I just counted and I have done seven rides on Bonita as of Monday. I’ve seen a huge improvement from the first to the last. More than I would have thought. If I have as much progress this week, it will be just grand! I’m going to start making more regular posts now that things are moving along. I was keeping my journal during the week and posting on Sunday, but I just don’t like waiting any more. So here are rides eight and nine… I’ll continue to post, as I write.
Isn't that a kissable pink nose?
Tuesday – I took my Klimke-Miller dressage saddle and my good bridles out today. Paisano’s Stubben bridle fits her very nicely and the saddle seems okay too. I tacked her up and lunged in the outdoor arena, while Pete was being worked. She was calm and responded well to walk-trot-whoa. She did quite a bit of looking toward her pasture, but that was all.
I took her inside, hopped on and we had some good walking out. There were a few times that she stopped and I had to resort to tapping her with the whip. She didn’t look pleased, but also didn’t overreact or get mad. She just walked on. She stops on a breath cue. To the point that I have to careful not to sigh loudly. I focused more today on keeping her forward and walking out. I also did things like rustled my jacket, took out my cell phone, both while she stood and also walked. She flicked her ears and tensed up, but didn’t spook or jump.
As I’ve been asking her to walk out, I’ve also been thinking of trot and today I got a few trot steps. Her head came up and she was obviously a little unsure of the feeling. I asked again and got a few more strides. I was happy with that. A little more walk work and some whoa and we were done. I hopped off, loosened her girth an hung out a bit. So two firsts today, first trotting and her first ride only in a snaffle, no side pull.
I tried a running braid on her and she looked quite spiffy! She stood totally still for it, with her eyes half closed. She liked it! The evening ended with some hand grazing. Bonita has turned out to be a soft, sweet little mare.
Posing
Ooh, where to start?
She's always alert and wanting to know what's up.
Wednesday – Tonight we rode outside. There was another horse lunging in the outdoor. I was glad for us both to have the company. I lunged Bonita a few rounds each way, then got on. Steering was just okay. Whoas were perfect. Bonita wanted to stay close to the other horse, but we went around the arena instead. When they went back into the barn, Bonita fussed some, tossing her head and not wanting to go past the gate, but it was really pretty minor. I rode her in the pattern of Intro test A, at a walk. At one point, I was thinking, “We will be trotting here.” and she offered a couple of trot strides! After the halt salute, I called it quits. It was short, but still a good ride.
If you're new here, and like what you see, please subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Monday – Lots going on at work and elsewhere and I was a bit down today. I knew that I need some time at the barn. That time did not fail me! Bonita and I had a very good day.
I started out grooming her and checking the trim that I did last weekend. She let me clean around her udder. Before she has been really touchy there, so this was progress. I also dewormed her. She took the tube just fine and got a bit of alfalfa mash for a reward. Her reaction to the smell was a lot of lip curling … quite cute.
So out in the arena, I asked for a couple of hind end yields. All good. Then the tarp over her back and neck. She was alert, but didn’t move. Next was something new … hobbles. She had given me a bit of hassle with her feet when I trimmed her, so I wanted to work on giving her feet. I put the hobble cuffs on her front feet without tying them together and let her walk and trot on the lunge to get used to the feel. She stepped higher and was really thinking about it. I stopped her and clipped my lead to the right hobble and proceeded to get her leading by the foot. It took her a few minutes and a number of steps where I pulled her foot forward with the lead and also asked her to come with the lunge line (still attached to her halter). Once she came forward and to the side from her leg, I switched to the left side. She picked up on it much more quickly this side.
Another new thing I introduced today was a lariat neck rope. I had fun this weekend riding Lily with it and playing with Vinnie, so figured why not Bonita? She didn’t like it going over her head at first. She doesn’t like things around her ears too much. After a few times, she settled and accepted it. So I removed her halter and tossed it to the side of the arena. By the way, every time I left her to get something, she stood ground tied like a champ. I was really proud of her!
So on to the neck rope… she got turning really well, crossing over in front nicely. Stops worked well too. So I got my cavasson with side rings and took her to the mounting block. She scooted a little when I rested my leg over her back, so I jumped on a bit faster than I meant to. No issues there. I got off again and remounted a few more times with her standing well.
She walked off okay and we had a few balky moments. She didn’t really like me asking her forward by bumping her gently with my heels. After some experimenting with drawing her to the side to get movement, I found that she really got the forward cue of squeezing my thighs. We rode for another twenty minutes. By the end, she moved off in a nice forward walk at the first squeeze, turned well, even starting to get the idea of neck reining from the lariat rope and stopped okay. That needs the most work. She stops perfectly from the neck rope, but not everyone rides with one of those. I’ll continue to ride with it, but transfer the stop cue to the reins.
We did some nice figures, down the center line and B to E in figure eights turning both directions. I also had her on the rail pretty well. Even though I’ve been on her twice before, I would call this our first real ride! I feel that we are on our way!
And generally her demeanor was calmer, more head level time, less giraffe impersonations and eye white showing, more chewing and snorting. She has a really nice walk when she moves out too. I found that when I used a more active seat. She did quite well with seat and thigh cues. I look forward to exploring what else she does well with.
Tuesday – I had an errand to do out of town before the barn, so I thought I wouldn’t get any work done with Bonita. Guru Amar came along, so we decided to play with Bonita a bit. Guru Amar is a good rider, though it’s been a while for her. I offer for her to get on Bonita and she took me up on it. So Bonita has now had a second rider. I also had Guru Amar practice leading her with the neck rope.
Wednesday – A quick groom in the cross ties, saddled and into the arena today. I did a little ground work and free lunged a couple of rounds, then got on. Today Bonita shows me her sullen side. I was figuring that this would show sometime soon. I think that it’s time for a rider and ground person working her at the same time. That way the ground person (likely me) can get her moving, while the rider can cue her and give her the feeling of moving under a rider.
Thursday – We are on a roll… Today I tried my Stonewall saddle on Bonita again, this time with a western felt pad. I lunged her and it was a little loose behind, but with some adjustment of the pad, it was acceptable. So of course, I had to try sitting in it. She moved out better than she had with the Wintec. Yeah! Then Sarah asked is it was okay to bring her horse Pete in. I dismounted while they came in and let Bonita have a look. She stood great for me to mount again. She is coming into heat and would have preferred to visit with him, but instead we walked on the rail. It was a really good experience for her to have another horse there. She was calm and forward, moving off from my cues. I had to tap her with my whip a couple of times, but she wasn’t balking like last night. And her whoas were better too. It was a late night, but quite productive.
Saturday – It was warm and I was feeling lazy. I feed and brought all the horses in and sat for a while. Then decided to go for it. Bonita is not too crazy about the idea of being saddled from the near side. I worked with her loose in her stall on this. She was fine with me tossing the pad on her from the offside, but I had to work for a few minutes until she would stand still on the near side.
I bridled her with the snaffle over the cavesson I’ve been riding in. This way, there was a little effect on the bit when I used the reins. She chewed on the bit but was okay with it, so half way through the ride, I clipped reins right on the bit alone. She was more calm with her mouth this way. She was just fine with turns and stops off the bit, light in fact.
I also got on and off her a number of times. She stood for all of it. She also let me rub her ears today, inside and out and found out that it’s actually pretty nice. She really ended up enjoying it … almost as much as Lily does.
The next step will be trotting. And I think I’ll need some ground help for that. Another thing that I would like to move to in the next week is riding outside.
Well we have crossed over our halfway point on Bonita’s time with me. It started with twelve weeks.
Monday – We had lunge session in the indoor carrying the bit. It was blowing and rainy, with the horses coming in at the end, so quite a bit of distraction. Bonita was very alert, but behaved and listened well. I used a surcingle and clipped side reins to the bit at the end. They were quite loose, just to give her an idea of it.
Tuesday – Another lunge session, this time with saddle and side reins on the snaffle. I also did some in hand work off the snaffle, starting to ask her to step under with her inside hind leg. She got it, with large steps on the left and less so on the right. At the end I put weight in the stirrup on both sides and lay over the saddle. She stood well for this, not moving off, just shifting to balance. That was a good note to end on. Bonita has also gotten good about lowering her head on a head down cue. She will stay there for as long as I ask. In fact, I usually have to ask her to bring her head up. This helps to calm and focus her. To end, I stood in the stirrup a few times from both sides and lay over the saddle. Bonita stood without moving for all of it.
Wednesday – We started with ground work and a little lunging with side reins, then and some in hand work off the cavesson. I wanted to start her learning to move laterally from pressure. She is better on the near side. Her right side is generally stiffer and her shoulder falls in when lunging, so I wasn’t surprised that there was more resistance to moving over from this side.
Then I repeated standing in the stirrup. She did walk off once with me laying over the saddle. I just stayed there and asked her to whoa. Next time, I got brave and followed through with swinging a leg over. She wasn’t into walking on, so I practiced getting on and off a few times. Mostly we stood, while she balanced. She did walk off a couple of times from squeezes. I pretty much let her wander where she wanted to, with a turn here and there. I planned a whoa and she complied very nicely. That was it for the evening. So we had our second ride, the first one with a saddle.
That was it for this week, other than trimming her feet on Saturday. I had other things to do, which I’ll cover in another post…
Monday – I worked late, so we had a short ground work session in a simple web halter and long lead. I worked again on backing and coming forward, yielding the hind end. She started to anticipate the yielding, so I asked her to wait at times for my cue. Backing was calmer and lighter, so improvement there as well.
I also lay over her back quite a bit. This was the first time without a saddle and she was pretty calm about the whole thing. A couple of times she walked off. I had her turn to me when I slid off.
Asking her forward
Wednesday – I rode Bonita today! It was a big day, as you may have read in my last post. Pam came out and stood by her head and helped her walk out. We just walked a few times around the indoor bareback. I am glad that this milestone is past though! Whew! We just did a few turns of the arena bareback. She was very good, turned and stopped fine. She needs to get the feel of balancing. I may use a saddle next time, as her back is really flat. It’s comfortable, but there is not a lot to hold onto.
Sunday – It’s been raining quite a lot, so there was no chance to work in the outdoor ring. And the indoor was set up for a dance this weekend. I also had to take time dealing with some fencing issues, as Bonita found a way to get through one of the cross fences. What I’m trying to say, is that today is the first work session I’ve been able to have with her since our short ride on Wednesday. I did get a proper lunge cavasson yesterday and it fits! So I tried her in that and she went well. At first though, I think that the extra brass rings on the noseband startled her. She had a few plunging bucks that I pushed her out of. Once I had the long lines on her, she settled down well. I did see improvement in her overall carriage using the new cavesson. She got softer, rounder and stretched more often. We even had a few full circles of walk and started yielding her hind end in and varying the speed of her walk.
It was a very good week for Bonita. I just wish that I had had more time to work her.
Today I sat on Bonita for the first time. I am grateful that it was uneventful! We walked a few times around the arena, stopping and turning. I got on and off from both sides and all was fine. She had some small issues with balance, but that will improve with practice. I also found that she may have something out in her back, so a chiropractic call may be in order. I think that our five weeks of ground work has paid off.
Walking on...
Second, I am grateful to my friend, Pam, for coming out and being my moral support, helping Bonita to walk out when she stalled and generally being there. She also gave Vinnie a good grooming and some much appreciated attention.
On other fronts, I won’t be off on Fridays anymore. That was short-lived. Instead, I have a few more responsibilities at work to take up that time. On the plus side, I will be able to practice some of the project management skills I just finished learning in my PMI study group and build up more hours towards applying for PMP certification. While I’ll have less horse time, I will also be working towards what interests me in my job. I am grateful for that too.
Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.
Sit back and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.
Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:
Recent Comments