Today I drug myself out of my warm house at the ridiculously early hour of 12 o'clock. That's noon, not midnight folks. I figured any earlier wouldn't be productive anyway...the ring is frozen AND covered in snow. I'd only be able to hack out a few of the projects.
My first victim is almost always Bear, a 6 year old fat bay paint Chincoteague pony. I choose him first because:
1) He's already inside.
2) He's pretty predictable so I can have a good ride for my first ride of the day.
3) He's cute and fuzzy.
Bear is currently my favorite pony...he's proving to be a very bright an fun pony to work with. And the two ponies I had previously called my "favorite pony" have been sold...so I'm hoping that there is a pattern here. I focus on one pony, they become my favorite, they sell. So while I'm having a blast with Bear, I hope he too can find his own person, like Teddy and Ava did.
Bear rocks. When I first started Working with Bear a couple of months ago, he was too fast with a bad canter and a frantic jump. The first time I rode him I found him to be surprisingly sensitive to the aids and clueless about accepting the bit and leg and listening to the seat. I also noticed that he hated walking on hard ground. His trot was stiff and quick and his canter was very stuck and unbalanced.
Karolyn gave the go ahead to try some front shoes on Bear and got us a wintec saddle that I could set to extra wide so Bear wouldn't be pinched by our medium tree saddles anymore.
The difference has been night and day...and this is why I'm a bit obsessed with making sure tack fits and is appropriate for each horse, and for making sure to investigate any potential signs of discomfort before really working a horse. It's simply not fair to expect a horse to be perfect if it's not comfortable.
Before I go off on a lecture about choosing the appropriate tack and fitting it properly, I'll revert my attention back to Bear!
Now that Bear is comfortable, the real work has begun. I train the ponies a little different than the horses. I try to make them really simplistic to ride, since they will most likely be packing kids someday. But that still requires work on my part. I have to try to teach the ponies to be very responsible for themselves. They need to stay balanced and maintain the same tempo on their own...which I like for all horses but it's a little more primitive work for the ponies. Not so much fancy work. I just want them to stay straight, in the same tempo, until I clearly say otherwise. They need to sit up on their turns and when I give a little pull on those reins, they better drop down to a slower gait right away without leaning on my hands. They shouldn't pull against my hand or lolly gag against my leg. If I drop my reins and pick them up they need to not change a thing, just keep going. If I ask them to stop, they shouldn't move until I ask otherwise. They should take a jump straight and at the speed I put them in. And that's about all I want. And I find that once my message gets across, the ponies are happy to do the work, because it's easy and they get left alone if they just do it right the first time. After they figure it out, then they just need miles so it all becomes second nature.
I've been treating Bear no differently, and he is responding beautifully. He still is a bit more forward than I'd like for a kids pony and he's still a bit wired to the jumps but miles will fix that. He's very smart and very sweet and interested in doing the right thing so he's going to make an awesome pony in no time. Plus he's a Chincoteague, which automatically enters him into the Awesome Club.
Since snow has graced us today, my riding options were very limited. I decided to just hop on Bear bareback so I could get away with wearing my Carhartt overalls and insanely large snow boots...then maybe, just MAYBE I'd stay warm. I was nice and shared my hat with Bear.
I think he actually liked it...
I also remembered to put his bridle in the bathroom while I was getting ready so his bit wouldn't be so cold...aren't I just the nicest? Bear and I are BFFs, and that's what BFFs do for each other. Now if only Bear would give me a cupcake every time I did something nice for him. Why do treats have to be a one way street with horses?
I hopped on him and headed out, walking around the yard and outside the ring. We managed to get a little trot in too and just worked some more on staying balanced in the turns and soft on the bit. We also reinforced being quick to respond to my aids. He did well as usual, he's doing much better at keeping the tempo I set him in, though some days he still gets a little inconsistent.
It wasn't long before I realized the flaw in my plan...which became evident when Bear stepped onto the pavement and was suddenly 2 inches taller in the front. He made himself a nice set of slippery snowball high heels in his front shoes. Ugh. Seven years of being spoiled with an indoor arena made me forget what happens to ponies with shoes in snow. And poor Bear clearly was concerned about his new footwear, which I guess he's never experienced before since he's always been barefoot. So we were forced to end our ride short.
I decided to ride Greyson next since he doesn't have any shoes. Greyson is a 6 year old paint/welsh cross pony. He's incredibly sweet and I have yet to find a mean bone in his body. He's quiet and a little shy and requires lots of scratches and hugs and loving to make him happy. It's not hard to love on Greyson, he's too darn cute.
We bought Greyson a few months ago. He has basically been a pet/trail companion for his whole life, so he's a little behind and underexposed for his age. But Karolyn and I liked his size, build, and temperament, plus due to his very low impact life he is very sound and his interesting markings make for a nice all around package. While he isn't ready to teach kids yet, we felt that he had a good mind for it, so we thought we'd give him the chance.
Greyson is a bit trickier to work with right now than Bear. Because he has never had any proper training and never spent any time doing ring work, he is very unbalanced and hasn't a clue how to carry himself. He likes to go around with his shoulders and sternum down and head and neck up, and lean in on turns. Luckily he's very sweet and has a great work ethic so it is just a matter of getting him to understand my aids and then putting miles on him until his muscle rebuilds in the right places, so he can carry himself in balance on his own. He already has a healthy respect for me and my aids so that makes my job a little easier, and he isn't hot and isn't interested in speeding away so we don't have to struggle with that. I just have to teach him how to sit up on corners and get off my inside leg and rein, and teach him how to pick up his back and shoulders and stop dragging that sternum on the ground (cause it literally feels like he's dragging that sucker!)
Greyson told me he was also cold but wanted to one up Bear. These ponies are clearly frightened and spooky.
He is also clearly not amused! (Sorry Jess, I grabbed Splash's halter by accident!)
I don't ride Greyson bareback yet because he's just too unbalanced, I would be struggling to keep square on him. So we tacked up and headed out into the snow. I walked and trotted him in the yard two, first warming him up both directions and then moving onto figure eights and serpentines at the trot. He is starting to move more in balance at the trot but still has to figure out how to stay in balance through changes of direction. He's also starting to reach over his back a bit and his head is slowly starting to come down to the bit, but I have to ride every single step on this pony right now in order to get that back up. We also worked more on his down transitions. While it's great that he respects the stop aids, he likes to slam on the breaks too fast and puts it all on the forehand. I've been riding his back up and keeping leg on in the transitions and he seems to be starting to understand. The transitions are still a little jerky, but hes carrying more weight over his hind end now, so it's a step.
After a little work I just took him out for a joy hack out on the track and let him look around and enjoy himself. I do wish he'd learn how to walk straight when he looks to the side though!
After I was done with Greyson and had helped out the with evening chores, I headed over to ride Moose.
Moosey has been having some time off because of a growth spurt that made her fussy, but we have a lesson this Wednesday with Michael Bragdell at Hilltop Farm, so we need to at least practice a little! I think he's going to disappointed with how little progress we've made since our last lesson but the last time I ignored Moose's growth spurt and fussiness, she ended up having to take a month off for a sore back. So this time I just let her have the time off when I noticed she grew and became fussy.
Moosey was alright, still a little fussy but now I think she's just getting bored. We are confined mostly to a little indoor until spring and she's a smart mare who can't stand monotony.
I am trying to teach Moose to ride on a shorter contact (Michael said I was being "too nice" to Moosey and I could be demanding a little more from her). She's still fighting it a bit but I try to stay quiet, patient and consistent. I know she'll come around with time.
Off to bed...tomorrow looks like rain :(
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