hump day haflinger series #20

Eva Roemaat is a horse trainer from the Netherlands. She started riding at the age of seven and always seemed to know about Haflingers. She has her own Haflinger that is quite the character.

Eva and Shilas

Haflinger: Wappard van der Wier or Shilas

Age: 13 year old gelding

Height: 1.58 meters (about 15.2 hh)

Favorite Food: Anything!

Personality: Shilas is very outgoing, present, and cheeky. He is also a smart boy!
Likes: He likes to learn new things with Flip (Shilas' very own minion), and Eva. 
Discipline: Classical Dressage and Trick Training

Shilas is also great at jumping and they go on a lot of outdoor rides. 

Eva started trick training in 2007, after she saw Cavalia. This inspired her to try some things with her horse. Shilas learned a few tricks really quickly and Eva kept teaching him more and more. His favorite trick to do is standing on a pedestal, while Eva likes to have him do a well executed bow. 

The bow

The pedestal

The key to trick training, as with all other training methods is to provide the reward for the behavior within two seconds. This way, the horse can correlate that the behavior he did earned him the reward, whether it be a treat, a rest, a release of pressure, or whatever else works. 

Eva and Shilas, plus the minion Flip, are always fun to watch on YouTube videos. They have a ton of videos that show training and even bloopers. 

Eva's goal is to enjoy the world of horses with her partner, Jesse Drent. She also wants to show everyone the things that are possible with horses, if you are patient enough and willing to work together.  

*All photos were taken from her Facebook page with her permission

monday musings by shyloh #42

Allie taught me another trick! I love learning tricks because it involves lots of treats. And I love treats! 
I present. . .my new trick:

Cute, right? I do the flippy lip a lot, but now I will smile whenever Allie asks. A sure way to get even more treats. Because life is all about the treats!

~Shyloh

happy-linger: part 2

Of course, I say to myself that Shyloh is happy. Just thinking that she is happy makes me happy. But the logical, part of me wants proof that she really is happy. Actually, I wish Shy could just acquire the English language and speech capabilities to say one compound sentence, "Yes I am happy and yes I love you, too." Is that too much to ask?

Smile? Or a big screw you?

For a horse it is, so I have to look to other signs. The most notable sign lately is her eyes. Shy has gone from frequently showing the whites of her eyes (scared eyes) to much softer eyes. They almost look sad they are so soft. She has relaxed considerably. 

Soft eyes

I have to believe that Shy is happy in her little herd of horses. She has the horses that she likes, the ones she really likes, and the ones she loves. It is so cute to hear her nicker at the horses (Chick, Ryleigh, Casi) that she loves when they walk by her stall. She is funny about her horse friends, too. Chick is her love, Ryleigh is her stall love, Casi is her buddy, Notch is her trailer love, Rambo is her show love (even though the last two are not at our barn). At the same time, Shy does not have a problem being by herself. 

Whoa grass! Shyloh's heaven

Although Shy does not come running up to me when I call her name to get her from her pasture, I think she likes me. She certainly puts up with me and has not tried to purposefully hurt me! Shy is learning that people are not bad and that they are generally an excellent source of food. I hope she looks to me as a leader. On the ground that is not a problem (usually), but she struggles with that under saddle, as do I. We are both working on trusting each other.

Loving the itty bitty grass!

Is Shy happy learning to ride and drive? Well, she likes to succeed and she like a mental challenge. She has not tried to buck me off (knock on wood). The problem arises because she likes to work on her own terms. It is yeah, you can ride/line drive me, but this is how I want to do it and where I want to go. I would have to think that if Shy was unhappy with what we are doing she would concoct some way to get out of it. I don't include the scooting, going behind the bit, and the new getting her tongue over the bit part of this being unhappy. I think if it more as tactics to do what she wants, like not use her rear end. Every time, she stands perfect for getting tacked up, no fuss. And I do really think she enjoys dressage work. . .

Running with the breeze

So based on everything I can think of, the changes I have seen since I got her, and her behaviors, Shy is my little happy-linger! I think that I have created a safe and happy place for her to be a horse and be my horse. She is able to be in her herd and do all the horsey things she wants, yet when it is time to work, she is right there with me. 

And she has not tried to run away from the barn, yet. Ha! But maybe I am just trying to make myself feel better. . .  so, you tell me, do you think Shy is happy?

monday musings by shyloh #26

Presenting. . .

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

monday musings by shyloh #25

Excuse me! I have an announcement!

Shyloh, the Haflinger Extraordinaire presents. . .

My new trick! It is a kiss. Aren't I just the cutest? Tricks are fun, mostly because I get treats! I get all different kinds of treats: carrots, blueberries, and grain! Yum! And they are not too hard to learn, either. I wonder what we will be learning next. . . 

Okay. . .I would also like to point out that I was not in on the whole Equestrian Johhny Depp. He is not my style. THIS is my style. . .I give you Equestrian Haflinger Stud:

Now this is the real Italian Stallion!

Ooooh, that mane! Those eyes! I'd have his foal any day! And I will tell him exactly what I ate today; grass, peppermints, carrots, and hay!. So yummy! Normally I don't share my food, but I would share with you, Haflinger Stud! Wink wink. I would even share my granola and bananas. 

Anything else sexy Equestrian Haflinger Stud?

He is so shiny! And all the way from Tyrol!

Oh, you like it when I roll? That's a good thing, because I like to roll.  Take a look at this!

Enough with Haflinger fantasy time and back to reality. I think I am going to be ridden soon. . .

~Shyloh

equestrian johnny depp

I posted a photo of Equestrian Ryan Gosling on my Facebook the other day. It's a pretty funny concept, but Ryan Gosling doesn't really do it for me or Shyloh. So I created my own version. 

I present to you. . .Equestrian Johnny Depp!

Okay Johnny Depp, may I call you Johnny? I will tell you ALL about how cute Shy was today. 

Shy started her day eating hay out of a wheelbarrow. I am not sure if you are aware, Johnny, but hay out of a wheelbarrow is much better than hay from the ground in the stall. If the wheelbarrow has hay and poop in it to pick through, bonus! 

Nom nom! No poop here.

As soon as I got to the barn, I checked on Shy's leg. Johnny, you might not be aware, but yesterday Shy had heat in her leg, which is a bad thing. Today, there was no heat and she still did not show any signs of pain or stiffness. I was fully prepared to keep her inside and cold hose her leg all day long. I even had my epsom salts. But, since she didn't have any heat in her leg and seemed fine, I made the executive decision to let her go out with her herd.

Johnny, that was the best idea I made all day! The weather was spring-like (in the middle of February!!) and all the horses were in a playful mood! Shy, Casi, Chick, and Dulce were so cute playing in the muddy pasture. Of course, I did not have my video camera when I wanted it the most. 

But I did have my video camera when I called for Shy to come in and she came to the gate to see me! Johnny, you have no idea how happy this makes me! It has taken us seven months to get to this point! She did this yesterday, but I thought it might have been a fluke. Looks like this might be the newer cuter side of Shy. And I had another successful day of putting her halter on her without a peppermint bribe!

I brought Shy inside and checked her leg again. No heat! This is a good thing, Johnny! We walked through the barn to explore some more and I gave her a little hay to eat. Kathy shared some carrots with Shy and Casi, which they loved! 

Then I gave Shy the royal spa treatment. I used all the brushes I had. I got all the mud off of her legs and tail and where ever else the mud landed on her. I conditioned her hooves. I braided her tail. I attempted to tame her mane. She was really enjoying herself in the cross ties and was falling asleep. She loves to be pampered! Very cute.

You should see her Johnny, she is so smart! The last part of our day was spent working on our new trick. Shy is coming along very well so we should be unveiling it soon. The trick is not fantastic by any means, but it is our start into doing more and more tricks. 

So, is Shy not the cutest pony you have ever seen, Johnny? Yeah, I think so to! Any time you want to listen to me talk about her, I am ready.

So right. 

there's a hoof in the bucket. . .

. . .dear Liza, dear Liza. There's a hoof in the bucket, dear Liza, a hoof!

Brrr! The water is cold!

I had to put Shyloh's left rear leg in a cold bucket of water today. I was picking her feet and that leg, from the fetlock down to the coronet band was warm. I double checked the warmth I felt by feeling the rest of her legs and they were cold. I asked Kathy and Beth to feel her leg and they agreed that it felt warm. The bottom of her hoof was not warm at all, just that general area. 

But. . . it was not swollen, Shy was walking just fine, she was bearing weight on it, and she was not showing any signs of pain with it. 

In fact, when I went outside to get Shy, she had me smiling from ear to ear! She was in the way back of the pasture and I called for her. She looked up and ran toward the gate and me! She stopped right before it got really muddy, pooped, then navigated through the mud all the way to the gate. She let me halter her without a peppermint and we walked out of the pasture. Then we trotted to the barn. Shy was completely fine and really willing to trot next to me. Fun times!

Helping Aunt Kathy clean up the hay!

Once we got in the barn, she was in a great mood. Shy was very curious and I let her poke about the buckets and bins along the aisle way. She also picked up as much fallen hay as she could. She was walking fine and at this point I had no idea we could be having a potential problem.

Nosy pony!

Any hay under here?

I put Shy in the cross ties to groom and de-mud her a little bit. She is a shedding pony! Look at all that hair! I am sure that this is just the beginning of a massive amount of hair loss.

I am building Shy a brother Haflinger from her extra hair.

Then I picked her feet and felt the warmth. Beth advised that I cold soak her leg, preferably with epsom salt. I had never done this before, so I filled a bucket (minus the salts, we had none at the barn) and made my first attempt at putting her leg in the bucket. Shy was willing to let me lift her leg, but a little hesitant to put it in the cold cold water. Eventually, she did lower her leg and stand there. I was pretty amazed! She only tipped the bucket twice and that is just when she tried to move, otherwise, she was great!

"Don't look at me like this!"

After her cold soak, I put her in her stall and we worked on our first trickonometry trick, which required no movement on Shy's part. We are off to a good first start, so soon I hope to have a video of her first trick!

I am very surprised that I am not totally freaking out about this heat on Shy's leg, but besides it being warm, she is fine. I am a bit worried and anxious to see how she will be in the morning. I picked up some epsom salts on the way home in case I need them tomorrow or in the future. Beth is guessing that is it not an abscess and not laminitis. Perhaps she just did something, like twist it,  from the mud?

Does anyone have any ideas of what this could be or any experience with something similar to this?

Still sassy! Even with a bucket hoof!

missing shyloh

I've been sick this week, so I have not been out to the barn. Basically, this is what I have been doing all week. . .

Sleep sleep and more sleep

Stretchy sleep

The sickness required a full day off of work and I missed yoga. I had been looking forward to yoga most of all. Oh well. I am back on the mend and should be going to see Shyloh tomorrow. I am positive she missed me just as much as I missed her goofy self.

The one good thing about being stuck on the couch is the hours on end of Law and Order. Just what the doctor ordered to make me feel better! And I got this book in the mail!

Click on photo to take you to the site

I am excited to teach Shy some of these tricks. But I am slightly confused by the book. In the introduction, the author, Carole Fletcher, talks about not teaching a horse to rear (which I would never do anyway!) but there is the picture, right there on the front of the book, of a horse rearing. The book does not teach you how to stand on your horse, either, as it shows on the front, thank goodness! Misleading. So far, that and the lack of color pictures are my only complaints. I do like how she states that the tricks should be taught in a certain order based on how the horse learn and to build off of one another. So the tricks starts out simple, using the head, the mouth, the legs, then the body. Look for videos of Shy being super cute to be making an appearance! I also like how Fletcher discusses using trust and love, not force, to get results. She also points out that the relationship between horse and human is important and that the horse must have basic ground manners before beginning to learn tricks.

On a final note (and a shameless plug). . .voting for the Equestrian Social Media Awards ends this Friday. Me and Shy somehow made it into the final 10 for Best Blog (Category 17). I am not even sure how we got into this, but since we are here, we will do our best!

We need some help from you guys. We need to make 2 one minute videos. One is an acceptance speech in case we win the category and one is a general message of support in case we do not win. 

Here is what I am asking. . .

Any ideas on what I should do or say? I am at a loss when it comes to this kind of stuff. Oh, and I only have until Friday February 17th to submit it. Thanks!!

level up!

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.

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!

social butterfly?

Maybe, but not quite yet. Shyloh had a very social day with horses, dogs, cats, and people. And she was amazing, yet again! 

First, she had a  new farrier come out to assess her hooves. He said that she had great feet and she was quite pleasant in the cross ties. I was quite impressed with her not being spooky while he moved the foot stand thing all around her. I was very happy with him, so Shyloh has a new farrier! He does barefoot, so it is perfect.

I put Shyloh in the arena for a few hours to dry off, it was raining again. . . I told Robin that she should bring Ryleigh in the arena, too, and him and Shy can meet each other (not over a fence) and play. She was a little apprehensive, but Kathy helped.

We HAVE to do this again!

Follow the leader!

Holy cow! Shyloh and Ryleigh were awesome together! They followed each other around, sniffed each other, groomed each other, and were just so great together. Ryleigh took in a big sniff of her "scent", and Shy kept sniffing his male parts. It was love!

Awwww! She is quite the mare of the barn!

They like long walks on the beach. . .in the sand. . .

At one point, Ryleigh grabbed a cone (he loves cones), which had a lunge whip sticking out of it. Shy was interested in what he was doing, so she went to check it out. Inadvertently, Ryleigh kept hitting Shy with the whip, under the belly, on the legs, in the face. . .and she did not care one bit! She was not afraid of the whip at all! She even tried to grab it from Ryleigh a few times. 

What kind of trouble and we get into together?

Playing together

Then Terry came to the barn and brought her dog, Addie. Ryleigh, Addie, and Shyloh played in the arena for a bit, then Robin took Ryleigh out to be groomed. So Terry brought in Resy. 

Pow wow in the middle of the arena

Resy and Shyloh

Including me, there were five people in the arena. Shy would go up to people, let them touch her, and not run away! It was quite a difference from a month ago! She is learning to trust others, too! 

Going right up to Rob while he is playing Angry Birds

I am teaching Shy a trick, how to wave her foot. I have been taking a dressage crop and tapping her leg so that she lifts it, then giving her a treat. She caught on really quick! After a few times, I did not even have to tap her leg more, I waved my hand, said wave, and she would lift her foot. This is only step one. Step two involved stretching her leg forward, which I will work on tomorrow. Shyloh is so food motivated, that she began lifting her foot for me, when she wanted a treat, even when I did not ask her! Smart girl!! But what have I gotten myself into?