Pedicure For Chance

Trimmed Chances feet today, his toes keep getting ahead of me but I took off as much as I dared this time around and they are starting to look much better. His bars were good and his heels only needed to be taken down a short bit, it was mainly working on getting the flares under control and getting his toe back so the white line isn’t stretched so much. He was a pretty good boy, even used the hoof stand for his front feet and he stood rather well for it. I was also able to trim his back feet without much of a fuss from him.

Bring On Spring!

Shedding season has arrived! The horses are shedding like mad so out come the rubber curry combs and shedding blades and let the fun begin! Won’t be long now before we are wading through mud! Blue of course loves to be groomed. Chance was a bit hesitant about the shedding blade at first but quickly got over it when he figured out that it took care of all his itchy spots! Kallie was also a bit unsure at first but began to relax and enjoy it more and has started to follow me after I stop grooming (mainly because my arms are ready to fall off).

Trip To An Indoor

Anna and I took Blue and Tia to a local indoor riding arena today. Both loaded easily and we were quickly on the road. When we arrived both were relaxed and curious, we had the arena to ourselves so we let them loose and let them get to know the place a bit while we lugged in all our gear. Once all of our junk was in the arena we began to play through the 7-Games Online. Blue was so light and responsive and it was nice to see how well he moved in there. The footing was perfect!

Once I was sure he was good to ride I mounted up and we started working on the Pattern “Follow The Rail” both Blue and I haven’t done much ring work together as we both tend to get easily bored with it so with my mind wandering Blue began to wander off course. I found it difficult to keep him on task so we worked on some other things for a bit. I trotted him some and cantered him and each time we picked up the speed he would dive bomb into the center of the arena and spiral tighter and tighter which threw him off balance.

So we went back to some walking work, did a few circles in the corners, some Figure 8’s and got a bit better response when I asked him to pick up the pace. All in all it was a fantastic ride even with the few minor set backs. He was mostly Left Brained and eager to learn, I just need to focus more on the task so that he can focus! He behaviour was totally my bad.

First Time Bareback

Kallie is getting rounder and rounder by the day and I don’t want to put the saddle on her anymore because I am worried it won’t sit on her just right. So after I finished playing the Games with her I brought her over to one of the green barrels and climbed up on her bareback. She was a perfect angle, licking and chewing the whole time. Of course Blue and Lexi were being pests trying to get treats from me somehow and Kallie just stood there licking and chewing and gaining more confidence from their confidence I think! So proud of my girl! I didn’t ask her to move anymore, just asked her to stand there and relax which she did easily.

Extreme Friendly

Blue eagerly stuck his nose in the halter, after all I didn’t play with him yesterday and he was very put of from it! So we decided to try something new, the Extreme Friendly Game. I started by playing the Friendly Game with the carrot stick and savvy string in a way that he was already comfortable with, then I began to change it up a bit. I started by walking away from him slapping the ground with the string, at first he wasn’t sure what to do, he followed me but put lots of space between us. Slowly but surely he began to gain confidence and came up to me and stood licking and chewing while I slapped the ground in front of me.

Next I did some helicopter with the stick and string. Started off with slow small circles and as he backed away they got bigger and quicker, I kept this up, slowing down when he was closer to me and speeding up the further he got. It didn’t take him long to come and stand in close to me. Licking and chewing, leg cocked.

My last bit of Extreme Friendly Game I did standing facing Blue, I had backed him up with the Yo-Yo Game and began to slap the ground on either side of myself white the string. Blue began to move his feet at first but I was passively persistent and he quickly calmed down and would let me whip the ground a number of times in a row fast and hard then toss the string over him like a hug. I was able to walk all around him and whip the ground and toss the string over his body. He was such a good boy!

Fun With The Tarp

Today I finally played with Chance again. We played through our Seven Games and he was great, very light and responsive. He did everything exactly how I wanted him to and was quickly Left Brain, well he was until I brought the tarp and ball out. He got very high headed and then wanted to move his feet away from the two objects. I did lots of Approach and Retreat with the tarp which was stretched out on the ground. Soon his confidence built and he was able to stand on the tarp and then happily began to paw at the tarp.

We then went and did some other things for a bit then came back to the tarp, I began to rub it on his legs a bit while he stood on it, at first his head went up but I kept up the steady rubbing and he began to lower his head and lick and chew. We went away from the tarp again and this time when we came back to it I rubbed his shoulder and withers. He moved his feet a fair bit but I kept with him, and as soon as he stopped moving his feet I would take the tarp off and give him a break. Wait for a lick and chew then rub again, then repeat. Eventually I was able to put it over his back and walk him around with it on; it blew around his feet and legs. He still wasn’t 100% confident with it but you could see it building. Shall be interesting to see how he responds next time. We didn’t even attempt the ball today, save that for another day!

OFFICAL LEVEL 1 GRADUATE

Words couldn’t describe how excited and happy I am right now! I got the email (a day sooner than expected!) and here is what it said:

Hi Kaila,

Congratulations on passing your Level 2 On Line!! Well
Done!! You scored especially high in your Friendly and Porcupine Games!

Look for your certificate in the next month or so.

You are well on your way, keep up the good work.

Keep it Natural,

John Baar
Audition Team

So I am an OFFICAL Level 1 GRADUATE and well on my way to graduating from Level 2!! Now if the ice that is my paddock would go away then I could start working on my Level 2 Freestyle!

More Hooves

Today it was cold, icy and just a crummy day weather wise, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that I couldn’t play with the horses a whole lot to do their feet. I started with Blue as I knew he wasn’t going to need a whole lot and could ease my poor back into it. He was excellent as usual, standing perfectly balanced on three legs while I trimmed his front toes back. I didn’t have to touch his bars at all and just had to file down his heels ever so slightly, his frog is becoming so much fuller, can hardly wait for it to expand more at his heel.

Next was Chance, I had to get Anna to help me with him some because my back was KILLING me and he needed all four toes to be filed back a LOT. They grow so quickly I can hardly keep up with them. And even though I could probably take them back a lot further then what I do each trim I don’t want him to be uncomfortable or lame. So we took back his toes on all four feet back a fair way, will try to get him done again next weekend.