Go and Whoa...

Chester's specific goal for today was letting me mount from the off side and moving off my legs. He had no issues with the off side mount and after about twenty minutes of moving off my leg and getting rewarded each time he was just done. Chester has always been that way when learning something new. His mind works really hard to figure out what it is I want. I have learned that once he "gets it" and does it right two or three times his mind is usually blown and nothing will come of me pushing harder that day. So, after I got what I wanted, he got some love and some grazing time.

Rascal is learning the fine art of whoa. She has the interesting habit of when I lunge her and ask for "whoa" she automatically turns and reverses the other way - taking off in a trot. No thanks. So today, my goal was when I say whoa, she stops. It was cute to watch her mind take in this "new" concept. She caught on quickly though, and we moved on to saddling from the off side, which we'll do again tomorrow.

Another interesting note is the weight tape. It's time to worm so I got out the tape. Chester is about the same weighing in around 740lbs. Rascal's weight is not on the map :) The tape goes to 1250lbs and she measures over that, around 1300lbs - she's also a little under 14 hands. Chester is a little over 15 hands. I think Chester is looking very well, and I think Rascal is a short round horse (translation - fatty). So, how accurate do you think weight tapes are? Do you use one, or rely on your eye?

Reflection

Remember those summer vacations when you were a kid?

The backyard and some cool water was a magical place on a hot day.

These smiling faces and the sound of that laughter make everything worthwhile.

The innocence of childhood...

is infectious.

I think my kids are making me feel young.

Progress

Thought I'd go ahead and post some update pics, plus I'm so proud of our progress!

The boys went to a birthday party this afternoon, so Patience and I headed over to mess with the horses - guess what? They were both still wearing their fly masks! Chester is doing fine with saddling, as you can see here, he's about to fall asleep.

Bridling is not a problem either, I think he's getting bored with that too. Note: You should probably not put pieces of tack in your mouth, because said pieces of tack may or may not have been on the ground where there may or may not have been horsey poop.

Here's the ride! All we're doing is just walking in circles, and that's all we'll do next time too. Did you think we'd take off in the pasture? Come on, you know me better than that :)

We did circles to the right as well, but I think the camera girl got bored.

After Chester and I took our ride, it was time for Rascal to work her buns off. Literally. She's still uncomfortable with the saddle, but with some gentle encouragement she does just fine.

For the last few weeks, Rascal has been learning that she does have to work. I had really been getting after her for some physical effort, but those days are long gone - as you can see, I don't even need a whip anymore! Not only that, but she pays excellent attention and is ready to do whatever I ask. She's still a pain sometimes, but not in a super annoying way ;)

Ah, the helmet monster! She's quit jigging in circles, but is still very very scared of that thing. Couple more weeks and she'll be an old pro.





Another milestone for Rascal is that she's bridling and unbridling with no problems. (It is however, still yucky).

After working the horses, letting them graze, feeding, and replacing the fly masks (phew) Patience and I were hot and ready for some AC. Before we could enjoy though, this little turtle had to get some help crossing the driveway. I just couldn't bear to leave it and lucky for me Patience was willing to touch it!

Have fun, and enjoy your family and horses as much as I am!

Hoodwinked

We'll see if they're still on when I get back.

I RODE MY HORSE!

Goodness, yesterday turned out to be one of the best ever! I rode my horse...since I haven't posted in a while, I'll run through all the things we've been working on. Since we moved, I've been double-timing it on our training. Let's face it, Chester has enough saddle hours under his belt for me to get on and Rascal needs more saddle hours (not to mention she's pleasantly plump and needs to get into shape). For some reason though, they both have been terrified of my helmet. Your guess is as good as mine - maybe the glare? Anyway, to "help" them through the terrifying helmet ordeal I started with Chester and tied the helmet to the saddle a hundred different ways until he got used to it flopping all over the saddle, then I threw it all around the round pen until he quit jumping every time it landed. Chester took it all in stride, he only had one little moment when the helmet was floppin in the seat - but he got over it fairly quickly. Rascal, on the other hand, had a BIG moment when the helmet was floppin in the seat, she decided whatever was up there was going to EAT her in the next five seconds! One step forward and two steps back with her. It's hard to remember that they are two different horses sometimes, and to remember that what works for one doesn't necessarily work for the other. At any rate, Rascal took a long time with the helmet and got really worked up - worked up enough that I worried about electrolytes and have made it a point to go get some. Back to the story: I've also worked very hard with the bridles and long - lines to at least get both of them plough reining and to get some of the basics out of the way on the ground. Last night, I got Chester saddled and bridled and lunged him a bit. He was acting like such a gentleman (and there were people around - hubby, friend, and Bob working on fence) that I decided to grow some and hop on. I gave Patience my phone and told her if anything happened to start yelling for help and call 911 (okay, maybe a little dramatic but it never hurts to have a plan). So, I got on. Chester froze. He has a bad habit of freezing when he is scared so it took a few minutes to get him used to the idea of moving forward but he did it! He did it and I did it! All we did was walk in circles both ways for about ten minutes but he kept his head down, didn't freak, and I got a total rush! I am so proud of Chester and can not wait to get back on! He knew he did something amazing, because he got petted and kissed and then I let him out in the "open" area to graze! After that, Rascal got lunged under saddle and she did perfect (after the helmet monster I had no idea what to expect). So, after Chester did perfect and Rascal did perfect and everyone swallowed their fear - both horses got to graze in the open and got lots of pets and praise! I will try to update more often and with pics.

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

*Warning: Very boring blog post ahead, if you don't like random pics of my day then skip this one!*

Miss Rascal in her new home getting a good pet.

Chester poses with Patience, but the camera woman missed her head.

Hubby takes care of the lawn.

Our awesome garden!

Max plays with the kids!

And I pose with Miss Sami.

We took these pics all in the same day, it was raining in the morning, but got sunny and beautiful to complete an almost perfect day with the family!

A few horse show pics...

There are a few horse show pics that turned out okay. Here's Chester and I in Sport Horse. He drastically improved since the last show as far as behavior.



Patience and Rascal were the first class in and as far as I'm concerned got an inadvertent disadvantage. I'll explain, the judges took a break before the gelding classes so I got to take Chester in the arena and practice the pattern about ten times right before the class. Patience took Rascal in and she was nervous - as was Chester the first few times. Anyway, it's a lesson learned, and great practice for Patience because she handled Rascal's nerves like a pro!

Here's grandpa! He came down to offer the kind of support only HE can, and it helped. Patience also showed Prize in Sport Horse, and was supposed to do the walk trot later on but couldn't because Prize went lame. D had a vet look at her and they determined age plus the stall.

All in all, it was a wonderful mothers day weekend with my whole family!

Changes

Technology never ceases to amaze me. I haven't been blogging, because our computer took a nose-dive crash. After trying to fix it and having no success, the ole trusty has been hooked back up. By "ole" I mean OLD - it's an early nineties model, but even though it's very slow, it seems to be working ok. There are sooo many updates! To start, Patience and I hitched a ride to the Green Country Arabian Classic last weekend (Thanks D!). We showed Chester and Rascal Sport Horse in Hand and they both did really well! This weekend turned out a success as well. Chester and Rascal have left the homeland, because I moved them to a different place on Sunday. What a day, we borrowed my dad and his trailer (he delivered it full of square bales - thanks Dad!) and spent the morning moving horses, stuff, and settling everyone in. I have so far been pleasantly surprised how well they're doing and how level-headed they are both being. This morning they both had a good walk, exploring all around, and a decent work-out in the round pen as well. Chester did not mind going with me and Rascal did wonderful by herself. When I took Rascal away from Chester though, he discovered being lonely and threw a fit. I just went ahead and left Rascal in the round pen till he got over it. All in all, I think this change will be good for the horses and good for the family!