Saturday
We got up and out super early. Surprisingly, I was full of energy! It was also super nice outside, so I decided that I would ride outside. I was a little hesitant, since they haven't been ridden outdoors since fall, but I took Brie out to do our little program like nothing was different and after a few bucks of happiness, she settled right into it! We got ready to ride and were out there riding before anyone else was ready and she was sooo calm! It was a really nice surprise. She walked so slowly and was just happily going along with no problems. She tried to speed up a tiny bit when we would turn the corners to face going towards the gate, but with a little correction she regained her focus and settled back into a beautifully slow walk. Our corto was equally as calm. It was fantastic! Once everyone else came out she got a little hyper, but not really badly. We went outside in the fields to walk around and she was not super crazy so that was a plus! She actually wasn't bad at all. Never tried to stop or run away on me, just plugged along in her corto. =] It was truly a great day.
In other news...we're changing farriers. Our current farrier, according to the vet, cut Jane's horses hooves at all different angles. This lead to mass confusion but when confronted about it, the farrier had good explanations (supposedly) for what he did. After talking more with Nick, he explained how just being off on angles a tiny bit can make the horse not gait well or go into a pace. Harry has been pacing...so now we're concerned. We've decided on going back to a previous farrier that Gary and Nick fly in from Puerto Rico who supposedly specializes in Paso Finos.
This whole farrier v. vet business makes me anxious. Do farriers and vets ever really get along? And I'm not entirely convinced that Pasos need a special farrier just for their hooves. If the farrier is good, he should be able to comprehend adjusting the angles as necessary for the breed and conformation of he horse, right?
Sunday
Rode Brie some more today. I didn't use the mounting block because everyone was standing around it like a herd of cattle. I don't get it, really. No one outside of my family uses the mounting block for their horses, but they keep it in an area where they all stand. I might just move it to the corner or something, that way I don't have to keep asking everyone to move so I can use it and then feel judged if Brie doesn't stand still the first time. Also, there is a gazebo in the middle of the arena for this gathering purpose! Can't they go in there?!
It was crummy out today, so as much as I wanted to go back out, we got stuck inside again. Oh well. I'm really confident that Brie is going to do well if we take her to Michigan. This whole spring and show season is getting hectic, at least for me. I want to go to Michigan to show Brie, but my best friend has her graduation on the second day of the show...I'm not sure if my parents will want to drive back on Saturday night so that I can go to graduation. Otherwise, I might just stay home and then Brie will miss another year of showing, since I think Michigan is the last local one before State Fair, which I won't be able to go to because of law school starting, so no one will bring her to show anyways...plus I wanted to be the one to show her...
Anyways. This weekend is Easter! Maybe we'll go out on Friday and Saturday to make up for missing Sunday.
Showing posts with label good day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good day. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Day 278
Happy Super Bowl, America!
I worked again with Brie today. I repeated the flexibility program and she is getting the hang of what I want from her. I think next week I will use the make-shift Pessoa system we have going with her. She was very calm today and, once again, no problems mounting today!! So we're making progress. She wasn't collecting like yesterday, only for a couple of strides near the end, so we need to work more on that. I'm also working on not letting her break into a canter on reverses in general and corners when she's at a largo. It will take time, but I'm sure we can get there!
Harry looked kind of sore today. He got a woodchip stuck in his hoof yesterday and I think it made his hoof tender. I put lineament on him anyways, just in case, and by next weekend he should be fine. He did the strangest thing today. He was standing on the cross ties and my mom went to put the saddle on him but he kind of sank back into his back legs like he was bowing, stretching out his front legs. What a goof! We all thought he was just going to lay down or something!
Nina is just a little powerhouse. We're aiming to bring her to Extravaganza in Jacksonville this year. We were going to last year, but things came up, plus I think our car had to go into the shop. Hopefully this year is our year!
I worked again with Brie today. I repeated the flexibility program and she is getting the hang of what I want from her. I think next week I will use the make-shift Pessoa system we have going with her. She was very calm today and, once again, no problems mounting today!! So we're making progress. She wasn't collecting like yesterday, only for a couple of strides near the end, so we need to work more on that. I'm also working on not letting her break into a canter on reverses in general and corners when she's at a largo. It will take time, but I'm sure we can get there!
Harry looked kind of sore today. He got a woodchip stuck in his hoof yesterday and I think it made his hoof tender. I put lineament on him anyways, just in case, and by next weekend he should be fine. He did the strangest thing today. He was standing on the cross ties and my mom went to put the saddle on him but he kind of sank back into his back legs like he was bowing, stretching out his front legs. What a goof! We all thought he was just going to lay down or something!
Nina is just a little powerhouse. We're aiming to bring her to Extravaganza in Jacksonville this year. We were going to last year, but things came up, plus I think our car had to go into the shop. Hopefully this year is our year!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Days 262 & 263
Saturday
I just can't figure out why Harry is acting the way he is. He is lazy and doesn't want to gait anymore. I tried everything I could think of today trying to get him to gait. He'll gait in a circle, but then when we get on the wall, he goes into pacing. He even paced over the board. Does he need a rest? Or does he need more work? I can't help him if he's bored with the arena, as it's going to get very cold this week and I'm guessing it will stay that way until the end of winter, and we won't be going outside as often. Any suggestions?
Sunday
My mom worked with Harry today. She put the draw reins on him and while it made him set his head, she said that he was still fighting and wanting to take off and not wanting to gait. She said he would gait for a little while and then go into pacing. I don't know what his deal is. He didn't pace over the board today, so that was good. Maybe we should put the bell boots back on him.
I rode Brie today and she was absolutely magnificent. It's rides like today that make me think she still has it in her to compete. She was totally responsive, had beautiful boards, and had perfect speeds at the largo and the corto. We even WALKED once we were done working, and for quite some time too, I might add, without stirrups and reins being loose. If she started to drift off of the wall I just needed to nudge her with my calf and she floated right back over. She was beyond good today, I'm so happy with her.
Meanwhile, Harry bit me! That snot! He bit my finger as I was petting his face. I was in too much shock to do anything, but I flicked him on the nose after I realized that he actually bit me! It wasn't very hard, thank God, but it still hurt! He even tore a little skin! He has got to learn manners and respect. Maybe that will fix him up in the arena as well.
I just can't figure out why Harry is acting the way he is. He is lazy and doesn't want to gait anymore. I tried everything I could think of today trying to get him to gait. He'll gait in a circle, but then when we get on the wall, he goes into pacing. He even paced over the board. Does he need a rest? Or does he need more work? I can't help him if he's bored with the arena, as it's going to get very cold this week and I'm guessing it will stay that way until the end of winter, and we won't be going outside as often. Any suggestions?
Sunday
My mom worked with Harry today. She put the draw reins on him and while it made him set his head, she said that he was still fighting and wanting to take off and not wanting to gait. She said he would gait for a little while and then go into pacing. I don't know what his deal is. He didn't pace over the board today, so that was good. Maybe we should put the bell boots back on him.
I rode Brie today and she was absolutely magnificent. It's rides like today that make me think she still has it in her to compete. She was totally responsive, had beautiful boards, and had perfect speeds at the largo and the corto. We even WALKED once we were done working, and for quite some time too, I might add, without stirrups and reins being loose. If she started to drift off of the wall I just needed to nudge her with my calf and she floated right back over. She was beyond good today, I'm so happy with her.
Meanwhile, Harry bit me! That snot! He bit my finger as I was petting his face. I was in too much shock to do anything, but I flicked him on the nose after I realized that he actually bit me! It wasn't very hard, thank God, but it still hurt! He even tore a little skin! He has got to learn manners and respect. Maybe that will fix him up in the arena as well.
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!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Days 247 & 248
I completely forgot to write this over the weekend, so I'm going from memory here. I'm going to try to write it like it was that day.
Saturday
If there ever was a "best" day for riding, today was the day. It was absolutely gorgeous out and I wanted nothing more than to go around with my little Harry. I wonder what he's really thinking when I imagine he's looking at me with such love in his eyes. He was a little iffy in the warm-up, and wanted to go pretty fast, which is always a surprise to me. I changed his bit back once again and it's too early to tell how he's responding to it, although I can say that he is not having issues flexing anymore, so whatever his deal was with that must have worked itself out, although I still take extra caution stretching him before we start up.
After his ride, my mom, brother and I walked around outside, enjoying the weather. Not the ideal Quarter horse type walk, but enjoyable nonetheless. It was so cute, he couldn't keep up with Brie and Nina's power walk, so he broke into the tiniest canter I've ever ridden and didn't get psycho about it. After that, I don't mind letting him canter around outside a bit. He truly has gotten a lot more confidence outside.
Sunday
Worming day! And well needed, the horses have begun ripping their tails out. Poor things. They look so shabby now, but hopefully it will smooth out soon. Brie has been kicking the stall again and we have no idea why, Paco has supposedly increased her food rations. So we tried on one of Judy's trail boots and Brie didn't seem to mind it, and so she suggested that, since the impact of the kick must be affecting her arthritis, we should buy a boot of our own and just leave it on her all week. It's not so much as a boot, but more of a hoof covering. It doesn't go up on the meaty part of her leg at all. All we can do is give it a shot.
So since we're pretty much decided on not showing Brie again, I've been wondering about how she would react if I started riding her bitless again. When she was being trained, the only reason she started wearing a bit was because we wanted to show her, and it's required, but before she was age 5, she hadn't had one. I think that next week I'm going to try that out and see how she is. She was being pretty compliant today, but I felt like she could have relaxed even more. My goal for her now is to just get her into a calm mindset and keep her there for the entire ride. We walked around outside by ourselves, in which she didn't bolt, so that was a plus. I managed to keep her at a speed-walk the entire way through.
While I was waiting around by myself in the outdoor, I noticed that the serpentine boards had been filled in where the gap was that she got her hoof stuck in, so I hopped off and tried to have her walk over them. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but she walked over them a couple of times before everyone came out and we got back on and walked around some more. She's really doing well lately, I think it might be because she's getting out a little more since the heat wave has subsided. Her leg wasn't swollen at all this weekend and she didn't really limp either day too. I hope that as autumn sets in, she's much more comfortable.
Saturday
If there ever was a "best" day for riding, today was the day. It was absolutely gorgeous out and I wanted nothing more than to go around with my little Harry. I wonder what he's really thinking when I imagine he's looking at me with such love in his eyes. He was a little iffy in the warm-up, and wanted to go pretty fast, which is always a surprise to me. I changed his bit back once again and it's too early to tell how he's responding to it, although I can say that he is not having issues flexing anymore, so whatever his deal was with that must have worked itself out, although I still take extra caution stretching him before we start up.
After his ride, my mom, brother and I walked around outside, enjoying the weather. Not the ideal Quarter horse type walk, but enjoyable nonetheless. It was so cute, he couldn't keep up with Brie and Nina's power walk, so he broke into the tiniest canter I've ever ridden and didn't get psycho about it. After that, I don't mind letting him canter around outside a bit. He truly has gotten a lot more confidence outside.
Sunday
Worming day! And well needed, the horses have begun ripping their tails out. Poor things. They look so shabby now, but hopefully it will smooth out soon. Brie has been kicking the stall again and we have no idea why, Paco has supposedly increased her food rations. So we tried on one of Judy's trail boots and Brie didn't seem to mind it, and so she suggested that, since the impact of the kick must be affecting her arthritis, we should buy a boot of our own and just leave it on her all week. It's not so much as a boot, but more of a hoof covering. It doesn't go up on the meaty part of her leg at all. All we can do is give it a shot.
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| The Easy Boot, via Horseloverz.com |
While I was waiting around by myself in the outdoor, I noticed that the serpentine boards had been filled in where the gap was that she got her hoof stuck in, so I hopped off and tried to have her walk over them. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but she walked over them a couple of times before everyone came out and we got back on and walked around some more. She's really doing well lately, I think it might be because she's getting out a little more since the heat wave has subsided. Her leg wasn't swollen at all this weekend and she didn't really limp either day too. I hope that as autumn sets in, she's much more comfortable.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Days 230 & 231
Saturday
I started off with Brie again and was determined to have as nice of a ride this week as I did last week. It was nice enough out, so I went into the outdoor arena. They did some renovations to the outdoor last weekend. In the outdoor, we only had a sound board going along the length of one of the walls before. Now, we have a pole in the middle of the board, along with a pad of cement shaped in a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet. This is supposed to be used to longe horses. Don't even get me started on it. There are also two poles off to the side for figure 8s and three long wooden mini-fences in another spot. These mini-fences are supposed to be used for serpentines. I saw them as a double-use for cavaletti. So I started Brie off in the outdoor and after I had her longe, I wanted to see if she would go over the cavaletti. She was a little hesitant, but she made it over them. She was walking over with the front feet and then hopping over with both of her back feet. I wanted her to just walk over with her back feet, so I had her continue.
Now maybe this was stupid on my part, but these makeshift cavaletti have a trough in them, like for a flower planter. I didn't think that it would pose any problem. But anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and as Brie was finally going to walk over the fence with her back legs, one of them tripped in the trough. It's not a very wide trough, but still. Her eyes widened and she knew that she had gotten a little stuck, but thankfully, as I was going over to pick her foot up and out, she lifted it up calmly and stepped over. Then she snorted and wanted to back up over it and got a little stuck with her front hooves as she tried to stand on it going backwards, but she backed off just fine. After much snorting, I didn't want her to think that it was scary (even though I'm not going to send her over those again until they're filled or fixed), so I had her go over them one last time and she was okay.
Once that was done, I got on to ride and start out with some wide figure 8s, but she was feeling very stiff, so I decided to let that go and let her loosen up on the rail before I asked her to bend. Usually she likes to charge the outdoor arena, but she was content with a corto before she slowed down to a walk. I only had to check her at the corners to make sure she didn't start into a canter.
I went in because she was getting pretty hot and find my mom having trouble with Harry. After a couple of laps walking around the arena (a miracle!) on Brie, my mom asks if I would see why he's not cooperating. So I get on, do all my pre-ride checks with him like flexing and wide circles, and go out on the wall asking for a walk (since he was fighting my mom about it). She and I noticed immediately the problem -- he was limping. He was favoring his front right leg and even though I got off and stretched him and checked his hooves for any rocks, he continued to limp, so after a walk around, I got off and bathed him and put on some liniment. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow! Poor Harry.
Sunday
Starting off with Brie again in the indoor today. She is doing super well. She's responding so nicely to my legs and my seat and I have to wonder if it's a change in her or a change in me that has caused this nice behavior! I know that I certainly have changed in my riding style since the beginning of this journey and gone from wanting to make the horse do what I want no matter what to really trying to build partnerships and find a middle ground when I can't convince the horse that I'm right for a reason. Because of how great she's been the past couple of weeks, I'm seriously thinking of bringing her to the State Fair this year if we can find a space for her in a trailer. I feel like now that I've changed my attitude about riding, I know more how to approach a competition situation in order to ensure that Brie stays calm. Thinking back on how I warmed her up in the past, I know that everything I did (forcing her to walk, letting her gallop to "get it out of her system", making her longe for an hour, attempting to give her Calmex that didn't end up working...) was insanely wrong and I would like to try again and make the experience a great one for both of us, even if we don't win any ribbons. My goal is to make her comfortable in the show environment and even if we end up scratching the class because she isn't calming down, I would rather do it at State Fair because the classes are cheap enough to scratch!
Harry was doing much better today. No signs of limping! He was acting a bit wonky because he didn't want to ride on the rail. I think that his gait was great today and his demeanor was nice too while I was riding. It's hard to judge how he's doing sometimes when I ride him after my mom because by the second rider, he's usually tired or annoyed. Even so, it's good that he's getting two riders again because it's almost the same as going through multiple classes at show, which he definitely needs to do.
I've also gotten another horse ward. Jane is feeling pretty discouraged about Taco's abilities and he's been a downright brat the past month for her. He does this thing where he sticks his head really far down or flexes it back behind the stirrup and runs to the middle of the arena and stops. So I asked Jane if I could show him at the State Fair. She said yes and that I could ride him whenever I wanted. Today was the first day of preparation. Jane was having a horrible time because Taco was doing his usual tricks. I try to longe him before I ride to see how he's acting and he is absolutely terrible. He's just about as bad as Harry was when we first got him! He has no respect for the human he's working with. I was going to use the carrot stick to help longe him, but I didn't know if he'd be scared of it, so I decided against it. Since trying to longe him was a joke, I did a quick round of the Porcupine Game to try and establish my authority and he was okay with that.
Then I got on him. I wasn't on for two seconds and he pulls me into the middle. My leg is useless against him, he's so strong. I try to get around the arena a couple of times to no avail, so I decide to go out into the round pen. In the round pen, he's just as bad, but has less space to act up in. My mom brings me over a second rein for the barbada and almost immediately he stops trying to pull his head in and spin into the middle of the pen. It takes a long time before he starts listening to me, but when he finally settles down, he walks really nicely. He has a hard time staying in gait because he likes to go into a canter and canters in place. That would be nice for a Trote y Galope class in Puerto Rico or Colombia, but not in the Paso Fino shows in the United States. I have to break him of this habit. I have to check him a lot in order to keep him in gait and it takes a lot of stopping and starting over when he breaks into a canter, but the last couple of laps around the pen are beautiful. He's listening and not breaking and not trying to pull me anymore. I determine because of the stunts he pulled during his ride, he doesn't respect the bit, so I would like to try and change his bit. I'm thinking of the straight bar that Nina had a couple of years ago that made her head set too high up. I think that this might be a good solution to his tendency to always be pulling his head down in an effort to get away from the bit.
Taco is a highly trained horse, once a National champion, so I definitely think he has seen it all. This is also why I think that getting a bigger bit is the wrong answer to his problems because he is very soft in the mouth. I also think that a harsher noseband is the wrong answer because his nose has been so scarred by different bosals that he won't even care that it's there. I think that possible a braided rawhide barbada might be a good answer, but we can only use the bit rein in shows, so we need to start with the bit. I'm not entirely sure if I'll make it to State Fair with him. It depends on how well he responds to the bar bit and how calm I can get him. It would be nice to go to the show and prove that this old coot can make a comeback, but I would rather have him safe and happy for Jane to ride for her own enjoyment.
I started off with Brie again and was determined to have as nice of a ride this week as I did last week. It was nice enough out, so I went into the outdoor arena. They did some renovations to the outdoor last weekend. In the outdoor, we only had a sound board going along the length of one of the walls before. Now, we have a pole in the middle of the board, along with a pad of cement shaped in a circle with a diameter of about 20 feet. This is supposed to be used to longe horses. Don't even get me started on it. There are also two poles off to the side for figure 8s and three long wooden mini-fences in another spot. These mini-fences are supposed to be used for serpentines. I saw them as a double-use for cavaletti. So I started Brie off in the outdoor and after I had her longe, I wanted to see if she would go over the cavaletti. She was a little hesitant, but she made it over them. She was walking over with the front feet and then hopping over with both of her back feet. I wanted her to just walk over with her back feet, so I had her continue.
Now maybe this was stupid on my part, but these makeshift cavaletti have a trough in them, like for a flower planter. I didn't think that it would pose any problem. But anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and as Brie was finally going to walk over the fence with her back legs, one of them tripped in the trough. It's not a very wide trough, but still. Her eyes widened and she knew that she had gotten a little stuck, but thankfully, as I was going over to pick her foot up and out, she lifted it up calmly and stepped over. Then she snorted and wanted to back up over it and got a little stuck with her front hooves as she tried to stand on it going backwards, but she backed off just fine. After much snorting, I didn't want her to think that it was scary (even though I'm not going to send her over those again until they're filled or fixed), so I had her go over them one last time and she was okay.
Once that was done, I got on to ride and start out with some wide figure 8s, but she was feeling very stiff, so I decided to let that go and let her loosen up on the rail before I asked her to bend. Usually she likes to charge the outdoor arena, but she was content with a corto before she slowed down to a walk. I only had to check her at the corners to make sure she didn't start into a canter.
I went in because she was getting pretty hot and find my mom having trouble with Harry. After a couple of laps walking around the arena (a miracle!) on Brie, my mom asks if I would see why he's not cooperating. So I get on, do all my pre-ride checks with him like flexing and wide circles, and go out on the wall asking for a walk (since he was fighting my mom about it). She and I noticed immediately the problem -- he was limping. He was favoring his front right leg and even though I got off and stretched him and checked his hooves for any rocks, he continued to limp, so after a walk around, I got off and bathed him and put on some liniment. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow! Poor Harry.
Sunday
Starting off with Brie again in the indoor today. She is doing super well. She's responding so nicely to my legs and my seat and I have to wonder if it's a change in her or a change in me that has caused this nice behavior! I know that I certainly have changed in my riding style since the beginning of this journey and gone from wanting to make the horse do what I want no matter what to really trying to build partnerships and find a middle ground when I can't convince the horse that I'm right for a reason. Because of how great she's been the past couple of weeks, I'm seriously thinking of bringing her to the State Fair this year if we can find a space for her in a trailer. I feel like now that I've changed my attitude about riding, I know more how to approach a competition situation in order to ensure that Brie stays calm. Thinking back on how I warmed her up in the past, I know that everything I did (forcing her to walk, letting her gallop to "get it out of her system", making her longe for an hour, attempting to give her Calmex that didn't end up working...) was insanely wrong and I would like to try again and make the experience a great one for both of us, even if we don't win any ribbons. My goal is to make her comfortable in the show environment and even if we end up scratching the class because she isn't calming down, I would rather do it at State Fair because the classes are cheap enough to scratch!
Harry was doing much better today. No signs of limping! He was acting a bit wonky because he didn't want to ride on the rail. I think that his gait was great today and his demeanor was nice too while I was riding. It's hard to judge how he's doing sometimes when I ride him after my mom because by the second rider, he's usually tired or annoyed. Even so, it's good that he's getting two riders again because it's almost the same as going through multiple classes at show, which he definitely needs to do.
I've also gotten another horse ward. Jane is feeling pretty discouraged about Taco's abilities and he's been a downright brat the past month for her. He does this thing where he sticks his head really far down or flexes it back behind the stirrup and runs to the middle of the arena and stops. So I asked Jane if I could show him at the State Fair. She said yes and that I could ride him whenever I wanted. Today was the first day of preparation. Jane was having a horrible time because Taco was doing his usual tricks. I try to longe him before I ride to see how he's acting and he is absolutely terrible. He's just about as bad as Harry was when we first got him! He has no respect for the human he's working with. I was going to use the carrot stick to help longe him, but I didn't know if he'd be scared of it, so I decided against it. Since trying to longe him was a joke, I did a quick round of the Porcupine Game to try and establish my authority and he was okay with that.
Then I got on him. I wasn't on for two seconds and he pulls me into the middle. My leg is useless against him, he's so strong. I try to get around the arena a couple of times to no avail, so I decide to go out into the round pen. In the round pen, he's just as bad, but has less space to act up in. My mom brings me over a second rein for the barbada and almost immediately he stops trying to pull his head in and spin into the middle of the pen. It takes a long time before he starts listening to me, but when he finally settles down, he walks really nicely. He has a hard time staying in gait because he likes to go into a canter and canters in place. That would be nice for a Trote y Galope class in Puerto Rico or Colombia, but not in the Paso Fino shows in the United States. I have to break him of this habit. I have to check him a lot in order to keep him in gait and it takes a lot of stopping and starting over when he breaks into a canter, but the last couple of laps around the pen are beautiful. He's listening and not breaking and not trying to pull me anymore. I determine because of the stunts he pulled during his ride, he doesn't respect the bit, so I would like to try and change his bit. I'm thinking of the straight bar that Nina had a couple of years ago that made her head set too high up. I think that this might be a good solution to his tendency to always be pulling his head down in an effort to get away from the bit.
Taco is a highly trained horse, once a National champion, so I definitely think he has seen it all. This is also why I think that getting a bigger bit is the wrong answer to his problems because he is very soft in the mouth. I also think that a harsher noseband is the wrong answer because his nose has been so scarred by different bosals that he won't even care that it's there. I think that possible a braided rawhide barbada might be a good answer, but we can only use the bit rein in shows, so we need to start with the bit. I'm not entirely sure if I'll make it to State Fair with him. It depends on how well he responds to the bar bit and how calm I can get him. It would be nice to go to the show and prove that this old coot can make a comeback, but I would rather have him safe and happy for Jane to ride for her own enjoyment.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Day 226
Today was my mom's first day riding after her surgery! So that means she wanted Harry. Logical choice, because I've been working with Harry every week, unlike Brie, who has pretty much had a vacation since late April. So she took Harry (who was wonderfully behaved) and I took Brie.
I was beyond pleasantly surprised by how good Brie was. I think that a lot of it had to do with her getting her arthritis injection because the last couple of times I rode her before her little holiday and before the injection, she was kind of snotty and bratty. But today she rode like a dream! I didn't attempt making her stand at the mounting block to get on though, because there were a lot of people standing around it watching their others ride in the arena, so I just got on her from the ground. She stayed still! So I already knew from then it was going to be a good ride. Not that she runs away, it's just that she usually fidgets or backs up a little before you get on, but she was perfectly still today.
We did a good amount of flexing, nothing too hard for her to handle after her break, and then some circles with leg yields before we headed off at a nice walk. Her decision! I felt like I died and went to heaven. She and I walked for quite a while before she decided it was go time and settled into a corto. She was trying to canter the corners, so she must've been feeling really good, but I couldn't let her get away with that bad habit. We did figure 8's and serpentines and had a lovely go across the board. Brie is never out of gait. Ever. So when she was sounding kind of iffy in April, that was the surefire sign that she needed another injection. She's back to a perfect gait yet again.
We attempted some walking in the outdoor arena, but I feel like the combo of being in the outdoor for the first time in a long while and it being seriously hot out today made her uncomfortable, so we only stayed for a while. I settled for a relaxed corto instead of a walk and we headed back in to take the shortcut through the arena out back into the pasture.
Of course, when she got out she was kind of hyper, but I was determined to have a good ride outside without either of us getting anxious. She tried to jump the little ditch between the barn and the hill, but we walked around it and through it until she stopped trying to jump or rush it. Walking today was not so much of an option at first. She seemed really anxious about hurrying up to get up the hill, which I really didn't want to go straight to, because she kept pulling towards it. We walked to the fence line near the street, turned and walked back, but she was anxious again to get to the hill and kept reaching her head back to my foot. So I figured "Okay, let me hold her here for a minute if she keeps doing that." She was chomping like crazy on the bit while I held her for a couple of seconds until she stopped and let out a huge rush of air, at which point I let go. I held her back a little going up the hill and she was just as eager to rush back down, but I made her stay up on the top for a while. She eventually stopped chomping again and was silent, relaxed under me, and started looking around and I just pet her. After a while, when she seemed really calm, we went back down the hill. She wasn't anxious going down, but a little rushed, so we went back up again. We did this a couple of times until she just walked up and back down.
We were going to go in, but then this little bird by the pond started squawking at us, and rather than go away from it, I went towards it. Instead of flying away, it spun around and started running away! Once I was focused on following the bird without crushing it as it ran away from us, Brie really slowed without me having to hold her back and managed her speed while I followed the bird. Eventually, the bird got the idea that he should fly away, but it was such a cool feeling knowing that she was actually thinking on her own without me having to tell her everything that she had to do.
We walked in and I traded with my mom. Since he looked like he worked fine inside, I took him outside. He was okay until the last point we had reached outside by ourselves, which was the far side of the hill. Then I wanted him to walk to the fence line. He was very concerned about this, but we got there. When I turned to go back to the barn, that's when he wanted to take off, so I had to bend him to a stop. He didn't really stop, he kept spinning, but eventually he did stop and calmed down. We have to work on halting outside and getting the message across that stopping outside is an option, it's not just go go go. So we climbed up the hill (he was also nervous about that, so we had to go up and down a couple of times) and then waited at the top. He was a little more comfortable at the top of the hill, but still shifting his weight and not relaxing, until Samantha came out with Tobacco. Once another horse was out there with him, he calmed down a lot more. I rode with her all out back and then through the front before I came back in and gave Harry a shower.
I did bring popsicles for them, since they like them so much, but they melted in the cooler before I could give them out! Maybe tomorrow I'll have to give them before we ride.
And now for some pictures!!
I was beyond pleasantly surprised by how good Brie was. I think that a lot of it had to do with her getting her arthritis injection because the last couple of times I rode her before her little holiday and before the injection, she was kind of snotty and bratty. But today she rode like a dream! I didn't attempt making her stand at the mounting block to get on though, because there were a lot of people standing around it watching their others ride in the arena, so I just got on her from the ground. She stayed still! So I already knew from then it was going to be a good ride. Not that she runs away, it's just that she usually fidgets or backs up a little before you get on, but she was perfectly still today.
We did a good amount of flexing, nothing too hard for her to handle after her break, and then some circles with leg yields before we headed off at a nice walk. Her decision! I felt like I died and went to heaven. She and I walked for quite a while before she decided it was go time and settled into a corto. She was trying to canter the corners, so she must've been feeling really good, but I couldn't let her get away with that bad habit. We did figure 8's and serpentines and had a lovely go across the board. Brie is never out of gait. Ever. So when she was sounding kind of iffy in April, that was the surefire sign that she needed another injection. She's back to a perfect gait yet again.
We attempted some walking in the outdoor arena, but I feel like the combo of being in the outdoor for the first time in a long while and it being seriously hot out today made her uncomfortable, so we only stayed for a while. I settled for a relaxed corto instead of a walk and we headed back in to take the shortcut through the arena out back into the pasture.
Of course, when she got out she was kind of hyper, but I was determined to have a good ride outside without either of us getting anxious. She tried to jump the little ditch between the barn and the hill, but we walked around it and through it until she stopped trying to jump or rush it. Walking today was not so much of an option at first. She seemed really anxious about hurrying up to get up the hill, which I really didn't want to go straight to, because she kept pulling towards it. We walked to the fence line near the street, turned and walked back, but she was anxious again to get to the hill and kept reaching her head back to my foot. So I figured "Okay, let me hold her here for a minute if she keeps doing that." She was chomping like crazy on the bit while I held her for a couple of seconds until she stopped and let out a huge rush of air, at which point I let go. I held her back a little going up the hill and she was just as eager to rush back down, but I made her stay up on the top for a while. She eventually stopped chomping again and was silent, relaxed under me, and started looking around and I just pet her. After a while, when she seemed really calm, we went back down the hill. She wasn't anxious going down, but a little rushed, so we went back up again. We did this a couple of times until she just walked up and back down.
We were going to go in, but then this little bird by the pond started squawking at us, and rather than go away from it, I went towards it. Instead of flying away, it spun around and started running away! Once I was focused on following the bird without crushing it as it ran away from us, Brie really slowed without me having to hold her back and managed her speed while I followed the bird. Eventually, the bird got the idea that he should fly away, but it was such a cool feeling knowing that she was actually thinking on her own without me having to tell her everything that she had to do.
We walked in and I traded with my mom. Since he looked like he worked fine inside, I took him outside. He was okay until the last point we had reached outside by ourselves, which was the far side of the hill. Then I wanted him to walk to the fence line. He was very concerned about this, but we got there. When I turned to go back to the barn, that's when he wanted to take off, so I had to bend him to a stop. He didn't really stop, he kept spinning, but eventually he did stop and calmed down. We have to work on halting outside and getting the message across that stopping outside is an option, it's not just go go go. So we climbed up the hill (he was also nervous about that, so we had to go up and down a couple of times) and then waited at the top. He was a little more comfortable at the top of the hill, but still shifting his weight and not relaxing, until Samantha came out with Tobacco. Once another horse was out there with him, he calmed down a lot more. I rode with her all out back and then through the front before I came back in and gave Harry a shower.
I did bring popsicles for them, since they like them so much, but they melted in the cooler before I could give them out! Maybe tomorrow I'll have to give them before we ride.
And now for some pictures!!
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| Brie's favorite activity |
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| I think this is one of the cutest pictures of Nina |
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| Harry was not being very photogenic today. |
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| My three out with Sadie and Taco. |
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| Sadie: "I want a picture!!" |
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| The Bays v The Black (and White!) |
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| Nina mid-roll! |
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| Eating grass while laying down: the epitome of laziness |
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| The leader and her herd! |
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Day 225
I have some lovely pictures for you all today!
So as you can tell, I did in fact use the training saddle and the fruit basket on Harry today, hoping that it would get him a little more collected and remind him that he can't just string out like a Quarter Horse (nothing against them, though!) This is the first time that Harry has been very energetic at a longe in a while, since he's pretty pokey, which is okay with me because I'm not getting pulled around. But he was actually very good and responsive.
He was a little stiff in this direction, but we worked at it the entire ride and he eventually loosened up.
Look at that adorable sashay!
Now here you can see that he is really collected. He ended up working very nicely. I was able to keep a loose rein on him after the warm up and he was happily snorting along. He stayed pretty collected the entire ride, but he tap danced a little. We didn't work on largo, since we're trying to collect the corto before we can extend the largo at the same time. He was a very good boy and really gave me all he had today. He was definitely listening to me, as his hears were facing towards me the entire ride. He was responding well to my leg and to my reins and while he tried to get away a little bit with his head, after a few quick corrections he settled back like a charm.
Afterwards, we went out exploring without the fruit basket. Once he walked over that little ditch he calmed right down.
We even got to walk near the pond again! So proud of him. Now for some adorable shots of Brie in between bursts of partaking in her favorite activity: eating.
Afterward we came inside, I rode Taco really quickly because he kept pulling towards the door for Jane, so after he calmed down and was able to walk past the doors without wanting to run out back to his stall, I got off and let him go into the stable. Then everybody got a nice, thorough bath and tail scrubbing. Of course, everyone was dirty within 5 minutes, but what can you do.
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| This is Harry's beautiful jaquima! |
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| Sleepy Harry is sleepy. |
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| A close up of the shank of his bit...I should've taken a picture of the port, but I forgot. Notices the double reins! |
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| Our very first saddle. It's from Colombia and is perfect for training. |
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| Harry wondering why I'm taking a picture of his butt. This is the so-called "fruit basket" a.k.a rear end collector |
So as you can tell, I did in fact use the training saddle and the fruit basket on Harry today, hoping that it would get him a little more collected and remind him that he can't just string out like a Quarter Horse (nothing against them, though!) This is the first time that Harry has been very energetic at a longe in a while, since he's pretty pokey, which is okay with me because I'm not getting pulled around. But he was actually very good and responsive.
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| My brother and Nina exploring. |
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| Brie peeking between the fence while she's eating. |
Afterwards, we went out exploring without the fruit basket. Once he walked over that little ditch he calmed right down.
Afterward we came inside, I rode Taco really quickly because he kept pulling towards the door for Jane, so after he calmed down and was able to walk past the doors without wanting to run out back to his stall, I got off and let him go into the stable. Then everybody got a nice, thorough bath and tail scrubbing. Of course, everyone was dirty within 5 minutes, but what can you do.
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, March 11, 2012
Days 205 & 206
Saturday
First, let me show you how I longed Harry last weekend.
I made this little loop around the pole so that he couldn't pull me when he fishtailed out. So that was that!
Here is another picture from last weekend. Nothing too special, just using double reins! His little braid looks so funny =]
Last two pictures from last weekend. We turned walking over the poles into jumping over the poles! At least he was enjoying himself...I remember when he was too scared to even go anywhere near them! And I have to say that I'm proud of my posture, it's gotten way better!
Now, to photobomb you from today! Compared to last weekend, it was beautiful out! I can't even believe that I had to wear a turtleneck last week, today was gorgeous! As it being so beautiful out, we let everyone run around and play before we started to work today.
Harry wins the award for most photogenic today. I have tons more pictures, and he's in the majority of them! He's such a cutie, as soon as I walked into his pasture he ran over to me to see what I was doing.
Then I hopped over the fence to Brie and Nina's paddock. Nina was adamant on playing tag the entire time, so I didn't get very many stills of her. This is my favorite though.
In between chasing Brie to make her stop eating and do something interesting for the camera, I got this one. I'm just bugged that I didn't get her whole face in the frame! She looks so dirty!
Harry looking over at me in the next paddock, sadly. He gets sad when he can't play with Nina, but Brie really doesn't like him, so we generally don't put them together unless we're making a Christmas card or something.
First, let me show you how I longed Harry last weekend.
I made this little loop around the pole so that he couldn't pull me when he fishtailed out. So that was that!
Here is another picture from last weekend. Nothing too special, just using double reins! His little braid looks so funny =]
Now, to photobomb you from today! Compared to last weekend, it was beautiful out! I can't even believe that I had to wear a turtleneck last week, today was gorgeous! As it being so beautiful out, we let everyone run around and play before we started to work today.
Running towards the camera.
Being a model.
In between chasing Brie to make her stop eating and do something interesting for the camera, I got this one. I'm just bugged that I didn't get her whole face in the frame! She looks so dirty!
Doing her favorite activity -- eating!
Finally some movement!
My dad caught a frame of Harry and I. He was following me around the pasture when I walked in. I like how both of our hair looks crazy.
This is my favorite of the two of us so far!
I tricked Harry into giving me a kiss. He is clearly disgusted by it! Girls have cooties =]
Now that the photobombing is over, let me tell you about my marvelous weekend! Harry's 7th birthday was this past Thursday and we planned on celebrating but forgot the apples...oops. Anyways, after tacking him up I thought of longeing in the corner of the arena and using the two walls as a buffer for fishtailing. He was super calm and looked great and never fishtailed. My mom even asked, "Wow, what did you do to Harry?" I think it was probably because he ran around outside first, but at least he has this calm idea in his mind now. Hopefully this will work for a while and we can progressively move away from the corner and into the middle of the arena.
My goal for this weekend was to work on the largo. We had a beautiful ride pre-largo. He was collected and calm and gaiting wonderfully, doing everything I asked of him. I couldn't have been happier.
When we got into the largo, he lost all sense of calm and normalcy and began pacing and tapdancing. I tried everything I could think of ---flexing into the wall, stopping to let him rebalance, slowing and speeding back into the largo, pushing him forward...at the end I even pushed him into a canter and he wasn't having that. I was totally out of ideas and discouraged by that point, so I calmed him back down to a walk and collected him back into a corto, passed across the board, and finished on a good note.
Disappointed, I was talking to my mom about what to do with him. Should we send him to training? I just would hate to do that because I have so much of my own efforts invested in him and even though I can't see it at times, we really have come a long way. Think of those poles, for example! So I made a deal to give me until my birthday next month and if he's not doing better, then we should send him to training, either by Nick here or by Paul who offered it to us last fall at the State Fair. I just hope that we can get somewhere on our own!
Sunday
Today I should have really taken pictures, that way I could have shown you what I did.
While in the car, I started talking to my friend Melody about my situation with Harry and how I've tried everything I could think of. She suggested heavier shoes (but that's not happening) or maybe slightly pulling him off the wall and doing some random shapes to refocus his mind on what he's supposed to be doing and calming him down, then letting him go back into a largo. My mom suggested putting on the rear end collector (a.k.a fruit basket) and the weighted bracelets on his back legs. So I decided to combine the three.
I was expecting hell on legs when I longed him today, but happily, that was not the case! He was just as good as yesterday, and it has me thinking, maybe he doesn't need to be longed before I ride. Maybe longeing is what is working him up with anticipation? As soon as we get the largo down, I'll test out that theory. Until then, our corner will work just fine.
The past two days have been our longest rides since I can remember. They're wonderful. The first part of our ride was him getting used to the collector and the bracelets, so he was pretty bouncy. After he calmed into that, our corto was a little tap dancy. I started the shapes first with circles, but then found that he thinks circles are just the greatest thing ever and loves to spin around and started doing it on his own, so we stopped circles and started doing triangles and squares and stars. He was better with those. His corto relaxed and he was feeling pretty confident and our board was phenomenal.
Feeling good, we started going at the largo. It was tricky and we definitely did more shapes than not, but at the end of our ride, we had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL couple of passes across the board at a largo, no skipping or tap dancing or pacing. He was just giving me all of his effort and it felt amazing. Beyond proud of where we were at, I took off his contraptions and we headed outside, because today was even warmer than yesterday!
I joined everyone in the outdoor and was only looking to have a little fun, so we corto'd around and across the board, where he got a little too excited and danced across it, so I had to refocus him and go across it again, where he did really nicely. Then my mom and I headed out into the front pasture where he was just an absolute doll walking around out there, while my mom was stuck with Brie in her monster mode, trying to run into the trees and fences. Harry was wonderful throughout our whole ride out in front, and after spending 10 minutes trying to close the gate we came out of when we went back into the arena (and failing), we headed inside where my mom was adamant on making Brie walk.
While Brie was trying to walk, Harry and I were cooling down. Feeling especially adventurous because of all our progress today and because I was using the training saddle (which has a horn), I took my feet out of the stirrups and was determined to not fall off. He worked surprisingly well! He didn't get scared that the stirrups hit his side a little bit and walked as if I had them in.
In all, today was by far one of the most progressive days in my training with Harry. These are the days that I need to remember when he's throwing me around the arena and yanking ropes out of my hands. He is beyond willing to learn, I just have to improve my methods to understand him.
At the end of the day, we hosed everyone down and gave out Harry's belated birthday present - golden apples! Brie's birthday is coming up this Thursday, so I wanted to get to the store to buy these granola oat balls that you hang from the stall that they can munch on, although I have a feeling Brie's will be gone in a day. Hope you all had wonderful rides today as well!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Michigan Show - Sunday
We weren't going to show today, but I spontaneously decided that I would show Nina. Yes, Nina! The horse who I never get to ride! Today's classes were all Pleasure classes whereas yesterday were all Performance classes. My brother didn't want to show Nina in Pleasure and I knew that I wouldn't be able to show Harry in Pleasure since he's so high-strung, so I picked Nina.
Well for someone who doesn't ride her at all, I sure was proud that I got 2nd! We went into the lineup after the class was over and after some time, the judge called for a work-off between two other horses and myself. I've never done a work-off before and not knowing that I was supposed to corto right out of the lineup, I walked out and then corto'd on the wall. My mom told me that if I had corto'd out of the lineup and gotten her headset just a second sooner, I would've took 1st. Oh well, now I know! I only remember showing Nina one other time, and that was with Andre. I was sleeping on the back of a golf cart and Andre came and shook me awake, put me on Nina, and put me in the class! I don't remember what I took then, haha.
We hung around for the bit in the afternoon, complained about the judging a little bit because there were still horses placing that were acting up, and then packed up and left. Overall, it was a good show and it was great experience for Harry and Nina. I don't know if we'll go to any more shows because we're already qualified for Nationals. I don't know if it would be a good idea to keep showing and work on the little things simultaneously or to just stay home and work then show up to Nationals.
Well for someone who doesn't ride her at all, I sure was proud that I got 2nd! We went into the lineup after the class was over and after some time, the judge called for a work-off between two other horses and myself. I've never done a work-off before and not knowing that I was supposed to corto right out of the lineup, I walked out and then corto'd on the wall. My mom told me that if I had corto'd out of the lineup and gotten her headset just a second sooner, I would've took 1st. Oh well, now I know! I only remember showing Nina one other time, and that was with Andre. I was sleeping on the back of a golf cart and Andre came and shook me awake, put me on Nina, and put me in the class! I don't remember what I took then, haha.
We hung around for the bit in the afternoon, complained about the judging a little bit because there were still horses placing that were acting up, and then packed up and left. Overall, it was a good show and it was great experience for Harry and Nina. I don't know if we'll go to any more shows because we're already qualified for Nationals. I don't know if it would be a good idea to keep showing and work on the little things simultaneously or to just stay home and work then show up to Nationals.
Michigan Show - Saturday
With only a little difficulty, we got Harry into the trailer! We managed to leave in the shortest amount of time that I can remember! But then we made up for it getting stuck in some ridiculous traffic for 2 hours, only moving about 15 miles. Talk about a delay!
We arrived at about 7:30 pm yesterday night, and we didn't work the horses because of our prior experience from the Midwest Classic, when they got all pooped out on Saturday for the show.
Today, I only had one class. Mom had ridden with Nina and Harry in a class before mine and she got 3rd on Nina and 5th on Harry. Nina had a great ride and Harry was so-so. You could tell that she was struggling with him in the class because he kept wanting to take off. We rinsed off both of them for the lunch break and then I started working with Harry immediately after I ate lunch, that way he'd be warmed up enough for my class. He worked fantastically! I could swear that he was Fino-ing down the drive between the warm up and the show arena! I took him in the arena for my class and he behaved beautifully! It was a big class, so I only came away with a 5th, but I was satisfied with his behavior. After that class, I decided to take him into the championship class just for fun and he did wonderfully in that one too, even though we didn't place. I was really proud of him! He's coming along great!
My brother showed after my first class and he took a 3rd with Nina. He was in the championship with me too, and he got 4th champion. So today was a good day!
One thing that definitely threw off everyone we talked to was the judge---she was judging really strangely, placing horses that weren't even gaiting over ones who were behaving absolutely HORRIBLY! In my brother's class he placed 3rd under some little kid who's horse was rearing! I would've liked to pick that judge's brain, but she was never around. I can't understand WHY she would place some horses who refused to reverse, were acting horribly, and were whinnying the entire way around the arena as first place. If I saw a horse even rear a tiny bit, he would be excused. Sometimes judges don't make any sense. And the worst part is that she SAW these horses acting badly! I swear, I should go to judging school.
We arrived at about 7:30 pm yesterday night, and we didn't work the horses because of our prior experience from the Midwest Classic, when they got all pooped out on Saturday for the show.
Today, I only had one class. Mom had ridden with Nina and Harry in a class before mine and she got 3rd on Nina and 5th on Harry. Nina had a great ride and Harry was so-so. You could tell that she was struggling with him in the class because he kept wanting to take off. We rinsed off both of them for the lunch break and then I started working with Harry immediately after I ate lunch, that way he'd be warmed up enough for my class. He worked fantastically! I could swear that he was Fino-ing down the drive between the warm up and the show arena! I took him in the arena for my class and he behaved beautifully! It was a big class, so I only came away with a 5th, but I was satisfied with his behavior. After that class, I decided to take him into the championship class just for fun and he did wonderfully in that one too, even though we didn't place. I was really proud of him! He's coming along great!
My brother showed after my first class and he took a 3rd with Nina. He was in the championship with me too, and he got 4th champion. So today was a good day!
One thing that definitely threw off everyone we talked to was the judge---she was judging really strangely, placing horses that weren't even gaiting over ones who were behaving absolutely HORRIBLY! In my brother's class he placed 3rd under some little kid who's horse was rearing! I would've liked to pick that judge's brain, but she was never around. I can't understand WHY she would place some horses who refused to reverse, were acting horribly, and were whinnying the entire way around the arena as first place. If I saw a horse even rear a tiny bit, he would be excused. Sometimes judges don't make any sense. And the worst part is that she SAW these horses acting badly! I swear, I should go to judging school.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Days 135 & 136
Saturday
Short day =[ I rode Brie today. Her canter is coming along so nicely! I'm so proud of her, she's really starting to realize she can't just bolt. I'm thinking of putting her in trail class when we take her to shows. There are jumps, you have to close gates, and do various things that you might have to on trail, like stepping over a tarp or something. It sounds really fun and I have a feeling she'd do great. She really seems to trust me except when the sunshine demons are out and we actually go outside haha.
Mom rode Harry today and got kind of annoyed with him. It looked like he was just a lot to handle. Tomorrow it's trailer time!
Sunday
TRAILER TIME!
We brushed them all off and took Harry outside to face the trailer. My mom had the first go and after a couple minutes of little rears, Harry finally realized that he had a chain lead on his nose and that he better behave! She got him in, but he kind of hopped backwards out. Paco led him in and out again, of course Harry was beautiful for Paco. So then my mom gave it a few more times and then I did and the even my dad did! He's getting better at it. With a couple more weekends of practice, he'll be going in and out like a pro. We also put Brie in there just for kicks to show Paco how we blindfold her and lead her in. Poor baby hit her nose on the inside because she walked too far. I'll have to take a video of us leading her in blindfolded sometime for all of you =]
I started off riding Brie. I was so thrilled when Annie and Jane showed up with Annie's new horse, Brenner! Annie went to tacking up Brenner and we were cruising around the arena, my mom working with Harry again. Brenner was kind of spooked at the noise of us going over the soundboard, so we stopped until Annie got on. Annie only took a couple of steps before someone when on the soundboard again and Brenner got spooked.
He bucked, and it looked like she had him under control, until he bucked again and lept over the soundboard, when Annie landed on the horn, he bucked again and it looked like she was going over his head when she half jumped/half fell off of him as he bucked again and I rounded him into the corner with Brie when he started to take off. Annie was okay, thank God, but she'll be feeling a pain in her butt, literally, tomorrow morning from that saddle horn. After that, she went in the outdoor arena to work him.
After seeing that, it really made me stop and think. Holy crap! He was a huge horse! He had to be at least 16 hands, which may or may not be normal to other people, since our little Pasos are around 14/15 hands. It really made me wonder if I could handle bigger horses. And Annie is a tough girl, her motto is "If I'm going down, he's going down with me"! For her to get half thrown off really shocked me.
After the whole accident, I switched Brie for Harry. Oh. My. Gosh. Was he AMAZING today! I got a really good video on my dad's phone, but unfortunately it was too big of a file to send to email =[ Now I have to figure out how to get it off of there. He was relaxed and worked beautifully and his gait sounded phenomenal! If he shows like that, we'll surely be cleaning up!
I switched Harry for Nina and just plopped along on her, cooling her off after my brother rode, and then we hosed them all off. Sadly now I'm back to classes. It'll be hard to get used to again. And this Saturday I won't be going out to ride because I'm going to a competition for an X Factor "front of the audition line" spot! I still have to figure out which songs I want to sing! Wish me luck!
Short day =[ I rode Brie today. Her canter is coming along so nicely! I'm so proud of her, she's really starting to realize she can't just bolt. I'm thinking of putting her in trail class when we take her to shows. There are jumps, you have to close gates, and do various things that you might have to on trail, like stepping over a tarp or something. It sounds really fun and I have a feeling she'd do great. She really seems to trust me except when the sunshine demons are out and we actually go outside haha.
Mom rode Harry today and got kind of annoyed with him. It looked like he was just a lot to handle. Tomorrow it's trailer time!
Sunday
TRAILER TIME!
We brushed them all off and took Harry outside to face the trailer. My mom had the first go and after a couple minutes of little rears, Harry finally realized that he had a chain lead on his nose and that he better behave! She got him in, but he kind of hopped backwards out. Paco led him in and out again, of course Harry was beautiful for Paco. So then my mom gave it a few more times and then I did and the even my dad did! He's getting better at it. With a couple more weekends of practice, he'll be going in and out like a pro. We also put Brie in there just for kicks to show Paco how we blindfold her and lead her in. Poor baby hit her nose on the inside because she walked too far. I'll have to take a video of us leading her in blindfolded sometime for all of you =]
I started off riding Brie. I was so thrilled when Annie and Jane showed up with Annie's new horse, Brenner! Annie went to tacking up Brenner and we were cruising around the arena, my mom working with Harry again. Brenner was kind of spooked at the noise of us going over the soundboard, so we stopped until Annie got on. Annie only took a couple of steps before someone when on the soundboard again and Brenner got spooked.
He bucked, and it looked like she had him under control, until he bucked again and lept over the soundboard, when Annie landed on the horn, he bucked again and it looked like she was going over his head when she half jumped/half fell off of him as he bucked again and I rounded him into the corner with Brie when he started to take off. Annie was okay, thank God, but she'll be feeling a pain in her butt, literally, tomorrow morning from that saddle horn. After that, she went in the outdoor arena to work him.
After seeing that, it really made me stop and think. Holy crap! He was a huge horse! He had to be at least 16 hands, which may or may not be normal to other people, since our little Pasos are around 14/15 hands. It really made me wonder if I could handle bigger horses. And Annie is a tough girl, her motto is "If I'm going down, he's going down with me"! For her to get half thrown off really shocked me.
After the whole accident, I switched Brie for Harry. Oh. My. Gosh. Was he AMAZING today! I got a really good video on my dad's phone, but unfortunately it was too big of a file to send to email =[ Now I have to figure out how to get it off of there. He was relaxed and worked beautifully and his gait sounded phenomenal! If he shows like that, we'll surely be cleaning up!
I switched Harry for Nina and just plopped along on her, cooling her off after my brother rode, and then we hosed them all off. Sadly now I'm back to classes. It'll be hard to get used to again. And this Saturday I won't be going out to ride because I'm going to a competition for an X Factor "front of the audition line" spot! I still have to figure out which songs I want to sing! Wish me luck!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Day 105
I rode everyone today!
Paco rearranged Brie, Nina, and Harry so they're all next to each other. It's small, but it made me happy. Harry used to be across from them, so now it's like they're a little family, all together!
We let them all out in a paddock together. I'm so pleased to see that they all get along =] No injuries!
I started off on Brie today. Her jump boots keep slipping and turning around! So I'm just going to leave them off until we start actually jumping. I practiced trying to get her to slow her canter down a little bit, but she was soooo crazy fast today! She was a good girl though. I think she likes getting all this excess speed out of her system.
I finally got to ride Nina today! She's a bit of a challenge trying to keep her head down but her gait was really nice. She has super tight turns that aren't very rounded, so I mostly worked on bending.
Harry was fantastic. As usual =] I can't wait until I have enough money to buy a car and then I can drive out to see them whenever I have free time.
Paco rearranged Brie, Nina, and Harry so they're all next to each other. It's small, but it made me happy. Harry used to be across from them, so now it's like they're a little family, all together!
We let them all out in a paddock together. I'm so pleased to see that they all get along =] No injuries!
I started off on Brie today. Her jump boots keep slipping and turning around! So I'm just going to leave them off until we start actually jumping. I practiced trying to get her to slow her canter down a little bit, but she was soooo crazy fast today! She was a good girl though. I think she likes getting all this excess speed out of her system.
I finally got to ride Nina today! She's a bit of a challenge trying to keep her head down but her gait was really nice. She has super tight turns that aren't very rounded, so I mostly worked on bending.
Harry was fantastic. As usual =] I can't wait until I have enough money to buy a car and then I can drive out to see them whenever I have free time.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Day 93
Harry was still limping today. The farrier had already left to go to the airport so he couldn't test Harry. I took him out and lunged him a little bit but he wasn't doing very well clockwise today. We decided to give him the day off. We put him in the small paddock and took out Brie and Nina to brush them outside next to Harry's paddock. Brie was happy as a clam eating away at all of the grass she wanted.
I finally got to ride her today!!! I rode for quite a long time too. We worked inside like normal and then I tried a little bit of a canter with her. Out of three times she picked it up right on cue once. I was happy. We ran a hit in the outdoor arena and then my brother, Nina, Brie and I went out to trail ride a bit. We were doing well until we decided to do some serpentines around some trees. Brie had a meltdown. We stayed standing there for a couple minutes and then hopped back over to the barn. I corto'd a bit inside and then largo'd back in the outside arena. She got a good workout today and even though she had a little meltdown I was so happy. I miss riding Brie all the time for a long time because now I have to train Harry. I really hope he gets better soon and this can work itself out.
Now I have to read up on training Pasos for dressage!
I finally got to ride her today!!! I rode for quite a long time too. We worked inside like normal and then I tried a little bit of a canter with her. Out of three times she picked it up right on cue once. I was happy. We ran a hit in the outdoor arena and then my brother, Nina, Brie and I went out to trail ride a bit. We were doing well until we decided to do some serpentines around some trees. Brie had a meltdown. We stayed standing there for a couple minutes and then hopped back over to the barn. I corto'd a bit inside and then largo'd back in the outside arena. She got a good workout today and even though she had a little meltdown I was so happy. I miss riding Brie all the time for a long time because now I have to train Harry. I really hope he gets better soon and this can work itself out.
Now I have to read up on training Pasos for dressage!
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