I love my property. I love all the pastures I have and the space to ride. I can go for hours and hours through fields and along back country roads.
What I don't love is not having an indoor arena. The remnants of Hurricane Ike unloaded on us Sunday and we are wet, muddy and flooded. The creek came up into Gabe's pasture and part of my riding "arena" is under water. I don't have an arena with all-weather footing. I have a turf (that's the hoity-toity word for "grass") arena, which basically turns to mud when it really rains.
I'm not going to get to do much with Gabe today and the only riding I'll be able to do on Calypso is up and down the driveway and down the road. I'll probably use the road riding "opportunity" to work on her transitions within and between gaits. She gets on her forehand and rushes at the trot if she's not ridden perfectly balanced and forward. Since she's Robert's horse, I've been working on trying to get her to stay off her forehand even if the riding isn't perfect. Once she gets on the forehand, her trot is AWFUL. It's short and stiff, head up, back tense. Very much like riding a pogo stick. But when she's balanced, she has a decent trot.
I won't be able to work Gabe in the field at all. This is horse training after all, not muddin'! I will take this forced opportunity to do more work with him standing nicely tied while I groom him and do whatever else to him that he needs to learn to endure. Then maybe I'll take him for a short walk and a graze along the driveway.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Changing sights, new commands
We've moved Gabe's training from the small paddock to what has been dubbed my "jump field." It's out of sight of the other horses, quite a bit bigger and I have jumps set up in there. Robert is in the process of designing/building me more jumps to add to my field! I sent him an email chock full of pictures of what I want: flower boxes, a wall, a coop, a brush box and a roll top, along with several sets of schooling standards. I'm very, very excited to see my field filled with brightly colored schooling jumps.
Anyway, I worked him for the first time in the jump field Wednesday. It's a much bigger space with much more rolling terrain than the paddock. We hadn't worked on cantering on the lunge yet in the paddock so that was one of our goals in the jump field. Yes, it's fenced in. After his shenanigans and fit throwing out in the wide open spaces, I decided I'll work him in enclosed areas for awhile longer.
And I wore my helmet, too. What a difference a helmet makes in my level of confidence! I have some ugly rope burn scars on my hands from earlier this summer, so I always, always wear heavy gloves when I'm working him. I've started wearing them while I'm working the other horses too, not because I'm worried about their shenanigans, but because my hands seem so much softer and less calloused since I've been wearing them.
I lunged him over cross rails a few times and he really, really seemed to enjoy it. Not one time did he say "Nope, I don't think so," and not pop over it. He just looked at it and over he went. He has decent form, considering it was only an 18" jump.
Then, we started the canter work. First to the left, his easiest, most flexible side. We had a few explosive canter take-offs like he was taking off from the gate and he had a really hard time figuring out how to go slowly in a circle. He's never, ever had to canter on a circle before so this was a real challenge for him, both for his balance and for his mind. He figured it out pretty quickly and while not perfectly balanced or or able to keep a regular pace on the circle, he did well.
To the right was an entirely different story. On the track, and in his track training, he was required to canter and gallop always turning to the left around the track. We had many, many explosive canter transitions tracking to the right and he could not figure out how to stay on a circle. Rope halters are my friend. He'd break into a canter and attempt to canter STRAIGHT across the field, instead of on a nice curve. I spent a lot of time following him, pulling him back on track, walk, trot, walk, halt, back, walk, halt, trot, canter. BAM! Gone. I am happy to say he didn't get away from me once. He did haul me across the field a couple of times, but never got away. Love those rope halters!
It probably took 20-25 minutes of working, reworking and refocusing tracking to the right to get him to understand what I was asking. And when he finally got it, he was an unbalanced, wrong lead, high-headed mess making a lumpy oval instead of a nice circle. But, he got it. One thing at a time, right?
I haven't put a bit on him yet, for many reasons. One reason is because I expected to have the cantering confusion and explosions that we had. I don't want to punish his mouth because he doesn't understand what I'm asking. On the track, Thoroughbreds are trained to run FASTER when the pressure of the bit gets stronger, completely opposite of how he will be expected to respond as a pleasure horse. Can you imagine how much worse our cantering training would have been had a bit been in his mouth? Ugh. I don't think I could have kept up with him! Retraining to the bit is going to be a few sessions of focusing on JUST the bit pressure. Another reason is I'm waiting for the dentist to come out and do some work on his mouth. His wolf teeth need pulled/clipped and I know he has some spurs on a few of his molars. The bit should be a comfortable experience, not a painful one. We have ONE equine dentist (that I trust and have used before!) in a four county region. His schedule is quite full at the moment.
Why haven't I gotten on him yet? That's another post entirely, as this one has gotten a lot longer than I intended!
Anyway, I worked him for the first time in the jump field Wednesday. It's a much bigger space with much more rolling terrain than the paddock. We hadn't worked on cantering on the lunge yet in the paddock so that was one of our goals in the jump field. Yes, it's fenced in. After his shenanigans and fit throwing out in the wide open spaces, I decided I'll work him in enclosed areas for awhile longer.
And I wore my helmet, too. What a difference a helmet makes in my level of confidence! I have some ugly rope burn scars on my hands from earlier this summer, so I always, always wear heavy gloves when I'm working him. I've started wearing them while I'm working the other horses too, not because I'm worried about their shenanigans, but because my hands seem so much softer and less calloused since I've been wearing them.
I lunged him over cross rails a few times and he really, really seemed to enjoy it. Not one time did he say "Nope, I don't think so," and not pop over it. He just looked at it and over he went. He has decent form, considering it was only an 18" jump.
Then, we started the canter work. First to the left, his easiest, most flexible side. We had a few explosive canter take-offs like he was taking off from the gate and he had a really hard time figuring out how to go slowly in a circle. He's never, ever had to canter on a circle before so this was a real challenge for him, both for his balance and for his mind. He figured it out pretty quickly and while not perfectly balanced or or able to keep a regular pace on the circle, he did well.
To the right was an entirely different story. On the track, and in his track training, he was required to canter and gallop always turning to the left around the track. We had many, many explosive canter transitions tracking to the right and he could not figure out how to stay on a circle. Rope halters are my friend. He'd break into a canter and attempt to canter STRAIGHT across the field, instead of on a nice curve. I spent a lot of time following him, pulling him back on track, walk, trot, walk, halt, back, walk, halt, trot, canter. BAM! Gone. I am happy to say he didn't get away from me once. He did haul me across the field a couple of times, but never got away. Love those rope halters!
It probably took 20-25 minutes of working, reworking and refocusing tracking to the right to get him to understand what I was asking. And when he finally got it, he was an unbalanced, wrong lead, high-headed mess making a lumpy oval instead of a nice circle. But, he got it. One thing at a time, right?
I haven't put a bit on him yet, for many reasons. One reason is because I expected to have the cantering confusion and explosions that we had. I don't want to punish his mouth because he doesn't understand what I'm asking. On the track, Thoroughbreds are trained to run FASTER when the pressure of the bit gets stronger, completely opposite of how he will be expected to respond as a pleasure horse. Can you imagine how much worse our cantering training would have been had a bit been in his mouth? Ugh. I don't think I could have kept up with him! Retraining to the bit is going to be a few sessions of focusing on JUST the bit pressure. Another reason is I'm waiting for the dentist to come out and do some work on his mouth. His wolf teeth need pulled/clipped and I know he has some spurs on a few of his molars. The bit should be a comfortable experience, not a painful one. We have ONE equine dentist (that I trust and have used before!) in a four county region. His schedule is quite full at the moment.
Why haven't I gotten on him yet? That's another post entirely, as this one has gotten a lot longer than I intended!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
And, he's off!
The horses have been "cooped up" in their dry lots (well, at this point, mud lots) for about a week. They each have about 1/2 to 3/4 an acre of space in their paddocks, so it's not like they are confined to an itty-bitty area. They stretch their legs and have plenty of room to move.
I haven't turned them out on the grass pastures because it's been raining and rain equals mud and horse hooves on mud equals torn up pastures and dead grass. I probably pamper my pastures more than is really necessary, but I will not turn horses out on muddy pastures. I'd like to keep them grassy and green, not big, weedy mud pits.
Anyway, the pastures were dry enough last night that I could turn them out this morning. The way Gabe acted you'd think he's been cooped up in a 10x10 stall for the past week! Sheesh! Snorting and prancing and arching his neck on the walk from his paddock to the pasture. He was bouncing along like he was spring-loaded!
They get turned out around 6 a.m. and at that time, the dew is still heavy on the grass. I'd rather wait to turn them out until after the dew dries, but if I want them to go out, that's when they have to go out, work schedules and whatnot.
After snorting and prancing and wiggling all the way to the pasture, Gabe couldn't wait to be FREE to kick up his heels. He leapt and bucked and snorted and farted around the pasture as soon as I removed his halter. He tore around the corners and did circles around Calypso who was happy to just stand and munch on the nearly knee-high grass while giving the youngster the evil eye.
Do you know what happens when you combine dew-soaked, nearly knee-deep grass with a Thoroughbred doing his impression of the Indy 500 around the pasture?
You get a horse who lands on his side when he thinks he can take that sharp turn at a pace a notch or two higher than he should. Yup. Gabe took a tumble this morning. He wasn't even flustered by it. Up he leapt right back up and continued his crazy, bucking circuit around the pasture.
My heart leapt into my throat and my stomach clenched painfully when I saw him go down. The only thing running through my head was "Oh shit, he's broken a leg. Shit." It's pretty scary to see a horse go down, especially when it's the big goofy Thoroughbred you've completely fallen head over heels in love with.
The big nut. I hoped he learned something about centrifugal force, wet grass and high speeds this morning!
I haven't turned them out on the grass pastures because it's been raining and rain equals mud and horse hooves on mud equals torn up pastures and dead grass. I probably pamper my pastures more than is really necessary, but I will not turn horses out on muddy pastures. I'd like to keep them grassy and green, not big, weedy mud pits.
Anyway, the pastures were dry enough last night that I could turn them out this morning. The way Gabe acted you'd think he's been cooped up in a 10x10 stall for the past week! Sheesh! Snorting and prancing and arching his neck on the walk from his paddock to the pasture. He was bouncing along like he was spring-loaded!
They get turned out around 6 a.m. and at that time, the dew is still heavy on the grass. I'd rather wait to turn them out until after the dew dries, but if I want them to go out, that's when they have to go out, work schedules and whatnot.
After snorting and prancing and wiggling all the way to the pasture, Gabe couldn't wait to be FREE to kick up his heels. He leapt and bucked and snorted and farted around the pasture as soon as I removed his halter. He tore around the corners and did circles around Calypso who was happy to just stand and munch on the nearly knee-high grass while giving the youngster the evil eye.
Do you know what happens when you combine dew-soaked, nearly knee-deep grass with a Thoroughbred doing his impression of the Indy 500 around the pasture?
You get a horse who lands on his side when he thinks he can take that sharp turn at a pace a notch or two higher than he should. Yup. Gabe took a tumble this morning. He wasn't even flustered by it. Up he leapt right back up and continued his crazy, bucking circuit around the pasture.
My heart leapt into my throat and my stomach clenched painfully when I saw him go down. The only thing running through my head was "Oh shit, he's broken a leg. Shit." It's pretty scary to see a horse go down, especially when it's the big goofy Thoroughbred you've completely fallen head over heels in love with.
The big nut. I hoped he learned something about centrifugal force, wet grass and high speeds this morning!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Gabe throws a royal fit
He finally did it. He threw a teenage temper tantrum. If he was an actual human teenager he would have rolled his eyes, huffed loudly, stomped through the house to slam the bedroom door while telling me how I'm out to ruin his life FOREVER and that I NEVER let him have any fun at all. He probably would have flung something at the closed door just to make sure I knew he was pissed.
Gabe throwing a temper tantrum is a bit scary. He's HUGE and those hooves and legs have quite the reach on them, especially when you're the 5'2" human holding the end of the rope. He throws noisy tantrums, seriously, it was almost funny the way he was grunting and snorting during the fit throwing shenanigans.
We started with a 15-minute session of grooming with him tied to the post. He was mostly a gentleman. Not too wiggly and no pulling back at all. Still not cured of the pulling, but getting there. How do I know he's not cured? He stands there, but he's not relaxed. He's tense and worried about being tied up, but at least he stood this time.
Aside from the walk I took him on with Calypso not too long ago, all of our work has been in a pasture where he can see the other horses. He's close to them, the pasture is familiar, life is good and he works happily.
I decided it was time to change things up a bit so I took him out for a walk, alone, down our driveway. We have a pretty long driveway, nearly half a mile, and the other horses are out of sight pretty quickly. He was very non-happy about that, but, as long as we were walking and I was keeping his attention with regular halts and turns on the forehand/haunches, he was pretty good. A little nervous, but paying attention.
The driveway curves around the pond and there's a good-sized flat, grassy area between the pond and the driveway. My goal was to get him there, let him graze for a couple of minutes and do some lunge work in a new place. No new commands, just a new place.
So, he can't see the other horses, but he can hear Calypso screaming for him. The weather was changing quickly as a big, noisy thunderstorm was rolling in AND we were in a new place. Apparently, all that was too much for him and he decided he was going to have fits on the end of my line. Bucking and rearing and grunting and trying to run off back to the other horses. I'd get him moving at a walk at the end of the line and he'd lunge and buck and grunt and rear and try to take off, again and again. He can be pretty scary when he's acting like a spoiled brat and I wished, more than once, that I had plunked my hard hat on before I took him out. I guarantee I WILL be wearing the hat next time.
Finally, after dealing with his juvenile tantrums and reprimanding him with lots of backing up and tight, tight turns on the forehand/haunches to refocus him, I got him to walk once, mostly calmly, on a circle around me. Once he accomplished that simple task, we headed back. I decided it was probably not a good day to attempt to continue with our session in the wide open spaces. We headed to a different pasture, one I haven't worked him in, and made his goofy butt work HARD in there. By the end of the session he was quiet and listening and appropriately contrite for acting like a fool.
My new goal is to take him out and work him in strange places much more often. He has to learn that in every situation, in every place, no matter how new or scary, he MUST listen to me and not throw fits. His behavior was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. Especially with as big as he is. He can get very dangerous very quickly if he decides he's done listening. He has to learn that behaving badly can be MUCH worse for him than whatever scary or nerve-wracking situation he might be in. He has to learn to turn to me in those scary situations. I can't make him not be scared or nervous about things, but I can teach him how to respond appropriately in those situations.
Next time, I'm wearing my hard hat. I don't need a big Gabe hoof making contact with my naked noggin.
Gabe throwing a temper tantrum is a bit scary. He's HUGE and those hooves and legs have quite the reach on them, especially when you're the 5'2" human holding the end of the rope. He throws noisy tantrums, seriously, it was almost funny the way he was grunting and snorting during the fit throwing shenanigans.
We started with a 15-minute session of grooming with him tied to the post. He was mostly a gentleman. Not too wiggly and no pulling back at all. Still not cured of the pulling, but getting there. How do I know he's not cured? He stands there, but he's not relaxed. He's tense and worried about being tied up, but at least he stood this time.
Aside from the walk I took him on with Calypso not too long ago, all of our work has been in a pasture where he can see the other horses. He's close to them, the pasture is familiar, life is good and he works happily.
I decided it was time to change things up a bit so I took him out for a walk, alone, down our driveway. We have a pretty long driveway, nearly half a mile, and the other horses are out of sight pretty quickly. He was very non-happy about that, but, as long as we were walking and I was keeping his attention with regular halts and turns on the forehand/haunches, he was pretty good. A little nervous, but paying attention.
The driveway curves around the pond and there's a good-sized flat, grassy area between the pond and the driveway. My goal was to get him there, let him graze for a couple of minutes and do some lunge work in a new place. No new commands, just a new place.
So, he can't see the other horses, but he can hear Calypso screaming for him. The weather was changing quickly as a big, noisy thunderstorm was rolling in AND we were in a new place. Apparently, all that was too much for him and he decided he was going to have fits on the end of my line. Bucking and rearing and grunting and trying to run off back to the other horses. I'd get him moving at a walk at the end of the line and he'd lunge and buck and grunt and rear and try to take off, again and again. He can be pretty scary when he's acting like a spoiled brat and I wished, more than once, that I had plunked my hard hat on before I took him out. I guarantee I WILL be wearing the hat next time.
Finally, after dealing with his juvenile tantrums and reprimanding him with lots of backing up and tight, tight turns on the forehand/haunches to refocus him, I got him to walk once, mostly calmly, on a circle around me. Once he accomplished that simple task, we headed back. I decided it was probably not a good day to attempt to continue with our session in the wide open spaces. We headed to a different pasture, one I haven't worked him in, and made his goofy butt work HARD in there. By the end of the session he was quiet and listening and appropriately contrite for acting like a fool.
My new goal is to take him out and work him in strange places much more often. He has to learn that in every situation, in every place, no matter how new or scary, he MUST listen to me and not throw fits. His behavior was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. Especially with as big as he is. He can get very dangerous very quickly if he decides he's done listening. He has to learn that behaving badly can be MUCH worse for him than whatever scary or nerve-wracking situation he might be in. He has to learn to turn to me in those scary situations. I can't make him not be scared or nervous about things, but I can teach him how to respond appropriately in those situations.
Next time, I'm wearing my hard hat. I don't need a big Gabe hoof making contact with my naked noggin.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The new digs
Gabe and Calypso are digging their new space. Lots of beautiful green,lush grass and new views.
Woo hoo!
Hi there! I love my pasture, but can ya get someone to turn down the heat? Melting over here. And this humidity, it's doing NOTHING for my hair. Seriously.Don't worry bud, the cold weather is just around the corner. Trust me, you'll be complaining about the chill soon enough. Which reminds me...you need a blankie! And I need two new tank heaters.
I'll stop complaining about the heat and humidity now. An arctic blast from last winter. *shudder*
My toes and nose are cold just thinking about it. *double shudder*
A dream fulfilled
A momentary break from the Gabe files:
The girls and I visited my mom and stepdad in their beautiful California cabin this summer...10 days of pure bliss! We spent four of those days in the mountains, camping with the horses and trail riding. It has always been a dream of mine to ride in the mountains and I can now say it was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Kayleigh had a blast and led a few of our trail rides. I was a little concerned about her on some of the steeper trails as we don't really have many places in the Midwest that make the horses sit on their butts on the way down! I shouldn't have worried...she rode 'em like a pro.
My mom and Kayleigh, leading the way. We were camping near Truckee, Calif., which is pretty near where the infamous Donner party engaged in cannibalism.
Kayleigh absolutely loved being our trail boss. See her new chinks? She LOVES them! While we were out and about in the mountains they got a few scratches from the trees. She came up with a great story to tell back at camp about how a mountain lion jumped out and attacked her, the chinks protected her and Cheyenne (her horse) galloped up the mountain to save her life. She's quite the storyteller.
The views were incredible. My mom kept apologizing for the skies being so smoky from all the wildfires, but they looked pretty darn clear and blue to me. Guess I'm so used to the humidity haze around here those California mountains skies were stunning.
At the top. Amazing, isn't it? Not a soul or a bit of civilization in sight. LOVE IT!
The view I woke to every morning on that camping trip. I could live with a view like that for the rest of my life.
The girls and I visited my mom and stepdad in their beautiful California cabin this summer...10 days of pure bliss! We spent four of those days in the mountains, camping with the horses and trail riding. It has always been a dream of mine to ride in the mountains and I can now say it was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Kayleigh had a blast and led a few of our trail rides. I was a little concerned about her on some of the steeper trails as we don't really have many places in the Midwest that make the horses sit on their butts on the way down! I shouldn't have worried...she rode 'em like a pro.
My mom and Kayleigh, leading the way. We were camping near Truckee, Calif., which is pretty near where the infamous Donner party engaged in cannibalism.
Kayleigh absolutely loved being our trail boss. See her new chinks? She LOVES them! While we were out and about in the mountains they got a few scratches from the trees. She came up with a great story to tell back at camp about how a mountain lion jumped out and attacked her, the chinks protected her and Cheyenne (her horse) galloped up the mountain to save her life. She's quite the storyteller.
The views were incredible. My mom kept apologizing for the skies being so smoky from all the wildfires, but they looked pretty darn clear and blue to me. Guess I'm so used to the humidity haze around here those California mountains skies were stunning.
At the top. Amazing, isn't it? Not a soul or a bit of civilization in sight. LOVE IT!
The view I woke to every morning on that camping trip. I could live with a view like that for the rest of my life.
When the best laid plans...
I came into this long holiday weekend with all kinds of grand plans for my riding/training pleasure. I wanted to ride both Calypso and Chief and put some serious long-reining time in with Gabe. I even planned to go out for a nice, long trail ride with Robert, something we haven't done for a couple of months.
It's amazing how all the fun stuff gets shifted to the side when "real" work needs doing. I managed one session with Gabe and we just worked on confirming his understanding of my voice commands: Walk, trot, canter, whoa, easy, back and reverse. The canter and back commands are still iffy, but everything else seems planted fairly firmly in his head. I didn't get the long reins on him like I'd planned.
It was far too hot, and after spending the day toiling around the farm, I knew I just didn't have the energy to really keep up with him during the trot on the long lines. I think real temperatures of 98-degrees with the humidity levels around 88 percent constitute "too freaking hot!" Oppressively, depressingly, maddeningly HOT!
I did get the new pasture fenced and my HUGE veggie garden plot tilled, composted and tilled again. I confess, Robert did a lion's share of the tilling work. I'm sure he loved hearing the words "Honey, could you do this for me? I just can't do it by myself," because God knows he very, very rarely hears me say "Help! I can't do it!" The tiller was just far too big and far too powerful and our ground too much like concrete for me to safely handle that dangerous piece of machinery. I kept losing control of the thing and it would drag me across the yard and I had terrifying visions of slipping beneath those blades and turning my legs into shredded hamburger. *shudder* While he tilled, I hauled about 20 huge wheelbarrows full of compost up to the plot and spread it out. The plot is now ready for next year's bounty. I have room for every veggie and melon I've ever wanted to plant and then some.
Gabe and Calypso are thrilled with the new pasture. When we turned them out in it Saturday morning they both took off like their tails were on fire and bucked and farted and galloped around the whole thing several times. What a sight! Gabe sure can BUCK! I hope he never does that under saddle or I'd be launched to the moon. Have I mentioned Gabe is gorgeous? And that I'm completely in love with him? Thought so. *grin*
My youngest, Kayleigh, had a riding lesson Friday night and a ranking test Saturday morning. She earned her first rank star at the barn where she rides and she's pretty darned pleased with herself. She rides at home with me about three days a week (when it's not blazing hot or arctic cold), but we got to the point several months ago where me trying to give her lessons was pointless. We just ended up arguing about something stupid, so, she now takes lessons once a week with a group of girls her age and the rest of the week, we trail ride.
Once a week I give her a lunge lesson and I try to give her gentle reminders about her heels and posture and seat while she works on balance and posting and two-point. It seems that if someone ELSE tells her to keep her heels down and head up, she does it without question. At first it was frustrating for me to see someone else give her a lesson and tell her EXACTLY the same things I've been telling her, often in exactly the same words, and she listened without question. With me, it was nearly always an argument and it got to the point where riding together was becoming a chore, not a pleasure. Now, she listens to me when I remind her of things from her lesson and she listens instead of arguing.
Riding together is again a great pleasure and we have a lot of heart-to-heart talks just plodding along in the fields. It's the best type of riding there is.
It's amazing how all the fun stuff gets shifted to the side when "real" work needs doing. I managed one session with Gabe and we just worked on confirming his understanding of my voice commands: Walk, trot, canter, whoa, easy, back and reverse. The canter and back commands are still iffy, but everything else seems planted fairly firmly in his head. I didn't get the long reins on him like I'd planned.
It was far too hot, and after spending the day toiling around the farm, I knew I just didn't have the energy to really keep up with him during the trot on the long lines. I think real temperatures of 98-degrees with the humidity levels around 88 percent constitute "too freaking hot!" Oppressively, depressingly, maddeningly HOT!
I did get the new pasture fenced and my HUGE veggie garden plot tilled, composted and tilled again. I confess, Robert did a lion's share of the tilling work. I'm sure he loved hearing the words "Honey, could you do this for me? I just can't do it by myself," because God knows he very, very rarely hears me say "Help! I can't do it!" The tiller was just far too big and far too powerful and our ground too much like concrete for me to safely handle that dangerous piece of machinery. I kept losing control of the thing and it would drag me across the yard and I had terrifying visions of slipping beneath those blades and turning my legs into shredded hamburger. *shudder* While he tilled, I hauled about 20 huge wheelbarrows full of compost up to the plot and spread it out. The plot is now ready for next year's bounty. I have room for every veggie and melon I've ever wanted to plant and then some.
Gabe and Calypso are thrilled with the new pasture. When we turned them out in it Saturday morning they both took off like their tails were on fire and bucked and farted and galloped around the whole thing several times. What a sight! Gabe sure can BUCK! I hope he never does that under saddle or I'd be launched to the moon. Have I mentioned Gabe is gorgeous? And that I'm completely in love with him? Thought so. *grin*
My youngest, Kayleigh, had a riding lesson Friday night and a ranking test Saturday morning. She earned her first rank star at the barn where she rides and she's pretty darned pleased with herself. She rides at home with me about three days a week (when it's not blazing hot or arctic cold), but we got to the point several months ago where me trying to give her lessons was pointless. We just ended up arguing about something stupid, so, she now takes lessons once a week with a group of girls her age and the rest of the week, we trail ride.
Once a week I give her a lunge lesson and I try to give her gentle reminders about her heels and posture and seat while she works on balance and posting and two-point. It seems that if someone ELSE tells her to keep her heels down and head up, she does it without question. At first it was frustrating for me to see someone else give her a lesson and tell her EXACTLY the same things I've been telling her, often in exactly the same words, and she listened without question. With me, it was nearly always an argument and it got to the point where riding together was becoming a chore, not a pleasure. Now, she listens to me when I remind her of things from her lesson and she listens instead of arguing.
Riding together is again a great pleasure and we have a lot of heart-to-heart talks just plodding along in the fields. It's the best type of riding there is.
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