Let's see. It's been a little while. The weather has been awful, and that makes it really hard to ride. We had one really nice 40 degree day a couple weeks ago and Aleythia and I went and made a snowman in the paddock, just to see what the horses would do. Ana decided his head didn't look good that way and started to eat it. I have pictures, but I'm too lazy to get them on the computer. The horses all crowded around it and one of the fillies decided it would make a good hoof rester. Ya Mr. snowman was dead in twenty minutes. And we went a couple more times in the last few weeks, but I can't remember those. Saturday we rode! We are working with Ana on something. Ana responds really well to voice and body language. The two combined can usually get a result, but it's mostly just voice. So Aleythia has been lungeing her and telling her in a really slow calm voice "slow walk" or "slow trot" and then uses a different voice to see if she can't get her to go faster too. Saturday Aleythia rode and I lunged. It was amazing. Ana is brilliant. We could get her to do these slow mincing little steps at the walk. Trotting was a little harder because when we tell her to slow down she wanted to go back to the walk, but she did definitely go slower. It's a huge improvement. The fillies are doing good. They are just getting so big! We aren't doing a whole lot with them. Right now all we really want them to learn is neck reigning. If it was warmer I would be doing tons of trail rides, but it's no fun when it's always below ten degrees.
Ya know what's the problem with growing horses? Saddles don't fit! It helps to shimmy them up with like a towel or something in the front, but sometimes it doesn't work. Especially with Frosty. Aleythia was riding and the saddle pretty much slipped forward on to Frosty's neck. She didn't like that and bucked. So I think that until she levels out we're just going to ride her bareback.
Sunday we went to Holly's and rode her horses. I rode Olly bareback! It was so much fun! I think I have better balance when I'm bareback because I don't have the saddle to rely on. We did trotting, and cantering, and even a little jumping. He was such a good boy. Holly thinks he moves better without a saddle. I rode him for two hours, bouncy trot and all. I. am. sore. And to top it all off he has a pointy back. That started to hurt after two hours. Whenever I go to Holly's my goal is to get sore. It means I'm actually doing something. I'm working on muscles I don't normally get a chance to work on because I'm training. It's nice not to have to train and just concentrate on your own riding.
Showing posts with label Ana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ana. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Friday, November 15, 2013
Beautiful Things
I have had the best time with my horses and other people's horses. Last Sunday Aleythia and I went to Holly's to ride and we worked on position. One of the exercises was to stand up in your stirrups above your pommel and stay there. The end goal is to be able to do that at all three gaits. It's quite the leg workout. I don't know how long I did it, but the next couple days I was really sore. Another exercise we did was to start trotting: sit two strides, post one, and repeat. Then do the opposite: sit one stride, stand for two. The third exercise was impossible. You were supposed to go into two-point and bend at the waist and try to bend to your horse's neck. I. can't. do. that. After those exercises there was an immediate difference in how secure I was in the saddle. Then I tried sitting Oly's trot... It's a work in process. Like always we did a little bit of jumping and I jumped Oly over two jumps right in a row. There is a name for it, but I don't know it. He would jump the first one and would immediately have to jump again without taking another stride. It was so much fun!!! I rode T too. Bareback. And we jumped bareback. The jump was only about two feet or so. Probably less. That was fun too.
Tuesday Aleythia and I went to ride our own horses. We only had time to ride one horse. I rode Misstack and Aleythia rode Ana. I wanted to see if Misstack would do contact... she can. She might not be real good at it, but she can definitely do it. This is what she can do. She figured it out at the end.
Tuesday Aleythia and I went to ride our own horses. We only had time to ride one horse. I rode Misstack and Aleythia rode Ana. I wanted to see if Misstack would do contact... she can. She might not be real good at it, but she can definitely do it. This is what she can do. She figured it out at the end.
The walking finally clicked for Ana. It's so cool. She finally gets it. It still needs work, but she is so much better! Wednesday we discovered that she is now a Cadillac. Terry got the chiropractor to come out and he adjusted her hip. It is such an improvement in her canter. Usually her canter is jarring, hurts your back, and makes you look like a fist year rider. Now she has that canter that Terry always said she had when he was riding her. She just needs to slow it down. So here's a before and after.
before
after
Thursday I rode Santana and tried to sit it trot without stirrups.... I could. I love it!
Today we went with Holly to her dressage lesson and I realized how little I know about the position of a horse. Like dropping the shoulder, being stiff, ect. My dressage vocabulary has greatly expanded. The highlight of that was riding Rosa. She is such a powerful horse. It is so different to ride her than any horse I have ever ridden. I don't really even know how to describe it. She has the most beautiful gaits. I love that horse... who wouldn't.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Poems: Never Said I was Good
The day started with the young ones...
and ended with the older ones
The fillies were great
The trail ride was fate
We trotted a lot
and my shoulders are shot
Misstack and Ana were part of the game
It was windy but they never lost their brain
I'll stop with this rhyme
It takes too much time....
And that shows you just how much skill I have writing rhymes. I kinda don't feel like writing too much, but I'll say that Toffy has improved. She is a whole lot more trusting of what I ask her.
Misstack and Ana's trail ride went pretty well. We went on a trotting trail ride to see what it would do for Ana. She walked so nice the first mile and then we asked her to trot and she got hyper. We also cantered so the whole way back she was prancing. We were half a mile from home, crossing a road and she walked. Aleythia promptly got off.
Oh one other thing Terry said that yes to keeping the foal at his place for training.
and ended with the older ones
The fillies were great
The trail ride was fate
We trotted a lot
and my shoulders are shot
Misstack and Ana were part of the game
It was windy but they never lost their brain
I'll stop with this rhyme
It takes too much time....
And that shows you just how much skill I have writing rhymes. I kinda don't feel like writing too much, but I'll say that Toffy has improved. She is a whole lot more trusting of what I ask her.
Misstack and Ana's trail ride went pretty well. We went on a trotting trail ride to see what it would do for Ana. She walked so nice the first mile and then we asked her to trot and she got hyper. We also cantered so the whole way back she was prancing. We were half a mile from home, crossing a road and she walked. Aleythia promptly got off.
Oh one other thing Terry said that yes to keeping the foal at his place for training.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Messin' 'Round
Well, I was able to ride three horses yesterday. Unfortunately it's getting dark to fast! I started with Ana, then Coffie, then Toffy.
I gently threw the saddle on Ana because she throws her head up whenever I put it on and slide it off (she needs to go to the chiropractor, which is probably why she doesn't want to canter. I did mention it to Terry, but he's harvesting so it will be about a week before we can get her over there). When I went to get on her she started to walk off before I even got a foot in the stirrup, so I, very aggressively, wacked her butt around... she stood quite nicely. I thought about cantering her, but she was already way to eager to go, so I kept it at a walk for a little bit, working on neck reining and pulling her head to my foot whenever she went faster than I wanted. Then I asked her to trot. Oh she loved that. I have never had a horse so willing to go forward. She went over the jump nicely though, but apparently she doesn't see fit to actually jump such a lowly object.
I calmly asked her to walk, which as to be expected she didn't do for very long, so I pulled her head to my foot, stopped, and stood there for a bit. Again I asked her to walk and she did the same thing, so I pulled her head to my foot, stopped, and stood there. I asked her to walk again, but when she started getting like lets go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word,
"Easy," I sad and she's like okay, I can relax, walking isn't bad. She walks calmly for about 20 feet then; let's go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word.
"Easy."
Okay, I like walking.... let's go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word.
"Easy."... I did this for about five minutes not once pulling back on the reins. Each time she settled down into a nice walk.
"Woah," I said, breathed out, and sank into the saddle. She stopped I got off and we were all hunkey-dorey.
When I worked with Coffie I did groundwork because I wanted to see if she would enjoy being ridden more if I spanked her hind end a little bit. You should have seen the rollback she did when I lunged her! It was a sight to see! Spinnin' on a dime like no other.
At the end I trotted her over the jump; she did a beautiful jump....with her front end. Then with the laziest attitude ever walked over it with her back feet. *sigh Nobody can say I didn't try.
I rode Toffy; mostly trying to get her to go over a metal ladder. I led her over it first. Then rode her over it. Both times she was a perfect little doll. It took a little convincing to get her to go over the first time, but she did it.
The third time she stepped on the opposite side of the ladder with her back feet and it smacked her on the back feet. You'll never guess what she did... yeah, jumped forward as if the world was going to end. I went over it again, with Terry standing on it. She nimbly jumped over the dang thing which I was not ready for. I stayed on, but Terry still laughed.
I tried it again and for some reason or another she spooked before she even stepped over. A 180 degree pinwheel turn was executed. Guess what my chiropractor told me NOT to do...fall off. Guess what I did...fall off. In my defense my back was bugging me all day, so falling off didn't make it much worse.
So, that was my day. For all you horse riders out there I would highly suggest getting you and your horse to a chiropractor at least once a year. Even if you don't think there's anything wrong go anyway. All that falling off your horse is NOT good for your back. See I went in for my lower back and found out that between my shoulder blades was worse than my lower back. I didn't even know that part of my back was messed up, but on further consideration I figured out that I'd had that problem for about four years maybe more, but I'd just put it off as the woes of playing violin. So, go to the chiropractor. You'll be glad you did.
I gently threw the saddle on Ana because she throws her head up whenever I put it on and slide it off (she needs to go to the chiropractor, which is probably why she doesn't want to canter. I did mention it to Terry, but he's harvesting so it will be about a week before we can get her over there). When I went to get on her she started to walk off before I even got a foot in the stirrup, so I, very aggressively, wacked her butt around... she stood quite nicely. I thought about cantering her, but she was already way to eager to go, so I kept it at a walk for a little bit, working on neck reining and pulling her head to my foot whenever she went faster than I wanted. Then I asked her to trot. Oh she loved that. I have never had a horse so willing to go forward. She went over the jump nicely though, but apparently she doesn't see fit to actually jump such a lowly object.
I calmly asked her to walk, which as to be expected she didn't do for very long, so I pulled her head to my foot, stopped, and stood there for a bit. Again I asked her to walk and she did the same thing, so I pulled her head to my foot, stopped, and stood there. I asked her to walk again, but when she started getting like lets go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word,
"Easy," I sad and she's like okay, I can relax, walking isn't bad. She walks calmly for about 20 feet then; let's go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word.
"Easy."
Okay, I like walking.... let's go faster, I want to go faster, faster is my favorite word.
"Easy."... I did this for about five minutes not once pulling back on the reins. Each time she settled down into a nice walk.
"Woah," I said, breathed out, and sank into the saddle. She stopped I got off and we were all hunkey-dorey.
When I worked with Coffie I did groundwork because I wanted to see if she would enjoy being ridden more if I spanked her hind end a little bit. You should have seen the rollback she did when I lunged her! It was a sight to see! Spinnin' on a dime like no other.
At the end I trotted her over the jump; she did a beautiful jump....with her front end. Then with the laziest attitude ever walked over it with her back feet. *sigh Nobody can say I didn't try.
I rode Toffy; mostly trying to get her to go over a metal ladder. I led her over it first. Then rode her over it. Both times she was a perfect little doll. It took a little convincing to get her to go over the first time, but she did it.
The third time she stepped on the opposite side of the ladder with her back feet and it smacked her on the back feet. You'll never guess what she did... yeah, jumped forward as if the world was going to end. I went over it again, with Terry standing on it. She nimbly jumped over the dang thing which I was not ready for. I stayed on, but Terry still laughed.
I tried it again and for some reason or another she spooked before she even stepped over. A 180 degree pinwheel turn was executed. Guess what my chiropractor told me NOT to do...fall off. Guess what I did...fall off. In my defense my back was bugging me all day, so falling off didn't make it much worse.
So, that was my day. For all you horse riders out there I would highly suggest getting you and your horse to a chiropractor at least once a year. Even if you don't think there's anything wrong go anyway. All that falling off your horse is NOT good for your back. See I went in for my lower back and found out that between my shoulder blades was worse than my lower back. I didn't even know that part of my back was messed up, but on further consideration I figured out that I'd had that problem for about four years maybe more, but I'd just put it off as the woes of playing violin. So, go to the chiropractor. You'll be glad you did.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Ziggidey Zaggidy
So I can't remember how many times I've gone to Terry's this past week, and not blogged about it. So I'll just tell you what we're working on.
With the fillies we are starting to train the barrel and poles. Which means that we are getting control of their hindquarters, ribcage, shoulders, and head and neck. Which you should do with any discipline. We will also start doing more trails.
Toffy is lame. We have no idea why or where. Something is wrong with her left front that causes her to do an awkward step where she brings her knee in and then her leg goes out and she lands on the outside of her hoof first. Next time the farrier comes out we'll see if he can do some corrective trimming.
With Misstack it is mostly working on her turns around the barrel. I want to get control of her shoulders, so I am doing rollbacks into the fence. Her turns are getting better.
Santana just needs to be ridden.
Ana: working on the walk an trot. She seriously needs to get ridden more often. *cough-aleythia-cough*
We rode HM's horses this last Sunday. It was fun. We did jumping. I love jumping. One thing we talked about was picking a speed in an arena, and keeping that speed. You let the horse go wherever he wants, you just gotta make sure he stays in one speed. If he goes into a corner, kick him out of it. He'll learn pretty quick how to get outta that corner. You can help him out a little bit though. Otherwise LEAVE THE REINS ALONE!! This will help the horse physically and mentally. The physically is that you'll be trotting for quite some time. Mentally it will help him to listen to your commands and do them until you say other wise. It will also help the rider to zig when the horse zigs, and zag when the horse zags.
Just something to consider
With the fillies we are starting to train the barrel and poles. Which means that we are getting control of their hindquarters, ribcage, shoulders, and head and neck. Which you should do with any discipline. We will also start doing more trails.
Toffy is lame. We have no idea why or where. Something is wrong with her left front that causes her to do an awkward step where she brings her knee in and then her leg goes out and she lands on the outside of her hoof first. Next time the farrier comes out we'll see if he can do some corrective trimming.
With Misstack it is mostly working on her turns around the barrel. I want to get control of her shoulders, so I am doing rollbacks into the fence. Her turns are getting better.
Santana just needs to be ridden.
Ana: working on the walk an trot. She seriously needs to get ridden more often. *cough-aleythia-cough*
We rode HM's horses this last Sunday. It was fun. We did jumping. I love jumping. One thing we talked about was picking a speed in an arena, and keeping that speed. You let the horse go wherever he wants, you just gotta make sure he stays in one speed. If he goes into a corner, kick him out of it. He'll learn pretty quick how to get outta that corner. You can help him out a little bit though. Otherwise LEAVE THE REINS ALONE!! This will help the horse physically and mentally. The physically is that you'll be trotting for quite some time. Mentally it will help him to listen to your commands and do them until you say other wise. It will also help the rider to zig when the horse zigs, and zag when the horse zags.
Just something to consider
Saturday, June 29, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, June 7, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Trail Ride with H/Day 10
I am so far behind in reading blogs, that I don't even want to start. It's pathetic.
So the trail ride with H.
We took Ana and Santana out on the first trail ride of the year. I was kinda worried about how they would act. I hadn't ridden Santana in a couple weeks, and I have only ridden Ana a couple of times sense last summer.
We worked them in the paddock for a little while and Ana was doing pretty good. As was Santana. We got going, and headed for the other side of town where we kept the fillies for the summer. It was probably a little over a mile, and it took an hour to get there. Seriously that's lame. But, I had to remind Ana that she couldn't trot on her own whim, so I did one rein stops. So we got to Terry's brother's place, and the train came by. I was trying to get Ana to listen to me, but she wasn't taking any notice of the rope I slapped against her rump. She was running me over, not listening, and generally being disrespectful. I acquired a whip. I got her to move nicely backwards. She turned when I asked, and didn't run me over. The Rosen Farm (Terry's brother's place) is on a dirt road that leads down to a dam. So we went down there. I was getting tired of Ana's energy so there was this nice hill (dirt that was pushed in a pile and hadn't been moved in a while so grass was growing on it) that was moderately steep. I went up and down that thing for a little while and that seemed to help, but she still wasn't done. We went down a path that was next to and above the dam and it turned into a small grassy area. I let Ana go any speed she wanted. We also met a small group of little kids that wanted to pet the horsies. Of course we couldn't refuse. They just petted Santana though. Ana wouldn't stand still long enough.
We headed back towards the "hill" and ended up cantering. When we got back to the dirt road the Rosen Farm was on I just let Ana gallop. H was behind me with Santana and she let him gallop too. It wasn't even a competition. It was a total cream. Santana just shot by Ana like she was standing still. H had fun though. She said her horses don't go that fast.
I figured something out about Ana that trip. She likes contact with the bit. It's so weird. I have always thought that she didn't. I don't even know how I came to that conclusion.
The whole way there she wasn't consistent in speed, she would have failed a drug test, and wasn't listening. On the way home, when I kept contact with the bit she tucked her head, went slow (read trotted really slow), went straight, and was listening. She sped up or slowed down with very little encouragement. She never really walked, but she did do as I asked. I wanted to see if she would sidepass too. I put my leg against her side, and she took four neat little steps sideways. She did it the other way too. I had to show H too. She walked calmly past the scary water and didn't even care about the man holes. She amazes me sometimes.
We met more people who wanted to pet the horses too. Santana got petted. Ana wouldn't stand still. But the little kids were so cute. A woman was holding a little boy, and he slowly reached his hand out and touched Ana, snatched his hand away and giggled excitedly. It was so cute!
Today with the fillies I caught them all and brought them in from the alfalfa field. It took two trips. I was hoping that Dash and Toffy would follow, but once they realized I didn't have a hold of their lead ropes, they were like "skrew this" So it took two trips instead of one.
It was really funny when I fist went out there to say hello. All the fillies came up and said hello, and the big horses followed. So a herd of horses, clumped together were converging on my position. It made me laugh.
Terry and I set out a blanket in the back pen and proceeded to try to get the fillies to walk over it. Toffy would have nothing to do with it. Terry eventually went and got Frosty. Terry led Frosty over to the blanket, and she walked right on over it, without so much as batting an eye. I was like what the heck! Totally not fair!
We ended up putting the blanket next to the barn so Toffy couldn't get around it and I led both horses across... eventually.
Dash was pretty okay with it too. Coffie freaked out though. But after she went and smelled it I was able to lead her across without too much trouble.
And that was about all we did.
Pretty exciting stuff.
So the trail ride with H.
We took Ana and Santana out on the first trail ride of the year. I was kinda worried about how they would act. I hadn't ridden Santana in a couple weeks, and I have only ridden Ana a couple of times sense last summer.
We worked them in the paddock for a little while and Ana was doing pretty good. As was Santana. We got going, and headed for the other side of town where we kept the fillies for the summer. It was probably a little over a mile, and it took an hour to get there. Seriously that's lame. But, I had to remind Ana that she couldn't trot on her own whim, so I did one rein stops. So we got to Terry's brother's place, and the train came by. I was trying to get Ana to listen to me, but she wasn't taking any notice of the rope I slapped against her rump. She was running me over, not listening, and generally being disrespectful. I acquired a whip. I got her to move nicely backwards. She turned when I asked, and didn't run me over. The Rosen Farm (Terry's brother's place) is on a dirt road that leads down to a dam. So we went down there. I was getting tired of Ana's energy so there was this nice hill (dirt that was pushed in a pile and hadn't been moved in a while so grass was growing on it) that was moderately steep. I went up and down that thing for a little while and that seemed to help, but she still wasn't done. We went down a path that was next to and above the dam and it turned into a small grassy area. I let Ana go any speed she wanted. We also met a small group of little kids that wanted to pet the horsies. Of course we couldn't refuse. They just petted Santana though. Ana wouldn't stand still long enough.
We headed back towards the "hill" and ended up cantering. When we got back to the dirt road the Rosen Farm was on I just let Ana gallop. H was behind me with Santana and she let him gallop too. It wasn't even a competition. It was a total cream. Santana just shot by Ana like she was standing still. H had fun though. She said her horses don't go that fast.
I figured something out about Ana that trip. She likes contact with the bit. It's so weird. I have always thought that she didn't. I don't even know how I came to that conclusion.
The whole way there she wasn't consistent in speed, she would have failed a drug test, and wasn't listening. On the way home, when I kept contact with the bit she tucked her head, went slow (read trotted really slow), went straight, and was listening. She sped up or slowed down with very little encouragement. She never really walked, but she did do as I asked. I wanted to see if she would sidepass too. I put my leg against her side, and she took four neat little steps sideways. She did it the other way too. I had to show H too. She walked calmly past the scary water and didn't even care about the man holes. She amazes me sometimes.
We met more people who wanted to pet the horses too. Santana got petted. Ana wouldn't stand still. But the little kids were so cute. A woman was holding a little boy, and he slowly reached his hand out and touched Ana, snatched his hand away and giggled excitedly. It was so cute!
Today with the fillies I caught them all and brought them in from the alfalfa field. It took two trips. I was hoping that Dash and Toffy would follow, but once they realized I didn't have a hold of their lead ropes, they were like "skrew this" So it took two trips instead of one.
It was really funny when I fist went out there to say hello. All the fillies came up and said hello, and the big horses followed. So a herd of horses, clumped together were converging on my position. It made me laugh.
Terry and I set out a blanket in the back pen and proceeded to try to get the fillies to walk over it. Toffy would have nothing to do with it. Terry eventually went and got Frosty. Terry led Frosty over to the blanket, and she walked right on over it, without so much as batting an eye. I was like what the heck! Totally not fair!
We ended up putting the blanket next to the barn so Toffy couldn't get around it and I led both horses across... eventually.
Dash was pretty okay with it too. Coffie freaked out though. But after she went and smelled it I was able to lead her across without too much trouble.
And that was about all we did.
Pretty exciting stuff.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Day 3
So I decided to do something different today and just do videos. Actually it was more of a spurr of the moment thing.
If the videos don't work, try reloading the page.
I have no idea if these will work, but there ya go.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
I Love Warm Weather!
I walk in the house after just returning from working with horses and the first thing I get is "Go take a bath!" Is that a familiar line to anyone else?
Personally I love the smell.
We worked with seven horses today, but we didn't ride any of the fillies. Which for some reason I was under the impression that we did.
Dash is getting a little bit better about the plastic bag. I can shake it next to her and she's alright. When I first started I made the mistake of trying to touch her neck with the bag. Ya, not a good idea. She freaked out. I couldn't hold onto the rope because she was turned away from me and bucking. I got a little bit of a rope burn, but it doesn't hurt anymore.
So we decided that instead of us trying to desensitize her and taking a good hour to just get her to stand it being shaken next to her we would tie plastic bags all around the paddock. Were thinking every two posts. Though I'll still desensitize her with the plastic bags myself. It took a really long time yesterday. I think the chemicals in her brain aren't working correctly or are working really slowly.
We put the fillies in the trailer too. All of them but Coffie anyway. Aleythia did ground work with Coffie. Aleythia rode Ana too. Ana has a stop button that works!
Dash went into the trailer like a pro and didn't even care about being stuck between the dividers. Frosty was fine with it too. Toffy was not. She wouldn't go in. With a little encouragement she did go in.... then she wouldn't come out. She was looking at the ground like, "If I can't touch it with my nose I'm not stepping down."
She did eventually come down. When I brought Misstack in after my ride. She bumped over the gate sitting on the ground, got freaked, jumped across the gate and ran to her buddies tied to the far wall. Toffy jumped out after her.
Misstack did really well on her ride. I worked on neck reining. Basically I would trot her towards an object with intent. I kept my reins in one hand and didn't pick up the other one until it was necessary. If she deviated from that course I would give her my cue to go back with neck reining and if she missed that cue I would turn her in the opposite direction she went. One thing to stress is that the circle is just a circle and is not a correction. If you think it's a correction you'll tend to get harsh with the bit. I would give her the lightest cue possible. When I wanted her to turn around and go back to the place I started at I would look over my shoulder at that place and ask with my neck rein. If she didn't do it I would disengage her hindquarters until she was facing the direction I wanted her to go.
I did the same thing with Santana. And also stuff from what I did the last time I rode.
And both horses bucked on me.
I cantered Santana a little bit too. And did one rein stops at the canter. Let's just say it needs work.
And the best part of that whole day... I wore a sweater all day!
Personally I love the smell.
We worked with seven horses today, but we didn't ride any of the fillies. Which for some reason I was under the impression that we did.
Dash is getting a little bit better about the plastic bag. I can shake it next to her and she's alright. When I first started I made the mistake of trying to touch her neck with the bag. Ya, not a good idea. She freaked out. I couldn't hold onto the rope because she was turned away from me and bucking. I got a little bit of a rope burn, but it doesn't hurt anymore.
So we decided that instead of us trying to desensitize her and taking a good hour to just get her to stand it being shaken next to her we would tie plastic bags all around the paddock. Were thinking every two posts. Though I'll still desensitize her with the plastic bags myself. It took a really long time yesterday. I think the chemicals in her brain aren't working correctly or are working really slowly.
We put the fillies in the trailer too. All of them but Coffie anyway. Aleythia did ground work with Coffie. Aleythia rode Ana too. Ana has a stop button that works!
Dash went into the trailer like a pro and didn't even care about being stuck between the dividers. Frosty was fine with it too. Toffy was not. She wouldn't go in. With a little encouragement she did go in.... then she wouldn't come out. She was looking at the ground like, "If I can't touch it with my nose I'm not stepping down."
Misstack did really well on her ride. I worked on neck reining. Basically I would trot her towards an object with intent. I kept my reins in one hand and didn't pick up the other one until it was necessary. If she deviated from that course I would give her my cue to go back with neck reining and if she missed that cue I would turn her in the opposite direction she went. One thing to stress is that the circle is just a circle and is not a correction. If you think it's a correction you'll tend to get harsh with the bit. I would give her the lightest cue possible. When I wanted her to turn around and go back to the place I started at I would look over my shoulder at that place and ask with my neck rein. If she didn't do it I would disengage her hindquarters until she was facing the direction I wanted her to go.
I did the same thing with Santana. And also stuff from what I did the last time I rode.
And both horses bucked on me.
I cantered Santana a little bit too. And did one rein stops at the canter. Let's just say it needs work.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Aye, Yi, Yi
I'll start with.... Dash needs help...
What Aleythia and I talked about doing with the fillies... We decided that we need to do more desensitizing with Dash. We think that maybe we're taking it a little bit too fast and she's just not quite ready. We'll still ride, but we'll desensitize before and after riding.
Proof.... I decided that I would just work on desensitizing Dash to the plastic bag so that we would have more time to work on getting all the other horses done. It didn't help. I walked Dash through gate in the barn and bent down to pick up the plastic bag. She flipped out! She bolted in the opposite direction and started bucking right next to and running into all the other horses who were tied up. So we had a bunch of slightly crazed horses. Dash stopped bucking, but now all the other horses were a little riled up. For the next hour I worked on desensitizing. I wasn't able to get her to walk forward to follow the bag. I just stood there lightly shaking the bag.... six feet away. And that's about as close as I got... In an hour... So, guess what I'll be doing for the next week.
Aleythia rode Ana, and I'll let her tell you about that... if I can convince her to write...er.. type. I asked her too and she didn't seem totally apposed. We'll see.
She worked with one horse and then didn't have gumption to do the others. She did work with Frosty while I rode Misstack. So here we have Frosty's reaction to the plastic bag.
Big difference from Dash ain't it.
Misstack is getting quite a bit better at flexing. She doesn't turn every time I do it, and she's lighter. She does put her head down to brace against it sometimes though. It'll get better.
I convinced Aleythia to desensitize Frosty while I rode Coffie. I desensitized to the plastic bag first and it didn't take long. I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get bucked off when Aleythia started waving it around.
I also rode Santana. He did pretty good. He's getting pretty good at flexing while trotting in a circle. I love it. He just feels so light and ready to do what I ask. It can definitely improve, but it is definitely better than what it was.
So that was my horse training day. We worked with seven horses in three hours.
One thing I'm not too excited about is when I get a job. I'll be running in the morning, working, and then riding seven horses, sometimes nine. The last two come in when I'll be helping a friend train her horse, Patches, and if I can, retrain Flicka. Fun right? I suppose I'll get used to it. But man the first couple weeks of that are going to be awful.
What Aleythia and I talked about doing with the fillies... We decided that we need to do more desensitizing with Dash. We think that maybe we're taking it a little bit too fast and she's just not quite ready. We'll still ride, but we'll desensitize before and after riding.
Proof.... I decided that I would just work on desensitizing Dash to the plastic bag so that we would have more time to work on getting all the other horses done. It didn't help. I walked Dash through gate in the barn and bent down to pick up the plastic bag. She flipped out! She bolted in the opposite direction and started bucking right next to and running into all the other horses who were tied up. So we had a bunch of slightly crazed horses. Dash stopped bucking, but now all the other horses were a little riled up. For the next hour I worked on desensitizing. I wasn't able to get her to walk forward to follow the bag. I just stood there lightly shaking the bag.... six feet away. And that's about as close as I got... In an hour... So, guess what I'll be doing for the next week.
Aleythia rode Ana, and I'll let her tell you about that... if I can convince her to write...er.. type. I asked her too and she didn't seem totally apposed. We'll see.
She worked with one horse and then didn't have gumption to do the others. She did work with Frosty while I rode Misstack. So here we have Frosty's reaction to the plastic bag.
Misstack is getting quite a bit better at flexing. She doesn't turn every time I do it, and she's lighter. She does put her head down to brace against it sometimes though. It'll get better.
I convinced Aleythia to desensitize Frosty while I rode Coffie. I desensitized to the plastic bag first and it didn't take long. I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get bucked off when Aleythia started waving it around.
I also rode Santana. He did pretty good. He's getting pretty good at flexing while trotting in a circle. I love it. He just feels so light and ready to do what I ask. It can definitely improve, but it is definitely better than what it was.
So that was my horse training day. We worked with seven horses in three hours.
One thing I'm not too excited about is when I get a job. I'll be running in the morning, working, and then riding seven horses, sometimes nine. The last two come in when I'll be helping a friend train her horse, Patches, and if I can, retrain Flicka. Fun right? I suppose I'll get used to it. But man the first couple weeks of that are going to be awful.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Smart Little Fiend
She never ceases to amaze me. Oh what a smart little cookie. What a little fiend. She knew what would happen.
Aleythia went to Terry's and rode Ana. I wish I could get her to write this, but she just doesn't want to. Aleythia said...
Ana was a pain. She was hyper had her head in the air and you could tell she wasn't listening. So Aleythia did one reign stops. Slowly Ana wiggled her way towards the barn. One reign stop, go, one reign stop, go, one reign stop, go....
Ana had finally reached her destination. Three feet from the barn she stopped trying to go, lowered her head, and cocked an ear...
Aleythia went to Terry's and rode Ana. I wish I could get her to write this, but she just doesn't want to. Aleythia said...
Ana was a pain. She was hyper had her head in the air and you could tell she wasn't listening. So Aleythia did one reign stops. Slowly Ana wiggled her way towards the barn. One reign stop, go, one reign stop, go, one reign stop, go....
Ana had finally reached her destination. Three feet from the barn she stopped trying to go, lowered her head, and cocked an ear...
Friday, December 28, 2012
Cowgirls Dont Cry Part II
So, lets see...
I thought of another thing with Santana.
I was in the paddock with all the other horses and I think I wanted Santana to stand still when I walked up to him to say hello. You see he would always walk away with a very unpleasant expression on his face. Like he wanted to be left alone.
Well when he started walking away I followed him and then he turned around and bit me. Oooh he got it. I was lucky in the fact that it was the middle of winter so I was wearing my winter coat. I didn't realize until I got home that he had actually torn my jacket. So, now there's a cute little horsey right where the tear is. I actually don't have that coat anymore though.
That story reminds me of Flicka.
I was in her stall doing who knows what and all the sudden she lays her ears back and bites me. Curious how I've only been bit by a horse when I'm wearing a coat. I slapped her nose good and hard for that. Never had a problem sense. Ya know almost all the baby horsies have to try that on you at least once. A few of the fillies have tried it, but it wasn't very hard and a slap on the nose gets them over it real quick.
Flicka also tried to kick me once. I was with Aleythia and a boy who was in the same class as me. Fifth grade maybe? Well, we were out in the alfalfa field and I have no idea why but Flick bucked out at me. It never came in contact but I felt the air of her hoof flying past my face.
I also remember falling off Flicka riding bareback and I think Aleythia was leading her. I think we were leading her away from the horses and by that time she had learned that we couldn't keep her from running away so she bucked me off and ran back to the herd. That's the only time I can ever remember falling off Flicka.
Blacky was always fun. She was the first horse I ever rode and man was she a handful. It took some muscles to get her to slow down. She has always worn a hackmore and she definitely tried to get away with as much as she could. I probably fell of her much more often than I can remember. The only one I can remember though is because of her saddle. She wore a little pony saddle and it didn't really fit that well. Cinch it up as tight as you want it'll still end up crocked. It never helped that she had a lot of hair either. I was riding along and the saddle was slipping. I fell off because I couldn't get the saddle upright again and she ran off with the saddle upsidown on her back. That's one of the reasons we want the fillies used to the saddle beneath them. It's less dangerous if there at least not afraid of the saddle beneath them.
We've had trouble with Ana's saddle doing the same thing. We've tried almost four of our saddles on her and maybe this last one is finally gunna work. Before that the saddle would always slip. Cantering was the worst. I've never fallen off because of it, but man it could get pretty far.
Have I ever told you how scary Ana is to ride bareback? Seriously. So first you're riding this horse that doesn't really have breaks and has very little concern for you falling off. Her trot is floaty. It's really nice to watch not so much to ride bareback. Once you master it though it it a lot of fun. The first time I tried riding her bareback outside was really scary. All she wanted to do was trot and I was not ready for that. I just did an emergency dismount and went back in the barn to ride. I've done that dismount maybe twice.
There was one time I was riding her in the pasture and I was having a really bad time. So, finally I just let her go. We were heading back to the barn and she just ran. It rivaled Santana. And it would have been fun if I hadn't of felt like I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. My seat was pricarious and adrenalin was just pumping through me like electricity. Heightened by the fact that we were running straight towards the barn wall and I wasn't sure how I would get her throught that tiny little gate back into the paddock without killing myself. I was also underneath trees and some of those branches were low. It was alright because I think when we were really close to that wall she slowed down a tinsey little bit and I was able to turn her and avoid going through that stupid little gate.
And then there's Misstack. I've been bucked off by her once, but oh can I tell you about the stories of what she's done to other people.
The one time she bucked me off is one you probably already know. I was trailriding with Aleythia and Aleythia's horse, Ana, wanted to go faster. Of course. I didn't want Misstack to go faster though and she did. Not a good combination. It resulted in her getting into a trot, me pulling back, and then her bucking. I hit the ground on my back. Got up and walked around a little bit. That was not a good feeling. I was fine though so I gave Misstack a little bit of a lesson in manners and got back on.
She also doesn't like it when I ask her for a sharp turn when she wants to gallop. She bucked then too. I stayed on though.
Another thing she did was when my older brother came to ride. I saddled up three horses for him. Misstack included. She was a doll actually. She didn't do anything stupid and she was actually really nice. I figured she would be. If she's in a familiar place she's a perfect little angel. Sorta. Well my older brother suggested that we ride double. We were in the barn and so I was like what the heck. He got on behind me and we started walking. Have you ever gotten that little voice in your head that says you should quit something. Well, I got it right then. And guess what? I ignored it. What a stupid little child. Three seconds later Misstack bucked and my brother fell off... and he landed on his feet. Who does that?! Well, I told him he had to get back on so he did and she bucked again after a few steps. This cycle went on at least five more times. Then my brother had the idea to try a little monkey in the tree. We have this rope in the barn just for that purpose and I agreed if not a little hesitantly. It definiteley did not end well. My brother had gotten a hold of the rope and Misstack freaked out because of the rope. She didn't buck but she did back up. Really quickly. Jorgen got back on one more time and this time I didn't ask Misstack to move. We ended there. Always Listen To Your Little Voice! Terry was not happy when I told him about it. I know what I should have done instead though. I should have just got my brother on once, stood still, and then left it that way. It's what I did with Santana. He takes a second rider, at the walk anyway, just fine.
This was with Terry's granddaughter. She was going to go to a parade with Misstack so she trailrode over to the parade. One problem. It was Misstack's first trailride. Remember how I keep tellin ya that Misstack's a nut job? Well this is what happened. She was maybe halfway to the parade and Misstack freaked. She bucked her rider off and then jumped into a barbed wire fence. And then ran home. Terry's granddaughter got a broken wrist. Misstack got a gash on her front leg right above the hoof. There is now a patch there that doesn't have any hair.
Another thing Misstack did wih the same rider was at fair time three years ago. They got into the arena and probably got into the canter and then Misstack exploded. Terry's granddaughter ended up with big bruises on the inside of her legs. Man that girl can buck. I've seen her after she's been cooped up in the barn for a while. She starts bucking. Seriously she jumps into the air from a standstill. All four feet off the ground. And that's the horse I want to ride in an upcoming show. Fun. Actually, I do think it will be fun. Go right ahead, call me crazy.
I seriously think God's been watching out for me though. I hadn't realized how many close calls I've had. I've never broken anything riding horses. I've never worn a helmet either.
I'm sorry if this discourages anyone from ever riding again. Horses do happen to be unpredictable creatures and there is no such thing as a bomb proof horse. I personally have found horses to be extremely rewarding. So, if you're willing to take on the danger of riding horses enjoy it with every thing you've got. The joy I have had riding rivals almost anything else.
I thought of another thing with Santana.
I was in the paddock with all the other horses and I think I wanted Santana to stand still when I walked up to him to say hello. You see he would always walk away with a very unpleasant expression on his face. Like he wanted to be left alone.
Well when he started walking away I followed him and then he turned around and bit me. Oooh he got it. I was lucky in the fact that it was the middle of winter so I was wearing my winter coat. I didn't realize until I got home that he had actually torn my jacket. So, now there's a cute little horsey right where the tear is. I actually don't have that coat anymore though.
That story reminds me of Flicka.
I was in her stall doing who knows what and all the sudden she lays her ears back and bites me. Curious how I've only been bit by a horse when I'm wearing a coat. I slapped her nose good and hard for that. Never had a problem sense. Ya know almost all the baby horsies have to try that on you at least once. A few of the fillies have tried it, but it wasn't very hard and a slap on the nose gets them over it real quick.
Flicka also tried to kick me once. I was with Aleythia and a boy who was in the same class as me. Fifth grade maybe? Well, we were out in the alfalfa field and I have no idea why but Flick bucked out at me. It never came in contact but I felt the air of her hoof flying past my face.
I also remember falling off Flicka riding bareback and I think Aleythia was leading her. I think we were leading her away from the horses and by that time she had learned that we couldn't keep her from running away so she bucked me off and ran back to the herd. That's the only time I can ever remember falling off Flicka.
Blacky was always fun. She was the first horse I ever rode and man was she a handful. It took some muscles to get her to slow down. She has always worn a hackmore and she definitely tried to get away with as much as she could. I probably fell of her much more often than I can remember. The only one I can remember though is because of her saddle. She wore a little pony saddle and it didn't really fit that well. Cinch it up as tight as you want it'll still end up crocked. It never helped that she had a lot of hair either. I was riding along and the saddle was slipping. I fell off because I couldn't get the saddle upright again and she ran off with the saddle upsidown on her back. That's one of the reasons we want the fillies used to the saddle beneath them. It's less dangerous if there at least not afraid of the saddle beneath them.
We've had trouble with Ana's saddle doing the same thing. We've tried almost four of our saddles on her and maybe this last one is finally gunna work. Before that the saddle would always slip. Cantering was the worst. I've never fallen off because of it, but man it could get pretty far.
Have I ever told you how scary Ana is to ride bareback? Seriously. So first you're riding this horse that doesn't really have breaks and has very little concern for you falling off. Her trot is floaty. It's really nice to watch not so much to ride bareback. Once you master it though it it a lot of fun. The first time I tried riding her bareback outside was really scary. All she wanted to do was trot and I was not ready for that. I just did an emergency dismount and went back in the barn to ride. I've done that dismount maybe twice.
There was one time I was riding her in the pasture and I was having a really bad time. So, finally I just let her go. We were heading back to the barn and she just ran. It rivaled Santana. And it would have been fun if I hadn't of felt like I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. My seat was pricarious and adrenalin was just pumping through me like electricity. Heightened by the fact that we were running straight towards the barn wall and I wasn't sure how I would get her throught that tiny little gate back into the paddock without killing myself. I was also underneath trees and some of those branches were low. It was alright because I think when we were really close to that wall she slowed down a tinsey little bit and I was able to turn her and avoid going through that stupid little gate.
And then there's Misstack. I've been bucked off by her once, but oh can I tell you about the stories of what she's done to other people.
The one time she bucked me off is one you probably already know. I was trailriding with Aleythia and Aleythia's horse, Ana, wanted to go faster. Of course. I didn't want Misstack to go faster though and she did. Not a good combination. It resulted in her getting into a trot, me pulling back, and then her bucking. I hit the ground on my back. Got up and walked around a little bit. That was not a good feeling. I was fine though so I gave Misstack a little bit of a lesson in manners and got back on.
She also doesn't like it when I ask her for a sharp turn when she wants to gallop. She bucked then too. I stayed on though.
Another thing she did was when my older brother came to ride. I saddled up three horses for him. Misstack included. She was a doll actually. She didn't do anything stupid and she was actually really nice. I figured she would be. If she's in a familiar place she's a perfect little angel. Sorta. Well my older brother suggested that we ride double. We were in the barn and so I was like what the heck. He got on behind me and we started walking. Have you ever gotten that little voice in your head that says you should quit something. Well, I got it right then. And guess what? I ignored it. What a stupid little child. Three seconds later Misstack bucked and my brother fell off... and he landed on his feet. Who does that?! Well, I told him he had to get back on so he did and she bucked again after a few steps. This cycle went on at least five more times. Then my brother had the idea to try a little monkey in the tree. We have this rope in the barn just for that purpose and I agreed if not a little hesitantly. It definiteley did not end well. My brother had gotten a hold of the rope and Misstack freaked out because of the rope. She didn't buck but she did back up. Really quickly. Jorgen got back on one more time and this time I didn't ask Misstack to move. We ended there. Always Listen To Your Little Voice! Terry was not happy when I told him about it. I know what I should have done instead though. I should have just got my brother on once, stood still, and then left it that way. It's what I did with Santana. He takes a second rider, at the walk anyway, just fine.
This was with Terry's granddaughter. She was going to go to a parade with Misstack so she trailrode over to the parade. One problem. It was Misstack's first trailride. Remember how I keep tellin ya that Misstack's a nut job? Well this is what happened. She was maybe halfway to the parade and Misstack freaked. She bucked her rider off and then jumped into a barbed wire fence. And then ran home. Terry's granddaughter got a broken wrist. Misstack got a gash on her front leg right above the hoof. There is now a patch there that doesn't have any hair.
Another thing Misstack did wih the same rider was at fair time three years ago. They got into the arena and probably got into the canter and then Misstack exploded. Terry's granddaughter ended up with big bruises on the inside of her legs. Man that girl can buck. I've seen her after she's been cooped up in the barn for a while. She starts bucking. Seriously she jumps into the air from a standstill. All four feet off the ground. And that's the horse I want to ride in an upcoming show. Fun. Actually, I do think it will be fun. Go right ahead, call me crazy.
I seriously think God's been watching out for me though. I hadn't realized how many close calls I've had. I've never broken anything riding horses. I've never worn a helmet either.
I'm sorry if this discourages anyone from ever riding again. Horses do happen to be unpredictable creatures and there is no such thing as a bomb proof horse. I personally have found horses to be extremely rewarding. So, if you're willing to take on the danger of riding horses enjoy it with every thing you've got. The joy I have had riding rivals almost anything else.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Get Over It.
Mwahhaha! You'll never guess what I did today! And I'm not gunna tell you until I go through the other stuff first. Mwahahaha!
So, Aleythia rode Ana bareback
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And I guess she was pretty good.
While Aleythia rode Ana I was driving Coffie. Nothing exiting going on there... she only bucked twice... ok, ok. I had asked her to trot and we we trotted a little ways and then she bucked. Lucky for me I was far enough away that she didn't get me. Hmm I have quite a few close calls with horses... But anyway... Aleythia said that her buck looked pretty. I didn't really do anything because I was kinda surprised. I mean seriously why would she buck?
The next time I asked her to trot she bucked again. This time I had more space between me and her. So she trotted... few steps later.... BUCK! So in the split second it took for me to look at her I processed that I had reins in my hands... that were across her back... so, I used them. Took my end of the reins and slapped the rein against her butt. I think she was kinda surprised, but she didn't buck after that.
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So, Aleythia rode Ana bareback
Do you see that white stuff? It's called snow, and we finally got it!
And I guess she was pretty good.
While Aleythia rode Ana I was driving Coffie. Nothing exiting going on there... she only bucked twice... ok, ok. I had asked her to trot and we we trotted a little ways and then she bucked. Lucky for me I was far enough away that she didn't get me. Hmm I have quite a few close calls with horses... But anyway... Aleythia said that her buck looked pretty. I didn't really do anything because I was kinda surprised. I mean seriously why would she buck?
The next time I asked her to trot she bucked again. This time I had more space between me and her. So she trotted... few steps later.... BUCK! So in the split second it took for me to look at her I processed that I had reins in my hands... that were across her back... so, I used them. Took my end of the reins and slapped the rein against her butt. I think she was kinda surprised, but she didn't buck after that.
Does this look like an evil horsy?
Never.
This is the "scab" that coffie has on her back. It was were she had ringworm. It's flaky. We don't think that it's ringworm.
I rode Santana bareback. I do believe that I am sorta getting how to ride his trot. A little tip. Don't hold onto the horse's mane. I couldn't use his mane because I was riding him in a snaffle with two reins, so I rode two handed. For some reason it pulls you more off balance than it helps. What you need to do when riding a horse's trot is sit back on your jean pockets. If you lean forward at all you'll loose your balance.
And as long as were on the topic of tips... if you're gunna get cowboy boots and you live in an area that gets ice don't get a smoothe soled boot. You'll regret it, like me. This will become the story of your life... you step on anything that has a slant and there you are on your butt. Another thing. Corral boots are not the best thing to do work in. Standing for more than 10 minutes? Absolutley not. The next time I get boots I will get a square toe, traction on the soles, and a lower heel.
He looks pudgy :/
And now the grand finale!!!!
I rode Misstack BAREBACK!
The idea of riding Misstack bareback scared me. I mean I don't know what she'll do and I have no desire to get bucked off. She doesn't like someone riding double. Like seriously she doesn't. She bucked my brother off.
So because of experiences with Santana and getting on bareback... (I'll tell story's a little later), I took my hand and did a drum roll on her back. Terry gave me a leg up and I just layed over her back on my stomach. Then I swung my leg over. I did flexing and it was fun! I kinda felt secure on her back. Another goal checked off.
So, about the story with Santana.
Well, I bridled him up and asked Terry for a leg up. He swung me up there and I landed on Santana's back... BUCK, BUCK! Fun right? I actually can't even remember if I stayed on. And another time I had him tied up to our trailer and I just went to rotating on his back. I was on him side saddle and I was gunna swing my foot over his back. Well, when he felt my foot on his back he arched his back like he was gunna buck. And being the semi stupid kid I did it again. So I was on him backwards and then... he bucked... sufficed to say I do remember how that ended. Not with me on. And the only thing I got was a big bruise on my elbow. One of my close calls.
On one of those boring days I will have to make a post reminiscing on all the close calls I've had.
Monday, December 17, 2012
15 Minutes of Awesomeness
So I got the second video up. Click this to see it. I especially liked the video because it showed that Ana is still hyper. You can see she wants to go, but she still stands. We have basically taught her a different way to stop and she has learned it quite well.
If there is anything on the video that doesn't make sense please ask me about it. Sometimes I'll explain something to Aleythia and she gets what I mean even if it doesn't make sense to the rest of the world.
I rode Santana and it was an extremely short ride. I'd say less than 10 minutes. I just worked on getting him to do one reign stops while walking. He was doing really good and I was getting a little cold so, I called it good.
I ground drove Toffy and Frosty out in the paddock.
Toffy was pretty good she is shaking her head less and her back ups are awesome! I'll pick up on the reins and say back. She'll tuck her nose and back and I can't really feel the pressure on the reins.
Frosty though wasn't very good. She started out fine and then after a few times of stopping she refused to back up. It was getting dark and I spent the next half hour working with her anyway. I did flexing with her and she took forever to stop leaning on the bit. When she finally did get it it wasn't too bad after that. The other side wasn't bad either. So I did some more driving with her. And she really didn't want to go beyond a certain point in the paddock when I pointed her towards the pasture fence. She did to better after that. Her stopping was better than when we began and so was her backing up. I led her back into the barn and she kept looking behind her towards the pasture and running in front of me. I couldn't see anything, but it might have been why she didn't want to go towards the pasture.
Aleythia worked with Dash and Coffie and she just did ground work with them. She thinks that once a week we need to go back and review the ground work. I think that would probably be a good idea. It will help them to get better at the ground work.
If there is anything on the video that doesn't make sense please ask me about it. Sometimes I'll explain something to Aleythia and she gets what I mean even if it doesn't make sense to the rest of the world.
I rode Santana and it was an extremely short ride. I'd say less than 10 minutes. I just worked on getting him to do one reign stops while walking. He was doing really good and I was getting a little cold so, I called it good.
I ground drove Toffy and Frosty out in the paddock.
Toffy was pretty good she is shaking her head less and her back ups are awesome! I'll pick up on the reins and say back. She'll tuck her nose and back and I can't really feel the pressure on the reins.
Frosty though wasn't very good. She started out fine and then after a few times of stopping she refused to back up. It was getting dark and I spent the next half hour working with her anyway. I did flexing with her and she took forever to stop leaning on the bit. When she finally did get it it wasn't too bad after that. The other side wasn't bad either. So I did some more driving with her. And she really didn't want to go beyond a certain point in the paddock when I pointed her towards the pasture fence. She did to better after that. Her stopping was better than when we began and so was her backing up. I led her back into the barn and she kept looking behind her towards the pasture and running in front of me. I couldn't see anything, but it might have been why she didn't want to go towards the pasture.
Aleythia worked with Dash and Coffie and she just did ground work with them. She thinks that once a week we need to go back and review the ground work. I think that would probably be a good idea. It will help them to get better at the ground work.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Ana's Improvement
Ana in the summer of 2011... I think...
Aleythia is riding Ana in this video. Ana has two gaits. Canter and Trot. I think we got her desire to canter out of the way so now she just wants to trot. And now she has one more. WOAH!!! It's great.
I'll get another video on this post, but I just wanted to see if the video worked.
Finally. Here it is!
I'll get another video on this post, but I just wanted to see if the video worked.
Finally. Here it is!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Love it!!
Do you know how happy one thing of doing nothing makes me? Yep, it's pretty awesome. Ana stood still...
I caught Ana in her stall and led her to the trailer. I brushed her with a metal curry comb and then a hard brush. Every time she moved I moved her back. I put Misstack's bridle on her and her black saddle with a blue saddle pad, and swung up. She layed her ears back at me when I moved around so, I moved around more. Eventually she stopped pinning her ears at me so I undid the halter around her neck. And we just sat there. After a little while I asked her to walk. When we were in the more open section of the barn I asked her to flex her head to the side. A few times of that and I knew that she was just gunna stand there. So I let her. Whenever I thought she was even remotely close to moving I pulled her nose to my foot. So I probably rode her for 15 min and we moved twice. And each time I had asked her to. Once to get her away from any wall and another to figure out whether or not she was faking me out. Perfect little girl.
I think I will cross out getting Ana to stand still in my goals.
The other horses didn't do to bad either.
I'll start getting Santana to flex to a stop from walking and trotting and Misstack's a little better with her flexing, but I'm going to perfect it a little while more before I start riding.
I desensitized Frosty to a cat food bag while driving and I just used a halter for that.
Dash had some bridling issues and I fixed those, Coffie didn't want to stand still, so I worked on it. She needs quite a bit more work.
Toffy is still flinging her head when she feels the pull of the bit, but stops pretty good and does a really nice back up.
So, I am proud to say that I worked with all seven horses today.
I caught Ana in her stall and led her to the trailer. I brushed her with a metal curry comb and then a hard brush. Every time she moved I moved her back. I put Misstack's bridle on her and her black saddle with a blue saddle pad, and swung up. She layed her ears back at me when I moved around so, I moved around more. Eventually she stopped pinning her ears at me so I undid the halter around her neck. And we just sat there. After a little while I asked her to walk. When we were in the more open section of the barn I asked her to flex her head to the side. A few times of that and I knew that she was just gunna stand there. So I let her. Whenever I thought she was even remotely close to moving I pulled her nose to my foot. So I probably rode her for 15 min and we moved twice. And each time I had asked her to. Once to get her away from any wall and another to figure out whether or not she was faking me out. Perfect little girl.
I think I will cross out getting Ana to stand still in my goals.
The other horses didn't do to bad either.
I'll start getting Santana to flex to a stop from walking and trotting and Misstack's a little better with her flexing, but I'm going to perfect it a little while more before I start riding.
I desensitized Frosty to a cat food bag while driving and I just used a halter for that.
Dash had some bridling issues and I fixed those, Coffie didn't want to stand still, so I worked on it. She needs quite a bit more work.
Toffy is still flinging her head when she feels the pull of the bit, but stops pretty good and does a really nice back up.
So, I am proud to say that I worked with all seven horses today.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Stupid Titles...
So, my first thought is.... What do you do with a horse that has been abused, and doesn't take real well to round penning? So, my real question is to round pen, or to not?
I think that if you take the time to get that horse used to people like doing quite a bit of desensitizing to objects, round penning shouldn't be a problem.
This isn't for me, just something I read in uncatchable number 257
I think there's a bird stuck in my window... yep, I suppose I should fix that...
It was stuck between two glass panes. It did get out again, and we pushed up the window pane so that there wasn't a gap.
Well a little filly update. I drove Dash in a bit, or rather Terry did. She wasn't too bad for the first time. I had her flex in the bridle first so that she knew to give to the pressure and she was getting it.
Toffy is doing really well in the bit. She still does a little bit of the head flinging when she feels the pressure of the bit, but it's not too bad. Her stops are beautiful. I have a feeling that she will have a great sliding stop. Backing up is getting better. She'll fling her head maybe twice, tuck her head, and back up a few steps. It doesn't take much.
Then Ana... Well yesterday Aleythia spent more than half an hour just putting the bridle on. She didn't like it when Aleythia put her hand under her chin or over her nose, so she worked on that. After that when she got the bridle on she did one reign stops. Aleythia stopped when Ana stood still for almost 20 seconds. Woot woot!!!
Misstack is getting better with flexing, but she still has problems paying attention to me. It is getting better. She flexes a lot better on her right side than her left. Her right side is almost like what Santana does. Once she gets flexing down consistently I will ride. She's got everything accomplished other than that. Which reminds me I should look on that DVD on barrel racing as to what I am supposed to do after they can do everything on a loose rein.
I think that if you take the time to get that horse used to people like doing quite a bit of desensitizing to objects, round penning shouldn't be a problem.
This isn't for me, just something I read in uncatchable number 257
I think there's a bird stuck in my window... yep, I suppose I should fix that...
It was stuck between two glass panes. It did get out again, and we pushed up the window pane so that there wasn't a gap.
Well a little filly update. I drove Dash in a bit, or rather Terry did. She wasn't too bad for the first time. I had her flex in the bridle first so that she knew to give to the pressure and she was getting it.
Toffy is doing really well in the bit. She still does a little bit of the head flinging when she feels the pressure of the bit, but it's not too bad. Her stops are beautiful. I have a feeling that she will have a great sliding stop. Backing up is getting better. She'll fling her head maybe twice, tuck her head, and back up a few steps. It doesn't take much.
Then Ana... Well yesterday Aleythia spent more than half an hour just putting the bridle on. She didn't like it when Aleythia put her hand under her chin or over her nose, so she worked on that. After that when she got the bridle on she did one reign stops. Aleythia stopped when Ana stood still for almost 20 seconds. Woot woot!!!
Misstack is getting better with flexing, but she still has problems paying attention to me. It is getting better. She flexes a lot better on her right side than her left. Her right side is almost like what Santana does. Once she gets flexing down consistently I will ride. She's got everything accomplished other than that. Which reminds me I should look on that DVD on barrel racing as to what I am supposed to do after they can do everything on a loose rein.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Improvement is Welcomed
I wish I woulda worked with Misstack. I did everyone else, all six, except her. And she's the one who probably needed it the most. But I will go work with them tomorrow. I never go on Wednesdays. I have church, my student leadership meeting, and my quintet practice. And on top of all that I have school to go to. And tomorrow I have to be at church at 3:30 to help decorate a few signs for our Christmas play. So, I worked ahead in school. I have to skip the student leadership meeting and my quintet practice. And I will go to Terry's around 11:30. By the way I am home schooled, but I have one class at my high school, which is FFA, and I do plan to go back to the high school. So, if you want to know what's involved with homeschooling just ask.
I am actually really happy that I was able to work with Ana today. When I first got her out when I wanted her to back up, she was s-l-o-w. So, I grabbed the whip and whacked her a couple times. She backed up pretty nice. I made her move those feet as quickly as she could. After that I saddled her up, got on, and did one rein stops the entire half hour that I rode her. And she wasn't really good at it.
While I was riding I explained to Terry why we did one rein stops. And that was kinda fun. He likes to know why we do what we do.
Near the end of my training session I would flex her head to one side, let loose when she did it, then dare her to move. I just sat there and then right before I felt she would move I would flex to the other side and repeat. She was really good at flexing by the end. She leaves her head vertical to the ground when I flex her head from side to side. And she does it right away. Beautiful girl.
Frosty is getting extremely good at driving in the bridle. She stops really well. One problem I have come across in driving these fillies, is that when we start walking outside they don't listen to me very well. So, I either get them really good at driving in the barn and then go out or drive outside anyway and get them used to driving in unfamiliar places. Hmm. I think I like the latter better. Oh and I'm thinking that Toffy could probably be put in a bit and that Frosty could pull something. The other two need a lot more work.
With Santana I think that I will start riding him and only do one rein stops for a while. And I'll keep working with Misstack on the ground until she gets better at flexing. (sigh)
I am actually really happy that I was able to work with Ana today. When I first got her out when I wanted her to back up, she was s-l-o-w. So, I grabbed the whip and whacked her a couple times. She backed up pretty nice. I made her move those feet as quickly as she could. After that I saddled her up, got on, and did one rein stops the entire half hour that I rode her. And she wasn't really good at it.
While I was riding I explained to Terry why we did one rein stops. And that was kinda fun. He likes to know why we do what we do.
Near the end of my training session I would flex her head to one side, let loose when she did it, then dare her to move. I just sat there and then right before I felt she would move I would flex to the other side and repeat. She was really good at flexing by the end. She leaves her head vertical to the ground when I flex her head from side to side. And she does it right away. Beautiful girl.
Frosty is getting extremely good at driving in the bridle. She stops really well. One problem I have come across in driving these fillies, is that when we start walking outside they don't listen to me very well. So, I either get them really good at driving in the barn and then go out or drive outside anyway and get them used to driving in unfamiliar places. Hmm. I think I like the latter better. Oh and I'm thinking that Toffy could probably be put in a bit and that Frosty could pull something. The other two need a lot more work.
With Santana I think that I will start riding him and only do one rein stops for a while. And I'll keep working with Misstack on the ground until she gets better at flexing. (sigh)
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Practice Makes Perfect
Ok, I wish it weren't true, but it is. Practice does make perfect. But that means I could spend a whole week on just one thing. Like Misstack is awful at flexing. She just totally leans against the halter. She is a prime example of why nylon halters can be a problem when training. She is actually the only one too. All the other horses are great at it. But she seems to think that the halter is a pillow. My goal - To get Misstack to understand that leaning on the halter is not very comfortable. How? By every time she leans against it I'm going to bump her with halter. She knows felxing so she doesn't have that excuse to hide behind. She is just being a pain. When we do flexing she looks at everything. Her mind wanders. She doesn't focus on me. I can see it in how she resists the pressure of the halter and when she does flex, she does it, but halfheartedly.
I got after quite a bit today. She kicked at me once and she got a whack on the but with the whip for it and was all around being a general pain.
And because we felt lazy we didn't really work with the fillies. We tied them up to the trees in the alfalfa field and Aleythia just watched them. Ana was with them too. Aleythia had put Ana out back by herself Tuesday. And there is now a spot with no grass where Ana was tied. She wasn't too bad today though.
We figured out Tuesday that we need to work on having the fillies just standing there. We also need to do some desensitizing. It is really hard to find a balance.
All four fillies have now had the harness on. And Aleythia said that Frosty was doing really well in a bit.
Santana was amazing today. When I was asking him to do flexing, I would pick up the rope and he was already turning his head to the side. I loved it! I did the sending exercise with him too. Aleythia was watching and she said that she didn't like how he was disengaging his hindquarters. She said it was just too slow. When you ask your horse to do something he should do it NOW! A few more days of ground work and I'll start riding him.
And by the way... Don't try leading four horses at one time...
I got after quite a bit today. She kicked at me once and she got a whack on the but with the whip for it and was all around being a general pain.
And because we felt lazy we didn't really work with the fillies. We tied them up to the trees in the alfalfa field and Aleythia just watched them. Ana was with them too. Aleythia had put Ana out back by herself Tuesday. And there is now a spot with no grass where Ana was tied. She wasn't too bad today though.
We figured out Tuesday that we need to work on having the fillies just standing there. We also need to do some desensitizing. It is really hard to find a balance.
All four fillies have now had the harness on. And Aleythia said that Frosty was doing really well in a bit.
Santana was amazing today. When I was asking him to do flexing, I would pick up the rope and he was already turning his head to the side. I loved it! I did the sending exercise with him too. Aleythia was watching and she said that she didn't like how he was disengaging his hindquarters. She said it was just too slow. When you ask your horse to do something he should do it NOW! A few more days of ground work and I'll start riding him.
And by the way... Don't try leading four horses at one time...
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