May 2008

Tuesday 27th May

Today was the third session with Solly and the big blue ball. I firstly played some of the games to see how he was feeling and inbetween playing with the ball I played some other games too which broke up the session. He had stood and watched whilst I played very successfully with the ball and two of our other horses so maybe he got some confidence from watching them as he was a little better today.

I could push the ball away and he was closer to my shoulder this time and also he wasn't so jumpy everytime I kicked it around. I also held it to his nose for him to touch and just waited for him to touch it, this took at least 3 mins, I didn't move and just looked around pretending it wasn't a big deal...as soon as he touched it with his nose I let the ball fall to the ground and went and did some sideways game.

Then after a while I managed to hold the ball to his neck and shoulder and pushed on it, he took a couple of small steps backwards and I pushed it onto him more (horses usually push into pressure) and as soon as he stopped moving his feet I dropped the ball and pushed it away from him. I did this three times on the right and left and then played some circling game and ended the session.

I'm very pleased with how it's going so far. What I would love to see is Solly's curious nature take over from his fear and for him to actually play with the ball for fun, maybe push his nose onto the ball and pick it up in his teeth. So, I will continue the sessions and take it one step at a time. Very pleased today though.

Thursday 22nd May

Today I wanted to keep to my promise of making a 7 day programme with the blue ball with Solly. This doesn't mean I have to go out every day for 7 days but that when I go out and play with him we play with the ball. That could be every day, every other day, once a week, as long as the next 7 times I play with him I do something positive with the ball.

So today I went through the games and put in some more circling with change of direction at trot and also transitions, walk/trot/canter/trot/walk. He did very well with both of these new items but I forgot to do stuff with the Cherokee bridle so must remember to do that next time.

Next we went to the ball again. He seems very very sceptical and worried by the ball. I'm doing LOTS of retreat, approach and retreat again, pushing the ball away, asking him to follow the ball and he did seem better than last time but again no way could I get it past his nose when I held it up. Oh for Pat Parelli to do this for me! lol ;-)

I will just continue slowly and persistently with the ball and Sol and hope that things get better. I'm away for the next couple of days and hope the ball sessions sink in with him whilst I'm away. For now I am really chuffed with his cantering online on a circle, the rope is getting slacker and slacker!

Sol circling at canter

Tuesday 20th May

Today I went out with the intention of playing with new things which was quite exciting. I did the regular games to see how Solly was feeling and then proceeded to try a few new games. The new games we starte were change of direction at walk and trot and transitions on the circle. He did very well with both of those and it felt good finding more things to do with him so that he doesn't get bored with me....I also started to introduce a large blue ball. I've been told the ball and bouncing it and him accepting it over his body will help his jumpiness with birds SO fingerscrossed ;-)

Firstly he seemed to not notice it and I realised that although he's generally a very LB horse he goes RB with new things so adjusted my behaviour accordingly to help him feel more confident about it.

I then stared pushing the ball away from him asking Sol to follow the ball, this usually causes more curiosity but Sol was very wary of getting too close to the ball so I just kept going with it until I felt he wasn't so bad. I then moved away in small arcs bouncing the ball using approach and retreat and not going too close to him. The ball got away from me once and went near his HQ's and he jumped and kicked out at it so I kept bouncing it away from him until again I felt he was more accepting of it.

I then started asking him to play some games around it trying to ignore the ball and then asked him to put his nose on it!

Sol being brave and putting his nose on the ball

He was okay putting his nose on it but worried if it moved when the rope caught it, so I kept kicking it away from him and then went to more games. I played the circling game and asked him to stop at the ball for comfort. He did this very well, so it's more when the ball moves he gets upset. SO, I asked him to touch it with his nose and then asked a bit more of him to see what he'd do.

Standing next to ball okay...'what do you want mum?'

Sol learning to play with the ball with his feet

He really really tried for me asking lots of questions and me just asking him a bit more each time with lots of rests and retreats. Eventually he was happy about knocking the ball with his front feet and watching it move away from him. We ended this on a good note and will make a 7 day programme of it to help him become more curious and brave about things that seem to have a life of their own! lol.

The other thing I tried out was the Cherokee bridle. I always play with Sol's mouth as he has a tendency to be mouthy or bite so I've been asking him to be stiller in his mouth when I play with it. He's much better after being played with for a while for starters but today I put a Savvy String in his mouth and keeping it there calmly until he stopped mouthing. It didn't take long for him to understand what I wanted and then I tied the string around the back of his mouth and played some games with it in his mouth for him to get used to things in his mouth again. This is the prelim of putting the bridle back in his mouth. I want him to fully accept the bridle and take it from me rather than me putting it in his mouth. I with play and ride him in the Cherokee bridle until I feel he's ready to move onto the bit and he trust me enough to not use the bit to stop or turn him!

I just love the way Sol learns quickly when given a good set up to start with, he is very trusting but also quick to let me know if I've done something too quickly with him :-)

Monday 19th May

I was going to go out and play with Sol today but I was quite tired from the weekend and I feel a bit sore still so I just went out and sat out with the herd to 'be' with them and that's all. I have noticed that two days ago Tara and Solly were courting a bit which was cute. And then Sol and Stormy played BIG TIME, so could be the girls are in season a bit at the moment. Sol whinney's a LOT when Tara goes away from the field at any time, they seem to have a very strong bond which is lovely.

As usual pictures speak a thousand words, so here are some pictures of Sol with Tara and then Sol and Stormy playing...

Sol and Tara grooming contentedly

Sol and Tara having a cuddle

Stormy and Sol being boys...

Stormy dwarfs Sol...

I'm so glad it's only PLAY ;-)

Friday 16th May

Well another week has gone by and my injuries are slowly getting better. Elbow now scabbed over and healed, shoulder scabbing over and nearly healed, just sore to touch and butt/back is SLOWLY getting a smaller swelling, bruising more yellow than purple now but still not able to ride or run around much.

But, today I was feeling good enough to go out and play online which was fab. First I played with Tara and Stormy and then onto Solly. He was very much in need of playing with, very on his toes, running around at the slightest thing so I just went right back to basics.

Firstly Friendly game....he was a bit jumpy with the CS & SS on his back so made this a priority to let him get used to this all over again. It didn't take long but when I went to try extreme friendly he started running around on the circle, I just kept playing the friendly game from one side of me to the other and he soon realised that I wasn't 'asking' him to 'do' anything. This was fascinating to me as it's been only 2 weeks but he was really playing big with me.

I also did the extreme friendly game by tapping, slapping his back where the saddle would be as I noticed he raised his head when I tapped him there, SO, I tapped/slapped him there until he lowered his head which he again was quick to understand. Glad I did that as raising his head when I mount could be a learned behaviour!!

I then went to the driving game, his DHQ and FQ yields were good although a bit 'ears back' dominant but I kept doing it until he relaxed and calmed down. His Porcupine was good too but he tried his best to shake my hand from his nose but I stuck with it. He's a funny playful horse, really knows all the tricks but realises I'm a good leader quickly which is good. I'm glad I didn't play with him last week! lol.

Yo-yo's were good, responsive and calm. Circling game...he stopped behind me a few times on the left circle but we sorted that out well and the game went well.

I was getting a bit tired so left it on a good note with me backing him up with me from Z3, both sides. Excellent ;-)

Thursday 8th May

Well the last week Solly was lame, think Stormy or one of the girls kicked out at him. Nothing I could see so just had him on field rest ie. no play or riding. This week he was fine, no lameness SO I went out and played with him.

He was full of vip and vinegar and it was great to play with him. His sideways was fast and respectful, did some of the beginnings of change of direction at trot with him using the fence to get both eyes before the change...worked very well. Squeeze was great and all the games worked well.

I then went and saddled and got ready to ride out with Mark and Holly. Saddling went well and mounting also went well. We decided to take the ride out through a small field and then slowly up the main hill to work their muscles slowly.

All going well, walk and trot responsive and calm but unfortunately half way up the hill a pheasant shot out of the brush squawking right under Sollys face. Solly spun so fast I hit the deck and I cannot remember the pheasant, falling or the journey home. Mark said he put Holly's rope in my hand and he went and got Sol who had just run a short distance in fright. He then asked me some questions to see if I was okay, got the names right but didn't know where I was! eek. Mark then took both horses and led them home which was about a 10-15 min walk. I cannot remember any of the walk home and have slept a lot since then with obvious concussion.

(NB. I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO HOSPITAL AND BEEN CHECKED OUT, IF ANYONE YOU KNOW HAS A FALL DO NOT LET THEM SLEEP, GET THEM TO HOSPITAL ASAP TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NO BLEEDING IN THE HEAD, IT COULD BE FATAL IF LEFT!!!)

I have a big bruise and swelling on my lower back/butt and a large graze on my right shoulder and right elbow but I am fine. Shaken but not stirred! ;-))

So, for now I have to rest and cannot ride but will be back as soon as I can be. Never mind, accidents happen and I'm very grateful that I was wearing my riding hat!!

Whilst the sun shines I will be learning how to relax in the garden and topping up a suntan!