All the latest in the December E-news
Bonus! on the Horsitivity Blog today.
Indoor riding arena construction is underway. Pictures
Logs for 2010 Training Horses
8/17/10 Morning warm up in the arena then out for a hack. He is much more relaxed in his body and I am pleased with how he has come along. Returned him home in the evening. I'll miss his silly self.
8/16/10 Morning hack out in the countryside. Some very nice work in all gaits. He still gets a little tight in his body in canter, but it is improving. Otherwise he was completely relaxed and enjoyable. One very understandable spook at the two baby raccoons we flushed and treed. They were really quite annoyed and we were really quite giggling.
8/15/10 Had some very nice work in the arena, then out to the pasture for a nice relaxing hack.
8/14/10 Still hot and muggy! Out for a hack, but bugs chased us home, despite fly spray. Worked in the arena while Jay hauled some branches off a pile that was just outside the arena. It was more than JJ could handle with the shaking leaves and brushpile about 20 feet away. We worked on bending and relaxation during the distraction and he got better and better.
8/12/10 Rode in the arena working on relaxation and transitions. Started out a little tight, but got better and better.
8/10/10 Finally back in the tack. Rode in the arena while Jay was grabbing boughs from a pile right next to the west side of the arena, which JJ was choosing to over-react to. Then Jay would place them on the burnpile which was not far from the arena and JJ had to shy at that. We did a lot of work on keeping his attentionon his rider regardless of what else is going on. He did very well with it once he understood what was required. Very good.
7/29/10 Morning hack. Went about 3 miles in the big outdoors. Only jumped slightly when the medium-sized buck jumped out onto his path, just 30' ahead. Getting less tight in his left side. Good man.
7/28/10 Beautiful evening, out for a hack. He was dubious about walking down the soybean row. Some horses are, I think it is because they can't see their feet or what is ahead. He dealt with it just fine, though. He was a little tight for the first few minutes, in face, held his breath a bit, but with reassurance he got more and more confident. Scared up a deer which made him jump a bit, but he recovered quickly. Went a few miles in all gaits and he got more relaxed as we went on. Nice rinse at the end.
7/27/10 Quite hot, but out for an evening session. Spent a lot of time playing with him and grooming in the cross ties and then worked on flexibility in the arena. Then out for a hack where he was quite delightful. He was re-shod this afternoon.
7/18/10 Work in the arena on bending and relaxation. Well done.
7/16/10 Spent a lot of time with him, just fussing over him and feeding cookies, brushing his face. I catch him at least a couple times a day around the barn and feed him cookies. When he got here, he was a little suspicious every time I would come near him, even though I had just fed all the other horses cookies. He also would react to petting with a flinch at first. I know he has never been beaten, but it may also be that he's never had anyone really just play with him and show him love. So I've been working on that project. We went out on a 4 mile hack today and he was excellent. Just really top notch, even with the 2 bucks that flushed out of the corn near him. No problem.
7/12/10 Out for a hack with Katie Hall on Charlie. He did very well leading and following. At one point we were cantering along and Charlie got going a little more quickly and I asked JJ to stay consistent in his pace. He tried all the usual hose tricks to distract me into allowing him to canter more quickly, but I just stayed the course and required him to keep his calm pace. He figured it out and did well.
7/11/10 Worked in the outdoor where he warmed up well. Then we did some jumping again, this time over higher jumps. He did very well.
7/10/10 He is getting along well in the herd. No problems. Rode in the outdoor where we discussed who gets to pick where his attention is and where he puts his body. Also incorporated walking over a tarp and then jumping over a small vertical to tarp, and eventually over the vertical to a jump over the tarp. He did very well.
7/8/10 Picked up JJ at his house. He loaded up after a little hesitation and traveled fine. He settled in well at Field Day. I introduced him to Charlie and Bino in a paddock with no difficulty. I then brushed him and trimmed his bridle path and rode him in the outdoor. He was somewhat suspicious and resistant at first, but by the end we were walking, trotting and cantering in a relatively straight manner, and in agreement concerning the manner in which to get there. Nice start.
7/31-8/1 Competed in the Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trial and finished on his dressage score of 31 ppts. Very good in all three phases. I rode him HC since his owner organizes the Horse Trial. He did finish with the lowest score in Open Beginner Novice. Woohoo! He stayed at his home after the horse trial. I'm delighted we accomplished our goal, but I will miss having him around. He's a lovely good man.
Dressage:
Cross Country
Showjumping video:
7/29/10 Evening dressage and jump school. Went well. Leave for the HT in the early morning.
7/28/10 Beauty shop morning. Trimmed whiskers, which he found ticklish, but handled it. Then did under his chin and slowly worked up to his bridle path, which he did allow me to trim. He was a little wide-eyed during the process, but dealt with it nicely. Did each of his legs, which he snored through, shortened his mane and banged his tail. He looks ready for the weekend. Then had a dressage school which went well.
7/27/10 Morning conditioning hack with Charlie and Katie. He was quite good the whole time with the exception of an unprovoked kick that caught Katie in the calf. No major harm and both of us think he was after a fly. He never gave any indication that he was annoyed before he did it and was surprised when I thumped him on the neck for it. It was just odd and I am not worried about it. The rest of the ride he was a delight. He was trimmed and re-shod today andhis hooves look like a million bucks.
7/20/10 Conditioning hack around the block. A little over 4 miles of walk, trot and canter, not very fast, just grooving along. He learned to go up and down from the ditch, across farmfield driveways and down the other side, experienced frolicking mules, single and multiple bicyclists, partridges in a cage by the road, crossing over two bridges, sheep and a Great Pyranese working sheepdog who knows how to get out of his pasture and barked convincingly in the middle of the road. The only thing that really backed him off was the sheepdog and that actually showed good sense. The dog looks pretty intimidating. But I know this dog and he is a big schweetie, so I gave Playmate a boot and we went by on little tippy toes. Walked the last half mile home, nice rinse and roll and very proud of himself. Good man.
7/18/10 Hunt show at Valley Park. Did very well. Almost won the last hunter class. Came in second in a nice group of horses.
7/16/10 Out for a hack. I wanted to give him some work, but a relatively easy day after doing so well schooling xc yesterday. Just wanted some muscle stretching for whatever might be a little sore today. He is a first class trail horse! He was confident alone, didn't shy at the deer that flushed out of the corn, and was easily rateable. We both had a lovely time. Nice rinse and roll when he was done, then supermask and out to pasture.
7/15/10 Trailered over and schooled at Margaret's. He had some slight hesitation at loading and when we arrived at Margaret's, a 10 minute drive with the windows and vents open and the other horse in the trailer not sweaty at all, he was moderately sweaty. He offloaded fine and settled in fine. We warmed up and he was surprisingly calm in the new surroundings and we warmed up over some small stadium jumps. Then Sammy and Jay gave us a lead into the water, which he was first a bit hesitant about, then he got into the spirit of the thing and we trotted and cantered into and out of the water. Then we did a small bank up out of the water a few times and then dropped in off the small bank into the water. Then Sammy and Jay gave us a lead over the pheasant feeder which is about Novice height and he jumped without hesitation. Then we did it without a lead. Same for a stairstep-shaped jump, a ramp with a small drop and some other log jumps. Then onto the ditch school. It was a pretty big ditch, which I showed to him, then we watched Sammy and Jay jump it, then they gave us a trot lead, and eventually he cantered it by himself. Very good day and he was very proud of himself. He jumped well throughout, but did trip a few times. I'll email my farrier tonight and have him reset. He got a nice rinse when he was done.
7/12/10 I meant to give Playmate the day off, but he followed Bino in when I brought him in and put his face in the halter when I let Bino go. So I played with him and tacked up and went out for a pasture hack. We spent some time schooling over the somewhat muddy patch behind the barn, which he commented had to be wildly jumped and I mentioned could actually be crossed in a relaxed manner. After about 6 times back and forth we came to an agreement of mostly relaxation. Good man. Then a walk and trot around the pasture and a trot over the small log (about 2') and then some cantering in both directions around the pasture. He doesn't mind leaving the other horses and was rateable in canter. He enjoyed it. We closed the day by jumping over the log pile that is between the pasture and barnyard. It is about 2'6". We trotted it and he never batted an eye. Very good.
7/11/10 Some dressage work in the outdoor. We had some discussions about downward transitions, encouraging him to step underneath and carry, rather than leave his hocks behind and push into the bridle. To do this I used a steady half halt before closing my hands and kept my shoulders over my hips while doing a crunch. After some reps and some quiet backing when he budged at the bit, he got much better. We also discussed his habit of leaving his left hind way out in space to the left when stopping. I simply put it back during the stop and when he was stopped, if required. Very good work.
7/10/10 After breakfast, I went out and spent some time grooming him and playing with him. He was a little nervous, but not too bad, no whinnying or scurrying about in the cross ties. I trimmed his bridle path and tacked up. We had some in-hand discussions about yielding in general which he picked up very quickly once explained to him. Then I walked him across the Tarp of Death:
He was pretty sure it was haunted the first few times over, but after that he walked nicely across it. Then I got in the tack, reinforced the yielding to the rein concept, which he remembered quite nicely, and we did some easy walk, trot and canter work, focusing on him staying nicely between the reins and my legs and he did very well. Then we did a few jumps, just easily, and ended up doing the below little line, incorporating the tarp as a little liverpool under the x. He did very well and was proud of himself.
After our session, I put him out in a paddock with Charlie and JJ (Stone). They all got along famously. Here JJ and Playmate meet. Not even any squealing...
7/9/10 Picked him up at Susan's. He must have been a little nervous on the trailer because he had a fair, but not alarming, amount of sweat on him, despite the fact that there was nice air moving in the trailer due to windows and vents open. He unloaded nicely and we settle him into a stall for the night.