Dog Training

I have been very blessed to have had several really good dogs in my life.

Folks are always asking me for help in training their dogs, hoping to be able to have a dog that will be more obedient and useful, or at least not so much of a nuisance! ;)

I have trained several dogs for other people and they always learn a lot while they are with me. 

The problem is, with many of them, as soon as they return home they begin to go right back to their old habits. I think a better option may be to help people learn to train their own dogs. I am going to start adding pages to this blog giving examples and videos showing people some ways to better handle their dogs. The first one will be The Chronicles of Peach in which I will give tips on puppy training while showing the progress of my own puppy, Peach. Comments and questions are welcome.

Tough old horses

I don't know about you all, but sometimes I am amazed at just how durable horses can be. I turned all the old-timers out to pasture for the winter. They are all fat and sassy and don't really want anything to do with being caught, even when I am shaking the feed bucket.
Finally, the snow has made them decide to come up and have some grain. Juliette was the first to come when I called with Tam as a close second.

I put feed out in four places so everyone could get their share. Tam and Pappy are never far from each other, so they both ate out of the trough.

Dan and Juliette each had their own bucket.

Notice the snow and icicles hanging off of all of them.

Look at that big one hanging from Tam's flank. These crazy old horses have access to a shed with hay 24-7, but they would rather stay out on the range and get covered with snow and ice. I guess I will leave it up to them to seek shelter when they want it. They seem to be enjoying themselves.
I am always surprised at how well most horses stand up to the elements and even choose to be out and exposed when given the choice. I guess they are made to tolerate those conditions.
Well, that's all for now.
Talk to you soon!
Crystal

Paeton and Elway moving the cows

For her lesson today, Paeton was riding Elway, a pony I bought this summer. Like most ponies, he can have a stubborn streak once in a while. However, Paeton has been doing great with him.

She was ready to move up to a bit more of a challenge than our old sweetheart, Juliette, was providing.
Paeton and Elway had a little fun moving the cows around .

 I love the reflection in the pond.

It was such a beautiful day, I think the cows were even having a good time.
I think Paeton just might be cowgirl material.   ;)
See ya!

Tuesday Lessons

The weather has been pretty cooperative for the last couple of weeks for our Tuesday lessons. Paeton has been riding our new horse, Juliette.

She is very gentle and  willing. A perfect horse for lessons.
Katy has come for her second lesson now. She has been riding Tam and they get along very well.

Thanks, girls, for being such good students! I am having a lot of fun teaching you and hope you are having fun learning from me!
Crystal

Visiting the new baby.

Wow! What a beautiful day!
When Paeton arrived for her lesson, we headed out on a little trail ride across the farm.

We traveled up and down some big hills, crossed some water and headed up to Tracey's to see the new baby.

Isn't she an absolute little doll?
After I snapped a couple of shots of her, Paeton and I headed back for home to meet her mom. We took a different route and looked at the cows and calves.

It was a great afternoon for a ride. I hope Paeton enjoyed it as much as I did. :)

See ya!
Crystal

Bringing the Cows home

We decided this would be a good day to move our cattle up from the lower field to give the spring grass a chance to grow for a bit. I had the horses ready a little early. 

 Tag and Ember were ready to go too. I had to put Snowy in the kennel. He thinks he's a cow dog and wants to do his part to "help". Unfortunately, he gets in the way and I worry that he will get hurt. Sooo.... poor Snowy!

Don't worry. I let him out as soon as the cattle drive was over and he happily followed me and my horse for the rest of the day.

We headed off the hill to gather up the cows. That's Jana and Lana in front of me. Gerald is riding beside me on Pappy, trying to dodge the camera.

 Haha! There he is. Can't hide from the camera forever.
The cows were scattered all over the bottom field, so we spread out and began to gather them up.

 Got em' rounded up and out of the bottom field. Now we have 'em headed up the valley with Tag and Ember bringing up the rear.

Now they are headed up the ridge. When we get to the pond, we have to turn 'em left and down a little gully, then up another hill and through the gate.

A couple of cows tried to go around the right side of the pond. I sent Ember to turn them back. See her heading that way? She did a great job.
Finally, got 'em where we want 'em.

Here's Papaw on the only horse he'll ride. Can't get him on a hay burner. :)
The cattle drive went smooth. I released Snowy from jail and spent the rest of the day on horseback, with all the dogs following. This is where I found little Snowy after I unsaddled the last horse. I do believe he was all tuckered out!

 All in all, a fantastic day. Hope you enjoyed yours as much!
See ya!
Crystal

Natural Balance Shoes

The farrier came over last week to get all the horses shod in anticipation of some good riding weather. All my horses are easy to shoe and just get regular old horse shoes, except Razzle. I always had trouble with him being a terrible clutz. I mean, it was a little spooky riding him down hill. He would stumble often and was not at all good at catching himself. This can make for a very tense trail ride.

My farrier, Blake, suggested using Natural Balance shoes. They are made differently than other shoes. The toe area is blunted in front and more rounded on the bottom.

It made Razzle's hoof look a little squared off, but the difference in the way he moved and traveled over the countryside was well worth it. Blake said it helps the horse to break over correctly.
So, if you have a clumsy horse like Razzle, you might want to ask your farrier about Natural Balance shoes.
They definitely did the trick for us. I now use Razzle as my head horse when I team rope with no problems at all.
See Ya!
Crystal.