Lots of Ground Work

I'm getting a little bored of riding alone so much since I get to the barn more often now. To combat that I think I really need to start doing a lot more ground work with the horses. Starting today.

It was Cody's turn today to work on some cantering. But first we worked on some ground work. Axel stayed in the pasture and had a minor conniption about being alone. Cody and I worked on some of the moving away from pressure with turns on the forehand, which he got pretty well, and turns on the haunches - not so well. Worked on the bending exercises and some backing up. We did some circles at the walk and trot. We even worked on a little bit of ground tying which went surprisingly well. After that I rode for a while and tried to get some canters but we mostly ended up just trotting as fast as humanly (or horsely) possible. How did Steph get him to canter so well? We made a couple attempts at the various turns in the corners of the arena and then dismounted and did a couple stretches. I'm going to have to look at my horse massage/stretching books and get some more ideas for Cody to work on lifting his back.

I took Axel's screaming to mean he wanted to be worked with as well. The first thing we did was walk into the barn and then back out twice and he did it both times well. So he came into the arena and did some lunging. He did really well at the trot in the first direction, a little crankier in the other direction, and pretty cranky about cantering but that's pretty normal. I worked a little with the turn on the forehand from the ground, he got it okay but I think we'll have to keep working on that stuff with him a lot, he doesn't catch on and retain like Cody does. We then worked on some backing up, I wanted to back a whole lap of the arena but we made it around maybe 1/4 or more so that was pretty good. I decided I wasn't done yet and I didn't want to ride so I got out the long lines and the surcingle and we drove for a while and then switched to long lining. I think the long lines are too heavy though, despite having as much slack as he wanted he was still pretty frustrated and seemed like he was forced into a frame. Though good for him to stretch like that I don't think he enjoyed it. He was quite ticked when I asked for a trot and kicked out but manged to have a couple nice trots after that but they were very small and vertical. I tried to do some weaving but I didn't set up the cones before I hooked up Axel so I only was able to get out two and well it was just kind of a loss at that point. I did lunge him a bit more after the driving so he could stretch out the opposite way and he had a very nice extended trot. When we were done he backed out of the barn aisle one more time.

Spinning in Circles

Axel was first tonight. I put a training surcingle and a bridle on him and got out my new ropes. They are little heavy and that in combination with Axel forgetting what long lining was about made for some awkward driving. I wanted to start with regular long lining/lunging with the long lines but Axel was mighty confused about the situation. We drove a little, he fought with the bit and the lines and assumed an extreme rollkur position with his head. I wasn't pulling on the reins he was doing it all to himself so I just let him work through it, the side effect was that he was still stepping pretty well under himself and stretching through his neck to the poll. So I guess in the end some good will come out of it. We were finally able to trot around in a circle to the right. He did not like going to the left and would cut the circle short and then face me and get confused as to where to go. We'll definitely have to work on that more. He broke in the canter a few times and then startled himself when he'd hit the end of the lines in his mouth. I had him lunge a few times around without the surcingle and bit and just a single line so he could stretch out a bit and get into a canter. After the pseudo collected work he went into the canter really easily comparatively.

The shining point was when I was about to be done I decided to see where we could get with learning how to bow. I had no treats but I figured I'd give it a go anyway. The best I can figure is that it has to be done in parts. I was able to get his head down just by a bit of pressure on the halter. He'd keep his head down (probably just smelling the ground) so I picked up his front foot. I asked him to keep his head down and I pulled back a bit on his front foot. After a few seconds of encouragement he leaned back just enough that his lifted leg touched the ground and I let him up and rewarded him with scratches and praise. We did the same process a second time with the same results so I stopped there. Hopefully if we go gradual like that when he really puts weight on that knee he won't freak himself out. I'm not certain he can really stretch down physically like that but it's worth a try. I should probably teach him on both sides, it's a good stretch.

Cody was freaking out in the pasture while I had Axel in the barn. The other boarder had Danny in the arena at this time so Cody was pretty happy to work in there. He was very unresponsive when asked to circle so when she took Danny out to groom and saddle I started some work I saw at the Stacy Westfall demo. I wanted to be able to bend Cody's neck around and have him stand still while I asked for the bend. When I asked for the bend he'd spin or more commonly he'd back up. So we spun and backed up and spun and backed up over and over again. Ran into the wall, moved back to where there was room, rinse and repeat. I was ready to give up, he just wasn't getting what I wanted and I didn't think he was going to get it. But just as I thought we were going to be done he started to pause his spinning when I bent. So I kept it up and finally he understood. Danny was in the arena now and I think that might have helped as he was a bit calmer with life but I kept it up and I was able to bend him in both directions without him moving his feet. I tried some turns on the forehand after that but he's a bit sticky with that now because of the bending so we'll have to work on both so he can tell the difference. We spent a little time standing still while I chatted with the other boarder and he did pretty good with that.

I have to go over my notes a bit more and make sure I'm keeping up with what needs to be done to teach him to whoa and mean it. I did make sure that after I asked for a whoa I didn't move him forward but turned him instead. Axel screamed a little bit while we were in the barn but he quieted down a lot quicker than Cody did. I really should keep going out there as much as I can even if it's just to walk each horse into the barn for a few minutes while the other one learns that he won't be alone forever.