My lessons with my groundwork student have continued steadily. On Sunday and today, I also worked with Loretta on my own. Loretta has a pretty bad case of heaves, so in the winter she lives alone in a dry lot. She’s often skittish about being approached by people. Sunday was windy, and she got snorty… Read more »
ground-work
The Full Arena
This morning Brian and I went to look at a house. It was a small acreage about 20 minutes outside of town. It had an indoor arena and the land was already nicely set up for horses. On paper, it looked kind of amazingly perfect for us. In person, sadly, the house was … not… Read more »
Arab Time
Whatever evil cold Brian and I caught has proven to be very hard to kick. Last weekend neither one of us made it out to the horses at all. That’s practically unheard of. But finally this week we are both feeling mostly better. We managed a solid ride on Steen and Laredo on Tuesday. Today… Read more »
Piper’s First Saddling
I’m a couple weeks late with this post. On Saturday the 10th, Brian and I had the barn mostly to ourselves. I brought Piper in and we turned her and Laredo out together. They make a funny pair. Their base coat color is pretty similar. Although he’s a red dun, his mane is light, though… Read more »
Already Teaching
My groundwork student, M, texted me midweek to let me know her horse was in the equine hospital. I asked her what she wanted to do about her lesson, saying she was welcome to use one of our horses instead of hers if she didn’t want to miss. She said what she would like most… Read more »
A Few Days In
January was so mild, it was easy to start thinking of winter as nearly over. Then February hit with a vengeance. Last weekend we got a huge snow storm, and also I finally caught the cold Brian has been battling for a week. Friday and Saturday I made it to the barn. On Friday I… Read more »
First the Mind, then the Feet
On Tuesday, finally, we managed to get our new horse hauled down to our barn. After a couple false starts coordinating the trailer and her owners and ourselves, we were happy that the haul went smoothly. I was prepared to spend some time persuading the new girl that the trailer wasn’t scary, but she following… Read more »
Writing the Letter ‘A’
I had a pretty interesting lesson with my student last week. J is making great progress lately. She’s clicking well with Laredo, and also she’s now been riding with me long enough that at least a percentage of what we do has become habitual. This means we’re able to leave some of the basics and… Read more »
The Triple Double
Today, we rode three horses each. I rode Aiden, Tate, and Steen. Brian rode Oliver, Laredo, and Bear. We had a great day with both Oliver and Aiden. Oliver was the big surprise. His attitude was hugely changed today. His pushy, restless inclinations was almost entirely gone. He lead nicely, stood quietly for tacking and… Read more »
First Rides
Today we headed out after work to see what our new guys were up to. They were easy to catch, and we took them indoors to do some groundwork. Both Aiden and Oliver need some serious work on ground manners. They aren’t reactive or spooky or violent, but they are pushy, and seem to completely… Read more »