Training Log for Ike Shagets

2/15/06 Rode Ike in the arena, working on flexibility details and transitions. He had a few comments about the necessity of leg yielding in trot, but other than that he was exceptionally good.

2/14/06 See Tina's log. I did exactly the same thing with Ike and he was good too.

2/12/06 Ryan hunted Ike in the Tipton country. See weather note in Tina's log. Ike was a little strong in the first 20 minutes, but no stronger than any other horse in the field. He jumped well, he rated well, he was polite to other horses and hounds. Ryan had a very good insight when he said that Ike feels like he is relying on his instincts to get him through, but is starting to trust his rider for input. I think that is true of both Ike and Tina and is true of younger horses in general. I think we are training them at an appropriate pace with only working them 15 days a month and when hunting, not taking them out to the point of exhaustion. With the draft crosses I have known, they have been ok hunters their fourth through sixth years and then in their seventh or eighth year they really come into themselves both physically and mentally. Ryan and Ike and Tina and I hunted pretty hard for two hours. Lots of hills, a fair amount of galloping, interspersed with a few checks. After two hours the horses were both starting to touch coops, which is pretty unusual for them, so we took the hint, excused ourselves from the field, and had a nice half hour walk home. Good, good, good.

2/11/06 School in the arena which went well. Encouraged about tomorrow.

2/9/06 School outside with the German Martingale. To my surprise, he gave it a bigger bit of tension than Tina did, but it could have been related to being outside and being distracted by some kids playing nearby on a swingset. It was very good for him to focus with such distraction. We did a lot of trot and canter transitions with some nice work. Good boy.

2/4/06 Ryan rode Ike (see Tina's log for weather and other comments). He was a little strong at first, but no worse than the other horses, who had the wind under their tails too. He jumped well, managed ditches and was polite to other horses. He was a little ornery (didn't want to be polite for Ryan to remount) when Ryan stopped to help me when Tina's breastplate broke. Ike would have just as soon ditched us and hunted on. After we caught back up with the hunt, Ryan and Ike continued on and had a grand time of it. Ryan said that Ike was a star at one point in particular. They were coming down to a downhill coop and people were having trouble with adjusting their horses' speeds and were just getting hauled to the coop a bit dangerously. Ryan said he just checked up and Ike came right back, neatly jumped the coop and carried on with aplomb. Yay Ike!

2/2/06 Fabulous weather. Out for a hack with the running martingale in place. He was very good and the running martingale did help improve his reaction to the bit. When we did some galloping he saw fit to let out a few kicks of his heels to the sky, for which he was chastised. We also did some conditioning work in trot and canter. He has a lovely relaxed canter.

1/31/06 I had worked Tina first and the footing in the field was a little deeper than ideal, so I worked him in the arena. We discussed again, giving to the bit rather than commenting on its use. Coming along well.

1/30/06 I worked him in the arena, focusing on giving to the bit rather than commenting on its use. Very good results. Good boy. Shoe replaced. He was still kind of a pill about it. Pulled his foot away from the farrier a couple of times. Back to tapping on his feet until he gets better behaved about it.

1/27/06 Note in Tina's log about the days off. My genius farrier, despite the fact that we joked for 20 minutes when we shod them initially, that we were using up all his borium, forgot to order more, so could not replace Ike's lost shoe until his rush order comes in tomorrow (Saturday). Scheduled for replacement Monday. I gave the farrier the raspberries about it just for fun. But I digress. The footing was exceptional and Ike has really hard feet, so we went out for a hack. Ryan had a few issues stopping him (nothing like Tina, just a finesse thing) on the hunt so I worked on that. Again, like Tina, it is an issue of the rein aid not going through to the hock. The footing in the bean field was like a reining arena so we did a lot of galloping and halting and he improved a lot. More work to do, and he does like to come up in his neck a bit too, so running martingale time for him too. Good day.

1/22/06 Hunt at Grand River. I had an accomplished friend ride Ike since I want Ike to get more hunt mileage (I was on Tina) and it is great to have feedback from another rider about how he is coming along. Ike was a little strong at first, but got better and better as the day went on. Pretty much like most of the field today, so that was very nice. He jumped well, didn't buck and crossed terrain and one notable group of ruts very well. Late in the hunt they were crossing a concrete road bridge that had snow on it when he and a hound surprised each other. Ike jumped left (while the hound jumped right) and Ike slipped and lost his footing and lost his balance. My friend was unseated and Ike went for a brief canter with the group sans my friend, who was unharmed entirely. Ike was brought back to him and they continued to hunt very well the rest of the day. My friend said it was just a 4 year old horse and year old puppy moment and probably wouldn't have happened had either of them more experience. Ike finished the day quite relaxed and happy with himself. Good boy.

1/20/06 Worked in the arena with a review of neck reining and lateral work. He can get a little confused with the neck reining now and then, so we worked through that a little bit today. Introduced turns on the hindquarters neck reining. Then on to trot and canter work, focusing on him maintaining a steady rhythm on a more slack rein. Did very well. Reviewed work with the hunt whip and he was fine with it. Very good.

1/19/06 New shoes day. He was fine for the hoof trimming and front shoes. Even dealt with the portable forge burning within 10 feet of him. Very good. He was a pill about having the shoe put on his left hind, though and I got to do some re-schooling to save the farrier from losing his patience. Not a huge deal, but not glitch free. After shoeing it was hilarious to lead him back out to his paddock. He was picking up his hind feet like he had shipping boots on!

1/17/06 Groomed him up and tapped on his feet and he was quite good. Rode in the indoor working on neckreining and lateral work. Nice canter work too. Good day.

1/15/06 Clinic day. He did the ground work and lateral work part of the demo. There was no physical or training reason to have him do ground work and her jump rather than the other way around, I just chose to ride him first because I had the girls take him in the ring earlier in the morning to assist a vet's demo on where to give shots (no actual shots were given) and when he had to stand that long in front of a crowd, he got a little nervous and started hiccuping! It wasn't like the audience could see or hear it, but when he came out I asked them about it and they said he started doing it halfway through. I have had a horse do this before, so I was more giggling than concerned. We got him back to the stall and got him munching hay and with other horses and he stopped soon enough. So, when it came time for the riding demo, rather than have him stand while Tina worked first, I rode him first to help occupy his mind. He did very well and relaxed nicely. He had a few moments of resistance and momentarily forgot a few things, but this is typical of young horses in front of a crowd and he did a good job all around. He was very proud of him self as he should have been. Good boy.

1/14/06 Hauled him over the clinic in eastern Iowa. Hauled well, settled in well. I rode him in the arena and had pretty much the same experience Tina did, so that was positive. The girls gave him a bath afterword and he was a little less cooperative than Tina, but not too difficult.

1/12/06 Beauty shop day. The clippers fell victim to his coarse leg hair, but I finished the job with a scissors and it turned out well. Trimmed up his mane, tail and bridle path and he looks quite handsome.

1/11/06 He is doing well with tapping on his feet in preparation for shoes next Friday. I am using a heavy hoofpick and next week will graduate to the hammer. So far so good. Worked in the arena on neck reining and lateral work, which is coming along nicely. Reviewed one rein stops to help him remember how to respond to the bit (he can get a little head flippy once in a while. It is not high enough to be dangerous, but could be construed as mildly annoying. I do not like standing martingales because they take away the full use of the horse's neck, which they need in the hunt field if they get into trouble). He was quite good.

1/10/06 Back to the snaffle for every day work. The kimberwicke trial was just to see how he would react. It isn't necessary for schooling at home. Had some very nice canter work today. Warmed down with a lot of lateral work, including turns on the hindquarters and full pass. Good day.

1/5/06 Neck reining improving already. He much prefers going on a slightly slack western-type of contact and minds it very well. Good.

1/4/06 Almost exactly the same day Tina had today, with the exception of him being stiff in the opposite direction. Good day.

12/31/05 Hunted at Grand River. He was fine for mounting, stood very nicely for that and announcements. It was a small field despite mild temps in the low 30s, some sunshine and excellent footing. We moved off, went through a small creek and up into the hilly woods. The hounds got on pretty quickly and we went on a long run, during the first part of which he let out a very capable buck. Clearly just young horse exuberance, and a single buck at that, but he got a stern growling and open-handed slap on the shoulder for it. After another 300 yards, he bucked while jumping up the far side of another streambed and it was my extreme pleasure to use my whip across his butt firmly. He got religion after that and was a star over the first two coops which we took at a gallop. Hounds checked when scent carried them across the pasture with the 15 or so large ponies in it. Ike and I moved to block the ponies from joining the field as I was the only one in the field with a houndwhip. I had occasion to crack it loudly in their direction to move them off and Ike was not worried at all, which was lovely. We jumped out of the pony pasture over a coop, the approach to which had a tractor immediately to the right and an unidentified piece of farm equipment to the left. It was extremely distracting, but Ike dealt with it well and jumped where some others did not. Very very good. The run continued. A whip friend broke his breastplate so I pulled up and stayed with him for a few minutes while the field kept on the run and we removed the remnants of the breastplate from his horse. Ike was ok with staying back. The whip rode off and Ike was ok with that, especially since another friend had waited just up the path. We rode together to catch back up with the field and came upon a hunter, whose wife was carrying a huge unidentified thing (turkey decoy?) which Ike found not allowable. He shied and tried to run off. It was a 4 year old moment that I really couldn't blame him for as it was a really odd looking thing. We got over that and caught up with the field. Hunted slowly west, over some ditches and at one check were asked to come up and help hold hounds. In the process of doing that we had occasion to catch the huntsman's horse who was considering abandoning the mission while his master was attempting to break the ice for the hounds to drink. Ike was good with catching and ponying the horse back the short way that was required. Another half hour of hunting when hounds suddenly jumped a coyote and went on a fast half mile chase. We jumped a large brand new coop on a perfect half stride (ugh...) The best option would have been for him to shorten up and add a stride, the worst option would have been for him to lose concentration and refuse. My job was just to keep the horse balanced so that he had good options to work with. He chose the middle option and left a stride out to the biggish coop. Sailed it just fine. Nice to know he has a little scope. Suggested he would hesitate (really minor) at a ditch with a log in it and got an encouraging swat on the hindquarters and he responded well. The hounds had a kill and we blooded Ike in thanks for his help with the whip and hound duties. On the hack home, we were asked to be a flank whip to help carry hounds home. Tolerated hounds very near and the lash being moved to direct hounds occasionally very well. At one point he very accidently almost stepped on a hound who suddenly stopped right in front of him (not Ike's fault at all). He tried hard not to step on her but she yelped in surprise. He jumped in to the air in surprise at her and almost unseated me. Hound, human and horse were all a little surprised to say the least. I gave him a reassuring pat and he settled quickly. Hound completely unharmed. With the exception of the two bucks, he performed very well. Whip's interpretive map of the hunt.

12/30/05 Whip acclimation continues after some light flatwork. Today I started snapping it, which was mostly tolerable to him. I am laughably out of practice with a hunt whip, so we really only got a good snap about every fourth attempt, but the resulting noises and occasional entangling of the lash in his legs was good experience, which he tolerated well. At the end of the session I twirled the entire whip length over my head making a mighty and continued woosh which he was not thrilled with, but tolerated. Very good.

12/29/05 Continued whip acclimation after warmup. Coming along. He is calm, but keenly aware of the whip being swung around. Good.

12/28/05 Ike, mostly because of his conformation, does not struggle with tightening his underneck as Tina does, so we moved on to hunt whip acclimation for him. I warmed up on the flat as usual and then picked up the whip which I had sitting on the fence. First I dragged the lash over his body while he was walking around. He lent an ear to it, but was otherwise unimpressed. Then I let about 3 feet of it out and I was swinging it back and forth in the air along, but not touching, his body. Same deal-- ear but not concern. Then I took the same three feet of it and swung it around my head so that it would make a sound as it went through the air. That was a little concerning, but I just kept it up and reassured him and he figured out that it was fine. Very good start.

12/27/05 I brought Ike in with my working student and we proceeded to groom and tack him. I picked up and cleaned all his feet and he was fine. Then I asked my working student to pick up all his feet. He absolutely planted his right front. I thought she was doing something wrong because she couldn't get it. So I tried it to "show her how". Ha. He was absolutely belligerent about picking it up to the point that I had to get a dressage whip out and tap him on the leg until he picked it up. Even that took a while. I then picked it up another 8 times or so, none of which were cooperative. Then I rode him in the arena, thinking he would probably be obnoxious. Never had such a nice day. Lovely soft canter, nice trot work, good transitions. Horses!

12/21/05 Oh my goodness, almost warm out. 30 degrees and sunny. I rode him out in the pasture. He was fine at a walk and a trot, but at a canter he got strong enough that I had to lay down the law a bit to get him back. On the canter on the right lead, he departed, bucked and attempted a bolt. I raised my voice and got him back right away, repeated the depart and he did fine. Occasionally her reminds me that he is indeed, a mere babe at 4 years old. We did more trot and canter work and it went fine.

12/19/05 20 degrees, but no wind, so not bad out. He was stellar for mounting, stood rock still. I then had him stand there about another minute, just to reiterate that he doesn't have to be in a hurry to go anywhere. That went well. His walk and trot work went well. When we had stirred up some dust in the arena with the trot work, a shaft of light that was coming in the crack between the door and the jam was illuminating all the dust particles and it looked for the world like a swirling force field. It really was spectacular. Ike thought so too, and didn't want to cross it. We worked through it though and he did go through it several times, though, not particularly relaxed. His canter work went very well too. The left "half pass" is much easier for him than the right, but the right will come along with practice and encouragement. Tina hunted hard enough yesterday so she gets the day off.

12/15/05 Ike was on his best game today. We worked on trot leg yield, which he had resisted before but today it seems that the lightbulb went on to full brightness. He did so well that once we were in cater work, I asked for a semblance of canter half pass and this was very easy for him. He is very methodical in his gaits, so it is easy for him to just stay in the rhythm and glide over a few feet. That's power steering in the hunt field. Well done, Ike!

12/13/05 Worked in the arena on transitions within the canter, from collected to working to lengthening and up and down the scales. He did very well. Did some lateral work during warmdown.

12/12/05 Worked in the arena on transitions and leg yielding. He has a reasonable amount of resistance to moving right in leg yield, but he came through eventually. His transition work is going well.

12/10/05 Hunted at Booneville. He was good for mounting, and opening comments. We had a nice canter to carry the hounds over the hill and the horse next to him threw a pretty impressive bucking hissy fit and Ike managed to mostly ignore it. Gooood! He had a few moments of throwing his head which we all could do without, but it seems to be an early hunt thing because after the first few minutes and some negative feedback from his rider, ,he stopped it. I am playing with the idea of a running martingale, but am not sure it is necessary. The footing was great. He is not a terribly brave horse and likes to inspect ditch crossings, for which, today, he got a pretty good boot, since 2 horses had crossed in front of him and he has reason to believe alligators only live much further south, and are therefore not a concern. We jumped one coop today as it just happened that we were mostly in open fields. However, the coop we jumped is a notorious one, which is quite large and has vertical slats. He flew it confidently, even with the 5 inches of snow on the ground. Fabulous. When we got home, we met the farrier, who had vastly underestimated the size of their hooves, so we couldn't put shoes on. He trimmed both Ike and Tina's hooves which went pretty well. He will order the right size shoes and we will do them ASAP when they come in, probably in a week or two.

12/9/05 I rode him in the indoor and he was a bit of a pill at first. Skiddled around after mounting, so we kept at it until he stood stock still on a long rein. Very good. Then he was being fussy about downward transitions, with some impressive head tossing. I was concerned that it might be teeth issues, because it was pretty dramatic. But after he warmed up he got much better. Unless the habit continues, I will assume it was the summation of cold weather and 6 days off. By the end he was doing very well and much more relaxed.

12/3/05 Jay hunted Ike at Booneville. Led the field in fact. The new bit is a hit. Not too much, but an improvement in response. Ike jumped very well, though he looked very dubiously and stopped at a vertical slatted coop that was uphill and quite biggish. Tina showed her "brother" how to jump it and he followed right over. We jumped a similar sized jump later in the hunt and Ike sailed it like a champ. He crossed small creeks and ditches and managed terrain and hounds like a champ. Note on weather and borium on Tina's page.

12/2/05 16 degrees and cloudy. Gee, why not go riding?! I rode him with a small pessoa elevator to see how that would work for him before I tried it on the hunt tomorrow. He reacted to it well and with not too much resistance. We'll see how the hunt goes tomorrow and we'll also see how many layers I wear. I'm guessing 5. :-)

11/30/05 Hunt at South River. It was a cool evening (29 degrees) and I was reminded early on that I meant to try an elevator bit on this next hunt. He gets a little strong in the cool weather. He was manageable, just not terribly polite at times in the early going. However, he was a smash success for the hunt for the most part. There was a very small field of 4, since it was a Wednesday and the 3 p.m. meet time is hard for many to make, plus the threat of 2-4" of snow. He was great over terrain and coops and everything that was thrown at him in this interesting country on an active hunt. He did have a stop at a large coop whose boards were vertical rather than horizontal with a landing on a gravel road. It was just oo much stuff thrown at him at once and he refused the first time. I growled at him and re-presented and he went right over, much praise. We must have jumped 15 other coops and he was great over all of them. Late in the hunt we were asked to step in as whips and he was great. We even managed to bring in the lone hound that was unaccounted for. Ike and Camie, heroes for the day!

11/28/05 Worked in the arena with a lot of trot work, asking him to come forward in his neck and be steady in his carriage. Did some canter transition work which went very well.

11/25/05 Hunt at South River. He was a little impatient at the meet, but a lot of horses were. There was a fresh wind and with temperatures in the upper 20s, they were all on their toes. He was very good for the first 20 minutes, but as the hunt wore on he got in a habit of being on his forehand and a little disrespectful of the bit. I've experienced this before with horses who have hunted enough to think they have this hunting thing licked. They get a little cocky and neglect to look for rider input. I especially dislike they way he was tending to be on his forehand. For the next hunt I am going to put him in a pessoa elevator to give him a little come to Jesus about who gets to make the decisions in the team. I'd prefer his rider not to have to work as hard as I did at times today. The come to Jesus can be as short or long, kind or not so, as he signs up for. All that said, he did everything competently--galloped in groups, checked, tolerated hounds, jumped coops, forded crossings. Just a little tuning to do...

11/23/05 Two mile road hack. The wind was up and it was a little cooler and he had that wind fully under his tail. He was having trouble focusing and being somewhat of a ninny the first half mile. It was just the cool weather. He settled in for the second mile and a half and finished with some good work.

11/21/05 Windy but milder today. Worked in the arena on leg aids and transitions. Did some leg yielding at a walk and trot which went well.

11/17/05 Note on Tina's log about the weather. Worked in the arena on lateral work. Jay said that the two areas Ike could use work on are being lighter laterally and having a quicker stop. The two skills are connected somewhat. I worked on the lateral work today. He did quite well.

11/13/05 Hunt at Tipton. I rode him in second flight to help coach some nervous friends through the hunt. I also wanted to see how Ike would handle the request of not being in the front of the field. He handled it beautifully. He stood nicely while I opened some of the more cooperative gates from his back and also when I had to get off to open some of the beasties. He jumped efficiently and without hesitation and went back and forth over a few of them to give leads. He led through rivers and dealt with hounds popping out of coverts. We had a few runs and he did great.

11/9/05 Jay rode Ike at South River. Ike loaded and unloaded well, stood calmly at the trailer for tacking. He stood nicely for opening comments and moved off with the field very nicely. They got along famously. He was joint field master and Ike was equally at home in the front as he had been in the past. Jay didn't lead over any of the obstacles in deference to the more senior other co-fieldmaster, but Ike was happy to jump second too. They handled terrain well and Jay was even the first to tally ho a coyote, so he must have been able to let the horse do his job enough to be looking around as he rode! Jay commented that Ike could use a little more "stop". Good to have the input. Ike did great and had a fun time. Also, neither Ike nor Tina seems to be very buddy sour, which is great. They are happy to see each other in the field, but when they are separated or asked to move away from each other it is no big deal to either of them. That is wonderful.

11/7/05 Jump school. He was a little happy to go in the warm up and suggested that he could buck if I asked him to, and galloping was not out of the question. They were all good-natured suggestions, not rowdy at all. He jumped very well after the warm up.

11/4/05 Beautiful mild day. We went for a hack and had a nice steady hand gallop for about half a mile on the harvested soybean field which is nice forgiving footing. We worked on transitions within the gait, which are so handy for hunting. He did very well.

11/2/05 I brought him in and brushed him, tacked up and worked in the arena. We did a lot of work on transitions which went well. Good day.

10/31/05 At the brunch after hunting Tina yesterday, I was given a picture of Ike and I hunting.

10/28/05 I took Ike for a two mile hack in the fields. He hunted so well on Wednesday that I now want to start working on more subtle things with him, like neck reining and working on a loose rein. He has the *potential* to be one of those rare hunt horses that can go along on a relatively slack rein all through a hunt (eventually), rather than pulling nervously as 90% of the field does. He did very well today.

10/26/05 Hunt at South River. Loaded and unloaded and stood for tacking and announcements very well. We left the meeting place and cantered about half a mile to the first cast. He was very good, rateable and polite and happy. The hounds were cast and we got on a run right away. When we got going fast, he let out a group of bucks that were enough to keep me on my toes, but not alarming. Little growl and he was over it. Over hill and dale. Opened a gate for the huntsman and Ike stood very well as the field followed the huntsman through. A few people waited with me while I closed the gate and I mounted up and we cantered off. Very matter of fact about it he was. I stayed with a friend while he closed a gate and the field roared by. Ike was just fine staying with my friend, where many horses would have not been ok with it. My friend and I galloped up the mud road for about a mile and a half. Ike was pretty tired but kept gamely on. I let him just sort of coast up rather than riding as fast as he could go. He did great. Short check, back into country. Jumped a coop with literally a one stride approach as it was out of a non-harvested corn field, so it was turn left and jump. I made sure he saw it and was straight and he did great. Jumped it perfectly out of a trot. Another run, jumped a pair of offset coops, down a really steep valley and up again all at a gallop. Really did well with his feet. He is coming along very well. He gets tomorrow off.

10/25/05 2 mile hack. We worked on him being steady in the bridle. He wants to give to the bit for about a stride and then lock up again. It is important for them to keep mentally with the rider and when they are locked in their necks and looking elsewhere, they aren't mentally with the rider. Made some progress.

10/24/05 I brought him in and brushed him and cleaned out his feet. He "forgot" how to pick up his back legs. They backpeddle now and then in their training so I'm not too worried about it. He did eventually give them but it took a bit. Tacked up and went in the arena and he was really feeling confident. Rather not take input from the girl in the tack. I've had this before--a horse hunts well a couple of times and figures he's all that. I like that they are confident, but they also need to remember that they are part of a team and on that team they are linemen, not quarterbacks. We did a lot of trot work, focusing on him being steady in the bridle and it eventually went well. Canter work was very nice.

10/22/05 Hunted at Grand River. He loaded and unloaded well and stood for grooming and tacking. He was a little bit antsy during the stirrup cup, even offered to rear slightly once for which he was growled at and he promptly stopped it. Good. We hacked off with the field and he was quite good, just a little antsy when we stopped. Not quite as settled as Wednesday. Then we got on a run and he did very well over a rock-filled ditch, but when he galloped away from it as he was asked to do, he bucked three times, I think for sure joy. They were straight line bucks and not hard to ride, but he was growled at and he stopped it. Good. Galloped on and did excellently over the next hour of hunting. Jumped a biggish coop on a run. It is a solid 3' and uphill so sort of looms out in front of you. He wobbled coming up to it, but jumped it well. He also managed a drop/ditch better than most of the rest of the field. On the same run, we came across a 4' wide ditch out of nowhere, looked like maybe somebody came out and scooped up a load of dirt with the front end loader. We saw it two strides out at a pretty nice gallop. He never wavered and just flew it. Nice horsie. He is, needless to say, very good with his feet. We jumped several more coops and had a few more runs. He did very well. After an hour and a half I brought him home. Enough for the day, I don't want to overstress him or make hunting unfun due to fatigue. He stood tied to the trailer with only a few other horses tied to other trailers while we waited about 45 minutes for the rest of the hunt to come in. He had some water, ate from his haybag, and other than a few restless paws on the ground, was very good. He ate quickly in the trailer during brunch, trailered home and offloaded well. Very good.

10/19/05 Took Ike on his first hunt. Our Booneville hunt country has a lot of jumps, hills and small creek crossings, so I thought it would be a good first outing. He loaded and offloaded like a star, stood like a champ, despite the horse next to him being nervous, stood for tacking and stood when I got on. Wonderful start! Waited for announcements politely and even allowed himself to be held by a friend from another horse while I helped a friend who was having trouble with her mount. We cantered up a hill to start off with and he was just a little fast, but more interested in the goings on than nervous. We went up and down hills, through a small creek and over a pair of coops. He watched hounds! The jumping was green, but effective. At a pair of coops set at 90 degrees, I opted to lead the gate group in a direction away from the field (that jumping question is for another day for Ike). Ike very bravely not only left the jumping field and went away, but lead the group of 12 or so gate folks with aplomb. When we got back with the field in just a minute or two, we had a few shorts runs and a field master with a penchant for gallop, stop, gallop, stop (why can't they just trot steadily as the huntsman is doing?) and Ike handled it very well. Only once did he get slightly out of hand, when another horse on his left was running away with his rider, Ike got into the spirit of the thing and joined the party briefly. Ike was the first to stop of the two horses, so that was impressive. He was out of hand maybe 4 strides. A friend and I retired after about 40 minutes as Ike had done well and he isn't terribly fit. I didn't want him to get the idea that hunting is a never ending workfest. A very good start.

10/17/05 I brought Ike in and played with his feet and groomed him. He is getting more relaxed about his back feet all the time. We worked in the arena, focusing on him keeping his neck down and giving to the bit as he continued to go forward. He did very well. We also did walk leg yield, at which he is either a savant or he has had some exposure to. :-) Very good.

10/14/05 I decided not to hunt him on Sunday as Jay pointed out that the rock crossings of the creeks, which there are many, at this hunt country will be hard on his tender feet. This is a very good point I hadn't considered. This is also a difficult hunt country. Wednesday's hunt at Booneville will be a better first outing and we will shoot for that. Probably a smaller field which is nice for a first timer. I will also see if I can get them shod in the near future now that they are getting a little better about their back feet.

10/13/05 I brought him in and worked with his feet, picking them up and cleaning them all and then picking each one up again. Steady improvement. Tacked up and went out to ride in the pasture. We had some conversations about giving to, rather than resisting against the bit and he responded well and seems to go fine in the french link. We did some walk, trot and canter work, including halt and stand (the holy Grail of foxhunting horses) in between. He did very well, with just a few "barn gravity" bobbles. Then we jumped over a small log and a small coop and he was as blase' as ever. Good boy.

10/12/05 I brushed him and played with his feet. That is coming along, now it is just a matter of repetition to make him more comfortable. I tacked up and had a friend lead him for a bit while I rode. I always do this my first time on young horses. So many variables have changed for them--new surroundings, new people, sometimes new herd-- that sometimes their confidence in undermined and they get goofy. Not Ike. Walk, trot, canter, no problem. My friend was not needed after the first lap around the arena. He is quite well-balanced for a young draft cross. The danger in this is that we forget that he is young and push him too hard. We'll have to be mindful. It was a great first ride. I am going to switch his bit to a french link snaffle. The simple broken snaffle can hit the top of their palette and hurt when engaged. Though he was very well behaved when I engaged the bit, he seemed quite uncomfortable. I will switch to a french link tomorrow. We will see how the rest of the week goes. I have not ruled out hunting him Sunday.

10/11/05 I brought Ike in and brushed him and worked on his picking up his feet for cleaning. He was good with the front, but having trouble figuring out how to balance on three legs for the back. Funny with young horses, they try to balance on the two diagonal legs while picking up the back feet, but they are fine when you pick up a front. He is struggling with it, but trying and it is coming. I sacked him out like I did with Tina and he was entirely unimpressed. I saddle him and took him out in the arena. We worked a lot on leading. He needs to learn to move forward when asked and keep his handler between his ear and shoulder, which makes it easy for everyone. He got a good start on it. We worked on stretching down, as I did with Tina and that seemed to be a relief to him.

10/10/05 I went out and met Ike in the pasture. He and Tina are with another youngish draft cross and seem settled. I put his halter on and got to know him a little. He is very friendly and sweet. I brushed him all over and picked up his feet. As noted, he is a little touchy about his hind feet. He snatched them up when asked to pick them up and wasn't comfortable with standing on the other three legs only. I didn't push it today, but this is something that must be addressed. It is a trust issue which we will start with tomorrow. I fed him some treats, rubbed his face and let him go.

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