Happy Days are Here Again

Awesome day just barely describes it. Aleythia and I took Dash and Coffie out on a trail ride again. This time we didn't have another person, so we went without Santana. It went pretty good. The whole trip was less than two miles. Aleythia got bucked off. Coffie was brilliant. And ya.
Hahaha! I'm sorry. I'll tell you why Aleythia got bucked off.
We were going along, and I was trotting Coffie. Dash was cantering behind me, and all was good and right in the world. We walked for a little ways, then I wanted to canter. Coffie was a jewel and did it very well. Dash started getting faster. Then out-a the blue she starts buckin. Aleythia falls off, I keep cantering. It's just a fall, no biggy. I get Coffie slowed, and stopped. I turn around and I see Dash trotting back towards home, and Aleythia trying to catch her. Ya know what I love about living in a small town? You're bound to run into someone who knows a little about animals. Aleythia comes back with Dash and she said a guy got out of his truck and caught Dash for her. We continued on.
Once again there were a few freak outs, but nothing major. Coffie didn't buck.
Oh one of my other sisters was with us on her rollerblades. When we got back she went into the paddock with her rollerblades on and limped around. Right away Frosty and Toffy come up to her. The rollerblades don't bother them. I told her to go chase Santana. That was entertaining. He was extremely wary of her. The paddock is just barely hard enough to roller blade on. The fillies didn't care if she wheeled around them.
We chilled for a little while and convinced ourselves to go ride the other horses. I rode Misstack and Santana. Misstack was just going around the barrel correctly, and neck reigning. Santana worked very hard. Aleythia had Frosty out and was longeing her because she is really tense about the saddle for some reason. I decided that we would probably get better results if I ponied her off of Santana. We walked, trotted, and cantered. When we cantered I had to let go of the lead rope because she started bucking. By the end of that she was way more relaxed about it. I'll do the same thing tomorrow. Though I'll probably take a lot less time. After all the running around I worked on barrels. I also did poles. He kept predicting where I wanted him to go and as a result was extremely close to the poles. I corrected him by turning him the opposite way he wanted to go every time he did it. He got it. Eventually.
We had Toffy out tied to the trailer and I just wanted to do something simple and be done, so I got on bareback and moved around for a little while.
Aleythia got Ana out too, but didn't ride.
I felt accomplished.

HOME!!

I'm home from Haiti! I fell in love with Haiti. It's gorgeous!!
It's a video sort of day.

 

It's Begun!!!!

It's Begun! I've actually had quite a bit of excitement with riding those fillies. We've started cantering! Just with two of them. I'm just sorry I won't be able to see it to completion. I'm going to Haiti. Just for a week. I'll still miss a lot.
I did get to start it though! And who knows maybe it won't be completely be finished in one week's time. But,..
I cantered Dash and Coffie.
Rundown of that.
Dash I was walking around she was really low key. Just lazy. Then Terry goes, "Take her to the far end of the arena and canter back."
Okay!
So I take her down there, and we trot back. About halfway back I ask her to canter. She does for about two strides and then promptly breaks into bucking. She's bucking and I'm starting to fall. It's weird how fast your brain can process things in times of stress. People describe it like the world slows, but really, your brain speeds up. So as she's bucking and I'm loosing it my brain goes like this. -she's slowing down-if you let go of the reins and grab on for dear life-maybe you won't fall off-
That thought took less than a second and I did it. I dropped the reins, and grabbed for the saddle... I'm hanging off of her side and she stops. I got the impression that she was like what the heck are you doing. I pulled myself back up and off we went.
We trotted around a little more and I made sure she wasn't freaked out. Then we tried it again. I asked her to trot, and halfway back I asked for a canter. She complied. She broke into a beautiful little canter for about three strides, and then trotted into the barn. I was like ya I'll take that, and put her away.
Coffie was brilliant. So I got on and we trotted around, and we were trotting through some dirt that was a little softer than the rest of the paddock, and in an attempt to make it easier she started cantering. Not for very long. Barely a stride, but she did it!
After that I was rounding a turn trotting, heading back towards the barn. I could tell she wanted to go faster, so I asked her too. She did! We cantered straight towards the barn, and hopped right on up.
It was a very nice canter. We maybe covered twenty feet? It was brilliant!
Aleythia is back. I really can't wait to go to camp. It will be so fun to see everyone again!
Aleythia rode Frosty and Toffy.
All that happened Saturday.
Today I went to Terry's, but I left after an hour, because I decided that I should be doing something with my packing.
Aleythia said that she cantered Dash. Dash was totally fine with it.
That's about all I got from her.
Well, I will see ya in a little more than a week.
I'm not sure if Aleythia will blog or not. I told her she should. We'll see.

Brilliant Fillies!!!!

Ya know what a really easy way to get a green horse to canter is? Try trotting toward home. I bet that even if he didn't canter the first time, he eventually would. Horses go faster going home. If you let him know that it was okay to go fast, he would. The one drawback is that then you would have to train it out of him again.  Be prepared to do that.
But the reason that came up is because that's exactly what one of the fillies did. You'll be surprised which one did it too. I asked her to trot towards the barn and she just picked up a nice quick trot, and then broke into a canter for a couple strides. Dash did it. My little scardy cat cantered! Who woulda thought?
Yesterday I let her trot towards the barn, today she cantered. Brilliant little girl.
Ya know what else is exciting! Toffy! I trotted Toffy! No one held onto her lead rope. She trotted and was totally calm about it!
Guess what else! I've been staying on the fillies whenever they have episodes. That or they've been looking to me more on advice. Like today. Terry threw a stick into the middle of the paddock and it took Toffy another second after it hit the grass to decide it was scary. Even then she just jumped away from it. One jump, and then just stood there with an ear cocked.
Those fillies are brilliant!
Coffie is doing great. She trots right away, and turns when I ask.
Frosty needs a little bit more work at the trot. She is stiff tailed about it.
Toffy is brilliant!
Dash is gorgeous!

The Curious Horse Took Over

I have to say. I am impressed.  Dash was brilliant! She was more than brilliant! She acted like she went to shows all the time. Granted she was whinnying on and off, but she wasn't going crazy. The first thing she wanted to do after getting out of the trailer was eat. I lead her around, we watched the games for a little while, walked up a small hill. She was fantastic! I saddled her up got on and followed Santana. When Blacky and Santana had to go run I lead Dash over to them and stood by the gate. We had brought an eight month old pup too and she was enthralled by it. The dog was not quite as enthused.
Terry pointed Dash and me out to someone. I have no idea who he was. That happens a lot to me. I'll be walking to Terry's with Aleythia and we'll pass an older couple and they'll be like, "Hey, aren't you the girls that ride Terry's horses?' and we'll be like, "Yep." I have no idea who you are.
I was just sittin on Dash by the trailer and she was making a general nuisance of herself. Sticking her head into the front of the trailer, watchin the dog, and trying to steal the dog's water. It made me laugh. I threw my sweater onto one of the saddle stands and she didn't blink an eye. Threw my Gatorade into the trailer didn't faze her. Usually horses freak out when you throw something off their back.
Right before we left for home I walked Dash around by herself. I even got her to trot.
I tried to get the dog to lead Dash. She almost did. She grabbed the rope in her mouth and started pulling, and Dash took one step, but then the dog gave up.

Silly Girl

I went to Terry's early. Noon to be exact. It was sprinkling when I left, but I went anyway. I left early because I had a graduation to go to that afternoon and wanted to get the fillies ridden.
Terry and I called the horses in, and this time they came though it took them a while to decide. When they did decide they were really slow about it.
Catching the fillies was really easy like it always is.
I rode Dash first. Actually we longed on the ground for a little bit before I got on. Then I asked Terry to lead her around and she went nice. Then I asked her to go without someone leading. She wasn't quite as willing to do that. I didn't want to scare her, but I think I need to get over being so light with my last cue. Make it hard enough to have some effect, and light enough to not scare the crap out of her. Sound like a plan?
Toffy went really well. We walked around by ourselves. Then Terry longed. She was being a big pain and wasn't trotting. After a little while of her being a pill we just went and got the longe whip. Then she went into a nice little trot. She was very good.  A couple more days and we'll do it on our own.
Coffie was brilliant. She trotted beautifully. She did it when I asked and kept it up.
Frosty was a little less than brilliant. I was walking her around and she kept arching her back. I asked Terry to lead her.
"She keeps arching her back." Terry leads her forward. "There, she did it again."
"That's just the rise in the floor."
"Ya right. You wanna get on and see if it's the 'rise in the floor'?"
Terry longed her too with me on her and she still arched her back. We tried trotting, but she wouldn't do it. We put her away and then I looked at the back cinch.
"How tight was that?" It was loose enough to cause her to worry about it. I think I still might longe her with the back cinch.
We made plans for tomorrow's show. We washed Dash's legs. It was her first time getting a bath. It didn't take too long to get her used to it. Then we walked around. I love that horse. She followed me right in between two trailers with not much more space than two feet. Then backed out calmly.
Terry was filling up the water tank on the horse trailer and he moved the hose which scared Dash a little bit. She spooked a tiny bit and looked at me like, "Don't let it hurt me." Silly girl.

Success Comes in Different Sizes.

Just for the heck of it I'm going to share today in a story format.


The morning came and I didn't go running. Instead I watched Doctor Who. It is very easy to talk yourself out of doing exercise. Two o'clock rolls around and I was set to see what the horses would throw at me today. I go down in the basement, grab my maroon bike, haul it up the stairs and out the back door. It's a little strange, I think, to see someone riding a bike with cowboy boots on.
I roll down that black driveway past the house, the hay barn, the chicken barn, and the trailer; scare one of the fillies out of the barn, park my bike in that dusty barn, and took a deep breath of horse.
Remember that filly I scared out of the barn? Well I went to go say hello to the horses, and there was Coffie, Dash, and Frosty tearing around the pasture and having a good time. Bucking as they raced around. I watched as Coffie raced to catch up with Dash. She was turning, and all the sudden she stumbled! Her feet scrambled for footing, lost the epic battle of gravity and her body slid across the grassy ground. She promptly got up and started running again. I laughed at their antics, happy to be in this place.
Walking out to the horses they look at me and watch my approach. Toffy and Dash come to say hello like they do every time I walk out there. I go around and say hello to all the horses; Santana, Stretch, Misstack, Frosty, Coffie, Strudder, Ana, and left Blacky to graze; she prefers it that way. And all the while Dash follows me, like she always does, vying for attention. The funny thing is though, is that the moment I decide to go back to the barn she stops following me. It's like somehow she knows I no longer intend to stay.
I walk in the front of the barn, walk to the back of the barn, unlock the black and white door, and let it swing outward. Whistling those two notes that let the horses know when to come in, I walk towards the pasture gate. Whiiiiii, whooooo. The horses look at me for a while, but none of them move. I whistle again. Whiiiiii, whooooo. Still, they look at me without moving. Inwardly, I sigh. I guess I'll have to do this the hard way. I go back into the barn and grab three halters; Santana's, Ana's, and Misstack's. Santana is easy to catch. He walks away from me, and I let him. I look at his hindquarters, he swings them away and that's that. He lets me catch him. Ana is quite a bit harder. She has no desire to be caught, and it takes another five minutes for me to do so. I'd get close, and she'd trot away. But I am patient and take my time. Eventually she'll let me catch her. Misstack was about as easy as Santana to catch.
I lead those three back to the barn and try very hard not to get the ropes tangled up as I put them in their pens. As I am finishing up this task the other horses lazily walk into the barn and start wandering around. I get all the horses sorted, but don't worry about Stretch and Blacky. They don't have to stay in a pen if they don't want too. They won't cause any trouble. I bring Misstack, Santana, and Ana out of their pens again and tie them up to the posts on the back wall. I catch the fillies with the no complaint attitude that I always get from them, and tie them up to the posts on the South wall. I look down the row of horses and think, "Seven horses ey, better get started."
It took a little less than an hour to get those three horses caught, and all the others ready too, and to get all the horses brushed with clean feet, sprayed with fly spray, and the tack out and ready to be used.
The barn is quite as the horses stand quietly in their places, knowing that moving around will gain them nothing.
I got Frosty ready and walk out that black and white door on the South wall, next to the back wall. The sun finally decided to show its face while I was in the barn getting ready. I walk Frosty through the barrel and pole pattern. When I finished I get on and ask her to walk. She goes a few feet and stops. I ask again. This pattern repeats itself until we are a further away from the black and white door. Frosty walks with confidence, and strides out. She does not fear the world. I ask her to trot, and she shakes her head. No! she goes. But I insist I tell her. After a little more urging she trots... and then stops. I let her. I want her to be calm, and not stressed too much when we ride. We trot again for a little longer. At the end of the lesson she is trotting almost the entire length of the paddock which is long enough to accommodate room for poles, and not much more room than that.
I put Frosty away and saddle up Ana. She throws her head as I tighten up the cinch. I led her out of the barn, and try to get on as she walks away. I correct her, and try again. This time I am standing in the left stirrup before she starts walking. I do a one rein stop, and swing my leg over. We stand there for a little while. When we started going again, I let her choose the pace. At first it worked. She slowed down sooner without my nagging, then she got hyper. She was bucking when we cantered. Sadly I don't think slapping her does anything to her. She has realized that it doesn't hurt so bad and therefore ignores it. She was tearing around the paddock like your mother on Thanksgiving Day and the relatives are coming! I finally decided that was enough and did one rein stops. I got her walking nice and we stopped and stood there. Terry had pulled up in his truck with the lawn mower sitting in a little trailer behind him. We talked for a little bit about what we'd been doing and I quit with Ana.
Toffy was doing really well. We were just walking around, and I was having a little discussion with myself about whether or not to trot her. Terry had gone and got Frosty and was clipping her feet and I decided to trot her. I called Terry's name and he came walking over.
"Can you longe her while I ride?"
He laughs and says, "We both need each other's help. I need you to hold Frosty for me because she moves around too much so I figured I'd wait until you were done." He goes back and gets the longe line and the whip.
We took off the lead rope hanging from her halter and secured to the saddle horn and I instruct Terry, "When she starts trotting only let her do it for a couple of steps, then pull her slowly and gently towards you. We don't want her to think about it too much. The longer she has to think about it the more time she has to freak out."
Terry asks her to trot, and she does. He slows her down and we pet her and tell her she's a good girl. We ask her to trot one more time and this time we let her trot halfway around the little circle before slowing her down. I slide down and lead her into the barn.
Misstack had gotten ridden this morning, but I rode her anyway. I get on and asked her to do flexing. She is a little stiff, but not too bad. We work on neck reining. I barely move my hand to the left, wait a second, direct rein her to the left as I slide my left leg back and move her hindquarters over. I also work on her enter and exit of the barrel. Sometimes she likes to go too wide, so I circle the barrel until we're closer and take off all pressure from my legs when we get there. Other times she wants to get too close. I push her out a little bit with my inside leg. She is very inconsistent with the barrels. When I finish I do flexing again before I get off and take her into the barn.
I get Coffie and lead her through the barrels and poles. I lead all the fillies through the barrels and poles. Mostly we do trotting. We are on the South end of the paddock and I ask her to trot. Then a couple birds dive out of a tree and she spooks away from them. My heart skips half a beat, but I calmly pull gently on the reins to the right, which is where she wants to go anyway. She settles down and we start walking again. We trot, and her trot is beautiful. She does it so easily and without worry. We trot a little more, farther than Frosty did, and call it good.
I saddle up Santana and Dash. Terry brings out Dash while I bring out Santana, and holds onto Dash while I ride Santana. I work on neck reining. He's not too bad at it. It just needs a little fine tuning. I work with him on his turns around the barrel like I did with Misstack too. I ask him to turn the third barrel, and he shoots out of that turn bucking. I turn him and do a one rein stop. I do the barrel pattern one more time before going and getting Dash from Terry. Dash is wearing a back cinch and has had the most trouble with it. That's most of the reason why we haven't been riding her. We've been longing and ponying trying to get her as used to that back cinch as possible before we get on. We walked for a little while and then trotted. One thing I love about Santana is that he doesn't care were the other horse is. It doesn't bother him. That's why I use him for ponying. That and he's one of our only horses that can neck rein decently. I get off Santana, and get on Dash. Terry leads her around and she's totally fine with it. Tomorrow I might add walking alone to it.
We tie Santana and Dash back up to their posts, unsaddle and put the tack away. By this time it is six o'clock. We undo the halters from the horses and watch as they run outside, around the back of the barn, and through the pasture gate. It was a good day.

For Crying Out Loud!

I was going to go kayaking this morning, but that didn't happen because it was cloudy. Not very fun for kayaking. Ya know what else I didn't do today. Not wear a sweater. Seriously it's JUNE for crying out loud! ...for crying out loud... where does that come from.. It doesn't even make a whole lot of sense. (Say that line over again in Mary's voice from Lord of The Rings)
So I wore a sweater for crying out loud.... Talking about things that can be used for many different things; try to use "I'm sorry you feel that way" as often as you can. You will be surprised how often that line can be used. It's really quite amusing for crying out loud.
I am not ADD for crying out loud!
I rode Toffy! We just walked around. I didn't feel like putting myself in unnecessary danger for crying out loud, so we just walked. She did great. I can't remember if I said this before, but she has quit flinching every time we put the saddle on. She is also really responsive to the bit. I barely pick up the reins and she tucks her head. It's awesome for crying out loud!!
Hahaha! I know what the title of this post is going to be!
I also led the fillies through the barrel and pole pattern.
Coffie was great too. She was a bit like, "Walking is stupid, let's trot." It was okay though. I let her do it because she was turning when I asked her too. She was listening for crying out loud. She also didn't feel like she was going to buck me off.
Frosty; trotting: It was really interesting. I would ask her to trot, and after a few feet she would arch her back, I would say, "Easy girl," and she would stop trotting and relax. But that's not the point for crying out loud. The point is I think I could have said anything, as long as I wanted her to slow down really badly. I could have said, "Your grandma makes awful cookies," and as long as my body and mind was focused on her settling down, she would have settled down.
I ponied Dash off of Santana. We trotted once. She did alright. I lunged her before hand.
Santana is freaking out over the stupidest things. Like I'll bring the bridle up to his face, or get on him. It is really annoying, and I have no idea why he's doing it for crying out loud.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

I feel like I'm on a roll. I haven't gotten bucked off and I have been riding consistently sense Friday of last week.
I rode Frosty and Coffie today.
Did trotting with Frosty. I feel like I should work on being able to trot for five minutes before I canter. Talking about cantering. The last time the farrier was in the area he said he would show us an easy way to get the fillies to canter.... but he was in a rush. He'll be in the area again this weekend. Terry's brother wanted to know when he would be in the area again so that he could do his horses so Terry called him, and I told Terry to tell him that he needed to show me how to get the fillies to canter. I'm really excited.
The farrier, Craig is his first name... I don't know his last name, is quite a character.
Coffie did pretty good. We just walked. Ya know I really don't know why I stayed off her for so long. It's not like she did anything wrong. I think it might have had something to do with her flinching when I rub the brush at a certain place on her back. She's not bad. I can't remember if I have ever ridden her with a back cinch before though.
I rode Misstack! Britney had ridden her this morning (I could tell because the saddle stirrups were changed) but I figured it wouldn't kill her to be ridden again. I didn't do too much. We worked on neck reining, one rein stops at the walk, trot, and canter, flexing at the poll, and backing up. I didn't spend to much time on any one of those things.
We have a Sunday show to go to! The horses were taking are; Misstack, Santana, Blacky, and Dash. It should prove entertaining.
Santana did well too. Mostly worked on neck reining in a snaffle. I'll have to put up how to teach that. Then I ponied Toffy with him. We trotted around, and I really wish Santana was better at neck reining in a snaffle so that I could hold onto her lead rope without interfering with my directions to Santana. Toffy did well. She kept up most of the time. I was going to pony Dash off of Santana too, but that didn't happen.
Terry went and longed her beforehand to see if she would freak out at the back cinch which she did. She wouldn't longe very well though. She was basically side passing  a circle. She was afraid of the string on the end of the whip. Silly horsey.

I'm kinda really glad I at least have some room to work inside the barn on crappy days.
It was raining, so I worked with the fillies in the front part of the barn.
Before I got there Terry's grandson was working with them on leading. Like in a halter class. Dash is really good at it. Every time she stops she squares her feet.
On account of the rain we didn't use Santana as a lead horse. I did trot Frosty anyway. Somehow she learned that she could get more comfortable by just stopping. Which, I must say, is very nice. It means she doesn't get to the bucking part as easily.
With the other three I got on bareback, and Terry led them. After that I put a saddle on, longed all of them but Toffy, got on and Terry led them around again. I longed Dash and Coffie, because I'm still not sure they are totally okay with the back cinch.
Dash is now quite fine with someone getting on bareback. Heck we can even get on from a bucket. That did take a little bit more work though.
We've decided to take Frosty and Dash to the fair. Terry's grandsons will do halter classes with them, and Aleythia and I will do the riding.
Terry wants to go to a Sunday show and take Misstack, Santana, and two fillies. He'll see what Britney is doing and see if she wants to ride Misstack, and Terry's grandson will ride Santana. The fillies are just there for the experience. If either of those two don't show up I'll ride their horse. I really do want to ride Misstack in a show. Terry says that taking the fillies won't be a problem because they tie so well. They don't worry about being left alone.
Ya know I think the reason Misstack doesn't trust me is because I'm very inconsistent with her. I ride her when I feel like it. The fillies are all gung ho about anything we ask them to do. Every time I see them I ride, or at least most of the time I ride. With Misstack it depends on how much gumption I have. I really need to ride her. Maybe the Sunday shows will give me a little incentive to do so.
Why do they have to have shows on Sunday? That is a very inconvenient day. Some of us have Church to go to! Why can't they put it on Saturday? Nobody does anything Saturday anyway. Lest not in the Summer anyhow.

Highlight - She Turned!

Well... Sunday didn't go as planned. Stuff got in the way. Derned Stuff. Why does he have to go an do that?
Today went pretty well though. I got to Terry's at two and helped him out at another farm, the airport farm. Not to be confused with the Rosen farm where we kept the fillies. The airport farm is right behind the airport. We took the extra tires off the tractor, and once again I can't remember what it's called. I feel like it starts with a d. We threw away a bunch of window panes and found some woodchuck holes. We also threw away some tires. Terry's brother was helping too. Did I ever tell you guys hat Terry's brother broke four ribs falling off of his new horse Toots? See what happened was he was riding Toots while ponying Flicka and you know Flicka she needs to be the boss so she bit Toots. Toots bucked, he fell off and broke four ribs. Toots stopped the moment he was on the ground and stayed with him. She used to be a 4-H horse. She's quite sturdy lookin. She rides good too. That's what I've been hearin anyway.
Oh I saw MD at the wedding Saturday and we talked and she said the reason she didn't come to watch was because she had to work late. She gave Aleythia and I her number so that the next time we attempt to canter we can give her a call.
I also met another horse person at the wedding. Name's Amy. I was asking her about getting the fillies to canter and she said to try doing it in a straight line because they might have trouble getting under themselves and balancing with a rider on a circle. So straight line. She also said to teach them one-rein stops, which she called "e-breaks", which I should have done anyway.
So today when we were done workin at the airport farm we went back home and got a couple horses. Terry's grandson was there and he rode Santana while I rode Frosty. I rode behind Santana almost like a lead horse and she did just fine. She was really plowin though. She felt comfortable and steady. We trotted together and she was fine. She stopped once and I let her catch up which was when she bucked. Surprisingly I just turned her and she did a neat little bucking circle, stopped, and we went away again. Her back was still arched so we went to the shade, stopped, I got off, and took a break.
I am designating the shade the safe spot. So we'll stop there every time we go around and to calm her down.
I got back on a little bit later and we walked around some more. She was wringing her tail at first, but after a little while she relaxed and started being solid again. I got off of her after that.
I went and got Toffy and saddled her up, took her out, desensitized to the barrels. I just think that that would be a very stupid thing to get bucked off for because you go around the barrels, nock it over, and your horse freaks. Stupid. After the barrels Terry's grandson got on, and sat there. She was alright. We even walked. Totally fine. We didn't go too far though. Got off when we reached the safe spot.
After that Terry's grandson and I went and got Dash and Coffie. I worked with Dash first. Before I put the saddle on I gave Terry's grandson a leg up onto her back and he sat up there for a little while. Such an improvement to when we first did it. Either Terry's grandson or me got on bareback and moved around before we put the saddle on with all the fillies.
So I still wasn't sure how Dash would react to cantering with a back cinch. So I did that. Ya, glad I did that. I'll do it again tomorrow. I had the long loenge whip and I was flinging it all over her and I flung it under her belly and she freaked. A couple more times and she was fine. I got on and sat there while Terry held her. I did pretty much the same thing with Coffie. She just needed to be reminded that I can get her to do stuff. The long with was nice for that.
We're going to try and get the fillies to follow Santana and see if that gives them a little bit of confidence. It seemed to give Frosty some... not that she needs anymore. We'll trot Frosty next to him and walk the other three.

May 31st

Yesterday we worked on cantering Frosty. It didn't go too bad. Basically I spent 15 minutes on the ground doing ground work. I did cantering, and all that stuff. When she was walking nicely Aleythia got on. For the next little while we just trotted around. Basically in that little while I taught her that in order to be more comfortable all she had to do was slow down. If I got her into a gait and she slowed down I didn't worry about it. I figured that the sooner she choose to get out of a canter the better. She also choose a spot in our circle as her safe spot and would stop every time we came to that spot. That was perfectly fine with me. It might save us some trouble. You could teach your horse to have a safe spot. When he gets a little uncomfortable just stop him in that spot and let him relax. And then I asked for a canter. It took a little bit, and she cantered one stride before doing a little hop and stopping. We tried one more time to get her to canter, and she maybe did half a stride before slowing down. I think part of the reason she was a little uncomfortable was because the saddle was coming up onto her withers. I think that when we go over there today we'll get Ana's lighter saddle and see if that makes a difference.

We didn't canter with Coffie. She just felt way too nervous. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too cautious and really don't have to worry about it. Compliments of getting bucked off of Toffy one to many times. For example I rode Santana yesterday, and when I put my foot in the stirrup he started bucking. After doing a little bit of ground work I got back on again and walked around for a little bit. I wanted him to trot, but I was worried about it. What if he bucks? What if I fall off?
Geez I don't remember ever having problems with that. I wasn't afraid to get bucked off. I could stay on Santana when he bucked. Sometimes I fell off, sometimes I didn't. With the fillies I'm worried that when I do something with them that puts me in a vulnerable position that something will scare them and they will start bucking. It's not okay. It's not okay for my confidence to fall off every time the fillies buck. I think if I could stay on just a few of their bucking fits that would really help, but I haven't been able too. With Santana I new that turning him would work. With the fillies they just lean against the pressure and buck harder. I half wonder if I just left the reins alone and let them stop on their own if they would. I wonder how long I could stay on. I just don't have enough fortification to let them do that though. I would love to see what happens if I didn't do anything to hamper them from bucking. It's not like anything I do works anyway.
But I rode Santana today so that I could pony Toffy and Dash. I trotted with Frosty and walked with Dash. Both of them were pretty good. Toffy kept up, and Dash had a little bit of trouble with that, but she got better. It's funny. When I stop when ponying, Santana will swing his hindquarters out so that he's in front of the horse we're leading. It's kinda nice.
Today I want to try cantering Frosty again, and ride the other three. With Toffy I think we'll lead her around for a little bit than lunge. I think that we really just need to start riding her again. She doesn't feel so tense when we sit on her anymore.
If we're going to go today it has to be in the morning. I think we'll leave at ten and get back by one. We have a wedding to go to at three!