# A day and the life of a uptight horse!



## Tennille (Mar 20, 2011)

So I am in the process of training a six year old mare named "Prairie Sands" or barn name of "Tennille." She is a loving horse but has some problems under saddle but the best ground manors ever. Please read my days of training and help me out some. I really need it. 





Day 1 –March 12, 2011
Time: Mid-day Where: Halls Farm
Groomed - Was good, didn’t give me any problems.
Lunged – Walked and trop both directions. Spooked once and cantered away. Once under control she was fine. Gave a little attidude but I “eh” her she was fine after that.
Saddled – Didn’t tighten the girth all the way, she saw the saddle pad and was antsy and started to dance. I let her smell it and talked softly to her. I slowly placed the pad on her back and she danced a bit. I gave her a treat and rubbed her forehead to calm her down. Once calm I grabbed the light black western saddle and again she started to dance. I calmed her down and let her smell the saddle. Once calm, I placed the saddle on her back and gave her another treat. She did really good and was a little antsy but I calmed her down again. Now I went and grabbed the girth. I put it on one side and she started to move away from me. I talked to her softly and gave her another treat. Once she was calm I went around to her other side and grabbed the girth. She didn’t move but I could tell she was uneasy. I didn’t even tighten the girth I just looped it up and gave her another treat. I let her stand there for a minute and once she was calm with her tongue out I un-tacked her. Then I gave her one last treat and let her go.
Overall- Good day, we will see what tomorrow brings.



Day two- March 13, 2011
Time: 330ish Where: the farm
Groomed: was good. No problems
Tacked: A little nervous but I eased my way into it. She danced but I managed to tack her by going slow and talking softly. Every time she let me advance in putting on tack I gave her a treat.
Lunged: Lunged her with the saddle on. She did good, I had to use the wip today because yesterday she didn’t listen that well. She did good though. She was scared of the whip so she listened.
Overall: good day



Day three- March 14, 2011
Time:430ish Where: The Farm
Groomed: good like always.
Tacked: she yielded away from the blanket and saddle but I talked to her softly and gave her a treat. She let me do this and tighten the girth with no problems really.
Rode: Just rode around the yard and she gave me some problems and bucked once when I clucked and squeezed but other than that she was pretty good. I made her go up the big hill twice to work out her legs.
Overall: for the first time she had been riden in a year she did pretty well.


Day Four – March 15, 2011
Time: 330ish Where: The farm
Groomed: didn’t have to move her all she stood still through the whole thing.
Tacked: like always I clipped her to the cross ties because I know if she wasn’t she would bolt. I grabbed the saddle pad and again like always she moved away from me. I talked softly to her and slid the pad on. I grabbed the saddle next and put it on her, she was fine until I tried to tighten the girth. She tried to bite me and punched her and said no in a stern voice. I didn’t punch her hard so don’t think that I am abusing her but you don’t let a horse that’s four times bigger than you bite you and get away with it. You have to show whose boss somehow. Next I put in a bit this time. I used just a regular two part bit with elongated sides. She was really good about the bit.
Rode: She wouldn’t stand still for me when I was trying to get on her so I kept making her do tight circles. Finally she stood still long enough for me to get on, though as I was climbing on she started to trot away. I took hold of the reins and gently pulled back and said whoa. She stopped finally after a little bit of convincing and a little harder pull and stopped. I made her back up a couple steps. Next I started to ride her down the road. She wanted to trot so I let her. She suddenly stopped half way down the hill and I clucked and squeezed a little. She pulled back her ears and didn’t like the fact that I was doing it. But I didn’t care I made her walk on anyways. I rode her all the way down the road to the second field on hall rd. When we went into the field she started to trot and I let her, then she started to canter, well she then tried to buck me off. I yelled no, and said “knock it off Tennille” she finally stopped and I started to make her do tight circles. After about five tight circles I told her to walk on. She was calm now until she saw the log up ahead. She spooked and tried to run the other way but I hoped off and led her to the log. I ended up sitting down on the log and she was calm again. Trying to get back on I had to do tight circles on the ground until she would stand still to let me get on. Well again she tried to take off and once again I made her do small circles. Once I felt she was calmer than normal I let her walk on and head home. Well she kept trying to trot and I kept making her do small circles. When we go onto the dirt part of the road I let her go. She ended up cantering half way home until I said that’s enough. She was out of breath. So she cooperated with me and walked the rest of the way home. When we got in front of the barn I told her to whoa and she listened. So I hopped off and instantly undid her girth a little bit and gave her a reward of a treat.
Overall: could be a lot better but she is still technically training to ride again.
To try: lunging before riding, she might be calmer
To come: when she is comfortable with me and lets me ride and take charge I would like to start going over ground polls to even her trot.


Day Five – March 16,2011
Time: 3:30ish Where: The Farm
Burhsed: Tennille was good like always.
Tacked up: Tennille moved away from me but I didn’t let her do it for long because I snapped the lead rope and said no in a firm voice. She by then was backed up on the side wall and had nowhere else to go so I placed the blanket on her. Next I pushed her back into the middle of the hallway and placed the saddle on her but by then she had pushed herself against the wall again. My dad’s old girlfriend, Shelly, the current place the horse is/care taker of the horse suggested that the saddle didn’t fit her right and I agree. So tomorrow I am going to try a different, wider, saddle. Next I put the bit in her mouth with no problems what so ever.
Lunged: I lunged her for about 10 minutes of a full trot which by the way was not my choice. Tennille decided to trot on her own and I didn’t stop her until she wanted to stop. That way she was more relaxed. The whole time I was telling her to walk and finally she listened. Once she was walking for a couple minutes I let her come into the middle of the circle. I patted her and gave her a treat and told her good girl.
Rode: Trying to get on her she kept trying to walk away before I was on but I didn’t have that. I kept turning her in a tight circle until she stood still for me to get on her. Though when I finally climbed up she started to walk up so I said whoa in a firm voice and made her back up. I just rode around in the drive way today but she was really good. She spooked once but I told her flat out to knock it off because she did it on purpose. I know this because she would make people get off after she spooked before I started to ride her, but I didn’t let her get away with it. After I talked to her and told her to stop she was very good. She was calm and her ears where listening to me not constantly forward.
Overall: Very very good. I can’t wait to ride her tomorrow
Good advice I heard today: Don’t get too excited Sarah, its roller-coaster.

Day Six – March 17, 2011
When: 300ish Where: The Farm
Today I just round-penned her and she did okay. We did it for about 30 minutes. She was very consistent in being stubborn but eventually I got her chewing and licking her lips and chewing. In case you didn’t know what that means, it means that she is giving in to me and letting me be the boss. 

Day Seven – March 18, 2011
Groomed: she did good like always
Tacked: she was very patient with me today. I bought her new breast plate and a new bridal and neither of them seemed to fit right. So while I was tacking her up I was also punching new holes in the tack. She stood there perfectly still for me, I even sat on the ground haha. She moved away from me when I was doing the girth but she always does. She’ll have to get over it. 
Rode: she was very uptight and high-strung today. She didn’t want to cooperate at all and was rearing up a bit and bucking a little bit. She also would stand there and not want to move so I would sit there clucking and telling her to walk on. When squeezing didn’t work I started to kick her. Not hard but just enough so she would get annoyed from it and walk forward. She was very...i don’t want to say bad because a horse is never bad.. but she was very “bad” in a sense. She was doing so well but like my dad said, “It’s a roller coaster.” Also when she would rear or buck I would make her do tight circles. She also tried to bite my foot today so I would kick her in the mouth every time she did. I know that sounds harsh but it really isn’t. It’s not like I was kicking her hard. Just enough to make her learn to not bite because biting is NOT acceptable.


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

Are you retraining her or braking? I didn't get that  

If she is still afraid of the saddle, maybe try that: when your lunging her put a saddle on the fence and everytime she goes beside it, stop her there. She will start to associate a saddle with something pleasant (rest). And be careful that all of her tack fit properly, so she won't get hurt ;-)
You're doing good with leting her smell it and rewarding her.

Maybe have someone lunge you, when your riding (if you have feeling that she doesn't understand what you want from her).


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## Tennille (Mar 20, 2011)

Thanks! I am kinda doing both! She never was really trained or anything so i am taking that over...


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