Milo, Quill, Cheyenne, Traveler

 Yesterday I spent most of my day out at HHH. I pulled 3 of the new starts out Milo, Quill & Traveler to get them under saddle, bridled, lunging, and I laid across their backs. They have a ways to go but they are on their way to being broke. I was impressed with each one. They are going to make some fine riding horses. They are all so friendly and enjoyable. I also worked with Cheyenne (not knowing she is completely broke) I lunged her and tacked her up just like the greenies. If I would have known she is completely broke I would have ridden her.

Video's from the day at Horse Haven Hollow

 

Traveler

 

Quill

 

Milo

 

Cheyenne

Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

Dallas & Jasmine

 Dallas

Last night I had two wonderful experiences on these horses! First I rode Dallas in the arena at a walk mostly, I did get him to trot for a bit on my own but Jeannie had to come in and put pressure on him from the center of the pen...he is just REALLY lazy in the round pen. He is a very bumpy trot. Later I left the pen and went to to the pasture with him since all his buddies were off in a different pasture. I hopped on and he started to go towards the gait to the buddies pasture and Glen quickly shut it...he paced up and down the gate I turned him around and we went for a nice gallop along the fence. And just when I though it was his all...he showed me he can move even faster...but guess what it was like sitting still...it was the smoothest gallop I have ever ridden...he does NOT respond to well to the snaffle bit, probably used to the more popular western style bits of tomb thumbs,curbs, or something with shanks. But all in all it went fine. And guess what NO BUCKING at any gait...it was nice!

Jasmine

So then we decide that went well so why not catch Miss Jasmine and take a try at her. A little background on this horse. Well first off she is a sweetie :) Second off she is not broke. Last year Jeannie started to work her and she bucked her a couple times, and the last bucking fit left poor Jeannie unconcious and then training was suspended...so Jeannie snatches her from the pasture and she goes into the round pen. She is a little afraid, jumps a bit at the rope, so I take a moment to just calm her down. I precede to just saddle her up like it has been done everyday for the past year or so and she does great. Same goes for bridling her. I can tell she is nervous a tad but nothing out of the ordinary so I decide to just go with her energy. I don't do any groundwork as far as free lunge because I don't want to build up her anxiety level. Some horses are best just left calm and relaxed. She didn't show any disrespect towards me, she was just a little nervous. So I jump up there and just sit for a moment and reassure her and then instead of kicking her or squeezing her I rock to kinda knock her off balance and make her move...she starts out and I give her a few minutes to realize I am up there before asking her to turn and she does great! I went to dismount and I think I must have hit her rump with my foot as I was coming off and she jumped forward out of fear but I quickly regained my seat and she did do one attempt at a buck...I pulled her head up with my trusty leadrope attached to her halter and then it was over and off we went again. Nothing more bad happened...in fact it was a very enjoyable pleasant ride. Her bucking is out of fear, nothing more...so as long as her little rides remain calm, pleasant and enjoyable her confidence in the situation will increase and her fear will disappear. I think she is going to be fairly easy to break...

Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

First Ride On Dallas

Last night we went out to HHH to ride Dallas. He was in a lovely mood when caught and seemed rather perturbed by the inconvenience of having to deal with us rather than graze with his herd mates. Thats just typical horse behavior though. He is a strapping young man, bulked up, with a neck like a body builder. He is tough stuff. Got him the round pen and did some free lunging. He is rather laid back. Once his buddies moved off into the distant pasture he was more "giving" in his efforts and a little less distracted. Again just typical "I am horse who hasn't been messed with much lately" behavior. So the moment of truth finally presented itself as I swung up on him from the mounting block. He stood like a champ and didn't move off. I gave him a moment to collect his thoughts and understand I was up there and then asked him to move off. I am not from the school of "kicking" a horse. I do not believe you have to kick a horse for it to understand the cue to move. I gave him some squeezes, rocked my bottom and asked with a kiss. Eventually we rolled out at a very slow lazy pace. Being this was the first time I was on him he was a gentleman, a lazy gentlemen, BUT I will take that over a fired up fruit loop any day. We used a full cheek snaffle on him and at first he had some difficulty in giving into it as it is probably a lot gentler than what he is used to if he has had prior training. They lack the squeezing leverage pressure of say a curb or worse a tom thumb. He does need to loosen up his neck and gain some flexion. His body is stiff and rigid. He does understand the move cue, he did get into a trot for a short spurt with the added pressure of Jeannie working him from the center of the pen. We unsaddled him and I got up on him bareback and he followed his leader "Jeannie" around not caring to much at all I was up there. All in all it was a pretty easy session.

So here is my critique of this horse:
Disposition: Quiet & complacent. He may be big & bulky but he has a soft demeanor.
Behavior Issues: None to note thus far. He is a little lazy which can be a sign of him dominating his rider but in this case I think t is more just a horse that has grown to like not working. Again that is very typical. I walked behind him, no kicking. No biting, he respected my space and followed willingly.
Riding Skill : He has a very comfortable walk, trot is a little bumpy, and haven't made it to canter yet. It is still a little early to call this horse a beginners horse BUT if nothing changes he would be excellent for anyone who just wants to meander around on trails or have a nice horse to saddle up and enjoy for the afternoon.
Game Plan: Since last night was kinda like an "orientation" it stayed at a relaxed pace. It was more for observation purposes and to see how much he already knows. Wednesday I will go back out and on that day it will be more about pushing his buttons a little and making him do stuff he may not feel like doing. Once I start pushing those buttons we will know for sure how complacent & broke he is. He kinda got to run the show last night but on Wednesday he is going to be asked to listen and do some basic things like walk, trot, canter, whoa, in both directions.

Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

Dallas & Molly From HHH

Sunday evening I went out to Horse Haven Hollow and got the pleasure of working with two horses. The night started off with the big ol' boy Dallas...free lunged for a little bit did great...showed no disrespect...was really quiet and had a willing nature that was relaxed & peaceful...the entire thing went so well we decided to just see how far ol Dallas would let us push him...saddled him up and after a few times laying across the saddle and riding around on his side while standing in the stirrup I threw my leg across, he sat there like this was all old business to him...Jeanne who had been helping some adopters returned and lead me around the ring in both directions...not an issue for him at all...so next visit Dallas will be bridled and this time I will hop on and hopefully see what he has to offer :) hopefully it's all nice stuff...

I didn't really "work" with Molly but I did ride her first and take some of the spunk off before her new adopter Ashley could take a spin. What a nice riding little mare. She hadn't been ridden in a year so the first few minutes was just her running around blowing off some steam but she calmed down and acted like a horse that had been ridden everyday for the last year. She has a "let's go" attitude which is so nice versus laziness...she responds great to direction and let Miss Ashley have a good time. I am just so impressed with the level of gentling these horses have had. You would think they would be basket cases coming out of some of the situations they have been exposed too but they all seem so calm, complacent and act just like "normal" horses...all in all it was another good evening working with the horses at HHH.
Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

Ice Cream The Whoa is Me Story In Progress

Well this morning I returned to work with Ice Cream after about a week hiatus. I was a little worried that I would find her back to her old ways having such a big break in training. She wasn't as bad as I thought. Her owner told me she had worked her in the round pen and was pleased with Miss Ice Creams join up and she is showing more respect but she refused to "whoa" for her. I worked her on free lunge and could get her to stop on "whoa" and cues from my body language. I am not letting her face me as of yet due to her little "charging episode" the last session we had. I worked her for awhile and then proceeded to mount and she is standing still and moving out on cue almost perfectly BUT yet again she walks right on through a whoa. I tried doing the one rein stop and yes she did eventually twirl to a stop...so tomorrow I will return to ride her some more and work on the "whoa" issue...this time I am going to make her go, go, go until she is begging for a "whoa". I want her to be looking forward to stopping tomorrow. Other than that little thing, she is turning much better, standing great for mounting and dismounting, she is moving off on just a cluck/kiss...her progress is GREAT! I will update tomorrow and see if the new approach works out...hopefully it does and we are VERY close to just doing a lot of riding and working out the wrinkles.
Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

Join Up With Rain - It's A Beautiful Thing!

I spent only a little over a half hour to get her to Join Up with me. Which is pretty freaking amazing :) She is a skitterish little thing. And at times she is a bull headed bucking bronc ask her last trainer who thought this little lady broke his back from one of the most vicious bucking sessions he has had to date. She may just be more of a "ladies" horse. I rode her in the Alumni Parade and had only one little spook when the crowd started to clap for the band...she whirled around and almost caused mass panic amongst the horses. They were all saying "oh no! something bad is happening" and were about to bolt as well BUT she calmed down and we preceeded to finish the parade without incident. She has bucked my son several times...as for me not really...she does get a little stubborn and try to get her head down between those knees at times...BUT so far she hasn't bucked me yet...but now that I typed it...will probably do it! This is one of my favorite excercises to do with a horse to get a bond they understand established. It isn't a "save all" but it does help a few things click in their horsey heads. All in all it went very well. You notice I never strike the horse with the whip, I will crack it and strike the ground...that's all that is needed to get most horses ear on you and their legs a moving.
Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!

First Day At HHH

Well it was a typical first day on the job :) I got to work with two wonderful horses - Mick & Milo. Both came from the same deplorable conditions and were seizures. Well they are complete polar opposites on the scale. Mick is timid and flighty, Milo confident & steadfast to stay put. Did a little round penning with both here are the details from the day:

Milo : (3 year old sorrel Quarter Horse) Caught fairly easy, walks on a lead fairly easy, a little drag behind in his efforts. Got him in the round pen and was going to attempt doing some round pen work of free lunging him for possible join up and he spent the entire time running around the pen pushing into the rails trying to find a weak spot to push over...when that didn't work he decided to just jump over the gate and say "bye bye"...

Mick: (4 year old bay Quarter Horse) Went down to were they were all hanging out & and Jeanne actually caught Mick as he is very cautious to new people...also recaught Mr. Milo and we all walked up to the round pen. Mick went in the pen & Milo got tied up outside. Slipped Micks halter off to replace it with a rope haulter and he did a little running around at liberty without a halter. I caught him with some issues and put on the rope halter. Did a little leading and he did great. He lowered his head and relaxed with me a bit...his left side is much stronger than his right...and we got rolling on some free lunge and he did great. He is a little nervous to things like rope, ect. Rubbed the rope all over him and he seemed to calm down. Could change directions with him easily but he too tried to jump the gate and escape. So I put him on the lunge and got him to stop and face me just a couple times. Got him to also turn in towards me a couple times on free lunge but when I offered to join up he would have no part of it and would take off again....thats ok...today was kinda a day to introduce ourselves and get comfortable...a kinda orientation if you will. He displays an almost natural "collection" to his stride and will make a great "western pleasure" or even english prospect as his strides are very balanced and quite animated...really gorgeous animal. Although he is timid that is only to be expected...I predict he is going to be very responsive under saddle and as long as we teach him that no boogey man is coming to eat him up...he will be just fine...took him out of the round pen and set him free...was able to remove halter without him giving any anxious issues to be free...stood quite still and when released calmly walked away (no parting shots).

Milo again...Milo is VERY confident...not like the overly confident jerk type...he just seems to be like a horse that wouldn't move if firecrackers were going off around him while a marching band was going by. He just doesn't care about to much or doesn' seem to get to excited about much. His left side too is much stronger than the right. Ok so after our first round in the pen and Milo clearly can jump right out of the round pen with no problem I attached him to a lunge line and proceeded to try...and I stress TRY...to lunge him...lol...I have NEVER seen a 4 year old horse that is "unbroke" so dead broke to stimulus! I cracked the whip...again and again...I beat the ground...I ran around like a crazy lady...NOTHING even made him flinch...he just stood there relaxed as could be...back leg cocked in relaxation looking at me like I was an absolute idiot...Jeanne took over as she has more experience with Mr. Milo...and she used the stiff part of the lunge whip to tap him on the rump while motioning him forward with lots of slack so he had room to move off the pressure...guess what he moved for her...he wouldn't move in a circle...but he did move so baby steps are better than no steps...she told me to take over and again he was a mule for me...got some movement out of him but my habit is to try to turn them in a circle and I just couldn't keep behind his drive line...we could move forward but the slightest hint of a circle and all momentum stopped. He would turn and turn and turn his hind quarters like a champ and around and around we went :) Next we brought in the riding block to see if maybe being as steadfast about stimulus he would just accept weight on his back. So Jeanne held him while I laid across his back...at first he started to fidget a little and I patted his opposite side I slowly released my weight onto his back and guess what...he didn't care for it and moved :) Not exactly what we wished would happen but at least we found something that agitates him enough to get him moving a bit...We went back to something he can do well leading (although he does drag behind) and then ended the little session on a positive note. He is going to be a wonderful level headed mount for someone because he just has no "spook" factor. Sounds, movement, ropes, whips, crazy women, nothing bothers him...he is going to be well suited for a trail horse or even maybe a competition horse.

These horses are available for adoption at Horse Haven Hollow here in Pleasants County WV...for more information on adoption or other available horses please visit http://www.horsehavenhollow.org/

Visit herdbound.net for more equestrian and horse info!