dancing horses

dancing horses

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Settling In

 Spring is slowly coming to Nova Scotia. The grass is greening up and the weather is warmer. I am impatient and want it to warm up more- it's still quite chilly. Even though I know it will also bring the black flies. There is grass coming into the front paddock that they are grazing on. But I still bring them out to the grass to acclimate before going into the back pasture. 

Carmen forgot that she had her turn and accused
me of playing favourites. 

I usually let them graze after a training session. I drop the lead rope and let them graze while I put things away. And yes, I let the rope drag around.  They both know to yield to the pressure so when they step on it, they move their move their feet and sort themselves out. Here's a video of Quaid dealing with the rope. 


I didn't just start them with a trailing rope. It all comes as a result of teaching them about yielding to pressure on the poll, having things around their legs etc. 

My rides on Carmen are going well. I'm feeling a lot more balanced this year. Which means I'm better at helping her find her balance. It's interesting with being retired and not having the pressure to fit training in around other responsibilities. I don't know that I'm riding more, time will tell on that, but I am enjoying not having to make choices about chores or riding. I also have been playing with the liberty with Carmen. She's quite smart about it all. I was playing with some of our toys: flag, tarp etc. She definitely remembered that going to the tarp means rest. 

Carmen: you can't bug me when I'm on home base!

I caught this cute little video when we were playing. You can see her trot to the tarp and then off to the plastic bag. Her look at the end kills me. 

Oh yeah, this mare is really spooky! 

Quaid is also doing well. He's been perfectly sound, which is such a relief. He's also been a bit sassy- which I attribute to the 'almost 3'. We have days where I wonder what I was thinking buying a 2 year old and others when I think I'm a genius who makes excellent decisions.  

I guess time will tell. 

she's getting whiter, I will miss her dark mane




14 comments:

  1. I still run with the narrative of wondering what I was thinking vs never mind, she is a genius, lol. Happy Retirement! My husband also just retired April 1st and I have to say I'm pretty envious <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the video and the expression! I really like liberty and play with that and clicker training a lot. Young horses are an adventure-you will do a great job with him!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I’m so happy to see Quaid recovered !! Yes, they can vary from day to day quite dramatically when they’re 3. Sometimes I felt like I had a monster on a rope. Other days, gentle as a lamb. At 5, that’s all smoothed out.

    I like letting them figure out pressure and move off of it. It’s great training to let them drag the rope, in my opinion anyway.

    Carmen is doing great, too. You should don a wig and take a Lady Godiva photo on her when she’s pure white!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol. I can’t imagine Eds face if I did a Godiva costume!

      Delete
  4. Yay for Quaid being sound! That was quite an ordeal.
    Spring has sprung here too finally- a little snow hanging on in the shaded areas but the green grass is growing and I'm itchin' to get my garden underway!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We didn’t get a lot of snow this year so it didn’t hang around. I’m glad he’s doing as well as he is.

      Delete
  5. They look so happy and well <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. yay spring!! double yay that the riding with Carmen has been so positive, and triple yay for *sound* Quaid!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It’s nice to have things trending in the right direction

      Delete
  7. So wonderful to hear that Quaid made a full recovery!! Not looking forward to fly season either. Hopefully it is not as bad as last year. I am not familiar with the tarp game. Sounds like fun. Carmen definitely knows how to play & looks so pleased.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! With the tarp you work the horse and take all pressure off. They figure out thst the potential scary thing is a safe place and they seek it out. So it’s not about me ‘making’ her do something but her making a choice.

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love the feedback.