Day 266: wowsers. :)

So today marks day number 2 of asking Ike to actually begin trotting. I've asked him just to get in a trot even for a step in the past, but I'm actually trying to get him to understand its a gait I can ask him for and he can hold in addition to just walking. For day 2- he's doing awesome. Yesterday, I had to squeeze, cluck, and use a little rein on his butt as he didn't know what the heck I was asking. After a couple times of that he was already more readily trotting. I still don't have him holding it, but he's getting in it more easily and isn't excited/overly forward. (Nice and calm) I've got him doing circles to either side with reins or without and as of today side passing on a fence under rider. He still doesn't fully understand just to move his hind end or side passing perfectly, but for the little time he's been being asked for more than walk, stop, back, turn... He's a ok in my book. :) I might be a "LITTLE" bias. Hahaha. Anyway, a month or 2 of this and we'll be on our way to loping. Wha?!!!! I know I'm super slow compared to others who train! I'd rather make sure he totally gets it before I move on. I don't want to get hurt on a pony I trained! :p eek! Ohhhhh!!!! First time EVER Ike kneeled with me pointing. Awesome!!!!!!!! Sooooooo awesome!


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Day 252: pond walk.

Today, I got home early as I had plans to film Ike walking with no tack including his bridle. Since Ron was no where to be found, I scratched the filming idea and went for a typical unfilmed session instead. Sooooo awesome! I had Ike walk all the way across the pond with only the guidance of my body. LOVE him SOOO much! I mean SOOoOOooooO much! :)


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Day 248: 2 knees please...

Did several mini sessions with Ike today. The first was just haltering and releasing in an effort to keep him happily lowering that head to be haltered. I don't want him to associate tack with work so I'm happy to put it on and release him for being cooperative about it. :). I've been practicing moving just his forequarters and hindquarters over and then both as I'm wanting him to gain an understanding of that movement under a rider in addition to just on the ground. He's doing really well with that. I'm def. struggling with laying him down, but all in due time. He's doing beautifully with so much. I wish I had extra cash to buy a bitless bridle for him as I'm using Amocean's on both he and Ike. Flying a go pro cam with a phantom for footage, so I should get some cool stuff soon. (The cam isn't mine. Still want my own!) anyhow, it's late and I'll be up with the sun as the horses are due for their 4 week hoof trims tomorrow. I so love sleep! :)


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Day 247: working on lateral movement while backed

My pony is doing absolutely awesome. The big things I'm working on with him are laying down, moving just his front/hind end while mounted, walk, whoa, turns, & backing up. all bitless and bridleless (doing awesome) and all while walking only at this point. Super sleepy. Eating and going to sleep. Night.


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Day 234: AMAZING progress.

I so need to get new footage. Ike is doing SOOO beautifully at so many things. He's listening well in a halter on rides. He will walk up and down stairs and between rails. I've done a LOT of asking him to step in puddles and mud and he's made a TON of progress with those things. He's lowering his head with a touch at the base of his neck for a neck assisted mount as well as new as of today being asked to give me a leg up to mount. (Awesome!) he was just asked to move off leg pressure laterally more yesterday than any days prior. He's slowing on the with me and waiting when asked with an open gate to go to grass. Really want to teach him to lay down. Ordered a telescoping pole and am really wanting to involve Amocean more for liberty work with multiple horses simultaneously. :) awesome stuff. Oh!!! And the woman I originally apprenticed with asked me for help with liberty and her horses. That was sooooo cool and I feel so honored to be considered as a mentor to a former mentor. :)
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Day 212: wow!

Ike is calmly eating hay beside Amocean and the 2 goats. He's doing wonderfully and is always eager to play. He's not any taller. I pray he doesn't stay so short! I like small, but 14hh is perfection to me. This 13.1 stuff just isn't working! :p I still haven't gotten a go pro camera and I've been focusing my cash flow on upgrading work equipment. Ike is doing awesome though. I have him walking/stopping, riding in traffic on side roads, riding bareback , with a bareback pad, or under saddle. I ride very little given his age, but I hope to take him on his first camping/trail trip this fall. :)
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Day 179: my guy has been far from forgotten!

I have yet to obtain a gopro camera that will enable a video blog and a much nicer compilation of what's being done. Ike is nonetheless doing superbly! :). He took me on my first ride off the property today. (Solo with no other horses) We walked by cattle, between 2 dogs on either side of the road, by cars, by a flag, by mailboxes, dumpsters, trash, over a bridge, by graffiti ... He did really well. Hesitant to get alongside heavily treed roadside, but even so did very well for his first short outing. It's been a long time in the making, but he's got a park out down even better now. I don't ask him to hold it, only that he position both front feet in front of a normal square stance. He was just introduced to a bareback pad and is doing well with it. Still no work outside of walk/stop/turn is being done. He's very smart, and I'm very lucky indeed. :)
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Day 137: big news!

Sunday was Ike's official of age birthday. Haha. He turned 3. Yay! He had his birthday off and yesterday we were at it. Had both he and Amocean playing and having a ball at that. He's getting much more polished in what he's being asked and its fun to see him recognize a request given to him at another angle. Super super fun to play with him. Today after work given its warm enough we'll play some more and hopefully introduce him to a saddle this week. :). Hasta!


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Day 129: feet trimmed

Rainy weather and day 2 of treating Amocean's eye with cream.


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Day 121: bright idea!

Today Ike and I had a great play day. Mostly polishing familiar material. Still really trying to improve that back with me while his rear end doesn't turn out. Forgot to mention yesterday that I rode him from a down to a stand for the first time. He was very calm about it and flexed to the right as soon as he was up in the manner he thought was appropriate. (So adorable!) anyhow, I got an awesome idea for blogging. Video blog! :p. have to get the $ for a camera together first for the angles I want/ need. So in a month or so! :) cleaned the paddock, cleaned everyone's feet, trimmed Ivan and Marvin's hooves. Colin will be here Wed. for Ike and Amocean. Super stoked! :) love my super good ponies. :) yay!!!!
Need saddles/ pads and another bitless bridle too. Horses eat all my $! I'm not complaining in the least. They make life so amazing. :)

In riding today, tried asking Ike to move his shoulders away from pressure to either direction while not moving forward. Trick-ay, trick-ay! :p
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Day 120: my pony is flat out amazing.

So its StILL not dry ground yet, and it was freezing this morning when I tried to muck. Ike tried following me around with no rewards but probably in efforts of seeing if his presence would cause me to play with him. I decided to wait for the sun to warm everything up and went out again to clean everything up. Of course I played with Ike first. I was delighted and completely smitten when in mucking, Ike walked up and was a little too close for my liking as he was getting in the way of the rake's motion to the wagon and I didn't think anything of raising a finger off the rake as if I wished he'd back out of that space and voila he did. Such an attentive pony! He's just amazing. Amocean didn't want to leave my side either. He was just moseying behind me and when I stopped so did he and got lazy and sleepy eyed. ...& I'd walk and there he'd come. Sooo cuties!


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Day 108: played

Sunny and warm. Played with Ike and didnt introduce anything new. Polishing what he does know and looking to better his back by me and inside turns. Actually as of yesterday I did start asking stop with the carrot stick on circles at liberty. No riding. Almost 3 yrs old! :)


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Day 107: awesome weather

Fun play day - Ike's doing awesome. Need to introduce new stuff to him. He's got a pretty good understanding of what he's been introduced to so far. Tried bettering our park out today.


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Day 106: puddle miseries

So, goregeous weather... Decided I'd take Ike for a walk as that's something we hadn't done in a while. He did perfect on the way out. Great job staying with me, not diving for grass, only jumped once at who knows what?!, crossed a bridge, did great with hills and cars, and me opening and dropping a dumpster lid, a barking dog coming from behind a fence, by flags, (was nervous about a downed log in a pasture) stopped and stood by it a while and when he relaxed, we walked on. Worst obstacle was in asking him to cross a puddle (large puddle) in a driveway which he was having none of. We probably spent half an hour for him to walk through the outer edge. Grrr! Def. need to improve on that!


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Day 104: tornado watch

Rainy and miserable. Didn't play today. Worked in McKinney/Plano area today.


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Day 103: eep!

Spent time with Ike doing nothing. Touching him & by his sheath, his ears, face, muzzle, just asked him to accept hands all over and left him at that. He was super calm today. It was really nice. :) need a saddle pad and I can pony him from Amocean. :)


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Day 99: YESTERDAY

Left early for getting hair done and didnt return until WAY late. Ron took me out for dinner and pool on my return. :)



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Day 98: video

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/8pPFh3HA2tc


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Day 97: gorgeous weather

Left early for work as we had pool tonight so played with Ike between the 2. He did AWESOME. Starting to understand stop straight/back straight. (Just starting) still swinging out, just not so much. :)


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Day 96: played b4 work

Had to go to work and didnt want to miss out playing with Ike even though it was FREEzING. Ike did beautifully. Starting to ask him to stop while keeping his butt straight as he has a tendency of swinging it out. Fun stuff! :)


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Day 95: 2 sessions

Before and after work. Ike's doing fabulously. Working primarily on staying with me, backing when I stop while keeping his body straight. (Can't find my bitless bridle anywhere! :( wanted Ron to shoot a video but he was tires so I told him I'd play while he took a nap. Trying to get Ike to follow a feel off hi tail too.


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Day 94: dyed that foot!

Boring afternoon session. Ike was lacking his usual spunk. Had a great morning session. Got some cool pics from the video but could use another take on a video worthy of posting! :p


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Day 93: Ike rocks!

Session went SO perfectly. I love days like today. Sunny, warm, the perfect energy in Ike. He wasnt pushing other horses. He was attentive and responsive. Did so awesome! Doing much better at sideways to me! Really watching what's being asked. Love that alertness in him! Starving! Hasta!


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Day 92: www.homegrooms.com

Yesterday, Ike did beautifully as usual! I'm trying to ask for more before I offer treats to him and I'm really looking for him to soften before I reward him. Need to do more desensitization and REALLy want a vid. Worked on website all day today, so for any locals .. :)

Www.Homegrooms.com


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Day 91: Colin Chilson came!

Awesome!!! The boys feet look So much better, and I absolutely love how Colin is with them. Ike did soooo good. :) (for being Ike!) both Amocean and Ike were eager to stand around or play afterwards as well. Ike was spooked by Colin approaching with his talk stature, hat, hoof stand, and that oozing confidence. Ike said "whatever you planning on doing with me, I want no part of it!" Then, he settled down and was good the rest of the time minus some subtle shifting of the foot being worked on. Amocean did well too. Need to spray feet again (both guys, Amoean moreso than Ike)


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Day 90: snow day!

Are you kidding me?!


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Day 89: eek!

Went to Wylie for a job today and planned on playing on our return but when I got home, we needed hay and a mineral block so I headed out got that and just walked back in after dinner and unloading. Awww. My poor ponies! :p tomorrow I'll play before I leave to avoid that happening again.


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Day 88: no play

Fed and watched. No play today.


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Day 87: bombproof horsemanship

Today, I tried attending a clinic put on by Chad Brinlee whom specializes in desensitization. I drove to Whitesboro only to find navigation couldn't get me to the exact destination the clinic was being held. It was raining the whole way on top of that. Outside of feeding everyone, the weather kept me from playing today. Poopie.


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Day 86: YESTERDAY

Played with only a pocket full of rewards yesterday. Ike is being blocked from pushing Amocean so he reverted to something he'd been doing beautifully at not doing which is running the minis off. He's less than 2 months shy of being 3. Yay!!!!! Can't wait! (Well, I can, but anxiously. :p I had grooms yesterday, so I didn't write, but definitely played in the mud again!


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Day 85: beautiful muddy day

The day was warmer than most so I could play in jeans today. The mud wasnt fun, but I couldn't pass up the nice weather! I only used a pocket of grain today (mostly for Amocean) and "caused" Ike to back off if he approached without invitation (not on his case for approaching respectfully and or not crowding) but if he was too forward or had his ears back, I asked him to back up. Also, if he pushes Amocean, I ask him to move away so as to tell him that's unacceptable and also to establish myself as a more fair/respectable leader to Amocean. They managed stepping over the water hole even though they did try going around it for the most part. Played ball with them and am showing Amocean how to pick up a fallen cone. Super fun. Really wanted to do a smidge of riding, but the ground was way too nasty! I might be able to snap a pic of the over the water hole stuff tomorrow. :) I hadn't taken my phone out with me today.


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Day 84: rain, rain, go away!

Yuck on the weather.


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Day 83: awwww man!

So much for a whole year! It was rainy all day! (And tomorrow is supposed to be the same/worse) I was cleaning the inside of the truck this morning. I tried to go out mid-day to play even in the mud, but Marvin and Ivan( the goats) were a filthy mess & I wanted nothing to do with penning them and moving them in and out to do a session. Ike and Amocean came running when I went out. That's always super nice. :) Anyhow, I'm off!


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"Just for Food"

If you read or have read my blog, watched my videos, you know I'm an advocate of using food as a reward in horse training. I know its controversial and I've even been conflicted with it myself as my ultimate desire is a genuine bond and communication strong enough that the horse performs as requested without food being used. Personally, I find with horses that lack motivation, food can give them a reason to do "work" that the human makes effort to present in a fun way to the horse so that its enjoyable. For eager/playful horses, it helps gain the focus of the horse and funnel his energy into desirable behaviors. I use a combination of methods, so Im not saying ONE way is right, but the woman who posted my video was kind enough to send me her post when I told her I was bothered that some people think the horse is working STRICTLY for food. I know this is something I personally need to be able to hear or read and have enough belief in how I do things to shrug it off. It takes a lot of time and effort and lots of undemanding time (where rewards aren't being given) to make progress with horses and its saddening for that to be minimized for food being used. The food is a reward not a bribe. I find its useful for early stages of training or introductions of new material and firmly believe in weaning the horse away from treats further on down the road so he/they can progress to enjoy what's being done at liberty for the fun of the work and the fact that work was presented in a way so that its viewed as enjoyable. Anyhow her post is as follows;

"Very thought-provoking discussion. As a clicker trainer for close to two decades I applaud the new rules for the top level performance.
Clicker training is just that-TRAINING. In my experience, when clicker training is correctly done the animal learns to enjoy the task as it's own reward. The beauty of clicker training is the pleasurable association that is created toward the idea of "working". Instead of work being approached as something the animal HAS to do, it is seen as something the animal WANTS to do.
And no, this doesn't occur because the animal is being fed. Otherwise a clicker trained animal would only respond when food was available.
It is the relationship that the animal develops with the trainer that becomes the motivation. A partnership based on trust and a sincere desire to communicate and acknowledge the intrinsic value of the animal's contribution in determining how a task should proceed.
I have trained dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs and even Koi fish. No matter the species I have seen the long-term result of clicker training to be the creation of this relationship. I have also seen the relationship maintained over sometimes even years with the only reward being the opportunity to participate in a reciprocal partnership between two different species.
When a horse is performing at liberty with nothing to motivate their responses except the relationship we have built through the training process It is an opportunity to see the clearest reflection of what can be accomplished when an animal is seen and treated as a worthy and valued partner instead of simply a tool. "
Cathi Cline
Sacramento, CA

Again, I'm not a clicker trainer per say, but it is amongst the techniques I personally use. My big issue is with food being used. If the handler strives to present a learning environment the horse enjoys, makes effort to keep the horse respectful and not enable him to be pushy or mouthy, the bond created isn't something anyone should criticize. I know that people will still say what they think so I just have to come to terms with that. I'm after a bond that enables me to ride bareback and bridle-less. When I do use a bridle (it will be bitless) so... However I get there...I can't deny I'm proud of the time, effort, and personal actions/training methods I used to obtain that. :) I'll try not to repeat that too many times in the future but it is something I feel strongly about and I tend to voice my opinion. Thank EVERYONE who understands where Im coming from! Very special thanks to Cathi for allowing me to include her beautifully written thoughts. :)
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Day 82: haha!

A person on you-tube came across Ike's videos and was incredibly sweet to post one of them (the 57 day one) as an inspirational piece on a community board. She has a new little 6 month old fell (reminds me of the little guy I had the oppurtunity to take, but I'm SUPER happy I went with Ike.)She suggested I look into horse agility as it seemed/seems to dovetail seamlessly (her words-I liked them. :)into what I'm doing. I have to admit she's absolutely right and it looks super fun for horse and human alike. I'll be looking into dues more when I actually have some cash flow I could steer towards that. For now, I'm happy doing sessions and building on what he knows. The funniest thing happened today. I had Amocean going on a circle at liberty and Ike started going in the opposite direction on a circle without being asked and they both bumped heads. Hahaha. It sounded pretty nasty and I felt bad for both of them, but man was it funny! :p I feel evil for saying that. Great session and Amocean is really becoming animated in some of his forward movement. It's absolutely gorgeous coming from him. :) As usual, I'm just incredibly privileged to have the boys I do. Thank you Ron for enabling me to keep such incredible guys❤ thank you to every person that's been kind enough to take the time to help me learn and gain from your knowledge and experience. I hope I can in some way however small- make life better for the partners that make it all possible. :)

For any of you reading who have made accomplishments with horses, please take the time to encourage newer individuals who are keen to make improvements. You have no idea how appreciated your words and actions are to them. I know from experience it means the world to be commended for effort (even if a person is lacking in technique or doing things differently than is considered norm.)

There is no one right way to obtain the result your after with a horse. We are ALL entitled to our own opinions about how to make progress and what works for us and the individual horses in our lives.
..... The End. :)
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Day 81: video

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/blYHuukdN38


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Day 80: 10 days till 3 months!

Ike is still very keen to play in sessions. Did 2 today as the sun was shining and I was out cleaning the garage anyway. Amocean is doing well with everything when he chooses to be involved. I don't pester him as I want him to desire being involved. Can't wait to shoot a vid again! :)


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Day 79: my pretty ponies

Played with the boys. Ike is still doing awesome even with having added a horse to the sessions. Can't wait to record them! Went and did work with a yearling who was never led before today.


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Day 78: sunny bliss

It's cold out but the sun is shining. High of 46. Ponies were playful and attentive. Played with Ike and Amocean together again this morning. Amocean is doing incredibly well for not having the same one on one sessions Ike did. It helps that he knows all the games though. :) ran with Ross and Phoebe too. Sooo cute jumping the little ditch. I'm so so so so lucky! :)


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Day 77: double trouble

Played with Ike and Amocean both today. Other than bumping heads trying to be the one to get the treat, they did really well overall. Ron put my hitching post ring up and brought the dog crate out so I can crate the goats while I train ponies. Freezing outside, but horses did awesome in the half hour I played with them before they were fed.


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Day 76: muddy play day!

1 hour split between Ike & Amocean :)


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