This blog is not about storytelling. It is not about sharing my life with others. It is simply about keeping myself honest; a diary in it's truest form.
I dream constantly. About all sorts of things but mainly about horses. For as long as I can remember it has been horses. I watch videos, read books, and scour the internet. I daydream about winning my class, the all around, the end of year. I imagine the feeling of that perfect run, the elation, the accomplishment.
But, I ride inconsistently at best. I blame it on lack of time, lack of daylight after work, lack of money, lack of knowledge. It's time to start blaming myself.
So, here goes:
I rode Scout today and ponied Bliss for about 30 minutes. We walked for the first 10 minutes, jogged for a bit, long-trotted, and loped, then cooled down at a walk for the last 10 minutes. Neither one has been ridden consistently since school started. They are fat and sassy and need to be legged up. Bliss wore a saddle with saddle bags. She was not too fond of them flapping when we loped and threw in a couple of half-hearted crowhops before lining out.
I've been riding Scout on and off for about 3 weeks after a long lay-off, trying to get her legged up to spend some time at a cowhorse trainer (BB). I don't have access to cattle and if I am going to show her this year she needs to spend some time on cattle, which I don't have. She has the beginnings of a nice turnaround and pretty circles. She is soft in the bit and can bury her tail in the dirt. We still need a lead change. All of those things I feel like I can do on my own or at least get local help on but the cow work I cannot. The plan is that she spend 60-90 days with BB. I am torn between being excited about having a professional get her going and scared to death about dropping her off with someone I do not know (though recommended by someone I trust).
Bliss is my 2 year old that has been lightly started under saddle (less than 30 rides). She has been ponied tons and hauled a good bit. Her rides have been less than 30 minutes save one, that one being when I took her to the ranch and used her to push yearlings from the pens to a different pasture. I look forward to putting more miles on her this next year.
My third horse is Ruby. She can no longer be ridden due to low ringbone. I miss riding this mare so much that sometimes it is a physical ache. She had tons of cow and was immensely fun to ride. She made me a better rider and I trusted her completely. I bred her this last summer to a nice stud by Smooth As a Cat out of a Doc Quixote mare. True to form, I have big dreams for this foal. She is due in June.
The fourth horse that I occasionally ride is my mom's good mare, Snakebite. She's a half sister to Ruby and when Ruby was retired I showed SB for one show season in the Novice division of Stock Horse of Texas. In five shows we improved immensely. SB is worth her weight in gold, laid back enough to babysit but willing and able to step up and go to work.
Tally: Scout 1
Bliss 1 (ponied)
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| Scout, 3 year old (Little Freckles Cat x ranch bred mare) |
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| Bliss (Dualwithme x Paddy's Irish Whiskey mare) |
