I’m really bad at updating..

Sorry, I have neglected my updates I feel like I am very repetitive, Zoey has been FABULOUS.  I love when the babies learning curve is so vertical and its the little things that make the big picture so much better. Like the other day I was able to lunge her with side reins a bit tighter and got her truly working and discovering what a “real” contact is and to not be afraid of it.

I took her out today and did some trots on our hack with another horse, after a day off… She didn’t even bat an eye. I am so impressed with her at times. The road that runs right next to our farm is very busy with trucks whizzing by with plastic flapping and making an awful noise that makes me want to spook, Zoey could care less.. she has a job and it was to trot with Spotty and show him how it is done

I took her XC schooling the other weekend, again. FABULOUS. she jumped some BN jumps, went right into the water, did a cross rail to a down bank into the water, in one stride.. so good She was happy to just chill and hang out while the other horse went out and did his thing and then it was her turn and was happy to go have a canter and jump a few fences. I try to trot a lot of the fences right now because her balance it’s still all over the place at times but at the trot it is definitely more balanced and I want to be in control where her shoulders are and her balance is better, to set her up for success and then she can process whats going on and what exactly I am asking of her. She has no clue sometimes but takes it in stride and as long as I am there to guide her, it’s like she says “oh ok, if you say so…” I love that about her, she is so willing to please.

It’s been awhile…

Alot has happened in such a short while… But isn’t that how young horses go? Their learning curve isn’t a curve but just vertical. Zoey has been a DREAM to work with, but that’s not to say she hasn’t had her days. A few days after my first post she had her first 3yo day.. It was a day after her day off and she was a bit fussy in the cross ties, pooping and going side to side, then the little bucking started. I continued what I was doing only reprimanding her when she was fussing too excessively or getting into my “space” but just getting her attention, a light jerk on the cross-ties or a tap on her side or shoulder, then let her know that she is a good girl when she stops/pauses, and the repeat, repeat, repeat. but trust me it pays off, in the long run.. I was planning on introducing her to the side reins on that day.. I started to lounge her and her 3yo self decided to test her boundaries. “Can I stop here? Can I go over here? What if I run? Or spin?” My answer was simply “No, this is where you are going and this is what you are doing” I was a bit worried of how she would take the side reins since she was testing her boundaries, but then I thought that it might give her something to actually think about. I started with the side reins on the last hole. i put one side on, walk a few steps then put the other side on. Thats when you have got to be on the ball.. Once some feel the restriction, they freak. She backed up very quickly before I settled her and got her to walk with me, using the lunge whip to encourage her to keep moving. Once she was relaxed, i put her on the circle, staying about half a step behind her to keep her moving by encouraging her hind feet to keep moving. I rode her the next day to replicate the feeling of finding the bit with an actual rider.

I also try to mix it up so we go hacking every couple of days to just chill and enjoy life. We’ve started jumping a bit more and she even went out XC schooling and was a doll. So relaxed, she canter with and away from another horse, went through the water, once with a lead then all by herself. We went off and up a baby step then got to go down the “BIG” girl bank after going up and down the mound next to it so  so could find her balance, then came up to the bank and just kicked her off. I love down banks because you can simply kick them off, there is no height so nothing to worry about. She just lowered her self off the bank and cantered off. we did it a few more times to reiterate the feeling and keep the forward momentum. I was surprised she never did the typical baby and launch off the bank. We then jumped the first BN log. She really has a good brain that is for sure and isn’t spooky.

I got to have a lesson with Mogie today on Zoey and she was FABULOUS! Mogie really helped me get her straight and have her slowww down, not that she is running but just take a deep breath. We established a bend to the left which is our harder side at the walk with some small circles and doing figure eights. Greenies steering boxes are soo much bigger than the “schooled” horse. I forget this sometimes.. then we got to jump, we did some cavalettis then set up a one stride, once she relaxed with that then we did a one stride to another one stride.. She is soo well-behaved and she’s green but when I ride her sometimes I forget that..

We are going xc schooling on friday, so I’ll let you know after that

First Post…

Ok, so you all will have the bear with me.. This is my first blog.

So where to start?  I went to pick up “Zoey” on Sept. 18th from the farm in Buckeystown. I drove in and there was this horse on the top of the hill running small circles around a person and another horse standing calmly next to another person. My first thought was, I bet I’m not picking up the quiet one. They walked her down to my trailer and she walked right on, then she started to throw a tantrum because her buddy that they had brought down as well then left. We made it home, which was dark at this point so she spent the night in the stall and was introduced into her field the next day in the light. She later on met Falko, my Intermediate level eventer who is rehabbing. She was so cute, she followed him around like a lost puppy and he was more interested in the manure piles since he was in a new field. She has since then figured out that Falko leaves in the morning and comes back after dinner grain.

Our first ride was interesting. I hopped right on. Let me just clarify that at our barn we don’t have side on our arena. We exited the arena just a few times. Since then we haven’t exited involuntarily at all! I am very impressed with her, as of ride 6 we have steering (for the most part), we can get both leads at the canter and today we hacked out all by ourselves out by the woods! I took her over to breezy run the other day and my step-mom, Mogie Bearden-Muller, free jumped her. She walked right on the trailer and hung out on the trailer while the other horse we took was ridden. She was quiet, maybe whinnying once? To make a long story short, we jumped her over a few cross rails and a 2’3″ vertical. She was so well behaved, brave and boy can she jump, her hind end is amazing over the fences.

I know I wrote alot but I feel like I haven’t written enough. Ha. I’ll keep you updated. Next project, her MANE! which may take a few weeks. Though now she has a bridle path and no whiskers! Starting to look fancy!