Field Trip with Fleck

So Mr. Dan and I went to Wishing Tree Farm today with Flecky. They both loaded fine and hauled great. Although someone tore apart the hay string holding up the hay bales and Dans ended up under his feet. Oh well. Easy fix. But anyways,  Fleck and I had a jump lesson so Dan hung out in the round pen while we jumped. He did fine. A little bit of dancing and running, but he stayed in the round pen. So then it was Dan's turn. He was groomed and bridled. That is getting tough now. He's so tall! But then we did a teensy bit of lunging just to make sure that he was "in the right place" brain wise! He was good and nailed his transitions, so then we went on to long lining. He wasn't contained in a fence but the farm is far enough off the road that I felt pretty comfortable trying it out. And he was great. He steered fairly well, halted, and even backed up. He did have one little baby meltdown when I tried to turn him away from Kathy's new filly baby and Momma, but got over it quick. But he went around the farm and even passed the long row of horses hanging their heads out of their stall windows. We even did a teeny bit of trotting too. 

Such a good baby!

Too much fun!!!!!

Oh... he's going to be sooooo hard!!! Soooo hard to move slow with! Cause he's just so darn easy!!

 

Today we added more new stuff. We started with lunging with the micklem and he was "ho hum, this is boring". hee hee.. Then we went to the trailer and put the saddle on him. I wasn't sure which one to use as I only have the 52" girth for the jump saddle. But holy crud it fit!!! Granted, it's on the top holes and it's not super tight, but... tight enough to not slide! Egads! He looks so pretty in it too. 

So then we went and lunged with the saddle down with the stirrups flapping. Another "ho hum, this is boring" session for Dan. So then we went for a trip around the pasture doing some long lining. Again, still boring. He's getting the hang of it and I'm getting the hang of steering but we still have some moments of miscommunication.  But we trotted, walked, turned, halted and even backed. Whoo hoo.

So then I undid the long lines and decided... well.. why not? I walked him down to the round pen and was going to lean over him. But darn it!! That baby is tall, so even with the tall round pen, I wasn't able to get high enough to really lean over him. I sort of leaned on him... then figured, what the heck. So I swung a leg over and sat down. He just stood there. I sat on him for about 45 seconds. Then slid down to the ground. No reaction. :) Then I got back on again!! Sat on him for about a minute. No reaction other than him trying to eat my boot. Hee hee... Then I slid down again and gave him lots of cookies. 

I LOVE this kid!!!! But yep.. it's going to be so hard not to be on and riding him soon. He's just so easy. And so fun!!! It was a blast sitting up on him. :)     

They're FRIENDS!!!!

Hee hee... Found them play fighting the other morning.... They didn't know I was watching :)

Redemption

So... Danny is a superstar! I was smart today and it made a big difference. I tied him up and groomed him and then started off in the round pen lunging. He was good and I introduced the canter. He doesn't quite get it yet and has a hard time holding it while turning, but we got a few strides. That's all I want to do anyways since he's still a baby. So then we attached the long lines and away we went. Fleck was in his stall with Roany because he was fasting for his ulcer scoping. So I made Dan go down behind the barn to the old arena. Where the deer were yesterday. Luckily they weren't there today, so we managed to slowly make our way down to the creek. He wouldn't go over it, so I eventually walked up by his head and led him over. Then we went to the front field and did a little bit and then turned around and came back. On the way back, he jumped the creek on his own and cantered off. I was able to bring him back down quickly and then went back up to the barn. Then I made him go past the barn and we even trotted! Turning while trotting is hard, but.. we managed a little bit. Then we halted and were done. 

Such a good baby. :) 

Lesson Learned...

Oh Daniel... Naughty naughty Daniel.....
Though... it was my fault really. I didn't set him up for success.

So.. I decided to work with him again, and I guess it's been a week.. with work and the horse show. So he was coming up to the barn when I brought Fleck home. I caught him and Fleck decided to go out to the front field. Danny didn't care... he let me put the surcingle on him without even haltering him first. Then he got the bit and bridle on and the lines all lined up. Then we started to trek off and the temper tantrum started. Dan wanted to join his buddies and I wanted him to go another way. So we had a ten minute discussion concerning which direction to go and finally I won. But it was still a bit of a fight and he was all "up". So I decided to be smart and drive him to the round pen and then let him work off some steam there. So we did. He lunged great and even cantered but quickly responded to my commands. He seemed to have gotten his bucks out, so to speak, so back to long lining we went. The plan was to go down to the old arena and cross the creek and then go join the big guys in the field. Dan kept wanting to go to the right and go the other way to the field so we had more discussions. I finally got him to the arena and the darn deer were out and scary! Dan turned and bolted but I managed to keep a hold of him. We finally got turned around and headed back out that way and the darn deer bolted again. This time Dan turned, dug his heels in during his spin, and off he went. I didn't stand a chance so I let go. He went high tailing it to the front field. I trudged out there and luckily everything was still intact. His surcingle had slipped a bit, but was otherwise fine. So.. back to work we went. He did pretty well in the front field so then I made him go back to the barn. Fleck followed us but Dan did lead. However, when we got close to the barn he was definitely looking for the deer. Argh... so because I am as stubborn as him... I made him go back down to the ring. Unfortunately those bratty deer were STILL there, so I made him stop and then before he got scared, we turned and went into the dog pen pasture. He was good so we headed back to the barn and called it quits.

So yep... I learned my lesson. Always set the baby up for success. Especially the 15.3 (or more.. I swear he spurted up again) baby! He's a good kid.. and a smart kid.. but he's still a baby!! So I'll go back out better prepared and better prepped tomorrow. But we still were able to end on a good note.

Baby Steps

This horse is phenomenal!!! I am so in love with him!

Today I let them all in the front field to graze and after a few hours I went out there with my gear. Danny came trotting up (swoons!!!!) and of course, then proceeded to chomp and fling everything. Goober. I got his bridle on and the lunge line and we went to work. I went ahead and put the bit in his mouth but didn't attach anything to it. Just let him have something to chew. So we started to lunge. He was naughty! hee hee.. He walked and trotted when I asked, but was playing. But you know... fine, go ahead and play! He was still doing what I asked, so I was fine with it. Once he quit playing and was behaving himself much better, we moved onto long lining. 

I set up an obstacle course... small little verticals, a small cross rail, two poles on the ground to form a lane, and a few poles to walk over. He did very good and was much more forward this time. We went over the little jumps (more like cavalettis'), through the lane, over the lane, over the three poles in a row, etc. He was great. So then we walked over the vertical and I think he started trotting on landing. I went with it and we trotted around some. He was great!!! He walked when I said to and so then we did a bit more trotting. We even turned! And then I asked him to trot over the little vertical another time or two and he did it. Then we walked... then we halted. And we were done. I told him that he was such a smart cookie and gave him lots of praise!

 

He had worked up a little sweat so I took him over to the hose and figured I'd try a little spritz. He hasn't been sprayed with water or even fly spray since last year, so... I expected a little bit of antics. He was actually pretty darn good. He backed up a bit but didn't freak and let me spray him. I even got to spray his chin. 

I think he had fun too!!!