Missy - no change, Thursday the milk was watery so I am now leaning to false pregnancy. I resumed her training just sticking to light in hand/suppling work. Will continue to monitor. I changed her to a snaffle tonight to see if I can get her lighter and more responsive. She likes to just lay on the sidepull. She took the snaffle well and I worked on suppling her to the bit. We continued to work on lateral body control with hip and shoulder over exercises. She is becoming quite light to those cues but continues to fight and brace against rein control. Will continue to work on this issue.
Kixsie - A miracle - she is trotting 90% sound. I guess it was just a bruise and the soaking worked. Whew! I will still watch the hoof closely and work on soft ground only. I saddled her tonight and she showed some apprehension, but did not spook or act up. The apprehension increased drastically when I tightened the girth. I calmed her down and snugged the girth up slowly, attached the breast collar, walked her, snugged some more, walked. She soon began to relax and chew, but every time I stopped to check the girth, she would tense up. After saddling, she seemed relieved when we walked out to the arena. I began by asking her to lunge in a large circle. Just like last time, she snaked her head and braced against the line. Unlike last time, she did not rush and remained focused. She responded better to cues for direction/gait changes. She did not loose all of her "snottiness" but did work much better than last time and since I was worried about her hoof, I quit lunging after on 5-10 minutes at walk/trot. I then worked with her on some in hand/suppling work which she did fantastic. Very light and supple to rein cues and much better on the hips over. I noticed, however, that whenever I placed my body in a position near the saddle, the mares body would show alot of tension. I worked to lessen this by reassuring her and just moving around the saddle. I wanted to keep this lesson short, so we called it quits on tonight. Tomorrow I plan on mounting and going out on a light trail ride.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday
Missy - Softer over the tailhead, but no other changes.
Kixsie - Hooftester came back positive, abcess or navicular? Began soaking hoof to see if I can draw the abcess down if there is one. If it is navicular, the owner is in Australia and left no contact numbers. My farrier is not up to date on navicular barefoot trims, am looking for someone in the local area to come evaluate her. Without owner permission, I can't take her for a veternariay (sp?) work-up with x-rays. Also hesitant about administering any NSAIDS.
Riding Lesson - It has been two weeks since Jaylee's lesson so we began with a refresher in position and balance lunging bareback. She did fantastic, so we saddled Sadie and worked on precision and cuing by having her ride Sadie in a large circle with the object to make it round and equal distance from a centerpoint (me) the whole way around. Jaylee started at a walk and then progressed to a trot. She did great, but had more trouble with the circles to the right than the left. Sadie did not want to keep bending to the right. Jaylee stuck with it and persevered! Jaylee stayed relaxed and balanced throughout most of the exercice. She would get a little off balance at times and draw her knees up, but with a gentle reminder, she dropped her heel back down and lengthen through the hip. In previous lessons, she was having trouble maintaining control and letting Sadie go wherever. Today, Jaylee maintained control and Sadie behaved beautifully. Once Jaylee had achieved her goal on the circles, I had her begin to ride Sadie on the rail. I expalined that this is where she needed to maintain control the most, because Sadie tends to rush when left to go as she pleases. Jaylee began at the walk, and transitioned to the trot smoothly. Her goal in this exercise is to maintain Sadie in a steady rythem and cadence while maintaining her balance in the saddle. She would let Sadie rush at times and break gait at times, but she maintained her balance and position well. She was able to adjust her seat to what Sadie was doing and cue Sadie appropriately. For Jaylee's free ride portion of the lesson, she chose to ride Sadie over the bridge several times and work the trot poles. She had fun and did a great job of riding the poles. A new thing that I am trying with my younger lesson kids is a Lesson Folder. We wrote down Jaylee's riding goals and lesson goals. She delighted in marking off several of the lesson goals already. I also included a color sheet and a horse emotion worksheet. I challenged her to decorate the folder and draw me a picture for next week. I will also be implementing a testing system so that my lesson kids can rate their progress. I think that this will really encourage my really young riders.
Wednesday is my no lesson day, so I can concentrate on the training horses. I also plan on working with Rendi and Val. They need to work on creating a better partnership.
Kixsie - Hooftester came back positive, abcess or navicular? Began soaking hoof to see if I can draw the abcess down if there is one. If it is navicular, the owner is in Australia and left no contact numbers. My farrier is not up to date on navicular barefoot trims, am looking for someone in the local area to come evaluate her. Without owner permission, I can't take her for a veternariay (sp?) work-up with x-rays. Also hesitant about administering any NSAIDS.
Riding Lesson - It has been two weeks since Jaylee's lesson so we began with a refresher in position and balance lunging bareback. She did fantastic, so we saddled Sadie and worked on precision and cuing by having her ride Sadie in a large circle with the object to make it round and equal distance from a centerpoint (me) the whole way around. Jaylee started at a walk and then progressed to a trot. She did great, but had more trouble with the circles to the right than the left. Sadie did not want to keep bending to the right. Jaylee stuck with it and persevered! Jaylee stayed relaxed and balanced throughout most of the exercice. She would get a little off balance at times and draw her knees up, but with a gentle reminder, she dropped her heel back down and lengthen through the hip. In previous lessons, she was having trouble maintaining control and letting Sadie go wherever. Today, Jaylee maintained control and Sadie behaved beautifully. Once Jaylee had achieved her goal on the circles, I had her begin to ride Sadie on the rail. I expalined that this is where she needed to maintain control the most, because Sadie tends to rush when left to go as she pleases. Jaylee began at the walk, and transitioned to the trot smoothly. Her goal in this exercise is to maintain Sadie in a steady rythem and cadence while maintaining her balance in the saddle. She would let Sadie rush at times and break gait at times, but she maintained her balance and position well. She was able to adjust her seat to what Sadie was doing and cue Sadie appropriately. For Jaylee's free ride portion of the lesson, she chose to ride Sadie over the bridge several times and work the trot poles. She had fun and did a great job of riding the poles. A new thing that I am trying with my younger lesson kids is a Lesson Folder. We wrote down Jaylee's riding goals and lesson goals. She delighted in marking off several of the lesson goals already. I also included a color sheet and a horse emotion worksheet. I challenged her to decorate the folder and draw me a picture for next week. I will also be implementing a testing system so that my lesson kids can rate their progress. I think that this will really encourage my really young riders.
Wednesday is my no lesson day, so I can concentrate on the training horses. I also plan on working with Rendi and Val. They need to work on creating a better partnership.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A true Monday - Monday
UGHHHH!
This training thing is never boring! I went out to bring Missy up from the pasture. Her and Colty were already at the gate waiting. As I approached the gate Missy was showing signs of heat. Mental note to myself - this explains her attitude yesterday. I catch her and take her to the tie out and begin grooming. She is very touchy about having her tail handled (unusual) but I again chalk it up to being in heat. She lets me brush out her tail and I proceed to curry her belly. I reach under her belly with a cloth to clean her udder area and notice that it is very swollen. ( sidenote: when this mare came for training, she had a large belly. I asked the owner if the mare was pregnant. He said, "No way". I assumed the big belly was from worms. I wormed her with a Panacur Powerpac and went on. Her udder has always been larger than a normal maiden mare. When I asked her owner if she had ever foaled, he again said, "No way." I suggested that her get her palpated before proceeding with training. He declined and I explained what could happen if I continued training a pregnant mare. He said he understood and that I should preceed with training). I ran my hand over the udder and gently squeezed a teat - MILK! I then palpated her tailhead - no real softening. I checked her vulva - it did look a little relaxed. The belly shows no signs of peaking but does appear to be lower (dropped). I called the owner and related the events - he thinks it is just a false pregnancy. What! I have been around a couple of mares with false pregnancies and none of them ever produced real honest to goodness milk, maybe some milky liquid but never milk. He said proceed with training. I made the decision to turn the mare out into a private paddock and watch her for a couple of days. This morning she was unchanged, but I would not be suprised to find a foal tomorrow morning. Now on to Kixsie - she was still showing signs of lameness in the right front. Still no swelling, heat or tenderness anywhere on the hoof or leg. My farrier is coming out this evening to do a hoof tester test. Keeping my fingers crossed!
This training thing is never boring! I went out to bring Missy up from the pasture. Her and Colty were already at the gate waiting. As I approached the gate Missy was showing signs of heat. Mental note to myself - this explains her attitude yesterday. I catch her and take her to the tie out and begin grooming. She is very touchy about having her tail handled (unusual) but I again chalk it up to being in heat. She lets me brush out her tail and I proceed to curry her belly. I reach under her belly with a cloth to clean her udder area and notice that it is very swollen. ( sidenote: when this mare came for training, she had a large belly. I asked the owner if the mare was pregnant. He said, "No way". I assumed the big belly was from worms. I wormed her with a Panacur Powerpac and went on. Her udder has always been larger than a normal maiden mare. When I asked her owner if she had ever foaled, he again said, "No way." I suggested that her get her palpated before proceeding with training. He declined and I explained what could happen if I continued training a pregnant mare. He said he understood and that I should preceed with training). I ran my hand over the udder and gently squeezed a teat - MILK! I then palpated her tailhead - no real softening. I checked her vulva - it did look a little relaxed. The belly shows no signs of peaking but does appear to be lower (dropped). I called the owner and related the events - he thinks it is just a false pregnancy. What! I have been around a couple of mares with false pregnancies and none of them ever produced real honest to goodness milk, maybe some milky liquid but never milk. He said proceed with training. I made the decision to turn the mare out into a private paddock and watch her for a couple of days. This morning she was unchanged, but I would not be suprised to find a foal tomorrow morning. Now on to Kixsie - she was still showing signs of lameness in the right front. Still no swelling, heat or tenderness anywhere on the hoof or leg. My farrier is coming out this evening to do a hoof tester test. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Weekend
Friday -
Missy - Primary Goal: Increase suppleness and decrease mounting issues
Secondary Goal: Increase willingness and effort
Missy really did very well tonight. I again began her training lesson with her on the lunge line. Worked on precision and effort. She really began to tune in and cue off of less and less. Changed her to the side-pull and worked on suppleness and hip/shoulders over. She is very sensitive to the hips over, but tries to kick out occasionally especially to the right. This is unusual for her (heat, tenderness? will keep an eye out). She is more responsive to the rein tonight, but loses focus easily. Hopefully, when the under-saddle work begins, moving her feet will help to keep her focus. Her owner requested that I work her with the sidepull, but I am going to transition to a snaffle and see if this will work better to lighten her up and then move back to the sidepull. Monday, my husband takes over her for the mounted work. (This is actually his training project, but a pulled groin has taken him out for a bit) I also continued to work on her softening to the bridle by lunging her with the sidepull on. She was confused at first by the different feel, but soon was working well and softening her neck to the pressure. I worked on the mounting issues by going step by step through the mounting routine. I was extremely pleased when I was able to half-mount on both sides and she remained sompletely relaxed (hip cocked). This is quite a huge step in her training. We ended the lesson with more suppling and a good belly rub. The mare is adjusting to a regular training schedule, but is showing signs of boredom and resentment. I will strongly suggest to my husband to really vary her schedule from now on out in hopes of keeping her invested in her training.
Kixsie - Primary Goal: Relaxation and trust
Secondary Goal: Ascertain her training level
Kixsie is beginning to really relax with contact and has become very easy to catch in her paddock. Tomorrow, I will turn her out into a larger paddock and see if the change is permanent. I gave her a through grooming session and other than her fear of the head brush, she behaved well and maintained a calm, relaxed demeanor. I then took her out for a brief lunging lesson to get an idea of her training level and attitude. As I suspected, she knew how to lunge ( circles with minimal pressure on the line, w/t/c, etc.), but she rushes around tense and defiant. She maintains her nose to the outside of the circle and pops her head at any cue. I allowed her to rush around on the end of the lead with little interference. Once she realised that I wasn't there to fight, she calmed down, slowed down and began to pay attention. She was still a little resentful to the cues, but obeyed the cues. I then brought her in and tested her suppleness. Once again I was met with tension and resistance. I responded by rewarding the slightest effort on her part and soon, her tension subsided and she became very light and responsive. I then turned my attention to her responsiveness to moving her hips/shoulders. She remained responsive, but lacked the knowledge to respond correctly. So I now know some of her training limits and have a glimspe into her previous training tactics. I am pleasantly suprised at how quickly she decided to cooperate and hope that it will remain when the real hard work begins. The only real problem we encountered was when the cat decided to run out from the bushes and scare the beejeezers out of Kixsie. Kixsie proceeded to spook toward me, but this time I was able to quickly regain her attention and calm her down. Baby steps! Tomorrow the undersaddle test will begin to further target her training level and glitches.
Saturday -
Well, yesterday I decided to help my son with his show heifer, Chloe. She has begun to pull away from him and I thought that I could help (big strong me!). Well, I ended up working (struggling) with her for an hour. At the end of the hour she led better, but I was sore. This morning I woke up and couldn't move. My back HURT! I was on the couch for most of the day until it was time to leave for Jacob's first ever little league football game. It was a blast!! I am so proud of him. He took a very hard hit his first carry, but came back to rush for 20+ yards with 3 more carries.
Sunday -
More of the same with both horses. Kixsie was very sore today and seems to be stemming from the left front hoof. No heat or obvious injury. She was in her paddock all day Saturday and except for a short work on Friday, no exercise. She seemed a little stiff on Friday, but I attributed that to her tension and apprehension. I hand walked her and it seem to lessen the lameness. It looks suspiciously like a navicular lameness. I will watch carefully and since the owner is in Australia, I will treat accordingly and get a hoof tester to check it out. Missy was very distracted today. She wasn't very interested in working either. I took this opportunity to instill the work ethic with her. You give me something even though you don't feel like it and I will take it easy. I introduced a few "games" to mix it up. I was still nursing a tender back, so I did not feel it wise to embark on our first mounted lesson. My husband was in the hay field, so he wasn't able to ride either.
P.S. - The heifer from the previous post was with her mom in the correct pasture by the next morning.
Missy - Primary Goal: Increase suppleness and decrease mounting issues
Secondary Goal: Increase willingness and effort
Missy really did very well tonight. I again began her training lesson with her on the lunge line. Worked on precision and effort. She really began to tune in and cue off of less and less. Changed her to the side-pull and worked on suppleness and hip/shoulders over. She is very sensitive to the hips over, but tries to kick out occasionally especially to the right. This is unusual for her (heat, tenderness? will keep an eye out). She is more responsive to the rein tonight, but loses focus easily. Hopefully, when the under-saddle work begins, moving her feet will help to keep her focus. Her owner requested that I work her with the sidepull, but I am going to transition to a snaffle and see if this will work better to lighten her up and then move back to the sidepull. Monday, my husband takes over her for the mounted work. (This is actually his training project, but a pulled groin has taken him out for a bit) I also continued to work on her softening to the bridle by lunging her with the sidepull on. She was confused at first by the different feel, but soon was working well and softening her neck to the pressure. I worked on the mounting issues by going step by step through the mounting routine. I was extremely pleased when I was able to half-mount on both sides and she remained sompletely relaxed (hip cocked). This is quite a huge step in her training. We ended the lesson with more suppling and a good belly rub. The mare is adjusting to a regular training schedule, but is showing signs of boredom and resentment. I will strongly suggest to my husband to really vary her schedule from now on out in hopes of keeping her invested in her training.
Kixsie - Primary Goal: Relaxation and trust
Secondary Goal: Ascertain her training level
Kixsie is beginning to really relax with contact and has become very easy to catch in her paddock. Tomorrow, I will turn her out into a larger paddock and see if the change is permanent. I gave her a through grooming session and other than her fear of the head brush, she behaved well and maintained a calm, relaxed demeanor. I then took her out for a brief lunging lesson to get an idea of her training level and attitude. As I suspected, she knew how to lunge ( circles with minimal pressure on the line, w/t/c, etc.), but she rushes around tense and defiant. She maintains her nose to the outside of the circle and pops her head at any cue. I allowed her to rush around on the end of the lead with little interference. Once she realised that I wasn't there to fight, she calmed down, slowed down and began to pay attention. She was still a little resentful to the cues, but obeyed the cues. I then brought her in and tested her suppleness. Once again I was met with tension and resistance. I responded by rewarding the slightest effort on her part and soon, her tension subsided and she became very light and responsive. I then turned my attention to her responsiveness to moving her hips/shoulders. She remained responsive, but lacked the knowledge to respond correctly. So I now know some of her training limits and have a glimspe into her previous training tactics. I am pleasantly suprised at how quickly she decided to cooperate and hope that it will remain when the real hard work begins. The only real problem we encountered was when the cat decided to run out from the bushes and scare the beejeezers out of Kixsie. Kixsie proceeded to spook toward me, but this time I was able to quickly regain her attention and calm her down. Baby steps! Tomorrow the undersaddle test will begin to further target her training level and glitches.
Saturday -
Well, yesterday I decided to help my son with his show heifer, Chloe. She has begun to pull away from him and I thought that I could help (big strong me!). Well, I ended up working (struggling) with her for an hour. At the end of the hour she led better, but I was sore. This morning I woke up and couldn't move. My back HURT! I was on the couch for most of the day until it was time to leave for Jacob's first ever little league football game. It was a blast!! I am so proud of him. He took a very hard hit his first carry, but came back to rush for 20+ yards with 3 more carries.
Sunday -
More of the same with both horses. Kixsie was very sore today and seems to be stemming from the left front hoof. No heat or obvious injury. She was in her paddock all day Saturday and except for a short work on Friday, no exercise. She seemed a little stiff on Friday, but I attributed that to her tension and apprehension. I hand walked her and it seem to lessen the lameness. It looks suspiciously like a navicular lameness. I will watch carefully and since the owner is in Australia, I will treat accordingly and get a hoof tester to check it out. Missy was very distracted today. She wasn't very interested in working either. I took this opportunity to instill the work ethic with her. You give me something even though you don't feel like it and I will take it easy. I introduced a few "games" to mix it up. I was still nursing a tender back, so I did not feel it wise to embark on our first mounted lesson. My husband was in the hay field, so he wasn't able to ride either.
P.S. - The heifer from the previous post was with her mom in the correct pasture by the next morning.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday
Well, yesterday did not go a bit like I had planned. I received a call at 3:00 pm at work and was told that all of our cows were out on the road. I blazed out of work to put the cows up before the school bus ran it's route. I hurried home and when I got there, no cows were out just Jacob's practice steer, Heartbreak Kid. I ran and got a bucket of feed and led the steer back through the gate into the pasture. I started to walk the fence to see where he had gotten out when my neighbor showed up. Dana said that there had been a cow and several calves out on the road and Jacob's steer. I asked if the cow was a black and white paint horned cow. He said "Yes, how did you know?". Well that is Tiny I and that is what she does. We sold her mom for the same thing, she would not stay in the pasture no matter what fence (electric, barb wire, wood). She was a hazard on the road so we had to sell her. Tiny I isn't usually bad, but this is the 2nd time in two days and this time she brought all the calves with her. As usual though, she puts herself back up and then you have to hunt to find out where she jumped, crawled or broke the fence. This time the hoof prints reveled her spot. She had broken the fence behind a thicket and crawled through the torns. That repaired, I set off to make sure all of the calves had made it safely back to the pasture. To my dismay, all but one was accounted for, Jelly's heifer (her picture is posted). I searched the pasture and the road for the missing heifer. Soon I heard her bawl and located her. She is in the BULL PASTURE! How??? Why??? Who knows! The bulls will take care of her and protect her until, we can either cajole her into the lot or she finds her way back to mom. UGH!! By the time all of the fence is fixed and all of the cattle located, my husband arrives with a load of feed. We unload the feed into the bin and now it is time to take Jacob to football practice and Rendi and I have a 4H meeting where we finalize plans for the upcoming county fair horse show and petting zoo. Back home at 10:00 to whip something up for dinner, eat, and then collapse into bed. The dishes can wait until morning!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday Training
No riding lessons.
Missy - Today's primary goal: tuning in and softening up
Secondary goal: standing to mount
After a through grooming, I tacked Missy up and she stood like a champ. No anxiety even when Jacob came flying by in the adjoining paddock with his show heifer. Began the lesson with lunging. She was more willing to move out, but the random "Oh, God - what is going on!" moments led me to believe that she still hasn't melded the entire concept in her mind. After about 15 minutes, she was changing direction easily and whould whoa much quicker upon cue. Her attention span was better and she stayed much more relaxed. She no longer thinks that the lunge line is a snake waiting to bite and trusts that I will not hit her. She relapses occasionally when her attention has wandered and I ask for a direction change, but as her understanding develops, she is learning to think first than react. We then moved on to suppling her jaw, poll and neck by asking her to give to the side. She did much better especially to the right. The left is still a little sticky. We need to continue with this to enforce the idea that she must give no matter the outside stimulus. Next we worked on her standing to be mounted. This is a very touchy area and one to be methodically worked through on both sides. This was the push button for her bucking. I believe that the bucking was initally due to wither pain at mounting ( thin horse, prominent withers) so I am encouraging Missy to remain calm and so far she doesn't show any anxiety. I begin by jumping by the saddle to accustom her to the movement, then I move the stirrups around to accustom her to the saddle movement and sound. Next I place weight in the stirrups by pushing down on the stirrups with my arms and then I place my foot in the stirrup and get into mounting position. At this point she begins to show anxiety and I continue this step a couple of times until she relaxes and then call it quits on this lesson for the day. She has already progressed so much in this area and patience is winning out. To end the day on a positive note, I again work through the suppling exercises and put her up for the day. She did fantastic and remained a willing pupil throughout today's lesson - she received a good rub-down with extra belly rubs. As far as her goals for the day, I think we progressed on all levels but still need refinement on all before she will be ready to move on to the next steps.
Kixsie - Today's primary goal: developing trust
Secondary goal: learning to relax and not be so reactive
To begin the lesson, I worked on catching Kixsie in her paddock. She moved away, but with advance and retreat, she came and stood to be haltered. This mare shows so much anxiety at being handled in any way. Since she came, she is finally beginning to relax in her paddock and shows signs of wanting to socialize. She nickers when she sees me and comes to the fence when I am around. However, she will not allow me to pet/scratch her throught the panels. She will now stay by the fence and sniff my hand. She is easier to catch in her paddock and acts like she wants to be handled, she just can't let her guard down. There is a willing and intelligent horse in there, we just have to work past her trust issues. I addressed this issue last night by simply treating her to a relaxing grooming session and walk around the yard. She is on guard the whole time you are around her - she holds her breath, holds head high and shows tenseness throughout. The human touch is not something that she finds comfort in. The human voice doesn't reassure her at all. After 45 minutes of walking and scratching, she finally began to lip and chew but never exhaled (sighed). She was calmer and upon returning to her paddock, lingered for a belly scratch. I will need to take it slow with her at first, but once she learns to relax and trust, I feel that she will progress at a rapid pace. Not much progress on her goals today, but I have to remember to not rush or push.
It is raining now and training tonight looks doubtful, but fingers crossed that the storms will clear off.
Missy - Today's primary goal: tuning in and softening up
Secondary goal: standing to mount
After a through grooming, I tacked Missy up and she stood like a champ. No anxiety even when Jacob came flying by in the adjoining paddock with his show heifer. Began the lesson with lunging. She was more willing to move out, but the random "Oh, God - what is going on!" moments led me to believe that she still hasn't melded the entire concept in her mind. After about 15 minutes, she was changing direction easily and whould whoa much quicker upon cue. Her attention span was better and she stayed much more relaxed. She no longer thinks that the lunge line is a snake waiting to bite and trusts that I will not hit her. She relapses occasionally when her attention has wandered and I ask for a direction change, but as her understanding develops, she is learning to think first than react. We then moved on to suppling her jaw, poll and neck by asking her to give to the side. She did much better especially to the right. The left is still a little sticky. We need to continue with this to enforce the idea that she must give no matter the outside stimulus. Next we worked on her standing to be mounted. This is a very touchy area and one to be methodically worked through on both sides. This was the push button for her bucking. I believe that the bucking was initally due to wither pain at mounting ( thin horse, prominent withers) so I am encouraging Missy to remain calm and so far she doesn't show any anxiety. I begin by jumping by the saddle to accustom her to the movement, then I move the stirrups around to accustom her to the saddle movement and sound. Next I place weight in the stirrups by pushing down on the stirrups with my arms and then I place my foot in the stirrup and get into mounting position. At this point she begins to show anxiety and I continue this step a couple of times until she relaxes and then call it quits on this lesson for the day. She has already progressed so much in this area and patience is winning out. To end the day on a positive note, I again work through the suppling exercises and put her up for the day. She did fantastic and remained a willing pupil throughout today's lesson - she received a good rub-down with extra belly rubs. As far as her goals for the day, I think we progressed on all levels but still need refinement on all before she will be ready to move on to the next steps.
Kixsie - Today's primary goal: developing trust
Secondary goal: learning to relax and not be so reactive
To begin the lesson, I worked on catching Kixsie in her paddock. She moved away, but with advance and retreat, she came and stood to be haltered. This mare shows so much anxiety at being handled in any way. Since she came, she is finally beginning to relax in her paddock and shows signs of wanting to socialize. She nickers when she sees me and comes to the fence when I am around. However, she will not allow me to pet/scratch her throught the panels. She will now stay by the fence and sniff my hand. She is easier to catch in her paddock and acts like she wants to be handled, she just can't let her guard down. There is a willing and intelligent horse in there, we just have to work past her trust issues. I addressed this issue last night by simply treating her to a relaxing grooming session and walk around the yard. She is on guard the whole time you are around her - she holds her breath, holds head high and shows tenseness throughout. The human touch is not something that she finds comfort in. The human voice doesn't reassure her at all. After 45 minutes of walking and scratching, she finally began to lip and chew but never exhaled (sighed). She was calmer and upon returning to her paddock, lingered for a belly scratch. I will need to take it slow with her at first, but once she learns to relax and trust, I feel that she will progress at a rapid pace. Not much progress on her goals today, but I have to remember to not rush or push.
It is raining now and training tonight looks doubtful, but fingers crossed that the storms will clear off.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Horses in training
I am going to try to keep this blog more up to date, make it more into a training diary. I make daily notes for the horses in training so I can track progress, but for the owners, I think a blog might make them feel more in touch with the training progress. This means that I will need to be more diligent in taking pictures. That sounds like a great job for the kids! Well, here we go.
Missy - Brown grade mare, 4 years old. Here to be green broke. Owner had previously tried to break her, but instead created some problems. History of bucking under saddle, skittish, and unwilling to be handled. Upon first handling the mare appeared to want to cooperate, just needed to develop trust. She is a very kind mare with a want to please demeanor. She is a tad bit lazy and hates repeative work. I need to make sure that her training remains fresh and challenging. She will probably benefit more from pasture riding/training than from arena work. Major training obstacle: She has already learned to buck when mounted and was rewarded by being put up.
Primary Goals: 1 - soft, supple and willing under saddle
2 - stand while being mounted (this is when she bucked)
3 - safe mount for an intermediate rider
Secondary Goals: 1 - handle feet easily
2 - accept handling of entire body
3 - be caught and haltered easily
4 - become bold and confident ( mounted and on the ground)
Kixsie - 7 year old sorrel roan QH mare. Owner wants her to become a more dependable,solid riding horse. I am the 4th trainer this mare has had. Upon first handling her, she is fearful but had been trained well to stand. She is easily distracted and has limited ability to remain focused. She is a reactionary mare which means consistency is her key. I feel that she will always be a little standoffish, but trust can be established. She has been through several trainers and she knows what to do to get a release, she just doesn't commit to it. Her training will focus on several trust exercises and lots of repetition. She will find comfort in the familiar.
Major training obstacle: The mares unwillingness to connect with a rider.
Primary Goals: 1- a soft, supple willing mount
2 - boldness under saddle (the owner wants to be able to hunt off the mare)
3 - safe for a beginner rider
Secondary Goals: 1 - increase attention span
2 - a relaxed horse
3 - easy to catch and halter in the pasture
4 - beginning collection
Missy - Brown grade mare, 4 years old. Here to be green broke. Owner had previously tried to break her, but instead created some problems. History of bucking under saddle, skittish, and unwilling to be handled. Upon first handling the mare appeared to want to cooperate, just needed to develop trust. She is a very kind mare with a want to please demeanor. She is a tad bit lazy and hates repeative work. I need to make sure that her training remains fresh and challenging. She will probably benefit more from pasture riding/training than from arena work. Major training obstacle: She has already learned to buck when mounted and was rewarded by being put up.
Primary Goals: 1 - soft, supple and willing under saddle
2 - stand while being mounted (this is when she bucked)
3 - safe mount for an intermediate rider
Secondary Goals: 1 - handle feet easily
2 - accept handling of entire body
3 - be caught and haltered easily
4 - become bold and confident ( mounted and on the ground)
Kixsie - 7 year old sorrel roan QH mare. Owner wants her to become a more dependable,solid riding horse. I am the 4th trainer this mare has had. Upon first handling her, she is fearful but had been trained well to stand. She is easily distracted and has limited ability to remain focused. She is a reactionary mare which means consistency is her key. I feel that she will always be a little standoffish, but trust can be established. She has been through several trainers and she knows what to do to get a release, she just doesn't commit to it. Her training will focus on several trust exercises and lots of repetition. She will find comfort in the familiar.
Major training obstacle: The mares unwillingness to connect with a rider.
Primary Goals: 1- a soft, supple willing mount
2 - boldness under saddle (the owner wants to be able to hunt off the mare)
3 - safe for a beginner rider
Secondary Goals: 1 - increase attention span
2 - a relaxed horse
3 - easy to catch and halter in the pasture
4 - beginning collection
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday's Training bog
Horse: Abby
Today's Main Goals: Transitions and Forward
Today's Secondary Goals: Buddy Sour
Began the session with a short trail ride around the pasture (20 minutes). Working in a forward frame and building confidence away from the other horses being ridden. She was very hesitant to lead off the group and kept lagging until she was behind the group. I worked her repeatedly up and back in the group. I then started to rein her away from the group for short forays. When she would continue on with a slack rein and straight, we would return to the group. I then took her several yards behind the group and asked her to maintain a walk and not rush back to the group. All went very well. I then broke off from the group to return to the riding arena. She again was hesitant to move off, but soon gained confidence as we walked on.
The focus of today's arena work was transitions. I repeatedly asked for walk/trot transitions. I incorporated a dressage whip today to get her to upward transitions lighter and quicker. The lope transitions take so much urging that I want to get a more responsive trot transition before tackling the lope transition much. Her downward transitions were excellent! I sort of expected that though, she likes to go slow. She transitioned just off body cues (slowing seat, deeper seat). Her halts stuck, no floating through them. She halted square would move back easily when cued. We worked on these goals for about 45 minutes. Transitions became smoother, upward transitions came easier and quicker, she moved out in a more energetic trot, she began to rein better at the trot off of leg cues along with rein cues, she maintained focus longer and relaxed throughout. All in all a successful lesson with improvement in all of todays goals. Next lesson goals: continue with transition work incorporating the lope transitions, began introducing under saddle lateral work, more trail riding to improve confidence in new situations both with a group and alone.
Today's Main Goals: Transitions and Forward
Today's Secondary Goals: Buddy Sour
Began the session with a short trail ride around the pasture (20 minutes). Working in a forward frame and building confidence away from the other horses being ridden. She was very hesitant to lead off the group and kept lagging until she was behind the group. I worked her repeatedly up and back in the group. I then started to rein her away from the group for short forays. When she would continue on with a slack rein and straight, we would return to the group. I then took her several yards behind the group and asked her to maintain a walk and not rush back to the group. All went very well. I then broke off from the group to return to the riding arena. She again was hesitant to move off, but soon gained confidence as we walked on.
The focus of today's arena work was transitions. I repeatedly asked for walk/trot transitions. I incorporated a dressage whip today to get her to upward transitions lighter and quicker. The lope transitions take so much urging that I want to get a more responsive trot transition before tackling the lope transition much. Her downward transitions were excellent! I sort of expected that though, she likes to go slow. She transitioned just off body cues (slowing seat, deeper seat). Her halts stuck, no floating through them. She halted square would move back easily when cued. We worked on these goals for about 45 minutes. Transitions became smoother, upward transitions came easier and quicker, she moved out in a more energetic trot, she began to rein better at the trot off of leg cues along with rein cues, she maintained focus longer and relaxed throughout. All in all a successful lesson with improvement in all of todays goals. Next lesson goals: continue with transition work incorporating the lope transitions, began introducing under saddle lateral work, more trail riding to improve confidence in new situations both with a group and alone.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Riding Lessons
Last night was riding lesson night with my youngest student (7). This was her 4th lesson and she has been struggling with the trot. She is still riding bareback with the halter and is doing great at the walk, but the trot scares the bejesus out of her. Last week she had to ride Brandy because Sadie had decided to jump a gate and cut her leg. They got along well, but Brandy has a much rougher trot and a bony back. Jaylee valiantly tried to sit the trot, but instinctivly "kneed up" whenever she attempted the trot. Near the end of the lesson I had her recite the ABC's while lunging. Much better seat. We ended on that high note. Now this week, she is back on Sadie. We begin with walking exercises (figure 8, poles, serpintines) and now it is time to practice the trot. Jaylee immediately stiffens up. I start her on breathing exercises and once she begins to relax I encourage her to cue Sadie for the trot. She starts off okay, but the knees soon start to inch up and she is so stiff in her arms, that she pushes herself back. We reposition and begin again. This time I start asking her about her upcoming trip, 4th of July, etc. Soon she is relaxing, reaching down with her heels and sitting up taller. We practice on the lunge for a few minutes and then I send her out on her own. Again the tension. I tell her that I know she is ready to try this and remind her of my promise to NEVER ask her to do something that I don't think she is ready for. She smiles and sets out to try. At first she resorts to the monkey on a dog position but after a few laps she is sitting the trot softly and enjoying herself. By the end of the lesson, she is doing figure 8s and poles at the trot. She is soooo pround of herself and I am estatic at her progress. She can't wait to go home and show her cousins how much she has learned. Hopefully by the time she has her next lesson, my insurance issues will be cleared up and we can use my bigger riding arena. I think she is ready.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The District & State Shows
Last year when we went to the District show, we left early on the morning we showed. Bad mistake! We were scheduled to leave at 5:30 am to make an 8:30 pre-show meeting. Mapquest gave us an 1 hr & 45 min route - no problem right? WRONG! One of the horses took 30 minutes to load and mapquest lied! The route we were told to take took 2 hrs and 45 min and we hauled butt the whole time. So needless to say, we made it to the show 10 minutes before the first class. Thankfully we had done all grooming the night before - so a quick wipe down and we were showing. The whole day seemed to go that way - hurry, hurry - rush, rush. It showed in our results. The horses and the girls were keyed up all day - the only classes we qualified for state in were by default ( less than 11 in the class) except for Cash - he placed 4th in Gelding Halter. This year, it would be different. We reserved stalls and went down the day before. The girls watched the speed events, did final grooming touch-ups and went to the hotel and swam. The horses were walked around the grounds and relaxed in their stalls. I was the lucky one that got to sleep in the extra stall! Wahoo! Actually I preferred it - I don't think I could have taken a night of pre-teen drama. I'll take the steady munch of hay and swishing of shavings any day. We did much better in the arena as well - maybe not in placing, but each girl performed better than last year. For example - Rendi & Cash competed in 4 classes last year ( 4th - Halter, 11th - Showmanship, DQ - Western Pleasure & DQ - Trail) this year they competed in the same 4 classes ( 3rd - Halter, 11th - Showmanship (they both hate it), 10th - Western Pleasure and DQ - Trail) Not great results, but considering last years performance Cash was a champ. Last year, his fear of other horses caused him to freak in Western Pleasure and is fear of well everything caused him to freak in Trail. This year Western Pleasure went well, except for his barrel horse run-down the arena, and Trail was fairly respectable as well. He is still learning to cue with neck reins and this was his first time to be exclusively neck reined. My daughter learned a valuable lesson on preparation and practice. Everyone had a good time and almost everyone was pleased with their performances. We know that we aren't at the level to win and we just want the experience. Now on to State! Rendi qualified in 3 events, but chose to only show in Halter. It was the only event she felt she had earned a right to compete in. But, UHOH, she breaks her leg the week before. Luckily, she is put in a walking cast and is cleared to show in halter. Cash took such care of her in the ring, even seemingly to block the judge away from Rendi when he came too close - not a big help in placing. They did not place under either judge, not a big surprise. None of the girls placed at State - way out of our league, but they did seem to get a fire under them. I have long told them that to really compete, they must practice, practice, practice. They were just content to participate. Now they saw that it would not take a whole lot to step it up and be show ready. They want me to find them some shows to go to and especially some shows in the NE District, the toughest district. Rendi now finally understands that Cash can't be a playday horse and be a tough competitor in the show ring. She also now understands that she really hates showmanship and dislikes the way Western Pleasure horses must travel (trope) to be really competitive. She is now going to focus on the Trail, Western Horsemanship and Western Riding classes. She knows that she is still going to have to slow Cash down, but not alter his natural gaits. She still refuses to show english - too bad. She has also decided to show in the speed events. She asked a friend if she could train his horse to run barrels & poles. He was happy to oblige. He gets his "extra" horse trained to do something and Rendi gets to bolster her horsemanship skills and experience. Win-Win. Needless to say - all of Rendi's plans with her horses are on hold for at least another month. Darn broken leg!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Whew, finally an update!
Alot has happened in the last two months! My two kids have been playing in the local little league, so we have been at softball/baseball games four nights a week. My 4H group competed in the District and State Horse Shows. Thanks to my husband, I have three horses currently in training. Riding lessons 3 days a week. My daughter has decided that she wants to be able to compete in the 4H speed events next year and she talked our neighbor into letting her use his green broke mare. Guess who gets to train her? Yep, me. My husband and I have been in the hayfields cutting hay for this winter. Rodeos every weekend - the boys (bulls) are doing fantastic! My daughter's cheer fundraisers, the school fundraiser's and the little league fundraisers. My 4H club's combined playday series - 5 weeks. Whew! In there sometime, my daughter slid into home and broke her leg. At least she scored! Also I have desperately been trying to find the time to work with my own horse. I have for the first time in a looong time set my own horsemanship goal - I want to be able to ride my own horse in the County Fair horse show! So far it isn't gping all that great. I have rode him 4 times in the last month. Wellback to work, then to the hayfield, back to the barn to train and then home to collapse into bed!
Friday, May 8, 2009
New Pasture!
I turned some of the horses out into the new pasture this afternoon. I only turned out three because the new cross fence isn't done and I knew if I turned out all six, I would have to hunt them down at feeding time. Well I chose to turn out the boys today. My reasoning is that Colty always comes when you call and Cash can't bear to be away from Sadie. Jacob's steer rounded out the trio. After grooming, I turned each horse out the gate. They immediatly dropped their heads and began grazing. No problem. Soon Sadie realized that Cash was gone and she could not get to him. She began calling wildly and galloping around the pasture. Val joined in for a bit and then decided that it wasn't worth it. Cash heard Sadie's call and came thundering back over the hill to the adjoining fence. He ran the fence line trying to get back to Sadie. My daughter (it's her horse) and I watched incredulously as Cash ignored the knee deep grass to come at Sadie's call. I guess thats love. Well finally after about 10 minutes, Cash headed back to the pasture. Sadie began calling again, but Cash did not respond. Sadie became more and more upset (she even stomped her foot). Ren made the comment, "UhOh, Cash will be sleeping on the couch tonight." That is exactly what the situation reminded me of - an old married couple with the whipped husband. He finally gets a backbone and the wife can't stand it. Well Cash wandered back some time later to "check in" and Sadie gave him the cold shoulder. "Just like a woman", my husband joked. Finally it was time to feed and I went to the gate to call the boys back. I hollered Colty's name and just like the great boy he is - he came. I really love that horse. I need to get some pictures of him and post them. He isn't the best specimen of horse, but that doesn't matter. I love him just the way he is!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Rain, Rain, Rain, ...
Well we are now on our 7th day of rain. This is where access to an indoor arena would be great!!! But alas, no such luck. No horse training (except for light in-hand work), no riding lessons and no fence building. I scored a big one this week! I leased the adjoining 80 acres to our home! That brings us up to a grand total of 460 acres! Last night we totaled up our remaining cattle herd and with the new calves this year - we own 49 but feed/care for 62 head. Each group must have it's own pasture - big bulls, yearling/two year old bulls, cows, heifers, horses. This takes alot of grazing pasture! Wahoo!!
My daughter began try-outs for her high school cheerleading team yesterday. I'm pretty sure she will make the team (they came to her ( an 8th grader) and asked her to try out). My concern is how many extra-curricular activities can a kid keep up with? Ren is an extremely organized kid, but she still needs time to be a kid. She already has to carry around a planner to schedule her life - 4H Leadership, 4H Equi-Spirit, Butner 4H, training her horse, softball/basketball, and now cheerleading. Her father and I have told her that she really needs to pick her three favorites and give them her all. She has her eye on the prize of college and knows that extra-curricular looks good on college applications. Has anyone faced a similar challenge?
The Kentucky Derby was awesome! I love those come from behind runners and WOW 20 lengths behind to win! The story behind the horse is great too. I swear, if I did not know better, I would think that I was watching a made for T.V. movie - unknown small time trainer and his unspectular horse come to the big show and triumph. Even the race reminded me of the Black Stallion book - the match race where The Black, a horse from nowhere, is waaaayyyy behind but still manages to pull out the victory over the more expensive and favored horses. I would like for him to win the TC, but it is highly unlikely. With the fresh horses that always race in the Belmont, there won't be any TC winners. I can see Kevin Costner playing the trainer in the movie though.
My daughter began try-outs for her high school cheerleading team yesterday. I'm pretty sure she will make the team (they came to her ( an 8th grader) and asked her to try out). My concern is how many extra-curricular activities can a kid keep up with? Ren is an extremely organized kid, but she still needs time to be a kid. She already has to carry around a planner to schedule her life - 4H Leadership, 4H Equi-Spirit, Butner 4H, training her horse, softball/basketball, and now cheerleading. Her father and I have told her that she really needs to pick her three favorites and give them her all. She has her eye on the prize of college and knows that extra-curricular looks good on college applications. Has anyone faced a similar challenge?
The Kentucky Derby was awesome! I love those come from behind runners and WOW 20 lengths behind to win! The story behind the horse is great too. I swear, if I did not know better, I would think that I was watching a made for T.V. movie - unknown small time trainer and his unspectular horse come to the big show and triumph. Even the race reminded me of the Black Stallion book - the match race where The Black, a horse from nowhere, is waaaayyyy behind but still manages to pull out the victory over the more expensive and favored horses. I would like for him to win the TC, but it is highly unlikely. With the fresh horses that always race in the Belmont, there won't be any TC winners. I can see Kevin Costner playing the trainer in the movie though.
Monday, May 4, 2009
What a weekend!
Saturday was the second in the Playday Series. Wow! What a difference a couple of weeks made in the girl's riding! It might actually become competitive for the buckles. We had alot of fun with even some of the adults getting involved in the barrel racing - Crystal had the fastest time on Sadie - You go girl! My son had the fastest kid time - only thing was he ran on foot. LOL Good news was that the fastest offficial time was a full 20 seconds faster than last time. Way to go Ren! Outside leg to turn Cash! In the other events - the rain on the metal roof unnerved some of the horses during the trail class. They thought the gate was a horse-eater. The poles were something to be jumped not trotted over and the bridge was a portal to nowhere. Needless to say not a clean round to be seen. The western pleasure class was pretty uneventful, however it was done one horse at a time. Some of the newbies were having trouble controlling their horses. The poles went much better - the kids and horses are getting familar with the pattern. Cash did not try to jump them this time. I am hoping that with some good weather, the kids will get out and ride. The competitive juices are flowing. Maybe that will compel them to practice and be ready to compete! The rain postponed all additional riding for me this weekend. No real training all last week because of the rain and me under the weather. Yesterday a couple of the bulls decided to go roaming (someone left the back gate down - probably one of the fisherman going to our back pond) but came back when we called. What good boys. We finally caught the cow/calf pair that has been in the bull pasture for the last month. She was MAD! Daryl was threatening to take her straight to the sale barn. She had worn out the two cattle dogs, chased Daryl up the fence numerous times and broke one of the feeders. As much as I tried to reason with her (It's for you own good. You are going to better pasture. All your friends are there. ;) nothing worked. Finally, Pup acidentally led her up the alley or she chased him up the alley, either way, and she was caught. We wormed her and hauled her to the cow pasture. Called up the cows, fed and turned her out. She stepped off like nothing happened, walked over and began eating. Cows are soooo moody! Does anybody else have any crazy cow stories? Everybody that comes to visit is so scared and intimidated by the bulls. Not me - it is the cows that will get you!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Well I am back!
For anyone who cares, I am back. I have been trying to die for the last couple of days. Darn swine flu! Just kidding, I only had a bad chest cold. It did make everyone look sideways at me when I coughed though. As a joke I tried to oink when I coughed, but only ended up choking myself. There's Karma for ya! I have been following several other blogs lately and an getting a little tired of the self righteous prattle. Everyone has an opinion (God's right) and everyone is jumping at the opportunity to point out the faults (published words leave you open for that). I get that, but why does everyone have to be so vindictive, vulgar and mean? I mean I love a great debate between differing views - a debate being insightful, articulate and nonjudgemental. At the worst, the participants agree to disagree, but many times points of view can be changed on both sides. Why would you want to tear someone down when they are making an honest effort, all be it, ignorant or ludicrious. Thoughtful criticism or logical explanations might make a point better. People are so quick to see only their side as right - Black or White/ Right or Wrong. Well the world is made up of many more colors than that. I am 40 and I hope that I never cease to open my mind to new things, points of view and techniques. I am also disheartened to find that in the quest to find blog's that my 4H kids can read to learn and broaden their base of knowledge I am continually obliged to keep looking even though the blog has some wonderful information with many points of view but the profanity, rudeness and closed mindedness make it unsuitable for the kids. Anyway - here I am spouting my view. Please let me know your thoughts. Just remember - there are young 4H kids here. Please be a good example of how real adults communicate. Thank you!
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Pet Fair
Saturday was a pet fair day. A day where I take all of my foster dogs to the local mall to be hopefully adopted. So bright and early I was up bathing all six dogs. They for the most part were not to happy about this part. By the time I am finished, I am soaked (on the bright side, I should not have any fleas or ticks for some time), the shower curtain has a few new holes, the bathroom is very wet and hairy and the dogs had to be tied out so that they would not roll in the dirt. That took about four hours. Next we load the sweeties into the dog box. Another part that some of them would rather not do and dog wrestling is not my event. Fifteen minutes later everyone is loaded safely in the dog box and we are on our way. We get to the mall and start taking the dogs in. For some reason, the glass doors scare some of the dogs and the rest are afaid of the tile floors. Twenty minutes later and two Turk "accidents" all of the dogs have been coaxed in and placed in their kennels. The Ohhhs and Ahhhs start. "Isn't Otis so cute and cuddley?" "Whow, Layla is so pretty!" "Why is Missy's tail like that?" "Turk's eyes are so cool!" etc. We take each dog out in turns to be petted and walked. The dogs eat up the attention. Layla was in heaven there where no less than 5 people seriously looking at her to adopt. Unfortunately, none of the dogs were adopted. It makes me so sad. Each of these dogs are great! I would be happy to keep them myself, but it really isn't fair to them. With fifteen dogs the foster dogs don't get much individual attention. Turk has been taking up the majority of my dog time, not to mention the two stock dogs training is ongoing. I try to spend at least 5 minutes a day with each dog, but lately that has been very difficult. I just want to find homes for them that will love and care for the dogs. The longer they stay with me, the harder it is to let them go, but I know it is for the best. The attached photo is Otis smiling and Missy posing.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Riding Lesson Time
Yesterday was one of my riding lesson days. This is a traveling lesson. I go to the student's home and coach her on horsemanship skills. Since she had just competed in the Playday the Saturday before, we started the lesson going over her and her mare's performance. Of course, she could not think of anything that hadn't been done perfectly and the judge had no suggestions for improvement ( After all she had won every class.). I did remember a few things that needed tweaking - transitions, body alignment, rein handling, precision. Then it was time to start riding. We began with a walk/trot drill over poles. Layout: 3 walk poles (2 ft apart), right turn to a single pole where the trot transition is, continue on to 3 trot poles (3.6 ft apart), right turn to a single pole where the walk transition is, and then back to the walk poles. Benefits: helps establish horse's cadence, develops precision in cues, transitions become smoother. We worked on this for 20 minutes both directions. Then moved the pattern out to establish a trot/lope drill. Same basic pattern. Now last week, the girl had a terrible time with her lope transition. Her horse would just ignore her or finally pick up the lope after much urging. Today with this drill pattern, the horse picked up the lope beautifully. The girl and her mom were amazed. I explained that cueing the transition over a pole makes it easier for the horse to make the transition because since the horse is already lifting her shoulders to go over the pole, the lope transition just naturally rolls. Now that pattern was anything but pretty, but the girl was able to practice her cueing, the mare lightened up on her forehand and the pair really worked as a team. We ran the drill several times ( I had to make her quit, the mare was really starting to blow). While she walked the horse I then set up the poles in a circle. I explained that the goal of this drill was to trot through the poles maintaing the arc of the circle. The girl laughed saying "That will be easy." She soon found out that it was harder than she thought. She and the mare ran over the guide cones repeatedly, nicked the poles and wound up going in a diagonal straight line through the pattern. It was a real eye opener. I explained that the reason it was so hard for her is that when she approaches a pole pattern, she just lets the mare pull her through. The mare prefers straight (like most horses) . She needed to maintain control through the entire drill - keep the mare moving forward, between her legs and reins and stay with the motion. Once she understood, she tried the drill several more times. She finished a little better, but these are concepts that might take a bit to sink in. We wrapped up with a recap and question time. Her attention span had been vastly depleated so I sent her off to cool out her horse and untack. At the show last Saturday, since she had won every class she entered she was feeling a little cocky. I gave her some things to think about. Now maybe she will buckle down and get ready for the District horse show in a month.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Training Time
Finally everything is clicking. The weather, my schedule and the horses. I have officially retired from training because I don't have the time or the facilities to be a consistent trainer anymore. I also have a 7 year old horse of my own that isn't much better than green broke because I am always riding someone elses horse. But I digress - yesterday everything was clicking. The weather was fantastic and I had a cancellation of a riding lesson. I was actually able to work three horses yesterday! Now I remember why I love to train. I was able to take my time with each horse and really work on what they needed. It had been about a month since I had worked Val and she picked up right where we had left off. The layoff really helped her attitude. Shiek was a little scattered at first, but soon tuned in to the business at hand. His left stifle still troubles me though. I have worked him lightly the last three days ( suppling/cuing/tuning in 30 minutes on Monday, walk/trot ponying on Tuesday, suppling/long lineing/patience on Wednesday) with lots of hydrotherapy and linament afterwards. He still continues to be sore and refuses to take the left hind lead. I will give him the day off today and pick-up with the conditioning on Friday. The owners are impatient to proceed, but I refuse to ride a sore horse and risk permanent damage and a bad attitude.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Thief
Sadie is a carrot lover. It could be her one true weakness. Yesterday afternoon, while I was grooming horses, I noticed Sadie very slowly easing her way to the grooming box. I watched out of the corner of my eye to see what she was up to. Finally after several minutes of stealthy creeping, Sadie grabbed her prize - the bag of carrots in the box. Just like a purse snatcher, she scooped the bag up into her mouth and gleefully took off. Unfortunately, she had picked the bag up by the bottom and had spilled all the carrots in her escape. Once she realized this and saw all of the horses eating her booty, she sheepishly returned to the scene of the crime. I retrieved the bag from her mouth, salvaged a couple of carrots and rubbed her belly. Crime really doesn't pay.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Playday Results
Whew, the first playday is in the bag. I had micromanaged everything and driven myself into a worried mess - Did I forget something? (of course) Did I make enough copies? (of course) Will anyone showup? (of course). Well luckily, it wasn't a steller turnout. We had 7 kids show up to compete in the classes. Most of them were from the horse club, but one boy was plucky enough to enter even though he had never ridden a horse before. With the small turn-out, the kids were able to relax and have fun. The judge took the time to critique the kids in private and give them suggestions. There were no wrecks or scares, just fun and learning. Exactly what we (the parents) were hoping for. Four more weeks to go!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Those Rascally Dogs
As I have stated before, I have several dogs, some of them our and some are fosters. I love them all dearly, but lately two of them have been driving me crazy. Somthin' and Turk have figured out how to escape from their yard and go on merry chases anround the place. First they head to the bull pasture to bark at the bulls, then they make a big circle and go bark at the horses and finally they find chickens to chase. This has become a daily occurance. Last night, I watched how they were getting out. They actually climb (paw over paw) the fence. It looks like they are climbing a ladder. So I had no choice but to put them in doggy jail - the kennel. This is only a stop gap measure. I think I will try running hot wire across the top of the fence. That usually works, but for now they are in doggy jail.
Brat update - She is doing much better, one of the bite marks had become infected and had caused her leg to swell. The poor baby could not bend her knee and getting up and down was difficult. A trip to the vet for a shot of Naxcel and a tube of Banamine later, the swelling has subsided, the heat has disapated and the mobility is returning. She is still in a very cuddly mood and just likes to hang out in her barn. Last night, she didn't want me to leave after her evening bottle. She just kept nudging me, so I spent the next hour scratching all of her itchy spots, teaching her to eat grain, and getting lots of scratchy kisses. The poor girl is lonely. Hopefully soon, she will be well enough to turn out with an older weaned calf. Then she can learn how to be a cow.
Brat update - She is doing much better, one of the bite marks had become infected and had caused her leg to swell. The poor baby could not bend her knee and getting up and down was difficult. A trip to the vet for a shot of Naxcel and a tube of Banamine later, the swelling has subsided, the heat has disapated and the mobility is returning. She is still in a very cuddly mood and just likes to hang out in her barn. Last night, she didn't want me to leave after her evening bottle. She just kept nudging me, so I spent the next hour scratching all of her itchy spots, teaching her to eat grain, and getting lots of scratchy kisses. The poor girl is lonely. Hopefully soon, she will be well enough to turn out with an older weaned calf. Then she can learn how to be a cow.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Time for a haircut
Yesterday, it was time to clip the horses. Now usually this is no big deal. Sadie's clipping manners are ideal - never moves a muscle, drops head, can clip without halter, etc. Cash isn't as good, but has made huge strides in his manners. Still have to stand on a bucket to clip his bridle path. Then we have Brandy. Everytime the clippers touch her she acts like she has been shocked. I have been working with her (running the clippers around her but not touching, laying the running clippers along her side without clipping anything, starting on her jaw and working my way up toward her muzzle, etc.) but have been making little headway. So yesterday was the day for her to be clipped for the show Saturday. I started with the easy horses first - Sadie then Cash. Soon it was Brandy's turn. I almost reached for the Ace, but I really only use that as a very last resort. We began and Brandy began her running backwards, popping up, and head jerking. Soon she was acting like an unbroke mustang (exaggeration). My patience was running out because I know that she used to behave well before. I was pretty sure that the behaviour was a learned thing and she had gotten away with the bad behaviour before and the people clipping her would give up (she was leased for about a year). I don't believe in ear twitching and use lip twitching on a very rare occasion, but her behaviour had to be reprimanded. I went and grabbed the show chain and lead (thats how often I use a chain, the only one I own goes on Cash's show halter). I attached the chain to the halter and tried again. Brandy set back against the chain and I let her sit. She moved forward and the pressure released. She chewed for a minute and walked forward. Patted her and started the clippers again. Brandy set back again, I let her set, she jumped forward, pressure released, chewing, pat, clippers. This happened about four more times. Finally on the sixth time she shook her head when she came forward and reached her nose to the clippers. I let her sniff and began clipping. Clipped her entire head without much trouble (I just clipped the edges of her ears) and never had to use the chain again. Moved on to her legs which she didn't like but stood for. Much patting and "Good Girls" later we had a clipped horse! Not the best job, but a presentable one. Brandy's reward for her improved behaviour was hand grazing on a covented grassy spot in the front yard. It is amazing how much better a horse behaves when you firmly tell them what is the expected behaviour. I know that the next time she will test me again, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt. Give her a chance to behave the first time before resorting to a chain. I am a big fan of "less is more" and "time and patience can achieve all". Her behaviour however, bordered on the dangerous to herself and me and that will not be tolerated.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Playday Count Down - 4 days
The 4H Horse Club that I am a volunteer leader in, is hosting a Combined Playday this weekend. This is the first big event that the club has hosted and I am getting a little stressed. My husband and I have produced bull ridings for years, but horse shows/playdays are totally new to me. There is so much to remember - judges, obstacles, barrels, timer, flags, etc. I really think that it will be worth it though. The concept for the playday is unique - three speed events (barrels, poles & flag race) and three show events (showmanship at halter, western pleasure & trail). This is a five week series and to be eligible for the buckles, a kid must compete in 5 of the 6 events. I know that this will stretch my groups skills. They are kinda stuck in the rail class mentality and can sure us the opportunity to hone some different horsemanship skills. As of today, I am still looking for judges. The parent that was going to take care of that backed out and I really don't have any judging contacts. I have contacted some of the local colleges, but haven't had any success yet. Wish me luck - must get back to judge hunting.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Escapee!
Last night, my blissful sleep was rudely disrupted by a rouge bull. Around 4:45 am, the dogs began barking loudly (and 15 dogs can make quite a racket). I got up to investigate, opened the front door and was face to face with "Calvin". Calvin is one of our bucking bulls that had apparently decided that he missed us and came for a visit. Now I do care about our bulls, but I wish he had picked a better time. Really, at 4:45 am I am not at my best. ;) Also, Calvin is not the most warm and fuzzy bull. Actually, he is probably the most dangerous and unpredictable one we have. So I quietly shut the door and ran back to the bedroom, grabbed Daryl and calmly told him that Calvin was out. Now his version says I shrieked, but he over dramatizes. Daryl roles out of bed and we get dressed, grab flashlights and emerge out of the house ready to do some bull wrangling. Once on the porch, we attempt to find Calvin with the flashlights. No sign of him. Daryl looks at me - I know he thinks I was dreaming. Soon the dogs begin barking again and we follow the sound. Ahaa! A Calvin sighting! A black and white blur races past and heads down the road towards his pasture. We are in hot pursuit (well as hot as you can in the dark). My husband runs to get the farm truck and I follow on foot to try to direct Calvin towards the pasture. Calvin has other ideas however and turns back toward the house. We go back and forth a couple of times, but thankfully, the rest of the bulls come up to investigate the ruckus. Wings starts to beller and Calvin throws up his head and runs to the pasture fence. After several runs up and down the fence, Calvin finds a spot and jumps with all his might. Any eventer would have been very appreciative of his form, although he over jumped the fence a bit. Home free he stops to glance over his shoulder and I swear he stuck out his tongue! Finally my husband pulls up with the truck and gives me a ride back to the house. We slowly make our way back to bed, lay our heads down on the pillows and close our eyes. WAWAWAWA!!! The alarm - Oh well, time to start a new day. Thanks Calvin.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Pony Time
One of the horses I have in for training right now is a 3 yr old paint gelding. His owners had begun his training as a 2 yr old, but soon felt that they needed professional help. They brought the horse for training and everything was progressing nicely. Unfortunatly, once serious training began (mounted work), the colt began to show stifle problems. After the initial lameness began, I laid him off for 3 days and then began hand walking. The stifles soon showed no signs of lameness and training began again. In hand ground work for a week in conjunction with 15-20 minutes hand walking. I then began under saddle work, again stifle soreness. The colt is fairly light muscled and tall (15.3 hds), and to look at him he looks like a two year old. With layoff, he is sound until training escalates. So now I am going to concentrate on improving his conditioning. I have been handwalking him daily for two weeks now and I began ponying him this weekend for 30 minutes at a walk. I will continue this for a couple more weeks until he can comfortably walk/trot for an hour. His lameness strongly suggests weak stifles instead of injured stifles and hopefully better conditioning will take care of the problem. Either way, 4 weeks of in hand work will surely make him a supple and light mouthed ride. A win - win situation.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Oklahoma Burning
Oklahoma is literally burning down! High winds, low humidity and dead vegatation have combined to make a perfect fire storm. Several towns had to be evacuated and people lost homes, businesses and other personal items. Thank GOD that so far no human lives have been lost! This does bring to light another important thing. My sister-in-law called frantic last night. She and her husband had to evacuate their home. They were not able to get their horse, Rusty, to load in the trailer. They ended up leaving him there. Now I know that we all believe that no emergency will ever happen to us, but things happen. Teach your horses to load! I don't mean, "Well we eventually get her to load". That doesn't work when anxiety is high. The horses will sense it and become agitated themselves. Don't blame the horse. It is your responsibility as a horse owner to train your horse in basic handling. I don't care if you don't ride them or well we never haul them anywhere. Again - things happen. If it's not a fire, flood, hurricane or some other disaster; it could be an emergency trip to the vet. Please, please, please for the health and well-being of your horse - teach them to load and load well.
Okay, now I will step down off of my soapbox. Have a great weekend!
Okay, now I will step down off of my soapbox. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Soft Hands
Yesterday, I taught a riding lesson to a cute 6 year old girl. She has been taking lessons off and on for the last couple of months. When I begin giving a student lessons, I have the students ride with a sidepull. They are working on gaining an independent seat and sometimes have a tendency to hang on the reins for balance or bump a horse's mouth. A sidepull is a bit more forgiving on the horse. Well, I told my student that she had graduated to the bridle and explained to her how the bit works and did the old wooden spoon in the mouth trick and we began the lesson. Wow! She had the softest and most giving hands of any beginner I have ever taught. Especially for such a young child. We progressed through the lesson and not once did she bang Sadie's mouth or hang on the reins. I was so proud of her! Now on to more leg cues and body cues! Before long she is going to graduate from Sadie to Brandy.
The Brat is doing great. She has some swelling under her neck at a puncture wound and her hind leg is still an issue, but her appetite is back and the michevious twinkle is back in her eye.
The Brat is doing great. She has some swelling under her neck at a puncture wound and her hind leg is still an issue, but her appetite is back and the michevious twinkle is back in her eye.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Trouble at the Ranch
Yesterday, we had to move The Brat (bottle calf) from her current housing to a new pen. It is a larger area and constant turn-out. We thought we did a masterful job making it as comfortable for her as possible (lots of hay in the stall, fresh buckets of water and feed, jolly ball, etc.). The Brat, however, had other ideas. Sometime during the evening she decided to jump the fence and escape. We came home from meetings & ball practice to an empty pen and no Brat to be seen. The family all ran and retrieved flashlights and spread out to look for her. After a frantic 5 minutes (seemed like an hour), we found her in the pen with Sheik, her old neighbor. She was shaken up and very cut up. We carried her back to her original pen and assessed her in the light. She gashed her hind leg pretty badly (I guess when she jumped out of her pen made with panels) and very scratched up from going through the wire into the pasture. Most everything is superficial, but the hind leg has me concerned. She won't leave a wrap on it and the gash is located on the inside just above her hock. It is not deep just an avulsion of the skin, but it looks bad. I didn't think sutures would hold last night and now it is too late to suture. She was getting around well this morning and was very hungry for her morning bottle, both great news. I am going to start her on antibiotics as a precaution. She will be fine, but this kind of drama I can live without!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Scratching Post
.jpg)
Spring is here and with it comes itchy horses. No matter how much we curry and brush, the hair seems neverending. My Daughter's horse, Cash, has come up with a unique way to get scratched. When I turn him back out after feeding, he makes a point of putting himself (16.3 hands and 1250 lbs) between me and where ever I am going. He will do this until I stop and scratch his belly. If I send him on, he gives me such a wounded look. It has been great practice for his Showmanship patterns. In his attempt to get a belly scratch, he will perform all of the manuvers perfectly without any halter. I only wish he would pivot as well on a leadrope!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Let me introduce you to the cast
Husband - my wonderful loving husband of 18 years
Daughter - 14 years old and a GREAT kid!
Son - 10 years old and my greatest joy and trial
Colty - 7 year old paint gelding, namesake for this Blog. He is my baby. I rescued him as a yearling and couldn't ever see parting with him.
Sadie - 10 year old pinto mare. The best kid horse in the world. She is game for anything and extremely patient.
Cash - 6 year old Paint gelding. The leading man type (I am beautiful and I know it!) My daughter's show horse.
Brandy - 17 year old Paint mare. A sweet old soul. Great for beginners and people needing some confidence.
Doc - 4 year old Shetland gelding. The prankster!
Stormy - ?? year old Mustang/Appaloosa. A real softy on the inside, but doesn't let many people close.
Val & Sheik - horses in training
9 dogs (Emmy, Hammer, Johnny, Chubs, Dolly, Pup, Bee, Somethin', Lil Bit)
6 foster dogs (Otis, Layla, Turk, Baby, Sally & Missy)
Sara the cat
Duckster the duck
Cows (Cat Ballou, Jelly, Mama, Mighty Mama, Phantom, Tammy Faye, PJ, 53, 45, 30, Sweet Pea, Baby I, Tiny I, Knees, Thumb Spot, Buckaroo Spot, Fast Forward, Pinky, DewRag, P Jo)
Bulls (Charlie, Wings, All Mighty, Romeo, Rewind, Ugly Bucks, Two Spot, Slapout, Brownstone, No Beef, Crazy Brindle, Lil Al, War Paint )
The Brat - 1 month old bottle calf (her mom, Creme, prolapsed and died)
The Chickens
Daughter - 14 years old and a GREAT kid!
Son - 10 years old and my greatest joy and trial
Colty - 7 year old paint gelding, namesake for this Blog. He is my baby. I rescued him as a yearling and couldn't ever see parting with him.
Sadie - 10 year old pinto mare. The best kid horse in the world. She is game for anything and extremely patient.
Cash - 6 year old Paint gelding. The leading man type (I am beautiful and I know it!) My daughter's show horse.
Brandy - 17 year old Paint mare. A sweet old soul. Great for beginners and people needing some confidence.
Doc - 4 year old Shetland gelding. The prankster!
Stormy - ?? year old Mustang/Appaloosa. A real softy on the inside, but doesn't let many people close.
Val & Sheik - horses in training
9 dogs (Emmy, Hammer, Johnny, Chubs, Dolly, Pup, Bee, Somethin', Lil Bit)
6 foster dogs (Otis, Layla, Turk, Baby, Sally & Missy)
Sara the cat
Duckster the duck
Cows (Cat Ballou, Jelly, Mama, Mighty Mama, Phantom, Tammy Faye, PJ, 53, 45, 30, Sweet Pea, Baby I, Tiny I, Knees, Thumb Spot, Buckaroo Spot, Fast Forward, Pinky, DewRag, P Jo)
Bulls (Charlie, Wings, All Mighty, Romeo, Rewind, Ugly Bucks, Two Spot, Slapout, Brownstone, No Beef, Crazy Brindle, Lil Al, War Paint )
The Brat - 1 month old bottle calf (her mom, Creme, prolapsed and died)
The Chickens
Howdy! Well this is me....
Hey ya'll, I am a 40 year old mother of two and wife of one. I am sure that many of you will be able to understand the trials and tribulations of my wonderful life. Not enough me to go around, not enough time in the day, not enough days in the week! While my life is not exactly noteworthy, some people might just get a chuckle out of my days. Where to begin - here is a my To Do List for my upcoming week.
1. Work horse in training
2. Help my daughter get her horse ready for a show in the 18th
3. Plan the show for the 18th
4. Help plan a golf fundraiser for the local Booster club
5. Give two riding lessons
6. Get my kid's to baseball/softball practice
7. Go to a Booster Club meeting
8. Go to a School Board meeting
9. Work my own horses
10. Work with the 5 "foster dogs"
11. Feed horses & cattle
12. Paint the trail obstacles for the show on the 18th
13. Get sponsors for the County Fair Bull Riding
14. Help my 4H Horse Club kids get ready for the show on the 18th
15. Get my horses that the 4H kids are using ready for the show on the 18th
16. Be a loving mom and wife
17. Clean the house
18. Mow/weed eat the yard.
Oh and by the way work a 40+ hour work week.
One thing about it - my life is never boring! God blesses me and we get it all done!
1. Work horse in training
2. Help my daughter get her horse ready for a show in the 18th
3. Plan the show for the 18th
4. Help plan a golf fundraiser for the local Booster club
5. Give two riding lessons
6. Get my kid's to baseball/softball practice
7. Go to a Booster Club meeting
8. Go to a School Board meeting
9. Work my own horses
10. Work with the 5 "foster dogs"
11. Feed horses & cattle
12. Paint the trail obstacles for the show on the 18th
13. Get sponsors for the County Fair Bull Riding
14. Help my 4H Horse Club kids get ready for the show on the 18th
15. Get my horses that the 4H kids are using ready for the show on the 18th
16. Be a loving mom and wife
17. Clean the house
18. Mow/weed eat the yard.
Oh and by the way work a 40+ hour work week.
One thing about it - my life is never boring! God blesses me and we get it all done!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
