A new family in the fold

Yesterday morning, Slygirl met her new family, and so we have a new family in the Onn-A-Wym Farms clan. These are the Shaws from Illinois (but not close by any means)...Slygirl has her own little girl named Vanessa--and I think she knows it, as Vanessa was the one that Slygirl wanted to sniff on as I tried to take their photo.

This deal has been in the works for quite some time, and we have emailed several times a week (heck, several times a day lots of days) talking about their plans for her, and her Boot Camp experiences. It has really been a lot of fun, but there was also a lot of anxiety on my part after the last error in judgment on my part on the horse experience and sense of the purchaser (the Radar debacle).

The plan for this horse is for mama to put hours and hours and hours of saddle time on her, while daughter Vanessa gets to know her, and learns the ropes. Vanessa will take lessons on her, and she is going to start 4 H. This is another family where mom is horse experienced and the dad is new to the experience--what a sport though. Not everyone would haul the whole family many hours south, stay in a hotel and stand there is really cold rain as we gabbed about it, all with a smile on his face. There is also a little bitty man that will I bet will be fighting to share with Vanessa when he gets big enough.

Vanessa was pretty excited about her "first horse" (not the first one in the family), but I could tell it was almost overwhelming for her. I could not even allow myself to think about how I would have felt in her position, or I would have just started bawling right there on the spot and made an ass of myself. This photo is her first second in the saddle--she was concentrating HARD even though her little legs would not reach the stirrups. She was a trooper though, and I notice in the pic of her being led on Slygirl that she already has the cutter's slump. Go Vanessa!

It was such a relief to finally meet them in person and realize that Stephanie gets it. She gets it that this is a young horse who knows the skills and can and will perform them pretty dang consistently, but because she is a young horse, she will quite often throw new tricks into the mix. We have learned a lot about her through her Boot Camp experience, and one thing we have learned is that she is pretty dang reliable about how she learns. Slygirl is obviously very intelligent, likes the attention and tries very hard to please people.

For example, Friday nite, Barry noticed that when he asked her to stop, she would dip her nose a little as if the noseband was bugging her. So he changed it and she was great. We started her in that Saturday morning, and it was a mess. Stephanie rode her in that bit, then we changed her back to the Myler combo bit she had been using throughout Boot Camp, and felt the difference right off the bat. That was a relief, since she hunted forever for the combo bit online and those things are NOT cheap--I would have hated for her to have wasted her money on my recommendation. She really seems to understand that animals are tricky, and that the more time she has on her the more solid she will be and that as she comes up with new tricks, she will just have to work through them. That is the kind of owner I want-- one living in reality that these are animals, not robots of motorcycles, and that with that comes a need for adaptability. I think Stephanie has it in spades, and I know she can do this. She had a horse related injury in the not too distant past which has given her some nerves she is not used to, but even I could see her relax the longer she rode on her---maybe this will be just the ticket for bringing her back to full steam too. I sure know that feeling!

They came over to see Sly, who was pretty boring. As they pulled out, I actually kind of got choked up, but I think it is as much excitement for my horse to have a situation where she will be fawned over and loved by her own family as anything. I am trying not to think about how this was the first Slybaby we ever had and all the memories that go with that. She likes the attention and I have no doubt that she will get it there. Barry mentioned when they left that he heard Vanessa asking about could she ride her when they get home, could she be the one to lead her, could she.... could she ...could she? She even said when we loaded her up that she wished she could ride in the trailer with her.

That makes my heart happy.

I already have updates about how happy they are with her, and I hope I keep getting them. Just thinking of the years they can have together, and the things they can do as they both learn made for a very satisfying day.

Slygirl gets in on the photo shoot as well

I think I might even be driving myself crazy with this photo business. I am just having so much fun. I am torn between trying to take the photos I am supposed to take to sell horses, and taking the ones that are interesting. I even took the afternoon off to go home and take photos, since it was such a gorgeous day-- it was well into the

I am leaning toward interesting lately.

Sis is pretty dirty, but she was having a ball finding the still muddy spots and flinging herself into them

Slygirls work out

We seem to have worked mostly through the odd issues of the other night. I watched and took photos, so that is pretty much all I have to share

Holly, this walking photo on the right is what I was talking about when I said she naturally carries her head low.










There should be some good shots in here of her turnarounds, she sure has that down. I will try to find them later.

Definitely though, she was back on her game tonight. I had hoped to ride her outside and see if there really is a difference between riding outside in the open versus the round pen, but that wind got to whipping and I could not take it. My hands were chapping up standing there.

Slygirl gets another child pilot

Tonight I put Madison on Slygirl. She did a great job with her, kept her quiet and calm and has learned to ride with two hands like we do around here. That is always a tiough switch from kids who have been to horseback riding day with the girl scouts, and rented trail rides. I was pretty impressed with both of them, as they tooled around in the driveway and around the barns.

After she putzed around out there for a while, I had her ride in the round pen a little bit. It is remarkable to me the difference in that horse between inside and out. She is so content while riding outside, she would do whatever she was asked, go where she wanted her to, and be happy about it. Considering that Madison does not have a lot osf experience riding, I was really impressed with how Slygirl adjusted to her cues. She did all right in the round pen at first, but her mind just clicks over to a different station all together--there, she is much more technical, and got confused and frustrated.

So I rode her a while and she was frustrated for sure. I am not at all convinced this saddle is not pinching her---not something that happens with Madison because she is so much lighter than I am, but clearly something was stuck in her craw tonight. Barry showed up and we changed saddles and after an initial sorting out of things, we worked through it and ended up with a nice ride. I say "we"---I mean Barry did, as I watched to see what was going on.

In the end, all is well that ends well, and everyone learned a lesson. I learned to try something new when the regular is not working, and that she can handle a young kid without a lot of experience and adjust to her just fine. She learned that it is not up to her to get mad, and that all it will get you is more work until you get it right. Barry learned that when I say something is wrong, it quite likely is.

She is spending the night in the round pen instead of her stall so she can work out any kinks she may have. Tomorrow is another day





It was getting a little dark with these photos and I only had on the big lens, so I had to get pretty far away to get her in the photo, and they are a little grainy. I will get the hang of this thing yet.

When did this happen?

I have been riding Slygirl for 5 days in a row, and a month ago, I thought she looked a little light. Maybe it is because I have been with her so much, but I had not noticed how much she has chunked up! You can really see it in this photo--I wish I had gotten a better one, but the stinking batteries gave out on me.

That is the new saddle I am riding--I think I like it. It is such a change from what I am used to but I feel like I am really participating more than in the other saddle I have ridden for ten years. This one is a Billy Cook barrel saddle, very lightweight and with a smaller area than my other one, which will come in handy on the younger horses I am riding now.

Slygirl's turn to show off

Who is that in there, you ask? This is Barry's quite impressive photography, you cannot see either one of us. Then again, it shows how willing Slygirl was to walk through trees with branches wacking her in the face. Had I known the branches were so low, I would have picked a different path, as I was not so willing to get wacked in the face.


Today was Slygirl's turn to play some games. Of course, it started raining right when we started, so we rode a bit in nasty cold rain. She probably did not notice as much as I did, since she was already walking in standing water up over her hooves in some places, and of course, the mushy mud underneath was not much of a treat. It was pretty unpleasant to play games, so we did not last long, but I told someone I would, so I did.


I think that this was likely her first time meeting a tarp- at least one to walk over. She was not phased in the least, which was nice.



To do anything in the front yard, She had to walk through nasty cold standing water--this melting snow is not what I would consider a pleasant footing. She did not hesitate in the least, which is what I would expect from any of my kids, but considering that she could not see the ground through the snow, or the standing water, I was pretty pleased with her. She did not know whether the ground would be hard pack gravel with ice on it in the driveway, or mushy mess like the yard was. While walking over the tarp, she went down into a hole that was pretty deep, and rather than freaking like I did, she just picked herself up and got on with it. Even under less than ideal circumstances, she kept going where I pointed her, without fail or hesitation.

I was really proud of her.

Yesterday's ride

This is the tin whistle----a steel tunnel that runs under the railroad tracks where we rode yesterday. It is pitch black in there with scary shadows but neither Radar or Slygirl had much of a reaction at all, despite the echoes and shadows and wierd sounds. Jenna said that Radar was a little concerned when he scrambled up the hill and found himself facing this thing, but it must have been a small reaction as I was right behind him and never saw a thing from him

It was truly the most treacherous riding we have ever done, and I could not have asked for more from the two Slybabies than they gave. I would not have gotten more from the old pros like Twist or Play or Rock.

For once, I did not take a jillion pics, and because I was in the back of the trail to keep an eye on Jenna and Radar, all the photos I did take were from behind! For Jenna's first ride back after all the time off, she did really well--her knees took a couple bangs into trees, but she soon figured out how to keep that from happening, and I expect Radar and she both learned something from that.

The photo on the left is not terribly interesting, but gives you some idea of the size of the rocks we encountered. We had just come down the back side of the one pictured, and were wrapping around it.

Slygirl encountered her first water crossing. She was cool with that, after she understood it was for playing in. She would not drink the first three or four hours which worried me, but she finally signed on and started drinking. She still made me anxious with that stunt, even though it is not really that strange.

Another first that got their attention was rock climbers and rapellers. I do not recall if Radar saw some on Labor Day, but I know Slygirl never has and it really is strange to see people flying. The sounds of the belay rope or the zip line caused Radar to stand still and study it, but otherwise, they paid it little to no attention. It is those sort of things you do not think about and take for granted that every horse will handle well, but that sort of thinking is also what gets people hurt---we were lucky that they took it all in stride.

Once again, they impressed me more than I could ever have imagined. Surely this has to stop doesn't it? Surely it cannot be this easy all the time, can it?

An addendum to the Herbie Memorial Ride

I forgot the best part of Herbie Memorial Ride- we happened on a doe and her triplets right in the middle of the trail. They of course spooked before I could get a good shot but the pic does show how close they were. I know she saw them as we were in the lead. Slygirl had NO reaction at all to them--she barely gave them a second glance. Maybe them tearing through our fences all the time is paying off? They even startle me though when they get to breaking limbs hopping through the forest.

Here she is in her full trail riding regalia. I loaded her up with the bags even though they did not have much in them, because she might as well learn how to pack them now. They made funny noises, and hit her in the side, and the dripping water from melted ice is COLD--and none of it bothered her. I had so much crap hanging off of her, she could have packed that whole deer family out if need be!

She is being so good, I want to take her to Shawnee this weekend--maybe we will go on Sunday. Barry has a 100 mile bike race, which sounds insane to me as I dont even think I could SIT through such a thing to watch as he passed by occasionally, and besides that, I do not think I am invited. I guess that means I should have shoes put on her even though she has not been complaining yet---see how it works around here? You be nice to me, I will be nice to you!

Kid tested and mother approved!

Thanks Lorna for the good title!

After work today, mom came out to ride with Madison and me. I let her pick which one she wanted to ride and she picked Radar (well, I only gave her two choices, but still). It has been almost four years since a freak horse accident broke her back and she has only ridden a few times since then. It still hurts sometimes, and she is so busy playing golf and socializing that she does not have time to ride. The few times she has ridden, it has been on the same horse she was riding then, and although it makes her nervous, she has barrelled through and done it. I am not sure if she is brave or getting senile since she is almost 64, but it is cool that she still rides.

This was a big step though. I knew Radar was up to it, because lets face it, he is too lazy to act up unless I make him use a bit that is in the wrong place is his mouth. I did not do that today.

He was PERFECT for her. I could not have asked for more from him. We did not have trails to work with on most of our adventure, and we rode in some areas even I have never been on. There were lots of stickers and thick brush, and lots of wierd stuff underfoot that would get their feet tangled up---and Radar just kept plugging. He was so cute, picking up his feet all the way to his belly to get loose of the tangles...just a real trouper. He never so much as flinched at it, let alone acted up.

We had a good time, and this discovery of fun woods just behind Madison's house is very exciting--we have a whole new place to investigate. On the way home, we stopped and let her sister and the baby pet Rock. While we were waiting, Mom said "Dont you bet she is just in heaven?" Man I sure would have been! Which is what I said, and then realized that I still am. It is so much fun to get to share the horses with her. It is possible that it is pathetic that my best everyday riding buddy is eleven years old, but what can you do? It gets me out there, and I can feel virtuous about it. I may take her to Rend Lake to ride this weekend since BS has some 100 miles bike race that I dont think I can bear to sit through.

That reminds me--this is so cute. She bought us necklaces from Claire's. They are on suede strings, and they have a horse on them, and one says "Best" on it and one says "Friends". Is that the cutest thing you ever heard? She let me pick which one I wanted, so I took the friends one. I forgot to wear it today and she asked me about it, so I have to do something to make sure I do not forget tomorrow.

The Herbie Memorial Ride

That is what I am calling yesterday afternoon. His spirit must have infected Slygirl, as she sure did not act like a baby three year old on her first real trail ride....instead she acted like a seasoned pro. The only un-Herbie thing she did was refuse a drink of beer. Silly girl.

We had a jillion firsts. The day started with her thinking she was funny running from us to be caught to go on the ride at all. And me without my camera, as even though I was spitting mad, she looked gorgeous playing---she would run and change leads with every other stride---and downshift to an easy lope, then back up to full on gallop--it was gorgeous. And I say that even knowing that Barry was getting so mad, the top of his head was about to blow off, which of course makes me feel terrible and takes a lot of the fun out of the ride in the first place.

She finally gave in, loaded up and off we went. She was perfect from the minute I unloaded her. Just for sport, I put the saddle bags on her--she has never carried them. I did not put much in them, as she surely does not need to carry more weight than me and my saddle, but it was a good learning experience. I put just enough ice in there to melt so it would drip on her as a good test. No issues with ANY of that at all. Even the flyspray was cool with her.

Off we went, trailing behind those big bay beasts that Headleys are riding right now---Tumbleweed has every bit of 8 inches on Slygirl in height and Logan is not much behind him. She plugged along, kept up well and never once complained about rocks on her bare feet. There were not many rocky areas, but we did do some short sections of gravel road.

The next test was when we had a pitstop and tied them all. She was great with that--her first tying to a tree in the woods, where half the green horses dance around the tree, or paw, or try to scrape the headstall or saddle off on the tree. When a huge group of riders came by for a short stop, she got a little antsy--I made fun of her by suggesting that she was excited there was a pony smaller than her in that group. She simmered down quickly though and off we went for more ride.

All in all, we were out about three and a half hours. I do not recall a single incident that bothered me. Her new bit is doing the trick---no yanking her nose up and bracing against it, no trotting to keep up unless I told her to do it, no running up anyone's butt, nothing.

It was awesome.

When we got home, I decided to keep her stalled to ride again tonight without wasting all that time chasing. I was so amped up from that ride, I got Radar out and rode him too. This was the first time since his ass showing ride last Thursday, and I had his regular bit and headstall--a one ear with a junior cowhorse bit on it, and man did that make the difference on him! He was perfect for me, but man I cannot sit his trot.

I had several things working against me on this ride--it was almost dusk, the front yard was littered with round bales, so we rode the alleyway between the senior pasture and the barns which we have never ridden before, Barry was moving hay, and putzing around in the truck etc. He did so well, I helped with moving hay by riding in the individual pastures to distract the horses from the open gate Barry needed to drop off hay.

I NEVER do this on any horse, because it is just asking for trouble---especially on a young horse, who has a lot of baggage about who he is subordinate to in the pasture, etc. A pack of buffalo would probably be safer for a young horse than their own pasture mates. I was all full of myself though, so we did it and it went really well. He was hesitant in the first pasture--he did not want to go far from the gate, and would stop--but I easily got him moving around to the far end of the pasture, with them all trotting behind him like he ws the Pied Piper.

Next was the mama and old boss mare pasture. It is quite a bit bigger though so we worked a long time in the far side of it, going through tall weeds, a dry creek all weeded up so that he could not see the ground, wound around some small fruit trees, etc...he did beautifully. I could not believe he was doing so well.

This must have made me cocky as I decided he was being good enough to help with the back pasture. This is like taking your life in your hands as the two freight trains, Cash and Haida Girl, are there, as well as the broodmares that have already weaned their babies. Anyone that raises many babies know that broodmares together like that can be as snappish as a pack of alligators. Of course as we entered, Cash and HG rushed him and he was SO brave. He was nose to nose with one of them, and I know he was terrified, I could feel him start to shake under me. The last thing I needed was some sort of challenge from her, so I backed him up and went around her---no issues at all! He was still scared but he did beautifully, and I cut that session short as a reward for him.

On the way back to the barn, I loped him a little--as much to avoid that trot of his that just does not fit me at all. I had never loped him before, but it felt so good, I did another three passes like that. He is a BIG stopper, and so responsive---we had a ball.

By this time, it was most of the way dark, so we quit. He stayed in for the nite too, so I can ride him again tonight.

All in all, a pretty good day!

Perfect nite for a ride

Time to pay up on the slave labor again, so after work, Madison and I saddled up and had a great 45 minute ride. It was about 78 degrees, a light breeze and very sunny.


This was the first time I had used the new bit I got from Tina on Slygirl and it made a HUGE difference. Even when she would try to grab the bit and charge ahead, I could get her back down fairly quickly, and that was not the case without this noseband. She introduced some new moves tonight, which was the periodic reverse at a high speed, which she pulled twice when we were stopped talking about something. We will work that out. I was really pleased considering that she has not been ridden for a couple of weeks and the last times were without the noseband to help me, so she was getting cocky. We did enough to work up a decent sweat, so I think we are on the right track to reaching an agreement.

Maybe tomorrow nite we will roll again- it was amazingly relaxing, but I can still justify it by thinking that I am accomplishing something.

Also, our tractor part was fixed and Barry was not out of town after all, so the first round bales were delivered to each pasture. They are heavy into it, so surely that means they like it!

A Sunday afternoon jaunt

Well I guess there is not a whole lot to this story, other than that BS and I took a short jaunt on Radar and Slygirl this afternoon. It was really nice. I still cannot wrap my mind around these two, it seems so surreal to be riding them, and at this point, actually enjoying doing it. BS never rides so I had to bribe him with breakfast out with extra bacon to get him to join me, but I think he even enjoyed himself. He actually pointed out that I would buy him breakfast whether he rode with me or not, or he would just buy his damn self some breakfast if I did not, but in any event---let's just let me think his agreement was bought for $1.49 worth of bacon at Mom's Country Kitchen- they have REALLY good bacon.

Slygirl's new bit is arriving tomorrow (thanks Tina!) and I am really looking forward to seeing the difference it makes in her. Radar acts like he is 5 years old--nothing phases this kid at all.

It is these kind of days that make the other 364 so worth having.

A whole weekend of firsts-Slygirl's debut

We had another day of firsts today, since we had so much fun on Radar yesterday. Slygirl has been home for about a month, but since it has been over 100 degrees practically every day, we just have not gotten around to riding her. But what the heck- today was the day! Even I rode her, and really enjoyed her. She has not been ridden in a month, so we lunged her first just in case--likely very unnecessary--she has such a pretty lope. She carries her head so low, it is kind of wierd--I don't know where she would get the idea that she is some sort of pleasure horse. Riding her after Radar was kind of odd feeling--there is just so much more to her, you really feel like there is some substance under you. I guess that is what a year of growth does for a kid, huh? Plus, she is just so willing to do anything you ask...tell her what you want and she just does it, it is so nice!

It is supposed to be miserable again this week, so I don't know how much I will get to ride, but I did take my saddle (newly cleaned and all) out of the trailer and put it in the back of my car with my boots, so if the fancy strikes me, I will be ready to roll!

Unnecessarily fat?

Why are these horses so fat? I am not anti-fat (at least not until it gets to a much more serious point) but I do not understand this. There is no grass and has really not been any to speak of in months due to the drought. They are on round bales which admittedly, they are blowing through like they are air, and only one feeding a day. Snap is even nursing, and still packing this big tummy. She has a shadow of rib oddly, but I think she is bigger now at 3 months in foal than she was at full-term with Cricket. If you do not know how slight she is in real life, you might not get the full effect of this photo, but for those of you that know her, you can probably see what I mean. (Julie, this is the one you rode on Memorial Day last year that you kept parking upside down on the hill when she wanted to join the crowd against your will) Posting all these pics gives me a good reference point for the changes, which is why I keep doing it (that and there is nothing on TV tonight).

Slygirl has been home from the trainer less than a month and looked great when she got here but she has blown up like a ballpark frank. I guess I probably did not need to order that tiny girth after all! They are dewormed religiously, and with temps of over 100 degrees practically every day for weeks, many of the horses are really struggling. But not all of them, obviously!

I wish they were more like machines---feed them this, get this result. Add this, this happens. Take that away, it will fix this. The only thing that works universally on all of them is good lush pasture and it is the one thing we have not had this year and that no amount of money can get us. It makes me crazy to see these two and others like them, then look across the driveway to the seniors' pasture where they are really struggling, no matter how much senior, beet pulp and oil I pour to them every day. I feel like I am failing them, even though I know better.

Such is life at Onn-A-Wym Farms--always something to be tweaked, scrapped or rejuvenated!

Another Lorna production

Another cute picture Lorna took on her visit----the girls were all pretty lined up at the fence posing, but when she would take the photo, they would dodge behind the fence. Typical horses, ruining my pics. Or Lorna's.

But this one turned out cute.

Now someone buy this filly! Who by the way is growing, and fast approaching 14 hands after all. If I could find the stinking measuring stick without dropping dead of heat stroke, I would confirm it, but lokos like that will not happen any time soon

The first Slybaby is a RIDER!

What a night! I picked up Slygirl after her first 30 days of training. I am not sure what I had expected, since I had gotten just good reports on her, but life cannot be all easy can it? Surely it was not all roses.



Mark this down as a shock to my system- she is GREAT! Susan (and Shawn put his time in) did a beautiful job with her. Just as Shawn was telling me that he was not thrilled with her progress at the lope, she busted out with a pretty, even, balanced lope that looked like she had been doing it for years.

My very favorite thing is that she is so relaxed, seems happy to do what you ask her to do, and enjoys it all. She is clearly a thinker, not a reactor, which is one of my favorite things about her daddy, and I am just tickled to death to see it in her. I honestly thought she would be one of the harder ones to start, since she has been allowed to get away with so much, but if this is as hard as it gets, we have struck gold!

No news--kind of

Nothing to report on Hawkeye today--the camera batteries were dead when I got there to take pics last nite. Even far stranger was that I could not find any of the multiple chargers that I have, so I will buy even more at lunch today.

His swelling is changing every day--this morning, it is a little mushier and moving to the right towards his right arm, but when I go to feel it, it still seems rock hard on the left. The really goofy looking swelling under her left armpit is gone.

He was LESS lame last nite. Markedly so. That made me feel good after talking with Stace about how odd it is. Thanks sister!

So stay tuned for tonite, there WILL be new pics to evaluate, even if I have to draw them myself.

On another front, Slygirl's 30 days with Susan are up next Tuesday, so I guess she is coming home then. I hear she is doing great- I cannot wait to see!

I used the mower, which is now working- to mow inside the fence line at the house last nite--for my efforts, I must have had an asthma attack and I could not find my inhaler, so I was in bed with my dog and my pig by 9 pm. That is a sad state of affairs. And yes, you read that right, the damn pig is sleeping with me now. Thor is not thrilled about the matter, but is tolerating him and at one point, I woke up to see that the pig had come out of his little blanket bundle and was sleeping with his whole body curled up to Thor's butt. And of course, the camera with no batteries--it was precious.

The good and the bad of Susan's training program--as told by Slygirl

These geese are what is making her life hard--Susan says they have come to an understanding but it sounds more to me like Slygirl has decided to ignore them, and the geese have decided to not torture her. They agree to disagree I think. Hey whatever works!

And this is her reward after her lesson for the day--water hose drinking. It always cracks me up to see them do this, as it seems like they bite at the water, and this was a great picture Susan got.

So another day without significant incident!

This is almost surreal

This is pretty cool--my first hard evidence that Slygirl has not done something crazy like kill herself or Susan, since I dropped her off at the trainer last week. She has been there just a hair over a week, and has come to an understanding with the geese, and had her first solo flight tonight. She has been sat on with someone leading her until now, and this time, she did it all by herself.

I realize that most people do not judge how training is going by whether all the parties to the transaction are still alive, but I have had some crazy things go wrong in training ( a broken pelvis on Gypsy, for example), so to see them getting along so well this early does my heart good. I am just about to pop with pride at seeing my first Slybaby with a rider--WOW.

Now I cannot wait to see what kind of athlete Susan thinks she will be, but I am mostly thrilled that Slygirl is taking things well and not digging her feet in and sulling up like she has been known to do when she is not satisfied with the agenda.

GO SLYGIRL!

She is already rolling!

I love my updates from Susan about my silly horses. She is already moving right along with Slygirl--she has already been saddled and is accepting that just fine. She is still working on goose-proofing her, but she is making progress---you never know when you will need that little skill!