Nice session yesterday afternoon and this morning. Standing still for fly spray while tacking up, lunging for respect getting fun. Teaching w-t-c commands on the lunge. Jumped barrels well from the ground. Starting to lead by ropes on hind legs. Lariat around hindquarters very good.
Mounted: Calm at the walk, able to stand still a bit when mounting. Mount & dismount both sides good. Good bend in small circles, backing very good. Shoulder in both sides, little fussy when changing bend. Working on trot on a loose rein--he wants to canter. The canter is beautiful! But he needs to learn trot before we do a lot of canter work. Able to move around the farm without him getting too nervous.
Pitched one small fit from the trot and reared a couple of times. Resisted on one rein momentarily but was not too crazy.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
first trot work
Nice session this morning! Rollbacks on the lunge getting pretty. Ropes around all legs, leading by both front legs. Back legs still ticklish but improving. Rope around hindquarters very solid. Jumping from lunge no problem. In hand backing and turn on the forehand. Right side improving overall.
In the saddle he has trouble standing still after mounting. Halts are OK from the walk and trot. First trot work from the saddle. Bending well on 7-15m circles w-t. A little fussy with the bridle. Shoulder-in on both sides coming along well. Standing for fly spray now.
In the saddle he has trouble standing still after mounting. Halts are OK from the walk and trot. First trot work from the saddle. Bending well on 7-15m circles w-t. A little fussy with the bridle. Shoulder-in on both sides coming along well. Standing for fly spray now.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
First quick rides
Maria took the first ride on Jordan last night, which went very well. She rode him bareback around the front pasture without incident. I also hopped on for about 5 minutes.
This morning I worked him with full tack, lunging w-t-c, including a small jump. In-hand we practiced yielding the front and back, and a few steps of shoulder in. I rode him at the walk for 20 minutes, working on bending, backing, and a few steps of shoulder in. Right side a little resistant. Left side is beautiful! No problem, will fix.
This morning I worked him with full tack, lunging w-t-c, including a small jump. In-hand we practiced yielding the front and back, and a few steps of shoulder in. I rode him at the walk for 20 minutes, working on bending, backing, and a few steps of shoulder in. Right side a little resistant. Left side is beautiful! No problem, will fix.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Second session
At around 2:00 today we did a second session of groundwork. Lunging with the saddle on, ropes around the legs, leading by both front legs, lead rope behind the haunches and pulling him around, sending, lunging with rollbacks, and jumping(!). He took to jumping just fine, although it was just some logs about 16" high. I repeated all the exercises with a bit and bridle in his mouth, but still working off the rope halter. Then we did a little in-hand work off the bridle, flexing and turn on the forehand. He looks good with the bit in his mouth--he stretches and drops his head. I am working quietly with lots of rests to get him used to standing still. He is getting better with fly spray. Afterwards I led him around the back pasture and showed him around. When I put him away, he rolled in the dirt, which spooked the goats and sent them running!
Jordan arrives
Jordan arrived around 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We were very pleased at how he adjusted. He was curious and a bit nervous, but did not snort or whinny. I introduced him to his pasture and his stall progressively. He immediately found the fresh grass and did very well.
The only issue we had was with drinking water. He drank only about a gallon the first night. I rubbed some molasses on his bucket and used treats to get him to lap at the water. In the morning I drove over to his farm and picked up 20 gallons of his old water to help him make the transition. By 10:00 am he had drunk a full half bucket of water. All along he was pooping well and peeing like a racehorse, so we were never that concerned.
I lunged him for about 25 minutes the next morning, stopping to throw ropes all over his body and work on his yielding of the front and back. The hindquarters move over well on both sides, and he backs well. On the off side he will need some work on yielding the forequarters. All in all he looks like a terrific horse with a good head. His off side has the usual stiffness and lack of respect, and his lateral flexion is only so-so. He looks out of the circle a lot but it's easy enough to bump his attention back to me.
I plan to work him twice per day for the foreseeable future. Hopefully I can live up to this!
The only issue we had was with drinking water. He drank only about a gallon the first night. I rubbed some molasses on his bucket and used treats to get him to lap at the water. In the morning I drove over to his farm and picked up 20 gallons of his old water to help him make the transition. By 10:00 am he had drunk a full half bucket of water. All along he was pooping well and peeing like a racehorse, so we were never that concerned.
I lunged him for about 25 minutes the next morning, stopping to throw ropes all over his body and work on his yielding of the front and back. The hindquarters move over well on both sides, and he backs well. On the off side he will need some work on yielding the forequarters. All in all he looks like a terrific horse with a good head. His off side has the usual stiffness and lack of respect, and his lateral flexion is only so-so. He looks out of the circle a lot but it's easy enough to bump his attention back to me.
I plan to work him twice per day for the foreseeable future. Hopefully I can live up to this!
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