I am having a heck of a time getting Diamond to allow me to clip her... anywhere. She eyes those blue clippers and sees the devil himself sitting there.... and that’s before they’ve even been turned on!! I have rubbed her with them (while off) and yes, she does let me do that very grudgingly, and she will now even allow me to rub them on her face when turned on, but as soon as they get into position to clip, she gets scared.
So I thought, maybe if she saw my other mare Sugar get a trim, she’d be a little better about it. I had both horses in the cross ties facing each other, and trimmed Sugar with out incident. Chin, nose, bridle path, ears, everything I wanted to trim and she stood there like the great mare that she is.
The whole time Diamond stared at us like we were growing horns right in front of her. I left Sugar in her cross ties, and moved over to Diamond with the clippers on. She did her cross-tie dance (you know the one... move forward, backwards, paw, paw, snort, right and left dance...) After she calmed down, I stood there just rubbing her neck with my hand while I held the clippers in front of her so she could see them and smell them if she wanted. After a few minutes, she decided that her curiosity was stronger than her fear and she took a step forward and put her nose on the clippers.... hey those aren’t that scary after all... She was perfectly fine with them in the position they were in, but as soon as I moved them, she wasn’t having any of it... so back to the rubbing and petting we went. After a few more of these advance and retreats with the clippers, I was able to move them around and touch her nose with the “wrong (non-clipping)” end and move it around... The feel and noise doesn’t appear to bother her at this point, so I turn them around and think I’m going to clip her muzzle.... As soon as the noise changed from just running to cutting something, it was all over for her... it’s changed and she’s not comfortable with that. Finally, before the battery died, I managed to clip about ½ of her nose one or two hairs at a time, and none of her chin... She is quite a site to look at with ½ of her face nice and smooth, and the other ½ long... but hey, we aren’t out to win any beauty pageants yet, so who cares... I’d rather take it slow and clip her as she’ll let me instead of getting her cooperation through fear and pain.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Who's gonna make me????
It has been brought to my attention that dear hubby, while his intentions are good as gold, is not the one to work with little Diamond. He is a push over big time. He’s afraid that he’ll make her mad at him and she won’t love him anymore...
I can relate. I used to feel the same way about my 8yo mare Sugar. When I first brought Sugar home, I was pretty clueless. Sure, I’ve ridden lots of horses off and on for many years. I would be the fearless one to “get on anything”. Boy was I stupid!!
I bought Sugar from a lady who lived close to me, and had bought her for her daughter’s first horse... I was told that Sugar was full of “Vinegar”. Oh, ok, what does that mean? Well it meant that Sugar would flat out refuse to go to work for the daughter. She would toss her head about 30 feet from her pasture gate, and the daughter would get down, walk Sugar back to the pasture, and be done.
I was pretty sure that I was a confident enough rider that she wouldn’t pull that crap with me. Boy was I stupid!!
We bring her to the barn where I board at, and Sugar & I proceed into the arena all tacked up and pretty looking. I grab the mounting block, and hop right on. Sugar takes off like a bat outa hell bucking her way across the arena, and I fall off about 3 bucks into it. I get back up, and remember from my younger days “You GOTTA get back on, or the horse wins” ok, I dust off my pride, take a look around to make sure no one saw me, and go back to the mounting block to try it again... She was PERFECT! It was like a mounted a different horse... ok, so long story short, this goes on for about a month. Every time I go to ride, she bucks me off, I get back on, and all is happy.
One day a group of people from my barn decide to go for a trail ride. I tack Sugar up, I’ve round penned her, and we’re ready to rock and roll... Sugar had other ideas... she decided at that moment to rear up, and fall over backwards. I did not have time to get out of the way, and she landed on me. Now my horse has hurt me and BAD! So when it came time to work with her again, I had the kid gloves on big time. I would stop at asking, and she knew it. That mare had my number and she wasn’t going to give it up without a fight... Thankfully the barn that I board at has the world’s best owner, and she helped me work with Sugar retraining her with bitting up since that appeared to be her problem. Even after all that, I still was too afraid to get on her, and the owner wasn’t going to risk her neck to do it for me so I was stuck....
Enter Trainer X. She had been training and working with my Dad’s horses and he recommended her to me. Thank God, after I tell her the story of the rear, she still agrees to come out and take a look.
She worked with Sugar twice a week for about 2 months. She made the right thing easy, and the wrong thing hard. When Sugar reared, she went to work in the round pen. Not for 5 minutes, but until Sugar’s lungs burned and she got it through her head that rearing was bad and it sucked to do. We also discovered her problems were due to 1) an ill fitting saddle, I’ve since bought a treeless 2) she’s not broke to a snaffle, gotta use the twisted wire gag, and 3) the rope cinch irritated her sensitive belly
In the mean time, I’m also working with Sugar on the ground in the round pen, and spending quality time with her just bonding and being her friend. I practically lived at the barn last summer, we would go for in hand walks, graze behind the barn, grooming while she was grazing, just sitting in her pasture reading while she hung out, and eventually she decided that I was not the enemy, but rather someone who loved her very much. Now, Sugar would go way above and beyond for me, and I know that she will not do anything to hurt me in any way. If there’s a problem, she’ll tell me, and I listen. We now have a GREAT relationship and she is a very willing partner.
Training with Diamond has gone much the same way... her previous owners told me that she was “A Man’s Horse” because she preferred the husband over the wife. I’ve discovered that was simply because the husband wouldn’t put up with her pushiness and made her behave. Now Diamond is much more attentive and responsive to me than she is to my husband. Why is this? It’s because she views me as her leader. I am Alpha Mare to her and I will protect her from the big horse eating lion lurking behind the tree. I am firm but fair with her. She knows that she can get away with not cooperating with hubby, and she can’t with me. She’s bought herself 20-30 minutes of not working just by moving her head around to avoid the bit before he calls me out to the round pen. For every action, there is an equal reaction. When she moves away to avoid the bit, or the saddle, my reaction is to make her run. She has learned that Mama don’t mess around and while I may be the one to make her work, she respects me so much more than she does him... and until he “gets it” they will continue to have disagreements because why would she work when he’s not going to make her??
Monday, January 19, 2009
More bit work
So every night I've been doing the bitting up work with D. She's learning that while it's not that bad, she really would prefer to not have anything other than grass in her mouth, so she's gotten a little evasive with the bitting up.
However, this Sunday, she was great!
I round penned her for a few minutes to re-establish that respect/Alpha role and calmly and quietly walked to her. I held her nose from the side, and put the bit in her mouth. She only turned her head slightly once. Once she was bitted up, I worked on her walk/halt/turn around voice commands for a few minutes. She is doing great. I can almost stand still and not move in front of her for the “Turn Around” command, and she loves the Walk command... so much less work than her trotting around. After about 15 minutes of this, I left her alone to spend quality time with the bit.
About 30 minutes later, I returned to the round pen with the saddle and pad. She wasn’t too fond of the saddle pad, and ran away from it, so I made her work at the trot for a minute until she decided it was easier to stand there and let me put the pad on (and it didn’t even eat her!!! LOL). Then I held the saddle for about 20 minutes while she sniffed it. I did this until I could walk around her from both sides and she wouldn’t move. Each time she moved away, she was sent to work for two or three circles. Finally, she stood perfectly still and let me put the saddle on and adjust the cinch and tighten it. She didn’t want to move at first, but soon she realized she could, and we worked again at the walk for about 5 minutes, and then I left her alone in the round pen all tacked up to get used to it on her back.... She is so adorable all tacked up like big Sister Sugs.
I went back out to the round pen after an hour or so armed with a pocket full of treats. The first thing I did was give her a treat. She never once tried to scratch the bridle of saddle off, no rolling or anything. I took the bridle off, she opened her mouth right up and let the bit slide out, I gave her another treat. I loosened the girth on the saddle and gave her another treat. I took the saddle off purposely trailing the off stirrup and girth across her back. That's just how we take our saddles off, since the stirrup usually falls down anyway, so she may as well get used to that now. No flinching, moving, or anything, so yes, she got another treat.
I took her in the wash rack, washed her hoofs off, tied her in the cross ties, cleaned her feet with out any problems, and yes, another treat. I put her in her stall, put the blanket on her and tucked her in for the night.. she was a very good girl. I am very proud of my little Diamond baby.
However, this Sunday, she was great!
I round penned her for a few minutes to re-establish that respect/Alpha role and calmly and quietly walked to her. I held her nose from the side, and put the bit in her mouth. She only turned her head slightly once. Once she was bitted up, I worked on her walk/halt/turn around voice commands for a few minutes. She is doing great. I can almost stand still and not move in front of her for the “Turn Around” command, and she loves the Walk command... so much less work than her trotting around. After about 15 minutes of this, I left her alone to spend quality time with the bit.
About 30 minutes later, I returned to the round pen with the saddle and pad. She wasn’t too fond of the saddle pad, and ran away from it, so I made her work at the trot for a minute until she decided it was easier to stand there and let me put the pad on (and it didn’t even eat her!!! LOL). Then I held the saddle for about 20 minutes while she sniffed it. I did this until I could walk around her from both sides and she wouldn’t move. Each time she moved away, she was sent to work for two or three circles. Finally, she stood perfectly still and let me put the saddle on and adjust the cinch and tighten it. She didn’t want to move at first, but soon she realized she could, and we worked again at the walk for about 5 minutes, and then I left her alone in the round pen all tacked up to get used to it on her back.... She is so adorable all tacked up like big Sister Sugs.
I went back out to the round pen after an hour or so armed with a pocket full of treats. The first thing I did was give her a treat. She never once tried to scratch the bridle of saddle off, no rolling or anything. I took the bridle off, she opened her mouth right up and let the bit slide out, I gave her another treat. I loosened the girth on the saddle and gave her another treat. I took the saddle off purposely trailing the off stirrup and girth across her back. That's just how we take our saddles off, since the stirrup usually falls down anyway, so she may as well get used to that now. No flinching, moving, or anything, so yes, she got another treat.
I took her in the wash rack, washed her hoofs off, tied her in the cross ties, cleaned her feet with out any problems, and yes, another treat. I put her in her stall, put the blanket on her and tucked her in for the night.. she was a very good girl. I am very proud of my little Diamond baby.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Bitting Up
So last night was the big night... let's see what Diamond thinks of the bit. I am borrowing the rubber snaffle from TX, took the brow band and throat latch off the head stall, and out to the round pen we went. Diamond isn't particularly found of the round pen, this is where she has to work, so she’s a little less than enthusiastic about going there. After only one stop and the question you know she’s asking “Are you sure you want to go there... there’s all this nice green grass to munch on right here...” we made it.
Now Diamond has figured out that it’s much easier to come and stand quietly by Mom, so she didn’t run off to work, which made my life easier. I took the halter off her, put the bit up to her mouth, and she turned her head. Ok, no big deal. I followed her head around, put the bit up to her mouth again, and she opened her choppers right up, allowed the bit to go into her mouth, and the headstall to be put over her ears.
OMG! WHERE DID THIS HORSE COME FROM? She has NEVER had any of this done to her; she is GREEN GREEN GREEN as the spring time grass. Everything is a first for her, and she’s taking it like an old pro!
She stood there for about 3 seconds with her mouth open waiting for this thing to fall out of her mouth. When it didn’t, she closed her mouth like she’d been carrying a bit her entire life!
I went to do my chores and she went to wandering around the round pen. Hubby came out to see how we were doing, and was amazed it was a done deal already. We checked on her quite a few times from the barn, and never once did she pitch a fit or get pissed about this foreign object being in her mouth.
After we finished with the chores, we went out and lunged her for about 10 minutes, practiced her “Whoa” and she did perfectly. She was not distracted by the bit at all!
We removed the bit and headstall, she opened her mouth to allow it to drop out, and to the arena for a well deserved roll in the dirt. Today will be another test since she has an idea of what is coming... but I don’t expect anything other than cooperation from her!
Now Diamond has figured out that it’s much easier to come and stand quietly by Mom, so she didn’t run off to work, which made my life easier. I took the halter off her, put the bit up to her mouth, and she turned her head. Ok, no big deal. I followed her head around, put the bit up to her mouth again, and she opened her choppers right up, allowed the bit to go into her mouth, and the headstall to be put over her ears.
OMG! WHERE DID THIS HORSE COME FROM? She has NEVER had any of this done to her; she is GREEN GREEN GREEN as the spring time grass. Everything is a first for her, and she’s taking it like an old pro!
She stood there for about 3 seconds with her mouth open waiting for this thing to fall out of her mouth. When it didn’t, she closed her mouth like she’d been carrying a bit her entire life!
I went to do my chores and she went to wandering around the round pen. Hubby came out to see how we were doing, and was amazed it was a done deal already. We checked on her quite a few times from the barn, and never once did she pitch a fit or get pissed about this foreign object being in her mouth.
After we finished with the chores, we went out and lunged her for about 10 minutes, practiced her “Whoa” and she did perfectly. She was not distracted by the bit at all!
We removed the bit and headstall, she opened her mouth to allow it to drop out, and to the arena for a well deserved roll in the dirt. Today will be another test since she has an idea of what is coming... but I don’t expect anything other than cooperation from her!
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's saddle riding time!
Saturday after our wonderful trail ride between rain showers, we brought Diamond out of the barn and down to the round pen. I had Trainer X with me for guidance (hell who am I kidding, I was throwing her under the bus!) and her wintec saddle. I put the pad on Diamond and she took a step sideways, the pad fell down, and she ran a half circle to the other side of the round pen. Ok, that's not bad really. We walked over to her, put the pad back on, she stood still. GREAT! I gently set the saddle on her, walked around to the other side, and gently grabbed the cinch... DAMN! TOO SHORT! TX adjusted it and I grabbed it again. I got it tightened enough so that the saddle wouldn't fall before Diamond became uncomfortable and move away. She went about a quarter of the way around and stopped. We approached her again, gave her lots of pats and loves, and tightened the cinch again. When she moved off this time, I made her move around a few times. I do not want to restrict her, but she has to know the right thing is to stand without moving, and if she does move, she's going to keep on moving until I stop her. After a few circles, she was willing to stand still again and we tightened the cinch enough to hold the saddle in place under our weight. TX took the leap of faith and stuck her foot in the stirrup, hopped up and down a few times, Diamond pinned her ears back, she was not sure about this new behavior, but she wasn’t going to run circles again, so even though her ears told us she wasn’t excited about this, she stood still trusting us to not hurt her. I sent hubby to the barn for treats and when he came back, we told him to mount. He did, and she did GREAT! We lead them around the round pen for a couple of circles, tied the lead rope to her halter, and let him guide her. She did perfect - Like she’s been doing this her whole life. Turned, stopped, everything without so much as a buck or head toss. We all were on cloud nine – this couldn’t have gone much smoother. TX – she didn’t get any new bumps or bruises, Hubby – has broke his first horse, and me – well I’m just excited to have found this little Diamond in the rough, and to know that she trusts us completely. This week, we’ll bit her up and start teaching her to give to the bit.
Friday, January 9, 2009
First Ride???
Last night, after the chores at the barn were done, and all the horses had been tucked in and fed, we took our little Diamond and her bestest buddy Sugs out to the arena to frolic and play without their blankets on.
They had a blast and ran around chasing each other bucking, rearing, and jumping straight up in the air for about 15 minutes. After it settled down a little, and they decided they wanted to be with hubby and myself, we took the opportunity for some training.
Hubby was leaning over her (picture a guy leaning on his shiny car... that's what it looked like) just putting some weight on her so she can get the feel of it. I grabbed the step stool again, let her sniff it out until she was no longer curious about it and put it next to her as I would if I were going to mount (may as well get her used to this stuff now right...) she moved away from it, so I picked it back up and just held it in my hand while I rubbed her all over. After a few more minutes, I put it back on the ground. This time she stood still and let me continue to rub her without moving from it. I went to both sides, and she stood perfectly still. I stood on the stool and continued to rub her, she was completely unconcerned with me being "taller" all of a sudden. I got down and went to the other side and continued to rub her all over.
I had hubby get on the stool so she could "see" both of us up there. Again, calm as a cucumber. I had him swing his leg over (he's a little taller than I am, so it was easier for him to do that) and actually sit on her. She could have cared less!! What a little trooper she is! I had her take a few steps, we walked a circle, she looked at his feet dangling, took a picture on the phone, sent it to my friend who found us this mare, and got off before she decided it wasn't all that cool any more and threw a fit.
Hubby is on cloud nine, he is so happy with his little baby, this is truly a match made in heaven for him. We still are going to saddle her up this weekend, and we just might get another ride in there. We shall see....
They had a blast and ran around chasing each other bucking, rearing, and jumping straight up in the air for about 15 minutes. After it settled down a little, and they decided they wanted to be with hubby and myself, we took the opportunity for some training.
Hubby was leaning over her (picture a guy leaning on his shiny car... that's what it looked like) just putting some weight on her so she can get the feel of it. I grabbed the step stool again, let her sniff it out until she was no longer curious about it and put it next to her as I would if I were going to mount (may as well get her used to this stuff now right...) she moved away from it, so I picked it back up and just held it in my hand while I rubbed her all over. After a few more minutes, I put it back on the ground. This time she stood still and let me continue to rub her without moving from it. I went to both sides, and she stood perfectly still. I stood on the stool and continued to rub her, she was completely unconcerned with me being "taller" all of a sudden. I got down and went to the other side and continued to rub her all over.
I had hubby get on the stool so she could "see" both of us up there. Again, calm as a cucumber. I had him swing his leg over (he's a little taller than I am, so it was easier for him to do that) and actually sit on her. She could have cared less!! What a little trooper she is! I had her take a few steps, we walked a circle, she looked at his feet dangling, took a picture on the phone, sent it to my friend who found us this mare, and got off before she decided it wasn't all that cool any more and threw a fit.
Hubby is on cloud nine, he is so happy with his little baby, this is truly a match made in heaven for him. We still are going to saddle her up this weekend, and we just might get another ride in there. We shall see....
Thursday, January 8, 2009
time
So we've had our little girl for a month now. Exactly one month and two days. and of those 33 days, we've had snow or rain for at least 30 of them. Sorta makes training hard.... We have started working on respect by lunging and working in the round pen when it's not 1)Frozen, 2)Snowy & 3) a lake, so needless to say, not as much or as often as i'd like. She has gone from absolutley refusing to move (anything other than her feet flying backwards at my head LOL) to being able to control her movements and speed quite nicely. She still does give the occasional buck, but they are getting far and few between.
So far, we've introduced her slowly to our other two mares, one of which is 28, the other is 8. Both had to school her as to her position in the pasture, but all 3 get along nicely now. Occasionally there is some squeeling as D tries to move up a spot, but Sug is having none of it, and Mama just flat out won't put up with any crap from a 2 year old with an attitude. Those two have helped out so much. It's amazing what the herd can do for us humans. D's previous owner's mare babied and coddled her so much so that D was top mare. She would eat first, leave the pasture first, decide when to graze first, she was clearly the herd leader which i would imagine was hard on her being the baby and not knowing what to do really. I think she's much more comfortable now with Mama and Sug's to follow.
So on with the training... We have introduced the bareback pad and saddle pad to her. She's willingly stood there and let us put them on her. I even tighteded the girth on the bareback pad and let her move around to feel it on her belly. She took it all like the little champ she is and didn't freak out at all!
We've bathed her in the wash rack, she thinks she's an ostrich. If she hides her head, the hose can't find her :)
We've blanketed her - at first she wanted nothing to do with that big green monster trying to eat her up, and now we can put it on and off right over her head. She got tangled up in another one that was "modified" to fit her - i thought we were in for it when i saw her, but she stood nice and quiet and let me take it off - today, she tripped on it while putting it on, almost hit the ground, caught herself, and then stood there for me to untangle her.
I've climbed above her on the step stool and flapped my arms on both sides of her body imitating the sound and feel of the stirrups and again, she stood there trusting everything i was doing was not going to hurt her. My husband has leaned over her and gone for a few steps. Again, she got a little wide eyed, but didn't buck or rear. She didn't do anything except take a few quick steps and then settle right down...
this weekend, it's saddle time.
So far, we've introduced her slowly to our other two mares, one of which is 28, the other is 8. Both had to school her as to her position in the pasture, but all 3 get along nicely now. Occasionally there is some squeeling as D tries to move up a spot, but Sug is having none of it, and Mama just flat out won't put up with any crap from a 2 year old with an attitude. Those two have helped out so much. It's amazing what the herd can do for us humans. D's previous owner's mare babied and coddled her so much so that D was top mare. She would eat first, leave the pasture first, decide when to graze first, she was clearly the herd leader which i would imagine was hard on her being the baby and not knowing what to do really. I think she's much more comfortable now with Mama and Sug's to follow.
So on with the training... We have introduced the bareback pad and saddle pad to her. She's willingly stood there and let us put them on her. I even tighteded the girth on the bareback pad and let her move around to feel it on her belly. She took it all like the little champ she is and didn't freak out at all!
We've bathed her in the wash rack, she thinks she's an ostrich. If she hides her head, the hose can't find her :)
We've blanketed her - at first she wanted nothing to do with that big green monster trying to eat her up, and now we can put it on and off right over her head. She got tangled up in another one that was "modified" to fit her - i thought we were in for it when i saw her, but she stood nice and quiet and let me take it off - today, she tripped on it while putting it on, almost hit the ground, caught herself, and then stood there for me to untangle her.
I've climbed above her on the step stool and flapped my arms on both sides of her body imitating the sound and feel of the stirrups and again, she stood there trusting everything i was doing was not going to hurt her. My husband has leaned over her and gone for a few steps. Again, she got a little wide eyed, but didn't buck or rear. She didn't do anything except take a few quick steps and then settle right down...
this weekend, it's saddle time.
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