Ruffian: Figure eights and more.

December 4 2010

Ruffian and I had an great play time today. We had some small breakthroughs and over all had a good time. We stayed on the 12ft line but that was okay because we still don't have a whole lot of room to play because of the ice. 

We played with circles and played with maintaining gait. Ruffian wasn't sure he wanted to trot around so we played the game, don't make we come out of neutral. He caught on pretty quickly. I had to make sure that when I was assertive I wasn't putting to much pressure on Ruffian because even though he is a LBE he can go RBI really quickly. 

Once that was going well we played with Figure eights at the trot. Ruffian did really well for not having done them in a while. Once he maintained gait and was listening well we stopped. 

I had a plastic bag on the end of my carrot stick just to add a bit of a challenge and see how each horse would respond to it being there. Ruffian had some issues with it rubbing him and moving around. So before we started anything I had to get him okay with it moving around. It took some time but in the end it worked well and Ruffian gained confidence quickly.

I think it is time to pick up the pace a little bit though because Ruffian is pretty confident at the walk but he looses confidence when I ask him to trot, and maintain gait, so we are going to play with that and see if we can get some of our patterns back up to where they were.

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Trying new things and taking things up to the next level....

December 3 2010

Prince and I had a great session today. We actually played with a lot but we were able to keep it interesting and have fun. We started out with Stick to me from zone 2/3. I want to play with snappy departure, graceful transitions, and quicker back-up's. We really started getting quicker, snappier back ups when I had a strong focus (physically and mentally). One thing that I have noticed recently is that my energy is not equal when it comes to going forward and backing up. So I have be playing with that and seeing great improvement in Prince's back up's!

We got our stick to me back up's really good and to the point where we could stop quickly and go backwards really fast and Prince stuck right with me the whole time. Up next was backing up by the hocks. Prince caught on fairly quickly. He got a little bit confused part way through so I just used my rope to help him get unstuck and after that he was very light and responded very well.

Next we played with jumping a single barrel and circles, both on the 12ft line. I have really been learning a lot about Responsibility #4 for the human which is - Use the natural power of focus. Especially being mentally focused, knowing what you want, how you want your horse to do it, where you will have to be to set up for success... etc., etc. It takes a lot to become mentally focused, but it is worth it because both you and your horse will have more success because you are the leader and you know what you want! So, with this in mind, we set out to play with jumping the barrel. I can get Prince to jump it fairly easily but he doesn't really offer it and there is hardly any slack in the rope...which means that if Prince was at Liberty he would just go around it.


We have been playing with it for a while and getting some success but it was kind of hit and miss. Today though we were able to get quite a bit of success. One of the main things we played with today was that I asked Prince to put more effort into jumping it. He seemed to know that I wanted him to jump it but he would hit is back feet on the barrel while going over. So I would reward the slightest try and then ask again. Pretty soon he started offering more and when he jumped the barrel and cleared it I brought him in for a long rest.


Next we played with circles. We did some cantering also which was really nice. Prince even put slack in the rope while he was cantering around and so we just played with that a bit and then ended.


When I let Prince go he stayed with me and then after a little while he walked over to the gate and looked like he was going to leave but then he came back to me! So we played at Liberty. We did Falling Leaf at a walk, circles, sideways, and stick to me. One of my goals is to be able to do the Falling Leaf pattern at Liberty and at the trot. It will probably take a while to get but that is my goal. Prince did very well with the circles. He stayed really connected and we were able to get them to be a little bit farther away also, instead of him being really close to me. So that was pretty cool.


Then we went over and hung out with Ruffian, who had followed us up to the riding ring and hung out with us the whole time. He was lying down by this time so we went over and stayed there for a while before I went down and went inside to warm up!


Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Gaining more confidence.

December 2 2010

Recently Twosox has been gaining a lot more confidence in me and also in himself. Before he wouldn't go to the manger very often if the other horses were there eating and that resulted in him not getting enough to eat and consequently being thin. So since we have been feeding the horses better hay and in square bales I have been making sure that Twosox gets in to eat because I want him to get the hay and I also don't want Prince and Ruffian to get it all ;) I have been playing around with different strategies, whether I should send Prince and Ruffian away and let Twosox and Knightly eat or whether I should stay with all four and make sure that Prince and Ruffian don't send the other two away. These are the main two strategies that I have been playing with and observing.

I have found that letting all four eat together and just making sure that Prince and Ruffian don't send the other two away is the best so far. This way Twosox learns that he can be safe in there and he learns how to be a little bit more like Knightly in the sense that he is learning the difference between when the boss horses are just moving their head a little bit or when they are actually sending him :)

I have seen huge improvements already. Twosox will actually go to the manger with the other horses by himself and if he gets sent away he will wait a couple minutes and just go back in again. Plus our relationship has grown also. If he hasn't come over by the time that I am done putting the hay in, I will call him and he will come in and start eating, trusting my leadership.

It has been really interesting. Now recently since the ground has been freezing up and we don't have a whole lot of snow yet the corral is awful and really hard to walk on. So Twosox has been more cautious... and I don't blame him. I have decided to put some hay in the shelter for him instead of just leaving it all in the manger. And since the ground is really bad to walk on the other horses leave him alone for the most part because they don't want to walk on it ;) So far it has worked well.

Since I have been out with the horses each feeding time, (we used to just roll a bale of hay in, which was easier but with square bales it is too loose and the horses are wasting to much so we have to put bales in through out the day) it has been interesting to watch and see the herd and how they interact with each other. It is definitely interesting, and sometimes it can get rough! But I have enjoyed it and I have noticed little changes in the horses in how they respond to me when I go in the corral. One being that they will move out of my way for me when I am coming through, especially Prince! If I am coming through he will move over and let me by or if I am at the manger doing something Prince will wait and ask me whether he can come in to eat. Little things that are really amazing!

Needless to say I am also enjoying the extra time with the horses :)

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Trimming and playing!

December 2 2010

This morning I trimmed Prince and also played with him a little bit. He stood pretty well for the most part. Part way through I decided to go onto the front yard and let both of us stretch a little. We got some nice circles with changes of direction at the trot on the12ft line, yo-yo's with lightness, speed and distance, and sideways at a trot without a fence!! It was incredible! Plus when we were going to the right (Prince's hard side) Prince picked up the trot while going sideways, instead of me having to send him in a small half circle and then ask him to go sideways. It was really really cool!

We also played with driving the hindquarters and then bringing the forequarters around and moving them. Prince and I have done this before but today I wanted to see if I could keep the same rhythm and speed through out the whole thing. Prince moves his hindquarters away a lot easier than his forequarters so I knew our challenge would be in keeping the lightness and speed while driving them. I have to make sure that I was keeping the same rhythm and speed in my body and it actually went really well. Prince was a little bit worried at first since I was asking for more but when he caught on he was okay.

The rest of the trim went well and Prince stood well for it. I have switched to trimming them every five weeks and that seems to be working out alright. It will be nice to have a week off, even if it is every four weeks. However, if I see that their feet are getting worse I will switch back. But so far Prince and Twosox's have been well. Now Ruffian's and Knightly's might be worse because their feet have always been worse but hopefully they will be alright also.

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Never stop progressing!

November 29 2010

Prince and I had a shorter session today. Mom and I continued to do little tasks and challenges. Prince came over to me when I got down to the corral. He stuck with me while I rubbed him all over and then haltered him. We headed up to the riding ring after that. Mom and I played with porcupine games in all different zones. Prince and I played with backing up faster by the nose, hindquarter yields with lightness, speed and distance.

Prince has come a long way in a couple months and has gotten so much lighter! But as Mr. Pyne says... "Be always pleased but never satisfied" I am very pleased with how far we have come, but do I want to stay here, NO!! It would be very easy to just stay where we are, being happy and content. But the problem with staying where you are is that you never do. You are either progressing or digressing. It will either be getting better or getting worse.

We then jumped over the barrels that were still there. Prince walked up to them the first time and actually, to my surprise made it over the barrels! I gave him a rest and then asked him to jump them again from the trot which was what I wanted the first time. He did that with out and any problems.

Then we set up the barrels so that there was two standing up and one lying down between them. It was in the middle of the area where we were playing and the goal was to have the horses jump towards us and then back to the barrel. Prince and I were up first. Prince jumped it but he offered to back right through the barrel. So we let mom and Knightly go next and then we tried it again. Prince cleared the jump this time. Not that he couldn't have jumped it before, but he wasn't putting a whole lot of effort into it the first time. This time he did it beautifully, and he didn't back through the barrels.

I ordered a cradle bridle on Friday. I am really excited! I had it shipped through USPS though instead of Fed-Ex because we get charged extra when they deliver it. So it will take longer to get here but that is okay. I am really excited to play with it over the winter and really start playing with Finesse!!

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Having fun with little things...

November 29 2010

Twosox and I played up in the riding ring today. He came over to me after I had let Ruffian go. Mom and I did different small tasks with our horses seeing as over half of the riding ring was ice. So we stayed on the part that wasn't. It was a lot of fun because we had to use our imaginations to figure out what we could do.

The one thing that I wanted to do with Twosox was see if he could jump the two barrels with one in front of each other (doubled up). The first time I didn't quite set it up properly but the next time he jumped it no problem and turned, faced and waited, all with slack in the rope (a 12ft line!).

Next we each got our horses to straddle a pole lengthwise, one front foot and one back foot on either side. Twosox did that really quickly and so we then did friendly game while I was standing in zone 5. We did extreme friendly game and also friendly game in zone 1. Twosox did really well with that and stood nice and still, while remaining relaxed.

Then we played with tapping their feet to lift them up. Twosox had a little bit of trouble at first but once he remembered what to do all I had to go was very lightly tap his foot once or twice and he would lift it up and rest his toe on the ground. It went really quickly because he did so well! So we ended and I went and got Prince.

Even though we didn't get to do anything like circles that was okay. Hopefully once the snow gets here and there isn't ice under it, we can do more bigger things, but until then we are having fun with the little things!

Naturally,
~Keri

Ruffian: Leading by the chin and more.

November 29 2010

Ruffian and I had a really great session this afternoon. He actually came over to me when he saw me which was really amazing because Ruffian hasn't done that.... in well a long time. He used to always be the first one over to meet you but then when he was getting played with less and less he started to become more introverted and then that was when I started playing with him. It was really special!

I haltered him and then we just hung out in the corral while mom and I had a good conversation. While we were talking though I was watching Ruffian and it took him a long time to think and chew over just me haltering him. Once he did that though he really relaxed and we were able to play with leading by the chin. First though we had to do some friendly game around his chin because he was resisting that. I just persisted with it until he stopped moving his head around and trying to get away from my hand and then once he could except that then I started to ask for just one of two steps. Ruffian was really good and in the end we were able to walk around, turn, and stop and he was responding to the pressure appropriately.

Then we played with some more porcupine games such as hindquarter yields. I can't get over how light Ruffy had gotten! He pivoted a full circle, he was very light, and offered the speed!! It was incredible! We did that on both sides and then after he licked and chewed I let him go. We was a really good session for both of us and it was nice to be able to stay in the corral where the footing was a little better.

Naturally,
~Keri