Keeping Him Going

I didn't get my TTouch session today; the practitioner wasn't feeling well.  A couple of friends did come over, though, so it was a fun day anyway, and the practitioner is going to try to make it over tomorrow morning, if she's feeling better.

Yesterday, in the pasture, I did notice that Cowboy was doing a little of the involuntary head bobbing and his ears were down in a look I identify with discomfort.  Now that the days are getting longer and there's more sunshine, I have to be proactive in my plan from last fall.  I'm going to call my vet tomorrow and discuss medication, and I'm going to order his darkening mask.  I've already separated him out into a stall during the day.  I'm going to go out in a few minutes and release him for the night.  I want him out as much as possible, so I'll start there and see how he does.

I love this horse so much, I've decided as long as he's happy I'll do whatever it takes to keep him going.  He's an important part of my life, and he has such a great personality--a real entertainer and sweetheart.  I have to do anything and everything I can to keep him from getting much worse; basically, I need to keep him from becoming a danger to himself and others.   

Oddly, I'm starting to dread the end of winter and beginning of spring.  

Our Herd Takes a Run With Their Neighbors (Video)

The sun is out, the temperatures are headed up, and the herd is feeling feisty!  Here's a little video of them running together, and with the neighboring herd, and a little of Beautiful being the sweet-brat she is.    Even Red, our 31 year old, is getting in on the running action!

My TTouch practitioner called me this morning to check-in.  With the weather getting warmer this week, it's the perfect time to do another session with emphasis on the leg work.  She's coming over Thursday for three hours--two for me and one for any of my horse friends who want to do a hands-on clinic.  I'm excited!

You can see in the video that sometimes Cowboy favors his bad side (rather than foot).  However, since I started TTouch, he hasn't stood with it out in front of him at all.  I think the getting out and running and rolling is going to help him strengthen those muscles and align his frame.

Cia, my filly, is going to my trainer April 1st, so I'm going to have the practitioner assess her and give me a program to work on until she leaves.  She said it's GREAT preparation for them before they go into training.

Hope it's sunny your way!

Christmas Card With Bloopers

You'd never guess how much work and play goes into getting one good shot!  Here are the rest of the photos from this morning--a little grooming, a little loving, a little mischief, a little fear of candy canes!

Merry Christmas!

What is the "Least" Amount

Yesterday was the start of Beautiful's summer training. It was a windy day, lots of clanging and banging, which made it a perfect time to kind of see where she's at right now after having been released with the herd for the last few months. Quite honestly, I didn't know how she'd take being separated from them or even if she'd let me catch her. I went out to the pasture with a completely blank slate.

Of course, she was on the farthest end of the 20 acres with our herd and the neighbor's herd when I decided to get her. Cowboy saw me coming and started walking away; I passed him. (He looked shocked and later that evening came running to me when I went out for evening barn lock-down. I've got to shun him more often.)

Beautiful looked shocked, too. She didn't know what I was there for, but she didn't want to leave the herd, so she walked away from me as well. In my mind I'm thinking, Least amount. Least amount. If it came to chasing her around 20 acres, I'd lose. So, I got as quiet (inwardly) as I can get, spoke to her and raised my hand to her, and she stopped and let me approach and pet her all over with the rope. I took my time, but I didn't hide the lead and halter. I let her see it so she'd know my intention, no tricks or bribes, and I used it to rub all over and under her.

This almost always works for me. I think it's better than going right to their face with the halter which seems to shock them a bit and can make them move those feet. If the feet start to move before they're haltered, you pretty much lose your horse.

She relaxed and let me halter her and then she followed me nicely through the pasture gates, into the barn, and out to the arena with the others whinnying behind her.

Her mind was with the herd, which she couldn't see from the arena. Her ears were tuned into them and, as you know, where they're tuned in, their head and bodies will follow. I asked her for some yielding, then some moving out, and she did pretty good, but at some point decided the game was over and came to a stop. As I tried to get her to move out again, she started backing up--not out of any confusion, but as a way of communicating to me that she was done.

One thing I have to say for her is that she is a good-tempered horse. Nothing she does is mean-spirited. She had a nice eye and was real gentle and pretty calm considering it was loud and windy and she couldn't see her family. She really was trying to communicate with me, and you could see she was plainly invested in our relationship, even though the herd relationship was more vital to her.

I shortened the rope and had her move out in tighter circles and we continued on as normal until we were done. I also roped around her as she stood, "cinched" her up, threw about %25 of my weight on her from both sides and led her around some barrels. When I was done, I took her back and released her into the pasture.

Assessment:

Beautiful is more confident than she used to be. She's also more mature. Being with the herd has done her good. She didn't rear up once, kick out or buck. There was a difference in her eye, too. Used to, she would get a glassy eye where you had a hard time telling where she was mentally. When we adopted her and she was scared to death, it was the first thing I noticed. Whenever she was scared, I'd see it again, but not yesterday. Her eyes were always open and thinking--you could see "her" there. I can't tell you how much more confidence that gives me in moving forward from here. She's at a good point.

Week One Goal:

My goal for this week is simple. She's herd-bound, as she should be considering she's been running with them for months and doing little else. I want to see her move comfortably in and out of the herd, though, and do her work. I want her attention fully on me.

There are several ways to accomplish this goal, but I'm looking for the least amount to get the desired result. I could separate her from them from here on out and take her in and out for training. Lots of people do that, I've done that, and it works--although it does cause her to be pretty stressed for about three days, and I really don't want to stress her if I don't have to.

So, I'm going to try something new. I'm going to separate her from them for work each day and gradually increase the time she's away from them and see if I don't get the same result with less stress--maybe even in the same amount of time. I guess you could say it's an experiment to find out what is the least amount.

The things I want to do while she's separated are the same things I did last night plus getting her comfortable with the curcingle, blanket and saddle, my weight, ropes around her feet and all over her body, trailering, more work with the clippers and giving her a good bath. That will be a good start to our week.

Today I'm heading out on the trails. It's windy again, but I have several friends and my daughter who are ready to explore, so we'll be doing that in the morning, working BG in the afternoon. Hey, I get to try out my new Cashel riding mask! Pictures later.

Another note on Buck Brannaman, as he makes his rounds to promote the movie, he appeared on The David Letterman Show last night. Here's a link. You have to fast forward to about 26 minutes in to see his interview, but it's wonderful. A nice guy who understands horses and humans and the whole concept of doing the least amount and not getting emotional. And, of course, since it's David Letterman, there are a few laughs, too.



This is a horse hair bracelet which was made for me. It's from the hair of my colt (Cowboy's nephew who I'd raised and trained) who died from colic four years ago. I saved his hair for just this thing and finally got it done. It was only $30.00. If you want her information, let me know. I had her keep the hair unseparated like it was in real life. When I saw it, I couldn't believe how much it looks like his tail. A sad memory, but at least I get to carry him next to me in some physical way now.

Facts about Secretariat and Sham

Job 39: 19-25

Do you give the horse his strength

or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

Do you make him leap like a locust,

striking terror with his proud snorting?

He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,

and charges into the fray.

He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;

he does not shy away from the sword.

The quiver rattles against his side,

along with the flashing spear and lance.

In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;

he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, ‘Aha!’

He catches the scent of battle from afar,

the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

After seeing the movie Secretariat I wanted to separate fact from fiction and find out if all the hype around him was deserved. I set out out to compile "Facts for Secretariat and Sham".

For example, we know his breeding rights were sold, before he won the Triple Crown, for over 6 million dollars, but was that price worth it in the long-run?

If you look at his winning prodigy, the answer is YES!  Most of the top horses running today can trace their roots to Secretariat, including American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner.  Secretariat's grandsons, Storm Cat and A.P. Indy, have produced most of the crop of 2015's equine athletes.

Secretariat Facts and Pedigree:

1. 1st two year old to become horse of the year.

2. At the time, he was the only Derby winner to finish in under 2 minutes. He still holds the first place record.

3. He may have had the record time for the Preakness, but a reported malfunctioning clock brought him in a second later.

4. Fastest time ever for the Belmont—and most lengths won by, 1.5 mile track and 2:24 time winning by 31 lengths.  (American Pharoah has the 2nd best time at 2:26.65 and winning by 5 1/2 lengths for the Triple Crown).

The chart above shows all the Triple Crown winners and how far they'd be behind Secretariat given their times at Belmont.

5. Career earnings-- $1,316,808 (racing winnings)

6. The second place winner at the Belmont was not Sham (movie version), but instead Twice a Prince. (see below)

7. He contracted laminitis at 19 years old and had to be put down. An autopsy revealed that his heart weighed 22 pounds, 2 1/2 times the average heart’s weight for a horse that size.

8. None of his direct off-spring lived up to his standard, but he sired over 600. Apparently, the mares did better, overall, than the stallions. His breeding rights were sold for 6.2 million, but I can’t get a figure on how much he actually earned throughout his lifetime in breeding fees. If some one has this, please let me know.


9. He's one of American Pharoah's g-g-grandfathers (2015 Triple Crown winner pictured below) .

10. Dash for Cash has connections with Secretariat-- Imperatrice is the fourth dam of Dash for Cash and the actual dam of Somethingroyal—who, as we know now, was the dam of Secretariat. They also were almost identical measurement wise. For interesting information on this, please see this link: http://www.circledhorses.com/dfc_and_secretariat.htm

picture of Dash for Cash:



Secretariat



11. Secretariat was not the last horse to win the Triple Crown, American Pharoah did in 2015, and Affirmed, in 1978. Before that, in 1977, Seattle Slew took home the Triple Crown. So, the ‘70’s saw three Triple Crown winners. Wow! In recent history, Smarty Jones almost did, and Barbaro was expected to, so was California Chrome.  All told, 13 horses came within the Belmont of winning the Triple Crown until American Pharoah broke the drought.

Facts about Sham:

1.) He ripped out two teeth leaving the gate at the Kentucky Derby, but still came in second to Secretariat. He either tied or beat the all-time record for running the Derby previous to Secretariat.

2.) Sham finished last at the Belmont.

3.) He had a hairline fracture that retired him after the Belmont

4.) He died at age 23 of a heart attack. His heart was twice the size of a normal Thoroughbred. (Below, Sham at age 23)

Sham with his trainer, Pancho Martin.

 Sham being led in.

 Sham on the track.

One thing I really thought the movie captured is the power of a horse. When I let my herd out into a new pasture this morning and felt the ground thundering under their hooves, as they went running and kicking away from me, I was reminded of that. It's amazing that we can ever "control" that power at all or even come close to the almost symbiotic relationship we have with them when we ride. Why does a creature so powerful choose to blend with us in this way?

I thought it also captured the heart of a horse and what they're willing to do for you. All through the movie I thought about my own horses and the relationships I have with each of them and what they've given for me at different times. I've been riding a lot this fall--3 times per week--long trail rides with Cowboy. Every time we pull out we're riding for at least 3-5 hard hours up mountains, over streams, along steep ledges, and over ground that is sometimes solid rock. Yet, every darn time I go to get him, he comes to me willingly and meets me half way to be haltered. Why? It's a gift, that's all I know.

Have you seen Secretariat? What were your thoughts?