Equine Acquisitions

Jewelry Designs by Adrienne

2010-11-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

Adrienne has added jewelry design to her already amazing repertoire of skills. Keep an eye on the website for her genuine American turquoise and silver necklaces. She takes great care in making sure she knows all the details about where her turquoise originates and most pieces come with certificates of authenticity from the mines in which the turquoise was harvested. This is just one of her pieces:

Redlands, CA Satellite Mustang Adoption

2010-08-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to visit the adoption in Redlands this weekend on the 31st of July. I had no intentions of adopting, the purpose of my visit was more to scout things out. See what kind of response the BLM was getting to these adoptions. I have been considering getting a TIP (Trainer Incentive Program) horse for quite some time...but wasn't really sure where the market was at as far as mustangs go. After all, in order for the TIP to be worthwhile, you have to find an adopter within ATLEAST 90 days and for me, preferably 30 days.

I was hoping to see a bunch of adopters waiting in line to get the few horses at the BLM adoption. I didn't get as early a start out of the house as I had planned so I arrived at the adoption site shortly after 9 am...it was a ghost town. Aside from the three BLM employees of course.

There was a super friendly burro foal named "June" for the month she was born in...and the horses, well they were a pretty good looking bunch. I could have easily come home with three of them. My first pick would be the dunskin gelding, followed by either the sorrel paint or the app gelding. I don't normally like apps. In fact I don't like his color AT ALL...but the horse himself is about the handsomest horse I have seen in a long while.

There was a nice dunskin paint mare and a couple of bay colts too (one stud one gelding) but really...they werent my type :D

Anyhow...here are some pictures:

New Kid On The Block

2010-05-26T16:37:00.001-07:00

We'll have a three year old blue roan Hancock gelding coming up for sale pretty soon. Blue Valentine right on his papers. We brought him home from our recent trip to new mexico. He was being used on cattle / feed lots out there. Super nice, mellow guy and a true blue roan to boot. Great bone and feet. Great color. And a disposition that is a testament to his good working breeding. Pictures and video will be coming up soon. Give us a call if your interested!

New Place

2010-05-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well... we closed escrow on the new place back in march so I now have 3 acres to call home! Tabasco and the rest of my personal horses have moved in...along with Calico who is still waiting to go to her new home. We still have and maintain our facility in Shadow Hills for the sale horses though. With the public arena and trails being so close by, it really is the best option.

Our plan is to get the new place set up with stalls, arena and a round pen. Of course, that all takes time and money! Because I certainly want to make sure it is done right the first time, it will be slow going. All too often in our area you see what we call "cardboard ranches". Not that there is anything terribly wrong with throwing up different colors of plywood and calling it a barn. Just not the look I am going for ;)

We see so many horses through our place that it makes sense to build it strong and correct the first time so as to minimize the potential for injuries and property destruction down the line. So far we have all the fence posts set for 3 nice paddocks. 2 are 50' x 50' and one is 50' x 100'. Electric tape fencing is on it for now (which works GREAT) but eventually we plan on fencing them more like this:

Basically Chain link type top rail and posts with non-climb horse mesh stretched across. Fence won't touch the ground for weed eating purposes. And two strands of hot wire (we'll leave the tape up) to keep the horses from rubbing on it. These pictures were taken of my good friends ranch. An old time cowboy with a long-time history in race horses and he's used this type of fencing without incident for the past 30 years....works for me! And looks great to boot!

We have a few nice horses we are working on now so stay tuned or check out the website for an updated sales list which should be available by next Tuesday!!

Its been a long time!!!

2010-01-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Tabasco is doing great. I've started ponying him out on the trails by myself and he seems to enjoy it. I am about 100% now with my arm...it sure did take a while and recovery was slow. Tabasco got another trim over the weekend and was a very good boy. He had some issues initially with other people handling his feet...even though he was great with me...but he seems to be overcoming those.

Some exciting news!!

I have an approved offer on a 3.2 acre facility. It's got a perimeter fence and aside from the house, nothing else. I can't wait to get it cross fenced and set up for the horses. After I get my own horses, Tabasco included, situated...I want to build a couple of BLM regulation pens and get another mustang or two in...hopefully this time something more of a challenge!!!

Tabasco hasn't been ridden since I fell off him but I plan on remedying that after the move. I'll either send him out or have a rider come to me but either way I can't wait to start riding him...I have a feeling he's going to make one nice saddle horse. He is, after all, still the smartest horse I have ever encountered.

Funny thing is...I can pretty much have my choice of any horse I want...in fact I've probably had more than 50 personally pass through my hands the past four or five years...and I still like my mustang best out of all of them.

I've attached a picture of the new place below :) It's gonna be tough but I hope to have an arena, round pen, pipe stalls, 2 or 3 mustang pens (probably with some type of chute to the round pen) and some nice sized paddocks when everything is all said and done...

Of course there is hay storage, tack storage, trailer storage, etc to think about as well!!! So many things...but its mine so I can build as I go!

Check it out:

Medical Update

2009-11-06T08:43:00.001-08:00

Interesting things bones are. The bone shaft still appears VERY much broken on the x-rays but you can see a nice callus forming now and the bone is stable enough so that I don't have to wear my brace as long as I am SURE I am not going to fall or be pushed into. Basically that means I only have to wear it at the ranch.

I was put through some range of motion tests and the doctor pointed out some things that were not obvious to me. I can't physically extend my right arm out in front of me...the doctor asked me to raise both arms above my head and I had to laugh. Yea right!!! He lifted my arm for me...he was trying to see if my shoulder was locked...sure enough it is but not too bad. I can almost go vertical if somebody raises my arm for me. That is something I have to work on I just don't have the physical strength to lift the arm yet.

Another issue is my arm won't straighten completely. There is a 20 degree bend in my elbow. It is actually quite amusing now that I can see it and recognize the issue...but again something that I have to work on.

Alas Tabasco is such a good boy. He lowers his head so I can actually halter him for his turnout now. Dr. says after he sees me in 4 weeks and I have regained my range of motion he'll "clear" me for working with the horses but he said at least another 2 or 3 months before I can get on anything that I might potentially come off of. That means Tabasco will have to go out to a trainer to be started :( I'm looking for a couple now so we'll see what happens.

I think one of the biggest mistake horse people make is not acknowledging when they need help. I put my pride behind me a long time ago as far as getting on the babies...even though I have started a few. It creeped up on me again and look what happened. This broken bone has taught me one thing...Colt Starters are worth every penny you pay em!

MIA

2009-10-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Its been a while. My rider has one excuse after another about why he doesn't have the time to ride Tabasco. I'm probably going to wind up sending him out for thirty days. I have a 2 year old quarter horse stallion that needs to go to the trainer first...Tabasco will go for thirty days after that (unfortunately I can't afford to have 2 horses in full training at the same time).

Tabasco is such a good boy. I can still manage to turn him out every other day or so he leads with just a neck rope :). He's been getting exercise on the hot walker too. I still really like the horse a lot. My goal is to have him where I can ride him (without breaking my arm ;) ) by the time I have regained enough strength in my arm to be able to halter, bridle, saddle, etc. He's such a good boy I am pretty sure 30 days will be more than enough but I'll leave him for as long as the trainer says.

I'm really disappointed, not in him but in not being able to be further along than I am with him right now because of my injury. I've learned my lesson to leave the colt starting to the colt starters! I was so proud of all the progress Tabasco made early on only to have this big setback through no fault of his own.

I'll try and keep this updated as things progress. I've also had my eye on a NICE mare at the Ridgecrest facility so I'm kind of hoping she'll be available around the time my arm is healed so that I can go bring her home. I'm kind of glad at this point that she wasn't available when I got Tabasco because while it is very easy for me to manage three horses (or four or five) of my own in addition to my sale horses, its quite nice to only have to worry about exercising the three right now...and I'm super glad that Tabasco was nice and halter broke BEFORE I got injured (cause I realize I could have gotten hurt off of any horse).

Day 47 - Photo Shoot

2009-09-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

We have just been doing lunging and turnout while I wait for my rider to have time to get back on Tabasco. Here are the best shots from the day...I just want to say...WOW can this horse extend. There is also a shot in there of me in my fancy contraption :)

P.S. The little black sheep is Ba Ba his stablemate. He and my quarter horse stud Hollywood are the only two horses we own gentle enough to room with her and willing to share their hay without question.

Day 40 - The Fall

2009-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

First of al...he is NOT a bad horse... in fact he is one of the nicest, most intelligent horses I have ever had the pleasure of owning (I've had more than 50). He is green and I lost my balance and just happened to fall wrong. More later...its hard to type..his training will continue while I rehab.

3rd Ride - Video

2009-09-18T10:32:00.001-07:00

Yes...that is me on him at the end :) Should be just a couple more rides with Joe till I start working him full time :)

Day 34: First Ride Videos

2009-09-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

First Ride

Please remember that Joe's only job here is to get Tabasco used to weight. All I need my rider to do is get the horse to a point where he is not likely to buck, bolt or rear because he is afraid of his rider. After that...I can handle the training.

First time on the Hot Walker

First time. He still doesn't even know how to tie (he's almost there...I leave him at the rail all the time "looped up" just not tied). He is such a good boy. We've had far worse problems with horses that have been handled / leading all their lives.

Day 37: I RODE him.

2009-09-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

Video will be posted later. Today I rode Tabasco.

Joe got on him first...he was really having trouble with getting him to move out forward. I didn't really like the way he was trying to teach him to move forward. Not that it was wrong just that I'd do it differently. I gave him some pointers but ultimately Joe was done working with him (tired of him is more like it). I didn't want to stop without having Tabasco learn something so I double checked with Joe that he was sure Tabasco wasn't going to throw me and then climbed aboard.

I have to tell you...my heart was pounding, I was sweating way more than usuall and it wasn't even hot outside...the sun was setting. I had to keep telling myself to calm down so that he wouldn't feed off of my own anxiety. It's a mind game for me I tell you. Eventually I got it although I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous throughout the whole ride.

But...I made it, and so did he...and I think we both learned something. I learned to relax and he learned to go forward. As the sun continued to set he became more and more wary of venturing away from the arena gate so I ended the lesson on a good note. I can't wait to start working with him. I still want Joe to put one or two more good rides on him...let me see him go through his paces willingly...then I'll take over completely!

No riding tomorrow, I have school...so the next time we ride him will be Friday evening and there will definately be video!

Day 35: Second Day Riding

2009-09-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Today we were going to just try to pony Tabasco again..More walk and trot work with the Pony horse for comfort. While Joe was waiting for Bill to get on the pony horse he decided to just go ahead and mount up and see what happens. Well, as the video shows...not much did.

Joe even accidentally got Tabasco into a lope. He thought about bucking a little bit but all in all it went good. I only plan on having Joe on him for one or two more rides..just till I can be pretty sure he's not going to get to bucking or bolting and throw me off...then the training will begin.

Here's the video from Tabasco's 2nd Day riding:

Day 34 - First Ride.

2009-09-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Lately I haven't been able to video tape much but Tabasco and I have been working on the basics for getting ready to ride. The only thing I can really say we "skipped" is ground driving. Other than that we have been working on flexing at left, right and vertically in response to both the bit and the halter. Mounting was never an issue for him with me. I have yet to throw a leg completely over him but he always stood quiet when I would stand up in the stirrup, lean over him, and rub his rump with my leg. Both sides were not a problem. Tabasco trusts me and I think that goes a long way when I start exposing him to new, scary things.

Today we decided to try and do the first ride. My personal saddle mare, Who Dat, is Tabasco's buddy. He was stabled next to her when we first got him home and up and until he moved to the other facility so he is attached to her. I have too many jobs to risk getting on an unbroke horse...so Joe offered to take the reins. Our friend Bill was to be the pony man because they don't trust me to hold on to him if I needed to. (Like anybody really could...that is, of course, the purpose of the ground work).

The first step up didn't go too well. Tabasco does not trust Joe and it showed. He was wary when he approached him and not at all happy about him trying to get on. Joe took it slow though and after three or so approaches was able to sit into the saddle no problem. I held my breath as they took their first few steps but Tabasco was a pro. The boy's spent about a half hour ponying Tabasco around the arena and practicing mounting and dismounting. Tabasco did not once offer to buck or bolt. Really made me proud...I was expecting a blow up.

Over the next couple of days we'll progress to the trot and lope and finally to Tabasco being ridden by himself. I hope to be able to capture it all on video. I'm posting the photos of the first ride now...the video will follow as soon as I have it edited up. I can hardly wait to be able to ride him!!!

Here is a small video. He had already been ridden around a few times at this point.

From Day34

First Trim

2009-09-11T13:04:00.001-07:00

Tabasco had his first trim today. He did as well as could be expected. He lets me handle all four of his feet no problem but was a bit apprehensive about the farrier. The farrier was able to get some of the underside of his foot trimmed on each side (front) and run the rasp on him a little bit. He did well but started getting worried, pulling his foot away and backing up.

I gave him a little bit of a sedative and he calmed right down. The farrier was able to finish up the fronts and Tabasco was an absolute angel for the rear. I will post some pictures this evening if I run back out there. He said he has good, strong feet which I expected. No thrush or anything to worry about and reckons Tabasco will be a gentleman to shoe/trim once he has had another session or two. The farrier left me with an old rasp to use for training him. All in all it was a great session.

Day 19 & 20

2009-09-03T08:02:00.001-07:00

Day 19

This day was uneventful. Tabasco had turnout but no exercise do to the fires. We were still evacuated from our main residence...and evacuation was looming at the ranch. Boy I tell you the amount of relief knowing EVERY horse on your property will walk right into the trailer. Sometimes when we buy horses they have loading issues..we'll do what is necessary to get them loaded and get them home..then loading is always the first thing fixed. These fires have reaffirmed what a good idea that is ;) I am back-blogging because I evacuated my towers along with myself :) so had no computer till just yesterday.

Day 20

We built a bridge today. Pictures to come. Tabasco was our test pilot. He seems to really love to do obstacles so he was the obvious first choice. I didn't realize just how much we have going on at the ranch until I heard the audio playback while editing the video. I mean between the kids, dogs, helicopters, and another horse in the arena...Tabasco sure is proving he is a pretty amazing guy.

The first part of the video shows him getting used to going over the plywood on the ground. It makes a funny noise and he was apprehensive at first but he is getting really used to walking over things already.

The video then cuts to the bridge. We wanted a teeter bridge. Without a pole underneath the bridge still moves but not very much...just enough so that it is unsettling to the horses though. Again..no big problem for Tabasco. I am trying not to get attached to him. My intentions were to rehome him after his training is done...I can already see that is going to be very hard to do if it happens at all. He is so smart and willing, easy and trainable. I have known and trained over 100 horses and he impresses me almost daily...that says a lot about a horse. You can hear in the video too...I'm not the only one he impresses.

Of course the farrier got canceled due to the fires...his feet are long but not in bad shape...it'll have to wait. I am debating going and picking up a hoof knife and rasp and just doing a little bit at a time myself until we can get the farrier out (I know the basics / theory but not the practice :) )

We will be building some more obstacles here in the near future. Ideas are welcome..just e-mail them to me or leave a comment on here. We are trying to locate plans or specs or at a minimum dimensions right now for a platform. We can figure out how to build it...just not sure how big the top needs to be to accommodate all four feet of the horse.

Day 18

2009-08-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

Fires in La Canada are making the air pretty nasty at the ranch. Tabasco got left out for the night but I didn't want to work him with the smoke in the air. We are going tomorrow to pick up the materials to make a bridge and maybe a pedestal :)

Day 17

2009-08-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't wan't to do much hard work today. There is a fire in the area and although the smoke is not too bad it is noticeable. Tabasco was in turnout overnight so I hosed him off and decided to do a trailer loading lesson. I hooked the trailer up and we started.

Tabasco has not seen this trailer since Day 1. On that day he was loaded via a chute although he did get in pretty easy and trailer quietly. Tabasco has been such a willing, calm, easy horse I didn't really think he'd give me much trouble with loading. I was right. There is not much this guy is afraid of once he is sure it is not going to hurt him.

The video isn't terribly exciting. The first two minutes are exactly that...the amount of time it took me from first leading him up to the trailer to him getting in. Once in he was in no hurry to get out but not "stuck" either. The video progresses to Loading with just the lead rope, then loading from further away with the lunge line. Finally...loading at liberty. I haven't done much work with him at liberty..but he seemed to actually like getting in the trailer. Voila..I was right!

Days 14, 15 and 16

2009-08-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

These days were pretty uneventful. The farrier is supposed to be out on saturday to trim Tabasco's feet so I have been concentrating mostly on those and lunging him for fitness. I am in the progress of constructing obstacles for an obstacle course so we should have some exciting videos coming up!

We have found that Tabasco is fine with me or Adrienne picking up his feet but when Joe goes to do it he his VERY worried. Granted, Adrienne and I "move" different around horses...we are gentler, softer, etc. Regardless...all my farriers are male so Tabasco is going to have to learn to deal with other people (he still gives Adrienne a really hard time leading).

The next couple of days I am going to try and have everybody who is willing handle Tabasco's feet. He knows I am not going to hurt them. I can pick them out, bang on them, etc. I need him to realize that other people also mean no harm. Day 17's lesson will be trailer loading. We will see how much we get done. There will be video. I don't expect anything exciting :)

Day 13

2009-08-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

We didn't do much today. Kind of a day off for Tabasco. He is now residing in a box stall with a lamb. Since I have moved him temporarily to my girlfriends facility (with the arena). Her only open stall was the one the lamb was living in. The lamb is used to horses, she was living with my stallion Hollywood for the past six months (I've switched him to my other ranch). None of the other horses get along with her. They try to savage her at feeding time and what not. Tabasco though, he doesn't mind her at all. I think she'll go a long way towards teaching him to be conscious of little things moving under his legs and help desensitize him so that he's not so reactive in that area (and I was pretty sure he wouldn't kick her...no matter what I have touched his legs with he has never tried to kick out...always tucks under himself).

I got video footage of Tabasco's first time saddling at the tie rail. He doesn't have any real issues with saddling any more. we have been doing it almost every day. But this is his first time at the tie rail. As you can see he gets a little worried about the cinch and pulls back a little. Since he is calm I continue saddling him then ask him to come back up. We did some more tarp work and then I put him away...easy day. Tomorrow we start ground driving!

Days 11 and 12

2009-08-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

Day 11 -
Friday, August 21. This time I had a videographer but the camera died :(

We worked on reviewing the tarp lesson. He is still a little bit hesitant to step on the tarp at first but with a little encouragement walks across it no problem. He DOES NOT like it if the tarp moves so today I worked on walking him over the tarp while it was crumpled in all types of configurations. This causes the tarp to make more noise, shift a little bit and compress when he walks over it. He was able to do this pretty well by the end of our training session.

Today I also decided to bust out the clippers and see what he thought of them. I led him up to the barn and let him smell them and rubbed them on his face with them off first. He had no issue with that so I went ahead and turned them on. He leaned back at first but after the intial contact with his muzzle there was no issue. He allowed me to do his entire muzzle with no issue. I moved up to the guard hairs on the eyes which were again, no issue.

Since those both went Ok I decided to try a bridle path. I went up between his ears instead of beside him since his head was so relaxed and lowered for me to do it easily that way. I had braided a piece of his mane in preparation. Again, there was no issue. I didn't even try the ears...I know he is not ready for it so there was no point. Same with the feet. No reason to set the horse up to fail :)

Day 12

Today's video is just a recap of yesterday's lesson. As you can see his muzzle and bridle path are already clipped. He has no issue with the tarp. I added in a piece of cloth today. It doesn' t make any noise but the colors are bright and you can see that he is not sure at first...tries it out and then decides it's not that bad.

Our new lessons today were sidepassing away from the fence. We've been doing a lot of lateral work in hand but always front or back never both. We've been doing sidepassing along the fence so you get to see his first atempts away. I am very pleased with his progress.

We've been spending a lot of time on picking up feet. He's NEVER tried to kick or strike which is a good thing. He is still a little touchy but I have him to where I can pick his feet out at the tie rail now. He's much easier about his feet at the rail then in the arena...so I filmed in the arena. Just a look for you guys on where we are at with that. I still have a goal of being able to get him trimmed next weekend.

He's doing really well at the tie rail now although I am not tying him firm. I am looping the line so if he sets back it will give but he'll feel pressure as he does so. I have the tie blocker which I really love for teaching a horse to tie but I don't have any where to hook it up at this ranch since that particular product works best (at least in my experience) at eye level or higher.

The clipping footage..the reaction you see at first is more of a reaction than I got yesterday. Probably because this time the videographer was really close by. In any case, I've had domestic horses with bigger problems than this guy when it comes to clipping.

Tabasco - Days 9 and 10

2009-08-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Day 9:

Worked with Tabasco purely on lunging. Saddled him (which was no problem) and just worked on lunging till he broke a pretty decent sweat (he is soooo fat). We worked on lunging while cooling him down. We also worked a lot on foot handling. My goal is to have him where the farrier can trim him in the next 7 days or so.

Day 10:

I really had hoped to get you guys video of this but alas my videographer was not available and I can't find my tripod. We worked on crossing the tarp today. This was a big issue for Tabasco....he wanted no part of the tarp. Being his stoic self he didnt' really run from it more snorted his nose at it from a distance. We have been working on leading and lunging so he has really adapted to my body cues and whip signals and what they mean.

I started off with the tarp folded up so that it was long but not wide at all...It took about a half hour of asking him for one step forward at a time to get him to where he would stand with his feet just at the edge of the tarp. I'd ask for a step, he'd give it but snort really loud...I'd wait until he was calm and quiet and ask for another step. We'd repeat a few steps and then start again on the other side (sometimes horses can "lock up" ... I wanted to make sure he was processing everything).

The first time he crossed the tarp he just stepped over it and then hopped with his back feet so he crossed it but didn't actually touch it. I unfolded the tarp to double the width so he would have to step on it while crossing. The first time his front feet hit the tarp he set back about 10 feet snorting and blowing. I asked him to come forward and he obliged. Pretty soon it was no issue. Once he was crossing subsequent increases in the tarp width were no issue for him. Finally I was able to open the tarp completely up and have him cross with his head low...very calmly.

All in all it was a great lesson. I plan on following up with it this evening. Our next goal is for him to accept the tarp on his back / body. I also *should* have a videographer this evening :)

Natural Horsemanship Lesson

2009-08-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

Was working with Tabasco today (Day 8) when my videographer thought he knew the right answer to the training issue (very minor...I didn't need help) Tabaso was having...

Gotta give the man credit for being patient and trying. He has absolutely no Natural Horsemanship training at all..his ideas are typically so vastly different from mine when it comes to training a horse that I have to be selective as to what horses he can work with.

He knew better than to do anything to screw up the mustang...refer to Day 7 for reference on how we were doing with lunging yesterday :) And kudos to Tabasco for being so very tolerant :)

Tabasco - Day 8

2009-08-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

Today the dentist came out and worked on Tabasco's teeth. He was turned out in the arena and my girlfriend reported that there was absolutely no way Tabasco was going to let the dentist catch him period...and he was doing everything right. She had to go in and convince him it was OK to be caught. At first Tabasco was so nervous the dentist was having second thoughts working with him. Didn't want to set us back in our training. But...we were able to tranq him with no issues (stood absolutely still) and the dentis was able to remove his wolf teeth, file down all his sharp edges, and pull one of his front caps. Another cap is almost ready to come off and will get done next time the dentist comes out. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch or photograph as I was at work.

This evening I worked on lunging...we really need to get this guy to drop the pounds and increase his fitness level. Because I knew his mouth was probably sore I didn't want to bit him up or anything. We worked on lunging in a circle, and worked on lunging over poles. He seems to really be interested in poles which is a good thing! He certainly is not afraid of them. Also worked with him on desensitization to the saddle. He is saddling like a champ. He is still a little nervous when I reach under his belly to grab the cinch.

We also did some tying work at the rail. Just grooming while he stands with his lead rope wrapped around. I walked away from him numerous times..he never tested the line. That is not as good as it might sound...I need him to test it so he can learn to give to that pressure just as he would when leading. Right now the way I have it looped it will release if he sets back hard...better than breaking a snap and teaching a horse he can do that.

The plan for tomorrow is more desensitization. I need to follow up again with the plastic bag, maybe introduce a tarp or feed bag. Possibly the cans.

Tabasco - Day 7

2009-08-17T21:38:00.001-07:00

Tabasco had a wonderful lesson today. He was super attentive and responsive and really focusing on everything I was teaching him. Today was a bit harder for him than usual because aside from the normal hussle and bustle outside the arena, he also had to focus on me with two other horses in the arena who at some points would interfere.

We worked on lunging today. I used the 12' line and focused mainly on keeping him out in a circle. Because of all the in hand lateral work I have done with him he tends to want to crows me and come in to me. That's great but he needs to learn the difference. As you can see in the video he is picking things up nicely. This is only the second time I have ever worked with him on the lunging concept so he's doing pretty good!

We set up a very small crossrail today as well. He stepped right over it no problem. It took a little practice but soon I could send him out over it (at a walk) both directions and he'd cross it just fine. He did a lot of lip licking and pretty soon would cross, turn and cross again all by himself. He sure is smart!

We practiced more on leading today as well. He's been really doggy on the line so I schooled him a little bit with a dressage whip. That helped to encourage him to keep up with me so we'll keep practicing with that. We also got the height stick on him. He could have cared less...some of our personal horses even freak out about it! He is an honest 14.2 right now. He's butt high so we'll see if he grows any over the next year. He may just top out at 15 hands.

Tomorrow Tabasco will be getting his teeth done. I will try to get pictures! Once he has his teeth sorted out we can start thinking about ground driving and that sort of thing! How exciting!