New saddle!

My new saddle, a Wintec 500 came on Friday. I didn't have a chance to ride in it till today cause of the weather. Twosox seemed to like it. When we were walking around his head was really low and then when I asked him to trot he would stretch. His trot was SOOOOOO nice to ride!! Normally it is really bouncy and totally unconforable to ride but this time it was smooth and really really nice!!

We did Follow the rail, Figure 8's, Point to point, Weaving, Sideways, 9 step back up and lots more!!! We rode around for a bit with me just using my savvy string. Twosox is SO sensitive!!! Even when I am asking him to go sideways, our sideways is WAY better when I don't have my carrot stick because I am lighter!! Twosox did really well with standing still and stopping when I ask him to stop. When I first got up on Twosox didn't even move!! Not like before when as soon as I was on him he would start walking away. Even after we had been trotting he was would stand still when I asked him to stop!! It was great!!!

Before I got on and rode we did Zone 5 driving with two lines, Transitions, Touch it [from z5], Sideways towards me, circles, and I asked Twosox to jump the barrels. I am really beginning to see how amazing Twosox really is. Sure he has is unconfident moments but he really tries to do what I am asking and it is just really cool!!

Here are some pictures from this morning...

~K

Fun with Left brain introverts!!

Sorry this is so late. We have been so busy that I haven't had time to write. So I will have to catch up!! :)

June 22 2009

My mom and I went out to play today. I played with Prince and she played with Knightly. Prince and I did zone 5 driving, Figure 8's from zone 5, cantering on the circle, change of directions at the trot [maintaining gate through the change of direction], Weaving, and transitions. Then mom and Knightly came up and we decided to play with both horses together.

We did circles first. Those were fun. Knightly wanted to walk and Prince cantered around then both would stop and look at us like "Okay we are done now" it was so cute!! Once they got the hang of it they did really good though!!!

Then we went and asked them to jump the barrels together. We had to play with it for a bit at first but then one time they both jumped it at the same time!! It was perfect!! We then took the lead ropes off and sent the horses around at Liberty. We wanted them to trot around the riding ring twice then come back to us. Prince went off like a good little pony but Knightly went right to the gate and wasn't planning on leaving. So I got really intense and started creeping towards him then he took off like a bullet. Prince was trotting around and when he saw Knightly running Prince went from a trot to gallop and started chasing Knightly. It was SO funny to watch. Needless to say we got our two laps. They cantered/galloped the first lap then trotted the second.

I bend over just a little bit to disengage Prince and he stopped right away and came trotting into me. Then I sent Knightly back to mom. It was so much fun!! We wanted to put the horses on the grass that we have blocked off right now so I started walking over to the gate with Prince but Knightly left mom and then Prince took off running after him then after a couple seconds Prince came trotting back to me. He did this twice!! Every time Knightly was close to mom Prince would come back to me. It was really interesting!!!!

It was so much fun!!! Since both Prince and Knightly are Left Brain Introverts I think it made it even more fun because they were so much the same!! Gotta love those LBIs!!!!!!

~K

My RBI is back...

June 18 2009

I got up early again today and went out and played with Twosox. He let me walk right up to him. I rubbed him for a bit then went to halter him. He didn't bend his head like he normally does for the halter. So I asked him to bend it around but his neck was almost a stiff as a board!! Then I realized that he had gone internal. Hmmmm that was interesting!!!! So I waited till he came out of it and then asked him again. He bend it around a little. I put the halter on then we stayed where we were for a bit until he relaxed.

Then we went and played a little bit before we went up to the riding ring. Twosox got really worried when we got up there. I was the last thing on his mind. So we went and I gave him a lot of puzzles to figure out. Twosox was paying a little bit more attention to me but not enough that I felt ready to move onto the next thing. So we then went around the riding ring and I asked Twosox to straddle each of the poles. That really started to get his attention. Then one time I asked him to put three feet on one side of the pole and leave him back foot on the other side. This really got his attention because he couldn't do what I was asking but be paying more attention to everything else.

After a little bit he figure out what I wanted and then turned his head and asked me a question!!!
We did some circles, transitions, Touch it, and Sideways. Then when I was pretty sure that he was totally left brain and listening to me we did some zone 5 driving. We did a little bit with one line then we to two lines. Since we now have two 22ft lines I was able to use them. It was SO much nicer then using my 45ft line tied into two lines. Twosox did really well. At first he wasn't to sure about the ropes around him so I played friend till he was okay then I asked him to walk forward. We walked a couple steps then Twosox stopped. I rubbed him then asked him to go again. After a little bit we started turning, me stopping him, backing up, going over things and playing Touch it!!!

Twosox did so well. I was really proud of him. I wanted to ride but the bugs so bad that I decided to end there.

~K

Where did my LBI go????

So this morning I got up at 6:30 and went out to play with the horses. I wanted to get out before the bugs got bad. It was SO much fun playing really early!!! It was so peaceful out side!!

Twosox came over to me as soon as he saw me. He is so sweet! He followed me around and so we ended up played at liberty a little bit. We played with the ball for a little bit. He wasn't to sure about it at first but as soon as he sniffed it out and all he was fine.

I was supposed to be playing with Prince but he didn't exactly want to be caught so I just started asking him to do things at liberty. I asked him to go over to the ball and check that out, then we did some sideways, leading by the tail then we did some touch it. Prince went over to the ball and I asked him to touch it. He put his nose on it then looked at me so I smiled and asked him to put his nose back on the ball he did it then he looked at me and asked a question. So I asked him to put his nose back on the ball. He did and he just kept it there then he started playing with it and pushing it around.

Then I put my savvy string around his neck and we did some sideways towards me, leading by the tail but I asked Prince to do it faster, and then we went over to my halter that was on the ground. Prince didn't even notice the halter. So I put a little bit of oats on the halter. Prince was looking all over for the oats but couldn't find them. I asked him to lower his head and he put his head right above the oats and then realized they were there and ate them. Then I haltered Prince from the ground. He kept his head really low for me while I haltered him.

We then went up to the riding ring. We started by doing some stick to me. I made sure that my focus was really strong and I had my energy up. Prince did really well and stuck with me the whole time. We worked more on our cantering stick to me. It is getting so much better!!!

Since we had played in the corral before we came up and on the way up to the riding ring I got on Prince. He was in a great mood and looked ready to ride. So I got up bareback. He is SOOOOO comfy!!! I haven't ridden him bareback in a while so it was really nice to be able to do it. Compared to riding Twosox BB Prince is a dream!! He is very wide!!

We didn't do to much at first. Just some carrot stick riding, preparing for when we ride bridleless riding. Prince and I are getting really close being ready. I think we are ready now but I want to really make sure that we are going to be safe but still have fun.

Prince was in a playful mood, hmmmm my LBI is playful?!?! He wanted to play. So I got off because I didn't really want to deal with that while I was riding. So we played some on the ground. It was AMAZING!!! I mean Prince cantered on the 12ft line and there was a lot of slack in the rope!!!! So he was cantering on about 9-10ft!!!!!!!!! It felt like wasn't even there!! I asked him to just the barrels standing up. Then we went and did transitions, Weaving, Sideways towards and away from me. Then I got back on again. Prince still had a lot of energy and wanted to trot so we trotted for a little bit then he started snaking his head and it kind of felt like was going to buck a little so I got off again.

My mom was using the 22ft line but since I really needed to give Prince more room to move his feet and run I had to figure out something. My hackamore was lying on the fence and I remembered that you could untie the reins and make it into a 22ft line!! Thank you God for that idea!!! So I untied the reins and put the hackamore on Prince. I don't know why I didn't think of doing that before!!!!!!!!!!! We have needed another 22ft line SO many times but never had one so we just made do but now we have one!!!!!!!!!! My sister has a hackamore that she doesn't use a lot so I asked her if I can use that one when I ride and that way we can keep mine untied so that we can have two 22ft lines!!!!!! I am SOOOO happy!!!

Anyways.... So Prince and I went and played. It was so weird seeing Prince have all this energy!! I wasn't prepared for that!! He cantered everywhere. We did change of directions with out him breaking gait [we have gotten them before but they were never that nice!!] Prince was just amazing!! We did Weaving at a trot, lots of transitions. Prince almost galloped too!!!!

It was so cute because one time Prince was trotting around on the circle and he saw the pedestal and climbed up on it with all four feet then turned and looked at me and asked a question!!!! He was sooooooo cute!!!

Then I tied the rope into two lines. I can tell that it is actually a 22ft line because it was perfect for us to do zone 5 driving. My other 22ft line has shrunk so it really isn't 22 feet long anymore. We did some trotting, sideways, then we did some figure 8's. At first Prince didn't get the pattern and they didn't look that pretty but once he got the pattern he was great!!! We have never got that nice of figure 8's!!!!!! I let Prince lick and chew on that then I got back on to ride.

Prince did really well. We did some follow the rail, sideways, back up with just the savvy string and some point to point!!!! It was great!! Once I let Prince go he went to the gate [there was a skunk that he was really interested in] I started skipping with my savvy sting just to see what Prince would do he ran off then turned and ran towards me!!! So we played at liberty a little. We did stick to me, and sideways towards me, then I opened the gate.

Prince was SOOO much fun to play with!!! Not that he normally isn't but it was fun to see that he can put out a lot of energy!!!

Should be fun to see what he is like next time!!

~K

Finally getting back out!

For the past couple days we have been so busy that I haven't even had time to go out and see the horses. So this morning I went out and spent a little bit of time with the horses. I was going to play with Twosox but by the time I got out there the bugs were getting bad. So I just let Twosox eat for a little bit [I kept the other horses away]. It was nice just to spend some time with Twosox hanging out and not doing to much. Once things settle down a little bit I am hoping to go out and play and get back into the habit of being out every day.

Here are some pictures that I took in the spring...





~K

Talk about energy!

June 12 2009

I played with Ruffy this morning! He had so much energy!! At first all he wanted to do was canter and gallop around so I let him but I every once and a while I would ask him to go faster or slower, change direction, go around something etc just to keep it all interesting.

It was interesting to see that Ruffy has gotten a lot better and listening to your body and not just the rope or stick. One thing that I caught myself doing was using my rope to much i.e. when I wanted him to stop or if he wasn't doing a downward transitions etc I would use my rope and then Ruffy would put his head high and brace against it. Hmmmmmm How interesting! So I started using my carrot stick more and Ruffy got so much better! He really started to get in tune with me and then I hardly needed to use my carrot stick or rope!!

After a bit I switched the game. We worked on Weaving. I wanted to directed his energy even more so we started at the trot but then he had this look on his face like he had no idea what to do so we slowed down and did it at a walk then when he got really good at the walk we went to the trot and he got it!!

I knew that Ruffy probably wouldn't jump the barrels standing on end [not that he couldn't but before when my sister has asked him to jump them when they are standing on end Ruffy hasn't] So what I did was I put two barrels standing on end and then one barrel lying between them but I made it so there was just a small gap for Ruffy to jump through. Then we walked away from the barrels [it is not about the barrels] and we started a traveling circle game. Then I just put the barrels in Ruffy's way. The first couple times he just went in between me and the barrels but that was more my fault because I didn't line it up right. Then one time Ruffy was cantering towards the barrels and when he got to then he stopped, looked at them then leaped right over them!!!! I mean he like leaped from a stand still about 4ft in the air, landed on the other side and looked at me like "Bet you didn't think I could do THAT" hehe I was rather shocked to say the least!! It was SO cool!! I have seen Ruffy jump the barrels when they were in the exact same way but he never cleared it like that!!

Then since I wanted to in some way advance our Online we did some zone 4/5 driving. Ruffy was a lot more confident then he was in the winter [thanks to my sister doing a lot of friendly in zone 5] We walked a long the fence then everyone and I while I would stop and back up. Ruffy did everything I wanted! It was great!!

Then before I let Ruffy go I wanted to do some Liberty. So I took the halter off. Ruffy trotted tot he other side of the riding ring and started eating so I started walking towards zone 5. Then he turned and faced me so I walked away he came up to me. I knew that he would probably leave again because we weren't in a round corral. He did. So I decided that it was no use trying to get him back because he will just leave again. So I started running with him. Then one time I stopped really fast and Ruffy did the same!! Then I started running again, Ruffy did the same. I had caught Ruffy and I wasn't even trying!!!! Then we changed directions and went the other way. Ruffy was glued to me!! He didn't even try leaving!! Then one time I just "put" the barrels in the way and Ruffy flew right over them!!!!

We went over to the gate and I let him go he slowly walked down the hill. We only played for 30 minutes but it was amazing!! I wasn't sure what Ruffy would be like since I hadn't played with him in a while but he was fabulous!!!

~K

Progress!!

June 11 2009

Prince and I had a great play time this morning. I was hoping to ride him but the bugs got really bad before I had a chance too. Oh well. We still had a great time playing!!

We started by just playing on the 12ft line and checking our short range circle game and other stuff. Then we started playing with canter stick to me. Prince caught on so quickly that with in a couple minutes when ever I started cantering in my body Prince would canter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the longest time I was kind of avoiding doing it because I didn't think that we were good enough for it and like normal when ever I think we aren't good enough Prince shows me that we are ready and we get it!!!

After that I put the 22ft line on Prince and I asked Prince to canter. He cantered two laps with slack in the line!!!! It was like he wasn't even there!!!!!! It was so cool!!! I am really seeing how I need to make sure my energy matches what I am asking Prince to do. It is amazing to see the difference in Prince when I am getting it right!! :)

We ended there because the bugs were driving Prince crazy. Our ride will have to wait :(

~K

Catching up...

Well I am a little behind on my play time posts because things that been SO busy and it looks like it will be busy for the next couple weeks at least. So I will try and remember what all happened in each play time.

June 8 2009

My blue savvy string and certificate came in today!!!

I played with Twosox before it got to hot. I put my Fusion on him and rode him in that. He did really well. On the ground we played on the 45ft line. Of course we didn't have enough room to play with the whole length but we still got a little bit more room. We did traveling circle game, Weaving, Touch it, Zone 4/5 driving, Figure 8's and Leading by the tail.

Then I got up and rode. We did follow the rail, Weaving, Figure 8's, Transitions, We worked on trotting for longer distances and Sideways. Twosox was a lot happier in my Fusion then in the english saddle but he still didn't seem totally comfortable in it. Something to think about.

When I first got up to ride Twosox didn't want to stand still. So we played with that. We rode over to a tire and stood there until he could stand still. When ever Twosox left or started leaving I would bring him back and then leave him alone. Pretty soon he was able to stand still and wait until I asked him to go. Then we rode about 10ft over to another tire and stopped there. This time Twosox stayed there and didn't try leaving. We kept doing this for a bit then we would ride longer distances then stop then we would trot a little bit then stop at something. Twosox used to have a hard time standing still once he had being trotting but since we fixed the problem at the walk he knew that when I stopped we were supposed to stop!!

It was interesting! I always get something to think about when I play with Twosox!!

~K

Welcome!

Hey all!

Here is the link to my LiveJournal where you can read all my older posts.

HaflingerHorse's LiveJournal

This is going to be where I record all my horse happenings!!! and maybe some other stuff too!! You never know!!

~K