Two 'Okay' Rides

Flex boy!

So I did manage to get to ride Thursday and Friday like I hoped! Thursday I got out there a tad later then I liked but we did get a good ride in, although it was dark by the time I was done with feeding and all! 

I think he really has caught on to the vertical flexing and I don't automatically get a brace against the bit each time I ask for it now. There is a awesome place where there are posts stuck in the ground, three on each side about 8 feet apart in two rows, (it was supposed to be support posts for a barn they never built) and we have been using those to weave in and out of, do serpentines, circles around, etc. Friday I even used them as a place to practice our square halts in between. Its a great area!

I have also started using the round pens in the middle as our place to practice our circles at the trot. I have realized I haven't really worked on bending with him at all moving. So I started to really ask for a bit of bend to the inside of our circles around the pens and when we go around the posts. Gotta get him soft and bendy all over!

Now, I usually don't have a bad part of my posts. Like when my perfect pony isn't so perfect. Well today I do, boo.

So the first thing I was not pleased about happened Thursday. I had my oldest (6 year old Chloe) who wanted to come in and brush Harold with me before I tacked up. Well ever since Shelby got attacked by him that time two years ago when he was eating (Still An Animal) I really haven't had the kids near him at all. Chloe picked up a brush and started brushing him at his shoulder/leg and I saw this look come over him and then he made a move towards her like he was going to bite! Sigh. So I quickly made an eh! sound and kinda waved my hand at him and he went back facing forward. I was already standing between his head and shoulder just in case something like this happened. Chloe had no idea what was going on or she would have high tailed it out of there. But I really wanted to know what was wrong with him and see if I could figure out how to fix it. Well he tried one more time and I jerked on his rein and after that he seemed to be fine. We did both sides. I could still see he was a little different than normal though.

I've been thinking about it on and off and I just don't get it. Does he just not like kids?? Has he been abused by them before or something? It's kind of crazy. I never would have thought he would act like that. I haven't seen any of this behavior except while he is eating or being brushed. And this is the first time I've seen it at grooming time.

And to go possibly be related the next day,Friday I was spraying some conditioner in his tail and mane. He was totally fine until I made a move toward his head to spray his forelock and he flipped out - ran to the end of his lead rope, reared up and jumped forward until he finally backed up again and stood there having decided I guess that he couldn't get free. GEENA HORSE. He was completely freaked out about my spraying him in the face. Which apparently means someone has either smacked him around a lot in the face or sprayed him in the face/eyes a lot previously.

He has always been a little weird off and on about his ears, and also bridling lately he has been a bit touchy, but totally fine after the bridle is on.

After this episode I untied him and worked him some more on the lead before tieing him back up and doing some desensitizing with the spray bottle and then my saddle pad. I sprayed him all over around his face but not on his face. Then I took his saddle pad and flapped it all around his head and above his back etc until he was totally chill about it all. I was really sort of trying to get him to have another 'episode' if he was going to and then work him through it. But he never even got close. I guess it was a panic first instinct sort of thing.

And all of this happened after I had worked him quite hard on the line doing lots of ground work and lunging for respect stage 1 and 2. And lots of cantering for a change. So it wasn't like he was fresh.

He did pretty well with all his lunging except for the cantering part. Which is my third thing I wasn't real pleased with. We don't canter a whole lot and it showed out there on the end of his lead. He was all over the place, didn't want to stay cantering, etc. Which it was kind of asking a lot of him to do it out in the middle of the pasture with uneven ground and quite a short line. He did put in a pretty good effort for all those circumstances, really.

I tried the sending exercise with him Friday! He did pretty good although I could see him looking at me like, what is the point of this?? He also did a lot better going to the right then left, not sure if it was something I was doing, or him. Maybe both, lol.

Well thats about all for now.

Out of the Round Pen!

Giving him a pat and release for giving me a bit
 of vertical flexion at the walk

On my off day Friday I was obligated to fulfill my wifely duties and clean the house, yada yada. But I had a TEENSY bit of time right before it was time to go pick up my oldest from school to go out and see my pony face. And as you can see from the picture above I got to ride outside the round pen! I thought as I pulled up I really didn't have time to traipse back and forth to the round pen (I had like maybe 35 minutes) so I told myself I was just going to grab my tack and brush and meet him in the pasture. So I bridled him up, gave him a quick brush and threw the saddle on! He just stood there like a good boy of course. And my new saddle stand was a life saver! It kept my saddle off the ground AND I used it for a mounting block! ;)

Some vertical flexion

It was SO MUCH FUN to ride outside of the round pen! We had so much to explore and so much more room to move. I loved having things to maneuver around to practice getting his steering better. I did like the round pen for getting used to him again, and to make me feel safe but I do think we have moved past it and are ready to venture out! The only problem is doing any sort of trot or canter work is going to be hard out there. The footing is far from level or smooth. I'll have to see what I can do to clear some space and maybe mark off an arena of sorts. I have been wanting to set up a small dressage arena to practice Into B in anyway! :)

So here are my goals I'd like to accomplish by the end of November:

1. Giving to the bit laterally.

2. Giving to the bit vertically at a halt.

3. Starting doing more giving to the bit vertically at the walk.

4. Get lighter at all of the above.

5. Have him less inclined to be hunting the barn the whole ride.

6. Riding with more consistent contact.

I'd also love to be able to trailer to my friend A's place to have a playday with her and her horses (she's got a nice pasture/arena to ride in, beautiful barn) but with the holidays not sure that's going to be possible until maybe next year. 

The main issues we have right now are laziness and wandering. He is straight as an arrow going back to the barn but if I'm headed away he is resistant to the bit and weaves and wobbles and tries to turn around unless I'm on him pretty constant. And all of this at a snails pace, lol.

I was so pleased with him and had so much fun just tooling around out there. I did a lot of just standing and working on getting him responding better to both lateral and vertical flexion. He's getting a bit better each time. 

I just remembered I did ride the day before too a tad. I noticed after this ride that in the late afternoon early evening we have worse rides. It wasn't bad per say, just not as good. He is more likely to be harder to get to cooperate and just not as perky. Anyway we had a few good moments and it was another ride, so thats a win!

I wanted to ride this past weekend but didn't get a chance. Hopefully will have time this week, but with daylight saving time ending that means it gets dark pretty fast, so I'm betting I will have to wait until Friday again. 

So last weeks lesson was one of the worse I've had! The one lady I was riding with fell off and I about fell off a few times! It was the day after Halloween...I think it rubbed off on our lesson! LOL.

Anyway I was riding Charlie again. I had a great lesson with him the last time I rode him so I was kind of excited (but a tad nervous also) to ride him again. We did even better I think this lesson then the last, I cantered him for the first time and it went well, and also did quite a few more jumps with him. I also found out that LEG then hand gets him to round to the bit. Duh. Also I had a bit of time to myself with there being two other riders, and I found out if I didn't approach the jump until I had him on the bit and at a good steady pace he jumped AWESOME and quiet. If he didn't feel right we would have an awful, 'pop up jump. Several times after we did a good jump L would yell "he LOVES YOU!!" Lol.

My fav of the night

So we were doing so well she wanted us to do these three jumps in succession. Well we were trotting quite relaxed and well up to our first vertical and BLAM, he refuses. Eh, I kind of just sat there on his neck a moment like what just happened? LOL, he proceeds to do it again until I finally kicked him over it. Then we come around again and he refuses again. Gahh, L was so upset with him, she was saying he was in big trouble! LOL. Well I made him step over it and we tried again and got him to go over. So after that I was sort of nervous thinking about almost going over his shoulder. Plus I was so tired at this point with it being the end of the lesson. But I jumped our good jump really well one more time and called it. Hoping we do better jumping our next time out! Charlie is much more green then the other lesson horses so I have to be better riding him. I'm just not that good at jumping yet!

My riding lessons have been moved to Monday for the time being. An hour earlier so we can beat the dark. I'm hoping I will have no trouble getting out of work early and also passing off the littlest stinker to her daddy. I'll blog about our ride later!

The hubby and I made our first stand to sell yesterday afternoon! We are going to stain it a pretty dark brown. 

My man is so good with his hands! 

Until later!