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I rode Terry a few times but then... Of course... She pulled a shoe Saturday morning *facepalm*
This has not been our year. Farrier is coming Thursday and I've been DYING waiting to ride her again. :/ |
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Shoe is on!!! Will be riding again tomorrow ^-^ |
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Didn't have the opportunity to ride yesterday, but today Terry and I went for a lovely collected trail ride to come back to work. <3
She wasn't very responsive to leg and didn't want to go straight. When trotting I had to keep half halting repeatedly and stopping roughly when she wouldn't listen. Other than that, she was pretty good about using her body and she seemed to be having fun. She likes trail rides but can get nervous on her own, which leads to misbehaving which ends up in incidents like haunches in power poles (fun story e-e), but today she was an absolute angel. Our only issue was some spooooky ducks. :3
(This is a screenshot from a video so it's kinda blurry :P) https://i.postimg.cc/6q1Gf47g/F293-ADDC-C080-4-B2-A-8-D9-E-82-CC1-B4076-EB.jpg |
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I have a question about your training.
Why would you start a 20 year old horse? Especially one that had a lot of problems. Even if she's in the best shape she's even been in, I was raised to believe that an animal is the same as done at 20. One of my horses, who passed earlier this year, went from age 15 to the day she passed at 31 as just a hard ornament. Why? Because I thought she deserved it. Once a horse gets to 10, I consider their window to start riding has closed. I was always taught that old horses are just like old people. They shouldn't be forced to get their first job when they should be retiring. If you have been taught a reason that makes that alright, I would like to know because I've never known anyone who would start an elderly horse before. I've never been able to think of a good reason to start working one that is already that old, so I would appreciate it you would teach me what makes it worth starting a horse so late.
But I read a lot of your posts about Terry and she sounds great! Sounds like you two get along great and like she's everything you want her to be. I have a young quarter pony that I want to do western pleasure with and some of your exercises I think would be good for her. My little monster won't spook at anything, not flag nor crop or super long lunge whip. But she is hard to tell to go due to that indifference, so maybe some of your exercises will help. |
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My neighbors took Dixie from a feedlot two years ago with the dream of her being a great riding horse and, if all went smoothly, a jumper as well. Obviously that wouldn't work for her and the neighbors didn't feel like giving her what she needed to be healthier. Still, they tried riding her, and I don't necessarily agree with their training methods or philosophy.
Now that I've had Dixie for so long (year and a half), she has found trust in me and strengthened her body a lot. This is HUGE. She has major trust issues and /still/ gets horribly frightened by certain movements. I never thought I'd see the day where she was healthy, either. I've had to stand up for her multiple times for different things which has kept her at her best. Most of these things relate to riding.
I wouldn't usually start a horse at her age but I've found a few reasons for Dixie. For one, Terry gets nervous without buddies on trail rides and Dixie freaks out without her, so they could be trail buddies. My dad also wants to start trail riding and wanted me to get Dixie green broke so we could go together (me on the old lady of course). Dixie also could benefit from basic training, both mentally and physically. It has gotten her to trust me more and be less sensitive. Riding an older horse very lightly can actually help their health as well. I don't do much with Dixie, but she is perfectly capable of basic trail work and has benefited from such, so I've decided to continue with her. When I started I was ready to quit in an instant if she didn't want to do it.
As for your pony, I'd like to make a suggestion :) Something I do to get horses more responsive is trotting a few steps, halting, then trotting after the horse was completely finished stopping. If they don't get right to it they get big kicks, not baby nudges. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Also, LOTS of transitions. It'll take time but you can get that pony moving! |
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GreysAnatomy Stables said:
My neighbors took Dixie from a feedlot two years ago with the dream of her being a great riding horse and, if all went smoothly, a jumper as well. Obviously that wouldn't work for her and the neighbors didn't feel like giving her what she needed to be healthier. Still, they tried riding her, and I don't necessarily agree with their training methods or philosophy.
Now that I've had Dixie for so long (year and a half), she has found trust in me and strengthened her body a lot. This is HUGE. She has major trust issues and /still/ gets horribly frightened by certain movements. I never thought I'd see the day where she was healthy, either. I've had to stand up for her multiple times for different things which has kept her at her best. Most of these things relate to riding.
I wouldn't usually start a horse at her age but I've found a few reasons for Dixie. For one, Terry gets nervous without buddies on trail rides and Dixie freaks out without her, so they could be trail buddies. My dad also wants to start trail riding and wanted me to get Dixie green broke so we could go together (me on the old lady of course). Dixie also could benefit from basic training, both mentally and physically. It has gotten her to trust me more and be less sensitive. Riding an older horse very lightly can actually help their health as well. I don't do much with Dixie, but she is perfectly capable of basic trail work and has benefited from such, so I've decided to continue with her. When I started I was ready to quit in an instant if she didn't want to do it.
As for your pony, I'd like to make a suggestion :) Something I do to get horses more responsive is trotting a few steps, halting, then trotting after the horse was completely finished stopping. If they don't get right to it they get big kicks, not baby nudges. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Also, LOTS of transitions. It'll take time but you can get that pony moving!
Thank you! I can see how working with an older horse some could be good for them, especially if it's so they can stay with their buddy. My quarter pony is basically in the lunging stage. Only been ridden a few times, but never flinches. Started trotting and doesn't her understand heels, but she'll stop, turn, and back a couple steps. I only really ride her up to 3 times a week thanks to school and work, but I've never felt like she's thinking of doing something silly. My goal with her is western pleasure and trail, so staying lazy would be a good thing. I'll definitely try a little getting her listening to see if that will help improve her response time. |
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No matter the discipline, responsiveness is a must. Good luck :) |
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Alright peeps.
I lunged Terry yesterday. I don't have any fancy equipment, so I'm working towards getting her to move correctly on the lunge completely on her own. Ambitious? *head scratch* Oh well.. Its possible and Imma make it happen. First off, correct hind end engagement and no more awkward shortening of stride on rough corners (I've been lunging her in the pasture lately). She was really good and I was really proud of myself for catching little details and setting her up to do things better. A great session <3
I'm not sure if I'll work with her today. If so, it'll probably just be groundwork. I've got some... Issues... With the arena... And it's too rainy for another trail ride. |
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So, jump back to the seventh or eighth (can't remember), I did groundwork with Terry. Then on the tenth we did bareback dressage. That ride was AMAZING and I'm so happy with how she is transforming into a solid dressage horse. We kept it walk-trot so as not to push luck.
I wanted to work with everyone before I left for my mini vacation on the eleventh but I didn't have time. No one worked this weekend.
Today I did a quick session with Rosco, but it was just a recap for him and wasn't anything interesting so I won't bore you. I then did another bareback dressage ride with Terry. That was... Good, I guess? Walk and trot were good for the most part. Got her to relax more and stop getting choppy and basically "giving up" when things got hard. So that's great and all, but cantering was horrid xP
Left lead was just speedy and disorganized. Right lead was also speedy and disorganized, but add in Terry not wanting to listen to anything, not picking up the lead, basically lunging, etc etc.. I will accept fault for the lead issues and I got to the root of the problem after more tries than I'd like to admit xD, but the rest was just... *sigh* I even fell off in a slow motion slide backward down her left shoulder when coming to a stop from the canter. No worries, I landed softly on my bum and she stayed with me. I feel bad for not letting go of the reins but I couldn't risk her taking off down the driveway since we were riding in an unfenced yard. Got up in a millisecond (as I always do, no time or care for myself lol) and did some ground stuff before hopping back on.
Overall... I don't know. Guess I just got to move on and do better tomorrow. |
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Alright peeps. Haven't posted in a while, so here's a really quick rap up of what has been going on around here.
Took Terry to a flat/crossrail schooling show on the 10th. Got two fourths and a second. She was an absolute queen even though I couldn't ride worth crap (to be fair, it was my first time in a saddle in two or three months. We had been riding pure bareback). Since then I've hopped on her once or twice but mainly she's just been chilling in the pasture. I've been wanting to get out with her but things like weather, school, and animal chores keep getting in the way. Hoping to take her on a trail today and, if I have time, give Dixie a nice little refresher in the yard.
In case you might be wondering, everyone is doing great coming into the colder seasons. Terry is such an easy keeper, I barely have to change anything in her feed routine. Rosco is an absolute FLOOF and looks obese but he's a literal string bean. Tiny is getting long but thin hair and he's super soft. I'm gonna need to put a few pounds on him before the snow hits but he's looking good. Dixie is at a perfect weight for being in work, but she's old and we are coming towards winter so I'm trying to get her chunky ;). I'm actually quite happy that her joints haven't started popping. She's carrying on just as smoothly as the summer!
Anyhow, Terry would like to bless you with her pretty face before you continue with your day <3 https://i.postimg.cc/8CZwTNV7/Screenshot-2019-11-26-at-10-42-49-AM.png |
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Epic Blizzard ! Stock up on Supplies
