Maraschino's adventure hack from home

Michelle kindly came over to ride maraschino while I rode Garbo and we had a plan to ride both of them on the paper road.

We warmed them both up and then got on. I actually warm Garbo up at liberty most of the time because he loves it so much. Today he went sideways over a jump stand lying flat on the ground (one of those big plastic square ones that loo like part of a jigsaw puzzle).

We rode around the track twice. Garbo normally hates that because "it's boring Mum" but we told him it was his job to show maraschino the ropes and he was really good. Maraschino had a wee trot away up the hill part of the track and Garbo was like "yeah, nah".



Then we headed out into the private road, past the three neighbours, one with barking dogs and turned left into the paper road which borders the length of our neighbours property and ours.




At the end is a field of maize. I think they would have liked to just keep going in actual fact - had we let them I think they would have trail blazed throughout he maize.

On the way back Maraschino went ahead on hs own - brave boy - and Garbo didn't get bothered either.



When we got back to the top of the paper road they wanted to go left further down the paper road - rather than down the private road back home... but it was a tad stony so we left it there and headed back to Coco.











What good ponies.
And lots of cute ear and eyelash shots!

Addressing the capriole

Three days since I stopped giving Garbo the Fibre Ezy which is a supposedly non heating chaff in the form of a chopped haylage I suppose.



Garbo trying to put on Maraschino's bridle too.

We warmed up online and there was nothing untoward. I got on in the arena and there was a horse there being tormented by a girl - the horse was terrified  - goodness knows how they got it in the trailer to get the horse there but it took her a good 30 minutes to be able to get on - and Maraschino (not Garbo unusually) got quite upset about the fact that the lady was using her whip to make the horse stand still  - without success I might add. Then she proceeded to attempt to risk life and limb and ride this terrified tip toeing horse around the track.

Anyway - Garbo didn't seem phased and we managed to trot with no drama so after 15 minutes or so we rode in the track - again with no drama. I checked in with him alot to see what he was thinking but I was worrying over nothing he was as good as gold.


Maraschino's slightly worried look.

The scared horse finally got back to the float but of course it took a long while to load him - in the end they backed the float up to the stable door and loaded him from there somehow. He was trying to kick his way out of the float as they drove away. Maraschino was very pleased to see the end of that lady with all the angry energy. He was still really good and although he spooked a couple of times in the track he only jumped slightly and then went forward and stopped.

2nd ride in a bridle - pretty impressed of calm he was.
Garbo was my Garbo again rather than the caprioling stunt horse from last week. Phew.

Caprioling Pony

Well - within a few days Garbo has caprioled 5 times over two rides.

Ride 1  - bit, on track, out, relaxed rein, with Maraschino

Ride 2 - from home down paper road, in hackamore, no bit, on his own, loose rein

so - as you can see - nothing was in common with each other to cause it.

Ride 1, I was totally relaxed. Totally came out of nowhere and was fine again seconds later as if it never happened. 

Ride 2 not as much. ;-) Neither was he. 

On the paper road he did it 3 times then I got off. 

I asked my friend to ride him two days later and she's a really good rider. He did it to her too and she said it was a spook - just a high spirited one lol. So she rode him really forward and half halted him - slight partial disengagement when she could tell he was thinking up things to do. He went really well after that.

Only thing I have changed is his chaff so I am going to cut that out from tomorrow. 

Hopefully that helps.

off up the private road 

checking out the sheep next door 

Hubby came for moral support 

what an amazing day

and amazing view...  

garbo was looking strangely at George for taking photos strangely 

Another trip to the track

Wow what a gorgeous day it was today. I headed out early before it got too hot - taking advantage of the fine days and the holidays!

We arrived by 9am and were ready to ride by 9.30am. Michelle was there with Flipper and she suggested she pony Maraschino while I rode Garbo around the track.

The track has a great surface on it so it's super for tender feet (they were just trimmed yesterday) and with Garbo collecting abbesses this year - it's a great way to get his fitness up again now they seem to all have finally burst out.

So we spent most of the time walking and trotting. On the first lap Garbo charged out ahead and he went into trot without me asking him so I applied what Linda said at the Clinic in November (which isn't always easy for me) and encouraged him forward. He soon came back to walk :-)

During a trot lap where Flipper and Maraschino were ahead of us, Garbo went into canter and I just allowed it and while I didn't go so far as encouraging it, I didn't do my normal panic and think he was going to run off. Michelle looked around at one point and said "oh you're cantering"! YES.

It actually felt really good.
We cantered a few more times too. His squeaky belly relaxed after about 3 laps.

Tori helped me decide on my new mantra.
Garbo is not the same horse anymore, you can trust him, he won't hurt you. 
I love it.

Lesson with Tori

Luckily I dodged the rain today for my two lessons with Tori at Crescent.

I started out talking about my goals for 2014. Level 4!
I just talked out loud really and what came out was that I didn't think garbo was the horse to be able to bridles riding on. Tori disagreed. Sure he has his own opinion - but she said she saw no reason why he can't do it.

So - we started doing some. I used my carrot stick savvy string as a neck strap but it was a bit short which meant I had to lean forward. So I'm going to check my other savvy string which is hopefully longer. So I had to walk and trot and only use my body and the neck strap to turn, and stop.

Well - it wasn't perfect but I learnt something very important. My focus is not strong enough. Garbo actually is very responsive to what I do - and what I don't do. As soon as I had a really strong focus we got a circle on trot. And it felt amazing..

Tori had a big talk to be about how I can now trust Garbo  he's a different horse now, he's not the same horse anymore - and he won't hurt me. So my mantra for this year has just been formulated.

We then did a little Game of Contact and I was so happy that Garbo is feeling better again. Those abscesses were a real pain - it's been going on since October. Felt good to have my horse back that's for sure.

Then came Maraschino's turn. Same thing - focus and a little bit of leadership on direction but avoiding a brace. We also worked alot on mounting, on both sides, until he stood still, then until he didn't put his head up. Worked a treat.

Starting Maraschino

So I've been fiddling around starting Maraschino at the speed of a snail, and since he's inherently Right Brain I was not being consistent enough - you know - not getting the 7 days in a row of anything - let alone what we needed to cover. I thought I could do it by myself but after I came off twice (neither time was nasty nor did I get hurt) I had a big think about what to do.....

I'd been thinking for a while actually because time was just vanishing - as it does.

The options were to send him to Russell in Hamilton - long way - plus I wouldn't be able to be involved. I still wanted to be part of the process.

There was not really a local instructor I could use, who I could have weekly lessons with...or anyone that was local enough to do sessions in a row. Not Parelli ones anyway.

Jool's had a couple of ladies at her farm starting horses and doing clinics. I'd thought about them as an option, but wasn't 100% sure. It was local - only two streets away - and they use Buck Brannaman methods - not too dissimilar to Parelli. It wouldn't be perfect - but I think it would be good enough under the circumstances - I mean - what were the other options? Take another 4 years to get no where slowly lol.

I spoke to my good friend about it - and she said some very sensible things. 1. I couldn't afford to get hurt - true. 2. I couldn't afford to lose my confidence - which had been happening. 3. It was close so I could stay involved - even pop down in my lunch break (lunch break??)... and 4. She'd seen a horse be started by them - both the process one day and the end result - the hose was a LBE - so I called Teresa up and discussed a few things with her. She made me feel comfortable enough to go ahead.

So - next problem - separation training or lack thereof - for Garbo! It was always Maraschino I was leaving behind so I'd ignored doing it with Garbo. Naughty me.

The night before we were due to drop Maraschino off I took him for a walk up the road and did lots of retreat.... Garbo was not that happy but not a maniac. I had planned to take Garbo in the float anyway.

So - I was a little nervous since I hadn't floated Maraschino for quite some time but he and garbo loaded like angels and off we went. He was put into a paddock of dirt - they don't believe in grass for horses down there -just hay so he's going to be thinner when he returns!

It's a lovely peaceful place for him. He rushed off a little on the float - not too bad... and I tied him at the float for a while while I saddled Garbo up - thought I may a well go for a ride. Mickayla came and led Maraschino to his paddock.



I warmed up Garbo and Maraschino was very very settled - but wondering where all the grass was lol. Garbo looked nice and calm so I got on and had a nice ride - we did some trot and walk and lots of transitions. I have not cantered in my new saddle yet! It's not as couch like as my NSC so still getting my seat so to speak.

 

It was a good session even though it was hard for Garbo to concentrate on anything expect grass since we're in a drought and the grass at home is not even 1mm long - so this seemed like Heaven to him.

After the ride I took Garbo back to the float which was about 200m away I guess and Maraschino started calling out and running around. We hung around going in and out of sight for a bit and then loaded. Jools said she would be there all afternoon so she would keep an eye on him. I texted later and they said he'd settled.

Driving away I felt like a Mum leaving their kids at school or kindy for the first time. He's had the last 5 years of his life with me at home, and the first year of his life wild in a 100 acre paddock with a herd of 30. So to let someone else "train" him was a massive step for me. But I think I'm lucky these guys are here, and so close, and it's still Natural Horsemanship - it's by far no means "normal" "breaking".

They asked I not be there for the first couple of sessions so I was dying to get back on the third day to see how he was doing - I had gone up each night anyway to see him and give him some chaff and seaweed. They commented he was hard to catch on the first day, and I explained his world was pretty upside down for him - new place, away from Garbo and I.... and he's Right Brain.

Anyway - they said he was hot, and sensitive and needed repetition and patience. Exactly. So that made me feel better. Although they are not doing it exactly the way a Parelli Professional would do it - none of what they are doing will do him any harm.

Each night he's pretty pleased to get his dinner. The rooster and the hens like it too - they get all the scraps he spills - wonder if this will stop him tipping his bucket over before he returns home.

This is the first session I saw - with Teresa. Getting him used the the flag. They also used the lariat rope as a flank rope this day too - lots of bucking one way and none the other side.

He calmed down after a few days - I went up tonight and Mickayla was using the flag again and he finally stopped snorting at it lol. He seemed much more himself in the paddock too afterwards. He's taken to licking me after his dinner which means I end up covered in left over dinner. :-)