"Wild Horse, Wild Ride"

Wild Horse, Wild Ride is a really good documentary! I'm writing about it here because it was an inspiration for advanced training to me, and may be for you also.

The movie is based on the training that goes into preparing Mustangs for the Extreme Mustang Makeover event held in Fort Worth, Texas. One hundred Mustangs are trained for one hundred days before the event, and then are sold by auction. Unfortunate for the trainers, as they must bid against the public for their horse.

Anyway, Wild Horse, Wild Ride shows how 9 people trained their horses from day 1 to 100. Some of the trainers had really awesome training methods that I agree with, while others' (notably the older couple from TX) training methods really were not ideal.

As far as Wylene's training methods, at first they seemed a bit rushed to me. However, with the courage she had, and also the calm temperament of her horse, it seemed to work out quite awesomely.

I also like how Jesus, Nik, and Chris trained their horses. It was a lot less fast-paced than Wylene's method, and it seems they really knew how to communicate with their horse and gain trust.

Here are a couple training tips from the movie that I agree with. There were a lot of other good training ideas as well, but the ones below really stood out to me. :)

• Trust is key.
• Take scary objects back and forth to horse (gradually moving closer) until horse is used to scary object.
• Imitate motions of carrying saddle, lifting saddle, and so on before using actual items.
• To help desensitize horse to unexpected motions, stand still then suddenly make a scary movement until the horse doesn't mind.

Also, unlike almost all movies out there, there aren't any inappropriate parts in this, so if your family likes horses and is also conservative, this should work well for a movie night. :)

Brushing a Horse's Teeth

You can brush a horse's teeth. Really!

It quite interests me, and I would really like to try it. Apparently there are even flavored tooth pastes designed for horses.

Anyway, MiniOwner mentioned in a half-joking manner that I can start brushing Pawnee's teeth, since she's young. I think I may have to take her up on that offer sometime, and get back to you on it later. :)

Some Drawings

Hm, it's been awhile since last posting.

Unfortunately, my other life has been stealing hours from my horse life lately. Things like homeschool conferences and sewing have been seizing priority. However, I have been taking along a notebook and making time to draw the horses you'll see below.

On a side note, I'm considering writing a future post showing the evolution of my drawing skill and how it really doesn't come easily, at least for a mainly auditorial learner.

Here are the recent drawings. :)

Okay, yeah, this one definitely isn't the best. (SPOILER ALERT: The ones below are better!)

It's pretty obvious that I wasn't having a great day when I drew this, but I still think it's pretty.

Some horses I sketched out at piano lessons. I kinda like the paint, and I reallllly realllly am happy with how Dolly turned out. :)

The ones which I created at the conference. Still can't pick my favorite between the named ones (there's a reason the other one is nameless).

What's Going on at the Stables

Today was good! Usually I just pick out stalls, water, and help feed (it's been too hot lately to work Angel). In contrast, today lots of other things happened!

My time at the stables started by handling Love (a bay Arab) as MiniOwner applied Betadine on him. I don't really know quite what happened to him, but somehow he scraped some skin off him in places. It wasn't anything horrid, and treating it was simple. We filled a small bucket half-full with water, put in some Betadine, and then gently scrubbed it in using clean paper towels. Then we followed that up with using antibiotic spray.

After that, we bathed Tamale (or, Molly)! She's been at the stables for some time now, and will be staying till she's bred to Fire. Her coat was dull-looking and flies had been bothering her, so we commenced with the bathing.

She was actually very good about it, and stood there as MiniOwner and I scrubbed shampoo on her after hosing her down. It took a good 45 minutes, and she looks gorgeous now. :)

I wasn't expecting this (even though it didn't nearly reach 100 degrees), but I was told it wasn't too hot to work Angel. Yay! I didn't lunge her very long, for the lunge lines were over at Other Barn. Regardless, she had a lot of energy and was happy to be exercised.

Following that, I had the opportunity to groom up Buster! As grooming on any horse is, that was awesome.

Then I helped feed a bit. 'Twas a good day. :)

Celina Royale

We've had Royale for a bit now, and I *finally* took images of her!

She's a very light palomino, and also quite short. She is related to Sonny, ergo we shall either breed her to Buster or an outside stud.

Here are the pictures of her (the other mare in with her is Stylish, by the way). :)

Shy: A Drawing

Last night I was bored and decided to get some drawing done. I had already filled a notebook page with junk sketches and a new page with a horse's body when my imagination pictured a horse's head as if it was already there. I traced what there was of the imaginary outline, and got this.

Sri (don't ask where the name came from, it's random)

Not the best, no. The body could have been made a LOT better, but after finishing the head, I got too distracted with that. From there, I traced the head/neck to make V1: Shy.

V1: Shy

If I really gather my guts, I could probably add a nice mane. I don't think I will, though, because 1) I'm happy with it as is, and 2) I don't want to ruin it. I did want to have some fun with it though, so I made a copy and then shaded it in to create V2: Shy.

V2: Shy

I really like this one. Especially the eye - it makes the rest look a bit more real than it is. :)

A Plug for 'Color Genetics'

Color Genetics is a website for learning basic coat color genetics that may be applied to any species (horse, cat, and so on). It may be found here: http://colorgenetics.info/

I have yet to venture into the non-equine species topics, and hope to do so in the future. Until then I shall satisfy myself with the amazing horse color knowledge. Not only are there articles on varying topics relating to genetics, but also forums to answer questions, and image galleries.

For a mere hint of this CG's awesomeness, here are some pages you can check out.

"White Patterns in Horses" article, very good and informative.
How the people in the forums figured out Angel's dam's color.
Last yet not least, the Equine Gallery page. This is epic.

There's a lot more than that, but you'll have to go check it out for yourself. When I have a genetics question that lacks an answer, this is where I go.

Show Results

Angel did fantastic at the show last weekend! There were two judges per class, and in two of the classes she got first by both judges. We came back with two glasses, a hoof pick, and a fancy body brush. :)

We entered five classes: *AOB Halter, Miniature Halter, *Adolescent Lunge Line, Adolescent Trail, and Miniature Obstacle-in-Hand.

*AOB = All Other Breeds (basically open to any breeds)
*Adolescent = Horses of 3 or less years

Angel only was mediocre in the halter classes on Saturday morning. It wasn't that she had bad conformation, but that she didn't want to stand still after being squared up.

In lunge line a bit later that day, she got first by both judges! There were two other contestants, both respectable horsewomen with their yearlings.

The purpose of lunge line is to have your horse's gaits judged, as well as to see how well you lunge your horse. Here are a couple reasons I think Angel placed first.

1. Not just her, but none of the horses walked as they were supposed to.
2. There was plentiful slack in the rope between Angel and I.
3. One of the other horses broke into a gallop instead of a canter.
4. I didn't jerk on the rope to slow her.
5. I stayed in one spot the whole time.

Now, I'm not saying I'm better than the other two ladies. It's more that I work on lunging Angel for good amounts of time twice each week, and she has learned to lunge well. Regarding the last point, I think that may have made a big difference. When I lunge Angel at the stables, there's a certain rock I set one of my boots on, and the boot doesn't move from it. Both Angel and I have gotten used to lunging in that manner, and I think it made our presentation more professional.

On Sunday morning Angel and I had trail classes, and in the adolescent class she took both firsts! That was epic. She didn't do so well in the following class, but I'm still proud of her. :)

Sonny!

Last Friday evening after the bathing, I had an opportunity to get some shots of Sonny (the grulla miniature stud)! I'm really quite pleased with how they turned out, and how (I think) they do Sonny justice.

He is so pretty.

The dorsal line.

The other side.

Silly boy, standing crooked.

Looking at Toy. :P

This is how his forelock usually looks!

I love his mane in this shot! He looks so awesome.