Ruffian: Online and Freestyle

June 20, 2011

Okay so I am yet again a week behind in my updates... I have been to busy playing with the horses and enjoying life to bother with blogging :) 

So now I have to play catch up. Ruffian and I had a really wonderful session this morning. I was going to play with and ride Prince first but Ruffian came over and really looked like he wanted to be played with so I decided to saddle him up and play with him. 

Ruffian was fine being saddled. I allowed him to check everything out (but not with his teeth) and then saddled up. I moved him around a little and did some hindquarter and forequarter yields getting a full pivot each side with lightness and speed. Then we did some yo-yo's just on the 12ft line. Next we played with squeezing between myself and the fence where the electric fence box is (it is mounted on the other side of the fence) Ruffian had never liked going on that side and I think it is because of the ticking that the box makes but at the same time there is nothing that is going to happen to him so it is a matter of him trusting me as his leader because I know that everything is okay. 

So we played with this for a while and eventually Ruffian was able to walk calmly from one side to the other and back again through a 7ft gap or so. This was a huge improvement from when we started so we ended there. Ruffian had a bit lick and chew and then we headed up to the riding ring. 

We played on the 22ft line and did some traveling circles falling lead, and jumping. Ruffian bucked some going into the canter on the circle but once he was able to canter almost a full circle each way and not buck or show any signs of being bothered by the saddle I brought him in for a rest. 

We played with jumping single barrels as well as a line of barrels. Ruffian had not issues with jumping with the saddle so I mounted up after checking our lateral flexions. We were in the middle of the riding ring when I mounted and I only had my halter and lead rope on so after we checked out our lateral flexions and indirect rein we went over to the rail and rode the rail until we got to where my hackamore was and I put that on while mounted. Ruffian was great and stood still and knew exactly what I was asking of him even though it was the first time we have every done something like that, it was fun :) 

Then we did more Follow the rail at the walk and trot. We were able to get a full lap at the trot in each direction which was really amazing! I love Ruffian's trot, it is so smooth! Then we played with our 9 step back-up and getting that straight. I wasn't to particular about speed but I didn't want Ruffian to learn to back up in a zig-zag :) 

Ruffian was great the whole ride and I was really pleased with how well he responded and I think that the main thing I learned was not to be to particular at this stage, yes I am not letting Ruffian get away with things but if it doesn't get something right away or if he doesn't do it perfectly that it okay. If he is trying then reward that try. He is just learning! 

After I unsaddled we headed over to the sandy part of the riding ring and Ruffian got down and rolled. Hopefully he will learn that he can roll after we ride, and not during our ride :) So far so good ;) 

Naturally,

~Keri-Lynn

Prince: Patterns, Day 3.

June 16, 2011

Today was day three of most of the patterns Prince and I had been playing with recently.

Circles ~ These went really well. Prince was light and he was able to find each lead easily while maintaining rhythm, relaxation and connection. 

Yo-Yo's ~ Prince was light and put speed into backing to the end of the 45ft line! We are getting really close to it being all at phase one!!

Porcupine ~ We did hindquarter and forequarter yields. Four complete pivots each way with lightness and speed. We are playing with distance, hence the four pivots each way, and Prince is doing really well! 

Our Freestyle patterns were great today! 

Follow the Rail ~ Walk - Trot- Canter ~ Prince got it today on the first try each direction. We cantered three laps each way with no corrections. It was amazing!! His canter was so soft and relaxed! No matter what people say I love trotting. Even after I have been cantering almost a year I love trotting! There is something so relaxing about it. Anyway... that was kind of a bunny trail... :) 

Opening/Closing Gates ~ This went exceptionally well. Prince was right where I needed him to be when I needed it but he didn't try pushing on the gate or being to helpful. We worked as a team and we got the job done. 

Circles/Bullseye ~ This was an interesting pattern. Over all it went well but Prince had a really hard time getting the left lead. It took us a long time but in the end he was able to get it and we cantered a full lap before stopping. To the right was easy and it came quickly. We got two laps or so and then stopped. Prince was very sweaty by the time we finished so we headed into the garage to get relief from the bugs and played with bridling! 

Bridling ~ This was great. I took off my hackamore because it was wet and dirty so I just had the bridle on and Prince looked smashing wearing it! He had no problem taking the bit and hardly mouthed it at all! It was really nice to see the progress! We did some lateral flexions and such and then I scratched all his itchy spots for a long time before we headed back to the corral.

Prince is getting in shape with all this cantering we have been doing which is great because I want him in shape mentally, emotionally and physically for September when we are riding in a five day Level 3/4 clinic. Should be fun! 

Naturally,

~Keri-Lynn

Twosox: Waiting for the lick and chew makes a difference.

June 16, 2011

As I mentioned in my last post about Twosox's and my most recent session I wished I had of given Twosox more time to process what I was asking of him. So today I made sure to do that in our session. 

We had a pretty short session over all but a really good one from start to finish. We played mostly the same things as last session and Twosox did very well. His hindquarter yields were a little sticky on the one side. He seemed to be a little stiff or something because he wasn't crossing over as well or as smoothly. So we kept playing with it and I watched to see if he was sore but he didn't seem to be so maybe that is just a harder side for him. He was light though which was really nice! 

The forequarter yields were amazing. We got one complete pivot each direction and Twosox only moved his hind feet when he had too. I waited a long time for Twosox to process each task and it made a big difference. He stayed calm and could think his way through everything I asked. 

We ended with a big scratching session and Twosox followed me around everywhere afterward asking for more scratches! It was great!! So I scratched him for a little while longer before getting my saddle and everything out to play with Prince.

Naturally,

~Keri-Lynn

Prince: Sideways, yo-yo's and grooming...

June 15, 2011

Prince and I had a short but good session this morning. The horseflies and deerflies were already out by the time we started so we only did sideways up in the riding ring. Prince is getting better and better each time with going sideways to the end of the 45ft line while I stand still. There was a few times I had to come off of my spot but in the end Prince went sideways in each direction with my standing still! 

Then we went down to the front yard, back through the gate to the end of the 45ft line which went really well and Prince was definitely better than last time. He was light and put quite a bit of effort into backing out. 

Next we went into the garage and I was going to play with bridling but Myles want to do something with Ruffian also so we took both horses to the garage to groomed them, scratched itchy spots and etc so I didn't end up bridling Prince but that is okay! We had a great time handing out together anyway! 

Naturally,

~Keri-Lynn

Ruffian: Playing!

June 15, 2011

This morning I played with Ruffian first. Ruffian had lots of energy so first we played with circles with obstacles and changes of directions and then we played with jumping single barrels at different speeds, walk, trot, stand still etc. Ruffian did really well and seeks the barrels with lots of enthusiasm! 

I wanted to teach something new to Ruffian so I decided to try sideways at a trot. Ruffian did well and I had to make sure not to put to much pressure on him because he can loose confidence very easily when learning new things. So we took our time and slowly but surely Ruffian started to get the idea. After a couple tries Ruffian trotted sideways a few feet so we ended there. 

Ruffian hung around for a little while before heading down to the corral. The horseflies were already starting to get bad so I didn't have a lot of time to play with Prince but we had a little bit of time :) 

Naturally,

~Keri-Lynn

Prince: Patterns!

June 14, 2011

Prince and I continued on with our Freestyle patterns today but did a few new things Online. We did leading by the ear, which we have played with in the past but not recently, we did that all the way up to the riding ring and then did some back-up's, turns, and close range circles at the walk, all by the ear. We kept it simple and had fun playing with responding appropriately to pressure in a semi-new area.

We also played with a weave on a circle. This was fun but we had to change strategies a little because Prince was relying to much on the rope and not really listening to my body so we switched to to doing Figure eights around each cone so that Prince would start to understand what to do. We kept doing this until the belly of the rope was on the ground through out each Change of direction/Figure eight. 

This made a huge improvement on the Weave but and Prince kept the slack on the ground 90% of the time. We also played with changes of directions at the canter with flying lead changes. Prince got most of them but missed a couple. He still tried really hard and we ended on a good one. We also played with circles at the canter. I was looking for Prince to get the correct lead and be able to maintain it for more than just 3/4 of a lap. Soon Prince was able to canter in both directions for 3-4 laps so I rewarded that and brought him in for a rest.


Then I mounted and rode. We started with Follow the rail at the walk, trot and canter. Prince did well. At the canter Prince was able to pick up the correct lead much easier than last day and so we didn't stay at it as long. We got about 3-4 laps each direction on the correct lead and then stopped.


Next we made our way down to the corral, opened and closed the gate, and then rode the Bullseye pattern at the trot and canter. The trot was easy as we have done that a lot before so we went into the canter. Prince still had a hard time picking up the correct lead and so the first little while was a lot of attempting to pick up the correct lead. Once Prince got it though we were able to canter a few good laps and then stop for a rest. Prince picked up the left lead better than the right lead which was interesting because normally it is the other way around.


We ended with doing a little bit of bridling. Prince took the bit well and lateral flexions were really good so I unbridled and we headed back to the corral. I haven't been doing as much bridling and such recently because there has been so many other things we have been playing with, sometimes it is a little overwhelming when you want to play with and advance different things but just run out of time!!


Naturally,
~Keri-Lynn

Twosox: Playing with the basics

June 14, 2011

This morning Twosox and I focused the Porcupine game, Driving game and some Yo-yo's. I wanted to test then mainly but at the same time advance them some.

We started with the Porcupine game and did back-up's, hindquarter and forequarter yields. I was mainly looking for lightness with some speed. One thing for which I was looking was for Twosox to actually pivot. This has been something that we have played with a lot in the past but I couldn't help Twosox find it the answer, as I was still trying to figure out how to help him figure it out ;) So today we spent a lot of time playing with this especially while moving the forequarters. I found that if I backed Twosox up a step and then moved him over a step this taught him to shift his weight to his hindquarters and he was then able to pivot properly. It was that easy.

Twosox got it and even though one side was a little harder than the other pretty soon we were getting one complete pivot with Twosox keeping his weight back and truly pivoting!!

We then played with doing the same thing in the hula hoop. Twosox did really well on his easier side but his hard side was more challenging. He had a harder time keeping his one back foot in the hoop so we played with causing it to be a game and we also played some other games around the hoop. We did circling games over the hoop, sideways to it, yo-yo's to and from the hoop and squeeze games over the hoop. It was great fun!

One thing that I didn't to that I wish I had of done was given Twosox more of a chance to lick and chew. I didn't wait long enough and so there were times when things would have been a lot easier and smoother if I had of given Twosox just a little more time to think about what we had just done and process it. Next time!!

Naturally,
~Keri-Lynn