Yesterday June 15th 2023

Great day!

Lunged him over poles and then We did some bareback trot work, and rode behind the pond by ourselves (we had only done it one time before with another horse) and he was super good! We went for a little dip in the pond too

We also did some polework with me riding him, did the obstacle course and then did some bridleless work which he was very good about

He struggled a bit with collection that day but he was still trying hard so im proud of him

After that I hopped off and we did some more groundwork and then!! We go over his fear of cows! Woohoo! Might have to practice a couple more times just to solidify it but im super happy and proud

Then I turned him out and he had fun grazing

July 1st was a horrible day in general but a great day with Maple if that makes sense lol.

Went with some friends and my BM on a 2 hour trail ride! We trailered out early morning and then rode and maple did AMAZING im so proud of him ♥️♥️♥️

First time trailering somewhere and then riding there, and 2nd long trail ride ever! He did jig some in the beginning, but after 20 or so minutes settled down and was the best horse on the ride :)
He seemed to really enjoy it and we both had loads of fun

Almost everyone else on the trail ride was really cranky and rude to me and Maple though :( and thats when things really started going down hill at my barn

Im always happy to see Maple of course, however I dont enjoy being at the barn if that makes sense. So many things one after the other that have made it really unpleasant to be there

But on more good Maple progress, we have been working on canter leads and flying changes and he is doing so good! He tries so hard when I ask him to do something and hes such a good boy I love him so much haha

___________________________________________

pics from the trail ride

before the trail ride

during the trail ride

after the trail ride

a couple recent pics :)

Wednesday July 19th

great day super proud of him! We did a little groundwork in the round pen but he didnt seem super into it so instead we went for a trail walk :)
Theres one direction that he always gets a little nervous going for whatever reason but he was super brave and calm and good and I'm very proud of him! He walked quietly back to the barn too (in the past going this way on the way back he got super hot)

Then I saddled and we walked around and did a nice little stretchy trot and then trotted over poles and it was really nice

Also Ive been practicing water crossings with him because they really need work LOL. Then walked him around some more, hopped off and went and grabbed Cappuccino (the wild donkey Ive been training, his thread is here Click!)

My goal was to pony Cappuccino from Maple (maple is very good at ponying and being ponied), but seeing as Cappuccino has had a lot of negative experiences with other equines, he was very very nervous and so instead I just hand-walked them next to each other

Maple was amazing and very gentle and sweet with Cappuccino and was very well behaved!

Cappuccino was definitely overwhelmed but trying his best and stayed under the thresh-hold. The more positive experiences with them the better and I hope to soon be able to pony Cappuccino from Maple and take him for trail rides too :)

I got back on Maple after this and did some more trot work and walking too. Overall a very easy day because it has been super hot and though Maple is good in the heat I am not haha

Look at this little cutie! 🥰

Just some updates I forget the days for and some cute pictures :)

Maple has been doing really well with his training, and its so cute and awesome because if I do loose reins he puts his head all the way down like a fancy western horse and if i shorten them he'll be a fancy english horse.

Also a bittersweet moment because his saddle no longer fits!

So I'm just going to be going bareback until he fills out a little bit more and then Ill get a saddle fitter and start looking for a new saddle. Still going to keep the one I have because its very special to me and hey this just means I can get another horse that fits it lol!

Anyways here are some cute pictures

After his bath

being cute

my little western pony

August 3rd 2023

Put Maple and Cappuccino out together for the first time! They were amazing! They seem to really like each other and get along amazingly. Im so happy

As for what me and Maple did that day, I popped on a bareback pad, warmed him up, did some fancy trotting both ways, worked on some obstacles

Then we rode into the pond and through out onto the other side! So proud of him because we've never done that before and he did a super good job

Then I turned him around and we went back the other way through the pond and he was really good too!

Going back that way, theres about a foot/2 foot drop down into the pond and drops into the water can sometimes make him a little nervous so he took a moment to think about it and then I gently asked him to step in and he did it perfectly! Super proud of him

We rode around some more then I hopped off and gave him a bath and turned him out. Then put cappuccino in with him

Also I've put Maple on 24/7 hay in a haynet and already seeing huge improvements

Super happy about that
Hes been off his supplements for about 2.5 weeks because ive been short on money but I will be starting them up again :)
Ace Hi Complete, Golden Ground Flax and Im also going to be adding in Rice Bran

Its been so hot nobody wants to really do anything so I havent been exercising him as much, but he holds muscle nicely. Its been cooling down thankfully tho, so Ill be exercising him more and getting him into better shape

Not really a maple update but I'm starting riding lessons again tomorrow! Looking forwards to that. Ill be riding maple in them and so yay :)

Also more of a maple update but I'm still working on building muscle, doing a lot more canter work with him

We're working on using his body properly when cantering like i taught him to with trotting and he's already figuring it out very proud of him!

I dragged a barrel off of him yesterday and he was good about that.

Also I've been working in getting him to understand hind leg yields under saddle, he does it perfectly on the ground but doesn't always get it when im riding him so yeah!

Polishing our different transitions to and just trying to improve both of us as much as possible

Maple got injured August 19th and has been on stall rest since then. He was kicked on the leg :(

Hence why no updates
But yesterday he got cleared to trot for 5 minutes on the lunge again! Which I'm so happy about. Its been a really tough month not only because of this but some other stuff too, so happy for some good news. Hes such a good little horse

He's gained a lot of weight because hes finally being fed enough (ive been buying my own hay), he has lost some muscle from not being exercised but not too bad :)

We've been doing some fun liberty work, going for in hand walks, lunging at the walk over poles. Anything/everything I can do to try and make this less sad and boring for him.

some pictures of the little guy

the little lad after his bath

He got cleared to go back into light work this week :D

Next week he can get back into full work and turnout

We had a good little ride today! 20-30 minutes of walk and trot

warmed up, did some steering and stopping and backing up

then I asked for a fancy trot with tight-ish (english type) reins which he was super good for, struggled with holding it justtt a bit but he'll get better, he has been on stall rest and hand walks for the past 5 weeks so lol its understandable

Then walked a bit, then picked up fancy trot again with loose reins, and then he did a nice stretchy trot.

Then we walked around the property and I got off. All around super good!
He was a bit spooky but very small spooks and only 2, and he very quickly recovered. Also a bit sticky, but with a light tap he would get over it. Being a tad sticky after time off with him is common and its really only the first ride back so Im not surprised

But he did super good and he was really happy to be doing something again :)