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Post by beksnjake on Jun 19, 2013 10:26:15 GMT
Jake & Rosie are much happier since they have been separated - Jake especially as Rosie never left him in peace, either moving him on constantly or if we were in the field she was attacking him (this got worse as her seasons became ever more frequent). They can see & touch each other over the post & rail fence and they are often seen grooming each other. Now Rosie is established on the Regumate it may be possible to put them back together but for the moment it's just easier to have them in separate fields. It's not how I planned to keep my horses but then hormones got in the way! It didn't start out like that though - for the first 3 months they appeared to get on well, so I would keep a close eye on your two (which no doubt you are!)
Great series of photos by the way!
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Post by breakfast on Jun 19, 2013 21:29:42 GMT
The thing I notice is that every single time I work this horse, doing groundwork or riding her, she is better. We tend to do fairly short sessions, maybe thirty or forty minutes, but it feels like we're making good progress in that time and the next day when we start again she is just better. She is starting to be able to soften when I ask her to flex and even figuring out she doesn't have to brace against the reins under saddle. We're getting more used to one another and I'm getting more ready to insist on what I'm asking for, which is something she needs. I am, in general, immensely pleased with her.
This evening she was quite warm after our ride so I fetched out the hose to rinse the sweaty patch where the cinch had been. The conversation went a little like this:
Iris: *Snort* Warning! Something exceedingly dangerous is approaching my feet at very low speed. Me: What is bothering you, mare? Iris: I don't even know what this stuff is, I have never seen anything like it in my life! Look how it creeps menacingly towards me... I.. I think it might be lava! *snort* Me: It's a hose, pony, I'm sure you've seen one before. Iris: *Snorrp* This is definitely dangerous it seems to be coming from that thing in your hand. In fact it smells a bit like... tastes a bit like... this lava is very similar to water. Me: Are you having a nice drink there? Iris: I'm protecting you, look I think I've got this figured out. I can save us both if I just block off this hose with my nose like... Oh. No, that doesn't seem to have helped at all. In fact I seem to have totally covered you in lava. Still it looks like you've survived so I suppose that's good. I'll just drink a bit more now, shall I?
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Post by nicxf on Jun 20, 2013 6:43:28 GMT
Haha, nice one, Iris! ;D
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Post by kas on Jun 20, 2013 6:44:27 GMT
Fin does that. His eyes get bigger and bigger as he desperately tries to hang on to the hose while his teeth and tongue start to freeze. ;D
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Post by quest on Jun 20, 2013 6:52:23 GMT
It so nice to watch the character developing a horse I knew would during, completely submerged up to his eyes in the buchet
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Post by el on Jun 23, 2013 9:23:17 GMT
Aaawwww
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Post by breakfast on Jun 23, 2013 22:03:53 GMT
A consequence of having Iris in my life for the last few weeks is that in having a green but fundamentally uncomplicated horse to ride I have really recovered so much of my horsemanship mojo and recalled that actually I can do this. In fact having to work so much on subtlety with Cash and having had a year and more of regular riding lessons between riding my own horses means that I am probably a better rider now than I ever have been. Iris and I are getting a lot more accustomed to one another- I'm still working hard to help her bend more correctly, which isn't too easy in the halter, but she is starting to understand that I might want her to follow the feel on the rein and not pull back. We're also starting to get a bit of correct back-up rather than just stepping backwards and resisting the rein. She is really beginning to feel like my horse now. Today we had our first canter together- not particularly impressive or well balanced, but nice to do and she is very comfortable. A beautiful and charming horse.
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Post by breakfast on Jun 30, 2013 22:10:07 GMT
Iris continues to progress nicely. On Friday we had the dentist over to do both ponies' teeth and take out Iris' wolf tooth. The consequence of that is that she should be able to wear a bridle more comfortably, but not for a few weeks, so it will be a while before we can ride out. Not that I have any problem with riding out bitless, but I don't think my insurance covers it. Meantimes, we will continue to ride in the halter and maybe, if it ever arrives, we might move onto a sidepull. Turns out those are hard to obtain here, or at least decent ones are. Today was interesting because when I brought her in to work her, the hay in the field beside the school was being baled and she was very anxious about the tractors. I'm not entirely accustomed to horses being flustered by tractors because the last yard also did plant hire and they got very used to them going past. Iris was unimpressed and quite skittish, so we stopped at the entrance to the field and after watching them for a while she began to realise they weren't going to hurt her and calmed down a whole lot. She was still watching them intently, but I figured we could get over to the arena and get some work done. I spent a while just helping her to move around and distract her from being anxious about sinister horse-eating tractors. Once we seemed to be somewhere nearer our normal starting point I put my saddle on and we had a bit of a ride. She was quite up and it felt like her trot had a lot more bounce to it than normal, but although she wanted to keep an eye on the tractors she was generally pretty great. It was easy to bring her attention back and to direct her. I find her response to stuff that bothers her quite reassuring- she certainly lets you know that she's concerned about something but she still comes back nicely. She can certainly move her feet briskly when so inclined, though. She still finds it very hard to bend to the right, which is quite possibly something that came of protecting that wolf tooth but may now be more ingrained in her way of going. I will get in touch with the chiro tomorrow, because I suspect a treatment might really help with that. Still no word from the saddle fitter I hoped to get out to check my saddles either, annoyingly. I think my saddle is alright on her, but I would really like an expert view on that.
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Post by beksnjake on Jul 1, 2013 5:17:04 GMT
Lovely to see how your relationship is developing & how a "new" horse can challenge your own established behaviours, like with the tractors. I guess it's easy to forget that when you've been with one or two horses for a while that not all horses behave the same. Jake is not bothered about feed or shavings bags - you can rub him all over with them, move bales of shavings around him etc, Rosie on the other hand is very scared of them - got caught out the first time I walked out of Rosie's stable with a shavings bag in my hand, she thought she was going to be eaten alive!
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Post by breakfast on Jul 1, 2013 23:00:58 GMT
Our first ride outside the school- now the hay has been cut it seemed smart to take a chance to use the big field
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Post by kas on Jul 2, 2013 15:22:46 GMT
She is looking great Breakfast. I've got insured with the Horse Agility Club, to be specifically covered riding out bitless. I didn't want any grey area re a bosal.
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Post by breakfast on Jul 2, 2013 21:43:15 GMT
She's doing so well. Today was our monthiversary. Given that we have been working together that long and the restrictions we have had in terms of equipment I think we're doing at least as well as I would hope for
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Post by beksnjake on Jul 3, 2013 5:09:37 GMT
She looks great - what a lovely length of stride she has.
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Post by breakfast on Jul 4, 2013 21:39:29 GMT
Big bless mare. I think she's going to be a great dressage horse if I can just become a great dressage rider
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Post by breakfast on Jul 7, 2013 22:30:29 GMT
This evening in the low sunlight, Mare and I rode in the hay fields again, ideal for giving us more space now they have been cut. The gate to the hillside field was open so we went through, the angle of the sun giving us daliesque long-legged shadows, Iris legs stretching down the slope jumping pond at the bottom of the hill to join our shadow on the opposite hillside. When we had made a little circuit we went back into the larger flat field that will be the winter grazing. We were working on straightness and moving forward when I noticed a swallow skimming just above the grass and adjusted our course to intercept. For a couple of minutes we trotted around the field trying to catch the swallow as it swooped and circled just above the ground. Having a clear object helped me to offer her a really clear direction and focus and although we didn't really catch the swallow - it will be a while before we can achieve that - we did have a few moments when it skimmed alongside us at a similar speed before darting away and I remembered that riding a smooth horse over smooth ground might be the closest thing to flying I have ever known. Close enough, I think, close enough. Also, in the hottest part of the hottest day in the last five summers I found a shady walk to take little Cash on and he let me take his picture in the green forest:
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