It's St. Patrick's day and you know what that means? Spring is literally just around the corner! I have green grass poking its head through the mud and my daffodils are blooming. The horses are shedding like mad and Gabe is acting like he's been cooped up in a stall all winter. Even old man Chief has been feeling his oats, bucking and farting around like a yearling.
We still have massive amounts of mud. We had the wettest February in almost a century and my ground is definitely showing it. There's no where left for the water to go so it just sits on top of the saturated ground and turns everything into a smushy bog.
My daughter and I couldn't ride last night, although the weather was perfect for it, because of the mud, but we got the horses out and gave them a good grooming instead. I could make two new horses out of the hair I pulled off Gabe and Calypso! Chief is shedding a lot, too, and as usual, his white spots are shedding first and most.
We had a little minor emergency last night that made me so, so thankful horses are ruled by the tummies and tend to prefer being in each others company.
I had finished grooming Gabe and was letting him graze on the new grass in the yard while Kayleigh put Chief back into his paddock and caught Calypso so I could groom and worm her, too. Instead of hooking both electric ropes back up at Chief's gate (we have a gate that connects the two paddocks, it makes turnout easier during the summer), she just hooked the top rope. Well, Chief, being the sneaky little escape artist he is, took advantage of the situation and shot under the top rope of the gate into Gabe's paddock and straight out the open main gate into the yard. Of course, as he whipped by Gabe (my back was turned to the paddock while I let Gabe graze) he stirred up his blood. Gabe spun, lunged forward and took off after Chief, ripping the rope through my hands (ouch to torn flesh!) as he did so. I thought they were GONE! as they both tore up the bank next to the house and headed towards the driveway.
Suddenly, they both realized Calypso was not with them. Kayleigh had a nice snug hold on her and that mare is so well-mannered she just stood there, tail up and blowing with excitement, but not moving a single hoof to go after them because Kayleigh told her to whoa! Good girl, good girl. I tied her up and sent Kayleigh after a bucket of grain to entice the two bad boys back to us. I knew if I put Calypso back in the paddock she'd just rip around the paddock screaming at the boys and get them even more whipped up.
I shook the bucket, Gabe's ears came forward and he came right to me, like a bee to honey. What a good boy.
Chief is usually a pain in the ass to catch. Honestly, the only one who never has any problems catching him is Kayleigh. I can follow that jerk around the paddock for hours and he lets me get JUUUSSTTT close enough to touch him, then he turns and walks away. The faster I walk after him, the faster he walks. He never runs, he just stays right out of reach. I thought we were going to have a major issue with him, but Kayleigh took the bucket, shook the grain, put it on the ground and he took the bait. She flipped a rope over his neck, buckled on the halter and he never flinched or made a single move to get away.
My poor kid was shaking so bad! She thought her horse was gone for sure. And she kept apologizing for not hooking up the bottom rope...of course, I told her it wasn't her fault, neither one of us thought Chief would decide to make a Great Escape. We just know not to do that again. Lesson learned.
All ended well, everyone got wormed and brushed and we managed to inject a little bit of excitement into the evening.
Showing posts with label moron moments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moron moments. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
There is no sideways, only standing
Sometimes when you sit in one position too long your foot or leg or hip goes to sleep and when it "wakes" up there is an incredible tingly, almost itchy feeling.
My legs, my arms, my hands, my seat are all tingly and itchy with this intense desire and need to be in the saddle. Gabe, of course, could really care less whether I ride or not, as long as I visit him every day with peppermints and plenty of good scratching.
Actually, that might not be entirely true. When I walk out to his paddock with halter in hand he's never walked away...he always comes to me, even after watching me get out all my riding gear and put it near the hitching post. I think he enjoys our rides as much as I do.
I have also come to the conclusion that there is a rather large hole in our training that I need to fix ASAP, a problem I CAN fix on the ground (in the mud, rather) while I'm waiting for my marshy swampland to dry suitably enough for riding.
Gabe doesn't get the "move away from pressure when I tap you" concept. Yesterday I was cleaning his run-in and of course he had to be right there, head hanging over my shoulder, grabbing the manure fork and trying to wrest it from my hands or stealing my coat from his feed tub so I'd have to chase him to retrieve it.
He started getting on my nerves because he just wouldn't move enough out of the way for me to chuck the scoopful of bedding and poo out of his shed without making some rather interesting contortions while lugging 200 pounds of poo and pee-soaked shavings.
I pushed him and told him over. Nothing.
I did it again, using two fingers stiff against his side and told him over. Nothing.
I poked him in the side with the butt end of the manure fork and told him "over."
No response. I did it again. Poke.
Still nothing. He turned his head and gave me that "have you lost your bloody mind?" look and relaxed a hip.
Crap.
Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Steady. Repetitive, hopefully annoying enough to get some response from him.
Nothing.
Well, he flinched a bit with each poke and leaned into the end of the manure fork instead of away from the poking. I couldn't decide if he was being a stubborn oaf or truly not understanding what I was trying to communicate.
And I started thinking. When he's tied up I have a similar issue. He doesn't move over with a slight touch of my fingers, as he should. I have to put a shoulder into him and move him over.
This is not a good thing. This is a serious, serious oversight on my part. This lack of understanding to move away from pressure is going to put a serious crimp in any further training, and, it also explains why our leg yields, TOFs, and TOHs suck royally.
I felt like poking myself repeatedly with the manure fork to get it through MY head that I'm a great big dunce. Duh.
This is basic training stuff. How could I have overlooked it? I have a few ideas about how/why I overlooked this basic training concept, and most have to do with some other more serious issues I was dealing with such as the rearing and running backwards problem we had in the beginning as well as the spook, spin and gallop sideways for no apparent reason issue I had to deal with quick and in a hurry.
I guess we'll be taking a few great big steps backwards to fix the hole before we can start moving forwards again. Gabe is just smart enough that I don't think it will take too terribly long to get him where he should be so we can get back on track again. I need to also re-evaluate everything to be sure I haven't inadvertently left another hole somewhere along the line.
Good thing my mind kicked into gear now and made this realization before we got much further along, which could have made going backwards to fix it a more difficult issue.
My legs, my arms, my hands, my seat are all tingly and itchy with this intense desire and need to be in the saddle. Gabe, of course, could really care less whether I ride or not, as long as I visit him every day with peppermints and plenty of good scratching.
Actually, that might not be entirely true. When I walk out to his paddock with halter in hand he's never walked away...he always comes to me, even after watching me get out all my riding gear and put it near the hitching post. I think he enjoys our rides as much as I do.
I have also come to the conclusion that there is a rather large hole in our training that I need to fix ASAP, a problem I CAN fix on the ground (in the mud, rather) while I'm waiting for my marshy swampland to dry suitably enough for riding.
Gabe doesn't get the "move away from pressure when I tap you" concept. Yesterday I was cleaning his run-in and of course he had to be right there, head hanging over my shoulder, grabbing the manure fork and trying to wrest it from my hands or stealing my coat from his feed tub so I'd have to chase him to retrieve it.
He started getting on my nerves because he just wouldn't move enough out of the way for me to chuck the scoopful of bedding and poo out of his shed without making some rather interesting contortions while lugging 200 pounds of poo and pee-soaked shavings.
I pushed him and told him over. Nothing.
I did it again, using two fingers stiff against his side and told him over. Nothing.
I poked him in the side with the butt end of the manure fork and told him "over."
No response. I did it again. Poke.
Still nothing. He turned his head and gave me that "have you lost your bloody mind?" look and relaxed a hip.
Crap.
Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Steady. Repetitive, hopefully annoying enough to get some response from him.
Nothing.
Well, he flinched a bit with each poke and leaned into the end of the manure fork instead of away from the poking. I couldn't decide if he was being a stubborn oaf or truly not understanding what I was trying to communicate.
And I started thinking. When he's tied up I have a similar issue. He doesn't move over with a slight touch of my fingers, as he should. I have to put a shoulder into him and move him over.
This is not a good thing. This is a serious, serious oversight on my part. This lack of understanding to move away from pressure is going to put a serious crimp in any further training, and, it also explains why our leg yields, TOFs, and TOHs suck royally.
I felt like poking myself repeatedly with the manure fork to get it through MY head that I'm a great big dunce. Duh.
This is basic training stuff. How could I have overlooked it? I have a few ideas about how/why I overlooked this basic training concept, and most have to do with some other more serious issues I was dealing with such as the rearing and running backwards problem we had in the beginning as well as the spook, spin and gallop sideways for no apparent reason issue I had to deal with quick and in a hurry.
I guess we'll be taking a few great big steps backwards to fix the hole before we can start moving forwards again. Gabe is just smart enough that I don't think it will take too terribly long to get him where he should be so we can get back on track again. I need to also re-evaluate everything to be sure I haven't inadvertently left another hole somewhere along the line.
Good thing my mind kicked into gear now and made this realization before we got much further along, which could have made going backwards to fix it a more difficult issue.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Ape-sh*! bananas
That's it. I need a new saddle. I knew my saddle didn't fit Gabe quite as well as it should, but I really didn't know how badly it fit him until I broke out the measuring wire last night.
We rode fairly hard last night (he was FULL of himself! More on that in a minute) so he was sweating. And there was sweat under the saddle everywhere but on either side of his withers. Bone dry. Not good. That means the saddle fits too snugly and is too narrow. Keep in mind that this measurement was taken with him not being ridden most of the winter, so, he will only get wider as he gets fitter. Really not good. A tight saddle is like wearing too small shoes: Very, very uncomfortable and can be permanently damaging to the tissue/nerves/muscle.
I put the wire over his withers two fingers behind the shoulder blades, molded it in place and compared it to the gullet in my saddle. Collectively the gullet on my saddle is over an inch too narrow for this big guy's extra wide back. Surprising on a Thoroughbred, eh? He is not shark-fin withered like a lot of TBs, but he does have a wither...it's just REALLY WIDE, more like a warmblood than a Thoroughbred.
So, a new saddle is in order. I am torn right now between just continuing to ride with the current saddle until I get a new one or riding in my really sweet Baretek saddle until I can afford a new saddle. It would be different if the saddle was too big...then I could just pad it up. Not ideal, but better than too small.
The new saddle I would love to have is a Kieffer Aachen or a Kieffer Munchen...both a bit prohibitively priced. I may have to lower my standards a bit.
The only problem...the Baretek has no stirrups. Gabe still has stupid moments that may make riding with no stirrups slightly idiotic and perhaps more than a little bit suicidal.
There it is. My tack doesn't fit properly. I'm a bad horse mommy. See the guilt written all over my face? It's true. I feel bad for squishing my huge horse into what amounts to a pair of ill-fitting stilettos.
And, now for yesterday's ride. The day was gorgeous. The weather: warmer but still a bit nippy. The wind: Blowing. Gabe: High as a freaking kite.
He tried to kill me as I led him on the lunge to the arena. Of course, it didn't help that my husband turned Calypso out into the pasture and she went ape-shit bananas right towards us. Gabe was walking nicely next to me then BAM! Calypso ran at us bucking and farting and squealing and I guess Gabe thought he should do the same. Right next to me. That big dork even squealed like a girl as he reared up and started farting around on the lunge line. Grrr...Bad manners horse, I have him.
Fortunately Chief just stood by and watched the antics of the young'uns instead of trying to kill my daughter who was waiting patiently for the fart/buck/squeal fest to end before mounting. Good girl! Good Chief. He's one-in-a-million.
It took me a good 20 minutes to lunge all the stupids out of him and he was a naughty, naughty boy: Bucking, rearing, hopping (yes, hopping!) and trying to dash off without me. So, I made his butt work. Direction changes, spiral-in, spiral-out, over the trot poles, gate changes...everything I could think of to bring his brain back down to earth and out of ozone land.
Finally, he settled enough that I could get on without worrying about an immediate, unexpected dismount face-first.
And he was excellent. More direction and pace changes, circles, serpentines and a few good rounds of cantering the perimeter of the arena. We had a couple head-ducking threaten-to-buck moments but a sharp vocal reminder from me and a low growl stopped that particular performance from following all the way through. We even managed a couple of really decent lateral steps at the walk and the trot. Yay for sensitive sides!
We had foam, lots of thick, white foam on his lips and a whole lot LESS mouthing of the bit. I did tighten the figure-8 noseband a hole. It's still not snug, but snugger than it was last week. No arguments from him this time.
I hope to ride again today and really get the training program underway. May the sun gods and goddesses continue to shine down on us and keep the clouds and rain and ickiness away. At least for a week. All I ask for is a whole week of mud-free riding!
We rode fairly hard last night (he was FULL of himself! More on that in a minute) so he was sweating. And there was sweat under the saddle everywhere but on either side of his withers. Bone dry. Not good. That means the saddle fits too snugly and is too narrow. Keep in mind that this measurement was taken with him not being ridden most of the winter, so, he will only get wider as he gets fitter. Really not good. A tight saddle is like wearing too small shoes: Very, very uncomfortable and can be permanently damaging to the tissue/nerves/muscle.
I put the wire over his withers two fingers behind the shoulder blades, molded it in place and compared it to the gullet in my saddle. Collectively the gullet on my saddle is over an inch too narrow for this big guy's extra wide back. Surprising on a Thoroughbred, eh? He is not shark-fin withered like a lot of TBs, but he does have a wither...it's just REALLY WIDE, more like a warmblood than a Thoroughbred.
So, a new saddle is in order. I am torn right now between just continuing to ride with the current saddle until I get a new one or riding in my really sweet Baretek saddle until I can afford a new saddle. It would be different if the saddle was too big...then I could just pad it up. Not ideal, but better than too small.
The new saddle I would love to have is a Kieffer Aachen or a Kieffer Munchen...both a bit prohibitively priced. I may have to lower my standards a bit.
The only problem...the Baretek has no stirrups. Gabe still has stupid moments that may make riding with no stirrups slightly idiotic and perhaps more than a little bit suicidal.
There it is. My tack doesn't fit properly. I'm a bad horse mommy. See the guilt written all over my face? It's true. I feel bad for squishing my huge horse into what amounts to a pair of ill-fitting stilettos.
And, now for yesterday's ride. The day was gorgeous. The weather: warmer but still a bit nippy. The wind: Blowing. Gabe: High as a freaking kite.
He tried to kill me as I led him on the lunge to the arena. Of course, it didn't help that my husband turned Calypso out into the pasture and she went ape-shit bananas right towards us. Gabe was walking nicely next to me then BAM! Calypso ran at us bucking and farting and squealing and I guess Gabe thought he should do the same. Right next to me. That big dork even squealed like a girl as he reared up and started farting around on the lunge line. Grrr...Bad manners horse, I have him.
Fortunately Chief just stood by and watched the antics of the young'uns instead of trying to kill my daughter who was waiting patiently for the fart/buck/squeal fest to end before mounting. Good girl! Good Chief. He's one-in-a-million.
It took me a good 20 minutes to lunge all the stupids out of him and he was a naughty, naughty boy: Bucking, rearing, hopping (yes, hopping!) and trying to dash off without me. So, I made his butt work. Direction changes, spiral-in, spiral-out, over the trot poles, gate changes...everything I could think of to bring his brain back down to earth and out of ozone land.
Finally, he settled enough that I could get on without worrying about an immediate, unexpected dismount face-first.
And he was excellent. More direction and pace changes, circles, serpentines and a few good rounds of cantering the perimeter of the arena. We had a couple head-ducking threaten-to-buck moments but a sharp vocal reminder from me and a low growl stopped that particular performance from following all the way through. We even managed a couple of really decent lateral steps at the walk and the trot. Yay for sensitive sides!
We had foam, lots of thick, white foam on his lips and a whole lot LESS mouthing of the bit. I did tighten the figure-8 noseband a hole. It's still not snug, but snugger than it was last week. No arguments from him this time.
I hope to ride again today and really get the training program underway. May the sun gods and goddesses continue to shine down on us and keep the clouds and rain and ickiness away. At least for a week. All I ask for is a whole week of mud-free riding!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Figuring him out
I tried a new tact to conquer the spooky end of the arena last night.
Longing first! I tacked up and took that big booger to the arena and made him work on the longe line in the scary end of the arena. He did a little big of spooking and snorting and trying to bolt, but much less than he did the other night. I think I ended up longing him for about 15 minutes before he worked all the snort-n-scoots out and settled down enough to put his mind to work. We worked over trot cavalletti and a 12-inch log just to get his mind thinking about something other than the woods. We did spirals in and out, direction changes and pace changes on the longe and once I got his brain engaged and thinking about work and not boogeymen, he was good.
I don't want to have to longe him before I ride EVERY time, that would be horrible, but I will definitely do it from time to time. I may even longe him before riding for a week or so and taper off to every other ride, or every third ride, just to keep him on his toes.
I got up and we had a pretty good session. One half-hearted snort-n-scoot at the scary side, and that was it.
We worked on walk/trot, trot/walk/halt transitions. I hope, hope, hope I don't ruin his upward transition because it's pretty darn near exactly what it should be. He really lifts himself up into the trot, I can see and feel his entire front end lift up and launch into a really powerful, forward trot. Yes, he's still unbalanced and no, he's definitely NOT on the bit, but that all comes with time and muscling.
Downward transitions from trot to walk is eh. We dribble down and sometimes he fights it a bit, tossing his head and grumbling about it and falling on his forehand BIG TIME. But, step by step, right? Our transition from walk to halt is dead on. The transition from trot to walk is getting there. I do believe most of his resistance is my fault though. Because he does have such a HUGE, powerful trot I'm finding it physically difficult to give him the proper cue and slow him down with my body and abs while keeping my butt IN the saddle during the downward transition. More Pilates and weight lifting for me! I think that as I fix ME, he will find it easier to hear and understand me and will be able to respond better to that particular request.
His steering is still sticky but improving. At one point, while we were trotting and working on getting a downward transition on a circle, he decided he was going to toss his head a bit and throw a bit of tantrum while ignoring me...and he just about ran into a danged tree because he wasn't looking where he was going. And I just about let him just so he could knock some sense into his silly self. That tree came up FAST and he spotted it and decided to stop tossing and LISTEN to me instead of smacking his head into it. The beast!
Longing first! I tacked up and took that big booger to the arena and made him work on the longe line in the scary end of the arena. He did a little big of spooking and snorting and trying to bolt, but much less than he did the other night. I think I ended up longing him for about 15 minutes before he worked all the snort-n-scoots out and settled down enough to put his mind to work. We worked over trot cavalletti and a 12-inch log just to get his mind thinking about something other than the woods. We did spirals in and out, direction changes and pace changes on the longe and once I got his brain engaged and thinking about work and not boogeymen, he was good.
I don't want to have to longe him before I ride EVERY time, that would be horrible, but I will definitely do it from time to time. I may even longe him before riding for a week or so and taper off to every other ride, or every third ride, just to keep him on his toes.
I got up and we had a pretty good session. One half-hearted snort-n-scoot at the scary side, and that was it.
We worked on walk/trot, trot/walk/halt transitions. I hope, hope, hope I don't ruin his upward transition because it's pretty darn near exactly what it should be. He really lifts himself up into the trot, I can see and feel his entire front end lift up and launch into a really powerful, forward trot. Yes, he's still unbalanced and no, he's definitely NOT on the bit, but that all comes with time and muscling.
Downward transitions from trot to walk is eh. We dribble down and sometimes he fights it a bit, tossing his head and grumbling about it and falling on his forehand BIG TIME. But, step by step, right? Our transition from walk to halt is dead on. The transition from trot to walk is getting there. I do believe most of his resistance is my fault though. Because he does have such a HUGE, powerful trot I'm finding it physically difficult to give him the proper cue and slow him down with my body and abs while keeping my butt IN the saddle during the downward transition. More Pilates and weight lifting for me! I think that as I fix ME, he will find it easier to hear and understand me and will be able to respond better to that particular request.
His steering is still sticky but improving. At one point, while we were trotting and working on getting a downward transition on a circle, he decided he was going to toss his head a bit and throw a bit of tantrum while ignoring me...and he just about ran into a danged tree because he wasn't looking where he was going. And I just about let him just so he could knock some sense into his silly self. That tree came up FAST and he spotted it and decided to stop tossing and LISTEN to me instead of smacking his head into it. The beast!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Who's the boss? I'm the boss!
It figures, just when I'm all prepared to go just have a nice standing session with Gabe (ha!), it rains like mad. There is mud and puddles EVERYWHERE! It's gorgeous out, sunny, a bit chilly, and very muddy.
What I wouldn't give for a nice, all-weather outdoor arena. I don't even need an indoor, I'll ride in just about any weather, but I won't ride in the slimy, slippery, deep mud we get around here. *Sigh* There is so much I want to get done on my farm, not enough in the farm funds to get 'em done any time soon.
The ponies got their feetsies done Saturday. Calypso has shoes again, she is the only one who gets shoes at the moment and she is SO much happier walking on iron than she is barefoot. I'd keep her shod all the time if I didn't think she'd slip and fall on the ice during the winter.
Gabe was apparently a complete ass for the farrier. I was absolutely mortified when I found out how bad he had been. Mortified. Kind of like when your kids do or say really bad things and you are MORTIFIED that you raised them! Same with Gabe.
Saturday was a busy day: the farrier was scheduled and the hay shed needed replenishing. My appointment with the hay guy overlapped the appointment with the farrier. Of course, when I asked hubby what he wanted to do, he chose to stay home and hold horses for the farrier. I got to go pick up hay. Yay me! Every time he has stayed home to hold horses for the farrier Gabe is a jerk for him. The last time he held him Gabe bit him and bit him hard enough to leave marks. This time, he wouldn't stand still and behaved like an unbroke baby.
Every time I hold Gabe for the farrier he behaves very nicely and stands still, but I expect him to and I absolutely require him to. My husband, bless his heart, knows just enough about horse handling to handle the well-broke ones with ease. The ones that like to test you, like Gabe, he is at a loss about how to make them behave. I don't know if he's afraid to make him behave or just doesn't know HOW to make him behave. I guess that's something I need to work on with Robert and probably with Gabe, too. He should be able to handle Gabe without any issues at all because he really isn't that difficult....if you know what you're doing.
Gabe likes to test you and if you don't pass his tests, he keeps pushing and getting brattier and brattier. He's one of those, who, if in a boarding situation, would develop a reputation for being a bad horse. Not necessarily because he's bad or entirely mannerless, but because he tests and pushes the limits if you don't push back and remind him who's in control. Usually all he needs is one good smack on the shoulder, a sharp, loud "NO!" or a quick trip walking backwards across the pasture on the end of the halter. He is always contrite after punishment and straightens the heck up.
I am the "boss mare," he respects me because I take NO crap from him. None. He's not even allowed to look at me funny and he is definitely not allowed to get mouthy or be wiggly. At all. Ever. He knows I'll "bite and kick" if he gets out of line. (I don't literally bite or kick him, you know what I mean!)
Robert is merely a play toy to the big guy because he has figured out that Robert won't push back and make him behave like he should. *sigh*
On the bright side: My pastures are a gorgeous emerald green. The rain has really pushed everything into overdrive on the growth front. Yay!
What I wouldn't give for a nice, all-weather outdoor arena. I don't even need an indoor, I'll ride in just about any weather, but I won't ride in the slimy, slippery, deep mud we get around here. *Sigh* There is so much I want to get done on my farm, not enough in the farm funds to get 'em done any time soon.
The ponies got their feetsies done Saturday. Calypso has shoes again, she is the only one who gets shoes at the moment and she is SO much happier walking on iron than she is barefoot. I'd keep her shod all the time if I didn't think she'd slip and fall on the ice during the winter.
Gabe was apparently a complete ass for the farrier. I was absolutely mortified when I found out how bad he had been. Mortified. Kind of like when your kids do or say really bad things and you are MORTIFIED that you raised them! Same with Gabe.
Saturday was a busy day: the farrier was scheduled and the hay shed needed replenishing. My appointment with the hay guy overlapped the appointment with the farrier. Of course, when I asked hubby what he wanted to do, he chose to stay home and hold horses for the farrier. I got to go pick up hay. Yay me! Every time he has stayed home to hold horses for the farrier Gabe is a jerk for him. The last time he held him Gabe bit him and bit him hard enough to leave marks. This time, he wouldn't stand still and behaved like an unbroke baby.
Every time I hold Gabe for the farrier he behaves very nicely and stands still, but I expect him to and I absolutely require him to. My husband, bless his heart, knows just enough about horse handling to handle the well-broke ones with ease. The ones that like to test you, like Gabe, he is at a loss about how to make them behave. I don't know if he's afraid to make him behave or just doesn't know HOW to make him behave. I guess that's something I need to work on with Robert and probably with Gabe, too. He should be able to handle Gabe without any issues at all because he really isn't that difficult....if you know what you're doing.
Gabe likes to test you and if you don't pass his tests, he keeps pushing and getting brattier and brattier. He's one of those, who, if in a boarding situation, would develop a reputation for being a bad horse. Not necessarily because he's bad or entirely mannerless, but because he tests and pushes the limits if you don't push back and remind him who's in control. Usually all he needs is one good smack on the shoulder, a sharp, loud "NO!" or a quick trip walking backwards across the pasture on the end of the halter. He is always contrite after punishment and straightens the heck up.
I am the "boss mare," he respects me because I take NO crap from him. None. He's not even allowed to look at me funny and he is definitely not allowed to get mouthy or be wiggly. At all. Ever. He knows I'll "bite and kick" if he gets out of line. (I don't literally bite or kick him, you know what I mean!)
Robert is merely a play toy to the big guy because he has figured out that Robert won't push back and make him behave like he should. *sigh*
On the bright side: My pastures are a gorgeous emerald green. The rain has really pushed everything into overdrive on the growth front. Yay!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
We have the stop and stand perfected!
It's official. Gabe is a butt head. And he's a rotten, stubborn brat. I tried to ride last night and spent the first 15 minutes dealing with his temper tantrum. His tantrums consist of...are you ready for it? Really ready? Alrighty, prepare to be shocked! He throws a tantrum by standing still and refusing to move in ANY direction. I think he's part ass.
He is a conundrum to me in this aspect. I have never, ever had or ridden a horse who had forward motion issues. Typically I have to figure out how to throttle them down several notches, not throw the whole thing wide open and hope for at step forward! Grrr. The silver lining is, when it comes down to it, I'd really rather him be stuck on stop than stuck on gallop madly around with broken brakes.
I took a crop with me and tried the typical move forward NOW method...squeeze, nudge, kick, SMACK! He ignored the squeeze. He ignored the nudge. He ignored the kick. He squealed and tossed his head and came up off his front a bit with the smack. Hmmm...not good. He's just unbalanced enough at this point that going UP would most likely mean we'd go OVER. And that's not a place I want to be, ever.
So, we argued (at a stand still!) for about 15 minutes. He did agree to make little circles, but putting one foot in front of the other wasn't on his menu of options. Finally, one little movement forward and I praised him like mad. Then another. More praise. What a good boy! It seemed to click but I was still having to really work for each stride. Five more minutes and he was striding along nicely but still kind of uncertain about what I was asking. And then we'd stop and he'd refuse to go forward again for awhile until suddenly, the squeeze clicked and forward he went.
Very frustrating.
I checked my saddle fit and it actually fits him better than any of my other horses. When I have the vet out to pull Coggins on all of 'em and do shots and teeth, I'm going to have the once over done on him just to make sure there isn't any joint or body soreness that is making him reluctant to go forward.
He is a conundrum to me in this aspect. I have never, ever had or ridden a horse who had forward motion issues. Typically I have to figure out how to throttle them down several notches, not throw the whole thing wide open and hope for at step forward! Grrr. The silver lining is, when it comes down to it, I'd really rather him be stuck on stop than stuck on gallop madly around with broken brakes.
I took a crop with me and tried the typical move forward NOW method...squeeze, nudge, kick, SMACK! He ignored the squeeze. He ignored the nudge. He ignored the kick. He squealed and tossed his head and came up off his front a bit with the smack. Hmmm...not good. He's just unbalanced enough at this point that going UP would most likely mean we'd go OVER. And that's not a place I want to be, ever.
So, we argued (at a stand still!) for about 15 minutes. He did agree to make little circles, but putting one foot in front of the other wasn't on his menu of options. Finally, one little movement forward and I praised him like mad. Then another. More praise. What a good boy! It seemed to click but I was still having to really work for each stride. Five more minutes and he was striding along nicely but still kind of uncertain about what I was asking. And then we'd stop and he'd refuse to go forward again for awhile until suddenly, the squeeze clicked and forward he went.
Very frustrating.
I checked my saddle fit and it actually fits him better than any of my other horses. When I have the vet out to pull Coggins on all of 'em and do shots and teeth, I'm going to have the once over done on him just to make sure there isn't any joint or body soreness that is making him reluctant to go forward.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New tack
Finally I bought Gabe a new bridle! I've been using a bridle I cobbled together from pieces parts in my tack trunk and not only did it look funny (black noseband with white piping paired with a havana browband with decorative stitching and cheek pieces in a really light brown. Oh, so attractive!) but it didn't fit very well. This boy has a BIG head! He has a 17" browband measurement but all I could find was a 16" browband. It fits, but it's a tad snug. I'm hoping it stretches a bit with oiling and use.
Everything else fits nicely and it looks fabulous on him. It's a dark chocolate brown, raised noseband and browband with decorative stitching. I really, really didn't want the raised leather or the decorative stitching but the only bridle my local tack shop carried that was flat and plain in dark leather was a Passier that cost $270. I'm not quite ready to drop that kind of money on a bridle! Maybe once we start showing and winning or I win the lottery, but until then, I'll have to be happy with raised tack. Ugh. I just want a nice, flat, wide bridle. Why is it so hard to find simple, plain tack?
A couple of weeks ago I bought a new bit for him because none of mine fit him. All of my bits are 5" mouths...he has a 6" mouth. Yes, I measured it three times, he's just big! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bit with a 6" mouth that isn't a draft horse driving bit? Holy moley. I found a full cheek snaffle with a 6" mouth and 5.5" cheeks. So I got the keepers, fitted the bit and the keepers onto the cobbled together bridle and stuck it on him. Oh. My. He absolutely HATED that bit. HATED. I'm guessing he really disliked the poll pressure produced by the long cheeks and the keepers. He reacted rather violently and was kind of scary. I pulled that bit off FAST! There goes $30 on nothing. Did you know you can't return bits? *sigh*
So, back to the drawing board. I finally found a 5 3/4" mouth eggbutt snaffle. Not exactly what I wanted...I was looking for a 6" D-ring with a copper mouth. No luck. So, I brought the eggbutt home, stuck it on his new bridle and gave it a go last night.
He loved it. He chewed and chewed and chewed that bit, reached his head down, responded softly and beautifully to the pressure. Very pleased, I am. Forward progress continues.
My next big purchase will be a new saddle for him. My current Collegiate Eventer doesn't fit as well as I'd like. Because he has such a high, wide wither I need a saddle with "wither panels" to fill in that space. And I'd like one that's a bit wider. But that's a ways down the road, I think. I can't afford to spend $1,000+ on a saddle right now, but I'm saving my nickels towards one!
All the beasts are shedding like mad, Gabe most of all. I think I was wearing just as much of his hair as he was after our grooming session! Only 13 more days til spring! YAY!!!! And the time change is this weekend, meaning there will be MORE daylight at the end of the day again. Double YAY!
Everything else fits nicely and it looks fabulous on him. It's a dark chocolate brown, raised noseband and browband with decorative stitching. I really, really didn't want the raised leather or the decorative stitching but the only bridle my local tack shop carried that was flat and plain in dark leather was a Passier that cost $270. I'm not quite ready to drop that kind of money on a bridle! Maybe once we start showing and winning or I win the lottery, but until then, I'll have to be happy with raised tack. Ugh. I just want a nice, flat, wide bridle. Why is it so hard to find simple, plain tack?
A couple of weeks ago I bought a new bit for him because none of mine fit him. All of my bits are 5" mouths...he has a 6" mouth. Yes, I measured it three times, he's just big! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bit with a 6" mouth that isn't a draft horse driving bit? Holy moley. I found a full cheek snaffle with a 6" mouth and 5.5" cheeks. So I got the keepers, fitted the bit and the keepers onto the cobbled together bridle and stuck it on him. Oh. My. He absolutely HATED that bit. HATED. I'm guessing he really disliked the poll pressure produced by the long cheeks and the keepers. He reacted rather violently and was kind of scary. I pulled that bit off FAST! There goes $30 on nothing. Did you know you can't return bits? *sigh*
So, back to the drawing board. I finally found a 5 3/4" mouth eggbutt snaffle. Not exactly what I wanted...I was looking for a 6" D-ring with a copper mouth. No luck. So, I brought the eggbutt home, stuck it on his new bridle and gave it a go last night.
He loved it. He chewed and chewed and chewed that bit, reached his head down, responded softly and beautifully to the pressure. Very pleased, I am. Forward progress continues.
My next big purchase will be a new saddle for him. My current Collegiate Eventer doesn't fit as well as I'd like. Because he has such a high, wide wither I need a saddle with "wither panels" to fill in that space. And I'd like one that's a bit wider. But that's a ways down the road, I think. I can't afford to spend $1,000+ on a saddle right now, but I'm saving my nickels towards one!
All the beasts are shedding like mad, Gabe most of all. I think I was wearing just as much of his hair as he was after our grooming session! Only 13 more days til spring! YAY!!!! And the time change is this weekend, meaning there will be MORE daylight at the end of the day again. Double YAY!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
What do you mean I have to STAND?
We have run in to a little blip. A very fixable blip, but one that always scares me to work through.
Gabe DOES NOT like to stand tied. Not at all. Racehorses aren't tied to a fixed post on the track, they are generally held or cross-tied, which is a very different feeling than tied to a post. I figured he'd have some tying issues, but failed to realize how very big and very strong he is when he's in Oh-my-God-I'm-Going-To-DIE!!! mode.
I have (had?) a 4X4 post sunk into the ground in concrete with a tie ring that I use to tie the horses up. It's pretty solid and sturdy. Well, I THOUGHT it was until I tied Gabe up and he went ape-shit when I fly sprayed him. He was fine when I sprayed his right side and since we've been working on spraying the left side, I thought he'd be okay as long as I went slowly and gave him enough time to think about it.
Wrong! He went straight backwards, hard and fast. Thank goodness he didn't go up! Star used to go up and back from time to time when I first got her...she also did not like to stand tied to a fixed object. She busted the snaps on about five lead ropes before we finally got that issue sorted through. Because she liked to go up and back, I used a lariat around her girth, through the halter ring and snubbed to a tree and let her just stand there. If she pulled back, she punished herself. She did pull a few times, figured out it hurt and we never had another issue.
Gabe did not bust the snap. Instead, he busted and shifted my post. Robert (my husband) and I both heard the thing CRAAACKK! when he went backwards and he bent the tie ring, which, by the way, is rated for 5,000# of pressure. For the record, quick release knots DO NOT come loose very easily when a horse has had a panic attack on the end of it and tightened that sucker up good and snug.
Scary stuff! I wasn't scared for myself, because I know how to move out of the way when I need to...I was worried about him breaking his neck or busting that post entirely off and taking off with it beating the crap out of his legs and scaring him even more. Nothing good can happen when a horse his size decides he doesn't want to stand tied any more.
But, he's smart and learns fast. Once he realized that stepping forward was the ONLY way to stop the pressure of the rope halter digging into his face, he stepped forward. I untied him, led him around for a few minutes, and tied him back up. He went back again, but without quite the same amount of enthusiasm as the first time. Going backwards HURTS! I told him to "WHOAH!" in my lowest "do it NOW or pay the price!" voice and he stopped pulling and stepped forward to relieve the pressure on his head again.
He did not figure out that he is big and strong by being able to get away...he learned the rope and the halter are bigger and stronger than he is, so I will consider this a lesson well-learned.
I tied him up again last night, fully prepared for a repeat of the first experience. Not once did he make a move to pull back and act like an idiot. Is he fixed? Nope, not yet. I'm sure he has a few more moron moments at the post in him, I just have to be ready for it. But until Robert digs the out current, cracked post and replaces it with a bigger one set even deeper, I'm not going to push it. I don't think I'll have to resort to the lariat with him, but I am prepared to use it if needed.
Gabe DOES NOT like to stand tied. Not at all. Racehorses aren't tied to a fixed post on the track, they are generally held or cross-tied, which is a very different feeling than tied to a post. I figured he'd have some tying issues, but failed to realize how very big and very strong he is when he's in Oh-my-God-I'm-Going-To-DIE!!! mode.
I have (had?) a 4X4 post sunk into the ground in concrete with a tie ring that I use to tie the horses up. It's pretty solid and sturdy. Well, I THOUGHT it was until I tied Gabe up and he went ape-shit when I fly sprayed him. He was fine when I sprayed his right side and since we've been working on spraying the left side, I thought he'd be okay as long as I went slowly and gave him enough time to think about it.
Wrong! He went straight backwards, hard and fast. Thank goodness he didn't go up! Star used to go up and back from time to time when I first got her...she also did not like to stand tied to a fixed object. She busted the snaps on about five lead ropes before we finally got that issue sorted through. Because she liked to go up and back, I used a lariat around her girth, through the halter ring and snubbed to a tree and let her just stand there. If she pulled back, she punished herself. She did pull a few times, figured out it hurt and we never had another issue.
Gabe did not bust the snap. Instead, he busted and shifted my post. Robert (my husband) and I both heard the thing CRAAACKK! when he went backwards and he bent the tie ring, which, by the way, is rated for 5,000# of pressure. For the record, quick release knots DO NOT come loose very easily when a horse has had a panic attack on the end of it and tightened that sucker up good and snug.
Scary stuff! I wasn't scared for myself, because I know how to move out of the way when I need to...I was worried about him breaking his neck or busting that post entirely off and taking off with it beating the crap out of his legs and scaring him even more. Nothing good can happen when a horse his size decides he doesn't want to stand tied any more.
But, he's smart and learns fast. Once he realized that stepping forward was the ONLY way to stop the pressure of the rope halter digging into his face, he stepped forward. I untied him, led him around for a few minutes, and tied him back up. He went back again, but without quite the same amount of enthusiasm as the first time. Going backwards HURTS! I told him to "WHOAH!" in my lowest "do it NOW or pay the price!" voice and he stopped pulling and stepped forward to relieve the pressure on his head again.
He did not figure out that he is big and strong by being able to get away...he learned the rope and the halter are bigger and stronger than he is, so I will consider this a lesson well-learned.
I tied him up again last night, fully prepared for a repeat of the first experience. Not once did he make a move to pull back and act like an idiot. Is he fixed? Nope, not yet. I'm sure he has a few more moron moments at the post in him, I just have to be ready for it. But until Robert digs the out current, cracked post and replaces it with a bigger one set even deeper, I'm not going to push it. I don't think I'll have to resort to the lariat with him, but I am prepared to use it if needed.
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