Ruffian: Matching the energy

December 27 2010

Ruffian and I had a great playtime. To warm myself up we started with some stick to me where Ruffian had to keep the same distance and slack in the rope whether we were walking, trotting, backing up etc etc. At first Ruffian had a harder time stopping when I stopped, and not taking any steps forward. Then he got really good at stopping but then he wouldn't come forward as easily. So we played with that for a while then I decided to try doing something else, getting Ruffian responding to the pressure on the halter quicker and lighter.

We did a cool little pattern which was doing Falling Leaf one way and then backwards "S" going the other way and just keep switching from one to the other. It was a whole lot of fun. Ruffian cantered the Falling Leaf and trotted the Backwards "S". He was turning really, really quickly and putting a whole lot of effort into doing the pattern. After that we went back to the Stick to me and Ruffian was so light. We did walk/trot/halt/ and backup and Ruffian kept the same distance and the same amount of slack in the rope. It was great!

Up next was Figure eights! Ruffian really wanted to move and play, so the challenge for me was again to match his energy and go 4 ounces more, just enough that he would notice me and respond. If I did more he would get worried because it would be to much pressure. It was challenging but fun. Ruffian did really well I ended up doing the same pattern that I do with Prince which is trotting a circle and then changing direction around one barrel then going back on the circle again and then repeating the process then putting a complete Figure eight in there every once and I a while. Ruffian did very well and he stayed connected and calm the whole time. At the end we got a really nice Figure eight at the trot and Ruffian had rhythm, relaxation and connection! It was really great!!

We ended there because it was a great spot to end and Ruffian had done so well! So we just hung out for a bit and then I unhaltered him and then I played with Prince!!

Naturally,
~Keri

Twosox: Don't be afraid but do what I say...

December 27 2010

Today I played with Twosox first. We started out just hanging out at Liberty and played some friendly game. I wanted to wait until he had relaxed before I haltered him. Before I put the halter on though we played around with leading by the legs. We have done it before but not at Liberty. Twosox did very well though and was so light! We also did backing up by the hocks which went extremely well and Twosox caught on so quickly! 

After I haltered him we played with some driving games. Twosox wasn't paying any attention to my phase 1 so we played with that for a while, looooooooooooong phase one, quick two, three, four. He got worried about that though so I had to balance that with friendly game. We kept doing that until Twosox was moving at a phase one. We did this on the forequarters and hindquarters. 

Up next was short range circles at the walk. Twosox was sure at first what I wanted but when he figured it out he did really well. Then we went to circles at the trot at about 12ft away. Twosox did well going to the right he trotted four laps no problem but going to the left he would break gait after two laps. Then he would turn and face me and then when I went to ask him to keep going he would back up, tossing his head, pulling etc etc. Once he yielded to the pressure I sent him on and he did the four laps with out breaking gait. 

We stayed there for a bit and I let Twosox lick and chew over that and then I un-haltered him. Before we do Figure eights again I want to get these circles fixed again. On the 22ft line I think that Twosox can stay counter bent on the circle and still maintain gait but on the 12ft line it isn't as easy. So I know what we shall be playing with!! :)

Naturally,

~Keri

Happy Christmas!

I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful day! I am very blessed to be able to spend this day with my family and it has been such a great day.

At this special time though let us not forget the people who are not with us, those who are fighting to keep us safe, the armed forces. They are not with their families and have to be separated from their loved ones. I pray that they will have a safe return and that they will be able to join their loved ones soon.

For the people who are not as fortunate as us, the ones that are homeless, hungry, lonely, hurting, let us not forget them. My prayer is that they will come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour this Christmas season.

Last night, as per family tradition, we watched It's a Wonderful Life. Once again I was reminded that no matter how hard life may get, how pointless it may seem sometimes, we are here for a purpose and God has placed you and me where we are for a reason. We may not see it but we are touching lives, never forget that!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God Bless,
~Keri

Ruffian: Challenging yet fun!

December 22 2010

Ruffian and I had a fantastic playtime today! We started out with Figure eights but Ruffian was in an extremely playful mood so I decided to switch to some traveling circles to let him move his feet more. We did them at the canter in one direction and at the trot in the other then flowed right back into Figure eights.

Figure eights can be really challenging for us because I have to encourage Ruffian to be exuberant, matching his energy so that he will recognize me and listen. If I don't have it just right he will get worried and it will be to much pressure. If I put to much pressure on Ruffian will turn counterclockwise away from me and take off but if I do it right he will put a lot of effort into it and be confident and have fun. Today I got it right! Ruffian wasn't trotting around the barrels the whole way though so I had to find a way to ask him for more without putting to much pressure on. I was able to get it and Ruffian trotted 2 complete Figure eights with connection. It was great! It felt so wonderful afterward to get that and to know that Ruffian was confident at the end.

I learned the importance of waiting for Ruffian ask a question before I sent him out on a circle or ask him to do anything. That made a huge difference in our play session also. We were also able to do leading by the chin, which for Ruffian was a really hard task because he didn't like it at all. We even did some Figure eights at the walk, complete by leading by the chin.

Then we went over to the fence and I played with getting on and off Ruffian, making sure that he didn't go internal or get worried. He took it all really well and then we were able to get a couple steps forward a long the fence then I would bend him and get off. We did this as a pattern and Ruffian gained a lot of confidence and he got the pattern quickly. We were able to take more steps before I would get off and he was so relaxed by the end it was amazing!

Our lateral flexions were so light and Ruffian was really good! Hopefully over the winter I will be able to continue riding him bareback and getting him more and more confident with being ridden. I think in the past he was just pushed to far to fast and so the only way he knew how to get rid of the pressure was to lay down. So hopefully with more confidence he will stop doing that :)

We ended on a great note and Ruffian stuck with me at Liberty for a while before we headed over to the other side of the riding ring to leave.

Naturally,

~Keri

Twosox: Porcupine games and bridling...

December 22 2010

Twosox and I had a really good session today. We started off by playing strong, especially when it came to the porcupine game. Twosox was leaning and pulling on the pressure and so we did forequarter and hindquarter yields, and backing up by the nose. Once those were going well and Twosox was putting lightness and speed into it we went and did some circles. 

Twosox would get to a certain spot on the circle and then go straight and in doing so take the slack out of the rope and pull. So we played with that for a while and we did circles in both directions and ended when he was keeping the slack in the rope the whole time while trotting. 

Then we headed out to the front yard and we played with zone 5 driving with one rein. Twosox wasn't confident having me in zone 5 so we had to play with that. Eventually we got it though and we were able to get some simple walk, halt, back up transitions with out him getting worried and turning and facing me. 

Next we headed to the garage and played with bridling! It was a lot of fun and Twosox did so well! He took the bit very well and was totally fine with it! He moved his mouth around a little and then his mouth went quiet and he was fine! His head is definitely smaller than Prince's but it still fits well. He looks really sharp in it! 

Naturally,
~Keri

Prince: Balancing Whoa and Go

December 21 2010

Mom and I went on another trail ride today but first we played in the corral and riding ring. After I saddled Prince we did some porcupine games, it was actually a pleasant temperature outside so it was a good time to do it because my fingers didn't freeze when I had to take my gloves off (I don't like doing any porcupine games with gloves on, I can't be as light as I need to be). Prince did extremely well and was very light. We did hindquarter, forequarter, back-up's, and such all with lightness, speed and distance! 

 

Prince and I then went up to the riding ring and we started with Touch it at the trot, where Prince had to trot to different things and touch it with either his nose, feet etc etc Prince did really well with that and it was a lot of fun. Next we did some circles and changes of directions a long with some transitions. 

Then we played with Figure eights again! This time Prince picked it up right from the start and he maintained gait the whole time. It was really nice!! Then we took a little break and I helped Mom with hers and Knightly's Figure eights. The last thing we did was I set up two barrels in the middle of the riding ring and asked Prince to jump them while coming towards me, then stop and back up to the barrels. I waited for Prince to ask a question (something that Mrs. Parelli talked about in the latest Savvy Club DVD) before I asked Prince to do it and it made a huge difference! Just that one small thing! It was definitely something I am going to play around with more. 

Before we headed out on the trail I bridled Prince. He took the bit really well and both time he accepted it very well. He is doing so well with it considering it is only his fifth time!!

Our trail ride was great. We rode up through town which was a first, normally we go out the back way or we walk the horses through town and then mount up. Prince did so well but wasn't 100% confident we carried on for a bit and then I decided to get off because even though we could have made it I wanted to do what was best for Prince's confidence. 

One of the main things both Mom and I played with was making sure the horses would stand still and not move forward until we gave them permission. Prince wanted to go but he was really good at standing still when I asked. Basically the whole way out we played with transitions and such, lots of backing up and all that. Prince was so light!! It was fun! 

Then we did some side passes from one side of the road to the other. Prince was incredible and we even took it up a notch and as soon as we got to the one side of the road I would switch and ask for a side pass the other way. Prince caught on really quickly and we did that for a good 100 feet or so. 

On the way back home since Prince had done so well in standing still when I asked and he was really connected we did lots of cantering!! I have never cantered so far so fast in my life but it was a complete thrill!!! It was a little cold considering we were cantering straight into the wind but both Prince and I had so much fun!! We had gotten quite a ways behind Mom and Knightly so we decided to catch up and it was light Prince picked switched gears and it was like we were flying!! Both of us just wanted to keep on going but I wanted to make sure Prince would still stop and wasn't disconnecting from me. He did fairly well. One time though we were cantering a lot and had to stop quickly because Mom and Knightly had come onto our path so I wasn't as focused on stopping as I was before but Prince still stopped pretty good. 

We rode through town going back home and Prince was doing well went and then a big propane truck came towards us. I saw it coming before it was really close so I got off and Prince and I just waited. Prince was worried but still stayed still. Once the truck stopped (the guy stopped right behind us) we walked forward so there was more room for Prince to move around if he needed too. Once we were a maybe 35ft from the truck the driver put his breaks on, which spooked Prince a little. Poor guy. 

The truck driver got out and came over and said that he didn't want to put his breaks on until we were far enough away. He said that he didn't want to spook the horses. That was really nice of him! We when walked the rest of the way home on foot and then hurried inside to get warm!! 

I was so proud of Prince and I think we both had a really fun time!! I might not get a chance to play with Prince until after Christmas so this was a great way to end for the week!!

Naturally,

~Keri

Prince: Trail riding in the snow!

December 17 2010

Prince and I had a really interesting session about Figure eights! Who would have guessed? ;) Prince had a hard time maintaining gait around the left barrel and on the other one he would make the assumption that I wanted him to come around and go through so he wasn't listening to me. So I switched things up a bit and I would ask Prince to go around the one barrel and then circle once, go around the other barrel and then circle once. That was going well and Prince started listening more and more and also got really interested and started asking questions.

He still would break gait around the one barrel so we kept on the same pattern as above expect every time he went around the barrel I would ask him to go into the canter. He caught on to that quickly and things were going smoothly. So I brought him in for a rest. He was pretty sweaty after all that running. I sent him back out and the first Figure eight we did was exactly what I was looking for, Prince maintained gait, waited until I asked for him to come around the barrel instead of assuming that was what I wanted and he maintained gait around the left barrel.

After when I was thinking about it I realised that Prince wasn't shaping around that barrel like he does around the right hand barrel. Which makes total sense because circling to the left is his harder side and also getting left leads is harder. So it comes as no surprise. My plan for next day is to focus on him shaping his body around that one barrel and I think that will help him maintain gait easier.

Then Mom and I went for a trail ride! We didn't go far as it was getting pretty cold and I had to go to work but we had fun. We stayed on our property the whole time but went down to the turn around and rode there. Prince and I did some cantering and it was so much fun! Prince cantered really, really fast one time and it was incredible! All I had to do to stop him was relax and I didn't have to touch my reins at all!!

I had my CB (Cradle Bridle) on but I wasn't using it, I had my reins attached to my halter. Prince had resistance to putting it on so I just waited until he got curious about it and he started sniffing it and checking it out then he actually took the bit all by himself!! I guided it in but it was Prince who wanted it. I let him have it in his mouth for a while and then I took it out. We did this three times and each time Prince took the bit. It is progress!! It will still take some time but I am not going to use it while I am riding until Prince willing accepts it with out any resistance.

On our way home we had to walk across snow that was on top of ice that had water under it. So Prince was sinking really deep. He was such a trooper though and even though he didn't like it he walked straight though it for me. He was great!!

I can hardly wait until we can go out again. I love riding in the snow even though one has to be careful about ice. It is still so much fun though!

Naturally,

~Keri