Broken Bow Ranch

11/04/2024

11/04/2024

Long read but great! I thought I knew a lot about cows, beef production degree, raised them, shown them, taught about them. Now, going down the fence I’m beginning to know what I don’t know! Loving the learning though! As Chris Dawson would say, I’m going fast and working on making good decisions.
For some examples go to YouTube

It interests me that as riders, we will often grow to ‘love’ something about ourselves, or our horsemanship that really, we should change.

We become so comfortable working around it, that it becomes our story. The thing that we should be shifting, letting go, becomes who we are. This wouldn’t be so bad if it also didn’t become who our horses are. This can be a piece of our gear, our bodies, or our mindsets.

I was in a series of group lessons with one of my young horses, once, when one of the students in my group was pulled into the centre by the teacher.

“You’re sitting crookedly,” he said. “You’ve even got your stirrups set unevenly, so that you’ll feel more comfortable. Do you have a health issue that prevents you from sitting straight?” The rider began to giggle, a little bit.

“You’re not the first person who has noticed that I need to sit in the middle!” she said. “It’s just a habit now, after riding this way for so many years. Don’t worry, my horses get used to it.”

So began a long number of lessons where this teacher and rider tried to straighten out why one hip collapsed and one leg didn’t work… and in the end, the rider just stopped going to lessons. It was who she was and her horse would cope.

It can be a situation in one’s life, it can be the breed or type of horse we keep choosing that decides what we’ll accomplish in the saddle. It can be one’s health. How many of us introduce ourselves to someone and in the first few sentences, have fully explained our illness or injury, without having been asked? It is so easy for our health story to become who we are!

I’m not immune. I have failed to progress in my riding to the point that I have plateaued for the past twenty years. My reasoning is that I ride mainly colts and green horses. That I was very sick and that I’ve been hurt too many times. That I don’t have any opportunity to expand my actual working knowledge by riding any highly-schooled horses.

There may be some truth to it, as once my horses get beyond the early stages of riding, they are sold. The ones I do keep tend to plateau, right along with me. They’re not going to magically learn high-school manoeuvres with a rider who is still in the same place she’s always been!

My being ‘stuck’ in one place ultimately affects the fitness and level of achievement of my horses.

Part Two of solving any question, once we know the why of it, is to decide whether we are going to stay comfortably fond of ourselves, just as we are… or whether we are going to require anything more. I don’t suppose there’s a right or wrong answer here, unless ‘the way we are’ is hurting those around us. That’s a hard question to ask, and answer, honestly.

For me, it’s probably high time in my life where I need to keep one of my younger horses, with an eye to finding a worthy instructor and pressing on. Staying the course, before it’s too late. Seeing where we can go, if only we try. I have yet to figure out how to accomplish anything of worth without the trying part, though it is always tempting to stay where I am and wonder.

“What if?” we ask ourselves. “If only I’d had the chance.” We may have to decide to do the demanding physical therapy that will help us straighten, or lease the athletic professor horse who will help us learn, or find that one teacher who will require us to change… only to decide that it isn’t worth it. That we are happy and meant to stay just as we are.

But what if we’re not? What if our horses aren’t meant to be the only ones who do the changing? What, then?

***

Shown here, Flores La Due, World's Champion Lady Fancy Roper of 1912. She was also the wife of the founder of the now world-famous Calgary Stampede. In addition to being a fierce competitor who travelled the world with her horses, she ran a guest ranch in the mountains, baked her own bread, made meals on a cookstove and did all the laundry.

Though she was a great friend and source of inspiration to Mike's mother, I never met Mrs. Weadick. I can just tell, however, that this tiny woman lived large. She did not settle with what she once was, before going after what she really wanted—and needed—to do!

Photo: Glenbow Museum.

11/03/2024

“Aim at a high mark and you'll hit it. No, not the first time, nor the second time. Maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect.” - Annie Oakley

𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 RanchingHeritage.org 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 7 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬!

11/03/2024

It’s not how well your horse is trained, or how great your trainer is, or what bloodlines your horse has or how great you take care of it……it all comes down to how well “YOU” ride your horse!

Something to think about.

11/03/2024

Glad she’s in NC but they are all around us.

Ten Truths of Michele Morrow NC - Homeschooling Mom aka Self-Appointed Teacher

1. Cut Federal Funding
Tell the federal government- “We don’t need your money- we’re just going to do it as a state.” This would leave a 1.1 billion dollar annual shortfall in NC.

2. Spend Money Wisely
This plan entails putting cameras in school bathrooms which she calls “video surveillance in bathrooms.”

3. School Safety
“Teachers should be allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights, even in the classroom. There’s no reason…for a child to ever know that the teacher ever had a gun in the locked bottom drawer of their desk.”

4. Reading Mastery
Morrow is also the same person who filed criminal complaints against Wake county schools for violating obscenity laws in hopes to ban books.

5. Advocate for Classrooms Free From Political Agendas
When asked about former President Obama, she says, “We could make some money back from televising his death.”

6. Order in Every Classroom
“We need to follow the Constitution's advice and kill all the traitors.”

7. Treat Teachers Like Professionals
Accuses teachers of “teaching children to hate our country” as part of a “taxpayer funded socialism indoctrination machine.”

8. Bring Common Sense Reforms to Schools
“I’d like to see a constitutional amendment to get rid of the state Board of Education.”

9. Prepare EVERY Young Person In NC for Success
“I believe in healthy competition…Special Ed students are never going to be able to compete.”

10. Prepare Students for the Job Market
“It’s beneficial that we understand that children who are very limited in potentially their ability to understand a lot of higher level concepts that we really focus on teaching them life skills…For instance, I have two cousins who are mentally retarded.”

BONUS: “Bring back special education.” Ummm, does this mean broom closets?

P.S. Michele, your banning my social media accounts only inspires me. 😜

10/23/2024

Please look at the circle on the lower right. Inside it is an eight sided series of straight lines, an octagon. Most riders who believe they are riding a circle are actually riding a polygon like this series of straight lines in the circle. This is because they do not bend their horses. They either don't know how or they lack the core and leg strength to do it correctly, or both.

Bending your horse and holding a bend happens when a rider applies physical strength at the center where the red arrow in the top image is pointing. Additionally, the rider holds their horse between the forehand with the inside hand and rein, and the hind with the outside leg slightly behind the girth.

The point of the red arrow acts like the point on a compass drawing the circle. The inside leg is the compass point at the red arrow defining the center of the arc of the bend. The right hand in the top picture is like the inside rein, and the rider's left leg acts like the pictured left hand. The rider in the picture holds their horse between the right rein and left leg and the "point of the compass" determines the center of the bend.

The process of riding an entire 20 meter circle in a bend might start as an octagon with many straight lines connected by quick turns. At the beginning an accomplished rider might hold a bend in their horse for the length of two of the straight lines, then three, then four and so on.

When the horse holds the bend longer, it requires more strength and stamina from both the horse and rider. Because of the strength required riders must be patient with the muscle development of their horse. To hold a bend throughout a complete circle is much more difficult than most riders believe.

10/21/2024

How to be a great lesson parent!
1.) WATCH YOUR KID RIDE! I can’t believe how many dads (sorry, but in my experience it’s always the dads) sit in the car and don’t watch EVER. Your kid absolutely wants to know that you are watching. Please make your child feel important and come sit ring side.
2.) Do NOT coach! Are you an accomplished equestrian? No? Shush. Yes? Then you give the lesson.
3.) Take video. It’s helpful. A few barns have rules against video but most love when you not only video, but send us instructors good clips!
4.) If you see something, say something TO THE INSTRUCTOR. Is your kid’s outside foot the whole way deep into the stirrup and the instructor is on the inside of their circle and can’t see it? It’s okay to tattle. 🤣 But if you talk to your child directly it’s distracting. (if nothing else, it’s hard to take instructions from two people at the same time.) occasionally a parent will point something out to me, and I’ll say, “Yep, good eye. But I’m not worried about that right now.”  sometimes we have to let something slide while we work on something else. But we’re also not perfect and we do miss things occasionally.
5.) Understand that giving the same instruction over and over is normal. It happens with adults too.  If I tell them to step into their right stirrup a little more, I’m usually happy if they maintain it for 30 seconds on their own… seriously. Unless the entire exercise is about fixing one body part, it’s very common for riders to make a fix, just for it to slide back out of place almost immediately.
I bring this up because I see parents sometimes get embarrassed or frustrated when I have to tell their kids to put their hands down on repeat. The parent looks ready to jump up and down screaming, “Just Keep your Freaking Hands Down Already!!!!!” I promise you it’s not that easy!
6.) Politely discourage your child from talking to you. If twice during a lesson, your child looks over and asks you to video or if they ask you to hand them a water bottle during a break, that stuff is totally fine. But if your child’s interaction with you is constant or if they clearly have more attention on you than the instructor, just say, “Pease pay attention to Miss Danee and not me.”
7.) If your child is anxiously attached to you, use this opportunity to wean them off of you slowly, and not traumatically. Don’t just dump them off at the lesson and hop in your car and leave, but maybe tell them you are going to walk outside and make a phone call while they tack up/ warm up, but that you’ll be back in time to watch the majority of the lesson. Or if the lesson is in an outdoor arena, just pull your chair a little further away instead of sitting right next to the arena. 

Basically it all comes down to middle ground- show interest in your kid’s progress, but also encourage independence.
The barn is a great place to develop secure attachment styles, independence, and a love for learning!
Allow us riding instructors to work our magic, but also be around to witness it, and praise your child for their progress.

Wanna make it even better? On the drive home ask your kid what their favorite part was, or what they thought they did well, and which parts were hard or easy. Don’t grill them about it, but show interest and get them thinking about their progress.


10/18/2024

10/17/2024

SOLD

Anyone know of any good pony selling site? I’ve got two of the best ponies priced very reasonable at 6️⃣,🦄🦄🦄.

Any leads would be great.