Accomplishments!!
It was mega hot out today. Not pleasant. We had to clean our stalls again, but didn't have to strip them, thankfully. The horses didn't even want to stay outside, so we brought them in and braided all of their hair! I wish I would've taken pictures. They looked really cute.
After the hair braiding festivities, my brother and I set out to tack up Nina. He had been working with her playing the Friendly Game for a while before I showed up, so she was fairly calm. Fairly calm as in it took us at least 30 minutes to get the jaquima on her head. I insisted on not having her on the cross ties while doings this because for one she'd feel trapped and two I would be getting choked/hit in the face with the cross ties every time she jerked her head back. After our huge accomplishment we still needed to get the bit in. At that point my parents were getting antsy (grrrrr) so my mom stepped in, hooked her to the cross ties, and put the bit on her (after another 15 minutes of my brother and I trying).
We rode. Harry was okay, I only got to ride him. =[ He's just a little engine! I worked to make him walk without me having to pull on his bit and when he did that once around each way I ended the session.
All in all, it was a good day =]
Showing posts with label Head Shy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Head Shy. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Day 61
What was the hardest working day in a while turned out to be the most fun I've had with horses since we moved to the new stable.
I already told you that we decided not to go to the Springfield show this weekend, which means that we had to truck back everything we brought home for the show.
Before arrival, we realized we forgot one important thing: all of the head gear. We can ride at least Brie bareback, but with just a halter on? I don't think so. My mom was thoroughly upset while I took it as a good sign: now we'd be able to work with Nina without the pressure of wanting to ride!
That all ended once we walked in the stable. The stalls were FILTHY, like they haven't been cleaned for days, and there wasn't a scrap of hay in any of the holders. Not again, we thought. This kind of incident has happened too often in our horse-owning history. It's been really good at the stable now because of Paco. Paco is amazing at staying on top of the cleaning and handiwork around the stable; but he is at the show this weekend as well, cleaning and being on top of handiwork over there. I don't even know who was hired to clean and feed, but to say it was disappointing is to say the least. So we broke open a bale of hay, flaked it up, and fed it to the horses on our side. Later on, the electrician said he saw the temporary help feeding at 6 AM. Oh. Well that would make sense why there's no food in the holders. At least it was only hay. Lunch won't hurt them (horses are actually supposed to be fed three times day, but at most places are only fed twice).
We put the horses outside and my parents, my brother, and I got to cleaning stalls. We had to strip down Nina and Harry's stall because they're messy when they go to the bathroom. Brie's stall we only had to sift through the enormous mound of poo and move more shavings over the stripped wet spots. That's one thing I love about Brie: she's very neat. My brother was excited because he got to drive the Gator back and forth between the stalls and the manure mound. My brother and I ended up doing the colt's stall on our side (we love him to death, his nickname is Ken) and Taco's stall as well. I think that is probably the cleanest their stalls have ever been. John came by, Jane's boyfriend, he actually owns Taco, and thanked us for cleaning the stall and asked that we put Taco outside in the grass pasture, so I did.
After seeing the mudcakes that Harry, Nina, and Brie had become after playing in the mud pastures, my mom wanted to give them all baths. She did Brie first while my brother and I stayed outside with Harry and Nina. We took this opportunity to go after Nina's ears and head. Harry went next while I let Brie get her 10 minutes of grass, which undoubtedly made her life the happiest it's been since the last stable. She rarely gets grass because of her insulin resistance problem. After bringing her and Taco back inside, I held Harry outside while watching my brother chase Nina around the pasture and try to go after her ears. Let me tell you, Nina was not a happy camper. My mom took her inside, I brought Harry inside, and before we gave Nina a bath, we decided to do some Parelli with her.
The most basic Parelli game, the Friendly Game, involves using your hand, carrot stick, or string (or all three if you can multitask) to just rub the horse all over. If they're skittish, the point of the game is to get them to stop wincing or dancing around when you touch them. All the games have one goal: trust between the horse and rider(or non rider owner). Since the moment we got Nina, she was pretty much bomb-proof. She was the quickest learning and most eager to play the games.
Not today. She HATED the game and kept wiggling around and trying to hop away, but that wasn't happening. She was in the shower stall anyways. So after working herself up for about 10 minutes while I wiggled a piece of string around her legs and neck, she started calming down and let me throw it over her ears. I switched with my brother and he did the same. Then I got to the front of her head, facing her, and started wiggling it on her face. After initially freaking out, she started to calm down (along with the help of some peppermints and carrots). By the end of the session, which was about 45 minutes, I was about to get the bit hanger sans bit over her ears and off again without her flinching. With this, we stopped and bathed her, feeling the most accomplished and proud we've felt in a while. I felt especially proud because I haven't bonded with Nina that much, as my brother took a liking to her right away and I was focusing on rehabbing Brie.
All in all, it was a fantastically accomplished laid back day with a minor downfall of filthy stalls. Thankfully Paco will be back tomorrow afternoon.
I already told you that we decided not to go to the Springfield show this weekend, which means that we had to truck back everything we brought home for the show.
Before arrival, we realized we forgot one important thing: all of the head gear. We can ride at least Brie bareback, but with just a halter on? I don't think so. My mom was thoroughly upset while I took it as a good sign: now we'd be able to work with Nina without the pressure of wanting to ride!
That all ended once we walked in the stable. The stalls were FILTHY, like they haven't been cleaned for days, and there wasn't a scrap of hay in any of the holders. Not again, we thought. This kind of incident has happened too often in our horse-owning history. It's been really good at the stable now because of Paco. Paco is amazing at staying on top of the cleaning and handiwork around the stable; but he is at the show this weekend as well, cleaning and being on top of handiwork over there. I don't even know who was hired to clean and feed, but to say it was disappointing is to say the least. So we broke open a bale of hay, flaked it up, and fed it to the horses on our side. Later on, the electrician said he saw the temporary help feeding at 6 AM. Oh. Well that would make sense why there's no food in the holders. At least it was only hay. Lunch won't hurt them (horses are actually supposed to be fed three times day, but at most places are only fed twice).
We put the horses outside and my parents, my brother, and I got to cleaning stalls. We had to strip down Nina and Harry's stall because they're messy when they go to the bathroom. Brie's stall we only had to sift through the enormous mound of poo and move more shavings over the stripped wet spots. That's one thing I love about Brie: she's very neat. My brother was excited because he got to drive the Gator back and forth between the stalls and the manure mound. My brother and I ended up doing the colt's stall on our side (we love him to death, his nickname is Ken) and Taco's stall as well. I think that is probably the cleanest their stalls have ever been. John came by, Jane's boyfriend, he actually owns Taco, and thanked us for cleaning the stall and asked that we put Taco outside in the grass pasture, so I did.
After seeing the mudcakes that Harry, Nina, and Brie had become after playing in the mud pastures, my mom wanted to give them all baths. She did Brie first while my brother and I stayed outside with Harry and Nina. We took this opportunity to go after Nina's ears and head. Harry went next while I let Brie get her 10 minutes of grass, which undoubtedly made her life the happiest it's been since the last stable. She rarely gets grass because of her insulin resistance problem. After bringing her and Taco back inside, I held Harry outside while watching my brother chase Nina around the pasture and try to go after her ears. Let me tell you, Nina was not a happy camper. My mom took her inside, I brought Harry inside, and before we gave Nina a bath, we decided to do some Parelli with her.
The most basic Parelli game, the Friendly Game, involves using your hand, carrot stick, or string (or all three if you can multitask) to just rub the horse all over. If they're skittish, the point of the game is to get them to stop wincing or dancing around when you touch them. All the games have one goal: trust between the horse and rider(or non rider owner). Since the moment we got Nina, she was pretty much bomb-proof. She was the quickest learning and most eager to play the games.
Not today. She HATED the game and kept wiggling around and trying to hop away, but that wasn't happening. She was in the shower stall anyways. So after working herself up for about 10 minutes while I wiggled a piece of string around her legs and neck, she started calming down and let me throw it over her ears. I switched with my brother and he did the same. Then I got to the front of her head, facing her, and started wiggling it on her face. After initially freaking out, she started to calm down (along with the help of some peppermints and carrots). By the end of the session, which was about 45 minutes, I was about to get the bit hanger sans bit over her ears and off again without her flinching. With this, we stopped and bathed her, feeling the most accomplished and proud we've felt in a while. I felt especially proud because I haven't bonded with Nina that much, as my brother took a liking to her right away and I was focusing on rehabbing Brie.
All in all, it was a fantastically accomplished laid back day with a minor downfall of filthy stalls. Thankfully Paco will be back tomorrow afternoon.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Equestrian Team Day 11
We haven't had lessons for two weeks. It depresses me. Our lesson coordinator is a little overwhelmed, but there is hope. You know why?
Today I rode another new horse (for me). His name is General. Apparently, he's for the more experienced type (yesssss). He was really fun. He was such an easy ride, such light contact was necessary. He did want to break into a canter after we cantered around the first time, but I managed it. When our instructor asked us our summer plans, I replied "I'll be training horses". She then remembered that I have Paso Finos and replied "Well you'll be going back with a better seat!"
Uhm. About that. I think it's a little funny sometimes when people comment on Paso Finos because they're so different than other breeds. You don't even have to concentrate on a good seat, you just have one. You don't have to check your diagonal because there is none! You can spend all your time devoted to making sure your heels are down and that the horse is behaving. It's basically a no-brainer ride---until you get to the brio, the spirit of the horse. If I ever am a riding instructor, I will make all of my students, at one point or another, ride a Paso Fino. Then they can tackle anything that comes their way!
In short, I had a great ride. She complimented my improved seat on the canter and I got my diagonals right 75% of the time! Improvement!! I'm stoked for the summer when I can get more lessons and hopefully show so I can start off at a higher level in IHSA in the fall.
Speaking of showing....we're not going to the Springfield show this weekend anymore. After Paco informed us that we would need to be taking our own hay, grain, and bedding, we remembered how horrible the show was last year, how no one showed up, and how Randy won pretty much everything. So we're going to spend these next two weeks (since we're not going to Spectrum either) to work with Nina on her head-shy business.
I'm looking forward to the weekend so badly. Until then, happy trails!
Because I'm the new lesson coordinator!!
Yup, I'm gonna be scheduling everything for the next year. I'm so excited for it, I really want to prove how good of I job I can do that way I can run for president of the team.Today I rode another new horse (for me). His name is General. Apparently, he's for the more experienced type (yesssss). He was really fun. He was such an easy ride, such light contact was necessary. He did want to break into a canter after we cantered around the first time, but I managed it. When our instructor asked us our summer plans, I replied "I'll be training horses". She then remembered that I have Paso Finos and replied "Well you'll be going back with a better seat!"
Uhm. About that. I think it's a little funny sometimes when people comment on Paso Finos because they're so different than other breeds. You don't even have to concentrate on a good seat, you just have one. You don't have to check your diagonal because there is none! You can spend all your time devoted to making sure your heels are down and that the horse is behaving. It's basically a no-brainer ride---until you get to the brio, the spirit of the horse. If I ever am a riding instructor, I will make all of my students, at one point or another, ride a Paso Fino. Then they can tackle anything that comes their way!
In short, I had a great ride. She complimented my improved seat on the canter and I got my diagonals right 75% of the time! Improvement!! I'm stoked for the summer when I can get more lessons and hopefully show so I can start off at a higher level in IHSA in the fall.
Speaking of showing....we're not going to the Springfield show this weekend anymore. After Paco informed us that we would need to be taking our own hay, grain, and bedding, we remembered how horrible the show was last year, how no one showed up, and how Randy won pretty much everything. So we're going to spend these next two weeks (since we're not going to Spectrum either) to work with Nina on her head-shy business.
I'm looking forward to the weekend so badly. Until then, happy trails!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Day 60
Bobcats and tractors and dump trucks, oh my!
That's what was at the barn today. The owner is digging a very large pond in the back of his house/barn. I'm sure it'll be beautiful when it's finished, but it was a bit of a pain in the butt today.
Nina. Is. A. BRAT.
I don't know whether something happened to her that she doesn't want to give her head to us or if she's just playing games, but she was acting completely unacceptably today. It took me, my mom, and Paco to hold her down to put the bit hanger over her ears and I felt horrible because Paco had to twitch her ear. I'm completely against twitching and sorts of related techniques, I think they're mean and will only harbor mistrust from the horse towards you. While it may help in the short run, I believe the horse will then never want to give you her head because she anticipates being twitched, which will result in more problems.
I've decided not to bring Harry to this show. I don't trust him enough. I feel like that's a valid reason. I don't trust that I'll be able to get through the class with him. I've only had a couple of experiences with him so far riding him with other horses and the majority of those are with Brie and Nina. Today I had an experience with another horse and he wasn't too keen on it. While I would've liked to work with him longer today but I didn't feel completely comfortable with the new horse in the arena and the machinery outside so I only went once around the arena after multiple circles on the far end of the arena.
Brie is ready for show =] Finally! We have to take her off the calming supplement though because apparently it's USEF illegal for shows. I hope she still does well. I have a strategy in my mind: Last year when I won the third place, I didn't have any time to warm her up because I thought I had more time than I really did so we just had to go straight into the class. I'm going to lunge her for a while before my first class, which is Costume, and since I'm usually the only one in that class, it'll be a good way for her to calm down around her surroundings. Hopefully it works! We can only wait and see.
I'm a little worried about Nina at the show. I don't want my brother to get hurt if she gives him a hard time. He needs to gain more confidence and pay attention to everything we tell him about handling a rough horse. Even though she's not "rough", she's still playing games similar to Brie when she was 4 years old. Hopefully we don't make idiots of ourselves trying to get the bit hanger over her head.
Wish me luck!
That's what was at the barn today. The owner is digging a very large pond in the back of his house/barn. I'm sure it'll be beautiful when it's finished, but it was a bit of a pain in the butt today.
Nina. Is. A. BRAT.
I don't know whether something happened to her that she doesn't want to give her head to us or if she's just playing games, but she was acting completely unacceptably today. It took me, my mom, and Paco to hold her down to put the bit hanger over her ears and I felt horrible because Paco had to twitch her ear. I'm completely against twitching and sorts of related techniques, I think they're mean and will only harbor mistrust from the horse towards you. While it may help in the short run, I believe the horse will then never want to give you her head because she anticipates being twitched, which will result in more problems.
I've decided not to bring Harry to this show. I don't trust him enough. I feel like that's a valid reason. I don't trust that I'll be able to get through the class with him. I've only had a couple of experiences with him so far riding him with other horses and the majority of those are with Brie and Nina. Today I had an experience with another horse and he wasn't too keen on it. While I would've liked to work with him longer today but I didn't feel completely comfortable with the new horse in the arena and the machinery outside so I only went once around the arena after multiple circles on the far end of the arena.
Brie is ready for show =] Finally! We have to take her off the calming supplement though because apparently it's USEF illegal for shows. I hope she still does well. I have a strategy in my mind: Last year when I won the third place, I didn't have any time to warm her up because I thought I had more time than I really did so we just had to go straight into the class. I'm going to lunge her for a while before my first class, which is Costume, and since I'm usually the only one in that class, it'll be a good way for her to calm down around her surroundings. Hopefully it works! We can only wait and see.
I'm a little worried about Nina at the show. I don't want my brother to get hurt if she gives him a hard time. He needs to gain more confidence and pay attention to everything we tell him about handling a rough horse. Even though she's not "rough", she's still playing games similar to Brie when she was 4 years old. Hopefully we don't make idiots of ourselves trying to get the bit hanger over her head.
Wish me luck!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Days 13 & 14
Day 13
Yay! I got to go home and see Brie and Nina!
I figured why stay at school if nothing's going on? So I went home.
Well. For the past couple weeks it's been really hard to get Brie out of the stall. I go by the door with the halter and she runs into the corner. Now I know that you're not supposed to barge on in there and get the horse, but I already stood/sat there for over an hour once and I'm not about to do that again. She didn't even come out when I did that! So I need to find a way that doesn't involve bribing her with food, to get her to come by the door and put the halter on.
Other than that, today was the best day I've had with her so far! She's learning how to canter on command. She's still a little mixed up between gaiting and cantering, but she'll get it. She goes so fast! It's indescribable! The only thing I can think of to explain it is it's like I'm flying, it's incredible.
And that's not even galloping!
After that adrenaline rush, I switched with my mom and rode outside with Nina. Very relaxing. Brie got too far ahead and Nina broke into her tiny canter to catch up. It was adorable! My mom and I had a race. Nina had no chance! Her canter is so short while Brie's is so extended. It was very amusing though =]
This was such a good day. I didn't realize how being around them makes me so calm. It was the perfect remedy to an overly stressful week.
Now to do it again tomorrow!
Day 14
So I was too exhausted to remember to post yesterday so I combined it with today.
First off I want to talk about Nina. She too has been having trouble with putting the halter on. While I was watching Cesar Milan on Friday night, he did this trick where you massage the animal to make it calm and then pet it once it's calmed down. Easiest thing ever and I never thought of it! So I walked in Nina's stall and did this to her and she was better putting the halter on. Today she only tossed her head once before she lowered it to put the halter on. Progress!
Also Brie is getting better at cantering. It's more me getting scared of falling off. But we walked outside and Brie was pretty calm. I was so proud of her! She too is making progress. And with all this progress made it makes me even more satisfied that I went home this weekend.
Now next weekend I'm going to the Nationals as a spectator. Now THAT should be an interesting weekend. I'm sure I'll have much to say about it. Until then, keep riding!
Yay! I got to go home and see Brie and Nina!
I figured why stay at school if nothing's going on? So I went home.
Well. For the past couple weeks it's been really hard to get Brie out of the stall. I go by the door with the halter and she runs into the corner. Now I know that you're not supposed to barge on in there and get the horse, but I already stood/sat there for over an hour once and I'm not about to do that again. She didn't even come out when I did that! So I need to find a way that doesn't involve bribing her with food, to get her to come by the door and put the halter on.
Other than that, today was the best day I've had with her so far! She's learning how to canter on command. She's still a little mixed up between gaiting and cantering, but she'll get it. She goes so fast! It's indescribable! The only thing I can think of to explain it is it's like I'm flying, it's incredible.
And that's not even galloping!
After that adrenaline rush, I switched with my mom and rode outside with Nina. Very relaxing. Brie got too far ahead and Nina broke into her tiny canter to catch up. It was adorable! My mom and I had a race. Nina had no chance! Her canter is so short while Brie's is so extended. It was very amusing though =]
This was such a good day. I didn't realize how being around them makes me so calm. It was the perfect remedy to an overly stressful week.
Now to do it again tomorrow!
Day 14
So I was too exhausted to remember to post yesterday so I combined it with today.
First off I want to talk about Nina. She too has been having trouble with putting the halter on. While I was watching Cesar Milan on Friday night, he did this trick where you massage the animal to make it calm and then pet it once it's calmed down. Easiest thing ever and I never thought of it! So I walked in Nina's stall and did this to her and she was better putting the halter on. Today she only tossed her head once before she lowered it to put the halter on. Progress!
Also Brie is getting better at cantering. It's more me getting scared of falling off. But we walked outside and Brie was pretty calm. I was so proud of her! She too is making progress. And with all this progress made it makes me even more satisfied that I went home this weekend.
Now next weekend I'm going to the Nationals as a spectator. Now THAT should be an interesting weekend. I'm sure I'll have much to say about it. Until then, keep riding!
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