Ranch Trail

Apr 142017

By Patty Wilber

Recently, in the horse show world, there has been an explosion of Ranch Horse classes. They are a lot of fun. Here are some reasons.

1. You can wear chinks instead of chaps. I love my chinks! I had some custom made by Judith McCollum, and they are attractive, but even better is that you can walk around without having to fold up the bottom or trip over the fringe!

Chinks. Cheapest price for this pair was at Valley vet. $304.

Western pleasure type show chaps. See how long they are? They look nice when one is on the horse, but good luck walking around. These are from Walmart. 68 bucks. I had no idea Walmart had chaps.

2.You can enter all the ranch classes and never have to change your clothes. That may seem silly, but I once was at a show where I had to have FIVE different outfits. I really don’t like to change my clothes, especially when we are talking midsummer in the windowless ~~sweatbox~~ tackroom of my stock trailer.

3. Lots of different types of horses, moving in a variety of ways, can be successful at the Ranch Horse classes.

The classes are Ranch Trail, Ranch Riding (a pattern class), Ranch Rail (ride around the arena at the different gaits, but not too slow), and Ranch Conformation (horse is judged on its build). I have not yet tried Ranch Conformation, but for Appaloosas, it has to be after the riding classes, (and the horse has to have been in at least one of the riding classes), and I guess you just pull the saddle and get judged, sweat marks and all…

I have a video (thanks Siri K., my friend, not a phone app!) of Indy doing a good job in a Walk-Trot Ranch Trail class at the New Mexico Buckskin’s show last Saturday. I didn’t get video of the walk trot lope pattern, and we didn’t do a such good job on that one, so not sure I’d be showing it in public anyway!

Ranch Trail has different obstacles (e.g. throw a rope, drag a log, dismount, remount, ground tie) than “regular” trail classes and the patterns are not usually as tight. The poles are sometimes natural logs instead of painted poles.

Andy Starts Riding School

The Write Horse 4 Responses »

Apr 072017

By Patty Wilber

Andy was here as a yearling and Shelley (his breeder and owner at the time) and I took him to the World Show 2015 in lunge line and hunter in hand. He handled all the commotion and excitement like a seasoned veteran. We had to up his grain to INCREASE his energy level for the show. That’s how mellow he was!

He was sold to Zoe and now he is back here as a three-year old to begin his big boy training!

He came last Saturday, and I did a little ground work with him Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Spring Weeds

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Mar 312017

By Patty Wilber

This winter has been warmer (Accuweather) and slightly wetter (at least until February) compared to the historic averages as reported by Intellicast.

We didn’t get a lot of snow.

Here is a summary: Precipitation from Intellicast, and my rain gauge, temperatures from Accuweather. Links above.

Historic Averages My house ppt Accuweather this year temps.
November: 1.2″ 45F 1.46″ 48F
December: 1.3″ 36F 1.58″ 39F
January: 1.2″ 37F 1.54″ 39F
February: 1.3″ 41F 0.21″ 46F
March: 1.4″ 48F 0.60″ 55F (as of 3/29/17)

In February, we only had one precipitation event, (Feb. 13th, 0.21″) and it was dry again until March 23rd (0.24) and March 28th (0.36).

Mar. 28th. The rain gauge is on the railing!

A late afternoon break in the damp.

Don’t Lick the Nits

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Mar 242017

By Patty Wilber

I had bot flies for the first time last year. Ok, I didn’t have them. The horses had them. And I don’t know that I ever saw an actual bot fly. I saw the eggs.

The Common Horse Bot Fly: Gasterophilus intestinalis. Described by De Geer in 1776!

Bot flies lay eggs (called nits) on the hairs of the horses and then the horses ingest the eggs when they scratch themselves with their teeth. The nits are yellow and stand out on dark coated horses. We picked off all that we saw in the summer (which may be ineffective, according to one source), but my sharp-eyed vet spotted two on Indy last week. Bad horse-owner card.

The nits. (Internet picture).

Reconnoitering

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Mar 172017

By Patty Wilber

Last Friday, my camping “group” spent 14 hours scouting for horse-friendly campsites in the Magdalena Ranger District, NM.

We found a two and a half.

I tried to search by normal means–the Internet–and while the Forest Service website gives information such as number of camp spots and potable water for developed campsites, it does not say if there are horse pens and livestock water…which seems like basic info…

So, I called the ranger district and spoke to a super helpful Range Technician. She was a fount of information on good non-campground spots with possible water, so, I picked a few and off we went, without the horses, to reconnoiter! Good thing we did not take a trailer. We would have still been out there, stuck.

We tried a spot called Monica’s Cabin, first. There is a stream (which may be dry in May when we go), a metal water tank full of water and a nice area suitable for camping, in the oaks. The horses could be high-lined or we could set up electric fence pens. The road to get there is in very good shape. There are not a lot of trails but there are a number of forest roads that would make for good riding and it is right next to the Withington Wilderness Area.

That is Monica’s Cabin!

Round-Up of Gloves

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Mar 102017

By Patty Wilber

Lone glove on a post, lost by someone at Galisteo Basin!

I wear gloves when I ride.

In the winter it is because my hands are always cold.

In the summer it is to prevent sun damage

On Back Country Horsemen rides it is because we might use our saws to cut and remove fallen trees off the trail.

One disadvantage is that gloves hinder effective manipulation of the photo feature of the phone! None of my gloves have the touch friendly fingers! So, when riding and photographing (that is NOT the same as texting and driving, I swear!), I stuff the gloves in my vest pockets, the gullet of my saddle or in my pommel pack. Or drop them accidentally!

Kind of like saddle pads, I seem to have a LOT of gloves.

These are all winter-sh gloves. The left-most pair was getting a little worn (note the duct tape–plugs the holes and extends the glove-life!). The next pair was a replacement for the first pair, but I seemed to have a lot of horses this winter for which I wanted more mobility of my digits in case of emergency. Also, I wanted warmer. The middle black pair didn’t seem very sturdy, but they are soft and warm and have made it through the season. The last pair is not as warm but good to about 40 and not bulky.

Where to Ride: Galisteo Basin Feb. 2017 with Back Country Horsemen

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Mar 032017

By Patty Wilber

The second training ride of the Back Country Horsemen, Pecos Chapter’s year was Sunday Feb. 26th, at the Galisteo Basin Preserve.

It was spitting snow at our house.

Forty degrees F and wind, was the forecast.

Galisteo Basin is boring.

But, Jim hadn’t ridden in a few weeks, the weather didn’t call for precipitation there, and my president (of BCH) said I should not be a whuss and should show up. (I do ride in all sorts of weather, but sometimes, just sometimes, I might like to stay inside with a book and a cup of tea. Just sayin’.)

President Mary Ann and Tulip.

The deciding factor was Jim, so we loaded up Cometa and LT and off we went.

It was a little on the chilly side, but it turns out it wasn’t boring! I’d even go back!

There are new and much longer trails compared to last time I was there (2014), and the footing on the three hour (including lunch) ride we did was really nice! The trails were well marked and there is a clearly drawn map.

There are tri-use trails (equine, bike, and hikers) as well as bike-hike only trails. I tried to paste the map into the post instead of linking it, but alas, the link was the best I could do. So, I linked it twice!

Heading out from the Cowboy Shack parking area, going south.

The NM sky and Jim on Cometa.

There were a few bike riders (who were really nice to the equines), but had the weather been warm, I think there would have been many more cyclists. The trail rules are horses get priority over bikes and hikers, and bikes get priority over hikers. This all makes sense from a safety point of view, but those pesky quiet bikes can sneak up on an unsuspecting equine with variable and sometimes dramatic results. No drama this day, though!

There were also loose dogs, only one of which was NOT under control and would have come with us had we not stopped to let his family retrieve him.

Back Country Horsemen is always fun to ride with. (We are looking for more members and have an informational meeting April 8. See the flyer at the end of this post.)

I rode behind Linda most of the way and that is always a lot of conversational fun!

Plus, I got this picture of her and Star.

And this one of the Kingsbury clan!

The Pecos Chapter of the BCH works like dogs in the Manzanos and Pecos Wildernesses doing trail maintenance and pack support. What better way to volunteer for a worthy cause–on a horse in the back country? Ok, we do get off and on a lot to do the work! But it is very satisfying!

In other news: Indy got her stitches out on Wednesday and is out of solitary and back in the big pen with LT. I will start riding her next week. I might consent to a medium trace clip to hide (in plain site) the bald spot on her flank. That might make a blog. Read about different clips here.

New Mexico Sky

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Feb 242017

By Patty Wilber

One morning this week.

One of the advantages of training horses is being outside a lot. One of the advantages of living in New Mexico is the beautiful skies we have. Just ask Georgia O’Keefe. Of course, you will have to get in touch with her via someone who can talk to the dead.

Middle of the day.

Mid-day last Friday with Mary Ann and Siri. New Mexico has very dry air, which often means very clear vistas. I guess that is what makes the sky often seem so intensely blue here.

Evening.

South from round pen.

South west from the back patio.

Indy’s Big Week

The Write Horse 8 Responses »

Feb 172017

By Patty Wilber

The title was supposed to be “Indy’s Big Weekend”, but then Wednesday happened…

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I have been pondering how best to utilize my time and money for my own horse fun, and I finally came to the decision that for 2017 I will concentrate on getting Indy moving along. She is three this year, and we won’t be in a hurry, so I don’t expect her to be finished until she is about five, but she seems to want to work and has some qualities that will make her a stronger versatility prospect than LT.

So, on Saturday, I took Indy as my lead horse to the Back Country Horsemen, Pecos Chapter’s first training ride at the Four Hills area near Albuquerque. I also took the Walkin N Circles rescue mare, Eva, as the pony horse. Unfortunately, I had a smear on my camera lens so we have a left handed fog on all the photos.

Ginny on Quinault! Quinault was here last year for a tune up.

Mary Ann on Tulip ponying Shorty.

You must love horses if…

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Feb 102017

By Patty Wilber

Doranna did some behind the scenes blog moving last week and got everything up and running for this week. I am happy to be back this week and have this spot to spout! 🙂

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You must love horses if your house is full of horse stuff. As it should be. I mean what other kind of stuff is there??

Here is a smattering of our “collection.”

A horse light switch! This is not the only one…

Dala horses. We have lots of Dala horses. Dala horses apparently date from the 17th century but went global when they were shown at the World Exhibition in New York in 1939. They have the double benefit of being horse-y AND Swedish. When Jim I got engaged, we went to meet his parents, and they asked if I played golf (no…). Then they asked if I was Swedish. Yes, on my mom’s side. Sigh of relief by them.

The traditional Dala horse. I got the orange one when I was about three years old. I think it was from a Dutch family that lived in the apartment next to ours.

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