Bob Harley update

 

 
Bob Harley is growing up. Fast. His body has taken on the look of a mature horse with a head that still fits into a yearling halter.  He is 15+ hands, maybe 1100 lbs, conformationally correct, nice big black feet, a chest and hip that are pretty, pretty, pretty. His brain however, is light years from maturity.  He meets me at the stall door and can't wait to get his head into the halter. He seems to love being fussed over, clipped, bathed, brushed and saddled. He stands fairly still and while he doesn't doze off like an older more seasoned horse might do he is respectful. If he isn't the one getting the attention he throws quite a little fit. While being the naughty onlooker he will pin his ears, throw his head around, weave back and forth, go in and out of his stall to his paddock and generally act out like a spoiled rotten child.

He is quirky. He is impish. He is busy. He is sensitive. He has an incredible amount of desire to please. He tries and tries and tries again. For the most part he only gets in a snit occasionally and when he does, you can usually take him back to a place he is confident and he comes right back to the trying and pleasing side of his personality. There are times when I am riding him and I almost feel like he is saying to me..." Hey mom - Look at what I can do". Usually just about that time he trips or something shiny catches his eye and I come back to the reality that he is just a baby. A four year old baby in a very horse sized body.

It has taken me a while to figure him out. There have been times when I was ready to ship him down the road with a a bunch of disclaimers and buyer beware warnings.  I have really struggled with what to do with him. He isn't like my other horses.  I am in over my head with his training. I don't have the time to provide the consistency that he so desperately needs. I have made two mistakes with trainers already and he has weathered those storms. Recently, I sent him off to another trainer and am hoping the 3rd time is a charm and that it is a good fit for him. I haven't really stopped thinking about him since I dropped him off. I am pretty sure that I know what call I am going to get. The call that says "come get this nut job and buy yourself a better horse". The plan is that he is being evaluated for 90 days. At the end of 90 days I will be given the opinion of said trainer as to whether or not he has the potential for a working cowhorse and / or ranch versatility prospect. Basically whether or not he is worth dumping a lot of money into.

The thing is - for whatever reason - I see something in this horse. He has such a drive to please. Such a willing attitude to try and excellent retention of what he learns. He is going through some pretty extreme growth spurts and still shows so much athletic ability. All that said,  I don't think that any trainer is going to give him the type of attention and spend the time figuring him out to allow him to blossom. All of this swims around my head and I find myself daydreaming about what he is going through. I swear it is like having a special needs child and putting them on the regular school bus for the first time. You just want them to be like all the rest, but you know they are just a tad different and no matter how much try and desire they have, the world isn't going to bend and mold to accommodate them.


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Judges Seminar Part 3

Part Three was the boxing and fence work. 

I have shown the boxing a few times.  At last years club shows they added a class called rein, box and drive to give some of us in-betweeners a chance to go down the fence without having to really GO down the fence.  The first three runs we watched I judged 3,2,1 of course the real judges placed them 1,2,3.  What! I mean really  - was I that off base?  I sat with a friend who has judged some small club shows and he judged them the same way I did.  So what did we see or not see?  

Some of the first comments that were made really, really threw me into a tizzy fit.  Albeit a quiet tizzy fit, but I gotta tell you I was silently steaming.  One of the "sharks" said... "I placed him first because I know this horse and he is a good one." I wanted to say... "what...did you have coffee with him this morning?"  I mean really.... Then a comment from one of the wanna be judges  was "well I placed him higher because that steer could have really moved and the horse was so tuned in that he would have been on it."  But, but, but....  the steer didn't move. So the horse didn't have to move.  Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda....  Does not make a champion.  No What ifs, No Almost, No No NO!

Rant over...  But I did learn what the judges think is supremely important and what I was missing.
First....  the boxing is just incidental to going down the fence. Again, it is all about courage and control.  Being in charge, driving the cow, not just following it.  Making your turns quickly and in the right spot on the fence.  Making good choices about where and how to "circle up".  Even though the last horse seemed to be in a better position on the cow when circling up, the big dogs in the room all said that the first rider did a better job positioning the cow and horse.  I realized as I sat there that it isn't aways about being smooth and pretty.  Sometimes it looks messy, sharp and hard, but it needs  to be executed effectively with intent.

Judges Seminar - Part Two

Part two was the dry work. Again the videos were shown of the riders from the SBF and other major cow horse events.  We judged several runs and I was feeling pretty confident.  I tend to look at the dry work in the cow horse events like I would in reining events.  That didn't work out particularly well for me.  I have known for some time that the dry work in the cow horse industry isn't done with the precision that reining is. And for the most part... isn't as critical as the actual cow work. 

Before you ready the next paragraph... 

A "check" is average.
A "check plus" is slightly above average
A "plus" is well above average
A "plus - plus" is excellent
A "check minus" is  slightly below average
A "minus" is well below average
And a "minus - minus" is well...terrible.

I could go into the actual scoring of points and half points but that gets off onto completely different discussion so lets just stick to talking about checks, pluses and minuses. 

Bill Enk walked us through each run when we were done.  On the first run, we all agreed that the circles and lead changes were done very well.  Excellent definition between large fast and small slow and the rider showed "courage" in his large fast. Lead changes executed perfectly and in the middle. No one was willing to "plus" the circles - the rider was given a "check".  The stops were done well with the horse committing to the ground and sliding - nothing overly spectacular.  Everyone wanted to check plus or plus the stops.  Same with the turn arounds.  Bill proceeded to go back and ask all of us why we were so willing to plus stops and turnarounds and not plus the circles and lead changes. He pointed out that we had all agreed that the circles and lead changes were above average but as a group we were unwilling to give extra points for that.  The stops and turn arounds we agreed were average but we all wanted to atleast "check plus" them.  In the particular pattern we were watching there were 2 large fast, 1 small slow each direction with 1 lead change each direction, 3 stops - includes run downs, 3 1/2 turn arounds each way. The majority of your pattern was circles and lead changes. He went on to say that while the crowd loves the stops and turnarounds they do not make a finished bridle horse. Circles and lead changes are as difficult, if not more difficult than stops and spins.  He really stressed to the judges how important it is to give credit for those maneuvers.  In the last run the stops were average at best - the horse committed to the ground and slid, he may not have had perfect form but it wasn't terrible. The turn arounds were fluid and technically correct but not lightening fast. In comparison to the first run they were a "check minus". The judges that were in attendance marked them a "minus".  It was interesting to me to see just how critical the judges felt stops and spins were.

What that brought to light for me (again) was how important it is to not "give away" points.  You can do absolutely perfect circles and lead changes and not get any extra points but if you don't do perfect circles or change a lead a stride to late...they will ding you hard!   Do a bad or slightly below average stop and you are done. Just done.

Judges Seminar

I went to a National Reined Cow Horse Association judging seminar a couple of  weekends ago.  I am not sure, but I think that I was more confused after it was over than I was before I got there. 

The seminar is for those who are doing their continuing education or need to test for their judges card.  Needless to say - there were some pretty heavy hitters there.  Two of my favorite riders were there - Sandy Collier and Lyn Anderson - those ladies can get the job done!  Skip Brown, Smoky Pritchard and Kenny Wold were also in attendance.  Bill Enk was the presenter.  I went with a friend and we were running a little late. We got there and sat down in the first available spot.  Turns out that we were at the same table as Skip Brown, Ken Wold and Smokey Pritchard.  I am never one to sit in the front row or draw attention to myself. This was definitely the wrong table to be at.  Bill Enk is a character and he likes to involve the room in his presentations. These stoic men sitting a seat or two down from me were going to be prime targets for his shenanigans. 

I am going to do this in 3 parts.

Part one: Herd Work
We watched videos of runs from the Snaffle Bit and other large shows and tried to decipher what was good and what wasn't. Even though I have watched the herd work a million times and I have taken lessons and even showed a couple of times it is still so new and elusive to me.  After we have judged a couple good runs we went over the penalties.  That is where they show you what NOT to do. I think that I would have done better in my judging if I saw the penalties first and then saw a good run. Either way, sitting in a conference room passing judgement on some of the best riders...some sitting a seat or two down - felt down right awkward.  Sandy Collier was one of the examples of a "not so good" run. She handled it like a professional. She took the microphone and walked us through what was going on.  Her ride was an example of switching cattle -which she didn't actually do.  But that was a whole lot easier to tell when you had slow motion and could replay it 5 or 6 times.  The judges spoke about "courage" a lot.  Courage isn't going in and blowing the herd apart and getting it done quickly, but it is about taking the intuitive to drive your cattle out and really showing control and making something happen.  I thought back to my runs in the herd work. I knew that I was more at ease when the cow worked slowly and I felt like I was in control.   And that is how I have been taught  to work a cow - slow and methodical.  I realized while watching the good runs that even though my cow didn't get away from me, I wasn't ever really "in control".   In the show pen, you have to step up your game. Next time I get a slow cow, I will try to get a little more aggressive and hopefully show some courage.  I am also going to try to show that I can control the cow and work it in the middle the pen - not let it go fence to fence.  Semper goes into the herd like a pro. He moves slowing and pays attention to my instruction.  Where we get into trouble is not pushing the cow out far enough.  When I get my cow out of the herd he really doesn't "hook-on" like a cow horse should. He will follow my direction and about 50 seconds into a run, he gets the hang of it. By then it is too late.  Another one of my big dilemmas is when and how to quit a cow.  I learned that if the cow stops facing you and does not move, you can quit. It is like the cow has "given up" or "surrendered" to you. You can also quit if the cow turns tail and moving away from you. Completely moving away. Not at an angle where they can swing their head around and look at you.  They have to be gettin' out of Dodge. 

Part two - Dry Work
is for another day....

Getting back on track - again.

I think this same thing happened to me this time last year. I get lost, overwhelmed, busy and just plain lost track of time.  I have started a blog post about a dozen times and get side tracked, have writers block or am afraid that I am repeating myself.  Could that be the beginning of Alzhiemers?

So much to say and nothing to say all at the same time.  Let's try news in a list form...

1. Moved back to Saddle Creek.  The ONLY place to board.  I was so pleased they decided to have boarders again.  check it out... www.scrhorses.com

2. Changed trainers AGAIN.   I am not even going to tell you a thing about it till I am months in. I will sound like a foolish, wishy-washy child.  Not even going there.

3. Ended the show year with lots of swag.  I did well in the cowhorse club. I did well in the local reining shows and in the versatilty.  I can not complain one little bit.  Semper is Da BOMB.

4. Semper. The. Super. Horse. I just love him to pieces.  He is doing wonderful. He loves being back at the Taj... (it really is the Taj Mahal of boarding facilities - they have comfort flooring for goodness sakes!) I swear he smiled when we unloaded.

5.  Bob. The Triple S - Sensitive, Spastic, Silly.  He is coming alone.  More on that later - I have had huge revelations. 

6.  Scooter.  You just have to love Scooter.  He needs wheels to carry around his extra large head.  But he is a good one. 

7. Lily.  She is Lily.  She has been off for almost a year. She is in fine form - bitchier than ever. Legs look great. Attitude sucks.

8. The Twisted Sisters: Mystic, Rosie, and Dazzle. They are keeping on, eating, pooping and sleeping.

9. I have lost some dear animal friends this year. RIP Roxie and Old Girl. May you be in unfenced green pastures with no fear or pain, safe and content. You educated me, loved me and made me smile. You will not be forgotten.

10.  Axle - The new man on the block.  I am going to introduce him to you later.  His name is "His Tattoed Heart".  When I get the mud scraped off him enough to take a picture. 

I am sure that I am forgetting many things... it is that nasty aging process that makes me forgetful. or not.

Weight... still keeping on track with my diet and maintaining my goal weight.  It is a process.  And sometimes I just want to drown in a  ginormous bowl of Moose Tracks ice cream. But then I look at Mr. Semper, Bob and the rest of the herd and say a little thanks for this life.

And to Mr. Wonderful. He rocks. 32 years together 12/20/12.  Pretty proud to be married to him. 

It is weird being in this time and place in my life. When you are in the thick of raising a family and working you are almost obilvious to certain things. When your children leave and your job evens out - things get quiet. There isn't the static noise that hides little imperfections in yourself and your friendships. I have started to see my own imperfections and those of people close to me. I still love them and wouldn't change who they are but I do have to work at being more tolerant. 

Jez...that last paragraph was overly self indulgent wasn't it?  hmmmmm. 

I gotta get back the the training and riding stuff. Now. Right Now.

Playin' around

I've been playin' around a lot this summer and I love it.  Work is kind of making me tired though.  It couldn't be the long weekends of non stop fun. It is definitely the job that makes me tired.  I wonder if I could sell that to my employer? 

Let's see.... a couple of weeks ago I showed at California State Fair in the Ranch Versatility.  It was an AQHA show they opened up to all breeds. The big white horse was the only "other breed" there. My bestie went with me.  She makes me laugh, distracts me from over thinking, keeps things in perspective for me and is one of my biggest supporters.  Her sense of humor is beyond comparison.  She posted this picture of us on Facebook with the caption: 

" In a sea of browns, one color stands alone... Sigs Semper Fi"

It just cracks me up!  Where does she come up the this stuff? 

We did exceptionally well at State Fair.  We won the limited class and brought home a beautiful buckle and ginormous ribbon for our efforts.  Semper was on, there was no doubt about it.  I was super proud of him.  We also did the Ranch Horse Pleasure class.  We placed 5th out of 26 in that class. That was the most satisfying 5th place (we actually tied for fourth)  I have ever taken!  The winner of the Ranch Pleasure won the Open Ranch Horse Versatility, the second, third and fourth places were all trainers.  The horses were all extremely well trained "finished" quarter horses.  5th was not a bad place for a non pro on a white horse to land.  For me - it is placings like that one that let me know I am definitely on the right track.  The picture below is of us waiting for our cow during the working cowhorse portion of the show.

I think this picture is from the Ranch Pleasure Class - the extended trot.

(Thank you Sachorse.com for the picture)

Last weekend we took a break from the showing thing and went to St. Bernard Lodge.  Rode from there over to Drakesbad. The same ride we did last year.  This year 10 of us went. What a great time with great friends!  The weather was glorious. We didn't get lost this year and made it to the lodge in record time.  Ate lunch and then rode up to Devil's Kitchen.  It is a geothermal site in the park.  Water boils, mud percolates, and as my bestie said "you can fart here and not get in trouble".  The smell of sulfur is overwhelming.  

Look at these HOT women at Devil's Kitchen!

I asked for the sorority girl pose... I am not sure what sorority they belong to?

That is my daughter on the left, Ruth (we have been friends for close to 40 years!) in the middle,  and my bestie Laura on the end.

My daughter went along and she refuses to ride any horse but the big white one - she has pretty "high brow" taste in horses. (I mean really, it is like giving your kids the keys to the Corvette.)  I rode Bob.  The more I ride him, the more I like him. He was the youngster on the trip but he out performed some of the older more seasoned horses.  He took everything we put in front of him in stride.  Even the bear!  In the park they are putting up a lot of elevated walkways. Mr. Bob went across them like he had been doing it for years. Even when he had to go out first. 

(Thank you Brandy for the picture!)

We are about half way across the meadow and you can see Drakesbad Lodge in the back ground.

Don't you just love Laura's HOT PINK saddle bags?   

 Hope you all are having a wonderful summer.  Spending time with your families, friends and horses. Pursuing your passions and living life large! It doesn't get any better. 

3 years and counting....

It has been three years since I had my stomach cut down to the size of a large walnut. My brother-in-law refers to it as when I was "filleted like a fish" which isn't really true. I wasn't filleted; I had six little one inch holes... let me see him gut a fish with only six little holes. Hmph.
 
Weight Loss Surgery is one of those things that everyone has an opinion about but no one really knows what to think. That didn't make sense but it kind of does. To some it seems so drastic and extreme while others feel it is the easy way out. It seems to be a knee jerk reaction either one way or the other. I look at it this way. My body was broken and I had it fixed. Like a broken arm or a ruptured appendix. Whether I created the problem or not...my stomach to brain signals weren't working for whatever reason. I would over eat and my stomach wouldn't tell me. It would let me eat, eat, and eat some more without saying - o.k. enough already - you don't need anymore! I believe it was 48 years of over eating, gaining weight, starving myself, losing weight - literally dozens of times that got me to where I was.

The good doctors gave me baby stomach again. It is up to me to take care of it. It is a new chance, a new beginning, kind of a do-over. I know that sounds cliché but that is how I look at it.

Every year I go see the good doctors on my WLS anniversary. About a week before I go have blood work done. Yesterday was the big day. First off - they weigh me. I still absolutely dread it. I weighed myself before I went. I knew that I was on target. But the scale has never been my friend. In the doctor’s office I got on the scale and I swear to goodness it took forever for those numbers to appear. Long enough for my pea sized brain to think the scale was broken or maybe my scale at home was broken and had I gained too much for this scale to weigh me? None of this is logical because I know I haven't, but that is what was going through my mind. I was just getting ready to ask and the numbers flashed up. Whew... the number was the a few ounces different than what I had weighed at home. A wave of relief swept over me. Then the thought crossed my mind of just how ridiculous all this overthinking was.
 
I met with the doctor and we went over my blood work. Everything looks good. Great actually.  We talked about how, when and what I eat. We talked about what vitamins and supplements I take. We talked about my exercise routine and  when I tell him that I am riding two horses five to six days a week - he is impressed. Thank goodness my WLS doctor rides horses. I am not completely convinced a non-rider would understand that riding is a good form of exercise.
 
I have maintained my goal weight for 3 years OR over 1,000 days OR over 25,000 hours OR over 1,500,000 minutes. I have learned to eat better, I feel one hundred times healthier, I definitely ride better, I can move freely, my joints don't ache anymore, my shoulders don't have ruts in them from my bra straps, I sleep better and clothes are comfortable again, I don't worry about whether or not I am going to fit into a chair or god forbid break one when I sit down, and last but definitely not least... the pp leakage problem (TMI - SO SORRY) is completely gone.
 
I have had bumps in the road along the way. It hasn't all been peachy. I had a twisted intestine and had to have colic surgery. I have to work at maintaining my iron/feratin level. I gave up some of my favorite things - avocados, ranch dressing,  Sees candy, beer, Diet Pepsi, Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade and my penchant for drinking vats of Margaritas - along with a few dozen other things that just don't like me anymore.

Was it extreme or the easy way out?  Who knows.  All I know is that I am riding better and that makes me happy.