{"id":6712,"date":"2012-07-20T04:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=6712"},"modified":"2012-07-19T22:00:25","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T04:00:25","slug":"appy-nationals-working-cow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2012\/07\/20\/appy-nationals-working-cow\/","title":{"rendered":"Appy Nationals; Working Cow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patty Wilber<\/em><\/p>\n

The last time (which was also the first time)<\/strong> I went to the Appaloosa Nationals was in 2008.\u00a0 It was a much bigger venue than I’d shown in before, but All Round Sundown and Alias Delight (owned by Whispering Spirit Ranch) are both awesome horses. Ali came back with a junior horse (5 or under) western riding championship, top 5 in junior reining, and Tracy (Alias Delight) was 9th in senior hunter hack, and also did steer daubing.\u00a0 (We had a good run but broke the barrier, which adds to your time automatically.) Steer daubing is like roping except you daub the steer with a paint stick instead of roping.<\/p>\n

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Hunter Hack, 2008.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Daubing the dogie, 2008, same show as the jumping picture! It would have been the coolest to get top ten in two such disparate events. But that's ok, because Tracy came this year with her girl Rachel to the Youth Appaloosa World, and took second in youth barrels. The horse is a wonder woman!<\/p><\/div>\n

This year was the next chance<\/strong> I had to take a horse that was in that league:\u00a0 A Para Dox, also owned by Whispering Spirit Ranch.\u00a0 He is a cow horse\/ reiner and he is by far the most talented horse of that type I have had.\u00a0 Good thing, because the competition was tougher this time around!<\/p>\n

He is fit and he is fast,<\/strong> and he is very happy to show me his speed but not always thrilled to demonstrate how well he can get his butt into the dirt and slide to a stop.\u00a0 Thus, I rode and rode and rode to take the edge off, and in junior working cow, the dry work pattern called for two large circles but did not specify speed, so I chose medium.<\/p>\n

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He's fit, by golly!<\/p><\/div>\n

(Working Cow Horse consists of<\/strong> a “dry work” pattern –cowless– that has circles at a run, spins, lead changes and stops…then they let out the cow, which you must work back and forth along the back wall, drive and turn along the long wall, then run in a circle.)<\/p>\n

Medium speed worked really well.<\/strong>\u00a0 He was relaxed and very attentive.\u00a0 He marked the highest scores of the class in the pattern portion by 6.5 points!<\/p>\n

The cow, on the other hand, did not really want to play<\/strong>.\u00a0 Turns out I should have “called for a new cow.” If the cow they give you is a dud or too wild or whatever, you can just send it back in the first 30 seconds.\u00a0 Thirty seconds turns out to be a long time when it is you and a rotten cow.\u00a0 My cow came at me, would not stay on the back fence and then ran off (we were in hot pursuit)..all in under 30 seconds!<\/p>\n

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The Bad Cow...he looks relatively innocent here...<\/p><\/div>\n

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Bad Cow!<\/p><\/div>\n

If the second cow is sucky,<\/strong> you are stuck with it unless the judges now think you should get a third chance.<\/p>\n

I struggled along with Cow 1,<\/strong> and did end up with some decent fence work and circles, but I gave up my dry work pattern advantage and ended up in second place over all.<\/p>\n

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It's all a blur!<\/p><\/div>\n

But hey, not bad for my second run at the big dogs!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Big ribbon! Trophy! Whoop!<\/p><\/div>\n

Reining…well…lets just say, I tried to win<\/strong>. In the process, asked Buckshot for speed and sacrificed beauty.\u00a0 Paid for it!<\/p>\n

My outfit looked good though!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Buckshot is not as amused as I am!<\/p><\/div>\n

And I zeroed my spins!<\/strong>\u00a0 I know that sounds odd for you non-reiners, but actually was a highlight!<\/p>\n

Spins have just eaten my lunch<\/strong> in the training pen for years and I am FINALLY getting a clue on how to teach them to my horses.\u00a0 I had to get help from multiple sources and between them I have a new set of tools: exercises, foot fall sounds, rein position, leg position, when to quit and when to get after it, and it WORKED!<\/p>\n

In reining, if you\u00a0 zero a move,<\/strong> you did just right.\u00a0 A “minus”\u00a0 indicates mistakes. A “plus”: you are into rarefied air.<\/p>\n

Buckshot is heading for the plus categor<\/strong>y in spins, stops and circles.<\/p>\n

Our next BIG show is in October…we will be ready!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patty Wilber The last time (which was also the first time) I went to the Appaloosa Nationals was in 2008.\u00a0 It was a much bigger venue than I’d shown in before, but All Round Sundown and Alias Delight (owned by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[59,89,23,158],"class_list":["post-6712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-write-horse","tag-adventures","tag-horses","tag-riding","tag-the-write-horse"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-1Kg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14703,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2017\/07\/07\/breast-collars\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":0},"title":"Breast Collars","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1707.07","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber Last week I used the term \"neck collars\" to describe what I bought from Perri's Leather for the horses, but Perri's calls them neck STRAPS, in case anyone was searching. But as long as I am thinking about collars, how about breast collars? I have a saddle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/M28090255.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21508,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/heidi-and-lucy-rock-cattle-at-the-appaloosa-youth-world-and-nationals\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":1},"title":"Heidi and Lucy Rock Cattle at the Appaloosa Youth World and Nationals","author":"BlogPatty","date":"2506.26","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber We try to avoid complaining about rain in New Mexico, but we do try to work around it, so when the forecast was for heavy rain Tuesday prior to our 3 am departure Wednesday for the Appaloosa Youth World and National show, we decided to bring Lucy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250626_182028-scaled-e1750992209489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250626_182028-scaled-e1750992209489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250626_182028-scaled-e1750992209489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5355,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/12\/02\/the-in-between\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":2},"title":"The In Between","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1112.02","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber The 2011 show season ended in September and after we retrieved the cattle from the ranch (on the second try), Penny got a six week vacation.\u00a0 She is only four years old and she worked hard in the show ring as well as with the cows at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Llaves-100-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12511,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2015\/07\/03\/getting-lt-to-appaloosa-nationals\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":3},"title":"Getting LT to Appaloosa Nationals!","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1507.03","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber My goal for 2015\u00a0is to\u00a0move LT's training along to where I can\u00a0call her \"finished\"... or at least close. This is a commitment because she is mine and not\u00a0a client horse paying the bills. \u00a0 In a time crunch, my horses get the short shrift and the\u00a0horses in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_4505-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4760,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/08\/26\/saddles\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":4},"title":"Saddles","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1108.26","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber There are a gazillion different types of saddles, so I am going to focus on three big categories:\u00a0 Western, English, and Australian Stock. Western: Designed for use in the western United States. Cow work! Here are the basic parts Within the western category, there are specialty saddles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/western-saddle-parts.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22160,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/the-history-of-gette-and-we-had-a-good-show\/","url_meta":{"origin":6712,"position":5},"title":"A Brief History of Gette (and we had a good show!)","author":"BlogPatty","date":"2607.10","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0By Patty Wilber Back in 2021, I asked Heidi if she wanted to borrow Lucy so I could buy just one more baby. She said yes and took Lucy the next year. I wanted to get that youngster from Heather McLevin at Thunderstuck Ranch with the goal of showing her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260709_213338.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6712"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6734,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712\/revisions\/6734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}