Fun While It Lasted!

Here we go again! #2 for us is coming in December! And since I'm not one of those crazy people who ride until their due date, there will be no more posts about riding Mr. Cisco! :( I know. I might totter around on Daisy a few times (if I can ever get her back from my mother!! She looks great BTW, fat, shiny and happy up in her very own 3 acre pasture) but definitely not climbing up on that monster and risking falling off. So au revoir big boy, it was fun!!  

Pedicure Time!

Well Friday we finally got the stars to align and got our farrier out! And boy do his feet look better. My gosh it was amazing after he was done how much toe he had to cut off. They looked so tiny! I bet big boy is so much happier moving around now.

Anyway I got out there early so I could brush him down. I seriously haven't seen him for 3 weeks or more. I know, bad bad! This morning sickness crap has OWNED me this time around! (Oh, btw I'm prego again! Baby should be here late Nov or early Dec, I'm really hoping Nov. I really, really don't want a Christmas baby!!)

So the BIL had just let all four of them back together again and they were all running around being idiots out in the back pasture. I called and here they came! We huddled against a big upright railroad tie, lol, and then when they got closer I yelled something to them. Cisco apparently heard me and SLAMMED on the brakes going down the hill toward the lane. Which made his entire back end come out and slide underneath him, lol! Poor guy! He scrambled back up and then took off after the rest of them. We followed them back to the house and they had all settled down. Cisco was over drinking and when he saw me come up he let me walk up and pet him. Threw his halter on and out the gate we went! With just a bit of harassment from herd boss Rusty.

I parked him in our usual spot and he did great. Didn't move a muscle and even rested a foot a bit. Good boy. He's such a sweety. I noticed he clipped his inside hind on his fall, but it was very shallow. Clumsy boy!

He's got one of those gorgeous multifaceted eyes, gotta get a good close
up of that!

So got him all spiffed up and then let him graze for a bit as the farrier was running late. Which was kind of difficult because he knows he's not supposed to put his head down and eat on the lead, haha. He figured it out though!

Farrier got there finally and since Cisco was the one out, he was first! He was fine until the two men started walking toward him with their big shoeing aprons on and the hoof stand. Then he about jumped out of his skin! Which surprised the farrier because he has trimmed him many a time and said he never moves! I think he was just unsettled from the new pasture situation etc. He did settle down and was okay. Still not as good as he usually is!

Then I threw him back out with his friends and that was that!

BTW, we have a new palomino at the house! Check out Daisy's blog for the 411!

Adios!

Friday Cisco Fun

Got to ride my behemoth again today!! Our first solo ride and all in all he was great.

The weather here is gorgeous this weekend, I was SWEATING today. I know! I would be jealous too! So I grabbed little girl and headed to the inlaws. Unfortunately everyone had plans and was about to be leaving. Which means no babysitter! I was ok with that, its still fun to just groom and stuff cookies in him.

Thankfully though the father in law didn't have to leave right yet and offered to watch her. Woot! Rusty was still in the front pasture by himself so I had to go out and find big boy in the two big pastures. I got really lucky! They were all hanging out below the gate to the lane. I called Cisco and he came up to the gate and I gave him a cookie and put his halter on.

I managed to keep everyone else in the other pasture and headed to the house. Rusty had stayed up at the top gate while I walked to get Cisco, but about halfway back he saw us. Ugh. He hollered really loud and came galloping over to us. This is the point it crosses my mind that this might have been a bad idea! But thankfully Cisco kept his mind and I shooed Rusty off. We scooted through the gate real fast while Rusty went and socialized with the other two horses and we were home free!

I parked Cisco by the chair with tack and brushes in it. I decided to try the bro in laws saddle this time, since he was not riding. (its an older, heavy CC Saddlery saddle) It felt so much more substantial and secure when I rode Stormy in it that day.

Cisco was pretty up about being out by himself and next to a new horse. I had to get his attention quite a few times and his 'park' was broken, lol. But a few corrections (back up a few strides and back forward to your original spot please!) and he settled down and I got him tacked up pretty quick.

Right as I was about to finish cinching up and get on my husband calls. He says a guy is coming out in a bit to possibly take our bulldog. We have been trying to give him away for a while, we don't have the time for an outside dog. Anyway! I'm like, well, I'm fixing to get on my horse, what do you want me to do about it?? So I ask the FIL if he can go run him about while I ride a little. So nice to have such great in laws. So he goes to do that and I hop on big boy.

Right off I can tell he is feeling pretty high. He's pretty sure rocks, birds, buckets etc, are all about to jump at him, lol. He's much more brave with a buddy! (Aren't we all?) So I decide to hit the round pen first, planning on racking some of his goofiness off. We had to go by the new trailer to get there, between it and a big lawn mower trailer. The space was not small but it took almost a minute of gentle coaxing to get Cisco through it, lol. Oh, and I forgot, he tried three times to just plain turn back around to the pasture, uhh no sir!! I pretty firmly put a stop to that each time and didn't come across it again.

So we make it through the gate a little hurriedly, and I give him his head to see what he was going to do. Well he starts from a walk and builds up to where he was loping a few strides every so often (btw, loping on a gaited horse is WEIRD). So I put a stop to that and he threw a little hissy fit. Some sort of half lifting off the ground half spin thing, lol. I'm mot sure really what it was but it earned him a growl and some quick tight circles and did not reappear, thankfully! He is never very vehement in his protestations thankfully!

Well the man wanting to get our dog showed up another 10 minutes or so later. I was definitely not done with my ride. The FIL told me to just let Cisco loose in there but I thought what the heck I'll just ride him over there. So I head up the road, and he's being pretty good! All this time we are calling for the dog and he is not responding at all -_-. So I decided to rack down the road a bit thinking the horse moving faster would entice him, uh no. So then I hear our new mini schnauzer puppy start going crazy (we left him tied up by the tack spot) and I thought oh no, that bulldog is tearing him up. So I nudge Cisco and we go tearing back up the road. And it is AWESOME! He gave me the smoothest, most awesome rack ever, head up, ears pricked, so fun!!

So I finally got the dog to follow me. I jump off  and we are chatting with the man that came, and all of a sudden the stupid dog comes up and bites poor Cisco in the back leg! Ugh, he really liked that -_-. So I get him calmed down and they finally catch the darn dog. The man says he will take him and we are rid of him! (Although he comes back thirty mins later with him all bloody, his dogs and he don't get along, sigh)

Anywho I jumped back on my steed and rode him back up the road. I finally got him to relax quite a bit, which was my plan all along. It was so gorgeous out, riding a good horse, just us nature! Loved it. We worked on woahs and patience standing still. Also on staying at a slower walk instead of the back  breaking bending fast walk thing he does. I was thankful for the heavier saddle through his goofy sideways spooks he threw in a the beginning of the ride, lol. The stirrups are also turned and easy to put weight in. It fits him much better I think. Now to convince the 'rents that he needs a new one! ;)

I got him untacked, brushed and a few braids put in. Chloe also made sure he was full of cookies, ;). I let him go in the pasture, figuring he would sniff around with Rusty for a bit since they haven't been pastured together yet. Nope, he takes of after his little buddy and girlfriend! So funny. I then walked up the lane to open the gate so they could all be together. Rusty and Stormy immediately hooked up and headed out to the big pastures (Stormy thinks he is just the greatest thing ever for some reason) and Cisco stood there watching them like, hm, go, stay with Skip?? (Skip was standing next to me hoping I had cookies, lol)

He finally decided to follow myself and Skip back to the house. But then all of a sudden I hear galloping hooves behind me and they have both changed their minds and ran out to the others, lol.

So a productive day! I'd like to do a ride like that every week, to get him trusting me more and knowing its cool to be without his friends. Which really he did quite well I think, he never hollered for them or got real antsy, etc. Good boy! But I definitely want to do more of this before we trailer out somewhere. I think he would be a bit of a basket case! Which I'm sure a steady buddy would definitely help.

I leave you with an adorable pic of my little girl and our new mini schnauzer puppy, Toto. She loves leading him with the leash.
 

Come On Spring!

Not much to say for an update, but one nonetheless!

Went out and wormed big boy yesterday. I haven't seen him in a week or so! My last two Saturdays have been filled up. Or raining. So sick of this rain, this is the wettest winter we have had in forever! I can't wait for warm weather that is here to stay. We have still had a pretty mild winter though. Can't complain too much! I will probably get to try out Cisco's new blanket tomorrow though. Supposed to be raining all day and lows in the 30's, ick. I'm sure he will appreciate it!

But! Supposed to be sunny and warm by Thursday! Saturday they are predicting 70! Woot!! Def gotta grab a ride! I'm so excited to use our new trailer too, soon maybe!

Anyway back to yesterday. Rusty is in the close pasture by the house by himself, so we decided to just drive around to the back side of the big pasture to find Cisco. Good thing we did too because they were pretty close to the back gate. I came out of the trees from the lane and called for him and he started right over, trailing his two buddies. So cute. Of course my husband had to make a wisecrack about the way he moves as he came lumbering over in a rack/pace thing. -_- He takes great pleasure in teasing me about him.

So he thought the wormer box was kind of scary when I shook it but he just gave it the hairy eyeball, lol. I threw his halter on and gave him some hugs/kisses and some cookies. Which of course had to be shared with the other two moochers. I was so happy to see them all getting along so well. Even with the cookies no one was running anybody off or laying ears back. They seem to be a good group. When we left to go back to the car they all followed along behind us and were like wait, no more cookies?? lol

Cisco Nohead lol

So got him wormed with no trouble and checked him over for cuts, bumps etc. All looked good! He is getting a little thinner then I want, need to tell them to up the hay. Hopefully the grass will come in good this year. Need to find some more hay actually, really low. I found some for $3.50 in our little local paper, so we will probably go get it sometime this week.

In case your wondering, Rusty is up top by himself because he has had a few people ride him lately to buy possibly. All turned out to be no's. The last lady that came was a disaster. She was 5 foot nothing, pretty round, couldn't get her foot in the stirrup. Her husband comes over to boost her and she kicks him in the rump as she tries to swing her leg over. Which of course causes him to scoot off, lol. Then he spooked sometime later and dumped her. Yeah, she didn't get back on after that, eep. Suppose to be a couple other guys coming to look at him this week. Feel sorry for the guy. He just needs someone to take time with him and love him and his goofiness/problems.

Not much else to report! I have thought about doing a post on last Saturday; I worked with Tuff for the first time in forever. But I'm really too depressed to say much other then it was a nightmare. I was about in tears as I took him back to his pasture. I think I had higher expectations then I probably should have, yes, but he also was just awful. To think of all the time/training I put in on him over the years and then think of how its seems to be all wasted? Ugh. I might post on Daisy's blog later about it...

Have a great week everyone!

Three Amigos ;) Skip on the left, the sis in laws QH gelding
Stormy on the right, the bro in laws QH mare

Look What The Trailer Fairy Brought Us!

What, you didn't know there was a trailer fairy around dropping off AWESOME horse trailers at deserving peoples homes? Haha, if only, right? Well my fairy comes in the form of my parents! Lets start over!

So my mom and I have tossed around the idea of buying a trailer for a few years. We had one when I lived with them, but sold it with my QH mare I had to get rid of when I got married. My mom calls me out of the blue the beginning of last week and says, "well I've decided since your dad is buying stuff for him, I'm going to by myself something!" And proceeds to tell me to find her a horse trailer. A three or so horse slant, nice looking trailer, no more then 4k. I was pretty excited! Who doesn't like spending other peoples money on things they will get to use? NO ONE! I scoured the internet and came up with a nice (or so I thought) one in TN, right over the Alabama line, so only about an hour and half from us. It's at a trailer lot so she also has several others. Long story short we end up all traipsing up there this past Saturday.

Thank goodness I brought them along instead of just taking money. I went up there to look at a 1991 Jackson 3 horse slant steel trailer, priced at $3995, and came home with a $11,500 aluminum FOUR horse! I know, how the heck does that happen? Well for one thing, the Jackson was a pile of you know what. Its amazing what a picture can miss! (Not to mean misleading saleswomen, sigh) Anyway it was a rust bucket so we moved along to look at the line of MUCH nicer trailers. It took us a while, (the frequent bouts of snow blizzards didnt help!) but we finally decided on the Featherlite pictured above. Its GORGEAOUUUSSS! Here are some more pics:

Love how each stall has a front and rear window, and a top air vent

Rear collapsible tack

Front dressing/tack room

Gooseneck for storage, bed?

So we really liked how most of the other trailers had the dressing rooms converted into mini living quarters. So we will probably do the same to this one somewhere down the line. Do we need it? No, do we want it? Heck, yes! We found one online that is a very similar model to this one with a really nicely done interior that we might model it after.

Thank you mommy and daddy!! We also get to keep it at our place until further notice ;). I can't wait to load my big boy up in it and go somewhere to ride! It is a little overkill for just one horse of course, but this spring hopefully we will be filling the sucker up to go trail riding! Cisco, the BIL's horse (Stormy), my moms (Daisy), and hopefully the FIL will finally find him one! (BTW, went to look at another gelding yesterday, ugh, another big no)

Thats all for now! Will def keep you updated on the changes we do!

I'm leaving you with a picture of my Chloe; I'd say she is the love of my life, but she ties with her daddy, so she is ONE of the loves of my life! Just blessed.

Loving My Saturday Rides

Lookit those cute ears!

I got another free Saturday this past weekend, and you know what that means?? Horsey time! I really can't wait until the sun stays up to at least 6:30, so I can get time in after work. I don't get home until 5:30 or later and that really limits my outside time at this time of year. One more month and we spring back forward in time (March 10th) thank goodness! I lived in Arizona from birth to 14 years and never had to deal with the nonsense until I moved to Alabama.

It was pretty cool that morning so we waited until two or so before we went out there. I was also waiting for the big fuzzy sleepy head to get done with his nap! In the course of the two to three hours that I was out at the inlaws before we rode, I saw Cisco laying down sleeping in three different spots! So funny. That definitely set the tone of the entire ride, too. His energy level was about a 2!

Went out with my little brother in law of course. Stormy did great again. The BIL didn't have help tacking up this time, so I talked him through some things to get her to stand, etc, and they both did great. (Would love a hitching post, but it is good practice for ground tieing!) Her biggest thing last time was bridling. I think she might have had a rough hand at sometime because she is a tad head shy. I gave her a cookie right after she accepted having the reins up her nose a little (in preparation for over her ears) and after that she seemed much more obliging, lol.

Cisco was a mess on one side from laying down so that took me awhile to get cleaned up. He didn't seem to mind though as he nearly fell asleep. Then he had a foot resting the entire time I was saddling him, so I finally had to pull his hind-end over to get him to square up. Silly boy. Which reminds me, I need to have my mom bring the other cinch from her house to me. The one he uses now when I cinch up pulls the FIRE out of his hair right at the latigo buckle, ripping quite a few out. Which he does not appreciate, lol, poor guy.

We ambled over to the round pen again just to make sure we were all functioning correctly, but didn't stay long. I could see Cisco was going to be a total dead head and Stormy was her normal slow self so we went on up the road again and then back to the pasture and moseyed around in there. The older BIL was down at the far end (right on the other side of the lane going to the other pasture) trying to run some more hot wire to the fence between each of the big pastures. Apparently everyone was quiet excited about the new addition (Cisco) and the BIL thinks the hot wire needs to be, well, hot, to make sure everyone plays nice and stays on their side of the fence.

So we went over there and talked to him a bit, then I asked the little BIL if he wanted to swap horses. Wow, was that a difference! I felt like I was riding a pony, lol. I did like his saddle much better then Ciscos, it felt a lot more solid. I think Cisco needs a bigger one. Sigh, only takes money! I ran her about the pasture a bit, working on turning and such. It took quite a bit of effort but I got her to lope a bit and then let her settle down again. She was sure happy when I got off, I bet! ;)

Stormy the fireball

The BIL had already dismounted by the time I got done, definitely not liking how my gaited horse rode, lol, besides the fact the saddle was too small for him. They are all QH guys, but at least he tried him out.

So after that we made another trip up the road for fun, and I discovered my big gentle giant has no problem with me getting mail out of the mailbox, lol. Then it was back to the house to untack!

I had gotten his blanket in from schneiders a few weeks ago, but this was the only time I had had to try it on him. He was such a good boy standing there while we fiddled with all the straps forever. It looks so good on him!

He says, really?? Its nearly 60 degrees out!

Until next time!!

Ridin' Ridin' Ridin'

Cookie please??

Lots and lots of riding! Such a fun day Saturday! Had some errands to do that morning and then put little girl down for her nap. Shot a text to the BIL (Stormy's owner) and asked him if he wanted to be my riding buddy! He was all for it.

Threw all my tack in the explorer and left the husband with sleeping beauty. The horses were up by the fence of course, taking a nap. I called to him and he perked his head and ears up, so cute. They both came toward the gate when I went to go get him, but he hung back and let Stormy see me first. She is the boss, which I expected, but they are good buddys.

The FIL came out to help with Stormy, thankfully, so I could focus on big boy. She hasn't been ridden in quite some time, and even then she was quite green, so I knew he wouldn't be able to just toss the lead rope over her neck and throw his tack on her like I could with Cisco. (Yes, we need a tie post!) She gave them a little trouble with the bridle but other then that was golden. (which I was stuffing her face with cookies during the saddling, so I'm sure that helped!)

Speaking of the cookies, I am having so much fun 'babying' him, I bought him some apple cookies, a new brush and hoof pick. I've never bought cookies for any horse! He is just so lovable though that I love getting him stuff he will like. He is also getting his very own new winter blanket coming in this week! For those days we have rain/snow and cold temps all together. We almost got some freezing rain last week but it didn't pan out, thankfully!

Here is the blanket we ordered him: http://www.sstack.com/horse-blankets-and-sheets_waterproof-turnout-blankets_euro-fit/stormshield-classic-euro-contour-collar-turnouts/

He is going to look so snazzy! The big scudder wears a 84! Good grief! Daisy wears a 72! We also bought one for Dixie, my moms old horse, in purple. She wears a itty bitty 68. We went ahead and got her a 70 though, just in case. Hopefully it won't be too big. I know it seems kind of squirrley to just now be buying blankets, but the really bad weather around here doesn't usually show its face until after the first of the year. We have gotten some awful snow storms in March before!

So we got them all tacked up, this is the first time I've tried Cisco's new pads on him. The black no-slip I like, the other is smaller then I thought it would be. Next time I will have to try folding it different to see if I can get it to show more.

We both climbed up and were ready! We decided to hit the round pen first to try out their paces, get everyone steering and woahing well. So Cisco and I headed out and were the 'fearless' leaders, lol. Cisco was very looky and interested, but never did spook and was a good boy! I was kind of nervous about Stormy, the younger brother in law is really quite a green rider, but he insisted she wouldn't do anything and rode her to the round pen instead of walking her like I suggested. He was right! She was just fine.

I thought originally two of us in there would be too much, but we fit okay! Until I tried to rack with him and kept running into them, haha. Well not physically but every time we got near her he would lose motor. So, I was hoping he would be easy to get to rack and not get pacey, but boo, nope. I got a pace much more often then I did a rack. I did get it a few strides a couple times, SO FUN! We will work on it! I wish I could go take a lesson at a gaited barn, that would be the best. I really am quite clueless about gaited horses and their mechanics. I've done a little checking and haven't come up with a place that looks decent just yet. We'll see.

After we got bored in there (and Cisco decided the tractor moving hay around 2 counties away wasn't going to affect him in any fashion) we ventured out, the plan to go down the road a bit towards my house. I was in the lead again of course, Cisco has a motor and he goes until he's tired! (which doesn't usually take very long, lol) So he's doing his power walk down the road head in the air checking it out and we leave Stormy waayyy behind, lol! She not only is about a hand shorter but she walks slow! Typical QH walk, lol. So I circled back a few times, made him woah a few times and wait. He wasn't too keen on that, but it was good practice! We made it down the road and turned back before we got too far, didn't want Tuff and his buddy seeing us and causing a ruckus! I called the husband out and had him take some pictures of us.

Look at their cute faces!

 After that we went on into the woods behind the round pen. My husband has a deer stand down there. Cisco looked at the little opening and was like, "Really?" but after I gently persuaded him he was like ok! As we got toward the end of lane two or three squirrels jumped out of the clearing and took off into the woods. He jumped a bit but kept on trucking like a good boy! I had so much fun, there is a lot of brush and trees down in there so we weaved in and out, bushwhacked our own paths. There is a big deer feeder down there and the stand, but neither horse even gave it a second look!

We played around in there a few minutes and then headed back out to the pasture they live in. We walked around in there for a while, again weaving in and out of the trees. I also used that time to get as far from Stormy as I could so he knew he was okay without her. He swished his tail a bit about that, but got over it pretty quick. Then I walked him around behind her a bit to get him used to following at a slower pace, he rated himself pretty well if I helped him, lol, but definitely would have run up her hiney if I hadn't! He had to take little baby steps.

By then it was getting later and the BIL had to be at church for a meeting soon so we called it quits! We were both so proud of our 'greenies'. They need lots and lots of just that sort of thing!

Snoozing after our ride. Need to re-braid that mane!

Cisco was so cute when I let him back in his pasture, he followed me back to the gate and was like, "more cookies, please??" Silly boy!

Well as usual I have gone way long! Will be back with more of our adventures!

Settling Cisco In

Rocking some boots with the fur

Fun, fun day with my Cisco boy Sunday! Came home from church and ate a little lunch, let little girl take her nap, then we hoofed it over to the grandparents! Thats little Chlo on the right, how much cuter can you get?? Not much, friends.

Cisco and Stormy were chilling right by the front of the house so I grabbed a lead rope, a step stool for Chloe, and a chair to set my bucket of grooming tools on. I sat Chloe on the chair and told her to stay put while I got the monster out. Then I parked Cisco in front of her chair and set up her step stool (its a mini sort of scaffold thing the FIL got for Christmas, pretty neat!) right next to him. I thought he might give it the hairy eyeball, but he barely sniffed it. I plopped Chlo up there and a brushing we went! She likes the mane brush so she did that while I used the soft brush. Her interest waned pretty quick though so I put her down and she spent most of her time playing with the cowboy magic bottle and spraying anything in reach down, lol.

My little helper

We had to be back at church for a singing that night, so I just planned on grooming him. After I gave him a good rub down I tackled his chestnuts. They were pretty long and gross looking. As I tried to peel on them they came off in puzzle pieces, instead of a long strip! Weird! So that took awhile, but he was so good and just stood there. I know some horses pick their feet up a lot when you do that. Really the whole time we were messing with him he just stood there with a foot cocked and head down, sweet guy.

After I got his chestnuts looking good I braided his mane over, hopefully it will start deciding to stay on the right side! Some of it does, but most of it hangs out on the other side. As I was doing that I noticed he has a lot of crest up there that flops around, I'm hoping as he loses some weight that will go down too. He is definitely an easy keeper. Also, looking at the picture I probably should have braided it quite a bit tighter up top, oh well, I will have to redo it in a few days anywho!

So after that I worked on his backing with a wiggle of the lead rope and then some lateral flexion. He remembered a little of it, but still wanted to lean on me a bit. Then he thought he was supposed to be moving so we had to work through that. By the time I was done he was doing pretty good. And I started looking at that big fluffy back, oh yeah, gotta jump on! I had the little BIL bring me another lead rope and stood him next to the mini scaffold and hopped up! He didn't even bat an eye, although he did move right off, lol, how embarrassing if I had slid off right then! But I manged to gather myself and just let him walk on. Um, anyone else out there rode a gaited horse bareback?? HARD. They move so lateral that I was sliding off every other stride! Thank goodness for those braids, lol, I grabbed one and got my bearings a little. We were also traveling in a pretty much constant circle, so that didn't help.

Maybe its just him, I don't know, but he does have a very long and low ambling stride. Aside from that I had a great time! He just strode along with his big head hanging, except when we went by the patch of green grass, lol, then he thought he needed to stop for a snack. Our woahs weren't the best in the halter, but not surprising.

After I had my fun I jumped off and did some more flexion with him. Then I decided it would be fun to try to teach him to park out. I had loaded up my pocket with cracked corn so every time I stepped forward when I tapped his fetlock I gave him a bite. He was VERY happy about that! He even started watching my pocket, lol, he knew where it was! Well that didn't go too well, he would move his front foot but his back would usually come up too. Then he was so excited about the grain he would get frustrated and try to paw. So I got a few good moves and left it at and tossed him back in with his girlfriend, who definitely missed him, lol.

So good time by all!! Stay tuned for more, hopefully I will get a real ride in soon.

He's Finally Here!

Well after weeks of rain or conflicting schedules, my mom and I finally made our trade! It all went so smooth and well; way better then I imagined it would!

I was nervous about the trailer part really. I hate hauling horses, so nerve wracking! And Cisco hasn't been on a trailer in years and only a few times period! Also, I was using the two horse of my neighbors again, which was big enough for him but its still a small box he had to climb in.

So we loaded Daisy up with little effort and headed to my parents place. My mom was out in the barn brushing Cisco who was very excited to see a new horse coming to visit! He and Daisy hollered at each other a bit and then I took her to the side gate and put her in the round pen. We figured that would be the easiest way to get them acquainted since it was in the pasture, without just throwing them together.

Mom untied Cisco and let him out and he ran out there and bugged her for 20 minutes, lol. He racked and trotted and cantered around showing off it was so funny. Daisy trotted once a few strides with him and then just walked around or ate grass. She was definitely not too impressed.

Through most of this Dixie, who we were really trying to get together with Daisy, was out in the back pasture! She finally ambled up there after a bit and they sniffed and squealed a bit but that was it. My mom let Daisy out after we left with Cisco and she said they did well. This morning my dad said Dixie was laying down with Daisy standing near her, so all seems well! Yeah, mares!

After he got over Daisy a bit Cisco came over and visited with us. He was so cute letting me love all over him and give him hugs and kisses, all things Daisy does not appreciate! ;) He's just a big love bug.

So my husband got done putting up a garage door opener for my parents and we got Cisco's saddle loaded up and grain to bribe him with. I wasn't real sure how I wanted to go about getting him in there but I knew I wanted to go slow and easy and just let him figure it out.

I grabbed a whip to cue him with if needed, remembering how we used to get my young QH mare I had when I was a teenager, into a trailer. But we didn't need it! I simply walked him out of the pasture, let him sniff the trailer (which he wasn't alarmed about really at all, just curious) and then my dad started shaking the grain can and pouring a bit out, etc, to entice him. And oh! Was he enticed, lol. I sniffed and sniffed, then he would look at the trailer floor and think, like hm, what do I have to do to get that?? After a few minutes he decided to just step on up in there and grab him a bite! GOOOD BOOOYY! Every time he even thought about moving forward I would praise him and pet him, he does really well with verbal praise.

So he chomped on some grain for a moment, but then we realized we had a problem. He is plenty long enough to reach the hay manger without putting his back feet in! Hm! I didn't want to rush him though so we let him relax in there and eat, and I tried pushing on his hiney a bit to get him to step up but he took that as a cue to get off and hopped down. No problem! I let him figure it out again and he hopped right back up and ate some more. This time as he was getting up he almost put a back foot in. Again he ate a bit and this time we tried pulling a bit on his halter after a minute but he backed out again. So I pulled on his lead and clucked to him to get him back in and this time he jumped on up, all four feet! Yeah! We all went SHUT THE DOOR, lol, and in he was! This all might have taken 10-15 mins? Such a smart boy.

He wasn't real happy to be in there after he got in, and of course his mama neighing at him didn't help! Mom opened the front window to check on him and he poked his big old head completely out of it!! I was thinking, oh great, please don't think about climbing out of this window and/or get your head stuck! But he pulled it back in and we shut it to prevent that again! The picture there is right before we closed it back up, lol.

We got Chloe in her seat and jumped in and off we went! I decided to go on down the interstate even though its louder etc, then through town. All the stops and goes are hard on them balancing. He did good! Although my hubby said he moves a lot more then Daisy, you could feel the truck moving a bit as we were going down the road, which made me nervous!! I don't know if it was him being nervous, or just not know how to balance in the trailer.

Anyway we had to make a stop for my brother in law at the dollar store for oil and he was completely still and silent the whole time except for neighing at us when we came to check on him, lol. After that it was straight home! We had a little trouble trying to get into our usual unloading place, the husbands diesel is a 2wd and it was rained nonstop for days here. So we ended up unloading kind of in the gravel drive, oh well.

We thought he would want to race off so I  worked for a few minutes to get the butt bar unhooked before we opened his door, but after all that he had to be told to back off with some encouragement, he was pretty sure the ground was not going to be there, lol. He did finally step off and instead of a horse on the end of my lead I had a 10 foot tall GIRAFFE! He was like where the hades am I?? He listened very well though as I walked him toward the pasture. We did some stopping and backing to make sure he remembered I was attached to his head that was in the clouds, and then went to see his new girlfriend that was very excited to see him!

I parked him in front of the fence and asked for a brush, his shoulders had gotten pretty sweaty, I guess a combination of the closed in trailer and nervousness. (Daisy was a little damp all over when I got her out, crazy, I had most of the windows all the way open, but thats why I would rather haul stock type trailers, better airflow). I brushed him down and bit and let him relax, which he did fairly quickly. Then I let him and Stormy sniff a bit and felt pretty good about tossing him in there with her. They trotted and cantered around a bit but that was about it. Mostly it was Cisco running about checking out his new digs with Stormy following like a puppy dog, lol! She kept having to trot to keep up with his power walk. They settled down and ate hay together and all was well!

Thats about it folks! Oh, while I was at my parents I took a picture of the disaster that happened New Years night.
    

This picture is all that is left of my parents shop. Which housed 3 muscle cars totaling over $100,000, two boats, thousands of dollars of tools and equipment, another muscle car in production, and countless items from when my brothers and I were kids. SO DEVASTATING. I feel so bad for them, but they are doing okay. My dad is still trying to get over it, he lost two of his 'babies', a '66 GTO that he restored ground up basically for 3 years, and a '70 Chevelle that he just bought last year. My mom's car, a '71 Lemans convertible was in there too. :( Won't ever know what the cause was, too big of a disaster, but they think it was something electrical, possibly my dads Chevelle, since that was the spot of the most damage.

We are SO happy though that it was just the shop and didn't get to the house! 'Stuff' can be replaced, but it still hurts. Thankfully it was all insured except for the boats.

Anway! In other news we got a colossal snow storm (for us at least!) Thursday afternoon. Dumped nearly 4 inches on us! The roads were a DISASTER. I barely made it home. But after that we had a awesome time playing in it. Sledding, making snow men, snowball fights. Just wonderful. Chloe loved it! I had put Daisy's blanket on her two days before because it had been raining forever, and the temps were dropping in the 30's at night. So thankfully she was all ready for the snow! I finally got to pull it off her Friday when the sun reappeared!

Sweet baby! I knew she would need that snow suit and boots when I bought it this summer!!

About to go down the hill!

All snuggly!

All nakey again. I wish she would grow more coat!

Well I am finally going to shut up, thanks so much if you made it this far! Another post coming soon about Cisco boy!

Riding Mr. Cisco?

I seem to have strange epiphany's while I am just on this side of sleep. I come up with the greatest ideas, think of all kinds of important things, and come to great conclusions at this time. I'm not the only one, right??

Anyway last night as I was laying in bed waiting to fall off to sleep I started thinking about horses. And my mind came back to a conversation I had with my mom a while ago. Something along the lines of "don't you want Cisco?? And you can give me Daisy!" I strongly protested to this idea, and it came up several times, all with my same reaction.

But last night it strangely started to make sense! And I kind of got excited! I need to flesh this out and think about it some more so I thought I would put down some pros and cons and would LOVE any and all opinions from anyone who reads this blog.

First lets do a 411 on Cisco:

Name: Dixies Cisco Kidd
Breed: Spotted Saddle Horse (out of a SSH sire and dam but solid, so not registerable)
Age: 12
Height: 16.2-3
Weight: ??
Discipline: Trail Riding

Trading Cisco for Daisy:

PROS:
1. He's younger
2. Gorgeous!! Tall and palomino with a beautiful tail
3. I've basically done all the training on him from when we got him at 4 months and up
4. No soundness issues
5. VERY easy keeper, with great hooves, in great health, grows a very strong winter coat
6. Been taken very good care of his whole life by my mom
7. He's a sweet boy, big baby, LOVES attention (unlike Daisy who would rather be left alone!)
8. No bucking! (I love that about most gaited horses, haha)
9. Smooth riding
10. He would be free!
11. Daisy gets to go to my mom who has a barn and babies her animals
12. My mom gets a smaller horse she can ride


CONS:
1. HE'S NOT A QUARTER HORSE - big main one
2. Pretty much has no formal training aside from 30 days at a trainers; woahs, gos and turns, thats it
3. TALL and CLUMSY, he has dinner plate size feeet and gets them tangled a bit
4. Not socialized much, he has been off farm and away from his mama only 3 times in his life. But the last time he was he did great. My teenage niece who is a very green rider took him to a horse camp for a week and he was such a good boy!
5. 'Hotter' then Daisy
6. All his tack has to be BIGGER. Although I'm sure mom would send his tack with him. It's just not that great of quality. I know, I'm a snob!
7. Never taught to carry a bit
8. If I wanted to sell him my mom would not be pleased
9. I have to trade Daisy :(
10. He is used to having a barn his whole life, all we have is trees!
11. He will be out with at least 2 other horses he doesn't know, not his mommy. At the trainers he went to for 30 days he got picked on pretty bad, so not sure how he would do. He would probably be ok with the geldings, but if I trade Daisy then Stormy will be alone...maybe she won't be mean to him??

And to finish, some OLD pictures of Cisco boy! :)

About 6 months old!

Little guy at 10 months! 

Cisco and his mama! He is little over a year here. Dix looks so good!

Theres my QH mare I grew up with peeking out! He was such a lanky yearling!

First ride at 2 years!

And this is my niece at the horse camp with him, such a handsome boy!

Till later!