Babies, Colts and Barrel Races

I told you there was a LOT going on- so I’m decided to summarize with photo collages. Meg took the photos, and I made the collages. Let’s start with yesterday- We went to a barrel race in Ft. Pierre. We blew the second barrel again (and it’s all my fault, I realize) but nonetheless we looked cute and she snapped some fun photos of us. I really do love him; my throttle is just stuck on wide open, so we’re still going to work on remedying that (how many times can you say one-rein stop?)…

This is no longer the newest baby (as I started this blog, Zach said there’s a new one at the barn- I don’t know yet if it belongs to Shuttle or Banjo’s mom- Miss WDX Snippette, but I’ll be sure to report on that when I do). This baby is by Chachi out of a Jet Smooth mare the ranch purchased last year. He’s gonna be a pretty muley looking bay if you ask me!

Yesterday marked Dino’s 6th ride, and his first time in the snaffle bit. I am going to learn to leave my perfectionist at the gate when I get in a pen with a baby like him. He fussed with the bit for about 5 minutes and then went right on to riding around excellent. We’re just walking and trotting right now, but he is soft and he’s trying really hard. Just like his big brother above. The best part about Dino though, is that he will never learn to brace, and he’ll never learn to run blind or run off. I am very pleased with his progress. He’s not nervous. He’s not tight. He’s not offering to buck. He really just wants to do what I ask. What more could I want?

These are from two days ago- Ty on the “wild” stallion, Poco Tivio Pep, aka, Chachi. He’s turning in to quite the little cowboy! And Chachi has pretty much made himself priceless, as he really tunes in to Ty and feels for him. I have some video of some rides too, that I’ll post at some point.

And last but not least, here is Zach on our newest stud prospect, DX Tabasco Tivio, a 2007 Chachi baby out of a Sniper Rae Buck mare. He is quiet, kind, responsive, willing and we’re considering getting him ready for the hackamore futurity as a 4 year old. Here is shown with 8 rides on him. He’s already loping around and moving out nicely. He too has never shown any desire to anything but make you happy and try his heart out to do what you ask. We are loving the Chachi babies more and more with each passing ride!

We are supposed to head to Dupree, SD tonight for the last barrel race in our series, however, it’s raining, and we may, or may not be able to get out of the driveway so we’ll see if we can make it or not. In the meantime, Meg and I are headed to the barn to see the new baby!

Happy trails!