I’ve been amiss in my Thankful Thursday posts.  With building my Rum Felicity and Catt Paw Massage websites there has been plenty of  online creative processing.  That and along with working on a web presence for my friend, Simrat’s online art home, and facebook posts and meanderings  I’ve been pretty busy.

I need though to acknowledge some wonderful things that are happening in my life.  So here goes.

1) I feel so fortunate to be employed by Montanya Distillers.

They are great people with a driving force to succeed.  What other kind of people would I want to align myself with.  If you apply yourself you can’t fail.  Apply myself  is what I am doing and I feel like my employers recognize this and appreciate it.  Yet I have had a couple set backs thanks to San Juan Mountain weather, having to cancel rum tastings in Grand Junction and Montrose last Friday.  Heather and I are suppose to be taking off today to get those tastings done.  I wake up this morning look outside and  argh… more snow!  The Mountains look socked in. I hope its just a dusting and we can make this trip as I don’t want to cancel on these folks again.  This is the first time I’ve been bummed by the snow.  I’m thinking that no more trips planned around the state until after April. Do all my driving this summer and settle back into phone calls this winter.  With that said, I am going back to Arizona first week in April to do tastings there which brings me to my second item to be thankful for.

2) My car is a good little car, but its not a long distance car by any means.  Its wonderful in the conditions I live in here in Silverton,  yet it struggles a bit out on a road.  I worry that if I take it too far from home, I’ll get stuck somewhere and have to call my son-in-law to come get me.  So, I have this Montanya trip planned for April to Arizona.  Its a good gig, worth the effort in the potential income it could generate.  So what did my company do?  They are renting a car for me to take on this trip so that I can get our product established in Arizona.  I know that other companies do this sort of thing… it’s just never been done for me before.  I am so thankful!!  I want this job to blossom for all concerned, I’m loyal and dedicated to the company and it feels good that they recognize something in me and are willing to take a risk on me.   Well its not really a risk… but some folks would see it that way.

This brings me to the third item.

3) Risk.

I’ve been looking at horses for a while now – trying to decide whether I want one or not and if I do, which kind.  Well I settled on the fact that I do want another horse. Its really hard though, because I am in love with a certain kind of horse a certain quality and personality. I’ve been spoiled by the likes of Asad, Kindlewood, and Madrid.  Elegant athletic, comical and loving companions.  These horses knew how to be friends.  They also had a certain beauty and grace that made the heart and soul sing when you gazed upon them.  So as I studied different breeds and individuals I became aware that what I really wanted was something similar to them in type and being.  As much as I admired other horses and types of horses, my heart would start when I came across certain ones.  In the process I tried to buy three different horses and either was turned down or became apprehensive and backed out.  I have a real fear of facing the pain that disease can cause for my horse after the devastating effect Kindlewood’s suffering and death had on me.  I could not bring her son home, because I was too afraid, and he reminded me of horses of the past.  A risk I just could not make myself face. I needed to move forward not backward.  I just could not look upon Pro everyday and not see him , but rather see his mother and her death,  and the loss of his grand sire and grand dam.  Not fare to him and too painful for me.  Heather said it yesterday… Mom, you had to sever yourself from them in order to move forward with a horse.  How profound of her!

So move forward I have…  and this is where I have landed.

Just a gorgeous 3 year old filly named Shades of Gray. A registered Spanish Mustang, gaited and appy.  Definitely my type of elegance and fluidity. I have never liked gray horses.  But I have fallen in love with this girl.  She is appy but she is turning gray which means that she will lose her spots someday and become a white horse.  I see fine China!!

Isn’t Shade one of the most feminine and sweet girls you’ve ever laid eyes on.  She’s a girly girl and I love that about her! I am back to being excited about the future and making plans for how we will live together. What kind of gear we’ll use together and what kind of education we’ll share together.  New journeys… new adventures.

Shade will remain in South Dakota at Don and Terri Harwood’s until June 2012 then she’ll make her journey to Silverton to play with me in the mountains for the summer, learn about human idiosyncrasies like climbing up on her back and such nonsense.  Then she will spend her first Colorado winter on pasture near Silverton.  I’m thinking of bringing her in off pasture in February of each year and boarding her for three or four months each spring where I can take lessons and brush up on my dressage training as someday this is what I want to do with her.  Haute Ecole…

Dreams… I want to thank Don and Terri Harwood of Blue Moon Spanish Mustangs for making this new dream possible. I’m so full of gratitude.

4) I want to thank everyone who has traveled this journey with me and have remained good freinds and valuable support.  Those who felt the impact of my experiences and shared their warmth and kindness as we waded through the muck together.  YOU all mean the world to me!

Thank you!

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Just an update on how Paisano and Prophecy are coming along with their  ground driving and outings.

Humble Pai

First off Paisano found his walk the other day.  I took him out on the lunge line instead of the drive lines, thinking we needed some side by side time for commuication.  He literally out walked me. I mean I was gettin’ a get-a-long to keep up and a few times he out distanced me on the lunge line so I laid it over his back and let him walk it out.  He seemed to really enjoy the sense of freedom while he walked along. The process to get to this walk has been painful in terms of me having to work my butt off to get him to show some incentive.  The other day when I took him out Sophie was in heat, apparently a number of mares in the area were in heat, as when we passed them Paisano had to act like he was still a stallion, this got him lots of “knock it off’s”  and a few reprimands.  He reared, he kicked out and bucked up, but it got him no where with the only place he could go being forward with enthusiasm.  Once he got that down he began to walk  out.  We came up against a green filly (in heat) being ridden for the first time out on the road.  It was a disaster waiting to happen, so Pai and I stood for 10 or 15 minutes while the guy inched his upset filly down the road a block or two. In the meantime while that’s happening a girl comes racing her (in heat) mare over a hill and nearly knocks the poor filly off the road.  All of this in front of Pai who is beside himself by now.  The girl on the mare could hardly keep the mare off Pai as she road by.

Sigh….

Paisano was good if not overwhelmed, but behaved, and found his walk.  We had tons of compliments on how beautiful he is. People would slow down in their cars to appreciate his animated beauty with big smiles on their faces and nods of approval.  He did put on quite the show.  He truly is a beauty. Now if he can just keep his walk, he just might make a get’r done horse too!

Pro Rodeo

Prophecy has improved as well. He has had two outings since his tantrum.  The first one he threw a bit of tantrum rearing and kicking out at me. Which got him lots of backing up and circling then a long stand still.  Oh and my boot in his butt for good measure. It’s like “Do you really want get into a kicking fight”  Bluff… Bluff…   He wasn’t sure I couldn’t whoop his butt so he declined.  His tantrum was short lived this time and we went a little further down the road than he had gone before.  He walked, for the most part, back at a very nice clip.  It was pretty good so I tried to keep low keyed and get him back home with a few good boys and a treat.

The second trip out Rebecca walked with us and brought Sophie along trailing behind us.  I ground drove Pro and he walked pretty much the entire time up and anxious but mannerly the entire one mile walk.  We had a few dissussions about his manhood appearing here and there.  “Put that away!”   Generally though he heard nothing but how good he was and how proud I was of him.  He even did a few quality stops and stands though sometimes with an occassional head shake. He looked magnificent too. Gaiting off and on. Showing his potential stallionism in the arch of his neck and strength in his stride.  His gait was quick and animated, it was just breathtaking to watch.

This week brought some breakthroughs for both boys.  It was a good week.

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Krissy came out to stay for the weekend and we took several video clips of Pro and Theory.  Even Paisano snuck into a couple.  Krissy rode Pai bareback up and down the drive for about 30 minutes.  He was a saint  and she was able to go have some fun  without me watching every move the horse was making.  Paisano was Mr. Steady Eddie.  The perfect family horse.

Theory had her first tying session today and surprised us all by standing quietly for two separate sessions that were each around 1 1/2 hours long.  Tomorrow she will stand tied for at least two hours. This is in preparation for her to be hauled using one of the two horse straight loads we have parked in our yard. Next weekend she goes to her new home.  She is such a smart little girl and other than trying to untie herself handled being tied with little fuss.

I’ll post Theory’s video later on.

Below are some photos (taken during our video session yesterday) of Celt’s Prophecy at 15 months of age sporting his baggy pants (halter) look.  I’ve decided I won’t buy a new halter until I can buy his permanent halter.  So he swims in his grandmothers (La Senorita de Madrid) halter for now

Here Pro was rearing on command, the shot was a bit early, but I like the picture anyway.

Pro got his first bath (with soap), and then we set out to get some video of him.  I have an injured knee and it gave out on me during the videoing, so I was not able to do as much or move as agile as I needed to in order to give Pro real opportunity to shine.  He still came through showing some of his potential and his gait.

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Theory is gonna be a big girl. If she isn’t big enough for her age, she is going up in the butt right now promising to out grow even Pro who is himself, at 1 year and a month, a good sized boy.  I expect them both to be in the 14.3 range when it is all said and done.  

This past week she has really improved in her ability to trust.  She is a very tight little girl with anxiety issues that I believe are a result of her eye sight.  In the past week she has thrown herself into trusting me to keep her safe, yet only after first trying to flee. Yesterday she got her first bath and other than her being up and extremely tense it was really pretty uneventful.  She and her mother and the other horses were showered with water nearly every day during the summer heat last year so once the water touched her she was fine with it.  Yesterday was also the first time she has ever been brushed. Up until now she has been too fright and flight to do much more than just rub her neck and reassure her. 

Oh and I almost forgot! Last summer I fly sprayed the horses pretty much every day and would spray her as she passed by. She always was caked with flies.  Well we can’t have flies on the horse for pictures now can we. So I got out the fly spray and sprayed it into my hand rubbing it on her face, then proceeded to fly spray her from neck to toe.  Again other than being tense, she stood like she had had it done all her life.  She really is starting to come along.

Today we took registration photos of her and although she really wanted to leave BAD, and she didn’t stand still for more than 2 seconds my room mate Rebecca was able to get these shots off of her.  Two days in a row with huge strides toward her becoming a trusting young lady.  Something else that is really cool and I hope to get a video of her this week sometime is her little gait that is right on the edge of locking in. 

She is leading extremely well for a filly who has never really had any formal leading lessons.  Yesterday she followed at about 5 foot distance behind me, today she was right up beside me both times on a loose lead.

It has been much harder for her to feel safe in any situation, but she is beginning to show me signs that she may be able to learn to trust yet. You know what she reminds of is the Paso Fino babies who were handled by the “old time”  South American trainers who”use” to rough them up to intimidate them and to get their feet moving fast.  Those babies would be scatter brained, most all of them living in fear, but put a halter on them and you could do anything with them.  I hope Theory doesn’t live her life like that.  I’m working on a situation for her future now. We’ll see how it pans out. 

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Once upon a time a very tired girl all snuggled up tight in her warm comfy blankets forced herself out into the cold to feed her horses long before the sun came up… 

Okay okay I’m not going to write a story.  But our weekend was storybook wonderful!  With all the right doses of trials to conquests, relaxation with tons of laughs, a perfect amount of leisure and hard work.  I have to say I have the finest traveling partner in Paisano that one could ever desire.  Not one sound out of him, only one moment of pawing and that was after a half an hour of stop and start traffic in Tucson trying to get to the bed and breakfast. ”Enough already he was saying.”   That after having been on the road for 2 hours already.  He was couped up in a small older trailer with not the best suspension and feeling very cramped, yet he was a perfect boy all the way.

When we arrived we met with Gabriele Mortiz my Spanish Mustanger friend who is on vacation riding Arizona trails for the month of February with a group of lady friends who were here from all over the country. One or two from Colorado, one from New Mexico and one from Kentucky. With me that made six of us.  After greeting everyone, I took Pai to the arena and let him run off some pent up energy.  Remember Pai has not been able to run free since December.  He took full advantage of it too.  Gabriele being my kind of gal wanted to let Paisano and her Spanish Mustang gelding Vee-Da-Woo (pronounced Vee Da ‘V’oo)  run together to play.  Vee-Da-Woo is a relatively young horse coming five this spring and is pretty seasoned but green for such a long trip and was beginning to show signs of frustration so this was a perfect outlet for him.  So Pai and Vee-Da-Woo went about making horse buddies.

Then they both took turns taking the jumps in the arena while  showing off their moves.

 And finally they both hung out together a bit being all buddy buddy.  Not without a few nips and squeals and rears for good measure of course.  After they had played themselves out we saddled up Vee-Da-Woo and I rode him a wee bit.  Gabriele wanted to see if he had gait in him as he walks with a bit of an amble and he is bred to gait.  I believe with proper balance he may be gaited, but I don’t see him being quick footed in gait.  He wasn’t too sure about this stranger up there asking him to do something he’d never been asked to do before, but he was a Saint and went with it.  Then we put him away and brought Paisano back out and saddle him up.  Gabriele rode Pai and was all excited to get the opportunity.  We both cantered Paisano and he was a Saint also taking it all in stride.  I rode him over one of the little jumps at the trot.  Then we put both boys away with Pai being in his large round pen enjoyed a night of mobility. 

 While we were playing with our two Spanish Mustangs, the other gals were out on a nice ride in the Saguaro State Park.  When they returned and after feeding horses, showering and eating dinner we all sat down to view Gabriele’s video of the Cayuse.  “Spanish Mustangs: Impressions from Oshoto“.  It was great, we both educated the other gals all about the Spanish Mustangs and the Spanish Mustang Registry, Neil, Kitty, Emmett and Josie.  It was a lot of fun and turned out to be a great evening. One of the gals use to have Paso Finos so she and I got on well talking shop about that breed.  Another gal had Arabs and we got on well talking shop about Arab’s as well. I have owned, bred, and trained both breeds in my past.  It was a lot of fun chit chatting about it all.  Of the gals three were competitive trail riders, one was a competitive endurance rider, one was a friend who joined for the festivities and that left us Spanish Mustanger’s Gabriele and I.  The horses were of course Spanish Mustangs,  and then Arabs, Missouri Fox Trotters and a Paint.

The next morning (that would be this morning Sunday 15, 2009), we all got up had our coffee and breakfast.  Horses were fed early as a ride was planned for 9am.  Eventually off we all went in our separate directions to groom and prepare for the ride.  Mr. Pai was a trooper for the whole event. He stood quietly waiting  for everyone to get finished which took quite awhile, not one peep out of that boy.  I’d check in on him every once in awhile in between getting my own stuff ready and he hadn’t moved.  Just stood there all quiet and patient.  He got tons lovin’s and hugs.  He’d nibble on me and look me directly in the eye with his opinions.  I have to say he made quite the impression with everyone.

 Gabriele and Vee-Da-Woo getting ready for this mornings ride.

 We went a short ways with the group when it became apparent to me that not only would the rocky terrain be  too much for Paisano’s feet, but also it was over his head in terms of difficulty.  So Gabriele and I turned back to do a little tamer riding toward home, we did some road riding, and again Simrat has done a fabulous job getting Pai prepared for this kind of ride as we ran into hikers, bikers (the motor kind), and cars with no fuss at all. He was a champ!

Then once back home we turned them back out for some good old fashion rough housing and buddying around together.  They really paled up good, and road wonderfully together. It didn’t matter who was in front or behind or if they were side by side.  Our biggest issues were keeping them from playing.

Paisano and I had some wonderful communication moments on this trip and even some nickers of greeting here and there.  He definitely is my horse now.  When it was time to come home he jumped into the trailer like it was his best friend. When we returned home though, I think he was disappointed to not see Vee-Da-Woo, but was happy to go up and greet the kids, Pro and Theory before returning to his little pen. When I put him in his pen, he nickered to me again. I kinda thought he wanted to go back.  I think he will be looking for his bud, Vee-Da-Woo for awhile.  Gabriele and I plan to get together up in Colorado for some riding so it will be fun to bring the two boys together again this summer for another romp.

All-in-all I think Paisano really enjoyed this trip and will be looking forward to another one soon.

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A situation has come up for Theory and so she is no longer for sale.  Also in light of this new situation I will be keeping Prophecy so he is no longer for sale as well.  Thanks for your interest and inquiries.

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Check out the  Horses For Sale at the left in the page index on THE PONY EXPRESSION.  http://www.theponyexpression.com/

I have added Celt’s Prophecy. http://www.theponyexpression.com/?page_id=481

I have an opportunity to purchase a dun roan mare I have coveted for many years.  I need to sell my two youngsters or place them appropriately in order to make this dream mare a reality.  She is a 9 year old and broke to ride and would be a perfect compliment to Paisano for my 1800′s Period Exhibitions.

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Hope…  what a big word in my life recently.  Funny thing how it trickles down into very unexpected aspects of life.  Like say, my saddle? 

In the quest to find a saddle that not only fits my horse but also allowes me to explore varying ways of enjoying my horse, I ran across the Hope Saddle of the 1800′s. 

First before we explore the saddle, lets first explore what I want to do with my horse.  Paisano is a Spanish Mustang of above average calibre. He is a very upright imposing sort of horse.  He has Flash and Dash, and he is very sweet. 

Photo by Simrat Khalsa Fine Art and Photography

This is a pretty accurate picture of what Paisano looks like as a gelding.

You can picture this horse decked out under a Confederate General, or a Mexican Vaquero, or an Indian Chief, even a West Texas Cowboy on a cattle drive.  He’d be the favorite.  Paisano so easily invokes images of the times during the Civil War, the Mexican hay day, cattle drives and Indian wars, basically the 1800′s period.  So it really is a no brainer to set an 1800′s period saddle on his back.  This saddle will allow me to do the following with my horse:

• Ride in period and breed exhibitions
• perform in gaited shows
• trail ride
• show in trail course classes

These are the things that call to me and are things that Paisano has clear talent for.  They make it possible to use one saddle, one horse, and explore several avenues to enjoying that horse.

The saddle style (tree) that I have settled with is the Hope tree. It was used across this country by men of military stature in the Civil War, cowhands all across the country, vaquero’s in Texas, New Mexico and California. It birthed the Santa Fe and Californio style saddles.  It was the tree of choice that in many cases sat on the forefathers of our Spanish Mustang breed. 

Below are two saddle makers who specialize in correct authentic replication of the Hope treed saddle of the 1800′s period.

http://www.ushist.com/saddles-tack/period_saddles_military.htm#item-m3

USHistory.com  produces two military versions of the Hope saddle. One the Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston version shown here…

…and the Edward L. Gallatin inspired saddle claimed to have been ridden in by Union General Hugh Kilpatrick  pictured here… 

Below Shooting Star History Saddlery has made a dreamy version of a Santa Fe civilian saddle.

http://www.shootingstarhistory.com/saddlery/hopesaddle.htm

In the end I am really liking the minimalist paired down version. Less is more on this saddle in my opinion.  So my thoughts of new, are to build my own saddle using these prototypes as guides and simplifying them further.

Yes I did say that!  I am going to build my own saddle on the Nikkels http://www3.telus.net/nikkelsaddletrees/  built Hope tree  I am having made for Paisano. I am still considering whether to put sheepskin on the underside or not.  Because of the way the saddle is made I am not worried about having to back track and add it later.  So all is good and happy saddle making ahead!

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Okay Simrat tagged me to play this photo game.  Ooohhh  she has no idea how boring my life will be revealed to be with this game.  What could I possibly have hidden in folder 6.  What could possibly be the 6th photo in folder 6?

Hmmm….

Story goes like this…  Cora came to live with me on  lease for a year to give birth to Theory a gorgeous bay filly sired by Paisano.  Cora was to receive gait training in trade for the foal. I had high hopes to ride Cora in an open breed gaited show class, but her pregnancy got in the way of that, well that and because the only shows scheduled didn’t fit our time slot for the lease.  The above picture was taken from a video that my friend Kristy made of me working with Cora. I am backing Cora off her speed actually into a half hault to engage her rear end and lighten her front end.  Cora really didn’t like lifting her front end much.  The reason the picture is so funny looking is because it is a screenshot of a still from the video.

Here is another one from the same video but photoshopped to look like a photo.

This is how we ended the day… a snap shot…

That would be Evan my friend Kristy’s son being Chirstened with his first horse back ride.  Cora was a  gem that day.

How to play Photo Meme:

1) Go to your photo album

2) Pick the 6th folder you come to

3) Pick the 6th picture in that folder

4) Tell your story about the photo

5) Tag five other people by leaving a comment on their blogs to encourage them do the same in their blogs.

Have fun!!

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I have been trapped for some time in the spinning web of decision making where my horses future jobs are concerned.

Take Paisano for instance.  Do I go back to formal training and get him prepared for Portuguese Equitation?  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5895K-Xjupk) Cant’ you just see him running the working course all dolled up Portuguese style?  That along with Garrocha?  He’d blow peoples minds!  He’d be an exhibition horse as there are no competitions that he could participate in here in the U.S. as of this time.  Also I’d have to travel with him long distances to enter some very pricey classes.

How about Ultimate Trail course? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7g-IN9nss)  I’d love to ride it and I know I can win it with a horse I train.  He’d look good all decked out in his 1800′s crica equipment and me the same.  We’d make quite the impression stepping out of the past into todays competitions.  Again I’d have to travel great distances, and would have to build some pretty ellaborate practice courses in order to compete.

Also I love the idea of joining the American Trail Horse Asscoiation  (http://www.trailhorse.com/)   becoming a judge/inspector/trainer and using my horses as demonstrators at training clinics.

Then there is trick training. I have always enjoyed trick training and trained several horses over the years beginning with my first horse when I was age nine to do things like bow, rear, lay down, count etc. Then Asad taught me several tricks that folks thought I taught him.  Those were our happiest moments together.  Challenging each others intelligence and seeing in the end who taught who what? I can see myself spending countless hours working wth all of my horses together and individually on various tricks and stunts for exhibition.

Then of course there is the gaiting arena. (http://www.fosh.info/)    That I will do but when and how is still yet to be seen.  I love to gait and when these horses develop into their gaits we will be doing alot of it.

Let’s look at Prophecy,  he has war horse talents and the ability for upper level maneuvers.  Again a perfect competitor for Portuguese Working Equitation or Garrocha. He is also gaited and he is very interested in challenging anything you put in front of him.  So far he has become Theory’s teacher and she now does just about eveything he does and is not even halter broke yet.  I do believe I will be teaching these two many things at liberty in their corral inlcuding tricks. I will be starting with the  various pedestals, then the bean bag for sitting, obeisance for flexibility and the climbing board as I follow Allan Pogues ( http://www.imagineahorse.com/ImagineCover/default.htm ) trick training ideals to stimulate both Pro’s and Theory’s thought process.  I really like how his horses think. Paisano will get to try his hand at these things too.

Theory is a spitfire and so involved in everything that is going on that she learns just by being there. She has a resistful nature though and I hope that by letting her learn along side Pro and by teaching her interesting tricks that develop her confidence while working freely that she will channel her firey and wary personality into a bold all knowing confident adult who will stand beside me when the going gets tough.  I see a real partner emerging here. Her talents will put her at the top of again the Portuguese Working Equitation and Garrocha competitions. “If I go there”.  She is very gaited so look out gaiters, and she has War Horse characteristics that will need to be channeled into constructive tasks. (Caviat… AR Ayita  will be staying with me as my horse from now on.  Things happen in peoples lives for a reason, and the swirling life journey has put her back into my ownership so she will remain with me from now on and her name is back to AR Theory).

So probably to develop my relationships with Paisano, Pro and Theory we will be visiting some Allan Poque tricks, as well as a merriad of trail obstacles. Paisano and I will also be doing some bareback communing in the corral while I introduce him to bitless riding in the manner that I teach it.  I want to prove that lightness and collection can be achieved in a Jaquima if its approached properly. Paisano has a wonderful start on him thanks to Simrat, and I feel priviledged and responsible to continue his career in a manner that will showcase his superb talent and character.

As I work out my conflict of what kind of performances we will be participating in, a plan emerges to bring us closer to the answer.

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