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 - 8/10/13

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 - 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 - 7/26/13

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 - 7/23/13

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 - 7/15/14

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 - 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 - 6/22/13

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!

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/

Belle....11/19/11

Belles last ride!  Craig and Cheryl came today to pick her up.  I hope they were pleased with her progress.

I worked her today starting in the round pen.  I did more ground work than I have done in the past several days.  This was to show Craig and Cheryl some of the things they should be doing before they ride her.  She may be a four year old, but mentally she is still a baby.  TAKE THE TIME IT TAKES NOW, SO THAT IT WILL TAKE LESS TIME IN THE FUTURE!   I can't stress this enough!

We loped circles, trotted long straight lines and showed off her stop.  By no means is she a reining horse, but she does have a pretty good foundation on her now.  Craig and Cheryl can now do what it take to move her to the next level.  That next level is more about what they want to do with her, it should be fun for them!

Belle....11/17/11

I did something I normally don't do anymore, I rushed the ride.  Between the dark and a 4H meeting, I knew I didn't have much time on Belle.  So, I didn't do any groundwork today.  It showed a little when I first got on, BUT Belle is progressing nicely and she got "right" pretty quickly.

We spent most of the ride in our big pen.  Worked on trotting a lot of straight lines.  As with most young horses, she wants to push her shoulders back and forth.  But with just some minor corrections, she travels pretty straight.  We also worked on stops.  Stops are pretty important for everyone, you want your horse responsive and soft when asking for that release from the bit.  So once she was a little winded (it's easier to ask for a stop when the horse wants to stop!), I put a little pressure on the bit.  The reward is in the release, so as soon as she stopped and gave me a little release at the mouth....I released the pressure on her.  I had stated awhile back that horse training is pretty boring to the untrained eye.....there are three keys....repetition, repetition, repetition!  Doing the same things, the same way...consistently!

Belle....11/13/11

We got back, Sunday afternoon,  from the World Paint Show (watched my wife's cousins win a reserve open and a non-pro world championship in the Team sorting) and rode Belle pretty hard.  She had a couple of days off, so of course the groundwork is required. 

What I call groundwork has changed over the years and now means something totally different to me than it  did back then.  Back then, the ground work was a shortlived concept that basically did not take the horse into account.  It was only there so I could get them tired and get in the saddle.  NOW, it means getting the horse' mind activated.  Is she paying attention to what I asked her to do on the ground?  Will she yeild her hind end and step over in the front?  How is she when you are just swinging your lead (or stick/string) around?  All of this will translate to what you are doing on her back.  Getting connected with her mind sure makes things go alot easier.

Spent most of the ride time in our big pen, working on trotting in straight lines.  Most horses have a little trouble staying straight when you take them out of confinement.  Belle had not troubles with staying straight as long as we were in the round pen.  Once she got outside, the open space was something new to adjust too.  So, we did long straight lines.  Lotsa trotting and extending that trot.  One of the things to keep in mind with increasing your speed is the hole / ditch / canyon concept.  Belle is exactly where she needs to be right now.  Weather willing, there should be a lot of good rides this week. 

She is scheduled to go home on the 19th, and Cheryl had asked me to ride her with a slicker.  Well, we will see by the end of the week where we are on that.  Never should you push a horse farther that they are able to handle (wish I had paid attention to that when I was younger!)

Belle....11/10/11

Since Belle has had 3 days off, I was prudent of me to make sure the ground work is good.  Meaning "how's her mind?"

She is still a little twitchy about anything behind her and as I was twirling my stick and string around, just being friendly with her, I remembered a story I wrote awhile back about learning to handle your tools .  I am much better with mine, but sometimes I still get wrapped around the axel...learn to use the tools you have and if you don't have very good ones, save your money to get you some!

Anyway, I worked her on the ground quite a bit and when she was better than we started...I got on.  We started out in the round pen and worked on flexing laterally and vertically.  She is pretty good laterally, and will get better the more you ride.  Vertically she is a little more challenged, but then again...the more you ride, the easier it gets for her.  Worked inside the pen until I couldn't see anymore and jsut spent a few minutes outside the pen walking around looking at boogers again.  Pretty good day for coming off a 3 day rest!

Belle....10/31/11

Another good day today!  I have said that most of horse training is pretty boring to someone watching, unless you know something about what is going on.  It appears boring because it is all about repitition.  Doing the same thing, the same way until the horse understands what you want. 

I said today was a good day because I saw some good progress from Belle.  We worked on stopping and turning again.  I have pretty much stayed with these two items because when I ride her out of the round pen, I want to do both and have it happen fairly easy.  Her turns are going really good, she has her mind on the inside of the turn (meaning her front legs are crossing over, instead of under each other).  She is stopping pretty well too, although there is not much finesse yet.  In the future of her stops, I want her to give to the bit faster.  That's part of the finesse, but not all of it....I will fill in the gaps here as we get to that point.

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.

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!

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****