[FizzyGoats]

Apollo does look perfectly gentle and innocent in that picture. He’s being so nice to the baby. Maybe he loves you so much he wanted to help you get your steps in. I mean, look at that sweet face. He would never be naughty. 😆

And well, at least you know Cash’s injury doesn’t affect him and that’s he’s super athletic. What a pain though. That’s a tough habit to fix. I think it’s so great you have him trained to pick you up from the block or a fence and that you can ride him a few paces and turn him and he doesn’t mind at all. He’s going to be a great ride when the time comes. And I can’t believe he already let you rasp that hoof. He really does trust you and it shows in so many of his actions.

 

[Moers kiko boars]

Apollo just wanted to show you, he can herd with out you. He knows what to do. 🤣😂 And you needed some ground work , you've been sitting around on him lately!🤣😂🤣😂
Yes jumping fences, not fun. Especially being a stud. Either hobbles or a much taller fence. Sorry,that's no fun.

 

[Dews]

Now we know why there are wild horses, a bunch of conquistadors lost their steeds and there were no fences to stop them! 😅

 

[Boer Mama]

I did find it rather funny that he went out to the hill top with steers… but then he left them there instead of bringing them in for me 😆

at the risk of boring everyone with him, I’ve got more pictures to share of today’s ride. He’s just so dang cute I can’t help myself 🥰

I used him for this same ride last year, so he’d climbed up the hill before. But it’s a pretty view.

He decided to make friends with my friends nephew while we were sitting around waiting for the cows to pair up some.
I’m attempting to try and train his mane to lay to the left side. So far it won’t cooperate 😅

 

[MadHouse]

Gorgeous pictures as always! 🥰
The last one is the best!!! What a sweetie!

 

[Dews]

You could never post too many pictures of Apollo or the amazing scenery and working the cows! 😍
I think Apollo is so beautiful!🥰 I didn't know horse's mane had a certain side it wanted to lay on. Why are you trying to move it?

 

[toth boer goats]

😁☝

 

[FizzyGoats]

I love those pics! Apollo is as beautiful as that scenery. And he’s so good at making friends. He’s such a sweetheart. I just love that horse. And I agree, we could never have too many pictures.

 

[Boer Mama]

Thank you guys, I have to agree he is a sweetie! And I’m so glad you enjoy the pictures 😊
@Dews I’m not sure how much it actually matters, but sometimes manes can get in the way when roping if they’re on the right side- since most people are roping right handed. My friend was telling me about a horse he used to have that had a thick mane that would get caught up and he’d have to cut the mane with his pocket knife 😕
So, just in case I ever do get to roping, I thought I’d try and switch sides. And maybe I just like the challenge 😆

For my fence jumping fiascos, I am not positive Cash was jumping. He very well may have crawled underneath the fence at the creek. The t posts there just pull right up and flip horizontally. I know for Scarlet and the one gelding we’re going thru there by crawling underneath. Perhaps Cash did, and then snuck around the houses and into the stackyard (the gate was open at this end) and nobody saw him till he was running back.
Anyway, we got some very large rocks tied to the fence to weigh it down so I think that issue is fixed. If I find Cash out again, then I’ll know he is jumping for sure.

 

[FizzyGoats]

I hope that Cash was crawling his way to freedom. That’s a much easier fix. You’ll likely know soon enough. 🤞

 

[Boer Mama]

Ok, so I am pretty sure Cash is not jumping fences as they’ve all stayed put for me once we fixed that water gap (where the water receded in the dry season).

I brought Cash in Friday to work with and he was excellent at stepping over to pick me up. His ground tying was pretty good too. Until I took him out of the round corral and he had the barn and oats on his mind… he didn’t stay put for me and I had to make him back up several steps and retry it. He did much better 😊

He thought standing ground ties was boring and had a big yawn 😆

Then he had time to play a little bit after he got his bareback pad off and ate his oats. He was super cute!

I decided to leave him in for a cpl of days, hoping him and Apollo would make friends. They have been pastured together previously when I first brought Cash home. But Cash had definitely buddied up with Mustang instead.
And unfortunately, Apollo wasn’t very nice to Cash- even tho there were no girls around! He decided to keep Cash chased away from ‘his herd’ of 2 old geldings 😒
Cash got a few bite marks on his back and butt. And then the fiasco with knocking the gate in the lane open and letting all the riding horses out into the big meadow.
I kind of need them to get along if I’m going to have the 2 of them as my main riding horses next year! I want to get rides on Cash as a 3yo. Maybe if I haul them together, they’ll buddy up some?

 

[ksalvagno]

Sounds like some fun times ahead. I hope they eventually get along.

 

[Moers kiko boars]

Can you stall them side by side? Also leading Cash while riding Apollo will help them bond. That's how we would train 2 to 3 Colts at a time. By lead train. They learn to walk together, match gates, and trust each other.

 

[FizzyGoats]

Those are great pics. I especially love the one of him playing. I bet if Apollo and Cash spend some time with just the two of them together, they’ll work it out. And Moers suggestions sound like they’d work wonders for them. I can’t believe how Cash has grown up. He looks like he’s so nicely put together. And he still has such soft, sweet eyes. Such a good guy.

 

[Boer Mama]

Thanks guys- Cash has definitely started looking more grown up and less babyish 🥰
I don’t really stall my horses, they only get to go in the barn to eat when I lead them in.
But I think the hauling in a trailer is somewhat the same thing? Idk, I’ll give it a shot later on and let you know!

Apollos been working this week. We made the first leg of our journey yesterday. Everything went really well, until we got to our destination for the day. There were a Cpl of open gates in the field I left the cows in. They were on the other side of the canal… this is the same canal that Apollo swam across early June when we moved the large herd of cows up. Do you think he’d swim it for me to get the gate shut?? No. Not by his poor lonesome self. He needs a friend to show him it’s safe before he’ll put himself in that situation 😂
So we had to run back up the hill, down the road to the gate in the next field and ride around the road on the canal to get to the other side to get the gate shut. Added a lot of extra work for him.
This morning it was raining on us for a little while, but we made pretty good time and left the cows on Castle Rock rd for the rest of the day/night.
I am tired today. I didn’t sleep very well last night due to various reasons, mostly cats I think lol but one of the times I was asleep I had a nightmare! I dreamt that I forgot Apollo and left him tied in the barn with his saddle on for like 2 days! And that caused him to have a horrible saddle rub as well as he wore his feet off to bloody nubs. It was a horrible dream, and not very logical- we all know he’d untie himself and probably break down the barn door if left for too long 😅

here’s a cpl pics from today’s ride:

you can see his old man ear hairs with the way he has them flattened back. I guess my picture timing wasn’t the best and got grumpy ears from him. I’d probably lifted up to stop him from eating and that annoyed him 😂

The only hiccup we had, there were people out on foot walking around whacking brush with tennis racquets, collecting seeds into big trash cans. They had a hat and jackets and some big bags hanging on a corner post, right next to where my cows normally trail thru. The cows were adamantly refusing to go anywhere near that and we stalled out for a good 20 min. I couldn’t even get them to go around further out. I finally called and asked if they’d please take the stuff off the fence and finally was able to get the cows moving again. Silly things do not like anything ‘strange’ or out of the norm 😅

 

[ksalvagno]

Well Apollo is smart. Let someone else test the water first. 😄

 

[MadHouse]

To me it’s understandable that the cows can’t go by scary jackets and bags, but the silly people should have realized they were holding up the herd! 😆
I am sorry to hear you had this bad nightmare. It sounds like something I would dream.

So, when Apollo swam the canal before, did you sit on him while he swam, is that how it works?

 

[Boer Mama]

@MadHouse It was a horrible dream, even tho I know it was silly 😅
I do stay on him when crossing the canal, the water actually was only a little higher than my feet, in the area we were crossing before. So I just picked them up a little higher… so Apollo wasn’t really need to swim swim. If we had to cross a river (if I even got him in it 😆) my boots would probably fill with water and we’d both go straight to the bottom 😜
I’ve helped neighbors move cows where they had to swim their horses across the river, and they didn’t get their feet wet at all. I guess they just pick them up and hold them by their horses withers… I don’t think Apollo is ready to help on the other side of the river! He’s a desert horse 😅

 

[Boer Mama]

I brought Cash in to work with a little bit this morning. When I walked out, I couldn’t see him with the rest of the horses at first. Made me wonder- since Mustang was with all the girls, so I knew those two weren’t off bachin it somewhere 😅

he just blends in so well with the desert, I didn’t spot him at first!
He sat up a little bit for me to see, then lay back down while I spent time with my little one.

he was still being sleepy when I was done petting everyone, so I sat down to spend time petting him while he was laying there.

it’s hard to tell, but he’s actually laying down with me leaning against him. Kind of looks like he’s standing lol

Finally decided to get up so we headed down the hill to go towards the barn.

First day with a bit! I still plan on using a hackamore, but thought I’d get him used to it just in case.

he played with it a lot, very mouthy. But did lunge and pick me up and walk around with me while he held it in his mouth. I took it out after 20 min or so and then he let me put it back in without issue, and then remove after just a minute. So I guess he doesn’t dislike it that bad!

 

[ksalvagno]

Apparently a tired boy today. Glad the bit was no big deal.