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.

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!

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.