The one who started it all, Mr. Apollo himself. He was our first horse and him and I learned everything I know together. He has the most stubborn personality out of any horses I have ever trained but he has taught me patience in the processand I wouldn’t have it any other way. This post it for you big man. He’s turned 16 this year and still has plenty of spice left in him.
A little bit each day. She’s getting better with each ride.
Getting back into the swing of things after a few days off.
Divas second ride is in the books. Tonight we worked on the trot, she’s not quite sure about the lope yet but that’s ok we can work on that tomorrow.
Divas first ride. She was a little spicy but nothing terrible. She did a great job moving forward and carrying weight, She will be lopeing in no time.
Diva is starting to get really confident in herself with the groundwork that has been done. Very soon she will be ready to work with the saddle on and have her first ride. I’m excited to see how her first rides will be I’m really looking forward to them.
Here I am over exaggerating how I want to ask her to send off to hopefully put some more feel into the rope and possibly catch her good eye. She sends off well but puts some pressure on the lead rope, usually I don’t let them pull on the rope but she uses it as a guide to see where she is.
A couple of new exercises for miss diva tonight. She still has a bit of a confidence issue on that blind side but she’s getting better every time.
Sometimes you don’t have the best lighting, the best area to work in or it’s cold. There is always something you can do to improve your horse. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
The start of backing up. I always ask very gently first by tapping the air, then the lead rope, and then increasing pressure with rhythm until she takes a step back. Even the slightest try needs to be rewarded by taking away the pressure completely.
This is a slowdown of the modification I had to make for her bad side. The lightest pressure I can do here is a gentle tap.
Here I am looking for diva to yield her hindquarters 360 around her front feet. I start off as gentle as possible but as firm as necessary. She is pretty light on those hind feet and it doesn’t take much pressure to get her to move.
This is one of the most important/boring groundwork exercise. Desensitization to your tools ensures that your horse in not afraid of you or your tools. It’s a balancing act between sensitizing and desensitization exercises to get a well balanced horse.
This is diva, this is her first night of roundpenning. She’s just about 8 years old and I will be putting her first rides on her. She’s also blind in her right eye so that will present some challenges to my normal approach. On that blind side I have been using audio cues along with light touch for things that require her to move off of pressure. She is going to be a blast to train.
Now this is what I call softness. This is Codi in just a snaffle bit with nothing fancy. Lately we have been working on vertical collection and softness. You can never have a horse too soft.
Exercises to keep the horse soft and supple are one of my top priorities. From giving to my hands to rounding around my leg everything is important. The softer a horse is the better, they can never be too soft. Along with those exercises I worked on her rollbacks a little bit, she’s getting better with them each time we practice. 1% over time really starts to add up.
This is her the mares third time at roping practice. She’s really starting to get into it. I think she’ll make someone a really special horse.
This mare is Butterscotch and she has been progressing so well.
Last night we worked on cruising and one rein stops. Cruising is a great exercise to work on to get a horse to move forward at a gate you choose, and to stay at that gate, kinda like cruise control!
One rein stops are a really great tool to use in as an emergency brake and to get them engaging the thinking side of their brain so they are prepared for what’s ahead of them. Butterscotch is doing a great job with everything we have thrown at her and I can’t wait to see how she progresses these next few weeks!
Codi loved his after work nap and scratches haha