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!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Day 108
Ever had a day that's completely unbelievable?
That happened to me today.
It was the strangest thing. I was thinking about Andre more than usual today, and as we were reminiscing about him on the way home, my mom got a call from an unknown number. Jokingly, I said "Hey, it's Andre, call him back!" So she did.
It was Andre.
I couldn't believe it! I screamed when I heard it was him! I've missed him so much, despite the tiny falling out he had with my family. He's essentially taught me all that I know and I definitely couldn't have gotten as far as I have with Harry, or even Brie for that matter, if it were not for him. I can't even conceptualize how lucky I am to have had him as a mentor from such a young age, pretty much turning me into a horse trainer at age 12, giving my brother and me his secrets, jokingly telling us that we would be his legacy.
He has a couple of clients and has built an indoor on his property, and his Querida has turned all white and birthed a foal a couple months ago! His own baby is getting big, now at 13 months. It's hard to imagine that we've been on our own for over a year now and are doing so well, also owning a third horse!
Away from the shock of the day, onto training. I started and worked Brie first. Her legs are looking kind of stocky. Is it possible that's from cantering? Do horses' legs do that when they're being trained to canter? Am I doing something wrong and over-stressing her muscles? I'll have to do some research. We mostly walked and corto'd today, and she picked up her own canter while she was on a loose rein. It was a fantastic speed too! But I had her stop after a couple of strides, not wanting to agitate her legs any further.
No Nina. Again.
Harry was significantly better today. They are all definitely happier once they've had their playtime outside first. He was not as collected, but at least he wasn't goofing around with his back legs today. We have a good three, maybe four more months to figure him out for show season, so I plan on taking things slowly.
That happened to me today.
It was the strangest thing. I was thinking about Andre more than usual today, and as we were reminiscing about him on the way home, my mom got a call from an unknown number. Jokingly, I said "Hey, it's Andre, call him back!" So she did.
It was Andre.
I couldn't believe it! I screamed when I heard it was him! I've missed him so much, despite the tiny falling out he had with my family. He's essentially taught me all that I know and I definitely couldn't have gotten as far as I have with Harry, or even Brie for that matter, if it were not for him. I can't even conceptualize how lucky I am to have had him as a mentor from such a young age, pretty much turning me into a horse trainer at age 12, giving my brother and me his secrets, jokingly telling us that we would be his legacy.
He has a couple of clients and has built an indoor on his property, and his Querida has turned all white and birthed a foal a couple months ago! His own baby is getting big, now at 13 months. It's hard to imagine that we've been on our own for over a year now and are doing so well, also owning a third horse!
Away from the shock of the day, onto training. I started and worked Brie first. Her legs are looking kind of stocky. Is it possible that's from cantering? Do horses' legs do that when they're being trained to canter? Am I doing something wrong and over-stressing her muscles? I'll have to do some research. We mostly walked and corto'd today, and she picked up her own canter while she was on a loose rein. It was a fantastic speed too! But I had her stop after a couple of strides, not wanting to agitate her legs any further.
No Nina. Again.
Harry was significantly better today. They are all definitely happier once they've had their playtime outside first. He was not as collected, but at least he wasn't goofing around with his back legs today. We have a good three, maybe four more months to figure him out for show season, so I plan on taking things slowly.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Day 107
Sooooo cold today!
We bought Harry a Christmas halter. His is green and Brie and Nina's are red. I'll have to take some pictures to show you! While I just brushed off Harry and lunged him, he lunged really well! He started off kind of crazy, but I just let him go, figured it was excess energy. He was sure full of it today, he kept pulling me while I was riding him, but I'll get to that in a bit.
I rode Brie first. It's so nice to ride Brie--she's really calmed down since I started really working with her such a long time ago, it feels like. She responds really well to weight shifting and leg yielding for turns. I'm trying to teach her how to pivot on her hind legs. It'll take some time and some figuring out what the heck I'm doing, but we'll get there. Her canter is coming along nicely too. We worked on slowing it down a bit today so she's not too much like a bat out of hell and then we worked on lead changes. She's automatic! I reverse her and she takes a couple of strides in gait to collect herself and then switches without much effort from me! Maybe she's missed her calling all along. It's the funniest thing too--when I lunge her, she trots but then when I ride her she gaits! Silly horse.
No Nina =[ Maybe tomorrow.
Harry's been having some difficulty keeping his back legs in step with the front legs this past week. So instead of trying to collect him, I let him move out and learn how to keep everything in sync that way...I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do if I'm trying to promote him going Fino, but I'd rather have him be comfortable and know what he's doing that forcing him into something just because I want it. Boy, was he pulling today! I think he's ready to be worked on just one rein, but I'll have to see about that. It was so cute, he wanted to largo really badly but then when he got up to speed he couldn't keep his back legs in time with the front at that speed either! So we just settled for a corto. Afterwards, while I was trying to cool him, I let him have a loose rein and he just corto'd around forever, completely responding to shifts in my weight for turns. It was a fantastic surprise! We did all sorts of serpentines and spelling out things in the sand. I just hope that he figures out his legs soon enough. I'm sure he will.
We bought Harry a Christmas halter. His is green and Brie and Nina's are red. I'll have to take some pictures to show you! While I just brushed off Harry and lunged him, he lunged really well! He started off kind of crazy, but I just let him go, figured it was excess energy. He was sure full of it today, he kept pulling me while I was riding him, but I'll get to that in a bit.
I rode Brie first. It's so nice to ride Brie--she's really calmed down since I started really working with her such a long time ago, it feels like. She responds really well to weight shifting and leg yielding for turns. I'm trying to teach her how to pivot on her hind legs. It'll take some time and some figuring out what the heck I'm doing, but we'll get there. Her canter is coming along nicely too. We worked on slowing it down a bit today so she's not too much like a bat out of hell and then we worked on lead changes. She's automatic! I reverse her and she takes a couple of strides in gait to collect herself and then switches without much effort from me! Maybe she's missed her calling all along. It's the funniest thing too--when I lunge her, she trots but then when I ride her she gaits! Silly horse.
No Nina =[ Maybe tomorrow.
Harry's been having some difficulty keeping his back legs in step with the front legs this past week. So instead of trying to collect him, I let him move out and learn how to keep everything in sync that way...I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do if I'm trying to promote him going Fino, but I'd rather have him be comfortable and know what he's doing that forcing him into something just because I want it. Boy, was he pulling today! I think he's ready to be worked on just one rein, but I'll have to see about that. It was so cute, he wanted to largo really badly but then when he got up to speed he couldn't keep his back legs in time with the front at that speed either! So we just settled for a corto. Afterwards, while I was trying to cool him, I let him have a loose rein and he just corto'd around forever, completely responding to shifts in my weight for turns. It was a fantastic surprise! We did all sorts of serpentines and spelling out things in the sand. I just hope that he figures out his legs soon enough. I'm sure he will.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Day 106
Oh Brie. Now that we've started canter training, that's all she wants to do! Not okay, especially when no one else wants to canter her during their ride. We have to work on listening skills. We tried to work a corto inside and then went outside to jump ditches and canter. What a silly mare.
I rode Harry today too. I actually started on him. Our lunging was nice, a couple of fishtails, but we did very well. He's listening very nicely. His gaiting today was rather odd though. All of his hooves weren't in sync at all, even when I hopped off and let my mom try to fix that. I guess everyone has those days though, don't they.
I'm so excited for Thanksgiving break! My irregular weekends have finally ended! I can't wait to start going on Saturdays and Sundays from now on. I didn't go yesterday because I went to the NU VS U of I game at Wrigley, which we lost horribly. It was so depressing, I can't even begin to tell you. Oh well, all I can look forward to is this upcoming weekend of normalcy!
I rode Harry today too. I actually started on him. Our lunging was nice, a couple of fishtails, but we did very well. He's listening very nicely. His gaiting today was rather odd though. All of his hooves weren't in sync at all, even when I hopped off and let my mom try to fix that. I guess everyone has those days though, don't they.
I'm so excited for Thanksgiving break! My irregular weekends have finally ended! I can't wait to start going on Saturdays and Sundays from now on. I didn't go yesterday because I went to the NU VS U of I game at Wrigley, which we lost horribly. It was so depressing, I can't even begin to tell you. Oh well, all I can look forward to is this upcoming weekend of normalcy!
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