Saddle Talk with Sandy and Cara
'Saddle Talk with Sandy and Cara' is hosted by two saddle sisters, keeping you company one ride at a time. We discuss life, love, horses of course, and all the unexpected turns along the trail.
Saddle Talk with Sandy and Cara
Tales From the Trail, Helping Our Friend Susan
The desert trail gave us the perfect classroom: one anxious mare, one brave rider, and a clear case of how human tension becomes a horse’s worry. We set out to help our friend Susan prepare Emma for ponying and discovered the real fix wasn’t a harsher cue or a bigger bubble. It was quieter, softer hands, a breathing seat, and clear, repeatable steps turned “don’t go” energy into steady, confident movement.
Along the way, the trail threw us a test: Aspen went down in deep sand. No panic—just solid safety. Cara employed the illustrious emergency dismount by rolling off to the side and nearly getting stepped ob. Max tripped too, which opened a smart talk on gear choices and why a hackamore is Sandy's go to on the trail.
Under it all sits a bigger theme: leveling up without swapping horses. Some riders pursue ribbons and keep the sport visible. Others choose to grow with the horse they love, redefining success as partnership, patience, and consistent progress. Susan chose the second path, and we’re here for it. From body awareness to trail etiquette with bikes and dogs, from micro-cues to mindset, this ride is a field guide to staying calm, staying kind, and getting better together.
If this story helps you breathe deeper in the saddle, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs a nudge of trail courage. Tell us: what tiny change makes the biggest difference for your horse?
Clip flop goes the trail, sun is rising. Ha two gals in the saddle neath the big Nevada sky, laughing and chatting as the desert rolls on by. It's Saddle Talk. Come along for the ride.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome, listeners, to Saddle Talk with Sandy and Cara. Whether you're here to laugh with us, learn, or just ride along, you're in for a really good time. So go grab your helmet over your pooper scooper and settle in with us as we discuss life, horses, of course, and all the unexpected turns along the trail. And hey, whether you're a seasoned cowgirl or you're still learning, remember we're sharing our own stories and opinions based on decades of personal experience. Always ride safe and check with a professional before trying anything new. Now let's go ride. Hello, listeners. This is Kara and Sandy. Sandy. Hi Sandy.
SPEAKER_03:Hi.
SPEAKER_02:How are you doing? What's going on with you?
SPEAKER_03:I feel a little disjointed.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Sandy has some afternoon wine.
SPEAKER_03:So I'm having my afternoon wine. Hopefully that will help smooth out some of the edges and my grammar, apparently.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh. Did you know alcohol used to be considered a medicine?
SPEAKER_03:It is a medicine.
SPEAKER_02:It is a medicine.
SPEAKER_03:Still consider it a medicine.
SPEAKER_02:As long as you use it wisely, which I do not think this is an unwise day. I think this is a wise decision for you.
SPEAKER_03:Well, to be honest, when I started learning how to ride, I realized that a little bit of liquid courage made me a better rider because it would relax me. Then I would relax in the saddle. I wasn't holding all the tension. Things would happen. It would be done before I realized it was happening and it wasn't a big deal. I'm not advocating people to go out and get drunk on their horses.
SPEAKER_02:However, as a great disclaimer.
unknown:Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_03:So today we helped our friend Susan. She needed some help on the trail with her horse because she wants to start ponying. She bought another horse to keep her horse company, which that sounds familiar to everybody listening. So we rode out on the trail with her, met up with her, Emma, her horse. And really what she needs, because she and I rode last week, and I rode Emma and she rode Max. Emma was fine for me. She listened and responded exactly the way she was supposed to, because I didn't have any preconceived notions of her being a bad bad is a bad word, misbehaving, taking advantage. I saw myself as a leader and expected nothing less. And she did everything I asked her to. And it was funny because Susan was expecting me to be loud and pushy.
SPEAKER_02:She said that on the trail. I was surprised she said that.
SPEAKER_03:I know that my voice can get a little annoying sometimes. I can be quiet. And I know I think I've learned from you and Darlene that quiet is the way to go. Calm is the way to go. Being tense and uptight is not the way to go. Emma's issue really is horses next to her. Her bubble is so big that she does get very anxious when horses get in. And then we realize, well, you realize the anxiety is in Susan's body.
SPEAKER_02:100%.
SPEAKER_03:And that really aided in Emma's behavior.
SPEAKER_02:Today, yeah. Susan kept saying how good she was doing. That I'm meaning the horse, that Emma was performing really great. She was super thankful for us just riding next to her and trying to trigger Emma the whole time. And I was very cautious about saying anything to her because I feel like we can overstep our boundaries. And I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we learned that with another friend of ours. Uh we don't know if we're ever gonna air those episodes. But we did have a friend.
SPEAKER_02:We should call it some kind of weird file.
SPEAKER_03:No, we should we should make people pay for those episodes because if you're gonna listen to it, you're gonna pay for it because this is the mad shit file. Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's when we do the patroning or patron Patreon. Patreon, right, right. If we ever get there, awesome tea and a half, exactly. But I think you handled it very well. I think that you approached her and you asked her permission to be honest and to talk to her and say what you had to say. And the nice thing about Susan is that she's very receptive to Yes, and I have noticed that is a key ingredient. It is, it is.
SPEAKER_02:I hate it when people pretend to be receptive. And for Susan, she is taking it in and she's processing it. And you can tell that she wants to process it, but I think stepping away from it is a gift that everyone should give themselves. When you receive a critique or a criticism, like please don't try to process it in that moment if you know you're not going to. Right. Because it's not going to be healthy for anyone.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and I think the difference too is she really is asking for our help. I mean, where how would we be as uh friends if we didn't provide that honest truth? I mean, granted, you don't need to be mean, but you should be honest. And I think that she's very receptive to the fact that a lot of the tension is being held in her shoulders and her body, and that translates down to the horse. 100%. You had a really great analogy. Do you want to give the analogy? The one about the friend. You know, when you have a friend and you can tell when their tone is remember?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, I did. I was trying to help her realize how tense she was and that it was actually her emotion translating to the horse that was the problem. It wasn't actually other horses uh encroaching upon her Emma's space. Emma's forgot the horse's name. Yeah, hot second. What I said to Susan is that we all have loved ones in our lives, whether it's a friend or a child or whoever. And as someone who loves other people dearly, you know by the tone of someone's voice that something tragic or scary or something has happened. And you don't have to say anything except for one single word or one single breath. It's the intonation of someone's voice, not the actual words that tell you if something is an emergency. I told her that that is what she is doing to Emma all the time.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_02:That she is constantly communicating that it's don't go, don't go, don't go. This is too much, this is too much. I can't handle that. Like she's literally translating panic to her horse through her hands and her seat and her upper body. And she is bracing against Emma's movement. And so I tried to what's that what's that nursery rhyme where the kids get eaten? Oh, Hansel and Gretel. Oh, oh, Hansel and Gretel, there's that crazy witch lady. Of course it's a witch, right?
SPEAKER_03:Uh well, if a man, if it was a man, then it'd be a pedophile.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, you have to so this crazy witch lady puts those crumbs down for the kids to find. And I felt like I was doing that with Susan, just giving her little bits of information on this season in length. Yes, yes. I think we were out there a couple hours.
SPEAKER_01:I think so.
SPEAKER_02:So I wanted to give her bits to chew on as we went. And so I started telling her about what I felt like she was communicating. And then I walked away and I let Sandy take over. Yeah. And then I would come back 15 minutes later and I would say, Hey, well, why don't you try this? And so I spoon-fed her these little bits of information. And by the end of the trail ride, she was very thankful and she said, Hey, Kara, I've been trying A, B, and C this whole time.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think you really helped her with the stopping and the transition of stopping. You I think you broke it down for her in a way that made sense. Yes. And she could practice while we were riding. Because one of the things that Emma doesn't like to do is stand still. So with us walking on and her practicing the stopping and stopping behind us, it was good training for Emma.
SPEAKER_04:Yep.
SPEAKER_03:So we're gonna pick it up again tomorrow. I think what I'll do is practice her riding ahead of me and stopping and waiting for me because that's another thing Emma's not good at is waiting. Okay. And so a lot of times when you're ponying a horse and you're trying to get your hands figured out and the rope figured out, or the horse is going around. Your riding horse needs to know how to just like just stand here.
unknown:Right?
SPEAKER_03:You don't need to be my issue right now. Right now, you need to just stand. And I think it went very well, and it's been a lot of fun. And she is aware, and at some point, she will also be listening to this episode because she is following us and subscribing, because subscribing is free. You know, I really hope that she hearing this back also realizes how appreciative we are so appreciative of her giving us this opportunity to use this as an episode that we can use for other people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I feel like it's a case study for us, and I'm very happy that she's so willing to try stuff and put herself out there, put herself out there, willing to just give it a shot. And I know that we all have fear. And instead of walking away from this fear, she's going towards it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, head on. Head on. Head on so much that she's already been out on trail with Tango. Without us. And without us? What was she even thinking? Yeah, Susan. What are you thinking? Yeah, Susan, this is to you. Take us with you next time. Next time first. Yes, no. Just joking. Sure horse. Do what you want.
SPEAKER_02:But we're proud of you because so proud. I feel like that's not something she would have done without our help originally.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:So she went out for a short ponying trip, and I'm very excited that she even had the guts to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, yes. It's all about guts.
SPEAKER_02:I think it goes back to what I always say, and I think you always say now too, is baby steps. Baby steps to success will get you there. And if you can break it down the way that I broke down how to stop your horse, if you can break it down into those baby steps, it really does process. Like the whole picture is so much smoother and easier than we think it's gonna be.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Especially with horses, not just in life, too. Well, I think it goes for everything. Baby steps for baby steps. We're doing baby steps right now with our podcast. Oh, we are. Because I just want to apologize if people that follow us are getting duplicate posts or duplicate stories, or one minute there's a story, the next minute the story's gone, because I'm trying to figure out this whole Facebook Instagram thing. And it's not as easy. Well, when you're pushing 60, which I hate to admit, I feel like my mom must feel with technology. I mean, these young kids, they're putting up these stories and reels like it's nothing. And I'm going in and I'm like, well, wait a minute. I already created a story and now I'm trying to create a new story, but it's oh it's a pain.
SPEAKER_02:I literally, no joke, deleted every single duplicate you have put in there. So for every single reel you've put in or every single story, I've deleted the second one.
SPEAKER_03:I thank you. Yeah, you're welcome, my lovey.
SPEAKER_02:It's all I know. Yeah, I know. I actually sat down with a social media person.
SPEAKER_03:God.
SPEAKER_02:It was it was com comical.
SPEAKER_03:It was.
SPEAKER_02:It was so comical.
SPEAKER_03:So my apologies. And my apologies to everybody out there. If you're like, what the hell is this girl doing? She has no idea. Yeah, we don't know. We don't have to. We don't know. We just decided to start a podcast. We did. We didn't think of it through. But we're still having fun. So the other thing, so more about Susan later. We do have some video that we're gonna put on and share and share with you guys just so you can see. And when we get the one of her actually ponying with us, uh Tango, then we'll take some videos so you can see her progress and see how because she's gonna be there in a heartbeat. She's already there.
SPEAKER_02:She's already there. Yeah. So we can't. It's a matter of building her up and making sure that Emma is okay with a ponying horse, not being okay.
SPEAKER_03:That's a true test. Well, and the new thing we learned today is that her next concern is ponying with other horses and tango.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:She mentioned that she feels that Emma is protective and might misbehave. So that will be a learning opportunity for the future. She's gonna get the confidence of just ponying out on the trail by herself, which I yes, 100%, Susan. You're doing the right thing. And then later we'll add in our little spice and trigger.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, well, herd and trigger her and see how it goes. We have helmets on. Oh, speaking of helmets.
SPEAKER_03:We wear helmets.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, y'all.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my gosh. Today, so I had people have hurt. I know we did not coin this phrase. Suicide or homicide. That's what horses wake up with. Today was suicide. For Max and for Aspen, Aspen's was a lot more dramatic. So I'm gonna let you discuss what happened with Aspen because that was a first. Oh, let me preface. Let me preface the edges of the trail along certain areas is really soft. And when a horse is walking, you could go into the dirt. That is my buildup for what Kara is now going to discuss while I drink my wine.
SPEAKER_02:While you drink your shira. It was just really weird and unexpected. And I've known for a while that she was gonna fall because when I ride her, she trips a lot and she gets very high-headed. She has a high headset, anyways. She has a high headset on her shoulders. She is a national show horse, so she's basically half Arab and half saddlebred. And she has a huge sloping shoulder. So when she decides to put her head up, it's literally her.
SPEAKER_03:She's also very bendy. She's this weird, like gummy and Max's pokey.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:She's very gumby and she bends. When we first got her, we would ask her to back up and she would lean backwards. Her front feet wouldn't move, and she would just lean backwards.
SPEAKER_02:She does a downward dog.
SPEAKER_03:She does do a downward dog.
SPEAKER_02:It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen in over 40 years of working with horses. I have never seen a horse.
SPEAKER_03:I'm sorry. Do this. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And she also does this thing where she shifts her weight. So she looks like she's staying still over four feet, and she's not. She's literally shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and you can't tell unless you're on her. It's the weirdest thing. Anyway, so we were cruising down the trail, and she'd had a couple adrenaline moments when we went to go pick up Susan. She had an adrenaline moment then because one of the horses was running around in the paddock and she's very hyper-aware of other horses. And then we were cruising down towards the other end of the trail, and she was also having some adrenaline moment. I think that she could sense that we were headed towards the prison. Our prison has the holding pen for the Mustangs, and we're one of the famous. Well, I'm not, but our prison is famous for the amazing horses that they trained.
SPEAKER_03:And the program. And the program for which is not very well depicted in the movie Mustang or whatever that name was, but it's okay. That movie was not.
SPEAKER_02:It wasn't a realistic depiction because those men do not get to leave the compound.
SPEAKER_03:100%. No.
SPEAKER_02:But the animals are spectacular. The course they are output. So whenever we head that way on the trail, she tends to get a little high-headed. And it was the weirdest thing. She slipped her little back foot slipped in the super deep sand. And then when she tried to move forward, she tripped on her front end, and I could feel her right front foot tripped first, then her left front foot tripped, and she went all the way down.
SPEAKER_03:She liked splayed. It was weird to watch. I wish I had my video going. I know. I hate that. I know.
SPEAKER_02:But it was such a weird thing for me to feel as well. So she plopped down on the ground. She fell. She really did fell. And she fell first on I think her knees, and then she just completely fell and she could not even stand up. She was not able to move. And then I felt her try to move, and I knew that she couldn't because she didn't even get to the body.
SPEAKER_03:And then didn't she didn't she try to stand up and then fell again?
SPEAKER_02:And that's when I knew, okay, there took the dive. Yeah, she there was no way she was going to be able to get back up with me on her. Right. Because you can. You can when a horse falls like that, you can actually stay on them. And as long as you brace yourself and listeners, if this ever happens to you, what you'll want to do is you're gonna want to put your hand on their neck because when they go to stand up, their neck can hit your face and break your nose and give you a take your feet out of the stirrups.
SPEAKER_03:Because if you do have to take a dive, you don't want to have to worry about getting caught up in the stirrups. That's true.
SPEAKER_02:But while this was all going down, sure, all I thought about was her hitting my face. I've had that happen before. So I didn't want to get a broken face again. Right. When they hit you in the nose and you break your nose, you're gonna get a concussion at the same time. So I braced my hand on her neck, and then when she tried to get up a second time and couldn't, I thought this is my moment. I took my feet out of the stirrups. One was already halfway out, anyways, and I literally just rolled onto the ground because I thought it was the safest move to try to get away from her.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:I rolled to the right of her body, she then was able to stand, and I felt like for a moment she was gonna come towards my middle. She did.
SPEAKER_03:She came leaned towards you.
SPEAKER_02:Because she leans.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And and you were the first thing you said was off, off, off, or I don't remember what she screamed. You did, and she listened.
SPEAKER_02:She's a good girl.
SPEAKER_03:She backed off. She did. And she did not scream.
SPEAKER_02:She's like, Oh, okay, I don't want to hurt mama.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:We're always afraid of our horses getting loose, but we don't need to be. She stood there and she waited, and I was fine. I did not get hurt at all. And I was worried that maybe she had hurt something. Right. So I walked her on the trail and she was fine. And I got back on. She had a little bit of a high-headed carriage until we got to the end of the trail. And when we were away from the prison, she returned back to normal to her relaxed state. But I feel bad because you know, I always feel bad when something gets hurt or potential for pain. She didn't seem like she hurt herself at all, which is why I got back on her. And you guys both did perfectly. And the crazy thing is, like, I've always known she was gonna fall.
SPEAKER_03:I know. We've said that from this day one. We will never ride along Spooner Ridge or no, we're not taking her on ledges.
SPEAKER_02:No, and know your horse. This horse needs a wide trail, and even then, she might fall. Exactly. Yeah. Her strength is not knowing where she is putting her feet. She doesn't. She just doesn't. And when she's nervous, she trips more and she just looks out like she's that fish from that movie. She's just looking from one thing to the next. Yeah. She's so dramatic and so she shifts her weight, and I love her to pieces. You know, I love riding her. I know you do. I know she's your horse. So she's your horse. Thanks, friend. She is your horse. I think she's our communal horse.
SPEAKER_03:She is our communal horse, but I lean more towards she's your horse. I just love her so much.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, she's okay. She's okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, she is.
SPEAKER_02:We're gonna give her some butte, make sure she doesn't. I already did. Oh, you did? Thank you, friend. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So right before that happened, I was riding Max, and I think his back feet hit that soft edge of the trail. He tripped and he went down on his front legs. I'm telling you what, I have been riding him in a hackamore for the last, I'd say, four or five months.
SPEAKER_02:I was just gonna say almost six months.
SPEAKER_03:And there is nothing that I do with him in that hackamore that I could do any differently with a bit. I I understand bits, I'm not here to advocate for one or the other. I always worry about being too hard on my horse's mouths. So it's just a personal thing for me. I know that there's value in all tools. Right. You know, I do he is doing really well in this Hackamore, and I felt even better knowing he was wearing it because when he went down on his front legs and I was pulling up, I knew I was just pulling up on his face. Yeah. You know, I wasn't pulling against his tongue, and he got up. It was not as dramatic as yours in the least. So much so that you didn't even notice he went down.
SPEAKER_02:No, I just noticed him tripping. He tripped, he tripped, and then his back feet did this weird thing. His little toes in the back went underneath, and he was sort of walking on his back cannons for a hot second.
SPEAKER_03:And I just thought, what the f please Because we went down in the front. Poor buddy. We must have been so perfectly lined up that I did not that you did not even see it. And I didn't go forward. I stayed. And I helped him up with his head.
SPEAKER_02:That makes sense. Well, and I've been hyper-focused on those back legs for a couple weeks. Yeah. Because Sandy asked me to watch them because I saw him do something weird. So I've just been paying attention to his back legs. So weird, friend. On the same day.
SPEAKER_03:I know. And I did see Emma trip a little bit. It was just a small Susan. I don't even know if you felt it. I feel like Susan's in the room. We're talking to Susan right now. Susan, I don't even know if you felt it, but I did notice a little bit of a trip. And I felt like this is just the day. There were so many people out on the trail to meet. It was crazy. It was. It really, really was. And I think it's because we all know winter's here and it's coming. Right. And so any nice day that Mother Nature is willing to give us, everyone is just out. Yep. That lady that was on the uh mechanical bike, she was not happy. Did you notice? No, what did she say? So remember when the guy on the bike stopped and we told him, you can go, and we were walking by and he was fiddling with something. Right. While she came up on her electric bike, which I'm sorry, I think that's cheating. People think that riding horses is cheating, that the horse is the one doing all the work. No. You don't see us in the downtime. Us riding that horse is our relaxation. That's our five percent of the time that we are. Yes, exactly. Feeding, cleaning, hoping they're not dying. I mean, come on. So she's on this electric bike. She was coming up fast and she had to stop. We were single file. We were not the cause of the space. No, we were not taking up a lot of space. No, no, no. It was because we were on one side and he had stopped. So she had to stop. She was not acknowledging us at all. And I thought, because I think I'm so funny, as I was riding by, I said, Oh my god, there's a traffic jam on the trail. I heard you say that, but I was already past. I know. And she didn't even acknowledge it. I was like, hey, have a good ride. And she said, Yeah, you too. So then I thought they were together. Did you? Yeah. They were not. Okay. They were not, no. And then when we were further down, she obviously had turned around and was coming back. And I said, Oh, you're on your way back. And that's when she said, I'm running out of gas. I'm like, lady, you're running out of more than just gas, trust me. Your whole personality is running out of whatever, because you're just not happy. And why are you even out here?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you're supposed to be enjoying nature. Yes. We run into all kinds of so many different personalities. People and personalities. And most of them are lovely. Most of them are so kind and I'd say 99%.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Think of how far those dogs went away from us today. Every single person with a dog put it on a leash and went about 10 feet away. Yes. Except for that one lady where there was rocks and she couldn't with the white dog.
SPEAKER_03:I was kind of feeling bad for that dog. She was trying to get it to go into the gulf. She was being nice to us.
SPEAKER_02:She was nervous. Did you hear her? She was nervous the dog was going to attack the horses. That's what she said.
SPEAKER_03:Is that what it was about? That's what she said. I was misjudging her because I thought she was being mean by making her dog go in the rock.
SPEAKER_02:She said her dog likes to attack horses, and so she was trying to pull him so he wouldn't.
SPEAKER_03:Well, why didn't she just follow her friend up into the dirt?
SPEAKER_02:I think she herself was not able to cross that. She was pretty feeble.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, okay. All right. I apologize to that person that I misjudged.
SPEAKER_02:It happens. Who knows?
SPEAKER_03:Normally, though, you know, those types of dogs, even when they hold them, the dog is still like, and he didn't do that.
SPEAKER_02:I'm glad. I would rather have her hold her dog like that than not, because we've been on the trail with dogs before, and it's not good. And people are really weird.
SPEAKER_03:Well, what about that one? You were riding Autumn, and you were waiting down at the bottom of the hill for me to come down because Max is so slow. And that gentleman who is a neighbor who is very nice. He's a nice guy. He's a nice guy. I know who he is. His dog was a young golden and kept running up to Autumn while you were standing there, and you said, sir, my horse will kick. And his response was, Well, it will be the last time he does it. And I thought, well, that's not right. And sure enough, Autumn kicked him. Yep. She's a very polite kicker though. Because she caught him square in the middle of the chest and pushed.
SPEAKER_01:She did.
SPEAKER_03:It wasn't, I'm not saying she knew what she was doing. It's just the the energy behind her kick was not one of striking.
SPEAKER_02:No.
SPEAKER_03:In my opinion. It was more of a solid kick to push him away, not to kill him.
SPEAKER_02:He got lucky.
SPEAKER_03:They both got lucky. Why would you even have that mentality for your dog? I don't know. Why that is not something a dog needs to learn. I don't want to go through that. And that's how I feel too about some people on the trail that say, Oh, my dog has never seen a horse. I want him to learn. Well, you know what? Not today. Not today, Satan. No, not today.
SPEAKER_02:I have that sticker.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Exactly. Because your dog doesn't have to learn that. And I don't want to be the one teaching it. Right. That's not fair to put on the person riding the horse.
SPEAKER_02:Do you have anything else to add? Just that I knew this was gonna happen with Aspen Falling. I'm very glad it happened the way that it did. I think so too. And I'm going to keep following my instincts that I know are real because time and again I have proven to be on freaking target. Yep.
SPEAKER_04:I would agree.
SPEAKER_02:What I think is going on. And I I have more and more faith in my skills of observation as I've aged.
SPEAKER_03:I rely on your skills of observation. It has probably saved a lot of my horses. Thank you, friends. You're very welcome.
SPEAKER_02:I think that's one of the biggest skills in horsemanship that people don't talk about is just your need to observe, especially observe yourself. And I feel like that's what Susan is learning.
SPEAKER_03:I do too.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm hoping that she takes that to heart. Is your reaction to what's happening is the most important thing.
SPEAKER_03:Because when it happened with Max and when it happened with Aspen, Emma was great.
SPEAKER_02:Emma was fast.
SPEAKER_03:And when I looked at Susan, she was relaxed. Because it happened so fast.
SPEAKER_02:In a split second.
SPEAKER_03:I think it happens so fast you don't even have a chance to react.
SPEAKER_02:No.
SPEAKER_03:And I think that's a godsend. Because you don't need to react. You don't need to have that drama. I think it's all working out very well.
SPEAKER_02:Me too. I'm happy for her. Because it's just gonna get better.
SPEAKER_03:It is.
SPEAKER_02:Horses just make our lives better, and the more that we can do with them, it expands our horizons too.
SPEAKER_03:And if she can go out, I know that she's part of a writing group, and if she can go out with that writing group, or with the people that she's met from that writing group, and take Tango and pony him.
SPEAKER_02:It's just gonna enrich his life, it's gonna expand her abilities. Exactly. It's gonna give other people guts to do it.
SPEAKER_03:Sure, I have to say something. My sister, uh, when she listened to our introduction, she was very surprised that I didn't talk about my very first horse. Oh. My very first horse was imaginary. It's about five years old. That's so cute. My next door neighbor and I, we had a horse named Zinza.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Zinza would spend the night at each other's house. I would even pretend my bike was a horse. Oh. And my bike's name was Zinza. My sister was very surprised that I didn't bring up Zinza. So I'm bringing up Zinza now. You when you're a little kid, you just I just always wanted a fucking horse. Zinza was my horse. So much so that when I got my very first horse for real, I named her Zinza. Because she had a really weird Arabian show name. Like those horse show names. Silhouette. I'm like, who names their horse Silhouette?
SPEAKER_02:We don't.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_02:It has a bar name and a show name here. Two distinct different names.
SPEAKER_03:Which was Zinza. And my menopause is kicking in, and I've kind of lost track of why I brought that up. That's okay. Um, I remember now. Leveling up. I leveled up from my imaginary horse. And I explained to Susan, I think we all set out on our horse journey. With one particular thing in mind. I thought all I was gonna do was ride around the barn. I don't need a trailer, I don't need writing friends, and then you're like, hey, let's go, trailer. And I was like, hey, this is really cool. I need a trailer, I need a truck, I need this, I need that. And you start to level up. I think that's what Susan is going through right now.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. It's an evolution.
SPEAKER_03:A hundred percent. And when she started out in Vegas, she got her horse. That was her scenario, that was her life. Then she decided, hey, I want to do this. And when I retire, I'm gonna move here. And then she moved up here with us. Now she wants to do more, and she's asking Emma to do more. So she's leveling up Emma because she's not getting rid of Emma and buying a level up horse. She's trying to level up both of them at the same time. And that's amazing. It is fantastic. It is. One of the conversations I had with her was you have to give Emma time. You're asking her to do things that she's never had to do before. On top of living in a new environment, she's not in a barn anymore. She doesn't have all those horses that were her friends at that time. It's okay to level up, but give yourself that time and then give your horse that time and patience. Absolutely. So I think I'm done monologuing because the wine is kicking in. I don't know if our listeners can tell, but no, it's okay.
SPEAKER_02:I I feel like we've touched on this subject before. When I said that Bob was my horse that I was just gonna keep and whatever he wanted to do, I was going to have him be my horse. And I feel that same way about Armani. And I think if you choose to be someone who's involved in a sport and the horse can't level up with you as you move through the ranks and you get better and better at what you do.
SPEAKER_03:You don't just discard that horse and get a level up horse. Oh no, people do.
SPEAKER_02:And it's for me, that's okay. If they are on a personal journey of excelling within our sport, that's what they have to do.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:I love it when people try to find those horses amazing homes, and they usually do because they've brought that horse to a certain level, and now that horse can do that horse can be a level and that can be a level up horse for another person.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. I get it. I'm sorry. I will just drink my wine and let Kara keep talking.
SPEAKER_02:It's okay, friend. My favorite horses are the horses that are the teachers, those gave me my riding life. I am an excellent rider. I have always wanted to be an excellent rider, and it was my goal from day one as a child that riding was gonna be my favorite number one thing. And then, like you said, things change. I decided it's the individual horse that matters to me. And I spent my life with Bob decades, and it was oh I'm gonna cry.
SPEAKER_03:We are so going through metal. It's he was just he's just the best horse, it was just the best horse.
SPEAKER_02:He was the best horse, and it was because him and I were so close and connected and connected, and I talked to him and he talked back. We had conversations that were physical and emotional, and we were connected. And I'm gonna do the same thing with Armani. The way that thank you, friend, the way that Susan is doing this with Emma, I am on a journey with Armani. You are my chosen one, yes, and I am so excited for our future, and I don't know what it holds, but I have seen him do pirouettes, I am not joking you, all on his own, outside my backyard, just doing little dressage pirouettes because he's chasing Autumn away from the hay, and I just think he was built to do that. So I really hope that he wants to learn with me on his back.
SPEAKER_03:So when are we going to uh ride? Pony him.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, pony? I think he's pretty ready to pony. Why don't we take him on a few more walks? Make sure that his skills at not biting us are good. He was fantastic the last time we took him out, but let's make sure that he is still super respectful.
SPEAKER_03:Do you feel that Autumn is in a place where you could put a saddle on her? Because I was thinking if you were to put a saddle on her and just ride her around in the arena and pony him, see how he does. Let me check. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'll check her. I'll check her this weekend, see how she's doing. I don't want to ride her if we shouldn't. No, of course not.
SPEAKER_03:Autumn has something going on with her back foot. She's been out all season.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'll check her. I think she's doing it on purpose.
SPEAKER_02:I'm excited for Susan for me, and I think that there are a lot of women out there that have made this choice as well. But there are a lot of horse women and men too who have decided to stay with their horse or their group of friends.
SPEAKER_03:And try to level up together.
SPEAKER_02:And try to level up together versus chasing the ribbons. And I do not begrudge anyone who chases the ribbons.
SPEAKER_03:No, of course not. That's what's keeping the industry out in public. So thank you to everybody who is out there chasing the ribbons and chasing the money. Because it it inspires people. It does. It inspires a person to get a horse. There's so many horses out there that need families. Need families. That's very, very important. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Mine was a rescue.
SPEAKER_03:All right. Well, today was a good day. I really enjoyed this discussion, and thank you for the wine.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no worries.
SPEAKER_03:Very good. Love you, friends. I love you too, Toodles.
SPEAKER_02:Toodles. Hey friends. That's the end of today's ride. We hope you enjoyed listening. Don't forget to follow Saddle Talk with Sandy and Cara wherever you get your podcasts. Please leave us a review, share us with a friend, and saddle up with us next time as we ride through more stories, questions, and our wild tangents. Till then, friends, keep your boots dusty and your hard hats on. We hope to see you out on the trail.
SPEAKER_00:Dandy and Kara stir up swinging free, talking about life and love and mystery. From coyotes to coffee, they'll cover it all with a sagebrush blowing and the wild birds call. So cinch up your boots. We're hitting the track. Saddle talks on, and we're not looking back.