Boss Mare Cap is on Again

Today, I went to catch Honey, a 3 year old filly, that I raised, but sold as a yearling. She was a very friendly weanling and yearling. I sold her to one of my older lesson kids, as a Christmas present from her parents. She was a cooperative 2 year old, as she was handled a lot by her new owner. This year, she is a “I want it my way” type of horse. Granted, on her part, she wasn’t handled as much this summer.

Honey is a buddy to one of the dominant geldings, who he thinks is #2 in the lot. That is only because he should be about #5, and then Honey would be lower on the list, a lot lower!

Science class here… A is boss over B and C and D, but A is not in the lot now, as she is one of the broodmares this year. So is B still boss over C and D? It should be, but nooo. D is now boss. Isn’t that strange? Especially since D and C are geldings, and B is a mare. When that alpha mare is in the lot, B and C are at a higher status.

Anyways, I’m not sure any of this matters to Honey, except Honey just went high on the pecking order. Just because she is now buddies to D.

As babies and yearlings, both Honey and Duster, the other 3 year old, always pushes into the feed bin besides their mothers. They always get to the grain. They always get their way. They naturally are dominant.

Until, they are weaned. Then they realize that they are on the bottom again, with many horses above them. So what do the smart ones do? They buddy up to an independent horse! Honey still wants her way. Duster accepts that he should be an easy going gelding.

Some do realize that they don‘t rule the herd, but some don’t. Duster didn’t, and he is a pleasant gelding. Honey did, and she is getting ornery. She NEEDS that boss mare in that lot with her.

So, that would be Starlet. But she is a momma. And she won’t be in the herd for another month. So now that is me!

And what does that herd mare, in the wild, do when a youngster is disobedient? She chases him out of the herd! Out of the protection! Away from momma!

Today, I went out to catch Honey, and I expected her to stand still. Today, she is determined to walk away, with an attitude. That is because I caught everyone and wormed them a few days ago. Usually not a big deal, but that time, Honey didn’t think so. I guess she determined that she didn’t like be wormed that day. And she held a grudge against me.

That meant, today as I walked towards her, she walked away. I took the time to pet every horse in the lot as I moved towards her, and she still walked away. I acted like I didn’t want to catch her, and she walked away. I turned my back to her, and she walked away. I caught 3 other horses, and took them out of the lot, and when I went to get her, she still walked away.

So, now it’s time to catch her. I followed her until she stopped. Each time she would walk away, I kept walking after her. Finally, she stopped and faced me. And I walked up and haltered her. No big deal.

But I did what that boss mare would do. I kept her away from the herd. She loped away from me and tried to come back to the herd. I cut her off. She loped towards her friend. I kept her away. Finally, she realized that I was her only friend, and I walked to her. I would have rather her walk to me. But that is the next lesson.

The point is, the boss mare needs to be around now and then. The boss mare hat needs to be put on more often.

Actually, the boss mare needs to go into the lot with the youngsters, and those who forgot their place in life. And that will happen within the month! Oh, glory days!

Then my life should be easier. When they see the boss mare hat on, they should know what that means!

LOL

A Quiet Fall Day

Today, I did something that I have been wanting to do for awhile. We were having a wonderful 70 degree day, even though a little breezy. I sat and enjoyed the fall day. I took my computer and a book, and went outside and laid on the lounge chair.

There were a few people trail riding today, but I just didn’t feel like hauling. I wanted to enjoy this day in a different way. I know I’m counting the days before winter really hits, and maybe I’ll still get on a horse today, but I doubt it. I’m too relaxed right now.

Except for the distant whine of a chain saw, it was great to sit outside and do perfectly nothing! I’ll have horse chores to do later, and a round bale to put out in one of the lots, and dogs and cats to feed. I’ll have to rinse the legs of 2 of the horses, as a new horse decided to try to kick everyone. He had been across the fence for a week, and he needed to go into the larger lot. He wasn’t letting his lot mates eat their grain. I figured Starlet would put him in his place.

Oh, yeah, she did, but in the process, got her back leg kicked. It actually looks worse than it is. I rinsed it last night, as the new horse left about an 8 inch mark down her leg. No swelling or heat today. She sure does lay back her ears and goes after him though. He is just bully enough to stand his ground. I wonder how long it will take him to know that she is boss.

Then the new horse must have gotten Shaggy later. Shaggy wants to be a friend to everyone. They were sniffing at each other like dogs yesterday and I thought those 2 wouldn’t fight. But today, Shaggy has 2 marks up high on his back leg. No cut, just some scuffs and missing hair, but enough to know that it came from a kick and not a bite.

That’s the chances I have to take to put a dominant acting horse in his place. He needs to back down and give up. I’ll give that job to Starlet, with Chick’s help.

Daylight Savings Time was last night, and we took advantage of the extra hour by sleeping in. It sure felt strange today, as even by 10 this morning, it felt later. It’s almost 4 now, and I can feel the air already getting cooler. I better not wait much longer to start chores. Rinsing legs, filling a water tank, feeding dogs and cats, checking the other boarding horse’s water, giving one lot a round bale, and be in before dark.

That’s one nice thing about shorter days. I can lounge on the couch longer in the evenings. I think I’m starting to hibernate.

First Day of Training

The first day of training always begins with free lunging. The horse is in the arena. Halter only. No Saddle. No lines, except for the one that I am holding. No other horses.

This is bonding time. The horse TO me. Some may say that this is to establish dominance. Up until this very moment, that is exactly what I would say. But now, it is something different. I am getting into the mind of the horse. Yes, partial dominance. But mostly it is about what horses do. They play. They run. They lay their ears back. They establish dominance. They establish guidelines of what horses can do do what things and what other horses can not do those exact things.

Now, it is my turn to establish those guidelines. The horse pays attention to what I want. We do what horses do in horse world, except I am there. I am the Boss Mare. I tell everyone what to do and when. I protect them. They respect me.

I love to free lunge. For me, it is the true moment of knowing exactly what the horse is thinking. I see the horse's personality of the moment. And I decide if that personality will stay or if it needs a little adjustment, or a lot!

During free lunging, I change the horse's direction. A lot. If the horse gives me any attitude, like kicking out, head shaking, defiance in any way, we change directions a lot! When the horse lunges quietly, licks his/her lips, turns and walks quietly to me, I rub between the eyes and we quit.

We walk quietly out of the arena until the next day. We end on a good note. The horse goes back to the hay.

The horse is happy. I am happy. That is what horses need to have manners and, eventually, to enjoy the ride.

Come along on the ride with me!

Starlet let's everyone know that she is still boss!

Last weekend was weaning day, and I put the broodmares in the outside arena. The 3 babies stayed in the smaller lot. Duke, the stud, is in the round pen next to them, yet separated by another fence, and Red, the older, babysitter gelding, is on their other side. This morning, the mares were out of hay, and it was a cold, 40 degree rainy morning. The mares were even shaking, and their leg muscles were quivering. Poor girls, they needed to be eating lots of hay to keep warm. I did not want to put out a round bale in the rain, and by myself. I could have, but what a mess in the rain! And it’s time to get all the horses together anyways, before we had more freezing weather. I had already went around 2 mornings, breaking ice, and this was at least one less tank to break the ice in if it freezes before I get the heaters located, installed, and plugged in! I had to get water heaters into tanks. If they got into the tanks, then eventually they would get plugged in!

Instead of fighting the mud and rain and the tractor with a round bale, I lead all 3 mares, all at one time, to the bottom lot! Goldie on my right, Starlet on my left, and Chick followed behind. I knew Chick would respect the lead rope and not try to pull it out of my hand or try to get antsy and start bucking, or trying something stupid. With me caught in the middle of 3 lead ropes, I needed the mares to cooperate! They walked beside me and didn’t get stupid. Good girls!

I didn’t want the horses whinnying, so I gave the babies, Red, and the other horses their grain first. The mares lead down easily, just alert! I had wondered when I turned them loose in the lot why Starlet and Chick put back their ears at all the horses. And then I remembered...they hadn't been with these horses for about 6 months! But they had shared a fence, so everyone should be friends! Right? Wrong! No wonder Starlet was going around telling everyone she was still boss! LOL The babies whinnied some, and so the broodmares answered. The mares couldn’t figure out if they needed to be smelling the other horse’s noses, kicking out at the other horses, or going to the gate, whinnying and trying to see the babies. It has been 10 days since weaning, but the babies still whinnied. I’m thinking it is only because they are seeing more horses, since they aren’t going ballistic. Yet!

The mares were hungry and they were distracted by the other horses. The mares saw the round bale! Hay sounded better than talking to their, now forgotten, youngsters. But then they has to chase the younger horses and the new horse, Regal. They ignored their buddy, Bubba. Poor Bubba. He used to be in the midst of who was on top of the dominance ranking in the lot. Now, he was just being ignored! Finny was left alone, and that was good. I didn’t want to see kick or bite marks on him. Buster, the quiet one, wanted to be everyone’s buddy. He wasn’t smart enough to pay attention to the laid back ears, and Starlet’s kick almost connected with him! He better move faster next time. Shaggy wanted to follow them, and was being annoying, and Chick left him know it with flatten ears and bared teeth. Chick is mostly all bark and no bite, but the other horse better move or she will nail them! The new horse on the place, Regal, had all of Starlet’s attention, and Starlet chased her away from the round bale! The 2 boarding horses were left alone, which I thought was strange. One is an older show gelding and the other is an old mare. Maybe both of them threw off the “I’m not a threat” vibes. But they were ignored and that was good for them. I don’t need them chased or have bite marks before winter sets. Then Starlet decided she wanted the other round bale under her control too, and chased everyone from that bale! She is an dominant boss with the horses, but she is an awesome lesson horses for beginners and kids! I’ll keep her, just so I can watch her antics and laugh at her ways!

The weanlings are staying quiet. I didn't expect that. I figured that they would be whinnying and would be acting up. I expecting some running around and frantic whinnies. They stood quietly eating their hay, every now and then watching the other horses. But they couldn’t see much. I did feed Red his hay on the ground, directly outside their pen and in their line of vision to the other horses. Good plan!

I hope all is fine when I get home tonight! Electric is on so the bottom horses should respect the fence! I hope the mares are really hungry and stick their heads into the round bale all morning, sleep the afternoon away, and wake up hungry and stick their heads back inside the round bale.

Today was my late day at the store. Why didn’t I wean on a Saturday afternoon and then have 2 days to watch horses? Why did I leave for the whole day and not stick around to watch my babies, with Starlet being the biggest baby and herd troublemaker? But luck was on my side. I got home, and in the dark, put on my headlamp and walked to the baby lot. Is no whinnying a good sign or a bad sign? I figured if horses were out, there would be some running around. But all the horses were at the round bales, and Red and the babies were standing quietly, waiting for their grain.

Weaning crisis is over. No one cares where their mom is. Chex is still angry though, and lays his ears back at the other babies, just like his mom does at the other horses. Oh, that boy is going to find himself in with other horses sooner than later. He is not going to rule the roost! He has an attitude adjustment coming, and probably within the next 2 weeks! Honey and Duster, (yes, I finally settled on a name for Starlet’s baby! Dukes Starduster!) don’t care when Chex puts back his ears, they just push against him and push in for their grain. Oh, I see some certain personalities showing, and not all pleasant ones! The babies will live with Red and Bob, the older show gelding, for the winter. Red and Bob won’t kick them but they will teach them horse manners! I can’t wait to watch that!

I finished night chores with no incidences of whinnies, kick sounds, or horses being chased away. Weaning is over for another year. Mares have settled down.

Now it’s time to start riding Starlet and Chick. They are out of shape! I wonder how Goldie would like a saddle now? She was started as a 2 year old, rode lightly during her 3rd and the start of her 4th year. She wasn’t going to make the cut for a great pleasure horse, and she still had some buck in her, so what do we do? We either ride her and sell her or we quit riding her and breed her! She has great bloodlines and has thrown some awesome babies. Maybe now is it’s time to be more than a broodmare and get back to riding! Hmmm, maybe I’ll get my one son to get on her for her first ride!

Come along for the ride!
Brenda

My Blog: Boss Mare

"Starlet and Duster"

Summer, 2008

It’s time to write my thoughts down. I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately, to sharing what I know, what I feel when I work horses, how I help people, what the horses teach me, and on and on. Life is moving on. What is the best way for me to help people? What is the best way for me to get the most out of horses? Sometimes, we need to think about ourselves and do things for ourselves.

Horses are sensitive individuals. You need to understand the horse. You need to understand what is going on in their mind. You need to give the horse what the horse needs, not what you need to do. Read that last sentence again. Give the horse what it needs! Hmmm. As an instructor, that is one of the hardest things to teach a student to understand and to see whether what they are doing, is working or not. Another hard thing is to make sure the rider isn’t getting frustrated, yet understand what to do. Another hard thing is to teach to feel, which is probably the core of understanding me and how I teach. My goal is to teach “the feel”. I’ll often say, “there, do you feel that” or “that looks good, do you feel what you are doing”, and on and on. Starlet taught me to feel. I like that mare! No, I love that mare! When I give a lesson with her, I know exactly what the person is doing by how Starlet is reacting. More about what Starlet means to me later…

Getting back to giving the horse what it needs. Hmmmm…is the horse a gelding or mare, young or old, previous training or no training, ridden by advanced riders or beginner riders, spring or late summer (it’s amazing how well they act when it is hot outside, or if they are fat, or they have been trained before). Sometimes, this doesn’t matter, sometimes it does. The horse may need something now, today, right at this moment, and then tomorrow….sometimes you pull out the same horse, but you have a different horse’s mind, and that mind needs something different. Does any of this really matter, or does the horse just need someone to understand him/her? More about what horses need later…

I understand mares. I have had a lot of mares: Ann, Ginger, Skipa, Yellow Page, Capree, Goldie, Caprice, Starlet, Star, Misty, another Misty, Chick, and others. Some of these were Broodmares, some where the kid’s horses, some were shown, some are lesson horses. I understand geldings, too. I have had a lot of geldings, too: Cimarron, Rags, Star, Red, Crescent, Bubba, JR, Roy, Finny, and others. Most of these were the kid’s horses, except Finny. Most were shown, then later sold as the kids moved out of their youth years. We still have Bubba. I should keep him. Red has come home for retirement. And I have had 1 stud, Duke. I understand 1 stud. More about the horses that have been in my life later…

Blog name: I was thinking Boss Mare. Reason? I have a Boss Mare cap. I thought people would get a kick out of me wearing it. It’s been on a shelf in my office, staring at me, reminding me that I act like the Boss Mare. I’m going to start wearing it in the spring when I start working young horses again. I need to remind them that I am the Boss Mare. I hope they can read. Another reason? Because I understand mares and I like mares. They let you know EXACTLY how it is, and I like that personality, in both horses and humans! Well, sometimes not so much in horses, especially if they are kicking their feet towards me, or running me over out of disregard to MY space, or just spooked and knocked me over, not seeing me as their leader!!! But then I thought: I wanted to share more than what boss mares do, and I want to share my love for horses, and that horses are a part of my life. (I just typed love instead of life. They are my love, too).
Boss Mares. I love how the boss mare can just look at a horse, in a seemingly harmless way, and that other horse moves away. I love how that mare will let another horse, who is timid, stand with her while she chases away the bully of the herd. I love how that boss mare moves across the pasture in no hurry, but all the other horses hurry to catch up to her! And I love how she is such a good buddy to her buddy! A Friend Forever to that lucky soul! I want that Boss Mare to be my buddy, because then you have a buddy for life! Maybe we all need a Buddy for life. Misty was a nice Boss Mare. Starlet isn’t so nice, but she is still young. She’ll learn she doesn’t have to bully to get her way. But I love the way she nickers softly to me when I’m bring her feed. Love that sound!

Boss Mare. Other horses respect her. She is the leader. She should be a passive leader, quietly doing her job of leading the herd, without striking out. I had a Boss mare like this. Misty. Great mare, never knew when she was in heat, great lesson horse even though she is a fast trotter but fantastic loper, a speed horse who slowed down for beginners learning general equitation, a mare who would drop her head and let you rub her. Perfect horse and I want her back. Hubby would probably shoot me. We sold her to some lesson kids who were getting into speed events and I knew she would babysit them. Our 3rd child just finished his youth years of showing Quarter Horse and 4-H speed events. She was too good to just stand around and “just” be a lesson horse. What was I thinking? She was too good to have sold. Especially after that 3rd child told me that I should never have sold her and he wants her back. What was I thinking? This coming from a 20 year old college student, and a boy to boot. But he loves his animals (he has raised beagles since age 14). I actually saw the present owner this past summer and told him that my son would like her back when his family is done with her. But that family has a 3 or 4 year old little boy…I wonder if he will outgrow her fast since he is following 3 older sisters.

Sometimes, I need people to understand me as much as I want people to understand their horse! I’m as easy to read as a Boss Mare. I need them to understand why I say what I do, what I feel when I feel it, why I do the things the way I do. I’ll show you exactly how I feel, when I feel it, but then be prepared for the blunt, honest truth! I’m a leader, I like to do things my way, I like to have things around me in order. I do need to learn to mosey around the pasture, though, and doze in the sun! My boys are teaching me, not forcing me, to stop mothering them. They are only 21 and 24. My daughter is 26 and soon to be a mother, and soon she will understand me better. More about Boss Mares later…

Currently I’m riding a gelding, Finny, in CTR. Competitive Trail Riding. 40 miles over 2 days. Judged Obstacles. P&R’s. Sometimes, keeping your horse tied to your trailer at night, and listening to them bang their water buckets at 3 am. My horse has me trained, but more about that later…

And I do love riding my stud, Duke. 16 hands of pure momentum. Love that lope. Love his collective, deep lope. Collection. Impulsion. Giving to the Bit. Maneuvers. More on that later too…

I have jumped around on a lot of topics. I just let my mind wonder and I typed. I reminisced. This is the first time in a long time that I thought of my ponies and my first “horse” Cimarron. I grew up on ponies, and I loved my ponies! My first pony, that I have seen pictures of , was when my brother, sister and I were under the age of 7, but I don’t know her name. Then I had Jennifer. Welsh cross, and she had a mind of her own! Don’t they all? She made me the rider that I am today. I loved sitting in her manger, watching her eat hay, and hoping she wouldn’t take a bite out of me!

I have been giving a lot of thought about all of this after I re-organized my home office. Maybe I was just moving things from one pile to another, but some papers did get thrown away. And why have 6 years worth of Quarter Horse Journals lay around, especially after I have taken out all the training, vet, etc articles. I did come across a note that my husband, Tom, had written to me after I started my Quarter Horse business and teaching lessons. He said he was proud of me. He said he would even start lessons with me too, so he could be a better rider! Wow! I’m glad I shuffled piles in my office and found that note. I love my husband more and more each day! We just celebrated our 27th Anniversary this past March. That note is now my inspiration. My husband reminded me why I love doing what I do, and I should tell him that.

More on everything…soon…

Enjoy the day, the sun, the moment! Enjoy what God has given you today!

Enjoy the horse. Enjoy the ride! Enjoy the feel!
Brenda