VIDEO.....Training tip about Shoulder Movements

 And, we have not arrived yet....Don't know if we ever will, but here are some of the softening ideas he and I do!!!

The below picture shows him dumping a bit on his forehand.....

The below picture is my ideal. His poll is at his highest point, his weight is back on his hind end and he is extending for all he is worth!!

Ramola, the Lippizaner mini!

Each miniature driving horse comes with their own way of expressing themselves. Ramola somehow heard her mom talking about her trying moves suited for Lippizans and decided it sounded like fun. This is what you see first in this video and first every time she is worked.It is her way of saying no. She gets over it within 3 to 5 minutes and begins to work for us. I believe that when training horse, whether they are miniature or big, you have to stay focused and not let them distract you with any of their tricks. Ramola will get over this. She will realize that the fits take a lot of energy and she just needs to drive quietly. Meanwhile we will giggle at her caprioles!

Lass is hooked and Candy drives again!

I hooked Lassie for the first time today!! Yes, she just turned 2, but she is so level headed and has had a ton of groundwork. Our footing is level and packed, so she wore a cart and walked. I will keep things very easy on her, but it is a big step!!!

Jess just got feeling a bit better and down to the arena she goes! Here is Cameo today and Candy down below. Jess and I are fighting over who gets to drive Candy!

Derby is steady eddie!!!

We are now just letting Derby get comfortable with moving in a cart. This means we are getting some speed and doing just a bit of bending, but she is staying very calm and accepting!!! So excited for Jessie!!! As the days go by, Jess will start bending her a bunch and getting control of moving her shoulders. Then, we can start asking for collection.

Ramola finds a fear!

Ramola has been here about 1.5 months. Thus far, we have only worked her in the arena and round pen with a cart attached. We did take her for a few walks ground driving and she has not been a spooky mare, just a stubborn mare. But today, we found what makes her jump. Not just a jump, but she sprouted wings and flew. Flew over what? It was all the puddles in the neighborhood. We, who only get about 9 inches of rain per year, got 3 inches over the last day and a half. The arena looks like a lake, but we figured that the roads would allow us to drive. Remember, it is also breezy and very cool for Phoenix, and the horses have been cooped up and missing their daily pasture time and exercise. Thus Ramola had a bit more energy for flying over the puddles. I missed catching her with all 4 off the ground on video, but wanted to show her mom, Jaci, that she really does drive a cart. Ramola was wound up and her usual unspooky mind saw a boogeyman  behind every tree and bush. Some very long trail rides would be very good for her.

And Jaci, please don't think only you talk too much, I talk too much too and together, we are dangerous!! I wanted to be back home before I turned into a pumpkin!

Derby...water training in early October

Most of my posts have been chronological, but this one goes back in time to early October. Jess is working Derby in the water. She tried it again recently and Derby was steady eddy in the water. This video shows some of the power in this mare. I love watching her!

Derby passed the test! Jess gets to drive!!!!

Big day. Her perseverance paid off. Jess has daily tortured Derby with all sorts of scary noise makers and other objects intended to spook. Tarps, bags, bells, cans, buckets, etc have been walked over, worn and dragged. Derby was a kicker and a bolter when scared, but through Jess's daily work, her brain flipped a switch and she is willing to look at anything and stay relaxed. I am excited about the lessons Jess has learned from her!!! I am also very proud of her. She adores Derby and is thrilled. Derby has talent! You can't probably see it in these videos because we are asking her for nothing other than to be relaxed with the cart attached.

I see fancy horses who are fancy because they are hot on grain or are scared, but I want Derby to be fancy, yet to stay calm to some degree. In order to train her how to bend, use her shoulders, carry her weight, we needed her mind. Jess won her mind!! Now the real work can begin!!!!!

Jess then drove Derby about 10 times around the arena which I videotaped. She has no over check and we don't ask anything of her, but she is calm! Wonderfully calm! This mare is very talented. Very! We know how she looks when she rocks back and collects, but I told Jess to just take it slow for the next few drives.



Rain? Rain??? What is that? It is a rare occurrence here in Phoenix, but we are preparing for 3 days worth of it!!

Struggling with pushy Cameo

Cameo is a challenge for us. I KNOW horses addict to speed and I KNOW that a horse loses brain cells when you make them accelerate. Sounds funny, but when I am struggling, I always slow the horse down, go back to what they know and what they do well and try taking baby steps up from there.

Cameo has a very uptight personality. She is wired hot. Jess started driving her back when Jess just wanted to play with a horse. She broke her and started going fast. Is this Cameo's whole problem? I think not....I think the speed coupled with her hot personality makes her pushy when you try to accelerate. By stopping her frequently and doing half halts, Jess has gotten her very pretty when going slow. She also has gotten her very pretty on the long lines. BUT, when Jess asks for more speed, Cameo gets hard on the bit, stiffens, loses her roundness and looks terrible. You can see this happening in the video below. You will see when she is on long lines, she is fairly settled on the bit, but it falls apart in the cart.

Now you know why it can take a long time to get a horse consistent as a driver. It can take years depending on the horse you are working with.




In the same way, God wants us to grow. He wants us to get beyond drinking milk and into the meat. Hebrews 5:12  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

This is the real challenge for me. Getting into the meat takes practice, practice at obedience. Any true knowledge only comes after obedience. What will happen when I am tested? He also will only give me the big challenges if I have been faithful in the little challenges. The same with Cameo. Jess cannot ask for speed until she is consistent with her frame going slow. God gives us all of these creatures and experiences so that we can learn more about Him.

Beamer and Shoulder work again

Calling in at Liberty

I love how we can teach just about any horse to come running to us even when they are out in pasture. I so wish I had known these techniques as a little girl. It would have made my heart sing. I remember my last big horse.....Rula Bula....and how he could come charging.  Here are Ruger and Gentry in our pasture. It was boy's time out and the 4 boys had been playing rough when I called them. Gentry has a high play factor and is going to be a blast to work with. I am so thankful for each day I get to watch these minis run!

Candy meets the bit

Our day started off bright and early....chores, chores and more chores. Between horses, dogs and parrots, there is a ton of the repetitious chore that goes on around here.  Add to that the chores that need doing for just one day or for a week, and our life is soooo busy. I am thankful for this! My daughters know the value of time as a result and we do not have the time to sit in front of the TV. I regard television and our media as a tool being used to destroy a cornerstone of America; the family. If you can destroy the family, you will destroy our society. The Word promises us that peace enters when we set our minds on what is true, noble, praiseworthy, just, admirable....the things you do not find on TV.

Back to our day.....We planned on attending our first meeting of MHAA....Miniature Horse Association of Arizona. Kay Morris cooked a fantastic meal and had invited us up. Jessie is very motivated by food, and I wanted to learn more about the AZ show schedule, so off we went. Kay is an energetic little lady with many good ideas and an enthusiasm for miniature horses. My favorite idea of hers was to make Touch of Class a 6 judge show where one could qualify for Worlds all in one 4 day weekend. There would be a 3 judge show on Thursday, skip Friday, and have a second show starting Saturday. There used to be a an AMHR show on the Friday, but that is not on the schedule. She had other new ideas. We laughed a ton with the members of the club, but the group is very small. There are a ton of miniature horses in the Phoenix area.....how does one get others to do more with their horse? Clinics seem to be one answer.

Upon returning home, we started to work horses.......

Candy has had a life of luxury for a while. We thought she was pregnant, but after seeing her heat cycles return, the sad fact is that she is not. So, out of the pasture she was pulled and the bit went back into her mouth. We broke her to cart a while back, but stopped working her. She is the coolest mover, is very sour and this video shows a bit of her arguing attitude. But, she looks like a blast to drive. She will get over her attitude too in time. I always loved her hocks and her action, but felt like her neck set was not high enough for my tastes. Beamer really corrects that in a mare, so He will be a great match for her, but I am liking what I see as she is harnessed up.

 

Liberty tips

All in a day's work...Candy, Derby, Jack, Ramola, Platinum and Justine!

Busy days here at our home right now. Our weather could not be lovelier....thank you Lord! We started out this morning chasing Candy around. She seems to not be pregnant....we have bred her for a few years now. She is started in cart, and someone here should finish her. She really is a nice mover.

Then, we played with Gentry. He is very nice and using his head and neck just like his daddy, Design!

This afternoon we came out and started in with the rest of the drivers.

First off, Derby....She is gaining confidence rapidly. Jess is adding speed to the ground driving, and cowbells and a can with pennies in it. At one point in the video, she has trouble at a corner and another time, she spooks at herself in the mirror. But, she is doing SOOOO well. Coming along much faster than I thought. Jess wants to start driving so badly, but I don't want an explosion and Derby's fears to return.





Ramola is not ours. She is very new to cart and has a lazy attitude. So, getting her very responsive to verbal commands in the round pen seemed wise. We found if we asked her for speed in the cart, she would shake her head angrily and think about bucking. So, to get over this and to keep Ramola from hurting herself, we took her to the round pen for some sessions. She is catching on and obeying so much better than she was 3 days ago.



Jack and Lisa have regressed in that she backed off grounddriving him and went back to more ground work.

Lisa also is bringing Justine back into the driving arena. The first time that Lisa drove her, she trained her mechanically and did not bend her much. Her focus is completely different this time around. Justine is learning to give her shoulder too!

Finally, there is Lass. What a doll to play with. Her mind is willing and eager to learn, so we are playing with the reins and bit.She is almost 2 and she will not be hooked for months, but I figure that she can have short sessions. She and I, Jack and Lisa, Anna and Platinum and Jess and Cameo have covered many miles just walking our neighborhood. This gets them used to so much!  

Cameo grounddriving

Cameo is getting more and more settled into the bit and steady with her head.

Jess is thinking she can qualify this girl in the spring, let her have her April/May baby and then get her back in shape to show at Nationals. I doubt this....but we will see.....

Derby rejects the cowbell.....

You will hear Jess asking to get in the cart in this video. I said no and told her to shake a cowbell while ground driving her. Derby let us know in her very fun way that she was not ready! So, they were at work again tonight....daily work with her. 

Jess is getting closer to driving Derby!

As you can see, Derby is getting much calmer as we work her daily and just focus on her being quiet. My main goal is to keep Jess patient so that we don't lose our progress with her. In the beginning, Derby was so reactive that we would ask her to walk 2 steps and then we would stop and let her relax. Just those 2 steps would wire her, so stopping her and waiting till we saw visible signs of relaxing was critical. Once she understood, progress speeded up.

Lisa has met some resistance with Jack. He does not like to bend to the right. He had been coming along fairly well, and then he rebelled. So, we put him in the round pen with side reins the last few days, and let him argue with himself.

Jess hooked Ramola and started driving her. Ramola has been with us a month thus far. She is a quiet mare with not a lot of spook in her. Her biggest challenge is being willing to work. 

Shoulder Work

Capturing the shoulders of a driving horse is very important. You want to be able to move your mini laterally both directions. This is shown at the start of this video. The more flexible a horse is in those 10 inches behind the poll, the more that horse is going to use its hindend.  

Having control of the shoulders also allows me to put a horse back on the rail easily. When driving, if my horse drifts towards the middle of the arena, I can pick up the shoulders and move them to the outside. Love this!

Slow Trot, Whoa, Back, Frame up, Slow Trot, Whoa, Back, Frame Up, Slow Trot......

Jess has a favorite mare...Cameo! Affectionately called Devil in our barn, she gets into everything. Jess started driving Cameo back when she was young and did not think about training. She liked fancy, but she also liked speed. Cameo is a hot mare, and like most horses, she addicted to speed. Thus, she learned to grab the bit, and go fast. Earlier this year, Jess got very serious and took Cameo back down to slow trot, whoa, back up, frame up again, slow trot, whoa, wait, frame up, slow trot whoa, back, frame up, slow trot, whoa, back, frame up, etc..... Got the idea? This process has really helped Cameo move her wait back and get off of the bit. Her slow trot looks magical to me!

Cameo is at the start of this video and you can see how her weight distribution is heavier on her hind end. This video was from mid October and she has improved even more since then. She just tested positive for a May 2013 baby. Hmmmmm. Jess thinks she can qualify her for AMHR Nationals this spring, have a baby, and then get her back in shape for the September deadline.

Desensitizing Jack and Derby

Jack has been with us for one month. He arrived knowing how to walk on a halter, but that was about as far as he knew. He did not like us standing on his right side, he was hard to catch in the pasture, and was overall very sensitive. We have spent many hours doing groundwork with him and teaching him to come to us and follow us. He has a great work ethic and is willing to try.

He is just learning to give to the bit, and needs to learn to carry himself, but I can see where he will be very pretty in the cart.

Jessie took on Derby as a project. This mare was kicking unpredictably and really messing up carts in the process. I didn't want her to mess up herself, so Jess started desensitizing her.

This is an older video of a Appy I worked with, but it shows more desensitizing work.