Smokey' Progress Journal

[ambrey]

OK, instead of writing random posts every day about our adventures, I'll start a thread to keep them all in one place. I'm not a trainer, so I won't call it a training journal yet- when we start our official training of whatever sort, I'll call it that.

Yesterday was the first day since Smokey arrived that I didn't make it to the stable's. I tried to e-mail my mom, but she ignored me- I am betting she was tired and didn't feel like going. I was stuck with my 2 kids and had a headache and dozed on and off all evening while hubby worked late (it was the day of my medical treatment, I have an excuse!).

This morning I went directly to the barn after dropping my kids off. I didn't have a plan, but just wanted to get him out of his stall a bit. The place is a zoo on weekdays, with all the training barn employees around, I really prefer evenings!

I got to the stall, and he was eating the remnants of his breakfast (alfalfa hay). I went in and opened my tack cabinet and he came over and stuck his nose in looking for treats. I pushed him back and got his halter, and he came over and dropped his head to have his halter put on... awww! I clipped on the lunge rope and got the lunge whip. I then felt compelled to give him a hug and a kiss- yay, Smokey and I are bonding finally!

I walked him over to the turn-outs which were all full. I briefly considered turning him out in the nearest arena, but didn't feel like dealing with the riding school that uses it and seems to think they own it. So we walked up to the boogeyman's hideout for a little desensitization and vague hope that there'd be somewhere to turn him out up there.

He walked up the south path just fine! No snorty freak outs. We got to the very top, I let him do a couple of runs in the open lunge area but really don't feel confident without a fence. We walked through the arena and got close to the road. He sniffed the ground and decided there were probably no boogeymen present.

I walked him back down the north path and found a problem area. One of the arenas is raised and the path goes below it. So, he could hear the horses going around but couldn't quite see them, and that freaked him a bit. Another horse walked by and as he was eying the horse suspiciously a bird flew out of a bush. He jumped about a foot- then edged closer to me. Does this mean he's starting to look to me for reassurance? I hope so

We stood there for a minute so he could see there were no tigers, then we walked down. Now one of the round pens was open, so I decided to lunge him for a second. He trots right out happily! He also did his first transition to canter without a buck.

After about 5 trips around the round pen he starts getting lazy and remembering his breakfast remnants, so he slows to a trot. At this point I actually cracked the whip a bit and he bucked and galloped around a bit. I dropped the lunge line and took a second to stop him.

He runs about twice around and stops and comes right to me. I patted him and let him sniff the lunge whip a second and start him the other direction. He trots right out again (I don't think he's ever learned to walk on the lunge line).

Now he's getting really lazy and every time I say anything he wants to quit I accidentally left too much slack and he gets a foot over the lunge line, and doesn't like the pressure. So I drop it and say whoa- and he stops and comes right to me!

So I trot him out again, canter him a couple of times around (one more buck here), then say whoa again and he comes right to me. I hug him and kiss him and say ok, we'll stop now and you can finish your breakfast and I'll be back later

Then I got back to the stall, gave him a scoop of bran and some apple treats in his feeder, and notice something moving in my grain bucket. It was a mouse stuck in there! Luckily I found a guy willing to kill it for me- I couldn't do it, and I knew having a mouse running around wasn't a good thing.

So he's not Katie Mae's push-button lunger, but he's getting it very quickly and we're doing much better together. I am learning to read his cues and he's learning to read mine. I am not even using the stud chain anymore!

[CoppysGirl]

Congrats.. sounds like things are really coming around.

It will be very helpful to both you and Smokey for you to teach him to walk on the lunge line. I always walk my horses for at least 5 minutes on the lunge line to loosen them up and get them in work mode. It's hard on their muscles to go straight into trotting and cantering. Sort of like when you use cold muscles to sprint before warming them up with a brisk walk.

I'm not sure if he's too spooky for this, but this is how I get a horse to walk if they're a little jumpy on the line. First, ask them to walk on without the whip. If they stand and look at you, raise the whip a tiny amount (about 2 feet off the ground, but not moving it towards the horse any). The horse should start walking forward. If he doesn't, move it around a little bit, but not too much so as to send them off at a canter. If he takes off at a trot (or any other gait besides walk) when you just raise the whip off the ground, ask him to "sloooooow" and give him subtle cues to slow down (such as lowering your whip). He might not get it the first couple of times (either just stopping from the trot when you say slow or only having two speeds: stop and canter. ), but eventually it will click in his head that he doesn't have to work any harder than you ask him to.

Good luck and I can't wait to see how he and you progress!

[KatieMae]

Originally Posted by ambrey

So he's not Katie Mae's push-button lunger, but he's getting it very quickly and we're doing much better together. I am learning to read his cues and he's learning to read mine. I am not even using the stud chain anymore!

Hey now... She's not totally push button... She takes a little to whoa from the trot but she gets it eventually.. lol It just takes time and training.. Keep in mind, though.. She is 17

[JoAnne]

good to hear!! with all that going on in your barn, no wonder he was jumpy. sounds like he is starting to trust you and settle in.

[ambrey]

Originally Posted by CoppysGirl

I'm not sure if he's too spooky for this, but this is how I get a horse to walk if they're a little jumpy on the line. First, ask them to walk on without the whip.

Thanks for the tips! He wasn't spooky at all on the lunge today, he walked out to the circle and then just trotted off like that was what he was supposed to do, lol. I agree he needs 3 gaits on the lunge, so I'll work on that.

What I need to do is watch the video and figure out what cues she was using. Right now I have to hit the ground with the whip to get him to canter, or else snap it (which, as noted, he dislikes intensely .

When I smack the ground with the whip, everyone looks- it must sound like I'm whacking my horse with it! Actually, I'm trying to teach him that no matter what sound it makes, it will never touch him with more than a tap.

[Jess6092]

Sounds like you guys are comming along nicely together! Lunging is an awesome exercise for both their brains and bodies. I think the trail/path walk was an excellent idea to help him learn to trust you and to get warmed up before he worked in the round pen. The only thing that I would change - and it is just because of my personal opinion and what i have been taught - is to not have him automatically come in to whoa. I like them to stop in the same direction they were going in. This is to me a safety issue as well as practical training - but like i said - just my opinion - I have seen it done both ways.

Congrats on the progress! look forward to hearing whats to come!

ETA - I also was going to say that I don't use a lunge whip - because I know I can get my mare to move out forward - but she needs more convincing to slow down - so having the whip makes her feel like she needs to keep going I think. Once again - just an idea!!

[ambrey]

LOL, Smokey needs the whip to keep him going. I think I gave people the impression he's a hot horse- he's actually a pretty lazy guy. He just has a lot of spook right now because everything is so new.

So today I only lunged him for a few minutes- I really was not feeling well and he needed a bath. Today I had trouble keeping him going, only got 2 bucks out of him even when I snapped the lunge whip. He is way too quick! He's already not scared of that darned thing

I gave him his first full bath and he didn't like it much! We both got very wet I walked him around as long as I could, then I turned him out knowing full well he'd roll- but he was mostly dry and dirt will brush off, I just wanted to get rid of the yellow stains from rolling in his stall!

So tonight I'm not going back out there, but my husband had some errands and stopped to get me a storage shed so I can buy some hay. I am going to buy him some grass hay and drop his alfalfa down a bit. Maybe 10 lbs am and PM of alfalfa cubes then as much grass hay as he wants (probably 4 flakes, the piggy!).

And tomorrow I might have a session with the dressage girls. They really want a chance at him, they think they can work with him (I asked her quite bluntly- is Smokey ready for this or does he need to go back to basics?). I promised Kate I was going to call the NH trainer but I'm running on empty this week so the dressage girls get another chance. The one girl really clicked with Smokey anyway, I think we'll all work well together.

And my mom is going to pay for a month of 3x/week lessons! So that's good news.

My mom and I were talking about the big buck-off, and she said "I don't get it, how did he throw you?" LOL, she also learned to ride in cowboy country! I told her I hadn't even gotten my feet in the stirrups. She nodded knowingly, completely confident that had I not been caught unawares my little butt would have been glued to the saddle like a good cowgirl.

I haven't ridden him again. I'm not sure whether it's fear or circumstances- I'd say it's circumstances, but I know that when you're scared of something you find reasons not to do it. This is infusion week, though, and I'm always off this week, and I do want to ride him- I just haven't had the time!

So of the items on the agenda. Get confident lunging, check. Get set up for a different diet, check. New girth, check (a nice fleecy one, he can not complain!). We'll see how this goes

eta: Oh, I forgot the good news! A pipe corral will be open October 1st!

[Carri]

This is all really good news, Ambrey! He is coming along so well!

[bazie]

Seems like everything is slowly working itself out. Good luck

[ambrey]

So today I was supposed to have pictures, but there was no card in my camera! Apparently my mom didn't even notice

Today Smokey was being a bit, as the trainer called him, "recalcitrant." He was just being kind of a butt.

First thing this morning we went to the feed store and grabbed a bale of bermuda hay. $15! I wish I had somewhere to keep it so I could just buy it by the ton

My mom and I went shopping for new boots and then went to the stable. I put his saddle on him with his new girth, and he didn't put his ears back! Yay! I lunged him for a bit, and the trainer rode by and asked to see him at a canter to make sure his hesitance to canter is just balkiness and not a physical issue. So, I showed her canter on both leads on the lunge, and we all agreed it was just balkiness (I had to get after him to even get him to canter on the lunge). It could be a conditioning issue, so we'll work on it.

Then I was going to ride him. I bridled him and walked him up toward the rings. We had two big spooks going up, and there were horses in all of the rings, so I changed my mind. After discussing it, we decided to take him into the bullpen where there would be fewer distractions.

So I mounted at the mounting block a little nervously. But, other than his usual "OK, you're on now right, here I go!" impatience (I will be working on that!), he was fine. I rode him into the bullpen. and we started around. He was being pretty balky and not responding well to the bit, but after a few minutes I got him responding to the bit and leg and we went around a few times at the walk and trot.

I haven't been feeling well so I cut it pretty short. My mom decided to get on. After she told me today about how I underestimated her riding ability, I was very nervous- because I knew she was underestimating how different riding is with an old body . She also doesn't know english at all. He was pretty squirrely on her as far as not sticking to any particular direction, but he was nice enough- and eventually he figured out what she wanted and went around the pen. She didn't do so well at the trot though

So that was Smokey. We probably rode him for a total of about 30 mintues, on top of the 10 minutes or so we spent lunging. There is nothing the least bit exciting to report I think that's a good thing.

[Carri]

Nothing exciting is definitely a good thing!
Is this the first time your mom has been on him?

[ambrey]

Originally Posted by Carri

Nothing exciting is definitely a good thing!
Is this the first time your mom has been on him?

Yep! I was a little nervous but he was a gentleman- well, except for not going where she wanted him to go, but she doesn't really know how to use her legs so that's not surprising.

[ambrey]

So today I went out there, my mom met me there. I saddled him up and walked him over to a different roundpen than we usually use- it's a little larger. He was a little spooky and kicked up his heels a bit while lunging. My mom practiced lunging a little bit.

I took him back to the cross ties and bridled him. That bridle just doesn't fit well, I so hope the new one I got is better! I led him up to the currently empty dressage ring, walked him through, and mounted him using the block on the other side. As I ride back in, the head trainer and a student walk in. Oh darn, so much for having it to myself!

Anyway, we walked several times around the dressage ring, making sure there were no tigers in the trees and checking out our handsome selves in the mirror. Then I rode him down to the bullpen again, and trotted him around a few times. At this point my back was getting sore and I don't want to push myself (I'm in terrible shape!).

Then my mom rode him and he did great! Around the bullpen a few times, even trotting!

Then *gasp* my husband rode him! My husband, who has been on a horse once in his life, got on the monster horse from hell and poked around the bullpen a few times.

So eliminate the spook issues, and he's just mellow as can be. The bull pen is a safe place to practice, too. Looks like he's going to be rideable after all!

[instigatorkate]

Yeah!

That's great news, and sounds like you're on the right track. In a month or so you probably won't need to lunge those spooks and bucks out, they'll be gone for good!

[ambrey]

Yeah, he's already bucking much less on the lunge. He is still pretty spooky up in the arena area (there are 6 arenas right next to each other, and various other obviously dangerous and carnivorous things like bleachers and flags up there). I'm guessing I'll be riding comfortably in the dressage ring by the end of the week- yay!

[ambrey]

Ugh, this has been a nasty sick week. Blech.

Anyway, Smokey and I rode last night He was so hyped up from lack of exercise, with me being sick, that he bucked up a mad storm while lunging. He even cantered without being asked twice!

I took him in... The Ring. The Ring with my butt impression in it. He was spooky- this ring borders on one short side to the central park lake, and there are vicious attack ducks making horrible growling noises like "quack quack." It took me a while to get him close enough to the mounting block to actually, you know, mount. Hubby was there and helped (I'm leaving out a lot of walking back and forth, patting, saying "it's ok, the bad duckies can't get you, etc).

Right after getting on, I did get one decent sized spook, but I let him have his head right away and there was no buck attached, so that's good! He also didn't want to walk again at first, so I tried to remember that I actually HAVE done this before, and sang him the alphabet song (my old trick for hyper horses). Oh my gosh, calmed right down! I sang to him the rest of the time, but I switched to "Fabulous" from High School Musical 2. Yep, people looked at me like I was insane.

Then we walked and trotted around the ring several times like a normal horse/rider combination . If he started to get spooky I just started singing. I even walked on the vicious attack duck side, and got nothing.

The new pipe corral is so awesome. I guess I hadn't even realized how the box stall limited our interaction before- I'd usually get him out of there asap, into either a turn-out or a cross-tie. In the pipe corral, I just groomed him right there, where he could move around and I could give him tons of hugs. Much nicer!

[ambrey]

Argh, so it rained for one night and 3 days later the stable is still a huge mud puddle. Of course, rain brings everything here to a grinding halt- all of the rings are closed, and until today the turn-outs were too.

But today I just had to get on him. I had gotten his new bit, and wanted to try it out. I didn't want to lunge him anywhere, it all looked too slippery for going in circles, so I put him in a bit turn-out and chased him around with the lunge whip. That worked

I saddled him up and put his new bit on. He chewed on it for a sec... like, what the heck is this? After he got used to it, though, I think he liked it! It's much smaller diameter than his old bit, which I swear was some sort of massive draft horse thing.

He also responds nicely to the new bit, and doesn't object to a tighter rein! Yay!

We just rode around the aisles of the stable a bit at a walk. I walked him about 20 yards up the trail out of the stable, but didn't feel like having our first trail ride with nobody to scrape me off the ground if it all went bad.

I just can't wait to start working him more! He really is a sweet guy once you figure him out!

His feet are falling apart, I hope he'll be ok until Friday, when the farrier will be out

[KatieMae]

Glad you had a good ride I haven't really ridden in so long I feel like I'm out of shape

[ambrey]

Woohoo! Rode 2 days in a row!

And I've got that little stinker's number. If he spooks and I drop the reins, he calms pretty quickly. He doesn't bolt or anything (his spooks are big like he is big, but when they are over they are over). I am pretty certain clutching the reins was what was causing him to buck.

He and I are really getting to know each other. He has several areas in the facility that are pretty comfortable for him, and a few "problem" areas (he doesn't spook at nothing- I might not always be able to figure out what he's afraid of, but it's always something). Today we were waiting for a turn-out and I sat on a nearby mounting block and he put his head on my lap. Then he reached down and untied my shoes with his lips. He got lots of scratchies.

The dressage arena was open today, but it was so soggy all we did was walk around. There was another woman in there, so we rode with her a while and chatted, and she was very nice. Her horse is an older, schoolmaster type- I am hoping to be able to tag along one day when she goes out on trail, since Smokey seemed to like him.

We had 2 big spooks today, both because other horses were either spooking or freaking out. No bucking, no bolting, no unseating of mama. Mama also didn't get in the way of any flying hooves, unlike yesterday (I would show you pictures, but my big fat belly and baby stretch marks would nauseate you worse than the bruise!).

I am hoping to have a long line of similarly uninteresting posts here to look back on

[pointerspoint]

Congrats, glad things are going well for you and Smokey.