Trot flag

I did a little bit of ground work with Dani today and played with an Italian flag in the wind.  She didn't seem to have an issue with it.  We'll work more with it attached to her at some point and me carrying it while on her back.

We also worked on the trot some more.  It was rough but it's been over a week since we last worked on it.  Consistency will help, I just need to get my butt up in the mornings early enough to ride the pony and still get home to do all the stuff I need to do at home!  Towards the end I did have a really good sitting trot round of circles.

Steering is still really loosy-goosy when it comes to the trot, another thing to work on.  I felt like I was off her mouth more today though and was working really hard to prevent pulling even when she suddenly decides to lurch into her quick speedy trot.  Overall it was a very good ride with her.  It was a wonderful day outside with just a little bit of wind, nothing like we've had the past couple of days.  This past week I only groomed her or had a farrier appointment when I headed to the barn so it was good to get some ride time.  It's slowly greening up so I'm ready to get that grazing muzzle out soon....ugh.

Turn that Rear Around

Dani was much calmer when I went out the next time.  I think her issues were with the new horse.  Still I want to get back into regular groundwork with her since it helps us both.  I worked her in the round pen on her long line at the trot.  I've noted that she doesn't turn into me as quickly on her off side so the long line worked well to help me alert her to me signal of stepping and backing.  She got much better.  I'll probably continue this a few times before a full on round pen exercise, I want to instill in her that as soon as I step to the side and back that she is to turn inwards on the circle.

After a about 10 minutes of round pen work I moved onto the turning on the forequarters/disengaging the hindquarters exercise.  The requirement for this exercise was to have her cross her hind leg over her other hind leg and her front inside leg should remain in place, where she just pivots.  We started with one step, then two, then three then four etc.  It went well, I was very please with her.

The next disengaging of the hindquarters exercise is more of a salute.  You make a stalking type circle towards the horses hindquarters and tap with the stick in the air counting 1-4 to make them turn quickly and face you.  The first couple of times you have to whack the horse on the butt at the 4th count to get them to understand.  Then you rub them on the face and butt.  Then you ask again.  Dani learned it quickly at least with minimal whacks on her butt.

The I decide to grab a tumbleweed and attach it to the stick so I could make it "scary" in various places around the round pen.  Nothing phased her!  The tumbleweed crawled up her leg and onto her head.  It wiggled and quickly moved from where it was laying peacefully.  I tried to make it like a darting animal and Dani just blinked.  Really?  Now how am I gonna get her prepared for the real world killer tumbleweed if she doesn't even take this seriously?  

LOL.  Horses!

I Rode Dani at the Canter....

well.....not intentionally.  We were working on the trot and at one point I think Dani was sick of her fast trot that she went into the canter for a 6 strides before I got her back to a trot.  At least I know her canter is smooth to ride.  Still BAD GIRL!!!  

Saturday was a day of working on the trot.  I did more lengthy bouts of trotting.  We worked pretty hard and then went to ride across the street at the school for a short cool down.  It was a tiring day but Dani and I did pretty good even if I felt frustrated at times.

Sunday I worked on more transitions with short bouts and slowing her to a walk when she sped up.  We also changed directions when she sped up.  I found it most helpful to do patterns like loose figure eights or serpentines.  The trot was much nicer that way.  We'll get there.  I also worked on making my posting less BIG.  That may be encouraging her to trot faster.  We'll have to see what works best in the long run and just keep trying.  It's always trial and error.

We kept it shorter today since I know she's not in the best shape and I don't want to be a drill sargeant.  We ended on a good note and then went for a ride around the property.  Dani was nervous with the wind in the pines but I moved her on with a pat and reassurance.

What the posts used to look like in the corner

The next terrorizing thing was what....a newer wood post.  Really?  I couldn't for the life of me determine what got her shaking so much.  She stopped several times and stared about 20 meters away.  Then she actually spun away.  I turned her hard back to the scary object.  She tried to move away again but I encouraged her forward.  I was a little shaken myself since she was so shaky and we were confined between rows of wire fencing.  What in the world my dear?  I quickly dismounted and led her up to the threatening post.  Eventually she breathed deep and started to graze.  I let her for a moment, then I got back on and continued down the trail.  We turned around after about 10 meters  and walked past the scary object....I want to say 6-7 times.  I knew she was getting bored and antsy to move on down the trail but back and forth, from both directions and from the area of her first scare, we walked and walked.  I decided to also bring her back past the scary pine trees.  She was fine.  Sometimes I just have no idea what horses see in their minds but the post is my only guess as to what caused her issue, we've walked past that corner MANY times.  Perhaps the trapped tumbleweed  looked like a monster but she sees both those things every day of her life!

What the new wood posts look like now, these are not actual pictures of the site
just an example.

Great article on how to work with a spooking horse  I feel we addressed it well enough.  Hopefully I can gain more courage to stay on but I felt it was best to just do it from the ground this time until she was relaxed and then ride her back and forth by the scary monster.

How silly ponies can be!

Trimmings

A few months after you trim the tree it's time to trim the pony!  I went out on Saturday, after we'd had some  warm days and some snow melting, to address her feet and overall coat.  After nearly two weeks blanketed I'm sure she was itchy like crazy!

Dani's fetlocks grow very fuzzy over the winter and due to all the mud and snow of early spring I want to keep her feet tidy to be able to treat any issues with scratches or mud fever.

I have a 4F blade which does a decent job but I think I need one just a little shorter to get her fetlocks looking ever more tidy. I'll have to go again in a couple weeks once I find the blade I need.  

Since this is a once of year thing I always make sure to desensitize her to the noise and vibration.  I start while standing near her and turn the blade on. We rest and she gets love and scratches. I then move it around and wiggle the extension cord too so she doesn't get freaked from that.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.

Then I start around the shoulder and work back to her rump and then back near the base of her chin to get her used to the sound closer.  We rest and she gets love and scratches. I also rub the clipper on her so she can feel the vibration.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.  Next I run down her legs and move the clipper all around her legs under her belly and also run my hands there too.  We rest and she gets love and scratches.

She's very calm about it, the only hint that she is paying attention is that her ears turn towards the noise.  Sometimes she even turns her head to look at me but with a calm look in her eyes.  I had trouble with her jaw line because of the halter.  I think I really need to just invest in a simple grooming halter or have a helper to retain her with a rope or something like that.  I missed some hairs but will go back when I do some shorter fetlock cuts.

I didn't do her ear this time since it was a long grooming session already.  She only has a tiny tuft sticking out at the bottom that I'll just trim with the scissors.  She does have some issues with the clippers up near her ear so I can work on her with that but I really find the scissors easiest for the tiny area of the ear.  Just FYI I NEVER trim inside the ear since that hair is there to protect from dirt and bugs!  My mare is starting to sleek up with her coat.  Within a month I'm sure she'll be silky as satin and shiny like crazy.  Love those summer coats!

Mom Comes to Visit Dani

My mom came out on Sunday to see Dani and I.  The snow had finally melted in most riding areas but there were still muddy patches.  I rode in the arena so my mom could hang out with us.  She'd had a knee surgery in the early summer and hasn't been doing as well as she'd hope.  She uses a cane and gets around quite well but I still provided a chair for her while I rode.

Dani and I are both out of practice with riding really.  This has been the first weekend in a long time I've had lots of pony time.  I haven't ridden a lot in November and December because of time and weather.  We had not trotted in a while either and after observing some of the footing in the arena I found some spots I was comfortable trotting my girl.  That is something we need to work on, the trot.  Rating her to have a nice medium trot is my goal.  She has a big trot, great for the carriage that she was trained on as a youngster.  Great for traveling many miles if we were to do that but I just want a nice little trot I can ride comfortably to and maybe someday even sit the trot.  She speeds up and then will overcompensate and go back to a walk when I try to rate her speed.  We just both need to work on it and I need to figure out just the right amount of pressure to slow her down but not SLOW her down.  Headset is another issue with the trot and I think will help with her pace too.  I don't need her in a perfect dressage frame but a little less hollowed out would be helpful.

Another thing that Dani seemed to do was anticipate.  The first place I asked her to trot she kept getting ready to trot there whenever we reached that area.  I tried to make sure I wasn't sending her any misguided cues.  I think a trot and walk and trot and walk session would be good for us.  My mother enjoyed watching us and seeing her Grand-horse.

Another minor issue I've been working on with Dani is the cinching.  I think there have been a couple times where I maybe tightened a little too fast and since Dani has always been cinchy this just increased her sensitivity.  I've worked with a little bit of "pressure and release" technique.  I would pull the girth under her and hold it until she stopped moving about, rinse and repeat.  I'm taking every step much slower.  We have to realize that sometimes we don't pay as much attention to how fast we do things around horses and they can be very sensitive to it.  She'll always have the issue I think but as long as I treat her softly and don't tighten too fast she is fine.  Don't know how I caused this little relapse since I've always taken my time and tightened several times over many minutes while tacking up but it only takes a little change to upset dear ponies.

I'm very glad that it doesn't take much to get Dani back where she needs to be with most issues.  I've been pleased with her and the mounting block.  If you all remember I've had issues in the past when I first got her.  One thing I'd like to really work on though is getting her to move to the block a little more.  Right now I get her next to it and then since it's movable I re-position it.  It's definitely better to mount that way for the horse since there is less torque on her back.  I still need to make sure I can get on normally so I'll have to switch it up sometimes in practice.  

Still very happy that my mare is compliant and sweet as always.  My mother spoiled her with an apple and then the silly pony was digging in her pockets the rest of the time.  I do warn people!  It was a great day to be out at the barn with the pony.  The days between weekends are so long with not being able to see her.  The time change is coming up though!!  Can't wait!!

Catching Some Pony Time

I went out to the barn on Saturday.  I think Dani ran around the round pen 5 times before I received a call that I needed to be activated for my job.  Ugh.  Sucks working on your "day off".  It was a gorgeous day so even sadder that I had to leave.  The following Sunday was a little colder and chilly but I was determined to get some pony time in.  I tacked her up and rode around the property.

Dani seemed more alert, she looked around and snorted at a couple of things.  She even started at some tumbleweeds.  Luckily when she shies it's not too big and she'll more willingly take a look at the scary object with my assurances.  After our ride my little mare took a long drink of water and then.....

Tried to kiss me with her wet dripping lips!  Ewe!  Pony slobber!!!  I tried to get a picture of her tongue with my cell but they timing was never perfect.  Such a silly girl.  Look at her billy goat beard!!!  I miss seeing her during the week.  I can't wait until the days get longer and the time change occurs.  Lacking pony time!

Extreme Cowboy Association Clinic

(FYI none of these pictures are mine, they were posted by various members of KCRC who posted on the Facebook page!  Thank you!!)

The Extreme Cowboy Association hosts competitions where riders take their horses through a series of obstacles that show horsemanship, trust and refined aids in order to get the horse through the obstacle and in order to earn points.  This is Craig Cameron’s baby; he is the originator of the Extreme Cowboy Race.

This was a free clinic hosted at KCRC by the members that are actively involved in EXCA.  I’d never done EXCA so figured this would be an awesome introduction.  I was worried I’d have to run through the obstacles but I was told I could stay at a walk.  It was good to get Dani out and about with all the activity of other horses running around in the warm up arena.  I had to figure out how to tie Dani while we were corralled into the stands for a brief introduction.  I didn't bring my lead rope with me since I don’t have a place for it on the saddle and you should never tie a horse by the reins!!!

There's me below at the right playing with the rope.

Luckily being at KCRC I could run her back to her stall, tie her there with some hay and run back to get the briefing.  We then were broken into small groups of 3-5 to rotate through the obstacles.  Not all possible obstacles were set up just a good number and variety.  Dani and I were with two others, a couple on their two horses.  Our first obstacle was a rope and barrel.  You have to either rope the barrel, then trot around it; thereby wrapping the rope around it or you place the rope loop over the barrel and complete it that way.  We only got to the part of standing on the ground trying to learn to through the rope and rope a rock in the sand.  I was so not good at it but almost roped the sock at the end.  Again I was sans lead rope so I didn’t know how to secure Dani.  I unlatched the reins from her bit and clipped one end to her halter ring and then loosely tied her to the rail behind me.  Hoping she wouldn't do anything silly while sort of tied.  She was good though.  

Our next obstacle was a barrel with four poles at 90 degrees to each other.  The goal is to trot or canter around the outside once, change direction and then go at an equal distance around the barrel and over the poles twice in that direction.  We practiced at a walk.

After that we did the water hole.  The two horses with me didn’t like it at all and were balking at stepping in the water (puddle sharks live there don’t you know!).  Dani just looked down, sniffed and then walked through.  We also did the cowboy curtain which she’s been pretty regular about as I’ve done lots of ground training and in saddle training.   Then we hopped up the three levels of “jumps” on the side of the hill (hello two-point, long time no see!).  I’ve only done this with her in halter from the ground.  The tallest one is about 1.5 feet.  Going up that one I accidentally bopped my girl in the mouth.  I felt bad but next time was better about it and she was forgiving.  We also went down the obstacles.  Always scary going down!  I chickened out on the second step but did go down it at last.  No ready for the tallest one.  I can work on those and get the courage to hop up and down all of them.

The next obstacle was side passing over a poll.  Nope, I haven’t side passed yet so that’s something to work on.  Then we backed the turned through an L shaped pole obstacle.  Dani was good at backing and turning outside of the pole obstacle but when I asked at the obstacle she didn’t like it.  I practiced outside some more, perhaps I can work on that on my own too since I have access to those poles.

The next obstacle was a ground tie where you walk around your horse, distance from them means more points.  I didn’t go too far from her but was glad she stayed.  Good girl!  Then we had to do a turn on the hindquarters (kind of like a spin but not).  I haven’t worked with her on this at all so barely knew what I was doing and confused her a bit but she tried.  That’s what I love about her, she may get frustrated at trying to figure out what I’m asking but she has a lot of try.

The scary object was the tunnel of junk.  Plastic bags, jugs and other “trash” were set up between two fence panels and you had to move your horse through.  The first time Dani paused; not out of fear but what seemed to be interest in if there was a treat in one of the bags.  LOL.  We went through again and again.  So in love with my mare, the flapping didn’t bother her much.

Removing a bucket from a barrel, lowering it to the ground and then placing it back on the barrel was the next obstacle.  It made sounds and clinking.  I made sure to have it brush Dani a couple times on the side and I made extra noise with it on the ground.  She was solid.   Then we had the “mounting” block.  A table was set on 4 bales of straw….guess what….pony took a nibble.  Oh my goodness.  I could walk her around the obstacle but I couldn’t get her to sidle up to it in order for me to dismount.  At one point she thought I wanted her to step up on it but that wasn’t what I was asking.  Again, lateral movements that go with sliding up to an obstacle and staying near it in a straight line is a common movement (opening gates, checking mail etc.)

When we were done I did a little trotting in a circle and dismounted.  Lunch time!  I brought Dani back to her stall, untacked her and made sure she had some hay to nibble on.  Then I went for my pulled pork sandwich.  YUM!!!

After lunch we were going to run through the obstacles like a race.  This was going to take a long time as there were 30 something participants.  We waited and waited as people ran the course.  I was tired and my knees were hurting me.  I starting seeing dots so decided to call it quits and go take care of the pony, mucking, hay moving etc and then head home asap.  I wanted to get out of the heat and into a luke-warm bath.  We’d started the day at 8am and I left early at around 3 pm-ish.  Several days that week I’d been in the heat working on the trailer, I was done with hot.  It would have been nice to run the course but I just had to get out of the sun!

Anyways, I learned a ton and had a great time with my good girl. I'm so thankful to all the EXCA KCRC riders who volunteered their time to put this on for us!  What an awesome day!

Serene Sunday

Today was not so serene since there was a mounted shooting clinic at KCRC.   After working on the trailer most of the day, I walked Dani around the arena.  She was pretty spooked by each shot. Something to work on are loud noises!  She really doesn't like them!

Still she could have freaked out more than she did.  Mostly it was just shudders then quick movements away after she'd had enough but she didn't seem like she would bolt or buck.  I kept it short since I didn't want her to strain her still injured leg.

Stay tuned....I have trailer restoration posts coming up!

Utilize what you have

I like to work with Dani on desensitizing when I can. Recent articles from Clinton Anderson recommend to just use whatever you have. You don't have to get fancy or go to a special horse park to work on things. He worked a horse in circles around chairs and other objects found around his area. Sometimes horses can spook at the most normal things so why not use buckets in a random place or a saddle on a railing?

I found a large branch on the grounds so decided to take a few minutes and play with it. I tied some twine to one end and started leading Dani around with the loud wiggling branch trailing behind us. She was pretty nervous at first but then all you could see was that she was listening to it intently. I made sure to do this on both sides.

I then took the branch and moved it around by her side and even moved it over her body and legs. Then I placed the branch in front of her and reeled it in. Any horse dislikes and loud object approaching them! She did good though. Maybe one step back but she just looked at it.

Next I worked on having her back and the branch suddenly being moved, trying to mimic if I was dragging an item from the saddle. She backed well and without fear and stopped when asked.

After the 10 minutes or so we stopped. If you don't have a lot of time you can still do something in small bites and work with objects or situations you have. Work on backing for 5 minutes, walk through an obstacle, work on sending the horse into and area and back out (like a stall or wash rack) Just be creative!

I may not have ridden much lately because of time, crashing my car (nothing major thank goodness, more to come) and weather but I try to engage Dani in little bits when I can.

Veteran's Day Parade 2013

First I would like to start this post with a solemn than you.

Thank you Veterans for your sacrifice and service.  Our country is made stronger by you.  You deserve more honors than we can bestow upon you.

And though this is more for Memorial Day, my thoughts always go to a high school friend 

Sgt. Scott Kirkpatrick 

who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country to uphold  our American ideals.

Now onto our parade!  I joined the KCRC group on Saturday November 9th for the Colorado Springs Veteran's Day parade.  There were 96 entrants and KCRC was dead last.  So we did lots of waiting.  We arrived early downtown.  We had about 9 riders I think and then Loren and Julie's wagon pulled by the beautiful buckskin Angel.

I was signed up with Ann as a pooper scooper.  In Monument Marie and I pushed a wheel barrow for the manure.  In this parade....we had an ATV!!!  Ann didn't want to drive it so I drove and she sat "side saddle" in order to jump off during the parade for clean up.  Since I didn't have a horse to get ready I took pictures and helped Loren untangle the fringe on his horse wagon.

We gathered up and walked to the start of the parade and waited on a side street.  We waited, and waited and waited.  Horses pooped, Ann or I ran to clean up the pile.  Our bucket was beginning to fill and we hadn't even started the parade yet!  Angel was loving on her momma while we waited in the shade.  Below she was trying to find a cookie that Julie just ate and Julie was saying "All gone!"  The horses were a bit impatient just standing around so many of the riders walked them up and down the road.  

We headed over to where the parade was passing by....not the official start but at least we could listen to the bands and see the motorcycle groups (wow there are so many!) drive by.  The noise was loud and echoed downtown.  The horses were great!  Some were a bit irritated or scared but nothing major.  One of the club members mentioned he doesn't bring his guy to the larger down town parades.  His horse was freaked out by cars chasing him and revving their engines....so freaked out he backed up through the crowd.  I can understand why he's not a fan of the larger parades.

I knew Dani would be freaking at the really loud sounds from the parade.  She'd need a lot of work with desensitizing!  There are parade sound CD's you can buy and lots of other exercises you can do to get your horse calmer and prepared for parades.  The smaller town parades are where we'll start I think!  For now I'm fine with being the pooper scooper.  I'll eventually get Loki in the parade with a dog cart to haul the poop...perhaps over my Christmas vacation I'll work on that project!

The parade finally started for us...or I guess more accurately, finally finished with us.  Ross and  Laurie lead our group with our banner.  Then Angel followed with a bunch of members in the carriage.  Flags for all four branches of the Military were displayed, the American flag, Colorado flag, and our club flag.  It was a great turn out!  Of course I had the rear view as you can see above!

Below are photos from a parade watcher, thanks Robin!

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

The time change.  Fall back in the U.S. where we set the clocks back an hour to save light???  That means it's getting dark when I get off work. I'd prefer to have more light in the evening and go to work in the dark.  Oh well it's not up to me.  It will progressively get darker sooner until December 21st.  Then the days will slowly get longer and the time change will occur again in the spring.  Ugh.  At least I only really have a couple months of near pitch black at the barn.  When I arrived around 4:30 pm is was a little light so I worked on yielding the hindquarters and desensitizing to the whip.  Of course at first with lashing the whip on the ground little girl got freaked out but eventually remembered...."oh yeah just stand and go to sleep".  I need to work on the whip and other noises more often....I think it will be really good for her!

So later in the evening I tested out my lighting plan.  The arena lights are very bright and expensive to run....so boarders don't have access to those.  I got a work light from Home Depot.  It's a total of 1,000 watts and is on a tripod that sets up to about 6 feet tall.  It works pretty nice!  It gave the area I needed for groundwork a good glow.  Dani wasn't bothered by the light either.

When it began getting darker I left her in the arena and went back to the stall to grab my supplies.  150 feet of extension cord and a cord connector.  I've found I need to get a spool because in the cold I"m having issue winding up all those feet!  My girl was neighing her head off in distress but calmed down once I returned.  I set the light up with my little red mare sniffing at the lamps, not worried at all.  I found a location out of the arena that illuminated what I wanted and made me happy to not have to worry about cords or lights in the way of a trotting Morgan.  We did a little more groundwork, just circling and turning in and some leading.  She wasn't worried.  Excellent.  I'll have to get some plans in place for what "training" we'll work on in the dark!  See darkness isn't so bad.

Pigeon-Toed

Pigeons.  Flying rats.  Gray birds good at pooping on everything....including my pony!  As the fall has approached I've found them hanging out around the barn more.  Steve's grandfather used to race pigeons in Florida, so Steve had a couple ideas to deter these beasts.  One way to prevent the pigeons from landing in trees instead of their proper roosting spots is to attach shiny objects to the trees.  Steve's grandpa used pie tins.

What a great idea!  So we grabbed the latter and decided to hang three pie tins in the rafters above Dani's stall.  It seemed to work and the pigeons stayed far away from my mare and she remained poop free!  The only issue is that with windy conditions those pans make a racket when hitting the wood rafters. Dani didn't like it at all.  I don't blame her.  Granted they will make good de-spooking objects but I don't want her to have to deal with that 24/7 in her home.

So we took them down and I'm searching for other options.  A fake owl may be a good thing to get.  I can move it to different locations and Dani can have a friend....LOL.  Or maybe get a live owl....hmmm.  I am also going to try sparkly ribbons!  Since they won't make that crashing sound hopefully it will be Dani approved.

I'll keep you posted about how Pigeon Deterrent 2.0 works, though I'm pretty tempted to just get a pet owl.  How much fun would that be??!!!??

Scary Things....

Desensitizing is something I enjoy.  Dani is a fairly stable horse (no pun intended!) but she has her moments when things get her riled up or spooked.  No horse is 100% bombproof but my goal is to get Dani really steady for anything that comes her way.

Pulley with milk cartons!!!
http://louielbm.blogspot.com/2012/07/today-i-took-both-marie-and-luke-to.html

The first thing when there is an obstacle, is to find a starting point.  I will use the noodle cowboy curtain for an example.  

Dani was able to calmly stand near it even when the wind blew the noodles about but walking through it by having the noodles touch her head....that wasn't gonna happen.

So I tied the noodles back and just had her walk under the arch essentially.  Lots of praise.

Then little by little noodles would find their way from being tied.  All this time I'm on the ground with her and leading her through to give her confidence

If I found a sticky spot I would retie some noodles until I got her consistently walking through them.

I would end my sessions with us standing at the noodles, face in them and me manually moving the noodles over her neck and body.  I would then retreat and give her a nice scratching.  Rinse and repeat.

The next session I would start a little back from where I left off; meaning less noodles down  at first but very quickly I could release the noodles more and more I found.

I eventually had all the noodles down and she would follow me through.

Next I asked her to walk through on her own.  With a little encouragement and just waving the handy stick by her rear she walked through on her own.

I'm at this point right now, and we are talking maybe 6 short sessions spread over an inconsistent amount of time!

My next steps will be to send her consistently through the noodle curtain on her own.

Then we'll try it under saddle.

Under saddle we may have to go back a few steps meaning the noodles will get tied back again but things can be very different under saddle so it's not REALLY a setback.  She won't have me on the ground with her so may lose a little confidence and I am sure I will be slightly tense (I will work hard not to be though!)

She could have no issues at all.  I'm very happy about how she's responded to this scary thing.  She was also exposed a few weeks ago to the tarp pulley which I was quite impressed with (as were some other riders stating she was brave)  It makes me feel confident that when I get a trailer and can work with her on loading her issues with that will fade away.  The whole point is to really think about what ever issue or scary object the horse is upset about and break it down into very small bits.

How can you make it less scary?

Distance from the object and intensity are the two main things that can be played with.  

Also getting a horse to think about something else like work (doing side passes, backing, yielding the hindquarters, longing, etc.) a slight distance from the object and resting near it also works.

How can you stay patient with a stubborn horse?

Set small goals.  If a horse is really having a hard time remember to adjust your goal for that day.  Get one step in the right direction if that's all you can get and quit on YOUR agenda.  Reward your horse and just enjoy being with them.  Once the work is done hand grazing or a nice grooming will benefit you both.  Tomorrow is another day!

Coffee can drag!  Such cool ideas!
http://louielbm.blogspot.com/2012/07/today-i-took-both-marie-and-luke-to.html

EXCA

I volunteered to help with the Extreme Cowboy Association competition hosted at KCRC.  EXCA as it's called is a competition done in western tack and attire.  The riders are timed and go through a series of obstacles.  This particular course had the rider go into a "box" and turn there horse several times clockwise and then counter clockwise.  Then they had to take a rope off a barrel and loop the barrel and ride their horse around it coiling the rope around the barrel. The next obstacle include three 1 foot jumps.  Then a circle that had poles laid out to make the horse trot nicely over the poles in each direction.

The next "obstacle" was a free ride, most people just galloped around the arena and didn't do anything every interesting.  Then they had to drag a pallet so many feet and then rode between two cones doing a stop and turn, run, stop and turn etc.  Next they had to open the gate to get out to the other obstacles.  After that there was a stand that had a pulley which pulled a tarp up in the air.  Many had their horses walk through it with the tarp flapping around!  Then they had to back up a hill and back down a hill.  Next was ground tieing.  They dismounted, ran up a couple of jumps on a little hill and came back to mount their horse.  The final thing was running over a bridge and going back to the gate to close it.

There were several divisions, youth, novice, non-pro and pro.  Some of the higher divisions added the cowboy curtain (noodle thing) into the mix or had slightly more complicated maneuvers to do.  I found it very fun to watch.  I was up in the eagles nest doing the timing for the runs.  Each rider is judged by time but also horsemanship and how well the team does each obstacle.  I could see getting involved in doing stuff like this with Dani at some point.

After the event was done I grabbed Dani from her stall and round penned her for a little bit and then brought her over to the tarp.  I pulled on the pulley and she started as the tarp flapped all around.  When she calmed a bit and licked her lips I let the tarp down.  We repeated this, each time the tarp getting higher and faster.  She became very calm about it and even tried to nibble on it.  I may have to build one of these since the club doesn't own one, it's a great desensitizing obstacle!  We still need to work more on the cowboy curtain.

When I finished my chores and playing with Dani I went to my truck to head home.  Guess where all the flies decided to hang!  The roof of the cab was covered in flies!  

Anyways, it was a long day but I had fun working with other club members and learning about the EXCA.