Pictures!

Pictures from today. We had a great ride today! She is such a sweet mare and is SO easy to handle on the ground. I would trust a 5 year old to walk her around. She is that easy. I would like to think I had a part in that :)

Her with her cute big ears!

Hamming it up!

Wound up!

Yes, extremely wound up actually! We came back to work on Monday after our weekend to frisky horses. I actually have no idea how much they get outside but it sure isnt enough for this girl! The funny thing (and nice) is that she is great to tie/groom/tack up and you would never know how much energy she has until you put her in the round pen. Luckily we still had it up on Monday. She was crazy! She wasnt to attentive and it took much longer then I planned to get her paying attention to me instead of just trying to rip around the round pen. After I felt like she was listening to me I took her out and mounted her in the other half of the arena. Once again right into a circle we went as she was pretty amped. This time she didn't seem like she was going to offer any bucks/rears/etc just ready to go and not focusing. Once again she settled down in our circle and we were on a bigger circle in no time. This week we are working on starting to establish correct inside bend. Tracking left she tries to throw her body to your inside leg and stick her nose to the outside slightly and tip her poll inside. Basically going around looking like a mess! She was very resistant to getting of my inside leg. Tracking right she was much better but then we had the problem of her throwing her shoulder to the outside now instead of inside. It was better towards the end so im hoping today will be easier for the both of us!

It is hard because it seems like we are on a expedited program (compared to how I would start my horses) so I feel like we need to accomplish a lot in one day however it is stuff that takes horses quite a while to understand. Especially since you have to have a lot of pieces put together to achieve the overall goal and I feel as if we are trying to get the end result without all the little details.

Wow.. that was a long time!

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!

Being a big girl!

Well today she was at least! On Monday Jenny helped me put a saddle on her for the first time. There was not a round pen open so we did it in a grass patch outside. Not sure why all then (she had never cared before) but while Jenny was holding her she decided to be terrified of the sheep. And I mean terrified!

Besides that, on Monday we did a little round pen work and more sacking out to different things. She is doing really good with it all. She tried to make me think she forgot how to round pen a little but once we got going she got back into the swing of it and was working great.

Today we tried something new, trailer loading! Although she was nervous and unsure about it she walked right in. Once in she was fidgety and kept trying to turn around. I just kept petting her and keeping her straight until she stood still then asked her to back out. She loaded up twice. We will keep doing it each day in hopes of her becoming more used to it. She also wasn't terrified of the sheep today! We continued to work on our ground manners which are getting really good. I found something she was unsure of (a milk jug with rocks in it) and sacked her out to that. I could throw it over her back, under her, in front of her, etc. We didnt make it to the round pen today. People were taking forever and few horses got in. Hopefully Friday we can get in and start our ground driving.

Im really looking forward to being able to ride her. I feel like we run out of things to do each day since we only have 2 round pens for like 12 horses. There is only so much stuff we can do outside. Especially since we have been doing it for 2 weeks now. Hopefully she takes well to ground driving so I dont have to wait for  a round pen and can just ground drive her outside.

Day 4

And what a day it was! We didnt get into the round pen on Wednesday, we had only been in it once, so that was a definite priority. When I first brought her out I took her to her stall for some basic grooming. She stood really well in her stall! Typically when I first bring her out and tie her in her stall to groom she is antsy and moves around, but yesterday she was awesome. After brushing her and putting her splint boots on to go into the round pen we went to finish out clip from Wednesday while we were waiting for a round pen. She was super good and I can ask her to lower her head and she does. She is now the proud wearer of a bridle-path and clipped whiskers! She looks so good!

I then got her blanket. We are not sure if she has ever worn one before so I had to get to used to it. They also said that all the horses need to lower their heads and allow people to put the blankets over their heads. Although she isnt scared to death of it she is unsure of it. By the end of today she would lower her head for me to put it on and take it off.

We also worked on our basic showmanship, like we do every other day. She is getting much better on her haunch and forehand turns but they are still hard for her. She also trots in hand without any reinforcements  now! All of our 'lessons' are so short because she picks up on it all so fast. She really wants to please.

In the round pen she was AWESOME! Only her second time in it and she went as if she has been doing it for months. She is pretty well solid on direction changes, stopping, change of speeds, etc. That was super cool to see. Jenny then helped me hobble her for the first time. I had never hobbled a horse before so that was cool to learn. She was good for the most part. She tried to get out of them in the very beginning (and stretched the hobbles out big time!) but after that she stood in them. Not to bad for her first time! After that we called it quits for the day. I took her back to her stall, groomed her, braided the rest of her mane, and turned her out so I could clean her stall. She has not been great to catch, not hard but she doesnt walk up to you and sometimes tries to walk away. So after I cleaned her stall I went out to catch her and she walked right up to me! I brought her back in and hosed her off for the first time. She was nervous when I got further back on her but over all was great. She gets the weekend off then Monday we start getting her used to tack and ground driving! 

I started braiding the bottom half to keep it on this side!

Coming to me from outside :)

Days 2 and 3

Day 2:

I already knew what I wanted to tackle on day two. That mane! I bought her some Cowboy Magic and some rubber bands for braiding. I started my doing her tail. Just trimmed the bottom couple inches off to make it look more professional and full. It looked great! Her mane? I started by cutting it. It is really amazing how much more refined and sporthorsey they can look just by doing their manes! After cutting it I started pulling it as it was super thick in some parts. She was SO good while I pulled! It did it for about 10 minutes before she started fussing a little. I figured we would end there for the day. It still needs a lot of work but we will get there.

Mane before

Semi after (not done yet). She is such a ham! Always wants to be right by me!

One thing I noticed is that she is kicky with her hind legs when asking her to pick them up. You can rub ropes all over them, brush them, but the minute you ask her to pick them up she cow kicks. Something to work on for sure. 

After grooming her and sacking her out to the splint boots (she didnt care at all) we headed outside to work on our basic showmanship again before we headed in for our first round pen session. She picked up on all the showmanship work really well. She always takes the first 5 minutes or so to settle down and get back into our rhythm but after that she was great. She halts when I stop, back when I back up and stays out of my space. We also worked on improving our haunch and forehand turns which are slowly but surely making progress!

Then to the round pen we went! She definitely knew where the gate was and knew that was the way out. For the first couple tries around the pen she tried to stop at the gate, but by the end she was working really well without trying to stop or even hesitating at the gate. By the end of our short session she was walking, trotting, stopping and switching direction on command! I was super pleased with how she worked in there. 

Day 3:

Day 3 continued with me trying to tame that wild mane! It really wants to go on both sides and I am trying to train in to all fall on the correct side. I had to braid the bottom half of it (the half that wants to flop on other side). Hopefully that works! Today we began by sacking her out to wearing a blanket. She has a super cute purple one :) She looks super cute in it too. We continued refining our showmanship skills and worked on trotting in hand from both the near and off side. Some encouragement was needed but after a couple goes she trotting when I asked with my voice and me starting to trot with her.

After our showmanship lesson I worked more on sacking her out to the whip with the plastic bag. I can shake it, wave it, or put it over her head without her caring! Well that was a short lesson!

The next beauty thing we needed to tackle? a bridle path and whisker trim! I got some clippers out and rubbed them all over her, let her sniff them, turned them on and let her just look at it, and eventually started bringing them towards her muzzle to trim her whiskers. She was unsure of them at first but was not reactive other than moving her head away. By the end I clipped her whiskers and her bridle path! The clippers were not working so well on her bridle path but even with the loud bad noises she didnt care. I could ask her to lower her head to my knees so I could clip up there and she did! 

Another successful day for sure :)

Waiting in her stall (looking at her outside pen)

Such a cutie!

Getting to know eachother

Today was our very first day working together and I couldn't be any happier with how it went. It was just very basic ground skills and getting to know each other but it all went very smoothly.

When I first went out to catch her (in a lot with all the other training horses) she was hesitant about being caught. And by hesitant I mean she took a few steps away from me before realizing that I got the lead rope around her neck! While I waited for everyone else to catch their horses I spent some time just petting her all over. I messed with her ears, her lips, touched her belly and her teats all with her not caring. That was a great first sign to me. My first impression of her was that she has a super cute head!

Once all the horses were caught we headed for the barn. She was a little nervous and looking going into the barn but didnt do anything other than raising her head and really looking at things. Once she got in her stall she settled down a little which was another good sign since there were several other horses that were screaming and circling their stalls right by her. After a brief low down on what we were going to do that day we headed out to the arena. Once again she was nervous and looky going into the arena. She was very sensible about it all though and never reacted anything more then really looking at something or putting her head up higher. As we walked around the arena I started doing some halt transitions to keep her attention along with seeing how much she pays attention and listens to me. She settled right down and was very attentive to what I was asking of her and improved each and every time. By the end of the class she was halting when I stopped and would back up with me simply facing towards her and walking backwards with her, no rope pressure at all. After I got a decent feel of how she is I took her over to some long whips. Some with bags on the end and some without any. Because she had been slightly nervous with some new things I started with the plain whips just to get a feel of what she likes/dislikes. She was great! None of it bothered her. Not under her belly, between her legs, over her head, nothing. After making sure she was really desensitized to that one from each side I moved on to the one with the plastic bag on the end with the same results, what a good girl!

I then took her back to her stall to see if she ties and if so how well. She passed that with flying colors also! A quick 'does she tie?' and we headed out of the barn for a walk outside. Once she settled down outside and was walking on a loose rope and listening well I took her back to her stall for a MUCH needed brushing! She absolutely loved it. I tied her but and she just stood there with her head down loving every minute of it. Not a bad first day at all!

Some goals for next week:
-Get her mane cut and pulled like a dressage pony (that she is going to be!)
-Trim her tail (just an inch or two to make it look good)
-See how she does with the clippers. Depending on her reaction she needs her whiskers and a bridle path clipped
-Give her a bath! This is weather dependent but she could really use one. It would be nice to be able to get her all prettied up and clean
-Start working with picking up all four hooves, holding them, and fake rasping them (Owner said that was an issue)
-Keep desensitizing her to scary things (such as the plastic bags, etc)
-Whatever round pen work Jenny has us start on

(Please excused the crappy pictures... took them with my cell phone. Will get better ones Monday!)

 Shaking right after I turned her out after brushing her!

Gorgeous bay!