What Happened to the Horses?

Oh man, it was an AMAZING day today. For me. :)

Moosey was in a SUPER good mood, so I even tried playing games while having the 22' around his neck and no halter. I decided that we weren't quite ready for that yet, but he gave a nice effort!

And to put things in perspective for you, I even sat on Moosey today for the first time since we bought him. That's how good he was! And I don't even know what made him so good. . . unless changing the obstacles in our pasture really had that much of an impact on him, lol. It just seemed that he was happy being with me today! And LB, too!

But yeah, I guess that sums up what he thought of yesterday. I would grade myself a big A+, which is quite a relief.

On the contrary (and quite to my amazement), Bella was being a little (big) BRAT today! I mean, calm, loving, friendly, "pet me pet me" Bella tried to bite Mom! We were astonished!

Personally, I still like my theory that someone switched Bella and Moose's brains for a day. Because seriously, that was what happened: Moose was EXTREMELY friendly, loving, cuddly, LB, just a lovely character to be around. I mean, he even had TOO MUCH draw!!! I thought I'd never see the day. . . today, I could barely get him to do a circle, because he kept coming in -normally, me and 3 elephants can't make him come in.

Now, Bella was being the opposite! She had NO draw (for her, that's like saying the sun doesn't shine in Hawaii), was throwing tantrums, and was over-reactive! Well, Mom is usually passive and today she acted like a leader, so "how interesting" that today is the day Bella is sassy! I guess she isn't such an angel after all, silly girl.

Overall, I had a very nice day, I hung out/played with Moose for a long time today. We'll just have to see if today was a freak of nature or if I'm actually more savvy than I thought. And it'll be interesting to know how Bella acts tomorrow.

Confuzzling Day

Horses are so ridiculous! I played with Moosey today, it was good overall. It didn't start out very well, though. I decided to use the 22' line today, since I haven't used it for a month or two. Apparently, having that extra rope says to my predator side "Make that horse move," because Moose started having lots of opposition, and then just ran off. Since he seemed to be on adrenaline, I decided to really make him use it this time. We did Falling Leaf all over the pasture, and he even worked up a sweat (silly, out-of-shape pony)!

I wasn't sure if he had calmed down completely yet, so I let him in to check. He seemed fine, since he came off adrenaline a little bit. I let him get a drink then, too. I thought about ending the session right there - I was starting to feel frustrated again, because of this darn adrenaline thing - but changed my mind. I figured we should do one more thing first. Just then, my mom walked up. I talked to her for a few minutes, and observed that Moose looked LB! And that means that I was actually doing things right, which halted the frustration in its tracks.

Next, I tried Stick to Me. We haven't done it in a while, and I needed something to do, so what the heck? It went AMAZING! I was so impressed, because as soon as he understood he was supposed to stay near me, he did superb!! We walked and trotted around together like we were joined at the hip. So proud of my man! :)

But I'm not going to get too hyped up yet. I need to see Moose's reaction to me tomorrow, since it's his opinion that counts, after all. My fingers are crossed. . .

Go spring!

I had a nice day today. It was a little windy, but the weather wasn't too bad. I mostly futzed around today, and played with things that are on a list of mine titled "To Do . . . Whenever I Get Around To It." I didn't have anything else better to do today, so I decided to go right off and try a few things on there. Besides, it dawned on me that if I want these things done, I have to actually do them. Like soon. Or they won't ever get done. So, it was nice to actually start fixing some of those issues. Specifically, I focused on herdboundness today.

I haven't posted much lately, namely due to the fact that I've been VERY frustrated with myself/Moose lately. It just seemed like progress had come to a dead stop, and I wasn't getting much out of our play. Now that I look back on it, I was more or less direct line (poor Moose), but hey. . . I wanted that Level 1 string, you know!! Well, it finally dawned on me that maybe if my horse wasn't doing a Figure 8 well, I should go try something else instead of making him do it 100 more times just to get one 'good' lap. You can tell our relationship was my #1 priority then, can't you?

One more thing to add, I had my mom play with Moose a couple days ago. She was nervous, and hence very passive with him, but not too bad. The issues she had with him were some of the same one's I am having. The only major thing I noticed was that I don't think he ever went on adrenaline the whole time she played with him. Now, that could be because she was being very passive, or because she just plain wasn't on adrenaline. . . Just something to ponder.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

You've done it before. Almost everyone has in one form or another. Say you're putting a a puzzle together, and you have it all finished except for 2 spots left. After looking at the remaining pieces, you realize that you only have 1 piece left. Oh boy!

Or let's say you're shopping at your favorite store. You just checked out all your merchandise, and head out of the store. Upon reaching your care, you find that you lost your keys! Time for emotional fitness.

Well, of course not having something that you need stinks, but at least in these scenarios you find out exactly what you're missing pretty quickly! Because I can't say this is exactly 'quick' on my part, and poor Moose will be receiving lots of hugs/carrots because of it. The 'it' I'm referring to is that I realized 2 days ago that I had forgotten that slow and right beats fast and wrong, REWARDING the slightest try, and just simply NOT BEING DIRECT-LINED!!!

And god, this whole thing completely BLIND-SIDED me! It's almost embarrassing. . . I mean, it couldn't have been LESS subtle than someone slapping me in the face and saying "NO, you're wrong!" Because I didn't even realize all this until I was watching my trainer Vicky and her daughter play with their horses.

Experience 1: Vicky was playing with 2 jugs tied together on a 3 foot long(ish) string. She was playing with a horse named Casey who is fairly advanced. Well, Casey was a little concerned about the jugs being over her back, so Vicky just waited until she licked her lips. It didn't take too long, 5 minutes or so. But once she did, she took the toy off of her. And put it away!! She even said that since her horse was concerned, she stopped once she thought about it, because she wants Kasey to have a good experience with the toy.

Eek, here I am sheepishly reminded of a time about a month ago when I got a sudden notion to play with the carrot stick and flag. I tried unsuccessfully to play Friendly with it, and Moose was okay, but barely. For one thing, he hated it around his ears, and had lots of opposition reflex (though that's kind of the norm for him). But yeah, I kept working with it for 2 WHOLE HOURS. *Hits hand against head* Silly, silly me. Way to convince my horse I'm not direct-lined, lol.

Yet another thing that blew my mind was that Vicky's daughter Alyssa rewarded her horse so often. She was playing with a green as grass 2 year old named Goliath. Well, I think I've been so focused lately, because I haven't verbally rewarded Moose in ages!! I have rewarded him, don't get me wrong, but it makes me wonder if I shouldn't be making it more obvious when I reward him. See, I haven't thrown a party, per se, for him doing the right thing in ages.

Also, it dawned on me that I'm trying to run before I can walk, in more ways than one. For starters, we've been having an issue trotting on line calmly. I discussed it with Vicky, and she said to just start out asking for as little as 2 steps of trot and then praise him. DUH Erica!! Lol.

Ah, well. *Steps down from soapbox* All in all, I think 'working' at Vicky's is going to do wonders for me. Heck, I already had like a 5 BFO's from just this night, and that's only one day!! I think I'm going to be immune to BFO's by the end of summer, lol.

And just a random tip I heard today. Take your horse with you places. Got to clean the barn? Take your horse with! Need to sweep some spiderwebs? Bring your horse along! I couldn't give you the scientific rationale on why that helps, but Vicky said it's something that the old cowboys used to do to help bring up their youngsters. Sounds like an interesting idea!

The Adventures of Mr. And Mrs. Brain

To say the least, the horses and I have had some interesting experiences this week.

For starters, on either Monday or Tuesday Moosey cut himself on his face. So, I haven't been playing with him on line due to the cut being close to where the halter would sit. I probably could play with him if I wanted, but I'd prefer to take the safe route and let it heal for a little while. Because of this, I am trying to play with either Dancer or Bella instead.

Yesterday, I picked Dancer. Suprisingly enough, she actually let me halter her without walking away. Though, she had her ears back the whole time. Since I didn't want to push my luck ( she hasn't let me halter her in FOREVER) once I had the halter on I just let her sit there and think about it. I brushed Moosey while I let her think. He was being extremely LB, which was just my luck, right? The day I can't/won't play with him is the day when he's the most confident. :) How ironic! Anyways, Dancer licked her lips twice so I took the halter off and called it a day.

Today, Moosey was the same: very very LB. He was in an even better mood, though. He was actually interested in me today, and followed me around a little bit. I admit I had a few bad feelings toward that cut, lol. But I decided to leave him and took out Mrs. Bella instead.

Now, here's the plot of the adventure: Bella was RB today!! And I'm positive she was this time. It was really windy out today and on windy days, Bella is usually on adrenaline. At first, I was just behind the barn with the horses, so I didn't know it was so windy. But after I haltered her up and walked over to our little obstacle area, she started staring at somewhere out of the pasture. And staring. And staring. And staring. . . and then I had a lightbulb moment: "Hey, she's not paying any attention to me . . . Omg, she's RB!" And as soon as I realized that her staring and not looking away was RB, I started interrupting the pattern. It went alright, I had to really pump up the volume a few times, but each time she would lick her lips afterwards and stare at me, so I took that as a good sign. (Besides, normally she takes forever to lick her lips. How interesting!) After she seemed reasonably left-brain again, I took her back behind the barn to take her halter off. She FINALLY started releasing adrenaline. It seemed like she must have been really keyed up.

On a considerably random ending note, I can't WAIT for Spring!!

Round-about/How things worked out

So, to conclude my interview I have exciting news. It went well, for starters, but actually I'm not working there. As a matter of fact, I was offered another job at my trainer's facility!! It's similar to an internship, but there is some paid aspects of it. For instance, I'm going to be helping with lessons, especially the younger kids.

But what's cool is that I'm also going to be helping train the training horses. I'm nowhere near qualified to actually train them, but if Vicky (my trainer) has them going pretty well on something, then I am allowed to help out. Also, there is the option of going to a few shows over the summer just to gain experience on that aspect of the horse world. Overall, I am VERY pleased with the way things worked out. The other internship/job would've been nice, but this one's WAY nicer.

For those that know, I'm currently trying to find a saddle to fit Moose, and we've discovered it's not as easy as it could be. He's got HUUUUGE withers, so we might have to buy a gaited saddle for him. Well, I decided I want a Theraflex, because I might as well make things as comfortable as can be for him. He does have sensitive skin, after all, and I'd like riding/saddling to be a positive experience for him.

So, for a little bragging moment here, you won't BELIEVE what I came across! Vicki knows someone who is selling their Western TheraFlex for $150!!!! So, I'm a bit excited there. That's exactly 50% of the asking price new, so I'd say that's a bargain alright. Done deal!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Anyone remember Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story? It seems like such a long time since I watched that movie. Ha, that was even on VHS!! Oh the horror!

But I have exciting news for you. I have an interview for a possible first 'job' this weekend. I might be working at a horse stable!! But it's not technically working, because this is actually an internship!! So, it's not paid, yet I'd be learning lots. I don't know a whole lot of details about it yet, because the ad was pretty general, but I know a few things.

For one, it's not a natural facility, but I'm not going to let that deter me until I see the actual facility and the treatment of the horses. Secondly, the facility is a show barn that shows in the AQHA circuit. They said they have quite a variety of horses there, from beginner-friendly to world champions. Going along with that, I'd get to go to shows! II don't usually go to many shows, because my family doesn't show. Maybe someday, but at the moment we're not NEAR ready, lol. If I get this 'job', then I'm going to gain lots of experience indeed!

My interview is on Sunday at 3, so I'll let you know more details on Monday or Tuesday sometime. Wish me good luck!!