And what a great session it was! We upped our friendly game, with vigorous spinning and swatting with my stick and string. It took some time for her to realize that was ok and to pay attention to my body and my ask, not my stick. I got some beautiful sideways from her, nice maintain gait on the circle and we played with touch it by asking her to stand on the bridge and the tire. She started out worried, she ended calm and accepting - love it. I promised Steve I wouldn't ride her before our trip to the Caribbean (tomorrow), but when I get back... She's ready to go and so am I.
Chrissy pulled Cowboy out for a bit. I was glad to see it since she's been coming and helping for a couple months but not spending much time with her boy. The weather has sucked and I understand that. Soon, the days will be warmer and longer and she'll be back at it. It was cute watching her try to remember how to get positive responses from Cowboy. Seems Kris is thinking to start playing with Parelli. It might be tough for them to both play with one horse, but I'm sure if the desire is there, they can sort it out. Maybe Cowboy will get some good development this year. I hope mostly that Chrissy and Cowboy cover some miles together - it will be so good for her to realize she can.
Showing posts with label 7 games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7 games. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Rio, Nina and Z's recovery
I took a new horse in for a short training period. He's a smaller quarter horse that hasn't been ridden in a year and not much at all in the past 4 years. His owner has developed some fear of his reactions to things and she's looking to get him evaluated and determine if she should keep him or sell him. I was expecting a "crazy" horse to show up, but he's actually a very nice boy with a great personality. And for some reason, my mares LOVE him. He bonded to Nina immediately and now he calls if she leaves his sight. That was a 36 hour courtship, folks. My oh my.
He's got some nice responses built in - he yields to pressure, he's great with the friendly game, he leads up nicely. He understands some basics, so we're moving quickly through groundwork and straight to tacking up and riding. I was told he has a lot of anxiety about the saddling process, so I tacked him up slowly with my treeless saddle. I wanted to see his responses to the pad, the saddle, the girth... He was ok with all of it. Perhaps his owner is doing something in the saddling process that triggers his anxiety. We'll figure that out.
I started teaching him to lower his head on cue. This will be a great thing to develop with him and that Kris can use when he gets worried. I think I'll make this one of his new things to leave my barn with and teach Kris how to keep it functional.
He tends to get a wide-eyed look about him and as I get to know him, I'll try to figure out how much of that is emotion versus how much is just the amount of white that shows in his eye. I saw him be very relaxed, but his head comes up high and his eyes get pretty dang wide. He also has a crazy swayed back just a 10-yr old. His middle back is sore and he is constantly in "bad banana" position. We'll start with hill therapy and transitions to get his back in better order, as well as teach him the fluid rein so he can stretch his back and move with his nose low and near the ground. I think some good riding and some back building/stretching techniques will go a long way with Rio. I'll take a "before" picture tomorrow.
I practiced the bow with Rain. It's time to bridge the cue for "foot" so that she bows on a more subtle cue. Then, I can teach her to lay down once I teach her to hold her bow from a different cue. She loves the bow and she loves treats! I'm moving to the 50/50 reward system (a treat every OTHER time) while I teach a bridge to the bow. She's the coolest horse. I just love her.
Then, I got Z out and doctored her hind leg. The swelling is nearly gone and I expect to be back on her by Saturday. I'll put her back on the track tomorrow. Thank goodness it wasn't more serious. She's definitely a cut-up looking horse right now, though.
Finally, Miss Nina needed more trimming done. She's also developed scratches on her hind pastern that has the sock. It seems that scratches affects a while pastern/fetlock much more often that a non-white one. I treated her with white lightening and I'll do so for a few days to get the scratches under control. I have lots of white pasterns in my herd - why did only Nina get scratches? Low immune system, perhaps? Maybe she had a cut there? I got another one of her hooves done, too. The second hoof this week. Like I posted earlier this week, I'm focused now on teaching her to partner up during trimming and not look at trimming as a time to play games with me. We got into a bad pattern of trimming time becoming a fight and now I'm trying to fix that. I'll do a hoof at a time until she's more willing to relax during trimming and doesn't want to take her hoof back so often. It's working - I got that one hoof done in a very relaxed way and was even able to sit on my stool while I trimmed her. Oh happy days! It's always great when you can see where you've gone wrong and get it fixed up. Hopefully, her scratches will look considerably better tomorrow, too.
Our weather has been great and the weekend looks fantastic - 60's and 70's with abundant sunshine! Time to get back on Miss Tina and start teaching her some things! Playday at my place on Sunday, too. Should be a great time.
Note to self: Need to hang a list in the barn of all the things every one of the horses under my training should be able to do. And then I need to make sure they can all do it! This would be a great reminder to me to build a solid foundation with no holes for every horse that passes through my barn. Also, need to build Z back up in the trailer.
He's got some nice responses built in - he yields to pressure, he's great with the friendly game, he leads up nicely. He understands some basics, so we're moving quickly through groundwork and straight to tacking up and riding. I was told he has a lot of anxiety about the saddling process, so I tacked him up slowly with my treeless saddle. I wanted to see his responses to the pad, the saddle, the girth... He was ok with all of it. Perhaps his owner is doing something in the saddling process that triggers his anxiety. We'll figure that out.
I started teaching him to lower his head on cue. This will be a great thing to develop with him and that Kris can use when he gets worried. I think I'll make this one of his new things to leave my barn with and teach Kris how to keep it functional.
He tends to get a wide-eyed look about him and as I get to know him, I'll try to figure out how much of that is emotion versus how much is just the amount of white that shows in his eye. I saw him be very relaxed, but his head comes up high and his eyes get pretty dang wide. He also has a crazy swayed back just a 10-yr old. His middle back is sore and he is constantly in "bad banana" position. We'll start with hill therapy and transitions to get his back in better order, as well as teach him the fluid rein so he can stretch his back and move with his nose low and near the ground. I think some good riding and some back building/stretching techniques will go a long way with Rio. I'll take a "before" picture tomorrow.
I practiced the bow with Rain. It's time to bridge the cue for "foot" so that she bows on a more subtle cue. Then, I can teach her to lay down once I teach her to hold her bow from a different cue. She loves the bow and she loves treats! I'm moving to the 50/50 reward system (a treat every OTHER time) while I teach a bridge to the bow. She's the coolest horse. I just love her.
Then, I got Z out and doctored her hind leg. The swelling is nearly gone and I expect to be back on her by Saturday. I'll put her back on the track tomorrow. Thank goodness it wasn't more serious. She's definitely a cut-up looking horse right now, though.
Finally, Miss Nina needed more trimming done. She's also developed scratches on her hind pastern that has the sock. It seems that scratches affects a while pastern/fetlock much more often that a non-white one. I treated her with white lightening and I'll do so for a few days to get the scratches under control. I have lots of white pasterns in my herd - why did only Nina get scratches? Low immune system, perhaps? Maybe she had a cut there? I got another one of her hooves done, too. The second hoof this week. Like I posted earlier this week, I'm focused now on teaching her to partner up during trimming and not look at trimming as a time to play games with me. We got into a bad pattern of trimming time becoming a fight and now I'm trying to fix that. I'll do a hoof at a time until she's more willing to relax during trimming and doesn't want to take her hoof back so often. It's working - I got that one hoof done in a very relaxed way and was even able to sit on my stool while I trimmed her. Oh happy days! It's always great when you can see where you've gone wrong and get it fixed up. Hopefully, her scratches will look considerably better tomorrow, too.
Our weather has been great and the weekend looks fantastic - 60's and 70's with abundant sunshine! Time to get back on Miss Tina and start teaching her some things! Playday at my place on Sunday, too. Should be a great time.
Note to self: Need to hang a list in the barn of all the things every one of the horses under my training should be able to do. And then I need to make sure they can all do it! This would be a great reminder to me to build a solid foundation with no holes for every horse that passes through my barn. Also, need to build Z back up in the trailer.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Squeeze and Sideways with Tina
Tonight, I wanted to build more sideways and squeeze game patterns with Tina. I started with asking her to go sideways over an obstacle. It's obvious that she's never done sideways or sidepassing. She was able to take small steps sideways over an obstacle, but she really wasn't comfortable going sideways so we have some work to do.
We continued to build those 2 games and by the end of the session, she was licking and chewing and giving some nice sideways with hinds and fores crossing. Squeeze is tough because the horse can get scared when they can't go forward. I was looking for relaxation and Tina not wishing to go forward and leave. She had learned that she could find the answer and forward wasn't it. Her answer is typically forward, which is very natural for a prey animal so I'm trying to build a more confident and inquisitive mind in her. I want to try other answers besides forward.
After our ground session, I spent some more time shaping up her feet. The left fore is extremely flat, so I'm trying to lift the sole and build the solar dome. The right hand is the nicest, for whatever reason. Things are coming along. She's getting lots of good concussion on the track and her hoof wall grows stong.
We continued to build those 2 games and by the end of the session, she was licking and chewing and giving some nice sideways with hinds and fores crossing. Squeeze is tough because the horse can get scared when they can't go forward. I was looking for relaxation and Tina not wishing to go forward and leave. She had learned that she could find the answer and forward wasn't it. Her answer is typically forward, which is very natural for a prey animal so I'm trying to build a more confident and inquisitive mind in her. I want to try other answers besides forward.
After our ground session, I spent some more time shaping up her feet. The left fore is extremely flat, so I'm trying to lift the sole and build the solar dome. The right hand is the nicest, for whatever reason. Things are coming along. She's getting lots of good concussion on the track and her hoof wall grows stong.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Short session with Gem
Mosquitoes! Oh man!
But a short session in the round pen, focused on maintain gait at the canter. Had to quit, the bugs were ridiculous. Probably 15 mins was all we could stand.
But a short session in the round pen, focused on maintain gait at the canter. Had to quit, the bugs were ridiculous. Probably 15 mins was all we could stand.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Nina - really started...
Had a very successful session with Nina tonight. She started off wooly and wild and we played lots of games (falling leaf, put your feet on it, sideways, circle, squeeze over barrels, figure 8). The figure 8 was quite funny for a while - she was all movement and silly as heck. After a while, she came back to center and could walk a figure 8, but it took some doing.
I had her walk on a tarp, stand on the pedestal (front feet), stand on the bridge, and go over cavalettis. She was being so silly, she demolished one of the cavalettis. I could just hear her saying, "Wheeeeeeee..."! LOL
Anyway, once it seemed like her brain was in working order and she was willing to be calm, we started on the mounted work. Her mounting is great - stands still and behaves herself. Then, after several mounts on both sides, we walked off for the first time. Chrissy stayed with us so I'd have another hand in case she broke apart. She was calm and easy-going though. I'm slowly learning to trust her some. She's so athletic that I know she could leave in mid-air if she got excited.
We worked on lateral flexion, then bending at the walk. She was confused and I was very patient with her, helping her find the answer. I plan to get back on her over the weekend and really get some things going well at the walk. She's well on her way!
Very cool...
I had her walk on a tarp, stand on the pedestal (front feet), stand on the bridge, and go over cavalettis. She was being so silly, she demolished one of the cavalettis. I could just hear her saying, "Wheeeeeeee..."! LOL
Anyway, once it seemed like her brain was in working order and she was willing to be calm, we started on the mounted work. Her mounting is great - stands still and behaves herself. Then, after several mounts on both sides, we walked off for the first time. Chrissy stayed with us so I'd have another hand in case she broke apart. She was calm and easy-going though. I'm slowly learning to trust her some. She's so athletic that I know she could leave in mid-air if she got excited.
We worked on lateral flexion, then bending at the walk. She was confused and I was very patient with her, helping her find the answer. I plan to get back on her over the weekend and really get some things going well at the walk. She's well on her way!
Very cool...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Circles!!
I started with Z tonight, some nice ground work and plans for riding circles at the canter in the english saddle. I wanted to reenact my private lesson with Dave Ellis and try to find ways to make it better.
Our ground work was strong and we did some liberty in the large arena. Our connection was pretty strong and she didn't leave me. I set up a circle with cones and mounted up for some corner pattern and follow the rail at the trot. Once she felt warm, we went to circles. In the meantime, I tried different stirrup lengths. After a few adjustments, I found a better length for my stirrups. We trotted and cantered circles for quite a while. I realized that I ride the circle at the canter much, much better to the left! How interesting!! To the right, I have a hard time staying balanced on her back in the english saddle. I tried to lower the inside stirrup and that helped. However, I just felt less balanced and less "correct" to the right. I will now start riding twice as much to the right.
It was a good workout and she was riding the circle nicely - not looking to collapse the circle or leave it. So, I decided to take her on the trail. Two of my dogs, me and my horse went on down the trail. I got off out on the trail right by a nice patch of green grass, pulled her bridle off and let her munch away as a reward. She was doing so well - calm and brave. I wanted to reward that. I'm loving my horse more than ever. We practiced haunches in on the trail and leg yields. She was soft and willing. Just really nice.
Once we got back, I wanted to play with Nina and mount her some more. She was a wild child for the first 20 mins and even got away from me a couple times. I had to really work on my slip grip and then preparing to be ready when she hit the end of the line. She's so strong and athletic. And she's a classic LBE. However, after playing for a while and doing some nice falling leaf, sideways and backwards, she was interested in finding more obedience. It was a big change from where we started.
Then, I tacked her up in my western saddle and played some more. I haven't put my western saddle on her in a while and she was extremely irritated by the rear cinch. She bucked, and then she bucked, then she bucked some more. Once she was able to canter w/o bucking, we started to make our way to the round pen for more mounting practice. I mounted from each side about 8 times. I want to build her ability to stay very still for mounting while making the mounting process a non issue. She actually had a leg cocked for a lot of it. It's time to move on with her. We can start walking circles in the round pen next. She's so athletic that I worry about her starting to lose it with her first rides. I'm going to do some more reading up on colt-starting and try to make sure I've thought of everything.
At what seemed like the right time, we finished up and took Nina's tack off. It was a great session with both horses! Tomorrow... Gemini.
Our ground work was strong and we did some liberty in the large arena. Our connection was pretty strong and she didn't leave me. I set up a circle with cones and mounted up for some corner pattern and follow the rail at the trot. Once she felt warm, we went to circles. In the meantime, I tried different stirrup lengths. After a few adjustments, I found a better length for my stirrups. We trotted and cantered circles for quite a while. I realized that I ride the circle at the canter much, much better to the left! How interesting!! To the right, I have a hard time staying balanced on her back in the english saddle. I tried to lower the inside stirrup and that helped. However, I just felt less balanced and less "correct" to the right. I will now start riding twice as much to the right.
It was a good workout and she was riding the circle nicely - not looking to collapse the circle or leave it. So, I decided to take her on the trail. Two of my dogs, me and my horse went on down the trail. I got off out on the trail right by a nice patch of green grass, pulled her bridle off and let her munch away as a reward. She was doing so well - calm and brave. I wanted to reward that. I'm loving my horse more than ever. We practiced haunches in on the trail and leg yields. She was soft and willing. Just really nice.
Once we got back, I wanted to play with Nina and mount her some more. She was a wild child for the first 20 mins and even got away from me a couple times. I had to really work on my slip grip and then preparing to be ready when she hit the end of the line. She's so strong and athletic. And she's a classic LBE. However, after playing for a while and doing some nice falling leaf, sideways and backwards, she was interested in finding more obedience. It was a big change from where we started.
Then, I tacked her up in my western saddle and played some more. I haven't put my western saddle on her in a while and she was extremely irritated by the rear cinch. She bucked, and then she bucked, then she bucked some more. Once she was able to canter w/o bucking, we started to make our way to the round pen for more mounting practice. I mounted from each side about 8 times. I want to build her ability to stay very still for mounting while making the mounting process a non issue. She actually had a leg cocked for a lot of it. It's time to move on with her. We can start walking circles in the round pen next. She's so athletic that I worry about her starting to lose it with her first rides. I'm going to do some more reading up on colt-starting and try to make sure I've thought of everything.
At what seemed like the right time, we finished up and took Nina's tack off. It was a great session with both horses! Tomorrow... Gemini.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
More time with the new student...
Three days in a row for Chrissy and she's got a decent circle game going! We started learning the squeeze game, squeezing over a log. She's starting to really understand how to use her tools and communicate with Cowboy. So, we started with some grooming, then tacked up (I was getting Nina going). Chrissy is getting her horse caught, haltered and tacked up on her own now. I'm so happy!!
We went into the arena, she started going through the games and I played with Nina. Nina hasn't worn a saddle in a while, so it was nice to get her going again. She was pretty good about fly spray, too. Funny, she could manage it every except her rib and flank area.
Then, the rain started coming just as I was helping Chrissy learn to mount. So, we took it into the barn and practiced in there. Chrissy was able to get up on her own a few times, which was a great thing! She can keep working on her mounting skills and she'll be mounting herself on the trail easily. The uneven terrain will give her the added 4" or so that she needs. Now, I need to work on helping her get her own saddle! I want my saddle back! :-)
After that, I tied Nina for some time, to have her practice being tied, and started to trim Cowboy. I've let him go a little long and I had a lot of work to do. He wasn't that cooperative and I had Chrissy stand at his head with a toy, giving him something to do with his mouth. That helped a bunch, but I just had a lot of work to do. It took a while and I only got 3 hooves done. Cowboy has a long hoof naturally, and I feel like I just can't bring his toe back enough. His frog is also long, though - just a long, large hoof.
We also did a little trick-training with Cowboy in between hooves. We started to teach him to shake his head, but oddly I couldn't get his head to shake. He would bend his neck and tilt his head sideways, so I used that instead. Then, I taught Chrissy how to teach Cowboy to lift his leg. He got that in no time and Chrissy learned how easy it is to teach a horse tricks. Cool!
Anyway, have a hind to finish on Cowboy and then Nina's up for her trim.
We went into the arena, she started going through the games and I played with Nina. Nina hasn't worn a saddle in a while, so it was nice to get her going again. She was pretty good about fly spray, too. Funny, she could manage it every except her rib and flank area.
Then, the rain started coming just as I was helping Chrissy learn to mount. So, we took it into the barn and practiced in there. Chrissy was able to get up on her own a few times, which was a great thing! She can keep working on her mounting skills and she'll be mounting herself on the trail easily. The uneven terrain will give her the added 4" or so that she needs. Now, I need to work on helping her get her own saddle! I want my saddle back! :-)
After that, I tied Nina for some time, to have her practice being tied, and started to trim Cowboy. I've let him go a little long and I had a lot of work to do. He wasn't that cooperative and I had Chrissy stand at his head with a toy, giving him something to do with his mouth. That helped a bunch, but I just had a lot of work to do. It took a while and I only got 3 hooves done. Cowboy has a long hoof naturally, and I feel like I just can't bring his toe back enough. His frog is also long, though - just a long, large hoof.
We also did a little trick-training with Cowboy in between hooves. We started to teach him to shake his head, but oddly I couldn't get his head to shake. He would bend his neck and tilt his head sideways, so I used that instead. Then, I taught Chrissy how to teach Cowboy to lift his leg. He got that in no time and Chrissy learned how easy it is to teach a horse tricks. Cool!
Anyway, have a hind to finish on Cowboy and then Nina's up for her trim.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Making the right thing easy...
I had a good chunk of time to dedicate to horses after work today (love those days!) and I wanted to start with Z. It's getting to be the time to focus on my application for the instructor class with Parelli and I have to put a 30 min video together showing my horsemanship. I want to show all the things we can do, with multiple horses, but I also want to finish L3. I've decided to focus on this application video and worry about my Freestyle vid for L3 later. I could probably do it now, but priority should be on the app video.
Anyway, I just love riding Z. She has tons of go, tons of try, and a pure heart. She simply wants to do what's easiest and most comfortable. We did a little groundwork to warm up and she was light and responsive. Then, I wanted to ride her in the pastures and practice transitions. Down transitions are tough for us at the faster gaits. Z was not comfortable with leaving the barn/herd, however. There was a time when I would have made her leave. I'm happy to see I've progressed far beyond that point in my horsemanship and I was happy to work on transitions right by the barn. When she seemed tired, I'd ask her to slowly walk away from the barn - making the right thing easy (walking) and the wrong thing hard (staying by the barn and working).
Sometimes we can leave the barn and hit the trail alone without a single problem. Sometimes she thinks going on the trail alone is just too much for her to handle. I really wonder if it's directly related to the trail ride before. See, our last trail ride was in a thunderstorm and I tried to hustle her home and she got very emotional. She remembers every time she gets even a little emotional and she works to avoid it the next time. She's a very interesting horse - sensitive and emotional.
For our work near the barn, we did canter yo-yos, circles (really practicing keeping her on the circle and riding her straight on the circle!), transitions on the circle, sideways (always towards the barn), disengaging the hind and riding into the trailer (mounted into the trailer!). My trailer isn't very high so I'm trying hard to keep my self safe.
Finally, after about 45 mins, I rode her into the front pasture in an s-pattern and we stopped at a jump. I hopped off, she ate grass and relaxed. I stroked her and helped her feel safe and comfortable. It was a win and a positive session for sure. After about 10 mins (the mosquitos are just stupid today), I hopped on and we walked the long way back to the barn. She was relaxed and left-brained.
Then, Chrissy and Cowboy were ready to have groundwork session #2. So far we've covered games 1-3 and it was time to talk about #4 and #5. Circle and yo-yo. A new student feels very clumsy with the tools in the beginning, but Chrissy's doing a great job of fumbling through it and having some great moments! We covered haltering properly and driving game to keep him out of her space. Proud of her. Cowboy is doing a good job of being her lesson horse and though he gets bored, he still tries to give the right answer. We have squeeze and sideways left. Then, she can start practicing on her own. I think she's ready to ride him, so in the next day or so I'll teach her pushing passenger lesson so she can practice getting her seat more independent. She's on her way!
Steve took some quick, short video of Chrissy playing the yo-yo game with Cowboy and me playing with Z.
Anyway, I just love riding Z. She has tons of go, tons of try, and a pure heart. She simply wants to do what's easiest and most comfortable. We did a little groundwork to warm up and she was light and responsive. Then, I wanted to ride her in the pastures and practice transitions. Down transitions are tough for us at the faster gaits. Z was not comfortable with leaving the barn/herd, however. There was a time when I would have made her leave. I'm happy to see I've progressed far beyond that point in my horsemanship and I was happy to work on transitions right by the barn. When she seemed tired, I'd ask her to slowly walk away from the barn - making the right thing easy (walking) and the wrong thing hard (staying by the barn and working).
Sometimes we can leave the barn and hit the trail alone without a single problem. Sometimes she thinks going on the trail alone is just too much for her to handle. I really wonder if it's directly related to the trail ride before. See, our last trail ride was in a thunderstorm and I tried to hustle her home and she got very emotional. She remembers every time she gets even a little emotional and she works to avoid it the next time. She's a very interesting horse - sensitive and emotional.
For our work near the barn, we did canter yo-yos, circles (really practicing keeping her on the circle and riding her straight on the circle!), transitions on the circle, sideways (always towards the barn), disengaging the hind and riding into the trailer (mounted into the trailer!). My trailer isn't very high so I'm trying hard to keep my self safe.
Finally, after about 45 mins, I rode her into the front pasture in an s-pattern and we stopped at a jump. I hopped off, she ate grass and relaxed. I stroked her and helped her feel safe and comfortable. It was a win and a positive session for sure. After about 10 mins (the mosquitos are just stupid today), I hopped on and we walked the long way back to the barn. She was relaxed and left-brained.
Then, Chrissy and Cowboy were ready to have groundwork session #2. So far we've covered games 1-3 and it was time to talk about #4 and #5. Circle and yo-yo. A new student feels very clumsy with the tools in the beginning, but Chrissy's doing a great job of fumbling through it and having some great moments! We covered haltering properly and driving game to keep him out of her space. Proud of her. Cowboy is doing a good job of being her lesson horse and though he gets bored, he still tries to give the right answer. We have squeeze and sideways left. Then, she can start practicing on her own. I think she's ready to ride him, so in the next day or so I'll teach her pushing passenger lesson so she can practice getting her seat more independent. She's on her way!
Steve took some quick, short video of Chrissy playing the yo-yo game with Cowboy and me playing with Z.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A new Parelli student!
My sister, Chrissy, decided today to start the Parelli program. I'm really excited because I can help her get through things rather quickly and maybe eventually she can help me with my horse business. She is a soft-natured person who's got a ton of try and desire. She couldn't decide if she wanted to partner with Rain or Cowboy, so I chose for her. I chose Cowboy because Cowboy could use the time where Rain has been my sacrificial lamb for long enough - being the lesson horse for me when I need to coach someone. I also want to be able to ride Rain whenever I want to pony others or for trail competition. Where with Cowboy, as Chrissy progresses, I'll step out of the picture and she can be his sole human partner. He's also nearly a hand shorter than Rain, easier for Chrissy to mount.
We started with about a 90 min session learning the 7 games. I tried to not drown her with info, but I know it can feel like drinking from a firehose in the beginning. The learning curve is dramatic the first 6 mos. I'd like to see her truly stay in Level 1 for a couple weeks and move on and progress. I've watched so many linger and go stale and their horses become tortured. I'd like to help Chrissy avoid that if possible.
During Chrissy's coaching time, I had Nina. I've got to get her back in gear and start developing her some more. For now, she can do most things at a L1 level, but I need her doing more at L2-3. Our friendly game needs some time invested so we can progress with the other games. She's such an extrovert and she has some good tricks up her sleeve. She managed to get away from me 3 times before I got my act together enough to stop that behavior. She's learned some very non-partnership responses that we'll have to get through. I'll be getting her back on the trail soon, too.
Then, I haltered up Gem for some session time. I'm so proud of him! We had a nice, progressive ground-working session. His sideways has come along nicely and it's time to get farther away. His responsibility on the circle is better and we're now building his canter circles. He can barely canter a single circle right now. His change of direction looks fantastic going one direction, but we need to build changing to the right. Our transitions online are coming along very nicely, too!
I then mounted and used a loose ring snaffle for some arena time. We followed the rail, practicing walk/trot transitions. He was light, responsive and just generally in synch with me. I swear, I don't think he's ever felt that good. He was just willing and happy to provide a yes answer. We did a few trot/canter transitions and a few circles (me practicing counting the footfall). His down transition is sooo light and easy. I had a big smile on my face most the time.
Now, I want to start taking him off the property and teaching him to trust me away from the herd. I'm excited about the possibilities.
I trimmed his hind feet and made sure his feet were doing fine. I've got to get a few more trimmed this week.
But a simply fantastic lesson with Gemini!
We started with about a 90 min session learning the 7 games. I tried to not drown her with info, but I know it can feel like drinking from a firehose in the beginning. The learning curve is dramatic the first 6 mos. I'd like to see her truly stay in Level 1 for a couple weeks and move on and progress. I've watched so many linger and go stale and their horses become tortured. I'd like to help Chrissy avoid that if possible.
During Chrissy's coaching time, I had Nina. I've got to get her back in gear and start developing her some more. For now, she can do most things at a L1 level, but I need her doing more at L2-3. Our friendly game needs some time invested so we can progress with the other games. She's such an extrovert and she has some good tricks up her sleeve. She managed to get away from me 3 times before I got my act together enough to stop that behavior. She's learned some very non-partnership responses that we'll have to get through. I'll be getting her back on the trail soon, too.
Then, I haltered up Gem for some session time. I'm so proud of him! We had a nice, progressive ground-working session. His sideways has come along nicely and it's time to get farther away. His responsibility on the circle is better and we're now building his canter circles. He can barely canter a single circle right now. His change of direction looks fantastic going one direction, but we need to build changing to the right. Our transitions online are coming along very nicely, too!
I then mounted and used a loose ring snaffle for some arena time. We followed the rail, practicing walk/trot transitions. He was light, responsive and just generally in synch with me. I swear, I don't think he's ever felt that good. He was just willing and happy to provide a yes answer. We did a few trot/canter transitions and a few circles (me practicing counting the footfall). His down transition is sooo light and easy. I had a big smile on my face most the time.
Now, I want to start taking him off the property and teaching him to trust me away from the herd. I'm excited about the possibilities.
I trimmed his hind feet and made sure his feet were doing fine. I've got to get a few more trimmed this week.
But a simply fantastic lesson with Gemini!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Transitions and UDT
Today was about Z. I had gotten all 4 horses ridden and exercised yesterday, so today I wanted to focus on my main development project, Miss Zarah. I went out and caught her with ease. I stood about 30 feet away and she came to me. Of course, so did Rain and Cowboy and Gemini and Nina... You get the picture. But, Z was first and she knew I had come to see her. I gave her a cookie to reward her efforts in catching ME!
I stood with the herd for a bit, checking everyone over, inspecting Z's leg wound, looking at Cowboy's fly spots (don't know why, but flies LOVE Cowboy more than any other horse). Cowboy has a small area under his chest where flies congregate. I have to keep him a fly sheet pretty much all the time.
I then walked Z up to the barn, gave her a little grain, some alfalfa (Rain got some, too) and took her to the arena. I wanted to pull some weeds and hopefully she could eat some weeds while I pulled them. She was a little worried about not being with the herd and I was at the far end of the arena. She came to be with me a couple times, but never stayed. She wanted to be close to the herd. I pulled weeds along one side of the arena (a lot of work - geesh!), then as I walked to Z she walked to me - almost as if to say, I'm so glad you survived that side of the arena and now you're back. She doesn't have a ton of confidence in herself - she seeks it from her leader.
I then tacked her up and we set off for a little ground work and riding. We practiced sideways towards - which is tough because then everything she does is sideways towards for a bit. We did some bridleless riding in the front, weaving in and out of trees. We worked on bridleless disengagement, moving the fore and just generally warming up. I rode her in the front pasture a bit and then decided to ride the horse pastures with her. We've never done that and I imagine she was interested in the plan. We rode all three along the rail, practicing canter walk transitions, and following the rail. Her canter was soft and smooth! I was really pleased. A lot of times, her canter is very strung out and she's moving fast. I had some nice soft moments of suspended cantering today - very nice.
After a while, we simply walked around and I tried to make a friendly game of it. We went to the herd and moved them around a bit (good for Z's confidence). We crossed the water on the track (it's half-way up her cannon bone!) and just generally mosied around. Then, I took her to the front for UDT - letting her eat grass while I chilled. She sidled up to me so that her belly was nearly in my lap. Weird! I tried to scratch it but it didn't seem to be giving her an enormous amount of pleasure, so I just sat with her ribs in my face. LOL - she then took a nap. So funny...
We just hung around, me trying to move more dirt for my tractor tire pedestals and just general clean up. It had been a few hours of time together and I decided to head in and clean the house before Steve and kids come home. I put a fly sheet on her, another coating of Dermafas (great stuff for wound healing), and set her free in the stall.
She hung around, checked the stalls for yummy morsels, then made her way out to the herd. It was a really nice time with my levels mare and I enjoyed her immensely.
Hail hurts!
The day was dedicated to training horses as the family is still out of town and there's not much I'd rather do with my free time.
I started with Gemini. He and I are making such great progress and I'm just super pleased. We worked on the ground some, continuing to build online transtions, more figure 8, change of direction and sideways. We played over the cavalettis some using the squeeze game. His responses are more positive all the time and he's interested in my asks. I've been playing with him on the ground while tacked and his rear cinch response is nearly gone or gone. He hasn't thought to buck in the past 2-3 sessions. He and I did something incredible. I asked him to stand on the teeter totter, then I asked him to rock it back and forth, never moving his feet. A simple weight shift in response to my ask and he was rocking it back and forth. I wish I had that on video!!
Then, we rode in the arena, doing 21 mins of PPL at the trot. He's taking his responsibility on much more nicely and I'm rewarding him with breaks at the far end of the arena. That helped tremendously as his slow jog became an energetic trot after a few reward sessions. What a good boy! I look forward to getting him down the road soon. I'm trusting him more and more and he's finding the right answers are easy to give. He gave the nicest, most forward trot I've ever felt at the end of our 21 minutes and I decided it was the perfect place to hop off and reward him. He stuck to me beautifully across the arena and I tied him to the hitching rail for some soak time.
Then, I wanted to get some time with Cowboy. He's been getting the least amount of my attention, which is just fine for me. He's having a good time being a horse in the all the pastures and he's settled in so nicely in the herd. He's always happy to see me and happy to play and get some human attention. He's got a nice brain and a nice demeanor. I look forward to truly developing him. At first we played the catching game for about 45 seconds. It was interesting, I was 2 feet away and following him closely at a walk in zone 5. I really think he thought I was driving him away. I have to drive him away sometimes because he can be quite the pocket pony. All of a sudden, he turned and faced, as if to say, "Oh! You want to catch me!". We never have to play the catching game, so I'm convinced he was misunderstanding me.
I put him on the 45' and we played some ground games - figure 8, circle game, over obstacles, over the teeter totter. Then, I tacked him up and started with lateral flexion. This is one of Cowboy's toughest areas - he has so much built-in brace that a simple thing like lateral flexion is a big challenge. He lolls his tongue, he works his mouth, he just doesn't find peace or comfort in a bit. He can stand with it in his mouth just fine, but when I try to communicate with him through the bit, he braces and goes introverted. I took my time and stayed patient, asking for lateral flexion and rewarding the slightest tries. He was getting quieter and quieter and I found a place to quit. We have to keep working on that and perhaps for the rest of his life. Humans before me have left their mark on Cowboy's behavior and I'm a little sad about it.
I rode him around a bit, circling the round pen and asking for walk/trot/canter transitions. His canter feels a little rough right now. He's not balanced or using himself well. Some more riding and many more transitions should get him framing up better and using himself in his gaits. We did a lot of serpentines, trying to loosen his brace and get positive responses to my asks for bends. He loosened up quite well and rather quickly. We moved the dogs a little - he enjoys that tremendously! He's a very cowy horse. We also worked on disengaging the hind - which is great because it incorporates lateral flexion with a bend in the body. At first, he wasn't disengaging, he was stiff and rigid. After a few minutes, he gave the nicest, most fluid disengagement with a soft feel and I laughed and hopped off. He knew how happy he made me - he had a proud look about him. He could give the right answer and find harmony with his rider. I think he has very little history of finding harmony with his rider from his younger years.
Z's leg is healing nicely and I was trying to decide if I should/could ride her. I took Rain for a little bareback riding around my house while I decided what to do next. Chrissy was over and ready to try out some new riding attire, so I decided we should get some time on the trail together. The sky was "iffy" and it seems to rain every freakin' day. But, the storm that I thought would produce rain had moved off and out. There were more clouds, but the looked far enough out that we'd be ok. I gave Chrissy some hints on tacking up and getting her horse ready. It can get a little old tacking up multiple horses when the rider is fully capable of doing it themselves - with a little coaching. I'm all for helping her become self-sufficient.
We headed out, Z not especially happy about leaving home - I hadn't ridden her in 8 or 9 days and we didn't do a proper warm-up on the ground. I had the sky in mind, thinking it was now or never with the potential storms all over the sky. I tried hard to not compromise our relationship, allowing her to turn back if needed and then asking her to face the trail again. It was a subtle brace, just her saying, "I'd really rather..." and me saying, "I hear you, but how about my idea." About a 1/4 mile later, she was tuned in and not thinking about home.
I took Chrissy on a more challenging ride, some inclines and declines, crossing roads, trees... We also talked about developing her seat. She asks great questions and she really wants to improve. I'm excited for her to gain confidence with Rain and become a great riding partner for me. We are building to that and maybe one day, we'll even do some trail riding competitions together.
We got to a point on the trail where I could look up to the sky. Uh oh, we are TOAST! The storm that was brewing looked menacing and we weren't going to make it back in time. Zarah was not in a good place for fast speeds. She was impulsive and a little emotional. I also didn't know how fast Chrissy would want to go - most of our riding has been at the walk. Even if we galloped the whole way, we wouldn't have outrun this storm. CRAP!
So, one of my fears... lightening. Lots of animals and people get struck by lightening in Colorado. Being out in the wide open trail on a high hill during a thunderstorm is not my idea of a wise decision. Our Colorado storms typically bring hail and heavy rain and there was no place to hide. First drizzle, then rain, then torrential downpour with wind! We abandoned the idea of making it home and found a tree to hide under. A single pine tree, with less than thick branches and down in a gulley. My expensive saddles were also getting soaked. Arrgghhh!
Chrissy and I tried to take refuge under this slightly pathetic single pine, while the horses did their normal "butt to the wind" stance, waiting for it to let up. We were getting cold! And then, to add insult to injury, the hail began. Geesh - hail hurts!! I had my back to it and luckily we were wearing helmets, but the hail balls hitting my back... OUCH! We just had to laugh. The gulley now had a fast moving river running through it and I hoped it would end soon. The sky was so dark and the thunder was constant. Just a constant rumble and roar - an angry sky.
The sky started to show the slightest signs of getting lighter. The rain started to let up. Luckily, it was going to be a quick storm. It lasted maybe 20-30 minutes and Chrissy and I were drenched - head to toe soaked. It was time to go the last mile and get home. The sun was actually starting to show. We decided to walk home. Our feet were squishy and water bubbles appeared with each step on the top of my shoes. After about 1/2 mile, Chrissy's fiancee appeared at the trail head. Chrissy rode home with him and I rode Rain, ponying Z. The horses were excited and "up" and Rain wanted to get home FAST! She does her best gaiting when she's got druthers and she was moving so beautifully in her 4-beat gait. Z had to canter to keep up next to us.
It was a great day with all the horses, adventures in the rain, trailriding, arena riding, just everything. Loved it!
I started with Gemini. He and I are making such great progress and I'm just super pleased. We worked on the ground some, continuing to build online transtions, more figure 8, change of direction and sideways. We played over the cavalettis some using the squeeze game. His responses are more positive all the time and he's interested in my asks. I've been playing with him on the ground while tacked and his rear cinch response is nearly gone or gone. He hasn't thought to buck in the past 2-3 sessions. He and I did something incredible. I asked him to stand on the teeter totter, then I asked him to rock it back and forth, never moving his feet. A simple weight shift in response to my ask and he was rocking it back and forth. I wish I had that on video!!
Then, we rode in the arena, doing 21 mins of PPL at the trot. He's taking his responsibility on much more nicely and I'm rewarding him with breaks at the far end of the arena. That helped tremendously as his slow jog became an energetic trot after a few reward sessions. What a good boy! I look forward to getting him down the road soon. I'm trusting him more and more and he's finding the right answers are easy to give. He gave the nicest, most forward trot I've ever felt at the end of our 21 minutes and I decided it was the perfect place to hop off and reward him. He stuck to me beautifully across the arena and I tied him to the hitching rail for some soak time.
Then, I wanted to get some time with Cowboy. He's been getting the least amount of my attention, which is just fine for me. He's having a good time being a horse in the all the pastures and he's settled in so nicely in the herd. He's always happy to see me and happy to play and get some human attention. He's got a nice brain and a nice demeanor. I look forward to truly developing him. At first we played the catching game for about 45 seconds. It was interesting, I was 2 feet away and following him closely at a walk in zone 5. I really think he thought I was driving him away. I have to drive him away sometimes because he can be quite the pocket pony. All of a sudden, he turned and faced, as if to say, "Oh! You want to catch me!". We never have to play the catching game, so I'm convinced he was misunderstanding me.
I put him on the 45' and we played some ground games - figure 8, circle game, over obstacles, over the teeter totter. Then, I tacked him up and started with lateral flexion. This is one of Cowboy's toughest areas - he has so much built-in brace that a simple thing like lateral flexion is a big challenge. He lolls his tongue, he works his mouth, he just doesn't find peace or comfort in a bit. He can stand with it in his mouth just fine, but when I try to communicate with him through the bit, he braces and goes introverted. I took my time and stayed patient, asking for lateral flexion and rewarding the slightest tries. He was getting quieter and quieter and I found a place to quit. We have to keep working on that and perhaps for the rest of his life. Humans before me have left their mark on Cowboy's behavior and I'm a little sad about it.
I rode him around a bit, circling the round pen and asking for walk/trot/canter transitions. His canter feels a little rough right now. He's not balanced or using himself well. Some more riding and many more transitions should get him framing up better and using himself in his gaits. We did a lot of serpentines, trying to loosen his brace and get positive responses to my asks for bends. He loosened up quite well and rather quickly. We moved the dogs a little - he enjoys that tremendously! He's a very cowy horse. We also worked on disengaging the hind - which is great because it incorporates lateral flexion with a bend in the body. At first, he wasn't disengaging, he was stiff and rigid. After a few minutes, he gave the nicest, most fluid disengagement with a soft feel and I laughed and hopped off. He knew how happy he made me - he had a proud look about him. He could give the right answer and find harmony with his rider. I think he has very little history of finding harmony with his rider from his younger years.
Z's leg is healing nicely and I was trying to decide if I should/could ride her. I took Rain for a little bareback riding around my house while I decided what to do next. Chrissy was over and ready to try out some new riding attire, so I decided we should get some time on the trail together. The sky was "iffy" and it seems to rain every freakin' day. But, the storm that I thought would produce rain had moved off and out. There were more clouds, but the looked far enough out that we'd be ok. I gave Chrissy some hints on tacking up and getting her horse ready. It can get a little old tacking up multiple horses when the rider is fully capable of doing it themselves - with a little coaching. I'm all for helping her become self-sufficient.
We headed out, Z not especially happy about leaving home - I hadn't ridden her in 8 or 9 days and we didn't do a proper warm-up on the ground. I had the sky in mind, thinking it was now or never with the potential storms all over the sky. I tried hard to not compromise our relationship, allowing her to turn back if needed and then asking her to face the trail again. It was a subtle brace, just her saying, "I'd really rather..." and me saying, "I hear you, but how about my idea." About a 1/4 mile later, she was tuned in and not thinking about home.
I took Chrissy on a more challenging ride, some inclines and declines, crossing roads, trees... We also talked about developing her seat. She asks great questions and she really wants to improve. I'm excited for her to gain confidence with Rain and become a great riding partner for me. We are building to that and maybe one day, we'll even do some trail riding competitions together.
We got to a point on the trail where I could look up to the sky. Uh oh, we are TOAST! The storm that was brewing looked menacing and we weren't going to make it back in time. Zarah was not in a good place for fast speeds. She was impulsive and a little emotional. I also didn't know how fast Chrissy would want to go - most of our riding has been at the walk. Even if we galloped the whole way, we wouldn't have outrun this storm. CRAP!
So, one of my fears... lightening. Lots of animals and people get struck by lightening in Colorado. Being out in the wide open trail on a high hill during a thunderstorm is not my idea of a wise decision. Our Colorado storms typically bring hail and heavy rain and there was no place to hide. First drizzle, then rain, then torrential downpour with wind! We abandoned the idea of making it home and found a tree to hide under. A single pine tree, with less than thick branches and down in a gulley. My expensive saddles were also getting soaked. Arrgghhh!
Chrissy and I tried to take refuge under this slightly pathetic single pine, while the horses did their normal "butt to the wind" stance, waiting for it to let up. We were getting cold! And then, to add insult to injury, the hail began. Geesh - hail hurts!! I had my back to it and luckily we were wearing helmets, but the hail balls hitting my back... OUCH! We just had to laugh. The gulley now had a fast moving river running through it and I hoped it would end soon. The sky was so dark and the thunder was constant. Just a constant rumble and roar - an angry sky.
The sky started to show the slightest signs of getting lighter. The rain started to let up. Luckily, it was going to be a quick storm. It lasted maybe 20-30 minutes and Chrissy and I were drenched - head to toe soaked. It was time to go the last mile and get home. The sun was actually starting to show. We decided to walk home. Our feet were squishy and water bubbles appeared with each step on the top of my shoes. After about 1/2 mile, Chrissy's fiancee appeared at the trail head. Chrissy rode home with him and I rode Rain, ponying Z. The horses were excited and "up" and Rain wanted to get home FAST! She does her best gaiting when she's got druthers and she was moving so beautifully in her 4-beat gait. Z had to canter to keep up next to us.
It was a great day with all the horses, adventures in the rain, trailriding, arena riding, just everything. Loved it!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Slow and Right beats Fast and Wrong
I had some time and I planned to ride Z, but she has somehow gotten a nasty wound on her right hind with a good amount of swelling. Doh!! So, grabbed Gemini for some groundwork and riding. His circle game is coming along so nicely! He's maintaining gait and direction very nicely. He's generally just very compliant and willing. I want to start increasing the game so I don't bore him. I expected him to buck in the tight rear cinch, but there was just an ounce of that reaction at the canter going to the right. I was expecting a big show, but he didn't deliver. Is that because our last session was right? I hope so.
I didn't warm him up for long before I felt ready to ride. I decided to just use the rope hack. Once mounted, I spent several minutes working on his lateral flexion and looking for a positive response. Once we had that, I asked him to back up with my seat. He had it! He remembers what I taught him a while back. This was my first time riding him in probably 6 months. I've been focused on groundwork with him and making sure we've got all the right ingredients for successful riding.
We took it slow and followed the rail with some corners game mixed in. We then tried some figure 8 at the walk. He definitely can be bracy and we'll keep fixing that up.
It was a short session, but he was doing so well and I wanted the ride to be a positive easy experience. I let him hang out in the arena to eat the goodies (weeds and grass). Then, eventually, went back in to get him. His response to me is very positive and I'm pleased.
A nice, slow and right session with Gem!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Playing with Gemini after the ISC
First time after our trip. Played on the 45' and he actually got away from me once. He was looking for the herd and definitely pulling his circle in that direction. I decided to put him on the 22' and go into the round pen. I'm trying to teach the down transition on the circle but he keeps turning in to face instead of staying on the circle. We really worked on an improved sideways as well. I expected more than ever. He's taking more responsibility than ever on the circle and we got 8-9 trot circles - a huge improvement. We'll slowly build up to cantering circles over the coming weeks. His yo-yo was soft going out and coming in, very nice! We will spend more time playing stick to me as time goes on and build more squeeze games out of the play area.
I wanted to ride him yesterday, but I'd decided to play with him while tacked in the western saddle with the rear cinch tight first. He tends to buck wildly when the rear cinch is tight. It's been a long time since he's worn a western saddle and I didn't want to hop on until he had a chance to get comfortable with the rear cinch. Somewhere in his past, someone was mean to him with a western saddle. His bucking response is so strong. Poor guy.
He bucked like crazy once in the canter. Repeatedly. I played with him for 90 mins or so and the bucking was over after the first 5 mins. I plan to make a program of this (7 days) and see where we end up.
A good session! He had more extroversion than normal and his positive responses are better all the time. Cool!
I wanted to ride him yesterday, but I'd decided to play with him while tacked in the western saddle with the rear cinch tight first. He tends to buck wildly when the rear cinch is tight. It's been a long time since he's worn a western saddle and I didn't want to hop on until he had a chance to get comfortable with the rear cinch. Somewhere in his past, someone was mean to him with a western saddle. His bucking response is so strong. Poor guy.
He bucked like crazy once in the canter. Repeatedly. I played with him for 90 mins or so and the bucking was over after the first 5 mins. I plan to make a program of this (7 days) and see where we end up.
A good session! He had more extroversion than normal and his positive responses are better all the time. Cool!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
More trail time with Gem in-hand
Convinced Steve to come along and made a hike of it. We went several miles and Gemini was calm until a certain point when he got very afraid. I had either a LBE on adrenalin or a RBE. I think we was a bit a both. I chose to move his feet a lot and change the game fast and furious. Sideways, over obstacles, falling leaf, backwards fast, sideways again, only a few seconds of each. He got it back together and we were able to move on. It was very interesting seeing his behavior from the ground and I know it would have been much worse if I'd been mounted.
The terrain was perfect because we were walking in a ravine and I could send him straight up the ravine wall and down into a ditch and over holes in the ground. We could sidepass easily down the trail and go backwards nice and straight.
The dogs came along and it was a nice 1.5 hours of exercise and horse training.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Running with Gemini
Had a great run with Gemini again today. He was a perfect horse, careful not to brace against the lead rope while he eats grass (he's figured out how to do that and stay up with me, kinda cool). We walked/ran and at one point came across other horses that caused him to get his adrenalin going. We are practicing sideways a bunch and he's doing pretty good - his butt lags some still, but hes getting straighter. We've got nice circles and transitions on the circle are pretty nice. His change of direction is nice, too! He learns fast and he is so willing. I can reward him with grass munching and he's easy to please.
Getting Gemini out and more Freestyle
Today I took Gemini for a 30 min run with me. He ran along side me and we went down the trail together. My oldest, Kyle came along, too. Gem was really great - never worried, always listening, a good boy! On the way back, we practiced the 7 games and especially sideways, falling leaf and backwards. We stopped after so he could munch the nice green grass and he seemed happy.
Then, Z and I went into the arena for more freestyle practice. I don't think we had a great session. I was feeling irritable (not sure why) and she was very "go forward" thinking. I wasn't frustrated, but I realized I wasn't being my best for her. We did some corners game, cantering the circle, transitions, figure 8, and some other things. I decided to leave the arena as I just didn't feel good about what we were getting done. We went to the front and I asked her to jump a 2' jump, squeeze-style. She was so overleaping this jump! It got better and towards the (after 8 or so jumps), she got more efficient with her energy.
I wasn't in the mood and I realize I probably need a day off of riding. I've gotten lots of horse time lately and I'm grateful, but I think I need to just sit with them if I get the time today. I just need to enjoy them and ask them for nothing.
Then, Z and I went into the arena for more freestyle practice. I don't think we had a great session. I was feeling irritable (not sure why) and she was very "go forward" thinking. I wasn't frustrated, but I realized I wasn't being my best for her. We did some corners game, cantering the circle, transitions, figure 8, and some other things. I decided to leave the arena as I just didn't feel good about what we were getting done. We went to the front and I asked her to jump a 2' jump, squeeze-style. She was so overleaping this jump! It got better and towards the (after 8 or so jumps), she got more efficient with her energy.
I wasn't in the mood and I realize I probably need a day off of riding. I've gotten lots of horse time lately and I'm grateful, but I think I need to just sit with them if I get the time today. I just need to enjoy them and ask them for nothing.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Taking Gem for a walk
Today, I put Gemini on the 22' and headed out for a walk down the road. We did lots of circle game, sideways, backup and falling leaf. He wasn't nervous or worried to leave the barn and he was extremely responsive! I went to my neighbor's for a quick chat and tied him off. He was ok until he couldn't see me anymore, then he whinnied a few times. My neighbor has cows and he was tied pretty close to them. It was obvious they were a mystery to him.
Once I came back into sight, he calmed right down and was happy to have me close by. He's just that kind of horse - not confident alone. He needs buddies. Over time, he'll get more confidence as I spend more time teaching him that he's ok. He's just acting like a prey animal and he doesn't have calmer, braver, smarter down yet. I really enjoyed him, though. We stopped for lots of grazing time and worked on floating circle game. He was happy to be out and willing as hell.
Then, I tacked up Z and we went back out to our obstacle course. We cantered our best circles ever!! We played bulls-eye, corners game, did lots of squeeze over 18" - until it was a non-issue for her and me. She refused the jump just a couple times but after many jumps, I could feel her getting comfortable and gliding over the jump with ease. It was a great session for increasing her jumping confidence and next session we'll go for the barrels. I wanted to move to the barrels in this session, but I held back as we had found the perfect place to quit with the 18" jump. It was a smart move and it took some work from me to not forget ahead. It'll pay off, I know.
Our circles were awesome. She really has the idea now of the circle. We gently trotted some circles and we easily cantered nice circles. They were the nicest circles I've ridden on Z. We used the bullseye technique and I put a treat on the barrel in the middle to up the ante some. She is pretty barrel sweet now, very useful for a good circle.
Tomorrow I'll get Rain on the trail and pony Cowboy. Rain will probably be my CTR horse in a couple weeks and I want her as fit as possible. Cowboy just needs to get moving.
A great day!
Once I came back into sight, he calmed right down and was happy to have me close by. He's just that kind of horse - not confident alone. He needs buddies. Over time, he'll get more confidence as I spend more time teaching him that he's ok. He's just acting like a prey animal and he doesn't have calmer, braver, smarter down yet. I really enjoyed him, though. We stopped for lots of grazing time and worked on floating circle game. He was happy to be out and willing as hell.
Then, I tacked up Z and we went back out to our obstacle course. We cantered our best circles ever!! We played bulls-eye, corners game, did lots of squeeze over 18" - until it was a non-issue for her and me. She refused the jump just a couple times but after many jumps, I could feel her getting comfortable and gliding over the jump with ease. It was a great session for increasing her jumping confidence and next session we'll go for the barrels. I wanted to move to the barrels in this session, but I held back as we had found the perfect place to quit with the 18" jump. It was a smart move and it took some work from me to not forget ahead. It'll pay off, I know.
Our circles were awesome. She really has the idea now of the circle. We gently trotted some circles and we easily cantered nice circles. They were the nicest circles I've ridden on Z. We used the bullseye technique and I put a treat on the barrel in the middle to up the ante some. She is pretty barrel sweet now, very useful for a good circle.
Tomorrow I'll get Rain on the trail and pony Cowboy. Rain will probably be my CTR horse in a couple weeks and I want her as fit as possible. Cowboy just needs to get moving.
A great day!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Playing with the Geldings
Had a great day with the geldings! I spend so much time with Z and Rain lately - Z as we finish L3 and Rain because she's Kendall's mount and just an all-around fantastic horse. I leased Gemini out for a month or two, but it didn't work out so now he's back in my development program. I have Cowboy and I'm working on helping him be more productive in the human world. He's a great horse, a nice mover, but he's pretty dominant and can easily get his own idea about things. For him, my main goal is to eliminate the brace.
Gemini now lives in a run/stall. I learned recently that when I put Gemini away for a week, all bite marks ceased. All this time, the only horse actually leaving marks on other horses was Gemini! I thought they were biting each other all this time. Wow! So, obviously he's not the benevolent leader I thought and he needs some time alone. It's fine, I'll play with him and develop him and he can live in the large run/stall until I can turn him out in one of the pastures (after the spring grass growth). He's fine and all the horses look better w/o bite marks. :-)
I put him in the arena so he could run and roll as hard as he wanted. He tore off bucking and farting, rolled wildly, then ran some more. He looked awesome. Then he hung out eating the grass growing around the arena's edge and I went for Cowboy. I haven't spent much time with Cowboy lately and he does well whenever we play. I want to help him overcome the brace and I want to help him feel comfortable with humans. He's doing quite well and his displacement behavior is more mild all the time. When he starts to get concerned and "swallows his tongue", I offer him a treat. He's so food motivated, that he snaps right out of his shell!! I groomed him for a while, tacked him up and then we played on the 22'. We now have a nice figure 8 pattern and he's not feeling threatened from the squeeze in the figure 8. He really wanted to eat grass, so we had to have some "discussion" about that. He's welcome to eat grass - but if I ask for something, he'd better pay attention because Phase 4 will come. He figured that out darn quick.
I hopped on and we went around at all gaits. He tried to eat grass and again, I tried to make it clear that it's his choice. What was funny to me was that he would go to eat grass, I would ask for forward and when he decided eating grass was better, I instituted phase 4 by reaching around and spanking his rump. The first time, he was startled and when back to work. The second time, less startled but he went back to to work. The third time, he actually lifted his rump in defiance before going back to work! I had to giggle. The fourth time, he showed defiance, but much more mild. The fifth time, he responded to phase 1 - he didn't move forward but he responded. That time, however, when I raised my arm to phase 4 his rump, he moved out and went back to work! So, I'd call that a phase 2/3. In short order, we had established some rules of engagement. It's his choice to eat grass while I'm asking him for something, but it will have a consequence. I learned some things about him and I believe he learned some things about me. I thought about going in to the arena so that grass wouldn't be such a challenge for our progress and I decided not to. This is one of Cowboy's challenges and it was appropriate to go through these motions so he could figure it out. I have expectations and I respect him enough to let him make the choice. I'm clear and precise in my ask and he has a job to do. By the end, we were doing beautiful trot/canter transitions, figure 8's in the green grass, sidepassing and absolutely no tongue swallowing. He had gotten with the program fairly quickly and I found the perfect place to quit. I'm so much better at making good use of time with the horses - I know he'll be better next time we play. He'll soak on that and so will I.
Then, I wanted to get back to Gemini for some groundwork. Gemini is a fantastic horse for groundwork - he wants to please but he can show some great exhuberance that makes it so much fun! We worked on sideways, lead from Zone 3 (first time for us), change of direction at the trot, maintain gait on the circle, figure 8 (beautifully done by Gem!), and some transitions on the circle. He was having fun and was so locked on to me. Whatever I asked him for, he gave it a hearty try. I was so pleased with him. I am thinking to stay off his back for a while and just get our relationship stronger and his groundwork excellent. Then, I really think he's a restart at this point. His bucking response is alive and well and the 4-6 weeks as a lease horse only reinforced it. I'm going to take him back to L1 riding and get everything solid once we get good strong L3 groundskills going. I think it's a good plan and I'll be spending good time with him this summer. I really love that horse.
I couldn't decide, after Gemini, if I wanted to play with anyone else. I've been reading a book about the Power of Now and starting to think about quieting my mind and finding time to sort of meditate. My mind is overly active and I rarely quiet it and simply enjoy the moment - the details of the moment, really living in the moment. I decided to try to do that with the horses.
The dogs are always with me. I enjoy the dogs, but they can be quite annoying with the horses. UDT can be tough with the dogs. So, I decided to take a chair and sit in a run with the gate closed. This way, the dogs could hang out, I'd be with the horses but not touching them, and I could try to explore the Power of Now. Nina, bless her cute soul, was just aching to be close to me. She was pawing the ground, reaching her feet through the panels, pushing the panels with her chest - she wanted to be closer to me. I scooted my chair closer to the rail and rubbed her face. Ahhh - she felt better and closed her eyes in total relaxation. Zarah did something super surprising. She stood at the gate to the run, looking at me through the gate, ears perked forward towards me. She wanted to come into the run and be with me. Wow! Z and I have really reached a new place.
All the horses had appeared from wherever they were when I setup camp in that run. Rain wanted to be close, but Nina had chased her away. She stood as close as she was comfortable and took a nap. Cowboy wasn't interested in my presence, nor was Abby. But Nina demanded closeness and Z asked politely, can't I come in?
I got up, opened the gate, Z walked in with ease, I closed the gate behind her and went back to my chair. This was upsetting for the dogs, but oh well. Z came over immediately and hung her head over me. She got as close as possible and just hung there. Wow - what a wonderful thing to have a horse feel that way about you, a predator, a human who's often asking for difficult maneuvers. She hung out with me for quite a while, until I had to go in and get back to life. I focused on living in the moment - hearing her breath, focusing on the areas I scratched that made her feel the best, managing Nina's demands for touch all the while, watching Z just feel comfortable and relaxed in my presence. It was maybe one of the most rewarding moments of my horse experiences. I've won Z over. I owe it to Parelli and to my tremendous desire to get to this point. Just an amazing moment. I've achieved something great and anything else I accomplish with Z is icing.
Gemini now lives in a run/stall. I learned recently that when I put Gemini away for a week, all bite marks ceased. All this time, the only horse actually leaving marks on other horses was Gemini! I thought they were biting each other all this time. Wow! So, obviously he's not the benevolent leader I thought and he needs some time alone. It's fine, I'll play with him and develop him and he can live in the large run/stall until I can turn him out in one of the pastures (after the spring grass growth). He's fine and all the horses look better w/o bite marks. :-)
I put him in the arena so he could run and roll as hard as he wanted. He tore off bucking and farting, rolled wildly, then ran some more. He looked awesome. Then he hung out eating the grass growing around the arena's edge and I went for Cowboy. I haven't spent much time with Cowboy lately and he does well whenever we play. I want to help him overcome the brace and I want to help him feel comfortable with humans. He's doing quite well and his displacement behavior is more mild all the time. When he starts to get concerned and "swallows his tongue", I offer him a treat. He's so food motivated, that he snaps right out of his shell!! I groomed him for a while, tacked him up and then we played on the 22'. We now have a nice figure 8 pattern and he's not feeling threatened from the squeeze in the figure 8. He really wanted to eat grass, so we had to have some "discussion" about that. He's welcome to eat grass - but if I ask for something, he'd better pay attention because Phase 4 will come. He figured that out darn quick.
I hopped on and we went around at all gaits. He tried to eat grass and again, I tried to make it clear that it's his choice. What was funny to me was that he would go to eat grass, I would ask for forward and when he decided eating grass was better, I instituted phase 4 by reaching around and spanking his rump. The first time, he was startled and when back to work. The second time, less startled but he went back to to work. The third time, he actually lifted his rump in defiance before going back to work! I had to giggle. The fourth time, he showed defiance, but much more mild. The fifth time, he responded to phase 1 - he didn't move forward but he responded. That time, however, when I raised my arm to phase 4 his rump, he moved out and went back to work! So, I'd call that a phase 2/3. In short order, we had established some rules of engagement. It's his choice to eat grass while I'm asking him for something, but it will have a consequence. I learned some things about him and I believe he learned some things about me. I thought about going in to the arena so that grass wouldn't be such a challenge for our progress and I decided not to. This is one of Cowboy's challenges and it was appropriate to go through these motions so he could figure it out. I have expectations and I respect him enough to let him make the choice. I'm clear and precise in my ask and he has a job to do. By the end, we were doing beautiful trot/canter transitions, figure 8's in the green grass, sidepassing and absolutely no tongue swallowing. He had gotten with the program fairly quickly and I found the perfect place to quit. I'm so much better at making good use of time with the horses - I know he'll be better next time we play. He'll soak on that and so will I.
Then, I wanted to get back to Gemini for some groundwork. Gemini is a fantastic horse for groundwork - he wants to please but he can show some great exhuberance that makes it so much fun! We worked on sideways, lead from Zone 3 (first time for us), change of direction at the trot, maintain gait on the circle, figure 8 (beautifully done by Gem!), and some transitions on the circle. He was having fun and was so locked on to me. Whatever I asked him for, he gave it a hearty try. I was so pleased with him. I am thinking to stay off his back for a while and just get our relationship stronger and his groundwork excellent. Then, I really think he's a restart at this point. His bucking response is alive and well and the 4-6 weeks as a lease horse only reinforced it. I'm going to take him back to L1 riding and get everything solid once we get good strong L3 groundskills going. I think it's a good plan and I'll be spending good time with him this summer. I really love that horse.
I couldn't decide, after Gemini, if I wanted to play with anyone else. I've been reading a book about the Power of Now and starting to think about quieting my mind and finding time to sort of meditate. My mind is overly active and I rarely quiet it and simply enjoy the moment - the details of the moment, really living in the moment. I decided to try to do that with the horses.
The dogs are always with me. I enjoy the dogs, but they can be quite annoying with the horses. UDT can be tough with the dogs. So, I decided to take a chair and sit in a run with the gate closed. This way, the dogs could hang out, I'd be with the horses but not touching them, and I could try to explore the Power of Now. Nina, bless her cute soul, was just aching to be close to me. She was pawing the ground, reaching her feet through the panels, pushing the panels with her chest - she wanted to be closer to me. I scooted my chair closer to the rail and rubbed her face. Ahhh - she felt better and closed her eyes in total relaxation. Zarah did something super surprising. She stood at the gate to the run, looking at me through the gate, ears perked forward towards me. She wanted to come into the run and be with me. Wow! Z and I have really reached a new place.
All the horses had appeared from wherever they were when I setup camp in that run. Rain wanted to be close, but Nina had chased her away. She stood as close as she was comfortable and took a nap. Cowboy wasn't interested in my presence, nor was Abby. But Nina demanded closeness and Z asked politely, can't I come in?
I got up, opened the gate, Z walked in with ease, I closed the gate behind her and went back to my chair. This was upsetting for the dogs, but oh well. Z came over immediately and hung her head over me. She got as close as possible and just hung there. Wow - what a wonderful thing to have a horse feel that way about you, a predator, a human who's often asking for difficult maneuvers. She hung out with me for quite a while, until I had to go in and get back to life. I focused on living in the moment - hearing her breath, focusing on the areas I scratched that made her feel the best, managing Nina's demands for touch all the while, watching Z just feel comfortable and relaxed in my presence. It was maybe one of the most rewarding moments of my horse experiences. I've won Z over. I owe it to Parelli and to my tremendous desire to get to this point. Just an amazing moment. I've achieved something great and anything else I accomplish with Z is icing.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Steppin' up my GAME!
Had maybe the best play session with Z ever. It was at least the best I can ever remember. She was playful, energetic, in tune, ears forward...
I've gone through a couple months of darkness with my Parelli vids and progression. I run every single day now on the treadmill and I'm using that time to catch up on videos and reinforce my learning. I watched the Jan 2009 Savvy Club DVD where Pat spends a lot of time trailer loading his horse Vision. It was great timing for me to watch that video! I thought it was a phenomenol teaching tool as Pat has so much savvy with his rope handling, his communication with the horse, his expectations of the horse... I'm at a point where the teachers for me are fewer because I've progressed farther than many around me. I have to spend more time looking deeper at the videos or into the discussions I have to progress my knowledge.
Anyway, Z and I played with squeezing over barrels, loading into a 2-horse straight load (extremely hard for her), moving with precision and being very in tune to my body language from the ground, quick-snappy responses and shadowing me.
I just can't remember a time where she showed more respect, impulsion, PLAY!, and the ability to overcome her confidence issues. I felt like I could actually be a great leader for that horse. I have to teach her more and continue to challenge her mind. I believe I've become boring over time to her. Time to step it UP!
I'm still trying to teach her to shake her head on cue. So funny how challenging it is for her to connect my ask with a head shake from her. Rain would have learned 8 tricks in this amount of time. How interesting!
I've gone through a couple months of darkness with my Parelli vids and progression. I run every single day now on the treadmill and I'm using that time to catch up on videos and reinforce my learning. I watched the Jan 2009 Savvy Club DVD where Pat spends a lot of time trailer loading his horse Vision. It was great timing for me to watch that video! I thought it was a phenomenol teaching tool as Pat has so much savvy with his rope handling, his communication with the horse, his expectations of the horse... I'm at a point where the teachers for me are fewer because I've progressed farther than many around me. I have to spend more time looking deeper at the videos or into the discussions I have to progress my knowledge.
Anyway, Z and I played with squeezing over barrels, loading into a 2-horse straight load (extremely hard for her), moving with precision and being very in tune to my body language from the ground, quick-snappy responses and shadowing me.
I just can't remember a time where she showed more respect, impulsion, PLAY!, and the ability to overcome her confidence issues. I felt like I could actually be a great leader for that horse. I have to teach her more and continue to challenge her mind. I believe I've become boring over time to her. Time to step it UP!
I'm still trying to teach her to shake her head on cue. So funny how challenging it is for her to connect my ask with a head shake from her. Rain would have learned 8 tricks in this amount of time. How interesting!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Everybody Plays!
Every one of my horses plus Nina got to do something today! Had an amazing day with equines.
Trail rode with Rain and Z for 8 miles. Took Cowboy on the trail to Marcy's solo, then with Marcy for a couple miles.
Played with Nina in the western saddle for the first time. The rear cinch and the leather tie straps were quite a lot for her.
Krissy got time with Gemini and we talked about horse psychology.
Everybody played!
Trimmed Nina and Gemini.
Trail rode with Rain and Z for 8 miles. Took Cowboy on the trail to Marcy's solo, then with Marcy for a couple miles.
Played with Nina in the western saddle for the first time. The rear cinch and the leather tie straps were quite a lot for her.
Krissy got time with Gemini and we talked about horse psychology.
Everybody played!
Trimmed Nina and Gemini.
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