riding dirty

OMG!!! I rode Shyloh today!

A big thanks goes out to Robin, Kathy, Terry, and Sandy for pushing me to get on and helping me! Shy is very sensitive, the complete opposite of Mia! For Mia, I literally had to kick her to get her to move. For Shy, I just have to think about squeezing and she goes! When I put a little extra pressure, she busted in  to a trot! But say whoa and she stops on a dime!  Kathy got on her, too. And Robin rode Ryleigh. It was a pretty successful day!

After our little ride, I gave Shy another bath. She had deep down dirt that I wanted to get off of her and her skin is so dry. So I shampooed her and put on some conditioner. Then I styled her forelock!

The 80s are back for Shy!

She really loves it when I brush and style her hair. She is really getting into all the attention and pampering that she is getting. I am also going to look into a supplement for her dry skin. It should help her mane grow, too. And as always, as soon as I put her outside, she rolled in the dirt. She likes to be dirty. . .

I tried some new fruits on Shy today. . .bananas and blueberries. She loved them! I have a feeling that she will eat anything that is put in front of her. . .

desensitizing

Is this weather ever going to cool down? It sure does not feel like it! 

I discovered a few new things about Shyloh today.

1. She is a grain thief. She steals Chick's grain, or he dumps some out for her because she does not get her own grain. They have become good horse friends!

2. She does not mind the big curry comb, but will let me know if she does not like it on a certain spot. 

3. She loves her neck to be scratched and groomed! Now that she is getting more comfortable with me, she is letting me know what she likes. 

4. She really enjoys having her forelock brushed! She puts her head down for it now and even let me do this to her. . .

She is pretty darn cute!

. . . put a braid in her hair!

5. She is smart...so very smart!

After her usual grooming, I took Shy out to lunge. She did great. Then Leslie suggested I work on desensitizing. I put the lunge line over her back and drug it down her rear. She jumped a little at that! I reassured her and continued touching her all over with the lunge line and draping it over hear head and back. Then I moved on to the other side of her. To a horse, each side is a whole new experience. I repeated everything with the lunge whip.

Next, we put a pole on the ground to see if Shy would walk over it. I had to coax her up to it and over it the first time, but then she was fine! I turned her around to walk over it the other way. Again, it was a whole new experience, but she went over the pole! I walked her over it a bunch of times to get her comfortable with going over the pole.

I lunged Shy again, this time so she had to walk or trot over the pole. She was awesome! She went over it every time without a problem! I am not sure if she is generally this awesome, or was just being extra awesome  to make up for our (my) little. . .ahem. . .spill yesterday. It appears that once she decided that the pole was not an alligator or some similar evil waiting to eat her, she had no problem with going over it. Leslie also said that it was a good mental workout for her. 

I am going to continue desensitizing exercises with Shy. It think it will build up her confidence and mine along our journey together.

ouch!

I did not get to see Shy yesterday because someone in class lost their dog and Robin put Facebook to good use and organized a search party to find her. It was even on the Trenton Patch! Luckily, the dog was found safe and sound!

But today, I fell off Shyloh! I have to write this now in case I wake up tomorrow without the use of my limbs. And it was totally my fault. After I lunged her today (and she did awesome!) I decided to try riding her. Well, I was going to sit on her while Robin held the lunge line. And since I cannot get on her from a mounting block, I had to mount her from the ground. It is harder than you might think! I put my foot in one stirrup and swung my leg up and over. I must have kinda blacked out, because I remember thinking hey, I made it up! but the next thing I knew, Shy spooked and moved forward and I was on the ground! I fell off of her on the opposite side that I mounted her on, I hit Robin in the head and shoulder on the way down, then I landed on my back. So. . .I must have flipped. I sustained injuries to my back and elbow. Shy bolted around the arena, but stopped and let me approach her.

Aside from that little bump, Shy had a fantastic day! She met some new people and let them pet her without freaking out. I am trying to stop babying her and let her know that I am the boss. So, when I was bringing her in and she stopped in the aisle and refused to move, I let her know she had no choice. And when she started fussing in the cross ties, I put a stop to it. . .and she stood perfect the rest of the time.She even let me brush her forelock without putting up a fight!

Someone said to me today that she did not know who taught us not to beat our horses. That really bothered me. Some people must think that fear equals respect. I do not feel that way, even though I understand that horses need that physical communication, I don't think they need to be beaten. 

So now I am going to nurse my injuries and hope that I wake up in better condition!

being played

I think I am being played by Shyloh. Sure, the first week she was probably like WTF? But, she is a Haflinger, so she is incredibly intelligent. I think she knows I won't hurt her, but she plays the part. 

Who me? No. . .never. . .

Case in point. . .My new training splint boots came in the mail. When trying to put them on her legs, she kept picking her legs up. I thought it was because she thought we wanted to pick her feet. Leslie said, no, she was being disrespectful. She did it two times, then Leslie smacked her on the side. I was like whoa! It was loud! But Shy immediately kept her legs down. She was not distressed. And Leslie said it did not hurt her, it was just loud because she cupped her hand. And it turned out that the boots were too big. . .

I have to remember that horses communicate through physical contact. They express themselves through bites, kicks, grooming, pushing, and other forms. If Shy was in the wild and she did something disrespectful to a top horse, she would get a warning kick or bite. And that is all that Leslie did. 

In the relationship between me and Shy, I have to be top horse. This is something I really need to work on because I am not comfortable being physical with animals or people. I do not hit my dogs and I do not hit my husband. I also expressed to Leslie that I don't want to cross the line where I (or anybody else) goes from demanding respect from Shy to being abusive in her eyes. 

I know I have a lot to work on personally, and I feel that Shy is going to push every one of my buttons. Like I said, she is a Haflinger. . .We lunged today. Which, by the way, is a lot harder than it appears! I was dripping buckets of sweat and Shy was making me work! Lunging is supposed to have the opposite effect, Shy is supposed to be doing all the work! One way, she does a great job, the other way. . .not so much. My goal is to stop walking on eggshells around her and assert my authority.

lunging

I think Shyloh is beginning to get more comfortable in her new home. More of her personality is showing and she might just be a sassy little pony. Normally she stands perfectly in the cross times in the wash stall or grooming stall. Today, she was eager to get out. . .I think that she is ready to work. I had her in the wash stall, but I went into the arena to watch Notch do some pulling. Shy positioned herself so that she could see into the arena from the stall. She was probably thinking, hey. . .I can do that! 

As I was grooming Shy, I noticed that Chick had taken a couple chunks out of her. Eek!! I told Beth and she said that Shy got Chick pretty good, too. . . a big patch of hair was missing from his leg. Horses play rough and they were probably trying to figure out their positions in their little herd. But they seem to like each other, they call for each other when they are not together. 

After Leslie finished with Robin's lesson today, she said that she would like to put Shy on a lunge line, just to see what she knows. Shy responds to the cues of a cart horse, so we will have to introduce new terms to her. She walks, trots, and stops on the lunge line. She will not canter. Leslie kept trying to get her to canter, but all she  did was trot. And she has a fast little trot! 

So, Wednesday Leslie wants to tack her up and evaluate where she is when she is ridden. I am not sure who is going to ride her. . .my riding skills are non existent!! Then Leslie is going to come up with a plan and I am starting lessons!