Proof There is a God

Yesterday, yes yesterday the day it was cold out and slightly raining, I went for another ride on Tango.  I got a ride from my older sister (I'll get my license soon, I promise Alyssa) out to the Randals'.  When I got there my darling horse saw me coming and started making his way up to the barn.
By the time I had his oats in the feed bin in his stall and the barn door open he was waiting for me to open the gate for him.  He walked on in, as if he had been doing this his whole life (horses learn fast when it pertains to food, I think it has something to do with their brains being located in their stomachs, haha).
I saddled him up and got myself ready for the overcast weather outside. I put on my black, felt cowboy hat, chaps and the rain slicker that Mrs Randal was nice enough to lend to me.  I took a deep breath and breathed in the smell of straw, oats, leather and horse hair. Don't know what it is about wearing a cowboy hat and slicker but it makes you feel ready for an adventure.
So I led Tango out of the barn and carefully skirted around the skunk trap Mr Randal had set.  Bailing on we decided to do some exploring.  Again pointing ourselves north we started off at a laid back walk.  We did a little bit of a slow jog in the hail field then took a gate into what the Randals call their "back forty".  It wasn't long before I was breathless, the riding was beautiful.
There was a moment where I wasn't so sure because I came to a place where I had to choose between fording the river or somehow making it over a very large fallen log.  After getting off my horse (I concluded it would be the safest call to either turn back or find a way to get around the log) and investigating I found that there was a small cattle trail that went around the edge of the log giving me about a foot and a half of space to go around the log, not alot when you are on a horse.
So getting on Tango again I coaxed him to go around.  We followed the trail through the tall golden grass as I admired the yellowing leaves and the trickling river accented with a fair sized beaver damn.  Then going through a little dip in the trees I came out and was at the foot of a large river valley hill.  Being the awful slave driver that I am I encouraged Tango to climb the hill. He huffed and puffed, and somehow found the breath to groan a few times.  Then when we came to a little flat spot near the top we stopped and turned around.
The words to describe the view are few.  However when I looked at it's beauty I thought to myself "this is proof there is a God and the fact that I get to see this is proof that he loves me enough to share it's beauty".  I could see almost all the valley before it's lengths disappeared around the curves.  To my left I could see the Randal's house and their outbuildings.  Past that was cattle on some fields.  Ahead of me was a brilliant green alfalfa field, its color softened by the mist.  Sighing at the beautiful sight I gave a smile and then headed back down the hill, out the gate and back to the barn.

Partners in Crime

Today was the second ride, although it wasn't exactly a ride.  This morning I was thinking about how Tango hadn't really caught on quite yet that me and him were a pair now... I was his rider, he was my horse. So I thought maybe if I trained him something new, maybe he would bond with me to some extent.

I thought for a few things about what I should teach him.. the first thing that came to mind was teaching him how to follow me without a lead rope or such.  So I went to youtube to look for movies on how to train a horse how to follow their owner.

Something else I saw however triggered my memory as to a book I read about a man named Monty Roberts (a great horseman). There's a thing  you can do with your horse called "joining-up".  Its a technique used to help people build trust between themselves and their horses.  I decided to give it a whirl.

After getting ready, driving out there, and having a nice little chat with the rancher's wife (Mrs Randal)  I grabbed a bucket of oats, his halter and lead, and a longe whip.

Once I was set I lured Tango into the round pen and closed the gate.  Of course I had to stand and wait (tapping my toe impatiently) as he finished snacking on the bribe I brought him (next time I'll only give him one handful, although with mouths as big as theirs you'd think they'd chew faster).  After Tango had finished his oats I pushed (not physically I used body language and voice commands) him to the outer edge of the round pen.  

Using the longe whip (you never touch your horse with it as that causes fear, thus defeating the whole purpose of this exercise) and my body language I got him to trot around the edge.  It was going well, however his buddies Razz and Brown decided they were gonna see what was going on and why they hadn't gotten any oats.  Tango lost concentration on the task at hand when his "buddy" Razz decided it would be a good idea to nip at Tango over the fence.  However ol' trusty Brown would come right behind and scare Razz away.   

At first I thought it would be helpful for Razz to be razzing on Tango (haha excuse the pun, I couldn't help myself) however trust a horse to love the one that pesters you. The Redneck began to stop at the side of the round pen where the two horses were, and almost refused to budge, however with my awesome skills of persuasion (that was sarcasm) I convinced him to go again.

For a while I felt like we weren't making progress but then I saw that he was starting to respond to me.  At first it was subtle, like his inside ear slightly tilted towards me. Then as I kept going he started licking his lips (a sign that a horse is understanding what's going on).  Finally he made a third, more obvious signal, his eye rolled (haha just like a teenager) and he snorted at me (in exasperation you might've said). Thinking maybe he was ready I dropped the longe whip and turned my back to him, hand out.  He stopped immediately and faced me, however he sighed and promptly walked back to where his buddies were.  

Not a fan of rejection (sorry for being melodramatic, but I am a girl you know) I picked the longe whip back up and pushed him back into a trot.  He kept trying to stop at the gate and at the spot on the fence where Razz was however after a while Razz and Brown got bored and went for a drink. A drink of water that is, the Randalls do not have alchoholic horses, just for clarfication.  

Then it was two, The Redneck and I.  I pushed him and he started to respond more and more.  So I stopped and tried again.. he took one step towards me but stopped there.  Turning around I pushed him more.

It was unusually warm out today and the two of use were working up a sweat.  However finally when I thought I would have to stop to take off my sweater he stopped when I paused in a step.  So I turned around, he took a step... I dropped the whip... he took another step. I stuck out my hand and he took two more steps till he was only a foot away from me.  I took a step, he took a step. I walked a circle around the pen with him following me. 

Attaching his lead rope to his halter I just let it drape over his neck.  I gathered my equipment and walked back to the barn, him following me the whole way.  Happy with the days success I scratched him on the neck.. a place a friend told me horses especially liked to be scratched because it reminds them of when they were foals.. and smiled at how blessed I was with such a smart horse.

The Redneck and I.... he's my trusty side kick, we're a couple of buckaroos, partners in crime.

(p.s. I figured out what went wrong with my ride yesterday, I don't think I'll be falling of again any time soon.  Thanks Mr Randal for the insight!)

First Horse, First Ride.... First Lesson Learned.

Today I went for my first ride on Tango. He is the horse I have always wanted, and was kindly sold to me by Bruce Brock. I am keeping him at the Riverview Ranch (owned by the Randals) and boy have they been a blessing to me.  I always dreamt of having a red roan horse with spunk and smarts, and that is what I got.  I've nicknamed him "The Redneck" because of his color, and the fact that I myself was raised in a redneck town.
So today was my first ride. My mother and father dropped me off and I went to the barn and got a bucket of oats to coax Tango into the barn.  I tied him in his stall, brushed him, and saddled him. While all the while he contentedly ate his oats.
Finally once I was finished I put on his headstall (having to adjust it with it being new and all) and led him out of the barn.  I decided, it being the first ride and all, it would be smart to play it safe and ride in the roundpen.  So tightening the cinch once more (I had been warned that he bloated, but apparently I didn't take the warning quite seriously enough) me and him toodled on down to the round pen.
Just to play it safe, once I was down there I tightened the cinch again before bailing on (or 'mounted up' if you want to be formal).  We walked some circles, I worked on steering with my legs instead of the reins, and then we trotted some circles, and I worked on getting him to go at a reasonably paced (not a teeth chattering) trot. I also came to the conclusion that I may have not chosen the best bit for him... anybody know the differences between a straight shank snaffle and a crooked shank snaffle?
After I had warmed him up and was feeling pretty comfortable (I admit I may have been a little high on myself and not as careful as I should have been) I decided to take it to the next level and go for a stroll in the field.  Using the brains God blessed me with I chose the field that Mr. Randal was working in that day (better safe than sorry right?)  and pointed my horse north.
We had a little bit of difficulty when I tried to convince him that he could let me open a gate from on top of him, he was fine with going through the gate, he just didn't want to do it my way. Finally we got through the gate (me almost leaving a leg behind on one of the fenceposts) and were off.
We walked through the field for a while, waved to the man on the big green tractor (Mr Randal that is), and then decided to go for a trot.  However, if any of you are horse people, or have ridden a horse, you should know that you can't trot in an open field, on an athletic horse I might add, before you have to break into a run.
So I let loose the reins and the horse sped into a lope, I could feel him getting faster, but I knew that he had a tendency to stumble when going too fast, so I held him back. It was when we started to slow down that I realized I was off centered, and so was my saddle.  Being just that skilled I stopped the horse and tightened the cinch from up top (okay not skilled, just lazy).  Then we were off again.
However this time I wasn't so fortunate, and God, with a little help from Tango, was determined to teach me a lesson.  I pulled my horse around to slow him down, but that threw me off balance and my saddle commenced to falling off.  Well The Redneck didn't like that very much so he did a few little hops to let me know.  Seeing that it was a better judgement call (although my judgement call came a little late in the ride to be much help) I hopped of, spraining my knee in the process.
Determined to be a tough cowgirl (cowgirls don't cry, don't ya know?) I jumped right back up and started settling my nervous horse.  After he was settled down (or after I was settled down) I cinched him back up and got back on.  Turning around I saw that the tractor was back and prayed that Mr Randal hadn't seen my embarassing tumble.
Me and Tango returned to the barn (at a walk as I had had enough adventure for one day).  On our walk back we had a conversation about how he had a stupid, inexperienced rider who had learned her lesson. I'll be changing a few things about how I tack up my horse from now on... And maybe even asking for advice from a wisened ol' horseman I know.