Learning to cope with chaos...

Every time I ride this little mare I forget that she is so green. She is doing so well. The thing is, once she knows something, she REALLY knows it! We've been working on side passing in hand over the last week, and I've started leading her through gates exactly as if we were opening it from in the saddle. This was she has to side pass up to it, stand while its opened, and side pass to push it open, then shut again. Tonight I hardly had time to cluck to her before she scooted right up to the gate. What a good girl! Next is doing it on top! She knows so much already. The thing is she is super smart so I guess I've been pushing ahead to keep her from getting bored by being drilled with the same stuff over and over again. I think giving her a lot of different things has kept her fresh and engaged.

We are still are tackling the green horse things though. Tonight for example, we had to share the arena. This is something we don't do much. It was a new step, and a very useful one if I'm going to ride her in a busy show arena on Sunday! The arena is small, and there were two other horses in there. One was a beginner rider who practically rode over the back of us while we were standing in the middle. The other was the barn owner warming up a horse and doing a lot of stop, go, stop, spin, go... etc. Then beginner rider exits, and a young guy gets on the now warmed up horse and decides to do a whole bunch of loping and roll backs. It was absolute chaos! It was the most fantastic test for Lola to have to learn to cope. She did pin her ears occasionally, which I responded to by asking her to get busy doing something. She did spook sideways once, but nothing naughty that we couldn't recover from. Over all it was a great learning night. Another box on the long list of things she needs to experience has been checked.

Hurray for daylight savings time!

I was hardly functional getting up this morning being the first work morning since the switch. This evening of riding outdoors after work MORE than made up for it though!

I got out and tacked up by 6:30, and I really thought about maybe riding in the indoor, it is still wet out in the pasture. So I said, "Hey there little miss, do you want to ride in the indoor tonight?"

Lola responded with a resounding, "NOOOO!!!"

So we stuck to the dry spots in the pastures and did a good walk/trot workout with just a little canter at the end. It was the best ride yet. Plus we got to watch the gorgeous sunset!

First show... sort of...

So today Lola and I went to our first show. It doesn't really count as our first show since we didn't really go to show. We just went for the experience of getting out and used to the commotion of the show grounds. Next week will be our real first show. This week was a pretend first show. Does that count?

So we got all dressed up in our western gear so that we could take advantage of the western show. I took her into one rail class for the experience. I picked a smaller class so that I wouldn't be in people's way and made sure it was an 18+ class so I wasn't going to be sharing the ring with kids, for my safety more than theirs! As any green and inexperienced horse, she thought the people lining the fence were freakish, the loud speakers were spewing out demons from hell, and there was an awful to look at! She did just fine.

She wasn't going to stay on the rail much without it being an issue, so I chose an inside track which not only allowed me to school her but to pass up all the western horses and their itty bitty tiny step strides! I looked like a freight train to them, I'm sure! So I looked around and there was not a snowflakes chance in hell that I would place, so I sort of said screw trying to make her jog when what I really want is to keep working on her really awesome trot. So we did a little of both, jog a bit then trot forward, then jog (break in to walk, oops,) trot again and so on. I probably looked out of control, and I was POSTING! For shame... I just wanted to make it a good schooling day. I could have dealt with that, but then I did the most shameful thing that you can do at a western show... I lost my hat! AND it hit Lola in the butt on its flight through the air! Loud straw hat hitting horse butt makes quite a sound... and sent Lola rocketing. I don't really blame her. I might start throwing hats at her every so often though. It gets a great reaction! She didn't buck or try to dump me though, and once we gathered ourselves back up, retrieved the hat, and remounted, everyone was lining up. It was a "whatever" moment in my life. She was a good girl. Thats why NEXT week is really our first show!

I did end up with a pictur of us hanging out by the arena afterwards. She was super calm about the show grounds. She was happy to be lead around and snack on the grass. But overall this is what Lola thinks of the announcer over the loud speakers:


Don't we all Lola, don't we all.

Feeling awesome about my little mare!

Well Lola and I had sort of a check up tonight, an evaluation of where her training is and how she is perceived by an objective party; I had a LESSON!

Now first lessons are a little nerve wracking because, let's face it, we're trying to impress, and usually it is more evaluation than work. Especially in this case, where I've never had any sort of feed back on her training or progress. Everyone in the barn comments on how sweet she is, how well behaved she is, or how friendly she is. I've even had a good comment from a mom who thought she was such a brave and steady horse for standing still at the tie rail while she and her two kids worked very hard to roll one of those 250lb barrels of feed past Lola into the grain room! Now I've had someone really look at where her training is at, and the verdict was good!

The trainer thought that Lola was doing really well for 2 months under saddle. We talked about the things that are harder for Lola, and why that is, and it all comes down to her being young and unbalanced, and they are totally normal things for a horse at this point in training and physical condition. This was so good to hear. I know quite a bit, and I feel like I'm doing a pretty darn good job training her, but I'm not a professional so I don't have a point of reference to see if I'm not pushing her enough (which is my natural tendency with horses) or pushing her too fast for things she is not ready for. Sounds like I'm right in the happy medium, she's coming along at a normal pace. It was a good reminder of how long it takes horses to build the strength to physically do what you're asking in a way that is comfortable enough to not either stress them out or make them overly tired, sore, and sour.

She gave me two exercises to work on over the next few weeks, so we have some homework. This is fantastic because I was getting bored with our exercises, so I'm sure Lola would have quickly followed. Plus these are things that will really help us move forward in her training. So we've got a few more building blocks to put in, and I'm feeling really good that I haven't left any gaping holes in what she should know by now.

Anyway, its an awesome feeling to see that all my hard work shows in her training, but more than that, I got to hear the trainer point out some of her great features. I think she's a darling sweet horse with a whole lot of sense about her, a good nature, and a fantastic work ethic, but I'm also her owner and although its only been a few months, I'm totally in love with her. So it was nice to hear that someone with a more objective eye was seeing those characteristics also.

Overall it was a great way to end an otherwise hectic and stressful day. Thank God for horses!!

Second month under saddle... one big recap

Wow, where did February go???? I mean I know it’s the shortest month of the year, but only by two days… how is it that it always ends up feeling like its two weeks shorter? I didn’t blog once in the month of February. I started a couple, but never posted. So here we are, the very brief wrap-up of the month. I’ve been busy, too busy… but still finding ways to get out to ride the little mare regularly. She’s a funny one. Even on her naughty days when she’s not paying attention she still is so sweet that she makes me glad I’m out there. She always tries to follow me back out the gate when I put her back out to pasture. Silly pony.

The first Saturday I actually got out to the barn during daylight! Hurray! I also ended up tacking up right as one of the other boarders got out there to tack and I got the chance to go ride out on the property with someone! The back pasture must be at least half the 90 acres, so it really is riding out on the “back forty”, and it has some water to cross, a sort of dirt road running through the center, and lots of little ups and downs. I’m super excited to have such a fun place to work outside.

I had Bear tacked up in the western saddle so that I could pony Lola. This other boarder has a super cute Friesian and an older arthritic Appendix Quarter horse. His routine is that he lets the older gelding loose when he gets into the back pasture, then rides his other horse and the old guy just follows. It was super cute how the old guy tagged along! It also added two calm horses that are confident out there to give my two greenies some courage. It was great to be outside, its been ages since I’ve ridden anywhere but the indoor arena. I think I’m getting a little cabin fever! I can’t wait for the ground to dry out so that I can actually do more than walk when outside.

Skipped a weekend since I was out of town…

Then the weekend after I took Lola out in the pasture for some serious “forward” time… aka finally getting her butt cantering without pissing her off. I had lunged her out in the pasture one night the week before since it was bright and sunshiny enough to have a real sunset where it stays light until the sun goes all the way down. She did great, but since it was getting dark I had only walked and trotted around the part of the pasture closest to the barn. So on that Saturday I went out in the western saddle with a dressage whip to beat off the herd of horses in case they got to friendly, and we cantered! I let her kind of pick her own path as long as she cantered, and if she started heading towards the herd we stopped and took a breather and turned the other way to canter again. It was in no way training on picking up the canter from a cue, or work on getting her leads. I just wanted her to have confidence that she could canter with me on her. And I wanted me to have confidence that I could canter her without bucking or running off and then stop her! So that’s all we worked on. We’ll get to the rest of it later. For now I wanted to keep it simple and I knew she’d be more likely to step into the canter out where she has room to run. That next Sunday I convinced one of the girls that I met out at the barn to ride Bear while I rode Lola. She has a big hot thoroughbred, so I figured handling little laid back Bear wouldn’t be an issue for her, and since her horse is rehabbing from an abcess, I didn’t have much trouble tempting her to come ride with me. So Lola got a real trail ride all around the pasture, and she was fantastic. We mainly walked, and just trotted a little down the middle road. Fun and simple, and SUPER relaxing!

The rest of the rides in between have been me trying to squeeze in time to lunge and ride and groom the endless hair that she’s shedding! Not working so well, I could use three hours just for grooming! She’s coming along though. She is definitely comfortable cantering the circle on the lunge with side reins now, and I’m starting to push her more physically.

This last weekend was not super productive. More rain over the week made the pasture too wet to ride in, and made Bear’s feet so wet that I spent all my time Saturday treating his ankle grunge. Ugh. Sunday I got back into the swing of things and worked her butt off in the indoor arena. She was feeling spunky and darting past sun spots on the ground and leaping into the canter, so I made the most of an energetic horse and worked her good at the trot and canter with the side reins. Not just running around like a maniac, but insisting that she stop or transition down to a slower gate when I asked, and not two circles later! So although she had a lot of workout, I also got her tuned up on listening to me. Then I hopped on and trotted some more! She got her legs and chest hosed off afterward since it was nice and sunny out, and I spent some time really washing and brushing her tail while her legs and belly dried off.

Tonight was a fantastic night, best for a while. Since she was being spunky and silly on Sunday, I had really drilled her on the lunge line. It made a total difference, and was clear from the we walked out into the arena tonight. She has been spooky about the far end of the arena, which is understandable since instead of being a solid wood wall like the rest, it is a big metal sliding door that moves in storms and is loud when dirt hits it. She didn’t even look twice at it tonight. She was only paying attention to me. Its funny how these things creep up. Night after night I started letting her get away with little things here and there until she just got used to tuning me out and focusing on every excuse to be silly. It took just one day of saying, “Um… no… you need to me more concerned about me in the middle and looking for when I’m going to ask you to do the next thing, because I expect a response NOW.” Today she is back to her old self, her GOOD self, where she is super quiet and responsive. She did what she was told and RELAXED! So we had a good lunge workout, but with a calm demeanor, and I just hopped on to do some turns on the forehand and haunches while walking around to cool her off.

Highlights of the month:
• Her canter is getting stronger and stronger, and she looks lovely cantering with the side reins.
• She’s been out of the arena and been challenged mentally.
• She’s shedding out great!
• Her body is starting to look really good with cute haunches.
• She’s a star at crossing water.
• She stops, even when cantering out in the open pasture!
• Her attitude and work ethic has been great, not crabby or sour, she’s easy to catch, and always tries to follow me back out the gate when I’m turning her out again.

I’m feeling like these are all great achievements for her second month under saddle!

Ride #5 & #6

What a great little mare. It’s probably a bad thing I’m getting this attached! After all my excitement last night, I went back to look at what I was doing with Bear about the same time in his training, and I was just as besotted with him at this point too. I guess I’m just used to riding RE-training projects, you know, fixing the problems that someone else has created. I am yet again amazed how good these horses are when you set them up for success and they don’t have negative experiences to make them tricky to ride.

Friday night I spent a long time grooming again. Then I lunged her at walk, trot and canter. She did so well! Her canter is definitely getting stronger. The week she had off was not long enough to undo her conditioning so far, and now that I’ve cantered her and can see that she is as strong as ever I guess I’m feeling like there really was nothing going on with her leg. Then I put side reins on and did some walk-trot transitions, then some collection and extension work at the trot. She is doing so well cantering that I want to give her a few more goes on the lunge line to build her confidence and let her relax before I canter her with the side reins on.

Then I hopped on, and the name of the game for the night was forward. I started out by letting her just meander around the arena but if she stopped or turned toward a wall I just clucked and bumped and made her figure out a way to go forward again. I started this partially to really clearly define forward without mixing in direction, and she got the idea right away that she was allowed to pick her path, so if I got busy she knew that all that was being asked of her was to go forward again. I also did this because she was a little gate sour last time. Slow to walk away from it, quick to walk back to it, and constantly wanting to circle back. So I mad it clear that she could be by the gate if she wanted, but had to keep moving. If she chose to walk circles there she just constantly got reminded to keep going, then when she walked away I was really quiet because she was walking out on her own. I think it was a good start. Then I picked up the reins and kept a little contact and started directing her, first all the way around the arena, then just on a circle. We trotted a bit both ways, and again I’m amazed how put together her trot is. So the second direction I picked up on the contact a little more and she trotted a full circle in a nice frame with a good balanced trot! So great! It really goes to show how much they can learn about carrying themselves when lunged with side reins.

So we quit there. Not much time in the saddle, I kept things varied while I was on, and I got such great results that I figured why push it?

Saturday turned out to be another great night! I free lunged Lola for the first time. The arena is small enough for it to work but we had to work on not stopping in the corner. It was a good continuation of the lesson that forward is forward, so that she will continue past the corners on her own if I am letting her trot around the arena and only focusing on going forward. This also was a good step towards her cantering under saddle. I wanted her to have to figure out on her own how to balance around the turn on the short side. Its easy for then to pick up speed on the long side but not be able to carry themselves through the turn. She did really well on getting the correct lead and keeping the canter through the tricky parts without trotting or losing the lead in the back. She does need to work on picking up the canter without quickening her trot and relax a little more, but that will come now that she’s feeling like she can actually do what I am asking. Lots of good steps forward.

I tacked her up in the dressage saddle tonight, and rode in that for the first time. She felt great, I felt more comfortable, and I think it fits better than the western saddle, so she’s done with western except maybe for trail rides.

We worked on maintaining the bend on the 20 meter circles at the walk. Then we worked on trotting. Again, forward is forward and I’m not interfering too much at this point with either direction or asking her to be on the bit, I just want to have her go forward when I ask and keep going. At the end I trotted her just a 20 meter circle going nicely on the bit, made a nice walk transition, and then a good halt right in the center of the arena, and then hopped of and gave her lots of good pats! She’s been so much fun. We still are only working about 20-30 minutes on the lunge, and about 10 minutes on her back.

Last night I got to be her hero, she now thinks I’m just about the coolest thing in the pasture! She always gets a big drink from the water trough when we get back to the pasture since its right next to the gate. The other night there were horses there, and when I turned her loose she just came right back to the gate with me because I was where she was safe from the horses. So I went back in and chased all the horses away and made then stand back while she took a long luxurious drink. Now its clear that I really do have all the power, and she thinks I’m awesome! Just sort of funny…

Ride #4

I am so impressed with Little Miss Lola. I am taking it easy with her physically but still wanting to challenge her in her training. So tonight we did just under 20 minutes of lunging at the walk and trot with side reins on after she warmed up a bit. Then I hopped on and rode for about 10 minutes. We did walk and trot under saddle, and she did great! It was also her first time in the arena alone. She was certainly more interested in being at the gate end of the arena, but that’s natural. I can’t believe how great she feels trotting! Plus she comes right back down to a walk. So much fun!

Tomorrow night I plan on doing the same thing if I can get to the arena right away after work. Then Saturday the plan is to mix it up a bit, and it will depend on how crazy the barn is with everyone out there. It was much busier tonight than usual. So I spent some extra time grooming while waiting for people to finish up. It’s good for her to wait a bit. Then I lead her around in the arena while the last two horses were still walking around so that she could get used to other horses besides Bear being in there. The next big step for her will be to canter under saddle, but I think she needs some more time balancing herself at the canter on the lunge line with side reins on.

She was a great treat at the end of a terribly hectic day!

And we're back!

I was very relieved to see that there was no swelling and no heat after lunging Lola yesterday. So it turns out that I'm just a crazy worry-wart and although its a tiny bit embarrassing, it is VERY good news. Tonight when I saw the barn owner I thanked him for checking on her leg so much, he said he was worried too that first night, but it really looked totally normal by Thursday. He added that his wife, the real trainer and horseman of the two, said from the beginning it was nothing and that she'd be fine. I'm glad she was right. The vet, also thought I was a little batty for calling her to ask if I should bring in a horse that had no swelling and no sign of lameness. Ok, I'm starting to see that my imagination got the best of me here...

Tonight we did more easy stuff. I just brought her in and curried some fuzz off, then ponied her off Bear at a walk and trot. Nice and simple, we didn't go for very long since it was late already, but it was good for her to have to do it again since its been a while. I'd like to pony her around the property or on trail rides once the rain let's up, but by the time it dries up she'll probably be so well set under saddle I'll be riding her on the trail instead. She also had to stand tied in the arena while I rode Bear a little more. She's very patient.

Tomorrow she'll get the night off. She's really shedding out. I hope to get out there this weekend while its like out to groom her out in the pasture where I don't feel so bad about all the hair on the ground. I don't know though, I bet if either horse saw me in daylight they wouldn't know who I was! Its been ages since I've done anything with them before dark!

A week of crazy storms, cold-hosing, and hoping for better days…

So just after the high point of riding last Saturday, I come out on Monday to find that Lola's leg is swollen. Not sore or tender, and no wound at all, just swollen. It was uniformly fat from her hock down, so it was hard to figure out what might be wrong. I had seen her trot a bit out in the pasture before I caught her and she seemed to have a shorter stride, but I had assumed it was because she was taking careful little steps due to the mud. I had someone walk her out so I could watch and although she wasn't really limping, she was taking just a slightly shorter step with that leg. No good. I cold hosed it, and figured I should wait and see. The barn owner said they were all running like mad that afternoon because of the storm, she must of done something then.

Tuesday night was crazy… I only had a little time out there because I had promised that I would go hang out with my sister and the baby. The thing is the Monday storm was still going, and was just getting crazier. I realized how lucky I was to have a break in the storm Monday night to be able to hose her leg down. I left work at 5:10, ended up taking a wrong turn because I’m still not familiar with this shorter route between the office and the barn, and because it was so rainy I could hardly see. So I continued on the road thinking it would eventually connect, and it did, but it added 20 minutes to the drive!

So by the time I get to the barn it 6pm and it was pouring with rain and crazy wind. I trudged out to the pasture, shined a flashlight on Lola’s leg, confirmed it was less swollen than the day before, made her move to another hay pile to watch her walk to verify she wasn't in pain, and trudged back to my truck. I was soaking wet. I’m amazed at those horse blankets, although she was dripping wet on her head and neck she was dry and toasty warm under her blanket! I was not dry or toasty. So I left… Craziest weather! It makes it super scary driving too!

Wednesday and Thursday I just didn’t get out to the barn at all. Other engagements and continually insane weather kept me away. I did check in with the barn owner each day to get an update on Lola’s leg, and it was less swollen each day and she didn’t look lame at all moving in the pasture.

Friday I snuck out of work early so that I could at least find them in the pasture before dark. Her leg looks totally normal again except for a slight swelling right at her fetlock. She is sound as far as I can tell. I was still worried about testing it out, I’m so paranoid about making it worse. I trotted her just a little bit in the arena to see if she was limping so I could make a decision about calling the vet. Not lame, and after cold hosing I couldn’t even tell a difference between legs, so there is nothing to call the vet about at this point! Still I think I’ll keep her to walk work this week and maybe back into trotting next. Oh the stress of being responsible!

Saturday I dragged myself away after dinner. I think it’s been hard to motivate myself to go out to the barn because I am just sort of bummed out about Lola, but also the mud just slows everything down. And I dread hunting for the horses out in pasture when the whole place is 4 inches of water with little lakes throughout! I pulled Lola out first and did a thorough inspection. Still swollen at the fetlock, and tonight for the first time, I could pin point exactly where it was warm. The pastern is warm on the inside of the leg and her hoof is warm. Not sure what that means, but kind of hoping it means its not a ligament or tendon. I really think she must have hit herself along that leg or stepped on her own foot while running. Again, she’s not lame or tender about it, so I’m just not sure. I cold hosed her and put her back out.

So Monday brings the hope for good news. I talked to the vet and since there was no more sign of lameness, very minimal swelling, and the swelling that she’s had is not really indicating a specific ligament or tendon injury, she encouraged me to start her back to work slowly and see if there is any more swelling or heat after some gentle exercise. I lunged her for about ten minutes just doing some walk-trot, and she didn’t show any sign of lameness. So I tied her up and let her eat her sloppy and just groomed her for a while so that I could check on her leg again about 30 minutes after the work. Still no real swelling happened which is a really good sign that it wasn’t worse after the exercise.

I’m glad I gave her the week off just to be sure. It looks like its turning out to be nothing at all. The week wasn’t a total waste for training either. I started bringing her into the barn alone, which was good for her, and she’s had to make the long spooky dark walk from the pasture without Bear to give her confidence. Plus I got to really take time to curry her this week, and that’s going to be a huge part of my evenings for the next month or two because she’s already shedding.

So the plan is to check to see if there is increase in swelling on Tuesday, and if not, then we'll work at the walk-trot for a while just to be sure, but since the majority of our work right now is at the walk, with some trotting on the lunge, there is no reason to keep us from continuing with the training!

On cloud nine…

Tonight was the first real night of riding without the training wheels! I left off last weekend with riding in the round pen while the old mare stood in the center, and worked at the walk on circles, stops, and yielding to my leg a bit. Tonight we worked I rode her for the first time at “boarding school”. We were in the arena and although it is a small arena, its much bigger than a 50ft round pen, physically and psychologically! Plus I had to put my mom on Bear to help this happen safely, although I was more worried about Mom and Bear than about me and Lola!

I gave my mom a quick lesson on Bear since she’s never ridden him, and I wanted them both to feel safe and confident before moving on since the whole point was to have a steady reassurance for Lola to ride along with. I wanted to make sure she knew in advance exactly what was expected of her. I can’t always divide my attention between the greenie I’m riding, my very young horse next to me, and my super-worrier-but-just-trying-to-help mom riding alongside. We went over our game plan and practiced the routine a bit. I had the barrels and poles (it’s a barrel racing place!) set up in the center in sort of a triangle. All she had to do was walk to a corner and halt. Then turn and walk on. Simple, and Bear got the hang of it right away so that he knew the routine and stuck with it. Then we added trotting one of the side of the triangle and walking or stopping at the barrel. It was a great way to have her successfully trot on him without any worries of yanking on his mouth or getting to quick and unbalanced for her to stay secure. They both felt like they knew what they were doing, so they both stayed relaxed.

So then I got on Lola, and we did exactly the same thing with her following along, first next to him like she would if she were being ponied, and then behind him like following the leader, then with him standing in the middle. Easy progression, no confusion, because we had a plan. I had my dad come out to take pictures, and we got some good ones, so I can do a play by play commentary.

I mounted just like I would have if she were being ponied. I’m sure she thought she was for a while! Notice in the second picture that her feet are exactly where they were in the first picture, she didn’t move an inch.

I love this next picture of their two butts. She is quite a bit shorter than him, but she’s got those great Quarter horse haunches, and such a gorgeous tail in comparison to his little stub! She walked off like a pro.

We stayed side by side until she was trotting out when asked. Notice I had the dressage whip through most of this. The whip was not to beat her or scold her, I had it because she understands that cues from a lunge whip mean to go forward, she’s still grasping the concept that legs bumping means to go forward too, so this helps her to make the connection. I think I tickled her haunches with it once, then she got moving forward, and trotted with Bear each time after.
Also notice that in almost every picture at least one ear is cocked back to me. She was definitely paying attention to me the whole time.

She got the hang of trotting, and went forward well, stayed nice and relaxed, and then transitioned down well. It certainly helped to have Bear setting the example, but she was so responsive that I was just blown away.
I know the trainer I bought her from only remembers her being sat on and ponied once or twice. She doesn’t think she was even ponied with a rider at a trot. I can hardly believe that though, I feel like she must have gotten farther than she remembers. She reacts like a broke horse, not one that’s had two rides on her!
Eventually I went around solo, and just after the first lap the worst happened… someone in the neighborhood started setting off fire works, BIG ones! Craziest thing, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. I was in the middle of the arena, about 20 feet from Bear with the one window in the barn looking on my left. I got a clear view of two fire works going off, and had enough time to thing, “Hmm… fireworks…” then Lola shot forward! I just let her go straight forward to the gate, then used that solid wall to aks for a stop. She stopped just fine, I got off before she could think anything else, and hurried over to make Bear stand since he had turned to face the window and was now nervously watching them and dancing around while my mom kept saying over and over, “Someone come hold him so I can get off!” Really it was a great test to know how she’ll react to something scary. They were both a bit bent out of shape about it, and for a little bit afterwards. I tended to Bear first so that he could return to being the Steady Eddy and good example that he was there to be. We did in hand work making him focus on me and stop when I stop, walk out, slow down, turn, all that until he was relaxed and paying attention to me. Then he went back to standing in the middle, and I did the same work with Lola, then hopped back on. My mom, worrying as usual, kept asking if I was sure I wanted to do that. Maybe it was just better to quit with the success of the in hand work. My theory is that while they are emotional, the best thing to do is work on something simple that they can be successful at. So once she was relaxed and thinking again, why not get back on? If you let a spook be a big deal, then it becomes a big deal!

By the end we were doing some turns on the haunches, which she is so responsive to, and then ended with some bending her neck exercises. She was a good girl even after the fireworks meltdown. (I forgot to mention that all the horses in the barn spooked when it happened!) I’m really looking forward to working with her this week and it will be nice to start spending some regular time on her back!

Tuesday's saga

Day two out at boarding school for Lola, its pouring down raining and mid-way through the day I start freaking out that even though her blanket said "waterproof turnout", I did buy it online and if they lied, that warm blanket would have turned into a fifty pound water logged mess! Does anyone else have little freak outs at work when you can’t do anything about it?

It poured just after work so I expected to find two drowned rats in horse blankets when I got there. The worries were needless. I was super surprised to find that they’re heads and necks were totally dry, their blankets were dry inside and out (except that tiny fleece wither guard), and they were warm! It wasn’t all that cold out, so I guess their body heat dried them right off!

I dragged the two in at once; it’s so nice that once I’ve found one in the dark pasture the other is right there too. I would really like some sort of blinking light on them… is that too much? I brought them both in to the indoor arena without much of a plan; it was late already, so I thought about what I could do with 45 minutes. I decided to only work with Lola, and then just maybe lunge Bear a bit in his halter if I had time. The problem was I left my phone in my tack box and didn’t look at the time until I finished, my 45 minutes turned into two and a half hours! Oops!

I just have so much that I want to be doing with Lola and not enough time. Not just training. Now that I have a blanket on her she’s going to stay relatively clean, but she still has months of dust from rolling in mud that is hiding under her long furry coat. So I spent longer grooming than I should have. Then I still haven’t unloaded everything from the trailer to the tack room, so I scurried around looking for things since I decided to get Lola’s English gear set up: finding a bridle, changing bits, testing out the saddle for fit, finding a girth that would fit, finding the dressage whip for in-hand work, all that and I still ended up getting out there without reins! Not that I needed them, no riding will happen until this weekend, and I’m sure I took them off to use the bridle as a lunging bridle, but now I need them back… hmm…

So I lunged her, and she got sweaty. She still needs to strengthen some muscles in order to maintain the canter on the lunge in that tight of space. My rule is they have to canter competently on the lunge without side reins before I put them on for the canter, then they should be able to canter with side reins on before I get on and canter. Going straight is one thing, but they need to be able to support themselves and balance on a circle before I can expect them to support my weight riding in that space. So after some canter departs I put the side reins on nice and loose and she did some walk-trot transitions. Then, and here’s were I must have gone terribly wrong with budgeting my time, since she was a bit sweaty I decided I would ground drive her to let her walk and cool off. She was turning well, and stopping, but as usual with a greenie, straight lines don’t make sense! But it’s a good exercise in following her head where the bit is leading her, and helps her stretch and bend. Then I just got totally carried away and worked on moving away from pressure in hand. She’s really good at it, but I’m trying to really drill it in so that my leg pressure will make sense.

So by the time all that was done I should have thought that since I had spent so much extra time with Lola I shouldn’t work Bear, but I forgot that’s what I had told myself and worked him anyway, just a bit and just in a halter. I was more than surprised when I grabbed my phone on the way out and saw that it was 10:30pm! She’s just so much fun to work with, I can’t help myself!

Big success and starting all over again.

Lola did so well all week that after ponying her a bit again on Sunday we took the lead rope off and we did our first solo ride! We had done some trotting while being ponied, not much since it was wet and not great footing, but enough for her to start getting the idea that legs bumping her sides means to go forward. We also did some extensions in the walk to make the point. So by the time we let her off the lead she knew forward, and she already knew turning, stopping, and backing from ground driving, so nothing was really new except having to step away from the old mare. We started by walking alongside her like usual, then did a turn away and circled back. Then did circles around her while the mare stood in the middle, and finally walked all around the round pen alone. She was calm about the whole thing. She really does try to please.

So with that big step forward, we’re taking a couple steps back. I moved her out to “boarding school” as we’ve named it, and we’ll spend the week repeating everything we did from last week since its a whole new situation now. I’ll be teaching her to pony off of Bear (and teaching Bear to pony someone besides the old mare) so that is a delicate process that needs to be positive for both horses. I’m getting her used to the new arena, and will be able to get back to lunging her each time I work her which will be much better for getting her into shape. I have a safe dry place to continue to ground drive and start making that a bit more challenging. So the plan is to go back to groundwork for the week, and get back on this next weekend. I think it is the best way to set her up for success.

I moved her Sunday afternoon after our training session. She loaded up like a pro, and I’ve seriously never trailer a horse that stood that quietly in the trailer. Bear stomps around like he’s being attacked by a swarm of bees! (Not that he is falling down while driving, he just really likes to stomp and paw and kick when ever we stop, so traffic is hell!) She got out of the trailer nicely and although she was nervous about the new place she was well behaved. I threw her out in pasture right away so she had a while to get situated before dark and the feeding frenzy. She is much smarter than Bear, she kept her distance from the herd instead of sticking herself right in the middle the way he did. She also checked out the fence lines all on her own! The funniest thing is that even though Bear and Lola had never even seen each other before, he took more interest in her than any of the other horses. He chased her down to say hello, and then kept running out to her every so often, then running back to the herd, then running out again to check on her. When I went out to catch Bear last night the two of them were grazing side by side away from the rest of the herd, and the owners tell me they’ve been inseparable since she got there! Super cute, but it could be inconvenient to have two horses at shows that call to each other when ever separated!

So Monday night she had her first training session at boarding school, I was short on time so it was short and very sweet. All she had to do was be caught in pasture, walk around the arena next to Bear while I led him (sort of ponying from the ground), then eat her “sloppy” while tied next to Bear, easy and very positive. I really want the two to come when they are called so I don’t have to hunt down horses in the dark, but since Bear is naturally so mouthy I don’t want to hand feed him treats, so hopefully they get the idea that me coming to get them means food.

I’m excited to start a regular routine with them. Things go better with a routine.

Good little hooves

I was on Lola when the shoes showed up, his fault not mine since he was 20 minutes early. So I threw her saddle on the round pen fence, and she got her feet trimmed. Not much to do really since she had sort of naturally been wearing them down in pasture. He evened them out, and got them a bit more balanced. There was one little side crack starting along the outside, she had some flare along the inside of that hoof, so it just was a bit out of balance. It’s evened out now and he’s put in a notch there which should keep the crack from progressing. She was very well behaved about all of it, which is good since my poor shoer had his arm almost ripped off by a nasty stallion just before New Year’s! Over all he said she’s got nice feet and has worn them down pretty evenly which says good things about her legs and how she moves, and considering it has probably been a year since she’s had them trimmed by anyone she was extremely well behaved.

So I left her tied to the round pen fence while I ran to grab my checkbook. I asked my mom to keep the old mare with in sight since she was riding around a bit (once I convince her to get on her horse its hard to get her off!), and my dad stuck around to supervise. I got talking and suddenly hear my dad say, “Well, what are you doing there?” to Lola. I peaked around the garage to see her with her hoof up over the bar of the round pen panel that is about level with her chest! Just high enough that her pasturn is resting on the bar and the hoof gets caught on the other side. Yikes! I have seen so many disasters like that! She just stood there and looked at it like, “Well, now what do I do?” So my dad walked up, picked the hoof up and shoved her foot back inside. No big deal! What a great personality test! Bad test if she failed since it would have probably greated problems with pulling back when tied, possibly injury, and worst case, pulling the round pen panels down on top of her! She didn’t though, and it shows how she’s likely to react in other situations where some horses panic. She not only thought about it instead of reacting, she trusted the human present to get her out of her predicament.

Good girl Lola! And thanks dad for supervising as asked!

Doing awesome!

She is such a great little horse! I mean, yeah, I picked her because I thought she would be, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not totally shocked that I turned out to be right!

Tuesday morning I got up super early so that I could drag myself out to do a training session with Lola before work. I threw the saddle on this time, and bridled her up. This early-morning-before-breakfast lesson was not much to her liking, but I told her to get over it! We ponied again, all over the pasture. I talked to her and started guiding her with her own reins while I used the direction of the old mare to push Lola’s body around to follow her nose where the reins were leading. She was solid as usual.

Then the fog rolled in… and never really rolled out. UGH! Not only cold and miserable, it made everything darker. So Wednesday morning I couldn’t make myself face the fog. Thursday morning my sister had a baby!!!!! I can’t think of a better reason to miss a training session! It was awesome, and now I’m an aunt and will have another reason not to go out to the barn!

So Friday night I got right back out and faced the fog. We did some ground driving in the round pen since that was the only place I could light up with that dense of fog. She tacked up quietly, and I started by “bitting her up”, a lovely little trick to help them get the idea of giving to pressure on the bit and bending all the way through her body. Then we started slowly working her back into driving. Again, she’s learned all this before when she was first started, so it’s just a refresher course. However, you never really know just how they’ll react to these things so I worked her like she was a totally baby and had never done this before. She acted like a pro that had been doing it everyday the last three years! Walk, turn, whoa, all good. She really tries to please, and she still totally knows her stuff. I think as long as I don’t put her in a situation where she is confused, she will always progress calmly. I took off the long lines and did some more work straight from the reins. By walking at her side with my arm over the saddle I can direct her along. This way I can also start asking her to move her shoulders or haunches by directing her with pressure on her side and guiding from the rein just the way I would once I’m on top!

The really important one is to teach her to disengage her hindquarters, I’ve found this to be the easiest way to respond to emotional reactions from the horse under saddle. It works even better when there is a solid wall to turn her towards like I’ll have in the indoor arena. Situation: loud noise behind causes horse to spurt forward. Reaction: outside rein directs her towards the solid wall, outside leg pushes her haunches towards the inside thus making her cross over with her hind legs and taking away her powerful muscles to bolt off. Nothing scary, nothing harsh, nothing that will add to the emotion. Every single time I had to do this with Bear it kept the situation from escalating. Once he past that split second of panic, his mind was back on what I was asking, and he was usually calm enough to turn and look at what was going on. Very early in his under saddle training, maybe the third time we rode in the arena with other horses being worked, we had a horse bolt passed us kicking out at us, dump his rider and gallop circles! Once I had turned him into the wall he got over is initial startle and watched the horse like “What a looney!” Bear has a good sense of humor. But this is Lola’s blog, more on her.
With her ponying and ground driving going so well I’m feeling good about our next step. Saturday morning I tacked up both Lola and the old mare, and ponied her around a bit before having my mom come out and ride the old mare and learn to pony Lola in the round pen. Then I hopped on! We took it slow. I half mounted on both sides, then finally swung a leg over. She stood perfectly still. We walked on and mainly worked on just walking forward and halting. She was great, and the shoer had already arrived, so we called it quits. Quick and easy! More on her little feetsies later!

The training project has officially begun!

It is official. I bought her on January 3rd, and so the journey begins. Her name is Lola, and she's as lovely as they come!

After going out on the 31st and getting on to be lead around the arena by the owner, I was convinced this would be a great project. She was alert, but not spooking. Overall it was a great sign that she's going to be fine with me. A week of working her and she never once did anything dangerous or rebellious. She's sensible enough and compliant enough that I think she'll make a decent beginner horse once she's been trained and gets some miles under her.

So on Sunday the 3rd I took the trailer out there, wrote the check, and loaded her up. She was a little confused with my step up trailer since she'd only been in one with a ramp, but we took it slow and she got in without and stress or fuss.

When I got her to my parents' property where she'll be staying for the first week she was nervous, but still obedient. She backed out of the trailer no problem, and met the old mare with no squeals or kicks or anything (at least from her, the old mare had to grunt and squeal some just for good measure!) and they settled in amazingly fast! I walked the fence-line with her before finally turning her loose with the old mare. Not a bit of a problem! She was pretty funny the way she stuck right by my side though even when the halter was off. I was trying my hardest to get some pictures of her, but she kept siding right up to me! My parents' took their turn leading her in case they need to handle her while feeding, and they already say they like her more than Bear! How dare they! She is a little less intense, that's for sure. Bear always tested his bounderies with them, but he's only four and she's seven, so although she's not had her under saddle training she at least acts like a solid broke horse in hand.

She settled in so well that I went back out and tacked up the old mare and we did her first training session as my horse. I got her used to walking next to the old mare, and then ponied her around the round pen. She had been ponied before when she first had her ground training done, so this is more of a refresher course, and to let her learn to trust the old mare. They both did great, so we called it a day! Easy-peasy! That's the way I like it.

Monday night after work I jetted out to my parents right after work and turned on all the lights that shine out to the pasture and round pen. I tacked up the old mare and ponied Lola around the pen and then ventured out to the pasture. I wanted her to get used to being worked after dark, since I'll be working her after work most nights, and taking a step foreward by working in a larger area. We even trotted a bit! The plan is to make sure she's super solid on being ponied before I get on her back again.

So far things are fun and easy for Lola, and she is really enjoying it. That's the way we want to keep it!