Cows, Mounts and Sunburns

Yesterday my trainer, my friend and fellow apprentice and I went to a big penning competition.

Show days long and exhausting - they usually start at 1am (it's a three-hour drive to my trainer's ranch, and we have to get there early enough to feed all of the horses, cows and various other livestock, groom the horses, load them into the trailer and change) then, once you're at the show, you spend the rest of the day grooming and exercising horses. It sounds simple, but it's hard work, and it doesn't help that you're in direct sunlight all day long and temperatures reached 110° - eek!

I don't burn easily, however I my arms and back are currently an angry red color. Though the tan does make my arms look more toned..

Still, if I was going to get a sunburn this Summer, I would much rather do it at a penning than at the beach! And it was all worth it: my trainer ended up winning both the Open and Pro-Am division, all thanks to our excellent warm-up skills! (well, maybe not all thanks, but even he had to admit that his horses were at the top of their game and perfect because we did a great job of warming them up - long live the lopers of the world)

I would have taken pictures, but I was just too busy to grab the camera. However, it was great to watch the other competitors run and get tips, learn what made the bad runs bad and what made the good runs good, and get more experience reading cows. I got the chance to speak to some of the Novice riders and learn how they deal with the pressure and nerves, I got good advice from the more seasoned riders, and listened to the comments of the spectators. I think a few things about the sport clicked in my mind during this penning, and I walked away with some good ideas to keep in mind.

I also had a chance to ride a Paint mare named Cherokee (not to be confused with Granpa's Paint gelding, also named Cherokee, whom I think I've mentioned before), a former student of my trainer's and a horse that's well known as one of the best penning horses around. She's the dam of Bandit, the mare my trainer's son competes on (and he's killing the competition! He may even go to the World show this year!). She's won a ton of money at the sport, and her get all seem to excell at penning and working cows. My trainer has always spoken very highly of her, and everytime I've heared her name mentioned it is with admiration and fondness. It was great to be able to ride this mare who, at least to me, is sort of a local legend.

When we got home, I turned Kachina out and watched her while we talked about colts - about starting them, how soon you can tell what they may end up like in the future, how you can get an idea of how their training will go - and I asked him how long did he think it would take to start Kachina, judging by what he knew of Kachina right now. He told me that, as long as she doesn't completely switch personalities on us, and going slow and starting her correctly, she should be walking, trotting and loping perfectly under saddle in under two weeks. This is exciting news! Of course, there's no way to tell yet how she will take to training until we actually start it, so I don't want to jinx it.

I also asked if she reminded him of any of the horses he's trained. He watched her for some time while he thought, and Kachina watched him right back, her little black-trimmed ears tuned to him expectantly, almost as if she were also waiting for the answer. Finally, he answered "You know, I have to say that she reminds me a lot of Cherokee at that age."

Kachina has some big horseshoes to fill.