This is a blog about the training adventures with my new Quarter Horse mare "Parrs Sweet Olena". I've only met the mare once, so we will share the journey of getting to know her together.
Wish me luck!
She went to a really good home with a barrel trainer. I guess this is the end of Ollie's blog! If I ever get updates from her new owner, I'll be sure to post them on here. =)
Well, I've decided to put Miss Ollie up for sale. I'd really like to get her further along under saddle, but I have an opportunity to "buy" another horse that I'd really like to take. Angie has a 5 year old QH gelding that I've been riding/training in exchange for riding lessons. She has to sell him sooner than she thought, and I really like him.. so we are trying to work out something to where I can get him.
I would love to keep Ollie a while longer, but I just can't have three horses. And since I was already planning on selling her, I guess there is no harm in listing her sooner than I want to. I sure will miss that little mare.
She's been doing well under saddle. The other night I had one of the boys at the barn get on her and run her a little bit and try to get any buck out that she has. Luckily, she didn't buck at all! She just ran and ran and ran. Lol. She's so hot that I need to work on slllooow stuff for quite a while with her.
Anyways, here is her ad if anyone is interested. ;)
I just added new pics to it, I don't know why they haven't shown up yet. Here they are:
Monday, June 28, 2010
We've had some really nice rides within the past week. She's such a good little girl.
I finally got her to trot, and we're now trotting for at least 5 minutes each ride. We trot a couple more minutes each ride. I'm not even going to think about cantering her yet. I want her to have a NICE trot, before moving to the canter.
We have been exploring outside around the farm each ride, as well. She really seems to like going around and sniffing new things. It's funny, I did most of this same stuff with Bones (like going down a steep little hill between a tree and bushes, taking her by "scary" things, etc.) and she just takes everything I throw at her sooo much better than him. He thinks everything is going to jump out and attack him. Meh, Arabians. Lol =)
I think today I might lunge her in side reins so she has to actually work when lunging, not just go around in countless circles. Lol
Well, it's time to get ready to go to the store.. then the barn! Yay =)
It seems that Ollie and I have fallen into a routine. I get her out of the stall, put her in the wash rack, groom her, tack her up, lunge for 15 or so minutes, ride for 20-30 minutes, hose her off, let her stand there, and put her away. It's not much of a routine, but it's nice to have some consistency.
Today we worked on some transitions on the lunge line. She has a great walk to trot and trot to canter transition. Downward transitions aren't AS great, but still pretty darn good. We did a little bit of walk to canter and canter to walk transitions today. She caught on quickly.
Under saddle we are working on her "whoa", which she is coming along beautifully with. I am at the point where I stiffen up my body and only have to check her with the reins slightly. Steering is all good. Backing is pretty good. Buuuut, I still can't get her to trot. Well, honestly.. I haven't even tried in the last week or two. She just puts on the brakes and won't even walk. I know it's that she doesn't understand what I'm asking. I'm probably stiffening my body or something, too. All in due time, I guess.
If you read my other blog, From Bones to Beauty ,you already know that I moved my horses back to Magic Meadow Stables. If not, well, now you know! Lol
I've only ridden Ollie a couple of times since I moved her. Sunday I planned on riding, but she was so full of her self I decided to lunge her. She was all hyped up, so I just let her run and run and run. After about 15 minutes of pure cantering around like a buffoon, she started licking, chewing, and putting her head down. I told her to trot, let her cool down a bit at the trot, then brought her to a walk. I lunged her for 5-7 more minutes at the walk and trot, making sure she was listening to my cues, then let her stop. She was chewing the for the complete last 5 minutes. Lol
Poor thing was drenched in sweat, even dripping from her eyes and legs! I took her into the wash bay and sprayed her down for a good 10 minutes, then put her on the hot walker. When I got Bones out of the field, Ollie started rearing and acting like a fool on the walker. I just made her stay on there, with it stopped, so she can learn some patience.
Yesterday she was behaving much better. So, I lunged her for 10 or so minutes, then got on. She always impresses me with how well she stands for mounting. I tend to get on a few times at the beginning and end of each ride to test her, but she consistently stands great! We just did a bunch of walking, turning, stopping, and backing. After our ride I gave her a nice bath and put her out on the hot walker again. This time she was a lot calmer and stood there fairly quiet.
Hopefully today we will get to ride again, and work on trotting.
Ollie and Bones are very attached to each other. I might leave one in a stall, or put them in different pastures or something. I don't know, I'll have to see.
Wednesday Steve and I went on a pleasant trail ride. Ollie did fantastic! It was a short ride, maybe 20 minutes.. but I think it was a nice first trail ride. It was pretty windy and we were riding through a pine forest.. so there were many opportunities for her to spook but she did good! I did have draw reins on her for precautionary reasons. I had them so loose that she couldn't tell I had them on, and I didn't have to use them at all. If she would have spooked and tried to bolt, I would have been able to pull her head around a lot easier with the draw reins rather than normal reins alone.
Before the trail ride, I did some more trotting work with Ollie. She's still stopping in certain spots in the arena. It's probably something that I'm doing.. like I'm anticipating her stopping, so I move my seat or grip the reins or something. I'll be sure to be cautious that, that isn't the case.
Last night I got on her bareback! I think she was a little unsure at first, but quickly relaxed. We worked on steering, and stopping. She can feel my seat deepen a lot easier bareback, to help with her "whoa".
Since yesterday we only rode for maybe 7-10 minutes, and it was a very easy ride, I'll count that as an off day. Today I'm going to (try) to ride her and work on the trot. Saturday I think Steve and I are going to go on another trail ride.
I'm going to take a second look at a boarding place tomorrow. They have an indoor, outdoor, and a large round pen. There are also places to ride, but I don't think there are legit trails. The guy is buying the property on the 11th, and if I decide to move there I can move in on the 12th. But, the old owner had this place looking like shit.. and the new guy says he is going to fix it up. I want to make sure of what all he is going to do before I commit to moving there. I don't want to have to move my horses somewhere, and just have to move them in a month again.
Ollie saw the dentist on Saturday morning. He said that they were in pretty bad shape. Which is to be expected; her old owner told me that they have never been done. She did very well (no sedation) and only moved around a little bit. I used an Amish man that another boarder uses, and to be honest I was a little skeptical about using him. I don't know why, I just feel like someone who is UTD on technology has more know-how. Sorry if that's rude or whatever. I'm not sure I'll use him again, though. He was only there for like 5 minutes, probably 2-3 min. actually doing her teeth. When I had Bones' done by an actual Equine Dentist, she was doing his for a good 15 minutes, at least. I'm glad they got done either way. I'll have them checked again when Bones gets his done in November.
I've ridden her several times since then. She is getting a lot better at steering, stopping, and backing. She stands beautifully for mounting/dismounting. I even do a little 3-5 minute session of "accidental" bumping her in funny places when mounting and dismounting. She hasn't jumped, spooked, or anything. I rub on her ears while under saddle, put my feet/legs everywhere I can, etc.
Today we got to a little bit of trotting work, maybe 10 minutes. At first she would trot almost all of the way around, then do a dead stop in two certain stops. I ended up having to grab my little crop to remind her that she needs to go until I say stop. She caught on pretty quickly, and we ended on a good note. All and all, I was happy with the ride.
Tomorrow, Steve wants me and Ollie to go on a trail ride with him and George. This time, hopefully Ollie will remember her cues! =P
Steve and I went on a "trail ride" on Saturday. I ended up just walking Ollie most of the way. She really needs more time in the arena. She just wouldn't walk forward, was throwing her head everywhere, etc. I am getting her teeth floated as soon as I can get a hold of the guy who does them. I might also try her in a different bit. I have her in a full check, single jointed snaffle right now. I've been researching a bit about bits (ha!) and am re-thinking the single jointed snaffle.
Steve bought a couple of jump standards (for whatever reason! Lol) and I free lunged Ollie over them a few times last night. She was so hilarious the first few times. She over jumped BIG TIME!, the hopped over like a deer. Goofy girl! She got the hang of it though.
Other than that, I haven't really messed with her a lot. I'm heading out there soon to hopefully spend some time with her.
And guess what, she stood PERFECTLY still. What a good girl! Bones went first, and acted like a complete jack ass.. so it was nice to have her stand so quietly.
I like the farrier I used. I've used him once before for George and Bones, and liked him then as well. He's smart, quick, stays calm, does a good job, and is cheap.
I haven't really been working with Ollie a whole lot. I did ride her a few times, which she is doing well at. I haven't really had time to hang out there recently.. my car is all messed up so I've been trying to get things together to get it fixed.
On Monday I turned Ollie out into a smaller (about 1 acre) paddock with some nice lush grass. She was pretty worked up being away from the other horses. But, it made for a good photo shoot!
I'm actually starting to get a bit attached to Ollie. She's really quite sweet and loves attention (maybe a little too much). I think she likes me to. =)
Anyways, yesterday I let her have a chill day and didn't mess with her too much. I've been making her stand tied for a while each day. She paws almost non-stop. I have just been ignoring her and it does seem to be working. She's so insecure without someone around her. Even me.. she's calm and nice when I'm grooming her or hanging out with her. But, when I leave her sight she gets panicked and starts pawing. They had her pastured with her mom her whole life, and no one did anything her her so she isn't used to being alone. Little baby! Lol
Today we worked on lunging. I am proud to report that we had a very successful lunging session. Clockwise is progressing great. She can now walk/trot both ways on the lunge line. =)
I also rode her for about 10 minutes today. She's responding nicely to turning. Still wants to toss her head around when I cue for her to stop, but we're working on it. When I decided to finish the ride, I got on and off of her several times on both sides. She stands very nicely for mounting/dismounting. Bridling is something we are working on as well.
Ollie did great for the move. She loaded right up. Although, she was having a freaking fit in the trailer. She'll get over it with more practice!
At the last barn, they were on pasture board. Now they have their own stalls (which I'll probably rarely use). I kept them in last night, just to let them settle before throwing them in with their new herd. Oddly, neither of them pooped or peed very much? I mean, they DID poop and pee, just not as much as I expected. I guess they weren't in there that long. I'm used to the stalls at the old barn where the horses were in alllll of the time.
I got there at about 10am this morning and let them both run around the arena while I cleaned out their stalls. Then I got Bones out- you can read about his day here.
When I was done with Bones, I got Ollie and tied her to the post. Now that I'm writing this, I realize that I didn't groom her at all (OOPS!- lol). I put the english saddle on her, and her boots. She looks sooo cute in english tack!
Then we went to the arena to do some lunging. Still doing well going to the left. And improving on the right! Yay! I think she's starting to get it! =D I decided to stick with walking on the right side until she is doing good, and then move to trotting.
After that I line drove her a little bit. She actually didn't do bad. A little confused at first, but not bad at all!
I put them out in the field, and of course Bones was acting like the stallion he now (for whatever reason) thinks he is. Ollie just pranced around like a little princess. Lol
All was well when I left, let's hope it stayed that way!
Ollie and I had our first ride on Friday. It went well!
I put her out in the pasture for the first time on Thursday, so I wasn't sure how she was going to be to catch. Areem came up to me first (I freakin love that boy!) then she came up. I caught her without difficulty. I let her graze a little bit in the hay field, then brought her up to the barn to groom her. I had to get something from my car and when I came back she somehow twisted her self up the the cross ties. Luckily, she was razzled up about it and I just un-clipped her and turned her back around. I saddled her up, which she is a little cinchy about, put the bridle on her (she's still being a brat about it, but getting better) and took her to the arena and lunged her. She's just not getting the concept of moving forward going to the right. Or, maybe, she's just smart enough to know that when she stops she doesn't have to move forward (for a second, anyways)! I ended the lunging on a good note, and we went to the round pen.
I admit, I was a little frustrated with the lunging, that was just like "I'm getting on this friggin' horse today!". I know that's not the best attitude when first backing a horse, but whatever.. it worked. Lol
I free lunged her a bit then got a mounting block just to lean over her a bit. She didn't give a rats ass about it so I moved the mounting block and got on from the ground and just leaned on her, got off, got on, etc etc. Then I leaned on her and asked her to move forward, she did, I stopped her, and got off. Then I decided to just get on her. She stood nicely for me to move the saddle around a bit and get situated. I asked her to move forward to no avail. After lots of leg pressure, kicks, kisses, clucks, and light booty smacks, she walked off. Only for about a half lap of the round pen, then she stopped. Then more leg pressure, kicks, kisses, clucks, and light booty smacks came, and she walked on again! Lol. We did a few laps each way, and called it quits for the day. She responded okay to bit pressure -turning wise, but didn't like the "whoa" bit pressure so much. Overall, I'm happy with our first ride!
On another note, I'm moving back to the old barn today. I am getting a job that won't allow me to clean stalls in the mornings, and I can't afford the board at the place they are at now, so I have to move them. I really like the place they are at now, it has everything you need.. oh well. =\
It's a week today since I brought Ollie home. I think she's doing very well so far. I didn't mess with her Tuesday or Wednesday, but yesterday we had a pretty nice day.
I walked her around the outdoor arena and let her sniff some stuff out. She did well, but she did call for other horses a couple of times. Then I put the bridle on her. She was being a brat so Angie helped out with it. I was going to lunge her right after that, but decided to tie her outside on the round pen so she could learn some patience.
She stood there for a good 45 minutes. She pawed a lot when I wasn't out there, but whatever. Next we worked on lunging. She's doing FANTASTIC going to the left, but going to the right still needs a lot of work. She's really starting to listen well to voice commands. I was impressed with her yesterday. =)
Thennn I put her on the hot walker. She didn't freak out or anything. She did some circles, but quickly learned that she had to move forward, and keep moving forward.
I've been keeping her in a stall, today was the first day I put her out to pasture. Bones was already out there. There is a field of mares right next to their pasture, and well I guess Bones thinks they're "his" mares. He was acting sooo possessive over them. He kept running Ollie off and wouldn't let her get near the fence line. Then Areem came in and Bones ran him off, too.
