They’re as big as she is!

On Halloween, my good friend Mr. Cowboy and his girlfriend Ms. Cowgirl took their horses to a local training facility and participated in the cow sorting. Hubby and I also took Diamond and Sugar to see what they thought of the cows. We got there a little after it started and boy that was a mistake! There were 11 pages of entries before us which made for a long day of hanging out.
Hubby & I pulled Diamond and Sugar out of the trailer and tacked them up, we warmed them up with towels over our saddles because it was raining and hailing... what a day!! Finally there was a break in the rain and we took them to the outdoor arena for some riding. Diamond’s little legs didn’t cover as much ground as the big horses did, and she was not happy being “left behind”. She would trot to catch back up with us. Our Trainer Mr. Cowboy is really trying to get Hubby to understand that Diamond can not make any decisions at all – she doesn’t get to decide the gait to go, or the direction, so they did lots of one rein stops and circles to slow her down. We all waited patiently for them to be ready and enter the arena where we all played around and worked on getting Diamond to respond to the rider’s aids – both leg and rein. Finally we were all warmed up and ready to go to the main arena where the cows were being worked.
Diamond has issues being around new horses because she’s so alpha. She understand that Hubby and I are HER alpha, but she still feels the need to dominate other horses, so anytime someone came by us, she’d pin her ears and snake her head at them. Or even worse yet, she’s swing her hind end towards them. I got tired of fighting her and we finally just had to move her off by herself until some of the morning people headed out and it wasn’t so crowded.

Waiting is so hard to do... :)

About an hour before our runs, we had enough room inside the arena to get Diamond and Sugar close to the cows inside – neither one seemed to care too much about them, and Diamond wasn’t nearly as interested in them today as she was at the gaming show the month before.
Mr. Cowboy and Ms. Cowgirl had their first run on their horses, and all went great, they got 9 of the 10 in before time was called. They then hopped on Diamond and Sugar and waited for the next go.

The first go... Diamond on the left, Sugar on the right

When their names were called, Sugar & Diamond went into the pens. Thankfully the cows were at the far end as it gave the girls a minute to realize what was going on. Ms. Cowgirl cut the #8 cow on Sugar, and Mr. Cowboy had a lapse in judgment and instead of cutting #9, he went for #7 – that run was done and over before it even got started, however all was not a loss. Diamond went into the group of cows – who were just as big as she was, and definitely weighed more than she did – and went to work. Sugar, who I honestly thought would plaster herself against the back wall, actually did great and was having a ball! They waited for their next go and rode Diamond and Sugar again. This time they did much better and got 7 of the 10 cows sorted before time was up. Again, Diamond went into the herd of cows and really enjoyed herself. She was getting into it once she understood what was expected of her.

Diamond & Mr. Cowboy sorting the cows

Diamond & Mr. Cowboy sorting the cows

Sugar & Ms. Cowgirl sorting the cows

Diamond & Mr. Cowboy sorting the cows

Mr. Cowboy and Ms. Cowgirl rode their own horses for the last go and got all the cows sorted before time was up.
We had so much fun and can’t wait to do it again. There is a private group who has invited us to join them right before my surgery, so that will most likely be the next sorting we do.