Tucker gave me a big fat reminder that no matter how quiet your horse usually is, no matter how much you play on the ground first, no matter how left brained he appears to be....it only take one split second of prey animal behavior with one big spook to leave you laying on your back looking up at the sky wondering what the heck just happened.

Lance and I wanted to go on a trail ride today so before we headed to the park I wanted to ride Tucker here a little bit to see what he thought of the new bridle (sidepull) and reins I bought.  I also put new stirrups on the saddle and I just wanted a test run before we headed out to the woods.  Because of the new tack I spent lots of  time on the  ground warming up.  We played lots of games, used lots of objects and did lots of trotting so I could check out his mental state.  All was well so I decided to mount up.

I eased off the mounting block onto his back and before I had picked up the stirrups and settled into my seat the neighbor pulled into the drive sending Tucker in a spook the went sideways half across the ring.  I was off balance and off guard and there was no way I could stay on.  My tailbone, butt and wrist are all screaming at me.

I'm really freaked about the fall this morning because after I came off I was hurting so bad there was no way I could get back on.  I crawled to the house and asked Lance to take Tucker's tack off and put him up.  The reason I am concerned is because I have always heard you should never end a ride with a fall.  You should always get right back on the horse so it does not learn that is how to get you off them.  I am also concerned about the poor note we ended the session on.  I always try to leave things positive.  I'm so worried I have taught my horse some bad things with this fall, but I am just not sure how I could have handled the situation differently.

Falls Suck!!!!!!!

It's been four days and already the time change has me down.   I feed the horses in the dark in the morning and I feed the horses in the dark when I get home from work.  I feel like I hardly see them and we are just figures passing in the dark.  I need to get out there and at least spend some UT time with them and I don't supposed a session in the dark is completely out of the question, but for some reason the motivation is gone when the light is gone.

I plan to get out there this weekend with them and if all goes well we may even take them over to the park for some trail riding.

On a side note I bought a new side pull halter and reins set and I can not wait to try them out.  Tucker goes really well in the rope halter and lead rope but I was ready for something that looked a little more like a piece of tack.

It looks like poor Tucker is going to be hosting many of the children at tonight's neighborhood cook-out.  I'm headed out to play with him a bit and see what frame of mind he is in.  Since we have moved here he has had to entertain lots of our friends' children, I guess it  makes an argument against being a good boy, although I'm not so sure he does not like all the attention and it is certainly less work than when I ride him.

It has been become very clear that I just don't have the time to post every time I play with my horse so from now on I will post highlights as I have time and think to do so.

What has been going on with the horses and me lately.......

I used Tucker the other night to teach some friends to ride.  The parents had a little riding experience so they did very well guiding Tucker around the ring and they both even did some trotting with him.  The kids had never been on a horse and so I either rode with them or kept Tucker on the lead line.  Tucker seems to know when people are learning and has a pretty high tolerance level for it.

This past weekend we got out to the park near the house again for a very wonderful trail ride.  I felt much better than the previous one where I was feeling like an awful and out of shape rider.  

Tucker has been very fun out in the pastures lately.  Whenever I am out there to work he plays stick to me like a big ole' puppy dog.  He just wants to be close and hang out as I move about out there handling this and that.  

I have not played with Freckles at all lately and hope to correct that this weekend.  Lance and I are hoping to head up to the campground even if it is only for one night.

Happy Playing everyone, I hope you are all enjoying your ponies.

( The Kids Riding )

Today hubby and I both cut out of work a bit early and actually put the horses on the trailer and took them to a park for a real live trail ride.

It had been soooooooo long since we took them anywhere I almost forget how to hook the trailer up. 

The ride was perfect!!!  Temps in the 70's, calm horses that I believe were as happy to be away from home as we were.  It was one of the best afternoons!

I'm a little sore in the tummy area.  It may take awhile after the surgery to get back where I was.  I tried to get a few rides in to try to build myself back up before we got out on the trails, but it has all been flat arena work which is just not the same.  I don't care, the soreness was definitely worth the ride.

I finally had a play session with Tucker last night and it was long overdue.  I knew he was needing some leadership because the other day he tried to bite me when I would not let him go graze in the field quick enough.

Our session consisted of the seven games with different obstaclesin the arena.  Tucker was online and I was on the ground.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the session went considering it had been such a long time since I played.  His sideways without a fence was especially good and I worked on lots of driving some zone 3 in preparation to get me back on him.  It's raining today so the earliest I will get back out there will be tomorrow.  If hubby is up for it we may head up to the park for a trail ride, if not I will try to get some riding done just around our property but at least out of the arena.

I have not posted in awhile because I have not been doing much with my horse.  I had emergency surgery and my doctor does not really want me around the horses due to the risk of re-injury.  I get some feedings in but most of the work has fallen on my wonderful husband.  I have had a few UT sessions and it is nice to get out there and spend some time, but I miss actually playing with Tucker.

I have another week before I can get back out there, at that point I am sure both Tucker and I will be a bit out of shape.  I look forward to getting us back on track.

I just had a great session with Tucker.  It was brief and bareback but really good.  It was as the sun was setting and the temps were cooling and he was a little edgy because of the dusk but it actually made him fun and gave me some energy to play with.  For some reason he was a little weird about the tarp which is pretty unusual for him.  The best part of the session was the end after I dismounted and played with him on ground from the arena to the hay stack.  He had a really nice sideways and I was so proud of him because it was over uneven terrain.

I have had a few sessions since the last time I've posted and they have been pretty vanilla.  Tucker and I are starting to branch out of our riding arena and ride out in the yard and the pastures.  It's going pretty well and most of our sessions have been a short warm up of several games and then out for a happy hack.  He has some right brained behavior in the front yard and even spooked at some birds out there the other day.  We have not made it to the back field yet since we have to go through the front yard to get there, but he has been really relaxed everywhere else we have gone on the property. 

I even hacked around on Freckles the other day.

Life is good when your horses are right in your backyard.

I yet again find myself behind in posting.  No time for posting when you are busy moving and taking care of horses on your own land!!!!!!  We are in the new place and although we have been very busy and have been working our tails off but, everyone is settling nicely and I am very happy here.

I have had 3 sessions with Tucker since we moved in Saturday and they all have been very interesting. 

The first session was very low key and I did not ask for much because I just wanted acquaint him with the new place.  He was a little looky but settled into the ride and seemed comfortable.  There is a scary mud patch in our riding arena but other than that we did no really play with much just walked and trotted around to get the feel of things.

The second session was much different.  I decided to take him out to play because as I was out walking the fence line in the pasture he would get me in his sites and come charging at me and then turn around and run away sometimes with a buck.  I interpreted this as a desire to engage and play.  I brought him in and yo yo'd him out and as soon as he hit the end of the line he took off at a canter.  I did not ask he just offered it so I let him go.  He stayed out there at that gait for about 10 minutes before he finally checked in and asked a question.  Once we got that out of him it was a really good session.  It was very high energy and he moved so much nicer than he usually does.  His canter eventually evened out and he was using all his body.  I never got on just stayed online.  I'm not sure if the energy was brought on by having lots of fresh green grass or the fact that he was in a new place but it was kind of fun to play with for awhile.

Today my typically horse showed up, wanting to eat more than do anything else but still pretty willing.  I added some toys to the arena today and we played with poles, cones and hula hoops.  Most of the games were in the saddle but I did check him out on the ground first.  I had no idea what he would be like today given his performance yesterday.  

It's been a fun few days.  The feeling of riding our own horse on your own farm is really incredible.  It may be a small piece of property but it's ours and I love it here.  I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to get closer to the horses that living with them should allow me.

I'm about a million sessions behind on posting, but both Tucker and I are well.  We are enjoying summer and trying to stay as cool as possible.  I'll post about a few highlights of late.  We recently had an AWESOME, AWESOME ride out in the pasture trails.  It was one of those days where we were both relaxed and I really believe we both enjoyed the ride.  We've had a few good play sessions since then but nothing of particular note.  We went through a recent sheath cleaning which is never fun, but always reminds me how trusting and good natured my horse is.  It also always reminds me how much I must really care about this horse.

The vet comes Tuesday for yearly routine stuff, which will hopefully go well and be uneventful.

Lance and I are working on purchasing a small farm and right now things are on track for us moving into it by the end of the month.  It has been a stressful and bumpy road, but hopefully it will go well from here on out.  The house purchase has certainly been the focus of much of our energy and I feel fortunate to be getting any time with my horse at all right now.  Once we are in the new place our focus will change to getting our current home sold.  Life is busy and good and full of change right now.  I am both thrilled and terrified to be getting 24/7 care of the horses.

I'm way behind in my posting and have had several sessions that I have not written about.

Not going to catch up now or probably ever.  

I did want to post briefly on how awesome my horse was this weekend.   We went camping and had several friends meet us out at that site.  Tucker took 7 newbies for spins around the arena and was as patient and pleasant as I could have ever expected him to be.  They all had minimal to no riding experience so I know it was probably not the greatest experience for him.  It was also pretty hot out there, but he let everyone get on and showed them around.

Towards the end he was getting a little fussy and tossing his head a bit and not wanting to stand still, but given all he had put up with I cut him some slack.

He's a great horse and we have been having lots of fun lately.  We are headed into the heat of summer here and I have been giving some serious thought to reducing my time riding.  Does anyone else do this?  I will still probably head out there some evenings and maybe some early morning weekends but as the days get hotter the available time to ride gets less and unfortunately I am already short on time.

We've had more rain so the barn was muddy yet again.  I was not comfortable to ask for more than a walk due to risk of slipping in the mud.  I was actually kind of glad because it gave me the chance to play with muddy pits.  Tucker really did not seem to have a problem with the mud.  He would have preferred to go through the less muddy route given his own choice but when asked he would trek through the muddier one. 

I also took the opportunity to work on the fear of chickens he has.  It's a problem because chickens are a permanent fixture at the barn now so we need to play through it, but chickens are one of my least favorite things to play with.  He is getting better about them and can actually look at them without losing his mind but he still does not want to get too close to their pen.  Lots and lots of approach and retreat and I know eventually he will get there.

I'm a couple days behind posting on my last ride, but things have been a bit busy of late.  I went out Wednesday night and the barn had finally started to dry up a bit.  I rode in the small paddock and we worked mostly on circles and maintaining gait.  He had a nice relaxed (read: slow) trot and was pretty good about listening even with the large pile of hay working as a distraction.  It was a brief ride maybe 30 minutes in length, but I felt like we both had a session.  He was rewarded with enjoying that big pile of hay at the end of it.

I had a really nice bareback hack on Tucker today around one of the pastures at the barn.  The mud finally cleared up and I managed to get my butt to the barn to spend some time with my horse and I am certainly glad I did.  Bareback riding over uneven terrain is certainly much more of a leg work out than riding with saddle, I suspect I will be feeling it tomorrow.  It felt like forever since I had ridden, but he did great and was pretty solid plodding through the high grass in the field.  He had more energy and was much more responsive than I would have thought given the fact that our temperatures are creeping up to the high 80's and low 90's.  He had one little spook at scary drain pipe water run off area but other than that life was good.

I have been thinking about my horse a lot lately and how the Parelli program fits into our life at this point.  I had an extensive conversation about it with one of my friends last night.  I explained to her that while I have learned a lot from Parelli and I think they have helped me immensely in my relationship with my horse, I just really do not see any need to go any further in the program.  I certainly do not see any reason to dump any more money into their pockets.  I know there is so much further Tucker and I COULD go, I'm just not sure I want to.  I love being a "happy hacker" (as Lisa-the friend from last night-referred to it).  I'm sure I could have a deeper relationship with my horse by going further into the program, but I'm not really sure I feel the need to devote my time and energy to that.  I know it sounds terrible, but Tucker and I are happy being trail partners and maybe that is all this partnership is meant to be.

I am in no way saying my horse is perfect, he still gets right brained (especially over farm animals) and he we still have to work through things, but for the most part he does everything I want him to do so I can hack around the barn, ride the trails and take him camping.  There are things we need to work on but, I feel pretty confident that the skills I have learned from the program so far will help me deal with those and get throug them.  As things pop up I will handle it with the tools I have been given.  If something shows up that I feel unprepared to deal with I may revisit lengthening my journey into the program, but I think at this point I am going to focus on just enjoying my horse, riding where and how I want in places that interest us both.  I will worry less about how much time I spend on patterns, tasks and games and just do what feels right at the time for Tucker and I at that moment in time.

We have had an enormous amount of rain here and it is cutting into my time with Tucker.  It sucks and I miss my horse.  Even when it is not actually raining at the barn, which is rare the mud is so thick it is hard to walk around let alone play with my horse.

:(

Tucker certainly tested my emotional fitness.  Yet again I discovered another farm animal that my horse is terrified of.  This time it was the chickens.  I handled this much better than I did the pigs.  I did lots of approach and retreat, focus on me, hit the threshold/play there/back off and one great big shout out to penella22 for suggesting the getting him to lower his head game.  Anytime I ran out of ideas I would go back to that because at least we were doing something.

The problem was he was not "getting over it" quick enough for me.  I found myself thinking  "they are just chickens" and "what is his problem."

I think I did a good job of not losing my cool on the outside with him, but I certainly felt it on the inside and I know horses are keen enough to sense and pick up on that.  It ended on an OK note and know I certainly have something to play with going forward.

It is always a good idea when you are going to the barn to ride your horse to remember your set of keys so you can unlock the front gate and unlock  the trailer where all of your tack is kept.  If you are going to forget the keys it is better to remember  you forgot them close to home instead of when you pull in the driveway of the barn.

Needless to say my day with my horse did not go as I had planned.  I had no halter, no carrot stick, no saddle, no rope.......oh well I had an enjoyable time with Tucker anyway.  He got a really thorough grooming and we played a little as I groomed him.  I toyed with how light of pressure could get him to move various body parts.  Sometimes he was paying attention to me and responsive, but sometimes he was more interested in the hay available to him and it took an act of congress to get movement.

I also helped Lance comb out Freckles' mane because she had one serious witch's knot.

Sometimes even though thing don't go as planned they can still turn out pretty good.

I had a wonderful weekend with my horse.  Lance and I took the horses to the campground for some trail riding and things could not have been better.  We had some really enjoyable rides.  He was a little scared of the cows he could see across the road while he was in his stall but other than that the weekend went very smoothly.

He did have a moment where he tried to lay down with me while I was still on him.  At first I thought something must be wrong, so I got off, got him moving and tried to figure out what was going on.  In the end I think he was just being a troll and trying to eat grass.  We were standing in the middle of some very green and lush grass waiting for Lance and Freckles.  Tucker was trying to eat but I would not let him put his head down, that was when he hit his knees.  I'm making note of it because it is not something he has ever done before, but he is probably food motivated enough to try something like that.

We both overdue to get out on trails and away from the arena and this weekend provided just the opportunities we needed.  I actually feel like he enjoyed being out there as much as I did.  I'm probably humanizing but he did seem relaxed and happy out there.

Yesterday I realized I'm really not a very good horseman.  I just have a really good horse.  When things were really crazy for him I was pretty useless.

Someone dumped two pigs at the farm which caused all the horses to go completely CRAZY.  I have never seen Tucker so scared of anything for such an extended period of time.  Of course all the other horses going equally insane did not help.  There was no place on the farm I could retreat to that got him thinking and focused back on me.  No game, object or tactic I played with caused him to calm down.  The truth is it chipped away at my confidence.  He was in an elevated and terrified state and I knew any kind of pressure from me would result in a complete meltdown and explosion and I just did not know what to do with him.  Every movement of grass caused him to completely go out of his skin.  I eventually just let him go and watched him run and prance around, head high, continuously snorting.  He was scary to me in that state because there was no thinking going on.  It was right brained on steroids.  What if he acted like this while we were out on the trail?

Where do I go from here?