News and Musings:
November 4, 2009 - Please VOTE!
And visit my new blog for future updates.
October 29, 2008 - I've taken Paisano out on a couple of trail rides since his surgery and he just does better and better. He did drop a bit of weight, but is picking back up again. Photos from both rides can be seen by clicking on the thumbnails below...
I am also in the process of fitting my new Renegade boots on Lily. I really like the look and how easy they go on. Now just to find a 1/16" allen wrench..
And I would like to put in a plug for Tamara's blog, The Barb Wire. She's currently putting on a "best of" contest. Check it out!
October 3, 2008 - I thought that I would give an update.... Paisano was gelded on 9/15. He has healed excellently, in great SM fashion. With Lily being pregnant, he is likely to be my riding horse for the next year or so, until Vinnie is old enough. Paisano is in with Lily, so he's being able to adjust to being a gelding slowly.
I rode him four days after the surgery and he was just fine. Then I tried taking him up to Westfir for our SMR trail ride. I wanted to keep up with his antibiotics and after care. Well, I ended up taking him home Saturday morning and coming back. He wasn't quite ready to settle down in a small corral next to Lily. He hadn't seen her for a week and wanted to be in with her. Taking him home let me enjoy the rest of the weekend. More on the trail ride, when I get my photos off my old camera. Needless to say, we had fun!
If I can raise some money, I would like to send him to Megan Keenan (Sibiga) for a few months next year. This would be to get him started on driving and market him to the CD crowd. I would love to see him out there as a competition driving pony. I think that he could do well. Not sure on the financial aspect, but it's a possibility. Otherwise, I'll just get him out on the trails.
And I think that I have found a ride for Vinnie to come home later this month! He will be three next year, so is ready to do more ground work on and start on his saddle training next year. Josie sent me some recent photos and his mane is already as long as Lily's. I'm really excited to see him again. It's been over a year....
So, it looks like I'm going to take a break from breeding for some time. I need to devote some energy to my human kids. One just started college and the other middle school. They need my energy now more than ever. I hope to end up with two or three easy going riding horses, to take the kids out with me on the trails. It will be another year or two, but we will get there!
I don't know that I can ever stop thinking about breeding plans though. At one point, I had a plan laid out through 2020! And I still see horses for sale that I would love to buy and build a herd with. Alas, I am not independently wealthy! But I do have Paisano's frozen semen to use, when I am ready to, even if it is years from now.
I was asked about the frozen doses from Paisano... I am still feeling it out, but am considering starting them at $400/dose, which is 5-7 0.5 ml straws. Each dose is calculated to give over 1.5 million motile cells. The variation is the number of straws/dose has to do with the varying motility with each collection. By the last collection, he was getting 50% post thaw motility, which is pretty darn good! I have 18 doses (plus a couple straws) available to me, so will carefully consider selling any. At this point, I am not going to focus on marketing them. if someone has a great mare and is able to provide the good mare management needed, I'll consider it.
September 6, 2008 -
Paisano is happy to be home after two weeks at Oakhurst Thoroughbreds. I now have 26 breeding doses of semen stored for posterity. The service there was great. Paisano gained a bit of weight to perfect condition during his visit. I would highly recommend Brad Root and his father, Dr. Jack Root, to anyone looking for specialized breeding services in Oregon.
Paisano was pretty happy about being reunited with Lily. He went and rolled in all his favorite spots, about 20 times. lol! Then he ran laps, while Lily watched. She made sure that he didn't get too fresh with her too. I am glad to have the freezing done with. We know that he had good motility post thaw. The next step will be to get a pregnancy with it. Stay tuned!
And here is a good one of all his belly markings...
A few more from today....
July 8, 2008 -
Lily and Paisano are enjoying being a herd right now, so there should be one last foal from them next summer. She is making him court her and keeping him well in line, without being nasty. She just makes her feelings very clear. After she is confirmed in foal, the plan is to geld Paisano and let them be a herd. More photos from this time may be found here.
July 4, 2008 - I found this talk inspiring enough to want to share it with those who visit here. I encourage you to take 20 minutes out of your day and see another way of looking at our existence. (If the embedded video doesn't run, click here.)
June 30, 2008 -
June 28, 2007 - Well, another SMR meeting is past, with decisions made and lots of discussion after the fact on those decisions, as always. I enjoyed meeting people that I had emailed with and having a bit of time to visit more with those I had already met. It was HOT down there in Texas, 100+ degrees. The humidity was not terribly bad, so I tolerated it okay. I just made sure to use my 45 SPF sunscreen and a visor over my turban. I wished that I had caught all of Dr. Gus Cothran's talk on advances in genetics research, but I arrived with only 15 minutes remaining. Even so, it was great to hear him and I'm very glad that he was able to attend. I had been in NM to attend my daughter's High School graduation the day before. I was also honored to receive the Bill Valentine Perpetual Award. Some photos from the meeting are here.
Other news... the 2009 SMR Meeting with be here in western Oregon! Yes, the PNW SMR group is hosting. We will have a trail ride on September 20th at a prospective site, to check it out. I am excited about getting SMR folks in my area together and have already had assurances from as far as Florida, that people are coming. There is much to see in this part of the country, for those interested in making it part of a longer vacation, such as the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake, the Lava Beds and more....
Jim and Carol Dildine put me up for a couple of days after the meeting at their lovely ranch. It was a special treat to meet Troubleshooter again and see what a nice stallion he is. I even found his sweet spot and got some shots of TS being scritched. I spent hours out in the heat taking photographs. I have more to add to my galleries, but you can see the start of them here:
Longhorn cattle
Spanish Mustangs
On another front, I have interest in Paisano, but I have decided not to freeze semen at this point. I may breed Lily one last time to him, with the foal for sale at weaning. Though I do have to consider the timing of that with the meeting next year. Further breeding to Paisano will only be available through this summer by fresh cooled shipped semen and live cover. The specifics on where he will end up will have to wait a week or so, until the details are worked out. Stay tuned!
May 27, 2008 - Yeah!! It's up! This has been my plan for many years and now it is finally here...
Complete with artwork (more to come!), photography.
May 26, 2008
Finally, after many years of thinking about it, I am launching a commercial Fine Art & Photography site, where you may purchase prints and a few gift items. It is still very much under development and will be redirected to my old domain of simratkhalsa.com shortly. In the meantime, please check it out at: http://simrat.exposuremanager.com/. I welcome any and all feedback!
I will be posting galleries of equine events that I attend. I've enjoyed taking photos for my own interest and look forward to sharing them now through my new site. Older images will be added as well, as time goes on. I've got quite an archive now. I've been taking photos since, oh, about 1975...
May 15, 2008 - A couple of photos from today...
May 11, 2008
Mother's Day and I am being treated to having my son do almost anything that I request of him. It's quite nice! Even nicer was the ride we had together on Friday. Lily came back from her five month lease a week ago and now we start with my son, Hargobind, coming out to ride at least once a week. He wants to ride Lily at next year's Expo in some sort of costume. He's mentioned either a native warrior or a conquistador. This will likely involve quite a bit of research in the next year in the process of figuring out which one! Meantime, he will be working on improving his riding skills as well. I am also in the process of meeting people who are interested in part leasing Lily.
Here are a couple of photo galleries of the ride:
Hargobind and Lily
Me and Paisano
It is wonderful to have the sunny days back. The paddocks have dried up. It's pretty warm and it is light well into the evening, making for much more pleasant riding time.
April 2, 2008 - Well the Expo is over and it was great fun.
Where to start??
All the horses looked good. We had my Paisano, and from Day's End Ranch, Warrior's Last Jazz Dance (Annie), Cruzer, Warrior's Keepsake (Keeper), all ridden. Then, in hand, a lovely 3 year old mare named Shyla. Shyla is for sale, if anyone is looking for a very nice, dun overo, ready to start sweetheart! if I were looking, I would take her home in a minute.
It was COLD! Nights were down to freezing; days maybe 40's with wind. We all bundled up and toughed it out. The electricity to our booth could only handle one heat generating item at a time, so we alternated the coffee and hot water urns and the portable heater that I brought.
The warm up arena was outside with wet, slippery footing that got the horse's legs, bellies and my boots dirty. And on Saturday it rained and hailed on us out there! I knew that Paisano needed the warmup time. We had a little bucking incident on Friday at the start of our demo. We only had 10 minutes to stretch his legs that day and there were crowds leaving the arena after the Extreme Cowboy Race. I don't think that he had ever seen that many people in one place before. He did settle down and mind after that. When I felt air between me and the saddle, I really got serious and sent him on into a good canter.
We upgraded our booth this year, with Kay bringing the canopy and me bringing the blue butcher paper to cover all the ugly green walls, the coffe/tea and 8' tables, new matching chairs, etc. It was total luck that our colors matched perfectly!
We talked to lots of people, gave out a hundred plus cups of coffee, brochures and flyers and watched/listened to Duane's meeting videos so many times that the cowboy songs are stuck in my head. We had a record time breaking down and getting out in one hour, thanks to Chuck and Kay's entourage of grandkids and 4-H'ers. There is a huge pile of stuff stretching from my dining room to my front door and I feel like I could sleep for a week. New friends were made, business cards shared and stories told. I invited people into Paisano's stall to pet him and he showed off his tricks for ginger cookies. One lady carefully looked him over, studied his conformation and declared that he was "well put together" and that his back was as wide as her 15.2 hand Appaloosa's.
More photos can be seen here.
And here is a video of Friday's demo.
January 21, 2008 - Well, yesterday was a day of changes. My good friend, Susan, finally has a new foal from her mare. We've been waiting for a long time and are all glad that it all ended in a beautiful bay colt!!
And... Lily moved to her new home for a while. She is leased out to Jerri of Learning Horses. You will be able to stay updated on Lily's adventures by reading Jerri's blog. It is a good fit for all of us. I couldn't have asked for a better temporary home for my Lil. Jerri came to pick Lily up in the morning and I stopped in later to see how she had settled in and watch a lesson with Gina Gardner, a gaited horse trainer and judge. Lily is doing great.
Paisano spent much of the day galloping laps in his paddock, calling and watching for Lily to come out of the arena....
It's amazing to have just one horse to go see at the barn. One horse to feed; one horse to commune with; one horse to ride. Yes, RIDE! It was a really cold day for us here. The puddles were freezing as I got there around 5:30 pm. There was still a little light, which was a real pleasure after months of total darkness in the evening.. the only time I get to the barn. I raced to clean and fill water tubs before the hose froze, fed and took Paisano out to groom him. I wanted to try a new sheepskin saddle pad I just got.
I haven't ridden him since September. He's been having a break, gaining weight and just being a horse. The saddle pad was a good fit for him, but didn't quite fit the flaps of my saddle. I took him down to the arena in the now dark, cold night. A few minutes of lunging settled him down, so I bridled him and got on! He was great for having such a long break and we did some simple walk, trot, canter work, with a little bit of leg yeild and travers. Then three mares came into the 60 x 100 arena in quick succession. Two were allowed to roll and then were lunged, while the third was ridden. He held it together pretty well, though I could tell that it was close to blowing his little mind! After about 10 minutes of that, I called it quits for the evening. There will be many more opportunities for us this year. I hope to get in three rides per week, haul out to some lessons and get him to a couple of local shows. Stay tuned!
January 4, 2007 - Has it really been this long since I've posted an update? I guess I've been busy... I would love to say that I've been spending all my time with the horses, but no, it's been work. Ten hour days and working Saturdays has not been uncommon lately. (sigh) We are implementing Oracle ERP system and I've been pulled onto the ERP team, as I manage the all the data for raw materials, packaging, finished goods, etc. from commercialization to end of life. Just call me the Item Master Queen!
On the horse front, I've been looking to lease Lily, since she's not getting ridden much lately. After a few months of advertizing her on craigslist and posting flyers at local feed stores, Jerri contacted me. She came out to try her twice and will probably take Lily for 6 months. Jerri lives not far from my work and current barn, so I'll be able to check in on Lily and take her an apple every so often. Jerri has Paso Fino horses and was looking for a horse to learn more about riding walk-trot-canter. Lily should be great for that, as she's smooth. And besides, Jerri likes small horses!
Paisano had a few months off lately and he and I are both ready to get back to work. I plan to ride him at the Expo in March this year. I might also take him to a schooling show the end of this month as a bit of a warm up and to get him back out into the world. If there is a dressage schooling show before then, we will do that too.
I have recently gotten into reading a few blogs. Here are a couple that I like:
Halt Near X
Learning Horses
November 26, 2007 - I added a couple of galleries to Paisano's page. They are under "At Liberty." I had taken him out for the first time all month. He's been left alone mostly, with a treat and pats here and there. He had a nice grooming and then some ground work and training on standing ground tied, basically reestablishing who is really in charge. ;) Then I brought out the camera and practiced with it. It was supposed to be sunny, but ended up staying overcast, so the light was diffuse, so interesting lighting. So here is a selection. Visit the links on his page to see the rest.
I like this one. He was pretty mellow and friendly and looking for belly scratches....
Then I put up some from the day Cora left in October. It was sunny then. I think he was looking for her.
He still has Lily for his herd. Here she is standing on her nice, new gravel pad. Next summer, I plan to do the same thing on Paisano's side.
November 18, 2007 - I've been riding much more this last week and it has been very nice, though I am more sore than I thought I would be. And it seems that every weekend there are event to go see. It can be hard to pick between riding and watching! I did go see the Mt. Trail Explorer Challenge and took a few photos to try out my new SLR camera in an indoor setting. The pictures from Saturday are here. And here are Sunday's photos.
You can also see photos from the Classical Dressage Clinic with Johanna Batista here. I didn't remember to hand my camera to someone when I rode Paisano, so no photos of us there. Paisano did well, though he did get tired. It was more concentrated work than we are use to doing. He is getting the month off, while I ride Lily, so he is getting hairy and dirty, just enjoying being a horse.
November 14, 2007 - I went to the BEACH with Lily on Sunday!!! More pictures here
I think my grin will last ALL week.....
I picked up the OET newsletter Saturday night and, Wow! There was a ride planned by my local chapter to Baker Beach. I called the contact number and it turned out that only one person planned to go and was bringing her neighbor. I arranged to get out of my one commitment for Sunday, called Mary and we arranged a time to meet. I've never ridden at the coast and I've always wanted to.
I was out of the house at 8, at the barn and loaded up at 9, pulling out on the highway. The drive is through the coast range and was 1.5 hrs of winding roads, narrow stretches with little shoulder and even a tunnel. During the drive the weather report on the radio shifted from 80% chance of rain to partly sunny with high wind warnings for the night. The drive was lovely.
I missed the turn, as there was no Forest Service sign. There wasn't a turn around for several miles of switchbacks up to a point that overlooked the beach we were to ride on. It was a breathtaking view.
Mary pulled up about 20 minutes after I got there. Her neighbor turned out to be my friend, Linda, with her Paso Fino gelding, Danza. That was a very pleasant surprise.
Lily is in better shape than I thought. She got sweated up, but still had lots of steam after at least 10 miles through sand, up and down the dune. We didn't do a whole lot of walking either. It was everything from a slow gait up to her huge extended trot to cantering.
None of the horses were too sure about stepping out on the soft sand dunes at first. They would put a foot down for a moment, then it would sink. I think it was very unsettling for them. Mary had to get off Snoopy and lead him down for Linda and I to follow him to the firm part by the water.
Lily wasn't too sure of the waves at first either. They rush up on you pretty quickly. The beach is very long and level so they travel far. We all had some nice (fast!) sidepassing going on before they figured out the waves didn't eat horses!
I also found that Lily can be competitive. She liked being first, or at least a head in front. We did swap leaders, but she wasn't as happy about that. The whole ride was just great. She went on a loose rein, slowed when I asked and we worked on steady pace, when she did want to move out.
She liked to put her nose to the sand, sniffing and licking it. Linda kept warning me that she would roll.... and all of a sudden she went down! I kicked my feet out and found myself standing next to her! I have to say that she did get a swift toe in the ribs for that. I didn't really kick her, just enough to get her up before she rolled on my saddle... Sheesh!! Other than that, she was a gem.
She is a blast to ride. And she's definitely MY horse.
After the rolling incident, I got the feeling that she was just itchy. When we got back to the trailhead, I untacked her, washed her down and took her out to the dunes for a roll. I think that satisfied her.
The only downside was that I got caught in the dark driving home on winding hills, not a whole lot of fun... but oh, so worth it!
October 28, 2007 - Last Thursday, Cora hopped on an impressive 6 horse slant trailer, in her own box stall and headed down to Arizona. She has arrived in good condition and is settling in well with Susan Catt. We are both very happy with the arrangement and look forward to seeing her progress and her foal from Paisano.
To cheer myself up, I entered Lily in a schooling show yesterday. We had fun and that was the goal. We came home with 2 blues, 2 reds and a few yellow and white ribbons. The classes were mostly small and the competition varied. I had tried Lily over a 2' jump the night before to see how we might do in the two Hunter Hack classes that I had entered her in! I know that it was a bit much to ask of her, but she came through it fine, after a few OMG! moments in the warmup. I really like jumping and I think that Lily does too, once she gets the idea. If we continue, I'll work her up to it more slowly.... ;)
The costume class was lots of fun too. You can see more photos on Lily's page here.
October 8, 2007 - I just posted photos on Cora's page of a really nice ride we took yesterday. It was new place for us and actually very close to my house. The barn is actually farther than this.... Think I can keep her in my backyard with the dog, so I'm closer to the trails? Seriously though, it was really enjoyable seeing new trails and having hills to ride up and down. And the company was good too!
October 3, 2007 - I cleaned up my links page and did a few other little housekeeping tasks on the site. There is a new photo of Vinnie on his page. Other news... Lily starts being part leased by a family at my barn. She might get to a few shows this fall with them and will stay in training with Cyndy Winchell for the month.
I'm looking for a ride to AZ for Cora, so if you know anyone going that way soon who has an empty stall, send them my way!
And the saddle I've had on trial fits Paisano well enough that I'm going to buy it. It's a Klimke-Miller and is very secure and comfy. He goes well in it and seems much more willing and free in his movement. A thumbs up from him! It's brown, though, so I might end up looking for a brown bridle to match it. Ah, tack acquisition is never ending!!
September 23, 2007 - Long entry today. :)
Last night, I rode Paisano for the first time in a new saddle that I have on trial. It's a Klimke Miller and really holds my leg in place. It seems to fit him better than others I've tried, so I set it aside to pack for the show. Paisano got a bath after our ride and I put him in in a stall with his sheet on to stay clean and warm.
I went home, cleaned tack, boots, and located my show clothes. The only show shirt I could find was blue. I know that I have a white one and a striped one. Ah well... a blue shirt won't look so bad with my dark green jacket. It was just going to be a schooling show. It bugged me though, so I looked everywhere.... no luck.
So this morning, I wake up early, pack up the truck and trailer and drive to the barn. Lunch, check; water bottles, check; saddle and bridle, check; camera, check, etc, etc. Helper; ah, no helper...just me, and I'm tired. It would be nice to have support when I show. Note for next time... I fed Paisano breakfast and loaded him up. I was glad that we were riding at 11:40 and not 9 am!
Paisano was pretty up when I unloaded him. He was yelling more than usual and I was fully prepared to pack him and leave if things got hairy. I groomed him and tacked him up for some long lining warmup in the pasture where we were parked. He settled some and we walked in the long lines down to the in gate and around the parking areas. Then back to tack up for real.
He warmed up well in the arena with several horses. There were a lot of juniors there, so I was extra careful to watch the traffic and keep our distance, as a couple of them were oblivious to keeping out of anyone's way. One cut right in front of us when I was cantering. Oops! I'm glad that Paisano steers well!
There was only one arena, so we had to clear out and wait for our go. This meant walking up and down the drive and circling in the parking area. He behaved himself, except for calling out every so often.
And in we went! You can see the test here: (and remember, he is just four and still just a teenager...)
He screamed a couple of time in the beginning of the test, which earned him "inattentive" comments. He did get an 8 for the trotting change of rein on the diagonal and a "Nice!" comment. The written remarks from the judge at the end said that he had "much presence." She would have liked him to be a little slower and more regular in his tempo. My goal was to have him well behaved, calm and forward. Placings were a bonus. He scored 60% and placed second! Last time we did this test we were third.
Then there was more schooling time during lunch. No way I could eat anyway. Whenever we walked past people outside, we got, "Cute!" and "Pretty!" comments and "What breed is he?" One girl thought he was a mare.
The time came for our second ride.
There was no yelling this time around - good. If I hadn't fumbled switching my whip (dropped it!) on the free walk, we would have gotten a better score. It made him move to the side and he got a "jigged" comment. We only got a 4 on that movement and it has a differential of 2X. He did get an 8 for his second canter depart, four 7's and another 8. He scored 59.13% and placed FIRST in this maiden class. Maiden no longer.
So I'm glad that I stuck it out, even though I was tired to start with... it was all worth it in the end. We came away with blue and red ribbons and lots of nice comments. He wasn't perfect, but overall was pretty good.
My friend, who was the video person, also took a few photos.
September 17, 2007 - I had a lovely schooling ride on Paisano today. We worked primarily on transitions; walk-trot-walk, trot-canter-trot and a little lateral work. I am really enjoying riding him! He was a perfect gentleman, walking calmly and quietly past the mare's paddock. Later we rode in the small indoor with two other mares and he worked well without a peep. You would have thought he was a gelding. He has picked up some of the weight he lost last month running the fenceline. He still spends most of his time down by the horses in the adjoining pasture, but he has settled down and doesn't charge the fence anymore. It looks like he has adjusted.
Here is a link to photos that Cyndy graciously took of us today.
September 16, 2007 - I've added an Events page for our future plans and done a few little updates here and there.
I have found a wonderful lease home for Cobriza, but will wait until that is final to post it.
Paisano is doing well under saddle, though I am now on the hunt for a well fitting dressage saddle for him. Nothing that I have tried has worked. The two treeless that I have are okay, but both put pressure on his withers. All treed saddle I've tried have bridged on him. He need a lot of rock to the tree front to back. He is also a tad thin just now, so I would love a saddle that would be able to adapt to that. I am going to keep trying until I find something that fits.
I would also like to find a good lease home for Lily temporarily. She would be wonderful Pony Club or 4-H horse. It has to be local to me though, and preferably in my current barn. Suggestions and referrals are appreciated!
September 2, 2007 - I have come to the unpleasant conclusion that I need to get to where I only have one horse for a while. Work is too busy and my family
needs my time too. When I am able to have my horses and family in the same place, it will be different. Right now too much time is spent in going back and forth
and when I am with the horses, I'm not with the family... So today, I worked on some nice images of Cora to present her better for sale. She is coming along really
well emotionally. She no longer spooks at every movement or twitches when touched. She is easier to catch, though she still runs once or twice when I come in
with a halter before giving up and allowing herself to be caught.
Today started with the first soapy bath that I've given her. She stood well for it, even letting me scrub her tail down to the skin. She might have even enjoyed part of it. Then it was on to take conformation photos. Click the date link to see them all. Afterwards, I couldn't bear to turn out a clean horse to roll straight away, so I sat in front of the barn chatting for an hour or so with her on the lead. People came by to pet her and talk and she settled in to doze. It was good for her. Later, I turned her out in the large hay pasture for the first time. She had a good run! Lily and Paisano weren't very happy to still be in their paddocks though.
Then I worked a bit more on getting her used to her new sheet. Previously, I had touched her sides and laid it across her back folded up. Today, she was cautious at first, but once it was on, she was okay with it, after twitching all over for a minute or so. So we walked around a little for her to get used to the feeling. She'll need to know how to wear a rain sheet here in Oregon. She continues to impress me with how fast she adjusts to new things.
It was a nice day spending time with Cora. She is a sweet mare. I hope that I can find a lease for her instead of selling her. It would be nice to have her back in
a few years. So that was today...
August 18, 2007 - My daughter was leaving in a week for school in India, so we hauled Cobriza and Lily to Mt. Pisgah for a last trail ride of the summer. It was lovely weather and we all enjoyed ourselves. We should have done more of this during the summer. Next year, we will start earlier!
July 16, 2007 - I took the mares up to Tired Dog Ranch with my kids last weekend. I had a really nice ride with Gurunam on Saturday and my husband took some video.
Cora did well on the trails. She enjoys leading and will plough through brush pushing it aside with her head and walk over and through branches and downed trees. Sunday I tried her on her own. She was a bit nervous, but okay... until Lily started calling for her from down the hill, where I had left her in the pasture. I will definitely be hauling Cora off on her own for a couple of trail rides without Lily. I'll start with meeting a friend on a horse Cora doesn't know and also trying her all on her own. I think she would have been okay, if Lily had been quiet.
After our last trail ride, the mares stood tied to the trailer napping in the sun, while I sat in the shade in my favorite chair outside the yurt. It was very peaceful and entirely pleasant...
July 13, 2007 - Friday the 13th! A lot has happened since my last update. I've just gone and changed a few things, like the sales page.. I am due to put in pictures and a report from the SMR 50th anniversary meeting though! It was great! I have posted a few videos on youtube, but haven't gotten to put up any of my photos yet. I hope to get to some of that later this weekend. In the meantime, here are the videos...
May 19, 2007 - Last night I hauled Lily and Cora over to the Oregon Horse Center for a few hours. I had entered Lily in 3 trail classes. It was a great experience for both her and Cora. She brought home a ribbon in every class. Mostly because there were only two and three entries. :) Still, it was lots of fun to be able to take them over in my own trailer! I put a video on youtube and posted some photos.
Last weekend I hauled them up to Tired Dog Ranch and a practice run at camping. I have lots of photos to go through from that trip and will post them at some point. It was a really nice relaxing couple of days, just what I needed... So relaxing that I didn't even feel the need to get the photos up right away. I did find that I need a warmer sleeping bag though. :)
April 4, 2007 - I put up a few photos from last Saturday. It was a windy day and looked like rain. I didn't take the time to groom Cora, but just took her out and ponied her around the driveway and the barn from Lily. It was spitting down rain as I put them away, so it's just as well that she kept her bit of mud.
March 30, 2007 - Expo Report...
Now that I've had a few days to catch up on my sleep, I can post a full report. I've put it on it's own page, if you want to read all about it and see the photos and videos.
March 24, 2007 - We had a great day at the Expo. It's late and I'm tired, so I'll just post a link to some photos today. I have video from both yesterday and today and will have more from tomorrow when we go in the big arena with better lighting. After it's all over, I'll edit them all together and post it on youtube.
March 18, 2007 - I bought a trailer yesterday! It is the same vintage as my pickup and does need a new floor, but it is otherwise in pretty good shape. It's a two horse slant with a dressing room. I look forward to getting the horses out and about this summer and now have a way to get them to the 50th Anniversary at the Cayuse. Yeah! Here are some photos. It is hard to believe that I will really be mobile. It has been a long time wishing for a truck and trailer. Hard to believe that less than five years ago, I didn't even have a horse. It was only a dream... that has now come true! Now to outfit it and get more comfortable driving it around. It won't be ready to haul the horses to the Expo this week, but my husband had the good idea to haul all the booth stuff, tack and supplies in it. So our first road trip is on Thursday. Then in a few weeks, after it has been checked out and upgraded a bit, I'll be out to shows and trails. Now to do more packing and organizing...
March 11, 2007 - I am starting to prepare for the Expo. I only have one weekend after this to organize. Time to make my list and collect things. I put up some photos of Cora from the last week and a story about ponying her for the first time. Check her page for the link. I won't be able to much more with her until after Expo. If you happen to come, be sure to stop by and let me know that you check my site. It's nice to hear what people think of it.
The birds are chirping and it's nice and warm outside with the sun shining. After I clean the house and cook for the week, I am off the barn again today. :)
January 24, 2007 - I have put up a page of photos of Paisano. I rode him a couple of times over the weekend (13th and 14th rides) and he is doing well. He is much more responsive to leg to move forward and I've started him on moving sideways off my leg. We also did a lot more trot work, as there were a couple of haul in horses working in the arena with us on Saturday. That meant I needed to make him work more to keep his attention on me. It was a good experience for him.
January 21, 2007 - Today was our 21st wedding anniversary, my son has his braces put on, Vinnie found a home and I got a new horse! Sound like a full day? I think so! I am tired.... I was offered the trade and we all thought it was a good fit. I now have Lily's full sister, Cobriza. She is one year older and gaits more than Lily does. She does have some trust issues and is pretty reactive, so I'm going to go back to basics with her and work on getting a bond going. I put up a few photos from today. By the time I had fed and needed to leave, Lily finally let Cobriza into the shelter. There was very little problem between the mares, once Lily established her place and Cobriza agreed immediately. I'll have more to say after the weekend, when I can spend more time with her.
January 11, 2007 - I took full advantage of a loaned trailer this weekend. I didn't get photos though. I was too busy having fun. Well, I did get one, of Vinnie and Lily practicing standing tied to the trailer on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday, I hauled Paisano over an hour for a lesson with Megan Sibiga, a driving trainer. A friend joined me at the last minute to take video of the lesson. Megan said that his canter was "absolutely fabulous," that he learned really fast, had a great temperament and lots of other nice things. She was speculating on how he would cross to various breeds for driving, jumping, hunters, etc.
I came away with some good exercises to do with him. We worked him for over an hour and he never broke a sweat or was blowing at all. He is more fit than I thought. We worked him in long lines at walk, trot and canter, then moved on to ground driving in his harness. She fine tuned his harness sdjustment, then showed me how to work on bending him and getting more precise transitions. She said that he was ready to do more focused work with on tempo, bending, rounding up more, collection, etc. I also learned something about the different manner rein aids are used in driving. I have been relying on my voice a lot, so this was enlightening.
He behaved very well, only calling out a couple of times. If anything, he was a tad sluggish. She totally figured out our patterns too! How I let him decide what speed he will go and when he is done. I didn't even realize it. She is a very good trainer, direct, soft when needed and communicated very well. I just wish that she were closer.
Hauling was a bit nerve wracking for me at first. By the third time, I was able to hitch the trailer up by myself and actually started to relax when driving home. I could get used to the independence of having my own trailer.
Sunday I went on a trail ride with Lily and Vinnie. I met a friend of a friend and her Arab mare at a local state park. It was a 40 minute haul, but worth it. We rode for 1.5 hrs. Vinnie did great! Lily just had a hard time getting back in the trailer afterwards. She has done this before. My theory is that she just wants to stay longer. Maybe next time that happens, I'll just take her out and work her more. I was tempted to hang around and go for a second ride, but knew that I had to get back to do my barn chores, clean out the trailer and see Paisano a bit.
My new friend asked me if this was really the first time that Vinnie had been out with other horses. He was very calm and acted like he had done this many times before. He did start stallion talking to the other mare after the first hour. It was kinda cute, a little whufflying noise, like he was hot stuff! We took turns in front, through water, over bridges at a walk and really moving out trot that Vinnie had to canter to keep up with. Some of the trails were narrow, winding through trees and we did those fast too. It was a blast! I could tell that Lily was enjoying herself. She is a trail powerhouse, totally on task. And she barely broke a sweat. I love my mare!
She did fine barefoot too. The Boa boots I have from last year no longer fit her. I'll have to get some new boots for rougher trails. The only place she was at all tender footed was a spot of large river rocks. Ordinary gravel didn't bother her at all. It used to, but her hoof shape has improved a lot this last year, much more concave in the soles.
Well, that's my report of a fun, horse filled weekend!
February 3, 2007 - New pictures from today. We spent hours doing work on fences and drainage, then rode some. It was a good day! Here are the pics.
January 25, 2007 - The girth that I had ordered for Paisano came yesterday, so I had to try it out. It is just the right length and the buckles fit the billets of my FreeForm. Yay! Nancy graciously offered to take video of our ride. This was the 10th time that Paisano had been ridden, including the 5 minute bareback ride and the few 10 minutes early rides. He is movig out much better and starting to learn that leg means forward. We trotted a bit more than last time. All together, the ride was about 15 minutes. Paisano will be 4 in May and we are taking things slowly. Here is the video.
January 21, 2007 - I put up a few new photos of the fuzzy, teddy bear colt. He is quite huggable. ;) The little guy is growing on me. I wish I had a nice, mixed herd of boys to put him out with. He is certainly ready for it.
January 18, 2007 - The horses in the paddock next to Lily moved, so I am taking it over. This link will take you to photos of a first supervised try at turning Paisano out next to Lily and Vinnie. They did just fine. Lily didn't even come over to the fence, though she did run around some. Vinnie came close, but didn't touch noses with Paisano. It it works out, I'll move Vinnie in with Paisano soon. He is ready to wean!
There is a bit of work to do on the existing fences, removing a few bits of barbed wire and putting up electric. I am also going to put a second electic fence on all fencelines that Paisano will share with other horses. It will probably be about 10' wide. Then there is the floor of the shelter on the other side to deal with. It needs new footing. Try to look past the mud. I hope to work on it over the summer to have it more under control by next winter. I've already improved one side of Lily's shed. It was headed toward looking like the rest.
January 7, 2006 - Site redesign for the new year! I am revamping my site to have a nicer layout and to include my artwork. I lost my simratkhalsa.com domain a couple of years ago and haven't been able to recover it. I had been waiting to put my art back up under that domain, but I'm tired of waiting.... so here it is. :)
The horses are mostly crusted with mud and relatively happy, unless it is just cold and wet. I make sure that Paisano gets turned out, even if he doesn't want to be. The BO tells me that he has become somewhat of a "stall baby" and will stop half way out to his paddock for a moment, pause then sigh and continue on. Maybe by next year, we will have some better footing installed to reduce the mud. At least the evenings are starting to be light a little bit longer since the Winter Solstice. That is a definite plus for someone like me who works days.