# Oakey's Journal



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm getting really excited with Oakey this spring! Thanks to Mercedes' council, I can ride Oakey now! I got him September 10, 2007 and couldn't for the life of me get him to obey my commands.... I started successfully riding Oakey March 31st (2010). Since my saddle's cinch is getting in bad condition, I ride bareback.

3/31/10 – Rode for about 15 minutes in the pasture. Had next to no problems!

4/1/10 – Rode for a 30 minutes – 15 in the pasture, and 15 out in the hay field. Very few problems.

4/2/10 – didn't ride... =(

4/3/10 – Rode for a few minutes, but didn't really work too hard.

4/4/10 – Started out just walking, but brought Oakey up to a trot towards the end of the half hour (and boy do my legs hurt). Making good headway!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/5/10 – Rode for about 20 minutes today. I took Oakey out into the hay field today instead of working in the pasture. The training is progressing smoothly – I didn't even have to use the riding crop today! =)


----------



## paintluver (Apr 5, 2007)

Sounds like you are making good progress!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

@paintluver: We definitely are! =D

4/6/10 – Worked at a truck farm after school! =) Didn't get to ride Oakey... =(

4/7/10 – I forgot to grab my riding crop when I got the bridle, and didn't realize it until I was already on Oakey. I figured that I might as well try riding without the crop (which I had never done before). Everything went perfect! We just stuck to walking today since the ground is pretty muddy. We did that for about 15 minutes.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/8/10 – Rather than riding the usual circles in the paddock, I took Oakey out into the pasture and rode the fence lines. Oakey hates the wind, and usually is stubborn when it is very windy – not today. Minus a few minor issues in his responding to commands, Oakey did great!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/9/10 – I rode for about 30 minutes today. The first fifteen went great. We started off in the paddock walking, then did some trotting. After 15 minutes we went out into the pasture and my life suddenly got difficult... Oakey started stepping backwards rather than forwards when I'd prompt him to step up (http://www.horseforum.com/horse-riding-critique/going-backwards-instead-forwards-52187/#post600368)... It took me a while to fix that, but eventually we did (kinda) fix it. I had to get out the riding crop though to do it, though. =(

Pics from the first 15 minutes: http://www.horseforum.com/western-riding/critique-oakey-me-bareback-52189/#post600377


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/10/10 – After yesterdays epic failure, I decided to go back to the basics. All we worked on today was emphasizing focal and body cues for turning left and right – didn't even do any "official" riding. I also had to re-establish myself as the top dog (or would top horse be more appropriate?) of our two member herd. So far, things are moving along smoothly again.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/11/10 – Worked a little in the morning with the same as I did yesterday. I have my status as lead horse back. This afternoon, I took Oakey out of the pasture for a ride. Everything went well and he responded to the leg aids fantastically.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/12/10 – I didn't ride... At least, I don't think I did. I don't know... maybe I did. *sigh* Yesterday was pretty hectic...

4/13/10 – Rode for an hour and a half. *stretches sore legs* The first ten minutes I devoted to riding the fence line. That went great. After that, I took Oakey to his least favorite spot on the whole property... a spot that he won't ride to willingly. I did this on purpose to teach him to obey me despite his not wanting to do what I'm telling him to do. I spent about 1 hour getting him to go 20 feet to the spot. I was successful! Then we did a little more riding to end on a happy note. =)


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/14/10 – Rode for about 30 minutes. Worked on the same things as the day before – Oakey wasn't as stubborn this time, though . He did, however, have some pent up energy that he let out when we were riding... that was fun! =D

4/15/10 – Almost didn't get to ride today, but I did manage to put in about 15 minutes as the sun set. Just rode around in the pasture. And I did it without the bridle! Only halter and lead rope. =)


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/14/10 – Rode for about 30 minutes. Worked on the same things as the day before – Oakey wasn't as stubborn this time, though . He did, however, have some pent up energy that he let out when we were riding... that was fun! =D

4/15/10 – Almost didn't get to ride today, but I did manage to put in about 15 minutes as the sun set. Just rode around in the pasture. And I did it without the bridle! Only halter and lead rope. =)

*EDIT* Ack! Sorry about this double post... is there a way I can delete a post? I can't find any way to delete....


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/16/10 – It is windy today.... Oakey doesn't like wind.... We started off kinda rough with Oakey not wanting to ride at all. Then we went into the "if we _have_ to ride, I'll make it very memorable" phase – I rode my first buck, bareback, today. Towards the end, I finally got Oakey calmed down and obeying my commands. =)


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/17/10 – Oakey has gone from one extreme (of not wanting to go at all) to the other (wanting to go all the time, and in full throttle. Today was pretty much the same as yesterday.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/18/10 – Didn't get to ride today... =(

4/19/10 – Just did a really short ride today. We worked on starting and stopping. I rarely have to use the leg aids anymore – he's responding great to my clucking!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/20/10 – Didn't get to ride yesterday... had an event I had to go to in the afternoon.

4/21/10 – Rode at the far end of the pasture where there is a hill. Went up and back down the hill, working to get Oakey in shape.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/22,23,24/10 – I haven't been able to ride for the last three days because of bad weather... I think I'm starting to go INSANE! :headbang:


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/26/10 - I had plans of riding today, but time got away from me (and schoolwork, sadly, didn't). *sigh*


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

4/27/10 - It was great to be back on Oakey's back again! We circled the pasture and he handled marvelously – even at the place where we were having problems before. =) My leg cues are über subtle, and my clucking is so quiet that only me and Oakey can hear it – Oakey's getting really good at obeying the commands. Could life get any better?


----------



## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

Nice!!!!!!!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

*sigh* I haven't been doing much lately... Bad weather has stopped me from riding for the past three days. Yesterday, despite the rain, I got out and worked in the barn picking up Oakey's feet. Already he's making some improvements!


----------



## whiskeynoo (Mar 17, 2010)

it's great to hear your making progress keep it up


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

I haven't ridden in a several weeks because of two things – 1) I was in Georgia for two weeks for my Grandmother's funeral, and 2) Oakey's hooves have gotten too long to ride on, and I haven't been able to get the farrier out as soon as I wanted too to fix that problem. So for now we're taking a prolonged (unwanted) break.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

Oakey's hooves were trimmed today! YAY!!! It's back in business for the big guy!


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

Got out and did a small ride today. He's not too bad after over a month of no training or riding. He was a little hesitant to go at first, but not stubborn like he was before. We still have some ground to recover, though.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

Only did groundwork today.*I have to get Oakey back into decent shape before I can do any serious riding.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

I decided to switch my training time from late afternoon to first thing in the morning to avoid the heat. It's nice to be able to work with Oakey when he isn't already tired and wanting to just stand in the shade. ;-)

Anywho, we're still just doing ground work. It took Oakey a little while to get into the mood for leading, but after a couple minutes he started following well. We worked for about 15 minutes.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

We worked for almost 30 minutes today, still just doing ground work. We started out pretty good with Oakey obeying the commands well. About halfway through he started not minding, though. I managed to get him out of that mood and we finished up the lesson well.


----------



## Tyler (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm still working on re-enforcing the clucking cue to step up.

Oakey started out a little stubborn, and I was sure we wouldn't get anywhere today. After 10 minutes or so he snapped out of his daydreaming and started listening and paying attention to me. The lesson ended with his obeying the command without hardly any hesitation.


----------

