Today is the first day of autumn and Shyloh and I had a fun day! We did do a little bit of work. . .spirals on the lunge line in the arena. It was raining all day! But after that, we had a lot of clicker fun!
And Shy was featured in the Stale Cheerios blog for the Almost Wordless Wednesday this week! It is a blog on clicker training and it has a ton of great resources for anyone who wants to try it.
For our Autumn fun day, we. . .
Did a lot of at liberty clicking, see, no halter, no lead! Shy was amazing. She walked right up to her "new" mat without a problem. The old mat was leaving chunks all over the arena. The new mat is a little too narrow, but that didn't stop Shy!
On the mat!
Played with cones. Lots of cones. Shy was all about cones today! I was trying to get her to hold them for longer so we can work on more tricks.
There is something on my butt. . .
A cone on the butt. . .a cone in the mouth!
Kicked the ball and licked the pole. I was trying to teach Shy to kick forward, but she likes to kick back. Something to keep working on.
Then we got some horsey friends out and played with them. Casi and Robbie wanted to play way more than Shy did!
And. . .I found another toad!
Toad on Shy's butt
Toad on Shy's head
Shy liked the toad so much she tried to eat it. I had to pull it out of her mouth! Poor toad. . .I put it in a safe place, far away from Shy's chompers.
The first day of fall gave me and Shyloh some good old fashioned fun, even though we were stuck inside because of the rain.
Oh Shyloh. She sure has a way with the geldings. I am not sure if it is her beautiful blonde hair, her shapely butt, or her amazing personality but the boys do love her!
It started out with Baby Bob. . .
Snuggles over the fence
Next in line was Chick. . .
So cute!
Then Forsetti. . .
Just walking along. . .
And Ryleigh. Poor infatuated Ryleigh who still throws a fit if Shy is not in his direct line of view at all times. . .
Love!
Let's not forget Casi, her bud. . .
They love to run together!
And finally Shaman. . .
Caught with another!
Oh, then there is Notch, her trailer buddy. . .
Sharing hay on the trailer
And Rambo, her show love. . .
What is cuter than two Haffies in love?
And those are just the geldings that Shy gives the time of day! With all her human fears, I am very grateful that Shy gets along really well with all the horses, mares and geldings alike. She can be in a big herd and she is also just fine by herself. So are Haffies generally fast little whoreses? Rumor has it that we might be getting a 13.3 sport pony, gelding of course. . .wonder what that will hold for Shy's love life?
Kathy and I took Casi and Shyloh for a visit to the cows. We wanted to see what the horses would do up close. The cows were quite intrigued to see us. . .but the bull was pretty upset.
Shy and Casi could have cared less about the cows. Shy gave some odd looks every now and again, but she was mostly interested in the grass. It was cute to see just how curious those cows were. They seemed so friendly and not at all concerned with the bull's digging and grunting.
Hey you!
So why is it that this horse could care less about moving, mooing cows, but is freaking out over anything that slides along the ground? First it was the tire, now it is a plastic tote that I use to store her harness. Shy had herself so worked up in her stall over me moving the tote that she was grunting, breathing hard, and refusing to eat her hay!
Great, I was so upset over this because Beth was going to give her a lesson today and I wanted Shy to be in a good frame of mind since she has not been ridden in about three weeks. Beth worked with her in the stall because Shy seems to have lost all sense of manners over things that slide along the ground. She tries to run people over, she puts her butt to them, she is just plain rude. This behavior is not acceptable! After quite a dizzying while, Beth got Shy to circle in her stall without trying to run her over when she was near the tote. . .which was not even in or directly in front of her stall! This horse can just about fold herself in half to avoid "scary" things. Then Beth walked her in and out a few times until she gave no resistance in leaving the stall or hurrying to get back in the stall.
I tacked Shy up in the dressage saddle and Beth got to riding. As usual, Shy did the unexpected. Beth was ready for a crazy, scooty, Shy not listening ride. And so Shy was nearly perfect, especially for the extended time off. Stood perfect for mounting, set her head right away, was light on the bit, bendy, and a few other dressage terms that I am not familiar with. Beth said that Shy is getting to the point where she is fun to ride and is picking up new dressage-y concepts. This pony loves dressage!
How do you think Shy looks? Do I really have to start learning dressage?
I think she does not love pulling stuff so much. . .what am I to do? Maybe this is her way of telling me? Or maybe she is just being a brat?
A very special day is fast approaching! Does anyone know what day that is? I'm not gonna tell. . .
nah nah nah nah nah naaah!
Feel free to guess, though. . .
On to some business. . . I started a new multi-vitamin and it is mighty tasty! It is called Maxum Crumbles. Bob has been on them for a while and Caesar has recently started taking them. We already know Bob is a sexy beast, but Caesar is looking awfully fine now, too. The real question is: Can I look any better? I guess time will tell. . .
I got to hang out with gassy Casi in the arena because thunderstorms were imminent the other day. We had some fun!
The Three Butt-kateers! Me, Casi, and Chick got to hang out in the arena. It was so muddy outside and we couldn't run like we wanted to run, so inside we went. We had so much fun! I love hanging out with my buddies.
One for all and all for food!
Did we have excess energy we needed to get out? I am not sure, you tell me. . .
Guess what? I am learning another new trick! I like to learn new things. These tricks are easy and I keep getting treats or grain. Except for this trick. . .Allie is a little too tall for it, but I am managing to try my best.
I also got to hang out with Ryleigh for a bit. That was nice. We just walked around and chatted in our horsey way. Sometimes, love needs no words. He does get jealous of my friendship with Casi, but when there are only three other mares at the barn and two of them are not friendly at all, what's a social pony like me supposed to do? Not hang out by myself! Hopefully one day, we can all hang out and graze grass together.
That's about all for now. Things have been pretty low key around the barn. I was forced to harness up and I had to encounter a very scary horse eating sled. Or so I thought. . .turns out, it was just a sled and I got treats just for going near it. All that nonsense from Allie (I thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown over this) and all it took was some granola. Who would have thought? Anyone who hangs around haffie, I would think!
Shyloh and I have reached a new level in our relationship. I am not sure what made her decide to take the next step, but she has! And it is not just with me, it's with other people, too, like Robin and Kathy. Shy is approaching people on her own, not backing away from people when they approach her, and following me around the arena. She is showing an incredible interest in the things that I have been doing, something she could have cared less about just a week ago.
However, along with her new trusting behaviors, she has come out of her shell in other ways. . .
I should have taken this act yesterday as a predictor of what she would do today. . .
Peek-a-boo! Is there food out here?
I had Shy in the arena with Casi and I was cleaning their stalls. After I got Casi back in his stall, I turned around to find a loose Haflinger! Shy had opened the arena doors and started running down the aisle, like I'm free!, but then got distracted by the open hay closet. A Haflinger's mind never strays from food.
I have discovered the hay jackpot!
And Shy was not my only escapee today. I was taking Baby Bob from the arena to his freshly cleaned stall when he decided at the last minute that he wanted to run toward the slightly open doors at the far end of the aisle. With all his might (and that is a lot of might), he pressed on until I had no choice but to let go of his lead rope or be drug behind him. Good thing it took him a minute to try and figure out how he was going to open those doors. I brought him back to his stall and turned around to put Dannon in his clean stall, when Bob busted out of his stall! He tried to get around Rob (Robin's husband), but was unsuccessful, so he turned around and ran into Ryleigh's stall. Ryleigh was outside with Robin, grazing and waiting to come back inside. Finally, I got Bob and secured him in his stall. Whew. . .it is a much scarier experience when some one else's horse escapes on your watch, let alone the barn owner's horse!
Shy has also discovered a way to ask for treats. How does she do this? Well. . .I taught her how to wave. . .
And now when she wants or feels she needs a treat, she comes up to me and waves. Over and over and over. It is so cute, I can't help but give her the treats when she "asks".
Another new thing for Shy is her playing on her own with Casi. Yesterday, Shy and Casi were in the arena, running like I have never seen them run before! We were not even making them run, they were doing it all on their own and they seemed to really enjoy themselves! Shy actually worked up a sweat. Here is the video I put together.
And Shy got to hang out with Ryleigh for a little bit, today. They were in the arena and outside grazing.
Shy also got to spend some time in the arena with Casi.
We did some free-jumping today, which once again was a lot more work for me than for Shy. My two out of shape legs cannot keep up with her four legs!
Shy had a busy weekend! The only thing I did not accomplish this weekend was a ride. But I am loving that Shy has taken our relationship to the next level and I look forward to what this brings.
Brrrr. . . it was a cold night! I spent a little time with Shyloh at the barn, but I did not have enough layers on to keep warm. Shy has temporarily moved stalls because her stall flooded from all the rain we have been getting. Right now, she is right between Chick and Casi, on the complete other side of the barn. I am grateful that Beth had her moved to a dry stall until her's dries out.
I took Shy outside to graze a little bit. Kathy and Casi joined us. It was freezing out, but the horses seemed happy to be out. We had a heck of a time trying to get them back in the barn! They loved being out and gobbling grass!
Even though this photo is blurry, I like how the wind made her mane into a mohawk
After, we took Shy and Casi into the arena to run around. Casi really loves to run! And he has such a pretty trot and canter. It looks like he is floating on air. It is beautiful! And his tail gets so high, it's almost straight up!
Run Casi Run!
Shyloh was doing her head toss and refusing to run at first, but she finally got into the swing of it. Soon, her and Casi were running around the arena and Shy was bucking for fun! Casi started bucking back, but they both kept up the running, so Kathy and I were not worried. They seemed to be having so much fun.
Trying to keep up!
I gave her a few treats, then I had to finish Christmas shopping. After being disappointed at several stores, I finally found the last thing on my list! Glad that is done, I will not be going to any more stores for a while. . .it is a mad house out there! Now to finish my secret project, wrap these gifts, and stay warm with the dogs for the night. Back to the barn in the morning.
Casi probably lapped her, which is the only reason she would be in front!
This has to be a record year for rainfall! The pastures have turned into swimming pools and if it gets below freezing (as predicted) they will become ice rinks. The land can't take any more water in, the ditches are full, and the roads are flooded.
That means ponies are stuck inside. And to make matters worse, the water is seeping into the barn stalls. Fortunately, the stalls have not flooded, like they did at the barn where I leased last year. That was bad! Unfortunately, Shyloh's stall seems to have the worst water seepage, but it is not pooling, just damp.
Praying "rain rain go away"
My work was kind enough to let me leave and go make sure Shy was not floating down the road. I packed in extra sawdust pellets around the edges of her stall, Ryleigh's stall, and Casi's stall so they can soak up water. I can't stand the thought of Shyloh standing around on damp bedding. Ugh. . .so bad for her hooves! I hope the sawdust soaks up the water until stalls are mucked tomorrow.
I let out Shy and Ryleigh to stretch their legs in the arena. They had a fun run! It took a little persuasion to get them going, but they needed to get moving!
Then they just hung out and walked around for a while, following each other like they always do.
Butt sniffer :)
They love long walks on sandy arenas
I wanted to hop on Shy bareback again, but there was no one at the barn and I did not want to get on by myself. Maybe later this week. So I groomed her and took her mane and tail braids out. Her hair is so silky smooth!
No rides for you today :(
I let Casi out in the arena, too!. That horse can run! And he is fast! He has the prettiest trot.
Speedy!
The rain is so bad that when I was driving home from the barn, there where whole sections of road where the water came past my tires! When will it end?
How fitting for my 100th post! Today, I got on Shyloh bareback!!
I had been thinking about it lately and today, I just went for it, with Kathy's help. Even though we just stood, it was a milestone for us.
Thinking that Shy probably was not out all day due to the torrential downpour, I went to let her run around the arena (my earlier thoughts of working Shy had disappeared). When I got to the barn, Kathy was getting ready to ride Casi (formerly CT, formerly Melvin). Casi was a bit nervous in the arena, maybe because of the rain pounding on the barn, maybe because he was in the arena by himself. Kathy asked me to bring Shy in the arena to see if she could help calm Casi down. It didn't work, he was just too wound up today.
Kathy and Casi
While we were doing this in the arena, Ryleigh was in his stall, just screaming this high pitched call for Shyloh, over and over! He was quite upset that he did not have his eyes on Shy. Ryleigh was bit hard by the love bug!
Shy was in a playful mood today! I put her in the cross ties and she was antsy. She is never antsy in the cross ties! She was chewing the ties and pawing the ground. So I let her loose in the arena. I got her trotting and cantering around the arena with her head in full swing. Then she stopped. I swung her lead rope, but she did not move! This was very un-Shy-like behavior! She had not a care in the world that the rope was swinging in her face. Usually, she would be on the move! She played with the cones, tossing them in the air and chewing on them. Shy also engaged in play with me! That is a new behavior, too!
That's when I stated out loud what I had been thinking. . . I wanted to get on Shy bareback! Kathy said she would hold Shy and she thought Shy would be fine. We attempted the wooden mounting block, but Shy was not having any part of that. I put the plastic mounting block up to her and got on Shy!
Patting her for being a good girl!
She was amazing and very warm! Shy just stood there and didn't make a move. Kathy and Beth said she looked real relaxed and her ears were on me the whole time. I could tell Shy was relaxing when I was on her back because I could feel her breathing out. Next time, I will try walking while bareback on her! I loved riding Mia (the Haflinger I leased) bareback. It was so much fun!
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
