side passing problems

I am having "my horse thinks to much for herself" problems. She really does have a hard time just stopping to listen without thinking.

Also, pony has perm hair!

We have spent the past couple weeks working on different trail obstacles for the show. Mainly side passing and backing, since those can be our problem areas. Also, I have been working on getting Shyloh to slow down and listen to me. 

She sure is shiny!

But now, as soon as she sees that pole on the ground and I walk her up to it, she steps over it and immediately begins to side pass. While I am all, yay for side passing!, I am also, pony, you must listen to me! 

<3

So we spent a good chunk of time today getting Shy to walk up to the pole and whoa. Then step over the pole and whoa. No side passing. This was much harder for her than the actual side passing! She just wants to side pass. Frustrating. Letting Shy have the space she needed, she would walk up to the pole, over the pole, side pass to the end, then smile, like look, I did it! My horse is a nut.

Treats for meeeeeee!

But eventually, I as able to get her to stop side passing. And when she gave me nice stops at and over the pole, we quit. Since it was hot out, we relaxed in the barn and Shy got some hay that was on the ground. She loved that.

No hay for chickens!

I also did a pre-wash on her tail with white vinegar. We have a show next weekend already! And we are so not ready for riding. . .

And. . .don't forget to enter my contest for a beta biothane halter bridle!

trail-in-hand practice

New goal for shows: Place in all trail-in-hand classes. 

We earned a second place in the first show. I left that class feeling so good about our performance. So I went back and thought what was different about that class than every other trail-in-hand class that we have done.

Answer: I took my time with each obstacle. I didn't rush through them. Without the rushing, my anxiety didn't transfer to Shyloh, which makes her anxious and not want to do an obstacle, which makes me frustrated because I know she can do it. 

So I took my time. I stopped in front of most obstacles (unless we had to trot to and through them) and then asked Shy to proceed. And it worked!

Our goal lately has been sidepassing.Shy is great in one direction and terrible in the other. I finally 4-wheeled out back to grab the poles so we could get to work. I also grabbed my clicker. 

We started out and this is how it went:

Me: Over (to the right).

Shy: Okay (perfectly steps over and over to the end of the pole). (click and treat)

Me: Let's try the other direction.

Shy: Um, rush forward?

Me: No, over.

Shy: Go backwards?

Me: No, over.

Shy: My legs are getting twisted! This is hard!

Me: Let's do one leg at a time. Back first, then front. (click and treat)

Shy: Okay. I think I'm getting it. But I don't like it. It feels unnatural.

Me: Good job (click and treat).

Shy: Yay, I'm awesome (smiles).

Me: Let's try facing the other way, but going left again.

Shy: No, lets go right. Look at me go! I can go right. All day long. All the way around the round pen. Even without the poles. 

And she really did sidepass right halfway around the round pen. Brat. But we kept working on it and Shy got it. I love to see when she finally "get" something. You can see it in her. It's very cool. She is a very fun horse to work with.

Jaime suggested using a directional cue that can translate to the saddle. That was a smart idea that I implemented right away. 

We also worked on backing straight and backing and turning, since that is often in trail classes. Shy is getting better and better each time we practice! Look at her now!

drumroll please. . .

And the winners of the Horze giveaway, in order are:

#1 Megan H
#2 Melissa S
#3 Saiph from Wait for the Jump
#4 Hannah from Chronicles of a Moody Mare

Congrats!!

I'll send everyone an email so I can get your prizes out to you right away!

Thank you to Horze once again for their generous giveaway! 

On to Shyloh. . .

I missed this fuzzy pony all week!

My pony was so sweet yesterday! I think she knew I had a crappy week at work and was super awesome for me. I did a little bit of work with her. We worked on sidepassing, backing, and bow. 

Shy was sidepassing and backing like a champ. Once again though, I am sure when it is time to do it at a show in front of a judge, Shy will act like I am asking her to do handstands or spin on her head. I'll have to video some proof. 

I also went back to working on the bow. Shy has the get her head between her legs part down, it's just the bending on the knee that she has trouble with. I think it stems from asking her to go down a little bit and that is a vulnerable position for her. But today we made some progress. I held her leg up and when she lowered her head through her front legs and relaxed, she went down on her knee! She wouldn't stay but for a second, but it is a start!

Love that she walks up to me now

More freezing weather and snow on its way. . .yuck!

And Equestrian at Hart is hosting a Higher Standards Leather Care Soap giveaway! Check it out!

battle

The battle has begun. Don't worry, we are armed and hopefully dangerous. . .

My killer team

The purple bottle is our homemade tick repellent. So far, it appears to be working because I have not found any ticks on Shyloh. Other people at the barn have been finding ticks on the horses, but in the couple days since I first sprayed, we have been tick free!

I also use fly spray, but I am always looking for new stuff to try. There was a review over at She Moved to Texas for a few different fly sprays that I plan on trying. But I also want to try some homemade sprays that people have been saying works. I spray all over, then spray in my hands to get her face. Full body coverage.

Next up, attempt to Swat the ears. Even though I did not get all the Swat in there last time, the glob seems to have kept the gnats out. Then Swat the undercarriage. This has also worked to keep the gnats or whatever bugs have been biting Shy off of her.

The final step is to put sunscreen on the pink parts. I don't want Shy's nose to burn. 

I have contemplated putting on her fly mask, but the flies don't seem to be bothering her face (aside from her ears). And since she is out all the time, I worry about rubbing or if the mask will even stay on if I don't make it out to the barn for a few days. 

After putting on all of Shy's bug repelling armor, we worked on side passing. Why? Because Shy wanted no part of side passing during the trail in hand at the last show. She did not want the ground pull under her, she wanted to walk right over it.

Now I know Shy has no problem with poles and I also know she can side pass without a problem. She even went through that phase when she was being ridden where she only wanted to walk sideways. Ugh. Of course, since we were not being judged, Shy was a wonderful side passer. . .back and forth with out a problem and just a point of my hand. 

Shiny pony can side pass

I put Shy back with her herd and discovered how she keeps the flies off of her. . .

All boxed in!

She squeezes herself between two bigger horses! Silly pony. . .

I am open to anyone's successful stories about the bug repellent that they use.

proof!

While I was off with family celebrating the Memorial Holiday doing this. . .

Ahh. . .kayaking. So peaceful!

and this. . .

Bonfires on the beach, with S'mores!

Shyloh was having herself a good old time doing this. . .

Goofy looking forelock, from the humidity maybe? Shy likes hose water!

 and this. . .

Rollin', rollin', rollin' in the di-irt

Anyway, on my drive to the barn from work, I was contemplating the show and in particular the trail class. Bear with me, my thoughts are sporadic! 

Why would Shy not back up through the obstacle? Was it a trust issue? I have worked so hard to gain trust with her, what else can I do? Is it because I don't trust her, but only when riding (a whole other issue in itself)? Anyway, I went on and on about trust or the lack thereof. . .hey, I hit construction on the way to the barn, I had a lot of time! I was really bumming myself out with all my doubts. Then I was getting mad. Mad at me for not being able to provide Shy with what she needs and mad at her for what I have to offer not being enough. Ha. . . yes, I am a little bit crazy and quite possibly over analyze everything.

I walked into the barn irritated at both of us. But as soon as I saw Shy's silly face, it all went away. My perfect little Haflinger was just waiting for me. I groomed her, set up a trail obstacle, grabbed my clicker training stuff, and began to tackle the trust.

Turns out, I give Shy much more credit than she deserves. . .Yes, she is smart, perhaps smarter than me, but she is simple. As in, she simply did not want to back up. Going forward was easier. Shy was not understanding why she had to back through it when she could walk forward through it.

After a few frustrating attempts, mostly of her backing the first leg of the obstacle, then powering forward to avoid the turn, success! This mare has amazing lateral movements when she is trying to get out of going backwards. It really is amazing. . .if I wanted her to go sideways. 

So, for the trail judge on Sunday and anyone that does not believe me, here is the proof that Shy will back through an obstacle!

And here is the sidepass that we worked on, too. Pretty good! She can do it without me touching her now. But, is it me, or is Shy actually hitting me on purpose when she swishes her tail?

growth

At the place that I bought Shyloh from, the horse she lived with had grazed on her mane as a daily afternoon snack. Here are today's pictures of her re-growth:

Needs some more growth at the end

This side is looking better!

On another note. . .I think Shy is really trying to test me and see what she can get away with. I need to work on being consistent and asserting myself. We played around in the arena today and Shy did very well. We worked on a trick (funny how she only "knows" the trick if she can see a treat is coming), worked on the side pass, and worked on the mounting block. 

After our work, I put her in her stall because Beth was bringing the horses inside. When she saw Ryleigh coming, she nickered for him! So cute!

They are cute!

I hung out with her for a little bit in the stall, then her dinner came. I went to say bye to her and she swung her rear end around at me so fast! I jumped out of the way (luckily there was no kick out), but I got the message that she did not want to be bothered when she was eating. So. . .we just found something new to work on, because that was unacceptable behavior. I let her know this, but I did not strike her. And I did get my good bye in. . .even though I was upset with her.

But as I think about this behavior some more, maybe it has to do with the move inside and maybe it could be that I discontinued her red raspberry leaf supplement? Robin suggested that Shy could be upset that I disrupted our schedule by going away for the weekend. But I might start the red raspberry leaf back up and see if anything positive happens.

On a funny note. . .Beth told me that she has been taking Shyloh and Ryleigh outside at the same time. She said the first time was a disaster! Shyloh stopped to eat grass and would not budge and Ryleigh was pulling to get to the pasture. Beth was being pulled in two directions, stretched out to the max! But the next time, both horses seemed to work out a system and walked just fine to the pasture.

Trying to squeeze under to go visit Ryleigh!

So, I need to re-connect with Shyloh and work on our bond. This will be my focus this week and we will be taking a break from the long lines. But not for long. . .

If you have Facebook and you want to see some more photos of Shyloh, like her very own page, here!

my dogs are barking

Figuratively, not literally. Literally, the dogs are participating in their favorite past time, laying. Whew, I spent all day at the barn! Good thing I'm gellin' with my Dr. Scholls or my feet would be more sore! And now that I am home and not moving around, my sinuses are kicking in. 

I did go to the barn yesterday. Shyloh has found a NEW love. Forseti. We thought they would just be friends, but yesterday he threw her into heat and she was "winking" at him. That mare sure get around. . .first Chick, then Ryleigh, now Forseti. But Forseti is such a people lover that I think it is good for Shy to be around him and follow his example. 

Hot new couple at the barn

We let Forseti and Shy graze a bit, then I tried to get her to do some work in jumping. She just was not into it, maybe she felt it from me, being sick, or maybe her belly was full of grass. Either way, I did not press it because Shy usually does not give me trouble about doing work. Then I went straight home to sleep and hopefully kick this sickness. No luck. . .

So happy together!

Today, I helped Kathy again. I really enjoy the physical work of barn work. Feeding, mucking, letting horses out. . .it's my own therapy. Although I did get kind of stepped on by a rather large Percheron. We let Shy and Forseti graze together again. Shy was out there by herself and when I put Forseti with her, he galloped right to her and they stuck together like glue. After a while, I put her back in her paddock and Forseti ran to be with her. He would not leave her side! Sandy was a little upset, because every time she calls Forseti he comes to her. But with Shy in the picture, he was not going to Sandy! Those two horses are like peas in a pod! They are very attached to each other! Shy was trying to nap outside and Forseti was being her look out.l He had to protect her from the evil cows next door!

Shy and Forseti. . .always side by side

I set up another obstacle course for Shyloh. We learned a new move, the side pass! Shy did pretty good, but we need more work on it. I got some really good feedback from Terry today. Terry really knows her stuff when it comes to horses, especially Western stuff. She said my obstacle course is like a trail class. She also said that everything that I have been doing on the ground will translate into the saddle, I will just have to adjust my cues a little bit. So the trust that I am building with Shy now, will help when I start riding! 

Shy and Addie

And speaking of saddle. . .Mike got me a bridle and saddle pad for our 5 year anniversary! No saddle, but it is a start! He did a good job picking them out, too! Terry helped me switch out the bit and fit the bridle to Shy. Tonight I am going to out some leather stuff on it. Shyloh is such a patient horse. She just stood there without a fuss while Terry and I were adjusting and readjusting the bridle. I feel so lucky to have such a good pony!

Not the best picture, but the only one I have so far

Tomorrow, I have a little surprise for Shyloh! I hope it goes well!