# Walk on the Lucky Side.



## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Sunday, November 27, 2011*

Today I went out to the barn with the intention to ride, but found out once I got there that I wasn't really feeling like it. So instead, I got Shamrock out, groomed him, and we played in the arena for a bit. I set up a cross rail to lunge him over, worked him on the lunge line, and attempted to get him to jump barrels (fail, he stopped right in front of them.. his way of telling me, "Hey, I'm not ready for that yet!") Once we got done messing around, I hopped on him bareback for a few minutes. We didn't do much, just walk and trot (he has the WORST trot for bareback). After all that, I took all of my tack up to the barn and put it up and then got Shamrock and took a walk on the trails with him before putting him back in his pasture for the night. It was a bonding kind of day.  All the while, we took pictures, here are a few of my faves from the day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahhhkg/6414648533/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahhhkg/6414649383/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahhhkg/6414654505/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahhhkg/6414652677/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahhhkg/6414651885/


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Monday, November 28, 2011*

Yesterday I went out to the barn with the intention to switch Shamrock's bit from a slow twist eggbutt snaffle to just an eggbutt and ride him in it, but it was raining. So instead, I cleaned my bridle and organized my tack locker a little bit. Then, it stopped raining! And it wasn't all disgusting and muddy, so I ran out to get Shamrock so I could try him in his new bit. I brushed him off, the farrier was out and complimented how well he looks, and then I tacked him up and headed to the ring. There was a lesson going on (the two loud 11-12 year olds that I've posted about before, actually) and so I joined them. I'm not sure that I noticed a huge difference in him with the new bit, other than that he seemed more forward. But that could just be because of how the weather was. We didn't ride for long or do much, just warm up: walk, trot, canter and then it got dark so I got off to brush him off and put him up for the night. 

I'm going to keep riding him in the new bit and see how it goes. 
And my goal with him right now is for him to move more forward off of the lightest leg aid possible.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Thursday, December 1, 2011*

I went out to ride Shamrock today, it was a surprise because I don't normally go out on Thursdays. Shamrock was a bit puzzled, I think. 

I had to ride with a younger group of girls than usual during their lesson, one of which is very timid and worries over every little thing. When I brought Shamrock in, I heard her tell the trainer that she was nervous because Shamrock was in there (it was something new, I've never ridden with her before). My trainer, however, knows that Shamrock is a sweetheart, has faith in her school horses, and knows I have control over my horse so we weren't kicked out of the arena. 

After some trouble mounting (he's figured out tricks, I've posted a thread about it), we warmed up. We did serpentines, hind ends, circles, etc. at the walk and at the trot we did much of the same, but threw in trotting poles as well as walk-halt-back-trot off transitions. He could have done better with the backing, though.

When the two lesson girls left, I had the arena to myself a bit before her next lesson started, so I cantered him. His left lead, as usual, was awesome. He got a bit excited on the right lead, though, and started tossing his head around. We put an end to that real fast.

It came time for the next lesson to start, which consists of 4 girls, so I worked my way around them until I could get my boyfriend's attention to let a horse who had just finished his dinner out of the adjoining field so I could ride in there (it used to be the jump field, but now all the jumps are out of it and some barrels are in there for one of the boarders who barrel races). Shamrock and I have never ridden in there before, so it was new for him (I can tell he's getting tired of the arena, but we don't have much of a choice in where to ride since solo trail rides are against the rules). Shamrock did SO SO SO well in the new environment. The Thoroughbred I rode when I took lessons would always be spooky when we rode in there, and Shamrock was completely calm (though very curious). I walked him around both directions so he could get a feel for it and check things out, then I went to the trot. Due to the field being used as and connected to a pasture, the footing was uneven and there were some plants and things in there, which caused Shamrock to trip because he was dragging his feet. After trotting around in there a bit, though, he started realizing that he had to pick up his feet, which will work for both of our benefits in the future. I even got to canter him in there on the left lead a little bit (he wasn't as comfortable on the right lead). 

It was a pretty decent ride overall. <3

He's responding really well to light leg aids, I hardly ever have to use heels, just tightening my legs works! Hooray!!

Also, I noticed that he would actually hold his head in correct frame for a good many strides, so that's progress!

I get to ride again tomorrow, I'm excited!

Oh.. and I realized that the field I rode in today is slightly sloped, which may help build his hind end muscles.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Friday, December 2, 2011*

I rode Shamrock on Friday during one of the trainer's lessons. It was him, and three other horses (there's usually only one more). He was pretty good, LAZY, but he didn't throw any attitude. One of the other horses in the arena was a mare, who was not fond of Shamrock in the least bit, but he was extremely interested in her. We did the usual, plus figure eights. I need some more exercises to use for him!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Saturday, December 3, 2011*

Saturday isn't usually a riding today, so Shamrock was in for a surprise. It was also the day of my barn's annual Christmas celebration. There were lots of families and kiddos running around, so Shamrock had lots to distract him. We were by ourselves riding, we had the arena & the field to ourselves. We mostly just rode for fun and to film a video (which I will attach below). He behaved very well despite all of the many distractions (he LOVES attention). At one point during the ride, I was cantering him & he spotted some kids walking around the barnyard and spooked at one of the kid's bright orange shirt. It didn't last long and I stayed on, so all was well.  I personally think he enjoyed having people watch him do his thing.

After we got done riding, my boyfriend actually VOLUNTEERED to lead Shamrock back to his pasture when we put him up. I was impressed! And then, funny story, we purposely took him through a gate that would leave him away from his buddies so we could see him gallop over to them (he usually does), but after we let him go, he stayed put! My boyfriend & I went and walked the trails and when we came out of the trail near Shamrock's pasture, he was exactly where we left him! Lazy, lazy boy.

Here's the video:


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## saddlesandskis (Aug 13, 2011)

A horse is a fantastic graduation present, one which I wish I'd gotten! You have a beautiful horse and it sounds like a good sign that he's responding well to leg aides! Always key.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Monday, December 5, 2011*

After riding Shamrock four days in a row, I decided to give him a break on Sunday and pick back up on Monday.  When I got to the barn, Shamrock was standing at the gate, which I hoped meant he was waiting for me. But when he saw me coming, he started walking away! Luckily he stopped only after walking a little bit and looked back at me to see if I was still coming (which I was). 

I feel like we're working on a million things at a time: standing still at the mounting block, moving forward off of light leg aids, working off of his hindquarters, increasing flexion, keeping head from turning to the outside, backing up, etc.
We kind of just pick whichever one is the worst that day and try to improve on that.

Well, on Monday, we rode with the usual two girls and he was being particularly lazy. He's improved with not moving around at the mounting block, but he seemed to have digressed from working off lighter leg aids. There seemed to be a million problems, so we worked on tons of stuff. I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything we have to do. Monday's ride wasn't one of my favorites.

I think we're both getting tired of the arena. I've been trying to switch it up between the arena and field, but for the first time in months, my trainer decided to use the field for her lesson, which left Shamrock and I to the arena. :/

Friday I'm hoping for a better ride.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Friday, December 9, 2011*

After a long week of exams (FIRST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE.. SUCCESS!), I finally found the time to go ride on Friday. It was a "scary" day for me & Shamrock. 

I got him out and got him ready for riding all while also getting feed and such ready for my boyfriend when he got there to feed as he was running late (yes, I did get my non-horsey boyfriend into feeding horses 3 times a week). He was great getting groomed and saddled, but VERY dirty.

I decided to ride in the jump field for a change of scenery to make things more interesting for Shamrock and I. We did our ground work, he did well with that, and then I mounted him from the ground (no mounting block in field).

He was very lively when we were warming up and I was looking forward to having a fantastic ride. He was responding to my legs very well, even backing up well, and we were doing lots of circles and transitions. However, at one point I was doing a half circle with him to change direction and Shamrock tripped. After a few seconds of struggling not to fall down, he fell to his knees and then was quick to get back up (I didn't fall off). I walked him forward a few strides and didn't feel any difference in his walk. I hopped off anyways and ran my hand down his front legs, making sure there was no heat, that he didn't react as if he was in pain, and to be sure everything felt right. He seemed fine. He was even playing around with me while I did it. Nevertheless, being worried as I was, I walked him back up to the barn to get the trainer's opinion. Without even touching him, she said he was fine because he wasn't walking any different than usual and did not appear lame.

We walked back to the jump field and I got back on. We got back to work: doing serpentines, circles, and transitions at the walk and trot. He did very well not turning his nose to the outside. I rode him deep into the corners and then would do circles when he started to bend out. Because of his bad trip, I didn't feel too comfortable to canter him in the field, so I took him into the arena and cantered a couple of times both directions. In the arena at the trot and canter, he was always bending his head to the outside so we worked on that some in there.

I cut our ride shorter than usual because it was starting to get dark and my boyfriend still hadn't showed up to start feeding (he had a doctor's appt. and knew he'd be late, but not how late) and I figured that since he helped me so much when I fed, I'd help him out and start feeding for him. So I cooled Shamrock down and then went and untacked, groomed him, gave him treats, and put him back with his pals.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Monday, December 12, 2011*

I wasn't feeling well all day & had little sleep, so Shamrock got a very easy day. He got groomed & saddled up, then I did his ground work in the barnyard. He was being a bit difficult so that took longer than usual.

Then I used one of the picnic tables to get on him and he immediately wanted to start walking. I halted him and he started shaking his head around (it's rare when we ride outside the arena and it was cold, so he was excited). Immediately, I did hind-ends with him and then walked to this aisleway in between the arena and one of the pastures to put him in some sort of enclosed space to calm down. In there we did walk, halt, back transitions, serpentines, and hind ends. Then I trotted him up and down it a couple of times. By then, he was pretty calm so I started walking him around the barnyard. 

We walked and trotted beside a pasture leading to the trails. Then we walked in and out of a ditch that is over there. I walked him through a steeper part than usual and he tripped. :/ We then started to go walk down the driveway and two other girls were headed that way too. They asked if I wanted to ride with them out on the trail, so we did. I felt kind of bad because it was Shamrock's first time walking around the entire property, which meant they had to walk instead of trotting or cantering. But they didn't mind.  We walked down the dirt road and Shamrock didn't spook at all, even when I truck passed us. Then we walked along the farthest pasture back onto the property and into the trails and then back to the barn. Shamrock didn't spook once! I was real proud of him.  

After we were done, the two girls I rode with were loving on Shamrock and gave him some treats. He was loving it. All the while, I gave him a real good groom in hopes of getting him to not be so dusty. Then he got put back up in his pasture. 

Oh, & one of the girls I rode with's mom told me that I should ride with them every Monday (we're always out at the same time) so Shamrock and I may have trail riding partners now!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Thursday, December 15, 2011*

Thursday was a FANTASTIC ride with Shamrock. We rode around the barnyard again instead of in the arena. He loves that. We did our groundwork and warm up, doing serpentines using only my legs to move him, working on moving forward off of light leg aids, and working on backing easily. He was super responsive with all of them! We rode in and out of the ditch to work his hind end muscles and he really enjoyed all of it. I was very impressed with how well he was doing and how responsive he was out of the arena.

After one of the horses ate and was let out of the jump field, my boyfriend let me in so that I could work Shamrock in there. Shamrock was moving VERY forward. We did circles in there at the walk and trot and worked on light leg aids, and bending to the inside. He was fantastic.  

New things I felt like I noticed while riding him besides him being more responsive and forward was it felt and looked like he was holding his head correctly, his walk seemed to swing more, which would mean his hind end was working up under him. That's been something we've been working on for a while now and I really hope that what I felt is right!

After I got off and groomed him, he got his usual treats plus an apple (it was in his stocking at the barn)!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Friday, December 16, 2011*

What another fantastic ride!

I did ground work and warm up outside of the arena since he thoroughly enjoys it. He was still moving very forward and responding very well. After he was warmed up we went into the arena.

I worked with him on not bending his head to the outside, which he did very good with. It didn't take long for him to figure out what to do. 

After two days of no canter work, we cantered a couple of times. He did pretty well, but he would stop cantering before I asked. That's a new thing to try and work on. 

In the arena we did mostly walk/trot work and backed a couple of times (he was still very responsive). We also went over the trotting poles. 

He got tired after a while and his momentum was dying, so we called it quits. He got a good grooming and some treats, then went back to his pasture. It was a good ride. <3

Did I mention that I rode in a tank top & it's December?! Ridiculous.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Saturday, December 17, 2011*

By far one of my all time favorite rides, no, days, with Shamrock!!

Saturday isn't one of my typical riding days with Shamrock, but my boyfriend was cleaning the water troughs out at the barn, so I tagged along. 

I gave Shamrock and good, long grooming and then gave him a massage. He thoroughly enjoyed both of those. 
After I felt like he was clean enough and such, I hopped on him bareback. We didn't ride in the arena, we just walked around the barn. We went in between pastures, in and out of the ditch, along the pasture fences, etc. The only time we ever really trotted was when he was coming out of the ditch and trotted up the side. He was super content and so was I!

Some of the time, Shamrock and I would follow my boyfriend around as he cleaned the water troughs. I would drop the reins and Shamrock would just follow my boyfriend and then stop when he stopped. It was the cutest thing, and although my boyfriend will never admit it, he knows he enjoyed Shamrock following him too.  My boyfriend would even start walking, cluck, and say, "Come on, Shamrock!" like my horse was a dog. Haha. Shamrock listened.. so he may be species confused a tad. ;P

At one point a boarder was returning from a trail ride at Lee State Park and had a large, white horse trailer. I saw them coming down the road and hopped off of Shamrock, unsure of whether he would be spooky of a horse being unloaded or a huge white horse trailer coming onto the property. As I stood next to him, he just looked at the trailer, but did not move a foot. Once all had settled back down, I got back on him and we kept walking around, following my boyfriend mostly.

We rode in a part of the property I had never ridden him before and we even walked in between two parked horse trailers and he didn't spook once. I was very proud and bragged about how brave he is to my boyfriend, but really, it's not really his bravery, but his trusting me as his leader to take care of him. That realization made me smile. 

After I got off and put his halter on, I just laid the lead line over a hook where we tack up under the barn instead of bothering to tie it. This was mostly just to see if he would stay put. As I walked in and out of the barn, putting his bridle and things away and got him a few treats, he just stayed where he was. I suppose he figured he was tied up, but it was neat anyways.

My favorite part of Saturday was how we just walked around bareback for practically 2 hours and both completely enjoyed each other's company. I didn't want to get off!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Sunday, December 18, 2011*

Another laid back kind of day..

I was running out of daylight to ride, so I just walked around the farm bareback again. It was enjoyable. 

After a while, I took him into the arena and took his bridle off so he could play in there. I even went around the pastures to find a Jolly Ball just to see if he would play with it. He would hold it in his mouth for a minute and then drop it, so he wasn't too interested.

He got carrots for a treat and then played with his bucket while I groomed him. Then a mare in the pasture beside the arena was looking over the fence, so he walked over to her and they groomed each other. It was precious. 

Shortly after that, I put him back in his pasture and said goodnight.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Monday, December 19, 2011*

This wasn't the best ride we've had, sadly.

I took him back into the arena to work. But he was kind of pokey. We mostly worked on getting his head turned to the inside. We cantered some too. He wasn't immediately cantering when I asked, so we worked on that until he did. Then we called it quits with cantering in the arena for the day. He was still responding well to my leg and even backing pretty well. 

We rode in the arena for a while and then I took him out and rode him around the barnyard. He was even pokey when we were trotting out there. I tried to canter him at one point, but that didn't work out, he couldn't build up the momentum in time to canter before we ran out of room.

Eventually we ended up back in the arena and trotted around some more, still working on keeping his head to the inside instead of the outside. That's a big work in progress. He does it well at the walk, but at the trot he loses it.

He ended up being EXTREMELY slow and we both were getting frustrated, so I decided to call it quits for the day and got off. I couldn't really blame him though, we rode 5 days straight and have never done that before. We both were probably feeling it (I know I was anyways).

I groomed him and then got some carrots. Instead of just giving them to him, I did carrot stretches with him. We're going to have to keep doing those.  He was getting frustrated because he couldn't reach and hold. I ended up giving them to him when he held as far as he could.

He gets two days off before we pick back up again on Thursday.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Thursday, December 22, 2011*

I didn't have A TON of time to ride because I had to be at church right after the barn, but I rode anyways. 

Shamrock and I rode in the arena. We didn't really "work" on anything (even though he was doing FANTASTIC at keeping his head from turning outside), but we were mostly having a fun ride. 

We cantered and even jumped some. 

Then I decided to take him out and ride outside the arena. We rode in and out of the ditch, and he was being very careful about where he put his feet, so we tried out going through steeper parts of the ditch and he did GREAT. We also trotted around a lot and he got a BIG trot going. It was a blast!

And finally... WE CANTERED for the first time outside of the arena.  He did real well, but tripped when I brought him down because he wasn't ready to stop and we were running out of room (heading straight towards the woods!). It was a good day. 

The high was 78 so we were both pretty sweaty and Shamrock got a good rinse down and an apple before getting put up for the night.


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Friday, December 23, 2011*

Another day with a short time to ride because of church. But also my last day to spend with my Shamrock before Christmas!

We started out riding around the barnyard, warming up and what not. Then we went into the arena to trot and canter around some. Then I set up 4 crossrails around the sides of the arena and we hopped over them a few times before Shamrock decided he didn't want to jump anymore. 

Eventually we ended up back outside the arena, walking and trotting around and going through the ditches and what not. We even rode down the driveway to the dirt road and rode down there a ways before turning back.

After we got done riding, Shamrock got 2 apples and some carrots for Christmas!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Monday, December 26, 2011*

First time riding after Christmas! 

I got a new Roma saddle pad (navy/yellow reversible) and new stirrup irons for Christmas, so I just had to try them out. 

Shamrock was DIRTY and his face was covered in hay when I pulled him out of the pasture. It was quite humorous. 

I rode in the new saddle pad with the yellow side up and Shamrock looked REAL GOOD.  The new stirrup irons added a nice touch as well.

We didn't do much except walk/trot around the barn and go through the ditches. Some girls were riding in the arena and flagging their horses over fences. So we didn't ride in there because they were taking up all of the arena. 

He got a nice grooming afterwards and an apple! I would like to think he enjoys his new saddle pad because it's so fluffy.  I know I do!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Thursday, December 29, 2011*

Boy, have we had better days..

There were lots of people out at the barn and Shamrock was QUITE full of himself. We warmed up outside of the ring and then went into the ring for a workout. We were trying to work on transitions, but Shamrock was only interested in the horses and four wheeler that was going down the road. 

Once I realized we were getting nowhere, I decided to get off and work him on the lunge line a bit. He did well then so we called it a day.

I got a Slick 'N Easy block, Eqyss Marigold Rehydration Spray, and baby wipes for Shamrock so we used those.  The spray made him smell wonderful! And hopefully the block will help with how dusty he gets. The baby wipes are for his face, because it gets real dusty and dirty too. 

After all that, I realized how long the hairs around his muzzle had gotten so we got out the clippers.. I've never clipped him before so I had no idea what to expect. It certainly was an experience. It took a while for him to let me shave any at all, but he finally did. However, once I went to shaving the hairs underneath his muzzle, he FREAKED out. He would take no part in getting clipped there. We stopped clipping him then, and now I have a half clipped horse. :/ I ordered Horse Shave though and can't wait for it to get here and use it!


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## sarahkgamble (Nov 7, 2011)

*Friday, December 30, 2011*

Another off day..

We warmed up outside the arena and then went inside to do some canter work. Every time we cantered, he would run before breaking into the canter and once he started cantering, he didn't canter long and he would duck to the inside of the arena. It was real frustrating. I figured it was because we warmed up outside the arena, so he didn't want to be in the arena.. but who knows. He would also bend his neck way too much. 

Eventually we ended up back outside the arena and we cantered some toward the trails and then down the farm driveway. He enjoyed it and so did I, so we called it quits after I cooled him down. 

He got a good grooming and then I put him up for the night. Hopefully we'll have a better ride next time!


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