Day 1 of Crash course

Caesar and I had a good lesson as far as I am concerned. I started right with round pen work. He started right off at a canter when I pointed and gave me inside turns like I asked. After about 15 minutes we started doing figure eights and he was not the least bit hesitant. I also had him following me. However, he didn't like me on the left side which is the side we normally mount on. He struck out at me with his left front foot when I tried to keep him on that side. So guess what? We stayed working on the left side until he would let me stay on that side without trying to block me. We went right through all the steps in the fundamentals gw through the lunging for stage 1 that was number seven out of 13 steps. He did well at the backup in all four methods. We kinda fell apart on yielding the hindquarters on the right side, but he will get better. It is more me than him. He did pretty good on yielding the forequarters. I will review these all tomorrow, hopefully a little faster and move on to the rest of the gw exercises. Today's lesson took about 2 hours but that was fine with me. This is a crash course as I only have two weeks to figure out and deal with his bucking problem. The left side issue mentioned earlier was either attitude or I was acting like a predator. But I think it was attitude and after working on that side for a time he got better but he still tries to block me some. This might be part of his bucking problem, his unwillingness to totally yield to me on that side. So I know that about him now and will work accordingly. When we were finished I had him follow me around for a few minutes and then rubbed on him. I left him in the pen for about an hour and then gave him access to his food and water.

Caesar again

Well I get the chance for a partial do over with C. I picked him up today thanks to Judy C. Who loaned me her trailer. What I was ready for but hoped wasn't needed was a trailer loading lesson. He did edge up to the trailer but would not go in. So I took him in hand and made him want to be near the horse trailer. After almost an hour he would put both feet in but not go all the way. So as Judy suggested I took a little walk away from the trailer and just let him rest a bit. Then went back at it. this time I walked inthe trailer wondering if he would follow me. He got as far as the door and stopped with his head inside. I asked and he put a foot up. Then with a little compulsion from behind he soon had both feet then all four. Because I needed to get him home and taken care of before church I closed him in finished loading up and headed for home. I would have normally let him stay in there a good while, backed him out, worked him and then put him back in there. But, pressed for time I couldn't do that. Tomorrow starts his training review going back through the fundamentals to get him to stop bucking when asked to lunge under saddle. He only does it when he is asked to go in a circle in gw. I think it is a respect issue. So I am going to try to find out what it is and help him through it.

Jake

Oh what a beautiful day to spend some time with a horse. I got Jake out today. We worked our way back to my riding area. Did some backing sidepass inc, cpattern, got him saddled and went to work. I also had Prinz laying down by the trailer while I worked with Jake. He is getting better. I only had to set him back down a few times. Consistency is the key and taking the time to do it.
Jake did well, even after not being worked for 3 weeks or so. I had him jumping over some logs on the long line then worked on backing him in circles. I then started to have him back between the logs. He did pretty good. I desensitized him to my bull whip and cracked that around him a bunch of times. I got on and did the same thing with the whip. We walked and trotted some. He is a little gimpy in his right front leg but could find no swelling, tenderness in his sole or frog or his joints. I think maybe he is getting old and his joints are like mine. I think some glucosamine is in order for both of us. We took a ride over to the creek and the salmon were still there. He went in the water pretty readily. Then we came home. It was a good ride.

What a gorgeous day

I had to get out and ride today. It was almost 80 degrees here. I got Raven out and worked her back to my house. Now I always do ground work on my way down my drive so that by the time I get to the saddle she is warmed up and I can tell if she is with me on this. I also get an opportunity to work with Prinz, my German Shepherd. I am teaching him manners around horses. I make him sit by my little trailer while I finish ground work, then when I start riding I let him follow, but he has to behave, no barking and jumping around the horses.
I have a 300' x 300' area I ride around the perimeter now so after some ground work, we took off on a nice walk for a lap, then trotted (cruising). We did three laps in each direction. She has to maintain her gait and if she speeds up or slows down I take the corrective action and put her back in a trot. Then we did the same with a canter. Then I started to ask for collection and bending in a circle. She was really worked up so we took a walk out on our power line to the road and back. I stopped by a creek behind our school to see if she would go down into that. It has short drop off kind of banks and flows pretty good. While I was letting her get used to the idea of stepping down into the water I noticed two pretty big salmon trying to get beyond a bunch of branches in the water to go upstream, I am assuming to spawn. I could have scooped them up with my hands. I didn't. I just watched them wiggle their tails back and forth keeping in one place. Hopefully, they will make it. Anyway, we then went into the water and back out and headed back to the house. It was a good ride.

Tuesday

got on again today, this time with Jake. I decided I want to try to ride everyday this week. So this was the second day. I used Jake to give Raven a little break. I went over all the fundamental exercises that were feasible to do today. I didn't do round pen. But all the other exercises I went over to refine  them. I found I need to work more on moving his shoulder over. He keeps spinning like a coke bottle instead of pivoting on his hindquarters. That has to do more with my body position though. I rode about 45 minutes after a 1/2 hour of gw. It was good, but damp as it was drizzling most of the time. I also had to put Prinz up 'cause he just keeps after Jacob. While I was riding Jake really went after Prinz like a good cow horse goes after a cow. I would like to try him on that.

Monday

Hey, I was able to get out and work with Raven a little bit today. I have learned that I have to take every chance I get to work with them. It might be only a couple exercises, like backing up or leading by the muzzle, but every little bit helps to make my connection to the horse a little closer. I actually worked on those things to. I keep trying to refine other exercises too, like the lungeing for respect or c pattern or sending. It helps to have a goal of a few things to actually work on to keep you on track. I rode her around the open area at the walk once in each direction and then at the trot on a loose rein 2 x in each direction. She was trotting with a low head carry and a nice cadence. I also worked in a few rollbacks when I changed direction. then at the trot got her nice and soft by doing the bending exercises too. The wonderful thing about all these exercises is they can be incorporated into the ebb and flow of the training time whether in the arena or on the trail. We also did some cantering on loose rein and then collected by the time we were finished it was about 45 minutes and she was huffing pretty good so we went back on the power line and walked it off. It was all good and makes her a better horse and me a better horseman.

sunny day

got a short time in with Jake this afternoon. He did real good. Just keep working on the basics getting him soft throughout his body. It was just fun finally to get to work with one of them this week. The snow is starting to melt and so it isn't so deep in riding area. we went through several ground exercises with Prinz (germans shepherd) helping with the compulsion. When I am in the saddle Prinz settles right down. We sometimes chase him. I don't think he likes that though. We did the cruising lesson and both settled right into a nice trot. We then did bending and started two tracking exercises. At the end of the lesson we took a ride out on the power line and back. All of us seemed to like it.
I know I did.