Poorly pony

Selfie with the hubby!

There's lots going on at the moment, and it's starting to get dark and dismal of an evening. I took the plunge and invested in a visit from Donna Blinman for Rio last week. I had a niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right with him, as he's been getting more and more reactive in his spooks, and had been getting less attentive whilst playing on line. Boy was I glad I went for it!

So it turns out Rio has problems with his stomach. It could explain his spooking, and why he can't control his adrenaline and bring it back down when he does spook. It could also explain why he's been uncomfortable backing up, and brushes behind with his hind feet. It may be the reason that he's been stretching his head down to the ground when I've been mounting him to ride for the last few weeks. My poor guy was pretty sore - Donna was quite surprised we had been out riding, and spent most of his appointment working on his stomach. He's been such a trooper and barely showed me he was in pain, but I'm so glad I followed my gut instinct. 

He's now on green clay, and out of ridden work for a few weeks to let him get more comfortable again. Fingers crossed it all starts to come good again soon!

Head rubs

We've been continuing our ground work and I am feeling very good about it. 

We had a very rewarding session early on in the week where we worked on the circling game, and he was much more relaxed. He is rushing less, and maintaining better, which is lovely to see. He's getting a bit clever and trying to guess what I'm going to ask of him before I get to asking it, so it's a little tricky! I have to make sure I try and change up the game a little and keep him guessing. One of his favourite tricks is stopping with his front feet over any and every pole. I've had to work on this to make sure that he isn't doing things I'm not asking. To try and rectify it, I decided it was time to up the ante. It took a few minutes to get the result, but as you can see above, we managed to work out how to stop with left feet on one side and right feet on the other! 

Mid week he was far more tense. He came up and was finding it hard to focus. Everything was a bit scary, and when he managed to zap his nose on the electric, that was the end of any fruitful work for the night. He managed some good circling in trot, but was by no means relaxed. 

Yesterday I had a water issue to deal with! Not my favourite sight...

On Thursday it was lovely and quiet, and Rio was much calmer. I decided that I would change things up a little and ride. He was much more relaxed outside his stable, where he usually fidgets and stresses - this may have been because Franks was in his stable 3 doors down, but even when Sarah took him away to go back to his field, Rio wasn't spinning, calling or fidgeting like normal. I opted to take him out to the ramp to mount as that's where I used to get on before he moved stables, and I know he is more comfortable there. I wanted to keep it as stress free as possible. He stood beautifully, waited to be asked to move off, and listened when I told him it was OK to walk past the scary rubbish skip. 

We stuck to walking, but focussed on getting an attentive, good quality walk, with a bit of roundness. It wasn't 100% but I was happy with his efforts. Especially considering he's not been asked to come down and round for some time, and that it had been a week since I'd been in the saddle again. He was fairly relaxed, and it didn't take too long for him to blow out, confirming he was more settled. 

This evening we just had a small groundwork session in the field. We played some friendly game, including swinging the carrot stick around our heads, and although he took a few steps, I was able to disengage him very easily and continue. We moved on to the circling game, and it was the best he's done yet. He kept up a perfect rhythmical trot, and despite a few excitable frolicking strides of canter he was very well behaved. He even picked up a fantastic collected canter on the right rein, which he impressively maintained around me for a circle without losing his footing! This is progress. His balance appears to be much improved, which I'm hoping will also go towards building his confidence. 

All in all, I couldn't be happier with my boy. He's my absolute superstar. To round it off, he's getting more comfortable with me rubbing his head between his eyes, which he has never ever been very comfortable with. Hopefully soon he will accept it as a form of affection instead of seeing it as a bad thing! 

Treading new waters

I'm falling more and more in love with this boy. 

On Tuesday evening in the wind we came up and did some groundwork. He was lovely and responsive and relaxed. His claustrophobia behind is developing, and he managed to back up over a pole much faster than the other day. We then worked on our circling game, where he relaxed faster, and ended up walking nicely with a good stretch on both reins. I was super excited when I managed to ask him to stand with both right feet one side of the pole, and both left feet the other side! He's really gotten the hang of stopping with his front feet over the pole, so I felt it was time to step it up. It wasn't easy, but after a bit of patience and perseverance we made it. 

Today the weather was warm but with a cool breeze. Sarah kindly waited for me before getting Franks in to ride, so we saddled up and joined them for a gentle mooch up the track. It's the first time I've ridden in almost two weeks, Other than his usual habit of being a little joggy on the way back, he was good as gold. I just need him to relax a little more and not feel he needs to rush on the way back! It's hard, because I think it must be partly something I'm doing, but I just don't know what. I've been much more relaxed in my riding over the last few months, but perhaps I'm still overthinking it.

When we got back, with all of the jogging, he was very sweaty. He stood very nicely whilst I sponged him down (of course he rolled when we got back to his field!) and I was super pleased. When we got back down to the paddock, I decided to do a bit of ground work (mean mummy I know!)

We did some work on backing up from the first gate to the second. Then I asked him to circle - left rein, lovely. Straight out, nice and relaxed, and stopped when I asked him to. Right rein - well, it was far more lively. I'm not sure if I have a stronger send with my right hand because it's my dominant hand, but I found this evening that he responded better to no carrot stick being used on that rein. His disengage was much improved, which was a big positive. 

All in all, I'm so pleased with my gorgeous boy. If I can really stick to my ground work, we are absolutely going to be rocking it in the future. And I will stick to it! 

Growing trust

Riding has taken a very back seat at the moment, and we've been sticking more and more to ground work. I'm determined to get Rio more confident, as it has become clearer that he really is lacking in self assurance. 

We went up for a play at our friend's again on the weekend, and got to collect our brand new Parelli rope! Now our mission is to get rid of that shiny bright white and get busy with it. We learned more about backing up with sideways adjustments this week. Due to his claustrophobia, we have been working around poles and trying to get him to back up to a single pole. The first time we tried, he was having none of it, so it was rewarding this time when after a few minutes of trying, he managed it. 

There was a moment where he was clearly in two minds and was just staring straight ahead in concentration. My friend made it so easy to pick up and learn, and I value her time so much. As soon as he blinked, and was "back in the room", we continued. It was quite funny to see him resist to the point that his front feet were backed right up to his back feet before he finally got his hind feet backed over it. His little face once he made it was priceless. More work to be done on this!

We then did some work on learning the circling game. As we are not riding much at the moment, I wanted to learn how to do this so that I can at least get him moving and try and keep him fit. The other benefit is that it gives him responsibility to maintain his pace. He relies heavily on being micro managed. Rio is a clever boy, and I'm sure he can count. He started out by taking off at a canter, and stopping at the start point! He developed on to trot two rounds before stopping where he started. I soon got the hang of a stronger send when he was doing this, and we ended on a very nice 4 circles before I disengaged his hindquarters and allowed him to stand. 

Rio was a very sweaty boy by the time we had finished. It takes a lot of brain power for him to achieve these things, as he thinks about everything so much. In some ways, he is a bit too clever at times! This is also a downfall for him, because he will often over think things, but that's why I'm so keen to work on our relationship on the ground. I'm truly looking forward to our future together.

Then and now!

I've finally gotten around to having a look at comparing my photos of Rio from last April to this year's shoot! He's grown up so much in 12 months, and I couldn't be prouder of where we have come from and where we are going.

I've been feeling very tired recently, so there have been some questions raised over the lack of riding I've been doing - I've taken preference to developing our groundwork and riding for a shorter length of time. I'm sure that some people think this is crazy, but I'm happy. Let's face it - Rio is an opinionated young man when he wants to be, and he's a half ton of horse to take on when he's got his mind set on something. If taking a step back is what I need to do at the moment, then so be it, and we will work on getting to know each other better! 

The pole clinic went well. Speaking of attitude, Rio took some of that with him that day. After going to move him into a field away from the arena and him going to trot off around me, we took to playing on the ground. 40 minutes later, with lots of backing up, driving, playing with obstacles, and getting control of his feet over a pole on the ground, and we mounted up with a renewed understanding. 

The morning session resulted in a light, forward going and responsive ride. The fear of the end of the arena was almost gone, until his brain was a little overloaded by the end of it, but I was absolutely chuffed with his efforts. 

The afternoon wasn't quite the same story. Unfortunately I think he blew his mind and left his brain by the trailer for the most part. I ended up getting my instructor to ride him, and it was a pleasure to watch him in the end. He tried his little heart out, and although he totally lost it on a few occasions at the scary end of the school, he really made up for it in the end. 

Onwards and upwards!

Sluggish start

Having spent all Winter complaining about the ground being wet, the wind being cold, and not being able to ride, I am now in prime riding season and feeling so tired I'm really not making the most of it!

That said, the little bits that we have done have been positive. Trying, but positive. The third time of going to walk Rio out of his field after our first session, and he's walking up to it with no issues. I'm still leaving him to graze in order to close the gate a few yards away, but the panic is not as set in as it was before. I am hopeful that a few more sessions will crack that. 

I brought him up on Thursday evening and gave him a good brush down, before I hopped on and took him into the outdoor arena for some schooling. He was really not very attentive at all, and when my friend left the school with her horse, he was very tetchy. I decided to see if I could test his senses a little outside of our usual routine. Sylvia Loch has recently moved into the local area, and classical dressage is something that I would like to further explore with Rio. I think that with both done correctly, that CD and parelli will work nicely hand in hand. Both intend on creating a bond with the horse whereby a tiny movement or suggestion speaks volumes. 

So I decided that I would try simply dropping my inside leg weight slightly more into the stirrup, and see what happened. Now, Rio is still quite young (yes I know he's six now!) and is quite attuned to weight distribution. Something that I'm keen to utilise and not lose. I was pleasantly surprised that whilst keeping my line of sight straight through his ears, not moving my hands and reins to steer, that he started to turn. A little more weight in the stirrup, and he turned a little sharper. What magic this is. The basics are there for us, I just need to learn how to develop them.

For now, we will stick to small tweaks, and we need to do a lot of bending to ensure those corners aren't taking at a 45 degree angle to the ground when we make it up into canter. Moving forward, these little things are what give me the belief that my boy really can do anything, if only I can help him to learn!

Cool day

I love a good girly lunch. Me and Sharon were the only ones who would have our photo though so here we are. After we stood in the falling snow for a moment (it lasted probably no more than 10 minutes, but it tried!) we'd all done our yard chores for the morning, and set off for a delicious fry up down the road. 

I couldn't believe the ice that I pulled off the top of Rio's water in his bucket this morning. This was around 10am as well, it was so cold. Amazingly, there was next to no frost... All very strange. Rio soon tucked into his breakfast and I was far too excited about spreading his hay into more than two piles. I'm loving this drop in the wind speeds again. 

We spent today's hack (there were 5 of us today) practising not sticking to the horse in front's bottom, and standing to wait when asked. The first time I asked him, he just kept walking, in super collected fashion, and popping in little side steps. Not to mention the one attempt at a little mini plant and rear - he didn't get that far though as I gave him a quick kick to remind him who was in charge. As soon as he stood still for one second, I allowed him to move on, and we upped the ante from there. By the end of the hack, he was standing, and not moving a muscle until I asked him for as long as I tried to leave him. 

The improved response was with him in 3rd position though, and not fourth where we were on the first attempt. It's progress anyway. I'm not sure he will ever be a last horse kind of boy. As long as I can have an acceptable level of control over him wherever we are in a group, then I'm happy. If we can be in a more comfortable place for him, then all the better for it. 

When we got back to the yard I felt comfortable enough to sit and stretch out my legs without my stirrups for a few minutes, which is a relatively new thing for me to enjoy. I dismounted, and popped him into his stable for a bit. So proud. I just tried not to make a big deal of him being in there, other than to make sure he knew where I was so he didn't panic. 

I walked in and out of the stable again a couple of times whilst tidying things away, and getting his rug in to put on him. He listened very well, and didn't even have any haynet to keep him occupied. He did try to walk through me once, so I backed him up and made him wait. When it came time to walk out of the stable, I motioned him around and he came and waited behind me for me to clip the lead rope on. He walked out quite calmly, and I loved every second of it. 

Ride / play safe x

Stable manners

Just look at Rio finally starting to look a bit more at home in his stable! I was trying to persuade him that the bank corner is a safe spot as much as by the door! Treats r us!

Seriously though, he did so well this evening. There were a couple of horses in for the night, so I'm not sure if that helps but the improvements are certainly showing.

Tonight I changed his rugs over, picked out all four feet and managed to walk out of the stable to get something and come back in without him trying to shove his way out of the door. It's amazing.

I could see he was thinking about scaling the door up at one or two points but I called him over and kept his mind off it and, for today at least, it worked well.

Ride / play safe x

Speedy update (and another video...)

Better photos to follow - more stable work this evening, and we'll update you on that tomorrow. Super happy. 

Last video of this Sunday's playing, I promise!

Ride / play safe x

Freedom

Freedom to be you. Freedom to be what you want. Freedom to be who you want to be. Freedom to travel through life and learn it's lessons. 

Thanks to the wind and horrible weather today, I decided a ride was off the cards. Not because I was worried about Rio being a numpty, but because he's been so good recently and I keep on saying that I'm going to do some groundwork with him and haven't. This seemed the perfect opportunity. It was also a great chance to trial his new sports boots! He's getting to be a right posh-boy. We did some in-hand work and getting him to stay out of my space. He did some trotting work but was only on his regular lead rope so it was quite small circles around me. That said, he settled very quickly, and was soon trotting with his neck stretched beautifully and nose to the ground. Lush. 

I thought he might enjoy a chance for a prance on his own whilst I had a chat at the gate with Sarah, so I let him off the lead rope, but he just wasn't interested. When I ran around the school, however, he loved it and happily followed! So we went back to working, and had a couple of cones set up as a stop start box. The idea being that we would walk or trot to the cones, and stop or go down to walk as we went through them. It only worked! We even managed a couple of steps backwards after halting in the cones. So proud. 

Check him out! 5 minutes in his stable having his dinner this evening. With the door shut! I left him to it, and listened out for the tell tale sound of him sizing up the door to jump it, before I intervened. He didn't barge out of the stable when I opened the door, and had even had a bit of a munch on his haynet. Now tell me that the Alfa A hadn't been addling his brain at all? Is this really my boy?

We've been having such windy days recently, so Rio's hay has been at risk of being blown away. I've resorted to weighting it down with a tyre for now,but I'm hoping my lovely hubby might build me a pallet hay manger of some sort - will keep you updated! 

Ride / play safe x

Keep it natural

Hey everyone! Mum has handed me the reins this evening as she's been super busy starting to plan a "baby shower" - whatever one of those is.

My breakfast and dinner were changed just over a week or so ago, and I feel so much better now that I'm on a more natural feed. I've always been on Alfa A, but since mum changed it for ReadiGrass I feel much calmer without all the extra rubbish in my system. 

I was so well behaved this evening, mum didn't have to raise her voice once. I had a lovely brush, and mum says my coat is looking super shiny. Looks like that new diet is having more effects than expected! Yay me. I'd also like to mention that despite my field being quite ... empty... the yummy hay is keeping my spirits up. I always get at least four little piles to go and munch, which does mean I have to walk around to get it all, but I can let that go. I've even been getting five or six piles some days! It's boring standing still all day anyway...

Does my butt look big in this? Guess who's been practising tail plaiting again? My tail is getting a bit long again... Ahem... It is smooth and silky though! I didn't even fidget whilst it was plaited this evening. I got so many cuddles and scratches, which just helped me relax more. I even plucked up the courage to wander through the barn. I wasn't asked to, but mum didn't stop me - we walked up and out the other end, and I got some more scratches behind my ears before we walked back through the other way. I can do this. Maybe mum will start doing some of the scary stable training again soon, then I can show her how brave I can be.

I really enjoyed my stretches this evening, I'm super flexible! The carrot was nearly at my bum and I barely had to strain - yum yum. I also had to stretch down and out to the side, which was a bit confusing at first, but I got it in the end. I've obviously gained mum's trust more as she let me off the lead rope when I was doing them, so I made sure I was on my best behaviour. 

I couldn't resist showing off with a flashy collected canter when my head collar came off in the field whilst I waited for my hay to be brought in. I've been making an effort when my feed is brought in to pay attention and wait for my bowl to be put down and be told I can have it. It's been much easier since I started paying attention as mum doesn't get shouty or pushy with me.

Catch up soon! x

PS. There's another video been posted on the video page - it's a follow-on to part one!

Box training

This week we have kick started box training with a vengeance! After a stressy visit in his own stable on the one day we did last week, I've done three evenings working on getting Rio more comfortable in his surroundings. 

Control scenario:

Hesitant to walk into barn, coaxed in

Eats two mouthfuls of food, with stable door closed, then stresses

Encourage rest of food be eaten

Two sloppy stress poos

A lot of fidgeting, barges and won't stand still for any length of time

Stands at door, backs up and starts sizing up to jump the door twice

When leading out, anxious but does stand when asked at exit of stable & barn

Monday:

Hesitant to walk into barn, but walks himself in after a moment

Investigates a few of the stables along the way

Eats food more happily, still looking around - stable door left open

No poos

Fidgeting, barges, but stands still for a few seconds with encouragement

When leading out, stands nicely when asked at the exit of stable & barn

Three attempts - mostly successful

Tuesday:

Stubborn walking into barn

Another horse is present tonight in the stable diagonally opposite

Eats food, with a few glances around - stable door left open

Fidgeting, barging to get out of stable to see other horse several times

Backs up when asked, on one occasion backing up three horse lengths

Snatches one mouthful of hay from haynet at back of stable

One regular poo

When leading out, stands nicely when asked at exit of stable & barn

Two attempts - partly successful. Much more barging through stable exit

Wednesday:

Walked into barn after sniffing the entrance for approx 20 seconds

Walks himself into stable behind me without hesitation

Eats food, with a few glances around - stable door left open

Fidgets, barging out of stable, less frequently than yesterday

Stands for 20-30 seconds after being very testing and barging out of stable to barn exit

In this instance, raising my voice to establish control worked well

No poos

When leading out, for most part, stands nicely at exit of stable & barn

Four attempts - one awful (the runner!), the others mostly successful

It sounds crazy to reference poos, but Rio does poo a lot when stressed, so for me, this is a perfect indicator of his insecurities. I decided to keep the stable door open so that he can see that he's not there as a punishment, and that it doesn't have to be a scary place to be. With the door open, I'm hoping that soon he will realise it's easier to simply stay inside his stable, where he can enjoy dinner and hay, and then we can start moving on to closing it! The only thing I wish is that I had somewhere to put my two storage trunks - there's still plenty of room with them both in there, but he did manage to belt the one closest to the door into the second one last night with a hind leg when he swung around. No damage to him or the box, but it would be one less thing to worry about.

Anyway, after last night's rather more stressful learning curve, when I turned him out, Rio and I had a little play at liberty in the field. It's something I've not really done for a while, and I really don't know why. I stood quietly at the barn for a couple of minutes before walking him down last night, in order to let me re-collect, and not let my frustrations get the better of me. Playing at liberty, I totally forgot those frustrations and really enjoyed my boy. He's just such a sweetheart. We walked, trotted, and I even goaded him into some lovely bouncy canter in the darkness, and we had lots of cuddles. We actually did a few steps backwards, with just a light tap on his chest as a cue!

This evening, he had the night off from box training, and had his dinner in the safety of his paddock. Once again, we played at liberty for a while; the highlight being me jumping sideways to the left and right whilst he faced me, and him mirroring me. I love his Welshy ways! This has just made me more determined that Winter will not ruin my time with him. He never ceases to amaze me, and he lifts the darkest of moods in minutes. 

Ride / play safe x

Horsiversary!

Any tips on keeping your blog active? I think I need to pre-plan some posts! I am more frustrated for future me as I will be reading this blog back in years to come, and there will be so many blanks and gaps! 

Guinea piggies are settling in well, and MJ seems to think they are her pets. She sits for hours watching them both outside and inside. 

On Thursday, it was mine and Rio's Horsiversary. I can't believe how much has happened in just 12 months, and I can't wait to see what the next 12 months hold in store. 

 

Then and now. He does need his legs clipping out again. I have decided he will probably remain clipped year round (if I can afford to do so...) I love the picture I got of him on Thursday sticking his tongue out - such a cheeky chappy. 

Rio is having turnout in the back part of his field as of today, as we will probably be moving over to the Winter grazing very soon. I went down to move him back into the front of his field this evening, and after a few minutes of coaxing him from a distance, he made his way back through the open gate. Sadly he decided he wanted to make a dash for it when I went to close the gate, so I had to retrieve him a second time with his headcollar. He came through with no issues though, and he was a sweetheart standing with me for some cuddles before I left him for the night. 

We spent a little while one evening this week exploring the barn - his stable is in the depths of the barn, so we've been using the end stable by the door to practice walking in and not freaking out. He managed to walk into the stable twice, without pooing (he usually stress-poos) and didn't just rush straight out again. Today, after our hack out around the village, I hopped off, and as usual took his saddle off and left him to it for a minute. He actually took himself into the barn; what's more, he didn't turn around at the spot he froze at during the week, and happily let me lead him out through the other end of the barn. 

OH! Rio had his first session of physio on Thursday too. He is in good shape, had a couple of locked ribs which have been put back, and is ever so slightly tight through his left shoulder. However, Claire said that he was doing very well, and was lovely and loose through his back, hips and pelvis, and is doing well for his age. I was super chuffed with how well he behaved as well, as it can be a bit confusing what he's being asked! This all took place after I found a lump on his leg on Monday evening. He's got what the vet suspects is tissue growth following a knock in the field. I was worried at first that he'd popped a splint, but there's no swelling or heat, and he's not lame at all. As it goes, it does seem to be going down already, so it's just a case of monitoring it. 

Ride / play safe x

Winter Blues and some news

Oops time is flying by far too fast at the moment, can't believe I've not blogged in almost 3 weeks! There's not much exciting to report as we've not been doing any riding during the week. Rio is a field ornament in the week, and coming out for rides on the weekend. We had a great trip out in the box on Saturday last week, to a new spot I'd not been to before. There were BRIDLEWAYS! We never see bridleways where we are, so this is such a novelty you wouldn't even understand. 

Rio is enjoying working his way through the long grass in his field, he gets a bit opened up every other day. I want him to be in tip top condition for the colder weather, and also to make the most of the grass before we move over into the Winter paddocks. I don't want him to get bloated though... Balancing it is hard. 

He's looking pretty good. I'm not convinced he's enjoying being rugged up to the max, but we've been getting away with 100g for now, except one night this week which got down to 0, and I was super pleased I'd put his 220g on. It's been pretty soggy so his field is now getting mushy, his head and top of his neck and mane are muddy and it's all dried in, and poo picking is a bit like skating around some mornings. Hey ho, bring it on. 

In the meantime, I've been helping out a couple of times with my cousin's horses. I schooled Baby the week before last with my cousin schooling Oakey and today we went solo as my cousin wasn't able to get down. It's good to have a ride in the week whilst I'm not able to do as much with Rio, but it's also good for me to be able to ride a different horse. It keeps me on my toes, makes me concentrate, and gets me thinking about my position. Riding a 17.1 warmblood is markedly different to riding a 15.1 welsh D cross! He worried me this evening as he was bobbing and dropping his shoulder as if he was lame on his right fore/left hind when we first went up into trot. However, it seems he was just trying me on as once I asked him on and he picked up a more forward trot, he went absolutely lovely!

In other news - meet Coheed & Cambria, our new little piggies:

Ride / play safe x

Sunday Musings - what works?

Hi there from sunny Montreal! I've been enjoying the opportunity to have a good play with the camera, what do you reckon? I do love a pretty little macro shot. 

So, something caught my eye on my facebook feed this morning whilst I was having a quick catch up. I dabble in a bit of Parelli natural horsemanship stuff with Rio, because I want to improve our relationship on the ground. I don't take it too seriously - I just use the bits that make sense to me, and ignore the bits I don't like (I will never whack a metal clip into his head... That's just not how we roll, OK?) and someone had posted this article. Obviously I had a little read.

Now, Rio usually works in a regular halter or his leather one. He will have a rope halter on the Play Days, and that is about it. This isn't so much an issue for us. At home, we work on his manners without utilising pressure and release with these more "pressure pointed" aids. Slobber straps - we don't use them. I ride with regular rubber reins, and we have been working for some time now on understanding each other and developing his contact in a much quieter way. We are past fighting over it, and for the most part, he offers a contact and supples quite nicely (when I ask properly...)

The carrot stick I have found to be of some use. On the ground it has proved invaluable on a couple of occasions, and despite being unwieldy and really quite heavy to carry regularly, I would always now keep one handy. In the saddle has proved a little less successful - perhaps we haven't played enough of the friendly game with it in that respect, but I am happy to use a schooling whip or regular crop to achieve the same end, with far less angst or resistance. 

As for treats, these don't get offered regularly. At the first couple of Play Days I ensured I got a big tub of treats ready for training and rewarding, because this was how I was being taught. What I actually ended up with was a horse that wanted to be in my space all of the time because that was where he got the treats. I don't want a horse that mugs me for nibbles. Since ditching the treats and opting for scratches/cuddles/grass munching time as a reward, I have had a much more responsive horse to work with. I'm lucky in this sense that Rio is such a people person, because he's usually more than happy for you to give him a good rub on his neck as a reward. 

The idea of "just get off" is a tempting one. I have however learned that unless you follow something through, it's likely you will find a brick wall develops. Once this happens, not only have you got to knock that wall down to achieve what you're after, but you've also got to build the bridge! Surely we all understand this one - aren't we always told when we're learning to ride, if you fall off the horse, you get straight back on? Why should it be any different if your horse is finding something a little difficult? Three strides of controlled canter and asking him back to trot is a better start than avoiding canter altogether (for example). That is something to build on. If you don't take the plunge, how do you build the foundation?

It's interesting to get a full picture of what goes on when we are training our equine friends, as we always seem to get so focused on what we want to achieve, that sometimes we overlook the side effects of what we are trying to do (and probably not quite getting right!) It's so important to take a step back every once in a while to appreciate the small things and the impact they can have. You can create something wonderful if you just take the time and make the effort.

That said, I do think that anybody going into horse ownership thinking they will automatically have a best friend for life should really reconsider if owning said horse is right for them at that time. I love Rio to bits, but I'm under no illusion that 10 months is an infinitely small time in the grand scheme of things. We have a lot of experiences to have together, many scary things to work through, and lots to develop in our relationship. I just hope that in 10 years time we can be in as strong a place as Sarah and Franks are together. Fingers crossed, we will have experienced half of what they have too - I'll be a very happy lady if we do!

Sweetie Pie - my dad's girlfriend's cat in Montreal!

Enough rambling from me, please feel free to share your views on training your horse (natural horsemanship or otherwise!) Are there any things you feel work particularly well for you and your horse, or indeed anything that you avoid like the plague?

Ride / play safe

Sunday - NOT the day to relax??

Today started like a normal sort of Sunday. Mum was late (as usual!) and she even had the cheek to walk down to the field to see me without my breakfast. Like it's not enough that I was left to starve without my hard feed yesterday! When I got up to the barn it was clear that breakfast wasn't quite on the menu yet. Mum brushed me down and tacked me up, and one of the other guys from two fields down met us in the car park. I've only met him a couple of times, but he seems nice enough. Mum let me have a long-ish rein, and we had a couple of trots and I was mainly a good boy. 

I waited around for a bit when we got back whilst mum sorted out tack and got breakfast - at last. I was busy munching away when she came up to poke the lump under my chin. She squealed a little bit when she touched it as the lump has gone down, but it was pussy. Now I'm not a wimp, but this thing is getting really annoying now. Thankfully one of mum's friends was on hand to squidge the pus out - it wasn't much fun, and I did my best to be helpful but I couldn't help shaking my head about a bit. Once it was all out, they put warm cotton wool on it with hibiscrub to try and draw out any extra manky stuff, but it just bled a little. I had some cream on it, and mum told me I have to be good and not scratch my chin on anything. Like there's anything fun in my field to scratch on anyway...

I thought this would be the end of it, but turns out mum wanted to "smarten me up" a bit. She brushed my tail out and chopped it up by a few inches! Then she had to rough chop the ends and the sides so it looked more natural. Obviously it doesn't look natural, it's SHORT! But I do look rather dashing. Mum says she likes my tail shorter. This was still not the end; mum made the brush soggy and then brushed my mane - trying to tame it over to the right. It didn't really work. Apparently I'm going to have to have it plaited for a few weeks to "train it over".

Mum disappeared off for a bit and left me turned out in the grass arena again. I was very brave and decided to graze in the scary corner where the trees blow around in the wind. It wasn't so bad. You mustn't tell mum though, schooling would be far too easy if I didn't have something to be "afraid" of. After quite a while of getting to relax on my own, and munching to my heart's content, mum came to get me, and we walked out to the barn at the back. Big T was out there, and shouted a word of warning to me, but it was too late! Mum had already tied me up, and suddenly the noise surrounded me.

CLIPPERS!

What have I done to deserve this today? It's really not my day! MUM! STOP IT! Oh... Actually, it turns out they're not so bad when they're actually on me... Ok, I guess I can stand almost still. I'm still going to shake a bit though. I would like some sympathy after all. After my first leg was done, I'd sort of decided it was manageable. The clippers weren't going to eat me, and I was even allowed to have a proper look at them and a good sniff. They're just so loud! Mum stood at my head and was giving me neck scratches when I was stood like a good boy. I did try and run through her to begin with, and once on the third leg, and then I got a bit of a smack. Message received - sorry mum, I didn't mean it!

How smart do I look now?

Good news, there's no other bad things hiding under there, and I don't have any other bits of mud fever. Mum's also hoping to save time on grooming now. The cheek of it. I will just have to try harder to poo down my legs more. It all feels a bit funny with no hair to protect me - mum walked me through the long grass and stuff on the way back to the field, but I was very brave and took it all in my stride. You wait until my first time back on the stubble. I might save my freakout for that! So that was my not so relaxing Sunday. I hope you've all had a better day of it!