100 acres woods and Mt Pisgah

Wow, I am having trouble with this post, twice I've tried and had glitches and all my lovely words are lost. So I start again...

I didn't have anyone to ride with last Thursday, so I tacked Sally up with the plan to walk up the street and show her around and if all was well, get on! And that is exactly what happened and off we went on a half hour loop through the 100 acre woods by ourselves! She had two little spots of mild worry. One was the barking dogs we have to pass, they often fight amongst themselves with excitement that we are passing by. She only stopped and wondered really. The other moment had to do with a brushy spot we had to pass through on the trail. I could see it was just the leafy ends of the branches, but underneath were a bit of blackberries which tickled her legs. So I got off there and led her through just fine.

We passed the dogs again on the way back and she was ready for them and only flared her nose a bit. So with that under our belt, I thought going to Mt Pisgah was totally doable.

Saturday rolled around and we ended up with 4 people wanting to ride. With the bigger trailer it is much easier to tack up at home than put the saddles in the trailer (too small a tack room.) Sally's trailer loading has been great, so I didn't think even twice about it. We put Karmen in first, and while I was helping Althea tie her properly, in came Sally wondering what we were up to! Tied her and then closed the middle partition. Just one for the 4 works great. She didn't mind that in the least. Coming and going, no problems at all!

The trail ride...well, from on outsiders point of view they would have thought she was a seasoned trail horse! She was just about as perfect as I could have imagined. One spot has some switch backs and that was funny when she could see the lead horses down below us.

Mt Pisgah May 2013 First Trail Ride, ready to pack!

She was a star, got a bit sweaty, which turned to mud!

Top o' the Hill!

 Not sure how much more I can say! The pictures are worth the words! More soon!

Displaced Behavior

We had a nice ride around the place yesterday. I put the bridle on for the first time to see how she liked it. I just used the comfort snaffle, or French link as some might know it. She accepted it fine and was a bit chewy on it. It is a fairly thick bit, which some don't like, so I may try a thinner one. She is very soft in it though and so we just need to find one that she is just a little more comfortable.

However, I did notice she has a displaced behavior that she seems to display when either anticipating something or a little frustrated or bored, I haven't defined it that much yet. Basically she sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth and chews on it in with her gums and lips. A few days ago I did notice she had foamy slobber on the corner of her mouth, but I thought maybe it was from something she just ate and was still masticating it. Then I noticed the tongue yesterday. She was doing it in the stall where I had her tied to get ready, then more with the bit on waiting around in the arena. It doesn't happen while she is doing something, but while she is waiting. I have not tried to interrupt it at this point, well I just discovered it, but it may just be a passing phase. I went on the web and it seems this is not uncommon. Several of the people mentioned that it was in young horses especially the ones taken from the mom's early. Not sure that is the case for Sally, but it does seem to be a pacifier for her. We will watch it and most likely with some fun stuff in her life it will go away or get less anyway.

Trailer loading went well though yesterday. She is stepping right in now, but can only stay facing forward for a few moments. I closed the door on her for a minute and although she pooped immediately, she didn't get too upset or frantic. Almost ready to take her places. Next though is in with another horse, which I think she will actually like better.

Getting out...

So my parelli friend came over today to play on our obstacles and go with me on our first trail ride with Sally!

Success!

Sally loved it! She went out front and was following the trail like a pro. Our only moment of fuss was when I asked her to stop and wait at the top of the little gully we need to pass through. I just wanted to have her take a breath and look around, but she got a little pissy and fussed a bit. Some backing up, some ears back shaking the head, but that really was about it. So we waited there until she could just stand calmly for at least 30 seconds, didn't want to push my luck, and then I let her walk. Pamela stayed behind, so then we waited for her on the other side of the gully, which again made her a little fussy, not so bad as the first time. So I circled around and went behind Pamela's horse for the next bit out in the field and she was great.

There was not one moment she was scared or spooked, just more of an anxiousness about getting going! We just walked, but we did go through some mud, and brush and bushes, long poky grass, over some pretty big logs and none of that bothered her in the least. 

As we came out from behind the church she caught sight of the cows in the field across the street. That stopped her in her tracks. She didn't turn away, just very very curious. As we stood there watching several cars passed by without her even noticing them. Then a gang of bicyclers came... We moved back a bit and faced them, nothing...the cows still were much more interesting than any of that stuff! We are going to have to find some cows to play with!

Mom's Visit

Mom (Aimee) visited on Thursday night. Mostly we chatted about who I see Sally is and her strong points. We also talked about how she shows her opposition, which is mostly about going backward. We worked on the ditch, which is the one obstacle that she really doesn't seem to like. She was showing her "no" side really clearly, so we just played around and by, and then she really tried and stretched her neck and looked across...so that was the try I was looking for and we let it be for now.

Being a LBI (remember that is a left brain introvert) Sally really needs to see the purpose and goals in a way for her to be interested in doing some things. She has a nice go button, but I can see that if she is asked to do the same things over and over, she will get totally bored and either make up some mischief or just stop going. So keeping things interesting and varied and purposeful will be really important for her to keep connected.

Visiting the Play Yard

So today I thought I would just play on the ground and go visit the play yard, but as I said, first the trailer. As soon as we walked out there she knew what it was about.  I added some yummies to the pan inside and in she came. What happens though is she gets some bites then has to turn around and come out. So we played that game for a while, in, bite, turn, try to wait, but can't quite stay, so we play it again. Pretty soon she was able to do all that with staying in. So I attempted to ask her to stay facing forward, well that got the "can't turn around so I will go back wards" response. So we had a deep discussion on her choices and more discussions about going forward. In the end she had a very nice moment staying facing forward, turned around nicely and waited for me to ask her out. She's getting it...stay tuned.

Then we went to play on line with obstacles. Well...I couldn't find much she was afraid of!!! She was doing so well I could have played with all of them in a short amount of time, but I decided that she might be on overload and didn't want to get her upset, so I quit while we were ahead and stood in the shade with her for a few minutes while she munched grass. She was wondering why the heck I was sitting down and did more noodling of me than grass munching really. Very sweet.

The flags,  just missed the picture of her putting her nose right up on it!

First Ride continued...

Sally has had a very nice start. She is respectful and curious, cautious but willing, thinking and sweet. Anyway, we had a nice ride in the arena. Her buddy Dazzle was just outside keeping watch, a few others hanging around too. Sally has a nice stop and a fairly good go button too. Her canter leads are pretty good, the right still isn't perfect. However,  I would say she has just a bit of opposition. Or I might call it left brain introvert (LBI) tendencies. In other words, she has a bit more whoa than go. Which is not a bad thing, we just need to establish just a bit more balance.

 We rode for just a half hour or so and then we went up to meet the kids coming for lessons. I put her in the shade to wait for us to get the other horses ready and she was perfect. Didn't move a muscle. It was pretty warm and with all the changes she probably was getting tired. Kids horses ready, we went back to the arena and I mostly just hung around on her while the kids rode. She was very patient and loved just hanging out (another LBI tendency.)

She was hot and a bit sweaty when we were done, so she had a bath, which she was a little tense about, but good. She probably slept well!

First Ride

Well, before we ride, everyday until it's good, we went to the trailer. She saw it and said "oh not that again..." But I had pre-primed goodies inside and it wasn't long till she saw them and in she went. Didn't stay long. So in and out probably 10 times until she could stay. She did, facing out, but she did until I asked her out, then she only came out with her front feet, she didn't want to go working again! Smart girl!

Then I went and got tacked up. ...oh but got to go get everyone off the grass so more soon.

Getting to know You

First thing I naturally like to do is to get to know who I am working with, just like any good teacher. So Sunday when the students were here I played with Sally. Well I hung out with her really. Tested a few things such as do you move when I ask, can I move different parts, do you back up, what do you think of the carrot stick etc. What I found was that she is a little sticky to move forward and as per her instincts she wants to push into the pressure. She has a little habit of wanting to walk into me, instead of around, not bad, but it is her first response. She has a nice circle game, does not seem afraid of much, loved our walk in the woods, went right over the big log we have to cross to get behind the church, and even picked her head up out of the green grass without too much asking!

On our way back from the walk, we (Sally and I) were behind Dazzle, not far enough though and Dazzle kicked up and caught Sally right in the tooth. Luckily the cap that was about to come off was the only causality! Poor thing she was chewing and licking and making funny faces and so I looked in her mouth the see the cap hanging. She was good enough to let me grab it and it took several tries and I pulled it off. The permanent tooth underneath is clearly visible so the cap was only days away from coming off anyway. Here is the picture of the mouth!

Funny thing is...now Dazzle follows Sally everywhere, stands by her stall at night and whinnies when she is not in sight. Silly horses!