Sunday, March 1, 2015

TOA Blog Hop: Ermahgerd & Other Stuff!

I'd like to say this is his favorite thing...
But it's not...






Ermahgerd.
What is your pony's absolute favorite riding activity?  What makes those little ears perk and causes the knees to lift?  Let's just focus on the favorites - we'll save the bucks for next week.

I'd like to say that he looooves jumping but it's definitely one of those, have to catch him on a good day things. He loves his round pen work by far but that's probably because it comes so easy to the both of us.

But the two things that really get him going?

#2: Cruising

          You guys have surely read a lot about this "reset" button that we have.
          Any time that I feel like we're going to have a rough ride or we're getting a little ahead of ourselves in the training, I always go back to this. I drop the rein and squeeze him off into a lope... Sometimes he just wants to run and unless I feel like I can't handle it, I'll let him go. Here's a great explanation of the exercise if you're interested! - You have to scroll down a little bit on the site. It's the second question answered...

                                                              CLICK ME!

I don't know what he loves about it, or what I really love about it, but it's one of those connecting moments we have. Kind of like a nice run after a stressful day at work. We don't have to think about anything, just loping. I don't touch his face, he doesn't pull on my hands. I don't worry where he goes or if he wants to change direction.

Really helped Ms. Lucy find her confidence too.
B and I did a LOT at Woodstock.
Really helped us get our head in the game when we were overwhelmed.
#1: Trail Rides
            
              But it all reality... It's all about the trail rides for this guy.


Out there is truly where Brantley would love to be all of the time. Doesn't matter if he's a leader or he's stuck in the back (since he walks so slow sometimes)... He could even be alone. Out there is where we don't have to worry about anything (minus bees...) No one cares about how he looks or moves. No one cares about my "home toes". 
                          
It's just us and whatever we shall conquer on our adventures.

Plus... Everyone loves a between the ears shot!

In other news!

Still pet sitting this crazy dog and Chevy. But I got to torture them all after a trip to Five Below.

This kind of thing is never good.
Surprisingly Mitch was the best behaved!


Chevy won second place...


Rider was absolutely miserable...


I was less torturous to Beeker though.

That little horse rocked! We even had some decent canter transitions. I was a bit disappointed because I thought we had worked enough on standing at the mounting block and not trying to rip off my leg before I even put my foot in the stirrup. Not today! But I couldn't really be upset, I did pull him away from dinner.

After a little bit of ground games I hopped on no problem and I felt a horse that for the first time, was ready to work. He's got an issue with his feet getting stuck and will occasionally do that little hop buck bologna. I'm sure I could no problem cowgirl up and ride it out, but why? Especially if I have to tools to skip that crap and just have a good ride on the horse.

He was a little llama-ish at first but I just squeezed him on and opened my hands and hips asking him to move forward and drop his head. Normally I would work on getting him more supple but because his feet get "stuck" so easily, I'd rather work with the forward movement instead. Good trade!

We cantered in each direction and came back down to a trot. That little red head wanted to canter some more but I said hey, get your head down and out of your ass and maybe we can do it. Like that he dropped his head, found the bit, and brought his hind end under himself. I did a little half halt, sat down, BOOM! Canter canter canter. We walked a little bit as I patted him, then I asked for a trot. He didn't even flick an ear back in protest. Let him go down the long side and said, we're done. Hopped off and walked him out.

Sad I won't be able to get back until Tuesday :( But upside is a new boarder at that barn needs someone to work her horse. No arguments here!

7 Comments:

At March 2, 2015 at 4:12 AM , Blogger Karley said...

Omg the dressed up animals, awesome!!

 
At March 2, 2015 at 1:39 PM , Blogger emma said...

omg that cat - priceless!! also - the cruising exercise sounds fun, and like a nice way to release some pressure

 
At March 2, 2015 at 2:36 PM , Blogger Madeline C. said...

If you haven't tried it (cruising I mean) it's a must. ^.^

 
At March 3, 2015 at 8:40 PM , Blogger T said...

Beautiful trails! I like the sound of that exercise too, same thing a reining friend of mine does with her horses

 
At March 3, 2015 at 8:47 PM , Blogger Madeline C. said...

I've really seen a huge difference with a lot of the training horses I've worked with. Especially those who get all worked up and rushy or those who don't know where their feet area. Helps with confidence issues too.

 
At March 6, 2015 at 9:00 PM , Blogger Achieve1dream said...

I've never seen your blog before, but it looks really interesting! I'm glad I found it through the blog hop. :) I really want to teach my horse the cruising exercise, but without an arena it isn't easy. :)

 
At March 8, 2015 at 11:20 PM , Blogger Madeline C. said...

Thanks for reading! I thought I responded to this but apparently it was just sitting in my inbox! Sorry for the delay!! I'd love for you to give the cruising exercise a try and yes it could be difficult without an arena BUT it's all about getting a consistent gait from your horse so even a loose rein if you have to bump him to stay the course, it IS possible to get the same affect. :D Hope that makes sense. It's all about setting them up and having them be confident in being responsible for themselves.

 

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http://www.controlhaltdelete.com/ Tear Drop Winken: TOA Blog Hop: Ermahgerd & Other Stuff!

TOA Blog Hop: Ermahgerd & Other Stuff!

I'd like to say this is his favorite thing...
But it's not...






Ermahgerd.
What is your pony's absolute favorite riding activity?  What makes those little ears perk and causes the knees to lift?  Let's just focus on the favorites - we'll save the bucks for next week.

I'd like to say that he looooves jumping but it's definitely one of those, have to catch him on a good day things. He loves his round pen work by far but that's probably because it comes so easy to the both of us.

But the two things that really get him going?

#2: Cruising

          You guys have surely read a lot about this "reset" button that we have.
          Any time that I feel like we're going to have a rough ride or we're getting a little ahead of ourselves in the training, I always go back to this. I drop the rein and squeeze him off into a lope... Sometimes he just wants to run and unless I feel like I can't handle it, I'll let him go. Here's a great explanation of the exercise if you're interested! - You have to scroll down a little bit on the site. It's the second question answered...

                                                              CLICK ME!

I don't know what he loves about it, or what I really love about it, but it's one of those connecting moments we have. Kind of like a nice run after a stressful day at work. We don't have to think about anything, just loping. I don't touch his face, he doesn't pull on my hands. I don't worry where he goes or if he wants to change direction.

Really helped Ms. Lucy find her confidence too.
B and I did a LOT at Woodstock.
Really helped us get our head in the game when we were overwhelmed.
#1: Trail Rides
            
              But it all reality... It's all about the trail rides for this guy.


Out there is truly where Brantley would love to be all of the time. Doesn't matter if he's a leader or he's stuck in the back (since he walks so slow sometimes)... He could even be alone. Out there is where we don't have to worry about anything (minus bees...) No one cares about how he looks or moves. No one cares about my "home toes". 
                          
It's just us and whatever we shall conquer on our adventures.

Plus... Everyone loves a between the ears shot!

In other news!

Still pet sitting this crazy dog and Chevy. But I got to torture them all after a trip to Five Below.

This kind of thing is never good.
Surprisingly Mitch was the best behaved!


Chevy won second place...


Rider was absolutely miserable...


I was less torturous to Beeker though.

That little horse rocked! We even had some decent canter transitions. I was a bit disappointed because I thought we had worked enough on standing at the mounting block and not trying to rip off my leg before I even put my foot in the stirrup. Not today! But I couldn't really be upset, I did pull him away from dinner.

After a little bit of ground games I hopped on no problem and I felt a horse that for the first time, was ready to work. He's got an issue with his feet getting stuck and will occasionally do that little hop buck bologna. I'm sure I could no problem cowgirl up and ride it out, but why? Especially if I have to tools to skip that crap and just have a good ride on the horse.

He was a little llama-ish at first but I just squeezed him on and opened my hands and hips asking him to move forward and drop his head. Normally I would work on getting him more supple but because his feet get "stuck" so easily, I'd rather work with the forward movement instead. Good trade!

We cantered in each direction and came back down to a trot. That little red head wanted to canter some more but I said hey, get your head down and out of your ass and maybe we can do it. Like that he dropped his head, found the bit, and brought his hind end under himself. I did a little half halt, sat down, BOOM! Canter canter canter. We walked a little bit as I patted him, then I asked for a trot. He didn't even flick an ear back in protest. Let him go down the long side and said, we're done. Hopped off and walked him out.

Sad I won't be able to get back until Tuesday :( But upside is a new boarder at that barn needs someone to work her horse. No arguments here!