The Experiment

Poor Baby Girl doesn't have much of a tail because of her Appaloosa genetics. I was wondering how I would be able to help keep her fly free this summer because there isn't much that I can tie into her tail that won't fall out.

Here is an example of how short her tail really is.

 I've already tried tail bags with fringe, but she doesn't have enough hair BELOW the tail bone or enough hair  to braid to help keep the tail bags in place.  So I needed to try something different. Then it happened, recently I was searching stuff on the internet and I found this website called Colorful Manes and Tails. They have synthetic hair extensions for fun shows, parades, and just dolling up your horse.  But I got to thinking that these little extensions might help Baby Girl, So I sent off a request for more information about the product.  The people were so friendly there that not only did I get more information, I got a sample to test out on Baby Girl.  

Here is the "hair extension" as you can see it's not very big, but originally these were intended for fun decoration not for semi permanent tail extensions.

However they easily clip into the hair and pretty much hide at the clip when put in. 

It's not much, but it did extend her tail just a bit. If it holds for a few days and not fall out right away, I'm going to order a few more and try them in several different spots on her tail.

 And you can also put them in your horses mane. Here is a shot of her short mane and that one long streak of black is the extension.

 I'll post an update on how these things work in a few days.

Welcome to the Top O the World

 Here is what happens in the middle of May when you choose to live on the Continental Divide.

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!

Saturday ACTHA Ride

Well I decided to brave the weather and take Ladybug on her first competition of the new year. I swear sometimes I think I must be crazy and this was one of those days. Even with the predicted high winds, I decided to ride sidesaddle in a dress. Yea buddy let me tell you,  riding six miles in 30 mph winds sidesaddle in a dress sure tests you and the mentality of your horse. Ladybug did totally AWESOME especially considering the overall conditions of the ride. We did miss a few obstacles but that was mostly because I had not practiced reaching down from the sidesaddle much before. 

Our first obstacle was a trot over unevenly placed logs. Ladybug did fairly well at that but she didn't go straight and missed a few of the logs. Part of that I'm sure was because of me leaning the wrong way due to the winds and pushing her off balance.   

The second obstacle was the curtain. The curtain is basically a tarp or banner cut into strips hanging from a roper over your head. This is one of those spooky obstacles even on a good day. Ladybug has already seen this one, but the winds had the strips blowing flat out above our heads. After a small hesitation Ladybug went right on under and spooked slightly at the end when the wind slacked for just a second and then picked up again so the strips popped out straight again. She jumped a little at the noise, but settled soon after. 

The next obstacle as seen below is the drag the two stall balls from post A to post B. We didn't finish that because I hadn't practices the correct way to lean over and pick things up from the side saddle. Thanks Christy for the advice on leaning forward, I'll remember that for the next time. So here we are attempting the ball drag. I'm sure if I had been in the western saddle, we would have completed it because we have been practicing. I just couldn't get a hold of the rope.

 And here we are at the end of that obstacle on our way out on the trail again. Thanks to Lisa from Laughing Orca Ranch for taking all these great photos.

 The next obstacle was the turn on the forehand. we had not practiced that much with me giving cues from the sidesaddle so we didn't do so great on that, but the more time I spend in the sidesaddle I'm sure we will get that cue down pat.  

After the turn on the forehand we came down to a trot weave through some cones. Ladybug did great again, but missed one of the cones. Again I think that one was my fault for being off balance in the wind. 

The next to last obstacle was a slicker tied up with a boot hanging off each end. You were supposed to pick up the slicker off the first barrel and place it across the horses neck with one boot on either side and ride to the second barrel and place the slicker back down on the barrel. I skipped that one because I didn't feel comfortable with the reach down from the sidesaddle. We have practiced the slicker quite a bit before and Ladybug walked right on past without a problem so its one of those things that I need to practice more from the sidesaddle. 

The last obstacle was supposed to be a tarp tunnel, but they couldn't keep the tarp from flying away so they improvised and created a walk across the tarp between the uprights with the flags blowing. Ladybug didn't even hesitate. We started walking back where the judge said to and just kept on going. She didn't even look like any thing here was spooky.

 Here is one of my riding buddies for the day and I posing at the end of the last obstacle before we headed back to the trailers for the end of the ride.

So here is the end of our first day of riding in the Gone with the Wind CTC at Walkin N Circles  Equine Rescue Ranch.

Goodbye

Spring!!!!

Spring has sprung! Things are growing in the garden. None of it is stuff I've planted yet this year. It's all come up from last year.

Elderberry 

 The garlic I actually planted in the planter

 The garlic that escaped getting dug up last year in the old spot.

 The lettuce that reseeded it self from last year.

Keith's favorite chives also survived the winter. 

Spearmint I think. It and the peppermint are running together. Not exactly sure which one is which yet.

 The walking onions. Nothing short of a nuclear blast right on top of them seems to kill them.

 Parsnips. Must have reseeded themselves from last year. I thought I dug all of them up??

  Rhubarb!! So totally excited. All three plants made it through the winter.

 Spinach totally suprised on this one as the entire plants wintered over in temps as low as -20 plus degrees.

 Swiss Chard plants also survived the winter. Not as suprised on this one as they are pretty cold hardy.

And finally I've been busy building raised garden beds from recycled lumber that we didn't use up when we replaced the front porch.  So here are my raised beds that I'm getting ready to plant other stuff in soon. I've got three of them this is just the two I already got settled in and partially filled.

I'm so looking forward to gardening season!

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!

Can the ApHC survive?

 Based on the American Livestock Breed Conservancy website they list the "Parameters of Livestock Breeds on the ALBC Conservation Priority List" that includes the following:

The breed census satisfies numerical guidelines:

    * Critical: Fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population less than 2,000.
    * Threatened: Fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population less than 5,000.
    * Watch: Fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population less than 10,000. Also included are breeds that present genetic or numerical concerns or have a limited geographic distribution.
    * Recovering: Breeds that were once listed in another category and have exceeded Watch category numbers but are still in need of monitoring.
    * Study: Breeds that are of genetic interest but either lack definition or lack genetic or historical documentation.

As of right now ApHC has been registering around 3500 horses per year. A 1000 horse drop in registrations just might put the Appaloosa horse on the watch list. Some members of the ApHC have developed a plan that would bring in more members and more registrations to a "half" or "color" section of the ApHC. Unfortunately several members are in opposition to this new portion of the registry because it would allow horses of unknown breeding with Appaloosa pattering to be registered. The new section would be run in a manner similar to the Pinto registry in that any horse of Appaloosa patterning would be eligible to be registered. This new section would bring in new members and new registrations and just might save the ApHC from the steep decline it's been in the past several years. The strangest thing is that the vast majority of individuals opposed to opening up a "color" or part bred registry of any kind within the ApHC are the same ones who actually approved of the registration of a colt who had a Paint registered sire. 

The ApHC is losing ground fast and some of it's own members refuse allow it to go forward and gain some of it's former popularity back.   If you are one of the few members of the ApHC left, you need to get in contact with your BOD member and let them know how you feel. 
 

Testing

Hey guys I'm testing out a new lay out and design. I've been told my old one loads really slow and people seem to be having problems getting the blog to load. So please leave me some comments here on how this design loads for you. Thanks.

Welcome to the Quarterpintaloosa Horse club

ApHC wants to allow dual registered Paint and AQHA horses for breeding to Appaloosas. Yet a Paint breeder is intent on creating a significant number of dual registered horses. The ApHC Registrar, who just happens to own breed and raise Paints, has recently decided that a dual registered Paint/Quarter horse, that happens to hold not one, not even two, but three PAINT reserve world championships,  is NOT a Paint by bloodlines.  Here we have below is a Paint breeder intent on breeding dual registered Paint/Quarter Horses. ApHC will currently allow those dual registered horses to be used as acceptable crossbreeds for the Appaloosa horse. Yet here we see a Paint breeder discussing how those minimally marked bloodlines are what he's using to create colored Paint/Quarter horses. 

How can AQHA papers mean Quarter horse breeding, yet somehow that set of Paint papers doesn't mean the horse has Paint breeding? According to the ApHC registrar, Seriously Secure a three Time Paint champion isn't really a Paint just because he's got a set of Quarter Horse papers.

http://www.higbeefarm.com/gq.html

A Paint Horse breeding program can now be engineered-using a double registered stallion and a single-or double-registered Quarter Horse mares- to potentially produce 100 percent registered Quarter Horses. With the right set of double registered mares and/or single registered Quarter Horse mares with overo markers, that same program has the potential to produce 90 percent double-registered horses."

“And the Paint Horse breeder has now been given the opportunity to build a breeding program that’s totally free of Breeding-Stock horses, and with the potential of appealing to a 300 percent larger sales market”, Reisinger says. What would you do?”

Some one please tell me how any of this can be "GOOD" for the Appaloosa horse.

Memories and Dreams

Today is the day. It's been four full years since I last saw him. I'm not quite so depressed as the last three years and I suppose in time it will get better.  Even though I really miss my best buddy, I've got things to look forward to this year. The Dream that morphed into reality is out in my pasture waiting for me now. I've got plans for riding and hopefully showing and competing this year. 

Sometimes when one dream dies another begins.