Harney County Reined Cow Horse Futurity-2010 (Colt)

~If men want to smell like cattle, they should bed down with them.~

~Kathleen Madder 1919~

This year sure went fast...another show season is done. I've been so busy this past week with getting Colt and Gus ready for the Futurity, we haven't been visitin' anybody's blogs. When we get back from our week at Pendleton, I hope things get back to normal...missin' you all!!

Everyone thought it was a great competition this year...the weather could have been a little more cooperative, but it could have been worse. Our normal sunny 85 degree September fair days just weren't to be...cool temps, wind, clouds and quite a bit of rain. But, we all survived.

I'll let the video tell the story on Colt's herd and fence work. The reining is so boring, the I just couldn't include any of it. There's nice sunshine on Day 1 during the herd work, but Day 2 brought the heavy clouds and rain. My Man had a hard time following me because it was so dark on the camera screen...so he missed my first turn on the fence :(





LOL~listen to my friends helpin' me out...that was so cool...thank you all for your support! At the end, I wasn't sure if I'd got that final circle or if the judge blew the whistle because I ran out of time...so, that's why I asked "Did I get it?"

The results? We ended up in third place overall...I'm so proud of Colt!!!

L-R 1st place Corey Shelman, 2nd place MaryLee White, 3rd place Colt & me, Wendy Rickman giving out the awards.

It was an honor to be in the company of two of the best horsemen in the County.

What's in that big blue bag? A really cool, fancy camping chair with a leather plaque on it...I love it!! Can't wait to take it to Pendleton!

But the day's not over yet...the finale is the "Harney County Super Horse" award. The top 10 scores of the horses in the 5 year old, 6 year old, and Senior Horse Open get to compete...we ranked #8! I was just thrilled that I made the top 10! What did we have to do? Rope...something I don't do...yet. We didn't have a chance to make it, but, what the heck, I'm not going to turn down the opportunity to get Colt into the pen and at least follow a cow!!!

Waiting for the "Super Horse" roping.

Colt looks like he's ready to go to sleep...and I'm sure he'd rather be home at this point...it's a rough life being a cow pony!! That was a big wad of rope in my left hand; the mecate, the romel reins, and the rope. I got lots of coaching from my friends! In fact the gal in the photo behind me is my friend Debbi, who encouraged me to continue on into the two-rein...if she hadn't, I wouldn't have been here...thanks Deb!

Gettin' into the herd...

...got one separated...

...and a big miss!

(These were stills from the camera movie, so that's why they're so small)


Needless to say, we didn't catch, but Colt was right there following and trying. He stayed calm and listened to everything I asked him to do...even though I didn't know what I was doin'! The up side on this is that we got invited to help brand some calves this fall, we got invited to another friend's place where her husband (who's a darn good roper) will give me a lesson, and one of the best ropers in the county told me that I had a really nice horse and that he should be headin' steers off of him! I was proud as punch...even though I was pretty embarrassed!

Who won the "Harney County Super Horse"? Well...my friend Debbi!! Whooohoooo! Go Cowgirls!!!

So, that was Colt's big news...I'll get a post up for Gus' debut in his 2 year old halter class.

Thanks for all of your support and well wishes...we really appreciate your friendship!!

Smoky Pritchett Clinic & Life at the Ranch

~If I ever become successful in life, I'm 
going to get me a ranch of my own.~

~Emily Downs 1892~

The days are flying by!!! It's already Wednesday, and I'm finally sneaking time in to do a blog about last weekend! I've got my Horsefly publication deadline coming up...and some ag surveys to do also...OK...gotta make this quick!

The Smoky Pritchett clinic was awesome!

The only photo of the clinic. I was too busy listening!!

Every rider got to work one on one with Smoky with a maneuver in the reining pattern...rider's choice. Horses were at all levels of training (green snaffle bit to bridle) and riders were of all ages (youth and adult). What everyone's main point of trouble boiled down to moving the horse's body parts...hip, shoulder, nose. For example with the lead departure, the hip needs to be to the inside as well as the nose...and the horse drives from the hip to pick up the correct lead. If the body parts can't be moved by the rider, the horse won't be able to do the maneuver very well.

For me personally, I rode Colt in the two-rein and asked Smoky for some help on getting him starting correctly and some basic use tips. Since I've never had any formal training with the two-rein, it seemed like a good place to start...from a man who's been there and done that! I brought along my hackamore just in case, but never had to use it.

After Smoky helped me adjust my bosal under the bridle correctly, we got started. First he had me pick up the bridle reins...well, I'd only been riding Colt with just contact on the hackamore reins...so, I took the slack out. We practiced his neck reining...making sure that Colt's eye was tipped to the inside. We'd spiral down in the circle and come back out in the same direction and pick up the lope. Colt tends to drop his shoulder going to the left and I need to work on keeping him balanced. It was a really good exercise to get the horse positioned correctly.

After we had finished, I told Smoky that I'd never picked up the bridle reins before today...he said that it seemed like I had and that I had a really nice horse. That was a wonderful compliment coming from a man with his background!

Then after everyone had their one on one, we each got to box a cow...a fresh one at that too! I've never had professional help with my boxing or fence work either, so it was a great learning experience. I just need to do my job..."stop the cow!" I've got to make sure that going to the left I get in front of the cow (I tend to lag behind too far) and then Colt needs to finish his stop before he turns (rider adjustment).

There was another gal there in the two-rein and she'd been in it for a year, so I got great info from watching and listening to her works.

It was supposed to be a two hour clinic, and it ran 3 hours and 15 minutes...but everyone was learning and they wanted everyone to get their works in...it was a great day!

After the clinic, they started the horse sale. This is the annual Shelman Family Horse Sale. I didn't stay too long, but saw this photo op and couldn't resist:

If you want to sell a horse, get a cute lil' buckaroo to show it for ya!

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It's been pretty hot for the past week or so...the dogs are taking full advantage of the pool too!

Abby loves her pool and is always laying down in the cool water!

Everyone except Abby only wants to get their feet wet...Abby's the water dog!

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What do you do on a hot Saturday night at the Rough String? Well, stack hay in the barn...what else is there to do?!?

First My Man puts 3 bales in the tractor bucket...

...then My Man stacks it in the barn....what am I doing? I'm driving...and taking pictures!

This photo in the barn looks like it's snowing...but it's just hay dust emphasized by the flash. We finally got done around 9:15 PM or so...we only have to stack 3 more loads (including our own alfalfa bales).

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Hmmmmmm...Sunday...what shall we do? Let's put in the new deck!

My Man got a smokin' deal on this "already built" deck that was used for a home and garden show...and we'd been thinking about putting a deck off the front steps.

Whala...instant deck!

This load made that lil' tractor grunt!

This is probably the heaviest load our lil' tractor has ever carried...My Man had to drive it in backwards because it didn't steer right! But after wiggling it around for a while, he finally got it into place.

We placed pier pads underneath it...and it's in!

Now all of the landscaping comes (that's like my job). I'm planing on using the "lasagna" method. This link talks about vegetable gardens, but it's the same theory for flower beds. If anyone has had any experience with this method, I'd love to hear your thoughts...pros or cons.

The pups have moved right in!

The posts are coming off the deck and My Man is going to make a cedar flower trough along the front that will hide the pier blocks. Finish it off with one of my Leopold benches, a two chair bistro set and the BBQ...we're ready for outdoor entertaining...until the skeeters drive us indoors ;~)

A picture perfect ending to another great weekend!

The hay is cut...raked this AM...and now I hear thunder and it looks pretty dark up behind our hill...pray that the rain and wind hold off for a couple of days~

Colt Experiences the Two-Rein

It's been a struggle for me, both mentally and physically, to make the decision to move Colt to the two-rein this year...for my Harney County Reined Cow Horse Futurity, it's required as a 5 year old horse.

Mentally it's been a challenge because the two-rein is something I've never done before with a horse (totally new territory). Is Colt ready?...am I ready to take on the responsibility to guide Colt to the next level in his training with this huge bit and under-bridle??? OMG...the last thing I want to do is screw him up!

I happened to see one of our neighbor's over in Idaho at the vet hospital earlier this year and she said that Colt and I were a team...we had to continue our journey...we couldn't quit.

Well, I wasn't going to quit...I had basically decided that I was just going to put Colt's advanced training on a holding pattern until I worked out his advancement through my training Project with Mike Bridges.

But, this friend/neighbor wasn't the only person who said that I had to keep going (peer pressure ya know?)...so I decided to give it my best shot.

So, then it became a physical issue...it takes a long time to get the right bit and the right reins (that I could afford) to come together...I've finally got it all together and put it on Colt today. The "under-bridle" (the smaller bosel and mecate rein) were won by my Ol' Man Toby in my first year with the cutting club...I'm so excited that I get to use them with Colt!

Hey Mom...I'm a good sport about
everything...but what's with all this garb???

Colt looks so grown up!!! He was such a good boy as I adjusted everything to fit as best as I knew how.


OK everyone...HEAR ME NOW...if Colt's not ready so show in the futurity in September in the two-rein I WILL NOT show him...PERIOD.

I'm excited to learn about the development of the bridle horse in the two-rein phase, and will be studying to learn as much as I can.

We'll just see how it goes between now and September!