Groundwork with Ollie

Yesterday I spent some time doing groundwork with Ollie. Today I am doing more riding work and because Ollie and I graduated the Fundamentals level of Clinton Anderson (yay! kudos to me!!) we are now doing Intermediate groundwork and are close to being in Intermediate for the riding portion. Here are some pictures for y'all to enjoy. :)


(Note: I only focused on Fundamentals yesterday, and my sister came out at the last minute, so you didn't get to see all of the exercises I did with him, just a few, but I thought you would like pictures anyway!!)

Mr. Handsome

Backing Up-Stage 2-Fundamentals level.

Lunging For Respect Stage 2-Fundamentals Level (using forequarters to turn instead of disengaging hindquarters and then turning a different direction).

Lunging for Respect Stage 2-Fundamentals level

Lunging For Respect (again)

Then I did some work with Ollie at Liberty. 

Disengaging Hindquarters (Liberty)-Stage 1-Fundamentals

Circle Driving (Liberty)-Stage 1-Fundamentals

Changing Direction...

...the finish of Changing Direction-Fundamentals (Liberty)

I love my smart, handsome, Appaloosa! 

~CBL

Cheyenne Day 11

I didn't get any pictures for days 1-9 of groundwork (days 1-5) and riding (days 6-10) but today I did get a few photographs.

When I first got her: 

Hated water
Hated Plastic
Was very fast at the trot and canter
Wouldn't let you touch her nose
Wouldn't let you touch her ears
Disrespectful
Pushy

Now just so you all know, I knew Cheyenne had these problems when I bought her, and I got her as a partial project to work with my new Clinton Anderson Methods.  After her being here for a week I started doing groundwork. I did just groundwork for one week, and during that time her pushiness, disrespectfulness, and head-shy attitude all dissipated (for the most part).


 Then I got to riding.

The first Clinton Anderson Cruising Lesson I did with Cheyenne was pretty easy. She was very, very fast at the trot, so much so that I didn't even bother to canter her, and decided that I would have to work on the trot until the trot slowed down. After day 3 of riding (so, the 9th day of the training), it was pretty slow, and on the 4th day I cantered her (the 10th day of training). She was also quite fast at the canter (duh, she was a barrel horse) but I just sat on her back while she went tearing around the round pen for about 6 minutes. Then, she started to slow down and over time, got slower and slower. Today she is light years ahead of where she was and although she is by no means a "slow horse" yet, she is getting better day by day.

Trotting nicely on a loose rein. 

Then I tried something. 

Cheyenne had hated water, so I had worked with her on the ground in the water a couple times. But after I finished riding her I decided to see how she would do under saddle. 

Walking.......

.and trotting!

Cheyenne went right into the water without any resistance and did great! I was so happy. 

Cheyenne is doing very well, and I feel that it won't tale her long to slow down her canter. She has got a great mind on her (she is one of the smartest horses I have ever met and picks up new things quickly), and I cannot wait to use it to it's full potential!

~CBL

P.S. I got her a cute Weatherbeeta blanket because the mosquito's were bad and were biting her pretty good on her stomach. So, I got her a basic pony 600 denier turnout sheet. Here is a picture:

Update On The Horses

                                                                        

 Hello, Y'all!


 It has been a while, hasn't it? I am sure you all are just itching for a update on the horses. Enjoy!!




CHEYENNE

 I have been really busy with our new horse  pony, Cheyenne. I retired her from barrel racing and am working on her speed. She is fast, but is also quite smooth, despite her straight shoulders. She has found good balance while carrying a rider at a fast gait, so it will be more difficult for her to slow down her speedy lope. I do not have any pictures of me riding her yet, but I will soon.

She has finished all of Clinton Anderson's Fundamentals groundwork. She is VERY smart and quick (as you already know) on her feet. She catches on to things incredibly fast and enjoys a job. Right now she does need a more confident rider to tell her what to do, but the more I work with her, the more I am chipping away at her barriers (she isn't spooky at all, but she likes a leader so that she does not have to make decisions). She wouldn't let anyone touch her muzzle when we first got her, and the former owners tried to use grain to help her with that, but it didn't work much. Now I can put my while hand on her muzzle and she is pretty good with it. She was pretty bad at disengaging her hindquarters when I got her, but now she handles it like a pro. I think she will work well with my family once she is fully trained through the whole Clinton Anderson Method.

OLLIE

I do not have a blog big enough to describe the love I have for this horse. He has finished the whole Fundamentals Groundwork and is almost done with the riding part of Clinton's Fundamentals series. He is so slow now and lots of people, including my trainer,  have said he is ready for Ranch Pleasure classes at the Appaloosa shows. He is learning collection and proper canter departures right now, and he is doing well. He is so smart and just loves people. I got Clinton Anderson's whole bridle, bit, rein, and slobber strap set and Ollie loves it so much. He really reaches for the bit, which is something he hadn't done with his other bits, and is very soft in the mouth with it. He is no longer headstrong and does not try to fight me with nearly anything. When I ask him to canter or gallop, he does it willingly and does not swerve a 90 degree angle when he is running at dead speed when we are on the trail (which is what he used to do about 4 months ago). and easily stops. I ride him on a very loose reins with one hand and very little contact (or no contact) with my legs when we are riding on the trail now. 

I am trying my best to grow out his tail. I have been using MTG for the past week and his hair has already grown 3/4 of an inch (in one week!).  I want him to have a really long tail and mane. It is already long for an Appaloosa (who are notorious for having skimpy manes and tails) but I would like it is long as possible. 

I do not have much of anything on Sherman, but I am working on him a little bit. My mom is cantering him now in the round pen and he is doing well. He will probably go up for sale soon, but we are not sure yet.  Stay tuned for more updates on him!!

~CBL

Horsey News

I am selling the mini's. 

Oh yeah, I am also moving to Texas. 

Woah. Wait. WHAT!? Alyssa must have gone crazy. How could she be possibly selling those little adorable 32 inches of horse. 

I am not being crazy at all. To hear the whole story though, you have to go back a few weeks to when I stumbled across one of this guy's videos:

This is Clinton Anderson. I have known about him for years, but had focused more on Pat Parelli and  the more "Natural"  side of horsemanship.  In the video above, he is using his techniques on his 19 year old Australian QH mare, Mindy. After this video, I found that he had a TV show (in HD!)  and  watched every single episode he had available. I was hooked.  I also got my mom and dad involved, and we spent almost every night for a week watching on how to fix bucking problems, fear problems, rearing problems, herd bound problems, etc. I did the work with Ollie and he has acted much differently (in a good way) ever since. 

For Mothers Day, my dad bought my  mom the whole Fundamental, Intermediate, and Advanced series of Clinton Anderson's training. In over 90 hours of video time, Clinton shows you how to get the same results he does on his horses and how he trains other people's horses. Mom cried, and I was ecstatic (about the DVD's). 

Anyway, Clinton has a training program for people too. If you are 18 or over, you can apply to his Academy. If you get accepted (only 15 people will be allowed into the Academy each year) you are professionally trained by Clinton himself for 1 1/2 years (for a Certified Clinician certification) and 3 years for a Professional Clinician. I would stay at his ranch in Texas  and work 4 horses a day. I then knew that going to his ranch and getting certified would be what I wanted to do after I graduated. After my mom and dad and I saw a  1 1/2 video of everything that happens for the 1 year and a half (which is what I would do) at his ranch, my mom and dad decided that it would be a good route for me to pursue after school. 

So..in 2-3 years I will (Lord willing) be packing my bags and going to Texas. 

Yes, Ollie has no halter on. 

Now, why would I be selling the minis??

Okay, so I need to start making more money in order to be prepared for Clinton's academy (and a little left over for misc. stuff). So, teaching horse lessons is a good option. However, I cannot do it on Ollie because he really enjoys testing people and would not be a good lesson horse. So, what I would have to do would be to sell the Minis and get a large sized pony or small horse that is very broke and kid safe.  While it is sad for me, it is time for me to move on, and the mini's aren't used as much since the big horses arrived. Both Half Pint and Rosie will go together and I hope to do a first right of refusal if the other person somewhere down the line decides to sell the Mini's.

I took Rosie's sale photos today.

BTW, here is her ad. Sadly the pictures are not working on the website, which is sort of irritating.
http://www.horseclicks.com/red-wine-and-roses/horses/801707#FiXZmw5e4rXJpCJB.97


Because Rosie and Half Pint are leaving soon, I have been spending a little more time with them, and just playing with them a little. In the pictures below some leftover runoff from the snow of Mother's Day made a temporary pond and I brought Ollie and Rosie out for some fun time in the water. They both enjoyed it.

                                                           The snow on Mother's Day. 

I will keep you updated on the Minis' status and my search for another horse! 

~CBL