Saturday, May 31, 2008

Horse training



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This is what happens when you don’t know when to quit!style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Bo and Benjaman rode CinBar and Duches down
to the river a few weeks ago.  I decided
to work with Sarah to alleviate some of her separation anxiety.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  If you remember, Sarah is the new horse, 3
years old and not broke at all.  Sarah
is a sweet horse, but we are just starting to work with her.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  She is to be my horse and I want to do a lot
of the training.  I follow
(correction…try to follow) Clinton Anderson’s training methods.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Anyway, back to the story, I put her lead
rope on and lead her around the yard, lunged her a little.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Things were going well.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  She was responding very well, doing
everything I asked.  I walked her around
the yard and had her walk across various obstacles.  I tossed the lead rope around over her back, around her chest,
rear end and around her legs.  She did
great!  I flexed her neck; she can touch
herself on one side and almost on the other. 
Things were going great!  I was
so excited!  I was a Horse Trainer!style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Bo and Ben had both the saddle blankets, but
I went and got a blanket from the house that I was willing to donate to the
training cause.  I let Sarah smell it
and rubbed it all over body, then just draped it over her back.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  She smelled it and decided it was no threat,
so we walked around the yard some more. 
Wow, am I a good Horse Trainer! 
I figured the saddle wouldn’t be too much of a leap (UGH!!!).style="mso-spacerun: yes">  So off I go to get the little kid's saddle.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I let her smell it and it smells like CinBar
so it passes the test right away.  I set
the saddle on Sarah’s back.  She smells
it and side-steps a little, but doesn’t get too upset.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I very carefully let the stirrups and cinch
strap down and begin to tighten the cinch strap.  Sarah side-steps a little again, but isn’t too upset.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  My next biggest mistake (besides not quitting
on a good note before the saddle!) was to leave the strap loose.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  We walked a little and Sarah was a little
unsettled, but okay for the most part. 
So I alternately walked her and pet on her and talked calmly to her for
a little while.  I was so impressed with
us!  I was a Horse Trainer!style="mso-spacerun: yes">  And Sarah had a saddle on for the first
time.  Wait until Bo hears!style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I was on top of the world.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Again, this would have been a great time to
stop for the day.  But….I decide to lunge
Sarah some more.  She didn’t take 2
steps before she started jumping and bucking. 
That poor horse was terrified of that thing on her back moving around
and making noise!  I held onto the lead
rope while she bucked and jumped and ran off and reared. style="mso-spacerun: yes"> It was when she charged right at me that I
jumped out of the way and dropped the lead rope.  I guess I’m not a horse trainer yet.  That poor horse ran wide-eyed and frantic for a good 20 minutes
while I tried to talk calmly to her and get her to come to me so I could get
the saddle off.  It ended up underneath
her after the first jump.  I got pretty
close to her once, but she noticed that the neighbor came to help me and spooked,
shocking herself on the electric fence. 
We finally got her into the pen and she raced around the pen for another
5 or 10 minutes.  I spent the next 2.5
hours trying to get close enough to her to release the saddle.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  I finally got the saddle off and let her
smell it and she just walked off. 
Nobody has been able to get close to her for 2 weeks now.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Bo finally caught her yesterday and paid for
it with a skinned elbow among other sore spots.  Boy do I feel bad.  It
could have been such a great training day and went downhill so fast.style="mso-spacerun: yes">   Looking back I can easily see the error of
my ways.  I am slowly gaining her trust
again.  Bo thinks I’ll be riding her by
the end of summer…we’ll see.  As for the
saddle, it lost a stir-up, the tree is broken and one fender is hanging
off.  Basically, the leather is holding
it together.  It is now Sarah’s saddle.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  My arms were so sore from being jerked
around on the lead rope that I couldn’t even shift the car to drive.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Surprisingly, my back didn’t go out, but it
was pretty sore.  I’m just glad neither
of us got hurt!  Of course, I still had
to tell Bo what happened, talk about eating humble pie!



Gate



 



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border=0>



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Close-up



 



Monica and Adrian gave us some old wooden fencing with iron
frame several years ago.  Bo made this
gate out of the frame.  Isn’t it
nice!



 



 



 



Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Internet Issues

Due to internet issues I probably won't be posting until the end of May. See you all then!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Cottonwood Tree



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This is 5 days growth on the
same Cottonless Cottonwood Tree I pictured on May 6th.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> 
I can't believe how fast it's growing!style="mso-spacerun: yes">  Wahoooooo!!!!



Thursday, May 8, 2008

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Growth



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border=0>



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Cottonwood



This is 3 weeks of growth on our trees.style="mso-spacerun: yes">  We had a hard freeze last week so the leaves
withered a little, but they look good still. 
We have managed to keep all 4 trees alive so far!



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Cottonwood Close Up



 



 



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Sage



I planted the roots 3 weeks ago and have 2 bushes coming
up.  I planted 5 bushes along the west
end of the house.  I sure hope they all
come up!



Monday, May 5, 2008

Wildlife Experience





Wild
Stallion





Wild
Stallion & Duchess





Imagine our surprise to look
out the patio door and see two stallions fighting right on the other side of
our fence! This pretty stallion won the
rights to Duchess over 2 other stallions.
Of course, he couldn’t figure out how to get to her and she couldn’t
figure out how to get to him! So they
kept kissing over and through the fence for about 2 hours. After the sun went down he moved off a
little bit, but stayed close. He was
gone the next day and hasn’t been back since.
What a wildlife experience!



Friday, May 2, 2008

I Am



I am an author...a reader



I wonder about life



I hear a dragon



I see a dragon



I want to finish a book



I am an author...a reader



 



I pretend I am a writer



I feel magic



 I touch a dragon



I worry for my family



I cry for my family



I am an author...a reader



 



I understand words



I say books are important



I dream about being a world known author



I try to write good stories



I hope for heaven



I am an author...a reader



 



by Benjaman Davis Conklin



5-2-08