Thanks to my friend Belén for these fabulous photos of me and Starbuck... wait for it... "horsing around". Sorry, couldn't resist!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Bareback!
I'm pretty sure that Starbuck's still not ready to gallop with me riding her and I'm not in any hurry, but I feel like we've really achieved a lot as far as walk-trot-steer, ride in roundpen, ride in big arena goes and wanted to do something different today. I hadn't ridden any horse bareback since I was a teenager but have been wanting to try it with Starbuck for a while now, especially since it'd be a way to squeeze some quicky riding in at lunchtime during the work week, and decided that if she was amenable today that I'd give it a shot.
I've seen Clinton Anderson use the Jeffrey's Method to gentle a horse on one of his DVDs - you jump up and down next to the horse until she's cool with what you're doing, then jump on her back and lay across her back on your stomach for a second, then do it again for a little longer and a little longer... until finally she's completely calm and you can straddle her. So I got the jumping up and down part pretty much covered, then lay across her back for a second, but I think I got blinded by the goal because I forgot to "warm her up" to the idea and tried to hop right up and straddle her way before she was comfortable with the idea. It's funny, I think I knew I was going to fall off since right before disaster struck I actually remembered to take my cell phone out of my pocket... It was stupid - too soon, too clumsy and without any help. Luckily it was a good fall and I was able to get right back up, I'm not even sore this evening.
Luckily my friend Virginia showed up to see if I was OK and very generously offered to help out, so she held Starbuck while I gave it another try. I still did it too fast, I should have lain across her back and "rubbed" her with my foot before I got all the way on, and she spooked a little, but I was able to stay on (no easy feat, I'm pretty proud of myself) and finally we ended up doing a little pony ride around the roundpen with Virginia's help for about 5 minutes. She calmed down and in the end was perfectly fine with it, and since for now I want her to associate me riding bareback as being something easy and pleasant I decided to reward her by cutting it short, taking the bridle off and leading her to a particularly lush patch of grass to graze.
I have to say, it was the most amazing feeling. She's so fit that it's really comfortable (albeit hard to stay on!) and I could feel every little muscle in her back moving and could tell she was really tuned into me too. Today I was too nervous and tired (only got about 4 hours of sleep last night) to be able to relax and focus on it, but I think it's the kind of thing which could be almost meditative. Definitely something I can't wait to do more of and I think it's what I really need to improve my balance and seat, as well as possibly our communication.
Anyhow here's the video, the most exciting moments are at about 3:25 and 6:35 :P
I've seen Clinton Anderson use the Jeffrey's Method to gentle a horse on one of his DVDs - you jump up and down next to the horse until she's cool with what you're doing, then jump on her back and lay across her back on your stomach for a second, then do it again for a little longer and a little longer... until finally she's completely calm and you can straddle her. So I got the jumping up and down part pretty much covered, then lay across her back for a second, but I think I got blinded by the goal because I forgot to "warm her up" to the idea and tried to hop right up and straddle her way before she was comfortable with the idea. It's funny, I think I knew I was going to fall off since right before disaster struck I actually remembered to take my cell phone out of my pocket... It was stupid - too soon, too clumsy and without any help. Luckily it was a good fall and I was able to get right back up, I'm not even sore this evening.
Luckily my friend Virginia showed up to see if I was OK and very generously offered to help out, so she held Starbuck while I gave it another try. I still did it too fast, I should have lain across her back and "rubbed" her with my foot before I got all the way on, and she spooked a little, but I was able to stay on (no easy feat, I'm pretty proud of myself) and finally we ended up doing a little pony ride around the roundpen with Virginia's help for about 5 minutes. She calmed down and in the end was perfectly fine with it, and since for now I want her to associate me riding bareback as being something easy and pleasant I decided to reward her by cutting it short, taking the bridle off and leading her to a particularly lush patch of grass to graze.
I have to say, it was the most amazing feeling. She's so fit that it's really comfortable (albeit hard to stay on!) and I could feel every little muscle in her back moving and could tell she was really tuned into me too. Today I was too nervous and tired (only got about 4 hours of sleep last night) to be able to relax and focus on it, but I think it's the kind of thing which could be almost meditative. Definitely something I can't wait to do more of and I think it's what I really need to improve my balance and seat, as well as possibly our communication.
Anyhow here's the video, the most exciting moments are at about 3:25 and 6:35 :P
Friday, March 9, 2012
Tack Locker!
I finally found a second-hand cabinet which was deep enough for my saddle to fit into for only 30€ and the guy selling it was even willing to bring it to the stable! So they delivered it today and Mario, the Portuguese handyman at my barn, helped me attach the saddle rack and a couple of hooks for bridles, halters, etc... I'm superpleased with it - there's room for absolutely everything and I won't need to wedge my saddle under the shelf in the corner of the tack room anymore! Just need to bring a padlock tomorrow and I'll be set!
In other news, Virginia's and my Parelli big green ball arrived and we've been slowly getting Coco and Starbuck used to it... so you can look forward to the videos soon! Also today I started supplementing Starbuck's midday grain ration with paprika to see if her coat stays darker - hope it works!
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