Rear cinches and tarps

Today, I started with Rio. Kendall really wanted to ride him. I thought it would be a good idea to use him for her riding lesson. He has lots of go and is a great listener. She likes him cause he's smaller and less intimidating. I warmed him up on the ground first and tacked him up with my endurance saddle. We went to the round pen and started with the walk. I tried to help Kendall keep her feet parallel to the ground. I also want her to stay on her balance point. She was holding the cantle and I asked her to hold her arms out. She enjoyed her arms straight out and felt like she was flying.

We did a lot of circles at the trot and canter. Her seat got better and she seemed more confident. Rio did such a great job being the lesson horse. He did everything I asked.Kendall really likes him and I imagine she's going to try to talk me into keeping him. We don't need another horse! lol

When she was done I went for Tina. I already had Tina tacked in my Western saddle for the first time. She has never worn a rear cinch before. I planned to spend extra time preparing her for that pressure. She is very sensitive, and I expected her to worry about the rear cinch.

We also worked on desensitization. I had the tarp and I played with her confidence by asking her to smell it, step on it, wear it, and let me stroke her neck with it. It was obvious that she had never done this kind of thing before. So I took my time and we spent about 90 minutes with a tarp and a savvy string. It was all about the friendly game.

She bucked several times while I was working her on the ground. But she seemed to be getting more comfortable with the groundwork and the tight rear cinch. By the time I took her into the round pen, she seemed calm and ready for some riding. I went to mount her and she seemed worried. So I played with her at liberty for several more minutes at all gaits.

She then seemed ready. So I asked her to stand for mounting and she did. Calmly and, it seemed, confidently. Once I was up there, I played with lateral flexion before moving off. She still seemed fine. I then followed the rail and asked her to move the fore. Eventually I asked her to move the hind and that was when she fell apart. My gut instinct is that the rear cinch hit her in such a way that really scared her. She bucked like a right brained horse! And as I laid on the ground after going off she was still fighting the sensitivity on her flank.

I realized right away that the reins were hanging down and just waiting for Tina to put in a hoof them. I asked Chrissy to try to grab the reins before Tina got stuck. Unfortunately, Chrissy got there a moment too late. Tina came up fighting the reins around her leg and landed a my ankle. Ouch!!

I knew my arm was broken from the fall. I hoped that my ankle wasn't broken. I couldn't really move but I tried to stay calm. Chrissy took Tina back to the barn so we could talk about what help I needed. I didn't need an ambulance, but I knew I needed to go to the hospital. She got the horses tack off and took me to the ER.

I have run the series of events through my mind 1 million times. What could I have done differently? What will I do next time? I know a few things. From now on I will always prepare with a flank rope for the rear cinch. I will also play on the ground with the rear cinch tight at least three times before I try to ride. Her reaction really surprised me. I haven't seen her react that emotionally in all her time here. Was it the wind? Was it the detachment from the herd? Was it simply the flank sensation? I may never know.

I realize that this is the stuff that colt-starters are made of. It's not easy. It's dangerous. But when it's done right the dignity of the horse is intact. That's my goal. And that's where Tina and Nina and Rio and all the horses I work with will be in the end.

Closing down a rough week

Phew! Survived it! Hubby was out of town all week and I played "single mom" for 7 days. By day 4, I was developing a twitch in my left eye from not riding a horse for son long. I decided to take Friday off of work to start filling my horsey time bucket. I have hooves to trim, wounds to tend to and horses to train. Luckily, my sister helps so much with the chores - the barn was under control.

Rio's wound is looking much better. It's going to need a few more weeks to close up all the way, but there's not really risk of infection anymore. The stitches came out easily (about 9 of them) and didn't hold very great after about 6 days. They were worth it, the wound got a jump start on the road to healing with the stitches. I think he'll be ready for an easy ride this weekend.

I promised Kendall I'd pick her up from her bus stop with horses so we could ride home together. I took Z and Rain (ponied Z) to her bus stop and waited while the horses grazed. That just made her day!! I put her backpack on my back and off we went. She was all smiles.

Z's face wound is looking better. I managed to get it cleaned up (which she HATED!) and put a lot of ointment on it for healing. It should be better in another week or two. For now, no bits. Rope halter or bridleless only. I took her into the arena and we did about 30 mins of passenger lesson at the trot and canter. I'm so confident with her now, I don't need ever need head gear for her - which is so nice. Her disengagement with just my leg pressure is fantastic! We are also working on backing up with no rhythm in my legs. I want her to feel me sit back and lift my knees and start quickly going backward. I have to make my phase 4 very effective. We got some nice backing moments.

Chrissy came into the arena with Cowboy while Z and I were finishing up. I helped find an even softer lateral flexion response from Cowboy. She's feeling fearful, so just did a few things. After flexion, I tried to help find a softer backup response. Perhaps knowing she has great brakes will help her feel more confident. I suggested she just focus on the backup and the flexion getting softer and softer and not worry about anything else until she's confident she can lead him with confidence. I think if she feels like she's always in charge, her fear will be less potent.

Afterwards, I got Rain's front hooves trimmed - I left her heel too high when I trimmed her last and it was really bugging me. I also got one of Cowboy's front hooves trimmed. The hay was going out when I started trimming and he was quite agitated to be tied up with me futzing with his feet while the hay went out. So, I finished one and set the boy free. :-)

Busy weekend ahead - Tina's first trail ride Sunday, hind feet trimming for Tina and Nina, teach Rain to lay down, ride Gemini and continue L3 online with him, ride Nina with a bit, see how KK feels riding Rio slowly in the round pen, Z - trailer confidence. I also want to work on my "Herd of Two Horses" list - a compilation of all the things a horse can do if he's been in training with me. It will consist of everything I think is foundationally paramount to a horse succeeding a human world.

Oh - got kitties for the barn! They are the cutest and meanest little things! We can't pet them. Oh well, hopefully they'll be catching mice soon.

Pics of Tina in the herd (for you Nanni!)

Nina has gotten along nicely with this little QH gelding named Rio. He's only here for a couple months, but she really bonded to him quickly. Cute!













Here, several from the herd are soaking up the warm Colorado sun. I like to see Nina feel safe resting while the others stand guard. Rio is closest to her, Cowboy is my sister's gray and Abby is behind him. Abby is the mare that Tina has buddied with since early on.










This is a nice shot she and Rio. Rio is covered in mud! The snow is melting too fast for the ground to absorb, so it's been a slosy, muddy weekend.













This is just such a nice shot of her laying alone. My sister gets great pictures! I love this one. I can almost imagine her snoring - she seems so relaxed and peaceful.

Another day of catch up...

Gem first - cod, sideways, stick to me, sideways in the saddle, riding around the property, a scoot spook near the basement, a nice time. Quick ending for some filming with Tina.

Tina - filming her progress and getting pics. She did great - friendly game is much much improved. She can now manage extreme friendly. Nice figure 8's, good circles, some falling leaf, some sideways. Then, riding - practicing turns, disengaged hind, moving the fore, backup. Too wet and soggy to go more than a walk. She had another great session!

Nina - filming her progress and getting pics. Rode her for a long time. Started in the arena - skipped the round pen. Figure 8's, follow the rail, back up, she's doing fantastic. Warm up was fun - over the barrels, falling leaf, had to walk - footing is not good with melting snow. Seeking soft response to rein pressure. She likes lateral flexion and will try to use that to slow things down. She likes to stop, too. Interesting!

Gemini - pulled him out again. Practiced the smile trick and then started spanish walk. Had him bring his hind over for mounting and he had no brace about it. Pretty cool! We went over to the kids playing and took pictures. Then, sideways for quite a while - trying to get him soft sideways. Also, worked on backup and trotting little bits (again, footing is an issue). Practiced spanish walk (very beginning of that) and some more smile. Now, need another trick. He learns tricks so fast.

Z's new wound is ugly. Keeping her separate from the herd now. She's getting in trouble too much with the herd. I'm going to create a 2nd herd soon and she'll go back into a smaller herd.

Catching up

Tina - Friendly game (lots) and practicing yeilding to the halter. Wore a bit for the first time. trotting. disengage the hind, move the fore. sideways on the ground. Huge progress. She's getting more and more comfortable with her tasks.

Nina - easy ground work! sideways coming nicely, maintain gait on the circle, great responses after a few weeks off. Easy saddling, wore the bit. lat flexion is beautiful and soft. Time for a bit. Rode in round pen, moved to big arena and did figure 8's around the barrels. Softened turns, back up, trapsing through chest high snow and wet melting snow puddles. She did beautifully!!

Rain - pulled KK around the front on the sled, all speeds. KK giggling behind as we cantered over fresh snow. Fun! Then, KK hopped on Rain behind me, held me waist and we rode around together. We found a big snow drift and she jumped off rain and landed in the snow on her back and went straight to making a snow angel. Pretty cute.

Gemini - I ran out of time. I was ready to play with him, but the had to go. So took a few minutes and started teaching him to smile. Showed Chrissy how that trick is taught. He was learning it pretty quickly! Cute.

Chrissy - she did some nice figure 8's with Cowboy and some zone 2/3 driving. Then, she tacked him up and decided to just sit on his back. Cowboy was nice and calm for her. I led them around for a bit then she hopped off. She just needs to take things slow.

Zarah - hurt again. I'm moving her into either a smaller herd or living in a stall/run for a while. Not sure what's going on with her but she keeps getting hurt. She put a healthy gash in her face - looks like a kick to the mouth. Poor girl.

Snow, snow, SNOW!!

Managing 8 in this blizzard is a little rough! :-) I will be better setup for the next winter storm. We have about 20" in total, though it's tough to tell because the snow drifts are insanely high. Some of the drifts are 4 feet! The horses have been locked away and they are all starting to look at me a little sideways. They want OUT!

The storm is coming to an end tonight so I let them all out and fed the hay on the snow drifts. I hope they stay warm enough as their winter coats aren't fully in and only a few really warrant blankets (Abby, Tina, Zarah). Most of the herd is pretty hardy in the cold as long as there's hay.

Tomorrow I'll get Rain out to pull the kids in the snow and then maybe Z, too. The kids love that.

I'm dying for horse time. Seriously, been a sorry 8 or 9 days with weather and travel. My mind is turning over all the things I want to accomplish when I can get back to it. Hopefully tomorrow will work.

Quick ride with Z

Had a short amount of time after work to hop on a horse and I chose my main mare, Z. A blizzard was moving in and I knew I'd be struggling to ride for a day or two, so I wanted some quick and satisfying riding. Z was happy to oblige! She can be moody and cranky some days and cheerful and accomodating on others. Today was the latter.

We warmed up and then I tried to jump the barrels with her. She was giving me nose and neck, but not the feet. No worries, we went for smaller jumping. Then, we opened the gate together (we've gotten pretty good at that) - keeping constant contact on the gate at all times.

Then, some patterns (figure 8, question box) followed by some lead change practice with canter departs from the halt. We finished with halp-passing and sideways. She felt really great- responsive, happy, engaged, and eager to please.

We practiced the gate some more before going in. I got her feet trimmed and her left fore has a little wall separation which is interesting since she hasn't had a long wall or a lot of flare. I'll keep my eye on it.

A nice night with my mare!