Mondo Thankful Thursday June 24, 2010

This Thursday and probably for the rest of my life…. I am thankful for this…..

Super Ultra Mega Gratitude

My first sit on my awesome girl Rosie.  The moment was right and Cody just happen to be there with his camera, how perfect!  I got on and off (with the help of a saw horse) a few times and it was no big deal.  We did however have a little moment when she started to walk off and panicked so I jumped off, lead her around and then got back on just to make sure she wouldn’t freak out when I tried to get on her again.

I can’t put into words how amazing and awesome this feeling is!  Life is soooooooooo goooood!

Mulling March 22, 2010

Me and Rosie’s lesson on Saturday keeps mulling around in my head. Our experience was just that, an experience. After some convincing, we finally got Rosie into the trailer and off to the barn where the trainer is set up at. Rosie was super nervous because number 1 she was leaving and her buddies (Paisano and Miss) were not coming with her and number 2 she had never done this before. When we got to the barn let her out of the trailer she was sweaty, breathing hard and she immediately started yelling at everyone. I started walking her around to try and get her nerves settled and get her attention focused somewhere else besides looking for her herd mates. After about 5 minutes she stopped prancing around and her breathing returned to normal but she was still screaming her lungs out. I swear I’ve never heard a horse whinny so loud. Our trainers are a husband and wife duo who work together full time training mostly western style performance horses. Randy and Rochelle White can’t much older than me but you can tell they have had a life time of experience. They have about 14 horses that they train full time and Randy recently participated in a trainers challenge at the Utah Horse expo, I still don’t know who won  Randy was in the barn working with a young girl, I stayed outside because the riding area was bordered by horses in their stalls watching the lesson. I knew if I tried to take Rosie in she would have a nervous breakdown seeing all those strange horses. Finally Rochelle came out and met us. She took one look at Rosie and started gushing about how pretty she was, which of course made me beam with pride She had to ask me a couple times how old she was because of how much smaller she is than the normal horses they work with. Even though she is going to be 2 yrs in April, she looks like a yearling compared to the other horses.

Then we started our lesson. She grabbed a lunge whip and we went out into a large corral with nice sand type footing. I had recently talked to them about where I thought my ponies were at and what I hope to accomplish with them this summer and the rest of our lives together. I really like how the Whites approach training, they believe in a strong foundation and they train using natural horsemanship. I also watched Randy work a couple horses before I set up a lesson just really get a feel of they handle their horses. Obviously I was pleased with what I saw. So back to Rosie, I told Rochelle that I had started lunging her but there were some things that we were getting stuck on, like changing direction and keeping her moving nice and consistent throughout the circle. I was to the point where I didn’t know how to communicate better and I certainly haven’t been doing this long enough to have any “tricks up my sleeve”. I wasn’t and am not looking for perfection, just consistency and nice movement. Rochelle took Rosie and started her in a lunge. Rosie had calmed down and not yelling quite as much but she wasn’t paying attention to either of us one bit. Rochelle started by making her respect her space and demanding that Rosie pay attention to her. Ever time Rosie went to toss her head or walk off or whinny Rochelle would wiggle the lead rope and make her back up. Pretty soon Rosie wasn’t so concerned with socializing and was paying attention to this person on the other end of the line. One thing I forgot to mention is that Rochelle is probably 5’4” and maybe a buck 25 AND 8 months pregnant :) After about 10 minutes of getting acquainted, Rochelle was lunging Rosie nicely. She made the comment that she did pretty well and she was soft so she could tell that I had been using the pressure and release type training with her. Then she made me lunge her and showed some thing to keep her moving and when/how to correct her when she started to drift off track. Pretty soon I was getting her moving in a consistent circle around me (and not me around her) and we were changing directions fairly nice. Then we decided to do some trailer loading drills and the fun really began…..

I can’t write down everything that transpired but what I learned and observed I’ll never forget. Let me start off by saying it wasn’t a bad experience just challenging, both on our end and Rosie’s. One of Rochelle’s exercises is to work the horse outside the trailer and let it rest while inside. So the horse learns that if he/she is outside the trailer they will have to work but if they are inside they get to rest. I thought and still think it’s a good way to get them comfortable inside the trailer. What she wasn’t prepared for is Rosie’s (and all Spanish Mustang’s) natural stamina. Poor Rochelle lunged Rosie for 20 minutes and she didn’t even break a sweat. She didn’t push her hard; she held her at a light trot and would stop then go to the trailer for a rest. Rosie would put her whole body in with the exception for her hind legs almost every time they went in.

Then Rochelle started getting dizzy so I had a go at her, she still wouldn’t going in all the way. By this time it was getting to be time for everyone to go home. The attitude in the air switched from training to “ok time to stop screwing around” and we started to push Rosie a little harder into the trailer. This escalated to forcing and pulling and pushing which was not conducive to Rosie’s frame of mind. After about a half an hour people started getting bored with trying to get her in the trailer, and it was within this last 30 or so minutes that I learned a great deal about my horse.

I quite trying to force her and stood inside the trailer and watched while Cody, Randy and some other fellow tried to push and pull her in. I noticed that she started to react before they put the pressure on her so she knew what was going on and she was anticipating their every move. The other thing I noticed is she would try more for one person than she would another. I got the most from her, then it was Cody, then my dad, then Rochelle. Randy and the other fella got about the same amount, but the fellow didn’t stick around for very long. Rosie at this point refused to even put one hoof into the trailer and people started to give up and leave. Rochelle and the fellow left followed by my dad then Randy and then Cody finally gave up. It was just me and the Rosie standing still and breathing. I watched her face, she wasn’t scared to go into the trailer she was downright pissed that these people were trying to force her. She wasn’t throwing a fit, trying to strike or kick or bite anybody she wasn’t even really moving around. She was just standing there in quiet contempt watching everybody’s move like she was ready for them to strike at any moment. I felt like she wasn’t upset at me just the situation. I massaged her and talked calmly to her and she started to relax muscle by muscle always keeping one eye and two ears on the people behind her. She finally with very tight lips took a piece of cube from me and ate it very slowly. Then my dad came over and started to pet her and she relaxed a little more. I stole a flake of hay and set some of it on the floor on the trailer and the rest in the manger at the front. Bit by bit she smelled it and started to munch. First one hoof in then back out, then two hooves in and back out and then she finally made it all the way, dad shut doors and the two of us stood there munching hay. She was much calmer and my Rosie had come back down to earth. Still watching and accounting for every person, but her eyes returned to their sweet soft gaze and her muscles were no longer wound up ready for action. We thanked and paid Rochelle and got our girl home.

I think that every experience be it good or “challenging” is an opportunity to learn and grow. I learned that these Spanish Mustangs are truly a breed of their own and they will not be treated like ordinary horses. I don’t mean bullied or disrespected, just treated like an ordinary horse. They require a whole new mind set and I never really understood what that meant until our little experience. I had always heard and read about it but never seen or felt what people tried to explain with words (because it’s something I don’t think can easily be translated in pen and paper). Rosie doesn’t resent me for pushing her, she stills trusts me and acts like Rosie. I think she mentally grew up a little and I know our bond grew even stronger. Everyone was excited and happy to be back home again, and I left her alone to get reacquainted with her buddies. Later that evening I went out to eat a pear and sit with them while they ate their dinner. Rosie came over and stood by me, nibbled on my sleeve a little and we both let out a big sigh. I scratched her on the cheek and we both stood there lost in thought munching a pear together.

Digesting March 21, 2010

Rosie and I had our first session with a trainer yesterday.  It had it’s ups and downs…. We are still digesting.  More to follow

Obstacle Course January 3, 2010

The ponies and I had a wonderful afternoon today.  I set up an obstacle course out of left over fence posts and did some exercise with all three of them.  I started out with Rosie, walking her back and forth next to the posts.  She did her usual sniff and paw routine to check them out and then walked over them, no problem.  The posts were laid flat on the snow so she didn’t have to pick up her feet very much to get over them.  I then stacked some posts on top of the other ones so they were off the snow completely.

Stepping

I led her through again and she got a little nervous when her hooves bumped the posts while she stepped over them.  After a few times through, she was picking up her feet nicely and not bumping the posts.  She was doing well so I decided try lunging her over the flat posts.  We did a couple circles just to freshen her up and then moved onto the posts.  She did really good with the flat posts but I couldn’t get her to move smoothly through the raised ones. I then tried to move over the flat posts, then change direction go back over them.

Coming around

I really worked on my body position in relation to her when changing directions.  We kind of struggle with the transition when she gets on a longer lead.  I picked up on one of sources of confusion for us.  When I’m on her off-side I tend to step in front of her shoulders more while trying to keep her moving.  This is confusing because I’ve used stepping ahead of her shoulders to slow down or stop movement.  I was always so focused on keeping her moving in a circle I lost track of where I was in relation to her.  After I adjusted my body, she was able to make the change of direction more smoothly without us running around each other all confused

Miss leading through

Miss did excellent as well when it was her turn to go through the obstacle course.  We did the same exercises that I did with Rosie.  Miss is better on a longer lead than Rosie is and we were able to go through the raised posts, change direction and go back through smoothly.

Paisano

Paisano was next.  I rode Paisano instead of leading him.  I jumped on bareback and we took a few passes walking over and around the posts.  I really like riding bareback and it’s a great way to strengthen my balance.  We even did a little trotting and I hope to get up to a canter some time soon

Cody and Paisano

Cody did some riding with Pai as well.  They did well and I got a chance to finally get some pictures of them together.  It was a beautiful day and we were able to put in some quality time with the ponies.

The rest of the photos can be found on my flickr page.

Herd update November 11, 2009

The herd at the Earth Dancer Ranch has come into full swing.  Paisano has been here less than a week and we already have a routine established.  I wake up, get ready for work and go out to say good morning to everyone.  Each one of them gets a good scratching and an alfalfa cube.  Then I fed them a little and go to work.  I get home and try to get one of them into the round pen for a short training session.  With the girls we work on the basics, developing a strong ground foundation.  If  I’m with Paisano, I will lunge him a little and then get on and work on talking to each other.  We communicate pretty good but we are still getting to know all the little and subtle things.  He is so patient with everyone and we couldn’t have a better mentor in Paisano.  He doesn’t even chase the dogs around   As a matter of fact I don’t even think he cares too much about them.  After our training session, I feed them all.  I give Paisano his oat/flax mixture and he usually shares it with Rosie.  Lil’ Miss is still being proud and won’t even give it the time of day.  I give them all hay and some alfalfa cubes.  They definitely know when it’s feeding time, ha ha ha.  If I’m running late in the morning, I can count on Rosie to be standing at the gate staring at the house whinnying.  The other two are there as well but she is the most vocal about it

 

We are working on getting my stadium lighting put up on the round pen and should be able train after hours soon!

 

What a man!

 

Girlfriends November 9, 2009

Oh boy does Paisano love his girls  

I turned them all out together later in the afternoon yesterday.  After a couple hours Paisano seemed to be pretty relaxed and the girls were getting bored in the round pen.  Me and my dad figured they are going to have to get to know one each other eventually and like I said Pai was relaxed so I felt comfortable trying it out.  When I turned the girls loose Paisano came rushing over to investigate.  Simrat told me he was in between to old geldings at his barn so a couple fresh young fillies were very exciting to him.  Miss of course tried to show him she was boss.  She sniffed him and then turned around to strike at him but ran away instead with Rosie in tow.  It was really funny to watch Miss.  I think she knew that Paisano was going to be the man and she was just putting up a fuss to show him that he better be careful or else. Ha, ha, ha.  I couldn’t even take her serious ;D

When Miss took off running Paisano didn’t miss a beat, he was after those girls so fast!  They all made a few laps around the pasture running, snorting, bucking and sniffing.  After about a minute they stopped, all took turns sniffing each other and then started grazing like nothing happened.  I was amazed!  Miss still tried to push him around a little but he put her in her place right away.  Rosie would only pay attention to him if Miss did almost like she was doing it just so she wouldn’t be left out of the action ::)  They were doing really well together so I went inside to eat something and get back to real life for a minute, kind of re-group my head and stuff. 

Just about dusk I went out to put Paisano in the round pen for the night just to be safe.  I put him in and got his dinner for him and started walking away when he started whinnying and running around.  I turned around to see what the fuss was and he was looking at the girls and calling to them.  They both came running over and stood next to him at the round pen.  Then they all looked at me  like “well, fix this lady”.  So I decided that everything was fine and I fed them all together without any drama or fuss.

I felt comfortable enough to leave them over night together.  I checked on them this morning and they were fine.  None of them had a scratch on them.  I can’t believe how smoothly the transition has been so far.  It’s like he has always been here and part of the herd. 

Bareback on Pai

Paisano and his girls

Warts be gone! September 2, 2009

The warts are finally subsiding!   Miss’s are all gone and Rosie’s are shrinking fast.  I was starting to get a little worried but patients paid off once again. 

Last night was very enjoyable.  We didn’t do much actual training, the flies were out in full force so I just wanted to get some fly spray on them before they lost their minds.  I haltered Miss got her covered in fly spray and then we just spent some time doing some TTouches and walking around the yard.  I worked on getting some tangles out of her forelock and it had a very calming effect on her.  All I did was gently pull her hair through my hands with a slow constant rhythm and she became relaxed right away.  I did this for about 15 minutes pulling and trying to gently work some tangles out of it.  The more I did it, the lower and lower her head got.  She almost had it completely dropped to the ground.  She lifted her head once only to arch her back and give a big stretch.  It reminded me of when I stretch in bed trying to wake up in the morning.  I think doing this on a regular basis will build trust and help her get over her head shyness.

I did the same with Rosie, getting her doused in fly spray and some grooming.  We went walking around the yard as well but she wanted to do her own thing.  I am really going to have to be careful not to let her get away with too much.  She has earned the name Twinkle Toes because she always prances around and acts like a princess.  She also is becoming quite the drama queen.  Whenever something spooks her, she often runs off bucking and tossing her bed about.  It doesn’t sway her curiosity though which is a good thing.  As we were wandering around the yard, she kept wanting to go off and do her own thing.  When I wouldn’t let her she would give me this look like “What! I want to go over therrrrrre!”  I was just waiting for her to throw herself on the ground kicking and screaming like a child. ;D I thought it was hilarious.

Rosie is also developing these little brown spots over her body….. I’m very intersted to see what happens with them

Sponge bath & Strange Behavior August 18, 2009

Both girls had a sponge bath last night.  Well actually it was more like a sponge rinse.  I didn’t want to try and give a full on bath on their first time so I just got a bucket of water and a sponge and wet them down pretty good.  Next time I’ll introduce them to the hose and see how far we can get.  I’m sure they won’t mind too much because they already go stand in the sprinklers when they come on.  Their manes are getting pretty wild so it would be nice to get them cleaned up and combed through. 

Rosie is still becoming more and more curious everyday.  Yesterday morning she was up on the porch behind my parents house.  I couldn’t believe it when my dad told me.  She walked up 4 stairs onto the wood porch and started to poke around in his tomatoes!  Ha Ha Ha…..  She is really going to be a handful   She is starting to lead very well and she is responding to hand signals which makes me very excited.  She is very sensitive to pressure and I’ve tried to keep her as light as possible during our training.  I laid the lead rope on her back while I went to grab a curry comb and she didn’t like it so she reached around and pulled the rope of her back.  When she tried to walk away to graze, the weight of the rope dragging on the ground made her yield which was very cool to see.  I would love to get her so I can ride her bareback will only a neck ring to guide her.

Lil’ Miss had a hard time with the hoof trimmer last week.  I wasn’t able to be there when our appointment was scheduled.  I had a conflict with my work schedule.  Rosie was the first to go and she had no problems what so ever.  I only have one halter at the moment (I know, I need to get another one made ASAP).  So when it came time to halter Miss for her trim she couldn’t be caught.  Neither the trimmer or my dad was able to get her.  Hmmmm, that surprised me a little.  Usually, Miss is the one who doesn’t care about anything and goes along with the program.  I went to work with them a couple days later and she became very nervous the minute I got her in the round pen.  I started moving her in a circle to get her thinking.  I noticed right away she wasn’t thinking at all she was just reacting.  She did her change of direction exercisesvery well but she was more nervous and jumpy than I have ever seen her.  I backed off and slowed things down.  Instead of just making her run in circles, I tried approaching her.  She immediately started running in circles again so I stepped in front of her path and made her draw into me.  I approached her again and the same thing happened.  So we did this about five or times until I was able to calmly walk up close to her and pet her on the head and so on.  Once she calmed down enough to let me pet her, I did some TTouch exercises with her.  After about an hour, we were all relaxed, I was able to halter her calmly, and she started to be her old ornery self again which made me happy.  I trust that old ornery horse, she wasn’t herself when I showed up that day. 

After this incident I have decided that I’m going to do as much hoof maintenance on my own as I am able to do.  I know they need to start being socialized with other humans but I would rather be there to help control the situation than have a reaction like the one Miss did.  We are so close to having their new home ready, I really can’t wait!

After I got the girl calmed down

There is a very tender side to Miss that I can't wait to get out

Who me? Yes, you.

I don't want this on my back

Itchy spot. She is flexible

 

Runway Rosie

August 7, 2009 August 7, 2009

I visited the girls tonight.  It finally cooled down a little so we could do some ground work exercises.  We had a refresher course on changing leads in the round pen and lots of grooming.  They are such good therapy for me.  I can go out there and work with them without speaking a single word sometimes.  I have developed a bond with Rosie that is going to be life-long and she will always hold a special place in my life.

Miss is always a little hesitant at first but it doesn’t take long for her to come around.  I really need to spend a little more time with her.  It would benefit us both so much.  My connection with her is different than it is with Rosie.  She refuses to be treated like a little girl so she feels more like a sister to me where as Rosie is always looking for reassurance and guidance like a child would.  Its amazing how much a couple weeks makes in their development and our relationships.

War Paint

July 28, 2009 July 28, 2009

With all the excitment lately I haven’t been with the girls too much.  We had my 1/2 sister in town for a week organizing a garage sale for all the junk at my house.  My mother had a birthday, my good friend had breast cancer surgery, I reconnected with my best friend, my car was in and out of commission and Cody proposed   .  
I was able to show my sister and my mom a few round penning exercises for them to do while I’m not there.  It will be good for them to get really comfortable with the horses as well as having the horses get worked by someone other than me.  They really have come a long way and I’m very proud of myself and them for not giving up so far.  I can’t wait to get them into their new home in my backyard where we will have lots more room and I can be with them everyday.