A Wonderful Day

My daughter-in-law Natalie was here by 7:30 and after a quick cup of coffee, we went to the barn to fix the fence the yearlings had escaped through yesterday and then proceeded to move the 4 yearlings from overnight stay in a cheap motel (the corn crib) with no room service back to there roomer home. They had mixed feelings about the return home because in this case the grass is greener over the fence. But on the other hand there was that delicious breakfast waiting for them in their feed trough.

We hurriedly finished the feeding and she was on the way home to get some needed rest as she had just finished a 12 hours shift at her regular job. I was soon behind the wheel heading toward my sister's house for the drive to Stanton Ky and the Van Bert Farm. I have two beautiful fillies in training there and they are doing exceptionally well. One is solid black and the other is a chocolate with white mane and tail. Under the expert tutledge of Jamie Derickson and S T Tipton both are showing so much improvement since I saw them the last time. They both have great promise for the coming season and I am looking forward to seeing them perform in the show arena. They both have a tremendous amount of talent and have progressed nicely under the careful training of those two fine men.

As a bonus H T Derickson was in the barn at that time and gave Eleanor and I our own private clinic as he worked with a young stallion by the name of Diamond Venture. He is an extremely talented young stallion and you will be seeing a lot of him in the UMH shows this summer. In the saddle was an extremely talented trainer. H T gave us a running commentary of what he was doing with his horse and why he was doing it and why the horse was responding the way he was. Some people pay a lot of money to see a demonstration of this calibar and we had the best seats in the barn watching and listening to H T as he went through his daily training schedule.

Two different times people walked out of a doorway and the stallion was startled. Larry Patterson took a hand at that point and starting walking out of doorways in front of the horse. At first the stallion jumped to the side as he had previously but soon he was hardly noticing Larry walking out of the doorway in front of him. Diamond Venture will have many more lessons of that sort in the days to come. We were given a history of how this stallion had started out and his short comings that H T was working on. From his discription we could see Diamond Venture had come a long way. I am personally looking forward to seeing this beautiful young stallion in the arena this year. I know I will cheering for him as he starts his career under the guidance of one of the truely greats in the Mountain Horse industry. H T and his wife Wilda have made huge contributions to the building of the breed. It is an honor to know them.

After a wonderful visit to the Van Bert Farm and enjoying the hospitality there we drove to the nearby stable operated by Chris and Stacie Tipton. The son and daughter-in-law of Larry and Vera Patterson. Chris grew up with parents, grandparents and brothers who all are totally devoted to Mountain Horses and bringing their wonderful attributes and beauty to the attention of the world. Chris and Stacie have my coming two year old filly in training at their facility, Cool Shade Mt Horses.

Once again I was amazed and grateful for how beautifully Velvet is doing under their training and care. Velvet is a Choco Dock daughter and is a blood bay color. Her coat looks like her name, Velvet. Velvet spend her year as a yearling in the pasture on my farm. She had some grain but not a large aount. When I sent her to Chris and Stacie, they really didn't know what to expect. I do think they expected I had made a back yard pet out of her and she would be so spoiled and hard to catch and they would have some hard work to break bad habits I had instilled in her. Not only is she eager to come to them, as she had been with me, she has no bad habits.

I had been watching and using the methods I had learned at the Van Bert Farms to teach my filly. By the time they got her she had worn a blanket several times. I had desentized her to having a rope wrap around her feet and thrown over her back. I had a couple of teen age girls who had worked with her. I walked over to the round pen one day and one of them was laying on her back. Velvet took it like it was just the normal course of things. She had also worn a saddle several times, no one was in it. We flapped the stirrups on her sides. She took everything in stride. We had taught her to back and to step away from pressure.

Chris got on Velvet and gave me a demonstration of how far she had come since I last saw her. He like his grandfather H T gave us a clinic on her training. As he rode he talked about the areas he was working with her on. It was hard for her to settle down today. The weather is cool and just the kind of weather that makes horses frisky. She was definitely feeling frisky. But he had her in hand and had her working at his pace soon enough. As a final demonstration, he rode her up the road and down a hill and then ask her to climb back up the steep part of the hill.

She did it all and the lesson ended on a high note. Just the way all lessons should end. Chris in full control and Velvet having accomplished a pretty difficult task.

Soon it was time to end our visit in Stanton. Eleanor and I really enjoyed our day there. It is always hard to leave. We love the horses and their beauty and good nature. Their gentle kind disposition is always a joy to be around and observe. The Pattersons, Dericksons and Tiptons are so much like family to us and we truly enjoy all the time we get to spend around them. It was a great way to take a day off from the frustrations of this winter.