Where’s Your Drive?
Hey everyone, Barry here. We’re at October 22nd and I’ve not posted anything lately. I haven’t lost my drive, I’ve been crazy busy riding almost every evening. My latest situation has me training three after my day of shoeing. But, I’ve learned a new trick. I always ride the one that I look forward to last. I can always get them all ridden in that order. If I ride my favorite first, I can never get them done.
Today I had a great change. I bought a new harness and a cart for the yearlings. I’m planning on working them to the cart this winter, and since I’m not one to put things off ,that I want to do, I started line driving them today.
Ranch Sorting and Saturday at the Ranch
We had a great time sorting calves at the two man sorting Friday evening. It was an evening filled with friends and training horses. Jody and April Moon came out. Jody and I have done some Ranch rodeos together and penned cattle on many occasions. I partnered with Danny Davis for the biggest part of the night. Danny and his wife raise some really nice Appaloosa horses.
My new gelding has around 25 rides on him at this point and is a pretty level headed ride. I think horses learn on cattle faster than any other way because it lends reason to our maneuvers. As each run came I would look for holes in our training. The biggest one that I saw was that my horse was super soft to the right but in a bind he would be a little stiff to the left. Guess what? We’ll be working a lot more on the left this week. Like anything else problems get worse with speed. A tire on your car vibrating at 30 will be a lot worse at 60.
Sorting was awesome, but for my wife and I, a visit from my youngest daughter, Anna, and her friend today was priceless. Anna’s in college, very busy and we don’t see her nearly as much as we’d like. They rode, and I got to work on Shineys left side. Anna rode him afterwards, and he was a real gentleman. Kaitlin rode Natasha’s mare, and all was well in our world.
Tomorrow is a new day! True Grit Cowboy Church starts at 10:00am, at 1912 Ardmore Hwy 110 Ardmore, TN. We’d love for everybody to come, and worship with us!
Chasing Dreams
Well, I told my wife that I would lay Shiney off for a couple of weeks and catch Chip up. I must have unconsciously lied. I shod them both yesterday. I put slide plates on Shiney because he’s ready to learn to get in the ground. It’s pretty exciting when they start craving the ground,and I think this rascal is going to tear that ground apart!!!!! So I spent another week on him.
I’m sorry I don’t have any photos today, but I’ve been riding Shiney like I stole him. Every afternoon I’ve been working toward a goal, 2 man ranch sorting Friday night. It may not be fair to ask him to perform at a high level, in fact, I’m sure that it’s not. I will only ask him for what he’s been taught, maybe barely more. You see, chasing cows are like chasing dreams to me. That’s always been my favorite thing on a horse. When my son came along, I raised my own teammate, and we chased dreams together. Jesse’s in medschool now chasing another dream, and I have a couple of other teammates, my wife Natasha and Houston. Tomorrow will be a first for Shiney and Houston. Natasha knows about cattle, she’s been putting up with my bull for years!
We work these horses for many hours to get them prepared for a 2 minute run. It’s time to check our preparation, see where we’re at, come home and work on weaknesses. I hope my next post has a photo of Shiney cutting the cats from the kittens, if not that’s ok it’ll be back to the old drawing board.
Chase your dream, don’t let it get away!!!!!
How Long Does It Take To Train A Horse?
It’s Sunday night, Rodney Hammerstrom gave his testimony. He’s an amazing young man from South Dakota. He had a horse accident ten years ago and was in a coma for over a month. From a medical stand point he shouldn’t have walked again, but walk he does. He’s spreading a testimony full of hope, and God bless him for it. I don’t think I saw a dry eye in the congregation today.
Took Shiney out again today, the weather was perfect. I’ve gotten to put some major time on him this week. Is he broke? I hear all the time, people have different ideas about broke. Also there are many ideas of how long it takes to train a horse. People will many times send a horse to a trainer for thirty days and expect the horse to be trained with a lifetime warranty. I’ve ridden with folks before that had a mature horse, the horse mess up, and they bring up the persons name that started him as a colt. Wow! That’s sure putting a lot of responsibility on a man.
Here’s how I feel about how long it takes. I’ve seen colt starting competitions, and I like them. Road to the horse is an amazing weekend that we’ve enjoyed several times. A colt is started one day, and the next they compete. These trainers aren’t trying to fool anyone, so don’t be fooled.This is a start, just a start of many hours of training depending what will be done by the particular horse. Another fact is that just because Guy Mclean, Chris Cox, or the other competitors can ride that horse doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be obliterated. I’ve started many horses where I was on the horse within minutes, sometimes it worked out great, while other times I got pretty dirty. With the horses flight reaction some will buck, some will run, and some will freeze. I don’t enjoy ground work as well as some, but I don’t enjoy getting hurt either. It’s best to start slow, and steady. In the end of thirty days (which is simply a unit of time) the slow steady approach will get you farther.
How long do you train a horse? Some feel that if you can walk, trot, and canter down a trail, put saddle bags on your horse, and he doesn’t spook easily that this is a broke horse. I’ll say that is a great start! I’ll also say that this type of a horse is useful, and can give you loads of pleasure. I can remember the old guys telling me as a young man that wet saddlepads make good horses. I couldn’t agree more, as long as we learn, and consistently use good habits. My theory is that good habits on the part of the rider are what makes great horses.
You actually train a horse for his entire life. Broke, in my world means that you can control any part of his body, the head and neck, the shoulders, the ribcage, and the hips. It happens a little at a time through different exercises. It’s a lot of fun to work on, and if you can achieve it (and you can) it’s like another dimension. So, is Shiney broke? No, but he’s well on his way. He probably has 25 rides on him now, the last few have been on the trail. He’ll walk, trot, canter, back, cross the river, and bucking doesn’t cross his mind. He’s starting to guide well, and i’d say that he’s off to a great start. I’ll spend the next six months suppling his body and getting him ready for a career. There are so many levels of broke, and training, they are all a lot of work, and a lot of fun. Here’s hoping we’ll all have a great new week.
what a week
The week has gotten better, and better. My friend Andrade went to shoe some reining horses with me Thursday. We finished early enough to enjoy some riding time. Friday rolled around and I found myself on the trail again on riding my Shining Sparks horse. My son came home from medical school for the first time in eight weeks and his girlfriend Kaitlyn came also. We enjoyed a football game where Houston had a great game, and scored a couple of touchdowns. Then we saddled up, and rode. I introduced my gelding to some cows, I think he was thinking “hey this is my future.”
We have a guest speaker at True Grit Cowboy Church tomorrow. His name is Rodney Hammerstrom. My understanding is, he was a young man growing up in South Dakota, had a horse accident and was paralyzed. Rodney was told he’d never walk again,but guess what he’s back riding and roping. He’s spreading the word for the man who healed him. I hope you’ll come check him out. Service starts at 10am at 1912 Hwy 110 Ardmore,Tn.
Well, I guess that’s it for now. I think it’s been a great week, and I’m the kind of person who thinks things can get better. I met a guy from Trinidad when I was young and I asked how it was going. The man said ” it doesn’t go by itself, we must carry it.” That is true, so let’s grab ahold!!!!
Preparation
Hello friends,
It’s a new week to work toward our goals. Here is a quote from the great Bear Bryant to motivate us.
“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it, or use it for good. What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever. Leaving something in it’s place I have traded for it. I want it to be a gain, not loss, good, not evil. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price that I paid for it.” If this is not motivation, it’s probable that you’re on the wrong blog.
I believe in preparation. Everything starts with a plan, diligence, consistency, and hard work. We need short term goals, as well as long term goals. As I look across my pasture, I see a lot of talented horses, where do their talents lay? They’re all individuals. I have a particular mare that is an exceptional cowhorse, but gets bored with dry work. As I train on these horses it’s important to find each horse’s strengths and talents.
This week I’m taking inventory. The “Three Amigo’s,” you’ve already met. Here are two newcomers to our ranch and our plan for them. These two seem to have been overlooked as two year olds but it’s never too late to become useful. The first horse is Mr. Shining Note, an eleven year old gelding. He had been saddled a couple of times as a two year old, but an eleven year old gelding with no training, why? Well look at him, he has a beautiful head, a classic neck, and built really nice in my book. He is a grandson of Shining Sparks, who is my favorite bloodline. He’s smart, sound, and very physically abled. How many times do you find an 11 year old grandson of this superhorse with no miles? It’s like a vintage corvette that’s been sitting in someone’s garage. I’m loving training this guy, these photographs are of his twentieth ride, which was yesterday. He also is a grandson of Zan Parr Bar, and also a grandson of a stallion that I have a lot of respect for Otoes Note. I used to ride Otoes Note in some cattle events, he was a super athlete, quiet, and beautiful. I was sad to learn that he passed last year.
The second gelding is Win The Chips, a gentle giant of a horse. He’s a grandson of Zips Chocolate Chip, and also Otoes Note. A wonderful mover for a big horse and he’s really training well. My eighth ride on him was yesterday, and we’re thinking about putting him on the trail this weekend. He’s six years old, and seems huge when I ride him. We got these two as a package deal. I really wasn’t looking to buy, but my goodness, how could I not? The third in the package was their mother, a 16 year old mare out of Win The West. Plans for her couldn’t have worked out better. We sold her to some folks that trail ride, now she’ll enjoy seeing some of the world.
As we progress these geldings we’ll see where their strengths lay. Hopefully, the Shining Sparks horse will be shown in the Ranch Horse Association next spring. The Chocolate Chip was to be trained, and sold, until my wife became quite smitten with him. Hey, if he can keep my wife happy, happy, happy over his lifetime, that’s a good plan. As a matter of fact, that’s my plan too!
Timing Is Everything
Hey everybody, I’m excited about this blog. I pulled it up twice on my iphone today, and was disappointed to find nothing new. I forget , if I don’t post it, it won’t be there.
We’ve all heard that,”timing is everything.” Well, it may not be everything, but it sure is important.
I’ve included a photo of a riding trip my wife, and I went on a few years ago with some really good friends. An absolute trip of a lifetime. The timing of this trip allowed us to see Monument Valley in snow. We were told, “this is the latest snow we’ve had in the last 50 years.” Snow in Monument Valley one day, the next day 60 degrees, unbelievably lucky timing.
In horse training timing is crucial. We all hear pressure and release, and its so true, but the timing of both are so important. That’s the key element that evolves as we train more horses. Donnie Faulk once brought it to my attention that every new horse I trained I thought was so much smarter and picked up faster. Well, Donnie was right, that’s exactly what I thought. It never occured to me at twenty that I was learning to communicate better, and why would I think that, I was twenty, and thought I was great.
It’s a fact, the quicker you release pressure after the horse gives you the correct answer the softer he becomes, and the quicker you get it. Also, the timing you ask for the maneuver may bite you. Let’s think about mechanics of a crossover. If you ask for a step across and the inside leg is forward, if he obeys your hands, it would make him cross under or hit himself. The timing for a crossover must be when the inside leg is back, and on the ground, and the outside leg is leaving the ground.
Well folks, it’s the weekend finally. I hope y’all have a good one, and hope you make it to church all right Sunday, and if you don’t have a church, I hear True Grit Cowboy Church is a really good church where a person can go worship in a laid back atmosphere. Also I hear that their preacher is incredible. Oh I forgot, I also heard he was really handsome.(by the way, I’m the preacher for those that don’t know me, I don’t go around oogling other preachers)
Something To look Forward To
WE love new prospects, and here are three of them. We bred two quarter mares to Danny Davis’ Maid’s Dream appaloosa stallion, and these two roans are the result.
The small filly was a late baby last year, she’s out of my good Mr. Gunsmoke mare. The mare is an unbelievably good athelete, I think she’s the bomb. I know this filly wants to be a cowhorse, I can tell by the hat she was wearing in the weanling photo.
The gelding is out of a Docs Lynx mare that my wife owns. The mare is a talented refined little cowhorse.
The bay is a filly born on the R.A. Brown Ranch in Thockmorton Texas, she a great mover. We bought her as a yearling, because we couldn’t help ourselves.
Do I have a favorite? I guess I’ll have to see which one wants to put sand in my shorts, when I’m breaking them next year. Also, which one will carry us to the winners circle the next year. Regardless, these three give us a lot of hope for tomorrow, and something to look forward to.
The World Through Candy’s Eyes
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A great start to the week, took one of the training horses out for a relaxing ride. All work, no play makes Candy an uptight ride.
Reining Clinic
Today was a great day, my friend Charlie Hutton put on a reining clinic at Riverdale farm. We had Cowboy Church, then the clinic. Both were excellent, Charlie has been training reiners for 50 years. I carried a Shining Sparks horse that I started last month. I was well pleased with his performance for the short amount of rides he’s had.
The church message was about being willfully guided on a loose rein, I really enjoyed the music, and the message. Today’s Sunday, and i’m rearing to go for another week. I have two outside horses that are training well, and they both had the weekend off, so I could train on mine. Many times they come back sharper after a break. So long for now, and let’s start this week off with a smile.
Regret's Ranch: Home of Faulk Performance Horses 