Tuesday, June 06, 2006
A Little History
Warning to anyone who might've already read today's post for my yahoo 360 blog: this is redundant... I simply thought it would go nicely for this blog as well, since it IS about "All the Pretty Horses."
Nothing much to report on progress... all I've made time for Pepsi is just a little quiet rubbing, talking to and praying over as she contentedly munches her hay. And, about the same for Padre, too. I've still been busy with the "spring cleaning", which has transferred to the yard as well - we never really knew what busy was till we bought our own land. But, it is wonderful and we really do enjoy clearing, planting, and just making something out of nothing.
Anyhow, I had made this blog for my own enjoyment, and now I see that there are actually some folks reading this, so I will share a little history of my own....
Our names are Jeff and Jennifer and we've named this home of ours The Forty. Our brand, which we need to get up to the courthouse to register, will be 4T. It is a small "ranch"-in-the- making... 36.75 acres. There was nothing to it when we bought it and, as I said above, we are truly enjoying making something out of nothing... especially now that we have a sawmill. :) Though The Forty was only just established in 2004, Jeff and I have had "Ponderosa" dreams since childhood.
Jeff grew up with a few horses, most noteably the buckskin gelding that he still dearly loves -Joe, and hundreds of cows. At one time his father was the second largest cattle rancher in the county. Jeff spent his time, when not in school, working cows and cutting/baling/hauling hay. He got a little burnt out on it in his teen years, but when I came along he jumped back in feet first. He likes horses, but he really loves hunting and fishing. I like hunting and fishing, but really LOVE horses. It makes for a good balance.
I experienced some of that cattle ranching/hay hauling life right after high school, and I loved it, but for the most part my life has been with the horses. In elementary school I was in Girl Scouts, and it was through the Girl Scouts that I finally found the horse fix I had been craving since birth. I had the wonderful opportunity to earn my horse lover's badge on a trip to a ranch just a few miles from my home, and they were gracious enough to invite all of us to continue coming to the ranch. I took them up on the offer and never looked back.
Eventually, they gave me my start in horse ownership with a yearling colt they had raised. I named him Cherokee. Three years later I was finally able to bring him home, along with my second horse - a gelding named Stroker. He was a good riding horse, but had been badly neglected. Sadly, we lost him to sand colic a little less than a year after bringing him home. I was 14 at the time. By then we had a nice little 2 yr old gaited cross filly, Cocoa. I had gotten her green broke, and, after alot of help from David Walsh to overcome the abuse of so-called "trainers" we had sent him to, Cherokee was doing well under saddle, though green broke as well. This was the start of an ongoing friendship with the Walsh family. Cocoa went to live with this great family, was renamed Libby and became a wonderful trail horse.
By this time, I had wanted to learn to barrel race for years. Stroker, an experienced barrel horse, was meant to be my "teacher", however we never made it to what was intended to be our first playday.
Usher in the age of Dixie... knowing I needed an experienced horse to learn on, I let go of the "love of my life" Cherokee and brought Dixie home. By this time I was quite a little rider and on my way to becoming a horseman, having had a year of hunter/jumper lessons on a myriad of lesson horses, and having spent the summer of my 13th year on the backside of the racetrack. Yes, I still had a long ways to go, but I had enough experience to know, when I first mounted up on Dixie, that this was the horse for me. She was the first truly "hot" horse I'd ever sat and I LOVED it! I no longer had to work to get the speed I desired - she offered it freely. She gave me my first foal - Surprise (born just months after bringing Dixie home)- and taught me many things in the 6 years I owned her... and she left a hole the size of Texas when I lost her to founder just before my 20th birthday.
By then I had had some more training experience - my first training "project" , Mosquito, had been bought, trained, bred (Amigo was her adorable black & white paint colt) and resold. And I had started my second "project" - my first registered horse, Another Sippa Cash, a 1996 American Quarter Horse. I had bought her as a two year old with the money from selling Mosquito & Amigo, and I must say she was quite possibly the most beautiful horse I'd ever laid eyes on. By the time I lost Dixie I had Cash coming along nicely and had bonded with her, so her presence was quite soothing to my hurting heart.
Though they did not belong to me, I ran barrels on Scooby and Buckles for awhile since I had no competition horse. I took a "hiatus" due to a divorce and Cash went to live with my best friend for the next six months. Jeff came along in my life not long after and with him came Sam & Jenny, 2 bay QH's - actually his uncle's horses, but we used them and cared for them for a while. And there was the "family" pony my mom originally bought for my niece - Buster - who was worth his weight in gold. Unfortunately we lost him to Cushings disease. And there were the 2 mustang stallions we adopted - the buckskin, Oogie and the bay, Moose. They became good cow horses for some friends of ours. We eventually found the horse we thought would fit Jeff - Rebel, an all-around sorrel QH gelding. He was meant to be Jeff's trail horse and roping horse and to be my backup barrel horse. However, we later discovered Jeff's saddle badly bridged his back and was causing some behavioural problems, so I was the only one left riding him, though eventually I used him for giving lessons, too.
I ended up trading him and Cash to a good friend for a lovely black Thoroughbred jumper and went back to taking weekly lessons. Over the years I had kept up with my English riding and had taught nearly every horse I regularly rode how to jump at least small fences, but I had discovered some severe weaknesses when I showed in my first classes on Cash and I meant to strengthen and improve myself with my new TB, Sammy. I did well and was advancing and looking forward to taking the long, long awaited plunge into eventing.... until I'd had one too many runaways and a bit of a nasty fall that put me out of work and in the bed for a week. hmmmm, I honestly can't remember what number concussion that was, but I believe I've had 4 or 5 total... LOL I don't think that's too good, but it's not too bad, either.
Anyhow, after that I decided I didn't feel safe on any horse other than Cash, so I managed to trade back for her and eventually got Rebel back ,too. However, my fears lingered and caused problems for Cash, so I sought out the help of a barrel horse trainer I know. She had absolutely no problems with Cash, so I knew it had been me. Alot of good came out of the situation, though... I learned alot from her and she really did polish Cash off. She was always such a joy to ride, train and compete. But, later that year, for all the wrong reasons, I ended up selling her - and deeply regretted it. It was a hard lesson learned, but one I won't soon forget - don't sell your best horse.
Well, I kind of quit riding not long after that. My heart just wasn't in it. It also didn't help that I had nowhere to ride but in my yard, which really wasn't mine to begin with. I had ridden Cash down the roadsides, but Rebel wasn't in favor of that. We eventually tried replacing Buster with a cute little pony mare we named Molly. She gave birth to Lilly on one Good Friday morning. Alas, she just couldn't fill the shoes of Buster, so the two of them were passed along to another family. Later on down the line we found a good replacement with a good old QH mare, Scooter... unfortunately we had moved to the Forty by then and we rarely get visitors, so she just wastes away. Consequently we are currently seeking a new home for her.
About a month after moving to the Forty Jeff finally found his horse - a gorgeous Saddlebred/Saddlehorse/Paint cross mare named Snickers. She is an absolute doll and we just love her to pieces. Last fall Rebel had a minor injury and needed 6 weeks off, so I was without a barrel horse... sooo a friend says to me "come get Gambler out of my pasture and use him since you're afoot; if you like him, I'll sell him to you." So, I went and got Gambler and just fell in love with him, too. Our first ride reminded me of Dixie - he is hot, though not quite as hot as her. He is a QH, registered as Jerico Gamblin Man; I call him Padre. Well, I enjoy him so much it made me realize that I just really didn't mesh too well with Rebel... he's too laid back for me; so I started searching in earnest for a new home for him. I found a family that raises Quarter Horses and was willing to make a trade. So, Jeff and I visited their awesomel ranch one blustery, cold January (or February?) day and looked at their many beautiful horses.
I was so very thankful to God that I was able to bring home Pepsi, an athletic and beautiful filly that I am very much enjoying... even on those not so reportable days when all I do is quietly rub her, talk to her and pray over her as she contentedly munches her hay.
"A horse is worth more than riches" - Spanish proverb
Nothing much to report on progress... all I've made time for Pepsi is just a little quiet rubbing, talking to and praying over as she contentedly munches her hay. And, about the same for Padre, too. I've still been busy with the "spring cleaning", which has transferred to the yard as well - we never really knew what busy was till we bought our own land. But, it is wonderful and we really do enjoy clearing, planting, and just making something out of nothing.
Anyhow, I had made this blog for my own enjoyment, and now I see that there are actually some folks reading this, so I will share a little history of my own....
Our names are Jeff and Jennifer and we've named this home of ours The Forty. Our brand, which we need to get up to the courthouse to register, will be 4T. It is a small "ranch"-in-the- making... 36.75 acres. There was nothing to it when we bought it and, as I said above, we are truly enjoying making something out of nothing... especially now that we have a sawmill. :) Though The Forty was only just established in 2004, Jeff and I have had "Ponderosa" dreams since childhood.
Jeff grew up with a few horses, most noteably the buckskin gelding that he still dearly loves -Joe, and hundreds of cows. At one time his father was the second largest cattle rancher in the county. Jeff spent his time, when not in school, working cows and cutting/baling/hauling hay. He got a little burnt out on it in his teen years, but when I came along he jumped back in feet first. He likes horses, but he really loves hunting and fishing. I like hunting and fishing, but really LOVE horses. It makes for a good balance.
I experienced some of that cattle ranching/hay hauling life right after high school, and I loved it, but for the most part my life has been with the horses. In elementary school I was in Girl Scouts, and it was through the Girl Scouts that I finally found the horse fix I had been craving since birth. I had the wonderful opportunity to earn my horse lover's badge on a trip to a ranch just a few miles from my home, and they were gracious enough to invite all of us to continue coming to the ranch. I took them up on the offer and never looked back.
Eventually, they gave me my start in horse ownership with a yearling colt they had raised. I named him Cherokee. Three years later I was finally able to bring him home, along with my second horse - a gelding named Stroker. He was a good riding horse, but had been badly neglected. Sadly, we lost him to sand colic a little less than a year after bringing him home. I was 14 at the time. By then we had a nice little 2 yr old gaited cross filly, Cocoa. I had gotten her green broke, and, after alot of help from David Walsh to overcome the abuse of so-called "trainers" we had sent him to, Cherokee was doing well under saddle, though green broke as well. This was the start of an ongoing friendship with the Walsh family. Cocoa went to live with this great family, was renamed Libby and became a wonderful trail horse.
By this time, I had wanted to learn to barrel race for years. Stroker, an experienced barrel horse, was meant to be my "teacher", however we never made it to what was intended to be our first playday.
Usher in the age of Dixie... knowing I needed an experienced horse to learn on, I let go of the "love of my life" Cherokee and brought Dixie home. By this time I was quite a little rider and on my way to becoming a horseman, having had a year of hunter/jumper lessons on a myriad of lesson horses, and having spent the summer of my 13th year on the backside of the racetrack. Yes, I still had a long ways to go, but I had enough experience to know, when I first mounted up on Dixie, that this was the horse for me. She was the first truly "hot" horse I'd ever sat and I LOVED it! I no longer had to work to get the speed I desired - she offered it freely. She gave me my first foal - Surprise (born just months after bringing Dixie home)- and taught me many things in the 6 years I owned her... and she left a hole the size of Texas when I lost her to founder just before my 20th birthday.
By then I had had some more training experience - my first training "project" , Mosquito, had been bought, trained, bred (Amigo was her adorable black & white paint colt) and resold. And I had started my second "project" - my first registered horse, Another Sippa Cash, a 1996 American Quarter Horse. I had bought her as a two year old with the money from selling Mosquito & Amigo, and I must say she was quite possibly the most beautiful horse I'd ever laid eyes on. By the time I lost Dixie I had Cash coming along nicely and had bonded with her, so her presence was quite soothing to my hurting heart.
Though they did not belong to me, I ran barrels on Scooby and Buckles for awhile since I had no competition horse. I took a "hiatus" due to a divorce and Cash went to live with my best friend for the next six months. Jeff came along in my life not long after and with him came Sam & Jenny, 2 bay QH's - actually his uncle's horses, but we used them and cared for them for a while. And there was the "family" pony my mom originally bought for my niece - Buster - who was worth his weight in gold. Unfortunately we lost him to Cushings disease. And there were the 2 mustang stallions we adopted - the buckskin, Oogie and the bay, Moose. They became good cow horses for some friends of ours. We eventually found the horse we thought would fit Jeff - Rebel, an all-around sorrel QH gelding. He was meant to be Jeff's trail horse and roping horse and to be my backup barrel horse. However, we later discovered Jeff's saddle badly bridged his back and was causing some behavioural problems, so I was the only one left riding him, though eventually I used him for giving lessons, too.
I ended up trading him and Cash to a good friend for a lovely black Thoroughbred jumper and went back to taking weekly lessons. Over the years I had kept up with my English riding and had taught nearly every horse I regularly rode how to jump at least small fences, but I had discovered some severe weaknesses when I showed in my first classes on Cash and I meant to strengthen and improve myself with my new TB, Sammy. I did well and was advancing and looking forward to taking the long, long awaited plunge into eventing.... until I'd had one too many runaways and a bit of a nasty fall that put me out of work and in the bed for a week. hmmmm, I honestly can't remember what number concussion that was, but I believe I've had 4 or 5 total... LOL I don't think that's too good, but it's not too bad, either.
Anyhow, after that I decided I didn't feel safe on any horse other than Cash, so I managed to trade back for her and eventually got Rebel back ,too. However, my fears lingered and caused problems for Cash, so I sought out the help of a barrel horse trainer I know. She had absolutely no problems with Cash, so I knew it had been me. Alot of good came out of the situation, though... I learned alot from her and she really did polish Cash off. She was always such a joy to ride, train and compete. But, later that year, for all the wrong reasons, I ended up selling her - and deeply regretted it. It was a hard lesson learned, but one I won't soon forget - don't sell your best horse.
Well, I kind of quit riding not long after that. My heart just wasn't in it. It also didn't help that I had nowhere to ride but in my yard, which really wasn't mine to begin with. I had ridden Cash down the roadsides, but Rebel wasn't in favor of that. We eventually tried replacing Buster with a cute little pony mare we named Molly. She gave birth to Lilly on one Good Friday morning. Alas, she just couldn't fill the shoes of Buster, so the two of them were passed along to another family. Later on down the line we found a good replacement with a good old QH mare, Scooter... unfortunately we had moved to the Forty by then and we rarely get visitors, so she just wastes away. Consequently we are currently seeking a new home for her.
About a month after moving to the Forty Jeff finally found his horse - a gorgeous Saddlebred/Saddlehorse/Paint cross mare named Snickers. She is an absolute doll and we just love her to pieces. Last fall Rebel had a minor injury and needed 6 weeks off, so I was without a barrel horse... sooo a friend says to me "come get Gambler out of my pasture and use him since you're afoot; if you like him, I'll sell him to you." So, I went and got Gambler and just fell in love with him, too. Our first ride reminded me of Dixie - he is hot, though not quite as hot as her. He is a QH, registered as Jerico Gamblin Man; I call him Padre. Well, I enjoy him so much it made me realize that I just really didn't mesh too well with Rebel... he's too laid back for me; so I started searching in earnest for a new home for him. I found a family that raises Quarter Horses and was willing to make a trade. So, Jeff and I visited their awesomel ranch one blustery, cold January (or February?) day and looked at their many beautiful horses.
I was so very thankful to God that I was able to bring home Pepsi, an athletic and beautiful filly that I am very much enjoying... even on those not so reportable days when all I do is quietly rub her, talk to her and pray over her as she contentedly munches her hay.
"A horse is worth more than riches" - Spanish proverb
