New Places to See

Well the forecast for today was good so I had arranged to ride out with Helen who does a very good job of riding Corky.

As we set off it was very windy and Anky was quite reluctant, the complete opposite of yesterday. When out with Corky, she goes into riding club mode, hanging back, not going forward. I put her at the front as she becomes more forward thinking even though she tenses a little . Well we couldn't go our normal way back as there was a tractor in the lane, so we went a different way, completely new to Anky. She suddenly became much more active, much more aware and really forward. She looks at things, but doesn't sit on my leg doesn't suck back, she feels very active. This is what I want, but with a little more relaxation. :-) We encountered some black and white cows, youngsters that insisted on running up and down the fence as we went up the lane, she grew somewhat but remained very sensible. I do love her.. She even went past the two donkeys who were determined to talk to us ( what a funny sound) and not once did she say NO. So, a very good day. Of course Corky was her usual reliable self, even past the donkeys who freaked her out the first time she met them.

I Love My Horse.

I'm very happy as I write this. Another beautiful day today, too good not to ride. Started with a few stretches, then tacked up and did a few flexions, Anky more responsive. You're right Trudi, she's begun to respond to the clicking. I click and then reward. She's started to relax much more in her mouth and jaw. Much more moisture and moving the bit around more. I tried rein back from the ground, and she did two steps back, very calmly without any restriction in the mouth. :-)

So I mounted at the well and she remained still , I asked for walk and she set off as if to say ok, mum lets go! She is usually quite hesitant and backward thinking when riding out alone, but today she was nicely forward, we headed off up the lane and down into the wood. We didn't go too far and only stayed out for about 20 min, but it was fantastic. I really think she's started to trust me.

Our chucks have eaten our rhubarb, Jim is fixing the fence as I write.......

Ladies who lunch!

I really wanted to ride out today, the weather was beautiful. However, I had things to do and also was going out to lunch, hee hee, that doesn't happen too often!!!


So, worked Anky in the yard with flexions. She was much better today, more relaxed and starting to move the bit in her mouth. Working from the ground is having such a positive effect on her, yesterday when I rode out, I took her over to the well ( used as a mounting block) and whereas she has always been fidgety and wary whilst mounting, she stood very still and was very calm. I hope it wasn't a one-off.

Five eggs today from our four chucks.....

Nice Hack Out.

What a lovely day it's been!!! I rode out with my friend Helen. It was very enjoyable, Anky needs to be thinking more forward, but even so she felt much straighter today. We had some lovely sideways movement, it would have been even more so if I'd asked for it!!!! Occasionally , we got real forwards, and immediately I could feel her moving my seat. Excellent! We must aim for more of that. She was less fussy in her mouth today.

Its raining again..........

Inspiration.

After doing in hand work today with Anky, I came in and watched again the first part of Philippe Karl's DVD which concentrates on the education of the mouth in a young horse. I think Anky is starting to "get it", I really do, but after watching the dvd I realise that we have a long way to go. I'm relishing the prospect, it makes me want to spend much more time with her. She is a beautiful horse, very generous, but very easily distracted,very wary of new things. She deserves the best education I can give her. It is a big responsibility, I hope I'm up to it.

The chucks have escaped into the garden and are eating our winter cabbage.....

Hallelujah!

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I saw through the skylight was the blue sky. Hallelujah!!

The wind was very strong and the horses were a bit jumpy. I took Anky into the barn, she was unsettled and distracted. I started with raising her head, lifting the bit rings to the corners of her mouth, asking her to carry her head at a reasonable height. She has a habit of shaking her head,then thrusting it down, which shakes off my light touch on the bit rings. After a few minutes she started to settle, keeping her head at a nice level. I then moved slightly to the left side and took the right rein, taking a very light contact on the corner of the mouth and held it just behind the poll. Then with a light feel on the left bit ring I asked for relaxation. I could feel the tension on the corner of her mouth, then she started to relax and suddenly I felt the release, it was amazing. That sounds completely over the top, but it really was. There was no tension in the jaw and the corner of her mouth was so pliable and soft. I asked her to walk forward and she stepped forward retaining the lightness. I asked for halt and there was a slight resistance so I raised the bit to the corners of the mouth and she responded with a nice halt. I did the same on the right rein and we managed to get relaxation on that side too. We managed flexion smoothly from left to right without tension or tipping her nose. I am very pleased with her.

After coming in early yesterday, the horses were impatient to go out and had a mad five minutes in the field before settling to eat. It was beautiful, like a dance, it could have been choreographed.

Now I must search the internet for "things to make with eggs"!!!!!

I love my chucks!!!

Well the horses went out in the horrific rain and wind this morning and now, having had the evil eye off Corky, we have brought them in!
It has just started snowing, and looking down the field I can see the chucks pecking at the muckheap. Are chucks waterproof? I don't know, but they are determined to stay out. Perhaps a little stupid? They have a cosy little home and lots of good grub, I can't understand it. I do love them, we've had them about 2 months now and we've just started to get eggs, a couple of dozen so far.

Another day devoid of horsey fun. I can see a window of opportunity, next Wednesday, the forecast says only a 10% chance of precipitation. Hmph!

I'm afraid to say that I didn't ride, despite all my best intentions. I overslept, woke to howling wind and rain and thought sod it!!!

I did, however, manage to set up my little studio, yipee!! So, not a bad day all around. I'm a bit stiff and sore after being "slightly squashed" yesterday. Made the mistake of checking the long range forecast. Rain, it seems for at least the next few days.

Bonbon's bum is now 3 inches higher than her wither!! Will she ever even out, I hope so!!

New bit and getting squashed!!

Here I go again, moaning about the weather!! I am missing very much riding out, I think I'll go whatever the weather tomorrow!

Anky's new bit arrived this morning so off to try it out. Groomed and did stretching exercises, then with gentle upward movement on the bit rings, she started to relax. At that moment, Corky in the next stable decided that Anky had had quite enough attention and launched herself at the wall. Luckily, Anky only slightly squashed me before retreating to the other side of the stable.
I really should know better!! I thought it was a good idea to continue in the barn (LOL), and Anky was very calm I continued raising the bit to the corners of her mouth, letting the bit rings rest on my thumbs. I was able to push her back gently and bring her forward. I could hear a quiet grinding of teeth, I really don't think THAT is what we are looking to achieve, but we did get moistening with foam on the left side. She doesn't seem to relax and give the same on the right side, and we're not getting that lovely relaxed swallowing yet. I'll try again tomorrow.
On a brighter note, she's looking much more free in her movement when she's out in the field.

On a completely different note, I'm on my 5th!!! day of trying to set up a "simple" recording studio! Hmmmm, Microphone, Audio Interface, Laptop - how hard can it be????? I love computers, but software can be very frustrating. The weather's awful, so I guess its a good time to do it. So back to reading yet another software manual. Grrrrrrr

An Inside day

Nothing done today, I hate this weather, and also its one of those days when your mind gets going, but your body doesn't, or is it the other way round, or is it both!!

Anyway, back to messing on the computer. I feel very lazy today, I can see the horses in the field, and I'm so grateful we have some land that is not muddy and still has some grass on it!! Anky looks really quite good cantering up the field.

Obi has managed to reach the top of the freezer and pinch the remains of a delicious casserole which had been earmarked as lunch. Never mind, I really am too soft with that dog.

This is not me!! ( I wish!).

Lots to do, but no riding!

Well the weather was pretty awful again, but we had the farrier so all morning spent in the barn.

The youngsters are pretty good having their feet trimmed, Bonbon always goes first as she's the one most likely to cause problems. At rising two, she has only just decided that trimming feet is allowed! She's a real sweetie, but certainly has a mind of her own. We bred her and from day one she's been very people orientated and so self- confident. We had very little trouble picking her feet up and she very quickly got used to it, but took it as a personal affront when the farrier tried to do anything! Since then its been softly softly and it seems to be paying off. Of all four horses, she was the best behaved today.

Remy (rising 3) has always been good, but he's suddenly become very self -aware ( typical teenager, I suppose) and grown really quite big!! Anyway he was a little unsettled and the farrier accidentally cut his frog, it bled a little and so he cauterised it with a hot shoe! So that was a new experience for him, and he was a little star, I'm sure he was thinking "I'm too young for shoes Mum!!"
If I'm honest I find what I call "the farrier morning" quite stressful. LOL The horses do behave really well, but, if you can imagine the picture, our 2 dobes and the border collie manage to escape from the house, suddenly appearing at full speed, colliding with the farriers german shepherd cross and then running around like mad things!!!

Anyway its all done now and I'm "messing" again on the computer, with a nice cup of tea at my side. I'm waiting in anticipation for a new bit that I ordered, I'm not one for swapping and changing bits, I usually use an ordinary loose ring snaffle or a fulmer snaffle, but Anky was showing a distinct dislike of her bit so I have ordered the KK Dynamic loose ring. We'll see how it goes when it arrives.

The horses are happily munching in the field, not losing shoes, I hope!

Rainy Day!!

What a horrible rainy day it's been!! So, no session today with Anky. They all got a good grooming though. Corky looks particularly scruffy, really starting to moult now.

Anyway turned them out in all their finery, it lasted two or three minutes before they all rolled in the mud!!

Perhaps we'll get some fine weather tomorrow.

A good day!

My session with Anky started in the same way today, with stretches and a little work with relaxation of the jaw.

I thought I'd do some lateral work in hand first, turn on the forehand in both directions. Good movement away from me to the left, not quite so easy to the right.

On the lunge, nice forward movement at walk, free , easy strides, quite relaxed, slightly better on the right rein, a little tighter on the left. Its a while since we have lunged and the last time Anky was quite tight in the trot, not as free in the shoulders and quite a high head carriage, but this time she was really quite loose, fairly active behind and good movement through the shoulders. Willing to stretch a little over the topline. Again, better balance on the right rein than the left. To finish I unhooked the lunge line and had a little play, moving about the arena, Anky sticking to my shoulder like glue. That is until I started trotting around and then she rolled her eyes and looked at me as if I'd gone mad. She had a little trot around, looking very light ,easy and relaxed and at that we called it a day.

Anky

Anky is rising 6 , a dutch warmblood around 15.3h. We are in the very early stages of her training.

Okay, so my session with Anky began in the stable with stretching exercises, front legs and neck followed by work in hand with a gentle upward movement on the bit rings to encourage her to relax her jaw, promoting swallowing and acceptance of the bit. She has a tendency to raise her head sharply and hollow, so I'm trying to encourage her to relax over the poll and stretch down. If I massage her neck near the poll she now starts to relax the muscles and will also start to relax in her mouth.
We were hacking out with a friend today, which was very enjoyable and Anky is much more forward with her friend Corky tagging along. When out alone she is a bit of a worrier, stopping and starting and not as forward thinking, but we've only just starting riding out alone so this is early days.
She is a very sharp, but genuine horse, smart and generous and always very aware of her surroundings which can sometimes make her a little difficult which , of course, is interesting and quite a challenge.

Riding out with a friend is great because Anky is much braver and will be very forward, the aim for me is to work with this and to try to create a balance with less tension and more relaxation, retaining the forward movement with a longer, more relaxed stride.

Anyway, enough for now, I wouldn't want to bore anyone. Hee hee, if anyone is actually reading this!!

Here we Go, my first post!!

I decided that I needed to keep a journal of my days spent with my horses.

I know full well that I would never keep a diary but as I am always "messing" on the computer this may be the ideal solution.

So please bear with me as I bumble my way through.

I have four horses, two of which are youngsters, Remy rising 3 and Bonbon rising 2.

My other two are an older mare, Corky ,and Anky a six year old just starting her training after having a foal, Remy.
This account will be mainly about my training with Anky with various other things "thrown in".