New Kicks.

Went out to ride today around 3 ish. When we pulled up, Spirit was out playing with the others and seemed fine, but upon closer inspection we came to the conclusion that our farrier was right and he may need shoes, at least short term. I'm a big barefoot advocate, not one of those, "SHOE ALL THE HORSES!" types, but I do think some horses really need shoes and Spirit may be one of them..dreading the fee for it but looking forward to less lameness. We shall see when and if he really gets his new kicks. We're still hoping that he will be okay without them but right now mom's sure that he'll get them. She doesn't like shoes either but she likes healthy horses, obviously.

Anyways, we went and all of the horses were in front, yay, A and R pulled up right behind us which was awesome. Got Red on the lead and Tucker went after him and had a little fiasco. My first time in the middle of a horsey fight. :P Red freaked, which isn't normal. He typically just lays back but he wasn't expecting it. He ran in a few circles and pulled away from me. I ran after Tucker and shooed him away, then calmly walked to Red, held my hands out and called for him. Finally, he settled down and walked straight to me and refused to leave my side. No wounds, just a scare!! Red didn't go after Tucker but ran off which I think made it worse. :( I took him to the fence to tie him and he got lots of lovin'.

We ordered some stuff from Chicks before we left for Florida and got it from a wonderful neighbors house where they were getting our mail. :) Little things..two pairs of spurs, a clip for my breast collar so it snaps instead of fastens, some stirrup straps since I was borrowing A's after mine disappeared, and a new curb strap for Spirit. Got my breast collar and stirrups fixed!! Woohoo!! I no longer have super long stirrups and it was ah-ma-zing.

I somehow managed to tack this while lugging my saddle, pad, and breast collar to tack him up.He says, "please, no pictures. I am far too gorgeous for your silly blog."

While I was getting beefcake all tacked up, mom decided to walk Spirit to the barn and try to bridle him to see how he did. He really wasn't acting in pain so mom decided to hop on him bareback if he checked out. No limping, so she tried it. But more on that later...

Worked on Red's standing still while mounting. A and I went ahead on the trails while mom got Spirit-boy settled. She apparently mounted easily but stayed behind us for awhile since we got a head start.

I started using a pair of blunt spurs, like these:

 Because Red's been having some little issues with stubborness. Not to jab at him or anything, but when he acts up, just to give him a little poke. These are really mild. As far as I know, he's never been spurred, but I think he probably has. Can't say for sure. He didn't act up at all with them. I only had to use them, maybe, 3 times tops. Once at a hill we go down and twice in the front pasture that we rode in after the trail ride.

He did great with them, never acted up once and didn't seem fazed. He responded to them well so I'm excited.

A and I trotted around the back pasture a lot, the stirrups. Le sigh, they made such a difference. :) I also open reined today. I need to keep my reins lower and it helped a TON. Plus Red did SO much better with it and it allows me to sit deeper easier. They could still be lower but it improved drastically today.

Once we were done there and had ridden for about 30+ minutes we decided to head back since we hadn't seen mom for awhile..needed to check on Spirit. When we got back she was in the run in with Spirit. He had acted up a ton, she thinks it was mostly from not being worked for a few weeks because he didn't seem tender. :(

I took Red out to the front pasture since we had only ridden for a short period of time and rode around for another 30 minutes. Pretty easy work, only trotted a couple times and worked into a really fast trot.  His trot is about the speed of a typical Quarter Horse canter so we were booking it up the pasture. :)) He is always stubborn in that area because he wants in the run in but didn't fight me as much today as normal. The babies were loose in that pasture so that didn't help, but they stayed in the run in and never bothered us, as per usual.

Excuses are bad, but the only reason my reins are so high in this and I'm not open reining is because we were slowing to a stop and he was being a brat about it. :))

Later, A joined me. She had ridden Patches but switched out with Bay and rode her bareback.

Me: "I AM KING OF THE HILL!" Red: "Shut up mom, you are so, so, so embarrassing!!"

See my heels, they are DOWN. Woot.

And now, photo dump.

He looks so cute.

Muh hur.

Whata butt.

Going to the tree...

Around the tree..

I had one fail moment that I SO wish was caught on video. Red and I, we were running full force. All of a sudden he's like, "NO I MUST RUN INTO ALL THE THINGS" and ran me into a really annoying tree with very annoying, pesky limbs. Kinda like this tree:

And I literally had tiny sharp leaf thingies IN my shirt and IN my pants. Red wasn't fazed although R laughed at me. A lot. :( It was hilarious though.....although said sharp leaves really hurt when I trotted. LOL.

We played around for a few minutes then mom got on Red because she hasn't ridden him in months. Apparently she thought Red was still lazy and I was just having to push him a ton to get him going but as soon as she got on, Red proved her wrong. :)) He took off galloping with her. She claimed her canter felt like he was bucking. :( But she still admitting, AND I QUOTE: "He has a rough gait and probably always will but he's the best horse ever." IN YO FACE SPIRIT.

Took Redman back to the barn after about an hour+ ride and untacked, loved on him. Talked. Gave him a massage with the magnetic curry thingy that he adores and hung out.

"I refuse to put my ears up woman."

So yeah, fun day. :) He got to run around the barn because the stalls were all taken up but he loved it. He ran to each stall like "bahahaha I'm out and you areeeen't!!!"

Jericho is lame right now, not sure why, but we were checking on him and Red peeked his head through the stall next to me and kept trying to eat my shirt sleeve until I came out and gave him his treats. Attention hog.

The horse, with beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other, still remains humble enough to carry a man upon his back.

When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk. He trots the air, the earth sings when he touches it.

William Shakespeare

  

Okay, today's ride. Le sigh, where do I start? If perfect rides truly exist, this was in the top 5 of all time perfect rides. 

We had a football game to watch before we went to the barn-Go Vols!-so as soon it was almost over, we headed to the barn. We got there before everyone else, which was nice because it gave us more room to tack up and once everyone got there, we were ready to go. Mom tacked Spirit up in the barn and I tied Red to a fence post. He was really pushy up in the pasture when I was leading him down, but I think it was because the others-Bella, Bay, Tucker and someone else, I forgot, lol-were all up in our business and being pushy themselves. Bella-Bella wacked mom in the face with her head and received a very stern "no ma'am!" from mom. :)) Once we got down, he kept wanting to run in front of me but I think it was from flies. Once we got to the barn and I started fly spraying he settled down and fell asleep. Got him tacked up quickly and actually PUT MY SPLINT BOOTS ON CORRECTLY, yes, I remembered, and worked on our mounting and dismounting. One of his most annoying things is he moves when I mount sometimes and we're working on that now. I fake mounted-put one foot in the stirrup and stood there, then stood IN the stirrup, lol-about ten times then actually mounted three or so times. He did good. Then I got off and made mom braid his mane...she's my unpaid groom.

Oh so bootiful, Redman.

"Hang on, let me pose. "

After that I hopped on again and we just kinda hung out together for about 25 minutes while A and R tacked up. R, A's husband, came along this time. He rode Bay-Bay, who was very hyped today. :))

Seriously in love with his tack right now...everything MATCHES!! My bridle, reins, breast collar and saddle look like a set. Plus all of my red is the same shade. And almost everything was yardsale finds...splints were like $2, breast collar custom made, saddle was traded, reins and bridle were yardsale finds for like $20, pad was like $10...woot!

 Bay led the way for about two secs until Red decided he HAD to be right next to her. So we raced. Lol!! Red apparently needed to use the restroom so when he did he refused to go anywhere but behind a tree. LOL. Such a gentleman. Anyways, we trotted up ahead. Got Redman prepped for some work today. I love slow trail rides but if I don't start working him, he's gonna be all chubby and zero muscle! I actually think he enjoyed it though, I let the reins slack and he went faster voluntarily. Good boy! 

We rode around the trails, went the long way 'round. We went to the back pasture, about ten acres. When you go in, there's a fairly steep hill straight ahead so Red and I immediately went up it. I've never, never, never gone so fast up that hill. I felt like I was going to die. :)) :)) But we made it and after that we kinda had fun with it.

 Ignore my feet, time to shorten the stirrups. They keep slipping down!! grrrr

 We probably took the hill about ten times. He was really into it and we kept it at a trot most of the time but walked up it and went the easier way about five of those times. Cantered around the creek where it's a LOT cooler so he would cool off.

My horse has discovered he can high step.

Okay, so, we kept running past twigs. Finally, we found a bigger log, probably about the size of an average trot pole. He jumped it. Umm, Red, you aren't supposed to do that. I mean, it wasn't an eventing jump or anything but he hopped over it and scared me half to death. Proof he can do the cavalettis, lol. 

This ride was so much fun, we got tons of work done but I feel like we both enjoyed it and he liked being able to let loose without me pulling him back. I don't know why he was never worked because he likes it and I think I can improve his gait. I think some of his problems is his pasturns because they are a little straight, but we shall see. I think there's been improvement so far.

Spin

We also worked on turns and spins, nothing major, just teaching him the cues and trying to get him to listen more when I say we're NOT going to the gate. I told mom he looks like a reining horse in the picture up there, lol.

Spirit did really good today, too. Last real ride, Spirit was terrible and we now know why. :P His chin strap was missing on his bridle! We fixed it, lol. No pics of the pony because mom had the phone the whole time so I couldn't take photos for her.

Wish his ears were forward and my feet were in a better position but this is my favorite!

I really don't have a bad thing to say..he went down that steep hill that he refuses CONSTANTLY without very much fuss-I had to show him the crop but didn't even tap him with it-he had sassy moments at the barn before we left but that's normal, wanted to be next to Bay-Bay, and he had a couple other "oh no ya don't!!" moments but really, he did amazing.

Pats for the good pony.

I can't remember when we have had such a successful ride. It left me feeling really good about our training and our methods. He's doing so well. 1 year together and we're tackling so much and doing good at it. 

We went back towards the barn then, took the long way until A and mom went up the hill. R and I decided to take the trails the rest of the way. It takes longer but Red was starting to get tired and I wanted to take it easy. We ditched R about halfway and went up another way, he had decided to go ahead and untack her. Mom, A and I went up to the 4 acres for about two laps around there, in which Red decided he had another bolt of energy and raced Spirit. I didn't make him go any faster than a walk the whole time, if he was lazy,I would've because he needs work under his belt, but he literally wanted to go and I've always been told he NEVER NEVER went faster than a walk and was lazy. Yeah, not anymore. :)) After that we went ahead and untacked,sweat scraped and cooled them off. Took Red to his stall once he was cooled off and fed him dinner.

"treats?"

Gave him 3 treats too. He normally only gets one. ;) I splurged! 

We rode for a good two hours, I'd say. It was fun. Longest ride we've been able to have in awhile and we did a lot of groundwork beforehand. I'm proud. We had to get a good ride in before we left for FL. I'm hoping to ride bareback before.

Anyways, no schedule. Things are getting crazy now. Gotta start cleaning the house and preparing. We're about a week away so I have to start planning stuff, buying what we need. Gotta decide on books to buy before. :)) Any ideas? ;) I'll miss Redhead. 

Now, I must eat.

Year.

A year ago today I became a real horse owner. I had owned a miniature, Barbie, beforehand, but obviously I couldn't ride a 30 inch tall mini. For years, I had wanted a big horse. A real one that I could ride. I had begged, searched for the horse, proved that I was responsible enough, that I could help pay, I'd work for them, which was all good, but in the end we just didn't have the room and we really didn't want to board the horse because there wasn't a place near us, or so we thought, and we couldn't afford the average boarding rate of $350+ a month.

Barbie.

Then, we went on a family vacation to Florida and I was invited on a trail ride along with my mother and step-dad. My aunt and her kids, a little older than myself, had to rehome some of their horses after financial difficulty and sadly, Red, the horse they put me on, had to go. It was difficult, getting rid of him. They had him for years, practically since he was a baby, and they loved him so much. But, they had to rehome some and Red just had to leave. I didn't know, but my Aunt was asking my mom if she could take Red. Mom had horses all her life as well, so she wanted to, but we just didn't think we could. But, mom decided to let me ride him, and not tell me her plan, see how we clicked and what she thought of Red. She had met him several times but never really paid attention.

Long story short, we got him after a hard time catching him, as he wasn't a fan of that, tacked up and left. I fell in love. I really wanted him. He was 15 HH at the time, now he's about 15.2'ish..he has odd growth spurts, lol. Not really what I pictured myself with but I really liked him. When we left, I begged mom. Please, let me try. Please, let's just try and see if we could do it. A week later, we were back home and went to a rodeo full of Quarters. I pointed out all of the Bay's and pretty much begged some more. The next day, I found out we were taking him. The conversation wasn't the nicest in the beginning. Mom started with, "We can't keep Barbie." and ended with, "Stop crying, you look horrible." Needless to say, it was bittersweet but I was excited. I loved Barbie a lot, but in all honesty, she couldn't take me where I wanted to go. We were at a standstill and while we had a bond, I helped her and she helped me, I needed and was ready for something better.

July 2012

To make this very long story even shorter, he came home on September 4th. I cried as the trailer pulled up. The first few days were hectic and I lived in his stall. I brushed him a good 50 times a day, I stayed in the pasture. I took my homework-homeschoolers unite!-to the pasture and spent time with him. I gave him treats. We fed him 3 times a day, once at about 5 AM when it was still dark, once around 3 and once around 11. I woke up bright and early every day to go see him. I didn't ride him for a few weeks, but that was fine. He needed to settle. We ended up having to board, that was hard, but seeing how happy he was to be part of a herd again made it worth it. 

The day he moved. Running to me as I left.

I cried when I watched him run freely, I hadn't seen him do that before. 

A year later, here we are. Still trail riding, still working on that gait of his, feeding less, still taking tons of photos every time I see him, the bond hasn't gone away and the thrill hasn't faded. Everyone said it was a phase and didn't expect me to still be this crazy after so long, haha, they thought wrong.

Little less than a year ago.

July 8th.

My EQ has improved, his gait has improved, my physical ability has improved, his has improved. I wish I had a better "after shot" but I don't have a good in action, new photo in the saddle, need to get more. Since my time has been so limited I've been riding bareback.

This past fall, I believe.

The other day.

Can't wait to see where we're at next year.


PS:  I was told the other day that Red was used as a cattle horse before my aunt bought him. Interesting. :)) Also, was told that he maybe cantered 3 or 4 times with them when they had him for over 5 years so I think all he needs is tons of work, muscle gain in his back and etc and his gait will get better. Tips?

Oh, forgot to post these photos I took this morning at the barn!

Collection.

Thought I'd put together all of the sketches people have done for me! :)

This one was done this morning, so new! Love it!! Drawn by _horseaholic_

Red looks like a chub :) Drawn by _Horseaholic_ on Instagram!

Drawn by Emikristene on Instagram! I adore this one..

Drawn by my friend Alicia. :)

I'm going to get these framed somehow, just need to figure out what exactly I want to do with them. Any ideas on framing and etc???

Draw my pony.

A girl on Instagram drew this of Red and I. :)

Horseflies.

Went for a ride today!! Went out at 12:30 and everyone was already tacking up, A had her grandson with her with was fun! :) He's about two or three. Mom felt up to it so she got Spirit to the barn and tacked him up, J had to help her carry the saddle since she can't lift over 4 pounds until 6 weeks post surgery. I brought Red down with the help of Bay-Bay and tied him out front with Patches and Hercules. Lady, C's horse, was lame, we think she tripped and hurt herself, so he rode Hercules. He gave Hercules to R awhile back so it's nice for him to have the ability to ride him! Hercules is actually Lady's colt. The horse flies were HORRIBLE today..the bugs weren't that bad but the horse flies were everywhere. Red stood really well and did fantastic while I tacked him up. He was sleeping the majority of the time so I doubted that he'd be energetic today! :)) A helped me figure out the breast collar because I still can't tie it right. Gonna invest in some of the clips for it, lol!! Got him all tacked up and fly sprayed a fly to death. At the last minute I decided to try my splints again so I got those on. They actually didn't slip as bad today so I'll see....medicine boots are so far in my dreams but I can't afford them ATM, so the splints will have to do. They worked well today. He came back with no nicks or anything on his legs and was much less bugged by the flies on his legs.

I hopped on before anyone else just so I could do some work on his mounting. He tends to want to move when I mount but he's improving little by little. He did SO good with it today!!! Got off because of ANOTHER dang fly but I got back on without him fussing. The fly left a pretty good mark on him so I was surprised when he just calmed right down when I got back on.. We just kinda sat there until everyone else mounted. He didn't walk when I got on him, which is what I wanted, since the others were still working I needed him to be quiet and not be a distraction, which he did perfectly, yay! After that, we were off...I took the lead and cantered Red up farther. He's a follower, NOT a leader, so I wanted to test him a little just to see how he did. Hercules was having some issues..It's only his third or fourth time out of the round pen, so considering that, he did really well. He ended up staying down there for awhile, lol. C worked on him a lot though and went on a couple of the trails by himself and we met up a few times. Red wanted to stop a few times so a couple smacks on his butt took place, lol!

Hercules and Red. NOTE: I don't allow my horses to get up too close during rides, but Hurk literally came running and I was taking a between the ears shot, this kinda just happened. :)) Red was moved up front about a second later.

We went through all of the trails and rode for about an hour. It was really hot out in the pastures so we stuck to the trails where it was shady. Once we got to the rockier area Red just stopped and I had to pick up a little twig and use it as a crop, a tiny tap got him going again. The rocks don't feel good, even when your horse has amazing feet, so I took it really slow. Once he got to the big open, ten acres, he was ready to run. I tapped him on the butt and he worked into a canter, then, finally WE GALLOPED! Yes!! :D I am so excited. Almost a year later..we finally gallop. Yipee!! We stopped shortly though. ;) Spirit wanted to run with us and mom had to take him way out to the end of the pasture, so once she was gone I talked to A and G-her grandson-and took a break in the shade, after that we walked around the creek line and I galloped a few more times around the pasture, cantered around the fenceline. G kept getting hit by Patches tail, he was doubling with A and kept saying, "PATCHES, NOOO! Stop hitting me!" and "Mimi, she's HITTING me!!"

Just a note: He had on a helmet but we took it off during breaks and A held onto him the whole time. :) The helmet was a bit large on him, lol!!

After that, mom came back 'round.

 Another stupid fly stung him and made him bunny hop, I dismounted to kill it because it kept trying to sting me plus I thought the test would be good. He REFUSED to let me back on but after about three minutes I was back on and he did great again,
 
We headed back after another lap. We went the long way around, where you pass about three hills that the horses tend to want to run up. Patches and Spirit were pretty insistent on wanted to go up them, but Red just followed and didn't mind. It was getting breezy and I kind of think he enjoyed the breezy, slow walk.

Once we walked back, we saw C on Hurk up near the house, so we turned back around. Red acted like he wanted to go back in the barn but once he noticed he was being left behind, he trotted up the hill and said hello. :) We all walked to the barn and got J to take some pictures.. A has some better ones of all of us on her phone so I'll have more pictures later, when she posts them on FB.


Once we were done taking pictures I took Red in the barn and tied him at his stall, near the fan so he could cool off. Got the sweat scraper and got all that nasty junk off. :)) He got some lovin' from G too :) He LOVES kids. No wonder he was a lesson horse ;) Gave him some treats and let him hang out while I put my stuff away.

Ignore his twisted splint, G was looking at them and asked why he had "cowboy horse boots on" and one of the straps got undone.

Pretty sure everytime I see him, I love him more. Despite his random stubborness, he did so good. Every time we go on a ride mom ends up saying something like, "ya know, he is just a good horse." or something along those lines. :) :) He really is a good horse, through and through. He's sound, he has a wonderful personality. He RUNS now, and wants to. Before he literally only walked or he would just be horrible. I'm so happy that he's actually enjoying his job now.

Him doing this every time I come to the barn or leave and whinny at me, plus just being gorgeous, helps a lot too. ;)

Hoping to get another bareback ride in soon, too. Probably this week sometime unless we get in another long trail ride. I'm getting back in the motions now so I should be back to riding at least twice a week now, just praying that mom begins feeling better. She was in horrible pain yesterday and has been light headed today. :P :P Until then, I'm the main babysitter so I can't just leave her. I take what i can get at the moment, it's nice to have her back in the saddle!

ALSO: Red's skin is doing great again and his tail is hairy!! Wooho!!! I'm kinda excited for winter because I don't have to worry and he'll have a nice tail.

OH! we will be having the thoroughbred and owner probably moving to the barn soon!! She's owned him since he was 9, he's 22 now. She jumps and does Dressage. :) Vet will be out Wednesday around 4. Gotta get Coggins pulled and some vaccines done..

Trot, trot, trot, trot.

My title is so creative. Anywho, today has been insane. Met with some family that was in town at Cracker Barrel, stuffed my mouth, came home. Helped babysit kids. Felt even worse today than yesterday-dumb cold!!-and I'm really hoping I don't get a stupid sinus infection. Suffered through the evening, stressed out to the max, finally made it to the barn at 4:30. Went in the barn, said hello to my barn friends, went to Red's stall, said hello to the cutie patootie. Walked him out, everyone flanked to him and gave him some lovin' lovin'. He has a tiny bite mark above his tail. Took him off Anti-Fungal stuff because his neck was goin' bald and sure enough hair is growing again. Using the listerine mixture now and it's working well. Tied him after he got petted, checked him for thistles or anything that would hurt. Hopped on bareback-step-dad gave me a leg up so mounting was WAY easier hahaha-and we were off. Walked around the driveway for a few minutes..

Going up the hill

Up hill

Down hill! Do y'all see that stinking high step? Yes. He is becoming more graceful! BOOYAH!

I think I was looking at the sky and saying, "is it a bird? Is it a plane? I hope it's a unicorn!"

Made a few laps. Then. THEN. THEN! I trotted bareback. For the first time. Ever. Surprisingly, his trot *wasn't* as horrific as i'd thought it would be! Seriously guys, he has the roughest gait ever, but bareback it wasn't so bad. I'd actually rather trot than walk bareback now.

Trotty trotty

Love Brewski! :)

I decided to take him to the round pen after so step-dad opened gates and we were off.

He is so gorgeous. :O Tell me I'm not biased.

Favorite

Trotted around in the round pen for a few minutes until he started bunny hopping from flies and I hopped off to go groom him and fly spray him. He was being so annoyed by them..he did SO much better outside the pen than inside, as usual he was testy because I was bareback but he did pretty good nonetheless and put up with my tight reins in the beginning. :)) :)) I'm proud of him. ;) ;) He listened to the cues well enough other than wanting to turn once we got to one spot in the pen. A's husband R drove by in his 4-wheeler and Red didn't even glance, just trotted along. :)) Love my boy! R looked at him and applauded him for not dumping me and then said, "well, even if he did throw you, you'd be fine because you have a bond." lol!

Ignore my bareback butt :P

After that David rode around with A holding tightly to him, me leading Red and Mom and step-dad taking pics! :)

Red got in a few Z's.

Like Reds butt hat?

 Once we were done I fly sprayed, brushed him out, groomed his mane and tail then took him outside. Or tried. He refused to leave my side, literally. He kept doing his hug thing and wrapping his head around my neck and wouldn't move. LOL. Poor baby wanted some more cuddles. :( Gave him a treat and pushed his butt out. :)) Spirit's leg is back to normal now, too. Thought we saw him favor it earlier but he just stepped weird in a more rocky area and is doing well.


Great ride today. :) No clue on the schedule this week. Next up is Spirit! Gonna round pen him and possibly lunge. Depends on how I feel and how he acts then. After that it's Red's turn again. Mom's free to ride in less than 2 weeks so she's excited.