field I cut across and did another bit of loping. Can't say I did it on a loose rein, but then again I wasn't in an arena where there are boundaries. When I tried to do a loose rein, I could feel him getting faster and faster. However, he would always slow down when I asked. On the way back, I made him walk the entire way. He didn't want to, but we did a lot of one rein stopping and backing up, and he finally decided that walking and relaxing was much more productive. When we got back, I tied him up... I didn't leave him too long. I had decided to catch the end of the boy's basketball tournament. They were in the championship round. So, I turned him loose. I started to brush him and he was soaked all over, so I even got an old towel and dried him off, then turned him loose. I meant to pick the mud out of his feet, but I forgot. I originally was going to try to ride again later in the day, but I decided that he and I both needed an evening to think it all over.

Kelly is going to meet me this afternoon to cut a bridle path and make him look good. Reba is going to come also so we can make final plans. Then I am going to haul him to Jim's and ride him in the arena. Then.... if I have time after school this week I will ride, but I won't worry about it. At least I have accomplished a few things, and am not going to this clinic clueless.

#10 Been a few days.....

I got to work with Smokey (Bev's great suggestion) one day after that last post. That must have been on December 4th. Here it is 5 days later, and the weather or obligations have kept me from being able to work outside. I did lunge Smokey the next day and he picked up on it very quickly. However, it was pretty muddy and he slipped one time, and I thought he was going down, but he caught himself. I didn't want to cause a problem, so we didn't stay out very long. I also realized that he still doesn't give me "two eyes" like he should when we change directions, so I have reviewed that on the DVD I have as well as one of the episodes I have downloaded from Clinton's TV shows that is of a clinic he held in Waco. I think I understand better how to communicate that concept now. The horseshoer finally came on Sunday, so we are really ready to go. Now maybe a break in the weather will help.

#9 Alas, the weather continues to not cooperate....

Since no go on outdoor activities, I watched the section on the DVD that shows how to lunge the horse first stage. I think I get it. This morning in the tub I reread half of Clinton Anderson's book, paying special attention to yielding the hindquarters and giving two eyes, yielding the forequarters and the part on lunging. Sometimes reading the information helps me solidify it in my brain. So.... maybe tomorrow. 25 degrees right now.

#8 Cold and rainy

Well... no way to work outside today!! It was bad enough getting hay and feeding everyone. A day to stay in by the fire if I had one..

So... I watched the part of the DVD that spoke to moving the forequarters... watched the section on potential mistakes and problem solving. I guess I was just giving up too soon. As soon as the weather clears we will cross that hurdle. That's all for today.