It’s finally raining! Hopefully our pastures will all grow and the ground soften up
Carrots are trickier to figure out then you would expect
Junior does get treats frequently but they are mostly alfalfa pellets I didn’t think carrots would be so hard
I don’t share to much of my son here but this is his 3rd vaulting lesson at Dreaming Spires Equestrian Centre and I’m so impressed by his compulsory movements. I have noticed how riders who did gymnastics or dance as a kid have more body awareness even years after they stopped, so naturally I want Kevin to have that benefit regardless of what he does with horses in the future
The thing I like best about driving is seeing the horses whole body work. It really helps understand how something like “falling on the inside shoulder” is mostly the opposite hind leg not doing its fair share of work
Kjell hasn’t driven in ages but he’s such a good egg
Banjo is happy to see me I think!
Junior and Sophie say everyone should have a nice relaxing long weekend just like they are
I posted the other day about anhidrosis (not sweating) with the heat dome still here in Florida hosing horses is a daily occurrence. Junior and Governor really get into it
I’m hoping the rain brings some relief next week
I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet between traveling to teach in MO last week (when should I go up again?) lessons or vet every day this week plus my own family and horses life’s been busy. But todays extra hot so Kjell says we should all hang out playing in the sprinkler
Junior doesn’t just annoy his uncles Milo and Manny he also entertains himself giving Sophie new hair styles
Sophie had a wonderful little colt welcome to the world Junior (Kevin picked out the name weeks ago)
I don’t think this is Banjos first watermelon
I think Kjell likes the new toy, now to see how long till he breaks it
You may of noticed I haven’t posted anything about Chalice driving in a few weeks, I noticed he wasn’t happy with his bit so checked his teeth - and he needed them floated. Until his appointment I was hacking around with a bitless bridle (specifically a orbitless) but I don’t drive big horses bitless.
Chalice got his teeth done a week ago and I hooked him for his first 100% independent drive where he was nice and boring- just how we like green horses to be! I always tell people you can’t ground drive to much and I think seeing how well Chalice understands bending and how relaxed he is demonstrates that well.
Ideally anyone riding or driving would have someone around, particularly for hooking/unhooking driving horses or mounting/dismounting green riding horses. However most of us have to do it on our own so I make sure any horse I have is going to stand quietly while I go grab the vehicle bring it up and hook. I do have the advantage of cameras so my husband can watch from his office just in case.
Chalice had his first ride the other day, it’s raining today so I’m hoping to get a long enough break to have him drag false shafts later today
Chalice’s first time lunging
Normally I post highlights of training sessions, with Chalice I’m going to show some of my “tricks” that I get asked about often. A top priority for me is having horses who have a solid verbal whoa and stand, it makes riding and driving safer and it’s really nice knowing your horse will be there when you have to run and grab something you forgot.
I start teaching whoa from day one and without a big fuss, when leading I say whoa and stop. When the horse stops they get a reward - early on this is normally a food reward. I want that word whoa to have a strong positive connection and a favorite treat works wonders.
Then I start asking them to stop on the lunge, since this is Chalices first time lunging I’m only looking for him to go forward and stop when asked. Most horses trot in a wiggly circle most of the first several lunge sessions and that’s just fine with me. The messy part you get to see is because I’m holding the camera and can’t gather my line well- I promise I’m normally smoother with that.
But notice Chalice waits patiently for his reward relaxed and happy knowing he was a good boy
