Originally I wanted to document Maple's progress with trail riding and be able to see our progress, but now I just share milestones and some updates here and there

Feel free to read/follow along/comment! :D

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About Maple

hes a 6 year old OTTB and he's around 17hh give or take, im not too sure I havent measured him since he was younger lol

But I've had him since he had just turned 4. He was severely abused and neglected before I got him. Hes come a long ways and hes a super good boy now!

I'll be documenting the ups and downs of his journey and I guess this is sort of a horsey 'blog' lol. It started out as a trail riding progress but now we're just vibing

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a pic of him because hes cute

A recap of what I've been doing with him so far

Winter of 2021-Spring of 2022

TONS of in hand trail walking at my old barn. He was really confident hand walking them and really enjoyed it

Moved barns June 2022

Did no trail riding because the trails were shitty there and I didnt feel comfortable doing it

But we did walk around the property and he was a little jumpy and uncooperative but it was getting better

He developed a fear of water because someone was harassing him and spraying him with water and yeah

Shit fell apart at that barn and we moved late August/early September 2022

I got injured early September and was not allowed to ride for like 3 months

Started riding again in November!

A lot of arena work and exploring part of the property with him on foot

January started riding around the property. Extremely terrified but trying his hardest. Hes a lot more calm bareback than under saddle (because I trained him to ride bareback, so he doesnt associate it with anything bad)

We have started exploring the other half of the property on foot. He is very jumpy and shaky, and probably lacking confidence but over the next couple weeks I will be hand walking him all over the property and lunging him everywhere and letting him explore and be more comfortable.

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My plan/next steps in this:

Get him comfortable hand walking all over the barn

Start riding all over the property
Start hand walking him outside the property

Get him comfortable in-hand off the property

Start riding him in the pasture at a walk

Get w/t/c in the pasture

Get him comfortable riding on the road outside the property

Practice entering and exiting the property calmly

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My end goal is to be able to w/t/c Maple anywhere

Yesterday was a really really great day! Did about 30 minutes of groundwork (lunging, yielding hind quarters, walking around the property, backing up)

Then I tacked him up for the first time in like a month LMAO

And we went for a super super short ride (like maybe 5 minutes) but he was SO good Im so proud of him. We rode in an area hes familiar with on the property. He was a little nervous but he did his best to pay attention and focus, and he was so good! We did a circles at the walk, going both ways, and then I had him stand quietly for 10 seconds before hopping off. Gave him a treat :)
This is going to take a lot of little fun rides, but the end goal is for him to have fun and like trail riding. Im super proud of him!

Look at how cute he is all tacked up ♥️

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Next steps:

work more on cantering on the lunge line

Get him comfortable on the other half of the property (groundwork and exploring over there)

Continue doing short little rides in places he is comfortable with

Today was AMAZING!

We rode around the pasture today for the first time ever and he was so good! Bareback and in a halter really is the best.

There were 2 horses going crazy but he ignored them and was very calm and just the best boy ♥️

We just walked around and he stopped and ate grass here and there and both of us had a great time

Very very proud of him

It was a great day!

pictures ft. my concerningly pale hands (ancestors are crying in the grave)

Best day ever!

Did a little lunging, and figured out why he gets so upset on his seeing side sometimes (he is blind on one side)

On his blind side, he does best with constant pressure from the whip and lots of voice commands, but when I do that on his seeing side he gets upset sometimes

Figured out today he prefers almost no whip pressure and just the occasional voice command

When he was younger he didn't mind the same thing on both sides, but I think as he's gotten more sensitive/giving to pressure, what I do on his blind side is simply too much pressure for his seeing side

So! Figured that out and he's happy :)

Now moving on to the most amazing part, today we rode in an area of the property he is familiar and comfortable with bareback in a halter!! I'm so so proud of him and it was really an amazing ride

We did lots of circles and serpentines, and practicing standing still and waiting. He did so so so amazing! I'm so very proud of him and super happy

He was overall quite relaxed and happy and he listened very well

I'll upload a picture later, right now I've got to finish barn chores lol

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Stuff I need to work on

Lunging and groundwork on the other half of the property

Building his muscles!! He is lacking them

Yesterday March 16th 2023

A really awesome day! He got his feet done, and we did a little groundwork

Maybe 5/10 mins of lunging, and then walked around a bit

Then I tied him to the tie rail, brushed him all out, and braided his tail :)

Then I turned him out for an hour/and hour and a half and did all my chores

And then once that was done, I went and rode him bareback in the pasture again! He was super awesome and such a good boy. The first ride in the pasture was just going where he wanted to go, stopping for snacks, just getting used to it, but today I took the lead and we did stop for the occasional snack, but we walked the entire perimeter! He was super super good. Part of the pasture is like water and sticky mud, and we almost got stuck there, but I encouraged him through and he did really well and we got through it very smoothly.

And then on the other side of the fence, theres horses, and he did super good! Listened to me, and ignored the horses and kept going. I'm very very proud of him and hes just the best boy ever ♥️

I've been so busy I forgot to update 😂😅

I can't remember what I did from March 18th-March 23rd

But March 24th, I walked and trotted him around the pasture :)

It was pretty chilly so he wasn't super excited to zoom around but he was a very good boy.

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March 25th, we did groundwork and started his topline building. Set up poles and lunged him over them, did hill work, and stretches. Then turned him out in the pasture while I did my chores and later rode him. He was pretty hot 😂 we just did walking, lots of serpentines and circles, and walked the perimeter.

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March 26 yesterday! Yesterday was an absolutely AMAZING day and I'm super super proud of him ♥️♥️♥️

Did some groundwork, lunging over poles, hill work, stretches.

We rode around the property bareback, he was very good. Very calm and listening. We had a little moment where he wanted to go to the pasture and wasn't listening, I gently but firmly corrected him, and he listened and we continued working. Very proud of him!

He was tied for awhile because a different horse was hanging out in the pasture, but he got turned out for a couple hours which was awesome
I rode him in the pasture, we did a lot of trotwork (I'm still working on riding his trot bareback smoothly LOL) and he needs some work with collecting but he was very good.

And then the best part ever, we cantered! It was amazing and just so awesome. His canter is awesome to ride, super smooth and he collects very nicely in it. The best little guy ♥️

He was begging to gallop 😂♥️

Im going there again either today or tomorrow, and depending on how hes doing we might do a little gallop :)

There were a couple little happy bucks, but again gently corrected him and tried again and he was super good.

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Things we are working on:

building his topline

bareback trot

collecting while trotting outside the arena

Things we need to work on:

riding around the entire property

lunging and handwalking outside the property

riding outside the property!

march 28th 2023

great day today!

Did a good amount of groundwork, lunging over poles, backing up, yielding hind quarters. Also went over/through some obstacles (bridge, tarps, pool noodles)

Then we explored the other part of the property! :)

I've been meaning to do this for awhile

He was very calm and a good boy, ate some grass, sniffed around.

We walked the mini trail around the pond and last time we did this he was terrified, but today he was awesome! A lot of it was flooded, but he did great, very calm, very good. Went around it and then walked back.

He was awesome! I want to start riding around the whole property soon.

I then turned him out in the pasture and he was super happy.

There wasn't anytime to ride today, but still a great day!

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stuff to keep working on:

topline building

collecting

exploring the property on foot

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stuff to start working on:

exploring and lunging off property

riding around the whole property

:)

Big update!

My memory is kind of failing me, but I worked with him the past 3 days and he was super good, and we had a ton of fun.

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3/31

I have no clue what I did but it was great LOL. I think(?) we rode around the property a little bit

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4/1

Did some groundwork, and then rode in the pasture. Lot of trot and canter work. Galloped a bit it was super fun! We did end up crashing into the fence though lmao. I fell off, and he got scared a ran a little bit, but then waited by the gate for me. Told him he was a good boy, patted him, walked him around to cool him off and then got back on and rode some more around the pasture.

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4/2

Yesterday was amazing! Did a lot of groundwork both in and out of the round pen (round pen is finally usable woohoo!)

The dirt in the round pen was perfect, just wet and thick enough for him to really have to work, but not so bad that he could slip and hurt himself. Lunged over poles, practiced backing up while collected, did neck stretches, yielding front and hind quarters.

Then I got on and rode around the entire property a couple times! (Except for the area at the back of the pond, more on that later). He was so so good and amazing. A little bit of jigging, but I quickly corrected that and we continued nicely. Rode all around the property a couple different times and he was a very good boy.

A big trigger for him is small/enclosed areas on trail. Because thats what the trails were like where I got him, so it brings him back to that place. However he has gotten a lot better and braver aswell as quieter and I'm very proud of him. He used to freak out and panic, now he just gently says 'I dont like this, can we please turn around'

So I have him stand for a little bit and just watch the place, show him that its not scary, walk around a little bit near it, and then we leave that place and go back to somewhere he is comfortable. Its getting better and better and Im so proud of him :)

The pasture was occupied, so I brought him back home and he wanted cuddles so I spent some time with him and he was happy. I turned him out in the pasture later and he was happy

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Next steps:

Get him comfortable riding behind the pond

Start exploring outside the property

Other stuff: Keep working on collection!

Yesterday (April 5th 2023)

Was a great day! :)

I had a difficult day personally, but Maple was a super good boy and we had a great ride.

Rode around the property. He's still unsure about being in the brush areas, but he was a lot calmer, and we got closer to it than before. I'm guessing its going to take a little while for him to be completely comfortable being there and walking through it, but progress!

We also did a little bit of trot work! He was very calm and quiet and round. Super good boy.

Oh we also went through some obstacles :D (tarps, pool noodles, bridge, etc). Got some nice lateral work too

We practiced going in and out of the round pen aswell and he was very good.

All around a great ride :)

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For groundwork we did lunging over poles as our main thing and a bunch of other stuff in the round pen. I did set up some barrels for him to jump but he didnt want to so thats okay. I think once the footing gets better he'll want to jump more

I might do some smaller jumps too to get him back in the swing of things.

His topline is coming along nicely too :)

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Things I need to do:

hand walk him outside the property

hand walk him in the brush more often

Things to keep working on:

topline! w/t all around the property