House-Sitting on the Island

My Children

I've been house-sitting (dog & ponies) down the street for the past couple of nights and they don't have an internet connection I can get to. Why I don't ask only someone else knows, I've been sitting for them for years. Anyway, now that I have a break at home I can do a quick catch up!

Life has been work, ponies, work, so I can't complain! Definitely been on a Brantley kick and getting back in gear which is great. I talked to one of the resident trainers at the barn the other days while I was working him and we talked about his muscle confirmation and how he's stuck in a position that makes it hard for him to really release. She talked about different stretches I can do, some of them I do, but trying to make him really stress by rewarding him with cookies and such, side to side, then down between his legs. Also "belly lifts" which he was really unsure of. But I already see a difference with him not throwing his head up when he gets nervous, he only picks it up a little bit.

So yeah, the cookie thing. I've never been a fan of the whole "carrot stretches" thing because all the horses I have had experiences with decide that your hand is the cookie and then they start biting. After the first day he was already nibbling my hands and getting in my face and standing on me so I said, "No, cookies are a 'controlled substance'. I will not coax, I will not feed them to you on cross-ties, you will only get them when you do something... You are now a dog." On the third day, no more biting, no more nibbling, he was lighter on his lead, trotted next to me without an issue, and even let me get him up to the mounting block. Ugh, cookies.

So the whole mounting block thing is that he wants to "give me two-eyes" when he's unsure and really just be with me at his head. Unfortunately, that doesn't work when you want to get on him... After doing the stretching exercises (which is basically what I do with the halter - but this he does on his own), he was able to stand next to the block and stretch his head around for a cookie and just stood there like, okay, get on. Yeah no... Not yet.

Pretty and I are back to work under saddle and we're back to "zooming" rather than cantering. So until she can get back in shape and hold herself together, we will be trotting for 80% of our rides and "zooming" two or three times around the ring in either direction. She's beginning to give to my hand and drop her head again which I am very excited about. I know, I know, CONTACT! She is a contact pony but last year when I started riding her, I let her drop her head and figure out her balance by herself and then I would collect her in stages with my hands and push her up with my legs. When I get on her and grab at the reins and don't give her a chance to stretch out before I bring her together, I feel like she just gets short and isn't really collected. Yeah, she looks cute and like a little dressage pony but she's behind the bit and I lose my feel. It's like I pull more than hold my rein if I start like that and she thinks, "ZOOOOOOOM!" I have a few videos of us together, but they're on my phone and well... Look awful. We'll see if we can get some this weekend.

Hay tomorrow with K and I'm done with house-sitting Tuesday.