Catching Up

Time has flown by since the last post, so here’s a quick report on what has been going on over the past 2 months.
Along with several new students we’ve also had a number of horses stay at the Ranch, some newcomers and a few old timers.

Paula and Petra brought their horses Jake and Red back for another lesson in early May. It was apparent that both ladies were more confident and relaxed in the saddle since their previous lesson, and consequently their horses were much more obedient and cooperative, quietly and calmly working in the arena. Paula decided that Jake should stay at the ranch for a few more weeks of training and it was a pleasure to have him here. He is a sweet boy who seems appreciative that someone finally understands what has been going on in his past and is helping his humans gain the skills to communicate with him.

Paula also brought out her gaited horse, Nugget, a beautiful buckskin (I do apologize, but I’ve forgotten what his exact breed is. Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, perhaps?) whom she acquired a few years ago after he had bounced from home to home.

Paula riding Nugget

Nugget was dressed in surcingle, bridle and sidereins for his evaluation and, while working with him in the round pen, the Tall One showed us what he could REALLY do when properly asked to go through each of his gaits. Paula was excited to see that he could stay in gait (he also has a lovely trot) as long as he wasn’t rushing about – by being patient and quietly asking him to slow his pace each time he tried to rush he was able to keep the smooth, even, 4-beat gait. Soon it was time for Paula to saddle up and find out how that gait would feel while riding. Staying on a 20 meter circle and under the guidance of our teacher it wasn’t long before Paula had Nugget in gait – and it was then that we learned Nugget had never before given her more that a few strides of this lovely, smooth amble!

We waved goodbye as Jake and Nugget loaded into their trailer for the trip home, but we’re looking forward to seeing them in the arena again.

Our dear friend Tammy brought her gorgeous horses (Sonny, Black Jack, and “Princess” Daisy) over for a few weeks while she vacationed. In fact, Ms Personality herself, the ever expressive Daisy, celebrated her 14th birthday while at the Ranch. A scrumptious carrot cake was brought to her paddock gate (OK, so it was really just grated carrots)..which she immediately gobbled up.

Judy and I enjoyed working with Tammy’s horses in the round pens. In addition to her gait, Daisy has a gorgeous ground covering trot (as does Black Jack) plus a delightful canter. And although they were content during their stay with us, the threesome appeared quite happy to see Momma when she arrived to transport them home. I’m pretty sure I saw Daisy turn around and stick her tongue out at me as she waltzed into the trailer.
ps: We recently got word that Tammy and Daisy took 3rd place in Trail Trials, so we’re looking forward to hearing about their big day!

Working student, Destiny, riding Tea

We had another surprise when we were contacted by a former student of Feather’s who was in town for a few days, on leave from her duty in the Marine Corps. Destiny was a senior in high school when she attended a few group lessons with Feather, but she never forgot her time under saddle with the Tall One. She has been taking dressage lessons in the various areas where she’s been stationed and hoped to continue her education while visiting family and friends. As a working student she joined us almost every day of her leave, riding several of the horses and cleaning up after all of them. Not only did Desi ride and work, but she actually got to spend some time giving our friend Aubrie her first English riding lesson (which went tremendously well). We all had fun that day! Thank you, Destiny, your help was appreciated and it was great fun to ride in class with you.

Destiny instructs Aubrie in the art of Classical Riding on an obliging (?) Flicka

Becky hauled her big Tennessee Walking Horse, Memphis, over for a lesson one weekend and we heard it went very well. She later brought Encore out for some work in the ring and the graceful, high spirited thoroughbred mare ultimately had a mini vacation, staying on with us for a week to establish a daily routine of working at liberty in the round pen. Gave her Mom a break too!

Becky riding her lovely mare, Encore

Right now we have Apache staying with us, and boy has he put on weight since the day Margie found him wandering down by the river, a rack of bones with the dull eye of a lost soul. He nickers constantly, always asking for a little more hay, a little more grain, probably worried that he may not get fed, as that appears what most likely happened in his previous “home”. He’ll continue to work slowly at walk/trot for his physical therapy (his scars show us that he had a previous injury or two) until he gains muscle tone and better athletics. In the meantime he seems content to hang out with our bunch and is learning that not all humans think he’s discardable.

That about covers the past two months, but with July around the corner we should have much more to report in our next post. Thanks again for joining us at Feathertouchranch!

Good ole Jake

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