I got home and since my trailer was stuck in snow, Neil had to pull it out with the tractor and he almost never made it, I unpacked most of my suitcase and repacked a bag for the clinic. I also got everything ready in the truck for Jessie. She is much easier to pack for than me cause she always gets the same stuff. I headed up to Madden Saturday morning bright and early and it took less time than I thought so I was there early, but it was kinda nice to just have a bit of time to relax.
(the mountain view on the way to the clinic)
Then we got ready and worked the flag first. It has been so long since I really did anything we were so out of whack but we got a few good stops by the time our turn was up. Then we worked a single cow, that went pretty good, but still needed some work on keeping her straight and stopping. After lunch we worked another single cow and that was much better. It made me laugh when Doug said to me "I don't know what you just did, but keep doing it" I thought that was a good sign, if I only knew what I was doing it would be better, lol. We finished about 4 and put Jessie in her stall and unhooked my trailer and headed out to see my mom. She lives about 30 minutes from there so it was nice to get to see her. We went out for supper and then visited for a while then went to bed.
The next morning I headed back to the clinic and we worked with the cows from yesterday just practicing cutting a cow out from the herd. It was really neat, and boy did I forget a lot, I had a real hard time but I eventually got it. Then we did one more pass on the flag and it was good then one more time we worked a single cow, we had 3 each. The first one I had a real hard time getting ahead of it on the ends, but as soon as I got there it slowed right down and then I went on to the second cow. I was better at getting to the ends and my stops starting coming together, so we just stopped there. I was still having trouble getting her to stop straight but it was better.
Then I got Jessie untacked and we headed home. She was tired and so was I, it was a good clinic and I learned a lot. I am so glad it was much better than last year, I almost wasn't gonna go but since Doug and another lady I didn't know were hosting it I thought I would try again. I'm glad I did, got me back in the mood for cutting again, and hope to go for more lessons this week and to the first show on April 6/7. I listed all the shows this year, I would like to go to all the ACHA shows (except Kamloops) and maybe some central shows, but we will see how it goes
I had a blast at the Leon Harrell clinic over the weekend. I wasn't sure I wanted to go cause he is a numerous world champion and I thought I would get more out of it if I was more experienced and had more idea on what I wanted help with. But Karen from K and K talked me into it and I am very glad she did.
(The great Leon Harrel)
It had been a while since I worked cows. I had been riding and using Jessie for ranch work, but its a different game entirely than the cutting pen. And you could tell on Friday she was pretty cow fresh and raring to go. But that was a good starting spot for us. We had a challenge with stopping and using my legs and sitting on my platform (little bit of weight in stirrups, about 20%) I had worked on all of those all weekend and Sunday morning we had an awesome run, I wish I had gotten someone to video it instead of the show.
(Paige and her green horse, she was so nice and had so much improvement)
I think the reason its so fun is Leon is a joke teller, his favorite sayings are "Maximum Fun", and "If you don't let life touch you it will kill you". So he is always telling a funny story and making you smile. Just a fun guy to be around. Leon brought a friend with him this time, Jack Hightower. They have known each other forever and have ridden together and so that was kinda neat.
(Leon riding Jessie, sorry bout the blur,
still workin on figuring out arena shots)
I also met some awesome people at the clinic and am gonna stay in touch with a few of them. I made plans to go camping with my ponies and them next July. And another girl we got along really well. We ended up going dancing with Leon and Jack at the Station in Strathmore Saturday evening and just having so much fun. We are gonna get together soon and do something and she wants to go to some Central shows so I might be talked into going to a few with her, even though I would rather do Alberta shows, it will be a good start since we are not gonna go for points or anything just practice.
(Jan, her first time cutting, she did really well and she has a nice horse)
We worked cows twice in the morning and twice after lunch each day, so lots of time for improvement. On Friday I asked Leon if he would ride Jessie and help me see what I need to do to get her to stop parallel with the cow, and he agreed, but then he asked if it would be OK if Jack rode her and so I could see what Jack was doing as he asked and then I can see what I need to do (cause it actually would work) and so that was really interesting cause he told Jack the same stuff as me, but he was more adept at doing it and she looked awesome! Leon did get on her Saturday and Sunday just to see what she was doing. Sure makes me feel better when she tries it with him too, of course he got her correct almost right away.
(Kathy on a horse she bought from Leon earlier this year)
On Sunday we practiced in the morning and I had the best run ever and then after lunch we had a mini show. We split up into teams and Jardi was our judge and it was kinda neat, but I did much better in the morning than in the show. I got Cathy to video my second go and it felt way worse than it looked, but I can definitely see a few mistakes in there. But Jessie was tired too, cause she had 3 runs in the show.
(me and Jessie in show)
There was only 11 people in the clinic so to make it even they had Jack compete on one team (not mine) and he picked 2 horses names out of a hat and had to ride them. One was Spoon, an awesome horse but he never rode him before. And the other was Jessie. That was cool for me, perfect opportunity for get her tuned up for me cause he rode her in the second go 2 horses before I went. She was tired, but she tried and she did good. It was all me that needed more work.
(Jack on Jessie at show)
I was told by Jack I can get a 75 on her if I really try hard. I did not believe that, but he thinks it is possible, so now I guess I have something to work forward to, cause I got a 69 and 70 here, so much improvement can be had.
I had a few more pics from the clinic I had to share. This first one is actually on the way to Jardis on Friday and its my neighbors moving thier cow herd from Dalum to Finnegan. It takes them about four days and it was all nice weather except Sunday was a little snowy, but by then the cows knew where they were going and so just headed home.
Then a pic of Guy showing us how to do something. He is an amazing clinician/trainer, he sees us doing things we dont even know we do. He was telling one guy to sit with his shoulders back and I said I was suprised he never told me that, and the guy sitting by me said there were other worse problems to fix before he even thought of fixing that. I was kinda offended until he said the same thing happened to him, he waited till other stuff was fixed then worked on him, lol.
Then Loren, he worked hard the whole clinic on this little black horse turning the cow back to us at whatever speed he thought we needed. He gave much advice as well, he sounds like a very knowledgable trainer. Kinda fun to hear them throw ideas off each other.
The this pretty mare. She is out of Dual Pep as well, so that was kinda cool for me. And she has no hair, well no winter hair, cause they just bought her at the futurity sale in Dec. I forget how nice a slicked out horse looks at this time of year.
Speaking of hair, Razz is starting to shed and its really weird, only her white hair has shedded so far. Not sure if this is just weird or if white hair sheds quicker on all horses. Noone else has enough white on thier horses to notice a difference.
This past weekend I spent in Airdrie at a cutting clinic. I was pretty worried going in that we were not good enough to be taking the clinic. Well it turned out we were not mounted on the same quality of horses as they all were, but I think it was an amazing clinic and I got all kinds of advice that I can use.
Both days we spent working cows from the herd and getting tips on how we can improve our cut. I need to ride with less hands and more leg. He says he would not like to come back as my horse cause I just pester her all the time instead of asking and really meaning it then backing off. I hate when people do that and I didn't think I did, untill he told me at the time I was and wow I quit and amazing how much better Razz was.
I also was told I needed a new saddle, which I knew because I am using a wade ranch saddle which is amazingly comfortable, but not appropriate for cutting. He figured it would solve most of my stopping problems cause it puts me in a better position to stop.
I need to also work on more rollbacks, without so much hands, I tend to force her around and it makes it look horrible. I tried and makes a big difference. He told me to think of it as a sidepass around her tail. Kind of a interesting way to but it, but made it easier to work on.
I also need to do more counterbending. I know she is not very good at them, but that is very important in cutting. We use it after turning with the cow, to press away from the cow we are cutting back to the herd but still facing the cow we are cutting.
I also do need to work on mirroring the cow more, I tend to make a full turn, even when the cow only turns to face me. I guess I was thinking of working the flag we always need to be straight with the flag, but the flag can't turn only half way around.
There was a lot of stuff to work on, but by the end Razz was turning with the cow and starting to stop with them as well. It was pretty cool. We need to work more on cattle and we are thinking of taking a few lessons from Doug Reinhardt who is in Irricanna or from Guy Heintz who is in High River. Both take haul in lessons and I think we would improve greatly with more lessons on cattle.
The last few days have been cold again! I am so sick of winter but if (and that's a big if) we can believe the weather people after Sunday it is going to warm up for the next two weeks. I sure hope they are right cause it has been to cold to do much around here.
I went and rode Tom and Razz on Tuesday and yesterday braved the weather and rode Razz. Charlene called and said it was -13 so we went and when we got there it was -17! but since we were there we rode anyways, it wasn't too bad while we were riding but afterwards it sure was cold!!!
I skipped out today and am hoping it will get nicer and go riding again tomorrow. I am entered in a cow horse clinic on March 12 and 13, so I have to keep riding so we are both in shape for that. We also looked at a cutting clinic the weekend afterwards but need to find out more about it because even though it is for beginners, we aren't sure if our horses need to be better than ours are.
I also have a question for you guys out there. The Canadian Supreme is trying to get more people to go to watch, and they are starting with the 4H clubs and want to get some well known trainer/clinician to come up and give some talk or info and were wondering who to get. They are trying to stay away from John Lyons/Parelli natural horsemanship types but want someone who everyone would want to see. They are also trying to stay away from the Canadian trainers, cause they will all be competing there.
This weekend I took Razz and Gypsy to a mini clinic with Jardi up at Vic Almonds Arena in Ponoka. It was amazing! I never got any pictures cause I was too busy riding and learning. It was soo great. We worked his flag on Friday and I used Razz and she was afraid of it a little, but not crazy and she worked it but she always wants to pull away before she gives in and we got way behind, so the next day Jardi said I should put her in a snaffle, and I did but I wished I had used it before we went.
I rode Gypsy Saturday morning and we worked the flag with her and she was afraid of it, so we watched it work and then we did follow it a little, but she kept leaning into my leg and ignoring me, grrr. Sure made me realize what I need to work on with my ponies though!
After lunch, we got some cows that had been used earlier for lessons and were tired. I took Razz and she was a little concerned about them, but she settled really easily, just walked through them like it was no big deal, I separated one and kinda just followed it around and went back and just did that 6 or 8 times and she was good so we quit there.
This morning they brought fresh cows and we got to use them. Way more energy in them! I took Razz first and she was good in the herd, but she just was ignoring me, so we worked on her and I directed her after the cow but she never watched the cow the whole time, I was soooo frustrated with her, I wanted to quit. But I didn't, we put a martingale on her and gave her a rest and her second go was hugely improved! I was shocked really, but she must have figured its easier to do it than argue, and I was very pleased with her, so I put her away and got Gypsy.
Wow she was not at all worried about the cows, but the dehumidifier in the corner she didn't care for. It is way easier to work on a horse that follows a cow. It was so much more fun! I still have to work on her following her nose right away rather than her head coming around and her body following, but I can deal with that. Glad she got better, cause I was really not liking her before that ride.
We were done, but other people had cows and asked us to sit in the corners while he worked some cows, so I sat up top and pushed the cows towards him as soon as there was a bigger gap between them. He was really good considering I didn't know when to move, he let me know and was good about it.
It was an amazing weekend and I may be taking Razz up in January and go in some novice novice cuttings. There has only been like two others in that class and Jardi says we are about the same level as them, so me and Charlene may go to a few. Noone can be that good cause neither the horse or rider can have earned over like $200. But a good place for us to start I think. I would like to bring Bailey and i wish I had brought her this weekend instead of Gypsy, I think I would have improved more cause I know her and she knows when I ask her to move I mean it and she has chased cows, maybe we can go to another practice (we were invited back anytime) and see what she is like.
This morning as I was at the optomostrist, who said my eyes haven't changed so I don't get new glasses this time. Which is kinda cool, but kinda wanted the new glasses, but it seems like a waste of money when there is nothing wrong with the glasses I have.
Anyways, I realized I had seen 5 doctors this week! Wow I should be healthy! First on Sunday in emergency that they sent me back to the doctor on Monday, then Tuesday was a day off, them I went to the dentist and the chiropractor on Wednesday and this morning the optomotrist. Whew I should be good for another year and maybe I can arrange it all to get done at once again, it really was kinda handy. A little exhausting as they were in three different towns, and I have that clinic this weekend as well, but now I don't have to worry for a while I hope anyways.
In other news, we thought we should work the mechanical cow last night, that was pretty entertaining. Gypsy wasnt worried about the cow at all, but Ricky (Charlene's horse) was pretty scared of him,never mind when it was all hooked up! Gypsy got pretty worried about that moving thing too, if she could have gotten closer to the wall, she sure woulda. She sure can back up when she wants out of somewhere, it was pretty impressive. She doesn't know, but now I know what she can do. Oh and thanks for the ideas about the groundwork, ussually I do that with the saddle on and the lead rope behind the saddle, but for some reason I never did it on her, I will try it.
After we were done riding them, I brought Razz out (just in her halter) and she wanted to go up to the cow, a little worried about him, but a lot more aggressive than the other two, I think she will do really good with the flag cause its a lot less scary than the cow. And it sounds like we may get a chance to ride some good broke horses and use some real cows as well, I cant wait!
On Sunday me and Charlene went up to Airdrie to watch Jardi and Susan in a clinic with Leon Harrel. It was pretty cool, and spectators were free to get in and they fed us lunch and supper! But I think there are no spectators, because I ended up video taping the competition at the end, and Charlene was taking pictures for them. He was so positive in everything he said, and they both said there was huge improvement from Friday. I shoulda gone then and seen the difference. Here's Jardi on Twister
and Susan on Princess
the pictures are kinda dark, but when I print them i think i will lighten them a little, still trying to figure it out on the computer.
