great 'week end'

I had a great 'week end' with the horses. On wednesday I worked with Jr and the bitting rig. He didn't think much about the bungees and having to learn to 'give' but he got it after awhile. He was in good spirits and didn't kick once, let me play with his feet, etc. I think he will settle down quite well after he realises his winter of fun is over. At the end of the session I did a few flexing exercises, asking him to give to the bit and although it took him a bit he did give. I think his lesson lasted about 45 minutes and then he stood tied for about a half hour while I worked Annie. On Thursday I didn't get to them as soon as I wanted to as it was quite chilly and windy out here, but once it warmed up and the wind quieted down I took Annie for a long drive out in the pasture, I was told this pasture was 1000 acres, and I don't know for sure if it is, but I do know that after about 15 minutes of a decent trot I still hadn't found the fence line...I wasn't being a good 'trainer' on this drive, I let Annie gawk at stuff because I was doing the same, its really getting green and most of the green is grass. We saw an antelope, just one loner so either he was being a lookout or is older, who knows. By the time we got back I had other things I needed to get done, so Jr's 'lesson' was to stand tied. He actually did pretty darn good today and didn't paw too much. When I let them back out into the pasture though they ran like they hadn't been in pasture for weeks, it was really pretty to see them flagging their tails and snorting and being silly, even Annie who I thought couldn't possibly have any energy left after our marathon drive!

Spring is definately here!!

Finally, some nice weather to work the horses. It's absolutely beautiful here right now, there is even enough green in the pastures that the horses won't eat all their hay. March 4th was the beginning of 'spring training'and not a minute too soon cause Jr has definitely gotten an attitude. Mai came down and we fitted Jr's harness to him after much punching of holes. Then we hooked up Annie and I went for a drive, Annie was typical 'freight train Annie' at first, but relaxed a few minutes into it and was really fun to drive. When I came back and tried to put Annie back in the pen, Jr decided to kick at me when I shooed him away from the gate, soooo he got a lunging lesson for about 1/2 hour until he decided he would look at me. On Thursday it was another gorgeous day, unfortunately I felt like dog doo because I had the stomach virus that was going around, lucky lucky me. But it was too nice to waste so Jr and I had another longe line lesson that went much better, although he is being a snot about his hind feet and will kick out every time I work them, so I played with his feet until he gave up, then he got to stand tied while I longed Annie for a few minutes, standing tied is definitely his week point and I have tried to explain that he had to be patient but he doesn't believe me yet. With the time change I was able to work the horses when I got home from work and took Annie for a little drive while Jr was standing tied (A new staple of training, kinda like brushing him down, he will just have to stand tied while Annie is being worked). Annie was great with the bit, I almost couldn't believe I was driving her she was so light, she is arching her neck a bit, but she hasn't been driven in well over a year, maybe even two so I'm not sweating that yet. Then it was Jr's turn and he had decided that kicking at me while on the longe line is the thing to do, so after 30 minutes of longing I am hoping he has decided other wise. He is still getting used to his new bit, but I just had him carry it today, it obviously wasn't enough of a distraction from kicking ;-). I am not too worried about his attitude, I think its more spring fever/I don't WANNA type of thing and once he is worked regularly he should straighten up some. I guess time will tell!

CCRRRAAZZZYYY Blizzard

Wow, what a rough couple of days, I don't think I have ever seen this much snow before. I have a feeling it will be a few weeks before I will be able to work JR much, luckily I was able to work him on Tuesday for a half hour or so. We worked on standing tied and he did wonderful with no pawing, then I lounged him for awhile and he did really well on that as well, he doesn't get turning around yet, but I think that will come more when/if I get a round pen, he does understand that when I pull him to me and cluck right away he has to move off, he just doesn't understand why I get to choose the direction ;-)

Jr and I worked on patience again today. He is really cute when he eats his grain, he will paw at the ground..but unfortunately he does it while he is tied up, being groomed, etc. So we worked at standing tied before and after being lounged for a bit. He is really getting the hang of lounging down. I put the surcingle on him as well, but he just doesn't care about it one way or the other. I really hope he gets some size to him this winter as I don't think I can put enough holes in my harness to get it to fit him correctly. He has been acting strange the past couple of days and I thought that maybe the coyotes were coming closer but I came home early a day ago and figured out what it was. The tree trimmer guys are here cleaning up after a fire and they are dumping the branches and stuff in a draw in the horses pasture. I was watching them dump it and when they tried to leave the horses were wanting to go with them, cause 1000 acres just isn't big enough for them, and the trimmers had to be very quick to get out. I thought about offering to pull them in, but it was too fun to watch.

Yet another super nice day to play with the horses. I figured I had better get a jump on it because the forecast for my next day off doesn't look pretty. I think I was wrong with my first impression of Jr, he has come into his own and no longer seems to be timid, quite the opposite. And he seems to be very logical. I worked some more on lounging him today (I can't wait for a round pen) and introduced him to a lounge whip. He jumped away from it at first but only once, then he came to the conclusion that it woudn't bite and actually felt kinda good when it was scratching him. By the end of the session he was even yeilding to it, not perfectly but I got the impression he understood the basics, he knew he should move, just not quite sure in which direction.

Pictures are here

(Infrared or Jr is the, obviously, red horse, I had to throw in a picture of Annie too though) Had a good day with Jr today. It was gorgeous outside and the perfect weather to play with the ponies, and seeing as how it was my only day off this week, it had to be taken advantage of. I started out by lounging my mare to take the edge off of her in preparation of her trimming this afternoon. While I lounged her I had Jr tied up. He tried digging a hole to China, but stopped after a few minutes. When I was through with Annie I took Jr out and tried lounging him, he did very well at it so I figured he had done some before. I then put the training surcingle on him and expected a bit of crow hop or something, but he acted as though he had done it all his life. I then added the bridle, just to wear it and I could tell that it was new to him. I am going to have to punch holes in all my tack though, I ended up tying a temporary knot in the bridle just to make sure it was up high enough. I wrote to his old owner to see what kind of stuff he had been exposed to and I was right about the lounging, he had learned some of the basics of it, but had never had anything tightened around his middle before, so judging by his reactions to the surcingle this afternoon I think he is going to be very sensible and fairly easy to train, getting the patience needed as a carriage horse will take some time though. Now to get him to grow!!

First 'training' day

I finally have a day off so I decided it was a good day to get tails up for the winter and to spend some time getting to know Jr. He is very much a 'lap' horse, but I found a few of his 'problem' areas today. For one, he is VERY impatient about standing still, as I was trying to put his tail up he just kept moving from side to side, so I see plenty of time standing tied up in his future. He also does not like his hind feet messed with much, and was not shy in letting me know this. Jr is very attached to my mare right now and while I was doing her tail and lunging her he wanted to stay as close as possible, but he wasn't screaming or acting as if he was going to pass out from loneliness, just wanted to be near. He is also learning that he has to eat fast, even though I keep them separated while they eat grain, I have been untying Annie once the grain is gone..to her credit she still hasn't insisted on musical buckets and will eat all of her hay before eating what is left of his. I spent about an hour with him today, in two separate times, his attention span doesn't seem like its at its peak right now so I figure that will be the way to go for awhile. I can't wait to get a round pen set up though, things will go so much smoother.