Life is full of Opportunities

Ya know our most recent trail ride where we visited a friend? Well, I keep forgetting to tell you what Aleythia and I learned.
I learned how to keep my feet under me when she's trotting so that I can have better balance in the saddle. I learned how to ride Misstack's canter without my back protesting.
Aleythia pretty much learned the same thing. But her problem was that her saddle would always slip. When you trot/canter for an hour and a half you figure these things out.
I have come to realize that I do not have the best balance... I intend to remedy that this winter by riding without stirrups and riding bareback. Maybe I'll do it more than that too. Riding bareback is fun!
I am excited for Sunday. Not only will I get to go to church and also see my awesome youth group, but I have gotten an offer from a fellow horse person in my church, HM. HM has offered to give Aleythia and I a chance to experience english riding.  That will be awesome! We do have a Saddlebred that does saddle seat, but I would love to have a teacher. HM's discipline is jumping.
What I hope to learn from her is communicating with your horse through your legs and jumping. I am totally ignorant and don't know if jumpers use leg control or any other control that doesn't require you to use the reins. I want to say that they do, because well, why wouldn't they? But I use leg pressure very little. Which is probably not a good thing.

I longed all the fillies except Toffy. With longing I am working on getting them confident at the walk and trot and making it an actual circle. We had different plans for Toffy. We put a bit in her mouth. We have done this once before, so it didn't take her long to stop chewing it. She let us put it on without complaint and even opened her mouth the second time we put it on, without my help. Smart cookie she is.
And then just because Coffie was right there we caught her again and put the bit in her mouth. We actually didn't use a bridle. We took a snaffle bit, tied it to the halter with twine string and then put it on.
Once Coffie figured out that she couldn't swallow it, she was totally fine. We did take it on and off because she kept trying to avoid the bit. So we did it over and over until she didn't try to avoid the bit. We don't want that to become a habit.
Did I mention that Coffie has a really pretty trot? It's like Ana's when she decides that it's okay to go slow. All floaty and cool.

Gone... Won't be Home Until Seven Tonight

I had an awesome Monday! No school (well, besides my online school). I didn't have to go to my highschool in the morning, so Aleythia and I went and visited a friend that I have known since first grade. I'll call her A.
A lives about six miles away from town, and it took us an hour and twenty minutes to get to her place. At one point we got lost. Like we weren't lost, but we didn't know where we were going. Well, we did eventually find it after we went through a couple fields and added another mile onto our trip.
Oh, and we were riding horses...

We left Terry's place at 10:00. Me on Misstack, and Aleythia on Ana. The first two miles were awful. Misstack spooked at the drain pipe, the cows, dump trucks, and a few unknown-to-me things. On the other hand, Ana was perfect. She had her head level and was just plowing along like the perfect little angel I know she can be.
When we didn't get lost, we were traveling on a dirt road and we could see the big electrical tower and we thought that we were too far over, because the senery looked wrong. So we stopped and discussed and decided that instead of continuing (where, half a mile down the road there sat A's place) we would go cross country into some harvested/plowed bean and corn fields.
We finally figured out which house we stopped at to get water the last time we were out this way (after a few wrong guesses), and from there we figured out the direction we should travel to get to A's house. In the distance we could see those tin bins, a few pig barns and what looked like the right formation of trees. We had found it. Still probably a half mile away, and me begining to hate the stupid plowed cornfield, but we found it.
We tied the horses to a couple trees, untacked, got water, and left them there until feeding time. From there we spent the next four hours hanging out with A and failing at Mario-Bro.
When we came back to feed them Ana had dug up a neat little circle around the pine tree she was tied to. I think she has anxiety problems.
We fed the horses and I tacked up Misstack so that A could ride. I led Misstack around while A rode and taught her the basics of riding.
When we were done we untacked again and went back inside for another half hour to keep failing at Mario-Bro.
Around 5:30 we left for home. It took us an hour and five minutes to get home and we cantered and trotted most of the way. There was very little light when we stepped into the barn, and it was even darker when Terry gave us a ride home.

Not a Care in the World

I went out to the pasture to catch Toffy. Of course she was at the other end of the pasture. I went and petted hello to every horse (Except blacky. She runs away when you come near her with a halter.), and santana gave me a friendly hello. He enjoys the rides we have together. I walked through the spread out herd and they all said hello without walking away. The last horse was Toffy and I walked up to her, gave her a pat, threw the rope over her neck and haltered her. We walked back to the paddock were we had all the things we were going to use today. There was a saddle and a saddle pad, a whip, and a longe line.
I saddled her up without an incident. No bucking. I don't think she even moved. I led her around and then longed her. She moved off when I pointed and trotted without the help of a whip. I decided that cantering her would be fun. On one occasion did she kinda freak out. Ya know that try-to-escape thing she does, but I kept her facing me and she quieted down. Then I went up to her and started flapping the stirrups. Yep, there was my problem. She was scared of the stirrups. She got over it real quick and we cantered for a little bit more. Mind you this was not a pretty, circular canter. She wanted to keep going straight. It's something I've got to work on... without the saddle. Then I got on. Well, I did put weight in the stirrups by putting my hands in the stirrups and leaning on my hands, then I put my foot in the stirrup and jumped up and down like I was gunna get on. After that I stood up in the stirrup. Then I got on. I had a little trouble with the saddle slipping, but she was fine with it. After getting on and off a couple times I had Aleythia lead Toffy around with me on her. She was a little unwilling to walk, but she did it.
When I was done Aleythia went and got Dash. We saddled her up and Aleythia got on. There is one thing I want to say about saddling these fillies. How many horses do you know that will stand still while being saddled without being tied? Those fillies are awesome. But anywho... Aleythia got on Dash and I led her around. Dash followed me just like she would without a rider. No impromptu stopping and... no bucking. These fillies meet and exceed my expectations all the time. I can x off saddle broke off my goals now.

This was right after I got done longeing Toffy

 

See that hind foot? Bad me for wearing tennies.

 Me and Toffy

See what I been tellin ya about saddling them fillies?

 Aleythia and Dash

We fed horses and went and haltered Misstack and Ana. I worked on getting her to neck rein and also how to stop without me saying woah. I also did backing up. I can now pick up the reins, bump with my legs, and she will do a really nice back. Aleythia came in a few minutes after I did and tried to get Ana to stand still long enough for her to open the gate. She did eventually get it open. When Ana walked into the paddock she immediatley calmed down. She put her head down and started walking.

First Ride

The first time you throw a leg over a young horse. It's an amazing experience. What makes it even better is if that said young horse accepts you as a rider. They don't move, they don't pinn their ears. It just might be the biggest accomplishment you will ever have when training a young horse.

But anyway, Coffie had her first saddle and ride today. I say ride, but it technically wasn't really a ride. Aleythia just threw a leg over and sat there. Coffie didn't move. Toffy also had a first today. We did the Jeffrey's Method with her. I can x off that on my goals now! The one problem we had was that she is way to big. I don't know why, but I can't jump high enough to be able to lay across her back. It might be because it's akin to trying to get on a barrel that's four feet off the ground. There's nothing to hold onto. Do you see my dilema? But we were still able to do it. When I got on I had Aleythia give me a leg up. I think this actually helped, because then I could control how heavily I came down on her back. I don't seem like a predator if I land softly. With jumping you don't have that control. So she wasn't frightened the first time I got on and I was able to still get her used to something coming down on her back, but I did it after she was okay with my weight. It worked out pretty good. But man, I think I need to get some leg muscles. That or grow taller. And guess what! I have pictures!

 This was how Frosty was when we came into the barn. I went over to pet her and I noticed that her breathing was weird. It almost sounded like weasing. Other than the fact that I have never seen her lay down at 3 in the afternoon and her breathing was weird, she seemed fine. She didn't act like she was in pain and got up and started eating after a little while.

Sorry for blurry pirctures, It was cloudy, cold, and wet outside (YAY!!!) so we did everything inside. And I truly am happy that we are not having nice weather. We are in serious need of rain.

They tried to eat my saddle!

Just to show you how much smaller Frosty is than Toffy

Doing the Jeffrey's Method with Toffy 

 

Got the Saddle on Coffie. See how much she cares? Not at all. .

Flapping the stirrups

 

Loneging

Picture edeting is fun

 Weight in the stirrups                                                           First time getting on

Didn't even care

Ya know what, I think I have a new perspective of Misstack. A few days ago I went on another little trail ride. We went up the drive and went to the left instead of the right. I got her to go across the road, and around a drain pipe in the ditch. Went through someone's yard and behind the church right across the street. We passed a playground and walked over the white spray paint (for playing football) and walked to the corn field behind the church. I was able to get her to step down into that black dirt and we walked around in the cornfield. We got out of the cornfield and went between a little hill and storage shed. She went through... Then we went back out into the cornfield to tree in the field, walked her through the tall grass, got off on the other side, gave her the apple, loosened her cinch and we stood there. After that I led her home. When we passed the playground we stood by it and then I tried to get her to walk through the sand box. This sand box is connected to the playground, has posts on the four corners about 3 feet apart on the shortest side, four on the longest, and wooden planks going around the sand box about six inches high. The first time she reared away a little bit, but I didn't do anything and looked at her like what's your problem? I stepped into the box, she put a foot in, we waited a little bit, then I urged her to go further and she walked through. I can now officially x off trail horse off my goals for her. She has improved drastically since the first time I rode her out alone, and she trusts me more. I also think she's starting to enjoy it more.

 

Her coat is getting really dark. It's almost black

  Misstack on our trail ride with H



 

 

We took the fillies home Saturday. Had a little trouble loading Frosty, but the others went in just fine. We put the fillies in the paddock and locked the other horses out. When the horses saw the fillies they ran into the little back pen and started going crazy. Misstack was squealing, strudder was kicking, and they all wanted to say hello to the fillies, afterwhich they would chase them around and establish the hiearchy. On Sunday Terry put them together and he says that they got along pretty well. He said Strudder was the worst, but when the fillies were in danger of getting boxed into a corner Terry would yell at the big horses and they would nock it off.

Toffy

Frosty

Santana

We put rubber bands into the fillie's hair to train it to one side tuesday. It actually looks kinda cool. We were comparing wich one was the biggest and which was the smallest too. Frosty is the smallest. She is way smaller than the other three. Then it's Dash. Dash is the most compact out of the four. The others are longer than she is. Were not quite sure who's bigger, but we think Coffie is maybe a little bit smaller than Toffy. Toffy is a big girl. 

Frosty

 

The two duns look like mini versions of santana. It's kinda funny. We walk down Terry's driveway and there's Santana standing next to the water... Oh wait, that's Toffy.

 

I rode Santana on Tuesday too. I worked on him responding to the bit better. I also worked on getting him to stop without a whoa or a pull on the reins. He is actually really good at it.

Boring as Watching Paint Dry

I saddled two of the fillies today. Dash and Frosty. I put the saddle on the fence and got them used to the noise of it (it's an old saddle), and after that I had no problems. I took it off the fence and swung it beside them on both sides, then took it on and off. I made sure they would be okay with the cinch by pulling on it then releasing it. Tightened the cinch and got them used to the flapping of the stirrups. I put weight into the stirrups by pushing down on the stirrups with my hands and they did nothing. Jumped beside them with my foot in the stirrup and they cocked their hind foot. Loneged them at the walk and trot and Dash did nothing. Frosty kicked once and I hit her for it because she was kicking at the pressure of the whip hitting her butt, not the saddle. Then I stood up in the stirrups on both sides, then swung a leg over. Frosty did nothing.
It gives you a sense of accomplishment when you first sit on a horse you started.
I sat on Frosty with just a halter and a lead rope. Ya know what? I would probably not do that with any of the older horses. Well, maybe Ana.
MD watched me get the saddle on Frosty too.
I think the most important thing with a horse's first saddling is to make it as stress free as possible. This requires that you prepare your horse for that experience. It also means that you take the saddle on and off gently. You tighten the cinch slowly and make it snug. Enough to keep the saddle in place without making it uncomfortable with the horse.
Ya know what else? I saddled Frosty without even holding onto the lead rope.

Toffy

Toffy

Frosty

Frosty

Frosty

Dash & Aleythia

Dash & Aleythia

Coffie

 

I know these aren't pictures of them with the saddle on, but I didn't have the camera with me. I will take pictures the next time we saddle up.

Gunna' be Fun!

We were able to go to the fillies today and it was a good day. We put a bit in Toffy's mouth and when she stopped chewing for even a second, we took it off. If we would have had a snaffle bit I would have left it on and let her deal with it by herself, but sadly, we didn't. We had a bit with shanks. Grrr. Ah well she was doing okay. I did the rope around the belly thing (in imitation of a cinch) too. Aleythia did that with Frosty too. Then I sat on her. Like actually sat normally on her. I crouched on her back too. We caught Coffie next and did the Jeffrey's Method with her. Aleythia started it out while I went in to see if I could find a bigger halter. Coffie either has a big head or she's growing. When I got back Aleythia was jumping and after a little bit she was trying to get on. After watching her do this and watching Coffie try to run, I asked Aleythia if she had put her weight on Coffie by putting her elbows over her back. She hadn't... It is important that you don't miss a step in that method. There is a reason for every part of it. Since Aleythia had missed that part Coffie wasn't used to weight on her back at all, so she freaked. After a little while Aleythia just had me do it. Her stomach was hurting after trying to jump on for so long. To help her get used to me jumping onto her back I took the end of my lead rope and flipped it over her back. Not nicely, but not really hard either. After that I just started the method from the beginning and did both sides. I got on on one side and I quit when I was actually laying on her with my feet by her tail. Then Aleythia did the other side. Little tip. If you are having a hard time getting on your horse and are too lazy to go get something to stand on, uneven ground is really helpful. Stand on the higher part of a little divot and try to place your horse lower than yourself. And your horse will probably move and ruin it, but it does help. Then with Dash we reviewed the method and I flipped the rope over her back too. Then the other horses left and I discovered she has a little problem with being alone. She wasn't too bad though. Even with the horses gone I was able to get her to focus on me and I did get on. By the end of the session she was calmer and I was able to lay on her back.
I am excited for tomorrow because if everything works out and we got to the fillies, we will saddle up Frosty! Yay! We're doing it tomorrow because MD wants to watch us saddle the fillies for the first time. We're using Frosty because she is the furthest along. And also because we move them back to the other place on Saturday. There just isn't any grass out there. It got cold:(

Crusin' for a Bruis'n

I guess you could say I have had a fun week. Aleythia got on Dash a few days ago. She moved around a lot more than Frosty did and when Aleythia was laying on her back I think she stayed on a little longer than Dash was ready for so she bucked. It didn't do any harm because all the buck does is push you upright and you land on your feet. We bought a headstall, so the next thing we need to do is measure for a couple of snaffle bits. I took the rope and desensitized Coffie and Toffy to pressure where the sinch would go. We will do the Jeffrey's method with Coffie and Toffy pretty soon here and then we will put saddles on them! Wohoo!
Then a couple days ago I went to the horses and was petting Ana and she just put her head down and I rubbed her with both my hands on either side of her neck, with her nose down by my knee. Then yesterday I went over there and Ana pinned her ears at me when I followed her because she walked away from me when I went to say hello. So I got after her for pinning her ears at me. This resulted in her kicking at me, and me being the kind of person I am-likely to get myself killed-was not in the safest position and her hoof got me right beneath my collar bone... Now before you freak out, I didn't even get a bruise. She was running away from me and I had enough time to notice she was going to kick to slow down a little bit, so I got very little of the force behind the kick... Lucky me... After that Aleythia offered to go get the whip, but it was all the way up in the barn, and I needed something now! There was this handy dandy stick just laying there in the alfalfa field so, I used it. She didn't kick after that. But that got Santana and Misstack running too. What can I say, they got in the way. Ana and Santana had their tails flagged and they were really running. Eventually they figured out that they could run into the paddock and when they were all in, I locked the gate and commenced my work in there. The end result-Ana was facing me and I went to say good job to Santana and Misstack and she rotated her back end away from me when I moved past her head, so that she was always facing me. So cool. Santana eventually learned to face me when he stopped and so did Misstack. I also taught all of them to move their hindquarters over when I approached. It's a work in progress, but they do understand a little bit. I'll just have to make it a priority.
Later Aleythia said that the reason Ana might respect me more than she respects Aleythia is because "your not afraid to get kicked." When Aleythia tried to chase Ana around she just trotted and didn't take her seriously. Ana was constantly looking away. Not with me. She cantered and she didn't look away. I wasn't even using the stick and I got that response out of her. Now don't be stupid like me and put yourself into a position to get kicked. It is a very bad idea. And I am pretty sure you will not like the results of that action. If it's avoidable, avoid it.