driven to drive

After Plow Days and all the fun I had riding and driving, and since I am out of a saddle, I have decided that I want to really get Shyloh driving over the winter. I have grand plans of working on line driving, then when I feel she is really good with that having her pull an empty sled and working all the way up to pulling me in the sled. My thought is that by the time the snow comes she can give sled rides!

Them other day, I got Shy's harness out of her show box and tacked her up. Shy's patience with me is also amazing. She stood like a pro while I untangled all her lines and got myself ready. I figured I would have some issues getting her going, but she walked on like she had been doing this for years. We went all over, including places I have never walked her before. We even trotted some. At one point I decided to test out Shy's "gee" and "haw." I can't believe that I have to learn more words for right and left. . .I have a hard enough time as it is with that! I wanted Shy to go right, so I said "haw." She started turning left. . . even though I was using the reins to tell her right. Then I said "gee" and she immediately corrected herself. Good pony. Clearly knows more than me. . . I was quite impressed! 

Shy did spook once, but it was so minor and if a spook can be good, I would call this spook good. We were coming up around a trailer and the lady that owns the two Halfingers was sitting on the edge of it. I didn't even see her, but Shy jumped sideways a little. I am just happy that she did not try to bolt or run forward! We worked on whoa and stand and Shy did her typical moving to the left until she was halfway around me. We need more work on that.

Today, I did some more line driving. I am so happy with Shy's progress!  

To be sure that we can be in the big leagues of driving, I have marked Shy so I can get the "gee" and "haw" straight. . .

This is what the pros do, right?

I think going around the barn property and not being inside has a lot to do with this progress. It is not a boring arena. I remember discussing using the outdoors quite a while back and now I have little roads to do that on!  Shy is very curious about her surrounds and got a little side tracked with some new horses she has not seen before. That was the only issue we had today, and I took her past those horses over and over until she walked right through and stopped trying to go up to them. It only took three times.

On the go!

Shy had a terrific whoa and stand today! So much so that she didn't move when I stopped and talked to some friends for about 5 minutes, she even cocked a leg and stood perfectly still!

Not going anywhere!

I worked myself on keeping contact and trying to match my walk to that pokey pony. I think I am getting better. We worked on some more trotting too. . .until I ran out of breath!

Shy did so well, I bought a plastic sled from Target. 

I am going to drag it behind me next time, that way, if Shy spooks at it, I can let go and she won't be dragging it behind her.  Then, I will need one of these. . .

pulling stuff

Shyloh is soo much fun! 

Beth gave me a lesson on long lines to help Shy and me with her line driving. We worked on keeping contact and a the dreaded trail obstacle. . .tarp with board. Beth noticed Shy is not confident with a person behind her, so she gave me some exercises to do to increase her confidence. Basically, I stand at her head and move backwards a little at a time until I can move behind her. Then I repeat on the other side. Shy's goal is to stand still and not move her head or her butt. So that is why Shy will go over the tarp and board when I lead her, but not when I drive her.

After we conquered the trail obstacle, the real fun began! On a whim, we brought the sled out. Shy had not seen the sled in quite some time, so she was a little iffy about it. I walked her around it a few times until she got comfortable and hooked her up. Whoa! When it started dragging behind her, Shy got her quick legs. But she did not go far and before we went halfway around the arena, she was fine dragging it behind her.

Sorry about the crappy quality, cell phone pics from far away!

I suggested that Beth hop on the sled. She was a good sport about it and got on, even though she had her reservations. I had Shy near her head for safety. When Shy felt the weight, she stopped. It was a struggle between stopping and going, but eventually Shy made it around the arena twice with Beth. 

Then it was my turn! Shy was done at this point. She refused to move forward, despite our consistent tapping. Eventually, we got her moving and she went about half the arena. Shy needs to build up pulling muscles and learn how to balance herself while pulling stuff. But if we keep it up, I'll be riding in a one horse open sleigh by snow time! Or at least a sled in the snow. . .

I worked by myself with Shy on a different day. I used the exercise Beth showed me before we began any work. To my amazement, it made a huge difference! I did not have to spend the first ten minutes of line driving getting Shy to stop straight and not constantly step to the side. She stopped perfectly!

I worked with Shy on the dreaded trail obstacle and she acted like it was going to attack her! Why oh why mare? But I did some lunging in each direction around and over the obstacle and she finally went over it. I am beginning to think that she does does stuff to see if I can make her. 

This is the extremely edited version. . .We spent a lot of time on this.

I brought out the sled again and hooked Shy up. I really need to get something much shorter than the sled that I can walk behind. When the long lines are too far back, Shy is not as responsive to directions. But, we did it and I decided to add some weight to the sled. I used a 40 lb. bag of alfalfa pellets. At first, as always when Shy is pulling weight, she refused to move forward, but I got her going. Why does she always refuse to move forward? And nothing will make her until she is good and ready to go. Finally, when she was ready to walk, we did a few laps around the arena and called it quits. 

It's nice to finally get some practice in with pulling and line driving. There is not enough time in the day or days of the week to do everything I want to do with Shy! Maybe if I didn't work. . .

it's hot!

It is way too hot for not even being officially summer yet! Too hot to do work today. It is one of those stifling, non breezy, humid hots. 

I had really wanted to do some line driving with Shyloh. We did some practice the other day and it went really well. I am working on keeping contact with her as we walk, which is hard because Shy tends to slow down and I keep going at the same speed. When she loses the contact, she thinks she is a free pony and able to go whichever way she wants. 

The goal is to push her into the contact. . .harder to do on the ground than while riding her. Beth suggested lunging her on long lines. I did and it worked! After we did some lunging, I took Shy in some patterns around the arena, concentrating on keeping the contact on Shy. We did serpentines, figure eights, and circles in the corners in all directions. I was very satisfied with what we accomplished. 

Shy even had foamy mouth when we got done!

Today, it was over 90 degrees! So I took Shy for a little walk around the property. We checked out the napping cat. . .

Bubba loves this chair!

. . .and the pond. . .

The reeds and cat tails are so high! And tasty, according to Shy!

. . .got some grass. . .

No small bites for this dainty lady

. . .and practiced our new trick. 

Say cheese!

Word in the barn is that Shy has started "smiling" at people that walk by. . .looking for a treat!

Then I hosed Shy down to cool her off. I am not sure if she really minds the heat too much. She has a fan on her stall, but she never stands in front of it like the other horses do with their fans. Shy prefers her window. Hopefully it cools down a little bit so we can do some work this week! It is not looking too good with us going to the show if the heat keeps up. The trailer ride, no shelter, and long hours are very hard on the horses when it is so hot.