WW: Loving It

New girth from Total Saddle Fit.  Love it.

Ignore the chubby look. It is now winter.

Her quirk... holding water in her mouth and sticking her tongue out.

Everyone's favorite pony.

Staying Alive

Yup. I went an entire week without writing anything about my horses. Bad me.

Anyways, the best news is that the fence is now (hopefully) fixed!!  We added another strand of wire on one side and changed the spacing on the other side and so far The Pony has not escaped again. She was getting out 2 or 3 times every day, and that is not exactly a good thing, particularly when my family is attempting to grow three gardens and I am the only person who can catch the little pinto right now. So, I am super happy that we fixed that problem and don't have to worry about that anymore.  :)  Rotten pony.....

The worst news is that I had not been out into the pasture for over a week... at least, not looking at it, and I realized that my poor horsies have basically grazed the entire area down. It's brown and dry and weedy and just doesn't look too good. I feel terrible for not noticing this sooner. No wonder they were trying to get out. Anyways, new plan consists of putting them into the front pasture, which has been growing for 2-3 months now, but only for night, and giving them hay on the dry pasture during the day. Hopefully this will keep their weight stable and make them happier!

No, I did not do a whole lot with Lady over the weekend. Again.
Last Wednesday, we had a nice bareback ride and I was pleasantly surprised that she was willing to hack out as far as we did. She still got uptight and a little bracey, but nothing compared to what we have been through recently. So I was very happy about that.  :)

The most adorable face ever <3

Yesterday, I rode bareback again.... only because I am super lazy and don't like to drag ALL the tack out. Well, also because ALL the tack needs cleaning really badly. Yeah...

Today, I brought The Pony out. She has gotten ever so much better at being caught so now we're working on basic manners and skills. She tries really hard to understand and do the right thing and usually I'm patient and soft enough with her that we make progress. She is extremely nosey and mouthey and that very easily translates into nipping. Today, I worked on being able to touch her in different areas, which didn't end up working too well because she wanted her nose in everything instead of just standing still. Like a little kid who can't sit still.
She has done groundwork before, and knows how to be sent through gates and move away from rhythmic pressure, but she has a hard time relaxing. I decided that instead of going back to what she used to do, we are going to work on relaxation and really solidify her ground manners before moving on. I'll talk some more about that tomorrow.  :)

Update on the Pony

One of my goals for the month of May was to get The Pony (aka Tempest) more comfortable with  being touched and caught. 

To give a little background, Tempest has had some previous work and came close to being started, but then was put out to pasture again and has reverted back to some wild horse habits, mainly being hard to touch and even harder to catch.

With lots of slow and persistent work, we've progressed to being able to feed treats in the pasture without her running away and now I can most often greet her and give her a scratching whenever I come out to catch Lady. Even more lately, I started getting her to sniff the ropes before I haltered Lady and she has gotten extremely better.

Old picture, but a good one.

Early this morning, she managed to escape from the pasture and usually that means I have to use food or other "undesirable" means to get her back in. Today, I got some hay cubes and a halter and caught her in five minutes. Quite surprising, actually....

I had extra time this evening, so I decided to bring both horses out to graze for a little. Lady got to go loose, but I caught The Pony again and brought her out. She was quite the good girl and even got to get off the lead for a while. She wasn't so thrilled about being caught again to go back in for the night, but when she realized I would leave her out and serve dinner without her, she cooperated again pretty quick. 

Quite proud of the little pony.  :)

May 2014 Goals

Internet photo. Didn't take it myself <sad face>

I'm entering May with a lot of hopes and dreams, and yet with a bit of a heavy heart. It feels like it has been years since I heard a piece of good news. Therefore, even though I have a lengthy list of goals for the month, I have been hesitating to post it because of that piece of fear inside me that says I can't do it. I have been thinking a lot about what my priorities really are because there are so many things that I love working on. With finals next week to mark the end of the semester, maybe I'll have more time, but I still need to search for work to support all my various hobbies.
Enough rambling. Here is my list.

Personal Goals:

• Study through the book of Hebrews.
• Post 2 blog posts (other blog - the writing one!)
• Keep to the workout routine I set up in April.
• Proofread Rebellion (my novel)  for the final time and pass it off to someone else for revision - scary!
• Reading:
• finish reading There's an Owl in The Shower - actually finished this today before writing this :)
• finish studying through The Horse Riding Manual
• After Diana (biographical novel about the Royal Family of England)
• The Garden of Eden (by Hemingway)
• Play the violin again. I have two short duets that I would like to work on.
• Practice the piano 3x per week for at least 30 minutes each time.  I play every day, just don't practice. Also, I want to re-polish and memorize at least two pieces (from the following.
• Movement 3 (Allegro con brio) from Sonatina #3 by Denes Agay
• Waltz in A-flat Major (Opus 69, No. 1) by Frederic Chopin
• Important Event (Opus 15, No. 6) by Robert Schumann
• Taekwondo
• Memorize the complete purple belt form.
• Put together a sword form for the World Expo (needs to be done by mid-June).

Horse-Related Goals:

• Film (at last!) I want one video of a groundwork session and 1 of a riding session.
• Get The Pony comfortable with being caught.
• Trot every time I ride. Get some assistance so it becomes more comfortable.
• Really nail down our trot change of direction and all transitions (groundwork).
• Lead by a hind leg (follow a feel practice).
• Play with tarps.
• Start riding comfortably past our driveway and off the property.
• Work on leg aids - my timing and her responsiveness.
• Set up my arena and make jumps for it.
• Have a Spring photo shoot with my horses :)

My lists feel very long... :(  In a way I feel like I ought to cut some things out to make it easier on myself, but so many of the things would be so simple if I really focused on getting things done.

On another note - tomorrow is Kentucky Derby day!  Who watches the race? :)

April's Goal Review

April 2014 Goals - Horse Related

• Film 1 riding session.  Didn't happen. Was supposed to over one weekend when I had help, but got sick instead. :(
• Practice riding the trot with help.  Did not happen for the same reasons as above.  :'(
• Take The Pony out 4 times.  Not 4 times, but it did happen twice. She is no longer wearing a halter in the pasture and is doing so much better!
• Complete a set of Online Level 3 tasks.
• Work with a flag.  We worked on this twice and made some progress. Lady is still tense about it, but not scared.
• Lead by one ear and backwards by a hind leg.  We did some leading backwards by the tail which went well, and played with the ear. Got her comfortable with the idea.
• Back up and draw on a 22 and 45 foot rope. We never touched the 45 foot rope, but did work on the 22-foot. Got a little bit better.
• Solid transitions and trot change of direction on the circle.  The change of direction has gotten better in one direction and not the other. Transitions are 10x better!! 
• Move sideways from Zone 1 (in front). Gotten lots better. Still have to "hold her hand".
• Play with tarps.  Nope. Never actually went to look for a tarp.
• Separate the medium and free walk.  Not exactly, but we started to get some difference.

April 2014 Goals - Personal

• Start a workout routine. Can't say this became a routine yet, but definitely started working out.
• Go to Wednesday  night church.  Went twice out of five times. :P
• Win Camp NanoWrimo with 30,000 words.  YES!!!  Finished and Won! :D
• Record a video for my blog.  A little late, but doing that this morning.
• Read four novels.  Finished two and a half. 
• Practice piano 3x a week.  I didn't exactly practice, but have made a point to play every day.
• Learn 2 new songs on the violin.  Bad me never picked up the violin.

Finals are next week and then I won't have school to worry about, so May goals should be happening much easier! :)

Little Things Count

The weather was lovely today, but quite windy, so I didn't ride, but worked with Lady on the ground instead. She has been in and out of season the last two weeks, so I'm trying to find the balance between being too gentle and too sharp. As always, she gives me awesome feedback!
She has been a lot more relaxed the last two or three times I've played with her, which is interesting, but nice. Relaxed does not mean she isn't dominant however, so I still have to remind her of boundaries and limits. Tehe.

We walked for a little bit and then did some gentle lunging. She dropped her head quite a bit during the trot, and blew out a lot. When she gets into her trot like that, its lovely and soft and then I can ask for the canter and she is able to jump into it with power coming from the hind end. Its awesome :)
Point of irritation about myself - I keep trying to remember to watch and feel which side is Lady's stiffer side. I know for certain that she went much easier one way today, but for the life of me, I can't remember which side it was! Sigh... I'll try to watch closely again tomorrow.   :P

We did a few hills, which I'm trying to convince her to do at a walk only. The trot is good for hills, but she tends to hollow out at the trot and then her hind end drags, which we do not want! So, for now, hills are only at the walk. Makes her grumpy, but at least I know its good for her!

I played with something I haven't done in a long while and that is picking up one foot on command. I use my lunge whip (which might not be the right tool, not sure yet), and tap the fetlock of the leg I want her to pick up. Lady understands a bit better with her front feet, but is pretty much confused about the hind feet. She also tends to get worried and tries to evade the pressure. I think that 1) my timing isn't all that great, 2) the whip doesn't give the release she needs, and 3) my body language isn't quite right. Anyways, my goal is to have her lift the foot and hold it up when I tap her fetlock. We got a sort-of-correct response and ended there. Save the rest for another day.

We ended the session with some more circles and going over poles. Right now she really doesn't care about stepping on poles. She stands on poles.  O.o This has to be fixed. After all, I wish to jump with this horse!

The only other exciting thing happening is that The Pony has decided to be lame.  :(  I'm pretty sure that her hoof broke off a bit too short this time and she's just sore on it, especially since she walks okay, but her trot is majorly lame. I'll take a better look at her shoulder, leg, and foot tomorrow.


I've seen this around today, so here is my Throwback Thursday picture.  :)

Approximately summer of 2008, shortly after I got my first saddle.  :)
Not the best form, I know, but it was fun!