Not Dead Yet

*blows the dust off the blog*

Eek. Where did the time go? I knew it had been a while since I've updated, but I had no idea it's been this long!

No worries, Kachina and I are both healthy and well. Which is more than I can say for my computer, which died a few months back, along with my internet (double-whammy!). I've been living off of my smart phone since the last you all have heard from me. But! I have a new computer, and new internet, so I'm back in action.

And I just couldn't let the year end without sending long overdue love to all of Kachina's internet family.

As for Kachina, she continues to do well in her training. She's growing taller, too. The popular theory is that she'll reach about 15hh. It's still hard to imagine that the little filly I saw a year ago is turning into a real horse.

She is moving very well under saddle, and is turning out to be very willing to work the "human cow." She's definitely showing that she is a cow horse, as that Jesse James blood starts to boil to the surface. I've also taken her on a few rides outside of the ranch, and I'm very pleased to see that she's more curious about the unknown than she is afraid of it. It's so exciting to watch her progress.

Me, I'm progressing too. Although, sometimes, it feels frustratingly slower than Kachina! But when I think of all of the things I can do now -- not just while riding horses, but also while handling them and working on the ranch -- I'm truly amazed at how far I've come. I hope to only get better in the new year!

So, from Kachina and I, happy holidays! I hope that the new year brings you even more joy, love and adventures than the last one!

OT: New Blog

News of Kachina will be coming this weekend, promise!

In the meantime, I've created a brand new blog for my personal use/my adventures as an aspiring dog trainer. Check it out!

Going for the Gold

This past Saturday was a very important day for me. My fellow apprentice and I entered our first Ranch Sorting competition.

To say I was nervous was a serious understatement. Not only was it a spur-of-the-moment decision to enter, or that I only had a day to practice, or that I hadn't worked cows in at least a month, but it was my first competition. Ever. I was never into sports as a kid, so I was never in any games or matches.

Well, that's not true. I went to a martial arts tournament as a kid, and I've done some play days on Rico, but none of those were serious. Not where I paid an entry fee, or where the competition was packed, or where the winning prize was a very beautiful buckle. Eek.

Now, I tried Ranch Sorting back in August, but it wasn't a real competition. We paid $5 to do a random sorting, more a "fun game" than anything. This time, every one was good, and they all came ready to win that buckle. Some of the runs were so amazingly fast, and the horses moved so well, I couldn't believe it!

I spent most of the day warming up horses, watching the other competitors and talking my poor partner's ear off. See, the only way I can combat nervousness is by feeling prepared. And since I didn't feel prepared, I had to settle myself down by dissecting every scenario in my head, making tons of plans, noting things about the cows or about other teams' runs. Would I remember any of it when I got in the pen? Most likely not, but talking about it made me feel like I was doing something. Fortunately, I had a great partner who just listened and nodded his head, even though I was probably getting on his nerves! (Sorry!)

It's funny how you can spend all day nervous but, once you're up, it just goes away. It's like you don't have time to be worried. Suddenly, it's just you, your partner, your horse and the cows; you can hear the people calling to you outside, but you can't hear them.

Even more amazing was how the horse I was riding felt so ready the minute we got in front of cattle. I've been riding this mare a lot, and I feel like we work well together and have a good relationship, but in that moment we suddenly felt like partners, like we were 'on a wire'. It was a really powerful feeling.

So, how did we do? Out of twenty-two teams, we came in second place. We were so close to winning the buckle -- we lost it at the last minute by four cows -- but I'm still extremely excited and happy with what we got. I have a great trainer, a great partner, and I was riding a great horse. Plus, my mom was there to see it. More importantly, I'm doing what I promised my grandfather that I'd do: following in his footsteps.

Besides, how many people can say they got second place on their first go?

I got a $101 for second place, which is going toward a new pair of nice spurs. I love my spurs because my grandfather bought them for me, but they're super light, 'learning spurs' and I think it's time for an upgrade.

Now that I've got the bug, I can't wait to compete again. It's a sport that I think Kachina would excel in, and I think it'd be a good competition for a young horse once they have more training of them (not as much running or turning in Sorting as there is in Team Penning). We'll see!

Next time, I'm getting that buckle!


Besides all that, Kachina's doing fine, and I did take a picture of her for you guys:


Just before I gave her a bath (which she hates). She looks all awkward and teenager-y in this photo. Definitely not a baby anymore!

OT: The Animal Rescue Site

You may have noticed a new button on the right side of this blog (if not, now you will). Clicking on this button will take you to The Animal Rescue Site where, by clicking another button, you can help to feed a rescued animal without paying a dime. This is how it works:

You click, and their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned, neglected and abused animals in exchange for advertising. Currently, their having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily so that they can meet their quota of FREE FOOD (have I mention that you don't have to pay anything?) donated every day to these animals in need.

Hey, you're browsing through blogs all the time anyway, right? So while you're looking, click on the link, click on the big purple button on the website and, boom, you've just fed a little kitten that was found abandoned along with its littermates on the side of a highway, or a puppy that was abused and left for dead in a junk yard, or a starving horse that was rescued from some tiny, mucky, bare pen in someone's backyard.

And it doesn't cost you anything but fifteen seconds of your day. How awesome is that?

From Filly to Mare

It's been a while! Life's been a little hectic, and this blog has suffered for it. But I promise it'll be back in full swing once things calm down (whenever that will be!), and both Kachina's doing great. She's really coming along in her training -- my trainer thinks she'll progress fast.

Besides that, she's growing like crazy! Well, not so much growing (though she is taller) as transitioning from filly to mare. Here's a picture of her from last week:



Her tail's longer, too! And that missing plug in her mane is almost even now. Pretty big difference from when I got her back in January, isn't it?:

(looking at this picture still makes me grin)

We're going to tackle our first "trail ride" in a few weeks, so keep checking back with us; as long as Kachina's around, this blog will be too!

The Apprenticing Life

There was a CCPA (California Cattle Penning Association) penning this past Saturday. Show days means waking up early in order to drive out to La Grange (a two hour drive on a good day), get the horses fed, wash and groom the horses we'll be taking, loading everyone into the trailer, changing into show clothes and hitting the road. This is roughly how my Saturday morning:

- Wake up at 12:30 (I don't usually go to bed until 12:30!)
- Ride with my fellow apprentice two hours to La Grange (he drives, thankfully!)
- Get caught up to speed with my trainer
- Wash four horses (in the dark, mind you)
- Groom up said horses until they shine (still in the dark!)
- Help feed the remaining horses
- Gather all the tack we'll be taking with us and store it in the trailer
- Help load the horses into the trailer (sun's just coming up)
- Check the trailer then hit the road!
- Arrive at the penning and unload horses
- Touch-up grooming and tacking up
- Warm up my trainer's horse
...all before the 9:00 start.

Once the competition started, I helped out by working the gate. If you're planning on competing in any event, I definitely recommend working the gate at least once. It's the best seat in the house, and I learned a lot -- not only from watching the runs, but also from the commentary between teams. They discuss their game plan as they enter the arena, they talk about what they did right as they leave the arena after a good run, and they talk about what went wrong after a bad one. Also, the teams waiting to go into the arena will analyze the run of the team that's in the arena, so there's tons of information milling around that gate. Plus, everyone in the CCPA is extremely friendly, so they were all willing to answer any questions I had about strategy, the cows and the rules.

Besides that, I really liked being able to wish each team good luck as they entered, and congratulate them as they left, no matter how their run went.

After the show, I helped break down all the sponsorship posters, which gave me a chance to talk to the president of the association. Once that was done, it was time to take the tack off of the horses, groom and load everyone in the trailer for the trip back home.

I did get to see Kachina, briefly, and try on her fancy new halter (which I tried to get a picture of her wearing, but it was too dark!). We fed the horses their dinner and, finally, packed up for the two hour drive back home. I was in bed at 11:30 -- long day!

Sunday more than made up for it, though; P and I took a drive to Mt. Tam. It was beautiful and warm and we scored tons of this great, soft, green rock that looked almost like jade. No idea what it is, but I want to do something cool with it eventually.

For those of you who have followed Kachina's twitter, you know that I've been dying to make Cash a rattlesnake skin collar all summer. Well, with Ana's help, I finally got it done on Monday (even though she was freaked out by it). It looks amazing! I can't wait to take tons of pictures of him in it. Now I just have to get him a Good Dog Tag and he'll be all set.

It's been a long, long week, and it's only Wednesday. Expect some pictures of Kachina next week, as well as a little dive into her family history!

Goodbye, Rico

I haven't meant to neglect this blog. Actually, I felt like I couldn't post in it without first closing the chapter on Rico, and I haven't had the heart to do it. But I've had a little time, and it isn't so raw anymore (though still painful), so I think it's time.

First, I wanted to thank you guys for your support and kind words in the last post. I really appreciated every one of them. I'm not going to post about Friday, but I do want you guys to know that Rico went as peacefully as I could hope. The doctors at UC Davis are amazing, and I felt like they really cared about Rico, as well as understood how I felt. I couldn't have asked for kinder people.

When we bought Rico (for $600!), he had been surrendered to the stable because his owner was behind on board and couldn't pay. He had used Rico in illegal races, and Rico had been so abused that he was absolutely terrified of being ridden (he had scars on his sides from being spurred so hard and so often). It took four people holding him, and almost forty-five minutes for me to just get on his back the first time -- he would move around, come up in the front and just try to get away. When I finally mount up, he just froze and trembled and, when I asked him to go, he took off.

To be honest, I was afraid of him, but that was because I didn't understand. I had to learn to let go of my presumptions (like he wasn't just some psycho horse that had it in for me!) and figure out the root of his problem and how to best address it. It took me over a year to get Rico to trust me but, once I did, there was nothing I couldn't ask him to do. Rico would follow me around without a halter or lead; sometimes we would go racing through the stable, but when I'd stop or slow down, he would match my pace.

Rico was never stubborn or disrespectful, he never refused to do anything I asked and he never showed an ounce of aggression. In truth, he loved to work more than anything. I rode in my first parade with him, and when I started doing gymkhanas on him he took to it like a fish to water.


I learned so many lessons from Rico -- lessons that I've applied to all things in life, not just with horses: patience, understanding, trust, and how to let go of the past and start over are just some of the gifts he gave me.

So good bye, Old Man, and thank you. I hope you find endless space to run, and lots and lots of pretty Spanish mares to court until I see you again.