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.

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!

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.

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