Today was full of flies in the horses field so that when I went to find Solly he caught me quickly as he desperately needed to be scratched in places he couldn't reach. After I scratched him he requested Stormy groom him too! lol
Sol and Stormy grooming away flies
Butter wouldn't melt...Stormy at 17.3hh makes Sol at 16hh look small! lol ;-)
We got down to some play because at least the flies couldn't keep on Sol when he was moving. Driving and Porcupine good, circling very good, some upward transitions thrown in for good measure. Sideways was very very good, improves everytime we do it and then I thought I'd see how he was with plastic bags. Now he's put his nose on plastic bags/flags without a problem but I remembered not to assume anything with horses! I scrunched the bag up small and rubbed it on his face and neck okay but when I opened it up he was VERY sceptical of it. SO, I put it on the end of my carrot stick and then dropped the stick on the ground, grabbed the string end and wandered about the field with Sol following the bag on the stick.
Sol intently following the bag on the CS
Then we had Stormy and Holly come over to investigate. Holly was a little RB but Stormy came and thought it was good fun and this probably helped Sol overcome his fear.
Sol with Stormy and Holly all investigating the bag moving on the ground ;-)
He was worried again about it getting near his legs/feet so I just pulled it about for quite a while, then I would stop every now and then and ask him to sniff it, I waited for him to touch it which took less and less time each time I asked. Then I held it upright whilst walking away from him and shaking it about on both sides of me so that he got a real view of it with both eyes. Every so often again asking him to sniff it. This went very well.
Sol being brave sniffing the scary bag
Eventually I was able to rub the bag and stick on his neck, shoulders, withers, chest and down both front legs. I used the opportunity to scratch him with the bag/stick and it became a good thing.
Rubbing/scratching with bag
And then I left it there on a good note, went and got Tara to catch me and left the field as the flies were horrendous in there and both horses needed some fly spray which I put on at the house.
Just as I was saddling my friend Carina came over and she took over Tara's play and ridden work and I was able to concentrate on Solly.
Up at the play field we did some great 'sniff this' game. Went into circles whilst walking with a squeeze along a fence line on one side, Sol was a bit worried about being too squeezed by the fence at trot and squeezed himself out from the circle at canter but he soon settled when he realised that I moved away giving him more space and then back again when he was calm. Very good game for him. He drove around a fig of 8 nicely and then stood on the pedastal with his back feet again.
I then went into the 100' roundpen again and let him loose with the saddle on and played all 7 games at liberty. I was very happy with him today, he did 3 steps of sideways both ways when I realied just how little asking he needed for this and his squeeze was fab both ways too.
Circling at liberty
After the games we rested for a bit and Sol grazed for a while. I then decided to ride him. I decided to just do some walk along the rail and if when he felt a bit lost or like he was going to take over to a trot I just turned him in an arc and went back to the rail the other way. This was a good tactic and got his mind focussed on me. I then changed tactics as this boy gets bored quickly when he knows the game and I did quick transitions. I counted 8 strides in each gait and then changed so we had walk, trot, walk, backup all with 8 strides. Again he learnt this very quickly and he anticipated changing when 8 strides were taken so we rested on a good note and I let him graze.
The next game I played was to do lots of trot but changed direction regularly by either doing a small arc back to the rail or doing an 'S' through the centre of the roundpen. Our trot and our turns got very good by doing this, my balance was better and my body was in a better position to ask for turns. I put some stop and back up in regularly to keep him focussed on me. Enjoyed this a lot.
I did think about cantering transitions but when I asked he just trotted faster so I didn't push it and thought that taking it slowly is a good thing for us both. Just a note here that I have put a XL gullet into Sol's Wintec saddle now as he has put more muscle on and I regularly check his saddle size to make sure he's always comfortable.
At the end of the session I dismounted and let him graze with a looser girth and then walked him home. I didn't want to ride him down the small road home as the estate has just got in 3000 baby pheasants in the 'cage' near the road and I wanted to be safe than sorry with him passing that amount of crazy birds! lol.
Sol and Tara trying sideways together ;-)After that I got Tara to stand still and I squeezed Sol over a log twice and with both of them being calm I gathered up their ropes and walked them both up to the playfield. They went up well and it was good to Sol a bit calmer because of some company.
When we got up to the field I put Tara in the 50' round pen and Sol and I played the circling game to see if we had upward transitions. He circled well and then we did some figures of 8 around two cones which he was very good at, must have remembered that game from last time. I then circled him with some of the game 'sniff this, sniff that' too. He got this game pretty quickly and was working at about 15-20' away from me so I was very pleased. SO, to relax I put him on the tractor tyre pedastal. He realised he could still graze from here so was fine with that. I then tried to see if he would stand on the tyre with all 4 feet but he didn't get that, but he did put his back feet up and we rested on that so that he maybe can put '2 and 2' together one day and keep all 4 feet up there.
Sol resting with back feet on tyre pedastal
I then went in the 100' roundpen with Sol and put him at liberty to see if we could play some of the games. This is the first time at liberty with Sol and I wasn't sure what he would do.
Friendly game went well, not a problem, stayed in Z1 though.
Porcupine game went okay, he went sideways to start with instead of DHQ but I got it right the second time. Back up from nose was good.
Driving game went okay too, he's good at this one, just did FQ and DHQ.
Yo-Yo game was good going back but harder with the draw, if I squatted down or walked back he came well. Something to work on.
Circling game...well he went off and out on the rail and stayed out there for a while but I waited patiently and then he cocked his ear and nose towards me and I turned and walked off and he came right over at the trot! was well chuffed with this. Just went to the right for today. (Although he did go to the left when leaving from the sideways game!)
Sideways game went well for a few very slow steps both ways but if I put any more pressure on his nose went away from me and he went into the circling game. Came back okay though.
I didn't try the squeeze game, just left it on a good note and went and played with Tara for a while.
Sol circling to the right at liberty
Sol catching me from leaving on the sideways game
When I came back to Sol he was still calm and happy to be with me, caught me straight away at the trot. Cool. I haltered him and went out of the roundpen and played the circling game with one barrel which I asked him to put his nose on everytime he went around, to the left and right. He realised quickly what I was asking and made it look easy. I then went over to the barrel jump and from a walk asked him to go up to it and sniff it, he put his head over and I asked him to jump it and he did this from a standstill which was lovely. Did both left and right for this. Very good jumps, calm, coordinated and very LB'd.
So, a good play session for me, Sol and Tara. On the way home they walked and grazed on the long grasses and just when we got home they spotted some new Highland cattle in a field near our house and so I took the opportunity to back them together and then ask for a squeeze between me and the fence.
Sol spotted the hairy horned Highland cattle! eek ;-0
Backing Sol and Tara beside the cattle field, they did this very well and I almost got all of Solly's attention! lol.
It's been a week since playing with Solly, we've had quite a bit of rain here and the midges have been in swarms so playing with any of the horses at the moment is awkward, I'd rather be wet from rain than be swarmed by midges and I seem to attract the little monsters! ;-0
I asked for a squeeze onto a large log which he did nicely. Then he walked over the log calmly. I then asked for some yo-yo which was very good, phase 1 and he also put his ears forward nicely too. Circling game was a bit on/off so played with that a bit. He didn't have much impulsion and when I tried to do a change of direction he just stopped and pulled back on the line. I worked through that and then we got some nice circles at trot. I asked for canter but he was a bit reticent about that too so I just made a game out of it and only asked for a few strides and then release and stop. He got this very quickly and soon he was doing a full circle at canter. He also circled towards a small log jump and did that very well so walked away from that quickly and stopped and rested. Next I asked for some sideways without a fence and he did this fabulously, he even knew I wanted both sides and turned and went the other way just before I asked him to do it...fab for now but will remember to not do both sides next time so that he doesn't anticipate things.
Good day and I must just do a little everyday with him now, he's in a much better frame of mind if I do that. He and I also are going on a Parelli L2/L3 5 day course in Fife at the beginning of July so I want us to be very prepared for that. He will be travelling alone and there are 5 other students attending, all of whom I know well, so it should be a great learning curve for us both in our relationship. Really looking forward to it and will try to get loads of pictures of Sol during the 5 days.
Monday 16th June
Play with Sol today was good, he was attentive and I was passively persistent in the proper position making sure I was as soft as possible without being a wimp and as firm as necessary without being nasty. I think he really appreciates this. Although he's a LBext and very playful he gets very miffed if I'm not polite with him so I'm really learning where the line for that is.
The games went very well and I was very pleased with him today. I decided that his hooves needed trimming but decided to go for lunch first so let him back to the herd for an hour or two.
Well, when I went back to trim his feet he wanted to 'play' with me. He's not used to being 'caught' twice in one day so this was very interesting. He decided to do the circling game at canter at liberty....he was truly circling me and trying to get the herd going but they ignored him as they soon realised we were playing together and what doesn't concern them doesn't get them too worried! lol.
Sol looking beautiful whilst circling me
He must have circled me for about 10 minutes, both to the left and right which was pretty cool. Then he cantered out of the first field and into their larger one but none of the herd followed so he turned, faced and waited. I stood by the gateway with my back turned and after a minute I asked him to DHQ, which he did very neatly, and then he just came over to me and put his head down. I played lots of gentle friendly game with him and scratched him in his itchy spots.
Then I haltered him and trimmed his feet whilst he stood beautifully for. I helped him stand still too by offering to kill the horse flies that kept landing on him, he thought I was pretty good for doing that for him because before I started doing that he was in a bit of a tizz with them biting him. He soon realised I could be useful after all ;-)
He went back great, circling at a walk then trot and then a bit of canter...very calmly and I was pleased to see my calm Sol back after yesterday. A bit of a 'Jeckyl & Hyde' sometimes, keeping me on my toes for sure! ;-)
Sol having a stand off with the sheep
Sol driving the sheep
Sol stands on the pedastal
We also played some great circling game squeezing over the small log jump and then moved onto the sideways game. Well he blew me away by sidewaysing at trot & CANTER!! All the games today have been calm, respectful and with a loose rope.
Solly with his bridle back on
I used the driving game to walk him to the playfield where we play LOTS of walk, trot and canter circles...again a loose rope, he's calm, canter was lovely and soft and he was listening to me well. We went right around the field and again couldn't find a pheasant to chase! lol ;-)
Solly trotting around the playfield
Next I asked him to jump some logs and the barrels which he did nicely. Then I asked him to sidle over to the barrels and I mounted. I asked him to walk to the 50' roundpen and walk around it on a loose rein and then went to the 100' roundpen and asked for walk and then trot. All going well, when he felt a little 'tight' I pushed his inside ribs over and asked for sideways along the fence and this went well. Lots of stops and rest periods helped him and me.
After this I asked him to trot around the 100' roundpen with the thought of cantering a few strides and using the 1000 transitions technique to keep him focussed BUT as I went around the pen he started going faster in trot and I thought I'd just let him canter when he wanted BUT he went into canter and then BUCKED, BUCKED, BUCKED, BUCKED...fast. I stayed on and got 'big' in the saddle by waving my arms and wiggling the reins A LOT to get his attention and when he stopped I GOT OFF!!!
Well I'm not sure if that was about the bridle/bit or about the 'microlight' aeroplane making a strange noise in the sky above which I only noticed when I got off. I'm hoping it was the microlight ;-)
I proceeded to get big with him and asked for BIG circles, trying to get his energy out and he bucked again and bolted off! I let the rope go and went and caught him when he stopped cantering. He didn't look at all RB, when I caught him I asked again for circles, letting him spend his energy, then I asked for serious sideways along the 100' roundpen where he began to come back from the silly mode. Once I got his attention I rested and when he looked like being snotty again I backed him a lot to get him focussed again. It took a while for him to stop being dominant but we got there and then I drove him back home peacefully.
Saturday 7th June
Sol cantering circles trying to find some pheasants to chase! lol
Sol cantering uphill...where are those darn pheasants when you want them! lol
Sol cantering on the circle beautifully
After I was convinced there was no danger from pheasants I got on Sol and started with trot figure of eights, follow the rail, around our 50' and 100' roundpens. This went very well, he was calm, energetic but with good impulsion. After doing a few rounds I stopped him in the centre of the two pens and asked for a good, calm, straight back up...he was so light it was fantastic. Then I rested him for a few mins.
Sol trotting the rail calm and relaxed
Then I went around the large roundpen and asked a few times for canter, only 6-7 strides but he gave a really nice canter, both ways too. Then again we rested for a while.
After all this I decided to just go through a dressage test I've been practising with Tara (Prelim 10), it's fun for the horse to have a purpose and it was good for me to practise the basic ingredients so that I learn the test better. He did very well, didn't canter but it was his first time with this set up and he did very very well.
Sol and I trying out a dressage test
Then we decided to go out on a short hack around the forest road. This was a slight challenge as this is near to where we had our accident on the 8th May and it's the first time I've ridden Sol since then. SO, I took it really slowly, making sure I was on my balance point and using the pushing passenger position. I also kept his reins short so that I could keep him straight in the hope that if anything untoward happened he couldn't then spin!
Everything went fine on the upward bit but on the way down the hill we saw our friend riding her pony (he's kept in our field with our herd) and Solly and Holly were very on their toes seeing him out there on the road. Sol's head went STRAIGHT up and he tensed, he wasn't concentrating on me AT ALL and it flashed through my head that I needed to get off...so what did I do...I GOT OFF. I felt much better and to get his focus on me again I backed him about 200 yards. Our friend saw us and decided that she would be better off going another way and when the pony was out of sight Sol calmed down a bit. This wasn't RB worried behaviour, it was pure LB dominant take over behaviour so I'm glad I trusted my instincts as if a pheasant or something had come out when he was like that he wouldn't have seen it until the last minute...maybe this is what happened before!
Anyway, after backing that distance I then allowed him to walk calmly beside me and that went well for quite a while. Then we got to the point where my friends pony had left the road and he kept turning to see if he could spot him SO I asked him to go sideways for another 100 yards or so until he got his focus on me again. None of his behaviour was extreme but I wanted him to know that he must concentrat on his leader (ME) not anything else when we're out and about.
When nearly home Mark and I (still walking) went into a small field which I know has pheasants in it and I circled him a bit in that and then as the road in the field was bumpy I just asked him to walk beside me at arms/carrot stick length away. I did this by continually waving my arm up and down with the carrot stick in my hand, this kept him a good distance away so that if he did 'jump' because of a pheasant he wouldn't jump into me or on top of me. We made it home in one piece and he was quite sweaty from a bit of emotion. SO, I soaked him with water and brushed his sweat away...only to see him a little later rolling in the dirtiest, muddiest patch he could find. lol. He's now a piebald! lol.
I had a very good day, excellent ground play and it felt good to ride him too. Very pleased with myself for listening to my gut instinct and getting off when I needed to to preserve mine and Sol's confidence. I think he enjoyed being out and about too.
I will give him tomorrow off and next week after again playing with the ball as just a matter of course I am going to see how he takes to holding the bit/bridle but still using the halter/hackamore for everything, basically this means that I will just put the bridle on him underneath the halter/hackamore and not use it but just let him get used to wearing it again. We'll see how that goes! ;-)
Friday 6th June
Got to play with Solly this afternoon. Usual preliminaries of some of the 7 games and then onto playing with the ball. I'm being more assertive with the ball now, asking him to touch it with his nose and then quickly asking him to move it with his leg. Now that the 'teaching' phase is over as such I'm moving on as positively as I can.
Got him to follow the ball more and played with approach and retreat nearer his back legs always asking him if he got worried to face the ball rather than flee from it. This went very well. I also started pushing it gently to his front feet, which a week ago would have freaked him, but he stood his ground very well and then touched it with his nose.
Then I started kicking it more around him, getting ball more and more towards Zones 3, 4 & 5. Will continue this more as he gets more confidence with it. Today went well and I'm pleased with his and my progress.
Thursday 5th June
Sol wondering what Fortune, Stormy and Holly are looking at!!!
So, I took Sol towards the flag and played around with other things just ignoring the flag on the fence and then I took him up to the flag to see if he would squeeze between me and it and then to see if he would touch it with his nose!
Sol approaching the flag with curiosity
Sol touching flag without a problem
On the right side too, flag flapping about in the wind but Sol fine with it
So after the flag we did some games and some ball work. I proceeded quicker today with the ball, pushed it away from him, tapping it loudly and bouncing it about. Sol played the circling game around it and also put his nose on it fine. Pushed it a bit with his front legs which was good. Then I put the ball on his neck, shoulder and back again and pushed it over his back without a problem on both sides.
Then I kicked the ball around and it sometimes blew into his space and he would jump it, avoid it or kick out at it but nothing too serious. He is getting to realise it isn't something that is going to eat him but it's a bit unpredictable.
It was a good session and this was the 5th session with the ball so all is going according to plan ;-)
Gosh, it's June already, the year is just rushing by...
I went out and played with Sol today, it's our 4th session with the ball and we're getting further on each time. Today, with games inbetween, I managed to get the ball onto his shoulder, neck, withers and back and then pushed it over his back. I thought he'd jump with that but he didn't. So I did it on the right side too and when I pushed if off his back it went over his butt and I got ready for a big buck but NO he didn't do that either! So, it's all about his FEET.
I left playing with the ball after such a good session and brought him up on to have his feet trimmed. He didn't need much done, just some flare really. But he decided that he didn't want to give his back feet well today, kept pulling his foot away and I realised he was being sensitive to a lawn mower noise a few hundred yards away! SO, I went and took him to where the lawn mower was and played serious sideways without a fence (first time properly! ;-)) and backup until he began to graze and I knew he wasn't worried by it. THEN a fish jumped in the pond and he jumped but not anything too serious. Today just seemed to be a spooky day! lol.
After the play session with the lawn mower I finished his back feet off well and then went and let him graze in a nice place near our garden with long grasses. He liked that a lot. Then I put him back into the field and he cantered over to the herd.
It was a good session, I realise I am a little out of confidence with him after the fall and am not willing to ride him yet, there are LOTS of pheasants in all the long grass around the estate we live in so I am taking the time it takes to get my confidence back and for Solly to be more stable about birds being around. In the meantime I rode Mark's horse Holly yesterday and I will ride my dependable gypsy cob Tara to build up my ridden skills again. I will go out with my hard hat and a body protector too so that I get used to wearing these. I will also do a LOT of play in our play field with Solly before riding there so that I feel more confident about riding there with him as there are a couple of pheasants there and a whole field next to it that will soon have hundreds of them there.....I may even play with him there online so that he can get used to them flying around him. That might be fun :-))
