# Skippy!'s Training/Horse Log



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Finally going to start one of these 

*Sunday, January 21st, 2007*

Went out to teach my first sets of lessons in the SC area (i've done oodles of work in AL and CA) and had a wonderful time teaching a 4 year old on her little cheeky registered AMHA mini pony, and a lovely little 8 year old boy riding his 10 year old Arab/Welsh cross pony.

The 4 year old lasted 20 minutes and did absolutely wonderfully, steering all on her own. The little welsh on the other hand was really acting up. She kept popping up in the front and threatening to rear. Finally, she was lunged.. then she still threatened to rear.. so i got on her >) She bucked on me twice, but i didn't even feel it (though my husband was like "OMG DONT FALL OFF" or "OMG THAT WAS CLOSE" bless his heart, i dont know what he was worried about x_x

After the lesson i spent a good bit of time out on the property hanging with all the horses, and met a registered Cremello Paint Horse that i want x_x but i still need to pay off Dreamer and i am having a heck of a time with that x_x urrrgh. The lady offered to let me ride any of her horses which was so sweet!  I look forward to getting to know them more. Im offering a lot of free services to her because i really enjoy working with her horses. There are a lot of self proclaimed trainers (aka people who read 1 book, and trained 1 horse, and are suddenly "trainers") that were doing so many bonehead stupid things, and offering stupid advice.

I saw a guy who was "desensitizing" a PMU horse by smacking his hands all over her nose and eyes. This guy also seriously pulled up in his truck, got out, walked into the roundpen (where his horse was living, and as soon as his foot was in the roundpen just cracked the heck out of the whip without even saying hello to the horse first. I seriously thought this was the stupidest guy ever x_x Then suddenly he stopped, called the horse to the center, and smacked the horse in the eye/nose to "desensitize" him, then cracked the whip over his back and sent him off.

I offered to train whatever she needed for free so long as she paid my trip charge. I was appalled when i saw how he was treating those horses.. mind you.. horses that aren't his..

Im done XD


----------



## sparky (Dec 14, 2006)

great to see you have finally started one of these skippy!  The 4 year old sounds so cute! How big was the mini she was riding?


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

30 inches even =) No more, no less! But he was like, ten times as wide as he was tall!! LOL! He was a smutty dark buckskin color and uber chunky. He had negative-withers, just a dimple, lol!

There is a 2 year old cremello APHA colt i want XD *needs more money*

These people are really nice, its a shame that the "trainers" they have encountered are so ridiculously moronic. I really can't stand stuck up trainers. I totally schooled that moron though. He suddenly stopped "offering advice" while i was standing there 

Fwahaha


----------



## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

Gah :evil: Those Twisted Trainers..

I was once riding mike and I had Lunged him first..He quickly got hot while working and with his winter coat he worked up a HUGE sweat...So this girl who is taking lessons down at our barn was like That pony is going to have a heart attack, you need to get off him right Now, You should not abuse a horse like that! 

Haha, The owner and I got a laugh out of that one, Mike could have 100 heartattacks and somehow manage to be out to kill us...Lol. 

hmm....IN that case I sound like the trainer who does not know anything....Lol, I promise you, Mike is fine...He has 30 years left in him...Lol. The point is I was right and the girl just learning about horses is wrong....Of course she was older then me...But what does that always prove?


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Aww! Barn, i know you better than to think you'd abuse a horse!!  *hugs*

*In Addition to my post:*

Like i said, it seems like anyone who trained one horse and read a book is a trainer. I went out of my way to tell her exactly why i believe i am a trainer, and openly admitted what all trainers should. I do not know everything, and there are cases in which i still ask for help.

One "trainer" there was bragging about how she kept repetitively broke bones, and my client later told me that her first thought when she said that was "Why didnt you do anything to prevent this once it happened?" This "trainer" has trouble catching horses that my client's 13 year old son can easily catch. 

Ive been obsessing with that Cremello XD Skippy! needs some self control! Im dying to offload that saddle for some extra cash to finish paying off Dreamer ;;


----------



## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

awww, I dont think you need another horse You have more then all of this forum combined! Jk, not even close....

I am glad that you know I would not abuse a horse...

And even though I trained mike I would never Say that I train horses! lol, I am constantly reading books too, I Even take classes on this subject.....Lol :lol: 

I hope you find someone to buy that saddle!


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

The good thing about the lady i am working with, is i think she really likes me a lot. She has already asked me if i would accompany her to the tack store in Camden and help her select better tack for her horses. It seems like she really trusts me ;;! Imma cry ;; I love feeling needed ;; I think she would be willing to work with me with this Cremello.

Im also like, desperately looking for a horsie place to stay when my husband gets out of the Air Force..

Im so ambitious! LOL


----------



## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

Dreams....

what would life be without them....(A series of Scammers)


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Pictures of the Cremello:


















Found out more about him, he is a paint (cremello and white). His father is a registered APHA horse, and his mother is a grade palomino paint mare. His name is "Cash" but i want to call him Temora Rose after my white blue eyed unicorn character that i've had for like, 10 years now.

She has offered to let me play with him all i want before i make any decisions, which is great =) 

More info later ;D


----------



## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

Thats really cool skippy


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Lots of stuff happened while i was gone. I'll type more tomorrow, but the cliffsnotes version is:

Purchasing Dreamer this week, as well as the emaciated/abused Thoroughbred who I named "Admiral"

Husband took REALLY bad pictures.. only 1 was salvagable.. poor horse.... stupid husband...


----------



## Friesian Mirror (Jan 11, 2007)

The Cremello horse is really pretty! That would be so cool if you could move onto that property! Maybe she would let you work for her and you could have a horsie job


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

*General Update Post*

This stuff has happened over the last two weeks while the internet was down:

My friend with the kids i am teaching (her name is Heather) has been taking me around all over the place to run all sorts of horsie chores.

She had a 20 year old Palomino Appy Gelding with a blown abcess on his lower girth area. He got it a while ago and the vet cleaned it and was waiting for it to heal.. but it started to heal INWARD.. so she took him to a specialist in NC (i rode along!) and we had come to find out that his STERNUM had an infection in it, and the infection had eaten away at the inside of his sternum. He had to go through surgery (a 2,000+ vet bill for Heather) and he is recouperating and healing very well. Heather takes GREAT care of her horses. SHe has been changing his bandage twice a day and buying lots of stuff to make sure everything is all covered up  The horse's name is Lemon Drop, just for FYI purposes 

Stopped by Bobby's place (the guy who i am buying Dreamer from) and saw the 3 year old thoroughbred in a 10x10 stall, covered in even more cuts and bruises, and an un-tended to cut on his fetlock that had dried blood on it.. and up to his lower fetlocks in mud. There were horses all around his stall from every side, and a huge feeder in the middle of his stall, so there was literally no place he could stand where he could eat. I asked his owner, Richard, if he was for sale, and he said yes.. so i wanted to come out and try him out.. and he was VERY well saddle broke (but not green broke) you can get on him but steering is very impared, lol. Im going to try to talk the price down.

Heather is allowing me to move all my horses on to her property and pay a fraction of the cost i was paying for the other property. I was getting shafted BAD there.. 220 a month (and 110 for every additional horse) and i had to buy my own feed and feed every night AND take care of the land (mow the yard, etc). THe guy is really anal about his stupid lawn and im thinking.. if you want "landscaping" then DONT LEASE TO HORSE PEOPLE.

I think this generally covers all what is going on x_x


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

*Wednesday February 14th, 2007.
Bringing Admiral home... Happy Valentines Day!*

Brought Admiral home today, somewhat unexpectedly. I went to Richard/Bobby's place with 400.00 in 20 dollar bills, and said that I had 400 cash if he would sell him to me today, otherwise i would need to wait to get my refund. He accepted, and was eager to get Admiral off of his property.. so he brought him to our place that same day, LOL. When he arrived and his old owner left, i noticed something running in the road from the property.. 3 horses got loose in the street and were running amuck. I managed to get them in the horse property, and with the help of my husband, get them corraled in one area. They were like.. VERY feral.. so there was not much we could do besides sit and gawk. My friend and owner of the property, Heather, came out and knew the horses and confirmed they were the horses from 3 houses away, and penned them in a smaller area for the neighbor to pick up. Apparently they get out allot.

My tax return card should be coming in tomorrow, and if this is the case, I will be buying and bringing home Dreamer before the week is out (I hope to have this horse home with Admiral no later than Sunday) I had to choose between the two, and i decided to bring Admiral home first since he was a bigger rescue than Dreamer.. but i was really considering bringing Dreamer home because Bobby had been waiting over a month for me to bring him home, and i am sure is getting impatient. Ultimately, my choice was decided when I realized if i weaned Dreamer, and put him in a pen by himself, there is no doubt in my mind he would freak out and jump the fence and try to get into the road. I told Richard what my reasoning was between picking which one to pay off first, and he seemed to generally agree. I also let him know i would be out later in the week to bring my Dreamer home.

I wonder how Dreamer will load o_o;;;

Going to spend the entire morning with my lovely new man tomorrow <3 I am so happy ;;!


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

*Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Dreamer Comes Home!!!!!*

Dreamer came home today!!! I finished paying him off this evening, and when it came time to load him.. wow. STUBBORN.. LOL! I hope this isnt a sign of things to come!! Well, considering he was still living with his mother, over a year old, and NEVER left the property before.. or loaded.. he did a darn good job! He is living with Admiral in the Round Ring now =)

We are going to be building pastures tomorrow, and then hopefully before the weekend is out, moving Joey and Rain out to the property where Dreamer and Admiral are.

I sat and took oodles of pictures with my man, Admiral. He looks so much like Skippy! in head structure/face its just rediculous!!

I also bought a boatload of stuff for the horses too, Everything from general tack stuff (a CUTE baby pad, black with baby blue trim!!!) to medicine.

Pictures of Admiral should come soon!! I actually took a little siesta with him in the hay.. what a cutie! He ate quietly over my head and put hay all over me, LOL


----------



## englishcowgrl (Jan 24, 2007)

wow..you sure have alot going on! i just wanna get this clear...you now have all your horses ( or soon to have all of them) on one farm? and bought 1 new horse? wow...you'll be busy for a while  ..good luck and keep us updated


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

englishcowgirl, I actually just finished moving all the horses onto one property!! =)!! I am so excited!! And now I own Admiral =) I need to update my signature banner, LOL we dont have Liberty anymore =(

*Friday, February 16th, 2007
Rain and Joey come to their new home too!*

I am BEAT! I woke up at 8:00 in the morning and went out and with the help of Heather's husband, my husband, and myself.. we constructed a 370 x 125 foot pasture for Joey, Rain, Dreamer and eventually Admiral to live on. It also has the option to open up into their arena for a bigger area.

All in all, we drove around 30 T posts, put up nearly 500 feet of bull wire, put 90 ties on the T posts to hold the fence on, and stretched electric fence ribbon around the top. It was completed at roughly 5:00 in the evening, sans the gate (it needed one more hinge on it) we doctored it up with a leadrope, and set out to pick up and trailer Joey and Rain. Rain took a little coaxing, but Joey led in like a dream. Once Rain put her front feet in, she was good. She loads very well for a horse that doesnt do it that often!! We dropped them off, lead them around the peramiter of the field and let them go. They had a blast! In the back corner, they have tall buffalo grass to munch on.

Tomorrow I will go help finish construction on the shelter and the field will be done!! Heather and Darrell were so kind to us.. they used all of their supplies to do this.. it would have cost me a FORTUNE to do that!!

All my horses are finally on one piece of property!! I am SO happy!!! =)

I didn't do much with Admiral and Dreamer today. I show sheened their manes, but not tails. Dreamer has such a thick full mane! Ooh La La!! I actually lead Dreamer out of his pen and walked him across the property to go see the new field we built, and he was very edgy, but never took off on me. Edgy is ok, we can settle that down.. but disrespect is unacceptable. Considering this was his first day on a farm other than the one he was born on.. and the first day away from his mother.. He did AWESOME.

Im very happy!!


----------



## englishcowgrl (Jan 24, 2007)

congrads! we want lots of pictures!


----------



## englishcowgrl (Jan 24, 2007)

i just looked at your pictures of joey,rain and dreamer?? when are the others ariving?


----------



## barnrat (Jan 1, 2007)

thats so awesome!!! How many horses do you have now???


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

*Saturday, March 3rd, 2007
Dreamer gets Gelded*

The vet came out today, and Dreamer got gelded. Thankfully both testicles were dropped and we got everything out.

Got coggins done on everyone as well.. and found out that my concern over the cloudiness in Joey's eye had merit. He may have cancer in it. Fun stuff.

I guess i will deal with that whenever i can. I called Jody about seeing what she wants me to do about it, and we will handle it from there.

Im not really having the best day...


----------



## kristy (Dec 8, 2006)

Aw, I'm so sorry =(
On a different subject, why did you decide to geld?


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

I didn't like the way he was turning out as a stallion. He was somewhat underdeveloped and i don't think he was going to end up being all that big in stature. Plus, the registration fell through because the mother's papers were lost.. and i couldn't get much business breeding him without full registered parents. Plus, he was pretty flighty and dashy (though generally laid back) so i didnt want that amplified by the testosterone.

So, i decided to geld him, and hope that later down the line i find a stallion (or breed one) with a good pedigree, good conformation, and good personality. Plus, the gelding process is an easy "in" for me. Meaning he will bond better with me because i am going to be there for him while he is in pain (lol). I've found that horses bond closer with you if you have worked through a physical illness/injury with them.


----------



## kristy (Dec 8, 2006)

I think you made a very good choice. I doubt you'll regret it, maybe for .54684 seconds, then you'll find reality again :wink: And I'm also sure, you'll find a wonderful stallion one day. I mean, think about it. We're the same age, if we search for the next 50 years, we HAVE to find some sort of decent stallion. Odds are on our side! (They better be, or I'm going to be an extremely depressed 70 year old.)


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

LOL i never thought about it that way! The odds are on our side aren't they?

One of the other HUGE factors in the gelding (i was going to wait a little longer otherwise) was that our vet is moving in with a private practice across the state, and there was no way i was going to be able to afford a gelding from the local vets.. that, and the local vets absolutely SUCK. They are very quick to offer euthanasia as their first option.. why? I have no idea.. but if a horse gets a problem that looks like it may be chronic, they recommend putting them down.

Well, the vet who gelded him only charged me 75 dollars.. So that was the huge descision to geld.. LOL. Do that now, or wait a year, be sorry, and pay 200 dollars.. no way!

Hopefully i will find my perfect stallion one day.. and heck.. maybe he will be a Gypsy Vanner  a girl can dream right? =)


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

*Monday, March 5th, 2007
Trail Ride and Potential New Business*

I slept in today so i didn't get much new stuff in the way of horse fun.. but i did leave the house at around 2:00 with Heather to go to the barn. We took the horses out (I was on Joey, and she was on a draft cross mare she owns named Magnolia) and we walked up the street (literally, the street) to this womans house where i may be working.

She needed someone to feed her horses while she went away, and she was going to use Corey (the guy i mentioned in the first page of my journal.. the moron) I told Heather i would so do it for free so long as she didnt let him do it, but she said she dropped in a good word for me and would like to meet me to see if i was cool to take care of her horses (if she was going to let Corey do it.. this should be a piece of cake.. LOL) Also found out that Corey had never tied a western saddle's latigo before (he always used the clip) so he just looped it around a bunch of times and got on her old reliable paint horse and slid right off.. dude.. this guy gets money to train peoples horses.. and he cant put a western saddle on? By the way.. this guy is a die hard cowboy.. and knows nothing about english.. so there is NO excuse as to why he cant put that saddle on.

The lady wasn't there, but she will swing by one day to meet me. She sounds kinda like an english prude.. but since i know what i am talking about, and know quite a bit about english, i should be ok.

We went over to Heather's other property before the ride and filled up water barrels to haul to the other property. While i was there, i messed with Fancy, her Leopard Appy mare. According to Jennifer (the "trainer" that boards at Heather's place) Corey set ALL her training back to square one and ruined ALL the work Jen put into her. Jen actually never put any work into her, and just used this as an excuse to say why the mare still was not ridable. Jen (you know.. the TRAINER...) cannot catch Fancy to save her life. Felix, Heather's 10 year old son, can walk into the field and grab her no problem... now.. see how the horses pick out the phonies?

Anyways.. i walked in, grabbed her, and pulled her out of the field and tied her up and brushed her really well, walked her around, and put her back with ease. She seemed very greatful for the attention and very happy. I hope to get her riding in under a month so Jennifer's jaw will hit the ground.. im sure as soon as she sees me in the saddle she will say something to the effect of "Oh, she must have remembered all the training i put into her and thats why you can get on her now" Haha.. bull.

As a trainer, i will only take challenges i know i can face. If the challenge proves too great or too dangerous, i may pass it up.. but this is why that is not what i do for a living. If Jennifer thought that Fancy was too great of a challenge.. then she REALLY needs to not be working with horses. Fancy is no worse than Dreamer.. and Dreamer is not a challenge at all.

Dreamer is healing well from his gelding procedure and is being a sweetheart. Rain is growing up swell, as always, and Admiral is dying to be turned out with the other horses again. He was turned out with Joey and all them yesterday and loved it =)

I guess thats it for now! I was bored so i wanted to post something interesting =)


----------



## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Hey all! I just wanted to kick on for a minute to say i am still alive and well (not in a ditch somewhere, LOL) I should be getting the internet hooked up at my house again soon, it got abruptly cut off one day, then i moved, and my husband couldnt find work.. so i was living off of grain, lol! I am on base now using their internet connection to mull around online and check on everything =)

New news!:

*Dreamer* had his first saddle on yesterday, then was RIDDEN :O!! I got on him for the first time and let my husband lead me around. Now that i got the "First Ride" out of my system, i can stop getting so excited about it and focus on the ground work again, LOL. I just couldnt believe he was so chill about the entire ordeal. He has really turned around!

*Rain* Had a really deep gash in her shoulder, but now she is fine. It healed alright =) She had the saddle and bridle on but is a little sketchy about me mounting.

*Joey* STILL has a crack in his hoof... even after the farrier worked with it. The farrier is habitually late for appointments (by weeks, not hours) which is allowing the crack to maintain its place of honor in his hoof. Joey was a pud on my 21st birthday (June 11th) and ive had trouble with him since then

*Legacy* finally has a name! (formerly FTL) he is an awesome horse, good on the trail, and beautiful!

*Admiral* has bulked up quite a bit but still has more weight to gain. He is an absolute sweet heart and HUGE... 17.1 and butt high! at THREE YEARS OLD! :O!

I hope to be on again soon, hopefully the internet will be at my house within the month!!

-Skippy! <3[/b]


----------

