Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day 37--Cash's first show experience
Saturday, Cash went to his very first horse show to hang out and soak in the atmosphere. We went to the Rocky Mountain Saddle Club show in Wellington, which was nice since it's so close to us. Cash did great when we first got there and settled at the trailer right away with his hay bag to munch from. He stood there nicely while we groomed and tacked and stayed quiet even though there were anxious horses all around whinnying and calling. He got to lose the socks and show off his locks again--I'm sure he was appreciative that he didn't have to be seen in pubic with those silly things on.
We got to meet another fellow Mustang Makeover mustang at the show, being trained by Levi. If you look at the pictures, he's the bay horse being ridden by the cowboy in the light tan chaps. His mustang ("Remington", I think?) seemed to do great in the busy show environment. It was interesting to see our two mustangs interact a bit--it almost seemed like they knew each other.
When I first got on Cash in the warm-up area, he did well while we walked around a bit. Then another horse came into the warm-up area and was cantering around us, and Cash felt like this little ball of yahoo! that wanted to get out, so I got off and we did some ground work to get his mind back in the right place. He didn't do anything naughty under saddle, but he was letting me know that he felt like it. After our groundwork, he was much more settled, and we were able to ride in the big arena while people were warming up for the gymkhana events.
When we first got into the big arena, Cash's gate magnet was working in overdrive--that's the built-in device that automatically draws him towards the gate in any arena. So we went to the gate and did countless itty-bitty trot circles at the gate. Trot trot trot at the gate, then to somewhere else in the arena to rest. Pretty soon, he realized that the gate meant work and away from the gate was a better place to be.
Once we got over that, we rode around and trotted and cantered in the group of about 25 horses that were in the arena with us. It was a crazy arena! Having horses gallop past us and such took a little getting used to, but by the end of our time, Cash felt VERY settled and calm and relaxed. He really felt great.
On Sunday, we were going to go to the team penning event at Spicer Arena in Eaton, but it was cancelled. So instead, we stayed home and learned to lay down. Yep, Cash is now laying down. Not exactly on command, but I did get him to lay down three times with only a little bit of fuss. We'll keep working on that till it becomes easier and more automatic for him. I'll get pictures of that soon!
By the way, in case you don't already know, you can click on the pictures posted on this blog to view a larger, more detailed picture--that might help you find us in some of the busy arena pictures from the show.
We got to meet another fellow Mustang Makeover mustang at the show, being trained by Levi. If you look at the pictures, he's the bay horse being ridden by the cowboy in the light tan chaps. His mustang ("Remington", I think?) seemed to do great in the busy show environment. It was interesting to see our two mustangs interact a bit--it almost seemed like they knew each other.
When I first got on Cash in the warm-up area, he did well while we walked around a bit. Then another horse came into the warm-up area and was cantering around us, and Cash felt like this little ball of yahoo! that wanted to get out, so I got off and we did some ground work to get his mind back in the right place. He didn't do anything naughty under saddle, but he was letting me know that he felt like it. After our groundwork, he was much more settled, and we were able to ride in the big arena while people were warming up for the gymkhana events.
When we first got into the big arena, Cash's gate magnet was working in overdrive--that's the built-in device that automatically draws him towards the gate in any arena. So we went to the gate and did countless itty-bitty trot circles at the gate. Trot trot trot at the gate, then to somewhere else in the arena to rest. Pretty soon, he realized that the gate meant work and away from the gate was a better place to be.
Once we got over that, we rode around and trotted and cantered in the group of about 25 horses that were in the arena with us. It was a crazy arena! Having horses gallop past us and such took a little getting used to, but by the end of our time, Cash felt VERY settled and calm and relaxed. He really felt great.
On Sunday, we were going to go to the team penning event at Spicer Arena in Eaton, but it was cancelled. So instead, we stayed home and learned to lay down. Yep, Cash is now laying down. Not exactly on command, but I did get him to lay down three times with only a little bit of fuss. We'll keep working on that till it becomes easier and more automatic for him. I'll get pictures of that soon!
By the way, in case you don't already know, you can click on the pictures posted on this blog to view a larger, more detailed picture--that might help you find us in some of the busy arena pictures from the show.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Day 32
Well, we have a few exciting updates for this past week. Cash got his teeth floated on Monday, and that went really well. I was unsure how Cash was going to be with needles/shots and with tools being shoved down his mouth and such, but he did great. He was sedated of course, but he did better than some ol' broke horses with the whole deal.
Since his teeth were floated, I've started riding him with a bit. The bit isn't exactly his favorite thing yet, but he's quickly getting used to it. Lots of chewing and getting his tongue under the bit and then back over, and lots of funny faces. I think he looks quite handsome in his bridle--makes him look all grown up.
We've been continuing with our desensitizing, as you can see from the pictures below. I've been trying to think of silly things to do, and a towel seemed like something fun to play with. You can see that he was more interested in chewing on his bit than he was about the big white thing covering his face.
We've started with our cowhorse lessons with Amy LeSatz in Eaton. We haven't worked a cow yet, but she's been teaching me the correct way to drive, stop, turn, and fade away from a cow. It's a lot of fun, and I think we'll get to work some cows next week. Cash did see a few cows through the fence, and he's VERY interested in them. Ears perked forward, all eyes on the cow.
Stay tuned for our next adventures--we'll be going to the RMSC show in Wellington on Saturday and then to the team penning event at Spicer Arena in Eaton on Sunday. Should be fun!
Since his teeth were floated, I've started riding him with a bit. The bit isn't exactly his favorite thing yet, but he's quickly getting used to it. Lots of chewing and getting his tongue under the bit and then back over, and lots of funny faces. I think he looks quite handsome in his bridle--makes him look all grown up.
We've been continuing with our desensitizing, as you can see from the pictures below. I've been trying to think of silly things to do, and a towel seemed like something fun to play with. You can see that he was more interested in chewing on his bit than he was about the big white thing covering his face.
We've started with our cowhorse lessons with Amy LeSatz in Eaton. We haven't worked a cow yet, but she's been teaching me the correct way to drive, stop, turn, and fade away from a cow. It's a lot of fun, and I think we'll get to work some cows next week. Cash did see a few cows through the fence, and he's VERY interested in them. Ears perked forward, all eyes on the cow.
Stay tuned for our next adventures--we'll be going to the RMSC show in Wellington on Saturday and then to the team penning event at Spicer Arena in Eaton on Sunday. Should be fun!
Day 28--a trip to Ft Collins Equestrian
Last Saturday, I had hoped to take Cash to a little hunter/jumper schooling show at Fort Collins Equestrian. Well, we were the second horse out of a total of two horses to show up that day. So, unfortunately, we didn't get to get the whole show experience, but Lisa (the owner of Ft Collins Equestrian) was nice enough to let us school in the indoor arena around all the jumps that were set up. So Cash and I had fun checking out the jumps, and we worked hard on some cantering. His cantering is definitely better and better all the time, but it's still a bit of work to keep him going. And he got to show off his gorgeous locks since I took his mane out of its' socks. I had forgotten how long and beautiful it is--it's been up in those socks so long now! Show or no show, it was nice to get out workout for the day in the indoor arena out of the wind!
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