Another play day with Gypsy

I took Gypsy to Rafter XX again yesterday and met Tamara and her mom there for another play day. I've been dying to try the new shim pattern that Doug helped me with last weekend, but couldn't because of my injured hamstring. This weekend, though, I felt my leg was better enough to give it a try.

We started, of course, with lots of on-line playing: circling in and around pylons, transitions, change of direction, sideways over cavalettis, sideways over barrels, squeeze over barrels, tarp, ball, etc. I also had Tamara give me some tips on trying to get Gypsy to canter on line. We ended up not getting (or asking for) the canter, but instead worked on just getting her speed (up and down) working better at the trot. She gave me some excellent suggestions -- including incorporating the bullseye pattern into it to improve her confidence. She noticed that as I continued to ask for the up transition, Gypsy started going right-brained and trying to escape and was therefore not "listening" anymore anyway. So to build her confidence, I just asked for up-down transitions at the trot, including asking for an extended trot, then leaving her alone until she relaxed. It went really well.

The bullseye worked amazingly well to help her relax too. She's always been more confident close to me, but loses confidence as she gets further away. By circling her close, then pushing her out, and bringing her close again, she really started showing more relaxation even as she moved further away. I'm keen to keep this up to see if picking up the canter now will be an easier transition down the road. AGAIN, thank you Tamara!

Soon after that I saddled her up, played a bit more online with her in the saddle, then mounted up. Immediately I noticed a difference in her walk. She's always been a very forward walker (which is wonderful on the trail), but her strides felt way more animated! Even Tamara noticed that her hind legs were pretty much stepping right up into her front footprints. WOW! Same at the trot. She's always had a very fast, choppy trot with a high head. Now her stride -- while still fairly quick -- is much longer. And her head was lower too. Amazing what a difference a shim pattern makes! THANK YOU DOUG! And I could tell that Gypsy thanks you too!

We worked more on sideways movements as well. She's actually starting to figure out now that leg pressure doesn't always mean go faster. She's almost going too much sideways now and not enough forward! I'm thrilled with her recall (after most of the winter off) and her improving softness. It really does work if you stick to it and stay consistent! We still have a long way to go, but it's very satisfying knowing we're making progress. No photos though, sorry... forgot my camera.

Allegro comes home

I picked up Allegro yesterday finally. I was supposed to drive out Monday, but we had a huge snowstorm on Sunday and there was no way I was going to get the truck or trailer out of the snow on Monday, so had to wait until hubby plowed the driveway. So yesterday morning I go out to start up the truck and hook it up to the trailer and ... nothing. Dead. Kev left the lights on. Crap. I'm starting to wonder if the Fates are conspiring against me!

Anyway, a couple hours later, I managed to convince my father-in-law to come boost the truck so I can get on the road (he's the best!). I was starting to feel rushed as I had to get there, pick him up, and get back before the kids got home (3 hour round trip, plus loading time). I drove out of the yard at 10:30 and my kids get off the bus at 2:55. But everything worked out... I was home by 2:15, thankfully. Allegro walked right into the trailer without hesitation. What a guy!

He's 10 months old (born May 17 last year) and he hadn't been handled at all until about a month ago, and never without first being pushed into a chute to be haltered. Once haltered, he was pretty well behaved, but not overly willing. Anyway, once I got him home, I turned him loose with Sherlock and Morris (a big gentle TB boarding with us who has taken it upon himself to be Sherlock's guardian). Morris, however, was not as accommodating with Allegro and the poor guy was chased away. So I let Morris out with the other horses and left Sherlock and Allegro together to get acquainted. They soon became joined at the hip and within a couple hours were getting quite playful.

I went out to the paddock to see if Allegro would let me approach. Nope. He stayed away, but eventually got curious while I played with Sherlock. He came up behind me to sniff me, but would dart away if I turned. So I got a bucket of grain and both he and Sherlock stuck their noses in it and followed me as I backed away holding the bucket. So I left them alone while they ate the grain and took a few pictures. At one point Allegro stuck his nose right in the camera. I didn't try to pet him, but just let him sniff to his heart's content as I'm thinking his curiousity and confidence will allow me to touch him in no time.

Today I walked into the round pen with all my brushes and carrot stick & string. Sherlock followed, so Allegro did as well. I started brushing Sherlock all over (he was in heaven), then approached Allegro. He trotted away, so I pushed him a bit until he faced me, and I backed off (catching game). He came toward me and I let him sniff the brush, then scratched his nose. And that was pretty much the extent of the catching game. I worked from his nose to his cheek to his neck and in no time I was grooming him all over. The only problem was that every time I tried to brush Allegro, Sherlock would try to get between us and park himself in front of the brush! Too funny!

In an hour I was able to groom Allegro all over his body including his legs. And he let me pick up all 4 feet (lift them, but not hold them yet). All without a halter. A pretty good day! I didn't think it would take long, but this still went way better than I thought. I even rubbed him all over with the carrot stick and swung the savvy string over him a few times. No problem.

Sherlock is Mr. Curious as well. He was playing quite a bit with one of the barrels in the round pen and even managed to peel a sticker off the side, making a loud tearing sound as he did, which startled neither him nor Allegro. I think I've got a couple of LBE's!

Rafter XX playday

Gypsy and I attended the Rafter XX Parelli play day last Saturday. It was wonderful to catch up with fellow Parelli friends after a long winter. The morning was for playing in the arena with the horses and obstacles and the afternoon was dedicated to riding and playing with cattle! One of these days we'll stay for the cattle, but because of my injured hamstring, I didn't ride.

However, Gypsy had great recall despite the long inactive winter. We did all 7 games with various obstacles and she did really well. I attempted to get her to canter online again (she was able to do this last fall for the L2 tasks at the outside arena at Fultonvale), but she couldn't do any more than a couple strides before going back to a fast trot. I tried a few times more, but she couldn't do it. I really don't know what to do to get that working better. I'll try again at Fultonvale when the snow is gone and maybe see if it's a space issue for her? If I can get her going again there, maybe work from there to seeing if she can start circling smaller. She cantered really well freestyle at Fultonvale too, but always seems to have trouble in smaller indoor arenas. Not sure why?

Amy had also brought in a pedestal for us to play with. At first Gypsy wasn't much interested in getting up on it, but soon I had her standing on it with her front feet. By the end of the day though, with a little help getting that 3rd foot on it, she had all 4 feet on it. And she looked so proud of herself! I think it would be fun to have one of these at home and work on driving either the back end around with the front end on the pedestal or vice versa. On line and freestyle!

The best part of the day was having Equine Therapist Doug Moran work on Gypsy and help me with my saddle shimming. Gypsy has a fair sway in her back and I think that may be the source of some of the riding issues I have with her. I am really anxious to try riding her with the new shim pattern to see if it makes a difference, but that'll have to wait until my hamstring is better. However, just having him work on her though... she became so visibly more relaxed and calm after he worked with her, I nearly cried! She was also noticeably straigher in the back after he was done with her. I will definitely get him to see her again soon. The change was amazing.

Getting caught up and PRAYING for spring!

Wow! Two months since I've blogged! Shameful. Sorry!

It's been a long, cold winter and even though today is the first day of spring, it doesn't look like spring will be here any time soon (no, this isn't what it looks like right now, but it was recent!). Getting really tired of the weather actually. Back in December my automatic waterer froze and I've been hauling between 14-18 buckets of water to the horses every day. And of course none of the outside taps work either, so it's the kitchen sink that I have to use. So really... spring cannot get here soon enough. There have been a couple "teaser" days of warm weather here and there, but mostly it's been TOO COLD! My pasture is icy everywhere so it's too dangerous to ride. If I do anything, it's just sit on their backs and walk around a bit. I've done some of that, but really not much of anything to write about in the last couple months. I spend lots of time just hanging with them on cold/snowy days.

We did install a fireplace this winter though! That's been a nice addition to cope with the weather! :-) I've also done some tiling in our kitchen and continue to be Taxi too my kids all week long.

The Jonathan Field clinic is less than a month away and I've really been able to do nothing with Gypsy in preparation for that. We finally repaired the brakes and shocks on the truck and dug out the trailer, so I probably should load her up a couple times a week and take her to an arena between now and then, dust off some cobwebs!

I've started helping the new owners of Indy and Jake with their horsemanship skills. They're keen to "do it right" so I'm more than happy to help them. The plan is supposed to be twice a week, but so far we've managed to connect only once. Maybe that'll pick up with the warmer weather too...

And I started working with one of the boarded horses here as well (when weather permits). Her owner would like to send her to a trainer this spring, but wanted to give her a bit more of a foundation before sending her. Then last week while I was working with her (first nice day in AGES), I slipped and badly pulled my hamstring. So that put an end to that for a bit! OUCH!

Some other exciting tidbits of news: I've acquired two new colts to start! I know, I know I need my head examined! "Sherlock" is an incredibly sweet little TB-X colt who was an "oops" pregnancy and so wasn't born until last Sept. He's only 6 months old (just picked him up yesterday). He's just about the sweetest, most well-behaved little guy I've ever seen though. You can handle him all over, lead him (even at the trot), pick up all his feet, and when I went to get him, it took only 1 hour before he was walking in and out of the trailer! Super little guy. Looking forward to working with him (as are my kids!).

Allegro (I think that's what we'll call him) is a gorgeous TB-draft cross colt out of the same mare and stallion as Indy. He was even born on the same day as Indy! (So it was meant to be!). He's going to be a lot taller than Indy, I think, but probably the same horsenality (LBE). He's only been handled for about the last month, so I've got my hands full for the first while with him. I need to get both colts gelded, and for sure Allegro will also need his feet trimmed soon. I will be picking him up next week.

So that's the news up to now. Stay tuned for more adventures with Sherlock, Allegro (Al?), Gypsy and Skittles soon! And pray for spring.