Really, that's about all I did on Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday I went to the lab and did brain surgery (no, really. On a rat, but whatever.). Thursday I came out again and was generally useless. I watched Gillian break her "I don't ride lame horses" code to walk Lady around and was slightly amused. I watched Pam bounce around and lean wayyy behind the vertical at the canter, and got to tell her "I don't know if you're doing this on purpose, but you're leaning back and that might throw Breeze off balance," as well as how to tell which lead is which while you're on the horse. Yes, really. I helped harness up Reno and told Robert that his hands weren't even, and Reno magically improved. I unharnessed Reno. I finally called Robert on Luca's leading problems and got to watch that, and then got to harness up Luca. Very very shortly afterwards, I got to untack Papillon and unharness Luca.
Then I got to hold an axe with a broken handle while Robert hit it with a sledgehammer to break concrete. Eventually I got gloves and then, even better, safety glasses.
I put pairs reins on minis. I fed horses. I tacked up Keno and warmed him up. A little girl used to take lessons on him a few months ago, but one day he spooked and she fell off and broke her arm. After she healed, she'd been driving a little POA. A week or so she said she wanted to start riding again. So just to remind him to behave, I pulled him out when he'd finished his grain (he doesn't get that much of it, it's okay) and did lots of "pick your damn shoulder up and bend" work.
I need to ride in a close contact saddle more often. Keno is being put in one for the little girl so that's what I put on him. And, um, ow. The seat's completely flat and there's no padding. Which is fine, I rode in one like that all summer, I actually like that. But the twist is way too narrow. My seatbones were barely in the seat, and I felt like you could see air between my hip joints (there's no good way to describe that portion of anatomy, is there? I remember an old instructor for which English was not a first language, and we had to coach him on words. He was very, very hesitant to use the word "crotch." It was kind of adorable.) and the saddle. I got sort of used to it, but I noticed something I actually learned from Centered Riding, which is that I post off balance, with more weight in my left. Something which is noticeable when I'm using my stirrups but not when I'm not, like Western or dressage saddles. I'm not used to having my knee angles close that much, and it feels weird. I like wrapping my legs around the barrel.
Tomorrow will be basically the same-- we're working Reno and Luca, cleaning the cart, and cleaning both of them too for the show on Saturday/Sunday. Maybe I'll take Star out for a spin.
Showing posts with label Reno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reno. Show all posts
Friday, June 6, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Gold Brothers
Dylan is 5. It's fantastic. His owner said he led and lunged, but... not so much. I watched him walking into her space and circling around, no attention to her, and quietly raised an eyebrow. Now I see.
Keno was good today. He's understanding the concept of being pushed together now. By the end, if he got a little strung out, I squeezed my legs and hands, basically a half halt, and he came back together very nicely. I suspect he's breaking at the poll to avoid the bit, so a little more leg is needed than hands. I'll have to ask someone to watch to see how badly he's doing it. We walked through the jump field to cool off. He looooved it because the grass is so high he could walk at the same pace and grab grass without lowering or turning his head. I still think we should take him to a dressage show. He's a crappy looking horse but he's a nice mover, responsive, and will stay sound.
I also rode Reno. We put a leverage bit on him and he basically ignored the whole thing, so today we added a curb chain. That got his attention! Now he neckreins, whoas nicely, and is much less likely to try to just barge through the bit. After a while in the ring to see how he reacted to the bit and to make sure Gillian and Star wouldn't kill each other in the next fifteen minutes, we went out to the back forty. This part is important because I haven't been on the back forty on a horse since the first day I got back on a horse in October (okay more than 100 feet into it). I haven't gone by myself since September before my accident. Reno was a little jiggy, I was a little panicky, but focusing on the ride (and grabbing the horn) worked okay. I've wanted to do this for a while but haven't had a horse I felt comfortable enough on. So that was good.
That was actually all I accomplished today. I had a crappy night* and needed some solid, no problem horse time. Keno needs to get worked pretty hard on about a biweekly/weekly basis for him to stay compliant, so I spent a long time on him, and then got caught in conversation by Cari, so he was thrilled to stand there eating grass while we talked. He also helps me with my position, and he's a horse who basically understands the concepts I'm asking him for. He won't do it, though, unless I ask right, so it's enjoyable to see him improve. He's also getting better about his girthiness, or at least we have an agreement. I put his girth on, stand back and let him dance and back up and express his displeasure at life as long as he does NOT take one step towards me. He stops after a few seconds, I tighten it a hole or two, step back, watch the Keno shuffle, etc. If he had withers I'd cut him some slack because the saddle wouldn't roll, but he's round and so it's necessary.
Geldings are major dorks. It's kind of adorable.
*One of the kittens started coughing up blood last night. A fabulous person drove to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, we lost the kitten to an uncurable, fatal virus. So best case scenario, the other three are magically uninfected. Worst case, we lose them all. As they're acting normal, they're either magic or more likely nonsymptomatic carriers. I don't want anyone to have to go through this, so kittens are under quarantine until they can get tested for FIP at 8 weeks old, if I can finagle a way to keep them that long. It sucks. Very sad, and I didn't get to bed until 4 so I was tired and drained at the barn, then proceeded to have an apple in the morning and nothing else until I was going to work, so I didn't actually feel capable of much work. If kittens are carriers, they can live with other carriers, but are otherwise confined to single catdom. If they get sick, it will probably go fast. If they're healthy, they shouldn't be too difficult to place.
Keno was good today. He's understanding the concept of being pushed together now. By the end, if he got a little strung out, I squeezed my legs and hands, basically a half halt, and he came back together very nicely. I suspect he's breaking at the poll to avoid the bit, so a little more leg is needed than hands. I'll have to ask someone to watch to see how badly he's doing it. We walked through the jump field to cool off. He looooved it because the grass is so high he could walk at the same pace and grab grass without lowering or turning his head. I still think we should take him to a dressage show. He's a crappy looking horse but he's a nice mover, responsive, and will stay sound.
I also rode Reno. We put a leverage bit on him and he basically ignored the whole thing, so today we added a curb chain. That got his attention! Now he neckreins, whoas nicely, and is much less likely to try to just barge through the bit. After a while in the ring to see how he reacted to the bit and to make sure Gillian and Star wouldn't kill each other in the next fifteen minutes, we went out to the back forty. This part is important because I haven't been on the back forty on a horse since the first day I got back on a horse in October (okay more than 100 feet into it). I haven't gone by myself since September before my accident. Reno was a little jiggy, I was a little panicky, but focusing on the ride (and grabbing the horn) worked okay. I've wanted to do this for a while but haven't had a horse I felt comfortable enough on. So that was good.
That was actually all I accomplished today. I had a crappy night* and needed some solid, no problem horse time. Keno needs to get worked pretty hard on about a biweekly/weekly basis for him to stay compliant, so I spent a long time on him, and then got caught in conversation by Cari, so he was thrilled to stand there eating grass while we talked. He also helps me with my position, and he's a horse who basically understands the concepts I'm asking him for. He won't do it, though, unless I ask right, so it's enjoyable to see him improve. He's also getting better about his girthiness, or at least we have an agreement. I put his girth on, stand back and let him dance and back up and express his displeasure at life as long as he does NOT take one step towards me. He stops after a few seconds, I tighten it a hole or two, step back, watch the Keno shuffle, etc. If he had withers I'd cut him some slack because the saddle wouldn't roll, but he's round and so it's necessary.
Geldings are major dorks. It's kind of adorable.
*One of the kittens started coughing up blood last night. A fabulous person drove to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, we lost the kitten to an uncurable, fatal virus. So best case scenario, the other three are magically uninfected. Worst case, we lose them all. As they're acting normal, they're either magic or more likely nonsymptomatic carriers. I don't want anyone to have to go through this, so kittens are under quarantine until they can get tested for FIP at 8 weeks old, if I can finagle a way to keep them that long. It sucks. Very sad, and I didn't get to bed until 4 so I was tired and drained at the barn, then proceeded to have an apple in the morning and nothing else until I was going to work, so I didn't actually feel capable of much work. If kittens are carriers, they can live with other carriers, but are otherwise confined to single catdom. If they get sick, it will probably go fast. If they're healthy, they shouldn't be too difficult to place.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Dylan, Lady, Reno and Papillon
On paper I guess I had a reasonably productive day. I took Dylan, the pinto looking morgan (a client's horse, not Robert's) out today. I rubbed him all over with the halter, gave him several 'hugs' to get him used to my arm over his neck, and I scratched his poll to get him used to my hands next to his ears. Then I slipped the halter on while he was sniffing it trying to figure out why it smelled so much like him. I clipped the lunge line on him and grabbed my crop. I led him around, he was pleased to be out. While we were leading I stuck my elbow out and every time he ran into it I smacked him on the shoulder with the crop. It took him a while but he eventually figured out the pattern; he still forgets a lot.
Lunging was interesting. The last horse I taught to lunge was Annabelle, who may have had some attempt at lunging before, I'm not sure. Dylan was indeed mystified. I asked him to move forward and generally he wanted to do one of two things, come in and see me or pull vigorously on the line. We had many many round of trying to get him to go in a complete circle, ended the same way every time, him pulling back hard in the direction of the gate. I had an Ian-esque moment when I realized, "Oh right, he's a gelding." Annabelle was a bitchy pony mare who understood quite well the concept of moving when she was asked to and raw intimidation was quite effective. Dylan doesnt get that sort of thing, he just wants to know why you dont love him anymore, so I tried a new tack. First I led him around in a circle over and over and over again. I question the effectiveness of this part of the plan but he needed to calm down anyway and it certainly didn't hurt. I sent him out on a circle and after about a half a circle or so I asked him to whoah, went up to him (I was taught never ever to bring the horse to you, always go to them) pet him, then asked him to walk again. When he paused at the side of the arena closest to the gate I just stood there, I even let him sniff the ground, eventually he started walking on the circle again, and after a moment I stopped him, pet him, repeat. We worked up to a full circle and a half without stopping or flipping out noticeably, and I called that good enough for one day. He definitely was leading better after the lunging session (which is quite typical in my experience.) I think it started to reinforce the concept of personal space. When I led him back to his stall he balked at going in a little but came anyway, then we walked out and walked back in again. The second time he didn't hesitate at all. I think he'll turn out to be a 3 or a 4 on the compliance scale which will be refreshing, especially if he turns out to be more of a 4.
I saddled lady and took her out to lunge. It was going to be a fairly relaxed thing but she kept forgetting and then re-discovering the tractor in the corner. When she was trotting by it going to the left she bolted. One of the stirrups came loose (I dont know how, I wrapped it really well I thought) but it hardly swung at all and didn't bounce noticeably either. I attribute this to her being the worlds smoothest bolter ever. So she ran around, tried to change direction once or twice but nothing too difficult to handle, she ran herself pretty hard but when she was calmer I stopped her and led her past the tractor several times, it was a combination of sacking out and hotwalking. We went around to go look at the tractor from outside the arena. Barely batted an eye at it this time. I let her eat some grass next to it. It took her a while to be willing to let down her guard enough to eat some grass but she did and I figured everything was fine now. I went and got her bridle, and a helmet and my spiffy class three body armour. She hates hates hates that figure eight noseband. I had to take the fleece stuff off the bridle because it changes the fit (well duh, some might say to me, and to them I say: shut up) of the bridle and I didn't feel like re-adjusting it when I probably wasn't going to use it again anyway. Robert came out with me and I got on in the arena. Robert held her until I had gotten both my stirrups and then we walked around a little. She was flipping her head and trotting intermittently for a few minutes. She was very responsive to my seat, which is good because the way she was pissed about that noseband I really didn't feel like doing much with the reins. She calmed down and we changed directions and repeated the process. She calmed down the other direction and I waited until she had her happy ears and then I stopped her and got off. Robert noted that she seems to like me, even thought the figure eight noseband pisses her off. I shared with him Ian's thinking that her dislike of the noseband is evidence that she needs it. We both had a nice time scoffing at this logic. I've got a different bridle ready to go for her. I havent fit it too her yet but its set to be roughly the same as Ian's bridle for her. Some of the hair on her nose rubbed off in that one session, which irks me. Tomorrow I will ride her in the new bridle and maybe for a little longer. We'll probably start trotting next week, and cantering the week after that. Maybe its an overly conservative schedule but she's a tense tense girl sometimes; I want her to get used to the idea that going out to ride needn't mean working your ass off and needn't result in being sore the next day.
I took Reno out and I didn't keep him out long. Something about him ignoring the reins makes me irrationally angry now. He still wanted to pop into the middle of the arena, and he was a little confused as to why he was cropped that one time but he guessed correctly that he should be moving off my leg better. I needed better timing. In addition to him ignoring the bit, and my irrationally adversarial attitude towards him, I realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing with this leverage bit. I asked Robert and he said that typically in western riding the bit is sortof an emergency stop, the horse should be stopping principally off your seat and steering principally off your leg, seat and to a lesser extent, the reins resting on his neck. He confirmed what I was beginning to realize myself, which was that these bits cant really be used to steer.
He promises that the chain on the bit will give us some whoah power. I was thinking about this though, I think that if he's going to be used in the western pleasure show he needs to do dressage first. My understanding is that you dont start out your western horses neck reining and expecting them to work off your seat and whatnot. He understands reins, and thats about all he's really experienced. He needs to connect what he knows already to these relatively new aids. I dont think Carly was riding him for that long and six years is a long time to be not ridden. Ideally I think we would ride him twice a day, school him in dressage in the morning in a snaffle, and then try to do some western pleasure stuff in the afternoon in the curb bit. Maybe keno's bridle will fit him without too much fuss?
We got a huge shipment of hay. I fed the horses. Then I took Papillon out. I put a saddle on her and we worked in the arena because I didn't want a sunburn and I didn't want her to melt. She was not interested in transitions today, and was frequently listening very poorly. When I insisted that she bend correctly and collect at the trot she assumed, as she always always does in this situation, that I was collecting her up so that we could do a nice canter transition. She obliged and off we went. She came back down but I guess I tend to go from canter back down into a walk a little too often because thats what she thought I wanted. When I said no she thought she was mistaken about the down transition (or at least thats how I'm anthropomorphising the behavior) and went back into canter.
I decided that a potential solution to this problem was just to actually ask her to canter for a while, I figured that would take some of the wind out of her sails. She has a really nice canter, which I rather enjoy. She didn't want to move off my inside leg very well but a 20 meter circle really does wonders for her sometimes. She was only mildly subdued by the cantering but I am gun shy now about cantering, I really worry about making her lame that way. She really really wanted to go outside the arena, she kept drifting towards the closed gate. I'm not sure what the plan was there.
If the gate had been open, and I had had some sunscreen, and I weren't so worried about breaking her I would have gone and galloped her down the long side of the field. I dont know why but I feel very comfortable with Papillon. I trust her probably more than she deserves but alas, she's a delicate soul so I guess I'll just have to get Star geared up to go out there and run with me. I've done the run down the field with Colonel and Keno. Its more fun with Colonel, even when it ends badly but its even more fun when it doesnt. I dont know why but both Keno and Reno set me on edge. Maybe I don't like geldings. I dont understand them, not the temperamental ones anyway. I think I'll just have to get over it. I'm starting to feel less unnerved by Keno. Alyssa has done great work with him over the course of the school year. He's a very cooperative boy now. Basically the same agenda tomorrow. Except I'm riding Luca, I guess. Robert's going to drive him first so its not a great test of what his problem is. Still, when he bucks at least then we'll know what his problem isn't. Gotta get myself not to stare at him though. All riding coaching will be gladly accepted, by the way.
Lunging was interesting. The last horse I taught to lunge was Annabelle, who may have had some attempt at lunging before, I'm not sure. Dylan was indeed mystified. I asked him to move forward and generally he wanted to do one of two things, come in and see me or pull vigorously on the line. We had many many round of trying to get him to go in a complete circle, ended the same way every time, him pulling back hard in the direction of the gate. I had an Ian-esque moment when I realized, "Oh right, he's a gelding." Annabelle was a bitchy pony mare who understood quite well the concept of moving when she was asked to and raw intimidation was quite effective. Dylan doesnt get that sort of thing, he just wants to know why you dont love him anymore, so I tried a new tack. First I led him around in a circle over and over and over again. I question the effectiveness of this part of the plan but he needed to calm down anyway and it certainly didn't hurt. I sent him out on a circle and after about a half a circle or so I asked him to whoah, went up to him (I was taught never ever to bring the horse to you, always go to them) pet him, then asked him to walk again. When he paused at the side of the arena closest to the gate I just stood there, I even let him sniff the ground, eventually he started walking on the circle again, and after a moment I stopped him, pet him, repeat. We worked up to a full circle and a half without stopping or flipping out noticeably, and I called that good enough for one day. He definitely was leading better after the lunging session (which is quite typical in my experience.) I think it started to reinforce the concept of personal space. When I led him back to his stall he balked at going in a little but came anyway, then we walked out and walked back in again. The second time he didn't hesitate at all. I think he'll turn out to be a 3 or a 4 on the compliance scale which will be refreshing, especially if he turns out to be more of a 4.
I saddled lady and took her out to lunge. It was going to be a fairly relaxed thing but she kept forgetting and then re-discovering the tractor in the corner. When she was trotting by it going to the left she bolted. One of the stirrups came loose (I dont know how, I wrapped it really well I thought) but it hardly swung at all and didn't bounce noticeably either. I attribute this to her being the worlds smoothest bolter ever. So she ran around, tried to change direction once or twice but nothing too difficult to handle, she ran herself pretty hard but when she was calmer I stopped her and led her past the tractor several times, it was a combination of sacking out and hotwalking. We went around to go look at the tractor from outside the arena. Barely batted an eye at it this time. I let her eat some grass next to it. It took her a while to be willing to let down her guard enough to eat some grass but she did and I figured everything was fine now. I went and got her bridle, and a helmet and my spiffy class three body armour. She hates hates hates that figure eight noseband. I had to take the fleece stuff off the bridle because it changes the fit (well duh, some might say to me, and to them I say: shut up) of the bridle and I didn't feel like re-adjusting it when I probably wasn't going to use it again anyway. Robert came out with me and I got on in the arena. Robert held her until I had gotten both my stirrups and then we walked around a little. She was flipping her head and trotting intermittently for a few minutes. She was very responsive to my seat, which is good because the way she was pissed about that noseband I really didn't feel like doing much with the reins. She calmed down and we changed directions and repeated the process. She calmed down the other direction and I waited until she had her happy ears and then I stopped her and got off. Robert noted that she seems to like me, even thought the figure eight noseband pisses her off. I shared with him Ian's thinking that her dislike of the noseband is evidence that she needs it. We both had a nice time scoffing at this logic. I've got a different bridle ready to go for her. I havent fit it too her yet but its set to be roughly the same as Ian's bridle for her. Some of the hair on her nose rubbed off in that one session, which irks me. Tomorrow I will ride her in the new bridle and maybe for a little longer. We'll probably start trotting next week, and cantering the week after that. Maybe its an overly conservative schedule but she's a tense tense girl sometimes; I want her to get used to the idea that going out to ride needn't mean working your ass off and needn't result in being sore the next day.
I took Reno out and I didn't keep him out long. Something about him ignoring the reins makes me irrationally angry now. He still wanted to pop into the middle of the arena, and he was a little confused as to why he was cropped that one time but he guessed correctly that he should be moving off my leg better. I needed better timing. In addition to him ignoring the bit, and my irrationally adversarial attitude towards him, I realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing with this leverage bit. I asked Robert and he said that typically in western riding the bit is sortof an emergency stop, the horse should be stopping principally off your seat and steering principally off your leg, seat and to a lesser extent, the reins resting on his neck. He confirmed what I was beginning to realize myself, which was that these bits cant really be used to steer.
He promises that the chain on the bit will give us some whoah power. I was thinking about this though, I think that if he's going to be used in the western pleasure show he needs to do dressage first. My understanding is that you dont start out your western horses neck reining and expecting them to work off your seat and whatnot. He understands reins, and thats about all he's really experienced. He needs to connect what he knows already to these relatively new aids. I dont think Carly was riding him for that long and six years is a long time to be not ridden. Ideally I think we would ride him twice a day, school him in dressage in the morning in a snaffle, and then try to do some western pleasure stuff in the afternoon in the curb bit. Maybe keno's bridle will fit him without too much fuss?
We got a huge shipment of hay. I fed the horses. Then I took Papillon out. I put a saddle on her and we worked in the arena because I didn't want a sunburn and I didn't want her to melt. She was not interested in transitions today, and was frequently listening very poorly. When I insisted that she bend correctly and collect at the trot she assumed, as she always always does in this situation, that I was collecting her up so that we could do a nice canter transition. She obliged and off we went. She came back down but I guess I tend to go from canter back down into a walk a little too often because thats what she thought I wanted. When I said no she thought she was mistaken about the down transition (or at least thats how I'm anthropomorphising the behavior) and went back into canter.
I decided that a potential solution to this problem was just to actually ask her to canter for a while, I figured that would take some of the wind out of her sails. She has a really nice canter, which I rather enjoy. She didn't want to move off my inside leg very well but a 20 meter circle really does wonders for her sometimes. She was only mildly subdued by the cantering but I am gun shy now about cantering, I really worry about making her lame that way. She really really wanted to go outside the arena, she kept drifting towards the closed gate. I'm not sure what the plan was there.
If the gate had been open, and I had had some sunscreen, and I weren't so worried about breaking her I would have gone and galloped her down the long side of the field. I dont know why but I feel very comfortable with Papillon. I trust her probably more than she deserves but alas, she's a delicate soul so I guess I'll just have to get Star geared up to go out there and run with me. I've done the run down the field with Colonel and Keno. Its more fun with Colonel, even when it ends badly but its even more fun when it doesnt. I dont know why but both Keno and Reno set me on edge. Maybe I don't like geldings. I dont understand them, not the temperamental ones anyway. I think I'll just have to get over it. I'm starting to feel less unnerved by Keno. Alyssa has done great work with him over the course of the school year. He's a very cooperative boy now. Basically the same agenda tomorrow. Except I'm riding Luca, I guess. Robert's going to drive him first so its not a great test of what his problem is. Still, when he bucks at least then we'll know what his problem isn't. Gotta get myself not to stare at him though. All riding coaching will be gladly accepted, by the way.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
so unmotivated
Played with kittens early in morning (they wake me up with mewing), then went to barn. Put bags of bedding in ALL the stalls in the big barn, which killed some time. Sam helped which was awesome. Um, I rode BJ (breeding stock paint gelding, Sam's pony) who was pissed that I was riding him and required hella leg. I may start a quest to convince Sam that he's an English not a Western pony. He's got a fast bouncy trot and a faster canter, no jog or lope.
Then I rode Reno, who was pretty okay. He was definitely relaxing into the trot, and I really like his trot. We played the "CRUSH YOUR SPINE" game where he learned that if he was slow, I was light on his back, and if he was fast I dug my seatbones into the saddle. We put him into a leverage bit, low long port and curved shanks. He barely paid attention, so we're gonna slap a curb chain on it.
Robert took Sam on a drive with Luca, and I rode around on Keno bareback. I was going to ride Luca, but Seabreeze and Pam showed up. Seabreeze was in heat and winking at Keno, so I decided that riding Luca with her there was a bad idea. Last week we got in there and he reared as soon as he saw her, and I didn't feel like redoing that.
Took Dylan the pinto Morgan out to see what he knew. He was completely befuddled over what lunging meant, and we're going to work on leading for a while. He is a pain to lead outside because he jumps into you whenever there's mud or a puddle in front of him. He didn't want to get haltered, and when I tried to put him back in his stall he freaked out because his ears touched the top of the doorway and he thought I was trying to kill him.
Fed a little early so I could go to work. Did Lady and Papillon hooves.
Then I rode Reno, who was pretty okay. He was definitely relaxing into the trot, and I really like his trot. We played the "CRUSH YOUR SPINE" game where he learned that if he was slow, I was light on his back, and if he was fast I dug my seatbones into the saddle. We put him into a leverage bit, low long port and curved shanks. He barely paid attention, so we're gonna slap a curb chain on it.
Robert took Sam on a drive with Luca, and I rode around on Keno bareback. I was going to ride Luca, but Seabreeze and Pam showed up. Seabreeze was in heat and winking at Keno, so I decided that riding Luca with her there was a bad idea. Last week we got in there and he reared as soon as he saw her, and I didn't feel like redoing that.
Took Dylan the pinto Morgan out to see what he knew. He was completely befuddled over what lunging meant, and we're going to work on leading for a while. He is a pain to lead outside because he jumps into you whenever there's mud or a puddle in front of him. He didn't want to get haltered, and when I tried to put him back in his stall he freaked out because his ears touched the top of the doorway and he thought I was trying to kill him.
Fed a little early so I could go to work. Did Lady and Papillon hooves.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Short day by myself
Despite being there for less time than usual (around 4.5 hrs or so) and it being cold and me feeling listless as a result, I did get some stuff done today. The trick is to not do any one thing for very long I guess. I took Reno out and rode him. He was OK, again. He had his feet trimmed today day so I took it pretty easy on him. He does neck rein when he wants to. This means he's ready for my favorite game, its like simon says except you always do what you're told. Anyway, he's going to start moving off my legs and seat (or Alyssa's leg and seat depending on who gets to him tomorrow) or he's going to get cropped. I played this game with Colonel and ever since he's been very good about moving off leg pressure and whatnot. Or at least last time he was good about anything he was good about that.
I took star out and I long lined her again. She is starting to balance better. I think I might start riding her again a little earlier than would be best because I dont have the attention span for this, and because I'm hoping she'll get better at balancing while we're out remembering how to do trail stuff. She needs to remember how to be a trail horse, and there are always times when I dont really have time to ride but I have time to do groundwork.
No one was going to be around, Robert was running errands and no Alyssa today so I didn't ride Lady today. Its probably just as well, I still dont think she's at 100%. I looked at her hooves today and her frogs are in shambles. They look like they've been through an egg slicer that just didn't quite cut all the way through. I've decided I'm not doing hoof stuff in stalls anymore, those girls (Lady and Papillon) are going to have to come to the hay barn where I can see what I'm doing and where they wont get dirty again after I set their hoof back down. I put a dressage saddle on her (Lil's I think, the one with the wider twist) and she was really quite good for the girth. I put a bit in her mouth, a french link I think it was? Anyway, she was fine with that too. I took her out and lunged her. She was willing to trot but not interested, which is strange. She looked stiff at the walk and awkward. I couldnt really tell if she was favoring any particular hoof but really, most of them were pretty bad. I dont know if it actually hurts her, she wasnt bobbing her head at the trot at all, she was just so unenthused... I dont know. We'll look tomorrow.
Anyway I was talking to whats-her-name the red-haired trainer that used to ride her. I was asking about her and she couldnt figure out why I was making such a thing out of this. I tried to explain and realized, its really not. She said she doesnt buck that much, she's really smooth, she said lunge her first and that trotting 20 meter circles calms her down. She made another observation I thought was interesting, Lady has been ridden on and off by a lot of people. She gets ridden for a while and then she can be off for up to a year, and now she's gotten suspicious of new people, 'like a foster kid' is how she summed it up. She told me to brush her down and make sure she liked me and everything would be fine. Check and check, I think, so I'm feeling good about this enterprise.
I took Papillon out. I wanted to get to the bus pretty soon so I just took her out with a bareback pad. Which rolled during my ungraceful mounting. She couldnt figure out why I kept stopping her, throwing myself deliberately off balance and then righting myself, but that turned out to be the easiest way to roll the pad back up and center. Papillon was really good, she was soft and flexible and focused, for the first few minutes. Then she decided it was trotting time and was pissed when I wanted to handle things differently. I started trotting her, she just got jazzed and rushed and it was hard to sit, which pissed her off. So we started trotting the long side and walking the short side, her first few strides of trot were always nice, then she was off again. So we did 20 strides walk, 20 strides trot. Transitions have always been a good way to get her to focus. For many of our trot segments she really did a good job stepping under herself and collecting. Sometimes she didn't. The difference is really amazing. For the same speed she can be incredibly choppy or really smooth to ride depending on where her mind (and her butt) is. I took her outside to cool down. She was willing to walk for a while and then, as before, she decided it was trotting time. The ground was squishy so she was a little more receptive this time. When we went through the tall grass she decided that a walk was a better gait from which to nibble some grass. Even though she's at least 16 hands, the grass was hitting my feet as we went through. She was mostly reasonably good about walking actually, except when she realized she was going home, then she decided if she had to go home she may as well trot home. I brought her back to the hay barn with her chest covered in water and grass seeds. I want to do some more trotting with her, and walking and stopping and circles and really get her working again. I think a saddle will be in order. Also I'll need to set aside more time for her.
Tomorrow at least Lady or Colonel will get done, I'd love to do both but sometimes thats not how it goes. Alyssa and I might have to take shifts lounging Colonel, he's been in his stall for a while now, plenty of energy built up I'm sure.
I took star out and I long lined her again. She is starting to balance better. I think I might start riding her again a little earlier than would be best because I dont have the attention span for this, and because I'm hoping she'll get better at balancing while we're out remembering how to do trail stuff. She needs to remember how to be a trail horse, and there are always times when I dont really have time to ride but I have time to do groundwork.
No one was going to be around, Robert was running errands and no Alyssa today so I didn't ride Lady today. Its probably just as well, I still dont think she's at 100%. I looked at her hooves today and her frogs are in shambles. They look like they've been through an egg slicer that just didn't quite cut all the way through. I've decided I'm not doing hoof stuff in stalls anymore, those girls (Lady and Papillon) are going to have to come to the hay barn where I can see what I'm doing and where they wont get dirty again after I set their hoof back down. I put a dressage saddle on her (Lil's I think, the one with the wider twist) and she was really quite good for the girth. I put a bit in her mouth, a french link I think it was? Anyway, she was fine with that too. I took her out and lunged her. She was willing to trot but not interested, which is strange. She looked stiff at the walk and awkward. I couldnt really tell if she was favoring any particular hoof but really, most of them were pretty bad. I dont know if it actually hurts her, she wasnt bobbing her head at the trot at all, she was just so unenthused... I dont know. We'll look tomorrow.
Anyway I was talking to whats-her-name the red-haired trainer that used to ride her. I was asking about her and she couldnt figure out why I was making such a thing out of this. I tried to explain and realized, its really not. She said she doesnt buck that much, she's really smooth, she said lunge her first and that trotting 20 meter circles calms her down. She made another observation I thought was interesting, Lady has been ridden on and off by a lot of people. She gets ridden for a while and then she can be off for up to a year, and now she's gotten suspicious of new people, 'like a foster kid' is how she summed it up. She told me to brush her down and make sure she liked me and everything would be fine. Check and check, I think, so I'm feeling good about this enterprise.
I took Papillon out. I wanted to get to the bus pretty soon so I just took her out with a bareback pad. Which rolled during my ungraceful mounting. She couldnt figure out why I kept stopping her, throwing myself deliberately off balance and then righting myself, but that turned out to be the easiest way to roll the pad back up and center. Papillon was really good, she was soft and flexible and focused, for the first few minutes. Then she decided it was trotting time and was pissed when I wanted to handle things differently. I started trotting her, she just got jazzed and rushed and it was hard to sit, which pissed her off. So we started trotting the long side and walking the short side, her first few strides of trot were always nice, then she was off again. So we did 20 strides walk, 20 strides trot. Transitions have always been a good way to get her to focus. For many of our trot segments she really did a good job stepping under herself and collecting. Sometimes she didn't. The difference is really amazing. For the same speed she can be incredibly choppy or really smooth to ride depending on where her mind (and her butt) is. I took her outside to cool down. She was willing to walk for a while and then, as before, she decided it was trotting time. The ground was squishy so she was a little more receptive this time. When we went through the tall grass she decided that a walk was a better gait from which to nibble some grass. Even though she's at least 16 hands, the grass was hitting my feet as we went through. She was mostly reasonably good about walking actually, except when she realized she was going home, then she decided if she had to go home she may as well trot home. I brought her back to the hay barn with her chest covered in water and grass seeds. I want to do some more trotting with her, and walking and stopping and circles and really get her working again. I think a saddle will be in order. Also I'll need to set aside more time for her.
Tomorrow at least Lady or Colonel will get done, I'd love to do both but sometimes thats not how it goes. Alyssa and I might have to take shifts lounging Colonel, he's been in his stall for a while now, plenty of energy built up I'm sure.
Kittens!
Top to bottom: 2, 1, 4. To the left is 3.
At least 2 and 3 are eating, everyone is drinking and making a complete mess of their carrier. They're not thrilled about being handled, but will walk up to me once I get them out of their cage. An attempt to let them hang out on my bed failed dramatically. 4 tried to go to my bedside table, but instead fell down to the ground (a fall of at least 4 feet), and was displeased when I removed him from his hiding spot. They all found the spot behind the headboard, which was fine, except 2 and 4 managed to squeeze down between the back of the headboard backing and the wall. Again, displeased yowly kittens. I put 1 and 3, the behaving kittens, back. 2 and 4 had at this point found my desk. Ian's big metal organizing thing was there. They had a ball squeezing their grotesquely giant heads and tiny bodies through there for a while, until I had 1 and 3 safely away. Then they got put back, too. All four spent a while mewing at me after that. I mewed back, so they climbed the wire door and looked at me pitifully.
I have high hopes they will be rehomed easily. If I didn't know I couldn't keep one, I'd be very tempted to keep 3. I have three numbers from the bus ride home of interested parties, though I'd love it if they went to people I knew.
I wonder what their dad thinks about this. He's a tame outdoors cat and loves people. I found him sitting on the pallet where we caught them and started meowing at me-- did he know they were there or did he just find a cat scent and was curious? We brought the kittens out, and they spilled to the front of the cage, mewing frantically and trying to touch him. He was very interested ("What are those things?") but quickly grew more interested in the horizontal position of my legs.
We'll have to livetrap the mother to spay her, and get Gabriel snipped as soon as possible. I'm pretty irritated that Robert's been planning to do this since October, and still hasn't gotten around to it. Livetrapping will probably ruin any chance we have of making her friendly, but at least she won't be making more feral cats.
I didn't really do much yesterday other than kittens. I helped get Reno ready to ride and walked him around for a minute before letting Gillian take over. I watched Lady be lame. I took Nicky for a walk with Gillian and Star. The interesting thing about Nicky seems to be her intense respect for someone attached to her halter. Her owner said she was a wild weanling and it took 3 hours to wrestle a halter onto her, but she's always respected it since. This goes to an impressive level. Yesterday she was acting up a little, but I asked her to trot. She freaked out, went to rear and bolt. I'd basically committed myself to having to let go of the lead rope, but a second after she put pressure on it, she stopped by throwing herself to the ground. Then she got up and stood very calmly. This is the second time she's done this sort of thing, but the first I thought she'd just lost her balance. It genuinely seems to go deep that she must not put pressure on her halter, and it's self-reinforcing when she does this. It's nice when horses teach themselves things so you don't have to. She also was totally fine with everything she hadn't seen for months-- the bridge and the round bales.
I'm happy we have Reno under saddle. I think I'll finally have a trail horse. I haven't been more than 100 feet past the culvert under saddle since the first day I got back on a horse in October. When Nicky gets going, I hope that that will work for trails too.
I don't know what to do with Luca. When he's good, he's absolutely fabulous. When he's bad... well, damn he's bad. I can stay on no problem, but I'd rather be moving forward with our training instead of focusing on why we shouldn't buck whenever we damn well feel like it. Maybe Gillian should get on and see if the same thing happens to her, or if it's a me issue. I'm sick of him trying to kill me, and I want something fun to do. I'd rather have higher aspirations for a show than hoping Luca doesn't hop the chain and kill the judge.
At least 2 and 3 are eating, everyone is drinking and making a complete mess of their carrier. They're not thrilled about being handled, but will walk up to me once I get them out of their cage. An attempt to let them hang out on my bed failed dramatically. 4 tried to go to my bedside table, but instead fell down to the ground (a fall of at least 4 feet), and was displeased when I removed him from his hiding spot. They all found the spot behind the headboard, which was fine, except 2 and 4 managed to squeeze down between the back of the headboard backing and the wall. Again, displeased yowly kittens. I put 1 and 3, the behaving kittens, back. 2 and 4 had at this point found my desk. Ian's big metal organizing thing was there. They had a ball squeezing their grotesquely giant heads and tiny bodies through there for a while, until I had 1 and 3 safely away. Then they got put back, too. All four spent a while mewing at me after that. I mewed back, so they climbed the wire door and looked at me pitifully.I have high hopes they will be rehomed easily. If I didn't know I couldn't keep one, I'd be very tempted to keep 3. I have three numbers from the bus ride home of interested parties, though I'd love it if they went to people I knew.
I wonder what their dad thinks about this. He's a tame outdoors cat and loves people. I found him sitting on the pallet where we caught them and started meowing at me-- did he know they were there or did he just find a cat scent and was curious? We brought the kittens out, and they spilled to the front of the cage, mewing frantically and trying to touch him. He was very interested ("What are those things?") but quickly grew more interested in the horizontal position of my legs.
We'll have to livetrap the mother to spay her, and get Gabriel snipped as soon as possible. I'm pretty irritated that Robert's been planning to do this since October, and still hasn't gotten around to it. Livetrapping will probably ruin any chance we have of making her friendly, but at least she won't be making more feral cats.
I didn't really do much yesterday other than kittens. I helped get Reno ready to ride and walked him around for a minute before letting Gillian take over. I watched Lady be lame. I took Nicky for a walk with Gillian and Star. The interesting thing about Nicky seems to be her intense respect for someone attached to her halter. Her owner said she was a wild weanling and it took 3 hours to wrestle a halter onto her, but she's always respected it since. This goes to an impressive level. Yesterday she was acting up a little, but I asked her to trot. She freaked out, went to rear and bolt. I'd basically committed myself to having to let go of the lead rope, but a second after she put pressure on it, she stopped by throwing herself to the ground. Then she got up and stood very calmly. This is the second time she's done this sort of thing, but the first I thought she'd just lost her balance. It genuinely seems to go deep that she must not put pressure on her halter, and it's self-reinforcing when she does this. It's nice when horses teach themselves things so you don't have to. She also was totally fine with everything she hadn't seen for months-- the bridge and the round bales.
I'm happy we have Reno under saddle. I think I'll finally have a trail horse. I haven't been more than 100 feet past the culvert under saddle since the first day I got back on a horse in October. When Nicky gets going, I hope that that will work for trails too.
I don't know what to do with Luca. When he's good, he's absolutely fabulous. When he's bad... well, damn he's bad. I can stay on no problem, but I'd rather be moving forward with our training instead of focusing on why we shouldn't buck whenever we damn well feel like it. Maybe Gillian should get on and see if the same thing happens to her, or if it's a me issue. I'm sick of him trying to kill me, and I want something fun to do. I'd rather have higher aspirations for a show than hoping Luca doesn't hop the chain and kill the judge.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Derailed by Kittens
So I was going to work on the path today. (really, I was) When I was looking for the clippers, however, I found four feral kittens instead. They're cute, they're fluffy and we spent the morning catching them. Alyssa caught kittens 1, 2, and 3, and I caught 4, the best kitten. We spent some time after that getting them a container set up, handling them, etc. We spent the evening working on kittens also. Eventually, one way or another, they're getting spayed/neutered and sent to homes that are not ours. More on all this will have to come from Alyssa.
We did get some horse stuff done. I rode Reno, which went well, he has a choppy trot which got choppier when Robert left the arena. Reno is very attached to Robert. He'll need to get used to leg pressure again after being a driving horse but really riding him is very very similar to driving him. He doesn't like to bend correctly in the cart either. I took Star on a walk and we crossed the bridge. I think that doing that trailer work got her used to the hollow sound that the bridge and the trailer both make when you step on them. I also took Papillon out for her first hack in a long time. She wanted to trot trot trot, at a minimum. I wanted her to walk. Sometimes the compromise was the worlds smoothest prance, but I think we wound up walking over 50% of the way around, maybe even 75%. Anyway, she'll need to get that out of her system but not overwork her shoulder at the same time. I think she can probably handle a half mile or so of trotting. If I wait for a sunny day (or, rather, the sunny part of a day) that will knock her out more quickly, since she's giant and black.
Tomorrow I'm probably going to ride Lady if nothing happens to dissuade me. Thursday its Colonel's big day. Ai ai ai, hopefully things will get less complicated, someday I'll just pull a horse out and ride it instead of having to plan exactly how everything needs to go down.
Someday....
We did get some horse stuff done. I rode Reno, which went well, he has a choppy trot which got choppier when Robert left the arena. Reno is very attached to Robert. He'll need to get used to leg pressure again after being a driving horse but really riding him is very very similar to driving him. He doesn't like to bend correctly in the cart either. I took Star on a walk and we crossed the bridge. I think that doing that trailer work got her used to the hollow sound that the bridge and the trailer both make when you step on them. I also took Papillon out for her first hack in a long time. She wanted to trot trot trot, at a minimum. I wanted her to walk. Sometimes the compromise was the worlds smoothest prance, but I think we wound up walking over 50% of the way around, maybe even 75%. Anyway, she'll need to get that out of her system but not overwork her shoulder at the same time. I think she can probably handle a half mile or so of trotting. If I wait for a sunny day (or, rather, the sunny part of a day) that will knock her out more quickly, since she's giant and black.
Tomorrow I'm probably going to ride Lady if nothing happens to dissuade me. Thursday its Colonel's big day. Ai ai ai, hopefully things will get less complicated, someday I'll just pull a horse out and ride it instead of having to plan exactly how everything needs to go down.
Someday....
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Goals II
I dont feel like working right this moment so I'm also going to do a goals post.
I second everything said about luca, keno, and Papillon, but I'd like to expand on Colonel.
Colonel: Its hard to know exactly what needs to be done without figuring out where he is right now. At the end of the summer he was cantering in a balanced fashion, mostly, and we were starting him over small jumps. At the trot he was reasonably good about calmly taking the fences. At a canter he was convinced that he needed to go very fast in order to get over. Watching him jump on the lunge line at the canter makes me think this might actually be true. When he came up to it calmly and tried to jump the small rail, he knocked it over. When he sped up to get over it, he didnt have too much trouble. I agree that more practice would proabably help, but I think this is an issue that could better be solved with more flatwork. He needs to learn to actually collect himself at the canter. Without leaning on anyones hands, I might add. I suspect that a lot of his more mentally based issues would get better with consistent work. So in summation my goals for him are:
I'm was pretty happy with her walk and trot and the end of the summer. She was yielding to leg pressure, stopping, and generally pretty calm. She did have/develop a fear of logs which definitely needs fixing. She picked up the canter only when she was well set up with the corrrect bend, usually from a circle was easyest. She needs more practice with her canter transitions so that she'll be more balanced for the transition. She needs to be more balanced at the canter in general so that she doesnt feel the need to stop and rear or balk so much. At least I think thats the problem. Her headset is aweful. Really just terrible. It doesnt help her balance any. Plus she'll never be able to jump anything well if she doesnt develop a topline and learn to collect herself. She doesnt exactly scream jumping prospect but if she could jump an 18" crosrail she would be much more valuable, which is important if she's sold someday. Along with headest goes collection. She needs it. Also I'd like her to stop shying from the barrels in the arena, thats annoying. In summation my goals for star are:
Bring her back to a more calm state of mind by getting her in work
As a side note, I'd like to make sure lady is ridden consistently. She deserves that. And try to get her a little calmer just walking around.
Also, for the barn, I'd like to clear a path up that hill. It would be nice to have a sloping path to walk up. Either get Ian to do it or just go out there and do it myself (or with help?). I just dont want to kill anyone, or myself, with that machete but it might be the fastest way to go. We'll see.
I second everything said about luca, keno, and Papillon, but I'd like to expand on Colonel.
Colonel: Its hard to know exactly what needs to be done without figuring out where he is right now. At the end of the summer he was cantering in a balanced fashion, mostly, and we were starting him over small jumps. At the trot he was reasonably good about calmly taking the fences. At a canter he was convinced that he needed to go very fast in order to get over. Watching him jump on the lunge line at the canter makes me think this might actually be true. When he came up to it calmly and tried to jump the small rail, he knocked it over. When he sped up to get over it, he didnt have too much trouble. I agree that more practice would proabably help, but I think this is an issue that could better be solved with more flatwork. He needs to learn to actually collect himself at the canter. Without leaning on anyones hands, I might add. I suspect that a lot of his more mentally based issues would get better with consistent work. So in summation my goals for him are:
- diagnostics to see what we're dealing with
- calmer behavior in general and particularly outdoors
- a collected canter
- jumping at the trot in a calm fashion
- jumping at the canter both calmly and correctly (ie, clearing the jump)
I'm was pretty happy with her walk and trot and the end of the summer. She was yielding to leg pressure, stopping, and generally pretty calm. She did have/develop a fear of logs which definitely needs fixing. She picked up the canter only when she was well set up with the corrrect bend, usually from a circle was easyest. She needs more practice with her canter transitions so that she'll be more balanced for the transition. She needs to be more balanced at the canter in general so that she doesnt feel the need to stop and rear or balk so much. At least I think thats the problem. Her headset is aweful. Really just terrible. It doesnt help her balance any. Plus she'll never be able to jump anything well if she doesnt develop a topline and learn to collect herself. She doesnt exactly scream jumping prospect but if she could jump an 18" crosrail she would be much more valuable, which is important if she's sold someday. Along with headest goes collection. She needs it. Also I'd like her to stop shying from the barrels in the arena, thats annoying. In summation my goals for star are:
Bring her back to a more calm state of mind by getting her in work
- Get her in a little better shape since she's been off work so much
- Get her to set her head properly
- Get her collected at the w/t/c
- Get her balanced at the canter
- Get her to be more calm around logs
- Get her to accept things moving around by her feet
- Maybe start working her over jumps again if she can get the above stuff down
- Get her to stop attacking other horses
- Get her to stop shying at the barrels at the end of the arena
As a side note, I'd like to make sure lady is ridden consistently. She deserves that. And try to get her a little calmer just walking around.
Also, for the barn, I'd like to clear a path up that hill. It would be nice to have a sloping path to walk up. Either get Ian to do it or just go out there and do it myself (or with help?). I just dont want to kill anyone, or myself, with that machete but it might be the fastest way to go. We'll see.
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