My journey with a spirited youngster that found his way into my heart.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
New Boots
Monday, June 18, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Itty Bitty Baby steps makes a BIG day!!
I decided today was the day for getting on Flash and actually going for a ride of sorts...
My wonderful, super aweosme, devoted, loving husband had requested weeks ago to be with me for our first ride. So we headed out to the country early this morning with plans of getting me in the saddle and having Russ lead Flash around while he figured out how to carry my weight.
I decided it would be better to bring all the horses in the barn while we worked in the loafing shed (where the cows come in to eat in the winter but in the summer making a lovely riding pen) so Flash would not have the added worry and distraction of not having his friends with him. The rest of the herd was more than happy to come in and munch on some hay and watch all the actvity from the comfort of thier stalls.
I started Flash as I always do with a good grooming then a saddling as he was tied to a post in the loafing shed. He flared his nostrils a little bit at the saddle pad, but after he put his nose on it and gave it a good once over, he decided it was nothing to be concerned about and I proceeded with the saddling. He is getting pretty good about tolerating the girth tightening though I still do it a hole at a time as it gets snug.
With the youngster all saddled up, we then did a bit of lunging and moving away from pressure exercises to get him focused on work. Then I handed the lead rope over to Russ and asked him to hold him while I put my foot in the stirrup and made the motions of mounting to the point of standing in the stirrup with weight on one side. I did this over and over until he did not get the slightest bit tense with the motions (it only took 4 or 5 times of repetition) I have sat on him 2 or 3 times in the tie stall so I figured the mounting part was all just review for him, it was going to be the actual walking with a rider that was going to be new and possibly exciting - or so I thought...
Since the 1/2 mouting was going well, I figured the next step was full mountng; meaing swinging the leg over the back and settling into the saddle. Natural next step, makes sense to both Russ and I and again, should be review for the youngster...
Well, that proved to be too much for baby brain at that point. I swung my leg up and over the back of the saddle and sat gently down, but the swinging motion, my head above his and the new weight proved to be too much. Flash tensed up, started to back, realized he was not going to get rid of what his instincts told him was a predator on his back and started to do what could to get rid of it. Russ was telling me to get off as he saw the drama unfold and I was trying to figure out the best way to do just that with a horse bouncing bakwards and hopping up in the front end. I finnaly found the ejection button and tumbled off while Flash retreated to the back corner of the loafing shed. We all re grouped, Russ went to get Flash and lead him back to me, still sitting on the ground, the youngster looked a bit surprised and confuzed to see me sitting on the ground but over all no worse for the wear. I had on my helmet, of course, and my cross country body protector too, so I was in good shape (though I would likely be a bit sore and have a bruise on my hip come tomorrow). So I picked myself up, brushed off and decided on a new game plan; itty bitty steps to become comfortable with me in the saddle.
We broke down each of the mounting process steps and decided that I should be telling him everything I was going to do as I do it both (for his sake and Russ's). Flash was comfortable being lead around with one foot in the stirrup and me draped across the saddle so we did that many more times then went to moving my other leg over and above his back up and down up and down while I continued to elaborate what I was doing, over and over. I felt like I was a yoga instructor teaching some new move. When he finally got comfortable with the leg up and down with me draped over his back, we went to lifting my leg over and resting on his rump. He really did not like that; he tensed, head went up and he started to back up but Russ and I talked to him and he listend and settled back down. So we repeated this step a million times until he was comfortable with those moves. And of course there was tons of praising and patting and scratching. Then a little walk break and then a practice of all the motions again. All was going well. Still nice and relaxed. So we added another step, bringing my leg down over his side, so we had to work on that motion. Then it was my right foot moving off his side. Then it was sitting up in the saddle. Each step took less and less repetition for him to get comfortable. At one point I could go from unmounted to mounted all in one fluid motion with no tenseness That was our goal! Yay! So I did that about 5 more times then it was time to take a few steps forward (with Russ leading). I gave a little cluck and Russ walked forward and then so did Flash! YAY! nice and calm! So we made some turns and walking down the longside and back again and I started introducing the reins and guiding him with the bit pressure as Russ led. That was nothing new to him, I had been steering on the ground quite a bit so he had that figured out. However, what he was not sure about was the closing of my leg to go forward. After a few stops and starts with my voice and Russ's cues to reinforce, I decided to add in my leg as a go forward cue. I clucked then squeezed my leg and he raised his head and tensed but then took a step forward and I immediately let off pressure and praised and he relaxed. I could feel him go "ahh got it, squeezing is not scary - it stops when I move. got it."
Russ, Flash and I went around a few more times with steering, starting and stopping with no hiccups and we decided to end there. That was quite a bit for the young mind and after we figured out we needed to break down every little step, it went very well!
I have some more work to do on the desensitizing and I will likely need to do the mounting and dismounting in baby steps lesson many more times before we move on to the next thing. But that is okay. I am patient. I want to develop a solid and confident horse, so we will take the time to build the foundation. He's a very willing guy, he just needs to know what to do and I don't think I have been giving him enough direction. He's kind guy, and just wants to know what to do so he can do it... Its up to me to show him in a clear and easy to understand way. I'm getting there.
My wonderful, super aweosme, devoted, loving husband had requested weeks ago to be with me for our first ride. So we headed out to the country early this morning with plans of getting me in the saddle and having Russ lead Flash around while he figured out how to carry my weight.
I decided it would be better to bring all the horses in the barn while we worked in the loafing shed (where the cows come in to eat in the winter but in the summer making a lovely riding pen) so Flash would not have the added worry and distraction of not having his friends with him. The rest of the herd was more than happy to come in and munch on some hay and watch all the actvity from the comfort of thier stalls.
I started Flash as I always do with a good grooming then a saddling as he was tied to a post in the loafing shed. He flared his nostrils a little bit at the saddle pad, but after he put his nose on it and gave it a good once over, he decided it was nothing to be concerned about and I proceeded with the saddling. He is getting pretty good about tolerating the girth tightening though I still do it a hole at a time as it gets snug.
With the youngster all saddled up, we then did a bit of lunging and moving away from pressure exercises to get him focused on work. Then I handed the lead rope over to Russ and asked him to hold him while I put my foot in the stirrup and made the motions of mounting to the point of standing in the stirrup with weight on one side. I did this over and over until he did not get the slightest bit tense with the motions (it only took 4 or 5 times of repetition) I have sat on him 2 or 3 times in the tie stall so I figured the mounting part was all just review for him, it was going to be the actual walking with a rider that was going to be new and possibly exciting - or so I thought...
Since the 1/2 mouting was going well, I figured the next step was full mountng; meaing swinging the leg over the back and settling into the saddle. Natural next step, makes sense to both Russ and I and again, should be review for the youngster...
Well, that proved to be too much for baby brain at that point. I swung my leg up and over the back of the saddle and sat gently down, but the swinging motion, my head above his and the new weight proved to be too much. Flash tensed up, started to back, realized he was not going to get rid of what his instincts told him was a predator on his back and started to do what could to get rid of it. Russ was telling me to get off as he saw the drama unfold and I was trying to figure out the best way to do just that with a horse bouncing bakwards and hopping up in the front end. I finnaly found the ejection button and tumbled off while Flash retreated to the back corner of the loafing shed. We all re grouped, Russ went to get Flash and lead him back to me, still sitting on the ground, the youngster looked a bit surprised and confuzed to see me sitting on the ground but over all no worse for the wear. I had on my helmet, of course, and my cross country body protector too, so I was in good shape (though I would likely be a bit sore and have a bruise on my hip come tomorrow). So I picked myself up, brushed off and decided on a new game plan; itty bitty steps to become comfortable with me in the saddle.
We broke down each of the mounting process steps and decided that I should be telling him everything I was going to do as I do it both (for his sake and Russ's). Flash was comfortable being lead around with one foot in the stirrup and me draped across the saddle so we did that many more times then went to moving my other leg over and above his back up and down up and down while I continued to elaborate what I was doing, over and over. I felt like I was a yoga instructor teaching some new move. When he finally got comfortable with the leg up and down with me draped over his back, we went to lifting my leg over and resting on his rump. He really did not like that; he tensed, head went up and he started to back up but Russ and I talked to him and he listend and settled back down. So we repeated this step a million times until he was comfortable with those moves. And of course there was tons of praising and patting and scratching. Then a little walk break and then a practice of all the motions again. All was going well. Still nice and relaxed. So we added another step, bringing my leg down over his side, so we had to work on that motion. Then it was my right foot moving off his side. Then it was sitting up in the saddle. Each step took less and less repetition for him to get comfortable. At one point I could go from unmounted to mounted all in one fluid motion with no tenseness That was our goal! Yay! So I did that about 5 more times then it was time to take a few steps forward (with Russ leading). I gave a little cluck and Russ walked forward and then so did Flash! YAY! nice and calm! So we made some turns and walking down the longside and back again and I started introducing the reins and guiding him with the bit pressure as Russ led. That was nothing new to him, I had been steering on the ground quite a bit so he had that figured out. However, what he was not sure about was the closing of my leg to go forward. After a few stops and starts with my voice and Russ's cues to reinforce, I decided to add in my leg as a go forward cue. I clucked then squeezed my leg and he raised his head and tensed but then took a step forward and I immediately let off pressure and praised and he relaxed. I could feel him go "ahh got it, squeezing is not scary - it stops when I move. got it."
Russ, Flash and I went around a few more times with steering, starting and stopping with no hiccups and we decided to end there. That was quite a bit for the young mind and after we figured out we needed to break down every little step, it went very well!
I have some more work to do on the desensitizing and I will likely need to do the mounting and dismounting in baby steps lesson many more times before we move on to the next thing. But that is okay. I am patient. I want to develop a solid and confident horse, so we will take the time to build the foundation. He's a very willing guy, he just needs to know what to do and I don't think I have been giving him enough direction. He's kind guy, and just wants to know what to do so he can do it... Its up to me to show him in a clear and easy to understand way. I'm getting there.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Scary Teeth!
Flash has been packing around a saddle and wearing a bridle like a champ the past few weeks. When we were out in the barn yard doing a bit of lunging work near the tractor, he came around the corner and planted his feet and flared his nostrils at the lowered tractor bucket. There were a new set of teeth on the tractor and boy, Flash thought for sure those teeth were for eating baby horses.... He snorted and started to take steps backwards to flee the monster. I gently asked him to go forward and he thought hard about it but then reluctantly gave me a step forward with much snorting and head straight up in the air. (OOO the Arab was shining through!) However; he trusted me enough to listen and take a step forward. So I told him how smart and brave he was and I asked for another step and then another... he tried to dodge past me once but I said no so he tried to run backwards again and I said no; either stand and stare and snort or walk forward. Eventually he got back to taking little steps forward again and I praised and praised with each positive movement. Then he began to take more of an interest in the scary monster bucket and he was taking steps on his own and reaching out with his nose. (and showing off his long Araby neck). Once he touched the bucket teeth oh, so carefully with his nose and then gave it a big long wiff, he let out a sigh and then was over it. We went back to lunging quietly around the tractor as if it were not there. Good Boy!!!!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
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