Valentine's Gift!

Today my husband, who doesn't ride, surprised me by taking me, him and 2 of our horses to an indoor arena to ride together! The weather has been nicer finally, but we still have a lot of snow and ice on our yard causing me to not ride. Today was a treat. I loaded up Copper and Moon and we headed out. It was a lot of fun and I'm impressed and happy with how everyone did. My husband rode Moon and I brought Copper for myself. I wanted to see how he would do in a new situation like that. He's never been trailered anywhere new to ride. First we turned them out to have a good roll. Without having to ask, they both came back and we saddled up, played online a few minutes and got on. I didn't ask much of Copper because he's only had a few rides, the last one being in fall and we were in a new place. There was lots of rattling and banging going on from the building fans and snow coming off, but both horses took it well. We spent some time following Moon and then rode on our own a bit too. Mostly just reviewing going and whoaing and turning at the walk. He responded well even though I could tell at times that he wasn't sure. He tried for me and I got lots of licking and chewing. We even spent a few minutes at the end of our ride just talking, with both horses standing calm and relaxed. It was a good day and a great valentine's ride!

Cabin fever!

Because of the cold, Summer has been either in the barn or turned out in the pen with Shadow. Today was nice enough for me to spend some time with her so I haltered her and gave her a good grooming. I found some good itchy spots too! Before we left the pen she got into a mess. I have found out that she likes to roll whenever she finds some soft/deep snow. She found some right by the gate and dropped to roll. I was too late in stopping her and after flipping to her other side she immediately got stuck in the panel. At first I got nervous being home alone with no help to get her out, but she realized she was stuck right away and just stopped and did not struggle at all. I went up to her, rubbed her and proceeded to try and get her out. I had to climb around and over her to put myself between her and the gate. I was worried about getting kicked by flailing feet but she was perfect and did not move. I got her back legs out and braced them against my side so they wouldn't fall back into the panel rungs. Then I untangled her front end, she still didn't move or fight. With some effort I was able to roll her back over to her other side so she could get back up. Only when I had her rolled back over did she move and get up. I was very impressed! Having her not struggle or fight made it much easier for me to help her. I have seen horses stuggle and heard of them completely giving up after a fight, but she seemed to realize what happened and just waited patiently for me to get her out. What a great filly!
So after my heartrate went back to normal we continued. I re-groomed her and we left the pen for a walk around the yard. With all the snow we were limited to the cleared paths and not so deep areas. She was full of energy and seemed to be wearing springs, leaping all around! We walked all around until she was able to walk nicely beside me. I'm happy that through most of it she did not barge into my space. Having a few months of no playing, she handled things nicely. After our little walk I was even able to work on her back feet with no problems. She's a fun filly to play with!

Girl Time

Lately it's been in the -30's so no horse time for me, but today we finally got a break in the weather. I spent a much needed 4hrs outside with my herd. I had Moon at liberty in her pen and worked on trimming her feet while she ate. After that I tied my savvy string around her neck and used a bucket to mount. I love the fact that we are now safe and confident enough together for me to be able to do that. I hung out like that a while, just rubbing on her with my carrot stick as she finished her hay. We practiced a few turns and some circles but I mostly just hung out up there. For the fun of it I decided to try teaching her to back up without the use of reins, and I made sure I couldn't use them by not having anything on her head at all! I had to put some feel on the string and use my carrot stick for added guidance at first but she caught on fairly quick. I started off getting her to think backwards rather than forwards and she started to shift her weight back for me. It progressed to actually stepping back and before I got off we managed to get a few steps back with me only asking with my legs. It was a happy moment for me. I love learning!
I also spent time grooming my other 2 girls, Summer and Shadow. They both seemed to appreciate the extra attention and scratches. Summer's coat looked so nice after a good brushing, I even found a good itchy spot that caused her to back up at liberty with me in zone 5, just so I would get it for her! Shadow has a long mane and I was able to get it all combed out, it looked pretty good after and she loved the added neck scratching that came with the untangling. It was so nice to spend time with them again and not have to freeze! I think we all were loving this nicer weather!

Indoor riding

With all the snow and cold this time of year I don't usually get much play time in with the horses, let alone any riding. So yesterday was a treat! Myself and a friend hauled our two horses to an indoor arena for some play/riding time. This is somewhat new to both of us and the horses but I think it went quite well. I brought Moon, and had fun playing on line with some trail obstacles that were set up. She was staying calm and things felt good so I decided to ride after a few minutes. We moseyed around checking the arena out. I was even confident enough to try a little cantering with her. One of my goals this year is to improve our confidence with cantering. I even tried riding through the gate from her back. We can ride up to and through it but closing it back up was our sticky spot. Overall I had a lot of fun and found lots of things I'm excited to work on and improve. It felt great to be back in the saddle!

Late updates

Finally decided I should catch up my blog, lots of late summer/early fall pictures to share! Here's a couple from one of the first times playing with Summer in the arena and checking out our yard early september. She was leading like a pro and it was fun to introduce her to some of our "toys".