Prince: Figuure eights, circles and more!

April 29 2010

After I played with Ruffian I played with Prince. We had a great playtime and a really good but interesting ride. We started off by doing a little bit at Liberty. We played with speeding up our hindquarter disengagements, forequarter yields, back up's and more. I think I finally found the amount of energy that I need for Prince respond with more speed... it is more then I am used too! We had great success though. 

When we were up in the riding ring we did circles, sideways while I kept my feet still, jumping, straddling the barrel, and lots of other fun stuff! We didn't do 30 circles but we did 20 each way because Prince had rhythm, relaxation and connection plus the black flies were getting bothersome.  Prince did very well though and going tot he right it was only 1 correction and to the left it was 2!! 

For riding we didn't do much. Just Figure eights which were interesting. I really want to get Prince responding to my body more and my reins less so we played with that. I know I am doing something wrong... or not doing something but I am not sure what. My Mom was able to video tape some of our figure eights near the end so I was able to watch it and it actually looks a lot better then it felt! 

Here is a short video... 

Seeing as I was bareback my balance isn't the best yet but it is getting there! I can't believe how much I trotted bareback (I trotted a lot more then is shown in the video)

Until next time...

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: Circles and more.

April 29 2010

This morning I played with Ruffian. We had a lot of fun. I decided to put the bareback pad on him just to see how he would handle it. He was fine with it so that was good. We did a little bit of touch it while we were in the corral and then we went up to the riding ring. On our way up I sent Ruffy on a head and so I was in zone 5 and I drove him up the whole way. He wasn't totally sure about that but pretty soon he caught on.

We didn't do a whole lot while we were up there. The main things were Figure eights and Circles. Ruffy was fantastic at the Figure eights. Considering he used to strongly dislike them. He did a wonderful job though and trotted them beautifully! Then we did circles! Going to the right it took 58 circles with 11 corrections to get half a circle of rhythm, relaxation and connection. Going to the left it took 32 circles with 7 corrections. It was interesting. After that I let Ruffian go and he stayed with me for a while before he moseyed off.

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Having a BLAST!!

April 28 2010 

This morning after I trimmed Knightly I played with Twosox. We had so much fun!! I put the bareback pad on him for the first time in a LONG time. He was pretty much okay with that. There were a couple times he wasn't so sure about it but he did really well. We played for a bit in the corral before we went up to the riding ring. We did circles, sideways, yo-yo's, and playing with shelter. This time I stood on the outside and sent Twosox in like it was a trailer. At first he wasn't to sure about after a couple tries he was confident. Then I backed him into the shelter. I was actually surprised at how well Twosox did! After he back into it he looked around, lick and chewed and then I brought him into me. 

Then we went up to the riding ring. We had so much fun. I think that this was probably one of our best play times! We did 30 laps on the circle each way. Going to the right I only have to make 1 correction and going to the left I only have to make 3!!! For the first day that is incredible! Both Prince and Twosox have really amazed me in maintaining gate so well!! They have been doing an amazing job! I think part of it is because horses love having a job so once they know their responsibility they love it! 

After that I was going to get on and ride because Twosox was calm and confident but when we went over to the gate to close it Twosox started spooking at things. The wind had picked up and it is scarier on that side of the corral... or at least Twosox thinks so. I think the trees don't help. We did some sideways a long the fence. At first Twosox was scared and wasn't paying attention to me so it took a while but pretty soon he calmed down and we got some really nice sideways both directions. Mr. Parelli says "If you want them (the horse) used to black birds get them okay with eagles" so I grabbed the big piece of plastic that was one of the things that spooked Twosox and off we went. It was soooo  much fun! I love problem solving! We did almost everything with the tarp. At first Twosox was to scared even to touch it so we played with that then he would touch it and let me rub it on his head and neck... but nothing else so we kept playing and then I could rub him on his back and on the side of his stomach, then his hindquarters, then his hind legs, then under him. Pretty soon I could rub him every where! So then when the wind started up again I let the taro blow around a bit to get Twosox used to that and so on. After that I asked Twosox to stand on it. He was fine with that. It was really cool because as he was standing on it the wind picked up again and I thought that Twosox would jump off of it but he stood there, he spooked a little bit but he tried really hard not to move. What a special horse! The wind stopped and Twosox was still standing there then he looked at me and asked a question. It was so cool! 

After that I got up and rode. I felt confident that Twosox was okay with the wind and everything in the arena. We had an amazing ride! We did some point to point and then circles at the walk and trot. Twosox's trot doesn't seem so big any more! I think that since I can sit Prince's fast trot with the bareback pad Twosox's trot seems like nothing! 

Circles went well. Twosox did really well for the first time doing them in... well months! I haven't ridden him in a long time! It must have been back in February that I last rode him! After the circles we did some 9-step back ups and other things. I remember when Twosox was lighter then Prince and now Prince is way lighter then Twosox but I have put a lot more time into riding Prince. We ended with Follow the rail. I asked Twosox to trot and he would trot a little and then break gait so I would let him walk a step or two and then ask for the trot again. At the end we trotted almost half of the arena! I was sooooo proud of Twosox!! One thing that I realised was that since Twosox was so sensitive even if I moved my reins a little bit he would feel that and slow down. So I really had to make sure that I kept my hands still. It was really interesting! I can't wait to ride Twosox more! 

I think this was our best playtime ever! Twosox was incredible! I can hardly wait to continue advancing our riding!

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Sideways and playing in the shelter.

April 27 2010

After I finished playing with Prince I played with Twosox. We didn't go up to the riding ring but just played in the corral. It was a lot of fun! We did some Sideways, Stick to me, Touch it and we played in the shelter. Since it was really rather windy Twosox wasn't as confident in there so we had fun playing with that. We did some yo-yo's in and out and then we just hung out in the shelter for a long time until he relaxed. Then Twosox ate some salt and Hoffman's minerals and then I let him go. 

While we were doing sideways I would ask Twosox to go sideways into each corner. At first Twosox was really unconfident about being in the corner but with patient persistence he relaxed and then he would put a lot of effort into going sideways and to get into the corner! It was really interesting!

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Really progressing!

April 27 2010

Prince and I had a wonderful playtime. It was so much fun! We did Stick to me, yo-yo's (Prince has gotten so light and is putting a lot of effort into it now!), some porcupine back up's, jumping (Prince jumped the single barrel from a stand still and didn't straddle it! Which is something we have been playing with) and then the biggest thing was circles... Prince trotted 30 laps to the right and I didn't have to make any corrections!!!!! I was in total neutral the whole time!! I was so proud of Prince!! Going to the left I had to make 5 corrections but that wasn't to bad. It was really cool because after we were done about 3/4 of the circle in the dirt was complete smooth because of the rope dragging on the ground. 

So we didn't have a really long play time but it was really fun! I brushed Prince afterwards and and then let him go. Then I played with Twosox!

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: Circles, Stick to me and more!

April 27 2010

This morning I went out early to play with the horses again. It was cold and windy but it was beautiful! I walked outside and thanked God that He gave me this morning. I was kind of discouraged last night because of the bugs and not being able to play as much as I would have liked. So I prayed and asked God to give me wisdom and strength to get through this bug season and so when I went out side and it was cold and windy (perfect to keep the bugs way) I knew that God would give me what I needed and help me. What an awesome God! 

This time I played with Ruffian first. We had a blast! We did some Touch it, back-up using the porcupine game and Stick to me and then we did circles! They were fun! Ruffy trotted 61 circles today! 30 circles to the right and 31 to the left. Going to the right I had to make 7 corrections and going to the left I had to make 11 but that is really good for the first day! After we did the circles we ended. I wanted to play with Prince next. Ruffian did really well and had a big lick and chew afterwards! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Opposition reflex....

April 26 2010

 After I played with Prince I played with Twosox. Near the end the bugs were really bad but for the most part they weren't bad. We did Figure eights, circles, Change of directions, jumping, straddling, yo-yo's, stick to me, sideways towards and and away and lots more! Through out the whole playtime as we were playing I noticed that Twosox has a lot of opposition reflex... not in everything but there were some times where I was like "Wow I never noticed that before!" I knew that he would push into the pressure before he moved away but has gotten a lot better but now it is something that we need to play with. Interesting. 

Lots to think about! My play schedules will have to change now because of the bugs but hopefully I will be able to find a good routine soon.

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Jumping, yo-yo's and more!

April 26 2010

This morning my mom and I got out at about 7:30 so that the black flies wouldn't be out. It was cold but nice! Prince and I had a really nice playtime. We did the still played with the lightness, speed and distance in yo-yo's and porcupine games. Plus we did jumping a single barrel, straddling, sideways, and some other things. I didn't get to do circles today but that was okay. Prince and I had a great play time. Prince is really putting more speed into what I ask on him... and not in the walk, trot, canter sense but in the small things! 

Naturally,

~Keri

 

Prince: Lightness, speed and distance

April 24 2010

This morning I went out and played with Prince. Yesterday was the Ron Pyne clinic and so I had a lot to think about. Well I had done all my thinking earlier and was now going out to experiment. The main topic of the clinic was lightness, speed and distance... and how to get it.  

The areas that Mr. Pyne showed were yo-yo's, sideways and backing up using the porcupine game. I originally went out to find the horses seeing as they hadn't been in all morning so I didn't have my halter with me only my carrot stick. But when I got out there they horses had just come in. Prince came over to me so I scratched him for a bit and then decided to play at Liberty a little. We had a lot of fun actually and Prince didn't leave once! We did some really fun stuff. We even played around with the stuff that I learned at the clinic. We did some sideways down the fence while me kept my feet still. Prince went sideways about 22ft and was totally connected to me!! It was so cool! Then we did some spins, sideways towards me, yo-yo's, porcupine backing ups and lots of other stuff. Prince did very well but there were some things that I wanted to try that I wanted him to be haltered for so I went and got my halter and ropes. 

We then we went up to the riding ring. Unfortunately the black flies were really bad but we still were able to do some different things. We played with getting our back up faster, porcupine softer and then we did circles! 30 laps to the left with only 4 corrections!!! I was really impressed with how well Prince did. We only got to do one directions because I had swarms of black flies around my head. So we ended after that. It was still really good. 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Online, Liberty and Freestyle!

April 22 2010

This afternoon I played with and rode Prince. We had a lot of fun playing together. Before we went up to the riding ring we did some porcupine games. Moving the hindquarters, backing up etc. Prince did very well but I realised that I need to bring my energy up if I am going to ask him to go faster.

When we were in the riding ring we did some Falling leaf and then some circles. Prince was incredible! The first could Change of directions weren't the nicest but I persisted with them and finally something clicked and we got some really nice ones. To keep it interesting we did lots of them and in different places. Prince was very interested and we did something like 25 change of directions!! And all except 4 the belly of the rope was on the ground! Hooray!!!

For riding we played with our sideways and circles. While we were riding circles I played around with a couple things. I used my carrot stick at first and then did some with out it. I made sure that I used my body first and then my reins or carrot stick and at first the circles were not very circular but near the end they got soooooo much better and I only had to correct Prince twice while we were trotting the last circle!!

I am really trying to get our sideways straighter and it seems to be working! We are slowing right down and getting it really good. Prince is trying and even though the progress is slow it is steady!

After I rode we played at Liberty for a while. We did close range circles, Stick to me, FIGURE EIGHTS!!!!, sideways, yo-yo's and lots more! It was fun! Oh and at the end we did a spin and Prince did it very well on the first try! It was really cool!

We spent some undemanding time together at the end. What a wonderful way to end! :)

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Having LOTS of fun!

April 22 2010

This morning Twosox and I had a blast playing together! It was sooooooo  much fun! I started out by grooming him. Prince and Ruffian stood right beside me the whole time. Prince especially. He wouldn't leave!  Every time I moved he would move also. It was really neat! It is a really wonderful feeling having three horses you love so much be so close to you!

After Twosox was nice and clean we went up to the riding ring. I didn't plan on doing Figure eights but it just kind of happened. Twosox was sooooo light and offered to canter through the middle! We did a couple figure eights and then quit. I didn't want to over do it. Then we did some Traveling circles. Again Twosox was incredible. His trot looked really relaxed and smooth. We went back and forth a couple times and then did some change of directions and then stopped. What is really nice is that Twosox and Ruffian are about at the same stage Online. Each are a little better at certain things but pretty much they are at the same spot. So it makes it easy for me because I can have the same plan for each horse. So the other day when I played with Ruffian I did Traveling circles and played with the barrel, going sideways over it, jumping it etc. So today I had the same plan for Twosox. It works really well!

After we did the Traveling circles we went and played with the barrels. I asked Twosox to jump it, straddle it, go sideways over it, sideways towards me etc. The really cool thing was that when I asked Twosox to straddle the barrel he responded to just my body! It was really good considering we haven't done that in a couple weeks! 

Then Twosox and I just hung out for a while and then we went down to the corral and then I let him go. It was a really good play time all around! 

Naturally,

~Keri

4 years together!

April 21 2010

Today is exactly four years since Prince came into my life! It has been an amazing four years and I can't wait to see what God has planned for us in the next years to come! Prince has blessed my life in so many ways and I can't imagine my life with him! 

I didn't do a whole lot with Prince today. I trimmed Ruffian in the morning and so in the afternoon I took Prince and Twosox out to graze. I think they enjoyed that ;) After I let them go (once we were back in the corral) they both stayed with me and didn't want to leave! I stayed and scratched them for a while before I had to leave for work. I love those to horses so much! I am truly blessed! 

Here are some pictures of Prince just after I got him:

This picture if of Prince as he was stepping of the trailer at the place where I boarded him before he come to our house.

  

And now he is extremely fat but happy! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Trail ride!

April 20 2010

After I played with Ruffian and helped clean the corral I played with Prince. I decided to bring him out unto the front yard and play there and then get on and ride around. It was a lot of fun! Prince and I did some circles, change of direction, sideways, point to point, yo-yo's and lots more! Then I got on and rode. I let Prince eat for a little while before asking him to do anything. Then I would ask Prince to back up, go sideways, pivot or something like that over to another patch of grass. Prince figured it out really quickly and started putting a lot of effort into what I asked. 

Then I wanted to play with our sideways and getting it straighter. I figured out that is I moved my leg back about 3 inches when Prince's hindquarters were lagging he would catch his hindquarters up! It was really cool! We got some incredible sideways! 

After that I rode up our road to the corner and then back again. Prince did very well and wasn't to bothered by the cars going by.... well car. It was rather a slow day in town. Then my mom, my two little brothers and I (riding Prince) rode up the rode and around the corner. Just around the corner is a bridge with a rather fast flowing river under it. There we hit a threshold. So we did some approach and retreat and soon Prince was able to cross about 1/4 of the way across the bridge! I was so proud of him! I stopped and turned around before we hit another threshold because I wanted to end on a good note. So we rode back home and I got off. Prince did really well consider we have never ridden that far before! It was fun! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: Traveling circles, sideways and more...

April 20 2010

This morning I played with Ruffian. He was lying down when I went out to play so I spent some time sitting with him then he layed right down so I grabbed a hoof pick and picked out his feet. I wanted to check a couple things so I decided there was no better time! After that I brushed him... well I brushed one side on him at least. He was still laying down when I finished that so I haltered him... and then I did some friendly game with the carrot stick and savvy string, even some extreme friendly game! Then I taped Ruffian on the hindquarters a little at first he wasn't sure what to do but as soon as he raised his head a little I stopped and rubbed him then I asked again. Shortly after that he put his front two legs out in front of him so I rubbed him and then I asked again and he actually sat there!! He brought his front to legs up under him and kept his hindquarters on the ground and just stayed there for a couple minutes before getting up all the way! It was really cool!

When we were up in the riding ring we did Traveling circles, which were incredible! Ruffian kept slack in the line and he was really in tune with me. After that we played with the barrel. I asked Ruffy to jump it, go in between it and the fence, and then go sideways over it and then sideways towards me. Ruffy did really well and it was able to think about what I was asking him to do and not feel the need to run.

We ended on a really good note. Ruffy was licked and chewing, yawning and then fell asleep! It was so much fun!!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Yo-yo's on the 45ft line, and havng fun riding!

April 16 2010

Today we were able to take Prince and Knightly out to your friends place for a playday. Prince and I had a lot of fun! It was raining when we got there so since I didn't want to get wet I stood in the trailer and let Prince graze on the outside. I had Prince on the 45ft line and so every once and a while I would ask him to back a little farther out. Prince had a lot of incentive to back out because he wanted to keep eating so he knew that after he backed up he could eat. Such a smart pony! We had a lot of fun with that and then it stopped rained so I left my shelter in the trailer and then went and we all gathered around and decided what we were going to do. 

We decided to go into the arena and do something like the Parelli games just not in the competition sense. We had a lot of fun... or at least I did! We made sure to pick things that everyone could so some of the things were really easy for me and Prince but one really fun thing was we had to either lead our horse by the front leg or lead them by the hocks from one tire to the other. I picked leading by the hocks because I knew it would be challenging for Prince and I. Prince did soooo well! He didn't go completely straight but we made it! I was actually surprised at how well he did! Some of the other things we did were standing on the tarp, going sideways over the log, backing between barrels and stuff like that. It was fun though. 

Then Prince and I did some Falling Leaf... it was soooooo nice to have a big space to do it in! At first Prince wasn't in tune with me and I really had to get big but pretty soon Prince put slack in the rope and even though the turns he kept the slack in the line! Plus he was cantering most of it! It was great! Then I was asked to demonstrate Mounting by the neck! Yikes! Prince and I hadn't done that since... well the last time we did it there was a lot of snow on the ground is it was cold! So I said sure and off we went. I made sure everyone knew that I haven't done it in a while so if it looked bad... which I knew it would... they knew why ;) The first try was awful! Prince did really well at lowering his head and then lifting it at the right time but then he walked off and so I was half on his neck, half off, hanging on while trying to stop Prince. I was able to hang on until I could swing my leg up. So then I gave Prince a rest and then tried again. Prince did even better this time and only walked off a very little bit, I was able to slid back into place and it was great! Not the best we have ever done though but it was really good considering we were in a different place, and we hadn't done it for months!

After that Prince and I just hung out for a while. I had asked Prince to straddle the smaller log and so he was standing there so I climbed up and sat on the side of him and watched the others play. By this time it was well after lunch so we went in and ate lunch then came back out again. It was raining so I decided just to put the bareback pad on Prince and not saddle up. Prince and I did some circles, traveling circles, change of directions, transitions, jumping, touch it, and lots of other things.

Then I got up to ride. My mom offered to tape me riding and suggested that I do everything that I could do for a Level 3 Freestyle Audition. There were a couple things that I couldn't do, cantering and jumping but I decided to do what I could and at least that way I could see what I needed to improve on. Everything went really well. Prince and I did a lot of things that I never thought we were be able to do some soon!

We started off with standing on the pedestal (with all four feet) while I stood on Prince etc then we did Follow the rail. Prince did REALLY well! I don't think I had to correct him more then three times! We did walk, trot transitions and rode into the corners etc. It was so much fun! After that we did the Question box! The first circle we did at the walk and then after that we trotted most of the. Prince did really well with that and I was really pleased with it. Then we did some sideways, we went over different obstacles etc.

Then (I am really proud of both Prince and myself for doing this!!) We did Figure eights at the trot with a carrot stick! Prince did wonderful and didn't break gait and I was able to stay confident and balanced (I lost my balance once but other then that I was fine) and it was just really cool! It helped that it was on flat ground but still it was huge for us especially bareback!

The last thing we did was opening a gate. Prince and I had never done it with a wooden gate before so it was interesting. Prince kept bushing the gate one way while I was trying to move it the other way. It was funny! But in the end we got it and it was fun!

We ended the day by me taking Prince out to graze for a bit before loading up and coming back home. I loaded Prince all by myself too! I sent him into the trailer (He trotted in!) then I moved him over so that I could close the divider then put then put the bar up and then since I didn't know how to tie the knot my good friend showed me that. It was really cool! Prince did really well and stood just perfectly!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince and Twosox: Undemanding time and grazing.

April 15 2010

This afternoon my brother and I had to go to work so I didn't have a whole lot of time to play with a horse. Plus my brain didn't really feel like thinking much after this mornings events. So I decided to bring both Prince and Twosox out to the front yard to graze for a while. It was a lot of fun! They both did really well and I was able relax and just watch the beautiful horses that God has blessed me with! It was wonderful! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: A true porcupine game!

April 15 2010

This morning at 7:00 I woke up to my Dad telling my Mom that either Ruffian or Twosox had about a dozen porcupine quills in the side of his mouth. Fortunately I wasn't to tired and I knew I had to get up and deal with it. So up I get and outside I go... sure enough Ruffian has at least a dozen quills in the side on his mouth, most of then on his top lip but some one or two on his bottom lip. One of Dad's friends who is a farmer had come over to pick Dad up so he told me how to get them out and so I got a pair of pliers and I started. I won't tell you the minute to minute commentary but lets just say that even now that it is over I still shudder to think about it and I really would never want to do it again! 

Ruffian had 15 quills and it took me 4 hours to get them all out. The last one was the hardest because it was nearer the bottom of his top lip and it wasn't sticking straight out and so I had to somehow get the pliers parallel to his mouth and get it... all the time trying to keep Ruffy's head still and not get forceful....  Poor Ruffian! He did so well  but I felt really bad because after I would get one out I would have to start all over again and regain his trust to let me get the pliers anywhere near him again. It was hard but through God's strength I was able to do it. I was soooo nervous. I think the hardest part was having to pull something out of him! It was hard!

The last quill was the hardest. I don't remember everything and to tell you the truth I am very glad that I don't. It isn't some thing I care to remember but one thing that I do remember is going from frustration/ and all the other feeling of not being able to get the last one out to complete happiness when I looked at the pliers in my hand there there was the last quill! It was wonderful! Then seeing Ruffing eat some sunflower seeds, have a nice long drink and enjoy the hay... that was so wonderful!

What was really nice too was that later in the afternoon when I went out to see the horses Ruffian came over to me! So I guess I didn't ruin the relationship :) Which is a major relief!

All that being said... I now want to totally block the whole memory from my mind.

Naturally,
~Keri

P.S. Here is a picture of all the quills I took out...

Twosox: Traveling circles, and Cavaletti therapy

April 14 2010

This afternoon I played with Twosox and did his cavaletti therapy. He did very well and we had a lot of fun! We did traveling circles, change of directions, sideways, and stick to me and then we did our cavaletti therapy. I placed the poles farther a part today and though Twosox looked more comfortable trotting over them he didn't stretch. So now I am trying to think of a way to make them higher because they aren't very big poles. Always things to think about :)

Naturally,

~Keri 

Prince: Trimming

April 14 2010

This morning I trimmed Prince. I normally don't type about it here just because there isn't much to type about but today it was really neat! Not only did I learn something in regards to my trimming but Prince did really, really well. At first he wasn't very cooperative but this time I didn't get frustrated (last time I was frustrated, not at Prince but at myself because I was having a hard time doing something). Pretty soon Prince totally changed and he actually held all of his own weight! It was incredible! 

I was so nice not having a struggle with Prince and I also learned some very important things about my trimming! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Cavaletti therapy... Day 2

April 13 2010

After I played with Prince I did cavaletti therapy with Twosox. When we got up to the riding ring Prince was still up there and when he saw me he came part way over to us and then went and stood on the pedestal and then looked at me and asked a question! It was really neat! I went over and rubbed him and then I went back to Twosox. We played with the barrels a little bit before we started. I wanted to teach Twosox to push the barrel but he seemed to think that I wanted him to step on it. Oh well. At least he tired! 

Cavaletti  therapy went well. Twosox again was stretching a lot. I am going to have to play around with the distance between each one though. Because right now I am thinking that they are to close together and it will teach Twosox to have a shorter stride instead of reaching and using more of his body... any ideas? Tomorrow I will try putting then farther apart and see how that works. 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Falling Leaf, opening a gate and more!

April 13 2010

This afternoon Prince and I had a wonderful playtime. We started out by playing at Liberty. I decided to switch things up a little bit and not halter Prince at first. So I brushed him and then put the bareback pad on then we played a little bit. We did some Stick to me, circles (!!!!), and some other stuff then we played around the shelter. I sent him in straight while I stood on the outside. Then I asked him to back out and we did a couple other things. It was fun! 

After that I haltered Prince from my knees. He did very well and was very patient. Then we went up to the riding ring and we did some Figure eights at the walk.... with the belly of the rope ON THE GROUND! Hooray! I learned that I have to give Prince a little bit longer before I use the rope to help him. The last figure eight we did was beautiful!! 

Okay so before I continue on I just wanted to say that today I had a plan... the things that I wanted to play with were the Falling Leaf pattern and trot to from change of directions. Then while riding I wanted to play with opening and closing a gate and riding circles.

So we started with the Falling Leaf. We did quite a few at the trot and then I decided that if we go these really good at the canter (where Prince cantered and then dropped to the trot to turn and then picked the canter back up again) then it would most likely really help our change of directions. So after we did a lot at the trot and they were pretty good I asked Prince to canter.... now this is the really interesting part, Prince did the same thing that he does on the circle... runs off. Then it hit me.... huge BFO coming up here.... I had my carrot stick out to my side to support my body but it wasn't doing anything Prince wasn't responding because I didn't have my phase 4 right.... hmmm how interesting! So the next time he came around I asked him really nicely with my body like I normally do but when he ignored that I got bigger with my carrot stick and suddenly Prince was turning! It took a while before we got them really down but on the last half of the arena as we ere coming back down to the other end Prince really started getting it and they were soooooooo nice! Prince cantered, came down to the trot, turned and then cantered the other way. It was wonderful!

When we got to the other end of the arena (we went back and forth a lot because our riding ring is only 100ft) I let Prince canter a circle and then I asked for a change of direction and guess what?!?! Prince did it perfectly! I was so happy! Prince got a long rest after that! It was really amazing!

After that I got on and rode. We went over to our little gate which is on one side of the riding ring. It is only a rope gate so I don't know if it counts but it is a good start! At first Prince didn't seem to be in tune with me and then I realised that the bareback pad was a little to far forward and so when I used my legs Prince wasn't feeling it. So I moved back some and that made a huge difference! Suddenly I had a sensitive horse again ;) So then we went and did circles around the pedestal again. Prince did very, very well and trotted 3 laps each way! Hooray! One thing I noticed though was that I need to let Prince make the mistake of coming off of the circle instead of correcting him before he makes the mistake... aka using my reins less! :) But we have to start somewhere!

Prince didn't want to leave me when I let him go he stayed with me while I got all my equipment and then even after I left the riding ring he stayed up there and Ruffy came up and so they played. It was a really wonderful play time and yet again I learned the importance of having a plan!

Naturally,
~Keri

Ruffian: Traveling circles and more!

April 13 2010

This morning I played with Ruffian. I decided to play with the same things with Ruffy as I did with Twosox yesterday except I would adapt it to fit a different Horsenailty. So instead of doing the smaller things first and then doing the traveling circles I would do the traveling circles first and then the smaller things once Ruffy had some of his energy out. 

Everything went really well. We had to play around a little in the corral because Ruffy didn't want to go in between me and the fence. So we did some squeezes back and forth until he could walk through it. Then we went up to the riding ring and did our traveling circles first. Ruffy did really well. Since our riding ring isn't very big I had to walk slower and go from end to end a couple times but that was okay. Ruffy seemed to enjoy it and I was able to put different obstacles in his way. 

After that I we did some yo-yo's! I asked Ruffy so back over a pole.... absolutely NO problem what so ever. Then we did some sideways over it and then I asked him to straddle it lengthwise. Ruffy got it almost on the first try! But when I asked him to do it again after a little while he had a little bit more trouble doing it. We didn't play long because I had to go walk the fence we Mom and my sister but we still had fun! Ruffy stayed with me after I let him go and then we went down the hill together. It was definitely a fun playtime.

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Riding circles... a test of my fluidity!

April 12 2010

Yesterday afternoon I was going to saddle Prince up and ride him but Knightly injured himself and so Mom and I had to doctor him so by the time that was done I didn't have time to saddle Prince. That was okay though. I just put the bareback pad on and off we went. I didn't had a good plan as to what I wanted to do with Prince Online and that turned out to be a bigger problem then I thought it would be. Prince and I are really rather bored with what we have been doing and so I needed to think of some new things... and fast. So we did some sideways at a trot, straddling from farther away and some other things. Prince did really well but since wasn't prepared well enough I wasn't the best leader for him. Fortunately he forgave me and next time I will be more prepared. 

We had a very good ride, despite having a rough playtime. We didn't do a whole lot but that was okay. I got a chance to try out my new helmet too! It is really comfy even if it does make my head look small and the helmet huge! Oh well. At least it will keep me safe if I fall. But like the Parelli's say "It is what's in your head that will keep you safe, not what's on your head" That is very true but they are time when accidents happen (like when I fell of of Twosox when he spooked at some rabbits) that even if you are the savviest person out there, you can still get hurt. So anyways... back to our ride ;)

The only thing we really did was circles. Something I have kind of avoided.... don't ask me why I just have. So I decided to do it like the Bullseye pattern and do it around the pedestal. Prince really, really likes standing on the pedestal and so I knew that it would help. Plus when he does really well guess what we get to do?? Go stand on the pedestal. So there is something in it for him. Prince did a lot better then I expected and we trotted two laps each direction. We started out by walking a couple laps first and then went to the trot. Prince did very very well. I was really proud of him! I forced myself to go in both directions even though I am not as confident trotting one way as I am the other but I know that I have to be able to do it both ways and it isn't so uncomfortable as I thought! 

After a long rest I got off Prince and that is where we ended. So we had an okay play time (all my fault I know) and a great ride (because I had a plan) and I will know how to be better prepared for next time! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Traveling circles, yo-yo's and cavaletties therapy

April 12 2010

This morning I played with Twosox. This time I had a plan of what I wanted to play with so that really helped! I am at the point now with all three horses that I have to have a plan because all the normal stuff is boring now. So this morning I wanted to play with Traveling circles (our next pattern), straddling a pole lengthwise and backing over a pole. I was pretty sure that Twosox would be able to do all of them but I wanted to see.

Since Twosox is in introvert I started out with the smaller things. It just so happened that I forgot that I wanted to try straddling a pole lengthwise and so we didn't do that. But that was okay because we still had a lot of fun! The two barrels were standing up side by side with about a 3ft gap between them so I asked Twosox to back between then. I started off with asking him to walk through them and then back up. He did very well and by the end he backed through then while I was standing about 22ft away! It was really neat! 

After that I got a pole and asked him to back over that. Twosox backed over it no problem so then I asked him to come to me one foot at a time over the pole (resting after Twosox put each foot over the pole). Twosox did very well with that. After that we did some traveling circles. Okay.... a lot of them! Twosox did very well but just before we were going to end he saw the open gate and by the time I had a chance to see what happened (the gate was to my left and so I didn't see it coming) Twosox had trotted out the gate and I couldn't hang on. So down the hill he went dragging the rope through the mud. After I had gotten Twosox back I decided to play around the gate and show Twosox that just because it was open didn't mean that he had to go through it. It took a while because he definitely wasn't scarred when he took off so he tried it a few more times but this time I was prepared! At the end he could trotted past the gate, both directions, and keep the belly of the rope on the ground.


As Twosox was circling I had a really good chance to see just how bad his conformation really is. I knew it wasn't exactly the picture of a good banana and I knew that he pulled himself along with his front end and all but I didn't know what to do about it. We had tried Hill therapy a year or two ago but that didn't change much. So I decided to try some cavaletti (sp?) therapy. We don't have proper cavaletties so I am just using some poles. Hopefully they will work the same.... So Twosox and I have started our cavaletti therapy program... As soon as Twosox trotted over those poles his head was on the ground and he was stretching like crazy! Each time he went over he would stretch so that was a really good sign! Going the other direction he didn't stretch as much but nearer the end he started stretching a little bit. So it was a good start! I am going to try and get out every day for the next week and do it all properly. It will be good for Twosox's conformation and also it will be good because I will get to play with him once a day! Which will be really nice!

So after that we ended. All in all it was a really good play time! The next couple weeks should be fun :)

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Online and Freestyle

April 10 2010

This afternoon I played with Prince. We had a lot of fun playing Online and had fun riding but we had some how interesting moments.

We started off with some jumping, circles, change of directions (they are getting really nice!), transitions (we did some canter- walk-canter transitions which were incredible!), straddling the barrels, sideways, Touch it, and lots of other stuff. One really cool thing that we did was I asked Prince to straddle a pole lengthwise, he did that no problem so then I asked him to put his one foot on the pole. Prince tried a couple different things and then he just held his foot up and asked me a question then when his foot was right over the pole I dropped my life and he put his foot right on it! He rested his toe right on the pole for at least a minute... it was really cool!While we were riding we did the Weave, Follow the rail, Point to point, A million transitions, sideways, and some other stuff also. I wanted to do some bridleless riding but Prince wasn't as in tune with me as he was when I rode him last so I didn't take that chance.

 Here is a video that I made with most of the footage from our play time (and some from last fall)...



Naturally,
~Keri

Ruffian: Having fun!

April 10 2010

After I played with Twosox this morning I played with Ruffian. We didn't play long but we still had fun. We advanced our Change of directions and transitions. Plus we did Figure eights, Weaving, Jumping, sideways and Touch it. It was a lot of fun. I will say though that Ruffy does not like Figure eights... not sure why but he doesn't like them at all. Interesting. 

Here are some pics from today:

Naturaly,

~Keri

Twosox: Circles, straddling and Liberty!

April 10 2010

This morning I played with Twosox. The corral is really mucky now because of the all the rain we had but I was able to catch Twosox with out getting my feet wet! Hooray ;) Before we went up to the riding ring I brushed Twosox. He is still shedding a lot but zone 1,2, and some of 3 are almost complete shed out now. 

We had an interesting play time. We did some Touch it, Sideways, Weave, jumping, straddling, and circles. I am going to start asking Twosox to canter more on the circle. I think that he is ready for that now. It took a while for Twosox to canter more than a couple steps but we got there. At the end Twosox cantered almost a full circle! 

After that we did some jumping/straddling. Twosox did very well. Twosox has learned to straddle the barrels really quickly... so quickly that today I didn't even need to use my rope, he was so in tune with me that when I dropped my life he stopped! It was really cool! Each time he straddled it I asked him to come sideways towards me off the barrels. Each time he got better and better and more confident. 

Then I took his halter off and we played at Liberty for a while. Twosox did very well even though he left twice. He always came back though. We did some Stick to me, jumping, straddling (I can't believe that we actually did that! Twosox was amazing!),  and short range circles (This was the first time that Twosox and I have done that and Twosox did really well. He learned very quickly!).

Here are some pics from our play time...

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Having fun with Patterns!

April 6 2010

I had another chance to sit on Prince today! He was lying down when I finished playing with Ruffy so I walked over to him and we hung out for a bit. I sat on him a couple times and then left to get help clean the corral. After we were finished that there was still time before lunch so I played with and rode Prince. It was SO much fun! Mom video taped us but our video camera is not working right so I can't watch it :( Hopefully we can get it fixed soon!

I didn't really have any plans for what I wanted to do Online with Prince so we just played. We did some Touch it, yo-yo's, stick to me, jumping, straddling, circles, change of directions and transitions. Prince did really well the whole time. I have something interesting to tell you all but I will type about that father down ;) Prince did really well with the circles and change of directions. He did some REALLY nice ones. Prince also cantered 4 laps! Hooray!

Okay so this is the interesting part...

After we had done some circles we switched to a traveling circle and I wanted over to the barrels that were lying down by the fence. I stopped when I was about 10ft from then and Prince circled there. Now I didn't have plan on what exactly I wanted Prince to do. I wanted him to do something with the barrels but I hadn't decided if I wanted him to straddle it or jump it. Prince read into my uncertainty and so each time he came to the barrels he would half jump and then hesitate for a spit second and the kind of trip over the barrels with his hind legs. because I wasn't sure if I wanted him to straddle it or jump it he wasn't sure what do to. So after I realised this I quickly made up my mind that I wanted him to jump the barrels the next time he came around... and what do you know... Prince came cantering up and FLEW over the barrels. No tripping, no hesitating nothing. He knew what I wanted and did it. It was really interesting. So the next time I wanted him to straddle it and guess what? He did! He came up, and straddled it perfectly. No if, buts or maybes. It was so cool!

Now normally I had a plan before I ask Prince to do something but this time I wasn't so prepared and it showed. So it was just another reminder that we have to have a plan!

After that I set up some patterns and got onto ride. I knew the patterns that I wanted to play with and so we set off. We started out with some carrot stick riding and we did Follow the rail, sideways, point to point and transitions. Prince did really well and I felt totally balanced. Then we went over to the pedestal and I asked Prince to climb on with all four feet. Then I stood up on him and did some extreme friendly game and some different stuff then sat back down. Then we did some Figure eights and the Weave at a trot. Prince did SOOOOOO well! We did lots of Figure eights at and Prince only broke gait once or twice. I was playing around with my body and how I could help Prince arc his body into the turn better so that was interesting. At the end Prince did really well and arced around the barrels. After a long rest we did the Weave. Again Prince was incredible! At first he trot was a little fast but by the end he slowed down to a nice sitting trot trot and I hardly had to use my reins! Hooray! I just love riding patterns!

Then I took my halter and reins off and we rode around brideless! We haven't done that in a while (excluding last week when we rode bridleless in a round corral) Prince did very, very well and we had lots of fun! We did Follow the rail at first and we did some transitions, walk, trot, back up etc then we did some point to point, sideways, indirect and direct rein. Then I decided to try some figure eights! They were a lot of fun and we even trotted some of it! It was SOOOOOOOOO cool! I decided to end there because we had a great ride and Prince did really really well!

Naturally,
~Keri

Ruffian: Just playing...

April 6 2010

This morning I played with Ruffian. We had a lot of fun! We did some really small figure eights, Touch it, yo-yo's between the barrels, circles, transitions, change of directions, jumping, straddling the barrel and lots of other stuff. It was so much fun! Ruffy had energy but was really in tune with me. He was willing to go and slow down, we got some really nice drop to trot lead changes on the circle and I was even able to see when Ruffy was cantering right and when he had his leads mixed up. It was really neat. The last thing we did was straddling. I asked Ruffy to jump the barrels a couple times and then straddle it. He got a little bit mixed up but he caught on pretty quickly. Then we went down to the corral, on our way down I drove him from zone 5 all the way into the corral and then I let him go. It was a lot of fun!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Change of directions...

April 5 2010

After I played with Twosox I decided to play with Prince. It is raining a little bit but I decided to go a head and play anyways. We basically played with our circles and change of directions the whole time. I am at the point where I just want to get down to the bottom of our change of directions so we did a lot of different things. One thing that I found I wasn't doing was matching Prince's energy... at the walk I was fine but when it got to the trot I didn't have enough energy and it didn't help that today I was having an extra hard time getting my energy up... but once I got it it really seemed to help. I decided that I would do the kind of change of direction that Mr. Parelli showed on the new Level 3 DVD. That really helped. At first they weren't very smooth but at least Prince wasn't running off. After a couple of those they started getting a lot smoother. We then did some traveling circles and maintaining gait at the canter. Prince cantered 4 laps with me standing in neutral so that was really cool! Then we did some transitions and then we ended.

It turned out to be sunny all afternoon so my mom asked me to video tape her and Knightly doing a couple different things. I decided to take Prince up to the riding ring with me so that we could do some undemanding time and just hang out. I took the 22ft line and put it over Prince's neck and then back through the snap. Prince did really well actually and followed the feel really nicely. When we got up to the riding ring Prince and I played a little bit while mom was getting ready. We did Figure eights, Stick to me w/t/c, and some circles! And guess what!?! Prince did three BEAUTIFUL change of directions at the trot!!! They were so smooth and well perfect! It was incredible! After that I just let Prince go in the riding ring. He stayed with me for a lot time and then moseyed off to look for some grass then he came back to me. He did that a couple times but he never stayed away long and he always came back. Then he came and stayed with me and didn't leave again. He fell asleep right beside me while I was video taping mom. It was really, really nice. When I opened the gate Prince didn't leave be he stayed with me for the longest time and then he left. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Playing with the horse that showed up

April 5 2010

This morning I played with Twosox. It was very gray out and looked like rain but I made up my mind last night that even if it rains all week (which it is supposed to do) I will still get out and play as much as I can. So out I went this morning at 8:30 so play rain or not. Twosox was a little bit unconfident this morning so I played with the horse that showed up and off we went. We didn't go straight up to the riding ring but we stayed in the corral for a while and I brushed Twosox and then we went up. I wanted to do some of the same things that we did last play time because I had a couple days to think about it all and so I wanted to do a better job this time. So we did the Weave first. We did a couple Weaves at the walk and then I asked Twosox to trot and we trotted a couple. Twosox missed the one tire once but other then that it was perfect! 

Then we did some circles. We did lots of transitions. Twosox was looking away a little bit so I wanted to get his mind on me. After we did some walk/trot transitions I asked Twosox to trot faster. I knew that Twosox doesn't like to canter a lot... yet so I just asked for a fast trot and after a lap of trotted faster Twosox broke into the canter! I had a feeling that would work ;) He didn't canter long but that was okay. The transitions really helped Twosox get his mind on the circles and he was really light when we ended. 

After that we did some jumping and then a little bit of straddling. By this time it was raining but it wasn't pouring so I stayed out. Twosox did really well tried so hard! We did a little bit of sideways towards me also. Twosox was so light and did really well with that too. Then we both went down to the corral and we went into the shelter. Twosox is a million times more confident being in there now so that is great! He ate some of the Hoffman's minerals and then I asked him to back out and I let him go. 

This play time was a lot better then our last one that is for sure. Even though Twosox was a little but unconfident he quickly gained it again and he was back to normal :)

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Weaving, transitions, and Figure eights.

April 3 2010

Twosox and I had an interesting play time this morning. We started off with some Touch it and then went to the Weave. Twosox did pretty well with that except on the one end he kept missing the one tire. So I played around with it and figured out that it was because there was to much of a squeeze between me and the tire. So I moved some things around and that seemed to really help. After that we did Figure eights.  Twosox did really well with those so we didn't do a whole lot of them. Then we did circles with transitions and change of directions. First I asked Twosox to trot 4 laps one way and then do a change of direction and then trot 4 laps the other way. He did really well at that so then we did some transitions and change of directions. He did well with those too we did a little bit of cantering also.  After that we just hung out together for a while and then we ended with some Stick to me. It was getting really hot by this time so I decided to end early being at we were both sweating!

I didn't play with a horse in the afternoon because of the heat. So it was just one horse today but after yesterday I was really tired. 

 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Progessing in three savvies

April 2 2010

Yesterday my mom and I had the chance to take Prince and Knightly to a friends place for a play day. It was so much fun even though it was over 30 Celsius but with the wind it was tolerable. To make things easier for myself I am going to divide what we did through out the day into each savvy because we did all three savvies through out the whole day.

Online

Prince loaded by himself into the trailer when I took him over to check it out. He just climbed right in and stood there waiting to be tied. That was really cool! He was totally ready to go somewhere! :) Knightly loaded up pretty easily also and then we were off! When we got to our destination we let the horses eat for a while and then took them through a big field to a stream to get some water. On the way over Prince and I had lots of fun doing traveling circles, change of directions, trotting up and down the hills, transitions and anything else I could think of. Prince kept the slack in the rope for the most part which was really nice. When we got to the stream Prince walked through it a couple times and then had a nice drink. Then we went over to a line of posts that were planted in the ground but didn't have any fencing on it and we Weaved through them from zone 5. Prince caught on to the pattern pretty quickly I don't know how long the weave was but it was pretty long! After that Prince and I went over to part of the field where there was a high bank along the fence and I stood at the bottom and asked Prince to circle around me, going up the bank and then down it again while maintaining the trot the whole time, plus keeping slack in the line. Prince did really well and even when I moved down the bank a ways to where he had to go down a steeper part of the hill he took it all in stride and didn't miss a beat! It was so much fun! Then the others came from the barnyard with there horses so we worked our way to the gate and I asked Prince to back through it, which also included going up a hill and then through the gate. Prince did that perfectly though and stayed straight the whole time! So then we all went over to the other side of the driveway and let the horses graze for a while before heading over to the arena. 

It was really nice to just take it slow and not feel that since there was so much we could do that we had to do it all. It was great! Once we got to the arena Prince and I did some Touch it, jumping, sideways, and some other stuff. I asked Prince to straddle the log and I was at the end of the 22ft line and he did it! It was really cool! Then I walked along the top of the logs and we did some stick to me which was really fun! Then Prince came sideways over to me as if I was going to get up so I rubbed him and then decided to see if I could get Prince to ling zone 5 up to the log while I was standing on it. Prince did really well and after a couple minutes he figured it out! Then I knelt on him, did some extreme friendly game and some other stuff and then jumped down. We then went over and saddled up, played around a little bit more until the saddle was tight enough and then I switched to the 45ft line and we went and played on that. We started off in the arena but I didn't want to run into anyone so we went out to the field just outside the arena and we did circles. It was sooooooo nice to be able to have Prince out at the end of the 45ft line and not have to worry about fences, obstacles getting in the way or anything else! Just Prince, the 45ft rope and myself in a big space! It was wonderful!

We did some circles and then we did the spiral pattern (where the horse spirals in and then out again while circling) Prince did really well and only broke gait a couple times near the end when he was really close to me. He was sweating pretty good when we ended. It was getting really hot by this time. So we went back to the arena and I let Prince graze while I video taped my mom and Knightly played. Then it was time to ride! Hooray! 

Freestyle 

Prince did so well while I was riding. The whole time we did different patterns and he was wonderful! We started off with a little bit of Follow the rail at the trot. That went really well and Prince stayed on the rail the whole time. Then we did some Point to point. After that we did the Question box which was SO much fun! We did the first circle at the walk and then I asked Prince to trot and we trotted the rest! It was incredible! We trotted a couple circles on way and then stopped in the box for a rest, when back out the same way trotted a two circles and then went straight through the box and onto the other circle and Prince didn't break gait once! I was so proud of Prince! It was so nice to be have the room to do the patterns and not have to worry about hills, rocks and other obstacles! 

Then after a long rest we did the Weave pattern, again at the trot. At first it was a little bit messy but then Prince remembered the pattern and he did really well. We trotted the whole thing, including the ends and after a couple complete weaves we had another long rest! Then we did some sideways, 9- step back up, in direct rein and pivots. Prince did well with those also. Then the last thing we did was figure eights! Prince was great! We trotted at least 5 complete figure eights and then stopped. Prince had a huge lick and chew and then I got off. I think the most wonderful thing about the whole ride was that I was 100% confident! Even when Prince was trotting faster I was totally confident! It was a wonderful feeling! 

After that I took Prince out side the arena and let him graze for a while before I let him go in the arena and went for lunch. 

Liberty 

The next chance that I got I played with Prince at Liberty in the round corral. We did Stick to me from the one end of the arena down to the other end then we went into the round corral. Once we were in the round corral we did some Stick to me first. I wanted to make sure that Prince was in tune with me before we did anything. We did Stick to me at the walk, trot, canter and back up. Prince was good until we got to the canter then he would run a head. So we had to play with that for a while then when Prince was sticking with me we stopped. Then we did some friendly game with the tarp it was windy so it made it more challenging but fun! I put it on Prince and all over him. Then we did some sideways, hindquarter and forequarter yields and then circles! I started off really slow because I knew that before I would start off to fast and Prince would loose connection with me. So I sent Prince off at a walk and after he walked a lap or so I asked him to trot. We did some simple walk trot transitions. Prince was really in tune with me so we did some change of directions at the walk and then a couple at the trot. I was really happy with those. We did a little bit of cantering too but not a whole lot. I wanted to keep it short and sweet because we haven't played at Liberty in a round corral in a long time! After that we did some jumping and sideways towards me and we ended there. 

I decided to get on Prince and ride around bareback and brideless a little bit. Prince was soooooo  good! I was so proud of him! I had a carrot stick and savvy string and we did lots of transitions, walk, trot, back up etc, sideways, direct and indirect rein, lateral flexions and lots more! It was so much fun and Prince was really in tune with me. I ended by standing on Prince and then I got off. We then did some Undemanding time and then my mom wanted to ride out to the driveway and up that so I grabbed my halter and got back on Prince again. He did really well and was such a trooper! We went out and I let him eat some grass for a bit and then we rode over to the driveway, we rode all the way to the house and then we rode back down, a long the tree line, turned to the far side of the arena, rode down the rail and then back to the trailer. Prince did really well and I think he enjoyed it. He likes going new places ;)

The horses loaded up easily into the trailer to come back home. Prince looked really tired as he was standing there waiting to be tied. We both had a big day! It was a lot of fun though and a day I don't think I will forget in a long time... especially the part about getting a sunburn in April ;) 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Preparing for Liberty

 April 1 2010

This afternoon I played with Prince. I didn't ride because it was late and I didn't have enough time but that was okay. We still have a whole lot of fun! Through out our whole play session I was thinking "If we were at Liberty would Prince have left by now?" So that really helped me focus on keeping the belly of the rope on the ground! Prince did really well and I would say about 70% of the time the rope was on the ground so that is pretty good! 

We did some amazing circles. Prince was so connected to me. Our transitions were incredible and our change of directions, even though they aren't perfect yet, are getting better also. We also did some jumping, straddling the barrels, Stick to me (w/t/c plus cantering in straight lines), sideways towards me, figure eights at the walk and trot (Prince kept the belly of the rope on the ground the whole time we were doing the figure eights at the walk! Hooray! Hopefully we will be able to do them at Liberty soon!), and lots of other stuff. Prince was so light and really in tune with me. 

When we were finished I knelt down and took Prince's halter off. He stayed with me for the longest time and then left. We didn't play long but it was a great play time. Prince was interested and in tune with me and we had so much fun! :)

Naturaly,

~Keri

Ruffian: Circles, Figure eights and Straddling the barrels.

April 1 2010

This morning I played with Ruffian and boy did he have energy! At first he didn't seem to have to much energy so I thought we would try some figure eights. But Ruffy had other ideas... he wanted to run so we switched to circles.... and did he ever do circles! I am sure Ruffy cantered over 20 laps! He just kept cantering and cantering and cantering... after that we went back to the figure eights and Ruffy was more willing to try them. It took a while but finally we got one nice figure eight at the trot and so we quit there. Ruffy did so some nice figure eights at the canter and did lead changes right left and center!  It was a lot of fun playing with him and trying to channel his energy! 

We took a long rest after all that... more for my sake then for Ruffy's. I was exhausted! I decided to teach Ruffy how to straddle the barrels. So I lined up the barrels and offer went. I asked Ruffy to jump them a couple times first and then we started. It took a little bit longer than I thought it would but pretty quickly he figured it out and did it perfectly! That was where we ended, well after he had a huge lick and chew ;) Ruffy stayed with me for a while before he moseyed off down the hill. What a play time! It would be so nice to get Ruffy onto the 45ft line and just let him run to his hearts content but unfortunately that is not possible right now. Maybe some day! 

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Patterns!

March 31 2010

 When I went out to play with Prince he was lying down again so after I took my saddle and every thing up to the riding ring I went and sat with him for a while then I decided to try actually sitting on him (with one leg on either side) and guess what!?! He let me! It was soooooo  cool! I couldn't believe it! Prince didn't even pin his ears! I sat there for a couple minutes then got off and then got back on again. Prince was perfectly fine with it. I still can't believe that Prince let me do that! I mean this has been something that I have seen my sister do with Ruffy lots of times and only dreamed about and now my dream has come true! It was so special! After a while Prince got up and stayed with me so I haltered him and we went up to the riding ring. On our way up I asked Prince to back up a little ledge, through the path, and then down the little hill, through the mud and onto the path up to the riding ring. Prince did really well but he wasn't to sure about backing through the mud but he tried really hard and did it! He is so brave :)

Once we were in the riding ring I brushed Prince and then saddled up. Then we went and did some Figure eights. At first Prince was not connected with me at all but after some playing around we finally got it and Prince was way more connected to me. Then we did some circles. I asked Prince to trot 4 laps to the right do a change of direction and the trot 4 laps in the other direction. I wanted to observe Prince and see when he got his adrenaline up and some other things. Prince kept the belly of the rope on the ground the whole time and was really relaxed so that was good. Then I asked Prince to canter. He went up into the canter no problem but then after I asked him to trot again he was on the adrenaline of cantering and I so I let Prince trot around until he relaxed and then I asked for another change of direction. I realised that I have to be really careful about when I ask for the change of direction, Prince has to have rhythm, relaxation and connection and then I can ask for it if I ask to soon he will not do the change and just run off. We did some really nice transitions and some more change of directions and then I brought Prince in. He did so well! 

After that I got on and rode. We had the most wonderful ride! We started off with a little bit of follow the rail at the trot. We trotted one lap around the arena and then stopped. Then we did some Weave. Prince did really well with that! We did a couple Weaves at the trot. There wasn't quite enough room for Prince to trot around the one end so we walked around that one and trotted the rest! It was so much fun! After a rest we did some sideways. I asked Prince to put more effort into going sideways. He did really well and we got about 10ft of very nice sideways and Prince put some extra speed into it! Hooray! We also did a little bit of savvy string riding. Prince is so light! We just did some sideways, forequarter yields, and point to point but Prince did really well!

Then the last thing we did was Figure eights! Again Prince did really well and we trotted two complete figure eights with out breaking gait! Yippee! Plus there was the challenge of trotting down a slight hill that was part of the figure eight.... which is something I am not 100% comfortable with. But I stayed focused on the barrel and everything was perfect! One really cool thing was that at the end we did one figure eight at the walk and Prince did it with me hardly using my reins! It was so cool! He did a really sharp turn around the barrels and it was incredible!! We ended there because I ended to help my mom and Knightly with their Weave. So Prince had a nice long rest while I did that. 

It was so much fun riding again! I can hardly wait to do it again! 

Naturally,

~Keri

P.S. Two more things! While Prince and I were doing Stick to me, w/t/c, Prince did some sort of a lead change! I saw it out of the corner of my eye and my mom saw it! I am not sure if it was a flying lead change of if Prince just changed in his front end but either way it was cool!

And the second thing was that I asked Prince to jump the two barrels that were standing up on their end. He did but he still knocked the one over. We shall have to play around with that and see if they are just to tall or if he needs to have a longer running jump at them ;)