Friday, June 26, 2009

Another good day!

Petey is REALLY getting his leads now. Couldn' t be happier!

HE also must of kicked Chubbs in the chest, as he's got a large swollen spot, so he's on light duty till then. I'll still be riding him, but only at the walk/jog, and more for "clicking" then training.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

2 Days in one post!

With the hot weather I HAVE to get up early if I'm going to ride. Not so easy if the BF is keeping you up till midnight!

Wed I got up a little early so only had time to ride one. I chose Chubbs due to the time restraints and not wanting to end Petey on a bad note if I didn't have the time. It worked out well though, we were able to ride during a lesson, while a mare in heat was being longed. He rode past the gelding fine, no indication he was going to give any kind of problem. The mare he was curious about, but then flattened his ears when she went ripping past. If that was all he was going to do I was happy.

Today I rode him again, while the same mare was riding, and he was fine. If she went past him he didn't care. He did loose some focus though, so we are going to have to keep working on that cue.

Petey was fabulous. I swear I like this horse more and more each ride. I hadn't done a thing with him in quite a while, not even run around turnout, so I was a little worried how he'd be. But I didn't longe, hopped on, and no problems! He was a little forward, he would start trotting, took the wrong lead, was brought back down, and then TOOK THE RIGHT LEAD! I was SO happy. we then went back to a walk, and I signaled for the trot, and then the lope, got the wrong lead, and he on his own, picked up the correct one.

I'll tell you this guy has an AMAZING lope. Its deep, and you just lightly rock in the saddle. No fussing with him to do it, that's just his groove.

Needless to say I was a very happy rider today!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Darn the hot weather!

With the heat and humidity we've been having I'll admit I've been lazy. I've been giving them time to play in the outdoor but not riding this past week. I DID hop on today.

Rode Chubbs in the indoor, same ole, same ole packer. Little lookie at the doorway, but we are working on that.

Rode Petey in the indoor as well. There was lots of farming going on outside, and since I wasn't longing, I figured indoor would be a little less temptation to be naughty. He's going into the lope transitions are getting MUCH faster. His right lead is still taking quite a while, but hopefully we found a cure for that. Tomorrows riding will tell!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The week is off to a good start!

Tuesday and Wednesday the guys got to go play in the outdoor, they rolled in the wet sand and ran around to "get out the weather".

Wednesday after our turnout session, I hopped on Petey in the indoor. I figure by now he's probably had a "good" 30 days on him, and I can't think of many horses with that small amount of riding that would be able to be ridden without longing. He's trot to lope cue response is getting faster and faster, and he's getting less obnoxious about veering into other horses.

Today both were ridden outside, without longing, and without turnout time before hand. Chubbs is moving great, and at this point he's riding is all about getting in sync with commands. Petey had a hard time with this right lead, but once he got the leads he moved out nicely, and didn't break down a gait as quickly.

Definitely one of those rides you can only smile about!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Very good day!

Rode Petey in the round pen. Lazy stinker is prefering to long trot then lope, but he does FINALLY go in it. Lots of repetition will get him over this, and my thighs get a work out in the mean time!

Chubbs went into a correction bit today. We've been working on his spur stop, so I wanted a bit that would level his head out, but also not need a ton of contact so I could use mostly my spurs. WOW is all I can say about the ride. Short of needing to work on focus (not on the grass type) he was collected, soft, picture perfect and a FUN ride. Next step is riding him around other horses!