Sunday
The farrier came out today and surprisingly he wasn't more than an hour late! While we were waiting for him, we let everyone out in the paddock to play. Harry and I played "I'm gonna get you!", which is basically where I walk around all cool and calm while he's eating, then stop and look at him and he looks up at me, then I crouch down really fast and he takes off. It's really cute, I need to record it. He knows to come by me or not be bothered by me when I'm standing upright, but when I crouch down, he speeds away! It's adorable =]
We only had enough tranquilizer for Nina, so Harry didn't get his shoes back on. I just remembered that I forgot to bring them with to school for luck. I left them at home. I'll have to get them when I go back this weekend. Harry was a little nervous at first and kicked out with his front foot when the farrier was trying to pull the shoe off and he knocked the hoof stand and then got scared because it fell down, but after that I put light pressure over his nose with my hand when he started to get tense and he relaxed into the whole process. After that, there weren't anymore issues.
Kimmy was looking for someone to ride with, since Sadie doesn't like to ride alone, and Brie was already trimmed so I took her for the first ride we've had in a while. I hate getting preoccupied with one horse over another, but it happens. She was so calm today and I think a lot of it has to do with my attitude. I was determined to keep a light rein and steady contact with my legs and seat. I've been trying to rely more on my lower body than my upper body while riding. We walked for a long time, each time she started to speed up I only lifted the reins when she started to jerk forward in anticipation or if she started to steadily start trying to increase, I sank my rear down into the saddle and gently started closing my fingers more tightly around the reins and she would slow back down before I even closed my hands all the way. After much walking to make sure that she got all of the kinks out of her arthritic leg, we sped up for a nice corto and then again for a smooth largo. I could really tell that she was happy with today's work. I also focused more on my legs than my hands for some serpentines and figure 8's throughout the ride.
At the end of the ride I put both reins into one hand and just let it rest on the pommel all while trying to direct her solely from my lower half and she responded wonderfully. She never tried to take off, so eventually I just dropped my stirrups and my rein and let her walk herself around the arena to cool and then gave her a nice warm shower. In all, a great day.
Showing posts with label Kimmy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kimmy. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Day 252
I started off Harry today in the same way as yesterday and I've learned something --- he does not like the outdoor arena. We made a little more progress in the Friendly Game, and I got him to step up onto the concrete pad in the middle of the sound board outside all by himself, but he was very anxious and skippy once we started riding and we had to take lots of circle breaks.
Then we heard a dog barking and thought it was Paco's dog in the woods, so my brother and I rode out towards the back of the barn and as soon as we left, Harry started walking and was super calm. We ended up finding the dog -- she was just mad she was in her kennel.
Once we went back in the arena, Harry tensed back up. So my goal was to just get him to walk, since he started skipping only when I asked him to work. We ended up going out on trail again, me, my mom, my brother, and Kimmy with her horse Sadie. We rode in the road next to the property and followed it back about a half mile past the barn, going down a slow incline. Everyone was well behaved! I was a little iffy going back up the incline because there wasn't much grass to walk on and Harry has shoes, but we made it up just fine. There was even a car creeping behind us for a while and everyone was totally normal! I'm so proud of Harry and Brie for being so good.
When we got back from our ride, the horses were kind of sweaty so they got showers. Harry was falling asleep in the shower, silly thing! He must have been tired from doing something different and stimulating and having the chilly breeze in his face. Everyone will sleep well tonight, including me!
Then we heard a dog barking and thought it was Paco's dog in the woods, so my brother and I rode out towards the back of the barn and as soon as we left, Harry started walking and was super calm. We ended up finding the dog -- she was just mad she was in her kennel.
Once we went back in the arena, Harry tensed back up. So my goal was to just get him to walk, since he started skipping only when I asked him to work. We ended up going out on trail again, me, my mom, my brother, and Kimmy with her horse Sadie. We rode in the road next to the property and followed it back about a half mile past the barn, going down a slow incline. Everyone was well behaved! I was a little iffy going back up the incline because there wasn't much grass to walk on and Harry has shoes, but we made it up just fine. There was even a car creeping behind us for a while and everyone was totally normal! I'm so proud of Harry and Brie for being so good.
When we got back from our ride, the horses were kind of sweaty so they got showers. Harry was falling asleep in the shower, silly thing! He must have been tired from doing something different and stimulating and having the chilly breeze in his face. Everyone will sleep well tonight, including me!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Days 209 & 210
Saturday
We got a call this morning from Paco about Nina. He said that Nina looked like she wasn't feeling well, but wasn't rolling around like she was colicking. We rushed out and by the time we got out there, she was looking better than Paco had said, but we got her out and made her run around the round pen until she pooped just to make sure that she wouldn't colic. Thankfully, she did! And remained okay for the rest of the day.
While I didn't exactly "do much" today, I think that today was one of the most influential days I've had with Harry.
After trying to work with the tarp last week, I decided that the first task I would do was confront him with it again. We went out into one of the small paddocks (it's more like a pen) and I held the tarp, folded up. He was not having any of it. He kept running around and away from it and me. Eventually I got him and tried to rub it on his nose, but he didn't like it much. Rather than chasing him around some more, I laid it out on the ground, clipped him to a lead line, and we tried to walk very close to it. He was getting kind of close, but the wind kept picking up and moving it, which would scare him. I hung it on the fence and unclipped him and hoped that he would eventually go by it on his own, but he wouldn't.
After this, I had Paco help me. I've seen Nick doing this trick. He ties the horses short enough to the pole in the arena that they won't get tangled up in it, and swishes a rod with a plastic bag on the end around the horse until they stop fighting and trying to run away from it. Then he goes closer to them with the bag and eventually tries to rub it on them without them being scared of it. Basically, it's the Friendly Game with a bag, not a rope, and tied up so we won't get trampled. So Paco helped me with that. Harry was so scared though! By the time he finally relaxed and let us touch him with the bag, he was soaked with sweat. I didn't ride him, just hosed him off after that and let him relax in his stall.
So no, I didn't do much, but I really think that was one of the best things I could have done for Harry. It's something that will build our trust. Once he knows that I won't let bags hurt him, he'll be more comfortable with tarps, and then other things that come our way will be less shocking.
Sunday
Nina is still looking good! She pooped 3 times before we got there, so she must be feeling better.
No tarps today! Although, while my parents were talking with Paco, my brother and I put everyone outside and got the huge exercise ball that we bought a while back and wanted to play with the horses. Brie was totally unenthusiastic about it, which I guess was good? At least she wasn't running away from it! She was just letting us bounce the ball off of her sides until we felt bad that she looked so bored/sad by the fact that we were throwing a ball at her. So we moved on to Nina.
Nina usually loves playing with the ball, but not today! She kept running away from it. We didn't know if she just didn't want to be bothered or what, so my brother held her while I just rubbed it all over her. She wasn't scared of it, so I guess she just wasn't in the mood.
Then we moved on to Harry. What a baby! No matter how many times we kept coming back to him, he just wasn't having it! We did eventually get to rub it on him, though, which is progress. =]
After all that, I rode Harry starting inside. I didn't put any bracelets or the rear end collector on and just wanted to check any progress we had made in the past two weeks. He was very calm in the indoor, but then when we went in the outdoor, after our little herd of riders broke up to do our own thing after walking around the arena for a while, he got really upset and kept tap dancing. Frustrated (and hot), I decided to go back inside and work with him. He calmed down and gaited really nicely, and then we worked on largo without pacing. Every time he paced, I would just bring him back a little or even stop if it got really bouncy and let him start over again. We ended with a beautiful largo pass over the board and I ended with it so that he could hear what I wanted him to do.
I switched with my mom and then rode Brie outside with my brother, Kimmy, and Samantha. Of course, Brie was their leader! And after we ran into a few branches, raced up a couple of hills, and chased John's car down the driveway, our day was done.
Now back to school =[ It was so nice being on break! I wish I could ride every day.
We got a call this morning from Paco about Nina. He said that Nina looked like she wasn't feeling well, but wasn't rolling around like she was colicking. We rushed out and by the time we got out there, she was looking better than Paco had said, but we got her out and made her run around the round pen until she pooped just to make sure that she wouldn't colic. Thankfully, she did! And remained okay for the rest of the day.
While I didn't exactly "do much" today, I think that today was one of the most influential days I've had with Harry.
After trying to work with the tarp last week, I decided that the first task I would do was confront him with it again. We went out into one of the small paddocks (it's more like a pen) and I held the tarp, folded up. He was not having any of it. He kept running around and away from it and me. Eventually I got him and tried to rub it on his nose, but he didn't like it much. Rather than chasing him around some more, I laid it out on the ground, clipped him to a lead line, and we tried to walk very close to it. He was getting kind of close, but the wind kept picking up and moving it, which would scare him. I hung it on the fence and unclipped him and hoped that he would eventually go by it on his own, but he wouldn't.
After this, I had Paco help me. I've seen Nick doing this trick. He ties the horses short enough to the pole in the arena that they won't get tangled up in it, and swishes a rod with a plastic bag on the end around the horse until they stop fighting and trying to run away from it. Then he goes closer to them with the bag and eventually tries to rub it on them without them being scared of it. Basically, it's the Friendly Game with a bag, not a rope, and tied up so we won't get trampled. So Paco helped me with that. Harry was so scared though! By the time he finally relaxed and let us touch him with the bag, he was soaked with sweat. I didn't ride him, just hosed him off after that and let him relax in his stall.
So no, I didn't do much, but I really think that was one of the best things I could have done for Harry. It's something that will build our trust. Once he knows that I won't let bags hurt him, he'll be more comfortable with tarps, and then other things that come our way will be less shocking.
Sunday
Nina is still looking good! She pooped 3 times before we got there, so she must be feeling better.
No tarps today! Although, while my parents were talking with Paco, my brother and I put everyone outside and got the huge exercise ball that we bought a while back and wanted to play with the horses. Brie was totally unenthusiastic about it, which I guess was good? At least she wasn't running away from it! She was just letting us bounce the ball off of her sides until we felt bad that she looked so bored/sad by the fact that we were throwing a ball at her. So we moved on to Nina.
Nina usually loves playing with the ball, but not today! She kept running away from it. We didn't know if she just didn't want to be bothered or what, so my brother held her while I just rubbed it all over her. She wasn't scared of it, so I guess she just wasn't in the mood.
Then we moved on to Harry. What a baby! No matter how many times we kept coming back to him, he just wasn't having it! We did eventually get to rub it on him, though, which is progress. =]
After all that, I rode Harry starting inside. I didn't put any bracelets or the rear end collector on and just wanted to check any progress we had made in the past two weeks. He was very calm in the indoor, but then when we went in the outdoor, after our little herd of riders broke up to do our own thing after walking around the arena for a while, he got really upset and kept tap dancing. Frustrated (and hot), I decided to go back inside and work with him. He calmed down and gaited really nicely, and then we worked on largo without pacing. Every time he paced, I would just bring him back a little or even stop if it got really bouncy and let him start over again. We ended with a beautiful largo pass over the board and I ended with it so that he could hear what I wanted him to do.
I switched with my mom and then rode Brie outside with my brother, Kimmy, and Samantha. Of course, Brie was their leader! And after we ran into a few branches, raced up a couple of hills, and chased John's car down the driveway, our day was done.
Now back to school =[ It was so nice being on break! I wish I could ride every day.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Day 179
Happy Halloween everyone! Well, almost Halloween anyways. Harry was sure in the mood today.
We rode for such a long time today. I started off on Brie. I need to work on her flexibility because yesterday when Paco rode her he said that she was very stiff on her turns. This could be something that I had just gotten used to, but I need to work on it. I don't want her to be sore after riding just because she's not flexible. So we did lots of circles, spirals, serpentines and reverses and she was compliant. She had a bit of a fast streak, but she never broke into a canter on the corners, so I was proud of her for that. Apparently she was worse off for my mom later on when we switched, but I think it might've been just that she was angry because she was getting tired.
Before my mom rode her though, my brother and I switched. I just got to walk Nina around, which is all I ever want to do when I ride Nina. She's so laid back and relaxed. I would just bring her out on trails all the time, she's perfect for it. But after a short time on Nina, I switched with my mom who had been working Harry for a good chunk of time.
She's been trying to work on Harry's largo since he paces when he goes too fast because his legs can't keep up with his brain, so he was flying around the arena today. I wanted to get him a little bit more collected so we did our corto and crossed the sounding board and then walked to cool.
While all this is going on, Samantha, this little girl who comes for lessons, was riding Tobacco and Jane was riding Taco, while Kimmy was riding Sadie. Jane insisted that I ride Taco because John was popping in and out through out the day to see how Taco was doing. So I hop on. First thing Taco does is speed away with me and start cantering down the long wall! I try my hardest to remember to not pull on his mouth because he manages to get a hold of the bit between his teeth and pull away with the rider, so I'm quickly pulling and releasing to try to get him to slow down the first lap around the arena and then pull up to Paco, who directs me to pull his head to the wall to get him to slow down until he realizes I mean business.
So after a couple of laps around, I finally settle into Taco and we understand each other. He performs beautifully! This was probably the best ride I've had on him to date. He takes the board perfectly and I'm so glad that John was there to see it. He sent me this picture he took of me and Taco.
I would love to show him for John and Jane. He's so much fun once you know how to handle him. There's a fun show coming up in December and I fully intend on dragging Brie down there to get back in the hang of showing again since we need to beat our nemesis this year!
Before my mom rode her though, my brother and I switched. I just got to walk Nina around, which is all I ever want to do when I ride Nina. She's so laid back and relaxed. I would just bring her out on trails all the time, she's perfect for it. But after a short time on Nina, I switched with my mom who had been working Harry for a good chunk of time.
She's been trying to work on Harry's largo since he paces when he goes too fast because his legs can't keep up with his brain, so he was flying around the arena today. I wanted to get him a little bit more collected so we did our corto and crossed the sounding board and then walked to cool.
While all this is going on, Samantha, this little girl who comes for lessons, was riding Tobacco and Jane was riding Taco, while Kimmy was riding Sadie. Jane insisted that I ride Taco because John was popping in and out through out the day to see how Taco was doing. So I hop on. First thing Taco does is speed away with me and start cantering down the long wall! I try my hardest to remember to not pull on his mouth because he manages to get a hold of the bit between his teeth and pull away with the rider, so I'm quickly pulling and releasing to try to get him to slow down the first lap around the arena and then pull up to Paco, who directs me to pull his head to the wall to get him to slow down until he realizes I mean business.
So after a couple of laps around, I finally settle into Taco and we understand each other. He performs beautifully! This was probably the best ride I've had on him to date. He takes the board perfectly and I'm so glad that John was there to see it. He sent me this picture he took of me and Taco.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Day 177
I hate when my farrier is late.
I mean, I do enjoy that he takes his time when he gets to our barn, but that means also waiting around while he takes his time on other people's horses at their barns before he gets to ours. Which sometimes means showing up at 5pm instead of noon.
We didn't get to stick around to see Nina being trimmed because I had to get back to school, but we tranq'd her and Paco was going to be there to help out.
On the other hand, after my mom rode Harry today, we found out that he severely cracked his hoof just from being on the rocks for a second on his way out the arena into the grass. I had a picture, but I can't get it off my phone right now. So the farrier tried to fix it and basically told us we can't ride Harry until Thanksgiving now because he had to take off a big piece to fix the chunk that happened with the crack. =[ This makes me beyond depressed.
I rode Brie today. She was really good, but stocked up again. We're thinking maybe it's time for another cortisone shot for her arthritis again, because when she's warmed up and ready to start going faster, she snorts, and it took her a long time for her to snort today before she was warmed up. We're going good with the largo, we only break in the corners now in the counter clockwise direction, but we'll be able to fix that by Spring. There might be a local fun show coming up in November, so I'm hoping we can take Brie to that to get her used to being back out in the show ring!
Today, I also rode Kimmy's horse, Sadie. She's an Icelandic Pony/Foxtrotter who was trained for barrel racing...which is an interesting mix. O.o Anyways, Jane, who's Kimmy's grandma, said that Sadie could use all the practice she could get since Kimmy's having trouble with her doing anything really because Sadie hasn't been ridden too often for over a year now. Boy, was that horse snotty! She almost ran over everyone standing by the arena door at least 4 times trying to get back to her stall and tried a couple of little rear/jumps on me too until my mom had to lead me away from everyone for their safety and stand by the pole and make me do circle work. Then Sadie started to calm down. Apparently, she never gaits, but Sadie was gaiting when I was really looking forward to doing some extra trot/canter transitions. In all, Kimmy has a lot of work a head of her, but I'll take the chance to ride any horse I can get! Especially now that Harry's out for the next month =[
I was proud at the end though. Paco congratulated me on riding Sadie so well because apparently she gave Kimmy a really hard time last weekend and Kimmy got off crying. So that made me happy =]
I mean, I do enjoy that he takes his time when he gets to our barn, but that means also waiting around while he takes his time on other people's horses at their barns before he gets to ours. Which sometimes means showing up at 5pm instead of noon.
We didn't get to stick around to see Nina being trimmed because I had to get back to school, but we tranq'd her and Paco was going to be there to help out.
On the other hand, after my mom rode Harry today, we found out that he severely cracked his hoof just from being on the rocks for a second on his way out the arena into the grass. I had a picture, but I can't get it off my phone right now. So the farrier tried to fix it and basically told us we can't ride Harry until Thanksgiving now because he had to take off a big piece to fix the chunk that happened with the crack. =[ This makes me beyond depressed.
I rode Brie today. She was really good, but stocked up again. We're thinking maybe it's time for another cortisone shot for her arthritis again, because when she's warmed up and ready to start going faster, she snorts, and it took her a long time for her to snort today before she was warmed up. We're going good with the largo, we only break in the corners now in the counter clockwise direction, but we'll be able to fix that by Spring. There might be a local fun show coming up in November, so I'm hoping we can take Brie to that to get her used to being back out in the show ring!
Today, I also rode Kimmy's horse, Sadie. She's an Icelandic Pony/Foxtrotter who was trained for barrel racing...which is an interesting mix. O.o Anyways, Jane, who's Kimmy's grandma, said that Sadie could use all the practice she could get since Kimmy's having trouble with her doing anything really because Sadie hasn't been ridden too often for over a year now. Boy, was that horse snotty! She almost ran over everyone standing by the arena door at least 4 times trying to get back to her stall and tried a couple of little rear/jumps on me too until my mom had to lead me away from everyone for their safety and stand by the pole and make me do circle work. Then Sadie started to calm down. Apparently, she never gaits, but Sadie was gaiting when I was really looking forward to doing some extra trot/canter transitions. In all, Kimmy has a lot of work a head of her, but I'll take the chance to ride any horse I can get! Especially now that Harry's out for the next month =[
I was proud at the end though. Paco congratulated me on riding Sadie so well because apparently she gave Kimmy a really hard time last weekend and Kimmy got off crying. So that made me happy =]
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