My Horse is a Dork

Since Alex had the day off today (I know, I said lunging, but I was tired, I have no excuse).  I thought I'd post some video of my horse being a goof ball :-)

 

He is freaking hilarious with the hose! I literally cannot spray his face unless I give him a drink and "brush" his teeth.  He's all like "Mom...look at my tattoo!" LOL.  This is part of the reason I love this horse.  So much personality!

 

 

And...I have some big news...Alex is going on his very first field trip this weekend! We'll be traveling up to my aunt's farm in Indiana to spend Saturday night and Sunday morning.  This is a BIG deal, since Alex has not been off the farm since he arrived from Florida last June. 

 

Typical me, I'm already in super planning mode (I can't help it, I haven't been to a show/event since Gryff and I's last outing (tear...) last May), making lists and obsessing! 

 

I expect a little mayhem out of Alex...but I'm not sure what kind.  I just hope he gets on the trailer and then we'll see.  Definitely more details (possibly photos and video) to come.

 

Tomorrow Alex will be back to work, off Friday as I have plans with the girls and probably worked multiple times Saturday.

Also, there's more contests going, head on over to She Moved to Texas and enter her contest for the chance to win a leather Horze Halter! And/or to Equestrian at Hart to win some great Sore No More products!

A Good Day

Tonight we had a good ride.  It was calm, it was focused and it was pleasant.  Despite the fact that Alex was being chased by the horsefly from hell on the lunge (he was bucking straight up and down every time it landed/bit him), we had some pretty decent flat work once I was in the saddle!

Perhaps Boot Camp is paying off? Alex has been worked almost every day for the last two weeks (I think he's had about 3 days off?) in a myriad of circumstances.  We've fought and we've made up.  I can honestly say I'm happy about the work we've put in and I think we're seeing some of the benefit :-)

Tomorrow is probably going to be a lunging only day, we'll see how things go.

Making up

Turns out tomorrow was another day.  Alex and I went back to work on Thursday.  It was another stormy afternoon, but at least this time there wasn't as much wind and the temperature hadn't dropped.  After working on the lunge, I climbed into the saddle ready to rock.  Fortunately, although Alex was more tense than usual, there was no bucking and only a few head tosses.  I wasn't elated with the ride but I was satisfied.

Friday night was a quiet one at the farm, for which I was grateful after two stormy nights.  I decided it was time to put on my "big girl breeches" and ride in spurs.  Alex did remarkably well with the spurs, although I think he was a little put out :-)  Our actual ride was actually very good, he was much more forward with the spurs and I didn't have to work so hard to keep him forward which was great! 

Our Saturday lunging session was a little wild, thanks to a horse running around in the paddock next to the arena, but fortunately that didn't transfer to our ride.  Alex worked pretty well and even managed to do a few turns on the forehand (not the best ever, but good) and a satisfying way to end four days of riding. 

Sunday Alex had the day off and had his fall vaccinations, so I just cleaned his stall, fed him treats and gave him kisses.

Tonight, I have to admit, that I was tired and not exactly enthused about riding, I tacked up and headed out to lunge Alex and found another person riding in the arena.  After asking if it was ok to lunge in the arena while she rode (which it was)  I started working Alex.  He was surprisingly calm working on the lunge even with the other horse cantering around at the opposite end of the arena (this usually sets him off). 

Right after I climbed in the saddle, the other horse came trotting by which of course meant that Alex felt the need to make a little leap and groan (he always groans, it's so funny!) setting the other horse off a bit (oops!).  Tried this a few more times whenever we got close to the other horse, but eventually after being made to continue forward, he settled, and I was never at any time worried he'd do anything really bad which is fantastic!  I hope I didn't bother the other girl too much.  I'm really happy though because I so rarely get to ride with other people in the arena and it wasn't terrible!  Even though we had a little change of game plan, I'm happy in my decision to start exposing him to more.  It never hurts to ask if it's ok to ride with someone else, all they can do is say no, but if I don't start asking, Alex will never get over his tendency to get wound about other horses.

Despite our struggles, I really do love my horse.  He's never going to be easy, but I do really think he's going to be spectacular.  Just have to be confident, persistent and patient :-)

No Treats For You!

Alex's vision of himself today

It's been one of those nights... the ones where you get done working your horse and you think to yourself "what a friggin psycho!"

I went straight from work to the barn and was ready to get back to work.  Alex stood to be groomed and tacked giving no signals that he was in a wild mood.  Took him out to lunge, a few bounces and kicks but nothing out of the ordinary.  Right about the time I removed the lunging equipment to climb in the saddle, the temperature dropped about 5+ degrees, it got windy and a few of the horses in paddocks across the farm started calling back and forth.  Since it was still dry and Alex seemed unimpressed, I climbed into the saddle to do a little flat work.  I was wearing spurs for the first time, so on my guard to be gentle.  Not one minute into our ride and Alex commenced shaking his head, bucking and leaping around like he hadn't been worked in a week.  Usually the bucking and jumping around doesn't bother me too much, and I'm willing to cowgirl it out a bit, but I was very worried I'd catch him with my spurs if he got me too off balance.  Considering he's never been ridden in spurs, I didn't want that to be his first experience.

I decided I'd get off and put him back on the lunge until he and the wind settled down.  As soon as we started working again, he decided it was time to tear around at the gallop like he was being chased by the boogie man for like 20 minutes complete with bucking and snorting (made even better by someone driving by on a lawn tractor) even half-way falling down at one point.  When I thought he looked "done," I changed directions where he tore around a little more before finally settling down. Keep in mind that he's been lunged for nearly an hour at this point... Determined that he would be ridden, I removed all the lunging equipment and climbed back in the saddle.  About a ten strides away from the mounting block and Alex throws another series of bucks, leaps and snorts..... WTF?!  Again, I'm worried about the spurs, but have made up my mind that he WILL trot around this arena before we go in to the barn (it's actually raining a bit now).  Another series of fireworks later, I make him trot another couple strides and finally dismount to get the loaner saddle out of the rain.  I was so mad that I couldn't properly deal with the situation, but the weather wasn't cooperating.

Turns out it was good that I went in, because it started to thunder pretty loudly (Alex would have dumped me for sure if that had started while I was in the saddle), but I still wish I could have dealt with him.

So Alex has a new nickname... Captain Psycho!

You know I'm disappointed in my horse's behavior when he gets no treats at all... I don't think that's ever happened...yeah, it was one of those nights.

Tomorrow he could be a total saint... we'll see :-)

Rain and Contests!

Today we had some scattered rain showers right around the time I got done at work.  Given that my indoor is currently a dust bowl with little circulation and that Alex has been ridden for three days in a row, I decided that I'd give him today off instead of tomorrow when it's more likely to be dry enough to ride in the outdoor. 

Also it seems two of my fellow bloggers are having contests, yipppeeee!

Nicku over at The Polka Dot Periodical is celebrating 150 followers with a contest.  So zip over there and enter!  Just email her your fav horse items under $50 :-)

Amy over at Slow and Steady Wins the Race is celebrating 100 followers with a contest of her own. If you're not already following her blog, I highly recommend it, I love reading about her OTTB pony Steady and their adventures! And don't forget to enter her contest too :-)

Tomorrow Alex and I will be back to work and we'll see how his flat-work continues to progress!

Forward March!

Happens to me on a daily basis...

 

Boot Camp for Alex is in full swing.  Little did I know that it would be Boot Camp for me too!  It's amazing how much fitness I can lose when we have a little down time.  

Sunday's pointers from my mom turned into.  quasi lesson, which in all reality, we probably needed for a good kick in the butt. I lunged Alex and then clombed aboard to see what 

the day would bring. After a quick warm-up, mom started in with the directions :-) 

I was to ask Alex to stretch and then ask for forward, turning his head and giving with the inside rein to encourage the stretch down and push forward. While I know this exercise from previous horses, it was nice to have someone on the ground reminding me to PUSH!

Alex did pretty well, but he only gets a few "lengthened" steps out before his head comes up and we have to circle or halt to refocus. 

His canter was ok, no bucks, but our departs are so ugly! Lots to work on there. 

Overall, mom pronounced him much improved 

in movement and just in need of consistent work on FORWARD to continue building his strength.

Tonight it was more of the same. Alex and I worked our butts off and were just about to quit when a whinnying horse in the distance inspired one of Alex's baby fits. Of course we had to keep working until I won that battle :-)

Otherwise it was a good productive night, still a LONG way to go. 

Alex still seems comfortable with the saddle, so that's good, I'm probably going to be annoyingly parinoid about that for several months, but so far so good!

Day 4 of 4 in a row tomorrow before a well deserved Wednesday off.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Change the Game Plan

On Thursday, the loaner/demo saddle arrived from County.  I now know why it's been on the demo list for a while, it's Oak bark which means it's a little orange, but beggars can't be choosers and I'm sure grateful to have a saddle while mine is fixed.  Now that Alex and I can get back on track, he's back to boot-camp, which means he gets lunged and ridden every day, regardless of whether he's been worked the day before, until I can tell he's back in a routine.  I've also decided that there will be no more babying for Alex.  He's going to have to work in whatever circumstances arise.

So with that in mind, I walked into the arena to lunge him on Thursday with other horses (gaited horses at that) in the arena.  He was quiet enough until the other horses started doing more than walking.  This brought on the exaggerated trot complete with tail in the air and then grunting and bucking.  I just kept lunging him and waiting for the excitement to abate and eventually it did.  When I finally climbed into the saddle, he was still a little up, but not wild, so we just did some trot work and called it a day.  It was much more lunging and less riding than I would have liked on such a nice day, but sometimes, you just gotta change the game plan.  He's got to be exposed to things if he's ever going to get over them and if that means I don't get to do what I had planned, that's just going to have to be ok.

Saturday I rode late, since the hubs was at a  Diaper Party (read man baby shower) and then that way I could do my barn chores after Alex went out to his paddock for the night.  We were alone in the arena which I have to admit was nice (I said I wouldn't run from distractions, I didn't say I loved them!).  Alex went well on the lunge, so I climbed into the saddle ready to work.  Basically the only bad thing I can say is that he still wanted to buck during the right canter transition.  I'm about 90% sure this is just left over anxiety from his previous back/saddle problems but since we haven't been able to work consistently, it will take some time for me to be absolutely sure. 

The loaner saddle feels just fine, I have to admit that my saddle felt a lot wider, which was probably a symptom of the broken tree.  I feel pretty darn stupid for not knowing about the tree, but live and learn I suppose.

Usually I give Alex Sunday off, but since we've been out of work for a while, I'm going to ride him today.  Taking the Madré with me today so she can give a few pointers.  We'll see how that goes :-)

Happy riding everyone!