Indoor Lope

April 28, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

Brian and I headed out to the barn today with the intention of riding outside. But it was honestly kind of horrible out. Granted, it wasn't raining. But it was chilly and windy. We walked to the pasture, Steen saw me and he literally came running for the gate. I brought him in to find he'd visibly lost weight in the 48 hours since I'd seen him and he was upset about it.

At least it is touching to know he considers me the solution when he feels bad.

So, I gave Steen a big snack and scrubbed all the mud out of his coat. By the time we had both horses clean and tacked, Steen and calmed down considerably and the indoor arena was empty and inviting. We decided to stay indoors. I hopped on bareback and Brain climbed on Bear.

We started off getting used to the tractor that now lives in one corner of the arena. Steen can sometimes take a ridiculously long time...

Lope, Lope, Lope

Robin

April 25, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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I hadn't been out to the barn alone in a while so today I shuffled my schedule around to fit in a late morning ride. I found Steen a bit antsy. There is now a house going up next to the barn, and apparently the heavy machinery had him excited. Beyond that the weather is odd today. It is chilly and dim and it just has that off feeling about the air. I brought Steen inside and groomed him and gave him a snack. I threw the bear trap on his back and headed for the strip. He was nervous heading out, starting to prance a couple of times before I even got on. I ignored him though, once walking him in a slow circle to keep him from getting ahead of me. I set up cones a bit further down the strip than usual to gives us as much of a buffer from the machinery as possible. Then I climbed on. At first, Steen was not great. He wanted to hang out near the herd and he was also inclined to break...

Return to the Strip

Robin

April 25, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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This morning the sun was shining when we woke up. I was pretty happy about this. We celebrated by getting a few thing done around the house and yard, then heading downtown for some crepes. After that, we went to the barn via the house of a couple who started as clients of my web business but have since become friends. They recently sold their horse, so had some left-over tack they thought we might be interested in. We picked up a nice leather head-stall, a (super, super mild) curb, a full-cheek copper snaffle, a longe line and a lovely leather breast-collar. We've been meaning to buy a curb for a while because we have a feeling Bear has some reining training and might really shine in one. Plus I am thinking an interesting winter project could be to start to teach Steen real neck-reining and that, of course, requires a curb. The other stuf...

A Short Ride and Some Fresh Grass

Robin

April 23, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It was a week of bad weather, and the indoor arena was undergoing a treatment that will make it dust free but did render it unusable for about five days first. This meant there was mud and wet outside and no arena inside, so the boys got five days off. I went out on Friday morning so the chiropractor could work on Bear, but otherwise I mostly stayed home and got somewhat caught up on the massive back-log of work I have somehow accumulated. Today, however, the indoor was back in business. Brian and I headed out to ride. Although the barn was busy, we had a nice ride. Steen was a strange combination of relaxed and jumpy. He was happy to let me steer him, holding his head pretty low, jogging, standing, stopping. But then any little sound would make him do a little half-spook in place. I was bareback, so it wasn't super relaxing for me. On the other hand, he did pretty well considering...

Steen the Chilled and Steen the Chill

Robin

April 17, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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This weekend we had a visitor. Brian's sister, Christina, came up from the Chicago area and one of the big objectives of her visit was to hang out with Steen and Bear (she'd never met either of them before and has spent very little time with horses in general). Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and when we headed for the barn on Saturday it was after a morning of rain and snow. It never got below the 30's, but apparently that was enough. Steen is really losing his coat (which we all know is not super effectual to begin with) and I guess he was pretty miserable out in the weather. He saw me approaching the gate and came hurrying in my direction. I took him inside and he was completely wigged out. He was not interested in saying hello to Christina, but he really really wanted to roll. We turned him and Bear out in the indoor for a few minutes and he rolled about six times an...

Awesome Wednesday

Robin

April 13, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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The weather has turned beautiful. Brian and I headed out today with the plan to warm up in the indoor arena and then transition to the outdoor. Except when we arrived there was a lesson going on in the indoor so we decided to just start outdoors after all. We groomed the boys outside and they were both great. They were dozing off in the warm sun. Then we went to the arena. I rode bareback, Brian went in the bear trap. Bear started off just a tad rebellious, but he came around quite quickly. Steen was great from the start. It's hard to imagine him more relaxed than he was today. He was willing to walk, jog, stand, whatever, all around the outdoor, in spite of whatever other commotion was going on. Then at the end I returned him to the tie area and left him there for a while to take some photos of Brian on Bear, and he just stood quietly and waited for me to come back. Amazing! ...

Spring at Last!

Robin

April 12, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Sunday was in the 80's! We were expecting major storms, but they never came. We headed out to the barn for Duke Day. The horses got their toes tidied and their semi-annual dose of bot-killer. They were both great for the farrier. While we were waiting for our turn, we availed ourselves of the new outdoor wash-rack/hitching post. We tied the boys and proceeded to groom them for a very long time. Part of our objective was to make them stand around quietly. I think this is always good for horses to remember that standing tied for long periods of time it a part of their job sometimes. For the most part they were both super good about it, even Steen who still sometimes hates to be tied.

Steen...

Busy Barn Saturday

Robin

April 9, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Brian and I headed to the barn early today, hoping to avoid any Saturday traffic. The place was empty when we arrived but that changed before we even got our horses inside. Another boarder arrived to ride her horse Daisy, the only other Paint in the pasture.

We had some rain the last couple of days, so the outdoor arena is mucky and everyone was sort of confined to the inside. Brian and I took our time grooming as both our boys were pretty dirty. Steen was in a sort of obnoxious mood initially, trying to mess with everything he could reach. Eventually he did settle down.

By the time Brian and I were ready to hop on, another board had arrived with her boyfriend and boyfriend's parents, and the first boarder was riding in the indoor. Our indoor arena is only about 60' by 90', with the typical slightly unusable corners where the sand collects. I had never ridden in ...

Reunited (and it Feels So Good)

Robin

April 8, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Friday is lesson day. As we headed for the barn Brian and I decided it was time to put him back on Bear. I was pretty confident things would go well. With my new understanding of Bear's antics I felt I could coach Brian through any minor resistance Bear might put up. Still, if there is one thing I know about horses it's that they always surprise you so I went out today with hopes but prepared for them to be dashed. Luckily, things went well from the start. Bear was a model citizen for tacking and grooming. He showed not the slightest hint of annoyance or anxiety when the saddle was placed on his back. Brian got on and while he did pull a few of the little stunts he tried on me the last few days, he didn't do anything major at all. The real turning point of the ride, though, was when Bear picked up a trot, unasked, and Brian just went with it and proceeded to make Bear trot in figur...

Good Boys

Robin

April 7, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today I rode both our horses, one after the other. I rode Bear first. After our few days of slowly coming to understand each other, I wanted to try him in the saddle again. And I have to say he was completely awesome from the start. He felt relaxed and his mobility was definitely no different today than it was yesterday. We did a brief but enjoyable walk/trot ride. Then I brought Steen in and had an even briefer walk/trot/lope ride on him. It was such a beautiful morning and they were both being so good, it was hard to tear myself away and return to the reality of work and deadlines, but it was still a great ride.

And for all you fans of the "Not-Highly-Exciting-Video" series, here's our latest installment. Me riding both our horses. The entirety of both rides, compressed into 2.5 minutes!