The first fall...

So rides 7 & 8 I decided to start riding Cheyenne bareback. I was a little concerned since she has started pulling this wiggling bit when mounting, but after a few (very failed!) attempts... she was finally quiet. Let me get this out of the way... bareback pads are more trouble then they are worth. Unless you have the money to invest in a GOOD one (not fleece bottom... piece of JUNK) they just end up being more dangerous then riding with nothing. I just don't understand why they don't make them with regular cinch straps instead of a piece of junk makeshift one? ANYWAY. She did really well, but she is becoming more and more unresponsive to the bit. I'm going to try her in a hackamore again to see if it helps, but if not I think I may buy one of those large rubber ones she she is more aware of it. She does listen, but it takes quite a bit more pressure & effort then I would like at times. Ride 7 was short, just a quick spin around the paddock area & we were done.

Ride 8 I rode with her to the other ride of the property. She did well the first time... but the second time we had a little spill. Kris had her truck up by the barn & was needing to back it out... she asked if Cheyenne would spook (of course not- she's seen plenty of cars drive by before!) but wouldn't you know- she saw that thing & was having NONE of it. She jerked, the saddle pad slid around her belly (which is why I was NOT using the stirrups... can you imagine what kind of an accident THAT would have been??!!) & off I went. (& so did she) I have to admit I was MAD AS HELL... but really it wasn't her fault. Had I been in a regular saddle (or probably even bareback without that crappy pad) I would have been able to hold on no problem. Luckily I wasn't hurt so we hiked back to the barn so I could get back on again & she finished out the ride just fine. Of course today I definitely feel some bruising & my back has felt better... but it could have been MUCH worse. It was going to happen sooner or later, so far I've been very lucky with her (no injuries... well minus the time she stomped on my foot in flip flops.... again though- that was my OWN fault.) "It is not enough for one to know how to ride; he must know how to fall." Yup, got it.

Pigs & Ponies

Isn't odd how when you have a break, it seems like there's still never any time to relax? At any rate I made some time to take Cheyenne out yesterday with a few good friends & their horses. We went "road riding" (no "real" trails, but some back roads) & Cheyenne did really well with the other horses. We'd ridden most of the road before by ourselves so she was somewhat familiar with it. She spooked a couple of times, but luckily her spook is more like a little jump- so no accidents. *phew!* She lagged behind her friends a bit & I even got a trot out of her to catch up! Jenna put us on a lunge line yesterday to work on trotting- the little booger is SOOOO lazy. She KNOWS what I'm asking... she just doesn't want to do it. Again, work in progress. Got quite a bit of a workout for the both of us yesterday though, my legs are aching. She has one heck of a bouncy trot... hmph. In the meantime this little lady has been hanging out in my bathtub.
She's a sweetie- I was taking care of her because she has a pretty bad skin condition & was getting beat up by the other pigs who were stealing her food. I was only able to keep her a couple of days (parents are not big pig fans... who would've guessed?) but her skin was starting to get a little better & she'd certainly fattened up by the time I brought her back to the barn. Hopefully she'll find a nice indoor home & get to be the spoiled princess she longs to be. :) *UPDATE: Miss piggy has found a wonderful new mommy to take care of her... yay!*

Check. Check. & Check +.

Peppermint treats? Check. Feet trimmed? Check. Trail ride? Check plus +!
So the farrier came out today & took care of Cheyenne's poor water damaged feet. They look beeeautiful again. Back to those hardy mustang hooves I've come to know & love. I decided to hop on today without lunging... partially because I hate lunging (so boring... for both of us really) & partially because I just wanted to see how she'd do. So we went for ride five, no lunge. And... she did spectacular!

My goal today was to ride her to the other side of the property, just to expose her & desensitize her to some new sights & sounds. Well she did excellent (minus a minor spook @ the noisy pigs... luckily she spooks in place!) So I figured... what the heck, I'll take her down the drive way to see how she does. Well we got there in one piece... no cars... so I decided to walk her down the road a bit. Well a bit turned into the entire length of the road, all the way down the the intersection at a major road. And would you believe it... she did wonderful! She was definitely cautious & a bit concerned about what was going on around her, but after a short time she really came around & began to relax. The only real issue we had was on the way home. She was DONE after our hour & a half ride and just wanted to haul her hiney back to the barn. She took off at a trot a few times (which, of course, I still CANNOT get her to do in the arena... go figure) but I was able to slow her down to a walk again. She was also antsy about stopping on the way home, but after a few minor scuffles I got my way (we are both VERY stubborn... I'm just more-so =))

Overall I'd say ride 5 was a smashing success. I really feel like I could take her "real" trail riding. (although I'm somewhat convinced traffic is more frightening than anything I'd encounter on a trail ride.) I'm definitely going to need some help from the ground getting a trot out of her yet though. I don't think she's made the connection between the cue for trot from the ground & the cue from in the saddle. I just need someone to lunge her at a trot with me on her to tie up the missing ends. That or she's just lazy... I'd say it's 50/50 she's just being lazy. I'm still in awe at how well she's doing. Of course it's still a bit rough around the edges, as would be expected... but I am just in shock at what a wonderful, level-headed little horse Cheyenne has turned out to be. And people told me mustangs were crazy... hah! :)

I am the worst horsey momma in the world. I let Chey's feet go an extra couple...few... weeks between normal farrier visits & now they look horrendous from water damage. Evidently sand is not quite as kind on the hooves as grass is... who knew? So much for those "perfect" mustang feet I kept bragging about... evolutionary fail. This week has been jam packed & last barn trip was spent unloading hay and panicking about the horrific condition of Cheyenne's feet rather than real work (...for her anyway). Hopefully tomorrow we'll get something accomplished.

I just agreed to take on an undergraduate research project. I'm excited about the prospect of doing something I enjoy and challenging myself, I just hope I'm not getting in over my head. I really wish I had more time to spend with monster pony... if only the daylight hours were longer. Last time I checked on her she had scooched an assortment of cardboard plant pots into her paddock & had begun scattering them... bored much? Of course it doesn't matter how many jolly balls & toys I put in there... of course she'll find the ONE THING she's not supposed to have. Love my monster pony. :)

The great Houdini

Today I put ride four on Cheyenne. Just to give a little background, I've been working with Cheyenne for the past eight months on ground work, lunging, etc. Because I epically fail at math I was under the (false) impression she was actually a year younger than she is (although having been born in the wild, her exact birthday is unknown). A somewhat recent trip through her paperwork found that she was in fact an up & coming 3 year old, and not 2 year old as I had believed. A big part of me is grateful for the mistake because over these past eight months we've built such a great, stable relationship & framework to build our saddle training off of.

So far I've put only four rides on her & she has been nothing short of extraordinary for me. She stands like a champ to mount & in only four rides steers like a pro, circles, stops, & even trots. (well sometimes... when she's in the mood... it's a work in progress ;)) By ride 3 we'd moved from the round pen to the arena & trotted for the first time, and today (ride 4) we moved from the arena to the great big outside world. I took her down the aisle way past every horse & she was a perfect angel, completely ignored the other horses & focused on her job. I even taught her (yes, I'm totally serious!) how to open a gate! I was trying to push the gate open while on top of her and it kept swinging back at us. So I got her to push it open with her nose & we walked straight through without me ever having to dismount. We inspected the pigs, the dogs, the cat, and I even had her zig zag through some ground posts that were only about 3 feet apart.

I am in AWE at what a quick learner she is & how willing she is to do everything (well... again... the trotting thing) I ask of her! She has not once offered a single buck, rear, or objection of any sort. I guess those eight months of ground work have finally paid off! To think she's gone from a horse terrified of having a halter put on to this... Every time I lunge her all I can think about is how she used to protest by throwing herself on the ground and rolling around like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum. She certainly is full of spunk & as hard headed & stubborn as she may be sometimes... I wouldn't trade her for the world. :)

Let us introduce ourselves...

So I started this blog to share the humble story of my adventures with Cheyenne, my BLM mustang out of the Divide Basin in Wyoming. I adopted Cheyenne in April of 2009 from Wild Horse Rescue in Mims, FL. I had been considering buying/adopting a horse of my own when I started volunteering at the rescue, but was in the market for a dead-broke, been-there-done-that, older gelding. Instead my heart melted for this shaggy little brown filly & sometimes you can't rationalize affairs of the heart... so here we are eight months later & I can't imagine my life without her. I've found no greater therapy or reward in life than that of working with a wild horse. I've learned lessons in patience, forgiveness, courage and cooperation from Cheyenne that cannot be paralleled by any other experience on earth. I was warned against those "crazy mustangs"... told it was a terrible mistake to adopt an untrained wild horse... reminded of the old adage "green & green make black and blue"... but through the grace of God we've made it to where we are today. It's hard to imagine how far we've come in a short time. From a frightened young horse who couldn't be haltered, to a confident horse who adores people and loves her job.

"A lovely horse is always an experience... It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words." -Beryl Markham