Susan's Viewpoint

All about my horses!

Fancy Parelli Level 4 Freestyle (Bridleless) Journey 2

My confidence is high and I didn’t need the halter with lead role.  Nothing is on her head.  She has a neck rope.

Today, Fancy stopped inside the 4 markers  which we call a Question Box.  What do you want Mom?  Do you want to go through the box?  Do you want to stop.  We go through the box with a straight center line or in circles.  We could do straight, figure eights or half arena circles.  Yesterday I asked her to stop going thru the circle in the straight center line markers, but she pretended not to recognize my body signal or pulling on the rope.

By golly, today she recognized my signal to stop at a walk, the gaits and the canter. Yee Haw!  I might pass the Level 4 test soon!

I decided to do canter to stop transitions on the wall.  I decided on 10 steps at a canter and stop.  My goal was for Fancy to canter immediately when asked and halt after 10 strides.  We occasionally got the immediate canter but the transition to a halt took about half of the arena (way more than 10 strides to stop)  We cantered everywhere…. into her favorite corner, nearly into running over my riding partner, Sharon on Sonny.  I stopped counting the strides and concentrated on staying alive.  She was not bolting.  She had her brain.  Her body wanted to keep cantering except for when she ran into a corner.  She did stop in the corner and I commenced more canter to stop attempts.  I tried again…and again and again.

Nope.  We failed at 10 strides canter to stop.  This is not on the Level 4 Free Style test, but I thought it was good training for my stop signal.  Nope. I decided our next session was going to be with bridle.  I have just a smatter more control over her body.

I was not scared.  I’m in an arena with four solid walls that will not allow bolting across the winter Missouri fields.  She was not bolting, she just ignored my body language and the neck rope.  Fancy is a GO Horse.  I love a Go Horse.  They are not boring!

We will ride another day in the arena!

Fancy Parelli Level 4 Free Style (Bridleless) 1

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Note:  I write with humor and self sarcasm.

Today I was going to ride without the bridle as a backup. However, when I was actually in the arena after our ground play, myself was frightened. So, I left the halter on and anchored the lead rope to the saddle horn. I felt safe.I discovered a mounting problem when I couldn’t use a rein to guide her to the perfect mounting block position. Oh my, mounting is an audition task. It didn’t take long to get her in position, but hmmmm.

Here is the cloverleaf pattern at a consistent canter. Did you miss the consistent canter in the video?  Well heck, the video doesn’t show up in this post.  Darn!

Lastly was the great stop inside the markers. Someone must have messed with the video! Perhaps we need some practice with stopping. I can’t believe it. She stops perfectly when she wears a bridle, even though I’m certain my hands do not put put any pressure on bridle reins.

I did just notice she did canter exactly when I asked. We did do the turns to get through the markers. (Small arena)
Amazingly, we are not ready to film the audition! When we pass Free Style, I might have to start playing online with the evil 45’ rope.
(I’m going to be depressed when we pass Free Style L4. I love to suffer when I’m riding. Thank goodness there is a Level 5 in the future)

 

 

Airs Above the Ground

42 Degree Group Lesson Day

 

 

I wore thick cotton jodhpurs/breeches, long sleeved medium weight shirt, sweatshirt and my new coat.  Fancy gave me quite a workout early on and my glasses steamed up.  I put them in my new coat pocket.  How cool to have a big enough pocket!

We were doing a new pattern today to get flying lead changes (my 20 year passion goal) and it was working!  The pattern was much like another pattern we had used a few times earlier this year except my lead change (leg cue) request came later.  Fancy knew a flying change was going to be requested and she wanted to do the flying lead change when the old pattern dictated.  Plus Fancy loves to do flying changes.

There are two of us in the group lesson today.  We took turns on the pattern.  Fancy was doing it, under protest at having to wait.  I had started sweating at the effort.  I took off my steamed glasses and put them in my coat pocket.  I was excited they fit.  “Good coat, ” I whispered silently.

Our turn!  Fancy started her protest where she wanted to change leads.  She popped.  Her body popped.  Her body kept popping up.  Her back legs and her front legs popped up.  She popped up again and again.  My hands grew alarmed and pulled back on the reins.  My body kept popping up out of the saddle.  In the 6 hour long (six seconds) I wondered 1…Is she bucking and 2….is she going to buck?  My body knew it was going to fly out of the saddle.

after the six hour (six second) ordeal had passed, she slowed down and stopped.

My great instructor Did Not come storming out of the arena to,take over Fancy.  Oh no!  Instead I was told to do it again! I no longer remember if we did one flying lead change each way, or just did the 6 year one again.  This time, it did not take six eternities.

Fancy did the flying change and we rested.

I couldn’t get my glasses out of my pocket before I drove truck and trailer home.  I managed to see the road on the way home.  I let Emma out, backed Fancy out of the trailer and went into the warm house.

 

Miss T’s Christmas Present

Miss T’s Late Christmas Present

It’s been a long time since Miss T got to go on a ride in my car plus enjoy her favorite dining experience.  Yes, she loves McDonalds!  When I eat my Bacon Quarter pounder, she sits quietly and watches me with those deep begging eyes.  I always respond with 1/3 of my sandwich and about half of my fries.  (Weight Watcher points applaud her!)

Well, hell, thinks I.  I’ll just get her a plain cheeseburger.  Nope that didn’t work in my brain when I pulled into the line.

This is my late Christmas present.  She gets her own Bacon Quarter pounder, leaving me to peacefully eat a full sandwich.

Dogs eat faster than humans.  Have you noticed that?

I had to share the fries.  Weight Watcher points sighed.

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I’m So Angry (at myself) and Sore

I’m in a horse development program something like Karate.  It’s called Parelli Levels Program.  We are given tasks to do in four different areas:  Finesse, Free Style, On-Line and Liberty and we get different color ropes when we pass a Level.  I’m working on getting my black rope with Fancy.  It’s the highest level for a non professional.   I have passed L4 Finesse with Fancy.

Because I am a self confessed bragger, I offer you the video of Fancy and my Level Four Finesse “Swan Lake” audition: https://youtu.be/_Luz9CkYjO4?si=bSMFRwgk-yhLht9r
Hint, read the description so you will understand.

Now I have to do all the required tasks for Free Style without using a bridle.  You can have the bridle on your horse, just don’t use it.  There is cantering, walking  jumping and trotting tasks along with side pass and back.  You can also use one or two carrot sticks.


Fancy and I are ready!  We can do all this.  I’ve got her neck rope on, bridle is there for safety.  We practiced.  I lied about being ready.  During our cantering practice, Fancy’s GO personality came out. Her slowing down personality during the canter failed to show up.  Pulling back on the rope as the signal to slow down wasn’t working.  Dang.

On the truck and trailer ride home, my right arm bicep muscles, were very sore.  What?  Could I actually been pulling back that hard with the neck rope to slow her down.

later it occurred to me I wasn’t holding my carrot stick.  I was going too fast to think about using a carrot stick to turn anyway!

Good Lordy!  I’ve missed a signal.  Fancy secretly knows how to slow down when my body asks, but she likes to GO.  The rope pulling on her neck doesn’t exist.

I’m a poor horse developer!  My arm is really sore.  I’m mad at my self and it hurts to lift my right arm higher up on the steering wheel.

Stay tuned for further adventures with mad Susan.  We are taking a Christmas break!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy Heat Chuckles and More


Most non horse people don’t know what HEAT is.  Mare owners know what that word means.  It means Fancy’s body wants a Stallion! (Mare cycles generally last 21 days with them expressing signs of heat for 4-7 days. Estrus is expressed outwardly by; raising the tail, frequent urination, “winking” or eversion of the vulva, squealing, and posturing.)

The wetness on her legs was from her “heat”.  Oh Lordy.  I feel a chuckle coming.

I’m riding in a lesson taught by great trainer, Erin Patterson. Fancy doesn’t want to obey my body command to back up.  She verbally tells me, using a squeal, that backing is not acceptable. When she was younger her monthly cycle would heat up and wreck her back.  Those things moved around in there!  She was placed on a drug which stopped fertility.  When she went to Florida this year, her drug was terminated.  She  is older (eight) now and her body not as “cycle-gullible”.

Fancy is back home with me in all her heat glory.  She screamed (squealed) when I asked her to back, I smiled.  A few minutes later, the my chuckling started.  I chuckled all over the arena.  When it was time to drive home, I ripped out intermittent chuckles all the way home.  I laughed (chuckled outloud) the rest of the day. Fancy made me laugh all day!

More Fancy news: Us humans always know Fancy’s state of mind.  She lets you know.  Long ago, she was raised without a herd and had a very bad colt start using pain, fear and intimidation. Her owner didn’t want her hurt by the herd and raised her in a stall and with solo turn out.   Her early life affected her as it would for humans in the same pain, fear and intimidation situation.  Fancy became rideable after her second colt start, but she kicked three farriers and the husband.  My currant horse had developed EPM and Fancy was loaned to me.  She struck me with her front foot the first time I took her to the near by arena

Fancy is a mouthy horse and always bit me , especially when I reached under her to get the girth.

Fancy spent her 3rd colt start with Tony Vaught former Parelli certified Horse Develoer. The Vaughts (Jenny and Tony) develop horses using Love, Language and Leadership.  Fancy would do whatever Tony asked.  Tony loves her. (She did not do whatever I asked upon her return  she spent the early part of our ride, arguing.  There were many times when she wouldn’t canter.

Here is the amazing present day Fancy. (She recently spent about half a year with Tony Vaught (and won the September 2023 Ranch Horse Reserve World Grand Championship at The Fox Trotter World Celebration.)  Yes, I am a bragger!

Here it is December  2023 and I realize something has changed with Fancy.  Hold on….

Fancy has become a SWEET HORSE!  I told Jenny Vaught (former 15 year certified Parelli instructor). Jenny explained perhaps aging sweetened these horses up.  I think it could have been aging, her life using Love, Language and Leadership, and more time with Tony Vaught.

AFIB after Ablation

March 2023, AFIB ablation operation done.  Overnight hospital stay and I ate full hospital food menu for two days.   Sadly, narcotic medicine is tough on releasing food from gut.  I became painfully constipated.

Days later, I was at a performance event and was suffering.  I left at ntermission to go home and took 5 times the amount of constipation medication recommended.  I wanted to get that food out of my body.

Whoops!  I became a bathroom prisoner.  Next stage of hell was unsuccessful exits from bed.  It was so bad, I thought about ordering a new carpet for the house!

Moving on…. No AFIB.  Not moving on…out of breath when riding.  Tiredness.

Eventually the out-of-breath went away, but not the ever lasting fatigue.  I could barely handle feeding the horses at home.  Fatigue struck at my upper body and legs when walking back from barn. My friend Sharon had to saddle my horse when we rode.

Just recently, I became able to saddle my horse.  I can move obstacles around in the arena.  I still am feeling great or normal.

Last week I realized, it was the IRON!  I have not been eating enough protein!  Lack of Iron causes fatigue.  Who Knew!

My life has returned like it used to be.  I’ve been living in the suburbs of hell and escaped back to my live version of heaven…Horse Heaven!

 

Doug and Miss T, New Boarders

Updates! Tenor is a 98% unicorn. In late July, my riding partner, Sharon and I went on trail-ride at a park. We were in some high bushes around us. The bushes moved, Tenor spun so fast, I only knew I was falling off. He did a 180 and I did a 90. I can’t mount him from the ground, so (after we found my missing boot), we walked and discovered a trucked parked next to a lake near enough that I could walk there. I was dead on my feet. I got into back of truck, stood up and mounted Tenor. I was barely alive. We made it back to trailer and Sharon did all the unsaddling and brushing. I now am dizzy when I sit up from the bed and sometimes from a chair. Dr said, better stop that riding! Ha!

A month later….I’m getting these sores under my boobs and in armpits. Finally got sore enough and not responding to any horse wound salve. Yesterday at Dr, I discovered I have Shingles. Medicine and prescription salve made me better today. I had two vaccinations against shingles!

Tenor went to Florida to be with Jenny for 30 days of riding twice a day. She and Tenor will be competing against Tony and Fancy in addition to Erin Patterson on a highly trained horse. This will be some kind of crazy competition.

I let, Doug Summy,  a good friend of Nathan’s from their church years come to my property and live in a large van. He moved here from Louisville. He is a Theater Technical Director  for a high priced private college-prep school! I also have his Golden Retriever! She is smart and beautiful and loves to swim in the lake.
“Doug” thinks he has gone to heaven. finding his best friend’s mother and enough ground to park hi bi g van.  He will be living on my property, so I’m no longer alone. My son is over the moon happy that I have a “wellness monitor”! Doug does come into the house to wash his clothes and shower. He is very quiet and nice, a perfect boarder.

Just a Trailride! Dog attack; Riders Bucked Off; Horse Runaways (Not Tenor, Sonny, Susan or Sharon)

Just a day in the park trail ride and Missouri Fox Trotters rescued their fellow fox trotters.

Many hero’s appeared today during a drama at James A Reed Wild life Park in Lee’s Summit.Sonny will be nominated for Hall of Fame. Many hero humans were involved without their names being recorded.

Sonny, Sharon, Tenor and I went on a trail ride today  at James A. Reed Wildlife Park.  We rode a total distance of 1.3 miles.  Trail riders might sneer at this minuscule miles, but Hero Sonny was born and Missouri Fox Trotter drama is saved forever in this story.

Sharon and I pulled into the horse trailer parking lot today and we’re prepping Sonny and Tenor for a trail ride.  A car drove by and stopped to talk to Sharon.  The report was as follows:  Two horses were attacked by a dog or dogs.  Their riders fell off and the horses ran off.

Sharon told me and I immediately decided which trail was probably the furthest and safest trail to take to avoid dogs.  After we had warmed Sonny and Tenor up, another group of riders showed up.  We told them what was told to us and they immediately decided to try to find the horses and help.  As Sharon and I rode on the “safe” trail, I wondered about being brave or embracing caution.  My thought was to avoid being attacked, not help with rescue.

About a half mile on my “ safest” trail choice, we spotted two horses standing with no humans.  One horse had one rein on the ground with no other rein.  The other horse had a looped rein around a front leg.  Since there were no humans present, we decided these must be the runaway horses.  They were standing quietly.

I called 911 and was connected with the Lee’s Summit police.  I repeated the dog attack, bucked off riders and runaway horses story and reported that my friend and I had just discovered the run-away horses. I told the person we were on the south side trail in the park when I saw a car on a nearby road.  I told the emergency guy this was the south side paved road that goes around the park.  I was wrong, but it didn’t matter.

Sharon and I stayed where we were for a short time.  I yelled, “Help” several times, but no one responded.  We waited.  Here is where Hero Sonny emerged.  Tenor and Sonny were urged  to get closer to the runaway horses.  The runaway didn’t move.  We all waited. Hero Sonny decided he could leave the herd and get close to the road so Sharon could flag down some help.  Sonny left the runaway horses and his best friend Tenor.  It takes a brave horse to leave the herd.  (Sonny’s value is now $2 billion!)  Sadly, even though Tenor was with the run-away horses, he got upset.  His herdmate Sonny left him!  He made a deep distress cry and moved.  He moved backwards.  His amazing rider tried to turn him from left to right, but Tenor stayed anxious and moving.  The amazing rider, me, thought about the two women who had been bucked off and decided she didn’t want to be #3.  She rang a cry of distress to Sharon, “Come back!  I need you!”

Sonny headed back and with some urging from his rider (me), Tenor was able to move forward, leave the runaways and get close to Sonny.  Tenor’s anxiety subsided.  Sharon and I decided to get back to the road to get help.  The two horses slowly followed us.  Sharon dismounted and after some quiet patience, caught the bay one rein horse.  It took a few more minutes and she was able to get the palomino looped rein horse.   I was holding Sonny’s reins.

A few cars passed by without stopping for my emergency distress waving.  What the heck?  They waved back at me.  Finally a truck stopped and the driver and his son-in-law got out.  It took a while for them to understand Tenor and Sonny were not the problem.  The son-in-law took the bay one rein horse. Another car drove up and I was able to stop them.  The woman got out of the passenger seat and agreed to take the palomino looped rein horse.

I asked the pickup truck driver if he would drive Sharon to the trailer parking lot as she (nor I) can mount these tall horses from the ground.  Instead he boosted Sharon up on Sonny.  He boosted her wrong leg first, but Sharon got him to boost the offside leg, not the inside leg that needed to be in the stirrup.

Sharon and I were mounted.  We had two people leading two horses a half mile!  The palomino horse had blood running down a back leg.  How had that happened?    I noticed some anxiety with this horse and a few horse beats of a gaited horse.  I wondered if the palomino could be a fox trotter.

(Both runaway horses are fox trotters!  I told one woman that we had a local Fox Trotter club.)

Our hero’s and their vehicles made it back to the parking lot.  The one reined horse was tied to a wooden tie-out.  The other horse needed a tie rope so Sharon loaned Sonny’s lead rope.  I dug out a multitude of halters and lead roles from the trailer.  Sharon put one of those on Sonny and it fit better than the halter she was using.  Another set of horse people descended upon us.  They must have just arrived in the parking lot.  Explanations were given and suddenly the women owners of the horses showed up!  We probably all needed a Zanex calming pill by this time.  I remember taking my first calm breath much later when Sharon and I were driving back.

A fire truck and ambulance arrived.  Thank goodness they didn’t use the siren.  We heard sirens from afar, but assumed they were going somewhere else when we no longer heard them.  I did not notice them drive into the parking lot until they were right beside us.  My attention was fully on the horses and two women.

Gradually, the riders us the story.  It was a pit bull and Mastiff.  I also heard they were German Shepard and Mastiff. The dogs were running loose and far away from the owners.  The dogs had to run a distance to catch the horses.   They attacked the horses who fought and bucked and the two women went to the ground.   The women were both attacked and bitten.  Then they took off after the horses.  The first people who arrived to help the women were the dog owners.  When told her dogs had bitten the women, the owner said, oh it’s all right, the dogs are vaccinated.
The blood on the palomino’s back leg was from a dog bite.  (Good Lordy!)  Both women were bitten.  One had a blue medical  band around her lower thigh.  This was protecting her dog bite.  The dog chased one horse and then returned to attack the other horse.  (Good Lord!)

One of the women told the rescuers that her friend just had a recent knee replacement and falling off a horse was awful.  The medical responders told her she needed to go to her doctor, but she was walking around.  Both women went to a doctor.  The palomino ran up a $1000 vet bill his first day at the vet and had to stay overnight.

While we were both there, the owner of the dog called.  (The dog has no future.)

Both women hugged me and thanked me for getting the horses back to the parking lot.  We got Sonny’s rope back and decided we could leave.  Sonny and Tenor did their amazing loading job.  Oh, I forgot to mention that when we arrived at the parking lot, Tenor was peeing a 5 lb bucket of pee on the floor.  The trailer floor has some flakes, but nothing to withstand a 5 gallon pee bucket.  Sonny is loaded first which requires only Sharon to enter and exit the trailer.  I just send Tenor in and don’t tie him.  So Sharon’s boots suffered from about a half inch of pee during both loading/unloading sessions.  I need a deeper layer of flakes to cover the floor with some depth.

Sharon stated maybe we should only ride at the park on a weekday afternoon.  This was a Sunday afternoon.  Many horse and dog people work during the week.  Work keeps them out of the park!

What a day.  I decided a huge Margherita at out local Mexican restaurant was necessary for dinner tonight.  I might be sobered up now.  It was tough to ask Sharon if she wanted to ****.  My voice could not say the word trail ride.  But tomorrow is Monday and I don’t want to get James A Reed PTSD.  We are riding tomorrow!

Note:  If anyone knows these women, please let them know my name or tell me.  I want to pay for their membership in our local fox trotter club.

 

 

Who Rang my Doorbell at 10:30 PM?

Who could possibly ring my doorbell at 10:30 PM?  I had to put on an item of clothing so I could be decent when answering the door.

Were my horses loose?  Did they get out of their pasture.?

I tuned on lights, turned off the alarm and opened the front door.  There was a county patrolman standing at my front door.  I exclaimed.  I immediately assumed I had hit the fall button or emergency button on my new Apple Watch.  I tried apologizing for my error.

The patrolman asked me if I was Hope Robinson.  No, she’s a friend of mine. Oh, I thought.  My watch contacted my close friends.  Hope must be an emergency contact.  Again, the patrolman asked if I was Hope.  No, Hope is a friend.

For two days my small county in the world has been knocked off the Internet.  AT&T  is a huge cell phone and WiFi provider.

Hope had tried to message me about our plans the next day. I never answered.  She called and immediately got my voicemail.  The phone did not ring.

it’s the damn Internet the handsome young patrolman and I decided.  I told him the Hope Robinson lives in Grandview.

We both cursed the Internet.  I ran out out of Kindle books to read last night.  Thankfully it was time to sleep.  Cell service  is functioning this morning.  The grocery store in town was selling groceries with check or money order.  My tire shop had a tough time getting a replacement for my flat tire wheel.  Our Internet was out part of a day and nearly all day yesterday.  It was hell!

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