Sissy - 8/17/13

Today was the last ride for Sissy…for me.  She goes home today and Amber gets to continue the journey.

Today was a day where I showed Amber some of the things we have been working and things that she should work on with Sissy.  We talked about lateral flexion (bending that head back and forth), stopping and asking for vertical flexion (bending at the poll).  We also talk about when to move on to the next speed and step. 

Amber rode her and I think was very pleased.

Last thing was the trailer loading and unloading.  She did pretty well at the house, but Amber did say she froze up when they got home.  You have to deal with the horse that shows up…sometimes even within the hour or minute.  More fun for Amber as she continues her Journey.

 

**Amber, if you need any other help…give me a call and we can work out a time***

Sissy - 8/15/13

I think Sissy still has some trust issues, maybe with men.  Lately she has been a little hard to catch, so today after I caught her I spent some time just rubbing on her.  She has a spot on her belly that really gets her to licking and chewing.  I want to make this as pleasant an experience as I can for her.

Today also marks the first time I haven’t started with a little ground work.  I just stepped up and started riding.  Please make note I paid attention to where her head is, if she had been twitchy and jumpy…I wouldn’t have gotten on.

We did a pre-flight check…can I bend her head both directions?  Yes.  There is some resistance there, but she is lots better.  Will she flex at the poll?  Yes.  Again she has resistance, but way better than in the past.  Will she back up a little?  Yes.  Resistance is still there, but enough that I thought we could move on.

So we started working.  I long trotted her and then asked for that next step, which is the lope.  She picked it up, but as with most young horses (in a small pen) she couldn’t hold it for very long.  That is ok for where we are.  I also did a lot of circling, asking for that soft release as we trotted.

She was doing really well, so I moved out into the big pen and asked her to trot some long straight lines.  It is a constant state of movement, long straight lines…now circling…now straight lines…now stopping…now circling…you get the idea.

Once we were finished and I had rinsed her off, I took her back to the box and we backed off of it several times (which she handled like a champ).  Next was the stocks and when she was ok with that…today we added some more pressure.  I backed my stock trailer into a shallow ditch we have and started asking her to step into the trailer.  She has some fear issue with getting in, which I suspect leads to the way she can (or can’t) get out (as the case may be).  But with patience and time she was getting in.  Next was getting her to back out like a big girl.  We started with just a step, stop and calm down.  Take another step, stop and calm down.  As we got closer to the back of the trailer, she got into a panic and shot gunned out.  So we got back in and started the process over again.  As with anything you ask for, was she was better at the end that when we started?  Amber will need to spend a lot of time getting her to calm down in the trailer.  Calming down in the trailer is set up by the drama (or lack thereof) of getting in and how the ride when you're driving down the road.  Everything and anything that can be done to set a horse up for success.

 

 

She is doing very well and I think that Amber will have a lot of fun going forward with this mare.

Stretching That Top Line

This is too good an article not to pass on!

http://showhorse.co/news/?p=2573

Sissy - 8/13/13

She started out pretty solid, so I amped up the pressure again today.  We continued to work on the same things that we have done all along, but I asked for more speed while we were doing it.

Instead of walking circles, asking for that soft release, we did it faster.  Not that I haven’t been doing this all along, but today I never asked her to slow down.  If we were trotting circles, and she got in a bind…we continued trotting.  She has to learn to work through some things on her own too.  I helped her through her troubles and she did pretty well.

We also worked in the big pen, expanding on what we have been doing in the past few day.  There was lots of circling (big change for her, no fences close to use as a guide…she had to listen to me only) and asking for that soft release.  She is getting so much better.  During all of this, sometimes I would pull out of the circling and do some long straight lines.  Then back to the circling, then ask for a stop and release.  Then back to circling and so on...

She had a really good day today!

Sissy - 8/12/13

We got home late today, so I decided to do a little ground work and work on her fear of tight places.  The ground work went as expected, the other not so much.  Remember I said you have to deal with the horse that shows up?  Today, Sissy was a little twitchy.

Once we warmed up with some basics, I started her back on the box.  For some reason, this rattled her today.  She could not make herself stand on that box.  But we kept working at it and she was finally able to calm down.  She stood there, chewed and licked…releasing those endorphins.  Once she calmed down, I started asking her to step forward and backward…but not off the box.  Once she was doing that ok, I just never stopped her from backing up.  She backed off the box as pretty as you please.  Once she was stepping off  pretty good, I moved to our stocks.

The box is wide open, nothing around it.  The stocks add a level of claustrophobia, it has bars on the sides.  She didn’t like it at first, but it didn’t take her long to get the idea.  She quickly stepped in and backed out like a pro.

After a bit of a rough start, she finished strong.

Sissy - 8/11/13

Rode outside the round pen again today, just pushed a little harder that I have the past few days.  When a horse starts doing pretty well, handling everything you throw at them…then it’s time to up the pressure a little. 

We spent a most of the day learning how to trot straight lines.  Sounds kinda crazy and contradictory to say that, don’t it?  Here I have spent weeks teaching her how to bend in a circle and release to pressure.  Now today, we are working on straight line.  Working circles makes that soft release easier to understand, once you have some of that down…the straight lines teach them how to travel out (without the aid of a fence to help them stay straight). 

She did as well as any horse I have ever ridden.  Young horses tend to push their shoulders back and forth, so we spent most of the day correcting a drift.

Sissy - 8/10/13

Today I moved right into the ride.  We kept working on that soft release and she is getting better, as you would expect with more time riding.  Pretty boring day, for someone watching….same thing over and over again…no wait….that’s horse training!

She is actually doing pretty well.  I have had horses that were further along and some that were further behind.  You just have to judge the horse for what they are in that moment.  Ride the horse that shows up!  They are a living, breathing, decision making animal.  They most likely will be different every day!  You must stay consistent no matter what horse shows up that day.

Sissy - 8/9/13

Well, we finally got the shoe back on. Sissy's riding has been sporadic at best, but she is smart as a whip...so mentally she has kept up!

 Since we had a few days off, I thought it would be a good idea to do some ground work.  So we started with the basics.  Yielding her hind end, backing away from me when I ask, and giving her face to both directions…

 She did pretty well, though she does struggle with a soft give when you ask her to yield her face.  Time and wet saddle blankets will make that better.  I also started asking her to step up and off of the box (bridge if you prefer).  I know that she does not like to back out of a trailer and that’s because it’s a blind step.  Not only blind…but backwards too!  Horses fear the unknown, so we need to make sure that she trusts me enough to make that blind step.  That trust has to start with baby steps.  Forward motion on  and off the box is our first steps.

 As far as riding, she did fine.  No drama, she will give a release when you ride, but it is not as soft as I would like to see.  All in all, pretty good for two days off.

Sissy - 8/5/13

We had a little bit of a fustrating day today...threw the other front shoe!  I think she stepped on it when I was  asking her to really extend herself.  Sometimes horses overstep when you start asking for extension.  The only good news was that it was toward the end of the work out.  I have the shoer coming and should be back riding at least by Thursday.

About the ride...

She did really well today.  I continued with asking for that soft release at forward motion.  She does really well going to the left, in fact she has started dropping her chin (vertical flexion) as we travel.  To the right, she is willing to give a release...but almost as soon as she releases, she snatches it back.  Wet saddle blankets can cure this little issue.

Like I said, she did really well today.  Rode for about an hour and a half before the shoe came off, but if the shoer can come tonight....we may ride Wednesday!

Sissy - 8/4/13

After a few lost days because of a thrown shoe and a lamb show...we're back to riding today!

Started the day with some basic groundwork, just to see where Sissy's head was.  She did pretty well and really is showing how far along she has come. 

So I moved right into the ride.  We started with just some forward motion and quickly started working on lateral flexion as we moved.  Which is a fancy way of saying I asked her to walk/trot some little circles and release her chin when I asked her to.  It's important that she is comfortable at all gaits when you ask for any release.  Holes in a horses training turn into the Grand Canyon when speed is added.  So worked on what we have been working on for some time.  Releasing smoothly to the left and right at a stand still, walk and trot.  I don't like to ask for more than she can handle, but I am going to be introducing new things for her to learn.  The trick is, when she gets rattled, to back up and do it slower!

Rode her outside for a bit, asking her to walk (and trot) straight lines.  She did ok.  Sissy is doing pretty well for 21 days of working.  The biggest jump in what she learns and how fast she learns it will probably occur from about day 25 to day 40.

Amber asked me about using a stick when I rode and I basically use it as an extension of my hands.  Sometimes I use it to ask her to move forward, sometimes I use it to to ask her to move her shoulders or hind end over.  It just gives me more extension.  It is useful, but there is a learning curve...

Sissy - 7/29/13

Nothing real exciting to report today.  Worked on more of the same...

She is getting better going to the right, but still sometimes freezes up.  Which means one of two things:

1.  We can push on through it and continue to work
2.  Slow down, back up and do it at a slower pace

Which one you choose should be based on your skill level as a horseman and the mind set of your horse (which still comes back to your skill level as a horseman).  Do I always make the right choice, no...and I usually pay for it too!

Today, we pushed on through and I just held pressure until she calmed down and released.  She needs to understand that being scared is ok, just don't lose your mind when it happens.  She responded pretty well, as we move forward I expect these panic attacks will happen less and less.

Rode her again outside, we concentrated on walking some straight lines........

Sissy - 7/27/13

It’s important to understand that when I write a shorter post, I am giving a short highlight of what I worked on for the day.  Yesterday I only talked about working Sissy on her right side.  I, of course, did a full workout on her.  From groundwork, to vertical flexion, to lateral flexion and stopping…It’s important to stay with a program (horses like consistency).  Sissy still struggles with releasing to the right side and we will just continue to work on it every day.  She is better than when we started, but not as good as she will be later on.

I worked her on both side with lateral flexion (a soft release), but spent more time on the right side.  She is getting better, but tends to panic a little.  The only solution to this is wet saddle blankets, continue working until she relaxes.

Rode her outside again at the end of our ride.  The first few rides, I generally don’t ask for anything more than just walk straight lines.  She is getting better and as she handles better…I will spend less and less time in the round pen.  The next 11 rides should be really interesting.

SIssy - 7/26/13

To make a long story short, we worked on getting her to release to the right.  We started off at a stand still, always asking for that soft release.  When she got pretty good at knowing what I was asking for, I moved her into a walk.  We walked small circles with just a little pressure to the right.  I don’t want that big release and stop.  I want her to continue to move forward and just give to that right side, dropping her chin.  When she was doing pretty well with this, I asked for the same thing at a trot.  She gets scared and stiff at a trot.  The trick is to know when to slow it down and when to push on through.  It’s a pretty fine line and if you’re not sure…be conservative.  Slow it down.

Sissy - 7/25/13

I amped up the pressure for Sissy a little today.  There comes a time to get with the program, now I say this a little tongue in cheek.  I am for the horse, but you can only namby pamby along for a little while.  At some point...you just need to move on!

So today, we worked a whole lot harder than we have been doing in the past few rides.  I will say that other than working on her right side, she did pretty well.

Again most of the ride was about a soft release.  When I ask, does she release to pressure easily?  Going to the left, she is a trooper.  She will move through the small circles, bending her head around at every speed except a lope.  Is she perfect, no..then nobody is!  But she is right where i expect her to be with the number of rides she has.

Going to the right is a different story.  Even at a stop, she is hesitant to give to pressure and it only gets bigger from there.  The trick is to take it slow until she gets confident.  When she is confident, you introduce forward motion in the form of speed.  Increase the speed as long as she holds her confidence, as soon as she panics...slow down and build her back up.

She will stop on a "whoa" at slow speeds and we are working on breaking at the poll (vertical flexion).

We ended the ride outside, I rode her for the first time outside the round pen.  I didn't ask for a lot, just asked her to move forward...in somewhat of a straight line.  She did well with this!

As noted before...she was better at the end than in the beggining!  You can't ask for more than that!

Sissy - 7/23/13

Today was a pretty good day for Sissy.  She had her " I wanna fight" moments but we finished out really well!

Started riding her just letting her travel and gradually asked her to give laterally at a walk.  This went ok, so I kicked it up a notch.  Started asking for the same thing at a trot...first "I wanna fight" moment.  She immediately stiffened up and went to pulling against me!  So we slowed it back down to a walk and continued asking for the same thing.  Moving through a stop, to a walk, to a trot...asking for the same thing.  "just bend your neck enough to show a release"...

I have mentioned this before about holes in your training.  At a stop, it is a little gopher hole.  At a walk, it might be as big as a ditch.  At a trot, it's an arroyo.  At a lope, it's the Grand Canyon.  Issues get bigger the more speed you add, so make sure that you are solid at each speed before moving on to the next one.

Back to Sissy, most of the ride was spent asking for this release.  When I felt she was doing ok at a stop...I asked her to walk and make the same release.  When she was doing well at the walk, I asked her to trot and make the same release.  Any time she had trouble, we slowed down and did it at the slower pace until she was comfortable again.

The biggest issue for Sissy is believing she can bend her big ol' self.  But she was better at the end than at the begining.  Ended up a pretty good day!

Buddy - 7/22/13

Buddy is my daughter Alicia's fair project from last year.  He is a big (probably 15 hands) gangly gelding.  He has basically been turned out since the fair last October.  I like him, but he is for sale!

Here is a couple of video's.  This is a testament to doing groundwork on a horse when they are young.  The first video is just me playing with him for a few minutes...remember he hasn't been messed with (other than feed) for about 9 months.

***enjoy the commentary by my daughters...***

 

 

 

Sissy - 7/22/13

Alright!  A week of rain and the grass is green, horses are rested and fresh!  Time to get the ball rolling again!

Since Sissy had basically a week off, I thought it would be wise to start with some basics.  But she had other ideas!  Once we got in the pen she felt so good that she started pitching!  Now I wasn't on her at the time, but I thought it would be a good idea to video this little escapade.  Unfortunately, my technical skills leave a lot to be desired.  I ended up with video of my feet...where is my videographer when I need her?

Once all the fuss was worked out, we did some ground skill basics.  It didn't take her long to get back in the swing of things!  After 30-40 minutes of ground work, I lead her into a hole and stepped aboard.  She never had a bobble.  Stepped out like she has done this all her life, until I asked her to walk in some circles.  Then we had to back up working this from a standstill, to a walk, to a trot and back again.  When she finally got to the point that she was giving laterally at all three paces....it was a good stopping point.

***FYI - you get a little serenade by Faith at the start!***

 

Sissy - 7/15/14

Somedays, you just have a good day!  Sissy had a good day today...other than the cows....

When I caught her up and started saddling...the neighbors cows came up to the fence....really made Sissy nervous.  It would do her some good to just stand tied and learn a little patience.  But not until the shoes come off, if she starts pawing...she could pull a shoe off.  Just something to work on in the future.

Today started with some basics, again.  I said before that most horse training is pretty boring to the uninformed, it just looks like your doing the same thing over and over again...and you are!  Horses like consistency, it means safety and as an added bonus...they learn well!

The basics include being able to yeild her front and back end from the ground.  This translates well to the saddle because you now can use your leg cues (with the aid of a stick, if needed) to move these parts of the horses body.  Once she got over the horse eating cows, we continued working on walking and trotting in small circles (forward motion being the key here), she has really improved on this.  I also worked a little on flexing both laterally and vertically.  She is quickly improving in this area!

I also started asking her (leg cues) to move her hind end over.  I started walking her in a circle and gave her the leg cue to step over with her hind end, when she did not move..I used my stick as an aid, tapping her hind end until she moved her hind end over.  I did this with the front end also, both directions...over and over again....

I was very pleased with her progress today!

Sissy - Bonus Footage 7/14/13

While working on our pool today, Sissy and our 2yro spent about 15 minutes playing up and down the fence.  I do believe that if Sissy can do this for 15 minutes, we can push a little harder with the riding!

 

Sissy - 7/12/13

Today was a little bit of a breakthrough day for Sissy.  The light bulb seemed to go off for her as far and vertical flexion goes.

Started like I always do, some groundwork to see where her head is.  Once I decided she was with me mentally, we moved on to driving.  She is getting better, but still feels a little heavy.

When I rode, we worked mostly on flexing.  Didn’t push real fast because if a horse has a hole in their training…it can turn into a arroyo at a trot and a canyon at a lope!  So we kept it slow and steady until we made some progress, which ended up being vertical flexion today!  The trick is to quick with the release once she made an effort to give just a little.

Sissy - 7/11/13

Today we started out with the basics.  Basic ground skills translate so much to what you do in the saddle, but more importantly…it teaches the horse to respect you.  And, if you lack a little confidence…it can build you up to be brave together.  Because if you are fearful, then it makes your horse fearful.  After all, the horse can flick a fly of his back by twitching a muscle!  Don’t you think they know when we are scared…and don’t you think this makes them start looking for things to be scared of….

I use the ground basics to build confidence, confidence for the horse to understand that they can do certain things without being fearful (now, understand…I wasn’t always this way….I used just get on and force the issue…but that was when I was young and rubbery!)

Once I felt Sissy was ready, today is the day that we drive with the snaffle bit.  Now, she has been having her issues with flexing (both laterally and horizontally).  She will turn pretty easy, but she moves stiff and heavy.  But since this is the first day to drive with the snaffle, I don’t have huge expectations.

I hooked her up and we started.  She turns easy enough, but wants to move around on her front end instead of being on her back end.  We will need to work on that…

She did well enough, but is still plenty stiff and heavy.  This should improve with more wet saddle blankets.  I rode her a little, but since she was still a little sore on Tuesday…I did not push to hard.

Sissy - 7/9/13

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my goals today was to convice Sissy that she could move forward in a circle.  She really struggled, yesterday, with forward motion and releasing to pressure on side or the other.

But I started today with some basic ground work…yielding her hind end, backing away from me (and being brave enough to stay away until I invited her back in) and some release to pressure from the opposite side (simply asked for her to release her face, while standing on the opposite side.  I did this over the top of the saddle to simulate how I would ask if I was in the saddle).  I didn’t drive her with the snaffle, but plan on doing that on Thursday.  Today I wanted to focus on forward motion….

It took her most of the ride, but she finally sorta got the idea that I was asking for just a little release as she was moving forward.  She is right where I would expect her to be after three days riding in a snaffle.

I did notice that after riding her for a while (this was a lot harder ride than I had been doing before), that she was still a little touchy on that left front foot that was trimmed to short.  We may have to ease up on the hard rides for a bit until that foot toughens up.  She travels fine…just a little sore after a hard ride.  There are still lots of things we can do to set the stage for later on, so this is not a huge worry.

Sissy - 7/8/13

Started today a little different.  Did just a few basics, just to see how she would react.  I was on her pretty quick, and she took it pretty good.  Although I think she sorta has a little habit of laying her ears back when I put weight on the left side.  I believe this is from expecting it to hurt when I get on and she will get over this eventually (when she realizes that it doesn’t hurt).

Before I go much further, I want to point out that horses are little like people…we all have a bad day once in a while.  Today wasn’t a good day for Sissy, compared to the last 8.  It was the first full day with just a snaffle and she wasn’t none too happy about the whole situation!  And to be honest…it was her first full day with the snaffle and I did move through some basic stuff pretty fast.  So I'm more to blame than her!

One of the things that I worked on with her was convincing her that a big ol’ girl like her could still move forward while bending her neck just a little.  I think that will be the challenge in the coming days, forward motion.  We spent most of the ride, just working establishing forward motion and then asking for a slight bend…both ways.

She was better at the end than she was at the beginning and that is all you can really ask for!

Sissy - 7/6/13

Alright, back to riding.  Sissy has new kicks and seems to be doing well.  Didn’t push real hard to day, but I did cover some of the basics again (since she has been off for about a week).  Started with a little desensitization, clear up to the hopping thing.  Again, this is a big ol’ mare and I do have to hop to get on.

Also rode her for the first time with just a simple ring snaffle.  She wasn’t to wild about it, but I didn’t want to stress her too much.  We just rode in a circle and turned her toward the fence.  She did pretty well, but I can tell she ain’t gonna like it to much when I start to put a little pressure on her.  But that’s all part of learnin’!  I never liked school much myself!

***sorry, no pics or vids***

Sissy - 6/25/13

Started the day just like every other one.  Groundwork, groundwork, groundwork…I can’t say it enough. Spend more time now, to spend less time later.  This is especially important for young horses, but even with an older (finished) horse…sometimes it will pay off to back up and remind them of some of the basics.  It will also help you as a horseman/horsewoman.

I saddled her with a thicker pad today, but she was still pretty cranky about me getting on.  So tomorrow I will try a different saddle.

I drove her today and she is progressing nicely.  I increased the pressure a little by asking for more speed as I drove her.  I did this based on how her mindset was, as long as she didn’t stress out…the speed was ok.  If she had stressed, we would have backed up and slowed down.  She drove like a champ.

Today when I put the snaffle in her mouth I did a little “catch and release”.  Meaning I hooked my lead to one side and asked her to release to the pressure, when she did…I released also.  I did this on both sides, the goal is to be as consistent as a fence post.  That fence post applies the same pressure no matter what the horse is doing, and releases that pressure as soon as the horse releases.  I have been riding her with just a rope halter and lead, so the pull is different for than a snaffle.  The rope halter/bosal is a push, meaning when I pull the direction I want to go…the halter/bosal is pushing on the opposite side.  A snaffle/side-pull is a pull, meaning when I pull…the snaffle pulls the same way.  Sissy had a little trouble with this at first, but with a little patience she did ok.

When I rode her today, I continued to let her carry that snaffle around and guided her with the rope halter.  She is really doing well and if she does well tomorrow, then I will start using just the snaffle.

After riding for about 30 minutes, she started limping a little on her right front.  I think that this is maybe a case of sore muscles or she could have just stepped on a rock, but I did not want to chance it.  So we stopped and I hydro’d her leg and turned her loose.  I don't think this will be a big issue and  tomorrow her leg will be better…but we will monitor this going forward. 

Sissy - 6/24/13

Started today with groundwork.  Boring, huh?  Most everything that is done in horse training is repetition….to see something done the same way, every time, is pretty boring.  Except to the horse, the horse wants consistency.  So we began like we do everyday…groundwork…where’s her head?  Is she connected to enough to me to pay attention?  Every horse is different, some take longer to get with you…you have to deal with the horse that shows up.  Sissy got “with” me pretty fast today.

The plan was to drive her today.  So that is what we did next.  Driving is a funny thing, funny in that a lot of people think you can just hook long lines to the front of the horse, run those lines down either side and go to driving.  This approach usually leads things getting a little western.  If you have not prepared your horse to bend both directions and to be able to stand those lines touching them front to back…then prepare for a rodeo.  If you have, like I have done with Sissy, then this is almost an anticlimactic experience.  I put a snaffle in her mouth (nothing hooked to it, just letting her carry it around) and I drove her for about 30-40 minutes.  She acted like she had done it all her life.

So I thought I would just step up on her and ask her to move, with minimal direction.  Now the stepping up on part still kinda bothers her.  She will lay her ears back and fling her head up and down.  Some of this is her voicing her opinion, some might be it hurts her when I step up.  I will do two things starting tomorrow.  One, change to a thicker saddle pad and two, more work on the pushing/pulling/hopping thing.  If this is just her voicing her opinion….well then she will have to learn that this isn’t the end of the world.  If the pad is too thin, then the saddle is hurting her…change to a thicker pad…maybe even a different saddle.

Enough of what I’m going to do tomorrow.  Today, I stepped up on her and asked her to move out.  I did not have reins attached to the snaffle (I put it on over the top of the halter), I just want her to carry it around and get used to holding it in her mouth.  So we moved out, with  some direction from me, I just wanted her to move.  She really did well.

 

Sissy - 6/23/13

After the "no catch attitude" of yesterday, I decided to go ahead and work her today.  What we did yesterday, really worked well for today.  Walked right up to her in the pasture.

Once we got to the round pen, I did all of the basics I have been talking about since we started.  Spend more time now, to spend less time later!  We moved pretty quickly to the saddling and I again did the barrel thing.  She had no problems.

Next thing was prep for mounting.  I did a lot of leaning in the sttirrups, just getting her used to pressure and pull.  These are things she will have to get used to, she's a big mare and you will not always be in a position to have a mounting block.  She should be able to deal with push/pull and hoppin', without freaking out!

 

Once we got through a lot of that, I started stepping into the stirrup and leaning across the saddle.  I did this on both sides...ALOT!  When I felt she was ready, I stepped across and sat down.  One of the best things you can do to a horse after getting on the first time...is to get the heck off!  I got back on and off several times.  I did not step her out (which could lead to the ride being a lot more western), I want to drive her a while before I start asking her to move (one rein stops work best if the horse knows what you are asking for)

 

Sissy - 6/22/13

Ol' Sis had a little trouble today.  Not with anything as far as training, she just looked at me coming to catch her in the pasture and said "not today!"  She took off runnin'.

This is not a big deal, she just recognized that I represented work.  With the help of my bride we played what Parelli calls the catching game.  Basically everytime she ran away, we forced her to do it with speed!  When she stopped, we stopped and took the pressure off.  Took her about a five minutes to decide this was a whole lot more work than just standing there and letting my wife catch her!  Felicia walked up to her as easy as you please. 

When I put the halter on her I decided that since it was Saturday and we had been running all day with lamb tag-in, church work day and delivery of a little mare to West Columbia; this would be a good day to reward her for letting us catch her (see this link for a little lesson on that).  I just turned her loose in the round pen and let her be for an hour or so.

Sometimes training horses isn't about quantity, its about quality!  If you have a horse that you have trouble catching...what do you do with them when you get them caught?  NOTHING fustrates me more than a horse you can't catch, I used to work the devil out of them when I had them caught (just wanted to make sure that they would remember me and this punishment  I was giving them...they always did...they were always harder to catch the next time!)  there is a tale I could tell about that...maybe on my other blog sometime.

We will see how Sissy catches the next time!

Sissy - 6/21/13

I started today with the basics.  If your horse has a solid base, then they always have something to fall back on when they get in a bind. 

We worked on yielding her hind end and getting confident in standing away from me.  Then I started rubbing on her with the saddle pad (what we used to call “sackin’ on out”), basically desensitizing her.  Once she could handle all of that without even twitching, I moved onto the saddle.

She never made a bobble when I put the saddle on (and took it off) several times.  Again, did this until she never even twitched.  Then I let her move out, just discover that she could move with weight on her back.

She handled everything really well.  I even had her jumping over some barrels (the only different between a jump and a buck is intent – if she was going to buck, then when she jumped over the barrels she would have).  This is not to say that she will never buck, just means it isn’t her first option!

All in all, she really did well.

Sissy - 6/20/13

As The Lamb Turns

Since we had all of the drama with the lambs, I thought is would be a good idea to work on some basics with Sissy. We started with some of the same things that we have been doing all along...we just did it up by the lamb pen!

There are several things you can do in ground work that will help focus your horse, to get them to look to you for safety and trust when they get nervous. These things can be done in the saddle, but (as I've gotten older, I've found) it is better to do them on the ground. So we work on some ground skills right there beside the drama that was the lamb pen.

One of the things we worked on was yeilding the hind quarters (here is a really good article about that very subject), Sissy is pretty smart and she picked this up pretty fast, going forward we will work on the subtlety of this.  How little do I have to do before she responds?

We also worked on what Parelli calls the yo-yo game.  This just means that I wanted her to back away from me, while I stood in place.  This is also about a person’s own personal bubble, a horse wants to be with the herd.  Sometimes when it is only you and them, you are part of the heard.  Wouldn’t it be safer to be able to make them back off, out of your bubble, when you are nervous?  It’s also about the horse being brave enough to stand away from you, when they are nervous and scared, and learn that they can be scared…just not on top of you!  This was a little harder for Sissy, specially up by the lambs, but she got better by the end.

Really all you can ask for, from a horse, is “are you better at the end of the workout, than you were at the beginning?”

Sissy - 6/18/13

More of the same today!

I had every intention today of saddling Sissy, but once she caught site of my girls 4-H lambs....she was a little spooked.  Not that you would notice much in the video, but if you watch when I am hopping (yeah, I said hopping!) close to her hind end...she lays her ears back.  She was not comfortable at all with me doing what I was doing, where I was doing it.  ***alright, here it is...with all the grunting and talking to her that happened***

Now, let me clarify the "hopping".  This is a great big mare, if I am going to ride her...I had better be able to hop a little to put my foot in the stirrup (it's also a good desensitizing tool...if she can stand this, then she will be fine).  So I risked looking like a fool and hopped all around her, after I sacked her with the saddle pad for a while.

Once she was comforable with me and the hopping, we called it a day.  (this was a small portion of the work, I can only load so much of a video from my phone).  This is where the lamb stress kicked in.  Before I started, I had tied my girls 4-H lambs...once she realized that she was going to have to walk right past them...she started stressing a little....then the neighbors cows came up...more stress...

She eventually calmed down a little, but she stressed pretty good about the lambs!  She was hot and started pawing...really nervous.  I eventually moved her back to her pasture and she calmed down, but  here (the lambs) is something for her to get used to and realize that the lambs will not eat her!

Sissy - 6/17/13

Ok, been a long time between posts.  But I was brought a new pony to start, she's a sharp looking mare and I am really looking forward to starting her!

Started today with groundwork. 

Lotsa different trainers call it different things, but basically it is all desensitization.  When Sissy was dropped off Saturday, I did a scaled down version and today I ramped up the pressure a bit.  I want to make sure that she can handle what I am going to be throwing at her in the coming weeks.  She did really well, not much fazed her. 

The question to ask is: can I touch her just about anywhere and with just about anything, or does she blow up?

As I said, not much fazed her.  Which is a testament to the work that her owner has put in from the start.