Raaaain

Wasn't able to make it back out to the farm all week.

Today? I was like, "yes! I'm going to go! Early in the afternoon! To miss the rain that's supposed to come later!"

Yeah, I get halfway there and the bottom falls out of the sky so I decide, "screw it, I'll go and cuddle my pony and we'll do some sort of ground work in the rain, whatever."

So that's what we did. I went and cuddled him and gave him treats then we went and did some ground work. Mr. Kieran was enjoying the freedom of the big ring too much though so we ended up going to the round pen and having a reminder session that he's supposed to be listening to me. My fault, I should have been prepared to actually work in the big ring but of course...I wasn't. Next time I'll bring a lunge line and get myself a proper whip instead of trying to free lunge him in there (it worked okay at the old farm because their ring was smaller and not grassy but here it's just too easy for him to get out of reach and then start grazing until I catch up to him, ugh).

Anyway, after that I took him back to his field just stuck around scritching his ears and talking to him a bit. I noticed he looks like he's been scratching the front of his neck on things (and a couple of not-so-straight-anymore fence posts) and I'm concerned bugs are bothering him or maybe he's got an allergy to something in GA. :( Will have to figure out what it is before he gets too itchy.

Of course, about the time I wrapped everything up and was on my way out (just talking a bit with the BO first)...of course the rain stopped. You know, after I was soaked, LOL.

Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't do that to me again tomorrow.

Free-jumping, redux!

Okay, here we go again...

:)

First, his new $10 horseloverz bridle with fancy schmancy Nunn-Finer reins that I couldn't resist. I actually felt bad putting such nice reins on such a cheap bridle.



Screencaps of one run, the one rail was already down before he came through but since it wasn't really in the way, I didn't stop him from going:









Better? I had the little "fence" set back at about 11 feet. (I wanted to use real jump standards, but the other set is outside, currently stuck in ice and wasn't budging)

Actual video of one of the jumps:



And here's one of his last runs through. I put down a ground pole, a very low "vertical", and then the jump. Each are still about 11 feet apart (I brought a tape measure!)



And before we did this, I spent some time just letting him stand next to the block, getting praised if he stood still. Then I'd step up to the middle step. Praise if he stood still. Then I'd go up to the top step and stand over him. Praise and treat if he stood still. If he didn't, I'd just get down, follow with the block, and wait until he stood still again. Didn't actually get on because I hadn't come prepared to ride and I figure it can't hurt for him to learn that sometimes, I just stand next to him and give him treats and sometimes...I get on and we ride, but he has to stand still either way.

Lunging

I didn't get to ride Kieran yesterday, since nobody else was around the barn, so I just brought him in and groomed him up (yay, he wasn't a dirt/mudball this time!). I still haven't found any "itchy" spots for him though sometimes I think I've almost got one when I scritch behind his ears or rub with the rubber curry on his belly and his hip.

Anyway, after that, we went into the arena and, since there was already stuff set up (jump standards as "poles" to weave through, two barrels sitting near each other for some reason, ground poles to trot over, etc) first I just walked with him around, through, and over everything in hand just for the hell of it. Then, I dragged everything out of the middle of the ring and put him on the lunge line.

He lunges pretty well, but I think he probably just did a lot of work at the trot as that's what he's really good at but asking him to go from a trot to a walk usually gets him to go from trot to halt instead, though that could also be an artifact of his training with Carey since she spent a lot of time putting brakes on him and did a lot of trot->halt with him. Even when I'm riding him in the ring, I really have to work to get him to transition into a walk instead of stopping. So we did some of that and I also asked him to canter and it became obvious that was one thing he really hadn't done on the lunge line. I only had him go around at the canter once each way, mostly to see if he'd do it but I didn't want to overdo it since he isn't used to it.

After that, I had him stand ground-tied while I picked out the arena and then it was more scritchy time before I let him back out to his field. He's a good boy. :)

Assuming everything works out today, I plan on going back up to see him this afternoon. Whether I ride him or not still depends on whether anybody's in the barn (that's up in the air) but I'll at least work with him some more on the ground because I figure it's still working with him to reinforce that he has to do what I tell him.

It's actually funny to me that it seemed like he'd trot forever without a lot of encouragement on the lunge line but it's much more work to get him to do it under saddle. Of course, on the lungeline he only has to carry himself around. ;)

Anyway, even if I don't ride him today, I'll be riding him in my lesson tomorrow and Christina asked me if I minded if she used him for someone's lessons on Sunday which...I don't, really. I know the rider and I know she's not going to screw him up (nor would Christina put someone on him that would) and I can't be up there on the weekends right now anyway and I figure it'll be good for him.

So that's where we are now.

Maybe if we just do lunging today, I'll try and take video at the same time. :)

And, I don't have any pictures from last night but here's one of Christine the day she lunged him not long after I got him: