# journey with my horses



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

first trail ride out with both horses

reminder need to get another water container for 2nd horse!!

all doors and windows open

trailer loading - on way to trail
25 minutes to load bailey
needed lots of encouragement and pressure
loaded on drivers side
need to make sure middle divider is pulled to one side
still on follow and loading
had some wet poop in trailer when arriving at trail head
needs trailer patience when others riding by..75% need to get up to atleast 80 within 2 weeks
on way home
loaded in 2 tries
immediately started eating
wouldn't drink after ride-so sponge bath to extra cool off

trailer loading denny- after bailey at home
took 30 seconds on passenger side
need to start working on pointing and loading and not following and loading 
some wet poop when arriving at trail head
needs more patience at trail head when tied to trailer... 90% ok need to work on the other 10%

on way home
loaded immediately
starting eating immediately
drank alittle but had a good sponge bath
unloaded good at home

trail issues
bailey (likes to lead)
have to practice standing while mounting when others around (Especially strangers-to much exictement)
when heading out on trail needs to learn not to turn after a string of horses pass
needs to get better with mud and water crossings

denny- 

need to work more on leading and not throwing hissy fit when riding with others.
need to work on sitting his trot...need to roll hips more
need to get better with mud and water crossings
did very well down a short steep embankment very sure footed

both seemed to really enjoy trotting out however due to different breeds need to keep bailey in slow trot and denny in slow trot to work out at same level.
or slow canter and medium canter. otherwise gaits are way different and are constantly slowing one down or speeding one up or wondering by ourselves

both horses did good with dogs off leash and bikers need to really work on passing 3 or more horses... biggest issue


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

note to self- denny is getting easier to catch however need to keep up with praising him when he comes to me and when he doesn't use jealousy to make him want to come to me.

maybe by next week will be able to take halter off if he continues to walk to me and allow me to take field halter off and new halter on


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## AndreaSctlnd (Jan 17, 2012)

Kait...I am stalking this thread...lol.

When you say that their poops were watery? Is that a sign of stress?


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

AndreaSctlnd said:


> Kait...I am stalking this thread...lol.
> 
> When you say that their poops were watery? Is that a sign of stress?


 
haha its ok i don't mind i only made it so i could track myself and what i need to work on lol

with my two there poop gets wet from nerves or being sick and since i know they are not sick then it means stress and nerves lol... not sure about anyone elses. they also get some neck sweat which i forgot to add so thanks for reminding lol

but they didn't act bad they stayed calm they just were unsure and with practice they will get better.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

lil red came up with a swollen eye this weekend with tears and mucus. vet is coming out tmw for there spring check up and has informed me to put triple ointment for the eyes on the swollen area under her eye and warm compresses to the top if she will stand for it. luckily eye is not swollen shut!

vet is coming in the morning around 9-10am and will need electric to float the horses teeth, will also be sedating the horses if need be to get there sheaths cleaned by the vet..she is going to show me how to do it... should be interesting!! and we are getting spring shots and this years coggins even though there last coggins was less then 7 months ago... but oh well.

only thing to remember is since no electric is at the barn will have to run either an extenstion cord to barn from house or bring all 4 horses to garage to be worked on... thinking its easier to run the extension cord :/ 

will have to remember this year is the year to run electric to the barn!!!! 

on a side note i should ask if she has any feed/electroyte recommendations that will be good for a horse in conditioning stages.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

vet came and oh my lord did that just put a dent in my savings 

oh well 

lil red has 2 different antibotics for her eye to get better. i also found out my old girl is a light weight. 1cc for sedation for her teeth had her all wobbly and snoring

jessie wasn't much better... 1 cc had him snoring and was very tolerant of the shealth cleaning he so desperately needed.

denny was very good for the vet and seemedto enjoy his teething cleaning but disagreed with the shealth cleaning...

and little bailey was the worst. got extremely worked up with getting his shots but did settle so will need toworkon him with other people coming up to him

daisy being the great puppy decided to herd the chickens into the barn when we working on denny and thankfully he is really good with surprises because thatcould have been interesting. i must say i do love my vets they are funny and actually like to teach and show me things i do not know and its always great when they come out. 

willpost pictures later of the horses getting there teeth done.


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## AndreaSctlnd (Jan 17, 2012)

I do not think I would want to learn to clean a sheath. Ish...


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

well its off to the field i go tonight to do some hard work on denny... he messed up big time yesterday. he didn't stand still when tied like he is trained to do and didn't let someone catch him after the last 5 months of working him and having his halter off and being easy to catch the last 3 months.

well we are going to start off with catching him... if he doesn't allow me to catch him and get a halter on well then i will escort the other 3 buddies out of the field and work denny until he gives in. if he decides to charge me i will use my wiffle ball bat and/or lunge whip which ever moves faster at a horse coming at me. 

eventually i will catch and bring him to the round pen but first i will pull the shoe that is still on if it has not yet fallen off. where i will work him again in a smaller area. we will practice taking on and off his halter and working him until he realizes he needs to just stand to be caught or he is going to be forced to move!!!

well now that i let that off my chest.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I wish you luck with Denny.. sounds like he knew your sister wasn't sure of how to handle him and he took advantage.. naughty naughty boy.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

that he did sky... 

my update :

as for the last episode of aggression denny showed towards my sister i went out to work with him. i had worn my gym attire thinking i would get a work out and i am glad i chose shorts, a sports bra and running sneakers over jeans and boots!!! other then that i went out with a clear head to just catch him and see if he would revert back to his old self. 

well i walked down to the field and feed all the horses in the small field. once in there i closed all the gates so i didn't have to chase any of them over 10 acres. eventually an hour or so later i went down and caught the other 3 horses and lead them to our temp field where they could graze while i went to catch denny.

i go in there with my lunge whip and halter on my shoulder with the lead. as i go in he walks away, i immediately go after him and make him run. at first he came right at me .. and all that came to my head that i screamed at him was "you s*** i am gonna kick your *** if you keep coming at me" .. well as he ran towards me i ran at him and whacked him as hard as i could with the whip on his shoulder. he reared up and i whacked him again. he turned his hips immeidately after he hit the ground but before he could pick any of his legs up i had already laid on a nice set of whacks on his a** !!! he set off running away from me and i kept chasing/running him down about 45 minutes of this. he gave those so called join up signs like he wanted to give in..

well he is one to use things against his handler especially when he knows the normal outcome... well i relaxed my self to let him decide to come in ...oh he decided to come in alright..he came in, in a full gallops ears back. i went after him again this time i used both lunge whip and the lead (the clip of the lead) and nailed him in the neck with the clip of the lead and cracked the whip. he spun around so quickly i nailed him in the *** one more time and sent him off again... this time i kept him running for about an hour switching directions and making him do as i wanted. eventually i gave in and after seeing some of the signs of him relaxing and let him slow his pace. 

he stopped and just stood there looking at me deciding if he wanted to try his charge again. as he stood there i gave him 3 seconds to decide, and when he didn't i sent him around in a few more circles and stopped him again. this time there was no debating if he wanted to charge me or not. he put his head down and walked to me. once he got about a foot away from me he stopped. so i took 2 steps away from him and made him walk up to me. he did and i gave him a small reward of a scratch on the head. and put the halter on him.then gave him alot more scratches.

once i caught him i just lead him around for a bit. then gave him a quick hose down as he was dripping sweat in the already 70 degree weather we had this weekend. then let him in the field with the other 3 to graze... 

i am so happy i stood my ground with him instead of letting him run me out... ever since that day the rest of the weekend went smoothly and i had no problems with him again...so now we are back to square one but again progress is slow and steady.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

seriously debating if i want to keep trying with denny or not. 

with the constant relaps of aggression and testing his handler i am not having fun working with him. don't get me wrong i adore this f***ing horse i also hate him with a passion. but the constant need to watch my back when he is loose is not fun but i love the feeling i get after i have done the right thing and "won" whatever battle we were dealing with, but it never seems to stay long enough to proceed to anything else. we are constantly staying at one level even with the help of a new trainer who has helped us make tremndious strides. 

if i put him on the market he will have be labeled as an aggressive horse who needs experienced handling for the sole fact he will never stop his testing which will lead to the aggression. if i keep him i will not be doing either of us a favor. if i bring him to auction i don't want somebody who feels sad to buy him and have some so called rescue, rescue him and say he was an abuse case when that is not what has happened to him. he has been over spoiled and has lead to this behavior. i also don't like the idea of sending him to auction knowing he will most likely get bought by the meat man  i would think it might be better to pts but i feel like that would be the ultimate let down for me knowing i completely failed him and was not able to make his life any better.

he is at my trainers now working with her since friday after i had to redo the whole catch me try me act he pulled and she has had alot more positive times with him. she dotes on him and loves the potential he has to offer and with an experienced hand can do anything. she has proven he just needs the right experienced owner to make him happy. however she is not in a position to buy another horse. 

if i were to make up a sale ad i wouldn't even know the right way to word it so that i was honest without scarying everyone off... err 

decisions decisions ...just wish i new what to do!!!!

1. i know its right to get rid of him whether be selling him or pts
2. i dont want to make the wrong choice in owners as it could lead to alot of issues after sale , especially if the horse hurt someone
3. i don't think i can handle selling him to a meatman or a rescue for the sole fact i think he would be spoiled even more and his problem would be made worse and hidden by someone saying "oh poor horsey was abused"
4. if i thought he was completely unsaveable i would pts but with my current trainer proving that he is a good horse when given the right leadership i feel like a complete let down. 

wow i have never felt so relieved before, actually saying this outloud


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

have gotten denny on a routine again and the charging is gone for the time being. am working with the trainer to give him a job and he is really settling in. the trails we usually ride on are not making him think so we are going to start working with cows by the end of this month or next and finding trails that will force him to work and think.

as for bailey it looks like the problems in his back legs have been caused by afew vertbrae being out in his lower back on his left side. you can tell becaue of this bump before the hind end. which always thru me off and asked our vet about who said it was nothing but never checked him out. which makes me mad because 7 months later his walking is worse and i finally just went ahead and set up a chiro appointment for him. hopeing that the weakness in his back legs is just a pinching muscle from the backing being unaligned and nothing more serious.

on another note not to kin on the new farrier i am using after the old farrier never called back.  so now i am looking for another farrier...grr the hunt is on

but all in all the new trainer i am working with has said he really likes both horses and thinks once there minds are stimulated then they will settle into great horses...just need to stimulate them..hmmm


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Well hoorah for the good news with Denny man


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks sky hopefully i can figure out how to keep him in this calm mindset


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

wow one of the biggest accomplishments yet.

i am working with my riding instructor pete who also trains horses but i never asked him to train denny.. but i brought denny down for a ridiing lesson and wow did he have some different opinions on what the female trainer is doing.

opinions

pete -why is he is a corrective bit?
my trainer said its to help get his attention
pete- laughs then says we are goign to try a d ring snaffle
ok... kind of nervous since when i first got him he was in tt bit and then my trainer thought it was because of his preference so went to a corrective bit. 

put the d ring snaffle in and denny is riding like a chap. listening to every cue etc... just needs to be reminded to focus on me with different corrections..such as tight circles to encourage bending and so fouth.

in 3 lessons with riding denny with pete around ihave accomplished more then i have with all the other trainers. pete somehow gets me to lose all my fear of denny and actually has taught me how to best work with this horse..

i am having high hopes that denny will enjoy our new training with pete as we train to work with cows... i jsut hope i like it as much lol

i would also like to add never in a million years did i think i would be able to control him in just a snaffle... but hey things happen for a reason


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Wonderful improvement!!


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## Chance59 (Apr 20, 2012)

I am enjoying reading about Denny! And your other horses too, but make sure you keep writing!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks guys its slow but i am tweaking my behavior and training techiques to alter his bahavior never really thought these changes wouldl make such a difference but everyday is a day for learning. 

which reminds me... i attempted this week by petes suggestion to leave him in the field with no halter. when i went to catch him he immediately turned away from me so i gave him a good smack in the hind with the lead and forced him around... 1.5 hours of walking him down and he settled... but i think his issue was just boredom from not being worked alot this week... 

so the next day when i went to catch him he was fine walked towards me stopped about 2 feet away and let me come to him. and wa-la i haltered my horse without any aggression. slow and steady and i might be able to actually have him comfortable being caught in the field..


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

yay for denny he came right to me today to be haltered. and we did a nice grooming and tacked up and did some basic saddle work. practice bending, backing up, walk trot transitions, stop and stand still, mount from the ground without taking any steps forward, pciking up the proper lead etc etc..and he did amazing. i have never had him work so well with just me without a trainer around... and to top it off he didn't call out once for the other horses!!!

well now that i just jinked myself i hope you are happy with the big step we have so far made with eachother. off for another lesson tomorrow morning to get my but in gear since denny seems to be progressing more then me...ahhh the horror


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

You two are rockin' it!!!!!!!!!! 

SO happy for you both!!! What amazing progress, woo!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

well its been awhile since i updated everyones progress or lack there of..

well lets start off with bailey.
he has gained a small amount of weight in a short time with this new feed.. nothing substantial yet to jump up and down about but enough to think there is still hope. 
as for his dehydration well his urine is not as cloudy but is still kinda dark. he is being a picky horse like usual lol. he loves cold water so we have been freezing large milk containers with water and putting them in the troughs. the horses seem to enjoy playing with it and drinking the cold water that surrounds it.. so plus there except now they are putting there front legs into the troughs to play... which equals mess water  silly horses

now as for denny..
still making progress. as for the haltering and catching in the field we have made a huge turn around. still not at the point where i can ask anyone else to get him but he is getting better for me. what used to take 45 min to an hour or longer with charging involved has turned into 5to 10 minutes or get after him and easy halter right up. no more do i have to keep a halter on him 24/7. thank god

however yesterday he did try to revert back to his old ways of kicking at me and charging and i got after him hard. luckily my mom was down by the horses with me. so i went in with just a crop and halter like usual and when he turned i made him walk off. after a few circles around me he thru a kick in my direction and i thru the halter at his hind and hit the crop on my boots at the same time so it made a huge noise at the same time. and he took off. after a few more laps no more then 3 minutes he gave in and came right to me when i let him and haltered him right up. he is making slow progress but it is a lot better then before.

as for training with him. he is not the best cutter(sp) he does it well enough to be a ranch horse but not well enough to compete. lol which alright with me  he is learning something new to keep his brain stimulated.

now i will bring jessie into the mix...
he is techincally my youngest sisters horse. she stopped riding him a long time ago after her accident with denny. well after 4 lessons she asked me if i would ask pete to evaluate him and see if he thought jessie and moira would make a suitable riding pair. well 10 minutes of evaluation and me filling in pete about his background pete thought after a nice lunge session he would be ready for a rider so he put him on him and he was great listening to everything like usual. so then we put my sister on him and he was amazing with her. they have a way better relationship then i have with jessie and it truly looked like majic watching them work together. she had the biggest smile on her face. it was like an old memory and all her hopes and dreams for jessie and her came rushng back. so it looks like i lost a horse..cant say i am to upset lol it will give me more time with denny 

as for mommy and her lessons.she is doing great. she learned how to tack up the lesson horse she uses so she can now start taking on more and more. she even started working on sitting the jog. she is lucky the lesson horse she uses has a slow slow slow jog and is very easy to sit. but she always comes off the horse smiling which is a great thing 

so i am now say i am part of a horse family and not the only horse crazy person in my family...and it feels great we have something else to talk about and they are starting to get the lingo so i dont have to explain everyhting lol


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

That's wonderful about Jessie!!

And your mom and sis are horse lovers now


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks sky


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

IT WAS A LONG WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!
Lets start with Saturday we had the farrier come at 8am, the nutritionist come at 1:15pm and in between cleaning for the surprise party we were hosting on Sunday for my 85 yo nana (Grandma)
Saturday was a long day from 7am-11pm with no nap L but I made it through J 
My mom was stressing like always before any party hosts and was nice enough to let me and my sister moira have a few hours off late in the afternoon to go for a short ride since we didn’t have lessons today. 
We started off by catching our mounts, not me catching our mounts!! Which was very nice I must say; I had more time to focus on denny and rewarding the positive and getting after him for the negative. (also note reward for catching is his head being scratched 3 times then being left alone) 
So we walk our horses out of the field and tie them to hitching post. We then gave a quick grooming and saddled them up. I didn’t saddle Jessie up for my sister but instead helped her learn how to do it. Even showed her how to do up his cinch so she can do it herself if need be. And instead of riding him in the hackamore she just used a halter. I had denny all decked out in his headstall lol. 
We then strolled to the round pen where I watch moira and Jessie practice the basics. Stand still for mounting, walk around, stop, turn right and left, and bend both directions. After that I made her continue walking in the round pen while I entered and mounted denny, who stood like a champ and waited for me to give him the cue to walk on. We did the same basics to test if we had there heads and attention then headed out to the trail-or should I say corn field with the tractors lane to go for a short trail ride. 
The both we eager to get out and explore but weren’t nutty!! No pulling to walk faster but they also weren’t lingering and plodding along. Eventually I stopped leading and told moira to lead with Jessie so she would actually have to work on controlling him. And she did wonderful. After a good warm up she pushed Jessie into a slow twh gait and I put denny into a jog and they almost matched eachothers pace thank goodness lol. And the horses seemed happy to let loose a bit and they still weren’t pushing to go faster or be lazy and stop.
We made it to our destination and there was a log I wanted denny to walk over. He has walked over this log before and thought it would be a quick.. well not so much. It turned into a little schooling session of going over the log etc etc took longer than I thought. Once he did it willingly we turned back and headed for home. 
Well by this time the sun was down and it was getting darker and darker. The horses handled it like champs. When we made it to the driveway of the farmers the horses started to pick up speed so we had to bend them to make them stop rushing. They got the point and walked back nicely.
We untacked and officially had my first night ride with my sister. And Jessie handled the dark like a champ and totally relied on moira’s direction J
so you would think with the good luck we had the night before Sunday would continue with more good luck… never that simple!!!
Well before the party no one asked if I would give pony rides. Thank goodness I think I am scott free on that!!! Then the party starts at 2pm. Everyone arrives at 130pm and then nana and my cousin arrive at 2pm for the surprise. After everyone does the greeting and everyone settles down into talking and hanging out we take the kids out to play and mom gets food out to eat around 4pm. Well dinner starts and everyone is eating when all of sudden my aunt suzie asks if her sons can ride one of the horses. Neither son is over the age 4 and the oldest is spoiled rotten. So spoiled he cant walk well because people always pick him up instead of letting him walk!! Its really frustrating. Anywho the oldest son Alex is terrified of the horses and the younger son ben is an absolute dare devil being only 2 and is just the happiest kid and he is not spoiled. The parents always blame him for alex being unhappy which is very sad because Alex will grow up to be useless and ben will succeed.
So after she asks my mom actually chimes in and says kait has the horses in training and I don’t want to ruin the hardwork she has put in so I don’t think it’s a good idea to ride them. But we can all go down there and pet them . now before the lessons my mom would never have said any of this.

So the plus of the weekend-
1. My mom now understands why I don’t like people riding my horse
2. Me and my sister had a great evening/night ride


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

YAY lots of things to update 

Jessie

now officially comfortable in the trailer. this is what we do to help him get in 

since he is lighter then denny he gets loaded on the right side. we pull center divider to the left to open the entrance to trailer to twice the room for him to get in comfortably without having him crash into anything.

once he is in we push divider back towards the center and ask him to step over. which he does nicely. then hook up buttbar. 

once buttbar is attached we hook him to the trailer tie and also tie is lead to tie hook.

then shake the hay net so he can see it and he immediately starts to eat. generally he will poop once the buttbar is closed and we are tying the trailer tie and lead :0

As for denny and trailers he is just perfect with only one more thing to work on. once jessie is in and secured i walk denny through and he will follow me on to trailer. i pull his lead through the tie loop only a bit so if he pulls he feels pressue and stops. walk around and do the buttbar. then go back and tie him up. 

the only thing now to work on is point and load so no more walking around with denny.

as for unloading -

jessie must unload first. if not he will try and turn around in a 2 horse trailer which is almost impossible in my trailer to accomplish. to unload we started off with one person being at his head the other in the back . undo the the ties and have lead thrown over neck. person in front holds halter to keep him from rushing back. then the person in the back undos the buttbar and grabs his tail and pulls it alittle at the same time as person in front encourages him to back up. 
then when he is out grab lead and wala unloaded horse.

well this weekend was the first time jessie unloaded just by tail pressure and no one in front and he did awesome. was fully aware of me and/or my sister talking to him and just looked like a pro unloading.

as for denny he was just a s great to unload my sister constantly tells me i cant wait for jessie to be that easy but with time he will be. i have a 4 step process for unloading denny.
1. untie trailer tie and lead. throw lead over neck. 
2. got the back undo buttbar
3. pull on tail lightly and say back
4. when out grab lead and finished.

takes me all of 2 minutes to load and unload denny and jessie is starting to get just as good  can't wait


as for standing next to the trailer thats a different story...
denny will stand next to trailer perfectly if a horse is near him or not. but add a horse walking by or in eyesight he is all prancy trying to see them and just being a nut job ;p 

jessie just is unsure of what to do when tied to trailer so he constantly moves whether a horse is in sight or not, or next to him or not. so we have that to work on to. has gotten a bit better but nothing perfect. 

as for riding wise. my sister and jessie are constantly making improvements. it is so nice to see her riding again and actually having fun. its so hard to explain but these two together have something i could only wish to have with denny ( and probably will never have with him) 

at there lesson this weekend i couldn't stop smiling at them. they have come a long way in 3 weeks. from a girl who wouldn't get on her horse to a girl who has officially sat her first walking horse(Trot) pace after walk...since her accident 5 years ago. the nervous look on her face when the trainer told her to ask for the next gait was priceless. she put on her determined face and asked for it. jessie immediately took off in the right gait and moira all of sudden had the biggest smile on her face. he feet fell out of the stirrups and she sat the gait like it was something they do all the time. when she stopped and went back to a walk. she looked right at me and i new right from there this girl will never get off a horse again. 

she was so proud of herself and i was so proud of her we stopped at mcdonalds on our way home (its her favorite treat food ) and got her some food. for the first time i actually wish i had videotaped her lesson. the sheer horror to sheer amazment could all be seen in her eyes and you knew jessie was ready to take her to the sky if thats what she asked. the are two peas in a pod and i dont think they will ever be seperated 

as for denny's lesson he was a bit buddy sour to begin with but then started to listen after some bending punishments were put into place. once he listened we went to the big arena and practiced jogging him the whole circumfrence of the arena. and i usually cant sit his trot but his jog was so easy to sit that i didnt have one issue staying in proper form. but getting him to listen to my leg aids was a nightmare... so we might have to move up to spurs.

i also have officially gotten him to do the following just off of my seat..which was only 50/50 reliablel before this trianer...
stop, back up, turn right and left, pick up different leads, flying lead change, move ribs, move shoulders, move hind and a few more that i am missing.. 

but the most i am proud of is his stop!!! i have been practicing the stop at walk, jog, and trot. and it has been going great. he practically stops on a dime. and this past weekend we tried it a canter and i may say he stops but i am not used to the abrupt stop and almost came off of him he reacted so fast. so i must say i am almost ready for the rollback once i get better at handling his stops. but i am so excited. 

then to add to my happiness i am entered in 3 trail challenges with one of my trainers boarders. and we are going to test the water with our horses  

wish us luck. 

ps bailey had the visit with the nutrionalist to come see denny. he is on sentinel ls performance 6lbs-10lbs a day plus the new field we opened for grazing. in a matter of a 2 weeks he has already shown huge improvement.

his hips are becoming round and are not sunken in as much. his energy level is picking up but not to where he is hot or unmanageable. my mom and little sister are still able to catch, lead and groom him without him getting excited or spooky or reactive. with his increase of energy i am taking it as a sign he is ready to have some training put on him.. not saddle training but ground work stuff that i or my mom or sister can do. 

so this week starts light densensitizing walking over poles, tarp. bags, balloons, etc

and he will also have his first chiro work tmw 7/31 so hopefully we will see a difference in his hind movements. i will work him tonight in the round pen and videotape it and the day after his chiro work to see if he gets better movement.

if i havent mentioned it before his left hind just seems off. it looks like he is throwing his leg out and around and he is very uncomfortable making tight turns where he has to use that side to pivot. he also cant hold his weight that leg when picking out the other hind leg. so once weight is gained, and some chiro work is done i am hoping to have a fully functional back end on this cute arabian.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Yay good news.. except about his hind being off :/

Any ideas on what is causing that?


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks sky 

the chiro just finished with bailey and the idea is the bones and muscles around the scrantum(sp) near the tail is causing pain in his stifle or his stifle is causing pain in his scrantum (sp). hard to tell which is causing what with the lack of the muscle and weight.

but the good news is ... its been about 2 weeks give or take on the new food and he has gained a good amount of weight. nothing crazy but enough to change his temperment to a more energetic horse  so i think he is on the mend finally!! :


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

after mondays attempt for my sister to work her horse alone failed i helped her out tuesday evening (last night) and was going over the basics. 

i asked her to catch jessie in the field which is easy, considerign he walks right up to anyone!!  so she led him out and up to the roundpen. i stood in the middle with the lunge whip and demonstrated how she should free lunge/work him in the roundpen. after a few rounds he started to move his hind in towards my direction as if he was going to kick out. so i noticed that and quickly romped him on the butt and got him going again. everytime i turned him he also turned away from me. so we kept up our circles and turns until he started to turn inside and put his hind towards the rail. at that time i tacked him up and went to mount. he started to get jiggy and move around when i was mounting. so we spent a good 7 minutes practicing standing and mounting and waiting for my cue to take off. then rode him in the three walker gaits equivalent to w/t/c. he was so graceful and amazing to ride. i then let my sister get on and work him in all gaits and let her move in her own pace and she did fine. she needs to be more confident and tell jessie what to do rather then him telling her what to do. but not in a totally disrespectfully way. it took her a little while to get him to stand still to be mounted but it was more of her needing to get him a position to prepare for mounting. but that will come with time.

after they finished we let our nephew on jessie while my sister cool walked him. and then gave him a quick shower to clean off before letting him out to the field.

then i took denny into the round pen and worked him on a free lunge/round pen with lunge whip in one hand and the lead in the other. now i was surprised i had no fear of this horse. were as a few months ago if i asked this horse to do anything he would have turned and charged me. however i am not saying he is completely respectful but we are getting there.

so a few circles later i turn him, then a few cirlcles turn him again. etc etc shortening the circles to incourage more turns. well eventually he kicks in my direction but i was not close enough to hit him. so i threw the lead line at his hind and used the whip to get him to move off at a faster speed. eventually slowed him down when he tried lowering his head and chewing. and then kciked towards me again. this time i was positionsed close enough to hit him in the hinf with the lunge whip and did. and sent him off running. after that had no problems with him. a few more circles then stopped and had him following me like a baby.
saddled him up and practiced our walk and jog transitions and moving hindquarters. wasn't so pretty so i stopped because i kept letting him get free in the front. so i quit after i got one good one on each side and left it at that.

hopefully this weekend wont be to crazy. i am going to ride denny and one of my trianers horses to give me an idea of what i certain moves actually feel like so i know what to look for when working with denny. 

on top of that one of my trainers boarders has asked me to join her on a trail challenge. i am so excited!! but i am nervous since her horse used to be a dangerous rearer. whether being lead or ridden.she hasn't reared in over 2 years other than small rears/crowhops. but since the boarder who we will call missy really babies this horse (Which is something this horse should not be) she loses her confidence very quickly when she starts to act up. so i have been given permission to learn how to ride the horse and learn its movements/personality while the trainer and boarder are around. so in the case we are at the event and the horse acts up and missy is to scared to get on her. i will get on her and work her for missy.

missy also has my permission to ride denny. the trainer thinks denny will be easier for missy to handle in a more crazy environment such as an event. so if she feels her horse is to strong i will ride her and she can ride my guy.

so hopefully this doesn't back fire. i have already talked with the trainer and missy and have them and myself sign a liability waiver stating basically we are at risk and on our own if we are injuried by the others horse. so hopefully this horse wont go nuts and revert back :/


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

ooh wow denny really surprised me today and lets just say it was a good really good surprise 

well after our ride in the round pen to make sure he was focused on me we set out to go work in the big arena. well he did fabulous but that is not where he surprised me... it was after i had untacked him and brought him to the wash rack where he surprised me.

i was hosing him off and getting all the sweat out. then decided to give his tail a full wash since it was all tangled. so i braided his tail and noticed while i was doing it that denny kept trying to swat his privates. 

so i took fly spray to him and thought wa la it should be better right...well he then dropped his junk and peed and when he fiished he left it out. so i took it as he wanted his sheath cleaned. so i grabbed it and cleaned it out. 

he did not show one sign of aggresssion!! instead he turned his head and looked at me like oh yes please get it out it hurts. when i got it out he started prancing a bit i stopped that. but i didnt need sedation to clean it.. i was shocked!!!!

well do you think anyone believed me?? nope so i had to prove it to them. well he stood fine for me again when i pretended to go for a bean. not one inch of movement from him. i was shocked!!!! again and so were my bystanders lol


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

another fabulous weekend 

denny has made huge improvements with being caught and the little issue i am still having is my own confidence. i will not just walk up to him and put a halter on him even though i know he is ready for it. i still go in head towards him and push him away from me. i make him walk away from me and turn his shoulder once before i stop him and then go to him and put the halter on. i just feel alittle safer knowing i can get him to move his feet and listen to me before i even attempt to catch him. but he is still not ready for anyone else in the family to catch. he still tries to test them and no one is ready to step up and try to be the boss. which after our history with him i dont blame them! but my family is so proud that i have gotten him this far after all the years of trying to get him back to the mannered he was before we sold him.

but on to the next great thing. after last weeks lesson of him him not acknowledging my legs we (trainer and i) decided to use spurs to get him to soften the cues again. he went great with the spurs. we were not all yeehaw kick him in the ribs. we slowly introduced him to the feeling of the spurs when standing still then introduced them at the walk and so forth. we did not use the spurs to encourage forward movement!! but instead used them to help him realize i was putting pressure to move his hind or shoulders to move his ribs. and he is way better on his left then right but we have something to work on until our next lesson.

we also pushed him from the jog we have been working on (not the trot) to the lope (not the canter) and he did amazing on his first transition. i put him on his right lead to take off and it felt like he was going to do his spunky kick but instead all he was doing was moving his hind under himself which was really nice to feel him do at that speed. when we switched directions though for some reason i could not figure out where his feet were and could not get him to pick up the right lead to lope so he kept picking up his left lead and ouch was that uncomfortable. so i will have to work on figuring out his feet when working in the opposite direction. 

cant wait for our next ride. which also reminds me we wil be finishing up his hobble training and working on ground tying some more before we go to a trail challenge  cant wait


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

riding 3 horses in one day for two hours each was probably not smart but i will say the burn (not pain) is actually making me feel like i accomplished alot.

plus riding in my new saddle might have helped keep me from having a sore bum  it has such a cushioned seat it unlike my old saddles so i dont feel like my butt bones are rubbing directly on the saddle.

as for the riding it was actually a very accomplishing day. my sister is at lake george with the rest of my family so i rode her horse (jessie), denny and took a lesson on one of my trainers horses. we started with jessie since he was going to be more of a pleasure ride in the arena and just get him worked. but it turned into a little schooling session on his right side. my sister has been letting him get away with not turning to his blind side so i spent 2 hours working on that :/ 

then since its been so many years since riding a horse who actually new what to do i decided to take a lesson on my trainers horse. absolutely a goodie a 21 years young gelding who loves to cut. well he taught me alot of stuff i had forgotten  thankfully 
at the end of the lesson for the fun of it i worked on the mechanical cow and it had been 2 years since he saw a mechanical cow. and when he saw it move it was like omg its going to eat me lol so i actually had the opporunity to retrain him to be comfortable with the cow. after about 15 minutes he was working the cow like he had done it for years. it was amazing to feel the power under me.
the big breakthrough though with this lesson was that i realized what i am afraid of. when i pushed for the lope and felt the power coming from the hind and the horse working so softly on his front and had his head practically dropping to the ground and bringing it back up. the last time i felt that power was with denny right before he bucked. i focused so much on the horses head i didnt pay attention to where we were going. eventually we worked on eye control and getting over the fear.

so when i finished with him i worked denny. he was a really hot so when i put the new saddle on him i decided to free work him in the roundpen. thankfully i did because he started to buck on the rail and i had nothing on me other than my water bottle so i threw that at his hind and chased him off even more after that he turned into a doll. i started with my spurs and half way thru the lesson i took the spurs off and he responded at the lights touch. i worked him into the canter and all the work i put into my trainers horse came through when i worked with denny. i didnt focus on his head when we cantered and just relaxed and trusted him. it was so nice. 

yea to a busy weekend 

ps i took our new piglet for a walk and he was so frickin adorable... i have to stop getting attached lol and remember he will be food eventually :/


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

HOLY MOLY HUGE BREAK THROUGH AGAIN BUT THIS TIME FOR ME 

trying to keep my cool when catching denny and man i feel a hundred times better.

i went to catch him saturday and for the first time he trotted towards me. ears pricked forward no aggression whatsoever!! i held up my hand and he went to a walk and nicely walked right to me.

my horse actually wanted to be with me. he left the mares side to be with me!!! i know this sounds so corny and very teenager but after everything i have been through with him this is a huge deal. and i don't mean like oh my gawd my poneh wuvs me... i mean like oh my god my horse acknowledges me as someone in his herd and respects that. 

well enough about me, now for the updates:

Bailey now is finally filling out in his hips and has most of ribs covered we are down to 2 ribs. he is getting spunky and i can't wait for him to be up to weight to work with him more. 

we had our second ground work session this weekend since he was full of himself. he had trouble loading originally but i kept at it. he would walk in then back out then walk in back out and everytime he backed out we did a lunge session. then on the third try he walked in and stood and relaxed. he is such a kid. he made the biggest sigh of relief every when he finally got all the way in there. silly boy momma knows best, so listen the first time  

we then headed to petes and worked on teaching him to dissengage certain parts so that he could move better. then we taught him to give to body pressure. he was doing so great that by the end of the session i pushed it a little.

i went to the steps and was petting his inside shoulder, then his back, then leaned over him and rubbed his outside shoulder and ribs. then laid on his back and continued petting his shoulders. after 30 seconds manuvered myself to his hind and slide off his butt. he didn't even flinch. god he will be great when he gets his weight fully up and developed into muscle.


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denny-

well he is a champ when it comes to trailering. he walks right in and backs out just by pointing and giving alittle tail pressure. 

as for his lesson this week. we did bareback. and man did that go great except for being in the trot. you ask me to walk or canter or gallop him i can stay centered and balanced on the straight and on tight turns. you ask me to trot and stay balance and do anything more then going straight and its like i have never trotted a horse before. it was horrible. but he was lovely, head down, staying collected and in frame and i could find every part of his body when i was movign him, and i could make his body move any way i wanted. we were literally 1 instead of being 2 just put together.
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jessie and moira(my sister) have been at a stand still lately. she is scared of hurting him and he is willing to take advantage of that. so the night before her lesson i have to get on him and ride him and refresh his manners. and then before her ride the next day she has to lunge him and get him in the right mindset before she gets on.

but he is doing swell as well. me and my sister took him and denny down the road for a trail ride and denny was great. jessie every so often tried being the one who thought and made decisions so... me and my sister switched horses (which is a huge deal considering she is terrified of denny) and i gave jessie a nice come to jesus moment to listen to his rider. and when i was done my sister was having a blast with denny taking him whereever she wanted without any hestiation. so she kept riding denny and i kept jessie. by the end of the ride my sister actually said she liked denny...

i know can you believe it- someone other then me loves denny 
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well on that note hope everyone is enjoying there four legged friends


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

DENNY WENT INTO PROPER FRAME AND COLLECTION THIS WEEKEND!!!

it was AMAZING!!!!!

firstly denny has been working so well lately and my trainer wanted to really push him this weekend to get into frame and collect himself properly. he has been doing this for short periods of time after being worked but we wanted him to start out right fromthe getgo this lesson.

so once on him i collected the reins and dissengaged his front end. it was somewhat a miss signal as it was very similiar to the backing up command but not. so instinctively he backed up without me giving any leg cues.
so i held the pressure of the reins until he settled and stopped moving his legs and gave his head to the pressure of the reins. now i/we were not going for a crazy headset. but one that he tucks his head at a comfortable spot and can collect himself underneath and work from the hind. 

note : he is a western horse but with his body build he can not have a typical western headset but can have a english headset but not where his head is tucked to his chin but where it has a nice bend and allows for proper movement. 

after he gathered himself into frame he got lots of good boys and pats on his shoulder. we stood there and let him sink it in. then we moved out in a walk for one circle keeping proper frame and then stopped in frame then i loosened the reins and let him relax while we were stopped. then after a 5 minute sit/break i gathered the reins again and he instantly went into frame without having to do the back up craziness again. which was nice.

by the end of the seession i had him in proper frame, collecting him to work each individual body part as i saw fit. then after working him in the walk for 45 minutes i gave up for the day as he held in proper frame the whole time and i did not want to push it with him since we had worked from the beginning in frame and was using his muscles the whole time.

the next day when i rode him it was like magic!! He gathered himself up into frame before we walked away from mounting block and then went on a nice trail ride where he was working like a charm. 

i wish he wasn't so lazy but man do i love him


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