Friday, December 24, 2010
Rescuing Fiona: Happy Holidays, and here's to the best gift of all...
Rescuing Fiona: Happy Holidays, and here's to the best gift of all...: "I got an email from Samatha, who is riding Fiona this month. The email said that she rode Fiona AROUND THE STABLE PROPERTY!!! Apparently it ..."
Happy Holidays, and here's to the best gift of all
I got an email from Samatha, who is riding Fiona this month. The email said that she rode Fiona AROUND THE STABLE PROPERTY!!! Apparently it was wet at the stable. I am in NC for Christmas, so I had no idea it was raining in AZ. So instead of riding in the muddy roundpens or arena, Samantha rode Fiona around the property, through the barns and around other horses. She did GREAT!
I am so pleased that she is doing so well. I can't believe it! It's a Christmas miracle! We still have a ways to go on ground manners, but this is a huge milestone for her riding. I can't wait to get back and hopefully start riding her soon! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you get a present as good as this one!
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
I am so pleased that she is doing so well. I can't believe it! It's a Christmas miracle! We still have a ways to go on ground manners, but this is a huge milestone for her riding. I can't wait to get back and hopefully start riding her soon! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you get a present as good as this one!
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Rescuing Fiona: Alright, I am just core dumping on this blog tonig...
Rescuing Fiona: Alright, I am just core dumping on this blog tonig...: "In software engineering terms, a core dump is the reporting of the current state of the software system when something catastrophic hap..."
Alright, I am just core dumping on this blog tonight
In software engineering terms, a core dump is the reporting of the current state of the software system when something catastrophic happens. Yes, something catastrophic almost happened tonight, but let's start with the good news
Fiona had her second ride today with Samantha, a lovely young lady at Red Mountain Stables. The riding has been going pretty well, but the saddling was a different story. Fiona has a definite aversion to being tied and saddled. She's always moved her feet a lot while saddling, but apparently being tied is just not on the menu right now.
I took some video of how the saddling started.
But once the saddling was complete, things went pretty well. Samantha had to do a lot of kicking to make her go and even some swats on the rear, but eventually she would start trotting again.
Now the core dump event, I came back to the stable tonight and took Fiona out and tied her by one of the tack rooms. She was GREAT. I brushed her, combed her mane and picked her hooves....she never moved an inch, it was wonderful.
Then I thought I would try to help her get over her cinching fear, but just putting a cinch strap through my girth and pulling it tight around her...no saddle, no saddle pad, just some pressure. Fiona was pretty antsy about this. So I just flopped it over her back a few times and left it until she got still, then I removed it once she was quiet.
Once this was done I locked the tack room and decided to let her stand there for awhile. She stretched the lead rope out until she could reach some grass in front of her on the ground (I swear she lives to eat). When she tried to lift her head up..the lead rope was over the top of her head and she BLEW UP!...while TIED UP!!!!! I rushed over and untied the knot as quickly as I could. She had her head bent sideways with her body stuck between her head and the tie-rail. Thank GOD she yielded to the pressure and stood still after I got over there. I untied her and she spun around to get her head free and then straightened up. That was the end of the panic, but as I was walking her back to her stall I noticed her mouth was bleeding. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly and the stable owner said she probably just bit her tongue. The little piglet was eating the instant she got back to her stall! OMG I was so scared. If she hadn't been trained for the last month I am certain she would have killed herself.
It's moments like this when it's SO hard to carry-on. I am filled with thoughts of self-doubt "What if she hadn't held still?" "What if she'd broken her neck?" "Should I give this horse up?" I REALLY, REALLY don't want to give up on her. She's come so far and the fact that she yielded to the pressure she was under means she *IS* learning. The minute I got up to be with her, she just stopped, she knew I was going to help her. She just had to wait and be patient, which is SO not this horse's style.
I am glad she is ok and we'll see how she does from here. I will probably go over again tomorrow night and just tie her in the same spot and start ove again just grooming her. I will make sure there's not as much slack in the damn LEAD ROPE this time. Sheesh.
Fiona had her second ride today with Samantha, a lovely young lady at Red Mountain Stables. The riding has been going pretty well, but the saddling was a different story. Fiona has a definite aversion to being tied and saddled. She's always moved her feet a lot while saddling, but apparently being tied is just not on the menu right now.
I took some video of how the saddling started.
But once the saddling was complete, things went pretty well. Samantha had to do a lot of kicking to make her go and even some swats on the rear, but eventually she would start trotting again.
Now the core dump event, I came back to the stable tonight and took Fiona out and tied her by one of the tack rooms. She was GREAT. I brushed her, combed her mane and picked her hooves....she never moved an inch, it was wonderful.
Then I thought I would try to help her get over her cinching fear, but just putting a cinch strap through my girth and pulling it tight around her...no saddle, no saddle pad, just some pressure. Fiona was pretty antsy about this. So I just flopped it over her back a few times and left it until she got still, then I removed it once she was quiet.
Once this was done I locked the tack room and decided to let her stand there for awhile. She stretched the lead rope out until she could reach some grass in front of her on the ground (I swear she lives to eat). When she tried to lift her head up..the lead rope was over the top of her head and she BLEW UP!...while TIED UP!!!!! I rushed over and untied the knot as quickly as I could. She had her head bent sideways with her body stuck between her head and the tie-rail. Thank GOD she yielded to the pressure and stood still after I got over there. I untied her and she spun around to get her head free and then straightened up. That was the end of the panic, but as I was walking her back to her stall I noticed her mouth was bleeding. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly and the stable owner said she probably just bit her tongue. The little piglet was eating the instant she got back to her stall! OMG I was so scared. If she hadn't been trained for the last month I am certain she would have killed herself.
It's moments like this when it's SO hard to carry-on. I am filled with thoughts of self-doubt "What if she hadn't held still?" "What if she'd broken her neck?" "Should I give this horse up?" I REALLY, REALLY don't want to give up on her. She's come so far and the fact that she yielded to the pressure she was under means she *IS* learning. The minute I got up to be with her, she just stopped, she knew I was going to help her. She just had to wait and be patient, which is SO not this horse's style.
I am glad she is ok and we'll see how she does from here. I will probably go over again tomorrow night and just tie her in the same spot and start ove again just grooming her. I will make sure there's not as much slack in the damn LEAD ROPE this time. Sheesh.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Rescuing Fiona: Cantor, cantor, cantor....and more training notes
Rescuing Fiona: Cantor, cantor, cantor....and more training notes: "I am happy to report that I rode my 'practice' horse Cinnabar at a cantor today. He was quite the runner for a 20+ year old horse. I leverag..."
Cantor, cantor, cantor....and more training notes
I am happy to report that I rode my "practice" horse Cinnabar at a cantor today. He was quite the runner for a 20+ year old horse. I leveraged what I called a "bait horse". Cinny has a crush on the mare in the turnout next to him, she had just returned from a trail ride and was getting a bath at one end of the arena. I swear I could hear the song Dreamweaver playing in his head while he watched her. He is SO over the moon for this mare. All I had to do was turn his nose toward her and let him go...he went down there so fast one time that I got tossed forward and almost fell off. It was great and he was loving it, except when i turned him around when we got down there and made him do it again...that was not cool in his book. He did it though..about 8 times.
Then, we had our first spook. I still don't know what did it, but we both made it through the ordeal. He spun around and started prancing...it was actually pretty funny after the fact. He had so much energy, but he knew I wasn't going to let him just bolt off, so instead..he started dancing. It was hilarious.
I got some more notes from Don and there's some good news at the end of them.....
"Nov 21 - Let out in arena, worked until she had a good sweat - walked around property
Nov 28 - Let out in arena, worked up a sweat, worked in 2 roundpens - Rope around neck, working the rope on and off of her head. Tied up for an hour
Nov 29 - Worked in big arena, easy to catch - Canter circles - worked 2 smal arenas with rope.
Nov 30 - Worked in roundpens and big arena tied up for an hour, light day
Dec 1 - Small roundpen, 1/2 hour - rope 1/2 plastic bag, new experience.
Dec 2 - Worked in roundpen - tied up by tack room 8 hours - worked with blanket - worked out with white plastic bag
Dec 3 - Roundpen, plastic bag canter circles both ways. Trim feet - 1 hr am roundpen, canter circles, work with plastic bag, rubbed her face, touch her all over with plastic bag. Work rope all over her body making her stand and being calm 1 hr.
Dec 4 - Roundpen working rope over her head and rear, plastic bag 1 hr.
Dec 5 - Stephanie worked horse led her around property
Dec 6&7 off
Dec 8 - Worked mare 1.5 in roundpen rope and walked over blue tarp - GOOD!
Dec 9 - Worked in roundpen tarp, rope 1.5 ground drive - real comfortable going over tarp no problem
Dec 10 - Round pen tarp. Lunging both directions over tarp, Saddle, ground drive - 2 hours no problem wiht saddle ground drive. stop and turn real good with just a halter, tied up for an hour real quiet.
Dec 11 - Lunge mare saddle, ground drive, good stop - turns very well. Salle no problem - 1.5 PM lunge mare for half hour, throw rope above her head and ears ok. Plastic bag rub her all over, ok
Dec 12 - Lung - saddle - ground drive, very nice ground driving - stop turn right or left noce back - lines and halter. saddle blanket ok, saddle ok, cinch little bit of a problem watch her head and rear end. Nothing serious.
Mare is ready to ride needs to be handled nearly every day - No self confidence. Thank you Don Mutschler."
Don still doesn't think I should ride Fiona, but he is having someone else, named Samantha, ride her a few times to determine if I can handle her. I am supposed to meet with Samantha tomorrow morning. I am truly excited!
Then, we had our first spook. I still don't know what did it, but we both made it through the ordeal. He spun around and started prancing...it was actually pretty funny after the fact. He had so much energy, but he knew I wasn't going to let him just bolt off, so instead..he started dancing. It was hilarious.
I got some more notes from Don and there's some good news at the end of them.....
"Nov 21 - Let out in arena, worked until she had a good sweat - walked around property
Nov 28 - Let out in arena, worked up a sweat, worked in 2 roundpens - Rope around neck, working the rope on and off of her head. Tied up for an hour
Nov 29 - Worked in big arena, easy to catch - Canter circles - worked 2 smal arenas with rope.
Nov 30 - Worked in roundpens and big arena tied up for an hour, light day
Dec 1 - Small roundpen, 1/2 hour - rope 1/2 plastic bag, new experience.
Dec 2 - Worked in roundpen - tied up by tack room 8 hours - worked with blanket - worked out with white plastic bag
Dec 3 - Roundpen, plastic bag canter circles both ways. Trim feet - 1 hr am roundpen, canter circles, work with plastic bag, rubbed her face, touch her all over with plastic bag. Work rope all over her body making her stand and being calm 1 hr.
Dec 4 - Roundpen working rope over her head and rear, plastic bag 1 hr.
Dec 5 - Stephanie worked horse led her around property
Dec 6&7 off
Dec 8 - Worked mare 1.5 in roundpen rope and walked over blue tarp - GOOD!
Dec 9 - Worked in roundpen tarp, rope 1.5 ground drive - real comfortable going over tarp no problem
Dec 10 - Round pen tarp. Lunging both directions over tarp, Saddle, ground drive - 2 hours no problem wiht saddle ground drive. stop and turn real good with just a halter, tied up for an hour real quiet.
Dec 11 - Lunge mare saddle, ground drive, good stop - turns very well. Salle no problem - 1.5 PM lunge mare for half hour, throw rope above her head and ears ok. Plastic bag rub her all over, ok
Dec 12 - Lung - saddle - ground drive, very nice ground driving - stop turn right or left noce back - lines and halter. saddle blanket ok, saddle ok, cinch little bit of a problem watch her head and rear end. Nothing serious.
Mare is ready to ride needs to be handled nearly every day - No self confidence. Thank you Don Mutschler."
Don still doesn't think I should ride Fiona, but he is having someone else, named Samantha, ride her a few times to determine if I can handle her. I am supposed to meet with Samantha tomorrow morning. I am truly excited!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Rescuing Fiona: I need to retire...this is too much fun
Rescuing Fiona: I need to retire...this is too much fun: "The more I play with my horse, the more I hate my job. :) I have so much to tell and no picture or video to back it up. Hmpf. I made it all ..."
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I need to retire...this is too much fun
The more I play with my horse, the more I hate my job. :) I have so much to tell and no picture or video to back it up. Hmpf. I made it all the way to the stable yesterday to realize that the camera didn't have a battery in it.
So, I am going to share Don's (Fiona's new trainer) notes from the first 2 weeks of work.
11/1 - Saddle- work in roundpen - ground drive, no turn or stop but would back up. Layed down, didn't go easily - kept her down first time for 25 mins before she relaxed. Layed down twice more. Horse bucked hard when saddled - skinned her knees - tied her for 5 hours (he means tying her to a post with access to water, this is not abuse so don't even start)
11/8 - Tied for 2.5 hours - bridle - roundpen 1/2 hour ground drive.
11/9 - Off
11/10 - Tied for 2 hours - Roundpen - rope. Tied her head down (not sure what this means) and left her in Roundpen for 3 hrs.
11/11 - 8cc wormer, bridle tied up for 6 hours, roundpen ground drive
11/12 - ground drive - tied up - lead around property. Mare getting much better. Calm. Touch her head (she enjoys this). Can't pony because she bites and tries to kick lead horse - very mean in one sense but no self confidence. Every thing and every day is a new experience. She trust me and when in fear comes to me for a companion!! Help me - written all over.
11/13 - Tied up in new area for 2.5 hours calmed down after about 15 mins. Ground drive - very nice!
11/14 - Worked in roundpen 1/2 hour in morning walked around property. Everything went well. Worked in roundpen again in the PM. Mare will stand at command and likes to be bruched and touched on forehead and ears.
11/15 - Worked in roundpen. Run both ways stops and comes to me when asked. Put a good sweat on - tied up for 4 hours - ground drive - good one rein stops, turns well - Pick up feet now easily - leads well.
11/16 - Work in roundpen - Brush - pick up feet - tied up 2 hours - ground drive - works well not afraid of ropes. stop - back up, turns, liked to have head rubbed.
11/17 - Roundpen - follows and leads well. Spook starting to go away. Tractors and cars, tied 3 hours by tack room - ground drive
11/18 - Roundpen 1 hr - rope on her head getting much better - tied up by my tack room - roping dummy beside her - a little nervous - but not overly. Mare like to run (lord help me, and that's not from Don's notes) starting to get control on voice commands.
11/?? - Set out in roundpen - worked only about 20 mins.
Those are all the notes I have so far, but here's the kicker...she MUCH better with her ground manners. The even BETTER news is, he desensitized her to PLASTIC BAGS! Now you have to understand, most horses are annoyed by plastic bags but they were a mortal enemy to Fiona. Last Sunday, I watch Don rub her stem to stern with a plastic bag and she barely moved a muscle. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she DIDN'T spook! It was amazing!
We walked her across the property and she was so calm I was actively LOOKING for ways to get her excited! I was unsuccessful, and VERY happy about it.
So the interesting part is that Don started out not thinking this mare was going to make it through her issues. I am still not sure he believes that *I* am going to make it past my fears and insecurities about riding her, but he is convinced the horse will be ok. I have got news for him, we are BOTH going to get through this and we will ride together.
I didn't come this far to not realize my dream. My dream is to take Fiona out to a wide open, flat area, lean down and whisper in her ear, "You remember all those years that you were locked in that stall, and you couldn't stretch your legs? Well I want you to let all that out." Then I give her a good squeeze in the sides and we take off at a full gallop. We just run it all out of her...all the fear, all the boredom and all the mean, nastiness of her past owner. We just run it all out of me, all the fear, all the boredom and all the mean, nastiness I have endured from doubters. Oh it's going to happen and I can't wait to share this accomplishment when the world. :)
So, I am going to share Don's (Fiona's new trainer) notes from the first 2 weeks of work.
11/1 - Saddle- work in roundpen - ground drive, no turn or stop but would back up. Layed down, didn't go easily - kept her down first time for 25 mins before she relaxed. Layed down twice more. Horse bucked hard when saddled - skinned her knees - tied her for 5 hours (he means tying her to a post with access to water, this is not abuse so don't even start)
11/8 - Tied for 2.5 hours - bridle - roundpen 1/2 hour ground drive.
11/9 - Off
11/10 - Tied for 2 hours - Roundpen - rope. Tied her head down (not sure what this means) and left her in Roundpen for 3 hrs.
11/11 - 8cc wormer, bridle tied up for 6 hours, roundpen ground drive
11/12 - ground drive - tied up - lead around property. Mare getting much better. Calm. Touch her head (she enjoys this). Can't pony because she bites and tries to kick lead horse - very mean in one sense but no self confidence. Every thing and every day is a new experience. She trust me and when in fear comes to me for a companion!! Help me - written all over.
11/13 - Tied up in new area for 2.5 hours calmed down after about 15 mins. Ground drive - very nice!
11/14 - Worked in roundpen 1/2 hour in morning walked around property. Everything went well. Worked in roundpen again in the PM. Mare will stand at command and likes to be bruched and touched on forehead and ears.
11/15 - Worked in roundpen. Run both ways stops and comes to me when asked. Put a good sweat on - tied up for 4 hours - ground drive - good one rein stops, turns well - Pick up feet now easily - leads well.
11/16 - Work in roundpen - Brush - pick up feet - tied up 2 hours - ground drive - works well not afraid of ropes. stop - back up, turns, liked to have head rubbed.
11/17 - Roundpen - follows and leads well. Spook starting to go away. Tractors and cars, tied 3 hours by tack room - ground drive
11/18 - Roundpen 1 hr - rope on her head getting much better - tied up by my tack room - roping dummy beside her - a little nervous - but not overly. Mare like to run (lord help me, and that's not from Don's notes) starting to get control on voice commands.
11/?? - Set out in roundpen - worked only about 20 mins.
Those are all the notes I have so far, but here's the kicker...she MUCH better with her ground manners. The even BETTER news is, he desensitized her to PLASTIC BAGS! Now you have to understand, most horses are annoyed by plastic bags but they were a mortal enemy to Fiona. Last Sunday, I watch Don rub her stem to stern with a plastic bag and she barely moved a muscle. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she DIDN'T spook! It was amazing!
We walked her across the property and she was so calm I was actively LOOKING for ways to get her excited! I was unsuccessful, and VERY happy about it.
So the interesting part is that Don started out not thinking this mare was going to make it through her issues. I am still not sure he believes that *I* am going to make it past my fears and insecurities about riding her, but he is convinced the horse will be ok. I have got news for him, we are BOTH going to get through this and we will ride together.
I didn't come this far to not realize my dream. My dream is to take Fiona out to a wide open, flat area, lean down and whisper in her ear, "You remember all those years that you were locked in that stall, and you couldn't stretch your legs? Well I want you to let all that out." Then I give her a good squeeze in the sides and we take off at a full gallop. We just run it all out of her...all the fear, all the boredom and all the mean, nastiness of her past owner. We just run it all out of me, all the fear, all the boredom and all the mean, nastiness I have endured from doubters. Oh it's going to happen and I can't wait to share this accomplishment when the world. :)
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