Saturday 26th November
Today is windy and it's been wet, wet, wet for a few days now. Solly is still midly lame and he and Tara are staying at the house paddocks, quietly eating down the grazing and enjoying their peaceful, calm time together ;-)
Mark and I decide to take Holly and Stormy (who are still in the main grazing field down the track) for a walk out, they're too wet and in Stormy's case too muddy to groom or saddle up and we enjoy just hanging out with them for a walk...SO, a walk to the village for some apples and carrots sounds like fun.
It took Stormy a bit to settle down but he and Holly enjoyed the change of scene and also the fruit and veg half way. We gave them plenty of grazing spots and just made it fun and enjoyable for all of us. Here are some piccies from the day:
Tuesday 22nd November
Managed to do the same as yesterday today, visit Mark's two horses down the track, groom them at liberty and do a short piece of liberty play with both too ;-) Stormy decided right after I'd spent a long time grooming him to go down and roll in the mud again!! hey ho, he WAS clean for about ten minutes. lol.
Liberty session was kept to S2M w/Holly, w/s/bkup going to cones and over poles and some DHQ's to change direction, once played with she is 'stuck' on you for ages so spent some time on the mounting block doing some sidling up and resting for ages with her ;-)
Stormy is high energy so I kept the S2M w/t/bkups quicker than when with Holly and I have to take my territory a LOT with him as he is a 'space invader' and if I allow him my bubble space near me he tends to be too high energy with him trying to bite me often SO I put mental and physical boundaries up with my mind and training arm and once he's at a decent distance I ask him to trot more ;-) Works well and he manages a few large S2M fig 8's around cones with a fab shoulder draw with an engaged trot to me to end. Excellent. His sidling up for grooming whilst I was on the mounting block was good too, he had a few difficulties keeping his butt near me when he walked further forward but I just stayed on my block and re-directed him back to where we were and he eventually got it well. Love the liberty grooming game, really tests our connection and our communication ;-))
Liberty session was kept to S2M w/Holly, w/s/bkup going to cones and over poles and some DHQ's to change direction, once played with she is 'stuck' on you for ages so spent some time on the mounting block doing some sidling up and resting for ages with her ;-)
Stormy is high energy so I kept the S2M w/t/bkups quicker than when with Holly and I have to take my territory a LOT with him as he is a 'space invader' and if I allow him my bubble space near me he tends to be too high energy with him trying to bite me often SO I put mental and physical boundaries up with my mind and training arm and once he's at a decent distance I ask him to trot more ;-) Works well and he manages a few large S2M fig 8's around cones with a fab shoulder draw with an engaged trot to me to end. Excellent. His sidling up for grooming whilst I was on the mounting block was good too, he had a few difficulties keeping his butt near me when he walked further forward but I just stayed on my block and re-directed him back to where we were and he eventually got it well. Love the liberty grooming game, really tests our connection and our communication ;-))
Monday 21st November
Went and saw Holly and Stormy down the track today, they seem calm and very together even though the other two are at the house. I went and asked them to come into the round pen for grooming and a short play session. They both started to follow me and then Holly took off up the hill with Stormy fast behind her, I think they thought it must be feeding time. I just sat at the bottom whistling and calling to them. Eventually Stormy's curiosity got the better of him and he came down the hill to see what I was doing, followed very shortly by the effervescent Holly ;-) Here they are coming to me....
Stormy coming off the hill to 'catch me....
...and Holly following soon after for her grooming session ;-)
Sunday 20th November
Well after the boys played BIG time yesterday when we were hacking the girls to the village dear Solly's foot seems more lame today SO, after my breakfast I go and collect both Solly and Tara and slowly, slowly bring them back to the house.
very wise to not be in a place of 'play' with Stormy ;)
So, now at home nice and calm I put an abcess bandage around his bad foot, if it's an abcess than this will help draw it out hopefully. The only thing we can actually see wrong is the heel bulbs are very low AND there is a cleft/split half way along his collateral groove...very strange and could be the place of an abcess or just hurts because of the split! We'll have to wait and see. At least here at home things are quieter, he rests more and the small paddock they're on at moment is flat and not too wet, although not totally dry either.
I found he wanted to be on the grass all the way back, he had HUGE trouble standing and walking on the rocky pathway so softish mud it is ;)
I then went out and gave Sol and then Tara a FULL groom, mud off, dust off, manes and tails flowing and even trimmed Tara's feathers on her feet and her little moustache too. I then gave them both a short but enjoyable massage with my battery masseur. Not sure how long they'll be at the house, as long as Solly is lame he'll stay here.
I found he wanted to be on the grass all the way back, he had HUGE trouble standing and walking on the rocky pathway so softish mud it is ;)
I then went out and gave Sol and then Tara a FULL groom, mud off, dust off, manes and tails flowing and even trimmed Tara's feathers on her feet and her little moustache too. I then gave them both a short but enjoyable massage with my battery masseur. Not sure how long they'll be at the house, as long as Solly is lame he'll stay here.
showing off his blue bandage on front left foot.
she was quite sceptical having been stung by a bee in the past,
but after some retreat, re-approach, retreat she did well.
Like doing this sort of thing at liberty as they have the choice to leave if they want to ;-)
Saturday 19th November
Manage to get out with horses by 11am today, weather not bad but underfoot is slippery in a lot of places. Seems we've not had much dry ground underfoot this year and it shows in the frogs of our horses feet ;-( too soft. Solly is on/off lame at the moment and I think he and Stormy have been being silly-billies slipping around in the mud together play/fighting! Boys will be boys. SO, no play/riding with him over the weekend, in fact I think he and Tara will have to come to the house and have some TLC, it's the only place where there is a smidgen of hard standing where Solly will be able to get dry hooves, in case it is wet field problem with his feet he may have ie. thrush!
Anyway, we get to the field and Holly catches Mark and Tara catches me and we go out via the forest, groom and saddle up and head on out to the village for a short, calm, slow ride...mostly in walk to help stop the beasties getting sweaty ;-)
Me on Tara photogaphing Mark....
...photogaphing me! lol
The boys watching as we go by the top of the field
Tara and I lead on the way down to the village...gives Holly a nice rest from being leader
Tara and I having a rest and bite together..Tara nicely parked ;)
Holly leads on the way home
Mark and Holly taking it nice and easy
Me and Tara taking it even easier ;-)) lol
Wednesday 16th November
Decided today to bring Tara and Solly to the house, have some grazing and Solly and I can practise our Nov OLHA course whilst Tara keeps him company and has a change of scene herself within our herd of 3 ;-)
So around 11am I walk down to the field and Tara ISN'T on her view point spot...yeehaa. She's down the hill grazing with Solly close by...fantastic. I mosey on down the hill, fix some fencing and then go into her 'bubble' and ask her to catch me which she did very nicely, I hand groom her a bit and scratch the spots she indicates that need scratching for her and then ask her to halter up, again which she does very nicely. I then ask her to walk with me so that I can do exactly the same with Solly.
All goes well and I have both horses walking nicely along with me back up the hill and out of the field. Holly and Stormy seem okay left together (seems that they prefer to be left boy/girl in their pair bonds which is cool) so our herd of three slowly mosey on back to the house, three gates later and quite close past some young cattle in the field who were down dozing and both horses behaved beautifully without worry as I was a confident leader and made sure they all know what to do and what I expected of them. We took two short grazing spots along the way but both of them were wonderfully confident and happy to be going to the house ;-)
At the house I set them free in the small first paddock and went over to help Mark move some hay, neither horse worried about the very large bales being moved or the enormous tarpaulin being put over them in a mild wind. I then go inside to do some paperwork and have a cup of tea. At around 2pm I go out and ask Solly to catch me again, halter up (without him trying to bite the halter) and slowly worked through the Nov OLHA tasks. A bit better than last time and when he did well I put a few pony nuts on the floor for him as a reward ;-) Then I went and stood on a mounting block and did a very quick session of sidling up to the block and don't bite me thank you dear Solly...he did well and I didn't get on him but leant over his back with him resting and at peace without trying to bite something...yeehaa....think we're slowly getting some communication going at a higher level now, refinement can sometimes be a tricky thing to figure out but SO fab once going well ;)
When I was happy to leave the practise on a good note I set him free but he wanted to be with me still so I just ran around and he followed me, over the poles, through the narrow gap, through the curtain, up to the ball, around the paddock and over the bridge and back and we had some fun. Here are a couple of piccie's of him following me around:
I just wait and keep my thought on him to do it
using some treats on the floor to encourage him
At around 3.30pm I gather S&T up and ride Tara whilst ponying Solly from her, we have a really nice ride back to the field. BUT on the way I had a huge revelation....the strategy that Ingela Larsson Smith gave me to help deal with Solly's biting in a leadership way was exactly what I do with him when ponying him off Tara! lol.
Her strategy was if he tried to bite me once, block him. If he tries to bite me twice block him and move his FQ's away from me. If he tries to do it a third time block and move his FQ's further and faster. This has been workinig well and I do it in a very quick quiet way showing leadership NOT dominance. The thing I noticed was that when he tries to bite Tara when I'm riding her I do exactly this to help keep her space...I seem to be quick to figure it out when saving Tara's space and now I need to keep using that same strategy to keep my space too ;-))
Her strategy was if he tried to bite me once, block him. If he tries to bite me twice block him and move his FQ's away from me. If he tries to do it a third time block and move his FQ's further and faster. This has been workinig well and I do it in a very quick quiet way showing leadership NOT dominance. The thing I noticed was that when he tries to bite Tara when I'm riding her I do exactly this to help keep her space...I seem to be quick to figure it out when saving Tara's space and now I need to keep using that same strategy to keep my space too ;-))
Tuesday 15th November
Solly hiding behind Stormy this morning...
or more likely that Stormy put his butt in front of Solly! lol
or more likely that Stormy put his butt in front of Solly! lol
Went down to the horses again early today, Tara wasn't on her 'view spot' this morning which is a good sign. I went in and asked her to catch me and gave her a treat for her quickness. She seems much more 'awake' today, noticing everything more and taking part more in our interactions.
I haltered her and we walked together up to the top of the hill, made a big fuss of grooming her thoroughly and then put her bareback pad on, put my hard hat on and we went for a walk together. About 100yds along I got on her back from a gate and we walked, trotted and cantered to the village again. This time I needed jam and butter and of course the obligatory carrot and apple ;-) Tara waited VERY patiently tied to her tree whilst I did my shopping and again the tourists thought she was beautiful and well behaved.
On the way home she livened up her step and the herd were pleased to have her home again, we went into the field and I took Tara with me down to the round pen again. The herd followed (or led sometimes! lol) and Solly decided to leave Holly and Stormy to be with me and Tara in the pen ;-))
I haltered her and we walked together up to the top of the hill, made a big fuss of grooming her thoroughly and then put her bareback pad on, put my hard hat on and we went for a walk together. About 100yds along I got on her back from a gate and we walked, trotted and cantered to the village again. This time I needed jam and butter and of course the obligatory carrot and apple ;-) Tara waited VERY patiently tied to her tree whilst I did my shopping and again the tourists thought she was beautiful and well behaved.
On the way home she livened up her step and the herd were pleased to have her home again, we went into the field and I took Tara with me down to the round pen again. The herd followed (or led sometimes! lol) and Solly decided to leave Holly and Stormy to be with me and Tara in the pen ;-))
Solly leaving herd to be with me and Tara
In the pen I hand groomed Solly whilst Tara rested and then we played some wonderful S2M games. Transitions w/h/bk go well and then some S2M fig 8's...they're getting better with this as we stop at X when it goes well, they're both beginning to understand their responsibilities of going slower when on the inside of the circle and going faster when on the outside. This is fun working dual horses that are actually listening to me more and more ;-)
I then ask Tara to go and rest up and graze a little whilst I do some seperate things with Solly. First I put him online and saddle him with the bareback pad and then we work on asking him to put his feet slowly over two poles only 12" apart, first feet first, then back up and then repeat until he's slowly thinking his way over them. Once he gets this we get to rest and then we work on trying to get all 4 feet over and then back. Having the poles so close together Solly can fluff it up if he goes too quickly so this is a real test of slow thinking. We end on a good note and I give him some pony nuts on the floor as a reward.
Next I work on walking him about and then stopping, I've got some new tactics to use when he tries to bite me from Ingela Larsson Smith (my mentor and wonderful NHS instructor). If he tries to bite me once I block his intention, if he tries to bite me twice or more then I have to move his forehand away from me giving me more personal space until he learns that biting is NOT an option I am going to allow. Trying to be Solly's leader is mentally tiring and he tried to bite me a few times each time I followed Ingelas advice.
After about 20mins we managed to have some walk/stops without him trying to bite me, the stick or the rope at any time...we get to rest and I stroke him gently. SO, we venture up to the mounting block to repeat some sidling up and waiting to be mounted. Solly decided THIS was the place to bite me so again I follow Ingelas advice and blcck him and then move his forehand away. After about 4 attempts to bite me I get frustrated and decide that he needs to move his feet (helps me not get frustrated if he's further away from me) so I put him to liberty circling where I play around with asking him for energy, consistant gaits and being able to move his feet in any direction I ask. I do some blocking on the circle to change his direction and also ask him for changes of direction with a shoulder draw, all of these go well, he goes into canter and all goes well but then he tries the tactic of 'taking territory' from me by standing still so I have to rush around taking back my territory, the only place he's allowed to stand and relax is WITH ME but only WHEN I ASK HIM IN!! This is a fun game but has very serious outcomes if done well.
When Solly is doing as I ask, his head starts to lower and relax and we have some good communication going on I ask him back into me with an engaged draw....fab. Dear Solly rests, head down in a very relaxed manner and with a look of willing obedience ;-) Dear boy, I love him so but he can be so frustrating.
After some rest and some fussing we go back to the mounting block, I make sure in my mind that I am very much in control of where he's allowed to stand and where he's not allowed to stand and exactly where his head should be. I allow him to sniff me but any sign of a bite and I'm ready to respond by moving him away making my personal space bubble bigger. He doesn't try and I manage to mount quietly and peacefully ;-) Phew...big sigh out, lots of rest and scratches. Phew that was exhausting.
I then go through a very quick routine, LF to L&R and then circle 10m to left and DHQ's 180* and circle 10m to right, come back to where we started, nice soft back up and then dismount quickly, take off bareback pad and halter and reward with some pony nuts and scratches.
Next I get Tara back from her resting on the fence line and I ask both of them to leave the pen one at a time and then tell Solly to stay with Tara whilst I pack up my things and head for home. It was a difficult session but very rewarding. The biting game is a game I need to win so that we can progress our journey even more, where he starts to really take me as leader in ANY and ALL situations, I know that this will help improve our aim for relaxed riding and hopefully hacking out later on too ;-)
I then ask Tara to go and rest up and graze a little whilst I do some seperate things with Solly. First I put him online and saddle him with the bareback pad and then we work on asking him to put his feet slowly over two poles only 12" apart, first feet first, then back up and then repeat until he's slowly thinking his way over them. Once he gets this we get to rest and then we work on trying to get all 4 feet over and then back. Having the poles so close together Solly can fluff it up if he goes too quickly so this is a real test of slow thinking. We end on a good note and I give him some pony nuts on the floor as a reward.
My bestest babies ;-)
Next I work on walking him about and then stopping, I've got some new tactics to use when he tries to bite me from Ingela Larsson Smith (my mentor and wonderful NHS instructor). If he tries to bite me once I block his intention, if he tries to bite me twice or more then I have to move his forehand away from me giving me more personal space until he learns that biting is NOT an option I am going to allow. Trying to be Solly's leader is mentally tiring and he tried to bite me a few times each time I followed Ingelas advice.
After about 20mins we managed to have some walk/stops without him trying to bite me, the stick or the rope at any time...we get to rest and I stroke him gently. SO, we venture up to the mounting block to repeat some sidling up and waiting to be mounted. Solly decided THIS was the place to bite me so again I follow Ingelas advice and blcck him and then move his forehand away. After about 4 attempts to bite me I get frustrated and decide that he needs to move his feet (helps me not get frustrated if he's further away from me) so I put him to liberty circling where I play around with asking him for energy, consistant gaits and being able to move his feet in any direction I ask. I do some blocking on the circle to change his direction and also ask him for changes of direction with a shoulder draw, all of these go well, he goes into canter and all goes well but then he tries the tactic of 'taking territory' from me by standing still so I have to rush around taking back my territory, the only place he's allowed to stand and relax is WITH ME but only WHEN I ASK HIM IN!! This is a fun game but has very serious outcomes if done well.
When Solly is doing as I ask, his head starts to lower and relax and we have some good communication going on I ask him back into me with an engaged draw....fab. Dear Solly rests, head down in a very relaxed manner and with a look of willing obedience ;-) Dear boy, I love him so but he can be so frustrating.
After some rest and some fussing we go back to the mounting block, I make sure in my mind that I am very much in control of where he's allowed to stand and where he's not allowed to stand and exactly where his head should be. I allow him to sniff me but any sign of a bite and I'm ready to respond by moving him away making my personal space bubble bigger. He doesn't try and I manage to mount quietly and peacefully ;-) Phew...big sigh out, lots of rest and scratches. Phew that was exhausting.
I then go through a very quick routine, LF to L&R and then circle 10m to left and DHQ's 180* and circle 10m to right, come back to where we started, nice soft back up and then dismount quickly, take off bareback pad and halter and reward with some pony nuts and scratches.
Next I get Tara back from her resting on the fence line and I ask both of them to leave the pen one at a time and then tell Solly to stay with Tara whilst I pack up my things and head for home. It was a difficult session but very rewarding. The biting game is a game I need to win so that we can progress our journey even more, where he starts to really take me as leader in ANY and ALL situations, I know that this will help improve our aim for relaxed riding and hopefully hacking out later on too ;-)
Monday 14th November
Today was interesting with the horses, I've been away over the weekend teaching and thinking a lot about Tara's reluctance to want to have anyone/horse near her and her staying in one place on a 'vigil' spot that seems to be where she stands a LOT, here's a picture of her in said spot this morning...
...SO, my thought today, whilst I was in the field quardening off a muddy patch, was that Tara is a FOLLOWER...she's bottom of the herd hierarchy and is happy there. She is the one horse we have that I allow to follow behind me when being led and I know she's not driving me, she's following. My thoughts got deeper, if she's a FOLLOWER then I need to be a better LEADER for her to follow.
I began to think/realise that maybe Tara was tetchy with me and Mark because we were grieving WITH her, she doesn't need or want to help us with our grief, we need to support her as leaders in her grief and if I'm a gentle, good leader she is actually happier being asked to help me and do things, keep her routine and not try to be all human, huggy and trying to figure out her emotions WITH her, she will take the time it takes to do that herself, what I and Mark need to do is support her as good leaders by getting on with the routine, being together but not moping about!
So, with that in mind, today I walked to the field with Tara's bareback pad, riding hat and halter so that Tara and I could go to the village shop, get some electricity, post a letter and buy an apple and carrot for Tara's efforts. I started off by grooming her as normal, taking advice from Tara where her itchy spots were but giving her a good, hard groom which she enjoyed.
I put her bareback pad on and walked her a bit down the track making sure I did the girth up slowly and in stages and then mounted her from a gate and we walked/trotted/cantered to the shop. She was alert, ears forward, seemingly happy to be out and doing something important with me which was lovely. There were some old guys in the village shop who were admiring her, saying how she looked kind and wise and I looked at her with new eyes, a new appreciation of how far we'd come together in our life journeys and I went out and gave her her treats ;-)
On the way home I basically asked her to listen to my thought/energy/body cues and folded my arms and went home with w/t/c transitions without once picking up the reins. She's such a cool horse. Here are some piccie's from before our ride out:
I began to think/realise that maybe Tara was tetchy with me and Mark because we were grieving WITH her, she doesn't need or want to help us with our grief, we need to support her as leaders in her grief and if I'm a gentle, good leader she is actually happier being asked to help me and do things, keep her routine and not try to be all human, huggy and trying to figure out her emotions WITH her, she will take the time it takes to do that herself, what I and Mark need to do is support her as good leaders by getting on with the routine, being together but not moping about!
So, with that in mind, today I walked to the field with Tara's bareback pad, riding hat and halter so that Tara and I could go to the village shop, get some electricity, post a letter and buy an apple and carrot for Tara's efforts. I started off by grooming her as normal, taking advice from Tara where her itchy spots were but giving her a good, hard groom which she enjoyed.
I put her bareback pad on and walked her a bit down the track making sure I did the girth up slowly and in stages and then mounted her from a gate and we walked/trotted/cantered to the shop. She was alert, ears forward, seemingly happy to be out and doing something important with me which was lovely. There were some old guys in the village shop who were admiring her, saying how she looked kind and wise and I looked at her with new eyes, a new appreciation of how far we'd come together in our life journeys and I went out and gave her her treats ;-)
On the way home I basically asked her to listen to my thought/energy/body cues and folded my arms and went home with w/t/c transitions without once picking up the reins. She's such a cool horse. Here are some piccie's from before our ride out:
Solly looks after her (used to always be Tara!!)
So, the ride and being together with Tara was good. Back in the field I keep Tara close to me and snare Solly with the stick/string and ask him to come and be with us in the roundpen for a while. He does this and Tara seems okay with it...I had the feeling that I needed to not abandon Tara once back to the field but to keep her close and not make Solly the bees knees so much. lol.
We do some nice stuff in the pen, two horses S2M in walk and trot today. Two horse S2M fig 8's where inside horse has to learn to slow down, outside horse has to learn to speed up a bit...this was very interesting and I'm learning to be a dual control person, left side and right sides (brain and body) being independent from each other so that I only talk to the horse I want to talk to and they understand...phew...good mental workout for me if nothing else. We also do dual horse S2M walk/trot and stop at cones again...they like this one a lot. Put in a few dual horse backups and then went and put the bareback pad on Solly and did some asked him to circle around me whilst keeping Tara close to me. Tara liked this one, she constantly kept next to my outside shoulder and didn't worry when I had to use a phase 4 with Solly ;-)
Had to ask Solly to w/t/c L&R and to check for lameness but I'm glad to say that there was no sign of lameness today so either whatever was making him lame as gone or our verdict of putting Ekoneem WONDERBALM (for humans....ekoneem with vaseline base) worked wonders on what we thought was probably a split heel. Very happy he's sound again whatever it was.
We do some nice stuff in the pen, two horses S2M in walk and trot today. Two horse S2M fig 8's where inside horse has to learn to slow down, outside horse has to learn to speed up a bit...this was very interesting and I'm learning to be a dual control person, left side and right sides (brain and body) being independent from each other so that I only talk to the horse I want to talk to and they understand...phew...good mental workout for me if nothing else. We also do dual horse S2M walk/trot and stop at cones again...they like this one a lot. Put in a few dual horse backups and then went and put the bareback pad on Solly and did some asked him to circle around me whilst keeping Tara close to me. Tara liked this one, she constantly kept next to my outside shoulder and didn't worry when I had to use a phase 4 with Solly ;-)
Had to ask Solly to w/t/c L&R and to check for lameness but I'm glad to say that there was no sign of lameness today so either whatever was making him lame as gone or our verdict of putting Ekoneem WONDERBALM (for humans....ekoneem with vaseline base) worked wonders on what we thought was probably a split heel. Very happy he's sound again whatever it was.
I then let Tara just graze about, making sure she knew I was setting her free for a while and I played around with Solly with the inclination to ride him a bit bareback. I firstly asked him to sidle up to my mounting block. He does this very well BUT today (and increasingly more often) he has this annoying habit of trying to bite, bite, being mouthy and generally out persisting me in the mouth game!!! arghhhh.
I decide enough is enough and maybe I'm not being a good enough leader with him either, that maybe I've given him slightly too much leaway on what are his and my responsibilities and that he is trying to out persist me so that he can take over leadership...think sometimes he does too but I think I have a stategy now for this. Anyway, today I out persist him by asking him persistently and consistently to keep his head facing front rather than allowing him to swing his head into 'my personal space' and biting me, my stick or lead rope.
I then bounce up and down a LOT on the mounting block and out persist him by blocking him rhythmically with my stick and once he gets the message that he's to stand still, in place, have his head slightly low and straight ahead I mount and relax for ages. I then do some very basic stuff. LF L&R, DHQ L&R and then small circles L&R with stops at the mounting block. Once he does all this well, flowing and happy I dismount and give him some treats...which I am now giving him on the floor rather than from my hand ;)
A good day after all and I walk back home with plenty to think about. I think Tara and Solly were happy with todays activities and they went off together to graze back in the herd so that was good. Now that Solly is sound again I can bring him and Tara to the house every day (weather permitting) to practise the Nov OLHA test. YEEHAA ;-))
I decide enough is enough and maybe I'm not being a good enough leader with him either, that maybe I've given him slightly too much leaway on what are his and my responsibilities and that he is trying to out persist me so that he can take over leadership...think sometimes he does too but I think I have a stategy now for this. Anyway, today I out persist him by asking him persistently and consistently to keep his head facing front rather than allowing him to swing his head into 'my personal space' and biting me, my stick or lead rope.
I then bounce up and down a LOT on the mounting block and out persist him by blocking him rhythmically with my stick and once he gets the message that he's to stand still, in place, have his head slightly low and straight ahead I mount and relax for ages. I then do some very basic stuff. LF L&R, DHQ L&R and then small circles L&R with stops at the mounting block. Once he does all this well, flowing and happy I dismount and give him some treats...which I am now giving him on the floor rather than from my hand ;)
A good day after all and I walk back home with plenty to think about. I think Tara and Solly were happy with todays activities and they went off together to graze back in the herd so that was good. Now that Solly is sound again I can bring him and Tara to the house every day (weather permitting) to practise the Nov OLHA test. YEEHAA ;-))
Thursday 10th & Friday 11th November
It's been chilly, windy and drizzly on/off these last two days so no playing with horse, also Solly has a cracked heel and is mildly lame on his front left foot and Tara has been acting strangely with everyone. More on her own, staring out into space for long periods and often staying out of the herd. She has also tried to bite Mark and myself over the last week and I feel she is a little lost without her sister and it's hard trying to come to terms with her loss.
So, I've spent an hour or so over these last two days just being with her in the field, mentally connecting with her and hoping that she doesn't shun me for long. On Thurs she didn't want much to do with me, Solly came up and I spent about 40 mins being with him, standing still and connecting mentally and then today I did the same with Tara. She allowed me into her 20' bubble and then I waited for her to connect to me rather than go into her space uninvited. She took her time but I was patient and she came over. I was allowed to stroke her shoulder and just 'be' with her in that space and it felt good.
We stood like this for a while and then she moved forward indicating that she was allowing me to rub her elsewhere. Her favorite spots usually are scratches on her belly and udders but I went slowly so as to make sure I didn't go anywhere inapropriate. She loved the soft scratches on her udders and when I moved forwards to her belly line she moved forwards to put me back at her udders and inside legs. I didn't scratch long or hard but did as she bade me in a nice soft way and then stroked her whole body getting her fur nap up and working well again after being wet from this morning's drizzle. I then just stood with her, kept the other herd members away from us and I mentally drew pictures of a big orange heart pumping love into her body as my way of letting her know that I love her huge amounts and that she would be with me forever and ever ;)
I also have a good friend sending me a concoction of flower remedies for grief which I hope Tara will take off my hand to help her with her feelings of loss and maybe lonliness. She and Fortune, although not always together in the same field before us, were together mentally and emotionally for their whole lives, 17yrs and I know that they had a very strong bond. Only time, patience and a ton of love are all that I have to help Tara through her grief and I have plenty of all of those for her, my soul horse ;)
Wednesday 9th November
2nd day in a row with grey, grey skies but today no drizzle and by 12noon I was walking down to the horses field to see how they were. This morning I went to the shop and saw the herd from the road, Holly was laying down half way down the hill, Stormy and Solly standing protecting her and dear Tara was way down the hill on her own...I felt sad for her not having her sister Fortune to stand with her anymore and I hoped that she wasn't sad standing there on her own SO I went into the field more than anything to see if she was alright!
She was with the herd when I got there but she was sleeping standing up and looked sort of sad. I asked her to lift her feet so that I could check for stones in her hooves and then asked her to put her head voluntarily into the head collar. I stood there for ages and not sure if she didn't want to or she didn't understand my request SO I stood closer and then put my hand in my pocket and she turned her head thinking I had a treat, she then put her head into the halter beautifully ;-)
I then walked with her to near the top of the field where Solly, Stormy and Holly were grazing (they'd decided to canter around the field when I was talking to Tara. lol). Solly haltered up well and I then hand groomed him and we strolled together to the top of the field, out of the gateway and onto the track. I decided that if there weren't any cattle on the trail home (as now cattle are in two fields on the way home!) then we'd walk to the house for a change and to test the November OLHA test with Solly.
Way back was clear of cattle and they both behaved well going through three gateways, disengageing, backing up and walking nicely without once pushing me or crowding me in the middle of them ;-) FAB. At home Mark was there and took some pic's of me and Solly testing the OLHA course BUT Solly is still lame on his front left foot, showing really in trot and probably an abcess, he had one about this time last year. SO, no trotting today and no OLHA course if it doesn't get better for him. The actual test wasn't too bad, some work needed on backing over two close poles, putting back feet into hulahoop and turning on the hindquarters keeping back feet in hulahoop and also the jump/stop task. Should be fun testing it but only if he's sound. Here's some of the pics that Mark took for us:
Squeezing Sol through paddock gateway
Sol watches intently
Sol standing over poles ready to backup
Solly weaving on a circle nicely ;-)
Relaxed and following me to the next task
Starting off a back up through the curtain, nice pic Mark ;-)
Backup through curtain goes well
Saying hello to the small ball again, it's been a while ;-)
Ball over his back, some sceptism but he's becoming braver
Hindquarters into hulahoop...turn on HQ's...
he managed a quarter of a circle and I left it on a good note ;-)
Jump from a standstill, stop afterwards
was just two strides after so not bad ;-)
was just two strides after so not bad ;-)
...he turned and squeezed back towards me...
...brought front feet only over bride, stood for a couple of seconds....
...then backed up onto the bridge again...yeehaa....
...and then backed over the whole bridge....
...he had trouble getting back feet down again,
but tried his heart out for me....
He then stepped full back rested and then came back over it again
to be set free to graze ;-))
Monday 7th November
Another beautiful day, sun shining, blue skies and me at home with the horses. Can't think of anything lovelier ;-)
So, off I go today with trees in hand down to the field and plant one tree over Fortune's grave and two oaks in the same corner but far enough apart that if they mange to grow they won't be over shadowing each other. It felt good to plant these trees. All had been given to me in friendship and hopefully they will be a continuing tribute to Fortune's memory.
Doesn't look much now but hopefully it will get stronger and bigger
After the planting I went to go catch Solly to see if he was up for a short play before I brought Tara to the house as we need to do a small bit of moving some logs with her. Sol and Tara were together grazing so I brought them both into the roundpen together today....thought this could be fun.
I leave them both at liberty and start with just some friendly game with both with the training stick and string. Both very happy with that. Then I ask them to sidle up to me, Solly on my left, Tara on my right...again both happy with that. Then I play some S2M with them in that set up, I put Tara onto the fenceline to help keep her from running off but make sure I give her enough room to not make her feel squeezed between me and the fence. Solly is happy on the inside of the circle and we play w/h/bkups to get our connection good.
The shadows of Solly, Me and Tara playing S2M ;-)
Next we play around with something new... Z5 driving of Solly with Tara still playing S2M w/me in Z2/3. I have to make sure any directions I give to Solly don't get misinterpreted by Tara so I try to keep the side closest to me (hand/arm/shoulder etc) her property and the outside hand/arm/shoulder etc as Sollys property and they 'get that' well. Clever horses ;) I use yesterdays task of Solly stopping on my breathing out at a cone to help our connection and only do walk and halts. We also do it on the L&R which is good.
After a short break we next play with sidling up away from me so that they stand in front and do some backups and draws with them both together. They've done this before so it's not difficult but getting them synchronised is an art.
And then we had some big fun when I asked them both to go out onto the rail and circle for me. First Tara was in front but Solly bossed her about and they stopped concentrating on me so much but it was fun to see the herd dynamics.
Then I asked them out again and this time Tara was behind and they concentrated more on me which was good. Tara cantered a bit to keep up with Solly (good again ;-) and Solly looked good leading.
What blew me away was that they DHQ and came to me TOGETHER.....WOW, love these two.
So after lots of praise I sent them out again onto their circles, Tara behind again happy to follow and again they DHQ and came off to me TOGETHER....gosh I must have done quite a lot right in their training. lol
Tara then CANTERED to me in a lovely draw but Solly got stuck behind her when she got closer he could no longer see me...but he drew nicely when Tara stopped and he could see me again. Great fun. Will do this again soon.
Tara's canter draw....confident and happy to come ;-)
I let Solly go back to the herd and I haltered up Tara and then rode her bareback to the house where we have some logging for her to do with us. I will then ride her bareback back to the field at the horses dinner time so that she's home with them for the night.
3 of the 5 large logs she brought up to the house for us today
I also went through the Nov OLHA with her for fun...
she's never done the curtain before (oversight on my part there)...
...but she coped very well with it, forwards and back ;-)
Sunday 6th November
Another chilly night but a lovely blue skied morning that's not too cold. Tara is at the house so I feed her and poo pick the paddock and around 11am I ride her bareback to the horses field where I think the other three were very happy to see her again ;-)
I locked eyes with Solly as he wanted to say 'hello' to me, this is how he does it, but he didn't seem to want to come for play so I wander off to see if he follows me...he did not, he went back to be with Tara but Stormy came over and stood outside the roundpen.
So, I invite him in to the pen and take him to the centre where I put my mounting block crate and start grooming him whilst standing on the block. Doing it this way we work on some communication between us as he needs to move around for me to groom him. He does exceptionally well, walking one step at a time forwards, backwards, hq's towards, turn and putting me in all zones to brush him thoroughly ;-)
After grooming I decide to see what he'll do when at liberty so I start with some S2M and basic DHQ's and move FQ's around. His S2M is good but when at liberty just a small bit of pressure for DHQ, move FQ's makes him turn and trot or canter around the large arena, sometimes it looks like fun, sometimes worry. For a big lad he's very very sensitive so I keep trying to get a bit more willing obedience from him but he goes a bit 'wild'....his draw though (when he's paying attention) is often superb, engaged, drawing from the shoulder with power, often in trot, sometimes in canter...WOW.
But he isn't being very obedient so I put him on a 22' feather lite and start again. The first two times I ask for a DHQ he pulls away in a 'play run away from me' stance....I stop him with a quick hold and release on the line and I'm thankful I'm wearing gloves with this thin line.
So, once Stormy realised he was online he calmed down, I used the line very very loosely to give him the chance to pretend it was liberty and we got some very nice play together. He did DHQ's and moving FQ's 360* lightly and politely. He sidepassed away and towards without a fence. Sidepassed over a cone L&R, fig 8 in walk and trot with me just walking back and forward to get the change of direction and he did some nice circles, almost without me having to redirect his focus ;-)) He did manage 2 x circles L&R in walk and then the same in trot..yeehaa ;)
I then take the halter off and we do some nice liberty work WITHOUT him running off or taking over play ;-) He does DHQ and move FQ, sidepass over cone L&R, sidepass away/towards and a S2M fig 8 in walk. Much much better.
Glad I took some time to play with the big boy today, he needed some relaxed obedience as he's really been too long without enough play.
After this good session I set him back to the herd and he went and grazed by the end of the field. Here also was Tara completely laid out asleep in the sunshine and in front of her Solly...they were both close to, and facing Fortune's grave. I sat on the wooden pedastal and rested with them for about 45 mins, they weren't going to move and seemed So peaceful and at rest I didn't have the heart to ask Solly to play today. I left them as they were and as I went out of the field Holly went and rested very close to Solly and Tara and Stormy hung out grazing quietly there too. It was lovely to see them all together at peace, sleeping in the sunshine and being close to Fortune. Perfect Sunday ;-))
I locked eyes with Solly as he wanted to say 'hello' to me, this is how he does it, but he didn't seem to want to come for play so I wander off to see if he follows me...he did not, he went back to be with Tara but Stormy came over and stood outside the roundpen.
So, I invite him in to the pen and take him to the centre where I put my mounting block crate and start grooming him whilst standing on the block. Doing it this way we work on some communication between us as he needs to move around for me to groom him. He does exceptionally well, walking one step at a time forwards, backwards, hq's towards, turn and putting me in all zones to brush him thoroughly ;-)
After grooming I decide to see what he'll do when at liberty so I start with some S2M and basic DHQ's and move FQ's around. His S2M is good but when at liberty just a small bit of pressure for DHQ, move FQ's makes him turn and trot or canter around the large arena, sometimes it looks like fun, sometimes worry. For a big lad he's very very sensitive so I keep trying to get a bit more willing obedience from him but he goes a bit 'wild'....his draw though (when he's paying attention) is often superb, engaged, drawing from the shoulder with power, often in trot, sometimes in canter...WOW.
Draw at canter, engaged and powerful!
Big canter strides, me ready to ask him to stop...please! lol
But he isn't being very obedient so I put him on a 22' feather lite and start again. The first two times I ask for a DHQ he pulls away in a 'play run away from me' stance....I stop him with a quick hold and release on the line and I'm thankful I'm wearing gloves with this thin line.
So, once Stormy realised he was online he calmed down, I used the line very very loosely to give him the chance to pretend it was liberty and we got some very nice play together. He did DHQ's and moving FQ's 360* lightly and politely. He sidepassed away and towards without a fence. Sidepassed over a cone L&R, fig 8 in walk and trot with me just walking back and forward to get the change of direction and he did some nice circles, almost without me having to redirect his focus ;-)) He did manage 2 x circles L&R in walk and then the same in trot..yeehaa ;)
And some nice fig 8's without any tantrums ;-)) thank you again
I then take the halter off and we do some nice liberty work WITHOUT him running off or taking over play ;-) He does DHQ and move FQ, sidepass over cone L&R, sidepass away/towards and a S2M fig 8 in walk. Much much better.
Beautiful stand, ready to back up for me ;)
Stick 2 Me goes much better now
Circle around me close for some S2M fig 8's
Moving his forehand over for me without running off ;)
Glad I took some time to play with the big boy today, he needed some relaxed obedience as he's really been too long without enough play.
After this good session I set him back to the herd and he went and grazed by the end of the field. Here also was Tara completely laid out asleep in the sunshine and in front of her Solly...they were both close to, and facing Fortune's grave. I sat on the wooden pedastal and rested with them for about 45 mins, they weren't going to move and seemed So peaceful and at rest I didn't have the heart to ask Solly to play today. I left them as they were and as I went out of the field Holly went and rested very close to Solly and Tara and Stormy hung out grazing quietly there too. It was lovely to see them all together at peace, sleeping in the sunshine and being close to Fortune. Perfect Sunday ;-))
Tara enjoying the sunshine w/Solly in foreground, over looking Fortune's grave
Solly, Tara and Stormy resting just above Fortune's grave ;)Saturday 5th November
A lovely sunny day today and not too cold although a frost was seen early this morning. After collecting the last of our winter hay, which is now ready and stored at the house ready for snow, we went down to the horses to see how they were, play and hopefully ride out.
I put the roundpen back up...wonder who knocked it down!! Stormy? lol. Once up Mark goes and plays in it with Stormy while I play with Solly outside with the 22' featherlite rope. Solly is a bit sluggish and Stormy is a bit unfocussed. SO, I go and help Mark with Stormy, get them both better focussed and Stormy does a couple of nice circles. Then on the fig 8's Stormy gets himself in a pickle by trying to always touch the cones so Mark asks me to try with him. I make sure that my 'send' on the first circle of the fig 8 is big and away from the cones and then with a bit of concentrated focus and directioning he does some nice fig 8's for me. He needs more consistent play as he knows the games and patterns but doesn't get enough consistency with any of it at the moment ;-( Never mind, he loves being a big horse with his herd and that's good ;-)
Once Mark's taken Stormy out of the pen I play at liberty with Solly....who seems to much prefer liberty to online and so do I ;-) This is what we got up to:
Z5 driving in walk, stopping at cones
Z5 drive/stop at cone
Z5 drive in TROT ;-)
(stopping at cones)
(stopping at cones)
This is a sequence of 4 pics which shows what I do in my body to create the slow/stop/touch cone from Z5.
1) First I am trotting in my body the same as I want Solly to trot in his.
2) Then I draw my energy back, slowing my pace to create a down transition with Solly.
3) Next I bring my gait down to walk and really really focus my eyes, belly button and body onto the stop goal.
4) And then I stop in my body to create a stop in Sollys body ;-)
Next we tested our spins at walk....here is the first bit...move the fq's away from me...
....then I ask his fq's to move even further away using rhythmic pressure with the training stick...
....then he moves his hq's over in front of me and his fq's start to turn towards me...
...and to complete the spin I DHQ's and bring his head back to me ;-))
Then we did some liberty circles, walk and trot but his front left foot seems a bit sore
so didn't push anything or ask for canter today ;-(
so didn't push anything or ask for canter today ;-(
He came into me with a lovely expression of a horsey that knows he's done all the right things ;)
Head down and relax ;-)
After good play sessions Mark and I took Holly and Tara out for a hack to the village, we went further than we've been for a while but only up onto the hill and back. Holly and Tara were both sweaty from probably not being quite fit enough and also from starting to get their winter coats in SO both Mark and I walked back down the hill to the shop, got them some apples and walked them ALL the way home too. Holly was pretty much dry when we got back to the field so we gave the herd their dinner and set her free.
The boys were slightly sweaty too from missing the girls whilst they were out but they managed to get a bit dry by rolling in mud ;-( Dirty boys!
Tara was still very sweaty so I rode her back to the house where I gave her a rub down and put a nice warm fleece sweat rug on her and she happily munched away on some lovely new hay. She will stay over night and I'll take her back to the herd tomorrow morning. I love having her at the house though ;-))
Wednesday 3rd November
Haven't done much with herd since Fortune going, tried to just 'be' there for them as much as possible as they get used to being just 4 now, lots of undemanding time. I also went away teaching for 6 days but am back now for a while, got my connection back with the herd yesterday with just hanging out with them again and today was the first day to play ;-)
SO, I went in today and put up a very large round pen in the middle of the field, it's about 80-100' across so nice and large and can be ridden in nicely. I put 4 cones in there too at the quarter marks, about 3 strides in from the fence and these can give me a lot to play with.
Solly came and caught me after Stormy had been to investigate the new pen and I took Sol in the pen at liberty. This is what we did together:
Stick 2 Me:
Walk/stop at cones to get connection and then same in trot going to L&R.
Fig 8's:
Around cones in w/t and some canter too ;-)
Sideways:
Away and towards, went very nicely both ways and then specified each part of him, so did me standing in Z2 asking for hq yield towards only L&R and then standing in Z4 asking for fq yield towards. Not done this for absolutely ages but he remembers it beautifully ;-)
Spins:
Slow, in walk to the L&R, he did them well and very close to me so that I could DHQ with my hand....these have come on really well and I am going to up the task into trot soon.
Z5 Driving:
Checking to make sure all we've done this year is still in place. Asked for Forward in walk,stops and backups with connection to thought/energy. Testing our 'touch it' game by asking for him to stop at cones which was cool.
He was very connected and we started putting in some L&R turns from just me asking him to 'find' me in his eye, turn sharper when I get closer to his tail, straighter when I'm out from his tail and change sides when I go behind his tail to the other side.
This is a great feeling getting the connection in Z5. I decide to start the challenge of testing our connection in Z5 in trot. It takes a physical cue for him to get my idea for trot but slowly he starts to listen to my energy and we stop on a good note.
We then do some liberty circling, close to in walk and trot and then ask for some canter. Then I go back and ask him to trot circles and relax long and low in a really relaxed outline and he does it easily going to the right, does it to the left but takes more time.
I then spend some time trimming his hooves and then set him loose...we have some hugs and undemanding time and I think he's glad to have me back home ;-)
I then go and see if Tara wants to connect and she comes straight over, so does Holly and we have some scratches and then I halter Tara up and invite her to the new playpen. I stand on my mounting block and she sidles over to be mounted bareback. I start off with LF L&R and then DHQ L&R. From there we play around with walk and then trot to cones, stopping and backing 2 steps totally at freestyle...no touching the reins at all ;-)...love this girl, she's so cool.
We then try out some circling around a cone to X in the centre of the roundpen and stopping, then I put a left circle/stop and right circle/stop together to make fig 8's. Then we do trot fig 8's without stopping for a while. All's going well and her L&R turns are pretty good, still doing mostly with no rein contact.
I expand on the fig 8's and go to some cloverleaf to the left two circuits and stop at X and then twice to the right. She really remembered the pattern as we've not done this for over a year ;) After all this I take her to the electric fence gate, open it, go through it, close it again all mounted and then we go and find the herd which has gone up the hill. She needed to see them as she's been a bit worried since Fortune went SO going to where she can see them helps her relax.
She begins to get a bit lively and her trot is really lovely so I ask her to go up and down at the bottom of the hill in her nice trot and ask her to leg yield a few strides left, straighten up and then go right, turn near the fence and go back the other way leg yield left and then leg yield right. I'm not sure how decent her leg yields were but I could feel and see our line was definitely diangonalling across the grass and I felt much straighter in 'in' the movement instead of pushing her over ike I used to. It felt good ;-))
I praise her and then know she wants to go to the herd so we trot and canter up the hill to be with them, I dismount and let her go to the herd after a hug and kiss. Solly comes over and touches me as I pass him by and I then leave them to it.
It felt like a really good session with some good connection, lightness, harmony and some new tasks started which we can continue through November. Good day ;-)
Z5 driving
Z5 driving, heading for a 'touch it' to the cone....
....BINGO, lower thought/energy and he totally 'gets it' ;-)
Solly relaxing on trotting circles to the right
and to the left
Looking good on his circles here ;-)
