Exceptional day today! I'm sorry I did not have a camera available, but my daughters were otherwise occupied.
Spent a little more time on the ground work than I have in the past couple of days, which was very benificial to her. I rode today with a long stick tucked under my arm. I used it as an encouragement for forward movement, so I would have to keep kicking her in the sides. I want a horse to be sensitive when i put any kind of pressure on thier sides and yesterday I found myself having to kick a little more than I wanted to. I asked her to trot a lot more than before, but I would squeeze with my cheeks (not the ones on my face) and upper thighs. If she didn't move, I would tap her in the hind end with my stick. Did this quite a lot and she was really starting to respond to my seat before rides' end. Worked on turning at a trot and stopping from a trot, also.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Belle....10/29/11
Craig and Cheryl Estes came out today to see the progress on Belle. I hope they were happy with her advancement. I personally am very happy, she is not too excitable and to this point seems will to try whatever I ask her to do.
Today I did the ground work (which I will do for probably the next 30 days, just to build upon the foundation) and really the only hole I see is when anything starts slinging around her hind end. This will change as she grows more confident. She handled well and is really attentive to any kind of pressure on her mouth.
A really good day for her...probably the only thing I can fault her on was when I was asking her to trot, she got really agitated. laying her ears back and biting at my legs. Which is a red flag that something was bothering her, so I stopped, pulled the saddle back, checked under the pad and checked the cinch. Once I had smoothed the hair over, I cinched her back up and she seemed to be ok. If a horse does something that is out of the ordinary for them, there is usually a reason. Belle was hurting a little and I was slow to adjust to the situation.
Today I did the ground work (which I will do for probably the next 30 days, just to build upon the foundation) and really the only hole I see is when anything starts slinging around her hind end. This will change as she grows more confident. She handled well and is really attentive to any kind of pressure on her mouth.
A really good day for her...probably the only thing I can fault her on was when I was asking her to trot, she got really agitated. laying her ears back and biting at my legs. Which is a red flag that something was bothering her, so I stopped, pulled the saddle back, checked under the pad and checked the cinch. Once I had smoothed the hair over, I cinched her back up and she seemed to be ok. If a horse does something that is out of the ordinary for them, there is usually a reason. Belle was hurting a little and I was slow to adjust to the situation.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Belle....10/27/11
We had rain today, praise the Lord! When I got home the rain had stopped, but it was still overcast and cloudy. I knew if I was going to get any riding in, I had to do it quick!
As always, I start with ground work. Right now I am working on desensitizing zone 5. Which is the area behind her. She doesn't just bolt and run, but she gets fidgity and wants to move away. The goal is to be able to swing a rope behind her and it not mean anything unless my body posture says it should mean something. She is a work in process at this right now.
I worked her in some circles and got a lesson on how slick the ground is after a 3/4" rain. She slipped and fell, scared her and me! But she got up (no harm done other than being dirty) and we slowed it down. When I started riding her, again working slow, we worked on turns and giving to the bit. If she is truly giving to the bit, then she will step over with her front feet. Today was a good day for riding, but I didn't get to go as long as I would have liked to. It started raining again (I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE RAIN, we need it!).
As always, I start with ground work. Right now I am working on desensitizing zone 5. Which is the area behind her. She doesn't just bolt and run, but she gets fidgity and wants to move away. The goal is to be able to swing a rope behind her and it not mean anything unless my body posture says it should mean something. She is a work in process at this right now.
I worked her in some circles and got a lesson on how slick the ground is after a 3/4" rain. She slipped and fell, scared her and me! But she got up (no harm done other than being dirty) and we slowed it down. When I started riding her, again working slow, we worked on turns and giving to the bit. If she is truly giving to the bit, then she will step over with her front feet. Today was a good day for riding, but I didn't get to go as long as I would have liked to. It started raining again (I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE RAIN, we need it!).
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Belle....10/25/11
Light day today. Shoer came and trimmed Belle, so I did some ground work with her instead of riding. Worked on some more desensitizing. She is still a little uncomfortable when you get the stick and string slinging around her hind end. This most likely comes from lunging. All she understands is that she should be moving, that is what happens when all you do is lunge a horse. Mind numbing circles generally lead to mind numbed horses! Instead work circles, but have a purpose. See when and where you can ask them to stop. How long did it take to get them to stop? Can you turn them into the fence where you want to and how about turning them away from the fence? Can you get them to put their nose on a certain spot on the round pen? There a so many different things you can do other than just stand in the middle and whip to make them go!
Belle is progressing nicely, even with some trust issues. These mainly pop up when you are doing groundwork, but she is riding well for 2-3 rides. The trust issues will get better as long as I continue to do groundwork before I ride.
Belle is progressing nicely, even with some trust issues. These mainly pop up when you are doing groundwork, but she is riding well for 2-3 rides. The trust issues will get better as long as I continue to do groundwork before I ride.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Belle...10/24/11
No pictures today, just more of the same as yesterday. Yesterday when I rode her for the first time, it was more about her carrying me around. Yes, I did has for some stops and turns...but I was not really concerned about where we were going.
Today, was a little different. Started her again with ground work, making sure her mind is right before we push on to the next thing. Saddling went really well and when I finally mounted up, she was ready for some direction. She still had it in her mind that she could travel anywhere she wanted to, but I started giving her direction. We made several trips around the round pen, with her continually looking to change directions, before I asked her to turn. I did this quite a bit and finally she was waiting for me to ask before she wanted to turn. Stopping is getting better, she is a quick learner! She needs her feet trimmed before I ask for more speed, which is happening on Tuesday. More speed does not mean that the training is speeding up, I am just going to ask her to long trot and lope at different points of the ride.
From here for a little while, things are going to get boring for the outsider. So much of training is repitition, consistantly doing the same thing over and over again until the horse understands what you are asking for. Posts might get a little shorter and there might not always be pictures. But I will try to note the milestones.
Today, was a little different. Started her again with ground work, making sure her mind is right before we push on to the next thing. Saddling went really well and when I finally mounted up, she was ready for some direction. She still had it in her mind that she could travel anywhere she wanted to, but I started giving her direction. We made several trips around the round pen, with her continually looking to change directions, before I asked her to turn. I did this quite a bit and finally she was waiting for me to ask before she wanted to turn. Stopping is getting better, she is a quick learner! She needs her feet trimmed before I ask for more speed, which is happening on Tuesday. More speed does not mean that the training is speeding up, I am just going to ask her to long trot and lope at different points of the ride.
From here for a little while, things are going to get boring for the outsider. So much of training is repitition, consistantly doing the same thing over and over again until the horse understands what you are asking for. Posts might get a little shorter and there might not always be pictures. But I will try to note the milestones.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Belle...10/23/11
Today is the big day! I think she is going well enough that I will be able to get on her back today. Again, I started with the basics. Ground work with and without the saddle and driving. All of this builds onto what a horse understands and does or does not fear. I started with just putting weight in the stirrup, laying across the saddle and rubbing her on the off side (this is where the stick and string come in handy, if I hadn't been playing the friendly game with her in the groundwork...how could I now put my body in that dangerous position?). I did this on both sides and she only boogered a little. Once the booger came up, though, I backed up and worked some ground work. There is no point in trying to push a horse past a fear spot. Back up and try to find out what the problem is, fix it and then move forward in the progression. When we got back to the point of me getting on, she was ready.
Once I had mounted her, I did what I heard Pat Parreli say..I got the heck off! I mounted her several more times from both sides before I even asked her to move. You are in the most vulnerable position you can be in, when you are trying to swing a leg over a horse. So it makes sense to spend quite a bit of time getting it right.
I finally asked her to move out and she stepped out with little fear or trepidation. We made several trips around the round pen at a walk. I asked her to turn into the fence (the driving basic), away from the fence and one or two stops. She really did well!
Once I had mounted her, I did what I heard Pat Parreli say..I got the heck off! I mounted her several more times from both sides before I even asked her to move. You are in the most vulnerable position you can be in, when you are trying to swing a leg over a horse. So it makes sense to spend quite a bit of time getting it right.
I finally asked her to move out and she stepped out with little fear or trepidation. We made several trips around the round pen at a walk. I asked her to turn into the fence (the driving basic), away from the fence and one or two stops. She really did well!
Belle...10/22/11
I did all of the basics that I have been doing everyday. The idea is to build on what she learns so that you are always giving her something new. Sometimes this is day to day, sometimes it is day to week, sometimes week to week. You have to develope a feel of where your horse is at the moment.
At the "moment", Belle is mentally moving along pretty fast. I have asked her to give me more and more everyday. Today, I continued on with the lessons in driving. This not only teaches her to give to the bit, but also a little about turning. Now the turns are a little ugly and on the front end, but as she starts handling better we can clean these up. I also, introduced stopping. Since she understands releasing on both side, I asked her today to give to both sides at once. The first time, it confused her...BUT the releasse is the key. Once she gave me a stop, I released the pressure. It was not pretty, but it was a stop.
****Sorry, no pictures today! My daughter Faith was not available to be the photographer****
At the "moment", Belle is mentally moving along pretty fast. I have asked her to give me more and more everyday. Today, I continued on with the lessons in driving. This not only teaches her to give to the bit, but also a little about turning. Now the turns are a little ugly and on the front end, but as she starts handling better we can clean these up. I also, introduced stopping. Since she understands releasing on both side, I asked her today to give to both sides at once. The first time, it confused her...BUT the releasse is the key. Once she gave me a stop, I released the pressure. It was not pretty, but it was a stop.
****Sorry, no pictures today! My daughter Faith was not available to be the photographer****
Belle...10/21/11
Started today just like all of the other days. Belle has handled everything I have thrown at her. We did groundwork, just like any other day. The foundation starts with groundwork. Once I thought her mind was right, we moved on to the saddling. She handled it really well and I put the snaffle in her mouth, just to let her carry it around for a while. She chewed and slobbered, but generally took to it well. After working on the ground, with the saddle this time, I asked her to start giving to the bit. I would run the lead rope on the off side of her and put gentle pressure on the bit, just asking her to give and turn away from me. She was going so well with that, I decided to go ahead a drive her a little. She took to the drving like a duck to water!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Belle...10/18/11
Wind was blowing like crazy and it was cooler than we have had all year. This usually means horses are:
1. Feeling really good because of the coolness
2. Nervous because of the wind blowing
A prey animal, which a horse is, relies on its sight to see the danger. They look for movement, but when the wind it blowing...everything moves! So no matter how calm your horse is, when the wind blows...the horse will be on edge.
I started Belle out with ground work again, this was especially important today because of the wind. I want her focused on me and not so much on everything moving with the gusts. Once we had moved on to the desensitizing (sacking out is what I used to call it), the wind presented a challenge because it blew my blanket away from the horse on the downwind side. So there was a lot of moving around trying to stay on the upwind side so that the blanket would touch her. I then started approaching her with the saddle. This bothered her not one bit, so after pulling the saddle on and off several times...I went ahead and cinched her up. Now for the first time I generally don't pull the cinch too tight, just snug it up so that the saddle doesn't slide under her belly (there's a wreck you don't want to see). After asking her to move out and a couple of laps in the round pen, I tighten it up. This usually lets them let go of some nervousness and air.
She seems to be good minded today and none of this bothered her, so I asked her to lope some circles in the round pen. I also moved my plastic barrels so that she would have to jump them (the only difference between a buck and a jump is the planning!), she jumped over them and moved right out. No hesitation, no bobbles. All seems well and the "plan" is still in place.
1. Feeling really good because of the coolness
2. Nervous because of the wind blowing
A prey animal, which a horse is, relies on its sight to see the danger. They look for movement, but when the wind it blowing...everything moves! So no matter how calm your horse is, when the wind blows...the horse will be on edge.
I started Belle out with ground work again, this was especially important today because of the wind. I want her focused on me and not so much on everything moving with the gusts. Once we had moved on to the desensitizing (sacking out is what I used to call it), the wind presented a challenge because it blew my blanket away from the horse on the downwind side. So there was a lot of moving around trying to stay on the upwind side so that the blanket would touch her. I then started approaching her with the saddle. This bothered her not one bit, so after pulling the saddle on and off several times...I went ahead and cinched her up. Now for the first time I generally don't pull the cinch too tight, just snug it up so that the saddle doesn't slide under her belly (there's a wreck you don't want to see). After asking her to move out and a couple of laps in the round pen, I tighten it up. This usually lets them let go of some nervousness and air.
She seems to be good minded today and none of this bothered her, so I asked her to lope some circles in the round pen. I also moved my plastic barrels so that she would have to jump them (the only difference between a buck and a jump is the planning!), she jumped over them and moved right out. No hesitation, no bobbles. All seems well and the "plan" is still in place.
 |
| A good day...done |
Belle...10/17/11
We spent most of the day at MDA, but I did get home in time to work Belle today. Started out with the basic groundwork, we want her to have a good foundation for her future. She is a calm and pretty steady mare and has adapted well to the groundwork. Once I felt like her mind was ready I took a saddle blanket and started rubbing her all over with it. This eventually led to waving it around and slapping it lightly against her. At one point I was twirling it above my head walking away from her and she chose to follow me around, even though I gave her the option to leave any time she wanted. She is steady as a rock and looked at me as if to say, "is this all you got?" She is still going according to plan and should be ready to saddle tomorrow, but she is a horse. They are living breathing animals, with a mind, so you never assume that everything will go according to "plan".
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Belle...10/16/11
Picked up Belle from Kickin' K and brought her to the house. Once at the house I worked her on the ground for the first time. She is a fast learner and picked things up pretty quickly. Worked on yeilding her hind end and she almost immediately figured out how to make the pressure go away. I also did some desensitizing, using myself to sack her out. Meaning I hopped all around her and generally looked like a fool. I hopped up and laid across her back several times. She accepted all of this like a pro! I generally do a weeks worth of ground work before I get on, but I think I will be on her back late this week if all goes well.
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