Tonight I decided to practice on Baby Jane. Wednesday nights are usually lesson nights and if I saddle a horse, I can get a lesson too. My trainer has decided I will show Baby Jane this year in two handed cuttings so she can get seasoned.
I have known Baby Jane since she was foaled. I held her mama when she was bred, I watched Jane get born. I did all her preliminary groundwork and started her. I rode her a bit in her two year old year, but since she was my trainer's "A" list horse, he rode her much more than I did. He rode her almost exclusively her three year old year. I rode her maybe 5 or 6 times. I warmed her up all the time for him, I mean, but as far as cutting, no.
He showed her in a small futurity in Washington, where she drew in a bad bunch of cattle and didn't do much, but she has all kinds of potential; that much is readily apparent. Since that futurity, in late October, she has had some time off.
A few weeks ago, I started riding her when my trainer said I would start showing her. I mostly legged her up and worked her a few times on the mechanical cow, just trying to get used to her.
Baby Jane is pretty goosey and stingy. I have always known this about her. She is reactive to leg and ultra sensitive. I am glad the first young horse I showed was Gem Pony, who was a lot more level headed, forgiving, and mellow. It was good I had Gem Pony first as a young horse, because I wasn't ready for something of Baby Jane's caliber at that time. Now that I have Hal and I have learned to have better timing, etc, I am ready for Baby Jane.
Sometimes when she sees the tail of the rein out to the side she skitters sideways and I feel her get some air under her tail. I knew she would be this way when she was a baby. She is one of the babies from the first crop of Stylish babies. That year all the babies had mega chrome; white legs, big blazes. All except Jane, that is. Plain sorrel, not a speck of white. When she was a foal she looked like a curly horse. She had little curlicues out her ears; her baby hair was kinky, and she had a fro mane. She still has the fro mane. But she is no longer a Plain Jane. She has filled out and become beautiful, despite her plain red wrapper. Hal, of course, is also plain red with no white on him, with a curly frizzy mane.
I did a lot of ground work with Baby Jane; a lot of sacking out. I had an idea she would be like her dam, Nita, who had to have a bag of crushed soda cans tied to her head for two weeks before she would even tolerate seeing your elbow out the side of her eye. The ground work brought out Baby Jane's naturally friendly temperament and made her eager for kisses and love at all times, but didn't really eliminate her natural goosey-ness. Now that Nita is 9 years old, she is feeling broke and somewhat gentle. She isn't as scooty and skittery anymore, though she grabs herself from time to time.
(first saddling; she thought about bucking but it wasnt' serious)I took Baby Jane to the show on Sunday to practice. It started out pretty good, but I didn't lope her near enough and she felt all balled up and ready to blow at any second. She was tight on a cow; I couldnt' get her across the pen, she just wanted to crouch and shake. I kicked and kicked and kicked a bit harder and she then let me know exactly what she thought about that by bogging her head and letting out a giant double barreled kick out.
Needless to say I learned we have some work to do to get together and that a bit more warming up will be on the bill for next show!
Anyway our ride tonight was spectacular. Everything worked; my timing was right, we were a team. My trainer actually said to me, "there aren't very many girl trainers who ride as well as you did tonight." (he meant cutting horse trainers). Wow. It's not every day I get a compliment like that!!! I'm walking on air.
It's rides like tonight that keep me going when things don't go so well. So much in cutting is so hard, and my trainer is so demanding of me. (which is good; I am demanding of myself, as well). I am learning to do more than just ride a cutting horse; I am learning to train them, and train them right, train them well. I don't want to be some hack. I don't want to be some just get er done yayhoo who sacrifices sound horsemanship principles in the name of winning or getting thrills.
I am really looking forward to getting to show Baby Jane. I feel so lucky that I get the opportunity to ride and show such a nice horse. Every day I go out in the barn and I like my job more and more. Simply walking past and rubbing a nose sticking out of a stall door makes me smile and feel content; content that all is well in the world and I am exactly where I need to be. My life is full and happy with my horse friends all around me.
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