Just got off Ms. Lindsay..rode her in my hunt seat saddle for the first time and I am embarrassed to say my calves are on FIRE! lol ..
I used to ride hunt seat and Dressage alllll the time...all day long, but over the past couple of years it's been more barrel racing and starting colts..w/ a little English here and there. I do usually ride Rox (my barrel mare) Dressage at least once a week, but been off her for well over a month and man do I feel it today! I tell you it seems you use different muscles for every type of riding. I am sure some are the same, but some are sure different...my calves are proof! Many times my abs and inner thighs burn after I've made lots of runs on Rox.. but this is a whole new set of muscles that have been on the back burners lately. My hunt seat saddle is a slick seat, plain flap, no knee roll, no knee pad or anything! ha! Used to jump in it all day... well, at least I know what to do. For me it helps to jack my leathers up high like I'm schooling cross country and really let my weight sink deep in my heels and ride that way a bit. (thanks Liz Salas for that suggestion years ago :) It burns like crazy, but gets the job done and gets it done pretty quick.
Riding in my English tack is a huge asset right now though for Lindsay and I . It really enables me to feel her so well, thus ride much more of the "Grey" area so to speak..and not just the black and white. We just did lots more trotting and she is the queen of long and low when you ask for it..she LOVES to stretch. I think she'd prefer if I just let her stretch her topline the whole ride and let her muzzle reach down almost to the dirt... but we can't do quite that, even though I do give her many opportunities to stretch. I love a horse that willingly uses their back and can lift and create that round bascule that is such a joy to sit aboard. Her canter transitions are getting better to, asking for them out of a connected, stretchy medium trot is helping their smoothness. We had gotten into a habit of jumping up into our canter a bit to much...it is just so easy for her to elevate, it takes nothing to get her over-elevated! Much rather that than her plow the ground with her forehand...I can not stand to ride that! I do love and appreciate all horses, but I must say I have gotten spoiled by being blessed with some talented mounts. Rox, Mesquite & Lindsay (my most recent athletes)are dreams to ride and just make some of the others feel like pogo sticks! .... But every horse is talented in their own right, and one person's "ideal" mount can be the total opposite from anothers.
I plan on walking off the pain today and hopping back on this afternoon...gives me a deeper appreciation for Lindsay's poor muscles! As hard as she has been working for me you know she's in knots sometimes...need to give her a banana...think I'm gonna go get one right now ..hehehe...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 51 & 52 ~ Spanish Blood and Fancy Footwork
Well yesterday I hauled Lindsay over to a friends house to ride. She has a Dressage arena and good footing, so it was a nice place to work...and make a new friend, the human kind this time. (Thanks Kim!!!) Kim is a horse person and has a very soft hand, so she was a perfect "Stranger" to introduce to Lindsay. Lindsay was quite receptive and let Kim rub her neck rather quickly.. we then thought it would be a good idea for Kim to lead Lindsay seeing as no one but me has done so. Kim asked her to step off and at first Lindsay seemed quite confused..just stood there...then kinda jumped forward abruptly..but after a few tries they were walking around. It was quite interesting though..after about 15 steps or so Lindsay would toss her ears back a bit...as if she was not sure this new person should really be the head horse or not...maybe she needed to step up to the plate! Kim did not "correct" her so to speak... but she did in a sense.. she started asking her for a halt after about 10 steps...before Lindsay would pin her ears..this worked well and it was if that added cue made it clear to Lindsay that she could trust this new "head horse" as well and she then willingly lead just perfectly. I've never seen quite that display before..and fortunately have not had her toss her ears back at me ever...but I feel like she is likely a boss mare in a herd environment (she sure was at the holding facility!) and she needed Kim to explain to her that Kim was the "Boss mare" or head horse so to speak in this relationship. Lindsay understood very quickly simply by the added cue, so it was a success...thanks to Kim's gentle, but clear approach.
After-wards we rode a good bit. Kim has some shade trees that have branches hanging down a bit into the ring..we took advantage of that and I pulled at branches and leaves as we rode by. At first it was quite the scary experience, but she really figured out quickly that it was all ok...this was a huge relief to me, because here lately it seems as if we were going to have to hardest time w/ me picking up stuff..or grabbing things while on Lindsay. I think I mentioned before I had a time where I tried to pick a water bottle up off the rail and it spooked her, she shot to the side and I unfortunately dropped the bottle..which of course reiterated to her that she should have been afraid in the first place...that plus the tick treatment has just made picking up inanimate objects a bit of a challenge. So grabbing the tree limbs was a good exercise and I was thrilled she took to it well...even though I suppose a tree is not really inanimate..that's probably why she took to it quicker! She's seen those in Oklahoma!...But it was still progress.
Even though the canopy of shade trees is nice..it does have it's disadvantages...primarily multiple little stinging yellow flies! Yuck! They really were aggravating Lindsay and I can not say as I blame her, but we still worked through it to be sure we ended on a positive note. Now that I have done so much canter work focusing her on letting me rate her speed and collect her up at the canter Lindsay has developing this new found (well new to me...not her) amazing ability to lift her front end and rib cage with each canter stride. This is a fabulous talent that I love, but it is something I need to be very aware of so that I do not allow the canter to become larger than I ask for it to be. When she gets agitated, as she was by the wonderful yellow flies, that lift becomes higher, if I request that her speed remain the same...it's like she wants to rush off, but knows she is not allowed so she sends her energy upward rather than forward...not as in a rear, but just very "airy" "scopey" canter strides. Well these strides continued to gain "air-time" until we were doing quite the fancy acrobats! I tell you I could so see her preforming those leaps the Andalusians do on the long lines! She is fully capable. There is no doubt in my mind that she has Spanish blood...especially after that canter. She looks like a cutting horse to just look at her stand...but her movement is so unique! I knew after feeling that continued upward movement that the next thing on our agenda needed to be back to long a low work...so onward to today....
We did just that..long and low..lots of stretching down, reaching for the bit. We did quite a bit of trot work, mostly a medium trot and working on rhythm and relaxation. I began counting strides to help her find her rhythm..and myself as well and she responded so well. I am going to continue to remember to use my voice to steady her as it helps both of us so. I only asked for a canter out of a very relaxed medium trot and that went smoothly. We rode in the big open ring and did lots of diagonals and changes of direction at the trot. I was very pleased at her willingness to work long and low again and stretch her topline. She did so in a soft manner and still remained her steady speed at the canter on the long sides. I do thing the collection has helped us with that, but it is almost to easy for her to collect..we can only do it so much without becoming to "bound up" at such an early stage in her training. Goodness to even be asking this type of thing of her and her understanding at just over 30 days riding amazes me.... It was a very productive ride that built on the previous ride well. I was so proud of her for working with me and changing her train of thought so well just by me changing mine...and I was thankful she showed me that huge air canter so that I knew to go back to long and low. She is teaching me well.
We also worked on meeting our new friends as well in the round pen. (Friends being my hat and a rope today)..I practiced taking my hat off and hanging it on the rail. The hanging it on the rail part did bother her at first, but she relaxed quickly...where-as had I tried to do the opposite and take it off the rail from the start she would have immediately spooked and I would not have had the opportunity to explain to her the hat is our friend. By having it in my hand first I could sack her out with it, then set it on the rail. She had the opportunity to see it was not scary..and if she had tried to shoot away I could have kept the scary object close so that she understood that when she stopped the scary object would stop bothering her. Also, I was able to move the scary object away from her towards the fence, as if she was chasing it away, rather than it coming at her. This seemed to work well and it made since to her. I think I will continue with the same idea of hanging our friends on rails from Lindsay's back before I attempt to take them off the rail and bring them in towards her. I am glad we still have a while to make this adjustment and for her to fully digest this. It is not something that can be rushed, but it did start to really click today, so I feel good that we are traveling in the right direction.
I have started braiding her mane on the right side of her neck too. It shows her brand on the left and I just like the way it looks better hanging to her right. It seems "bluer" on that side. The process of doing that has been good too b/c it takes forever to braid it all and I have to do tiny braids to get it to stay, so she has plenty of time with me up close behind that right ear. She is already getting so much better with that. I Pray to Never have to treat her again!! I am really in awe of her ability to forgive me. She certainly does not forget..she remembers everything, so it's not like she's erased it from her mind, but she is so willing to be open to my attempts to prove to her I do not plan on doing anything that provides her with discomfort at all...not to her ears or anywhere else.
So it was a great 2 days. I am so thrilled with the riding horse she is developing into and even more thrilled with her consistent degree of try and heart. She puts her all into every step she takes and is as smart as any horse I've dealt with. A different kind of smart almost. If I can simply do my job to explain things clearly she willingly obliges to every request. It can be a challenge to always know the best way to ask the question I need to ask, but I've said from the beginning she will teach me so much. There is no doubt she is teaching me more than I am her and I am trying to listen and learn! I do my best to remain a willing student and partner...and also try not to forget to enjoy the ride :) Life is a journey for all of us, it is these baby steps that make it all worth while, it is not the big achievement at the end of the game...or lack of achievement for that matter, it is the journey, the process...To ignore it and belittle it's value is to slap life in the face..and that will certainly NOT win any type of challenge. I am striving to remind myself to enjoy every step, every connection, every moment of clarity. Learn from the steps back so that one step in reverse will equal two steps forward and simply appreciate the gift of the entire process. Things are not always easy or even smooth, but there is always the ability in every situation to turn a right into a right and a wrong into a right. Appreciating the moment helps me remain centered and focused, thus more able to discover the right way to ask a question and to recognize when I am wrong. Lindsay is a master of communication. She is entirely centered in who she is and lives in nothing but the moment, appreciating everything given to her. She takes nothing for granted and wastes no time enjoying her journey of life by thinking about nothing but the future..or the past. I think a forward thinking mind is important, we all need goals, but I think so much can be learned from horses like Lindsay. If you want to learn "the Secret of Life" Just ask your horse, I promise she'll know the answer!
After-wards we rode a good bit. Kim has some shade trees that have branches hanging down a bit into the ring..we took advantage of that and I pulled at branches and leaves as we rode by. At first it was quite the scary experience, but she really figured out quickly that it was all ok...this was a huge relief to me, because here lately it seems as if we were going to have to hardest time w/ me picking up stuff..or grabbing things while on Lindsay. I think I mentioned before I had a time where I tried to pick a water bottle up off the rail and it spooked her, she shot to the side and I unfortunately dropped the bottle..which of course reiterated to her that she should have been afraid in the first place...that plus the tick treatment has just made picking up inanimate objects a bit of a challenge. So grabbing the tree limbs was a good exercise and I was thrilled she took to it well...even though I suppose a tree is not really inanimate..that's probably why she took to it quicker! She's seen those in Oklahoma!...But it was still progress.
Even though the canopy of shade trees is nice..it does have it's disadvantages...primarily multiple little stinging yellow flies! Yuck! They really were aggravating Lindsay and I can not say as I blame her, but we still worked through it to be sure we ended on a positive note. Now that I have done so much canter work focusing her on letting me rate her speed and collect her up at the canter Lindsay has developing this new found (well new to me...not her) amazing ability to lift her front end and rib cage with each canter stride. This is a fabulous talent that I love, but it is something I need to be very aware of so that I do not allow the canter to become larger than I ask for it to be. When she gets agitated, as she was by the wonderful yellow flies, that lift becomes higher, if I request that her speed remain the same...it's like she wants to rush off, but knows she is not allowed so she sends her energy upward rather than forward...not as in a rear, but just very "airy" "scopey" canter strides. Well these strides continued to gain "air-time" until we were doing quite the fancy acrobats! I tell you I could so see her preforming those leaps the Andalusians do on the long lines! She is fully capable. There is no doubt in my mind that she has Spanish blood...especially after that canter. She looks like a cutting horse to just look at her stand...but her movement is so unique! I knew after feeling that continued upward movement that the next thing on our agenda needed to be back to long a low work...so onward to today....
We did just that..long and low..lots of stretching down, reaching for the bit. We did quite a bit of trot work, mostly a medium trot and working on rhythm and relaxation. I began counting strides to help her find her rhythm..and myself as well and she responded so well. I am going to continue to remember to use my voice to steady her as it helps both of us so. I only asked for a canter out of a very relaxed medium trot and that went smoothly. We rode in the big open ring and did lots of diagonals and changes of direction at the trot. I was very pleased at her willingness to work long and low again and stretch her topline. She did so in a soft manner and still remained her steady speed at the canter on the long sides. I do thing the collection has helped us with that, but it is almost to easy for her to collect..we can only do it so much without becoming to "bound up" at such an early stage in her training. Goodness to even be asking this type of thing of her and her understanding at just over 30 days riding amazes me.... It was a very productive ride that built on the previous ride well. I was so proud of her for working with me and changing her train of thought so well just by me changing mine...and I was thankful she showed me that huge air canter so that I knew to go back to long and low. She is teaching me well.
We also worked on meeting our new friends as well in the round pen. (Friends being my hat and a rope today)..I practiced taking my hat off and hanging it on the rail. The hanging it on the rail part did bother her at first, but she relaxed quickly...where-as had I tried to do the opposite and take it off the rail from the start she would have immediately spooked and I would not have had the opportunity to explain to her the hat is our friend. By having it in my hand first I could sack her out with it, then set it on the rail. She had the opportunity to see it was not scary..and if she had tried to shoot away I could have kept the scary object close so that she understood that when she stopped the scary object would stop bothering her. Also, I was able to move the scary object away from her towards the fence, as if she was chasing it away, rather than it coming at her. This seemed to work well and it made since to her. I think I will continue with the same idea of hanging our friends on rails from Lindsay's back before I attempt to take them off the rail and bring them in towards her. I am glad we still have a while to make this adjustment and for her to fully digest this. It is not something that can be rushed, but it did start to really click today, so I feel good that we are traveling in the right direction.
I have started braiding her mane on the right side of her neck too. It shows her brand on the left and I just like the way it looks better hanging to her right. It seems "bluer" on that side. The process of doing that has been good too b/c it takes forever to braid it all and I have to do tiny braids to get it to stay, so she has plenty of time with me up close behind that right ear. She is already getting so much better with that. I Pray to Never have to treat her again!! I am really in awe of her ability to forgive me. She certainly does not forget..she remembers everything, so it's not like she's erased it from her mind, but she is so willing to be open to my attempts to prove to her I do not plan on doing anything that provides her with discomfort at all...not to her ears or anywhere else.
So it was a great 2 days. I am so thrilled with the riding horse she is developing into and even more thrilled with her consistent degree of try and heart. She puts her all into every step she takes and is as smart as any horse I've dealt with. A different kind of smart almost. If I can simply do my job to explain things clearly she willingly obliges to every request. It can be a challenge to always know the best way to ask the question I need to ask, but I've said from the beginning she will teach me so much. There is no doubt she is teaching me more than I am her and I am trying to listen and learn! I do my best to remain a willing student and partner...and also try not to forget to enjoy the ride :) Life is a journey for all of us, it is these baby steps that make it all worth while, it is not the big achievement at the end of the game...or lack of achievement for that matter, it is the journey, the process...To ignore it and belittle it's value is to slap life in the face..and that will certainly NOT win any type of challenge. I am striving to remind myself to enjoy every step, every connection, every moment of clarity. Learn from the steps back so that one step in reverse will equal two steps forward and simply appreciate the gift of the entire process. Things are not always easy or even smooth, but there is always the ability in every situation to turn a right into a right and a wrong into a right. Appreciating the moment helps me remain centered and focused, thus more able to discover the right way to ask a question and to recognize when I am wrong. Lindsay is a master of communication. She is entirely centered in who she is and lives in nothing but the moment, appreciating everything given to her. She takes nothing for granted and wastes no time enjoying her journey of life by thinking about nothing but the future..or the past. I think a forward thinking mind is important, we all need goals, but I think so much can be learned from horses like Lindsay. If you want to learn "the Secret of Life" Just ask your horse, I promise she'll know the answer!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 49 & 50 ~ Loping..Stopping..more Loping..More Stopping..and more "New Friends"
Well I bit the bullet 2 nights ago (just after last post) and treated Lindsay again for her ticks. Goodness I hope those suckers are gone! I hate treating them as much as she hates having it done. I actually clipped her up first, cleaned her ears out all slick and pretty :) She was a very good girl...not crazy about the clippers, but was still very good...no twitch :)... I soooo hated to have to squirt that Frontline in her ears after she'd been so good for me with the clippers, but it's in her best interest so I had to... as soon as I squirt it in she wheels around and shakes her head like crazy (even sedated!) It must aggravate her so bad :( Just hate it..anyway, it's done now and hopefully I won't ever have to do it again. As I expected she was not crazy about me back at her ears the following day. It is so frustrating when certain things have been going so well and then we regress over having to treat something like this, but there was no way around it...anyway...I did lots of desensitizing starting over again and she is fine so long as it's just me and my hand (or halter or bridle thank goodness) but the water hose or spray bottle, not so much...reminds her to much of the treatment I suppose. We took our time with that and she will get better I know, just have to give her time to see I'm not going to be squirting stuff deep in her ears anymore. At least she is still good to halter and bridle! that would have been a mess if not.
We have continued to work lots on our canter transitions, loping in a straight line and now our halts again. At first yesterday I felt like we has lost a bit of our "in sink" halt..thus slide. We have spent so much time collecting up at the canter that she knows now every time I start to relax my seat it does not necessarily mean halt as it did before...sometimes it just means rate to a slower speed. So I started really consciously being sure to melt in the saddle as much as possible and then give her 2 strides before I followed with my hand if she did not respond...the first few times I did have to follow with my hand and we were not as engaged behind as we had been, but after a while of consciously sitting then giving her those two strides to think about it she started to sit again! Oh it felt so good and I was so excited to feel that coming back. We still don't get it perfect every time..especially if there were lots of distractions, but I think she is catching on well now and the sitting deep and really relaxing...plus giving her 2 strides to think really helps her use her hind end to stop rather than her front :)
We also worked lots on me picking up different objects..that is something we have struggled with...me picking up a foreign object while on her back, but we are making progress...even though I believe this tick ordeal has made us regress with that a bit unfortunately. It all goes back to "There is more than one way to ask the same question" It can be frustrating when she spokes at something that she used to be totally ok with, but it is just part of the process. There is just so much I am asking of her in such a short period of time...I mean I expect her to be super responsive and move away from certain aids..like my leg in a turn...but yet ignore others like a bottle rubbed on her neck. It is a lot for her to always know the correct response...especially after her new partner that she has grown to trust (me) does something to cause her such discomfort (ie the tick treatment :(...But she is so quick to trust me and is already coming back around...we did lots of me sitting up on the rail of the round pen and tossing these scary friends around her...she never reached the point of being oblivious to them, but did get much better. We are going to keep on with the new friends (bottles, bags etc) as consistently as I can... we could have the best lope and slide in the world, but blow it all by spooking at a raincoat! Oh how that would be just be awful! I am going to do my best to prevent that from happening!
So much to do and she is becoming such a good ride and feels so "Educated" under me that I have to remind myself this is only the 50th time I've asked anything of her!!!..and stepped aboard day 18...so I guess that's around 33 rides...minus the day or two she had off..so just over 30 actual rides...she has just gone above and beyond.... I can not let the fact that she has come so far and done so well distract me from the fact that she still has a lot to learn...and the things she has learned are still fresh in her mind. She needs constant reassurance from me that she has made the right decision and answered my questions correctly.
She is continuing to do her part every step of the way...I must continue to do mine.
We have continued to work lots on our canter transitions, loping in a straight line and now our halts again. At first yesterday I felt like we has lost a bit of our "in sink" halt..thus slide. We have spent so much time collecting up at the canter that she knows now every time I start to relax my seat it does not necessarily mean halt as it did before...sometimes it just means rate to a slower speed. So I started really consciously being sure to melt in the saddle as much as possible and then give her 2 strides before I followed with my hand if she did not respond...the first few times I did have to follow with my hand and we were not as engaged behind as we had been, but after a while of consciously sitting then giving her those two strides to think about it she started to sit again! Oh it felt so good and I was so excited to feel that coming back. We still don't get it perfect every time..especially if there were lots of distractions, but I think she is catching on well now and the sitting deep and really relaxing...plus giving her 2 strides to think really helps her use her hind end to stop rather than her front :)
We also worked lots on me picking up different objects..that is something we have struggled with...me picking up a foreign object while on her back, but we are making progress...even though I believe this tick ordeal has made us regress with that a bit unfortunately. It all goes back to "There is more than one way to ask the same question" It can be frustrating when she spokes at something that she used to be totally ok with, but it is just part of the process. There is just so much I am asking of her in such a short period of time...I mean I expect her to be super responsive and move away from certain aids..like my leg in a turn...but yet ignore others like a bottle rubbed on her neck. It is a lot for her to always know the correct response...especially after her new partner that she has grown to trust (me) does something to cause her such discomfort (ie the tick treatment :(...But she is so quick to trust me and is already coming back around...we did lots of me sitting up on the rail of the round pen and tossing these scary friends around her...she never reached the point of being oblivious to them, but did get much better. We are going to keep on with the new friends (bottles, bags etc) as consistently as I can... we could have the best lope and slide in the world, but blow it all by spooking at a raincoat! Oh how that would be just be awful! I am going to do my best to prevent that from happening!
So much to do and she is becoming such a good ride and feels so "Educated" under me that I have to remind myself this is only the 50th time I've asked anything of her!!!..and stepped aboard day 18...so I guess that's around 33 rides...minus the day or two she had off..so just over 30 actual rides...she has just gone above and beyond.... I can not let the fact that she has come so far and done so well distract me from the fact that she still has a lot to learn...and the things she has learned are still fresh in her mind. She needs constant reassurance from me that she has made the right decision and answered my questions correctly.
She is continuing to do her part every step of the way...I must continue to do mine.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 47&48 ~Hot n Sticky
Summer has sure arrived! We are hangin' in there...riding late and early. Lindsay is Loving her stall fan.
She now has quite a few new friends in her stall... Judy the spray bottle, Kim the water bottle, Nancy the water jug, along with quite a few of Nancy's kin folk..as well as Frank the feed bag, Sally and Sara the saddlebags and finally Andrea the shavings bag...non of which I do believe have really hit it off w/ Lindsay thus far, but she deals with their constant presence. I actually pulled everyone down today except Nancy the water jug..she was hanging in the middle of the stall. I stepped aboard Ms. Lindsay and just swatted Nancy around while sitting on her back, even untied Nancy and rubbed her up and down Lindsay's neck. That went very well, so I am thinking our new friends are making progress...I keep telling them to keep up the good work.
We've ridden in the little ring that has a rail quite a bit, really working on smooth steady, slow canter work on the straight aways. Lindsay has gotten pretty comfortable loping circles, but on the straights she still gets a little carried away at times...especially when we were at the horse show and there was sooo much to go check out. So lots of collected cantering on the rail...she seems to be catching on..I actually asked for a canter out in the big ring today and she did quite well on the straight aways, respecting my aids, especially outside, and maintaining a soft canter. She still has her moments of wobbly-ness, which usually transfers into her bouncing up w/ her front end like some Lipizzaner when I go to ask her to come back together!..She has got some lift, there is no doubt about that. She is most definitely sensitive, which I truly love in a horse, but I am having to be careful these days not to get her to sensitive and "Anticipate" to much..the more she learns what all she is capable of w/ me on her back, the more she wants to "ad-lib" every now and then and throw in her own moves..like "Hey, betcha' didn't know I could do this too" hehehe.. She is sure a fun ride. I am trying to be conscious to spend plenty of down time though, so I remind her mind it's ok to settle and just do nothing for a bit.
We had gone through a stage of her wanting to move a bit when I mounted, she never did that at first, but of course at first she didn't know she could move with me up there..now she does. I always just sit on a horse when I first mount to teach them to stand, but her sitting time has gotten much longer... we now sit 60 seconds before moving..and they have to be 60 seconds of total still, if we take a step at 55 seconds we start over...at first this did bug her, but I think she's catching on now..we'll see if she remembers the next time we haul off the farm to ride, that will be more of a test.
We have ridden in the Bosal as well as her snaffle, I like her in both, but I have spent so much time in the snaffle she just understands it better at this point. I think I'll still go back and forth for a while..the more she understands the better.
So all is well, just trying to stay cool, lope in a straight line and make friends with the bottle family right now :)
She now has quite a few new friends in her stall... Judy the spray bottle, Kim the water bottle, Nancy the water jug, along with quite a few of Nancy's kin folk..as well as Frank the feed bag, Sally and Sara the saddlebags and finally Andrea the shavings bag...non of which I do believe have really hit it off w/ Lindsay thus far, but she deals with their constant presence. I actually pulled everyone down today except Nancy the water jug..she was hanging in the middle of the stall. I stepped aboard Ms. Lindsay and just swatted Nancy around while sitting on her back, even untied Nancy and rubbed her up and down Lindsay's neck. That went very well, so I am thinking our new friends are making progress...I keep telling them to keep up the good work.
We've ridden in the little ring that has a rail quite a bit, really working on smooth steady, slow canter work on the straight aways. Lindsay has gotten pretty comfortable loping circles, but on the straights she still gets a little carried away at times...especially when we were at the horse show and there was sooo much to go check out. So lots of collected cantering on the rail...she seems to be catching on..I actually asked for a canter out in the big ring today and she did quite well on the straight aways, respecting my aids, especially outside, and maintaining a soft canter. She still has her moments of wobbly-ness, which usually transfers into her bouncing up w/ her front end like some Lipizzaner when I go to ask her to come back together!..She has got some lift, there is no doubt about that. She is most definitely sensitive, which I truly love in a horse, but I am having to be careful these days not to get her to sensitive and "Anticipate" to much..the more she learns what all she is capable of w/ me on her back, the more she wants to "ad-lib" every now and then and throw in her own moves..like "Hey, betcha' didn't know I could do this too" hehehe.. She is sure a fun ride. I am trying to be conscious to spend plenty of down time though, so I remind her mind it's ok to settle and just do nothing for a bit.
We had gone through a stage of her wanting to move a bit when I mounted, she never did that at first, but of course at first she didn't know she could move with me up there..now she does. I always just sit on a horse when I first mount to teach them to stand, but her sitting time has gotten much longer... we now sit 60 seconds before moving..and they have to be 60 seconds of total still, if we take a step at 55 seconds we start over...at first this did bug her, but I think she's catching on now..we'll see if she remembers the next time we haul off the farm to ride, that will be more of a test.
We have ridden in the Bosal as well as her snaffle, I like her in both, but I have spent so much time in the snaffle she just understands it better at this point. I think I'll still go back and forth for a while..the more she understands the better.
So all is well, just trying to stay cool, lope in a straight line and make friends with the bottle family right now :)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Day 40-46 Williamston Horse Show
Goodness, did not intend to get behind on this! Lindsay has been great, we have been so very busy.
Went to Williamson, NC to the East Coast Open Horse Show Friday. I was judging Sat, so I figured what a wonderful opportunity to get Lindsay some horse show exposure. We reserved her a stall and arrived Fri. night. When I found her stall I was a bit concerned b/c it was in a very very busy area. Horses and horse show stuff spread all through the aisle way.. tables, chairs, fans, curtains and more! I was not sure about leading her through all that the first time and thought it would be better for me to ride. The Williamston facility is so nice, there are arenas everywhere so I unloaded her and tacked up in one of the round pens and we went to work. She was curious about her surroundings, but really seemed to enjoy checking things out. We rode around all over the facility..in the covered ring..in the indoor arena. The other horses do not seem to bother her, but strange objects along the rail certainly get her attention. We did lots of walking around soaking it all in. After our ride we walked up to our barn. It took some gentle encouraging, but after a few tries Lindsay built up the courage to walk on in among all the scary chairs and tables and to her stall. The next day she had much to watch as I was busy judging. As I said, she was in a busy area, so she saw many horses go by and prepare to show. She seemed to be pretty settled by the end of the day and was standing in front of her fan not to concerned about the commotion outside when I went to check on her.
We rode again Sat night, it was dark and we wandered around into the different arenas. I tried to ask her to walk over everything I could and she did quite well with that, crossing over a cone on it's side and a few drain grills. We even ventured into the jump ring and stepped over a few cross rails, she did not even hesitate at that, just stepped right on over. I rode her back in the barn Sat night and untacked and lead her to the wash rack for a rinse off. She was very brave walking through the dark, crowded aisle of the barns.
Sunday morning we rode again and continued to explore the facility. I spent lots of time walking around on the rail to try and get her as comfortable as possible being close to it. She got better and better...until I decided it was a good plan to pick up a water bottle off the rail, that frightened her and we regressed a bit, but she gradually gained her confidence back. Ever since I had to treat her for the ticks she has been a bit afraid of bottles..I can not really blame her for it, but it is something we need to work through.
After our Sunday ride I hand walked her to her stall and she followed me bravely past the now loading up horse trailers and various objects still sitting around. We loaded up and headed home.
We used our Soft Ride boots this weekend too! Oh how I am so pleased with them. Lindsay does not seem to mind them one bit. The stalls are that hard clay, so I was so happy to have her cushioned boots for her to stand in. We used them on the trailer too and they worked wonderful. www.soft-ride.com These boots are really a must have for any show horse!
I think I forgot to mention we have been starting to learn to bow a bit. I asked her Thursday and within about 20 minutes she had it figured out! I could not believe it!! She does not know to "hold" the position yet, but she will willingly drop to one knee for me very well now. She is just brilliant!
I started riding Lindsay in a Bosal Tuesday. I love her in the snaffle, but I wanted to try her in the Bosal too. She likes to "work" the snaffle so much that her mouth never stops going..it's not as if she is chewing on it aggressively, or appears tense, it just like she "works" it all the time. It's not a problem, and really keeps her face soft and supple, but I thought I'd try a Bosal and just see her reaction. So far she is doing really well in it. It works off different parts of her face of course, so it's an adjustment, but she is taking to it rather quickly.
Our canter transitions are getting much better and she gives me her left lead very well now. She is actually a bit more collected to the left now than the right..go figure..we started the other way around. Now we are really working on cantering at a steady speed in a straight line. Our big ring has no fencing around it and she has a tendency to want to drift to the outside at the canter when I ask her to track straight. We worked in the small ring today that has a rail and that seemed to help her understand she could canter straight w/o drifting off laterally. I just have to remind myself that she Always is quick to learn if I explain things clearly. So when we run into things she does not understand I have to step back and think of a better, more clear way to explain to her what I want.
As far as the bottles, I have given her quite a few "Friends" in her stall. We started w/ one, but now she has about 6 various bottles tied with hay string all around her stall as well as a feed bag and an empty shavings bag. She seems to think they are silly and rather irritating at times, but she is starting to ignore them and not be frightened anymore. It's so funny how they are all so different...many horses would be playing with those bottles and ripping them off the hay string in a heart beat. Not Lindsay, that's never been her style...it's like she is "above" that silly behavior. I believe tolerating the bottles is about all she is going to offer and that is just fine, that's all we need.
I'm not looking forward to it, but I think I'll treat her again for the ticks in another few days. I can not see any in there, but I want to be sure I got them all.
For now it's lots of hosing down and standing in front of the fan during the day and riding late at night...or the sporadic morning ride every now and then.
Went to Williamson, NC to the East Coast Open Horse Show Friday. I was judging Sat, so I figured what a wonderful opportunity to get Lindsay some horse show exposure. We reserved her a stall and arrived Fri. night. When I found her stall I was a bit concerned b/c it was in a very very busy area. Horses and horse show stuff spread all through the aisle way.. tables, chairs, fans, curtains and more! I was not sure about leading her through all that the first time and thought it would be better for me to ride. The Williamston facility is so nice, there are arenas everywhere so I unloaded her and tacked up in one of the round pens and we went to work. She was curious about her surroundings, but really seemed to enjoy checking things out. We rode around all over the facility..in the covered ring..in the indoor arena. The other horses do not seem to bother her, but strange objects along the rail certainly get her attention. We did lots of walking around soaking it all in. After our ride we walked up to our barn. It took some gentle encouraging, but after a few tries Lindsay built up the courage to walk on in among all the scary chairs and tables and to her stall. The next day she had much to watch as I was busy judging. As I said, she was in a busy area, so she saw many horses go by and prepare to show. She seemed to be pretty settled by the end of the day and was standing in front of her fan not to concerned about the commotion outside when I went to check on her.
We rode again Sat night, it was dark and we wandered around into the different arenas. I tried to ask her to walk over everything I could and she did quite well with that, crossing over a cone on it's side and a few drain grills. We even ventured into the jump ring and stepped over a few cross rails, she did not even hesitate at that, just stepped right on over. I rode her back in the barn Sat night and untacked and lead her to the wash rack for a rinse off. She was very brave walking through the dark, crowded aisle of the barns.
Sunday morning we rode again and continued to explore the facility. I spent lots of time walking around on the rail to try and get her as comfortable as possible being close to it. She got better and better...until I decided it was a good plan to pick up a water bottle off the rail, that frightened her and we regressed a bit, but she gradually gained her confidence back. Ever since I had to treat her for the ticks she has been a bit afraid of bottles..I can not really blame her for it, but it is something we need to work through.
After our Sunday ride I hand walked her to her stall and she followed me bravely past the now loading up horse trailers and various objects still sitting around. We loaded up and headed home.
We used our Soft Ride boots this weekend too! Oh how I am so pleased with them. Lindsay does not seem to mind them one bit. The stalls are that hard clay, so I was so happy to have her cushioned boots for her to stand in. We used them on the trailer too and they worked wonderful. www.soft-ride.com These boots are really a must have for any show horse!
I think I forgot to mention we have been starting to learn to bow a bit. I asked her Thursday and within about 20 minutes she had it figured out! I could not believe it!! She does not know to "hold" the position yet, but she will willingly drop to one knee for me very well now. She is just brilliant!
I started riding Lindsay in a Bosal Tuesday. I love her in the snaffle, but I wanted to try her in the Bosal too. She likes to "work" the snaffle so much that her mouth never stops going..it's not as if she is chewing on it aggressively, or appears tense, it just like she "works" it all the time. It's not a problem, and really keeps her face soft and supple, but I thought I'd try a Bosal and just see her reaction. So far she is doing really well in it. It works off different parts of her face of course, so it's an adjustment, but she is taking to it rather quickly.
Our canter transitions are getting much better and she gives me her left lead very well now. She is actually a bit more collected to the left now than the right..go figure..we started the other way around. Now we are really working on cantering at a steady speed in a straight line. Our big ring has no fencing around it and she has a tendency to want to drift to the outside at the canter when I ask her to track straight. We worked in the small ring today that has a rail and that seemed to help her understand she could canter straight w/o drifting off laterally. I just have to remind myself that she Always is quick to learn if I explain things clearly. So when we run into things she does not understand I have to step back and think of a better, more clear way to explain to her what I want.
As far as the bottles, I have given her quite a few "Friends" in her stall. We started w/ one, but now she has about 6 various bottles tied with hay string all around her stall as well as a feed bag and an empty shavings bag. She seems to think they are silly and rather irritating at times, but she is starting to ignore them and not be frightened anymore. It's so funny how they are all so different...many horses would be playing with those bottles and ripping them off the hay string in a heart beat. Not Lindsay, that's never been her style...it's like she is "above" that silly behavior. I believe tolerating the bottles is about all she is going to offer and that is just fine, that's all we need.
I'm not looking forward to it, but I think I'll treat her again for the ticks in another few days. I can not see any in there, but I want to be sure I got them all.
For now it's lots of hosing down and standing in front of the fan during the day and riding late at night...or the sporadic morning ride every now and then.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Day 36, 37, 38 and 39 ~ Bugs, Bugs and more Bugs
Well Sunday, Day 36 we rode pretty late in the day, around dusk. It is about the only time we can ride in this heat wave we've recently been blessed with...but man I must say it is Not the time to be riding due to the bugs...or maybe it is ideal for the bugs, but not us! I think we got bitten, slapped and tortured by every flying insect known to man...and a few not yet discovered. Lindsay actually tolerated it rather well, better than I did really, but after that last bug flew right into my eye and set it on fire I was done! There is nothing more aggravating than a tiny insect biting and attacking you... I spend all this energy and effort to attack the little speck back and end up doing more flailing around aimlessly beating on myself while the little bug flys off laughing only analyzing when to come back for more. I do think I entertained quite a few bugs that night, hope they had a good time...
It the midst of our personal bug cloud we did get a decent ride in. Lots of work on canter transitions and maintaining a steady rhythm at the canter. Lindsay has so much natural lift she has a way of "leaping" into her transitions sometimes. I am trying to use her innate ability to lift and stay so light in the forehand to encourage her to drive behind, but yet slow her tempo and relax into a softer, steadier canter. We are getting there....but many more leaps were made that night, than level soft canter strides. It was funny because, I guess w/ it being the edge of dark, the dark areas of the riding ring where we had traveled a lot were grabbing Lindsay's attention. She wasn't scared of them, just jumped over them to be sure we did not dive into that deep hole she thought she saw...that was just a dark area in the dirt! She has no issues with lift, that is for certain. I really do need to start her over fences, I imagine she is going to take to that really quickly!
Day 37, Monday I learned something about Lindsay that I had been dying to find out ever since we picked her up in MS. That night we arrived at the holding facility and I spotted her for the first time, she was resting and had her right ear dropped out to the side like a donkey does! It really concerned me that something was wrong, that is simply not a typical horse type of behavior to tilt that ear out to the side if nothing was wrong. But at that point she was far from even being halter trained, so I put it in the back of my mind. Well, over the last couple of weeks I have noticed her beginning this "head shaking" tendency. Of course with the flies it was hard to tell if there was really any issue other than that. They can be aggravating enough to cause any horse ..or human.. to head shake like crazy. But, it just seemed off to me. She did it at odd times..it did not seem to correlate with the flys and she seemed to do it most when I was bridling or doing things that involved pushing on her poll. And once she'd start it was like she just could not stop... different than I've seen in any other horse. So I began to worry over ear problems once again. I researched it and found that ear mites and ticks are a common cause of head shaking and ivermectin wormer will typically take care of them. So I wormed her with Ivermectin and after a few days still no better. I also saw that allergies, including allergies to the sun can cause this. I started her on local honey, which is really supposed to help allergies for horses and humans, but it made no difference either. I checked her teeth and she has not been floated yet, so they are not totally smooth, but there was nothing there that caused me any concern. No wolf teeth...and she is so incredibly soft in the bridle I have a hard time imagining teeth were the issue...plus she did this with or w/o the bridle on.
Well, Monday afternoon I had her in the barn aisle peering into her ears just as the sun came down just perfect and shined way down deep into her ear...as if someone was trying to help me see exactly what the issue was. It was clear as day. There were bubbly, pea sized, blueish/gray bumps clustered down deep in her ear canal. I went to researching and found that these were the spitting image of Spinose Ear Ticks. She sure had them...I was disgusted, yet relieved to know what the issue had been...and amazed that she had allowed me to do so much with her all this time having such a painful nuisance festering....So now to determine how to solve this problem.
I researched that spinose ear ticks are difficult to kill w/ oral Ivermection wormer alone. It is difficult to get the blood level of ivermectin to reach a high enough concentration to do any harm. The insecticide must be applied directly. I saw many remedies including mineral oil, Vaseline, cattle ivermection and Frontline treatment. The Frontline or cattle ivermection seemed to be the best..and when I consulted with Dr. Marcy she recommended Frontline..so off to the vet I went. Once home w/ the treatment it took quite a while to determine the best way to get the treatment in her ears. It was a very uncomfortable process for her I am certain, even under heavy sedation. I ended up drawing the Frontline up in a syringe and squirting it deep in her ears. After I saturated her ears she shook her head like crazy!! I looked in to see what the ticks looked like and they were all gone! She shook every one of those suckers right out. Oh what a relief! I am going to keep a close watch and treat her again in a few days, but it is amazing how much better her ears look already!
I did manage to get a ride in Monday night, even though at that point I knew about the ticks, but could not get the treatment until the following day. I took it somewhat easy with her, because the whole time I felt guilty for not having found these sooner. Even though had it been much sooner I doubt I could have treated them anyway...So it was Tuesday I got the treatment and ended up not riding Tuesday night b/c it took her so long to wake up from her sleepy meds :) She deserved a day off anyway.
This morning I woke up at 5 am and drove the truck for my husband to pick up hay we had baled in the field. Anyone that knows me at all knows I am NOT a morning person, never have been..but I was up and it felt so nice out so I went ahead and hoped aboard Lindsay. We had a fabulous ride. Her canter work was as soft and rhythmic as it has even been. I do think when all is said and done her canter will be her strongest gait. I really felt like she was more realized at the canter in her face as well..I hope she is getting relief from those ticks already. I am certain it will be a while before she is totally recuperated though. No head shaking under saddle, but it was more when I was doing things with her face, so we'll see as time goes on how quickly she recovers. Just so thankful to have them gone!
After our ring work we rode all over the farm, through the hay fields, around the pastures..we even met a monster made out of a few square bales, but we come to our sinces pretty quick on that :) I was off her by 7:30 am and felt like I was having and out of body experience to have ridden that early and be done!!!..just not my style! But it may become that before long..it's either dusk and bugs or early am riding. Time will tell.
So thankful for that special ray of sunlight that answered our head shaking delima. It's amazing how much guidance we are offered, if we just do our best to open our eyes and see the light.
It the midst of our personal bug cloud we did get a decent ride in. Lots of work on canter transitions and maintaining a steady rhythm at the canter. Lindsay has so much natural lift she has a way of "leaping" into her transitions sometimes. I am trying to use her innate ability to lift and stay so light in the forehand to encourage her to drive behind, but yet slow her tempo and relax into a softer, steadier canter. We are getting there....but many more leaps were made that night, than level soft canter strides. It was funny because, I guess w/ it being the edge of dark, the dark areas of the riding ring where we had traveled a lot were grabbing Lindsay's attention. She wasn't scared of them, just jumped over them to be sure we did not dive into that deep hole she thought she saw...that was just a dark area in the dirt! She has no issues with lift, that is for certain. I really do need to start her over fences, I imagine she is going to take to that really quickly!
Day 37, Monday I learned something about Lindsay that I had been dying to find out ever since we picked her up in MS. That night we arrived at the holding facility and I spotted her for the first time, she was resting and had her right ear dropped out to the side like a donkey does! It really concerned me that something was wrong, that is simply not a typical horse type of behavior to tilt that ear out to the side if nothing was wrong. But at that point she was far from even being halter trained, so I put it in the back of my mind. Well, over the last couple of weeks I have noticed her beginning this "head shaking" tendency. Of course with the flies it was hard to tell if there was really any issue other than that. They can be aggravating enough to cause any horse ..or human.. to head shake like crazy. But, it just seemed off to me. She did it at odd times..it did not seem to correlate with the flys and she seemed to do it most when I was bridling or doing things that involved pushing on her poll. And once she'd start it was like she just could not stop... different than I've seen in any other horse. So I began to worry over ear problems once again. I researched it and found that ear mites and ticks are a common cause of head shaking and ivermectin wormer will typically take care of them. So I wormed her with Ivermectin and after a few days still no better. I also saw that allergies, including allergies to the sun can cause this. I started her on local honey, which is really supposed to help allergies for horses and humans, but it made no difference either. I checked her teeth and she has not been floated yet, so they are not totally smooth, but there was nothing there that caused me any concern. No wolf teeth...and she is so incredibly soft in the bridle I have a hard time imagining teeth were the issue...plus she did this with or w/o the bridle on.
Well, Monday afternoon I had her in the barn aisle peering into her ears just as the sun came down just perfect and shined way down deep into her ear...as if someone was trying to help me see exactly what the issue was. It was clear as day. There were bubbly, pea sized, blueish/gray bumps clustered down deep in her ear canal. I went to researching and found that these were the spitting image of Spinose Ear Ticks. She sure had them...I was disgusted, yet relieved to know what the issue had been...and amazed that she had allowed me to do so much with her all this time having such a painful nuisance festering....So now to determine how to solve this problem.
I researched that spinose ear ticks are difficult to kill w/ oral Ivermection wormer alone. It is difficult to get the blood level of ivermectin to reach a high enough concentration to do any harm. The insecticide must be applied directly. I saw many remedies including mineral oil, Vaseline, cattle ivermection and Frontline treatment. The Frontline or cattle ivermection seemed to be the best..and when I consulted with Dr. Marcy she recommended Frontline..so off to the vet I went. Once home w/ the treatment it took quite a while to determine the best way to get the treatment in her ears. It was a very uncomfortable process for her I am certain, even under heavy sedation. I ended up drawing the Frontline up in a syringe and squirting it deep in her ears. After I saturated her ears she shook her head like crazy!! I looked in to see what the ticks looked like and they were all gone! She shook every one of those suckers right out. Oh what a relief! I am going to keep a close watch and treat her again in a few days, but it is amazing how much better her ears look already!
I did manage to get a ride in Monday night, even though at that point I knew about the ticks, but could not get the treatment until the following day. I took it somewhat easy with her, because the whole time I felt guilty for not having found these sooner. Even though had it been much sooner I doubt I could have treated them anyway...So it was Tuesday I got the treatment and ended up not riding Tuesday night b/c it took her so long to wake up from her sleepy meds :) She deserved a day off anyway.
This morning I woke up at 5 am and drove the truck for my husband to pick up hay we had baled in the field. Anyone that knows me at all knows I am NOT a morning person, never have been..but I was up and it felt so nice out so I went ahead and hoped aboard Lindsay. We had a fabulous ride. Her canter work was as soft and rhythmic as it has even been. I do think when all is said and done her canter will be her strongest gait. I really felt like she was more realized at the canter in her face as well..I hope she is getting relief from those ticks already. I am certain it will be a while before she is totally recuperated though. No head shaking under saddle, but it was more when I was doing things with her face, so we'll see as time goes on how quickly she recovers. Just so thankful to have them gone!
After our ring work we rode all over the farm, through the hay fields, around the pastures..we even met a monster made out of a few square bales, but we come to our sinces pretty quick on that :) I was off her by 7:30 am and felt like I was having and out of body experience to have ridden that early and be done!!!..just not my style! But it may become that before long..it's either dusk and bugs or early am riding. Time will tell.
So thankful for that special ray of sunlight that answered our head shaking delima. It's amazing how much guidance we are offered, if we just do our best to open our eyes and see the light.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Day 35 ~ Horse Show Bound
We competed in our first horse show Sat, June 12th. It was a small open show and a perfect next step for us. Talk about HOT, but we made it! I was afraid we'd be late b/c we got off later than I wanted, but ended up just in time. I entered two trail classes and 2 walk jog classes. Just as I stepped onto Lindsay after pulling her off the trailer and tacking up they called our name to enter for Trail! No warm up for us.
She was a bit hesitant at first entering the ring through the narrow gate with a strange person holding it open, but she bravely gathered up the courage and walked on in. We first walked to the rope gate we were to open and shut. The gate consisted of 2 pvc poles stuck in concrete coffee cans...much resembled poles for a pole bending class...they were set only 5 feet or so apart with a rope snapped between them. Well, we had worked on the rope gate at home the day before and did quite well, but this one was different and Lindsay was very uncertain of my request to move her body all the way adjacent to this weird object. I side-passed her as close as she was comfortable and let her stand a moment to re-assure her and then walked off to the next object. In her mind she had done as I requested and moved in closer to the scary object...no one told her the ultimate goal was to actually open and shut the gate..so as long as I didn't tell her that, she never realized she did not accomplish the full goal..She did accomplish the goal I set for her which was to side pass close to the gate.
The next task was to walk over 4 poles. We have done this many times at home, but these were different so she did hesitate a moment, but not long. She then walked nicely through, careful not to touch any poles. Then we picked up a jog and serpentined through 4 cones. This she was a pro at and was very fluid and soft. From the cones we walked into a box made of 4 poles on the ground. As soon as we stepped in the box I reminded her what a fabulous job she was doing and that this was no rush before I asked for her 360 turn. She did it very well, keeping all legs in the box and touching no poles! Again I praised her before walking out of the box to the poles for our back through. The back through was adjacent to the announcers stand which was a bit of a scary object to Lindsay, but she still managed to focus and backed through her poles well, even letting me steer her hind end to keep her straight and bumped no poles. After another pat we were off to the bridge. The bridge was VERY narrow and long and we opted to cross it from approaching the wide side first..she was hesitant, but crossed on over and finished our class. We did the same pattern once more and she did very well...and the end of that class we stayed at the bridge as they disassembled the rest of the pattern and we practiced crossing it. After a few attempts we crossed it perfectly from the skinny side! I think a skinny bridge is on the list of props we need at home!
After our trail class we rode in 2 walk/jog classes and they went very well. With each trip around the ring she became more comfortable with the activity on the rail. They asked us for a back in the line-up and that went very smooth. They were small classes, only 3 in the first one, but Lindsay won a Blue ribbon in it all the same! She was very good. Out second walk jog consisted of us plus 3 other riders. The other 3 riders were moving a good bit faster than us and traveling all together...as they came to approach us from behind Lindsay remained calm, even though I could tell she was aware...I wanted to let her hold her spot on the rail and allow them to pass, it would have been good for her and I really think she would have been fine, but 2 of the riders were very small and I was afraid if she did jump at their approach it might unseat them, so as I saw them approaching I veered off the rail and circled in behind them so as to be sure I did not mess up their class. There are times in my opinion where you are trying to show your horse in the best light to win that individual class and other times when you do only what is best for your horse's mind during the class and let it be, and the riders surrounding us in our situation...this was by far a time for the latter, it was much more important to keep Lindsay in sound mind and the fellow riders safe than chance an accident. Lindsay was a star and went exactly where I pointed her. I think another thing soon on our list is to trailer to a busy show barn and ride in a ring full of experienced riders that are schooling. We do need to be comfortable with "Horse Traffic" and it is so quiet at our farm "Traffic" of any kind is hard to come by..unless you count "Dog Traffic" we have plenty of that! LOL
I was Very pleased with our first Horse Show and Lindsay's ability to focus, even though we went straight off the trailer to work!
After we got home I let her cool down by her fan and pulled her out later for a ride to work on a few things I noted at the horse show. I really wanted to establish to her that even when uncertain of an object that if I say it's ok, then it's ok...The way I say it's ok is not by going over and checking it out...that turns it into something scarier...actually I ignore it continue working. The next, more difficult step is being able to move Lindsay's body towards the scary object even though she is uncertain of it herself. So I tied all kinds of things to the panels of the round pen and I draped a raincoat over a jump standard and we set off to side pass up to scary objects. It did take some convincing, but after a while she seemed to understand that if I asked her to side pass it was easier to oblige and forget about the scary stuff than to create more work for herself by arguing. As soon as she would take a willing step towards the object I would release pressure and reassure her what a fabulous girl she was. After a while she would willingly allow me to slide her all the way up to the rail and right up on the gremlins hanging off of it! We even tossed some of those gremlins...ie bags and raincoats...over our head and she was quite tolerate of the silly behavior I was doing on her back:) We worked again on some transitions, especially our left lead and that went very well. Her left lead transition is starting to become her strong one now!
It was a very productive day with much learned by both of us.
She was a bit hesitant at first entering the ring through the narrow gate with a strange person holding it open, but she bravely gathered up the courage and walked on in. We first walked to the rope gate we were to open and shut. The gate consisted of 2 pvc poles stuck in concrete coffee cans...much resembled poles for a pole bending class...they were set only 5 feet or so apart with a rope snapped between them. Well, we had worked on the rope gate at home the day before and did quite well, but this one was different and Lindsay was very uncertain of my request to move her body all the way adjacent to this weird object. I side-passed her as close as she was comfortable and let her stand a moment to re-assure her and then walked off to the next object. In her mind she had done as I requested and moved in closer to the scary object...no one told her the ultimate goal was to actually open and shut the gate..so as long as I didn't tell her that, she never realized she did not accomplish the full goal..She did accomplish the goal I set for her which was to side pass close to the gate.
The next task was to walk over 4 poles. We have done this many times at home, but these were different so she did hesitate a moment, but not long. She then walked nicely through, careful not to touch any poles. Then we picked up a jog and serpentined through 4 cones. This she was a pro at and was very fluid and soft. From the cones we walked into a box made of 4 poles on the ground. As soon as we stepped in the box I reminded her what a fabulous job she was doing and that this was no rush before I asked for her 360 turn. She did it very well, keeping all legs in the box and touching no poles! Again I praised her before walking out of the box to the poles for our back through. The back through was adjacent to the announcers stand which was a bit of a scary object to Lindsay, but she still managed to focus and backed through her poles well, even letting me steer her hind end to keep her straight and bumped no poles. After another pat we were off to the bridge. The bridge was VERY narrow and long and we opted to cross it from approaching the wide side first..she was hesitant, but crossed on over and finished our class. We did the same pattern once more and she did very well...and the end of that class we stayed at the bridge as they disassembled the rest of the pattern and we practiced crossing it. After a few attempts we crossed it perfectly from the skinny side! I think a skinny bridge is on the list of props we need at home!
After our trail class we rode in 2 walk/jog classes and they went very well. With each trip around the ring she became more comfortable with the activity on the rail. They asked us for a back in the line-up and that went very smooth. They were small classes, only 3 in the first one, but Lindsay won a Blue ribbon in it all the same! She was very good. Out second walk jog consisted of us plus 3 other riders. The other 3 riders were moving a good bit faster than us and traveling all together...as they came to approach us from behind Lindsay remained calm, even though I could tell she was aware...I wanted to let her hold her spot on the rail and allow them to pass, it would have been good for her and I really think she would have been fine, but 2 of the riders were very small and I was afraid if she did jump at their approach it might unseat them, so as I saw them approaching I veered off the rail and circled in behind them so as to be sure I did not mess up their class. There are times in my opinion where you are trying to show your horse in the best light to win that individual class and other times when you do only what is best for your horse's mind during the class and let it be, and the riders surrounding us in our situation...this was by far a time for the latter, it was much more important to keep Lindsay in sound mind and the fellow riders safe than chance an accident. Lindsay was a star and went exactly where I pointed her. I think another thing soon on our list is to trailer to a busy show barn and ride in a ring full of experienced riders that are schooling. We do need to be comfortable with "Horse Traffic" and it is so quiet at our farm "Traffic" of any kind is hard to come by..unless you count "Dog Traffic" we have plenty of that! LOL
I was Very pleased with our first Horse Show and Lindsay's ability to focus, even though we went straight off the trailer to work!
After we got home I let her cool down by her fan and pulled her out later for a ride to work on a few things I noted at the horse show. I really wanted to establish to her that even when uncertain of an object that if I say it's ok, then it's ok...The way I say it's ok is not by going over and checking it out...that turns it into something scarier...actually I ignore it continue working. The next, more difficult step is being able to move Lindsay's body towards the scary object even though she is uncertain of it herself. So I tied all kinds of things to the panels of the round pen and I draped a raincoat over a jump standard and we set off to side pass up to scary objects. It did take some convincing, but after a while she seemed to understand that if I asked her to side pass it was easier to oblige and forget about the scary stuff than to create more work for herself by arguing. As soon as she would take a willing step towards the object I would release pressure and reassure her what a fabulous girl she was. After a while she would willingly allow me to slide her all the way up to the rail and right up on the gremlins hanging off of it! We even tossed some of those gremlins...ie bags and raincoats...over our head and she was quite tolerate of the silly behavior I was doing on her back:) We worked again on some transitions, especially our left lead and that went very well. Her left lead transition is starting to become her strong one now!
It was a very productive day with much learned by both of us.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Day 32, 33 & 34 ~ More than one way to Ask the Same Question.
Well I am pure whipped, but feel like I really should post since it's been 3 days now. All is well. Day 32 consisted of a late night ride in the dark in the arena. Working on lots of driving from the outside aids. Lindsay is really picking up well and is developing quite the "handle" on her. She is super catty under me and it is just awesome to feel when she whips her shoulders around at the slightest cue!
Our left lead has been a little tough to get consistently, but being able to hold her shoulder in really helps. We got it the first few times, but after a while I think she just got tired and I could not seem to get that lead again. One of those times when you've got to think of another way to ask the same question. The way I asked worked at first, but then we got in a rut and it didn't any more..so thinking cap back on :)
The next day (yesterday) I decided to try canter transitions in the round pen...just to build our confidence up and let her see what it is I was asking for. She Always is super quick to learn and understand as long as I do my part and explain properly. Well we started with a soft jog, I shaped her a bit asking her to move her shoulder over and up and after setting her up I asked with a little outside leg and a kiss...off she went onto the correct lead! We did it quite a few times and she consistently got it, each time stepping into it with more lift and balance. I really feel that the quality of gait that you are in before you transition to the next makes all the difference, especially in trot to canter transitions. I would only ask for a canter out of a nice soft, fluid and engaged trot and the canter was incredibly uphill for it! Very excited to see her understand what I was attempting to explain.
That brings us to today. We worked in the round pen again and did a few canter transitions. We also did lots of trail type stuff. I put the Big horse ball in the round pen that a friend has so graciously loaned us..(Thank You Ginger!!!) I hung rope to a jump standard to use as a rope gate. I set a few poles up side by side and laid tarps and plywood all around. Well the ball she is not afraid of, but also shows little interest in it lol...maybe we'll try to kick it around next time...The tarps and plywood she is very comfortable stepping over. The rope on the standard caught her eye at first, but I kind of sacked her out w/ it from her back and she relaxed. We even practiced opening and shutting our rope gate! Did it 3 times, each successfully.. very excited w/ that. Then we drug a long rope a good bit and practiced changing direction and the rope following us. She was careful to keep a watchful eye on the rope that was following us, but remained very mature the whole time. We backed trough our poles and trotted over them. She was just fabulous with it all, the things that did bother her she took time to think about and decided they were ok after all!
Afterwards I gave her a good bath with that blue shampoo for her white hairs. Mike sat w/ us and Lindsay was ok with him being there..just cocked her leg to rest it and took a nap :) It was a good 3 days, I love how comfortable she is becoming...Samantha P rolled around in her bath water and Lindsay didn't bat an eye...I still think she is convinced I'm nuts to have a pig loose on her farm lol, but she doesn't seem to mind so all is good!
Our left lead has been a little tough to get consistently, but being able to hold her shoulder in really helps. We got it the first few times, but after a while I think she just got tired and I could not seem to get that lead again. One of those times when you've got to think of another way to ask the same question. The way I asked worked at first, but then we got in a rut and it didn't any more..so thinking cap back on :)
The next day (yesterday) I decided to try canter transitions in the round pen...just to build our confidence up and let her see what it is I was asking for. She Always is super quick to learn and understand as long as I do my part and explain properly. Well we started with a soft jog, I shaped her a bit asking her to move her shoulder over and up and after setting her up I asked with a little outside leg and a kiss...off she went onto the correct lead! We did it quite a few times and she consistently got it, each time stepping into it with more lift and balance. I really feel that the quality of gait that you are in before you transition to the next makes all the difference, especially in trot to canter transitions. I would only ask for a canter out of a nice soft, fluid and engaged trot and the canter was incredibly uphill for it! Very excited to see her understand what I was attempting to explain.
That brings us to today. We worked in the round pen again and did a few canter transitions. We also did lots of trail type stuff. I put the Big horse ball in the round pen that a friend has so graciously loaned us..(Thank You Ginger!!!) I hung rope to a jump standard to use as a rope gate. I set a few poles up side by side and laid tarps and plywood all around. Well the ball she is not afraid of, but also shows little interest in it lol...maybe we'll try to kick it around next time...The tarps and plywood she is very comfortable stepping over. The rope on the standard caught her eye at first, but I kind of sacked her out w/ it from her back and she relaxed. We even practiced opening and shutting our rope gate! Did it 3 times, each successfully.. very excited w/ that. Then we drug a long rope a good bit and practiced changing direction and the rope following us. She was careful to keep a watchful eye on the rope that was following us, but remained very mature the whole time. We backed trough our poles and trotted over them. She was just fabulous with it all, the things that did bother her she took time to think about and decided they were ok after all!
Afterwards I gave her a good bath with that blue shampoo for her white hairs. Mike sat w/ us and Lindsay was ok with him being there..just cocked her leg to rest it and took a nap :) It was a good 3 days, I love how comfortable she is becoming...Samantha P rolled around in her bath water and Lindsay didn't bat an eye...I still think she is convinced I'm nuts to have a pig loose on her farm lol, but she doesn't seem to mind so all is good!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Day 30 & 31 ~ Both Sides of the Ride
Well yesterday was probably the first time I've felt like Lindsay was a bit perturbed with me. It happens though, it's hard to feel in love every moment, even with those we are madly in love with.
We rode really late, edge of dark and the bugs were thick..one even flew in my eye..that joker stung like crazy! No telling how much they were driving her nuts :( But we plowed through the thick haze of bugs and still got in a productive ride.
I started for the first time really riding both sides of her...Up until now I'd ask her to follow her nose and leg yield and move her shoulders, rib cage and hips over, but always off my inside aids more so....never giving her a stopping point, just letting that energy leak out. In the beginning I like to give them a chance to get really supple and bendy and I don't mind that energy leaking out, it seems to help them really understand what I want....and I Love a limber, bendy horse..do not want to discourage that at all :) But now she pretty well understood how to move off my inside aids and it was time to add some outside, to give her a stopping point, a wall to be pushed into. We worked lots on riding perfectly straight...or as perfect as possible and riding off my outside aids more than inside. For quite some time it seemed as if it was not going to sink in, but towards the end..even in the midst of the thick bugs and the now pitch black dark it did. We managed to ride some really straight lines down the center line and diagonals. It was good to see that even in times where most horses would have pitched a major temper tantrum..especially at her level of training.. Lindsay held her own..and even though frustrated, she pushed through and we ended on a very good note....still in love :)
Today we rode again and started w/ the same concept of riding more off my outside aids and riding both sides of her. We practiced octagonal circles at the walk and trot using mostly my outside aids to turn and only guiding with my inside rein if absolutely necessary. That was a fabulous exercise for her and she really seemed to understand the concept. She also seemed to have digested last nights lesson and was much more understanding in general regarding the outside aids. Man did it make a difference when we stepped into the canter. Having more control of that shoulder enabled me to set her body up much better for her canter depart and we started getting much nicer, quicker transitions up..and on the correct lead :) She also was much better about not popping her shoulder out at the canter and drifting wider, she really let me hold that shoulder in w/ my outside leg and rein. I was so pleased with her! She is really starting to feel like an educated horse underneath me when we ride...and I believe we are at ride #14 today...she amazes me more each day! Every time we add a new "Tool" to our toolbox of cues she gets so much more athletic feeling and coordinated under me. She is becoming quite the mount :)
We rode really late, edge of dark and the bugs were thick..one even flew in my eye..that joker stung like crazy! No telling how much they were driving her nuts :( But we plowed through the thick haze of bugs and still got in a productive ride.
I started for the first time really riding both sides of her...Up until now I'd ask her to follow her nose and leg yield and move her shoulders, rib cage and hips over, but always off my inside aids more so....never giving her a stopping point, just letting that energy leak out. In the beginning I like to give them a chance to get really supple and bendy and I don't mind that energy leaking out, it seems to help them really understand what I want....and I Love a limber, bendy horse..do not want to discourage that at all :) But now she pretty well understood how to move off my inside aids and it was time to add some outside, to give her a stopping point, a wall to be pushed into. We worked lots on riding perfectly straight...or as perfect as possible and riding off my outside aids more than inside. For quite some time it seemed as if it was not going to sink in, but towards the end..even in the midst of the thick bugs and the now pitch black dark it did. We managed to ride some really straight lines down the center line and diagonals. It was good to see that even in times where most horses would have pitched a major temper tantrum..especially at her level of training.. Lindsay held her own..and even though frustrated, she pushed through and we ended on a very good note....still in love :)
Today we rode again and started w/ the same concept of riding more off my outside aids and riding both sides of her. We practiced octagonal circles at the walk and trot using mostly my outside aids to turn and only guiding with my inside rein if absolutely necessary. That was a fabulous exercise for her and she really seemed to understand the concept. She also seemed to have digested last nights lesson and was much more understanding in general regarding the outside aids. Man did it make a difference when we stepped into the canter. Having more control of that shoulder enabled me to set her body up much better for her canter depart and we started getting much nicer, quicker transitions up..and on the correct lead :) She also was much better about not popping her shoulder out at the canter and drifting wider, she really let me hold that shoulder in w/ my outside leg and rein. I was so pleased with her! She is really starting to feel like an educated horse underneath me when we ride...and I believe we are at ride #14 today...she amazes me more each day! Every time we add a new "Tool" to our toolbox of cues she gets so much more athletic feeling and coordinated under me. She is becoming quite the mount :)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Day 29 ~ In The Sticks
Trail Ride Today :) My husband rode his Walker and I took off on Lindsay. We rode off the back of our property and our little Fiest, Betty, came along as well. We had a blast. Met up w/ some friends and the 4 of us rode for about an hour or so. Lindsay was great in the back of the group or the front..We started in the back and she seemed very comfortable there, but once we moved up front oh she got excited! She seemed to love leading the pack and really picked up the pace as if she couldn't wait to see what was around the next corner! We walked over some big logs and through some relatively dense area of woods with the limbs rubbing our sides and my face! She was so good, just blazed right on through and honestly seemed excited to be out there. Her walk is so strong and forward I just love it. You can tell you covering ground and getting somewhere. Everything she does has a purpose, even when she's simply going from point A to point B, she is determined to go from A to B the best way she can..I love that about her.
She's pretty good with the other horses around her too, certainly not afraid of them...she seems to assume they should be afraid of her! She reminds me of a boss mare when she looks at them, it's like she simply knows she's the top of the totem pole and doesn't even discuss it with the others... they should simply know to, it's just the way it is..and I believe they do. I have a feeling she was a lead mare out in the wild, I bet she was a protective Mother too...and a very good one at that.
After we got back I let her rest in front of her fan for a bit then pulled her back out to work in the ring. We worked lots and moving off my leg and rein on her neck and it really started to click today. She was doing some fabulous leg yields and half passes. I even started to ask her to cross over a bit in the front and come on around with her front end a little quicker. She picked up on that pretty well and a few times I felt her shoulders lift and swing around pretty snappy! Oh I am Sooooo excited for the day when she's ready to spin!! I really think she's going to be a natural.
We finished up and when I untacked her in the barn Mike came up and rubbed her face. She was much better about him approaching her, she's still not 100% certain about it, but Way better than before.
Excited about tomorrow, we are going to start jumping this week :)
She's pretty good with the other horses around her too, certainly not afraid of them...she seems to assume they should be afraid of her! She reminds me of a boss mare when she looks at them, it's like she simply knows she's the top of the totem pole and doesn't even discuss it with the others... they should simply know to, it's just the way it is..and I believe they do. I have a feeling she was a lead mare out in the wild, I bet she was a protective Mother too...and a very good one at that.
After we got back I let her rest in front of her fan for a bit then pulled her back out to work in the ring. We worked lots and moving off my leg and rein on her neck and it really started to click today. She was doing some fabulous leg yields and half passes. I even started to ask her to cross over a bit in the front and come on around with her front end a little quicker. She picked up on that pretty well and a few times I felt her shoulders lift and swing around pretty snappy! Oh I am Sooooo excited for the day when she's ready to spin!! I really think she's going to be a natural.
We finished up and when I untacked her in the barn Mike came up and rubbed her face. She was much better about him approaching her, she's still not 100% certain about it, but Way better than before.
Excited about tomorrow, we are going to start jumping this week :)
Day ~ 28 First Public Outing
What a day, What a Mustang :) We loaded up early and hauled to Equine Country USA, a farm ~an hour up the road where they were having an open horse show. I first gave Lindsay a quick bath before we left home and was so pleased to see she was oblivious to Samantha P (our pig) Sharing her bath water...under her feet LOL Her relationship with Samantha P has come a long way since May 8th! After our bath she loaded in the trailer and on the road we went. She hauled pretty quiet and after a bit of confusion explaining to the show staff why her coggins looked so funny we were on the grounds.
Fortunately for use it was really a small show, really perfect facility w/ multiple arenas to ride in. I unloaded and tacked her up beside the trailer, hopped on and off we walked to the ring. She really seemed excited and walked through the dark, shady path from the parking to the ring with more forward than I expected...she seemed ready to check out the scene. We first rode over and into their 60 foot round pen and trotted and loped a few circles..we then headed to the big warm up pen and walked round and round soaking up all the sights. There was an announcers stand that stood tall beside us that was our primary focus of attention, but it became less interesting w/ each passing. We trotted lots of large circles, did some serpentines and even trotted all the way around on the rail. They had some poles on the ground so we took advantage and trotted over those...we even picked up a canter and made quite a few laps around the arena..we included some poles in the canter as well. I asked Lindsay for a stop out of a pretty forward canter and man did she tuck her hind end deep. She even slide a little and walked with her front in remaining forward in her stop. What a natural she is, I was so impressed! Her talent, try and responsiveness makes her so much fun to sit on no matter what we do.
Once they finished up the hunters we went in the main ring during open arena and checked it out. She looked at a few things like the mailbox on the rail and ribbons at the in gate, but after one or two looks she was over it. She really was not to phased by the other horses, but there weren't many of them..she is mostly preoccupied with strangers. She really did much better with that too though, she got rather close to the rail even w/ people leaning on it towards the end.
A friend offered us her horse ball to take home and play with! I am so excited!!! Not sure that Lindsay is, but I think she will be. She has developed much more of a curiosity for things now that we ride out of the round pen so often. She loves the great outdoors no doubt!
After we finished up I sponged her off and she drank lots from her water tub!! That is way exciting and a huge asset to her safety on the road! She loaded up well and homeward bound we went.
I let her stay in front of her fan the rest of the day and she really seemed much more content there than yesterday. I turned her out tonight and she seemed thrilled to get to roll really good in her black Kelly dirt!
She continues to amaze me...I am going to have to get a thesaurus to keep from being so repetitive when bragging on her, but I simply can't say enough. I love each and every little thing about her. Can not wait 'till tomorrow!
Fortunately for use it was really a small show, really perfect facility w/ multiple arenas to ride in. I unloaded and tacked her up beside the trailer, hopped on and off we walked to the ring. She really seemed excited and walked through the dark, shady path from the parking to the ring with more forward than I expected...she seemed ready to check out the scene. We first rode over and into their 60 foot round pen and trotted and loped a few circles..we then headed to the big warm up pen and walked round and round soaking up all the sights. There was an announcers stand that stood tall beside us that was our primary focus of attention, but it became less interesting w/ each passing. We trotted lots of large circles, did some serpentines and even trotted all the way around on the rail. They had some poles on the ground so we took advantage and trotted over those...we even picked up a canter and made quite a few laps around the arena..we included some poles in the canter as well. I asked Lindsay for a stop out of a pretty forward canter and man did she tuck her hind end deep. She even slide a little and walked with her front in remaining forward in her stop. What a natural she is, I was so impressed! Her talent, try and responsiveness makes her so much fun to sit on no matter what we do.
Once they finished up the hunters we went in the main ring during open arena and checked it out. She looked at a few things like the mailbox on the rail and ribbons at the in gate, but after one or two looks she was over it. She really was not to phased by the other horses, but there weren't many of them..she is mostly preoccupied with strangers. She really did much better with that too though, she got rather close to the rail even w/ people leaning on it towards the end.
A friend offered us her horse ball to take home and play with! I am so excited!!! Not sure that Lindsay is, but I think she will be. She has developed much more of a curiosity for things now that we ride out of the round pen so often. She loves the great outdoors no doubt!
After we finished up I sponged her off and she drank lots from her water tub!! That is way exciting and a huge asset to her safety on the road! She loaded up well and homeward bound we went.
I let her stay in front of her fan the rest of the day and she really seemed much more content there than yesterday. I turned her out tonight and she seemed thrilled to get to roll really good in her black Kelly dirt!
She continues to amaze me...I am going to have to get a thesaurus to keep from being so repetitive when bragging on her, but I simply can't say enough. I love each and every little thing about her. Can not wait 'till tomorrow!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Day 27 ~ Oh Domesticated Life
Well we spent our first day in the barn today. Lindsay has been staying outside in her paddock, but I've been wanting to get her adjusted to being in a stall as well. Not that she'll spend the majority of her time there..and in the long run will be out on pasture, which I know will make her very happy :).. but I wanted her to realize the stall is a safe place to be. She was a bit nervous walking into the barn, but she was brave and over came her fears walking on in the barn and then into her freshly bedded stall. I turned her fan on high b/c it was a hot day and gave her some hay and let her settle. She was a bit anxious at first, but much quieter than many babies I've stalled for the first time. After about 30 minutes I came out to find her standing square in front of her fan with that salt n pepper mane blowing in the breeze! So happy to see that :)She stayed in her stall in front of her fan during the heat of the day then around 7 pm once it was cooled down I pulled her out.
This time we groomed in the barn aisle...we have been doing all this in the round pen...She wanted to be fidgety a little initially, just wasn't sure what was going on, but I encouraged her to ground tie and stand in the middle of the ally way and she obliged quickly. I curried her well and picked her feet out. I also went ahead and gave her a trim today. I did not touch her w/ the nippers, didn't need to..just used the rasp. I rounded her front toes a good bit as they were getting a little long. I had balanced out that high inside wall on her front right the other day. It appears there is an old abscess growing out and that side just took off growing w/ that abscess. She does not conformationally load the inside of that foot and really watching her travel does not make me feel like she has any reason to have a higher wall on the inside, it was like her body knew it needed to get that old abscess grown out asap so it just speed up growing! So, I rounded her walls up and rolled her front toes. On her back feet she needed a little balancing on her right as well, so I leveled it and rounded the wall softly, but did not back or roll the hind toes as much. I really like the way her hind feet are naturally shaped (as well as the front for that matter) and I felt like if I backed her toe up it would cause her to knuckle over to much when she stops. She is Really liking putting on the brakes and using her hind end gears, do not want to discourage that!
We then fly sprayed and tacked up and off we went. I hopped on her cold turkey this time, no round pen work, and she stepped off like a pro :) We did some flexing in the small ring first and started to initiate some shoulder yielding. She has been a bit more flexible and malleable tracking right from the start..this was apparent at liberty in the round pen, but she is becoming much looser tracking left as well. We worked a lot on moving her shoulders away from my rein and leg. We then worked in the big arena and cantered some big circles both ways. She was a very good girl. Once we finished up we cooled down by walking all around the barn yard and where Mike's tractor implements are to see some new things. We even worked on picking up a rope off of the post it was hanging on. That did scare her at first. So far I have always introduced new objects to her from the ground, never have I picked up something while sitting on her... but after she thought for a moment she really seemed to realize all way ok and settled back down. We picked the rope up and hung it back up numerous times and finished our ride by riding up and into the barn. (Our aisle has quite good clearance to do so)
I rinsed her off and we loaded on and off the trailer a few times, practicing having her wait for me to unload and she was quite the good girl so we called it a day. It's amazing to me we haven't even hit the 30 day mark and she is already reminding me of a domestic horse in many ways..she even likes to try and get a scratch as I am pulling off her sweaty bridle LOL She still remains more sensitive and "in tune" to me than most domestic horses though and she is maturing into quite the fabulous ride :)Love her more every day!
This time we groomed in the barn aisle...we have been doing all this in the round pen...She wanted to be fidgety a little initially, just wasn't sure what was going on, but I encouraged her to ground tie and stand in the middle of the ally way and she obliged quickly. I curried her well and picked her feet out. I also went ahead and gave her a trim today. I did not touch her w/ the nippers, didn't need to..just used the rasp. I rounded her front toes a good bit as they were getting a little long. I had balanced out that high inside wall on her front right the other day. It appears there is an old abscess growing out and that side just took off growing w/ that abscess. She does not conformationally load the inside of that foot and really watching her travel does not make me feel like she has any reason to have a higher wall on the inside, it was like her body knew it needed to get that old abscess grown out asap so it just speed up growing! So, I rounded her walls up and rolled her front toes. On her back feet she needed a little balancing on her right as well, so I leveled it and rounded the wall softly, but did not back or roll the hind toes as much. I really like the way her hind feet are naturally shaped (as well as the front for that matter) and I felt like if I backed her toe up it would cause her to knuckle over to much when she stops. She is Really liking putting on the brakes and using her hind end gears, do not want to discourage that!
We then fly sprayed and tacked up and off we went. I hopped on her cold turkey this time, no round pen work, and she stepped off like a pro :) We did some flexing in the small ring first and started to initiate some shoulder yielding. She has been a bit more flexible and malleable tracking right from the start..this was apparent at liberty in the round pen, but she is becoming much looser tracking left as well. We worked a lot on moving her shoulders away from my rein and leg. We then worked in the big arena and cantered some big circles both ways. She was a very good girl. Once we finished up we cooled down by walking all around the barn yard and where Mike's tractor implements are to see some new things. We even worked on picking up a rope off of the post it was hanging on. That did scare her at first. So far I have always introduced new objects to her from the ground, never have I picked up something while sitting on her... but after she thought for a moment she really seemed to realize all way ok and settled back down. We picked the rope up and hung it back up numerous times and finished our ride by riding up and into the barn. (Our aisle has quite good clearance to do so)
I rinsed her off and we loaded on and off the trailer a few times, practicing having her wait for me to unload and she was quite the good girl so we called it a day. It's amazing to me we haven't even hit the 30 day mark and she is already reminding me of a domestic horse in many ways..she even likes to try and get a scratch as I am pulling off her sweaty bridle LOL She still remains more sensitive and "in tune" to me than most domestic horses though and she is maturing into quite the fabulous ride :)Love her more every day!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 26 ~ Field Trip!!!
We went on our first off the farm "Field Trip" today! We loaded up, very nicely, and hauled 30 miles up the road to a friend's farm (Thank you Joy!) Lindsay unloaded great and we hand walked around Joy's farm soaking up the sights. Lindsay was a bit afraid to walk into the barn, but it didn't take to much convincing and she was in! We rode a little in the round pen first and then the barn yard...even over another puddle :) When we finished up I used Joys "Official measuring stick"...(with the little air bubble to level it and all!)... to see just how tall our girl is. She thought that thing was a new scary monster at first, but realized pretty quick it was not... She sticks dead on 14.2 inches and a half an inch! Glad we don't have future plans of being a hunter pony! We'd be outta luck! I think she's gonna like the western events a bit more in the long run anyway.. the way she wants to stick her butt in the dirt!...Anyway, then it was back on the trailer and home. I was very pleased at how well she did. She was Very excited to be home though and jumped off the trailer a wee bit quicker than I wanted, we'll work on that, but I was happy to see her excited.
We rode again at the house and loped lots of circles, LOVING the feel of her lope! She is really following her nose nice and stays soft and round at the lope, just as she does at the trot and jog. Her "Whoa" from that lope is something else too...this girl loves to sit down deep and I'm loving it! Talk about fun!! Can't wait for tomorrow and the weekend..we will have to haul somewhere for sure :)
We rode again at the house and loped lots of circles, LOVING the feel of her lope! She is really following her nose nice and stays soft and round at the lope, just as she does at the trot and jog. Her "Whoa" from that lope is something else too...this girl loves to sit down deep and I'm loving it! Talk about fun!! Can't wait for tomorrow and the weekend..we will have to haul somewhere for sure :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Day 25 ~ 4 Wheel Hoovin' It :)
What a wonderful day! we got much needed rain and you could almost witness the grass jump higher. It raining steady until about 7 pm and as soon as it slacked Lindsay and I were off on our ride! She was feeling her "Triple Crown" today LOL But didn't buck at all, just feeling good and even tossed her head around a bit when I sent her off around the round pen a time or two. I hopped on and we went out in the big, open ring. It has by far the best ground, even though it was sloppy wet it still holds. We practiced some light leg yielding and turns on the forehand and then Cantered!!! In the open arena, first time ever!!! It felt fabulous! I was thrilled to feel her canter is so naturally balanced. In the round pen it's a bit rigid, but it's a 40 foot round pen, really tough to lope in their unless you are a finished western pleasure horse. Well, I had nothing to be concerned about, her canter is simply amazing! Very free and forward, yet not rushed, very coordinated and she travels with this naturally level top-line all the time. The more I sit on her the more she reminds me of a reiner...I could have fun with that!
I have been fortunate enough to sit on quite a few horses and I must say when I sit on one that just feels good underneath me I know it from the start. She is every bit one of those. Very supple and soft, forward, relaxed in body and mind and covers ground. I know I go on and on about how much I adore her, but honestly I just Love to sit on her...feel like I could do it all day. She is one of those horses that gives you a good place to sit so to speak...she is so naturally balanced it is easy to be balanced on top of her. Oh it is simply heaven on board! After we cantered circles in the muddy ring we tromped through our now even larger mud puddles in the road and then we went over and watched Mike change the hubs on the truck. I think Lindsay liked him squatting on the ground, she seemed to enjoy that! We then hand grazed and back to her paddock she went.
Plus...our Soft-Ride boots arrived today! So excited to wear them when we haul long distances. They are amazing boots, really a necessity for any horse that hauls to horse shows or trail rides. Makes that rough trailer ride so much more comfortable! Check out www.soft-ride.com If you try them you will not know how you ever lived without them. Rox, my barrel mare loves hers and I can honestly tell a difference in her when she hauls in them, she is much more limber and "free" just stepping off the trailer. It's truly a must have product!
Hopefully if the rain holds out we will go an a little road trip tomorrow! Excited!!!
I have been fortunate enough to sit on quite a few horses and I must say when I sit on one that just feels good underneath me I know it from the start. She is every bit one of those. Very supple and soft, forward, relaxed in body and mind and covers ground. I know I go on and on about how much I adore her, but honestly I just Love to sit on her...feel like I could do it all day. She is one of those horses that gives you a good place to sit so to speak...she is so naturally balanced it is easy to be balanced on top of her. Oh it is simply heaven on board! After we cantered circles in the muddy ring we tromped through our now even larger mud puddles in the road and then we went over and watched Mike change the hubs on the truck. I think Lindsay liked him squatting on the ground, she seemed to enjoy that! We then hand grazed and back to her paddock she went.
Plus...our Soft-Ride boots arrived today! So excited to wear them when we haul long distances. They are amazing boots, really a necessity for any horse that hauls to horse shows or trail rides. Makes that rough trailer ride so much more comfortable! Check out www.soft-ride.com If you try them you will not know how you ever lived without them. Rox, my barrel mare loves hers and I can honestly tell a difference in her when she hauls in them, she is much more limber and "free" just stepping off the trailer. It's truly a must have product!
Hopefully if the rain holds out we will go an a little road trip tomorrow! Excited!!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Day 23 & 24 ~ All Aboard
Well yesterday, day 23 we worked on trailer loading. Lindsay was not even comfortable approaching it at first, but we had done lots of work on our "Showmanship" routine, which is my favorite way to teach a horse to load. She understood that when I pushed my hand forward she was expected to catch up to my hand. So we walked as close to the trailer as she was comfortable and I would ask for one more step than she was totally comfortable with. Her "Try" is just huge and even though she was afraid she took that one step into that scary zone closer to the trailer! Once she was there I rubbed on her lots and talked to her reiterating this was a happy place to be. I would then ask her to back and then walk forward again, each time our step into the scary zone became closer to the base of the trailer. After a while we were all the way at the base and her front legs were almost touching the bumper! As she become comfortable in that spot I encouraged her to sniff in the trailer all she wanted. As long as she was exploring on her own I did not get in her way. She actually did that for quite a while before she become pretty comfortable with her head stretched all the way inside the trailer. I then asked for yet another step. Of course this time her leg bumped the trailer and it rattled. This startled her and she went to shoot away, but when I asked, she came all the way back quickly and tried again....Again her degree of "Try" really does amaze me... She continued for quite a while bumping her legs on the trailer and was doing a bit of a dance with all fours in just about the same spot all shifting up and down as she desperately tried to analyze how in the world she would do what I was requesting. It was clear she understood I wanted her to go forward into the trailer, but up until this point she had never had to pick her feet a foot off the ground to go where I wanted her to go. So she danced and as long as it was obvious she was trying I let her try and did not push harder. She was pushing herself plenty :) Before long she jumped up and both front feet were in! She stood there wide eyed and looked around, rather tense, but taking it all in. I just praised her and let her make the decision if she wanted to go further or back out...either way was totally ok at this point. She opted to back and as she came to the ground she jumped back a little at the rattling of the trailer. She re-grouped quickly and I asked her to approach yet again, and again after a bit of a dance she jumped in with both front feet...and backed out again...The third time when both front feet were on and after she had relaxed I asked for another step forward. She obliged and stepped all the way on and we were in! She was relatively calm inside and we practiced walking forward to the front of the trailer as well as backing up to the back, but not off. I prefer to encourage horses to come off front ways, at least at first so that when they are tied they are not anticipating backing off. She stepped very quietly down and we loaded a couple more times with no hesitation :)
We then rode and even trotted circles in the open large arena. After we finished up we followed Mike around the pen some more and Lindsay let him touch her a few times with less apprehension than the night before.
On to today, number 24 day and number 7 ride I believe...need to go back and count. We did lots of ground work walking over a trap as well as kicking our trusty noodles around. She was really good crossing the tarp, but when I picked it up it became monstrous. I did lots of tossing it around, then throwing it on the ground and encouraging her to walk over it...She really seemed to enjoy the walking over it part and even pawed it and grabbed it with her teeth towards the end. It was as if she was being certain that big scary thing was good and dead... unfortunately I kept picking it up and bringing it back to life, but each time she seemed more confident and thoroughly enjoyed stomping the "life" out of it yet again LOL
We also practiced backing through cones, ended up going really well...but we sure need to be practicing that stuff. Lindsay does her best to figure out what I want and sometimes I'd ask a little and she'd give way more than I expected. After a while we were backing through them well though.
We rode out in the big arena trotted lots of circles, began to introduce a little leg yielding and trotted over poles. We even did some turns on the forehand :) After we worked quite a while we took advantage of all the rain and crossed some good ole mud puddles in the drive way. She was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long and she was splashing her way right on through.
It has been a great couple of days..excited to start taking her out to see the world! I think the time is nearing...
We then rode and even trotted circles in the open large arena. After we finished up we followed Mike around the pen some more and Lindsay let him touch her a few times with less apprehension than the night before.
On to today, number 24 day and number 7 ride I believe...need to go back and count. We did lots of ground work walking over a trap as well as kicking our trusty noodles around. She was really good crossing the tarp, but when I picked it up it became monstrous. I did lots of tossing it around, then throwing it on the ground and encouraging her to walk over it...She really seemed to enjoy the walking over it part and even pawed it and grabbed it with her teeth towards the end. It was as if she was being certain that big scary thing was good and dead... unfortunately I kept picking it up and bringing it back to life, but each time she seemed more confident and thoroughly enjoyed stomping the "life" out of it yet again LOL
We also practiced backing through cones, ended up going really well...but we sure need to be practicing that stuff. Lindsay does her best to figure out what I want and sometimes I'd ask a little and she'd give way more than I expected. After a while we were backing through them well though.
We rode out in the big arena trotted lots of circles, began to introduce a little leg yielding and trotted over poles. We even did some turns on the forehand :) After we worked quite a while we took advantage of all the rain and crossed some good ole mud puddles in the drive way. She was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long and she was splashing her way right on through.
It has been a great couple of days..excited to start taking her out to see the world! I think the time is nearing...
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