Well, I've had this little yellow girl for a little more than 2 weeks now.
When she came she could:
- wear a halter
- be led with some hesitation and stopping
- trailer well/back out of a trailer (even if it was her first time ever in one)
- be caught in the pen after several minutes of round pen work
Now she:
- comes right up to be caught/doesn't move off in the pasture when approached, comes to meet you
- picks up all her feet, good for the farrier
- stands to be fly sprayed
- is easy to halter/un-halter
- leads everywhere
- yields to pressure
- does haunch turns
- does forehand turns
- steps onto the wash mats
- stands for brushing everywhere, no "touchy" areas
I am just floored by how smart she is & how quickly she picks up things. This must be what everyone was telling me about these bloodlines. I haven't ever worked with one of these horses before, and so far she is just easy, easy, easy.
We had our second ever lunge line session tonight. Both horses got yesterday off while I went down to the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Collins.
The first attempt was two days ago.
It was decent. She had never been on a lunge line, so there was some confusion. We were also in the wide open pasture so there were plenty of places to run.
I don't think before she arrived she had ever seen halter pressure as a direction--and aid--a request to move her body a certain way. Her first reaction to pressure was to plant her feet, grow roots and brace against it.
If that didn't work, she'd just turn tail and try to take off.
But after a few very obvious releases for baby steps in the right direction, she picked it up fast.
She much prefers to go to the left (like most horses).
The first day when she got confused she'd try to revert back to her more comfortable direction. I'd put her back going right again.
We ended on a calmly walked half circle.
Today it was like she remembered everything she did right from last time, and threw away all the mistakes.
She was lovely.
No pulling. No freakouts. No bracing and taking off. No hesitation with going forward. It was like she had been practicing.
She went to the right without any issues. Even trotted a little both directions without getting flustered.
And I even got her to trot alongside me (which before when I tried it, was the Most Terrifying Thing Ever).
I really like her because while she is reactive--if you take a loud step toward her she'll skitter away--she is very thoughtful. She thinks things through. And for a 2 year old with the attention span of a gnat, she retains information really well.
I have high hopes for this little one. And it's so exciting to see how she's better and better every day.
Showing posts with label progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label progress. Show all posts
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
No dividing fence
No fence!
Chev was so good with her.
This is what I mean about the height difference.
I totally thought tiny horse was only like 12 hands.
I was able to get my trusty height/weight tape out and was absolutely shocked to learn...that she is actually 13.3 hands (the same height as Smart Little Lena).
My Ben honey was only 14.2 with shoes on.
I guess I've just been in the land of the giant horse for too long. So even if she only grows another inch or two, I'll be happy.
She let me pick her feet up without incident and even do a little filing on them today. In a few days she'll be ready for that much-needed farrier appointment.
Here's a picture of her daddy at 3 (yeah I know, photoshop, yada yada yada--don't look at the colors or the tail, look at the natural/Monte Foreman stop!):
I think she should be able to stop just as well.
It is really interesting to watch her in the paddock. She doesn't go in a small circle to turn around, she pivots on her inside hind foot. She slide stops. She turns with her head on the ground. She was totally born for this stuff.
In other news: She decided she LOVES carrots now.
On a possibly related note: She is always right by my side in the paddock.
Things are going well so far.
I think Chev will be much happier when she's in the pasture too, so I'm trying to give her a couple hours grazing time to get her used to it before I take the plunge and turn her out...then I get to see how well my "come to me"/catch training really is.
Untouchable
Here's the horse that was almost untouchable 3 days ago.
She now readily comes up to me to check in, wants to stay by me, doesn't crowd but is very friendly.
She is wearing my dear Ben's beautiful old leather halter. I kept it in memory of him, but I didn't know when I'd ever have a horse again with a delicate little head for it to fit on. It was actually pretty emotional taking it out and remembering him and when I first bought him the halter--I saved to get it, I wanted the best I could buy, something that looked as lovely as he did. He had the perfect teacup muzzle and such a beautiful face.
It's funny how one piece of equipment can have some many memories. So many times I put it on him to take him out for grazing, spending time with him, how many hundreds of times he wore it over the years when we were together.
Don't worry Chev, the blog hasn't forgotten about you.
Oh, hello. Isn't my tiny hourglass snip adorable?
She now readily comes up to me to check in, wants to stay by me, doesn't crowd but is very friendly.
This photo pretty much sums it up: cautious but interested.
It's funny how one piece of equipment can have some many memories. So many times I put it on him to take him out for grazing, spending time with him, how many hundreds of times he wore it over the years when we were together.
Ben in June 2007, wearing his new halter at age 23
It's painful to remember. In a strange way, passing the halter down to tiny horse helps me to let go...to move on a little bit, and to let part of him be in the world again, instead of just in my memories.
Ironically, tiny horse's head is so tiny that the halter looks huge on her. But I think she'll grow into it fine.
I also got her to eat a carrot today. Finally gave it a try and discovered they are pretty good. She still prefers hay though.
Dinnertime!
I have a snip tooooo
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Barefoot Chev & tiny horse update
I have been working with tiny horse once or twice a day for the last few days.
When we started, she really didn't want anything to do with me. She didn't understand having a relationship with a person, she felt lonely without her other baby pasture mates, and was just really confused by the whole change.
Since being able to catch her is a priority considering I'd like to get her out on pasture as soon as possible with Chev, I focused on that. I also really wanted to work on her feet, so picking up her hooves was also high on the list.
I knew that she was "halter broke", which in this case, meant she could be haltered and led reasonably well. Most of this is due to her personality rather than a lot of training. That's how I wanted it!
She could not trot next to her handler, was not easy to catch, and could not pick up her feet. She just didn't get it. That's okay. We'll start at the beginning.
I started by making uncomfortable for her to be away from me. This encouraged her to come up closer.
She's in a sandy pen which makes groundwork pretty easy to do. It's big enough that she can "get away" without getting far. I began by chasing her away every time she decided to leave.
I'd run her around a couple of small laps, ask for a few turns (and correct her if she tried to change direction on her own), and when I had her attention (an ear on me, licking/chewing, starting to circle closer--or when I got the feeling she was interested) I'd immediately "take the pressure off" by backing away.
Then I'd stand quietly and see what she did.
If she turned towards me and kept her attention on me, then we just stood there. All the pressure is off. It's a comfortable place to be. Everything is good.
If she went to move off, I immediately chased her away and repeated the above steps.
I wanted her to understand that she could leave any time, but there would be consequences.
She was free to go, but if she was leaving, I wanted to be the one moving her feet and deciding when she could stop.
The first couple days of this we didn't make a ton of progress. After the first day I could walk up to her and pet her, but that was about it. If she started to move away, I'd chase her off until she had a chance to think about it some more.
It didn't take long for her to understand that if she stayed still, she didn't have to move.
She was raised in a large paddock with 2-3 other young horses. Unfortunately there wasn't an older boss mare, so she was mostly unaccustomed to social interaction that wasn't playing.
I am the boss mare. She's catching on. Sortof.
When I got to the barn yesterday, I was feeling a little down about it.
Sure, she was getting it--but I felt like she was just tolerating me.
Tolerating me coming up, tolerating me touching her, and tolerating standing there. But without any real respect for me.
I thought it over and decided I wasn't pushing quite hard enough.
It's a fine line: she is reactive, sensitive, and true to her cowhorse breeding. Too much would be too much, and would set us back. She's also very fit. But this kind of ground work is never about tiring out the horse. It's about asking them to think, giving them options and encouraging the right response.
I believe that horses respond to the release of pressure, not to pressure itself. There needed to be a bigger difference between what I was doing when she made the wrong decision, and what I was doing when she make the right one.
I decided that consequences would have to be more immediate and clear--and more immediately over.
If she went to move off, I would really go after her, make her jump into action, swing a rope at her--and then that was it. Just until she moved NOW to the other side of the pen, or however far she felt like going. Then I would stop, and wait.
And darned if that didn't change her attitude really quickly.
I had resolved not to put a halter on her until I saw this change. After the breakthrough, I haltered her a few times yesterday, started the task of getting a good response for picking up her feet, and called it a day while I was far ahead.
Today she is dynamite.
I only had to chase her off once before she came right back, and wanted to stick around.
She let me halter her easily, so she got a big reward. I led her out to the grass. I don't think she's seen much grass in her life, and she was just ecstatic about it.
Led her back to her pen, took halter off, messed with Chev for a while, Chev got lots of carrots while tiny horse touched her nose to me and watched because she doesn't get what a carrot is, came back, haltering her was easy, and led her out for some more grass. Her whole attitude changed. She became friendly, happy, and willing.
While she was eating I practiced more hoof pick-ups, making sure to ask her at a time she could "succeed", when the other three legs could support her.
Brought her back in the pen, gave her (and Chev) a little hay, and worked on picking up her feet without any sort of restraints--no halter, free to leave at any time.
Not only could I get her front feet in my hands without a struggle, I could even pick them out! For the first time! Possibly ever!
She needs some farrier work done so the sooner I can get her ready for that, the better.
The way she's progressing now she should be good to go in about a week.
(I do want to mention that she is a real trooper about being poked here and there, and whether it was handling early on or just her personality, she can be touched anywhere without flinching, raising a leg, pinning an ear, or doing anything naughty. She is just really polite about everything. Thank goodness.)
In other hoof news, I lunged Chev today and she looks FANTASTIC.
She is floaty-trotting, cantering well, and no longer choppy. Her stride has lengthened out. There's still room for improvement, and I'm sure she'll look even better after this next trim. She shed a big piece of impacted bar off her left front yesterday. Her heels and frogs are descended and cushy, her feet are round again, and despite missing quite a bit of side wall from chips and dings here and there (mostly because we had to leave her toe a little long--I think that'll all clean up really well next trim), she is moving great. Her hoof quality is also really good. I'll try to take a video one of these days. I took one a week after her trim so we'll have something to compare it to.
Hooray for bare feet! I think she looked even more sound today than she's looked in shoes for a long time now.
When we started, she really didn't want anything to do with me. She didn't understand having a relationship with a person, she felt lonely without her other baby pasture mates, and was just really confused by the whole change.
Since being able to catch her is a priority considering I'd like to get her out on pasture as soon as possible with Chev, I focused on that. I also really wanted to work on her feet, so picking up her hooves was also high on the list.
I knew that she was "halter broke", which in this case, meant she could be haltered and led reasonably well. Most of this is due to her personality rather than a lot of training. That's how I wanted it!
She could not trot next to her handler, was not easy to catch, and could not pick up her feet. She just didn't get it. That's okay. We'll start at the beginning.
I started by making uncomfortable for her to be away from me. This encouraged her to come up closer.
She's in a sandy pen which makes groundwork pretty easy to do. It's big enough that she can "get away" without getting far. I began by chasing her away every time she decided to leave.
I'd run her around a couple of small laps, ask for a few turns (and correct her if she tried to change direction on her own), and when I had her attention (an ear on me, licking/chewing, starting to circle closer--or when I got the feeling she was interested) I'd immediately "take the pressure off" by backing away.
Then I'd stand quietly and see what she did.
If she turned towards me and kept her attention on me, then we just stood there. All the pressure is off. It's a comfortable place to be. Everything is good.
If she went to move off, I immediately chased her away and repeated the above steps.
I wanted her to understand that she could leave any time, but there would be consequences.
She was free to go, but if she was leaving, I wanted to be the one moving her feet and deciding when she could stop.
The first couple days of this we didn't make a ton of progress. After the first day I could walk up to her and pet her, but that was about it. If she started to move away, I'd chase her off until she had a chance to think about it some more.
It didn't take long for her to understand that if she stayed still, she didn't have to move.
She was raised in a large paddock with 2-3 other young horses. Unfortunately there wasn't an older boss mare, so she was mostly unaccustomed to social interaction that wasn't playing.
I am the boss mare. She's catching on. Sortof.
When I got to the barn yesterday, I was feeling a little down about it.
Sure, she was getting it--but I felt like she was just tolerating me.
Tolerating me coming up, tolerating me touching her, and tolerating standing there. But without any real respect for me.
I thought it over and decided I wasn't pushing quite hard enough.
It's a fine line: she is reactive, sensitive, and true to her cowhorse breeding. Too much would be too much, and would set us back. She's also very fit. But this kind of ground work is never about tiring out the horse. It's about asking them to think, giving them options and encouraging the right response.
I believe that horses respond to the release of pressure, not to pressure itself. There needed to be a bigger difference between what I was doing when she made the wrong decision, and what I was doing when she make the right one.
I decided that consequences would have to be more immediate and clear--and more immediately over.
If she went to move off, I would really go after her, make her jump into action, swing a rope at her--and then that was it. Just until she moved NOW to the other side of the pen, or however far she felt like going. Then I would stop, and wait.
And darned if that didn't change her attitude really quickly.
I had resolved not to put a halter on her until I saw this change. After the breakthrough, I haltered her a few times yesterday, started the task of getting a good response for picking up her feet, and called it a day while I was far ahead.
Today she is dynamite.
I only had to chase her off once before she came right back, and wanted to stick around.
She let me halter her easily, so she got a big reward. I led her out to the grass. I don't think she's seen much grass in her life, and she was just ecstatic about it.
Led her back to her pen, took halter off, messed with Chev for a while, Chev got lots of carrots while tiny horse touched her nose to me and watched because she doesn't get what a carrot is, came back, haltering her was easy, and led her out for some more grass. Her whole attitude changed. She became friendly, happy, and willing.
While she was eating I practiced more hoof pick-ups, making sure to ask her at a time she could "succeed", when the other three legs could support her.
Brought her back in the pen, gave her (and Chev) a little hay, and worked on picking up her feet without any sort of restraints--no halter, free to leave at any time.
Not only could I get her front feet in my hands without a struggle, I could even pick them out! For the first time! Possibly ever!
She needs some farrier work done so the sooner I can get her ready for that, the better.
The way she's progressing now she should be good to go in about a week.
(I do want to mention that she is a real trooper about being poked here and there, and whether it was handling early on or just her personality, she can be touched anywhere without flinching, raising a leg, pinning an ear, or doing anything naughty. She is just really polite about everything. Thank goodness.)
In other hoof news, I lunged Chev today and she looks FANTASTIC.
She is floaty-trotting, cantering well, and no longer choppy. Her stride has lengthened out. There's still room for improvement, and I'm sure she'll look even better after this next trim. She shed a big piece of impacted bar off her left front yesterday. Her heels and frogs are descended and cushy, her feet are round again, and despite missing quite a bit of side wall from chips and dings here and there (mostly because we had to leave her toe a little long--I think that'll all clean up really well next trim), she is moving great. Her hoof quality is also really good. I'll try to take a video one of these days. I took one a week after her trim so we'll have something to compare it to.
Hooray for bare feet! I think she looked even more sound today than she's looked in shoes for a long time now.
The girls enjoy lunch yesterday
P.S. I got to talk with my Ma today, and I really do have the best parents ever. Love you, Mom & Dad.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Hoof Diaries
Today is 2 weeks since I pulled Chev's shoes, and I wanted to give an update on how her footsies are doing.
I think it would be prudent to include a hoof diagram so we all know what the heck I'm talking about.
More than we should, I think we horsemen tend to imagine hooves as static, un-moldable pillars--I know I did. I am shocked (shocked!) to see what drastic progress has been made in the shape of her hooves, heels and frogs in just 14 short days.
When her frogs and heels hit a wall after the first week and looked like they were threatening to stay where they were (still very contracted), I began to suspect she might have some thrush way up in her frogs that was causing her some pain now that they were actually expanding and contracting. She was standing like her heels were sore, and while she'd still go onto the gravely areas, I decided it was worth treating as if she had thrush to see what would happen.
I can't say for sure if the thrush treatment did it, but wow--what a difference. I applied an easy topical to the hoofpick-deep crack in the back of her heels and all over the frog. It immediately began shedding layers, her heels dropped and spread and now her hooves look pretty fantastic. I'm still hitting her with the topical every other day or so.
She is also starting to land flat on her hooves instead of toe first, and even steps heel first occasionally (!!), which is SO exciting for her long-term soundness.
Looking at before pictures I never realized how toe-first her landings were in shoes. I thought she was just a short strided horse. But now I wonder if all the toe-first landings weren't spelling trouble for her navicular bone and a bunch of other structures. Hmmmm...
So, without further ado...the proof is in the pictures!
I think it would be prudent to include a hoof diagram so we all know what the heck I'm talking about.
More than we should, I think we horsemen tend to imagine hooves as static, un-moldable pillars--I know I did. I am shocked (shocked!) to see what drastic progress has been made in the shape of her hooves, heels and frogs in just 14 short days.
When her frogs and heels hit a wall after the first week and looked like they were threatening to stay where they were (still very contracted), I began to suspect she might have some thrush way up in her frogs that was causing her some pain now that they were actually expanding and contracting. She was standing like her heels were sore, and while she'd still go onto the gravely areas, I decided it was worth treating as if she had thrush to see what would happen.
I can't say for sure if the thrush treatment did it, but wow--what a difference. I applied an easy topical to the hoofpick-deep crack in the back of her heels and all over the frog. It immediately began shedding layers, her heels dropped and spread and now her hooves look pretty fantastic. I'm still hitting her with the topical every other day or so.
She is also starting to land flat on her hooves instead of toe first, and even steps heel first occasionally (!!), which is SO exciting for her long-term soundness.
Looking at before pictures I never realized how toe-first her landings were in shoes. I thought she was just a short strided horse. But now I wonder if all the toe-first landings weren't spelling trouble for her navicular bone and a bunch of other structures. Hmmmm...
So, without further ado...the proof is in the pictures!
Front right, 5/8/12--2 days barefoot
Front left, 5/8/12
Left front 5/8/12--note the upward stress (curve) in the coronet band for comparison later!
Left front, 5/8/12--chunk of wall missing and deep cracks in the heel buttresses
At this point I really started to think about what the hooves were "telling" me. I looked at the stress marks, cracks, chips and missing wall. I realized the hoof was trying to mold into a different shape...and I realized I could help relieve some pressure with careful filing.
The heel buttresses had to come down...they were starting to crack which told me there was way too much stress on them. They were way too far forward and not supporting the heel at all. So I carefully brought them back and even with a file over several days:
Left front/right front, 5/12/12, after taking the heels down/back...this is about the time I start to suspect thrush! Those heels just look painful.
Right front/left front 5/15/12--treating for thrush x 3 days, what a difference! Look at how much more relaxed and spread her heels are. She's also shed a bunch of dead frog tissue. Whole hoof has expanded, toe growing like crazy. Day 9!
Left front/right front--Day 11! 5/17/12: Heels have dropped, they actually make contact with the ground for the first time in 3 years! Whole hoof is looking much more rounded and I am ecstatic with her progress.
5/17/12--profile of left front hoof as before. Coronet band has relaxed significantly from 5/8/12 but still has a ways to go.
Present day, 5/20/12...
Looky here! Same foot, same coronet band, 14 days post shoes. No arch at all!
Look how round! It's far from perfect, but look how much more healthy! False sole that was so embedded I couldn't even tell it was there has almost all shed off...
Front right with beautiful concavity!
Her front right, the "better" foot, is almost ROUND! I cannot believe it! Go back and look at those first set of photos.
Front right from the side to show how her frogs actually TOUCH THE GROUND! Whoopee!
I am just amazed at her progress. I couldn't be happier with how she's adapting to the barefoot life. I might become one of those crazy barefoot people!
She freely chooses to go over gravel, walks out nicely and looks comfortable. I did notice some minor swelling here and there in her legs (especially during the first week) as she adjusted to the different angles, but that's pretty much all disappeared now and a couple trims down the road I think she will be looking awesome.
It's always good to go the conservative route rather than going for heroic big changes--she walked off sound from this first trim despite being in shoes for almost 4 years--we didn't take a ton off and I'm glad.
Now that her feet are getting proper circulation they are growing like CRAZY.
Using the nail holes as a guide, I'd say she's grown out almost 3/4" of hoof in two weeks.
As a comparison, the hoof is usually completely replaced every 9 months. For most horses, that means 1/4-2/5" of growth every four weeks. I'm thrilled! Her hooves are really responding to the increased circulation.
I wish I had taken some measurements in the beginning, because her entire hoof has completely changed shape. It went from an oval with a contracted heel, to a nice, round, functional heel-and-frog-touching-the-ground kind of foot. I think it's expanded at least 3/4" as well. It is truly amazing. The hoof isn't a static body part at all!
I attribute a lot of this to her environment, and I don't think going barefoot was an option before when she was in a small, soggy pen. She has four dry acres to roam on, with sand, grass, dirt, rocks, gravel--all the right things for conditioning the newly-barefoot hoof.
Would you like to see how the rest of the horse is doing?
The coveted dinnertime grain ration
And this is the other place she spends a lot of her time (the hay feeder):
"Are you quite sure 4 flakes is enough?"
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Another video
I've been a busily planning little bee lately.
I figured out that I need about 150 t-post caps to cap off all the t-posts on the property (cost TBD, awesome friend Marian thinks she can get them wholesale for me), roughly 130 Sun Guard step-in fiberglass posts that are supposed to be good for temporary fencing (http://www.tractorsupply.com/sun-guard-ii-fiberglass-step-in-post-3602233), and about 3,900 total linear feet of electric polytape for the inside fence. I think I've settled on this charger--needs to be solar powered because of the location of the pasture, and this one came with high marks: http://www.horse.com/item/parmak-deluxe-field-solar-charger/BXF19/
I also found someone local who's selling a few hundred feet of good used v-mesh horse fencing for $100, which might be useful for protecting Chev from the barbed wire at the front part of the pasture where the electric fence needs to run closer to the barbed wire fence--just in case she were to get too close or decide to start pawing at something.
I also finally got out to RIDE said horse today--it always seems ironic to me that I can spend so much time planning horse things, looking at horse things and working on horse projects and never get to actually see the darn horse--but that's part of the point of moving her closer to me. I am so ready to ditch this 2 hour commute.
I did get a short riding video today too. I had to do some editing because of course I spent half the time off camera. It's really hard to set all of that stuff up from the back of a horse--I have to move her out of the way, focus the camera, then move back in to start filming...I see why you need another person for this.
I have no idea what the loud BANG is in the beginning of the video. I assumed when I turned around I'd see my camera laying sideways on the big metal barrel I put it up on--but everything was fine, so I dunno...Spirit barrel.
I did, however, get the straightest, most lifted canter depart ever on Chev yet today. We have been really working on installing specific "buttons"--a touch here controls the shoulder, here the hip, here for sidepass, here for canter--she is catching on. Unfortunately I have to be pretty exaggerated with my cuing at this point while she figures everything out, but still, it was exciting! I usually have to really help her with the bend for her canter departs, this time I just barely touched her with my outside spur in the right spot, gave a little kiss and away she went! She is also learning how hip control relates to the canter, since she is naturally built to kind of drag on into it.
I only got one depart on camera, bummer.
Without further ado...
I figured out that I need about 150 t-post caps to cap off all the t-posts on the property (cost TBD, awesome friend Marian thinks she can get them wholesale for me), roughly 130 Sun Guard step-in fiberglass posts that are supposed to be good for temporary fencing (http://www.tractorsupply.com/sun-guard-ii-fiberglass-step-in-post-3602233), and about 3,900 total linear feet of electric polytape for the inside fence. I think I've settled on this charger--needs to be solar powered because of the location of the pasture, and this one came with high marks: http://www.horse.com/item/parmak-deluxe-field-solar-charger/BXF19/
I also found someone local who's selling a few hundred feet of good used v-mesh horse fencing for $100, which might be useful for protecting Chev from the barbed wire at the front part of the pasture where the electric fence needs to run closer to the barbed wire fence--just in case she were to get too close or decide to start pawing at something.
I also finally got out to RIDE said horse today--it always seems ironic to me that I can spend so much time planning horse things, looking at horse things and working on horse projects and never get to actually see the darn horse--but that's part of the point of moving her closer to me. I am so ready to ditch this 2 hour commute.
I did get a short riding video today too. I had to do some editing because of course I spent half the time off camera. It's really hard to set all of that stuff up from the back of a horse--I have to move her out of the way, focus the camera, then move back in to start filming...I see why you need another person for this.
I have no idea what the loud BANG is in the beginning of the video. I assumed when I turned around I'd see my camera laying sideways on the big metal barrel I put it up on--but everything was fine, so I dunno...Spirit barrel.
I did, however, get the straightest, most lifted canter depart ever on Chev yet today. We have been really working on installing specific "buttons"--a touch here controls the shoulder, here the hip, here for sidepass, here for canter--she is catching on. Unfortunately I have to be pretty exaggerated with my cuing at this point while she figures everything out, but still, it was exciting! I usually have to really help her with the bend for her canter departs, this time I just barely touched her with my outside spur in the right spot, gave a little kiss and away she went! She is also learning how hip control relates to the canter, since she is naturally built to kind of drag on into it.
I only got one depart on camera, bummer.
Without further ado...
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
HeART of the horse, & other news
Hi all, I wanted to plug for a wonderful rescue today!
Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) is everything I think of when I imagine the perfect rescue. They only take in the number of animals they can afford, they provide cutting edge veterinary treatment for all the horses they rescue, and they make sure all SAFE horses are safe for life--if they don't work out with their adopters, they come right back to the rescue until the right match can be found. This means they have many of their horses for years on end, and they never slack on feed, farrier or veterinary care. They also put training on horses whenever they can, and use professional trainers to do this.
It may come as no surprise to you all that I am a very poor person--I think the correct descriptory phrase is "horse poor". I am rich in many areas of my life. Just not in a money area.
I've always wanted to support SAFE, but all my extra money goes toward my horse, and I'm 2 states away so volunteer work isn't an option. But they're having this incredible fund raiser this year called HeART of the Horse--and I'm finally getting to make a contribution!
Here's the website for the HeART of the Horse auction that will be taking place May 12th, 2012 at the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodenville, WA: http://heart.safehorses.org/
It's sure to be a great time and it's for a wonderful cause!
There are some national-caliber artists contributing to this auction benefit. You can read about some of the artists here: http://heart.safehorses.org/heartists/
I will be contributing my first print from my very limited first edition 18" x 24" giclee of Sparkafide, a print that I had been holding onto as part of my personal collection. I feel honored to be able to contribute to this wonderful event! The print is signed, dated and numbered, and printed on heavyweight archival matte paper.
Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) is everything I think of when I imagine the perfect rescue. They only take in the number of animals they can afford, they provide cutting edge veterinary treatment for all the horses they rescue, and they make sure all SAFE horses are safe for life--if they don't work out with their adopters, they come right back to the rescue until the right match can be found. This means they have many of their horses for years on end, and they never slack on feed, farrier or veterinary care. They also put training on horses whenever they can, and use professional trainers to do this.
It may come as no surprise to you all that I am a very poor person--I think the correct descriptory phrase is "horse poor". I am rich in many areas of my life. Just not in a money area.
I've always wanted to support SAFE, but all my extra money goes toward my horse, and I'm 2 states away so volunteer work isn't an option. But they're having this incredible fund raiser this year called HeART of the Horse--and I'm finally getting to make a contribution!
Here's the website for the HeART of the Horse auction that will be taking place May 12th, 2012 at the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse in Woodenville, WA: http://heart.safehorses.org/
It's sure to be a great time and it's for a wonderful cause!
There are some national-caliber artists contributing to this auction benefit. You can read about some of the artists here: http://heart.safehorses.org/heartists/
I will be contributing my first print from my very limited first edition 18" x 24" giclee of Sparkafide, a print that I had been holding onto as part of my personal collection. I feel honored to be able to contribute to this wonderful event! The print is signed, dated and numbered, and printed on heavyweight archival matte paper.
He could be yours!
I also wanted to include the website for SAFE, so you can meet them & see what a truly awesome organization they are. Please take a peek: http://www.safehorses.org/
In other news, I rode my horse today!
I did have to lay into her a little about getting off my inside leg.
She's got a really bad habit when she's out of shape of drifting in on your right leg when you're circling to the right. She does not respect the inside leg and would much rather dump her shoulder and bulldoze along. So I think we made some progress on that front.
We also worked a lot on cues for shoulder, sidepassing, and moving the hip, and turnarounds, and she's really starting to get some consistency there.
I also had a brief washrack session with her today. I remembered that I had bought a super long dressage whip a few months ago thinking it would come in handy. And today, it did! I just led her up to the mats, rein in my left hand, whip in my right, and whenever she went backwards, she got a few sharp taps until she went forwards again. She was standing on the washrack nicely after a few minutes of this. I didn't try to tie her, but I think a few more sessions of that and she'll be back to normal.
It was even warm enough to rinse some of the entire winter's layer of sweat off of her! I also can't believe how long her mane is getting. I'm letting her try the au natural look this year.
She looks less fat in that photo for some reason, but she's not. Look at this one:
And finally--Chevy and Speedy love:
d'awwww.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Chev and the English saddle
I'm not going to lie, I was kind of sweating it getting back into the english saddle.
As y'all know, I was finally able to get my hands on an affordable, nice, WIDE close contact, an HDR Rivella, which far exceeded my expectations for quality (which are ridiculously high!).
Sadly for us, Chev has gotten so fat over the winter that none of her girths fit her anymore. We had one shaky, wobbly ride in the saddle, since I was only able to get the darn thing up 1 hole on each side.
It was pretty discouraging.
I should also mention that I've become very comfortable in the El Dorado training saddle. I feel a little over-confident, like I can't come off--which of course isn't true--but it's solid enough that I don't feel nervous at all about climbing up there.
The english saddle is another story.
What's that, nothing around me? Nothing to wrap the leadrope around? No swells? No slouching? Nothing??
It all made for a pretty nervous me. I am comfortable in that western saddle. I feel safe there.
My nervousness was combined with the stress of a horse that doesn't tie on the washrack anymore for tacking up (for now).
So I tried to wear my thick cotton breeches from highschool--nope! Not gonna work anymore--well, that was 10 years ago--found my stretchy lightweight riding tights instead, yanked on my boots, which, I might add, are getting awfully tight in the calf, grabbed my saddle and my new girth extender (Yay Chev! We both got chubby this winter), and drove on out there.
Tied pony up, brushed pony out, led pony to car where saddle was, tacked up, booted up, and headed to the arena for a quick lunge session.
Chev hates switching between saddles. She's always been like this. I think she gets annoyed when her routine changes, and part of that is that her routine really hasn't changed much over the last few years. So I wanted to make sure she figured out the different feel of the english saddle on the lunge line before I climbed my wimpy self up there.
She was fine lunging, so I bridled her (with her western snaffle bridle--ugh, I hate mix-and-match tack, but I wasn't going to take the time to untie the bit from all the goofy western ties and pop it on her english bridle), and climbed on up there.
My goodness, did that saddle feel small.
It has literally been a year since I've really ridden in a close contact saddle.
I really forgot how much work it was.
But Chevy settled right down and I remembered how much easier it is to give cues, re-balance the horse, and feel everything that's going on.
And I daresay I settled right in, too!
I've always thought there was something sort of glamorous about a well-turned out hunter hack.
A polished, solid, pleasant horse, a lovely saddle, and a well turned out rider with gloves and hat.
We definitely did not look like that.
But, I got some of the best trot out of her that I've had in a while.
And we did some gymnastics with poles and a little pile of logs in the arena that's used as a trail prop.
Chev did have about 3 "hind end failures" (as my old trainer used to call them) where her back end gave out mid-stride--I'm noticing this a little bit lately and I think it's a lack of strength back there. We really interrupted her whole training routine this winter, and it's meant a big loss of strength for both of us. To her immense credit, she recovered from every stumble gracefully with nary a squeal, which is a long way from how she was a year ago! She hates to take a mis-step. I need to work more on spiraling in and out, hip-in, two tracking, etc to help strengthen up that stifle area. We did a fair amount of that too today--working on refining the cues for shoulder, side pass, and hip.
She seemed to really enjoy cantering over the logs, and I felt secure by that point in the saddle, remembering my "hunt seat legs" and my center of gravity, could count her canter strides well, adjust them as necessary to get her up and over the little log jump.
So, maybe there are some jumps in our future after all!
I would be thrilled if my little western pony wanted to get into some little hunter jumps.
So it was a great day today. I brought my camera, but of course I forgot to take any photos. Suffice to say she still resembles a hairy moose...but she is slowly shedding a bit and I hope to be back to her dark, lustrous liver-chestnut coat soon!
As y'all know, I was finally able to get my hands on an affordable, nice, WIDE close contact, an HDR Rivella, which far exceeded my expectations for quality (which are ridiculously high!).
Sadly for us, Chev has gotten so fat over the winter that none of her girths fit her anymore. We had one shaky, wobbly ride in the saddle, since I was only able to get the darn thing up 1 hole on each side.
It was pretty discouraging.
I should also mention that I've become very comfortable in the El Dorado training saddle. I feel a little over-confident, like I can't come off--which of course isn't true--but it's solid enough that I don't feel nervous at all about climbing up there.
The english saddle is another story.
What's that, nothing around me? Nothing to wrap the leadrope around? No swells? No slouching? Nothing??
It all made for a pretty nervous me. I am comfortable in that western saddle. I feel safe there.
My nervousness was combined with the stress of a horse that doesn't tie on the washrack anymore for tacking up (for now).
So I tried to wear my thick cotton breeches from highschool--nope! Not gonna work anymore--well, that was 10 years ago--found my stretchy lightweight riding tights instead, yanked on my boots, which, I might add, are getting awfully tight in the calf, grabbed my saddle and my new girth extender (Yay Chev! We both got chubby this winter), and drove on out there.
Tied pony up, brushed pony out, led pony to car where saddle was, tacked up, booted up, and headed to the arena for a quick lunge session.
Chev hates switching between saddles. She's always been like this. I think she gets annoyed when her routine changes, and part of that is that her routine really hasn't changed much over the last few years. So I wanted to make sure she figured out the different feel of the english saddle on the lunge line before I climbed my wimpy self up there.
She was fine lunging, so I bridled her (with her western snaffle bridle--ugh, I hate mix-and-match tack, but I wasn't going to take the time to untie the bit from all the goofy western ties and pop it on her english bridle), and climbed on up there.
My goodness, did that saddle feel small.
It has literally been a year since I've really ridden in a close contact saddle.
I really forgot how much work it was.
But Chevy settled right down and I remembered how much easier it is to give cues, re-balance the horse, and feel everything that's going on.
And I daresay I settled right in, too!
I've always thought there was something sort of glamorous about a well-turned out hunter hack.
A polished, solid, pleasant horse, a lovely saddle, and a well turned out rider with gloves and hat.
We definitely did not look like that.
But, I got some of the best trot out of her that I've had in a while.
And we did some gymnastics with poles and a little pile of logs in the arena that's used as a trail prop.
Chev did have about 3 "hind end failures" (as my old trainer used to call them) where her back end gave out mid-stride--I'm noticing this a little bit lately and I think it's a lack of strength back there. We really interrupted her whole training routine this winter, and it's meant a big loss of strength for both of us. To her immense credit, she recovered from every stumble gracefully with nary a squeal, which is a long way from how she was a year ago! She hates to take a mis-step. I need to work more on spiraling in and out, hip-in, two tracking, etc to help strengthen up that stifle area. We did a fair amount of that too today--working on refining the cues for shoulder, side pass, and hip.
She seemed to really enjoy cantering over the logs, and I felt secure by that point in the saddle, remembering my "hunt seat legs" and my center of gravity, could count her canter strides well, adjust them as necessary to get her up and over the little log jump.
So, maybe there are some jumps in our future after all!
I would be thrilled if my little western pony wanted to get into some little hunter jumps.
So it was a great day today. I brought my camera, but of course I forgot to take any photos. Suffice to say she still resembles a hairy moose...but she is slowly shedding a bit and I hope to be back to her dark, lustrous liver-chestnut coat soon!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Video--Just for comparison's sake
I like to think Chev and I have come a long way in a year and some odd months.
This is from her second greenie show on 5/8/10. I remember we didn't do cantering under saddle yet so I just showed her in the walk/trot classes. We did two that day. That was all my legs could take. Believe it or not, we took second in this class.
I think this may have been the judge noticing Chev was the only one in the class who was actually "green". There was a whole lot of crank/yanking going on with some of the other horses. You can see some of it in the video.
But no matter!
My point with posting this video is to show how much her movement has changed from that time.
In case you can't tell, Chev is the Amazon...I am in the blue hunt coat simultaneously trying with all my might to keep her going, while attempting to steer clear of other horses (and the judge) on a horse that is just learning how to steer.
I remember I was actually, literally sweating through all of this. Half way through I felt like my legs were going to give out. Some of it was nerves, but most of it was sheer muscle exhaustion.
She took so much leg at this point to keep going that I remember I almost died when the announcer asked for "extended trot". Crap! That's what we were doing already! Where do I go from here?
Are you surprised that one of my goals in her training has been for her to take light leg? Ha, ha. My equitation is understandably terrible in the video as I attempt to keep us from dying.
You can also see pretty easily how much she is "on the forehand" here. She is really heavy up front. And I am not helping the situation much with my death grip on the reins.
HOWEVER. As a young horse Chev needed a lot of support from her rider. She needed something to help her keep balance. So my contact at this point at least has a reason behind it.
There is a brief moment at 1:04 where she drops her head and powers up over her back from her hindquarters. It lasts about 2 seconds. That was about all the collection she could maintain back then. But I remember it happening--it felt like she locked into powerhouse mode. Like she was finally all the way in gear. It felt great. She could really move in that position, but she didn't yet have the muscle to keep it up.
I also submit this as evidence that I am actually a huntseat rider.
Not that you'd know it these days...
This is from her second greenie show on 5/8/10. I remember we didn't do cantering under saddle yet so I just showed her in the walk/trot classes. We did two that day. That was all my legs could take. Believe it or not, we took second in this class.
I think this may have been the judge noticing Chev was the only one in the class who was actually "green". There was a whole lot of crank/yanking going on with some of the other horses. You can see some of it in the video.
But no matter!
My point with posting this video is to show how much her movement has changed from that time.
In case you can't tell, Chev is the Amazon...I am in the blue hunt coat simultaneously trying with all my might to keep her going, while attempting to steer clear of other horses (and the judge) on a horse that is just learning how to steer.
I remember I was actually, literally sweating through all of this. Half way through I felt like my legs were going to give out. Some of it was nerves, but most of it was sheer muscle exhaustion.
She took so much leg at this point to keep going that I remember I almost died when the announcer asked for "extended trot". Crap! That's what we were doing already! Where do I go from here?
Are you surprised that one of my goals in her training has been for her to take light leg? Ha, ha. My equitation is understandably terrible in the video as I attempt to keep us from dying.
You can also see pretty easily how much she is "on the forehand" here. She is really heavy up front. And I am not helping the situation much with my death grip on the reins.
HOWEVER. As a young horse Chev needed a lot of support from her rider. She needed something to help her keep balance. So my contact at this point at least has a reason behind it.
There is a brief moment at 1:04 where she drops her head and powers up over her back from her hindquarters. It lasts about 2 seconds. That was about all the collection she could maintain back then. But I remember it happening--it felt like she locked into powerhouse mode. Like she was finally all the way in gear. It felt great. She could really move in that position, but she didn't yet have the muscle to keep it up.
I also submit this as evidence that I am actually a huntseat rider.
Not that you'd know it these days...
Chev as a 5 year old, her past life as a huntseat horse
Monday, January 16, 2012
First post--a brief history
2007: It was the first time I'd ever been to a horse auction, and I came to look at the saddles.
Despite not having a bidding number, truck, or trailer, I came home with a horse.
She was a 2005 grade sorrel mare out of registered stock. The hammer fell at $235.
Ever since it has been my mission to get her the best training I could give her to make up for her paper shortfall.
This is a journal of our progress.
Despite not having a bidding number, truck, or trailer, I came home with a horse.
She was a 2005 grade sorrel mare out of registered stock. The hammer fell at $235.
Ever since it has been my mission to get her the best training I could give her to make up for her paper shortfall.
This is a journal of our progress.
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