Makenzie and Horses at Colorado

Grandma and Makenzie

Sara and Makenzie

Makenzie at swim class


Swimming with arms and legs

Blowing bubbles

Working Roz on the lunge line

Sara bridling Roz

Ground Driving Roz

Lunging Peaches

Riding Peaches

What a great trot!

Fantastic Lope on Peaches.

Woring 3 year old Chex

First time lunging

What a quiet young gelding!

Getting ready for cattle classes. You can almost see him looking at cows!

Sara and I looking intense.

We were looking at a computer program.

Getting Ready for the First Ride

September 27-28, 2010

For the last 2 days, I have lunged Duster with the saddle on. I have ground drove him and threw the lines around his legs. I have tossed the ropes over his head and saddle. I wave the ropes around his face. Nothing spooks him.

Yesterday, in the indoor arena, I brought Duster over to the mounting block and had him stand still. I jumped up and down on the block. I put my weight over the saddle. I reached over to the opposite fender and slapped it. Then I turned him around, facing the opposite direction while I stood on the mounting block and repeated the jumps and slaps. He was a little buggy eyed, but stayed quiet and stood still.

Today, I took him to the outdoor arena. I threw the rope around his head and legs. I tossed it over the saddle seat so he would hear different noises from the rope. I slapped the stirrups against his sides, making sure to do as much on the off side as the near side. I held the horn and jumped up and down from both sides. I put my foot into the stirrup and stepped up and down.

 

Tomorrow, I’ll do more of the stepping up and down. I’ll lean across the saddle seat. And I’ll see if Duster will walk off quietly while I’m standing in the stirrup. I want him to stay quiet and not to be scared.

He will be going to the Peter Campbell clinic with me this weekend. I hope I can do enough ground work there for me to be on him, but I’m fine if he is not ready for that.

Bridle on Duster

Yesterday, I took him, saddled, to the arena and lunged him. There was no buck in him as he took off at the trot, and even when he loped around. He is a little bossy and pushy, but in a pleasant way, and if that is possible, it is possible with this colt. He is gentle, but he just walks through everything. That is about to change. I made him change direction, and to pay attention to me.

Duster had the bridle on for the first time today. I brought him up from the lot, along with another horse to keep him company. I tied them both in their own stall, across the aisle from each other. They could see each other, but they weren’t side by side.

I saddled Duster, and today he was going to stand with the bridle on also. I bridled him with a harness leather headstall with a big, copper D ring bit. I like to have them stand tied, chew on the bit, and get used to it in his mouth. He took the bit easily, chewed once or twice, then just stood there. I left him stand tied an hour, gaining some needed patience while feeling the bit in his mouth.

Today, he lunged with the bridle on. I led him to the outside arena. He just went around like he has been doing this for awhile. He trotted and loped around like a pleasure horse.

He trotted and loped over the logs.

He walked over the bridge.

He didn’t care if the rope was around his legs. The only time he jumped was when he farted and scared himself.

I threw the rope all around him. Over his head. Over the saddle. Behind his legs. He isn’t scared of anything. I guess being a bully, but confident, colt has good points.

Is Your Horse Afraid of Water or Mud?

What do you do when you are outside riding, and there is a small amount of water to cross, or even a small stream? What about just mud? Why does your horse refuse to cross?

Actually, I think crossing mud is harder. Horses start to sink as they walk into the edge of a muddy hole as compared to walking across the hard footing of streams.

Today, I worked with a training horse who does not like the sinking feeling of mud. I took advantage of all the rain that we have had. My one horse lot has a couple of low spots where the water is laying. I moved some horses around and put some horses out on the grass to graze. The training horse was put into the big lot to become accustomed to the lot and the terrain. He ran around for awhile, as he could see the horses on the other side of the fence, grazing, but he couldn’t get to them.

Putting the training horse on a lunge line, I lead him to one of the wet areas. Water had made a large water hole in one area of the lot. I sent him out on the lunge line, asking him to get closer to the wet area. Actually, there was only a moment of hesitation and side stepping away from the water, but the next time he came around on the lunge circle, he went right through the water! The area was a little mucky, but he didn’t act as if he was scared. He didn’t act like he wanted to jump or refuse. This is going better than I expected.

He did get excited, though and tried to lope past me and into the lot. I put the chain over his nose for further control. The next time he circle around me, and tried to keep loping past me to get to another area, I pulled him sharply towards me. He didn’t try to run past me after those 2 attempts.

I turned him on the lunge line, to circle him from the other direction into the water. He tried to evade the wet mud and go around the water. The next lunge circle he went through the water. We circled the wet area from both directions and went through the water 3 or 4 times each direction.

I moved over to an area in the lot that is more mud than water. The training horse seemed scared to move into deep mud, and had sidestepped an area in the area that had a lot of wet sand. He seemed light on the front end, and I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to be scared or try to bolt. He went through these muddy areas well, with no hesitation. I circled him on the lunge line from both directions. He was listening well and stopping when I asked him to.

Tomorrow, I’ll saddle him and lunge him through the wet areas. If he is good, then I’ll ride him in the muddy areas and go into the tree area. I want to be riding him around the trees and through the brushy areas.

I hope I don’t get muddy tomorrow!