Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Road to Riding...


Big day for the horses today! Especially little Dixers....I had them out eating in the morning and it got pretty smoking hot out. So I decided to give them a bath...dun dun dun. Dixie has never had a bath before....other than a couple of days ago where I introduced her to the hose...in which she was like "As long as my body doesn't get wet and I can try and maul the thing with my mouth...I'm happy!" lol That was her attitude toward it..

So I gave Chy her bath first and that went all fine and dandy cause I let her eat while I did that...she'll let you do about ANYTHING if you let her just eat! :)

Then came Cocoa's....she got some of the colder water now after Chy...and didn't care for it that much. Cocoa has never fully enjoyed getting a bath or doing anything but drinking out of the hose. When I first got her she had a huge fear of the water running down her hindqtrs. She's a lot better about it now. :)

Finally Dixers turn. I started with the sponge and after a couple rub and rinses she was ok with it. When I presented it to her to check it out....she tried to bite and chew on it the look on her face was hilarious! I'm not so sure what sponges taste like....but probably nothing like Dixie has ever eaten before! haha
Then came the hose...she was a little nervous at first then she settled down and let me do her chest and with approach and retreat do the rest of her body. Once she realized she could eat then she settled down and let the hose soak her. I found out that as long as it runs on her she is generally fine but as soon as you spray it.....she doesn't like that! I think it's mostly the sound...since when I first got her she didn't enjoy fly spraying time at all! She's a pro at it now!

I then let the horses graze in the front yard....till they were dry so they didn't go and think they should roll in the mud right away! It worked...for a little bit atleast!


Cocoa and I decided then we were overdue for another bareback and bridleless ride! It was more toward early evening....we went out and hit the trails with our savvy string and carrot stick! She did wonderful....for not being ridden in a while since I just got her chiropracted a week or so ago. Also I haven't done much riding in general cause of her back and we haven't done much bb and b lately then because of that. It was hot...so I decided that that would be the most comfy for both of us.
After awhile just moseying on the road...making out way to the trails she decided she wanted to turn back so we did some Tit for Tat and I watched for thresholds. Finally we picked up a trot....only to have to do a slide halt..so we didn't hit the turtle attempting to cross the road! :) Cocoa came to a stop and put her head down..the turtle when 'Introverted' (haha) and she was sniffing it's shell. At one point she licked it and I was worried like maybe this is like 'Nose, Neck, and Maybe the Feet' only 'Sniff, Lick, and then Maybe Chew!!!' So I had her put her head up....the turtle came a little out of it's shell so she had to check it out again...and she blew really hard and the dust from the road went all over the turtle and it went back in it's shell again! It was the cutest thing ever!
Then we played with some seat connections...canter yo-yo's and finally reached the trails. She didn't seem to have to much energy but then finally in the end she was like 'WEEE...Let's go' And her stops were getting worse so we had to practice that and do some backing.
Other than that we saw a deer, crow, and sand hill crane and she was VERY responsive to my leg's in turning! It was a GREAT ride!

Once I got home...went for a quick bike ride then hopped on Chy and took her out right before it got dark! She needed some exercise since Tiffany hasn't rode her in weeks so I thought we would trot a little energy out of her! :) On the way back...so guys from my school went by in a pickup truck...and were asking "Can we have a ride..?" lol I was like "Maybe next time..." (hugs Chy...she's all mine! haha) Share? No way! :)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Dixie Playing Dead!




Haha! No she's not a dog...just a horse 'playing dead'! :)

Wow! My summer is just flying by....and so are the bugs! Man they are EVERYWHERE! The horses are getting awfully annoyed with them...and so is there owner now that they are pretty much immune to bug spray! AHH...

Well..didn't really get time to play with my three today. Let them out to the pasture to graze in the really lush stuff in the backyard....then brought them in when it got to like 89 degrees!

My two are still picking on poor little Dixers. If they even turn to look at her...she's out of there. I hate that they have made her scared of them. I'm just hoping once the pecking order has been established all this bickering will END! :)

Dixie decided to soak up the sun in the afternoon! Then Cocoa decided to roll...and then Chy wanted to roll right in Dixie's spot...go figure! So Dixers woke up!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Welcome!

For those of you stoppin' on in! This is a record of my Parelli journey with my lovely horses!