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… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
Short Serpentines
Today was cloudy and somewhat cool. When we walked out to the pasture all the horses were out of sight except Bear, who was tucked into a corner of the windblock. When he heard our voices he turned around to look at us. After watching for a few moments he wandered over to me while… Read more »
Turning Towards Fall
We had a wet Friday so didn’t get our normal afternoon at the barn. Today it was cool and overcast when we pulled the boys from the pasture. They even got their first serving of chopped hay for the season, which they both seemed quite happy about. Steen was attentive from the start today. I… Read more »
Can You Feel Me Now?
A few months ago I read Bill Dorrance’s text book sized work, True Horsemanship Through Feel. At nearly 400 pages, it was a lot to take in. But I took away an awful lot of ideas. The main one was obviously “feel.” The things I read about feel helped me work with leading Bear and… Read more »
A Big Difference
We had another very productive ride today. Steen’s willingness to give me a “soft feel” was increased from the beginning, and after I mounted and practiced a few times, he walked off quietly. He’s been obsessed with hopping into the trot our last few rides, so that was a nice change. We walked around for… Read more »
This Changes Everything
We’ve had a very busy stretch here, starting with a visit from my mother. We went out to the barn once while she was here, and she did climb on Steen briefly but he showed an immediate inclination to play his “pick up the trot” game with her, and she didn’t really want to play.… Read more »
A Whole Lotta Buck
I know I was just getting back on track with the blog and now it has been weeks. But they were busy weeks. Robin’s Mom was visiting for a while, and then we had a short vacation. First we saw the film Buck. I had been excited about this film since I first heard about… Read more »
An Attempt at a Quiet Ride
Today we were going to have a quiet ride. Steen and Bear are both a little worn out because we’ve been riding sooo much. They were down in the bottom of the pasture when we arrived at the barn. Lately we’ve been making them hop over the drainage ditch when they’re down there. It’s not… Read more »
He’s Big Bear
He’s iron tough. Sort of. At other times he’s a big softy. And he hates walking on gravel. Still, the minute I learned his name was Bear, this song popped into my head. We couldn’t have written a better song for him. Big Bear 2010-2011 from Robin D on Vimeo. Today’s ride didn’t really look… Read more »
Group Riding
We got out for another ride with Gay on Doc today. Again the weather was perfect, and the horses were just about perfect, too. In fact, steady Doc had more startles than Bear or Steen. To be fair, he was leading at that time. And really, they were quite minor. Bear seemed to be really… Read more »