Friday, November 25, 2011



This photo was taken on Thanksgiving Day -- what  difference one day can make in the scenery !


Here is the big ring where Zoe and Reverie and me and Sweet Bee practiced a bit of cowgirl magic --

In New England "they" say -- if you don't like the weather, wait a minute... sometimes this is so true... as we have over a foot of cold snow.


We shot some video footage of our neck reining down here -- took advantage of the cones set up for the young boys' driving training (Beowulf and Ozzie).  tried out some figure 8's with our western tack and new bits.  Basically fooled around in a cowgirl kind of way.

Reverie is a lot better at neck reining than Miss Sweets is.. and her nice jog is a lot easier to ride than my mare's little pony trot ! if it weren't for her high head -- she might make a nice western mount. But she is no peanut roller... 



Sweet Bee actually does a pretty nice fluid figure 8 in english tack... she still is unsure of the bosal and to be honest -- there are days when she'd rather nap.

Reverie did a pretty fair job backing through the pretend 'L' -- Sweets -- not too bad -- not too great. We will continue to practice that.... I think I'll set up a real 'L' ... this was a "spur" of the moment kind of thing.
At the end of our cowgirl romp ---I tested to see what Sweets had learned from our previous side pass schooling the other day -- she is really responsive to one side -- again... back to school for the other direction :)



So -- Harold... we Vermont cowgirls match you in snow cover now I imagine...    To answer your question on the bosal... I am intrigued by it and plan to use it more and more. I like the historical piece of the equipment and I love the look of it.  I priced some real mecate's on-line... pricey... but I did manage to get this one from a friend... more authentic than the red and white rope.



This one is going to work a lot better because that nylon rope is slippery and Sweet Bee knows it...

I studied a diagram in order to tie the mecate to the bosal.. I am wondering Penny what other way is there to rig it ?  Seems this is the only way I found.

Hope everyone had a satisfying Thanksgiving day. 


Betsy and Sweet Bee and Zoe and Reverie in a now snowy and cold Vermont



7 comments:

  1. Betsy,
    Each Californianio vaquero tied their "macarty" differently. There are three main things to be careful of. 1. The weight of the heel knot must balance the bosal correctly. 2. The reins (macarty) must not slip. Like you, I use a nylon rein. The nylon WILL slip. You take a little sand paper and gently roughen a small part of the very outer surface of the macarty where the knot will be tied. Be careful here because you do not want to destroy your reins! Or you can take a little laundry starch and put it where the macarty knot will cling to itself. 3. There MUST be the right amount of distance between the bosal and the horse's face, not to much and not to little. You will have to experiment to find the right distance. I would suggest that you use either a theodore or a string to tie the bosal hanger so that it (meaning the bosal hanger itself) does not get in the horse's eyes. This is also very important.
    Enjoy the bosal. It will discipline your hands to be aware of what the horse is doing and how it is responding.
    Last thing, be sure that you teach your horse to tuck to the bosal. But be VERY sure that it does NOT tuck behind the vertical. If it over bends you have lost ALL control.
    Sincerely,
    Penny Johnson, aka Izzy

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  2. So you guys took all the snow...again! I remember going through this last year. All of ours is now gone!!
    Your contest horses are doing fantastic!! You guys are so much fun!

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  3. Betsy, we had rain last nite so what snow we had is history now. thirtynine degrees, won't complain much. Like your bosal I use something similar but different. you seem to be doing great. Have fun keep the snow.

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  4. harold -- I insist on sharing ... please take the snow for yourself ! We are expecting rain too -- and the ground is not yet frozen... that adds up to a big mess.

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  5. No snow yet today, was told we would get snow by one and nothing. HAHA Betsy you can keep it.

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  6. Oh my gosh!!! Look at Sweet Bee's sidepass! Ah-D still is not that good, and we have been practicing. How about a hint on technique? I can use all the help you can give.

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  7. I'll post a video of how I get the gears engaged for that... :)

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