Rode On Sunday!

The weather and my work schedule finally allowed me to saddle up and head out!  

I'm trying to get myself some sort of routine with the girls that allows me to ride out easily...  Not sure how to work it though.  I have two saddle horses that need ridden at home right now, but soon I will have three.  I'm over the moon with the thought of being able to ride Fiona!  I can't even put it into words without sounding like a school girl!!

I've had plenty of time this winter to set some goals and make some plans for myself and the girls for the year.  Here they are in no particular order!

I want to get myself and Remi to a few local play days this spring and summer and then a barrel race or two late summer and fall.  Remi knows more about arena sports than I do, so I just need to leg her up and work on me.  She is broke, broke, broke and I can say with certainty that we have bonded!  So we should have no reason not to do at least OK!

I want to get Tari started on the pattern.  I have rolled around the thought of selling Tari.  I ADORE this mare, and really feel like I have never owned a better bred, nicer built, and easier to get along with horse.  But there are days when I wonder if I'm wasting her, and with her super baby Speedy looking at trying to "earn" his man parts she really should be preforming...  But I love her...and wouldn't sell her to just anyone.  So I will be legging her up and heading her towards starting the pattern.  I am hoping to utilize Mindy's BRC to at least get her and I moving forward...and also coaching Remi and I too!  (0:

For Fiona I plan on as many wet saddle pads as possible.  I am waiting to talk to Brian, the trainer this Friday to see how she is using herself while under saddle now.  I know some horses are naturals and some have to learn... Fi has to learn, but I am still confident she will be an athlete!  (0:

And Horse Girl...well, more on that later...  (0:

Since I needed to get both of my girls out, and the weather was not really all that nice and time was an issue because now that I'm not 16 I don't like riding in the rain.  I decided to pony Tari.  She is not the best horse to pony off of, because she is easily distracted by the horse you are leading.  She also has trouble traveling straight while ponying and after.  I have no idea what this action does that makes her soo crooked for so long, but I have noticed it and with everything else I want to work on why give myself another task?

  She is alpha and gives Remi a pretty hard time in the pasture, but under saddle Remi is all business. God Bless experienced well broke rodeo horses!!  So I figured that Remi would go into work mode and pay no mind to any "mean mugging" Tari might throw her way.  I was prepared however to call it quits if it got ugly and just ride Remi and lunge the ever lovin' tar outta Tari!  (0:

But before I could even get out of the drive way, I had to decided what to do with Horse Girl and the Hee-Haws.

Our fence is 90% finished as far being Hee-Haw proof, but I knew sure as anything that if I chanced it, they'd make me pay.  Sweet little buggers that they are.  They think that are the keepers of the girls and two of their "girls" heading out, may make them think they should tag along.  I can only imagine the chaos that could ensue with that!!  

Then there's Horse Girl.  I love this horse, BUT she is the biggest PITA that you have ever met.  She worries the fence, when anyone leaves the pasture.  If I am leaving her and a friend and the Hee-Haws, I just turn the fence on and shock some sense into her....but with her being the only horse in the pasture, I am not entirely sure that a few jolts will help her get her head on straight.  She pushes and charges the fences and tries to work the gate open, it's quite ridiculous really....  So I have decided that probably the best thing to do is put her in a stall and put the Hee-Haws in the run in front of her.  Sunday was my first test of this strategy.

The worst part is that now instead of catching two horses, I get to catch three horses and two donkeys.  No one is hard to catch, but it does take a bit of time.  And then of course I can't treat anyone like a second hand citizen.  I have to brush them all.  

I decided the best way to do that was to work it like an assembly line.  I started with the shedding blade and used it on everyone.  Then I used the nubby brush on everyone.  Then I used the soft brush on everyone.  I decided not to do manes and tails, because...well I did want to ride at some point.

So everyone got some love and then our two groups went their separate ways.  Remi, Tari, Seven, Abbi, and I to the trail.  Horse Girl, Jack-Jack, and Patron to the "holding" area.  

I down loaded an app to my iPhone that tracks your activities.  It maps your route, speed-pace, elevation changes, miles, and the time you spent in said activity.  I love it.  So I turned it on, just to see what our little trail ride amounted to when we were finished.

Seven was over the moon (you'll notice in the above picture she is standing by Remi.  As soon as I catch that little mare, the dog sidles up to her and waits.  She honestly doesn't leave Remi's side until we have either mounted up and rode off, or the horse is loaded in the horse trailer, or put back into the pasture.  This picture was taken after we had returned from our ride...), she loves trail rides.  Abbi does too.  Unfortunately Kage's trail riding days are over, he turns 9 this year and has had bad hips for a while now...and as he get older they get worse, so he was with his dad.  It makes him crabby to go with Chad, but it's best for all of us.

I'm pretty happy to report our ride was good.  Tari was mostly respectful of Remi and Remi did her job happily.  When I got into Tari for being a crabby cow to Remi, Remi just kept on keepin' on.  She didn't even blink.  

Abbi has a hard time when I pony a horse.  I am not sure what happens to her little brain, but she gets weird.  And when I do have to correct the horse I'm leading, she actually offers to go home.  I really don't get it, she is such a weirdo...Seven doesn't even notice.  She is too busy hunting squirrels and running too and fro.  Luckily the girls worked well enough together that Abbi didn't feel threatened and never once offered to try and go home. 

When we arrived back at Casa de Nikki we had trekked 5.23 miles in just over an hour.  That pace was thanks to Remi liking to jig and some long trotting.  I didn't do too much face paced stuff on purpose because we are ALL at our winter weights!

Horse Girl and the Hee-Haws were happy to see us return.  Horse Girl had dug a small hole at the door of the stall, and left a few strike marks on the door.  But that's nothing really....  The Hee-Haws just pooped alot while I was gone, nothing too dramatic from them.

The return to the pasture was another assembly line.  Everyone got a little nubby brushing and a little soft brushing.  I shudder to admit that it may have taken me as long to get ready to leave and return the equines to the pasture as it did to ride.  

I may need to try and trim some time from my departure and return.  (0:

I thought I'd ride again this week, but so far RAIN has kept me from it.

Oh, well... 'Tis the season!!