Riley's Trick Video

Here is one of the videos of Riley working on his tricks. Please read the description before commenting. We still have a long way to go and a lot we wish to accomplish but he is doing so well and I am very proud of him :) Also this is my first time posting a video to the blog so if it doesn't turn out right or is too small or hard to see. Here is the link: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PqdRvUnsAw

Update on Moose and May coming later today or tomorrow so stay tuned. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Easter Trail Ride

A few people from the barn went on a long trail ride at the Russel Lands at Lake Martin. I chose to take Riley as I wasn't sure if Moose was ready for that kind of ride and May....well she isn't much fun on the trails because she is sooo hot. So I chose Mr Dependable and off we went. My friend took her really nice walking horse JoJo and we got a few pictures but nothing spectacular. The trails were great, very shaded and plenty of places to offer water and nothing too rocky or difficult. Riley LOVED the hills. Launched up them every time we got to one. I tried holding him and just having him walk up, but nope, he was determined to run up them than stop and go right back to a dead walk at the top. Silly boy! The first pic is of JoJo and Riley in the water and they both turned and looked at the same time. These were taken with a camera phone so their crappy :\ (I am getting a friend to take good video and pictures with her awesome camera of Riley doing all his "tricks" on Friday so I will upload them on here :) )but better than nothing I guess. The second pic is right after I cued Riley to sit. I thought Erica had already taken the pic so I was rewarding him and he was getting up. The third pic was after I cued him to lay than I was sliding off.  The last pic is a pic of Moose with his summer coat. He is so shiny and healthy looking. Totally different from last year. I hope he stays that way. With good nutrition and grooming it should. I rode him yesterday and it was an interesting ride. He did great at first but to the right he was pulling a lot especially in the canter. I worked until we got a decent canter both ways than just focused on the trot and getting him to relax and really use his hind end. I wanted him to soften and give me a few laps of nice trot work to the right and than we called it a day. Hopefully with time we will get into a good rhythm. I haven't been able to afford our weekly lessons with P lately but have been taking with N every other Sunday in return for working her horse. She has been helping us with our downward transitions which is sometimes the biggest problem. After a few though he usually softens and does some OK transitions. Not the best by any means but we are both learning. At this point I'm mostly happy that he is happy and healthy.

May's Mohawk

Ok so a few posts back I talked about how I wanted to cut May's mane so she could have a mohawk like she had when she first came to the barn. It was about 6-8 inches tall and stood straight up and looked very good on her. She has a very thick healthy mane and a nice thick (not fat or "Cresty") neck so it also doesn't make her neck look pencil thin. Not to me anyway. So finally I cut it. It's not pretty but it will look good as it grows out and stands up. My little rocker pony :) She is always bobbing her head and has quite the 'tude. Pinning those ears at all other horse's and making mean "mare faces". lol Here are two pictures: Enjoy!

Riley The Trick Horse

I have taught Riley a lot of small tricks over the years. Mostly just for fun and because we both enjoy the bonding time on the ground. For Riley it's rewarding and engaging and a nice change. For me, well it's rewarding in a different sense and some of the tricks are just plain cute! Over the past few years Riley has learned to do two different bows, paw from the saddle, rear from the saddle, pick stuff up, shake his head yes and no, park out, half of the Spanish walk (he only does it with one leg heehee) give kisses, stretch, and open\close gates. There are always new tricks I am adding to the list (hug, sit, smile or "flehm", rear from ground, bow from saddle etc) that I want to teach him but the one I have always wanted to teach most is for him to lay down. There is just something about these incredible animals that is just amazing when they choose to trust you enough to lay down with no force. I have seen many ways to do it but I refuse to use ropes and whips. I want him to WANT to do it and NEVER feel forced. Most of the time when we work on anything it is either at Liberty or with just a halter and lead rope. He has a choice. If he decides he is not comfortable doing something or just flat out refuses than that is fine. I know he has a reason whether I know what the reason is or not.

Real quick on a side note before I go further: I know some people don't agree with trick training especially rearing and laying down and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I agree that not all horses should be taught these things and only few people should even try. I have owned\known Riley since he was 18 months. Does that change the fact he is still a horse? Absolutely not. But I know him well enough I know what he can handle and what he can't. Most of these tricks he has known for years and we have NEVER had a problem. Not at home, not at shows. Nothing. I believe it has a lot to do with trust and never making him do anything and so he is always comfortable and never uses it as a method of evasion in an uncomfortable situation. I am also going to keep Riley for his entire life even if he was just a pasture puff. I will keep him until the day he crosses the rainbow bridge. I would not teach a horse these things and than sell them. I wouldn't sell Riley, PERIOD. I would not, myself, try to teach just any horse these tricks. Certain horses just don't seem to have the temperament. I am not saying that they couldn't be taught, just that I am not a trick training professional by any means. I'm just a girl with a very strong bond with her horse.  Ok....rant over :)

The point of all this is a few days ago I successfully taught Riley to lay down. (pictures coming as soon as I get a friend out here with a camera! Hopefully this weekend) We have been working on it from the ground. I was so proud of him that he trusted me enough to lay down in my presence with no other horses around. Last night I asked him from on his back and after 20 minutes he did it and laid down very softly. I praised him lavishly and than finished working him before we called it a night. I'm so blessed to have a horse like him. I know great horses are made but there are some things in a horse you can't change or teach. Like conformation and color but also heart, and Riley has a lot of it! I saw once in a book something that said it takes a powerful connection for two beings who do not communicate the same way to build a bond based on something deeper than words. Riley, thank you for being my heart horse.

An Update At Last....

I still don't have my laptop but I'm on a friends so I'm gonna attempt to do a quick yet thorough update.
Ill start with Moosey. He is doing pretty good. The two weeks before last I had only been able to ride him once a week but than this past week I rode him three times which I was very happy about. I haven't been jumping him much. Working mostly on the flat and getting more control and more fluid transitions.
his upward transitions are pretty good but when we slow down a lot of times he braces for a second. Not really bad and he doesn't pull but it's still far from ideal. Last night we got a little help from the owner of Jubil and by the end of our "lesson" he was doing a little better. I know a lot of it is me and yesterday proved it. I have a lot to work on too. Mostly Western habits that are harder to break. Its some what difficult (for me anyway) to actively ride and compete both ways. We jumped a little bit too. Start off with lots of ground poles than did a few cross rails and than jumped the barrels. We set them up as an in and out so that he would have to slow down and think. It was a lot of fun and I love how he perks up and becomes so excited when we jump. N commented lots of times how he really seemed to enjoy it. He softened a lot and become very relaxed and malleable, almost like putty in my hands but still with contact, it was nice and I was very proud. :)
I will add he had one major and hilarious spook right at the beginning. He wasn't paying attention while we were warming up and N, whose as quiet as a mouse, came in the arena without him noticing and as we trotted past he looked over and saw her and I think we jumped about three feet away from her in the form of a perfect lateral, all four feet, hop! Silly Moosey!
His weight is also a lot better and his coat is looking good! He is shedding his winter hair and underneath he is so shiny he REALLY looks like a bay now! Just one without black stockings lol. I still want him to put on some more weight but at least we have made progress. I think his coat looks so good because of the good feed, corn oil and the Healthy Coat he has been getting.

Now for my other two babies. Riley is doing good. He ran pretty good at the show last weekend on Saturday the 9th. We won the Adult 2D. It was a big outdoor pattern and the footing was deep which worried me but he handled it ok. He slipped his second run and almost sat around 2nd barrel but he caught himself and kept trucking. It cost us sometime or sure but I didn't mind and the pattern was still pretty good. I didn't think he would run very fast because when its hot he can be lazy and I don't like pushing him much harder than he feels like going but he woke up and ran hard when it was time than dozed and grazed between patterns and while I hosed him. LOL

May is also doing verrrry well! Im super proud of how she is fiiiiiinally coming along on the barrel pattern. The last two times we practiced she did GREAT! I can't wait to take her to the next show and see if it is really paying off. I also shaved her mane (almost roached it. It looks like a drunk cut it but it will look good as it grows out. Im not very good at cutting\shaving manes I guess :P) because when we first got her she had this neat, adorable mohawk. She has a very thick pretty mane and a thick neck so it looked really good. I wanted her to have the mohawk back so I cut her mane very, very short and now it will stand as it grows. It definitely fits her "rocker pony" attitude the way she always nods her head and shows her teeth and pins her ears at other horses. Oh May May! lol

Happy Birthday Moosey!

Moosey had a birthday on Friday. He turned 6!!! I'm so pleased with how far he has come in only a short period of time. Cant wait to see what the future holds for us. He has taught me so much and shown me that even after a sometimes tough beginning in life, you can still forgive and learn to trust. <3 my big, goofy, dorky, love able MOOSE!
He got lots of carrots and apples and a little extra feed plus the day off :)

Moose in his "birthday suit" haha I didnt have a bday hat so we improvised :D

(Regular update is coming soon I promise! Still haven't got my laptop back :(( )

Dysfunctional Laptops and German Shepherds in Vests!

Quite the combinations but luckily not related! lol My laptop has been down and still is. I am on a friends computer and wanted to do a quick post to at least notify we are all alive. lol I have soooo much to catch up on and hopefully this afternoon I can get back on this computer and do a normal update. I should be getting my laptop back within the next week YAY! In the meantime:

How do you cause a synchronized spook? All 12 horses in a pasture (save one, Moose who decided he would rather die, death by vest wearing dog, than miss his breakfast) running madly away, tails flying like banners and manes flowing in the wind. They almost looked like a freestyle version of the Star Spangled Stampede.  Let me just say I saw some of those horses whippin' out moves I didn't know they had in them! All you need is a German Shepherd wearing a neon yellow safety vest (so cars and people etc see her when we trail ride) and just ride past the pasture, Ta-da! Mass mayhem! Luckily the horses all settled after a few minutes and followed us on our trail ride as far as the pasture line allowed them too. I was riding May who could care less about said dog as long as she stayed out of her way.

The dog in question: