December 24, 2012

I have now uploaded my best sorting video to YouTube. I have saved a link in the right column of this page. Have a look and let me know your comments. You will hear some other people talking on the video, but the most important part is how fast my team member and I sorted the first cow. We tied with lots of other teams going into the last round. The only reason we finished in 6th place is because we sorted the first cow so quickly. I am riding my Arabian horse, Seyvilla. My partner is Stephanie.

December 6, 2012

I just realized I didn't tell you about the sorting competition I was in a few weeks ago. It was a complete blast and I will be uploading a video of one of my runs in the next few days. I enjoy watching the videos almost as if I am doing the event again! Okay, but I am a horse lover. What can I say?

September 18, 2012

I have been enjoying working with Seyvilla on sorting the cows. It has been really fun to work on the specific techniques and see my cues to her get better and better each time. ‘Practice makes perfect’ and I definitely find that true. Now I am working on stamina for both her and me. Seyvilla will get so excited when working with the cows that she gets to the point where she doesn’t listen to me. I want to work through that so she understands what I want her to do and then we can both have fun in our communication with each other and with the cows.

Yes, we communicate with the cows. Interesting, right? My teacher said, ‘For every step forward take two steps back.’ The horse is really telling the cow what to do. I watched my teacher do the sorting and wow, it sure is true. You can definitely tell the professionals from the beginners!

I think it will be fun to be in a competition, but I want to make sure Seyvilla and I are both ready before we enter it. We want to both have fun and look good at the same time. I know the first time won’t be perfect, but I want to be the best I can be!

The specific technique I working on now is the rollback as I have mentioned before. I working with Seyvilla on the technique yesterday and I think she’s really understanding it. 

August 20, 2012

I have been really enjoying my sorting lessons on Friday afternoons. For those of you who don’t know what that is . . . I am riding my horse with cows and cutting the cow I want away from the others. For this sport the cows have numbers on their backs. A number is called as the time starts and the horse and rider go after that number. Each team has two horses and riders. One stays at the gate and doesn’t let any others through except the correct number. The cows are sorted in order according to the numbers on their backs.

Seyvilla loves working with the cows and is still trying to figure out exactly what I want her to do at any given time. It is fun that she is enjoying it because that makes it more fun for me too! Now as I get my techniques down I would really like to look like I am enjoying it. My teacher had to ask me if I was enjoying it because I wasn’t smiling. That is part of what I want to work on this next week.

July 30, 2012

I have really enjoyed both of the sorting lessons I have taken so far. Seyvilla likes working with the cows. Last Friday I learned more about where to be in relation to the cow. The most interesting thing was that for every step forward the horse and rider should take two steps back. With every step forward the cow is in control, with every step back the horse and rider are in control.

We did a couple of quick runs also and Seyvilla absolutely loved it! She cuts the specific cow away from the rest like a real pro! I have another lesson this Friday and hope to continue to learn more techniques.  

July 15, 2012

I had a great time on Friday night! I took a lesson on horseback and learned some initial tips about working with cows. Seyvilla, my Arabian loved sorting them into herds by the numbers on their backs. The teacher was full of confidence and I learned lots and had fun along the way. “We’ll start with 60 head,” he said. He didn’t seem to be worried that it was only my first time working with the cows. He was right. Seyvilla picked it up really fast. As a rider I locked my eye on the cow that I wanted and pretty soon Seyvilla knew which cow it was that would be sorted out of the rest.

The first time I directed her toward the herd it was almost like she said, “I’m not going in there!” But pretty soon her view had changed. She just charged in there and cut the cow away from the others.

There was a particularly ornery cow that just would not be cut away from the others. It almost seemed like wherever he went he was hemmed in my bodyguards. The first time I tried to sort him out I was unsuccessful. My teacher told me to just pick a different cow. Later I was able to sort him out of the slightly smaller herd. I was triumphant!

Though the weather was quite humid that day I enjoyed every minute and so did my horse! Many more times to come, I’m sure!

July 8, 2012

What gives you energy to do what you enjoy? Is it the joy you get while doing the action, or maybe it’s the joy you have looking back and seeing what you accomplished. We all like to look back on something we have finished and see where we are now because of it, but what about when you are doing the specific thing?

I really enjoy training and riding my horses. They bring me joy, both during the hard times of training and also afterward when they now do the action I want them to do right away.

Seyvilla got her first taste of riding with the cows a week ago yesterday. I was over by the ‘cow’ arena (an arena where people rope cows and do sorting events) and I was asked to run the cows from one end of the arena to the other. I was thrilled and so was Seyvilla! The man said the cows will head in that direction anyway, but I was still excited to be included. Seyvilla liked running with the cows and didn’t seem to mind when I asked her to do it two more times! There were about 15-20 cows on each run.

The shoots that hold the cows before they race out with the cowboys chasing them are quite noisy, so that added to the excitement of the run and Seyvilla got pretty excited. When I got down to the far end the first time I couldn’t figure out why the cows didn’t want to go through the far gate, then I realized it was closed. (Hee hee!) They can’t go through a closed gate! I had to sidepass Seyvilla so I could reach the gate without dismounting. She did a fabulous job!

Last Wednesday I took Seyvilla over to the shoots again. This time the cowboys were almost done when I arrived. I walked her back near the shoots, but so I was out of the way and she acted calmer this time. When the cowboys were done I asked Seyvilla to go stand against the bumpers like she would if she was going to chase a cow out of the shoot. Did I mention that the bumpers are bright yellow?! She didn’t want to get anywhere near them, let alone back up against one. I worked with her some and she was a lot more relaxed. I’ll continue to work with her so she stands straight instead of at an angle.

June 29, 2012

When I got my first horse off the Los Alamitos racetrack, she was hyper and loved to run. When I started training her, I looked for advice from professionals who had trained many horses already. That is how I found John Lyons. I happened to get on a mailing list for his books and I found them filled with insightful information about how to train the horse as well as how to think while working with the horses.

Though John is really good at explaining, there are some things that just don’t completely make sense until you get into a specific situation. When I’m training on the trailer, or anything else I find myself thinking WWJLS (What Would John Lyons Say). He is always calm. “It might take 5 times or 500 times.”

June 27, 2012

Whenever you are with your horse you are teaching him/her something. Every minute. You are asking your horse to do something even if it is just to stand there while you talk to the other rider who stopped to say ‘hi’. Oh, and did you turn your back? You are still teaching your horse.

I see riders who saddle up, mount up, and then text on their phones while they ride. What are they teaching the horse? If a rider is preoccupied with anything (texting, talking, etc) he/she might not see the tossing of the head, or the cutting away from the rail while they ride around in the arena. The horse might be getting lazy, but if the rider doesn’t correct the horse it will be like the rider is telling the horse they are doing the right thing. Next time the rider just gets on to ride and the horse strays from the railing, the rider will correct the horse. The rider might even get a little frustrated because the horse keeps cutting away from the railing. Can you imagine what the horse is thinking? ‘I’ve done it this way lots of times. Why is this time any different?’

June 24, 2012

Seyvilla Dawn Proof was born Seyvilladawnproof on January 28, 1998. The bay colored, full blood Arabian was sired by NF Proof, her dam was Seyvilla Dawn. I found her last race posted online! She ran last on August 31, 2001. As a matter of public record, the last jockey to ride her in that race was Gladney D.
Three months after her final race, my uncle who was her farrier, introduced my family and I to the idea of owning her.

On September 28th, I caught my first sight of Seyvilladawnproof as she was backed out of the horse trailer that had brought her from Los Alamitos racetrack. I was totally stoked! She was my first horse and I could hardly wait to get started! That was the start of 12+ years of exciting, hardworking, but always rewarding ownership.

My sister, Sheena, and I started with lots of groundwork and lunging, getting to know Seyvilla and letting her get to know us. We went out and worked with Seyvilla as many days after school as possible, training her to accept the western saddle that is more than twice what a racing saddle weighs.

With faithful training and riding, Seyvilladawnproof went from a racehorse who basically only knew how to run, to a horse who is good with riders of all ages and all experience levels.

June 23, 2012

I was able to spend lots of time out with my horses this morning. It makes me see why it was that I wanted horses. The weather has been beautiful today, with mostly blue skies and an occasional cloud or two. Air temperature now is about 80 degrees.
Training horses is like working with someone who doesn't speak your language. The way to work together is to first find a common language then build your relationship from there. Developing the relationship around a language barrier can cause some misunderstanding at the beginning, but if both sides keep with it long enough, there is great reward. Each side learns some of the other's language and they both become better. So it is with horses. To begin with the horses know one language, 'run when a terrifying thing comes', the person is an unknown and 'what is that huge thing on top?' As a horse and rider continue working together the rider realizes that the horse is just staying safe. If something is terrifying, they run away from it. The horse realizes the person is trying to help and be a friend and in the end the horse realizes that the huge thing on top is just a harmless cowboy hat. The human's way to try to look as cool as a horse already does.

June 22, 2012

Welcome to my new blog! I have a love for horses and God has given me and want to share that love with others. My true goal is to research and find information about an organization that has influence with disabled and handicapped people. I have felt a calling for quite sometime.

I love training my horses. I have been training for about 12 years now and continue to love it!