Today was nice because I rode two horsies, and the sun was out.
I got Colonel out and I didn't even bother to lunge him today. I just tacked him up, took him to the arena (he walked there like a gentleman, mostly) and hopped on him. He is very gate sour and I'm debating what to do about this. I started out, in an effort to keep him calm, letting him stand at the gate after he had been good for a while. I suspected this practice would come back to bite me, and while I dont know that it increased his gate sourness, it certainly didn't help. Eventually he lost his cool and then it was nothing but gate gate gate sour all the time. Doesn't really interfere with my steering training, I just have to wiggle a little longer to get my turn. Maybe he'll grow out of it.
I got off him and opened the gate and then surprised him by getting back on him. He wasn't too concerned when we walked out of the arena. He became very concerned when we failed to turn back towards the hay barn and instead started to head out into the field. So we trotted sideways and serpentined on down the path as he tried to make his way back to the barn and I just did my little wiggle turns to point him the other way. More trotting sideways and staring at the neighbor horses but eventually he decided to walk.
We walked right up to the creek on a slack rein (willpower!) then we galloped across it (not my idea.) It was awesome. Don't ask me why, but it was super fun and I really wasn't too concerned about him bolting off. It occurred to me that this was hardly the first time I'd had a horse (or even Colonel for that matter) bolt across the creek with me. The steep slope seems to help slow them down a little, as does the fact that we are headed away from the barn.
We spent a lot of time trotting around, I got a little disoriented because you cant really see the paths this time of year. While we were behind the creek we did not work on a slack rein, mostly because he rarely agreed to stop trotting. I was surprised and relieved when he decided to walk nicely over the bridge, and pretty nicely through the boggy mess that forms on the other side of the bridge this time of year. He trotted a little bit out through the plowed area in the corner but walked over to the path. I decided that was the moment to quit riding him for the day. I hopped off him and we walked home, enforcing good manners the whole way, of course.
He was actually really good about walking home, he never once got pissy. A little irritated towards the end but he kept it under control. Soon we'll be back to circling the fields just like the 'ol days.
I got Star out and we practiced her relaxing her back. She wanted to make sure I appreciated everything I got so she hollowed her back more than any other horse I know, in between complying (sortof) with my request for more balance and engagement. Then we went outside and I decided that I'd push my luck a little more and I asked Star to jump up the bank. It was GREAT. I loved it. Star loved it. She jumped it from a walk and a trot. We did it three times and Star got pretty hyped up. I decided not to take her across the creek and instead just make it a short trip outside.
I'm excited about this and I think we'll jump the bank again tomorrow. Maybe we'll jump down even. Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
These bolts are making me nuts!
I spent most of the day helping Robert moving stall doors from the outside to the inside. Hopefully that means that when the doors are closed, and the horses push on them, they'll be pushing the doors against the frame rather than against the aluminum tracks. It was extremely cold and I spent most of the time hunting around the hay barn for nuts to go with the bolts we had. Apparently there are two different kinds of threads so even on the same size screws the nuts wouldn't necessarily be compatible. Anyway, it was totally maddening.
In horsey news, I got Colonel out. He was totally OK with the idea of a good rub down. The saddle part he felt he could take or leave. I lunged him a bit first since he hasn't been ridden in forever. I think that actually hyped him up a bit, but not too bad. His steering is horrible so we worked on that. Basically my plan is to ride around on a totally slack rein, when I want to turn I pick up one rein, hold it out pretty far away from me and wiggle it until he turns. It was so cold that the wiggling was rather uncoordinated and looked a little more like a small seizure than anything else.
Its nice to be back in a situation where I'm just able to make training things up as I go along. It feels like more of an adventure, and it gives me something to think about while I'm riding. My theory with the wiggling (I wont even call it a half-halt its just not nearly that controlled) is that he will start seeking a release from the annoying by moving his head and the rest of his body. Then I'll work up to more controlled pressure but he will still look for the release from said pressure rather than pulling back. Not that he doesn't sometimes try to pull against my wiggling, but it doesn't matter.
One thing he did once he figured out how to make the wiggling stop was to massively over-achieve. Tap tap on his mouth, he turns 180 degrees. I'm hoping that if I get a little faster on my release he'll eventually figure out that he doesn't need to do that. As it was we just serpentined around nearly at random.
Riding on a slack rein at a trot was a little nerve-racking; but I stuck to my guns and left the reins loose, I did not pick them up for comfort or to ask him to slow down. When I got uncomfortable with the speed we did a circle. This resulted in some bucking but nothing too severe.
I am cautiously optimistic, and doing my best to remember that this will be a slooooowww process. I cant wait until we can start doing this at a canter, I've really been having a case of the go-fasts lately. (Yay?)
In horsey news, I got Colonel out. He was totally OK with the idea of a good rub down. The saddle part he felt he could take or leave. I lunged him a bit first since he hasn't been ridden in forever. I think that actually hyped him up a bit, but not too bad. His steering is horrible so we worked on that. Basically my plan is to ride around on a totally slack rein, when I want to turn I pick up one rein, hold it out pretty far away from me and wiggle it until he turns. It was so cold that the wiggling was rather uncoordinated and looked a little more like a small seizure than anything else.
Its nice to be back in a situation where I'm just able to make training things up as I go along. It feels like more of an adventure, and it gives me something to think about while I'm riding. My theory with the wiggling (I wont even call it a half-halt its just not nearly that controlled) is that he will start seeking a release from the annoying by moving his head and the rest of his body. Then I'll work up to more controlled pressure but he will still look for the release from said pressure rather than pulling back. Not that he doesn't sometimes try to pull against my wiggling, but it doesn't matter.
One thing he did once he figured out how to make the wiggling stop was to massively over-achieve. Tap tap on his mouth, he turns 180 degrees. I'm hoping that if I get a little faster on my release he'll eventually figure out that he doesn't need to do that. As it was we just serpentined around nearly at random.
Riding on a slack rein at a trot was a little nerve-racking; but I stuck to my guns and left the reins loose, I did not pick them up for comfort or to ask him to slow down. When I got uncomfortable with the speed we did a circle. This resulted in some bucking but nothing too severe.
I am cautiously optimistic, and doing my best to remember that this will be a slooooowww process. I cant wait until we can start doing this at a canter, I've really been having a case of the go-fasts lately. (Yay?)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Jump Chute
Gillian, Kola, Mike and I went to the barn today. Robert had to fix Luca's waterer so we turned him out and chased/free lunged him around the arena. Then we decided to freejump him and set up a small chute with a small crossrail (he's out of shape). As soon as we finished the chute and jump, he walked over to the beginning of the chute and just stood there until we asked him to trot, then hopped over it. He'd turn around and walk over it the other way just to prove it was easy. After a couple rounds we let him stand there and he walked over to the jump and stared at us. I'm pretty sure he was daring us to make it higher. He's a pretty good boy.
And hey, since we already had the chute set up, we basically chased horses around most of the day. Colonel was pretty pleased with its existence-- we took the jump down and just turned him out first, and he SOARED over the ground poles. Silly guy. Keno was not particularly entertained by this whole jumping business, but he wasn't terrible either. We trotted in-hand to the base of the jump and did it backwards and he was very nice about it all. I'm always impressed how cute he can make his face when he wants you to pity him.
Star was excellent, it turns out she can actually jump like a real horse. She jumped over the ground poles moderately willingly, and did a vertical without much issue either. So we set up a cross rail just to traumatize her and she tried turning and running out of the chute (and failed) and went over it like it was a foot higher. Silly mare. We also chased Mike over the jump, but Star was more entertaining.
I grabbed Nicky after we disassembled the chute and leaned over her successfully- she did one back hunch and backed away so I sent her out once but she was fine after that. After letting her stand there while I flopped over her, Robert led her around (Gillian missed the whole thing). She did really well. The only moment where she felt uncomfortable with the situation was when I started sliding off the first time and she felt me being unbalanced. The second time I slid off, no response. She seemed pretty happy with herself. Then, walking back into her stall, she ran her head into the door and was very surprised, but I refuse to take responsibility for that. It was pretty funny though. Robert says he'll call Chuck and suggest they stop cart training because she was just so much better with this. I hope it works out for her. I need to find a saddle to use, since we have mostly wide trees and that is not what she needs. I'm real excited though. I like finding things horses are good at. Maybe I'll even trail ride her.
And hey, since we already had the chute set up, we basically chased horses around most of the day. Colonel was pretty pleased with its existence-- we took the jump down and just turned him out first, and he SOARED over the ground poles. Silly guy. Keno was not particularly entertained by this whole jumping business, but he wasn't terrible either. We trotted in-hand to the base of the jump and did it backwards and he was very nice about it all. I'm always impressed how cute he can make his face when he wants you to pity him.
Star was excellent, it turns out she can actually jump like a real horse. She jumped over the ground poles moderately willingly, and did a vertical without much issue either. So we set up a cross rail just to traumatize her and she tried turning and running out of the chute (and failed) and went over it like it was a foot higher. Silly mare. We also chased Mike over the jump, but Star was more entertaining.
I grabbed Nicky after we disassembled the chute and leaned over her successfully- she did one back hunch and backed away so I sent her out once but she was fine after that. After letting her stand there while I flopped over her, Robert led her around (Gillian missed the whole thing). She did really well. The only moment where she felt uncomfortable with the situation was when I started sliding off the first time and she felt me being unbalanced. The second time I slid off, no response. She seemed pretty happy with herself. Then, walking back into her stall, she ran her head into the door and was very surprised, but I refuse to take responsibility for that. It was pretty funny though. Robert says he'll call Chuck and suggest they stop cart training because she was just so much better with this. I hope it works out for her. I need to find a saddle to use, since we have mostly wide trees and that is not what she needs. I'm real excited though. I like finding things horses are good at. Maybe I'll even trail ride her.
Friday, January 23, 2009
I've been back for a week and a half now, been to the barn a few times...
Most of the water pipes broke over the crazy Christmas weather, so Robert's been working mainly on getting the automatic waterers back on line. I've spent quite a bit of time talking to him, observing how the Wirsbo plumbing works, and turning horses out since he's been busy keeping everyone fed and watered rather than worked.
With the turning-horses-out thing, I've been mostly sensible. I've sat on Reno and Star in halter and lead. I worked with Luca on standing for mounting but did NOT actually get on him (oh god that was hard to resist). Reno decided to jump over a stack of cones a few times, though I don't know if that was for fun or just from poor planning. Keno ran like an idiot for a bit and then followed me around while I picked the arena and raked out his roll spots.
Today I turned Reno out and then hopped on him (with a helmet and bridle! zomg!). He was really good, other than being distracted by Keno screaming his head off. We walked and trotted around with only one spook-in-place, so he's doing nicely. We did work on mounting and it still needs more work. I think his issue is two-fold: 1) he always walks forward after we drop the cart in the shaft loops, so he's used to going forward- he's just almost always crosstied so it doesn't matter. 2) He's worse under saddle than bareback, I think because he's got substantially more weight on one side for a bit and doesn't like being unbalanced.
Actually tacked up Keno and rode, he was a little bit of a jerk but it can't be just that he wants to canter, so I need to think about my "please round yourself" versus canter cues. He did figure out that rounding at the walk was wayyyyy easier than sidepassing to centerline and back. Good for him, I suppose. My new bridle's too big for him in the noseband but that mostly just means I'm leaving the flash off. We've done a couple rides. He was being really bad about mounting and being in the arena in general. I think he knows I'm in charge when under saddle, but he uses that chance when he's tacked up but I'm not on him to be scary and dance around.
Turns out a few choice smacks settle him down a LOT. I hadn't carried a crop around on him in months but that's back now, at least for a while. He was getting semi-dangerous again and I really should've addressed it sooner. At least it seems to be 90% cleared up.
I bought a dressage saddle for Luca with an x-wide tree. We're hoping it fits and we'll start up work with him as soon as Robert has some more time.
I also seem to have added a project. To my eye, Nicky (POA) hasn't been doing well at cart. She hates things under her tail and behind her legs, so the tire's been an issue. I think she might make a decent trail/endurance horse for a small adult or intermediate/experienced child once she's got some miles on her. So I figured we'd back her, why not?
I took Nicky out for about ten minutes today to see where we were at. I worked with her about a year ago and got her standing by the mounting block, letting me lean over her and put some weight on without much effort. Today she didn't care at all about the mounting block, but got really defensive when I touched her back- hunched, backed away, kicked at one point. So she got sent out at a vigorous trot for a couple minutes, then tried again. It took about three tries before she figured out that standing still was the way to go. I leaned over her, rubbed over her, she turned around to look but her ears were forward and her eyes were pretty soft, just curious. I put all my weight on her for a second and she leaned to compensate for the unbalanced weight, but didn't move her feet an inch and seemed pretty happy with the whole thing.
Tomorrow I think I'll lean over and have someone lead. I don't know if I want Robert or Gillian to lead, though. She respects the halter (she's literally fallen down and rolled over if she's spooked and hit the end of the rope with very little pressure on my end) so it's not likely to be a strength issue. She listens to Robert but it seems fairly grudging. Gillian's an unknown quantity for her, so I suspect there will be a brief trial period where she tries to see what she can get away with, and then will settle down.
Most of the water pipes broke over the crazy Christmas weather, so Robert's been working mainly on getting the automatic waterers back on line. I've spent quite a bit of time talking to him, observing how the Wirsbo plumbing works, and turning horses out since he's been busy keeping everyone fed and watered rather than worked.
With the turning-horses-out thing, I've been mostly sensible. I've sat on Reno and Star in halter and lead. I worked with Luca on standing for mounting but did NOT actually get on him (oh god that was hard to resist). Reno decided to jump over a stack of cones a few times, though I don't know if that was for fun or just from poor planning. Keno ran like an idiot for a bit and then followed me around while I picked the arena and raked out his roll spots.
Today I turned Reno out and then hopped on him (with a helmet and bridle! zomg!). He was really good, other than being distracted by Keno screaming his head off. We walked and trotted around with only one spook-in-place, so he's doing nicely. We did work on mounting and it still needs more work. I think his issue is two-fold: 1) he always walks forward after we drop the cart in the shaft loops, so he's used to going forward- he's just almost always crosstied so it doesn't matter. 2) He's worse under saddle than bareback, I think because he's got substantially more weight on one side for a bit and doesn't like being unbalanced.
Actually tacked up Keno and rode, he was a little bit of a jerk but it can't be just that he wants to canter, so I need to think about my "please round yourself" versus canter cues. He did figure out that rounding at the walk was wayyyyy easier than sidepassing to centerline and back. Good for him, I suppose. My new bridle's too big for him in the noseband but that mostly just means I'm leaving the flash off. We've done a couple rides. He was being really bad about mounting and being in the arena in general. I think he knows I'm in charge when under saddle, but he uses that chance when he's tacked up but I'm not on him to be scary and dance around.
Turns out a few choice smacks settle him down a LOT. I hadn't carried a crop around on him in months but that's back now, at least for a while. He was getting semi-dangerous again and I really should've addressed it sooner. At least it seems to be 90% cleared up.
I bought a dressage saddle for Luca with an x-wide tree. We're hoping it fits and we'll start up work with him as soon as Robert has some more time.
I also seem to have added a project. To my eye, Nicky (POA) hasn't been doing well at cart. She hates things under her tail and behind her legs, so the tire's been an issue. I think she might make a decent trail/endurance horse for a small adult or intermediate/experienced child once she's got some miles on her. So I figured we'd back her, why not?
I took Nicky out for about ten minutes today to see where we were at. I worked with her about a year ago and got her standing by the mounting block, letting me lean over her and put some weight on without much effort. Today she didn't care at all about the mounting block, but got really defensive when I touched her back- hunched, backed away, kicked at one point. So she got sent out at a vigorous trot for a couple minutes, then tried again. It took about three tries before she figured out that standing still was the way to go. I leaned over her, rubbed over her, she turned around to look but her ears were forward and her eyes were pretty soft, just curious. I put all my weight on her for a second and she leaned to compensate for the unbalanced weight, but didn't move her feet an inch and seemed pretty happy with the whole thing.
Tomorrow I think I'll lean over and have someone lead. I don't know if I want Robert or Gillian to lead, though. She respects the halter (she's literally fallen down and rolled over if she's spooked and hit the end of the rope with very little pressure on my end) so it's not likely to be a strength issue. She listens to Robert but it seems fairly grudging. Gillian's an unknown quantity for her, so I suspect there will be a brief trial period where she tries to see what she can get away with, and then will settle down.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Been riding Sunny-
Sunny is coming along nicely people-wise. He's figured out that I'm a sucker, and might give him food if he whickers whenever I come into sight. But he'll also take the last twenty feet or so to come see me, so I'm happy. He and a little girl said hello the other day, and I'm hoping she'll start riding him- and that he'll do well with that.
Everywhere we can ride has been miserable and muddy and slippery lately. We've mostly been in the jump field, avoiding everyone else's tracks. I noticed when we were trotting downhill he'd cut in on his circles, so we've been working on lateral and vertical response to leg. I eventually got some half-assed leg yields out of him today, and our gate opening/closing skills have vastly improved. Just in time to leave, of course, but he has figured out how to open the gate by pushing it with his nose, which makes leaving much easier. His circles and bending were terrible today, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it was the footing.
We also did a big thing today for me, at least- we rode up a little ways into the neighborhood. Halfway down the driveway he realized we weren't going to the jump field and stopped, backed up for a while, and I haven't decided if he was trying to run my leg into the fence on purpose or not. So I remembered mugwump's post about her trail horse. So I sighed, and sat there with a loose rein, as long as Sunny was pointing towards the bridge and up the hill, and nudged occasionally with my legs when it seemed like he was willing to listen. And we got there. A few snorts, not too much. I used to let him run in the field, and I think he remembered that and we got a little prancy but came right back. Too muddy to run today. We made it back much faster than we got up there, and it only took 15 minutes total, but we made it out there. The only part I got nervous at was when the abandoned barn door started creaking- I thought it was about to fall and I was about to die. Two squirrels were chasing each other through it, though, and I'm pretty sure Sunny thought I was an idiot for asking him to whoa.
In Oregon news, Robert has approved teaching Keno to jump, so that'll be one of my projects. I have
Everywhere we can ride has been miserable and muddy and slippery lately. We've mostly been in the jump field, avoiding everyone else's tracks. I noticed when we were trotting downhill he'd cut in on his circles, so we've been working on lateral and vertical response to leg. I eventually got some half-assed leg yields out of him today, and our gate opening/closing skills have vastly improved. Just in time to leave, of course, but he has figured out how to open the gate by pushing it with his nose, which makes leaving much easier. His circles and bending were terrible today, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it was the footing.
We also did a big thing today for me, at least- we rode up a little ways into the neighborhood. Halfway down the driveway he realized we weren't going to the jump field and stopped, backed up for a while, and I haven't decided if he was trying to run my leg into the fence on purpose or not. So I remembered mugwump's post about her trail horse. So I sighed, and sat there with a loose rein, as long as Sunny was pointing towards the bridge and up the hill, and nudged occasionally with my legs when it seemed like he was willing to listen. And we got there. A few snorts, not too much. I used to let him run in the field, and I think he remembered that and we got a little prancy but came right back. Too muddy to run today. We made it back much faster than we got up there, and it only took 15 minutes total, but we made it out there. The only part I got nervous at was when the abandoned barn door started creaking- I thought it was about to fall and I was about to die. Two squirrels were chasing each other through it, though, and I'm pretty sure Sunny thought I was an idiot for asking him to whoa.
In Oregon news, Robert has approved teaching Keno to jump, so that'll be one of my projects. I have
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