Went Team Penning! :D

Soo..Copperhead and I went out to a nearby stable to watch a team penning practice..and ended up riding!

Here we are, just sitting on the bleachers watching people warm up, and this old guy (older gentleman) comes up to us and asks if we ride, and obviously we say yes since we do, and he offers us his horse to ride! :O

He had a beautiful, tall, stocky paint mare named Lady that knew all sorts of tricks, and she was a smooth ride! We each got to warm up for a few minutes on her and after Dave/Dan (can't remember his name D: ) ran once he let us alternate two runs with his team. I will say, his team was VERY forgiving of us newbies xD
And, I actually did something right, lmao. It caused us to lose our three, but I had to put the dirty one back over the timer, lol.

Everyone in general was very nice and helpful, and sadly, the next practice will be the last of the season. D: Sooo, I'm taking Alahna to see what she thinks about cows, being an OTTB and all, haha.

Anywho..obviously I can't end the post without pictures :p

Copperhead:







Myself:






Cow :p

That is so cool! I want to try team penning on Aires one day. I think it'd look funny out there in my Aussie saddle on a big ol' 16.2hh loud pinto draft cross (who can't be mistaken for anything BUT a draft cross lol).
Posted via Mobile Device

Nice paint mare you got to ride. Reminds me of my APHA gelding Hawk-see my avatar. No worries about team penning with your TB mare. I tried team penning last year with my NSH and he loved it-wasn't afraid of the cows at all. You just never know if she has the aptitude for it until you try it. You can start at the beginning of the season and see what she thinks of cows and the rest. I had the only Arab/American Saddlebred in our local penning and was very surprised with my horse Joey. Often at the beginning of the season there is no charge to try it as the cows need the warming up. Good luck. It's lots of fun and I have met more friends in the process.

Someone actually had a draft cross there xD It was acting up though, so I thought I'd be respectful and not get pictures of it, haha.

I'll be the one on the 16h OTTB xD
Posted via Mobile Device

Our team was very forgiving :) I think they were the only older gentlement there. Everyone else was younger and there were members of the Ohio Valley Team Penning Association. I discovered that Dave, who loaned us the paint, used to board at our facility and that another member of our team lived very close to me. All 3 of them now board at the same place and they have cows there. They told me to call the owner and mention that I know them, and he'll let us come over and play with the cows to get our horses used to it.

I love the 3rd photo of me...I have that frustrated face because we (by "we" I mean "I") had too many of the wrong cows past the penalty line. Raina is still a little sore so I won't be taking her next weekend. I might take her just to watch, but that's iffy. Dave said I'd be welcome to ride his paint again if I show up.

I loved the experience. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. They were all there to have a good time. The last thing I expected to do was ride today.

I find a lot of the penners are very welcoming! And the older generation love to introduce the younger generation!

That's awesome!

I wish the team penners around here were that nice.

I find it interesting though that you guys do it with numbered cattle; over here we use numbers for arena sorting and colours for team penning.

Im wondering if its just too much if a bother to get color collars in since they just do practices in the winter and feather out during competition season. The people from the Ohio Valley Team Prnning Association had no problem picking and sorting their cows! It was definitely something to see them work!

Sounds like a fun day! How nice to let you girls ride his nice mare. Quite a wonderful day!

Wow, that looks like a great time! It's something I've always wanted to try actually, but there is nothing like that in my area. It's so awesome that that guy offered you guys his horse. I hope Alahna likes it...that'll be quite a career change!