More of the same + Buddy!

Duck and I are just really still playing with the trailer etc. I have ridden once bareback since my last post but it wasn't for very long! 

Duck doesn't have any issue walking right into the trailer now when there is grain in there! All the way. She is even getting more confident about me rattling the divider. The butt bar she is getting better but still has to come out occasionally. 

On Friday we also played friendly game with the bike. Christian was kind enough to ride his bike around. Duck is deathly afraid of the bike. She is getting better but this one will definitely take some more time! At least she isn't going all the way to the end of the rope and pulling on me when he rides by now. Now it is just a couple steps!

Christian has recently been coming to the barn with me to play with Buddy the pony. He has really been enjoying his time with Buddy, and he is responding really well so far. The first day he was dragging Christian all over (he has a bit of a pulling people around to do what he wants which is usually grazing) but today (just 2 short sessions later) Christian can lead the food hungry monster through the grass with hardly any issues. On his back is a different story but I am sure that he'll get even more responsive! He seems to be enjoying his play time. Little LBE!

As a side note Christian took all the pictures of Duck and I on Friday that are posted. I thought he did pretty well!

Zone 5 Friendly Game & Trailer

Today I had an hour. I knew I wouldn't have time to warm up and ride as well (It usually takes us a bit to be on the same page before we ride) so I got my 22 ft line and headed to the practice arena. I also took with me a bucket of the grain I bought for using in the trailer as a "bonus." I opnened Liz's 2 horse trailer put the grain in, then walked away back to the arena with Duck. She definitely was NOT expecting that! She was expecting "oh we are trailer loading again...". So we get back to the arena and it is warm but SUPER windy. The wind is just howling and there is a ton of noise at the compost pile from the huge machinery there plus the regular tractors around the farm. 

Mind you it was so windy that Christian, who was with me ran straight to the lounge, he didn't want to be out in the wind.

So I've kind of been playing with leading by the tail but it hasn't been going super great. I decided that since with the trailer and our loading issues in zone 5 that I needed to be more friendly in zone 5. 

So that is what I did. The 12 ft rope (22ft was attached to her halter) rubbed all over her legs, the stick and string all over zones 4 and five. Then I worked my way to doing the helicopter over my head with the string and she seemed to be getting used to it pretty well.

Then we did a few steps of lead by the tail a couple times. The second time she really seemed to be getting the hang of it and was much more confident. See, I have a plan! I want to be able to get her out of the trailer when I am back at zone 5 so there is my purpose, teach her to lead by the tail so she'll come out of the trailer. 

Then I did some approach and retreat with the 12 ft rope around her hocks. She seemed fine with that so I decided to try to get her to yield to that. The first time she just shifted her weight so I released. The second time she didn't know exactly what to think when there was more pressure on the rope and she backed a couple steps but with her hocks pretty high each time. I couldn't tell if she just wasn't used to it or if she wanted to kick against the pressure. Guess I'll find out next time! I quit with that. I kept checking her tail to see how tight it was. Her tail seems to be quite tight each time I start playing with her, so I have been checking to see if it is loosened while/after we are done playing. 

We ended in the arena with "touch it" from zone 3. Carol has told me to  play with zone 5 driving so I am going to work my way back there!

We headed to the trailer next but I didn't ask her to go in right away. I was trying not to be so direct line about it although now she thinks I always want her to go in! So I had her put her nose on the trailer, go sideways around the trailer and truck, and then I decided to try something different (zone 5 stuff again.)

First I decided to have her go over the ramp (that isn't new) but then we yo-yo'ed across the ramp and then I back her off it. First just her back feet, then up to all four. And then the new zone 5 thing.

I asked her to put her hind feet on the trailer ramp first. At first she didn't want anything to do with it! I just tried to be persistent about it, approaching and retreating from the ramp and also reminding her when she didn't want to go backwards that she needs to yield to that pressure (while not near the trailer) (She has backed all the way up the ramp and into the big trailer one time) But this is a much smaller (2 horse straight load) trailer. But with the approach and retreat I got her back feet up there, first one foot, then 2. And I quit with that. And we got lots of licking and chewing!

Then I asked her into the trailer. Mind you by this time the wind is just blowing like crazy, and strong! I figured it would be great practice for her because it isn't always a perfect sunny day to get into a trailer right? She went all the way in first try which is definite improvement. Our issue is still the butt bar and zone 5. Last time I ended with rattling the butt bar and she still wasn't confident with it. 

This time though I think with the grain in there she could have really cared less about the butt bar almost the whole time. I rattled, and put it up and down and rattled it some more. Definitely much better! 

Only 1 time did she get unconfident enough that she had to come out (albeit it was quickly!). There was a HUGE gust of wind at the same time I was doing the rattling of the butt bar (plus there is a tarp and exercise ball at the front of the trailer) so that could have moved enough to spook her and she came out really fast! But she went back in just fine but not as far up as she had been so I just did the butt bar around her leg and rubbed there. Then it was time for me to go so we ended there!

Of course we had to have a couple minutes of grazing on the way back to her pen....

A bunch of stuff!

Wow what a beautiful day today! Duck was happy to see me. Yesterday I let her graze a bunch and she was happy about that.

So I am trying to get my shims all arranged better. Lets just say that to say the least my saddle is too narrow, and too small for my post kid bottom. :) But beings how a new fusion isn't in the budget (or even a wintec for that matter) I am donig the best I can with what I have. But I had to buy more shims which arrived on Saturday.

After looking at the instructions I decided to try a wedge shim with 2 thick shims. Duck doesn't have a high wither, isn't really downhill etc, but my saddle has got to be too narrow. Besides the fact that it puts me right on my frontside like close contact/jumping saddles tend to do anyway. I just could NOT get on my balance point consistently. What a difference today though! I actually felt much more secure and Duck seemed quite a bit happier trotting around. Her ears weren't back near as much and she was doing pretty well maintaining gait (until she saw grass!)

We just did follow the rail and some transitions today. I'm not sure if she's getting bored with it or not, but our downward transitions are still not that great. I am having to use my reins too much. I need to her stop more from my seat. I will keep playing with it!

Before I rode though we played on the 22ft line. Today I decided to try trotting sideways on the 22ft (with the fence). She did it, with slack in the line every time but really nasty ears too. Both directions same story. But she was being very responsive with slack in the line so I figured I'd try a little liberty.

So I took off her halter (this is in the big practice ring) and we played "stick to me." Our stick to me is getting pretty decent at the walk and trot on a good day. She still gets crabby ears though while trotting. Well we did the weave, a figure 8, went through a lane and then back out, and backed her through 2 upright barrels all at liberty! I only lost her once when she went ahead of me while trotting and she didn't even go that far just her behind had passed me when I was able to turn her around!

This was great considering that we haven't done liberty in quite awhile and when we did it wasn't great so I just left it alone for awhile.

It was a great session on a beautiful day!

Movie Night and Play Day!

Friday I hosted a Parelli movie night. It was so much fun! I love getting to know people that also share my passion for Parelli and horses. I had a good turn out including quite a few people that I hadn't ever met which was great! We enjoyed some good food (my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ended up being the favorite), watched the latest savvy club DVD and talked. Mostly we talked! It was just great to get to know some fellow savvy horse people! And I am going to try and keep it going more often than once every 6 months!

Then Saturday we did a playdate at our barn. There are 4 other Parelli students at Sundance now besides myself! Yeah! I am not the lone orange stick anymore! It is great to have like minded people around! I set up a weave pattern, figure 8, tarp, jumps, ground poles, and even the blue exercise ball.  Liz even hooked up her trailer for trailer loading practice! (Duck and I need all the practice we can get!)

Christian and Aricin even came over and played with Buddy the pony for awhile! And then Christian came back again to play with Buddy! He like leading him over "jumps" (ground poles)

Buddy is one smart pony. Catches on quite quickly and seemed to be enjoying mostly everything except when I interrupted his pattern of dragging Christian on the end of the leadrope. But he is smart and catching on quickly!

Duck and I need to play more with the tarp! And bikes. I need to have my kids come ride their bikes so Duck and I can follow them. She is quite scared of the bikes, and tarps! In Illinois I remember doing quite a bit with the tarp, but either it's been too long or I didn't do as much as I remember. Anyway it gives me another thing to play with as Liz left her gigantic tarp in her trailer for me to use! :) I want to get her comfortable enough to wear the tarp confidently. Another goal!

It was so much fun and hopefully I'll be able to meet up again with people this week. 

What an awesome weekend! And next time I'll try and remember to take some pictures but this time I was way too busy either helping people or my kids, or doing stuff with Duck!

Riding in the Chaos!

So yesterday I went to the barn to play and ride with Duck. There were SO many people there! I've hardly ever seen that many people there at once, especially in the winter. It was kind of chilly and very windy too!

I saddled up Duck. I've been playing with her shims some, trying to adjust etc to see if I can get on my balance point better. Well today she was somewhat happier. She had happy ears at the trot probably 75% of the time which was great!

We actually started in the round corral and on a whim I decided to do some liberty. I turned her loose and we did a couple figure 8's at liberty. I then put the barrels down trying to get her to squeeze over them, but it was more of a lazy crash through! :)

Then off to the arena. It was pretty crowded. There were 2 trainers both with lessons going on, and then a couple girls that own horses riding, and their friends on the ground as well. Of course the practice arena was empty. I chose this arena just for that reason. See, it very rarely there is anyone else in the arena when I ride/play, at the most 1-2 others and that is only occasionally. 

Duck has a rather large personal "bubble." So I wanted to see if she is getting any better with the other horses and help desensitize her to the groups. We were playing follow the rail and a million transitions. Of course as usual when there are distractions she ignores me, so I was really trying to be particular and effective in getting a downward transition. Towards the end she was listening much better to my body language. 

For the most part she didn't have big issues with the horses in the ring. One of the trainers was eating her lunch while teaching and had a bowl of something. Duck kept trying to stop and take me over there to see if it was something for her!

And that was it, about an hour just riding up and downward transitions just to the trot.

I'm so excited though because I get to go to a playday on Feb 28th! And a 4 day level 2/3 camp in June with Carol Coppinger at her place in Tennessee. I'm so excited! I haven't done a clinic or anything "Parelli" with a group (minus a couple trail rides) for almost 2 years now. 

Now I REALLY need to get Duck confident with the trailer!

Did I mention how excited I am for the playday and the camp!!! :)

More Practice, but is it perfect practice?

We've been playing with the trailer a lot. Also playing with the pattern "follow the rail" a lot. I've spent quite a few sessions on both of these areas including today. Which leads me to the question am I following the "practice is only practice, only perfect practice makes progress" idea.  I've been playing with the trailer as often as I have time for (which I guess hasn't been super consistent) and Duck is still not confident with it. And our follow the rail too. We are doing better but it is certainly far from perfect. We still have issues just trotting, let alone cantering.

After my fun trail ride on my birthday Duck obviously had some issues with it. Many thresholds were crossed for both of us. Both times I went out after that to play with her I had major issues. I tried to ride and she wouldn't do anything! She was extremely dominant and was trying to leave the arena to eat grass! I tried to get off and fix it on the ground, thought it was better and then tried again. No dice. She was still really acting up. So I quit on a good note on the ground and left it. The same thing happened again the next time I went out to ride but not as bad. Then we had a major cold snap and I had a major lack of time. So I didn't even bother to try and ride. So I've just been grazing her a little at a time when I have time which of course she enjoys.

So today finally I had time to play and ride and it feels like we're making some progress but is it good enough quality? Yeah, that I am not sure of. 

Here is the other couple things. There are horses in the paddock that shares a fence with the arena. Duck has issues with other horses. Today she lunged at the one while I was riding. The other horses were acting totally friendly but Duck just has her hers flat back going at them for what looks like no apparent reason. This also happened at the first and only clinic I took Duck to in Illinois. She was very defensive of her space. I am still not sure if it is dominance or she is scared of them. 

We had fun today. I was riding bareback and in the halter and we got a really nice sideways a few times. There was a triple jump combination up and and took her to the jump then side passed to the left, then got in between the next two jumps and side passed to the right, and then once more to the left. That was one of the best sideways we've had, it felt so light! 

It was a good horsey day even if it was raining on us!

Birthday Trail Ride!!

I haven't been on a trail ride since August. I had been waiting for Duck's boots to come in (she had very sore feet) and then to have a weekend off from work, then trying to find someone with a trailer that wanted to go! I worked every weekend but the 13-14th in December (for which I was grateful for the extra hours), had family in town (yeah, and see my other blog for details) and then all the other stuff that comes along with the holidays so when an opportunity to go trail riding came up I jumped on the chance! So for my Birthday which was last Wednesday another boarder at our barn, Liz and I went for a trail ride at Cane Creek State Park which is about a little more than an hour from the barn.

First off excuse the lack of pictures. I took both of these right when we got there and then of course my camera died. It is probably better anyway because I don't think I would have been able to take many pictures anyway. Why? It was REALLY windy, and Duck hasn't ever been on a trail ride in the wind. Let's just say there were a lot of horse eating plastic, deer, etc that made me wish I had saddled her western instead of english! It was very fun though and good exposure for both Duck and I. So below is Liz and her cute boy Eli, and then one I took of Duck (obviously too close).

Liz has a 2 horse straight load trailer which Duck did pretty well with. I went to the barn early to practice loading. We are getting there on the trailer loading. Duck is always worse on the way back, it was about 45 min to load on the way back, but now I know more what to work on. The Butt bar near her rump seems to be an issue so I will be playing more with that. On the flip side though she did really, really well getting out of the trailer. She backed slowly out only when asked.

What beautiful trails! The trails at this state park go all around Cane Creek Reservoir which is beautiful. We even stopped for lunch at a picnic area overlooking the reservoir.  So many wonderful trees, and the trails are very easy. The first time we went past the reservoir Duck didn't want anything to do with it. The second time we stopped at the reservoir she stepped into the water (a little too far for my comfort) got a big drink and really tried out those new boots! Of course it was very muddy and they stayed put! I was happy about that!

I need to play more with plastic flapping around her. I thought I had done ok on that one but most of what she really spooked at was plastic flapping. One was an orange plastic barrier, another a garbage can liner. The other 2 things she really spooked at were deer running that we couldn't see while we were between a chain link fence and a bunch of trees and my favorite, out on the parking lot we crossed some dead leaves when flying towards us and for a minute I thought I was a goner! LOL. I kept telling Duck that she couldn't pitch me on my birthday!

All in all it was a wonderful trail ride with great company. We even stopped at the Waxhaw Tack exchange on the way back. I couldn't of asked for a better birthday because when I got home Niels had gotten an ice cream cake, we did presents and then Niels and I went out to dinner. Top that off with a few phone calls wishing me happy birthday from family and friends and it was a great day, even if I did turn the big 3-0!