more homework

Let's get this out of the way first. . .

I GOT MY CART!!

Of course, it came after weeks of snowy and icy conditions and arrived on a rainy day when there were puddles (small lakes) everywhere. And it came on a Monday, which is hard for me because I usually can't make it to the barn during the week right now. Not that it mattered, rain, rain, and more rain was in the forecast for the week followed up by cold, ice, and snow. 

Since I was not able to have fun with my cart, I made this to see what Shy would look like. . .

Cute, right? Along with my cart came some new homework from Becky.

We completed all the homework she previously gave me for Shyloh which included keep on line driving, work on contact, practice with obstacles, PVC shafts, driving whip, singing when nervous, and get a cart. "A+" for homework!

The new homework is as follows:

1. Get holdbacks on the cart where they belong. Holdbacks act as a brake so the cart does not ride up on the horse.

2. Make sure everything fits properly.

3. Get a header! (This is hard for me since it is only me at the barn.)

4. Do more tire dragging, then introduce the cart (like we did when Becky came with her cart).

5. Walk her around at the head with the cart attached (this one I came up with on my own).

6. Ground drive her from behind the cart. Work on whoa, stand, gee, haw, back up, and walk on.

7. Do the first few session in the arena.

8. Finally get in the cart. A header is a must!

Seems like a lot of homework, but it really isn't. It is important to lay a good solid foundation for Shy so once we get to Step 7, everything runs smoothly. I won't be in the cart for a few weeks to a month is my guess, just to be safe. But I am okay with that. 

I am pretty excited to get started with this homework!

beer for my horses

I found the secret to a calm horse. . .beers!

A healthy variety. . .

Just kidding. Shyloh didn't get any beers. We didn't get to do our horse sledding either. Instead, I went to the barn with the plan to just hang out with Shy and work on non driving stuff. . .maybe.

I received another homework assignment from Becky. I have completed all of my previous tasks, with the arrival of my driving whip today! The new assignment was: get a bag of cans to introduce to Shy. Have them make some noise and work to putting them in the tire. So I got the only type of cans we have at our house (not my beer, I swear, yuck!) and took them out to the barn. I brought them up to Shy and she sniffed the bag and stuck her nose right in it. This horse is not afraid of plastic bags, plastic bags usually contain food. I was really surprised at her reaction. There was none. No thinking noise, no backing up, nothing. I shook the bag, crinkled it, tapped her up and down both side. Nothing. And I was clicking and treating her as well. 

Cans on Shy's can

After that, I did some more clicker work on trying to refine her front foot picking up skills. I met a new friend at the barn while doing this who was interested in what I was doing. While I was chatting away, Shy took the opportunity to try and pry loose hay out of the snow.

Then I figured, I'll work on some showmanship stuff, specifically setting up. I found my show stick in my tack box on wheels (car) and tried it out.

This photo was taken at an angle

What do you think? We have a ways to go. . .

I was having a ton of fun with Shy, just hanging out. On a whim, I asked her if she wanted to do some work. She actually smiled when I said this, so I took it as a yes. I grabbed the tire and her harness and hooked her up. Away we went. Like it was nothing. 

I can tell she is getting very comfortable pulling stuff now because she is starting to give me a hard time. I asked her to whoa and she did, but she would not stand. Every time I asked for whoa she did, then proceeded to do a complete 180 and end up in a tangled mess. But she didn't care. She had the traces between her hind legs, both on one side or the other, and somehow crossed once. Didn't bother her, she kept on walking. 

See the trace. . .how my horse prefers to pull tires. . .

One time, she had one trace between her legs and I told her to fix herself and she did. The cool part of this is that she did this in front of two people who I don't even know and they thought it was awesome. It was pretty cool. 

She was so relaxed, I decided to go ahead and add the cans into the mix. I held them and rattled them randomly when we were line driving. She started the first time, but from then on there was zero reaction. I took it a step further. . .I tossed the cans in the center of the tire while we were walking along. Nothing. She kept going. It was loud! Here is a small sample. . .

Cans in the tire

Eventually the bag kind of ripped and the cans came out from under the tire, crinkling the whole way. Shy just kept trucking. I made her stop and turn around so we could pick the cans up, then attached the bag to her side. Every once in a while, I had the lines hit the bag to make it crinkle. 

Bag on the side

Wow. It was just another day for Shy. I cannot believe how she just took everything in stride. This is so different from the horse I had a year ago, shoot, even a couple months ago. I gave her a ton of praise, a few treats, some loving, then put her back with her herd. 

I'm glad I took Shy's smile as a yes. We had a great session. Any suggestions on how to deal with the 180 turn when I ask her to whoa? Happy pony! Happy me!

shafted

I have completed homework assignment #4. I stopped at the Home Depot and got some PVC pipes to make shafts. I think the guy thought I was nuts when I asked for two 70 inch pieces and one 32 inch piece. Then he thought I was more nuts when he asked what I was building and I told him shafts for a horse. He was puzzled and I did not feel like explaining. 

I got to the barn, put my shafts together, and let Shyloh play around with them. I had to use the clicker to get her to touch them, but after a few clicks and treats, Shy was walking in and out of them and biting them. She was totally fine. 

Jaime and Kyle came up to the barn to help me head Shy. I out her harness on and started line driving. I had Jaime at the head and Kyle behind us, just dragging the tire. After I felt Shy was comfortable, we hooked the tire up and got to work.

After a few rough starts, Shy was awesome! After really analyzing her step offs, I realized they are the same when she is being ridden. . .they are scoots! She tucks her butt and scoots forward. We worked on stopping and walking on, until we got zero reaction from Shy. I think it took about four times for her to get comfortable and step off without issue. Even when we changed from sand to gravel to grass, there was no issue. I kept Becky's words in my mind the whole time and praised Shy a ton to let her know she was doing good. Kyle even stepped on branches and made other noises, which startled Shy, but she regained her composure quickly and just kept walking. 

We decided to put on the shafts. The point of the shafts is to get Shy used to cart shafts and not have her bend when turning. I let Shy know what we were doing and she had no problem with us putting the shafts through the tugs, duct taking the corners, and using bungee cord to hold the back end up. Hey. . .only the best for Shy! Haha!

The best part of the day. . .after attaching the shafts and asking Shy to step off, it was perfect! No scooting, no freaking out, just a nice smooth step off. Yay! We worked on sharp turns, having Shy turn by stepping her legs over each other instead of bending. She did good! We parked her having ended on good note. No, a great note! Jaime gave Shy some tasty treats called Stud Muffins. Shy loved them!

Kyle said "No texting and driving!"

I think my next step will be having the header stand away from Shy because I think she gets comfort from that person right next to her head. Kyle says we should attach a radio to her that plays that spooky, creaky Halloween music. . .I am not sure about that!

Next, we went to Jaime's barn to introduce her newly gelded 2 year old Percheron to Clutch. I guess Notch looks too much like a Percheron the Isaac (the baby) mated with. 

Aside from some squealing and striking, a few kicks, and a couple rears, the first meeting went really well.

Clutch striking out with both feet. He is the boss!

Isaac doing some sort of defensive rear.

It feels good to be making progress all around!

through the woods. . .

. . . a-line driving we will go! But first. . .

Shyloh had a visit from the farrier. Same farrier, but the first visit at the new barn. Funny how the new barn doesn't seem new anymore. Anyway, Shy's hooves are doing great. Being outside all the time has been good for her. I asked about the changes in her hooves and he patiently answered me. He said it would not be a normal visit if I didn't have questions, ha! Basically, when she was at the other barn, her heels contracted a bit, but now that have gone back to normal. And that is from being out 24/7. It makes me happy and lets me know that I am doing the right thing by her.

Before the farrier came, I had not been out to see Shy in a few days. Wild pony! Not only is she super shaggy, but her mane was a mess, her tail braid was coming all out, and she just looked wild. With her being out, I can't seem to contain her mane. It flips over on both sides, then all flips on one side, then flips back over to the other side. Crazy.

Fuzz

After a few freezing cold, windy days we are having a sunshine-y break. It is wonderful. I can handle the cold if its sunny and not windy. Or at least not windy.

I've said before, I feel like sometimes I am the MacGyver of the barn. I do not have a ton of resources available to me, so I have top make do with what is around me. I have been working on homework assignment #1, #2, and #3. 

Front view

Rear view

We practiced our line driving and when I felt I had nice contact and we were doing good, I took us to "nature's cones."

I used the tress and weaved in, out, and around them. We could switch up the pattern as often as I wanted. We did tight turns and wide turns. Shy would duck under low hanging branches and was not bothered when the branches brushed up on her back or sides. 

Shy did great, even though we did have a short argument about whoa/stand. We even got more foamy mouth, but green this time because she had eaten green stuff before we started. 

She was chewing a lot, too

After our line driving session, I put Shy in a paddock to hang out with her. Shy's first order of business. . .roll off all signs of having been worked.

Then we messed around with this old truck tire. I got Shy to trust me and she put her front feet in the tire. Yay! I feel like I am making some really big strides with Shy. The weekend is supposed to be nice, so I will be spending it at the barn! I hope I can get a header so we can do some tire dragging.

we're hooked!

What gives a Haflinger a foamy mouth like this?

Foam, a rare sight

Partial credit goes to the new-ish O-ring french link snaffle.

The main credit goes toward pulling a cart!! Yup. I said it. Shyloh pulled a cart!

My friends from the shows we did over the summer came up from Ohio to help me and Shy today. Did I ever mention how awesome, nice, and helpful everyone is at those show? 'Cause they are!!

Becky and her nephew Cody drove up with their tire set up and practice cart. Becky helped me get Shy's harness put on right. . .it was a little far back. Then I did some practice line driving around the property. 

We practiced with the tire pull first. Becky let Shy see and touch the tire and chains before she was hooked. And of course Shy freaked a little bit when the tire hit the gravel, but with two headers (me and Becky), we were able to keep her under control and calm her down. After a few initial bouts of Shy wanting to run forward and get away from the fire breathing, horse eating tire, she relaxed. Becky kept the gravel to a minimum until Shy was comfortable pulling the tire, then we added the gravel part. One of the best pieces of advice that Becky said was to really stroke Shy's ego. She said make a big deal with the smallest of things because Haflinger's love praise. So as Shy was walking (at the pokiest of paces) and licking and chewing and had her head down, we praised her and let her know she was doing a good job. When Shy was asked to whoa, more praises and pets. 

Cart time! I love how Becky was so calm and relaxed. She had Shy see the cart, touch the cart, walk around the cart, but she wanted Shy to do it when Shy was ready for it. Next, we asked Shy to walk forward in the shafts of the cart. Shy did good and was not bothered by the shafts touching her at all. I backed her out and we hooked up the cart. Shy stood really good for this. Better than I thought she would.

Then Becky asked Cody to get in the cart. Gotta love little kids, right? But seriously, Cody is a pro, he has done this before. Becky and I were at Shy's head. I could tell Shy was a little nervous, especially when she takes those initial steps. She wants to run. But we held her, talked to her, calmed her down, and Shy was great. Just every time we stopped, when we started again, we had an issue with the first few steps. Then Shy was fine. . .licking, chewing, foamy, and head down. 

My turn in the cart! I had one moment of panic when Shy wanted to take off when she took her first step, but Becky and Cody had Shy. We walked a little. I probably had the dopiest smile on my face! I was so happy! Then Becky told me to back her up. She backed pretty good, but when asked to walk on, same stuff. So we did it again. Much better. 

That was it for the day. It was a lot for a Haflinger to take in. But little Shy did much better than I thought! Becky said that Shy was real smart and she likes to work. She could tell by Shy's eyes. They were bright. And Becky said Shy knew what she was doing, perhaps she had a cart accident that scared her? 

The next best piece of advice that Becky gave was to let Shy think all of this is her idea. Right now, it is something that I am asking her to do. But the goal is for Shy to want to pull a cart. Or ride. Or whatever.

I am so proud of Shy! And so thankful to Becky and Cody! Becky let me borrow her wooden tree and tire to practice with Shy over the winter, but with the promise I will always have someone head Shy when using it. And I got some homework:

1. Keep practicing the line driving.
2. Work on keeping contact. I tend to be very light in the reins so I need to work on that.
3. Get some cones or other obstacles to practice with.
4. Get some PVC pipes to put together and act as shafts.
5. Find a cart!

Added later because I forgot. . .

1. Get a driving whip.
2. Sing to relax both me and Shy

So, we have some work ahead of us, but Becky thinks we should be driving by summer! Any volunteers for my header?

Go pony!!