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.

Reka's first trim

I've been working on getting Reka ready to stand for her first trim. Today, she seemed ready and I was able to get under all 4 hooves and give her a great trim! She had no worries and handled the trimming with such patience. She is going to make a fabulous mount. Her temperament is perfect.

Rode Tina - we rode in the arena and on the playground. I played circle game with her near the hanging obstacle but did not ask her through it. She shied from at first but as we left circles and went on to something else, she was no longer shying away. I'm glad I didn't ask her to go through it - she needs more time gaining confidence simply near it. Worked on voice commands for the gaits from her back as well. We have more practice to do on that.

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.

Tina and Reka

Tonight, I really wanted to pick up where Tina and I left off yesterday. All the horses were in the west pasture so I walked out to get her and spent some time with the herd. Reka and M were off on their own and hanging out with Steve and Kendall while they fixed some fence. That was very cute. What was very, very interesting was when Steve and Kendall left to go back to the house, Reka left M and followed those 2! I yelled across the pasture for them to act a certain way, backing up facing Reka to continue drawing her in. How great was that!? They pet her and rubbed her a bit and then went back to leaving the pasture. Reka then came cantering over to M and Tina and me. Reka and M then followed Tina and I back to the barn.

Tina and I went back to the hanging obstacle. She was pretty sure she was in danger as soon as we got close to it, so I pulled things out of the way to make it easier for her. I sent her through and she scuttled quickly through it. However, the rest of the times through she walked tensely until finally she walked relaxed. At that point we left and did some other things like the teeter totter. Then I took her in for some more clipper practice. She's terrified of the clippers. I pushed her too hard the first time. I am going to study the horseanality material for Right-Brained Introverts again. I know I need to do things slow with her, but maybe some of the material will remind me of some other things I introduce her to more scary items. She didn't seem flinchy today, so that was an improvement.

I tied Reka off and played with her trim prep and feet handling. She's doing great. Kendall then came running out in her silly kid way and scared the holy heck out of Reka! She was tied and felt the halter at the poll, but her it took her a few moments to realize there was no release there. When she calmed down after a few moments, I had KK be my apprentice and we worked on Reka's confidence with KK's jumping around. Reka was fairly quick to calm down. She is a very calm horse and she learns quickly. She's getting more and comfortable with us humans every day.

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.

All about Tina

Had such a lovely time with Tina tonight. We practiced voice commands on the circle and then I helped her gain more confidence with my new squeeze obstacle. Whew! That's hard for her! But she was able to walk through it tonight instead of scuttle-butt through for the first time.

I then hopped on for some casual riding in the arena. What a beautiful evening we had!! We just worked on riding with light contact at the trot. She was really nice tonight! I've been focused on some of the ground stuff I want to develop before she goes home so I haven't been on her back for about a week. However, she did beautifully and I enjoyed her!

I'll be riding her again tomorrow and I want to get her to follow the rail around the front pasture.

I also played with Reka a bit tonight. I just handled her and touched her all over and helped her understand that she doesn't have to be afraid. She's not really afraid any more, but I like pushing the envelope and developing that the most I can.

I put Gem in a run for the weekend as he goes with me for a 1-day clinic on Sunday. I want him to separate from the herd a bit before we leave.

So happy for the weekend!

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.

New Progressive Group

Kime, Gemini, Trail with Gem, trail with Z, Reka.
-my main lesson - I need to teach Gem to be more responsible! I'm holding his hand too much and he needs to advance. Carrot stick riding - we weren't ready for that and Gem's feet got "stuck". That was his introversion coming out and I found it fascinating. Sideways on the rail at the trot - Kime had me focus on the front foot and hind foot as we moved along. This helped us get a better sideways trot. Only use the Ellis technique of 180,90, 45, touch when transitioning up! For a send, it's always lead, lift, swing, touch. I was overusing Ellis' technique. I'm using too much leg on Gem. I need to stop using leg until he can respond to my seat. Did lots of cantering and bowtie practice to get the left lead. By the end, we were getting the left lead consistently. Yay!! Kime had me try some interesting techniques where I stretch my outside leg long and bring my heel down which forced my inside hip up and forward slightly. Interesting! Also fixed Gem's COD from right to left. He's been blowing through the COD, but we got it fixed with a bump and a resend. He's doing so great.

Afterwards, Gem and I rode a short trail ride with Deb and her horse. It was his first trail ride with me in a couple years. I've ponied him on the trail tons, but it was my first time on his back on the trail in a long time. The reason is simply that I've focused on developing Zarah and this past year, Tina. He hasn't gotten my time. Now that Z is getting time to hang out with the herd and Gem is my main horse, we need to get on the trail. He did well, but I realize I struggle to trust him. We'll keep working on it. After a couple miles we turned back so I could switch horses to Zarah and show her more trail.

Zarah and I moved out fast with Deb. We galloped and the horses were racing for a good stretch! That was great fun and I could feel Z pulling for the lead. Once we got deeper onto the trail, Z and I moved into an extended trot and just really moved out. It was great and she was forward and fun. A couple times she kicked out (maybe at Deuce?) and made me laugh. She's such a spitfire. We walked the last 1/2 mile home and Z was happy to walk - she'd worked hard the whole ride. That's exactly what a long horse like Z needs. She needs to move enough that she enjoys walking.

Handled Reka with guests, she was a little more wary with new people. This was interesting to see as she's so friendly with me now. Actually, when I muck her run she stands with me the entire time and I scratch her back and rump with my rake. She loves that! With new people in her run, she was unsettled and wouldn't come close. I hung around until she got a little more confident. She's such a darling little filly.

Tina on the trail... Sorta

Tina down the trail ground driving. Really no hesitation! No calling, she did great.

Played with Reka, more rope handling, unwinding and then leading around toys and obstacles. She did really great stepping over things after smelling and snorting at them. We'll work on the tarp next.

Want to play more with lifting her hooves.

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.

Teaching M more basics

Today I took M into the arena with the intention of teaching him the rest of the 7 games. He gave me a run for my money tonight! He had lots of ideas and definitely didn't want to be told what to do. This is the fun part about dominant left-brained horses. They aren't looking for a leader so I have to much enough of an impression on him that he turns the leadership over to me. Horses that are right-brained are looking for a leader and they are quick to take direction. M is smart as heck and learns fast, but isn't necessarily looking to be bossed around. :-) So, instead my focus tonight had to be helping him understand that he didn't have to listen to my requests, but that was definitely going to be the easiest way. :-)

We got through all the 7 games and sideways was definitely very tough for him. He tends to blow through my wall (made with my stick, string and my body language). He also does not think he needs to move his hind - a typical left-brained behavior. I did not spend much time moving the fore and I imagine that will also be a tough thing to get done with him. I'll keep impressing upon him that I'm in charge of his feet and he'll be fine. In a few more sessions, he'll understand that there's a purpose and a game that he can win here. He'll start to communicate more and ask questions. He's not really asking questions yet.

I also played with Reka and tested her ability to handle being haltered. She's been wearing a halter since I put one on her (4 days now?) as I wanted to be sure she could handle being haltered again when I needed to. She was a little wary when I started so I decided to give it one more day before I took the halter off. She absolutely loves to be scratched though! She especially likes when I muck and she slowly brings her butt around to me so I can scratch it with my manure fork. When I stop scratching and go back to mucking, she gently bring her butt back around and continue asking me to scratch until I do. Pretty darn cute!

getting lots done

I started off riding Tina today. We rode in the arena and I focused on riding with more contact and asking for a more forward trot. She's responding better and better to the bit. Our turns were quite soft. We rode for quite a while and I did some pattern riding using the cloverleaf.

Then, I brought Reka out to work on more haltering and getting her used to the tools I use. I just played with her, getting her more used to me and starting to introduce her to the things I'll ask for soon. I also started unwinding her, which is where I ask her to find the release when I wrap the lead rope around her body and over her hocks. She has to "unwind" herself by following the feel of the halter. This is hard for horses at first since they feel very confined and there is pressure on the hind legs. Reka struggled at first and felt afraid and claustrophobic, but she quickly understood that she would survive this and next thing I knew, she was eating grass immediately after unwinding. I liked to see that she could get worked up and afraid but come right down off the adrenalin and go to grazing. As she develops more understanding of the things I ask she'll find fewer reasons to think she's in danger. Before I put her back in the run, I started teaching her to have her feet handled. I'd like to put a trim on her in the next week or two.

Kris came over for a coaching session just as I was finishing with Reka. She put a trim on her horse and then we got to work. We played with Rio for about an hour and I used Gem through the session to demo. I wanted Kris to start understanding the elements of the circle game, so after she had Rio's attention she got started. Rio is very cool and responsive and sensitive. He's also learning to trust in Kris' leadership. I love to see the changes horses make when their humans start to make clear sense. We also played with the new obstacle with the hanging bottles and pie pans. Rio and Kris practiced walking through it calmly and found a good place to quit. Gem walked through it warily once or twice, then proceeded to eat the hanging bottles. He ripped the pie pan off! Silly clown horse...

Then, I pulled Gem out for some focused groundwork. I focused on transitions online. I'm looking for softness and responsiveness! I pushed him too hard at one point and he left me, but otherwise he was giving me some nice transitions. He still doesn't stay in the canter for more than a lap or two - we need to build that!

Chrissy made it out to play with her horse today, too. I was so glad to see her tack up Cowboy and get on! She hasn't done that much since school started and I know she's dealing with the changes to her schedule and being a student with homework. Cowboy always looks so calm for her and it makes me happy to see her spend some time with him like that.

Horses, horses, horses!!