First Things First

Copper and I are a little out of place down here in south Texas in the land of Quarter horses. I hauled him into town last night for our first lesson with Anne, and we were working around barrel racers and a girl practicing Western Pleasure. The way I need to ride Copper is different than riding a Quarter horse, especially now since he is still relatively untrained in the proper ways of a Walking Horse. I feel encouraged by the information that Anne has and can’t wait to practice what I learned last night this weekend.

Anne has an easy going, but all-business style of teaching. I like how she takes the time to explain things and gives me little demonstrations on what I need to do with my legs and hands. She gave gentle reminders when I was doing something wrong and that was exactly what I needed. We worked on circles for bending, the flat walk, his head set, and the final lesson was parking out. Overall Copper caught on quickly and my legs were Jell-O by the time we were finished. :)


Copper has also been doing a lot better about getting in the trailer. Most of the time he hops right in, but he will still do the put his front legs in and stand there thing. Then I back him out, walk him around and then he will hop up in there. Stinker.

I am really excited that my Flex2 Trail has been put into work. It should be done in a few weeks and I can hardly wait! This is the first brand new saddle I have ever had. I have changed up some things on it like the conchos and tooling pattern. I also ordered the coordinating headstall so I will be completely outfitted in matching gear. It’s been awhile since I had a completely matching rig.

I am getting ready for vacation next week. The saddle and tack departments shut down for a week at July 4th and at Christmas. We run a skeleton crew in Customer Service and Shipping, but the rest of the office can take off if they choose. I’m out for the week and headed north to see some family.


Happy July 4th!
Dara

Great Horses and New Endeavors

Hi, I'm Amy. It's my first time blogging, so here's a little about me-

I have been with Circle Y for 14 years...that makes me sound old...but I actually just turned the big 3-0 this year. I started working here part time through high school and college on the production floor, spent a few years in quality control, and now my major focus is product design and marketing. I have a degree from Texas A&M University in Animal Science-Equine science, and even though I am not working directly with horses on a daily basis, I get to put my horse knowledge to good use here at Circle Y.

I have lived in Texas all my life, am married, and have two little girls, ages 3 years and 8 months. Being a mother is one of the most fun, rewarding things I have done. The big challenge is balancing work, spending time with your kids (when you don't want to miss a second), and doing the things you love to do, like ride!

I have two Quarter Horses. My old gelding, Boomerang, is 24 years old this year. I've had him since I was 12. He is the kind of horse that everyone should be lucky enough to grow up on...makes you feel like you can do anything! I grew up roping with my Dad, and Boomerang was my solid head horse-he knew his job and I just had to concentrate on the steer. He's retired now, due to unsoundness. The drawback of having a great once in a lifetime horse-they only come along once in a lifetime AND you tend to compare every other horse against them. Which brings us to horse #2, Fancy. My uncle bought her and later gave her to me. So I've had her for 4 years, but between two pregnancies she hasn't been ridden consistently. For a while, I was disappointed in our relationship-we just weren't "clicking". I even started looking for a different horse. But as soon as I stopped telling myself "she's no Boomerang", our relationship blossomed! Lesson learned: If I want another great horse, I've got to accept Fancy as the individual she is, and put in the time to build our trust in each other.

My friend Dawn is trying to turn us into barrel racers! I have barrel raced ONE TIME (I ran Dawn's horse when she was pregnant and couldn't compete), and Fancy is new to barrel racing too, so we're learning together. So far we've just done slow pattern work. It's fun! Working at Circle Y, I test ride a lot of different saddles-for research and development, to investigate a problem on a repair saddle, etc. Since I've never barrel raced before, I needed a barrel saddle. Right now I'm riding the Xtreme PerformanceTM Studded Croc Barrel-http://www.circley.com/catalog10.shtml. It's the saddle Kelly Kaminski is riding, too (she's on our Team of Champions). The Xtreme PerformanceTM series have some very unique features. So it's fun when I'm riding and people ask about the saddle and I can let them take it for a test ride. So far everyone thinks it's really comfortable. After a ride last week, I noticed the stirrup leather positioner was broken (its a new feature that lets you adjust how far back your fenders can swing-barrel racers don't want their legs to get too far behind them and throw them off balance, so the positioner is an adjustable strap that holds your fenders right where you want them). Mike, our design engineer, fixed it and we are making a design change to use biothane (a super strong synthetic) instead of leather. That's how product improvements are made!

Dawn and I are riding tonight so she can tune up for a barrel race on Sunday. Fancy and I might haul with her, just to ride around and get used to the competition atmosphere. If I get brave, I may do an exhibition run. I'll let you know how that goes next time...

Amy

Welcome!

So this is the first post to many upcoming insights into Circle Y. I am the graphic designer, take pictures of saddles and tack, and do all kinds of stuff in between. I am a native born Okie but moved to Texas about 3 years ago with my husband after graduating from Oklahoma State. I love working here and being in the horse industry without mucking a trillion stalls everyday! We do a ton of stuff in the Marketing/Design department and there really is never a dull moment.

I own a 6-year-old Tennessee Walker gelding named Copper. I have had him since he was 10-months-old and despite the long ownership time, he is not as broke as you would think. I just started riding him after a year and a half off because I was pregnant and then the winter was here with those terribly short days. Plus, I had a new little one to take care of and devote all my attention to! But now that summer is here, we are on track to make leaps and bounds in our partnership. He is my trail horse and my goal is for him to be sturdy, reliable, and capable of doing lots of things that a proper trail horse should do.

This past weekend Copper and I went on a local trail ride. We rode with the Marketing and Design Manager here, Amy, and her mare. Amy is a great rider and her horse is a sturdy mount so that was a great companion for Copper. He has been kinda spooky in the past and we have been working on that. To my delight, Copper did great. He had a couple of minor spooks but nothing serious. I was so proud of him!

In addition to my horse having a great learning experience, I had the pleasure of riding a Tucker Trail saddle. We also make this brand which I was unfamiliar with until I started working here. Let me tell you, I am a believer of the Gel-Cush! I have a Flex2 on order but I am riding a Tucker because I sold the saddle I did have. It didn't fit Copper well now that he has matured. It's truly notable how much difference your gear makes in the performance of your horse! But, that's a whole new discussion.

See ya,
Dara

Lots of Work Ahead

Wednesday, June 18
Copper and I have a lot of work ahead of us. We rode the end of last week and he was feeling good! He didn't act up but it took a few minutes to get his attention. A couple of friends and I haul into town most every week and ride at a nice arena. This is a great opportunity for Copper to get out and see new things, and it's fun. He has a lot of heart but I need help perfecting his running walk and canter. Anne, our Marketing Media Manager here, has tons of experience with Tennessee Walkers and is willing to give me some lessons to perfect his gears. I hope we can begin this week.


We also have had some issues with trailer loading. He has always been a great loader, even when he was young. Two summers ago I was hauling him quite a bit and he got kind of trailer sour. He knew when I loaded him up he was going to have to work. And that's the thing, it's not like this horse has ever known a real hard day's work like some horses out there or even performance horses for that matter. Anyway, to get ready for this year's riding season I have taken him back to basics.


We started doing all the groundwork about three months ago and within that was trailer loading. I tried the feeding him in the trailer but that doesn't really get the horse good and reliable to get in the trailer. He should get in there because I ask him to. He was used to an open top stock trailer and I got a 20 foot closed trailer. I thought maybe he was a little scared so I gave him plenty of time to warm up to it and that was why I started feeding him in it.


Well, once I knew he was fine with the trailer (he would stand in it on his own parked out in the pasture) he started making getting in the trailer a battle of wills. That's the thing about Copper, he is never malicious but he is always testing me. So to make a long story short, we practiced last night and he hopped right up in the trailer. I make a big fuss over him and tell what a good boy he is and he lowers his head and licks his lips. He loves attention and scratches behind his ears. It was kinda dusky so that made it even better. We will see how it goes tonight riding in town.


See ya,
Dara