ROAD TRIP & PRACTICE “JOURNAL” – THE ROAD WARRIORS: It is Friday morning. We loaded up and headed out about 6:45am. We set up feed bags in the trailer so the horses had road food. Our plan was to stop every 3-4 hours and give the horses and us a little break. Overall the trip went well. We hit some traffic, quite a bit of rain and accidents along Highway 5 in several places but the horses traveled well. We had issues finding safe places to unload them which was sad but safety first! We arrived at Sweetwater Movieland Ranch in Agua Dulce, California about 4:00pm and quickly got the horses settled in to three really nice stalls with paddock space (NOTE: Annie does NOT like stalls and has had very little experience in them. She ate and drank sparingly when in the stall and made a “nest” to lay down in in her paddock. We may have to do some work on this, somehow.). We met with Cathy, who showed us around and gave us some general information about the facility. Food, water and a good brushing/T.L.C for the horses and then we waked them around a bit. Lots to see and new horses to meet! Once all was well they got to bed down for the night. Then it was time to take care of the humans! After almost nine (9) hours of drive time we needed a break so went to grab dinner and a movie. At Cathy’s suggestion we “upgraded” our room from the “Outlaw Quarters” (see the pictures below) to “The Bunkhouse” because it had better climate control and a real bathroom. After the long road trip we needed a shower and good night’s rest. The Bunkhouse also had a really nice communal room with a large screen T.V., ping-pong/pool table dining area and other amenities that we didn’t use this trip but hopefully will in the future!

The Outlaw Quarters

 The Outlaw Quarters

The Outlaw Quarters

 The Bunkhouse

 The Bunkhouse

 The Bunkhouse

 The Bunkhouse

 The Bunkhouse

 The Bunkhouse - Stalls

We also met Nigel who is a rather large Mastiff. He was a love bug and a bit of a ninja who would show up when you least expected him to. He was fun to hang out with.

Saturday morning we were up early, fed the horses and then walked around the facility and the obstacle course. Cloudy and chilly but nice horsemanship weather all in all! Then it was set up time!  We had NINE (9) horse/human teams and a decent audience of borders during the day! Folks started to arrive on site about 9:00am. We met with Marla (who was going to be working with Annie) for the day and got to know some of the new folks! Good people and good conversation! About 10:00am we all hit the arena. Introductions happened. An overview of the day happened. A discussion of the expectation of performance and behavior at practices happened. Lots of information was covered. In the breaks between exercises.

In true Brumbies style we started off with Groundwork first. Since this was the very first time everyone had gotten together we thought it would be wise to “evaluate” everyone’s understanding of the Method and how they communicated with their horses. Most everyone had a good grasp on the Fundamentals. During the Groundwork portion of the day we refined many things from body position and language to what reasonable expectations of performance were in regards to the horse being worked with. The exercises included Lunging for Respect 1 & 2, Lateral Flexion, Flexion from the Opposite Side, Backing (Tap the Air and Wiggle, Wave, Walk & Whack), Yielding the Hindquarters 1, Desensitizing with the Rope and Stick/String and Sending. Everyone got wins, got improvement and got more refinement! We covered quite a bit of information and began to develop a plan for the next practice (hopefully in June). Annie passed from Marla to Michael and back during this session (and she performed all the exercises we focused on pretty well) which was really cool because everyone got to see what two weeks doing the Method consistently could do and what two years doing the Method could do for their horses!

Folks were getting hungry at this point so we broke for lunch and tacked up! Great fellowship with some wonderful vistas to look at added to the break and made it special. Once everyone was tacked up we got back in the arena! Everyone did a preflight check on their horses and gear and then we mounted up. We wanted to make sure everyone had a safe handle on their horses before we hit the trails/challenge course. Riding Exercises included the Cruising Lesson, One Rein Stops, Follow the Fence, Lateral Flexion in the Bridle, Yield the Hindquarters at the Standstill, Backing and Bending Transitions. For those horses that we a little more advanced under saddle we did some other fun exercises for them to play with. Then we were off to the Trails and Challenge Course! (Yes, Annie was right there with us the whole time).

Some of us walked down the hill trail and some rode until we got to the Trail/Challenge Course Area. The trails were well maintained and wide with lots of grade and terrain to play on! Wood bridges and “levy trails” were all over the place. We had log stairs, an L Box, and Archway (think Cowboy Curtain and a short tunnel with stuff handing all over it), an actual Tunnel/Trench, a Water Box, two elevated Bridge Boxes, a Wagon Wheel, Log Jumps, Gates and more. The group did both ground work and work under saddle until the sun began to set behind the hillside. Lots of wins, BIG SMILES, laughter and fellowship filled the air. We definitely achieved the long rides, concentrated training and wet saddle pad combination! All the horses were safe and sane even when they were unsure of a challenge or obstacle. The humans all worked hard with the Method and the skills they brought with them. Lots of sharing and LOTS of support and encouragement from everyone to everyone.

It does not get much better than that!

We wrapped up with a short chat about future events and gatherings like the Spring Equestrian Retreat and thanked everyone for coming out and supporting this first session of the new chapter! Some folks had a bit of a drive so they loaded up and headed home. Those that could stay headed over to Big Mouth Pizza (it is REALLY good pizza) for dinner and frosty adult beverages! More laughter, fellowship and sharing of experiences happened. Friends were made and bonds were formed. We event bounced around the idea of creating a “mini retreat” much like our annual Spring Equestrian Retreat but on a smaller scale for the Greater L.A./ So-Cal groups and members of the No Worries Club in that area of the state. We will se if we can make it happen. After we got back from dinner we strolled around the facility with Ronan, Argent and Annie one more time. We chatted with several borders who watched our session and who had lots of questions. We invited them to check out the group and hopefully we will see them at upcoming sessions. It was a good day.

You can see a photo album of the trip and session at: https://www.facebook.com/thedownunderbrumbies/

Sunday morning found Laurie and I cleaning up our three stalls, playing with Nigel and the other ranch dogs, packing up and heading out! We were on the road by 8:45am. As cruised down Highway 5 near Taft, California we heard a thumping noise and saw that a chunk of the outer wall of one of the trailer tires and ripped off! We limped the loaded truck and trailer to a little truck stop right off the highway. Interestingly enough there were four semi trucks all dealing with flat tires as well. We pulled the horses out of the trailer and secured them to a fenced area that was storing junked cars. Then we set up a little base camp so one of us could sit with the horses while the other headed down the road about ten (10) miles to a tire shop (they opened up for us) to get the tire replaced. We ended up replacing TWO (2) tires as we noted that another one was beginning to fail. The horses and their human became a truck stop attraction! All sorts of folks with no clue about horses came up to look at them, pet them, ask a bunch of questions and of course tell us all about that one time they rode or when they had a horse as a kid or…whatever. Sigh. Just one more test of patience to be sure. All three horses got to do some groundwork because you never miss a training opportunity. There was even a really large puddle that we did some Sending and crossings through. Once the tires were back on we met back up, loaded up and headed down the road. We rolled into our front gate in Placerville, California about 8:15pm. It was a very long day. The horses did really well and we could not be more proud of them!

So, we had a great practice session and an expensive trip south! Annie, Ronan and Argent did great! Folks had fun and had wins to celebrate. It was a grand adventure for our merry band of road warriors!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Marla, Adrianne and John for all the support, the great pictures and the dedication to make this first session such a success!