The pony express made it!

FYI, the effort to get 20k letters for wildhorses has been exceeded:

Wow! What amazing supporters we have! On August 1st, we gave you a goal of 20,000 letters to take with us for our Pony Express Mustang Delivery to Washington. Our deadline was set for September 1st.

We just wanted to let you know that we have completely blown our goal out of the water with the overwhelming response from so many wild horse supporters! Just over this past weekend, we received 7,234 letters from so many of you, which brings our current count to 26, 995!!!!

Thanks to everyone who responded. You can still add your letter. Even people from outside the US can weigh in too:

We have had a couple of people from outside the US that wanted to write, but cannot do it from the Pony Express button, because it asks for a US zip code. Or if the link isn't working for you, please email directly to madeleinesponyexpress@gmail.com.

Mailed letters can be sent to:

Saving America's Mustangs
2683 Via De La Valle, G 313
Del Mar, CA 92014

You've got until September 10th. Fill those congressional mailboxes! Click here.

Details on the letter delivery will be coming soon.

Headset, schmedset; Mireya and Cody in love; Sierra cantering like a wild child

Okay, here's how things are:

Jill is right. What the heck am I worrying about?

I mean, I know where all this "worry" stems from. I've had two bad experiences. But those experiences had nothing to do with headset. They had to do with:
A. horse too bucky for me to fix,
B. Leadership on a testy horse.

I'm understandably concerned since now I'm on a young horse, which was never the plan.

And yet, I get the feeling that this is remarkable the right horse - he's gentle enough that I don't worry, yet he requires me to know what the heck I'm doing because otherwise he's going to go all over the place.

And he does test, but like a toddler, really. Well within my capability to handle.

At this point, Smokey and I have two things to really accomplish over the next few months: leadership and miles.

Plus I have one thing I need to learn - better and more consistency in my three aids.

So that will be my focus. And if I feel it fading at any point, I'll call on D to help me fix it quick.

Next lesson will be coming in a few weeks (back to school killed the budget around here). I'm working on reins and legs and the combination of both, and based on our efforts in the arena today, I'd say we were making it happen. Every ride we start pretty catty wumpus, but within 10 minutes we have it all sorted out. I know it's me, I'm still getting my hands together, but there's a little of a "really? Can't we just go stand in the shade?" from Smokey too.

Anywho, today, after watching way too many Chris Irwin videos at State Line Tack, I got Smokey into a canter - with ONLY my seat!

Seriously! I wanted to high five someone. Instead I stopped my horse (with an exhale, no less) tossed my reins and gave him the biggest neck hug ever. He seemed darn glad we got that sorted out. Then we walked it out, quite pleased with ourselves.

----


Mireya is in serious love with Cody. She wants to ride him forever and ever. Remember, this is the kid that had a huge meltdown less than a month ago when she was just SITTING on him. Today she had reins and after a lesson on rein basics (which I'm still learning myself - so much of motherhood is that way, isn't it?), we headed out into the drive way area.

"This is kind of like a trail ride, right Mommy?" she asked me, beaming from atop "her" horse.

"Absolutely," I said, holding Cody's green lead rope. "Now slide your hand down the rein and gently pull to your pocket."

She did. He turned. She lit up the entire sky over Texas with happiness.


-------

Sierra is back to cantering on Lily. That horse loves that kid. I wish you could see how Lily acts with her. She bits up best with Sierra - the rest of us have to cajole. She's stopped doing the rushing canter (no doubt a combo of light requests and just getting in shape).

Sierra sits beautifully and I think of the lessons she's had. She's a natural athlete (which she got from her dad), but those lessons gave her a great foundation.

I gotta get me some of those lessons. :)



Hope your weekend was equine filled...

Headsets and "Dangerous" Ravines

Smokey and I have been working on backing, turning, and steering, all without the chambon, or neck stretcher. You can read about them on wikipedia.

I've been following Kate's posts on gadgets and softness closely. My own concerns rotate around an axis of what my trainer uses (and she's a very gentle trainer, actually), my own lack of knowledge, and my goals for working with my horse. The trainer recommends this gadget, I am not sure how to keep my horses head down consistently without being in his mouth constantly, and I want to work softly with him.

What to do.

At this point I've decided on a sort of middle ground - I'm using the device, but only sporadically and only for 5 minutes at the start of a ride. I am finding that on the trail (in the round pen he doesn't put his head up much) I can get Smokey's head back down when it goes up, but it's much harder and takes more focus. And the challenge remains in keeping it there consistently. I can see how these gadgets can make you lazy and soon you stop communicating, relying on the device to do it for you.

Discipline certainly needs to be there for both of us.

Today we tackled the SCARY ravine, a long ditch about two feet wide, with a drop of about 6 inches to a foot. ooooo!

Smokey was convinced he had to leap across it. Which was progress from the inital balk we worked through. For the last three days we've walked, lead, and just ridden across different sections of it. Finally today he figured it out and stepped down into it.

I've heard horses can't really understand how deep things are. That it takes trust for them to just step down.

If that's the case, I guess we made another step on our journey together.

Reading your horse's face, part 2

Here's reading your horses' face, part duex.

In our first series (click here and you can check out the book all this comes from), we were looking at a profile. Now here's a full face view of Smokey...

But first, a few answers to questions posed.

1. Bumps on the profile - what do they mean?
A bulge between the eyes is unpredictable and slow learner, a bump below the ey is some inflexibility and resistance under pressure, and a "quirk bump - several inches below the eye" indicates a horse that has trouble with submissive training.

2. What's a moose nose?
A moose nose is a bulge on the lower part of the nose, it sort of looks like the horse has a little fatter or longer upper lip. Sensitive but bold, this horse is like the herd leader, but a "kind" alpha. I think Woody is this kind of horse and he has a moose nose. Either that or a Roman nose.

3. Is it valid?
I have no clue. I see some things that seem dead on, but many times I can't tell one attribute from another and its always the ones where if it's A your horse is an angel, if it's B, you've got demon spawn.

As I mentioned before, Mireya is helping me with the close calls, since she hasn't read the book and is not predisposed...

Nostrils: I'd say he fits the large open and moveable nostrils. In fact Smokey likes a nice nostril rub now and again. "Eagerly active and interested." I'd tend to agree.



Ears: I'd say he has fine, fluted ears, sort of Arab like. I think this is a Morgan characteristic though. Supposedly signifies intelligence. And Smokey does like to multitask, as you can see. LOL

Lily has broad ears that flare out in the middle, reminding me of Kate's Noble. Those denote steadiness and reliability.

Pin ears (really short ears) are willful.



Lip: Smokey's is pretty flat - not heart shaped, but at the same time he has the most mobile upper lip I've seen on a horse. I swear he could pick up a dime and spin it with that lip. Means having curiosity and physical need to have contact with humans.

Absolutely. He is a very affectionate horse, and curious. We had a session with the ball in the round pen (for despooking fun), and within 10 seconds he was moving the thing with his lip. (Apparently I need quail or vultures for de-spooking. He's not worried about plastic bags either).

Eyes again: Not widely set, not narrow. Wide means intelligent, narrow means slower to learn. I think he looks average.

Swirls: Smokey has two very faint swirls, which in 70% of horses can mean a horse that will react badly. Other times they are a great horse (this is where the similarity with horoscopes comes in. Can sorta apply anything to any feature sometimes).

A long swirl down the nose means it's a horse that is friendly and particularly enjoys people.


So the bottom line? Smokey's features seem to bear out what I've experience with him so far. He's smart, friendly, curious, and willing. He is young, so he does need the miles, but overall I'd say he fits his photo profile (two swirls not withstanding).

I plan on running a few more horses at the barn through this book. Definitely the king of my kiddos, Cody. Would you like me to post those? Let me know...