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Post by el on Apr 18, 2014 15:00:52 GMT
DAY 8: Obstacle course and SUNSHINE! Beautiful out today. We did the obstacle course but changed a few things around. All went great - rollbacks, 360 HQ yields around a tub, sidepasses, walking over pole, rollbacks. Very mellow horse, I was both trying to look up and trying to do less. He was a little preoccupied at both the shed (?) and my brother up the field, but very easy to get him back listening to me asap. We could only do the dragging the oil can around once as after I put the rope back on the barrell he caught it & dropped it on the ground.
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Post by el on Apr 19, 2014 18:52:31 GMT
DAY 9: BACK TO BASICS
Oz was out in a new paddock today and I spent about 20 mins lining him up at the mounting block while cattle galloped around, dogs ran about , frisbees were throw, quad bikes were going by & in general life was exciting. The result of all of this is while Oz would stand by the block, he was nicely distracted and very good at moving away slowly when I made an attempt to get on. I could have got a leg up, but I thought better to work with what I've got instead of bandaiding it. Plan b: Groundwork!
Got a few nips on the rope by himself so he got backpeddelled quickly. He knows this too so when he bits the rope he nearly backpeddles himself at this stage. I do not tolerate any rope biting at it goes downhill rapidly this.
Other than that, got some nice stuff with high level energy (more due to what was going on than me). At one stage Oz was doing canters around me on the 12 ft rope after stepping on a pole (he wasn't looking where he was going) then getting pissed off with life in general and this resulted in him going faster, but the whole time Oz never once pulled on the rope in my hand, no matter what he was doing. We seem to have an understanding that neither of us should pull on the other.
Every though the evening was more about keeping his attention and basic skills like not biting the rope, I have to say he was still lovely and pretty connected to what I was asking him to do. Definitely a long way from what ground work was like when we started.
Left him go, thought about it, and brought him back out an apple. We didn't get riding, but I think we made a pretty good result with a slightly messy & distracted horse.
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Post by el on Apr 20, 2014 8:57:51 GMT
DAY 10: Heaven on Easter Sunday Morning Walked Oz to the block & got on. Had an absolutely lovely ride around, very mellow listening horse.. Rollbacks, backup from using mane hair, sidepassing, figures of 8s from weight changes, 360 yields around a block, could ride anywhere in the paddock and it all was the same... horse felt amazing throughout. GREAT day, awesome horse
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Post by el on Apr 23, 2014 10:37:33 GMT
DAY 11: Todays biggest challenge was to get Oz from sitting to standing. He went from sitting, to flying flat out with his eyes closed, right beside me, in an effort to pretend he was too tired to go for a ride. Eventually got him up. Has a most delightful ride in the sunshine. Everything was available, he was soft, listening, trying really hard lots of yawns, did lovely circles, leg yields, rollbacks, backups, etc. A great day
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Post by el on Apr 24, 2014 17:36:48 GMT
DAY 12: BACK TO NEARLY BASICS
Oz was relaxed but didn't want to cooporative at the mounting block. Tried for a while, then he started nipping the rope so got back to a few basics, then tried for a while again. He wasn't distracted he just wasn't cooporating. After an hour or more, got a leg up. Had a lovely ride, focused a little more on bends, sideways and yields which were lovely and light, but there a little more energy than normal there. so we did stuff that was easy wins and steered our way around trouble. Lovely ride!
Today's 2 quirks.
1) Oz was very 'huggy'. Eg. I was standing on the mounting block (or on the ground) and he was quite keen to turn his neck around me in a horse hug, and stay like that. Not normal. I think it was a very sweet aversion to stop me getting on.
2) It looked as if Oz had caught sight of a bird flying over head, or perhaps the telephone wire high overhead. So he ended up with his head tilted sideways, & with his nose stuck high up in the air. Did this 2 or 3 times. Again, I have no words.
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Post by el on Apr 27, 2014 9:14:49 GMT
DAY 13: TROTTING!! Got up pretty quick today, Oz unimpressed (looked very grumpy) and hit the mounting block a wallop with his leg in annoyance. 3 seconds later he was back to his normal happy self lovely ride, had a nice pootle all around the padock on various manouvres, bareback as usual. Then the exciting bit... Wwe were working on fast walk and ended up in a bareback trot!! First trot was 7-8 steps and ended messy when Oz got bracy & annoyed as we went back to walk via a 'bend him' manouvre. Trot 2: Didn't get the annoyance factor this time, but he was a bit tense and his head was up, so we came down to walk again (much nicer transition without the arguments) Trot 3: Best yet!! No arguments, forward going, less braced, NEARLY like a normal trot!!! but I had to bring him back to walk as bareback trotting is not my best skill and things were geting bumpy on board. WONDERFUL very happy we did some little trots and we all ended up as friends still afterwards!!
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Post by el on Apr 28, 2014 15:33:24 GMT
DAY 14: The saddle returns Out came the saddle after I'd say early a year!! On it went, OZ didn't blink. Got on without stirrups from the block, Oz was A1. Lovely manouvres in walk... then got 1 lovely trot (from a fast walk into 'letting it happen') nice & relaxed then we stopped for a yawn. After it then Oz got tight & bracy a little, but only a temp thing... relaxed him back down again with more manouvres.. Then went from halt to trot in 4 steps (MAJOR, Oz doesn't like being told what to do!) and got a nice small circle in trot... then back to walk, a little bracy again, but we relaxed out with a few moves in walk. GREAT day! Now it looks like we can do little trots with the saddle I did miss bareback.. its much easier to do wrong things in the saddle as I feel I'm not as in tune physically with Oz. I think I need to do bareback stuff regularly as the saddle is just when everything is working, to repeat it.
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Post by el on May 1, 2014 11:45:40 GMT
DAY 15: HEAVEN ON HORSEBACK
I had brought out the saddle, but it was about to rain so I hopped up bareback. Oz not totally perfect at the mounting block butwe got there.
Now - we were in the new paddock and Oz LITERALLY didn't put a foot wrong the whole time. Absolutely PERFECT ride (crazy!!). Circles with softness and increasing circle size, 360 FQ yields, 360 HQ yields, backups and rollbacks, walk the line TWICE IN A ROW PLUS ended with a leg yield!
The whole time Oz was a absolute, soft, relaxed, calm, listening delight of a horse. PLUS but the time I finished it was blazing sunshine. YAY!
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Post by el on May 2, 2014 16:26:50 GMT
DAY 16: Oz awful at mounting block. Circling him while I was on it was not working at all. Once I looked like I was getting on he'd step backwards, or move HQ out. Plan B - get up on slope, nope Plan C: Do the robbed a bank getaway, so this was better and he was standing still, but to get on still needed distraction of the other horse to come over for Oz to stop moving about. Anyway! Something for Mark to fix Riding - well again it was super. Honestly he was very soft, and any yield I asked for - front, back, sideways, it was just there. He was putting his head up a bit high & shaking hie ears about... a few times.. first time hes done that not sure what it was about. Fab ride Gave him a carrot after, very happy horse!
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Post by el on May 4, 2014 10:06:39 GMT
DAY 17: Got Dad to stand in paddock so got up perfectly with Oz nicely distracted. My goal for next week is to teach Oz to bow so I can get up that way. The ride... bareback & halter & MAGIC. He was soft, listening, and did not put 1 foot wrong the whole time. We did rollbacks, walk the lines, sideways, lots of circles, yields outwards, changes of direction from weight... then as we were doing a lot of sideways stuff, did big long straight lines across the paddock on a loose rein... before this was impossible as Oz + Straight Line = Distractions = Messing, trying to take over, braces, strops.... He was literally beautiful today.. he'd just go where I'd ask, straight line or bend, stops, turns, up hills, calm, relaxed a few yawns throughout. Just fab. Very happy
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Post by beksnjake on May 4, 2014 12:21:11 GMT
Love it love it love it!
Just one question el - what are you going to work on at the clinic, as Oz is going so well?!?
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Post by el on May 4, 2014 15:23:52 GMT
Well, the mounting block and if walk is nice, starting to work in trot I guess. I'm pretty sure Mark will find a few things to improve on
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Post by el on May 11, 2014 14:18:13 GMT
A weeks break as it was RAINING!!
Day 19: Got up while Oz was distracted looking at my brother (this was planned lol!). 10 secs later Oz realised I was on board and stamped his foot. Then had a GLORIOUS ride bareback in the sunshine in walk.. lots of manouvres and Oz was foot perfect all around the paddock, happy, relaxed and just fab! Told him he was wonderful & the 2 horses got an apple each.
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Post by el on May 23, 2014 9:46:50 GMT
DAY 20: I need to fix the mounting block issue before Mark comes.. 2 options....
Option 1- Buck style, bump him until he's in the right place at the block. Didn't work, horse looked confused, I was just creating a brace so I stopped. It started to rain so PLAN B tomorrow!
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Post by el on May 23, 2014 9:50:49 GMT
DAY 21: PLAN B - The carrot!!! So use the long stick to help Oz to sidepass over to the block & then reward with a little carrot on the far side once hes in position. Well I never saw a horse move so fast Big trys & lots of effort, loved the carrots, got up 3 times from the block. Seems to have worked. Didn't do clicks, etc any of that, just literally when he stood in the right place he got a little carrot. Tiny issue in that he was a little preoccupied with the carrot, after I had got up so his mind was on that, which it wouldn't be usually. But def big improvement in the block issue. Will let him think about it now for a few days, and see whats he like next week when I'm back, and reduce the carrots. eg. stand at block, I get on, little carrot, then back to business as usual.
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