Magic and I rode up the deer hunter road to the fork that goes up to Pinnacle. We did not do any exercises. We rode through the Ask pasture, through the gate to the springfield then the spring and on up the road. We rode back through the Divide pasture. Magic’s latest thing is to be impatient when I am mounting. He is always still when I actually am mounting but before I get my foot into the stirrup, he has started to move around. He is a very nice horse but I am amazed at the new things he will “test” for whatever reason. Last fall he started being pushy, particularly with strangers. He got over that and then had the period on not wanting to load. (A few things about loading needed to be pointed out to me.) These are not serious problems and we get past them. But he is always changing. The transition from race horse to riding horse is a big change and it takes time. It was a very nice ride this morning.
Monday, April 16 2012
Magic and I rode this morning. We worked in the round pen. He is showing reluctance to move up to the round pen gate for me to unlatch and open the gate. My guess is that he did not like the gate moving towards him. Heather Smith Thomas has a section of a book devoted to getting a horse to accept gate opening from his back. I will read it. I think we are making progress with his bending and being compliant and my balance. We did a little cantering on the left lead. I could not get the right lead. I only tried once so as not to embed a bad habit. We rode in the arena and around the Oak pasture. Nice morning and a nice ride.
Saturday, April 14 2012
Rode Magic this morning. We worked a little in the round pen and then in the arena. Magic’s bending and my balance seem to be improving. That is good. We just need to keep on working on it. We rode around the Oak pasture. James Brady’s cows are up on Shirey. He put up a temporary electric fence. It is very temporary. There is no gate. As sensitive as horses are to hot wires, I thought it best not to temp chance and try to lower it and step over which is the only way to get in the fence. I am enjoying Magic a lot.
Friday, April 13 2012
This morning I found that the electric fence charger was not working. While Newt, Magic and Little More were eating in their stalls, I hooked up another charger and went through the barn to the pasture to check the fence. I thought I heard some commotion in the stalls and when I returned I could see that Newt was upset and also Magic. They were in no any danger of being shocked, the insulated wire is on the outside of the barn. I expect they could hear it “snapping”, they know what it is and they do not like it. They are much more sensitive to electric fencing than anything I know. CeeCee got upset once when she was in the pasture, not confined at all, and the fence was snapping on a weed. Friday the 13th, spooked horses and lots of work to do at the office. I decided not to ride today!
I like the electric fence because the horses stay away from it and in any other fencing situation they push, pull and paw until they find some way to get hurt. I have found the new high voltage / low amperage systems require double insulated wire to carry it under gates and such. I have been using 220 volt wire used in under water water well installations but it does not insulate these new systems.
Thursday, April 12 2012
Groomed Newt and worked him in the round pen this morning. I had him stand in the middle of the hallway, not tied. He must enjoy the grooming. He stood still for the most part. He was very good in the round pen. He cantered some. I did not ask for it but had him continue for one round. He seems coordinated but he bends out rather that in. The speed excited him. When I rode him last spring we cantered a little bit but it did seem to excite him so we did not do it much. He seemed improved this second day of ground work.
Tuesday, April 10 2012
I worked Newt in the round pen this morning. He has been much more affectionate in the barn. When I am near him I now have faith that he will temper his actions and reactions out of kindness towards me. Yesterday when I moved the horses into different pastures, the mares ran to the far end of the Sycamore pasture. In addition, I had just completed refurbishing the electric fence. I have noticed the horses, well some of them anyway, have keen awareness that the fence is hot. Newt and CeeCee, both chestnuts, know when it is on and will not go anywhere near it. Anyway, Newt was running back and forth. He puts lots of effort into it. He is very fast and will run flat out across the creek / low muddy area. Last time he did that he bruised his sole and was lame for weeks. Little More got excited and running too. Magic was way off from the action, grazing and completely relaxed. I have always enjoyed watching them run but knowing Newt has bruised his foot and is inclined to “come apart”, I began to think maybe it was fright and not just exuberance. I walked into the pasture and petted Little More. He stopped immediately. Newt noticed what was going on, stopped running, and came over to get petted. He was breathing hard and hot and sweaty but he stood completely still and absorbed all the affection. He calmed down completely. When I left he went to grazing.
When I groomed him today, he stood still, quite different from Magic. When I took him to the round pen, he focused all his attention way off at something, or nothing, 200 yards away in the woods. I think it is just a habit he has to avoid paying attention to me. He did good work. He remembered when turning to turn in towards me and not towards the fence. It was good work except that he avoids focusing on me. We did walk, trot, walk stuff. My thinking is that if I can get his attention, he will become a devoted horse because it will help him gain confidence. Well, maybe I am optimistic.
It may be anthropomorphic, but I think Magic acted jealous when I was grooming Newt. He was in his stall shaking his head, scratching on the door and putting his ears back at Newt. Well, maybe working Newt will have a good effect on Magic.
Saturday, April 7 2012
Today we rode with the Buffalo River Back Country Horsemen of America. It was a work day to ride and clip the trail from Carver to Mt. Hersey. Magic always makes me proud and I was full of confidence. It was a nice bright, brisk morning. Immediately after mounting I rode over to talk to Tory about a riding horse for Mara. This involved positioning Magic this way and that way and maybe a little re-positioning. Magic took exception to something and bucked me off right there. After I hit the ground my first thought was “I am not hurt.” and my second thought was to catch my horse. Magic stood there like a good horse. The entertainment is not usually this good and lots of people got to watch. I don’t know what it was but I will probably ride off and do some maneuvers to get Magic settled after I mount next time. It is eight or nine miles to Mt Hersey so we had at least a 16 mile round trip. It is a nice trail and we improved it considerably. Magic did good the whole time. I was concerned that such a long trip might tire him. He did move around when I was mounting the last couple of times. I expect they can judge the riders strength and mine was lagging. It seems more likely that he was tired and did not want me to get on. We finished on a good note. It was a good ride.
Wednesday, April 4 2012
Magic and I rode this morning. When we ride around the farm, he does not like to stand still. If he stops he wants to start up again. I am happy for him to be forward but we do need enough patience to stand still. Trail riding with a group helps with this a lot because they go so long that when they stop, Magic is happy to stand still. I have been thinking about balance when I stand up in the stirrups. When I worked on it the other day it was not what I wanted. I got to thinking that jockeys must have good balance to ride so high above the horse. Dressage literature dictates that good position requires very long stirrups. Some time ago, Andrea commented that she thought I would do better if I had shorter stirrups. I don’t remember what prompted me to do it but I shortened my stirrup leathers one notch when I got to the arena. I noticed immediate improvement in my balance in the “two point position”. I think I will keep them this length for a while. We rode in the arena, around the Oak pasture and around the field up on Shirey. I enjoyed the ride.
Monday, April 2 2012
Dale Moody came today and shod Magic and trimmed all the other horses. I trimmed the ponies last weekend with Scott’s help. It is much easier for me to trim the ponies if somebody holds the foot so I can use both hands on the nippers. Magic was very good at his shoeing. He never took his foot back, not even once. He has improved so much. There were issues with sore feet that had to have shoes nailed on and it was bad for about 5 shoeings. I mentioned that I thought Magic had gone through an “aggressive” stage about the same time he was learning how to assert himself in the horse herd in the pasture. Dale said that he definitely thought Magic acted aggressive in the past. (Dale would know.) He was also surprised that Magic got over his problems with shoeing. Dale and Wanda suggested that I hammer on the shoes every time I groomed him. I am very glad it worked out because I am learning a lot from Magic.
Sunday, April 1 2012
Magic and I rode this morning. It has been a few days since we have been able to ride. It seems that working every day has the advantage of getting us more focused. I tried to change diagonals by staying up an extra stride. It worked good sometimes and but it also made it obvious that my balance is something I need to work on. We rode a little in the arena and around the field up on Shirey. I enjoyed the ride.