Once Nick died, my employer began to look for free lease horses for me to borrow for a year. I agreed to go and look at one of them yesterday. She is a mare, 4 yrs old, failed racer, thoroughbred.
We got there and I wasn't impressed with her manners and temperament. She seemed jumpy and rude. We found out she was being fed working horse food when she wasn't being worked. The owner rode her and we were still not encouraged. Eventually the initial prance and disobedience left her and the lady got off.
I figured I would ride her since we had come all this way (an hour and a half) so I hopped on. I walked her round a bit, telling her that a walk was plenty and we don't need to trot everywhere. After I got off, my friend hopped on because the mare had been a lot calmer for me then for the first girl. My friend rode her and realized she is very smart and can be taught things and is a quick learner. We decided to take her home for 2 weeks to see what she turns out like on calmer feed and time and effort.
The first thing we taught her yesterday was that people stopping cars and walking around floats don't mean she is about to be unloaded. She had developed a habit of rushing off the float so we taught her not to expect that to be ok.
Then I took her to a small yard and began to teach her ground manners. I taught her to stand still when I wanted to pick up her feet and I also taught her that I was the leader and the top horse, not her. It took AGES but in the end she followed me.
The way I taught both of these things was to make her trot around me until she stopped and turned or walked towards me, I would step back out of her personal space to reward her. Then I would move closer to her and allow her to stand still while I touched her all over. If she stepped away I would make her run more. In the end I was able to pick up her front feet while she stood there and was working on the back when I was time to go home. This is a useful skill to teach them because there are few things more annoying that having a horse shuffle around while you are trying to pick up their feet.
Today I will work on that more, as well as tacking her up and lunging her.
Her name is Xena and she is a bay (brown body, black legs, mane and tail)
Friday, March 29, 2013
Sad News
On Friday last week, I had the farrier out o Nick and in the process of trimming his hooves he unearthed an underlying problem we hadn't known about. This was stifle lock, if you want to see youtube clips of what a horse looks like with stifle lock type in "Cowboy Stifle Lock" into youtube and watch the one with the yellow (palomino) horse.
Nick wasn't as severe as Cowboy but he was pretty close. Cowboy was lucky and his owner could afford an operation so he improved and could be used again. I couldn't afford the operation and it was too severe a problem to exercise out and so he couldn't be ridden or sold. Unfortunately this only left one option for me. On Tuesday he was put down, while I wasn't there. On Monday the kids and I said goodbye. I had had him for two weeks and he was a beautiful, gentle, pleasant, dopey horse. I would not have hesitated to put a child on his back.
On Monday afternoon the children said goodbye to him, I tied him to the gate and the little four yr old girl went up and hugged his front leg like it was a tree and he just stood there. He would have been worth the expense if I had had sufficient money to afford the operation and he would have made a perfect riding school horse.
I miss Nick a lot, every time I go out with the kids to ride and feed I am reminded that Nick is no longer there. I have waited for a while so I can write what happened without getting too upset. I cried all day on Monday when I found out, and then I have not cried since.
Nick wasn't as severe as Cowboy but he was pretty close. Cowboy was lucky and his owner could afford an operation so he improved and could be used again. I couldn't afford the operation and it was too severe a problem to exercise out and so he couldn't be ridden or sold. Unfortunately this only left one option for me. On Tuesday he was put down, while I wasn't there. On Monday the kids and I said goodbye. I had had him for two weeks and he was a beautiful, gentle, pleasant, dopey horse. I would not have hesitated to put a child on his back.
On Monday afternoon the children said goodbye to him, I tied him to the gate and the little four yr old girl went up and hugged his front leg like it was a tree and he just stood there. He would have been worth the expense if I had had sufficient money to afford the operation and he would have made a perfect riding school horse.
I miss Nick a lot, every time I go out with the kids to ride and feed I am reminded that Nick is no longer there. I have waited for a while so I can write what happened without getting too upset. I cried all day on Monday when I found out, and then I have not cried since.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Trusted and Trustworthy
I never realized how much easier it is to care for kids when they trust you to do what is best/right and they trust you to love them. I realized the other day that the eldest of the children I care for doesn't trust me to know or do what is best. He goes along with what I say because he feels he has no choice, but he doesn't trust me. The younger two trust me and seem to have an easier time of it. When they are in trouble, the conversation about why and the consequence can be brief, they admit they were in the wrong and say sorry and we make up. The eldest though argues and fights, explains his point, feels unjustly done by about EVERYTHING, complains to his mum about me and even begins defending himself before he gets into trouble (this is especially annoying when it was clearly an accident and I am not going to growl at him.)
I don't think I am so unpredictable that I fly off the handle randomly and with no warning over silly little mistakes. I do get annoyed by mistakes from being silly, or repeated mistakes. Also some mistakes lead to more work on my part which can make it hard to be objective. However the younger two don't feel the need to walk on eggshells.
I used to think it was a manipulation thing, now I think it is a trust thing. He feels like he has to be in charge of himself, his siblings and even his parents and me. Because he is a child he needs to use manipulative strategies to control us all. Being manipulated and played against each other irritates me, it will irritate his siblings and will irritate his friends at school if he is also bossing them around. I think it is stressing him out to feel in charge and to not trust that I am responsible for all the kids well being, including his. I feel that in all his parenting worries, he is forgetting to be a child. He can't relax, if he is happy he is high as a kite. If he is sensible he is serious and anxious to please. Because he is so anxious to please, he gets VERY distressed when he feels that I am not pleased, and especially so when he gets in trouble. Or even just reminded about responsibilities. Or reminded to be sensible.
I am going to work on, in conjunction with his parents, that he is responsible only for his actions, obedience and possessions. He is not responsible for other peoples wellbeing or happiness (not to intentionally make them unhappy, but he doesn't need to please or manipulate others into being happy). When I am disciplining either of the others, I will keep his input out of it. He will be free to tell his parents if something is bothering him but if it is me that is bothering him, he needs to tell me about it. That way it is not dobbing. If his mother needs to talk to me, he does not need to also tell me the same thing. Also the other way around.
This will be a long project and hopefully we see some long term improvement in himself and his confidence and childhood
I don't think I am so unpredictable that I fly off the handle randomly and with no warning over silly little mistakes. I do get annoyed by mistakes from being silly, or repeated mistakes. Also some mistakes lead to more work on my part which can make it hard to be objective. However the younger two don't feel the need to walk on eggshells.
I used to think it was a manipulation thing, now I think it is a trust thing. He feels like he has to be in charge of himself, his siblings and even his parents and me. Because he is a child he needs to use manipulative strategies to control us all. Being manipulated and played against each other irritates me, it will irritate his siblings and will irritate his friends at school if he is also bossing them around. I think it is stressing him out to feel in charge and to not trust that I am responsible for all the kids well being, including his. I feel that in all his parenting worries, he is forgetting to be a child. He can't relax, if he is happy he is high as a kite. If he is sensible he is serious and anxious to please. Because he is so anxious to please, he gets VERY distressed when he feels that I am not pleased, and especially so when he gets in trouble. Or even just reminded about responsibilities. Or reminded to be sensible.
I am going to work on, in conjunction with his parents, that he is responsible only for his actions, obedience and possessions. He is not responsible for other peoples wellbeing or happiness (not to intentionally make them unhappy, but he doesn't need to please or manipulate others into being happy). When I am disciplining either of the others, I will keep his input out of it. He will be free to tell his parents if something is bothering him but if it is me that is bothering him, he needs to tell me about it. That way it is not dobbing. If his mother needs to talk to me, he does not need to also tell me the same thing. Also the other way around.
This will be a long project and hopefully we see some long term improvement in himself and his confidence and childhood
Monday, March 18, 2013
Horse lunging
Yesterday I went to work with Nick again after having the weekend off for church camp and a break. The food thing worked pretty well and we worked out who was the dominant party between us. I was able to chase him away from the food with little or no fuss.
The lunging lesson went pretty well. It needed one person in the middle and one person leading the horse around the outside to give him a hint about what to do. He tried walking and trotting in a circle and then figured he would try pulling back and thrashing about. That didn't work and the most comfortable thing in the end for him to do was to walk in a circle.
Today I will go out and reinforce this lesson and hopefully get him trotting on command.
The lunging lesson went pretty well. It needed one person in the middle and one person leading the horse around the outside to give him a hint about what to do. He tried walking and trotting in a circle and then figured he would try pulling back and thrashing about. That didn't work and the most comfortable thing in the end for him to do was to walk in a circle.
Today I will go out and reinforce this lesson and hopefully get him trotting on command.
Vegetable Juice Fast
After watching a program on TV about the benefits of a Juice Fast, we decided to borrow a juicer.
The thing about a juice fast is it usually increases your vitamin and vegetation intake by a huge amount, often from practically nothing to 100% of your diet. This your body has the time to detox from all the rubbish eaten before hand while it receives the much needed nutrients it has been denied. While it seems to be a myth that some foods help the detox process, it does help not to put more toxic foods into your body while your liver and kidneys are trying to do their job.
I never planned on a full Juice Fast because I am a fairly healthy eater, my breakfast is filling and full of fibre, my lunch includes lots of salad (usually), dinner is the main problem though since I don't provide that for myself. I was noticing an increase in the chips and pastry and take away at mealtimes and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I am not against junk food, I just like to choose when I eat it rather then have others decide. We figured then that if dinner proved to be unwholesome I could have Juice instead or as well. Therefore we borrowed a juicer.
Here is what I discovered. 1) Vegetable Juice is an acquired taste, I don't really like it. 2) The Juicer is a pain to clean with a vast number of components. 3) It takes about 3 apples to make a small glass of Juice. 4) Stuff that is nice whole tastes like ditchwater when it is juiced (celery and cucumber) 5) All the recipes discount red apples for some reason (they are really nice, like lemonade). 6) when you juice carrots the pulp left over is really good in wraps and sandwiches. It still tastes fine, it does not soggy up the bread, and it is grated up really finely. I very nearly put cheese through the Juicer to see if it also grated up fine. I restrained myself since it is an expensive thing to break.
All in all the Juice fast wouldn't work for me because firstly I don't like enough of the vegetable juice to even nearly maintain a balanced diet and secondly, I like the texture of vegetables and Juice removes all that. However that is not to say it would not work for anyone. Especially if they have diet related health problems I would highly recommend trying it for 10 days.
The thing about a juice fast is it usually increases your vitamin and vegetation intake by a huge amount, often from practically nothing to 100% of your diet. This your body has the time to detox from all the rubbish eaten before hand while it receives the much needed nutrients it has been denied. While it seems to be a myth that some foods help the detox process, it does help not to put more toxic foods into your body while your liver and kidneys are trying to do their job.
I never planned on a full Juice Fast because I am a fairly healthy eater, my breakfast is filling and full of fibre, my lunch includes lots of salad (usually), dinner is the main problem though since I don't provide that for myself. I was noticing an increase in the chips and pastry and take away at mealtimes and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I am not against junk food, I just like to choose when I eat it rather then have others decide. We figured then that if dinner proved to be unwholesome I could have Juice instead or as well. Therefore we borrowed a juicer.
Here is what I discovered. 1) Vegetable Juice is an acquired taste, I don't really like it. 2) The Juicer is a pain to clean with a vast number of components. 3) It takes about 3 apples to make a small glass of Juice. 4) Stuff that is nice whole tastes like ditchwater when it is juiced (celery and cucumber) 5) All the recipes discount red apples for some reason (they are really nice, like lemonade). 6) when you juice carrots the pulp left over is really good in wraps and sandwiches. It still tastes fine, it does not soggy up the bread, and it is grated up really finely. I very nearly put cheese through the Juicer to see if it also grated up fine. I restrained myself since it is an expensive thing to break.
All in all the Juice fast wouldn't work for me because firstly I don't like enough of the vegetable juice to even nearly maintain a balanced diet and secondly, I like the texture of vegetables and Juice removes all that. However that is not to say it would not work for anyone. Especially if they have diet related health problems I would highly recommend trying it for 10 days.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Horse project
So I have now had my horse for 5 days. It feels like longer and shorter at the same time. I have come to the conclusion that he is very patient and stoic and incredibly STUBBORN. He allows me to muck around with him but if we try something he doesn't think we should do, he has a hissy fit. I discovered this when he got annoyed at me and we played tug of war.
I have done the same things I did with Arakei and he kind of understood but he is so stubborn he would rather run the submit. I am going to try a different method because I need a round yard to chase him in if that strategy is going to work. If I do it in the bigger paddock, he can stop and rest nearly doing the right thing, but not really. We worked on Friday for so long my arm got stiff and he was tripping over he was so tired. I need a smaller space so that we are acting and reacting to each other at closer quarters and he can't prretend he is ignoring me.
A strategy I am going to try is based on the observation that the dominant horse takes food from the lesser horse. This is why feeding treats to horses is not a good training strategy. It works with dogs because they equate getting a treat with pleasing you. Horses see it as a victory. My plan is to give him hay, let him eat some and then chase him away from it and take it back. This is also important to do with dogs, the dominant dog can claim food from lesser dogs, if you can't take a bone off your dog without getting threatened or bitten, you need to work on his obedience. If you watch horses in a paddock, the one who is asserting their dominance will turf the others off their feed buckets and rotate round. Once they sought out their pecking order I don't think they need to do this as much, but initially there is a lot of swapping around.
I will let you know how is goes.
I have done the same things I did with Arakei and he kind of understood but he is so stubborn he would rather run the submit. I am going to try a different method because I need a round yard to chase him in if that strategy is going to work. If I do it in the bigger paddock, he can stop and rest nearly doing the right thing, but not really. We worked on Friday for so long my arm got stiff and he was tripping over he was so tired. I need a smaller space so that we are acting and reacting to each other at closer quarters and he can't prretend he is ignoring me.
A strategy I am going to try is based on the observation that the dominant horse takes food from the lesser horse. This is why feeding treats to horses is not a good training strategy. It works with dogs because they equate getting a treat with pleasing you. Horses see it as a victory. My plan is to give him hay, let him eat some and then chase him away from it and take it back. This is also important to do with dogs, the dominant dog can claim food from lesser dogs, if you can't take a bone off your dog without getting threatened or bitten, you need to work on his obedience. If you watch horses in a paddock, the one who is asserting their dominance will turf the others off their feed buckets and rotate round. Once they sought out their pecking order I don't think they need to do this as much, but initially there is a lot of swapping around.
Perfect timing
I have been having back difficulties for a few years. This is not a constant thing, in fact it is very rare. However it is very odd in how it comes, and it has come 3 times with exceptionally bad timing.
The first time was the worst, it came because I went for a walk to the shops and then when I got back I sat in a chair. When I got up it was hurting. The next day we packed for Summer School, then we went to Summer School to carry stuff round setting up, camping and sleeping on stretchers. The next day my back was so sore I couldn't walk. It was scary and painful. A friend gave me exercises and my back improved over the week.
Therefore the first time it happened was just in time for a week of camping at Summer School.
The second time it happened was 6 months later and I was picking a piece of paper up off the ground. My back gave a massive spasm and it hurt really badly. That was the day I was flying home from QLD for a week. I couldn't walk far, I couldn't do karate, I couldn't play with children. It was very frustrating but not a bad as the first one because I used the stretches and exercises from the beginning.
The third time was Friday morning. I was in the process of going from a standing position to a seated position in a chair. My back gave out and it REALLY hurt. Church camp started on Friday night and I couldn't even walk properly. Luckily the camp site is only 10 minutes away and I was able to sleep in my proper bed rather then a foam mattress.
Besides the fantastic timing of my back problems, I did go to a chiropractor to see if it could be more permanently fixed. It was an interesting if expensive experience, however today, just 2 days after I hurt myself my back is merely stiff and I can walk nearly normally.
The first time was the worst, it came because I went for a walk to the shops and then when I got back I sat in a chair. When I got up it was hurting. The next day we packed for Summer School, then we went to Summer School to carry stuff round setting up, camping and sleeping on stretchers. The next day my back was so sore I couldn't walk. It was scary and painful. A friend gave me exercises and my back improved over the week.
Therefore the first time it happened was just in time for a week of camping at Summer School.
The second time it happened was 6 months later and I was picking a piece of paper up off the ground. My back gave a massive spasm and it hurt really badly. That was the day I was flying home from QLD for a week. I couldn't walk far, I couldn't do karate, I couldn't play with children. It was very frustrating but not a bad as the first one because I used the stretches and exercises from the beginning.
The third time was Friday morning. I was in the process of going from a standing position to a seated position in a chair. My back gave out and it REALLY hurt. Church camp started on Friday night and I couldn't even walk properly. Luckily the camp site is only 10 minutes away and I was able to sleep in my proper bed rather then a foam mattress.
Besides the fantastic timing of my back problems, I did go to a chiropractor to see if it could be more permanently fixed. It was an interesting if expensive experience, however today, just 2 days after I hurt myself my back is merely stiff and I can walk nearly normally.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
New Project
I have a project to fill in hours of my day not currently filled by work.
Because my employer is getting back into horses, I have found myself once more surrounded by equines. Since I came back to WA I have been feeding, changing rugs and teaching 3 children to ride a horse.
On Monday I went riding with T and she told me that she was thinking of buying an unwanted, cheap horse as a project for me to work with. On Tuesday she rang to tell me the lady didn't want to sell the first one we wanted, but this other one was offered for free.
He is a black thoroughbred, nearly 16 hands (about as tall as me) and I have had him for 3 days now. He is about 5 and he has been broken in and then ignored. He knows nothing, not picking up feet, not trotting on the lead, not wearing a rug. I am going to teach him manners, obedience, how to lead nicely (not trampling all over you) and then hopefully the finer points of riding (walk trot canter, listen, stop, start, left, right, pretty, head in, feet up and maybe even jumping.)
So far I have been working on picking up his feet, leading nicely, looking at scary things like stationary tractors, cars, birds, jumps and trees. Then I made him run round a paddock to teach him some manners. This is the same as I did with Arakei in my horse training posts in 2011, the result should be the same, but Arakei was HEAPS quicker at picking it up. The aim is to get the horse to submit and follow you without a lead. It took me 40 minutes of him running today to eventually convince him to follow me.
He is a mainly docile horse, doesn't panic much about anything, tolerates quite a lot of things, but he is stubborn as a teenager when he doesn't want to do something. He doesn't flap around in energetic rebellion, he just pretends not to know what you want. Odds are on he doesn't know, but he won't try to figure it out.
The first thing I want to teach him is to follow me in a paddock. Then I will set up an obstacle course like I did with Arakei and walk him through it.
I will put up photo's what I get some good ones.
Because my employer is getting back into horses, I have found myself once more surrounded by equines. Since I came back to WA I have been feeding, changing rugs and teaching 3 children to ride a horse.
On Monday I went riding with T and she told me that she was thinking of buying an unwanted, cheap horse as a project for me to work with. On Tuesday she rang to tell me the lady didn't want to sell the first one we wanted, but this other one was offered for free.
He is a black thoroughbred, nearly 16 hands (about as tall as me) and I have had him for 3 days now. He is about 5 and he has been broken in and then ignored. He knows nothing, not picking up feet, not trotting on the lead, not wearing a rug. I am going to teach him manners, obedience, how to lead nicely (not trampling all over you) and then hopefully the finer points of riding (walk trot canter, listen, stop, start, left, right, pretty, head in, feet up and maybe even jumping.)
So far I have been working on picking up his feet, leading nicely, looking at scary things like stationary tractors, cars, birds, jumps and trees. Then I made him run round a paddock to teach him some manners. This is the same as I did with Arakei in my horse training posts in 2011, the result should be the same, but Arakei was HEAPS quicker at picking it up. The aim is to get the horse to submit and follow you without a lead. It took me 40 minutes of him running today to eventually convince him to follow me.
He is a mainly docile horse, doesn't panic much about anything, tolerates quite a lot of things, but he is stubborn as a teenager when he doesn't want to do something. He doesn't flap around in energetic rebellion, he just pretends not to know what you want. Odds are on he doesn't know, but he won't try to figure it out.
The first thing I want to teach him is to follow me in a paddock. Then I will set up an obstacle course like I did with Arakei and walk him through it.
I will put up photo's what I get some good ones.
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