I have not played with my horses in two weeks. Holiday travel, weather and work hours are interfering with my sessions. I had a very brief session of friendly game with Freckles last weekend, but it did not really amount to much.

I'm supposed to trailer the horses to the park for a trail ride with a girlfriend tomorrow morning, unfortunately the forecast is not looking good :(

I need some horsey time to balance back out. Here's to holding out hope that things will get clearer this weekend.

Got to play with both horses this morning and managed to get inside just in time before the rain.

Freckles' session was brief and focused mostly on the friendly game with a tube of wormer. She hates being wormed. It was a little rough at first with her head tossing all over the place but, I was feeling pretty proud because by the end of the session she was actually taking the tube in her mouth and holding it in her teeth. I would say it was a pretty productive session, unfortunately my experience has been that it does not necessarily carry over. Next time I go out to play with the tube of wormer it will start all over the head tossing.

My session with Tucker was kind of a mix. We were back to ear pinning when asked to do certain tasks, but other then that things went really well. I focused A LOT on the EXTREME friendly game. I tend to get a little complacent when it comes to the friendly game by not really using my stick and string as forcefully as I can. I also really tried to mix it up today. I would whip the ground as hard as I could, jump up and down and really try to create a commotion. When he was pretty calm about that, which did not take too long I took him to various parts of the pasture and played it there. Lots of leaves & sticks on the ground made for some good noise makers. He would get a little defensive about the game at times, but for the most part it went very well and he was pretty calm about it.

We played the circle game with obstacles and there was one jump that was pretty fun because after going over it his adrenaline came up. The energy did not last long but it was fun to have it to play with for a little bit. In this session I felt like I was making the mistake of asking way too "loudly" for things. I would skip phases and put more pressure on than necessary. To combat this I decided to sit down and see how little I could do and get him to play with me. Well that did not go so well. He would yo-yo well while I was sitting down, but other than that he just stood there and looked at me if I asked him to do anything else. I guess it is just something I will need to keep playing with.

Another note on the ear pining when asked to do certain things, like trot with me in zone 3. I'm not sure how to fix it. I have read/seen to get busy in zone 1. Bump them or drive them or do something to put some pressure in that area and stop the behavior. Every time I do this, it does help with the ear pinning, but it stops the game and seems to confuse him and cause a little bit of lack of confidence. I would really like to get some outside help on how to clean this up. Lance and I are hoping for a Parelli lesson in Dec or beginning of next year and this will be on my list of things to ask about.

He had some beautiful sideways game this morning and it was a good lesson for me on how focus impacts a horse. When I would really think about what I wanted him to do I could sideways him to the fence or between poles or over poles with hardly any movement on my part at all.

All in all a pretty good session, even though things were not perfect it gave me things to keep in mind and work on for our sessions to come. Unfortunately our sessions seem to only be happening about once a week. The time change and my busy schedule is just not allowing for more right now :( I suspect the holidays will not offer much relief in this area.

I had a great session with Tucker today. We warmed up online and I focused on LOTS of variety in our games.

Right before mounting I took the two hula hoops I keep in the ring and hung them both over one of the fence posts. BOY did this give us something to play with once I was in the saddle. Tucker has been exposed to the hula hoops for years. They've been on his head, neck, legs, tail and we've played with them being on the ground in all sorts of ways. Putting them on the fence post mixed it up though. At first he was unsure of them so it gave me the opportunity to do lots of approach and retreat. We would approach head on then turn and off to do something else. It was fun to watch the transformation from unsure to curious where he was wanting to walk up to them and put his mouth on them.

We also did some transition work. He struggled with trotting in a tight circle to the left at first. I had to really focus on my ask and my seat to make sure I was not sending him a confusing signal or causing him discomfort. He would drift off the circle and not turn in a flexible warm way. I made the circle bigger and allowed him to loosen up a bit. It took some work but we got two really clean small circles and I decided to move on.

The rest of the session was pretty good. It was a really nice day out and I was in less pain today than I have been so it was great to be back out there on Tucker. I enjoyed him today and I hope he had as much fun.

In spite of a constant rain and an aching back and tailbone I managed to get a couple of sessions in with both horses this week. They were all online on the ground and not terribly active due to all the mud.

I have set a couple goals with Freckles. I am going to teach her to bow. I think she will be great at it and she is very smart so I think she will catch on quickly. Our first time playing with it she was picking up her foot with a light tap of the stick. I also want to friendly her using wormer tubes. We manage when it comes time to worm but it certainly is not pretty, I want her to worm nice and calmly and although I think it may take awhile to get there I am going to really focus on making that friendly and positive for her.

As for Tucker I think he is finding me quite boring lately. He is always obedient and does what I ask but this week he has been awful crabby about it with snotty expressions and pinned ears. I'm working on being more provocative but I'm running out of ideas. I think the next time I play with him it is going to involve treats as reward and not ask anything to demanding just so he can have a positive session with me and then maybe I can build on things from there as to keep things interesting for him. Any suggestions are always appreciated!

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.

:(