Saturday, at last. And a license from my great husband to get some horse time. For the past few months, it's all about the weekend because my job doesn't allow weekday horse time right now. Life is tough lately with my job and very little time to do things that I enjoy.
The plan was to go to Jen's place, coach her a little more with her horse and spend a little time with a couple of my horses at her neighborhoods large arena. I was thinking to take Nina, for trailer experience, and Cowboy for large arena passenger lesson riding. I started off loading Cowboy...
He was happy to go in, but he was not cool with staying in. I had hay in the trailer and he'd go in relaxed, eat it, but when I went to close the panel, he became unconfident. I'm doing my best to get Cowboy past the unconfidence - I didn't want to force him to stay in the trailer.
I decided that it might him if another horse was already in the trailer. I decided to get Nina since she's pretty confident and she really needs more exposure. She, like Cowboy, was happy to get in the trailer. She wasn't confident to stay in, though. I need to spend some time getting the horses comfortable with being IN the trailer. Darn! I let Nina go back with the herd.
So, I decided to get my trailer-nanny, Rain. She walked in, took her spot and I closed her panel. Cowboy was even happier to get in, but still wasn't happy to see the panel start to close. I was surprised because I've loaded him and trailered him before with no trouble. I realize I haven't played with him much lately and maybe that's part of the problem. I'll be spending time with him tomorrow for sure. I decided to get him in successfully, let him stand quietly a couple times, and then send him back out with the herd.
Finally, I decided to take Z with us. I didn't want to take her originally. I wanted her to see that not every trailer ride would include her. However, I didn't have other horses ready to go. I went to get Z, she came right to me. I walked her out, thinking to play with her a few minutes before loading her. She was pulling to the trailer as soon as we walked out of the barn!! I was shocked. So, i went with it. She hopped in and off we went.
Oye!
Got to Jen's and went to the arena to work on some freestyle riding. Z had a ton of energy and so I cantered and galloped her around as long as she needed to. We did some nice flying lead changes and jumped a few of the lower jumps. I let her go as fast as she wanted and then some. It was chilly and even snowed on us some. It didn't last, though - I had to keep opening her up. She just had so much energy! Jen made some great break-throughs and I was just ecstatic for her. Then, Z, Rain and I went on a nice 2 hour trail ride with my trail buddy Nancy.
Z was still full of energy and we did some good cantering. Rain was a little slow and I felt like Olive Oil a couple times with Z moving out fast and Rain trying to keep up but lagging behind. It was a really great ride and a great day with my mares. Nina and Cowboy next session...
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Some time with Z and a nice FLC!
It's feeling like the right time to get back with Z and forge ahead with L3 Freestyle. She seems ok with the idea, too.
We started by brushing and tacking and headed to the new 2-horse straight load sitting on my property (my boarders trailer). I doubt she's ever been in a 2 horse straight load and she wasn't thinking it was a bright idea. She got most the way in and I moved on.
We played some games with the cavalettis. I asked her to go and stop over each one. She felt inclined to side pass, so I tried to quiet my energy as much as possible. She's a smart, smart horse. We played some quick games of stop and go over obstacles and quick sideways.
She seemed pretty right in the brain to me, so we went to the arena and got ready. I wanted to move the barrels from the rail and I asked her to come with me. She stuck right with me w/o a moment of hesitation. She followed me while I went and fetched all three barrels. Good girl!
Then, I got on and started with corners. She had a lot of go, so we cantered and galloped hard until she wanted to slow down. Then, we tried to play with follow the rail, cloverleaf, canter-walk transitions... until her GO button came back to life. She had so much go today! Kendall came out and we started to work on jumping. Z doesn't care too much for jumping, but she actually seemed to enjoy it today! She was pulling towards the jumps after a while. We did squeeze game over a 2ft with a turn and face each time. She got more and more confident and so did I. She would come out of the jump excited and we cantered around until she was ready to transition down.
At one point, we went for a flc and got the most beautiful and soft flc I've ever felt (on purpose). It was so cool! I laughed and hopped off and rewarded the heck out of her. I got back on and we did some more jumps, cantered large circles and ended with herding the dogs. She was finally getting the hang of chasing dogs down at the end. I'm thinking to buy a cow or two and chase them around. Something with no horns and small. They're such messy animals, not sure I want to do that.
We ended at a good point with a final ask into the 2-horse. The saddle's stirrups hit the walls and I think she feels that resistance. I'll have to try it w/o the saddle tomorrow.
It was a great session with my mare! Feels good to be getting this close to finishing L3! It seems that Gemini may not get leased out - my leasor is still looking for a free lease horse. We'll see. I still think I'll take Cowboy through next. I like him a lot.
Need to get some time with Miss Nina this week!
We started by brushing and tacking and headed to the new 2-horse straight load sitting on my property (my boarders trailer). I doubt she's ever been in a 2 horse straight load and she wasn't thinking it was a bright idea. She got most the way in and I moved on.
We played some games with the cavalettis. I asked her to go and stop over each one. She felt inclined to side pass, so I tried to quiet my energy as much as possible. She's a smart, smart horse. We played some quick games of stop and go over obstacles and quick sideways.
She seemed pretty right in the brain to me, so we went to the arena and got ready. I wanted to move the barrels from the rail and I asked her to come with me. She stuck right with me w/o a moment of hesitation. She followed me while I went and fetched all three barrels. Good girl!
Then, I got on and started with corners. She had a lot of go, so we cantered and galloped hard until she wanted to slow down. Then, we tried to play with follow the rail, cloverleaf, canter-walk transitions... until her GO button came back to life. She had so much go today! Kendall came out and we started to work on jumping. Z doesn't care too much for jumping, but she actually seemed to enjoy it today! She was pulling towards the jumps after a while. We did squeeze game over a 2ft with a turn and face each time. She got more and more confident and so did I. She would come out of the jump excited and we cantered around until she was ready to transition down.
At one point, we went for a flc and got the most beautiful and soft flc I've ever felt (on purpose). It was so cool! I laughed and hopped off and rewarded the heck out of her. I got back on and we did some more jumps, cantered large circles and ended with herding the dogs. She was finally getting the hang of chasing dogs down at the end. I'm thinking to buy a cow or two and chase them around. Something with no horns and small. They're such messy animals, not sure I want to do that.
We ended at a good point with a final ask into the 2-horse. The saddle's stirrups hit the walls and I think she feels that resistance. I'll have to try it w/o the saddle tomorrow.
It was a great session with my mare! Feels good to be getting this close to finishing L3! It seems that Gemini may not get leased out - my leasor is still looking for a free lease horse. We'll see. I still think I'll take Cowboy through next. I like him a lot.
Need to get some time with Miss Nina this week!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Chenango ride
I took the day to ride with Jen (one of my very best friends) and Amy from Chenango. Jen has been looking for ways to get better with her horse on the trail and she and Amy ride together all the time. Another Chenango gal came along and rode Amy's 2nd horse.
I wasn't sure what to expect and I was really focused on giving Jen a boost of tools to use with her horse. I was pretty serious the first half, trying to help Jen and focused on her being safe and successful. The other riders were socializing and it worked out pretty well to be paired off. We did a lot of walking, stopping, and talking. It was the right thing to help Jen progress.
We were out for a few hours and made our way to Antelope. I started to get the itch to make some changes with my horse and she had so much GO she was holding on to. I found a place to work on transitions, a little confidence gaming with a run-down playground, some leading, some following. I rode in a rope hack and wished I'd had my bridle. We needed it. I found myself bracing against her a few times and tried to quickly adjust. She was not comfortable or confident much of the ride, but she worked on staying calm. She was happiest out in front of the group.
It was my first time riding Z in weeks and I'm honestly not sure if I put in black or white marbles yesterday. Maybe some of both. When we first started to canter, she was not happy and I need to investigate if that's coming from a discomfort or a general unhappiness in how I'm asking/riding. She cantered with a better look after a while and we worked on canter/walk transitions for a bit.
At one point, the group got a little ahead and Jen needed me to stay back so that her horse didn't rush to catch up. We were going up a steep hill. I started to hold Z back and she started to buck. I wish I could have ridden her hard yesterday.
In the end, it was a great day and it was good for Z and I to take it slow. I'm so motivated and ambitious and I don't need to trail socializing time like some. I want to get out with my horse and make some positive changes. I want to progress! Maybe I need to find time to hang with a group and not try to strive for something? I do that with Rain, but with Z I am all about making it better.
Last thing, I think getting to a bridleless point on the trail with Z is a ways off. We can do it in an arena but on the trail, with a group of horses, her down transition is not there. That was interesting to discover. Maybe because I haven't ridden her in weeks? Or because she has ridden in a group so few times? Or because she was worried?
Anyway, eye-opening and we'll keep progressing.
I wasn't sure what to expect and I was really focused on giving Jen a boost of tools to use with her horse. I was pretty serious the first half, trying to help Jen and focused on her being safe and successful. The other riders were socializing and it worked out pretty well to be paired off. We did a lot of walking, stopping, and talking. It was the right thing to help Jen progress.
We were out for a few hours and made our way to Antelope. I started to get the itch to make some changes with my horse and she had so much GO she was holding on to. I found a place to work on transitions, a little confidence gaming with a run-down playground, some leading, some following. I rode in a rope hack and wished I'd had my bridle. We needed it. I found myself bracing against her a few times and tried to quickly adjust. She was not comfortable or confident much of the ride, but she worked on staying calm. She was happiest out in front of the group.
It was my first time riding Z in weeks and I'm honestly not sure if I put in black or white marbles yesterday. Maybe some of both. When we first started to canter, she was not happy and I need to investigate if that's coming from a discomfort or a general unhappiness in how I'm asking/riding. She cantered with a better look after a while and we worked on canter/walk transitions for a bit.
At one point, the group got a little ahead and Jen needed me to stay back so that her horse didn't rush to catch up. We were going up a steep hill. I started to hold Z back and she started to buck. I wish I could have ridden her hard yesterday.
In the end, it was a great day and it was good for Z and I to take it slow. I'm so motivated and ambitious and I don't need to trail socializing time like some. I want to get out with my horse and make some positive changes. I want to progress! Maybe I need to find time to hang with a group and not try to strive for something? I do that with Rain, but with Z I am all about making it better.
Last thing, I think getting to a bridleless point on the trail with Z is a ways off. We can do it in an arena but on the trail, with a group of horses, her down transition is not there. That was interesting to discover. Maybe because I haven't ridden her in weeks? Or because she has ridden in a group so few times? Or because she was worried?
Anyway, eye-opening and we'll keep progressing.
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