Twosox: Playing around the shelter

March 31 2010

This morning I went out and played with Twosox. I went out extra early so that I could play with him before I had to trim Knightly. We didn't go up to the riding ring but stayed in the corral and played in and around the shelter. Twosox is really unconfident going in there because it is small and not much room to move around if the other horses come in. So I decided to play with that today. I did a little bit with Twosox on Monday and we played in the shelter but not a whole lot. It is important that he goes in there because that is where the salt and Hoffman's minerals are so if he doesn't go in he won't get any. At first he was really worried about even putting his head in so we played with that. Doing a lot of approach and retreat. Then we did some yo-yo's in and out, in and out etc etc until he was okay with that. After that we just did different things. I backed Twosox into the shelter from 20ft away, and some other things. Then to end I asked Twosox to stand at the back and we just hung out there for a while. A couple minutes after that Twosox really relaxed and started yawning and licking and chewing. It was so nice to see him relaxing instead of having a high head and being really tense. Twosox even started eating some of the Hoffman's minerals! Hooray! Success! When I took the halter off Twosox just stood there sleeping until I left and then he left. Hopefully he will go in there by himself now. 

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: Transitions, Weaving, and just having fun!

March 30 2010

Wow! What a play time with Ruffian! He was incredible! This time after I haltered him he didn't go internal so that was really good. Once we were up in the riding ring we did some circles and other stuff. We had a blast! I was surprised that Ruffian didn't seem to have a whole lot of energy! He was happy to go and happy to slow down. We did some circles, change of directions, and transitions. I still can't believe how amazing Ruffian's transitions are! He listens so well and does exactly what I ask. It was so cool!


Then I set the two barrels up their ends and asked Ruffy to jump them. He wasn't even cantering and he flew right over them like it was nothing! He is so athletic! After that I asked Ruffy to sniff his tail. The first try wasn't very successful but the next time he did it perfectly! He tried to hard and did so well! Then we did the Weave pattern at the trot. Ruffy offered a really nice slow trot and I hardly had to direct him at all! He did most of it! It was lots of fun :)

After that I decided to ride Ruffy for a little bit. He did really well. We did some Figure eights, follow the rail, direct and indirect rein, 9 step back up and we started sideways. Ruffy layed down and rolled once but I made it off safely ;) It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. It has only happened to me once before and that was a most four years ago so it has been a while! After Ruffy finished rolling I got back on and off we went again. All in all it was a good ride. Ruffy did well.

It was a really great play time and we both had a lot of fun. Ruffy really seemed to be partnering with me and he was so willing to try! It was great!

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Stick to me, Circles and more!

March 30 2010

This morning I played with Prince. It was so nice outside! Yesterday it snowed so I didn't get a chance to play other than a little bit with Twosox at Liberty in the corral. So it was great to be back outside! Prince and Ruffian were up in the riding ring when I went out so I went up there to see them. They both looked pretty happy to see me. I spent some time just rubbing them before I haltered Prince. Before I actually haltered him we did a little bit of Touch it and Stick to me at Liberty. It was fun! 

After I haltered Prince we did some Touch it and sideways and then we did some Stick to me, walk, trot and canter. I am starting to ask Prince to cantering in straight lines instead of us doing it in circles. That is going really well and today we made huge progress! At first Prince wasn't as in tune with me so we had to play with that but by the end he was really in tune with me! It was cool! We cantered in a straight line all the way to the other side of the riding ring! 

Then I decided to play with our circles. Prince did really well and did so well but since our riding ring is small all of our obstacles are every where so there isn't really any clear space. Which is fine for the most part but today they were in the way. Prince was cantering a long and wasn't able to do a good circle because he had to watch out for where he was going and so he ended up getting worried. So I had to stop and move all the obstacles from the one end of the riding ring so that we could play with our maintaining gait at the canter with out Prince tripping over everything. Prince did much better and looked way more relaxed. Plus he had slack in the line. So after that we did some transitions and change of directions which Prince did really well with. We got some really nice walk to canter transitions! 

Then I asked Prince to jump the barrels while he was coming into me (like we did last day) He got it on the first try! Hooray! He learns to quickly! This time we were able to go the whole pattern and I was backed him back to the barrel after he jumped it. So that was really cool! We also did a little bit of one line zone 5 driving. And every once and a while I would ask Prince to do a spin and keep going in the same direction but the rope would be on the other side. He did those really well (that was another thing that we did on Saturday!) 

Prince stayed with me after I let him go and so we walked down the hill and into the corral together. So all in all it was a great play time and I will know for next time what to do before we do our circles!:)

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Having fun in Online, Liberty, and Freestyle.

March 27 2010

So this afternoon I played with Prince. We had a lot of fun and played in three savvies, Online, Liberty and Freestyle... well I guess four because we did a little bit of Finesse. Before I start though I just wanted to share what happened this morning while my mom and I were cleaning the corral.

While Mom and I were out cleaning the corral Prince layed down. So when Mom took a load of manure out I went over to see Prince. Over the winter every chance I have gotten I have went to him while he was lying down. Sometimes he would stay down and other time he would get up. But I was just happy that Prince would let me get any where near him while he was lying down. When we first got Prince he didn't trust anyone near him while he was lying down. If you walked out the front door he would be up right away. So slowly but surely he has gotten more and more comfortable with people around him. So today I went over to see him and he was fine with that. So I sat down beside him and rubbed him for a while until Mom came back. I did this every time Mom took a load out (we were rotating who took the load out). I was surprised how long Prince stayed down but it was nice because it gave me a chance to leave and then come back and so on. One time I decided to lean on Prince and he was fine with that so the next time I came back I decided to see if he was okay with me sitting on his one side. At first he wasn't to happy about it. He pinned his ears and tried to bite me. So I just blocked him and then when he put his ears forward I would get off. I did this a couple times until he was okay with me sitting there. Even though I was there I wasn't putting a whole lot of weight on him. So the next time I came back I tried actually sitting on him and putting my weight on him. He was perfectly fine with it! It was so cool! I sat there for a couple minutes and then I got off. I didn't actually swing my leg over but hopefully I will be able to do that soon! After that I just sat beside Prince and we hung out together. It was really a special moment! :)

Once we got up to the riding ring we smaller things, Touch it, sideways towards and away, yo-yo's and some other stuff. Then I lined the barrels up a long the fence and asked Prince to come towards me, jump the barrels and then back up to them. That was the plan but Prince offered to straddle them and thought that was the answer for we played with that. It was so much fun having something to challenge us! Slowly but surely Prince started getting the idea that I wanted him to jump the barrels. He can do it with a log but we never tried it with barrels so that is what made the difference. After a while Prince finally got it! He trotted up, jumped the barrels and came trotting to me! I was so happy! The look on his face was priceless! He knew he figured out the puzzle and was happy!

After that I stood one barrel on it's end and sent Prince off on the circle at the canter then as he was coming aroun I put the barrel in his way and guess what!?! He jumped it! He still knocked it over with his hind legs but that is okay for now. His legs are so short but he still tried really hard and almost made it! I could see that he knew what he was supposed to do it was so cool! Needless to say Prince got a long rest after that. Then I helped mom with her Figure eights and so Prince got a long rest. He was happy about that though. 

Then I got on Prince and we had a great ride. After we had ridden around for a while and did some sideways, transitions, and some other stuff I decided to try some Figure eights at the trot. Prince did soooooo  well! He only broke gait a couple times but other than that he was perfect! Since I was riding bareback and there was hill on part of the Figure eight I decided not to trot down it. So we would walk down that part and trot the rest. I was so proud of Prince! Then mom suggested we try a couple different things so we did. The first thing was trotting over a small jump. Prince didn't actually jump it but that was fine. He still trotted over it. At first it was maybe 6inches high and then after that couple squeezes over it mom raised it another 6inches or so. It was a lot of fun and hopefully Prince and I will continue progressing with that.

Then mom set up a L shaped lane with the poles and wanted me to back through the L and then around again to the where we started. Prince did so well! He put a lot of effort into it too! It was fun! Then mom asked me to go sideways over the one set of poles in the same L shape. The first try Prince didn't do so good but on the second try he did much better! The next and last thing was something we saw at a Parelli clinic. It is a type of Yo-yo game where you take one step forward and then one step back, then two steps forward and then two steps, three steps forward, three steps back and so on all the way up to ten. Prince did really well and when we got to five he put a lot  of effort into backing up. Eight, nine and ten were a little mess because I was really focused on counting and I think I was messing Prince up plus we ran into a tire... so our back up wasn't totally straight but it was still fun and something to play with!

After I got off we played at Liberty for a while. We did jumping the single barrel, straddling it, sideways towards and away, stick to me, Touch it, leading by the tail, yo-yo's, close range circles, and lots more! Prince left a couple times but he always came back.  We tried figure eights but since we weren't in a round corral Prince got lost a couple times. So we didn't continue on with those. That was okay though because even though our figure eights are really nice Online we haven't been able to really practice them at Liberty. So all in all it was a great play time! Prince and I both had fun and that is the most important thing!

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: 2 year anniversary

March 27 2010

Before I go into the details of the play time that Twosox and I had this morning I just wanted to say that today, March 27 2010, I have had Step of Faith aka Twosox for exactly two years! It has been a wonderful two years and I have learned so much from him! I really am looking forward to this next year with both Prince and Twosox. It will be so much fun! 

So this morning I played with Twosox. We had a lot of fun! I brushed him before we went up to the riding ring. It was warmer than it was yesterday which was so nice! Prince and Ruffy weren't in the corral when I went out so when Twosox and I went up to the riding ring Knightly left. I was surprised at how well Twosox did. The first thing we did was played with getting our Yo-yo's straighter. Then we did some sideways, Touch it, circles, and some other stuff. It was really fun! 

After that we went over to the barrel and I asked Twosox to walk up to it, jump it, and then walk after that, like we did last time. He pretty well with that then one time I accidentally relaxed a little to soon and Twosox straddled the barrel! I was really surprised that Twosox was that in tune with me! It was incredible! We played around with that for a while. It was really amazing how fast Twosox caught on. I only had to relax and Twosox would stop right over the barrel! 

Then we did some Liberty. We did some Stick to me, jumping, and some other stuff. Then I let Twosox go but he stayed with me while I got all my equipment so we went down the hill together. It was a great play time and it was a whole lot of fun! I can't believe how fast Twosox learns! It is amazing!

Naturally,

~Keri

Ruffian: Circles, Stick to me, and more!

March 26 2010

Before Mom and I left for our Parelli play day I played with Ruffian. Talk about weather change! Yesterday it was warm (even though it was windy) but today when I went out it was -10 but with the wind it felt like -20!! Wow! Bring out the winter boots, hat, coat, gloves, scarves, extra socks etc etc. It was a great day for playing with Ruffian though because you stay warm! :)

I decided not to brush Ruffy before we played like I normally do, I thought he might like the extra hair today ;) So after we went up to the riding ring. I have noticed a pattern in Ruffian that after you halter him he goes internal for a couple minutes (sometimes it happens just before I halter him also) so I will wait until he comes out of it and then we will continue. Because of this we always start off slower and then pick up the pace once Ruffy is ready. Normally by the time we get up to the riding ring Ruffy is ready to play but sometimes he needs a little bit more time. So it depends on the day. Today though he was ready to run! So we did some traveling circles at the canter. We have to travel around a bit because our riding ring isn't quite big enough plus you can put different obstacles in the way. Ruffy had a lot of energy but not like the last time we played so that was nice. :) I don't mind his energy but last times was a little too much! 

Ruffian and I had a lot of fun though... but then we always have fun! After Ruffy had run for a while I started throwing in some transitions in. I couldn't believe how in tune Ruffy was to my energy! All I had to do was relax and he would slow down and then he would speed up at a phase 2 or less! It was really neat! After that we did some Stick to me, walk, trot, back up etc. Ruffy was really in tune with me. Our back up needed a little bit more attention but Ruffian did very well over all. 

Then we did some yo-yo's. I couldn't believe how much effort Ruffy put into backing up! Cool! I asked him to back all the way out to the end of the 22ft line and then I sent him over to the barrel that was by the fence. I wanted Ruffian to jump it but I wasn't planning on asked him yet but he must have read my mind because he jumped it! And it was almost from a stand still! It was really cool! Ruffian it such a cool horse! 

After that I let Ruffian go. He stayed with me though so we spend a little bit of time just hanging out before I had to go. So even though it was cold we still had a whole lot of fun! :)

Naturally,

~Keri 

Prince: Undemanding time

March 25 2010

I was going to play with Prince this afternoon but Mom and I ended up making a gate so that cleaning the corral would be a lot easier so that took most of the afternoon and it was 3:00 until we were finished. So I decided to halter Prince and just groom him. So I spent about 1/2 an hour just hanging out with Prince and brushing him. Just for fun I picked up Prince's feet and picked them out. Prince did really well! After I took the halter off Prince stayed with me for a while and then I left. It was really nice not to do a lot with Prince and just hang out with him. 

Naturally,

~Keri