Sage and the Saddle

March 12, 2002Posted inSage
Sage is sequestered at Pine Dell again on her diet. Tonight I am dedicated to cantering and galloping on Sage.  I will not tense up.  I will allow my hands to be quiet.  I will not pick up the reins and hold them up to my nose.  I will not tense up my shoulders.  Sage is a well trained horse.  I decided to skip all my normal pre flight check out.  We walked up to the upper 40 acres.  I tightened the girth several times and got on.  The girth…

Sage the Pony Horse and the wretched Bumblebee

August 1, 2001Posted inSage, Velvet
I was ponying Velvet yesterday while riding Sage. Velvet started to rear and buck and run back and forth on the "pony side". I knew we had trouble in River City! I had to concentrate on keeping my leg from getting tangled up in the lead. Velvet also rubbed and pushed against Sage, pretty close to where my leg is fastened on. Sage held firm. I lost all control of the rope and Velvet got behind Sage and up on the other side where she became snubbed. Her head was…

Sage Over a Barrel

March 30, 2001Posted inSage
     March 30,  2001 As her reward for being the first Missouri Fox Trotter to pass the Parelli level 2 test, I gave Sage almost a two year break.  She got to be the step mommy to JR and raise him.  I rode Velvet in the meantime.Unfortunately, Sage chose to fill her stomach about three times as large as it should be.  She got terribly fat on the lush Missouri grass.  It's time for me to reclaim Sage back as a great pal and riding horse.  Accordingly, in the…

1999 World Celebration with Sage and Velvet

September 4, 1999Posted inMissouri Fox Trotter, Sage, Velvet
1999 World Celebration with Sage and Velvet There's Someone Sleeping in my Bed and It's Not Goldilocks! I missed the first Saturday trial ride. By the time I got through dismantling my house and barn, packing for two horses  and sticking all that stuff into my horse trailer, I arrived at the grounds on Saturday afternoon. I had preregistered for two temporary stalls.  I drove up to barn 2, stall 15 and tried to back my trailer smartly; and then raggedly; and then not at all-- into the space in…

Sage – Cow Pony Part III

November 16, 1998Posted inSage
11/16/98Sunday morning was "COW EVENT" time. We formed into groups of three. There was a three-sided pen set up in the middle of the 30 acres. Our goal was to get our cow into the pen. My team was made up of a high level PNH certified instructor, who was experienced with cows, and a 13 year old girl. We managed to work together well. The teenager was too much in a hurry. I was too laid back, and the PNH instructor was perfect. We were able to talk together…

Sage becomes a Cow Pony – Part II

November 15, 1998Posted inSage
11/15/98 Working with real cows was much better. The real cow didn’t yell at us about forgetting our back and hindquarter turn when we got excited about keeping up with the cow. Our first task was to follow the same cow around for about 15 minutes to give the horse an idea that we were focused on that cow. "What fun! Sage thought, Let’s play with cows every day." (Although she enjoyed her time in following one cow, she didn’t catch on to the idea that it was her cow).…