I fed up about an hour ago and I remembered that I wanted to write something in particular about my weird girls.
Gracie always pees before dinner and sometimes before morning hay too. I don't know when she started but I noticed a little while after I brought her home off agistment. She never stands at the gate whinnying & demanding dinner until after she has wandered off to pee (very lady like mind you, squatting on pointed toes!).
Allie on the other hand will yawn multiple times before she gets her dinner. Shows how bored she is about food!! She started doing it about 3 months ago, and I catch her yawning nearly everyday, even if she hasn't been worked and just sat around in the paddock all day long. Big, long, jaw-breaking, eye-popping, tounge-twirling yawns. It's cute and pretty goofy.
I love these little funny quirks about our ponies. All put together, it makes them who they are, makes their personalities.
What strange things do your horses get up to?
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Oh Daylight Savings, NEVER LEAVE ME
I LOVE LOVE LOVE daylight savings. Ah sunlight, it has been such a long time!
We have done some time in the saddle this past week! Saturday we had an awesome schooling session, and then Monday my friend Casey came and took Allie and I up to Sun Valley reserve in Springwood for a ride.
Allie was a mole to get on the float. Honestly, she has been pretty good about floating but she had been in a mare mood the previous few days (just squirting urine while tied up and being a bit grumpy) but it took us an hour and a half to get her loaded up. She either would rush straight back out after walking in or she refused to walk in at all. She is so tall that she even started putting her head on the roof of the float instead of walking in!! She did end up hitting her head a few times but she didn't seem to care! I was so unimpressed with her. She did end up putting a small split in her poll but it's nothing to worry about. The poor delicate flower has been picky with her feed and not finishing it again since the whole float debacle. She even put up a fight going home, and took about 25 minutes to load. Casey said she was being a bit of a warmblood - not getting into a tizzy about the situation, but just being stubborn. >:(
The actual ride itself was awesome. It is mostly sandy or slightly rocky trail that winds through lovely bush with an awesome hill at the end that we had a big canter up! Allie did very well, was a little nappy but not too bad and she got along really well with Casey's horse Harry (a fit endurance arab who was very patient to be honest about babysitting Allie!). I did get off her to walk back down the hill after the big canter as it was pretty steep and she kept stopping because she was a bit worried about her balance. She was a little looky, mainly at holes or drops (I think she believes that I am going to bury her in any big hole in the ground we go near, she must have fallen in one as a foal!) but overall was very good under saddle. We were out for about 2 hours on the ride I think? She seemed a little pooped but as soon as she got her wind back she was happy to trot on again.
Then another schooling session on Tuesday where I mainly rode Gracie and Nat rode Allie because Gracie was in a mood. I was actually thinking twice about getting on her, she was so agitated from god-knows what, with a swishy tail, pawing the ground, snorting and twitching. She can be a bit of a little dragon to be honest, but once I was on she was happy to settle into the job. So I got to see Allie go over the trot poles and she looks so nice. She pauses almost like she is doing passage, most noticeably in her hocks. I must say, she is one nice horse to look at. Sorry to gush! Gracie did really well over the poles and is really starting to get it, she tries really hard and I love that about her. I'll have to move them soon to another spot, they will get bored with them there soon!
THEN today we did the Chain-o-Ponds loop around the block, walk trot and canter in about 50 minutes. Allie seemed to have gotten bit by the speedy-bug (probably caught from Harry!) and realised that cantering up hills is fun after all! She really enjoyed herself. Gracie was an absolute angel, was the absolute opposite of the mini-dragon that she had been the day before. Sweet, relaxed, happy to be tacked up. Stood still at the tie up, not once pawing the ground. I can't keep up with that horse's moods! I think she might be in season right now, we have noticed that she gets all sweet and easy when she is in season. Go figure.
Sorry, no pictures. My phone was too full and wouldn't let me take any but I promise now that I have deleted a bunch of songs I didn't want and have made room, I will take pictures next time.
That is us all up to date now I think.
*edited to add: Nat wanted me to add the below photo of Gracie after our ride. She was a bit pooped, she kept yawning. Cutie.
We have done some time in the saddle this past week! Saturday we had an awesome schooling session, and then Monday my friend Casey came and took Allie and I up to Sun Valley reserve in Springwood for a ride.
Allie was a mole to get on the float. Honestly, she has been pretty good about floating but she had been in a mare mood the previous few days (just squirting urine while tied up and being a bit grumpy) but it took us an hour and a half to get her loaded up. She either would rush straight back out after walking in or she refused to walk in at all. She is so tall that she even started putting her head on the roof of the float instead of walking in!! She did end up hitting her head a few times but she didn't seem to care! I was so unimpressed with her. She did end up putting a small split in her poll but it's nothing to worry about. The poor delicate flower has been picky with her feed and not finishing it again since the whole float debacle. She even put up a fight going home, and took about 25 minutes to load. Casey said she was being a bit of a warmblood - not getting into a tizzy about the situation, but just being stubborn. >:(
The actual ride itself was awesome. It is mostly sandy or slightly rocky trail that winds through lovely bush with an awesome hill at the end that we had a big canter up! Allie did very well, was a little nappy but not too bad and she got along really well with Casey's horse Harry (a fit endurance arab who was very patient to be honest about babysitting Allie!). I did get off her to walk back down the hill after the big canter as it was pretty steep and she kept stopping because she was a bit worried about her balance. She was a little looky, mainly at holes or drops (I think she believes that I am going to bury her in any big hole in the ground we go near, she must have fallen in one as a foal!) but overall was very good under saddle. We were out for about 2 hours on the ride I think? She seemed a little pooped but as soon as she got her wind back she was happy to trot on again.
Then another schooling session on Tuesday where I mainly rode Gracie and Nat rode Allie because Gracie was in a mood. I was actually thinking twice about getting on her, she was so agitated from god-knows what, with a swishy tail, pawing the ground, snorting and twitching. She can be a bit of a little dragon to be honest, but once I was on she was happy to settle into the job. So I got to see Allie go over the trot poles and she looks so nice. She pauses almost like she is doing passage, most noticeably in her hocks. I must say, she is one nice horse to look at. Sorry to gush! Gracie did really well over the poles and is really starting to get it, she tries really hard and I love that about her. I'll have to move them soon to another spot, they will get bored with them there soon!
THEN today we did the Chain-o-Ponds loop around the block, walk trot and canter in about 50 minutes. Allie seemed to have gotten bit by the speedy-bug (probably caught from Harry!) and realised that cantering up hills is fun after all! She really enjoyed herself. Gracie was an absolute angel, was the absolute opposite of the mini-dragon that she had been the day before. Sweet, relaxed, happy to be tacked up. Stood still at the tie up, not once pawing the ground. I can't keep up with that horse's moods! I think she might be in season right now, we have noticed that she gets all sweet and easy when she is in season. Go figure.
Sorry, no pictures. My phone was too full and wouldn't let me take any but I promise now that I have deleted a bunch of songs I didn't want and have made room, I will take pictures next time.
That is us all up to date now I think.
*edited to add: Nat wanted me to add the below photo of Gracie after our ride. She was a bit pooped, she kept yawning. Cutie.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Schooling Tales
After all the bitching I did about not having an arena in my last post, Nat and I had an awesome schooling session in our bottom paddock yesterday. Typical! :p
We tried Sprinklerbandit's warm up (or rather a modified non-arena based version with less leg yielding) and I was pretty proud of both girls as it was sprinkling with rain AND the guy across the road had his giant backhoe out and seemed to be trying to level out the gravel on the mouth of his driveway just as Nat was mounting up. BUT we just gave the girls a chance to prove that they could deal with it and they totally did. Barely noticed the stupid backhoe.
We set up some trot poles and a mini cross rail with our newly acquired jump set we bought from my friend (THANKS CASEY!) and they really enjoyed it! We put the trot poles just before the corner closest to the gate where both girls normally loose concentration and try to bend out towards the gate to go home to give them something else to concentrate on in the corner, and they both tried very hard with the poles. It was hard to decide the distance for the poles because Allie has such a big stride compared to Gracie so we made it on the smaller side for Al which made it on the bigger side for Gracie. They were both champs.
About 5 minutes into the warmup it started raining quite heavily and we could see the clouds moving quickly so we knew it would pass over soon so we took them back up the top and just sat on them under cover, which was a good thing for Gracie because she hates standing still and needs some practice.
After that, we went back and finished the warm up. I got some nice canter from Allie, and some lovely work over the poles and a few cute jumps but she quickly decided that the jump was too small to make the effort a ended up just trotting over it lol. AND she (accidentally) threw in a flying change!! We struck off on the left lead but going right, and I fully expected her to fall back to trot (which would have been fine) but before I could cue anything she just went HOP! and viola! We were on the right lead!! I was so shocked that I stopped riding so she stopped all together but I made a big fuss of her so hopefully she connected the dots. It felt amazing though and I was so proud of her. It felt totally different to the flying changes I used to ride on Beckham, the strung-out TB. I'm a bit proud, can you tell?
Nat has been having trouble schooling Gracie lately. She gets grumpy and pissy and Nat has had a couple of falls in the recent months from miss mare being a mole. She just seems to hate being ridden, and handled in general, which is sad. Nat got the vet out to do an exam and take bloods looking for hormonal stuff and anything else that could be medically wrong, and she came back clear ($400 later mind you). She hates being girthed up and we know 100% that she has NEVER had the girth done up too quickly because she has only ever been tacked up by us two, so that couldn't be why she kicks and carries on when the girth is done up. But she has a small wither and a broad back and can be quite rolly-poley so we are now mindful not to over tighten the girth and that seems to be helping. Nat also rode her in a new sheepskin girth cover (which she described to Gracie as "it's like having a fluffy bunny rabbit give you a cuddle!") as combined with the new warmup routine she went really sweetly and they didn't argue, Gracie didn't swish her tail nearly as much, wasn't so jacked up in front as she normally is and just looked like she was having a pleasant ride. :)
We had been to the saddlery just before we rode and I bought Allie a blue bonnet which we tried out during out schooling session. She looks super cute in it, this photo does not do it justice at all.
We tried Sprinklerbandit's warm up (or rather a modified non-arena based version with less leg yielding) and I was pretty proud of both girls as it was sprinkling with rain AND the guy across the road had his giant backhoe out and seemed to be trying to level out the gravel on the mouth of his driveway just as Nat was mounting up. BUT we just gave the girls a chance to prove that they could deal with it and they totally did. Barely noticed the stupid backhoe.
We set up some trot poles and a mini cross rail with our newly acquired jump set we bought from my friend (THANKS CASEY!) and they really enjoyed it! We put the trot poles just before the corner closest to the gate where both girls normally loose concentration and try to bend out towards the gate to go home to give them something else to concentrate on in the corner, and they both tried very hard with the poles. It was hard to decide the distance for the poles because Allie has such a big stride compared to Gracie so we made it on the smaller side for Al which made it on the bigger side for Gracie. They were both champs.
About 5 minutes into the warmup it started raining quite heavily and we could see the clouds moving quickly so we knew it would pass over soon so we took them back up the top and just sat on them under cover, which was a good thing for Gracie because she hates standing still and needs some practice.
After that, we went back and finished the warm up. I got some nice canter from Allie, and some lovely work over the poles and a few cute jumps but she quickly decided that the jump was too small to make the effort a ended up just trotting over it lol. AND she (accidentally) threw in a flying change!! We struck off on the left lead but going right, and I fully expected her to fall back to trot (which would have been fine) but before I could cue anything she just went HOP! and viola! We were on the right lead!! I was so shocked that I stopped riding so she stopped all together but I made a big fuss of her so hopefully she connected the dots. It felt amazing though and I was so proud of her. It felt totally different to the flying changes I used to ride on Beckham, the strung-out TB. I'm a bit proud, can you tell?
Nat has been having trouble schooling Gracie lately. She gets grumpy and pissy and Nat has had a couple of falls in the recent months from miss mare being a mole. She just seems to hate being ridden, and handled in general, which is sad. Nat got the vet out to do an exam and take bloods looking for hormonal stuff and anything else that could be medically wrong, and she came back clear ($400 later mind you). She hates being girthed up and we know 100% that she has NEVER had the girth done up too quickly because she has only ever been tacked up by us two, so that couldn't be why she kicks and carries on when the girth is done up. But she has a small wither and a broad back and can be quite rolly-poley so we are now mindful not to over tighten the girth and that seems to be helping. Nat also rode her in a new sheepskin girth cover (which she described to Gracie as "it's like having a fluffy bunny rabbit give you a cuddle!") as combined with the new warmup routine she went really sweetly and they didn't argue, Gracie didn't swish her tail nearly as much, wasn't so jacked up in front as she normally is and just looked like she was having a pleasant ride. :)
We had been to the saddlery just before we rode and I bought Allie a blue bonnet which we tried out during out schooling session. She looks super cute in it, this photo does not do it justice at all.
Friday, 30 September 2011
It's been raining here again.
Reading Sprinklerbandit’s posts about her wondermare Izzy and Karen’s posts about her lovely gelding Hampton and Kate’s awesome jumping photos of Lucy have gotten me inspired. I want to ride, I want this summer to be amazing and fun and I want to get out there on this horse that has such potential.
To be honest, with the tiny bit of shitty schooling we have done over the winter, she has really improved despite all that and looking back I can see what we have accomplished. But I still feel like we are behind. And I know a big part of a horse learning self balance is being confident to move out. At home, we just can’t get that. We have lumpy grassy areas we can do circles in under the flood light but even on the weekend there is not much of a flat area to ride in. I have felt tiny little glimpses of balance but then the poor mare looses confidence and comes back. If we had a float and a car to tow it we could float over to the local indoor once or twice a week. But we don’t, so there is no use dreaming for now. :P
At least daylight savings starts this weekend! I’m pretty excited about having a couple of hours of sunlight to ride in of an afternoon. And seeing as I am so sick of riding in our pseudo-arena at home I am expecting to go on a lot of road rides throughout summer.
Those mares need some serious work now that they are both 5.
In other news, Chakra is still going strong. No sign of the cancer hurting her just yet, so I am hopeful for another month or so with her. She is happy and healthy right now, so that is enough for me.
Sorry I haven’t really blogged in ages. There is just nothing to report!
To be honest, with the tiny bit of shitty schooling we have done over the winter, she has really improved despite all that and looking back I can see what we have accomplished. But I still feel like we are behind. And I know a big part of a horse learning self balance is being confident to move out. At home, we just can’t get that. We have lumpy grassy areas we can do circles in under the flood light but even on the weekend there is not much of a flat area to ride in. I have felt tiny little glimpses of balance but then the poor mare looses confidence and comes back. If we had a float and a car to tow it we could float over to the local indoor once or twice a week. But we don’t, so there is no use dreaming for now. :P
At least daylight savings starts this weekend! I’m pretty excited about having a couple of hours of sunlight to ride in of an afternoon. And seeing as I am so sick of riding in our pseudo-arena at home I am expecting to go on a lot of road rides throughout summer.
Those mares need some serious work now that they are both 5.
In other news, Chakra is still going strong. No sign of the cancer hurting her just yet, so I am hopeful for another month or so with her. She is happy and healthy right now, so that is enough for me.
Sorry I haven’t really blogged in ages. There is just nothing to report!
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)