Pictures

Click here to check out some pictures of Ollie and Bones!

"Trail ride" and jumps

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.

Farrier and pictures

Ollie got her toes done today.

 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!

Enjoy =)

I'm starting to like this mare

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. 

My little Ollie Bollie =D

Line driving

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!

Short but sweet

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. =\