no to wheels

Shyloh has been doing fantasically well in her open bridle line driving. Seriously, it has been awesome. I have even taught her to side pass from the long lines, not that it would ever be useful in a cart, but we like doing things like that. 

We also like taking braids out and having curly hair-do's!

The first couple attempts warranted evil glares back at me. She knew what I was asking, but she also knew her dinner was waiting. Shy gave me some very sad excuses for stepping sideways, which included a lot of forward motion.  Eventually, I was able to get some good side stepping out of her and Shy got her dinner. It is so hard to move both the front and back legs sideways at the same time (according to Shy)!

The next few tries went much, much better. I'll have to get some video. But there you have it for another useless skill!

Since she has been doing really great with the line drive again, we decided to give it a try while Terry was driving Reba. We figured, with the open bridle Shy should be much more relaxed.

Well. . .when I pulled her out of the pasture and she saw the cart, from a distance, she locked in on it and wouldn't move. I got her moving again, but she was doing her best to impersonate an Arab with her flared nostrils and short, quick breathing. We didn't even have to walk by the cart to get to our spot!

I helped get Terry and Reba hooked, then tacked Shy in her gear and away we went. Reba and Terry went out ahead of us and we waited for them to pass us near an opening. And Shy tried to turn around and get the hell out of dodge. Fail. 

She was able to look at it without spinning around by the fifth attempt.

I started walking behind Terry and Reba, Shy could handle that. But when I had them trot a lap and come up behind us at a walk, Shy wanted to take off again. This was not the light, easy, one handed line driving I had grown accustomed to. . .this was a two hand-er, pulling back to keep my horse from taking off. Fail again.

I tried having Terry and Reba stand on one spot while we passed them. Again, this was a two handed operation while also not letting Shy circle out 20 feet from the cart. Fail.

This was the only acceptable way to be around the cart, even so, she still had one ear on it and one ear on me.

My conclusion is that Shy hates carts and things with wheels. Beth told me not to give up quite yet, so I might give it a few more tries to see if she relaxes at all. I also plan on trying a sled again, since I had much better luck with that the one year. Sleds do not have wheels, so they must be okay, right?

I admit, I was a little disappointed. With as great as Shy had been doing, I thought she should have been able to handle the cart better, especially since she could see it and it was not attached to her. It wasn't totally terrible, but I really thought it could have been much better. Am I expecting too much? Ponies. . .

fall drive 2014

Yesterday was the annual fall drive. Last year we went and raced the minis. This year, rode with Beth and Art and got to help harness and hook a six horse hitch of Haflingers. It was pretty awesome!

The Haflinger hitches started a Haflinger and Hitch Pony Championship Series this year from all the shows they have been doing. There are four hitches that made it to the finals: Brugger's Other Farm, Second Star Haflingers, Triple F Farms, and Stream-n-Acres. They will be at the Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show in October, which of course, I will be going. 

One of the hitches came to our drive to practice with their six. Which also meant that their gelding that I really liked was there!

Woody!

It was fun and a little bit scary to help with the hitch process. Holding two horses is cool, heading four horses is okay, but six is a bit overwhelming for me! Luckily, these are some well behaved horses. 

2. . .Beth got to hold the lines and keep them straight/ 

4. . .

All 6!

It was a beautiful day for a drive. Beth set out behind the hitch and Art seemed to be having wonderful flashbacks from his days in a hitch. He wanted to be right up there with those horses and was trucking along at a pretty swift pace. Art also likes to be in front. 

When we caught up, Art practically wanted to climb in the back of the hitch wagon!

The bridge

When we turned around, the hitch was behind us. Art was happy as could be being out in front. And when he heard that hitch trotting up behind him, he lifted his like he was the lead horse. He definitely remembered being in a hitch! 

Woody and Willy. Brothers. One with an itchy face, one with an itchy butt!

It was a good day for us, until I drove home. Then my car decided to act like a jerk and break down on the freeway. It is getting fixed now. So grateful for good friends!

monroe county fair 2014

It has been radio silence over here for the past few days. I have not even seen a computer and the small amount of time spent at home I have been getting a couple hours of sleep. Why? It's county fair time!

While I didn't show Shyloh, I spent the days with the barn and the big horses. They were hauled in Wednesday night, but I spent the day checking out the fair.

It was mule hitch day which was fun to see. Beth came up and we walked the fair and watched the hitches. We spent a lot of time chatting with the judge, who was a friend of Beth. It was a nice day. Some friend's of ours were showing their Gypsy horses in 4-H and we also watched their trail patterns. Kim had a foal on the way and we offered to go to her barn to check on the mare, since she had to stay at the fair with her nieces. No problem! We went to love on the other Gypsy babies (who are getting so big!) and check on the mare. No foal, but boy was she close. Turns out, that night a filly was born!!

Thursday was the driving classes. It was Isaac's second show and the first show with Jaime driving the new cart. They looked real sharp!

Before entering the show ring

Terry and Reba were in the cart class as well. Reba was a picklehead and caused a little backup. . .but they did look real nice. 

On their way into the ring!

Thee big hitch was Heritage Hills Belgians. They won almost all of the hitch classes; tandem, team, four and six horse hitch. They did not win the unicorn, though. And they bought the whole draft barn pizza later that night, how nice!!

Awesome!

Between the hitch classes, the minis came out to do some fun demos to keep the audience entertained. Meatball and Dexter were part of the fun. They did racing, a barrel pattern, poles, and a driving demo. It was so much fun and the audience really enjoyed it. 

Jaime and Meatball, cantering to the finish!

Anthony and Dexter zooming by!

Cowboy hat on a mini? Yes please!

There was also a ridden draft demo with Kyle on Clutch and Terry on Reba. 

Friday was halter classes. Hidden Creek Draft Horses took Grand Champion Mare for Clydesdales and Shires (Reba), Grand Champion Gelding for Clydesdales and Shires (Clutch), and Grand Champion Percheron Gelding (Isaac). Notch did win the Percheron Geldings 5 and over, but Isaac beat him out for Grand Champion. 

Notch

Isaac

Reba

Clutch

After halter, I went to watch Jessica and Sarah jump their Gypsies. It was great to be able to hang out with those kids and their mom, Christina and their aunt Kim. 

Weee! Jessica and Saiorse

One of the baby Belgians got cast in her stall and Kyle and Terry helped to get her up. She was so calm about it and walked off just fine. Then there was a moment when I saw a cow going into a horse stall. I questioned it, then noticed the hooves sticking out the back of the cow. . .it was having a baby!

Brand new baby!

By this time, I was exhausted. From helping with the big horses, getting them ready for the show, keeping the stalls clean, and walking them back and forth from the stalls to the trailer, I just wanted to sit and sleep. Although, I do admit, it was cool walking the big horses down the midway :)

Cows sleep funny

It's hard being bacon

So cute!

This little one was right across from us! She liked checking out the big horses.

We did walk through the fair to check out the other things they had to offer. It was a fun time, but I am glad it is over. It was a lot of work and I didn't even have a horse there!

scary sprayer

Reason #457932480 that minions are the best. . .they are so easy and fun. Another day spent not doing anything with Shyloh. . .

Jaime and I took Dexter and Meatball for a drive around the block last week. Minions can be harnessed and hitched by one person easily, all from the same side of the horse. Try that with a draft or even a Haflinger!

adorbs!

Jaime was awesome and let me take her favorite pony, Dexter. Meatball gave me so much crap last time I drove him, I was hesitant to drive him again. But he was perfect with Jaime, so I will give Meatball another chance. Plus, he is cute and a minion, what can he really do?

In your face minion!

Ponies are hilarious to drive. They like to race each other, but lately we have been not letting them. They have been getting a bit out of hand with that. We walked, we trotted, it was a nice, enjoyable drive.  Meatball did have one spook at these flowers that rustled and sounded suspiciously a lot like the fly spray that he hates. But that was no big deal.

Jaime is wearing our new farm shirt!

Until this tractor-thing came down the road. . .

Like this, except the wheels were even bigger!

We pulled to the side, but as the sprayer came down the road and into the view of Dexter's eyes (blinders make it harder to see), he got huge eyed and started dancing. Meatball, almost backed into a ditch, then took off, but Jaime got him under control quickly. I mean, that is a huge piece of machinery, a pickup truck can fit underneath it!

Love riding in this buckboard wagon

Dexter and Meatball are pretty calm and cool minions, motorcycles, semi trucks, and other farm equipment have never bothered them. The rest of the drive was uneventful. In fact, it was quite peaceful, me and Jaime and the ponies just cruising down the road. Except for that one time when Dexter got to going too fast and bucked out. . .but it was fine after I slowed him back down. 

Meaty!

When we returned, Reba was very upset that she had to stay back. That horse loves to work!

I am so happy that the humidity went down and the weather was bearable. Love driving those little minions!

***Remember to Guess the Breed for a chance to win something from Two Horse Tack. Contest ends Wednesday at midnight, so get your guess in!***

amish breakdown

We had quite an eventful and long weekend. And pretty much none of it has been spent doing things with Shyloh. I feel I should rename this blog adventures with other people's horses. . . but more on that at another time.

Jaime and Kyle went on a much needed vacation out of town so me and Terry were in charge of the barn. We felt like little kids who's parents went away for the weekend! We had a bunch of chores to do and we also had some fun.

After our chores, which was mainly scooping poop, lots and lots of poop, we decided to take Reba for a drive around the block. The "block" is a little over four miles all the way around, which includes mostly fields of corn and wheat. 

Reba is a good horse, but she can be a picklehead (Terry's word). Reba won't do anything stupid, but she does require her rider/driver to pay a good deal of attention to her. And, let's not forget the fact that our horses are pretty heard bound and love being with each other.

Reba is so shiny!

So, we harnessed Reba and hooked her to the cart and off we went.  Reba actually left the property and went down the road much better than Terry anticipated for Reba going out alone. I was just enjoying the ride.  We were laughing and joking that we should dress up in bonnets and dresses like Amish for our drives down the road. Then I said that we should moon the drivers as they pass by. . .they totally would not expect that from the Amish!

At the first corner, Terry handed me the lines, just as Reba spooked at a bird flying out from the ditch. I immediately gave the lines back and Terry said this was Reba's trouble spot. . .Thanks Terry. . .

We trotted on because Reba was incredible looky and just waiting for an excuse to spook again. The trotting kept her mind focused on that. We also worked on the different trots Reba will have to do for showing; park gait, which is slower and more collected and road gait which is faster and extended. 

Big butt!

Once we turned the next corner I did drive Reba for a little bit. She was still a bit looky but I think it was just because she was alone. She still listened, but the minute she got some slack in the lines, she was weaving or trying to turn down a driveway in the direction of the barn. 

We turned the third corner and Terry commented on the contract of the wheat and the sky and the green, so I hopped out to get a photo of her and Reba. 

Wheat photo

When I got back on, I said, Uh Terry, something is wrong, stop her, I am getting off.  Reba could tell something was not quite right, as well, and began to be a handful. I hopped down and saw that the welds on the cart at the bottom had broke. I said, Terry, get off the cart, now. I was calm, but I had visions of the weld completely breaking, Reba spooking and running down the road and in the ditches and fields with half a cart attached and Terry getting lost somewhere along the way. 

Broke down at the X, had to go to the O

As Terry was trying to get Reba to whoa and the cart was bending forward more and Reba kept backing up, a van pulled up and asked if we needed help. No thanks, we got this, we said as Reba just about backed the whole cart into the van. Oops. Terry finally got off and we noticed that the welds on both sides were broke. Crap. We had no choice but to walk back to the barn, all mile and a half of it. . .with a Shire attached to a cart. 

Right where the dash touches the floor is where the welds broke.

The cart was fine to stay attached to Reba for the sake of walking back, but not safe for passengers. I bet we looked super cool. First, Terry tried to walk next to Reba, but Reba was having none of that. So we took turns line driving her home. We made up a new rule. . .always bring halters and lead ropes when leaving the barn with horses!

Reba's long leg strides were too much for Terry's little legs, haha.

And that is the story of our Amish breakdown and accidental exercise with Reba. Always a fun time!

threshing

I learned what a thresher was this weekend. I had no idea, but Terry and I went with Beth to a National Threshers Reunion down in Ohio.

Turns out threshers are old style ways of farming, I think. The event brought a ton of people, more than I ever thought was possible, to look at old style farming equipment, steam engine farming equipment, and horse drawn farming equipment. Obviously, we went for the horses.

Beth brought Art and Curly. She wanted Curly to get exposure and experience the commotion of the golf carts, farming equipment, and steam. Curly was not a fan of the steam engines. Art could have cared less, but he was raised with all that stuff.

There was a ton of mules, Belgians, and Haflingers that were plowing a field. There was a 6 hitch (that ran 3 across in two rows) of Belgians, and and 8 hitch (4 across in two rows) of mules. There was also a couple teams that ran three across. It was all pretty cool to see.

Six Belgians

Eight mules

Neal and three of his Haflingers

Three mules

Bethany's two mules,Millie and Katie (Bethany shows Millie at our NWODC shows)

Beth drove Art and Curly in her forecart and worked on getting Curly to walk in the furrow. Curly did really good with all of the activity going on. Luckily, when the steam engines came by, Curly was tied to the trailer. Curly also decided it was a good idea to kick at the trailer tire and rip the air stem off. Oops. Good thing Beth had a spare and it was quickly changed out. 

We had a good day just hanging out with horses and draft folk. I got to share some of my Haflinger knowledge with a guy that was very interested in the horses. And then Terry and I spent a long time chatting with Beth and walking around her property. She has all kinds of things that grow there on their own: raspberries and apples, plus her garden with strawberries and a bunch of other vegetables. I want my land to produce food I can eat for free! Terry eats grass and other weird things, so she can get food just about anywhere. But those raspberries were so delicious, much better than store raspberries. 

Anyway, I now know what a thresher is. And I had a fun time with horses and friends.