Had a fantastic day riding at Sharptail with Nancy! Loved it! We rode hard and fast and Rain was a great partner. I rode her almost the entire way w/o picking up my reins! At one point she was cantering downhill and a big dip was coming in the trail and I wanted her to slow down. I tried to slow her down at first with my body and I needed her to slow down right away so I went for the reins. We cantered and galloped a lot and all with no reins!
Otherwise, I did the whole ride w/o them and we were riding for about 3 hours and 12 miles. I love that mare. I like that I'm getting good bridleless time on the mare I fully trust so that I'm more prepared to get that done with Z. Tomorrow I ride Z for the first time in a couple weeks.
Need to trim some hooves. Rain's feet are growing very crooked and I need to balance her out.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Started Nina!
She had a great start, too. I'm so honored to be a part of her first ride. When we started, she was quite wooly and I'm not sure why. She had a lot of piss and vinegar and we were thinking today wouldn't be the day. However, I kept playing with her and showed Loma some of the things I've been teaching her. She was definitely playing some dominance games with me and I was doing my best to act like her partner so she'd act like mine. I tried to start some good sideways and that was when I felt like she finally started to settle. We squeezed over barrels (she is NOT a jumper!). We did a little falling leaf, circle with change of directions, stick to me, yo-yo and a bit of yield the fore and the hind.
Loma loved the circle game where I had Nina trot and canter when I trotted and cantered. I explained that it's a start to her mounted work - when I trot, you trot. When I canter, my horse should canter. Nina does great with that game.
I started her w/o tack and when she started to settle, I tacked her up with my western saddle. I had to put the saddle on her a few times before she would stand still for it. I continued to pull it off until she finally stood still the 4th or 5th time. Then we went into the round pen and warmed up with the saddle on.
My saddle has a lot of strings hanging down and it was windy. Nina was bothered and kicking at the strings. We played until I could get her to canter w/o bucking. That took about 15 mins. Then, we decided it was time to settle her down some and have Loma get on.
I felt very confident that the time was right and it was! She stood quietly while Loma got up and down, then bellied her, then swung a leg over. Each time she got up on her belly, I let Nina get very relaxed, then we'd walk a bit. In the end, Loma sat up straight and we rubbed Nina all over. She was relaxed and took a huge breath in and out. That was when I asked Loma to hop off and we were done.
All in all, a great start for a fantastic performance horse with a great future. I can't wait to see how she develops.
Loma loved the circle game where I had Nina trot and canter when I trotted and cantered. I explained that it's a start to her mounted work - when I trot, you trot. When I canter, my horse should canter. Nina does great with that game.
I started her w/o tack and when she started to settle, I tacked her up with my western saddle. I had to put the saddle on her a few times before she would stand still for it. I continued to pull it off until she finally stood still the 4th or 5th time. Then we went into the round pen and warmed up with the saddle on.
My saddle has a lot of strings hanging down and it was windy. Nina was bothered and kicking at the strings. We played until I could get her to canter w/o bucking. That took about 15 mins. Then, we decided it was time to settle her down some and have Loma get on.
I felt very confident that the time was right and it was! She stood quietly while Loma got up and down, then bellied her, then swung a leg over. Each time she got up on her belly, I let Nina get very relaxed, then we'd walk a bit. In the end, Loma sat up straight and we rubbed Nina all over. She was relaxed and took a huge breath in and out. That was when I asked Loma to hop off and we were done.
All in all, a great start for a fantastic performance horse with a great future. I can't wait to see how she develops.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Mending a relationship
Not sure what it was, but Zarah has been avoiding me over the past week and I've been working to mend the relationship. Today, we made great strides. It was the first day in several days that she offered to walk to me. I'm not sure exactly what I did to make her think avoiding me was the best move. My guess is I pushed her too hard by taking her on the trailer, on the trail alone, or something like that. I was maybe doing too much with her. Anyway, I'm mending the bond and I'll pay close attention to be sure I don't do it again.
I put Kendall on Rain for a bit and she rode around the yard, crossing obstacles and just having an interesting time with Rain. In the meantime, I tended to Cowboys cut on his heel bulb. Zarah was in a stall finishing her grain. After Cowboy, I went in to see if she was interested in some time with me. She looked at me, I waited and about 10 seconds later she walked to me. Ahhhh... So nice.
I gave her a few cookies and haltered her. I led her into the barn and just brushed her for a while. She was relaxed and calm. She enjoys being brushed. This was the first time I'd interacted with her in many days. Her hind feet are starting to look very bull-nosed again. They were looking really nice for a while. I'm guessing the lack of movement is a problem. When I'm using her and riding her often, she lifts her hinds more than when she's in the pasture.
Anyway, I took her into the round pen and decided to try to teach her a trick. I chose the head-shaking trick. It was cute, she didn't have a clue. I've taught her to hug and we've tried to develop the bow. Seriously, I'm always working with her on specific tasks for the program and never just teaching her a silly trick. I could tell, she didn't really know how to feel about it.
She wasn't quite getting it and after some time, I smiled at her and we left the round pen. We'll see tomorrow if she thought that was interesting or not. I'll know by how she responds to me when she sees me tomorrow.
I put Kendall on Rain for a bit and she rode around the yard, crossing obstacles and just having an interesting time with Rain. In the meantime, I tended to Cowboys cut on his heel bulb. Zarah was in a stall finishing her grain. After Cowboy, I went in to see if she was interested in some time with me. She looked at me, I waited and about 10 seconds later she walked to me. Ahhhh... So nice.
I gave her a few cookies and haltered her. I led her into the barn and just brushed her for a while. She was relaxed and calm. She enjoys being brushed. This was the first time I'd interacted with her in many days. Her hind feet are starting to look very bull-nosed again. They were looking really nice for a while. I'm guessing the lack of movement is a problem. When I'm using her and riding her often, she lifts her hinds more than when she's in the pasture.
Anyway, I took her into the round pen and decided to try to teach her a trick. I chose the head-shaking trick. It was cute, she didn't have a clue. I've taught her to hug and we've tried to develop the bow. Seriously, I'm always working with her on specific tasks for the program and never just teaching her a silly trick. I could tell, she didn't really know how to feel about it.
She wasn't quite getting it and after some time, I smiled at her and we left the round pen. We'll see tomorrow if she thought that was interesting or not. I'll know by how she responds to me when she sees me tomorrow.
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