Bebe Breakthough and a few other updates

Ugh. It is so windy. Yes, I know that Kansas is indeed the wrong state to live in if you hate the wind. I still gripe about it though.

It has been a fast paced last few weeks around here. We currently have three horses in for training, I am working with three of our rescues (getting them ready to adopt out), and we have had no less than several family obligations and emergencies arise. Thus, my whole resolve of posting a blog a week was shot to hell.

Eh. Rules were made to be broken, right?

Bebe is doing very well. She's three years old. When she came in she was a bit spoiled and a lot head strong. We had only done a little bit of work with her when she rubbed her head on the side of her shelter and tore the tin siding, exposing a jagged edge, and like all horses was accident prone enough to get cut on it. She was off of work for a few days. When we began again it was with a different tactic in mind.

See, up to this point I had treated her like any other green filly that comes in. Problem is, Bebe is not just any other filly. Besides, she has pretty darned good ground manners (aside from being a little pushy) and her ground work was really done well. She had even been ridden by a friend of her owner around a small paddock.

When I started her, I explored what she knew, which was quite a lot actually, and then I began to test the edges of her comfort zone. That is when things began to get a little hairy. She doesn't like for me to push her at all. Or ask her for a different direction. Or ask her to walk the rail instead of the middle of the round pen. She bobs her head and sulks. She drags her feet, stirring up dust, moping around the edge of the round pen at a mosey. Or, if she feels like it, she pouts and flounces. Lol. She sure does have a lot of personality. I love it.

So after having her here for 4 weeks now I have developed a different strategy just for Bebe; a step two. I don't react to her behavior. I sit and quietly ask until she does it. If she pouts or sulks she gets to trot or do circles. It seems to be working. Since I have started disciplining her for bad behavior through work she has really begun to blossom. The first few days were a trial but this morning was really nice. She did everything I asked and we barely had any behavior at all.

I think we've had a breakthrough.

Jethro the Fox Trotter is doing very well and responding nicely to his training. He is learning to "frame up" and carry himself in a more efficient way as well as learning to respect space and distance. Buster the solid black paint gelding is doing well also. It took his owners three days to get him into a trailer to come here, so we have made trailer training a priority. So far it is going very well. He's a smart cookie.

I will try to post more as soon as I can! Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Rescue Update and Bebe Report

A Rescue Update :

The two little Appaloosa yearlings are doing well. The filly, who we named Grania (Gron-ya meaning Grace in Gaelic) has been wormed, gotten a negative preg test, and is turned out with the rest of the herd. All of her minor scratches and cuts healed with no trouble. She is haltering and leading well.

The little colt we decided to call Jack. He is still dealing with his wound which has healed so much that I would never have believed that it looked as bad as it did if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. We went through a troubling first few days where Jack was rather listless and picked at his food, not really eating well and just generally depressed. We put him in the same corral with the crippled calf, Gimp, and the changes were immediate. He began eating and drinking and was more bright eyed than I had seen him since his arrival. You can see in this pic he has a lot less bones showing than he did when he came in and the wound is doing nicely.

He has really gentled down and is able to halter and lead without issue. So, the other night, I decided to give him a hoof trim. He wasn't terrible but he needed some attention. I brought him out and with a lot of time and patience was able to get his left front trimmed. About that time, Dustin came out of the house and we started talking. I absentmindedly tapped Jack on the hip with my fingers, asking him to move over, when WHAM! The ungrateful little snot nailed me.

He kicked me right in the side of my knee, the same knee that I tore all of the tendons and ligaments in 5 years ago. Yaaaay. So Dustin helped me to the ground, where I sat and breathed like I was trying to give birth for about five minutes. I could barely bear weight at all on that leg but with Dustin's help I limped up to the house and elevated the knee. Cody brought me an ice pack.

I will live, but sloooowly. Lol. The swelling has gone down some and I hope to be able to get back in the round pen by this evening. Dustin has worked Bebe (the pally paint) in the round pen twice for me and I am starting to get jealous.

Her first session was no big deal. He simply asked her to move, change direction, stop, etc. while using his body to steer her movements. She is very responsive and got exactly what he was trying to tell her in just a few moves. The second session she was tacked up and then did more round pen work. This evening we are going to elaborate on that and ask for more. I want to find the boundaries of her knowledge, her comfort zone, so that I know where she needs work.

We put up the side walls on the shelter in pens #3 and #4 on Saturday. She got to see the tin being dragged around, hear the saw and the hammering, put up with my singing....she should be immune to just about anything now. :)

Aaaand..... they're off!

It has been a whirlwind week at Storm Creek! We have had several hoof trimmings to do, two new horses came in for training, we have school enrollment for the heathens, picked up a load of lumber to finish the run in shelters, and we got suckered into (by Cody) two more mouths to feed. Meet Sissy (brown) and Max (black & white) :

They are a pair of Pygmy goats. We have been wanting to get some goats for awhile and just happened along these guys.

This next picture is of Bebe. She is here for training and I am going to try to do an online training journal of her progress here. I will be posting pics and links to videos throughout the training process.

Little Stormy is officially 8 weeks old now! She is growing like a weed and is almost as tall as mom. Her mom, not mine. Although mine isn't very tall either. Anyways, she is still a beauty and as spunky as they come. We have been very fortunate with her. This is a pic of Cody taking and impromptu barefoot ride on Brownie. We decided to take a short walk. Stormy was pleased to be able to run and buck and kick up and down the road. I think she thought it was her own personal raceway.

Pretty Prairie Rodeo *Pic Spam*

A few of you may have heard of the Pretty Prairie Rodeo. It is Kansas' Largest Night Rodeo, you know. The rodeo here isn't the same as rodeo's in other places. Because it's ours.

The entire town wakes up. Lawns are mowed, windows washed, banners hung from one end of Main St. to the other. That entire week thrums with excitement as the rodeo stock are shipped in and unloaded, contestant trailers start pulling in, and there are strangers in town. Shucks, folks, it's our week to shine!

For our family it is a little different. We are transplants. We've only been here three years. That said, it is a small enough community that everyone knows us and we know most of them as well. We ride in the grand entry parade every year and this year we brought a calf (Chester) and our donkey (Eeyore) to the petting zoo. We really are beginning to feel native.

Ok, enough blah blah blah. On to the pics!
Tough enough to wear pink night (like Luna and I need an excuse, pshaw!) just before the grand entry. Luna and I are keeping company with K who's reins match ours. What color? Why, pink and black, of course!

Luna and I, and Jake on Cash riding in the grand entry. We do a serpentine pattern around the arena while the drill team holds flags and our theme music blares from the loudspeakers.

Cody and Splash, Me and Luna, and Dustin riding Badger 10 a.m. Saturday morning for the rodeo parade through the middle of town.

Jake on Cash, Me on Luna, Cody on Splash, and Dustin who hadn't gotten mounted up yet before the Grand Entry on Friday night.

The following pics are kind of awful due to a faulty camera. Above is the bull fighters and a black and white bull who really tried to teach them a lesson, lol.

Saturday night rained for the first half of the rodeo. The arena held up well though and the barrel racers and ropers had no trouble. It got cool outside and after the rodeo was the dance, which rocked!

This is the view of the arena about halfway through the rodeo on Saturday night. I felt bad for all the chicks running around in flip flops. Many, many people lost a shoe that night.



Probably the best "half-time" show I have seen here yet ^^. This man and his Brazilian....somethingorother (steer) and the little girl, Codi Jo, on her pony was awesome. The jumped a culvert with a clown inside (yes, the steer did too!), thru a ring of fire, did a teeter-totter, and the little girl jumped the pony over the steer as he lay on the ground. Oh, yes, the pony and the steer both laid down on command.

The highlight of the show was when they pulled their rig into the arena and put up a ramp, walked the steer and pony up there, and waved to the crowd. It was pretty neat to see the animals so relaxed and well cared for, and so well trained.

Last, but not least, we have Cody and an Amazingly Vicious Beast. Here he is feeding the bucking stock some hay. They kept trying to eat his new hairstyle, a Mohawk. He thought it was hysterical and then started feeding them hay instead. Soon we had a waiting line at the fence. Some were pretty shy but most of them came right up and wanted scritches and, well, the hay.

I have to say that I was impressed with the stock this year. Everything was fat and slick, no apparent illness or injuries, and the horses' hooves were in good shape (not a common occurrence for bucking stock). We were there every day and all of the handling that we saw was low-key and gentle. They had fresh food and water at all times. Pens were clean. I was so happy to see it.

Stay tuned...it has been a week of stomach bugs and vetting horses and extreme temps but I have a blog planned for later in the week.