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The Horse They Call Jayne

7K views 64 replies 6 participants last post by  jaydee 
#1 ·
The Hero of Canton

I thought I'd go ahead and start a journal for all my *OMG! HORSEY!* sharing needs with Jayne rather than cluttering up anywhere else.

First off, cantering down the beach! Awesome fun, though I haven't cantered in ... maybe a year and a half, and sat it poorly enough that I am sore in the back. I was also gripping the saddle horn of the borrowed western saddle, which certainly did not help me relax since the seat is too wide and rather uncomfortable for me. Jayne was perfect though, kept his brain down between his ears, and went faster, slower, transitions and stopped nicely on cue despite being a) in the wide open and b) all by his lonesome with no horse buddies to support him. He was great, and so long as I kept him working and focused on me, there was no crying for the other horses or worrying about any potential horse eating monsters.

Secondly, I was told today that he's gotten much 'steadier' now that I've been working him regularly. This pleases me. He has also been much better in the 'not trying to spook' way lately after attempting to spook at all sorts of things last week and getting shut down by me. I aim to keep this 'listening to me and not trying to make (bad) horsey decision on his own' trend in force. He was a little worried about a charging dog and a bonfire today, but didn't do anything beyond a little head tossing and a side-step.

Last, I hope to move him to his new stable this weekend. It's all set up and ready to go, just waiting on my friend to have time to trailer him for me. Then there will be the settling in and adjusting to life there period which will, I hope, be mercifully short. He's pretty easy going and low in the herd order, so I don't anticipate any serious problems.
 
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#2 ·
I am hoping it's normal to go from feeling like a reasonably competent rider to a complete unbalanced know-nothing from time to time. It's a regular thing for me. Last week when Jayne caught me completely off-guard and bolted and I didn't come off and got him stopped quickly, I felt pretty awesome. I felt even more awesome when I stopped him from bolting in the first place since. Now, I realize that I am responsible for making sure he stays up on all his training and doesn't develop bad habits and I worry that I'm going to completely mess his training up. I'm used to riding other people's horses! This one is mine. :shock:
 
#3 ·
Would have just edited the earlier message, but apparently that function has timed out. Today's picture. After 1 hour of riding and before another 1.5 hours of riding.

Our leg aids for turning went much smoother than I anticipated- no confusion at all on his part. There was, however, a large triple kite being flown on the beach that he was pretty sure was going to swoop down and eat him.
 
#4 ·
Busy day in Jayne's life. I vaccinated him for... everything ever, which he hardly even noticed. Which is nice, but I wouldn't have faulted him for objecting to me stabbing 18g needles into his neck or a syringe up his nose either. He did get prissy with me when I was picking out his last foot as he finished his grain and tried a half-hearted cow kick which got him told off immediately. He was eager to back away from me (and the feed) and give the 'please don't hurt me' baby face once he realized that trying that on me was a mistake. We went for a nice little ride after and he gets tomorrow off so he can recover a bit. Hopefully he's not too sore from his shots. Next week it's dewormer and sheath cleaning time.

My girth is weird though. I bought a brand new wintec contoured girth, and could barely get it on the billets the first time. Then I changed the gullet out for the next wider and rode it a week and now it's up three holes (of 6 or 7) on both sides and I could still fit a fist under it, though I didn't realize it was THAT loose until the end of our ride, luckily enough. He does blow up a little when I first girth him up, but even blown up, it's easy to get it halfway up to start now. I hope it stops stretching soon, or I'll need to buy another, shorter, one.
 
#5 ·
Easy refresher work today- bridled but bareback for the second time in his life, near as anyone can tell. He's doing well with it, though still a little goosey. I'm sure the fact that the fly population has exploded around here didn't help that any. We worked on giving/bending to either side, one-rein stop style. He started with lots of tiny circles that were making me dizzy, but he's a smart boy and we got to just giving and bending his neck to either side in a handful of tries (thank goodness).

We also got in a few good turns on the fore, but definitely need to work on turning on the hind. Side passes were nearly a bust, got a COUPLE steps in one direction, but will go back and work on it more from the ground and try again later. The whole idea of moving the front feet without going forward seems to be the sticking point on the side passes and turn on the hind. He was happy to move the hind end over and offered that a lot, but moving the fronts laterally is either a new concept, one he doesn't like, or one that is tough for him to do physically. No matter which, I think some patient practice should solve it, along with sticking a fence in front of him to block forward! He wasn't very keen on trusting me to walk straight up the fence though, kept trying to duck out one way or another rather than wait for my directions. Again, more practice and between us should fix that.

I don't really get why, but thinking 'heels down' helps me even bareback. Maybe it's sort of a by proxy thing? Where doing all the 'right things' always happens with heels down, so getting that done triggers everything else to fall into place too?

The last thing is sharpening up his whoa. He just kind of drifts to a stop, then might take a step, then stand, or step again. I need to get him to STOP on whoa and stay there. Whoa does not equal "kinda slow down, but do what you want" in my world, and now his either.
 
#6 ·
Busy couple of days here- moved him to his new barn. He followed me into the trailer like he does it every day, rode over, unloaded and walked into his new stall like it's all part of a day's work and went to town on his hay. He's making friends with the gelding on one side of him, a dark bay. I caught them being buddy buddy over the water cooler when I went out to feed this morning, and then when I had him in a run adjacent to the field everyone was turned out into, his new buddy wouldn't let the (somewhat pushy) lead gelding anywhere near him for quite a while. Eventually he got to sniff nose over the fence with most of the herd, and everyone was pretty relaxed. The lead gelding got a bit squealy, but nothing too exciting, and they hung out together at the fenceline nicely after the initial introductions. Might turn him and his new buddy out together sometime this week so they have head start on being friends before turning him out with the herd later.

I rode him in the area and he was an angel. Almost didn't even need the reins for turning and his attention was all on me. Being in a strange place does wonders for his powers of paying attention. He was bending wonderfully and his stops were better than they have been. Still haven't had a lightbulb moment on the sidepass though. We did get a lightbulb on WAITING for direction when coming up on an obstacle rather than deciding on his own what to do about it, which was rewarding.

I have GOT to get someone to lunge line me on him though, I can't ride his trot to save my life. Either that or just lose the stirrups for a couple weeks. I feel like I'm gonna get my teeth rattled out and his back is going to get sore if I can't get it together and figure out where on earth my skills went. I used to be good at sitting the trot (on TBs and arabians), and now it's all gone apparently, when QH are supposed to be easier. He doesn't 'jog' though, not unless I am really working him and asking for it specifically at least, and he doesn't maintain it for more than a handful of strides yet.
 
#7 ·
I'm fairly convinced that I have the best horse in the world. Cleaned his sheath today with no more reaction than a slightly lifted leg a couple of times. It needed to be done, but he wasn't too nasty and there wasn't a big bean to bother him. He got a little more hanging out over the fence line time with the other horses and then I rode him a bit with no stirrups. Just walking and working on bending his whole body nicely, stopping properly and walking over some ground poles. I tried to open and close the gate off of him, but the 'not having lateral gear' made that a bit impossible, so I settled for getting him to at least go up to the gate and stop and stand properly rather than dancing about like a over-caffeinated grasshopper.

I made his stall sign today too. It's like it's official now or something.
 
#8 ·
Well, he got tuned out with the herd early yesterday. Luckily enough everything seemed to go well... I came out to feed and panicked mildly at the sight of his empty stall, then spotted him halfway down the field, a sad looking outcast pony. He was pretty tired, presumably from getting the run around, but I couldn't find any injuries and just a couple slobber marks, so what's done is done, apparently without any harm.

Today no one got turned out at all and he was pretty full of it when I went to ride. No slow, easy jogging or comfortable trotting for us today! I guess that's fate's way of telling me to be careful what I'm asking for when I take the stirrups off my saddle. We did do some ground exercises and I got a few really nice steps crossing over in the front today when I was asking him to turn on the hind from the ground. No where near a spin yet, but better than utter confusion.
 
#9 ·
Tried to get Jayne to canter on a lunge today- not very successfully as he showed that he needs much more muscle and balance before he can do it well by himself, let alone under saddle. Okay on the trot, but started leaning on the line after a few minutes. Looks like we *both* need to get into shape. Did some trotting circles today... painful for us both in the bouncy, unbalanced way, though there was a blessed moment between turning left and right that was nice and comfy. Too bad that turns into a 'go faster' jostle if allowed to continue on.

Therefore, there is a plan, first, for me, some more lessons, and then for him/us, a To Do List:
Yields: yield the fore, yield the hind, lateral away, bending L/R
Exercises: W/T transitions and Figure 8s, Serpentines, Circles, and Poles at W and T
Yogas: Lateral stretch to stifles, Toe point and Cross, Tail Traction, Butt Tucks, Back Raises
Goals: Decent side pass. Improved strength and balance so we can trot 20m circles with some semblance of control and ease.

Got a comment that he really does have a 'nice english trot' today while working him. Much appreciated, though my rear and thighs don't agree yet. With time and work, we will get there.
 
#11 ·
I hope so, and thank you!

Today we had a wonderful moment where I asked him to move (just) his front end and he did! Both directions! I have hope for him. We also had maybe two or three trot strides that were actually under control and comfortable enough that I was actually able to move well with him. There were also a few good 'jog' strides, though since I had already asked him to transition down to a walk at that point, they caught me off guard. I WANT him to learn to do a western jog properly, but I also NEED him to transition when and to what I ask. I will have to think on this and actually be prepared next time rather than what I did today which was to let him go ahead and jog a little before asking for the walk again.

I've ordered a french link snaffle. He's going much better in his hollow mouth than he was in the tom thumb I test rode him in, with much less head tossing. He's improving on his bridling manners by leaps and bounds as well. He still head tosses some with any real contact on both reins though, and while it may just be a combo of western horse, new/different concept, and attitude, I'll give him the benefit and try out something that shouldn't poke his palate/nutcracker so much.

I'm thinking of just riding him in his halter in the arena for a while until we have better balance- I worry that being off balance will result in me ruining his mouth. He doesn't have a very good stop in the halter, but he does have one and I know we could make it better. Good idea? Bad idea? Dangerous idea?
 
#12 ·
Jayne seems to be making friends with one of the geldings. They were playing bite-kick-run-rear-bite games and hanging out together yesterday and were nearly cuddling when I went to get Jayne today. I think they've been grooming each other too since the base of Jayne's mane and withers are all gross with what looks like dried slobber. :/

Had a little fun today. The trot itself is a little better on the straight, at least it's just a trot rather than running off now, though turning is still unbalanced as anything and our 'circles' don't look anything like a circle yet. I got so unbalanced while asking him to turn at a trot I cued him to canter, which he did, which was okay in the sense that his canter is way better than his trot and it helped me get back where I needed to be, but less good in that our downward transitions, which is what I was actually going for, are a little non-existent, and he turns like a motorcycle at everything other than a walk still. I put an "oh $h*t" strap on my saddle today, and it helped me stay out of his mouth at least, so I'm going to keep it for now. We will work on walk cues meaning walk now, rather than in 4-8 strides.

Lots of turns and serpentines and we actually got turning on the hind from the saddle today! YAY! Next up- sidepass. And continuing work on his balance and strength. After about one and a half canter circuits of the arena he was ready to slow down today, so lots of strength work. We also got some actual, nice round circular 20m circles today! YAY! I'm probably imagining it, but I already think his top line is beginning to look better.
 
#13 ·
Bareback today after my lesson yesterday. Just a couple short trotting bits, but definitely better. If I 'allow' him to break into a jog, it's nice and wonderful, if I 'ask' him to, it's a much bigger trot that I have trouble sitting. I think I need to refine cues a bit. He is SO wonderful about turning off of leg bareback though, he's much better trained on that than I am, in fact. We did get some more turns on the front and hind today to, so while he's not eager or super willing for them, I do feel confident that he knows what I am asking at this point so I can hold him to a standard of doing them, and learning to do them better.

There was a new jump with a small portion of painted plywood in the arena today that he was pretty sure was going to eat him. Snorting and blowing and the whole bit, though only one sidestep/shy from it. Then I went and grabbed one of these Puffer Balls and tossed that all around him, bouncing it off of him and everything, and that was not the least bit unsettling, much contrary to my expectation that he would hit the roof.

He had his feet trimmed yesterday and was only a little fidgety, which is very nice. Due to his previous history of not getting trimmed often, he has a little white line separation, but nothing the farrier thinks will be a problem now that he's getting on a regular schedule.
 
#14 ·
My instructor got on Jayne and played around for a little bit. I was right! His trot IS that horrible- it's not just that I've forgotten everything I once knew about riding. Hehe. She suggested a running martingale to help keep him from throwing his head up in the air while trotting, and while it certainly makes sense to me, I'm going to wait a little while and try a) his new bit which should be coming sometime in the next couple of days and b) continuing to strengthen him through lots of bending and transitions. I see some lunge and round-pen work in our future too as she suggested that we spend the next lesson teaching me to teach him how to do those exercises.

Her verdict- he's willing and honest, but still in need of a lot of polishing. CAN DO! :)

And all this despite the fact that he's actually already gotten significantly better! Today when I asked for a trot, he did without it turning into a speed race. There were even TURNS! :D I DO give him voice commands while riding, and I think for our downward transitions he's going entirely off voice rather than seat still. Maybe I'll actually trot him all the way around the arena a couple of times this weekend if we can keep it down to a reasonable pace to help him work on his rhythm and cardio. Or figure 8s.

His blanket came in the mail today too! I tried it on him (he was unfazed) and I worried it was too big at first, but once he put his head down to graze, it settled into its proper position and looks to be correct. His green saddle pad also came and his green fuzzytastic reins will be in the mail tomorrow! I look forward to dressing him up in his new shinies.
 
#15 ·
Rain, rain, go away... well. Sort of. We are in desperate need of rain, but could it choose a weekday next time so I don't lose out on a day of riding? The pony was a bit of a mudball today in addition to having a big goose egg on his left hindquarters from a kick. No idea who got him, he's still the newbie outsider, so it could have been anyone.

Jayne and I did some round pen work since the sand footing in there had drained and dried well. Walk, trot, I put some ground poles in there too. He looked gorgeous and balanced, though he couldn't keep it up for long. I'll see if I can get pictures tomorrow. Going to the right is his bad side, to the extent that if I ask him to pick up that lead, he struggles, fails, and then his brain exits the area and we have to start back with simple things he knows how to do to coax it back.

I noticed sometimes he would JUMP into a trot, other times it was smooth. Not sure what that means. He also is bad about not stopping squarely- I've noticed it under saddle a lot, but it came out in the round pen today too. We did get some nice solid stops in the mix, so hopefully I can selectively reinforce those.

I am still struggling to get him to trot on lead without sending him out to the end like I am lunging him first... sometimes I walk fast or jog while leading him, and he doesn't keep up. If I want to do some mini-endurance or other training type stuff, I need to teach him to trot behind/beside me while I run, and that it is OKAY for him to trot and keep up. I am hoping that continuing to train him to voice commands on the lunge will carry over.
 
#16 ·
No pretty trot today, just stringy forehand messiness. :( Getting reliable on front and hind turns though, even under saddle, so I'm going to have to start getting picky with them and not allowing any forward/back jigging at the same time, which is a challenge for him because just STANDING is not something he does well. Not sure if it's because of nerves, training, or what, but standing quietly is on the 'to do' list. He doesn't stand still well even without a rider, he's constantly trying to DO something. Unfortunately standing quietly is not something I like working on personally... as necessary as it is, it's boring and repetitive. Unless he's really amped and jigging in place. Then it's funny, I laugh at him and remind him that he can work that hard or just stand- his option. Either way we're not going anywhere. Thankfully, he's not shown any inclination to try to go UP when the other directions are not options.

He had a lightbulb moment with trotting on lead yesterday. It was fabulous, and I got my aerobic exercise in too, lol. I trimmed his mane a bit and blanketed him today. I don't know if he's ever had a blanket on him before last week when I tried his out and walked him in it for a few minutes. Hopefully it goes okay and I don't have a shredded turnout in the morning. He seemed completely unfazed, so I will keep thinking good thoughts.

My package from horseloverz that I ordered on Black Friday still hasn't shipped. :(
 
#17 ·
Ow... it is possible to pull whatever muscles attach to the inside of your seat bone? It didn't hurt while riding, but it sure does now. I cantered Jayne today, mostly because I wanted to, less because I wanted to teach anything. He did one lap to the left nicely and wanted to stop. But to the right... NO STEERING. Canter, then straight line to the fence while I am pulling for a right turn, then finally, while I'm wondering if he's just going plow into it, stop dead or turn suddenly (meanwhile I am imagining how much that fence is going to hurt), he gathers himself and makes a nice balanced little right turn. I think, "Oh, okay, here we are then, steering is back." Nope. Wrong. Straight into another arena corner again. Same thing, but I don't give him the rein back and keep him in a small circle until he realizes I'm asking him to stop. We'll get there. :wink:

We also did some (more) trotting today, and he Put His Head Down! Hooray! Granted, he was rooting because he was irritated that I kept making him trot, especially in a circle to the right, his 'bad' direction, but still! The head went below withers level for the first time ever at a trot! Now if we can get that into a habit and not just happenstance.

He's getting good at trotting on lead now and has NOT destroyed his turnout blanket (yet). We also had a couple of very nice straight stops today. I think working without stirrups and in just his nylon halter is helping us both- I'm not afraid of damaging his mouth, and he's not dealing with as much 'noise' from me on the reins.
 
#18 ·
First lesson ON Jayne today. He was good. I was terrible. I've completely forgotten how to ride with stirrups. I felt like my legs were too high, I got tense against them, nearly launched myself off him the first time I tried to post. :/ Also, I'm always two steps late on looking where I am going.
 
#19 ·
Rode yesterday in his halter. I got trotting CIRCLES to the left! Not so much to the right... those were still wonky shapes. But all of the trot was at a much more reasonable speed, in fact I had to push him to keep him from breaking down to a walk several times. His head was also much better positioned, not well positioned, not yet, but it was also not flying up in the air or getting tossed about, so I'll take it. We had one little half jump, half trot over a pole about 10" off the ground. Not sure why he decided to take it like that, but it was a pleasant surprise that it was relatively smooth anyway. We're just using ground and very low poles to remind the lazy boy that he must pick UP his feet.

Today it was rain. Rain and cold wind. And very slick mud, so no riding. Maybe next time it can rain during the week and NOT when I have time to go for a nice long ride. This is two weekends in a row. I went to the feed store instead and stocked up on everything but hay for the next month and spent the day moving all his feed and tack and stuff to a new storage room since I plan to move to a different row in the barn. I will be sore tomorrow. Thank goodness for my pickup truck though.
 
#20 ·
Rain. Mud. Rain. Mud. Boo.

In the meanwhile I discovered that Jayne can stretch all the way past his stifle to get a cookie and he seems to like front leg stretches too. Since moving him, he and his new neighbor have been getting on well- they're like brothers. Half the time they love each other, half the time they seem to deliberately irritate each other.

Today, thankfully, it was finally dry enough to go out! Another boarder and I went on a mini trail ride behind the facility next to some fields. Jayne was pretty good, though a little suspicious of the car bridge I asked him to cross while walking on the sidewalk. We passed a new housing development where men were working inside a house with lots of banging and hammering and such and he was NOT convinced that going anywhere near it was a good idea. Fortunately after only one attempt at turning away and some pretty insistent demands that he move on, he decided to do as asked. On the way back he tried the opposite tack and wanted to rush past it, but kept it to a quick walk. It was very good for both of us to get out, and the human company was nice as well.
 
#21 ·
Thank goodness the rain has eased up and the mud has dried out. There's still a 10ft wide swath at the far side of the arena that is deep and unusable, but the rest is fine. I accidentally on purpose wound up trotting Jayne bareback last night.

I had my instructor show me how far apart to put trot poles and how to set them up in the arena on Friday and was intent on doing them over the weekend...rather, on having teh ponehboy do them. I forgot to actually grab my barn shoes OR my boots when I went out Saturday, so anything with stirrups was out of the question and cold and windy as it was, I felt like bareback would be a great option. Totally forgot about the poles. We warmed up with a little "thou shall listen" work in the round pen and he was doing really well. He still tries to counter-canter when going to the right half the time, but he didn't refuse and try to turn and go the other way once, which is what he has been doing to get out of going his bad way. To the left he cantered without running into it! HUGE progress for him.

We went into the arena and I hand-jogged him over the poles, which he did like it was no biggie, despite the fact that I am certain he has NEVER seen trot poles before in his life. Then I got on and we did some other stuff, and I was all, "trot poles! That'll be good." Then I asked him to trot, grabbed mane and stopped steering as I about got jounced off. He took the opportunity to go around the poles. :fail:

So then we repeated a few times while I learned to a) stay on b) grab mane and steer simultaneously when "a" was in question and c) he learned that going around the poles was not an option. It was good learning for both of us. His trot really has improved a lot though, a month ago, there is NO WAY we would have been able to do this.

He's also put on a good amount of muscle in his topline, shoulders and rear legs. His spine is no longer pokey and uncomfortable bareback. His gut is smaller too now... still not sure what that means. It's not like he had a giant hay belly before, but it's still smaller than it was when you look at him from the side. HOPING that that means he's working his abs. Still too skinny for me though, and I'm impatient, so I'm adding some veggie oil to the 6lbs of strategy and 25lbs of hay he's already on. He had a negative fecal on Friday and will get his teeth done sometime in January.

Not sure what we're going to do this evening.
 
#22 ·
Wound up doing mostly the same tonight, as I am terribly uncreative. I still really need to get one of those arena exercise books. I took a couple short vids with my cell phone right after turning him into the round pen to start our warm up. He was fabulous and cantered BOTH ways on the correct leads like it was no big deal and he does it all the time, which is a lie. He didn't try to duck out of it at all either! Huge progress and evidence to me that he really is gaining strength and balance.

We did do a fence line walk of the side pasture at the barn, all the way down and back. He was good and only snorted at the scary rattling things in the brush (usually rabbits here). He did try to trot back, which was not what I wanted, but still, his trot is getting good enough that even bareback I was more concerned about him listening and coming back to a walk than falling off.

He was a little weirded out about the couple tablespoons of veggie oil on his feed, but after the first couple of bites it didn't slow him down.
 
#24 ·
Had a lesson on a solid lesson horse today. It was very good for me- I got confirmation on some of my issues and ways to improve, as well as direction on the *proper* use of cues rather than my sometimes made-up/improvised/interpreted/"I think this is how you do it" attempts. :) I worked Jayne in the round pen for about 20 minutes with some extended trotting bits and a few more canter demands. He's getting much more fit, which is excellent. I also found out that people at the barn agree that he's a good horse with a lot of potential and a good head, which makes me happy and feel like I chose a good one.

Tomorrow I think I will lead him on a long slow jog... maybe 3-4 miles. Good workout for the both of us.
 
#25 ·
Went for the jog yesterday and it was lovely. We went just under 3.5 miles, jog/trotting most of the time, though we did have some walk/grazing breaks to get my heart rate back down. His trot is faster than my normal tra-la-la jogging, so I got a bit more of a workout than I was ready for even before the sandy footing we had in places. I also got on and off (bareback) a couple of times on the trail, as part of his practice in a) holding still and b) being mounted from anything, anywhere, at any time training. He took everything in stride except for a bright yellow canvas bag that he shied around about 50 feet from the barn's front door. There were some kids that were adorable and in awe of seeing a horse on the trail, so we stopped and he let them love on him while he grazed.

Today we trotted, trotted, and then trotted. I worked on posting, posting, and posting. I lean (too far) forward, my feet go backwards, and I get all off balance. How Do I Fix This?? GAH! I'll get like 5 strides right, then it's all over.

Jayne was perfect about it though, he really took care of me. Whenever he'd feel me getting too far forward, he'd slow down or stop while I got my balance back. Now if only his trot was a little less jarring, we'd be in business. We did actually get some slow(er) trotting in today though, about halfway though. Not a jog yet, but a definite speed change within the gait (on request!), which is a new development for us. He also got his booster vaccines today, poor guy. Hopefully they don't make him stiff, but at least he's good for another year now! I hosed him off after the ride and he went and rolled in the dirt immediately, to all appearances enjoying every second of it. Horses.
 
#26 ·
Back from Holiday and Jayne and I had a nice little 3 mile trail walk in the cool fresh air. At the end, he put his head down, I undid the throat strap and nose band and he kept his head down, then I slipped the poll piece over his ears and down and he STILL kept his head down! He spit out the bit calmly and all was well. This is a far cry from fighting to bridle or unbridle him, complete with head tossing and backing and dancing like he did when I first bought him. Success!
 
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