Horse Master with Julie Goodnight 2015 (Cast member)

This July, as I do every July, I loaded up and headed to southern Colorado to work on my friend Julie Goodnight's RFD-tv show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight. I first met Julie when I was a cast member seven years ago (2008) with Estes. Since then, I've gone back to work as a crew member every year.

Lord knows I can use some help with Skeeter, so I applied to be a cast member this year and do double duty. The stars lined up and I was able to work it out with Mom and Bill to haul Skeeter to Julie's and back since I was going to be working.

Skeets has tons of holes in her training, but the one thing she does well is trailer loading. When they brought Ranger down to babysit, they left the trailer, so we did a quick practice run with it. She loaded into the unfamiliar trailer like a champ, which assured me there wouldn't be a problem getting her to Julie's.

I headed to Julie's on Sunday, and Skeeter was scheduled to arrive Monday evening. I tried not to fret too much, but as it got later and later in the day, I started to worry. Mom and Bill drove in about 8:30, just before full dark.

"Mom? Is that you?"

Skeets unloaded from the trailer like a pro. I was a little worried that she'd want to bolt off of it after being locked in for five hours or so. I needn't have worried.

It was after she was off the trailer that things got exciting. She circled and circled, trying to take it all in. So many different things and so many different smells. I let her circle until I got dizzy and then stopped her nonsense. Walking her from the trailer to her run was like taking a kid to their first day of kindergarten - she was both excited and unsure. We stopped and soaked it all in a couple of times, but before I knew it, she was loose in her temporary home.

So many smells to check out.

It was getting to be past my bedtime, so I patted her on the nose, told her I loved her and headed "home" for the night. Mom and Bill stayed at Julie's in their horse trailer, so I slept soundly knowing that if anything went wrong, they'd be there.

We had two episodes to finish up the next morning before it was Skeeter's turn, so all she got was a run-by "I love you" as I headed to the arena to work. Bill and Mom did a good job of keeping her company and getting her all pretty-fied.

Bill says, "no autographs!"

One of the best things about Julie's place is the hitch rail. Since we don't have one at home, us two-leggeds were looking forward to giving Skeeter some quality time at the patience post. She did pretty well, though she tried to dig her way to China (we filled it in, Julie, I swear!).

When we finished the two episodes, I ran up to the house to get myself dolled up for the camera and thus began the process of hurry-up-and-wait.

As ready as I'm going to get - or so I thought.

I got the star treatment from Cheryl, who decided to re-do my braid so it wasn't so loose.

It takes time to move all of the cameras and crew to get set up in a new location, which is why the hurry-up-and-wait thing. I understand it and was thankful to have a bit of time to decompress and switch gears from crew member to cast member. Finally, the cameras were set up at the round pen and we were ready to go.

She stood so nicely outside the pen.

Getting my mic turned on. They probably should have left it off.

We had a plan: I would go in the round pen and do some of our usual groundwork to show off what we've learned and how far we'd come (including sitting on her bareback and in a saddle), then Julie would come in and we'd talk a little bit before Dale Myler would work with Skeeter. That was our plan.

What actually happened: Skeeter lost her mind. Her brains fell out her butt. Everything we'd learned and practiced went right to hell in a handbasket. We managed to do a bit of circling and leading. We tried standing and taking deep breaths to calm down. We walked around some more and circled a bit more, but Skeeter was having none of it. I finally got to the point where I felt like, "well, this is the horse we've got, so let's get going" and had them bring in the mounting block.

Bill might end up on camera, since he came in to help out.

She wouldn't calm down enough for me to mount up, so we just worked on laying weight across her back from both sides. I was willing to climb on up, but Julie decided to err on the side of caution. She asked what I thought of really working her in the round pen. Initially, I was afraid to amp her up even more and lose what little control over her I had, but when Julie offered to do the round penning I couldn't resist. I mean, Julie Goodnight working my horse? It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

We removed Skeeter's halter and turned her loose in the pen with Julie. I perched on a hay bale on the other side of the pen so I could see and still be on camera. It was amazing to watch.

At first, Skeeter did her level best to ignore Julie. She did what was asked, when enough pressure was applied, but made it very clear that she wasn't happy about it. In fact, she very clearly told Julie to eff off more than once. Slowly, very slowly, she began to regain her brain and focus on Julie. It was a pleasure to watch and I'm fairly certain Julie was having a good time with my challenging mare. After about fifteen-twenty minutes, Skeeter came around enough that we could move on with the episode.

Or so we thought.

Skeeter is good about getting haltered. If she balks at it, she takes fewer than ten steps before she's "caught" and then stands quietly for haltering.

My horse. My stupid, wild mustang, decided that she didn't want haltered and took both Bill and Julie dirt skiing. I heard her husband, Rich, telling her not to get hurt and all I could think of was if Julie got hurt it would be my fault. After a few minutes, they were able to get the halter on the fire-breathing dragon as I watched, absolutely horrified. Skeeter's first haltering wasn't nearly that crazy and I have video to prove it.

I should have just gone back in the round pen to halter her, but there's this whole thing about having to stay clean for the episode and Bill has haltered Skeeter almost as often as I have, so I didn't expect it to be a thing.

I don't have any pictures of the round pen work or what happened during the teaching segment of the episode, because cameras aren't allowed while taping the actual episode. All of the pictures we have were taken between shots, but I know the finished product is going to be amazing.

Dale quietly slipped a bit into her mouth and adjusted it, then taught me how to "work over the withers" with her to teach her to give to the bit.

We put her in a 3-ring combo for the episode, which seems to be the favored bit on the show. After talking to Dale, I understand why. The 3-ring combo has five points of contact: the nose, curb chain, poll, tongue, and bars. It's designed so that the horse first feels nose pressure and then the other points of contact back up the nose pressure.

In "real life", though, I'm going to start her in a Myler 04 snaffle to get her used to carrying it around in her mouth. She'll get to do her ground work and circling work while wearing a bridle for the next couple of weeks until she's ready to move into the 3-ring combo.

I brought home two bits: the Myler 04 snaffle and the Myler 04 3-ring combo. Both will be excellent bits for her. I also brought home a new set of Julie's rope reins and her bitting system. When Skeeter is comfortable carrying the bit in her mouth, I'll add the bitting system to the equation to help her learn to carry herself properly. The beauty of the system is that it's not dependent on my ability to time the release on time - the release is completely controlled by Skeeter's movement.

The 04 snaffle with pretty rope reins

It's not a "pinchy" snaffle like most are.

The 04 3-ring combo

When it was time for Mom and Bill to pack up to leave, Skeeter was over the trailer and didn't want to get in. I'll admit, I had them resort to a bit of bribery to unstick her feet. It occurred to me that while I thought the whirlwind 24 hours she was at Julie's with me was fun, for her it was a lot of work and learning. It couldn't have been easy to get trailered 5 hours each way for her first trip, and then get left alone in a pen with strange horses next to her over night, and then get tied to a patience post for hours (not exaggerating, she probably spent two to three hours standing tied), and then get worked in the round pen, followed by having to get a metal bar put in her mouth and learn about that. It was a lot of work for her busy little brain to process, but it was good for her (and me).

I'm so thankful to Julie and Dale for their help and patience with Skeeter. I'm also very thankful for the support of the rest of the crew that I've been lucky enough to work with for years: Heidi, Sharon, Cheryl, Lucy, Twyla, Mel, and Steve. It was fun to get to have my friends (and Mom and Bill) with me through the whole process.

If anyone has the opportunity to apply to be a cast member for Julie's show, jump on it! It's an experience you won't forget.

Click HERE to read about Mom and Bill's version of the events. Those two are crazy - 36 hours away from the lodge and they consider that a vacation.

You just never know...

Did you know that one of the riders I wrote about in "Diamonds"  turned out to be Julie Goodnight's t.v. producer?

That trail ride changed my life.

Several months after that ride, I was at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo and heard a casting call for Julie's new t.v. show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight. I applied and a few weeks later got the call from my former guest, Heidi, who remembered that I had been her guide. I didn't even own Estes yet - I was in the process of buying her - and she had been out to pasture for two years, but Heidi trusted (somewhat blindly) that Estes would be camera-ready and we were cast for an episode on walking off during mounting (remember I had to master the running mount?).

The rest, as they say, is history. I've been a member of the Colorado Crew ever since. Each year, when we film at Julie's ranch, I go work on the set. It's been an incredible journey and I've learned a lot.

You just never know who you're going to meet in the course of a work day.

Photo by: The Whole Picture, LLC

Horse Master Cast/Crew

I'm having some problems getting my thoughts in order for this post, so while I try to put my thoughts in some semblance of order, I thought I'd share our crew photo with you.

Back row: me, Steve (camara)
Front row: Susie, Cheryl, Heidi (Producer), Julie (Star), Jackie, Lucy, Sditta

It's not often that we get Steve in front of the camara, but after some good-natured coersion, we managed.

Cheryl is Julie's Wardrobe Wrangler - she makes sure that everyone is looking their best.  She also was a cast member this time, so she was pulling double duty.  When it came time for her interview, Steve told her to go to a specific location, but she refused, telling him, "I'd rather do my first take here".  He said okay and this is what we got...

Note: Rachel, I added a transcript for the video, but I'm not quite sure how it works.

Horse Master Time Again

Photo cred: Heidi Nyland Melocco, the Whole Picture, LLC

I'm off this week to crew for Julie Goodnight again. For the last two years, I've been lucky enough to "work" as a member of her Colorado Crew for her TV show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight.

In 2011, Heidi, her producer, about killed us with taping eight episodes and a complete DVD in four days.  This year, the schedule looks a little less likely to kill us.  That might be because Heidi is 35 weeks pregnant and she might need to "go easy".  Yes, I'm laughing at that, because she's a damn hard worker and I can't imagine her going easy at anything.

I'll be back in a week or so with the recap.

Visiting the Triple Creek Ranch

Mom and I went to see Julie Goodnight at Triple Creek Ranch for a one-day Horse How-To clinic focusing on:

• Ground Manners for Young or Fractious Horses
• Advanced Groundwork and Liberty Work
• Riding Right: Balance Rhythm and Feel
• Training Solutions

I'm always so impressed when I get to watch Julie work.  She's hilarious in person and is so down-to-earth.  When I work as part of the crew, there are so many things going on that I can't focus on one thing.  Taking Mom as her birthday present was totally an excuse for me to sit in the audience and focus on what Julie had to say.  (I did feel a little guilty about not working, though.)

What astounds me is the immediate difference in the horses.  I know that there are some nay-sayers who don't believe that change happens as quickly as it does on the TV show.  For those people, all I can say is, audit a clinic.  She takes horses she's never seen or worked with before and in a few minutes produces dramatic positive changes that the owner can reproduce.  To me, that's the most important thing: to be able to reproduce the results the trainer gets.  It doesn't do me any good to send my horse to a trainer if I don't learn how to get the same results at home.

What I noticed was that the horses - all of them - immediately responded to Julie's take-charge attitude.  When she says, "Horse, this is your Captain speaking", they listen.  It's been my observation that as soon as the owners take the same attitude and expect their horse to behave a certain way the horses take notice and toe the line.

Mom had a big ah-ha moment and put it into practice the next day with Jesse, apparently with positive results.  I'm pretty sure she'll get around to writing a post about it, so I won't blow it with a spoiler. 

As for me, I hadn't realized how close Estes and I are to being able to do simple at-liberty work and bridle-less riding until I watched the Advanced Groundwork segment.  Poor Estee has a lot of learnin' to do when she gets home.  First, we'll work on my million-dollar idea (I haven't posted about it yet) and then move to at-liberty work and bridle-less riding.  I'm not certain I'll attempt bridle-less out on the trail, but I'd love to.  I just don't know if I've got the stones required to try it outside an enclosed area.  Baby steps.  Gotta work on my million-dollar idea first and go on from there.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop - Week 4

It's that time of week again!  Dreaming's Hobby Horse Blog Hop!  I'll put the linky thing at the bottom so you can join along.  It's been quite a bit of fun, even if I did miss last week.  Let's hope that my answers this week make up for my absence from last week.

1. Have you ever been a victim of the weather when you were riding, or participating in some other sport? You can't ride where we do and not get caught in weather.  I've got a couple of blog posts on some of the more hair-raising rides from when I was working as a wrangler: Racing The Storm and Lightning in the Yard.  It's bad enough to be caught in weather by yourself or with a friend, but to be out there with inexperienced riders looking to you for direction?  Well, that just gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Cowgirl Up".
2. If you could take a lesson with anyone in the world, who would that be? I work as a crew member for Julie Goodnight's TV show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, and I always learn a ton.  But I'm learning it from the ground.  I love her teaching style, so that puts her at the top of my list.  But...I want to take lessons bareback.  I've been riding bareback for about six years now and I want to be able to do everything that people in a saddle can do.
3. Which season is your favorite? Springsummerfall.  Riding in the snow can be pretty.  Once.  Okay, maybe twice.  But then I'm over it.  I'd much rather ride in the spring, when things are greening up and blooming. 

The frogs sing in the spring and it's the best sound ever.

Or the summer, when it's too hot to be in town and I can escape up to the mountains for a long ride. 

My favorite Aspen grove

Or the fall, when the leaves are changing and the temps are cooling off. 

At the south end of the Aspen grove

But I'm over riding in the winter.


Ok, now my question to add...how old were you when you first rode by yourself?  (Riding behind an adult or in a snuggli doesn't count.)

Horse Master 2011

Julie Goodnight, Heidi (Producer/Director), Cheryl (Wardrobe Wrangler), Petra (Cast Member, adopted Crew Member), Sharon (Key Grip), me (Grip), Lucy (Assistant Instructor) and Steve (Videographer)

Last week before High Country Rendezvous, I had the privilege of working with the Horse Master with Julie Goodnight crew again.  It was like a family reunioun to see everyone again.  Last year, Heidi tried to kill us by shooting eight episodes in four days.  Since she failed in her mission to kill us last year, she upped the ante to ten episodes and a DVD in four days this year.

We were completely blessed last year - pretty much everything went perfectly and we finished up early every day.  This year.  Not so much.  We actually cheered when we had a "short" day - only 11.5 hours.  However, we got some great episodes.

This is Christy and Jessie - their episode is about trail obstacles, specifically gate opening/closing, but the biting flies were so bad that they took a dip in the pond to chase off the flies.

Francine and Hero with Julie and Dale Myler - a bitting episode to help Francine with her reining horse.

Heidi, besides being the Director/Producer for Horse Master is also an accomplished equine photographer and owns The Whole Picture.

Joli and her horse Katrina - Katrina had a bit of an issue with canter departure.

Julie and Dually taking a dip in the pond to hide from the flies.  All I could think was, "Ugh, I hate the feeling of wet jeans".  Good thing it was Julie, not me.

Petra and her horse Maximus - the coolest thing about them is that Petra has trained Maximus by herself, using all of Julie's methods.  Maximus was a delight and so wonderfully trained - Petra's done an amazing job with him.

This is Chaco - he and I had a little equine love affair.  Beel Bill called me an equi-slut for cheating on Estes while I was away at Horse Master.  Whatever.  Even Estes would fall in love with this seven year-old BLM mustang.  Thursday was a rough day; we were all exhausted and I had reached the breaking point.  Chaco gave me all sorts of horsey hugs and greatly improved my mood.

Rachel and Rooster - one of the two bitting episodes with Dale Myler.  Rooster's a young 'un, four years old, and Rachel's hoping to run barrels on him in the future.  He just needed some help to relax.

Our daily rain delay.  This did not help shorten our days at all.  We did get pretty good at tearing down and setting up between rain storms.

Tony and Chaco - this episode was supposed to be about a spooky horse, but Chaco was anything but spooky.  So much for a fire-breathing scary mustang.  He did have some basic skills to learn that a dead-broke horse like he is should have.  Being a mustang, he picked it up quickly.











We also taped four episodes of colt-starting, but I was far too enthralled with the process to think to take any pictures.  The colt-starting episodes will be turned into part of Julie's "From the Ground" DVD series (a lot more goes into the DVD than what will be seen on the TV show).  Sadly, I had to leave for RomCon before I got to see help with the final episode - teaching cues.

Getting Dressed

Okay, Estee, we're gonna try a saddle today...

Let's get the bird poop off...

Let's see...yeah, first the saddle pad...

Oof...this saddle business is so foreign...

On three...one...two...

...three...

Wait...these straps...I know I'm supposed to do something with them...

Oh, that's right, we have to tie the saddle on...

Good thing my hands know what to do...thank God for muscle memory...

Whew!  All saddled up!

And I even managed to get in the saddle.

I've got some great pictures from our ride up the Goat Trail today, but those are going to have to wait until I get back from HorseMaster.  It's that time again, time for me to load up and head down to southern Colorado to work as a crew member for Julie Goodnight's TV show.  It's a blast, but I'll be super busy and wireless is spotty down there. As soon as I return from HorseMaster, I head up the hill to the Lodge for the High Country Rendezvous.

Ride safe and hug your horses; I'll see y'all after HCR.

Estes Is A DVD Star!

This afternoon, I opened my Facebook account and got a notice that Heidi Nyland had tagged a picture of me.  That's not so unusual, as she tags all of the crew members when she posts pictures of shows we've worked on.  It still didn't stop me from checking to see which photo she'd tagged, so I clicked on the notification and saw this picture...

Photo courtesy Horse Master with Julie Goodnight "Stand By Me"

Hardly the most flattering picture of me or Estes, what with me hanging like a monkey off of her back and Her Highness' ears pinned back.  There was even a comment by Oregon Sunshine asking why Her Highness Queen Estes was being naughty and walking off.

The photo I was expecting to see was the one that Julie and Heidi have been using on Julie's blog banner and in some of the print media...

Yep, that's us in the lower left corner.  A much more flattering picture than the previous one, isn't it?

I had two picture notifications on my Facebook account; the first one was that horribly unflattering picture of me and Estes.  I'm not so bright sometimes, so I couldn't figure out what I'd done to Heidi to make her post such a picture.  I went ahead, with some trepidation, and clicked on the second picture notification.  And then it all fell into place.

My episode with Estes is one of the shows featured on her upcoming Trail Solutions DVD:

Pre-Release Special on Trail Troubles. Order now and get $5 off and FREE SHIPPING. Release date April 1, 2011. Call to order... 800-225-8827.  Includes: Everything you need to help solve common problems getting to and going out on the trail.



From finding and evaluating the right trail horse to trailer loading, to working with a horse that’s barn and buddy sour, to approaching any obstacle you may face on the trail, Julie Goodnight and the Horse Master cast members will help you learn from real-life challenges such as getting in the trailer, refusing to leave the barn, walking off before you ask, balking at obstacles (such as tarps and water) and more.


• Shop til you Drop (horse buying) Horse shopping
• Loaded Up (trailer loading) Trailer loading
• Stand by me (stand still for mounting) Stand still for mount (This is our episode)
• Rearing to Go (refusing and rearing) Refusing & rearing

• Wave Runner (spooky horse into surf) Approach scary obstacles

Yup, there's my arse hanging off of Estes.  The other pictures are at least cool looking, but there's nothing cool looking about not being able to mount up.  Even though I have a copy of my episode, I'm going to order this DVD, because I've been dying to see the Wave Runner episode since I read about it on her blog.

Since this is such a cool suprise - being included on the DVD - I might forgive Heidi for that horrible, horrible picture.

I should mention that I'm not paid to promo Julie's stuff.  I just thought it was cool and wanted to pass it on.

Follow Up to "Who's The Boss?"

There were a couple of comments on my last post that I wanted to respond to; mostly, how did the episode turn out?

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...the change was pretty astounding.  Like most manner issues, the change has to come from the human.  Once Michele understood that she had to be the leader, Jonas fell right into line.  All photos courtesy of The Whole Picture, LLC.

Get out of my space!

Standing like a polite gentleman.

Oooo...scary quad.  But wait...Mom's not scared...

Standing nicely on a loose line while I cleaned his boogers.

There was also another comment asking about seeing the whole episode.  Well, I found out that you don't have to have RFD-TV or buy the DVD at the end of the season to see the whole episode.  If you join RFD-TV's Country Club, you can watch all of the episodes on your computer.  The cost for joining is $14.99/month, but you can get the first month free, watch all the episodes you want and cancel before getting charged.

One last update - I haven't had another riding lesson.  Seems Mother Nature has been conspiring against my plans for lessons.  I'm a bit - well more than a bit - sad about it.  I really enjoyed my one and only lesson (so far) and can't wait for another.  In the meantime, I've joined a gym and have a few sessions set up with a personal trainer, so maybe I won't hurt quite as bad once I get to ride again.