All The Kings' Horses

I was out of town for about a week, so Gia was out of work.  I had Katie lunge her with the boat bumpers for quite a while this morning before I got on her.  Katie said she was a little grumpy at times, but mostly she did what Katie asked her to do.  Once Gia was warmed up, I took her to the mounting block and hopped on with no grain and no problems.  Actually, she seemed very ready to get to work.  She wanted to stay in the middle of the round pen with Katie and the grain that she knew Katie had, but once I got her out to the rail, she was ready to trot with very little effort on my part.  She seems to understand that in order to get a little treat, she has to trot and maintain her trot.  I am starting to reduce the amount of grain she gets, so she only got a treat after she had done the required number of trot steps without stopping.  I started with 5, and added one step each time until I had gotten 10 steps in each direction.  She managed to do that with me only having to remind her

Gia has been doing so good with all I have asked of her so far with the riding, that I decided I could start cutting back on some of the warm up and some of the grain today.  I will eventually try to wean her off of both, but I want to do it slowly.  So, today I started out with some light free lunging and natural horsemanship work, once she was groomed and tacked up.  I basically just asked her to trot and canter once in each direction until she had lowered her head and licked and chewed - signs of submission.  When I went to get on today, I did it with no assistance and no grain.  She was perfectly fine for it.  If anything, she was looking around wondering why there was no grain ☺.  Then I had Danielle come into the round pen to assist with giving her grain when she did well.  I skipped all the walk, halt and turning work and went right to the trot work on the rail.  I started out trying to get her to take 5 steps of trot in a row without stopping.  It took a few tries, but once she

Katie got to work with and ride Gia on Wednesday.  Here is what she had to say: " Yesterday, it was my turn to hop on Gia. I started out by bringing her into the crossties and tacking her up. As usual, she was really good and quiet for this. Then I warmed her up in the round pen by free lunging her at the walk, trot, and canter and also did some join up work with her. Then I added the boat bumpers by her shoulder and did some more lunging with her. After she was warmed up, Heather joined us in the round pen with some grain. We led her up next to the stool, and I got on while she was eating the grain. So then we worked on turning and walking away from the grain and then coming back to it. We did that a few times each way and added halting when we turned away. Then we went out on the rail to work on the trot. We started off with about five steps of trot, and we changed directions and added an extra trot step with each change of direction before getting grain. She was really good fo

I worked with Gia today after Rebecca, my assistant for the day, got her groomed and saddled.  I warmed her up with some free lunging and natural horsemanship.  Then I added the bumpers at her side and asked for walk, trot and canter.  She was pretty obedient for everything.  Once she was ready, Rebecca came in and held the grain while I got on.  We didn't have anyone to hold the leadline today, but Gia has been so good the last two times, that I figured we would be ok.  Rebecca allowed Gia to eat while I hopped on.  I didn't really prep Gia for mounting, but she was unphazed anyway.  Then we repeated most of what we have done the past two times.  I allowed Gia to follow Rebecca for several steps, enjoying her grain treats while carrying me - no reaction.  Then I took over the reins and started steering Gia away from Rebecca, and then allowing her to come back for a grain treat.  She was a little resistant to leave at first, but once she realized she was coming back to the grai

We had a repeat day on Friday.  We repeated all the same stuff that Gia did on Wednesday with Asleigh, but this time it was my turn up in the saddle.  And I do mean UP!  Gia is, by far, the tallest horse I have ever backed.  But also the easiest!  Oftentimes, if things go well on the first day, there is more drama on the second day on a horse's back.  With Gia this was not the case at all! Amanda and Danielle assisted this time.  Amanda brought Gia in, groomed her, tacked her up and warmed her up.  She did some free lunging and round pen work, some lunging on the line with the boat bumpers, and some long lining.  Amanda mentioned that Gia was only a brat once or twice during the lunging, and mostly because Amanda was asking her to work, and Gia didn't feel like it.  She's quite lazy ☺. Once Amanda had Gia hot and tired and sweaty, Danielle and I joined them with a pan of grain.  We repeated all the same steps as before, with Ashleigh.  Amanda kept hold of the leadli

Ashleigh made it back to Knightdale to help back Gia on Wednesday.  Here is what she wrote about the experience: "Gia's first ride!  We started out the same as last week, but she was even quieter. She stood perfect for tacking up. She did take a little while to join-up, but mostly because she was feeling lazy and wanted to eat the little bit of grass in the round pen.  Once she got going she listened very well.  We went through all of the same steps: lunging, boat bumpers, and long lines.  I took my time double checking that she was listening and relaxed with every step.  The good thing about Gia is that she is very easy to reward, you just have to let her take a break and give her scratches.  Finally it was the big moment.  Heather held Gia, while Katie assisted with the grain rewards.    First I stood on the mounting block and patted her back and sides. Next I leaned over her back and put my weight on her.  Gia was WAY more interested in the grain than me!  Next I slowl

Since I had promised Ashleigh that she could be the one to get on Gia, and since Ashleigh lives all the way down in Wilmington, we had to wait for that until we could coordinate our schedules.  Meanwhile, so that Gia stays in regular work, I worked with her in the long lines on Monday.  Rebecca, my assistant for the day, had no trouble bringing her in and getting her groomed.  I did have to show her how to saddle Gia.  For those who don't know, we ride English at my farm, but Gia has been wearing a Western saddle, and it attaches a little bit differently.  Gia was a little fidgety, but not too bad. I decided to long line her in the arena, and she was very good.  She did everything I asked her to do.  She had no trouble picking up the walk, but she wasn't very prompt about coming back to the halt at first.  Turning was no problem at all.  She was a little lazy to pick up the trot at first, but coming back to the walk was very easy.  At the end I long lined her all the way back

Ashleigh was a working student with me last summer.  She did a lot of work with Gia last year - lunging, natural horsemanship, long lining, and she even assisted when we took Gia to her first show last summer.  She had to move to Wilmington in the fall, but had asked me if she could help out when it came time to back Gia.  We had plans to back Gia last Thursday, so Ashleigh came back up here to get her warmed up and ready for the big moment.  Here is what she had to say about it: "Today was going to be Gia's first ride!  I haven't worked with Gia in a while, so I paid extra attention to how well behaved she was.  She stood quietly for grooming, but was slightly fussy about girthing. I made sure to correct her when her feet moved.  We then went to the round pen and did join up, which went pretty quickly.  Next we worked on lunging, reviewing the voice cues and making sure she was listening.  Once I was confident I had her focus, we added the boat bumpers at the girth. Thr

Katie came out to work with Gia today during summer camp.  Here is what she had to say: " Today was another good day with Gia. I brought her in, and because camp was going on, there was a lot of activity happening. She did move around a little bit, but for the most part she stood still and quiet while I groomed and tacked her. Then we headed into the arena, and I attached the long lines to her. She was almost perfect for being long lined. I had her walk and trot both directions. Also, we did a couple circles and changes of direction. She did everything I asked without being fussy, and after we finished I had her walk into the cross ties. Overall, she did great today!" Stay tuned ... tomorrow looks to be a BIG day for Gia!

I have summer camp going on this week, but despite how hectic it is at the barn, I still managed to get a session in with Gia.  I used her to demo young horse training, and, specifically, long lining.  The theme at camp this year is "The Circus", so Gia will fit right in!  I did not do the clippers with Gia today since there was more commotion than usual due to all the campers.  Adding the clippers would have most likely been too overwhelming, in addition to everything else, and Gia would not have gotten as much learning done.  I did instruct the campers to sit and observe quietly, and Gia did not seem bothered by the extra audience at all.  We reviewed walking, stopping, turning and trotting again.  She did everything perfectly, with no problems at all!  She did not get her tongue over the bit once, and was not fussy about anything.  She still pulled down on the reins, but again, that is no big deal right now.  We ended the session by long lining back into the barn.  And all

I've had quite a busy weekend, so I did not get a chance to write about Gia's adventures from Friday.  Danielle was helping me out that day, so she brought Gia in and got her groomed up and saddled.  She set the clippers out in the feed pan next to the grain again, and Gia was quite nervous about them again.  She really wanted the grain, and tried to convince Danielle to help her get it, and she almost went for it herself a couple of times, but did not quite get up the nerve to do it.  After I worked with her and we brought her back in, we turned the clippers back on while I untacked her.  Once the clippers died (they are battery operated), we let her eat some of the grain that was in the pan.  Hopefully, that will help encourage her for next time. Meanwhile, I continued with her long lining refresher.  This time, I worked with her in the arena on the long lines.  We worked on walking, stopping, turning and trotting.  She was super obedient to everything.  She likes to pull d