reinersblog.com

Hi! Sorry for being so quiet lately! Guess what I’ve been doing? Riding horses and chasing cows! I’m been having so much fun. You know, chasing cows is a lot like longing horses, putting pressure on the hip speeds then up and pressure on the head slows them down. Piece of cake right? Pffft!

I don’t have a bunch of time to write because I’m behind on everything, but heres the quick summary:

• Turns out Leo is super supple and I’ve done “a great job” there
• I “get” the cows. Does that mean I’m cowy?
• Leo and I are horrible at turn-arounds, which means, it’s really me thats horrible at turn-arounds.
• We did our first flying lead change. Woooooooooo!!!! It was ugly, but we did it!!!
• I have a riding instructor/amazing horse trainer that is a total keeper
• Leo is going to his first team-roping this weekend. This is a pass or fail for him so keep your fingers crossed.
• Best news of all! Leo is coming home after the roping next week. (Of course, if he does horribly at the roping, he’ll probably only be home for a short time, but I’ll worry about that if it happens.)

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! Hows training going? How are the horses? Whats going on?

As soon as we arrived at the ranch today, I jumped out of the car and starting searching through paddock after paddock for Leo. Jim whistled for him. We didn’t know where he was. Jim went to chat with the owner, and I headed for the stalls. Since the sun was so high outside, it seemed very dark in the halls. “Leo?” “Leo?” I peered into stall after stall, until finally there he was! LEOOOOOO!!! He poked his little nose out at me and I couldn’t have been happier.

He looks a little thinner, but beefy, like he’s been working. The trainer saddled him up to show Jim how he’s doing after two weeks. After a short warm up, they ran some steer. First I watched Leo, how still he was in the box, and how well he rated the steer when he came out. Then I watched the broad smile spread across Jim’s face. HE IS NOT SELLING LEO!!! Haaaaaahaaaaaaaaa!!!! YAY!!!
This trainer is pretty wonderful. Leo looked so easy and relaxed under him. I wanted to hug him when he was telling us how bad it is to jerk or kick a horse around. He has a lot to teach and a nice way of teaching it.
I had a lesson with Leo that went so well. I learned a lot that I want to talk about and will in the coming weeks.

Main things though:

• Leo was signed up for another month of training
• I’ve signed up for lessons with Leo and the trainer for every weekend
• The trainer is extremely familiar with Les Vogt’s 5 easy pieces (he’s been to 10 of his clinics) and weaves them into his own lifelong experience

When I put Leo up and said my goodbyes, I told him with a huge grin on my face and watery eyes, what a good boy he is, how smart he is, and thanked him for all the hard work. I kissed his fuzzy nose, gave him way too many treats, and just about danced back to my car. It was a good day.

Wow what a week! We have a “little” Norwegian parade in my neighborhood on the 17th of May (Syttende Mai) each year. It’s to celebrate Norway’s Constitution Day. This neighborhood has always been known as the Scandinavian area of Seattle and our Syttende Mai parade is the biggest one outside of Norway.

I’m part of a committee that organizes a group of Norwegian Fjord Horses to participate in the parade. It’s so much fun to see the kids interacting with the ponies. Some of them have never met a horse in real life. Oh! And we got a first prize trophy for the 2nd year in a row! Woo! Woo! Heres a good little video of the parade, we’re in there somewhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWi7Pa1Hfx0

About Leo. guess WHAT!!! He’s doing great! One of the trainers called Jim and said, “Well, you know, your horse has a temper….” We got a pretty big chuckle out of that. But the good news is that they don’t think there is anything seriously wrong with Leo. They think he’s got all the tools and will make a great rope horse. The only thing is getting past his temper.

I can’t wait to see him. I just really want to check on him and make sure he’s doing ok; you know, give him a hug and let him know we haven’t abandoned him. It’s going to take me about 3 hours to drive out. Long drive for a lesson eh? I can’t waaaaait to see him though!
I’m feeling really good about having a lesson too. Even though my last lesson was such a bad experience, I have a good feeling about the trainer. Also, I’ll be with Leo, not some horse I don’t know. I feel a lot more secure with him, temper or no, he’s my pal.

Everyone has an idol. When it comes to horse training, mine is Les Vogt. Even though I’d never met him, I had this idea about the kind of person he was. He just seemed like such a nice person, and a natural born teacher with a sincere interest in helping people improve their horsemanship skills. I’ve been watching those training videos of his for months now.

Then again, do you really want to ever meet your idol in real life? What if he isn’t what you thought? What if he’s just a dude looking to make a buck; someone who doesn’t really care at all? I’ve heard stories about people meeting their idols before, stories of football heroes that wouldn’t give a kid an autograph; or a famous authors who talk down to their fans; stories about idol meetings that were devastatingly disappointing.

BUT THAT’S NOT MY STORY! LES VOGT WAS THE BEST!!! I got to attend one of his clinics this weekend (just watch; not with my horse). My brain is so full from everything I learned and my grin still hasn’t gone away.

He is the nicest person! And an amazing instructor–he tells you how to do it, shows you how to do it, and then has you show him how to do it. Everyone was having so much fun. My favorite moment was when one young woman, (after Les spent about 5 to 10 minutes with her), got her horse to do the most amazing slide. She couldn’t believe it! No one could. We all clapped and cheered like she’d won the gold.

I have a lot more to say about the clinic, but for now, I’ll just say, if you ever get the chance, go to his clinic. You won’t regret it.

Ok, I haven’t posted in awhile because I’ve been super busy with work, but also because my confidence got kicked into the dirt a little. No one’s fault really, but it made me realize that when you pick a trainer, you really need to do your homework first.

I had my first reining lesson about three weeks ago on a school horse. Long story short, I ended up getting off the horse, in tears, and walking out of the arena. I was completely convinced that I’m too thinned-skinned for riding lessons. Now that I’ve had a chance to calm down about it, I know that’s not true, but it will be awhile before I go hunting for a coach again.

I don’t know about riding instructors, but I’ve spent enough time in school to know that each teacher has his/her own style of teaching. I, naturally, learned the most with teachers that taught in a style that is best suited the way I learn. So, while the reining instructor that I had is probably extremely effective with other types of learners, with me the results were pretty upsetting (for both of us). I feel pretty bad about the way things ended up; the poor instructor probably didn’t know what happened to make me flee the arena.

I didn’t feel like riding for a week. I was walkin’ around with droopy shoulders and a “can’t do” attitude for days and days. You can only sulk around for so long though, I mean, there ARE horses to ride after all. So, one rainy afternoon, I pulled on my most cheerful pair of funny socks and marched out into the gray, the rain, and the mud and saddled up that “angry” horse that I love so much. After a few rides (and some Les Vogt DVD watching), all my self-confidence came back and I knoooow I can learn this stuff!

You know what would be great is if I could find an instructor that has also learned from Les Vogt, and teaches in a similar manner. Too much to ask? There must be one out there somewhere (hopefully in Washington State).

Yes…those are English riding boots. They’re comfortable okay! And anyway, it’s too muddy out to wear my new boots. Jeeeeeeeez!