Respect

Sep 052009
 

I was reading Mugwump’s latest post and I realized that Paisano needed a bit of a tune up on this front. So last night we worked on it. After a short bit of chatting with other boarders, I took him straight to the round pen, still dusty from rolling.

Paisano tried to snatch bites at his favorite weeds on the way over, then when I let him loose, he meandered over to a spot where he could reach more weeds. Instead, I sent him out at a trot. All he gave me was a little jog. I had my lunge whip that gives a nice pop and he got it laid over his rump. “NO, I want you to MOVE!” was the message. At first, I had to step into his space half way across the round pen. At one point, he kicked out twords me and that got him a response that really woke him up! I reversed him repeatedly for a few minutes.

By the end, he was responsive to all voice commands and would canter energetically until I asked him to do something else. He’s gotten into a pattern of just quitting and even slowing to a stop recently. I had slipped into the habit of always asking him to keep going, rather than expecting him to stay at any gait/speed until asked for something else. I am not going to do that anymore. My expectations are changing. I just don’t want to work that hard! Today was the beginning of that.

At a good whoa with him parallel to the fence, I asked him to come into the center. Then I gave him a good once over with my hands and some stretching and a little massage. That was his reward for the good work he gave me at the end.

On whoa in the round pen … I do not want a seasoned horse to turn to face me. This is just my preference. I know that many people always want their horse to ‘face up’ to them. Since my basis is in dressage, lunging, long lining, etc., I want a horse to stop where I ask them and not move their feet any more. If that means facing perpendicular to me, that’s what I want them to do. If I am driving, it means facing away from me. Whoa means “Whoa right where your feet are now,” not “stop and face me.” It’s hard to retrain them not to face you, when they are on the lunge line. In long lines, there is more control. Still, it can be frustrating during the transition time, where they think that is what you want. So I likely differ there from most of the NH world. So be it.

The jaquima on Lily. I've since put it on a Zilco trail headstall.

The jaquima on Lily. I've since put it on a Zilco trail headstall.

We went on to have a nice ride in the arena, where we worked again, on maintaining speed and responding to the first cue. I’ve decided to ride him primarily bitless, as he has a scar on his tongue. He’s just much more comfortable that way. I rode in my rawhide jaquima, that I’ve been using on the trail. On trail rides, I ride on a loose rein. In the ring, I experimented with contact and he worked well, giving me some ‘on the bit’ moments.

I worked in hand some on stepping under with the near hind foot. He has a harder time with this on the right. That flowed well into some lateral work. He tends to offer more sideways and less forward that I want. Or maybe that is me not getting my cues correct. Either way, we had some improvement there.

It’s supposed to rain all weekend, so I am not sure that I will be able to get any of the long rides at Pisgah done that I wanted to. I had laid out a training plan for the next six weeks until the Foothills ride. This three day weekend was going to be a great opportunity for some long slow miles. I guess I will have to get used to the rain… Today I am wimping out and working in the studio instead. Well, after I’m done with this blog post anyway!

I'll leave you with this photo of Lily being a good mom and telling Vinie to keep away from her baby. Isn't little Rita a pretty thing?

I'll leave you with this photo of Lily being a good mom. She's telling Vinie to keep away from her baby.

Darkness falls

Sep 022009
 

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.

It is getting dark earlier now. I didn’t get to the barn until seven tonight. I tacked Paisano up quickly and headed out by 7:15. We rode out about 2 miles at a trot, then turned back. It was dark and gloomy under the trees and a mite spooky, so we trotted and cantered that bit.


When we got down to the road (we have to ride 7/10ths of a mile from the trailhead to the barn), dusk was falling even in the open. The nearly full moon rose above Mt. Pisgah. I had a vignette between two hills that could not have been more perfect a view.

There was little traffic, most drivers were very considerate. Note to myself … I need to remember to bring my safety vest for all future rides. I have to give credit to Paisano for his level headedness. We were passed on the bridge by a car with headlights and he still trotted calmed over. The one vehicle that passed us faster than I liked was, of all things, a truck and horse trailer.

I went down the road a bit and came back to the barn through the farm fields. This gave Paisano a few minutes of rest and a good bit of thistle eating, his favorite. And it gave me the opportunity soak in the broad vista of cumulus clouds lit by the moon and enjoy the perfect temperature of the air.

I can’t think of a better way to end a long day at work… and that I am thankful for. Rides under the moonlight are a wonderful thing, when you have a perfect pony to share them with.

On the level of training for our LD ride, we did about 3.5 miles with about half or a bit less at a trot in just under an hour. Most of the trotting was uphill too. Yes, he was at his jog trot. I hope to get in some rides with other horses to encourage him to move out more. If you are in Eugene and want to meet at Pisgah on weekend, please email me.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

  • 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:

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs

    • The curse of being goal oriented…

    Aug 312009
     

    I need goals. Without them I sink into a malaise of boredom combined with a slightly depressive apathy. Then I start searching for some goal to create for myself. So far my recent horse goals have all been related to getting Paisano and Vinnie prepped to find new homes. That’s pretty open ended and a bit too vague for my taste. Besides, I don’t really want to find them new homes. That’s a sort of “must” goal, not a “want to” goal. Though it does still hang out there, I don’t think that I’ll be pursuing trying to make Paisano into a dressage pony, for instance.

    Still very perky after 10 miles and 1,000 gain in elevation each way.

    Still very perky after 10 miles and 1,000 gain in elevation each way.

    After riding Paisano for two days at almost 10 miles/day this last weekend, I’ve been reconsidering my decision to do a fall Limited Distance AERC ride. We rode about 8-9 miles on Saturday with mostly flat trails through the woods, down the gravel forest service road and in a local park. Paisano loved trotting and cantering through the narrow wooded trails, up and down little rises. I hope that he had as much fun as I did! At the park, Paisano found his ‘big trot.’ It was great to know that he can enjoy moving out without breaking into a canter very often. That’s a new thing for him. I think that riding with a couple of mares was an incentive.

    Checking out his saddle that Sky wore.

    Checking out his saddle that Sky wore.

    Sunday, Romina and I traded saddles. I rode in her Trekker Endurance Pro and she used my FreeForm. We found that our stirrup lengths are the same, along with a lot of other horse related ideas. I look forward to riding together again.


    I really liked the Trekker. It is a very well made saddle of high quality, durable leather and fully adjustable. Unlike most other treeless saddles that I have tried, it has full spinal clearance for the horse and a firm, solid seat for the rider. It’s definitely jumped to the top of my want list. Romina liked my FreeForm too, so it was a good test ride for both of us.

    Nice, even sweat pattern from Romina's Trekker Endurance. That's Romina and Sky in the background.

    Nice, even sweat pattern from Romina's Trekker Endurance. That's Romina and Sky in the background.

    Sunday’s ride was good with a lot of walking uphill. Through google maps, I figured that the ride was about 5 miles each way with a gain of 1,000 elevation. I’ve ridden this trail a number of times and this was the first time I made it to the top of the trail. We had to dismount to go around and under a large fallen tree. Amy Jo found that detour. Paisano led the way on a couple more. We were determined! The big tree was what stopped us when we rode it during the SMR meeting.


    Paisano got sweaty, but not out of breath, except for the gallops and long, big trots. He is very game and will barge through brush, go off ahead of the the other horses, in the middle of the pack, at the end, whatever. It was great getting him around other horses and used to riding in close quarters.

    The 25 mile ride at Foothills of the Cascades on October 17 will be my choice. I have 46 days to condition Paisano. I’ve been getting to the barn 3-4 times/week. I am going to try to make at least two of those on the trail, hopefully three. He’s doing well with EasyBoot Bares on the front, over trails that are a mix of pavement, gravel and dirt.

    We are riding bitless in my FreeForm saddle. Now to start figuring out camping gear to keep me warm in October Oregon weather!

    I’m pretty stiff and sore today, but doing more consistent trail riding should help me there too. And maybe, just maybe, I might loose a few pounds to bring us out of the heavyweight division. I’ll have to weigh my tack and gear tonight and get an idea on that.

    So here I am … once again making plans for something that I really don’t have the time for, but will enjoy doing none the less.

    I used to dream about this…

    Aug 142009
     

    Gurunam with Cora & Lily one of the few times we trailered over.

    Gurunam with Cora & Lily at the summit of Mt. Pisgah in 2007. This was one of the few times we trailered over. I didn't take a camera today, so this will have to do.

    I had a great two hour ride at Mt. Pisgah, alone with Paisano tonight. We rode LOTS of hills, mostly trotting. We didn’t go to the summit, as he is not really conditioned yet. He was all sweaty, poor boy! Then he still had the energy to spook at a deer and end up half off the trail down a steep hill. Goof! He was looking at everything and had a couple of milder spooks earlier in the ride. He never totally relaxed, but we he did end up with some nice, long strided walk at the end. The weather couldn’t have been nicer with temps about 65-70 and breathtaking views.


    When I moved to Eugene, during my long period of no horse activities, we used to go out to Pisgah and hike to the top. Every time, I would wistfully think about how much nicer it would be to ride, rather than walk. I had no plan to get horses. It actually seemed like rather an impossible idea at the time.

    Then when I did get horses, I didn’t board close to Pisgah and didn’t have a trailer for a few years. Then I did have a trailer, but not a horse to ride. They were either too green or bred. Now, incredibly, I have the trained horses, the trailer and I board as close to Pisgah as you can get. You would think that I would be ecstatic. I have to remind myself how lucky I am, as it already feels so familiar as to be ordinary. And that itself feels wonderful! It’s interesting how something that I wanted for so long, has taken a very short time to get entirely used to.

    Back to the pragmatic side, today was our first long ride trying out my FreeForm saddle on Paisano. It left a very nice even sweat pattern and he seemed comfortable and moved out pretty well. It stayed in place both up and down hills. I had a breastcollor on and checked regularly to see if it was really needed. It never got snug, so the saddle really did stay where it was supposed to. We went down some pretty steep hills, so it was a good test. To the point that I would have appreciated some larger thigh blocks!

    It is not my first choice though to ride Paisano in, as I feel like I am sitting on a table. On him, It is very flat side to side, without much twist. The result is that it is harder to get my leg on him. I’ll continue to use it on trails, as long as he stays comfortable. It rides better for me on Lily. With her it is my favorite saddle so far.

    Tomorrow Paisano will get something short and easy since he worked hard today. The two days after that involve other riders trying him out. Sunday, Amy Jo comes down to ride him and Monday, a trainer at my barn will try him out.

    Bridleless Practice

    Aug 112009
     


    Full size video here on youtube.


    Last weekend, Pam came out and taped Paisano and I. It was meant to be a basaeline sort of video to record where he is at in his development and training. I rode him with a bridle first, then tried this. I don’t think that I ever rode him bridleless when he was a stallion. That makes this maybe our third or forth try. The previous times were in the round pen at Tired Dog Ranch, so a much smaller and more contained space. I was very happy with how he did. There were a few times where I had to put the rope up near his throatlatch to turn him and he really wanted to go hang out in the sunny far corner. Needless to say, those were outtakes. ;)

    He was good on basic walk, trot, canter, turn and stop cues. We have to work more on things like turn on the forehand and haunches and leg yield. Those are a bit harder to do without rein cues. I didn’t get more than a couple of steps before he moved forward. That can come with time. It’s a bit harder when there are no reins to restrict forward movement. In retrospect, I should have started this against the wall. Another step will be riding with another horse in the arena.

    Watching the video, I realized that some of his apparent resistances may have been due to the fact that he had fly bites right where the rope crosses his chest. Pressure probably felt good! No wonder he leaned into it a few times, instead of backing off. I might post another clip of scratching him afterwards. It’s pretty cute. Pam pointed out that he was so relaxed that his lower lip was flapping the entire time.

    Two of my favorite stills from the video…

    090802-3


    090802-7

    The music is Corazon by Mirabai Ceiba, available from Spirit Voyage

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