Back At It

On Saturday I called for a lesson and it was good so away we went.  It had been so long that I wasnt sure how it would work out. I knew we were gonna do the flag cause its been forever and I wasnt really expecting much.  But much to my surprise Jessie was really good.  A little slow to stop on one end, but shes always that way going right and then tries to turn in, once I can get her to stop quick enough and stand straight she is so cool, she even had some draw when going left :)

Doug thought I fell of the face of the earth cause I hadn't been in so long so I told him Neil was sick and I got to do all the calving and then it was branding season.  He got hurt as well and was off for a couple months and still a little sore so I am glad I didn't go any earlier than this.  He actually competed in Calgary and got 3rd, I thought that was pretty good for coming back, but he said it was a good little horse, total show horse that's way better at a show than at home she loves it.

I also told him we had been moving cows and helping sort cows and he said that's good for her to do the same job in a different environment.  And I mentioned she pulled a few calves at branding and was so good and I asked if she had ever been roped off and he said definitely not and so that was good she really was a good as I thought she was.  He was quite surprised she was that good first few calves.  I like I can use my show horse for more than just showing I always thought it was good for them but now I know it is.

We went to Strathmore afterwards and stopped at K & K Livestock and I got a new saddle pad.  I knew I wanted one for a long time and I wanted to try the impact gel ones cause I heard how good they are and so that's what I got.  Jst plain black and beige and I will mostly try to keep it for showing but I wanna use it a few times first to make sure I and Jessie like it.

Then we stopped for lunch and bought KFC for supper (and lunch on Sunday) and then headed home.  Was a longer day than planned but it was good.  I never thought of it till I was back home but I shoulda brought my iPad so I coulda got my friend to video, she like it cause then she can watch and video at the same time.  Maybe next time I will do that.

Equestrian Challenge -- Day 6

Day 06- All the tack and riding clothes you have (brand/color/other details)

This could be a long one, lol.  I have so much tack its kinda crazy and my ponies have way more clothes than me.  Clothes for riding, pretty much I prefer my Aura jeans and any type of top, tank tops in summer, long sleeve t-shirts, western shirts, long johns, and my wranger fleece lined jeans for winter riding.    And western boots, I do have a pair of muck boots the english tall riding kind, but they are very fitted and very warm so it has to be pretty cold and I have to wear fitted jeans, or loose jeans with them inside.

For tack, hmm where to start.  Saddles, I have 4 - my Sean Ryon Cutting saddle, McCall Wade ladies ranch saddle (I love love love this saddle), my old small western saddle that I need to find a new home for, and my I dunno brand name English saddle.

Bridles, I have at least one for every horse, Jessie has a curb with roller and now also riding inthe hackmore.  Razz mostly the hackmore and occasionally the twisted wire snaffle and hopefull one day the curb bit, after the two rein.  Bailey and Kali both have a snaffle.  Disco has a snaffle and a curb of which I hardly have used either.  Magic Jazz and Belle don't really have any, but hopefully Jazz and Magic will someday.

I have a huge variety of saddle pads, I love my tolkat coolback pad and also a felt pad.  I have some English pads for my English saddle as well.

I have boots and polos and collars and a driving harness and halters of every shape and style.

And horse blankets, I have so many, light, winter, rain, fly, coolers.  All kinds of crazy blankets.

Hackmore Hanger

Well I been talking forever about making a new hanger for my smaller bosal.  And I finally got around to it.  I found an old rein permanently attached to a bit I would never use, so that was the one.  It was a nice soft piece and no tears or worn bent spots.  I learned this from Linda a few years ago ( a lot of years if I really think back) when I wanted to put one on my other bosal and since I like the way it looks and its fairly easy I did the same thing.

I start with a piece of leather (I was lucky cause I could measure my old one) and slice a hole in the end where it goes around the bosal, then cut 2 more holes so I could weave it in and out.  Solid and pretty with no metal pieces  :)

Its kinda hard to weave it in and out, while still keeping it flat, but the softer the leather, the easier.  Then a shorter one on the other side attached the same way.

And it just ties like a rope halter, with the end piece facing away from eye.

And it is perfect with those weaves cause the mecarte I got to go with them has the same weaving on the ends of it :)    Tying them is a little harder, whew I really had to think about that!

But now that I look at it and see them done, I want to switch these with my other hanger cause it is thinner and I think would look nicer on the smaller bosal.  Which I could do cause I wanna take my other hanger off and clean the bosal anyways, so that may be my next project.

An Experiment with Jessie

On Sunday I figured I should ride Jessie again, it had been a few days and after Wed I will prob turn her out and so won't ride everyday.  I went and got her and tacked her up and as I was going back in to get her bridle, I grabbed my hackamore for some reason.  Maybe cause I just got the new reins for my smaller bosal, I don't know.  I don't think she has ever been rode in a hackamore, but I figured she is so good in everything else it should be fine.

I had really wanted to go up north to where Neil said the other Tee pee rings were, so we headed out that way.  We went through the north pasture the horses were on this spring and there are a bunch of carraganas out there and Jessie just walked right through them, I would gone around them but I guess she was used to them so that was OK with me.

But boy oh boy was my back sore.  I thought I could just ignore it for a bit and it would be better, but it just wasn't happening.  Which is too bad cause Jessie was being really good and so nice, not even trying to look home, like she sometimes does.  So we took the shorter route just around the bull field and it was only about half hour but I was done.  And the gate was closed that we usually go through, but Neil had seen us and roared over there on Bob and opened it.  Not sure why he did, but he said he wanted it open anyways.  Jessie was real good about that too, not too much can spook her, which is sure nice, but real unexpected when it does happen.

But I hope its better today cause I plan on riding again and don't wanna have to quit early.  And gonna use the hackamore again today to see it it was just fluke last time.

My Week

So last week I was having blogger issues.  For some reason when I went to the new post page, the title box and the writing box were greyed out.  It was frustrating, but I just kept trying and today it finally worked like it is supposed to, so I will give kinda a quick overview of last week.  First off I sewed up the fly sheet Jessie ripped a while ago.  It actually looks pretty good but since its for super sensitive girl, I put all the seams on the outside so they don't rub, it looks a little odd but should work.

And Monday afternoon we had a horrible windstorm go through here and tear down a 50 foot section of windbreak which we did not know about till the next morning when we look out the window and see horses in the yard.  They musta not seen it till after dark and the windbreak is behind a cattle shed so not visible from the house.  I am glad in this case that Bailey is a talker cause she kept them all close by, 3 were in the corrals and 3 were in the yard by their pen.  They coulda gone all over the country cause we have gates open to the creek and up north cause no cattle around.  We went out and have 2 tractors holding up the fence till Neil gets his truck back and can pick up some lumber to replace it.

But our storm was not near as bad as Hanna got it, it tore out trees by the roots and I went on Wed to the chiro and what a mess, there was still trees down on the streets and all over it is just sad.  And roofs off buildings, I heard millions of dollars damage.  But while there they had the farmers market and so I got some fruit and had to have some pies, it was almost the end of the day and still lots left so she was giving a deal on pies so I ended up with 2, when I really only wanted the raisin, but cherry is good too :)

And since there are so many crab apples on my tree I picked 2 five gallon pails full and been cooking and straining the juice for jelly and the much for butter.  10 gallons of apples is a lot, it took no time to pick and there is still lots of apples on the tree, but I think I am done with what I have got now.

And then Thurs I went down to Silver slate to watch the cutting show going on there.  I was not competing in it cause I think a 5 day show is more than I need right now, but that is where the winter series is held and I wanted to see the place and know how long it takes to get there and just scout it out some.  It is real easy to find and lots of places to park and so should be good, it is 3 hours from home, so I do hope they don't start super early.  While we were there we stopped in Claresholm so shop and I finally found the mecarte reins I have been looking for all summer, and really reasonable too.  They are a little prickly but I think they will be OK.  Now I gotta find an old rein or something to make a hanger and remember how to tie them on my bosal.

Then Sat I headed down to Maple Creek with friends to the annual horse sale down there.  Looks like prices are up a little, specially on weanlings, but also on broke horses as well.  Only one colt I liked and a 4 year old ranch gelding was not too bad, but nothing I needed to have so that was good.  They also have a cowboy poetry and trade show there so we went to the trade show and saw lots of cool stuff, Found a bit and spurs I wanted but kinda out of my price range right now.  I would put them on my Christmas list, but Im sure Neil would have a heart attack if I said I wanted a $650 bit and $450 spurs so I will just save and I don't have a horse for them right now anyways so I will just wish.  But we did see where part of a grass fire went through by Medicine Hat, looks like they got it contained before too much damage, but sure is dry and reminds me it could happen here anytime.

Hopefully now it will be working and I can continue to tell my life in little chunks and it don't sound so crazy cause it really didn't seem like I did that much last week till I put it all together.

Mane Event 2012

On Saturday I headed up to Red Deer for the Mane Event.  But first I had made a deal with a lady on Facebook that we were gonna trade some tack.  She was going to Ponoka and so we decided to meet halfway in between in Lacombe.  I traded her Kali's old blanket for a cooler and a felt pad.  I like trading that way I get what I want and she gets what she wants and we get rid of the stuff we don't want.

(we had to wait for the train to pass before we could meet)

Well then I headed to Red Deer and had a look around the trade fair.  then I found Sherry and bought her new book and got her to sign it for me.  I did not read what she wrote till I got home and she is so awesome :)  Thanks Sherry I will sure try.

I also got a garment bag for my dress shirts from Up In Stitches so they can stay clean while we are traveling.  I wanted a summer canvas sheet from her but she had none in the right size so I guess we will have to use the ones I have.  I also finally found a black belt I really liked from Western Twist Tack.  I looked at it and loved it but it was way way too big so I left and then came back cause I really wanted it,  but picked a different one that was nice and fit.  And I went to pay and she says she can make them smaller if its too big.  So I asks about the other one and since there was lots of plain belt at the buckle end she made it fit me!  I love it and best of all it was not even ridiculous priced :)

So I didn't buy a lot but I am got stuff I really wanted.  I always forget its so general horsey and not very event/competition based so there is so much there I am not interested in.  I did talk to the Adaquan lady and found out more about it and it actually sounds like a good product.  She was saying it acts like the fluid in the joints and it wears out instead of the joint fluid wearing out.  And it last about 6 months so if only competing for half a year only need it once a year or can do it twice a year if needed.  And what I liked best of all is if you use it, at any time you can quit using it without any problems, no need to keep using it forever.  Might be something to look into.

BBQ

Tuesday night the tack store we use in Strathmore, K & K Livestock, had a pre stampede BBQ.  I had wanted a few things, so I thought I might as well go.  This is the only tack store I think I have been to that has food everytime I go there. 

I showed up around 5:30, an hour later than I had planned because as I was driving through Drum I got a flat tire and since I didn't want to change it myself (mostly just didn't want to get the spare out)  I stopped at the tire place and had them fix it.  It took an hour!  Wow I'm pretty sure that was a little long, but at least I could relax while they did it.

Jardi was there and she talked me into getting a breast collar.  I had been thinking of getting another one for my wade saddle since I moved the one I used to use on it to my cutting saddle.  I had a little narrow really pretty one with pink swarski crystals on it that match Kali's bridle, but it is too smal for Razz and looks silly.

So I ended up buying this one with flowers on, they are not the same flowers as my saddle, but close enough I think.  I have to show a picture on the stand cause I felt bad that it was so hot I didn't want to saddle a horse even just to take a picture today.  Sure would have been nice to take a ride or work with jamaica, but 33 is a little to warm for me and I feel bad for the ponies too.  I guess I either have to get up earlier, stay up later, or wait for a more reasonable day.

I also got a mane brush, conditioner and some chin straps.  I had 3, and since I  like a seperate bridle for each horse thet meant I was stealing off a different bridle all the time, what a nusience.  So now all the bridles have thier own.

I had a hamburger and homemade donuts and butter tarts, mmmmm.  I'm glad I went even if I wasn't planning on buying the breast coller, I love it now and I'm sure I will as soon as I get a chance to ride when its not so hot out.