Friday and Saturday's Ride and Work Session!

It seems it has been a while that I have updated. I haven't done much riding all week. I was quite busy. I had a lot of catch up work for the business for some reason so that kept me busy and I also did some horse cleaning. I cleaned the buckets, his grooming tools and that was pretty much it..If it is really nice this week I plan to clean his blanket and also I do plan on cleaning up the hay area and making some room up there for some of my other horse stuff that is in the summer house :)
Anyway about the rides.
Friday: Last evening I was up a bit later than normal..I had gotten off the computer and went out to Navajo. I missed sitting on him (hehe it was only a week or so that I haven't ridden but I am sure you guys know how it is) and so I made that he couldn't go into is stall/barn and rode around in the enclosed area (is like a little corral because there is no grass). Well first of all I had planned just to sit on him but I had put the lead rope around his neck just to make sure he didn't wander all around. Then I thought hey this is the perfect time to see how well he responds to leg cues and neck reining cues and stopping cues since he don't have a halter or bridle on just the lead rope around his neck:) I also figured it would be a bit of a challenge and something that would be just for fun:) Well that is what we did. AND HE DID GREAT! I was a bit amazed but should not have been. He is a smart horse and once he knows what I want usually tries his best. We walked around and I got him turn and move his forquarters by just using the leadrope and leg cues. I didn't get him to move his hindquarters because I wasn't sure how that would work:) I even got him to back up which I didn't really expect him to know what to do but he pleasantly surprised me!! I am really happy. So I loved on him and told him he did a wonderful job!!

Saturday afternoon: Well this afternoon I decided that since he did such a good job last evening with walking around with just the leadrope I would try it again. Navajo again did well but if I plan to do it a lot (it will not be out in the open because he has to learn to listen to me better first..for now it is just for fun) we will need to work on the stopping cue and getting him to listen better to my rein cues..But I think he will get it if we work on it occasionally! Anyway I only rode him for a bit and then I hopped of. I put the lead rope around his neck so that I could use it for a moving forward cue..What my plan was to see how well he would walk beside me without a halter and leadrope so that he would be listening to my body cues! HE DID VERY GOOD I thought for the first time!! What I would do is lean my shoulder front (the one that was close to him) and cluck..and then pull a bit on the leadrope. He would take a step front and then I would move my feet. He got that part. The stopping again is going to need work (I am thinking we are going to need to work on stopping from both the ground and from the saddle) but he did really well toward the end. At first I was a bit stumped on how to get him to turn but then I was like if I see a turn is coming up I will tilt my body a bit toward him and that will mean for him to turn a bit away from me so that we can make the turn. He doesn't quite get that yet but he was beginning to understand a bit what I was asking:) Then we switched sides..His right side is worse than his left side so we will work more on that side:) So that is my rides for now..I think that this part is as or just as important as riding with a bridle..It brakes things up a bit. Tomorrow I plan to ride with a bridle and we will ride out in the field..That is if the weather is nice:) Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed weekend!!

Thursday's Ride!!

Today I got to ride again..Finally. I haven't ridden for most of the week because I was so busy and it was rainy at the be beginning of the week:) Well anyway about the ride:) I went out and we rode down the strip. Today was a very good day. The torn up ground down along the strip I used to walk him around (like you would cones)..he did really really well with that..and he did it all by leg cues and indirect rein cues..I WAS HAPPY..And I did well with not pulling on the reins so much..We did more walking and a little trotting. We walked along the strip for a little while. Then we headed back and I went up to the one barn and we walked around in teh rectangle yard :D Then we were up by the hill area..we didn't go up the hill but we just trotted around and walked..Did some backing around and also got him to move his hindquarters and forequarters:) Then I got off and got him to walk and trot beside me. I was really happy with his performance today. Then we went back to the barn and I groomed him and spent time with him. He is really shedding out :D IT WAS AN AWESOME DAY and very profitable. I think we both did well:) This is quite short compared to my other blogs. But I don't know when I will ride again as it is to be a rainy weekend but we shall see!!

Pictures!!

These pictures are I promised after his first bath..which was on 3/17/10:) The only ones taken before are the last two:)

Sunday's Ride and Other Things

Well I did ride yesterday and Saturday:) I didn't update last evening because I was working on my blog..more on that later:)

Anyway Saturday's ride first...I worked on not pulling on the reins as much and stopping..both went pretty good. Navajo did better at responding to my cues and rein and leg aides and I got better at sending the cues and not using the reins as much. I was happy about that. It wasn't a long ride and we just stayed on the farm here in the yard:)

Now for Sunday's Ride. Yesterday's Ride was far more fun and relaxing. We did not working all except at the end...in a bit will tell you about that. Anyway we headed out and went down the strip. We walked most of the way but trotted toward the end. He is doing really well with moving off my leg..even though we didn't work on anything really I still work on making sure he moves off my leg when I ask and things so that I stay consistant with what I do also I guess it would be just using his training:D..Anyway (you probably didn't need me to explain that..hehe) He did well for the most part. He is getting that if he doesn't move off my soft aide then he gets a stronger aide and the more he doesn't go the stronger the aide becomes. Well it usually is only the second or third kick/tap (I tap a bit to get him to go..well not really a tap at first it is more of some slight pressure into his side and if he doesn't go we start tapping and that gets harder the more he doesn't go) and he goes...Then I slow him then ask him again with the light pressure and he usually goes forward. Definitely getting better. Hope that all made sense.
So we headed into the field..At first he acted as though he didn't want to go. Well I said it is your choice either go forward nicely or get told to go forward sharply..He went nicely. We actually had fun..we did a bit of trotting and some cantering. We went a bit of a different way but it was fun! We ended back on the strip heading down toward the corner..He did not want to go..I told him he must..He went then..This is where the moving his hindquarters comes in at. He didn't want to move his feet forward so I was like how about moving them around. He wasn't to fond of that but he did it. We walked successfully down the strip. Then on the way back he wanted to canter..I said no faster than a trot or it constitutes as trying to run for home..He does that you know so I don't need him to make a habit of it. So we trotted...lol..it kept getting faster so I told him to slow down..He wasn't happy about that so I stopped him and made him stand for a bit..that calmed him a bit and we trotted nicely the whole way home..Awesome!! Then he got groomed and loved on:) It was a fun and relaxing ride. I plan to ride today (Monday) and more this week if it doesn't rain!! Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

p.s. Ok if you come visit my blog: www.musingsofacowgirl.blogspot.com you will see some changes..I would like feedback on what you think of it!! I want what you honestly think..positive or negative. There will be more changes coming after a bit so I probably will send one of these messages again:) Thank you!!

Friday's Ride!!

Today I got to ride again:) Well I had decided long before I rode today what we were going to work on and wow did I find a lot of things out about myself as a rider. You see I am reading Jane Savoie's book Cross-Training Your Horse: Simple Dressage for Every Horse, Every Sport and I decided this evening I would work on Navajo moving off of my leg and stopping. Moving off of my leg because that is one of the first things you work on in dressage (or at least that is what the book says). As you can tell I am going by the book or at least trying to:) Anyway I wanted to work on stopping because of last night!
Ok now for the ride. Well we walked down the strip and he seemed like he didn't want to go fast at all..hehe. I have found that if I work a bit on moving his hindquarters, backing, moving his forequarters and just warming up really seems to make him perk up:) Anyway since the yard is torn up I used that to walk around like you would cones. He did well with that. I got him to go off my leg real well but then I felt like I was forgetting something. I told myself that it is really smart to know half of what you want to do and not the whole thing when you are out riding so I didn't really work on that because I didn't want to teach something and then have to go back and fix it just because I forgot what I had read earlier :D *Side Note: What I had forgotten was ok when your horse doesn't go off your leg with a light aide, you are to "Punish" your horse by getting them to go forward either by popping a whip or kicking. Now this sounds mean but the purpose is to get them to go forward. After you get them going you slow them down and try it again with a light aide. If they do it right then the punishment is worth it:) If they don't do it right then just repeat. Just a little explanation..and if you have a problem with this take it up with Jane Savoie :D So you see Navajo wasn't going off my leg and I remembered that you have to "punish" them but then I forgot what you are to do after that :D So you see why I didn't work on it..sorry for the sidenote:D * So then I started working on stopping. I pull my stomache in and kinda push my seat front. Also pulling back on the reins along with the cues till I establish the fact that I want him to stop with just my stomache and seat :D Well doing this made me realize a lot of things. One I pull on the reins to much (don't know why other than that it was a habit and one I need to break). I need to lighten that and hopefully not do it at all eventually. Navajo does good and he was getting what I wanted by the end, stopping wise. I as a rider need to work a lot on the stopping cue to execute it correctly :) I am thinking if I work on stopping and not pulling on the reins as much that might take care of my problem of him trying to go home when he thinks he is done (that was one of the only problems for him today). So that is what I am going to work on for this next week!! It was a bit frustrating because I didn't feel like I did much with him and that I just ended making things worse but I think if I work on me and him a bit and work on the basics we will be good or at least better!! To make things or at least me feel worse I lost my glasses for a bit. Well I had gotten off of Navajo to lead him home and work a bit on some groundwork!! Well Navajo reached back to sniff me and was to high and knocked my glasses right off. Well you need to know that I am practically blind without glasses. Anyway I took Navajo back to the barn so he don't step on them and got Mom and Rachel to help me find them. Thank God we found them. So I am good. I went and groomed Navajo and loved on him and told him how good he did today despite me being and not so good rider :D Well now I know what I need to work on and I think with some help we will get better yet:)

Thurday's Ride!

Wow I am amazed I got to ride again:) I am really liking this spring weather!!
Well anyway Navajo seemed a bit lazy when we first started out so I figured we would just work a bit on moving his hindquarters, backing, stopping and maybe some working on going forward. It all went pretty well. First we moved his hindquarters a few times. That is going to need pretty much work but we will get there:) I also got him to back really really well. I mean really well because I asked for him to back and he backed pretty fast. Also while backing I got him to move his hindquarter a few times. I was really impressed. Since he did really well with the backing and moving his hindquarters I figured it was time to do some trotting. Trotting went ok but he didn't want to stop so well. That didn't make me so happy so I was like ok we will work on stopping. That didn't make him happy one bit :D Well so I kept trotting. He got tired of just trotting and stopping I guess or just figured he was ready to go home (I am working on riding longer this summer) and so he took off around the corner and headed for home. I did the one rein stop and got him stopped. Then I turned him around and headed toward the corner again and out toward the field. I told him in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS that we do NOT run away for just because. He has done this before so it comes back every so often :) Well we walked out toward the field and did some walking in the field. I actually hadn't planned to walk out there or do anything but since he was acting this way I knew I just couldn't head home without having this reaccur. So we walked out the field. I asked for a trot and he wanted to go faster so I asked for a canter. We cantered most of the lenght of the field (alongside the field lane). Wow was that fun. It is good exercise for Navajo and I enjoy it. I got him to walk and got him to breath a bit normally again then asked for a trot again. He wanted to canter :D So I asked for a canter again (we were headed toward the road behind the hayshed..which tells you kinda how far we went..we were the whole way down by the strip which is a very good distance from the hayshed but we rode in the field the whole way back there)...ANYWAY :D We cantered a bit. Then I turned him around to head back toward the field lane. He didn't want to go at first..I figured he knew that going the way we were would go home soon so he wanted to go that way..Smart horse. Well I said no we are going the way we came. So we cantered back to the field lane. I asked him to stop and he kept trying to sidepass :D I said no I don't want you to do that I want you to STOP. So since he wasn't calming down I trotted/walked him in circles. That helped a bit. So we walked most of the way out to the road again. I asked for a stop again and same story. So I backed him and that just made him mad. Not sure exactly what was going on. I think he just wanted to go HOME and not work anymore. Don't know. Anyway we had quite the work out. I am very sore from posting and also from doing more riding than normal. Navajo worked up a sweat. I am not surprised at all. We worked pretty hard or should I say he did. He seemed to enjoy it though! He didn't seem tired in the least and had quite a bit of energy even on the way home. Halfway in the field I stopped and walked the rest of the way to the strip. I got him to back a bit and respect my space since he was acting not so nice whenever I asked him to stop. When I asked him to stop from the ground he did ok. I also got him to move his hindquarters. Then we walked back to the barn and I wiped him off. Then I loved him and told him how good of a boy he is. I mean yes the ride might not have been as much fun as yesterday but it sure was good for us both. He learned how to back really good and did anything I asked but stopping really well. Hopefully tomorrow will go as good or better. We shall see!!
p.s. I do have pictures of him when he is nicely cleaned taken today that I will post soon!!

♥ First Bath of Spring and a Ride!! ♥

Wow today was really really nice. It was in the high 60's low 70's:) So I gave Navajo a bath around 3 or so then he had dried off till I wanted to ride around 6. He was really dirty and him having a bath seemed to make him feel a ton better. Also seemed to make him WANT to ride:)
Well we headed down the strip at a walk but did do some trotting. IT is still torn up but I used the ground that is torn up as an obstacle course. Navajo did good going thru it. We turned the corner of the strip and took off at a trot. Then I turned him around and trotted back to the corner. I stopped him made him stand but then asked for him to turn and head toward the field. We took off at a canter and instead of stopping at the edge of the grass we kept going to the end of the field. It was really much fun and awesome. Then we trotted and cantered back to the grass. I turned him around and headed back to the field. We cantered out to the other end of the field (toward the neighbors) turned to the right and headed back to the dump. We did more trotting. I got tired of posting..hehe I am out of shape..so I got him to walk the whole way back to the dump. Then on the way back to the edge of the field (by the neighbors) we did some more trotting. Then we turned to the left and headed back to the strip. We trotted the length of the field. SO MUCH FUN. Then we did a bit more trotting and walked back home. I groomed him once we got back and praised him for doing so good:):) Love that horse:) Hope you all had a wonderful St Patrick's Day!

The Disappearing Act!

Well this morning on the spur of the moment I took an umbrella out with me when I went out to Navajo. Ok I know he HATES umbrellas. Of course when I came out he usually comes out to see me, Right! Well he came out all right and then saw that I had the SCARY OBJECT in my hand. He was like ok I can handle this. But as I got closer (the umbrella was open) he was like maybe I can't handle this very scary object. :D I could just see the wheels turning in his head..What is this scary thing and why does mom have it with her? Maybe if I act like I am not scared, mom will make it go away:) Well I let him sniff it but he still wasn't sure that he liked it very much. So I closed it which you could see his eyes go wide and again I could see him think. He was like WHAT HAPPENED. The BIG SCARY OBJECT just DISAPPEARED. Where did it go? Then I opened it again and that was it Navajo ran into his shed. He was at freedom. I didn't have him haltered or have the leadrope on..I just wanted to see how and what he thought of the umbrella.
It was kinda funny because I mean he was there one second and the next he is gone:) Well I went in (without the umbrella) and talked to him to calm him down a bit. Then I did my chores. After they were done I got the umbrella out again. He was like ok I can handle this I now know what it does. He was still wary of it. I ran it over him and he was fun with that when it was closed. Then I opened it and held it over his head like he would be standing under it. He didn't like that. So I was like ok we will just run it over you when it is opened and see what he thinks of it then by his head. He seemed fine with that:) Then I haltered him and took him out in the rain. I then opened the umbrella again and put it over his head. He seemed more fine with it outside than inside!! Then I acted like I am going to open and close the umbrella. That did not make him very happy :D But he got used to it. Once he was fine with the umbrella all over him and open over his head I put it away and just walked him around and told him how proud I am of him. It was fun and interesting how he reacted to the umbrella. He kinda liked hearing the rain on the umbrella when we were out in the rain..Figures, the guy likes to hear his hooves on the road :D

For today I would say I can find maybe three things. Ok one would be that it was amazing to me that he even let me close to him with the umbrella. That was number one good thing.
Number two would be that even though he freaked at the umbrella he let me introduce it to him again and let me even near to him with the umbrella:)
Then number three would be I am just overall proud of how well he handled himself with the umbrella and how he trusts me enough and knows that I would not hurt him. Obviously he had the instict of flight when he was scared of it but hey he is still a horse. A horse still has their natural insticts no matter how much training they recieve! I am very happy with how far we have come:) Hope you enjoyed reading today's groundwork:)

Sunday's Ride!

I did get to ride yesterday (Sunday)! It was a bit unexpected since we had rain most of the day. But it stopped mid afternoon so I went out to groom Navajo and figured I would ride. So we walked around the front yard a bit and then we headed up back to the orchard where our big hill is:) We did a lot of walking and trotting. It was more of a fun ride but I wanted to get him to the point that he kept going until I told him to stop especially when turning. We have a grain bin in that yard so I used that as something to trot around. At first he didn't get what I wanted but after a few urges and a bit of talking to he finally figured it out. He did quite well. But mostly we did trotting. We did walk up the big hill. I figured it would be good for him to walk up the hill and not always trot and canter up it. He wasn't to impressed about that but that was ok. Then we did some trotting along the top of the hill. This hill is pretty steep and the winters we have snow that is awesome for sledding this is one of the hills we go sledding on:) Then we just did some walking around. We headed over to the other side of the driveway and headed back behind the steer shed. We just walked and had an enjoyable time on the way back there. Then I asked him if he wanted to canter. He was like ALL YEAH :D I asked for a canter and off we went. We cantered the whole way up to the driveway again. We crossed the driveway and cooled down a bit. I got off and decided to see how well he would follow me and how good he would respond to me when I say WHOA! He followed me good and I said WHOA..he kept following me so I said whoa and I stopped. He stopped to. So then I told him to stay and I kept walking. A short distance away I stopped as well and then told him to come. He didn't come and I was like Hello Ruth Ann you have a tool in your pocket you forgot about. See he comes when I whistle (most of the time..still workin on that). So I whistled..well first I got some grass off of the ground (green grass) and I stretched out my hand then whistled. He saw the outstretched hand, heard the whistle and headed right on over. Smart guy. We did this two times. He did great both times. Then we headed back to the barn. I got my shedding blade out and took it over him. Wow was he loosing hair. After I was doen grooming it looked like it had snowed Navajo hair all over the place. Even on me! He seemed to enjoy it very much. The amazing thing was after he was put in his barn again and I was inside it started to rain so I got to spend some decent time with him without rain!! It was great!!

Ok I said I want to find THREE GOOD things when I ride. Well I would say the first good thing was that he did really well with responding to whatever I asked him to do weather it was a walk, trot or canter. Sometimes he can have a problem with that:)
The SECOND good thing would be he did good with going around the feed bin at a trot. We never really did that before and he picked up on that about the second or third time around.
The THIRD good thing would be he came when I whistled and stayed when I told him to. He is for the most part a very obediant horse:) He can be stubborn though!

I don't know if I will remember to do this every time but I think it is a good thing. It makes even the worst rides seem like it was profitable and it makes you feel good that you acomplished something!

Thursday Evening's Groundwork and Ride!

This afternoon I did get to ride. Rachel was in need of being occupied so I took her for a ride. I got on and then she hopped on Navajo behind me. We walked around the yard for a while and then I told her to get off and I would go ride Navajo. So I took him behind the barn. Well let's just say that today wasn't the best day. But I have told myself from now on that no matter how bad the ride I am always going to find at least THREE GOOD THINGS about the ride. Ok so now Navajo didn't want to do anything but walk and kept putting his head down. I told him to back (we actually did more backing than forward walking or so it seemed:D) and eventually he got to the point he realized that he met his match in being stubborn :) Anyway he did get it that if he put his head down he had to back up. The first good thing is he got better at backing and also curving his head. The second thing is that he did very good was move his forquarters! Then the third good thing would be we had one canter and he did really good with that as well!! So over all it would be a good ride. I ended the ride by getting him to follow me. I walked a ways ahead and said WHOA in a loud voice. He stopped in his hoofsteps :D I was very happy. He has been doing this for a while now and it makes me quite happy. Then I saw how much he would follow me and he did really well. I had to go with my mom to do some wallpaper and paint shopping then I got home and I went out and groomed Navajo and did some more groundwork:) I got him to walk beside me moving my shoulder forward and clucking and pulling on the leadrope. He caught on really well toward the end. The stopping is going to need some work but I think he will get it eventually. Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Thursday Morning's Groundwork!

This morning I worked with Navajo a bit. I am going to train him to walk forward when I lean my shoulder forward. For now what I am doing is making a kissing sound and pulling on the leadroap and leaning my shoulder forward. That is the cue for him to move his feet. Then once we have that down we are going to work at stopping when I move my shoulder back:) He did really good but it is going to need a lot of work:) I am hoping to ride tonight if it doesn't rain. We will see! It is a wonderful day out there so far..I am really liking this nice weather:) Hope everyone had a great day so far as well. Talk soon Ruth Ann ♥ Navajo

Tuesday's Ride!!

Personally like this one the best!!

Wow I am really happy:) I got to ride for the third day in a row!! Spring must be here. Today was an especially nice day. It was warmer for one and I was out without a jacket..very nice!!
Anyway, Rachel wanted a ride today so I told her I would ride Navajo first and then when I cooled him down she could ride. She said ok that sounds good:) So She went and played on the swing and I got on Navajo. I took him down the strip for the first time. Nothing but a walk since the township tore our yard up real nice. So our strip has nice big holes and clumps of dirt. It was good for Navajo because he was a bit nervous about one of the dirt piles but he did ok and went around it. He only refused twice:)
Since we couldn't ride down there I took him up to the orchard again. Today I realized (dont' know why I never thought about it before) that I have a wonderful conditioning tool in my back yard. A nice huge hill that we can walk, trot and canter up and walk down. Well I took advantage of that and we cantered up the hill a few times toward the end. First we did a lot of trotting and walking around. Today was more of a fun ride (we need that occasionally) becuase we did more work yesterday. He did really well and actually seemed to have quite a bit of energy. Navajo started sweating toward the end but that is a good sign to me because it means we did a good amount of work and also it means warm weather is here :D Well then I hopped off after we trotted up the hill for the last time. I walked him down to the barn and got Rachel. Then we did a lot of circles in the yard..It was a good enough ride for Rachel:) Then we groomed him and loved on him!! Overall it was a wonderful ride.

p.s. All pictures taken today:)

Another day, Another Ride!

Another day, Another ride:) It is another beautiful day here in Stevens, PA and that means I got to ride again. I am really happy that we are having such wonderful weather and that spring is on the way. That means to me more time spent with Navajo, bathing time :D, and of course we cannot forget riding and training. Ah spring and summer are great times of the year. Actually my two favorite :)

Anyway, enough of remincing and on to the ride. The ground was firmer today and today almost felt like summer. If there would have been no snow and I wouldn't have had to were a jacket you would have thought it was a fine summer evening. Well I rode in the orchard again. It is actually kinda nice having the trees and different obstacles up there that we have to walk around. Good because it makes me focus on what I am doing with my body and where my legs are and what they are saying. Today I mainly worked on leg cues, hand cues and other body cues. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately on how in dressage you try to make your cues to your horse as INVISABLE as possible. So I thought that my stopping cue wasn't invisable enough so I did some reading and found that if you pull in your stomache your horse will feel that and that can become a cue. So what I worked on today was I pulled in my stomache and then pulled back on the reins, said whoa and that meant stop. Eventually I want to get to the point all I have to do is pull in my stomache and maybe pull on the reins a bit. We will see. Anway between that and working on moving his forquarters he did an awesome job. He did the best he ever did yet on moving his forquarters. Really pays of to be repetisious! And hard work and determination DO pay off eventually as I am finding out. We just did a lot of walking, moving his forquarters and stopping. I think it is good to work on the basics and then this summer move on to harder things. Overall it was a wonderful ride.

Sunday's Ride!!

Another good day of riding!! YEAH!! Well I groomed Navajo good..WOW did he need it :D He is shedding big time and you come in looking like a wooly bear. Anyway the snow is melting little by little and so most of the hill by the hayshed is melted so I had more room to ride. It is still muddy down by the strip so no riding there yet:) But we are to have 50 degree weather all week SO that should melt all the snow and green up the grass.

Well I did a lot of walking, trotting, moving his hindquarters and forquarters, and stopping. He did really good. He didn't want to move his hindquarters the one way so I let him go but still got him to do it a few times. He did really well on stopping. He also did pretty good with moving his forequarters. We did canter a few times but I am taking this opportunity of not having the strip where we do canter and things to do a lot of basic work to get that downpat before we move on to more complicated things this summer. We will see:) So overall he did well but toward the end he was being a bad boy and not listening very well. I told him he might as well be a good boy because him being a bad boy is not going to help him any:) :D Well I got off and got him to do some flexing and backing up then we walked back to the barn. There he got another grooming :) Then I turned him out. Tomorrow if it is nice we will ride again in the evening.

Since this nice weather is on the way I think I better start reading up more on my dressage :D I love to read informational books but also love other books so I kept putting that off. Guess I also kinda wanted to wait to read my dressage book more in depth again before I did the training so I would remember and retain teh information better. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

Groundwork!

Today I did some groudnwork with Navajo. Mainly it was desentizing:) I used a rake, a plastic bag and a bottle full of stones. First I shook the plastic bag and he was scared of it but I gained his trust and was able to run it all over his body. AWESOME. I had done a little with the rake the earlier today and he was real jumpy at first but at the end let me run it all over his body. Then I did it again this evening and he was still a bit jumpy but accepted it. Then I shook the bottle of stones and he was ok with that since it only made noise :D Funny guy:) I am so happy that he did a good job and that I was able to get him to do all this with little fuss! No riding but that is ok. This was good as well.

Thursday's Ride!!

YES FINALLY ANOTHER RIDE. ♥ It was so nice today I decided I would ride this evening if we got back from buying a sweeper early enough (short story our sweeper gave up the ghost :D) Anway, we did get back in time so I went for a ride. I got on Navajo and he wanted to go. Usually he stands still like a gentleman till I am on board but this time he moved around a bit. I told him whoa and he listened. Then I got on and he walked off. Told him that was a no no and made him stand still for a little while for punishment. He wasn't to pleased about that but he got he point:)

Well off we went. I had planned to go down the strip but it was really muddy and still snowy down there. Our farm goes downhill so obviously that is where all the mud will be. So I headed up back to the orchard and hayshed. We warmed up with a lot of walking and trotting!! I also got him to move his hindquarters. The one side he didn't respond as quickly but He did do it on both sides twice. Also got him to move his forquarters. He is definitely getting better!! Then I got him to do some cantering. Wow did he want to go..hehe..Do you blame him though after not riding for a month or so and then when we do ride have no place to go. Now we have places to go that actually are not snow covered. I am so thankful that we are having some warmer weather that is melting the snow and also allowing us to ride!! So now I am going to start working with getting him into shape so we can ride more! I am so excited.

This summer I am hoping to work on getting him better at moving his hindquarters and forequarters and then maybe move onto the SIDEPASS!! That was my ultimate goal with teaching him to move his hindquarters and forequarters although never realized it would take this long. But along the way I have learned quite a bit. I have learned good training doesn't happen in 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months, Good training takes years!! I mean I have been working with Navajo on moving his hindquarters since last summer and that was from the ground. Only this past fall have I gotten him to actually do it from his back. We still need to fine tune it but I think we should be ready to learn the sidepass soon!! We will when we are ready:)

Hope you enjoyed our update..Been a while since we actually had one!! Mainly pictures and a few words. Well when the warm weather comes so do the updates. I should have some more pictures for you either tonight or over the next few days. They were taken the other day!!

Today's Ride!

Today I finally got to ride Navajo!! I just rode him around the yard since there is still snow down by the strip! I got him to move his hindquarters and forequarters both ways and he responded right away. I was really proud of him because we haven't really ridden for a month. Longest I went without riding :) I am hoping to ride more this week since it is to be nice!! Hope you have a wonderful week!!