Great ride for 2 weeks off!

I'm pleased to say Belle was very good yesterday when I rode. Well it was 90 degrees and she's growing in her winter coat but STILL..for 2 weeks off she did excellently....Picked up canter to right and left without a problem or fuss, and didn't race around. I worked on collecting her into her bridle and getting her to realize she can set her head without me pulling or yanking on her. She got that at the trot pretty quickly...a little slower, needs more work canterwise.

I did some trotting and cantering on the buckle too and let her just go along. Well done and I was glad I got out there in the steam to ride. Should make Thursday's trip a little easier too, since we just had a major weather change too cool temps.

I'm attaching my new favorite photo of us all...taken by my mother in law during her visit this past May.

Have a great and blessed day,


Robin

BOO! Happy October!

For the month of October I'm going to feature different Halloween type layouts!

We went to the barn on Saturday , groomed and longed Belle....she was a good girl, a wee bit high on life but we'll see how she is tommorrow!


Enjoy the changing layouts!


Robin ;)

You can tell...

That that plucky bay mare had three days off!

At least for her canter you could tell....Joe rode again today....did really good....when we went to do some canter though lil miss Pee in her Pants decided to kick up a bit....no no no! So I jumped on and persuaded her to rethink that idea! (Never a good idea for a beginning rider to get a confidence jar like losing one's balance from a F-you type of kick out lol)

I know this mare pretty well...any time she has time off she tends to be a little whiney about going back to work...kind of like myself I reckon!

But Joe got back on after I rode her for a few minutes and she was much better for him....still very boundy into the canter but much less racey and easier for him to sit and get used to a bit better. Then we took Miss Thang outside and I had Joe steer her in circles and practice turns and stops to cool her out.

Tommorrow..well later today I should say...we are going back out to ride again...I am sure she will be more obediant today since we went through the pissies already yesterday!

The great thing is though I was talking to my barn owner (Belle's great vet isn't that perfect!) and she mentioned the huge change in this horse in a year and I have to totally agree with her. Belle has come a long long way from a goofy and silly animal to a quieter, more mature version of herself.

Hooray for 24/7 turn out.....it works wonders LOL....

I added Carol's blog link today...go check out her training diaries about her wonderful Ruminaja Ali son, Aspecial Ali!


Happy trails...


Robin

Good ride today

Well I did learn something.....the web halters really are "creek halters" (as in the only thing that should be done with them is toss them in the creek) I tried using my web halter and boy was it easy for her to pull and ignore and drag me around the arena....

Back to the rope halter tommorrow!

We had a good work today, walk, trot and canter with contact on both reins, she was softer on two reins then she's ever been and the lateral flexion is much much better. We did a LOT of left lead canter today and she did pretty good, tried to break a few times but the gas pedal is getting there at long last.

Am bidding on a month of training at Rooker's on the Ablack horse auctions....go check em out there are tons of great items and it benefits our breed!

www.ablackhorse.com

Belle after her bath today:

I really wish I'd had the camera on me!!

Joe and I went to the barn on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday morning....low humidity, in the 70s, just perfect riding weather! Joe spent a good amount of time grooming Belle, I attended to her mane and tail as that is my specialty (read I don't yank her mane out lol)...we tacked her up and went to the indoor to start...(3 days off and a major weather change...I didn't want to take any chances as weekends are Joe's riding time lol)

Joe did some Longing for respect stage one with her and she did well....he needs to practice his cues for disengaging the hindquarter a little more but really he is doing so awesome!

I've been giving him riding lessons once or twice a weekend for the past month, month and a half and he's developed a very nice posting trot, can do a one rein stop effectively and is getting more balanced in his seat. So today was the biggie....after about 15 minutes of trotting on a loose rein I asked him if he would like to try the canter?

Joe said yes and he did REALLY outstandingly well! At first of course he felt fast and out of control but I showed him how he could instantly shut Belle down with a one rein stop anytime he felt unbalanced and that helped boost his confidence!

To finish our lesson we went outside were Dr. Shannon and Lori were riding in the sunny outdoor arena. I was the only one NOT on a horse but that was ok LOL...!

So after that Bee got a nice hose off and back out to the fatty pen, where she now lives with ummm the plumper members of the Saddle Creek gang! lol.

All in all a GREAT day and my husband is very very excited about horseback riding now lol


Robin

Sleazy Hot..

It's been so nasty the last two days that Belle has had time off. I am going to the barn tommorrow so will have detailed updates then!

Because of that I added some more photos from our little fake photo shoot at the farm! Enjoy :)


Happy Trails, Robin

Urgh...very bad..haven't blogged in awhile!

Ok..no excuses except I have been one lazy lady!!

Things are going very well with our girl! We've been at Saddle Creek Farm for a year now, hard to believe! And I must say the horse I thought needed a stalled life has surprised me.....she is sooo happy as a 24/7 outdoors horse it is really really cool! Even in the winter with MI's snow and ice she wasn't cranky or mad about it!

Although I think she and the 19 year old Standardbred gelding Buddy aren't really getting along too famously lately....the last three days she has picked up boo boo after boo boo! Egads!
Ah well I am sure they'll sort it out!

Riding is going very well, especially since I really recommited to using Clinton Anderson's techniques! I never used to feel comfortable at the canter, never never until this week, when I finally did a Cruising lesson at the canter! Now I'm becoming a cantering fool, much to Belle's chagrin! Lazy horses would just so love their owner's to never think about moving forward LOL.

Today I would have worked longer but a huge and nasty thunderstorm blew up and I am a real chicken about thunderstorms! I managed to get Belle all set and back with her buddies before it hit...yikes! So tommorrow I will go again to ride so we can move forward in our training.

Another couple of days in the indoor and I'll be ready to ride outdoors. I've got her flexing pretty good right now and before I got off she was instantly shutting down to a stop when I sat in the saddle and said "Whoa" Also moving off a squeeze instead of waiting for the cluck to walk...I can't wait till she does that at trot and canter too!

We ARE finally ramping up plans to breed Belle next year, I know I know, high time, right? But we are concientious and careful owners and only when we were certain it was feasible would we go through doing that. Can't wait to be a nervous grandma for Baby Belle in 2009..won't that be a trip? lol.



Happy trails!


Robin in MI

Spring in MI and a great day at the Barn!

Well you can really tell Spring Fever has hit. Belle is full of life, bounce and woo hoo! We went out to the barn on Saturday during a goregous spring day (Mid seventies, bright sun, no clouds in site) After three rounds of longing she was finally thinking quietly enough to actually be ridden without a hump in her back (or bolting off, like she tried the first attempt before her third round of longing LOL)....Once she was focused on what I asked of her she did great and we worked on trot circles, bending and softening to the bit and getting that hind end up under her instead of dragging behind.

Some photos from the day with Belle:

First photo still UP and lookie, following photos, much more soft and round on the bit!

Working nicely now at the trot: Having a breather:

One Rein Flexes... Joe and Bee cool out...

Just before going back to her buddies.

Holy cow!!

Sorry one and all...(well probably 2 or 3 total blog watchers lol) It's been unforgiveably LONG since I've posted here!!

Belle arrived home (non preggo) last August, happy, a bit skinny from the trip and VERY tired.... Here on the left is one of her first photos since her arrival...you can see she's a bit skimpy in this photo and tired...but o h so happy to see green green grass :) That was last August.........and you can see although she was thin, she was healthy, with a great, glossy coat and healthy appetite! We have had a great 8 months......have gone trail riding recently and given her dad lessons, and basically just enjoyed having her. I learned that she does care for me, very much, and that she also loves people! She is the social butterfly of the barn! Here are a few photos of Belle teaching Daddy to ride


As you can see she's pretty good with beginners as we were VERY pleased to discover! Here are Ms Busy Bee's most recent Glamor Girl shots.....
Belle was featured recently on the very funny "CutewithChris" show, where she "out cuted" Chris's slightly mental Plastic Pony, Colty...! To see the fun check out http://www.cutewithchris.com "I like Towels" ;)

Belle continues to grow and mature, blossoming into a mare with an absolute heart of gold.....we are so grateful for our friend Summer and her husband Scott, who helped us to see Belle had a BARN problem, NOT a people or owner problem. Now that she is happy, sassy and healthy here in our wonderful vet's barn we can clearly see that now!


So happy trails dear friends....I'll be updating this blog MUCH more regularly now with updates, photos and links to great video footage of our girl!


Robin in MI