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!

 

100% October 29, 2009

Today I am so so so thankful for having both my girls in their new home.  They are settling in nicely.  I can tell that Rosie is more calm now that she has her sister with her.  Miss settled in just fine, she doesn’t worry too much about anything but when her next meal is coming 🙂  I went out this morning and gave them both a good scratch.  This week has been cold so there was frost on the ground and their water had a thin layer of ice on it.  They both have a nice thick coat started for the winter, I love burying my fingers into the soft down-like under coat they get.  It’s so soft you just want to cuddle up next to them all day.  I only had time to take a couple pictures this morning.  Sighhh, My life is good 😉

 

Miss and Rosie

My girls

Hey Ladies!

Surprise! October 28, 2009

Lil’ Miss is here!

My dad called me at about 6:00 tonight telling me that he was on his way with a horse.  He said “I got that little terd in the trailer and we took off”.  HA, I knew she would come around.  He and the neighbor devised a chute type affair and she went in no problem.  Maybe she just figured that we weren’t going to give up so she decided to humor us…  It was too dark to take pictures but I will get some in the morning.

Rosie was soooo excited, she was running and bucking around Miss.  She kept circling her and whinnying at her, it was pretty funny.  They are still a little excited when I came in but I know they will settle in just fine.  Yay!  Both my girls are home!

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

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.  

July 20, 2009 July 21, 2009

As I started to do some round pen exercises with Miss tonight, I noticed that she is limping.   It isn’t very noticeable when she is walking but when she picks up the speed you can tell she has a definite limp.  I think it’s her left front leg.  I made her do a few circles just to make sure she wasn’t being lazy.  I cleaned her hoofs and massaged her legs.  She didn’t react suddenly to the massaging but she didn’t like her front right hoof being held up for very long.  I don’t see any swelling which is a good sign.  I guess I’ll just have to watch her this week and see if it gets better, worse or stays the same.  I haven’t seen them for a few days so I don’t know when she started to limp.  

Rosie on the other hand is doing better with her lunging but we are still struggling a little bit.  The warts on Miss’s nose seem to be going away but Rosie’s seem to be getting worse.  
I really need to get these girls in there new place where I can be with them everyday…. Patients grasshopper  

July 16, 2009

Last night, the Lazy One (Miss) and I had a great session.  She was quick to move and she doesn’t need as many reminders to keep “both eyes” on me.  I’ve definitely had to earn her trust and respect which she is still a little apprehensive about.  She is very poised and proud of herself.  She isn’t one to wear her emotions on her sleeve but once she opens up just a little she is very calm and gentle.  Rambler’s Mist would be the equivalent to the wife of an American Indian chief.  A proud woman who is strong for her people and capable of great compassion when needed.  A woman who if shown respect will return it and won’t be taken for a fool.  
I love her!!!!  

I need to get a video camera so I can share her with more than pictures…..  Maybe Santa will bring me one this year  

 

Now Rosie is a different story… I am really having problems getting her to lunge away from me.  Following Clinton Anderson’s example, I point and twirl the end of my lead.  That usually doesn’t trigger an immediate response so I start to push into her space while twirling the rope, this makes her move backwards.  Unless we are standing still, she will do anything to keep her front square with me like she is glued to it.  I actually had her spinning in circles around her front without her front feet moving a step!  I tried standing still moving to her side and then proceeding with the point and lunge.  She did better when I did that but it wasn’t 100%  Once I had her started in the circle, I yield her hindquarters and stop all of which she does beautifully.  When I try to lunge her again and we are back to the beginning pointing, twirling, pushing, backing, confusion.    
I also tried the yielding the forequarters exercises in the Clinton tapes but they were not very successful.

June 10, 2009

I’m just starting to get both girls to lead.  I’m using Buck Branamann as my guiding light right now.  It’s been kind of a long process with this being my “first rodeo” I’m not always on the spot with the right commands, reactions or corrections… I know I’m on the right track and I’m getting better everyday.  I really depend on my horses’ feedback as well.  I can instantly tell the minute they are confused  , at that point we stop and take a deep breath then I try to figure out a way to help them understand what I’m wanting.  Some days we are more tuned into each other and other days all I do is spend time massaging and grooming them.  
I am getting some real help from the man who did their first trim.  He really took the time to do it right and I was very impressed with him.  Thankfully he is willing to stop by about once a month and give me some guidance.

I’m always looking for good books or dvd’s on training so if anyone has any good suggestions let me know….

I also started using the Tellington Touch methods to bond and help create a strong connection between me and my horses.  I’m hoping that it will help me in gaining Lil’ Miss’s trust and strengthen our bond.

July 13, 2009

I started to do some lunging exercises over the weekend.  
Miss picked it up fairly quickly but she wasn’t very energetic about the whole thing.  I had to be on her costantly to maintain any speed at all.  She tends to “drag” her feet and she stumbles a little sometimes.  I checked her over to see if she had any sore spots and inspected her hooves.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so maybe she needs some help learning how to pick up her feet….

Rosie on the other hand was totally confused… I couldn’t get her to drive away from me and keep going around me.  The minute I got her to move she immediatly wanted to hook back on to me and face up.  She has issues yielding her forquarters away and I haven’t been able to effectively show her so she completely understands…    I have a couple other things I’m going to try so hopefully they work a little better.