Chopin turns 3! time to start working... or not! lol

[Belbe]

kay, been playing with some more screenshots. Don have enough material to make another video yet, Chopin was a tad tuned out cos my mare is in heat.
Today we started trying to work on a straight line (along the wall). I suck, so the end result is 3-4 decent steps max. We did 3-4 steps of half-pass and 2-3 steps of travers. That was nice to see. I'll try to build on that. Show you some vids when we stabilize our comunication.
Bottom line is, I feel like Chopin has nothing to learn! whenever I manage to comunicate properly he performs like a pro! I never met a horse so sure of his own feet... Even towards his stiff side, he like, falls onto me with his shoulder for the first 2 steps, I correct him, and off he goes like he didn't have a stiff side anymore... For someone who's been watching and riding stiff horses all her life this is so straaange... Oh how I wish I could be light as a feather and have a decent seat so he could move like that under saddle 

I also noticed a curious thing of late! at the walk, when I sit on him, he increases his hindleg reach even further than usual to go underneath me! it's like he already knows what to do to carry my fat arss! 

[renta]

Hi guy! I have more often than once read in your posts that you have not a decent seat. You can train the one. You are flexible. There is plenty of help: Heathers vids, books and simulator, Sally Swift-system, lunging like in SRS and so on. Get to work 

[ukica]

You may not be flexible but your horse is   

Lovely photos...

here are 2 short VERY vids of mine for you as requested:

jump

walk

[Belbe]

nyaw!!! so cute!!! and all laid back and cool like chopin! mahn, I love it when horses are sure of themselves and completely trust us as well

and yeah, my cousin (the only other rider at the yard) keeps drooling over hoow flexible Chopin is! and really, the first times i lunged him free he was completely stiff and turned outwards! as though and tense as a bow string! I have never seen a horse gain flexibilty so fast! might it be because he's a child or is it just genetics? I sure remmeber that at gymnastic lessons I learnt to splay my legs 180º in no time at all when I was a kid. These days I've been training for 5 months and still miles from it!  (kindda reminds of my mare that lost all her flexibility tween my teacher's departure and the time I bought her, then I worked her for a year and she gained very little of it and then I broke my arm and now she's all stif again... oldies...  )

[Belbe]

ok now what?! Chopin is in seanon?? I thought boys didn't get one! 

anywhoo, he's acting absurdly jelous of his brother Absinto! they get along fine when i'm away but when I'm closeby he just wants to push his brother away all the time! Plus while working he remains annoyed even if his brother is taken out of sight (to the outside of the school walls). His ears keep shifting from the normal silly sideways posture of his focused work mood to pinned back looking extremely p*ssed off and as soon as I give him a break he waits a moment for more tips and when I don't give any he turns his head to the outside of the school and calls out real loud!

My mare's not in heat anymore nor is the one living with her so what gives? I know the agression has nothing to do with me as he's quite peaceful when we work alone and far away from mares and his brother, but still, what then? I don risk working free with a horse pinning back his ears! So now we're back to halter wich I hate cos it's harder to keep his neck from bending in too far... hell and here I was thinking having a stallion was so cool cos boys don't have mood swings 

[Belbe]

Kay, this one was shot still on Chopin's really bad temper-full-of-jelousy week, so please bear with me when i tell him off for threatening his brother. I still don't know what was wrong but I did a square zero lesson (basic distance, leading and lungeing Klaus stuff) with him last saturday and he's back to normal, God bless!

Despooking lesson

Caption: (I look like a clown I know) I had just done the same lesson with Chopin and then told him to wait by the camera man while I repeated it with his brother. For some reason he got tired of waiting, barged into the lesson, did his drill, got his treat and told his brother off! LOL! I tell him to go back to his place and a short wile later you can listen to him repeating the lesson right next to the camera man (where he was suposed to be)... LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Mahn, one's gotta love that kid! there isn't a single lesson he doesn't make us laugh!


This second one is badly shot but I also thought it funny. His brother had spooked at a feed bag on our last hack so my cousin was doing a despook lesson for it today. Just out of curiosity I tried it on Chopin... he was just annoyed at the stupidity of it... 

Is Chopin afraid of the feed bag...

[ukica]

  both of them 

I think it is hard to work one horse with another one lose especially when there are treats involved.  I know Santi would be the same BUT saying that, its good to work on stuff like that so everyone knows where they stand in a group situation involving horses and people.

With the plastic sheets, i made a corridor of poles either side first without the plastic, walking through it and then added plastic to the equation and the poles channel the horse to go straight over, without skipping over the side.

Thanks for the vids.

[Belbe]

cuuuuuuuute aren't they??   They're used to being worked toguether loose but I never work my cousin's horse. Chopin stood there watching for a wile but eventualy decided to barge in, he always wants to better his brother and get him away from me. I supose horses suffer the same as dogs, the more they deal with humans the more aberant human behaviour they get! (like dogs who pout and head for the corner! I never knew of backyard dogs dogs doing that!)

yeah, that's how it's supposed to be done but I forgot I wasn't working with Chopin  . Chopin knows he's supposed to step on anything I do or he won't get praise so no need for corridors (he memorized that from the first time I loaded him into the trailer). My cousin made a corridor with bending poles later for her horse and it worked like a gem (she ought to know her horse! LOL)   It's funny how I got so used to having a horse that understands everything that I get a little lost with other horses!


PS.: I've got a runner's GPS watch now!! took it on our last hack, one of the largest we've done: 15km in 3h40min. I run 15km in 1h30min, so u can just about guess how slow we go and how often we pause. Funny thing is, the 5 year old horse is the one dictating the slow pace and all the halts! he's sooooooo lazy! gets tired soooo fast! I'm guessing it's cos he doesn't know how to strech or extend a pace, he's always in a collected frame even when sleep standing! that must waste energy like hell! But then again it's not like we're gonna compete the Tevis 100mile so let him have his way, it's healthier on the joints anyway 

[Belbe]

kay, sunday's training was a fiasco! We whent all the way to the South shore beach to show the sea to our horses and wait patientiently for them to ignore the waves and wet their legs. Well, the weather forecast said it would rain in the afternoon but it was sunny as a summer day! so the beach was full of annoying city people who are afraid of horses! we whent to find a shade instead a have lunch... damn! well, we'll do it again when there's a downpour! that way the beach will be sure to stay empty!! 

The hack was lovely though and I actually noticed Chopin's neck is getting back to it's winter self! geez, this summer he looked like a mare! he's still pot-bellied but I haven't been able to buy better haylage yet, damn... 

http://tlcwjw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pSO_a8YSplY0THLiLxnsgXl8hU-xc6-Ht3SHyQ-K82olwKEiAsg_cHewyFBpu0xO6p9gvs1yfpNAX7MxGPZF6O8GhWGUr29Lv/DSC09426.JPG?psid=1

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[ukica]

  fab photos!  I want those riding trousers......where did you get them ????

[Belbe]

fab photos!  I want those riding trousers......where did you get them ????

lol! thanks, I took a poor cameraman on foot cos my other horse isn't street safe (hence my broken arm) 

These are the "Idun" from Mountain Horse from 2 years ago collection, I dunno if anyone still stocks them... they feel like pijamas to wear! the new models aren't made of the same materials   

[ukica]

I want your saddle, your trousers......i will be after your horse next 

[Amanda1950]

Love the hack photos 

[Belbe]

Love the hack photos 

thanks!! I love my island!  such a shame it gets harder and harder to find safe hack treks...

You people think we should suggest adding a trail division to the forum? I mean, it seems like everyone here does it, it's an important part of a horse's training, especially in foot sureness and is very character building. Plus we could use it to show other people new spots to hack or to go on a riding vacation! what do you think?

Anywhoo, here goes another lesson with Chopin in a jelous mood. He was much better than last time but still... I was able to start fixing the exagerated neck bend you see here and the break at the withers on his stiff side yesterday but noone brought a camera.  He was almost back to normal, thank God! it's sort of impossible to get a student paying attention to a handfull of corrections when he's more concentrated in bullying a classmate, LOL! 

Chopin's gymnastics on a bad mood day

[ukica]

He is the same age as santi my horse.  are you planning on turning him away for the winter?  curious.

I like the rope idea