The sun was shining today

Oct 302009
 

Last week, saying hi to Hargobind

Last week, saying hi to Hargobind

The sun was shining, so I saddled Vinnie up, hopped on and went. No lunging or ground work today! I had to catch all the daylight possible, since soon that will be lost to daylight savings. So out explored the local roads it was. We met other horses, squirrels on fences, serious barking dogs, a deer, horses galloping up to the fence, cars, trucks, puddles, mailboxes, pavement, gravel and more.

He did jump a few times and the loose horses running up the fence by the road made him puff up a lot and dance a little, but he never lost it. He was most spooked by a huge rock someone had put by their mailbox. It didn’t even move! But it elicited snorts, backing up and wanting to scoot down the road. I asked him to face it at a comfortable distance. As soon as he was willing to take one step toward it, we moved on.

He was light in the bridle and listened to my seat to steady him. When we rode up to the arena at Three Cedars, someone was washing the mirrors at the far end. More snorting! We had a really nice big trot along the back side of the turnouts that turned into our first short canter. And later he gaited on the pavement home. We got to the gate to his barn and he wanted to explore further, so we took another turn down the side road.

And he hasn’t even had ten rides yet. What a joy…

It had been POURING all day, so the poor boy was wet.

It had been POURING all day, so the poor boy was wet.

I guess the work we did last night in the Three Cedars arena paid off. I’ve been trying different bits on him this week. He seems to like a single jointed better than a French link. I’ve been having him carry it and working him off the cavason still. Last night I put side reins to the bit for the first time. They were very loose and he did well, stretching down into the feeling.


It had been raining steadily all day and continued through the evening. I had stripped his muddy sheet and then walked him down through the rain to Three Cedars to work. I wanted to try my Wintec AP saddle on him. It seems to fit alright, though I’ll be switching out the gullet for a slightly narrower one after Paisano leaves next week. I rode him a some after lunging. The sheepskin that Pam put on my saddle is really nice! I quit after he did a full round of the arena at the trot. Prior to that, we had to spend some time looking in the mirrors, sniffing the mounting stand and otherwise exploring.

Working away

Working away

Going home was an adventure, as it was quite dark by then. I have flashers that I hung around my neck, a yellow one to the front and a red one behind. Then I trotted Vinnie in hand down the road home in the rain. Thankfully, we only met one vehicle. I am continually happy with what he puts up with!


One more week and Paisano leaves. Then another week and Lily comes home. There are so many transitions going on that sometimes, I don’t quite know what to think. Still, I keep going to the barn and doing what needs to be done each day. And it’s usually something interesting.

AR Cirro comes of age

Sep 162009
 

Father & Son

Father & Son

Amanda posted her photos from last weekend on Flickr here. I took this one and photoshopped the horses a bit closer to have a nice picture of Paisano and his first born, both as riding horses. What a treat! Vinnie is just over three years old, having been an August baby (22nd). After Paisano ships to Amanda for lease, Vinnie will come down the hill for some light riding through December.


I think that Vinnie has turned out to be an improvement over his sire and dam. He has nice traits from both of them. He has Lily’s beautifully shaped Spanish head, four beat amble, and dun coloring. From Paisano he has a nice uphill build, suspended gaits and flashy sabino roaning. I’ll really enjoy watching him mature over the next two to three years.


I think that we are getting a nice group of horses up here in Oregon to do parades and Expos with. We plan to take part in a spring parade in Oakride next April as our debut. Then I’ll be looking for more opportunities in the area. I think that Vinnie could stand in as either an Indian pony or a classic cow pony.


Here are a couple more photos from last weekend…

Vin in his period looking gear. I wish that the saddle had a bit larger seat for me though...

Vin in his period looking gear. I wish that the saddle had a bit larger seat for me though...

Walking out nicely in his second ride ever and the first time ridden in a saddle.

Walking out nicely in his second ride ever and the first time ridden in a saddle.

I'll leave you with this photo of him sleeping in my lap on his first day of life.

I'll leave you with this photo of him sleeping in my lap on his first day of life.



More from that day may be found here.

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.

Ten Steps to Peace

Aug 072009
 

081205-0024When my aunt pointed me to these years ago, they resonated with me. They have been an excellent way to deal with my horses. In adopting them for that purpose, I found myself considering them with my children, my husband, my co-workers and on and on. Pick one, consider it in your life and see where you go…

From The Center for Non-Violent Communication. The italics are mine.

10 Things We Can Do to Contribute to Internal, Interpersonal, and Organizational Peace

(1) Spend some time each day quietly reflecting on how we would like to relate to ourselves and others.

(2) Remember that all human beings (all creatures, actually) have the same needs.

(3) Check our intention to see if we are as interested in others getting their needs met as our own.

(4) When asking someone to do something, check first to see if we are making a request or a demand.

(5) Instead of saying what we DON’T want someone to do, say what we DO want the person to do.

(6) Instead of saying what we want someone to BE, say what action we’d like the person to take that we hope will help the person be that way.

(7) Before agreeing or disagreeing with anyone’s opinions, try to tune in to what the person is feeling and needing.

(8) Instead of saying “No,” say what need of ours prevents us from saying “Yes.”

(9) If we are feeling upset, think about what need of ours is not being met, and what we could do to meet it, instead of thinking about what’s wrong with others or ourselves.

(10) Instead of praising someone who did something we like, express our gratitude by telling the person what need of ours that action met.

The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) would like there to be a critical mass of people using Nonviolent Communication language so all people will get their needs met and resolve their conflicts peacefully.
2001, revised 2004 Gary Baran & CNVC. The right to freely duplicate this document is hereby granted.

Bonita has gone home

Jul 012009
 



Bonita did very well at the SMR meeting and is now home with Chuck and Kay Day in Camas, Washington. I enjoyed working with her and thank Kay for letting me take her on as a my first outside training project.

During the week before the SMR meeting, I showed Kay the ground work that I had done with her. We went on a few rides through the woods on narrow, very new trails. Since we had just scoped these out and barely started to use them, there were a few iffy areas, which Bonita handled very well. She is quite happy to lead and went most anywhere I asked her to. She will follow too, but it is not her preference.

Our longest ride was four and a half hours. Much of that was stopping and cutting out downed trees and brush. I did some, but mostly it was Kay doing the hard work. Bonita stood well, but wasn’t too interested in being close to the other horses. She likes her space. There was some nice grass up there in the woods, so all three horses enjoyed the stops.

The one real obstacle for her was a narrow part of the trail next to the creek with water flowing over and through some larger rocks. She had just stepped into a soft spot before we got there and I think that she was none too sure of the footing. Eventually she did follow the others over. Going back, it was no problem at all.

Bonita is fun to ride with nice smooth gaits. We did mostly walk-trot, though I did try a short canter out on another Forest Service trail on Friday. That was her second canter under saddle, the first being a few strides in the meadow earlier. She came down from it nicely and it was no big deal.

Kay will continue to ride her, with the addition of maybe one 4-H’er. I believe that she is still for sale. Please contact Kay Day for more information.

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