Whew, One Long Lunge

Annie was reporting insubordination on Spots part so today I went out to help her. I tacked him up and put side-reins on him, then lunged him. And lunged him. Both directions. I would ask him to halt and Annie would act like she was getting on. If he acting spooky or unsure, we lunged some more. He cantered both directions, but mostly trotted. Finally we cooled down with a lot of walk. Annie offered to get on again. He stood like a gentleman. She rode him in a circle still on the lunge. He seemed fine. She pulled the side-reins off the saddle and rode him, still on the lunge, for quite a while, walking and halting, moving him in and out on the circle with her legs. He started licking and chewing right away. By the time we put him away, I had lunged him about 2 hours and she'd ridden him around 30 minutes. WHAT a work-out. I think it was good for him though. He was still offering to trot by the end, we did not completely wear him out. He did enough walking that all his sweat was dried by the time we put him away so I didn't have to worry about him getting cold. The craziest thing was that he seemed taller than I remembered so after we worked him we stood him on concrete and measured him. And squared him again and measured him again. He kept coming out to 15.3H! Which means he's grown about 1 1/2 inches since last summer! He might make 16H yet. Annie is supposed to come work him again tomorrow, so I hope she is able to. I think if she can work him again while he's tired from today his brain might click back into gear and they'll be able to make progress again.

Another day, another ride!

Annie worked everyone at my house yesterday. She lunged and Spots, lunged, worked and sat on Britches, then took Marigold and Toby for a ride around the block.

Annie lunged Spots for about 10 minutes on side-reins and he was ready to ride. She rode him in the arena and worked on connected inside leg to outside rein and did lots of circles. They focused on listening. She said he did really well and definitely worked his brain!

Britches she worked on the ground a long time, including lunging and long-lining with help from Michelle, then sat on him and went around the round-pen for about 15 minutes at the end of the session. He is being naughty about being caught out of his paddock, but they'll get that sharp again. Today, it is freezing, so it's a good thing she got out yesterday! I can't wait for consistent, warmer weather!

Unseasonably Warm

Spots got worked yesterday, Annie said he was a bouncy helium balloon, but after long lunge session on side-reins he found his brain and they ended on a good note. She got on and rode him in the round-pen and he was fine at the end. Hopefully her "real-job" hours will allow her to get over to work him more often. It will help as the days get longer also. I can't wait to get him back to "ridable" status!

Ground-Driving, Oh How We Love Thee

About a month ago, we decided to work on Spotless listening to the bit better. Michelle accepted the mission. She did several sessions of ground-driving in the round-pen and walking on the side-reins. One evening she decided to show him off. it was quite impressive! We also went on a walk to grandma's and walked him on the road. He wasn't phased by the cars at all! The next day or so, we went all the way around the block with me riding Marigold. It went great; neither spooked at anything! Very encouraging!

Nice Spotless Session

On Tuesday I lunged Spotless because it was sunny, even though it was muddy. He was awesome! He was listening, we actually got to focus on transitions, and he looked great! After a lunge session we went for a walk and he was very good, didn't try to climb on me for safety at all. We encountered a scary puddle and it took me about 10 or 15 minutes to convince him it wasn't going to drown him and then he walked back and forth over it with me several times. We went down the lane and saw the scary neighbors and he watched them, but still listened when I stopped and started and back, etc. He was paying attention to me.

Melissa came and rode Dazzle after I worked Spotless. It was muddy so she was being careful, but she behaved nicely, just no swinging movement like we've been able to get on dryer days. I got some video of her lunging. I haven't put it up yet though.

The big news that day was I talked to the trainer that Spotless (and Mister and Britches are supposed to go to) is going to and he is all set up to go. He is going as soon as the weather permits, hopefully the beginning of March. Then Melissa will continue him Dressage and his first show will be the 17th of April if he's done at the trainer by then. Yey! I'm excited!

Tomorrow, Melissa and I are going to haul Dazzle and Sparkles to Bennington Lake and Ted is going to ride the 2nd horse and I'm going to walk and video tape. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to getting out in nature. Hopefully it's dry and sunny for us and not freezing!

Selling Horses, Buying Horses

Getting horses sold can be a pain. First, getting the horse fit, groomed, presentable, etc is a job in itself; time consuming and requiring skill. Then you have to get nice photos and video, crop and resize the photos for the internet and tastefully edit the video and post it online. At least we don't have to bother with mailing VHS or DVD's anymore! THEN you have to spend the horse and cash to get ads on the top classifieds sites, possibly your breed's journal, maybe the local papers, craigslist, flyers at local barns, etc. It's a job! Next if you get interested parties you have to either ride or hire someone else to ride each horse for the prospective buyers. It is work.

Buying horses is perhaps more emotionally draining and still a lot of work. First you have to decide exactly what you want. Then you have to determine your budget; don't forget gas to view horses far away, vet checks, registration transfers, paying for a trainer's opinion or possibly to have them ride the horse for you. It's always a good idea to take along a horsey friend to help you make sure you don't get barn blind and buy something not suited to your needs. It might take over a year to find the right horse. It's a long journey and can be very frustrating. It's hard to remember not to give up and just buy something quickly to get it over with.

I am not horse-shopping YET, but I have been browsing to determine how much I need in my budget to buy what I want and whether I am going to have any luck finding what I need nearby. Just that has been tiresome and I haven't left home.

For my horse-selling, I have spent hours posting ads, updating them, taking and editing pictures, taking and editing video and posting it online. I am helping Trudy sell her 3 horses also, so that's FIVE horses I am advertising. It is work, for sure.

Yesterday I took video of Mister and a few stills, and lunged Spotless for video lunging and running free. I did that all by myself. If you've never taken video and lunged at the same time then you won't appreciate the juggling that requires. It came out surprisingly well.





Spotless, Dazzle, and Mister will be getting the most attention this coming week as an interested party from Idaho is going to come see them next weekend. She is looking for an Eventing prospect. I will be interested to see what she thinks of them, both as Event prospects and in general. I don't know much about Eventing, so I'm not sure how to evaluate them as prospects. I hope it will be a learning experience for me, even if she doesn't find her next competition horse here.

Awesome Ride For Sparkles!

Melissa had Wednesday to ride since this is a long weekend and she's gone home for it. So, of course it rains! Before the rain she got a ride in on Sparkles and I handled Spotless and had time to lunge him all of 5 minutes before it starting raining.

Spotless was himself again, no bouncy baby or being stupid at the trailer. I brushed him, left him tied a while, then lunged him on side-reins. He was darling again. He just has to remind me he's a baby sometimes, lol. I'm working on getting his appt. with the trainer scheduled. I really look forward to seeing him under-saddle. He looks great on the lunge with side-reins and the dressage saddle on.

Sparkles had a great ride with Melissa. I had her out and tacked up when Melissa got here from class. She trotted, CANTERED, and trotted, CANTERED the other way, then walked her out. She was way tired even though it wasn't really a long ride. She is just that out of shape. They all are, haha.



She This was the first ride where Melissa cantered Sparkles and I expected it to be a disaster. Formerly, she has been known to take the wrong lead and ignore the transition. But, with Melissa aboard she took the correct lead every time, right when she asked, and stayed it in till she asked for trot. It's not finished for sure, but it was a great start! She will definitely be training level ready soon. Very promising ride. It was quite encouraging. She is actually stretching down after being on the bit, starting to engage her top-line instead of giving a false head-set, etc.

We Saw The Sun!

I pulled out Spotless who was COATED in mud. He acted all spooky which is totally unlike him. I did some moving his shoulder and making him back up and then tied up him and started brushing him. The dirt came off in clouds. So nasty. Melissa arrived and took Dazzle to the arena (I had already tacked her up for her) and Spotless spazzed. I had him half brushed, but being I'm pregnant I wasn't going to stick close if he was being stupid. He pulled on his rope a bit, but I had it tied to twine so he couldn't break the lead-rope (try this trick, it's awesome!). I told him he got to be alone if he was going to act like that and I went to the arena to watch Melissa ride. He whinnied a little and pulled his rope more and tried to be a drama king. After a few minutes he settled down and stood quite until I was done photographing Melissa and Dazzle. I finished brushing him, took his tail out the bag (and forgot to put it back in when I put him away), AND I tackled his mane! He had that long gorgeous mane but he had ripped a lot of it and it was FULL of mud. I brushed it best I could, cut about 6 inches off, then sprayed it with water (which he stood tied for like nothing), and then brushed it to the wrong side. I cut it to it's about 5 inches long, then brushed it back onto the right side. He looks all grown up now! I saddled him up, but on a bridle, side-reins, and lunge line and took him to the arena. I asked him to move out and he...took off down the arena. He ran the length twice before letting Ashley catch him (I wasn't gonna chase a bratty baby pregnant). He didn't try it again, but he fought the bit and look atrocious. Once he settled down and trotted nice and stopped fighting the bit he looked adorable! He looks like a TB. He looks like a horse now! Unfortunately, the camera didn't want to take a picture by then, so the ones I have to post are adjusted from very dark and don't look good. We'll try again another day. This was his worst work session in probably a year. I hope he's got it out of his system! I'm hoping for nice weather like today for awhile so I can get him worked everyday and then he'll be himself again. I want him an angel for AJ to get under-saddle.






Melissa worked Sparkles after Dazzle and she was like a different horse from the last session! She was forward! Melissa didn't have to spend the whole session driving her forward like last time so she could concentrate more on her roundness. Sparkles looked relaxed, she had floppy ears, a soft eye; it was amazing! A very promising ride for sure. It was dark by then, so no pictures, but next ride I will try to get some.

Dazzle had an AMAZING day! She was stiff at first, going like a horse with peg-legs, but after about 2 minutes she relaxed, started using her back and rear and looked SO good. She was reaching from behind, tracking up at the walk, etc. She did canter both directions and Dazzle was forward enough without rushing that Melissa could ask her to go on the bit. It was probably the prettiest canter I've seen from Dazzle. Melissa said there is a show in March we could hit if I wanted. That's how good she did. Instead of waiting till the April show, hit one in March because, basically, Dazzle is ahead of schedule in her progress.






So, it sounds like the plan is to hit the March show doing 2 Training tests, not sure if she's going to try a 1st level yet. Probably not yet. A couple Training tests would be a nice start to the season. Maybe she will sell at the show, you never know. I can't imagine how awesome she'll look in another month. If the weather holds and Melissa is able to ride her several times a week, she'll be pretty much solid Training level by then and they'll be able to start seriously preparing for showing First!

How Goes The Groundwork?

Whatever your preference of trainers and styles, no one with any horse experience can deny that groundwork is invaluable. Melissa and I have joined Giddyup.com and have been renting Clinton Anderson's groundwork DVD's. The exercises seem really simple, but it's amazing the reactions you get from your horses. They teach the horses really simple things; move away from my intense energy, move out of my space, move when I tell you, stand still when I tell you, and most of all: PAY attention to MEEE. All stuff you think you're teaching them all the way along. This stuff makes SO much sense to the horses. Some of them were NOT pleased about the new clear expectations, but they got over it pretty quick.

Some of it is desensitization, another thing that is great for horses. I tried his tying methods and it's been awesome. My horses weren't bad about pulling back to begin with, but it was awesome to try everything I could think of to try to make them pull back. The most surprising thing to me was that my riding horse Dazzle had more hot buttons than Spotless the baby! I never did find anything that phased him much. I ran at him screaming flinging a bag on a whip. He looked at me like I was retarded, licked his lips, and came towards me for a hug.

In 3 sessions he now has a respectable turn on the haunch, a near flawless back, both beside and in front of me, no longer tries to drag me on the lunge line (I had been having to lunge him on a stud chain or with a bit before).

One of the things Clinton advocates is rope halters. I hate messing with them, I love my pretty pink halter I can quickly slip over Dazzle's ears and off we go. But, I dug out a skinny rope halter for the exercises. He says it makes it easier and faster. It sure did! I no longer have to use a chain when working Spotless, he doesn't try to drag me off. It's not just that is hurts enough he doesn't pull that hard, he is actually starting to leave slack in the rope. He doesn't want to hit that halter at all. I'm very hopeful that by next spring Spotless and I will be able to show in Showmanship and look like we know what we're doing. I'm going to start hunting for a Showmanship teacher so I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.

Dazzle was easy to do the despooking with the string on the stick and rope. She only tried to move like, once. That was it. Didn't try to run around me or anything. She's pretty sensible about that. Plus, doesn't have much go. Spotless I had to start with low intensity, but after about 10 minutes he was good. Now he's great. He has more go though, being half TB. The worst one I've worked with is FAITH! Ashley's kid's horse. She was AWFUL. Reared several times, possibly tried to bite me once. She is VERY high reaction and still needs lots of work. But she is getting better.

Yesterday Spotless did so well with all the Clinton Anderson stuff I had him drag a tire. He did awesome. He started spooking when it followed him at the trot so I tugged the rope and got him to halt. Then he walked, stopped, walked stopped and realized it was stopping whenever he did and calmed right down. Even when he was scared he wasn't trying to take off, he just canter really slow around me on a loose rope! Then we switched directions and he was the same calm that way. Then the tire hit something and started to bounce in the air. It started spinning in the air and flew through his paddock fence and back out. It spun and wound the rope up against Spotless' butt. I told him to HO and he did. I unclipped the rope from him and realized that the rope had twisted up into his tail bag. He stood perfectly still and let me untangle it. I was really glad I had done work before attaching the tire with pulling the rope tight around his rear, letting it get up under his tail, etc. and making sure if he was scared he would let me stop him to "save" him. I would NOT do this with Faith at this point. Faith was watching the whole thing and FREAKING out in her paddock. She was snorting and prancing with her tail flagged. Spotless was really relaxed. After I took the tire off his surcingle I walked him around and he was quite relaxed, not upset from the experience at all. It is promising that he will be able to pull a cart later on.

If you have a horse that is pushy or disrespectful on the ground OR undersaddle, get your hands on the Gaining Respect and Control on the ground DVD's. They rock. You don't have to have anything fancy or a round-pen to do them. I have a flat spot in front of the tackroom where we do them and a cheap rope halter and a lead rope to do it with. I don't even have the tie-ring for the tying stuff, I have a horse trailer that is a rock hooked to a truck and I just put the end of the leadrope through the tied ring twice so it can be pulled out like the ring. I don't even use a 14 ft leadrope. I have one, but I am not coordinated enough not to get tangled up in it, lol.

Dan Meets The Group

Dan is a 14.3H Arab gelding owned by Wrenn, my new boarder. Michelle is training him Dressage to show for his owner. He is going to board here and Michelle and I can school together; very exciting!

Tuesday the 7th Wrenn and Michelle came over to see how Dan was settling in. He ran right up to them from the paddock but told them he had made awesome new friends. They brought him out to walk him around and brush him. Michelle lunged him off his lead-rope with a bag-on-a-stick.

Wrenn has a nice gel-seat western saddle for trail-riding and she let me try it on Dazzle. It feels a lot different from mine, but it's not bad. I might get to take it on the ride. That would be neat. I figure if I use a different saddle every day I won't get as sore. I rode a few minutes in that saddle, then Michelle spotted for me and I worked Spotless.

I groomed Spotless, then put my spare Dressage saddle on him. It was his first time in a Dressage saddle. It didn't fit too bad. He couldn't have cared less when I tossed it on and cinched it up. I lunged him with it on and stirrups banging. Then I put on side-reins and lunged him some more. He was great. I can't wait till he's three!