Crazy Cow Country Farm

Tuesday morning we found Okie in the pasture with a little colt on the ground.  He’s just adorable with a white mask and two blue eyes.

They’re both doing quite well considering she had him during one of the worst thunderstorms of the spring.  He’s appropriately named Morning Thunder.

I went out to imprint him and the little rascal had me playing catch circling around mom for about 5 full minutes.  I’m not sure if mom got dizzy or just realized what had to be done but she literally stopped him and after a few minutes of my hands on his topline, she gently laid him to the ground so I could finish - he fell asleep as I was working on his face and neck.  It was just the sweetest thing.

On a more discouraging note, Cartman has choked several times during the fall and winter but we’ve always been able to get it cleared and he’s back to normal within an hour or so.  Yesterday afternoon he choked again, badly.  A vet came out on an emergency call and we had to tube him.  The most disheartening discovery was that Cartman isn’t 15 as Jen was told but actually closer to 30.  The vet showed us all how to check the teeth and exactly what to look for so we would be a little more educated in the process.  Jen’s glad to have some answers now to some questions we were having about Cartman and, of course, loves him even more considering we know now how hard it must be for him to be giving her all that he has recently.  He’s stalled now and we’re feeding him senior feed by the handful to watch for more signs because the vet’s concerned the choke could be caused by a more serious blockage - he’s had nothing that “should” have caused it.  He’s a tough little mustang though and we’re confident he’ll be back in the pasture bossing everyone around in the next few days.

Aren’t they an adorable couple? 

And then there’s Moo with her little calf Sparky.  I’m happy to report that Sparky has been let out of her weaning pen and after making several valiant efforts to nurse from mama, has given up.  Weaning has occurred.  Humans have won.  That’s a battle I don’t ever want to fight again!  Damn crazy cows.

Don’t you love discovering something and feeling that little light bulb go off in your head?  Happens to me all the time.  I was reading the training blog of a horse owner who realized long ago after having trainers scream at her to “RELAX” while riding that it’s nearly impossible to consciously relax.  When you’re riding and you’re green or the horse is green or you’re having negative visions expecting something to happen, it’s not good.  Not good at all.  What she learned is to pretend she’s riding a dead broke 30 year old gelding and just keeps a good seat to stay on, just in case.  She also had someone tell her that the horse has no idea  that he’s what’s causing the rider to be nervous or afraid.  When a rider tenses he assumes the rider has spotted a predator or something dangerous and hasn’t a clue it’s fear of him that’s causing tension. 

Wow.  Total light bulb moment for me and bang on in my case.  Doesn’t that make perfect sense?  And those of you who already knew this, please just humor me as I’m a clueless wonder and really never thought of it that way.  While at the prison last week I showed pictures of Buck to several of the guys there and imagine my surprise when they all said, “Oh yeah, I remember that big boy.  He’s the one who bucked the warden off so hard he had to have shoulder surgery.”  Little difficult to relax after learning that little tidbit, you know?

The other day I put that knowledge to work and calmly asked Buck for a canter while in the pen all by my little lonesome - it went fantastic.  It was a short distance, he was surprised, but it was smooth as glass and just beautiful so we ended pretty quickly after that.  On Wednesday I had him cantering around the pen for quite a long time and worked on getting different speeds, stopping, and really having him pay attention.  He did fantastic!  Honestly, it couldn’t have gone better.  Now after the incident last week in the pasture I knew I needed to get him out there again so Jen (on Silver) and I took him out tonight, this time in the big front pasture along the road.  We had a couple of issues with the body going one way and the nose going another but overall, it went great and I felt very comfortable.  He was trying to please and figure out what I wanted the entire time and kept trying when he didn’t get it right.  Really, he worked fantastic!  I was *this* close to asking for a canter but the trot was so smooth and nice that I hated to ruin it should something go wrong.  This will be Buck’s first canter “in the open” as the jail only had a very small area out front for the guys to ride - mostly they stayed in the back enclosed arena - so I want his confidence up and I want to ask for it when we have plenty of time to work through it.  The most amazing thing is I never once felt nervous.  Never once felt like I couldn’t bring him back or get him stopped if there was another incident and, to me, that’s really a huge milestone and a nice place to be.

Tomorrow’s the day.  He’s ready and I know he’ll do fine.

The Hutchinson Correctional Facility is a licensed BLM training port where up to 500 wild-caught mustangs are housed.  The inmates work very hard to get into the program, often waiting years to be accepted and currently there are only 12 men in the training side.  When they first enter the program they begin with “environmental management” which translates to shoveling manure.  The horses are kept in large groups throughout the pens and are required to be individually tagged, vaccinated, and have their feet trimmed.  For the wild ones, they use a gradually thinning chute which ends with a squeeze chute so the horse is strapped down and hydraulics are used to tip him sideways so they can get to his feet.  Vet records are kept and the inmates are told from the beginning how gentle they have to be with these horses - one sign of roughhousing and they’re out of the program.  After they’ve spent some time in the back pens learning in general about horses, they have the opportunity to work with a trainer up front in the training program.

The horses are selected for the training program by marketability - color is always big - and curiosity.  A curious horse will usually train better.  Once in training there are two stages the horse can reach, halter broke or saddle broke.  Wild horses can be adopted for $125, halter broke are $150, and saddle broke begin at $300.  The program requires the saddle broke to be qualified for all three gaits under saddle, trailer load, picking up feet for the farrier, and a few other skills.  Meticulous records are kept.

Once a year they hold an auction where the public is invited to tour the facility and learn more about the BLM programs, last week was the open house and we attended.  I was surprised to learn that we could walk through the catwalks all the way to the back and observe the different holding pens as well as two men working on the feet of a horse in the tilt-chute.  All were very friendly and everyone seemed to take such pride in the program.  Their shirts said “Saving Horses, Changing Men” and you could see it on the men’s faces.

We arrived to see the riders out in an open field in front of the barn.

This is Curtis and he was on Yoshi.  Curtis is rated the best trainer and most often starts the horses.  The day before he’d taken a wild one from the back and started it in the roundpen as part of the demonstrations.  We were told he’d mounted but didn’t move the horse out. 

We watched the men riding for a couple hours as we toured the pens and talked with the administrators inside.  They all seemed disappointed in the turnout for the auction and I could understand - only about 10 people had applied for the adoption program and that means only those 10 could bid.  I was glad to know we wouldn’t have been approved because I would have definitely come home with a horse that day!  But we don’t have 6′ fencing, we keep horses together in a herd, and we don’t have a large stock trailer so we wouldn’t qualify.

After working the horse for quite some time, Curtis mounted and moved him out.  To think 48 hrs prior this horse was wild was just amazing and Curtis did a fantastic job. 

Sadly, only four horses sold.  With the horse market as low as it is, you can pick up a dead broke kids horse for under $1,000 (Silver was only $600) so one needing finishing and without trail experience or even a female rider just isn’t going to bring much.  I believe they were disappointed.  The bidding begins at $300 for the saddle broke and since there is usually 30-40 bidders the final price is usually higher but in this case, any of the horses could have been had for the starting price.  I was shocked and again thankful we couldn’t bid.

Deon and Dexter, who administer the program, surprised us by letting us know we could come out anytime so long as we notified security and watch the inmates working, ask questions, or pick out a horse.  You know, other than needing some finishing, these are wonderful horses known for their loyalty, hardiness and, as proven during the Extreme Mustang Makeover, ability to perform a number of disciplines.  Not only that, but there’s just the mystic of riding a formerly wild horse.  I know from experience when I talk with people about our horses, even the ag. class that visited from Hesston college, once they hear “mustang” that’s pretty much the only thing they want to hear about from that point on.  Any future horses for us will definitely come from the program. 

Normally when I meet people or go look at their hay or go to auctions or the fairs or grocery store…. ok, well pretty much all the time… I tend to babble.  I know.  Shocking.  It’s my lot in life.  It’s the stick I’ve drawn.  It’s my curse.  I can’t help it really, it just happens and before I know it, Ed’s gracefully apologizing to some stranger for me and he’s gently moving me away from the terrified people.  When Ed’s not around to rescue the poor souls it just gets downright ugly.I just do it.  I just open my mouth and you never know what on earth is going to come out.  After 13 years of marriage, I’ve tried to learn and recognize the signs of someone who begins to get the look that says, Oh my goodness, what on earth is this woman going on about and how do I get away?  And I’m getting better at it, really I am.  I normally only offend a handful of people each week rather than tons and tons. 

But anyway, back to the big news.

Once or maybe even twice during our marriage, my babbling has really paid off.  Last week was one of those times.

I went down the road to look at some hay and after determining it would be just fine, I asked the older gentleman about his two old tractors in the shed with us.  One was newer but the other looked like it was from the 40’s and just the cutest little thing.  Rather than leave it at that I began extolling the torture of not having our own tractor to keep our pastures and how my husband’s a mechanic so one not running would be perfect and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t even remember saying.   But this time, their reaction was different.  This time the wife lit up and said, I may have the perfect tractor for you!  My brother’s hasn’t run in years and it’s a model M where this one here is a model H.   Now I have no idea what difference the M is from the H or the T or the L but I sure rushed home to tell Ed and next thing you know we’re calling brother to discuss a price and heading down to see the tractor.

Ed headed over there Saturday to get it running and then gave me a call that he was heading home.  Mr. Frazier had held this tractor on his farm for a lot of years and asked if he could road it home to drive it a final time and Ed surely let him.

Naturally as soon as Ed told My Damn Brother In Law Nathan, he headed up to see the tractor and celebrate with us.

Everyone should have a Damn Brother In Law Nathan.  They keep you on your toes.

Here’s Elizabeth getting her driving lesson before being turned loose.  Ack!  Look at the teeth on that sickle blade!  Don’t fall Lis!  Her mother’s going to see this picture and put her on the first plane back to California where it’s safe.  Hey, I figure if she can master mowing with this thing, driving a car won’t be a problem.

Jen took off through the pasture and did great.  The girl loves tractors so she got her fix that day.

Ed mowed the back pasture yesterday and just loves the tractor - it’s absolutely perfect for the farm and we are just thrilled.  So see, my babbling paid off.  Hopefully it won’t be another 13 years before it happens again.

Oh my heavens, so much has happened around here recently and the days have absolutely flown by.  With gorgeous spring weather it seems the minute I’m finished working I head out to the barn and don’t come in again until evening!  So many updates…… so little time.  So I’ll give you my favorite update of all - I cantered Buck today and it was fan-freaking-tastic!

After much armchair riding and analyzing what I did wrong last time in the pasture (to the point of nearly re-creating the event!) we realized that I was seriously escalating my body language - leaning forward, raising a little in my saddle, etc.  I think I am picturing Buck having his little rodeo in the pen and bucking people off (yes, it’s happened twice and it’s damn ugly let me tell you).  So as I’m riding him I keep picturing these people flying off and him doing his bucking thing so what do I do?  Brace myself, tense, and escalate like off the charts.  Buck did exactly what I told him to do, panic and bolt to safety - the barn.  The only good thing I did was get him stopped and continue the ride so we ended on a good note but short of that, I totally sucked.

So I spent some time practicing on Cartman keeping completely relaxed and really monitoring my body language.  Since Buck hasn’t had anyone on his back in a canter for over two years we decided to have Jen in the pen to move him out.  This allowed Buck to concentrate on her rather than the bit and reins as well as allowed me to concentrate on relaxing.  The most interesting thing to me was that Jen kept saying he was in his nice comfortable slow little jog but in the saddle he felt more like a very fast trot — the boy just has a really fast trot, even at the jog.  So I got over that and then she asked for a canter.  I forced myself to breath It was the smoothest transition and the most wonderful ride! 

And here’s where I admit something.  Men (namely my Damn Brother in Law Nathan and my husband) should just look away before you scoff loudly and tease for me years to come.

We both knew what was coming and after a quick turn around the pen she stopped him then held him while I got off.  You see I was shaking so badly from holding back the tears.  I know, I know, how silly is that?  I mean, the men at the prison cantered him all day long so it’s not like his first time or anything but it’s the first time it’s been a woman and it’s the first time I’ve done it.  And a few months ago I could barely get up to him to pet him.  And he’s bucked people off while he was just standing.  And two years ago he was running wild with a herd.  And, and, and…… well you know, I couldn’t help it.  The instant my feet hit the ground I left him with Jen and just sobbed with joy.

Then I hugged him and thanked him for not killing me.

You know I read in some book, I think it was Monty Roberts, that women (never men) would say quite often that a horse he’d trained for them or was selling to them was “too good of a horse” for them.  They had a hard time believing they were worthy of such a wonderfully trained animal.  I often have that mindset.  I’m an overweight 40 yr old mother of three who’s only been actively learning about horses for under two years and I have that mindset.  Even though everyone who’s seen me with Buck is so impressed with our connection I just don’t feel worthy of it.  I don’t feel worthy of this guy letting me, me of all people, receive his respect.  But when I look back to all the times he could have bucked me, could have had me off in a heartbeat but didn’t.  He’s been scared, oh yes.  He’s been confused, definitely.  He’s done what I (incorrectly) asked him.  And he’s protected me every step of the way.

He’s mine.  Today I felt it and today I accepted it.  We’re going to be great together.

And I promise to have pictures from the prison and updates on the kids and all kinds of non-female-mushy updates tomorrow.