As time passes of course things change but the progress is less and less dramatic. For the ones of you who have children you know that as they get older the landmarks are less and less remarkable.

Sammy is for all intents is completely recovered from her shabby beginnings. She is round, she is going VERY well under saddle, she is happily wearing a fly sheet to keep those nasty horse flies off, and she is the sweetest thing. She is not fond of the vet but other than that she is wonderful.

She is even brave enough to be the lead horse on a trail ride.

We are hoping that soon she will be consistent enough make her show ring debut at some local shows, but we are in no hurry. I am hoping to get some video of her being ridden for all of you to see, as I am just so proud of her accomplishments.

For those of you who follow this blog, thank you for all of your attention, good wishes, and positive thoughts. It has been a real journey for both of us and keeping this record of it just helps to see how far she has come. Looking back I am amazed at the changes in her personality and appearance.

I will continue to update when something big happens and I will leave this up in the hopes that it will inspire some to make a difference in the life of just one horse. I am starting a new blog called "My Horse Life" and it will have details of all the activities and accomplishments of not just my horses but of the horses I train for clients and friends.

Tune in I am sure there will be Sammy tails in there too. Thanks again for all of your good wishes, I know they carried us through the roughest parts.

New Adventures...

Well, there has been a lot of little stuff go on at the barn, but nothing that was big enough for a post on it's own. So here is the cumulative update.

Sammy is over her cold, and is steadily shedding all of her winter hair to reveal her nice black summer hair. We have finally gotten a REAL saddle that fits her, a new Bob Marshall. Sammy also has a new friend.

An old friend of mine has finally gotten some spare time and wants to ride again. She is much smaller than I am so she is a perfect fit for Sammy. She came out on Monday and worked with her for the first time. It was fantastic! Sammy took up with her and easily did all the things she had done with me. MF was very impressed by Sammy's willingness and want to please.



They started in the round pen and then moved out to the barn lot





and then finally they moved out to the area where we do most of our riding. This is her following her Dam around the outside of the field.



It is quickly approaching 1 year that Sammy has been home. There have been lots of worrisome days but she is over all of that now.

Just look at her go.

It had to happen sometime...

She has been so healthy considering what she has been through, but I guess it finally caught up to her. She has a cold. Her eyes are weepy, her nose is producing copious amounts of snot and she has a cough. I called the vet right a way and he advised that I should wait just a bit to see if her body was going to fight it off. He suggested that as long as the snot wasn't yellow or green to let her body do the work. It would be good for her immune system.

Well as a mother it is hard to hear her cough, but as a barn owner with other horses to worry about it is REALLY hard to hear her cough. Although no one else seems to be showing any symptoms it still worries me. Her appetite is good and she still gets out in the field and runs with the rest of the bunch.

The first real trail ride...

happened, and it went off without a hitch. After the final adjustment have been made to Sammy's special saddle we were off into the woods alone. Yes, I said alone. I do most of my riding alone these days. Especially since I am back into training horses. I have to ride during the day and well, there just isn't anyone else around. So all saddled up and off we go down the long scary path that leads to the back part of the property. It passes along the side of the woods and of course it is spring. What do squirrels do in the spring? They play like mad squirrels, LOL.

I was so proud of her, because she would stop and look at the ruckus in the woods and then walk on with no problem. She is such a brave and trusting soul. She has really grown up over the past year into a wonder sound minded horse. I don't think I will ever be able to take her on some of the rougher terrain that I ride in but she is a wonderful horse for light riding. She doesn't have much spook and is very sure footed. This is much to my surprise, because the first few times we had weight on her back she wanted to trip on everything. I think she just had to learn to pick up her feet.

I remember back when I brought her home that I said I had always wished that I could have had Misty (her Dam) when she was young. I also said that I should have watched what I wished for because Sammy looked like a handful. Well, I retract that statement now. I am glad I wished for her to be like her mother, because she is. She is sweet, trusting, loving, honest, and forgiving. She gives her whole heart to please, and I continue to learn everyday that I am the lucky one in this relationship. She is truly amazing to have come through all the hardships and still be the sweet horse that I knew she was meant to be.

I am hoping to take her to some local shows this year. I know she is small but I want to expose her to that kind of stimulus. Because of her size she is perfect for a child to ride and if I can get her used to all the stuff that goes on at horse shows then she will have the perfect job as a school horse for the kids that come through my barn.

She is so naturally gaited and easy to ride that a young kid would have no trouble in a gaited class. So far I have not put a bit in her mouth. We have been riding with a bosal so that she could get used to the direct pressure without damaging her mouth if she pulls against it. Believe it or not she is already picking up neck reining.

Sometimes I forget who I am riding and ask for a turn by reins. Of course most of the time a young horse will turn the wrong way and I will instantly realize what I have done. Not Sammy, I ask without thinking the other day and she went with it. I realized it as soon as she moved that she shouldn't have known that. WOW just wow. She is amazing!

I know I probably have a horrible case of barn blindness, and you guys know I love her more than life, so of course she is the best horse in the world. Or at least my world.

So spring has sprung folks. Get out there and ride. Tell me about your adventures. I would love to hear about the horses you are working with and any problems you might be dealing with.

I fixed it!

Ok, I had this AP English saddle in the back of the tack room. This was one of those "lets see if she will actually ride in it" saddles. You know the ones you buy for your kids when the suddenly want to change disiplines. LOL I wouldn't sell it, mostly because I would feel guilty selling someone a raging POS that is this saddle. There really isn't anything wrong with the saddle other than it is the worst leather I have ever laid eyes on. Structurally it is safe, it just looks horrible.

It was a medium tree and like all the other saddles in the barn swallowed little Sammy. Some time ago I, being the geek that I am, watched a show on the discovery channel that showed how an english saddle is put together, and how they adjust the gullet plate for a specific width. Well, I split the channel between the padding and luckily this saddle was a wooden tree with steel plates. My friend has a hydraulic press, so since the saddle was collecting dust and I wouldn't be horribly upset if it didn't work out, we put the saddle in the press and attempted to bend the plate.

When we took the saddle out I wasn't sure it was narrow enough. But when I put it on her back it couldn't have been better. I can now use a regular pad and it will clear her withers and sit in the proper postion.

Sorry for the horrible picture but I took them with my cell phone. This is the saddle after the press teatment. I am sure you can see why I was having such a trouble fitting her as narrow as it is now.



Here is the plate that I bent. I cut away the "leather" covering to expose the tree of the saddle.
So the next warmish day we have I am so totally gonna ride her in a saddle that acutally fits. Yeah Me!!!

Set Backs and Frustrations...

With the go ahead from the vet Sammy's training was to begin last Monday, but apparently I neglected to run my plans past Mother Nature. Monday morning reveled 1 1/2 to 2 inches of ice soon to be followed by 2 inches of snow. Our area had been hit by the worst winter storm in YEARS. We lost power at the farm and our house somewhere around 10 am on Monday morning and power was finally restored Sunday morning about the same time.

Of course with so much ice my farm, trees, and fences look like they have been through a war zone.

Everyone in Western Kentucky has suffered these kinds of losses including having the electrical service ripped right out of their houses. So I really have nothing to whine about except these oak trees were estimated to be around 100 years old. They were the one feature of our farm at the time of purchase that I didn't want to change.



Ok enough whining...

Sammy as you know has had some issues with stalls, and being confined. Those of you who have followed from the beginning know she has gotten much much better. However, we have not had an instance to keep her in a stall for more than just a night. She was in her stall from Sunday night at feeding time until Thursday morning. The ice was so bad that I was afraid one of them would hurt themselves slipping around so we kept them up.

She was amazing. No nervous pawing, chewing, kicking, nothing that would indicate any of the trials that she had experienced in the past. I was really worried how she would handle being confined for so long. But she never fails to amaze me.

I had wondered if keeping her at my friends barn was going to be hard on her but now I see that she has really changed. She is so much more relaxed and calm. It is so amazing to watch her bloom and change. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that she would be just fine, but I was afraid to really believe.

The bottom line is Sammy is amazing, she is wonderful, smart and ready to start her new life.

Stay tuned, we are going to try again for this week. Wish me luck.