Last week I called Raime the Little Horse That Could, and this week I’d like to share with you a column that I had started writing when I returned from our very successful trip to the Canadian Supreme Reining show last year. Suffering from major burnout, I didn’t finish the column in a timely enough fashion to use it for publication then, but I really feel it is a fitting tribute to him now. This will run in place of the editorial for the next three weeks. Happy reading!

The Little Horse That Could - and Did

He stood out in the crowd at the horse show. He usually did. Horses all white with blue eyes and pink skin don’t generally fit into a scene predominated by sorrels and bays. There were other reasons he stood out, other factors that made his being there special, and because of them we like to call him the little horse that could - and did.

Cedar Sundown, or Raime as he is known on the farm, was born some time in 1986. Back then, a double dilute was considered a bad colour - thought to be albinos with many probable health factors, the American Quarter Horse Association wouldn’t register them. This was in the days before the American Paint Horse Association embraced them, so a cremello Quarter Horse colt had no chance at registration as a breed. There was the American Creme and White Horse Registry, but many people didn’t know about it, and to what purpose anyway if he wasn’t counted as a Quarter Horse?
And so the little colt with pale blue eyes and pink skin was sent to an auction to await his fate. A scant four months old, the bigger horses picked on him unmercifully, and by the end of the sale, patches of hair were missing from the already long, shaggy coat.

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Someone took pity on the pathetic colt and bought him, only to realize that they needed a riding horse, not a foal. From the sale barn and stress of weaning and transportation from Langley to Vancouver Island, he picked up a flu, and presented a pretty sorry picture with his shaggy winter coat, missing chunks, and a runny nose.

And that’s when I found him, with a $100 price tag. I borrowed the money from a friend of mine and led him home.

Spring time came, and everyone who had wondered at my foolish purchase came to like the little white colt, who shedded in a beautiful white summer coat with just enough cream on his face and legs to see that he actually had markings - indeed, four stockings and a blaze! He looked like the Quarter Horse with Thoroughbred lines he was purported to be. Being a teenager, I messed with him lots but never pushed anything - I have pictures of me sitting on him at 15 months, sitting just long enough to take the picture! I have photos of my 8 year old cousin riding him in his yearling year - we had three horses then, my big mare, a pony my 10 year old cousin rode, and Raime. Three horses, three riders, and away we went over the farm. At age 8, Carrie wasn’t big enough to hurt him and the exposure was great for the young horse.

I traded my young mare for an older gymkhana mare and decided to try and raise a foal. I turned Electra out with Raime and 11 1/2 months later, Riser was born. Raime continued to mature, and sired two other foals as well before being gelded at the age of three. Even as a three year old stallion, he was mild mannered and easy to handle. The decision to geld him came partly from the lack of registration papers and partly because at eighteen, I had more pressing things on my plate than managing a young stallion.

Continued next week... please feel free to link to the Photo page for some of our memories.
~ Kristi :)

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When I first started trying to clicker train my filly, I didn’t have a clicker. Some people use a special noise instead, but I decided just to try working with the positive reinforcement (a mouthful of grain).

Teach your foal to target on the rope and then the halter using the principles of clicker training. When you first introduced the rope, the foal was afraid of it, but over time has become confident with you touching her and leading her with the rope. Now it’s time to bring the rope nearer to her head, to simulate the halter at first.

With a small treat (grain, cut up carrots or apples, etc - make sure your pockets are loaded with more!), outstretch the hand that is holding the rope in the general direction of the foal’s face. You don’t have to be really close to do this - the idea is not to scare her but to get her to look at it. As soon as she reaches out to smell the rope, give her the treat.

Repeat this for a while - if she approaches the rope, reward her. Once she has started to approach, you can ask for more - wait until she touches the rope before you treat her. As long as you build in these baby steps, you are progressing!

If she wanders away, ignore her - chances are she will come back and try again. If she tries to get the treat from you without doing the correct response (smelling or touching the rope in this case), also ignore her - do not allow her to eat the treat! The only time she is allowed to have the reward is for doing the right thing.

Once she has the idea of targeting, it should be easy to teach her to target on other items - a halter, a saddle blanket, and so on. Remember to keep your sessions short - 10 to 15 minute is plenty, especially for a youngster. Still, you’d be amazed at how much progress you make by taking tiny steps and rewarding often.

One step at a time, you can graduate to the haltering position (left side, facing the same direction as your horse) and eventually you can have her get the target by putting her nose inside the noseband as you hold it open. If you have done your rope work with leading her around with the rope around her neck, chances are you won’t have too much trouble getting the halter done up.

A word of warning there - in keeping with your baby steps throughout the taming process, I would recommend immediately removing the halter rather than leaving it on. The objective at this point is not to teach her to wear the halter but to accept being haltered.

Of course, as you work with her more and more, she will be completely accustomed to wearing the halter and to being moved about by the rope around her neck or attached to the halter. It’s a pretty simple process, but it is time consuming. You simply have to be willing to spend the time with a horse that has had minimal handling.

Next week, we’ll look at halter training one of those home raised babies!

Continued next week....

If you have comments or suggestions along the way, please share with me at kristi@hiway16.com

Now onto the awards!

Due to a lack of senior competitors there was only one category, the Senior Intermediate. This year, the certificate for Honourable Mention for Senior Intermediate went to Roxy Bullock and Gunsmokes Last Dance.
The Reserve Senior Intermediate award (a Western Horseman book) went to Bibs Dallaire and Sunrunners Fire.
The High Point Senior Intermediate cooler went to Faye Mapletoft and Dee Bars Dee Zire.
I’d like to mention that the 2001 filly from this mare is for sale - you might find your next reiner or all around horse!

Congratulations seniors - and let’s see more of you out there next year!

Now on to the youth competitors.
The certificate for Honourable Mention for Beginner Youth went to a very excited Alixis Hassell and her pony Legend.
The Reserve Beginner Youth award (a leather halter) went to Chrisandra Hassell and Ebony’s Fly N Illusion. Chrisandra just started Fly under saddle this year so she was thrilled to receive her award!
The High Point Beginner Youth cooler went to Becky Dallaire and Able Khreation. Khree was actually supposed to be Becky’s mom’s horse but the twosome get along so well, I think Bibs might have to stick with Sunny!

The certificate for Honourable Mention for Intermediate Youth goes to Kelly Park and She Can Spin Too. Kelly was the only youth member to venture into the advanced patterns this year, but she has decided to pursue a barrel racing career with Spinner next year instead.
The Reserve Intermediate Youth award (a leather halter) goes to Jessie Dallaire and Northern Shady Comet. Jessie and Comet also cleaned up last year, including a good run at the B.V. Superhorse award at the Smithers Fall Fair. Next year, however, Jessie plans to continue showing her young horse, Cassani.
The High Point Intermediate Youth cooler went to Ronja Schippers and Im Sure Cue. Buffy always wows the crowd with her awesome spins - way to go Ronja!

Congratulations to all of the competitors!

Every year BVR calls upon the members to vote for the Most Improved awards. Many people make it on this list, but only two can win the awards. However, there were three members who received a considerable number of votes and were awarded a certificate of Honourable Mention for their improvement. These three members are Faye Mapletoft, Larry Wierenga, and Nicole Ewald.

Now, the MOST Improved awards! The Most Improved Senior for 2002 is Jessica Mikolayczyk of Hazelton. The Most Improved Junior for 2002 is Alixis Hassell of Telkwa. Both of these riders impressed many of the other club members with their improvement this year!

There was also a presentation of a small gift to all of the youth members of the club. BVR strives to recognize and support our youth as they are our future!

Thank you to all who attended and donated towards the Windup. The Reiners are a great group of people and a good time was had by all!

Northern BC Horse is sponsored by local businesses who support equine sports in our area including:

• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Griffin Crick Ranch
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

Do you have a horse or equipment to sell? Want to buy a horse or equipment? Check the Free Classified Ads