WordPlay

By Patty Wilber

Cometa’s eye has really improved since last week!

Last week

This week!

His eye actually opens more than that but since he has been in the pirate mask, his eye has been in the dark so the light makes him squint.

He is on eye steroids for a few more days and then we will see if he can see.  I have not opened the vet invoice from Wednesday yet…

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And now for our feature presentation!

The Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen worked in the Pecos Wilberness…no no I mean “Wilderness” this past weekend and  one of our tasks was to haul 600 pounds of trace element salt from Jack’s Creek to Beatty’s Cabin (about 16 miles round trip).

What does “worth your salt” mean anyway?

Apparently, “centuries ago salt was so valuable that many people used to have part of their pay in salt.
It’s mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible (Ezra) in the context of the pay of the Persian king’s servants.
According to the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, Roman soldiers are also supposed to have been paid in salt.

It’s also where the word ‘salary’ is supposed to come from (the Latin word ‘salarium’).” (from http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080125125348AA6VLMV)

The salt is for the Big Horn Sheep.  Someone thinks the sheep  are worth their salt!

I knew the sheep were introduced to the Pecos area and I knew the sheep liked salt, but didn’t know more than that. Here is what I found out.

“Bighorn sheep were extirpated from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the early 1900′s (Bailey 1931, Barker 1976). Restoration efforts began with a translocation from Canada 13 in 1932, but no bighorn sheep survived past the mid-1930′s (Lange 1978). A second translocation of 24 bighorn sheep in 1965-66 from Banff National Park, Alberta and from the now extinct Sandia population was successful. In 2002 this herd was estimated to have 340 bighorn sheep based on results of a helicopter survey, hunter-guide reports, and mathematical modeling.

“Considerable human interaction, driven primarily by a craving for salt (Hass 1992), has been reduced in the Pecos Wilderness population by consistently providing trace element salt blocks to Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (NMDGF files).”  From the Long Range Plan for the Management of  Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in New Mexico 2005-2014

Livestock salt probably comes in a few forms, but the two types I am familiar with are trace element salt blocks (which I have always called “mineralized”) and, just plain salt.

The plain variety is white, and some publication I read somewhere sometime suggested that there was no reason to spend the extra money on mineralized salt for your equines, so I buy the plain.  Every pen has a block of salt and some of the horses (Cometa in particular) really like to lick the blocks, making artistic grooves…

The mineralized salt is reddish/brownish, and that is the sort we were to haul.

I have purchased salt in 10 pound blocks and 50 pound blocks, and I know of people who have purchased “designer” salt in loose form (for a gob of money, too).

Our sheep salt was in 50 pound blocks.

All that stuff will go on the animals! The salt isn’t included yet!

We saddled and pack-saddled and tied on our saddle bags and cantle bags and pommel bags and coats and water and radios and spot locators–yes we were (over?) prepared.  Then we loaded 100 pounds onto each of  the horses: Lacey, Squirt, and Cinco; we put 100 pounds on one mule and 200 pounds on Chance (the other mule).

Chance was wearing a metal frame pack and he thought the whole thing was a little odd, so he unloaded the first a-salt (via various airs above ground manuevers) in fairly short order.

Once reloaded though, he was regrounded.

Loaded for real this time.

Cinco had salt in pack boxes, while Lacey and Squirt carried theirs in panniers. You can see Cinco, Squirt and Lacey’s butt in this picture.

I box hitched Lacey and Squirt’s loads and the thick and unwieldy rope on Squirt’s lash cinch gave me fits.  There is a new rope for that rig sitting on my kitchen table at this very moment.

Then we headed out!  Richard and Peter both ponied two animals each (and I was kind of proud of Squirt, since I trained her to ride and pack–she figured out how to be the second horse in the string without a hitch–wait–she had a box hitch–oh well, you know what I mean!)

I ponied Lacey, and we had two out riders, Siri and Julie.

On the way out of Jack’s Creek. (Photo by Siri.)

Julie!

Siri!

It was balmy and sunny–just the perfect temperature for riding.  The trail is steep climbing out of Jack’s Creek and then opens out onto a lovely meadow.

Richard and his string after we have climbed out of Jack’s Creek. It is SO dry!  In a more normal year,this would be much greener and the ground would be wet.

Despite the dry (there was NO recorded runoff for the Pecos this year–0% of normal?) there were still several small creeks to be crossed.  After Canyon de Chelly, Toots and Squirt were pretty good over water.  Lacey has always been willing to follow Toots and only jumped the muddy stuff once or twice.

Toots and Lacey are both good drinkers, but with her head down like that, Lacey stepped over the lead rope more than once.  Then Siri would gamely get off and fix it for me!

Photo thanks to Siri!

After a couple of hours, we made the forest service cabin just south of Beatty’s Cabin.  We unloaded.

Unhitching the lash cinch. Toots is supervising. Picture by Siri.

Peter unloading Squirt. Picture by Siri.

Julie  helping with Chance. Picture by Siri.

Our 600 lb contribution to the welfare of the sheep!

We had a late lunch break on the porch at Beatty’s Cabin and then headed back.

Peter and his string. Photo by Siri.

We made good time back–I THOUGHT Toots was a fast walker, but it turns out she is only Medium Fast.  Richard’s lead mare can really step out, and Toots is going to have to step up to keep up!

Fun trip and I know my girls are definitely worth their salt!

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I will be out of town next week, so will post a rerun blog about Longshot as a foal with his contracted tendon.  He is now 2.5 and the next new post will feature “The Training of Longshot”.

By Patty Wilber with my assistant, Lupo

Lupo says: my work is not complete unless i knock at least one pencil on the floor!

Part II of the Canyon de Chelly Adventure!

There has been a dearth of moisture in the Land of Enchantment, making New Mexico the state with the USDA’s most dire drought rating.

So, on Day 2 of our trip, in Arizona, just barely across the border, we awoke to rain.  Ok, that is overstating it.  We awoke to a slight drizzle.  Haven’t seen that in months. But no matter, We, being Back Country Horsemen (four of us) or Experienced Distance Riders (one of us) were Prepared to Ride, even if the drizzle progressed to actual rain.  We did not drive all this way, get health certificates and Coggin’s tests for the horses (which no one actually checked) to get washed out!

But first, JD’s tossed shoe (from his attempts to out-compete Peter’s mare,  Squirt for possession of my mare, Toots) needed tacked back on.   Our guide, Justin Tso, got his cousin to come do it first thing.

JD holds his feet still, but likes to nibble on his handler while being shod. Marcia loves that.

 I waited it out in the “comfort” of the trailer.

Then we got going.  We loaded the horses in the trailers and drove to our trail head because the day’s trip was to be a one way ride down into the canyon back to our lodgings.  We would then shuttle up to get our vehicles.

Fortunately, there were many amenities at the parking spot (or not).

Dust drifts and doorless, but better than the “comfort” of the trailer!

If you look to the far lower right of the map, you can see a horse icon. That is where we parked. We rode down Bat Canyon (farther right on the map) into Canyon de Chelly and back to the Thunderbird Lodge (left of the map) along the Canyon floor .

Mary Ann in her slicker! It was chilly to start with. I lent my emergency ear warmer to Justin and a pair of rain pants to Marcia. We were all comfortable and it did not rain much at all.

The aroma of the sage in the damp was invigorating. It made me sneeze! We rode towards Bat Canyon.  We did not see any bats. We reached the edge.

The trail didn’t drop right off, but pretty close.

On Saturday before we left,  I took Marcia for a test ride on JD (he’d been here a couple months).  We went into a nearby “canyon”–very small compared to Canyon de Chelly–but with a rocky and technical descent.  She called me ” The Crazy Rock Lady” (or something similar).

Take our Saturday “practice” descent of 50 feet and expand into two miles.

The Bat Canyon trail dropped down along a spine with a lovely CLIFF on the left but a  comfortable trail bed–except for the that one rock slide spot where the horses could slip, lose their footing and plunge over the edge!  The scenery would be lovely on the way by…

Made that.  No horse issues. Human breathing issues.

Then the trail hair-pinned left, and veered very steeply, clinging to the canyon side. The track was ancient.  Justin said perhaps dating to the times of Anasazi (they were the makers of the cliff-side ruins.)

The good point about the rest of the Bat out of Hell Canyon trail was that it had a berm, so I never felt like I was going to pitch off the edge.  However, it was highly eroded, so the foot-bed was anything was smooth. There were huge rocks, small rocks, rocking rocks, tilted rocks, slippy rocks and mini gorges.  At no time were all four horse hooves at the same angle.  Every step required planning by both the rider and the horse.

Any equine with a poor sense of body awareness or one that was too tightly wound would have ended up sprawled on its knees or with a twisted ankle.  Many people might have had the same experience if they were to walk this trail.  And, as I mentioned, it was STEEP!

There was nowhere for six animals to comfortably stop, so there was nothing to do but try to maintain an even, measured pace that all the animals could accommodate, and forge ahead.   Near the end, several of our trusty steeds were showing signs of muscle fatigue–their legs were quivering.  Some us might of been hyperventilating.

Toots, the squat tank, is so muscular and low to the ground, she’s a like a little ATV! She handled it really well–and brag brag–then went to a show on May 11th and won Ranch Pleasure, took a second in Ranch Trail, and a third in Reining!)

JD was also magnificent.  So, may be I’m not so crazy?  In fact, four of our five horses have covered my “crazy rock lady trails”, three of them extensively.  I use those trails for training because it is interesting for the horses while helping them learn to use their bodies and watch where they are going.  It is good for the minds of the show horses and boy did it help on this trail!

There are no pictures of the descent.  We had to steer!

Toots says: there is no way i am going back up that, so don’t even ask. (the part shown is not even a hard part but at least it shows there are lots of rocks!.)

We shed some layers and took a sigh of relief that we had survived. This is not the best picture, but the bush behind Marcia is a Fendler Bush in bloom–we saw other flowers, too–unlike NM where it is so dry we barely even have weeds.

Along the floor of Bat Canyon towards Spider Rock.

The rest of the ride was easy and spectacular!

Spider Rock.

According to Justin, there was a woman that used to live near this spire and she wove rugs with the spider pattern.  I know very little about Navajo rugs, and did not find anything listed as the “Spider Pattern” in a quick search. Apparently, there is no one left who knows how to do this pattern.  The rock is named after her.

Peter took all the Day 2 pictures after the descent. Tons of gorgeous scenery!

We crossed a lot of water! Toots got to where she went right in and did not take the first opportunity to get out–she’d wade along until I made her to get out.  She also drank frequently. This is great because not all horses will drink strange water and thus may be prone to dehydration on long rides.

Window rock!

Trotting across water! Not enough splash to be pictorially dramatic, but fun anyway!

On the right is a fenced area–keeps out the feral horses. On the left, the horses have access. As part of the management of the Canyon, invasive trees (Russian Olive and Salt Cedar) are being removed. The horses are also non-native. They need to go. I think the picture makes the point.

The scenery was like this all day long. Amazing!

On Day 2 we covered nearly 21 miles!

On Day 3, we rode to Little White House Canyon–see map.  We rode along the paved rode with cars whizzing up behind us.  I found that a little unnerving and was happy that Tulip was bringing up the rear when the motorcycle cavalcade roared by.  All the horses handled the traffic well.  We cut South and got out on some flat rock and wide open spaces.

I really liked the sky in this picture.

Then we hit sand dunes.  Think those are marked on the map.

In some places there was no vegetation and just big sand drifts. We galloped over them!

Little White House Canyon was smaller and more intimate than Canyon de Chelly.  It also gets far less tourist use, so it was just us.  There were, of course, lovely rock formations.

And the Little White House Ruin.

Little White House Ruin.

This is a stand of Russian Olive that has invaded,choking out the native vegetation, but it did make a nice fore-ground for the photo!

Removal of the Russian Olive has brought the water table up quite a bit in Canyon de Chelly!

On the way back, Justin pointed out an ancient trail from Little White House Canyon to White House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly.  Not enough time to ride that, but it sounded intriguing!

Or exploring Canyon de Muerte (the northern branch), or riding to the end (37 miles) on a two day trip…or…for something completely different, maybe Nevada?

There are so many places to explore!  I sure enjoyed this trip with a great group of friends and a bunch of horses I also know personally (especially Toots! Thanks Wendy!).

By Patty Wilber

A few months ago, Mary Ann and I went riding.  I was riding Marcia’s horse, JD.  Mary Ann and I decided we should go to Canyon de Chelly.

Canyon de Chelly is a National Monument about 250 miles from Albuquerque, near Chinle AZ. Drive to Gallup, turn right.  It is federally administered, but it is in the Navajo Reservation.  Access to most of the canyon is restricted unless you hire a guide that is certified by the Navajo Nation.

So, for our partners, we recruited David, (who unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute), Peter (with Squirt), Marcia (with JD), and Chuck (with Dash).  Mary Ann brought Tulip (aka Petunia) and I brought Toots.

Chuck knew of a guide so I called him.  He wanted $800/day, and as I talked to him I felt as though my words were bouncing around at random.  Apparently, I do not speak the Navajo version of English.  It was sort of surreal.  Maybe that is how my students feel when I talk to them!

I looked on my favorite tool, the Internet, and found a couple of guiding services–ended up calling Justin Tso’s Horse Rentals.  He was willing to guide up for $15/ hour + $7/ horse.  With the five of us that went, it worked out to $50/hr + a good tip.  For 14 hours of riding over three days, we spend $850. A lot better than 800/day!

Had to figure out where to keep our horses.  Justin set us up with Pauline Martin, and her horse accommodations were right  across the street from the people accommodations: The Thunderbird Lodge–the only Inn In The Canyon.  It was kind of pricey, but it was fun and funky and within sight of the  horses.

Day 1: Arrived around noon, unloaded and let the horses out into a big arena to drink, relax and have a snack before our afternoon ride.  JD had trailered with Toots and had decided Toots was his.  Squirt rode with Tulip and Dash, but decided that no, Toots was HERS.

Toots ended up in the middle.   (She’d be happiest if they all just left her alone, but she’s too polite to say so!–or else she is a complete whuss in the world of horse-y hierarchies).  There was a lot of drama.

So much drama that JD threw a shoe.

JD also got put in a pen by himself, so Squirt won.

toots is mine. where ever she goez, i will be 6 inches away. at all times.

Justin said JD did not need a shoe for the evening’s ride, but we were unsure, so put an easy boot on and “secured” it (as it was a somewhat too large), with my handy dandy roll of Duct tape that I keep in the trailer.

It fell off anyway.

But Justin was right.  The ride was in the canyon bottom in sand.  JD did just fine without his shoe.

Justin had asked if our horses were good trail horses, and I gave them all the highest ratings.  So, the first thing we came to was a water crossing and NO ONE wanted to cross.

How embarrassing!  Meanwhile, JD and Squirt were making evil eyes at each other. (JD stands for Just the Devil!  Not really! It is Just Dun).  Still, all that posturing did make the whole group a little antsy–then add on the Not Going in That Water dance!  Geez.

Fortunately, our intrepid guide was chatting with the park ranger guarding the canyon entrance, so we had a few minutes to get our act into the water and on our way.

Mary Ann on Tulip, Chuck on Dash, Justin (our guide) on Freckles. Laredo tags along.

Peter on Squirt ( I think we last saw Squirt when she  and I completed the ACTHA ride last Dec.)

Marcia and JD–water became a piece of cake for everyone.

The entrance to the Canyon has beautiful rock, and the deeper you go the higher the walls!  We rode along the stream, in and out of the water, looking up at the sandstone.  Wow!

Our first guide stop was at some petroglyphs.

Nothing could have been more appropriate!

I gave my camera to Peter real quick so Toots and I could be in at least one picture for the day.

What is Squirt trying to do? Toots is not impressed!

Up the Canyon!

We continued on to a really cool ruin–Junction Ruin?

Nice map but I could not get it to display, so you’ll have to click this link to see the location of Junction ruin, where we turned around on the first day. 

We had a very fine ride and we were well prepared:

Toots: Like a Girl Scout–always prepared. (or is that the Boy Scout motto?!)

Freckles is not a Girl Scout. 1-He’s a boy…2-Not so prepared.

All of our horses were carrying extra: water, rain gear, jackets, food, first aid kit, gloves, etc. etc.  We were ready.  You never know.  It could have turned out like Gilligan’s Island.

They set out for a three hour tour and ended up stranded on that sitcom!

Chuck and Marcia show their teeth? I do not recall why!

Justin Tso!

And one last closing shot:  There were lots of feral horses (busy decimating the environment) but here was a cute Appy foal.

Next Week:  Tso Anyway: Our harrowing descent down Bat Canyon! (you can see it on the map link!)  It was so harrowing, I did not have a free moment to snap any pictures.  But there are lots of other nice shots. And Day 3 we did Little White House canyon, which was quiet and had a nice ruin!

Until Next Week!

By Patty Wilber

I do love a horse that is an easy start.  The fewer butt pucker moments, the better!

Lacey is one of those!

Pack #1

Lacey is coming three (May) and she is my pack horse for this summer.  To get started,  she wore the packing rig without the panniers twice and then it was time to load ‘er up and take her out. It might seem foolhardy to have her first-ever loaded trip in public, but knowing Lacey–not much wreck risk.

Lacey, loaded, box-hitched, and waiting to go. Ho hum.

Her first load was 80 pounds of fireplace pellets (in bags) at  Cerillos Hills State Park on a training ride with the Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico.  Pellets are a nice training load–they are in bags, don’t shift around much, are quiet, do not poke out all over and are reasonably heavy.

She will graduate to carrying  tools on our first “real” project, April 6. (Finger’s crossed: elk in the fall)

Lacey is easy to pony--she does not drag, and does a good job holding her spot--unless The Boss of the Universe, Cometa, gooses her with his nose! Lacey has a great deal of respect for The Boss. If he says, she goes. You can see his ear in the left foreground.

Toots is a fine lead horse. Lacey is happy to follow.

At the start of the ride, Toots was fourth in line walking with real purpose–just the way I like.  However, BCH project rides often move at a slower pace to accommodate loaded pack stock and animals that are not speed walkers.

For about a quarter mile, Toots was pushing the animal ahead of her and I worried that my repeated reminders to slow down were going to wear on her, but all at once, she snapped to the program and she fell into the easy pace of the group.  Her (slight) tension dissipated on the sun-warmed, spring-like breeze (later to become dark sleet-slinging wind–but hey we were loaded and on the road by then!). She dropped her head into max relaxation mode, and ambled along contentedly.  Lacey did the same.

I am really pleased with this pair!

They can even perform equine ambassador duties! Well, at least Toots can!

Toots says: "kids! hi kids! pet me on my shoulder!" Lacey says: "u go toots. there are three of them! we r out numbered!"

Toots: always ears up and interested (but content) with her surroundings!

Toots gets the fancy buckle (but she does share.)

 Pack trip #1 was a winner.

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Ride #3

Well, if they are going to live here, them critters have got to be versatile, so with Daylight Savings, I’ve got time to start Lacey under saddle. The day doesn’t get unrideably dark until eight! (Better to call it at 7:30)

Lacey is bred to be easy and athletic.  Her Dad, Zan Sontivio is down at Bob and Dolly Wallace’s in Bosque Farms and his babies are just plain nice. Nice head, nice build, nice minds.  Her Momma is a JJM horse, and they are athletic, with reiners, ranch horses and lots of buckskin champs in that group.

By ride three (Tuesday–the pack trip was Sunday), this is what things looked like.

Mounting from the "off" side or right side. Loose rein. Her feet don't move.

Lateral flexion.

Walk. Loose rein, nice (natural) head carriage!

Going through the barrels!

Trot!

Lope. Comfortable!

Thursday was ride four and I used her during a lesson with two students in the unfenced arena.  Lacey spend most of her time just standing still (which for a ride 4 is a very nice thing to be able to do) but she also got to play follow the leader over the bridge, open and shut a rope gate (first try, I do not lie), and walk over railroad ties and between two big tires.

She backs, does a nice sideways, moves her hip and her shoulder, and has an exciting little sink in her stop–suggests she might be a natural slide stopper!

Easy.  Just sayin’.  Am loving her breeding.

And later today, she and her trouble making best friend LT, and her back country partner Toots, are heading south to do some cow work.  Lacey will probably just hang out at the trailer while I ride the other two. But I might pony  her around the cows just to see…of course that would leave LT alone at the trailer  which = melt down by LT…so we will just have to, ahem, play it by ear!

Sunday: am in a 25 mile endurance ride with Marcia and JD on a big ranch.  Should be fun!  Hope JD agrees!

By Patty Wilber

First off, let me say I was NOT a fan of instituting spring break at my esteemed institute of higher learning.  Who needs it?  Nose to the grindstone!

But boy, I was looking forward to it.

And then it seemed like it I spent most of my time just catching up.

I still need to finish writing a lecture on Integumentary Disorders–I mean rewriting, as I borrowed notes from a colleague to help me get started.

Here is a sample.

Ichthyosis:Rare, usually inherited; excessive growth of keratinocytes giving skin a scaly appearance

I also graded tests–lots of tests–and they took HOURS!  I swear my efficiency has declined.

So, I started reading a book called Unleash the Power of the Female Brain.  The power is still trapped in there somewhere as I haven’t finished the book yet, but suffice it to say I probably need to go to one of the facilities and have my brain scanned and then have them tell me how to fix it because of all the damage I have done by eating white food (THE COLOR!), drinking alcohol, microwaving things in plastic containers, and not getting enough sleep.

I am going to stay up til midnight writing this.  Pour me another glass of wine.

OK, I did saddle a few horses!

Wednesday’s trail ride with Diane and Jean.

Dicey (palomino) says, "hey dusty, they didn't tell you we still have 12 miles to go and it is all up hill!" Dusty (who is just four and believes such things says, "no! no? really?" Dicey: "hehehe. kidding!" I was on JD. JD didn't say anything.

Rode the youngesters, too. Toots and LT, are NOT pleasure horses, just sayin’.  They are cow-horse/reiners.  They do not lope along all slow legged and rocking-chair-like.  No ma’am.  If we are going to lope, we are loping with purpose!  It will take a bit to get them both to relax and slow down.

But they will put their tails in the dirt when they hear the word “whoa!” and  can step their front feet across quick and easy, as a start to a nice spin!

Lacey is the big story, though.  Three days this week I saddled her, bridled her, then hooked long lines to the bit and drove her around the round pen pretending I was the cart (this is actually called “ground driving”)  Each day she got better.

I also messed with  the stirrups and stood in them.  The first day, when I got up there, I reached over and touched the saddle and then her side and she tucked her butt up under her and scooted forward! I backed off a little.

Surprised me though because she is a pretty laid back girl.

Day two was better.

Thursday was day three.    LT had been penned up (to eat up that Ultium Growth I’ve been feeding her.) Opened her gate to the big 1/3 acre  pen and JD, Cometa and Toots immediately went in to vacuum up  LT’s hay scraps.  LT came boiling out.

Lacey was with me in the round pen (which is in the 1/3 acre pen) and LT began to run for the sheer joy of it. Generally speaking if I have a green horse in the round pen and there is a lot of commotion around it, the pen-horse gets busy-footed and distracted.

LT kept trying to get Lacey’s attention by bumping her nose on the rails of the round pen and then tearing down the hill, over the log, though the gate (making JD, and Toots move, but skirting Cometa), around the barn and back to us.  Lacey kept her attention on me!  We drove all over the pen and stopped and backed (which she had trouble with on day 2). When I prepared to stand in the stirrups, her feet remained absolutely still.  There was no flinching when I stood up and leaned over to touch her!

So, I got on!  I could feel her her muscles contract, but her feet stayed planted!  She turned her head all the way to touch her nose to my left boot toe and blinked her eyes at me (well I could only see the one eye from that angle) and sighed. Yay!

Got on and off both sides a few times and called it good.

Here she is tied up after our round pen work.

very wild.

 Oh and her Buckskin papers were ordered but never showed up! Turns out the US Postal Service envelope eating machine got a hold of them. They ended back up at the ABRA (American Buckskin Registry Association) office, in a bag. They will be reissued. Her color is officially buckskin. (not dun like Penny–no dorsal stripe.)

By Patty Wilber

I have leased Penny to one of my students for the show season!  It is going to be fun to watch them.

But that leaves me without my “go-to girl”!

The Tootsie Roll is going to have to step in.

Toots! It took me a while to get used to the pink around her eyes, but I have. Pretty girl! And she has very cute ears!

She got here in October, right after the World Appaloosa Show, because Wendy, of All-Star Appaloosas, convinced me I needed to own Toots.  Sight unseen.  Like a new hole in the head!

Except she was right!  Toots is coming four –ok–technically she turned four Jan 1, but actually she was born in…May…I think.  Have to go check her papers.

I have been riding her a little here and a little there, and she is a sensitive, sweet and stunningly athletic little block!

And, now that Penny is busy, I need a replacement show horse and a replacement back country horse.

LT is coming three and she is a bit too busy to be my back country horse this year–she could do it if I didn’t want to pack, but adding towing a pack horse to her plate is too much. She is super smart, easily bored, opinionated, charismatic and has a sense of humor, but she is not ready to fill Penny’s shoes.

Lacey is coming three also but due to her joint infection (of 2011) and  resulting bone and cartilage erosion, I have given her extra time for internal repair.  (She is sound!) She is not yet started, although she keeps telling me she is ready:  Pick me!  Pick me!  She will pack this summer and I will start riding her, too.

So, that leaves Toots.  One year older than the L’s (Lacey and LT), and a solid, sensible personality.

She is also lovely mover, so has potential on the rail; watches where she is going, so has potential for the showing in “obstacle poles” oh wait they call that “Trail”;  is stout enough to appeal to judges for halter; is bred to work cows and rein and has a big ol’ motor (i.e. butt), so I bet she can turn a barrel (i.e. excel at the “games” like barrel racing).

Of course, she is not a tall horse and I am not short… and she is built in the old bulldog style.  Thus, the Hunter Under Saddle (English riding on the rail–walk, trot and canter) and Hunter Hack (jumping) are events for which she really doesn’t “look” the tall and elegant English part.

It’s ok though!  We will just tell the judges to think of her as a “medium pony” in Pony Club terms.  13.2 to 14.2 hands.  And they will see  her long, reachy trot under her stout bod. Truthfully, she will have a rough go of it against the taller English “types” but because she is a nice mover and good minded (so will be consistent and pleasant to watch), she will probably be able to go top three regularly, in local competition (by next year)!

No idea how she will take to jumping, yet!

This past weekend was Toots’ first weekend as The New Go-To Girl.

Saturday we met our Back Country Horsemen pals and rode up in the granite rocks above the former Town and Country Feed Store (currently and unfortunately out of business). I rode Toots and ponied Lacey.

Toots and Lacey. They made a good working pair. Should be a fun season in the back country! Lucky Toots looks good in purple. Thanks Terri Gore for the photo!

Toots is my “I don’t want no drama in the herd” horse.  She just wants to get along.  Lacey is my top mare (now that Penny is gone, but Cometa and JD are still ahead of Lacey).  But when working, no squabbles arose.  They seemed happy to be with each other, especially since they did not know anyone else on the ride.

Our only sticky spot was the creek.  Neither had ever done a water crossing.

The first crossing was narrow and the water, though shallow, was camouflaged by cottonwood leaves covering the surface.  We were leading, but Toots took one look at the creek and said “NO WAY!”

We let the other animals go first and then I dismounted and led her across.  She wanted to follow me (thankfully) and as she decided to cross, she placed one foot on the leaves, which sank since they were on water.  Toots then declined to put her full weight on that foot, and sort of hopped over.

Lacey watched everyone else, studied Toots’ progress and then just walked across.  Nice!  Like her ability to figure things out!!

Toots didn’t quite get it on the first crossing and the second crossing was wider and muddy.  After a series of “i CAN’T do it, i can’t DO it!”, I tricked her.  I backed her in and all the way across (ponying Lacey the whole time).  Then I backed her in again and turned her around.

At this point she said, “hey!  this is water!  i am thirsty!”  She drank and then we went back and forth a few times.

Lacey, meanwhile, said, “i have no clue what the problem is here!” She got a drink, too.

On Sunday, I hauled Toots to a Buckskin Shaggy Show.  Thank-goodness it was a Shaggy Show as Toots fits the “shaggy” bill and white horses tend to look a lot better if they are bathed…hey we were busy on Saturday! No time!

Toots is loping and picking up both leads, but she is not ready to lope in a group in a slow and cadenced way.  (Need to work on that big time.)  So we entered the walk-trot classes.

We did halter (2nd! Not so clean and in a barn halter! Yay for Shaggy Shows!), English classes, western classes, trail, boxing (keep the cow on the back fence) and then we pushed cattle back to the pen for the other cow classes.

Practicing for trail. Thanks Marcia Schick for the show photos!

Her nice trot. Notice her neck is a little stiff and she is not quite soft in the poll (behind her ears), thus she is gapping her mouth in response to my pressure. This will improve over the next year!

A little softer here.

She got third in Hunter under Saddle!  (Got beat by two really nice horses and we were placed ahead of the two horses that misbehaved–consistency paid off for my medium pony!”)

And we won walk-trot high point on the day!

A  halter was her prize! Purple!

Purple halter!

Nice weekend for The New Go-To Girl!!

By Patty Wilber

Last weekend was the first Pecos Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen’s training ride of the year!  I have been looking forward to getting out on some new trails with old friends!

We went, as you may have already guessed, to the Gallisteo Basin Preserve.

It is a “Stewardship Community” –you can read all about what that means in the link above, but there are 13,000 acres and some home sites.  There are also trails that traverse privately owned as well as state land within the preserve. There is a 321 acre equestrian parcel still available if you happen to have a spare 1.1 mil lying about.

This area is about 50 miles from our place and we trailer pooled with Squirt’s Dad, also known as the contractor in charge of the remodel.  More on that later.

I debated about which horse to take but decided on Penny, just in case I needed to trade out and ride Squirt, who performed fabulously at that ACTHA ride back in December (see “The Obstacle Challenge“), but has not done a single thing since then except hang out with my ol’  buddy Longshot!

Squirt rode next to Penny in the trailer and definitely remembered her.  When we got there, Squirt wanted to be near Penny.

Penny was down with that program–she wasn’t even very bossy!  Penny was relaxed about the new location, too. Her laid back attitude about traveling is one thing I like about her.

Ready to go but not in a rush.

A lot of folks attended this ride, so we broke in to two groups of about 10.

We wound our way up into the hills you can see.

artsy fartsy shadow!

As the trail started to climb, I thought I’d get some photos. The trail got squeezed by junipers. They had been trimmed back, but only barely wide enough for a horse, so while I was busy trying to get some pictures…

See that limb on the right?

…that branch reached out and stabbed my pants leg!  The nerve! Penny kept going (she had no idea I’d been attacked, and my hands were busy with the camera not her reins…) My leg got jerked out of the stirrup, but I knew I’d get free eventually because  a tree branch embedded in your pants leg is no match for a horse moving forward with purpose!

No match at all.

And these pants were not that worn...

My leg was not much of a match, either.

Ow!

Just a flesh wound!

Jim and Cometa.

It was fun to ride through the different soil types. Here is the red. There was also yellow and white. Peter and Squirt.

Me and Penny. With Cometa's ears in the foreground!

All told we rode about 1.5 hours, and when we got back, a thoughtful hiker had wedged her car between our trailer and the rig next to us.  Fortunately, Cometa is not claustrophobic.  Unfortunately, he had the good manners not to leave them a souvenir on their windshield!

Took a  lunch break at the trailers.  Some folks went out for a second loop after lunch, but we all decided to call it a day.

Next BCH ride in two weeks, JD and his Mom Marcia and brother Junior and me are headed south to ride at Elephant Butte today, soak in some hot springs and ride at Caballo Lake tomorrow!

I’ll bring the camera!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Remodel update:  We put furniture back in! A dark-colored couch (which does not match the room), a dark pink lounge chair (which  does not match the couch or the room), a blue lounge chair of the same style as the pink one (which does not match the pink one or the couch or the room) and an antique trunk that I think seems like a piece that can stay.  Even though the furniture is not really working in terms of color and style, the basic layout seems good!

What you end up with if you still decorate using hand me downs (and antiques) from your family. Not the couch--we bought that ourselves--the second hand couch is in the other room!

New furniture eventually.

Bought two paintings from Robert Goff. (He was on the elk hunt in the fall.) They will go in the study once we get that arranged.

The big(ger) one. I have been to this place.

Ok, wow. Same ridge! Different view. (We had our cows here for a while.)

The little one. (12x12)

Robert also makes furniture using twisty juniper and old rough cut lumber. Covetting a desk…

Bought a Big Television (big for us anyway) that will talk to the computer….Yikes.

When I went to UC Davis as a freshman in 1979 I went to see The Wizard of Oz at the movies on campus.  Holy cow!  The whole Oz part is in COLOR!  I had no idea.  We had a 12″ black and white TV the whole time I was growing up (hey at least we had a TV!)  From that to a 50″ flat screen soon to be mounted on the wall…amazing changes in technology.

And the TV delivery guy was really impressed with our tile floor–especially the inset talavera!

Until next week!

By Patty Wilber

Got off my horse at 8 pm, ate dinner at 10-ish, got to sleep at 12 got up at 4 and flew home on Wednesday so I could teach two of my three classes.

It is now late Thursday night so we will see how this goes!

(At little chocolate bar snack will help me out)

Being at a horse event such as the World Show is like being in a weird space, man.  Not like real life at all.

Here is one of the arenas.

Maybe I should have titled the blog “Back into the World” instead of ” Back from…”

Life becomes narrowly focused.  It makes things simple. We did not have a TV or radio in the trailer.  It was hard to get on my computer.  I didn’t read a paper. I walked to work every morning (from the trailer to the stalls).  We didn’t cook.

Coming back to “real” life is kind of a shock.

There was a Frankenstorm! Oh I guess that’s out of date–I mean Super Storm.

The presidential election is lathering into its final throes (I didn’t miss all those ads.)

My classes were still held. (So, now I have to grade midterm exams from 3 classes, quizzes from 2,  homework from 2).

I have to do laundry, put away all my paraphernalia, catch up with friends, get back on the horses that sat while I was away, make plane reservations to California for Thanksgiving, clean the kitty litter, pay the bills, etc., etc., etc.

All those little things we do these days in our super speed cram-it-all-in-before-we croak lives.

Ugh.

Apparently, over the years, I have become an adrenaline junkie.  To support this hypothesis, my chiropractor says my adrenal glands are over taxed.  (He says that to everyone.)

Maybe there is another neurotransmitter I could become addicted to…seratonin? That one promotes feelings of well being!

*****************************************************

So, here is the low down on the show.

I had a really nice run going in working cow horse. I had to run a particular pattern of circles, spins and sliding stops. I had it memorized to the point of dreaming about it. I had all the tricky spots worked out.

I got to the second tricky spot, a lead change.  I was running a circle to the left and had to change to a circle to the right, which required the horse to switch leading legs.

Horse on left lead

Horse on right lead

We executed perfectly, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I proceeded to run a big fast circle instead of a small slow.

Well that bites. 

If you go off pattern they do not deduct a few points.  They give a big fat zero!  I ran my second circle to the right, which was supposed to be big and fast, faster and slightly bigger (not much room left in the arena to get a whole lot bigger.) The judges were not appeased.  I got the goose egg. Buckshot ran a very nice pattern, too.

We then worked our cow well--never lost  control of it.  One of the few all night. I was very proud!

But zeroing the “dry” work eliminates chances of placing.

That was Saturday night.

On Monday, I rode Buckshot at night and had the best work out ever.  On Tuesday he warmed up well, and then in the class everything went great until we got to our stops.  They are supposed to look like this:

Unfortunately, despite out great warm up, when I said “whoa” and expected him to plant it, he sort of sputtered to a stop.

That is a score killer (but not as bad as a zero!). 

We still ended up 5th in the World  and we were not out of our league against full-time trainers that specialize in reining. (And one guy went off pattern!)

There are a few things I need to solidify–oh that would be the stop.

This game is like gambling.  If only I had ONE MORE chance, surely I’d hit it big!

It is unlike gambling in that I have control of the training, so can improve my odds!

Buckshot has gone home.

But he might come back.

And just to add to my gambling habit,  I have taken on ANOTHER project. (Adrenaline junkie.)  “Toots”, A three year old “own daughter” (which just means “daughter”, but emphasizes the impressiveness of which ever “own” they are “of”) of MA Power Sign, a very nice appy reiner who also has a good bit of cow sense. She is coming from All Star Appaloosas.

You can check out her pics at the link.

If I can arrange transport from Texas, she may be here by Monday.

By Patty Wilber

My next Big Thing is coming up–well coming up as I write this.

Already Here as you read this.

The Appaloosa World Show

Buckshot (A Para Dox, owned by Whispering Spirit Ranch) is my ride!

It has been two years of preparation.

Buckshot will now let me do just about anything with him, but at first he was edgy, somewhat suspicious and hard to catch.  Today if I walk in his pen, he comes to me.  (He will still dis most people.)

Here he is a month after he'd arrived in Dec 2010. T is in the background and they are both stallions at this point. (T became a gelding.) I wasn't completely sure about Buckshot yet, but one thing was clear--he is a not an aggressive guy! In public, people rarely register that he is a stallion.

Once he decided I was trustworthy, he didn't have much trouble taking the random things we did in stride.

Just for grins, this is Buckshot's daughter. She is two and he was four in his picture. It's probably the same tarp...only it is in smaller bits now (and faded)!

December 2010. He still looks like such a baby-face.

In order to maximize his reining training, I hired a reining specialist farrier. He did a fantastic job on Buckshot’s feet, but Buckshot was petrified of this guy from the minute he arrived on the property.  The farrier never struck the horse (but it seemed like he wanted to) and on the first go, Buckshot jumped, the farrier jumped and Buckshot made dust out of a cinder block wall.

Almost fixed (about 300 bucks later).

Used that farrier a few more times, never ever leaving the horse’s side, but things did not  improve between them.  The last time was the last straw.  The horse began to visibly shake when he spotted the farrier.  When I saw this, my stomach was in knots.  We even administered a mild tranquilizer (to Buckshot), but the effect was minimal.

I was told by a more senior (and ruthless IMO) horse trainer, that the horse should learn to suck it up.

Why? This horse has a lot of heart. He trusts me to take care of him. I think he knew something I couldn’t see.  I listened.

Enlisted my regular farrier, Kelly Robinson. Buckshot will fall asleep while Kelly works on him. A completely different horse. And the shoe job was actually better.

Buckshot, I believe, has a rare degree of sensitivity (not to mention talent), and I (toot toot hear me blasting my own horn?) think that I was a good trainer for him because I was willing to work with that and not fight it.

I am going to have a big hole when he goes home. And no I don’t blubber for all of them. Miracle Whip, who was here before this Blog began, was the worst.  I cried for two weeks.

Here are some more photos!

Buckshot and T had a great time together even after T was cut (gelded). Eventually though, Buckshot started biting when he played (even though T was still in charge of the food and who stood where). I separated them to keep T from getting hurt.

In order to get the job done in the winter, we rode in the dark and the cold. Outside.

We are exhausted! She rides us at all hours!

April 2011. Four years old!

July 2011. Running a reining pattern.

December 2011. He filled out a lot in one year!

April 2012. Blankets! Trying to develop a show coat. Hard to do outside in the snow!

April 2012. Yep same month. Different state! His coat looks pretty good. This was an American Stock Horse Competition in Arizona. Second place by one point.

May 2012. Working our turn-arounds. It took help from Terry Berg and Troy Rogers for me to finally get this accomplished--it was not done yet in this picture! Lost my hat on the run down portion of the reining pattern.

Nope that's not him--it's his daughter, again! (He did that deed before he came to me!) I bought her. What else could I do?

Git along little dogie. And where is my hat. AGAIN???

Reserve National Champ in Jr. Working Cow Horse, July 2012! (I glued my hat on with extra hold hair spray!)

The final touches this week included: three sessions on cows, chiropractic adjustment by Dr. Diana DeBlanc, an injectable joint supplement and new set of reining shoes (“snooze”, Buckshot says). The shoes are aluminum in the front, and flat, wide sliders in the back.

We’ve had a great time preparing.  I’ve learned a ton and now he gets to show his stuff in junior working cow horse (for horses  five and under–he is five) on 10/27 and snaffle bit/hackamore reining on 10/30 at the Appaloosa World Horse Show!

Results next week!

P.S. He is for sale! That’s me on him in the ad!

By Patty Wilber

Tabooli was my (Ok, not MINE mine.  I had him on a “Feed Lease”.  I fed him and in return got to use him) go-to show horse and pack animal for the 2012 season, but he found a perfect (I mean PERFECT) new home and suddenly my (not MINE mine) good spare horse was GONE.

That's T!

Of course, I still have Penny as my main all around horse, but I only showed her in reining and working cow events this year, kind of on a We’re Dabbling in That mode as she is pleasure-bred not cow-bred. For the back country work, I was riding her and packing T.

Penny, the pleasure mare. "i like to go English, but i kinda like the cows, too!"

If I ride her, I can’t exactly pack her, too.

The Three Amigos, Lacey, LT and Longshot (Longshot is not MINE mine either, but he’s  lived with Lacey for more than half his life–he will be two in September) are still at summer camp near the Rio Grande (yes the river, but you can’t say Rio Grande River because that is just redundant) swatting flies and chowing pasture grass.

The Three Amigos. "we try to stay within touching distance of each other at all times."

SOOO, I thought  of Squirt. Last time we talked much about her, she was getting her hernia worked on.

"how embarrassing!" says Squirt.

Squirt is T’s half sister (same mother) and Longshot’s full sister (older). She will be three in October.  Horses officially age up January 1, so having an October birthday makes her kind of young for her age.

She was a little pushy on the ground when she arrived, so I was not sure how she’d start.

E-Z.

"The Palomino Princess that Could"

Her Dad (owner dad not biological dad) took her to the mountains for a Back Country Horsemen project when she only had around 25 saddles (number of times ridden) to her name.  He did a little test ride before they went , but other than that, I’d been the only one on her.

How’d she do?  Just about perfect.

Well, heck then, I’ll use her as my replacement pack horse.

I downsized the pack saddle rigging from T’s more robust and masculine frame for  Her Petite-ness, The Palomino Princess.  Smallest setting on all straps.

Slapped it on her and led her around off Penny.

That was a bit funny at first because Penny is the Boss Mare (which is the nice way to say it) and Squirt was pretty sure she would get killed for being in Penny’s “space.” Fortunately, Penny does her job pretty well and  does not go all aggressive when I am on her.

Ok, so Squirt can wear the pack saddle and be ponied.  Do we need to practice carrying an actual load? Naw.

Squirt was the Designated Tool Carrier for last weekend’s Back Country Horsemen project in the Pecos Wilderness.  Here is what she packed: two hand saws, two loppers, a six  foot two man cross cut saw, an axe, a pulaski, a pry bar and two wedges.

"oh seriously!" says Squirt. "could u pick a less flattering shot? oh yeah, u already did!"

 Not a heavy load, but awkward.  You can see from the picture how stressful she found the whole experience. Not bad for horse that had never packed anything! The big cross cut saw is bent over like half a hula hoop.  Loading it into the panniers can worry some animals.  Not Squirt.

We used most of the tools!

We didn't pack the two man cross cut saw or the wedges (orange) for nothin'! Also, as we are volunteers, we can have as many supervisors as we like!

The cut logs are on the right and the trail is clear! Go team!

After work, we rode some more.  It was a beautiful day!

This stunning work of art is called "Rusty Bracken Fern and Aspen Trunks." (Yeah so it could perhaps be a bit sharper, but not bad for a little box camera and some computer tools.)

Just another day in the mountains of New Mexico. Me on Penny; The Princess is packing.

I only made the high country three times this summer,  two to ride, one for a cross cut saw clinic.  Been busy with Stock Horse, Buckskin, and Reining events plus Appaloosa Nationals.

I’ve missed it.

Can we have cows again?