Saturday
We switched Harry's bit today back to Nina's expensive bit. I went back and read posts from this time last year, when he was doing really well, to try to solve his pacing problem and that was one of the changes we had made and he was gaiting really well. So we did that today and he didn't pace at all in a corto! He had a hard time doing a largo, though. He's not a very fast largo horse, so all we can really do is make sure his corto is super slow, that way there is a difference in speed when they ask for a largo.
My mom and I both rode Harry, plus my mom rode him outside for a bit, so he was super tired when we were finished. I hosed him off and of course the first thing he did was roll around in his stall after that!
I also rode Brie, which was nice to do after not having ridden her for a couple of weeks. She gave me a bit of a hard time trying to mount, and I started getting angry and it wasn't working even more...so I really made myself relax, I pet her for a bit, which calmed both of us down, and after that she let me get on quickly. Just goes to show that anger will not get you anywhere!
Brie is doing really well and I can't wait to show her! I hope she doesn't have any show anxiety, because then we'll definitely win 1st places!
Update: Sunday
We didn't go out today...my mom had a headache and I was too nervous to drive out by myself...
My mom's also decided that we're not going to St. Louis for the show next week...Harry isn't prepared enough. Even though I would love to bring Brie instead of Harry, since I feel confident in her, we're just not going at all...
Now to wait until Michigan.
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Days 282 & 283
Saturday
Got out late, so I had even less time to ride. There were also a ton of people at the barn, so I had small space to work in. I managed to force my way in there and longe Brie and work on our flexibility program, which she is getting better at. I think she's getting bored with it now, so I have to figure out something new to add to it.
She was fairly calm while riding, but we're still working on headset. She's gotten really lazy without the pressure to show, so it's taking a lot of work getting her back into show mode.
As show season approaches, I find myself in the same place that I usually end up at this time of year -- wondering if I even want to show. On one hand, it's fun, but it's only fun if you win, which I don't do too often...I can't help but get the feeling that, despite all of my effort, everyone thinks I'm completely incapable of doing anything "right" with horses because I continue to ride horses that don't place firsts while my brother, for example, took over Nina and always wins firsts. It's just very discouraging.
And while I like going to have fun with my horses for the majority of the day and spend all that time with them, I feel like I'd rather be going trail riding or something. I don't know. Since I started riding, I've had this shift in interest from showing to trail riding. It just gets so boring going around in the arena, doing almost the same things every week, constantly trying to make your horse perfect...maybe they just want to relax a bit and go sightseeing.
Sunday
I got to ride Harry today! He was a bundle of anxiety and no matter how many circles I tried to do, he never really calmed down for me...for my mom, he was better, but for me, not too great. He walked really nicely, so I guess that's a plus, since I've struggled with getting him to walk calmly. But he only stayed in gait going over the soundboard and that's just because he's vain.
Brie is putting my patience to the test, once more. Now that I know she knows exactly what I want from her (to stand still at the mounting block), she is seeing if I can keep making her do that. It took at least a few tries to make her stand still at the block, and even then, she wasn't right next to it and I had to scoot it over.
I found out recently that one of my friends got an internship at a barn in Florida. I'm so jealous of her...I wish that I got to go work under a professional and spend my entire day with horses.
I've also decided that, after much thought, I will be ending this blog at Day 300. I was going to do an entire year (365), but after 3 actual years of writing, I've lost a lot of interest in it. I feel my posts getting repetitive lately with no real development happening and want to focus more of my energies into seeing a change in attitude both in myself and in my horses. This blog has really been an inspiration for myself during times where I feel like I'm at a standstill and I'm thankful for it. But with graduation fast approaching and the impending uncertainty of life after college, I don't even know if I'll be able to make it to 365 days in the near future. So I would rather end on a finite note than to be constantly wondering if I will ever have the time or opportunity to come back to this again.
Got out late, so I had even less time to ride. There were also a ton of people at the barn, so I had small space to work in. I managed to force my way in there and longe Brie and work on our flexibility program, which she is getting better at. I think she's getting bored with it now, so I have to figure out something new to add to it.
She was fairly calm while riding, but we're still working on headset. She's gotten really lazy without the pressure to show, so it's taking a lot of work getting her back into show mode.
As show season approaches, I find myself in the same place that I usually end up at this time of year -- wondering if I even want to show. On one hand, it's fun, but it's only fun if you win, which I don't do too often...I can't help but get the feeling that, despite all of my effort, everyone thinks I'm completely incapable of doing anything "right" with horses because I continue to ride horses that don't place firsts while my brother, for example, took over Nina and always wins firsts. It's just very discouraging.
And while I like going to have fun with my horses for the majority of the day and spend all that time with them, I feel like I'd rather be going trail riding or something. I don't know. Since I started riding, I've had this shift in interest from showing to trail riding. It just gets so boring going around in the arena, doing almost the same things every week, constantly trying to make your horse perfect...maybe they just want to relax a bit and go sightseeing.
Sunday
I got to ride Harry today! He was a bundle of anxiety and no matter how many circles I tried to do, he never really calmed down for me...for my mom, he was better, but for me, not too great. He walked really nicely, so I guess that's a plus, since I've struggled with getting him to walk calmly. But he only stayed in gait going over the soundboard and that's just because he's vain.
Brie is putting my patience to the test, once more. Now that I know she knows exactly what I want from her (to stand still at the mounting block), she is seeing if I can keep making her do that. It took at least a few tries to make her stand still at the block, and even then, she wasn't right next to it and I had to scoot it over.
I found out recently that one of my friends got an internship at a barn in Florida. I'm so jealous of her...I wish that I got to go work under a professional and spend my entire day with horses.
I've also decided that, after much thought, I will be ending this blog at Day 300. I was going to do an entire year (365), but after 3 actual years of writing, I've lost a lot of interest in it. I feel my posts getting repetitive lately with no real development happening and want to focus more of my energies into seeing a change in attitude both in myself and in my horses. This blog has really been an inspiration for myself during times where I feel like I'm at a standstill and I'm thankful for it. But with graduation fast approaching and the impending uncertainty of life after college, I don't even know if I'll be able to make it to 365 days in the near future. So I would rather end on a finite note than to be constantly wondering if I will ever have the time or opportunity to come back to this again.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 134
Sunday
Today, two things were accomplished:
1. We got Harry in the trailer.
2. We gave Harry a bath.
I spent two hours trying to get him into the trailer.
It started off really hopeful and then we hit a big roadblock. We started out just calmly looking at it, examining the ramp. We played the YoYo game a bit and I got him to come up to the ramp and put one of his feet on it. After that, he kept trying to jump into the trailer, but never actually jumped in.
He kept rearing into the jump and flailing his legs up in the air. I kept trying to get him to just walk into it, but he wasn't having it. He kept rearing up, jumping sideways over the ramp, never onto it. We got the nose chain to wrap over his nose on the leadline so that he would feel something if he tried to rear up again. After an hour and a half, I was still patient, but I knew I was no where near as strong enough to pull him sideways when he goes up to knock him off balance. A couple more rears with the nose chain on and my mom suggested that I give him to Paco, who was watching the whole time (quietly, thankfully. If he had been telling me what to do I probably would've bitten his head off), and grumpily I handed Harry over.
He looked so concerned when I walked away and knew that Paco was there, like, "Oh crap, this is a man." and tried the same thing with Paco, except Paco was able to give him a good yank back down. He got Harry into the trailer, and I was sour that I wasn't the first one to get him in. After a few walks in and out and teaching Harry to not race and rear out of the trailer on his way out, it was my turn.
He was like an angel. Once he knew that he wasn't going to meet his doom if he stepped onto the ramp and sat in the trailer for a while, he was a little cautious, but wasn't scared. We've decided that, no matter how long it'll take, we're going to do this every weekend. It might suck for the next couple weekends, but after that he'll get better and faster at getting in and out, and by show time, it'll be a breeze.
We gave him a good scrubbing and after he smelled like peaches, we put him away with carrots. Brie was pretty happy that we came, didn't ride, and still gave her food. It was the best of both worlds for her! Nina looked a little depressed when we didn't take her out to play, but she was easily satisfied when we gave her carrots.
We're going to go with Jane and Annie to a local show coming up some time. We're going to bring Harry and Brie. Harry for the trailer practice and show exposure and Brie just so she can maybe start getting used to strange horses around her. It'll be good for both of them.
Today, two things were accomplished:
1. We got Harry in the trailer.
2. We gave Harry a bath.
I spent two hours trying to get him into the trailer.
It started off really hopeful and then we hit a big roadblock. We started out just calmly looking at it, examining the ramp. We played the YoYo game a bit and I got him to come up to the ramp and put one of his feet on it. After that, he kept trying to jump into the trailer, but never actually jumped in.
He kept rearing into the jump and flailing his legs up in the air. I kept trying to get him to just walk into it, but he wasn't having it. He kept rearing up, jumping sideways over the ramp, never onto it. We got the nose chain to wrap over his nose on the leadline so that he would feel something if he tried to rear up again. After an hour and a half, I was still patient, but I knew I was no where near as strong enough to pull him sideways when he goes up to knock him off balance. A couple more rears with the nose chain on and my mom suggested that I give him to Paco, who was watching the whole time (quietly, thankfully. If he had been telling me what to do I probably would've bitten his head off), and grumpily I handed Harry over.
He looked so concerned when I walked away and knew that Paco was there, like, "Oh crap, this is a man." and tried the same thing with Paco, except Paco was able to give him a good yank back down. He got Harry into the trailer, and I was sour that I wasn't the first one to get him in. After a few walks in and out and teaching Harry to not race and rear out of the trailer on his way out, it was my turn.
He was like an angel. Once he knew that he wasn't going to meet his doom if he stepped onto the ramp and sat in the trailer for a while, he was a little cautious, but wasn't scared. We've decided that, no matter how long it'll take, we're going to do this every weekend. It might suck for the next couple weekends, but after that he'll get better and faster at getting in and out, and by show time, it'll be a breeze.
We gave him a good scrubbing and after he smelled like peaches, we put him away with carrots. Brie was pretty happy that we came, didn't ride, and still gave her food. It was the best of both worlds for her! Nina looked a little depressed when we didn't take her out to play, but she was easily satisfied when we gave her carrots.
We're going to go with Jane and Annie to a local show coming up some time. We're going to bring Harry and Brie. Harry for the trailer practice and show exposure and Brie just so she can maybe start getting used to strange horses around her. It'll be good for both of them.
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