In a funk

I have not really felt like working with the horses since my lesson was canceled last week. I am self-analyzing and have come up with several possible reasons for this:

• A) It is hot. Florida freaking sucks in summer. Why do I live here?
• B) I am disappointed about  losing the opportunity of getting professional feedback about my work with the boys and I lost momentum.
• C) I am missing Bodhi and the connection that we had, and feeling sorry for myself.
• D) The world is nasty right now and I just want stay in bed and re-read Charles de Lint novels and cry.
• E) I am leaving town on Sunday so what's the point anyways! Sigh.
• F) All of the above.

I think it's F. I know, I am a hot mess.

I just feel like Oak and I are treading water mostly with these marginal gains, and I keep wondering am I pushing him enough? Am I doing the right things? Should it take this long to actually climb up there? Am I being a baby? Am I moving too fast? My thoughts are all over the place.

His smiley face scar says he is tough but approachable

I wish I had a regular trainer. Someone I could get out on a regular basis to help me, and give me feedback. I don't want to send him off to a trainer (though maybe I should... is that what normal people do??) because I really want the experience, but I just don't trust my judgement anymore. It was too long ago since the last time I started a horse (Bodhi 8 years ago) and Oak is different too. He has baggage.

So I guess I need to find a trainer/instructor. Not sure where to even begin looking locally. I can easily find someone to go take a dressage lesson with, but will anyone even want to help me with starting a horse? I don't even know if that is even a thing.

Where do you even find instructors/trainers? Word of mouth (I don't know a lot of local mouths)? Online? I always just use the trainers at my boarding barn, or people other boarders recommended... but now I am not boarding...

Training Log

June 11, 2016

Oak

Location: the yard
Duration: 30 mins
Activity: Hanging out, desensitization to me above him acting silly.
Observations: I made Oak hang out with me while I drank a beer sitting in the back of my truck in our yard. He was nervous but settled down mostly. He needs more practice at just hanging out and chilling out. The truck is also an excellent place to practice being above him and touching him with me feet.

Grayson

Location: the yard
Duration: 20 mins
Activity: Hanging out, desensitization to me above him acting silly.
Observations: Grayson settled right down (he is spooky in the yard) and had fun hanging out with me.

June 13, 2016

Oak

Location: The paddock and the pasture
Duration: 40 mins
Activity: Wearing the western saddle, lunging outside of the round pen with the new saddle, increasing speed at the trot.
Observations: Better, but still nervous about movement associated with the saddle. Did really well lunging in the pasture. Responds better to me increasing my own energy  then just swinging the stick or rope to get him to increase speed. If I walk faster, he increases speed, if I swing something at him, he'll do it but he makes a sour face. I think it is just too much pressure for Mr. sensitive. He is backing up a lot with out asking. He thinks it is the answer for everything right now. I guess I'll take it over his stiff half step that he was offering at first.

June 14 , 2016


Location: The paddock
Duration: 20 mins
Activity: Mounting block desensitization.
Observations: He seems a little more relaxed. Marginally. He did fall asleep at one point during a break. He also gives me a horrified look when I rub him with my leg. Sigh. I dunno.

A Late Throwback Thursday

My First Love

This is my first heart horse Velour. I am probably 13 in this picture. Maybe younger. I think this was a Novice level, local 3-day event. Velour was a quirky Thoroughbred that I rode for a few years at a lesson barn. We did hunter shows, hunter paces, foxhunting, and 3-day eventing. I thought I was a pretty good rider but after I left that lesson barn and moved on to other horses I realized it was all him the whole time. He was a very sensitive, unconfident horse, but once he trusted you he gave you everything and he was extremely athletic.

 Several years after I left the farm the trainer called me to tell me to come get him because he was just not working out in her lesson program (still quirky I guess!). He was in pretty bad shape so I was lucky enough to get to him and give him the retirement he deserved. I got five wonderful years with him before he passed away at the age of 24 from cancer and heart failure. Miss him every day.

Beautiful Velour

Training Log

Oak

Location: Paddock
Duration: 20 mins
Activity: Tacking up and wearing the western saddle
Observations: Much better this time. Added a back cinch which he did not seem to care about. Stil nervous with me fussing with it, but does not seem to care about the saddle when he moves out at the walk and trot. I need to learn how to tie a western cinch because it was really loose!

 Gray

Location: Roundpen
Duration: 15 mins
Activity: Lunging (1 and 1/2 circles at the trot), walking over poles, backing up, walking over wood.
Observations: Not a fan of the wood, and still pretty sticky and reacitve when I ask him

Best Laid Plans

Stupid Tropical Storm Colin scared away our instructor, so I just went to the farm Monday morning and loaded the boys back up. Grayson took longer to load but was less theatrical about it. When we arrived home he took 5-10 minutes to decide he wanted to get OFF the trailer. Obviously we have some work to do with loading.

Overall it was a very positive outing for them since they literally had to do nothing but meet new horses and eat grass, but I am bummed I missed a learning opportunity. I don't get many, and I feel pretty isolated most the time.

I spent the rest of the day picking cactus out of our infested pasture. So productive, but not really how I wanted to spend my vacation day. Oh well.

Next time!

Grayson looking around at Kathy's

Training Log

Oak

Date: 6/4/2016
Duration: 40 mins
Location: roundpen
Activity: ground poles, mounting block, standing on a mat, desensitization to me
Observations: He seemed more reactive to me than usual so we spent a good deal of time working on mounting block desensitization. He spooked at one point and I ended up lunging him around me on the block which was challenging :). He rocked his first time trotting over three ground poles.


Date: 6/5/2016-6/6/2016
Duration: 60 minutes with two 45 min trailer rides and an over night stay (not really sure how much time to give this... technically two days, but I was probably asking him to do stuff for like an hour total)
Location: Kathy's farm
Activity: loading and unloading, walking around a new place
Observations: Horse loads like a rock star. Nervous and looky at the farm but stayed safe and respectful. His face when her donkeys brayed was priceless.

Grayson

Date: 6/5/2016-6/6/2016
Duration: 60 minutes with two 45 min trailer rides and an over night stay (not really sure how much time to give this... technically two days, but I was probably asking him to do stuff for like an hour total)
Location: Kathy's farm
Activity: loading and unloading, walking around a new place
Observations: Was not a fan of my step-up (it was his first time in my trailer). We need to spend more time with loading and unloading. He was a good boy at Kathy's though he did live there for two weeks when I first purchased him. He was even okay when one of her pigs walked right by him.

Got Our Game Faces On

We took both the boys to my friend Kathy's today so they could stay over for the night to hopefully settle in and be ready for a productive lesson tomorrow.

It was the first time I have loaded Grayson in our trailer. He JUMPED in and JUMPED out. Guess he was not a fan of the step-up. At least he loaded. Oak loaded like a boss. Again. Love that dude.

Hopefully we have a fun and productive day tomorrow! In the meantime enjoy these photos I took while Oak and Gray toured their new digs for the night.

He is two now! (we think)

I love the floppy ears on the fly mask. I blame his giant jowls.

May Recap, June Goals

Oak

May Recap:

I worked with Oak for over 11 hours this month. The work included traveling off the farm for the first time, desensitization to a variety of objects (barrels, tarps, milk jugs, massager, flapping stirrups, western saddle) free lunging in the round pen and arena, teaching him to "catch me", wearing a bridle, giving to pressure in the rope halter, trot off on the lead, and ground driving.

June Goals:

• Have a productive off the farm lesson.
• Gain confidence with wearing the western saddle and movement on the saddle (stirrups and jugs here we come!)
• Build Confidence with me over him, and messing with the saddle.
• Learn a verbal whoa cue
• Start working on rate changes in the trot on the lunge
• Stretching and relaxation on the lunge
• Start shaping standing on a mat (beginning of ground tying)
• Introduce ground poles

Grayson

Grayson is now officially two so he is going to start having goals. I work with him a few times a week but I would really like to start stepping it up and keeping track of our progress.

May Recap:

We started working on giving to pressure. He is pretty reactive to halter pressure so we don't have a natural soft response yet. We worked gaining confidence with a few scary objects but he was pretty tense about the milk jugs in particular. He loves to target and has generalized that well. He has started to learn to trot on the lunge. Just a few strides.

 

June Goals:

• Settling down off the farm (hopefully having a few productive moments)
• Trotting calmly for two rotations on the lunge in the round pen.
• Giving to halter pressure in all directions 
• Confidence hanging around in the yard and other places around the property on a lead.
• Confidence with novel objects touching him (massager, jugs, and saddle blanket)
• Start shaping standing on a mat (beginning of ground tying)

Training Log 6/2/2016

Oak

Duration: 20 mins
Location: Paddock
Activity: Standing on a a mark. Ground tying.
Observations: First session for standing on a marked and he picked up on putting his front feet on the mat right away.

 Grayson

Duration: 10 mins
Location: Arena
Activity: trotting on lead. yielding to pressure, backing up
Observations: He can be so soft sometimes and so belligerent and stubborn other times. Today he was soft.

Wordless Wednesday: The Boys