A great horse goes home...

I've had Tina in my training program for about 1 year. She's been a challenging horse, but she came around and now I enjoy her immensely. It's hard to imagine her not being here, but it's time for her to move on.

I showed the owner how to keep M's mouthiness under control and they were happy to see his black coat and slightly improved hoof condition. I wish I'd had time to do more to his feet.

Reka was easy to catch and halter and we lead her back to the barn with M. I was glad to see her show her comfort with this.

The horses loaded great, with the mares in one stall and M in the other.

It was a nice, short visit and sad to say goodbye to those horses - especially Tina. I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Cantering and Trimming

... in the snow! Not a lot of snow, but a cold, cloudy Colorado day nonetheless.

I started with Tina. We warmed up and then rode in the arena. Worked on getting the canter depart lighter, leg yielding, and a soft feel on the bit. A great session and her work ethic is fantastic. She sometimes loses momentum when I ask her transition down, so worked on keeping her forward motion in the down transition. She's great with her leads naturally and I get some unexpected lead changes from her quite often. Her canter felt more from behind today, it's better every session.

I played with Reka in the round pen. I haven't been playing with the young ones for November, but she goes home in a couple days and I wanted to spend a little time alone with her and make sure she's in a good place for leaving. She's an introverted horse and I believe her to be more left-brained. She saw my Great Dane in her winter blanket for the first time and was startled and wary, but her very next move was to go closer and check the dressed dog out. (My Dane in her winter coat typically takes every horse by surprise!) She was fine in the round pen with me, easy to play with. We did a little porcupine game, working on her yield to pressure. She's a sweet, sweet mare.

I then pulled M out and got his fronts trimmed. I'll trim his hinds and touch up Reka before they go home on Wednesday. It's strange to think of them not being here. I'm going to miss Tina terribly. :(

Catching up

Had a rough week for horse time due to my travel and Steve being out of town. I wanted to play with Gem and Tina, first and foremost. Then, I really wanted to get some more feet trimmed.

I started with Gem and decided to start some trick-training with him. I've been pushing him to be more exhuberant and I believe I need to attack it from a different place. So, I'm choosing to teach him a few tricks with hopes of improving our relationship and motivating him to put more effort into it on his own. We worked on the Spanish Walk today and the spin. I've never done either with Gem, but he learns amazingly fast. He was having a good time - I could tell by how much he was willing to do! I also taught him to rear. He already offers this sometimes in our groundwork, so I want to get him doing it on my ask and controlling when it's offered. I also hopped on and played with getting his backup softer. I hopped on bareback which I realize I've hardly done with this horse. He has a comfortable back for bareback riding and in the winter it keeps me warm! It was a fun session with him. I enjoy this type of training quite a bit and Gem is a great horse for low-energy play like learning tricks. We'll get back to the 45' line for groundwork soon enough.

I put a trim on Cowboy as it started to snow and I thought I'd have to ride Tina tomorrow. However, it didn't snow for long so I pulled Tina out, trimmed her hinds and played with her on the ground. We worked on the clippers also. She had a very hard time with this so unnatural tool for grooming. She's getting better and I really wanted to send her home confident with clipping. I've got a few days to focus and I'm sure I can get her good enough to cope with clippers. Tonight I was able to rub them all around her face when we finished and have her smell them while they were running. She's so skeptical and the trick for me is not lose her trust.

I also brought M and Reka into the barn today for the weekend. I want to get fresh trims on them before they go home and I wanted to spend some time with Reka before she leaves. They both look really great - nice coats and full bellies. They seem to enjoy the west pasture.

It was a cold winter day, but I enjoyed a couple horses and look forward to tomorrow! I also need to catch up on my blogging.

Trims and Playtime

Reka in the round pen. Soooo good! dropping her head, yielding with porky, catching game.

M - wow, huge changes. Figure 8 at the trot - beautifully done. S pattern, sideways, conversations with energy, squeeze game. Wonderful, soft and fun session.

Trimmed Z's hinds. Negative palmar angle. started to rasp the toe callous, which is risky and something we don't do as trimmers but needed to bring her angle back.

Great, calm wonderful day.

Gettin by with a little help from my Friends!

Had my great friend Jess come out today and play horsetime with me. Had a very productive day!

Started with Tina... played with some new natural dressage groundwork I'm learning from Karen Rohlf. I'm watching Karen's videos and trying new techniques in "Conversations with Energy". I am loving this stuff! It's amazing how tuned in Tina is to me and how easy it is to get her flowing with my energy. We did some of our cool obstacle stuff like strattling the two pedestals, teetering on the teeter totter, and jumping the barrels. Then I hopped on and had one of the best rides on her I've ever had.

Her confidence has soared. She's actually offering some leadership and trying to take over a bit in our riding sessions. This makes me so happy. Today, as I asked her to move with energy, she gave me some of the most beautiful trotting to ride. Wow. She was moving freely from behind and getting some amazing elevation in the front. I felt a moment of suspension with this powerful trot. Such a great feeling! We practiced more leg yielding - which is much easier on the fore than on the hind. We'll keep building the yield on the hind. Just a great session with this amazing horse.

Then, I played with M. I tried some of the new dressage groundwork with him and he did quite well. I also played with sideways, obstacles, circle game, and backing. He's giving lots of try and I'm so pleased with his new attitude about humans. Jess visited with him and he didn't offer to bite or get dominant. His respect for humans is so much better - makes him safer and will help him get along better in life. We also played with stick to me a bit where I ask him to trot when I trot, walk when I walk, or halt when I halt - all from zone 2. We'll play with this some more as it was a new concept. The 6th time, he halted when I did and we quit there. Big improvement from where he started.

I then played with Gem. I didn't tack him up, but we played a few mins on energy and then Jess and I took the horses for a walk. Jess is retraining an OTTB and she decided not to hop on him today. Her horse seemed introverted so a walk seemed like a good idea to get his feet moving w/o a lot of pressure. He did seem better as we just walked and Gem never once called for home. Gem was perfectly content to leave the property. Once we were about 1/2 mile away, I did some circles with him and played some more with getting the trot I wanted from the ground. I'm enjoying the introduction to all of this dressage-focused theory and technique in natural horsemanship.

I also finished trimming Gem tonight. He didn't want to give me his left hind at all, but I'm pretty sure it was because he needed to go potty. I didn't get the left hind done as nicely as I'd like.

Riding Tina in the pasture

Great ride on tina in the front pasture. She was super soft and we worked on circles and flexing. We did the teeter totter (she's great at that!) and some figure 8 patterns. Her flexion is wonderful and She's comfortable in the bit now. I'm very proud of how she's going!

Played with M and got our softest canter depart online yet. He's come a long way with the groundwork. He was very willing and compliant and it's time to time him to the next level. Very cool. This was the first time I've asked for an online canter. He's offered up lots of cantering of course, but it's been hard cantering with a lot of brace in his mind. Today, he was my willing partner and that canter depart meant his mind was soft and easy. Wonderful!

Tina and M

Tonight, I played with Tina and starting developing leg yielding. I also added the cavesson to her bridle so she could get used to that piece of equipment. That was a non-issue. I did some circles with long-lines in zone 3 to help her learn more about the bit pressure with me on the ground. She's gotten much quieter in the bit, but she needs more time. She did very nicely with me in zone 3 as the line had to wrap around her hocks and I could manage her collection with the outside rein. She looked so gorgeous trotting around me with her powerful movement coming from behind. She is going to do well in the ring when she gets there.

Played with M and had the softest, most wonderful online session with him since he arrived! Wow! He was so obedient! Sideways was so soft and nice, we did figure 8's and he took some responsibility for the pattern, and we did some smooth turns on the fore and haunches. Great, great session!

M and Liberty with 4 horses!

I wanted to try playing with multiple horses at liberty today. I've only ever played with 2 at one time and after Cavalia, I've been wondering what I'd get if I played with more. I started with Rain in the roundpen. This is kind of tough because I haven't done liberty with Rain in literally years. She did ok - very intensely listening and also unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. I decided to add Gem and thought maybe she'd follow him a bit. He was so "ears forward"! I was shocked! He was listening with great focus, but as I added horses, I lost him. I then added Z, who was really having fun. She bucked and kicked and showed a ton of exhuberance. She really made me giggle. Then, I added Cowboy. Cowboy was not so interested in moving his feet and I'm quite sure he didn't like being at liberty in a small space with his leader Gemini. However, I was able to get a few nice trot/canter circles and a couple changes of direction with all 4 in sync! I realized right away why someone would love circus performing. Wow, what a rush playing with all 4 brains at one time. Z quickly decided to stick to me and I had to keep sending her back out with the herd. Is that because she felt safer with me or because she knew she could rest with me? Hmmm... What a fun session!

Then, ground time with M. He did super! Softer all the time and more willing and obedient! More energetic tonight than usual. The air is crisp he's got lots of energy. His figure 8's look great and he understands the pattern very well. I played with giving him more responsibility by allowing him to do the pattern and only correcting vs leading him through the pattern. He's a cool, cool horse. He's maybe the most confident horse I've ever played with.

M and Tina

Tina - riding with the bit and asking for collection. Then put the western saddle on her and played with voice commands on the circle. Her voice command responses are great, with a little more work needed to transition down to walk.

M - great, great circles!! Beautiful, soft sideways. Best session ever.

I love what I do

Tina in the roundpen, awesome session! Moving fore and hind after lots of trotting and asking for canter. If she changed or slowed on the circle, I changed direction. Worked great and she was giving me more and more unguided trot - maintaining her gait by herself and not requiring me to keep her there. Isolating the ends was very interesting as she is a little confused, but after a few attempts, I got some nice isolation of the ends. Good girl!

M - nice circles! Took a little time to get them, but he's doing really great. Sideways is much harder when i'm on the left, so we played with lots of sideways in that direction. We finished with figure 8 and helping him squeeze past me and around w/o changing his stride. His attitude is very changed and he's progressing wonderfully.

As I do nearly every day, I spent a lot of time loving on Reka and asking her to yield to various directions. We're picking up feet every day and just getting her overall comfortable with all the human interaction. She's the sweetest little filly - so interesting.

Advancing M

Wow - he did so well today! He was light on the line and barely got oppositional the entire session. Sideways, squeeze, circle and back.

Z - trailer loading. She loads fine, so we worked on her staying in there calmly. I'm going to try using a closer stall to the door so she's not so far into the deep trailer next. She was LB the whole time - soft lips, no pooping, slow movement...

Rain - worked on lateral flexion, backing, going over the bridge. Don't know why that's hard for her, but it is. I really enjoy getting back on that horse. I don't know what the future holds for developing Rain. She'll make a great demo horse with her flash and maybe she could really be a great mount for CTC's and CTR's.

Nerves are back!

Tina... I wanted to ride her around the property today, that was my plan. She warmed up fine and we did a bit of the hanging obstacle (her very toughest). She actually handled it worse than previous sessions. However we played with it until she seemed to be thinking through it. We did some circles with voice commands and she seemed slightly more forward than normal, but nothing extraordinary. Then I hopped on. She seemed ok, head low, walking when I asked. A couple times though, I felt her flinch in a tense way. No big deal.

Steve had to leave to pick up our daughter, so I hopped off and decided to figure out what was going on with the "edginess". I've made it a rule to not ride the young ones alone (with no one home). We went back to the hanging obstacle and she was just a tense mess. She was terrified. This means to me that she's been coping in an introverted way with that obstacle and wasn't really handling it. How interesting!! I made the obstacle simpler by moving some of the items to the side and sent her through repeatedly. I really don't want to send her home knowing she can't handle things swinging or touching her as she goes through. So we played with this until she got more calm.

I then took her into the barn to work on clipping. She goes home soon and I want to make sure she can be clipped easily, too. Boy, this was incredibly hard for her as well. Something was going on with Tina today. She was a tense ball of nerves and lacking confidence like I haven't seen in a while. We worked on the clippers, then back to the hanging obstacle. We went back and forth for a couple of hours. She flinched and twitched and really struggled. I need to take her over the edge a little, I believe. I am going to work this week on helping her come back from this terrified place because she wasn't able to cope today. She won't be able to cope at a show or with the environment a show brings if she's like she was today.

Could it be a heat cycle thing? She got this flinchy back in April - maybe a season start/end for her? What else could have caused this change in her? I started her back on Magnesium and she'll stay on it until she goes home. I'll also recommend that they keep her on it through her transition to the home environment. I'm perplexed by this change in her. I'll be watching her closely during our sessions before she leaves and hopefully help her get her feet back on the ground.

M and I had a GREAT session tonight!! He's really learned to yield to the pressure on the poll and showed some great softness tonight! His sideways was very nice, forward was easy, turning on the haunches was responsive. Wow - he's stepped up to the plate and he's ready for the next level of learning. His respect has shot way up and he's been a perfect gentleman. He's easy to catch in the pasture, which means he's handling what we're doing just fine. I always end our session on a nice quiet and comfortable note, which is paying off. We focused on backing up tonight. I would like that to be better so I backed him all over the place for a while. He wants to swing his hind around, meaning not back up but just get out of the way. I'm being particular that I need him to back up straight. There's a huge difference and he's starting to understand that. We had a very good session.

Eureka and I played with being touched everywhere, being brushed, being caught and prepping for trim work. She's come far in a short period of time! She's so easy to catch now that she actually came to me in the pasture! She loves the tender petting moments, especially on her chest. I've handled her every single day since she arrived and she's really learning that I can be a good, comfortable thing to have around. When I brought her in from the pasture tonight, I wanted to get her final steps of trim prep done. I'd like to trim her this week. Her feet aren't terrible, but she grows wide quarters and no toe. So tonight, we practiced picking up all four feet, patting the soles and holding her leg up and letting her practice the 3-legged balancing. She did really well - calm and obliging. She's ready for her first trim.

Great evening playing and learning about these great horses!

Lessons and Herd Management

Reka was back in the middle pasture with M today. Again, M jumped out. Pretty nifty. I watched him later and realized he's doing less jumping out and more walking through the ribbon. HA! My electric line is grounding somewhere. He also had his way with the water tub again. That area is now constantly soaked and puddled. So comical!

Did a lesson with Kris this evening. Rio was calm and great for her! Very, very happy to see the changes. We did more trail simulation and set him up for upset by leaving him. I was on Z bareback and enjoying my well trained mare. She's so soft and easy. Kris practiced getting Rio back with her by moving his hind and directing his energy. He blew and settled after a minute or so and I'm sure Kris needed that long to calm herself as well. I will next work on her doing this with a completely loose rein. She's still getting a little tight and Rio can feel that. Next session...

Kendall came out and rode Z for a minute bareback. She was amazed at how soft Z was compared to Rain. Beginners riding Rain have made her bracy and it was kind of neat for Kendall to feel what it CAN be to talk to a horse with reins. She asked me to soften Rain so she will ride again. It's a good idea. Rain needs some softening and less brace.

I left the young ones out for the night. They needed it. They are with the herd now and all is well. I've got 2 pastures opened and Reka seems to like Cowboy and of course, M. M is kind of a loner and I get the feeling he's figuring out what trouble he can cause. :-) Reka has been easy to catch, which is super.

What a DAY!

Gemini : played with cloverleaf, softening the forward cue, left lead canter with Jen. Jen worked on trotting in a frame a bit. Jen and Lynx got some nice, nice collected movements and they looked so much better! Lynx likes to go with her nose poked out, so this was such a pleasure to see. Jen also brought her new horse over for the exposure. He was not too keen on being tied and I think his presence added a bit to Lynx's energy level. Gem did great with the left lead canter and I'm getting better and better at feeling the lead from the hind.

Then, M! Worked on more giving at the poll, nice,

nice sideways and squeeze. Squeeze over barrels was funny - lots of hoof, not much jump. Into the trailer - no issue at all. He leaves soon so I wanted to be sure he could load. He's coming along nicely!

Little Reka more catching game and friendly time. I'm just spending time every chance I get with her to make sure she can be caught at home and trimmed, lead around, basic stuff. She's getting more and more comfortable with my presence, but it's tough for her when a 2nd or 3rd person enters the picture. She's getting more used to Kendall, which helps grow her confidence with humans since Kendall is more active than an adult.

Alice on Rain: I had a wonderful visit from a remote friend. Alice tagged along on her husband's business trip and came and spent the day with me and the horses. She has been spending time at a traditional barn and wanted to get some time in my natural facility and watch some natural horsemanship at work. She's got some background with natural horsemanship, but not as much with Parelli-stylings. I enjoyed her visit!! She helped me with chores and after watching me do some training, I asked her if she'd want to ride Rain bareback. She hadn't ridden bareback since 6, so this was basically a new experience. After I gave her a few basics on how I communicate with my horses, she just spent time getting to know Rain and feeling her move. She had perma-smile, so I think she was having a good time!

Rode Tina, beautiful response to the bit! She's doing so well! Need to ride her around the pasture! We were in the play area and I feel that she's a little over the bit, so I'm trying to pick her up slightly. She has great longitudinal flexion from the work we've done since her owner's visit. Now I want to work a little more on the vertical flexion. She was calm with the bit - maybe the most calm to date. Riding he felt great today!

M in the water after jumping out of middle pasture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG14g3KgEMA It's hard to see on the video, but he had his tongue sticking out to the side while he did this! What a hoot! I put he and Reka in the middle pasture for some grazing and movement. M thought that was a dumb idea and was out of their pretty fast. Reka stayed in, but then Cowboy also went in. Horse herd mayhem! Cowboy and Reka were grazing side-by-side, ribs nearly touching. Cowboy is such a nice horse and he's so easy to mix with other horses. I'm grateful for that.

Lesson with Kris: I rode Rain bareback through the

lesson. Chrissy rode Cowboy with Kris and I. We simulated trail riding in the arena by going single file, taking turns leading, and maneuvering around all the obstacles. We then let Kris practice managing Rio when the other horses left. Once Chrissy and I got far enough away for Kris to feel him get upset, she worked on swinging the hind back and forth until Rio calmed down. After 2-3 times, he let us get all the way to the other side of the arena!! Kris was happy. Now we have to stretch his boundaries farther and give him more opportunities to trust in Kris as his leader.

Kris trimmed 5 hooves - Rain's fores, Cowboy's fores, Tina's front left.

Short and Sweet!

I managed to spend time developing 4 horses tonight!

Tina, more voice command practice and time with the squeeze game through the dangling obstacle.

Gem, figure 8. Helping him gain responsibility. Found a nice place to quit after he managed to maintain gait on the pattern.

M, sideways and squeeze. Huge improvements! Much less opposition and more partnering with me. The biting is gone and he's extremely respectful to me now. Pretty nice to see!

Reka, more trim prep. Played with her feet mainly tonight and got her let me hold her hoof as she stood on 3 legs. What a good girl. She was trusting and calm.

Voice Commands and Trim Prep

Good day with the fillies! I spent some time with Reka working on picking her feet up. She understands to lift her feet now and she even managed to balance for a long time while I held up a front as if trimming. She's unwinding beautifully now, as well.

She spent the night in my large arena last night with M. I was wondering how both of them would be to halter up this morning and wow! They both came to me and haltered up like pros. I was impressed.

I also played a bunch with Tina today. I started with voice commands while lunging. She has pretty much got the commands down now. "Walk" needs a little more work when coming from the trot, but another session and we'll have it. I had the surcingle on by itself tonight and it's the first time she's worn that in months. She bucked and bucked! Oh, Tina... really? She was done after a few canter circles in each direction, but it just goes to show how sensitive she can be about her girth area and back.

I also worked on driving her from behind in the arena. I wanted to continue building her feeling contact with the bit and with the rain, it was easier to do this from the ground than to get out a saddle and try to keep it dry. It was very interesting to see that she followed the figure 8 pattern we normally start riding in the arena. She's learned that pattern well.

Driving her really helps her to learn to feel of the bit and it allows me the ability to release when necessary. It's also a great way to ride her with actually "riding" her. Perfect for those times when time is tight and saddling her will take too long.

Tina was very confident and easy tonight. At one point, all the horses ran off to the west pasture while we were in the arena and Tina looked but never felt any pull to the herd. She wasn't bothered by their running off and happy to be with me building skills. That lack of herd sour behavior is so nice to see. She doesn't get her confidence from the herd and she's fine if they leave.

Gem and the Babes

Figure 8 with Gem - waiting for him to take responsibility!
I've been getting picked on with instructors lately for spoon-feeding my horses. I need to keep building up their responsibility to maintain gait and direction. I also need to continue building the power to think in my horses. They need to continue solving puzzles, even if they're level 4 horses. This is something I need to work on for myself as a horse trainer of advanced horses. This is less important for the young horses.

I decided to move the babes into the arena for the night. I don't like them in runs, but I'm not comfortable with them in the herd. I also wanted to make sure I could catch them again once I put them out in a big area. I put Reka in first and she jumped and bucked and kicked and... she needed that. She was so darn cute. I put M in with her and he was pretty low energy. He's not a wild moving horse on his own.

It was nice to hang with them in the arena a bit and ask nothing of them. They both wanted scratching and hung around in between nibbling on the weeds under the fence rail. M's biting behavior is gone at this point, so I reward him with time scratching him all over. He's learned some good things about respecting my space.

Bringing up Babies!

It was all about the babes tonight. I played with M first and after some friendly game, went to work on the figure 8. Hmmm... he was rowdy and a bit obnoxious! :-) I just stuck with it until he calmed down and got with me. It didn't take too long. He was calmly walking the figure 8 by the end and I found just a fantastic place to quit. He really needed to play, though! I want to get him out on pasture - he needs to move. He and Reka both need to move. I'm just not a fan of keeping horses locked up and with M and his brain, he's probably struggling to keep himself entertained in that run.

They aren't here long enough for a herd introduction, so I'll put them out on separate pastures and give them a chance to move their feet as much as they need to.

After we played with figure 8, I wanted to build on the sideways game. This part started off good, but then got worse. Hmmm... I tried to pay attention and see if I wasn't being fair or making him feel criticized. I also wondered if I was playing with him farther from the barn - he definitely had druthers toward the barn. Regardless, we stuck with it until he understood and could calmly take sideways steps.

We then did some unwinding, to make sure he can handle the pressure on the poll and the hocks and the claustrophobia. This was all a non-issue for him. He was calm and thinking and it was a good place to quit.

Reka and I worked on yielding to pressure and I played lots with her feet! She'll pick them up for me, but I couldn't hold them just yet. She's concerned about her balance and being trapped, so I'm taking it slow and helping her understand she will survive this. She's a sweet, sweet filly who just wants to be ok. She's learning to better deal with poll pressure, yielding her body to pressure and relaxing on the end of the line. I've been trying to keep her learning sessions shorter and spend more time just being with her, scratching her, helping her find comfort with a human.

Playing with the youngsters

M learned the figure 8 and he did quite well!! His first real pattern. He's getting with the program nicely now. He's less oppositional and looking a little more for leadership from me.

Drove Tina down the trail with Z. That was COOL! I rode Z and had Tina on long reins in front of us. We went for a walk down the trail that way. What was amazing was that Tina did not want to come back! She wanted to explore the trail and kept turning around when we headed home. This is such fascinating behavior from this generally fearful horse.

Played with Tina for a long time with voice commands. She's starting to very much understand the voice commands.

M got trimmed today. Worked with him on trimming manners.

Tina also got trimmed.

Trimming and Playing

Tonight Kris was over to get some trimming done for me. She got 5 horses trimmed in the same time that I probably would have done 1-2. Ha! And my back wasn't tired when she was done either! Not a bad deal. She trimmed Gem, Rain, Z, Cowboy and Starlet. She'll come back in a few days to do the others.

While she did that, I played with M, Reka and Gem. M and I just developed more friendly game and started working with moving the fore. I wanted to keep him calmer tonight as our last session was challenging for him. He was much more compliant tonight and I'm sure he's starting to understand that I mean business. His disengagement looks much better, and he can send away. We'll continue games 4-7 next session too.

I took the halter off Reka and just played with getting her haltered back up. She was a good girl and stood nicely for haltering. I always ask the horses to partner some by bringing their head around for halter on/off. She's learning to bend towards me when I halter her and getting more confident all the time. I rubbed her all over as I've been doing every day to help her accept me as friendly. KK even went in her stall today and played a quick catch game. It took Reka only moments to turn to KK and be caught. That was a good sign that she's ready to progress.

Gem and I only had a few minutes before pitch-dark was setting in, so I decided to work on sending him into the trailer from a distance. I got a few trots into the trailer from about 20'. I'll continue to build the trot into the trailer from farther distances and then from the trailer fender. That and the zone 5 driving will put us at a filming spot for L4 online.