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Oct. 11th, 2004 12:04 pmRight. Picnic went reasonably well, but Joe was (justifiably) pissed at Dad for not having gone out to see the sprout (6 wks. old) before this and for pretty much ignoring her when she was there. I understand that a 3-year-old is hellishly more interesting than an infant, but still... I'm on Joe's side on this one.
In more interesting news, Thyme did really well for her first under-saddle ride. Trys was impressed with her good sense and kindness. So was Lala. (I been sayin'...) We've moved Thyme from 'not broke' to 'needs rode', so I'm pretty much done with her. The first under-saddle ride was a couple of (being led) figure eights at the walk and a trip out the driveway and back. I'd be amazed if the whole thing took more than three minutes. However, she was a good sport about the whole thing, stood like a rock for mounting, took it all very calmly, and now she needs mileage. Improving her ground skills further (besides the aforementioned walk-on-the-rope practice) will not be beneficial in terms of making her a better riding horse for novices and stupid people.
Today I got another one out of the field. The new project horse is Mezcal, which turns out to be the actual *name* of the horse I've been referring to as Lexy's Baby because, well, she is. Lexy and Tina's paint stud Hustler, to be exact. (Hustler impresseth me not.) Mezcal is chestnut, with a flaxen mane and tail, a broad white blaze, a couple of white socks, and a belly spot visible from the left side. (Hustler's an overo paint.) She's not bad-looking, for a stock-type horse, even though that's not really my cup of tea.
A couple of things stand out for me on day 1 of Mezcal. First, either I'm getting better at this stuff or Nick is one hell of a complicated horse. Thyme and Mezcal are learning way faster than Nick did. They're a thousand times nicer to be around just out-of-the-field than she was. They are more calm and relaxed about life. They try for the right thing, fight less, and want to get along. Damn. Hell of an eye-opening experience, here. Education of all kinds.
Second, relaxed stock-type horses give the big old step-under without any hassle. It's nice to see a horse disengage right out of the field. Partly, I figure this is how she's built and partly it's how she's sort of not-wired about it. Anyway, it's a good feature. I imagine she'll be able to make some nice turns one of these days.
Third, horses that haven't been messed with much are a lot quicker to get the picture than horses that have been drug around by clueless newbies. They don't tune you out much and they're a lot more willing to listen than horses that have spent lots and lots of time around novice horsepeople. Probably the reason for this is that I'm starting with a nearly-blank slate (These horses tie and lead and that's about it. None of them have been messed with much beyond basic halter-breaking.) and I don't have to erase much.
What we did today... put head down, back up, turn out of the rope, circle to left and right, reverse directions, speed up, stop, disengage-and-face-me, bend neck (both sides), cross scary black tarp (in the process of teaching the go-forward cue preparatory to trailer loading and sheets o' tin). It went well and I think we accomplished quite a bit of useful stuff. Tomorrow we'll review these items and probably work on sheets of tin. I want the go-forward thing solid before we try loading in the trailer.
Also, Mezcal tore up one leg (last year? year before?) in the field with a wire cut that needed ongoing doctoring and she's a bit touchy about having her legs and feet handled. Since she's got flat, shelly feet and will probably need to wear shoes for most of her working life, having her feet handled is going to be an important skill for us to work on. (Thyme had no particular objection to having her feet handled *and* she has tough-as-nails, solid, bell-shaped feet that will probably hold up well. She will probably never need shoes.) Today we worked on me being allowed to touch all four legs, all the way down to the ground. That got accomplished. I did not try to pick up any feet today.
I've been thinking about the skills I want these guys to have when I get done with them. I don't really want to break them to ride (I do not enjoy riding green horses) but I want them to be good citizens on the ground. If they have a good foundation, they will probably be drug out of the field and worked with so that they can become good riding horses.
Basic green-horse skills...
This is probably not a complete list of the stuff we do, but it's a start.
In more interesting news, Thyme did really well for her first under-saddle ride. Trys was impressed with her good sense and kindness. So was Lala. (I been sayin'...) We've moved Thyme from 'not broke' to 'needs rode', so I'm pretty much done with her. The first under-saddle ride was a couple of (being led) figure eights at the walk and a trip out the driveway and back. I'd be amazed if the whole thing took more than three minutes. However, she was a good sport about the whole thing, stood like a rock for mounting, took it all very calmly, and now she needs mileage. Improving her ground skills further (besides the aforementioned walk-on-the-rope practice) will not be beneficial in terms of making her a better riding horse for novices and stupid people.
Today I got another one out of the field. The new project horse is Mezcal, which turns out to be the actual *name* of the horse I've been referring to as Lexy's Baby because, well, she is. Lexy and Tina's paint stud Hustler, to be exact. (Hustler impresseth me not.) Mezcal is chestnut, with a flaxen mane and tail, a broad white blaze, a couple of white socks, and a belly spot visible from the left side. (Hustler's an overo paint.) She's not bad-looking, for a stock-type horse, even though that's not really my cup of tea.
A couple of things stand out for me on day 1 of Mezcal. First, either I'm getting better at this stuff or Nick is one hell of a complicated horse. Thyme and Mezcal are learning way faster than Nick did. They're a thousand times nicer to be around just out-of-the-field than she was. They are more calm and relaxed about life. They try for the right thing, fight less, and want to get along. Damn. Hell of an eye-opening experience, here. Education of all kinds.
Second, relaxed stock-type horses give the big old step-under without any hassle. It's nice to see a horse disengage right out of the field. Partly, I figure this is how she's built and partly it's how she's sort of not-wired about it. Anyway, it's a good feature. I imagine she'll be able to make some nice turns one of these days.
Third, horses that haven't been messed with much are a lot quicker to get the picture than horses that have been drug around by clueless newbies. They don't tune you out much and they're a lot more willing to listen than horses that have spent lots and lots of time around novice horsepeople. Probably the reason for this is that I'm starting with a nearly-blank slate (These horses tie and lead and that's about it. None of them have been messed with much beyond basic halter-breaking.) and I don't have to erase much.
What we did today... put head down, back up, turn out of the rope, circle to left and right, reverse directions, speed up, stop, disengage-and-face-me, bend neck (both sides), cross scary black tarp (in the process of teaching the go-forward cue preparatory to trailer loading and sheets o' tin). It went well and I think we accomplished quite a bit of useful stuff. Tomorrow we'll review these items and probably work on sheets of tin. I want the go-forward thing solid before we try loading in the trailer.
Also, Mezcal tore up one leg (last year? year before?) in the field with a wire cut that needed ongoing doctoring and she's a bit touchy about having her legs and feet handled. Since she's got flat, shelly feet and will probably need to wear shoes for most of her working life, having her feet handled is going to be an important skill for us to work on. (Thyme had no particular objection to having her feet handled *and* she has tough-as-nails, solid, bell-shaped feet that will probably hold up well. She will probably never need shoes.) Today we worked on me being allowed to touch all four legs, all the way down to the ground. That got accomplished. I did not try to pick up any feet today.
I've been thinking about the skills I want these guys to have when I get done with them. I don't really want to break them to ride (I do not enjoy riding green horses) but I want them to be good citizens on the ground. If they have a good foundation, they will probably be drug out of the field and worked with so that they can become good riding horses.
Basic green-horse skills...
- Stand to be caught
- Stand to be haltered
- Lead with slack in the rope at my speed, whatever that may be.
- Stop when I stop, keeping slack in the lead.
- Do not run into me for any reason. Do not crowd me.
- Be able to work a gate, entering and leaving a field.
- Stand to be handled all over, including feet, ears, head.
- Understand basic rope work, including the 'go forward' driving thing.
- Load on a trailer while the person stands outside. Wait to be asked to unload.
- Stand quietly for saddling and bridling, without being tied. Same for taking off gear.
- Stand quietly while someone gets on, without being held. Same for dismounting.
This is probably not a complete list of the stuff we do, but it's a start.
