Today was also really busy, the weather was quite nice today so I could have played with the ponies outside. But because of the few problems I had with Smarty yesterday I decided it would be better to ride through lunch again in the arena to see if Smarty was better today.
I warmed them up online pretty much the same as yesterday and everything went well.
I then mounted Smarty and today from the moment I got on him he was really soft and relaxed, so I was really happy about this and pleased that what I done with him yesterday must have worked.
So today we had a really nice ride and both ponies were really good, today we played with transitions in walk, trot and canter and also stand and back up and everything went really well.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday 23rd February
Today the place was so busy, it was the busiest I have ever seen it - lots of people and there family and all the stables were full too!!
So any chance of playing with the ponies was going to have to be through lunch again so to make things easier for myself I decided to play with them both together and then ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
I started online with them both playing with friendly game and stick to me this went really well, so we moved on to playing with circling game. This was so much better than it was the last time I played with then both together, they were so calm and relaxed and even done a change of direction at trot. I was so impressed with this and today Smarty was happy to take the lead on the circle, whereas the last time Blossom always had to go in front.
Circling game over a jump didn’t go to good, Smarty was really good but Blossom just didn’t like the idea of jumping with Smarty so close to her.
Yo yo game was good and they both went backwards from phase one and also came back to me at trot. Sideways along the wall also was very good!!
I then mounted and we started with just following the rail in walk and then I started asking for some stop and back up transitions. Smarty was really leaning on the bit and wasn’t yielding to pressure very well so we done quite a lot of this and I was also having to use the CS to get him to yield. We the started adding trot into our transitions, but still Smarty was really leaning on the bit when I would ask for downward transitions. So I couldn’t let this go on for any longer, so I let Blossom loose in the arena and gave Smarty a really good canter as I wasn’t sure if he was leaning just because he had lots of energy. But even after the canter he still wasn’t much better so I spent quite a lot of time working with him to teach him to be soft.
I then got Blossom to catch us again and we had a lovely ride now that Smarty was so much softer and was more relaxed.
So any chance of playing with the ponies was going to have to be through lunch again so to make things easier for myself I decided to play with them both together and then ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
I started online with them both playing with friendly game and stick to me this went really well, so we moved on to playing with circling game. This was so much better than it was the last time I played with then both together, they were so calm and relaxed and even done a change of direction at trot. I was so impressed with this and today Smarty was happy to take the lead on the circle, whereas the last time Blossom always had to go in front.
Circling game over a jump didn’t go to good, Smarty was really good but Blossom just didn’t like the idea of jumping with Smarty so close to her.
Yo yo game was good and they both went backwards from phase one and also came back to me at trot. Sideways along the wall also was very good!!
I then mounted and we started with just following the rail in walk and then I started asking for some stop and back up transitions. Smarty was really leaning on the bit and wasn’t yielding to pressure very well so we done quite a lot of this and I was also having to use the CS to get him to yield. We the started adding trot into our transitions, but still Smarty was really leaning on the bit when I would ask for downward transitions. So I couldn’t let this go on for any longer, so I let Blossom loose in the arena and gave Smarty a really good canter as I wasn’t sure if he was leaning just because he had lots of energy. But even after the canter he still wasn’t much better so I spent quite a lot of time working with him to teach him to be soft.
I then got Blossom to catch us again and we had a lovely ride now that Smarty was so much softer and was more relaxed.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday 22nd February
Today I stuck to my plan and played with Blossom during the lunch break of the course, we only had about an hour so we started online playing with:
1. Extreme friendly games in all zones
2. Porcupine games from tail, hind legs and chin - these are now all going really well
3. Yo yo over a pole - we haven’t played with this in a while and it showed!
4. Sideways over a barrel both directions - getting good!
5. Circling game with transitions, change of direction in trot and canter.
6. Figure of eight pattern and Weave Pattern.
I then mounted bareback and played with circling around a block and today was really good as I didn’t have to make many corrections. So this was a massive improvement for us, so I didn’t want to play with it for too long. So we played with the weave pattern so I could practise my steering from just the string, to start with it wasn’t very pretty. But she really got the idea very quickly and soon we were trotting through the pattern, she was so good. So there is hope still that one day she may be a games pony - If I can do the weave pattern which is the same as the bending in games in trot bareback and bridleless I think there is a really good chance!!
1. Extreme friendly games in all zones
2. Porcupine games from tail, hind legs and chin - these are now all going really well
3. Yo yo over a pole - we haven’t played with this in a while and it showed!
4. Sideways over a barrel both directions - getting good!
5. Circling game with transitions, change of direction in trot and canter.
6. Figure of eight pattern and Weave Pattern.
I then mounted bareback and played with circling around a block and today was really good as I didn’t have to make many corrections. So this was a massive improvement for us, so I didn’t want to play with it for too long. So we played with the weave pattern so I could practise my steering from just the string, to start with it wasn’t very pretty. But she really got the idea very quickly and soon we were trotting through the pattern, she was so good. So there is hope still that one day she may be a games pony - If I can do the weave pattern which is the same as the bending in games in trot bareback and bridleless I think there is a really good chance!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday 21st February
Today there was a course on so this meant we couldn’t use the arena as there just wasn’t enough room for any more horses to come in.
So today I just really spent a lot of undemanding time with Blossom walking about outside letting her graze. We did go out to play in the 100ft round pen outside, but as it hasn’t been used since the summer so the surface wasn’t very good and Blossom seemed worried about going any faster than walk and even then preferred to come back to me. So I didn’t want to push her, so we just spent some time hanging out together and every now and then I would ask a little something of her maybe stick to me, circles, backwards by the tail, sideways and this really kept her attention on me even when she was grazing.
The course is on again tomorrow so I think me and Corine plan to have an early lunch so we can play with our horses while the students on the course have their lunch.
So today I just really spent a lot of undemanding time with Blossom walking about outside letting her graze. We did go out to play in the 100ft round pen outside, but as it hasn’t been used since the summer so the surface wasn’t very good and Blossom seemed worried about going any faster than walk and even then preferred to come back to me. So I didn’t want to push her, so we just spent some time hanging out together and every now and then I would ask a little something of her maybe stick to me, circles, backwards by the tail, sideways and this really kept her attention on me even when she was grazing.
The course is on again tomorrow so I think me and Corine plan to have an early lunch so we can play with our horses while the students on the course have their lunch.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday 20th February
A week today and I will be loading the ponies into the trailer to go home, I can't believe how fast the last 3 months have went!!
Today I played with Blossom online and had a play with some of the tasks that didn‘t go so well for us yesterday or the ones I would like to improve.
So today everything went much better than it did yesterday, especially her porcupine games I really noticed an improvement everything was just so much softer and smother.
Well seen as everything was going well I decided it was better not to play online for to long and try and find problems.
So I saddled and started with checking my lateral flexion with the CS and then my back up from the SS and also turning left and right from the SS. This all went very well so we moved on to playing with follow the rail in walk and trot and this went very well, she still gets impulsive if we use all of the arena so we are still only using half.
We then played with transitions from walk, trot and canter and these went very well she is now really listening to me and going up and down the transitions from just the energy in my body. As everything was going so well I put the cradle bridle on her and started with a passenger lessons just to get her used to having the bit in and then gradually took up more of a contact on the reins.
We then played with circles and transitions and she was really good and stayed very calm and relaxed, so I was happy with this so decided to finish on this and not push her to do anymore for today.
Today I played with Blossom online and had a play with some of the tasks that didn‘t go so well for us yesterday or the ones I would like to improve.
So today everything went much better than it did yesterday, especially her porcupine games I really noticed an improvement everything was just so much softer and smother.
Well seen as everything was going well I decided it was better not to play online for to long and try and find problems.
So I saddled and started with checking my lateral flexion with the CS and then my back up from the SS and also turning left and right from the SS. This all went very well so we moved on to playing with follow the rail in walk and trot and this went very well, she still gets impulsive if we use all of the arena so we are still only using half.
We then played with transitions from walk, trot and canter and these went very well she is now really listening to me and going up and down the transitions from just the energy in my body. As everything was going so well I put the cradle bridle on her and started with a passenger lessons just to get her used to having the bit in and then gradually took up more of a contact on the reins.
We then played with circles and transitions and she was really good and stayed very calm and relaxed, so I was happy with this so decided to finish on this and not push her to do anymore for today.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday 19th February
Today I decide to have a play with the new online level 3 self assessment tasks, so I could see what we could or could not do.
All the friendly tasks are good and we don’t have any problems there. It took her a few attempts to put all four feet on the pedestal, but once she was up there she was nice and relaxed. Throughout my session I would ask her to go back onto the pedestal with 4 feet and used this is a rest spot to help her gain more confidence.
Porcupine tasks are ok, I have only just started playing with them so they aren’t perfect yet and I would like her to yield from the pressure better as sometimes I am still having to use quite a lot to get a reaction from her. But the basics are there, so I am happy with that.
Driving tasks still needs quite a bit of work, stick to me is good but we are sill struggling a little with the canter stick to me. I just can’t run fast enough or she won’t canter slow enough - but she does try and stick to me and when I stop she does stop too. But sometimes she is already a couple of strides ahead of me by then, so we need to work on this and try and work out a way to get in harmony with each other better.
Driving from zone 5 on the 45ft line didn’t go so well today, she seemed to be rather confused as to what I was asking her to do. She was fine if we were next to the wall and we were able to do walk, trot, stand and back up. But as soon as we went away from the wall she thought I was asking for sideways… so I will need to work on this more and maybe get some help from Eddy on this.
Yo Yo game on the 45ft rope went better today, I was able to get her to back all the way on the 45ft line and draw to me at trot. So I was really happy as I have had problems getting her to back up for that distance before. We also played with jump towards me and then back to the jump, this went really well!!
Circling tasks were good and today we managed to do some lovely simple changes of direction, she even done a few flying changes. We also played with transitions, fallen leaf and S pattern and this all went well too.
Sideways was really good today - we played with all the sideways tasks and they all went really well. She done sideways over a barrel both ways as if we have been playing with it for months, she was so relaxed and confident about it. We also started playing with sideways towards me without the fence today and it went really well!
Squeeze tasks - Well I didn’t have a trailer or a hanging tarp in the arena so we didn’t play with these, but I know we can do the trailer loading tasks as we have already been playing with them while we have been here. So the only task on the sheet we played with was squeeze over a single barrel, she finds this really difficult so I have to use a lot of approach and retreat before she is confident to jump. So this is something we will really need to play with more to get her more confident.
So I was really happy with my play session and I found that we were able to do more of the tasks than I originally thought I could so I was really happy.
All the friendly tasks are good and we don’t have any problems there. It took her a few attempts to put all four feet on the pedestal, but once she was up there she was nice and relaxed. Throughout my session I would ask her to go back onto the pedestal with 4 feet and used this is a rest spot to help her gain more confidence.
Porcupine tasks are ok, I have only just started playing with them so they aren’t perfect yet and I would like her to yield from the pressure better as sometimes I am still having to use quite a lot to get a reaction from her. But the basics are there, so I am happy with that.
Driving tasks still needs quite a bit of work, stick to me is good but we are sill struggling a little with the canter stick to me. I just can’t run fast enough or she won’t canter slow enough - but she does try and stick to me and when I stop she does stop too. But sometimes she is already a couple of strides ahead of me by then, so we need to work on this and try and work out a way to get in harmony with each other better.
Driving from zone 5 on the 45ft line didn’t go so well today, she seemed to be rather confused as to what I was asking her to do. She was fine if we were next to the wall and we were able to do walk, trot, stand and back up. But as soon as we went away from the wall she thought I was asking for sideways… so I will need to work on this more and maybe get some help from Eddy on this.
Yo Yo game on the 45ft rope went better today, I was able to get her to back all the way on the 45ft line and draw to me at trot. So I was really happy as I have had problems getting her to back up for that distance before. We also played with jump towards me and then back to the jump, this went really well!!
Circling tasks were good and today we managed to do some lovely simple changes of direction, she even done a few flying changes. We also played with transitions, fallen leaf and S pattern and this all went well too.
Sideways was really good today - we played with all the sideways tasks and they all went really well. She done sideways over a barrel both ways as if we have been playing with it for months, she was so relaxed and confident about it. We also started playing with sideways towards me without the fence today and it went really well!
Squeeze tasks - Well I didn’t have a trailer or a hanging tarp in the arena so we didn’t play with these, but I know we can do the trailer loading tasks as we have already been playing with them while we have been here. So the only task on the sheet we played with was squeeze over a single barrel, she finds this really difficult so I have to use a lot of approach and retreat before she is confident to jump. So this is something we will really need to play with more to get her more confident.
So I was really happy with my play session and I found that we were able to do more of the tasks than I originally thought I could so I was really happy.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday 18th February
Today Eddy’s niece came to play with Smarty again and today she was struggling for ideas for her play session with him. So to make things interesting for her Marieke built an obstacle course and me and Daisy had to race each other!!
The course was: we had to start at a block, then weave through some cones, jump a jump with your horse, around a barrel and then back towards the jump, you then had to squeeze your horse backwards between your jump and another jump (about 3ft gap) and then you had to get your horse to go sideways from zone 1 along the jump and then it was a race to the pedestal and first one there was the winner!
I had a couple of practice runs, mainly just to show Daisy what she had to do as she found it difficult to imagine without seeing it. But then to make it more difficult for me I had to do it at liberty!!
I had never jumped with Blossom at liberty, but she done this without any problems. She did however find the backwards squeeze difficult so we had to do a little approach and retreat and then sideways went quite well - but because we spent extra time with the backwards meant Daisy won this time.
I then raced another girl who is here for the next month for horsemanship lessons (I think) and she won too. But again she was online and I was at liberty, so that’s my excuse lol.
But what I was really happy with was not once did Blossom think about leaving me and she done everything I asked her to do. It would have been so easy to try and race the others so I would win, but in doing that I wouldn’t have put my relationship with Blossom first and take the time she needed to do some of the tasks. So I was so proud of myself for not pushing me or Blossom and in the end we really had some fun!!
The course was: we had to start at a block, then weave through some cones, jump a jump with your horse, around a barrel and then back towards the jump, you then had to squeeze your horse backwards between your jump and another jump (about 3ft gap) and then you had to get your horse to go sideways from zone 1 along the jump and then it was a race to the pedestal and first one there was the winner!
I had a couple of practice runs, mainly just to show Daisy what she had to do as she found it difficult to imagine without seeing it. But then to make it more difficult for me I had to do it at liberty!!
I had never jumped with Blossom at liberty, but she done this without any problems. She did however find the backwards squeeze difficult so we had to do a little approach and retreat and then sideways went quite well - but because we spent extra time with the backwards meant Daisy won this time.
I then raced another girl who is here for the next month for horsemanship lessons (I think) and she won too. But again she was online and I was at liberty, so that’s my excuse lol.
But what I was really happy with was not once did Blossom think about leaving me and she done everything I asked her to do. It would have been so easy to try and race the others so I would win, but in doing that I wouldn’t have put my relationship with Blossom first and take the time she needed to do some of the tasks. So I was so proud of myself for not pushing me or Blossom and in the end we really had some fun!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tuesday 17th February
Today I had lots of new play ideas to play with, and I also wanted to play with a few new tasks. But when it actually came to playing with Blossom today I had absolutely no energy and Blossom seemed to be the same. I thought that if we started playing my energy levels would improve, but it didn’t help me very much. So I didn’t think it was really a good idea to try and keep playing just for the sake of playing and I knew I would just end up having problems. So today was really just spent sitting in the arena spending undemanding time with Blossom watching others play and this really does seem to make an impression on her as she does so much licking and chewing and yawning. I really should try and spend more time doing this with her as I think it is really helping to build a string relationship between us.
Monday 16th February
Today I played with Blossom online again with the 45f line, it went better today than it did the other day. I didn’t seem to get tangled as often, but I still need a lot of practice with it. I also made the 12ft line into reins and left them on her when we played to see if this will help her confidence about me riding her with reins..
So today we played with:
1. Lots of friendly games
2. Driving from zone 5 to objects - which went very well
3. Sideways towards obstacles and sometimes sideways over or around them
4. Circling game - very nice and soft today!
5. Change of direction at trot
6. Sideways along the wall with my feet still - she can go to about 20ft, but then she stops at turns and looks at me.
7. Sideways over a barrel - left side is great, but she still has problems with me on the right side
8.Circling over a jump - Blossom found this quite difficult as she always thought it was a squeeze game and would stop, turn and face after the jump and would then try and jump the opposite way. So it took about 4/5 jumps for her to get the idea that she was to keep circling - so this was quite interesting to see how difficult she found this.. Also after the first jump the reins went up in the air when she jumped and this really spooked her - so I think she really does have an issue with the reins or is this maybe normal for a horse to spook at this. So to try and avoid making the problem she seems to have with reins etc even worse, I put an elastic surcingle around her and loped the reins through this to stop them moving around and going up her head. I also thought this would be good for her as the reins were now in a more fixed position so it was like when I would ride her and had a light contact so this would be good for her.
I then played a little at liberty before mounting bareback, and today we worked on steering with the savvy string. As lately I have really noticed how much I rely on my CS to steer and ideally I would love to have more power steering using just the string. It actually went quite well and she was soon yielding from the string to turn and I therefore wasn’t having to use my CS so often, so this felt really good and I will continue to really work with this to get her really soft.
I then saddled and we started with playing friendly game with the SS in her mounth as Marieke had mentioned yesterday that I could try riding her with just the string. But before I can do that I need her to be confident with the string in her mouth and be able to hold the string herself instead of trying to spit it out all the time.
We the played with circling round the block and again today the main focus was getting her to circle with less corrections, and after our session bareback I found I was able to correct her with the string instead of always using the CS so this was nice. I then put the cradle bridle on her and done a little passenger lesson with this in and then just played some friendly games with the reins to try and help her become more confident. But what I did notice today is she does appear to be more confident with the bridle/bit than she is with just the halter, so that was quite interesting as I would have expected the opposite.
So today we played with:
1. Lots of friendly games
2. Driving from zone 5 to objects - which went very well
3. Sideways towards obstacles and sometimes sideways over or around them
4. Circling game - very nice and soft today!
5. Change of direction at trot
6. Sideways along the wall with my feet still - she can go to about 20ft, but then she stops at turns and looks at me.
7. Sideways over a barrel - left side is great, but she still has problems with me on the right side
8.Circling over a jump - Blossom found this quite difficult as she always thought it was a squeeze game and would stop, turn and face after the jump and would then try and jump the opposite way. So it took about 4/5 jumps for her to get the idea that she was to keep circling - so this was quite interesting to see how difficult she found this.. Also after the first jump the reins went up in the air when she jumped and this really spooked her - so I think she really does have an issue with the reins or is this maybe normal for a horse to spook at this. So to try and avoid making the problem she seems to have with reins etc even worse, I put an elastic surcingle around her and loped the reins through this to stop them moving around and going up her head. I also thought this would be good for her as the reins were now in a more fixed position so it was like when I would ride her and had a light contact so this would be good for her.
I then played a little at liberty before mounting bareback, and today we worked on steering with the savvy string. As lately I have really noticed how much I rely on my CS to steer and ideally I would love to have more power steering using just the string. It actually went quite well and she was soon yielding from the string to turn and I therefore wasn’t having to use my CS so often, so this felt really good and I will continue to really work with this to get her really soft.
I then saddled and we started with playing friendly game with the SS in her mounth as Marieke had mentioned yesterday that I could try riding her with just the string. But before I can do that I need her to be confident with the string in her mouth and be able to hold the string herself instead of trying to spit it out all the time.
We the played with circling round the block and again today the main focus was getting her to circle with less corrections, and after our session bareback I found I was able to correct her with the string instead of always using the CS so this was nice. I then put the cradle bridle on her and done a little passenger lesson with this in and then just played some friendly games with the reins to try and help her become more confident. But what I did notice today is she does appear to be more confident with the bridle/bit than she is with just the halter, so that was quite interesting as I would have expected the opposite.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday 15th February
Today with Blossom I played with:
1. Yo yo game improving the backwards
2. Sideways without a fence
3. Circling game, really good today she was very calm and relaxed.
4. Change of direction in trot and some simple changes in canter.
5. Shoulder in on the circle
6. Figure of eight pattern
7. Sideways over a barrel, with her left eye on me she is good but the other side she still has problems so I got Eddy to come and have a look to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong. But he said I was doing everything fine, but I have to remember that she isn’t made of china and I have to go through my phases and find an effective phase 4 if she isn’t making any effort to make a try. So I played around with this and she was managing to take a couple of steps but just didn’t seem to be able to go any further, so I cheated a little and placed the barrel half way under her. So if she wanted to get off she would have to jump, come sideways towards me or go sideways like I was asking her. But with the barrel half way under her it seemed to make much more sense to her what I was asking and she went sideways over on a very low phase. So I will continue to cheat a little this way until she is more confident and fully understands what I am asking as I know she does have problems with me in this eye sometimes.
I then went outside to play in the round pen, this is the first time we have ever played out here. So to start with I had to work really hard to get Blossom’s attention on me and away from the grass, but once I got it we had lots of fun. The plan was to play with all seven games but Blossom had far to much energy and play drive so I used it and we had some really nice changes of directions and an amazing draw!
We then went back into the indoor arena and I saddled and today I wanted to play with circling her around an object and try and reduce the amount of corrections I have to make to keep her on the circle. It went well, I still have to make a lot of corrections with the CS but I think if we keep playing with this and she really learns her responsibility things will really improve.
1. Yo yo game improving the backwards
2. Sideways without a fence
3. Circling game, really good today she was very calm and relaxed.
4. Change of direction in trot and some simple changes in canter.
5. Shoulder in on the circle
6. Figure of eight pattern
7. Sideways over a barrel, with her left eye on me she is good but the other side she still has problems so I got Eddy to come and have a look to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong. But he said I was doing everything fine, but I have to remember that she isn’t made of china and I have to go through my phases and find an effective phase 4 if she isn’t making any effort to make a try. So I played around with this and she was managing to take a couple of steps but just didn’t seem to be able to go any further, so I cheated a little and placed the barrel half way under her. So if she wanted to get off she would have to jump, come sideways towards me or go sideways like I was asking her. But with the barrel half way under her it seemed to make much more sense to her what I was asking and she went sideways over on a very low phase. So I will continue to cheat a little this way until she is more confident and fully understands what I am asking as I know she does have problems with me in this eye sometimes.
I then went outside to play in the round pen, this is the first time we have ever played out here. So to start with I had to work really hard to get Blossom’s attention on me and away from the grass, but once I got it we had lots of fun. The plan was to play with all seven games but Blossom had far to much energy and play drive so I used it and we had some really nice changes of directions and an amazing draw!
We then went back into the indoor arena and I saddled and today I wanted to play with circling her around an object and try and reduce the amount of corrections I have to make to keep her on the circle. It went well, I still have to make a lot of corrections with the CS but I think if we keep playing with this and she really learns her responsibility things will really improve.
Saturday 14th February
Today was a lovely sunny day, so I started with spending some undemanding time with Blossom out in the field letting her graze.
We then headed back into the indoor school and today our main play session was on the 45ft rope and the whole aim of today was not to get ourselves tangled up! For my first time playing with the 45ft rope it actually went ok, but I really need to start playing with this more. Today we really just played with things we can do, just so I could practice my rope handling skills and have a nice play with Blossom without asking too much from her.
During our play today I also left the 12ft rope attached to the halter and made it into reins to try and get Blossom more used to this and see if just having them around her neck, without the risk of anyone pulling on them will help her with her confidence about being ridden with the halter and reins on..
I then mounted bareback and I left the halter and reins on and all I done to start with was a passenger lesson at walk, Blossom was very relaxed. As everything was going well, I then started asking for 9 step back up every now and then as she knows this and seems confident doing this I thought it was a good task to start playing with the reins.
I should also mention that I am still playing with Smarty, but as I now only have a couple of weeks left here I am mainly playing with Blossom to make sure I get the most out of my last 2 weeks and play with new tasks so I can get help from Eddy if I have any problems so I don’t go home and then try new tasks and run into lots of problems that I am unsure how to deal with.
We then headed back into the indoor school and today our main play session was on the 45ft rope and the whole aim of today was not to get ourselves tangled up! For my first time playing with the 45ft rope it actually went ok, but I really need to start playing with this more. Today we really just played with things we can do, just so I could practice my rope handling skills and have a nice play with Blossom without asking too much from her.
During our play today I also left the 12ft rope attached to the halter and made it into reins to try and get Blossom more used to this and see if just having them around her neck, without the risk of anyone pulling on them will help her with her confidence about being ridden with the halter and reins on..
I then mounted bareback and I left the halter and reins on and all I done to start with was a passenger lesson at walk, Blossom was very relaxed. As everything was going well, I then started asking for 9 step back up every now and then as she knows this and seems confident doing this I thought it was a good task to start playing with the reins.
I should also mention that I am still playing with Smarty, but as I now only have a couple of weeks left here I am mainly playing with Blossom to make sure I get the most out of my last 2 weeks and play with new tasks so I can get help from Eddy if I have any problems so I don’t go home and then try new tasks and run into lots of problems that I am unsure how to deal with.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday 13th February
Today online with Blossom I worked on pretty much the same as yesterday and today most things actually went better or improved, so this was really good. So I won’t bore you all writing it all down again.
So after playing online I then played a little at liberty and the mounted bareback and had a little play around. I have found I seem to get a better ride if I play at liberty and then ride bareback before I saddle, not sure why but if it works I am going to continue to do it.
I then saddled and we started with playing with transitions in walk, trot and canter and this went really well. I then played with sideways with two CS and this went really well, to start with there was still a little forward movement. So Eddy suggested to back her up after going sideways as this will encourage her to keep her weight on her HQ, so after doing this a few times my sideways really improved and felt really good.
We the played with Direct and Indirect reins with just the two CS, this went well but I need to try and improve my FQ yields as she wasn’t yielding as well as she should. But considering that this was the first time we have done this with CS, I think we actually done quite well.
I then got Eddy to show me what a single spin was as I was looking through the level 3 self assessments and saw this and just wasn’t quite sure what it was or how I would teach it to Blossom. So after Eddy showing me it a couple of times with his horse I then gave it a try with Blossom, and we were able to do it quite well. It is nowhere like the standard Eddy done his at, but the basics were correct and we were also trying this for the first time at liberty so I was really impressed that we were able to do anything similar to what Eddy had shown us.
So after playing online I then played a little at liberty and the mounted bareback and had a little play around. I have found I seem to get a better ride if I play at liberty and then ride bareback before I saddle, not sure why but if it works I am going to continue to do it.
I then saddled and we started with playing with transitions in walk, trot and canter and this went really well. I then played with sideways with two CS and this went really well, to start with there was still a little forward movement. So Eddy suggested to back her up after going sideways as this will encourage her to keep her weight on her HQ, so after doing this a few times my sideways really improved and felt really good.
We the played with Direct and Indirect reins with just the two CS, this went well but I need to try and improve my FQ yields as she wasn’t yielding as well as she should. But considering that this was the first time we have done this with CS, I think we actually done quite well.
I then got Eddy to show me what a single spin was as I was looking through the level 3 self assessments and saw this and just wasn’t quite sure what it was or how I would teach it to Blossom. So after Eddy showing me it a couple of times with his horse I then gave it a try with Blossom, and we were able to do it quite well. It is nowhere like the standard Eddy done his at, but the basics were correct and we were also trying this for the first time at liberty so I was really impressed that we were able to do anything similar to what Eddy had shown us.
Thursday 12th February
Today I had a really good day with Blossom, last night I had a look through the new self assessments and made a list of the things I couldn’t do or I would like to improve.
So today we played with:
1. Friendly games with CS, CS and plastic bag, ball and the tarp - all went very well
2. Lead by the tail - this could still be much better
3. Lead by the chin - lots of work needed she really doesn’t like this, I think we need lots more friendly in this area too.
4. Stick to me transitions in walk, trot and canter - canter still needs some work, I need to learn to run faster or Blossom needs to canter slower so this works better.
5. Transitions on a circle - today wasn’t to good as she was really leaning on the rope, so we went back to a shorter distance and just worked on getting the circles soft again.
6. Sideways without a fence
7. Sideways with a fence with me keeping my feet still - worked very well.
8. Sideways towards me - getting good, but still working on this against a wall
9. Sideways over a barrel - this took a lot of time as I would reward the slightest try as she found this really difficult. But she manage to go sideways all the way over by the end, so I was very proud of her as this as been a very challenging game for her since we started.
10. Squeeze game over a jump - very good in both directions
11. Squeeze over a single barrel - I positioned the barrel next to the wall to make it easier for her to see what it was she had to do. But she did find this really difficult and we had to do lots of approach and retreat to give her enough confidence to jump and even when she did jump she jumped it really high so I don’t think she was very confident so we will need to work more on this.
I then played a little stick to me at liberty and then mounted bareback and played with circles around the block. We then played with transitions in walk, trot and canter and everything was going really well so we done a little jumping and today it was a proper jump and we managed this fine.
I spoke with Eddy again about why we think she is better bareback and bridleless, rather than with a saddle and bridle/halter on. So to try and eliminate the problem I saddled her and rode her with just the string without anything on her head, and we were able to walk, trot and canter without any problems and she felt the same as she done bareback. So Eddy suggested trying her with the halter on and tie the rope into reins, but still just ride her from the string. So I done this, and to start with I felt she was maybe a little more impulsive, but thought it was maybe also just in my head.. But the test was when I came to jumping, it took three attempts to get her to jump the jump and even when she jumped it really wasn’t a nice jump. But as I didn’t jump her with the saddle and just the string, I didn’t know if having the halter on was the problem, well the only way to find out is to take the halter off again. So this is what I done, and guess what she jumped the jump first time without any hesitation and really jumped it well.
So I think I will need to work with all this again and find out id having something on her head is really the problem or was it just something today..
So today we played with:
1. Friendly games with CS, CS and plastic bag, ball and the tarp - all went very well
2. Lead by the tail - this could still be much better
3. Lead by the chin - lots of work needed she really doesn’t like this, I think we need lots more friendly in this area too.
4. Stick to me transitions in walk, trot and canter - canter still needs some work, I need to learn to run faster or Blossom needs to canter slower so this works better.
5. Transitions on a circle - today wasn’t to good as she was really leaning on the rope, so we went back to a shorter distance and just worked on getting the circles soft again.
6. Sideways without a fence
7. Sideways with a fence with me keeping my feet still - worked very well.
8. Sideways towards me - getting good, but still working on this against a wall
9. Sideways over a barrel - this took a lot of time as I would reward the slightest try as she found this really difficult. But she manage to go sideways all the way over by the end, so I was very proud of her as this as been a very challenging game for her since we started.
10. Squeeze game over a jump - very good in both directions
11. Squeeze over a single barrel - I positioned the barrel next to the wall to make it easier for her to see what it was she had to do. But she did find this really difficult and we had to do lots of approach and retreat to give her enough confidence to jump and even when she did jump she jumped it really high so I don’t think she was very confident so we will need to work more on this.
I then played a little stick to me at liberty and then mounted bareback and played with circles around the block. We then played with transitions in walk, trot and canter and everything was going really well so we done a little jumping and today it was a proper jump and we managed this fine.
I spoke with Eddy again about why we think she is better bareback and bridleless, rather than with a saddle and bridle/halter on. So to try and eliminate the problem I saddled her and rode her with just the string without anything on her head, and we were able to walk, trot and canter without any problems and she felt the same as she done bareback. So Eddy suggested trying her with the halter on and tie the rope into reins, but still just ride her from the string. So I done this, and to start with I felt she was maybe a little more impulsive, but thought it was maybe also just in my head.. But the test was when I came to jumping, it took three attempts to get her to jump the jump and even when she jumped it really wasn’t a nice jump. But as I didn’t jump her with the saddle and just the string, I didn’t know if having the halter on was the problem, well the only way to find out is to take the halter off again. So this is what I done, and guess what she jumped the jump first time without any hesitation and really jumped it well.
So I think I will need to work with all this again and find out id having something on her head is really the problem or was it just something today..
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wednesday 11th February
Today Eddy’s niece was coming to play with Smarty again so while I was waiting for her to arrive I decided to give played with both the ponies a go. Today this went much better than it ever has done when I have tried this before, we started with playing friendly game and they both stood realy well nice and relaxed. We the played yo yo game, they didn’t both go back at the same speed but they both went backwards and I was able to draw them both to me at trot! We then played circling game and this went better than the last tome we tried, I was able to have them both trotting on a circle and even over a jump. But what I did find was Smarty wouldn’t go first on the circle he had to be the one following, I found this out after we managed to do a lovely change of direction. Lastly we played with sideways, this went so well and Eddy even commented how well it went!
Daisy then arrived and took over playing with Smarty for me, so today with Blossom we played with:
1.Circling game still working on getting them really soft and her looking in onto the circle
2. Sideways to obstacles
3. Sideways towards me, this went much better today I am still playing with it against the wall but we are now able to do a few steps towards me from a very low phase.
4. Sideways over a block - I have tried to do this a few times with her before but I always thought she was unconfident so therefore didn’t push her and just left the task. But what I have found out in the last couple of weeks from what Eddy has done with her or what he has told me to do with her is she actually is being dominant more than scared so therefore I need to use more pressure to get the response I want. So today I decided to try using more pressure on her and go through my phases until she did yield sideways or even make a slight try as what she has done previously has either not moved or moved away from the block. So it took quite a lot of time today to do this task but in the end putting the extra pressure on her seemed to work and once she worked out all I wanted her to do was to go sideways over the block, she done it with ease. So I will continue to play with this to really make sure she is confident and then we can start playing with this with other objects.
I then mounted bareback and rode with just the string, today we played with circles and the figure of eight pattern. She was going really well today so I thought I would see if I was able to jump her like this, there was a very small jump set up so we decided to give that a go. It went so much better than I expected it too,!! She managed to stayed calm and relaxed and trotted nicely to the jump, done a lovely jump and once landed she done a few strides of canter but then stopped as soon as I asked her. I was so happy! So after doing this a few times in each direction I finished as I didn’t want to risk making her impulsive, so we finished by spending some undemanding time together.
Daisy then arrived and took over playing with Smarty for me, so today with Blossom we played with:
1.Circling game still working on getting them really soft and her looking in onto the circle
2. Sideways to obstacles
3. Sideways towards me, this went much better today I am still playing with it against the wall but we are now able to do a few steps towards me from a very low phase.
4. Sideways over a block - I have tried to do this a few times with her before but I always thought she was unconfident so therefore didn’t push her and just left the task. But what I have found out in the last couple of weeks from what Eddy has done with her or what he has told me to do with her is she actually is being dominant more than scared so therefore I need to use more pressure to get the response I want. So today I decided to try using more pressure on her and go through my phases until she did yield sideways or even make a slight try as what she has done previously has either not moved or moved away from the block. So it took quite a lot of time today to do this task but in the end putting the extra pressure on her seemed to work and once she worked out all I wanted her to do was to go sideways over the block, she done it with ease. So I will continue to play with this to really make sure she is confident and then we can start playing with this with other objects.
I then mounted bareback and rode with just the string, today we played with circles and the figure of eight pattern. She was going really well today so I thought I would see if I was able to jump her like this, there was a very small jump set up so we decided to give that a go. It went so much better than I expected it too,!! She managed to stayed calm and relaxed and trotted nicely to the jump, done a lovely jump and once landed she done a few strides of canter but then stopped as soon as I asked her. I was so happy! So after doing this a few times in each direction I finished as I didn’t want to risk making her impulsive, so we finished by spending some undemanding time together.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday 10th February
Today it was really cold, wet and windy - so after lunch me and Corine went home for a few hours and watched a film as it was just too cold to be outside all day.
When we got back I turned the ponies loose in arena to get all their extra energy out of them but they didn’t really have that much today. Blossom then caught me well and I played a little with her to get her focus on me and her energy tuned in to mine. Then saddled her and we went and giot Smarty to catch us which he done quite well. I then mounted Blossom and led Smarty, but it really didn’t go very well. Smarty didn’t want to lead and when he did come up the side of Blossom, she would then try and bite him. We managed a few laps of the arena but it just wasn’t going very well, so I decided to swap and ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
This went so much better and we really had a nice session with two very LB relaxed ponies, so I think it was a good decision to change. So I think I will get Smarty more used to being lead from one of the ponies at home, and then I will try him again with Blossom.
When we got back I turned the ponies loose in arena to get all their extra energy out of them but they didn’t really have that much today. Blossom then caught me well and I played a little with her to get her focus on me and her energy tuned in to mine. Then saddled her and we went and giot Smarty to catch us which he done quite well. I then mounted Blossom and led Smarty, but it really didn’t go very well. Smarty didn’t want to lead and when he did come up the side of Blossom, she would then try and bite him. We managed a few laps of the arena but it just wasn’t going very well, so I decided to swap and ride Smarty and lead Blossom.
This went so much better and we really had a nice session with two very LB relaxed ponies, so I think it was a good decision to change. So I think I will get Smarty more used to being lead from one of the ponies at home, and then I will try him again with Blossom.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday 9th February
Today I had to take my car to the garage as it has been making funny noises over the last couple of weeks and it got to the stage that even with the radio turned up I could still here the noises so I thought I should really get it checked. Well it turns out I have managed to brake three of the springs on my suspension and the garage said it was quite serious and wouldn’t have recommended me driving it from the garage before it was fixed!!
So today my play session was quite short but we did so some really nice things, we played with:
1. Circles working on transitions getting the stop and back up better
2. Change of direction, starting to ask for this in canter with a simple change
3. Sideways to obstacles
4. Sideways towards me, getting a few steps both sides now.
5. Backwards from her tail
I then mounted bareback and done a passenger lesson in walk around the arena and the moved onto following the rail in walk working on our lateral flexion getting her really soft. I finished with just spending some undemanding time sitting on her.
So today my play session was quite short but we did so some really nice things, we played with:
1. Circles working on transitions getting the stop and back up better
2. Change of direction, starting to ask for this in canter with a simple change
3. Sideways to obstacles
4. Sideways towards me, getting a few steps both sides now.
5. Backwards from her tail
I then mounted bareback and done a passenger lesson in walk around the arena and the moved onto following the rail in walk working on our lateral flexion getting her really soft. I finished with just spending some undemanding time sitting on her.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunday 8th February
Today was the second day of the level 3 course, this morning we went over everything we done yesterday and then moved on to talking about bits. We discussed what other Parelli instructors have been taught by dressage trainer Phillippe Karl, so this was very interesting as we also discussed which bit is better for the exercises we were going to use - the snaffle or the cradle??
The exercise we played with the bits were tio help the horses become more confident and relaxed with the bit. Blossom really seemed to like these exercises and done them really well, she is now really happy with a bit in her mouth. I have really noticed a difference with her attitude towards the bit over the last couple of weeks. The first time Eddy put the cradle bridle on her for me, she wouldn’t open her mouth for him. But now she is opening her mouth looking for the bit so it is really good to see such a positive change in her.
I then got Eddy to show me how to teach Blossom to come sideways towards me, so we played around with this and we were starting to get a couple of steps towards me (still using the wall) but I have so happy with this.
This afternoon I played with all the new stuff I have learnt over the last two days and then saddled her, but today she wasn’t as calm and relaxed as she has been lately. But the good thing was she was nothing compared to how she was when I first arrived here. So I spoke to Eddy about this and we worked out the only thing I had done different today than I have been doing with her over the last couple of weeks (well except the new stuff we have learnt) is I didn’t ride her bareback and brideless first… So was this the reason she was more impulsive? So Eddy suggested I try riding bareback and see if she was as impulsive with me bareback as she was with the saddle. But again this just didn’t feel as good as it normally does and I just didn’t feel that I was in harmony with her or being very fluid. So I told Eddy this and we thought maybe this was the reason then that the ride wasn’t going as well as it has done. So because of this I decided to finish riding, before everything really went bad, so I let her loose in the arena for a roll. After her roll she got up and started bucking and galloping around the arena for about 10 minutes, so maybe my riding wasn’t just the problem today I think Blossom also had a lot of extra energy she had to get out and that was why she was more impulsive to ride than normal.
The exercise we played with the bits were tio help the horses become more confident and relaxed with the bit. Blossom really seemed to like these exercises and done them really well, she is now really happy with a bit in her mouth. I have really noticed a difference with her attitude towards the bit over the last couple of weeks. The first time Eddy put the cradle bridle on her for me, she wouldn’t open her mouth for him. But now she is opening her mouth looking for the bit so it is really good to see such a positive change in her.
I then got Eddy to show me how to teach Blossom to come sideways towards me, so we played around with this and we were starting to get a couple of steps towards me (still using the wall) but I have so happy with this.
This afternoon I played with all the new stuff I have learnt over the last two days and then saddled her, but today she wasn’t as calm and relaxed as she has been lately. But the good thing was she was nothing compared to how she was when I first arrived here. So I spoke to Eddy about this and we worked out the only thing I had done different today than I have been doing with her over the last couple of weeks (well except the new stuff we have learnt) is I didn’t ride her bareback and brideless first… So was this the reason she was more impulsive? So Eddy suggested I try riding bareback and see if she was as impulsive with me bareback as she was with the saddle. But again this just didn’t feel as good as it normally does and I just didn’t feel that I was in harmony with her or being very fluid. So I told Eddy this and we thought maybe this was the reason then that the ride wasn’t going as well as it has done. So because of this I decided to finish riding, before everything really went bad, so I let her loose in the arena for a roll. After her roll she got up and started bucking and galloping around the arena for about 10 minutes, so maybe my riding wasn’t just the problem today I think Blossom also had a lot of extra energy she had to get out and that was why she was more impulsive to ride than normal.
Saturday 7th January
Today there was a level 3 course and I got to join in with Blossom - this morning was all about lateral moves. We started on line and played with shoulder in on the circle and shoulder in against the wall, Blossom was really good and worked out very quickly what I was asking her to do. So the morning was really spent playing with this.
The afternoon we played with what we learnt this morning and then we saddled and played with shoulder in while riding. To start with I had a few problems getting Blossom to do shoulder in while I was riding, so Eddy came and helped me and the main problem was I wasn’t putting enough pressure on her to cause her to move. So that was quite interesting as I am now finding I am having to use a lot more pressure on Blossom than I ever have done, I am still far to soft on her a lot of the time.
I haven’t really wrote much about today as I think I am still processing a lot of the things we learned today as most of it was new to me.
The afternoon we played with what we learnt this morning and then we saddled and played with shoulder in while riding. To start with I had a few problems getting Blossom to do shoulder in while I was riding, so Eddy came and helped me and the main problem was I wasn’t putting enough pressure on her to cause her to move. So that was quite interesting as I am now finding I am having to use a lot more pressure on Blossom than I ever have done, I am still far to soft on her a lot of the time.
I haven’t really wrote much about today as I think I am still processing a lot of the things we learned today as most of it was new to me.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday 6th February
Today with Blossom I started playing with her online, but I just didn’t have much imagination of what to do today. So instead I played with some stick to me and liberty and then mounted bareback, and started with a passenger lesson at walk around the arena. I then played with sideways with the two CS, and today it went very well. We then played with circling around blocks the I had placed around the arena and this went well, she was very calm and relaxed.
I then noticed her breathing was quite heavy and we hadn’t done that much work for her to be like that, so I took her outside and let her graze for about 15 minutes to see if her breathing would come back to normal. But it didn’t really improve very much so I decided just to let her rest for the rest of the afternoon.
I then rode Smarty and we started with working on getting him softer as he still leans and just has so much energy just now! We then started working on canter lead changes using the bow tie pattern and this was going quite well.
But then I had to stop as the vet was here for one of Eddy’s horses as he cut his leg and had time to micro chip the ponies while he was here. (As I need to have them micro chipped to get the export papers done to get home) But it turned out Blossom actually already has a chip (I was sure she did have) but there is no record of this is her passport, strange!! So while the vet was checking Blossom to see if she had a chip, I got him to check her breathing seen has he was here. He thinks she has a very mild case of COPD. But it could also be because of the dust in the hay, as this is the first time she has shown any signs.. So I am just to keep an eye on her over the next few days and see how she is and if she isn’t any better I can go and get some medication for her - but it is nothing serious or anything I should worry about so this made me feel better and I am glad I got her checked just to be on the safe side.
Eddy then said he would come and look at my lead changes to see if I was doing it ok, and he says I now have the idea and I am fine I just need to get Smarty to bend a little better and stop bracing against me. But by the end of playing with this Smarty was so much better and wasn’t fighting me and was much softer. So it will be interesting to see how I get on with playing with this with Blossom now that I understand what I am to do.
I then noticed her breathing was quite heavy and we hadn’t done that much work for her to be like that, so I took her outside and let her graze for about 15 minutes to see if her breathing would come back to normal. But it didn’t really improve very much so I decided just to let her rest for the rest of the afternoon.
I then rode Smarty and we started with working on getting him softer as he still leans and just has so much energy just now! We then started working on canter lead changes using the bow tie pattern and this was going quite well.
But then I had to stop as the vet was here for one of Eddy’s horses as he cut his leg and had time to micro chip the ponies while he was here. (As I need to have them micro chipped to get the export papers done to get home) But it turned out Blossom actually already has a chip (I was sure she did have) but there is no record of this is her passport, strange!! So while the vet was checking Blossom to see if she had a chip, I got him to check her breathing seen has he was here. He thinks she has a very mild case of COPD. But it could also be because of the dust in the hay, as this is the first time she has shown any signs.. So I am just to keep an eye on her over the next few days and see how she is and if she isn’t any better I can go and get some medication for her - but it is nothing serious or anything I should worry about so this made me feel better and I am glad I got her checked just to be on the safe side.
Eddy then said he would come and look at my lead changes to see if I was doing it ok, and he says I now have the idea and I am fine I just need to get Smarty to bend a little better and stop bracing against me. But by the end of playing with this Smarty was so much better and wasn’t fighting me and was much softer. So it will be interesting to see how I get on with playing with this with Blossom now that I understand what I am to do.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday 5th February
Today I started with playing with Smarty, the sprinkler was still in the arena when I went in so I just turned Smarty loose while I put it away. So this then ended in us playing the catching game as he didn’t get any play yesterday he was full of energy today and was galloping from one end of the arena to the next! Once he was standing still I slowly approached him and just sat on a block a few metres from him as I could feel me getting any closer was too much pressure for him, and would you believe after about a minute he walked up to me and just stood with me. I then haltered him and then just sat back down and we just spent another few minutes spending some undemanding time together.
We started our play session with playing with the tarp, he was happy to walk over it in both directions and also to stand on it with all four feet - so I was really happy with him. But then I tried to rub him with the tarp and try and out it over his body. But what I found from doing this is I have to be very careful how I read how Smarty is feeling as to start with he let me rub him on the shoulders and withers and then put it over his back and he was standing there. So to start with I thought to myself well that was easy until I took a closer look at him and noticed he wasn’t LB and relaxed, he had went really introverted and was just frozen to the spot! Once I realised this I took the tarp of him and started again, this time using far more approach and retreat - but what was really interesting was this time he wasn’t keen to let me touch him anywhere with it. So we spent a lot of time just walking around the arena with me dragging the tarp and him following and this did seem to help his confidence. After a lot of play with the tarp I was able to rub him more easily with the tarp and also put it over his back and this time there was much more licking and chewing going on, so I must have done things better the second time round and read him a lot better.
The rest of our session we played with change of direction and also transitions, which went quite well. Still need a little more work t make everything softer, and to have him a little more relaxed.
Today with Blossom I started online and we played with:
1. Circles, getting them softer and her focus on me
2. Change of direction in trot and canter
3. Transitions
4. Sideways to obstacles
5. Trot sideways
6. Squeeze game over a jump
7. Jump towards me and then back up to the jump.
I then mounted her bareback and worked on some two CS riding, we started with riding circles around the blocks in walk and trot and then moved on to a figure of eight pattern again in walk and trot. I then played with sideways to one block to the other, I didn’t think I would have been able to do this with only two CS. But much to my surprise we were able to do this without any problems, I was really happy with this!!
I then saddled and today I used my own saddle which I haven’t used since Eddy rode Blossom as I was scared to use my own saddle again incase that was what was making her impulsive. Well I shouldn’t have bothered worrying as there is nothing wrong with my saddle and Blossom was just as good to ride as she is in the balance saddle and I also felt I was able to ride her just aswell in my own saddle as I do in the balance.
Today we started with playing with all the things we done bareback and everything went well. I then spoke to Eddy about my canter lead changes, only to find out the task isn’t really to do with the lead changes it is more to do with the bend, disengage and then how you position yourself for the horse to pick up the correct lead. So Eddy showed me what I had to do, so I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with this using the bow tie pattern. So I will continue to play with this and Eddy says he will film this for me in a few days so I can watch it.
We started our play session with playing with the tarp, he was happy to walk over it in both directions and also to stand on it with all four feet - so I was really happy with him. But then I tried to rub him with the tarp and try and out it over his body. But what I found from doing this is I have to be very careful how I read how Smarty is feeling as to start with he let me rub him on the shoulders and withers and then put it over his back and he was standing there. So to start with I thought to myself well that was easy until I took a closer look at him and noticed he wasn’t LB and relaxed, he had went really introverted and was just frozen to the spot! Once I realised this I took the tarp of him and started again, this time using far more approach and retreat - but what was really interesting was this time he wasn’t keen to let me touch him anywhere with it. So we spent a lot of time just walking around the arena with me dragging the tarp and him following and this did seem to help his confidence. After a lot of play with the tarp I was able to rub him more easily with the tarp and also put it over his back and this time there was much more licking and chewing going on, so I must have done things better the second time round and read him a lot better.
The rest of our session we played with change of direction and also transitions, which went quite well. Still need a little more work t make everything softer, and to have him a little more relaxed.
Today with Blossom I started online and we played with:
1. Circles, getting them softer and her focus on me
2. Change of direction in trot and canter
3. Transitions
4. Sideways to obstacles
5. Trot sideways
6. Squeeze game over a jump
7. Jump towards me and then back up to the jump.
I then mounted her bareback and worked on some two CS riding, we started with riding circles around the blocks in walk and trot and then moved on to a figure of eight pattern again in walk and trot. I then played with sideways to one block to the other, I didn’t think I would have been able to do this with only two CS. But much to my surprise we were able to do this without any problems, I was really happy with this!!
I then saddled and today I used my own saddle which I haven’t used since Eddy rode Blossom as I was scared to use my own saddle again incase that was what was making her impulsive. Well I shouldn’t have bothered worrying as there is nothing wrong with my saddle and Blossom was just as good to ride as she is in the balance saddle and I also felt I was able to ride her just aswell in my own saddle as I do in the balance.
Today we started with playing with all the things we done bareback and everything went well. I then spoke to Eddy about my canter lead changes, only to find out the task isn’t really to do with the lead changes it is more to do with the bend, disengage and then how you position yourself for the horse to pick up the correct lead. So Eddy showed me what I had to do, so I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with this using the bow tie pattern. So I will continue to play with this and Eddy says he will film this for me in a few days so I can watch it.
Wednesday 4th February
Today we went to the beach!! W have been planning to go for a while but the weather has never been good enough, so today it was cold but it was dry so we decided to go. When we first thought about going to the beach I decided I would take Smarty as I know I would be able to ride him along the beach and have some fun with him, but today after talking to Eddy about which pony I should take he thought it would be better for me to take Blossom. As the way he sees it is Blossom is the one I need help with, so it would be good to take her somewhere new and if I had any problems he would be there to help me.
Well the start didn’t go to well as Blossom didn’t want to load, she will canter into the trailer when it is in the arena and sometimes I spend a lot of our play session trying to keep her out of the trailer. But as soon as you park it outside and she knows we are going somewhere she doesn’t want to go in, how strange!! Eddy ended up loading her for me and this was interesting to watch as he was very firm with her and really did go through his phases with her. I always feel now that if she doesn’t want to load it is because she is scared when Eddy says she is now being more dominant about not going in because she doesn’t want to leave her friends. Interesting, think I need to remember to always read the horse that shows up on the day, instead of just assuming she is scared/dominant because that is how she used to be
Our ride on the beach went really well, we all started with playing on line to get our horses warmed up and their focus on us and once we felt ready we could then mount up. Once mounted I started with riding circles as this is a pattern Blossom now knows and relaxes on, it was really good doing this on the beach as you could see where you have ridden so you could see if you were actually riding a circle and if you were able to stay on that circle without making it bigger or smaller. We played with this for quite a bit in walk, trot and canter, and she was really good and very relaxed.
Once everyone had been riding for a while and all the horses where safe and relaxed we all went for a walk along the beach. Blossom was calm and relaxed all the way along and we even went paddling in some water. But once we turned round and headed back she got a little more excited and to save me from having to fight her, I was to put her behind Eddy’s horse and all I was to do was to steer her so she stayed right behind and Eddy used is CS to keep Blossom out his horses space. It was interesting as doing this it then made it Blossom responsibility to stay behind or she was therefore running into the pressure of the CS herself.
Overall it was a really good day and Blossom getting a little impulsive at the end wasn’t really that bad, and was actually still quite controlled impulsiveness for Blossom. But what I did also find really interesting is that Eddy’s horse also became impulsive at points, I didn’t expect this as I have only ever see him in the arena and he is always so well behaved. So when Eddy’s horse did get impulsive I watched to see what Eddy done to relax him again and most of the time he used strategies he has already shown me to use on Blossom and he also put his horse behind Marieke’s horse and done the same exercise as I had done with him. So a really good day!!
Well the start didn’t go to well as Blossom didn’t want to load, she will canter into the trailer when it is in the arena and sometimes I spend a lot of our play session trying to keep her out of the trailer. But as soon as you park it outside and she knows we are going somewhere she doesn’t want to go in, how strange!! Eddy ended up loading her for me and this was interesting to watch as he was very firm with her and really did go through his phases with her. I always feel now that if she doesn’t want to load it is because she is scared when Eddy says she is now being more dominant about not going in because she doesn’t want to leave her friends. Interesting, think I need to remember to always read the horse that shows up on the day, instead of just assuming she is scared/dominant because that is how she used to be
Our ride on the beach went really well, we all started with playing on line to get our horses warmed up and their focus on us and once we felt ready we could then mount up. Once mounted I started with riding circles as this is a pattern Blossom now knows and relaxes on, it was really good doing this on the beach as you could see where you have ridden so you could see if you were actually riding a circle and if you were able to stay on that circle without making it bigger or smaller. We played with this for quite a bit in walk, trot and canter, and she was really good and very relaxed.
Once everyone had been riding for a while and all the horses where safe and relaxed we all went for a walk along the beach. Blossom was calm and relaxed all the way along and we even went paddling in some water. But once we turned round and headed back she got a little more excited and to save me from having to fight her, I was to put her behind Eddy’s horse and all I was to do was to steer her so she stayed right behind and Eddy used is CS to keep Blossom out his horses space. It was interesting as doing this it then made it Blossom responsibility to stay behind or she was therefore running into the pressure of the CS herself.
Overall it was a really good day and Blossom getting a little impulsive at the end wasn’t really that bad, and was actually still quite controlled impulsiveness for Blossom. But what I did also find really interesting is that Eddy’s horse also became impulsive at points, I didn’t expect this as I have only ever see him in the arena and he is always so well behaved. So when Eddy’s horse did get impulsive I watched to see what Eddy done to relax him again and most of the time he used strategies he has already shown me to use on Blossom and he also put his horse behind Marieke’s horse and done the same exercise as I had done with him. So a really good day!!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tuesday 3rd February
Today I started with Smarty and we had a quick warm up and then I mounted. Today’s session was mainly about getting him soft when I am riding as he still tends to lean on me and look out of the circle. So today I used the strategies Eddy used on Blossom to teach her to be soft, and these really worked well on Smarty too.
We actually had a really nice ride and he is now starting to become softer and more relaxed, so therefore listening to me a lot better.
Today with Blossom I played online to warm her up and get her focus on me, we mainly played with circles as we are still working on getting these softer but they are now getting so much better. We also played with backwards, backwards into the trailer and sideways - everything was going really well so we went into the round pen to play at liberty.
Today all seven games at liberty went really well and we even managed to do a change of direction, which I was very impressed about! I then mounted her and rode her in the round pen with just the string on, she was so good today! We were able to do walk, trot and canter, and today the canter was really calm and relaxed so I was really happy about this. With everything going so well I finished on that so I didn’t spoil it for the day!!
We actually had a really nice ride and he is now starting to become softer and more relaxed, so therefore listening to me a lot better.
Today with Blossom I played online to warm her up and get her focus on me, we mainly played with circles as we are still working on getting these softer but they are now getting so much better. We also played with backwards, backwards into the trailer and sideways - everything was going really well so we went into the round pen to play at liberty.
Today all seven games at liberty went really well and we even managed to do a change of direction, which I was very impressed about! I then mounted her and rode her in the round pen with just the string on, she was so good today! We were able to do walk, trot and canter, and today the canter was really calm and relaxed so I was really happy about this. With everything going so well I finished on that so I didn’t spoil it for the day!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday 2nd February
Well today the weather was simply horrible, I think one of the worst days since I have been here!! It was well below freezing, snowing quite heavy and we had the dreaded wind. Because of the wind the snow was being blown into the arena and even into the stables, nowhere seem to be sheltered.
So I thought I would just give myself the afternoon at home and then I came back to finish of and settle the ponies for the night. So no play today as it just wouldn’t have been fun for me or the ponies, but hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow and we can have a good play session then.
So I thought I would just give myself the afternoon at home and then I came back to finish of and settle the ponies for the night. So no play today as it just wouldn’t have been fun for me or the ponies, but hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow and we can have a good play session then.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Sunday 1st February
Today we had an hour in the morning to play with our horses as we had a couple of girls from the local school come for work experience and they helped us with the mucking out and all the other chores so we were finished a little earlier than normal.
So I decided to play with Smarty, I started with doing lots of driving from 3 and 4 to objects. This really seems to be building his self confidence up as at the start he was always really worried to walk first.
I then played with circling game and today I worked on getting the circles softer and also worked on change of direction again. Today the changes were much better than they were yesterday and he was more focused on me from the start, so this was really good.
We finished with him standing on the pedestal and today he offered to put one of his back feet on, I was very impressed and then he walked over letting both back feet touch!
Today with Blossom I started on line and started with just warming up and getting her focus on me, we then moved on to playing with circling game. To start with we played around with the send, to get this really good so when we come to do it at liberty it will be more clear to her what I expect from her. We then moved on to playing with change of direction, which went very well and we also got some changes in canter too! We then played with transitions and today I played with using the CS to ask for downward transitions, so it will be clearer to Blossom what I want when we play with this at liberty. Just now I am able to do upward transitions and then downward from canter to trot just by lowering my energy, but I can’t get her to come back to walk.. So I thought teaching her to do this with the CS is a good idea.
We then went into then round pen to play a little at liberty today we only played with circling, sideways and squeeze games. Today everything just went so well, we had no problems and she was totally stuck to me and didn’t even think about leaving! I was so impressed with her and I think all the preparation over the last couple of days playing with the string round her neck has really paid off.
I then jumped on her with the intention of riding circles round the block, but instead I ended up just sitting on her for about half and hour watching others playing. This was great for Blossom for me to get on her a just do nothing, but for me it wasn’t so good as it was freezing today!!
When I eventually managed to get myself of her I decided to saddle her and ride her to warm both of us up. Today we played with the same pattern as yesterday and everything went really well, and again she was calm and relaxed. Eddy even commented how nice the canter was!! So we finished with again me just sitting on her spending some undemanding time with her, during this she done lots of licking and chewing and even yawned a few times.
So I decided to play with Smarty, I started with doing lots of driving from 3 and 4 to objects. This really seems to be building his self confidence up as at the start he was always really worried to walk first.
I then played with circling game and today I worked on getting the circles softer and also worked on change of direction again. Today the changes were much better than they were yesterday and he was more focused on me from the start, so this was really good.
We finished with him standing on the pedestal and today he offered to put one of his back feet on, I was very impressed and then he walked over letting both back feet touch!
Today with Blossom I started on line and started with just warming up and getting her focus on me, we then moved on to playing with circling game. To start with we played around with the send, to get this really good so when we come to do it at liberty it will be more clear to her what I expect from her. We then moved on to playing with change of direction, which went very well and we also got some changes in canter too! We then played with transitions and today I played with using the CS to ask for downward transitions, so it will be clearer to Blossom what I want when we play with this at liberty. Just now I am able to do upward transitions and then downward from canter to trot just by lowering my energy, but I can’t get her to come back to walk.. So I thought teaching her to do this with the CS is a good idea.
We then went into then round pen to play a little at liberty today we only played with circling, sideways and squeeze games. Today everything just went so well, we had no problems and she was totally stuck to me and didn’t even think about leaving! I was so impressed with her and I think all the preparation over the last couple of days playing with the string round her neck has really paid off.
I then jumped on her with the intention of riding circles round the block, but instead I ended up just sitting on her for about half and hour watching others playing. This was great for Blossom for me to get on her a just do nothing, but for me it wasn’t so good as it was freezing today!!
When I eventually managed to get myself of her I decided to saddle her and ride her to warm both of us up. Today we played with the same pattern as yesterday and everything went really well, and again she was calm and relaxed. Eddy even commented how nice the canter was!! So we finished with again me just sitting on her spending some undemanding time with her, during this she done lots of licking and chewing and even yawned a few times.
Saturday 31st January
Today with Blossom I played a little online to get her focus on me and then we moved on to playing at liberty in the round pen. But today there was a couple of men chopping down a tree just outside the arena and the noise of this was worrying Blossom a little, so I though it would be a good idea to have the string around her neck and the rope attached to this so I still had a little control over her if she got really worried.
Today I didn’t want to go through all seven games again with her as the first 4 are really good, so I don’t ant to bore her by doing them all every time we go in the round pen. So today we just worked on the send in the circling game, as again today she only wanted to go the the right and trying to get her to go to the left was sometimes difficult. So I tried to brake the game down by starting with just asking her to go backwards and then come back to me, the next time I might send her on a circle but then very quickly disengage her and bring her back. I played around with this for quite a while and this really got her attention on me as she never knew what I was going to do next and in the end I was able to end her in either direction without any problems at liberty. So I think I will continue to do this over the next few days and try and make a positive pattern from it. We also played with squeeze game and today was much better than yesterday, so I was really happy about that.
I then saddled, again with the balance saddle and today again she was lovely to ride!! Today we played with circling around blocks, moving from one block to the other by going sideways. We also played with the figure of eight pattern, doing circles around each block before going back to the other.
We then played with cantering in circles around the blocks and she was really good and very soft and relaxed. So seen as everything was going so well I decided to give my simple lead changes a go, I thought it would be better for me and Blossom if we done it on a figure of eight pattern as we both know this really well. So to prepare us for it I done the pattern again in trot and asked her to stop in the middle of the two blocks as this is where I would like to come back to trot before picking up the new canter lead. This went really well, so we done it in canter and this went much better than I expected it too and we were able to canter come back to trot and the pick up canter in the other direction without any problems and the most important part was she stayed calm through the whole thing. So I finished on that for the day, seen as she had done so well.
Today with Smarty my main focus was playing with change of direction on the circle, to start with he was really running through the pressure. So I put myself against the wall, so if he didn’t yield to the pressure he would hit the wall. He soon worked out what I was asking of him and really focused on me and was waiting for what he was going to be asked to do next.
I then decided to give liberty a go as we haven’t done any yet and I wasn’t sure if he would stay with me or leave - well only one way to find out!!
I went into the round pen and took his halter off and started playing friendly game to start with and then we played stick to me only in walk, stand and back up. This went well for our first time, and he didn’t think about leaving. So I thought I would give the seven games a go and see what happened. Well we only managed to do porcupine which went very well, but then the guys started chopping down the trees again and this really spooked Smarty and he left. But much to my surprise he came back to me very quickly, so I played some friendly game with him and then put his halter back on as with the noise of the trees fallen was really loud. So I didn’t think this would be the best time to test my liberty skills with him, but I was really happy with what I was able to do with him it was far more than I thought we would be able to do!!
Today I didn’t want to go through all seven games again with her as the first 4 are really good, so I don’t ant to bore her by doing them all every time we go in the round pen. So today we just worked on the send in the circling game, as again today she only wanted to go the the right and trying to get her to go to the left was sometimes difficult. So I tried to brake the game down by starting with just asking her to go backwards and then come back to me, the next time I might send her on a circle but then very quickly disengage her and bring her back. I played around with this for quite a while and this really got her attention on me as she never knew what I was going to do next and in the end I was able to end her in either direction without any problems at liberty. So I think I will continue to do this over the next few days and try and make a positive pattern from it. We also played with squeeze game and today was much better than yesterday, so I was really happy about that.
I then saddled, again with the balance saddle and today again she was lovely to ride!! Today we played with circling around blocks, moving from one block to the other by going sideways. We also played with the figure of eight pattern, doing circles around each block before going back to the other.
We then played with cantering in circles around the blocks and she was really good and very soft and relaxed. So seen as everything was going so well I decided to give my simple lead changes a go, I thought it would be better for me and Blossom if we done it on a figure of eight pattern as we both know this really well. So to prepare us for it I done the pattern again in trot and asked her to stop in the middle of the two blocks as this is where I would like to come back to trot before picking up the new canter lead. This went really well, so we done it in canter and this went much better than I expected it too and we were able to canter come back to trot and the pick up canter in the other direction without any problems and the most important part was she stayed calm through the whole thing. So I finished on that for the day, seen as she had done so well.
Today with Smarty my main focus was playing with change of direction on the circle, to start with he was really running through the pressure. So I put myself against the wall, so if he didn’t yield to the pressure he would hit the wall. He soon worked out what I was asking of him and really focused on me and was waiting for what he was going to be asked to do next.
I then decided to give liberty a go as we haven’t done any yet and I wasn’t sure if he would stay with me or leave - well only one way to find out!!
I went into the round pen and took his halter off and started playing friendly game to start with and then we played stick to me only in walk, stand and back up. This went well for our first time, and he didn’t think about leaving. So I thought I would give the seven games a go and see what happened. Well we only managed to do porcupine which went very well, but then the guys started chopping down the trees again and this really spooked Smarty and he left. But much to my surprise he came back to me very quickly, so I played some friendly game with him and then put his halter back on as with the noise of the trees fallen was really loud. So I didn’t think this would be the best time to test my liberty skills with him, but I was really happy with what I was able to do with him it was far more than I thought we would be able to do!!
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