Well since I enjoy seeing other folks' progress here on the forum all the time, I thought I would start a journal for this year and share the things I accomplish with my two. A bit of backstory, for those who don't know -
My current heart horse, Dreams, is a coming 4 year old Appaloosa that I purchased as an untouched yearling. I originally bought him to train and resell, as he and I really didn't mesh spectacularly in the beginning, but somewhere along the line he managed to worm his way into my heart. He has turned into the silliest goober I've ever met, and has turned into a gigantic love addict. He loves rubies. He loves scratches. He loves to back up to me slowly so I'll scratch his spotted butt. He loves treats. He loves to stick his head under my arm. He just ... loves love lol. This past summer we attended a 3 day clinic on the other side of the state and I am pleased to say he was magnificent. We do a lot of trail riding so far but in the coming year I'd love to take him to some local shows for some fun competitions. This guy has such a great mind, and is brave as all get out, and every day that I work with him I am more amazed at his awesomeness.
Horse number 2 (and 3 I guess, since he's twice as big as other horses) is Thunder the Shire (Big Sky Tuff's Storm'N Norman). He was a bit of an accident ... I stopped by a local Shire breeder because I wanted to inquire about training Dreams to drive, and several people in the area had told me this breeder also trained, gave lessons, etc. While I was there I happened to see this long legged, fluffy, pot bellied, white faced ... thing ... frolicking about and I just had to go take a closer look. Thunder wasn't the prettiest weanling I'd ever seen but he had a certain look about him. I was instantly smitten (though I desperately tried not to be) and bought him under the erstwhile excuse that, er ... he'll be a good horse for my fiancé once he's broke ... yeah ... that's a good excuse. He will be a ride and drive horse, and while right now he isn't getting messed with too much, I can't wait to start his formal training once he's grown up a bit (a bit more, I mean).
So since we live in eastern Montana, and it's winter, not a whole lot gets done during the first few months of the year. We just finished out a week in which the daytime highs never topped -5, and the night before last was a bone chilling -43. Today, for the first time in over a week, the daytime high was ABOVE ZERO and all the horses in the state rejoiced. So I had to let them run and take some pictures, most of which didn't turn out because my poor phone just can't quite function in the cold weather. Thunder is wooly and floofy so he loves the cold. Dreams, not so much ... poor Spotty Bottom starts to shiver after half an hour sans blankie unless he's being ridden or galloping like a madman across the arena with his buddies.
I'm hoping to ride tomorrow afternoon but we have a union meeting RIGHT in the middle of the day (I hate that, can't get any horse time in!) so I might not get to ride until after dark, and then it will be super cold, and my phone won't work, and my toesies will freeze off ... le sigh. If I get to ride it will be Dreams' first ride in about two weeks so we'll be doing some lunging beforehand! I'll have to see if I can find pictures of his INSANE aerial acrobatics ... this horse can buck harder and higher than anything I've ever seen (did I mention he jumped a 5.5 foot fence as a yearling?) though thankfully he's never offered to do so under saddle ... but I like to hedge my bets!! Pictures below are from today.
-- Kai
My current heart horse, Dreams, is a coming 4 year old Appaloosa that I purchased as an untouched yearling. I originally bought him to train and resell, as he and I really didn't mesh spectacularly in the beginning, but somewhere along the line he managed to worm his way into my heart. He has turned into the silliest goober I've ever met, and has turned into a gigantic love addict. He loves rubies. He loves scratches. He loves to back up to me slowly so I'll scratch his spotted butt. He loves treats. He loves to stick his head under my arm. He just ... loves love lol. This past summer we attended a 3 day clinic on the other side of the state and I am pleased to say he was magnificent. We do a lot of trail riding so far but in the coming year I'd love to take him to some local shows for some fun competitions. This guy has such a great mind, and is brave as all get out, and every day that I work with him I am more amazed at his awesomeness.
Horse number 2 (and 3 I guess, since he's twice as big as other horses) is Thunder the Shire (Big Sky Tuff's Storm'N Norman). He was a bit of an accident ... I stopped by a local Shire breeder because I wanted to inquire about training Dreams to drive, and several people in the area had told me this breeder also trained, gave lessons, etc. While I was there I happened to see this long legged, fluffy, pot bellied, white faced ... thing ... frolicking about and I just had to go take a closer look. Thunder wasn't the prettiest weanling I'd ever seen but he had a certain look about him. I was instantly smitten (though I desperately tried not to be) and bought him under the erstwhile excuse that, er ... he'll be a good horse for my fiancé once he's broke ... yeah ... that's a good excuse. He will be a ride and drive horse, and while right now he isn't getting messed with too much, I can't wait to start his formal training once he's grown up a bit (a bit more, I mean).
So since we live in eastern Montana, and it's winter, not a whole lot gets done during the first few months of the year. We just finished out a week in which the daytime highs never topped -5, and the night before last was a bone chilling -43. Today, for the first time in over a week, the daytime high was ABOVE ZERO and all the horses in the state rejoiced. So I had to let them run and take some pictures, most of which didn't turn out because my poor phone just can't quite function in the cold weather. Thunder is wooly and floofy so he loves the cold. Dreams, not so much ... poor Spotty Bottom starts to shiver after half an hour sans blankie unless he's being ridden or galloping like a madman across the arena with his buddies.
I'm hoping to ride tomorrow afternoon but we have a union meeting RIGHT in the middle of the day (I hate that, can't get any horse time in!) so I might not get to ride until after dark, and then it will be super cold, and my phone won't work, and my toesies will freeze off ... le sigh. If I get to ride it will be Dreams' first ride in about two weeks so we'll be doing some lunging beforehand! I'll have to see if I can find pictures of his INSANE aerial acrobatics ... this horse can buck harder and higher than anything I've ever seen (did I mention he jumped a 5.5 foot fence as a yearling?) though thankfully he's never offered to do so under saddle ... but I like to hedge my bets!! Pictures below are from today.
-- Kai