weekend madness

The girls were so good over the weekend that we decided to make this week the trail riding week. Yesterday we went out and had a short one down the street and back with scary blowing bags and dogs..ok not so scary anymore! :)

Gidget is an ass. lol. we love her but she is an ass. when she decides she doesn't want her bosal on she makes it very clear! we are out of the striking phase and more of the rearing and running, but she doesn't go far, mary has become "mom" and she does't stray far from her anymore. We are riding to the local arena today so they will see other horses and get ridden around a new place. We are trailering them this weekend down to the local OPA arena. Mary and I used to tear that place up when we were showing as youth kids! :)

I'll blog more today when we get back from our adventure ride! :)

CALIFORNIA TRAINERS:
Ingalls is booked solid...should we meet at another arena for our "Mustang Meeting"?? OPA and Yorba Linda arenas are open on weekdays and weekends if there isn't a show.

Lets chat!

-Jenn

it's trail ride time!

Yesterday the girls went on thier first trail ride, all the way to Starbrite Riding Academy(aka the home of HAIL YEAH) everytime we drive by we honk and yell "HAIL YEAH!" lol....ohhhh long story...lol

-anyway- they were very good, we experienced rattly stock trailers full of horses speeding down the road, crazy teens hell bent on scaring horses in thier mommy's rover, running and bucking arabians turned out, and a mess of dogs barking at fences. the only thing that bothered Ruger was the scary man raking..but that didn't scare us all that bad. Gidget struck out at a pack of barking dogs behind a fence, it was pee in your pants hilarious..now we know that if we come across a cougar or a coyote on a trail ride, Gidget will take care of it!

Both of the girls got loaded in the trailer again today, this time there was no resitance, so without a challenge, mary and I created one. We closed the dividers on them..Gidget was a little nervous about being in there alone sandwiched between two giant pieces of gray metal but she got over it. Ruger was a little more worried about the fact that there wasn't any hay in her manger..ok more like mad cause she could hear gidget crunching away. Both of them survived so we took them out and made a makeshift trail course in the round pen, Gidget distroyed it in under 30 seconds, so it was like a jones town of orange plastic cones, but she did learn to sidepass over a log..so all was well. Ruger didn't like the cones, nor did she like her white leg wraps I put on her...wah wah wah..cry me a river little mare! :)

Today my mom is coming out on another trail ride with us..hopefully the mares will pick up on Roxy's cool attitude and relax a little more.

Here is a video segment of Rugers fourth ride..enjoy!

and the list goes on....

The list of things that mary and i accomplished today are loooong!

Ruger-
Picked up front and back feet with no problems to be cleaned
Tacked up and BRIDLED with no problems
Mounted up with minor issues(she likes to walk off)
Trotted out and learned some leg yelding and we have turning and stopping DOWN! :)
Rode around the property with no problems
Went on a walk off the property, she had fun!
Loaded in and out of the trailer with minor "no! you can't make me!" issues..she's a sucker...
Got a soap bath
Got our nose and jaw clipped with the evil clippers! ok they aren't evil, they just tickle

Gidget-
Picked up front and back feet for cleaning
Tacked and bridled up with minor issues
Trotted out, she doesn't like to go forward, but it hurts since she has an abcess
Went on a walk off the property with no running off!
Loaded in and out of the trailer with seriously no issues
Got a soap bath


To say the least the girls were FABULOUS today, and tomarrow will be rockin' as well!!

Here is a video of the girls going into the trailer, my mom is a goon so don't mind her commentary! :) lol.

(Ruger did go all the way in, it's a smaller trailer with not enough room for 2 people and two horses, hince her back feet on the ramp.)

a day off for the good girls

Ruger and Gidget got the day off today, I had so much stuff to do, and mary got called to work so it was nice to give them one day off since they have been so friggin good lately. I convinced mary to buy Gidget her own sidepull, only because I'm riding in mine, and don't want to give it up! lol.

This weekend we are going to trot and possibly canter and work on fine tuning our whoa and side passing. I have some cones that I need to take and work on leading around the ranch and a little more desensitizing with bags and such.

I'm terrified someone will buy her at the auction, and it's making me not want to show her to her full potential so no one likes her. ha, but then again i want to show her and her awesome trainablity..

makes my stomach hurt.. ugh.

-jenn

we steer and stop!! yay!

side pulls are a marvel. I have to say I've never used one to break a horse before, but since ruger doesn't like bits at all, and i don't like hackamores, a side pull was my next choice. she loves it!

This is her second ride. she steers and moves off my leg, side passes, and stops on a dime when I say "whoa" and we even backed up a few steps! she is smarter than most domesticated horses I've broke, for her second ride, i didn't expect to get so much accomplished!! :)

I'm beyond happy with her improvement!

off to dinner with the rents!
-jenn

and we got ballsy...

ok, so it's not the "greatest" photo of ruger and i, but my camera died and mary had to use her handy iphone to document our momentus progress today! Both Gidget and Ruger were riden for the first time today. Gidget doesn't have steering or stopping, sometimes ruger forgets, but we are riding none the less!

Also, Kristy Reed, Mary, my mom, and I are planning on having a "Mustang Meeting" at Ingalls Park in Norco so if your local and are training for the Norco Challenge please come!! It will be a fun day of meeting everyone and getting the horses used to the arena so there are no "surprises" come show day! :)

We will send out a mass email to all the california trainers for the Norco event soon with a date and such.

ta ta!
oh, here is a video of mary riding gidget. no video of me yet..my camera died! grrrr.

-Jenn

yesterdays sidepull madness

The girls had a good day yesterday i'll break it into thier own segments..

Ruger-

We learned how to stand(without being tied) to be goomed and fly/show sheen sprayed and she had it down like an old pro by the end of it. I can now pick up both of her front feet without problems, she actually offers them to me by picking up her foot when I bend down. Haven't worked with the back legs, I wanted to get her butt and tail brushed with no issues so I felt comfortable messing with her legs and such. We will have our back legs picked up today, hopefully! We also accomplished being saddled, untied, with no issues. I got brave and put on our new side pull (thanks mom!!) so I could line drive her. She did ok with it, she didn't like how it touched her ears that made her angry! lol. she settled down and by the end of the line driving session she was being such a good girl that I called it quits and gave her a breather. We led around the property like an old pro and I tied her in different places every 20 mins so she could get used to all the different settings and being next to different horses. she didn't care in the least.


Gidget-
Mary has taken gidge on with a passion! she really likes her, and it's fine with my mom. She is still lame, and we suspect an abcess, but soaking a wild horses foot...not so easy. She's not lame at the walk or canter, just at the trot and when she stands, she pushes it out and doesn't want to stand on it. She put her in the round pen and line drove her and she is going to be FUNN(i mean that in a totally sarcastic way) no steering and a blind run.

fun.

but...i don't know how to stand on 3 legs!

We had a productive and very relaxing day today at the barn. I'm not one to like rope halters, but since i've heard nothing but good things about them on mustangs, I figured I'd give them a chance. Plus I like the no snaps to break thing, not that Ruger breaks them, but it's nicer not to have that problem. Anyhow, I just wanted to have a day for Ruger and I to connect and bond, so to speak. I bought her a pretty new purple rope halter and they had a bargain bin of sorts of pads, so while rummaging through it i found this nifty little purple, black, and teal number that i thought would look nice. So i spent $40 and my pony is all spiffed up! :)

I worked on swinging ropes today, that seems to be our main scary thing(possibly roped and a bad experience?) i worked on swinging it up and around her head like a halter, and i must admit she stood there like a broke old horse, so I thought, why not just put it on, i did and again, nothing tragic. Being ballsy I took it on and off 4 or 5 times till she realized i wasn't going to cut off her air with it, and I tied it on her head. now...how to get that red halter off without her thinking i'm going to kill her. for all of you ladies reading this, you all know how to take a bra off while keeping your shirt on no?? well, maybe I'm the only one with that talent! lol. I worked the red halter off and tah-dah! she was wearing my pretty purple number and her old red halter was on the floor.

good mare!

I brushed her butt today(she didn't do a damn thing!) I was more scared of her kicking...but thats what you get when you always get to work with the kicking horses!! :) I curried and brushed her whole body on both sides, took out her braids, which were more like dreadlocks, brushed it. Then set out to work on picking up her feet...well to be honest I was just trying to desensitize her legs when she just picked it up so I grabbed it and worked with her for a while. She looked like she wanted to bite, but a well placed "ahhhtt!" and she didn't do it again. I ended up picking up both front feet with no problems and CLEANED them out! When I get brave enough, maybe tomarrow we will attempt the back ones.

ta-ta for now!

-Jenn

it was gidget's day today..

ole'!
at this point i think mary is going to buy Gidget at the auction when this thing is over. That or my family will just buy her and giver her to her. she mentioned today that she really likes her and would buy her. hmm....
-Jenn

it's always fun when you gang up on a mustang!

Ruger got introduced to a bosal yesterday. she likes it much better than the whole bit deal. Like to top photo?!?!?! eat your heart out "Dazy"!

yay! my first actuall "nice" photo of Ruger-bear and I..i'm lovin it! :)

We will blog more today, hoepfully we will be riding this afternoon! (cross your fingers!)

-Jenn

Away We Go...

So today started out good...Gidget is getting better by the day. We can now take her halter off at night and walk up to her and re-halter the next day. She'll stand for grooming and saddling, and we can stand in the stirrups - but we just can't muster the courage to swing that leg over yet! Anyway, after our grooming session, Mary and Jenn wanted to take the girls on a walk around the property and down the long driveway. I was kind of hesitant about going out the gate, but they insisted the mares would be fine. "They'll just run home if something happens" is the comment I got. So there we went, the girls leading the mares and me on trusty Roxanne following behind. Everything is cool, we walk to the end of the long road/driveway and on the way back stop to talk to a friendly Paint horse who's turned out in the neighboring arena. His owner is on her way to work, so she stops her car and gets out to say hi. Turns out she and Jenn know each other from the Paint horse circuit, so they're chatting about shows and such, when all of a sudden Gidget spooks at something, pulls the rope out of Mary's hands and takes off - not towards home, but out to the street - Gee, didn't I say something about that? So Mary takes off after her, I follow on Roxanne (who has a slight case of ringbone and can't really be ridden too much or too hard) chasing this crazy mare. Of course she can't take the horse trail on the side of the road, she's gotta go right out into the street! Luckily it's not a busy one, even so we had to be a sight - Mary running on foot, me on my gimpy Rox running down the trail trying to get ahead of her to cut her off, and Gidgie trotting down the middle of the road. We finally cornered her in someone's driveway, and led her uneventfully back to her stall. Maybe the girls will listen to my elder wisdom from now on - but I'm betting not.

But on the good side, I can now play with her forelock and scratch her forehead without her getting cranky - so we are making great progress there. Hopefully we will be riding by next weekend.

a splendid day indeed..

lots of photos! :) Both of the girls had a great day yesterday! I really think mary is getting through to gidget, which is good because she needs to understand that we aren't here to hurt her and we just want to be friends.

Now, I know all or most of my photos have mary in them..I'm still on the mend from my fall a few weeks ago(who knew bruised ribs took so long to heal!) I can walk just fine, but using my right arm to pull on anything is very painful. This makes mounting even my domesticated horses near impossible(i'm not a mounting block kinda girl) so mary is getting things started for me and hopefully next week i'll be a-ok to do all this fun stuff myself. I did manage to get Ruger to go around and learn to be line driven yesterday, all by my lonesome! :) she was such a good girl, we even got over our fear of the sturrup flying at our face when i pulled on the rope. We know "whoa" means throw your ass in the dirt and turn, and you know, for being a wild horse..she's not very agile. lol.

Gidget was a very good girl yesterday, a whole day with no striking! I take that back, she did strike at the rope, but at least it wasn't at a person. :) Mary had her where she could walk up and halter her and lead her around, un halter her, walk away, walk back and halter her again(without the use of our squeeze chute). she was being so good. She even stood still for "mounting" and didn't offer a sour face or that look she gets when she's gonna strike.

so all in all they had a GREAT day yesterday. Here's to today being the same if not better!

-Jenn

no more hilbilly bridle

it's not the most flattering photo...she's sweaty and breathing hard...haha..poor mare!

so i might be in norco, but i no longer have to worry about my mare wearing her hilbilly bridle. (the hay twine tied to our halter holding the bit in our mouth in yesterdays post) she wore a bridle today! Mary was going to get on her, but gidget was being a royal ass today and we didn't get around to it, oh well, maybe tomarrow.

She also wore my pride and joy today -my billy cook saddle- it's heavier than sin, but it's so damn comfy! she looks damn cute all tacked up!

We went for a walk to the front gate after our session and we hung out and she ate some grass while i was standing there. i guess i'm not that big of a threat anymore! :) the neighbors were clanking poop carts and slamming doors, which was always a fun time, but it didn't bother us that bad.
I gave her a shower and gave her her treats, it was a pretty relaxed day execpt for gidget and her trying to kill everyone today.

i don't even want to get into it.

-Jenn

Still Dangerous

Gidget has been making progress, but she still has anger issues. She will tolerate things to a point, then will rear and strike to show her displeasure. I'm afraid Mary or I will be hurt at some point, and I don't trust her at all. Makes it hard to keep enthusiastic about her training! If anyone has any great ideas for "breaking" her of this habit, please let me know - I'm open to any suggestions!

booyah!

I owe mary lunch for this one! :) cinched and EVERYTHING.

Nooo...Not My Head!!!!

Today Gidget faced her worst fear...having her head touched. I don't know what it is with the mustangs, they all seem to have this ungodly fear of their faces/heads being touched. Maybe it's because in the wild they're always worried about something jumping on them. Anyway, we were going along just fine in our session yesterday, learning how to stand tied, being brushed over an ever greater part of our body (including those oh-so-tickley armpits - do horses even have armpits?), and wearing the saddle pad. Then I tried scratching a little farther up her neck and you'da thought I tried to kill her! As soon as I'd get close to her cheek she'd pull back, fling her head in the air, and once even pawed at me. So, as always happens when something is too scary, she got the double-throwdown treatment. The rest of the session was spent messing with her face/head - with my "bamboo pole" and even a scary bag on the end of a dressage crop. By the end of it, she was marginally more accepting, but I think it's going to be a long haul with this one. My first mustang (the trusty Roxanne) loved having her forehead and ears scratched, but Gidget just doesn't want to relax and let it happen. Little does she know that I'm not gonna go away, so she better just get used to it!

super ruger

It's a photo journal. she got a bit in her mouth today and went around like a pro. :) EXTRA! I almost forgot to ad that we got the "goat hair" trimmed(that unsightly loooong hair that was hanging from the underside of our jaw bone)with scissors and we got our but brushed. of course, there was snorting(drama) but nothing naughty or bad. she's becoming such a cool horse..she has a personality in a half, i tell ya!

love that mare.
-Jenn

oh, oh, it's magic.....you knowwwww

Gidget was a fantastic little mare this weekend! as you can see, she has quit striking and being a meanie and turned into a sweet little mare who wants to please. still can't touch her face, but that will happen sooner or later..that or we will show up and ride in a halter! haha! MAry threw the saddle on her and she was like "pshhh. that all you got?" didn't get it cinched cause, well, we are chickens..lol She'll get cinched up this week for sure though! She also leads like a pro and we are planning on taking them on a walk off the property today.

Ruger got the big girl saddle this weekend! sorry about the no pics, I'll get some today when we go. She is sooo damn cute, love my little mare. she got her first turn out in a BIG pen with Roxanne, and you can see she is starting to enjoy being a civilized horse. Roxanne was being the normal food motivated pig she is and practically pushing the fence over to eat the grass on the outside of the turnout. Next time I looked over, Ruger had her head through the fence, but wasn't sure why she had done it and was looking at roxy like "um, why are we doing this?" She also let me "clip" her whiskers, with scissors, now she looks more civil! :)

More today,

-Jenn

dare i say we are becoming civilized?

Ruger had another good day today. I'm so proud of her and her almost civilized self! She let me put the saddle pad and the saddle on today without any mishaps, then we survived a very scary thing(well, ok i was more freaked out then she was) the saddle wasn't tight enough, and it slipped around under her belly...she just stopped and looked at me like-"What happend mom?" I tied her back up and un-cinched it and it fell off under her, again she just looked at me. I put everything back on her, cinched it up tight and put her back in the round pen. I still can't manage to get a bridle on her yet so i attatched my round reins to her halter so she can see them flapping around her neck. she handled it really well. She doesn't get scared of anything I throw on her...hmm...maybe we are learning i'm not going to eat her? lol

We ended our session with a quick shower(my term for a bath with no soap) and I braided her mane and forelock. She actually lowered her head and took a deep breath...good signs! She physically relaxed, cocked a leg and licked and chewed. It was awesome.

I'm so excited for her! :)

-Jenn

I Think We're Gonna Make It!

It seems that Gidget gets better after a day off...today we again made giant steps forward. I was able to walk right up to her and touch her shoulder, lead her out the stall and into the round pen. After not getting out yesterday, I expected her to buck and play, but I practically had to push her around the pen, so I worked on walking up to her left shoulder - for some reason she doesn't like me on that side. Being outside in the big pen wasn't working though...so as Jenn says, I pulled up my big girl panties, tied her in her stall and worked on her in there. By the end of the session, I was able to walk up to both sides with no drama, and was even able to get the saddle pad on her! She is still pissy about her face being touched, so we'll take it slow there - but everything else is coming along fantastic! I'll be gone for the weekend, but Jenn says she'll work with her and I'm hoping by next week to be able to pony her around the property.

she didn't buck, i was dissapointed! lol

Ruger had an exceptional day today! She let me saddle her and cinch it up!! whoo hoo! although when I turned her out, to my dissapointment she didn't throw a single buck out. I figured since she is so damn dramatic about everything that the saddle all cinched up would be tramatic to say the least. NOT! I'm so proud of her! Don't mind my improvised blue rope "breast collar" I left mine at home, and the mare has no withers so I had to do something! :) She was so good today that our session was pretty short. Saddled, walk-trot-lope in the round pen, then we did something very scary..ok what I thought would be scary..we got a bath. She just stood there like it was raining on her. silly mare..we don't like our back legs though, we strike out and get that water! :)

She has such a pretty trot! our next hurdle is getting a bridle on our head..i think i'm going to buy a side pull so I can get some driving done with her. I've read mustangs do really well in sidepulls.

until tomarrow!

-jenn

mikey the trail horse

On a totally non mustang note..

Mikey, the horse I showed for a year(I was "leasing" him) has joined my herd offically! My good friend and fellow trainer Jessica Burch(she works with Karen Qualls in Chino) didn't have room for poor old mikey anymore at her house so she GAVE him to me..yes..for free. I LOVE this horse with all my heart. He has the personality of a person, always happy and willing to try his heart out for you. Not only that, but he is an awesome show horse -and- bred in the purple to boot!
He was previously abused, and when I say abused, I mean the kind of abused that goes on behind closed doors at training facilities. Yes, you know what I mean..I won't name names, but a certain trainer who had him as a 2 year old is known for riding horses with a baseball bat in one hand.

-ahem-

anyhow- He is hanging out with Carlton and Wesley in a 1/2 acre pasture at my grandma's house in Temecula and looooviiing it! :) Mary and I are going to take "the boys" and go up to McCall Park this sunday for a nice ride in the wilderness. It should be super fun, and I'm totally looking forward to the relaxing day.

here are some photos of mikey and I when we were showing:

yay! well i'm off to see mikey and the boys.. ta ta!

oh! I almost forgot...I am selling my other two geldings I ROCK(carlton) and WESTERN BOOM(welsey) If you are interested please let me know! I'll take payments, leases, lease to buys, or credit cards on them! here are thier photos and stats:

I ROCK APHA/PINTO Registered 4 year old Gelding
Asking $9000
GREAT youth walk/jog or ammy horse. 10+ lope and jog, soft fluid movement and a awesome personality.
Great on the trails, nothing scares this guy!

------------------

WESTERN BOOM AQHA Registered 6 year old Gelding
Asking $7500
Great walk/jog contender, ammy prospect. Started on trail andshowmanship
great with little kids and out on trail. Not spooky at all.

If you have any questions email me: jenn@supermusclecar.com
video of both geldings on youtube under username: hisnameisx

ttyl!
-Jenn

enough said...

Remember those big girl panties? Ruger pulled them up today. We got everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us today, yes that is a day sheet hanging off her butt. she didn't like it, so we wore it for the entire session. :) I love my $100 saddle i bought...i can destroy it like no other...lol. She's already drug it around the round pen a million times through mud and poop. Any how- she was a very good girl today about it all, and i think, if tomarrow we don't forget everything, this week will be a good progress week.

Gidget was good for my mom today, she let her walk up and pet her shoulder and did pretty well in the round pen. I'm sure she will blog about it later. Both of them are progressing, so hopefully in the next 90 days we can get something accoplished!

-Jenn

Good Girl Gidget

I didn't know what to expect after giving Gidget the weekend off...but sure didn't think I'd be able to walk up to her, no halter or anything, and scratch her shoulder! I was beyond amazed. Of course, Jenn and Mary got there an hour or so before I did and worked with her, so that could have something to do with it. Mary even had her wearing a saddle pad...maybe I will be riding soon - NOT! We've got lots of work to do before we get to that point, like picking up her feet and being able to brush her all over. I will definitely intensify the sessions this week though, only two more months until the show. But considering that only a week ago she was striking and kicking, we've made massive strides!

Getting Better!

Gidget was a very good girl today...we worked some more in the round pen, she listens and responds to my voice commands, turns into me and moves out nicely. Then I brought out my super secret weapons, good ole' Roxanne and peppermint apple snacks! With that killer combination, I was able to get my hands on her...only for a touch, but I touched her nonetheless. And wonder of wonders, she didn't die :) She's also figured out that I'm the sweet feed goddess, and that she must eat her handful from her bucket while I'm standing there...again, she didn't die from it, so it must be ok. With progress like this, I should be riding by next week...yeah right!!

flying pads are scaaaawwwwieee!!!

well i am feeling MUCH better this week, so i have sent my trusty assistant mary away so i can bond with Ruger. Weworked on the scary flying pad today...she wasn't going to have it anywhere near her in the round pen, so i put her back in her stall and flung it on her until she decided that it wasn't going to eat her...and she actually was living after it landed on her. she finally stood still and let me swing it up on her back 4 or 5 times so i called it good! She's going to be such a cool horse when she's done and broke. My dad even likes her and he's not even a horsie person! :)


Gidget was civil with my mom today. they played cat and mouse in the round pen, and my mom sqeezed her in her stall and brushed her. She was petting her neck adnd cheek and Gidge actually leaned into her hand once so my mom called it good for today! :)

not a whole ton of progress, but progress none the less.

until tomarrow!
-Jenn

Mustang Fairy

Ok, so the Mustang Fairy came down and bonked Gidget on the head...or something. She was a completely different horse today...she walked on the lead rope like she'd been doing it forever, let me get somewhat closer than before, and just generally acted like a normal horse! I know there's still going to be a lot of hurdles, but I think maybe something has clicked. Hooray!!!

time for a photo upload!

-Gidget-

-Ruger-
(with mary working on saddle pad sacking out, and my broke self holding her)

-OUR FIRST TIME OUT! :) Roxanne& my mom(left) Ruger & me(right)-