Tuesday, April 28, 2009
An Interesting April
8:35 AM | 
Posted by
Amy
Its been an interesting April. Flirt is doing really well and I'm very pleased with her progress. Hopefully the weather clears up so that I can get on her outside without tearing up the footing in the outdoor. I'd really like to get some cantering under saddle time on her before she leaves.
Roman has had it pretty easy. The family that came to look at him from Ohio determined that they probably weren't going to be a good fit for him. While they were great riders, they don't offer nearly the same amount of turnout that Roman gets at my barn (nearly 24 hours in the summer). They were concerned that his very mild cribbing could become an issue if he is left in a lot more. I too think it could be an issue. Plus, physically, he does much better being turned out than standing in his stall.
Jewel continues to be the princess. She is fat and sassy as ever. There is a clinic this weekend with Linda Heiny, but I don't know if I'll be riding in it. Probably not. Considering my riding has been restricted this month pretty much to client horses, I think I'll wait until next month when I have the chance to ride my own horse a little more frequently. :)
Magic is doing very well up at Jan and Archie's place. They sent photos today of him being ridden out on the trail. It looks like he is really coming along well and I couldn't be more pleased. Its exactly what he needed!
Roman has had it pretty easy. The family that came to look at him from Ohio determined that they probably weren't going to be a good fit for him. While they were great riders, they don't offer nearly the same amount of turnout that Roman gets at my barn (nearly 24 hours in the summer). They were concerned that his very mild cribbing could become an issue if he is left in a lot more. I too think it could be an issue. Plus, physically, he does much better being turned out than standing in his stall.
Jewel continues to be the princess. She is fat and sassy as ever. There is a clinic this weekend with Linda Heiny, but I don't know if I'll be riding in it. Probably not. Considering my riding has been restricted this month pretty much to client horses, I think I'll wait until next month when I have the chance to ride my own horse a little more frequently. :)
Magic is doing very well up at Jan and Archie's place. They sent photos today of him being ridden out on the trail. It looks like he is really coming along well and I couldn't be more pleased. Its exactly what he needed!
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Friday, April 10, 2009
Quarterly Inventory
Well its the end of the quarter, so I guess I'll do a little update on the ponies.
The first is Flirt, who I haven't written too much about. Flirt is a former FFI horse that was adopted in March 09 by Stephanie from Michigan. She is a 2005 filly and a Seattle Slew grand daughter. She is a super cute filly and tends to learn pretty quickly. She has made major improvements over the past month. Round pen work has been great for her. She really needed to understand that she wasn't in charge and that it was okay for her to trust a human. She has also calmed down in cross ties as well. She didn't freak out in them, she just danced in them. However, I think we've finally gotten that taken care of. Under saddle, she is improving greatly in regards to balancing herself. She still needs help moving over to the right (lifting the right shoulder and stepping outwards), but she is happy to yield her haunches. The ground work we've been doing has been helpful as well. She's understanding more that she needs to step under rather than just shuffle sideways. Its a combination of a young horse and track horse thing and she's very willing to learn a better way. All in all, I'm pleased with her progress.
Magic is the 2nd horse that I'm working with. He continues to be nervous with a strong flight instinct even after the two months with me. After some discussion, it looks like someone will be taking him up to Jan and Archie Pickets for 30 days of trail training. He'll actually get worked every day, which is exactly what he needs. He is only getting worked 3 times per week with me. Anyhow, I think it will be just what he needs to build confidence. And then he'll still have a final 30 days with me before heading down south to his new home.
Roman is the 3rd horse. Technically, his official training time is over, but I will continue to ride him and help him progress until he is adopted. I was able to ride in two clinics with him. Linda is really thrilled with his progress and how much more supple he is getting. He's still a stinker about wanting to give to the bit, but he's getting better. And he's a very smart horse, so part of it is just him testing the line to see what he can get away with. But, he learns so quickly that I really think that with more consistent work, he's just going to blossom! There are also people driving from OH this weekend to see him. I'm really excited about that because it sounds like they're going to be a perfect home for him.
And finally we have Jewel. More and more, I look at Jewel and just can't believe that I own such a nice horse. Her weight is fabulous. I think the worming every month was exactly what she needed to maintain her weight. I recently rode her with Linda Heiny, who said that aside from working on some position stuff with me, she felt that Jewel was ready to show 2nd level. This is so gratifying for me. We're finally back to where she was before the colic surgery. I couldn't be more pleased with her.
And so there we are after the first quarter of the year. :)
The first is Flirt, who I haven't written too much about. Flirt is a former FFI horse that was adopted in March 09 by Stephanie from Michigan. She is a 2005 filly and a Seattle Slew grand daughter. She is a super cute filly and tends to learn pretty quickly. She has made major improvements over the past month. Round pen work has been great for her. She really needed to understand that she wasn't in charge and that it was okay for her to trust a human. She has also calmed down in cross ties as well. She didn't freak out in them, she just danced in them. However, I think we've finally gotten that taken care of. Under saddle, she is improving greatly in regards to balancing herself. She still needs help moving over to the right (lifting the right shoulder and stepping outwards), but she is happy to yield her haunches. The ground work we've been doing has been helpful as well. She's understanding more that she needs to step under rather than just shuffle sideways. Its a combination of a young horse and track horse thing and she's very willing to learn a better way. All in all, I'm pleased with her progress.
Magic is the 2nd horse that I'm working with. He continues to be nervous with a strong flight instinct even after the two months with me. After some discussion, it looks like someone will be taking him up to Jan and Archie Pickets for 30 days of trail training. He'll actually get worked every day, which is exactly what he needs. He is only getting worked 3 times per week with me. Anyhow, I think it will be just what he needs to build confidence. And then he'll still have a final 30 days with me before heading down south to his new home.
Roman is the 3rd horse. Technically, his official training time is over, but I will continue to ride him and help him progress until he is adopted. I was able to ride in two clinics with him. Linda is really thrilled with his progress and how much more supple he is getting. He's still a stinker about wanting to give to the bit, but he's getting better. And he's a very smart horse, so part of it is just him testing the line to see what he can get away with. But, he learns so quickly that I really think that with more consistent work, he's just going to blossom! There are also people driving from OH this weekend to see him. I'm really excited about that because it sounds like they're going to be a perfect home for him.
And finally we have Jewel. More and more, I look at Jewel and just can't believe that I own such a nice horse. Her weight is fabulous. I think the worming every month was exactly what she needed to maintain her weight. I recently rode her with Linda Heiny, who said that aside from working on some position stuff with me, she felt that Jewel was ready to show 2nd level. This is so gratifying for me. We're finally back to where she was before the colic surgery. I couldn't be more pleased with her.
And so there we are after the first quarter of the year. :)
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Roman
Roman is really coming along nicely. I rode him in a clinic with Linda Heiny on March 28 and really got some great information on what I need to do to continue progressing with him. Here is a pic from that ride:
Getting Back into The Swing of Things
Well, after all the prep work for the Horse Fair, I attended up not attending. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away on Monday, March 30. It was unexpected and quite a shock to the family. However, he did not suffer and was in no pain. He had a massive stroke on Sunday night and slipped into a coma. He was not on life support and passed on Monday morning. His services were over the weekend in Wisconsin and so Dave and I spent the weekend with my family there.
I did help get the booth and everything set up for horse fair though. Personally, I thought it looked great. If we can only get a section of carpet, we'll be set for next year.
Now I'm just getting back into the swing of things after a week off of riding. The weather is lovely today and I'm nearly finished with the emails and catching up that I needed to do from being out of town. I plan to ride Flirt and Jewel for sure today. Perhaps Roman as well. We'll see. :)
I did help get the booth and everything set up for horse fair though. Personally, I thought it looked great. If we can only get a section of carpet, we'll be set for next year.
Now I'm just getting back into the swing of things after a week off of riding. The weather is lovely today and I'm nearly finished with the emails and catching up that I needed to do from being out of town. I plan to ride Flirt and Jewel for sure today. Perhaps Roman as well. We'll see. :)
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