I sometimes have a hard time finding all the show schedules nearby. I get the “Horsesmouth” magazine and watch on the Illinois Horse Online board. But so many times I see a show posted for the next day and I can’t make arrangements to get there.
The bigger shows are easy enough to find but I like to use the smaller shows for my colts and sometimes the older horse to get them more crowd broke.
So, Amanda, where do you get your show info from usually?
Working on the fast and slow lope circles. Maybe you’ve got a few tricks that you use?
So far as I get older I’m not sure when we’re loping circles whether the horse or me slows down first.
I’m pretty simple when it comes to my tack I use for training. No gimmicks, nothing fancy. Just good useable stuff that will last. If it wasn’t for Chris all my stuff would be be pretty darned ugly. She makes sure she buys some stuff that got a little pretty to it. And she can look at stuff that is a relatively new design and see the practical applications.
When it comes to bits I’m about as simple as they come. Never seeing much difference between a 9 dollar and a 90 dollar snaffle, my horses get made in a 9 dollar snaffle. I’ll do a little work on smoothing them up and such, but if it’s got the features I want then it’s good enough for me. My shank bits are the same designs you could probably find in a 1950’s catalog. Most of them being some type of snaffle/flexible mouthpiece. I’ve had the pleasure of riding a few horses that could truly carry a solid mouthpiece bit but as far as I’m concerned they are few and far between. Horse has to be very advanced for a solid mouthpiece in my mind.
But at the horse fair Saturday I met with Dave Robart. Dave is a trainer and bit designer. Seems everybody these days is a bit designer so that didn’t catch my eye right off. I went and watched one of the clinic demonstrations he had and liked what I saw in his methods and philosphy. So that meant it was time to hunt him down and challenge him.
I had intended on getting after him right away…”so what makes your bits any better than the others?” But when I got to his booth he enthusiastically grabbed one of his bits and said “try this out!” So we went about talking bits. And I liked what I saw. Hard for me to explain but basically the bits are made to swivel and pivot making the “pinchless”. My first impressions weren’t too much concerned about pinching but I really like the way the bit allowed you to really work one side freely from the other. Overall they are very well constructed with nice fit and finish.
So I bought one of his snaffle. It was around 37 bucks which these days is really a good price. Of course for me 37 dollars for a snaffle bit might as well be a wheelbarrow full of money. And he does give a 100% money back no questions guarntee. So I figured I couldn’t lose.
So Sunday I tried it on my “tough cases”. Ginger is a 3 year old mare that has been a challenge for me with her head tossing at times and resistance to the bit. She is just such a darned nice filly that it really bothered me. Parker is a TWH that came to us by way of a boarder who didnt pay their bills. He was started by a young “trainer” in a nylon halter. Which can be ok but thats basically what he kept him in. So he had to be restarted with the snaffle like an unbroke colt.
Well Dave isn’t getting his bit back. I really like it. Both horses seemed to make very big improvements right off the bat. Even Brandy, who works very well in any old snaffle bit, seemed more comfortable.
I talked with Dave about his shanked bits, which are also impressive. He suggested his “reiner” bit as a good next step up from the snaffle. So I’ll be ordering one from him to use on our “shanked” horses.
I still don’t believe in magical bits. All the magic has to come from the rider and horse. But I can see where maybe if I was a little more open minded about stuff things might get done a little quicker.
We went to the Northern Illinois Horse Fair last Saturday. I went for basically one reason, to talk with Tommy Garland, a trainer from Va. The reason being is I’d seen him a few times on RFD-TV a while back and he demonstrated some of his techniques for tying a horse around in the round pen.
I’ve said before I’m not much for ground work. I do enough to get the colts where they handle and all that but don’t really work any groundwork program. Basically get them where they’ll do a few things colts need to do…handle their feet, lead, tie, get in the trailer, stuff like that. But that said, I do like working them in the round pen when they’re checked up. It really seems to help them get the idea and makes it a little safer first time I swing a leg over em. Helps the more advanced horses get their softness and some collection a little easier than can be done from the saddle.
Anyways, I got to talk to Tommy and we were pretty much in agreement on the things we do. But he deigned a halter/bridle rig that we bought that is really working out great. It’s basically a leather halter with browband like a bridle. The neat thing is it has rings and straps for the bit which makes it so you can snap the bit on and off in about a second. It’d be really great for trail riding if you had to stop and tie the horses. Just unsnap the bit and you got a halter. I hate seeing people ride with a halter under their bridles. This rig takes care of that.
The nicest thing that sold me on it is I can snap my check lines to the haltler part, through the bit and check up the young ones. This way they feel most of the pressure on the halter part (which they already understand real well), but still feel the bit some as they work things out. Right now I’ve got 4 colts that need to be started . This is going to help me out a bunch.
The rig cost me a 100 bucks. That made me cringe. But turns out it’s been worth every penny to me. And it’s really built well so should last a lifetime.
I didn’t pre-register for the show since I was waiting until the last minute to see what level we could get to and if it would be worth even entering. On the way over to the clinic I had pretty much decided we weren’t going to show. We had the basics down pretty well but were far from a finished show team.
Brandy had done everything I asked of her. Her ability to learn things is amazing. Truth be told, she probably has 60 days riding on her. And only about a month of serious, consistent riding. She’s that good. Anything we lack in the show pen is my fault.
Heidi gave me the encouragement to show. She said just use it as a training class. Go ahead and ride her in the snaffle two handed and get her some arena experience. So she got us signed up in the rookie class.
Illinois isn’t exactly reining country. Least not around here. Barrel racers and pleasure horses is most of what you see. And those people that wear black outfits and ride saddles that look like saddle pads with stirrups. So I’m figuring be me and the other 4 folks from clinic and maybe one or two more in the class.
Well we ride out of the indoor arena and see trailers and horses….lots of trailers horses. 26 entries in rookie class alone. We draw number 16 so we got some time to look around, warm up and see some runs.
I’m not much for the warm up pen. Always got some trainer or parent barking out orders like a marine drill sargent to a some young rider. Reminders and some encouragement to overcome show day jitters is one thing but training day was yesterday. And do they think I’m gonna go over and give em a few bucks because they holler loud enough for me to hear their “expert” advice? If you ain’t settin a horse get the hell outta the warm up pen. Thank you I feel better now.
Ever heard about the power of positive thinking? Great concept and works real good. Goes right out the window when they call our number. Will she balk at the gate? Spook at the banners flapping on the fence? Figure all these folks are here to see a rodeo? Decide this nice big arena be a good place show me she ought to be entered in the Kentucky Derby?
She walks in like she’s done it all her life. She feels confident and ready. She’s come here to play. When we stop in the center she feels relaxed. 4 left and 4 right. A little sloppy but we stop dead center both ways. Large, small, large right, Large, small, large left. We run the large circles fast…she’s got good balance at speed and felt like she was relaxed enough to stretch out so I turned her loose. Felt good. She slowed a little bit for the small circles but we’ll need to work on getting a little slower so it looks better. We hadn’t worked on it too much so I was happy.
Heidi told me in the clinic to go ahead and drop her to a trot for a few steps if I thought she’d need it to change leads. But Brandy’s always been a good natural changer. One of the things I noticed when I bought her. And she didn’t really need to be trained to change…she wanted to to be in the correct lead. Just had to show her the cues I’d give her when we we’re gonna change directions. So we went for it and she popped em off like an old pro. I knew we had it when I straightened her just before the change…I could feel her get ready for the outside leg to tell her when.
I blew the rollbacks. I hesitated too long between the stop and the turnback. I don’t know why. She’s a good rollback horse. I still don’t know why I did it and I feel like I let her down. And I did it on both of them. Why did I do that?
The stop and back was good. Probably woulda been a plus move if she was in sliders. Slacked the reins for the stop and just a light shake for the back up. Tucked her head nice and came back straight. I liked it.
Our score…59. We won. No we didn’t win the class. But we knew what we did and how long it took us to do it. We trotted out of the arena, both of us feeling good. That’s what it’s all about. The numbers will take care of themselves with more time. Ain’t no ribbons or trophies for what we done. But there’s horse treats and iced tea back at the truck.
The benefit of having a bunch of horses to ride is you get to see how each one is different. Sure keeps ya thinking and trying to learn. But every once in a while you run into one that does the teaching. I’m fortunate to have one like that in our lot now.
Brandy…AQHA “Sweet Donna Twist”…She learns things so quick you gotta be ready to move along when you step up on her. It’s sort of a process of show her what to do, refine it so she does it nice, then let her show you what it feels like when it’s done right.
She has tons of natural ability. Even fairly advanced moves seem easy for her. Never really get that clumsy feeling most of them have when their learning. She works with a lot of “float” in the reins and seems very comfortable being collected and flexed. She works in a smooth 3/8″ snaffle. Just a shake of the rein gets a response.
Brandy was originally a Christmas present for my wife Chris. She wanted a baby horse and I found an internet ad for a place selling a bunch of bred mares by their stallions. Well the prices ranged from “yeah we could that” to “people really have that kinda money?”. Brandy was part of the first group. Dirt cheap. Pasture bred to “Joeledojack” an AQHA palomino stallion. I really liked “Joe” because I look for disposition first. But he had everything else to go with it.
So now we have to find out why “Brandy” was “dirt cheap”. Well when they let her out of the stall into a small indoor round pen I found out why….bronc. 3 years old, recently from an Iowa ranch and never really handled. But she showed her athletic abilities in that little pen. Changed leads, spun on her back end and slid to stops. And bucked…a lot. Being that most of the owners clients were halter and western pleasure folks, Brandy’s price fell into the toilet. When the lady told me the price I told Chris not to walk but run to the truck and get the checkbook.
When we first got her home the farrier charged me an extra 10 bucks for her cause she was such a handful…and I gladly paid it. Now I think my 3 year old granddaughter could pick her feet up and trim her. I can no longer say I’ve never seen a horse lope in a 10′x12′ stall. That happened first time with fly spray. Last time I had my granddaughter in the saddle with me Chris sprayed Brandy head to toe with fly spray. My first few rides on her were worth the price of admission. Especially the one where she tried to throw me into a water trough.
The best thing about it is “Jack”, our yearling stud colt is out of Brandy. I’ve always felt that horses get their athleticism from their dad and their brains and disposition from their mom. I think I see that in Jack. He’s got some awful high expectations to meet but I think he’ll be up to it. And I think Bandit and Junior told him about that gelding thing so he knows he better be good.
They say good horses make good trainers. It’s a matter of having one that’ll teach you what it’s supposed to feel and look like. The ones that make it seem easy. Then when another doesn’t quite “get it” you ain’t confused right along with em. I’ve got a darned long way to bein a good trainer. But at least I got a good teacher.
I recently watched a couple videos by Larry Rose. He ain’t much for words. Most of the video is him training…no talking. Great videos and I highly recommend them by the way. But the one thing he does say in both videos is “if you find a good horse, buy it”. Makes a whole lot sense once you know what he means.
First thing comes to mind is “who cares?”. well don’t matter none to me cause I’m gonna tell ya anyhows.
Illinois weather gets pretty interestin this time of year. Wear everything you own one day to fight off the wind chill then get peeled down to keep from sweatin the next. Makes for pretty darn bad ground conditions too. Since my “indoor arena” is the 12′ wide aisle of our barn, gotta put up with the nasties when you get a chance to ride this time of year.
Been doin some horse transport..just local stuff. It’s a pretty good gig, get to meet some new folks and their horses. Chris, my wife, and I are “team drivers”. She does most of the unloaded miles and I slide over when we get loaded up. And I get to do all the miles backin up. A lot of stops are narrow drives where you gotta back into the road around a corner and such. Wish folks would think a little about that when they set up their properties but it’s just part of the job I guess.
Now with everything goin on what do you think is the last thing we needed? How about a yearling dun colt? Yup, our daughter Heather sweet talked Grandma and Grandpa out of a Doc’s Hickory colt. Of course if I was half sane I’d have said “absolutely not, are you nuts?” Course when it came out it sounded more like, “I don’t care”. Which if you know me for a while that translates into…”When can we pick him ip and get him over here???” He’s a good little fella and of course he’ll grow up to be an AQHA Superhorse.
Time sure does fly. All the equipment maintenance that is supposed to be done way back when is piling up like it does every year. Few nice days here and there remind me better get to it or it’ll be gettin in the way of ridin and stuff once spring starts inching in. Flatbed trailer needs wiring and paint job, tractor needs regular maintenance, truck needs to get tuned up, barn and property needs cleanin after winter. Best get to it I suppose.
Show season won’t be long away. Is there really horses under that winter hair and dirt? How come my dogs and goats can run through a mud puddle and stay clean but the horses could get dirty in a hospital?
MJ’s goin to make me rich and famous. Got me in the first Les Vogt newsletter!! I suppose maybe winnin the World Series or the Super Bowl is kinda nice but, WOW, to get in the Les Vogt newsletter now that’s the big time!!!!! Gonna start carryin a pen with me to sign autographs and stuff.
If you wanna see some pictures and stuff look at our website. www.home.earthlink.net/~accuratedesign
Since I hear “we’re not ready to show yet” quite a lot from folks I figured I’d tell about my first show.
I was about 18 when I bought my first horse from a buddy and kept her at his barn. A 9 yo AQHA dun mare…”Susie”. She stood about 14.2 and was as broke as they come. She’d been used as a ranch horse so there wasn’t much she hadn’t seen. I put a lot of miles on her on the roads and trails.
After a few months into my new found passion there was a flyer for a horse show coming to a small town near us. Just a little open show with the usual halter and pleasure classes. So my buddy talks me into trying it. I figured it’d just be some locals getting together on a Saturday to ride their horses a little.
Friday night was spent getting spiffed up. Bath (Susie and me), clip bridle path, clip the mane, cut off some whiskers (Susie and me), some extra brushing, wipe off the saddle and tack, shine up the boots, clean shirt and pants and we’re ready to go. Buddy said my clip job looked like it was done 2 weeks before.
Now I didn’t have a trailer at the time and never was much one for borrowing stuff so only one option left…ride to the show. It was about 6 or 7 miles…no big deal…figured probably be some other folks that lived close be doing the same. So we saddle up in the morning and head off. My buddy and his wife would come over later in the truck to watch.
Well we ride over and come around the last corner to a little surprise. Big shiny rigs, living quarter trailers, fancy shiny horses, people wearing show clothes that cost more than my truck. Well maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Figured at least I could sit on my horse and watch since I’d rode over here.
So buddy shows up and I chastise him for getting me to do this. Told him I rode all the way over here when I coulda came in the truck to watch. He’s laughing…now I’m figuring out why he came in the truck. So he wanders off and next thing I know he comes back with a back number….tells me he paid my entry in the western pleasure class so I’d better go over to the warm up area and get ready.
I go over to the warm up area. Gotta wear sunglasses for the sun shinin off all that silver on them saddles. Them horses were lopin slower than Susie’s walk. I remember thinking if she loped that slow we’d never get home. So we just kinda walk and trot around so we wouldn’t lap the rest of em too many times.
Now it’s time. I go into the arena feeling like people called all their friends and relatives just to watch me screw this up. I figure out to stay by the rail and kinda keep in a single line. So far so good, just walking. Then judge calls for the trot. Now if Susie had a fault it was her trot…pretty darned rough. But once she got with those other horses it was a nice slow, pretty smooth trot. I guess she kinda figured out this show thing quicker than I did. Once we loped she tried her best to match them other horses but we still lapped em.
So I figured we survived and could be on our way home. But the judge calls some of us to the center. I figured we did something wrong but there was some pretty nice horse there in the center with us. Judge walks down the line and starts asking each rider to back their horse. I couldn’t wait until he got to us. Susie would back up with the best of em. Trot backwards if I asked her to but it seemed judge wanted a slow back. So he gets to us and I touch her with the rein and give a little squeeze…Susie locks up tighter than a federal prison. Won’t move. A little more rein and she throws her head up. Judge moves down the line. Her way of saying this goin slow horse show stuff really wasn’t her thing and she didn’t want to be getting no ribbons and having me haulin her to shows.
We leave the arena and buddy comes over all happy cause we made the final cut. Said we’d of probably won something if we coulda backed up. Think Susie smiled when he said that. On the ride home a few of them shiny rigs passed us on the road. Susie was showin em what a real lope was….one that gets you home at the end of the day.
I think any good trainer will tell you his/her most important tool is time. All the techniques and equipment in the world won’t make a horse without time and effort. But this is a hurry up world. Time is money and all that garbage.
I watched a tape the other night on dressage training for young horses . I don’t remember his name but it was by a very high level trainer.
Although there were some good techniques involved, the biggest thing that struck me was the training times. What I would consider to be done in months, weeks or maybe even days he took YEARS to train. What he said should be accomplished in the first year I try to basically try to put on a colt in the first few weeks.
Since my patience level is usually about as short as a politician’s promise, I really have to keep myself in check when working with a horse. Doesn’t always work out that well but next time I get that “we ain’t gettin nowhere” feeling…I’ll hear that German fella’s voice telling me it doesn’t happen overnight….or maybe even not this year.
Here’s a little about the tack and gear I like to use.
Saddle: I’ve got a Billy Cook saddle that’s goin on 30 years old. I believe when I got it was called a steer roping. Sounds about right cause it weighs as much as good sized steer. It’s plain as day - not a lick of tooling except for the maker stamp. It has seen it’s rough days…uncooperative colts, brush, weather. It’s got some scratches and some discoloration but it’s still in great shape and just fits…the horses and me. I’ve had offers to buy it but I suppose it’ll be one of things that gets buried with me.
Cinch: For training and short rides I’ve come to like the neoprene cinches. The Smart Cinch from Weaver works pretty good and they don’t cost a whole lot. They hold good and seem to be pretty good on the horse. Easy to clean too. Mohair cinches are great but they tend to pick up sand around here with puttin the saddle on and off different horses and such. I’ve just got some info on horsehair cinches from a cowboy board I look into. I might just try one if the money tree bears any fruit this season.
Pads and Blankets: Nothing fancy for me. When I started out there wasn’t all the pads and stuff they got now. I don’t really recall ever soring a horse cause of a pad. Therefore my stuff is pretty unexciting. I like the ones with the fleece stuff for most riding. In the brush and for long rides wool pads for me. Starting colts and “enthusiastic” horse I use a wool blanket instead of a pad…I think they keep the saddle from slipping alot better.
Wife has and Impact Gel pad for her mare that cost probably as much as all mine together. It sure is nice but heavy. It does work well for her. If I ever learn how to rope good enough to catch something besides the horse I’m riding I think I’d get me one. I think it’d work well for taking the shock out of a critter pulling one the saddle.
Breast Collar: Can’t say I ever really use one. Probably should I guess. Maybe I’ll try and get in the habit cause there is a couple of them in the barn.
Flank Cinch: Since I don’t rope mine is usually hanging in the barn. I do like to use them some when starting horses just so they are broke to it. I was taught to not put em on too tight or too loose…about where you can get your hand under it. And never use one that ain’t attached to the front cinch.
Bridles: For snaffle bits browband style only. For curbs I use either browband or a one ear. One I really like is from Weaver Leather made of latigo leather. Very plain and I think cost around 15 bucks. But they hold up really good and get real nice and soft if you oil em. Fits every horse I’ve had it on and got a throat strap that I think is important. Mine lead a hard life being I use them for training and colt starting. They been dropped, stepped on and otherwise treated badly. A little cleaning and they’re good as new. When they bury me I’m gonna have them throw one of them bridles in the hole with me.
Bits: Be writin a whole book if we get into this one. Like most stuff, gimmicks and fads don’t work.
Reins: I grew up with leather reins and that’s what feels best to me. I can get along with rope, horsehair, braids, etc. but when it gets serious there’ll be leather in my hands. About 5/8″ works for me. They gotta be long enough so the ends hang down nice…too short and it always feels like they’re pulling outta your hands. I like em good soft so they feel like they got some life in em. Never used rawhide reins but they sure are pretty.
Cavesson: I like to use a cavesson with my snaffle bit rigs. I use a leather one, again nothing fancy. Gotta be careful with them and get them adjusted right. It’ll sometimes scare a horse if it’s too tight and they ain’t used to it. Most times if that happens they’ll wanna rear up and maybe flip over.
Slobber Straps: I use them on my snaffle rigs except when showing. i like the feel of them and the wieght they add near the bit. I also think they give some vibration to the bit giving the horse subtle cues. Since slobber straps you buy are made with a big hole for rope reins, I made my own of a little different design so I can use them with leather reins.
Training Fork: I use a simple martingale that I think they call a Texas training fork. Nothing but leather straps with rings for the reins to go through. Some horses do real well with it others don’t accept it too well. It’s not for starting colts and it’s another simple looking piece of equipment that can be dangerous if not used right.
Leg Boots: I don’t use leg boots on young horses. It’s my belief that support boots hinder tendon development and it’s not really a bad thing if a colt bumps themselves once in a while…makes em pay attention to their footwork. But I don’t push my colts into very stressful maneuvers.
On older horse that is at a higher performance level I have a set of Classic Equine support boots that I really need to get in the habit of using. I also have a set of standard splint boots which I like to use. I’ve also got the bell boots but haven’t had a big need to use them. Once a horse starts getting the idea of stopping on their back end I put em in leather skid boots. One bad experience of a burned fetlock can set things back quite a bit. I prefer the leather ones but probably just habit…the neoprene boots probably work good too.
Shoes: Well this would be a long subject itself. I believe in barefoot horses for the most part but sliders are a necessity. Get the best farrier you can find and make sure you learn enough about it that you are 100% confident in what he/she is doing.