My plans to begin body clipping Johnny have been delayed slightly because of the sudden turn in the weather. Over night we went from 30 some degrees plummeting down into the single digits with blizzarding snow. Yesterday was a brutally cold 14 degrees...and that was the days high! I booted the horses out for about an hour because they we all kicking around and making a fuss about being inside. They all ran around like hooligans for a bit (save for Emmy and Johnny...Emmy's too old for that kind of nonsense these days and Johnny just does whatever Emmy does lol) and then got a good roll in the snow. I've never really understood why horses like rolling in the snow so much...it's cold and wet, how could that possibly been enjoyable? Oh well, I supposed, as long as it makes them happy! An hour gave me enough time to clean a couple stalls, fill the water buckets, throw hay and eat lunch before I figured that the horses had probably had enough of the great outdoors. They were still way in the back of the field when I opened the back door to the barn, but at the sound of it sliding they all picked up their heads and came galloping down (again, save for Emmy and Johnny who mosied) Everyone had frozen whiskers and snow clumps on the sides of their heads from rolling. What a ridiculous looking bunch they were!
My best friend C and I also went up to the tack store yesterday. She needed to exchange a set of SMB Elites that she had gotten for Christmas and I wanted to spend a little of my Christmas money on a new lariat. I've been using an old practice rope and I'm about 60-70% on target (by that I mean actually catching something) with the practice one...I feel like its time to move on to a real rope now! In all actuality I was looking for a 32' soft lay heading rope but that was almost impossible to find without ordering one from a catalouge and quite frankly it just didn't matter enough to me that I wanted to spend $40 on the rope and another $15 on shipping. Big Dees had a 35' medium lay heeling rope in stock, so I just went with that. I figure that I'm not really planning on competeing in roping events anytime soon (or ever at all for that matter) I just want to learn how to rope so it doesn't really matter all that much. I don't plan on making a massive leap to western riding, I just want to learn something new!
The snow is blowing pretty bad today but I can't wait to go out to the barn and crack the wax off the new rope! I'll let you know how it goes :)
Peace.Love.Ponies.
Showing posts with label roping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roping. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Embracing the Inner Cowgirl: Cross Training to Curb Bordem
Yep, it's offical, I have definetly lost it.
Since being home from college on winter break I have probably only ridden Johnny 4 times in the last two weeks. There are a few very valid reasons behind this: 1) I promised him a break from his 6 day-a-week training schedule that he's been on at school 2) I have no where to ride him (i.e. no arena) 3) The ground is frozen and not quite covered with much snow, therefore it is slippery and icy instead and Johnny, with his new front shoes, is a klutz to begin with so the last thing I need is a broken leg. And lastly...4) I miss Emmy.
So, since Emmy is now naked and shoeless, I have been riding her around on the trails and such, mainly just walking with a little jog here and there. She offically has not been ridden in almost 4 months so shes REALLY out of shape and her feet still get sore from the lack of shoes, but she doesn't slip much on the snow/ice so she's pretty sure footed. I started riding her western a couple summers ago when she was mysteriously lame for 3 months and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. She's not much of a western mount...although she does have a pretty nice jog and a reasonable lope (sometimes). Despite the fact that she went back to being a Hunter later that year, I think that in her old age she's come to quite enjoy the western saddle...plus, there is NO WAY I'm wearing breeches in this weather.
Anyway, the point of this entry is to tell about how a reconnecting with a childhood friend named H inspired some new cross-training for Emmy. H and I grew up riding and eventing together, but when the barn we were riding at kind of fell apart business-wise, our entire group of friends packed up our things and our horses and we parted ways. Thanks to Facebook, we managed to reconnect almost 4 years later (3 years since the last time I saw her at a horse show...she had a yearling QH showing in halter) and exchanged phone numbers. Before I knew it she was pulling into our barn drive Tuesday and we were saddling up for a snowy trail ride and a trip down memory lane.
H has gone a long way from our early eventing days and made a 360 into the Quarter Horse world. Her family had since moved out to the township, purchased a few acres with a barn and gone horse shopping in Pennsylvannia where they came back with three QHs. She now has a coming 5 year old, 3 year old and a 2 year old, all foundation bred for roping, cutting and reining. I told her how I kind of missed the days of us riding western through the woods when we were kids and she admitted that she missed having a well schooled horse to jump with. In the end, we made an ultimatum with each other "If you teach me how to jump again," H told me "then I will teach you how to rein and cut cattle." Fine by me! I've always wanted to get back to my cowgirl roots...
It wasn't until I was oogling over an episode of Heartland (best TV show EVER) where they were team roping when it really hit me.
I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to rope.
See? I told you...offically off my rocker. I blame her entirely.
Next thing I know, I've got an old practice rope and Emmy all saddle up in the front yard. Surprisingly, the spooky little mare was totally fine with me swinging the rope around...she didn't even mind so much when I accidently hit her in the head with it, nor did she blink when it went flying past her face onto a fence post. It wasn't until I went to coil the loop back in that she decided she'd had enough of the roping game...besides, that thing crawling towards her in the snow was DEFINETLY going to EAT HER.
It actually wasn't too bad of a spook...just a classic Emmy spin sideways, but as strange as it sounds it gave me joy to see her react to something. She's 22 (going on 23) years old and a dead broke hunter mare. The past year or so has been...oh I hate to say it...but it's been kind of boring with her. Not that I don't appreciate a good, well trained horse, but she is literally "broke to death" in her old age...and who can blame me, right? I can't help it if I like a little spunk every now and again. Even though neither one of us is ever going to be competetive, or even good at this whole roping thing, it's something new for us to work on, and trust me, Emmy's bored with her retirement and ready for a challenge. Despite the fact that she goes outside all day and always has plenty of hay and toys in her stall to occupy her, she is still slowly eating her stall door in protest.
I'll let you know how the whole thing works out ;)
Peace.Love.Ponies.
Since being home from college on winter break I have probably only ridden Johnny 4 times in the last two weeks. There are a few very valid reasons behind this: 1) I promised him a break from his 6 day-a-week training schedule that he's been on at school 2) I have no where to ride him (i.e. no arena) 3) The ground is frozen and not quite covered with much snow, therefore it is slippery and icy instead and Johnny, with his new front shoes, is a klutz to begin with so the last thing I need is a broken leg. And lastly...4) I miss Emmy.
So, since Emmy is now naked and shoeless, I have been riding her around on the trails and such, mainly just walking with a little jog here and there. She offically has not been ridden in almost 4 months so shes REALLY out of shape and her feet still get sore from the lack of shoes, but she doesn't slip much on the snow/ice so she's pretty sure footed. I started riding her western a couple summers ago when she was mysteriously lame for 3 months and no one could figure out what was wrong with her. She's not much of a western mount...although she does have a pretty nice jog and a reasonable lope (sometimes). Despite the fact that she went back to being a Hunter later that year, I think that in her old age she's come to quite enjoy the western saddle...plus, there is NO WAY I'm wearing breeches in this weather.
Anyway, the point of this entry is to tell about how a reconnecting with a childhood friend named H inspired some new cross-training for Emmy. H and I grew up riding and eventing together, but when the barn we were riding at kind of fell apart business-wise, our entire group of friends packed up our things and our horses and we parted ways. Thanks to Facebook, we managed to reconnect almost 4 years later (3 years since the last time I saw her at a horse show...she had a yearling QH showing in halter) and exchanged phone numbers. Before I knew it she was pulling into our barn drive Tuesday and we were saddling up for a snowy trail ride and a trip down memory lane.
H has gone a long way from our early eventing days and made a 360 into the Quarter Horse world. Her family had since moved out to the township, purchased a few acres with a barn and gone horse shopping in Pennsylvannia where they came back with three QHs. She now has a coming 5 year old, 3 year old and a 2 year old, all foundation bred for roping, cutting and reining. I told her how I kind of missed the days of us riding western through the woods when we were kids and she admitted that she missed having a well schooled horse to jump with. In the end, we made an ultimatum with each other "If you teach me how to jump again," H told me "then I will teach you how to rein and cut cattle." Fine by me! I've always wanted to get back to my cowgirl roots...
It wasn't until I was oogling over an episode of Heartland (best TV show EVER) where they were team roping when it really hit me.
I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to rope.
See? I told you...offically off my rocker. I blame her entirely.
Next thing I know, I've got an old practice rope and Emmy all saddle up in the front yard. Surprisingly, the spooky little mare was totally fine with me swinging the rope around...she didn't even mind so much when I accidently hit her in the head with it, nor did she blink when it went flying past her face onto a fence post. It wasn't until I went to coil the loop back in that she decided she'd had enough of the roping game...besides, that thing crawling towards her in the snow was DEFINETLY going to EAT HER.
It actually wasn't too bad of a spook...just a classic Emmy spin sideways, but as strange as it sounds it gave me joy to see her react to something. She's 22 (going on 23) years old and a dead broke hunter mare. The past year or so has been...oh I hate to say it...but it's been kind of boring with her. Not that I don't appreciate a good, well trained horse, but she is literally "broke to death" in her old age...and who can blame me, right? I can't help it if I like a little spunk every now and again. Even though neither one of us is ever going to be competetive, or even good at this whole roping thing, it's something new for us to work on, and trust me, Emmy's bored with her retirement and ready for a challenge. Despite the fact that she goes outside all day and always has plenty of hay and toys in her stall to occupy her, she is still slowly eating her stall door in protest.
I'll let you know how the whole thing works out ;)
Peace.Love.Ponies.
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