Bear Back

October 18, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

Bear has a tendency to get tight in his right side. We're not sure if this is just something that happens to him, or if it's because Brian has a tight right hip, but it does seem to help to have the chiropractor work on him from time to time. However, the chiropractor always ends up coming at times Brian can't get off work, so this morning found me driving out to the barn to hold Bear for the doctor.

When I arrived there had been some hitch in the communication and it turned out there were a couple more horses in line in front of me than I'd expected. I brought Bear inside and realized I was going to be waiting for a while. So I grabbed his bridle, took him to the indoor arena, and mounted bareback.

I don't ride Bear much, and when I do it's usually because he's being a butthead and Brian needs a second opinion about what's going on. So it was kind of nice to hav...

The Good Kind of Fall

Robin

October 16, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We've had a mild fall, so even though today was chillier than it has been, it was by no means cold. When we left the house it was in the mid 50's. Every year I forget what best to wear for various temperatures, so I tend to head to the barn over-dressed and remove layers as I get too warm. Brian has taken a few days off to let his wrist recover from his fall, but today he felt up to riding. We decided to take it easy and ride in the tree lot. Usually, Steen is more energetic when the weather is cool and it was also windy, so I didn't mind staying closer to his comfort zone. But he was great with groundwork, backing off the idea of pressure on the slobber strap most of the time. He's gotten so soft with some things, I am really understanding the idea of moving a horse on a feel, and when it works it is awesome. Steen was good while I mounted and asked him to flex a few tim...

Alone and Indoors

Robin

October 14, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Work has exploded the last couple of weeks. Which is a good thing because the summer was on the quiet side. But I'm spending a lot more time chained to the computer than has started to feel normal lately. Yesterday I sat down at my desk around 8am and around 1:30pm I was feeling the strain in the eye that has the convergence insufficiency, but still had many hours worth of work to do.

Last week we started Bear on a senior supplement that we're hoping will help with his intermittent stiffness and aid in his digestion. We want to give it to him every day for a week even if we end up missing the odd day here and there later on. So that was an extra spur in my side to get me out the door and to the barn.

On the way out I was undecided as to whether or not I would ride. We got some rain the last couple of days a...

A Rough Ride for Everyone

Robin

October 12, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today, things started out promising. The weather continues to be beyond perfect. We started out with some groundwork and working on detail stuff. I had excellent success with yielding Steen's forequarters and hindquarters separately and softly under saddle.

We headed out to the big pasture and meandered out way up to the hilltop. We worked on backing half circles and Steen was awesome. I feel like something had clicked with him (or me, more likely) and he wasn't rocking onto his forehand in the turns but really using his hindquarters all the way around and moving off the lightest pressure. It was great.

We went from there into trotting, and here I was pleased to see Steen was a lot less inclined to brace and instead was tucking his head and collecting when he felt pressure on the bit. We spent quite a while trotting around on the hilltop and he was bending nicely...

Sunday Bliss

Robin

October 9, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today was sunny, breezy and in the high 70's. After our excellent ride yesterday, we were keen to get out to the barn again. We returned to the big pasture after mounting, and walked all the way to the hilltop to work on backing half-circles. Steen was relaxed. I'm sure some part of it was the heat. He's putting on his winter coat and it's already longish and thick. But also I just think we were all in a good mood. He walked quietly to the hill-top, then was quite good working on the backing. It's been about a month since the clinic now, and I think I can safely say it's permanently changed the way I ride. We're building everything up slowly, but ever since we started applying these basic principles Steen has changed in a few key areas. He hasn't so much as shifted a single foot while I'm mounting in weeks, and he stands like a champion in almost every situation. Given the years...

Quite a Few Rides

Robin

October 9, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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The weather has been beautiful and we've been riding but not blogging. Monday Our favorite local photographers have me work on their website from time to time, and we decided to do an exchange of services instead of payment. They came out on Monday and hauled their multiple cameras and lenses and boom out into the pastures while Brian and I rode around and tried to look pretty. They were so good natured about tromping around avoiding horse manure. The whole shoot was a blast. It will be another week or two before they finish editing the pictures, but I can't wait to see them. Steen behaved himself as well as I could have hoped. He did get a bit fast at the lope a few times and he's still pretty braced up at the trot, but these are things we're working on so it can't be helped. Ride Time: 1:00 Wednesday Brian and I...

Defeating the Prance

Robin

October 3, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Saturday I went to the barn with one goal in mind. I was going to address the prance issue. I was going to be effective but even-tempered. I was going to respond consistently and without emotion to every transgression. There was going to be no forgiveness, but no punishment either. Only logical consequences. Brian and I also decided to be a bit more independent than we've been lately. The big pasture is 13 acres with lots of big rolling hills. That's a lot of space for two horses, and we ride together a lot. After we rode out into the pasture together, I told Brian to feel free to do his own thing. Because I was going to address the prancing issue, which meant I probably wasn't going to be covering a lot of ground. Sure enough, as soon as Bear walked off Steen started to lose it. He wanted to trot off in pursuit. I dusted off my one-rein stop and soft feel and every time...

Some Interesting Rides

Robin

September 29, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It's been quite a week at the barn. Saturday Our friend Jean came out to take some photos of us and the horses. She got some nice shots of us hanging around on the second strip.

And our first ever "family photo."

Sunday The horses were in their winter lot with bales to munch on, so we shut them in and rode through the big pasture to the middle one where we like to ride. Steen was pretty good, though a bit more energetic than he's been lately. He was good getting to an...

Soft to the Touch

Robin

September 22, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Yesterday was another great ride. Steen's starting to put on his winter coat, so he's turned nice and dark dappled brown and is way softer than usual. Yesterday he was also soft to the bit. We had more great groundwork before the ride. He was yielding to backwards pressure on the slobber strap before I ever got to his mouth, and we worked on turning while backing as well. Then we worked on yielding the hindquarters and forequarters separately. This is something I'd done a fair of before but had never honestly seen the point of. One great thing about Buck's clinic was it helped me connect little points like this to the ultimate goal of having a super broke horse.

I mounted and the ride was great. We kept up with all the things we've been working on, plus I added some yielding of the hindquarters and forequarters separately under saddle. Steen is good at this in the back, but...

The Inconsistent Path Forward

Robin

September 21, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

Learn More

Sunday was Duke Day, and Steen was very much in need of a trim. It was raining when we got the barn, and we beat the farrier. We brought the boys indoors and they were wet and jittery, but we took our time grooming and gave them a little chopped hay, then rode indoors for a while. Steen was good. He was giving nicely when I asked for the feel and never got snorty about the tractor, which was interesting. I'm used to him shying away from it a few times each ride, but he never even looked at it. He was also paying a whole lot of attention to my legs. He rarely picked up the trot unasked, and we went smoothly through all three gaits. Then it was our turn for the farrier and once again he was the model client.
Ride Time: 0:40

Monday Brian had a work retreat, so got home a little earlier than usual. We scooted out the barn and headed for the second pasture. I got on with hi...