Best birthday ever

bit · Best birthday ever

Great time playing with cows this weekend.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1990279407669&mid=5062

CoolsLadyInRed

Page not available?

HopeMissouri

The link is to a closed Facebook page. You must be a member of the FB group to view it.

Deb, maybe Roxanne could send you a copy to share here?

PasoBaby_CarolU

Very nice Deb. Looks like a great way to spend your birthday!

PS - I shared it, so those of you on Facebook can watch it.

bit

http://s658.photobucket.com/album...h%20-%20Fall%20of%202011/?mid=505

Hope this works. You can play as a slide show, but better with the music. It was a lovely time. Had moments of cenataur, where we just had to be somewhere else to hold a cow, and we moved as one. There wasn't time to ask, we would have been too late. It is truly the most amazing thing, your horse making decisions and you making decisions and moving as one. Sometimes Bit decided, sometimes I did. We were PARTNERS! I hope every one of you gets to feel this some time with your horse. Nothing like it!

Chablis

What an awesome time you had - lucky gal.

My last ride on Minx was helping my instructor in a demo - there was 100+ people there watching and I got a wee bit nervous...

but Minx filled in for me.

So proud of her.

CoolsLadyInRed

Happy Birthday, Deb!!!! Sounds like you had a great time with your partner. How did Bit know in the beginning( first cow clinic) what to do???

bit

I don't know how she knew. In a cow clinic, your horse starts by tracking a cow. Bit tracked about 300 cows. I just expected her to do it. I did what I learned on Eclipse in our cow clinic, and she just did it. I talked to her. "That cow, Bit. Get it." She did. She would move and the cow would move, like moving your hand through water, and the ripples happen. We were the hand and the cows were the ripple. You can zig zag and it sends out this wave of energy in front of you, and move several dozen cows. We were this rope of 12 riders, (I was somewhere near the middle and couldn't see the folks on the ends) and we just moved together in a line. The pasture was HUGE.

We had to sort calves from heifers in that pasture. We got them all bunched up, and Bit walked right in, we picked a cow and moved her out. I just expected she'd do it. I think I remember someone saying something about that one time. Buck or Brent? If you go, and your horse trusts you and knows they are safe with you, they'll go anywhere. Do anything.
Not all the horses were like that. Most were. The big white horse, Cash? He was out doing passage in the pasture. Picking up people's hats when they blew off. Gave me a full kiss, right up the side of my face. He can limp if you ask him if he's "snake bit", and will yawn if you ask him if he's tired. He was a freakin animal out there. When Cashie talks, cows listen.

Maybe you and your horse don't know what to do, at first. It happens, almost without you. All those things you practiced, suddenly there's a reason to do them, but you do them better. Maybe because you finally understand, and your horse sees why you are asking. After a while, you don't even have to ask. The horse knows what you are trying to do, and just starts doing it.
If you get the chance, do this. At the clinic a couple of weeks ago, there was a woman in a dressage saddle, with her dressage horse. You should have seen them! Suddenly, your horse is having fun. You are having fun. You are having fun, doing the same thing! How often can you say your horse has fun? With you? On his back. Exuberant FUN.

HopeMissouri

Clicking the "LIKE" button!

CoolsLadyInRed

I just had time to look through all the pix. FUN!!! I saw fireworks, bonfires, and hotdogs. How about the kids? Did they do ok out there? Were all those people doing the same thing as you? I imagine the lady at the food table was the hostess? Love the white horse. Can't miss him in the dark! There is just something about him. A presence. Was it cold? Saw winter coats.

bit

Middle 40's in the a.m., but warmed up nicely by the afternoon between 75 and 80. Bit would shiver in the shade of the trailer while I got her boots on, so I covered her with my lap blankie. Or maybe she was like me, out of shape and having a tough time moving.
In years past, there have been life flights out of there by "break back Cari". Her horse tripped and she broke her neck. The year before, she broke her elbow. They named places along the trail for people who had biffed it, and of course the famous helicopter landing pad. We cracked up when we saw a helicoptor flying low. Dang ambulance chaser. I was just thankful that no one named a bit of trail for me or Bit. This year there was a zen like quality to it, and even the cows were quite calm. David had some stories about having to work with the bulls that made me pretty sure I was sticking to heifers.