Getting back in the Grove!

05/25/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Owner loads her own horse!
Kathy and I have our grandkids here for a couple of weeks, Matt and Bay. I can’t tell you how good it is to have them around the house. They are both getting so grown up. I went to the barn to work with horses yesterday, while the kids slept in. They had a couple long days in the truck to get here. Then Matt went with me to the hardware store to get a few things so we good get the AC going in the bunk house so they wouldn’t fry. Then on the way back we stopped in to check on the horses and then home. Got the AC going. Matt is pretty quiet but it was nice just to have him sitting there next to me in the truck.

Today, if the wind lets us, we are going to go and work with Casino and Pepe this morning and then get the kids horse back and let them ride in the arena for a bit. I’m hoping that we will get to take a long ride over here to the house so Grandma can get to see them. They have never really had a chance to ride. We don’t get to see them here at the ranch very often so we want to take advantage, now that they are here. Will take pictures.

Time to get a cup of coffee and get after it.

Add Comment
 

Trailer Loading Comments

05/24/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
Owner looks on!
Well we are home. Kathy had a show in Alb. NM showing her art and the Cowboy Man Bar. They were both hits and Kathy is excited about her up coming show…  Go Sweetie!

I have gotten a few very nice post on loading horses in the trailer. And I want to thank all of you that posted. If you would like to read their post just check at the bottom of each blog and you can see if anyone posted to the blog and read them there, and send your own comments if you like. It’s fun.

What I am seeing, as I read them, is there are lots of ways to get a horse in a trailer, and like I say, I have a WAY, not the only WAY, but a way that has worked pretty darn good for me over the years and I know will work for you as well. The other thing I am seeing is people use food, a lot, to get horses in trailers, and I don’t have a problem with that, as long as you have food with you all the time. I don’t, so I can’t, and don’t rely on it to get the horse in the trailer. I want my horse to load because I asked him to, not because there is a food reward for getting in. Having said that, I will use food, later in the program, to help him get comfortable with the trailer, but I’m not giving it to him because he got in the trailer. Does that make sense?

I know that trailer loading can and is a problem for lots of people. It was for me for a long time too, but with the method I use now, I have not had a lick of trouble. I hope that the info you find here will help you too..

The boys have had a couple of days off but that’s over.. time to get to it.

Coffee time!

1 Comment
 

How to measure progress!

11/03/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Charlie in his big boy clothes.
Progress, measured from a horse's stand point, can be, and many times is, much different then the way you and I would measure progress in ourselves or other humans. Progress can come in big leaps or in very small tries, so we have to be ready for and accept, even the smallest attempt. For humans, when. and if we ever make progress, a pat on the back and a "way to go" is usually enough to make us want to try harder and go longer, not so with the horse. Horses are ok with a "good boy" praise but that's not what motivates a horse to try harder or make progress. Remember, horses don't think like predators, they think like prey animals, which is completely different then the way we think. This seems to be the hardest thing for owners and unfortunately,  some trainers to understand. What horses want is to be comfortable and left alone. So when your horse does something that you have been working on, the way that you reward him is to let him stop and rest, and if you can make the rest as long as the work he will be motivated to find that same move again so he can get his reward again. Unfortunately what usually happens is the trainer/owner, is so excited that their horse did what they asked that they immediately ask again, and again, and again, till the horse does not know what the right answer is, and it won't take long till the horse will just quit, or you end up in a fight with the horse and it all ends bad. People often ask me how long I work a horse. My answer is, as long as I need to. I know that don't sound like much of an answer but it's the best I can do. Horses don't wear watches, at least the ones I have around her don't, so they don't care much about time, so if I'm going to work with a horse I have to understand that they have no concept of time in the same way that I do. So we, the horse and me, don't measure progress by how much time we spend together. We measure progress by how much we get done in the time we spend, weather is't one hour or ten hours, altho I have never spent ten hours, in training, with any one horse. Here's how I measure progress. Does the horse I'm training, understand the concept I'm trying to teach him. If he understands the concept then that's progress. And if I make progress on that concept today he will be even better tomorrow and ready for the next concept or move. that can take a couple of hours to get done, or it can take fifteen minutes, and to be honest, it don't matter to me how long it takes, but I have to know when to quit.
Picture
Kathy giving Charlie a scratch.
Training a horse takes time, the magic pill, not all of us have a lot of it, but if you measure your progress by what you get done and not by how much time you spend, you may find that you have a lot more "training time" then you thought.
Time for Coffee!
Add Comment
 

Thursday was great!

05/13/2011

2 Comments

 
Picture
Tim in his working clothes..
Here is Tim... you may remember we got Tim from a lady over the mountain from us.. He had bucked her off a couple of times and she sold him to a gentleman down the road and then Tim bucked him off... It took us right at a year to get him.....he is a gentle giant...but no one had ever taught him anything about how to get a long with two legged people... I just started using him right away cause I needed another horse back when I was day working a ton........so he never got in the program here... well he started about 3-4 days ago... he did not want to doing the first day but he is starting to settle in to the program... When it comes to cows Tim know his job and you can control him pretty well but he knows nothing about collection so that's what we have been working on and I'm happy to report that he is doing a great job with it......after only a couple of days working at it.... You will see more and here more about Tim as we go along................

Picture
"G" Man in his working clothes!
2 Comments
 

First Post!

04/15/2011

4 Comments

 
Howdy Folks
Some folks have asked me what I do during the day when it comes to horses or music or just stuff... so will give this blogging thing a go... will head out here in a bit to feed and check on horses.. Ziggy had a nail in his hoof yesterday.. have no idea where he picked it up but.. if there is something around to get into that boy will do it.. he was great.. let me take his hoof and take the nail out without trying to kick my head off.. he was very gentle.. I think he knew I was trying to help.. so need to see how he is getting along.. will try to let you know the update... then it's off to work with a new horse in for training... he has only been here two days but is already making great progress.. will try and get a picture of him up for you... so it's a start...

Update: Called the Vet this morning and he is sending out a shot of medicine for Ziggy. He is still pretty sore but that's to be expected. I'm sure he is going to be fine... but better to be safe then Mackie, I always say. The other horse in training is doing great. Got his first shower this morning and he handled it like a champ.. His owners are coming next week to check up on him and get a little education as well.. don't do much good to train the horse if the owners don't know what their horse knows.. they are excited to learn and I'm excited to help them... other then that a pretty slow day.. went to the dump in town.. hate going but it's got to be done...
4 Comments