Sorry! I haven't been posting lately. But anywaysss... let's catch everyone up =)
Past week or so: Rode a few times. Haven't done anything exciting really. Jet has been turned out with Elsa and Biscuit just about everyday. He has been lunged a few times on the days we didn't ride. We have more snow! UGGH. I just want the snow to go away!
Yesterday I went to Hobby Horse Farm, awesome farm just a few minutes down the rode from me, to watch my friend Mary-Kate (Hey Mary-Kate!) ride. She did an awesome job riding Eeyore! She then rode a horses that is free, Mickey?, and she did well on her aswell. She thinks she is a bad rider but she is actually really good! I would have some competition if I competed against her! So after Mary-Kate rode... I rode Poker. 17 hh tank with a lot on power. Poker is still green and requires extreme muscles. If you don't keep him forward and uphill, he will drag you everywhere. I have been working on my hunt seat Eq, and now I had to go back to dressage. My body was telling me hunt seat so I did horribly and it definately wasn't my best ride. I ended up getting Poker going really nicely w/t/c, and eh... ok at jumping. We did a course from crossrails to about 2'6"-3'ish. His jump is awkward though, not really what I am used to. He approaches the jump, takes a big stride, then sits back on his haunches and sits there for a second before launching over the jump. So I would go into my 2-point before I needed to since I was used to other horses. Then my leg swong everywhere... ok. Nevermind. I don't need to rant about my bad Eq. x] After I rode Poker, I switched horses with Julie who was riding Freedon. Poker absolutely LOVES Julie. I'm not exactly sure why but they definately clicked and he was an angel for her. Freedom was really good for me and I love riding him. He is very comfy and easy to ride if you know him. He has mental blocks sometimes. We swear we can hear the elevator music playing in his head. After I rode at HHF, I went back home to ride Jet.
HHF has an indoor, I do not. The ground was rock hard,a bit icy, and it was uneven. So we just walked. We worked on connecting our front end and back end, and rounding through his back, and coming up underneath himself. Did we accomplish much? No, but it was a cold and windy night so I was ok with it. He was quiet the whole time and everytime I asked for something he would give it to me the best he could so I was extremely proud of him for that. We worked on stopping and standing, something he is not fond of. I would halt him, stop for 2 seconds, then walk on, stop him again, halt for 4 seconds, etc. until we could stand there for a good 30 seconds or so. With the wind and everything else going on, he was really focused on what I was asking him.
We are still have problems when I ask for him to not stick his nose out. He fights me for it. If you give him the reins, he takes them. You can ride on the buckle and have no loop in the reins. Good and bad. We still have to work on him not stretching out, but into a correct frame but that will take time and I don't want to rush it. It is those little things that you work on that eventually all come together. We will get there =)
Later in the week we are going to truck Jet down to HHF to use the indoor and get some good work in. We will also be taking Mary-Kate's Standardbred Katie! We will definately take pictures and videos to post later!
I will keep you updated and post more often! I promise!
-Em and Jet
2' Jumper Champions!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
AWESOME ride!
I had two great rides! Yesterday we did mostly walking with a bit of trotting here or there and he was excellent! We really have to work on him rounding his neck, or atleast not sticking his nose out and playing with the bit! He is getting much better each day and now he can actually go rounded for a few steps at a time! We have to find where our feet are going again, but we are doing lots of circles, serpentines, change or directions, and more to keep his mind and body busy. It works a LOT more than just staying on the rail!
Today I got him, sat around until about 3:45om, then went out to groom Jet. I started grooming him, got all of his tack ready, and my sister came out and said, "I wanna ride with you but only when Mom comes home!" -looks at half tacked horse and sighs- "Alright, let's go lunge her because she hasn't been ridden in months..." "YAY!" So I lunged Elsa. She didn't bounce surprisingly. We brought her back down and while she was brushing Elsa, Josh(my younger brother) and I brushed Biscuit. I was amazed and so happy when Josh said that he wanted to ride Biscuit. All the horses were getting worked and brushed today! Josh is usually scared of horses but lately he has been helping me with EVERYTHING! Brushing, feeding, water, cleaning, getting tack, whatever I needed, he would be there to help. I should pay him one of these days lol. But anyways, Mom finally got home and we tacked Jet and Elsa up. (Josh was going to ride after us since he is a very beginner rider and didn't want to be on Biscuit with 2 other horses in the ring).
I was the first to get on and I let him stretch out for a lap or so in each direction. Then we got to work! We did circles, this that, and everything in between! He was a very good boy considering Elsa saved her bouncies for Abby when she was riding. He passed her nicely, was passed by her nicely, everything went amazing! We both decided to trot. Elsa was a lunatic and thought that she was the racing Standardbred going 30+ mph. Abby wasn't prepared for it and got a little nervous. She tensed up, telling Elsa to go faster. BAD CHOICE WITH ELSA. You have to stay calm on her. Your calm, she's calm. Your tense, she's tense. She is very good at reading people. But Abby kept on working with her and got her going nicely at the end. We trotting more that usual since the ground was unfrozen. We did lots of trotting and Jet did really well! He kept his head in a reasonable position and was listening to me. You and I are probably thinking two different things. He isn't the perfect made horse. He is green, and still in training so ofcourse he isn't completely balanced and ofcourse he makes mistakes but that's how we learn. He never once was out of control, he was quite the opposite. He was lazyyyyy. But that's ok, I prefer lazy over wild!
After Abby and I rode, josh rode Biscuit. He rode in a saddle without stirrups (his personal style of riding. He hates stirrups and would prefer bareback compared to using them). Biscuit hasn't been ridden constantly.... in years. Possibly ever. Nobody really know show muchhe is trained. We know he drives, but riding? Not so sure. But whenever Josh feels like riding, Biscuit is always his pick and Biscuit takes very good care of him. Before Josh got on, I had to get his bouncies out. Since he drives, he doesn't really understand lunging or if he does, he acts confused. So I brought him up to the ring all tacked up, put some grain in my hand and ran! He galloped after me, bucking and playing. We do alot of inhand work and he always stays at my shoulder. As soon as I stopped, so did he. So then Josh got on. He wanted to play Simon Says so we played Simon Says. We learned that Biscuit loves to do half-passes and knows how to do them. I also voice-command trained him and so when Josh surprisingly said, "Can we trot?" I said "Yep! ready? Biscuit.... trot!"and off we went. I wanted Biscuit to go slow so I did a brisk walk while Biscuit jogged. Overall, Josh had a blast and he was laughing and smiling the entire time! Biscuit loved being ridden and absolutely adores Josh!
I will post more later? Depends on if I have school tomorrow or not =)
-Emily and horsies
Today I got him, sat around until about 3:45om, then went out to groom Jet. I started grooming him, got all of his tack ready, and my sister came out and said, "I wanna ride with you but only when Mom comes home!" -looks at half tacked horse and sighs- "Alright, let's go lunge her because she hasn't been ridden in months..." "YAY!" So I lunged Elsa. She didn't bounce surprisingly. We brought her back down and while she was brushing Elsa, Josh(my younger brother) and I brushed Biscuit. I was amazed and so happy when Josh said that he wanted to ride Biscuit. All the horses were getting worked and brushed today! Josh is usually scared of horses but lately he has been helping me with EVERYTHING! Brushing, feeding, water, cleaning, getting tack, whatever I needed, he would be there to help. I should pay him one of these days lol. But anyways, Mom finally got home and we tacked Jet and Elsa up. (Josh was going to ride after us since he is a very beginner rider and didn't want to be on Biscuit with 2 other horses in the ring).
I was the first to get on and I let him stretch out for a lap or so in each direction. Then we got to work! We did circles, this that, and everything in between! He was a very good boy considering Elsa saved her bouncies for Abby when she was riding. He passed her nicely, was passed by her nicely, everything went amazing! We both decided to trot. Elsa was a lunatic and thought that she was the racing Standardbred going 30+ mph. Abby wasn't prepared for it and got a little nervous. She tensed up, telling Elsa to go faster. BAD CHOICE WITH ELSA. You have to stay calm on her. Your calm, she's calm. Your tense, she's tense. She is very good at reading people. But Abby kept on working with her and got her going nicely at the end. We trotting more that usual since the ground was unfrozen. We did lots of trotting and Jet did really well! He kept his head in a reasonable position and was listening to me. You and I are probably thinking two different things. He isn't the perfect made horse. He is green, and still in training so ofcourse he isn't completely balanced and ofcourse he makes mistakes but that's how we learn. He never once was out of control, he was quite the opposite. He was lazyyyyy. But that's ok, I prefer lazy over wild!
After Abby and I rode, josh rode Biscuit. He rode in a saddle without stirrups (his personal style of riding. He hates stirrups and would prefer bareback compared to using them). Biscuit hasn't been ridden constantly.... in years. Possibly ever. Nobody really know show muchhe is trained. We know he drives, but riding? Not so sure. But whenever Josh feels like riding, Biscuit is always his pick and Biscuit takes very good care of him. Before Josh got on, I had to get his bouncies out. Since he drives, he doesn't really understand lunging or if he does, he acts confused. So I brought him up to the ring all tacked up, put some grain in my hand and ran! He galloped after me, bucking and playing. We do alot of inhand work and he always stays at my shoulder. As soon as I stopped, so did he. So then Josh got on. He wanted to play Simon Says so we played Simon Says. We learned that Biscuit loves to do half-passes and knows how to do them. I also voice-command trained him and so when Josh surprisingly said, "Can we trot?" I said "Yep! ready? Biscuit.... trot!"and off we went. I wanted Biscuit to go slow so I did a brisk walk while Biscuit jogged. Overall, Josh had a blast and he was laughing and smiling the entire time! Biscuit loved being ridden and absolutely adores Josh!
I will post more later? Depends on if I have school tomorrow or not =)
-Emily and horsies
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Shadow Picture From After I Lunged Him
I decided to lunge Jet today instead of riding him. I am still feeling really sick and just didn't have the energy to ride.
I brought him up, after getting him ready, and let him dniff around the ring for a bit. I gave him a few minutes to himself, thinking he was going to roll, but he didn't! Then I walked in with the luunge line and whip. He decided that free lunging would be more fun and I was perfectly fine with that as long as he listened to me. I started by using my voice commands and positioning myself infront of him, behind him, etc. to see if he knew how to watch my body language. He was very iffy and confused at first but as time went on he got the hang of it. I asked him to trot and BAM! He was off like a shot gun! He needed to get his bouncies out apparantly (which I thought he would need to) and he was bucking and galloping and having a good old time!
After he settled down, I got back to work. I had him trotting for a little bit, then walking, halting, then a small canter (maybe once around, if that) to see if he knew the voice commands for everything. He knows everything fairly well! I was very proud of him! After going for a while in each direction I walked him out even though he was only a wee bit warm. I worked on his ground manner. This is my space, not yours. Thank you very much... We worked on halting square, staying at my shoulder, etc.
I am going to work on this everyday so hopefully I can take him to shows this year even if it is just an In-Hand class. I really want to get him off the property and into new places to get him used to it again. Since he was a race horse, he was everywhere and anywhere in the busiest times of day. He raced right next to a highway for goodness sakes! Hopefully going to new places will be a walk in the park. Hopefully...
Tomorrow I am planning to ride him as soon as I get home from school. I don't plan on doing much, but just slowly getting him back into the swing of things and getting him back into the lifestyle of a working horse vs. a very happy pasture pal that he was before. He is still very happy and is spoiled by everyone! He is just in work too! hehe. I think he enjoys having a job though... I really do. I hope to find what he wants to do this year and follow that path. I don't want to make him into anything he is not, can't be, or just doesn't want to be. Only time will tell what path we travel down together. Can't wait to find out!
Sincerely, Em and Jet!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A Good Ride on a Not-So-Good Day
Sick. sick sick sick sick. I hate being sick. I have a sore throat, cough, runny nose, and back aches. Anyways... I stayed home from school today. After waking up, throwing up, then going back to sleep... I re-awoke at 10:30am. I felt a lot better and decided to make myself pancakes and toast since I was home alone. They were delicious! After eatting that, I laid down, watched a bit of TV, and had a snack.
Then it was time to go feed the ponies lunch. They acted like they were going to starve if I did not feed them that very second, which is normal. Everyone was fed and content. I picked Jet's stall and checked all the water. While he was eatting, I took off Jet's blanket and gave him a good brush. He walked away from his hay to a corner of the paddock and just sat there while I brushed him. I swear he was thinking, "A little to the right...up...wait no down... RIGHT THERE!" It was quite hilarious. I put his blanket back on and gave him some treats. I also started to teach him to bow! He is picking up on it very quickly! I think that keeping his mind busy, even in the paddock would be great for him. So I am determined to teach him atleast 3 tricks by the end of the summer. Have any suggestions as to what I could teach him?
I then took Biscuit's blankets off and gave him a really good brushing since he enjoys rolling in pee, shavings, and poo on a daily basis. Being the very verbal pony that he is, he was nickering to me the entire time. It was adorable! He is also really picking up on learning how to bow! I can just say the word now and he does it, not to his full potential but atleast he knows what it means. After I spoiled him, I put his blanket back on so he wouldn't freeze. I took him for a walk around the yard and played in the ring with him for a bit.
After finishing everything up outside, I went back inside to defrost infront of the fire. Abby came home and then Josh did a while later. I decided that even though I was feeling crappy, I was going to have a relaxing ride on Jet anyways. I put my half chaps and boots on, grabbed my helmet and gloves and headed out the door. I got all the tack, brushes, etc and brought them to the fence. He saw me coming and made a mad dash for the other side of the paddock! I pulled out my emergency treat and he came over to me and I slipped the halter on his head. Since I had gave hima good brush earlier, I picked his feet and went over him with the soft brush again. He stood still the entire time. I waws very impressed! I tacked him up and got ready to ride. Mom then came home and asked how I was feeling and oddly enough, I felt a lot better when I was outside with the horses. Interesting...
I brought him up to the ring and hopped on. He stood still when I mounted him and waited for me to ask him to go. A very pleasant change from riding lesson horses and other horses -cough cough- Elsa -cough cough- that decide that it would be hilarious to walk off as soon as you put one foot in the stirrup and are about the leap on. Not so funny for me. We worked a lot at the walk. Bending, leg yields, changed of directions, transitions from walk to halt, halt to walk, etc. and much more. He really likes to lean to the inside and stick his nose up and out so I worked on having him balance himself around corners instead of me supporting him and using all part of his body in unison to collecct him. I didn't accomplish much but I got him going nicely for a few seconds. It felt great! Since he isn't in shape and hasn't been worked consistantly for a long time, I didn't expect much and was greatful and proud of what he gave me. He tries hard, he really does but he gets confused easily. He is very easily distracted. "Walking...ok, I have to go in a straight line and move all my feet in cadence. I have to...... I SEE SOMETHING SHINY! -elevator music-" Yep. That is pretty much the way he functions but that's what I adore about him! He is always happy with his ears perked up :)
I will post tomorrow!
-Emily and her horsey friends
Then it was time to go feed the ponies lunch. They acted like they were going to starve if I did not feed them that very second, which is normal. Everyone was fed and content. I picked Jet's stall and checked all the water. While he was eatting, I took off Jet's blanket and gave him a good brush. He walked away from his hay to a corner of the paddock and just sat there while I brushed him. I swear he was thinking, "A little to the right...up...wait no down... RIGHT THERE!" It was quite hilarious. I put his blanket back on and gave him some treats. I also started to teach him to bow! He is picking up on it very quickly! I think that keeping his mind busy, even in the paddock would be great for him. So I am determined to teach him atleast 3 tricks by the end of the summer. Have any suggestions as to what I could teach him?
I then took Biscuit's blankets off and gave him a really good brushing since he enjoys rolling in pee, shavings, and poo on a daily basis. Being the very verbal pony that he is, he was nickering to me the entire time. It was adorable! He is also really picking up on learning how to bow! I can just say the word now and he does it, not to his full potential but atleast he knows what it means. After I spoiled him, I put his blanket back on so he wouldn't freeze. I took him for a walk around the yard and played in the ring with him for a bit.
After finishing everything up outside, I went back inside to defrost infront of the fire. Abby came home and then Josh did a while later. I decided that even though I was feeling crappy, I was going to have a relaxing ride on Jet anyways. I put my half chaps and boots on, grabbed my helmet and gloves and headed out the door. I got all the tack, brushes, etc and brought them to the fence. He saw me coming and made a mad dash for the other side of the paddock! I pulled out my emergency treat and he came over to me and I slipped the halter on his head. Since I had gave hima good brush earlier, I picked his feet and went over him with the soft brush again. He stood still the entire time. I waws very impressed! I tacked him up and got ready to ride. Mom then came home and asked how I was feeling and oddly enough, I felt a lot better when I was outside with the horses. Interesting...
I brought him up to the ring and hopped on. He stood still when I mounted him and waited for me to ask him to go. A very pleasant change from riding lesson horses and other horses -cough cough- Elsa -cough cough- that decide that it would be hilarious to walk off as soon as you put one foot in the stirrup and are about the leap on. Not so funny for me. We worked a lot at the walk. Bending, leg yields, changed of directions, transitions from walk to halt, halt to walk, etc. and much more. He really likes to lean to the inside and stick his nose up and out so I worked on having him balance himself around corners instead of me supporting him and using all part of his body in unison to collecct him. I didn't accomplish much but I got him going nicely for a few seconds. It felt great! Since he isn't in shape and hasn't been worked consistantly for a long time, I didn't expect much and was greatful and proud of what he gave me. He tries hard, he really does but he gets confused easily. He is very easily distracted. "Walking...ok, I have to go in a straight line and move all my feet in cadence. I have to...... I SEE SOMETHING SHINY! -elevator music-" Yep. That is pretty much the way he functions but that's what I adore about him! He is always happy with his ears perked up :)
I will post tomorrow!
-Emily and her horsey friends
Monday, February 1, 2010
Waiting....
Woke up early this morning so I could pick the stall before school so I could come home and ride. I am still waiting for Mom to come home so I can hop on him again. Sigh...
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