Yesterday was the first of October, and while the temperatures only got up into the mid 60s, the horses were hot. Their dark, fuzzy, winter coats have been coming in for weeks now. Little do they know most of next week will be in the 70s, and possibly even the 80s. On Saturday I had… Read more »
feel
Defeating the Prance
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… Read more »
Some Interesting Rides
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,… Read more »
Soft to the Touch
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… Read more »
The Inconsistent Path Forward
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 »
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 »