I competed at the NEMQHA Horseshow in Sidney on July 25 and 26th. I won 3 first place ribbons in Novice Showmanship, Novice Western Pleasure, and Novice Trail. Those judges know quality when they see it! (I was only naughty once).

At the show, a very nice lady by the name of Waynette Molloy asked MO to bring me to the Sidney Horse Extravaganza on August 5th, which is part of the County Fair in Sidney, MT. She thought I was so beautiful, that I should have a chance to be admired by more people.

When it was my turn to perform, MO and I ran into the arena together, just like I have always dreamed of doing! There was a good sized crowd, somewhere between 50 - 100 people in the grandstands watching ME!

MO planned to longe me in circles and ask me to rear. I was so enthused, that I didn’t longe well. I could tell MO was not pleased with my behaviour. I did rear very gloriously on command. The crowd gasped at how beautiful I was as I pawed the air, and broke into immediate applause.

I was completely thrilled with performing and did not want to load into the horse trailer to go home.

The Sidney Horse Extravaganza was awesome. MO agreed that in addition to my performance, there were some other very interesting, high quality horse exhibitions, including a jumping exhibition, side saddle riding, chuck wagon, a bareback reining/dressage performance, drill teams, and others.

Hope your summer is going great. I will have more stories to tell soon.

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She’s been telling me that there’s going to be less time with the typewriter this summer and she’s going to spend more time riding me…..Oh, that nasty word sweat came out of her mouth, too. I think it was a threat.

I have been trained to trot on the horse trotter…..MO always calls it a horse walker, but I have to trot….And the darn thing made me S-W-E-A-T. She says it’s for cooling horses off…..it makes me hot…I don’t know what the deal is….but I don’t like it….I have been a star student. MO spent quite a bit of time training me, she would walk with me when the thing was on, she would leave me tied to it for hours on end(stopped), she taught me to lead really good. Then I accidentally discovered the darn thing wouldn’t go unless I did. Whoooooo….I was so proud of myself…..I have never seen MO move so fast as she did when I stopped that thing.

Saturday, the three of us, ME, MO, and that darn dog, Noley, went to the local HS Rodeo. We parked in a back corner of the fairgrounds out of the way and MO proceeded to “season” me. I thought she was planning to sprinkle spices on me and eat me. But “seasoning” to MO means that I have to go places in the horse trailer, stand around all day, and get ridden, too. It was only about 40 degrees and I did some of my very best Hi Yo Silvers much to MO’s disgruntlement.

I tell you those HS Rodeoers are a lively bunch. They are used to galloping circles on a postage stamp. We were at the rodeo grounds from 9 am to about 4 pm. MO got so tired she had to take ME home. I guess both Noley and her were in bed for the night at 5:30 pm. I laid down on the ground as soon as they left the barn for the day. (MOH spilled the beans on me…..)

I’ve missed visiting with everyone….I will have more stories to tell soon.

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I anticipate there will be more Schneider’s apparel for me to try on soon.

She talked about Tack Suhs today.

I don’t quite understand what she’s talking about. I know what Tack is; it’s what MO puts on my body when she’s going to ride me. We don’t have Southern Accents up here, so I don’t understand the second syllable.

MO says it’s working for someone without pay for 5 months….

Being a horse, I think our life is much simpler….We work for free most of the time, but depending on who Your Owner is, you can get some pretty good perks. Me, I’ve already been included in the girls trip to the Black Hills again this year, because I was such a star last year!
MO feeds me really good….free choice alfalfa hay and free choice water, and it’s warmed in the winter time.

How would life be any better?

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She laid down in the night and MO and The World’s Best Husband spent a good portion of yesterday trying to talk her into getting up again, but she was ready to move on to green pastures.

She turned 24 on March 29th and spent all but 3 of those years living with MO’s family or with her extended familiy. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, she was a very generous and giving horse.

MO said this time of year (around equinox) is hard on old horses and old people as the pull of the moon is so strong. MO noticed that Can Can had been losing weight for a couple of weeks, not eating her grain and not eating very much hay.

Although sad about the situation, I did my job, I stood by Can Can to lend support until MO and TWBH came to relieve me. When Can Can passed I called to her repeatedly to try to get her to come back, but she chose to go.

MO is going to put together a tribute to Can Can and post in a few days.

Technorati Tags: Can Can, Katy Kan Wish, Old Tom Cat, Wish for Sioux

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MO was out to see me last weekend. The weather was pretty nice and she longed me in the snow. I laid down and rolled in it repeatedly. Horses are so smart! I know how to get clean! I am starting to shed. Of course, being the wooly mammoth that I am, it’s my shorter hairs that are shedding…I am saving all the long hairs for the next storm…

MO says it’s interesting to see what a horse will remember from the previous year’s training. Well, let’s see what did I remember? I remember how to longe in a circle. I remember how to turn around in this circle, if I’m forced to.(not on cue) I really love doing my very best Hi Ho Silver Away’s for MO when she makes me change directions.

MO says it’s obvious that I remember the desensitizing training. I guess she thought I wouldn’t remember anything.

I will sidepass away from her on cue and make half hearted attempts to sidepass towards her on cue.

MO says my biggest take a way from last year is remembering to side pass to her so she can mount. We did practice that quite a lot. I became proficient at being mounted from the side of the corral, the pickup tail gate, a picnic bench, a half barrel and any place else she could think up. It shouldn’t have surprised her that I remembered my training well. Of course, MO didn’t ask me to side pass so she could mount me; I just wanted to get finished with the longing game and she asked me not to approach. What’s a girl to do? If I can’t approach directly, I will side pass up to her!

The horse shoer came a couple weeks a go and trimmed my hooves. I really impressed MO with my improvement over last year. I stood patiently on 3 of the 4 feet. On the last foot, I rebelled a little bit and was not polite for a few minutes, then I cooperated.

Ahhh! Spring…….

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One thing about our place, it’s never boring. MO is very careful to place her feet correctly on the ground/snow and is also very particular that I place my feet just how she wants them. She helps me watch for ice patches when we ride in the spring and for holes when we ride in the summer time. Her help has been useful a time or two.

Anyway, she was striding along in a most purposeful way watching the ground as she does for bad footing, patches of ice, trails in the snow, and dodging hard clumps of horse poop and she walked into the overhead brace of one of our gates. Boom! Down on the ground flat on her back. MO is just like a Mexican jumping bean; she was back up on her feet and going again. This time she ducked her head for the gate….Normally, she has plenty of clearance over her head at the gate, and we don’t use this gate often. With our extra snowfall this year, she no longer had adequate clearance.

MO is a positive thinker…she said it was a good thing she had on a hoodie, a thinsulate cap, and a headband/ear warmer to cushion the blow.

Can Can was so excited to see MO she wanted to play her favorite game which is called “Chase Marilyn around the pens.” I wasn’t really in favor of this, but I consented to play when she came after me with her mouth wide open. Of course, MO and Her Husband were standing around so I tried to run over them as a short cut.

Can Can, even though she’s old, is interested in going a lot faster and turning a lot harder than I am. She tells me stories of how she was pretty good in barrel racing/pole bending in her younger years and I guess I would have to believe her as quickly as she can get around our round bale feeder when she is chasing me!

Welcome Home MO!!

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MO is going to wait until the snow disappears and the weather warms up before she uses the ball with ME, but she continues to ride her gymnic plus ball on a daily basis.

Also included with the ball was an offer from Weaver Leather for a free 95 minute DVD called Ride Safely on the Trail, featuring Stacy Westfall. Of course, MO had to get that, too.

MO had a chance this past weekend to watch the DVD. Here is the list of chapters on the DVD.
Chapter 1. Introduction. An overview of the topics covered in this DVD.
Chapter 2. Important Safety Tips. A wide range of safety tips to keep in mind before you hit the trail.
Chapter 3. Training on the Trail. Stacy will cover many common problems horse and rider may encounter on the trail. You’ll learn about forward movement with helpful tips on crossing streams and mud. You’ll also learn about proper seat position and its role in going up and down hills as well as an in-depth look at the one-rein stop.
Chapter 4. In the Arena. This chapter shows you a variety of arena training exercises that will help prepare you for the trail. You’ll see Stacy demonstrate bending with a lunge whip or a stick and string and exercises with a ball that can help control your horses emotions. She’ll also reenact scenarios you may encounter on the trail.
Chapter 5. Back on the Trail. In this chapter, Stacy will take you back on the trail to apply the previous chapter’s arena exercises to real-life trail situations.
Chapter 6. Contact information. How to contact Weaver Leather and Westfall Horsemanship.

Overall, a very interesting and informative training DVD. Stacy is very clear in her presentation of ideas and has a common sense approach. MO liked the fact that we watched footage of an inexperienced horse on the trail, then working in the arena, and then back out to the trail. Stacy worked with Sage, a 5 year old mare, in Chapter 4 with the Equine Activity Ball and demonstrated how much the ball can help a horse to relax and control its emotions.

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