March 20, 2019

Every moment you spend with your horse is telling them something. That's why in the first year of Shine's life, I tried to go out to see him every single day. Just a few minutes multipled a few hundred times turns out to be quite a lot of time.
I remember on Thanksgiving the first year I owned him, I had so far been out to visit him every single day. Well I decided that day would be no different and I would make time to spend a few minutes with him among the festivities. Well, I turned out that I didn't have a chance to go out there till 11:15 pm. I still made the drive with my Dad and enjoyed a few flashlight moments of petting him and brushing his legs. I feel that Shine really trusts me now. When we're in a new situation, he might start with a flight response, but then he realizes quickly that I'm okay and he is okay too. That's where all that spending time with him comes into play. You can't get a horse used to all situations right away, but you can give them each a foundation of training both with and without the saddle that they can fall back on in those times when they find a new obstacle to overcome. 

March 19, 2019

No matter how long you have been riding you can always critic yourself and get better. I suggest having another horse enthusiast watch you and give you a few pointers. They can see how you ride from a different angle and might have an idea or two for improvement. I also find it helpful to carve out some time to watch other people ride. Even if you don't know them, you will learn more about riding and be able to pick up different pros and cons from others that will affect the next time you mount up. Remember... a smile on your face will help your training session, whether it is going not so great, or if it is already video worthy. Keep riding!

March 12, 2019

It has been raining a bunch the last several weeks, so I haven't made much dry ground to train Shine. He has been having a lot of days off and wanting to run when I do get him out for some exercise. He also loves to roll in the mud (apparently) because each day when I go to get him, his stomach especially is super muddy!
Today I rode him bareback and he was quite good. I brushed him some then rode him then brushed him some more. He is really listening to the rein cues I'm giving him and he is listening to my leg cues as well.
The manager out at the stables gave me another comment today about how good Shine is. "He really is a good one, isn't he?!"
Enjoying walking and trotting between the puddles. :-)

Summary: Shine Training

Training Shine has been fun but challenging too. Right now I have reached another plateau in training, but I’m sure I’ll get past it soon. I still work full-time during the day at a desk job, so I only get to ride in the evenings and on weekends. Especially this time of year, it is pretty dark by the time I get out there after work, so it limits the time I can work Shine. We do have arena lights, but still if there are a lot of riders out and about it limits how much time I can train him each day. He has come a long way though.

Shine is going to be 3 years old in March 2019, but he already loads himself in the trailer, is getting used to the wash racks, and accepts me playing my trumpet and riding while a large American flag is waving behind him. He is a joy to work with and I feel more confident with my training ability each time I successfully get him trained with a new skill. Looking forward to the future!

July 16 & 17, 2018

I have two training sessions I want to tell you about. By the way, the weather has been hot, but it has still been good to train.

July 16, 2018

The temperature was really hot and humid even after work on Monday, so I decided to just work and play with Shine from the ground. I brushed him off and sprayed him with fly spray like normal then led him to the round pen. I could tell he had a lot of energy and after I had him moving that was apparent in his graceful cantering. When cantering to the left he still has a tendency to be slightly out of phase and his rear legs come down in the wrong order, like his back feet are on the opposite lead which is probably why it doesn’t feel as smooth when I ride him in the center to the left. The right, however, is super graceful both to watch and ride. Well, after a little playing which included having him stop and go the other way a few times, after chasing him some and then having him follow me, and after I called him and he came right over… I decided to do some freedom riding. That’s right, no pad and no reins. I had him follow me over to the fence and at first he was a little too far away from it, but when I reset him I mounted easily. Then I did some trotting, kind of weird how much different it feels to not have the reins in my hand. I even got him to easily stop without the aid of the reins, but backing up was a different story. Though he realized I didn’t want him to continue forward when I gave him the backup cue, he didn’t realize I wanted him to backup either. I felt completely comfortable and not like he would just take me away at any point. It was a fun time!

July 17, 2018

The temperature was hot, but a very nice breeze. Today was a great training session with Shine. I tacked him up western and mounted at the hitching post like normal. Then I rode Shine down to the round pen by the corner. I worked some on asking him to back up without using the reins, starting with the leg/seat cues, the following with the rein cues when he didn't immediately understand. After working on that and some other things I got him to understand and take 2 tentative steps back, so I will continue to work on that till he is confident. Worked on cantering in small circles as well, still need to work more on cantering smaller circles to the left. When I was done working Shine I rode him along the front of the property inside the fence. When we got around to the cutting arena, Shine was suddenly not listening to me and then suddenly pivoted 180 degrees. It was startled, but I didn’t feel like he was completely out of control. I couldn’t easily get him stopped by telling him to whoa, so I pulled on the right rein and he did a sidepass and stopped. I turned him back toward whatever he had seen, but again I lost his focus. I couldn’t get him to keep listening to me, so I dismounted and worked him in that general area for a few minutes. He had more cantering pent up, so I got that out as well. Then we walked a few feet past that point and I was able to mount and have his attention. When we got back to the hitching post, I stopped him in the shade of a tree and we stood there for about 2 minutes. He only once tried to reach around and grab the rein in his mouth. That’s really good! He mostly stood calmly, his head forward. Lynn drove by on the gator, “Nice having a broke horse, isn’t it?” He apparently hadn't seen the recent training episode down by the cutting arena. ;-)

June 26, 2018

I had fun training Shine today:

• He stood calmly while I tacked him up. Though he did bite the rope a few times, he stopped when I gently pulled it out of his mouth. 
• He continued to stand calmly while I set the western saddle on his back and he didn't try to bite the saddle like he has in the past.
• He also stood calmly while I tightened the saddle
• I mounted from there after he quickly accepted the bit and then rode him down the hill to the arena.
• He more easily walked down the hill and followed my leg cues rather than zig-zagging back and forth.

He did seem to have a lot of energy, so I tailored his training around that:

• Worked on quick zigzags around the arena one whole time each direction
• Worked him at the canter in small circles, then had him stop (he is greatly improving on his stops) and turned to go the other way in small circles at the canter.
• As a breather from the quick turns, I had him pick up the canter, going around the whole arena. He loved that. I had him go one way then turn smaller circles before picking up the canter in the other direction.

Calm boy:

• When we were walking back to the hitching post, one of the young girls came up on a horse that was quite excited and not listening to her rein cues.
• Shine stayed calm the whole time, even though the other horse was jigging around close to Shine.

Shine's training has come a long way - I praised him today and that other girl was impressed by how much he has learned in his young life. Shine is only 2 years and 3 months old.

Sweet!

June 17, 2018

Another day to see improvement in Shine's training. I had most of the ranch to myself again as well.

I tacked Shine at the hitching post and he stood calmly. Once I had the saddle snug, I turned him from the hitching post and he accepted the bridle (2 reined bridle).

Then I mounted and had him trot up toward the main arena. About halfway there, I had him stop and rest for several seconds then continue on at the trot. I entered the main arena from the far side at the trot.

I did some zigzagging up the length of the arena then made a circle and did zigzagging back to the other way. He is starting to really turn and give to my leg cues.

Then I had him stop, wait, then canter around the arena. His transition from motion to halt is really improving.

I made up different sequences and had a pause between each one. We did a little of barrel work too. He is a great horse!

After enjoying the main arena and the barrels, I worked to have him picking up one lead, cantering a circle, dropping to a trot, and picking up the other lead.

To cool him down I walked him across the street to the field, meaning I rode him over there.

I dismounted to open and close the gate, then mounted again. After walking around the entire perimeter of the field, I again dismounted to open and close the gate.

Then we trotted back across the street and walked up the driveway.