Life in the Herd

June 5, 2016Posted inCISCO, Country Frank's Lucky Star
Four Horse Herd is: Sweetie-Paint mare with nearly no pigment on her face to block sunburn. Sweetie has become best friends with Delta....... Sweetie is low horse in the herd in domination in the herd. Number 4, Sweetie does not let on that she likes or trusts humans until you walk up and pet her. Then she may or may not trust you. I believe she has been a brood mare all her life and has not experienced any close bonds with a human. She did not have any friends…

Enter the Horse of No Again

May 24, 2016Posted inCountry Frank's Lucky Star, Missouri Fox Trotter
Because I have such and wonderful horse of Yes in Cisco, it is difficult to work up much incentive to ride the Horse of No, Lucky Star.  Lucky might be near full recovery from his accidental leap over the fence and ripping up his foot in September 2015. I had incentive today. It was feet trimming day with Tony Vaught.   I took him to the arena in which I ride.  He and Cisco trailered over together.  Cisco was first out of the trailer.  I tied him up.  Lucky Star…

Flying Lead Change on Cisco? Miracles Happen

May 17, 2016Posted inCISCO, Missouri Fox Trotter
Here is a horse never cantered under saddle until I got him at nine years of age. Never cantered under saddle with a human weight from zero to nine. There is a lot of balancing that a horse needs to canter while carrying a human. I remember when Nichole first cantered him during his thirty day "customize him for Susan training". She was happy to discover a canter! And the canter was comfortable! I remember cantering on him during a group lesson at Mary Brown's arena. I was shocked by…

The Mind of a Horse

May 16, 2016Posted inCISCO, Miscellaneous, Missouri Fox Trotter
You will be surprised to learn about Cisco's mind. Cisco is a left brain introvert. That means he thinks through things and isn't a big fan moving. He likes to move. He likes to stop. But what Cisco really is...is a worrier. He worries about things. It can take him a long time to get comfortable in a new place. His worry is very low key as he is thinking while he is worrying. During his worrying phase, he likes to move. That keeps him relaxed. When he moves, I'm…

Test Results of Shoulder Relief Girth – Failure. NO! Rips The Horse

April 10, 2016Posted inSaddle fit
I have done everything possible to get a saddle to fit my horse. I use a Circle Y Flex Lite saddle. I use both girth rings of the saddle to try to keep the saddle from creeping forward on the horse. I use a very expensive saddle pad, because you get what you pay for in saddle pads. I use a CSI saddle pad. If a pressure point exists, the CSI pad prevents the pressure from hurting the horse. I use a shim to even out the hollow spot behind…

Cisco at the Park

March 5, 2016Posted inCISCO, Missouri Fox Trotter
When I got Cisco, he had been trail ridden for three years solo on the trail.  His spook was a stop and brace his front legs.  His entire ridden life had been as a trail horse.  Cisco comes to me.  I turn him into an arena horse.  This might be the start of our third year and he has been on two trail rides as my horse in those three years.  He now is a rail or fence bound arena horse. I decided that Cisco needs to revisit the trail.…