#19

I haven't been able to get out and see my horse lately, but I have been hard at work building a round corral here so I can bring her home!!! I have been pulling out sagebrush for several days with just my truck and a hefty chain. It's a lot of work, but I really want my mare here. If I measured everything right, I think I'm going to have a 60 foot round pen, give or take a couple feet. I am soooooooo excited!!! ^_^ I made some horse cookies the other day and now I just have to see if the horses like them!!! I love making new treats for the horses. Anyways, that's my update for today. I hope to write so much more when I finally get my girl here!

#18

I bought a new bridle for my mare and I finally got it all cleaned and put back together. It's a black Portuguese bridle with lots of silver accents. I love it so much and it's going to look absolutely fantabulous on her!!! I am so excited to try it on her. I hope I can use it when I have my senior pictures taken. Since I have a cold, I haven't gone out to play with her at all and it's been such a boring time for me. So, I have tried to be productive and come up with some game plans for our sessions. I am really trying to work towards her being absolutely and completely comfortable with me. She still has some young horse, skittishness about her, but overall she is improving so much. I am so excited to keep trekking on this journey with her!!!

#17

I have come across another dilemma. Most everyone I know has been told that I am planning to name my mare "Music of the Night". Well, I have recently come across another name option for her. When I was doing some research on the internet I came across this, La Mia Bella Ragazza. It means my beautiful girl in Italian. I could name her that or just Bella Ragazza and call her Bella for short. Now I don't know what I'm gonna do... Bella Ragazza or Music of the Night?.... There are so many choices!

#16

I got to go out and be with Missy the other day. We didn't get to really do anything, but I did get to spend some Undemanding time with her. I got to brush her out, pick the bedding from her tail and then braid it to keep it cleaner. Ahhhhh..... sweet relaxing time! The rain has finally slackened off a bit, so we have some sunny days now. Only a little time before it starts snowing!

#15

October 16

I was finally able to play with Missy yesterday! She was absolutely full of energy! I put the saddle on her before going into the round pen and she did really well through the gate. She remembered everything very well, the only thing she had trouble with was, for some reason she was trying to be a giraffe!!! She keeps her nose tucked in really well at the walk, but as soon as she starts trotting or loping, she sticks her nose up and tries to stretch out her neck. Needless to say, it doesn't look very attractive and if you show at all, that would definitely lower your scores!!! Other than that, Missy stayed on the right leads and she did really great with the transitions. I used a rubber curry comb on her and she was really leaning against me hard! She really liked the feeling of the curry!!! Her hooves are doing really good and she isn't having any lameness problems. My riding Instructor said I will start showing next year. I also met a new friend in my area that is my age and is into horses as much as I am. We are planning to show with eachother next year. She does gaming mostly. That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!!!

#14

September 30

I have been working with Missy off and on and she is doing so well. She is getting so playful and really enjoying our sessions. Last time we worked on our transitions and she did extremely well. She's listening a lot better and is more timely in her responses. I have also been working with the saddle on her. She is still a little wary of the stirrups flapping but it doesn't spook her. She is still a little skeptical of new things even if there is something we've been doing for a while and I change it slightly, she is skeptical. I sat down in the middle of the round pen last time and she looked at me like "Whoa, that's weird! Why is she so small?!". Anyways, she is becoming better and better all the time. I don't remember if I said or not, but she had some warts on her nose (young horses get them sometimes) and they are almost gone now. I am trying to draw a picture of her so I took a bunch of pictures for reference and I hope to finish the picture soon. That's my recent update for you all! Have a good week!

#13

It has been really busy for me lately, but I made the time to go out and play with Missy yesterday. I hadn't seen her for a very long time and I was curious as to how she would be, training wise. She stood very well in the cross ties and she took the surcingle very well. We did some more longing and transitions in the round pen. She was full of energy and very playful!!! I put the saddle on her (the one she got caught on the gate with) and remarkably, she stood almost perfectly still. We longed a little more with the saddle and then I flapped the stirrups again and Missy didn't move at all. She is slowly getting the idea that I wont do anything to hurt her. We did a little ground driving first in the round pen and then out in the indoor arena. I am constantly surprised at how well she does when ever I go out to play with her. She is getting a lot more confident with me and she even lets me give her hugs now. :) I am so thrilled with our progress!!!!

#12

August 8

I fed my Instructor's horses while she went to a meeting this evening. I went out and played with Missy a bit too. I didn't want to try the saddle by myself, so I just put the surcingle on and we did our usual session activities. Missy did really well today. I love how she is always listening to me and she just waits for me to give her a command before springing to it energetically. She loves to figure things out and she is such a smart little girl! It also amazes me how she can be on two different leads when loping. I never knew that a horse can be on the right lead in front and on the left lead in the back all at the same time! What is even more amazing is that she will correct it herself. Whether she does that by slowing to a trot and then trying the lope again or by a flying lead change (all by her onesies!), she still corrects it herself! I really enjoy my sessions with Missy. She is just so much fun to play with! Anyways, after we got back to the cross ties and I un-tacked her, I took the saddle blanket and pad from the tack room and just kind of kept swinging them up on her back until she accepted it with her head lowered and a soft look in her eye. Then I brought out the saddle and did the same thing until she didn't mind it. Then I flapped the stirrups and cinches. Missy took that very well and it was only a short time until she was relaxed while I flapped the stuff around. The flysheet isn't as much of a problem any more either, which is really nice. I am just so proud of our progress! And you know what! It can only get better!!!

#11

August 7

It has been hectic to say the least! I finally got to work with Missy again today. My Instructor decided to put a Western saddle on Missy so that all the creaking leather and flapping straps would help to get her comfortable with any tack we put on her. All was going really good until we got to the gate that led into the round pen. There was a big puddle of water in front of the gate on the inside and Missy didn't want to step in it so she got a little too close to the gate. The latch got caught on her back cinch and she absolutely freaked! She started panicking and bucking in place in an effort to free herself. After a little bit, the back cinch finally broke and she took off running to the other end of the indoor arena. My Instructor and I calmly tried to catch Missy and we finally did. The poor girl was so scared! I really felt bad for Missy. I walked her around to get her back to normal while my Instructor looked at the damage that Missy did to the gate. The gate was ruined, all bent out of shape, and one of the panels of the round pen had fallen down. My instructor hauled the battered gate out and brought a new one in. She put it in place and fixed the panel too. In about 15 minutes, we were ready to negotiate the gate again. We did a little approach and retreat and we eventually got safely through the gate with only a little bit of rushing. We worked on longing and transitions for a long while. We weren't going to work Missy real hard but our plan was kind of blown with the gate incident. Poor Missy was sweating before we even started working, well, the heat outside didn't help much either. After our longing exercises, we took one of the stirrups and kind of flapped it around, getting Missy used to the action. She was better on one side, but the side that she got hooked on the gate was pretty bad. She would take off running and we would ask her to lope for a while and then ask her to stop, once again going up and flapping a stirrup. Every time she would try to run off we would ask her to lope. That went on for a long time before she finally understood that she was supposed to stand still while we flapped the stirrups. She was soaking in sweat by the time we finished, but she had calmed down immensely and the stirrup flapping didn't bother her too much. We usually hose her off at the end of our sessions and today she actually enjoyed the cold water! We also gave her a liniment bath to help soothe her muscles. We figured she might have pulled something during the gate incident. Amazingly, she didn't have a scratch on her from that event. She even stood quietly for the fly spray and the sheet. She was so glad to have her scoop of grain at the end of the day!

#10

July 27

I just went out with my cousin, a friend and my sister to visit Missy today. Missy was surprisingly calm with having about three people buzzing around her all at once. She was very well behaved and she even did pretty good with the fly spray! I cannot believe how fast she is improving! It just astonishes me! All my doubts about me actually being able to ride her and improving my confidence as well, are soon dissolving with each day I spend with her. I am going to register her with the ABRA (American Buckskin Registration Association) and I need three name choices to put on the application. I was thinking of the names - Music of the Night- Angel of Music- Phantom Angel- or Point of No Return-. I like the first three the best and I will probably put them in that order on the papers. Before we actually send in the application though, we have to get some more info on Missy's pedigree. I think she has a stallion named Two Eyed Blue Boy, somewhere in her lines. I wonder if he is related to Two Eyed Jack???

#9

July 22

I went out and did a little longing with Missy and then my riding Instructor had me ride. We rode for a really long time changing directions, and doing lots of circles. Missy did really well! We also worked on getting her to keep her nose in and her neck flexed at the level of her withers. Missy is building up so much muscle and she is filling out a lot more. Her back isn't nearly as bony as when I rode her the first time. She is also getting so much more comfortable in the cross ties and she is trusting me more as well. She is getting so much better with the flysheet too. I am absolutely thrilled with her progress!

#8

July 21

I did some more groundwork today and Missy is getting so much better at the lope. We are working more on her transitions and she's not rushing anything anymore, she is pretty calm and is waiting for me to ask her before she does it. We are getting so much better at ground driving and going over the obstacles too. She gets excited now whenever we go out of the round pen into the arena to do the obstacles. I think the poles are her favorite, but she is definitely getting her confidence in going over the board. Today was Missy and my first actual solo play day! At the end of our session, I was trying to think of something else we could do. I was crouching down and resting a bit when Missy started to get curious and slowly walk over to me (she was about one and a half horse-lengths away). When she finally got close enough to sniff my hand, I scratched her forehead and she moved in even closer to me. She also pushed her head against me and we sat that way for quite a while. This was a big leap in our bond considering that up until now Missy was always kind of wary of me because I was new. She allowed me to be around her brushing her and cleaning out her hooves, but she wasn't exactly comfortable with me. I had decided that we should end our day then and I was absolutely overjoyed at our progress.

#7

July 18

We did the same things today as we did yesterday and I got to ride again. Missy is just getting better and better each time!!! We did some ground driving in the indoor arena over some obstacles and Missy negotiated them really well. She listens to the bit and her response is pretty soft. The only obstacle we had trouble with is the plywood board. She doesn't like the noise it makes when she walks on it. We spent time going over the poles and around the buckets and then we would casually walk to the board. By not making a big deal about her not going over the board, she slowly gained confidence in me because I did not push her to do something she was afraid of. I finally got her to go over the board and it was like she finally realized it wasn't as bad as she thought! We even got her to back over it!!!

#6

July 17

Worked on more longing and driving today, Missy is figuring out the bit pressure and she is starting to keep her head lower and flexing her neck more. Her transitions are getting so much better too. Especially the transition from trot to lope, she's not rushing it and cannoning around the round pen anymore.

#5

July 12

Today is my birthday and what better way to spend it than with my filly! We did some more longing and groundwork today. I got to drive her again today too. I love ground driving! It's so much fun! I also got to ride Missy for the first time today too! She did wonderfully well!!!! Her back is a little bony, but she has a really nice walk. She did perfect listening to the reins and such. I was soooooooo proud! My baby is coming along so well!

#4

July 5

I stayed out at my riding Instructor's house watching her dog and feeding her horses while she went on a trip. I got to spend some undemanding time with Missy and I also introduced the carrot stick (Parelli Natural Horsemanship tool). She's pretty nervous about it, but that will go away in time! She was a little wary of my notebook that I took out to her corral, the pages were flapping a little and the noise was bothering her. I also got to do a Horsenality chart on her and she is pretty much all over the chart (understandably, she is only 3!) but more of her little dots are in the Right Brain Introvert and Right Brain Extrovert sides. I took the flysheet off to brush her so now it's time to put it back on! Oh boy! This could be an adventure doing it all by myself!!! I think I'll play lots of the friendly game with it and just try to get her to be comfortable with it flapping around. Missy seems to be mildly curious today, maybe she is getting used to me finally!

#3

July 3

We worked again with the surcingle but we used the full bridle this time. We put the reins between her front legs and attached them to the surcingle rings, putting a little pressure on her mouth. It helped teach her to get her head in the right position by gently tugging one side then the other asking her to bend to the pressure. We worked in the indoor arena today, in the round pen part. We longed some more but without any ropes, like at liberty. We used a dressage whip (never touching her with it!!!) to speed her up, change direction and stop. The direction changes are a bit messy though! We also did some ground driving in the indoor arena today!!! It was a lot of fun and I think Missy enjoyed it too! Missy is getting better with the cross ties, she's not so afraid of them, which is an improvement. We did have some trouble with the flysheet again though, that will be a little tougher to solve!

# 2

July 2, 2008

First day with Missy, we worked in the outdoor arena learning how to longe (keeping a triangular shape between us) we also backed up and yielded from pressure today. Missy did really great accepting the surcingle and the bridle headstall (we didn't use the reins). We worked for about 2 hours and then stopped. Missy had some trouble with the cross ties because a day or so earlier there was a storm that came through and spooked her while she was in them. She panicked and tried to move forward and then backwards and then she tried going up (rearing). She hit her head and scraped off some hair, but she was only frightened, not hurt. She settled down after a little bit today and started to relax. We also had some trouble putting the flysheet on, she doesn't like the noise much.

Entry 1

Hey! I want to post a little blog on my horse's and my progress. She is only 3 years and still somewhat of a baby, so I am training her with the help of one of the most wonderful people I know, my Riding Instructor. I first started working with Missy in July and I have kept a written "Journal" on our sessions. Since I only got this page today, I will just post all the entries I have until now. I hope you enjoy it!!! :)