New tricks.

I had run out of interesting things to do with Xena, to teach her and to keep us both interested and thinking. Also she was getting energetic and silly and flighty and generally scary to ride. I realized that while her ground manners are now really good (she even comes when she is called) When I am riding her she is confused about who is in charge. She thinks she can make decisions not me. I decided to go back to the cattle yards and try to teach her to obey me without needing reins. I put on her saddle and then just used the halter and lead rope as reins and bridle and rode her at a walk in the cattle yard.

This is teaching her something altogether new and on horseback which I am unfamiliar with. Luckily a lady who has taught people to ride naturally was visiting and decided to help me and gave me a lesson. She encouraged me and told me what to do and we began to teach her to turn left and right and stop and go all from my legs and feet instruction. The lead rope was just to give her a hint and as back up if I needed it.

We also taught her to rein back (walk backwards)  and worked on going sideways. The lady was very encouraging and said I was doing the right things to teach her and that she is obviously relaxed and comfortable with me. It is funny that though she comes when I call, apparently she won't come for anyone else. I can't help but feel a little smug about that.

Today I am going to ride her in the cattle yard again, probably bare backed, and we will remember what we learned yesterday and consolidate.

Riding

Shortly after the beach trip, I put on her saddle and paraphernalia in the cattle yard, this was still part of teaching her to keep still while I do things, and follow me when I walk away, therefore she did not have a halter on. I made her follow me around while she was dressed up, then I left her to get used to it all while I began teaching Fairy to follow me (she was much more stubborn then Xena and took longer) My boss asked if she could ride Xena, I said yes and she hopped on and walked her around in the cattle yard for a bit. Then I got on and she told me how to manage the reins so that the instructions were clear, until Xena got used to the bit and everything. I rode her at a walk all around the cattle yards and she was brilliant.

Over the next few days I walked her out to all the different places, the  jump area, the flat area, the stables, but we always started and finished in the cattle yards. Interestingly the place I had most difficulty with was the grassy jumping area, she was disobedient and opinionated every time we were on the grass. The best place for her was the bush so I did my trotting and finally cantering in the bush before trying it on the grass.

An example of a massive battle we had on the grass was when we were coming back from the bush and she was sure it was the end of the ride and had a little hissy fit when I turned her away from the stables we did about 10 laps of 20m before she wasn't naughty and we could finish. Now her strategy is to just not walk when I ask her to.  

Beach trip

So many weeks on from my last post, sorry about lapse, but Xena is going really well. She very quickly settled and became good friends with the horse she was sharing a paddock with. I now feel it was a good plan to teach her who was boss before she met any other horses.

The next day I went and chased her again and she responded much quicker because she knew what I wanted. Even now, when she begins to get ideas about who is in charge I take her to the cattle yards and remind her.

A few days after we got her we went to the beach with her and two ponies and three children, turned out that it should only be one horse per responsible adult. When we got there I waded into the water with her and scrambled onto her back. She managed to shake me off a few times until I realized what was going on. After that I swam onto her back (no saddle) and stayed on while I made her stand still, then got off. I did this a few more times in the water, then walked her out to the sand for a rest. When we got back from the beach I got on her bare back and got off again a few times just to teach her that she doesn't need to try to get me off, if she is good I will get off myself.

The beach trip was helpful in that it showed me what to teach her next which was standing still when I get on and leading politely instead of so close she stands on my feet all the time. I had a memento the size of a 20c piece on my heel from my riding boot and very sore toes from when Xena kept stepping on my feet.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

There are two ponies belonging to the family I work for, Simba and Fairy. They stay in the same paddock and I have given them the nicnames from Alice in Wonderland. These names suit them perfectly because they are always together and miss each other when one is away. They also fight each other constantly and Fairy
(tweedledum) delights in stealing Simba's food and making him grumpy.

Following the Alice theme of names, The big warmblood is the Queen of Hearts because it is easy to see her yelling "OFF WITH HIS HEAD" about the ponies, dogs, chickens, trees and anything else nearby, particularly at dinner time. Then my horse, Xena, ended up as the Duchess, because both Xena and the Duchess were mental when we first meet them and then completely different the next time we meet in a different location.