Grounded!

 Warning, graphic pics ahead.... 

If you've been reading here for any time, you may remember a short time ago when Mazy kicked Casey's ass in the pasture. Well she did it again, only this time much worse. 

These pics are the morning after, after I rinsed Casey off to clean her up

Mazy can be brutal at when she wants to be. I don't know what started this one, what it was about or how it went down, I just know some shit went down. 

Since these two are the only ponies in the pasture- the aggressor here is obvious. This was the Monday after Memorial Day weekend. 

While there is plenty of skin missing, there was a lot more hair missing all over. It was so painful for Casey that just the water running over it had her tucking her ass end up underneath her with hind hooves trying to be in front of the front hooves. 

So I gave her a shot of pain meds to help ease things while I cleaned her up. Trying to stick her with the needle for that? She tried to reach around and take ogf the side of my face. Um NO baby girl. We don't do things that way here. The 3rd attempt I was twitching her with one hand and giving an IV shot with the other. Something I have gotten good at. 

Rinsed her off, cleaned her up and put her away in the stall to have breakfast. Her sister got lectured and now they no longer get to play together. 

I'm just lucky things like this heal rather quickly and with minimal issues later on. Still there will not be another attempt made on anyone's life. I can't afford this. So with all of that pink skin.... Casey goes out at night, Mazy goes our during the day. They are grounded and not allowed to play together anymore. Life will be good this way. Ugh! Mares! 🤷🏼🤦🏼

Cowgirlin' it

Casey got her cowgirl clothes on and we went western for the day...

Picking up a nice jog down the fenceline 

Driving from behind and pushing up into the bridle

Casey was just handling it really well

We got a lot of good work in at the jog. She's really turning out to be such a fun pony to ride and I'm looking forward to getting into 3rd gear. 

Buzzzzzzz

Last week Miss Casey got a clip job. This was her first time really going under the blades (lol). 

Not hardly dude... 

Now that I look at this pic? Look at the Motor on her. Holy Crap!  

I noticed she has some wrinkles in the girth area 

Girl was so good, she got to graze as a reward. 

Casey looking a little miffed because shes only half clipped. 

All the hair on the ground... 

Before with reddish brown, bay horse spots... 

After spots with all of the roaning and also some dark colored spots.

Casey also used to have a dorsal stripe but lately it's covered in dirt. Of course you can also see her pink skin. She now gets turned out at night to prevent her getting sunburned. 

Casey did really good for her first clip job. The only thing that didn't get clipped was her ears. Most horses dont like this so its normal. And nobody died that day. Lol 

Long lines & mud

I worked Mazy in long lines a while back. Always a good refresher for her and a chance for me to watch her move, see what changes need to be made and fix her issues without me on her back. 

I like how uphill her movement is in this pic. She's starting to lift her shoulders and move a little laterally to the outside. 

Just love that big sexy butt she's got. And the arch to her neck. 

Just one word comes to mind- round. 

The reach in this shot. Why bells boots for life and why splint boots always when working horses. 

I could look at these all day long. Shes back to reaching up underneath herself and using her back and core. 

Again nice and uphill, and because of the mud maybe(?) lots of action and lift

Leaning a bit to the inside so its not just when I'm on her. Now I know. But a fair amount of extension in her gait, on the vertical and doing well enough. 

Again leaning to the inside again, but otherwise lifting, extending and balanced. Now if I can just Ride this... Lol 

Hooved Souls

Shout out to my friend over at Hooved Souls! We met two barns ago and have been getting together for a lot of things. The other day she stopped by the barn on the way to a lesson. She doesn't compete, but has seen a short video clip on YT of what combined driving is all about. 

I had Casey put to the cart and was driving her when my friend arrived. She got a little bit of video as we went around and I asked her if she wanted to get on? Hilarity ensued! We had Such a blast. Laughed our asses off all the way around the arena. After her lesson she stopped by the house for dinner. Steak, fish and chips- surf and turf with fries. 

She put together the following to post on TikTok. 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRpaG7kY/

The comment- We've got dirt- because I forgot to pay attention with her phone and videoed the ground.  We went thru the mud because Casey was in control for a bit. Loose reins not so much when driving. So then when she started to take up slack and make contact- Casey responded, we hit the barrel and wiped it out! 

Casey hasn't been driven in a while since this was the first time I've been on the cart since coming off Mazy over a month ago. This is also only about the 17th or 18th drive for her. Cassie has never even been on a cart before.... All things considered? It went really well! 

We have laughed and laughed, watched this over and over and laughed some more. It was so raw, unfiltered, unplanned and there's no way to possibly go back and do it over again to get the same hilarious result. Even just thinking about it- we both still just crack up. And neither of us had been drinking! 😆🤣😂

A few more tweaks

Mazy back in western tack again

This pic you can see my hands have come up a bit. Mazy is bent to the inside but she was getting a bit braced against my hands. To soften her up, I lift my hands up and ask for her to flex at the poll, soften her jaw and give to the bit. 

We had paused for a break above and I took the time to praise and reward her efforts. Then I stepped off to tighten the girth another hole. 

Getting back to work, Mazy started to stiffen up, set her jaw, raise her head and hollow out thru the back. Lift the inside hand asking for both lateral flexion and vertical. Give to the bit, soften and I will let go. I also have my inside leg on her. This can be used 2 ways. At the girth means move your shoulders over and make a bigger circle. Behind the girth, more towards her back end means move it over to the outside. 

Since a horses body is sorta triangle shaped (from above viewpoint), asking then to move their butt over to the outside- means the inside shoulder will turn in, making the direction you want to go pretty much a no brainer for them. Remember to follow the horse around with your outside rein. 

I really like the size of Mazy's neck and shoulder in this pic. She's really stepping out in her walk. Again shes bent to the inside, soft thru her jaw and her head is down and relaxed so my hands are too. 

She's moving with her head low and relaxed, reins are good. Hands are good, legs and seat? Check, check, check. 

Picked up the jog and while this pic isn't great its not all bad either. I need to Look Up which will help me Sit Up. Open up my hands- out to the side a bit more and down a touch. Maybe push for a little more forward movement while her legs are in the air.... 

Asking for a bit more softness when she got a little goofy on me. Still keeping her bent to the inside and look where that left hind/ right front diagonal leags are at. If I were giving her a bit more rein she may have gotten back to giving me some beautiful overstep- why she wears bell boots 24/7. 

Listen mare.... Inside rein is straight up to get Mazy's mind back on her work In the arena. She may be a bit ADHD. Seriously. SQUIRREL!! 

My hand comes up so she knows to put her head down and soften. I'm asking her to bend to the inside, but my leg says "Don't fall into the drain. We're just circling it for now." Lol 😆

Casey in her color

I dug out the maroon pad I have for Casey. While I also have matching leg gear-  polos, SMB's and bell boots- shes wearing the rubber bell boots (no longer white) and the open front jump boots (also no longer white) as their hard outer shell means the mud all washes off easier.  Because we have Mud. Which is why both splint and bell boots are no longer white.... Lol 

Not quite sure if I'm leaning here or its just my head tilted a little, camera angle, combination of everything resulting in such things as a clusterf*ck? but the takeaway's.... Straight line from elbow to bit. Nice long reins allowing her to reach out and down to find contact. Heels back underneath me where they belong, niiiiiice reach up under her behind- engaged and using her rear end thru the back, lifting her shoulders.... 

All the things again here too. Present and accounted for. Hands, heels, reach, relaxed and yeah. 

Nice almost perfectly square halt. Casey is starting to "listen for" the feeling of asking for a halt. Two Step process- 1) "Step into it" taking my legs off and 2) "Sit and Quit" Sit down a little deeper and Quit following her movement with my hips, lower back and body in general. 

After the halt above she got 'stuck' and didn't want to move or walk forward. I don't rely on a whip, crop or spurs unless they just seem so dead sided af which usually comes from over-use of these things. Instead I gently pull them around to one side, hand low and wide where they can see it for a visual cue, my white string gloves help them see this. Inside leg comes back a little to push the butt over to the outside, which sorta forces the front end to turn the direction I'm asking for. Outside leg helps encourage forward and bend keeping the shoulders from falling to the outside. It all puts them off balance just a little that they have to take a step- breaking them loose from being 'stuck'. Once they're moving again it's easy to keep them moving. 

Doing the above process to get them 'unstuck' helps encourage them to move off our leg and away from pressure. It also helps us use our legs independent of each other, but also with everything else. As the inside leg comes back we turn our body and the heel stays under us keeping our weight and balance centered. Hand coming out to the side we are guiding them around rather than pulling, inside shoulder back keeps our body posture straight and keeps the horse straight as well rather than falling into the circle. 

This is all going on just at a walk so far. The next time anybody thinks riding is so easy. All you do is sit there.... You can tell them otherwise and they can shove it! 😂🤣😂🤣

Mazy back at it

Mazy and I rode out about a month ago and while we were riding in the hay fields I was taking video with my cell phone. As we were coming up on where to cross over from the front field to the back, she spooked and spun. Literally spun right out from under me. I sort of somewhat have it on video. No I haven't watched it yet. So for now we are working in the arena because my body hurts. Yes. Please laugh at me, with me... Lol

So we put on our cowgirl clothes, Mount the cell phone on the fence and see what we can do. We are working on spins because why not? Shes really stepping across in front at least going to the left. 

More crossing over steps going left. 

And more loping trying to get her to just relax and chill the hell out. At least here my feet are more back underneath me, hands lower, I seem to be looking up where we need to go. Still a nice gap between the back legs. And the front legs. But between the front and back? We need to work on that. 

Oooof! Leaning much? Dayum girl! Sit up straight ffs.

Yep. Still leaning. Check. Please don't fall over.Please don't fall over.Please don't fall over.  

Then we're on to more lope pics. We're still working on getting her rocked back and lightening up the front end.... Notice the shortened gap between front and rear legs again. Ugh! Frustrating. 

While this pic above could be better... I still like it for a few reasons. 1) look at the reach in her hind end. That inside hind leg is still traveling. Can you imagine riding that if the front right is too? Because I have seen her do it. I have pics. 2) Sure my hands are a little high and elbows a bit far back to keep that straight line from elbow to bit, but she is finally starting to relax into contact. When she relaxes and reaches down, my reins are long enough that my hands come down with her and things are still good. 

This one, again could be better. Could show her rocked back more, outside front could still be reaching out, not so much leaning and she could be a lot more relaxed and steady in her tempo instead of doing everything at warp speeds. But.... Her head is a bit lower, she is comfortably bent to the circle, again the reach of the hind leg, my hands are a tad lower and wide apart giving her room to work in there. 

The hands being wide is breaking a bad habit I work on a lot. I try to keep them as wide apart as my hips, not together perched on the horses withers. Don't know when or where I picked up that habit, but it needs to stop. Perching my hands on the withers added to my hunter hunch as I've heard it called. Not a good position for anything or a good look for anyone. 

As much as I struggle keeping my hands wide, I had a judge at a show tell me once that I needed them closer together, almost On their withers. She was a breed show judge and sure, maybe for rail classes thats ok, but this wasn't a rail class kind of show. Sometimes we have to learn when, where and how to accept constructive criticism while ignoring all or part of it at the same time. We also need to know how to pick out the tiny tidbits of good things from the same statements.