Warm Before the Storm? Not!

Since tomorrow's forecast is dire indeed, I decided Flyboy had to have a trail ride! We may be buried in snow again within twenty-four hours and lose the opportunity for who knows how long. Our last trail ride was December 30--two whole months ago! I called three friends, but no one could ride today. I decided we would trail ride, though, so after a small discussion about getting in the trailer, Fly and I headed out. (He loads perfectly fine if Keno is nearby, but balks when he is alone--we are working on this issue.)

Today the wind was whipping around pretty good and it was overcast, but it wasn't too cold. Ha ha---or so I thought. I took Fly out to the hills east of the freeway and saddled up. We also booted up for the first time in months. Easyboot Gloves, size 1, fit fairly well. I also wore my crash vest, SPOT satellite tracker, cell phone, and helmet of course.. Just call me cautious. Fly's head was six feet in the air and he was looking around at the great wide world like he'd never seen anything like it before! But he headed gamely up the road and onto the jeep trail. This is rocky country. Boulders everywhere! None of those more natural looking things seem scary to Fly, luckily. We headed up a very steep long hill at a walk. He wanted to go, but I held him mostly to a walk since he was a little jumpy. At the very top of the hill is a fence and a gate with a wilderness area sign. I believe Fly thought the sign said "Absolutely No Horses Beyond This Point," because he flatly refused to go any farther! It took about 5 minutes of doing small circles and lots of encouragement before he would pass that sign. But he did pass it and on the way back, he didn't hesitate. Good boy.

The wind at the top of the hill was fierce! And COLD. Freezing, actually. And all my long thermals were in the washing machine at home, wet! So I was feeling that wind! One thing is funny, though--of all the things that bother Fly, the wind is not one of them. Lots of horses get extra frisky and skittish on days like today, but not Fly. Maybe he has enough other things to worry about.

When we turned to head back to the trailer, he was a very good boy. No hurrying. He just walked out nicely and blew quite a few times. Hopefully he was letting out some of the tension he had been holding. He loaded like a champ and we headed for home, slightly frozen and wind chapped, but safe and sound!

Things about the ride I liked:
1. Fly has a good, forward walk.
2. Even though he was anxious, he still listened to me.
3. When he was scared of the sign, he didn't spin and run, or rear. Whew!
4. He walked nicely on the return.
5. Even though he was "spooky" acting, he didn't really spook at anything.

Things I didn't like:
1. I don't like horses to start backing up when they are frightened. He started backing up several times when I           asked him to approach the sign.
2. Gale force winds!

Fun and Games

Well, since Mother Nature is acting quite fickle this week it was back to the arena again. Keno had a lesson to teach, and Fly did some schooling. The last two times we've been down there, Fly and I have struggled more than we were a few weeks ago. Perhaps it was the time off while I was away, or maybe it was just a phase we needed to work through. Maybe it was a more mechanical type reason--saddle fit or even rider error. (Yikes.) Whatever it was, it was gone today. Fly was close to perfect. He worked nicely and was soft and flexible. We worked mostly at the trot and walk, with just a few canter circles.

I have noticed that Fly anticipates and lifts into a canter too often, and I don't mean just when asked. At first I thought he was just offering because he enjoys it, but I have decided that is not quite right. I think this behavior (over-eagerness while working, while bridling, etc.) is actually a form of anxiety. I'm still figuring out what he is worrying about. He may be over-trying for good reasons: the desire to please, or trying hard to learn. Or he may be worried about not getting it right. Performance stress sort of.

This behavior reminds me of a horse rushing to a jump. Whatever Flyboy's reason, I want him to relax and realize there is no need to rush. No need to hurry. We're just taking our time. Willingness is great, but he doesn't need to hurry and jump into every request too quickly. So today we just worked on taking our easy, sweet, methodical time. Walk on. T-rot. And waaaalk. T-trot again. Nice and soft...now can-ter! Minimal rushing today, and much more relaxation and softness. This was a great lesson for me and very nice work on Fly's part.

Fly then got to stand at the rail while I taught a lesson. I have included lots of games in Olivia's lessons--because it's fun, of course, but also to help her "see" the bigger picture. She's doing a great job of putting it all together and using her new skills to get a job done. Today's game involved picking up and carrying the orange plastic cones from the barrel at one end of the arena to the barrel at the other end of the arena one at a time. This was a timed exercise! And she did a great job. At the end of the lesson I got back on Flyboy and Olivia and I competed against each other. It was pretty funny, but in the end Fly was getting into it. A nice change for him, too, and it's good to "see" the bigger picture in practice.

The Cone Competitors

Yesterday Keno got to go on his first trail ride in a while. I went alone since I didn't know if he might be sore on uneven ground. He had his hocks injected a few weeks back and I have noticed some residual stiffness. If he seemed sore or uncomfortable I planned to just turn around and head home again. As it turned out, he felt great and we had a good easy ride looking for shed antlers. (Didn't find any though!) The wind was cold but it was a beautiful ride on a great horse. I hope to take Fly there soon and start some hill work.

Back in the Saddle Again

After nearly two weeks without riding, Keno, Fly, and I were back at the arena today. Flyboy was very good, but not as soft and easy as he had been--I felt like we lost a little ground. It was minor, but we'll head to the arena again tomorrow to see if we can get back on track. Don't get me wrong, he was very good and willing, just not as highly maneuverable as on our last ride. (See our Feb. 6 post.) Several times Fly popped that shoulder and drifted off the circle. He was a bit resistant once or twice as well. But he was forward and very willing to canter. And so smooth!

A couple of other riders were using the arena so we had company, including a green colt being saddled in the round pen for the first time. Snow was sliding off the arena roof at regular intervals--loud crashing sounds included! But for all the distractions (we were trying hard not to be distracted) I feel like we had a pretty good ride. My good friend Sharon showed up and she even got in on the action for a few minutes!

Cruel Weather

Spending a week in sunny warm Florida was a wonderful winter break, but oh, how cruel of Mother Nature to hit us with this the day we returned! I arrived home jazzed and ready for spring training. It's time for Fly to begin more serious conditioning for his first endurance ride. It's going to be hard to start that this week!

Our first 25 mile endurance ride could be Antelope Island on April 14 or Hell's Kitchen Canyon on May 19. I have been to both and either would be a good first ride for him. Hell's Kitchen is much closer, so depending on how well Flyboy is trailering, it may be the better choice. April 14 may be a bit soon unless the snow melts tomorrow and we can get out on the trails! I don't mind riding in the snow, but parking is definitely a challenge. I am, however, hoping to go visit a good friend down south to let Fly experience an overnight trip. She has warm sandy desert riding this time of year! In any case, I will not rush him mentally or physically. He will start his endurance career when he seems ready.

Class Clown

Well, I didn't get my riding lesson--I got an awful sinus infection instead. Boo. Got antibiotics on Wednesday. Today I felt well enough to ride (the 50 degree sunshine helped!) but since our car is ailing, my husband took the truck to work, so I was stranded! I guess I could have ridden Keno to the arena or just around town, but I opted instead to play at home.

Flyboy has turned into the class clown as you can see from the pictures. I started out doing some of our regular ground work: following a feel, yielding, side passing, etc. I played rope games with his feet in preparation of teaching him to hobble. I lunged him over the barrels---which he jumps nicely. Then I got out the tarp and an empty (crackly!) dog food bag. Fly has always been fine with tarps UNDER him, but he has been very nervous about them being over or on him. Not any more. Today, Fly became brave. I had both the dog food bag (like a thick, stiff tarp) and the regular tarp all over him. Once we had done that, I turned him loose so I could work with Keno.

Keno is an anti-tarp horse. He always has been, but I have decided to fix that hole in his training. But while I was doing some ground work/lunge work with Keno, Fly kept stealing the show. He was after the tarp, the bag, and anything else. He stomped, pulled on, picked up, shook, and chewed the tarp.

At one point the wind grabbed the tarp and threw it up against Fly's front legs. He did a little half-spook and then just stood there thinking about it. Something in Fly's mind has changed. (I will post more about it eventually.) Poor Keno kept getting put in his "stand still and don't move" command

 so I could photograph the class clown. Even Keno gained some confidence today--walking and trotting over the tarp. It was great!

Fab Ride

Flyboy trailered solo to the arena for a fabulous workout all alone at the indoor arena. I was totally bummed no one was there to see this ride. He deserved an audience. What a good boy he was--soft, very forward and generous. I LOVE his canter. I love his trot. I love his flexibility and maneuverability. He is just a fun ride.

We did a little ground work, then a little under-saddle warm-up. Then it was circles and serpentines, again. Who would have thought circles could be so fun? Fly was a little cautious about the far end of the arena where the windows and the calf chute are, so I hopped off and dragged a few trot poles out to play over down in that end. I thought maybe if he had something more important to think about, he would forget about worrying about the calf chute. It worked; he was very business-like and careful over the poles. I may just decide to start adding elements: trot poles to a cross-rail, or cavalletti. He could be ready to do some gymnastic grids in no time.

Flyboy got a well deserved grooming and a couple of cookies before trailering home again. And that was after I told him what an amazing boy he is! I hope he will be as good tomorrow since I am finally getting another lesson with Marleen. And on Thursday we are going out on trail at long last. Seems like forever since we had a trail ride!

Trailer Solo

Yay! Fly did it! I trailered him solo down to the arena and although he was a little nervous, it was no big deal. He loaded fairly well and unloaded like a champ. Whew. I hope he is getting past the bad memories and we can just carry on from where we were pre-November 23, 2011.

I had heard the arena was booked for calf roping so this afternoon I just planned on giving Flyboy some solo practice in the trailer. However, after loading him, I headed down to check out the arena activity and no one was there! I let Fly run, did some ground games and gave him a good grooming before loading him up to trailer home again. Even though he wasn't as relaxed as when Keno is with him, it still went fairly smooth and I am encouraged. We will be adding lots of solo trips from now on. This is supposed to be a good weather week, so hopefully we can get out for a trail ride somewhere.

Cold and Windy--But Not In The Arena!

It was cold and windy this afternoon--the kind of day that makes you want to stay inside with a warm blanket and a good book. Alas, I had a lesson to teach, so I got myself down to the indoor arena with both horses. They ran around and rolled and bucked a generally blew off a lot of steam. I worked with Flyboy on the ground for quite a while and he was stellar! He is now reliably responding to voice commands on the lunge line--walk, trot, canter, whoa--up and down transitions. I set out trot poles and he cruised over them with rhythm and balance and control. Wow. Much improved since the first time I tried that a few months ago. I have had Fly for four months now. It's been a roller coaster of sorts with the trailer accident and issues. But overall he has made tremendous progress and is coming along very nicely under saddle. By "coming along" I mean more than just following another horse down the trail. He is learning self-carriage and seat/leg aids, as well as developing proper musculature. This horse could go in several directions--endurance (my goal), dressage, jumping, or maybe even working cow horse. For some reason he seems to like cows. I don't.

Hopefully our weather will go back to the milder sunny temperatures this winter has been famous for. I need a trail ride! In a bad way! And Fly is just about ready to trailer solo. I think.