It's like a bad book where you know the plot 2 chapters into reading it. You think to yourself: "this is stupid, I should totally put this book in that trash can over there and then find something else mindless to waste my time". Instead you read it anyway.. hating yourself afterwards.
That is the mule and I. I know how it ends every single time I let her out of the stall and into the pasture with my boys, but I like pain I guess. At least she's *starting* to warm up to me. Starting. She got out again on Sunday through a hole in the rear of the property that I never fixed because my horses never go back there. (hi run on sentence how are you today?) Veronica does. Veronica does whatever it is Veronica wants. Sunday, she took my boys with her. I've never cried over Memphis before.. but on Sunday, I was a bawling babbling idiot. I was terrified something might have happened to him. I wanted my Memphis home and wanted him home like yesterday.
Fortunately, with the help of some neighbors we found Memphis and the other two knuckleheads and I walked them back home. And with the help of a neighbor we fixed the fence. In fact, I'd never strung fence in my life until Sunday and my sweet neighbor patiently showed my husband and I how to do it. Let's just say with a "trained professional" showing us the right way... the way I thought it out in my head was like way off. Way way off.
Then there was last night. Last night was just frustrating and it wasn't even her fault as it took forever before I could eat dinner. My normal nightly routine is as follows:
1. Come home and let dogs out
2. Walk in the house and put stuff down
3. Pull out the meat I defrosted the night before and place in oven
4. While meat is cooking go outside and take care of the horses
5. Come back in to the meat almost done and cook veggies
6. Pour a glass of wine and eat some dinner
Oops pork I defrosted smelled "off".. I don't do off smelling meat. I should have used the off smelling pork as my omen of what was to come. Throw a bag of crab in the oven with some brussel sprouts as my back up dinner. Put on my hiking boots (I REALLY need muck boots) and a pair of pajama pants. Zip up hoody. Grab key to the shed. Put collars on dogs. Take dog transmitter. Go outside. Everything is going great! Grab a pound of feed, grab a flake of hay, and make my way to the stall.
Until I get to the stall. I can hear Veronica making *squish* noises as she walks. Look down. SHIT. First thought was SHIT. Her stall is a soup of water/mud/shavings/shit/piss that is about 2 ft deep. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?! I put her hay in her hay rack and try to make my way to her grain bucket. Now I'm 2ft in shit water. Cuss words follow as my pajama pants aren't going to make it back after being exposed to that mule soup up past my ankles. Those pants are dead to me now.
I decide to try to get the slurry a out of the stall. The good thing about Veronica is that she shits in the same spot: on the gate. So it tends to pile up right there. Normally, this makes it easy for me to clean as I just have to roll it down the hill, but last night it mixed with the water and made a mini dam. So I grab the shovel that I leave up against the stall for cleaning out and start removing her "dam" thinking it would allow the soup to flow out of the stall. Crap. Literally. Not working. I decide to shovel the soup out, no that doesn't work either because its too soupy. Ok, I will just scrape it out. Ha! It works! I scrape the area in front of the gate.
Great! Look over to where her grain goes. Shit. Need to do it again on this side. I start scraping the soup mix over to the spot I just scraped out and then have to scrape that mix out the gate again. Woo its working.
Shit. Now I have to get the far corner. Start scraping that corner to the place in the middle I just scraped to the gate side and scrape it out the gate. Wooo. Now Veronica can stand in mud instead of slop. Then it starts to rain again and I figure out a gutter is backed up and water is coming back in.
Veronica cannot stand in this. That is a recipe for thrush. How to make thrush:
Have a horse stand in wet conditions.
That's an easy recipe. I mean there are probably other recipes for it out there, but at the moment I have this one to work with. I text my neighbor. I walk Veronica to his house and put her in the paddock.
My neighbor, bless his heart, once again has my mule at his house.
I have lost a pair of pajama pants. I learned not to touch my face when working with mule soup. My hiking boots are never going to be the same. (again I need muck boots)
But damnit, Veronica is at least not standing in 2 ft of nasty.
PS: I fixed the gutter downspout
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Comical Mule is Comical....
I brought Veronica home on Saturday after about an hour of working to catch her. Turns out I just needed to act like I was leaving or something and she suddenly wanted to be caught. Go figure. Did you know that mules generally get attached to their people pretty easily? Yeah she's sort of attached to my neighbor.. I digress.
Her home for the next two weeks is a 18 foot by 6ish foot stall. I need her to set her little brain to this is home, or at least hopefully set it to that. If she really does is another matter, but for the time being it sounds good to me. The front of the stall that is the door is a standard livestock gate. I have hung her food bucket here. To the left of that gate are carriage bolts that hold the gate on and I have her 5 gallon water bucket hanging there. The hay holder is on the back wall opposite the gate. Now that you know the layout of the stall, we can talk about my mornings that are starting to evolve.
Veronica now is getting used to the feeding schedule, which is in the morning and at night. Since she has no forage at the moment she is getting a little less than 2lbs of grain twice a day and 3 flakes of hay. That should be more than plenty for a equine her size. She now slightly nickers? not sure what I would call the noises she makes when she hears me coming, but she gets EXCITED.
Let me tell you who else is excited about what is going on... Butters. My fat pony. He has figured out in the mornings the feeding routine and generally waits by his food bucket at 6:30am nickering away at his displeasure that his life is confined by this stupid fence that doesn't allow him uninhibited access to the grain he desires. Since Veronica has appeared he has quickly figured out that she gets grained before him. How dare I. Seriously, how dare I not feed him first.
So now he waits by her stall door in the mornings. Seriously, it took his fat butt 1 day to figure out that he needs to be in front of her stall instead of his bucket. Here is where the comedy is coming into play... he tries to get in the stall with me in the mornings. The stall that already contains 1 mule. Why? In Butters mind, the tragedy of me not feeding him first can be fixed if he gets in the stall with me to eat Veronica's feed. My morning routine is like a horrible comedy. "Butters get back" "Butters I swear to God" "Butters this isn't your feed" "Butters that's ENOUGH"
This morning I carried down the hill the 5 gallons of water, the feed, and 1.5 flakes of hay. I put the water bucket down to unlatch her gate being careful that she doesn't ram the gate open when I do in her excitement of food. All the while I have Butters standing just outside of my range of smacking with my hand nickering at me. I enter the stall, Veronica is EXCITED. Like pacing OMG ITS BREAKFAST TIME! I set the water bucket down right in front of the gate, still holding the grain, turn around to put her hay in the holder, and Veronica knocks over the 5 gallons of water all in her stall. She then takes off in a panic at the bucket issue. So much for "mules don't run from danger"
I'm pissed she spilled the bucket and at the same time trying to figure out if she's going to kick while I'm in a confined spot. Then there is Butters. Sweet Butters. Who is now pushing on the gate door, Veronica is coming back to the feed bucket, and Butters is trying to shove his fat head in-between the bars of the gate to get to her feed. Veronica bites Butters, Butters squeals in protest, I drive off Veronica so I can put the feed in the bucket and exit the stall.
Butters is now in my face. Breathing like a fat guy that just walked up a flight of stairs and sighs like "well?" Yes, Butters, go to your feed bucket. I will feed you now. Here have your .5lbs of grain and water slush. Jerk.
Her home for the next two weeks is a 18 foot by 6ish foot stall. I need her to set her little brain to this is home, or at least hopefully set it to that. If she really does is another matter, but for the time being it sounds good to me. The front of the stall that is the door is a standard livestock gate. I have hung her food bucket here. To the left of that gate are carriage bolts that hold the gate on and I have her 5 gallon water bucket hanging there. The hay holder is on the back wall opposite the gate. Now that you know the layout of the stall, we can talk about my mornings that are starting to evolve.
Veronica now is getting used to the feeding schedule, which is in the morning and at night. Since she has no forage at the moment she is getting a little less than 2lbs of grain twice a day and 3 flakes of hay. That should be more than plenty for a equine her size. She now slightly nickers? not sure what I would call the noises she makes when she hears me coming, but she gets EXCITED.
Let me tell you who else is excited about what is going on... Butters. My fat pony. He has figured out in the mornings the feeding routine and generally waits by his food bucket at 6:30am nickering away at his displeasure that his life is confined by this stupid fence that doesn't allow him uninhibited access to the grain he desires. Since Veronica has appeared he has quickly figured out that she gets grained before him. How dare I. Seriously, how dare I not feed him first.
So now he waits by her stall door in the mornings. Seriously, it took his fat butt 1 day to figure out that he needs to be in front of her stall instead of his bucket. Here is where the comedy is coming into play... he tries to get in the stall with me in the mornings. The stall that already contains 1 mule. Why? In Butters mind, the tragedy of me not feeding him first can be fixed if he gets in the stall with me to eat Veronica's feed. My morning routine is like a horrible comedy. "Butters get back" "Butters I swear to God" "Butters this isn't your feed" "Butters that's ENOUGH"
This morning I carried down the hill the 5 gallons of water, the feed, and 1.5 flakes of hay. I put the water bucket down to unlatch her gate being careful that she doesn't ram the gate open when I do in her excitement of food. All the while I have Butters standing just outside of my range of smacking with my hand nickering at me. I enter the stall, Veronica is EXCITED. Like pacing OMG ITS BREAKFAST TIME! I set the water bucket down right in front of the gate, still holding the grain, turn around to put her hay in the holder, and Veronica knocks over the 5 gallons of water all in her stall. She then takes off in a panic at the bucket issue. So much for "mules don't run from danger"
I'm pissed she spilled the bucket and at the same time trying to figure out if she's going to kick while I'm in a confined spot. Then there is Butters. Sweet Butters. Who is now pushing on the gate door, Veronica is coming back to the feed bucket, and Butters is trying to shove his fat head in-between the bars of the gate to get to her feed. Veronica bites Butters, Butters squeals in protest, I drive off Veronica so I can put the feed in the bucket and exit the stall.
Butters is now in my face. Breathing like a fat guy that just walked up a flight of stairs and sighs like "well?" Yes, Butters, go to your feed bucket. I will feed you now. Here have your .5lbs of grain and water slush. Jerk.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Lot's of horsey things yesterday!
My three equines have kept me busy this weekend! I finally started working on the lower stall for Veronica to be moved into. It took me FOREVER to get through that stall. On the outside it just looked like pallets were in it lining the floor, which in reality that is all that was in it. The pallets unfortunately have been there so long that they rotted on the bottoms. This left me with pulling pallets out and half the time the screws/nails stayed in the ground. The time consuming part was pulling the pallet up and then going back through the dirt to find all the screws. Two hours later a 10ft by 4ft stall was finally as clean as I could get it. I only have to make sure the electrical is off (why did they put a line that was accessible to horses in there when they had horses in there I'll never know) and nail flat some nails in the wall and the stall, sans shavings, is ready to go. Butters approved of the stall immediately and stood in it for hours for whatever reason.
Yesterday morning I woke up with the determination to mess with Veronica. I visited her on Thursday night and she was downright nasty at the fence. This is most likely just not bonding with anyone on top of being alone in the pasture. I cut up some apples yesterday morning and then walked down to the house she is at. (my totally awesome neighbor) She was ancy at the gate right off the bat and my only real fear was her rushing through the gate once I got it unlocked. Thankfully, she did not rush the gate and allowed me to enter. I then just walked to the center of the pasture and then stopped and stood there. I sing to my horses and so just sang the first thing that popped in my head: Sesame Street. Took her a while. I never walked towards her, never asked her to come over, never pressured her to do anything.
I did notice that when I first turned her out with my boys she nervously ate grass. Constantly ate it when I had her turned out with the boys. She did the exact same with me, to the point of circling me and eating grass. I just quietly let her continue on until finally she got close enough to smell my boots. She backed off and came back to smell my pants, backed off and came back to smell my hands, and finally smelled my jacket. At that point I reached out to touch her and she let me for a second before moving away. This was not a quick process as she needed to know I wasn't going to rush her or hurt her.
By the end? Breakthrough. She was following me everywhere and I could touch her anywhere. We even did some slight pressure and release exercises (like backing for instance) before I called it quits. She is a super super sweet mule. Hopefully she settles back in with my boys in the next two weeks so I can let her in my pastures.
After working on the stall and in the garage with Joe putting away his car parts I decided, screw it I'm riding. Butters was first up. I had Joe catch him, halter him, and bridle him as Joe really doesn't know how to do most of that stuff. Joe did great! Now, we are going to call this ride Disasters lol. Butters needs to be ridden, we all know that. I and him are both out of shape; as I'm still trying to refind my seat again, while Butters is trying not to be fat. Hindsight I should have ridden just up and down the hill of the front pasture, but noooooooooooooooo I decided to try to go back to the shed which is very uneven terrain. Did I mention I was bareback and I don't 100% have my seat yet?
Butters had my number lol He took me up the side of a hill when I wanted to go down the base of it since it was less steep. Butters was going the normal route him and Memphis use to walk between the pastures, which puts us both on a slight incline. After near fall off, I stayed on and we continued towards the rear shed. All is well. Then back to the pasture we started off in, Butters picked up the pace around another steep incline and boop! Off I went. I was dying laughing and Butters was probably like "Hooray! Stupid human is gone!"
Round two was my neighbor brought over his wide tree saddle. Now, let me preface this with this saddle fits much better than the one I use on Memphis, but I have a tendency to not tighten the girth enough. Ever. I've had people get on me about it, but I just can't over tighten it or get close to that point. Do you see the disaster forming? So I get in and it's actually a really comfy saddle and all is well. Then I ask Butters for more speed.... shit went downhill. The saddle was slipping and I got it back to center and when I turned Butters around it completely slipped. I went off and Butters also went off.. galloping... around the pasture... with the saddle underneath him. Sigh. 2 issues here to point out 1. is the saddle wasn't tight enough 2. Butters is really too fat for a saddle to fit completely correctly.
Joe was like OMG get him! I'm like "He'll stop running, he can't get caught on anything". Took him a few minutes of freak out before he stopped. Slowly went over to him and got the saddle undone. Poor fella was terrified and rightfully so. I gave him a apple and lots and lots of reassurance that it was ok. I think for the time being we are going to stick with the bareback pad. He needs LOTS of saddle time. Lots. The goal now is to just walk up and town the hill. Boring, mundane, and boring. But for him and I this will be good. I'll get my seat back faster and he'll loose some weight. I can also do this at night when its dark since this pasture if clutter, rock, and hole free.
Finally, I got Memphis saddled. I wish I had a crazy story about him... but I don't. He was perfect. Like always. :) I love where he is now in how he's trained. Getting on him is like a sigh of relief. I know when he will freak out, know how he refuses anything, and know what he will do and won't do. LB even took him around with me leading.
Long post, but yesterday was a long day. Hopefully, I can get 2-3 days in this week after work in the dark. I also need to set aside one day just for grooming and that's it. Let them know that catching isn't always going to mean work.
That's all I got here for the day. Don't feel like editing this so deal with it. :D
Yesterday morning I woke up with the determination to mess with Veronica. I visited her on Thursday night and she was downright nasty at the fence. This is most likely just not bonding with anyone on top of being alone in the pasture. I cut up some apples yesterday morning and then walked down to the house she is at. (my totally awesome neighbor) She was ancy at the gate right off the bat and my only real fear was her rushing through the gate once I got it unlocked. Thankfully, she did not rush the gate and allowed me to enter. I then just walked to the center of the pasture and then stopped and stood there. I sing to my horses and so just sang the first thing that popped in my head: Sesame Street. Took her a while. I never walked towards her, never asked her to come over, never pressured her to do anything.
I did notice that when I first turned her out with my boys she nervously ate grass. Constantly ate it when I had her turned out with the boys. She did the exact same with me, to the point of circling me and eating grass. I just quietly let her continue on until finally she got close enough to smell my boots. She backed off and came back to smell my pants, backed off and came back to smell my hands, and finally smelled my jacket. At that point I reached out to touch her and she let me for a second before moving away. This was not a quick process as she needed to know I wasn't going to rush her or hurt her.
By the end? Breakthrough. She was following me everywhere and I could touch her anywhere. We even did some slight pressure and release exercises (like backing for instance) before I called it quits. She is a super super sweet mule. Hopefully she settles back in with my boys in the next two weeks so I can let her in my pastures.
After working on the stall and in the garage with Joe putting away his car parts I decided, screw it I'm riding. Butters was first up. I had Joe catch him, halter him, and bridle him as Joe really doesn't know how to do most of that stuff. Joe did great! Now, we are going to call this ride Disasters lol. Butters needs to be ridden, we all know that. I and him are both out of shape; as I'm still trying to refind my seat again, while Butters is trying not to be fat. Hindsight I should have ridden just up and down the hill of the front pasture, but noooooooooooooooo I decided to try to go back to the shed which is very uneven terrain. Did I mention I was bareback and I don't 100% have my seat yet?
Butters had my number lol He took me up the side of a hill when I wanted to go down the base of it since it was less steep. Butters was going the normal route him and Memphis use to walk between the pastures, which puts us both on a slight incline. After near fall off, I stayed on and we continued towards the rear shed. All is well. Then back to the pasture we started off in, Butters picked up the pace around another steep incline and boop! Off I went. I was dying laughing and Butters was probably like "Hooray! Stupid human is gone!"
Round two was my neighbor brought over his wide tree saddle. Now, let me preface this with this saddle fits much better than the one I use on Memphis, but I have a tendency to not tighten the girth enough. Ever. I've had people get on me about it, but I just can't over tighten it or get close to that point. Do you see the disaster forming? So I get in and it's actually a really comfy saddle and all is well. Then I ask Butters for more speed.... shit went downhill. The saddle was slipping and I got it back to center and when I turned Butters around it completely slipped. I went off and Butters also went off.. galloping... around the pasture... with the saddle underneath him. Sigh. 2 issues here to point out 1. is the saddle wasn't tight enough 2. Butters is really too fat for a saddle to fit completely correctly.
Joe was like OMG get him! I'm like "He'll stop running, he can't get caught on anything". Took him a few minutes of freak out before he stopped. Slowly went over to him and got the saddle undone. Poor fella was terrified and rightfully so. I gave him a apple and lots and lots of reassurance that it was ok. I think for the time being we are going to stick with the bareback pad. He needs LOTS of saddle time. Lots. The goal now is to just walk up and town the hill. Boring, mundane, and boring. But for him and I this will be good. I'll get my seat back faster and he'll loose some weight. I can also do this at night when its dark since this pasture if clutter, rock, and hole free.
Finally, I got Memphis saddled. I wish I had a crazy story about him... but I don't. He was perfect. Like always. :) I love where he is now in how he's trained. Getting on him is like a sigh of relief. I know when he will freak out, know how he refuses anything, and know what he will do and won't do. LB even took him around with me leading.
Long post, but yesterday was a long day. Hopefully, I can get 2-3 days in this week after work in the dark. I also need to set aside one day just for grooming and that's it. Let them know that catching isn't always going to mean work.
That's all I got here for the day. Don't feel like editing this so deal with it. :D
Friday, October 30, 2015
Butters Rides!
I got the option of not getting my husband and kiddo from work yesterday. This meant that I would be home about 45 minutes earlier and I took full advantage of this. I decided to get half my homework done yesterday at work so I could go home to try out Butters.
Taking it back in time just a little, when I bought Butters I did ride him, but I'm going to guess he was not comfortable with the tack that he was using. He was in a standard D-ring and had no control. I don't ride in anything but shanked bits, so remembering the amount of contact needed on a bit like this was a conscious effort, which could be part of the control issues. He also had a curb chain on the D-ring... . He didn't ride GREAT but I figured, what the hey, he should make a great little guy with some work.
So out to the field I went yesterday with a halter and lead rope to find the horses. Once found I let them "catch" me; meaning I just sat down on the ground. Of course Mr. Memphis was the first over to say hello and try to eat my hair. Butters just stood there like "oh hell no I see that halter", but let me go up to him to halter. Note to self, a pony halter is a little too small and a horse halter is a little too big. Sweet Butters.
Last night was the first time I've had the time to scramble up on him. Memphis was not pleased that it was Butters getting ridden, but I think Memphis will survive. Since I have no saddle that fits Butters and I don't want to buy a wide tree saddle for him just to have it not fit in a year, I bought a bareback pad to ride in. Took me a second to scramble up onto him but once I was up, we were off! I rode him in one of Memphis' first bits, just a shorter shanked bit with a port. (Memphis likes ported bits) At first I rode with some pressure on the reins and he balked so I released all pressure and rode on a very loose rein.
He still shook his head. That tells me that either he hates the amount of bit or his teeth need to be floated. I'm going with a mixture of both. I might see if a Wonderbit or Kimberwick would be better for him and get rid of the port all together. I wasn't planning on having the vet out till next spring, but if I need to, I'll get him out sooner to float his teeth.
Other than that, Butters is very willing. I didn't let him go above a walk as I wanted this to be a positive riding experience for him since he doesn't really know me and hasn't been in work for a long time. If I have daylight tonight available I'll try again. Or ride Memphis.. Memphis loves to go go go. :)
Taking it back in time just a little, when I bought Butters I did ride him, but I'm going to guess he was not comfortable with the tack that he was using. He was in a standard D-ring and had no control. I don't ride in anything but shanked bits, so remembering the amount of contact needed on a bit like this was a conscious effort, which could be part of the control issues. He also had a curb chain on the D-ring... . He didn't ride GREAT but I figured, what the hey, he should make a great little guy with some work.
So out to the field I went yesterday with a halter and lead rope to find the horses. Once found I let them "catch" me; meaning I just sat down on the ground. Of course Mr. Memphis was the first over to say hello and try to eat my hair. Butters just stood there like "oh hell no I see that halter", but let me go up to him to halter. Note to self, a pony halter is a little too small and a horse halter is a little too big. Sweet Butters.
Last night was the first time I've had the time to scramble up on him. Memphis was not pleased that it was Butters getting ridden, but I think Memphis will survive. Since I have no saddle that fits Butters and I don't want to buy a wide tree saddle for him just to have it not fit in a year, I bought a bareback pad to ride in. Took me a second to scramble up onto him but once I was up, we were off! I rode him in one of Memphis' first bits, just a shorter shanked bit with a port. (Memphis likes ported bits) At first I rode with some pressure on the reins and he balked so I released all pressure and rode on a very loose rein.
He still shook his head. That tells me that either he hates the amount of bit or his teeth need to be floated. I'm going with a mixture of both. I might see if a Wonderbit or Kimberwick would be better for him and get rid of the port all together. I wasn't planning on having the vet out till next spring, but if I need to, I'll get him out sooner to float his teeth.
Other than that, Butters is very willing. I didn't let him go above a walk as I wanted this to be a positive riding experience for him since he doesn't really know me and hasn't been in work for a long time. If I have daylight tonight available I'll try again. Or ride Memphis.. Memphis loves to go go go. :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Oh that Veronica Vaughn....
On the horse front a few thoughts, I'll list each one for each horse.
Memphis:
Rode him down to the neighbors the other night to drop off some feed. Memphis was fine.. UNTIL ... he realized A.) that he was far away from home and B) there was a mule in the pasture next to him. The second I dismounted, Memphis lost his mind. There was no coming back. I ended up walking him in hand back home because it was raining and I wasn't wanting to fight him undersaddle on pavement in the rain. The goal the past two days since then has been to ride once again but this time going *just* to the edge where I feel him start to get ancy and turn around for home. The problem has been the rain. IF its not raining tonight the goal is to just ride him around home. I feel the need to reset his mind a little that riding isn't bad since we did not have a good night together after he decided to freak out. This is fault of mine as I haven't worked with him in 3 months, he just got rehomed, and just got a new buddy. He's been able to be a horse for a long long time in horse time.
Butters:
Butters just needs to be worked. He barely ever has anything good to say to me other than he pins his ears about everything human related 99% of the time. I'm working on him but time has been a large factor in what I can and can't get done right now. I want to ride him, but at the moment I only have one bridle that has a curb chain on it so I'm having to either share a bit with him and Memphis or ride one of them without the chain. I'm not keen on that idea as Butters needs all the stop he can get. Memphis not so much, Memphis prefers to RUN through anything when he gets ancy and I can deal with that, but I don't really know Butters. I've got a new chain ordered so once it comes in next week I'll make a devoted bridle for Butters.
Veronica Vaughn:
And then, lets turn our attention to Veronica, our new mule. Who, 2nd day home, got out. The neighbor got her and she is currently living in his pasture till I can get the stall cleaned out on Saturday and move her there for about 2 weeks to reset her brain to home. She's a cute little 2 year old that is surprisingly calm. Big sweetheart. She's got another one to two years before I will break her as she needs to grow grow grow still. But she is adorable.
Memphis:
Rode him down to the neighbors the other night to drop off some feed. Memphis was fine.. UNTIL ... he realized A.) that he was far away from home and B) there was a mule in the pasture next to him. The second I dismounted, Memphis lost his mind. There was no coming back. I ended up walking him in hand back home because it was raining and I wasn't wanting to fight him undersaddle on pavement in the rain. The goal the past two days since then has been to ride once again but this time going *just* to the edge where I feel him start to get ancy and turn around for home. The problem has been the rain. IF its not raining tonight the goal is to just ride him around home. I feel the need to reset his mind a little that riding isn't bad since we did not have a good night together after he decided to freak out. This is fault of mine as I haven't worked with him in 3 months, he just got rehomed, and just got a new buddy. He's been able to be a horse for a long long time in horse time.
Butters:
Butters just needs to be worked. He barely ever has anything good to say to me other than he pins his ears about everything human related 99% of the time. I'm working on him but time has been a large factor in what I can and can't get done right now. I want to ride him, but at the moment I only have one bridle that has a curb chain on it so I'm having to either share a bit with him and Memphis or ride one of them without the chain. I'm not keen on that idea as Butters needs all the stop he can get. Memphis not so much, Memphis prefers to RUN through anything when he gets ancy and I can deal with that, but I don't really know Butters. I've got a new chain ordered so once it comes in next week I'll make a devoted bridle for Butters.
Veronica Vaughn:
And then, lets turn our attention to Veronica, our new mule. Who, 2nd day home, got out. The neighbor got her and she is currently living in his pasture till I can get the stall cleaned out on Saturday and move her there for about 2 weeks to reset her brain to home. She's a cute little 2 year old that is surprisingly calm. Big sweetheart. She's got another one to two years before I will break her as she needs to grow grow grow still. But she is adorable.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
2 years!
This is a long time to get a good update in! Took me a bit to remember my password and then link this to my other gmail account for easier finding in the future.
So! Lets update a little since it looks like its been 2 years since the last update! Memphis was moved in May to a new facility for pasture board. When I moved him it was a tough decision since he had been at the same place for 5 years and remained relatively healthy the entire time. I just finally got to the point where I was ready to move forward with his training and felt he needed to be a horse again. He has blossomed.
In August my husband and I decided to move to a new house in the country with acreage so that I could have Memphis at home. I brought him home with a new friend last Saturday. I will continue this blog from here at this point. The road to what Memphis has become has been a rocky start but he has turned into a well mannered horse that I can trust.
The new horse is named Butters and I welcome him to our household. He needs a little work but will make a great horse in time. We are going over ground work right now. He is broke to ride, but I like mine to be a little more trusty on the ground before I ask for much under saddle. He does nothing bad per sey, but he does need to do a few things when I ask for it, like backing or moving over. That is what we will be doing the next few nights.
It feels good to be writing about horses again.
So! Lets update a little since it looks like its been 2 years since the last update! Memphis was moved in May to a new facility for pasture board. When I moved him it was a tough decision since he had been at the same place for 5 years and remained relatively healthy the entire time. I just finally got to the point where I was ready to move forward with his training and felt he needed to be a horse again. He has blossomed.
In August my husband and I decided to move to a new house in the country with acreage so that I could have Memphis at home. I brought him home with a new friend last Saturday. I will continue this blog from here at this point. The road to what Memphis has become has been a rocky start but he has turned into a well mannered horse that I can trust.
The new horse is named Butters and I welcome him to our household. He needs a little work but will make a great horse in time. We are going over ground work right now. He is broke to ride, but I like mine to be a little more trusty on the ground before I ask for much under saddle. He does nothing bad per sey, but he does need to do a few things when I ask for it, like backing or moving over. That is what we will be doing the next few nights.
It feels good to be writing about horses again.
Friday, April 26, 2013
From Sunday to Weds
Lots of things to chew on and think about, especially the way that I type on here about what I've accomplished and what I have left out in my posts. I tend to not post every little thing that is done between Memphis and I and only post out a few specific highlighted items that stand out in my mind. I am going to slow this down a little and work a little harder to put back in the specifics of each ride, each interaction, and each time I do anything that relates to a horse.
On the outside looking in at what is posted it becomes clear that there is a need for more details about what I think is the correct action in response to a reaction from Memphis. Otherwise, I am leaving the reader with a question and open myself up for heavy criticism. I realize that that is something I need to work on and if I am criticized that is perfectly fine but it makes it harder to convince somebody that I've done the right things if I've left out the most important details in the beginning,
So I give you Weds ride with Mr. Memphis, in more detail, and a little better flow of events than before. Lets see if this makes it a little easier to understand my own background and Memphis'.
Wendsday:
We both started today as we always do. His furry little head poking through his stall as if to say "hello you". I halter him, lead him to the wall, and we start a grooming session. I always work these sessions slowly, rubbing heavily in his favorite places: his shoulder and his neck. I get a huge sigh of relief personally from stress from grooming him and I know he seems to enjoys it just as much.
Next up is lunging, while he seems nowhere near as hyper as Sunday, I still wanted to see how he was doing and just work through some gaits with him. He starts out walking quite nicely and quietly, picked up speed nicely when I asked him to, and then with a little bit of pushing got into a canter. We worked both directions, lots of stops, and lots of gait changes. He did very well and acted like a gentleman. Nothing out of the ordinary.
We then go back to the wall and start in on the saddling issue. He let me put on the pad with no issues. Just because he gave me such an issue with it on Sunday I decided to try a few more times. He sulled up a little on the third, so we stopped and slowed it all down some. He was allowed to see the pad again, smell the pad, lip the pad, and let me rub it all over him. So we started again with putting the pad on his back. He got upset again, so once again we slowed it all down.
Then I started turning the wheels in my head. When he is allowed to play with the pad he is fine, he lets it touch him and is fine, and 90% of the time he is just fine with the pad going on. Here I started trying different scenarios with it. Playing around a few times with it I figured out he freaks out the most when the pad is lifted up higher than my shoulder. Get it close to his eye level and its over in his mind. The saddle pad will eat him and the world is going to come to an end.
Ok, so we slow it down some more and we work with the pad up above his head, around his head, above my shoulder, and so on. He calmed down quite quickly when he realized that the pad isn't eating me, him, or going to fall down on him from the ceiling. Once again, after the pad issue he saddles just like he should and everything is right in the world with Memphis.
Lunge him with the saddle on just to look at him move with it on and make sure he is ok with the world again before I get ready to ride. Once the bridle goes on he is annoyed. I can see his ears go back into an annoyance stance, not pissed, just annoyed. No tail swishing, no stomping, no ear pinning, or anything of the sort that would indicate to me I've got a firecracker on my hands. Just a "not this crap again" look. Memphis is not a fan of the barn, but its what I have to do until the arena dries out from all the rain. I don't have an option of just not riding him like I've had in the past. Sigh.
Get mounted up on him and he stands just like he should. Then we start off at a nice walk. A trail walk, dog walk, or walk whatever you want to call it it was slow. I was not looking for speed, so when he started to speed up he got slowly checked back down to the walk.
My goal was to work on steering only with him. So, I was not looking for speed here just looking for the correct direction. My requests were made with leg, neck rein, then direct rein. I was consistent in what I was doing and never strayed from what I was asking him. He got heavy leg first, then neck rein pretty much immediately with the leg, and lastly with the direct rein. He knows that when I ask with the leg its a push over to the other side, he got that really quickly when we worked on it before I got pregnant. So when I'm pushing I am already asking him to move over, then I combine that with the neck rein to tell him to turn. Eventually I would like to stop with so much leg and just use neck reining, but right now he is 75-80% at best with consistency on neck reining.
We worked on figure 8's and some mid direction changes for about 30 minutes. I then changed it up a bit and asked for some speed for a lap or two around the barn just to give him something else to do.
I did notice a few things in this ride since I was doing more thinking in this ride than my previous ones. He for one has an issue with right hand turns. For whatever reason in his mind right hand turns mean speed up. Left hand turns do not. Now this could be anything from him just being silly, a pain issue, or a refusal attempt. We did quite a bit of right hand turns to try to figure something out. I started with myself first, such as am I accidentally moving a leg, am I sitting differently, is my foot bumping him, is something on the saddle rubbing him, and anything else I could think of. I've noticed as well that he tends to do this in the beginning of the ride and will cease it once he gets warmed up and gets a few checks from me.
The only other thing we did was backing under saddle. This one he still does not quite understand, but it is also something he has only attempted 2-3 times under saddle. He'll get better at it I'm sure with time.
Otherwise this ride, in my mind, went quite well. Near the end of steering work it was clicking in his mind that the rein placed on his neck is a left or right turn. It wasn't a pretty turn, but I'm not expecting perfection just yet, just a acknowledgment that he is starting to understand. He took a step back under saddle when asked.
None of it was completely pretty, but I'm working VERY hard to work out the kinks with him. I am seeing progress from him being ridden by me 2-3 times a week. More progress than I thought. On Sunday I fully expect him to move off of just the neck reining instead of leg and neck. I will also expect a little easier transition into backing than Weds night.
He's a good boy.
On the outside looking in at what is posted it becomes clear that there is a need for more details about what I think is the correct action in response to a reaction from Memphis. Otherwise, I am leaving the reader with a question and open myself up for heavy criticism. I realize that that is something I need to work on and if I am criticized that is perfectly fine but it makes it harder to convince somebody that I've done the right things if I've left out the most important details in the beginning,
So I give you Weds ride with Mr. Memphis, in more detail, and a little better flow of events than before. Lets see if this makes it a little easier to understand my own background and Memphis'.
Wendsday:
We both started today as we always do. His furry little head poking through his stall as if to say "hello you". I halter him, lead him to the wall, and we start a grooming session. I always work these sessions slowly, rubbing heavily in his favorite places: his shoulder and his neck. I get a huge sigh of relief personally from stress from grooming him and I know he seems to enjoys it just as much.
Next up is lunging, while he seems nowhere near as hyper as Sunday, I still wanted to see how he was doing and just work through some gaits with him. He starts out walking quite nicely and quietly, picked up speed nicely when I asked him to, and then with a little bit of pushing got into a canter. We worked both directions, lots of stops, and lots of gait changes. He did very well and acted like a gentleman. Nothing out of the ordinary.
We then go back to the wall and start in on the saddling issue. He let me put on the pad with no issues. Just because he gave me such an issue with it on Sunday I decided to try a few more times. He sulled up a little on the third, so we stopped and slowed it all down some. He was allowed to see the pad again, smell the pad, lip the pad, and let me rub it all over him. So we started again with putting the pad on his back. He got upset again, so once again we slowed it all down.
Then I started turning the wheels in my head. When he is allowed to play with the pad he is fine, he lets it touch him and is fine, and 90% of the time he is just fine with the pad going on. Here I started trying different scenarios with it. Playing around a few times with it I figured out he freaks out the most when the pad is lifted up higher than my shoulder. Get it close to his eye level and its over in his mind. The saddle pad will eat him and the world is going to come to an end.
Ok, so we slow it down some more and we work with the pad up above his head, around his head, above my shoulder, and so on. He calmed down quite quickly when he realized that the pad isn't eating me, him, or going to fall down on him from the ceiling. Once again, after the pad issue he saddles just like he should and everything is right in the world with Memphis.
Lunge him with the saddle on just to look at him move with it on and make sure he is ok with the world again before I get ready to ride. Once the bridle goes on he is annoyed. I can see his ears go back into an annoyance stance, not pissed, just annoyed. No tail swishing, no stomping, no ear pinning, or anything of the sort that would indicate to me I've got a firecracker on my hands. Just a "not this crap again" look. Memphis is not a fan of the barn, but its what I have to do until the arena dries out from all the rain. I don't have an option of just not riding him like I've had in the past. Sigh.
Get mounted up on him and he stands just like he should. Then we start off at a nice walk. A trail walk, dog walk, or walk whatever you want to call it it was slow. I was not looking for speed, so when he started to speed up he got slowly checked back down to the walk.
My goal was to work on steering only with him. So, I was not looking for speed here just looking for the correct direction. My requests were made with leg, neck rein, then direct rein. I was consistent in what I was doing and never strayed from what I was asking him. He got heavy leg first, then neck rein pretty much immediately with the leg, and lastly with the direct rein. He knows that when I ask with the leg its a push over to the other side, he got that really quickly when we worked on it before I got pregnant. So when I'm pushing I am already asking him to move over, then I combine that with the neck rein to tell him to turn. Eventually I would like to stop with so much leg and just use neck reining, but right now he is 75-80% at best with consistency on neck reining.
We worked on figure 8's and some mid direction changes for about 30 minutes. I then changed it up a bit and asked for some speed for a lap or two around the barn just to give him something else to do.
I did notice a few things in this ride since I was doing more thinking in this ride than my previous ones. He for one has an issue with right hand turns. For whatever reason in his mind right hand turns mean speed up. Left hand turns do not. Now this could be anything from him just being silly, a pain issue, or a refusal attempt. We did quite a bit of right hand turns to try to figure something out. I started with myself first, such as am I accidentally moving a leg, am I sitting differently, is my foot bumping him, is something on the saddle rubbing him, and anything else I could think of. I've noticed as well that he tends to do this in the beginning of the ride and will cease it once he gets warmed up and gets a few checks from me.
The only other thing we did was backing under saddle. This one he still does not quite understand, but it is also something he has only attempted 2-3 times under saddle. He'll get better at it I'm sure with time.
Otherwise this ride, in my mind, went quite well. Near the end of steering work it was clicking in his mind that the rein placed on his neck is a left or right turn. It wasn't a pretty turn, but I'm not expecting perfection just yet, just a acknowledgment that he is starting to understand. He took a step back under saddle when asked.
None of it was completely pretty, but I'm working VERY hard to work out the kinks with him. I am seeing progress from him being ridden by me 2-3 times a week. More progress than I thought. On Sunday I fully expect him to move off of just the neck reining instead of leg and neck. I will also expect a little easier transition into backing than Weds night.
He's a good boy.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Updates in the land of chickens and horses
I know, it's been awhile since I've posted anything here and to those that used to read this quite often, I am sorry. My life has been a little hectic I'll say as of late! But lets jump right into some things that I know you have been dying to read about:
Memphis:
Oh this horse. I have leased him out to a 4H kid since her horse split his hoof at practice. (why shoes are important) Figured Memphis could use the work and he is usually pretty calm under saddle. We did a tryout with her first and he did remarkably well and so off to leasing she goes.
Then the insanity starts. Like the absolute insanity. Like so insane that I've been going insane about it. Gaiting.
That is a horrid word.
Gaiting.
If you ever in your life decided to oh I dunno, lose your mind over the most trivial thing such as riding a horse, then go ride. If you ever wanted to go completely insane, buy a gaited horse.
Gaiting.
This hasn't been on my big to do lists for oh, I dunno, ever? I mean it's important but, its never been that big of a deal to me because well, I liked just going fast and smooth. Who cares what gait he was in since I don't show? Now, its a big deal. I may be able to ride but if I don't know exactly what the horse is doing, then I'm not a.) qualified to be teaching somebody to ride and b.) probably should enlist outside help for myself.
Now, on bullet point a, I am going to teach this girl how to ride Memphis and right now she is still trying to learn how to control him, so I'm not too concerned about her and riding. Onto bullet point b. This one I've actually gone and found a TWH barn, somebody that shows them around KY, and hired her to help me. This lady put me on some of her walkers and had me feel them out so I could feel their gaits and know exactly what I was looking for in the saddle. I figured out what Memphis was not doing, what he is doing, and we worked a little on my form. (namely turn my feet in and if I ride two handed I need to grasp the reins instead of lightly holding them)
Saturday we started Memphis on Red Cell to try to get some weight on him. I know this is not a weight builder supplement, but my barn owner gives it to horses a little lower on weight since it for some reason aligns the stars in a horses body and they start to process food better. ( I really have no idea how this magical stuff works but all her horses she has given it to end up looking great) She warned me it could make him a little .. ummm... hyper?
Sure crazy barn owner lady! Lets give my horse a supplement that might make him MORE hyper? WHY NOT THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!
Yesterday I decided I was going to try to get Memphis into some gaiting using those new fangled skills I learned at my lesson on Saturday. It was muddy outside so I decided that I would work in the barn. Small space, but sometimes that is the best space to get work done. Did I happen to mention all about Memphis being hyper?
Took me 10 minutes to saddle because Memphis started doing his "THE SADDLE PAD IS A MONSTER THAT WANTS TO EAT ME" routine he did when he used to be on sweet feed. I mean its fine and dandy, I can handle a melt down and not get hurt, but I'm going to have to get him over that crap because the kids use him now. Anywho, then he did his "YOU MOUNTING ME IS GOING TO KILL ME AND MY LIFE IS OVER" crap, again stuff he pulled while he was on sweet feed. I swear you get him hyper and refusals start happening everywhere.
We had about 4 come to Jesus meetings over mounting. I started nice, you know just walking him back over to the mounting block once or twice. Then I started to get a little meaner.. you know backing him up a bit and then bringing him back to the block. Then I just got downright ugly.. you know... the coming to Jesus meetings where I WILL kill him and I AM the horse eating monster. Took 4 of those before the last one was super ugly and he though death had just come for him.
At this point a novice horse owner would have given up. In fact a novice probably would have given up at the saddling issue as a 1100lb animal throwing himself backwards, half attempted rears, and every muscle in his body screaming RUN!!!!!! would scare most people back to their beds under the covers. I guess I'm over his stupid tantrums, he isn't allowed to win with me.
By now, I'm still not completely insane and I go ahead and hop up. Stirrup is all effed up so I go into fix it and its a little long... oh well I think.. I won't be up too long and Memphis is usually a level headed ride...... I ask him for a simple walk and all I want is a slow contained walk out of him, which he does really well. Then I feel him start to tense up, like you can feel his back tensing up in the saddle.
Before I had a chance to gather up my reins off he goes. I automatically dig my heels down in the stirrups, one hand goes to the saddle horn, the other hand starts to gather up my reins, he's in a full blow canter almost pace, running me into the wall, ow that's my knee, spooked over me hitting the wall, quickly changes directions (think he would make a great barrel horse) that would make a seasoned barrel racer cry with joy, and bolts to the other side of the barn. I don't have time to half halt him, I don't have time to think really before he plows into the end of the barn. So I dig a little deeper, tip his nose slightly to the right, and ask for the whoa.
Just like that he plants his feet and I lean back slightly bracing in the saddle with my upper thighs and the balls of my feet as hard in the stirrups as I can. Good boy.
We stand for a second to regain our thoughts a little, I pat him and tell him good boy for the stop and off we go again. This time I am a little more cautious about what I'm doing. We get a good loop around the barn and I squeeze with both my legs, lift the reins up quite a bit while bringing them in so I have good contact with his mouth, and give a little cluck.
Great balls of fire, I got a decent flat walk out of him. Did it twice and called it a day.
Guess he can and will do a flat walk, I was just never asking the correct cues out of him. Now to make him do it again and again and again. Next time outside... preferably when he's had a little turn out time....
Memphis:
Oh this horse. I have leased him out to a 4H kid since her horse split his hoof at practice. (why shoes are important) Figured Memphis could use the work and he is usually pretty calm under saddle. We did a tryout with her first and he did remarkably well and so off to leasing she goes.
Then the insanity starts. Like the absolute insanity. Like so insane that I've been going insane about it. Gaiting.
That is a horrid word.
Gaiting.
If you ever in your life decided to oh I dunno, lose your mind over the most trivial thing such as riding a horse, then go ride. If you ever wanted to go completely insane, buy a gaited horse.
Gaiting.
This hasn't been on my big to do lists for oh, I dunno, ever? I mean it's important but, its never been that big of a deal to me because well, I liked just going fast and smooth. Who cares what gait he was in since I don't show? Now, its a big deal. I may be able to ride but if I don't know exactly what the horse is doing, then I'm not a.) qualified to be teaching somebody to ride and b.) probably should enlist outside help for myself.
Now, on bullet point a, I am going to teach this girl how to ride Memphis and right now she is still trying to learn how to control him, so I'm not too concerned about her and riding. Onto bullet point b. This one I've actually gone and found a TWH barn, somebody that shows them around KY, and hired her to help me. This lady put me on some of her walkers and had me feel them out so I could feel their gaits and know exactly what I was looking for in the saddle. I figured out what Memphis was not doing, what he is doing, and we worked a little on my form. (namely turn my feet in and if I ride two handed I need to grasp the reins instead of lightly holding them)
Saturday we started Memphis on Red Cell to try to get some weight on him. I know this is not a weight builder supplement, but my barn owner gives it to horses a little lower on weight since it for some reason aligns the stars in a horses body and they start to process food better. ( I really have no idea how this magical stuff works but all her horses she has given it to end up looking great) She warned me it could make him a little .. ummm... hyper?
Sure crazy barn owner lady! Lets give my horse a supplement that might make him MORE hyper? WHY NOT THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!
Yesterday I decided I was going to try to get Memphis into some gaiting using those new fangled skills I learned at my lesson on Saturday. It was muddy outside so I decided that I would work in the barn. Small space, but sometimes that is the best space to get work done. Did I happen to mention all about Memphis being hyper?
Took me 10 minutes to saddle because Memphis started doing his "THE SADDLE PAD IS A MONSTER THAT WANTS TO EAT ME" routine he did when he used to be on sweet feed. I mean its fine and dandy, I can handle a melt down and not get hurt, but I'm going to have to get him over that crap because the kids use him now. Anywho, then he did his "YOU MOUNTING ME IS GOING TO KILL ME AND MY LIFE IS OVER" crap, again stuff he pulled while he was on sweet feed. I swear you get him hyper and refusals start happening everywhere.
We had about 4 come to Jesus meetings over mounting. I started nice, you know just walking him back over to the mounting block once or twice. Then I started to get a little meaner.. you know backing him up a bit and then bringing him back to the block. Then I just got downright ugly.. you know... the coming to Jesus meetings where I WILL kill him and I AM the horse eating monster. Took 4 of those before the last one was super ugly and he though death had just come for him.
At this point a novice horse owner would have given up. In fact a novice probably would have given up at the saddling issue as a 1100lb animal throwing himself backwards, half attempted rears, and every muscle in his body screaming RUN!!!!!! would scare most people back to their beds under the covers. I guess I'm over his stupid tantrums, he isn't allowed to win with me.
By now, I'm still not completely insane and I go ahead and hop up. Stirrup is all effed up so I go into fix it and its a little long... oh well I think.. I won't be up too long and Memphis is usually a level headed ride...... I ask him for a simple walk and all I want is a slow contained walk out of him, which he does really well. Then I feel him start to tense up, like you can feel his back tensing up in the saddle.
Before I had a chance to gather up my reins off he goes. I automatically dig my heels down in the stirrups, one hand goes to the saddle horn, the other hand starts to gather up my reins, he's in a full blow canter almost pace, running me into the wall, ow that's my knee, spooked over me hitting the wall, quickly changes directions (think he would make a great barrel horse) that would make a seasoned barrel racer cry with joy, and bolts to the other side of the barn. I don't have time to half halt him, I don't have time to think really before he plows into the end of the barn. So I dig a little deeper, tip his nose slightly to the right, and ask for the whoa.
Just like that he plants his feet and I lean back slightly bracing in the saddle with my upper thighs and the balls of my feet as hard in the stirrups as I can. Good boy.
We stand for a second to regain our thoughts a little, I pat him and tell him good boy for the stop and off we go again. This time I am a little more cautious about what I'm doing. We get a good loop around the barn and I squeeze with both my legs, lift the reins up quite a bit while bringing them in so I have good contact with his mouth, and give a little cluck.
Great balls of fire, I got a decent flat walk out of him. Did it twice and called it a day.
Guess he can and will do a flat walk, I was just never asking the correct cues out of him. Now to make him do it again and again and again. Next time outside... preferably when he's had a little turn out time....
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Asking too much too fast
I saw Memphis last night and did ride. I'm a little perturbed that he
refuses to rack in the arena and wants to only skip to various ways of
pacing. I'm not happy. BUT right now I'm working on reining with him not
so much what gait he is in.
I can also proudly say that I am over my fear on him. When I first started riding him again in August I was terrified to go over a walk with him. Last night he had some serious SPEED going and I paid no attention to it. The only thing I want to get done is reining work. I want him to get out of direct reining. This is a two-fold approach for me because A.) I'm lazy and B.) it makes trail riding more enjoyable for me.
It's boring mundane work. Ask with the leg first, then ask with the rein on the neck, then ask with direct reining.
I'll dumb all this down a little. Leg aids with a horse are many many things. They tell a horse to go forward, tell a horse to move over, tell a horse to change a gait, or a whole list of things that I don't even know about. (can we say dressage anyone?) Right now Memphis only knows that legs mean go. A small tap on his side with my heel will make him move forward. Another tap and he speeds up. A good tap can really make him bolt.
Your calf is the next step up from your foot telling the horse to do something. This in my line of riding tells the horse to move over. (later it will help with switching gaits, but for now its move over) I use my legs to help "push" Memphis the direction I want him to go. So if I want him to go right, I'm going to push with my calf on his left side.
Later in this I am going to finesse this and use it for a tool called sidepassing which means that he will move laterally over for me (that's the best word I can come up with) but for the moment it just means go right or left.
Neck reining is much like the leg aids but much more refined. It's just lay the reins on one or the other side of a horse's neck to tell them to go whichever direction. So if I want him to go right then I lay the left reins on his left side of his neck.
Direct reining is just that. I want him to go right then I pull on the right rein. I directly tell him what I want him to do. This is cumbersome on trails as what I'm wanting is a relaxed ride, not to constantly be in a two handed riding position to ride.
So this is all I'm doing right now. Him and I got a walk down to a science. Now we are moving to reining. This could take a few weeks before it's perfect and we move onto the next lesson which will be more complicated leg aids. Then we are going to move back down to gaiting.
I started out wanting to work on gaiting first but that started to fall apart when I realized I was wanting more complicated things than Memphis knew how to do. So I've had to back track on what I wanted and start more with the basics.
Wow this is longer than I wanted.
I can also proudly say that I am over my fear on him. When I first started riding him again in August I was terrified to go over a walk with him. Last night he had some serious SPEED going and I paid no attention to it. The only thing I want to get done is reining work. I want him to get out of direct reining. This is a two-fold approach for me because A.) I'm lazy and B.) it makes trail riding more enjoyable for me.
It's boring mundane work. Ask with the leg first, then ask with the rein on the neck, then ask with direct reining.
I'll dumb all this down a little. Leg aids with a horse are many many things. They tell a horse to go forward, tell a horse to move over, tell a horse to change a gait, or a whole list of things that I don't even know about. (can we say dressage anyone?) Right now Memphis only knows that legs mean go. A small tap on his side with my heel will make him move forward. Another tap and he speeds up. A good tap can really make him bolt.
Your calf is the next step up from your foot telling the horse to do something. This in my line of riding tells the horse to move over. (later it will help with switching gaits, but for now its move over) I use my legs to help "push" Memphis the direction I want him to go. So if I want him to go right, I'm going to push with my calf on his left side.
Later in this I am going to finesse this and use it for a tool called sidepassing which means that he will move laterally over for me (that's the best word I can come up with) but for the moment it just means go right or left.
Neck reining is much like the leg aids but much more refined. It's just lay the reins on one or the other side of a horse's neck to tell them to go whichever direction. So if I want him to go right then I lay the left reins on his left side of his neck.
Direct reining is just that. I want him to go right then I pull on the right rein. I directly tell him what I want him to do. This is cumbersome on trails as what I'm wanting is a relaxed ride, not to constantly be in a two handed riding position to ride.
So this is all I'm doing right now. Him and I got a walk down to a science. Now we are moving to reining. This could take a few weeks before it's perfect and we move onto the next lesson which will be more complicated leg aids. Then we are going to move back down to gaiting.
I started out wanting to work on gaiting first but that started to fall apart when I realized I was wanting more complicated things than Memphis knew how to do. So I've had to back track on what I wanted and start more with the basics.
Wow this is longer than I wanted.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Short update
I realize that I haven't posted on here a whole lot lately. That has a lot to do with just life always getting in my way. Silly life trying to make my adult life busy!
I'm in a precious balance right now of time management and absolute chaos. Sometimes I just want to say eff it all and sit down and do nothing. The problem with that though is that nothing gets done if I do that. So, I have to somehow find the motivation to keep moving forward. Which, I will admit, right now is beyond hard. Hell, last week we had two days of eating dinner while standing looking at each other.
I know I'm just bitching a little but it's all I can do. This weekend is already chock full of things to do. I hate that. Oh well.. enough bitching...
Lucille is growing like a weed and she is quite the happy baby. I can't believe she is almost 8 months old! That's 4 more months of buying formula and then she's onto pure solid food. That is absolutely insane to me. She's crawling around now so now I have to keep my floors extra clean (add that to my list of things I must do at least 4-5 times a week) and I gotta make sure her two retarded brothers don't step on her.
Memphis is doing just fine. Rode on Sunday for the first time in October. Was nice. He has such a big motor but I did notice some tail swishing at his wanna be refusals. I rode in split reins this time around so I could back up my commands if needed. I only needed to show him once.
My seat is still not where I want it to be, but that will come back with time. I feel bad for Memphis as I know he has to be like "mom what are you doing up there!". I'm back to where I was at the end of my lesson days, but my seat isn't as secure as it was right before I got pregnant and I was riding a few times a week. Oh well, haven't fallen off *yet*. (I know I just somehow doomed myself in the eyes of the horse gods who are laughing at me right now)
Brought my saddle with me again today. Plan on getting the poles set up in the arena and doing some more leg work and neck reining in. He is starting to put it all together. It's slow moving but he is learning. That's all I can ask of him. It's boring mundane work... push with leg, neck rein, then direct rein. I'd like to just neck rein or just my legs to guide him and get away from direct reining.
My big dumb idiot that is actually quite smart!
I'm in a precious balance right now of time management and absolute chaos. Sometimes I just want to say eff it all and sit down and do nothing. The problem with that though is that nothing gets done if I do that. So, I have to somehow find the motivation to keep moving forward. Which, I will admit, right now is beyond hard. Hell, last week we had two days of eating dinner while standing looking at each other.
I know I'm just bitching a little but it's all I can do. This weekend is already chock full of things to do. I hate that. Oh well.. enough bitching...
Lucille is growing like a weed and she is quite the happy baby. I can't believe she is almost 8 months old! That's 4 more months of buying formula and then she's onto pure solid food. That is absolutely insane to me. She's crawling around now so now I have to keep my floors extra clean (add that to my list of things I must do at least 4-5 times a week) and I gotta make sure her two retarded brothers don't step on her.
Memphis is doing just fine. Rode on Sunday for the first time in October. Was nice. He has such a big motor but I did notice some tail swishing at his wanna be refusals. I rode in split reins this time around so I could back up my commands if needed. I only needed to show him once.
My seat is still not where I want it to be, but that will come back with time. I feel bad for Memphis as I know he has to be like "mom what are you doing up there!". I'm back to where I was at the end of my lesson days, but my seat isn't as secure as it was right before I got pregnant and I was riding a few times a week. Oh well, haven't fallen off *yet*. (I know I just somehow doomed myself in the eyes of the horse gods who are laughing at me right now)
Brought my saddle with me again today. Plan on getting the poles set up in the arena and doing some more leg work and neck reining in. He is starting to put it all together. It's slow moving but he is learning. That's all I can ask of him. It's boring mundane work... push with leg, neck rein, then direct rein. I'd like to just neck rein or just my legs to guide him and get away from direct reining.
My big dumb idiot that is actually quite smart!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Long time no post
I've been under the weather lately so no posts from me. Oh well. Haven't seen Memphis in about 2 weeks. How sad is that??!!
Anywho, I'm still getting the message out somewhere. :D Even if my early methods were a little .. erm.. interesting... people seem to still be reading this blog. Hot dog I might be onto something. ha!
I had a mom tell me tonight that she was analyzing her daughter riding a horse. She was going over everything that I preach on as far as stirrups, helmet, horse, and safety.
Guess I'm getting somewhere!
That's all I have for today.
Anywho, I'm still getting the message out somewhere. :D Even if my early methods were a little .. erm.. interesting... people seem to still be reading this blog. Hot dog I might be onto something. ha!
I had a mom tell me tonight that she was analyzing her daughter riding a horse. She was going over everything that I preach on as far as stirrups, helmet, horse, and safety.
Guess I'm getting somewhere!
That's all I have for today.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Lot's of riding as of late
I know I know, I usually post up after every ride, but I've actually put in quite of bit of time in the saddle lately. This has immensely helped my confidence in the saddle and on top of that has been helping Memphis and I both figure each other out.
I went on a long trail ride today again and I was able to be relaxed enough to let him open up on the trails. This is a huge change from early this summer when I started riding again. As long as he listens to me when I ask for something, I'm really a happy camper. There was some refusals, which I wish I would have had my split reins instead of the roper reins, but in general he is a willing horse. I can also tell a difference in him with me. He will actually stop on a trail and wait with me whereas before he would continue to do what he wanted and it was always a struggle between the two of us.
In all, I'm going to be sore. But I am very pleased with today. He is such a good good horse.
I went on a long trail ride today again and I was able to be relaxed enough to let him open up on the trails. This is a huge change from early this summer when I started riding again. As long as he listens to me when I ask for something, I'm really a happy camper. There was some refusals, which I wish I would have had my split reins instead of the roper reins, but in general he is a willing horse. I can also tell a difference in him with me. He will actually stop on a trail and wait with me whereas before he would continue to do what he wanted and it was always a struggle between the two of us.
In all, I'm going to be sore. But I am very pleased with today. He is such a good good horse.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Horsey reflections
I started looking back through my older posts of Dodge and even some of my early postings of Memphis. I LOVE reflecting on things like this because as I read back I realized how little I did know and how far I've come now. Some of the way's I did things I realize were probably not the greatest, but I know if I had never done them then I would not be who I am now. I also know that I'm still learning and I currently have a solid foundation so far of how I would continue to move forward.
With Dodge, I expected too much from her too fast. I took a horse that was neglected, skinny, and hadn't been ridden in a few years, and expected her to perform to how I thought she should right off the bat. Not taking into serious consideration of how slow I really needed to take things. Most of what I did was fine, but a lot of it was just newbie stuff. Like putting her in an O-ring and expecting her to have a woah HAHAHAHAHA
With Memphis, I have taken for granted his gentle nature and up until just this past month I finally was able to grit my teeth and get firm. Not only firm, but also take a few steps back and see I'm asking too much on a foundation that isn't built yet.
This is a learning process. I've been learning :)
With Dodge, I expected too much from her too fast. I took a horse that was neglected, skinny, and hadn't been ridden in a few years, and expected her to perform to how I thought she should right off the bat. Not taking into serious consideration of how slow I really needed to take things. Most of what I did was fine, but a lot of it was just newbie stuff. Like putting her in an O-ring and expecting her to have a woah HAHAHAHAHA
With Memphis, I have taken for granted his gentle nature and up until just this past month I finally was able to grit my teeth and get firm. Not only firm, but also take a few steps back and see I'm asking too much on a foundation that isn't built yet.
This is a learning process. I've been learning :)
Thursday, August 23, 2012
I think Memphis is starting to get it
I arrived at the barn about 5:30 with a mission in my head. I slipped his halter off the stall hook and rummaged up a lead rope from one of the eye hooks attached to the wall. I looked at my halter in disgust as it is completely covered in dirt and muck, but eh, it still works. I slip it over my shoulder and then the lead rope gets coiled in my hand and I start the long walk to the back field where all the horses are.
Memphis could spot me 15 miles away (ok not that far away but close enough) and stood there completely motionless as I approached. Once I got within 10 feet of him he goes off at a full gallop trying to avoid this whole work thing. That's fine as I was prepared for that and turned my direction to match his and kept on walking towards him. He ran back and forth through the field with me never getting above a walk; I am not exactly new to this game of not wanting to be caught. So I stared at the trees, the ground, and the other horses around me as I walked him down. This didn't exactly take long and he gave up within 10 minutes.
I had a talk with him while I got everything ready. I told him quite loudly that I was tired of his crap and tonight was the night he was going to understand that. He started yelling towards his buddies in the field and I silently mumbled "that's fine". He saw the saddle and started pacing on the lead rope he was attached to but I had no time for his crap and quickly got the pad and then saddle on him. My attitude tonight was not one of sympathy that I usually have to some extent, but one of a job that needed to get done. Surprisingly, Memphis picked up on this pretty quickly. (ok, maybe not too surprising there)
I did not bridle him tonight at first, we needed to work on some lunging first. I got the lunge whip, lunge line, and took him out to the arena. From here we started standard lunging. All I asked for was a walk from him, I swear that was it. Every time I lunge though, he takes off in a rack right off the bat, so I let him do that if he wanted but he had to play my game then. This new game was called "ok" in my head and it goes something like this: the horse decides he wants to do something and I say OK and make him do it till he doesn't want to anymore and I make him continue no matter what. He quickly figured out it wasn't fun to keep up like he was and by God he walked on the lunge line like I asked him to!!!! This is a absolute FIRST.
Once he figured out I meant business I took him back to the barn and gave him a second before we started part two of my plans for him tonight. Part two was riding and so I bridled him and then walked him out to the arena again. Hopped up on him and decided to see if he would just walk out for me around the arena. HA! He thinks the gate means exit which also means barn and here is where I played the game "ok" again. I started letting him gait right next to the gate at a pretty good clip. The barrels were set up in the arena so I did huge figure eights around those all the while letting him act like a fool next to the gate.
Eventually he slowed down and started to walk and I pushed him forward into gaiting again. I told him when to walk and I chose what gait we went. We ended this when he went the speed I said when I asked.
Now, couple things that are totally different about what I've done so far. Number one was I stayed out of his mouth and let him move. I only guided him instead of being in his mouth the entire time and he was allowed to have rein the entire time to move with. Two was the fact I was unafraid of him tonight even with him moving at a super fast rack and a pace a few times. I was catching some serious air and my butt stayed glued to the saddle despite this. Three was my no bullshit attitude I wanted with him; he totally felt out that I wasn't taking his shit today and in accordance to that he did as I asked him to.
I am VERY please with this ride. I actually felt him and I formed a little bit of a closer bond than we had before.
I plan on riding again Saturday unless we go to the lake. So I'm a little excited. :)
Memphis could spot me 15 miles away (ok not that far away but close enough) and stood there completely motionless as I approached. Once I got within 10 feet of him he goes off at a full gallop trying to avoid this whole work thing. That's fine as I was prepared for that and turned my direction to match his and kept on walking towards him. He ran back and forth through the field with me never getting above a walk; I am not exactly new to this game of not wanting to be caught. So I stared at the trees, the ground, and the other horses around me as I walked him down. This didn't exactly take long and he gave up within 10 minutes.
I had a talk with him while I got everything ready. I told him quite loudly that I was tired of his crap and tonight was the night he was going to understand that. He started yelling towards his buddies in the field and I silently mumbled "that's fine". He saw the saddle and started pacing on the lead rope he was attached to but I had no time for his crap and quickly got the pad and then saddle on him. My attitude tonight was not one of sympathy that I usually have to some extent, but one of a job that needed to get done. Surprisingly, Memphis picked up on this pretty quickly. (ok, maybe not too surprising there)
I did not bridle him tonight at first, we needed to work on some lunging first. I got the lunge whip, lunge line, and took him out to the arena. From here we started standard lunging. All I asked for was a walk from him, I swear that was it. Every time I lunge though, he takes off in a rack right off the bat, so I let him do that if he wanted but he had to play my game then. This new game was called "ok" in my head and it goes something like this: the horse decides he wants to do something and I say OK and make him do it till he doesn't want to anymore and I make him continue no matter what. He quickly figured out it wasn't fun to keep up like he was and by God he walked on the lunge line like I asked him to!!!! This is a absolute FIRST.
Once he figured out I meant business I took him back to the barn and gave him a second before we started part two of my plans for him tonight. Part two was riding and so I bridled him and then walked him out to the arena again. Hopped up on him and decided to see if he would just walk out for me around the arena. HA! He thinks the gate means exit which also means barn and here is where I played the game "ok" again. I started letting him gait right next to the gate at a pretty good clip. The barrels were set up in the arena so I did huge figure eights around those all the while letting him act like a fool next to the gate.
Eventually he slowed down and started to walk and I pushed him forward into gaiting again. I told him when to walk and I chose what gait we went. We ended this when he went the speed I said when I asked.
Now, couple things that are totally different about what I've done so far. Number one was I stayed out of his mouth and let him move. I only guided him instead of being in his mouth the entire time and he was allowed to have rein the entire time to move with. Two was the fact I was unafraid of him tonight even with him moving at a super fast rack and a pace a few times. I was catching some serious air and my butt stayed glued to the saddle despite this. Three was my no bullshit attitude I wanted with him; he totally felt out that I wasn't taking his shit today and in accordance to that he did as I asked him to.
I am VERY please with this ride. I actually felt him and I formed a little bit of a closer bond than we had before.
I plan on riding again Saturday unless we go to the lake. So I'm a little excited. :)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Refusals, tantrums, and all out meltdowns
So last night I get to the barn and figure a short 30 minute ride of working on neck reining and leg aids again would do me good. What did I get when I got there? Oh, lets just take a look here:
1.) Acting like a damn fool for the fly spray. This is AFTER I've put way more time than needed into him with that stuff and on Saturday I sprayed him down with not even a flinch from him. Oh but last night he decides he is going to jump back and forth, try to rear back on the lead rope, and attempt to run me over. Fine. The barn owner held him while I sprayed and after 10 minutes he decides to stand still.
2.) Trying to avoid the saddle pad. This is the only part of saddling that he will flat out refuse. He knows that this part means he is about to work and he gets upset. So it's a tricky game of get the pad on. I had no time for his stupidity last night so I backed him sideways into a wall so he had nowhere to go and put the pad on him. He saddled just like normal.
3.) Once on him he pinned his ears and started swishing that tail. This more annoys me than anything as I know he only wanted to leave the arena and go back to the barn. This is a flat out just annoyance from him and you know what? I just don't care. I really don't.
4.) He would NOT stay in a flat walk and once you asked him to turn, he would immediately start to gait and turn towards the exit. Here is where I wish I had not used the bit I used on him. It was too much bit for this much of a fight with him but at that point I wasn't about to hop down and switch bridles. He was stuck with what was in his mouth.
5.) He also would start flat out refusing to move forward, again, he only wanted to turn around and run to the exit. It had nothing to do with pain, nothing to do with me, but it had all to do with it was evening. About the time food gets fed and everything winds down for the night.
6.) I eventually got a half assed flat walk that was heavy on corrections for a slow down from him. This is when I let him leave the arena and go back to the barn. Mainly because I had to leave to pick up my daughter from the sitters.
Sunday though, I'll have the time to put into him. Smaller bit, riding crop, and lots of patience. He is so screwed because I will work him down till he thinks he can't live anymore and he will do the gait I'm asking for which is only a flat walk. So I guess now, neck reining and leg aids are out. He gets to work on walking. Even if that means it will take me forever.
1.) Acting like a damn fool for the fly spray. This is AFTER I've put way more time than needed into him with that stuff and on Saturday I sprayed him down with not even a flinch from him. Oh but last night he decides he is going to jump back and forth, try to rear back on the lead rope, and attempt to run me over. Fine. The barn owner held him while I sprayed and after 10 minutes he decides to stand still.
2.) Trying to avoid the saddle pad. This is the only part of saddling that he will flat out refuse. He knows that this part means he is about to work and he gets upset. So it's a tricky game of get the pad on. I had no time for his stupidity last night so I backed him sideways into a wall so he had nowhere to go and put the pad on him. He saddled just like normal.
3.) Once on him he pinned his ears and started swishing that tail. This more annoys me than anything as I know he only wanted to leave the arena and go back to the barn. This is a flat out just annoyance from him and you know what? I just don't care. I really don't.
4.) He would NOT stay in a flat walk and once you asked him to turn, he would immediately start to gait and turn towards the exit. Here is where I wish I had not used the bit I used on him. It was too much bit for this much of a fight with him but at that point I wasn't about to hop down and switch bridles. He was stuck with what was in his mouth.
5.) He also would start flat out refusing to move forward, again, he only wanted to turn around and run to the exit. It had nothing to do with pain, nothing to do with me, but it had all to do with it was evening. About the time food gets fed and everything winds down for the night.
6.) I eventually got a half assed flat walk that was heavy on corrections for a slow down from him. This is when I let him leave the arena and go back to the barn. Mainly because I had to leave to pick up my daughter from the sitters.
Sunday though, I'll have the time to put into him. Smaller bit, riding crop, and lots of patience. He is so screwed because I will work him down till he thinks he can't live anymore and he will do the gait I'm asking for which is only a flat walk. So I guess now, neck reining and leg aids are out. He gets to work on walking. Even if that means it will take me forever.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Trail riding
I gotten notice that my barn owner was going to ride on Saturday and she wanted to know if I wanted to go with her. She told me this on Friday... I scrambled to find childcare for Lucille so I could go. My regular weekday sitter agreed to watch her for me for a few hours on Saturday. Bless that woman's heart.
I arrived at the barn at around 10:30 after stopping to get fly spray for the barn. ( I usually buy 1-3 bottles a year that are shared. I use the barn owners when I run out) Memphis and her new horse were still up in the stalls while everyone else was turned out. I took in a good long look of all the other horses out in the field just blissfully eating; they all looked so peaceful just eating and every now and again swishing off flies.
Memphis was still eating his hay; the barn owner had fed him alfalfa this morning since he was going to do some serious work today. He was surprisingly calm for being still stuck in a stall, but I gather part of that was due to the hay in front of him and the fact he has had sooo much good turn out lately. Pulled him out of the stall about the same time the barn owner showed up and pulled her horse out. She made small talk while we groomed out horses, here and there removing any hard spots of dirt that would possible rub while riding. She went on telling me how she groomed Memphis the other day for me and how beat up her horse was. Her horse was a brand new acquisition and he had quite a few battle scars in his short 5 years of life. He was also the lowest horse on the totem pole in the barn, so he was getting beat up still but wasn't too bad off. Just a few nicks here and there, but it was all small and superficial.
I switched the curb strap onto my one ear bridle with a larger bit on it and then removed the roper reins and replaced them with a set of leather six foot split reins. I love the smell of the leather in my hands and the reins are soft from all the coconut oil I've rubbed into them over the years. Split reins are my favorite to ride with on trails as I feel they give me the best of all worlds as far as reins go, but I can see why some people don't like them. Memphis stands and takes a deep breath as we watches me hang the reins and bridle on the stall door next to him. He knows what is about to happen.
I grab the saddle blanket and toss it on up. Fiddling with it for too long, unhappy with its placement. Eventually, I give up and decide that it is where it is going to be. I grab the saddle pad and as always when Memphis knows he is about to go on a long ride, he swings wide over to the stall wall stretching out his lead rope to the end. I walk around him with the pad and give him a smack on the butt while sternly telling him "OVER". He quickly sidepasses, why he can't ever do that under saddle, and I place the pad.
Picking up the saddle and making sure the latigo is not bunched up under the saddle, I gently place it on his back and check its placement. I fiddle with the pad and saddle while he chews on his lead rope. I attach his girth to the billet and then walk around to the other side and get him cinched up. Start to put his bridle on and woops, I put the curb strap on too tight. Takes me 5 minutes to get it all readjusted correctly. We are now ready to go! Find my pink bucket to mount with and up I go.
We decided not to trailer the horses anywhere but walk them to the trails. Its a 30 minute ride there on the roadways but its totally worth it. Memphis did a small spook at a loud truck and was really untrusting of some people cutting limbs but other than that it was an uneventful ride to the part.
Once on the trails Memphis did what he does best, be a AWESOME trail horse. The trail system is being reworked so we had to kinda wing it. We spent a total of 3 hours in the woods. I got some really good gaiting out of Memphis but I did hold him back somewhat. The new trails are CURVY with sheer dropoffs so I was a little nervous about really opening him up. He wanted to go go go but I didn't know the trails well enough to feel comfortable with that.
Near the end I was finally able to relax and drop the reins on the horn of the saddle. Memphis and I started to meld into one unit and he was listening to me without much guidance with the reins. That is what I was waiting for the entire time. I don't know if he was so tired that he just gave into me (probably it) or if we finally started to click, but I truly loved the last 2 hours of that ride.
When we got back to the barn I let him go out in the pasture with a sweaty back. He ran over to his friends, drank some water, and happily rolled in the dirt. I knew he'd roll, but I didn't care. He earned it. I really do love this horse.
Thanks Memphis.
I arrived at the barn at around 10:30 after stopping to get fly spray for the barn. ( I usually buy 1-3 bottles a year that are shared. I use the barn owners when I run out) Memphis and her new horse were still up in the stalls while everyone else was turned out. I took in a good long look of all the other horses out in the field just blissfully eating; they all looked so peaceful just eating and every now and again swishing off flies.
Memphis was still eating his hay; the barn owner had fed him alfalfa this morning since he was going to do some serious work today. He was surprisingly calm for being still stuck in a stall, but I gather part of that was due to the hay in front of him and the fact he has had sooo much good turn out lately. Pulled him out of the stall about the same time the barn owner showed up and pulled her horse out. She made small talk while we groomed out horses, here and there removing any hard spots of dirt that would possible rub while riding. She went on telling me how she groomed Memphis the other day for me and how beat up her horse was. Her horse was a brand new acquisition and he had quite a few battle scars in his short 5 years of life. He was also the lowest horse on the totem pole in the barn, so he was getting beat up still but wasn't too bad off. Just a few nicks here and there, but it was all small and superficial.
I switched the curb strap onto my one ear bridle with a larger bit on it and then removed the roper reins and replaced them with a set of leather six foot split reins. I love the smell of the leather in my hands and the reins are soft from all the coconut oil I've rubbed into them over the years. Split reins are my favorite to ride with on trails as I feel they give me the best of all worlds as far as reins go, but I can see why some people don't like them. Memphis stands and takes a deep breath as we watches me hang the reins and bridle on the stall door next to him. He knows what is about to happen.
I grab the saddle blanket and toss it on up. Fiddling with it for too long, unhappy with its placement. Eventually, I give up and decide that it is where it is going to be. I grab the saddle pad and as always when Memphis knows he is about to go on a long ride, he swings wide over to the stall wall stretching out his lead rope to the end. I walk around him with the pad and give him a smack on the butt while sternly telling him "OVER". He quickly sidepasses, why he can't ever do that under saddle, and I place the pad.
Picking up the saddle and making sure the latigo is not bunched up under the saddle, I gently place it on his back and check its placement. I fiddle with the pad and saddle while he chews on his lead rope. I attach his girth to the billet and then walk around to the other side and get him cinched up. Start to put his bridle on and woops, I put the curb strap on too tight. Takes me 5 minutes to get it all readjusted correctly. We are now ready to go! Find my pink bucket to mount with and up I go.
We decided not to trailer the horses anywhere but walk them to the trails. Its a 30 minute ride there on the roadways but its totally worth it. Memphis did a small spook at a loud truck and was really untrusting of some people cutting limbs but other than that it was an uneventful ride to the part.
Once on the trails Memphis did what he does best, be a AWESOME trail horse. The trail system is being reworked so we had to kinda wing it. We spent a total of 3 hours in the woods. I got some really good gaiting out of Memphis but I did hold him back somewhat. The new trails are CURVY with sheer dropoffs so I was a little nervous about really opening him up. He wanted to go go go but I didn't know the trails well enough to feel comfortable with that.
Near the end I was finally able to relax and drop the reins on the horn of the saddle. Memphis and I started to meld into one unit and he was listening to me without much guidance with the reins. That is what I was waiting for the entire time. I don't know if he was so tired that he just gave into me (probably it) or if we finally started to click, but I truly loved the last 2 hours of that ride.
When we got back to the barn I let him go out in the pasture with a sweaty back. He ran over to his friends, drank some water, and happily rolled in the dirt. I knew he'd roll, but I didn't care. He earned it. I really do love this horse.
Thanks Memphis.
Friday, August 3, 2012
The Barn
I arrived at the barn at around 5:45. Memphis had not eaten and was a little perturbed about the entire fiasco of his stable mates eating away and him being left in the stall. My barn owner left his ration of grain on top of his grooming tub for me to give him whenever I was finished. Nice lady she is remembered that I was coming out tonight and asked her not to feed him since I knew he was about to work.
I pulled his halter off his stall door and clicked open the latch. He waited for me right at the door. As always, I had to look at the halter to make sure that I had it facing the correct way and I was ready to put it on his head. I always think to myself that I should know by now how to put a halter on a horse, but I digress.
For the first time in a long time I never questioned what I was about to do. I snapped him to the lead rope attached to the outside of his stall and did a quick groom over him. I patted his neck and scratched his happy spot on his face. I contemplated pulling his halter off and bridling him that way, but thought better of it since he was already upset he was still not eating.
Sprayed him down with fly spray and then put his saddle pad on. He wasn't happy, but in the end I won. Then goes on the saddle and then attaching the girth to the off billet. Around to the other side. Adjust the pad, smooth down the hair underneath the pad, and then move the saddle up a little bit. As always, cinch up the girth with the latigo questioning my method of tie. I always second guess myself when I get ready to tie it off, why? I have no idea.
Then its the fingers under the girth to make sure it's tightened enough. Yep, two fingers can barely fit. Ok lets move onto the next things...
Find a bucket to help myself mount up on and then place it in the arena while unlatching the gate. Memphis watches me with a curious look from the barn doors. As he sighs, I untie the lead rope and start leading him to the arena. Couple sharp corrections for trying to outwalk me while leading later, we are standing at the front of the arena. I resnap the chain to keep him from thinking of leaving. I then guide him to the bucket and unsnap the lead rope tying it around the cantle of the saddle.
I hop onto my boy and just sit there. I stroke his mane and then scratching his favorite areas while trying to let him know it's ok.
Fast forward to 20 minutes in and I finally feel confident enough to ask him to go. There is a reason I bought this horse.. a huge reason..
I give him a slight nudge with my calf and a slight kiss while moving my hips a little forward in the saddle. He responds like a dream. I gather up the reins and put them up near his neck while sitting up straight and making sure my legs are in alignment with my body. I then enjoy the ride.
HOLY HELL... THIS is why I bought this horse. THIS is what I wanted out of a Walker. THIS is what I forgot about since I gave birth.
He was collected. I was still. We both kinda melted together.
I let him go about 3 bouts around the arena and then I let him flat walk.
I can't wait for Lucy to try this...
I pulled his halter off his stall door and clicked open the latch. He waited for me right at the door. As always, I had to look at the halter to make sure that I had it facing the correct way and I was ready to put it on his head. I always think to myself that I should know by now how to put a halter on a horse, but I digress.
For the first time in a long time I never questioned what I was about to do. I snapped him to the lead rope attached to the outside of his stall and did a quick groom over him. I patted his neck and scratched his happy spot on his face. I contemplated pulling his halter off and bridling him that way, but thought better of it since he was already upset he was still not eating.
Sprayed him down with fly spray and then put his saddle pad on. He wasn't happy, but in the end I won. Then goes on the saddle and then attaching the girth to the off billet. Around to the other side. Adjust the pad, smooth down the hair underneath the pad, and then move the saddle up a little bit. As always, cinch up the girth with the latigo questioning my method of tie. I always second guess myself when I get ready to tie it off, why? I have no idea.
Then its the fingers under the girth to make sure it's tightened enough. Yep, two fingers can barely fit. Ok lets move onto the next things...
Find a bucket to help myself mount up on and then place it in the arena while unlatching the gate. Memphis watches me with a curious look from the barn doors. As he sighs, I untie the lead rope and start leading him to the arena. Couple sharp corrections for trying to outwalk me while leading later, we are standing at the front of the arena. I resnap the chain to keep him from thinking of leaving. I then guide him to the bucket and unsnap the lead rope tying it around the cantle of the saddle.
I hop onto my boy and just sit there. I stroke his mane and then scratching his favorite areas while trying to let him know it's ok.
Fast forward to 20 minutes in and I finally feel confident enough to ask him to go. There is a reason I bought this horse.. a huge reason..
I give him a slight nudge with my calf and a slight kiss while moving my hips a little forward in the saddle. He responds like a dream. I gather up the reins and put them up near his neck while sitting up straight and making sure my legs are in alignment with my body. I then enjoy the ride.
HOLY HELL... THIS is why I bought this horse. THIS is what I wanted out of a Walker. THIS is what I forgot about since I gave birth.
He was collected. I was still. We both kinda melted together.
I let him go about 3 bouts around the arena and then I let him flat walk.
I can't wait for Lucy to try this...
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Memphis update!
I'm happy to say that Memphis is 100% feeling himself again! That was two weeks of absolute hell for me with him being sick and me not going to see him.
I went out Monday night because I had to meet my new farrier and have her give him a trim. She is a barefoot trimmer and a very nice lady at that. He hadn't been trimmed in 12 weeks. 12 WEEKS!!! What a horrible horse mom I am! But he is looking all spiffy now and I'm very thankful that that is done and off my mind.
Next up I need to worm him he is about 4 weeks overdue on that one. I was gonna do it right before he got sick but I couldn't do both worming and then try to pump him full of medicines while he was sick. I'll get him done on Sunday.
Other than that, he has been a very very good boy. The farrier was a little more trusting of positions with him than I would ever be and I did comment on that. She just replied that with some horses she is probably a little more trusting than she should be but she didn't really fear Memphis at all. Which makes sense because I don't either. He is just a big dumb horse that is awesome :D
Other than that, if all goes well, I will ride on Sunday if it's not 100 degrees outside. My limit on riding is 90F. So this heat wave thing has got to end.
I went out Monday night because I had to meet my new farrier and have her give him a trim. She is a barefoot trimmer and a very nice lady at that. He hadn't been trimmed in 12 weeks. 12 WEEKS!!! What a horrible horse mom I am! But he is looking all spiffy now and I'm very thankful that that is done and off my mind.
Next up I need to worm him he is about 4 weeks overdue on that one. I was gonna do it right before he got sick but I couldn't do both worming and then try to pump him full of medicines while he was sick. I'll get him done on Sunday.
Other than that, he has been a very very good boy. The farrier was a little more trusting of positions with him than I would ever be and I did comment on that. She just replied that with some horses she is probably a little more trusting than she should be but she didn't really fear Memphis at all. Which makes sense because I don't either. He is just a big dumb horse that is awesome :D
Other than that, if all goes well, I will ride on Sunday if it's not 100 degrees outside. My limit on riding is 90F. So this heat wave thing has got to end.
Alfredo, trimmed down a little for us dieters..
Last nights dinner was homemade alfredo. Now before you go "OH HOLY SHIT
THERE IS NOTHING DIET FRIENDLY ABOUT THAT" Oh yes there is. Oh yes
there is.
Here is my version of alfredo that is pretty much nothing like the normal recipe.
1/2 box of penne pasta cooked and drained
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
Mix of veggies (I used bell peppers and sun dried tomato's)
3 chicken breasts sliced and cooked
2-3 tabl flour (you can use cornstarch, I am just out)
2-3 cups shredded parm cheese
2-4 cups of 2% milk
1 tabl garlic powder
Melt the butter in a large saucepan and then add in the veggies. Stir around till veggies are cooked. Add in the chicken breasts and then the flour. Stir around the heat for a few minutes to cook out flour taste. Add in the milk and stir over med heat until it starts to thicken up. Add in the cheese and continue stirring then add in the penne and garlic powder.
This serves A LOT if you stick to portion sizes. ~400 calories per 1.5 cup. Make some redneck garlic toast and you are right at 500-600 calories for the dinner.
Here is my version of alfredo that is pretty much nothing like the normal recipe.
1/2 box of penne pasta cooked and drained
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
Mix of veggies (I used bell peppers and sun dried tomato's)
3 chicken breasts sliced and cooked
2-3 tabl flour (you can use cornstarch, I am just out)
2-3 cups shredded parm cheese
2-4 cups of 2% milk
1 tabl garlic powder
Melt the butter in a large saucepan and then add in the veggies. Stir around till veggies are cooked. Add in the chicken breasts and then the flour. Stir around the heat for a few minutes to cook out flour taste. Add in the milk and stir over med heat until it starts to thicken up. Add in the cheese and continue stirring then add in the penne and garlic powder.
This serves A LOT if you stick to portion sizes. ~400 calories per 1.5 cup. Make some redneck garlic toast and you are right at 500-600 calories for the dinner.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Upswing?
Memphis is still coughing. Vet apparently dropped off something else for him yesterday. Some type of iodine powder to give him to help dry him out. I have no clue anymore lol my barn owner has been taking care of all of it and I've been trying to stay away from the barn until this whole thing blows over. That little mother part of me doesn't want to chance Lucy getting anything, even though the chance is remote.
Monday he sees his new farrier. I've only been putting this poor woman off for 3 weeks due to Memphis being sick.... She specializes in barefoot horses and keeping them sound, so I'm hoping this will work out well for him as I really really want to keep him barefoot since I don't really use him all that much. I've literally rode about 4 times since I gave birth...
I'm down 4.4lbs!!! I'm FINALLY under the 200lb mark!!!! My short term goal is to be at 180lbs. The long term goal is 145lb. I need to get my butt back to the gym, I was doing really really well with that buuuuttttt I've been slacking for 3 weeks...
I also keep trying to put money back into savings... BUUUTTTT Memphis got sick, new tires on my car, new brakes on my car, did our stock up on food, and life crap have gotten in the way this month. I *think* I shoudl still be able to put a little bit into savings this month with the goal next month to not let Murphy come out to play; he isn't allowed in my life anymore. NOT ALLOWED.
That's all I've got for today
Monday he sees his new farrier. I've only been putting this poor woman off for 3 weeks due to Memphis being sick.... She specializes in barefoot horses and keeping them sound, so I'm hoping this will work out well for him as I really really want to keep him barefoot since I don't really use him all that much. I've literally rode about 4 times since I gave birth...
I'm down 4.4lbs!!! I'm FINALLY under the 200lb mark!!!! My short term goal is to be at 180lbs. The long term goal is 145lb. I need to get my butt back to the gym, I was doing really really well with that buuuuttttt I've been slacking for 3 weeks...
I also keep trying to put money back into savings... BUUUTTTT Memphis got sick, new tires on my car, new brakes on my car, did our stock up on food, and life crap have gotten in the way this month. I *think* I shoudl still be able to put a little bit into savings this month with the goal next month to not let Murphy come out to play; he isn't allowed in my life anymore. NOT ALLOWED.
That's all I've got for today
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