Soldier - 7/2/12

Again, with the inconsistency....

Rode today with the idea that we were going to start advancing him.  His releases are not perfect, but with patience he usually picks up what I want.  I also started asking him to turn toward the fence, this is more about moving his feet and him not getting his feet stuck in the ground.  He did really well and I even started asking him to move forward with some light contact on his mouth.  I know this seems like really slow progress, but if you spend more time now...you spend less time later (I stole that saying!).  From now till  the 13th, Soldier will be getting a lot of work.  So we should see a lot of improvement, but all in all, Soldier is not as far along as some, but he is getting there.

Soldier - 6/26/12

Started today with a little warm up on the ground.  Basic ground skills, but mostly to take any fight out of him...since I will be using a snaffle today, I did not want a blow up.  When he was ready to ride, I reached down and asked him to open him mouth and pretty as you please he accepted the bit.  Good day at Black Rock!  I didn't push real hard, but we spent the day releasing to the pressure and learning how to circle with a little pressure.

Soldier - 6/25/12

Started today with the side pull, but was taught a lesson about checking tack and keeping tack in the proper shape.  Now I have had this side pull for about 20 years and probably not used in 15, so its just been hanging there...in the heat and dust...rotting.  Today, after a little warm up with releasing to pressure...Ol' Soldier had a breakdown.  He freaked out a little and I did the right thing and pulled him into a one rein stop....BAM...the headstall broke.  I think the released surprised him and much as me.  He immediately stopped!  I figured that this was as good a time as any to do some groundwork.  So we worked on some yeilds and such on the ground for a couple of hours and called in day.

Soldier - 6/22/12

Ok, it's been a couple of weeks and consistant I have not been!  With rain and the kids schedule (I thought summer would be easier on that...) I have not rode much the last two weeks.

When I rode Soldier today he, of course, was a little rusty.  So today was basically a refresher on some of the basics.  Releasing to pressure was a biggy and it is something I work on everytime I ride any horse. Still riding with the side pull, since it is a bit of a fight with the snaffle.  So there is it short and sweet, spent the whole ride working on releasing to pressure.  Release left, release right, walk in a circle and release....

Soldier - 6/5/12

Fairly light work out today.  The Johnstons came by and watched me ride him and I just showed them the basics of what he knew.  I believe that Soldier is right where he needs to be, if he were a two year old.  Where he at mentally, I feel he is exactly where a two year old should be in his education.  That said, he's six.  So, for the next couple of weeks I will be pushing a little harder than I have to this point.  He is broke to death to the saddle, just doesn't have a clue what to do with his body once a rider is involved.  Stay tuned....

Soldier - 5/31/12

Rode Soldier today and to say we had a bad day would be an understatement!  We both struggled with our activity today.  Although, it is important to understand that sometimes a bad day leads to a breakthrough. 

I changed him from a hackamore to a sidepull.  A sidepull has more of the same action as a snaffle bit (more direct rein than indirect rein), and that is our ultimate goal.  To back up a few days, the first time I attempted to get a bit in his mouth, ol' Soldier blew up, so rather than have a fight...I used what he would tolerate. 

Today I worked him on releasing to pressure.  I would ask him to bend his neck and as soon as he "gave" to the pressure, I would release the pressure.  This was most of the ride today.  Soldier has a lot of resistance because he doesn't trust me yet and is in a constant state of protecting himself.  Time and patience will break down those barriers.  Take the time it takes now....it won't take as much time later.

Soldier - 5/29/12

Worked Soldier on the ground, teaching him to move his shoulders.  He is pretty stiff and doesn't want to let me on his right side.  So I spent most of the time on his right side.  I would ask him to turn toward me and once he had move his mid point (his head) past me I would ask him to continue the move with his front end.  He was better at the end and that is all you can ask of a horse.  He is progressing nicely and is a little ahead of where most starter colts are because he is able to be ridden.

Soldier - 5/28/12

In keeping with the idea that Soldier doens't know what to do with his body, I rode him today and worked on turns into the fence.  This can teach him how to get his body out of the way.  I start by asking him to step just a little away from the fence and and as he moves away from the fence, I then turn him toward the fence.  Usually there is not enough room and he is forced to move his body to avoid bumping the fence.  As he moves away to give himself enough room to turn, I give him the cue to move away from my legs.  anything new is a slow process, but he is learning.

Soldier - 5/21/12

Worked in the round pen agian.  Soldier gets scared and just wants to just run mindless circles.  So we worked on breaking that patttern.  Did a lot of the same things I did on Sunday.  Not much more to report on that.  Hopefully he will make enough progress that I can start driving him later this week.

Soldier - 5/20/12

Worked Soldier in the round pen today.  I think you have to be careful with roundpen work, too many times it just turns into mind numbing circles to wear a horse out.  When I got him in the round pen all he wanted to do was just run circles, all of his turns were just him seeing how fast he could get going the other direction.  He was not looking for direction or contact with me, when we first started.  Even when I took the pressure off of him, he just continued to run circles.

We probaly worked at least an hour before he started looking for me and trying to see what I was asking him do do.  While he was just runnining circles, I first tried to back away to take the pressure off.  This had no effect, so I stood in the center and tried to keep my back to him.  He eventually started looking at me, trying to figure out why I wasn't putting pressure on him.  The break through was the point he stopped and turned toward me.  At that time I walked up to him and spent some time just being friendly.

He will be better tomorrow than he was today, that's all you can ask.

Soldier - 5/19/12

I think you should learn something about your horses everytime you work them.  I rode Soldier today and I learned that he had no idea what to do with his body.  He couldn't walk a straight line and just acted alot like the 2YRO's I start.  He is broke to death to ride, he just doesn't have a clue what do next.

That said, I am going to start him back at the basics.  From ground work to driving before I get on his back again.

Soldier - 5/17/12

Soldier is a new boy at the house.  He belongs to the Johnston's and I am helping them to get his full potential for their needs.  Don't really know how old he is, but I do know a couple of the kids that rode him and since they were little guys...Soldier is pretty desensitized to pressure.

I worked him on the ground today for about an hour.  We worked on three things, since he is older and the point is to ride him.  We started with just some desensitization of the stick and string.  A lot of people want to call it a whip, but I believe that leads to a mental picture that can cause problems.  Call it a stick and string or and extension of your arm.  The purpose of it is to make your arms longer.  He needs to understand that that stick/string flying around his body only means something if my body language says it means something.  If I am standing relaxed and flicking it around, he should relax.  IF I have my energy up, then my body language is different and he should be moving somewhere.  Next we worked with him yielding his hind end away from me.  It took him a little while to get the idea, but he eventually did it.  At the end was what Parelli calls the yo-yo.  He had a little trouble with this, as he did not want to back away.  He still needs work on this because he doesn't really understand about being in my space.  He thinks it is ok to be all over the top of me.

Stay tuned for more as Soldier advances....

Yeilding the Hindquarters

Just thought I would drop this one in here.  It is a great article from Brent Graef about moving you horses around.  Read it and put it to practice.

http://americashorsedaily.com/yielding-the-hindquarters/