# #fjordtraining



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Subbing! Looking forward to hearing about your progress.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Today went well. Kaja stood still and didn't try to avoid being caught. Then she walked through the gate of the their little pen without issue. Usually she refuses to walk through it due to being slightly herdbound to her little friend Java. She isn't bad about it, just hesitation when Java starts screaming as soon as she leaves. 

We have also gotten much better about going through the full sized gates also. I'm guessing she just wasn't used to them and the sound of the chains banging around were loud. No problem now. 

After some grooming, we went into the arena. I put down some ground poles that I would later use for cavaletti with Abby and we walked over those. Then I got the little bridge thing we have and attempted to get her over that. I'm assuming she also just didn't like the sound of that. She would just walk up to and not lift her legs to get on it, then smack her hoof on it. At one point, she just jumped over the corner.  

Today was also the last day of getting uniprim for her mouth. The ulcers appear to be healing nicely and she had gained a noticeable amount of weight in the time that I've had her. Woo!

The farrier is also coming on the 30th, to the dismay of my bank account. But she's bee really good about her feet the last few days, so I hope she's good for the farrier.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Today we hung out in the arena while other people were riding around. Just walked around and stood quietly. She only spooked at a couple of things and it was only a little fright, no jumping or bolting. She sniffed a couple of QHs that are much bigger than her 12.3 self. Haha.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

THIS. THREAD. IS. USELESS. WITHOUT. PICTURES.

But seriously, yay for progress! Since she is so much older, are you gonna work your way through desensitizing and then move onto saddle work? Do you have an age you want to wait until, "I won't start her before X years," kinda thing?

Just curious. It's gotta be kinda excited that you don't *have* to wait years and years to start her under saddle. Just as long as it takes to get her foundation sturdy. =]
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Since she's so small, I'm going to let her fill out and hopefully grow some for a while and if I'm not busy next summer, I'll start her then when she turns 3ish. We'll spend the winter working on groundwork.

I would have been fine with her only being a yearling. I have (had?) plans for Abby, but I'm broke and those are still "well, I'd really like to.." kind of things.


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Well, on the plus side, you are finding out more about her. You won't have as long to wait to ride her if that is your ultimate goal,& she is responding to your care & attention. All positives, right? Good luck w/her.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Miss Kaja was a little ***** today. She got 4 days to do nothing with her life and me not bothering her. I assume that plus the snow outside made her a bit fresh. She wanted nothing to do with being tied up and groomed. Cleaning her feet was awful; she pulled a back foot away and snapped my elbow back. ouch. I went into the arena and made a pathetic attempt to see if she would sort of lunge to blow off steam. She'll lead past me, but gives zero cares about the whip so she just stood there and didn't know what was expected of her. 

We stood there for a while, then went back to be tied. She calmed down after that and was better. 

sigh. 

I also brushed through her nasty, smelly tail. It should be washed, but I don't feel like it, so I brushed through the near-dreads she had going on. It looks much nicer now.

ETA: Oh! Forgot! One boarder brought some family or friends to ride her gelding around. There were two kids, one was a little girl who was maybe 10. She leaves the arena and goes, "*GAAAAAASP!* Those are my favorite!!" I asked if she meant Fjords because I was surprised a little girl knew about them and said she could pet her. She was so excited. Her mom asked if Kaja was a Shetland because she didn't hear me and the girl says, "No! She's a Fjord!!" :lol:


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Forgot to update fro Friday!

Miss Kaja got her feet trimmed for what may have been the first time. She was a little bit stubborn at first, but was nice about it. I also have a patient farrier who will stand and pet them until they calm down and breathe before he continues. But it didn't take long. She's touchier about her front feet being picked up than her back feet. 

Today she got her mane chopped. I'll post a crappy cell phone picture (I'm a bit behind on cell phones and am still rocking a flip keyboard phone with a terrible camera) after this post, but will bring my camera tomorrow. Tuesday she is getting her teeth done so I hope to take the clippers after the rest of her mane to get a nice even cut to it. I have to try banding it to encourage it to stay straight up. People might think she's a Fjord then.. sigh.

After a mane chopping, we went back to what we've been working on for a few days: leading past me and continuing to walk around me in a circle. Very basic lunge work. Only problem? She does not have the slightest care in the world for the whip. It took a couple of days to get her to even move. She has realized that I'm more stubborn that her to the point of being annoying. I got her to walk away from me by continually tapping her butt until she moved. Today she did it right away without having to be touched just the whip behind her butt and driving her that way.

Our issue now is to get her to not stop by the door. Abby still does this at age 9 and broke, but she knows better and gets away from it quickly. She also only does it while free lunging and hasn't done it on a lunge line in ages. It took Kaja a while of jumping and pulling me before she realized she wasn't going to get away with it. She's VERY bright when it comes to "Okay..I suppose it's easier if I just do what the human wants." 

She trotted most of a circle, but would try to stop or pull out towards the door. It took a bit, but we ended on a good note when she finally went both directions at a walk without pulling or stopping when her eye met the door.

I should clarify that we went to the far end of the arena to see if that would help her door problem. Not very much. I just got pulled forward a lot more. We're getting it though!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Cut mane!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Kaja got her teeth floated today! The dentist has this neat modified trailer that is basically a mobile equine dentist office with stocks inside and an area for equipment. She wasn't too keen on getting into it, but she did much better than a couple of adult show horses who are trailered frequently. Good little Fjord.

However, I'm guessing the dentist thought she was bigger than she is because she currently looks to be a decent weight with her fluff. She's not. Half a cc and she was done. I would have pictures, but instead of standing up against the front of the stocks so we could prop up her head she insisted on smashing herself up against the back, leaving me to stand inside the stocks with her and hold her head up the entire time. awesome. 

But from what the dentist said, every Fjord he's ever worked on has had fabulous teeth. eep! She also didn't have any wolf teeth to pull. Yippee! He also figured she was born around February or March because her 3 year old lines are starting. 

She is also starting understand moving around me in a lunging fashion. We only did it at a walk today to work more on the "Do not stop when perpendicular to the door" aspect. She did very well by the end, so I cut our lesson short before it got boring.

Oh! And while she was still pretty out, I banded her mane up and cut it a bit more. She's starting to look like a real Fjord.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Can I ask? Why have a three year olds teeth floated? Was there an issue? On a side note, I WANT A FJORD! I had an oppertunity to buy a stocky mare and foal. But missed them selling by 30 seconds!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

She hasn't been touched for the most part and from what I've gathered has spent her entire life on crappy pasture. I figured it couldn't hurt to have them filed down to help her gain weight. And I didn't check her mouth for wolf teeth that would interfere with a bit, which luckily she did not have. I plan on sticking a snaffle in her mouth soon just to get her used to the feeling of it.

I was talking to the denist while my other mare's teeth were being done and they basically recommended that with her age and the probability of her being bitted in the near future to have her at least checked out and most likely floated. So now it's something I don't really have to worry about for a while.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Better safe then sorry. Totally gotcha. Thanks
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

The only picture I have of her first dental experience: 









She was completely out of it and took her a while to remember she had 4 legs.

And while she was still pretty sleepy, her mane was all banded.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Ah! I have not updated in days. 

The other day we worked more on how to lunge. Huge fight because she insisted that we go and stand by every door in the arena (including the outside doors, which I didn't even think about her having a problem with because Abby is only ever concerned with the door that goes into the barn). Anyway, she was reprimanded for it and by the end of it, we had gotten better.

On the 7th, we worked on it again and guess who got the message about the door when we're working? woo! Except she has this problem with going clockwise. Counter clockwise is fabulous, no problem. Clockwise, she'll get almost all the way around and stop in one spot. Does not matter what part of the arena we're in, she'll stop in that spot. I'm not 100% sure if it's my body language or what, but eventually we pushed through it and made a few complete circles.

She also has a wonderful stop, both with just a vocal cue and me dropping my shoulder that holds the line and crossing that hand across my body. 

However, during that, I went to walk up and pat her as a reward for being a good girl and was rubbing her. She does not like her butt touched without warning and jumps forward. Not okay, but we've been working on it. So I tied her to one of the wall studs in the arena (a 4x4) and started rubbing her all over. When I got to her butt, she jumped forward, was clotheslined, and when she went to turn back, WHACK ..her little nose on the next post. It didn't take very long for her to stand quietly while I touched her all over. 

She also did get a bit in her mouth for the first time the other day. She wasn't impressed to say the least. I need to grab someone to hold her mouth open long enough for me to take pictures because it looked weird on her. The bit didn't appear to sit on the gums at all, but on her lips that get very wide by the corners of her mouth.. 

Either way, here is crabby pants.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

Squee! Po, she is so cute! I just love her. I can't wait for you to get more pictures of her with your fancy camera, lol.

And just as an aside, it'll be easier to keep her mane upright if you can cut it shorter. In general, the Fjord mane is very thick and doesn't need to be that long before it gets kinda floppy. Add that her neck muscles have grown used to it flopping, they won't hold it up straight for quite awhile. 8 years of routinely clipping a couple Fjord manes learns you a thing or two, haha.



Phly said:


> Can I ask? Why have a three year olds teeth floated? Was there an issue? On a side note, I WANT A FJORD! I had an oppertunity to buy a stocky mare and foal. But missed them selling by 30 seconds!


Just want to add to Po's answer, it is ALWAYS a good idea to get a youngin's teeth checked, and will most likely need to be floated, routinely. Just because they're baby teeth doesn't mean they don't create sharp points in the mouth. The whole "you don't have to do their teeth until they're 5" thing is a myth [per the several different vets I've talked to about it.] They still need to be looked at.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I pulled the bands off her mane today and so far so it with it sticking up straight. It's a little bent from the bands, but so far so good. 

My arms are killing me though. Like I said up above, she'll go one direction at a w/t without any issue, no pulling, nothing, very polite. The other direction, she'll plod at a walk fine, but as soon as we get to a trot, she will pull about half the circle and we got a few complete circles without freaking out, but she reaches a point where she turns and bolts. Doesn't matter where we are in the arena, it's the same spot. 

Eventually we did get a few circles without a meltdown and I left her at that.


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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

Blech. That always sucks. She'll learn eventually, right? Lol.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Just curious, do you lunge her in a nylon or rope halter? Sour used to pull me like crazy in one direction and often tried to turn, so I made a 5-knot stiff but thick rope halter on her and lunged her with it. The pressure on the side of her fact really seemed to help her and she stopped pulling within a few laps and was a total lady. When she tried to turn, I watched her body signals and the second she tried to push back on her haunches to turn, I snapped the whip behind her butt and held my arm with the lunge line out, for her to follow. She would go off at a canter, but in the right direction at least. I made her keep the speed a few laps, then let her slow down and continue at a trot. Only took a few times to realize that she could NOT turn when I didnt ask her to.

You may already be doing this, but thought I'd mention it.  Kaja is adorable!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

She's got a nylon halter, as I don't have my rope halter anymore. But otherwise, she's getting about the same drill. I can read her body language enough to figure when she's going to bolt away from me, so I wave or pop the whip behind her and take a step closer to her back end to make her move forward away from me. If she keeps moving, we'll go for another circle or two, then ask her to stop in the opposite spot from where she's bolting away. She is starting to get the hint that she is not allowed to stop unless I say so.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Great! Those little guys are very smart, I'm sure she'll have this down pat in no time.

I just can't get over how adorable she is. I was fooled into thinking she was a yearling too though o.o so I was suprised to hear that she's closer to three. I'm sure that decent food and lots of love will go a long ways towards gettings her looking more her age though. Poor gal came from one tough situation!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

She's a quick little booger that apparently takes *** whoopins seriously. Today was just a bad day at the barn in terms of work and getting things taken care of, so working with my horses got pushed way back. I did Abby first, then grabbed Kaja. Oh she did so good!! 

No pulling. We stayed in almost the exact same circle the entire time and definitely didn't move any direction more than 2 feet. No pulling. W/T and transitions with very subtles cues. 

Hopefully this lesson sticks after a couple times and we have a solid "safe" point. I'm not going to push her right now, just relatively short periods of trotting until she gains more weight and fills out with some more muscle. 

I am a happy camper.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

The last week has gone well. We only had a few moments of conflict while working on lunging. Nothing that wasn't resolved immediately though. 

She got to go outside on Sunday though! My roommate took her mare and filly home and is bringing back her gelding. Kaja and the filly were holed up inside a small barn because the filly figured out how to get out of the fencing once and we didn't need to take any chances. Kaja gets to hang out with Abby for a good portion of the day. Abby has zero interest in being friends, but she is like that with most other horses. Fortunately, she hasn't attempted to attack Kaja, but Kaja has also just avoided her. 

She made some new human friends yesteday. We have a new boarder who bought a mare for her daughters and her parents come out with them often. Yesterday, the woman's uncle came too. First, they thought she was a Shetland. :lol: But she let them pet her fluff and was quiet about it (she is still understanding the "humans are allowed in your space whenever they feel" concept and jumps when touched unexpectedly and is cautious about it).


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Sooo I haven't updated this in nearly a month. Time flies..

Kaja has finally understood that grain is food and can be eaten. I am guessing she figured it out from watching Abby get fed and realized she can eat it too. I have started her on a little bit of Strategy (1/2lb daily right now) to help her gain more weight and as bribery. She still doesn't really like being caught, but now she knows that buckets mean food and when I'm there, I have been tricking her into being caught then feeding her inside so that "Human + catching + barn = FOOD!" 

And now that she's figured out that it is, in fact, edible, it is just the greatest thing in the world. She also figured out treats the other day. I tried to give her a peppermint one, which she wouldn't take. Then a boarder handed me this cookie thing and said one mare wouldn't eat treats, but ate that. Kaja wouldn't take it from my hand at first, but I put it in a handful of grain and she ate it. Nooow she takes ones from my hand. She likes apple and peppermint. 

Since she got a break, we're still mostly doing trotting to build up some muscle. I've added a vocal cue to it, which she's figuring out pretty quickly. I want to work on just getting her to lope on a lunge line, but she much prefers trotting, even if she is beyond turbo trotting (which is funny to watch with her little legs. tehe). I have gotten her to lope, but it's more of a work out for me. We _have_ a roundpen, but it's not set up and some of the pieces are being used elsewhere. Nobody really used it when it was set up and the only place there's room for it is outside and takes up a lot of room. 

Overall, she's gotten friendlier and seems happier.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I haz good news and bad news. 

First, Kaja has become very friendly towards people now and even nickers at Abby when I bring her back outside from shenanigans with her. I wish I could get a recording of Kaja's "nicker." It's a sort of old man grunt.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I was going to attempt ground driving with Kaja since she now bridles well and does not seem to care about wear a dressage saddle for a period of time. First, tied the bit to a stirrup and did that whole pressure/released shindig. She figured that out very quickly.

Grounddriving..was a massive fail. She kept thinking I wanted her to lunge, so when I tried to straighten her out and stay behind her, which would work for a few feet and she'd go in the direction I'd want, but then she'd get very confused at all of pressure and bolt. I figured we were not making any progress and I was just hurting her mouth. I lunged her for a little bit to calm her down some. 

Then I had the _brilliant_ idea to get on her again..with no one else around. Not my best idea, but yeah. She was still rather worked up when I started trying. She didn't mind me pressing on her back, but really didn't like me jumping next to her. I pushed down on the stirrups with my hands a few times. I got one foot up in a stirrup when she bolted and I flopped over and managed land my right thigh on my left heel. I have a nice bruise today.

After quite a few attempts of just weight on her back and me moving around up and down on her left side, she calmed down enough and allowed me to hop on. Woo! Guess who was awesome?? She required very little pressure on her mouth to turn and figured out very quickly that a clucky noise and pressure on both of her sides meant go forward. Her stopping will need some work. She knows "ho" but would get tense when I pulled back with both hands. I had her halter underneath with a leadrope so when she didn't stop with "ho" and bit pressure, I pulled the leadrope so she could feel the pressure on her noseband, which she understood. Overall, it went well. I kind of wish I had someone there to either take a picture or verify that this did happen. :lol:

Her bit also arrived in the mail yesterday night (I didn't check the mail so I had to use my roommate's bit still). This is her bit: http://www.sstack.com/English_Bits_Full-Cheeks/FES-Copper-SS-Roller-Full-Cheek-Snaffle/ Roommate's is the same, but with D-rings instead of full cheek. I tried a few snaffles and she seemed to prefer the straight rollers. 

Unforunately, we are in the middle of a large snowstorm and even if work and class are canceled tomorrow, I'm not going anywhere fast, let alone the 20 mile drive to the barn. BOOO.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

We've made some progress over the last couple of days. 

Yesterday was a big fight again over whether the human can be on my back. It involved a lot of swearing and Kaja running around. I did get on her and all was well, but she bolt from my mistake. She gets really confused and tenses when I pull back with both hands (though she turns with very light pressure) and instead of stopping, she runs through it. 

So that happened due to me screwing my hands (meant to pull back on the leadrope/halter to get her to stop). I was fine, then started to lose my balanace because I am a western rider attempting to ride this little thing in a dressage saddle because my barrel saddle is far too big for Kaja. 

Sooo I start slipping and I know it clicked in her head somewhere that she could get me off if she just stopped. I don't remember if there was body language from her or something because it was quite fast, but I realized it and prepared for impact. She stopped dead and launched me into the arena wall. Luckily, from riding my BOs' little Welsh/Mini mare they had for a while, I developed reflexes fast enough to twist and hit my back rather than, say, my face.

I came away from that with a stirred temper, a completely jammed left index finger (not sure how that happened.. I stood up and it hurt like hell, now it is swollen and half purple. awesome) and more sand in my pants than I cared for. 

After some calming, I managed to get back on and we ended on a good note.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Today was a huge improvement for a 3rd ride. 

I lunged her for quite a while to wear her out and use fatigue to my advantage. **** little Fjord can trot forever though.. One of the trainers was in the arena also and commented that he liked her leg conformation, which I thought was nice because I think she's rather calf-kneed. However, after our conversation, I'm pretty sure he still thinks she's a Shetland. 

Either way, she let me on after only a couple of attempts with getting my foot in the stirrup. wooooo! We walked around for a while and was doing awesome, then she spooked at something. No idea what. THIS TIME I had the sense to grab her neck so if she were to stop, I'd just lean forward, rather than flying off her. It worked. I held on until she stopped and realized we weren't going to die.

This happened several times throughout the time I was in there. I felt really bad because this other lady was going to do some circles with her gelding and thought it might have been her fault and then she decided to just walk. I may have ruined her ride, but she's so nice that she wouldn't have told me anyway. She really helped work on some patience wth Kaja though because I made her stand still while we had an extended conversation about mountain lions. :lol:

After another spazz, we finished on a decent note. Not as well as I would have liked because she had bolted and stayed tense for quite some time. I was running out of my own time, anddecided to end it before it got worse.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

First, last Thursday, little Kaja did so well. She got lunged a little, then I grabbed her bridle and showed her on the ground that pressure on both sides of her mouth meant stop, along with hearing "ho," which she already knows. 

Another boarder held her while I hopped on after and she nailed it right away. I didn't ride for very long (10 minutes maybe) because was doing so well and didn't need her to blow up. 

She also got her hair cut off! I'll have to upload a picture later.

Howeverrrr..then on Saturday, she lost her mind. We had a little fight about getting on beacuse I didn't have anyone to hold her for me, but I got it. She was tense the whole time, so I was being careful and trying to get her to calm down...then I coughed. Didn't even think about it. Off like the freaking Kentucky Derby. Since I am in the **** dressage saddle, I have to stand up in the stirrups and grab her neck to stay on and let her run herself out or I'll go flying (I wear jeans, not breeches with some grip).

She got even more freaked out when she'd try to stop and throw me like she did a couple weeks ago and I wouldn't come off. Eventually she slowed down enough for me to bail sideways and stop her. There was no calming her down and my arms and legs were so tired from standing like a freaking jockey that I just sat down in the arena next to her.

Sooo I gave up and decided she can sit for a little while and mature mentally. I've pushed her far enough and have realized her limit. I'll continue working with her, but she can mature more. She's come SO far in the last 4 months, but she can hang out. She's going to live at the neighbor's house about a mile from the barn anyway for other reasons and will be there until the middle of May.

In May, I am leaving to go work at the summer camp I've worked at since 2007. Abby and Kaja are coming with. Abby's been there, but it will be entirely new for Kaja. Luckily for me, we have a roundpen (and a very large arena, but I'm mostly going to use the roundpen) annnd about 30 various western saddles at my disposal to find a fit for her, which I'll be much more comfortable in. If she bolts, 1) she'll be in a roundpen and 2) I can actually maintain my seat and pull her to a stop rather than being a helpless passenger. 

Crappy decision to make, but it's for her benefit.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I haven't updated this in a considerable amount of time. Only a few exciting things have happened since my last point and they were on the same day.

The vet was up a couple weeks ago to get everyone their spring shots. sigh. Abby does not do shots. The last couple of years, my former vet also did teeth, so she would get her shots and teeth done in the same day..and while under tranquilizer. Then during her fall shots, she didn't react at all, so I assumed she might have grown out of it. 

No, sir. The vet gave her a shot in the butt. She knows better than to actually kick anyone, so she kicked back with the opposite leg (kicking away from him, but still making her point). He gave the next shot in her neck. :lol: Then came strangles. It took 4 of us. She stood all ****ed off after the first couple of shots so when she realized there was another and it was going in her nose, she went into "Oh haaaaail no" mode. I was holding her, vet had the vaccine, a tech tried to cover her eye, and my BO finally had to twitch her, which made me nervous because she had been twitched often when she was younger for reasons unknown to me. She was quite angry with us all.

Then it's Kaja's turn. Little munchkin didn't even seem to know what was going on. It took a couple of minutes to get hers all done and she was completely unfazed. A slight flehmen response to the strangles vaccine that looked more like she just scrunched up her nose than anything. Good munchkin. 

I realized that one boarder's trailer was hooked up and sitting in front of the barn. I asked permission to use it because I saw it as a wonderful opportunity for a lesson on trailering. The only person I could find to help me with my mares was my BOs' 17 year old daughter, who is not the bravest of souls. However, she happily held Kaja for me while I was going to have Abby hop in and show her there is nothing scary in it. 

Guess what 9 year old, normally fine to trailer horse decided this trailer was just too scary? sigh. I don't haul her often and the trailers I have used with her have had one large swinging gate. This one had two smaller ones that open opposite directions with a small threshold in the middle. Apparently it was going to kill her. I couldn't ask the girl helping to smack her butt because she is just a timid person and would be uncomfortable with it.

Instead, she said she wanted to see if Kaja would go in because "she looks interested." Little sh*t hops right in! The girl turned her around and walked her out, so I tried again and yep. Jumped in like she'd been doing it her entire life. This time I backed her out, which she also mastered and was just happy to have a treat. 

BO came out a few minutes later and helped me make Abby get in the trailer just for the sake of getting her over the tiny piece of metal that was monstrous. Once she was in, she stood there like, "Oh wait. Nevermind. I know that this is." Dumb ***. 

Other than this, not much has happened. Kaja is shedding so I will eventually be able to post pictures of what she actually looks like under the fluff.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Kaja is shedding and losing her hay belly, so she's starting to look like a horse under all that fluff. I upped her Strategy to help gain some more weight, as she has plateaued. Hopefully with the warmer weather, she won't use so much energy staying warm. 










She also turns and stares at me when she feels like I've been brushing her butt too much.










I also took a video of her running around. I didn't lunge her on a line beforehand, just let her run around. She did stay in a circle for more of it, so that impressed me. But her "ho" without a line needs work, though I'll give her some credit from not being worked in a while. I'm going to let her be and get fat with minimal work. She's a good girl and won't forget her training. 

Kaja runnin' - YouTube


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Oh, also forgot to mention that she got a new halter that isn't a hand-me-down from Abby. I decided I liked blue on her. Abby's color is purple, which Kaja looks good in, but is hard to keep track of which halters belong to whom (Abby's got a huge head).










Oh, and the farrier said a couple weeks ago that Kaja has "textbook perfect feet." Woo! Not bad for a $15 horse.


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## Kayella (Feb 11, 2012)

She looks AMAZING in blue. Seriously, stick with that shade of blue cause it looks great on her.  She's doing amazing so far!! Have you thought about adding beet pulp or rice bran to help her gain weight? I had great success with rice bran.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Woah! Someone actually reads this! I had no idea. I was more keeping this as a log of our training. :lol:

I was just thinking about rice bran, actually. Beet pulp could work and wouldn't be much of an inconvenience if she were stalled because a couple of mares already get it, but being outside, it might be forgotten. When I'm there tomorrow, I'll give her a taste of the rice bran to see if she'll eat it; I' m sure she will because she tried to eat my leather glove the other day. (Whole thing in her mouth and I had to yank it back out.)


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Kaja is still happily shedding. I might have a real pony underneath soon!

Her and Abby were both got to try their new feed today. Purina Ultium. They're coming to the summer camp I work at this summer. Abby was there in 2011, when I was there all summer, but I didn't bring her last year because I was only there for a couple of weeks. In 2011, Abby lost a ton of weight. Her Strategy is fine when we just go on trail rides 2-3 days a week or rather light work, with some random galloping in fields, but camp is 4-5 days a week for what can end up being hours a day. It's also up and down hills rather than flat corn and sugar beet fields. 

Sooo we needed something with more fat. Kaja also needs weight badly (IMO. She's at like 4 condition score, but I like closer to 6) so more calories in her food plus just more feed will do her good. Except the little sh*t doesn't like apples! What the hell is wrong with my mares?? One hates carrots and now the one that literally tries to eat everything else, edible or not, spit it right back out.


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## xxdanioo (Jan 17, 2012)

Poseidon said:


> Kaja is still happily shedding. I might have a real pony underneath soon!
> 
> Her and Abby were both got to try their new feed today. Purina Ultium. They're coming to the summer camp I work at this summer. Abby was there in 2011, when I was there all summer, but I didn't bring her last year because I was only there for a couple of weeks. In 2011, Abby lost a ton of weight. Her Strategy is fine when we just go on trail rides 2-3 days a week or rather light work, with some random galloping in fields, but camp is 4-5 days a week for what can end up being hours a day. It's also up and down hills rather than flat corn and sugar beet fields.
> 
> Sooo we needed something with more fat. Kaja also needs weight badly (IMO. She's at like 4 condition score, but I like closer to 6) so more calories in her food plus just more feed will do her good. Except the little sh*t doesn't like apples! What the hell is wrong with my mares?? One hates carrots and now the one that literally tries to eat everything else, edible or not, spit it right back out.


I'm sure Kaja will try them again as she gets older. My gelding used to spit carrots and apples out, even when they were mixed into all his yummy grain. He now eats carrots happily, and I'm pretty sure he ate the apple pieces out of his feed the other day. They're just like kids sometimes!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I'm going to keep trying. Abby was happy to eat all of her pieces Kaja spit out. Abby, on the other hand, literally sniffs carrots and turns her nose up at them like it's some kind of insult that I should feed her such a thing. Abbytude.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Good god. Have I really not updated this in almost TWO months?? ****. It was way back on the 3rd page. MYYY BAD. I've been busy, so I'm sorry to the like 2 people who may actually read this. 

Kaja is doing well. She's finally almost entirely shed out, aside from about the lower half of her legs. She got hauled ~300 miles across the state 2 weeks ago by a friend, where she spent a week. My mom got to meet her finally because she didn't even know Kaja existed. :lol: oops.. Then she was hauled back about 50 miles to the summer camp I work at.

She's out in a field with Abby and my friend's mare and gelding. Abby and the other mare know Kaja, but this gelding didn't and decided that Kaja must die. And decided that she doesn't need just discipline for herd order..she needs to DIE. The gelding has repeatedly attacked her versus just a dirty look to keep her out of his space. The field they're all in is about 12 acres, so she has plenty of room to stay away from them, but I feel bad because her friend (Abby) left her to go play with others. 

Sooo Kaja has been a major cuddle buddy for me and the other human staff. She hangs out with us while we have other horses tied next to their gate and nickers at me all the time. Her old buddy Java will also be out there shortly, so hopefully she remembers Kaja and will be her friend. If this continues with the gelding however, I am going to insist he gets moved in with the horses owned by the camp rather than the pasture reserved for wrangler horses.

Oh, and Kaja got her cinch today. I found the camp saddle I had in mind for her and appears to fit decently, I just didn't have a cinch that was even close to fitting. We'll see how it fits within the next couple of days. Probably tomorrow morning.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I demand shedded Kaja pictures. She's so freaking CUTE <3 how old is she now?


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## Ellie Bramel (Jan 18, 2012)

I read your story! I love it. You experience and how you write (Like a diary) is inspiring to me.


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## Ellie Bramel (Jan 18, 2012)

I read your story! I love it. Your experience and how you write (Like a diary) is inspiring to me. Thank you for taking the time to write this. Do you plan on writing any more?


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I'll keep writing in it. I have a western saddle to use on her and a cinch that will most likely fit (all of 24"!). 

And okkkk. I'll post pictures of her when I have my camera nearby.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

ah! I have been busy and never got pictures put here! Kaja has also been making new human friends left and right. They're all obsessed with her mane and have to touch it. They also think she's just the cutest little thing, which doesn't help with her golden retriever personality. 

This is Kaja now. Half my pictures of her make her look extremely sickle hocked. I promise she's not. 









This was the first time in a western saddle. The cinch is a 24" and needs to be lifted up a notch on the other side. 









Her mane looks a hot mess in that picture because she likes to stick her head through the fence and scratch her neck. Nuuu! Whyyyyy. You're ruining your mane, Kaja!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

wah! I haven't updated. 

1) She got ridden last week for the first time in a few months. I am so glad I gave her a break to mature mentally because she definitely grew up significantly. I took her to the roundpen with my roommate so she could take pictures and be there if I were to get launched into the fence. 

She did sooo good. I am attributing it to both her maturing and also my comfort in a western saddle and being able to be more relaxed (versus the dressage saddle that she sensed my tenseness in). She had a one or two little spooks and jumped forward, but stopped quickly when I told her instead of her fantastic tearing around before. 

She learned how to back up then and is beginning to understand neck reining because I lay the opposite rein on her neck when direct reining her. 

2) I got on her again today. Roommate had her mare in the roundpen so I manned up and took her in the arena, which is quite large. She jumped a little bit when I tried to get on, so I let her calm down and tried again. Didn't budge. Yippee! 

I rode her around and she did great again. The biggest problem today was focusing on me and only me. The other horses are kept in the pasture the arena is in and they were standing within sight, so she kept looking at them and was curious about what was going on in the roundpen. Overall, I am very proud of my munchkin!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

BAH. Wtf computer. Just spazzed and deleted my whole thing. AGAIN. 

So here I go with that whole updating once a month thing.. My bad.

I haven't done a whole lot of riding on her. At least not consecutive days because I've been busy. However, this week, Abby shanked the back of her leg and has been out of work for a few days. Apparently I grew some balls and decided to take Kaja to go hang out in the arena with some kids. Not the kids that only walk/trot; there was quite a bit of loping done.

She did awesome! She finally figured out that the cue for trotting on the ground also means trotting undersaddle. We even loped a little! The only disappointment from that day was the saddle that I had thought would fit her does not. It fit her back fine, but pinched her withers quite a bit. Boo.

The next day I decided to take her with a different group that still went in the arena. We cruised around all over. I grabbed a different saddle with a wider gullet to try. This one I really liked because it's a 14.5" barrel saddle. She didn't see as willing to move in it, though so I was concerned. Yep..didn't fit. But we did lope around quite a bit anyway. She's actually pretty quick. I didn't think she was until one guy caught up to us and said he had to lope a full sized horse to keep up with her.

Sooo I've printed off the same gullet templates I used on Abby when trying to fit her and we'll g from there.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Abby's still out for running around with the kids because she apparently doesn't heal quickly. So in the past week, I have ridden Abby once and Kaja instead. My roommate's barrel saddle fits her the best thus far, but still isn't perfect. Either I get pinched withers and it stays off the back..or it is wide enough for her withers and crushes her spine farther back. So yeah. Still working that out.

But she did awesome all week! We had a little tantrum on Monday night. As soon as I caught her, I knew she was going to be a snot because she was angry at me for whatever reason (probably because it was around 7:30pm and she has still not been fed grain..and a huge pasture of grass just isn't enough, you know). And I decided not to lunge her first. She was being a pill and then suddenly made a **** poor attempt at bucking..literally had to ask someone else with me what she was doing because all it was was her throwing her head down and hopping. Abby's turbo trot is harder to sit than that "buck." Obviously, he got rode through it and she realized it was a bad idea to try that.

She improved over the week and we only had a few instances of being unsure about going on with the group or catching up if we fell behind. 

She even went swimming yesterday. She was totally game for standing about chest deep in the water, but was rather traumatized when she got pulled in further so she actually had to swim. 

But I have more time next week too so she should be getting pretty solid over the next week or so. Obviously it'll be a while before she's broke broke, but she's learning her job and with how smart she is, she'll learn quickly. She thinks a lot and we only had a couple of spooks about anything. She gained a TON of confidence though and was pretty happy to be adventuring in the pastures.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Piiiiiiictures!!!! :-D
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Working on it! I took a bunch of her at sunset yesterday just chilling in the pasture. I have a couple of us riding though.

This was from Tuesday. The first time I took her that far from the corral/pasture they live in. I was nervous, but she took it completely in stride.









And then Wednesday we explored the pasture that she lives in. The entire camp I work at is along a gigantic lake.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Oh wow. Look at how many people are riding!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

The summer camp I work at has a horse camp. The kids signed up for it do horsey stuff a few hours a day. It was one of the trail rides. They were disgruntled because we wouldn't let them race around the pasture (they are ~13 and the most advanced group) because it had just rained and was slippery...even though I had literally just ate sh!t for doing that about a week prior (mare I was galloping on went to slow down and turn and bam. Both of us down when her back leg slipped out from under her).


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Ahahahahaha. I am dying. A friend took this picture as we rode by and I had stopped to let some kids pet her. I look HUGE on her. 









There are more pictures in a different picture thread I just did. I'll go find a link.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Picture thread!
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-pictures/kajas-finally-fat-d-247162/


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Subbing!  Such a cool looking horse!


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

So I realized I never put up the other pictures of Kaja being ridden. Oops. They're from 08/05. 










Okay, so that saddle doesn't fit her. It doesn't look bad in most of the pictures, but several make it extremely obvious. This was one of them. (Also her trot looks nice, but is really not the most comfortable thing I've ever sat. Serious ab workout.)









This was her attempt at pitching a fit and bucking. I didn't lunge her first and she was mad that she hadn't eaten supper so she decided to be a snot. Note my look of amusement. Her "bucks" are easier to sit than her trot. 









All better.


















The most obvious saddle issue picture..


















I look HUGE. (I'm 5'7"..)


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Oh my gosh she's so cute ._. /subbing


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

You really don't look as big on her as you think. She's thick enough to take your leg nicely and you're not exactly fat. 

Kaja is ADORABLE. I'm coming right now to steal her from you.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

She can carry my scrawny *** just fine. The only time I've ever felt her struggle a little is going up steep hills. I only feel huge because Abby is twice her size. 

She'd probably wander off with you too if you bribed her with enough food. sigh. But she's going to her new barn today! I'm done with camp and am moving in to a new apartment for school to start. Abby and Kaja are being hauled back today.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Mares are all settled at their new barn. And my roommate decided to bring her mare so Kaja, Abby, and her mare are all penned together, which means no adjusting to new friends and somebody getting beat up. My new BO thinks Kaja is just the cutest little ****** and said her ground manners were fantastic when she brought them in to feed them. yay poneh!


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## Ellie Bramel (Jan 18, 2012)

Poseidon said:


> So I realized I never put up the other pictures of Kaja being ridden. Oops. They're from 08/05.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful photo's! I've been having a hard time getting to the Horse Forum. My horse, Ginger is at the trainers and the Horse Forum is all about Ginger and me. So I feel a little empty now.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, this picture made me giggle









If she was to bog her head and buck right then, you and the saddle both would faceplant LOL.

Have you considered maybe a britchin or a crupper with her to help keep the saddle back where it's supposed to be?


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

That saddle just didn't fit. It was the best of out of the selection I had though. I didn't realize how off it really was until I looked at some of the pictures after we were done riding. That was one of the last, if not the last, time it was used on her. Sigh. She's filled out more now with muscle and just pudge so what withers she did have are now gone so I've been working on finding one for her muttonwithered self. 

And I wouldn't even be MAD if she bucked and sent me flying! :lol: It would be so out of character for her that I'd just be shocked and start laughing. 
This is her excuse for a buck:









She throws her head down and just kind of hops straight up. I had to ask somebody else what the hell she was doing the first time she did it because I didn't hardly move but could feel her doing something. If she does it (I can only think of twice that she did), she did it a couple of times, then gave up and just decided walking where I said was easier.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, she's definitely adorable! As far as the saddle goes, sometimes you gotta make do with what you got :wink:.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I rode her today with my saddle (not the one pictured), despite it not fitting nearly as well as I would like (pinches her non-existent withers). She was a snot about being lunged, but I didn't entirely blame her. The arena at the new barn has much deeper footing and is still heavy from being watered not long ago so she wasn't having a wonderful time trying to get her little legs through it. 

There's an outdoor "arena" that I took her too. It's more a large area of tilled dirt, but no actual fence around it. Not a huge deal to me because I would be floored if Kaja took off on me and she'd get her little *** kicked for her. But that didn't stop her for being a snot anyway. She was rather concerned about what was going on by the barn and was just being stubborn all around. 

I took her over there just to get her focused and listening because I wanted to go riding down the road a little bit to see if her confidence has improved. I never figured out what she was even throwing a fit over, but she cooled her jets enough that I took her away from the barn.

..at this point I feel like I will never understand horse though processes sometimes. 

She went out FINE. Not a care in the **** world. The only time she looked back was when my roommate's mare was screaming her head off (which she does most of the day) and was immediately corrected and we went on our way. We went over a bridge, which she was unsure about for a second then realized it was nothing of concern. We trotted and loped without a single hint of wanting to go back. Transitioned up and down when and only when I said. 

what the hell, Kaja.


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## Ellie Bramel (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi jordtraining. Sorry I haven't been here to watch your posts. My horse went to a trainer a couple of monthr ago. I was sad. Horse Forum wasn't helping. She will be home soon. I'm feeling a lot better.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

Oh, I should update this. So far nothing noteworthy has really happened. I did ask a girl I now board with that has a treeless saddle if I can borrow it. I did one day, and **** if that thing didn't feel like a couch. I want one now just to have if I go for a long trail ride. But the rigging was dropped more than the average saddle and Kaja's 24" cinch was way too big. I cinched it until the D rings were about touching and it was still loose. I risked it. I also did not lunge her fresh little self so when I asked her to lope, she crowhopped and the saddle landed on her neck and I just did a half bail before I did a cartoon-style slow motion fall. 

Gave up. I want to try it again and the girl said I could, but I need an about 18-20" cinch, which will be a feat to find without ordering online.


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## Ellie Bramel (Jan 18, 2012)

I think that is note worthy! A bit amusing too.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

I've had Kaja for a year today! Holy cow. What a difference between the animal I bought and the animal I own now. I couldn't ask for a better little munchkin.

As for an update: She lost her mind the other day. I blamed the sudden temperature drop. I let her go in the arena to let her run her self silly for a minute. Mistake. She would not let me come near her again and it might as well have been last fall for how she was acting. But she wasn't just doing it to be a ****, she was legitimately terrified of something. I had scared her outside because I jumped over a puddle of mud and she didn't see me, so I don't know if she just kept that in her head. It took a while to catch her and when she did, I had to go through a bunch of desensitizing, which ended up with her flying backwards several times. She's a helluva lot stronger than she was last year, ha. Eventually she somewhat calmed down and she got a treat for being sensible, then suddenly seemed to remember who I was and was fine with me. silly filly. 

But today was much better. She listened to vocal cues perfectly when I lunged her for a minute. It's cold and I still don't have an actual saddle for her, so I hopped on her bareback to work on some new things (pivots and sidepassing!) since I have learned how to cue them better myself. She is picking up pivoting, but seems lost at sidepassing. We'll get there. d


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