January 2009

Friday 30th January

It's still very snowy here, crusty snow and shiny very slippery ice on the roads and fields. I've not been able to play with Solly (or any of the horses) while it's so slippery but have trimmed their hooves so that is something good. It's been raining tonight so I'm hoping that it will be milder tomorrow and then the snow will begin to go. We have the last bird shoot of the season on the estate tomorrow so horses will be in the closest paddock with me keeping an eye on them. They're all really used to the shooting and people now so it's been a great desensitization over the year.

Hopefully I can get out and play with Sol next week, if the weather is kind to us.

Wednesday 21st January

Well it snowed a few days ago, we have about 4" of it so I've given Solly some time off. If it doesn't go soon I can probably still go out and play if the snow stays crisp. Just have to see how it goes...again, what I wouldn't do for an indoor arena here! lol ;-)

Sunday 18th January

Mark and I decided to take advantage of the quiet weather (although darn cold) and go for a small play and hack out around on the forest tracks. We first took the horses (Sol and Holly) up to the playfield.

1) Online: Groom and saddle. Play with Circling at walk and trot and COD's at trot. Then circling at canter which is becomming much more consistent and fun.

2) Online: Sideways towards, again needing a bit of help with ph3 with the CS but great when he got it.

3) Bridle and mount up: work on walk, trot and canter around the 100' roundpen. He had a bit of steam to let loose but he was very controllable.

4) Ridden Finesse: Question Box (QB), doing small and large circles, stopping at X. Then small and large figure of 8's. And then for fun I did fig 8's with a small circle on one side and a large circle on the other. He really got these well.

5) Ridden Finesse: QB, circling large circles at canter and then fig 8's at canter with SLC's at X. This is the first time I've attempted to canter away from a rail and Solly did me proud. He really tried his hardest and got the pattern quickly. He was a big 'stiffer' going to the right but I can work on this as we go. Very pleased with this task ;-))

6) Ridden Finesse: Mark and Holly and me and Solly decided it was time to have some fun so we took the horses for a short ride around the forest tracks that I'd taken Sol around in-hand during the Autumn.

I worked him with concentrated reins for his confidence and I did lots of walk/trot/walk transitions and threw in a back up now and then. This kept him really focussed on me. On the way down the hill I asked him for a few leg yields to the L&R and he tried really hard with those for me too.



Only one pheasant flew up but because of the concentrated reins Sol only jumped a bit and carried on. Well pleased. Lovely to get out with him and he was so good all the way around.

Saturday 17th January

Today the sun shone although it was cold. Mark and I went up to the playfield with Solly and Holly. He took photo's of me and then I helped him and took photo's of him. We didn't spend long but it was lovely being out together and he can let me know how me and Solly are looking, if we're progressing well which is always good to hear.

So, today here is what Sol and I did:

1) Liberty: leading by the mane (Left and Right), ears (L&R) and tail...

2) Liberty: Stick to me at walk, trot and a bit of canter...



3) Online: Figure 8's at Canter with SLC's at X...


4) Online: Spins to the left and right. He started out a bit worried but then remembered them from yesterday...



5) Online: Sideways from Z5. A biggie for us, getting into Z5 was worrying for me to start with but he really tries so hard now with everything so this was a good progression today...

6) Liberty: Circling with jumps again, much better today...

7) Liberty: Getting that draw better ;-) ...

Friday 16th January

Managed to get out in a clear 'window' of almost rain free weather! lol. Got Solly and Stormy together and took them up to the playfield.

I decide to try to play with both the horses to see what would happen but they're both LBext and they PLAY BIG with each other in the field so realised this wasn't such a good idea. They did a couple of yo-yo's well but they quickly tried to circle together and when Solly got in front he kicked out at Stormy and they both got a bit anxious, so just stopped playing immediately.

So while I filled my tractor tyre pedastal with earth from the mole hills up there I put Stormy in the 100' roundpen and Solly in the 50' roundpen to graze and chill out for a while.

I decided that with the bad weather my best bet is to try to get much better with our Liberty, so this is a great start to this challenge. This is what I achieved with Solly today:

1) Online: backing up around the 100' roundpen, went about a third of the way around until I got two forward ears and him asking me questions.

2) Online: We worked on Sideways with and without a fence away and towards me. It went very well today so we finished those on a good note.

3) Online: Teaching him this second time to spin online. Last time he got anxious and started moving forward more than spinning but today he was a star and really got the idea of how to spin.

4) Liberty: Stick to me at walk, trot and canter. He usually does quite close circles in canter which is cool but I have to make sure he's not trying to dominate me with those ears back ;-)

5) Liberty: Moving forward and back from the mane, tail and ears. He didn't have much trouble with these although he would often back up before I got to his tail so I had to play LOTS of friendly game to relax him with me in Z4 before trying this manoeuver. Play went well and I was chuffed that he let me move him from his ears.

6) Liberty: Circling. This is a challenge for me as I've not really done much of this with Solly, circling is a time when he could just muck about but I need to see what he does. He actually did quite well for his first real session on circling at liberty in a roundpen. We did some transitions from trot to walk and then walk to trot and also canter to trot and back up to canter again. He was looking out of the circle quite a lot so really emphasised my body language for neutral for him. When it was working well he was actually doing quite a few canter circles. He's getting more balanced in canter now and as long as I 'canter in my body' whilst in the centre of the circle he really gets my energy and puts some effort in too.

7) Liberty: Change of direction at trot. Not very good to start with so ended up playing with lots of liberty yo-yo's until his draw and drive were better.

8) Liberty: Circling at trot with a barrel jump. He didn't want to jump it at all so I pulled the barrels apart so that he could walk/trot through the jump. When I put them back to make the jump he was much better. Easier for him going to the right, bit sticky going to the left.

9) Liberty: Figure of 8's around barrels at walk and trot. Started off not understanding what I wanted but then quickly remembered this pattern that we've done so much of online.

10) Online: 22' line, canter SLC (simple lead changes) with the figure of 8 pattern. He was getting the idea more so I played with this for quite a while, with plenty of rest periods between plays. In the end he was actually doing really well, changing direction and leads through the centre of the fig 8 at trot and then picking up the canter around each barrel. Very cool. Loved doing this, it's quite an achievement for us.

Monday 12th January

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather due to this cold I have and on Tues & Weds there are shoots SO I decided the best thing I could do for our herd was some ET (Equine Touch). I did Tara, Holly, Fortune and Solly.

Solly was VERY mouthy today and it was a shame I wasn't up for playing as I think he wanted to play BUT I managed to do a full body balance ET for him and then for an extra I gave him ET on his face, this is called a Temporo Mandibular Joint session. He really loved it, went all glazy eyed and really totally stopped mouthing me. He was in a state of peace for about 10 mins, I just sat and watched him, it was like he was asleep with his eyes open. His head was nice and low and his lower lip very droopy. I think he really enjoyed it and I'm glad I took the time to get out (even when it was raining) and do this for them.

Friday 9th January

Today started chilly but the sun came out to play and I was determined to get out and play with Solly. I pushed my ATB up the hill, collected Sol and Tara and they followed beautifully up to the playfield.

I started with energy exercises, getting our energy synchronised better. Sol was a bit sluggish to start with but usually when he knows he can be more energetic he enjoys doing so.

I then groom him as a friendly game and teach him a slow, careful spin on the 22' line. This was fun to teach and I had to go really slowly as he thought I wanted him to backup to start with. I then ask him to back up from his tail and then spin again so that he learns the difference.

Next we do some circles and changes of direction at walk and trot. Then I go over to the ATB and saddle and bridle Sol. We try out the cross and tyre jumps, he's a bit sceptical of the same jumps in a different place but he does well.

After a break I next work on driving from Z5 with the 45' line. This goes really well and it doesn't take long for Sol to understand what I'm doing, turns, stops and back ups working okay.

Driving Z5 45'. I need to start working with the 45' line ALL the time as I still find it hard to work with the length of it.

Next I ask Solly to start learning to jump a jump towards me slowly and then go backwards to put the jump in Z5. This is a jump yo-yo and he does well for his first attempts. Must work on this though.

Then it's working on the sideways game. We do sideways away without a fence, sideways with me in Z3, with me in Z1, me in Z1 and Sol circling sideways around me and my favorite 'sideways towards me'. He had a few sticky moments which we worked on but overall he did very well. I love teaching him new things, he has these sticky spots and then I can see his brain working it out and then doing what I ask. He's so clever and really enjoys a challenge, as long as he's got the time to work it out for himself.

So, next up was mounting and working on some ridden stuff. I actually stayed out for 3 hours so this session was a very good one.

I worked on the QB (Question Box) pattern, circling 22' and 45' in freestyle and working with the CS. I kept up each pattern until he felt like he'd got it and then I worked on 22' and 45' figure of 8's on the QB. We did some nice lateral flexions with the CS during this session too.

After this we took a small break and then I introduced the 'Bow Tie' pattern. This is like a fig 8' along a fence line and I use it to prepare for SLC (simple lead changes). So, today I did this pattern firstly in walk to make sure this fenceline wasn't worrying Sol and then we did it in trot. Once he got the pattern I left it so that he didn't get bored doing it.

I next took him to the open arena fence line (made up of blue electric fencing posts without electric fencing) and did some finesse weaving which was great. The poles are only about 12' apart and he weaved through them like a pro.

We then did some figure of 8's around the two roundpens, firstly in trot and then in trot/canter transitions and then in walk/canter trans. We need to work a lot on the walk/canter trans but needed to start doing them, this was a good attempt and will set us up for better things later on.

I decided before stopping to try riding the jumps. I took two slowly, firstly the cross jump and then the tyre jump. He wanted to take a good look at both when he approached which was fine, he then stopped and looked like he wasn't going to jump either of them but with both he just thought about it then picked up his front feet really nicely and jumped them quietly and without overjumping from a standstill. I was very impressed, he went over them very smoothly and LB'd.

Lastly we did some ridden sideways without a fence, even did one set with just the neck rope which was cool. Today's session was great. We did a lot of new things and also moved on some things we'd already been working on. I do so hope the weather stays nice so that we can move on more. I'm really enjoying riding Sol and want so much to sort our canter and simple lead changes. Onwards & Upwards!! ;-)

Wednesday 7th January

Well my family has gone back to England, back for more fun in the Summer BUT I've had a stinker of a cold that has kept me away from the horses again. It's nearly gone now and I hope to be out there again in the next few days. We also have the last 8 shoots of the season, ending on 31st Jan, before all is peace and quiet too.

In the meantime I finally got my Xmas pressie from Mark. To save me taking a car to and from the playfield, taking all the equipment out of the house, packing it in the car, taking it all out of the car back to the house again, he bought me an ATB. This is an 'All Terrain Buggy' and takes ALL of my pnh equipment, saddle, grooming kit, treats etc on one cart. I'm hoping it will be a fun way to take the equipment out and also a way to keep all the equipment together as often I think of doing something but don't have that bit of equipment with me.

I've got all I could want, I think, from 12' lines, halters, 22' lines, 45' lines, saddling stuff, riding hat, plastic bags, carrot sticks and savvy strings, hoof pick, grooming kit, twine, chalk for marking shoulders etc. Going to have fun hopefully. I hope it will be able to go to Stoneleigh with me too as this will really save me carrying loads of stuff out to the fields and back all the time!

Here's a picture of it, see what you think...

Thursday 1st January 2009

Well a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. May this year be full of fun and joy for you all.

No snow still up here so taking as many opportunities to be out with Solly and the other horses as possible. Now that I'm playing back up at the top field I decided to take two horses at a time, this allows me to play with two per day or play with one and graze another but it definitely helps with keeping both horses happy in this environment. They're much calmer with a friend up in this field.

So, today I take Solly and Tara and this is what I did with them:

1) yo-yo's together: this worked very well, both of them working at phase 1 for drive and draw

2) circling at trot: Solly didn't want to go first in the circling but he followed Tara well, kept pace and tried to get her moving faster which was funny to watch.

Sol and Tara circling was fun

Disengaging them back to me was great with them both too ;-)

3) sideways: I tried to get them sidewaysing together side by side but it actually worked much better with one in front of the other and them going sideways with Solly's nose on Tara's butt! lol. It stopped him going forwards that's for sure! lol.

4) circling at canter: this was great, both worked from my energy and when I cantered they both did, great to have Solly geeing Tara on as she's a LBint/RBint so isn't a natural canterer.

Next I decided to saddle Tara and see if I could 'pony' Solly from her. This hopefully will be good when I start riding out this year. Riding Tara and ponying will get Solly more confident about going around the forest tracks and when he's ready I can pony Tara whilst riding him which will help keep Tara exercised this year too.

Ponying went very well, this is what we did:

a) walk and trot forward

b) backups together

c) sideways together with Tara moving Solly over with her body ;-)

d) circling left and right, which was cool, used the CS to move Sol's FQ's over and then Tara's body again pushed him over.

Really enjoy working with two horses, especially my two best ones as they both work of my energy and know the cues I give. Will do more and more of this as it keeps them both keen and exercised with the play.

Me ponying Sol from Tara

Sidewaysing with Sol and Tara together...

...managed quite a few steps of good sideways with no forwards ;-) cool

After this I let Tara go and graze around the field which is her favourite passtime. I saddle Sol in three cinchings, put on his full bridle and mount from a wall and this is what I did with him on his own, working with the bridle all the time now:

1) Question box: finesse/circling 22' at walk and trot

2) Question box: finesse/circling 45' at walk and trot

3) Resting lots at the centre of the QB with good finesse backups

4) Sideways without a fence between the QB cones: very good today

5) Turn on the haunches: both left and right went very well today, not practised this much but he understood what I was asking for well.

6) Turn on the forehand: not so good, moved well but must work on what I do with the reins so that his head is straighter ;-)

7) Very cool canter across the arena. He felt soft, balanced and willing ;-) Excellent.

QB 22' circles at trot

QB circles at trot, focussed, balanced and soft

Really enjoyed today. Felt we were very connected and had fun with the play and tasks.