Day 77

I only rode Harry today.
I think I'm going to switch up his bit tomorrow. Right now he has a pretty falt one and I think I'm going to switch it with Nina's. The one that Harry has we originally purchased for Nina, but then Carmello told us that Nina was better off with one like Brie's so we ended up buying another one and gave the leftover to Harry when we got him. Paco said that he had a different bit than one like ours when he was working with Harry, one like Nina's so we're going to try it tomorrow. I only hope that Nina is okay with everything and she doesn't regress.

Why am I making all these changes you ask? I just feel like I can't control Harry. Between the crappy jaquima (we still need to order one) and this bit, everything seems ineffective. He just keeps on plowing onwards. It's like he has no respect for me. I took him outside today and as much as I would've liked to stay outside, I went back in because he would NOT respond to anything I asked of him (such as slowing down) and just did as he pleased. The most I could get him to do was turn, but even that was a yank. I don't want my fists to be up at my shoulders while riding him because that's how much effort I have to put into it, it's just ridiculous.

He was much better lunging today though, now that I know what I'm doing. He only ran out on me maybe twice. I was also very proud of him because I got him to get into the wash rack, something with which he's been having some trouble with the past couple of weeks. He's been scared of it. So I was very proud of both myself and him when I got him in there today.

Mom rode Brie outside for a while. Paco told us that he rode her yesterday and that she was all uptight and upset because she knew after about 20 minutes Paco would take her back into the barn so he stayed out a while longer and she calmed down. I wish I could ride Brie outside but I have to deal with Harry.

My brother rode Nina inside and outside. My mom and he also worked on her legshyness since she's informed us that the farrier should be out in about three weeks. I wasn't there to watch, but it sounded like it went well. No panicky yells or pounding dancing hooves on the concrete, so I assume it all went well.

Wish me luck with the bit change tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be one heck of a day!

Day 48

Late post. Sorry guys. This one's for Saturday. I didn't make it out yesterday because I got a new puppy, Bella! You can read more about that here.

Got to the stable and, as usual, Brie doesn't want to come out of her stall right away. This really bugs me, you know? She comes out very easily for everyone else, just not me. She's playing mind games and it's not fair! I will win though, however long it takes. Then sometimes I feel bad because I feel like she doesn't like me, but that's not true, she loves hanging around me. It's definitely just because I've always been the one she messes with, even when we first got her. I was the most challenged because apparently we're on the same wavelength for these mind tricks. Oh Brie. So she was a good ride, didn't really do much with her because I started riding Harry and Nina today! Yay! Especially for Nina!I rode Harry right after Brie though, so I'll start with him.
We only took forever to get Harry's jaquima put together and figure out how do you cinch a non-button-holey girth. For those of you who don't know what a jaquima is, it looks like this:It's kind of like a hackamore, and is actually very practical. It amazes me why more people don't use this, but that's beside the point. My mom's friend bought one from Colombia and it's very nice, except we wanted to change it up and it just wasn't working. So about a half hour later, we end up with the same set-up we started with. Harry's snout and mouth are very small, so we weren't sure how tight to make the bit hanger. We set it to what we thought would be the correct setting and off I went. I lunged him and he was pretty good, then I got on him. He was very excited so I just walked and walked and walked to calm him down. All was going well until suddenly, near the end of my ride, he rears up. Now I'm not talking little hop, I'm talking full on rear. Now I could've panicked like my dad, but even though I felt him toppling backwards losing balance, I pulled him to the side and he went back down, shaking, and I pet him to calm him down. Turns out the bit went under his tongue and he freaked because of it. I called my mom over to adjust it for me and once it was tightened, he was perfectly fine and we ended our ride on a good note.

Onto Nina. I can't see what we paid for in training, honestly. She still won't gait and her head is all over the place up in the air. It looks like she's swimming! I'm just worried that we may have lost our shot at her being a Fino horse due to this lack of proper training. It just frustrates me so much! She was trotting the entire time! I'm aware this sounds silly, since most horses trot, but Paso Fino's are not supposed to trot. They're supposed to look a little something like this:


So you can see why trotting is bad!
I'm just so frustrated. It looks like we won't even be showing. Even Brie, because my parents would rather bring Harry and get him into the showing setting to desensitize him, which makes sense, but I'd really rather bring Brie and show her. We may just end up going to Memphis to see Carmello and spend the weekend with him and he can give us some pointers on how to get Nina to gait better and what is opinion is of Harry.

Day 3

So today.
I arrive at the stables and find out our horses' stalls haven't been cleaned. The person who's supposed to take care of the horses, Ken, decided to not come to work today. Already frustrated, I go to ride Brie. Bad Idea. I end up deciding to change her bit. So I go from the snaffle bit to this new Colombian bit that Carmello said I should use.

I guess it was my frustration that made it take so long for Brie to calm down. I ended up riding for about 2 hours. I decided to ride outside. Also a bad idea. She ended up getting more worked up, so I had to walk her more. Finally she calmed down. She walked and gaited really nicely. I just need to work on slowing down her corto (slower Paso gait) and largo-ing(faster Paso gait) her without breaking into a canter(almost a gallop, full out running).

So we're all cleaning stalls. Ugh. We find out that the owner of the stables is gonna fire Ken and bring in Paco to work and live in the apartment above the riding arena after Nationals. Which I can't even go to because I have to move in that week! Bad luck =/ But I really like Paco, he was at one of the stables we were at before. He really loves the horses and knows how to take care of them the right way, always keeps the stable clean. I can't wait to finally be able to go to sleep knowing my horses ate and get out.

Now here comes Jane. She owns Taco, a horse who I rode on a whim at a show once when his trainer asked me to. Apparently Taco has been horrible for Jane and Andre just keeps messing around with Taco and tryin to re-train him. Jane was so angry with Taco she was ready to sell him (I'd gladly buy him). So I asked her about him, how is he acting. He's acting just like Brie was before Dominic told me how to calm her down! Taco's just misunderstood by Andre and feared by Jane. So I offered to work Taco for Jane on the weekend when I'm there an maybe on wednesdays if I can get out there.

So I end this post disgusted with the hired help, disappointed in Andre's lack of patience, eager to work on Brie's gait changes before the state fair, and have myself my first client! Even if it's unpaid =]

Day 2

What started out as a crappy, frustrating day turned out to be a little fun and informative.

I decided to put a snaffle bit on Brie. For those who aren't familiar with the Paso Finos, let me explain. Pasos are Spanish horses from Colombia and Puerto Rico. Hence, they use Colombian style bits. (if you really don't know, bits are the metal parts that go in the horse's mouth) Snaffle bits are mainly for English style riding, like dressage and jumping. Based on the knowledge from Dominic, Carmello, and my mother, who are all trained in dressage, I believe it's worth a shot. Because they offer explanations as to how what the trainers are doing wrong, and how a bit of dressage training would be good for these horses, I believe its worth a shot. And because the trainers in Florida are winning and catching onto the snaffle bit "revolution", I believe it's worth a shot.
And anyways, Brie started out with this snaffle bit. It can't hurt to go back to her roots. And hey, if dressage has been working for hundreds of years on all sorts of horses, why wouldn't it work now to help this Spanish breed have more finesse?

Anyways, I worked with Brie on the snaffle bit. She seems okay with it, but slightly shocked at the difference between it and the Colombian bit. I don't know how it'll work out, it's just an experiment.

New problem: getting Brie to willingly accept the bit.

Now with Nina. She's very unhappy. Andre pointed out that Nina has sores, symmetrical sores, on the inside of her mouth. Hmm I wonder why. Not. She's pacing and not in her natural gait. The only good part about that is that Andre gave us a way to fire him. He suggested giving her time off! His situation's complicated and I don't wish to go into it. But we all at the stable think that he's getting ready to quit right before Nationals because of his situation. That'll leave the stable in peril, but not me!

The fun part of my day? After getting really angry at Andre, I decided "well what the hell." I got out my hard hat, took some cones and a long 2x4, and made a small jump. At first Brie was hesitant, but once she got up to it, she jumped right over it! And she liked it! I think I might've found her calling! The smaller jump circuit. I'll keep it up for a while and see how it goes.

And for those who say a Paso Fino can't jump, I say to you this:
A horse is a horse and will do what makes her happy.

Day 1

I'm sick of my horse being head-shy.
I'm through with chasing her around the paddock.
I'm tired of being cornered in the stall when I go to get her.
And I'm most tired of my trainer's "training"!

This is the account of one 17 year old girl's experience when she takes "training" into her own hands.
Impossible, you say? By the end of this blog, I promise to have won one blue ribbon in a class of at least 10. I promise to have solved the three problems I aforementioned, and any others that come up along the way. And, most importantly, I promise to have done it all without raising an angry hand to either one of my mares.

Maybe I should state why I'm taking on this project.
I've had my black mare, Brie, for 5 years. Don't get me wrong, my trainer did help in the beginning. Let's call him Andre. Andre started training her when she was 3. She's now 8. And while she is still very....easily excited, I have to give Andre some credit for calming her down. Now while she was in training, someone took her for a joyride and she's been headshy ever since. Back up as to why. Brie is a Paso Fino, a rare gem in America, land of the Quarter Horse. I don't want to go all out into her breed, but you may google it if you're interested.

About a year ago, an expert in the Paso Fino came to our stables. I'll call him Dominic. Dominic observed Brie and me and said that Brie is a very anxious horse. She needs to calm down. So I followed his advice: walk her, don't let her gallop, make her face her fears of the sunshine demons. And it got me to the point where I could ride her in the show ring without her rearing or freezing and getting excused. And while this is an accomplishment, I'd at least like a fourth place. Brie doesn't like other horses in front of nor behind her. Or in general. She only likes my filly (young girl horse) Nina.

At my most recent show in Kentucky, I met an elderly man I'll call Carmello who is packed with knowledge. To make a long story short, I'm following his advice combined with Dominic's: no more doing without reason. See, Andre, who was once very gentle, is getting very aggressive with his training. And when you ask him why he does what he does, he either doesn't know or answers simply "because everyone's doing it". He's not training Brie anymore, but he is training Nina. And I do not like what I'm seeing lately: scars on her nose and ankles. Good thing this is the last week of her training.

So to start off my tale, today I walked Brie for a good hour. I didn't use a bit, which she seemed to really like. After bucking and kicking while I warmed her up, she was really wanting to take off on me. But I managed to work with her and calm her down. Nina and my mom even joined us in our calm state.

So that's how day 1 went. Nothing big, but I guess it takes little steps. I plan on going thru all of the Level One Parelli DVDs this week while I sit at home and have nothing else to do! So that should prove an interesting challenge in the weeks to come. As will the state fair.