Page 2 of the training Journal
Saturday, Oct. 25th, 2008
Today was a no-go as far as training is concerned. Friday night it rained for hours and right when I had gotten finished taking care of the barn chores the rain started coming down again. Cash enjoyed the day in his stall with lots of hay.
At this point I’m still trying to pump food into him in an effort to get him to gain some of the weight he lost during his trip from the west coast. He is on unlimited hay and eating about 4 pounds of grain twice a day (three times on the weekends if I can manage to give him lunch). Tractor Supply was out of beet pulp when I went to get some so once they get that in I’ll start pouring that in him as well. I need to remember to pick up some corn oil the next time I go to the store.
Sunday, Oct. 26th, 2008
I actually managed to get a lot of work done today at the barn. I bought Cash a new bucket for his stall since another horse had crushed his before he arrived. I also set up his stall for crossties and hung some hooks so that I can hang the stuff I use on him close to his stall (fly spray, coat sheen, stall bit, chains for cross ties, etc.). The tack box in front of his stall also got cleaned out and organized and the old holey cooler was brought out of storage for winter use (ugh).
Our riding session went well and started off with lots of walking and bending in the round pen. With the rain we had on Friday night I thought it would be a good day to work in the arena for the first time since the pen was slippery. Cash handled everything in the arena very well, he kept trying to pay attention to the horses in the fields but I would make him flex from side to side and get his mind back to the task at hand. We did some trotting and worked on big circles and how to follow our head. After the workout he was dog tired and got wrapped in his cooler and got to stand in his stall crossties for a while to cool out.
Oct. 27, 2008
Tonight was a no-go for training due to rain. Its cold and drizzly outside and poor Cash is still wearing the sheet that is too big for him because I don't want to buy him stuff while he is still growing. Hopefully the rest of the week he will get worked.
Oct. 28, 2008
It was bound to happen.....Cash and I had our first big disagreement in our training session tonight. I arrived at the barn and tacked him up with the saddle and bridle not taking into the account that it rained all day yesterday and the fact that we were having 30 mph winds with gusts up to 45 mph! DUH! Once I realized the round pen was going to be too slippery to work in I grabbed my longlines and took Cash into the arena only to have the gate slam on him and he took off with me running after him....fun stuff. Once caught I attemped to longline him with no luck so I took him back into the barn and put my surcingle on him and brought him back to the arena.
Of course I put the hind-end strap on Cash and he acted like he had never had it on and went on a bucking spree....after that was no longer an issue he just couldn't stop thinking about ways to get out of work and kept darting to the side when I asked him to step into the lope. Once I was able to get him to go around with no fighting I called it a night.
I'm going to have to "cave" and buy Cash a winter blanket since he swims in my 74s ugh grow little horse grow!
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008
I actually got around to working Cash today and we had a much better session then we did last time...thank god! I figured I should get Cash back in to the round pen since he was a monster in the arena the other day. After about 5 mins of lunging I climbed on him and we worked on giving his head side to side...I havn't started on vertical flextion yet...that will come with time hopefully. After a few troting transitions we worked on the canter. I was not getting off of him today untill I got a couple of decent canters since we havn't even started on that in our training.
After a lot of encouraging he finally stepped into the lope going on the right lead....he is much stronger going to the right then to his left. I had a horrible time getting him to lope to the left but finally he stepped into it and I called it a night. He is a good boy and never offered to buck, spook or rear...that's about all I can ask for at this point!
Nov. 3, 2008
It was perfect weather here today but I didn't get to ride since someone stopped by to talk about boarding for an hour...ugh!
Nov. 4th 2008
Nasty, rainy day here so I worked with Cash in hand since he doesn't seem to understand how to trot next to me. He broke away from me once but after that did very well with parking out and troting next to me....still not perfect but close.
Nov.7, 2008
Why do I like the tough horses? Cash wanted to be a jerk the whole ride tonight. My cousin, Ashley, came over to ride my three year old while I rode Cash. It was already starting to get dark by the time we got the horses to the arena but I had asked Derek to put up our other light so the arena at least wasn't pitch dark. Once I got in the saddle Cash only was worried about Bean and the horses that were in the fields. We didn't have much "go" and when we did it was wanting to lope. There were a couple of close calls when Cash kept getting right on Bean's butt but thankfully Ashley is a good rider and was able to get Bean moving out of the way...unlike me on my stubborn stud colt.
Saturday, Nov. 8,2008
I worked Cash back in the round pen today and we did a lot of troting only. He seems to think that any forward motion must be done at the canter so now we are starting back at baby steps and enforcing the trot. After our ride he got to enjoy the day in the sun:
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008
I LOVE days off of work. Today is Veterans day so instead of working I got to play with my horse! Ashley came over again to ride Bean and this time we were smart enough to stay in the roundpen. Both horses had to learn that just because a horse was coming up behind you, or passing in front of you, that you have to keep troting or at least paying attention. The first part of the ride was spent on finding steering and making Cash understand that he has to still pay attention to me even though there is another horse in "his roundpen".
Once the steering was back in place we moved on to the trot. Ashley stayed in front of me most of the time...but then again we were going in circles so I'm not sure if there is a "front" in reality she was following Cash's butt and Cash was following Beans butt....anywho we got the troting figured out and by the end our boys were acting like pros.
We even both got to canter on our boys!
Sunday, Nov. 16th
Shew....after 5 days of rain I finally got a sunny afternoon to work with Cash. Since my arena was a sloppy mess I thought it would be a good day to work on loading and unloading from the trailer. Cash is really good about getting on the trailer but I wanted to work on his backing out of it. I also did a little work with him troting in hand which he isn't a big fan of. He tends to get too excited and wants to jump around and play instead of troting along...he'll get it though.
I then ground drove him all over the farm and he was a good boy for that. He wanted to pay attention to the horses that were out in the field but quickly found out that is not allowed.
Monday, Nov. 17th, 2008
Just found out that the people next door to me are going to let me rent their indoor a couple nights per week! I'm so flipping excited! I might actually have Cash ready to show by May now. I took Cash over to the indoor when I got home to show him to my friend and for her to show me where the light switches, brooms and other misc things are. I did a little bit of ground driving just to see how Cash would react.
He seemed to take everything in stride (even the scary walk home in the dark).
Tuesday, Nov. 18th 2008
It was sooooo cold today and the wind was really whipping around so I figured it would be a good day to lunge.....nothing exciting. Cash got vacumed and put in the 74" blanket that is WAY too big.
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008
Tonight was our frist day getting to work in the indoor! I lunged Cash a bit at home since he had been stuck in his stall all day and then tacked him up and headed next door. He was well behaved for the walk and once inside I lunged him around the whole arena to see how he would react to things. He thought the "other" horse in the mirror was VERY interesting and kept looking at himself as he went by.
I climbed on him and started doing lots of small circles and worked on bending....as soon as I put my leg on him he balked and would not go forward. Not being one to take risks, I jumped off and lunged him forward again for a while. I climed back on ready to send him forward with my crop and he was fine. I realize that I need to be a little tougher with this horse then I could be with Headlight.
After getting some good canter transitions both ways I called it a night.
Friday, Nov. 21
Had an awesome ride tonight! As soon as I got on Cash he put his head up getting ready to balk and I smacked him with my crop which caught his attention and got his butt moving forward! The attempted a couple more balks and then was done once he realized he was going to get spanked each time. We have a lovely ride with no spooks and he is finally responding to the trot cue with just my legs rather then legs and whip. I worked him on getting his bad lead (going to the left) and really pushing up at the canter. Since there were no major issues we called it a night.
Sunday, Nov. 23
Today I finally got around to riding Cash in my scary big outdoor arena. The goal was to get a lot of nice walk trot and downward transitions out of him. Of course having loose horses surrounding him made it hard for him to focus but overall it was a nice ride and we had some good steering.
Monday, Nov.24
Today was the day....Cash was gelded!!!! I just don't have the facility to house a stallion and there are just too many non-savy horse people who think that just because a horse is a stallion that its crazy and will try to get to their mare no matter what....so it was in the best intrest for Cash to get cut. The actual procedure went well and he got up slowly just like the vet wanted. Once in his stall he started bleeding pretty bad and something was hanging down (TMI I know) so the vet had to cut it out...yuck. He was very cold and was shivering so badly that I had to put on his jogging coat, sheet, cooler and then stable blanket and it wasn't even that cold out...poor guy.
Sleepy boy:
All done!
Nov. 29, 2008
Cash seems to have no problems with the gelding and he is back in steady work. Today I rode him in my outdoor arena which was eventful. He is SOOOO interested in what the other horses are doing that he can't seem to get focused. After lots of circles and bending he finally started paying attention and I was able to even canter him around the ring. I feel like I'm getting behind on his training....there is still so much for him to learn before show season that I'm not sure if its even possible.
Dec. 1, 2008
Rode Cash at the indoor today and he was BAD....kept spooking and refusing to go into the far back corners. I ended up getting off of him and lunging him back to to make him get over his issues. He also go and introduction to drawreins while on the lungeline to encourage him to drop his nose a little. After the ride my arms and hands were tight and hurting .....he's a strong little horse!
Dec. 2, 2008
I didn't have the indoor for tonight and with all the rain the outdoor ring was a bit sloppy so I figured it would be a good time to work on building Cash's strength at the canter. Once again he got to go in drawreins and we worked on transitions and pushing through the bit in both directions. My arms felt like they were being pulled out of the socket a couple of times as he tried to avoid puddles of water around the ring.
Dec. 3, 2008
Finally got a good workout from Cash today! We worked on tons of lateral flexton at both the walk and trot before even attempting a canter ....there was no spooking under saddle and only slight resistance around the corners which was met with a slap from the whip. He is starting to understand the leg aids and a tiny hint of neck reining which is exciting. The canter still needs tons of work but it will come.
Jan. 1, 2009
I took Cash up to New Jersey today to go in training for a month with Waterford farm. I woke up at 3:00 am and arrived at their farm around 8:00. I plan on going to see him at least once before picking him up on the 31st. Hopefully they think he will make a nice western horse!
