Sooo funy today. have been ignoring jewel and today she came over grazing of course tho, not actually coming to see me! Then I caught Jazzy and headed to the gate and Jewel started following, then all of a sudden she was at my shoulder. I watched her for a bit trying to establish what she was thinking... so I tested her, I stopped and 2 steps ahead she stopped, looked back like come on lets go have some fun. I gave her lots of pats and rubbed on her, but left her in the paddock and went and played with Jazzy, she neighed to us from in the distance quite a few times, weird.....
Played with a tarpaulin this morning and for the first time the saying "Cause your idea to be the horses ideas, but understand his ideas first" really hit me with the truth :) Previously I would have pushed Jazzy until she went on the tarp. Today however I understood she was scared of the noise, the look and the unpredictability of the tarp. I recognized she was inquisitive but not confident so we worked on developing curiosity by yo-yoing, in the end she was like LET me look AT IT!! Lol then without we asking or even expecting it she just walked over it. She pawed it and picked it up in her teeth, didn't even really stress about it. I had picked her as a RBE- but looking at how I have been approaching her I think I with my RBE personality and thinking I caused her to be that horsenality..... hmm food for thought :) Then this afternnoon we did some touch it games and I rode her properly for the first time. I have sat on her heaps, but every time I had asked her to move she had locked up and felt humpy. But today we walked loosely, quietly, did one-rein stops and turns- just bareback in the halter.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 15, 2010
My Horsemanship so far...
Kotare Comet and Versatile Luna
Saturday 16 October 2010
In writing this blog I hope not only to record thoughts of my horsemanship experiences, but to use them for reflection to improve as a trainer, owner and horse enthusiast. I hope what I write will be of value to all that read it!
Our ponies in Palmy
Friday 8 April 2011
Well of all the good intention I had of using this blog it didn't eventuate, so here I am for attempt 2.
Jordan and I are settled in our new home in Palmerston North and currently have 5 ponies and a hack. One of the ponies I am working for a 'client', and 2 of the ponies are Jordans. We recently had a new edition, Meersbrooke Miss Snazzy (2yo). I can see this wee mare is going to teach me loads, at the moment I have learnt about the importance of nose sniffing, and not working her with my sunglasses on.
Jewel is pretty much ready for her first ride, she is lovely and soft, great lateral flexion (head side to side)- in case I need an EMERGENCY one rein stop! I have jumped all over her and flopped around like a drunk person. I feel now I just need to do the first ride which at this stage will begin with some ground work, jumping all over her, then move to sitting up and asking her to flex her head side to side and move her hind quarters over. I don't intend for the first ride to be long but I will ask her to move out a bit.
I am very pleased with Queens progress, she has really come into her own and all of our 'bits' of training have come together to make the complete package! She is sooo soft and responsive to the lightest aids. She has taught me about side passing, a maneuver I hadn't currently done a lot of. She is currently teaching me about saddle fitting, another area I have never had to worry about!
Jordans gelding Maverick is going amazingly for such a green, newly broken pony. Very soft and responsive also, he is currently a big sook out and about at the moment, with a tendency to 'shy'. That though is his only issue at this stage, but is getting more and more brave with the more exposure he gets!
Redskin is being ridden by a friend, its nice for her not to be left in the paddock!
Sundance and Mindy back in Taranaki
Wednesday 13 April 2011
Today Jazzy reminded me about Monty Roberts saying "if you act like you have 15 minutes it will take all day, act like you have all day and it will take 15 minutes".
I have been working with Jazzy close to 2 weeks now trying to get her to accept me and choose to want to 'hang out'. She has perviously been handled by her old owners, but I feel there wasn't much choice in it for her, so when given the freedom to choose she decided she didn't want anything to do with me!
Today she let me pat her properly for the first time. She was willing, almost asking for it and it was her choice. I patted her all over the face and down her neck and found her sweet spot on the underside of her neck! Not once did she seem to want to leave or appear to be worried.
I am not sure if it will make a difference but conveniently today she was by the trough. So she was more 'contained' then previous times. There was the trough on one side with the fence behind it, then the electric fence on the other then Queen was standing like a wall the other way. So in effect she was kind of boxed in with me in the 'gap'. Did pat her out in the paddock a wee while afterwards and she didn't move away....will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings...
I am currently finding time to get lots of horse related reading done. 3 great books I would recommend are 'The Tao of Equus by Linda Kohanov', 'The Soul of a Horse by Joe Camp', and 'Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid'.
Thursday 14 April
Queen was a dag today she kept growling Jazzy when she would run off to hide with them :) Very in tune is that pony. She is providing me with lots of food for thought re: that extra something with horses. It seems to be a very spiritual thing... Rode her around with the halter on and just the stick, then took the halter off and she stood there pawing it for a good few minutes while I sat on her. She is HATING the saddle and fiddling with the bit..... hmmm...... I am pretty sure the saddle fits poorly and her teeth may need doing but I cant imagine so.... I think she just wants to go freestyle liberty..?
Jewely is funny with ears. It started a few weeks ago out of no where, I have done a bit of work on them and can get her to the point where she is relaxed and I can rub all over and put my finger pretty much in her ear. But then the next day its like she has never had them touched...? Very strange... be interesting to see how this pans out?
Friday 15 April
Queen loves drench!! Couldn't get enough of it!!! The weirdest thing....
Sunday 17 April
Typical windy Palmerston North day here today. Queen really didn't wanna play catch so decided to run around and take the others with her. Redskin didn't want to play that game so faced up and came in straight away, then Jordan caught Maverick. Jewel and Shiloh tried to stay out of it but Jazzy (who is in love with Queen) followed her around. I have never seen Queen be hard to catch like that EVER! Any way worked all 4 around together, Jewel came in after about 3 minutes, then not long after Queen did too!!!
Got Queen totally hooked on me though, had to follow me everywhere tight turns etc. When I was convinced she was convinced hanging with me was best I put the halter on! Little bugga!!
Wednesday 20th April
Jewelly, Jewelly, Jewelly... hmm she is a strange one. Bucked with the saddle today, still doing the ear thing, but by end of lesson was pretty much over it? Hmm lots of thinking, somethings not adding up. Can be very quiet then BAM.... grass? teeth?.... will investigate further.
Queen a big snob again saw us coming and slowly walked to end of paddock and didn't come up for cuddles. So I caught and took out all ponies and left her there, hehehe! I didn't think she would care but she did 2 full speed gallop laps of the paddock. I didn't know the quiet ol girl had it in her! Neighed out a few times after that and hung around the gate eating.
Sunday 1st May
Well a lot has happened in a week. Jewel decided to have a big pull back fit and ended up getting so sleepy on the halter she fell!!! Did her the world of good I must say, I can see the theory the 'old traditional types' must have had regarding 'dropping' the horse. A technique I feel I will never need to use or will use but off her own bat Jewel did it to her self! Me and Jewel have done 3 baby rides consisting of me sitting on her bareback in a halter, flexing her head on both sides, asking her to disengage her hindquarters and lead her front end through. She is funny, so soft to the halter that she doesn't walk a straight line because of the slight pressure to the inside from the lead clip. Very relaxed. I do a good 1/2 hour groundwork session before getting on though.
Me and Jordan have been structurally working through the fundamentals series of Clinton Anderson's method. Great success, the ponies were already going pretty well now they are going even better! Jewel was having real trouble with backing up with the tap the air method, kept wanting to turn, then run through me. By the end of the session I had her backing a few steps. By the next day we were backing lots of steps. On reflection I pushed Jewel too far in the first session by asking for too many back up steps in the beginning, even though she has done back up before. Now she is backing up with ease especially from the halter she is racing back softly like there is no tomorrow :) Really good feeling!
Queens saddle fitting issue is still present..... even riding in the bareback pad feels funny. We have been going in the halter and bareback...... She is going pretty well though, majorly needs structured riding lessons. Her ground work however is going really good. She knows her fundamentals but I am pushing her further now to do them really well!!! She is also teaching a friend about Clintons method :)
Jordan and I got soft and invested in new covers for all the ponies!! Very exposed at their paddock, no trees or shelter for miles, so when its wet and cold they are all rugged up. Rugging is new to them all, but you would never know it. Queen and Jazzy still look sideways at the rugs, but no big dramas!
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Well it has been a while since I last updated, but with the way the weather has been its because we have not had a lot of opportunities to work the horses! It snowed yesterday so that was pretty exciting!
The horse herd has changed a bit. We have Maverick, Jazzy and Jewel. I have recently purchased Danny, just waiting for the transporters to have a space to bring him down.
Hating the mud! Its like nothing I have every seen before. I get so frustrated everytime I go out to the horses and feed them, in that mind set there is no point in working them!
Had a lovely day a few weeks back so we got the ponies in (back when Queen was still here) and washed all their legs, trimmed their hooves and gave them a good groom. Pleased to say Jazzy handled all of this very well wasn't at all fussed with a leg wash!
Queen left a few weeks ago and I miss her alot. I am so blessed however that she went to an amazing home and I have had many, many updates and photos- she looks to be very happy, YAY. Queen taught me a lot in the 3+ years I had her. She was very expressive, she would let you know exactly what she was thinking (if you knew how to listen), if you didn't (which some emotionally unbalanced people don't) she was very wary and stand offish. Its like the fact that they couldn't own their own feelings threatened her. Our journey was a massive one, my biggest so far. When she came in off the range she was SOOO wild, I have learned what I would do differently next time, but now we have reached the end, accept the process it took us to get there. Much of my feel and timing I have developed can be said to be because of Queen, this I will always remember :)
Saturday 08 October 2011
:) The sun is out! Finally! I have been doing lots of reflecting over winter about the way I work with my horses.
1. I have come to the realization that I was scared for Jewel for a long time because of the way she was as a youngster and my history with Queen. I am not sure when it happened but the day I stopped being scared Jewel and I have made huge progress :)
2. Take the horse you have in front of you. I was working with Jordan's pony Maverick and kept expecting him to be like my horses. Its been a while since I have worked with horses that I haven't started from scratch, so wasn't used to not having the buttons and disposition I like. Once I accepted Mav for what he could bring however we made more progress :)
3. I need to raise my expectations. I am finding I am sticking with what I know and feel confident teaching. This was necessary for a time so I could establish what I know well, now I need to move forward and push the horses further for perfection in what they know and new maneuvers.
4. DO MORE LIBERTY. Its very easy to get the horse to do what you want when you have the halter and lead on, different story in a paddock with nothing. I used to be big on my liberty work but have let this slide, I am going to reconnect with this side of my horsemanship again.
Well thats all I have to reflect on so far!
Sunday 17 April
Typical windy Palmerston North day here today. Queen really didn't wanna play catch so decided to run around and take the others with her. Redskin didn't want to play that game so faced up and came in straight away, then Jordan caught Maverick. Jewel and Shiloh tried to stay out of it but Jazzy (who is in love with Queen) followed her around. I have never seen Queen be hard to catch like that EVER! Any way worked all 4 around together, Jewel came in after about 3 minutes, then not long after Queen did too!!!
Got Queen totally hooked on me though, had to follow me everywhere tight turns etc. When I was convinced she was convinced hanging with me was best I put the halter on! Little bugga!!
Wednesday 20th April
Jewelly, Jewelly, Jewelly... hmm she is a strange one. Bucked with the saddle today, still doing the ear thing, but by end of lesson was pretty much over it? Hmm lots of thinking, somethings not adding up. Can be very quiet then BAM.... grass? teeth?.... will investigate further.
Queen a big snob again saw us coming and slowly walked to end of paddock and didn't come up for cuddles. So I caught and took out all ponies and left her there, hehehe! I didn't think she would care but she did 2 full speed gallop laps of the paddock. I didn't know the quiet ol girl had it in her! Neighed out a few times after that and hung around the gate eating.
Sunday 1st May
Well a lot has happened in a week. Jewel decided to have a big pull back fit and ended up getting so sleepy on the halter she fell!!! Did her the world of good I must say, I can see the theory the 'old traditional types' must have had regarding 'dropping' the horse. A technique I feel I will never need to use or will use but off her own bat Jewel did it to her self! Me and Jewel have done 3 baby rides consisting of me sitting on her bareback in a halter, flexing her head on both sides, asking her to disengage her hindquarters and lead her front end through. She is funny, so soft to the halter that she doesn't walk a straight line because of the slight pressure to the inside from the lead clip. Very relaxed. I do a good 1/2 hour groundwork session before getting on though.
Me and Jordan have been structurally working through the fundamentals series of Clinton Anderson's method. Great success, the ponies were already going pretty well now they are going even better! Jewel was having real trouble with backing up with the tap the air method, kept wanting to turn, then run through me. By the end of the session I had her backing a few steps. By the next day we were backing lots of steps. On reflection I pushed Jewel too far in the first session by asking for too many back up steps in the beginning, even though she has done back up before. Now she is backing up with ease especially from the halter she is racing back softly like there is no tomorrow :) Really good feeling!
Queens saddle fitting issue is still present..... even riding in the bareback pad feels funny. We have been going in the halter and bareback...... She is going pretty well though, majorly needs structured riding lessons. Her ground work however is going really good. She knows her fundamentals but I am pushing her further now to do them really well!!! She is also teaching a friend about Clintons method :)
Jordan and I got soft and invested in new covers for all the ponies!! Very exposed at their paddock, no trees or shelter for miles, so when its wet and cold they are all rugged up. Rugging is new to them all, but you would never know it. Queen and Jazzy still look sideways at the rugs, but no big dramas!
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Well it has been a while since I last updated, but with the way the weather has been its because we have not had a lot of opportunities to work the horses! It snowed yesterday so that was pretty exciting!
The horse herd has changed a bit. We have Maverick, Jazzy and Jewel. I have recently purchased Danny, just waiting for the transporters to have a space to bring him down.
Hating the mud! Its like nothing I have every seen before. I get so frustrated everytime I go out to the horses and feed them, in that mind set there is no point in working them!
Had a lovely day a few weeks back so we got the ponies in (back when Queen was still here) and washed all their legs, trimmed their hooves and gave them a good groom. Pleased to say Jazzy handled all of this very well wasn't at all fussed with a leg wash!
Queen left a few weeks ago and I miss her alot. I am so blessed however that she went to an amazing home and I have had many, many updates and photos- she looks to be very happy, YAY. Queen taught me a lot in the 3+ years I had her. She was very expressive, she would let you know exactly what she was thinking (if you knew how to listen), if you didn't (which some emotionally unbalanced people don't) she was very wary and stand offish. Its like the fact that they couldn't own their own feelings threatened her. Our journey was a massive one, my biggest so far. When she came in off the range she was SOOO wild, I have learned what I would do differently next time, but now we have reached the end, accept the process it took us to get there. Much of my feel and timing I have developed can be said to be because of Queen, this I will always remember :)
Saturday 08 October 2011
:) The sun is out! Finally! I have been doing lots of reflecting over winter about the way I work with my horses.
1. I have come to the realization that I was scared for Jewel for a long time because of the way she was as a youngster and my history with Queen. I am not sure when it happened but the day I stopped being scared Jewel and I have made huge progress :)
2. Take the horse you have in front of you. I was working with Jordan's pony Maverick and kept expecting him to be like my horses. Its been a while since I have worked with horses that I haven't started from scratch, so wasn't used to not having the buttons and disposition I like. Once I accepted Mav for what he could bring however we made more progress :)
3. I need to raise my expectations. I am finding I am sticking with what I know and feel confident teaching. This was necessary for a time so I could establish what I know well, now I need to move forward and push the horses further for perfection in what they know and new maneuvers.
4. DO MORE LIBERTY. Its very easy to get the horse to do what you want when you have the halter and lead on, different story in a paddock with nothing. I used to be big on my liberty work but have let this slide, I am going to reconnect with this side of my horsemanship again.
Well thats all I have to reflect on so far!
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