Monday, June 26 (Kelsy) Day 22
It was 95 degrees here today so I hid in the house and waited for it to cool off at night for riding. Perry got to work on other horses coming and going, something she’s not to keen on. Mom and Ches would go up the hill and around the field and Perry had to stand or walk. If she didn’t I would bend her around, ask her to step over her hindquarters, and then bring her forehand around. Then we would try walking again. This is what we spent most of the ride doing, either out in the field or up on the hill.Ches has a game called the “chill out” game that Perry doesn't enjoy. I ask her to stop and stand on a long rein and if she can’t then I’ll pick up the reins and try again, or we’ll do hindquarters/forequarters and then try again. Sometimes it's only a few seconds she has to stand and other times it’s a few minutes. Perry spends a good chunk of her time moving around, even out in the field on her own, so standing is hard for her to do, especially when she’s stressed. Learning to stand still when someone drops the reins is a great thing for her to know in the future. We have some horses that we taught the chill out game that can be having complete come-aparts, but as soon as you drop the reins they feel they can let down and stand quietly. All our ride was spent working on the chill out game, which was fine with me because I, like other people in western Washington, don’t do heat!
Wednesday, June 28 (Kelsy) Day 24
In the morning Ches and I set up some jumps to free jump the horses. As you can see Perry is a very cute jumper. We slowly built it up from 2ft to 2ft 9in because Perry hadn’t ever jumped before. She really got into it and after the second time through I no longer had to chase her with the whip, she would just keep going around and jump it again.
I rode her later that afternoon and we started out in the arena, even though that didn’t last long because it was hot and dusty. Perry was showing off what she knows for her Auntie Chesy and the camera but sadly Ches and the camera didn’t have very good timing so only a few of the pictures really turned out. I had Mom first trot and then gallop Chucky past Perry from behind and then in front. She didn’t care at all, and in the pictures it looks like she’s sleeping through it.
Then we went up and over our hill to the backfield because there is shade over there. Perry had to go over the hill by herself as the other horses walked over on the road. On the way over we worked on playing the chill out game and she was surprisingly good about it and only had to be reminded a few times to stand (we’ll see how long that lasts). She even had to go “granny speed” down the hill (which means tucking her bottom and walking very slowly on a long rein). Then we played around in the field, working on her forequarters with the flag that we rode over with. The flag helps hurry her through the turn, when I open the rein she needs to sit back and follow it around. If she doesn’t follow it around I can bring the flag down by her face to help her hurry along without pulling on her mouth. She also worked on cantering in the open field and stopping, because most people like horses with good brakes. So even though my personal horses don’t stop well (wonder why) my training horses are always expected to stop when I ask.
On the way back I again walked over the hill using every opportunity to get her on the trails and work on walking and standing. Mom had the camera with her and took a few pictures of Chucky following closely behind Perry’s tail. Stuff like this never bothers her and she never offers to kick. This makes Ches, Mom and I still believe that she is not a kicker, just was put in a bad spot for a baby horse last Saturday.
. Go to Perry's fifth week of training (new website)Thursday, June 29 (Kelsy) Day 25
Yesterday after our ride Perry got a bath and was clipped in preparation for meeting a prospective buyer today. I left her out in the field (normally she comes in a paddock for the day) so the interested person could see that she was easy to catch. I went through all our normal stuff as Ches stood by and talked about Perry and answered questions. We started by tacking up in the barn as usual, then in the arena showing walk/trot/canter and stopping from all three gaits. She showed off moving her hindquarters and forequarters, and also how she could walk and trot over the tarp. Perry also did her little leg yields, which are getting really nice and soft. While all this was going on we had people here working on our driveway bringing in rocks, and also a well being drilled, so it was pretty loud.
After some arena work I took Perry over to our hill so the potential buyer could see how she is on the trails and hills. Being Perry she went right past the well being drilled without even noticing and over to the hill (good girl). I took her up and down some of the short, steep hills and then for a walk up the main trail as well. She was really good and walked the entire time, but when it came time to stand still she just couldn't do it and had to be reminded by moving her hindquarters around. Ches and I explained that she doesn’t like standing on the trail and wants to keep moving at all times, but that we work on it all the time. Today was only a short ride but she was pure “Perry” for the interested persons to see, and that’s a good thing because Ches and I want both horses to end up in a forever home.Chesna's side note: As Kelsy mentioned, we think it's very important that all horses end up with the right people, for everyone's sake. To maximize the chance of this happening it's important to present the horse nicely, to answer any and all questions honestly, and to try and get a feel of the prospective buyer and the horse. It is important to candidly discuss any issues concerning the horse, especially with young horses. We are very happy with Perry, and it was nice meeting her potential future owner!
Saturday, July 1 (Kelsy) Day 27
Perry got Friday off so Saturday when I got back from work I hopped on Perry bareback. Ches and Stuey decided to join us on a ride. We rode over to our neighbors' elk trails and on the way had to weave through old Christmas trees, walk through grass taller than the horses, and tromp through a little bog. The main elk trail in the woods is wide and clear enough to gallop (or canter in this case). It’s a long hill and even our fit, trained horses get tired at the end (could be because we used to gallop up it five times in a row, so they know what’s coming). There are some logs on this trail that make good little jumps.
The first time up the trail Perry led the way. At the top Stuey left us to walk back down the hill and canter up. This means Perry got lots of practice trying to stand, or spinning in circles until her bro came back. Then Stuey led up the side trails that are a little more like bush whacking. At one point Stuey was ahead and there was a branch that arced across the trail. Stuey turned left after the branch and Perry wanted to go with him. Sadly though she needed to move to the right three steps and then turn with Stuey down the hill. I asked her to move off of my left leg, but she responded by moving into it even more. I spent a minute or so doing hindquarters off of my left leg on the side of a hill, hoping that we wouldn’t go falling down it. She finally stepped to the right and off we went after Stuey and Ches. Once we got to the top of the hill Perry got to work on perfecting her leg yields in the brush away from Stuey. One of the reasons we teach babies things like this is so when we need to move them over on the trail it's not the first time we've asked them to do so. She had never been asked to do it on a trail away from her bro, but now she has and hopefully she’ll remember that she can do it in the brush just as easily as she can in the arena.
On the way home we tried to play the chill out game which didn’t go so well. After about 15 minutes of going back and forth with her I changed my approach. All I did was bend her around and wait until she stopped spinning like a top. When she paused in the bend we would go on. If she couldn’t walk, I’d bend her and wait for her to stop moving. This way we didn’t end up in a mini battle. By the time we got home she was walking on a loose rein and would stop and stand for a few seconds at a time. Also by this time Ches and Stuey had given up on us and went home ahead, so the last half of our ride was by ourselves.
This week I plan to have my Mom ride Perry, as well as Ches and a friend who’s coming out. In a month's time I’ve been the only one to ride her besides Ches once. All riders are a little different and the horses have to sort through what each wants. It's not always going to be me riding her, so I thought it would be good to get different people on her for practice. You’ll be getting some updates from them about their rides hopefully.
