So I started this blog so I could keep track of Roses progress throughout the year. Then... while starting our under saddle work we basically made very little progress for about 4 weeks. So right after my last post I would have just written the same thing every day:
"Put the saddle on Rose, she danced around. Round penned Rose, she was decent for it. Tried to mount Rose, she protested!" Basically the 2nd half of the first term!
She has shown signs of some really rough handling (not from current owners!) and I think she has some deep trust issues. We spent many, many weeks round penning then having someone hold her as I put my foot in the stirrup and hopped around her until she stood still. Finally I actually got to mount her about 2.5 weeks before the end of the term. We then spent the next 2 weeks mounting and petting as she hunched her back SO bad and just felt like a complete ticking time bomb. Once we got to start walking (with a ground person leading) she was very unsure of it. Very hunchy with her back still and had problems going forward. We went backwards and sideways and sometimes started going up, yeah it was real fun!
Then the Monday before class ended for the term it was like all the sudden she was fine. I mounted her as she stood still and had the ground person lead her around the round pen a few times then she unclipped us and we were on our own! Not only did we walk but we also trotted and she was awesome. Typical green bean things such as trying to halt a lot but never offered anything naughty. The next class we got out of the round pen and rode in the arena with other horses at the walk. And on our last day of class we walked/trotted/cantered in the arena no issues what so ever! Then of course we started our month of winter break.
For that month (December) the only handling she had was being taking in and out of the field. To say I was a little worried about regression in her training was an understatement. Instead I come back to a a beautiful mare happy to see me and get some love! A very excited one at that :) Monday we just did some ground work. Showmanship stuff and round penned her with my saddle on. I was actually going to ride but we ran out of time. Wednesday I got on and we picked up where we left off. I was so impressed with her. Then today her owners came, so of course she had to pitch a fit when I first got on her (she did a lot of threatening but no explosion every happened). I brought her on a small circle and did some transitions in the walk and direction changes until I felt her relax and listen to me more. After she settled down (5 minutes or so) we had a great ride. It was a little tough since everyone was on circles in half an arena so we didnt have much room but she worked really well within that room. That is the nice part about this class. These horses will not be worried about riding with other horses at all! The bad part? its hard to get good work in when you are constantly stopping or steering out of someones way. After all there are 6 very green broke horses in half an arena together with a horse running in the round pen on the other half!
The farrier also came out today. I was gone for the time she got done last time but was told it was awful. I didnt really know what she was doing or anything but knew that she wasnt great at her hind legs yet so I wasnt super surprised. Today I got to see it. It is definitely straight fear. She would be okay and then freak.out. After a few times she realized that I was there with her. I just petted her while he had her leg up and by the end we got her fronts and her backs done. Much better then last time! Her backs are not completely done like a horse that would stand completely still but he got to rasp both of them without any freak outs. I was really proud of her! I really think we have a great bond and she really trusts me now. Its a great feeling to have :)
This was a long one but hopefully I will be able to keep up on her blog better this term now that we have some good stuff to write about!
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