barefoot and bitless with blu

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this bridle 

http://www.actionridertack.com/p-1353-barefoot-modifiable-cedar-bridle.aspx  It can be used with a bit or bitless.  I have always played with the idea of riding bitless and this bridle will give me that option without having to ditch the whole bridle if I decide it’s not for us.  Also, it looks like it will be the prefect bridle to be used on the trail as you can use it as a halter too! Not that I have ventured onto trail riding yet, but I intend to…

The treeless saddle I have been using is also a Barefoot brand.  I feel the quality is good and the price isn’t as far fetched as some others I see out there.  I ordered the matching girth as well, but it is on backorder and will be a few more weeks.

So it seems both Blu and I will be sporting new riding attire soon and be the epitome of style, comfort, and versatility!  Hopefully our modified combination of english, western, and trail paraphernalia will come together as a functional style all of its own    

 

What’s your riding attire???

I posted this to a horsey forum I belong to.  I am enjoying all the responses and decided to add it to my blog here as well.   http://hay-net.co.uk/topic/425/whats-your-riding-attire

This topic may sound a bit frivolous and vain but…

Yesterday when I was riding I had my daughter take several pictures.  I was mortified at how frumpy I looked!  I usually ride in jeans, t-shirt, and cowboy boots.  ugh!  I am average normal weight for my height, have a generous rear, and am short.  Lovely combination, eh?  I know that safety, comfort, practicality, and performance are of most concern, however I hate feeling so self conscious about myself that I don’t want others to see me ride.  

So this leads me to wonder what everyone is wearing and feels good in. I can’t possibly be the only one with this on their mind, am I???

I would really like to shoot for an outfit something like this  

ridin’ high with blu…

Had a super fantab ride on Blu tonight!  She was very well behaved and moved out easily, but not over reactive.  I have been using my treeless saddle lately and decided it was time to invest in a special pad designed specifically for it.  I can’t believe the difference it made!  The pad really gave the saddle the extra support and form to make me feel a bit more secure.  We even progressed on to a few strides of cantering here and there, and for the first time we ventured out into the pasture for a short 15 minute hack.  I am on cloud nine!  Also, had my daughter take a couple minutes of video, I def need to keep the reins a bit more still, hope I didn’t rattle her mouth too much.  I about died when I saw how awful my riding attire makes me look!  A good reason to shop is what I’m thinking…

basic thoughts…

Now that I have had some time to reflect on the past couple of weeks I have come to some conclusions…  

First, Blu does best with regular handling.  She is a sweetheart no matter what, but I think she appreciates more of a routine. This is probably true with all of my horses, but much more so with Blu.

Second, it’s best to give her a moment to sniff something and give a snort then to let her be suddenly shocked at its presence.  That is not to say to make a big deal out of small things however, she definitely is one that feeds off her handlers emotions.  

And third, a few treats go a long way  

I know these are all basic points, but sometimes we need to go back to the basics when we hit a snag in the line.  I am still lovin’ this horse! <3

an evening with blu…

Had a great day yesterday, and I think Blu did too   Saddling is going good as well. I didn’t click and treat nearly as often as it seems she is coming along nicely.  I did go ahead and order a saddle pad specifically designed for my treeless saddle, I also ordered a nice leather breast collar that has a wither strap to help keep it in place.  I think they will both be versatile enough to use with any of my saddle options if I chose to switch them up.

Now I will address the spray bottle clicker training… I think I may be trying to progress too quickly.  Blu is still terrified of it.  I can get her to touch her nose to it, I can touch her body with it, I can spray away from her if it is at least a couple feet, but I cannot spray her anywhere or spray towards her.  Hmmm. I will figure this out eventually…

I saved the best for last….  I was able to get Blu into a canter!  It was only a few strides but it was awesome   It wasn’t my goal for the evening but it just fell into place. 

What’s your riding schedule???

Just curious how some of you fit in riding time?  After a busy 9 1/2 hour work day where I was literally on my feet all day long, I am exhausted!  It’s almost 7:30 in the evening and I am just getting home.  My feet hurt, I haven’t had dinner, or a proper lunch for that matter, my patience is almost to a zero right now, and the horses were eager to get their dinner too.  I always find that when I try to ride when I feel like I am on a strict time restriction or already exhausted, that is when things go wrong and frustrations build quickly, so no riding for me tonight.  

How do I fit it all in and find balance in life with a measly 24 hours in a day???

7 a.m. out of bed, get coffee

7:45 see teenage daughter off to school

8:30 morning feed and check in on Mother

8:50 arrive at work

6:40 p.m. leave work

6:45 check on Mother, call horses in from pasture, feed horses, give meds-supplements as needed, pitch a few piles of manure.

7:20 back at home, collapse on couch, dream of served dinner, too exhausted to cook, thank goodness husband went to visit a friend this evening and daughter is at after school job… my bunions are killing me!!!

7:40 look out window and feel guilty for wasting daylight and perfect weather for riding

 

saddle options

Clicker training is progressing nicely for Blu’s saddle and pad phobia.  She wasn’t skittish about either today, but still tensed up when both were placed on her back.  After several repetitions she did ease up a bit.  

I added haltering to her clicker training.  I would not classify Blu as a “hard to halter” horse, but she will be evasive by turning her head several times when I first approach her with the halter.  She now she has to place her nose in the halter to hear the click and receive her treat.  I did sense her getting a little frustrated when I tried to progress with that one, so I backed off a bit and will continue working on it everyday until we have it mastered. I don’t really think it will take very long at all.

On another note, I have a few different saddles, as many horse people do. I have a heavy duty western style roughout training saddle, a light weight contoured cut treeless western style saddle, and a hunt seat work saddle.  

The heavy training saddle is the one Blu had her incident in.  It seemed to fit her o.k. and is very secure feeling for me, but it did have that tendency to slip on her extremely round self.  

My treeless saddle seems to fit her like a glove (as my daughter also commented on how nice it shaped her form yesterday), but is not quite as secure feeling for me however is VERY comfortable to sit in. I would also need to invest in a pad designed specifically for a treeless saddle with spinal clearance, though Blu has natural spinal clearance  and also a nicer breast collar.

As far as the hunt seat saddle goes, I am not quite sure it fits her.  I think the actual tree is fine, but the gullet is soooo high, it must be designed for a horse with very prominent withers. I bought it used for another horse I have, but was never really able to use it much so I never got the “feel” of riding in it. It does have a textured seat and knee rolls to help with that secure feeling though.

Any opinions on these options I have listed?  

click click…

Official clicker training began today.  I started off slow, just click and treat a few times when Blu was standing still.  Then some leading lessons without using a rope.  Lots of click and treat when she did what was asked.  I worked really hard on my timing, but did get a little flustered here and there.  

After I felt she was really getting the idea I brought out the saddle and placed it on the ground. She snorted at it, of course.  When she stood still near it and looked calm I clicked and treated. I tried many variations of removing the saddle from her space, and also removing her and then bringing her back.  I also rewarded for a sniff of the saddle and eventually for a nose touch to the saddle.  I also carried the saddle around while leading her, she protested at first, but then after her first steps with a click and a treat she was much happier to follow the saddle.

Eventually we progressed to the saddle being placed on her back while she stood still for the duration, from both sides    When we initially placed the saddle on her back I held her while my daughter put the saddle on, I was having a hard time handling saddle, clicker, treat, and horse.  I didn’t want to tie her for this, as she pulled back the other day, and I didn’t want to break MY confidence any more either.  So, after that went well several times I was able to handle Blu and saddle her by myself without my daughters help.

I hope tomorrow goes well and I wont require ANY help to saddle. It makes me feel like such a nimkumpoop to have to ask for help to simply saddle my horse!

I think clicker training may have opened up a new playground for me

Here she is this morning looking like a naughty pony, but you can see her dapples a bit better.  In person they were just brilliant looking <3

total suck up…

Blu has some beautiful dapples, which I was trying to photograph but she decided to try “kiss and make up” instead.

This morning when I got Blu out of her stall, she seemed very pleased to see me.  Ears perked, a little nicker greeting.  It was nice.  We went straight to the horse trailer and I opened the tack room door where I keep the grain and let her snoop inside a little.  I fed her a handful of grain and pet her.  I practiced putting the pad on a few times.  She was snorty and a little jumpy, but tolerated it “o.k.”.  Then we did some walking in the grass where I let her graze for about 10 minutes.  I turned her out for the day in our riding area, where she is in this picture.  I did not put another horse in with her, however I put Mini in the smaller paddock on one side of her, and the other 2 mares in the larger pasture that you see in the background.  She wasn’t entirely pleased with the situation, but she was much happier to see me when I stopped in to check on her just after lunch  I snapped a few pictures and tried to give her a bite of my oatmeal cookie, she refused it. oh well, I put it in the feeder in case she changed her mind later.

This evening my daughter decided to officially start prepping her quarter horse mare for show season.  So, while she started their workout I got Blu out and led her to the trailer again.  A handful of grain, a few bites of grass, life is good.  I was able to place the saddle on her a few times with considerably less difficulty than yesterday.  At one point when I tried to swing the saddle up I lost my grip a bit, which created some anxiety but we were able to work through it.  I can see this will take some time for sure, and consistency has to be my top priority here.

Blu went back to her stall for the night.  I sprinkled a handful of grain in the feeder beside her hay, feeling guilty at the excitement she showed when the other horses were getting their scoops  I think I will buy her a bag of apples and carrots as her special evening “grain”…

the honeymoon is over…

Yes, unfortunately, it is true, Blu and I have hit a roadblock.  More like we drew the “go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200″ card.

After about a week of horsey time off, I had decided yesterday was going to be my day to spend grooming, bonding, and riding.  I rounded up the horses from the pasture and haltered Blu.  I brought her to the horse trailer and tied her as usual.  I opened the tack room door and retrieved a grooming brush.  Blu spooked at the brush and pulled back… only for about 2 seconds, but still, she had never done this before.  This should have been my first clue that things would not go as planned for my day.

I decided it was probably best to take her into the fenced riding arena to tack her up, that way I didn’t have to have her tied, I would just make her think she was by looping the rope around the fence post once.  As I hauled all the tack out Blu became more spooked.  So badly that it was extremely difficult to simply place the pad on her back!  Over and over I rubbed the pad on her and placed it over her back.  And every time I thought she was over it, I would approach her and it was like starting from scratch.  I paused to remember all the horse training shows I have watched.  Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy.  I would longe her for several minutes and only allow her to rest when she was standing near the saddle and pad.

Longe, rest, longe, rest, approach, retreat, approach, retreat, over and over and over…

Blu also decided to pull another trick out of her hat… she decided to put on the brakes… I had put her in her stall at one point to saddle her. of course! what a brilliant idea!  There, that went well, lets go… or not… she planted her feet and would not leave her stall.  O.k. maybe Blu new more than I did.  It was probably a bad idea to have her maneuver through door ways while saddled, she may catch a stirrup on something and have another catastrophic saddle incident.  So, I unsaddled her.  Let’s go now…. or not… feet still firmly planted.  I could back her and circle her, but not get her to leave her stall.  Oh my gosh! This was really happening to me.  I went inside to eat lunch

Back out to the stalls 30 minutes later.  I lead Blu to the trailer and saddled her.  She was still spooky but at least I accomplished this seemingly easy task.  I went into the arena to bridle her, then I mounted, and she acted as if nothing had ever happened.  This took me almost 4 hours to get to this point.

My original plans were to have our first riding adventure into the pasture area.  My modified plans were now to simply have a safe ride in the arena without spooks.  20 minutes of walk, trot, walk, trot, back, side pass to the right, walk, back, I’m happy with this, get off.

Now, let’s saddle again… this should be easy enough, right?  Wrong!  By this time my son had shown up and was inside visiting, I called him out to give a hand.  We saddled her several times with, let’s say “mild” difficulty.

I am very aware that my initial attempts to saddle would have been significantly minimized if I would have had another hand to help, but no such luck.  I probably made a mountain out of a mole hill by insisting I saddle her.  I should have realized this and moved to something else, but once I was so far in I simply couldn’t give up, or in.

Tonight I had my daughter go out with me to help saddle her, no riding tonight, just saddle.  It was another “event”.  I put her in her stall for the night to think things over a bit.  I have been racking my brain to try and think how this has happened.  What changes have I made recently?  This is what I have come up with:

• Blu has significantly more turnout time with the other 3 mares, only stalled in severe weather.
• Blu is grazing approximately 8-12 hours a day on fair pasture.
• I have started giving Blu 1/2 to 1 scoop of grain 1-2 times per day, as I usually do when we begin working the horses.
• I spent considerably less time with Blu the past week.

My new blu plan:

• Stall every night.
• Less time with the herd.
• No significant amount of grain. It will be my treat to her that she will enjoy in my presence.
• More hand walking and having “us” time.  I don’t want her to dread seeing me come, thinking it will only result in work.
• Saddle Blu every day, no exceptions!

This might seem a bit harsh, but I want to get back to a routine, and I want her to see me as the one that brings her water and food and look forward to our walks and grazing time.  I will continue with saddling every day until it is accomplished without incident and with ease.  I think the increase in grain may have been a bit much for her, I believe her previous owner told me she never gave her grain in the past, an occasional treat, but no grain.  She has certainly developed an “on edge” type of behavior, I believe it can be contributed to several factors, including the saddle incident of a few weeks ago.  

Wish me luck