Magic - 8/1/11

Came home today to help Robin load Magic to take her home.  Robin brought some shipping boots, so we put the on and let her get used to them before we started loading.  We did some practice loading and all seemed well.  But it always seems that, with horses, just when you think that all is going to be perfect....you are reminded that they are horses and God made them that way.  She was hesitant about getting into the trailer (that was brought to take her to her new home).  Her first step into the trailer, the rubber mat slid and after that she wanted nothing to do with loading into a trailer.  I used  a stick w/a string to lengthen my arm, but we still spent about a hour rebuilding her confidence that the floor of the trailer was not going to move.  Eventually she loaded, but when you have a horse that is hard to load...once you get them loaded, you should unload and do it again.  Preferably you should do it several more times.  Take the drama out of it, you cannot get mad.  The horse is not doing this on purpose, the horse is just fearful.  You are loading them into a steel cave and things that eat them live in caves.  Be patient, take the time it takes.  Parelli says do more now so that you can do less later.  That's good advice! 

Magic - 7/30/11

Started the day with the direct and drive.  Loaded her in and out of the stocks (tight spot, getting her used to something against her side).  Also loaded her into and out of the stock trailer several times.  She did real well.  The ride was light today.  Sometimes it's not about the length, but about the quality of the ride.   She was stopping well and was relaxing her frame real well.

Magic - 7/28/11

Started the day again on the ground.  Did some direct and drive to get her more comfortable in tight spaces.  Robin is taking her home on Monday so I want her to load and unload with no issues.  She did well when I rode, worked more on the right side and she is starting to give to the feel.   BUT it should be a continuing education for her.  Robin came out and rode again today.  She did well and we talked about asking Magic to tip her nose as Robin rode her.  We also talked about stopping.  You should picture yourself deflating like a balloon and melting into the saddle when asking for the stop.

Magic - 7/26/11

another good day.  She is  getting better and better going to the right.  I am really pleased with her progress.  Still wants to travel with her nose pushed out, but once her right side gets "right" I think her nose will fall into place.  Robin came out and rode today, I thought things went very well for Magic and Robin.

Magic - 7/25/11

Good day today.  She was turning well and giving better.  Still struggles with going to the right, but I believe all the right things are being done to get her where she needs to be.

Magic - 7/24/11

Evening ride today.  Rode outside, and asked her for a lope.   She feels more collected but I didn't push her real hard.  Just let her get the feel of moving faster.  She still struggles with giving to the right, but she is better than a few days ago.

Magic - 7/23/11

Rode two times today, morning and evening.  Continued to work everything to the right.  She is getting better but still lots of work to build that confidence.

Magic - 7/21/11

worked in the round pen today.  Turning back into the fence and continuing to ask for the soft feel.   She still is resistant on her right side.  So I have been spending a lot of time getting her mind involved before I get on.  I do groundwork before saddling and riding.  Everything from disengaging her hip to direct and drive.  She is better, but she still has that hole that needs work.

Magic - 7/20/11

Rode in the round pen, asked her for a lope.  Of course she felt awkward and that she might stumble and fall down at any moment.  She carried her nose way out in front and her back was hollowed out.  So I backed off, I mentioned a couple of days ago about a hole, a ditch and a canyon.  This was a ditch for her, so we backed up and started asking her to tip her nose in and get her back up.

Magic - 7/19/11

started again on the ground.  Asking for the hip to move over and started asking her to step over her front end.  This starts to help her understand a rollback.  As I rode I asked her to turn into the fence.  You should always ask a young horse to turn into the fence when you give the room to turn.  if you are too close to the fence, it confuses them... they have no where to go.  Give them room to turn.

Magic - 7/18/11

Rode outside today, she did real well.  Asked her for all the same things that I asked for in the round pen, just in a different environment.   I typically don’t ask for a lot of speed, I want forward motion…I just don’t want uncontrollable forward motion.  When a horse has a hole at a walk, it turns into a ditch at a trot and a canyon at a lope.  make sure you can do a one rein stop before you can ask for more speed.  This is not a big deal if you have a thousand acres, you can ride as fast as they can run.  BUT, most of us don't have that option.  So before I asked her for more speed, I ask for more control.

Magic - 7/17/11

Again started the day on the ground working on her right side.  Asking her to step over with the inside hind leg, so that it the inside hind leg steps over and in front of the outside hind leg.  Its important to remember to work both sides in order to  be consistent.  Did more of the lateral flexing as I rode her.  I want to see the eye (in the direction I'm asking) looking at me and not the whites of her eye.  Again, better today than she was yesterday.

Magic - 7/16/11

One of the things you notice (or should notice) when you start young horses is that sometimes you rush them a little to much.  One of the things I noticed in Magic yesterday was that she had a hole in her right side.  Meaning that she was not as flexible or comfortable going to the right.  So I went back to the ground today.  She is very uncomfortable going to the right, so I directed her between myself and the fence (direct and drive) until she was comfortable with her claustrophobia.  She still needs a lot of work with this, but she is better today than she was yesterday.

Magic - 7/15/11

Spent the day again doing some basics.  Asking for the  soft feel both directions.   A soft feel means when I ask for a bend to one side or the other, she gives not just with her head to the side…but also with her chin giving also.  Spent the whole time working her laterally.

Magic - 7/14/11

Trying to catch up on a few updates.

One of the things I noticed as a "hole" in Magic's progress was the lack of confidence she has on her right side.  She reacts to every stimulation over and above to what she does on the right.  I believe that we tend to make a horse right or left handed.  So today I worked on her right side.  Mostly ground work, if I can do something on the ground...I should be able to do it in the saddle.  I mostly, I did direct and drive.  Meaning I asked her to move by giving her direction and driving her hind in thru it.  As the space got tighter, so did her nerves.  So the key is to know when to back off and give her more room.  By the end of the workout, she was better...but this is something that will require some effort and patience to overcome.

Magic - 7/7/11

Again, continued with the same excirsices.  I want to make sure she is solid, she doesn’t have to be perfect, she just needs to understand the basic of what I am asking for.  Today was the first ride, which is that fine line between being excited and scared for me!   It is important to understand that just because she understood (somewhat) give and release on the ground, didn’t mean she was going to remember it once I was in the saddle.  The saddle gives a different feel to the horse and then you add the weight of the rider.  All of these are new feelings for her.  So today for the first ride, I wasn’t so much interested in where we were going as I was just going.  I used my stick, tapping her on the hind end while leaning back a little and squeezing with my cheeks (I don’t mean the ones on my face)  to encourage forward movement (see previous post - Learn How to Handle Your Tools).  I also used the stick to encourage turns into and away from the rail.  When I asked her to release one direction or the other, I waived (or tapped, as needed) the stick on the opposite side until she released to the ask at the bit.  The one rein stop was alright (although it still needs some work, if I had been asking for more speed she might not have stopped at all).  But any flexing at the poll or stopping with two reins was non-existent.  Like I said, once the saddle and rider are added to the mix what they remember changes just a little.  Overall she is exactly where I thought she would be at this point. 

Magic - 7/5/11

Every day you should add on to what you did before, sometimes it is not a huge thing you are adding.  Sometimes it is just speeding up the pace of what you did the day before and that is what we did today.  I asked her to offer me more speed and quicker releases than the day before.  Of course if you are asking for more speed, then the releases will be uglier!  But you should try to be consistent with your cues even at a faster pace.  It is also important to build as your go.  I would not have taken everything I did on the 3^rd and just walked  into the round pen and told her we are going to take what you learned and push you to a 15 ride horse level.  She would have blown up!  I started out at the same pace, built upon it, asking her to go faster (never faster than a trot) during the driving exercises.  Then I backed everything down to a slower pace before I quit for the day.  Sometimes it is not so much about the quantity of work as it is about the quality of work!

Magic - 7/3/11

I continued with the exercises started on 7/2.  This time once she was saddled, I set her up to start following a feel.  Meaning I asked her to bend her head around and start with the lateral flexion.  I want to be able to bend her into a one rein  stop if I have to when I start riding.  I started out just running the lead rope around the opposite side of her hind end (rope around the left hip and me on the right)  and just building a fence with my hands (meaning I applied a steady pull, never increasing and releasing as soon as she gave into it)  Basically I was asking her to turn in a small circle each time, both directions with her feet moving.  Once she was doing the small circle fairly well, I started asking her to just give into the side just like I would ask if I was sitting in the saddle.  This is important because she does have to understand that a cue to release to the pressure, doesn’t always mean she has to move.  If all of the cues are not there, then she should only give me what I’m asking for.  Once I felt she understood the process, I hooked her up to drive. 

This can be a little tricky if the horse does not know what the ropes  feel like.  If it is a threat to them, then you end up running around the round pen trying to catch up and get them out of a bind.  Here is where the ground work comes into play, using your stick and string (or the end of your lead rope) you should all ready be flicking the rope all over them.  This prepares them for the contact of the driving reins.  I hooked the reins to the snaffle rings and put one rein on either side and asked her to move forward.  Once she was moving then I started asking her to turn into and away from the fence.  This should continue until she gives both ways easily.  Once she does, build a fence with both hands (Mike Kevel calls it being as steady as a fence post, once they quit pulling on the pressure..it goes away) and hold it until you get a release.  It is not always going to be a big release, reward the smallest try!

Magic - 7/2/11

 Started out with ground work again, she has picked up the hind end disengagements and has no problem moving her front end back and forth.  One of the keys for moving the front end is if she is moving to the left, the right foot needs to cross over the top of the left and vice versa for the other direction.  Most of my preparation has been at a slower pace, things tend to change once you speed up the pace.  If hind end disengagements are a small hesitation at a walk, then at a trot it is a larger issue and near impossible at a lope.  Make sure everything is solid at a walk before moving on to a faster pace.

After some basic ground work, I saddled her.  She didn’t get overly excited about the saddle.   Acted like she had been saddled before (which of course, she had..Again, thanks Joe!).  I also slipped a bit in her mouth and let her just carry it around in the round pen.

As she was carrying the saddle and bit around I continued doing the ground work exercises.  This was important because it continues the pace and consistency of the work.  Things went well and she is advancing at a good pace.

Magic - 7/1/11

Did ground work.  Disengaging her hind end and learning to move her front end when asked.  Spent about  an hour and a half working on this.  She is was a little resistant at first, but eventually decided that she could get along with me.

Everything you do on the ground will translate to something you do in the saddle.   As I get older, my Dad gets smarter!   Groundwork is the basic foundation in starting a horse.  If you can't do it on the ground, you surely will not be able to do it in the saddle.