Date of Recording: Cinco de mayo!
Date of Event: 5/4/08
Working On:
Moving faster, faster, faster, giving to the bit, traveling in straight lines, and free longeing in the arena as a whole (versus the longeline). Standard procedure of tolerating equipment. Also, working on standing for mounting.
Progress:
I went to the barn again! Today was the day L, a friend of my mom who owns horses (I've known her since childhood) came to meet my horse Calypso. She's only seen some fat horse pictures from last summer. xD Calypso threw a tantrum right off the bat. I had just arrived (9:30 AM or so), had sat in the trunk putting on my boots (I was in just socks the whole ride), and Onyx, Calypso, and Cash were being lead out. Onyx and Cash were looking smooth in their fly masks, Calypso was her typical blonde bombshell self. Seeing me, D had asked if I wanted them turned out or not. I decided Onyx could go out, but Calypso would have to stay in because I didn't want to catch a dirty horse, or go through the hassle of catching a dirty horse. Plus, I was too lazy for the prospect of a hike. =P
After zipping up my boots, I grabbed Calypso, who tried to barge past me. I planted my feet and swung her around, but being so impatient she kept persisting and stepped on my toe (again....). I reprimanded her sassy butt with a smack and, after she calmed down a tad, lead her into the barn. She was fine as soon as she abandoned all hope of escape. =P Sweet lil thing, eh.... As soon as she was in, I gathered up the equip and got to work cleaning Onyx's stall. I had also decided to clean Pixie's (new draught mare) in addition to Calypso's, I didn't feel right with her having a dirty stall. Sometime between cleaning Onyx's stall and moving Calypso to his to clean her stall (and she of course made dainty little insta-shitclods in his stall), M left to do whatever and D left to do a trailering job. All in all it wasn't too horrid, my back didn't give (I've got a terrible lower back among other things), and I managed the three stalls. Onyx's was decent, Calypso's was surprisingly clean (despite that urine stain on her ass), and Pixies was a typical draft horse stall. Flooded. Yesterday was grain bucket cleaning day, but I had forgotten so I spent the rest of the time cleaning them out while waiting for L. I had only three or four more when L arrived, so we said our hellos, had a 10-20 minute talk about this interesting diet we're all on, and then I excused myself to finish with the buckets while my mom offered to take L on a barn tour.
I decided I should let Calypso get her blonde-hair-flipping-syndrome out of the way, so I lead her out (perfectly calm, the brat. xD) and turned her out in the arena (it is quite interesting, filled with ground rubber or something so she can't really get dirty, plus they don't like to roll in it). By the time I was done with the buckets and double checking the stalls, L and my mom had returned and I found L in the arena with Calypso leading her over ground poles. For a split second I was annoyed (teen emotions, eh?), but then I was just impressed with how far Calypso has come, she let a total stranger "lead" her (no lead rope, just her halter) her over the poles, which she formerly despised. As soon as I arrived she abandoned her work with L and walked to me like, "saaaave me." xD Still, she was such a good girl! I definately gave her pats for that. L mentioned she was a little hot around her back legs and I was like, yeah.... about that. She had spooked at a plastic bit covering the lawn mower and slipped. She's not at all flexible so when she slipped a bit and her legs spread a hair more than she's used to, insta-split for her. D= I wasn't sure about any stretches for back legs, so the plan was to have her walk and trot it out to get some stretch in it. She waddled the first few times. xD Yes, she did smooth out and was not at all limpy.
So now I'll be doing that sooooo "awful" plastic bag shaking. Oh my. =P On the bright side, she was brave and trusting enough to get a few step closer to the blowing plastic on the mower before freaking out. In retrospect, I should have planted my feet instead of moving with her, then she wouldn't have backed onto the concrete and slipped. Notes for next time....
After some long chatting with them, picking out her hooves, and stretching her out again L and my mom left for lunch and I stayed to ride Calypso. She still has her standing for the mounting block issue (I really need to nip that, but I keep forgetting to devote an entire lesson to it), but as soon as I got on she was great. She's in the bridle again, we can't go any farther in a rope halter.
I finally got her to understand I wanted her to trot! Poor mare, she isn't malicious and naturally a brat under saddle, so generally when she acts up it's because I wasn't being clean. Or, as some put it, I "told her to buck." Anywho, we were walking faster and faster and I was clicking and squeezing and wasn't getting anything but an annoyed, frustrated horse. So I decided to be unorthodox. While doing all of the former, I shouted and screamed (lol, good thing no one else was around to hear me). It worked for a while, spooked her into a trot and I'd praise her. Of course, due to her being a good girl and learning to cope with her fear, she eventually ignored my screams and shouts and eccentric behavior. So I took to clapping really hard on my leg instead. xD With that, she finally made the connection and we spent 1-3 minutes with stop, walk, trot, eventually without my needing to clap. Only that long, because she's still getting into shape. I praised her, ended early in case I wanted to show her trotting to my mom and L, and took off her bridle so she was free (lol, nekkid mare). Of course, being so adorable and respectful, she followed me anyway and waited with me as I watched for L and my mom.
I can't decide if I'll work on her with trotting and then transition her into fast walking and eventually a rack, or if since she now knows the speed up cue, I will just encourage the fast walk. o.o I don't want to dicourage her at all, so confusing. I'll have to ask some gaited people about this.
Next time:
I believe a large part of the next session should be dedicated to standing for mounting.
To Remember: Calypso is not a malicious mare, if she kicks out or tosses her head, it is because she is either in pain or irritated/frustrated because she doesn't understand what is being asked of her and it is my job to make sure she does understand.
Other:
We left the barn early (nothing to do xD) to go to L's house where I got a big surprise! (Well, besides the pit stop where it dawned on me that all my favorite snacks are filled with high frutose corn syrup so I shouldn't be eating them....). Arriving at L's, I was invited to take up Magic, her youngest horse of the herd (chestnut TWH gelding) to the upper field with the rest of the herd (they were picking on him so L seperated him while she was gone). L has a gorgeous round pen, 60ft. I've never been in one or used on, and I've always wanted to. xD I casually asked L if she had ever worked Magic in the round pen and she said no, but I was free to try him out. So amazing!
I've worked with three other horses on a training level, but all of them had similar learning needs and personalities. Magic was just an explosion of difference. A horse like that makes me realise how far I've come with Calypso! She understands what I ask of her for the most part, knows my body language. Magic on the other hand didn't have a clue what was wanted at first, was dodgey, and the reason why GaWaNi says if you step into a horse's comfort zone it "may" turn around (as in some will run you over if you aren't the right person). He almost ran me over, up until I realised he wasn't going to stop and dodged. From then on I cracked the whip when he got to close, and later (after seeing how unbalanced he was) a moment or so before he got too close. Eventually I got some lovely inside turns, but only in one area.
Poor horse, it was a lot of mental effort on his part. I didn't think anything would come of it, I just wanted to see what he knew, if I could teach him, and to ultimately get him to respect me enough to not run me over (which he tried to do on the way up to the field, I literally planted my feet and he used his body to skid me across the driveway, it'd be funny if it weren't for how bad that is). I also wanted to see if I could get him to tolerate the longe whip on his body, if not it cracking it (Calypso is a doll for me cracking the whip like a banshee screaming all around her, lol). So yeah, it was just an experiment. Little did I know that I was being watched. D= It is logical I suppose, but they were watching me from the house and it never occured to me that it was happening, lol. On the plus side, my efforts were not in vain- L decided she wanted to hire me to work with all her horses! =O Amazing, so now Magic's efforts were no in vain either and I can create a schedule for him. I look forward to cracking this case.
I'm not so sure about Midnight (black MFT gelding), he is very much his own horse. It will be interesting to work with him. He's no evil, just dominant by nature. Luckily he is small, I doubt he is more than 15.1hh. Sunchip (strawberry roan TWH, Magic's cousin even if they look nothing alike) is going to interesting as well, seeing as I doubt he is smaller than 15.3hh. He's an ex-big lick horse, so although he has been recovering from the trauma of it all, he is in better mental shape than the others. He's more responsive to everything.
L and I haven't worked out a price yet, but still, it's going to be a learning experience and I'm glad things are falling into place for me!
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