Good days just keep on coming

Yesterday we had another good ride in the bareback pad, then I saddled him up and he got all stressed out.  He didn't do anything bad but he wasn't comfortable approaching the mounting block with the saddle on.  I like how he communicates so clearly, as long as I give him the freedom to have an opinion.  Working without a lead rope is so revealing.

Today I put the saddle on him and left him in the round pen for several hours.  Then we did some hindquarter disengagement.  He was all bound up and stiff on his left side.  It took a while to get smooth movement, but it did eventually happen.

Today he was willing to give me his left side while I stood on the mounting block, but it was really hard for him to bring his head around to me on that side.  He didn't mind looking at me like this:

Interestingly, when we switched to his right side toward the mounting block, it was really hard for him to bring his head around and look at me on that side.  He wanted to look at me from the opposite side.  A little bit of denial, I guess.  Since stressful things are happening on one side, look on the other side? 

I massaged his neck and spent a lot of time just standing there, on both sides.  He eventually relaxed enough to drop his head and breathe.

Then we played the on-again, off-again game.  It went quite well, mounting and dismounting with the saddle from both sides.

He's very focused.

You might say he's intense.

And now - completely off topic - Winston's butt can't touch the ground when he sits down.  Seems to me this might be a conformation flaw?  It's kinda cute how he squats.  He likes to sit on the back of his butt like a people when he's on the couch.  I wonder if that'll be hard on his joints in the long run.

 

I'm not sure how much horse time I'll have with the holiday coming up.  So in case I don't see you by then, Happy Thanksgiving!

Good rides

Today I got to ride my two favorite horses in the whole wide world.  Bella hadn't been ridden since Easter.  She thought it was weird, but she was a good girl.  I didn't feel any lameness but I know it's there if we use her much. 

Then Liam rode her.  He loves her.  She loves him.  But she really thought it was weird carrying him on her back.  Kids are a whole different deal than adults are.  All squirmy and distracted.  She did well though, and so did he.  I didn't turn them loose together, just led them in circles.

This evening Joseph and I had an absolutely wonderful ride.  It started out like the rides we've had before, all starts and stops and squiggling this way and that.  But once I found my seat and relaxed and moved with him, we got going pretty well.  He would still stop in hopes of a treat sometimes, and he stopped if I lost my balance, but eventually we moved all the way around the round pen more than once in each direction.  I know that sounds dumb, but our rides before were a step here and a step there, all in a small space maybe a quarter of the size of the round pen.

I think he was relieved to find that it wasn't as hard as it seemed to be, and all we were trying to do was walk forward.  What a good boy.  He tries so hard.

I was looking at some photos of him in the BLM corrals in June of 2012, and his mane was jet black and shiny, but his body was lighter and duller.  Now it's the opposite - his body is darker and his coat is amazingly healthy, but he has those highlights in his mane.  I wonder if there's something I'm not providing him in his diet.  I don't mind his pretty highlights but I'd hate to think they're due to a nutritional deficiency.  He is on a supplement but I have to admit I haven't been very good about giving it to him all the time.  I've been better about it lately.  I'll keep on it and see what happens.

I think I might just ride him in a saddle tomorrow.  :D

Lightness

Joseph isn't sure about this whole collar thing.  Neither am I, to be honest.  I'm not sure how it's supposed to fit.  I think it might be too long.  The other two look tiny but I might try them on him just to be sure.  I think they might fit Bob and Pedro, but not the horses.  I will definitely be playing more with it all tomorrow.

 

Two good boys waiting.  Do you see infinity?  Is it coincidence or ... ?

Ice, weeds, glorious sunlight, me and my horse.

Happies.

I see the future.  One day I shall be taller thanks to his grace and generosity.

I see past, present, and future.  I see my smart, kind, creative, beautiful daughter beside me.

Exciting!

Yesterday I bought 3 sets of logging harness, collars and hames and all.  They're not in pristine condition, of course, or I wouldn't have been able to afford them, but they're harnesses!  The horses are going to start earning their keep.  As soon as I find a harrow.  Then there'll be no holding me back.  How about a manure spreader?  Mower?  Hmmm.  The possibilities are endless.

Realistically speaking though, we probably won't do most of those things.  But we can if we want to.  Now I just have to get them home and figure out how to put them on a horse.  I smell a hint of future blogs in the air!

Hula

The wind stopped blowing today so I didn't hide in the barn with the horses while I petted them.  Joseph and I went to check fence.  At one point I had to drop his lead and scoot under the fence to get after my fighting dogs (they had found a tasty dead thing) and Joseph stood there very sweetly and waited for me.

The dog fighting has got to stop.  This time Huckleberry came away with several bloody spots and a limp.  Blue is going to borrow a shock collar from my sister tomorrow.  I can never get to them quickly enough to break it up before they get carried away, and then I can't catch the bad dog after the fact. The shock collar will hopefully be a very satisfying experience (for me).

Then I saddled Joseph up and we played with the hula hoop.  Since he's got the clicker "target" thing down he stuck his nose right on it and would have done so repeatedly into eternity as long as I was game to keep playing.  When I put it over his head he thought it was weird, but I've practiced throwing the rope over and sliding the rope (and the bridle) over his ears so it wasn't a totally new idea.  Then we worked on neck reining with the hoop.  He's a quick study although he wasn't totally comfortable with the idea.

No bucking or even scooting today with the saddle, and he seemed more comfortable with it overall.  It was a good day.

Lunch Date

Horses and sunshine will cure all ills.  Well, at least some days it seems that way.  Still not feeling up to snuff, in fact I spent a lot of today in bed reading a good book.  But yesterday I had lunch with my best friends.

The lunchtime lineup:

Not sure how he felt about me lounging in his meal.

It looks like he wants a kiss, doesn't it?  He doesn't, really.  But I gave him a click and a treat for a kiss or two this evening and I'm hoping maybe he'll get to where he likes it.  :)

And I have found that it's not MY saddle that scares him.  It's just a saddle thing in general.  So we'll keep soldiering on, trying to build some good habits in hopes of building a comfort zone one of these days. 

Weekend

I think I was sick yesterday.  It may have just been a reaction to stress.  I don't know.  Glad to be feeling better today though.  And the sun was shining!

This past week was very windy and rainy.  The trees threw off all their clothing like nudist toddlers and today we spent many hours picking up after them.  I didn't enjoy the work but I figure it's a small price to pay for all the long, warm, silent moments in the summer under their slivery, dancing leaves. 


I let everyone out on the pasture for a while today.  Pedro didn't get to stay out as long as the horses.  But I think I made a mistake because Joseph's feet were very warm tonight and he was ouchy on gravel.  Hmmm.

Bob was upset because I moved Pedro over by the horses so I went and opened some gates so he could be near them.  I wish I could put everyone together but with Bob on pelleted feed and grass, that just doesn't work.

 He was pretty bright and happy.  One thing that stuck with me after I watched the Pete Ramey video on donkeys was what he said about their attitude.  That they should not be depressed and droopy like Eeyore, and if they are, something is wrong.  Bob had me worried because he was pretty droopy and down most of the time.  But I was thinking about it as I walked with him today, and it's been a long time since I've seen him that way.  He runs around, seems happy to see me, and is pretty bright, although still more shy than Pedro.

 I think he's doing pretty well.  Sweet old guy.

Joseph played hard to catch today out in the pasture, so I had to insist.  I gave him a couple treats and a bit of love and went back to working on fence.  When it came time to go back into lockup, he just followed me and Bella.  I decided to make it a point to catch him with the halter and do nothing, then release him.  He ran off a couple times before letting me halter him.  The next time he came right up to me.  We need to do more "catch and release."  :)

We played with the clicker as well, working on targeting.  Interestingly, he has a hard time touching the target when it's down low.  I think it's scarier for him to dip his head down like that.  But he got to where he was really enjoying the game and would touch it wherever I put it, sometimes trying to cheat by touching my hand.  When I put him away he stood at the gate and asked for more.  I think that's a good sign.

I had been kind of excited about a group on Facebook that I thought was a clicker group, but it was so weird I couldn't even wrap my head around it, and there was a lot of paperwork and checking of boxes.  I think it might appeal to someone with a more computer/engineering type brain.  Wasn't going to work for me, it was like it was written in a whole different language with a different set of symbols than I'm used to.  Oh well.  We will continue to feel our way through rather than using scientific methods.   

I'm looking forward to another nice day tomorrow.  I love the sunshine!

Clicker / Shutter

Started playing with the clicker today.  Still on the fence...  Joseph does like food though.

My sister and I went to take pictures of things in the snow.  I didn't come up with much, but it was fun.  I'm looking forward to seeing what she got with her good camera.

 

 

Weather

I missed out on a couple of days with my horse because of emergency calls at work.  I can't really complain about working late when it's life or death for someone's pet.  I feel like those moments are the ones that make it all worth it.  Even if it doesn't end well you know you did your best to help soften the blow.

Now that the time has changed and shortened the day I'll have no time for Joseph on the days that I work, even if I get off on time.  I have a hard time with winter.  I need to learn not to push back against things I can't change, like the seasons.  :)

Yesterday the wind was horrible, today the wind was painful, then it died off and it started snowing.

Winston thinks it's fun.

Joseph wants back in his stall where the hay is.

So I really have nothing interesting to talk about.  I'm just being a slug in my jammies.

Successful saddling today.  Well, at least no buck.  He still moved away from me and became more tense when I cinched him up, and he was tense the entire time he was wearing it.  Big sigh and chewing after I took the whole rig off.  He only wore it for about 15 minutes, with a bit of standing around and then several trips around the round pen.

I'll try a different saddle tomorrow.

Funny

I need to speed this up and put it to Benny Hill music.  But for now it's the long version.  I find it totally entertaining, which is saying a lot because I don't like to watch videos on the computer, especially of me.  But I don't expect you to be as entertained as I am or to watch the whole thing.  I just wanted to show how hard he tries, at liberty, to do what I'm asking.  He has come so far!  But obviously I need to have a better way of telling him he's in the right spot, he's done moving and he can quit trying so darn hard!  Funny boy. 

Mysterious mystery

Joseph had another big bucking fit today.  Reminiscent of what Tonka used to do - nothing naughty at all about it, just total panic.  It's okay, but I wish I knew for sure what his reason is.

Saddling up, he's still apprehensive about, but not a lot.  However, when I cinch up he moves away from me.  I don't over-tighten.  I was using a rope cinch with metal buckles right against the skin, but switched to a felt cinch with buckles padded.  Doesn't seem to make a difference.  So does it hurt, or is it just a natural aversion to pressure?

Walking to the round pen my dogs were all hanging close because my sister is here and they like her.  As I sent him through the gate my sister watched him get worried about all the dogs milling around, then he humped up as he made the turn through the gate, and he took off bucking.  I just let him go and shut the gate and let him get it out of his system.  My theory is still that the back cinch came into play and he didn't like it.  Could he be like Tonka?  EPSM?  Hmmmm.  He doesn't seem to have the right muscular shape for it, but what do I know.  Maybe it just bothers him, which would be understandable at this level of training.

We used my Ricotti pad today instead of the usual Professional's Choice pad.  The Ricotti has a gradually built up front.  I wouldn't say either pad made a difference in the bucking.

Could it be because the saddle doesn't fit?  Sure, could be.  Although I don't think the fit is that bad. Could be all the noise this saddle makes.  Still sounds like a squeaky brand new saddle.  Could it be that this saddle is haunted?  I surely do not know.  But I do know that Tonka had the same issues with this saddle.  Scout and Bella have never complained though.

Time to fit a different saddle with a back cinch and see what he does about it.

Anyway.  He's handsome.  And he's a good, good boy.  And I cannot wait to get past this and really ride him!

Backing up from just the wiggle of a finger:

Eyeballing the photographer with an ear on me.  :)

I'm off to go play again before the darkness comes.  Eww, speaking of darkness - I'm dreading "falling back" this weekend.  I'll have no daylight left for my horse on the days I work.  I hope the next several months just fly on by!

I've been working on saddling more lately.  He took off bucking with my saddle again, so we went to the round pen and he moved a lot, in all sorts of different ways, so that he could get the feel of it.  I suspect it's the back cinch that's grabbing him and sending him into a tizzy. 

I even set up a little "jump" for him with the barrel and poles.  He moved over it at the walk and trot, and I think he was pretty happy with himself.

When he's not saddled he'll come stand next to me (at liberty) while I'm on the mounting block.  Here he's telling me he can't possibly come over while he's wearing the saddle and I'm on the mounting block.  He eventually changed his mind, but he had to take some time to think about it.

A few days later he checks out his pretty blue pool noodle.

 I got on and off several times while he was saddled the other day.  He did extremely well.  I think my saddle is a bit wide.  :(

Tonight after a short bareback ride:

Handsomely tousled:

I even managed to take a few pictures while mounted.  Here he's looking for his treat:

Here he's thinking about his treat:

Checking things out:

I may have to phase out the treats pretty soon.  He focuses on them to the point where he's not really paying attention to what I'm asking, he's just trying everything he can think of that might earn him a treat.  And now that we're taking some forward steps (literally) we don't get far fast when he wants a treat with every step.

But all in all I don't have much to complain about.  We're making progress!

I took Scout to the group lesson this week and he sure could use the work.  He wasn't bad but he was interesting.  Very silly boy, very interested in everything.  Bright and alert and playful.  What a goof.

A quick thought.

I think the times when we have the most fun, and the best breakthroughs, are when I let my inner child loose and just do whatever goofy thing pops into my head, and let him think about what he wants to do too.  Yesterday I stood on that table you see in the video (it's my fancy mounting block) and waited to see what he would do.  He circled me a few times and then sidled up and asked to do the mounting up game.  So we did.  And then he started thinking about which direction he should offer to walk, and whether it was okay to do with me up there on his back.  The dogs were being totally crazy all around us so I hopped off after he took a couple very cautious steps.  Fun times!

Good Clean Fun

I don't know why, but I've been having fun crawling under my critters lately.  And I like sitting on the ground with them, having a quiet moment.  Scout is the only one I can't really relax with, and I'm not sure I feel like crawling under him any time soon. 

I did yesterday's groundwork exercises with both Scout and Joseph today, but without the stick.  No problem.  Actually a lot of the groundwork from yesterday didn't involve the stick anyway.  But I wanted to prove to myself that the horses can do just as well if not better with no tools, or with tools of my choice (I did use a flag with Scout, just to keep him from sleeping through the whole deal).

After our first try at crawling under, I just knelt on the grass and Joseph dropped his head into my lap and closed his eyes while I gently wrapped my arms around his head and rubbed his jaw.  We sat like that for several minutes.  It was one of those moments that brings tears to your eyes.  Joseph has never done anything quite like that. 

We also worked on ground tying, which was hard for him.  He wanted to follow me so bad, and every time I'd re-place him he was overdoing his movements, looking for the right thing, when all I wanted was for him to stand still.  Silly boy.  But when he got it, he really got it.  He wasn't thrilled, but he stood still for a good long minute. 

I'm not going to take Joseph back for lessons right now.  I think we're right on track with the groundwork we need to do (and some goofy stuff we don't really need to do).  I might take Scout and ride him.  That will be a totally different kind of frustrating experience.  :)  Scout is a lazy bum.

Lesson Questions

Went to a group lesson today.  Was really excited about it.  Figured I need some engaging new things to do, and just plain need some inspiration.  Ended up all angst-ridden and undecided.

I didn't like it.  I don't know if I'm just being hard-headed and stuck in my ways, or if I really don't like the way "they" do things.  This person studied with the Parellis.  Parelli isn't my favorite thing, and I really dislike their "carrot stick" unless I really need it, then it's a good tool.  I just don't feel like I need it.  Not with Joseph anyway, and not really with Scout anymore either.  So... Am I just being stubborn because I don't like the tools and the exercises are just slightly out of kilter with my normal body language?  Or do I have a bad taste in my mouth over it for good reason?

I did find some holes - we haven't worked on backing up from direct hand pressure on the nose and that was hard for him, although he can back up from halter pressure, lead rope jiggling, verbal commands, and simple body language.  Funny how none of that translated to finger pressure on the nose.

He did a lovely pivot and dug himself a little hole in the ground.

Body control wasn't much of an issue and he did especially well considering all the distractions.  He was the only horse not being ridden, and there were horses everywhere around us - being ridden and being horses out in the pasture.

He did not move his head away from the stupid stick very easily.  I don't understand why you need to use the stick to move his head, so I asked, "Why???" and she said she uses it when riding bridleless.  I don't think you should need sticks to ride bridleless...  Seems like it would just be noise getting in the way of true communication.  But we stuck with it, and we got somewhere.

We did the weird little exercise where you send the horse in a circle and then give them no input, expecting them to stay in the same gait going round and round (you don't even turn with them, you pass the rope behind your back) until you ask them to stop.  I have always thought that's a bit goofy.  Aren't we supposed to be having a dialog?  But it actually was neat to watch him work his way through it.  At first he was very worried.  He'd start to stop and look at me, and I'd just point my finger and lift my stick if necessary, and he'd move along again.  It wasn't long at all before he could go in a complete circle, and he was very calm and quiet.  Apparently this helps them develop self-confidence and give them responsibility for staying on task.  I don't think it caused him to become detached  from me, but it wasn't a dialog.  He went about as fast as a turtle too, but I think that was mainly because he was unsure.  Usually he has my body language and the quickness of my steps to mirror in order to gauge how fast he should be going.  On his own responsibility, slow was the way to go.  Probably because he was trying to process while not making mistakes.  He's a perfectionist.  I think doing a bit more of this (without over-doing it) will be a good exercise for him.  I can imagine him being proud of himself because he thought through it and figured it out on his own.

He recently discovered that apples are good, after all.  He had a big sloppy drooly time eating my apple core right before I took these pictures.  He thought the other horses were fascinating.

I'm really on the fence about this lesson thing.  I feel like I'm being unkind and closed-minded, but I also feel like Joseph and I have a good thing going, I'm not a complete nincompoop, and our relationship is coming along quite well in our own "organic" fashion.  BUT getting out in a group is a great tool in training, and shows us surprising things we didn't expect (both good and bad).  I just don't know if the specific lessons are the kind of things I want to be teaching him.  Really it mostly comes down to the exercise where I wave the stick at his face and he turns away.  I don't like it.  And that's just one thing, and I can opt not to do it.  But I think I've already come off as a stubborn and difficult person...  But I guess I need to not worry so much about what people think of me, and concentrate on protecting my horse from things that I believe are wrong.  Oh, woe is me, decisions, decisions.

I'm not really complaining.  Any time with my horse is a good thing, especially on such a beautiful day.

Visitors

Last couple days haven't been horse days, but they've been good days.  I love autumn.

Had family over yesterday and hiked around the property looking for photo-ops for my sister's new camera.

This is my nephew, telling me a story.

Happy grasses.

Stoopit dog.

Trying to wipe off his burrs on the door to the hobbit hole.

Toes!  Eyes!  Craziness!

Happy picture-taking sister.

 Zombie niece at Haunted Palouse

 I don't really have words for my beautiful nieces. 

Our beautiful visitor yesterday.

 

 Such a baby-like face

 Sleepy, and judging by the blood on its beak, satiated.

 

 

Still here in the dawn fire.

She was sitting right in my front yard twice when I opened the front door.  I think this critter may have been the one that killed my chickens.  I hope she doesn't get my cats.  I don't blame her for being who she is.  It was my job to keep my hens safe, and I didn't (unbeknownst to me I had holes in my defenses).  I think the cats are smart enough and skittish enough to avoid her clutches.  Heck, Finnigan might just try to have her for dinner, if she gets too close.

Photo credit goes to my sister on the closer owl photos and the good niece photos.  She's got a nice camera now.  I'm just a wee bit jealous.