Trimming

Trimmed Nina in Kiowa. Snowy and cold, but it was nice to get her feet in a good place.

Flippin' Wind!

Gusting in the 30's today with rain off and on. Lovely.

Today, Nina moved out again. This time was a keeper, though. The new pasture mates were lovely older mares. They were happy to see Nina and interested in a non-threatening way. Nina's confidence stayed intact and she pranced away checking out her surroundings.

It was bittersweet. I guess part of me hoped it wouldn't work out, but only for selfish reasons. I want Nina to stay with me. I know it's time for her to move on.

We then went to the animal shelter to adopt a couple more cats for the barn. Jewel is alone in the barn too much and it feels unfair to have her by herself. When I got home, the air had calmed and the rain stopped. i thought to jump on a horse and get going on something, but the day was nearly over and I had chores to do.

Tomorrow... supposed to be great weather. We shall see!

Trailering a horse

Today was Nina's day to move out. We did another riding session before loading her up to haul her to her new home. She loaded beautifully and we made sure Loma could do everything herself. She hauled quietly and moved into her pen with ease. The horses she was supposed to live with turned out to be quite aggressive so we brought Nina back until something else could be arranged. It was wonderful to see how how well-adjusted Nina has become and how easily she handled everything.

I was glad to have her come back. She's such a part of my barn and my herd. I'm going to miss her terribly.

Everybody plays!!

Nina and Loma - spent time getting Nina ready to go to her new home with Loma at the training barn. I played with Nina and we did some filming for her sale vid, then we did a lunge line lesson with Loma riding. Nina did great and Loma got to feel her wonderful gaits. I was proud of Nina! She's been a great student and partner. I trimmed Nina too, so she'd be ready to wait a few weeks for her new trimmer to get to her.

Z and Rain, KK and me - we hit an 8 mile trail ride first thing in the morning. It was a great ride until about mile 6 when Kendall's jeans started to chafe. I think she's finally convinced that jeans are not good long-rider's gear. :-) We went later to a shop for 3 new pairs of riding pants. She's a happy camper.

Gem at liberty - had an amazing session with Gem at liberty! Very cool! We started in the big arena with him showing off and running around. He would then come trotting into me (marvelous!). Then, in the 60ft round pen, we played with COD, cantering until asked to do otherwise, stick to me and other cool stuff. He loves liberty!

Tina - flagging and flinching - I had intended to hop on Tina, but she was not ready for mounting. She was flinchy, even during grooming. I kept thinking it must be the wind. The wind was blowing and gusting up to 40mph at times. I played with her and started to mount her for a ride. When I put my foot in the stirrup, my boot hit her under belly near the girth and she jumped sideways a few feet. So, I decided I wasn't going to hop on, but work on building more bravery. I got her used to my foot going into the stirrup various ways - to help her get used to sloppy mounting. That went well. Then I decided to use the flag to build up some more confidence. For a horse that I've taught to wear a tarp, she did not want a single thing to do with that flag. Although, I doubt she would manage a tarp in that wind either. We spent a good hour getting better at understanding that the flag would not be her demise. She got better and better until she could trot around with the flag in the saddle. Good girl! It was a great way to end it. The next calm day should be the day for riding.

Cowboy and Chrissy - hind feet: Chrissy was having some trouble with Cowboy's hinds. He was making her nervous when she asked him to pick up the hinds for picking. I gave her some tips and she was on her way. She played with her horse for a while, too. He wasn't interested in kicking up his hills in the arena like she thought he would, and I think they had a good session.

Trail time, Tina and Trimming

Good day! Started with some time with Tina. I wanted to see how she felt about things after yesterday. She was still very sensitive, but much less than yesterday. We squeezed and developed more sideways. We also played with COD some. I didn't have time to do more. I was glad to see her not so sensitive and looking forward to a full day tomorrow with horses and some good time with Tina.

Then moved on to a trail ride with Kendall. We had a very fun ride! We trotted the bulk of the ride and did a bunch of cantering. I'm trying to help Kendall find her seat in the canter. She's still a little stiff, but so darn cute! Her posting in the trot has come a long way and she's got great rhythm now. We had to boogie back because the sun was nearly gone by the end of our ride and she was begging me to race her and Rain. I declined! The girl has the need for speed.

Z was a great partner and she was happy to walk when I asked and even happier to move out when we were ready. She wanted to canter off and I kept thinking about DE telling me to canter her for 30 mins longer than she wants to. I wonder if I took her on the trail and let her canter, how long would she go before stopping? I've very curious and I may take her to Sharptail - the perfect trail for finding out.

Finished with trimming Nina. She moves out on Sunday and I want to make sure she goes with her feet in good shape in case she doesn't get a trimmer looking at her feet for a few weeks.

Deworming

Last year, I started a new approach to deworming my horses. I began to base my decisions on fecal tests for deworming versus just putting my horses on a schedule w/o regard to whether they needed it.

This spring's test was amazing to me. Zarah's test was negative - meaning she has too few to justify a count. Rain and Gemini have traces of strongyles, but such a minimal amount that deworming is not warranted. Cowboy has even less than Gem and Rain. Nina has slightly more and could be dewormed, but she'd be fine w/o it. Tina has more and I will deworm her and recheck her to ensure it was effective. Rio has a very, very high count - highest I've seen. That could explain his coarse looking coat and bloated belly.

What's even more amazing is I have now gone 1.5 years w/o administering dewormers to my 3 horses. This is a controversial subject among horse owners and I'm really comfortable with how I'm doing things now. Note: a fecal test does not detect tapeworms. I may administer a dewormer to ensure tapes are not an issue, however in Colorado tapeworm is not prevalent (our arid climate gets the credit, I'm sure).

A great day!!

Spent some time with Nina and her owner. Gave some demos of the things her horse can do and the things I expect. We saddled her, mounted, took pictures, bridled, played on the ground, looked at hooves... Unfortunately, the filly is going to be sold. Wish she could be mine but I just can't justify a horse of that caliber in my little herd. If I had big dressage plans, I'd feel differently.

Then, saddled up and rode Tina. She was calm, blowing often and very responsive. We walked and trotted and practiced lots of turns and stops. She did great.

A cold and snowy Saturday in March

Spent time with Nina, just prepping her for riding tomorrow. Good ground work, looking for positive responses to my body language. She did well, got a little excited but overall, a good positive session. The footing was tough and I tried to keep her energy down so she wouldn't slip and hurt herself.

Tina - I tacked her up and planned to ride her but decided the footing wasn't good enough. Had a great time with desensitizing her to ropes around her hind legs, very improved catching game, extreme friendly, standing on pedestals, figure 8's. She was calm and attentive. Getting on her tomorrow when the ground is more firm.

Zarah - really wanted to ride Z too, but again, the footing didn't support the idea. Played with her at liberty, practiced DE's way of transitioning down (laser beam). She was starting to understand and she was definitely more interested in solving this puzzle than our normal way of doing things. Is it better than how I normal do transitions at liberty? Yes, because it causes my horse to think and solve the problem vs responding the same old way. It's advanced and she needs advanced to stay engaged. Her Spanish Walk is beautiful, need to move it to the saddle now. At the end of our liberty, the cat was hanging around and I put him on Z's back while I talked to Chrissy. For about 30 mins, he curled up on her back and slept, I stroked Z everywhere while she napped and Chrissy and I had a good chat. A great, low-stress way to end the horse day.

Playing in the dark!

The weather was warm enough and I promised myself to leave my desk early and get some horsetraining time. So, at 5pm, with work half-finished, I stood up and marched out for horse time. The days are slowly getting longer so I figured I had 90 minutes.

It turned out to be very warm and calm outside, so I turned on my outside lights and stayed out until 8:30pm. I had a great time and got some fantastic things going with horses!

Tina - I started with Miss T. I'm continuing with confidence building. I'm noticing her curiosity really growing, a pleasing change! She is really starting to investigate the things I offer up quicker and with more confidence. Today, I worked on her wearing the tarp and dragging it around. We did some trailer loading and asked her to stand on my bridges and other objects. Neck, nose, maybe the feet... I'm getting the nose very quickly now! She understands when I ask her to investigate something and she's willing to check it out. She actually put some decent holes in my tarp by picking it up in her mouth and waving it around. So pleased (but need a new tarp!). Good stuff.

Nina - We practiced maintaining gait. I need her moving steadily in a circle and she still has some silly moments. We worked on COD will calm confidence. She was a little worried w/o the herd in the very beginning, but it didn't last. Her sideways is looking great and we started w/o the fence. I will continue to build her circle size for gait maintenance and will start developing transitions online. After my trip, Loma and I will begin her intense mounted training.

Zarah - We did some driving from zone 5 with 1 line. She was a little distracted at first, but eventually she could do patterns around the trees with her. Her spanish walk is coming along great and we practiced her spin. I took her into the arena and hopped on for about 20 mins of bareback riding. We practiced bridleless backup, weaving, sideways. I love her - she's become so advanced and quick to learn. She's trying hard and highly motivated by treats, I'm learning. She's a left-brained learner and needs motivation.

A great night! I was using my house flood lights and doing all this work on the side of my house. It was warm with calm air - spring is on it's way!

Catching up

Trying to catch up some horse training after a busy week of travel. The weather was pretty good, so I made the most of it. The ground is soft and mushy, so I had to do things slow and keep the horses at a walk or at most, a trot.

Gem - we practiced COD with a huge improvement on his hard side (left to right). I know he was struggling with footing, so I cut him slack. He did notice my draw and begin to make the change with me in his left eye, so a win in my book.

Z - we did a lot of trailer loading and I closed her in, closed the panel, and gave her alfalfa. I left her in there for a while (45 mins?). She was calm, eating, and seemed prepared to take our upcoming road trip. We also practiced zone 5 driving, spanish walk, and the spin.

Tina - Friendly game! With the tarp and the obstacles. We worked on the circle game, asking her to stay on the circle until I asked her in. Her sideways was very, very nice and I'm being much more subtle in my ask. She's extremely sensitive and I want to respect and reward that. I also took her into the front pasture and we played with hill therapy - using the circle over terrain. She was quite calm and thoughtful! I slowed my asks way down from where I've been and gave her more time than usual. It was an experiment to see how a slightly different approach would be received and she was very responsive. I'll start slowing my asks down until she seems more clear on the language before stepping things back up again. Her draw was better than ever - a good indicator that slower is the right thing for now. She was really eager to catch me when I first went out to get her - another good indicator that things are going well in her mind.

Nina - An interesting time with Nina! She was full of energy again today and did some amazing leaps through the air! I swear, she's the biggest, brownest Lipizzaner-impersonator I've ever seen. I stuck with her and we did some falling leaf until some of the play drive was expended. Then we got to work. Sideways, circle, back, back, back, driving the hind and fore... After she settled, I got some very nice, calm responses from her. It was a good lesson and I feel pretty sure that the next lesson will start off much more calm. We just got some good things done and left the arena on the right note.

All in all, a great and productive day with the equines. I spent 10 hours with the horses! Thanks to my family and my husband for letting me catch up some time.

Playing in the cold snow... Brrrrr!

February has been a tough month for horse time. We've had cold temps and snowy weekends. I promise myself to have this situation fixed for winter 2010-2011. Today, it was cold (about 18 degrees) and snowing all day. Dang it, I wasn't going to miss a whole weekend of horse time. Yesterday was bitter cold and also snowy. Today, I bundled up and headed out.

I started with Nina, Miss LBE. We did lots of sideways and back. Looking for obedience. Figure 8 is nice! She started off trying tricks to get away. She likes to try antics such as front feet up or flying through the air like a Lippizanner. She has amazing athletic ability. It never worked and it took her some time to abandon that idea. At the end I was starting to see a horse I'd mount. She was so sweaty, so it obviously took some good energy to get her on the bandwagon.

To be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time with Nina this winter. I have an arrangement with her owner where we trade training time. The short days have put a wrinkle in our arrangement, but I'm sure we'll be picking back up soon.

I found a time at the end where she circled calmly and with obedience. I quit there. I asked her to back straight along the fence to the gate. Her hind end would come off the fence and I'd ask her to put it back. Once she got with the program, she backed nicely and straight. Good girl, great place to quit. I tucked her into a stall with a wool cooler over her and a pile of hay so she could get warm and dry.

Tina - what a great session! She was very calm and offered energy to match mine. She never once got overly excited. Her friendly game responses were fantastic with some nice extreme friendly. I decided to saddle her in case she seemed good for some mounted time. I'm taking it very easy because of my arm. I also want to be sure that her mounted time starts back up on the right track because of our accident. We did figure 8 and boy, she really understands that pattern. The thing is, she wants to please so badly and she's so sensitive that as long as I'm clear with my body she's all over it. If she gets confused, she gets afraid.

I played with the circle and her maintaining her gait. She wants to stop behind me, a typical response. I will help her get past that. We played with squeeze and sideways and she did very well! She surprised me, truth be told. She was clam and smart today.

I took her into the round pen, played with COD, then decided to mount. She was responsive to me getting in that position. Hmmm... She moved away, very clearly telling me not to mount. I decided instead to build her confidence here. I made a lot of commotion with the stirrup, the saddle, flaps, etc on both sides. When she had a calm response, I mounted and just laid over her. I haven't been on her in a while, so I didn't want to do much more than mount. She was ok with me being on her back and I rubbed her a lot before getting off.

I ended with her head down, calm, quiet. We then left the round pen on that note.

I also trimmed Cowboy's hinds, Tina's fronts (what nice looking feet she has now), Ninas hinds. Nina has beautifully shaped hooves. Cowboy has the worlds thickest hoof wall and I'm getting the job done faster with nippers on him. He was extremely well-behaved for this trim and the last couple trims. Makes it much easier and faster to get my work done.

Trimming

Got Nina trimmed. Tina is due, as well as Cowboy and maybe Gem. Lots to do, lots to do... :-)

Studying movement and the rail with Z

I had a very educational morning with my dressage instructor today. She and I spent time with her warmblood mare, Nina and Tina. We watched them move at all gaits and evaluated their angles, confirmation, motivation and general way of "going". It was great to spend the time with Loma and better understand what she looks for in a good dressage horse. Tina did well and showed some confidence, but also her underlying wariness. I continue to work with her innately unconfident nature and focus every session on building bravery. Nina, on the other hand, has enough confidence for 3 horses and showed off her extreme play drive. I have played with Nina for quite a while so Loma got to see her horse fresh and full of fun. We had some good laughs.

We spent quite a long time with the 2 fillies, probably 2.5 - 3 hours. I grabbed a little lunch and then decided to spend time with Z. I'm still evaluating the CSI pad and while I really like it, I think I need to switch to the bigger size. It's just too close of a fit for my saddle. If it shifts at all, it's not under the saddle anymore. I've figured out my shims, too. I'm pretty happy with how it's going. Gemini also liked it when I rode him in the dressage lesson the other day. It's well worth the money, just need to get the right size.

I'll start selling my Theraflex pads now.

Chrissy came out with her horse for some play time, too. I had gone out front with Z to ride in the cross country course and I had Kyle rebuilding a jump for me. This caused the horses to run to the south pasture to see what was up. This then caused Cowboy excitement to be with the herd and focused his attention on what they were doing instead of Chrissy. She struggled a little with getting Cowboy's focus again. She asked me to play with him to help her see how to be his leader. What a fun horse!! I've always just adored Cowboy but I haven't played with him in months. At first, he tried to tell me he didn't need a leader. Then he told me I was being too strong. After about 5 mins we had our communication right and started having some fun. I remember how slow he moves and it made me giggle. Compared to my other horses, he's pretty low energy. He's also pretty dominant and not interested in working very hard. I had a good time with him though!! Not sure if it helped or hindered Chrissy to watch us play. She did try COD with him after and got some nice slow, but fairly correct ones.

I also started trimming horses. I'm behind with trims as I have an arrangement with a boarder to trade trims for board fees. It's very tough to get the schedule worked out right. I've got to get caught up on trims w/o her until we get things on more of a schedule. I got Z's fronts done before my arm was too sore to do more. I was cold too. Tomorrow I'll tackle more feet while wearing my arm brace.

More fun in the snow!

Well, it's cold for sure. And there's plenty of snow on the ground. But, I'm getting my butt out there anyway!

I started with Z. More trailer loading confidence, then to the arena for some bridleless practice. We did the question box and after a little warming up with corners and FTR, we did canter to back up transitions with the question box. I did about 5 in each direction, with 3 canter - backup transitions on each circle. She was awesome! She had spunk and life and responsiveness. I think she finds that quick work to be fun. She's so fast and when she comes out of the halt straight to the canter, she feels like a cannonball shooting out of a cannon. It's very cool.

Then, I played with Miss Tina. I'm doing more driving and asked Chrissy to assist with more obstacle stimulation. First, we further developed her willingness to bridle. I am searching for a horse that seeks the bridle, not avoids it. I want her to accept the bit like she accepts the halter. I put it on, take it off, repeatedly and all the while use the halter to keep her head low and in a partnership position. She's doing very well.

Then, we warmed up and went to work on more tarp fun. She proved that she's ready to move on from the tarp. Chrissy shook it around forward, walked toward Tina with it held high, then I put the tarp all over her and covered her up. She's passed this test with flying colors - next stop, the umbrella!

I also started trotting in zone 5. Up until now, it's been a lot of walking. I think it's time to remove the surcingle. My arm is strong enough and she's got the idea of what I'm asking. Next time, we'll go w/o it.

Before the barn time was over, I checked Nina's hind foot for progress with her scratches. It's actually much better after just 2 days! I'm very pleased. I applied a topical solution of White Lightening and we'll see how it looks tomorrow.

I'm also itching to get back on Tina. It's time - she's ready. Maybe after the next ski trip - we leave Saturday for 4 days.

Riding Z, driving Tina and back to trimming myself!

My day started off with Gemini. He was in the neighbors pasture. He'd gone down the driveway (1/4 mile) through the gate and down the road. All in all, about a 1/2 mile walk but looping around our property. I threw out the hay for the others, then Deuce and I headed out to bring Gem home. Gem was happy to see me - I think he was trying to figure out a way into the pasture with the others. I think I need to put another horse out with him. He seems to be getting lonely. I want to play with him more, but he has to take the back burner with the horses I have here in training.

Then, I got Steve to give me a hand with a trim. Nina was pretty overdue and I also needed to get her hind soaked as she's developed scratches. I've never had a horse with scratches and I don't understand why one horse would get it and not the others. I have a clean property, but I know they can get it from the dirt. Is her immune system low? Anyway, Steve used the nippers where I placed them for me and I did the rest. I was able to rasp with my broken arm ok, not great - but I got the job done. I got her soaked too. Hopefully, her skin will start to heal rapidly now.

I did some chores while the horses got their fill of hay, then I decided to ride Z. I started by taking her in and out of the trailer. She'll get in fine, but I want her confident inside. Actually, she knows the difference between being in a stationary trailer and one attached to a truck and likely to take her somewhere. For the latter, her anxiety goes way up. I need to attach the trailer - or at least back the truck up to that position to fool her and help get her more confident.

After that, I hopped on and she and I just went around the property. We practiced nice, light sideways, up on the pedestal, then bridleless weaving around a little patch of trees I have. We practiced backwards a bunch and halting bridleless. Her responses are good, but they can always be better. I'm noticing that when I ask her backwards bridleless, it works better if I move my hips back in rhythm with hers versus being in rhythm with the foreleg movement. I think naturally, I moved with the fore. As I practice and play with it, it works better with the hind. Of course that makes sense, but I was just following my gut with the fore movement. Her bridleless back and halt are very good. We really need to get our freestyle film done. I've been saying that for months... Sigh. Just need to do it.

Then, I got Miss Tina out for move driving. I wanted Chrissy to help out by causing some commotion with a tarp. Tina is driving nicely and we'll continue to practice. But, she needs lots more confidence building too. Gem was hanging around when we got started and he finds tarps to be quite fun. He grabbed it with his mouth and shook it up and down for 15 seconds or so. Tina wasn't quite sure what to make of that!! Of course, if Gem isn't afraid, maybe she needn't be either. Soon enough, Tina was also mouthing it and moving it and lifting it.

Chrissy went around and I drove Tina behind the tarp. I wanted her to feel like she was "chasing" the tarp - a great confidence builder for horses. Then, I had Chrissy walk a circle around us. Tina was concerned when the tarp was in zone 5, but otherwise she was fine. We then followed the dragging tarp some more, but I wanted Tina to step on it. I also had Chrissy shaking it and doing more than simply dragging it.

We found a good place to stop and Tina was calm and in a very good frame of mind. It was a great session!

Another day of catch up...

Gem first - cod, sideways, stick to me, sideways in the saddle, riding around the property, a scoot spook near the basement, a nice time. Quick ending for some filming with Tina.

Tina - filming her progress and getting pics. She did great - friendly game is much much improved. She can now manage extreme friendly. Nice figure 8's, good circles, some falling leaf, some sideways. Then, riding - practicing turns, disengaged hind, moving the fore, backup. Too wet and soggy to go more than a walk. She had another great session!

Nina - filming her progress and getting pics. Rode her for a long time. Started in the arena - skipped the round pen. Figure 8's, follow the rail, back up, she's doing fantastic. Warm up was fun - over the barrels, falling leaf, had to walk - footing is not good with melting snow. Seeking soft response to rein pressure. She likes lateral flexion and will try to use that to slow things down. She likes to stop, too. Interesting!

Gemini - pulled him out again. Practiced the smile trick and then started spanish walk. Had him bring his hind over for mounting and he had no brace about it. Pretty cool! We went over to the kids playing and took pictures. Then, sideways for quite a while - trying to get him soft sideways. Also, worked on backup and trotting little bits (again, footing is an issue). Practiced spanish walk (very beginning of that) and some more smile. Now, need another trick. He learns tricks so fast.

Z's new wound is ugly. Keeping her separate from the herd now. She's getting in trouble too much with the herd. I'm going to create a 2nd herd soon and she'll go back into a smaller herd.

Catching up

Tina - Friendly game (lots) and practicing yeilding to the halter. Wore a bit for the first time. trotting. disengage the hind, move the fore. sideways on the ground. Huge progress. She's getting more and more comfortable with her tasks.

Nina - easy ground work! sideways coming nicely, maintain gait on the circle, great responses after a few weeks off. Easy saddling, wore the bit. lat flexion is beautiful and soft. Time for a bit. Rode in round pen, moved to big arena and did figure 8's around the barrels. Softened turns, back up, trapsing through chest high snow and wet melting snow puddles. She did beautifully!!

Rain - pulled KK around the front on the sled, all speeds. KK giggling behind as we cantered over fresh snow. Fun! Then, KK hopped on Rain behind me, held me waist and we rode around together. We found a big snow drift and she jumped off rain and landed in the snow on her back and went straight to making a snow angel. Pretty cute.

Gemini - I ran out of time. I was ready to play with him, but the had to go. So took a few minutes and started teaching him to smile. Showed Chrissy how that trick is taught. He was learning it pretty quickly! Cute.

Chrissy - she did some nice figure 8's with Cowboy and some zone 2/3 driving. Then, she tacked him up and decided to just sit on his back. Cowboy was nice and calm for her. I led them around for a bit then she hopped off. She just needs to take things slow.

Zarah - hurt again. I'm moving her into either a smaller herd or living in a stall/run for a while. Not sure what's going on with her but she keeps getting hurt. She put a healthy gash in her face - looks like a kick to the mouth. Poor girl.

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.

Gem on the 45' line and more trimming

Beautiful, warm and calm afternoon/evening! I wanted to work with Gemini online to start building up for a level 3 assessment. He had lots of energy today! We started by driving from zone 3/4 and heading out to my front pasture. We got far enough away that he was just slightly on edge. We went from driving to falling leaf, circle game and then some COD's. His COD needs work, he's losing his momentum and turning like he should with falling leaf. He doesn't know the difference yet. With the circle game, he got emotional and went at full gallop back to the barn. He can get a lot of speed on the 45' and I tried to pump my grip - slipping it then grabbing it. That can sometimes work to get a horse to stop running for a moment. I ran out of rope too fast and he went back to the barn. That is called being BUCKED OFF from the ground! LOL I got him, brought him back to the same pasture spot and started again. Again, when he was cantering on the 45', about 30' away from me, he 'bucked me off' and ran for the barn. Darn! Twice and he's learned how to get it done!

OK, got him back out there and this time, kept him closer - about 20 feet maximum away. I was looking for him to be more with me, putting some pressure on Z3 to keep his body bent into the circle and playing at a slower pace. Now, we were getting somewhere. We got some better COD's, but still not great. However, we were able to canter circles at about 30' - together! Finally. No galloping away and leaving me in the dust. That was good, then we could move on to something else.

I wanted to help Chrissy with her figure 8's as she still doesn't feel like she's getting good ones. She's been doing lots of driving from Z3, which is a great game for her. Her horse is still challenging her authority quite a bit and she's struggling to be clear and deliberate with her ask. We talked about Suggest, Ask, Tell, Promise. She tends to get stuck at Ask, never getting to Tell or Promise. She's working on her assertion which will translate directly to leadership. It's not about whacking the horse. It's about a clear intention and request with the willingness to follow it through.

She was starting to get some really nice figure 8's. Once she clearly pushed his Z1/Z2 around the obstacle, they were on easy street. That's been the hardest part for her. Which makes perfect sense for a Left brained horse to be sticky in the front. We talked about her playing with Rain and I think that's not a bad idea. It might help Chrissy understand the nature of a horse to play with another horse and see the response she gets.

Before I put Gem back, I asked him to yield his hind toward me for mounting. I just want to teach him to bring his hind around and not get upset by that type of request. He was much better than the first time we played with it, but still defensive. We'll keep working on it.

Finally, I wanted to trim Nina. I ended up getting only one hoof done because my wrists were so sore. Trimming two horses the night before had my tendons irritated in my wrist. I spent a bunch of time just working on softening her to the idea of trimming. In the past I've allowed her to brace during trimming and forced her some to comply. I made a mistake and I realized that Nina has developed a negative reaction to trimming time. I'll get that fixed up right away by taking the time it takes and allowing her to understand it's her choice, but holding her foot up is a much easier way to go. I also won't brace against her! If she wants her foot back, she can have it. I need the horses to all cooperate and it starts with me having a natural attitude and letting the horse choose to cooperate. Trimming is hard work and it's so easy to become predatorial about the process. I've caught myself thinking, "Dang it, just hold still!". That's not a natural approach to horses at all and it's doubly ineffective. Always learning...

We'll get the other 3 hooves trimmed over the next 2-3 days, focusing first on her willingness and choosing to cooperate. We'll focus secondly on getting the trim done. My horses should always be getting easier to trim, not harder. I'm actually proud of myself for admitting my mistake and moving forward with the correct attitude.

Finally, Tina was showing some interesting behavior. The west pasture lines the neighbors property with numerous miniature horses and a couple paints. My herd will sometimes go and hang out with that herd of the fence. Well, yesterday and today, I noticed my herd coming in to the barn to eat or whatever, but Tina has stayed out in the west. She stayed out there when the other herd was nowhere to be seen. She stayed out there all alone, against the fence. What does that mean? She's ok to stand alone, acres away from her herd? She could still see the other herd (though I couldn't) and preferred that to coming in for feed? Very interesting. Chrissy drove her back on the ATV and we closed the west pasture gates for now. Surely, there's something she really likes about that other herd - all my horses feel that way about that other herd. I also wondered if she didn't know how to get back on the track as I saw her call once or twice to my herd. Horses aren't great problem-solvers and the west pasture is fairly new to Tina. Maybe she thought she was locked in? Just interesting behavior.

Building Gemini and Riding Nina

Today, I took Gem to Hidden Mesa, a local trailhead to see how he'd do by himself. I've actually never taken Gem by himself for a trail ride so this was quite the test. I was perfectly prepared for whatever he might offer and very willing to simply lead him down the trail and play on the ground if that's what he needed.

He started out pretty calm and I was suprised. We walked a bit, I did a little feet-moving with him, asked him to go sideways down the trail some. But he was really just fine. Steve was with me so we walked and talked and I paid attention to how Gem was doing. We came upon a bridge over a creek and he crossed the bridge w/o a single worry. I was trying to decide if I should mount and decided to wait a little longer.

Another 1/4 mile of the trail and he all of a sudden got very worried. A couple of trailriders were coming behind us and he started to frantically call for them and seek comfort from them. I was actually just starting to mount when they came in view. He moved his hips away and started to get emotional just as I was putting my foot in the stirrup. Now, he wasn't crazy or anything, he just didn't want me to mount and he wanted those horses to call back and make him feel more comfortable.

Steve went on down the trail to do his run and I stayed with Gem in that spot to work with his state of mind. Tons of sideways, falling leaf, backing, and when he started to look calmer we'd stop to rest. He'd munch grass for a moment and then lift his head, call and we go back at it. He was slowly getting calmer and finding more comfort with me in our quiet moments. He finally found a reason to feel ok - after about 20 minutes, and we slowly started to walk back. He was fine from then on. We crossed the water - he stood in it and splashed a little. We did transitions, we stopped to eat grass. I just wanted him to realize I wasn't going to let the boogieman eat him, I was going to keep him safe and comfortable. We found a picnic table and stopped while he ate grass. Ahhhh...

At that point, I thought very hard that I should mount. He seemed ready to handle it. I decided not to, though. I decided it was enough for his first trail experience alone with me. I kept my desire for MORE under control so we could hit this trail another day and pick up from this nice quiet spot. His trailer loading was pretty good, but loading up to go home had him more hesitant. We just took our time and he was blowing and loaded after about 5 mins. I refuse to push him - that's what people have done to him in the past. I want to give him reasons to be trustful of me forever more.

When we got back, I rode Nina. She's ready for the next step in her training. We started with ground work and she was calm and respectful and just a joy. Then, we went to the round pen for mounted work on walk/trot transitions, more soft feel to me on her back and beginning to apply some good communication with my body. She did so well! Next, patterns!

I helped Chrissy next with her porky and her personal space (trot to back up on the ground). She'll be filming in the next day or two, I hope! And Kendall rode Rain for a while. She worked on weaving in and out of trees, go and whoa, and then finished with standing on tires with Rain.

It was a great day! I didn't get to Tina today, I plan tomorrow to start backing her.