Horse Talk

[abigalerose]

Well that's the thing, I'm not nervous at all with her on the ground. And I know it's not all horses because I rode my cousins stud the other day and I was fine. So it's just Jade, and I have no idea why.
And hi! Feel free to share some pictures of your babies (or oldies I guess!)

 

[ChickenLover200]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself. I live in NC and have 2 horses. Ginger is a 25 year old QH/Arab mare and Durago is a 15 year old QH/Saddlebred gelding. I'm a natural barefoot trimmer and do hoof boot fittings and sales also.

Welcome!

@Abigalerose
A while back, I had this nervousness every time I'd get on Cinnamon. Nothing I tried would make it stop. I found that it actually helpd to pay to go on one of those trail rides at a "dude ranch". Th horse was excellntly trained and after 2 hours of riding, it was a confidenc booster. I was able to ride Cinnamon the day after with no nrvousness. I think it's kind of a new horse thing. You don't know how to expect their next move. Even though the dude ranch horse was a new horse for m to ride, it helped to have a more experiencd horse prson riding bsid me. The next day whn I rod Cinnamon, I got her to lope, which was the fastest I've ridden her at, and I want to try barrl racing, but before I was a little nervous.

 

[abigalerose]

So June's been acting up lately and I think the root of the problem is that she's bored. The first couple of times I rode her around the pond it was great, the first couple of times in the field were great, the first couple of times riding around the yard were also great. But then she started acting up. So yesterday I hopped on her and I used her to separate a bull calf out from the rest of the cows. Not that I really knew what I was doing but I did it successfully. And she loooved it. I had to hold her back because we were in a small area just doing it at a walk and she wanted to speed up and she was right in there ready to get after the cows, and she listened to everything I asked of her super well, but then when I rode her out in the yard after she was back to being sassy. So apparently she needs a job. My cousin said a bored horse is a smart horse, so I guess that's good.
Any body have any ideas on how I can mix things up a bit until I get her to my farm and can start trail riding?

 

[ChickenLover200]

So June's been acting up lately and I think the root of the problem is that she's bored. The first couple of times I rode her around the pond it was great, the first couple of times in the field were great, the first couple of times riding around the yard were also great. But then she started acting up. So yesterday I hopped on her and I used her to separate a bull calf out from the rest of the cows. Not that I really knew what I was doing but I did it successfully. And she loooved it. I had to hold her back because we were in a small area just doing it at a walk and she wanted to speed up and she was right in there ready to get after the cows, and she listened to everything I asked of her super well, but then when I rode her out in the yard after she was back to being sassy. So apparently she needs a job. My cousin said a bored horse is a smart horse, so I guess that's good.
Any body have any ideas on how I can mix things up a bit until I get her to my farm and can start trail riding?

Eli got bored with our regular training, so I started throwing ground poles into our round pen work. He actually loves it, but he's starting to get bored with hose now and you okay not want to do this wih June, but I'm using my barrels now and crisscrossing tree limbs to make an x style jump between the barrels.

 

[abigalerose]

I need to get some ground poles, that'll mix it up a bit when I round pen her and help with her trot as well. But I've recently started skipping the round pen work before I ride so she doesn't get dependent on it. So maybe if I throw in poles and alternate between round penning and not round penning and still do Liberty every once and a while and just trail ride all different directions and check the cows on her sometimes it'll help fix things. I'm gonna use her tomorrow to bring my jersey calf back up to the barn, I've just never seen her as responsive as she was when we were messin with the cows, it was really neat

 

[ChickenLover200]

I need to get some ground poles, that'll mix it up a bit when I round pen her and help with her trot as well. But I've recently started skipping the round pen work before I ride so she doesn't get dependent on it. So maybe if I throw in poles and alternate between round penning and not round penning and still do Liberty every once and a while and just trail ride all different directions and check the cows on her sometimes it'll help fix things. I'm gonna use her tomorrow to bring my jersey calf back up to the barn, I've just never seen her as responsive as she was when we were messin with the cows, it was really neat

I use just random tree limbs for my ground poles, but I've seen 2x4's used too. It sounded like she really likd working the cows. You might even consider training her as a cow horse.

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm laughing, here. A while back, I was trying to do something with Syd, and the goats were getting in the way, so BB2K decided to use Sunny to move the goats around. Sunny loved it; the goats, not so much. Before long, they started hiding in the stalls because they knew she wouldn't try to follow them in there.

She has also used Sunny to move the minis around, and even used her to move Latte. Latte was ticked off, but she moved; we figure it was a good reminder to her about respecting the space of a horse that is being worked. The roots of a QH are as stock animals, so I reckon every one is probably a cow pony at heart . . . . but then, horses are herd animals, they understand herd dynamics, and I suspect they all like a chance to push something else around at least once in a while. Shoot, Betsy can do a decent imitation of a sheepdog when the mood strikes her.

Horses get bored; changing things up on them helps to keep them interested and keep their minds engaged. BB2K and I have an obstacle course that is built around an old playset from when the kids were little. There are things to walk around, over, under and through. A tarp or empty feed bags on the ground makes crackly noises under foot, things like plastic bags move in the wind. There's a curtain of baling twine that tickles, things with water in them that random frogs jump into. These things can be approached from a number of different angles, so they look different and may even provide different challenges depending on which way you come at them. I'm constantly trying to think of different things to add - I'd like to have a water hazard for them to walk through, and a teeter board (at least for the minis).

Just for funsies:

Or takin' it to a whole different level:

 

[Peaches Lee]

So June's been acting up lately and I think the root of the problem is that she's bored. The first couple of times I rode her around the pond it was great, the first couple of times in the field were great, the first couple of times riding around the yard were also great. But then she started acting up. So yesterday I hopped on her and I used her to separate a bull calf out from the rest of the cows. Not that I really knew what I was doing but I did it successfully. And she loooved it. I had to hold her back because we were in a small area just doing it at a walk and she wanted to speed up and she was right in there ready to get after the cows, and she listened to everything I asked of her super well, but then when I rode her out in the yard after she was back to being sassy. So apparently she needs a job. My cousin said a bored horse is a smart horse, so I guess that's good.
Any body have any ideas on how I can mix things up a bit until I get her to my farm and can start trail riding?

You could try some exercises like shortening or lengthening her stride, turn on the forehand, leg yield, transitions from walk/trot/canter. Good luck.

 

[abigalerose]

Haven't given an update on June in a while, so here's what we did today.
I tacked her up and got on, been doing this for a while now because I knew I wouldn't have a round pen to work her in beforehand once I moved (and I am moved now btw), but she started acting up, throwing her head, running sideways, ignoring ALL my cues, so got off and started lunging her, and she tried to kick me! And she really gave it everything she had. So I lunged her for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then I tied her up to think for about 20 minutes. Then I got back on and worked in the arena we're building (just out of panels and one end is wide open right now and there's some junk in the middle and barrels set up), we went around and around and around until I got one consistent trot all the way around to the left. Then I rode her down the lane one way, then back the other way, through the dry creek bed, up to the road, then back down, through the creek bed again, then behind the house, up the hill, through my uncles hay field (and hay bales apparently spook her if they're sitting in a field? Lol) and she started acting up, on account of the scary hay bales, so I got off and lunged her for a couple seconds and then had her stop and rest on the path I wanted her walking on, then road up to my uncles and tied her to the porch (I was asking if I could buy hay from him), him and my aunt were super excited to see a horse out there, my uncle even took pictures to show his grandkids haha. Then my aunt gave me some pillows that match the couch she gave me, and I got back on June, stacked the pillows on my lap, and rode back down the lane to my house. And THEN after I threw the pillows on the porch and picked out her hooves, I went back to the arena and trotted a consistent lap, both ways, on the first try. And I ended it on that note. She wasn't sweaty but she was super thirsty!
I think she may have learned a thing or two about respect today. We're gonna do it all over again tomorrow too

And once she's trotting really well and consistently as much as I ask, I'll FINALLY be able to really lope on her. Although I'd kinda like to wait until there's sand in the arena because there are a few holes in there right now that worry me.

 

[ChickenLover200]

Wow!! Sounds like a long day!