My first baby is coming to visit!
I got an email today from the woman who bought the thoroughbred I raised and trained. I can’t even believe that he is going to be in my town this weekend! How strange! She’s bringing him to compete. I’m going to have to try my best to get over there and watch. It’s so weird to think that I might not recognize, probably won’t recognize him I should say. It’s been a long time. I went to see him a few years ago at a show in NY, but it has been a good five years since I’ve seen him. How cool!
Things are going well with Lola. She does have some spirit! Sometimes she is the laziest thing in the world, but other times she is full of herself!
Sunday I went to the barn with Skylar and my sister. It was a pretty quick visit. Dina wanted to meet Lola, so we went and brought her treats, brushed her a little, let her eat some grass, and that was about it. For some reason, Lola got all freaked out about my sister being in her stall. She wouldn’t go in her stall while my sister was there. She also spooked a couple of times over nothing. Weird. She was pacing around in her stall quite a bit more than usual. Skylar actually got a little nervous around her and decided not to groom her.
It was a tough week for me to get to the barn with my sister visiting, and the kids being on vacation. I took a ride to the barn with both kids yesterday. I decided to play it by ear and see how things went, and it actually went really well. The kids started playing some kind of game together and I was able to give Lola a pretty good grooming, and then I took her out to eat some grass. I did a tiny bit of work with her, but not much.
I went up alone today and had some time to myself to enjoy my filly. I was trying to hang a salt block holder in her stall and she was very curious about the whole thing. She kept knocking things off the rail and she tried to steal the swiss army knife I was using as a screw driver.
Grooming is still a big production. She is so hairy! She is starting to look a little less like a panda bear and a little more like a cow. I tried asking her to lift one of her front feet from the opposite side today. It’s a Parelli Level 1 task to be able to clean all four feet from one side. She seemed a bit confused, but eventually shifted her weight off that foot, so I rubbed her and quit that task for the day. I probably spent an hour grooming her today. I had her free in her stall and she was really good about standing for me for all that time. She turned and nuzzled me with her nose a couple of times, but she stood still. I’m not sure she looked a whole lot better when I was done, but eventually all this grooming will pay off I think.
After the grooming we went for a trail walk in the woods behind Sara’s house. It went well. Lola tried to eat anything and everything in sight, so I just kept pulling her head up. I don’t want her to learn that going out in the woods is an invitation to graze. That will drive me crazy when we start trail riding!
Although it was a beautiful day, we did a little work in the indoor to avoid the temptation of grass. We did some friendly game with my hands and the rope and my Savvy string, and played the porcupine game. She is really moving well, except for her front end, but that is definitely improving. I brought her over by the mounting block and leaned on her a little bit. She didn’t seem totally comfortable with it, so I just did a little and backed off.
Up to the outdoor and she was a brat! I kept asking her to back and she kept trying to walk all over me. I was glad I had the carrot stick to help me keep her at a distance. She wanted to get to the edges of the ring to eat grass. That seemed to be all she could think about. I gave her some slack in the rope and bumped her nose with the carrot stick every time she tried to eat. I hate not letting her graze, but she has to learn there is a time to work and there is a time for the grass. I took her for a walk on the street and she got very nervous about a tractor at one of the neighbor’s houses. She did a quick spin towards home, so I patted her and asked her to continue in the direction we had been going. We walked about 20 feet past the noisy tractor and turned and walked back by it again, much better the second time, but she was still a bit nervous. We continued down the street a bit. She stopped to sniff a flag on someone’s mailbox, and we had to continue little bumps on her nose to convince her not to eat. She spooked a bit as a couple of cars came by. Nothing terrible, but she was a little nervous.
Finally we went back in the yard, I asked her to stop and gave her the signal to put her head down and then let her graze. She was so happy!
I need to get back into the steps of my Parelli program. I started it when I borrowed a set, and then had to take a break when I sent it back and waited for my own to arrive. I have my own now, but I’ve been doing my own thing and not following the program. It would probably help for me to get back into the program. I’ve been working Lola with the Friendly game, porcupine game, and a little bit of the driving game. I’d like to get pretty comfortable with those three before I move on.
I probably won’t get to the barn this weekend. I hate not seeing more of Lola, but thankfully I know she is very well taken care of, and very content. I’m not sure she even misses me when I’m not around! Is that good or bad? It’s going to be tough for me to get to the barn for the next couple of months. I lose my regular babysitter in a couple of weeks when she graduates from college, and the break between camp and school will make things tough. Hopefully, once the kids start camp I’ll be able to get into a good routine. I know once fall comes, both kids will be in school at least five half days a week, so that should make my barn routine a little more consistent. Until then, I just keep reminding myself that Lola is a baby. She is hanging out with other horses, playing, and growing. That is really the important stuff right now, whatever I’m doing with her is just extra for now.
Things are going well with Lola. She does have some spirit! Sometimes she is the laziest thing in the world, but other times she is full of herself!
Sunday I went to the barn with Skylar and my sister. It was a pretty quick visit. Dina wanted to meet Lola, so we went and brought her treats, brushed her a little, let her eat some grass, and that was about it. For some reason, Lola got all freaked out about my sister being in her stall. She wouldn’t go in her stall while my sister was there. She also spooked a couple of times over nothing. Weird. She was pacing around in her stall quite a bit more than usual. Skylar actually got a little nervous around her and decided not to groom her.
It was a tough week for me to get to the barn with my sister visiting, and the kids being on vacation. I took a ride to the barn with both kids yesterday. I decided to play it by ear and see how things went, and it actually went really well. The kids started playing some kind of game together and I was able to give Lola a pretty good grooming, and then I took her out to eat some grass. I did a tiny bit of work with her, but not much.
I went up alone today and had some time to myself to enjoy my filly. I was trying to hang a salt block holder in her stall and she was very curious about the whole thing. She kept knocking things off the rail and she tried to steal the swiss army knife I was using as a screw driver.
Grooming is still a big production. She is so hairy! She is starting to look a little less like a panda bear and a little more like a cow. I tried asking her to lift one of her front feet from the opposite side today. It’s a Parelli Level 1 task to be able to clean all four feet from one side. She seemed a bit confused, but eventually shifted her weight off that foot, so I rubbed her and quit that task for the day. I probably spent an hour grooming her today. I had her free in her stall and she was really good about standing for me for all that time. She turned and nuzzled me with her nose a couple of times, but she stood still. I’m not sure she looked a whole lot better when I was done, but eventually all this grooming will pay off I think.
After the grooming we went for a trail walk in the woods behind Sara’s house. It went well. Lola tried to eat anything and everything in sight, so I just kept pulling her head up. I don’t want her to learn that going out in the woods is an invitation to graze. That will drive me crazy when we start trail riding!
Although it was a beautiful day, we did a little work in the indoor to avoid the temptation of grass. We did some friendly game with my hands and the rope and my Savvy string, and played the porcupine game. She is really moving well, except for her front end, but that is definitely improving. I brought her over by the mounting block and leaned on her a little bit. She didn’t seem totally comfortable with it, so I just did a little and backed off.
Up to the outdoor and she was a brat! I kept asking her to back and she kept trying to walk all over me. I was glad I had the carrot stick to help me keep her at a distance. She wanted to get to the edges of the ring to eat grass. That seemed to be all she could think about. I gave her some slack in the rope and bumped her nose with the carrot stick every time she tried to eat. I hate not letting her graze, but she has to learn there is a time to work and there is a time for the grass. I took her for a walk on the street and she got very nervous about a tractor at one of the neighbor’s houses. She did a quick spin towards home, so I patted her and asked her to continue in the direction we had been going. We walked about 20 feet past the noisy tractor and turned and walked back by it again, much better the second time, but she was still a bit nervous. We continued down the street a bit. She stopped to sniff a flag on someone’s mailbox, and we had to continue little bumps on her nose to convince her not to eat. She spooked a bit as a couple of cars came by. Nothing terrible, but she was a little nervous.
Finally we went back in the yard, I asked her to stop and gave her the signal to put her head down and then let her graze. She was so happy!
I need to get back into the steps of my Parelli program. I started it when I borrowed a set, and then had to take a break when I sent it back and waited for my own to arrive. I have my own now, but I’ve been doing my own thing and not following the program. It would probably help for me to get back into the program. I’ve been working Lola with the Friendly game, porcupine game, and a little bit of the driving game. I’d like to get pretty comfortable with those three before I move on.
I probably won’t get to the barn this weekend. I hate not seeing more of Lola, but thankfully I know she is very well taken care of, and very content. I’m not sure she even misses me when I’m not around! Is that good or bad? It’s going to be tough for me to get to the barn for the next couple of months. I lose my regular babysitter in a couple of weeks when she graduates from college, and the break between camp and school will make things tough. Hopefully, once the kids start camp I’ll be able to get into a good routine. I know once fall comes, both kids will be in school at least five half days a week, so that should make my barn routine a little more consistent. Until then, I just keep reminding myself that Lola is a baby. She is hanging out with other horses, playing, and growing. That is really the important stuff right now, whatever I’m doing with her is just extra for now.
posted by Lisa @ 12:42 AM
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