Cha'cote update....tears of joy

History again, he was in a 12x24 stall for 6ys before I got him.  He sat here for a year and a half, in his 30x30 corral alone.  I tried for about 6mos, every weekend, putting him in with the herd during the day, to aclimate and re-naturalize him to herd life, as he was terrified of other horses and too fearful to make the journey to the water trough on his own.  About 6mos after I got him, I would catch him every once in a while in the cool crisp early morning hours playing in his corral.  He had just enough room to just barely get up a slow canter circle, a few bucks and kick out at his water bucket as I was filling it. 

He has now been in the pasture with the herd for about 3 mos.  Most of his time is spent standing in one corner of the pasture.  It breaks my heart to see him like that, but I knew he would eventually come around, even if it took forever.  He has only explored the upper half of the small pasture on his own, and only a handful of times been chased thru the unknown parts of down below, much to his horror.

Well this morning, around 6:30, as I laid in bed dreading getting up for work, the dogs were barking un-relentlessly.  I finally got up and looked out the window to holler at them to shut it....when I saw them all facing the pasture.....hmmmm.....I looked over toward the pasture to see a most glorious sight.  Cha'cote PLAYING!  He was galloping the length of the upper part of the pasture, with everyone else staring at him like he was a fool.  He was bucking and snaking his head and kicking up quite a bit of dust.  I stood and enjoyed the sight before me for a few minutes, and then thought about catching it on camera.  By the time I got dressed and to the kitchen window, he had slowed down a bit and Rose had joined in the fun.  Sorry no video this time, the crummy view thru my window and screen caused poor quality after uploaded, but I knew if I went outside they would see me and stop, so I guess just I gets to relive it again and again.    I am just thrilled that he finally has the room to truley enjoy his morning play urges and can BE a HORSE.  Makes me wish I had a hidden camera out there for these early morning treats that obviously go on while I am still in bed!

Savvy On
Michelle

Playday 8-20-11

OMG...I had the best time today.  I have been in desperate need of getting out of the house and making me some horse friends, and I just hit the mother lode!  Rose was a complete basket case RBE today, first time ever!  So completely not like her.  But, it is the first time to go anywhere without Snookie in 3ys.  She calmed down relatively quickly after a few 'thanks i needed that' smacks. She heard the herd whinnying for her as we loaded in the trailer and that is where it started.  She traveled better on the way home.  There were quite a few people there brand new to parelli/nh, and I enjoyed being able to help them out.  Rose and I played a couple fun games with everyone before I had to rush out of there early for Jason's first soccer game of the year.  Poor kid, they lost 5-0.  I can't wait to go there again next month!

Savvy On
Michelle

If you need to feel good, you gotta see this!

I dare you not to shed a tear of joy!

What a great playday!

This being my first one to ‘host’, I was unsure of what to expect or do. It was a lot of ‘stuff’ to load into the truck, out of the truck, set up, and reload into the truck and unload again at home. Whew…that alone was enough to wear me out. It was Bill and Jason’s first playday too. Bill having only been a horse person for all of 1 week, I was worried about him too. I was worried about his safety and fun level. We got there an hour early to set every thing up. We proceeded to play at 11am, and the ‘end’ time was set for 4pm. Turns out….THAT is a long day. Bill and Jason were very helpful….and we learned that Syrah is a bit of a load to haul. She flattened the trailer tires! They were good enough to get there going slow, and once unloaded, Bill took the trailer to the gas station to air up the tires before we headed back home. Also, despite their hatred for each other, and a few squeals, Rose and Syrah traveled together well. Maybe next time, Spirit won’t need to travel in the tack room all alone. (I figured he was safer in there, in case a war broke out between the girls) Before we played, while we were setting things up, we let everyone just run around, something they can’t really do at home. The group that was meeting us, had trailer issues and were unable to contact me to let me know they were running late, so we just got started.

I let the boys, do their own thing, and ask for instruction when they wanted it. I think that was best, otherwise I am just the know it all wife/mom barking orders at them. You know...the whole....let it be 'thier' idea!  Syrah is not ‘afraid’ of anything, except being ‘alone’ or being asked to ‘go fast’. Bill did REALLY good with the yo-yo game and was getting a fairly decent grasp of the circling game. But a few times he, for what ever reason, wanted her to go faster…on a 12’ line. ……so she bolted away from him a few times. Jason was quite the 'teacher' for his dad, and had frequent tasks for Bill to try.  Then Jason suggested Bill try to sideways her over the pole. It was pretty much a no go. They both need a fence. Bill asked me to teach her the fig 8, which she picked up pretty quickly, and I also addressed her need to flee when pressure is put on her…..thus her learning her first steps of sideways. Jason and Spirit, worked on reviewing L1, and he told me he thinks he wants to work on L2 now.....after doing nothing (other than a couple schooling shows) with his pony for the last 1yr and 3mos since he passed L1. But….ok, we can make it a family affair, maybe, and we can all play together in the yard.

As for Rose and I, we did quite a bit more than I expected to. We got to work on all sorts of things. On the 45’ line, we worked on change of direction at trot, yo-yo, sideways over a barrel, driving from zone5, pushing a ball. At liberty we played stick to me, sideways toward, and draw backward from zone 5, and at freestyle we played with learning how to ride from a neck rope….stop, reinback and turn. We also did all the good stuff she knows well, sideways, fq/hq turns. It was no surprise; I was exhausted 3hrs later when the other ladies joined us. They got the trailer stuck between a tree and a propane tank. YIKES! I played a bit with them, but was so tired, I mostly just rambled on. No surprise there! I would have like to join them on a trail ride, but Bill was spent, and had already loaded the truck with all the toys. The cool thing was that one of the ladies was able to help me a bit with Rose. Rose has issues with other horses getting too close to her. So I asked them if they could approach her and offer a cookie, to see if it could change her mind. It did a little, which is the only thing that has ever made any appreciable….positive difference in her. So I think it is a great direction to explore further. 

All in all, Bill, Jason and myself had alot of fun together, and I made new friends.  I don't know how soon I will do another one, simply because it is alot of work to load all that crap in the truck!  And if Bill doesn't come...that means I gotta do it myself!  For now, I am waiting on Jason's soccer schedule to be posted so I can see what Saturdays I even have available, and then plan my horse schedule for the next few months.

One day at a time I guess.

Savvy On
Michelle