walk

I took Epona & Lyra for a walk today, went a whooping 3 miles. We did do a half mile of hills though, so there's that. Today was more the psychological challenge of having both horses on lead, together, with just me. We went passed the little ponies (Lyra got wild with them, Epona could care less so Lyra stopped being so upset) then we went passed the cows, who in true form came stampeding over to say hi (Epona started to freak, but Lyra could care less, so Epona calmed right down). We also encountered a couple of large trucks, including a UPS truck, the driver said we three looked like three teenagers walking down the road from afar, how flattering. :-) Started raining midway through the walk also, which was actually kind of nice, I was a bit over dressed for the sun. Epona's hooves weren't ouchy on the gravel road at all, which was awesome!!, Lyra's hooves only got ouchy when she caught a stone in her still having a hole left front hoof. All in all went well. On the return trip Epona looked at the cows, then ate some grass with them literally two feet from her, way to go Epona!!!
Tomorrow I am taking them for a much longer walk, might even ride, what a concept, and put Epona's Easyboots on Lyra, lucky me, they wear the same size, so we don't have to deal with the stones getting caught on her. Discovered a much longer, private (yes I got permission) gravely dirt road a little further up the road with loads of hills and valleys and straight aways and it is very quiet. If we can survive the traffic to get to it, it will be really nice to ride on, better daily exercise than the other road. I am hoping, at this rate we will see, but to go on a trail ride with both of them July 19th. It's the Ride for Research held here in Olympia, in Capitol Forest, all entry fees go to support the Washington State Universities equine research department. Good cause, nice event far enough in the future to use as a motivating get out and ride factor. Will see. Perhaps Erica, my twin, will ride with, could be really nice. I did not expect Lyra to be so far along in her training at this point, she's just so willing and easy!!

lessons

Transcribed lessons from the Band.

Band of horses that is: Epona, Lyra, and Xandra.

June 4, 2008

Lesson One: it’s not personal. When Lyra or Xandra step out of line, Epona schools them back into place, but it isn’t personal. She doesn’t add emotion into the equation, she swishes her tail or pins her ears, maybe even has to go so far as to kick out at one of them, but then it’s done. While the lead mare may discipline, it is done swiftly and then over.

Lesson Two: Escalate. Don’t start off with the harshest measure. When the lead mare disciplines, she starts with a swish of her tail, then pins her ears, then bares her teeth or kicks out in that horse’s direction, then actually kicks them or even runs them off. She goes in stages of gradually escalating her discipline, makes it a lot quicker and easier the next time. Should get to the point where just a look is enough.

Lesson Three: Pressure. Use pressure to get a horse’s attention. If you’ve asked them for a response and they haven’t given it gradually escalate the pressure, go from a look to a movement in air, to slight pressure, to increased pressure, to a lot of pressure so they will start to learn to listen sooner. Should only take a look, not a muscle war.

Lesson Four: Work. Horses, generally, don’t like to work harder than they have to. If the horse isn’t doing what is being asked, make them work for it, the right answer is the easy answer. The wrong answer requires a lot more work.

Lesson Five: Stay Calm. No matter what, stay calm. No matter the situation, if your horse isn’t doing what you ask or your horse is getting nervous, your horse feeds off of your energy, so stay calm. If you breathe in and out and relax, get back to being calm, your horse will follow your lead. You must stay calm though, no one, including your horse, wants to follow a crazy, wound up, irrational, angry, ill tempered leader, they want calm, cool, rational, consistent for their leader. Do as you would have done unto yourself, stay calm.

feeling better

Todd (my Uncle) and I rode out in the far back field together yesterday. He rode Epona while I rode Lyra, I have to say that the sensation of getting to ride out, with company, on my own horses is truly wonderful!!
That said, Lyra is definitely feeling a lot better, she threw a couple half hearted bucks and rears in before we got going, I just sat very calmly in the saddle, took a deep breath and reassured her that the grass would still be there when we finished and it would be a lot easier for her to just walk along nicely. She quickly settled down and off we walked. Xandra followed behind, lose, what a firecracker she can be at times!! She kept getting distracted by new grass, would look up, realize we'd all moved on, then kick up her heels and charge after us, she'd pass a little ways up and then dive for more grass, pretty funny!
I plan to trim Lyra's hooves again tomorrow, will see if that continues to help her, she still has some hoof wall separation happening, after the improvement from the last trim though, I'm more than happy to keep her as well trimmed as I am able. Might even go for another little ride, this time with Brandon, Yippie!!
Also for all of you barefoot hoof people out there, I wanted to say about the Easyboot Bares, they are a snap to put on! Might not be orthodox, but if you put your horse's toe in the boot, pull the gaitor away from their heel, then place the boot's bottom on your lower thigh, just above your bent knee, support your horse's pastern with your one hand, while you push their heel into the boot with the other, then place their hoof on the ground and let them push their hoof snug, it takes all of about 30 seconds to put one on. Not sure why the fuss about how difficult they are, I actually find them easier to use than the epics. Actually, I thought I must have fit them wrong since it was so easy, looked through all the info again and no, they fit Epona perfectly (don't have a set for Lyra yet, working on it). Anyway, I highly recommend them!!