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So right now I am training a very cheeky Sport Pony named Uber for the purpose of resale. He is a total dork and definitely knows how to push my buttons. I figured I'd share our journey with you guys!These will start as daily updates and will become weekly updates eventually. He is being trained into Eventing but enjoy the experience of Hunters, Barrel Racing, Equitation and Trail Riding on Uber with me! A bit more about Uber and how I got him: Age: 9 Color: Faded Black and White Tobiano Height: 13.1hh Backstory: I really don't know what Uber has done in his early years. He's broke of course but was a western pony strictly. His attitude seemed to scare people away. We found him when shopping for ponies for my sister. Uber appeared extremely unhappy and lazy so of course she disliked him. He tried to buck me off when I rode him but I knew I needed that pony. So... I finally got him.
Our journey so far:I've had Uber for almost a month. I was very fed up with the fact that he was so unwilling to learn and I gave him the cold shoulder for a week. After he went to a friends house for a couple days and we hauled over to pick him up and ride our other horses at their place I rode him again. He was awful. A total tool refusing everything, pissing me off and making me hate him even more to the point where I gave up. Again, the cold shoulder. 2 days later I'm riding him again and we clicked. My worst enemy became my best friend. We went from refusing tiny crossrails to jumping 2'6" courses bareback in a couple days. Now, we just play around and he tries to buck me off or stop in his tracks to throw me yet I still love him. I hope you follow Uber's journey into a new lifestyle with me!
https://i.postimg.cc/1RNKVkQw/7-C88-A584-32-DD-4743-AD1-D-2102-D79-FACCD.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/t49df7VN/C3-D03-E80-74-B2-42-C7-99-BB-699-FEF617-BA8.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/c4xMkr3M/7820-CA49-DCD7-421-A-A59-A-262-C93-E8-A337.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/yd68C4y5/6226-CEAD-8-DC8-433-A-B87-E-60251430-A791.png
Feel free to use these as stock if you'd like but pm me and credit me if you do!
Also: I would greatly appreciate some help with training exercises I can do with him to help our jumping or increase his muscle. I have a few that I do with him but I would love to introduce more!
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Tracked Training Day 1 7/25/19
The arena is coming along but the footing is awful so Uber wasn't keen on having to lift his legs high and work through it. He had been off for about 5 days prior so as expected he was being opinionated about how much pressure I applied with my spur when he was being an ass and flipping his head going into the lope (No he doesn't have pain issues he has attitude). I gave up on flat work in the deep footing so we played around on the new bank drops we have (YAY!) for the first time. He LOVED it. The drops were a good 1.5 feet and he handled them like a pro! We played with those for a good hour just fooling around enjoying the mild Texas weather.
Plans for next session: Pole work and flying change work |
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Trivia Team |
Pole work is SUPER helpful for improving their toplines and general balance and coordination so that is a great step to take :) |
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Lunging! It can really help build muscle and lots of trotting up hills! It helps build those butt muscles. Also you could take him for some walks by hand just to help improve your relationship. One of my favorite things to do was actually eat dinner with my horses as well as just sitting in their stalls doing work, reading a book or even listening to podcasts. It really does wonders, plus it's good for them to see not everything is about work. Also it sounds like if he was a western horse maybe you two could take a day or two off a week to go for a hack? Maybe he would love to get out and see things and you could do conditioning ones. I know that always helped my horses! I'm looking forward to hear about your adventures. Keep us posted! :) |
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Sounds like a fun pony! I'm all about devilish attitudes *maniacal laugh*
As for jumping exercises, bounces would be great. It builds muscle and, if done correctly, you can teach them to stay light on the forehand and be careful with their feet. I love bounces with my wacky girl.
I assume you know what bounces are but just in case let me tell you. It doesn't matter how many jumps are in the line. It could be two or twenty. I'd start with only a few to start off though. Place your jumps twelve feet apart from each other. To measure twelve feet, take four even steps as if counting strides for a course. Don't count the steps for takeoff or landing because if you do you'll just end up with a one stride in-and-out.
Now you can trot or canter through and make that pony look like a body builder! |
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Ahhh thank you for the help! I'm glad there are people interested and willing to give tips! |
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I plan on being a trainer in the future so feel free to ask me things :D I'd also love to hear your thought process when you make training updates with him. Training is super fascinating to me! |
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I definitely will Greys! Day 2 update will come around 9 pm gt |
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Tracked Training Day 2 7/26/19
I rode Uber twice today (10:30 am and 7:15 pm) to work on different things. I thought if I did actual flat work making him be soft and working on collection we could have a fun ride later in the day. Session 1: I rode him on a loose rein just walk, trot, lope super easy. When I'm jumping I hold him quite tight as he tends to pull through my hands but me doing that results in him getting hyped up. The laid back ride really made him relax into his strides and I could feel his stride lengthen and his head was lowered. It was a fantastic ride! Session 2: After a thorough (25 minute) warm up we began jumping. He refused like normal because I set an oxer up at around 2'6" and since he's still a green bean over fences he thought it was gonna eat him (lol). He did fine after and i noticed he was really really scopey! Another great, fun ride to let him run around and enjoy himself after a good ride in the morning. He loves to jump!
(All photos above were taken today, the jumping photos are of the small 2 foot warmup jump we did in session 2 and I failed to get pics of the big one)
On Sunday I will be taking Uber on his first outing, not a show but a playday (Barrels, Pole Bending, Flags and 2 other events chosen at random) which I'm stoked about! It will be his first time riding in an indoor arena and his first time in a warmup ring with 20+ horses! Should be a great learning experience for us both! |
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Fog Early followed by Afternoon Showers
