# Tessa's Journal (training, drawings, stories, pictures etc.)



## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Well, there've been a lot of things I've been wanting to share lately but decided they weren't significant enough for making an entire thread for them. So I got an idea! Why not make a journal for my Tessa? I can include her training updates, funny stories, pictures, some drawings/doodles of her...whatever I want to share about her for that day! 

This post is going to be an introductory-type thing, so if you already know Tess and our story, feel free to skip it. I'll actually start adding new material and updates in the coming days. I'll _try_ to just do a brief overview.

I've loved horses my entire life and once my parents realized I wasn't going to "grow out of it," they agreed to signing me up for lessons. They thought that once I got over the "sunshine and rainbows" part of horses and saw the hard work and ups and downs I'd give up. Haha that wasn't the case. After a few years on lesson horses, I went on to lease a lovely little mare, Maggie. I loved that horse so much, but her owners suddenly decided to sell her and I found out the day before she left. It broke my heart. I started taking lessons on other horses again, but I had to take some time off to grieve because they weren't like Maggie; we just didn't click and I was missing my girl too much. During all of this time my parents had been considering caving in to my begging for a horse of my own- so I could bond with it-truly _know_it, not worry about losing it, and have a say in how it was trained and cared for. (Though I had been asking for a horse pretty much since I could talk and had brought it up many times before all of this)They finally agreed that we'd start looking into getting a horse for me on one condition: I had to work for it and continue working to pay for some of the costs. I readily agreed, of course 

Well, shoot. This brief overview isn't so brief. Okay, I'll cut to the chase. After months of looking and trying different horses, we found Tessa. She matched _everything_ on the list I had written previously for what I wanted in my horse. I wanted a mare, around 15hh, close to 10 yrs, relational, smart, calm, ability to become an all-around horse. Those were the ones that I weren't flexible on. There were other qualities that my "perfect" dream horse had that I imagined and drew out (literally, lol). These qualities weren't as important as the ones listed above but nonetheless I hoped that I'd somehow end up with this seemingly impossible horse. My favorite horse color was always a red dun tobiano, favorite breed a paint, and favorite markings were a star and snip. Well, I found Tessa's ad on Facebook and she matched EVERY LITTLE THING on my list! She was even local and within our price range! There were 4 people who were already interested in her when I contacted the owners, so my hope of getting her was quickly waning...until the owners replied when they heard more about me and what I was hoping to do with the horse. They wanted her to go to a loving home where she would be cherished and used (she was currently just a pasture-pet with them). Her name with them was Crush (her registered name is JL Orange Crush Kitty, so that's where they got THAT name). Needless to say, I wanted to rename her. I find many of my animal's names after my favorite books-I find that my animals fit the characters in many of my books. When I first got her I was torn between the name Dove from Scorpio Races (Dove is the smart, sassy, lovable dun mare in my long-time favorite horse book) and Tessa from The Infernal Devices (Tessa is an independent, smart, strong young heroine from the book). I decided on Tessa ;-)

Well, fast-forward a year and a half, and here we are! I work at the stable Tess is boarded at; it's only 10 min. from my house! When I first got her she wasn't muscled very well and not very knowledgable on anything more than simply moving through the gaits in a straight line. My trainer/stable manager/friend works with us occasionally since I don't have all the knowledge to take Tess where I want to by myself. Tess has taught me how to be a much better and more confident rider. Not how you'd think, though...Tess has a lot less experience than we originally thought and a lot more, well, sass lol. She's super sweet and smart and works her little heart out! But she's also SUPER sensitive and will definitely test her rider. This forced me step up and be the leader she needs me to be. Most of the horses I'd ridden before her were lesson horses and were pretty much push-button horses, so it wasn't a real big battle for dominance. Of course, some of the lesson horses had a bit more spunk and would feel out if you were fit to be a leader. My Maggie was definitely like that at first haha.

Well, I've been doing a lot of Dressage with Tessa since it works on her carrying herself properly and going through some complex movements. We've jumped a little and I want to go back and do some more jumping but for now I'm really enjoying where we're at! Anything learned doing flat work translates into jumping anyways. My trainer is impressed with how well Tessa is carrying herself now and what a good team we are. It always feels good to hear that after all the hard work I've been putting into my girl! She even told me that we're becoming so in sync that she can't even see the cues I'm giving her all the time (this coming from an experienced eye)! Whoo hoo! Planning on showing her Spring/Summer 2017. 

It has definitely been a journey getting to where I am now with the horse I am blessed to call my own. As a Christian, I see God's hand working in all of the circumstances that led to me having Tessa and the stable we are at now. There were a lot more ups and downs and quite a bit of heartbreak of losing horses that I didn't include, because that would just take too long to go through haha. And I'm not naive enough to think I'm the only one who's had to deal with some tough stuff or to think that everyone wants to hear every single little detail of my life. :wink: When I was little I used to pray for the "perfect horse." And though no horse is perfect, Tess is definitely my answer to that prayer. I'm not saying that if you pray for a horse it'll happen or that you get everything you want through prayer. Just sharing that God worked a little miracle in my life! 

My photobucket account has been acting up, so I don't feel like struggling with that right now to upload some pictures. I have tons of pictures of her on her profile page if you want to see my beauty:wink:I'll try to post some new content tomorrow...


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*First Update on the Tess*

As promised, here's an update on how Tessa's been doing. 

It had been very warm over here (for this time of year at least) but suddenly got super cold. This affected the horses a lot, especially my sensitive lady. I took extra care to warm her up slowly and just do an easy ride for her. So I decided to ride her bareback this past Thursday. I love riding bareback in the winter because I get cold easily and Tess is SO warm! She gets a really thick winter coat! Also, I don't have to deal with the extra time of saddling her up and untacking her. Plus, I just like riding bareback- I use it as a check to make sure I'm not relying on the saddle or stirrups for balance. I ride without stirrups sometimes too as well. Anyways, I was riding her bareback after warming her up on the lunge line. However, this little flock of birds (I think they were finches or sparrows) decided to have themselves a little party in the arena (it's an indoor). Every time we passed by the same rail, all of them would fly out right in front of us! Tessa handled herself very well for the most part, but a few times when they flew right underneath her nose she took a few canter steps or jumped to the side. Nothing major; was very impressed with my girl for handling herself in the circumstances.

Also, this last Saturday, some of my cousins came to meet Tessa! They've been wanting to since I got her but it never happened. So my aunt and her 3 daughters (ages 6-12) came to meet my Tess-Mess. They had about a question and minute for me to answer lol. It was a lot of fun, though. I rode Tess first to make sure she didn't have any spunk in her (she gets extra spunky in cold weather, as do all the other horses). She was great...if anything a little lazy. So I put her on the lunge and let my little cousins get on her. I just walked her around and did a little bit of jogging with the older girls. She's very good with kids as long as there's someone telling her what to do. By being good with kids, I mean she's patient with them and would probably just plod around or stop if they were left to ride her on her own. To be safe, I always put beginner riders or small kids on the lunge if they want to ride her.

I'm leaving on a week-long trip tonight so I wont get to see my girl for a while :-( I gave her an extra good brushing and lots of treats before I left....going to miss her so much! Even though a week's not a super long time...I'm just used to seeing her 4+ days a week! The hardest was when I went to South Africa and was gone for 2 1/2 weeks! I thought I was going to die!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Tessa's been doing great! I've been lunging her a lot more since I don't always have time to ride before I work. I've been lunging her over a lot of cavaletti and she's doing so good! She used to try to run and jump over all of them, but now she just trots over them like a pro! She also used to get so excited that she'd tune me out. So, to test if she was listening to me and not in her own little world, I asked her to "whoa" in between two cavaletti. 

Now, I should explain that her first trainer trained her using Natural Horsemanship. When he asked her to whoa, he wanted her to come to him and stop. Sometimes Tess still does that on the lunge. This was the case when I asked her to stop between the cavaletti. She spun on her heel and came right to me :lol: She put her head in my arms and gave a huge sigh. I think she was more than eager to get out of work, so she decided to come for me instead of stopping between the poles and then going over the rest of them. She's too smart for her own good sometimes lol.

Today we had another riding lesson! It went great as well (all of them have been). Today my trainer had me work on posting without stirrups. I definitely had to work hard today, but it felt great. My legs were so tired by the end of the hour lesson that I could barely move them :lol: It felt good to work and feel tired muscles...just goes to show how much muscle and exercise you get while riding!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Tessa Snow Video!*

Well, so far I've just posted updates on training/riding and so far not getting much interest. I totally understand lol- I'd choose looking at horse pictures over reading several paragraphs.:mrgreen: But I thought I'd mix it up. Today it snowed a bit and it was also one of my work days. The roads were super slow because of it, so I didn't get to ride. But when I was mucking out Tessa's paddock she chose to come run (trot) to greet me. I thought it was cute and she's such a sweetheart- nuzzling me and sniffing my phone lol. 

I wish I got more video but it was with my phone and I couldn't take a video with gloves on so I literally had to do it with my nose :lol: (I was unwilling to take my gloves off as it was 10-15 F!) There was a snow plow finally clearing out some of the roads and the horses kept rearing and bucking every time it made a loud noise. Really wish I got a video/picture of that- they were SO PRETTY!! Tessa would come over to me, spook at the plow, run back to her spot at the top of the hill, come back to nuzzle me, spook again, rinse and repeat :biggrin:

The song I used for this quick clip was Carol of the Bells by one of my favorite groups: Pentatonix. Enjoy! Her flattened ears were in response to Jaxie, the dominant mare, coming up beside her. Love my cute little girl, though!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That is such a cute video!!!! Awww!  She is so cute, love horses in the snow!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

PoptartShop said:


> That is such a cute video!!!! Awww!  She is so cute, love horses in the snow!


Thank you and thanks for taking the time to look at it! :mrgreen:


So today I got to ride Tess Mess in the freezing weather once more haha. I layered up so much I could barely fit my riding pants on! My toes and hands were the coldest, though. I can't ride in gloves thick and therefore warm enough while I ride since it prohibits hand movement which is necessary for riding! I often need to sponge the reins while I ride to calm Tess down which is especially difficult!

But I did post bareback today for the first time! I've been posting without stirrups with the saddle so I did it bareback, too! I was so amazed how much _easier_ it is to post bareback than with a saddle. The saddle kind of inhibits movement and being totally connected to the horse. I also took Tess over a _very_ small jump today several times and she went over it perfectly every time! She just lifted her legs higher in the trot instead of taking a mad jump over it! So proud of her!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

don't give up. it takes time to build up a following. and not all journals even GET a following. some are just for the satisfaction of the author , regardless of the readership


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> don't give up. it takes time to build up a following. and not all journals even GET a following. some are just for the satisfaction of the author , regardless of the readership


Thank you! It was a little discouraging at first but I realize that not everyone wants to read all the details of my Tessa and some do read it but just don't respond. I like seeing that people are looking at my journal, but it is definitely for me as well, so I can go back and track our progress:grin:


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

It's been awhile since I've posted an update but that's partly due to the fact that there hasn't been a whole lot going on. It's been a much colder (and snowier) winter than usual. I believe I heard that this year made a new record for snow depth. Because of all the snow and bad roads and freezing weather, I haven't been able to ride much. I've been able to layer up, grit my teeth, and just get through it, but now I can't hardly drive to the stable, so that severely limits my riding. My car only has front wheel drive and many of the roads near us aren't plowed. My car got stuck coming out of my driveway for goodness' sakes! We have two 4 wheel drive vehicles in my family, but my dad uses one and my mom uses the other. When my mom's home, my older brother (who is currently home from college) uses it. So when I have to get out to the stable to even work, I have to catch a ride with one of my family member's, and they all have fairly busy schedules. Yesterday I wasn't able to get a ride out to the stable or have a 4 wheel vehicle available to me, so someone else had to take over my work "shift" last night. :sad:

So, yeah, it hasn't been ideal. The few days that I HAVE been able to get out, I haven't really ridden. At first I tried to, but it's really not that great for my lungs or Tessa's. And Tess is a little under the weather (runny nose, bit of a cough) but my trainer and I think that's due to the cold. She's blanketed and has shelter, and we have cough medicine on hand we bought last time she got a cough (she gets coughs pretty easily when the weather is finicky- either too wet or too dry). We're all keeping an eye on her if it looks like she'll need a vet but she's acting healthy aside from that. 

My last ride on her, which was a week ago:sad:, went very well. All of them have been. She's getting a much better extended trot and is getting a whole lot looser! It's such a weird feeling to have her go into a fast trot without running off; it's very liberating :mrgreen She's staying with me and I with her. We're also working on her transitions, which are getting a LOT better as well. Trot to canter on the left lead is pretty good. She has a harder time picking up her right lead, though. Her left hind is a little stiffer than her right so it's very likely due to that, since she has to kick off with that leg. Since Tess has a tendency to get tight (like me haha) I always do leg circles and some stretches with her recommended by her bodyworker before I ride. I've been spending extra time working on that left hind and am trying to go out and hand walk her in long walking strides to stretch it out. But, as I said, I've barely been able to get out there to work, much less spend time with my girl. :sad:

I'm really hoping that next week I'll be able to see her more! I miss her. I get to give her some scratches and loving when I work, but I still feel so guilty. Especially when I leave and she just stands by the gate, watching me all the way back to...wherever I'm going haha. Either to my car/ride or up to the upper barn to feed the other horses. The plus side about the freezing weather is that mucking out is super quick...mainly due to the fact that the manure is frozen to the ground and then covered in snow and ice, so you can't scoop it up! Thankfully the horses all have water heaters so their water doesn't freeze!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

This week has warmed up enough for me to ride!:loveshower: I rode and worked Tues, had a lesson yesterday, and lunged Tess today. Finally getting back into my routine of working with her 4x a week. 

Tuesday's ride started out a little rough, since I hadn't ridden in a couple weeks so Tess also hadn't been ridden in a couple weeks. Also, her 2 pasture mates (2 of my trainer's mares) were in "turnout" with her. So there were a few distractions but it was good for both of us to ride with them. I trotted her over a small jump and some cavaletti. Since she was wet from the rain where the blanket didn't cover her, I didn't want to exercise her too much. Also didn't want her to get sweaty before she went back out in the cold. Short video clip below when I was cooling her out. I dropped my glove when I was fiddling on how to video it so that's what she's sniffing at on the ground haha. Excuse her muddy neck: that's where the blanket didn't cover her so she was wet and then she rolled...I cleaned her up the best I could but she was a mess. There's a reason I call her Tess Mess:wink:





The lesson yesterday went great! My trainer had me go into 2 point for most of the hour lesson. My muscles definitely burned by the end but not as bad as I thought they would. We worked on transitions some more and how to control them and speed when your seat bones are out of the saddle. We cantered over some cavaletti and did a lot of figures in the trot.

Today I lunged Tess over a small jump (10-12"). She did so great! In the past she would attempt to take a mad leap over a ground pole. Now she lifts her legs up higher and extends her gait in the trot to get over a small jump! I was impressed with how high she's getting her legs now. My trainer is, too. I also did some canter work with her since she needs some work in that area. My trainer doesn't think she was worked in the canter much before I got her. So we worked on having her pick it up and she's improved so much! Also cantered her over some cavaletti.

Oh! I also got this awesome shirt! I ordered it in light blue. I would've posted a picture of it but I wore it to the stable (of course) and Tess slobbered all over it, so...








I ordered it off Etsy since I sell my art on Etsy and thought I'd support some other people on there. Here's the link to the shirt: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1232273833


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

So glad you had a good lesson & that it's been warming up!  Love the video! So glad Tess is doing well.
LOL that shirt is great! :lol:


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*First Fall*



PoptartShop said:


> So glad you had a good lesson & that it's been warming up!  Love the video! So glad Tess is doing well.
> LOL that shirt is great! :lol:


Haha thanks my trainer loved the shirt too!

And unfortunately today's post isn't as happy as the other ones. Yesterday it warmed up again to 35 (practically felt like summer compared to the weather we'd been having lol) so I was able to do a lesson. It was also warm enough that my mom wanted to watch since it had been so long since she'd seen me ride (she wont come out if it's cold). Well...Tessa was really hyper and acting different than usual. As I said, the weather had been bad so she couldn't really run in her paddock. She's had some turn out time in arena and I lunged her but not quite the same. There was also snow falling off the indoor arena roof. Well she was being testy but nothing that concerned I or my trainer too much. She just wanted us to work through it.

After one of her testing moments, I wasn't as connected to the saddle to give me complete balance. Nothing too severe, but when she turned into a bucking bronco I didn't have 100% of my balance to keep me in the saddle. She's bucked before but the worst that's happened was me losing a stirrup. But what did me in yesterday was the continuous bucking and then the twist she did at the end. So...I fell of a horse for the first time in my life. I aimed to land on my shoulder and then rolled when I hit the ground. This diffused the blow and put me out of harms way. However, I must've landed on my wrist sometime during the fall and broke it, though I didn't know it at the time. So I got back up and talked to my trainer. I knew the whole, "you fall off a horse and get back on" bit. So I got back on, but started to pass out from the pain so had to get off again haha. 

My trainer was very surprised at Tessa's behavior yesterday since she's never done that severe of bucking before. She worked with her after I left and thinks that there were several factors but her body may be one of them. Tess has had body work done and her body worker gave me exercises to do with her before each ride, which I've been doing. I also had my trainer (who has some education in body working) feel her to make sure she wasn't getting tight again. 

Since I can't ride or do anything for 6+ weeks, I think we're going to have my trainer keep working with her so she doesn't regress. I'm going to watch when I can so I'm still learning more and understanding more about Tessa, There's no way I'd survive not seeing Tess or the people at the stable for 6 weeks! 

What makes me laugh is I've been bragging to my family over how well Tessa's been doing. And then my mom watched me get bucked off for the first time. The best part? She got it all on video:lol: 

What I am thankful for is that it's only my wrist I injured. Nothing else. I also didn't get the breath knocked out of me because that's not fun. Neither is breaking a wrist but...you know what I mean ;-) I also wasn't scared when I fell or got back on. I'm sure when I can finally ride again I'll find I lost some confidence. But I'm not really afraid, which I'm thankful for. Tess also didn't run around after I came off, which I was worried about during my fall. Ha. I was still worrying about my horse when I was coming off of her  When I went to her after I fell she was just standing there, looking kind of confused. She nuzzled me when I got to her. My trainer doesn't think she bucked because she was trying to be mean or anything. Just a modge podge of circumstances that came out in those bucks. If I'm honest my prides a bit bruised too. I thought I'd be able to stay on through those bucks. But itall happened so fast I didn't really have time to attempt to regain my balance. Courtesy of the video, I know it all happened within 2 seconds.

So...I'll try to post updates of my trainer's work with her but probably not too many. Partly because it takes sooo long to type with only 1 hand ;-)


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

that this is your first time falling off a horse is purely amazing! how long have you been riding without a fall?


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> that this is your first time falling off a horse is purely amazing! how long have you been riding without a fall?


Thanks  Since I've loved horses my entire life, my parents were able to find a horse camp or a trail ride about once a year. They kept hoping I'd grow out of it but when I didn't, I started riding consistently, about 1-3 times a week. That was 3 years ago. I've had many close calls but never came off until Saturday. I knew it was bound to happen but just wish I hadn't broken the wrist so I can ride again!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

well, that fall counts for 4 normal falls, so you will now have at least 4 more years without falls. (or so one likes to think)

I haven't fallen for about 2 years now. I am overdue. I used to fall every 6 months, then got it down to once a year. now it's about every 2 years, but I ride very sedately now, so umnless a bobcat jumps out at us, or something totally unexpected, I probably have no excuse for a fall. that's fine with me!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> well, that fall counts for 4 normal falls, so you will now have at least 4 more years without falls. (or so one likes to think)
> 
> I haven't fallen for about 2 years now. I am overdue. I used to fall every 6 months, then got it down to once a year. now it's about every 2 years, but I ride very sedately now, so umnless a bobcat jumps out at us, or something totally unexpected, I probably have no excuse for a fall. that's fine with me!


Haha I hope your calculations are correct then. And I have a friend at the stable that reminds me of riding how you described. She has a sweet Arabian x Quarter Horse cross that's very calm and easygoing (it helps that he's an older guy). She mostly takes him out on trails. But one day a deer was laying in the brush at their feet and jumped up when they were almost on top of her! So that was one of her few falls off of him haha.

I went out to see Tess yesterday (hard because I can't drive right now so I have to find a ride). My mom didn't want me going inside the paddock since she didn't want a horse to bump my arm. So I had to wait by the fence. Tessa saw me almost immediately and _left her food_ to come to me. She LOVES food. I felt very loved:mrgreen

Hopefully going to get some pics/videos of my trainer working with her since I'm normally the one lunging/riding her I can't get videos of her from the ground. She's a really great mover so I'm looking forward to showing her off to all of you! ;-)


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Okay I finally found something I can do with a broken wrist with Tessa: Liberty! She's so smart, sensitive, and relational so I think it's going to be a perfect fit! I'll just be doing basic stuff with her, nothing like rearing or tricks that could potentially become bad habits. My trainer thinks it's a great idea for me to do this to keep spending time with Tessa. This will also strengthen our bond since it's one more thing we can do together. 

Below is a video of the first day I introduced it to her. I'm using the clicker to assist in her understanding this. I think she did fantastic for her first time! She's followed me around without anything on before so she understood that right away. She's also desensitized to the whip and knows vocal cues, so that also helps. 

I went out again today and worked on having her follow at my shoulder instead of several feet behind me. I also worked on turning and coming. At one point she was off running and doing her own thing and I called her and she immediately came to me; I was so pleased with her! :mrgreen: I also had her trot beside me a few times, but that's going to take more work. Often she'll trot beside me for a few steps then keep on going past me:lol: But by the end I got her to trot beside me and then turn and stop, all while staying by me, so I was very pleased! I didn't video anything today, unfortunately, but I'll try to bring my camera out next time.

Tomorrow I'm going to go out and watch my trainer work with her, and I'll try to get a video or some pictures. She's been keeping me updated and said that she's very pleased with how Tessa's been doing. 

So here's the video! You can tell she had a bit of energy, and she spooked once haha. I moved out of the way to be sure she didn't bump my wrist. But I love how she calmed down right after and came right to me. At the end I have some repeat clips, sorry, I wanted to play through the end of the song. You can also see her being her sweet, goofy, self. She always brightens my day, I love her so much. She has also been the biggest sweetheart with me only having one working hand. She shoves her nose way down into the halter and holds perfectly still while I clumsily put it on. When I have to take it off she helps shake it off! And she stands perfectly still while I have to take her blanket on and off one handed! 

Spirit music to play with the video because there's nothing better


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## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

Aww! I love that video! Liberty is so much fun and it strengthens the bond and trust between the horse and owner! My mustang I got a year ago does a lot of liberty, but my fav is laying down without anything, it is amazing how much a horse can learn to trust in a short year. 
Sorry about your wrist, I can't imagine coping with a cast on.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Love the video.  She is such a sweetheart.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

GMA100 said:


> Aww! I love that video! Liberty is so much fun and it strengthens the bond and trust between the horse and owner! My mustang I got a year ago does a lot of liberty, but my fav is laying down without anything, it is amazing how much a horse can learn to trust in a short year.
> Sorry about your wrist, I can't imagine coping with a cast on.





PoptartShop said:


> Love the video.  She is such a sweetheart.


Thank you, both of you! :-D
I finally compiled a more recent video! But before I go into that, I had to share some of pictures I took of my little girl yesterday!

My teacher and friend has a little girl who is currently obsessed with horses and unicorns. She believes that they actually exist, so Tessa helped me out. She was such a good, patient girl, even if she was a little bit grumpy lol. I figure it’s good for desensitization anyway. I sent the picture to my teacher and she said her daughter loved it!









And here we see the rare Tess Mess in her natural environment. 

















Balancing on her back. She's got talent. I guess that's what I do, though haha.









Shake shake shake!









Instead of posting several different videos, I just made one single one with some of the training my trainer has been doing with her. And then I got some more video of me working on her with liberty, as well as her being a spunky gal. I got some good clips of her goofing off and enjoying herself, but as soon as I turned the camera off, she gave this huge rear and then got same crazy air with all 4 legs in the air in a buck! I got more liberty clips, but my camera kept turning off from the cold so it missed a lot :-( But you get the general idea of what we worked on. The camera missed some trotting clips with her loose by me and I had her do some side passes. 

I am so proud of her on how much she’s improved on the handful of times I’ve been able to work with her! You can see that she’s so much better at following at my shoulder and stopping. By the end she was stopping on the dime! I included a few of the times when she was confused and just ran away. So I took a step back and put her halter back on, but with a slack rope. This way she was still doing everything off of my body language, but if she started to go too far forward I could get her back to me and solidify the concept. What I really loved was that right after she would run off, she would come right back to me and follow me once more. 

I’m hoping to head out to the stable again tomorrow and try to get some video, though I may wait so I can just make one full video again with different sessions.

Note: When my trainer is riding her, she was getting Tess to work on self-carriage. That’s why the reins often seem long and the hand movements so exaggerated. This was also when they were warming up so a couple times they weren’t as smooth as could be. But Tessa is such a beautiful mover, I love being able to watch it all from the ground. Speaking of, I had a doctors appointment a couple days ago and they told me I can do some gentle riding in 3 weeks, but I can’t do any intensive riding or working at the stable for another 5-7 weeks. So longer than I was hoping, but in the long run I know it’ll be important to not rush my wrist so I don’t have complications in the future. I’m also hoping to finally post some Tessa art on this thread.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

You should be proud of her!  That's great!
Ahhh her rolling is so adorable!!!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Back in the Saddle!*

Can I just start this off with saying YAY!! After 8 long weeks in the cast, I finally got to ride again (this being 1 week ago)! Since the doctors didn't want me doing any intensive riding for another 2-4 weeks (putting me in at 10-12 weeks in all), I decided to ride a sweet, senior Morgan mare. She's easier on my wrist and I can also sort myself out after not riding for 2 months without worry of upsetting Tessa. I still have to wear a brace when I ride but it doesn't inhibit me too much. It felt so amazing to get back in the saddle, though! I am now on spring break but I'm leaving for Iowa tomorrow to visit my brother in college, and to visit the college itself since it's one I myself am considering going to:mrgreen:

So today I spent a long time with my sweet girl, as I won't see her for a week :-(. We worked on some liberty stuff and she did amazing! I wasn't planning on videoing anything but she was just too cute to not so I used my phone. Those clips are in the video below, so sorry they're such bad quality:redface: She's getting _really_ good at trotting at my shoulder on a slack lead- she picks up my cue via body language immediately now. _And_ she comes every single time I whistle for her! Pretty amazing feeling. I also attempted having her trot without anything and made it more into a game of chase. I played around with her a lot today and she was a complete goof, though didn't get any of those clips on video...But the free trotting I did! And I was so proud of her! She didn't run away or anything; she even followed me through a turn! Another moment that made me SO proud today was when it started storming unexpectedly. Walls/roof creaking, rain pattering on the roof (very loudly I might add), plastic bags blowing...I was for sure expecting a spook! She tensed and listened alertly for awhile, but she stayed by my side the entire time- no spook! She gives me so much to brag about ;-)

On a previous day I worked with her, she followed me over some raised cavaletti! I was so proud because in the past she would attempt to run and jump over all of them, and here she was coming to my whistle and choosing to walk over them By the end she was really stretching out her stride, though she tripped a few times figuring it out at first.

And here's the part that makes me absolutely giddy! I rode her today for the first time in 9 WEEKS, bareback and in a halter! I've ridden her bareback plenty before and have even dropped the reins whilst doing so, but I never rode her in a halter before. It wasn't that big of a deal, since I ride primarily from my seat anyway. But I laughed to myself because the last time I was on her back, she bucked me off. And my first ride back is bareback and in a halter:grin: She also moved off of my seat beautifully! The go and stop in the video is all off my seat. It also warmed my heart to see her nuzzling at my boot and relaxed enough that she was chewing (which you can hear very clearly in the video lol). I also posted (since I can post without stirrups, why not bareback?) And even two-pointed for the heck of it. It was such an amazing feeling!

Here's the liberty clips: (Note: I don't normally run like that- her cue to trot is me exaggerating jogging/high knees. Just wanted to let you know I'm not an awkward runner haha)





And the short riding vid:


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Thought it was time I posted an update again! 

Tessa's been good- my trainer's still working with her since she wants to make sure Tess continues to carry herself properly and continuing to develop the correct muscle. We've been seeing a lot of self-carriage on her part, which is huge since she used to always fall in and make the rider hold her up. She's also relaxing a lot more! She used to be more tense but now she's so relaxed that if you rub her, her muscles (not fat) jiggle! She's chewing a lot more; it used to take a lot to get her to chew but now it's becoming normal. That, and this new habit of licking. It's adorable, I think, even if she gets horse slobber everywhere  

I still get to ride Tess and actually just got back from a ride today. In between my rides on Tessa, I've been riding Gypsy, the retired Morgan mare I wrote about before. Tessa also trots with me without a halter with liberty now!

My trainer is super pleased with how far Tessa and I have both come along. She (and I) are both very excited to see what lies in store for us now that we've got Tessa's bucking all figured out. Oh, and I can't remember if I specifically addressed this, but I've decided that I'm going to pursue Dressage. Before, I was viewing it as a means to an end, which was Eventing, specifically jumping. But, Tessa is better suited to Dressage what with her conformation, personality, and movement. And I think I'm better suited to Dressage too, since I'm graceful and I'm not an adrenaline junkie (not to say jumpers are, but it is more of a risky riding that's faster paced). This isn't to say that I won't still jump some crossrails with Tess occasionally, but my main focus is going to be on Dressage. 

It was also miss Tessa's birthday this past Monday! She turned 11!!!

Also, have to share some transformation photos! 

These first 2 are from when I first got her. She's lacking a lot of muscle and looks a little scrawny tbh. It's hard to compare them with the ones I took today since these aren't of her standing square, but it gives you the idea.


















And the ones from today. She wasn't standing straight-on but ah well. She also was holding herself up better after the ride, but I didn't get pictures then. You can still see a difference, and I'll try to get pictures of her when she's lifting herself up more.

Stretching out









Also, this pose she struck reminded me so much of a Georgian Grande









Here's a pic of a GG just from Google images


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

I also forgot to add (and it took me long enough to remember that the edit feature is no longer available on the above post haha) that today Tessa was super spooky. Trainer said it's the worst she's ever seen her, but all horses have bad days. Tessa isn't really a spooky horse, and when she does spook, it's normally just a bit of a jump or a few running steps...no bolting, thankfully! My trainer had been working with her when she happened to get all spooky and took a bit to get her through that and focused on her again instead of whatever was going on outside. 

The reason I added that is to show that, even though she was high as a kite at the beginning, she was fantastic during my ride. She was moving beautifully off of my seat (though since it had been a long time since I've ridden her consistently- not since before I broke my wrist- she was definitely testing me again to test the boundaries). She now knows how to differentiate between a turn from the hind end and a turn from the front end. It's really cool to see how much better she is now than when I first started with her. 

Also, since I also originally planned to post some Tessa drawings on this journal, here's one of my recent ones (I may post it on my art thread as well, since it's been a while since I've updated that )

This is a graphite of me as a little girl with Tessa. I didn't own her when I was that age- she actually wouldn't have been born yet- but it was always my dream as a little girl to have owned a horse. I think that's the case with the majority of horse lovers, but in this drawing I made it happen.









I absolutely loved doing her muzzle with all the whiskers and shadows and bumps and those lovely white markings she has (though since it's graphite, it's hard to tell the difference between the white markings and the sheen of her coat lol)


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Long Overdue Update*

Forgot to update this journal...sorry:lol: I post every few days on my instagram @ katz_kreations so if you guys want to keep up to date on what's going on with Tess, that's where you'll find current pictures and such!

I'm going to try to keep this short so you guys don't have to read a paper. So I interned under my trainer this summer in between my days of working another job. I had an amazing time and learned a lot. It felt amazing to be able to work with other people's horse's and help both them and their horse work through some problems. Every horse has something new to bring to the table so I picked up some great skills that I wouldn't have learned from Tessa. For example, one of the horses used to have severe body issues and was unrideable. Over the summer I was able to ride him a little bit, but he didn't want to use his hind end for fear of pain, so he constantly threw up his head or jerked it down. It taught me how to keep my seat in the midst of being pulled forward. Fast forward to now and he's so much better!

I've been able to ride Tessa 4 times a week consistently since school started. I had been worried about not being able to ride as much since I'm taking on a heavy course load at school this year but so far it's been working out! She hasn't bucked or run away once since before I broke my wrist, so that's great! There's still so much to work on but we're learning a lot. I had an unplanned test to see how my seat was when she spooked and went from a walk to a full gallop (sideways I might add). It could've turned into something bad but I brought her back down to walk and went on as nothing happened. When I got her back under control I discovered that I was still in her center of balance so that felt pretty good! 

I've also been riding her tackless which has been a great eye-opener to how much I have to depend on my seat when there are no reins or halter or anything to use to turn her head. Let's see, other news...um we've been featured on SmartPak's and Reins for Rescues instagram pages :lol: And I'm hoping to take her to a show in the spring. Maybe a small halter show to get our feet wet and so I can get an idea of how she'll do in a show without being on her back. I know this is a ways off yet, but I really want to do Freestyle Dressage! I love music and I think it really highlights how Dressage is like "horse ballet" and shows the dance it really is between horse and rider. 

One of my friends at the stable did a photoshoot of Tessa and I over the summer! So I'll share a few of those below. I'm hoping to do a mini Halloween photoshoot soon as well.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Here are the Halloween pics http://www.horseforum.com/horse-pictures/halloween-tessa-781538/

Had a great ride today on my little Tessa girl! She's been such a great stress reliever too. I've had a crazy busy week this week (homework, SAT, and just life) and next week will be as busy or busier. And then as soon as I get to the stable Tessa brings a smile to my face with her antics and as soon as I get on, I'm forced to relax (that's almost an oxymoron haha) since if I'm tense or off-balance at all...well let's just say she lets me know how she feels about that lol. 

I've been a little worried coming into winter since last winter we had issues with her body and her acting out because of that. She's just SUPER sensitive to weather changes. But so far we haven't had any issues. Sure, she'll be spooky but now I'm able to relax and drop into my seat as my first reaction and that resolves any issues. 

And today I rode without stirrups for awhile (in honor of No-Stirrup November). I warm up without stirrups normally, but I'm trying to do it for longer/the entire ride. Sitting and posting trot was a piece of cake without stirrups, I am happy to say! I also trotted her past the rail where she _ always_ used to run, buck, or get grumpy/nervous in general. I've been working with her (and myself because it became a mental thing) and today she didn't even put her ears back and stayed in the jog I asked her into before approaching the rail. No speeding up. No Grouchiness. No anxiety. Yay!!

And to top off an amazing ride, I asked her for a canter. We haven't really cantered since...you know come to think of it I don't think we've cantered since I broke my wrist. We've been working on so many Dressage things that I hadn't had time to miss it! Anyways, I asked her for a canter and she kicked off from her hind end, balanced, controlled, no bucking or grouchiness at all! Yippee! It's also a lot easier for me now that we have been doing all sorts of Dressage movements because it's second-nature for me to feel her steps, so I could ask for the correct lead after feeling the correct leg kicking off. She's also starting to get her winter dapples in!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Tessa girl was favoring her right foreleg this past week so we didn't do as much riding as I'd hoped. Really we just did a bunch of in-hand work to get her on her hind end and supple. Didn't ask for too much since, like I said, she was favoring that leg. We suspected it was her shoulder muscle so called our faithful horse masseuse out to get her checked out!

She found out that, yes, it was her shoulder. She was really tight so massaged it out and did some exercises with her. The best part is that she said Tessa has no other tightness/soreness which is _fantastic_ news since we've worked so hard to overcome her body issues! I've been worried about that coming into another cold winter since last winter was...less than ideal lol. I'd rather not break my wrist again. She said I've done a great job with her and gave me some new exercises to do with her to loosen up her shoulder and preventative stuff. 

And oh boy something spooked her pretty bad a couple of days ago. She was high for the next hour. Snorting like a freight train, trying to run (which I didn't want her doing with her hurt shoulder), and more focused on what was going on outside than with me. So I just did a TON of ground work and in-hand work with her until she was walking slowly beside me on a slack rein without plowing me over. It also didn't help that dinner was starting to be fed outside (it gets dark so early now that they feed pretty early- right during my ride time. Thankfully I can feed Tessa's paddock after I'm done but she still thinks the other horses are eating her dinner). 

I also think I'm going to put Tessa on some supplements since she's such a sensitive girl. The masseuse said she doesn't think she needs any for her muscles, but I'm going to find a supplement for her marish behavior. It's not that she's especially hard to manage when she's in heat, she just gets more sensitive than usual and sometimes gets really tender around her belly and udders. So if putting her on a supplement alleviates that discomfort...seems like the right thing to do. 

Since I love everything SmartPak (you may have noticed my Piper Breeches and engraved halter from them) I'm going to try some of theirs. Tessa currently gets chia seeds with her daily grain. I'm looking at SmartMare Harmony Pellets and may add SmartCalm Pellets. I'm going to start with SmartMare and see if it makes a difference on her behavior/sensitivitiy. Then may add SmartCalm to target Tessa's spookiness, which I think has more to do with the cold, stormy weather and being in heat. It's not super high up on my list, because for the most part when she spooks it's not too bad. We'll see how she is as the weather continues to progress. Buying supplements comes out of my (high school student that can't work during school year) pocket, so I want to be frugal with how I spend my money. Anyone have experience with those supplements or other ones?

And on a completely different note...my mom was going through our old pictures and found this one of me from a long time ago. Must have been at a horse camp. Not entirely sure what we were doing- "vaulting" maybe? :lol:


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

I've had a lot of fun with Tessa over Thanksgiving Break!!

Yesterday I worked with her on some target training and manners, reaffirming clicker training using The Willing Equine's method (which is amazing by the way you should totally check it out). She picked it up _so_ quickly I was so impressed! Hope to do more with her on this and teach her a couple of tricks. I plan to buy one of those giant horse balls and teach her to roll it around. This will desensitize her to one more thing and shift her perspective from being scared to new things, to being curious and playing with them. 

And today we had a great lesson! Her shoulder is a lot better but still not 100% so did a lot of work getting her to open it up. I learned a lot today and worked on using more outside rein during flexion and opening up my outside leg. This was easy going to the left but hard going to the right since I like to grip with that leg. Also worked on bending and putting more emphasis on her left hind as she steps to get her off of her right shoulder.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*No Stirrup November*

Today concludes No Stirrup November! I think it's a great idea to do it to make sure that you aren't using stirrups as a crutch. I enjoyed doing it this month, but I was sick the entire month so my riding wasn't as great as I wanted it to be. Like, my brain would tell my body to do something and my body just couldn't cooperate. So my eq wasn't up-to-par but hope you can still enjoy this video I made with some of the clips this month lol.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Well good for you working without stirrups. It will really give you a good seat.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Lol*

Sometimes I forget how sensitive my girl is...then something like today happens and I'm reminded haha.

The company Equiccessories recently asked me to be their ambassador (super exciting yay!) so I ordered a browband to start promoting their products. It's a gorgeous browband and I've gotten lots of compliments on it. Tessa's the only one that has a problem with it. It's made of beads (pictured below) so it moves around a tad more than a regular browband. Not much, mind you, but enough that Tessa throws a ruckus- head tossing, ears flat back, etc. It literally just shifts the tiniest bit- so little that I can barely see it. So I tried fastening it better in place through all different methods but none of them have worked so we're back to our other browband lol. I love my horse and she looks absolutely adorable in it but her comfort comes first. Anyone else use browbands like this?


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Fancy browbands are all the rage right now, and I am glad you are an ambassador, but I don't think many horses would be happy with a bead browband.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Well not anything super exciting happening over here. It was below freezing for over a week (consistently in 20's every day all day). I found a bright side to it though: Tessa can't get dirty when the ground's frozen solid and nothing gets in her hooves either! If she does somehow manage to find something to roll in, her blanket takes the brunt of the damage. So it takes less time to get her ready to ride!! 

Yesterday it warmed up to 40 it felt like summer I was amazed! Tomorrow's my last day of school (and my hardest final) and then I'm on Christmas break yippee! Tessa's been my amazing stress reliever during finals, as always. Hopefully going to do another Dressember photoshoot over break.

In the mean time, I found this photo and had to share. I took this just a few days after I got Tessa. That makes it over 2 1/2 years old. Crazy how time flies. But yeah, that's when she was newly mine. And I love her even more now than I did back then


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Ugh I've been so sick these past couple of days! I started coming down with it on Wednesday but I tried to push through it to ride. Once I got on Tessa's back, I realized I had zero control over my body and I was getting light-headed and nauseous so I got off before I passed out (you know it's bad if I have to get off my horse). Figured it wasn't safe or fair to Tessa to ride when I wasn't even strong enough to walk a few steps without taking a break. I ran a fever for awhile but I felt well enough to head out again a couple days later. Just did ground work- working on getting her to open her inside shoulder without moving her other legs. Great for body awareness. Anyways, I'm feeling better now looking forward to riding again!


I've been working on teaching Tessa some tricks! I think it's so great for her to figure things out that aren't in a day-to-day routine. Good for her mind and body! Currently teaching her how to bow. She already knows how to touch a target and do simple liberty work. I was going to buy one of those large horse jolly balls (like the 40" ones) but not sure if I want to spend the money- seems like they haven't held up for a lot of people. Plus, I don't really have a place to keep it :lol: I was going to use it for desensitizing but Tessa's actually really good in that area already. So I think I'll get one of the small ones for 20 bucks.

So I have 2 weeks off of school to work on tricks and riding and lots of fun stuff! My car's not good in the snow AT ALL but I'm getting new tires on it so that should help. I'm tired of the snow preventing me from getting to the stable...last year I was stuck in my driveway for a few days:icon_rolleyes: The problem is I live in the foothills so the roads always get awful. 

Okay I got side-tracked. But I'll put my list of tricks I want to teach her below. Feel free to add any more. I'm not sold on teaching her some tricks like rearing or kissing as those could turn into bad habits (she's a bit of a mouthy horse so I always have to stay disciplined on keeping those boundaries). I'm not expecting her to pick these tricks up lickety-split, I understand many of these will take some time to learn. Like Dressage, it's all about the small steps and the journey ;-) But I'm excited because I think it's so much fun and Tessa loves it! My trainer got a kick out of how excited she gets when she has to touch the target. As soon as she hears the clicker she nickers and bobs her head. But she knows she doesn't get the treat until she holds her head away so she'll hold her head away but look as far as she can at me. Makes for an entertaining face lol. Wow, I love this horse!!

Okay, the tricks:
Bow (pretty much there)
Spanish Walk
Come (she knows it, just want it to be a bit more consistent)
Fetch
Lay down


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Had a great day with Tessa girl today! I finally turned the corner of whatever illness I have so I felt well enough to ride. I've mostly been doing groundwork and just plodding around bareback while I've been sick. Today it also warmed up to the mid-high 30's so I felt I could exercise her more without worry. I did a lot of trotting: figure 8's, changing rein, working on tempo, etc. Then I worked on some cantering, which was super fun! Nothing too much on that since we haven't done a whole lot of work on it yet. Just working on the trot-canter and canter-trot transitions. I was just pleased she didn't buck and gave me a balanced transition lol. Also did some collection work and of course bending and leg yields. 

Oh, AND I got her to bow today! Now that I have that done, I'm going to work on cuing it with a whip. The other day I worked on her "come" command. Like I said, I just wanted to get it a bit more consistent. Later, I didn't feel like walking to the end of the arena to grab her (I was letting her have some playtime on non-frozen ground) I called her and she left what she was doing and came all the way to me from the opposite end of the arena. I was so proud!! 

And here are some pics from earlier this week. It was like 14 degrees or something. Tessa turned into a frosted dun! Just when I thought her coloring couldn't get any better XD.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

"Frosted Dun" fits! and looks real purrdy.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

I think I've set a record on consistent updates lol. I've been able to ride a lot this past week, averaging about 3 hrs each time. Tessa will pick up her leg now when I touch it with the whip, just need to combine that with bowing. She's getting more and more comfortable with the bowing motion and will offer it almost instantly when I ask for it. Just working on her doing it with less help from me.

I had a riding lesson today, which was so great! I needed some experienced eyes from the ground to help me out. Recently when I've been asking for a slower/collected trot, I've felt like Tessa's instead sped up in the trot. Couldn't figure it out so asked my trainer. Apparently, Tessa was just giving me a more elastic trot. So it was bigger, but exactly what I wanted. So yay!! A year ago, I had a hard time getting Tessa to stay in the trot longer than a few strides without fighting her to not canter. Now I have speed control in rising/sitting trot and can control each individual leg and step. Had fun playing around with that in the lesson today! Got her to walk so slowly by controlling each leg and each step she took. Also continued work on using more outside rein and breaking up with the inside rein. It was super cute, I was asking Tessa to do something a little different and new, and she just turned her head and looked at me to check that I was indeed asking her to do something. 

Isn't it amazing that horses are willing to listen to us humans? That Tessa will let me tell her what I want her to do. As my trainer says, "Tessa loves to dance with her rider." It really is a beautiful thing, the partnership between horse and rider. The fact that we don't speak the same language but can communicate seamlessly and work as a team. And communication is key, because she can't read my mind and I can't read hers. One of the many reasons I love horseback riding so much!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

We've had a really warm week (40's and trickling into 50's) it's _crazy_! It feels like it's spring in January. This time last year we had so much snow we couldn't even get out of our driveway and it snowed until April! This year our winter seems exceptionally mellow (except for that inversion and cold snap a few weeks ago).

For AP Language we're writing blogs and then reading our classmate's. The purpose is to develop voice and learn how to write fast and between the minimum and maximum amount of words. I decided to call mine "Dressage for Dummies" (like that line of books) since no one knows what dressage is. My teacher heard the title and was like, "oh, is dressage that steppy thing?" lol. So it'll basically be pretty basic stuff to explain the history, what it is, some terms, the benefits, some training, etc. Here's the cover of the blog and the cover of the first post (featuring none other than my Tessa girl of course)

















Tessa was soooo good today! I wish I got it on video. I worked on trot transitions and getting her to take a definite trot step from walk instead of trickling into it. And then I worked on keeping her engaged at the trot at varying tempos. She was carrying herself so well- lifting herself up and engaging her hind end and carrying through so she was on the bit. Oh, and she (and I) are getting a lot better at not using the inside rein as a crutch and using more and more outside rein. Today I only used the inside rein a handful of times to flex her or to correct a bend so yay!

I came across some old videos yesterday of me riding Gypsy (you may remember me posting about her). For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Gypsy is this sweet morgan mare I rode after being in a cast for 8 weeks from my broken wrist. She's an easier ride than Tess so I rode her for a few rides before getting on my sensitive girl after being out of the saddle awhile. Wow I guess those videos are almost a year old then since that was last winter/spring! So I compiled a few of those clips with some ones I took of Tessa a few days ago. I put a clip and pic of her bowing at the end. 
She does stretch her opposite leg out in front of her but for some reason she didn't in this clip. I need to make sure to square her up before cuing her since she likes to camp under. She also is getting super great now at picking her leg up when I barely touch it with the whip now and is now understanding that I want her to hold it (she was figuring it out in the clip below). I have a feeling teaching her the spanish walk will be no biggie since before she understood that I wanted her to pick it up she was lifting her leg high lol. The other clips are of me lunging her during warm up. She's getting so great at the canter I love it! I really need to get some recent riding videos. Video credit goes to my phone propped up on the fence so that's why the quality is oh-so-so.

Oh, and the posting trot on Gypsy I was changing directions so I did switch my diagonal when I got to the rail. I should've changed it mid-way because it's driving me crazy watching myself on the wrong diagonal lol.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Had a fun lesson today! We were going to do some canter work since it's a little rusty right now lol. But we ended up doing some work in the trot since...well it needed it haha. Dunno why but Tess was just ignoring the light cue for a transition from walk/trot so we worked on half-halts and getting her to respond to a light cue. And the outside rein is like second-nature now, yay! 

Oh, and I'm really excited to share that I've found some shows this spring I'm going to enter Tess and I in! The first few are schooling shows, so should be pretty low key. I think the first one I'll just enter a halter class...just going to see how Tessa handles herself in the show ring when I'm not on her back. So if she does pull some crazy antics, it's not quite so dangerous. Not expecting to win anything, just going for experience. Then if Tessa proves herself reliable, I'll enter in some more challenging classes, starting with a walk/trot class and progressing from there. Would love to compete at APHA's shows here since Tessa's finally in my name and I'm a member. But I'm getting ahead of myself, first I'll see how she does at her first show!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

nice video. love the music and good job editing.

That's tess, the pinto? (I'm not up onm your journal)

she exhibited a pretty sour attitude about being lunged.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> nice video. love the music and good job editing.
> 
> That's tess, the pinto? (I'm not up onm your journal)
> 
> she exhibited a pretty sour attitude about being lunged.


Thank you!

Yup, Tessa's the little paint.

And she's actually really great about lunging! In the instance when I filmed, she just didn't feel like getting worked. Anything faster than a jog and she gave me some sass. But I was happy that, besides the pinned ears, she did what I asked without any bucks or other attitude. So after she did what I asked, I'd let her walk and have a break (just cut those parts out of the video). But I should've filmed a day like today instead, when she was ready to work lol.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Oh, Tessa. Tessa Tessa. She's a very athletic girl and loves to pull acrobatic acts in her paddock. Like last week she turned into a cross-country horse and was tearing around her paddock, running through puddles and jumping from the crest of one hill to the next (mind you in her paddock these are smaller hills but significant nonetheless). Anyways, a few days ago one of the boarders saw her rear up (her trademark move), but the hill was muddy and she just reared up at the wrong place, so she _fell over backward _ and somersaulted down the hill. Thankfully she wasn't injured, but she is pretty stiff in her hind end now, understandably. So I haven't been able to work her too much, but we've been doing a lot more finesse stuff, getting her to loosen up her body. So it hasn't been bad, but it is a bummer. Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun riding her in my lesson yesterday; she willingly went on the vertical and was very soft in her mouth. Plus she's opening her outside shoulder a lot more in leg yields, which has been hard for her. She was already looser today than she was yesterday, so here's hoping for a quick recovery. She was doing so great we were planning on doing cantering but that'll be on hold until she's better. I am just SO thankful she didn't seriously injure herself! 

Prior to her rolling down the hill, I had been taking her for walks around the property (we have 115 acres and most of it's just hills). She actually doesn't do too bad in new places, but when other horses freak out, she does too. Unfortunately, one of the paddocks runs down the path I take her down, and it's the one full of the rowdy geldings. So whenever we walk by, they're all running, bucking, rearing, and playfighting right beside Tessa. I've been working on getting her to calm down and not lose her head with all the chaos going on beside her. She's been doing really good actually! But won't be walking her up and down hills until she's sound again. The weather has been _incredibly_ nice lately. It's been in the 50's and actually hit 60 this week.

Oh, and many of you probably saw on my other thread already, but _Tessa is finally transferred into my name_! I got the papers back from APHA a couple days ago; I'm so proud to see my name on the bottom listed as the owner.

Also, here are some pictures her breeder sent me!

Here's Tessa in all her yearling fugly glory.









Her dam:









And her full sister


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Today and yesterday were such fun rides! It's been pretty windy, so Tessa's been, well, very energetic. But the amazing thing is- she's still listening to me and controlling herself even when I can feel her wanting to run and be crazy. The biggest challenge was holding her back when her herd-mates were running around like banshees right outside the arena (their paddock lies next to it). But I've loved asking her to be soft in the bit and relax even when there are distractions- and she does it! 

I also thought it'd be fun to 2-point part of the ride. I very rarely ride in 2-point because, you know, dressage. But I decided to for a bit today and yesterday and I forgot how fun it was!! I asked her to go into a much bigger trot than I would in sitting or rising because it's pretty bone-jarring. But it was so amazing just floating over her back and letting her go. It also was a great way to stretch my leg out. I would've loved to have asked for more, but while she's much better than she was last week, she's still not 100% recovered from her tumble. I thought asking for a canter would be pushing it since it requires that she push off from a hind leg. What's amazing to me is that I was able to trot her in 2 point down the part where she would always run off. It used to scare me to even be out of the saddle for fear without that contact she would run off. I mean, I know I'm still connected to her, but it still feels more vulnerable. It was a blast asking her to collect on the long ways and extend on the short ways (when she would prefer to do the opposite). I did this in sitting, rising, and 2 point. Oh, and we've been brushing up on our half-halts in all those positions and at walk and trot. And the other day I jogged her bareback on a loose rein down the part she would run off. I know it's been awhile since we've had these issues, but it's so nice to reflect on how far we've come. It makes me absolutely giddy that we don't have any of this issues anymore!

I've also been doing leg circles with her to help ward off the remaining tightness and now _I'm_ sore lol. It is such a workout and it uses muscles I rarely ever use, as evidenced by the soreness. I started teaching her the spanish walk as well today. We're still working on her bowing without me holding her leg. She picks it up lickety-split when I ask it with the whip, but when I ask her to go down, she'll put her weight on her pastern instead of on her knee. So, I've been holding her leg enough that it says at the right angle that she'll go down on her knee. So it's just been a slow process weaning her off of that. We'll get there, though! So I thought working on something new- the spanish walk- would be fun to break up the routine. It was so fun watching her mind work as she tried to figure out what I was asking. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she offered to bow, move her shoulders, etc. When she finally deciphered that tapping on her knee/cannon bone meant something different than tapping on the back of her hoof or her shoulders. It was so fun seeing the wheels turning. When she finally did what I wanted and I praised her, she was so proud of herself!! Her eyes lit up and she kept nickering and nickering. I absolutely love working with her and seeing how much she enjoys it.

I am also super happy because my trainer said I could start working with one of her horses in exchange for Tessa's grain and shavings. That saves me money so I can put it towards taking Tess to college. It won't be too much work with Jaxie at the beginning, since she was so completely lame a few months ago we thought we'd have to put her down. But she had a miraculous recovery so I'll be doing in-hand work with her getting her back into it. So I'm really looking forward to that! My trainer and I are also going to a schooling show on Friday. We're just going to scope it out, since I haven't actually attended a schooling show so I'm not sure what to expect. There's a schooling show every Friday next month at that location as well, so this'll help me know what to prepare for and work with Tess on. 

So, yeah, lots of exciting things happening over here!!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Wow, Tessa and I had a GREAT lesson today! We did a lot of softening her jaw and getting her on the bit in the trot, where sometimes she likes to lift her head. Also continued to get her to bend into outside rein and learn to trust the contact. Did lots and lots of trotting, working on bending, changing directions, and transitions. She's _so_ much better at going from walk to trot with a very light cue. So we also worked on her trotting from halt to trot, which she actually did really well with!! And to end it we did some cantering, which was so much fun! It was nice and controlled and the transition was also easy-peasy. No bucks, no sass, no running away. My trainer said I should 2-point canter for now since Tessa girl doesn't have a ton of experience of canter under saddle so it makes it easier for her with me off of her back. And it's been awhile since I've cantered so it helps me get back into rhythm and once we're both more comfortable I'll go back to sitting it. I just have to make sure to two-point walk and trot as well so she doesn't associate two-pointing as an automatic canter. She's also picking up the Spanish Walk really quickly! 

I was planning on going to a show tonight to scope it out, but there's a really scary strain of EHV-1 that's going around in surrounding counties. It's neuropathogenic and can kill a horse. And it's not only spread by horse-to-horse contact but also clothes and anything that came in contact with an infected horse. To make things worse, infected horses don't show symptoms for several days up to two weeks. It's really bad timing because I finally feel like Tessa's ready for a show, but it's really high risk to take her anywhere. So I really hope they can eradicate this for all of our sakes! Those poor horses that have already suffered from it


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

I had surgery yesterday (just a minor thing) so can't do anything physical for a few days. So pretty much been holed up at home, which gave me a chance to update this journal. 

A friend of mine was able to take some pictures of Tess and I last weekend so just now posting them haha. It's a bit of a photo spam but oh well.

Doing some in-hand work in the arena. We look so tiny in our huge arena!









Can't remember how much I've been talking about what I've been working on in in-hand work, so sorry if I'm repeating myself (also all the medications I have to take post-surgery make my brain a little fuzzy so there's that). Tessa has a hard time opening her outside shoulder, so I've really been focusing on getting her to open it up a lot more in leg yields. She's been doing so great really stepping out, over, and under! 

































Working on the same thing at the trot while riding

























Tessa was actually going on the bit and vertical quite a bit, but none of the pictures really captured her in the moments she was doing that. So I'm posting a few where she was close and in the process of doing so.


























And some updates on her tricks!

She's looking better and better at the bow. When I tap her leg, she'll already start going into it without me cueing anymore, which is exactly what I want! She sometimes still needs some help supporting her leg, but the thought is there!









And working on her Spanish Walk. Baby steps, but she is also understanding the concept!


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## Kalraii (Jul 28, 2015)

I just want to say I read your entire journal today and how awesome it is. I know a few people that are doing clicker training and while I clicker train anything from dogs and cats to parrots and ferrets I'm still a bit unsure about doing it with a horse - the repercussions of teaching a new bad habit by accident are far bigger  But maybe I will. Beautiful pictures by the way and great videos. Please keep writing!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

nice in hand work!

I once saw a Portuguese riding master do some incredible in hand work. He was, however, very demanding and I'm not sure the horses enjoyed doing it as much as we enjoyed watching them do it.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Kalraii said:


> I just want to say I read your entire journal today and how awesome it is. I know a few people that are doing clicker training and while I clicker train anything from dogs and cats to parrots and ferrets I'm still a bit unsure about doing it with a horse - the repercussions of teaching a new bad habit by accident are far bigger  But maybe I will. Beautiful pictures by the way and great videos. Please keep writing!


Thank you I'm honored that you read through all of it!:smile: Haha I started with clicker training my dog and it worked so well I tried it on Tess. It really is helpful since it targets the behavior right away, as I'm sure you noticed with clicker training your other animals. As with anything in positive reinforcement, I had to work with her on manners concerning treats beforehand. You do have to be careful with a mistimed click, but since you have so much experience with it already I'm sure it wouldn't be so much of a problem. The Willing Equine wrote a whole lot about clicker training if you're interested! 



tinyliny said:


> nice in hand work!
> 
> I once saw a Portuguese riding master do some incredible in hand work. He was, however, very demanding and I'm not sure the horses enjoyed doing it as much as we enjoyed watching them do it.


Thank you! I have found in hand work to be very valuable! It allows me to put Tessa through movements on the ground and discover resistance or stiffness. If she can't even do an exercise on the ground, I can't expect her to do it with weight on her back. It also helps because it gives you ultimate contact with them. Tessa used to have a bad habit of tensing her jaw, which translated to her entire body. While Tessa has mostly overcome that habit, she'll trickle into it if I'm not on-guard. So when I'm on the ground, I can play with the bit more to get her to relax and chew. Sometimes, if she's really being resistant, I'll tickle her mouth with my finger to get her to chew on the bit and play with it. Like my trainer says, the bit should be like a piece of candy they're sucking on and playing around with. In hand work works really well with liberty too! It helps her to be aware of my body. So while she does have a bridle on, when I stop or speed up, I expect her to respond without any cue from the bit. It helps get her focus on me and off of whatever else is on her mind. Food, probably:tongue:


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

It's been a crazy couple weeks! About a week and a half ago, Tessa girl got a hoof abscess:frown_color: It was so sad- she couldn't even put weight on it! So I was playing doctor to her all last week, soaking her hoof and bandaging it. It was actually quite peaceful, just hanging out with her while her hoof soaked. Originally the vet tried to have her soak her hoof in a plastic bag, but Tessa wouldn't have it. It was actually quite funny- I had been going to get her some hay to munch on, and all I could see from behind the vet's truck were hooves flying and a plastic bag sailing through the air. The vet tried again and handed her to me. I was able to bribe her to stand still for about 10 minutes before that bag, too, went flying, its solution raining down on me.

But Tessa's feeling good again! I was doing some liberty with her today and she was having a blast. She was bucking, rearing, and leaped so high in the air there was a good foot, foot and a half between her and her 4 hooves off the ground. Then we had a nice relaxing bareback ride and worked on her tricks.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Well, our arena just got some new footing last week!! Tessa is so much "bouncier" haha. I had a riding lesson today and it was so much fun trotting her because of how much impulsion she had. Since the arena wasn't available to ride in last week, I took Tessa for hikes in the foothills. I want to do more trail riding with her but she's still unpredictable so I've been working on taking her longer distances and staying relaxed. I took a video because it was so peaceful, which I'll post below. This was one of the most relaxed walks I've taken her on. At the end something in the distance caught her attention. I've rarely seen her so focused lol.

Hiking in the hills





I love the sound of her hooves clopping through this puddle





And her first time with the new arena footing





I think I just set a record on the amount of videos I posted at once!


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

She looks terrific.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Today was my last day of school!! Only one more year left of high school then I'm done! So, been a bit since I've updated. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but turns out Tessa had an ulcer. It's all cured now and she's enjoying life again. This was a couple months ago. I'm still trying to find a show to enter Tess in and now that it's summer I hope it'll actually happen for real. Stuff just kept coming up, preventing us from going. _But _that hasn't stopped us from practicing and learning. We've made a lot of progress! So this'll be a long update lol. But it looks like I'll be seeing Tessa every day this week! Shaping out to be an awesome way to start summer...spent 4 hours at the stable today, oops. 

Riding-wise we've been trickling into canter work! Yay! It's become fun, which while I could ride it before it wasn't necessarily enjoyable. I love how sitting the canter really uses your core; you definitely feel it! However, with re-introducing the canter I'm also awakening some old anxieties with Tessa. She used to "run away" into the canter before when she'd get scared. She hasn't expressed that for over a year now, but the old tapes are always stronger than the new ones. So, we just have to take a few steps back and remind her that it's okay to stay at the trot for awhile without cantering. She gets it, but sometimes she'll take a forward cue as a canter cue. We're getting it all sorted out, but I'm super happy. It's all about communicating effectively. 

The other thing is, going to the right is still harder than going to the left. I don’t know if it started out as an inbalance on her or me, but now I have to work so much harder going to the right to keep myself balanced and correct her from leaning in like she wants to do. Going to the left we pretty much have the outside rein down but to the right she still tries to lean on the inside rein and her inside shoulder so we’ve really been cracking down trying to get her to the outside. What my trainer brought in was to think about bringing your tailbone to her outside shoulder. It sounds silly, but it really engages your core and you can’t really accidentally lean or crunch to emphasize a certain quadrant of your seat since your tailbone is in the center of your body. If I need to use rein still to flex her if she hasn’t already set herself up from my seat, I really have to work to use inside rein and immediately release as soon as she transfers to the outside rein. And when I lose contact with the outside rein I have to be quicker to find it again otherwise she doesn’t have anything to go to but the inside rein. So it’s a lot of thinking ahead and it’s hard for Tess to do it correctly so she’s kind of resistant to it as she’s trying to figure it out. But we’re starting to make some breakthroughs and it’s starting to become second-nature.

_Also_, I decided to bring the clicker into my riding as well. She absolutely loves doing it for tricks and offers so much more to me. I hope that I will see her becoming more and more eager to find the answer with me as she becomes my willing partner. Not that she wasn't before, but I feel that I can always improve on that. 

In other news, her tricks are going great! She now bows to her knee just by me tapping her leg with the whip: no more physically holding her leg, no more target, no more treats between the legs. For whatever reason, it took a really long time for her to get this far in the bow. Like, she understood the concept fairly quickly, but being able to get her body in order and achieve it with less and less help took awhile. The Spanish Walk is still her favorite: the other day I didn't ask for it since I had run out of treats. So she just did it by herself around the arena, nickering all the way; she was so proud! 

I'm looking at getting some senior pictures with her in the coming weeks. But for now, enjoy some pics from a clinic we were in last month.


























Look how wide she's opening her shoulder!










Oh, and here's a short clip of her bowing today. For now I keep tapping her leg so that she keeps it up. Otherwise, she lowers it and puts force on the wrong part of her leg. That can't feel good or be as safe. Next, I'll work on her staying in the bow for longer.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Have you ever put her in the long reins and gotten behind her to see how she moves.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

whisperbaby22 said:


> Have you ever put her in the long reins and gotten behind her to see how she moves.


Nope, never tried it before.


So, today was only the second day I introduced the clicker to riding and I'm already seeing results. It's slow- I'm taking a few steps back so I'm not doing fancy trotting work or cantering. But what I've been doing these last two rides have been more rewarding. Already Tessa's giving me trot transitions from my just asking her forward with my seat. That's it! I look forward to several more repetitions because I think she's starting to get it!


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

I like to do that just to check and see how the hind end is moving.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Tessa really impressed me these past couple days! Yesterday I took her for a ride bareback down to our "outdoor arena." It's not finished, not fenced in...so it's just a patch of sand in the middle of grass that's kind of overgrown. I don't ride in it very often because the footing's not as good as our indoor (hard to beat our indoor footing- it's _amazing_) and Tessa hasn't proven herself to be trustworthy out there. Nonetheless, I was feeling good and she presented herself to be a lot more eager to move forward with a change of scenery. We encountered a snake and some deer running by, but neither spooked her. I was totally expecting one...but nothing. Very proud of her! However, she acted like the tarp was going to leap out and bite her. No worries about the snake slithering by her face while she was grazing. Oh, Tessa. I get a kick out of her.

And then today, on the ground I cantered with her. It was so fun keeping stride with her on the ground. I've wanted to try it but she wouldn't really go faster than a trot- and even a trot was difficult to muster up from her. But since she's become so much more responsive after bringing the clicker/R+ into groundwork/riding, she was ready to go! I put my hand on her withers to help keep with her and off we went. So powerful! She was also ready to trot at the slightest cue from my seat and we even cantered, too! I am so happy with how eager she is to go now. I just have to work on being especially clear with my cues, otherwise, she takes it as a transition. It amazes me how sensitive she is. I won't even realize I've changed anything then she trots off and I evaluate myself and realize that I had just slightly moved forward. Sometimes if I readjust myself in the saddle she'll move whatever way my seat moves. 

Oh! Also introduced having her lay down! She was happy to put her head down and walk around and get treats for it lol. She was really understanding it. As soon as I took the halter off, she stopped, dropped, and rolled. That tells me that the idea was definitely there. I'll have to refine and clarify that I want her to lay down, not just roll, but for now, I'm just happy she's starting to understand that I want her on the ground!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

I have a video for you guys today!




Breakdown of what you’re seeing: 
🔹Practicing having her stay by my side at trot and canter on the ground. I know she has tack on, but (if my phone hadn’t ruined quality) you’ll see that the lead is slack and my hand is on her withers, establishing that connection 
🔹Since she’s been muddling signals to trot with canter, I decided to start our ride with cantering so she’d realize what the canter cue felt like. And after that she did AMAZING staying in the trot. Also notice how my cue for walk-trot and trot-canter is only a slight one from my seat. After only a week with clicker training while riding, she’s thrived! Also rewarded her turning with outside rein only and she did bounds better with that too! She has this one corner that I have a hard time turning her without secondary aids because there's a mirror there so Tessa _has_to check her reflection every time lol. But I rewarded her when she turned with just the outside rein and every time after that she turned without secondary aids. I have a clip in the video that's at a different turn, but still only with outside rein!!
🔹Only second time introducing the “lay down” trick. She’s already distinguishing the cue and she laid down...and proceeded to roll but the right thought😂 I need to make her Spanish walk more elegant and have her leg go further up, not *stomp stomp*. Part of the problem is, normally I have a halter on to help lead her forward so she was figuring it out for herself without physical help from me. And then of course her bow at the end. Still need to work on her balancing on the other foreleg but she’s sorting it out💪🏻


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

BEAUTIFUL! You are doing such an awesome job and Tess is looking amazing! Nice going!!  May I ask how you taught the bow? I've been thinking about doing that one with Heidi.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> BEAUTIFUL! You are doing such an awesome job and Tess is looking amazing! Nice going!!  May I ask how you taught the bow? I've been thinking about doing that one with Heidi.


You know, for some reason Tessa had a really hard time with the bow. I mean it does make sense, what with that being a position that she'd never take naturally. So teaching it was quite round-about and I went through many different methods. Maybe one of these will work with Heidi, or perhaps it'll take all of them too lol.

The first method I tried was picking a leg up and asking her to back up into the bow, one of my favorite trainer's method. 
Here's the video:




Aaaand that didn't work for Tessa. So I took the next method: holding a treat between her legs. As she got used to shifting backward, I'd slowly pick up a front leg until she got used to that. It took a very long time before she actually brought her knee to the ground. I transitioned from a treat to a paddle I had taught her to "target" (touch with her nose) previously. Next, I taught her how to lift her leg when I tapped it with a whip. 

***How I taught her to target and lift her leg: first, find something easily distinguishable that will elicit a horse's curiosity but not scare them. They will naturally try to touch it with their nose as they sniff at it. Click and reward each time and slowly move it farther away and it different positions. Tessa picked this trick up very quickly- I think it only took her 10-15 minutes. To pick her foot up when I tapped it, I just lightly tapped as I picked her hoof up as I would to pick it out. Honestly, I only had to tap and she'd naturally pick it up as she felt the pressure.*** 

I started putting all of this together, and for a long time the process would look like this:

1) tap her leg and she lifts is
2) I hold her leg up
3) I ask her to touch the paddle
4) Help bring her leg back as she goes back
5) click & reward

I just had to watch to see when I needed to step in to help her position her leg and when she was positioned well enough to let her keep going on her own. Eventually, she saw the pattern as I tapped her leg and she would go into a bow without me asking her to target as well. So I eliminated the target and just used the whip.

I still need to figure out how to help her stretch her other foreleg out in front of her, as she likes to "curl" it along with the other one.

Good luck! I'll be keeping an eye out for your work with Heidi


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

RedDunPaint said:


> You know, for some reason Tessa had a really hard time with the bow. I mean it does make sense, what with that being a position that she'd never take naturally. So teaching it was quite round-about and I went through many different methods. Maybe one of these will work with Heidi, or perhaps it'll take all of them too lol.
> 
> The first method I tried was picking a leg up and asking her to back up into the bow, one of my favorite trainer's method.
> Here's the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjTiMtjdjTw&t=126s
> ...


Thanks for the explanation! Heidi targets well so I'm good to go there. I've seen that vid before. I think I'll try that method first but I doubt that my cautious little filly will make it as easy as it looks in the vids.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Tessa was soooooo good today! Like, I am speechless. Well actually no I gotta brag😂 So we loaded Tess in a trailer for the first time in 2 1/2 years and she just followed me right in and was completely relaxed the entire drive. When we got to the arena, it started to storm. She did spook at the flailing branches a couple of times but got down to business right away! She responded so quickly to all my cues and was in-tune to me. It was a great lesson on making sure to keep on the outside rein even though it’s so tempting to go back to using inside rein like I have all my life beforehand. There were dogs, golfers, bikers...she definitely was distracted but in a curious way. Made me stay on my game because she’d suddenly just veer off to check things out😂 I love this horse so much. I wasn’t expecting her to handle herself THIS well❤








She loved eating all the weeds there. She was a happy camper. However, she bit off more than she could chew so just flung the weed around and around and around. I wish I had it on video- it was hilarious! I also wish I had captured the look she gave me when we got there. I wasn't sure how I'd find her in the trailer but she just looked at me like, "Don't worry, I got this." She was so unconcerned:loveshower:









I may add more pics. My trainer took some video of our ride and some during our inhand work but she hasn't sent them to me yet. So stay tuned!


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Wow, that's great!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Super exciting things going on this week!! I am getting senior pictures taken with Tessa this week AND on Saturday we're _finally_ able to go to a show! This'll be our first show. I'll compete in English Pleasure and maybe Equitation. I hope this summer I'll be able to go to a dressage show if all goes well at this schooling show. So stay tuned for updates and photos!


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Our First Show!*

This little mare never ceases to amaze me! I mean, senior pictures a couple days ago were pretty rough since she refused to run or perform her tricks so we had to change course...still ended up with lots of cute ones though! But for our show today- aw man! This was both her first show and mine, so wasn't quite sure what to expect. We got there and Tessa was completely calm (aside from spooking at a rock lol) and handled all of the bustle like a pro! I entered her in two English Pleasure classes so was going for the experience since it's not even our discipline haha. I'm aiming to hit a few Dressage shows before the summer's over (this schooling show didn't have any dressage so EP was the closest I could get). I attached some clips from our classes (yes, that is a Greatest Showman song in it). I don't care for how she curled her neck when I asked for the back...I was applying light pressure but we'll have to investigate and refine that. 

We even did some extended trot which we haven't done a whole lot yet and she gave it her all! So so proud of my girl for listening to my aids (for the most part) in a new area with new distractions with horses all around her. Our stable is pretty quiet so we normally have the arena to ourselves so we weren't entirely sure how she'd respond to the other horses. Couldn't be prouder of Tess and hopefully will be posting about more shows this summer:smile:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

I think she backed up just fine. Look at the other horse's resistance. Tessa did much better.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Training post! Enjoy some screenshots (hence bad quality) from a few days ago. We were working on getting her to go onto the bit and stay on it consistently. In the beginning of the video, you can see she was above the bit but quickly accepted it. So proud of her! But our lesson today (not the one in pics/video) was soooo much harder! Tessa was starting to go into a headset instead of onto the bit, so we worked on a lot of stretching with a free rein. However...I still had to get her to the outside rein and flex by my seat. And what I mean by that is I had to balance her out and encourage her to the outside enough that she could achieve that. It made me realize how much I use the reins as a cheat...for example, if I wanted her to go to the outside rein I’d flex her into it. Or just use the inside rein to flex. My trainer wouldn’t let me use them but it’s very important to rely on your seat first and foremost as that controls the horse and gets them onto their rear end. The reins just help supple the front but that should come from a result of them carrying through!

The circles were the hardest, especially at the trot when she wants to cut in more. We both worked so hard today but I love how much progress we’re making! And Tessa is really enjoying it. She actually will seek out more and more contact now that she trusts it. And yay core workout on both of our parts. I think this is the most tired I’ve ever been after a riding lesson😅

Ooops, thought I had updated since our last show but appears not. So Tessa and I have a show on Saturday! It's a rated dressage show, the "real deal." Super excited, but it's supposed to be in the 90's and I'll be suffocated in fullseat breeches, knee-high leather boots, and a show coat. And not to mention Tessie packing around a fur coat. All that whilst trying to move properly. This'll be fun...

Oh! And I'm a working student under my trainer again this summer. So I'm riding Tess 6 days a week and working with some other talented horses. I get a short lesson on Tessa every day I work in exchange. Not exaggerating when I say this is the best shape we've both been in!


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## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

You two look like you're doing well together. Good luck at the show on Saturday!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

sometimes they let riders ditch the show coats on very hot days. we do, for our schooling shows.


in the video, she looks very tentative, and, well . . . slow. Is there a reason you are not asking for more impulsion from her? Please excuse me if I've missed the explanation. I have not kept up on your thread. I do , however, appreciate that your thinking of how different it feels when she is 'forced' onto the outside rein, and when she is 'asked' onto it.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> sometimes they let riders ditch the show coats on very hot days. we do, for our schooling shows.
> 
> 
> in the video, she looks very tentative, and, well . . . slow. Is there a reason you are not asking for more impulsion from her? Please excuse me if I've missed the explanation. I have not kept up on your thread. I do , however, appreciate that your thinking of how different it feels when she is 'forced' onto the outside rein, and when she is 'asked' onto it.



Ahh yes you have uncovered the biggest struggle I have with Tessa. She has a very bad habit of slowing waaaay down when I'm asked her to go correct as she thinks about every step. When she speeds up she tries to do the easy way out and go out of frame. She has improved massively on that front, however, by maintaining frame whilst increasing impulsion. In this video, I was more focused on getting her to move properly. Afterwards, I asked her to move forward and staying in correct frame, my trainer just didn't get that part. The show will be a big testament to how she truly improved on that. She has had some wonderful breakthroughs but every day is a new day and who knows what it will bring


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

*Rated Show*

I am a perfectionist, and Tessa has helped me grow a lot in knowing that not everything is going to go how you had hoped, but you still have to be grateful for it! I am very thankful for this horse and all the growth that God has implemented in me through her. I'll be honest, if I were solely focused on achieving a goal and getting the glory for it, I'd be disappointed and frankly unhappy. But because I know that I am doing my best for God's glory, I am fully satisfied with whatever happens. 

And here's the deal with the show: Tess was high and spooky. The plan was to ride two tests (Intro Tests A & B as my trainer recommended we compete at a level lower than we can school) but space was very limited at the show so we were allotted 1 ride. Tessa was as cool as a cucumber in the outdoor warmup ring, which was stocked full of horses!! Unfortunately, the first time she saw the indoor was when we walked in for our test. We were walking in from bright, sunny outdoor to a dark indoor arena so I can't imagine her eyes had even adjusted. The bell rang, so I had 60 seconds to try to get her onto our test. I was able to do a couple of small circles...the plan was to do one and get her to the rail so we could have a clean turn down centerline, but she kept spooking at the corner and wouldn't go all the way over the rail. So I just accepted that and made do with it, so our first turn toward the judges was too far right, but at least she did it! 

She spooked out of a lot of corners, so her bending through the corners was definitely not spot-on:lol: And on one of the rails she was convinced something was going to get her, so it was all I could do to at least keep her in the vicinity of the rail. She did some impromptu half-passes and haunches in lol. Honestly, even though our figures weren't as great as we schooled them and her shoulder didn't make it to all the correct letters and our lines weren't so straight, I am so proud that she still listened to my aids and we performed the entire test. It is a huge testament to how far we've come that even though she was scared, she tried so hard to overcome it for me. She really calmed down partway through the test and it especially showed during the free rein. 

So I rode out of that ring grinning ear to ear, but not expecting to hit my goal of getting at least a 60%. _But_ we ended up scoring a 63.125%! AND we got second?? My trainer took us out to custard afterwards. Almost took Tess out of the trailer to ride her through the drive through but decided it wasn't worth it, not even to see the faces of the poor people working there.:rofl: Next time.

I think we may try to hit another show this fall, but Tessa is getting a much-deserved break. I've been pushing her so hard and she's been giving it to me, but I'm cutting down our ride time to 2-3 days per week (we've been doing 6 days/week) for a few weeks. Works perfectly, because I'll be gone a few days at a time for several vacations and ride when I'm home.

Hope you're ready for some pictures and video!

Cleaning pony up









Some braiding misadventures

















She looks like a true dressage horse!!!









A few candid shots...plus playing with a target during down time

















And video from entry into ring to test (working trot down centerline marks the start. Turns out my family thought the entire thing was part of the test lol)


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Well congratulations! She looks great. It looked to me that she was a bit spooky in places she could not see. Next time you have to go from bright light to indoors try keeping a fly mask on her until right before you go in. Might not make a difference, but worth a try.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Training video/update! This video is from Saturday when I was working on her to collect and slow her trot so it’s almost like she’s moving in place and floating over the ground. And she’s keeping her head on the vertical consistently at the trot! Her canter is getting SO much better and I’m getting better at riding the nuances of it (still room for improvement though). Also working on giving her free rein at the trot as well as walk to stretch. She gets a little confused at the trot when I ask this but she’s getting better. And I always add in a few gymnastics like counter-flexing, leg yields, etc. After our ride I hopped off and pointed at her leg with the whip to see if she’d do the Spanish walk without pressure. She was more than happy to😂Also included a transformation of her trot in the video (old trot video is...2.5 years ago). And the last clip is from our little hack on the trails and trotting up hills (which she loves). 

Today I worked on her collecting again and then moving out while maintaining the active hind end (a little bit of that in the video from Sat.) Her canter was even more impressive today, I’m so proud!! After the ride I walked with her at liberty to test something. I wanted her to stretch while we walked so I stretched my upper body and hand towards the ground and she followed it! I think she was a little confused but it achieved my goal haha. 






I've started cantering her in-hand as well which has been super helpful to both of us (picture below)! And it's great exercise for me to keep up with her lol. Sorry if this post seems a little scattered...I've been multitasking while typing this so hopefully you can understand it all!

Ick...I've got to get someone out to take good pictures of us, not iphone screenshots.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Good job, she is really listening to you.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

whisperbaby22 said:


> Good job, she is really listening to you.


I always appreciate your keeping up with our journal. So thank YOU 


Short video clip from our lesson on Wednesday. You can see that Tessa's moving even better (watch her hind legs- see them reaching forward more) than the video I posted a couple of days ago. She's also moving forward into the trot better while going to the bit. I started posting to try to "push" her into the bit then sat the trot once she was confirmed on that. 

The second part of the video is having her stretch with her nose to the ground. This was all done through positive reinforcement/clicker training. I left the bridle on so she gets used to seeking the bit out. When I ride the free walk with her, she goes down and forward nicely but would like to get her dropping a little more. So, that's why I'm starting on the ground! She's got the "down" down but would like to see her a little more forward. Got her to do it at the trot too (yay!) and she offered the canter as well. She canters whenever she's given the choice and I like giving her freedom to choose during our liberty-type sessions as she plays with me.





Today got her trotting nicely once more at the rising and sitting trot. Also introduced some of the canter figures for our next test (hoping to do one more show this fall at the next level). She did great! Kept the canter soft and balanced with good upward movement.


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## RedDunPaint (Aug 23, 2015)

Today’s my birthday and Tessa gave me the sweetest gift! She let me canter her bareback for the first time! She also stretched all the way down at the trot, which we’ve been working at on the ground. This was all done with positive reinforcement/clicker training❤


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Well happy birthday. Riding bareback like that is something I just don't do. However, I rode mostly with a bareback pad when I was a kid, and so when the "treeless" things came along, they were just perfect for me.


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