Jasmine – 06/30/10

It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything with Jas thanks to everything going on around here this past month.  It was a beautiful day today and I found myself with some spare time, so figured why not?

I’ve longed her a few times since my last post, just to work more on forward motion instead of the lazy western jog she seems to like so much.  Today I introduced her to the saddle.

She quickly realized it was just another way for her to behave and get rewarded.  As I was putting on the saddle, she took a few nervous steps forward, but then stopped and craned her head around to me for comfort.  I scratched her head and let her know it was ok, then she stood still for me to adjust the saddle and tighten the girth.  I never cinch up a girth all the way on the first try, especially with greenies.  I put it up snug enough so it wouldn’t slide off, then walked her around the pen once.  Tighten another couple of holes, walk around the pen.  She took all of this in stride and the stirrups hitting her sides never phased her. 

Once the girth was tight, I sent her out on the line to walk and trot.  She’s still very lazy, but at least she’s trotting now instead of shuffling!  I smacked the saddle, shifted it from side to side, and put a little weight in the stirrup – she just looked around to see what I was doing. 

Next time I’ll introduce the bridle and do some long lining.  Hopefully, I’ll have her ready by the time the next person comes out to visit.  I don’t want to try getting on her with no one around to direct in the paramedics. :)

Jasmine – 04/02/10

When Jasmine got here last May, she had a month old colt and a yearling colt both suckling on her.  She was not halter broke and did not see the need in letting humans touch her unless she had her head in a bucket of feed.  Both boys have been weaned for some time now, so Jasmine’s training started today (thanks to Mother Nature for drying out my round pen)!

All winter, Jaz has been getting friendlier by the day, even though I haven’t put much effort into her, except to worm, feed, and play with her feet.   She enjoys being groomed and will stand quietly, sans halter, while I scratch all of her itchies for her.  She’s still a little jumpy if I move too quickly, but she doesn’t go far.

Today was her first day in the round pen and my main objective was to teach walk and whoa, and get her used to the longe whip.  The longe whip was easy.  She quickly figured out that it was just another way for me to scratch the itchies.  Walk and whoa were also very easy, almost making me think that she’s had a little training at some point in her past.  But I think the whoa was just her saying “yup, I can come to a stop and not exert any more energy.  No problem!”

In other words, she’s a bit on the lazy side.  When I first asked for a trot, I had to actually tap her on the butt with the whip a few times.  Rather than explode, she slowly ambled her way up to a jog.  Barely.

 

I only did a few minutes in each direction, but in the end she had the idea.  Whoa means stop and stand.  Maybe look at the silly human to see if she’s got a treat.  Otherwise, go forward.  Right.  Got it.  Is it dinner time yet?

I have a feeling Jaz is going to be a very easy horse to train!

General – 09/19/09

I must apologize profusely for the lack of updates to the training blog.  I guess I feel woefully inadequate next to the great training bloggers, like Mugwump, that I’ve just been quietly doing my thing and hoping no one asks for details.  :)

To catch everyone up, here’s a summary of what little training has been going on this summer.  I’m hoping to get a lot more done now that I’ve got a round pen for ground work.  I can’t wait to get going with Miles and Jasmine, but Jasmine’s training has to wait until Sky is weaned in a couple of weeks.

Miles is the unhandled 9yo BLM mustang that arrived with Beauty and TMan.  I have done no work with him yet, and he still only allows me within 10 feet of him before he gets nervous and moves away.  Once Jasmine and Jewel are going well under saddle, I’ll start with getting Miles lured into the round pen for dinner and get him comfortable in there, then get him halter broke and go from there.  That should be fun!

Cheyenne is just about ready to go to her new home.  I spent a few weeks just ground driving her and getting her used to the rubber full cheek snaffle, and understanding whoa.  I’ve gotten on her twice this week and she’s done very well.  I’ve stayed in the round pen since I was alone at the time, but hopefully one of my volunteers will come out tomorrow and I can get her out for a short trail ride.  I’d like to get her out at least a few times with success before I give the adopters a call to come and get her.  She’s such a sweet mare, and so willing to please, that I doubt I’ll have much trouble with her out on trail.  Especially if she has the wise and unspookable Willow to follow!

Kisses has been doing really well!  Her only problem is that she’s incredibly lazy in the round pen.  She just doesn’t see the need to do any work, when snuggling up with me and being scratched behind the ears is way more fun.  I just started doing ground work with her last weekend and would like to put a bit in her mouth and start ground driving her tomorrow.  I should be on her next weekend and headed out on trail with her shortly after. 

Jewel and Classy have been put on the back burner this year due to all the new unhandled horses coming in and needing work.  I’m hoping with my new volunteer that comes out weekly, we can start taking Classy out on trail rides and get more mileage on her and teach her that the bit is not something to fear.  Oh, how I would love to train all these greenies with a bitless bridle, but how many adopters do I really think will buy and use a bitless?  So I have to be realistic and train them all to a snaffle, whether we like it or not.

Maverick… oh how I love that pony.  He’s going to be three years old soon, so I guess it’s time I started his training.  He’ll be learning to drive first, so it looks like I need to start shopping around for a training cart!

General -- 06/17/09

Sorry for the lack of posts here these days! Things have been so hectic around here with putting up new fence and trying to keep up with the day to day things on my own that I haven't had much chance to work with anybody. I have spent some time with the munchkins, just trying to get them halter broke and leading well. Jasmine is finally wearing a halter, but she doesn't know how to lead! It's always fun trying to get a skittish 1000 pound horse to lead without an enclosed area (like a round pen) and by yourself! But she's slowly coming around and finding out that what I'm asking isn't going to hurt her. Marbles and Maggie are leading pretty well now, but they are still not easily caught. They haven't figured out about treats and carrots yet, so the only reward they appreciate is a good scratching. They're getting better about having their feet messed with, so hopefully I can get those awful hooves trimmed soon.

Abbi has a hairline fracture on her left front that Doc says is almost calcified, so her training should begin in the next couple of weeks. Genesis leaves for Anastasia's pony training this weekend, then it's on to her new home when she's ready.

Gentry has improved when it comes to taking the bit and the terrible head tossing that he was doing. I haven't done anything special except to make the bit just something in his mouth, rather than something that causes pain. Soft hands and a plain snaffle did wonders for this guy! I put some beginners on him last week on the lunge line and he was awesome!

Frisky seems to be a fairly well-broke mare. She did test me when I first rode her and didn't want to go where I was pointing her, or even move forward when I asked. But she's the type of mare that shows her stubbornness by stopping and growing roots, not by bucking, rearing, or taking off. After 10 minutes or so, she finally gave in and decided that doing as I asked was a lot easier than doing what she wanted (which was head back to the gate and her little heard of dwarfs). After that, she was great! She has a very comfortable little western jog, but her canter is a bit spastic. I had heard rumors that her previous owners had done nothing but gallop down the trails, leaving their horses rode hard and put away wet. So when I asked for a canter, I got a "OMG, I have to RUN!!" reaction. The calm demeanor went away and she was off like a Thoroughbred out of the gate! Quiet legs and seat, half halts, and low-key 'whoa's and she finally settled into a fairly nice canter. As soon as she quieted I asked her to halt, got off, loosened the girth, and put her away.

I've been ignoring Jewel's training for now. One of the summer projects is to build a round pen and that's what I'm going to need with Jewel. She's going to take a lot of work and patience and I feel like I'm just wasting time with her on the lunge line in the middle of the pasture since her attention span is that of a cat being taught to sit on command. It's practically non-existent.

Tabby has gone on her first trail ride and went by herself since I couldn't find anyone to ride with me and Glenn was out on the road. I only took her out for 30 minutes, but she was awesome! She crossed a small stream without trouble, went past a big rusty van sitting beside the trail, and totally ignored the barking dog at her heals as we went past the neighbor's house. She was a little concerned with being by herself, but once she was out of earshot of the rest of the herd, she settled down and seemed to enjoy the ride. Her adopter is just about ready for her and Meghan, as their fence is almost done! Woohoo!