Finally, VIDEOS!!!

Okay, go to YouTube.com and search "Dazzle Me Again" and you will several videos of Dazzle! I finally got a program that allows me to use the files on my video camera and it converts them and puts them on YouTube for me, it's awesome! I just have Dressage on there so far, gonna have to get someone who rides Western to ride for a video to show her Western Pl. I will post when that happens and let you know!

Another bit of news is that it looks like we found someone we trust to get Spotless going with a few rides and to send Britches and Mister to for a month each! So, as soon as there is decent footing consistently they will be going to the trainers! WOOOO! Then, Melissa will school them Dressage and they will each do at least one Dressage class and then be officially up for sale. If they don't sell with just the Dressage showing they will attend the Ride (not Spotless) and be sold there. If he doesn't sell, Spotless will show and get his Dressage COA which should sell him no problem. All their prices will go up with the training and showing, so if you're interested in any of them, let me know now!

Sparkles - accomplished Distance horse (no recorded miles unfortunately, but has done the Chief Joe every year since she turned 4), 15.3H, 2002 mare I think, done parades, cows, playdays, and now schooling Dressage. I believe they want $3000 and that will go up after she cleans up at the Dressage shows with her beautiful gaits!

Mister - coming 4 yr old, bay with a rump blanket gelding, about 15.2H, currently has 3 rides on him and a bunch of ground work. $2000 as is, or will go to trainer and show and do the ride and his price will probably double.

Britches - coming 4 yr old, very foundation gelding, was started showmanship and did show it once (won his class), but has sat for a couple years now. Rump blanket, about 14.2H or so and should end up stocky enough to carry a large adult. $1500 now, or will go to trainer, show Dressage and attend ride and his price will double at least.

Spotless - coming 3 yr old, normal papers, but not a lot of color right now, almost 15.2H already! Half TB and bred for Dressage and circuit showing. TONS of ground-work done, ready to start under saddle. $1800 now, or at least $2500 after he starts the show season. If he earns his COA in Dressage and is schooling First Level his price will be at least $3500 or more. LOTS of promise, VERY sensible, SUPER smart, but in a good way, and retains training like I've never seen before.

Dazzle - coming 5 yr old, rump blanket, you guys know all about her! $4000 now, or $6500 at least by the end of the summer after finishing her Dressage COA, getting solid 1st Level and completing another 100 miles by attending the Chief Joseph Ride again. She would probably sell on the ride if she goes.

Life Changes

I came to the realization the other day that I'm not going to be able to afford to send Spotless to a trainer AND support a baby. So, he is up for sale. I'm going to get him started walk/trot/canter and hopefully that will get him sold. He is a sweetheart and trains EASY easy. He's going to be an awesome show horse, at least for local level if he doesn't cut it higher. I'm currently listing him at $1800 and I'll bump it up when he's going under saddle nicely. $2000 or more depending on how he looks.

Then, the other day I started to realize that along with tightened finances I'm not going to have time and energy to ride and show like I have in the past. Which means Dazzle will not get to earn all the awards and things she has the potential to. I never keep a horse I can't bring to potential, I just can't bring myself to hold a horse back. So, I've made the difficult decision to put her up for sale also. I'm asking $4000 for her.

Dazzle did SO well this weekend at the lesson with Patricia, and then for an 11 yr old that came to see her, that if she doesn't sell before the show season starts I will finish her COA by hiring Melissa to do it and then raise her price mid-summer. List her at about $6500 or so. If Spotless hasn't sold I'll have her ride him in at least one show and depending on how well he does, bump his price up too.

Wish me luck! I don't plan to rush, I want to make sure they both find the perfect match for them.

Faith, Ashley's mare that I technically own, is also up for a new home, but I already have a list of people interested. Ashley is just too busy with school to keep up her riding and I realize I won't be able to afford more than one horse now, let alone 3. So, the plan is we find a new home for Faith, sell Spotless and Dazzle, and then buy an already shown horse that Ashley can use for 4H and I can show in the local stuff and just have fun on. Something that has already earned what they need to so I could never show and it wouldn't hurt their value and I could leave them sitting for 2 months and just get on and go. However, Dazzle still fills that bill; Melissa rode her for the first ride in 2 months last week and she was an angel. A little lazy maybe, lol. She is such an awesome horse, I will really miss her.

FINALLY some decent weather!!!

There was finally decent weather a few days so Melissa got a chance to ride Dazzle. They had their best ride ever! Then I paid for Melissa to get a lesson from Patricia on Dazzle on Saturday and it went really well. I videoed it and I'm working on getting that onto YouTube, edited of course because you can't put a 45 minute video on there.

I took Spotless out and reviewed all his training. I lunged him with a bit and side-reins and saddle and he was awesome. I had Ashley hang in the stirrups and stand on a bucket next to him. He is so ready to get going. I'm working on finding someone to start him by the hour because I don't think he'll need a whole month and I'll be able to hire Melissa to ride him.

Melissa got a ride in on Sparkles, also. They started out looking horrible and by the end of the ride looked pretty decent! I took some pictures. She is going to come along quickly if the weather stays nice enough for her to ride regularly here. Look at the difference between the first shot here and the second; that is only about 15 or 20 minutes of riding in between. Melissa is a miracle worker!!!

The Five Horses We Meet In Life

"The Five Horses We Meet in Life"
This is an email that's been getting forwarded around and I thought I would join in answering.

1. The Intro Horse.
We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse leading us. This might have been a friend’s first pony, or perhaps it was a draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life meeting, or an imaginary one.

I really don't remember NOT liking horses, but according to my parents when my dad rented a pony for my 4th birthday party I wouldn't stop talking about having my own. I just remember being annoyed that the lady leading me didn't let me gallop and jump the logs in our big back yard. I was the birthday girl after all!

2. The Experimental Horse
Once you had crossed the line between “Darn, they’re big!” and “Wow! Can I try that?” you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience … wherever this horse came from, he probably didn’t benefit from the encounter as much as you did.

This is probably the lesson horse I rode most of my career at Royce Stables in Walla Walla, WA. He was a hardship registered Pinto gelding that was on his 3rd or 4th career teaching Dressage. When I started taking lessons on him he was at least 18 as far as anyone could remember and by the time he passed away a couple winters ago he must have been at least 30 and some counts put him at 33 yrs old. He was sway-back, stubborn, slow, heavy on your hands and dead to the leg and I loved him! He was a pro at putting up with little kids and their lunge-line lessons.

3. The Connected Horse
The first horses we meet don’t really connect with us, nor do we with them. Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it otherwise.

I would say this is Cas, Spotless's dad. TB OTTB, treated like trash after his decent career and came to me skin and bones. He was AMAZING! I had no idea what I was doing taking care of a stallion and he was one of the easiest horses to keep and handle I've ever had. You could canter on a loose rein through the fields with a mare in heat. He was my dream horse. He passed away only 6 months after I got him, which was decades too soon. His front ankles both broke, just like the famous racing filly that died last year. The vet had never seen anything like it. They said it must have been an old racing injury or caused by injections or something. He was an awesome horse and his son sure has his loving, sensible temperament.

4. The Challenger
Into each horseperson’s life, a little challenge must fall. You’ll have read that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope, and there you’ll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line, but you actually need this horse in your life.

I think several horses have been this one for me.

Lady Ghirardelli (Delli), my first horse. 14.3 H, 11 yrs old, Appy/Arab/Hackney mutt mare. She would buck me off and go cantering away. She escaped from her stall the first night and sent us running across the fields in the dark to find her. By the time I sold her she was going Intro Level and was so well-behaved she went on to be a successful 4H show pony.

KT Copper War Rebel, my first ground-up horse. 15.2H, AQHA gelding, bought him as a yearling. He was an easy start as a late 2 yr old, but got more challenging as the years went by. I sold him at 4 yrs old when he made it clear he was NOT going to be a ring show horse, nor was he a fan of Dressage. He went on to be a competitive Barrel horse from what I hear.

Amigo Flame, favorite horse so far. 13.1H, 1/4 Shetland, 3/4 Arab pony. Bought him as a barely handleable 3 yr old stud prospect, got him gelded (when I got him home in the day light it was apparent ALL 4 feet turn out!). I had a great time teaching him. By the time I sold him only 8 months later he was a kid's show-pony. AWESOME little man. If you see him up for sale, SNATCH him up! He stormed the trails like an endurance horse, shined in the show-ring, and took everything in stride. He was a great all-arounder prospect and is now started in jumping by the current owners. He is the one I've sold that I would take back in a heart-beat.

5. Your Deepest Heart
There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold, appraising eye, and you’ll have to be honest about your continued ability to deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you’ll seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever… You’ll have bought him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment… Maybe you’ll still go to shows and ride – brilliantly or barely – in the Alzheimer’s class. Maybe you’ll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you’ll realize that after all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse’s thoughts and desires.

This may be Dazzle, but maybe not. If not, I certainly haven't found it yet. I have a feeling Dazzle will be my forever packer. She is mellow and sensible and I could see being happy with her forever. She is up for anything and will happily change disciplines everyday.

Trudy's Horses...Want to Buy An Appy?

-Want To Buy An Appy?-
Trudy and Melissa had a discussion about how Trudy's horses were doing in training. She suggested they consider selling them in the Spring because they aren't really suited for what Trudy wants to do.

Trudy has had her mare since the horse was 3 and they've been through a lot, but a lot of it was bad. Trudy wants to do really all around riding; Dressage, maybe some jumping, lots of trail-riding in the mountains, parades, team-penning and sorting, pack little kids at family gatherings, etc. Just, anything and everything that strikes her fancy, like I do with Dazzle. Her mare is an awesome horse; long legged, sweepy stride, beautiful rare Appy color. But, she doesn't have the temperament to sit in a pasture all winter while there is 5 feet of snow at Trudy's house and she gets really hot and hyper at the gaming days. She needs a job big time; 6 days a week, hard work, lots of challenges, and she'll go really far. She is built to do Dressage, hunt seat, Jumping, play in Western pleasure for the show-ring, do trail class. She is good on the trails, but really her pasterns are too long for endurance riding that is timed. She does fantastic on the Chief Joe because it's all walking and she has the stamina to go all day. But she wouldn't hold up to cantering over that rough terrain. So, She will be Training or 1st Level Dressage and starting Jumping by the Ride this year and will attend the ride with the goal of selling her at the end. So, if any of you are looking for a sport horse like this, keep an eye out for her on the ride or email for Trudy's info. Her bloodlines are on Allbreedpedigree.com, A Lucky Kiss. She is 15.3H and 7 in the Spring I believe. They paid $2500 for her I think as a VERY green 3 yr old. She is the marble colored mare on Melissa's training blog.

Horse #2 is Mister Lucky Again Jr, 4 in the spring and about 15.2H I think. He is bay with a rump blanket; very flashy. Melissa and I started his ground work and did a couple rides on him in the fall and now she has been doing more ground work with him. He is a half-brother to Sparkles, the above mare. He looks like a circuit horse; hunt seat/western pl/Dressage. He only has a few rides right now, but will be ridden most days after about March and will attend the ride probably as a rental horse to be sold at the end. He is way cute, but not for a beginner. His personality is not puppy-dog. He needs a competent human that knows how to discipline and he will excel. They paid $2500 for him about a year ago as a barely halter broke coming 3 yr old.

Appy #3 isn't in training with Melissa yet. His name is Powder My Britches and he is foundation bred. He is small, I think about 14.2 and he is 4 in the Spring also I believe. He is chestnut with a rump blanket. His dad was a tank, so they expect he will really chunk out. He was in training as a yearling with a lady that worked on halter breaking and lunging and showmanship and they won a showmanship class at a local show. However, since then they have none NOTHING with him, so Melissa will be starting him over again in March or April. He has old bloodlines, mostly endurance as far as I can tell, so he should make an awesome mountain trail horse. He will be attending the ride to sell at the end also. They have probably $3000 in him by now with the training and boarding.

Trudy and my father-in-law will be entertaining offers over $2000 for each at the end of the trail ride.

Winter Wonderland...When I was 10 maybe

So, yesterday we woke up to snow. And it snowed most of yesterday AND last night. It is SO cold. It has been near 10 degrees for the last two weeks so I haven't been able to work my two kids. They are feeling quite neglected. I got to work them once last week and they were both skittish, but well behaved.

Spotless does really well moving his rump and forehand from just a finger movement and his haunch turns for showmanship are coming along great. Now to get him to "set". That is the one that is going to be really hard with him. He hates standing square. We starting doing the squeezing exercise and he was picking that up really fast. Backing is going great, after the one horrible day and the next day where Melissa spent 10 minutes with him. She's a miracle worker.


Dazzle did MUCH better moving her rump and shoulders on cue with urgency. I didn't even have to touch her with the stick. After that review I introduced the baby roll-backs on the lead-rope and she was starting to watch my body to know when I was going to request a turn. She actually did two real roll-backs where she jumped her front end 180 degrees and kept moving. She also was halting on the circle on cue calmly and without walking out of the halt. Spotless is still working on that one.

My plan for Spotless is to have so much ground work on him that I will be able to pay for one or two months of training to get him going under saddle and get him sold next Spring or Summer. If the trainer doesn't have to waste time doing ground-work they should be able to move along quickly with his work ethic and temperament.



We found a girl at the barn that Melissa boards at that does jumping and is willing to try giving jumping lessons to Melissa. The plan is that she will take lessons on Sparkles for Trudy and on Dazzle for me. So, both will be properly started to jump by Spring. That will start after she gets back from Canada after Christmas break. So, I will pay for her to take jumping lessons from the lady at the barn and Dressage from Patricia and then her shows in the spring and summer. Then I will be able to start riding her again mid to late summer. In July she will go on the Trail Ride again and either Trudy will ride her or she will be rented out.

How Goes The Groundwork?

Whatever your preference of trainers and styles, no one with any horse experience can deny that groundwork is invaluable. Melissa and I have joined Giddyup.com and have been renting Clinton Anderson's groundwork DVD's. The exercises seem really simple, but it's amazing the reactions you get from your horses. They teach the horses really simple things; move away from my intense energy, move out of my space, move when I tell you, stand still when I tell you, and most of all: PAY attention to MEEE. All stuff you think you're teaching them all the way along. This stuff makes SO much sense to the horses. Some of them were NOT pleased about the new clear expectations, but they got over it pretty quick.

Some of it is desensitization, another thing that is great for horses. I tried his tying methods and it's been awesome. My horses weren't bad about pulling back to begin with, but it was awesome to try everything I could think of to try to make them pull back. The most surprising thing to me was that my riding horse Dazzle had more hot buttons than Spotless the baby! I never did find anything that phased him much. I ran at him screaming flinging a bag on a whip. He looked at me like I was retarded, licked his lips, and came towards me for a hug.

In 3 sessions he now has a respectable turn on the haunch, a near flawless back, both beside and in front of me, no longer tries to drag me on the lunge line (I had been having to lunge him on a stud chain or with a bit before).

One of the things Clinton advocates is rope halters. I hate messing with them, I love my pretty pink halter I can quickly slip over Dazzle's ears and off we go. But, I dug out a skinny rope halter for the exercises. He says it makes it easier and faster. It sure did! I no longer have to use a chain when working Spotless, he doesn't try to drag me off. It's not just that is hurts enough he doesn't pull that hard, he is actually starting to leave slack in the rope. He doesn't want to hit that halter at all. I'm very hopeful that by next spring Spotless and I will be able to show in Showmanship and look like we know what we're doing. I'm going to start hunting for a Showmanship teacher so I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.

Dazzle was easy to do the despooking with the string on the stick and rope. She only tried to move like, once. That was it. Didn't try to run around me or anything. She's pretty sensible about that. Plus, doesn't have much go. Spotless I had to start with low intensity, but after about 10 minutes he was good. Now he's great. He has more go though, being half TB. The worst one I've worked with is FAITH! Ashley's kid's horse. She was AWFUL. Reared several times, possibly tried to bite me once. She is VERY high reaction and still needs lots of work. But she is getting better.

Yesterday Spotless did so well with all the Clinton Anderson stuff I had him drag a tire. He did awesome. He started spooking when it followed him at the trot so I tugged the rope and got him to halt. Then he walked, stopped, walked stopped and realized it was stopping whenever he did and calmed right down. Even when he was scared he wasn't trying to take off, he just canter really slow around me on a loose rope! Then we switched directions and he was the same calm that way. Then the tire hit something and started to bounce in the air. It started spinning in the air and flew through his paddock fence and back out. It spun and wound the rope up against Spotless' butt. I told him to HO and he did. I unclipped the rope from him and realized that the rope had twisted up into his tail bag. He stood perfectly still and let me untangle it. I was really glad I had done work before attaching the tire with pulling the rope tight around his rear, letting it get up under his tail, etc. and making sure if he was scared he would let me stop him to "save" him. I would NOT do this with Faith at this point. Faith was watching the whole thing and FREAKING out in her paddock. She was snorting and prancing with her tail flagged. Spotless was really relaxed. After I took the tire off his surcingle I walked him around and he was quite relaxed, not upset from the experience at all. It is promising that he will be able to pull a cart later on.

If you have a horse that is pushy or disrespectful on the ground OR undersaddle, get your hands on the Gaining Respect and Control on the ground DVD's. They rock. You don't have to have anything fancy or a round-pen to do them. I have a flat spot in front of the tackroom where we do them and a cheap rope halter and a lead rope to do it with. I don't even have the tie-ring for the tying stuff, I have a horse trailer that is a rock hooked to a truck and I just put the end of the leadrope through the tied ring twice so it can be pulled out like the ring. I don't even use a 14 ft leadrope. I have one, but I am not coordinated enough not to get tangled up in it, lol.