Pony Cousin's Stampede!

I am now well rested after our annual Pony Cousin's Stampede! We had many good times and I don't know if I will be able to remember them all! We all arrived early in the day. We got the horses settled into their corrals, than checked out the cabins we would be spending our nights in. Last year we stayed up on the hill in Teepee's. This year we decided that we wanted to be down on the ranch, closer to the horses, kitchen and bathrooms! Also this year we didn't have a lot of "scheduled" rides. It was a much more relaxed atmosphere. Plus it was our second Pony Cousin trip to the same ranch, so we all knew what to expect.



The ranch did something that amazed me. They gave us full use of 4 of their ranch horses to do what we wanted with them. We have members of our family that don't own horses, but have ridden horses and have a love of horses. They were given a horse that best matched their abilities and the horses were put in corrals for these family members to take care of and ride, as much as they wanted. They could even use the ranch horses for the rodeo. I know most places would not do that, especially to just take the horses out on trail rides without one of their wranglers coming with us. Remember that big guy from my last post? His name is Joey. He was cousin E's ranch horse. He was gigantic! Cousin B started with Romeo, shown on the right, but he was a hassle to deal with from the ground, so she ended up with another horse, Blue.



The first 3 days were very windy. A lot different from last years 104 degree temps. We were not going to let strong wind gusts prevent these cowgirls from riding! We didn't ride the first day. We were just settling in. The second day we went on a trail ride in the morning. On the left is my cousin T riding the cutest ranch pony, Katie. In the middle is Cuz E, riding her first ranch horse, Thumper and on the right is Cuz B, riding Romeo.



Here is my mom riding her copper pony Dusty.



Some decided to go for an evening ride. This here is my Auntie Desert Rose on the left riding 5 yr old Little Lady, a 7/8's Tennessee Walker, and on the right is my Auntie Cowgirl J Lynn, riding King, a 25 year old Fox Trotter, who is still going strong!!



The third day we had our pink Cancer Awareness trail ride. We all dressed in pink. We were going to do our trail course in the arena, but ran out of time. So we hung out by the campfire, ate, drank, played a funny game where we each had to be blindfolded, met many new people and just had an excellent evening.



I, of course, fell in love with the ranch dog, a Border Collie named Scooter. He was there last year, and I forgot how fun he was!



He carries around a deflated soccer ball, drops it at your feet and watches you until you kick it for him! He reminds me of my old German Shepherd, Keysha! Ball addiction! So much fun!



Even though we had to deal with wind, the sun was still out. Each day got warmer and warmer. By the 4th day, we had very little wind and it was in the mid 80's!



Here we are again, during the pink ride. The bees were really bad this year! They were everywhere. That is why Pony Girl was leading her horse in that one picture in my last post. I am really surprised that no one, horse or human, got stung!!



The 4th day was also "Rodeo" day! This is the day where the "Queen" title could be taken from me! This here is a picture of our rodeo ponies, right before the rodeo!



We had to discuss the rules of the gaming events.



There were 3 categories in the rodeo. Each family member had to decide if they were going to walk, trot or lope. They couldn't do all the gaits in the events, one had to be chosen. Timed events were barrels, pole bending, relay and keyhole race. We also did a trail course and champagne glass race. There were trophies and ribbons to be given in each category with the new "Rodeo Queen" coming out of the lope category! I entered Brandy in the lope category. Last year I loped Brandy through the events but would slow her down to a trot around the barrels or poles. This year I decided to let Brandy lope the whole thing. In barrel racing she took the barrels wide, but I did get her to gallop as fast as she could, was that ever fun! I have never gone full speed on her, and she was enjoying every minute of it, as was I! In pole bending I was told by my cousin Jac that Brandy was doing flying lead changes! I have never done flying lead changes with her before, nor has she loped a pole pattern! Maybe my pony should have become a gaming pony? We actually placed 2nd in the keyhole, which amazes me, since she didn't do well in this one last year! We also placed 1st in the champagne race, where we had to walk, trot, lope, whoa, back etc. with a glass of water! Which meant I would have to control Brandy with one hand, which is not easy, considering she doesn't neck rein! Sorry, no pictures from me during the rodeo. I was too busy competing for that trophy and tiara again! So did I win the "Rodeo Queen" title for the 2nd year in a row? You will have to wait until the end of this post to find out!



Later after the rodeo, we went on an evening ride. Some of our Pony Cousin's had to leave early. So a few of us that were left, hit the trails to see if we could find the river, which we had been searching for the last couple of days. We were given a map and we were determined to find it! It was a very warm evening, and some dark clouds were rolling in. Brandy decided to have an anxiety attack on this ride. She had been doing so well all weekend. She hasn't had an anxiety attack in a couple years. I was fighting her, she was fighting me, she was shaking, her heart was pounding, she was jigging and working herself into a sweat. My Auntie Desert Rose asked if she would do better if my sister's boy lead the pack with Brandy behind him, if she would calm down. We switched the line up and after a few minutes, Brandy calmed down, relaxed and we finally got to enjoy our last trail ride. What happens with Brandy in larger groups is if she is last or very near last in the lineup, her insecurities kick in. There were 6 horses in this group, us being 2nd to last. Big Joey with Cuz E was behind us, but she doesn't know Joey, and I don't even think a horse she knows behind her would have helped her anxiety and fears. She felt she was being left behind. She panicked. With Brandy, not being trained until she was 9 years old, she can resort to her anxiety attacks. This is how she would react the first few years we went trail riding. We have almost gotten past the anxiety, but this just shows that she can still get anxious, at any time.



Riding in the evening on such a warm day, was absolutely stunning. The views were to die for. I loved every minute of it, except for Brandy's anxiety!



This was probably around 7:00 p.m. Look at those clouds! We did not find the river. We ran out of time, it was starting to get dark, so we headed back to the ranch.



The worst part of the trail rides, was the dust. We were eating it the whole time! But I wasn't going to let a little bit of dust bother me one bit! You should see my saddle! It is going to need a serious cleaning!



Just seeing the ranch horses running in the field was so darn pretty!


We had so much fun, as we always do in this family of mine! Nothing better than hanging out with all the girls, horses and the best food you could imagine, Thank You Cuz B for the BEST FOOD EVER, again! I can't believe how fast our time went. I feel like we should all still be there! I guess what they say is true, "Time flies when you are having fun!"

Now on to the results of the Rodeo and Trail Course. My Auntie Desert Rose is the new Pony Cousins Stampede 2009 "Rodeo Queen"! CONGRATS to you Auntie and Little Lady! Who would have thought that gaited pony would win it all?!?