Saturday
I only went out with mom today. It was a slow kind of day and I got to work with Nina. Today, we faced the oh so scary scissors for a trim! She was already pretty shaken up because the vet came out this morning, so I'm sure the last thing she wanted to deal with was me snipping around, but she has these whiskers on the sides of her face behind her cheeks that look like gills and it drives me crazy! So after a couple minutes of head tossing, she gave in and relaxed and let me snip off the gills and under-jaw whiskers and now she looks quite polished =]
Lots of round-working today. She tends to throw her head when you ask to flex and back up, so we worked on that. She trotted for a while until she got into gait. A fairly good ride, I'm sure as I continue riding her I'll get better at figuring out what she likes and doesn't like.
Rode Brie bareback today with just a bit! She was slightly thrown off by this and I almost slid off when I wanted her to turn one way and she decided she was going the other because of a big scary crate in the corner (the same scary crate that's been there for a month now...), and we just walked around. Super relaxing! But short because it was her dinner time and she was getting antsy.
Sunday
Everyone went out today and I rode Brie first. Now that she knows that sometimes I'll let her canter, that's her favorite thing to do! I would've worked on it more today, but I didn't think I should because I haven't really worked her since before Christmas, so we just walked for a while as a good warmup and then corto'd and got in quite a bit of a largo here and there. We were both pretty happy.
Harry was pretty good too today! I have to work more on getting him to give me his head to the left side. He fights everyone about that. He's gotten a lot better since we've started, he doesn't get so angry about it that he rears, but it should still be easier than it is. It shouldn't be this big production to make a small flex. So we will continue working on his flexibility/willingness.
I can't wait until it starts warming up. Everyone wants to go outside for a run and I feel anxious at the idea of going outside even walking because of hidden ice!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Day 116
The farrier was out today! So we didn't ride. I did do a little goofing around groundwork with Brie. I'm trying to teach her how to pirouette and figured it would be more effective to start it from the ground. She can do it a couple of steps in one direction and nothing in the other direction =[ She'll get it though! Patience =]
That's basically it...what a slow day! I'm glad that they got their hooves done today, they were getting pretty long!
That's basically it...what a slow day! I'm glad that they got their hooves done today, they were getting pretty long!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Day 115
First things first: no foal yet =\ we all lost our bets now. The only bet remaining is Ray's for February.
Now then...
Today we defeated the evil crate demon!!!
Yes, it is a triumphant tale of how Brie, Nina, and Harry defeated said demon. There was a crate propped against one of the arena walls today, and though it seemed innocent it surely was not! Only they could see a problem with harmless looking crate standing there. They all snorted and tap danced around it and pawed at the ground until finally touching it with their noses, exorcising the beast! It was quite a production.
Harry also had the guts today to go after Brie--he kicked her! While they were all in the arena running around, he kicked her in the stomach and you saw the look of shock on her face turn into vengeance as she went after him, cornered him and started kicking and biting. My brother was on their end of the arena so he chased them away toward me. Brie was following him as he ran towards me and with one stern "Brillannnnteeee!" from me she ran the other way and Harry ran right into my arms. He can dish it out but cant take it! I'm just happy no one got hurt. At least Harry knows he can run to me if he's scared.
Everyone was kind of silly today because they havent worked for two weeks. I lunged Harry and he was fishtailing a bit but got over it. He rode nicely and stomped around in a puddle at one end of the arena. A tiny bit fast today gaiting for my liking but he needed to stretch his legs.
Nina was being super lazy for my mom and Brie just chilled walking around with my brother. I only rode Brie at the end without stirrups for some fun. To relax. It amazes me everytime I say I ride her to relax because I remember when she was definitely NOT the horse for a relaxing ride. But we walked around the arena and I told her about how I had to go to school. I don't think she really cared, but still.
Back to the old grind again this week. As much as I'm not looking forward to waking up early for work again, I need the money! Holidays have left me broke!
Now then...
Today we defeated the evil crate demon!!!
Yes, it is a triumphant tale of how Brie, Nina, and Harry defeated said demon. There was a crate propped against one of the arena walls today, and though it seemed innocent it surely was not! Only they could see a problem with harmless looking crate standing there. They all snorted and tap danced around it and pawed at the ground until finally touching it with their noses, exorcising the beast! It was quite a production.
Harry also had the guts today to go after Brie--he kicked her! While they were all in the arena running around, he kicked her in the stomach and you saw the look of shock on her face turn into vengeance as she went after him, cornered him and started kicking and biting. My brother was on their end of the arena so he chased them away toward me. Brie was following him as he ran towards me and with one stern "Brillannnnteeee!" from me she ran the other way and Harry ran right into my arms. He can dish it out but cant take it! I'm just happy no one got hurt. At least Harry knows he can run to me if he's scared.
Everyone was kind of silly today because they havent worked for two weeks. I lunged Harry and he was fishtailing a bit but got over it. He rode nicely and stomped around in a puddle at one end of the arena. A tiny bit fast today gaiting for my liking but he needed to stretch his legs.
Nina was being super lazy for my mom and Brie just chilled walking around with my brother. I only rode Brie at the end without stirrups for some fun. To relax. It amazes me everytime I say I ride her to relax because I remember when she was definitely NOT the horse for a relaxing ride. But we walked around the arena and I told her about how I had to go to school. I don't think she really cared, but still.
Back to the old grind again this week. As much as I'm not looking forward to waking up early for work again, I need the money! Holidays have left me broke!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Day 114
Merry Christmas everyone!
Paco stayed with us since Wednesday and we brought him back today. It was really nice having him and everything, but I have to admit, I'm glad I can sleep in my own room again!
Since we all stayed up so late last night celebrating Christmas, we slept in and got out to the stables late today. We didn't really have time to do much, so we just gave everyone their Christmas carrots and let them all run in the arena and play. I decided that I wanted to ride on Harry bareback while my mom lunged him. He was such a good boy! I thought he'd act up a little bit because it would be the first time that I had ever done something like that, but he was such a sweet heart! He didn't try to take off or anything! I was so proud of him.
Then my brother, after seeing me, tried with Nina. I need to strengthen my arm muscles, because seeing him just hop and swing over Nina and mount was really disheartening after having to use the mounting block! So I walked him around and lunged him on Nina, then he got two lead ropes, stuck them on her halter, and rode her around.
Brie knew it was coming. =] So she half cantered/half largo'd a couple of times, reversed, and then decided she was done.
Meanwhile, the pregnant mare across from Brie is looking quite large! We're all taking bets on when she'll have her baby. I'm betting on New Year's Eve!
Give your horses and families Christmas hugs for me!
Paco stayed with us since Wednesday and we brought him back today. It was really nice having him and everything, but I have to admit, I'm glad I can sleep in my own room again!
Since we all stayed up so late last night celebrating Christmas, we slept in and got out to the stables late today. We didn't really have time to do much, so we just gave everyone their Christmas carrots and let them all run in the arena and play. I decided that I wanted to ride on Harry bareback while my mom lunged him. He was such a good boy! I thought he'd act up a little bit because it would be the first time that I had ever done something like that, but he was such a sweet heart! He didn't try to take off or anything! I was so proud of him.
Then my brother, after seeing me, tried with Nina. I need to strengthen my arm muscles, because seeing him just hop and swing over Nina and mount was really disheartening after having to use the mounting block! So I walked him around and lunged him on Nina, then he got two lead ropes, stuck them on her halter, and rode her around.
Brie knew it was coming. =] So she half cantered/half largo'd a couple of times, reversed, and then decided she was done.
Meanwhile, the pregnant mare across from Brie is looking quite large! We're all taking bets on when she'll have her baby. I'm betting on New Year's Eve!
Give your horses and families Christmas hugs for me!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Days 112 & 113
Saturday
Didn't go out last Sunday because of a huge snowstorm. No one's been let outside because the ground is icy, so of course Brie, Nina, and Harry loved running around in the arena while no one was here today! Ray is in Memphis and no one was out, so we let them all play. We let Brie run around first and she had a grand old time, bucking and squealing all on her own, then we stuck Harry in with her. She kept racing him and trying to make him run into the tractor in the corner! Thankfully he's quick and smart and never ran into it, though Brie did manage to stretch her leg in some ungodly direction to try and kick at him as she ran by! We let Nina in on the fun, poor little fatty, she only made it around the arena once before she stopped and wanted to just chill with Brie. Paco chased them all around and made them run. Once again, someone said that Brie should be put on the track. I swear, she was born the wrong breed! Should've been a Thoroughbred.
I rode Nina first! I was so happy! She has a very ploppy gait, kind of just moseys along but it's really cute. She takes some getting used to -- I never get to ride her so I have to figure her out! I knew she was having problems tossing her head when you're trying to make her flex, so I worked on that with her until she was being quiet about it. We did some figure 8's, some patterns in the sand, just things to relieve her boredom of going around in circles all day when my brother rides her (he stayed home, by the way. Sick.) and eventually she kept her head down and collected for me. Her gait sounded wonderful on the board, no breaks or bumps. She worked pretty hard for not doing so much by my standards! She was sweating up a storm!
Paco rode Harry. I didn't pay attention to him much because I was trying to concentrate on Nina, but my mom said that Harry looked nice. No problems, as usual recently. His speed was a little on the fast side, but that was Paco letting him have some fun. Paco must miss having him to ride, because he rode for a long time and then gave Harry a full bath! Thankfully the barn is heated, and we made him stand in the shower stall with a fleece cooler blanket on for at least a half hour to make sure he was okay.
My mom had some problems with Brie's gait going across the board. It was very odd and she was blaming it on my cantering her all the time. I figured that I wouldn't canter her today and just work on making her understand that when someone wants her to gait, she has to gait and not try to sneak in a couple canter strides. She was pretty good after some resetting of her mind doing some patterns. I rode all without stirrups. And when she went over the soundboard she sounded perfect. Since she sounded so good, I decided to do some cantering in a circle, not the entire arena, to work on speed, and she did really well (as did I, without any stirrups!). Hopefully she'll get the hang of not wanting to bolt into a canter/gallop and keep it more lopey and relaxed soon.
Sunday
Boy are my legs sore from yesterday's no stirrup riding.
I rode Nina again today. Pretty much the same deal as yesterday, except today I worked more on making her round her reverses instead of taking them stiff like a board. She's a smart girl, so it only takes a couple of tries with whatever I want and she gets the idea. She was a little excited today though! She tried to sneak a canter in the corner, except her's is so different from Brie's because it's so short and cute you barely notice it! Brie's canter stride is about 3 times the canter stride of Nina. It's pretty adorable, watching Nina canter because she has such short legs!
I rode Harry too today. In fact, I was the only one who rode at all today! Harry was MAGNIFICENT today. I haven't had a good, clean-gaited, high performance ride like that from him in about a month, so I was thoroughly pleased. It was like he gave me a Christmas present of a fantastic ride today.
My mom, Paco, and I were all talking about the horses and how far they've come. We talked mostly about Harry and how psycho he was when we first got him. Paco attributes a lot of it to the fact that he's gelded and most of the testosterone has calmed down, but it's definitely that we're so nice to him. We love on him and everything, but we don't let him walk all over us. He's definitely successfully turned into a family horse and turned out to be the cuddliest one out of all them and the most attached to us as a family. I feel like Brie and Nina, while they are attached to us a great deal, are more attached to each other in a human-like big sister/little sister kind of way, while Harry is more focused on everything we're doing. We like to walk them around in the arena every so often without leadlines and see if they'll follow us. Brie and Nina follow us but most of the time they get distracted by little things in the arena that they decide are more interesting than watching us run around the arena, but now no matter what else is in the arena or going on, Harry always follows us around. Always focused on us. It's really sweet to see that he's turned out to be such a good horse.
I was thinking about Brie too. It seems like impossible how hard she was for me to deal with when I first started this blog. Or the one or two month time period where she'd try to kick me every time I went in her stall to go get her and how now she comes up to the door to greet me when I go to halter her. Or how I used to beg to ride Nina after Brie for a "nice relaxing end to my day", when now I look to Brie for that because she's calmed down so much. It's just really rewarding to look back and see how far I've come with them. That's probably the best Christmas present I'll get this year.
I hope you all have a Happy Holiday, since I won't be writing again until after Christmas!
Didn't go out last Sunday because of a huge snowstorm. No one's been let outside because the ground is icy, so of course Brie, Nina, and Harry loved running around in the arena while no one was here today! Ray is in Memphis and no one was out, so we let them all play. We let Brie run around first and she had a grand old time, bucking and squealing all on her own, then we stuck Harry in with her. She kept racing him and trying to make him run into the tractor in the corner! Thankfully he's quick and smart and never ran into it, though Brie did manage to stretch her leg in some ungodly direction to try and kick at him as she ran by! We let Nina in on the fun, poor little fatty, she only made it around the arena once before she stopped and wanted to just chill with Brie. Paco chased them all around and made them run. Once again, someone said that Brie should be put on the track. I swear, she was born the wrong breed! Should've been a Thoroughbred.
I rode Nina first! I was so happy! She has a very ploppy gait, kind of just moseys along but it's really cute. She takes some getting used to -- I never get to ride her so I have to figure her out! I knew she was having problems tossing her head when you're trying to make her flex, so I worked on that with her until she was being quiet about it. We did some figure 8's, some patterns in the sand, just things to relieve her boredom of going around in circles all day when my brother rides her (he stayed home, by the way. Sick.) and eventually she kept her head down and collected for me. Her gait sounded wonderful on the board, no breaks or bumps. She worked pretty hard for not doing so much by my standards! She was sweating up a storm!
Paco rode Harry. I didn't pay attention to him much because I was trying to concentrate on Nina, but my mom said that Harry looked nice. No problems, as usual recently. His speed was a little on the fast side, but that was Paco letting him have some fun. Paco must miss having him to ride, because he rode for a long time and then gave Harry a full bath! Thankfully the barn is heated, and we made him stand in the shower stall with a fleece cooler blanket on for at least a half hour to make sure he was okay.
My mom had some problems with Brie's gait going across the board. It was very odd and she was blaming it on my cantering her all the time. I figured that I wouldn't canter her today and just work on making her understand that when someone wants her to gait, she has to gait and not try to sneak in a couple canter strides. She was pretty good after some resetting of her mind doing some patterns. I rode all without stirrups. And when she went over the soundboard she sounded perfect. Since she sounded so good, I decided to do some cantering in a circle, not the entire arena, to work on speed, and she did really well (as did I, without any stirrups!). Hopefully she'll get the hang of not wanting to bolt into a canter/gallop and keep it more lopey and relaxed soon.
Sunday
Boy are my legs sore from yesterday's no stirrup riding.
I rode Nina again today. Pretty much the same deal as yesterday, except today I worked more on making her round her reverses instead of taking them stiff like a board. She's a smart girl, so it only takes a couple of tries with whatever I want and she gets the idea. She was a little excited today though! She tried to sneak a canter in the corner, except her's is so different from Brie's because it's so short and cute you barely notice it! Brie's canter stride is about 3 times the canter stride of Nina. It's pretty adorable, watching Nina canter because she has such short legs!
I rode Harry too today. In fact, I was the only one who rode at all today! Harry was MAGNIFICENT today. I haven't had a good, clean-gaited, high performance ride like that from him in about a month, so I was thoroughly pleased. It was like he gave me a Christmas present of a fantastic ride today.
My mom, Paco, and I were all talking about the horses and how far they've come. We talked mostly about Harry and how psycho he was when we first got him. Paco attributes a lot of it to the fact that he's gelded and most of the testosterone has calmed down, but it's definitely that we're so nice to him. We love on him and everything, but we don't let him walk all over us. He's definitely successfully turned into a family horse and turned out to be the cuddliest one out of all them and the most attached to us as a family. I feel like Brie and Nina, while they are attached to us a great deal, are more attached to each other in a human-like big sister/little sister kind of way, while Harry is more focused on everything we're doing. We like to walk them around in the arena every so often without leadlines and see if they'll follow us. Brie and Nina follow us but most of the time they get distracted by little things in the arena that they decide are more interesting than watching us run around the arena, but now no matter what else is in the arena or going on, Harry always follows us around. Always focused on us. It's really sweet to see that he's turned out to be such a good horse.
I was thinking about Brie too. It seems like impossible how hard she was for me to deal with when I first started this blog. Or the one or two month time period where she'd try to kick me every time I went in her stall to go get her and how now she comes up to the door to greet me when I go to halter her. Or how I used to beg to ride Nina after Brie for a "nice relaxing end to my day", when now I look to Brie for that because she's calmed down so much. It's just really rewarding to look back and see how far I've come with them. That's probably the best Christmas present I'll get this year.
I hope you all have a Happy Holiday, since I won't be writing again until after Christmas!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Day 111
Even though today was pretty cold, it was a great day. I only rode Brie, and it was chill.
Brie was such a good girl today. She never tried to break into a canter and we actually WALKED for quite some time. Worked on some leg yields and serpentines without speeding up. She even walked next to Harry without wanting to race him!
Not much else to say except that today's ride was extremely relaxing. =] Hope you have good rides this weekend as well!
Brie was such a good girl today. She never tried to break into a canter and we actually WALKED for quite some time. Worked on some leg yields and serpentines without speeding up. She even walked next to Harry without wanting to race him!
Not much else to say except that today's ride was extremely relaxing. =] Hope you have good rides this weekend as well!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Days 109 & 110
Saturday
We took some cute pictures of everyone out in the snow today! Here are just a few =]
Since we were on a time limit today, I only got to ride Brie. Her canter is coming around...except now all she wants to do is canter! I have to work on getting her to listen to me instead of getting excited and wanting to bolt all of the time!
Sunday
I RODE EVERYONE TODAY! YAYY!
I started Harry. He's sooo much better lunging now, it's magnificent! For the most part, he's good. I have to read up on how to tighten his gait. I know he can give me so much more, I just don't know how to ask for it. I don't want to fail him. Good thing I have winter break coming up so I can spend quite a bit of time researching and learning new techniques.
Then I hopped on Nina. What a cutie. Her walk is so bouncy and fun, just not when you're in a hard saddle! That Australian saddle is so hard on my butt. She was a very good girl: very responsive, kept her head down, gaited beautifully across the board.
Brie. What a baby. She needs to learn how to listen!! She gets so excited when we start working on something new (i.e. cantering), that's all she wants to do! While her canter was beautiful today, it was unacceptable that she took off for it on her own without me asking her to. What should I do? Spend one day on her listening skills and the other on her cantering skills? It's just so difficult when I can only go out two days a week. I'd get so much more done if I could go out more. I can only work with what I have though.
I can't wait for break to start. My only final is tomorrow afternoon and after that I'm a free woman! I plan on reading up on dressage for Brie and Classic Fino training for Harry. Hope my brain doesn't explode from all that information!
We took some cute pictures of everyone out in the snow today! Here are just a few =]
Brie running
Harry investigating the snow
Nina mid-roll
Dashing through the snowww
Brie dug through the snow to reach the grass. Fatty.
Harry's just so photogenic!
A good romp.
Since we were on a time limit today, I only got to ride Brie. Her canter is coming around...except now all she wants to do is canter! I have to work on getting her to listen to me instead of getting excited and wanting to bolt all of the time!
Sunday
I RODE EVERYONE TODAY! YAYY!
I started Harry. He's sooo much better lunging now, it's magnificent! For the most part, he's good. I have to read up on how to tighten his gait. I know he can give me so much more, I just don't know how to ask for it. I don't want to fail him. Good thing I have winter break coming up so I can spend quite a bit of time researching and learning new techniques.
Then I hopped on Nina. What a cutie. Her walk is so bouncy and fun, just not when you're in a hard saddle! That Australian saddle is so hard on my butt. She was a very good girl: very responsive, kept her head down, gaited beautifully across the board.
Brie. What a baby. She needs to learn how to listen!! She gets so excited when we start working on something new (i.e. cantering), that's all she wants to do! While her canter was beautiful today, it was unacceptable that she took off for it on her own without me asking her to. What should I do? Spend one day on her listening skills and the other on her cantering skills? It's just so difficult when I can only go out two days a week. I'd get so much more done if I could go out more. I can only work with what I have though.
I can't wait for break to start. My only final is tomorrow afternoon and after that I'm a free woman! I plan on reading up on dressage for Brie and Classic Fino training for Harry. Hope my brain doesn't explode from all that information!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)