Apache – Page 23 – The Hermits' Rest

Can Horses Give Birthday Presents?

Horses don’t know about calendars or birthdays, though I guess they are aware of seasons. But I’m going to choose to believe they can give gifts! So, thanks to Apache, my American horse, for the gift today!

Seconds earlier, he was trying to taste the flag. Guess that doesn’t spook him!

My birthday gift to myself this year was a Working Horse Central clinic, which happened to be at Tarrin the trainer’s place, quite familiar to my guys. I decided to take Apache, to see how much he’s improved. By the way, a clinic is like a group lesson, where you get to see how others are doing. You can learn so much.

We went with Sara and Aragorn, which made the day that much more fun, and Trixie also added to the birthday friend fun with her very lively little stallion, Archie.

The clinic was fantastic. We learned a lot from the advanced people, who included a young girl who’s also a trick rider. It was fun seeing how the cantering crowd had stuff to learn, just like us.

Our group had a very young woman, too. I was so impressed with how much she wanted to learn, even when her horse gave her trouble. She just got on another horse and kept trying.

She was a great role model for not giving up. My favorite thing that happened with her was that I heard a familiar noise in the sky. It was the Sandhill cranes migrating. I told her to look up. It was such a tender moment to introduce a child to this Texas wonder. She was enthralled. For many reasons, she won’t forget today!

Well, you don’t need the details, but I was so happy with how well Apache and I did with all these new things! We learned to try trotting. We will score better. And I learned he backs up well.

We learned so much from everyone else, and from what we tried and realized we could do. There was a lot of trotting. It went well and I got better and better, but I sure hurt now.

I was really tired, too. So much trotting.

I’d forgotten how well Apache does in clinics. He is like a learning sponge. And he was so patient waiting for his turn. He was calm and didn’t do one squirrelly thing. Nothing the other horses did phased him, even when a horse rolled onto its rider. I was so proud. What a great birthday gift.

Patiently waiting. All these guys were so good.

I can’t believe we did so well at things we’d never tried before. This sure makes up for Drew just not wanting to do anything yesterday. If he messes up tomorrow, so what? We will just keep learning. That’s the fun part.

Yee haw! It looks like I’m pulling on him, because I’m trying to get him to look at Sara.

I hope that Drew learns to enjoy clinics and shows like Apache does. In any case, my horse gave me a good birthday. No need to worry about people, parties, or presents. Perfect.

Normal Horse Activity

This is exciting! Sara and I rode our horses around our pastures and it was uneventful! Woo!

I promised I’d just write about horses for a while. So yep. Aragorn and Apache were good guys and checked out lots of stuff with a minimum of acting up. It wasn’t perfect, but it was way better. I’m so glad to be able to have fun with our horses again.

Aragorn did great opening gates, too. What a guy. He’s so much calmer. We are all developing our partnership.

It’s happy for me, in the horse department.

The yarn came for my next baby blanket project. It has sparkles.

That’s all I’ve got. Peace out.

Oh My Aching Back

It was a good Sunday, but it did feature a lot of lifting and toting. That’s because Lee and I moved everything from the new horse trailer to the red shipping container. There was also a lot of disgusting stuff in the container that had to be removed. Much of it was mouse droppings from when it had gotten left open in its previous location. Sigh.

But before that we went to get Apache after his two weeks of training. I hate being late, but Lee forgot we were going and then we were out of gas…but we made it. We brought Drew, who also was disinclined to go anywhere. But we had to look at his foot with the sarcoid on it.

He was all muddy, so Tarrin washed his leg so we could see how much the tumor had grown. After he got clean, we were pleasantly surprised.

It turns out what we saw yesterday was mud with blood on it. Tarrin says she’s pretty sure it’s smaller, not larger. What a relief! It will be a lot easier to treat at that size.

I’ll have to put some stuff that’s sort of like glue on it every four days for a few months, but this treatment has been effective for lots of horses. And I don’t have to go to the vet, since it’s a small sarcoid. I’m sure glad I didn’t have to deal with this alone!

As for Apache, he apparently was a real good fellow all week, even with the bad weather. Plus he got to stay in a stall. Cushy! I got right on him and off we went. He did everything I asked out in the pasture, even trotting. I now feel equally fine walking and trotting. What an improvement!

I enjoyed looking at birds all the way home. Even from the car I got a couple of pictures. I missed a harrier and a bluebird, but these guys were fine.

It’s good we got a break, because we then spent 3 hours on the trailer-to-container move. This involved many dust and dropping particles.

I’m tired. Proof we did wear masks. It’s so handy we always have masks around. Perhaps I have too many colors.

There was a little oopsie when Lee picked up a pallet of concrete by piercing one of the bags of concrete he was moving rather than the pallet. But, we did it. So many heavy objects, most of which will get moved to the tack room once it’s set up.

I gotta say we will be styling once we can use the trailer with the Tahoe. So coordinated. All a coincidence, of course.

There’s a lot to look forward to. I’m glad I have help and a team to keep things fun and safe.

I can’t wait to go for a ride on Apache! And next week we are going to a clinic. We haven’t done that in so long. right now, though, my back really hurts and the hot tub beckons. That thing is a godsend.

Suna and Apache Go Forth and Ride

I must have the best horse trainer and instructor on earth. She has helped me and my horse work through our issues and come out better than ever. She said it’s like we went through marriage counseling. So true!

Apache did well during his week with Tarrin. She got him back to paying attention to his rider and getting confident. Lots of great work gave him such a good tuneup. Obviously. We went out into the pasture like we did it every day.

We also successfully made it down the passageway he had so much trouble with last week, twice, without incident.

I am concentrating. But I’m happy inside.

Apache gets to stay another week for further refinement. It is probably not his idea of fun. It may be, though, because he has always seemed to be having fun when we did things together in the past. We always enjoyed trail rides with Sara and going to clinics. I’m looking forward to a clinic in a couple of weeks, now that we are doing better together.

I feel a lot better now that I have the tools I need to communicate well and not confuse Apache. And I can stop his inclination to test me quickly. We both have refined our skills. Of course, there is way more to do.

Coming around the round pen to test his new skills.

Wait until we get to trotting and someday cantering! That would be real progress for him. He’s never been balanced enough to canter well. Let’s hope his trainer has more education ready to roll out. I think she does.

Thanks to my photographer friends, Tarrin, Teddy, and Lee. They captured moments that will keep me going in the coming weeks whenever I feel useless and unimportant. I’m important to my horses!

I have a big day tomorrow. More on what I’ve been learning tomorrow. Today I learned that Suna and Tarrin don’t like me pushing into them.

Adult Education Time for Apache

He’s a loving guy, but he has some issues, so we decided to send Apache off to hang out at the trainer’s for some tuning up. He needs to have his issues with straightness addressed, for sure.

But there’s more that I had known in the back of my mind, but never given the prominence I should have. You see, ever since I started riding him, we always rode with a buddy. He rode some alone with Sara, but not much.

I was not confident enough to ride alone, so we always had Spice and Sarah with us. He was fine. I know he had trouble last year. That’s why we are taking lessons. But wow, his stress when he is leaving other horses is big.

He was so nerved out after trying to get down to the gate that he was covered in sweat. I did pretty well not getting nervous in dealing with him, though. It was an excellent learning experience for me. Tarrin does a great job helping me get skills and I did a great job staying focused.

I hope hope hope he can get the help he needs to gain confidence and trust us people. Sigh.

In the meantime, Drew and I are doing pretty well. We learned how to do our pattern for our show that’s coming up. We do well after a few tweaks.

I’m able to do the whole pattern with the trotting and I don’t get too tired. It is fun. I’m getting all ready for looking presentable. I shined up the black halter we got with the trailer. It’s pretty! And it will help with Drew’s pushiness a bit, I’m told.

Much brass polish was used. Isn’t the stitching beautiful?

After Drew and I got home, the whole family got into horse environment improvement. I did more poop scooping and did a number on my back. But the pens look good.

In a truly exciting move, the guys rebuilt my round pen with all the panels. It’s so much bigger!

I’m so excited and grateful. I can do so much more in this bigger space. I can even do small figure 8s. And there may be room for a dressage setup now that they also moved some equipment around.

But the real movement and what’s got me full of anticipation is that the red shipping container got moved. They turned it 90 degrees so it can be our future hay barn. I’m thrilled.

The big move scared a good number of mice and bunnies. No problem. They still have the other container. And this one is getting leveled, giving them and the other critters options.

Now we have the space to move the portable building in to the the tack room. And the horses had fun running free during all this. They all came right back for dinner. And by the way, Apache had his dinner as well. Thanks, Tarrin!

Taking Time to Smile

Not much time to write, because I was busy working and having fun. I got to check out Anita’s house renovation in progress, and I was surprised to see how pink the bricks are that haven’t been exposed to the elements since the 50s.

Same brick! The ones on the ground were removed to add the window, which is original to the house, but was removed to add a patio door.

Her house is going so great, and I’m proud of the work so far. Heck, the whole town is looking better. Some ugly stucco was taken off a building in downtown and this was revealed.

After I finished teaching, Lee and I went over to a lesson for Apache (because I’m busy this weekend). He seemed in a bad mood, but quickly perked up once we got there. It WAS a bit late.

We had another great lesson in which we both learned a lot. He’s still confused at cantering but was willing to do it for Tarrin. I ran around a lot, but he wouldn’t.

I’ve decided I really like the Western saddle on him. I can feel what I’m doing with my feet better. He started to try to be squirrelly with Tarrin, but she worked with him to get used to being under her lights.

Then I got to try some tight turns and circles, using more “refined aids.” That means not yanking the reins. I figured it out, and was just barely tugging the reins and moving my legs to get him to follow instructions.

I felt so good after improving! I could trot and look correct, even. I think I may become an okay rider after all. I just needed Apache to learn what to expect, then learn to do it. We both are getting a clue.

I even was able to handle him outside the training arena in the dark. Some parts he just did well on, and other parts I coped with. So proud!

I smiled all the way home. I’m so grateful for my great teacher and the chance to keep learning. Heck, Drew and I may even compete later in the year! And Tarrin said trail rides may be sooner than I think. I miss them!

Fine. All Fine.

Gosh, folks, I’m too tired to write. It was a busy and fun day, though, and since I’m trying to write every day in January, I need to say something.

I had a fun lesson with Drew today, after he violently rejected a blanket and pooped all over it. I learned lots of new skills to practice, and we both had a blast.

I now know what we can do “in hand” in the Working Horse Central competitions. We did a bunch of things that were fun to try to work on perfecting.

I am pleased to get to progress. I came back off cloud 9 when I got home and spent an hour cleaning poop out of the trailer so we can use it to move my son. Mmm. Fun. Then I re-set the playground and made it look good.

I rode Apache again today and dealt with him pretty well. We were able to do quite a few of the playground activities, but he knocked over my little jumps. He was not into stepping over the PVC pipe I set out.

Next I walked over to see my kids setting up their household and saw a cow who’d just given birth. Aww.

There’s an exclamation point above Aragorn.

I then wandered over to Sara’s to watch her filming herself and Aragorn. Wow. He has really progressed, as has she. Cantering is happening. Balanced, good cantering. I was as happy for her today as she was for me yesterday! Quite a good couple of days, horse wise.

The things that needed doing at the cabin got done today, so we’re ready for tomorrow. I’ve doubled my usual exercise but I feel good.

There, I blogged.

Horse Heaven!

Blog readers know that I’ve been struggling with my goofy and issue-filled Paint horse. He gets better, he gets worse, I do better, I do worse. He goes lame, he feels better, he gets adhesions, Trixie works on him…

…and by gosh, he gets better. Last weekend was a big step. I’ve been doing what I can with him with it so cold. Today, though, it was so chilly Sara and I decided not to go to our lessons.

Still we wanted to do something, so she came over with Aragorn to work on things. I got all our horses put away, and even managed to move Drew and Apache at the same time.

But the best happened after I mounted. Who is this horse? We walked, we trotted, he tried to misbehave, I corrected him. He settled down and started doing everything I asked him to like a normal horse. It was so nice.

So we went out of the round pen and lo and behold, he acted like a normal horse. Round and round behind or in front, walk or trot! Comfortable trot!

Ta-da – this may look boring but that’s what we want!

I asked Sara if she could lead us to the barrels! In the direction where he used to get squirrelly. Aragorn didn’t want to, so WE led! Straight to the barrel and around. We went all over my messed up playground, including over the little jump.

When I figured we’d had enough success, we stopped and grinned and got emotional at each other (the humans). This was such a great point on our journey. Sara knows how hard I’ve been trying, so she was happy with me. It was great to have a friend and witness to our progress.

Aragorn says he’d have been a leader if Suna’s pieces of metal by the gate hadn’t unnerved him.

Like she said, the horse is feeling much better thanks to Trixie, he’s understanding what we are asking thanks to Tarrin, and I’m doing so much better with the support and wisdom of Tarrin. It takes a village. I’m so thankful for this. It’s really helped me through the other challenges.

Now on to new skills, or a setback. I’m ready for whatever. I’m in horse heaven with both my guys. It sure makes up for working so hard.

Bonding with the Funny Equines

It was a horsey day yesterday, which is good, because we are now quarantined other than outdoor stuff. I’m so glad the horse work is outdoors!

Right. As I was saying the horse day started early. I’d asked Lee to put the bale of hay that was on the tractor out, since the horses need it and he’s the only healthy person who can drive the tractor. Well, he went in through Drew’s paddock but didn’t realize Drew was there (because no one knows my horse schedule but me).

Drew made his escape, but didn’t go far, since he found green grass. All I had to do is put his pretty new halter on him and lead him back. He was curious about the “this is an equine facility and you might get hurt” sign. But then he said bye and headed to the hay, where T chased him around.

Back to work I went until late afternoon when Trixie was due to work on Apache and his body issues. I spent quite a while grooming the filthy Apache, which took longer due to Fiona also wanting grooming.

She also had lots of those giant burs on her front legs and was trying to get them out with her teeth. I found the hoof pick was a great tool for getting those out. She now has nice, smooth, hairy legs.

Apache did great with his body work. He seemed really happy with his head and neck treatment, and made such cute faces!

He was less thrilled with the work on his adhesions near his hips, but wow, it made a difference. I’m hoping this will make our training easier on him and help him develop good posture. Enjoy some fun faces now!

This morning I went out to let Drew back into the big pasture. It’s cool but sunny out, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to find him napping in the sun. But of course, I thought he was dead.

Of course, he’s fine and in a playful mood.

He happily walked with me to the gate, but not without stopping to play with Vlassic. He wanted the squeaky toy, but not enough to fight the dog over it! That just made my morning.

It’s good to have these sweet animal friends to bond with while you’re confined. And writing about them gives you something to do in an endless line to get a COVID test.

Try to stay safe, friends. It’s hard, but we can get through this!

I Find Ranch Citizens Fascinating

Another day of horse lessons has come and gone. And while my lesson with this innocent student was enlightening, I would have come away happy just having watched Sara.

I should have known friskiness was ahead when he galloped up to me this morning, mane and tail flying.

Apache was very frisky this morning, probably because a front came through.

We started out sweaty at 9 am and ended up shivering by 1! I did round pen with him before we left, and ooh he was jumpy. And once we got to the training ranch, he was not interested in human agendas.

He did ok until the trainer got on, at which point he decided he didn’t want to do anything. It was so fascinating to watch her work through his stubbornness. There was lots of backing and angry horse faces. I didn’t take pictures, because I was watching so hard. She did stuff I am not capable of yet. And eventually he did fine. I even rode him better than last time and dealt with his issues.

The dogs here would prefer you pay attention to them, please.

He’s not easy. He hurts and has been ridden poorly. By me. But we are progressing. I ended my essay with a smile on my face, happy with all my progress and the support I got.

We were all glad for the lesson to end. But Apache was still antsy. I was glad to leave him to eat some hay and deal with calmer animals. That included Christmas the bull. Sure, he looks intimidating.

I had no idea he was tame, but he came up to me and licked my hand clean, then requested that he get some pets on his forehead and between his horns. Then, his cow companion came up and wanted a turn. This love fest was just what I needed.

As always, I enjoyed Sara’s lesson as much as mine. She learned some really complicated bending stuff and I was proud of how well she did. And Aragorn, too.

Aragorn didn’t even notice the fake bull that had startled Apache earlier. He was concentrating and throwing in fancy dressage moves so he wouldn’t have to bend the opposite way from how he was turning.

I was distracted by two things: a biting wind and cute animals. Between the dogs, the baby horses, and the donkey, I had a lot of entertainment! Who cares about the cold when you have ranch entertainment?