Char's Farrier Visit

Last Wednesday was Char's first farrier visit. I was not able to be there so it was just my partner and the farrier. I am sad to say it didn't go very well. It didn't really surprise me as she is NOT trusting of other people. So while we can now pick up her back feet without her kicking at us, this was not the case for the farrier. He was able to get her front feet trimmed though and one of them rasped. We will continue to work on it in hopes that one day she will have no issues with it. The whole ordeal scared her and I will guess it set us back a few days of training. Although it didn't go very well (really it went as expected ) I am glad we got the first trim out of the way, it can only get better from here!

Today I am headed out to see her and the others. I hope to get some feet work done with her so we can rebuild on her trust in us.

Tomorrow is the day

Tomorrow is Char's scheduled farrier visit. She has done a good job at breaking off her own hooves, but they still need work. We have been consistent with getting her front feet picked out. She still struggles with holding up her back feet for any duration of time.  So I don't expect my farrier to be able to trim her back feet, but I think her fronts will go okay. We will see, as this will be the first time someone other than us try to handle her feet.

Char is also coming along nicely in other areas too. She is learning head down and stand facing forward. (Of course at separate times) With every session I see her confidence growing.

I want to touch base on Navi too :) She is really showing improvement! Yesterday I went to go pick her feet and for the first time ever she picked up her back leg for me before I even bent down. I thought for a split second she was going to kick me, but then I realized she was just picking up her foot for me. It wasn't something I expected with her because she has always been heavy with her feet. She will pick them up when asked, but would lean. Well since I have been doing 100% clicker training with her she is becoming a willing partner in everything. I wish I would have stuck to my gut feeling before and never moved away from positive reward training as much as I did with her. Oh well...live and learn right?! Lucky for me it's not too late to start over. Never again will I be swayed by others and think that any amount of force is okay no matter how little it is. Navi never feared me, but it shut her down mentally. She felt forced and hated every minute.  Now we both love our time together :)

Four Amazing Years!

June 24th will mark my four year anniversary with Pixie. That was the day we signed the adoption papers. Of course I had visited her and ridden a few times before that day. She wasn't delivered to me until July 10th, but we went and visited her before she came home. These are some pictures from the times we visited before she came home.

I was so excited to have a horse again! Every week I looked forward to our visits and on July 10th when she was dropped off I could hardly contain my excitement.

These last four years have been amazing. We had some major hiccups in the beginning, but she has forgiven my mistakes. When I first met Pixie I was told she was a special horse that needed someone to bond with. And that has proven to be true. We worked long and hard, and she finally started to trust me and bond. Pixie doesn't give trust easily, so I had to prove to her I was worth it. What I learned along the way was I had to trust her too! I couldn't expect her to trust me if I couldn't trust her.
Every year I set goals. Our first year was to trail ride one day. We did that. Year two and three were cantering and liberty work. Year four I had one goal and that was to continue to build an unbreakable bond. Over that past four years Pixie has grown, but more than that I have grown by leaps and bounds. I no longer focus on what I want to accomplish technically, now I focus on growing our relationship. When I started focusing on our relationship everything else fell into place. We are accomplishing things that were in my wildest dreams such as riding bareback and bridle-less. In fact I should call it halter-less because Pixie doesn't wear a bridle any more. We explore the back country in just a halter and lead rope. Now each week we usually enjoy four days of playing/riding. Each session with her is fun and positive. We learn new things together each time.
Here is to many more fun filled years together!! Pixie you are my world!

Lasts night visit with her :)

Pixie and I did it!

Three years ago I said my dream was to one day be able to ride Pixie bareback with no bridle or halter. We have been well on our way since we have been able to ride in just a neck rope, and last night I ditched the neck rope. Officially making my dream come true!!! We rode around the outside arena with nothing on her.

She walked with me to the mounting block and lined up so I could get on. Then off we went. She was a perfect angel. Listening at the lightest cue. I was in 7th heaven, we had done it! I am so proud of my Pixie. She is and will always be my not perfect, but perfect for me horse :)

Two Years

This month marks two years with Willow. I don't talk a lot about her since she is my partner's main riding horse not mine, but I cannot say enough good about this horse. She is an amazing mare with a loving personality. She has the most try I have ever seen out of a horse. She can and does get worried at times, but is willing to work with you if you lead the way. I knew after riding her a few times that her and I would have fun filled future. I don't get to ride her a lot since I am so busy with my main three horses, but I love the time I do spend with her. Just last week her and I went out by ourselves for a trail ride. She was great!  I often joke with my partner and tell her I am going to trade her mares. She can have Pixie and I will take Willow, lol.

We are extremely lucky to have found Willow and look forward to many more fun years with her!

Jess and Willow enjoying a grooming session

Willow ready for our ride last Saturday

Break Through

Quick update on Char. Wednesday evening we were able to touch ALL of her feet while at liberty in the pasture!! Huge success for her! When we started if we made a move towards her feet she was moving away as fast as she could. Now she was blinking and relaxed as we moved around her messing with her feet. She had the option to leave as there was no halter, but she choose to stay with us :)

Barn hosted fun day

Yesterday my barn hosted a member breakfast and ride. They served breakfast from 9 to 11 and then hosted fun arena games or the chance the ride out in groups in the hills. My partner had to work so my friend J met me there for breakfast and a short ride before the rain put an end to our riding. At least the short ride we got in was fun! We did have to switch horses part of the way through the ride cause Pixie (who she was riding) was getting a bit nervous and not wanting to listen. It was thundering though and the barn was crazy busy! So I put her on Jess for the rest of the ride and of course he was a champ! She had to leave by 11:30, but since it rained she left right around 11. I waited out the rain inside the tack barn with a bunch of other people. As soon as the rain stopped we headed to the outdoor arena for some fun filled competitions. I put Pixie away and used Jess for the games. Why would I use Jess...well because I knew we had a better chance of winning, lol. Pixie is a great riding horse, but hasn't been around a ton of craziness like Jess when he did rodeos.

The view while on our short ride. The rain was coming!

The games started close to 11:30. We competed 3 at a time in most of the games. Then the winners had to go against each other.
First race...Move three sticks from one bucket to another bucket at the other end of the arena. You had to move one at a time and circle around the barrel that the bucket was sitting on. Jess and I won!! He got out there and loved it! In the championship round (lol) we came in second. We lost to a 30 yr old mare, lol.
Other games included: Racing down to the far end of the arena dismounting and running back to win, Balancing a stick on your wrists while weaving in and out of cones. A team race where we had to each hold on to a towel and race down to the end circle the barrel and weave in and out of the cones to the finish line. My second match in this game was with C and her horse Spirit. Jess and Spirit made a good team. It wasn't pretty as we played bumper horses a few times while trotting around the cones, but we made it home for the win :) Then we did a slow trot race, who ever was the last to cross the line won. You had to trot and couldn't break gate. We came in second, we lost to a Haflinger whos short legs helped him, lol.  Then we did the egg and spoon race. In our first match we made it to the finish line with the egg and in a dead tie with T and her horse Red. I was shocked since Red is a 17 hand TWH. So we had to go again. Our second time I lost my egg literally 2 inches before the finish line, lol. I was trying to give it one last push as we were once again in a dead tie with T. The last game was a backing race. We had to go put our stick on a barrel and then back to the finish line. It was a short distance. Jess won this by a land slide, lol. 

The games ended around 1:15. It was a fun filled few hours, lots of friendly competition. It was nice to get to know some new people at my barn and some people that just came for the day with a friends. I also got the meet the owners of my barn. They are very friendly and a fun couple. They ate with us and rode in some of the games. In fact the owner was the only person to fall off while playing the games. She flew around the barrel too fast while trying to grab the stick,but she jumped up and finished the race, lol. All in all everyone there was great to hang out with. What a fun friendly atmosphere!

My awesome partner Jess and I waiting for the fun to start

Some of the crowd before the games started.