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In the first picture Little More just showed up behind the house reaching his neck over the railing so he could be close to Mara, our first grandchild. My daughter snapped a picture. That picture has become meaningful to me. After a few years and numerous pictures with grandkids, I realized this was not coincidental, Little More made it happen. He does it on purpose. He loves kids. He loves humans

Mara, July 2012

Henry 10/8/2016

 I have a OTTB named Little More that was constantly cribbing when I got him (2007) and for several years afterwards. He was a “warhorse” running 54 races until his body finally could no longer do it. He never liked to be in the pasture with my other horses and he finally convinced me to let him stay in the barnlot by himself, then the yard, etc. For the past 12 years he is just loose and can go wherever he wants. He is particularly fond of grand-kids and immediately shows up when they come to visit. He adopted a Shetland in the past few years. He is everybody’s favorite horse ever. It occurred to me recently (2024) that I have not seen him cribb in years. I think love cured him. 

Cammie came and groomed, saddled, ground worked and rode Magic. Magic likes Cammie a lot but it seemed like today he would ignore her cues and requests just to see if she would make him do it. I encouraged her to insist and he would respond. One time she asked for a trot and Magic just kept on walking. I handed her a whip and he responded when cued for a trot with no application of the whip. Cammie is riding without stirrups till she gets her seat. She is doing good but the whip would tap occasionally at the trot. So it was a situation when she wanted to transition down from a trot but Magic felt the whip and kept up the trot with a more energy. At this time we are riding in a round pen so there is a little more restriction than the wide open spaces. It was not dangerous, just a little uncomfortable. I told Cammie to drop the whip which she did. Then Magic was not getting conflicting cues and he dropped to a walk just like Cammie asked. It was a good experience. There is a lot to learn and I like to do it just a little at a time not all at once. Cammie seems to have good balance, good posture and her hands are improving. The pictures look real good to me. Cammie dismounted all by herself, led Magic to the barn, took off the girth and saddle and bridle.  It was a good day.

 

I got a call from my neighbor, James Brady Ray, maybe two months ago. James Brady said his daughter Cammie wanted to come up to my place and “work with the horses”. I don’t remember the exact words but it was something different from “ride the horses” and I took it to mean that she wanted to learn about horses. I have always been quite curious about Cammie because James Brady once told me “I could not get the calves up. I’ll have to wait until the kids get home.” I questioned him about that statement. He told me that one of the girls was real good with the calves and hopefully she could get them up. I asked which girl. He said the little one, Cammie. Cammie was in kindergarten that year and I was real curious about a kindergartener that could handle cattle.

I have been busy re-building the house and have not spent much time with the horses. I was happy for her to come so I would spend more time with the horses. The first time she came we trimmed the ponies feet and worked them a little in the round pen. Since the ponies are kind of cantankerous even though they are little bitty, I decided to show Cammie how a good horse works in the round pen. I got Little More because he is the kindest, best mannered horse I have. It was a cool day in the spring. Little More jumped, bucked, kicked and reared up and pawed the air then started running. I caught him before he hurt himself and told Cammie that’s the way horses are on a nice cool day.

Cammie kept on coming up to learn about horses. We worked some in the afternoon. Summer afternoons are hot and that slowed us down a bit. Recently Cammie started coming up on Saturday morning. That works a lot better. Callie, Cammie’s older sister, started coming along and said she also wanted to learn. Saturday they came at nine and left at two in the afternoon after Madelyn called and said we had to quit. Callie and Cammie are very nice people. The horses and I are very lucky they come to see us and we enjoy it very much.

 

 

Callie is in the ninth grade. Cammie is in the fourth grade.

This morning I found that the electric fence charger was not working. While Newt, Magic and Little More were eating in their stalls, I hooked up another charger and went through the barn to the pasture to check the fence. I thought I heard some commotion in the stalls and when I returned I could see that Newt was upset and also Magic. They were in no any danger of being shocked, the insulated wire is on the outside of the barn. I expect they could hear it “snapping”, they know what it is and they do not like it. They are much more sensitive to electric fencing than anything I know. CeeCee got upset once when she was in the pasture, not confined at all, and the fence was snapping on a weed. Friday the 13th, spooked horses and lots of work to do at the office. I decided not to ride today!

I like the electric fence because the horses stay away from it and in any other fencing situation they push, pull and paw until they find some way to get hurt. I have found the new high voltage / low amperage systems require double insulated wire to carry it under gates and such. I have been using 220 volt wire used in under water water well installations but it does not insulate these new systems.

Dale Moody came today and shod Magic and trimmed all the other horses. I trimmed the ponies last weekend with Scott’s help. It is much easier for me to trim the ponies if somebody holds the foot so I can use both hands on the nippers. Magic was very good at his shoeing. He never took his foot back, not even once. He has improved so much. There were issues with sore feet that had to have shoes nailed on and it was bad for about 5 shoeings. I mentioned that I thought Magic had gone through an “aggressive” stage about the same time he was learning how to assert himself in the horse herd in the pasture. Dale said that he definitely thought Magic acted aggressive in the past. (Dale would know.) He was also surprised that Magic got over his problems with shoeing. Dale and Wanda suggested that I hammer on the shoes every time I groomed him. I am very glad it worked out because I am learning a lot from Magic.

This is part of the trail we rode Saturday March 3 2012.

It has been very hot for a long time. Wednesday the temperature was 88 just before dawn and was 110 about 4pm. Little More is feeling good this summer. He was lethargic last summer so I thought he just does not go good in the summer. Tonight when I was feeding, he came to the barn at a dead run! Considering that, I expect he had some malady last summer and got over it. I think horses go through ailments like that occasionally. I could consult a vet more often but I almost think with vague problems like that vets and doctors feel pressured to prescribe something. And sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment. I am feeding Magic 6 pounds of oats twice a day with 12 ounces of Purina ration balancer 32 (or something like that). He is too thin and does not look his best. The increased rations seem to make him look better after just a few days. Maybe he is having the summer ho-hums like Little More did last summer. He is not as down as Little More was thought. Magic got over his after shoeing gimpiness in 5 or 7 days. Newt is still walking soft. He was trimmed and is barefoot. The hay situation is not looking good at all this summer. We are in a drought and there has been no second cuttings so far.