Sunday Night at the Horse Sale

I saw him sitting there

Old Bay was pretty slick

I’d seen him riding around out back

he was big and he was quick

The boy upon his back, not more than 22

Sat quietly in the saddle, regret upon his face, at what he was about to do.

I stopped by his stirrup and said “What can you tell me about your ride?”

He looked down from his worn out saddle and his eye’s, they filled with pride

“He’s the best horse I’ve ever owned mam, he can pull and he can run,

He’ll freshen up a little if you give him a break but he’s still going when I am done”

I walked around the bay noting the care he had received,

among the other traders and their horses around he had by far seen the most feed.

“Can anybody ride him?” I asked, he knew where this would lead,

HIs answer was honest “No mam, horse sense is what you’d need.”

“Bay here he’s a good horse, no doubt I’ll shed a tear

but he’s got to much to give to pack around some trail rider and his beer.”

I laughed and patted the big bay on his shoulder and said “I can see he’s the best horse here,

you ride him in that ring and spin him around I bet this crowd will cheer,

hands will go in the air, numbers will fly and you’re gonna get your price.”

He nodded and said “Yes mam but whomever they are I hope they treat him nice.”

I sat and watched that young man, roll the bay around.

The crowd went wild with excitement there is nothing like that sound.

The sound of appreciation when good horseman see something they like.

He might as well have been showing in a world championship finals on that Sunday Night.

When they gavel dropped on the Bay, he had himself a new home

my heart went out to the young man who would be leaving that sale alone.

I saw him wipe a tear from his eye a he left the gate.

I sure hope that $8500 made it a little easier to take.

HOLY CHIT!!! The Spirit behind a phrase…

When Victor Espinoza reached the track steward this past Saturday the words the camera caught “Holy Chit!” went through the entire world. People lambasted him for the use of profanity.
This man who gave his winnings to childhood cancer, who donates his winnings all the time, who just achieved horse racing immortality got judged for 2 words and not the spirit behind them.

It’s a shame that our society has turned to this. In a day and age where main stream radio plays songs about hooking up at the club, lap dances, and “making it rain” on both rap AND the tight jeaned country boy band radio, why would people be so upset over 2 little words said in victory?

My daughter is starting to repete a lot of words. I was griping at her daddy the other day for not listening and making us later than we already were to a barrel race. I said to him (as he gawked at a roping pen we were passing) “JUST DRIVE!!” The next words out of my 18 month olds mouth, plain as day were JUST DRIVE!! Funny as this was it upset me. She should not think it’s ok to talk to her daddy like that. I calmed myself down for the sake of my child. How will I explain to her it’s not ok, when mommy does it. We’re also monitoring TV shows, I’m not ready to try to figure out how to keep her from repeating words like Sex, weed, stoned, etc…. the spirit behind the words should mean more than the words but there are some words she don’t need to know yet.

I had a horse once in training. She was counterfiet, she could do it but she often chose not too. She won a small Futurity and clocked a 1D time in that arena. My words echo’d those of Victors. “HOLY SHIT!” I said in the warm up pen as I realized what she’d just ran. I was immediatly crawled all over by a near by woman who’s son of 12 was standing with her. Number 1 he’s 12 he’s heard it, number 2. My words were not near as damage effecting, as the drama, gossip, and hatefulness I’ve heard her spew time and time again from the stands, exhb line, and warm up pen. People like her are one of the reasons I hate to go to that arena anyway.
I by no means profess to be perfect but I would enourage people especially parents to focus less on what society is deaming as appropriate versus not. Our morals get more and more mixed up everyday while off color jokes find their way into children’s animated movies but one man who just achieved what no one has done in 37 years can’t say “Holy chit?” That’s just messed up.

A Fairy Tale Princess and a Fast Horse…. from a kids pony to Chayni Chamberland and her white horse the search for the perfect kids horse.

Every little girl at some point or another plays a good game of pretend involving a scenario about a princess and a horse. Knowing my daughter will sooner than later be an imaginative toddler I went in search of the daunting task every horse mom must endure. Finding the perfect pony. That pony that defies all ponyism’s out there and is truly the perfect horse.

When I started my great pony search 6 months ago I had a specific pony in mind. I wanted a mini horse or small pony my daughter could play with, pull on its mane, poke in the eye, and waller around and one that would let her do all these things without complaint and without intentionally hurting her. I know accidents happened but I didn’t want anything that resembled the little Ed pony whose videos are a Youtube sensation. I really thought we would have to go thru a half dozen at least before I found what I wanted for her. I had a pony like this when I was a child, his name was Skeeter and we had lots of fun. Skeeter was sold when I was ready for a big horse. They took photos because the transaction was made while I was away at school. 30 years later I still remember that smug little blond chic holding his lead rope in those photos which is quite possibly why I hate selling anything. My mom scared me for life, but that’s for my bestselling memoir.

In my search for this pony I whined extensively on Facebook about pony prices versus quality of pony. People really do get ignorant about what they think their pony should cost. The good lord heard my complaints and my good friend called me she had checked with her little boy, who agreed to sell my daughter the now most valuable horse on our place. He truly likes her and follows her around his pen and if she falls down toddling around he stands by as she grunts and pulls herself up. She has inspected every crevice on his little furry body and he’s tolerantly put up with her probing with a wonderful attitude. He is EXACTLY what a first perfect pony or in his case a registered miniature horse, should be.

This brings me to Chayni Chamberland. While most 9 yr old girls are in their bedroom or backyard pretending to gallop around a castle on their white horse, in this real life version, Chayne is about to ride her white horse right down the center of a fantasy land sports castle known as Jerry’s World for what would seem to any 9 year old like all the riches in the world. This baby girl and her horse won my heart this past year at the 2014 BBR Finals. I was watching on the webcast because my mother was up later. Mom had been talking about this really nice family stalled next to her so I paid attention. I commented to my husband as the grey horse walked in “here is the perfect kid horse. She’s not got a parent hanging from her bridle in effort to keep control. She’s sitting in the middle and their focus reflects each other.” Little did I know approximately 15.1 seconds later there would be a new leader. I sat there in awe and watched as this horse, who took the lead against 1500 other horses, walked calmly but proudly out the gate as little Chayni adjusted her hat. Like I said before been a fan ever since! I would love him if he wasn’t a 1D horse but icing on the cake.

This is what a kid’s barrel horse should be and what trainers should advertise as a kids horse and parents should demand in a kids horse. I know those kind are few and far between but really more effort should be made to market those kind and encourage kids to develop those skills of being able to handle a horse without 3 helpers in the alley. Instead its all to common to hear of them making a quick buck on parent’s who’s little girl saw Fallon Taylor and her rainbow outfits on TV and decided she wanted to be a barrel racer. The most horrific scene I’ve ever see was one night when I watched a horse who’d already made 2 runs and taken 45 minutes of our time finally snap in the gate on the 3^rd run and rear up and head butt the poor magic seated kid in the head and bloody her nose and then throw itself on the fence. They got the child off the horse and got her nose cleaned up and the mother said to the little girl “You’re never going to be a champion if you don’t get back on that horse!” Unfrigging believable. I MIGHT have said a little louder than normal, “honey your kid will never be a champion if you keep making her get on horses like that.” The kid smartly refused and sadly I’ve never seen her again. It happens way to often.

The perfect horse can make a child’s dreams come true an imperfect one can ruin those dreams and worse. Next weekend we have tickets to the American Rodeo where Chayni and her white horse are living the dreams of thousands of little girls as they take on the best barrel racers in the world. She’s already outran an arguably more formidable crowd collectively to get there. I’m rooting for that little cowgirl to win the whole way because people say the perfect kids horse is worth a million dollars in gold and this one has a chance to prove it to those who don’t already have it figured out. In the mean time my daughter is just starting to feel the love of horses, and if she chooses to follow dreams of her own someday she will look back and think about that fluffy little sorrel guy in our barn stalled across from the horses of my dreams, who was her first perfect horse.

Put a better handle on yourself…

The number one request we get as trainers from people is for us to put a really good handle on a horse. I know more than one person I’ve seen try to pretend they’re Mandy McCutchen in the warm up pen trying to complete a spin that would make a reiner wonder if the horse had EPM. As a barrel horse trainer this is something that is in serious need in our industry. A lot of bad horses could have been good if someone had spent more time on the basics. A lot of good horses could have  been great for the same reason and then there are some who are too broke. Yes it’s possible but my good friend and fellow blogger Andrea Huft already covered that this month so I’ll let you go read what she had to say at http://www.heartofabarrelracer.blogspot.com.

When someone asks me to put a fancy handle on a horse the first thing I do is watch them ride and decide if they can handle a horse with more ride on it than they already have. As a trainer I make my living fixing people up with what they want but as a horsewoman what I would really like to do is haul those people to my former boss and let him make them almost cry like he did me a couple times but when they walk away if they’re willing they will have a better understanding of how to ride a horse that really rides.

Let’s flash back to 2005 I’m working for the former boss. In his barn is the gorgeous black gelding who went by the barn name Black Doc. I’d been loping all his rope horses and mentioned how I would like to ride that horse and how come he didn’t let me lope him. He told me I wouldn’t be able to trot a circle on that horse let alone lope one. At this point I had trained a handful of pretty decent horses before I went to work for him, so I was like seriously? I can lope a circle on a horse. He saw my ego flair and told me to hop on him and if I could do it I could start exercising him. Long story short I learned a whole lot from that gorgeous black gelding who had too much feel and ride for 90% of the world. It was 3 months before I got to ride him full time. I am by no means an expert and your will not see me entering a professional reining anytime soon but the 9 months I worked there completely changed my approach to things and I could use 9 more years.

We as horsemen and women need to realize the unbelievable amount of inconsistent and mixed signals that we send our horses when we are not paying attention to what we are doing. Some horses those golden horses that lull us into thinking we all have it figured out will put up with it. Other’s like Black Doc will humble you to the point you either want to quit or get better. In a 6 inch space with one rein you can go to asking a horse for lateral movement to walking a circle with forward motion. With barrel racing you see a lot of people asking for lateral movement across the neck but the truth is when you lift on a horse if you cross the neck you are putting your horse off balance and putting it in a bind and it looses it’s range of motion in that shoulder. I have a friend who steadies a horse with the outside rein going into a turn with a light tug her timing and amount of pressure are what makes her successful with this but many people who try to do the same just end up cranking the horses nose to the outside and dropping the horses shoulder farther into the barrel those people then bad mouth her for doing it when they’ve no real understanding of how it’s done. I don’t have the timing to do it so I have to find what works for me.

There is a reaction for every action we take for the reins. If you want a horse that slides and spins and does lots of cool things then you need to take the time to learn how to ask for those things. If you don’t have the time to put forth the effort to put a better handle on your hands, body, and mind then asking for a fancy handle on your horse is counterproductive and you can’t complain when the horse does everything the trainer asks but you don’t get along with it. It’s not the trainers fault it’s yours.

Why I will Never tell my daughter they’re just jealous of her….

At some point every girl who’s ever been pushed around or bullied by other kids has been told, “They’re just jealous of you.” It’s a very quick and satisfying response to justify something that might go much deeper or might just be kids being kids or people being people. But is it really the answer to the centuries old practice of people singling out others to be an asshole to them on purpose? Do you really want your child most generally your daughter thinking that people are jealous of her or want to be her? I was bullied early on in Jr High and High School. It was most definitely not because all the girls were jealous of me. It was because I was different from them in every way. I was a tom boy, I hung out with my horses, in class I constantly drew horses, talked about horses, and low and behold today guess what I do for a living, I ride and sketch and paint horses. Somewhere along the way I got it in my head that I was better than they all were and I didn’t need to try to get along because they were just jealous of me. It was in college I found out how wrong I was. I was tapped on the shoulder at a party by a girl I’d never seen before and was accused by her friend, looking for a fight of saying that I had said something I didn’t recall saying since I’d just been informally introduced to this shrieking chick who’s name I didn’t find out till the next day, I turned my head and the next thing I knew I was tangled up with a girl who was notorious for these things. Turns out my attitude around campus had put me straight in the sights of someone who decided I needed taken down a notch or 2. After that night she never bothered me again but it sure re arranged my line of thinking it also made me mad and carry around a whole lot of hatred for a long time because I didn’t do or say whatever the heck I was being accused of. I never quit standing up for myself the rest of that year and never had another problem that amounted to anything.

Moral to the story is I learned real fast that most people who don’t like you or pick on you are not jealous of you. They may be fighting some sort of battle and decided to take it out on you, you may have unknowingly done something to provoke it or it could be some people are just mean. I never want my daughter to think it’s because someone is jealous of her. Even if that’s the case this can only lead to places I don’t want to have to fix.

I’ve known grown women who think people are jealous of them. To date they’re the kind of people who make friends with people who feed their ego and then pit those people against each other and feed off of that. They remind me of those evil little fairies on a My Little Pony Episode I was watching with my daughter the other day that made people fight and then grew bolder off the negative energy. It was an excellent lesson hidden in that 30 minute cartoon and I appreciate it being available for my girl to watch instead of Sponge Bob because I can’t handle Sponge Bob.

So someday in the future think about what kind of ego trip we are setting our daughters up for by telling them someone is jealous of them just because they’re having trouble with them. It’s up to us help them to feel like it’s ok to have self-confidence and to be proud of their accomplishments without putting themselves on a pedestal or in the cross hairs of a mean ass blond headed chick who likes to fight and is willing to help her find out just exactly how tough mentally and physically she is.

First year in review

It’s the first birthday of our daughter. I would like to congratulate my husband and I and all other first time cowgirl parents for navigating thru the critics, the life lessons, the disagreements, and the general public in route to a successful first year. You can learn a lot about yourself when looking out for what’s best for your child. You start to rethink places you go, company you keep, and things you spend money on.

When I first announced I was pregnant there were a lot of people who just assumed I would stop riding horses for a living. Obviously you can’t do what you do for a living. There were moments I wondered if they were right, mostly in the beginning when my hormones were settling, but I thought of friends PJ Burger and Janae Massey both who are raising happy outgoing polite little girls who are always smiling when I see then and I pushed on. You cannot discredit the supportive husbands and fathers in these situations allowing us to do things as a family. A lesson I wanted her to learn as early as possible is as much as we include her in pretty much everything we do, she has to learn to roll with the flow and that there are times it’s simply not about her. Thankfully we are very blessed with a good baby who considers the sounds of a diesel a lullaby, loves good horses, and greets just about everyone she meets with a smile. This is why I’m considering stopping with her because the next one would probably discredit EVERYTHING I type here.

Among other things I’ve learned in this first year is you can wrap a baby head to toe in pink but if you don’t have a bow on her head everyone is going to call her a him. At first it rankled me but I’ve come to the conclusion people comment just to comment and they really don’t care or pay any real attention to your child they’re just attempting to be polite. I’m also astounded by the people who I’ve gotten to know after joining the ranks of mommy hood. Some I thought would never like kids stop to love on her every time they see her while others as much as expected slide past with frightened looks like she’s going to eat them, which is highly entertaining and it makes me want to chase them with her and go Booogty Booogty Booogty for the fun of it. I have one friend who isn’t a kid fan who will actually get within 10 feet of her. I give her hell telling her someday she’s actually going to hold her.

You become your child’s mommy or daddy, something I’ve been ok with since she was just a thought in our minds. My favorite moment at a rodeo this year was hearing announcer Monty Stueve at the Paris Texas Rodeo say “Run Momma Run” as I was headed home from the third barrel. Moms talking about loosing their identity on blogs all over the internet but I feel like she is a part of our identity, I know who I am so I don’t mind that association at all. I may have gained 10 pounds but I didn’t loose myself when I shed most of it.

I can honestly say this has hands down been the best year of my life. I’ve had a very interesting life even before I met my husband and someday when I’m rich I’ll write a self-incriminating auto biography and sell it for millions, if youre reading this and you can think of a moment you might be in this, and you don’t want to be I’m taking sealed bids to leave you out of it.  Till then I cannot wait for the next 18-20 years. I’m looking forward to Pre school, joining the junior rodeo rat race, having her decide she wants to do something else, her graduating from high school with honors and a full ride to the college of her choice, graduating law school 3 years early and buying her momma an Aston Martin! Or whatever makes her happy.

The little Cowgirls Night Before Christmas

Twas the Night before Christmas and all was quiet in the barn.
A little cowgirl lay sleeping
Snuggled deep in her mommas arms.
Her stocking was hung by the front door with care
Hoping Santa understood to put something for her horse in there.
Momma was sleeping, with ole daddy snoring loud
The little cowgirl came awake listening to a strange and wonderful sound.
When out on the porch she heard her dogs barking,
she ran to the window in time to see a sleigh on top of the barn parking.
The horses gathered around as Santa called each one by name,
Patted them on the head and hung a bell in their mane.
Oh joy Santa got it!
Santa just knew!!
How the little cowgirl had a had made a list just for her horses too!
He filled their mangers as they shook their heads in delight.
The bells making a joyful sound in the cold Texas night.
Then he put his finger to his mouth and silenced crowd
He turned towards the house as the little cowgirl ducked not wanting to be found.
Santa came down the chimney, he had spurs on his boots!
They never jingled or jangled as he stocked the tree with his loot.
Then he turned towards the little cowgirl with a twinkle in his eye,  “I see you hiding there” He said with a smile.
“I know your wondering, just how I knew, you wanted something for your horses and about the spurs on my boots too.”
“Santa is special to each little boy and girl, all year I know the desires of your heart and Santa wants to make sure he always plays the right part. So I always grab a set of spurs to wear for a little cowgirls and cowboys like you. Thank you for believing in old Santa like he believes in you too.”
And as Santa set those spurs a jingling he was singing a cowboys tune then he Whistled for his sleigh and shot out of the room.
As the little cowgirl waved him out of sight, he shouted “Merry Christmas little Cowgirl and to you a good night!”

Tis the season for believing…. anything you can tell yourself to justify why you ride that dink.

The season is upon us… no not the holidays it’s both National Finals Rodeo and Barrel Futurities of America World Championships time. One will be watching the other via TV or Webcast. Trainers in Oklahoma City are proudly watching their hard work in the national spotlight and the top 15 are looking back over their shoulders at the future of the rodeo industry.

It’s also that time of year when you see the most trash talking on FB and in exhibition lines about the gossip that surrounds both events especially the people who want to come down on the futurity industry for what is perceived as the ruining of good horses by running them too young. I sat this weekend and listened to a lady run thru her speech about her horse was a futurity blow up one of those dreadful futurity trainers hammered on and she’s got him enjoying his job again. Yeh he looked it as he paced in circles in the alley during exhibitions while she pulled on his face with no release and rode in her ill-fitting cheap saddle with her polo wraps incorrectly wrapped. He looks like he LOVES his job. It’s the same story I’ve heard a dozen times over the years.

Truth is over half the field headed to Vegas as either a main mount or back up that I know for a fact (I didn’t have time to research the rest) are headed to the NFR that were futurity money earners. The 2 that stand out to me are Slick By Design being ridden by Michelle McLeod and Heza Bug Leo ridden by Jana Bean. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing either one of them run it’s worth putting down whatever you’re drinking and walking or stumbling (depending on what you’re drinking) to the fence to watch.

I remember the first time I saw Slick run. My exact response was WTF was that? In a good way, it was as beautiful to watch him go as it is to just stand and look at him. Barrel racing’s very own Black Stallion. Kim Ulbricht Grunkemeyer dominated about everything she entered on him with a smile on her face. Michelle continues to smile to the pay window and nowadays in spite of several good horses running named Slick, everyone pretty much knows who you’re talking about when you say Slick. He’s on my list to breed my lone broodmare too someday. Sooner than later if I can ever justify flushing her.

If you know Latricia Duke at all you know Bug’s. He acted like a seasoned open horse everywhere he went as a futurity colt. He is another that just flat does his job. He looks like a blast to ride. He proves a good horse is a good horse and it’s pretty cool to see him get a second person to the bright lights. First time was Angie Meadors, and this year Jana gets a shot at a victory lap.

Among the others headed to Vegas are 2 started and trained by Ryan Lovendahl (gasssp a male trainer) men can’t make rodeo horses ask the 3 experts discussing this in the stands a couple weeks ago. I didn’t have the heart to tell them Ryan had trained at least 4 I can think of off the top of my head to successfully thrown down in sin city.

So to the people out there who think the upcoming BFA does nothing but ruin good horses. A good horse is a good horse whether it was futuritied or not and you’re welcome. Because of the futurity industry you get to brag that big ugly grey grandson of so and so, came from some terrible futurity trainer and you’ve been “fixing” him for the last 4 years, but it’s ok that he takes 10 minutes and 11 people to get in the gate so you can hope to fall in in the 5D, because “he really love’s his job now.”

Bringing the post baby barrel racer booty back..

Everyday I am tagged in posts or sent messages on social media trying to sell me the latest and greatest “LIFE STYLE CHANGE” Thrive, Level, Plexus, Advocare, it’s a like a cult I’m scared to join for 2 reasons. Number one I have a very strange system. Some things don’t bother me that people are cautioned about. I don’t get goofy on Hydrocodone but give me a Sudafed and I am seeing spots on my arms. I’m allergic to Marijuana and anything Hemp but have never had poison ivy, don’t ask me how I discovered either one of those things. I’m an enigma so I hesitate to put anything in my body I don’t know how I might react too. The number 2 reason I don’t have any interest in these things is I don’t have time to take all the pills at scheduled intervals and weigh what I eat with it and the 5000 other instructions that accompany most of those new “Lifestyle changes!” I just recently had the biggest “Lifestyle Change” anyone could ask for. She is cute with blue eyes and a big personality.

I’ve been watching the shrinking waistlines of many women around me and on FB and being one of those women who didn’t lose weight, rather actually gained weight while breast feeding I’ve been wonder how I can get in on this weight loss fitness trend without having to set an alarm to take a pill every 30 minutes. I stopped feeding my daughter all natural at about month 7 and lost few pounds immediately. OK what next… my husband trying to be supportive gently suggested I reduce my intake of Coca Cola to at least just one a day. A place to start and I did it was hard at first. I will confess I do drink Advocare’s Spark I love the stuff. It’s addicting so one coke per day was replaced with one spark in the mornings with a healthy breakfast of eggs and a piece of bacon, I eat small healthy portions at home and do my best not to finish whatever I get when we eat out. Portion size weight watchers style. I am down to one or 2 cokes a week and those are generally Mexican cokes which I am convinced is better for you in the same way Diet Coke drinkers think that’s actually better for them. If you don’t know the difference between Mexican Coke and American. It’s in a glass bottle and still made with real sugar and tastes like coke did back in the day. If you weren’t alive back in the day I suggest you go get a Mexican Coke and get a taste for what back in the day was. It really was better.

Ok so I’m controlling my food intake as best as I can without going on a crash diet that I will most certainly quit what else. Being a horse trainer you get plenty of exercise but I started carrying hay bales instead of wheeling them around on a cart, I ride bareback or without stirrups as much as I can posting at a trot (on the correct diagonal for all my English friends) I make a point to take extra steps where I know I could cut corners. By the time I get done feeding in the mornings I am sweating. Little things to raise your heart rate all day long without making yourself run on a treadmill. It doesn’t even feel like you’re exercising. This week I have reached three goals I told my husband I would do at the beginning of the year. I got back into my favorite pair of Cowgirl Tuff Jeans from pre baby without jumping up and down and I was able to swing up on my 15.2 hand head horse bareback indian style to go get the escaped calves in first try. If you’re not a horse person reading this you have no idea how hard that really is if your core’s not strong enough… and number 3 I sat and watched my videos of my colts working last night and didn’t think about how fat I looked.

I will never be that slick 120 I was when I was 21 yrs old strutting around at a Hawaiian Tropic competition and I really don’t want to be. Seriously I like that I can dance to “Bringing Booty Back” without someone being like “WTH is her skinny ass dancing like this is her Jam?” but I do want to keep working towards feeling like I am the best shape I can possibly be in without sacrificing the things I enjoy like Mexican Food. I got on the scales this morning and I am right at pre baby weight. I’d like to see 10 more lbs. go and I think I can do it staying on the course I am on. So for those of you who refuse to give up food truck taco’s you really don’t have too. Sacrifice your life style the way you’ve sacrificed your life for your kids. Give up the extra but keep what’s important.

5 Things Every Horse Mom needs to know

5. They never take a nap when it’s time to feed or you want to ride.

It’s newton’s law of baby physics. They know……. Right now as I type this she’s asleep which worries me that she’s not feeling good, because she enjoys her mommy and me time being during what used to be me and my horse time. So if you choose to not hire a babysitter and have a hubby that works you’re going to be adopting vampire hours and day break riding so if it’s summer enjoy it if it’s winter, hit an Under Armour sale on Zulilly and stock up you’re going to need it.

4. Halters and Bits make excellent chew toys.

You think I’m kidding but you can sit a child in a pack in play in the middle of the barn with 375.98 worth of scientifically proven developmental toys that make enough noises to elicit a seizure and if your child is close enough to a bridle rack then the dogs teeth marks will not be the only ones on whatever they can get ahold of. A 7.99 rope halter is my daughter favorite toy in the barn and will pacify her till at least halfway through feeding and haying 20 head of horses. That’s a long stretch for a 10 month old.

3. They are happy in the stroller while you ride until….

On a pretty day more than once my husband and I have plopped our daughter in the stroller and wheeled her out into the arena and put it in a safe place while we rode together. And more than once she’s been perfectly content while we saddle, mounted and got the horses warmed up just enough to be ready to get something done and then she’s let forth an ear splitting whale that could get DHS called on us if we lived in that kind of neighborhood where people put kids in time out. They judge distance at an early age so be advised the farther from the stroller you get the louder they get, till the coyote family that lives behind you in the woods is whaling with them at the ear splitting agony.

2. Horse Poop build’s immunity,

No I don’t let my child eat horse poop but she has managed to get handfuls of arena dirt in her mouth and swallow before I could get her stopped. So far she remains happy and healthy and I’ve not had to run a tub of Sand Clear through her yet. So don’t fret if you have to set your little one down in the barn aisle for a second and there’s nowhere clean enough. If you have horses around you know those mud pies they are going to eventually make you are manure pies and you’re going to happily pretend to eat them while praying you didn’t just worm everything on the place.

1 They mimic everything you do including to horses.

The other day while she was playing in her pack in play in the barn I was grooming a horse who tried to bite me because she was convinced the bot fly I was trying unsuccessfully to catch was my fault. I popped the mare in the muzzle with a well-timed smack and went on chasing the bot fly. I looked over and she was watching. 2 days later I’m sitting in the living room and she is trying to get on her rocking horse and he’s giving her fits sliding around on the carpet as she tries to get the correct leg lifted. Finally she steps back and looks at me and then reaches out and smacks him flush on the side of the head. All I can say is thank the good lord her first words were Dada!