Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Introducing: Jupiter
I gave you guys a sneak preview of my new full training horse, Jupiter, but haven't had the time to talk about the details. And there are a lot of details.
As you may have guessed from the toothpick build, long legs, neck, and ears, he is a saddlebred. He just turned four in April, which is right around when his owner contacted me.
His owner, Cindy, is friends with my friend, Sandy. Cindy has ridden and competed gaited horses for eleven years. She has two Tennessee Walkers named Blue and Revy.
Cindy's dream horse has been a buckskin saddlebred, and when she saw Jupiter online last fall, she knew she had to have him. I've done some sleuthing, as I always do with new client horses, and have gotten a pretty complete picture of his history.
Jupiter, registered name Paddyngton's Take Five. Was born in Michigan, at what seems to be a pretty well known and respected saddlebred farm.
Apparently, Jupiter was handled pretty extensively in Michigan, and even showed (and won!) in the futurity classes.
From there, he was listed for sale.
After that, the story gets a little blurry. Cindy bought him and had him shipped from Michigan in October of last year. That was apparently quite a stressful situation for the young horse, and he arrived skinny and stressed out. It wasn't long before he was diagnosed with and treated for ulcers.
When Cindy bought Jupiter, she boarded him at a barn about 15 minutes from my house. In fact, I actually met him over the winter when I shipped a horse there for a client. I remember seeing an adorable buckskin face with a shaved forelock, and asking if he was a saddlebred. I was told he was just a baby, and I remember that he was a total pocket pony.
Eventually, Jupiter went off to training at a relatively local saddleseat barn. My understanding is that he was there for two months. In that time, Cindy grew increasingly unhappy with his progress, or lack thereof. She got reports that her horse didn't have what it took to become a show horse. She heard that he wouldn't cross tie and was prone to violent tantrums. He wouldn't take a bit. He was reactive and dangerous. There was no way anybody was going to be sitting on him any time soon. I don't know the whole story and I am not pointing any fingers. Everything I know is from second or third hand reports. She started to suspect that this barn was a good place for show horses, but not necessarily a great fit for a young horse.
When she called me to ask about training, she told me, "I want him to learn to be a horse first. If he becomes a show horse down the line, that's great, but I want him to be happy and sane first."
Cindy was interested in full training board, and at first I wasn't sure that was possible. My schedule is completely packed. I have more clients than I know what to do with. My competition schedule is busy and erratic. I have Booger to work every free minute that I have. I can't have a training horse at home right now, and I'm not sure I want to get into boarding horses at Carolyn's again, even though it's a possibility.
I listed all my concerns, but Cindy had heard good things and really wanted me to at least come evaluate the horse. She was nice, local, and a friend of a friend. Plus, she was moving Jupiter back to the barn I had originally met him at.
I scheduled an evaluation and went to Biltmore.
While I was there, I got a call from Clare, the dressage and therapeutic instructor who I met in my Bluestone days, and who has since become a friend. It turns out Clare is giving lessons and running the therapeutic program at the barn Jupiter was coming back to. She had come to the barn that night and heard people talking about the fact that I was going to be training there. Everyone kept asking her if she knew me, and the answer was an enthusiastic, "Of course I know Dom!" It's such a small, small world.
The week after Biltmore, I ran down the street to meet Cindy and evaluate Jupiter. We talked about goals and set backs and plan. I brought the horse in, and he seemed inquisitive and friendly, as I remembered him.
The rundown was as follows:
At first, I just worked Jupiter in the rope halter with his bridle over top. I would have skipped the bridle entirely, except I wanted to incorporate putting it on into our regular routine. Jupiter is still not 100% cooperative for bridling, but he no longer runs (or walks) backwards. He doesn't fling his head around any more. Instead, he stands quietly, and allows me to bridle him on the first attempt, after only a few seconds of resistance. I am hoping that in a little while, it will be like he never had a problem.
Our ground work started with yielding the haunches (no problem) and the shoulders (a little trickier). Jupiter immediately picked up on the fact that doing the right thing results in a release of pressure. As I suspected, it takes a very minor cue to get him to do anything.
As you may have guessed from the toothpick build, long legs, neck, and ears, he is a saddlebred. He just turned four in April, which is right around when his owner contacted me.
His owner, Cindy, is friends with my friend, Sandy. Cindy has ridden and competed gaited horses for eleven years. She has two Tennessee Walkers named Blue and Revy.
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| Photo ©Greg Katseyeanis/For The Star-Ledger |
Jupiter, registered name Paddyngton's Take Five. Was born in Michigan, at what seems to be a pretty well known and respected saddlebred farm.
 |
| Jupiter and a friend as foals (photo from Google). |
From there, he was listed for sale.
After that, the story gets a little blurry. Cindy bought him and had him shipped from Michigan in October of last year. That was apparently quite a stressful situation for the young horse, and he arrived skinny and stressed out. It wasn't long before he was diagnosed with and treated for ulcers.
When Cindy bought Jupiter, she boarded him at a barn about 15 minutes from my house. In fact, I actually met him over the winter when I shipped a horse there for a client. I remember seeing an adorable buckskin face with a shaved forelock, and asking if he was a saddlebred. I was told he was just a baby, and I remember that he was a total pocket pony.
Eventually, Jupiter went off to training at a relatively local saddleseat barn. My understanding is that he was there for two months. In that time, Cindy grew increasingly unhappy with his progress, or lack thereof. She got reports that her horse didn't have what it took to become a show horse. She heard that he wouldn't cross tie and was prone to violent tantrums. He wouldn't take a bit. He was reactive and dangerous. There was no way anybody was going to be sitting on him any time soon. I don't know the whole story and I am not pointing any fingers. Everything I know is from second or third hand reports. She started to suspect that this barn was a good place for show horses, but not necessarily a great fit for a young horse.
When she called me to ask about training, she told me, "I want him to learn to be a horse first. If he becomes a show horse down the line, that's great, but I want him to be happy and sane first."
Cindy was interested in full training board, and at first I wasn't sure that was possible. My schedule is completely packed. I have more clients than I know what to do with. My competition schedule is busy and erratic. I have Booger to work every free minute that I have. I can't have a training horse at home right now, and I'm not sure I want to get into boarding horses at Carolyn's again, even though it's a possibility.
I listed all my concerns, but Cindy had heard good things and really wanted me to at least come evaluate the horse. She was nice, local, and a friend of a friend. Plus, she was moving Jupiter back to the barn I had originally met him at.
I scheduled an evaluation and went to Biltmore.
While I was there, I got a call from Clare, the dressage and therapeutic instructor who I met in my Bluestone days, and who has since become a friend. It turns out Clare is giving lessons and running the therapeutic program at the barn Jupiter was coming back to. She had come to the barn that night and heard people talking about the fact that I was going to be training there. Everyone kept asking her if she knew me, and the answer was an enthusiastic, "Of course I know Dom!" It's such a small, small world.
The week after Biltmore, I ran down the street to meet Cindy and evaluate Jupiter. We talked about goals and set backs and plan. I brought the horse in, and he seemed inquisitive and friendly, as I remembered him.
The rundown was as follows:
- Jupiter is very anxious and reactive, also easily distracted
- He doesn't cross tie
- He runs backwards in response to anything he doesn't like
- Jupiter is 16.1hh or so and has a very long neck, and has learned that putting his head up to where nobody can reach is a great evasion
- Bridling is a problem
- He has been clipped and bathed in the past, and reportedly at the most recent barn
- He has been long lined
- Steering on the long lines has been problematic in the past
- He knows how to lunge and knows his verbal cues
- He has worn a saddle and had one person sit on him while being led by another
- His ulcer treatment was almost done and he had gained a significant amount of weight back
- Jupiter's bloodlines include Harlem Globetrotter, who is notorious for throwing high strung, very hot horses
- Cindy would like Jupiter to be a five gaited show horse down the line
- More than that she wants him to be her pet riding horse, and plans to keep him forever
My evaluation consisted of bringing the horse in, discussing my methods, answering a lot of questions, and assessing the bridling situation. As promised, Jupiter wanted nothing to do with having the bridle put on his head. Despite the fact that he wore a bit as a weanling and yearling, and long lined with a bridle on, he threw his head up and darted backwards as soon as he saw the bridle coming. In the past, he was reportedly just backed into a corner and bridled anyway. Yikes.
I spent the next little while working on teaching a head down cue, as I do with all the horses I work with. Jupiter picked it up in record time, and it was only a few minutes before he was just hanging out with his head down by my hip on a loose lead. My first recommendation was to invest in a rope halter, which the barn happily provided. My second recommendation was to forget show bits and double bridles for a while and just work in a double jointed snaffle with full cheeks, which Cindy already happened to own.
It took some work, but I got Jupiter to stand quietly for bridling that day. He still wasn't thrilled, but there was no tantrum, and he was perfectly happy once the bridle was actually in placed.
I was officially hired. Now all I had to do was find an extra five hours in my week (plus driving time). I managed to shift my schedule a bit and sacrifice some sleep/meal time, and I have been working Jupiter five days a week for the last two weeks. In that time, he has already made an incredible amount of progress.
I am thoroughly enjoying working with Jupiter. He is a bright horse who wants to please, and he is a quick learner. He is a combination of smart and sensitive, which takes extra patience and consistency, and can turn sour very quickly. I have found that, in general, the things that he has never had done before come quickly and easily with almost no fuss, and the things that he reportedly already knows are the things that seem to set him off the most. Nobody will ever know what exactly happened between his futurity days in Michigan and his arrival back at the farm down the street, but somewhere, something didn't click.
I also adore Cindy. She makes an excellent client. She genuinely has the horse's best interests in mind and is a hands-on horse owner. She is low pressure, and open to new methods and theories. She asks good questions and loves frequent updates, but doesn't try to tell me how to do my job. Plus she's just a nice person all around.
Our training started off in the small square paddock next to the main ring at the farm. As usual, I started off by treating Jupiter like a completely unhandled horse. Whenever I'm working with a greenie or a remedial horse, I go through all my training steps to assess what holes might exist. Very often, a horse with a behavioral problem is simply missing some basic step in its training. As for green horses: there are just things that I want them all to know in a certain order.
As promised, Jupiter had some anxiety about the cross ties at first. I found out he was always cross tied in a stall back in Michigan, so he couldn't go back more than a few steps. When tied in a barn aisle, this turned into him backing up, hitting the cross ties, panicking, and continuing to fly back until the cross ties broke. Needless to say, that's a good way for a horse to end up with a fear of cross ties.
He did have one episode early on in the process where he tried to escape the cross ties. I had already worked on a 'come forward' cue to combat his instinct to run backwards (probably my least favorite evasion in horses), and was able to pull him out of the panic before any damage was done.
I have slowly introduced cross tying to our daily routine, starting with just a few seconds at a time and working our way up. These days, I am able to leave him standing in the aisle while I gather tack, etc. Currently, he just hangs out, watching the action with a foot cocked. He didn't even react when a young girl came running down the barn aisle at a dead spring, unsupervised. My heart jumped to my throat when I saw her coming, but Jupiter barely glanced at her as she darted past.
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| Listening closely during one of our first sessions. |
Lunging turned out to be a non-issue, and something he had obviously done before. Jupiter gladly went out on the end of the line and circled until further notice. It only took him a try or two to learn my 'come to neutral' cue, and less than half an hour to learn to whoa and change direction based on just body language.
To my delight, I was able to free lunge him on our very first session together. He picked up on the concept in record time. This video was taken on my second day working with him:
The next thing we worked on was bending left and right, a concept he had clearly never heard of before (and which may be totally unnecessary in a saddleseat career. I don't know.)
When I first introduced the idea, he responded perfectly naturally by trying to spin in order to evade the pressure.
But, within a few minutes, he grasped what I was asking for.
He hasn't faltered since.
I also started to do a little bit of desensitizing. Jupiter is a very jumpy and reactive horse by nature, and I've been very careful not to overwhelm him. I do a little bit of this with him at the end of each session, and his tolerance and comfort zone are growing slowly, but steadily.
After that, I sort of started to cut to the chase. I saddled Jupiter the next day. He was completely fine with having the pad and saddle tossed on his back, and had zero reaction whatsoever to being girthed. He did offer a few bucks the first few times I asked him to canter while wearing it, but nothing I wouldn't expect of any young horse.
Over the course of the rest of the week, I introduced the mounting block and the idea that horses are to stand completely still alongside it until further notice. The first time I climbed up there and flapped the stirrup leathers, Jupiter jumped sideways and snorted in alarm, but it wasn't long before I was able to bump him all over and do anything I wanted while standing above him.
That Thursday, I leaned across his back and let him carry me around for a few strides. I would have thrown a leg over right then and there, but there was nobody else on the property and I didn't want to do anything foolish.
The following morning, on our sixth session, Jupiter's owner joined me at the side of the ring while I worked with her horse. Jupiter was on his very best behavior, and after going through everything he'd learned that week, I put my foot in the stirrup and swung on board. He did not care at all.
His owner cried. In six sessions, we got him closer to a riding career than he'd come in six months. I got a lot of kudos from everyone at the barn, which I'll admit felt very good. The greatest reward, however, was seeing how relaxed and at ease Jupiter was becoming.
We spent the following week just working on walking with a rider on board. As with most young horses that I start, the toughest part was getting him to walk off after I got on board. I am so careful to install a parking brake that they're not always sure it's ok to move off. It's not a bad problem to have.
It wasn't long before Jupiter learned that leg= go. I did long line him once to see how his steering was (the answer is 'not great').
Mostly I just get on and go, though.
Surprisingly, and perhaps best of all, Jupiter focuses just fine regardless of what else is going on around the farm. He tip toes carefully around the ring, as though afraid to drop me, and doesn't put a foot out of place even when things get sketchy. He ignores things like horses working in the main ring, geese hissing and flapping in the paddock with us, and a horse jumping in the water trough and splashing around in the corner. He has been a joy to work with over all.
On Thursday night, I did finally find something that Jupiter is completely incapable of handling at the moment. He absolutely, positively cannot abide any kind of spraying. Fly spray, water bottle, bath hose... it doesn't matter. I thought he was going to go through the fence the first time I spritzed the fly spray (and I wasn't even facing him!)
Of course, that was the night that everyone was coming and going from the barn. Usually, there aren't more than one or two people there when I work. I plan around the busy lesson schedule so that I'm not disrupting life at the farm. On this night, however, there was therapeutic riding, a lesson, and a boarder returning from a show, on top of all the people who were there just to ride.
Jupiter put on an epic show, rearing, running backwards, panicking, and just generally throwing me around like a rag doll. And that was just from me trying to get him to stand within ten feet of the hose in OFF position!
The bathing area at this particular barn is less than ideal. It's an old facility and the wash stall is a bare slap of cracking concrete. There is a low wall on one side, but that's it. The area sits on a slight slope, and backs up to the tractor shed, where sharp equipment lurks in the shadows. There are no cross ties or tying post. The hose connects to a free standing spigot. That's it. I'm not sure I've ever had to introduce a horse to bathing in a worse set up. I'm also not sure I've ever worked with a more bath-resistant horse... and I prepped yearlings for four years!
I started off by just asking Jupiter to step forward onto the concrete. Since his response to everything is to back up, this was a battle in and of itself.
Just as he stood perched at the edge of the slab, head lowered, thinking about his next move, a woman approached him, clucked, and tapped his hindquarters.
I raised my hand in a stopping motion. "Please! Please don't help me with him. I need him to do this my way." I was polite, but admittedly quick in my response. I know her intentions were good, but I don't want or need anyone else to 'help' when I'm working with a horse.
"Oh.. well, excuse me! I'm so-and-so. I own this place." Of course you do. *facepalm* I had obviously offended her.
I back pedaled quickly, telling her that I appreciated her nice gesture, and that I didn't want to endanger her. I also sucked up a bit, asking where I could find supplies to clean the wash stall after I was done.
I felt everyone's eyes burning into me as I worked with Jupiter. He made slow progress, responding just as I hoped he would, but in a barn full of lesson horses, schoolies, and therapy mounts, I'm sure it looked terrible.
I ended the session with Jupiter standing at my side with his head lowered while I ran the hose at half throttle, facing away from him. I didn't even try to touch him with the water.
By the time I was done, he was sweating and puffing and probably could have actually used a bath. I had to hand walk him for 20 minutes before I was able to put him away for the night. I was exhausted.
I called his owner on my way home to let her know we'd hit a road block and that I may have offended the barn owner and made quite a spectacle of myself.
"Well, the other barn owner, her sister, she thinks the world of you so I wouldn't worry about it. You know what you're doing and I trust you. You can put riding on the back burner for now. I really want him to learn how to be a good horse in general. It's great that you can sit on him, but he needs to learn to bathe and spray."
Have I mentioned I love her?
Yesterday, I went back. Once again, the barn was bustling, but this time with mostly people that I know. I started off with the water bottle in the square paddock, and he was much more composed about it. I only worked on it for a few minutes, and then went back to the wash stall to do battle with the hosefull of lava.
Well, it took me an hour, but I was eventually able to hose Jupiter on both sides without him trampling me or running backwards. He still wasn't 100% comfortable, but it was above and beyond anything we'd even attempted the night before. I had Emily, who works at Bluestone and takes lessons with Clare, take a video for me to show his owner his progress.
The next thing we worked on was bending left and right, a concept he had clearly never heard of before (and which may be totally unnecessary in a saddleseat career. I don't know.)
When I first introduced the idea, he responded perfectly naturally by trying to spin in order to evade the pressure.
But, within a few minutes, he grasped what I was asking for.
He hasn't faltered since.
I also started to do a little bit of desensitizing. Jupiter is a very jumpy and reactive horse by nature, and I've been very careful not to overwhelm him. I do a little bit of this with him at the end of each session, and his tolerance and comfort zone are growing slowly, but steadily.
 |
| Not a fan at first. |
 |
| Ending on a much better note. |
Over the course of the rest of the week, I introduced the mounting block and the idea that horses are to stand completely still alongside it until further notice. The first time I climbed up there and flapped the stirrup leathers, Jupiter jumped sideways and snorted in alarm, but it wasn't long before I was able to bump him all over and do anything I wanted while standing above him.
That Thursday, I leaned across his back and let him carry me around for a few strides. I would have thrown a leg over right then and there, but there was nobody else on the property and I didn't want to do anything foolish.
The following morning, on our sixth session, Jupiter's owner joined me at the side of the ring while I worked with her horse. Jupiter was on his very best behavior, and after going through everything he'd learned that week, I put my foot in the stirrup and swung on board. He did not care at all.
His owner cried. In six sessions, we got him closer to a riding career than he'd come in six months. I got a lot of kudos from everyone at the barn, which I'll admit felt very good. The greatest reward, however, was seeing how relaxed and at ease Jupiter was becoming.
We spent the following week just working on walking with a rider on board. As with most young horses that I start, the toughest part was getting him to walk off after I got on board. I am so careful to install a parking brake that they're not always sure it's ok to move off. It's not a bad problem to have.
It wasn't long before Jupiter learned that leg= go. I did long line him once to see how his steering was (the answer is 'not great').
Mostly I just get on and go, though.
Surprisingly, and perhaps best of all, Jupiter focuses just fine regardless of what else is going on around the farm. He tip toes carefully around the ring, as though afraid to drop me, and doesn't put a foot out of place even when things get sketchy. He ignores things like horses working in the main ring, geese hissing and flapping in the paddock with us, and a horse jumping in the water trough and splashing around in the corner. He has been a joy to work with over all.
On Thursday night, I did finally find something that Jupiter is completely incapable of handling at the moment. He absolutely, positively cannot abide any kind of spraying. Fly spray, water bottle, bath hose... it doesn't matter. I thought he was going to go through the fence the first time I spritzed the fly spray (and I wasn't even facing him!)
Of course, that was the night that everyone was coming and going from the barn. Usually, there aren't more than one or two people there when I work. I plan around the busy lesson schedule so that I'm not disrupting life at the farm. On this night, however, there was therapeutic riding, a lesson, and a boarder returning from a show, on top of all the people who were there just to ride.
Jupiter put on an epic show, rearing, running backwards, panicking, and just generally throwing me around like a rag doll. And that was just from me trying to get him to stand within ten feet of the hose in OFF position!
The bathing area at this particular barn is less than ideal. It's an old facility and the wash stall is a bare slap of cracking concrete. There is a low wall on one side, but that's it. The area sits on a slight slope, and backs up to the tractor shed, where sharp equipment lurks in the shadows. There are no cross ties or tying post. The hose connects to a free standing spigot. That's it. I'm not sure I've ever had to introduce a horse to bathing in a worse set up. I'm also not sure I've ever worked with a more bath-resistant horse... and I prepped yearlings for four years!
I started off by just asking Jupiter to step forward onto the concrete. Since his response to everything is to back up, this was a battle in and of itself.
Just as he stood perched at the edge of the slab, head lowered, thinking about his next move, a woman approached him, clucked, and tapped his hindquarters.
I raised my hand in a stopping motion. "Please! Please don't help me with him. I need him to do this my way." I was polite, but admittedly quick in my response. I know her intentions were good, but I don't want or need anyone else to 'help' when I'm working with a horse.
"Oh.. well, excuse me! I'm so-and-so. I own this place." Of course you do. *facepalm* I had obviously offended her.
I back pedaled quickly, telling her that I appreciated her nice gesture, and that I didn't want to endanger her. I also sucked up a bit, asking where I could find supplies to clean the wash stall after I was done.
I felt everyone's eyes burning into me as I worked with Jupiter. He made slow progress, responding just as I hoped he would, but in a barn full of lesson horses, schoolies, and therapy mounts, I'm sure it looked terrible.
I ended the session with Jupiter standing at my side with his head lowered while I ran the hose at half throttle, facing away from him. I didn't even try to touch him with the water.
By the time I was done, he was sweating and puffing and probably could have actually used a bath. I had to hand walk him for 20 minutes before I was able to put him away for the night. I was exhausted.
I called his owner on my way home to let her know we'd hit a road block and that I may have offended the barn owner and made quite a spectacle of myself.
"Well, the other barn owner, her sister, she thinks the world of you so I wouldn't worry about it. You know what you're doing and I trust you. You can put riding on the back burner for now. I really want him to learn how to be a good horse in general. It's great that you can sit on him, but he needs to learn to bathe and spray."
Have I mentioned I love her?
Yesterday, I went back. Once again, the barn was bustling, but this time with mostly people that I know. I started off with the water bottle in the square paddock, and he was much more composed about it. I only worked on it for a few minutes, and then went back to the wash stall to do battle with the hose
Well, it took me an hour, but I was eventually able to hose Jupiter on both sides without him trampling me or running backwards. He still wasn't 100% comfortable, but it was above and beyond anything we'd even attempted the night before. I had Emily, who works at Bluestone and takes lessons with Clare, take a video for me to show his owner his progress.
We worked for a little bit longer after that, and I was able to spray him on both sides without him hunching his back and flinching. At least scraping him off wasn't a big deal.
And that brings us about up to date on Jupiter. I have him in training for at least another month at this point. I hope to get him walking and trotting in the main arena by then. He has already lunged in the big ring, and doesn't seem at all bothered by the change in scenery. I also hope to have him acting civilized, if not completely seasoned, on the ground. Bathing and bridling will be our biggest challenges still, but I am confident that he will continue to come along in leaps and bounds.
I have tons of photos of the big guy in action, but I will probably post them in a separate post since this one has already gotten much longer than I've intended.
If you read all that, good for you. The TL;DR version:
I have a new training client. He's a baby saddlebred with a jumpy personality, but he's coming along well. Also, look at his pretty mane.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Dancer Starts Showing
Dancer did his first two shows these past two weekends. He and his girl apparently kicked butt!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
State of the Oz
I've had a few people ask me how Ozzy is doing. The short answer is that he's doing ok.
He has no idea anything is amiss, and he's happy in his field in the backyard, getting visited several times a day and hanging out in his shed. He and JR seem to be getting along better than ever, and I even caught them grooming each other one morning last week, like totally normal horses.
I do think Ozzy is a bit bored without a job, and I wish I could explain to him why I don't ride him any more. I have accepted that he's retired, but I still get sad sometimes, especially when the spring weather is just so and I get that itch to just go gallivanting into the wilderness...
Physically, he's about the same. There's a definite wobble to his step at times. It's especially visible at the canter and during his transitions. He stumbles sometimes, but doesn't fall. I wouldn't sit on him, but he's not in any danger. He does have constant runny eyes now, and I've talked to my vet about them. They're not pretty, but they don't seem to bother him any. I also hear him clacking his feet together at the walk regularly now. He never interfered in his entire racing, riding, endurance career, but now he does. Again, he doesn't seem to notice, but it's a visible change that I attribute to the EPM.
I will say he looks better coming out of winter this year than he ever has. Having him at home and being 100% in control of everything to do with his care all the time has been wonderful, and I am less worried than I ever was in the past.
I brought the camera out with me last night to get some pictures for you guys. Ozzy is just as goofy as ever, and spent about ten minutes licking me like a dog. I was completely covered in slobber by the time it was all said and done.
I also spent some time doing his favorite thing ever... scratching his chest. Some days, if I hit the right spot, he actually puts his feet together, like he's on a podium, and sways back and forth until he just about falls over. I will try to get it on video some time.
He has no idea anything is amiss, and he's happy in his field in the backyard, getting visited several times a day and hanging out in his shed. He and JR seem to be getting along better than ever, and I even caught them grooming each other one morning last week, like totally normal horses.
I do think Ozzy is a bit bored without a job, and I wish I could explain to him why I don't ride him any more. I have accepted that he's retired, but I still get sad sometimes, especially when the spring weather is just so and I get that itch to just go gallivanting into the wilderness...
Physically, he's about the same. There's a definite wobble to his step at times. It's especially visible at the canter and during his transitions. He stumbles sometimes, but doesn't fall. I wouldn't sit on him, but he's not in any danger. He does have constant runny eyes now, and I've talked to my vet about them. They're not pretty, but they don't seem to bother him any. I also hear him clacking his feet together at the walk regularly now. He never interfered in his entire racing, riding, endurance career, but now he does. Again, he doesn't seem to notice, but it's a visible change that I attribute to the EPM.
 |
| *wobble* |
I brought the camera out with me last night to get some pictures for you guys. Ozzy is just as goofy as ever, and spent about ten minutes licking me like a dog. I was completely covered in slobber by the time it was all said and done.
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| Right in the ear. |
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Booger: Teeter Totter, New Rider, Jumping Games
As always, I have been doing a ton with Booger without updating much in between.
As I mentioned last post, Mike and I brought the teeter totter over to the barn for me to play with her. I started it off as just a platform and Booger didn't even hesitate before putting her feet on it. The next day, I put it up on the 4x4 pivot. She walked boldly across, and seemed mildly intrigued when it tipped, but not at all worried.
We played with that for a few days, and I got her walking back and forth, rocking to and fro, and starting on the high side with minimal effort.
I had her going back and forth across it practically in her sleep, so Mike and I dug up a telephone pole to up the ante. Once again, Booger didn't care whatsoever. As the teeter totter slammed to earth, she pricked her ears, then quietly stepped forward like it was nothing.
Later, I had her approach it from the high side, which came up to her chest. I was curious to see what she would do. Booger calmly lifted her foot, placed it on the teeter totter, gently pushed the teeter totter down to the ground, then walked across it like nothing had happened. Smart girl!
The next step was to ride her across it. I think I was more worried than she was!
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As you may have noticed, Booger is now sporting a fly bonnet.
When I rode her last Friday, she gave me a beautiful walk warm up, but as soon as we started to trot, the head flinging started. She actually stopped halfway through a trot stride to rub her head on the fence (!!) and she flat out couldn't focus. I dismounted and checked her ears, bridle, etc, but found nothing amiss. I re-mounted and the head flinging resumed. Booger has always had sensitive ears anyway, but this was over the top. I am pretty sure that the hair from her mane and forelock was tickling her at the trot and sending her over the edge.
Since fly season is around the corner anyway, I decided a fly bonnet might be a worthwhile investment. I wound up buying one that matched her saddle pad pretty closely, but opted for the $6 one instead of the $70 one with the fancy trim. Seriously, do people pay that kind of money for what is essentially a horse hat? I'm not judging. I'm just curious!
This week I clipped her bridle path, introduced the fly bonnet. (That was a fun exercise with an ear shy horse! She's improving slowly and steadily, but she was definitely not thrilled about something covering her ears.) Problem solved! Huzzah.
You may also notice that I had someone (not Mike) there to video tape me this week! That's because Tor (now of Anticipate Adventure) came down to visit on Wednesday! We haven't seen each other in way too long, and she had a rare day off. I couldn't stop my four horse day, but I could certainly have her participate in it! We both simultaneously had the same thought...
Tor has been itching to play with Booger, and I've been dying to see how she would do with another rider.
Booger was downright snuggly in the barn with Tor. She had her ears up and was mooching for cookies. In the last two weeks, she has really started coming out of her shell personality wise. I joke that she's becoming a real horse. The other night, I took a phone call while I was in the ring with her. Boo was licking me like a dog and actually asking for pats and scritches. It's enough to warm my icy little heart.
Anyway...I warmed Boo up and showed Tor the different buttons (nothing she couldn't have figured out on her own.)
Then I handed over the reins. Remember, Booger hasn't even been sat on by anyone but me. She has actually lived a pretty sheltered life in general. Aside from her owner, vet, and farrier, she didn't know too many people before I came along.
At first, Booger gave Tor the hairy eyeball. She backed away half a step, looking suspicious.
Tor took one rein and asked for lateral bend, synonymous with my 'parking brake'. Booger's face lit up. "OMG you play the horse riding game!!!"
Just like that, Tor hopped on and took Boo for a ride. Walk, trot, canter, no problems. I was like a proud mom. Booger is officially trained to be ridden, not just ridden by me! Granted, I wouldn't put an inexperienced rider on her yet, but it's a start!
This week, I also rode her bareback with just a rope halter. I was having a lazy night and was just planning to work on the teeter totter. Since it comes so easily to her, we were done in about two minutes. I wasn't feeling like walking all the way back to the barn for tack, so I just swung up bareback. Booger needed a moment to adjust to pressure from the halter rather than the bit because I've really only used the halter for leading and lunging in the past, but after a second, she steered like an old pro.
As I mentioned last post, Mike and I brought the teeter totter over to the barn for me to play with her. I started it off as just a platform and Booger didn't even hesitate before putting her feet on it. The next day, I put it up on the 4x4 pivot. She walked boldly across, and seemed mildly intrigued when it tipped, but not at all worried.
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| Sit, stay, good dog. |
I had her going back and forth across it practically in her sleep, so Mike and I dug up a telephone pole to up the ante. Once again, Booger didn't care whatsoever. As the teeter totter slammed to earth, she pricked her ears, then quietly stepped forward like it was nothing.
Later, I had her approach it from the high side, which came up to her chest. I was curious to see what she would do. Booger calmly lifted her foot, placed it on the teeter totter, gently pushed the teeter totter down to the ground, then walked across it like nothing had happened. Smart girl!
The next step was to ride her across it. I think I was more worried than she was!
As you may have noticed, Booger is now sporting a fly bonnet.
When I rode her last Friday, she gave me a beautiful walk warm up, but as soon as we started to trot, the head flinging started. She actually stopped halfway through a trot stride to rub her head on the fence (!!) and she flat out couldn't focus. I dismounted and checked her ears, bridle, etc, but found nothing amiss. I re-mounted and the head flinging resumed. Booger has always had sensitive ears anyway, but this was over the top. I am pretty sure that the hair from her mane and forelock was tickling her at the trot and sending her over the edge.
Since fly season is around the corner anyway, I decided a fly bonnet might be a worthwhile investment. I wound up buying one that matched her saddle pad pretty closely, but opted for the $6 one instead of the $70 one with the fancy trim. Seriously, do people pay that kind of money for what is essentially a horse hat? I'm not judging. I'm just curious!
This week I clipped her bridle path, introduced the fly bonnet. (That was a fun exercise with an ear shy horse! She's improving slowly and steadily, but she was definitely not thrilled about something covering her ears.) Problem solved! Huzzah.
You may also notice that I had someone (not Mike) there to video tape me this week! That's because Tor (now of Anticipate Adventure) came down to visit on Wednesday! We haven't seen each other in way too long, and she had a rare day off. I couldn't stop my four horse day, but I could certainly have her participate in it! We both simultaneously had the same thought...
Tor has been itching to play with Booger, and I've been dying to see how she would do with another rider.
Booger was downright snuggly in the barn with Tor. She had her ears up and was mooching for cookies. In the last two weeks, she has really started coming out of her shell personality wise. I joke that she's becoming a real horse. The other night, I took a phone call while I was in the ring with her. Boo was licking me like a dog and actually asking for pats and scritches. It's enough to warm my icy little heart.
Anyway...I warmed Boo up and showed Tor the different buttons (nothing she couldn't have figured out on her own.)
Then I handed over the reins. Remember, Booger hasn't even been sat on by anyone but me. She has actually lived a pretty sheltered life in general. Aside from her owner, vet, and farrier, she didn't know too many people before I came along.
At first, Booger gave Tor the hairy eyeball. She backed away half a step, looking suspicious.
Tor took one rein and asked for lateral bend, synonymous with my 'parking brake'. Booger's face lit up. "OMG you play the horse riding game!!!"
Just like that, Tor hopped on and took Boo for a ride. Walk, trot, canter, no problems. I was like a proud mom. Booger is officially trained to be ridden, not just ridden by me! Granted, I wouldn't put an inexperienced rider on her yet, but it's a start!
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| Hey, that's not me... |
Yesterday, Mike made some new toys for Booger's future.
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| A pair of stacking cavaletti and two sets of 4' standards. |
Of course, we drove them over to the barn right away and I set them up in the round pen. Mike was planning to do some weed whacking, so I brought Booger in and rode her to finish off my week. It's been a big week for her because she also got her feet and teeth done.
We started off with the teeter totter, then warmed up at the walk and trot, incorporating circles, serpentines, and leg yields. Then we moved up to the canter. Suddenly, Booger seems to be really enjoying the canter work, and I no longer have to urge her forward every few strides. She picks up the canter easily and then holds it until further notice. I was grinning ear to ear as we cantered around and around the arena on a loose rein, enjoying the sunshine. Yesterday, I also introduced riding over ground poles. Of course, we've already done those in the round pen so Boo didn't care at all. Walk, trot, canter over three poles in both directions like a pro.
Mike was still busy so I decided to keep playing. I've been having Booger do lead changes in the round pen for a good long time, and she seems to have a natural knack for it, so I wanted to see where we were under saddle. I picked up the left lead canter, did a lap around the arena, then did a 20m circle. On the second time around the circle, I changed bend, and asked for the trot. Booger happily obliged. Two strides later, I asked for the right lead canter. She flicked an ear, then picked it up. Tada! Our first simple change! We played with those for a while, and Booger seemed to enjoy the change in our routine. I suspect she'll do lead changes no problem when we get to that point!
My goal for this week is to school the training level dressage tests and see how she does. I imagine that'll be no problem for her.
But we still weren't done yet. I dismounted, put Booger in the round pen, and set up some of our new toys. The cavaletti were a breeze for her, and she was happy to jump them individually or set at a bounce. I even stacked them on top of each other and she went right over. The standards did seem to confuse her a bit. She's used to working on the edge of the round pen (kind of the whole point) and didn't seem to understand why I was putting upright obstacles in her way. After a few rounds, though, she figured out that it's easier to jump the middle of the cross rails. Haha.
I also sent her over a baby oxer, which didn't faze her at all.
I finished up by setting up what was essentially a roll top with the cavaletti. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it! Basically I put the cavaletti side by side with a pole in the middle and two ground lines on either side. The jump was more wide than high and encouraged her to jump out, not up. She nailed it on the first try and cantered easily back and forth over it until I asked her to stop.
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| Kind of like this. Not to scale? |
Anyway... I guess my point is that Booger continues to do well. She is really starting to develop a nice personality too. In fact, she was even nice to Mike this week, which is a big deal for her. If she keeps going like this, she might actually become a horse I could see myself owning and not just riding for the business aspect of it. Haha.
Here's hoping I get the time to start re-adding trail riding to the mix!
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Saturday Snaps: Doggies!
The dogs have been getting a little neglected on the blog lately ;)
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| Hopeful face. |
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| Sitting like a people. |
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| "What??" |
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| Herbie is grateful for warm weather and deck time. |
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| Handsome devil <3 |
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| Her favorite way to sleep. Doesn't look comfy to me, but what do I know? |
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
WW: Jupiter
Many more details to follow, but here's a sneak preview of my newest full training client. He's a little different from the other horses I have going right now, and I kind of like it!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Introducing: Gambit
This was going to be a picture-centered post, but I just can't help myself when it comes to standardbreds.I accidentally converted someone to the dark side. Becky, one of the girls at April's barn, adopted a standardbred from SRF while I was in North Carolina. She's been wanting one since she met Shadow and saw him in action, and she brought April along to help her pick.
April says she felt much more prepared this time around, and was able to use what she has learned in lessons with me to streamline the process. They didn't have to ride a million horses before finding a decent one. They didn't entertain the idea of anything with lameness issues. I'm sure SRF was annoyed, and I love it.
As a side note, Becky listed me as her trainer reference on her adoption application. SRF called all her other references. I didn't get a call. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of red flag on my file over there. Good. Leave me alone. Also, stop using my photos.
As it turns out, April and Becky picked a horse that I already know! I'm Still Thinking was known as Shrek back in my days at the Foundation. I vaguely remember his barreling through the gate and knocking me flat on my ass in a mud puddle on his first day in quarantine. I also vaguely remember shipping him to Kentucky some time later. Despite these memories, I very much approved of the girls' choice of horse. I also approve of the fact that Becky promptly changed his barn name to Gambit.
Overall, Gambit looks better than ever. He's shiny, at a great weight, and has filled out nicely in the six years since I last saw him. His feet were in pretty bad shape when Becky adopted him, and I'm not sure what the story there is. Thankfully, he's getting proper hoof care now, and there should be no lasting effects.Gambit never raced, but he is very much a pacer, which is great since Becky prefers gaiting to trotting.
I did my evaluation with him last week, and was pleased at how much of the basics he remembered. I don't know where he's been since I last saw him. I don't know if he spent the entire time in Kentucky or if he was adopted, or how many times. I know he did some basic dressage and trail riding as a baby, and I know he was ridden western to some degree in Kentucky. My evaluation ride showed that he can both trot and pace, and that the canter is just under the surface (hooray!) It also revealed a horse who has become pretty sour to the leg, and who gets tense very easily. I suspect he had some man handling at some point and was told what to do rather than being asked politely.
Becky's homework for the week was to basically get to know her new (and first) horse, and to show him that he's in a good place where he will be treated fairly. I gave her some specific exercises to do to address his tendency to dance around instead of holding still, and I made some tack recommendations as well. April helped Becky pick out an awesome new saddle, and Becky was excited to start their new journey together.
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| This is what Gambit thinks of lessons. |
Gambit stood like a perfect gentleman at the mounting block, and I praised Becky for clearly taking her homework to heart.
We spent our lesson working on moving all the different horse parts. Head and neck, shoulders, barrel, hindquarters. Gambit seemed baffled at first, but quickly learned what we were asking of him. Before I knew it, he was offering turns on the forehand and the haunches, and doing little side steps. We are also starting to introduce neck reining, which is high on Becky's priority list.
Becky was cracking me up with her enthusiasm the entire time. She was grinning ear to ear by the end of the lesson, and it turned out to be a super rewarding session for me. I'm totally psyched to be working with her and Gambit. I think they're going to make an incredible team.
Becky's goals with Gambit include team penning and endurance, both of which I am very excited about. I think we need to convince the BO to get cows so we can practice :-P
I have to give major kudos to April on this one. She has been an excellent resource for Becky. She picked a great barn to move Shadow to, a great horse for Becky, and a great saddle (designed for gaited horses) for Gambit.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Booger: Ringwork, Bareback, Jumping
Things have been super busy in Booger land, and I am thrilled. Booger is quickly going from being my most challenging ride of the week to being the horse that brightens my mood after a long day. She seems to genuinely enjoy being back in work, and she gets more mature and reliable as she ages. She is also starting to use her athletic abilities for good instead of evil.
The last time I did a real update about Boo (Boo-mare, Boogsy-woo, Bug, B-girl, etc.) we had just had our first ride back after a long winter off. Since then, I have been working with her every day that the weather and my schedule allow. Typically, that's four days a week. I keep the sessions on the short side to prevent burning Booger out and to keep working fun.
I really think she views our rides as 'play time', and she greets me at the barn door, with her nose pressed to the corner where the door opens, and her ears pricked. I actually don't even bring her in or tie her. She puts herself in the 'cross ties' and ground ties like a pro. Not bad for a horse I couldn't catch when I first started with her! I still have to get photos/video of her following me to and from the ring like a dog.
At this point, I have pretty much stopped using the round pen entirely. Booger made it pretty clear during our first ride back that she now finds riding in the pen completely boooooring. After that, I started warming her up by lunging in the outdoor ring, then riding her in it. Apparently, Booger did a lot of maturing over the winter and is no longer overwhelmed by all the open space and noisy surroundings.
On one of our first rides back, the wind was whipping and dark storm clouds were rolling in over the horizon. Last year, this would have been a ground work day, and I wouldn't have dared to climb on Booger outside of the round pen. This year, she seemed totally unfazed, and I got a gorgeous ride out of her. I did take some very dull helmet cam video of the whole thing, and you can actually see my shirt billowing in the wind throughout. I won't share the 20 minutes of us going calmly in circles while the world threatens to implode, but here's a still from the video:
Shortly after that, I stopped lunging Booger all together. She has become a 'real horse' and can warm up with a rider up. Since I'm not a person who believes in lunging every time you ride, this works for me. Actually, I very rarely lunge in the traditional sense at all.
Our rides have been focused on proper, consistent flat work. It's not very exciting, but I do believe it's putting an excellent foundation on this little horse. I make sure all the pieces are in place every time, and I review all the basics before ever trying anything new. I do keep the rides varied to prevent Booger from anticipating what we're going to do next, but she always knows what I'm asking for. There is no guesswork on her part.
The biggest glitch we had involved finding the 'forward button'. Soft was an option. Forward was an option. Forward and soft was clearly impossible. One day, I decided to carry mymagic wand dressage whip, and all our problems were fixed, just like that. I didn't have to touch her at all, but carrying the stick was enough to unstick Booger.
The canter is also finally falling into place. Booger has always cross cantered behind to some degree. I looked back at videos of her as a two year old, and she was doing it back then too. I suspect it's because she's half-gaited, and has a pretty lateral canter naturally. We are having the vet and chiropractor out just in case, though. She has never (knock on wood) taken a lame step in the time I've been working with her. The good news is that doing strengthening exercises both on the lunge line and under saddle seems to be helping her hold the correct lead behind. I'm hoping it's an issue we'll leave behind before I know it.
I did also take Booger out for one trail ride this month. It wasn't exactly a rousing success. I blame myself for that one. I had a one hour slot in my day and decided to spend it working with Booger. I should have known better than to try trail riding on any kind of time constraint. It's something we need to work on when I have nothing else planned. Otherwise, it's just not fair to the horse.
I hand walked her off the property to start, and she seemed perky and relaxed. We got to the neighbors' and things sort of fell apart. One woman was riding her horse in the outdoor, schooling dressage movements in front of the mirrors. Booger still has a hard time grasping the idea that there are other horses in the world. She stopped and whinnied to the other horse, who ignored her.
Around the next corner, we ran into another woman. This one was wearing hot pink and mowing the lawn. That got Booger's tail flagging, and her head up in full alert mode. After we disappeared into the woods, she was still craning to look for the mystery mower.
I did get on her at that point, and she stood like a lady to mount. I kept the ride short and simple. We just walked and trotted around the neighbor's property. Still, Booger was tense and looky. When a cluster of deer plowed through the bushes next to us, she threw a pretty big spook and thought about cantering away. Thankfully, she still listens pretty well, even when she's badly startled, and I rode through the episode without issue.
We ended on a good note, and Boo trotted confidently across the corn field and down the driveway towards home, but I wished I had more time to spend out there. It would have been good for her. I suspect that trail riding will come along the same way everything else has. One day, it will just click and she'll be ready to go all day long. Until then, I have to keep being consistent and patient, despite the fact that all I want to do is mosey around the trails day in and day out. Ahem.
In the mean time, we're back to doing lots and lots of ring work. Booger continues to excel at this particular game, and we have started schooling some new stuff. Last week, we played with leg yields at the trot for the first time, and she was lovely. Boo was straight, supple, and light on her feet. She moved right off my leg, no questions asked, then moved right along like nothing had happened. We are also playing with some three loop serpentines, and cantering 15m circles.
I got lucky one night. Booger was having a great session, and Mike happened to be there. I had actually had the forethought to bring his camera to the barn that night, and I asked him to snap some pictures when he was done feeding. He saw how well things were going when he arrived, and interrupted what he was doing to come shoot for me.
I am proud to report that Booger no longer pretends she's never been ridden before when there's an audience present. She seems to be really focusing these days! Best of all, her owner was home by that point and got to see the whole session. She had some major kudos for me at the end of the ride.
I was beaming by the time we were ready to cool out.
But I wasn't done there! I've been itching to ride Booger bareback for quite some time now. In fact, I even thought about doing her first few rides bareback in just a rope halter, at first. Logically, there was no reason not to do it, but I've grown cautious in my old age, and wanted to wait until I wasn't alone on the property before trying it for the first time.
This seemed like the perfect night to do it, so I dismounted and stripped the saddle off, tossing it aside. Boo seemed a little confused.
"Um, lady, this isn't where we untack."
I lined her up with the mounting block and she stood totally still. I leaned across her once to see if she would mind being able to feel me wiggling all over the place. She didn't care.
So I swung a leg over. Booger's response was basically, "Yeah, and?"
We walked all over the arena, no problem, and I grinned like a fool for the rest of the night. Who would have thought that the crazy, rearing, striking filly who broke the cross ties the first time I moved a saddle pad on the far side of the barn would one day be totally bored by me sitting on her bareback? I was pretty proud.
This week, Mike and I brought over some new 'toys' for me to torture Booger with. We shipped the teeter totter over to the barn. Yup, that's who we actually built it for. While we had the truck loaded up, I also took some ground poles over there with me, to introduce something new this week.
You should have seen Booger when we arrived and pulled the truck into the arena! She was super curious and clearly wanted to be involved. She came cantering up to the fence with her tail flagging. She wanted to come right in and investigate, but I had to wait until Monday.
Not surprisingly, Booger stepped right onto the teeter totter the very first time I asked. I didn't think she'd be the least bit concerned about putting her feet on a wooden platform. I haven't actually made it teeter for her yet, but that part is coming soon, and I don't imagine that will be a problem either. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures, but I promise I'll have those in the near future.
Then, I put Booger back in the round pen for the first time in nearly a month. I sent her around, and she was excellent. Then, I added a ground pole to the mix. She cantered right over it. I added ground poles until all seven of them were lined up along the edge of the pen. Booger didn't miss a beat. I set them up as canter poles and she stretched out and timed them perfectly. I put them close together and she dropped her head and trotted expertly across without hitting a single one. I put them even closer and she collected into a dainty little jog. It's like she's been doing ground poles her entire life.
So, I threw together a cross rail, just for fun. Booger barely glanced at it.
I made it into a small vertical.
We called it a night. I will not be doing a whole lot of jumping with Booger in the immediate future. She doesn't turn five until July and I don't want to break her down. Once she does start carrying a rider over fences, it will only be cross rails and tiny jumps for a good long while. I plan to take things extremely slow in this department.
BUT...
I couldn't resist coming back the next day with my camera in hand to show off what she can do. The fact that I was just standing there, taking pictures, while she took herself over the fence a million times says a lot about how much she's enjoying this new activity. I am not an expert jumper by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd say she looks like a natural!
Eventually, I actually had to cut Booger off. I think she would have kept going indefinitely, but I don't want to push her. We probably won't be doing this height again any time soon, but curiosity got the best of me last night.
I think it's safe to say that Booger is turning into a real horse :)
Have a million more photos below the cut.
The last time I did a real update about Boo (Boo-mare, Boogsy-woo, Bug, B-girl, etc.) we had just had our first ride back after a long winter off. Since then, I have been working with her every day that the weather and my schedule allow. Typically, that's four days a week. I keep the sessions on the short side to prevent burning Booger out and to keep working fun.
I really think she views our rides as 'play time', and she greets me at the barn door, with her nose pressed to the corner where the door opens, and her ears pricked. I actually don't even bring her in or tie her. She puts herself in the 'cross ties' and ground ties like a pro. Not bad for a horse I couldn't catch when I first started with her! I still have to get photos/video of her following me to and from the ring like a dog.
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| Sometimes, she's downright snuggly. |
On one of our first rides back, the wind was whipping and dark storm clouds were rolling in over the horizon. Last year, this would have been a ground work day, and I wouldn't have dared to climb on Booger outside of the round pen. This year, she seemed totally unfazed, and I got a gorgeous ride out of her. I did take some very dull helmet cam video of the whole thing, and you can actually see my shirt billowing in the wind throughout. I won't share the 20 minutes of us going calmly in circles while the world threatens to implode, but here's a still from the video:
Shortly after that, I stopped lunging Booger all together. She has become a 'real horse' and can warm up with a rider up. Since I'm not a person who believes in lunging every time you ride, this works for me. Actually, I very rarely lunge in the traditional sense at all.
Our rides have been focused on proper, consistent flat work. It's not very exciting, but I do believe it's putting an excellent foundation on this little horse. I make sure all the pieces are in place every time, and I review all the basics before ever trying anything new. I do keep the rides varied to prevent Booger from anticipating what we're going to do next, but she always knows what I'm asking for. There is no guesswork on her part.
The biggest glitch we had involved finding the 'forward button'. Soft was an option. Forward was an option. Forward and soft was clearly impossible. One day, I decided to carry my
The canter is also finally falling into place. Booger has always cross cantered behind to some degree. I looked back at videos of her as a two year old, and she was doing it back then too. I suspect it's because she's half-gaited, and has a pretty lateral canter naturally. We are having the vet and chiropractor out just in case, though. She has never (knock on wood) taken a lame step in the time I've been working with her. The good news is that doing strengthening exercises both on the lunge line and under saddle seems to be helping her hold the correct lead behind. I'm hoping it's an issue we'll leave behind before I know it.
I did also take Booger out for one trail ride this month. It wasn't exactly a rousing success. I blame myself for that one. I had a one hour slot in my day and decided to spend it working with Booger. I should have known better than to try trail riding on any kind of time constraint. It's something we need to work on when I have nothing else planned. Otherwise, it's just not fair to the horse.
I hand walked her off the property to start, and she seemed perky and relaxed. We got to the neighbors' and things sort of fell apart. One woman was riding her horse in the outdoor, schooling dressage movements in front of the mirrors. Booger still has a hard time grasping the idea that there are other horses in the world. She stopped and whinnied to the other horse, who ignored her.
Around the next corner, we ran into another woman. This one was wearing hot pink and mowing the lawn. That got Booger's tail flagging, and her head up in full alert mode. After we disappeared into the woods, she was still craning to look for the mystery mower.
I did get on her at that point, and she stood like a lady to mount. I kept the ride short and simple. We just walked and trotted around the neighbor's property. Still, Booger was tense and looky. When a cluster of deer plowed through the bushes next to us, she threw a pretty big spook and thought about cantering away. Thankfully, she still listens pretty well, even when she's badly startled, and I rode through the episode without issue.
We ended on a good note, and Boo trotted confidently across the corn field and down the driveway towards home, but I wished I had more time to spend out there. It would have been good for her. I suspect that trail riding will come along the same way everything else has. One day, it will just click and she'll be ready to go all day long. Until then, I have to keep being consistent and patient, despite the fact that all I want to do is mosey around the trails day in and day out. Ahem.
In the mean time, we're back to doing lots and lots of ring work. Booger continues to excel at this particular game, and we have started schooling some new stuff. Last week, we played with leg yields at the trot for the first time, and she was lovely. Boo was straight, supple, and light on her feet. She moved right off my leg, no questions asked, then moved right along like nothing had happened. We are also playing with some three loop serpentines, and cantering 15m circles.
I got lucky one night. Booger was having a great session, and Mike happened to be there. I had actually had the forethought to bring his camera to the barn that night, and I asked him to snap some pictures when he was done feeding. He saw how well things were going when he arrived, and interrupted what he was doing to come shoot for me.
I am proud to report that Booger no longer pretends she's never been ridden before when there's an audience present. She seems to be really focusing these days! Best of all, her owner was home by that point and got to see the whole session. She had some major kudos for me at the end of the ride.
I was beaming by the time we were ready to cool out.
But I wasn't done there! I've been itching to ride Booger bareback for quite some time now. In fact, I even thought about doing her first few rides bareback in just a rope halter, at first. Logically, there was no reason not to do it, but I've grown cautious in my old age, and wanted to wait until I wasn't alone on the property before trying it for the first time.
This seemed like the perfect night to do it, so I dismounted and stripped the saddle off, tossing it aside. Boo seemed a little confused.
"Um, lady, this isn't where we untack."
I lined her up with the mounting block and she stood totally still. I leaned across her once to see if she would mind being able to feel me wiggling all over the place. She didn't care.
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| *ear flick* That's not how you sit on a horse... |
We walked all over the arena, no problem, and I grinned like a fool for the rest of the night. Who would have thought that the crazy, rearing, striking filly who broke the cross ties the first time I moved a saddle pad on the far side of the barn would one day be totally bored by me sitting on her bareback? I was pretty proud.
This week, Mike and I brought over some new 'toys' for me to torture Booger with. We shipped the teeter totter over to the barn. Yup, that's who we actually built it for. While we had the truck loaded up, I also took some ground poles over there with me, to introduce something new this week.
You should have seen Booger when we arrived and pulled the truck into the arena! She was super curious and clearly wanted to be involved. She came cantering up to the fence with her tail flagging. She wanted to come right in and investigate, but I had to wait until Monday.
Not surprisingly, Booger stepped right onto the teeter totter the very first time I asked. I didn't think she'd be the least bit concerned about putting her feet on a wooden platform. I haven't actually made it teeter for her yet, but that part is coming soon, and I don't imagine that will be a problem either. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures, but I promise I'll have those in the near future.
Then, I put Booger back in the round pen for the first time in nearly a month. I sent her around, and she was excellent. Then, I added a ground pole to the mix. She cantered right over it. I added ground poles until all seven of them were lined up along the edge of the pen. Booger didn't miss a beat. I set them up as canter poles and she stretched out and timed them perfectly. I put them close together and she dropped her head and trotted expertly across without hitting a single one. I put them even closer and she collected into a dainty little jog. It's like she's been doing ground poles her entire life.
So, I threw together a cross rail, just for fun. Booger barely glanced at it.
I made it into a small vertical.
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| Bam! |
BUT...
I couldn't resist coming back the next day with my camera in hand to show off what she can do. The fact that I was just standing there, taking pictures, while she took herself over the fence a million times says a lot about how much she's enjoying this new activity. I am not an expert jumper by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd say she looks like a natural!
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| I did the math and this is about 2'10". |
I think it's safe to say that Booger is turning into a real horse :)
Have a million more photos below the cut.
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