March 2011

Monday 28th March

Well the day had come, all horses wormed and grass showing signs of waking up SO, time to put our 5 back into their Summer Grazing...YEEHAAA. I think they'll be very relieved to be back in the big space to run around, play and keep out of each other's way, oh and also for grass ;-))

We feed them their breakfast and after our breakfast we halter the boys up (Stormy/Solly) and take them down. Journey very calm, Stormy was very curious about the cattle, they were higher up their field today but didn't move or come towards us. Solly was chilled out and I think the work I've been doing and also the fab ride out yesterday has been good for both of us in these environments.

Stormy has spotted the cattle in the next field, but is good to follow his leader nicely still

Let them go at the top of the field hill, they look around (maybe for the horses over the glen/road who didn't seem to be there this morning) and they mosey on down the hill, then start to canter and then sort of stop to look around them again. Then they walk around, have a quick play and then look for grazing. We leave them and walk back to the house to collect the three girls (Holly/Tara/Fortune).

The boys looking across the glen to where the 'other' horses live,
they weren't out this morning though

Boys having a good run and look around field together

Quick play...Stormy making sure he's top horsey still ;-)

I make reins out of Tara's 12' line and ride her to the cattle field. Fortune was a bit excited so we did lots of breathing out and helping her to calm and walk slowly beside me and Tara. I get off and walk them in-hand going through the cattle field just in case of problems but the cattle all stay where they are and we mosey on through nicely. Out of the cattle field and I remount Tara and do the rest ridden. Fortune just knows the boys are close and whinney's BIG and LOUD for them to hear her.

Fortune, Holly & Tara coming through the cattle field together

Me riding Tara, ponying Fortune,
just before new field and Fortune knows the boys are there ;-)

At the gate the boys are waiting, they're a bit sweaty so have been running around a bit, probably anxious to see their ladies again quickly. Getting in the field was nice, Solly came up to both Tara and Fortune to say 'hi' and help them relax which was lovely. All in the field safely and we let the girls off....Holly goes past us all and leads the herd to the lower section, down the hill and the rest dutifully follow...it was fab to watch. They all spend some time finding their place in the new field. First Holly and the boys hang out and the two passive cobs hang out, then Holly goes with the girls and the boys follow and then they all hang together but very much in their herd order.

Just love it when they all have this big space to do what they want in ;-)

Holly's off down the field to claim her space

The herd...happy, together and ready for Summer ;-))

Sunday 27th March

Woke up this morning to daylight savings time and the sun was streaking in through the curtains...great start ;-) Mark trimmed Stormy's front feet this morning and we get a hack in to the village in the afternoon with the sun still shining down on us...fab..

I start by playing with Solly with the headcollar around his neck rather than his face today, he does a wonderful backup through the gate and then I groom him whilst he munches on some dropped hay by the paddock.



Nicely groomed I then saddle him up and once Mark is ready we set off to the grassland. I play a few games to make sure Solly is focussed on me, his whoa=go, he's flexible and paying attention and also trying his hardest to be obedient...all checks are ticked and so I make reins from the 22' line and mount up.

Mark quickly takes Holly for a quick canter up the forest track to stretch her legs (this helps her settle) and it was good that Solly watched her go, kept his focus on me and kept on grazing and didn't get worried by her going ;-) FAB

Then we just mosey on out. The herd left behind are calm and Solly and I connected well. Throughout the ride he is connected, listening and does as I ask him...I am also calm, relaxed and making sure my seat is deep and my hands are slow so that we have a good time out and it works beautifully. His walk is very nice, not too fast, not too slow. His trot is balanced and rhythmic, sometimes a bit fast but he comes back to me with a very light lift of a single rein and he takes note of what I ask nicely and without getting upset. We also get in a couple of canters which were also balanced, calm, focussed and fun ;-))

Here are some pic's from the ride:

First track out from home...Solly very relaxed and listening to me well

Mark and Holly negotiating a rocky bit of the track

The cattle field,
Mark went up the hill, I walked down on the track

Mark and Holly relaxed and connected ;-)

Me walking through a couple of short bits as gates had to be opened

Mark waiting with both horses whilst I sorted out a gate ;-)

Solly and I keeping it fun, he did SO well today

Solly and I having a great canter...really enjoyed this
he was balanced, focussed, calm and having fun ;-) YEEHAA

Don't you just LOVE the Scottish countryside...
always a mounting block somewhere ;-)

Actually rode through the cattle field on way back
as cattle down the bottom of the field...great ;-)

Just for fun...STORMY's WELCOME HOME ;-))

Just wanted to note that today dear Solly decided he had to take a poop in the village, just before the little bridge and I was totally prepared...I had in my rucksack a plastic bag and heavy duty rubber gloves and I scooped the whole thing up and put it in the bin. I did have once a lady that was concerned about horse poop and the kids around there, we pass the junior school on our way to the shop so I can understand it...just wish she'd been there today to see me taking my clean up duty seriously, as it was it was Sunday after 2pm when the shop shuts and nobody there to witness my good deed! lol

Friday 26th March

Another great day, didn't get time to play with Stormy but managed to ride a nice bareback hack out with Tara this morning, she did more trot and quite a bit of canter today so was very pleased with her Springtime progress ;-)

Tara checking out all the cattle with their babies

Back at home I trimmed her front feet and will do her backs over the weekend. I got a bit tired after trimming so went into the house for some lunch and a sit down. Recouperated I went out and went to get Solly to catch me...I had a nice, quite feeling, the horses were all relaxed and sleepy and Solly came right to me when he saw the rubber grooming mit in my hand....they've been LOVING their grooming at the moment with their winter coats shedding everywhere SO, I abandoned the halter and rope to the floor and groomed Solly. He stood beautifully still at liberty and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Stormy came over when I'd nearly finished Solly and waited his grooming turn. He too stood beautifully at liberty for a full groom and when I was half way through Fortune came up and waited patiently for her turn....our herd are SO cool ;-)

Fortune was very muddy and she is shedding TONS, I got it all over me, in my mouth and all over the place! lol. But she stood perfectly at liberty and really enjoyed herself. I then went and groomed Holly, she was patiently waiting by some hay and I made sure she was moved from the hay before all her hair shed all over it! lol.

Once finished with all the grooming, and groomed myself off a bit, Solly caught me with enthusiasm and haltering was good, low head, not biting the halter or snap either. I then check his DHQ's and moving FQ's before asking him to follow me to the gate where I then asked him to back out of the gateway and today he did it really well, head lowered, thinking about where his feet where going and relaxed and the gateway was smaller than yesterday so a big YEEHAA to Solly for that progress.

So, off out into the grassland for some play...Stick 2 Me, jumping stream and then put your foot on a stone...

Right foot on stone from a distance....perfect...

....Left foot on stone from a distance...excellent change of feet ;-)

I let him graze a bit then for being such a good boy. Then I stood on a medium sized stone and asked him to circle to the left and then the right, when he got a bit too close I asked him to move out a bit and he did this very well, he was looking where he was going well too and found some good ground to circle on that was not too far on the 22' line and not too close either...really got him thinking today ;-)

We then moseyed over to a place where the stream has a steep bank on it, quite sheltered and not a normal place for a horse to drink or hang out so it was interesting that Solly had no trouble going into/over the stream and up the bank, DHQ's and wait and then come back to me a couple of times.

Checking out the stream, crossing.....

....and up the bank on the other side...

...and then back down, over the river to me again ;-))

I then played around with some travelling circles and along the grassland rather than up to the track and mounting block, different route but it got him playing nicely with stick 2 me and circles whilst going down this way. When it started to get a bit steeper we neatly went back to the track...this avoided the normal place that he has sticky feet on when riding him.

We then went down the track towards the cattle field, I decided to walk it with him to keep his confidence and knew that it would be okay to ride back but didn't want him to stop with thresholds that would stop our progress today. It worked well and playing with some stick 2 me along the track before we knew it we were at a section of the track which widens and there is some grazing, so off track we come and I let him hang out, check the cattle in the field, graze and just chill with me for a while.

I then make the 22' line into reins and lead rope and postion him in a gully for me to mount. He stands still nicely and only moves a couple of steps when I am on for a tasty bit of grass so I allow this. I let him graze for a while and just sit on him and then ask him to walk on back towards home. He is very relaxed and I ask for some fig 8's and weaves on this bit of grassland as it was good to make sure he was listening, not wanting to run for home and also to get a bit of connection with him now I was riding....all went beautifully.

So, back on the track riding now, I ask for 6 strides of trot then 6 strides of walk for quite a lot of the way. This helps check he's listening to me, not thinking of home and keeps his focus on what I'm asking him. A bit before the mounting stone comes up I ask him to turn off the track to the right onto a slight hill upwards and this puts us on the way to the forest track, he tackles the hill beautifully balanced and also some fallen branches well and then we walk/trot up to the forest sign and a bit beyond. Working on the fig 8's and weaves we get a good distance up and then come down, back up and then down again. He is very relaxed so I bring him back down the hill and onto the grassland, walking out nicely and then turn right for a nice trot back towards home and then kept him in trot when turning right back up to the mounting block again and up to the forest sign. This is BIG for him, trotting and keeping going over all the track area's we've been working on and he did it very well. I then do it in reverse and he offers some canter again, balanced and rhythmic ;-)

After letting him graze at the highest section of the track we've been on this week I then bring him home and on the last piece of track we have a lovely trot/canter/trot which felt really nice.

Last stretch of hack in canter...

and then trot before halt...

...and a beautiful back up to finish the day off with ;-)
Great ride out, more and more confident and
more fun each time.

Thursday 24th March

Well we're certainly getting through March quickly...can't believe we're nearly at the end of it already and today was very Spring like. Nice warm weather, very soft breeze and sunshine that made me smile the whole day. I had the plan of doing as similar as yesterday as possible but making sure there was some progression with each horse and basically this was what happened, just took Tara out for her ride first as the opportunity to do it came up and we went for it.

My friend Jan was shepherding some sheep up to the moor for grazing and I decided that after they'd gone it would be fun to follow her up there, see what Tara made of the sheep smells and if we saw Jan on her quad bike the better as Tara can be sceptical of quad bikes. Didn't get to see Jan but Tara trotted most of the incline up to the moor and then we sat up there for ages whilst she grazed a bit and chilled out with me. Her ride was more trot throughout today and that was great...also had two fabulous canters.

Tara and I chilling on the moor

After a short break I went and asked Stormy to catch me and he actually did this very quickly today, backed out of the paddock and I did exactly what I did yesterday and groomed him on a small hill whilst he grazed. We then went onto the grassland to play. Jumping was good today, not much hesitency at all and he was picking his back feet up better. His circling again was better, to the left he did 6 laps to get the two good ones in walk and to the right he did two laps straight off! great. I made sure he had lots of doing nothing after this and he was very happy to just stand with me, his chin often just resting in my hand...I feel we have our 'connection' back and I could see he felt it too ;-)

I then moved on over the grassland doing some Stick 2 Me w/bk/w/bk/w and putting in some sideways. He also sidled up to me when I stood on a stone really beautifully...it was one of the things I really taught him early on and he remembers it well. Then we did some travelling circles with w/t/w/t transitions and asking him to stay in trot for 2 laps....he has an easier time doing trotting circles as he's more often LBext so using energy is easy for him. Later on I will do more on shaping his trot circles so that he is flexible with his ribs more, he's so used to straight lines and even now the 22' line can seem short for him as he's 18.2hh now. Once he's lighter I think the 45' line will become his best friend.

Exuberant circles in trot, he's working better from his HQ's now he's older

Slight incline with trot circles and look how he uses his HQ's on this one...wow!!

So, now whilst doing these we end up at the mounting block stone again...will he stand on it today?...oh yes, not a problem with that one...it's now STORMYS STONE. lol

Stormy's Stone....

....and unbelievable that he chooses to get off it confidently this way !

Another rest and some big hugs and then to progess our play I decide to take him further up the track and he gets excited about this so I put him onto travelling circles again, he gets to move his feet, I get to COD if he changes gait and then we get down the track as well ;-) He does very well, on the left of the track is a ditch which he has to jump and on the right is a slight incline down wards with stones and grass tussocks everywhere SO keeping gait, direction and look where he's going was all taking place with this one.

I turn around and keep circling as he relaxes and then I DHQ's and we mosey back along the track and I just move his FQ's around to keep him connected to me. At the field I back him through the gate and this is now becomming SO much nicer. I took him back to the herd and asked Solly to catch me (he played a bit of pretending he needed to move one of the mares around but then came and caught me as I was following them and not going away). When I haltered Solly I did some porcupine game with moving his HQ's away and then driving FQ's away and getting some really nice responses, I then looked up and Stormy was rolling again....he just likes being muddy this boy.

Stormy getting up from his muddy roll! ;-( hey ho

So, with Solly in hand I backed him out of the paddock, groomed and saddled him and then went to play. Same things as yesterday, jumping stream, sideways along track, travelling circles and then can he stand on the mounting block??? well he managed his front feet but couldn't figure out his back feet so I left it on a good note and will try all 4 feet another day, very pleased he could stand without moving about or trying to get off for so long and that was a good progression with this.

Solly standing on stone...I think he enjoys the stretch ;-)

Then I stood on the stone and mounted him, sorted out my rope, LF, DHQ and moved off. We went down the track a little way, he did better than yesterday and I made sure he kept his feet moving with weaving around the track and when I felt we'd progressed down this track well I turned him off the track to the left and up onto the grassland that leads to the forest track and just kept him moving, forwards, to the left and right...up the hill and down progressing up the hill more and more. He was worried about the 'squeeze' bit of track and I didn't push it as he really couldn't go forward on this part (I think the deer are having their babies at the moment too, the dogs found this part of the track this morning very interesting! and I'd hate to frighten a baby deer or Solly for that matter!) So, I kept going to a good point, moving it forward and then coming back down the hill a bit as a positive retreat. It worked well and kept his confidence at all times ;-)

Then we came down the hill completely, went onto the grassland for a bit, turned right towards home and then right again up the track back to the mounting block in trot (large triangular shape), near the mounting block I focussed in my mind the yellow forestry sign and went straight up the forest track still in trot and stopped only when at the sign for a rest and graze. FAB.

Then back down again, along the track to home, turn left on the bottom of the triangular shape and then left back to facing the mounting block where I ask him to trot to the block...near the end he offers some canter strides and I take them gladly ;-) again at the block I focus on the sign and go straight in trot to the sign for grazing again. I think he's getting the new pattern! lol.

Then I just come down the track and head for home and at the last part of the track home he trots and canters again for me ;-)) very calm, rhythmic, relaxed and happy (that's both of us! lol)

Solly and I cantering home...yeehaa

I then took him back along the track a bit and came home with some 'shoulder-in'...well I hope it is, I asked Mark to photograph it for me to see if what Sol is offering actually is SI! from what I remember seeing I think it is SI and I'm very pleased with it....pic's below ;)

Such a great day, three horses again and sunshine the whole time...
who could ask for more.

Me and Solly after a good session

I untacked him and then put his apple treats on the tarpaulin covering the hay and played the friendly game with it, asking Sol to get the apple for himself...we also did some sideways around the tarped hay to get each piece with were placed around the edges ;-)

This piece of apple was on the side he's standing but
he pushed it to the other side before grabbing it! lol.

Wednesday 23rd March

What a glorious day today, the sun was trying to shine, the breeze was almost non-existent and the horses were all calm and relaxed in the paddocks. Today I decided that I would try to play with Stormy first as this seemed to really help calm the whole herd and made it easier when I took Solly out. SO, he was just hanging by the gate and I went and asked him to catch me...now I could have just gone and caught him as he would stand and wait for this BUT I wanted him to participate in the catching more now so I stood about 20' away and asked him to DHQ's. He did so very nicely, neat and without moving a step forwards (clever boy ;-).

I then asked him to draw to me, he did a bit but then he sort of went off track and I could feel that he was going to just bomb past me to play so very quickly I turned away and went and talked to Tara and fussed her. This reverse psychology worked on Stormy as he just stopped dead and looked at me. I kept fussing Tara until I felt Stormy was 'off' his play quest energy and then I walked up to him and asked him to DHQ's again and draw to me...excellent. Then to test that I really did 'have' him connected to me I asked him to Stick 2 Me at liberty to the gate and then I gently put his halter on with his head being low and calm. If he's not calm and wanting to play and run off his head very often will go up and high! Good test to make sure he's calm before haltering.

With the halter on I open the gate and then ask him to DHQ's with me in Z1 and back through the gateway. He has a little trouble getting squared up to the opening as I made the opening smaller than yesterday...gives him something to think about ;-) But he goes back well, all the way to the end of the 22' and then I close the gate, turn his HQ's and ask him to walk with me to a little hillock outside the field. I choose this hillock on purpose, he can graze, still see the herd and also from the top of the hillock I can groom him without stretching beyond my arm stretch (he's a very big boy! lol). He enjoys the grazing and within minutes he's mud free and looking like a horsey instead of a mudhog again. lol

So, time for some play. He's a bit sceptical about leaving the herd, been in the winter paddocks too long without going out really so a bit herd sweet but he does some good yo-yo's, touching posts with his nose, standing on stones and using his mind to focus our connection. Then we come to the stream and I ask him to go across it, he's very sceptical about this which shows he's not relaxed about it as he jumps the same stream further up hill in the paddocks all the time.

The first jump he does he doesn't focus very well so I stay with it until he's truly looking at what he's doing and not hesitating.



Soon he's more relaxed and taking note of where his feet are with the jump so I move on with some circling game. Today I again ask for two laps of circle in walk and it only takes him about 4 laps to get two good ones without him stopping (L&R), this is a HUGE improvement from yesterday so I will continue testing the two laps and then when he's getting it consistently I will up it to 3 laps ;-) I usually find that the horse can read my mind about how many laps I want, Solly and Tara do this all the time BUT they are older horses. I got the feeling when circling Stormy that he truly didn't understand what 2 was, so I asked for 1 and then asked for another 1 to get the two. I picture the symbol in my mind and made sure that when he'd done the 1 + 1 I put the symbol of a 2 in my mind for him to recognise it later on ;-)

So, on we went with some circles, sideways along the track and letting him only graze when I found a good spot for him. Soon we'd arrived at the mounting block and I wondered if he'd put his nose or feet on it for me, being a LB horse he LOVES to put his feet on things.

Yup...two feet are not a bother even with such a BIG stone as this...at least it wouldn't move or break under his vast weight! lol...in fact, he decided that it was good enough to put all FOUR FEET on! lol



He's such a cool character, isn't he a clever lad....very proud of him. He actually walked off this stone forwards....so glad he's big enough to do that, it was one BIG stretch that's for sure.

So I decide he's had a great session out and we mosey back together at a slow walk which gives him time to graze some of the new grass all the way back to the stream. At the stream I take the opportunity to positively reinforce his jumping over the stream again...first time is a bit sticky....



BUT the third attempt really shows he's relaxed, willingly obedient and with good impulsion as he sits right back on his haunches to do it ;-) Fab stuff and so glad we did this to help him get this good result.




Just a couple of touch it's with his nose and backing into the paddock again and his session was over. Very good session, he was connected, herd was calm whilst he was away and we got some great, fun play from him without it being about running about and being silly.




Next I was going to take Solly out but he was being silly with Stormy back and Tara came up and I thought 'well, why not take dear Tara out for a short hack out and let her find some grazing at two or three spots along the way' and this is what I did. I groomed her and put the bareback pad on and then off we went...great short hack, grazed next to the cattle field and up the forest track on the moor and she was energetic, fun and relaxed the whole time...love this girl ;-)




So, then I went inside for a quick bite of lunch and some water and then back out to see if Solly was in the mood for a play/ride session...he very much was. I'm not sure if by working with Stormy first the whole herd was calmer or that Solly thought he was being left out with me playing with Storm and Tara first but he came over with a 'me now please mum' look on his face.....cool, I love that face. He haltered beautifully and backed out of the gate well.

I took my time grooming him, he was caked in dry mud from yesterday and it was nice to spend this time with him. I then saddled him up and went off to play. First it was sidepassing along the house track, turning directions twice along the way (to turn I DHQ's and then move his FQ's over without me moving where I am, the track keeps my focus on whether he's drifting forwards). His sideways was much straighter today and I take that as him being more relaxed, obedient and flexible....just what I need.

I then take him to the stream and ask him to go across it just like I did with Stormy. Solly has been doing this for a few weeks now and is so relaxed about it he just 'walks' across it rather than jumping (sometimes he's real lazy! lol)



I ask him three times to cross the stream and the third time I put a bit more energy into my life and he actually jumps it in a very calm manner. Fab.



Next we work on circling, moving circles and circles with a ditch where I ask him to stay in gait even though he's going up and down, in and out of the ditch...he does very well and this helps improve his balance immensely so it's good to challenge him with it every now and then.



Just on from the ditch is the mounting block and again, like Stormy, I ask to see if he can touch it with his feet. Solly is much more sceptical about putting his feet on things, they have to be very solid and he has to really trust that it's a sensible idea to do this SO when he offered to put his two front feet on it I was very very happy that he felt comfortable about this.



We played around with the stone and his feet for a few mins actually and then he offered to stand on it and I wondered if he could tell that Stormy had just done this too? I'm sure horses can smell other horses feet and he was smelling the stone a LOT before doing this SO I think he knew Stormy had put all 4 feet on it...then he just did it too ;-)



He wasn't up there long, I only just got this piccie of it and he was very good at going backwards to get off without fumbling or rushing it. We'll try this again another day but didn't want to ask again today, let him lick and chew on this and keep his confidence and one day he'll just jump up there and show off.

SO, at the mounting block, horse and human calm, confident and ready to go So I stand on the block and mount. Solly stands beautifully still and I let him graze whilst I sort out my lead rope. I then check my LF and DHQ's L&R...fab. Off we go.

My idea today was to ride where we walked yesterday and so I face down the track towards the cattle field but Solly stands firm and won't go forward...immediately I turn him left and then right to unstick his feet. My one rule when riding him now is that he stands still only when I say he can, I am not letting him just stand and stay...by going left and then right it really unsticks his feet, gets him 'rein connected' to me and moves us on BUT he really is having sticky feet about going down this track SO I decide we have three ways to go (1) to the cattle field, maybe not today (2) home, not going to happen until I've ridden SOMEWHERE and (3) up the forest track...so forest track it is.

I use the L&R manoeuvres to weave up the track trying not to stay on the track path for long as it's on the track he gets sticky. We go up hillocks, over poles, around grass tufts and all the time I'm staying in balance with him and we're moving up the hill without him really knowing we are! I often take the opportunity to go back down the track a bit and then go up again reinforcing positively the bit we've already done without pushing him too far upwards at one time. This strategy really works for him and we get to quite a tight section, his head goes up a bit but I keep the game going and when he blows out half way up this bit I turn him and weave back down again.

I walk down the track towards home, turn left before the last bit and then double back on myself and trot back to the mounting block. His trot is rhythmic, calm and very sittable-to...enjoying my new seat saver too! lol. Then I turn for home and take the whole track home instead of trotting up the grass back of the hillock, this is the first time we've ridden this and he does it beautifully, calm, rhythmic trot, nice expression and very relaxed ;-))

Really enjoyed myself today, three horses, all calm, confident, relaxed and did some nice progression with all of them.

Tuesday 22nd March

Well today I had a faint plan of taking Solly back down the track online and riding back (if relaxed) as I tried yesterday, making this a 7 day pattern plan! As with most plans I needed a secondary one as when I was putting out Sol's saddle and grooming kit they were laid down having a snooze with Stormy watching over them. I decided that as Stormy seemed interested in playing (he came over to the gateway for some fussing) I would maybe take him out for a short play on the grassland, let him graze and still have time to do what I wanted with Solly!! oh, the best laid plans!!! lol.

As I went into the paddock Stormy looked at me but wasn't much interested in catching me so I started asking him to 'keep with me' with some DHQ's and tried to draw his FQ's.....in this nan-second HE WAS OFF....cantering up to and around the herd, gathering them up and inciting them for some cantering around with him. He took them all up hills, over two boggy streams, down the other side of the paddocks and around the fenceline of our 2 acres, around and around, waiting whilst I calmly caught them up and moving off when I asked him to be caught about 6 times. They had a huge play, Tara managed to get out of running around with her sister Fortune by hanging out in a corner...they both came up to me to 'check in' with me that it wasn't them being naughty ;-)

Stormy and Solly were rearing and generally kicking up their heels the whole time and I noticed that when they stopped near Holly (herd leader) Stormy would press up against her and nibble her bum...she was having none of it. It was almost like he wanted the herd leader to interact and get rid of the predator too but Holly is a great leader and knows very much that he was being naughty when the human/leader came to catch him. After they'd ran about quite a lot Solly managed to tear himself away from Stormy and Holly and reassured me that it wasn't him either that was being naughty but he was just doing what the herd did! When Stormy started off again Sol couldn't hold himself with me any longer and he dashed off after the dust from Storms feet. lol

Eventually Stormy realised that I may not be as fast as they were but I was very persistent and wasn't going to just let this go, he needed to catch me to receive any respite from cantering and galloping about like a banshee. He did just this and came over to me, a little fast, but in a non-threatening way and relaxed immediately. He was very very sweaty and I just played friendly game with him with the training arm and string I had with me. I let him rest for a long time to reinforce his good behaviour. I then asked him to let me put the halter on, with his head lowered, and he obliged very nicely...I think he realised that I wasn't going to tell him off, this was the best place to be and that after moving his feet for so long it was good to be with me ;-)

So, halter on, I decided that some small manoeuvres would be good to start us off, plenty of release and relaxing with me all the way. I first played some driving game, DHQ one step, then another. Move FQ's one step, then another. All very small and rewards of rest a plenty.

Next I asked him to Stick 2 Me up the small incline, w/bk/w/bk/w/h. He was really listening to me and it was nice. His energy was very down and so the next game was sideways away from me without a fence, L&R...fab. Then sideways and put your foot in the tyre...fab. Then more sideways but over the tyre this time.....pretty darn good ;-)




I then played around with sideways towards which was nice and circling. With circling (not his best game, so must improve this year) all I wanted was TWO laps in WALK...he couldn't do it. He kept stopping at almost the exact one lap point!!! SO I just patiently and persistently asked him for the two laps and to get those two good laps he must have done about 30 bad ones!!! (on both the L&R circles) silly boy...but it was only walk and I just wanted to out-persist him as he's got into some habits that aren't progressive.

Once we got these nice circles I tried backing him through the gateway a few times and then let him graze the hay on the ground. Then I asked him to back up a few strides, DHQ's two steps and then move his FQ's without me moving so that I started in Z1 close and he put me in Z3 from a distance and then I let him graze the grass. He does these very small, intricate manoeuvres very well and he was totally focussed and relaxed.

When I put him back into the pasture he went straight away to roll in the nice soft mud to help with his slightly sweaty body! lol

Oh the joys of mud with a white horsey! lol ;-)

So, after all this play with Stormy, which I feel he really needed as he was behaving like a wild horse and not taking much notice of any communication, doing his own thing and all winter he's been allowed to do this as not much play happened for any of them. I feel he is now back on track and it's great to see it doesnt' take long, he loves interacting with humans but it's got to be on my terms, he's too big, too extravagant and too wild when he plays BIG...he can do that with Solly and not me thank you! lol. Still plenty of time to do Plan A with Solly so I decided to do just that, exactly what I did yesterday with the added walk from the mounting stone to the moor on the forest track. He was very very muddy from rolling too when sweaty so no riding today, but it was good to take him on the track, driving from Z3 and being a good leader with some stops for grazing and some 'touch its' with his nose so that the whole walk out was a big Point 2 Point ;-) Everything went well, no hitches, no tantrums, no pulling or trying to go home, very few stops, no fizzy feet or prancing about...great. Wont' do a write up as it was basically a better version of yesterday so here are just some pic's from the walk:

'Touch' the post with your nose

'Touch' the tree with your nose

'Touch' the sheep fence with your nose

'Touch' the gate with your nose

'Touch' the gate sign with your nose

'Touch' your Z5 to the gate ;-)

Take two feet only over the pole and sidepass off it ;-)

'Touch' the forestry sign with your nose

Relaxing with a good graze just before heading homeward

'Touch' the mounting stone with your front feet....COOL ;-)

Backing back into the paddocks at home ;-)

Monday 21st March

Teaching over weekend but now back to a week of getting on with Solly. I managed to get out around 2pm today and he caught me slowly but with an ok attitude. I took him out of the field and groomed him whilst he had some grazing, he was muddy and loosing lots of winter coat so I know this helped us re-connect after the break. Then saddled and went off to play:

Backup/Sideways:
I just started on the track to the house for a change and asked him to backup then sidepass a bit, then backup and sidepass a bit (pnh call this 'rolling rock') and it really gets the horse focussed on the handler. He did this the whole way down the track and at the bottom he got a grazing reward.

Stick 2 Me:
On the track past the house to the grassland we did w/bk/w/bk/w/t/w/t/bk and then a quick squeeze over the burn (stream) which he had a good think about as the landing was uphill rather than flat...he did it okay though.

Circling:
All the way around the grassland I asked for circles with transitions (w/t/w/t), some COD's which he did well and making sure he stayed out at least 20', looked where he was going and stayed in gait...he did quite well considering the ground is so lumpy bumpy.

Stick 2 me again:
Next we walked down the track as my aim is sometime this week to ride down the track to the first metal gate (where the cattle are) and ride back with relaxation, confidence, calmness and focus. The stick to me w/bk/w/t/bk/t etc went very well and by about half way down the track he was very connected to me and not looking at all worried by the terrain or trees or anything.

At this point we got to see the cattle, they were pretty far away down the bottom half of their field and I just ignored them and kept Solly moving until we found some nice grazing and I let him munch away. There was also a landrover and farmer in the field as the cattle are birthing calves right now and Solly noticed them quickly and put head up high but I just ignored it all and stayed relaxed. He quickly went back to grazing.

Circles on a hill:
This went pretty well, the hillock was steepish but not too long and he did circles to the L&R well, kept his balance, looked where he was going and didn't trip over any of the tufts of grass or stones that are around this area...he also started blowing out and relaxing even more.

Mounting:
After such a good walk and play down the track I decide that it's time for a ride home and set myself up on a high verge and play around with sidling Solly up to it, rocking his weight and then stepping up and down in the stirrup...changing his side without me moving and doing the same on the other side. I did this 3 times so that he's used to mounting on both sides whilst looking in both directions ;-) He moved around a little bit but settled quickly when I persisted patiently with where his feet were. He also tossed his head a couple of times and I know from the past that this often means he's becomming impatient and will be up in energy when I get on which is why I did so much mounting practise, by the end he was relaxed and I thought okay to mount!!

I mount and relax and he starts forward, I gently bring him back to where I mounted and asked him to stand still whilst I sort out the lead rope from making reins from the 22' line. He moves forward three times each time a bit more insistent that he is allowed to move and a bit pushy with his head on the reins when I ask for patience and a bit of obedience...he didn't want to be willingly obedient today, maybe wanting to rush back to the herd SO I thought once about getting off and then did so and started going back along the track with some long sessions of gentle sideways, backup and sideways the other side again (falling leaf). He gets half way home and I can tell he's starting to relax as his sidepass is getting much straighter, not his head trying to run off which makes it look like his HQ's are trailing!!!

I'm glad I got off and helped him relax online. Once he was happier I went back to a verge and did the mounting on/off again from both sides. He could stand still better here although a noise from the forest (squeaking tree from the wind!) made him uptight for a second or so.

Riding:
So, after all that palava I do some riding circles in walk and fig 8's all the way back to the home track where we do the last uphill bit in trot with a couple of yo-yo's thrown in (trot/bk/trot/bk) and I call it a day.

Not exactly what I was looking for but I'd rather build our confidence about doing this short hack together rather than blow it. Again he's going to need me doing this regularly until it's a positive pattern so this week hopefully I'll do exactly the same each day but with more riding! lol.

Solly and I coming up the home track

Solly and I doing some nice, light, relaxed backups

Friday 18th March

Managed to get out with Solly in the afternoon, he came and caught me with a lovely look on his face, ears forward and willing to spend time with me.. I took him out of the end paddock and played some nice games:

DHQ/FQ:
Only asked for a step or two to start us off gently and he was very good, light and placing his feet correctly.

Sideways:
Asked for sideways without me moving and he did 10' one way, then move his HQ's over and sideways towards me as straight as he could. Then to sideways away from me the other way...good connection and I didn't move once ;-)

Circles:
Started at walk and once he started stretching down with his head/neck I asked for trot. He did trot nice and then asked for transition down to walk...very nicely done. Then I asked for DHQ/stop and then back out at trot, COD's and then combo's of transitions, cod's and up into canter. Canter was harder, he seemed quite unbalanced and also we were on quite a bit of lumpy ground so didn't persue that long.

Back at the house fence I groom and saddled him (with new Seat Saver!! :-)) and then went out and played a bit more to settle the saddle and cinch up. We played circling again but this time while I walked along the small stream and this meant that Solly had to circle and jump the stream twice on each circle. We changed direction once he jumped the stream calmly and balanced. SO he got to circle, jump L&R.

Then I did some Stick 2 Me w/t/bkup/t/w/bk and finally I stand on a rock and ask him to sidle up to the rock for me to mount. He was very interested in grazing and I took advantage of that and just sat on him after mounting for a while.

Next I asked him to walk off, he tried to snatch at grazing so I persisted until he walked off and we started some nice ridden circles, fig 8's and then up into trot now and then too. I have to be careful in this grassland area as it's very lumpy and cannot demand him staying in gait as he just has to change to keep his balance.

The wind started to get up and it was getting cold, also Stormy in the field was running around with Spring fever...such a distraction. lol. SO, decided to head for home, the last piece towards home is slightly uphill so I ask for a nice trot and his trot is fab. I stop at the gateway, rest and then ask forhim to walk back down the hill...walk along the track a bit, turn and repeat the trot back up the hill. We do this three times, changing the route down, along and back up each time and then I finish the session and dismount.

Not a very long session but very positive which was great.

Thursday 17th March

Today I spent some undemanding time within the herd and then spent an hour + grooming them all, they're moulting BIG time so they really enjoyed it ;0)

Wednesday 16th March

Woke up to a bit of snow but it's calm and believe it or not we have stunning, beautiful SUNSHINE...so before it dissapears Mark and I get Holly and Solly and get to the Summer grazing/arena field by midday with the video camera to film my two OLHA tests (on line and liberty). The sun just makes everything seem nicer doesn't it ;-)

We get there without any cattle incidents, they were pretty close going along the track but a dry stone wall was between us all and it went well. Once in the grazing field we again let Holly and Solly off to blow off some steam and they run down the hill but that's about it....they found some grazing pretty quickly as the bottom of the hill was snow-less and whilst they did that I put up the flappy obstacles (flags, bunting and curtain).

Solly clean when I brought him down,
before he rolled in the mud just mins' before filming!

I then bring Solly into the arena and play about with a couple of obstacles to see how our connection is today..not bad and then I ask Mark to just film us and we go for it. The on line test we did twice, the first time I got too close to the barrels again and he had trouble getting straight and through them but the second time it was good. He did very well as Holly was in the arena too running about trying to get her face in the video (such a starlet!)

I then let him have a short relaxing period and then went straight into doing the course at liberty. Again we filmed this twice as the first time he was doing SO well and then Holly came up from behind and he ran off with her! lol. He came back to me nicely but we started again and put Holly out of the arena and into the paddock alongside us...much better decision.

He did everything very well, he had a bit of a problem putting his front feet into our 'hoolahoop' (it's actually an old bicycle tyre) so I just left him with his feet on the hoolahoop as this was a good place to pick it up next time we practise it. I was very proud of him with the liberty, the arena's pretty big and he could have gone off at any time, he seemed to enjoy it all.

Then Mark had some fun doing the course online and a bit at liberty too. Whilst I was putting the flapping obstacles away Solly was brilliant and followed me around the whole way, then we put both horses out into the main field and they galloped up the hill to the gateway whilst Mark and I followed at our own pace ;-)




So glad we got out there, sometimes you just have to take advantage of a good day and I'm so grateful that he works from home and that I wasn't out teaching today....lovely afternoon in the sunshine with fab horses and fun obstacle course.

Monday 14th March

YEEHAAA....day is dry, not too windy and not too cold. I go and ask Solly to catch me from the field gate today, he comes over and through the gate, turns and faces me in a wonderful liberty squeeze ;-) Must be up for playing. I let him graze the garden grass whilst I groom him, he's filthy dirty and some of the clods of mud are thick and damp so I didn't groom him too long! lol.

I halter him and ask him to play Stick 2 Me the whole way down to the Summer grazing arena. Encountered only one youngish cow who I saw but didn't awknowledge and he stood like a statue whilst we walked on by. Solly thought about raising his head high and stopping but I insisted patentiently and persistently that we were just walking through and he followed my lead which was great.

At the field he was excited and thought he was going to get off and run around again but I just let him out to near the end of the 22' and walked calmly and safely down the field hill and he followed suit by being calm and relaxed all the way down.

At the arena gate I played a lot of squeeze through the gateway as he wasn't turning very well at the end of the squeeze so put that back in place before moving on. Then he followed me around on a loose rein whilst I put up the flags, bunting, curtain and sorted out the tarpaulin. He didn't bother with any of the flapping or noise at all and only put his head up sharpish when he saw a roe deer running across the next field.

So, all things in place we played around. I didn't play with any of the obstacles but went into circles in walk and trot and then canter around and about in the arena totally ignoring the obstacles. He was very calm, lowering his head quickly on the circle, confident and rhythmic showing his relaxation with his strides.

Now the fun of playing with the HA course. I just went through the obstacles in order and he did great. Backing through the barrels I realised he couldn't get in the right place because I had put him too close to the barrels, once I'd backed off a bit and given him room to see the barrels in Z5 he was nice and straight and backed up with just energy which was very cool.

He didn't bother at ALL with the flags flying and bunting on the fenceline flapping about (great!) and we worked a bit with the front feet in the hoolahoop. I don't have a hoolahoop but used an old bicycle tyre instead and this is good as it's nice and soft if it bashes his legs. Working on this was good and he 'got it' in the end nicely. The curtain with it's flapping cut tarp wasn't a bother at all either, the weaving was good, sharp and very 'together' and we even did the jump together nicely. Worked a bit on the 'L' shape and got it a bit sharper too as he wasn't listening to me to start with or looking where his feet were going.

Then we had a short rest and we did the course backwards for some variety. This was fun and then we had another rest and re-did the course in the right order again. Another rest time and then I took the rope off him and we tested everything at liberty and this was a lot of fun. He did wonderfully and only went off once, after we did the jump together and we needed to slow down or stop to do the final 'L' obstacle BUT he did come back immediately and did the 'L' bend very well so it was a good round. I put him back online, went and took all the flapping obstacles down and put them safely under tyres etc and then we walked back home, very much 'together' and bonded nicely.

I spotted a cow in front of us going through the gateway between their fields, Solly spotted it after me and I didn't stop or react at all and he followed me. Was interested to see that he was curious about the cow now that he was inadvertedly following it...the cow didn't see us at all, must have been focussed on finding the herd and not on us through the trees.

Going through the 2nd field where the cows were today there was just the one young cow almost in the same place as when we came past before and again I spotted him, didn't awknowledge him and Solly just kept walking this time. There was a couple of bigger cows on our left but far enough away to not be a bother and some sheep too which I took absolutely no notice of. We got through the fields without any mishaps and Sol and I were pretty relaxed. Through the gate and on the last leg home Solly did a LOT of blowing out and snorting, he must have been a bit tense going through those fields but hopefully I've proved I'm a good leader this time and it will become easier and easier. I started walking slower and let him snatch at grass whilst walking as a reward for his good behaviour today ;-) Very good day and hopefully I'll get to film my March OLHA in the next couple of days. Here's some piccie's from today's adventure:

Sniffing the flag...no bother

Circling past the curtain...no bother

Relaxing more and more whilst circling ;-)

Circling past the 'scary corner' flags and bunting...no bother

Sniffing the 'curtain'....no bother

Going through the curtain...no bother ;-))

Front feet in the hoolahoop...getting better
His high headed stance due to deer running past in the next field! lol

Nice and relaxed on the way home

Sunday 13th March

It's stopped snowing, for now, but is quite windy. This weekend has not been the weekend for filming my March on line Horse Agility tests ;-( But Mark and I decide to go along to the Summer grazing and my new arena to see how the horses like it and to have some fun with the HA obstacles....without the flapping flags and curtain as it was just too windy for these today.

All wrapped up we started walking down the track, through the first gate into the cattle field. Couldn't see any cattle but the farmer was following one near a fence line so I spotted that one and when Solly saw it I just ignored it and carried on walking through to the next gateway. Next gate was open so I was ready to see cattle and move them on but carried on walking without hesitation. Solly hesitated once but then followed me nicely. We got onto the grass a bit as the track is quite muddy and slippery. I think they enjoyed walking on the nice solid surface of the grass.

Opened next gate, all well, no cattle and no spooking. Mark closed gate and it made a funny noise which both horses spooked at a bit so I got him to do it again and again until this wasn't anything unusual ;-) Along the last piece of track which goes along the back of a forest so it was nice and calm there....got horses into the top Summer field gateway and by golly it was VERY WINDY here, took my breath away. Into the field Mark suggested we just let them go, all gates are closed and my electric fence is in place, the hill down to the arena is steep so letting them find their own way down seemed a very sensible way to go...so we did and here are the pictures of them having a ball:

Holly really having fun cantering and galloping around the field
they were pretty well matched pace-wise too ;-)

Yeehaa Holly ;-)

We walked down the hill and they kept going up and down it. lol

Coming down hill...

...at a canter!

Really enjoying stretching their legs in this fab field ;-)

Solly came in to see Mark all bunched up and looking fab,
now to just get that when I ride him ;-)

Solly having a quick roll before running off with Holly again

Solly saying thank you to Mark

Holly saying thank you to Mark....daddy's girl ;-)

Well they both blew off some steam and really had fun running around and around the field today, it did them both good and was lovely to watch them. When they'd settled down a bit I invited Solly into the arena, he came very nicely into it and trotted around a bit. I called him to me and he trotted back to me to be haltered ;-) I then did a quick bit of stick 2 me, w/bk/w/bk/t/bk/t and then went through the March HA test without all the scary flags and things. He did very well and it was good to do this as now I know what obstactles I need a bit more play with, namely backing through the barrels straighter and putting his feet into the hoolahoop better but all in all he did very well and I was pleased with him as we've not done much of anything recently.

After I did my session Mark had a go with Holly and they did very well too. We then got our stuff together and walked the horses calmly back home.

Going home through the cattle field one Highland cow was near the track and I saw her before Solly did and this time I didn't even look at the cow, trusted that it wasn't going to come over or follow me and she didn't. Solly put his head up a bit but again I just carried on and asked him to stick with me. I think this really helped him to trust me as his leader more, from this field gate to home he had a lovely relaxed low head and was really 'in tune' with me, often turning his head towards me to check in and look at me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note of thresholds and leadership

When there is definitive fear issues I will use approach and retreat to help a horse get over something scary (on the ground first often) BUT often when a horse has small thresholds I've realised he's looking more for leadership and to stop and recognise those thresholds all the time when all he needs at this moment is his hand being held (so to speak) rather than full blown fear ready for flight I feel stopping with the threshold actually makes things worse. In my opinion to take notice of a small threshold that is just needing leadership is to follow the horse and therefore make him the leader of that moment. I notice the threshold but don't follow it now and this is more of a partnership conversation in that "he says something, I say thanks it's okay, note taken and then just carry on", in a matter of seconds.

In the past Solly has done the high head 'look over there, there's danger' mode and I stop with his threshold and look where he's looking...this really hasn't helped my leadership when ridden, I don't do this on line at all!! so why do it when ridden (only just realised I do this). I always have a very good look around when riding, casually and calmly keeping an eye on the horizon and trees etc so that I see things before he does as often deer are in freeze mode when we pass close by. Following his gaze and worrying is actually making him the leader of our partnership and I've realised this has to stop. I sort of got it into my head about the thresholds and approach and retreat but have only just really sorted out in my head that I should see what's coming up, assess the danger value and get on with it and remember to get off if it really is a fear issue but otherwise to carry on and stop giving Solly the leadership, that he should follow my calm, relaxed attitude rather than me following his anxious, high headed non-existent worry. So, on that note today's walk out on-line went very well and I hope to try to do this more this week, going through the cattle field with Solly on his own so that we can practise the March HA tests before filming them ;-)

Monday 7th March

Today I spent a good 4 hours down in our Summer grazing field. Firstly I wanted to re-arrange some of the insulators for the outer electric fencing which I did and then I wanted to put up a new arena area. I decided to move the arena to keep things interesting for the horses. I also wanted to move ALL the obstacles and equipment and get the new March Horse Agility on line test set up in place so that Solly and I can practise it in the new environment and then film it.

I managed to do all that I wanted and feel good about the new arena place, it's basically in the middle of the whole field now and when the horses first go in there (hopefully on the first of April) the arena will be next to where the main herd will be grazing...really looking forward to going down there and testing the HA stuff out. To check out what the March HA on line test includes you can see it here: www.thehorseagilityclub.com

Sunday 6th March

Take Solly out today with Mark and Holly for company. I decide to walk Solly to the shop as this is the first time out this way for 3 months. He was fine and I probably could have ridden it but the walk did me good. Mark did well with staying mostly in walk so that he didn't leave me behind and Solly did well with letting Holly go away from him and trotting in-hand back to her in a nice calm way ;-)

At the shop Mark went in and got some carrots and apples for the horses and I stood with the horses who were very patient and standing calmly until he came out again. They had their refreshments and then we started on back home again. I walked Solly past the houses and mounted him on the track back home.

He was nice and soft, relaxed and did some nice w/t/w transitions for me. Then Mark said he wanted to ride Solly (I think he likes my horse a lot as he doesn't often get off his own horse Holly for much!) and so we swapped horses. Holly was good, a bit left handed (bent a bit left, she has had a broken right hip as a youngster and when I ride her I try to help her be straighter) so I did some right suspension rein technique to bring her arcing around my right leg and bending a bit better and she started to straighten up a bit and soften her right side more.

I had the camera so there are more pics of Mark and Solly today. They had a blast together, w/t/c up hills, down hill, riding through the cattle field (albeit the cattle luckily were at the bottom of the field today..phew! lol) and I had to ask to get my horse back! lol. Mark said it was a joy to ride him as he's calm, responsive and does as asked lightly and nicely....phew, the trainings going well then ;-)

So, back on Solly we have a nice ride on the last third of the track back home, transitions w/t/w/t/bk/w go very well, and he stays with me when Mark and Holly canter off and then he gives me a nice short canter up the last incline to the house. Not a bad ride out and hope to do more this week. Here are the pic's from the day....

Solly eyeing up the sheep

Mark and Holly taking it all in their stride

Solly investigating an umbrella stand at the shop

Holly investigating the table at the shop

Me with the gorgeous Holly

Holly and me ;-)

Mark and Solly trotting through the cattle field

A very calm and relaxed Solly

Mark and Solly exploring a hill....

....and coming down the hill again ;-)

Mark and Solly cantering to the field gate,
having way too much fun there ;-)

Mark at the home gate with Holly and Solly

Saturday 5th March

Today I went to the very first Horse Agility taster and mini competition at Easterton Farm, Auchterarder, Perthshire. I was intending to take super horse Solly but my trailer had a problem and I didn't want to risk an accident SO a very good friend let me play with her beautiful young Dales pony at the event instead. It was a wonderful opportunity to help this cool youngster have a good experience at a competition and she did so well we got 3rd place ;-)

The next event is at the same place on April 16th and this time I will be taking Solly so that we can start building his confidence online at a different place with different things....will be a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing his comfort zone getting bigger and bigger and his confidence growing every time.

Friday 4th March

Asked Solly to catch me today and he didn't want to, twice!! so I gave him the benefit of the doubt, he may have not been feeling up to going out and my Tara came to me nicely SO I took her out bareback instead ;-)

Had a FABULOUS freestyle ride out, first up the forest track and down again and then further along the track and into the old cattle field where we did a short tour around it and came back. Lots of transitions w/t/c and a gallop at the end too. She was a lot of fun and I gave her 4 good grazing bits along the way. Had a very good time, always a fun relaxed ride with dear Tara ;-))

LF before starting on ride

Just a snippet of gallop home ;-))

Home with a big smile on my face

Thursday 3rd March

Solly and Stormy

A bit drizzly today and could only get to Solly in the late afternoon so just decided to do exactly as we did yesterday but for a shorter session and including a bit of trot and grazing.

I played to make sure he was relaxed, willingly obedience, had some nice impulsion and was flexible. He really shows most of this in circling now as he's learned to relax whilst flexing around me, head down and blowing out almost immediately we start static circles. He did some very nice transitions on the circle too today, just from putting the stick up in front of z1 and me blowing out as I do in riding.

His sideways away and towards was straighter today and his yo-yo was almost pre-ph1, just on my thought/energy which was so cool. We played well but not for long as this is a pattern I want to make sure he's okay with. When I bring him in from the paddock I spend some quality time grooming and bonding with him and then saddle him straight away and then it's play and then ride, trying to make the riding bit longer than the play bit at the moment. When we get back to the summer field then I will do some days of just play as I want to try to see if we're ready to film our L4 online and libety this year ;-)

So, after the play I mount him from a different, smaller mouting stone today and then do some LF L&R and DHQ and move FQ's about before doing anything else. I then do my triangular RtR without the rail! lol. We did clockwise a couple of times and that was fine, always stopping at the mounting block again to encourage a pattern, reward his try and see if there's some impulsion later on with some trot to the grazing spot, the grazing spot becomming a pattern for now is a good way to get more go and also to give me good whoa too. lol.

We start going anti-clockwise and going down the track okay, a bit wary of a pile of branches which I don't blame him for but I just ignore it and turn left onto the track away from home. He tried to turn for home but was very mild about it, easy to just tip his nose back onto the track and keep forward. Then he stopped and instead of stopping with him I just ask him to do a small circle to the left of the track, when he got back to the track I asked for straight ahead again. This worked well, it kept the forward momentum going and he didn't have time to think about being silly or stopping. A leadership point to me there ;-)

We did a few laps with the grazing in between and then when he was very soft and turning at all the right places I just half circled and headed up the track to home. He was calm and not too sweaty today so hopefully this pattern is helping his confidence and giving him some nice exercise and grazing too.

He did another wonderful liberty 'bow' for me back in the field too which was good. It's a very good stretch for his mind and body.

Me hanging out with Fortune this morning,
she was being really chummy which was cute ;-)

Wednesday 2nd March

Went out with Solly in the afternoon today, he was nice and relaxed and caught me well. I brought him to the front gate and gave him a good groom which he enjoyed, then I saddled him and took him out to the grassland in front of the house. With his confidence a bit wobbly the other day when we met the cattle I decided today we'd just do small stuff but we'd do more than moseying around like last time. I thought about just sticking to a 'pattern' until he relaxed completely ;-)

SO, off we went. Started with just some Stick 2 Me which he was okay with. Then I asked for a yo-yo for 20' at ph1 which was good. His draw was good too. Then some sideways for 20' with me keeping my feet still L&R and again these were pretty good. Sideways towards was good with him coming to his right but was a bit skewiff with his HQ's coming to the left so I stuck with it one step at a time until it was better and then quit.

I then let him graze a bit and then moved onto some circles. First just walk and keep away from me....good. Then walk and transition into trot....good. Then walk, trans to trot and put in a calm COD whilst still keeping at 20' of the rope ;-) very good. The COD's were lovely, I didn't move at all with this and he really kept his responsibilities. I then asked for circle, trot and into a lap of canter L&R...fab ;-) I only asked for one lap of canter as the ground is SO rough I didn't want him tripping but he did a good job and I let him graze for a bit.

I then asked him to circle w/COD's up and over the large ditch half way in the grassland. He really did these well, looking where he was going, keeping gait and direction well. SO, on that note I took him up the forest track to the forestry sign, asked him to put his nose on it and then came back down to the mounting block where I made reins out of the 22' line and mounted.

I wanted to keep his confidence today as it's been a while since I've ridden him so I set out along the track back home, when I got to the junction (where I can turn right up a small incline to home OR go left back onto the grassland and then left again back to where I started...a sort of triangle) I turned left. He wanted to go home so I just sat there and waited until he understood that it was left we were going. He turned but was a bit bracey. I asked him to go to the next pathway junction and then turn left again back over the grassland towards the mounting block again. At the block I turned right around two boulders to give him something else to think about rather than going back on the track home AND then I took the track left and headed for home. At the junction again I turned left and continued doing the RtR triangle on the track until he relaxed.

I knew he'd relaxed when he was near the mounting block about the 5th time going around the track and he decided to stop and ask for a graze....he got it and lots of rubs too ;-)

I then decided to do the whole thing again but going around the other way...he had a sticky moment when I first asked him to turn right away from the home track and another one when he was just going away from home and stopped but I just sat and gently re-asked and he complied nicely. This way around it took only 4 times until he was going around the track without trying to turn for home so on the last bit I turned him back and went home....he was very calm and happy ;-))

It doesn't seem much that we did but it was HUGE for him, I think the way last year we got so much riding done was because we did it all in a familiar arena or field and this really helped him get confident in himself, me, the environment, learning and also he was near the herd. Doing a similar thing, near the herd, in familiar surroundings but stretching his comfort zone a bit and staying with it UNTIL he's really focussed and calm was a good confidence builder, for him and me. I will try this again tomorrow and maybe put a bit extra into it ie. go up the forest track to the sign and back a few times.

As he was nicely relaxed I gave his feet a quick trim, not much to do but his toes get long if I leave them too much, so now he's nice and tidy again. When I put him back into the field I backed him through the small gateway, it was a bit hard for him BUT I persevered and he managed it really well. Very proud of him and I should do this more often.

When I gave him his treats he was polite and I then asked him to give me a bow a couple of times and after the third try he did it...at liberty ;-)) yeehaa.