Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Whew!

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything here. Two weeks in fact.  Kat is coming along nicely and actually slacking off a bit since he is getting bored going around and around the back pasture/arena. Even throwing cones, buckets and poles out there as obstacles to go through and around, is just not that thrilling for him anymore. He is getting lazy in his work and I really have to push him to get anything out of him.
So Sunday I took him around the arena a few times, we went both directions through the poles in the "L" shape, wove through the buckets and when he was actually a bit tired, I stopped him by the gate to open it up.  One of the mares is right there by the gate and although she clearly does not like him, he thinks he has a chance with her.  He stayed where I left him, while I opened the gate and waited until I told him to move on before going through it.  He tried stopping in front of her stall and with a reminder of him having a job to do, we headed for the driveway gates.

Out the driveway and we headed down the street. There are only three houses on our side of the street. Two on the other side. I figured this would be a good time to walk along behind the cart and go see what he is going to do. The neighbor has some dogs that usually come running out to the fence and bark. I was hoping they would, but they waited until we were almost past before showing up. He stopped to see what the commotion was and decided to poop. Of course he thinks he can't do two things at once so I had to try convincing him he can. 

The neighbor on the corner has about 4 horses in their pasture. All of them came running to see what in the world we were. Kat decided he was all important and started huffing himself up and showing off.  He again got a few reminders of the job at hand and he needed to behave no matter what was going on. We made it to the corner, waited for a car to pass, then made a nice turn around and headed back. another few small reminders of his job and he settled right in, walking along to go home.

He did really well in that he did not get antsy because we were going home. Since the sun was getting hot I needed to rinse us both off and call it good. As we were coming down the street to our driveway, a truck went by and actually stopped to watch us.  Kind of fun, since there aren't too many people in our neighborhood that drive. I know of three actually... 

I need to get Pal back to work and I also need to make replacements for my shaft poles since he stepped on and bent the PVC pipe from the last pair.  I also may hop on and ride him a few times in between too.  The TB mare is getting her feet done on Friday and then she will be ready to go.  I may have to find another harness for her or just stick to ground driving for a while.  Kat needs his feet done and we are entering a Darby competition up north next month.  There's a fun drive the day before and I hope it all goes well. 

8 comments:

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Moving right along! sounds great!

kestrel said...

Awesome! It's always such a good feeling when all the pieces start to come together.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Sounds like he is really learning to be a big boy.

You will have to let me know when you go to your driving competition 'up north'...I'm presuming Flag?

I might need to take a little road trip. ;-)

P.S.

I am making plans to head that way this winter...at least intermittently. My Honey told me I just needed to get on the road and rodeo..

Lord wonders why he thinks that, I can't even pick up a local check...

But who am I to argue with such a wise man?

Go on the road and rodeo?

You got it Honey! ;-)

Cut-N-Jump said...

BEC's- 'up north' being Flag on the 13th and Paulden on the 14th... Time enough for you to plan it? Otherwise the show season is in full swing during the winter wehn the weather cooperates.

Your honey is a wise man! Competition is different in different places. What may not be good enough to draw a check in one place, may be smokin beyond belief in others. Ya just never know until you get there.

Kestrel- Yep! He's getting there and things are starting to happen for us. I'm excited.

FV- Small steps, but we are getting there. Slowly but surely.

phaedra96 said...

It is the small steps that build the foundation that leads to success! Just cannot wait to see him go through the show ring, for the accomplishment of that goal. It is hotter than hell here and not enough rain to make a dent in the dust. And, we do not live in Texas!

trump said...

Hey "cut" i have a question, i know a lot of the Amish buy ex race horses to drive their buggies. Do you know any (English) as the Amish call us that sell any horses to the Amish?. Richard from Amish Stories.

Cut-N-Jump said...

Hi Richard- Around here there is not so many Amish. None that I know of anyways. But when a horse has spent time in an Amish community, sometimes people will note that in their ads.

As far as the OTTB horses go and their sales, there are good and bad people selling the horses to both good and bad homes. Bad being the kill buyers, where the horses are shipped over the border- here being Mexico- and slaughtered for their meat. Because of our weather here, the track is open from around September or October through May. After that they head up north or out of state. Sometimes they get rid of horses before they leave if the horse is not doing well o the track.

Cut-N-Jump said...

phaedra- it IS hotter than hell here, we did get a thunderstorm on Saturday night, it is still humid and sticky and we aren't in Texas either. lol

It will be fun getting him in the ring, if for no other reason than just getting him in the ring.