My New Saddle

Like everyone else,

Posting has slowed since the mini challenge. I have had my eye on a new saddle for a while. I have bid on several on ebay and lost. I finally realized the saddle I wanted sells for little more than the ebay bids were winning so decided to order new.

Most of my Curlies are broad with low withers and with education I have decided that my saddles have not fit them well. I also am getting tired of lugging around heavy western saddles and moved to the lighter weight treeless. My first was more english in styling. This being Texas, and me a true Texan, I wanted a more western look......I wanted a horn!

New saddle came last weekend and I rigged it out as best I could on short notice. My dh said lets ride and I jumped on it.

It was hot and humid early. I saddled Blossom and played in the arena a bit....tightened the cinch and climbed on. We fiddled around a while in the arena....I tightened again and we took off to the trails. Haney was on Amanda, the Curly mustang, and she was sweaty when he got her from her pasture. Amanda was not interested in riding. We had put fly masks on the girls since the deer flys are so bad and I always wonder if they really can see as well. We were out early and kept spooking up deer. The new leather was warming and stretching a bit, or settling or something. I was aware the cinch seemed loose, but hated to stop to tighten as we finally seemed on a decent pace. Oh yes, you guessed it....one more deer and Blossom startled left and the saddle slipped right. I knew as my weight pushed her left that I would not stay on and should have pushed away......but my new saddle!!!! I couldn't let her run with it sliding under her. I ended up under her tucked and rolled. She took off with Amanda following and Haney hollering "Whoa, Amanda. Whoa!".....it was pretty comical looking from a distance.....up close not so much.

Luckily I escaped with bruises and a sore knee. I caught up with Blossom who was standing frozen (sorta...this is Texas and it was hot) with the saddle still cinched but under her belly. She had stepped into one of the stirrups and stuck her foot so I guess she felt hobbled.

Now I have waited to post this adventure until I had the chance to ride her again to make sure it was not saddle instability. I can actually mount her from the ground in this saddle.....this is a good thing on the trails. This morning I tried my new saddle on a different horse, Travvy, my extreme trait Curly. Nice little ride, no thrills and spills. Now to finish rigging out the new saddle with a breast collar that fits and a saddle pad the right size. And there is a moral to this tale.....don't ride out 'til things are really settled on a new saddle.....I doubt I would have done it any differently.....gotta ride.

It is not how old you are, but how you are old. ~ Marie Dressler

Hello RAC Friends, 

Went on a trail ride with my Curly fella, Jubliee's Curly J and good friends. Could'nt think of a better way to spend the day. So for the next 364+ days I am hoping to live up to the wonderful quote by Marie Dressler;

It is not how old you are, but how you are old.
~ Marie Dressler

All our best,

Angie and her Curly riding partner , Jubliee's Curly J

Wow have we been busy around here

I have been so busy with farm/horse/riding related things that I have limited time on the computer.  Congratulations to the winners from the May mini challenge - I lost steam about it when my horse injured herself and we couldn't do all the things that I had planned to do..... but it has motivated me to get busy with another of my Curlies that needs to be trained to ride - so *Joey is getting quite a bit of work these days and &*Bobble is nearly ready to hook up to the cart - he is driving in hand so well these days - such a good boy!

But what my post is really about is last weekend and our endurance ride in Alberta - my SO and I hauled two of our horses 12 hours to attend a memorial ride for a friend of his and wow did we have a great time!  The weather was a bit of a challenge for us as up until now it has been very cool and the ride day was hot and humid and my horse had some issues coping with the temperatures, but he did complete the ride and he was okay - well.....they won't let you continue if the horse is NOT okay!

I actually brought my daughter's horse *Cuervo to this ride - I had planned to bring *Charm, but of course she is off work for the time being and the other two horses, one is not vaccinated and the other doesn't travel as well, so *Cuervo got to go and do the ride with me - he was a very good boy - well, he always is!  So here we are, my SO and I having a fun on the ride in Devon, Alberta:

After Work Ride

We took our ponies out for a spin while the skies were temporarily clear. We headed up the road and turned on to one of our favorite trails, exploring one side trail that was excellent! The weather was muggy and the deer flies were absolutely ferocious, but we had fun anyway. We decided to come back via the road, and we trotted along ahead of the deer flies, dodging raindrops. AhD was incredibly good, yet again – I don’t know what has gotten into him! ;)
I was excited to try my new wide trail stirrups that I spied for sale on Curly Horse Country and just HAD to have. Thank you, Linda V; I love them! Betsy, they are every bit as comfortable as you said, and I actually think they help me have a more secure seat.
This field was so beautiful, we just couldn’t resist taking a turn in to admire the view. My Didder was pretty sweaty by the time we returned, what with the muggy weather and all that trotting. Ian climbed up into our apple tree and rewarded our handsome steeds with a luscious green apple treat. Take advantage of these long summer days while you can, fellow RACers!

Show Time!

This last weekend was awesome - Saturday was dedicated to the horses. First we trailered to the Kootenai County Fairgrounds and my 3 year old gelding - Khatmoondhu - entered the halter class and competed against the quarter horses and we got 3rd Place. It was a great experience just to get him off the farm and into the wide world - he did really well, but was a little fidgety during the halter class. He is also coming along great under saddle, in fact, our trainer suggested that I enter him in the colt breaking competition next month because he is such a calm, responsive horse.

My daughter rode her mini and won a trophy. I'm jealous!! Since he's not a Curly I am posting her pix on my private blog.

And then I trailered Traveler up to Deepcreek for a 2 1/2 hour jumping lesson on the cross country course. He loved it - we had 6 mares in our class and he was so happy. LOL. I wish we had some pix to share - it was a beautiful day and a great time. We even were able to jump a couple of training level jumps (I was kinda nervous at these) but he cleared them well and was looking for the next fence. He is such a fun horse to ride - he never hesitates at the logs, water, ramps, houses or ditches. Of course, it helps if we are following a mare over a fence.

We are on foal patrol at the ranch - anytime now we should have another Traveler baby. I can't wait!

Trail Ride clinic

Well I am hosting a 4 day horsemanship clinic and 3 day equine scent detection clinic. today is day 2. after clinic time Terry(my clinician) and I took Kendahl out on her first solo trail ride on my lovely mare Rose!! have 5 curly's at my clinic!! woohoo!!! Well Kendahl had a blast and I am now comfortable taking her on more rides just like this!! Finally!! Here are some pics, will try to get more and share this week.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We are saturated in South East MN. It has been raining every other day so far for the month of June and more rain for the week is predicted. Storm and I finally managed to fit in a trail ride on Saturday however. Between getting the house and yard ready for our daughter's high school graduation party (which it rained for....thank goodness for that large tent we rented) and all the rain, we have not been able to get any riding in. But the party is over, my daughter is registered for college and we finally have time for getting out on the trails. Wish for good weather in July!

Remember Me??

Lol, seemed like a great title since it has been a full 3 weeks since I was last able to post!! Thank goodness the mini-challenge was in May and not June! Our internet at home has been down all month so far. Right now I am using my parents. I was on the phone with 3 separate people last night for an hour. Turns out, we are permanently down...with that company anyway. Hopefully a new, more reliable service will be in place within the next week.

I addition to that I have also been sidelined by illness. I spent 2 days in hospital; one of them being my son's 2nd birthday. Not happy about that!! Diagnosis in place, though not really yet 100% convinced: severe migraines with or without headache. The symptoms that landed me in the hospital were very similar to that of stroke which I was I had loads of tests and felt like a lab monkey. So, now it's one day at a time while we figure it out.

Anyway, horsey stuff now! I was absolutely thrilled with an Honourable Mention for the Mini-Challenge. I did not expect to finish in the running for anything because of the age of Linus and that eliminating a lot of our tasks. We did what we could. I was grateful for the ideas and the timing of them too. I have a fantastic partner in Linus and I know he will one day make a fabulous mount. The thought of riding him excites and scares the crap out of me at the same time. Good thing I have a while to work up to it!!

Because of the above-mentioned setbacks we have had a pretty low key month. We have focused mainly on manners at the gate. Linus, who at one point got into bolting through gates, will now stop halfway through the gate and stand still. These are electric wire gates which may or may not be snapping while laying on the ground.

We have also been working on picking up the feet still too. He is more willing with it now and I have turned it into a daily routine.

And fly spray!!! Oh my boy is so fantastic with it now! When I first started with the spray bottle this year, as many of you know, Linus would basically freak out at the thoughts of being sprayed. Now, I'm very proud of him for this, I can spray him ALL over, both sides, without even haltering him.

This past weekend, I was FINALLY able to get the harness on him and get it adjusted. Saturday was an introduction to it and learning the feel of it. I briefly walked him around, he tried to shake it off, once he couldn't he just kept on like he was Nimue and not like he was wearing his very first harness!!

Sunday, I put it all back on him again and this time I walked him in one hand and pulled the light training cart with the other. Then I backed him into the cart a few times too. No issues. Before I actually hitch anything to him I am going to ground drive him up the road a few times. I'm still debating on what to have him pull first. It won't be a cart that's for sure. Maybe as Lynn suggested some bleach bottles filled with water. We'll see.

The house being built beside his pasture has now reached the foundation stages. I just love that Linus is grazing so close to all of that construction. I think its great for desensitizing him to all of that heavy machinery and noise.

Lynn and Brian (Linus' breeders and our very good friends) were able to make it up for Owen's 2nd Birthday party and they were finally able to see Linus. For Lynn it had been 6 months and for Brian, 7. It was awesome to have them here and see how their little boy is growing. Linus seemed to remember them and was immediately very affectionate, especially in nuzzling Brian's face.

Our last adventure to post about to bring us up to date (I think, I did have some memory loss) doesn't actually directly involve me. My Mom was home on the day I was in the hospital. She had Owen with her and he was napping at the time. Karalee and I share the same farrier. She had told me when she would be here and knowing I would be at work said she would look after having Linus done. I forgot to tell my Mom this and when they showed up she thought Linus was being stolen. She really panicked with me being in the hospital thinking "this is all I need, for her horse to get stolen in the middle of all this". We can laugh about it now, thank goodness!
Congratulations to ALL May mini-challenge participants. It was a fantastic month

Three Hours of Bliss

This post is dedicated to Denise to thank her for giving us this opportunity to meet other Curly owners all across the country and enjoy their stories.

In the cooler late afternoon hours, I trailered AhD over to Poland Springs to join up with friends of ours, Ulla and Gabby. It was still quite hot, but since they live on the lake, there was a good breeze coming off the water. I saddled up western with my faded red and turquoise saddle blanket. Hope Harold likes the color as much as he did last year! Off we went on some familiar trails, armed with fly repellent to keep the deer flies at bay. Didn’t really work, so we resorted to natural methods. First or last, my pony was awesome! I am enjoying him so much this year. We explored some trails we haven’t been on for a year, and then we went on to some new county for me and Didder. We had so many choices; it was fantastic! We decided to trot along the road quite a long way, and guess who was good as gold??? Yep, even with passing cars! I was thinking of Betsy and all her road and highway trotting. We turned on to a back road, and passed the place where the driveway to the old famous Poland Spring resort had been. It was quite a place in the day. Now, the stone steps are covered with moss and the pathway is a power line, but some day I would like to explore that area further. Back in the woods, we hit some of our favorite haunts and enjoyed the beauty of the bog in the setting sun.

We hit the big field on the way out and on the way back, and it was just as fun both ways! No sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, either, about that wwwiiiidde open space. AhD and I just trotted and cantered right up the side of it, just as relaxed and joyful as could be! Aren’t our Curlies just so wonderful? I hope you RACers are able to get out and about and enjoy the summer with your Curlys!

May Mini Challenge Winners!

Good Morning!

The time has come to announce the winners of the May Mini Challenge!

Thank you to everyone that participated with such gusto! It has been so fun reading your accomplishments. Attention winners, your prize will be in the mail within the next 2-3 weeks.

Here are your winners!

Note: I am awarding Donna Wilson & Linus "honorable mention" because although Linus is just a youngster and they couldn't do the riding tasks, their point total was incredible. They gave 100% to the tasks they were able to do and Donna logged with stellar dedication. Thank you Donna & Linus for your zeal and inspiration! =]

YOUTH

ASHLEY & TEKE

BEGINNER

MADISON & SHADOW

ADULT

ANGIE & JUBILEE'S CURLY J

JACK BENNY

BETSY & OYY FIONA

PROFESSIONAL

ZOE &

OYY Queen Jane

**HONORABLE MENTION

DONNA & LINUS

Curly Bucky, a new RAC training Adventure for Golden Curls Ranch

Hello RAC Friends,

We wanted to share a few photos of our new foal, Bucky, with you this morning as we have begun desensitizing and will be haltering and increasing training with him as part of our RAC Adventures. This will be our first foal to train at Golden Curls Ranch and we look forward to  hearing your suggestions.

The past few days have been doubly rewarding as I have seen all the training and desensitizing we have done as part of our RAC Adventure pay off handsomely with the trust and goodwill we have with Bucky mom, Nevada's Blossom. She is a good mother but feels comfortable with us handling her sweet boy. 

We feel it is most important to give our Curly horses a good training foundation and are excited to step up to this next adventure with Bucky.

We have already started desensitizing Bucky. I have a few photos of his Mema (me) who was extremely tired but trilled getting nuzzles. He is letting me touch him all over and I am concentrating on his ears and feet. Picking up their feet and touching that area should be a good start for cleaning hooves and trimming.  

Best wishes to all from Angie and the Curly herd  

Finally Some Time to Ride!

I think everyone is taking a vacation from blogging after our fierce May competition. I miss hearing from everyone; what have you been up to? We haven't been up to much in June, because June is graduation month, and that is what I have been busy attending to, but AhD and I have been out for a couple of spectacular rides. This photo was taken from the top of my mother-in-law's field. Every once in a while I trailer AhD over there, and I just love riding to the top of this field and soaking in that view!
We went for a sweet ride last night. When AhD saw me coming up the field with bridle in hand, wearing my helmet, I distinctly heard him say, "Pick me! Pick me!" He came right up to me at a fast clip, shouldered his buddy out of the way and dropped his head for the bridle. Unbelievable! So, I figured, hey, I'll hitch a ride down to the barn and climbed on to a big rock for mounting. I was clumsy, and thumped AhD in the side pretty hard as I clambored on, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. He did enjoy the attention from my apology, though. I decided on Western tack for a change, and once tacked up and out on the trail, AhD was fabulous! Forward and alert, but not looking for spooks. My Lab Grace was right at our heels, enjoying the streams we crossed and especially the ponds we passed. She dove into a pond down at the sandpit, and AhD watched her nervously, which really tickled my funny bone. It was too dark for picture taking in the woods last night, but I hope to get some new photos for you over the weekend. Happy Trails!

Kendahl and Rose at Show/clinic

June 12, 2010, Kendahl got to do a showmanship gaming clinic, the 2 did great. Rose was wanting to follow everyone else and was being a bit lazy, but all in all they did great!! Was the first hot day we have had so poor Kendahl was really hot. Love both these girls!! Hoping for trail ride tomorrow!! The pictures of Kendahl aren't very good in the ring, but thought we would

she=re!1

Got Billy out for a ride last night that turned out to be quite a lesson in bravery for me! I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to turn him around and go right home. But, my new motto is to conquer fear so I pressed on. Within 10 minutes of the ride, Billy started to test me by bracing on the bit and refusing to go the way I wanted him to - just like old times! All I could think was "what is the cause of this???" I simply wanted him to turn left and he was insisting on pulling to the right. I was so nervous that I let him get away with it twice. But, the third time I grabbed the reins, kicked him on the sides and made it very clear what I wanted him to do. And.....he went left! I felt empowered!

We did a lot of stopping and backing, turning, found a few trees to go around. He just never really connected with me on the ride. Always seemed to be in la-la land. He kept ignoring my leg cues. I would put my leg on and he would move into it. Hasn't done that in a long time. I felt like I was communicating with a defiant teenager. I trotted him for quite a ways and that seemed to settle him a little.

Then.....came the sign. I mean literally THE sign.....You all remember me telling you about "The Ancient World" - the place I want to conquer by the end of the summer? Here is the sign for it. And here is the funniest part - Billy and I are clearly NOT on the same page for conquering such a challenge, but I decide "hmmmmm, wonder what he would do if I tried the Ancient World." Crazy, I know!!!!

Sooooooo, I took him the back way to the Ancient World to try and surprise him with the idea. Great thinking, huh?? hahahaha! All was fine, we were meandering up the side rode with the Ancient ruins to the right of us. I thought, maybe he is not going to mind and took a sharp turn into the area.

Well, this is as close as we got.....
It might be hard to tell from the picture, but this a giant statue of a face! Billy's ears perked up, he came to a dead stop and let out a little snort. I thought "ok, not today" hahahaha!!!!! I did a couple circles with him there and we headed on back to the trail. Rode about another mile in through the woods and headed home on the dirt rode.

If it wasn't bad enought that I was already having issues, a guy came barrelling down the dirt rode doing about 60 and that completely put Billy over the edge! He pretty much told me he was done and was going home! And, I agreed, but realized that I had to make something good out of this and that I needed to calm down.

So, I reached in my pocket and turned on my Ipod. You will NEVER guess what song came on......MC Hammer "Can't Touch This". All I could do was laugh and groove in my saddle! I had my arms flapping, shoulders bopping. It was a great ending to a stressful ride! Billy seemed to like the Hammer too! :-)

Out and about with Lakota High Socks

This is Lakota's first day out. He took to the halter and the lead rope - like an old pro.

We walked down to the field - about 1/2 mile each way... (I rode "Mama" - my husband, Bill walked with Lakota)

and continued to walk up the road to visit the neighbors....

Lakota is a friendly little fellow ... he absolutely loves the attention.

Then from the back of Deams - I ponied Lakota all the way home.

It went a lot easier than I ever expected it to!

We were out for about 45 minutes - socializing - enjoying the sights - and getting use to the lead line. Deams was psyched to get out too!

Golden Curls Ranch - Article in Kaufman Herald

Hey all,

Just wanted to share our article about upcoming camps in the local news. It's great fun to see folks expressions when they meet a wonderful Curly Horse. 

http://www.kaufmanherald.com/

Best wishes, Angie

May Mini Challenge, Extended Deadline June 19th

The May 30 day Mini Challenge (Curly & Me) has come to an end....and what a month it has been! Wow! For those that did not get the memo, I extended the deadline to get your May Contest forms in to me to June 19th. Winners will be announced June 20th.

PLEASE encourage your children to send in their reports. I am hoping to give out prizes for the winners in each division: Adult, Professional, Jack Benny, Youth and Beginner. But I must have at least 3 in each division that submit their totals.

Thanks to everyone who put forth such an amazing effort!! You have inspired all of us!

new month ! and back to logging miles :)

Zoe and I started June out with the wonder cart pony Nimue -- we had a couple of ideas for our drive... and settled on heading over to the floodplains, driving through Baltimore, over the trail to Quarry Road and then down to the boat landing.. and on. The weather was perfect and as usual Nimue was in the mood to trot !! I had to change both wheels out on the cart as the bearings wore out... I try to keep several spare wheels ready to go since we do drive a lot.

We did not take any photo's for the first 10 miles or so... since it was all pretty well traveled roads and scenery. Once we got over into Baltimore.. Zoe began snapping and video'ing. Still on back country dirt roads... the llamas run over to say hello. Keri does not like these guys -- Nimue does not even glance -- she's on a mission :)

My favorite little Baltimore Town Hall. Many times when we trot by here, there are cows loose in the road - but not today.

As we trot further down this back road -- the trees open up and we are rewarded with some beautiful views.

One of these dirt roads dead ends into a trail which connects onto Quarry Road - leading into Perkinsville - where we cross the highway and head down toward the boat landing and the floodplains to follow the river.

here's the quarry for which the road was named.

As we wind our way in and out of the woods along the river and the floodplains - we come to a gate which we had forgotten was there. Not a problem when on horseback -- but we have to unhitch Nimue to get past this obstacle.

We can peek at the river through the foliage along the way --- we fly through the trail here and eventually come out next to the airport.

and as we pass by the run way -- Zoe and I say to each other -- wouldn't it be cool if a plane took off right now ! Well, she should have had the camera at the ready because guess what ??

a plane takes up a glider.. a great day for it but not anything I want to do !

This route is a snowmobile trail in the winter.. it's pretty well groomed and a fun trot in the cart.

We exit out near the North Springfield dam -- which you have all seen photo's of from previous rides. Up to the left is the reservoir..

We cross the highway and trot home !

Through North Springfield

We took a slightly different route - over French Meadow Road to avoid back tracking... and stopped in at the auto body shop where my number 1 son works. Naturally, we shared a few jokes about front end alignment and some transmission work :)

What a fun trip !! Anyone who wants to watch an extended version of our trip on you tube -- here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxG3yv8UsW4

Enjoy ~