Smokey's Hat Trick

So you might know I'm big on clicker training. It's helped me bridge things with my horses like the noise of a plastic bottle, taking a bit, lifting hooves. It's not a cure all and things still require maintenance, but it's made a big difference.

Plus having trained dogs, I get the idea of this, so there wasn't near the learning curve.

Anyway, Smokey is very, very lippy. I figured given all the things he wants to grab, it might be useful to put this to use and teach him to pick up a hat from the ground. This video is step #2 in that process. Step 1 was getting him to touch it with our command "target". Step 2 is to hold it in his teeth with the command "grab."

I don't even want to think about step 3 yet.



(we did this today and he actually did really well, but more on that later.)

I love this shirt

I'm sure you've seen it, but it was new to me!

LOL.

What would your horse's name be?

Here's a few from our place

Canyon - Keep your head up!

Cibolo - Easy, boy!

Lily - Lily (she's so good)

Hero time

Having trouble breaking free for horse time, but at least I'm dressed for it. (Wings are my back up plan for bucking). Get your own self hero'd up.

First Canyon Cartoon

I'm making some cartoons at work and thought it might be fun to try one with Canyon...

Horse Laws - okay, I agree with this one

Abilene, Kansas, City Ordinance 349 declares: "Any person who shall in the city of Abilene shoot at a horse with any concealed or unconcealed bean snapper or like article, shall upon conviction, be fined."

I particularly love this one because it's so easy to visualize how it came up.

Watch those concealed bean snappers, people. I wonder if you could get a carry permit for those? Where's the NRA on bean snappers? How about Chipmunk based pea shooters?

Interestingly enough there's also a law in Kansas against shooting rabbits from motorboats. Presumably this became a problem when rabbits took up water skiing. Silly wabbit. Twicks are for skiers.

35 mile an hour gusts = Freaked out horses

I've been gone for a week to Washington and got back with an ache for some serious horse time.


Which will have to wait since someone left the windows open and there is a wind blowing around here that could sandblast the plaque right off your teeth.

But I'd been gone a WEEK! So, even though our trees at home looked like they were doing the hula, I decided to head out to the stables.

The place I board at is up for sale. It's a great deal, 70 acres, mobile home, barns, arena and round pen, if anyone's looking), and they were having an open house / barn sale. I didn't pick anything up this time, because I'm pretty tacked up.

I went out to get Canyon and he acted like he had no idea who I was. So we spent some time in the near tornado conditions doing a few circles in the field. He behaved remarkably well for a horse that was ready to climb out of his skin.

Then I took him over for a brushing, trying to find a spot that was sheltered from the wind. Which ended up being impossible. It was like walking around in a blender. No matter where I stood, hair was flying around (he is shedding like a persian cat), trees were shaking, and metal sheets were screeching in the wind.

Needless to say, this was not the calming experience I had in mind.

Canyon was ... well, "wary" would be putting it mildly. At one point he was standing still but his neck was so tense you could have bounced quarters off of him. I finally came to my senses. This is no time to tie up a horse. One more weird wind noise and he was going to flip out. So, after a few more relaxing brushes (well, I was relaxed anyway), it was back to the pasture.

That's where I got my reward. The wind died down for a good 15 minutes and we had a few nickers and actual bonding time. We hung out and wandered around a little before the wind kicked back up.

March will be a better month. I'll have tons more time, tons more horse time, and hopefully, much better weather conditions. A woman can hope.




Back home, I came across this on a horse email list:

How Enlightened Are You? A Test

If you can live without caffeine or nicotine
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains
If you can resist complaining
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you any time
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
If you can ignore friends' limited educations and never correct them
If you can treat the rich and poor alike
If you can face the world without lies or deceit
If you can conquer tension without medical help
If you can relax without liquor
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs
If you can have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender,
sexual preference, or politics —

— If you can then you have almost reached the same level of spiritual
development as your horse.

Hmm. Apparently I don't have a horse... That would explain a great deal.

Horse Laws - beep beep!

In Sutherland, Iowa, a law governs how horses may be seen when on the streets during evening hours. The animal must always have a light attached to its tail and a horn of some sort on its head.

How exactly do you power a light on a horses' hiney back in the days before double As?

Canyon and the cow hide (part dos)

(dictated by Canyon, part 2)

So there we were, just moments away from being ripped into shreds.

I can't tell you how often this happens. How many times I have narrowly escaped the predators that linger in shadows, waiting for me to simply drop my guard. It's a wonder we aren't down to just two horses around here, given the danger to us all.

Particularly since I'm the only one that keeps a real eye out for trouble. And believe you me, trouble is everywhere.

But I digress.

We were there on the safe side of the silver thing. On the other side was a skinned cow, clearly recently killed by the savages that awaited on the other side. I could see them moving about, trying to stay hidden - but I saw their feet.

Now a lesser horse, a horse with a inferior sensory system, that kind of horse might think that it was just a cat. Or a little person back there, just moving around.

But consider the facts. The skinned cow was clearly dead. Something killed it. And given the movement just underneath the cow's skin it was clear. The killer, the savage was still there.

My alpha mare kept making her noises she makes at times like this, and while I avoided getting in her "space" (she is a bit adamant about such things), I did manage to pull us both to a safer distance.

Then, proving once again that she had NO IDEA THE DANGER WE WERE IN, she had me move around in circles.

In my opinion it is always a mistake to present a tasty hindquarter to savages unless you plan on kicking the living heck out of them. But she just kept making those noises.

After a few turns I noticed that one of the little people who wander around here and who I carry on my back on occassion, was walking from the silver thing to the vet rack. I wasn't too concerned for her safety - every horse knows savages will go for the Pinto-Arabians first. Little people are way down the menu. Probably too stringy.

We kept dancing around and around and finally, when I looked back over, it looked like the savages had left. My alpha mare walked over to the skinned cow and encouraged me to sniff it. It didn't really smell much like a cow. I mean there was a little cow smell, but mostly it smelled like that stuff they spray on us at the wash rack. I gave it a lick to make sure it was well groomed and took one last look around.

It worked. We had scared off the savages. Once again the other horses were saved by my quick action which clearly had made the difference. See, savages rely completely on the element of surprise and once I'd found them out, they had no choice but to give up their dinner plans.

I try not to make a big deal out of these accomplishments. It's all in a day's work, really. But I do wish my alpha mare wouldn't make that other noise - the one that sounds like a whinny.

Surely that's not how she laughs. After all, there's nothing funny about a near death experience.

Canyon and the cow hide (part one)

Canyon has once again requested to tell his side of what is now known as the "cow hide incident." What follows is in his own words.


Do you suppose someday they will develop a more hoof friendly keyboard? While I don't mind dictating, I fear that something is lost in the translation.

Ah well. I suppose we had to give up something when we horses opted for the ability to crack walnuts with our hooves.

But I digress. The latest attack took place when the family finally came out to visit. I have to admit I was sort of wondering if they were gone for good and I had mixed emotions about it. I mean it's nice to have all this pasture time, but it does get a little boring. Plus there are no cookies.

So when my alpha mare came out to get me, I was pleasantly surprised. Cookies were on the menu! I guess that's why I let my guard down. Always a mistake to anticipate your snack when the ugly reality is that danger lurks behind every fence.

I waited politely as always while she secured my harness and we headed to the gate.

I haven't been out of the gate in a while since my nice run leads right into my pasture. Recently a few new silver things had been added to the area outside the gate. There were three of those big silver things they used to put the hay hills in.

I miss those hay hills. You could just put your head in there and chew, chew, chew. Heaven! Once I spent four days straight with my head in there - it was a new record in the pasture.

I know, pretty impressive. Everyone else would take off after a few hours and walk around, or stand in the shade for a while. They just couldn't sustain it, frankly. It takes real commitment and no small amount of stamina to stand in one spot and eat for four days straight.

Fortunately I can eat like that all day and it has no effect on my weight whatsoever. Does affect my saddle, though. That girth shrinks right up. Weird.


Anyway, they'd taken all the silver things out of all the pastures and have gone to just tossing hay around in little piles. Now we have to WALK to get to the hay. Darn inconvenient if you ask me. Rumor is that some horses where pulling hay out and ... soiling it!

Unbelievable. Proof once again there are some horses you just can't civilize.

So there were the silver things outside the gate, waiting to be loaded and taken away to some other lucky horse's house. I was sad, but not too worried.

Then, I saw them. Right behind one of the silver things. Wolves. Or lions. I just got a quick glimpse, and, as usual, my alpha mare was clueless.

It was up to me to warn her and save the other horses. But would I be in time?

(to be continued)

Any one up for a little unicycle time with their horse?

Found this over on Horse Therapist.






Okay, let me just say I wish I'd been in the room when someone said - "Hey, how about UNICYCLES?"

Horse Laws - keep it clean, people.

This is why they invented wash racks...

Budds Creek, Maryland, has an antique law which prohibits horses from sleeping in a bathtub, unless the rider is also sleeping with the horse.

No word on bathing with your horse.

So, exactly how big were bathtubs in the old days? I mean could you actually sleep with a horse in there?

Keep your laws off my Horse!

An email list I'm on had this great list of Horse Laws. Every weekend I'm going to include a few from the list...

FYI: No one knows how they got there and no one living has a memory of anyone arrested under them.

In Omega, New Mexico, every woman must "be found to be wearing a corset" when riding a horse in public. A physician is required to inspect each female on horseback. The doctor must ascertain whether or not the woman is, in fact, complying with this law! (I have a feeling there were some very serious physicians lobbying for that one.)

In Hartsville, Illinois, you can be arrested for riding an ugly horse. (oh boy, do I have some suggestions...Do you suppose Fugly was around back then?)

In Pattonsburg, Missouri, according to the Revised Ordinances (well, at least they revised it), 1884: "No person shall hallo, shout, bawl, scream, use profane language, dance, sing, whoop, quarrel, or make any unusual noise or sound in such manner as to disturb a horse." (Well, that leaves out most trainers, doesn't it?)


As far as I know, drawing a full skeleton on a horse is not illegal. But maybe it should be...