Thursday, May 31, 2012

Day 14 for arabs

Today was not the best of days.
Robbie- had a farrier appt so I got there early to work with him to get him ready. I did my usual things, but could tell something was not right. Whether it was the rain on the roof or what, I am not sure. But anyway, continued working with him and then put my saddle on him. I could tell that he wasn't real comfortable with it, not like the other saddle. This one has more accoutrements on it. He tried to move off slightly while I was cinching him up. But I just continued. Anyway after tightening the saddle I moved him off slowly like normal, YH, YF, backup, sending. He went at a walk, but when he went into a trot, he broke in two, and went down and then had a hard time getting back up. he stood there and blew and then I asked him to move off again and repeated what I did earlier. Then when he went into a trot, he broke in two again, only not as bad. Then it was he just looked at me for leadership and hope. I kept him moving but it was sideways, YH,YF etc. in either direction. He settled down a little and then the farrier got there. I took the saddle off moved him around a bit and then let the farrier deal with his feet. He stood pretty good. In his bucking fit and fall, he might have injured his hind leg some. He seemed to be a little sore. After the farrier worked on him I played with him a bit more to see how that leg was and then put him up. He didn't seem to favor that leg much. I will see what it is like tomorrow.
DarkStar- I went through all the same things with him as before. he did pretty good and is making progress. But the rain on the roof, etc. just made him jumpier. He was jumping at every noise there was. I just continued to move him around and stay relaxed. We did some turn and go exercises where the lead is around his rump forcing him to bend and follow his nose around. He did that pretty relaxed. I did some flanking out with the lead rope around his girth, belly and flank. He didn't seem to disturbed. Tomorrow I will do it with the other rope. I had the pad and saddle up on him, not cinched yet, but he stood for that. I was on his back as well. then I took him to the other end and removed his halter and he followed me to the other end. Now he doesn't follow me back yet, but it is still progress.

Joey- was a little naughty today. He didn't want to play in the rain. He wanted to stay in his stall, but as with the postal service, horse training goes on rain our shine. He was bit pushy in the rd pen so I got him running around and he soon decided it would be better to be near me. I went through all the exercises, put the saddle on him and spent the last 30 minutes riding him. He sure has a nice gaited trot that is nice and smooth. He pushes on the bit a little, but I will work that off of him. He is one roly poly horse. However, he was alot of fun to ride.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Arabs day 13

DS - I think this was the best training day for him. He was relaxed all the way through the exercises. He stood well for all the grooming issues. He has an issue, probably my position when I ask for YH from the left side. He will do one step correctly then step back. So I worked on my position and finally got two correct steps and then later on 3 correct steps. But anyway, we went through all the exercises again. I was on his back several times. The last time he was so relaxed I think I could have stayed there and went to sleep. I put the saddle on and off him a few times. He didn't seem to anxious about it. Tomorrow I will flank him out and see what happens. No problem with me or the pad on his back. I took his halter off in the middle of the arena again and he again followed me up to the other end. I groomed him without a halter and picked out his feet too.

Robbie - was a similar story. I groomed him and took his halter off. He wanted to play around a little bit, but when I called for him he came to me, even though I was in the middle of the arena with the halter in my hand. I put it on him and started asking for YH YF, backup, go forward, etc. I got on him a few times from each side. Then I put the saddle on cinched him up and moved him off doing the same as yesterday. ONly this time the saddle stayed on for the duration of our session. We went through the dance of exercises and I even had him doing some sidepassing on the wall. When all was going good and he was relaxed with the saddle at walk and trot I took it off him and put him up. Another good training day. I think both of these guys are going to be real quiet horses.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Great day for working with horses

Joey got a good, but gentle workout this afternoon. We got in the rd pen and went through all of the fundamental exercises and he did good. He has some things to work on, but I will be riding him tomorrow. He is just a fat boy that needs some exercise. He moves off real good and trots a little stilted, but that might just be his gait. He seems like he has a trotter gait, but we will see tomorrow.

This was day 12 for the Arabs.
I got Dark star in the arena and brushed and combed him, sprayed him and picked his feet then we mixed up the exercises in fluid combinations. He was a bit jumpy with the wind against the building and some machinery running nearby, but he did real good. He was kinda jumpy when I went to lay over him so I decided that I would move him around alot, YH, then YF, then back up, then send one direction and back the other and just kept repeating these movements. I even got into some sidepassing down the wall with him and would just walk off. But what I did was I would work him like that then I would let him rest, but with me laying over him. Every time he rested I was on top of him, either laying on him lengthwise or laying across him like a sack of potatoes. Then I would get off and repeat a bunch of movements then let him rest with me on his back. It was a relaxed kind of movements most of the time, nice and easy and fluid, then rest with me on his back. I made sure we did this on both sides. I put the pad on him and flagged him out real good. He knows all 13 of the fundamental exercises, not perfect of course, but pretty good. Well after I did this several times I got off him, took the halter off in the middle of the arena and I'll be dogged if he didn't follow me all the way to the other end of the arena where the tools were at. YEAH, BABY! I brushed and combed him, picked out his feet then put his halter on and put him up. Great time.

Robbie, was just as good. I groomed him too, sprayed him and picked his feet. took his halter off and walked to the middle of the arena where the saddle and pad and sticks were at. He walked around and then met me in the middle. I sacked him out, put the halter on him and did much the same as I did with DS. We went through all the exercises in a fluid sort of way. I got on him when we stopped, I can sit atop him. I put the pad on him. I flanked him out with rope at his girth, belly and flanks and no bucking this time. I put all my body weight pressure on him and he just stepped forward then I would release. When I was satisfied he was good to go with that, I put the pad and saddle on him and slowly tightened the cinch. Nothing happened. I moved him off YH ,YF back up and then repeat. Then we took several steps and changed directions, then we trotted and just kept doing that. I slapped the saddle, moved the stirrups around etc. Nothing. So I took the saddle off and groomed him and put him up. Good session.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial day

Today was a good day to work the horses. I got Joey in the rd pen to see what he remembered from a couple years ago. He did real good. I went through the fundamentals exercises not all but quite a few. He needs so E practice but he did ok. I think he is going to be fun to work with. DS- did as expected. Still guarded. I think he is a few days behind Robbie. Today we went through a combo of all the exercises. I sacked him out with the pad, I laid over his back even did the Jeffries method once on each side. That was all he could handle. That was at the end of the session. Robbie - was real good too. Did all the exercises, used the flag for more desensitizing while circling him. I did the same thing with DS. then I put the pad on homand the saddle without cinching him. Then I flanked him out which using a rope around his girth tightly to see if he will buck. He did a little but then faced me and stopped. I put a lot of pressure on him and the goal is to get him to give to the pressure. I think most of us would respond in any way we could to get rid of something on our backs unless we got used to it and realized it was not going to hurt us. He eventually handled it pretty good. I also got on him a few times even sitting atop him bareback as though riding. I didn't have him take a step, but he still did well just standing. There will come a time when he will take steps with atop him. He is also getting nice about picking his feet up. With all of that going on we quit.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

pics


Here are some pictures of the two Arabs I am in the process of helping along.


. Robbie


DarkStar
Joey whom I just got in when Callie went home. I have him for 2 weeks or so.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Arabs day 10

Have you noticed I am not real creative with my titles? I gotta work on that.
Callie went home today and I brought back Joey, who I had a couple years ago and is back for a 2 week tune up. He seems to have settled in nicely.

Darkstar did ok today. I spent some time just stewing with him by combing his knotted mane. Then I went through the exercises. He does real good at all of them. The only thing is he is still very guarded. He tolerates me though and doesn't wander off. If he does start to leave, I just move a little and get him back to me. I sacked him out to the pad real good. And He let me hang on his back both sides and for a lot longer than yesterday. Once he yields over I think he is going to be a good horse. He jumps at everything though.

Robbie was a joy to work with today. I did the same thing with the mane and then we went to work. We went through all exercises. He did not like the leading exercise. Neither did Star come to think of it. But they both did it, albeit reluctantly. Robbie stood and let me get on off as if it was all a bit boring to him. The pad went on and off and the saddle was not problem either. Now did not have it cinched, but it slapped around and made nose and was pokey, etc. No problem. Next it will be putting rope around his girth and seeing how he handles that, then the saddle and mounting. Next week probably.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Arabs day 9


Robbie- another good session. Sacked out to pad. Went through all exercises. Was on his back JEFFRIES style 3x a side til I got off. He is real soft flexing. Pretty calm. 

DS- he did real good. He is the skittish one. A real challenge, but he is coming along. Had the pad on him. I hung over him for a second or two each side. Still does not trust me completely but he is getting better. Cleaned feet, fly spray ok. Flag ok. His pace is much slower than Robbie but he is 14 too. He has a lot more years on his own. It would be hard to surrender trust to another. He is coming around though. 

Callie- this was a good ride. Now it is just putting time in the saddle with him. The biggest problem I see with him is the go button. He just wants to plod along and I have to keep after him some to get him up into a trot. I noticed also today that he doesn't do well on the gravel road. His feet are a might sensitive. But anywhere else he does good. He shouldn't be a problem for Kathryn at all.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

arabs again


Robbie- wow it was great. I took his halter off and then with mine in hand walked toward him.  He decided he wanted to run so he lunged about two laps and then stopped faced me and followed me. I just stood still and let him go around me til he was ready to follow me.  He followed me around. I put halter on and just did a mix of the exercises and he was so relaxed I started wking on getting on his back with the Jeffries method. Lots of gentle hopping as if I was getting on and then kinda hanging off his side with my weight. Then it was up and over him like a sack after a few times like that I went all the way and laid my legs over his butt so that I was laying on top of him. I did all that on the left side. Then did the right side. He has always favored that side so it was much more difficult. But I finally got over his back several times and did not go as far as lying on him. That will be tomorrow. We did the circling a few times and he was as relaxed at the end as at the beginning. That is the way I like it. Picked put his feet and then quit.  

DS- finally broke free and followed me to the left several steps.   Well that fell a part.  He is getting better though.  I put the halter on him and  went through the exercises.  Great improvement  on LR1&2. Then  we flexed and I started  leaning on him to do the Jeffries method. Then  more  desensitizing. This time with flag. He didn't like it but he handled it. I picked up his feet which he did not like and then we quit.

Callie- I got him out and did a little gw but then went right to riding him. He did real good. We loped around a good bit, did lots of circling with softness exercises then went out to the creek and after a few tries he went right in and walked around. We trotted down the power line to the road and crossed the water obstacles then loped back around the field several times. He is a good ride, but I sometimes have to persuade him to go in the direction I want him too.

callie and 2 arabs

Callie- had a good ride on him yesterday. He was all willing. With a short gw session I got on him and started him out with bending at walk, then the trot. Then we started loping around. He started calling to his buddies so we really got after it then. We trotted and loped around for about 20 minutes or more. Then I got my lariat out and we started to drag a log a bit. He didn't spook like he did with the sled, but the sled made noise and skittered along much faster (that was at the judged trail ride last Saturday). We also rode back up to the horses up front and down the road in front of them. Did some bending around the trees and really worked by those horses then we took it easy going away from them. He didn't really have much to say about that. Then we quit for the day.

This was day 7 for these guys. Things are progressing alot slower for them then I would have liked, but remembering that are 9 and 14 respectively and never been ridden or handled much except to take from a pasture to a stall, I think they are doing pretty good.
Robbie -Started calm and slow. Did about ten minutes of rd pen. He did real good and was following me. Then we went through the list of exercises all but two. We have yet to make it to the leading beside and the last desensitization one. I think he has made vast improvement and if I stay relaxed he does. He does most of the exercises on about a C level but he is getting to know them. Hopefully in the next couple days I will be doing the Jeffreies method on him and maybe the saddle.  

DS- started the same nice and calm. Did some leading. Then rd pen for 10 min. Then with halter went through all the exercises to circling. His circling was not good but he has to learn it. He did pretty good with all of them but still needs lots of practice. He is a bit jumpy. I think we will slowly work that through. He still does not follow but always gives two eyes.  He is trusting me more and is more relaxed.


Monday, May 21, 2012

day 6 two arabs

Dark Star
Started out calmly walking the arena leading him. Then YH YF BU. in several spots. In center of arena took halter off and walked away. He followed me to the near end of the arena. Good start. Then got my halter and just played with him trying get him to step towards me. He did several times. Put halter on, he doesn't bu from me as much, always keeps two eyes on me. Then des and started Lr1 in both directions. He needs slot of help here but is getting better. Then flexes both sides. We wkd on the sending all the way Down and back. More flex then tried to do circling but he needs more Lr1 and sending before he is ready for that. He had a good session.  

Robbie- started leading around arena YH Tf bu etc. then took halter off and he followed me all over. We did this about 10 min. Then put halter on and wked on Lr1. He does pretty good, des flexing, sending.  I took him to the south end of arena and wked on sending but he is afraid there, the tick of fence charger i think, so it kinda fell apart so we  came to the  middle and put it back together and went back but did YH YF.  Then we did some  more  Lr1  and even Lr2. More des  with flag,  lariat.  Flexing  and cleaning out his feet and we quit.  It started calm,  got  a little  excited in the middle and ended calm.

Callie - after a good ride on Saturday of about 4 hours we had a good ride today. I got him out and worked him about 10 minutes on the ground then started riding him. I worked on bending at walk and trot. Prinz came out and we played a little bit, but It was interfering with what I wanted to accomplish so put him back in the house. Callie acted like he wanted canter and was bawling to the other horses so that sealed his fate. We loped around for about 15 mintues, even went down the power line, through the pond water a few times across the ditch which was swelled with rain water and then down the road a mile all at the trot and canter. We did some YH YF on the way, working on softness to boot. Then we came back trotting, back across the ditch and up the hill. Then I let him walk the rest of the way back. We practiced stops and backups. We had a good ride. He did get a little unruly, with a half hearted kick back because I was making him canter after he started crying to the other horses. However, I found that if I just get his feet moving when he does that it settles him down. Really though, he was not a problem. A couple more days with him and he will be going home.

Friday, May 18, 2012

2 Arabs day 5


Robbie- Spent  15 min getting him out of stall. I YH YF, BU, down press but would not come out. I then just had to put rope halter on (already did) then just added pressure until a step forward until he finally came out.
RP the rest of our time spent trying to get him to follow me. I ran him out of breath and then rest next to me. Then 1 step & 2 steps and kept building on that til 10 steps. He had a few times where he chose to run instead of rest next to me. But he did seek to follow me, albeit reluctantly. Then I used the halter to lead him around with little or no pressure. Cleaned out his ft and then walked him in and out of his stall several times so as to avoid a repeat of today. 
Darkstar - no problem getting him out of stall, but just as standoffish. I wonder if these guys are like wild mustangs that have not been handled. Anyway they have a wall of protection built up that is hard to crack. I rp him 15 minutes and he would just run away when I came up so I finally got my long line out put the halter on and lunged him. He turns in for me nicely, YH YF (getting better on left side, but really good on rt side). His back up is no problem cause he seems to like going back when I walk towards him anyways. He finally got the hang of YH and YF to change directions. then just led him around getting him to move forward off the pressure and follow me. By the time we were done he was following me pretty good, but with a lead line on, although that was practically dragging on the ground there was so much slack. So he was following me not the pressure on the lead line.
Hopefully, after the weekend off we can move on to the other exercises and make more progress, but we have to go at their pace not mine. 
The need to hook on to me is really important because it says the trust my leadership. If they won't trust me when I am on the ground how can I expect that to change when I am on their back?
So it is what it is.  

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Callie day 10 and 2 arabs

This day with Callie, really relaxed and a good ride. I swung a rope, cracked a whip carried a flag and He was good to go with all of it. We improved on his leg yield and softness, did some cantering and trotting. This guy is fun to ride, kinda my speed. We will see for sure on Saturday as he is going to a judged trail ride. I think he will do just fine.

This is day four for the two Arabs.
Darkstar- I worked him in arena for about 5 minutes and the farrier came and he stood good for having his feet trimmed. We then went back to the rd pen work. I tried something a little different. He was already giving me two eyes all the time and turning into me so I put the halter on him and went through desensitizing, YH and YF which he does pretty good. Not an 'A' of course, but probably a 'C-', room for improvement. Then I started asking him to come forward with my body language, then a cluck and then pressure on the lead. He got him to moving forward when I asked him. We worked on his backup on cue, and then started the LR1. I took a bit to teach him to lunge, but he finally got it from both sides. We did several YH from both sides and then started to ask him to flex laterally. Then we quit. I thought he made good improvement and will keep working on getting through his defenses.

Robbie- I think we made some good headway with him. The rd pen went well and then I had to really get after him and noticed that he stayed in a canter in both directions so for 30 min or so we did this trying to get him to step forward toward me. He gives me both eyes and stands to walk up, not backing away like DS. But he still didn't step toward me. However, after that bit of cantering he started to take step toward me and we just kept building off of that. I tired to take a picture of him later and he kept following me when I would move to get a better view. Desensitized him to flag. His LR1 was getting real good almost to the point where he is at LR2 and YH from body language. He did the downward pressure exercise pretty good. We worked more on YH and YF and back ups. At the end we worked on the sending exercise where I lunge him then YH>YF>send in other direction. When he was doing that pretty good we stopped.
The lesson went well and I see them both becoming good horses to ride.

callie day 9

I had a good ride on him yesterday. I didn't spend alot of time on gw, just enough to see where his mind was at and to ensure that it was on me. Then we got started. I walked him around working on softness laterally and collection at the walk. Then started at the trot doing lots of circle esses and bending. I also got him yh and yf at the standstill and then at the walk. We went out on the power line and worked on going forward with vertical softness. He kept wanting to trot so I would bend him to a walk then go off again. Finally, I let him trot and worked on softness at the trot. We played around in a mud hole for a while going up and down the ledge around it and washed off in a big pool of water by the road. Then we ambled back to the field. There we met my GS Prinz and started chasing him like a cow and working in leg yields and YH and YF to follow the dog. He was really starting to give me some good leg yields. Hope to work some more on this today.

Day 3 of the Arabs went well.
I got Darkstar out first. We started with a good brushing and then went to wk on rd. pen. He is so protective that I had to work 40 minutes with him. He would give me two eyes, but would not let me walk up to him. He would just keep backing up. So after a few tries I just kep thim backing until he stopped his feet, then walked away. We played this game to see if he would move away and when he did I made him move faster and he would give me two eyes and we would start again. He got so he wouldn't back up, but still would not follow me. So we moved on to disensitizing, and downward pressure. This is important becaus a horse with his nose on the ground is vulnerable. It is a trust thing again. But he did ok. Then we did some YH, and YF. I finished with picking up and cleaning out his feet.
Robbie- got a good brushing and then in the rd pen he was giving me two eyes immediately, so then we went to approaching him and he backed up a few times, but finally stood. In fact, he started to break free and follow me a couple steps. So we worked on this for 15 mintues and then went to desensitizing and downward pressure. Then it was on to YH, backup, and YF. He is still more protective of his right side, but he is making progress. I did the lunging for respect 1(LR1) with him and he made lots of improvements from before. It involves YH, YF and then sending forward on the circle. We did this change 4x in each direction with improvement overall. Then I started to ask for direction changes and he started getting to the point where I only had to lean and he read my body language and YH and started the direction change. That was good. I then worked on picking his feet up and cleaning them out. His front are pretty good to do, but his back a little more reluctant to offer them. We will work on that today also.
It was a good training day all around.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Day two of two Arabs

Today was day two of Robbie and Darkstar.
I put Robbie in the arena and rubbed him and brushed him. Then we started with Rd. Pen. He moved off real good and even was turning into me pretty good. But he just would not follow me. He gave me two eyes, but would not break lose of his protection. I got my bull whip out, not to hit him with, but hoped it would get him to move faster so I wouldn't have to run as much. It is cool how though we are in a 60'x90' arena they still just go around about a 50' circle. I was watching for him to look at me and keep looking at me with a relaxed carry. He often would anticipate my asking for a turn and would offer one whether I asked or not. I kept giving him opportunities to hook on to me and finally after about 35 minutes He needed to catch his breath, so did I. I got the halter and started to work on downward pressure with him. Then we did desensitizing with the tools. He did pretty good with those. I could crack the whip and he would just stand there relaxed. I twirled it over head and no problem for him. We worked on YH and backup. Both are getting better. His YF is getting better too. We ended with lunging for respect 1 which gets him to set up by moving his shoulders over, moving forward at a walk or trot, he trotted and then asking him to YH and face me. He did real good going to the left. On the right side he had a lot of trouble moving his shoulders and going forward. It took a good amount of effort on my part to accomplish this because he kept baking up and then trying to take off so I had to keep pulling him off balance until he went forward. Finally, after about four tries he started to get it, but still not good on that side with YH and giving me two eyes. But we ran out of time so I had to find a good place to stop. I finished up with some YH and backup.
DarkStar didn't do too bad. We had issues with the rd pen. He finally got the idea of turning in to change directions, but he was good and sweaty by the time that happened. I had a break through with him though. He was so protective that he would just stand parallel to me and not give me two eyes or at least keep them on me. So I had to keep moving him off. But finally I decided to keep zig zagging towards him and if he started to move off I would get him back by stepping back and catching his eye then keep moving in a half moon and zigging. He finally, after several tries kept his eyes on me, though he would back up to protect himself. Neither one of these horses have completely sold out to me yet, but they will. Anyway, I worked him in this way several minutes until I could walk up and pet him between the eyes. He was dripping with sweat and blowing pretty good so he needed a good rest. Then I got the halter on him and desensitized him and worked on downward pressure and release. His YH is pretty good. We worked on backup and he is catching on. I also started working on picking up his feet and that is what we ended with. He got a good rubbing and brushing and I put him up.

Callie day 8

Yesterday was day 7 for Callie.
Today was just wonderful. I had him in the rd pen and did everything at liberty then took him to the back field and saddled him. Then we did lungeing 1 & 2 and a quick run down of the exercises for GW. I got my flag out and worked with that. Then my bull whip and twirled that overhead and cracked it. Then my lariat and swung that around. No problems with any of them. Then got on him and trotted for 10 minutes doing bending, circle esses, etc. Worked on YH and YF from standstill. He is getting better. I loped him around two laps (about a 1/2 mile) around my field and then it was time to get out my tools, whip, flag, lariat and see how he did from the saddle while he was moving. Wow am I impressed. The only thing that seemed to faze him was the whip cracking, but he soon settled down to that. I didn't mind if he walked, just didn't want him scared of them. I lassoed some sticks, or tried, I should say and the rope about his chest, legs or rump didn't seem to bother him. By the time I had done all those things our time was gone. So I worked on backups with him and he has improved in this too.
It was a good day for a session with him.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Callie day 6 and others

What a day. Callie was just great today. I got him in the pen and didn't even have to work him that much to know that he was going to stick with me and give me some good tries. I went through several of the exercises there real quick to see how he would do at liberty with all of it. It was good. I flagged him out and no problem. His bobbing of the head has diminished considerably. Then I took him to the back and saddled him and then out on field doing the gw exercises. I added a dog, my german shepherd, Prinz. He adds some increased intensity to the situation and I gotta say that Callie did fine. He was distracted but would come back to me with just a nudge. Today I introduced him to spurs too. He was rather dull on YH from saddle and moving his shoulders so I added the spurs. And boy did that wake him up. I also found this horse has a faster speed than plodding along. Prinz added the dynamic there. In fact, we used him like a cow and chased him all over the place. I was trying to move away from using the rein for direction and using my leg and seat. He is starting to catch it. I worked a lot on bending exercises with him at the walk and trot. I had no problem with the gas pedal today.
On another note, I started two Arabians today also. One Robbie a 9 yr old gelding, all black and the other one was Darkstar a 14 yr old black gelding. Both beautiful horses. There feet need some work but we have to get them to the place where they can be easy for the farrier.
Robbie I spent 30 minutes rd penning. The problem was that it is a 60' x 90' arena cut off at the corners. It worked but I could not get him in a good canter the whole time, so it mostly an extended trot, which he has a real nice one. I had him changing directions pretty good to the inside, in fact he was pretty much making me the center of the arena. I wanted to move on at  a certain point so I have another day to work in the arena. I desensitized him to the lead rope and stick and string and then had him yielding hindquarters. It didn't take him long to figure that out. He is somewhat pushy he tried to run into me a time or two but that was quickly taken care of. I also worked on the back up which he did as good as was expected. We capped it off with working on Yielding his forequarters. He did pretty good for not having worked in years more than likely. I am looking forward to see more of his personality and how he handles everything else.
Darkstar on the other hand was alot more reserved and protective. I had to round pen him for 50 minutes and he still didn't really hook on to me. I had to find a good place to stop rd penning him. He doesn't like me on his left side so I when he gave me two eyes on that side I let him stop. I had much trouble with him trying to get him to turn to the inside consistently but I ran out of time on this section. I did move on to desensitizing to lead and stick and string. Then worked on the YH which he took to real fast. We ran out of time so we will pick it up tomorrow. One thing I noticed about him is that he didn't like to lead very well, but by the end he was following me pretty good. Once he realizes I can move his feet in any direction I want he will come along nicely. I think these horses are going to make some nice horses to ride. Stay tuned for tomorrows results.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Callie Day 6

I didn't have time to post this yesterday so I will do it now. Today is a day off for him.
Yesterday we started in the rd pen and had a good session. He turned real good for me and started to hook on a lot better than the day before. I want him to want to be with me so this is important. He is also getting better with desensitizing. The flag doesn't seem to bother him too much. We went to the field and got him saddled, flexed and working on all the exercises. He does real good at lunging and circling now, with good shape and attention on me. I got on him and boy was he a good ride. He gave me some troubles in the beginning wanting to drift off to the sound of the neighing horses, but I kept him on track. He has such a nice laid back trot and canter, I just love it. He still has trouble following his nose, but we worked on that. The bending exercises as well as YH from standstill and YF from standstill are getting better. I loped him around quite abit too as he started to holler back at the horses up front. That kept his mind on me. When we were done he was done. I don't think he has ever had this much work on him, but he is doing well. Next week we see how much improvement we can get.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Callie day 5

He didn't want to go to work again today. I had to lead him into the rd pen. After a good brushing and rubbing we got to work. He turned for me pretty good but was real protective and wouldn't follow me like I like him to. So we worked at a lope for 30 minutes changing directions often and giving him an opportunity to stop and rest next to me but he would not Hook on to me. Finally though he did break free a little bit and I took the chance and gave him a five minute rest. He still really did not have his wind back but I desensitized him more and with the flag. Then back to the field for saddling and the rest of the gw. That did not go so well. I think it was the new area. But after a few intense conversations he came around to my way of thinking. Before I knew it an hour went by and I still had not got on him. So we transitioned to mounted. He did real good. He had a nice trot and has a rocking chair canter. I walked him around and worked on softness and following his nose. After 2x around my 2 acre field I started trotting him. 15 minutes later I started cantering him for 100 feet or do then back to a trot. We did this about 20 minutes straight then let him walk. I practiced stops and bending. He is a nice ride. can't wait to get on him tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Callie day 4

It is kinda fun to see the transformation that takes place in a horses mind as I work with them day after day. Now Callie didn't want to go to work with me today. I tried to coax him to follow me into the pen, but he would just run off then when I followed he would give me two eyes and I would back off and he would follow me all the way to the gate, but no farther. I guess I don't like to go to work sometimes either. Anyway, had to put the halter on to get him inside the pen. Then it was rest for him while I groomed him.
I could tell a change in his attitude as soon as I sent him off in the rd pen. He moved off real quick and gave me quick turns. I made him do 10 laps each direction at a canter, he wanted too, then had him turn and started to shorten the turns/direction changes. Finally, I stopped him and did the desensitizing. I did the yh and yf at liberty. He did well. I disensitized him alot more without halter. Then I put halter on and did some backing up and lungeing. He is really bent well toward me when I lunge him so when I did the circling, which is kinda like lungeing only he is within my sticks range going around me at a trot. He just really did good. I was quit pleased with his shape on the arc of the circle. I had saddled him too by this time so he was already to be ridden. I desensitized between exercises a bunch, because he is rather head shy with the whirling of the string. But he is getting alot better. I even decided to get my little flag out and use that with him and he was real relaxed with that by the time I was done. An hour was gone by this time so I wanted to ride and we flexed, by the way he is getting real soft. He is better about moving off my leg so I can get a yh with him. His one rein stop is super soft. I got him trotting and I was acting like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou, just a drunk ready to fall off, that is how comfortable I was on him. We got some cantering out of him too and the stops in each gait are pretty good. I think it is time to get him out of the rd pen tomorrow and try some open field and see how that goes with him. He is making improvements every day, but still wants to throw in his union card once in a while. I just have to push him past that a little bit then let him rest and pretty soon he is ok with it. I think He is mainly looking for leadership so he can relax and not have to worry about things.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Callie day 3

Ok, I need to get this done. We had a good day today. Not that everything went well or right, but that in the end we ended well. Here's what I mean. We started outside the pen. He didn't want to go to work with me today, but I led him into it anyway. Then He showed me a few things that were hidden under the surface, in his mind while I worked him in rd pen. That is, he would rather run than spend time with me. So that is what he did. Oh, he tried to stop a few times and he turned to the inside almost every time I asked him to. But he tried to beat me to the punch but anticipating that I wanted him to turn to the inside. In that case, I just pressed him forward in the same direction. Then going to the right, he wanted his butt canted towards me, going to the left he had a nice shape. Then when I gave him opportunity to stop he would not follow me. He just stopped and stood there and would not break free in his shoulders. Without lots of my moving around to get him too. So I had to make him go again. This went on for 20 minutes and I thought well there goes my plan for the day. I had to stick with this until he at least gave me a good follow/hooking on. He finally did so we could then move on to the other exercises. I gave him a good rest then desensitized more. He doesn't like the swinging of the string, so he won't like a lariat or flag for sure. But we worked on this till there was some improvement. We went on to YH, backups, YF. He did pretty good on these making good improvements. His sending is getting better, his flexion is getting real soft, though at times he stiffens right up. Circling was way better then yesterday. I got three good laps at a continuous trot each way. His lunging for respect is getting better too. I have to watch him though. I am certain that he would tag me with a hind foot if I gave him the chance. Not that he is mean, but that he doesn't like being pushed. He has never been pushed probably in most or all of his 18 years. So He doesn't like when I do. I know to give him lots of breaks, because of his personality he gets pushed, then I back off. For example, when I ask for a trot under saddle instead of expecting a complete lap I only had him take a couple strides then stopped him, which was easy because that is what he wanted to do in the first place. Then keep increasing the distance til I get a full lap and then can keep him going several times. But it is a gradual thing. He offered me some cantering too so not wanting to kill the forward motion I let him and then asked him to stop.
He saddled well and I got on and that is exactly what we did after practicing lateral flexion and one rein stops. He gave me a half hearted kick back with his feet when he wanted to stop and I wouldn't let him, but that was all. In the end he was keeping forward without much of a fit and when I asked him to stop I got a good one. We flexed and then quit. I am certain he will keep making improvements. I hope to get him out of the rd pen in the next day or two and see how that goes.

Monday, May 7, 2012

callie day 2

I promise I will get some pics on here. He got a real workout. He was baptized into the GBH horse training method.  We started with rd pen and he got it in 5 minutes. Quite an improvement from Saturday. Then we went through the list of 13 exercises in Ground work (GW). He did ok on most of them. He doesn't like the right side and he is real pushy. So I had to really get after him a couple times. He doesn't like the stick and string swinging so I have to do alot of desensitizing of him. But he is making improvements. That showed up on the lunging and backup exercises I do. He is real stiff flexing wise. But I am sure he will get better. It took about an hour to go through them all. Then I did the jeffries method, and he took that well so we moved on to saddling which he took real good. No problem. I know he has been ridden but I like to make sure that I let him tell me where he is at. I got on and had him moving out and bending, yielding hindquarters (yh) and then moving forward and kept alternating that til he was just going forward and then doing one rein stops. I worked both sides of him. He got real stiff on his left side so I had to get off and put his feet to work doing the YH and YF exercises. Then got back on and flexed him and then asked him to trot. This is where his sticky feet came into play. By this time we had been working an hour and half so he was ready to throw in the towel, but we weren't finished yet. So I finally got him trotting, but not without a few kickbacks but I got after him again with YH and then let him go straight and he was much better. We quit on that note with some flexing both sides and then on the ground the same thing. I am sure that tomorrow will see much improvement.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

callie day 1

I have another horse to work with again. His name is Callie and 18 yrs old? qtr horse/Paint. He is just here to be ridden for his owner for a couple weeks. I'm told he doesn't even have 40 hrs of riding on him. I don't know but I do know this is one pushy horse. I will put some pics up later. I sensed his pushiness as soon as I started leading him around his new pen. But it really showed up when I had him in the round pen today. His personality is cold, not a hot horse at all, which means he really has to be pushed to get him to go. I worked him about 20 minutes in the pen just trying to get him to turn into me. He did pretty good. I had to stop so He and I could catch our breath. Although, he was turning in pretty consistently by the time we finished. Then I desensitized him to the stick and string and he didn't like that at all. But he finally settled down. Then started working on Yielding hindquarters. It took him a bit but he finally got it on both sides. Then it was on to yielding forequarters. As I said he is quite pushy and sticky footed. So I practically had to push him over in order to get him to move. He finally got that though. Then it was on to backing and again his sticky feet showed up again. One final exercise to work on was lunging for respect. He didn't do that very well, but again we finally made some progress. All of the exercises we went through he by no means has real good, but we do have a good start. I think in the next week we will make real good progress and be on to putting lots of time in the saddle. We shall see how it goes.

Friday, May 4, 2012

continuing fundamentals

I have had my horses out twice this week. Once with Jake I worked in the rd pen and man did he do good. His turns were sharp and crisp with snappiness to them. He got better even yesterday when I had him working. We got out in the field to go through the other exercises for refinement and the riding and all was pretty good. It really is more me than him. Yesterday we worked on softness, bending and leg yields. By the time we were finished he was sloppy wet with sweat, I wasn't much better. He did a good job.
Then last night I got Raven out. Her rd pen was not as sharp as Jakes so we had to work a little harder there. But when she came around and got with the program we went to the field and worked on circle driving and the like. When I got on her, she is so much better riding than Jake, she jsut was so smooth. She wanted to canter in the cruising exercise so we did for about 4 or 5 times around the field which must be a mile or so. Her softness came to her nicely and we started practicing bending, leg yields, etc. I was mostly using my legs and seat rather than reins. She responds pretty good to them. I want to use reins just to position her and have her legs be an extension of my legs. Problem is that I don't have the time to ride her hours on end. So it is taking longer.
Tomorrow, Saturday, I have a horse coming that I will be riding for a couple weeks. So life is going to get busier for me in the horse arena.