ACTHA ride

Well Keith and I and our horses Dream and Ladybug all just got back from our ACTHA ride this weekend. This is the second ride that Dream and I have been to this month, but Keith and Bug haven't been on the trails since about November. The first ride was in Socorro last Sunday and the second was in T or C this President's day weekend. 

The ride camp this weekend was at the Caballo State Park and was hands down the BEST camp site EVER. I mean who wouldn't want easy access to water faucets, Electric hookups for the vast majority of the participants, flush toilets AND access to showers! I know it sounds silly, but it's pretty much luxury camping. I'm so happy I got to use my horse trailer heater/AC for the very first time in the year I've owned the trailer. I'm also really happy my heater works so well.  I got a generator as a Christmas present so the next ride I go on I'll be able to use it also to run my heater.  

Here we are at the river crossing

And then again at the crossing the bridge obstacle.

What a GREAT weekend!

Stolen Horse Trailer

One of my friends had her horse trailer stolen from her boarding stable in Gallup, NM recently. Amazingly her horse trailer was specifically the target because multiple other horse trailers right beside this one were all left alone AND hers was the only one with a hitch lock on it. They took her trailer with the hitch lock and all.  The trailer was taken over night between November 11th and 12th. 

2- HORSE WHITE CM ODYSSEY ALUMINUM BUMPER- PULL

VIN #49THB112421058097

REWARD

CONTACT JACKIE AT 505-870-4671 Or Gallup Crimestoppers (505) 722-6161

July ACTHA Ride

Last Saturday I took Baby Girl to her second ever ACTHA Competition. She did really well for her limited training and competitions. There were 64 total entries in my division, 2 riders either didn't show or didn't complete any obstacles. Three riders were disqualified for what ever reason so that left a total of 59 competitors earning points. Baby Girl completed all the obstacles but still finished 21st out of 59.

Our first obstacle was this huge white bridge and then we were to walk between two wooden long horn cows. Baby girl just wasn't sure about the white bridge. She hesitated a few times before she waked across the bridge, but she never really even looked at the wooden cows on the other side.

The second obstacle we needed to dismount, pick up a big white stuffed toy. Place it on the horse and remount the horse and then ride over to the assistant and give them back the big stuffed gorilla. Baby Girl did well on this one and didn't hesitate or spook.

The third obstacle was the vine simulator. They used a long white shower curtain that had the little magnets at the bottom of the curtain. It was a bit windy when we got there and baby girl was a bit spooked at the "vines", but she eventually went through both times within the time limit set for the obstacle.

We then rode over to the Slicker and hat pick up obstacle. This one we had practiced many times at home, but baby girl spooked a bit when I went to take the slicker off the tree limb. She settled well though and then we picked up the old hat with a stick and finished all in good time.

After that we had a log drag. We also practiced this one regularly at home, and things worked out well until I tried to get the rope hung back up at the end. I missed the branch and had to drop the rope, but we still scored pretty well. 

The next one we had never actually practiced before, but it turned out to be our best obstacle of the day. It was the Rope gate. We had to ride up to the gate, open it walk the horse through and calmly drop the rope and continue on. We got perfect scores on this one even though it was the one I was most concerned about in the beginning.

The last obstacle was a trot weave through cones. They had two silhouette cowboys at the start and one at the end of the cones we had to trot through the opening between the two, trot the cones and around the single one at the end and then back through the cones and the two cowboys. They set this obstacle up on a hard packed pea gravel road right next to a large open softer dirt area. Never figured out why they would set it up on the pea gravel when there was more softer dirt area beside it. Baby Girl wasn't to keen on trotting the gravel so we broke gait and didn't gain good scores on it. 

Overall I'm quite proud of my Baby Girl. She did well for her second competition. We do need more work, but that only comes with more time. 

Then on Sunday we attended a training clinic for another 4 hours and I got tips on working with her and practicing obstacles as we went along. It was a great weekend and I can't wait for the next ride!

Sunday ACTHA

Sunday's ACTHA competition was a bit better than Saturday as far as the wind goes, but it was WAY colder. Sunday I had on a t-shirt, a long sleeve cotton shirt, a wool vest and my lined canvas duster and I was still cold.

Many people decided not to show up because of the wind or the cold, but I rode anyway.

Our first obstacle was a sidepass.  Ladybug is still learning that one but she tried and even though it wasn't very good she did get a score on it. 

The second obstacle was to open and walk through the gate. If you kept control of the gate, they suggested you would get a better score. Problem was the wind was so strong it pretty much ripped the gate out of your hand anyway.  Here we are opening and coming through the gate. Thanks to Lisa from Lauging Orca Ranch for the photos.

 The next obstacle was a walk up and back down an embankment. It was a short fairly steep rocky hill and a pretty easy obstacle for Ladybug.  She scored well on it. 

After that it was on to the Pinwheel. That is a 2x4 board laid across two barrels. you pick up one end of the board and keep the other end on the opposite barrel as you walk around the two barrels and then place the other end of the board back down on the barrel you got it off of. I still need to work on that one. I dropped the board again. 

Then there was a jump trot up to a rail road tie and hop over. I don't think Ladybug actually jumped but she didn't hesitate and went over the tie instead of going around like some horses did. She scored pretty well on that one also.

The next obstacle was the bridge. I don't know if she stumbled a little or slipped off the bridge with one foot, but she came off one side and I just rode back around and lined her back up and went back over it. There wasn't any hesitation and she wasn't spooked about anything so I'm not sure why she went off the side. 

Our last obstacle was by far the best. They called it the mail carry. They had a small mailer box with a wire handle on it sitting on a barrel. Then an L shaped obstacle and a second barrel. you were supposed to walk up and pick up the box from the first barrel ride through the L and place the box on the second barrel. We scored perfect 10's with a plus each. 

Ladybug was again the only appaloosa spotted horse at the event. Everyone is starting to recognize her now since she's been to 8 local events and she's pretty hard to miss. Keith didn't get to ride this time because he had to go to a work related convention in Nevada. Maybe at one or more of the rides in June, I'll be able to take both Keith and one of the other Appaloosas. 

And for those interested my new horse trailer is quite comfortable for sleeping in. We haven't fully insulated it and I didn't have the heater hooked up to the electric but I didn't notice the freezing temps Saturday night into Sunday morning. Ladybug's water in her tub froze over night, but the extra water inside the trailer never did.  The only thing is that I didn't completely follow up on my check list and ended up leaving a few things behind. I'm working on stocking up the trailer before the next ride. Can't wait!

My new home away from home!

Well my new horse trailer arrived last weekend and we got around to starting to stock it up and getting it ready for spring and summer competitions. I've got a whole new list of things to get over time to make it even better. The biggest thing on the list will be a newer truck to pull it with.  

Here you see the back end where the black panels are actually removable plexi-glass. Removal in the summer allow for more airflow over the open stock type bars underneath.

And on this side we have the drop down feeder door with windows for the horses.

And the inside of the horse area

And the inside of the 'camping/living"area from the corner where we are going to put in an upright corner water storage tank. ( another wish list item)

And the view from the sleeping area where we want to put in a 2 or 3 inch memory foam covering the entire area. (another wish list item). The horse trailer I've been borrowing has a mattress stuffed up in this area and if you roll off the side of the mattress you get stuck. so we figured that completely filling the space with a memory foam pad would make it more comfortable.

And finally the Biggest selling point of all, a relatively new rarely used Heater/ air conditioner combo. That alone really got Keith interested in the whole trailer. Now we have to find a small generator to operate it when we are out camping. (one more wish list item).

The trailer was an awesome deal and I'm so glad I had a friend who thought enough of me to save it specially for me! I can't wait to start taking it out on the trails and having fun with Keith and the horses! It will make it's debut appearance at the April ACTHA rides hosted by Walkin N Circles Ranch. So if you don't recognize me because of the new trailer, you should be able to recognize me by the horse tied to it.

 She's a little hard to miss don't you think? See ya all out on the trails!

Operation horse trailer in progress

One of my New years goals was to replace my 2 horse Bumper pull horse trailer with a gooseneck that has a dressing or living quarters in the front.  Well I have found a nice gooseneck that is suitable as the replacement.

It has a nice dressing area and that white box on the top is the AC/Heater unit that can be run from a generator or an electric extension cord. The plexiglass in the horse area is removable for times when you need better air flow.

So I have my old trailer for sale.  It's a 1988 Hale and is an open sided stock type trailer not fully enclosed.  Floor has been replaced and is in good shape. I also have a 1/4 inch thick floor mat for it.  Totally rewired with new lights and light covers. Also wired for light in the interior if you have one of those night blind appaloosas that needs a little help in the dark. Totally repainted but does have some minor body damage that won't affect anything. It does NOT have a center divider and it has a stock horse back door. I normally use it to haul only one horse or a mare and foal at a time. I don't normally pull two adults in there unless they are small. Title is clean and it has permanent NM plates so once you transfer the title (in NM) you won't have to pay to re register it again. The title says it was silver or gray, but it really was mostly pealed paint and surface rust so we sanded and repainted it hunter green and black with a white interior and white roof. We also replaced the little plexi glass windows as well.

It has a lot of DOT approved reflective stickers and can be seen from all 4 sides in the dark when you shine a light on it.  I'll be posting photos later today. But If you are interested it is located in Thoreau, NM and I'm asking $2000 slighly negotiable.

I'd be willing to haul it to locations within about 150-200 mile radius so that includes locations like NE AZ, SW Colorado, or SE Utah If you know anyone in those areas.

Ouch!

About a week ago now I went out to feed and saw Poor Ladybug with her eye almost swollen shut and excessively draining.  She managed somehow during the day to either bump her eye or get something in it that scratched her cornea. 

In horses there are certain injuries that I'll easily treat without getting a veterinary opinion. Eye injuries are NOT one of those things. I do keep antibiotic eye ointment on hand all the time for those cases when something happens and I'm not able to get in to see a vet right away such as on a weekend when the vet is out of town, but I ALWAYS have the vet look at eye injuries as soon as they possibly can. 

This is what it looked like just before I loaded her up in the horse trailer to take her to the vet. 

We had to flush her eye and stained it with the fluorescein stain to see exactly where the problem was located at. She had a small corneal ulcer up there in that bluish area of her eye. We caught it really early so it has been healing quite well. We are still putting in an antibiotic eye ointment but after just one week you can't even really tell that there was a problem. Her eye now looks like this. 

The blue color is gone, the weeping eye is gone and she's feeling much better. I think one more week of the antibiotic eye ointment and we should be good.  Since we were already at the vet, I had him go a head and pull the new coggins test for 2011 so now Ladybug is good to go hauling around to all the competitions I want to go to all year long. 

New Years Goals

Well the new year has rolled around and it's time to set some goals.  I have goals for the horses and goals for the house this year. The following goals are for the horses. There are quite a few so I think the house and garden goals will take another post.

I would like to enter many more competitions, but we have a few obstacles to overcome first.

1. My poor old truck either needs a complete overhaul of both the engine and transmission or else we need a newer, better truck to haul the horses to the competitions. So the first goal of the year is to make one of those two happen.

2. Currently I'm borrowing a friends horse trailer to attend all my competitions. I've got a smaller two horse bumper pull trailer without a center divider that works well when you have to only haul one horse somewhere, but it doesn't have a dressing/camping area and you can really only haul one horse in it. So my second goal of the year is to get that trailer replaced. I can still use my friend's trailer so I still have that as a back up when I need it.

3.  Open show points programs to track my horses points earned in competition is also another issue to look at. All but one of the horses are currently registered with the ApHC and are allowed to enter the ApHC ACCAP (open show points Program). All of the horses but one are also registered CRHA (Colorado Ranger Horse Association) and are eligible for CRHA open show points programs. The difference between the two programs is a matter of cost. ApHC has an initial fee and then once you reach 10 events/judges you have to pay additional fees for each event attended. If I want to increase the numbers of events I go to that means in the end I could end up paying double or triple the fees to the ApHC. CRHA has a flat fee that covers all events entered in a year.  So I will have to decide which program is better for each horse at this time.

 Once I get those three things figured out, I'll have to decide what events I want to attend and how many of each I can go to.

I will continue to compete in ACTHA competitive trail competitions through out our area as they become available. Ladybug and Baby Girl already have some experience and can only get better as we work more on the obstacles. 

In addition to the ACTHA competitions, I believe that Ladybug is ready for some tougher and longer competitions in the form of either AERC or NATRC  distance competitions. We will start with some 25-35 mile rides at first. Baby Girl won't be ready for any of these competitions this year. She will turn 4 this year and will be eligible for the shorter distances based on her age, but she's not been ridden long enough distances yet to be in condition to try them. So she will get some of the conditioning rides with Ladybug, but won't go on to the competitions yet.

Keith also wants to get back into the Cowboy Mounted Shooting events now that he has his saddle to ride with. So we are looking at starting back with one of the sort of local clubs and attending practice matches at least once per month. Ladybug has already been trained to have shots fired from her back, but we don't have any of the other horses that far advanced yet. So a goal of getting horses used to gun fire from their back is also in place.

And I found the American Stock Horse Association with affiliates here in New Mexico. They are looking at hosting a few competitions here in NM this year and I'm interested in attending them. 

In addition to all of the competitions goals, I'm also considering breeding on mare Topper this year for a 2012 foal. I'm trying to find her the right stallion and that has proven quite difficult with the criteria I have set. I have found one stallion within a driving distance that fits several of the criteria but not all. The remaining stallions would all have to use with shipped semen.  The problem with using shipped semen is I would have to take Topper to a reproductive specialist more than 100 miles away for the insemination. So I'm looking at weather shipped semen or live cover is the way to go with Topper as a maiden mare. The local stallion is one I know about since he's the sire of my other colt Bright Snow Eagle. The remaining stallions have only been evaluated based on photos, pedigrees and competition records.  I have until about mid April to make my final decision because I'm not going to have a foal born here until late spring due to all the bad weather we have here.

I have quite a few competition goals for the horses and I hope we can attend a few of each type of event. It will all depend though on getting a good and reliable truck to get us to and from each competition. 

Winter ACTHA Ride

Well this past weekend was our last ACTHA ride of 2010. Keith since he finally got his own saddle that fits him also decided to come along. We took Ladybug for Keith to ride and I took Baby Girl on her first ever competition. Ladybug now has quite a bit of experience with camping over night, being tied to the horse trailer over night and riding out with a lot of different other horses.  Keith also got in a few firsts since this was his first competition and his first time out to any of the events.

Baby Girl however got all her major firsts all in one shot this past weekend. This was her first time to ever be tied to the horse trailer over night. We put her on the side closest to the dressing room door just in case something happened and we needed to get out to her fast. Well she stood perfectly all night long and she's now banned from being on that side. Her present to us for taking her along was to nicely deposit all her manure right in front of the dressing room door.  She is now banned from being on that side of the trailer. Ladybug is nicer about depositing presents away from the door. 

This was also her first ever experience being blanketed. It got quite cold overnight in the mid 20's and even with all the hay we fed she would have been cold standing tied to the trailer. The only time the blanket bothered her was the first time she had to lift her tail to relieve herself. 

Another first was that she had never been out on a trail ride with more than two other horses. She was not used to having horses behind her and horses in front of her. We spent the first couple of miles checking backwards and forwards. Once she got used to horses coming up behind her and passing her she was fine with everything. 

Her final first was that this is her first competition of any kind. I believe she did extremely well for a young green horse and all those first experiences to deal with.

The obstacles went like this.

1. Canter a large circle. I didn't make Baby girl do this one as she was still really nervous and as a young horse, we haven't really worked on cantering yet. I've only been working her training mainly in a walk and trot so we trotted the big circle. Keith and Ladybug also trotted I think mainly because Keith hasn't had much time to get used to riding Ladybug and just didn't feel ready to canter.

2. Jump a small log. For the pleasure division we had the option of trotting or cantering to the jump and then jumping. Baby Girl trotted up to the log, but got distracted by the judges. Once I got her attention focused, we ended up stepping over the log. She didn't jump and we also haven't practiced that one. Ladybug followed and she also kept looking at the judges before she stepped over the log. Most of the other horses in our group ended up going around the logs completely instead of going over them. 

3. The Gate. This was a big metal gate with a heavy chain that made lots of noise. Baby girl didn't mind the noise as much as Ladybug. Both the girls got through the gate, but Ladybug acted up more than Baby Girl. I think Ladybug was flexing some muscle to see how Keith would react. He did good and made her work like she should. 

4. The Log drag. Since we had been practicing this one both Ladybug and Baby Girl did really well on this one. There was no fussing at all. I hope we each get scored really well on this one.

5. Garland on the Christmas tree. This obstacle was quite a challenge for many horses. We were supposed to ride up to  a person holding a coiled strand of garland, pick up the Garland and ride over to a small tree and string the garland around the tree. Baby Girl did fairly well. She did get a bit goofy at the tree because she wanted to rub on something so she walked right into the tree. After she was done her rubbing we finished decorating the tree. She wasn't spooked by the garland though and that's a really good thing. Keith did well with Ladybug also except for one thing, she slowed down and got behind the garland and spooked a bit. Keith had to drop the garland and come back around and pick it up and continue. 

6. Side pass to Santa. We were to step across a log and side pass over to the Santa (real human) standing on top of a water tank. Baby girl did well but bumped a log. We are still working on her side pass so my cues were pretty obvious, but she did it and did it calmly. Ladybug is not good at sidepassing in the first place and Keith doesn't really know how to do the cues to try and make her either. But she wasn't scared of the Santa and walked right up to him for the candy cane. 

So that was the last ride of the year. Both Keith and I need to work on things but we had fun, and did well for all those first time experiences. Poor ole Beastie (the ugly blue truck) is really in trouble though. We had some major difficulty just getting up the 9 mile hill into Albuquerque. I don't think Beastie will make it much longer unless we prolong his life with a replacement engine and transmission. It's either that or buy a complete replacement truck which is currently out of the budget range. We will have to see what happens for the rest of the winter and decide soon what we want to do. If we want to keep competing, we will need to do something.

Ride the Divide

Labor Day Monday we loaded up Baby Girl and Ladybug and headed out for Continental Divide.  It's only about 10 miles down the road. We wanted to get Baby Girl out for some Practice rides away from home. She's only been on one other off property trail ride and out with other horses only three total times, so she needed to get used to seeing another horse on the trail with new sights and sounds. We went to an area on the Cibola National Forest that used to be a military Radar Station. The only thing left there now is a paved road leading to it and a paved parking area big enough to hold multiple horse trailers or turn a big rig around in it. You do have to be careful on the road leading in, it is paved, but years of neglect have allowed the weeds and shrubs and even trees to grow in on the edges. You will have to drive down the center line of the road most of the way.  

The riding area is just totally awesome. We made a big loop that was approximately 8 miles and took about 2 hour.

This first photo is a view from the parking area looking out on the valley below.

We rode out through the valley for a while before we finally got up in the trees. 

Then we looped around and came back out of the trees on the far side of the valley.

We got home in time to take Booger Butt for a 30 minute ride in the round pen.  He's doing really well. We even practiced a few of our obstacles in hand so he'll get used to them. He walked over that tarp as if he's been doing it his whole life.

Good Bye and Hello

No this is not a really sad goodbye. In fact it's quite a good good bye. Roany pony moved closer to her little boy so he can see her more often! It's kind of sad because Roany is such a good little pony that she will be missed up here. Also I will miss seeing Christopher improve in his riding skills since he'll be riding more there at the new place and not up here where I can see him all the time.

So we packed up all her things; feed, feeders and water tub.

And loaded her up in the trailer. She's so good she walks right in ready to go.

And drove her to her new home.

Then she got settled into her new pen while we unloaded all the stuff.

This whole move was a surprise to her boy.  He didn't know anything about it until his mom took him for a drive.

Then he had to check out her new pen.

And help give her a good brushing.

 So for us it's good bye Roany and for Christopher, it's Hello!

Trailer Training

I spent this weekend working on trailer training for Booger Butt, Topper and Baby Girl. Booger Butt and Baby Girl have been loaded and transported a few times but not on a regular basis. Topper has been on  regular rides in the trailer (usually to the vet every time she gets hurt), but she had developed some resistance to loading. So we decided to work on trailer comfort skills which is basically getting the three comfortable with loading and standing still in the trailer. Some people don't believe that feeding a horse in a trailer is a good thing, but in my opinion, a horse must feel comfortable enough in the space to feel safe enough to eat.  My trailer training for the weekend consisted of loading all three up in the individual stall spaces of the three horse trailer and then feeding them. After they were finished eating, I unloaded them and tied them to the outside of the trailer for a few minutes before putting them back in the pastures. I feel that they need to feel as safe in the trailer as they do in their own pasture.  The first day there was a bit of hesitation from all three at loading. Baby Girl I think is the most nervous about the enclosed space.  Baby girl also didn't feel comfortable enough to back out of the trailer on the first day. Luckily she was in a slot that gave her enough room to turn around. On the second day whoever, I put her in the space that basically required that she back out. Finally with a bit of encouragement, she backed out very well. Booger Butt didn't have any problems either day except that the trailer floor was pretty high the first day so we had to encourage him to step up high enough to get his foot on the floor. The second day, I back up the trailer to a different location so he wouldn't have to step up as high. Ladybug didn't have any trailer loading training, because she's already well used to loading and unloading.