2nd Ride out on Navi

Yesterday my other half and I hit the roads around the ranch again. I walked Navi down the road to the huge new outdoor arena. We warmed up a little and then I hopped on. She hasn't ever been to this area so it was all new! She walked out like a champ. With the support of my partner we decided to try some trot work. She was a little hesitant at first, but then moved right into a nice even trot that was super smooth :) We did that for a few minutes off and on. She was awesome. It was nice to finally have the first trot under saddle out of the way. I was beaming with pride when we accomplished it. My partner is a great support and is super good about reminding me to watch my hands. I tend to nag and I needed to just relax and let her have her head. After that it was time for lunch. The ranch was hosting lunch for the poker run and clinic that was going on also. So we left the arena and rode back to the main area of the ranch. Navi was perfect for the ride back. She lead the way some and followed some. We accomplished our second bridge crossing! We rode right up to all the action where the cavaletti clinic was coming to a close, horses and people everywhere and she didn't care one bit. We tied the girls up for a break while we ate lunch. After lunch we got back on and did a little work over the cavalettis that were still set up from the clinic. It was super fun and Navi was one tired girl. We called it a day and rode back up the the tack room.

It may have taken us a lot longer than planned to really start riding, but in the end I feel like everything happens for a reason and this is no different. Every bump in the road, every set back, every moment that I questioned if I knew what I was doing had its reason for happening. Navi and I have had amazing moments while training and not so amazing moments. But I can say this there has never been a time when I pushed her to where she was truly stressed or scared and now it seems to have paid off. Last summer when we started to ride again and she started rearing up a little I always got off and started over. Why? Simply because I have no desire to get hurt or hurt her. Was she told no when she really threw a fit? Yes she was because again I like my safety.

I sat out on this journey to make Navi a trail horse through clicker training mixed with some traditional training. When we very first started I was still riding in bits, since then we have given up riding in bits completely. We are on this journey to keep learning and learning is certainly what we are doing. Navi has only worn a bit one time in her life and then I quickly changed my mind and never had her wear it again. We are riding in a side pull currently and it works great!

Our journey together hasn't been perfect, far from, but I can say I am proud that I have made a horse that is safe enough to ride out bitless in new areas on her 2nd ride out. Today we hope to hit the actual trails for the first time :)

Navi and I finally did it!

5 or so years ago I set out with the plans on buying a baby horse and taking them from start to finish myself. In late Nov 2012, Navi came home as a 1 1/2 yr old blank slate. Flash forward to now. She turned 6 this year and yesterday we took our 1st "trail"ride with a couple other horses. I can't believe come November of this year I will have owned her for 5 years! Wow, time really does fly!!

To say this road has been smooth sailing would be a bit of a lie. Her and I have had anything but a smooth ride up to this point. Navi and I have not seen eye to eye a lot of the time. But I just had to learn to listen to her and go with the flow. All plans have been thrown out the window about a hundred times. I was planning on starting her lightly on trails at the age of 4, but then as we know she tried to cut her leg off. That was a year of healing and not knowing if she was going to even come back sound to ride. So we dabbled in the world of driving. (Which I do plan on still doing) It was decided she was sound for at least light riding so at the age of 5 we started under saddle training again. Except this time around, unlike when she was 3, she was not easy to ride. She started kind of throwing fits when I would get on her. I feel like I changed the way we did things 500 times in hopes of finding a non-stressful way of getting her going under saddle. She pushed my confidence to the brink and made me think hard of ways to find a partnership with her. More than once I said I didn't think she was ever going to be a riding horse. In fact just this year in early spring, my partner and I finally just said nope her being a trail horse isn't going to happen. I made the decision to just focus on riding Pixie and enjoying the summer. Navi of course would never leave us. She would always have a home with me, but I decided to take a break from regular training. We were doing well for the most part, but I had to find my confidence and desire to continue to try and push through this road block when it came to riding. I have always struggled to find my way with Navi cause she pushes my buttons. And lets face it I have always had an easy out as long as I have had Pixie around to ride. I didn't need to push myself. Well then Pixie came up lame again in the beginning of June. I had 3 choices: 1. Not trail ride 2. Buy another trail horse 3. Step up to the plate and just ride Navi. Here is how this decision was made. It was quickly decided I am already poor so another horse was out, lol. I could go the summer without trail riding, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I could also see if Navi and I could work this out and hopefully hit the trails. So it was decided it was time for me to just saddle up and ride her. I have great medical insurance, so heck why worry about it. I got my helmet and and last weekend I climbed aboard after months of not riding. I waited for the blow up, the rearing and or bucking. It never came...so ride two I waited again and it never happened. Then ride 3 this week. I pushed a bit more she got mad, pinned her ears, tossed her head,but never blew up. What happened here? Had I finally figured out how to connect with this mare and ride? Had I just gained my confidence and said the heck with it? I am not really sure I know the answer, but I do know I wasn't nervous one bit on her last night. I know I can ride and for the most part I can ride through a blow up. And well I have a helmet.

Why are all my horses slow??

So there we were on our 1st trail ride. We actually were out a bit farther from the barn, but I decided it was best to not take pictures and focus on my riding. Well up until the end when I couldn't resist. :) We rode over a bridge, she was perfect! We rode past horses in pastures that wanted to come see us, she did great! We tackled a tiny hill or two (really tiny) and she did great! I don't think someone could have ruined my excitement if they had tried really really hard. I could have cried when I dismounted at the tack room I was so happy! This moment was one I had waited for for a long long time. Our journey is far from over, we have so much more to do. And we will hit many more curves and bumps along the way while trail riding, but until then I am enjoying the moment.

Crazy Horse Owner

Everyone knows the world is full of "crazy" horse owners. No one wants to be one, but the truth is we will all become one at some point. 😊

I feel as though I have officially become one, lol. Don't feel bad for me, I enjoy my little stressed out world. However, you should feel bad for the barn employees where my horses are kept. Because not only am I a crazy horse owner of 1 horse, but we of course have 5. You know that means we are crazy times 5! Which means the poor people that take care of my horses are subjected to 50 thousand texts a week. All of which probably include " okay we are going to move so and so or can you check on so and so..." Oh yes, I am that person who freaks out and will text at 6:30am to please check on my horse when I am told the night before that he is sore on his feet. I am also that owner that decides to move their horse and then two weeks later needs to move her back to her original paddock. Or I need to dry lot my horse this month, but next month she needs to be moved to a different pen with more shade. The last text I sent Friday to the manager said "Don't worry I think I am done moving horses for a while" Ha! 24 hrs later my other half and I are talking about that we need to move Pixie to a different pen. I assume they know to no longer believe me when I say things like that, lol. I want my horses to graze 24 hrs a day, but I don't want them to get fat ( Hey that is kinda like me, I want to eat all the time and stay skinny??), lol. Oh and here let me have special hay boxes to feed my ponies out of so they can slow feed.

I keep my horses 47 miles away from my house, why? Well because I am that crazy owner and no where closer to me even comes close to my standards of care! Why don't I buy land you say and keep them at home? Because I can't afford to have such nice pastures for them. They need space to run, graze, have a year round live creek, and have shelter. I am sure if I do ever buy land and take my horses home every employee at the barn will be throwing us a good bye party 😝 Ok, I don't think they will be that excited to see us go, lol.

The first step in any problem is admitting you have a problem. No worries, I know I have a problem.

In all seriousness though, everyday I am so beyond grateful for the ranch that my horses live at. I couldn't ask for a better place or better people to care for my babies. Every time we go out there I feel blessed that we are able to call that place home for our horses!

Now I am off to get errands done so I can get the ranch early to figure out a game plan for where Pixie will be moved to. Pixie is lame again, so I need to find a perfect combination of somewhere she can graze, but not get fat again, but can move around more than her current situation. Willow has a cut on her neck that I want to check on. I need to get Navi dressed in her fly sheet now that she isn't in the big pasture with tons of shade to protect her from the sun. Jess and Char... well I think they should be good to go for the day. They will get their one candy cane they get each time we visit. It is super tough being a retired horse of mine. You have to walk to the fence when we arrive to receive your candy cane. What, you say, you can buy candy canes year round?? Oh yes, no worries you can always find them on Amazon or cracker barrel 😉.