Adventures with Ginger

[Skye'sDucks]

Hello! As some horse people on here may know, I've been helping train a mare at my barn, and I thought it'd be fun to start a thread about her to log her training as well as milestones with her. If people also want to talk about their own horses/training experiences, please do!

Ginger is a big (16.1 hands!) 6yo Thoroughbred who was supposed to be a racehorse but she didn't make the cut, lol. She's pretty lazy and laid back so I can imagine why she didn't make it. It's a bit of a long story of how my trainer got her, but basically someone bought Ginger and began to board her at our barn, but through a series of events she decided to sell/give (I don't know the details) Ginger to my trainer as a lesson horse. They were a beginner at horses and Ginger was green so that was a part of the factors leading up to it.

Anyways, no one else had the time or wanted to work with her, so around our winter camp since all the other lesson horses were being used (I only take lessons/help out at the barn) I began to! I've been working with her for around 2 months. Ginger was broken to ride, she just didn't know how to do anything really. She will be leased out in another week or so, but I plan to keep working with her around the other girl's schedule. (It's a half lease)

Right now in her training I've been focusing on the basics, although I do ride her western and I hope to get into some trail stuff with her at some point. I know the girl leasing her wants to teach her to jump, so I think that will be good for Ginger too! She's already shaping into a lovely all-around horse for my trainer.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Super cute!

That’s awesome!! She is a beauty!!

Thank you guys!!

Awww! Look at her "airplane" ears - she looks relaxed! No wonder she didn't make on the racetrack, she looks like she wants to be a "people horse" and get lots of care and attention. So sweet!

Yes! She definitely has relaxed and opened up more since I started working with her. She's super sweet and friendly so I think being a lesson horse is a great job for her!

 

[Skye'sDucks]

I had my lesson today, Ginger did pretty good.... we had some issues but we're going to work on them! We did lots of pole work--trotting poles and raised poles too. She actually was doing really well once we went over them a couple times, but my trainer said she's been pretty lazy about poles and ducking out (which she did do today at first) so that's what we're gonna start working on more! She also had some weird issue of wanting to go to the gate or something during an exercise across the ring (weaving back and forth) so I may work on that too tomorrow to make sure it doesn't become a habit.
She didn't do it Monday and wasn't ridden Tuesday to my knowledge so I don't know where it came from.

Her other issue is picking up her right lead at the canter; she's pretty uncomfortable on it because of her lack of muscle and just never using it so I'm continuing to work on that. She at least picked it up and kept on it today!

I ride her tomorrow too (my schedule is probably gonna change next week since the lease starts) but I'll see if I can get a video to share. It's also gonna be bath day again because she is fiiiillthhyyy. (she loves to roll all the time so that's why lol)

In case anyone is wondering about her leg/face, she got bullied by one of the other horses the other day when I guess he got into her pasture (I don't know the full story) and he chased her around. I felt so bad for poor Ginger but she's doing a ton better today!

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Ginger has been doing great! She got a bath on Thursday and isn't full of dirt yet lol. I believe she's figuring out the pole trick to get her to switch her lead at the canter too, so my trainer has given me a few tips on what to try next. She's a smart one for sure!

Today I was super impressed with how well she was stopping, so I'm going to try some stopping at a faster trot and canter/lope on Thursday. Stopping has been a pretty big issue with her but Ginger is finally understanding the concept so I feel we're ready to move on to some speed! She's still getting there of course and I have been and still am largely focusing on working with her stopping at a walk and jog, but I think we can slowly move on to more 'hard' stuff.

Ginger also has been doing great at poles, I may mess with some raised poles again on Thursday if we don't do it Wednesday with my lesson.

I believe I was also being tested by her today....lol well Ginger just backed straight out of the cross ties twice (she's not actually tied, we only drape/loosely wrap the ropes to the posts) when I attempted to spray her back feet with iodine. (she has some foot problems we've been treating). Apparently she has learned before on different cross ties (that released when too much pressure is put on them) that she could back out and run off, so we believe today she might have tried to get away from me and her foot treatments, aha. She didn't spook or anything or have anything really to cause her to freak out. She's a very tolerant and chill horse. I've never really seen her fazed by anything.

She's always been very difficult with her back feet, since she's still learning and all and is young. I'm just glad she mostly has stopped kicking now; she used to do that a lot. She got me once and I probably should have smacked her for that but it was pretty startling, and it wasn't bad, I just got a nice bruise, since she had no space to get momentum since I was standing right next to her anyways. But she better hope not to get me again lol! (Obviously I don't hurt her or be mean to her but I will correct her if she ever tries to bite/kick me)

I also am gonna plan on getting plenty of new pictures later this week so stay tuned!

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Ginger has been doing good since last post! She's been a little resistant going to the right, mostly going over the poles, although once I straighten her out she does just fine. We didn't do any trotting poles today, we just worked on some bending exercises and then stopping and going through her speeds at a trot. (jog, extended jog, and posting trot)

She didn't do quite as well stopping today as on Monday, but that's fine. She's still learning so we'll just focus on it at a walk and jog again. She is definitely still doing way better than a few weeks ago!

I'm also trying to introduce turning her hind quarters and forequarters to her, and she's actually turning her hind end pretty nicely. However, she is getting pretty confused still about turning her front end. She'll sometimes do it in a reverse, but that's just something to continue to introduce slowly. I'm sure she'll get it in time!
Her last under-saddle issue is her right lead canter...she was refusing to pick it up Wednesday since she's already figured out the pole trick and how to get over it without switching. I didn't really drill her that hard on it today; I tried only a few times then just got her to canter a little around the ring. While it is important to work on that with her, I also don't want to keep forcing her over and over each ride because she's already getting frustrated about it as it is. And as I talked about it with my trainer, we don't want her getting sour about cantering that direction.

Oddly enough, she's been doing really good about her feet this week! It's funny to me because she isn't even 'tied' down like she usually is, since a horse spooked and broke one of the poles on the wash rack on Monday, so we can only drape the rope instead of at least loop it around the pole so she'd have pressure. She hasn't tried really to back up and out of the wash rack at least, and really hasn't danced around a lot while picking or treating her feet. Hopefully she continues with this good behavior!

And I finally got some more pictures too--I left them attached below.

 

[KelseyBoxer]

Keep up the good work Ginger! I had an Quarter horse when I was in 4H. (30 years ago).
He was off the race track and had the most stubborn streak about taking up the right lead. I only showed him in the local fair but what a sweet boy!

 

[littledog]

Awww! Look at her "airplane" ears - she looks relaxed! No wonder she didn't make on the racetrack, she looks like she wants to be a "people horse" and get lots of care and attention. So sweet!

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Keep up the good work Ginger! I had an Quarter horse when I was in 4H. (30 years ago).
He was off the race track and had the most stubborn streak about taking up the right lead. I only showed him in the local fair but what a sweet boy!

Thank you!

And how cool! Ginger's biggest problem about the lead is that she just doesn't really have the muscle/strength for that side yet, so it's uncomfortable for her. Hopefully she won't be always this stubborn about it.

She is SO pretty!

Thank you!!!

 

[littledog]

Ginger's biggest problem about the lead is that she just doesn't really have the muscle/strength for that side yet, so it's uncomfortable for her.

Agree with you and your instructor there! Barring an injury or something, that's almost always what it is. They're right or left-handed just like us, and their muscle-memory makes one lead more comfortable/familiar than the other, especially when they're not at top fitness.

I'm sure your instructor knows more than me, plus she has Ginger right in front of her and can tell what to do for her, but here's a couple things that have helped me when a horse has a hard time picking up the correct lead on their weak side:

1. Say you're going around in a circle to the right, you ask for the canter, and she is obedient, except she picks up her left lead.

Instead of bringing her back to the trot and asking her again, just praise her for cantering and let her keep cantering on the wrong lead, but gradually make the circle smaller until it becomes more comfortable for her to change leads, than it is to continue on the wrong lead (make sure when you do this, to keep your own weight completely centered, so that it's her own balance that makes her want to change leads.) When she changes, praise her A LOT, keep sending her forward, and gradually make the circle bigger again, until she can canter a few circles in the correct lead. The first few times, she might break to the trot or go into a cross-canter (front legs on one lead, rears on the other) but this is only because it feels awkward for her. Keep repeating the exercise, as long as she's not tired.

This way, she doesn't become frustrated, thinking, "you asked me to canter and I'm cantering, but you're acting like I'm doing something wrong, I don't get it!" Because "going forward" is always the right answer, even though going forward on the wrong lead is not the perfect answer, you want to reward her for trying.

2. Once she is capable of cantering circles on the correct lead, even though you might still have to get it by starting off on the wrong lead and shrinking the circle, she's developed some muscle-memory of cantering on the correct lead and it won't feel as awkward to her.

Now you can start working on getting the right lead in the trot-to-canter transition. This takes some perfect timing - ask for the right-lead canter when she's heading for the corner of the arena (kind of faking the "smaller circle" exercise) and ask for it when you would normally be sitting your post (I have to keep counting "up-down" to myself, even though I've actually quit posting a stride or two earlier to ask for the half-halt) so that her rear outside foot will be the one to push off into the canter.

Sorry this ended up so long, but hope it helps a bit. Ginger is a lovely horse, and you're making amazing progress with her.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Agree with you and your instructor there! Barring an injury or something, that's almost always what it is. They're right or left-handed just like us, and their muscle-memory makes one lead more comfortable/familiar than the other, especially when they're not at top fitness.

I'm sure your instructor knows more than me, plus she has Ginger right in front of her and can tell what to do for her, but here's a couple things that have helped me when a horse has a hard time picking up the correct lead on their weak side:

1. Say you're going around in a circle to the right, you ask for the canter, and she is obedient, except she picks up her left lead.

Instead of bringing her back to the trot and asking her again, just praise her for cantering and let her keep cantering on the wrong lead, but gradually make the circle smaller until it becomes more comfortable for her to change leads, than it is to continue on the wrong lead (make sure when you do this, to keep your own weight completely centered, so that it's her own balance that makes her want to change leads.) When she changes, praise her A LOT, keep sending her forward, and gradually make the circle bigger again, until she can canter a few circles in the correct lead. The first few times, she might break to the trot or go into a cross-canter (front legs on one lead, rears on the other) but this is only because it feels awkward for her. Keep repeating the exercise, as long as she's not tired.

This way, she doesn't become frustrated, thinking, "you asked me to canter and I'm cantering, but you're acting like I'm doing something wrong, I don't get it!" Because "going forward" is always the right answer, even though going forward on the wrong lead is not the perfect answer, you want to reward her for trying.

2. Once she is capable of cantering circles on the correct lead, even though you might still have to get it by starting off on the wrong lead and shrinking the circle, she's developed some muscle-memory of cantering on the correct lead and it won't feel as awkward to her.

Now you can start working on getting the right lead in the trot-to-canter transition. This takes some perfect timing - ask for the right-lead canter when she's heading for the corner of the arena (kind of faking the "smaller circle" exercise) and ask for it when you would normally be sitting your post (I have to keep counting "up-down" to myself, even though I've actually quit posting a stride or two earlier to ask for the half-halt) so that her rear outside foot will be the one to push off into the canter.

Sorry this ended up so long, but hope it helps a bit. Ginger is a lovely horse, and you're making amazing progress with her.

This is extremely helpful, thank you!! It is similar to what my trainer has been having me doing, and hey, I'm always willing to try new things since she seems to figure out one way then learn a way around it, lol.

What I typically do with her now is turn her in a circle at a walk or trot then go in a straight line at the fence, then 'jerk' her to the right to try to make her suddenly pick up her lead. We've also tried just doing it in a circle, or doing it off the rail, but she's figured out all of those tricks and has gotten pretty resistant about even picking up the canter, so we've been trying to do different things instead of those. The one thing my trainer had me doing was canter her over a pole to make her switch without her realizing, but she's already figured out how to go over it without switching her lead. The last ride I had with her last Thursday I just mostly got her to canter on the wrong lead to at least get her cantering, like I was saying in my other post.

Because like you said, and my trainer has said this too, I don't want to frustrate/confuse her about cantering so after trying to get her to switch we always have her at least canter that direction to show her it's what we want.

I really like your circle method, though! I will certainly try it tonight unless my trainer asks me to try something different, though I should be able to. The biggest problem I see is that she may refuse to pick up the lead at all or break into a trot and refuse to canter, but we'll see. I may just need to focus on getting her to just canter to the right even if it's on the wrong lead and focus less on working on her getting to pick up the lead, since she's gotten pretty stubborn about it at times. Because the less I work on it, the less she refuses or gets annoyed about simply cantering, and it could just take a few rides to 'give her a break' before really focusing on it again to keep her from going sour and having a better attitude about it.

Thanks so much!