Welcome to JKs Rough String Ranch

Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Friday, January 9, 2009

A Great Afternoon Ride

Yesterday's rain let up, but the wind blew 30 mph gusts all day long...I'm just not going to do that...fine, go ahead and call me a fair weather rider ;~) Yea, I'm talkin' at ya Tracey!

Today was cold, but sunny and no wind. I let it warm up a lil' bit and went out after lunch. It was pretty nice ground, but still frozen hard in some of the shaded parts...which was about half the round pen. After a quick warm in there, I took Colt to the arena and it was really good footing there.

We took a quick ride down to the irrigation pump after our workout and saw that the repair guys had come and taken the turbo pump. It's getting an overhaul before next season. No pump, no water...no alfalfa...gotta keep the equipment in good shape.

After that I decided I would try my hackamore on Colt to see if the size was going to fit him. Oh he sure looks cute in it!!!


The size is right, so I don't have to worry about the new one that is being made for me. It'll be a 5/8" around, which is bigger around than this one and better for starting him in. I had a spur of the moment idea, prompted by Brown Eyed Cowgirls, to ride him bareback with the hackamore and see how he liked it. She had a great post about "When Horses Love Their Owners" and I decided to do something that I'd never done with Colt...ride him just for fun...bareback!

It was great fun! I'm lousy at getting on a horse bareback, so I had to get him over to the rail to get on, but he was quite accommodating. We dinked around with that hackamore and I really think he liked it! He was so soft and supple in as soon as he understood the feel. I'm really excited to get going with the hackamore training...hope my new one comes soon!!! But, it sure was fun riding bareback and he didn't mind it at all.

~~~~~

Well, then I thought I needed to ride Whiskey. He's actually My Man's horse that we got last year for him for roping at brandings. He is probably one of the best bred horses we'll ever own. His sire is Paddys Irish Whiskey that stands at the 6666 Ranch in Texas. This is Whiskey's (his registered name is Whiskey Easy) pedigree on All Pedigree.com.

Whiskey is 11 years old and has been buckaroo'd on for 6 years on a ranch over in Nevada. He really knows cattle, branding, doctoring, and all that stuff. My Man gets along with him very good and really likes him. But, he tends to want to crow hop a lil when you bring him out after not being ridden for a while, and I sure don't want My Man getting dumped. We're supposed to maybe trail some cattle over to the Round Barn this weekend with our neighbors, and Whiskey hasn't been ridden since last fall. So, I figured a lil' ride wouldn't hurt.

In the past, Whiskey and I haven't gotten along...he's always crow hopped with me every time I tried to ride him (Whiskey acted like I was a lil' kid that he could buffalo or something), and I decided to try something different. I warmed him up in the round pen with the saddle...not a buck, nothing. I rode him in the round pen...no crow hopping, nothing. I went down to the arena, and all was well until one of the dogs came out from behind a stack of lodge poles and Whiskey spooked and took off crow hopping like crazy. I just pulled him back and to the side and got him stopped...then took off again like nothing happened...not 2 minutes later, he let out a nice big kick and I had to reprimand him for that...he got his butt planted in the ground and a lil' spur to the left and then to the right and a good verbal scolding!

After all was said and done, he did fine. As I suspected, he was treating me as if I were a kid (well I only weigh 105 lbs) and he was trying to pull one over on me...I feel like I've got his button now. I think we're ready if we get to trail cattle tomorrow. If we don't...My Man needs to ride his horse!!!!!

11 comments:

  1. We have one of those crow hoppers. He just does it to us women and girls. Sadly though I'm not good at discplining him so he's still at it sometimes. We don't know anything about his history. My FIL bought him in TN and brought him to NM. I just know that he doesn't care for us women!

    Whiskey is a pretty bay horse. Bays are my favorite!

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  2. Cool read, just don't buy a long flowing blond wig and do a Lady Godiva impersonation...;-)

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  3. Cool! I'm happy that you had such a great time riding Colt bareback. That's my favorite way to ride Baby Doll. I just have her in her Bitless or a halter and rope and we just ride around. It was the way my instructor taught me to have a good balanced seat on my horse. I hadn't ridden my mare bareback for a few months when my fall happened. Maybe I should have ridden bareback more? sigh.

    Naughty Whiskey. Good for you reminding him you're no push-over. My horse, Baby Doll also crowhops on occasion if she thinks we should head back to the barn while out on the trail near our house. She settles down when she realizes she's not going to change my mind.

    I can only guess what my mare's gonna do when I get back to riding her after 6-8 months of being not ridden.
    My instructor friend has offered to ride my Orca once a week until I can ride. I think I'll take her up on her offer. haha!

    ~Lisa

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  4. We had a stud that was a Grandson of Peppy San Badger, we just gelded him. He was a bucker too. You could ride him for about 15 minutes and then he would buck, always. My husband gelded him and then started roping off of him, and yep, still bucked. We are going to try and rope off of him this spring. Hopefully we can get his card!!

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  5. Oh and I forgot!! Colt looks good in a hack, he is such a sweet boy! I bet it was fun riding bareback, i haven't done that in ages!!

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  6. He is good looking in it! Woo hoo bareback. I haven't tried it on Willis yet. I'm like you I am not graceful getting on bareback, especially a 15+ horse! Was it his first time?
    Glad you got to ride. It is 20+mph winds here today and cold. So I don't think I'm going to ride either!

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  7. And who says horses don't have a sense of mischief!? Colt gets more and more handsome with each post you do about him :)
    I hope you don't mind, I have tagged you to do a meme on my blog.

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  8. Alas the lat time I barebacked it I got bucked off so hard I'm still healing up. I'm almost afraid to try it again:(

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  9. Really like that little hac-I'm actually looking for a small one like that, one that can fit under a bridle easily. I'm trying to make the trasition from the hac to the ported bit.
    I ride bareback once in awhile too, it sure helps keep that old bu-tox in shape!

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  10. I used to prefer to ride bareback...never could get up though without the help of a rail, or rock or such...so I was 'glued' and never got off until the ride was over!
    Glad you are having some good weather!

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