The four-legged kids.
Today, Kasane had her first ride in the big ring. I warmed her up in the round pen as usual, and then, while on her, opened the gate and rode to the big ring. She hesitated when stepping out the gate, as it some magical line had been crossed. She walked to the ring walking…
My friend Zoltan came out with me to the barn on Tuesday and videod a ride on Kasane. It’s in three parts. Unfortunately the first part is sideways. (I’ll fix this as soon as I get the license for my video editing software sorted out.) These rides are very early in Kasane’s training. She’s had…
Sylvana, a friend of mine at the barn, and I both have four year olds we are working with under saddle. Our two Arabs (okay, he’s technically an Anglo-Arabian) have the Arab herd-brain: when one snorts the other automatically snorts and looks around. Even if nothing is there. It just takes a snort. Funny to…
I had a riding lesson up at Mom’s on Saturday. I rode Piccolo (Hanoverian warmblood schoolmaster horse) in a dressage lesson with Lauara, one of Mom’s new instructors. She was very good. She explained how to do a half-pass properly by pushing with my inside leg every time I felt his inside back leg move…
Sylvana, an awesome natural horse trainer (and mentor), met me at the barn after work to help me with Kasane. Sylvana and Chris, the barn owner, have given me tips and suggestions for working with young horses using natural horsemanship methods. I’ve always done traditional training methods and always enjoy learning new techniques and methods….
After over a week of being away from the barn, I finally got back out there on Sunday. Sunday morning I realized just how much stress I’d been living with because I felt shaky and off kilter. The best solution when I feel like that is to go to the barn. Not to ride, but…
I’ve had a riding lesson for the past two Saturdays. It has been a roller coaster where my riding skills fluctuated from newbie to advanced. Had my skills degraded? Muscle tone wasn’t as good as it had been in 2008 when we were able to ride more. In 2009, riding time was minimized due to…
If horses lived and worked with us, maybe it would be something like this… Interesting how some ideas don’t even need words to convey meaning. 🙂 Especially with horses. Related Images:
Yesterday I did an experiment: I lunged Isis and Prize together in their paddock (which is also a backup ring). A few nights ago, I did a similar experiment except I lunged one horse at a time and swapped between them with both of them loose in the ring. It worked pretty well. How would…
Prize has settled in very well. She’s still in a paddock by herself, but always next to other mares so she has company. We’re going to try her with Kasane and Katie soon and see how they get along. Maybe this weekend, if it doesn’t rain. Last weekend, I rode Prize for the first time…
All of the kitties are going to the vet tomorrow morning. Ambush and Stella are having fluids. Kiesha is going to be tested to see if she has a UTI like the other two, and if so, she will needs meds. The farrier is also coming out tomorrow morning for Isis and Kasane. He’ll check…
Prize arrived on Saturday. It’s hard to describe what it is like to having a horse come back after so many years. I couldn’t stop smiling all day at work on Friday. Saturday I was bouncing off of the walls and wanting to make everything perfect. I had Prize’s halter, photos of her as a…
It’s been a while since I wrote about Kasane’s progress on the Great Path Towards Riding. She’s learned quite a bit this winter: left/right/whoa/back while ground driving, bits aren’t nasty when given with treats, and dressage saddles aren’t scary. All of the exercises Kasane and I do build towards riding. Voice commands when lunging teach…
It has been almost exactly one year since I got to see Prize for the first time in 12+ years. Since then, I’ve been out to visit Prize a few times. Last time she even nickered at me. Last weekend, I met Gena, Prize’s current owner, and her Mom, Rody. (I’ve met Rody several times.)…
I don’t know what’s gotten in to me, but I actually cooked again. I used to cook all of the time, but when it’s just me, I usually have meals that require little to no preparation (i.e., salad). I changed the recipe I cooked last week to add more garlic (3.5 cloves instead of 2),…