Since the last post I have had 6 rides on the mare moving forward ever so slightly. Training a green horse is something I haven't done since I was much younger and my sense of fearlessness has really diminished in my old age. I get unnerved riding sometimes now in ways that seem foreign to me. I get frustrated with my own doubt and cave in when I should push forward. Video-taping my rides has helped me to conquer some of this self doubt by allowing me to see not only how small Kiki's temper tantrums are, but how well I handle them. Trusting your own ability is difficult when you feel like you could ruin the horse (I know that's not true). B has been incredibly patient with me and has helped give me some tools to use with Kiki that can alleviate some of the scary behavior when I am by myself.
One thing I am learning, frankly the hard way, is that she's not going to be consistent for a long time. I get so excited when she has two good rides in a row that when she has a bad day I get derailed. Stupid.
We have been doing a little lunging (something I have always had strong opinions about NOT doing), but it seems to help her work out quirks here and there and to allow her to find balance with side reins(very loose). She has a nice self carriage so I am not struggling with her head to stay down (long and low) but she is actually a bit behind so we are trying to ask her to move into the bridle a bit more. The herd bound behavior is still pretty bad, and during my last lesson on Saturday (where I proclaimed I WOULD ride outside), the mare just about lost her mind when she saw two herd mates being turned out while my instructor opened the side doors of the arena. It was a great time for B to work through things with me and I handled Kiki fine as she called, jigged and spooked around the arena. Once we got outside she settled down a bit and the other mares just chomped on some hay instead of trying to distract her. It was a great day to test out the waters riding outside (I did cool her out a few days prior all by myself outside -- she looked at me like, "seriously?" when I asked her to walk out of the main arena door with me on her back)...there were truckloads of guys pulling down trees and replanting new ones along the fence lines, another horse doing canter transitions and two yearling colts playing and fighting in the pasture next to us. She spooked once at the colts, but mostly she kept her head. She certainly bowed out every time we headed towards her pasture, but after a few times around she settled in licking and chewing and got focused. I was quite proud of her.
We stood around while the next lesson came out and warmed up around us and she stood (mostly) quiet for about 10-15 minutes.
The next few weeks are going to be a bit rough for us, I can't ride her today so she will have had 3 days off when I see her tomorrow, I'll ride Thursday, but then I will be away for 4 days and probably won't be able to ride her until next Wednesday! I am hoping the exercise rider can hop on her once or twice in the meantime! Then my little vacation is coming up the second week of June! Agh! At least that involves lots of riding, even if it's not on her!
5.25.2010
5.12.2010
totally weird
Instead of feeling sorry for myself and submitting a less than stellar entry (I had a god-awful lesson Tuesday), I will share this (while I gorge myself on Drumstick flavored Edy's):
The tattoo was done for a good friend of mine who designs toys for a living, she was moving to Chicago and I wanted to get a drawing of one of her designs...I chose a pony (naturally), the picture frame was done by my talented tattoo artist Cindy...I love old picture frames. So, tattoo, circa June/July 2008...meeting Kiki, March 2010...there is a mild to moderate similarity:)
The tattoo was done for a good friend of mine who designs toys for a living, she was moving to Chicago and I wanted to get a drawing of one of her designs...I chose a pony (naturally), the picture frame was done by my talented tattoo artist Cindy...I love old picture frames. So, tattoo, circa June/July 2008...meeting Kiki, March 2010...there is a mild to moderate similarity:)
5.09.2010
A week's worth
A weeks' worth of riding behind me and working into day 10 of the plague, I won't bore you with the minute by minute details of my past rides, but here are some highlights:
*Thursday's lesson included one hour of her undivided attention...seriously, one hour of ZERO herd bound behavior...no calling, none. It was quite amazing. We worked on lots of ground pole work, which she thought was super fun, managing to get quite full of herself (while still keeping it together) in between exercises. We did a little bit of canter work and I had one of those great "a-ha" moments where my instructor reminded me to ask her for the canter and then wait and I did just that...she said to wait until I felt her canter underneath me and then ask her to move on. It was fantastic. I know that doesn't sound like anything, but when you are struggling with a green horse and something just clicks, it's huge!
*Saturday I showed up to ride her and she was a bit injured. Now the weird thing about this is that I had a dream Friday night that she hurt herself (much worse in the dream)...so I was freaked out when I brought her in and she had scratches up and down her left hind. Her leg was stocked up and it looked like she got cast during the night and cut herself with a chip on her right hoof...grr...the farrier comes this week where that crack will likely get trimmed off and she'll get her first set of front shoes. Sadly the ground on the property it too hard for her not to have at least front shoes on since she's turned out 24/7. Initially our plan was to throw her on the trailer to join some girls at a local show so she could have the experience of leaving the property and hanging out in a new place. One of the girls showing fell right before my lesson Thursday and broke her wrist so my instructor decided to sit this weekend out. I was happy about that because not only was she hurt, but there were 50 mph wind gusts all weekend. I rode her a little to see if she was off, and cold hosed her for 20 minutes. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she's sound for Tuesday!
**Oh yea, I brought my camera to take confirmation photos of her but obviously chose to wait...maybe I will wait until her new bridle arrives this week!
I had a nice trail ride this morning on my favorite therapy horse Sergio. Volunteering this afternoon was equally rewarding as one of my favorite riders with CP rode Sergio without any assistance from me...I nearly cried. She's seriously come so far since last year when she could barely hold the surcingle. Equine happiness on all fronts.
*Thursday's lesson included one hour of her undivided attention...seriously, one hour of ZERO herd bound behavior...no calling, none. It was quite amazing. We worked on lots of ground pole work, which she thought was super fun, managing to get quite full of herself (while still keeping it together) in between exercises. We did a little bit of canter work and I had one of those great "a-ha" moments where my instructor reminded me to ask her for the canter and then wait and I did just that...she said to wait until I felt her canter underneath me and then ask her to move on. It was fantastic. I know that doesn't sound like anything, but when you are struggling with a green horse and something just clicks, it's huge!
*Saturday I showed up to ride her and she was a bit injured. Now the weird thing about this is that I had a dream Friday night that she hurt herself (much worse in the dream)...so I was freaked out when I brought her in and she had scratches up and down her left hind. Her leg was stocked up and it looked like she got cast during the night and cut herself with a chip on her right hoof...grr...the farrier comes this week where that crack will likely get trimmed off and she'll get her first set of front shoes. Sadly the ground on the property it too hard for her not to have at least front shoes on since she's turned out 24/7. Initially our plan was to throw her on the trailer to join some girls at a local show so she could have the experience of leaving the property and hanging out in a new place. One of the girls showing fell right before my lesson Thursday and broke her wrist so my instructor decided to sit this weekend out. I was happy about that because not only was she hurt, but there were 50 mph wind gusts all weekend. I rode her a little to see if she was off, and cold hosed her for 20 minutes. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she's sound for Tuesday!
**Oh yea, I brought my camera to take confirmation photos of her but obviously chose to wait...maybe I will wait until her new bridle arrives this week!
I had a nice trail ride this morning on my favorite therapy horse Sergio. Volunteering this afternoon was equally rewarding as one of my favorite riders with CP rode Sergio without any assistance from me...I nearly cried. She's seriously come so far since last year when she could barely hold the surcingle. Equine happiness on all fronts.
5.03.2010
The plague and other stories
I have been riddled with a horrible plague since last Thursday, but I have fought through it to entertain company from across the continent and managed to ride Kiki twice. Friday was a gorgeous day, and I had already planned to take off from work, but my cold was just beginning to kick in, I decided to have my lesson regardless. I think the mare knew I wasn't 100% and she didn't challenge me in any way. The barn was full of horses so we were forced to cross tie (sort of) which made for a good opportunity for more ground training with her. I always expect the worst from her, especially with something like cross tying (she's not exactly known for standing still) and she's easily distracted. But I had all my ducks in a row, tack ready, helmet close, etc...so I wouldn't have to abandon her on the ties. The cute part of all of this is that, since she is bonding with me, she wants to follow me now! But that makes for a tough lesson on the cross ties. I only hooked one of them up and draped a lead rope around the left side of her so she "felt" tied. She stood like an old school horse save for chewing on the cross tie. Seriously, this mare who you could barely get near a month and a half ago was standing without a care in the world, relaxed, and resting a leg. It should be noted here that I am not training a horse whose never been touched...most of this is a refresher course for her, but she was in a pasture for the last year after her last attempt of getting back into to training. It is encouraging to see her "get" things. She is smart and willing and I think that's what I like about her most of all.
We tacked up and headed in to the arena for our lesson. She was just a lamb for everything! I asked B to start my video camera (I won't bother posting the video here -- it's long and boring and features a good 5 minutes of me trying to get my new stirrup leathers right), but it was really nice to watch it later and see our progress together. Another women who owns a gigantic thoroughbred cross that she bred and raised, was riding before me and I let her do a couple of dressage tests so Kiki and I had to stand quietly in the corner while they passed by. As I said before standing still is not her strong point, but she was fantastic! When they finished up, B had me work on some leg yielding at the trot and some 20 meter circles in different areas of the arena. The other woman riding said that I was a lovely, soft, quiet rider! This means a lot coming from this lady! She was excited to see Kiki go (as well as everyone else who rides there -- Kiki's reputation precedes her). We finished up the lesson doing a couple of basic dressage tests (boy am I rusty with the arena letters!) and I was really proud of her for staying focused throughout. She was being such a good girl that B suggested we go for a little cool down walk outside! I was a bit worried about Beauty (the grey filly mentioned before) calling to Kiki and distracting us, but even when she did and with Kiki responding she never reacted in a bad way. No spooking, jumping, bolting, just calling. I guess I can handle that. Baby steps, right? I brought lunch and ate next to her pasture and when I walked up to give her a treat she whinnied at me! I think I felt my heart melt.
Saturday's ride was more of the same, perhaps a bit shorter as it was in the upper 80's. We rode for the first time with the big side door of the arean wide open (it faces her paddock). She never tried to run through it, but she did lift her head and get distracted EVERY single time we passed it. I was proud of her for staying with me.
*EDIT: Another big moment for Kiki on Saturday was being "cross-tied" while a friend's mare was being reluctant to load on the trailer. She stood quietly while the mare panicked, backed up, and goofed around, all about 50 ft in front of her!
In a little over a month, me and some of the other girls at the farm are heading to Virginia for a riding vacation. I am super excited and I am thinking that I just might purchase a pair of tall boots and maybe, just maybe a show jacket. You know what that means?????? Mostly, I just want to get Kiki a new bridle to match her shiny martingale. I cannot wait to go on this trip...we are learning to play polo, ride side-saddle, and best of all, we will get to school cross country on some fantastic horses!
We tacked up and headed in to the arena for our lesson. She was just a lamb for everything! I asked B to start my video camera (I won't bother posting the video here -- it's long and boring and features a good 5 minutes of me trying to get my new stirrup leathers right), but it was really nice to watch it later and see our progress together. Another women who owns a gigantic thoroughbred cross that she bred and raised, was riding before me and I let her do a couple of dressage tests so Kiki and I had to stand quietly in the corner while they passed by. As I said before standing still is not her strong point, but she was fantastic! When they finished up, B had me work on some leg yielding at the trot and some 20 meter circles in different areas of the arena. The other woman riding said that I was a lovely, soft, quiet rider! This means a lot coming from this lady! She was excited to see Kiki go (as well as everyone else who rides there -- Kiki's reputation precedes her). We finished up the lesson doing a couple of basic dressage tests (boy am I rusty with the arena letters!) and I was really proud of her for staying focused throughout. She was being such a good girl that B suggested we go for a little cool down walk outside! I was a bit worried about Beauty (the grey filly mentioned before) calling to Kiki and distracting us, but even when she did and with Kiki responding she never reacted in a bad way. No spooking, jumping, bolting, just calling. I guess I can handle that. Baby steps, right? I brought lunch and ate next to her pasture and when I walked up to give her a treat she whinnied at me! I think I felt my heart melt.
Saturday's ride was more of the same, perhaps a bit shorter as it was in the upper 80's. We rode for the first time with the big side door of the arean wide open (it faces her paddock). She never tried to run through it, but she did lift her head and get distracted EVERY single time we passed it. I was proud of her for staying with me.
*EDIT: Another big moment for Kiki on Saturday was being "cross-tied" while a friend's mare was being reluctant to load on the trailer. She stood quietly while the mare panicked, backed up, and goofed around, all about 50 ft in front of her!
In a little over a month, me and some of the other girls at the farm are heading to Virginia for a riding vacation. I am super excited and I am thinking that I just might purchase a pair of tall boots and maybe, just maybe a show jacket. You know what that means?????? Mostly, I just want to get Kiki a new bridle to match her shiny martingale. I cannot wait to go on this trip...we are learning to play polo, ride side-saddle, and best of all, we will get to school cross country on some fantastic horses!
5.01.2010
compassion
*Left photo: cell phone photo of him abandoned
*right photo: iphone in front of my house yesterday
I thought I would post a little something here about the OTHER love of my life...my pup Hugo. He was abandoned almost a year ago in front of a coffee shop on in West Philadelphia. I saw his photo posted on Facebook (one of the useful functions of social networking), borrowed a car, raced over and picked him up. He had a chain leash that was tied in knots around a bike rack which was attached to a chain choke collar that was embedded (only slightly). He came pretty willingly, since it was raining, and I brought him home. My intention was to post photos, ads, etc to find his owner. In the meantime I bathed him, and bathed him, and bathed him...he was so incredibly covered in fleas, I just cried my heart out watching them eat away at his skin while I tried to remove them. I gave him some frontline and he was feeling much better! A week or so went by without a solid lead as to who owned him, so I took him to the vet to see if he was microchipped (he wasn't), but he did have a couple of types of worms and he was about 10lbs under weight. My vet asked me then if I wanted to make him my dog...really, I think this was Hugo's decision. He was microchipped and we had officially adopted each other!!! WHOA!
The progression that Hugo has made makes me feel hopeful for my journey with Kiki. Patience, compassion, courage, and time are all things I had to dedicate to Hugo's rehab. He is a fantastic dog now and I would trade him for the world! Apparently, I have a thing for red heads (since I am sort of one myself)
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