it's a start!

We did it! It was not pretty, not pretty at all, but Shyloh is back to pulling! And was not able to buckle the girth! Diet pasture is working!

Is pony angry or pretending to be angry?

But first, Shy really had to mess with me and act like she was so afraid of the sled. I was lunging her in full harness and she was making a production of going between the sled and the round pen panel. Jaime came up to watch us and suggested hooking Shy to the sled. She would head.

Um. . .okay? Jaime led Shy around as I drug the sled behind them, just to get Shy comfortable with the noise of the sled over the grass and leaves. Then we hooked her up and I took all necessary precautions, such as tapping the plastic sled to see Shy's reaction. None. So pretty much the whole I'm so scared to go by the sled and I must snort and act a fool was just a joke. A big fat joke on me to get out of doing stuff because it has worked before.

Shy acted a hot mess and kept backing up out of the traces. Jaime got on me about correcting Shy (which I need) and we had Shy pull in the mess she created for herself. She could have cared less about the traces rubbing all over her legs. Or that Bindi, Jaime's mini Aussie was herding her and biting her back legs. 

Shy must like the traces always off to the sides, because this is how we always seem to end up!

Switching directions had the traces really rubbing her, but weird horse didn't care.

She really knows how to play that scared act with me and I fall into it every time. It's because I lack confidence in both of us, but I think we may be gaining some as we go along. 

Boo for work!

We did the sled pulling again today. The sled was a total non issue. . .I moved it, banged on it, jumped in it, and Shy just looked at me like I was the goofy one.  This time we did not use a lead rope, but Jaime walked next to Shy. 

Look, traces are actually where they belong!

Shy was actually able to keep the traces on the outside of her legs this time. She seemed to understand that backing up and trying to tangle herself was not successful for her. We were moving along just fine until Shy decided that the dogs were scary. Really? The same dogs that never bothered her just yesterday. . . 

She kind of jumped forward and quick stepped, ripping the lines out of my hands (side note: I have total butterfingers, something else to work on). I jumped up in the sled. At the same time, Jaime who was walking next to Shy go tripped up on the traces and began to do a slow motion twist and fall. But as she was falling, Jaime managed to grab a line. It was all in slow motion. Shy pretty much stopped on her own, and got maybe seven feet. 

Go pony!

It was a total fake out. Shy was completely fine. Jaime hurt her pinky finger. Then we kept on working. Well, for about a half a circle. I noticed Shy's tongue was looking strange. Turns out she managed to get it over her driving bit. What the hell?

I fixed it and we resumed working. Shy did fabulous after that. Lots of stopping and standing work and smooth take offs from the stop. Good pony. She has to run out of her tricks to get out of work soon, right?

Smoochies!

over the hills and through the soybeans. . .

I missed my pony while I have been working, schooling, and interning. I think Shyloh may have missed me, too. Just a little bit. She was super sweet to me, but at the same time, it felt like we were starting over. She was a little jumpy but got over that pretty quickly.

Back to smiling!

I planned to take her fatness out in the fields with the sled and some weight. Just like last time. Jaime was going to bring her new sled and Notch. Sleds. . .we are so ready for snow!

We are true Michi-billies!

I harnessed Shy up and saw just how dirty my harness was. Yuck. . .and with a show the next day, yeah, it needs to be cleaned. I also added some bells because I guess it is hunting season? We had been hearing guns go off.  I hooked up the sled and led Shy away by her head. Hmmm. . .she felt like being quick today. I walked her all around, including on the driveway to get her used to everything. 

Then it was time to go out back to the fields. I took the lines, stood behind her, told Shy to walk on, and she turned around and faced me. We had a mess of horse legs and traces. I fixed Shy up and repeat. Okay. . .I went back to Shy's head and walked her down the path that leads over the creek. Once we got to the path around the soybeans, I tried it again. And again, I ended up with a turned around horse and a tangle of traces and horse legs. Well. . .it appeared that Shy felt she needed me at her head. 

Is that crazy to think like that? That perhaps she feels more comfortable with someone at her head? Like she needs the reassurance?

Notch and Jaime are waiting for us. . .

We walked down the path, Shy pulling the sled with the bags of bedding for weight and me reassuring her. As we walked, I fell further and further back, took the lines, and started line driving her. Success!

Go Shyloh!

We had a blast! And we even trotted some. Shy was really good. She was listening well and I barely had to even use the lines. Good pony!

The field

Once we made it out of the field, I was tired from running behind Shy. I am way way way out of shape. And since she was being so good, I thought it would be okay to sit in the sled and have Shy pull me. Shy didn't mind, but the sled did and it broke. So much for a cheap $10 sled. Shy handled that fine, too. 

Then Jaime suggested we hook Shy to her sled and give it a try, Notch was tired anyway. Sure, why not? I took all the precautionary measures (tapping the sled for Shy to get used to the noise was most of what I did), sat in the sled, and asked Shy to walk on. Well, she quickly realized she was not pulling as much weight as she was used to pulling, took a hard right into the soybeans (Notch was blocking her path), and tried to run. I was not about to let her. I stepped off of the sled, planted my feet, and pulled back. Shy pulled harder and I went flying through the soybeans. But then she stopped. She actually did not go far.

We flattened the bean. . .oops.

I unraveled her from the traces, once again, and line drove her out of the beans and back to the sled. As soon as she saw it, so refused to go near it or even look at it. So I had to walk her up to it and by it until her feet slowed down. She was not truly scared of it, she was just being a jerk and trying to get out of working. I can totally tell the difference. 

I got mad and frustrated, but since we ended on a good note, apples for everyone!

So even if she did not do exactly what I wanted her to do, I made her do something that she did not want to do. We pulled that sled, but I compromised and walked next to her. I wanted her to do something, but I didn't want to push her past her limit. It worked. We will get there. It just may take forever. 

back in action

The weather has finally cooled down! I hope it stays that way . . .we are ready for winter! Shyloh has been preparing for winter for quite a while now. . . 

This was just the beginning. . .

And with winter brings sledding! We did a lot of sledding last year and really got some good training in. I am not sure why I am so much more comfortable in a sled than in a cart. Shy seems much more comfortable with it, too. 

It has been cool enough to go out back and not get swarmed by various species of hateful, flying bugs. I had walked Shy back there a couple times, but never all the way around. She seemed totally fine with being out there, plus she was totally surrounded by soy beans. 

I put the harness on Shy for the first time in a couple weeks. I grabbed her purple sled and loaded it up with bags of sawdust pellets, probably 80-100 lbs. I took it real slow with her and led her at her head so she could get used to the weight. Shy was perfectly fine with it. I led her out back and over the creek, then took the lines and asked Shy to walk on. 

In perfect Shy fashion, we had a little argument and Shy somehow ended up all tangled in the traces with the sled in front of her. Grrr. Good thing I kept the lead rope with us! I was able to tie her to something in the back and fix her. Then we tried again. This time was better, but Shy did manage to step over the trace and spent half the time around the field with the trace between her hind legs. She didn't care, so I didn't care. 

Shy was fabulous! I think this is what she needs. Harder work. More weight. Open field. Maybe she needs to plow? Maybe she needs more of a purpose? I don't know. . .but I am going to look into getting s sled or stone boat for us to use. I think Shy will do good with something like that. . . That is how I plan to spend our winter and hopefully it will prepare us for next spring and we will be ready for some wheels!

I had wrote this a week or so ago (I am trying to save some stories while I am not able to make it to the barn cause of my internship). Today's trip out back proved very different from this one. . .stay tuned!

i'm a mess inside

I could sit here and write that I harnessed Shyloh up and hooked up the sled with a 50 pound bag of bedding pellets, took Shy for a line drive around the property and Shy did pretty good. I could sit here and write that Shy seemed a little jumpy but worked through it, she listened extremely well, and we had no attempted take offs. I could sit here and write that Shy gave me a decent line drive and we ended on a great note. And all of that would be true. It is what we did today. And it is what I would normally write about because I do my best to stay positive. 

But I really can't get over the fact that we have not moved forward in our training, but backwards. We started out the show season with such greatness. We were driving in the cart classes and doing so well for us. Even after the run away cart incident, Shy was able to bounce back quickly and we were able to hook and drive her the following weekend. 

Still a goof

But after this last attempted run away with Beth, Shy seems so nervous and tense and jumpy. I can visibly see her clench her muscles and twitch from whatever she thinks is coming. You can just feel the tension in the air. I spent a long time after her harness was on just talking to her, hoping to ease her mind a bit. Then I spent the whole line drive talking to her. But Shy still had her moments. She does this "spook", which I call the Fred Flintstone. . . her legs move so quick, but she doesn't go anywhere. And she doesn't spook at the traffic, semi trucks, cars, or motorcycles speeding down the road. She spooks at un-normal things, like she thinks I sound mad behind her or she thinks she did something wrong. Those are the things that just send her falling apart and into hyper-tense mode. I feel we have just fallen so far backwards. 

I know she CAN do it. . .

Then I start to question myself. The what ifs (that never do any good anyway). . .

What if Shy doesn't have whatever it is that is needed to be a driving pony?

What if all of these incidences are her way of telling me she doesn't want to do this?

What if she will always be unreliable and too scared to drive?

What if she can't be be "fixed"?

What if. . . ?

But why does she get herself so worked up?

So, after a long drawn out discussion with myself about my feelings (something I tend to ignore most of the time), I came to the conclusion that I am sad, frustrated, discouraged, and a wee bit depressed about this. Compounding on the really crappy time that Shy decided to unravel is a bunch of other personal stuff going on, which makes it that much worse. My favorite get away and coping skill is getting me down and sending me spinning into a frenzy. Why Shy? I can almost see why people choose crack, almost. I have tried crying, but I just can't do it. I think it might make me feel better, kind of a release, but the tears don't come. I am just really at a loss with what I should do. There are many options: send her to training (where? none in the area, plus money is an issue right now), sell her (um, no), have her be an expensive pasture pet (I'd rather not), find another discipline (perhaps), or keep on keeping on. I don't know. I am not looking for answers, just trying to get my thoughts out and document where I am right now in this journey. But, I guess it's not an adventure if it doesn't have some rough spots, right? I am certain that we will get through it, but right now I just feel that I am in a whirlwind of emotion. Ugh.

curly!

We have had rain and more rain lately. Cloudy skies and no sun seem to be the new norm. But, just a mere hour away, in Ohio, the weather has been much nicer! So I went down to help Beth get her four year old, Curly, started with driving. He has only been hooked a few times in a team and never to a cart.

Meet Curly!

We hooked Curly to the sled with Art.

Skylar is a sled dog

Curly was pretty amazing! Beth put a great foundation on him and he was not bothered by anything. Curly had to concentrate a lot more with the sled because it was much harder to pull and he had to be told to keep up with Art, but overall he was great! After a couple laps we let them rest in the shade.

Then we hooked Curly and Art up to some wheels. He was expecting it to be much harder to pull, but it was pretty easy for him. Curly thought he was on a sightseeing tour around the property. His ears were forward and he was looking at everything. So different from Shy, whose ears are almost always back on the driver, listening for what is wanted next.

Curly still has a lot to learn, but it seems that he has a good head on his shoulders. See his turns. . .too funny! We didn't work him long because we could see that his young brain was getting tired. And Art was getting a bit frustrated with the him, too.

Good ponies

A couple days later, I went down to Ohio again. We hooked Curly and Art together on the forecart and away we went. Once we started trotting, we could tell Curly was much more focused on Beth and less on the scenery. All was good until Curly decided to get a little spunky. . . I am pretty sure the horse conversation between Art and Curly went like this:

Curly: Weeeee! We are going fast! I'm a rabbit!

Art: Get your feet on the ground.

Curly: No! I can leap so high! Let's go faster now!

Art: Stop it. You are acting childish. I am not letting you go anywhere and since we are hooked you are stuck.

Curly: But leaps. . . (one more time with all four off the floor). Fine.

Art: Good, now get back to work. This is serious business. 

Gotta love those blonde butts

I admit, it was a little scary, but definitely not heart pounding scary. Beth and Art held it together while Curly was leaping around. He really did have all hooves off the ground about three times. But after that, he was back to business. 

We ran into one more hairy situation in the woods. We couldn't decide which way we wanted to go, which gave Curly too much time to think of which way he did not want to go. He was doing one thing and Art was doing what was being asked of him, but then got frustrated because Curly was doing what he wanted. Curly ended up with a back leg over the tongue. That did not bother him at all. Just like it doesn't bother him to bang into the tongue when he turns gee. I got out and help the horses while Beth fixed them, then we went on our way. No more troubles. 

Bless Art's Haflinger heart for putting up with green drivers and green horses. He is such a good horse. And Curly was quite amazing for his first couple drives out. Beth should be really proud of all the work she put in on him. 

Two tired ponies!

After we got done, Beth put the cart on Curly so he could feel the shafts on his sides. He could have cared less, even when he was wiggling around. He was also a very tired pony!

I braided his forelock. 

I had a really fun long weekend helping ponies, boating, and hanging with friends. I am wishing I didn't have to go to work. . . what did you do this weekend?

I had to share this, too! This is Leah and Rambo. Leah is using Haflinger acrobatics to get blades of grass. 

whip it

After a too short vacation to Frankenmuth, Michigan, my husband and I returned home and back to the normal grind.

My first order of business, the barn! I checked my locker and found that the sticky mouse traps did not work. The mice clearly walked over the sticky traps, and pooped on them to spite me.  And even though the peppermint seemed to work at first, my mice like peppermint because they have been eating the  candy canes I bought for Shyloh. Now they have begin to eat my saddle pad. Ugh! I immediatly took all fabric type things to my car. Guess I'll have to keep some tack in my car and resort to deadlier methods to take care of the mice.

Fuzzy troll forelock

I got my fuzzy pony, loved on her a bit, then tacked her up. It was my intention to prep Shyloh for a special sledding guest tomorrow. So I took Shy to the outdoor arena and lead her around with the sled for a quick minute. Shy was normal and normal is good. No starts, nothing. I got behind her and started line driving her. She just chugged along. Then. . . I kicked the sled. I got  quick legs, but no forward motion (that crazy thing she does where she moves quick, but never pulls on the lines).  But another quick recovery. I kicked the sled again. No response. Kick, no response. I kept kicking at the sled throughout our session. Sometimes it even ran up on her and she was completely fine with it. I am so happy how Shy is doing!

Heading out the gate

Being awesome horse

I let Shy kinda decide where she wanted to go and she took us right out the arena! Funny, she didn't want to do boring circles. We walked around the property. . .then had another fight at the gate.

What happens when we fight

I made her go around another way and continued to line drive her around a little longer, then I sent her back to basics. I unhooked the sled and grabbed my lunge whip. We were going to walk past the gate to the pasture with no problem or we would continue walking past it all night.

Ain't no thang

Stinking Shy knew I had that whip and gave me no problem walking back and forth. Ugh! Good think I ordered a driving whip. . .it clearly works when needed! I still had her walk past the gate a few times before we ended our session.

I did find the whip worked really well to keep her going and send her in a trot. Just a tap on the rear and it seemed to bring her attention back to me when she got distracted. And Shy seemed to not want to give me as much trouble. Now I am kicking myself for not listening earlier. . .

Right now, I am glad we don't have a saddle. If we had it, I would be trying to work back and forth between attempting to ride and line driving. But without the saddle, we have been real consistent working on the driving and I think it has really paid off. Shy has been amazing and we have been having a lot of fun doing this. Cart. . ..here we come!

open bridle experiment

With the advice from fellow bloggers, I have decided to try an all open bridle sled dragging session. We  have done open bridle stuff with the sled and line driving before, but always moved into the driving bridle. . .maybe too quickly.

And a bonus. . .I got to use Shyloh's new western bridle! I tacked her up and got right to dragging the sled. This went on without a hitch.I figured as much, since we have done this before. So, I thought, let's do some other things with the sled to show just how not scary it can be.

I present: Sled torture!

Sled on my head

Sled on Shy's back

Sled on this side

Sled on that side

Sled  underneath. . .by the way, see how fuzzy she is?

Shy was amazing and tolerated sled torture very well. She didn't run off, or spook, or anything really. I could tell she was not the most comfortable and she kept her ears on the sled, but she let me do everything to her. 

Then the best part of the day happened. . .I got a volunteer to head Shy! Brenda, who owned big Buddy the Belgian offered to help. I was so happy and grateful to have a helper. Brenda walked at Shy's head with the lead rope, and I walked behind, line driving Shy and dragging the sled. Shy was a great! There was only an instance where Shy was noticeably uncomfortable, but she recovered quickly. We did a short walk and I called it quits.  Short successful sessions are best. And the open bridle experiment was a success. We just need to transfer this success to blinders.

Afterwards, I let Shy graze some. She grazed like she had never had grass in her life! And she knew where the good grass was.

The best grass is under the trailer

burry good pony

I arrived to the barn to find myself with a burr covered pony. . .again. What does she do? Where does she get them from? And why does she keep going back to the burr place?

They really are tiny and all on the side of her face, too. Her forelock was a tangle! 

I de-burred Shyloh. I am so glad I had been working with her and her ears. She lets me touch them now and was fine with me picking burrs from them. Then, I tacked her up in her harness. I am bound and determined to conquer this fear of something dragging behind her. I got out the sled, which coincidentally makes it very convenient to carry my grooming bag, the tack, her supplements, and whatever else I need in one trip. She went straight for the sled and touched it. she knows if it is not moving, it won't turn into a horse eating mountain lion. 

We went for our walk around the property. I am sure the other boards were thinking. . .there goes that crazy lady and her horse, dragging that damn sled all over the place. Oh well. . .We walked for about forty five minutes. Shy was great! I even drug the sled over the grates, so it made a different noise. The first couple times, Shy tensed up, but after that, she could have cared less. 

Dragging the sled on dirt ground. . . 

Dragging the sled on gravel. . .

Dragging the sled over grates. . . 

I made a discovery today, one that does not really work in my favor. Shy is completely comfortable with me at her head. The problems seem to occur when I am not at her head. She tends to get a bit nervous. This is not going to work if I am going to be driving her from behind. 

I did some testing and slowed my walk (which was practically turtle pace, Shy is so pokey!) so Shy could not see me. She slowed and turned her head to make sure I was still there. Then I thought back to when I was line driving. Every time we stopped, Shy would look back. Was it to make sure it was still me back there? Do I provide her with some sort of comfort? Or is that just wishful thinking? How do I fix this?

Wishful thinking :)

training to drive

Gotta take the bad with the good, right?

I would call today successful overall, but with one major mishap. Shyloh got away from me. Again. But we got through it.

I got to the barn early to enjoy this beautiful weather! I cannot believe how nice it is outside! I got Shy and gave her a mini spa treatment. . .coconut oil on the hooves, Healthy Hair Care Moisturizer for the mane and tail, and some new braids. Then we ran through the exercises we have been doing all week. See the sled, click and treat, go around the sled, click and treat, move the sled, click and treat, walk next to the sled on both sides in the halter, click and treat. Shy was acting like a pro!

Whachu doin back there?

The next step was to drag the sled with the blinders on. I put the driving bridle on, showed Shy the sled was not going to eat her, and we went on our merry way. I was still walking next to her at this point. Shy was unsure for about half a second, then it was no big deal. She did spook once, but it was more of a start. It seems that when people just appear in her line of vision, especially if she can't hear that they are coming, she starts. It is in place and stops her, but she recovers quickly. I did the sled dragging with the blinders on while walking on both sides. Shy was amazing!

So I decided to take it to the next step. But first, I gave Shy some down time. I knew she was not physically exhausted, but I thought she might be mentally tired from doing new-ish things. We took a break for a while.

Why you down there sittin on the sled?

Then I went over line driving. Shy can gee and haw without me even using reins. She knows what she is doing. We went through our trouble spot from the days before with no issue. We went through the outdoor arena and the manure spreader, a tight squeeze, no issue. Lots of people were at the barn, horses were being ridden, golf carts were cruising around, barn machinery was making noises. . .no issue. I was so proud of my pony! 

You sure you wanna do this?

Then I decided to try and drag the sled behind me while line driving Shy. I prepared her that it was going to happen. She took it very well. Yay! We were going around and someone walked in Shy's line of sight. She started. Then a golf cart was going by. And a truck pulling a trailer in was coming through. And more people were walking by.  Shy pulled forward. I stopped her and made her back up. Perfect. Then she pulled again. Stop and back up. It was too much for Shy. Too much going on at once. Since she was a superstar all day, I thought she could handle it. . . I thought I could handle it. . .but she pulled hard and took off. I got rope burns (bad me, no gloves. . .I hate gloves!) I am so glad the sled was not attached to her. She didn't go far and some people caught her and I went to get her. She wasn't huffing or puffing or stressed in any way. I had left the sled and we went back to line driving.

Shy was not going to get out if this. If that was her game, I was not playing. I line drove her through the spot she took off at, past the sled, and all around the property again. No problems. Then we went back to the sled. I showed it to her then let her know I was going to drag it again. We were going to end this on a good note. Not once did Shy try to take off this time. She did keep stopping, but I'll take that over a bolt any day. I had her go back to the cross tie area, stopped her, gave her a ton of praise and untacked her. I think we can do this!

Shy's got this sled thing!