Progress Journal

4th June

I had a bit of fun this afternoon. I went out and lunged Sammy. He behaved himself even with Pepper loose in the paddock. He lunged like an old pro, I was very happy he is becoming more consistent with that.

I then jumped on bareback, he didn't try to move once which I am very happy about. I then was just walking around for a bit doing nothing much. I then had a little go at trotting. It was great he was doing more of a slow jog than his usual rushed, slightly bouncy trot. I was riding in circles and on the right I didn't lose my balance once and he stayed in a relatively good circle. I am very happy with how that went. When I turned in the other direction. He kept cutting into the circle and rushing a bit which put me off balance a bit. I didn't have to slow him down or grab onto the reins to regain my balance though which I am happy about. So I think I have improved. I worked on trotting a little more, then walked around some more. Afterwards I walked him around in a circle in both directions and he did it perfectly both ways without trying to cut in or being stiff, I was very happy with him with that. It feels like it has taken forever to achieve that but I am glad to see some improvement . I then let him walk around on a loose rein for awhile then got off. I am so happy after todays ride. Can't wait until next time. I got a couple of photos of Sammy afterwards. I also got a picture of little T-bone who was chewing and playing with Apache's tail and rug. He is lucky Apache seemed to be in a good mood and didn't kick him hehe.

7th July

Oops just realised I have been writing June instead of July.

Anyway today was great so happy with Sammy. I caught Apache first and I just lunged him a bit. He was a bit of a butthead at first but soon did as I asked. I then caught Sammy. I lunged him both ways and he did very well again.

I then started working on the voice aids again with Sammy, this is only about the 4th time but he is catching on quite quickly. Apart from a few iffy moments I had him walking, trotting and woahing completely by voice aids and body language. We are still working on backing up though. At first I did it while leading him on a loose line. I then tied the rope around his neck so I wasn't holding him at all. I had him also trot then imediately stop and he kind of slid to a stop a couple of times lol. I also got him straight into a trot from standing still. To me this is a great accomplishment. Before when leading he either wouldn't trot or when he did he was hard to stop. His shoulder stayed in line with my shoulder just about the whole time. I just need to start doing it in larger areas now. I'm so happy about it.

11th July

Sorry this is going to be a very cut down post I am really tired.

Both boys lunged very well. Apache was very good and quite eager to actually trot and canter today so that was good. My instructor also had a go at jumping him and he was a little lazy about it but otherwise great.

I worked with sam a bit on his trotting. I was riding him around and decided not to work on walk/ trot transitions because that sometimes turns into fights and he was being quite rushy today. I just trotted him for awhile and did A LOT of turning. Heaps of circles constantly changing directions, going around cones set in a pattern and changing the direction I was going in. I also would turn him to go somewhere then within a few strides would just change direction to whatever popped in my head. After awhile he really started to slow down and listen to me. Near the end of it he was really starting to flex at the poll (sp?) which is a big step for him and working from behind. Ialso wasn't holding him that way, I had the reins quite loose, he was just holding himself like that. I was really happy. My instructor says he hardly looks like the same horse that she first saw who would simply race from one end of the paddock to the other. She said we have improved a lot. Well hopefully I'll have more to add tomorrow with pictures.

22nd July

I have been forgeting to add updates to this. I will just say a couple of things for the 20th July because I had a lesson the other day. I rode my instructors horse who is a bit of a twirp. He bucks, nothing huge but they can get pretty decent when he feels like it. Well he intimidates me a little bit but whenever I finish riding him I feel a little bit more confident. The rest of my ride was pretty good but when we were walking out to the paddock we were going to ride in he bucked. I have no idea why but he did. I ride him in a western saddle because it's the only one that fits him. I land on the front of it so now I had bruised thighs. I then had a little ride on her daughters spunky little pony 'Paulie', it was great.


Ok today I am getting the flu but it was the first time in over a week that I actually got to ride my horses because of weather and not being home. It was great I just went for a bareback ride on the two boys. I got on Sammy and did a heap of trotting with him, it was very comfortable to sit to. He is coming much more consistent with his trotting. It was awesome, he was very calm not lazy but not rushy/bracing either. I then got on Apache, this was the first time he has been ridden bareback since I got him, I was told he is good bareback though. I only walked on him because I wasn't in the mood to poosibly fall off because of his really bouncy trot and I also discovered he has a really boney back compared to Sammy. He was really lazy and kept trying to stop but was otherwise good. I did around the world on him while my mum held him (I had needed her help to get on him hehe), I also layed down on him. He was very calm about it all and mum said he had look on his face like what the hell are you doing up there hehe. Anyway I had a good afternoon, hopefully I will ride tomorrow and get pictures of a video as well.

30th July

Well today was great it wasn't a super long ride but it was fun. I caught sammy from the far end of the paddock hehe he tried to run away. I then saddled him up and my sister got on. I lunged him with my sister on him just so if she did lose control I had him. Last time he took off on her. He was pretty good apart from he kept shaking his head around and pulling his head therefore pulling her forward. She trotted a little bit on him but got nervous because he has quite a forward trot. They walked around for a bit longer then I got on. I had cones set up so I could have something to direct me to keep him in a circle. I walked around a bit and trotted a bit in both directions. I just did that over and over, keeping him out of the circle which we had a couple of mild discussions about when he wanted to go into the middle. He was pretty good apart from shaking his head a fair bit. If he keeps it up I might call the dentist to see him early. I have a couple of pictures to share .

13th August

I haven't been able to ride my horses for awhile because they have had a few problems. I did have a little bareback ride on both of the boys yesterday though.

Today however I had a ride on my riding instructor's daughter's pony. He is an adorable little pony she only has one horse and I only ride him occasionally because he intimidates me a little bit hehe. Anyway I now feel like jelly because I haven't had a good ride in a long time. We were just walking and trotting around for awhile. Then we started cantering and he is very smooth to ride but he does buck out of excitement sometimes. She said as long as you hold his head up he won't buck and he even try to buck once while I was riding him. Her daughter and Paulie (the pony) often have little arguements when they ride.

His canter can get very fast but still smooth sometimes and he starts to ignore you a little bit when you ask him to stop. Simply giving him a little reminder was enough to slow him down and bring his attention back to you. The longer I was riding him the more consistent he became with his canter.

I also had a little go at jumping him the was ... interesting hehe. First we just went a little log that I thought he was at most going to do a little hop over. Well I was mistaken, though my instructor did warn me. He massively overjumped and I got a bit left behind. This is only a 12-12.2hh pony. We went over a that log a couple more times and by the end I wasn't being left behind. We then went over a slightly bigger log once and he jumped like before, though I was expecting him to jump even bigger. It was great fun. I am really happy with today he is a chubby little pony and a lot of fun.I am really a bit tall for him but oh well I only ride him a little bit occassionally and he can take me for those little rides.

I have a photo of his cute little face in the one of the paddocks we were riding in to share. He makes me sometimes wish I had gotten a pony but oh well I skipped straight to horses .

17th August

I wish I had gotten some pictures of today. I had a lesson on Sammy,he was being a bit naughty and kept opening his mouth and putting his nose to the ground. I'm not good at describing things. At first I thought I was using too much contact like in the picture above of me riding him but today I had completely loose reins, there was an obvious loop in the reins.

My instructor said he was just testing to see what he could get away with because he has been checked recently and it wouldn't have been pain. I just let him no that wasn't appropriate and by the end of my ride he pretty much wasn't doing it anymore.

We did a lot of trotting around in circles and figure eights. He was trying to cut in a bit to my instructor but otherwise kept a nice pace. He only occasionally sped up a little or tried to stop. I didn't have to use the reins to fix this at all my seat was enough which I am very happy about. Just about the whole time I had a slight loop in my reins which is a big step because any time I used to give sam his head at all he would just go racing off.

He was even dropping his nose and collecting up by himself a bit which was awesome because I wasn't focusing on this at all it was simply a plus during the ride. I felt him working from behind and getting himself in a nice frame a few times, I wasn't pulling him into a frame because I didn't even really have contact with his mouth at all as there was a loop in the reins.

We then went out into the larger paddock because he was being very calm and normally as the space to run grows the more excited he gets and the more he starts rushing. I was doing more circles around my instructor and he was doing almost perfect circles nearly the whole time which is a big thing for him. We were also doing figure eights around my instructor and pepper who was in the paddock. She kept looking at us like weirdos as we circled her lol. We then did some firgure eights around a couple of trees in an area of the paddock which has pretty uneven ground.

It may not seem like much but I feel like we have really come a long way. I can feel the difference in us both when I ride him. The next step is working on his canter as he gets fitter. My instructor says we have changed a lot since she first met us. Originally we just went full speed from one end of the paddock to the other with me just sitting for the ride and him doing pretty much whatever he wanted. Now she said we are really working more like a team; I am actually riding instead of being a passanger and he is listening to me. I am so happy with how far we have come over the past year even if we still have a fair way to go.

23rd August

Ok I went for a bit of a bareback ride on both of the boys this afternoon.

First I got on Apache who at first was being lazy as usual. I had a surcingle(sp?) on him and was just mucking around then I thought what the hell. I thought I would have a go at trotting on him since I had a pad to soften his withers hehe and I had a bit of bailing twine to hold onto. I asked him and he gave a little crowhop then went to stop. I kept him walking but didn't ask him to trot because I didn't want to fall off because he has a bouncy trot and I was bareback. I walked around for awhile longer and worked on a bit of backing up. He was pretty good even getting quite forward with his walk which is good for him because he is normally lazy.

I then had a ride on Sammy. I worked on circles a bit at a trot. I had a bit of an owie moment when he pulled me forward onto his withers sharply lol. He kept pulling his head down, I don't think he was enjoying the noseband etc on the bridle. After awhile he stopped doing it though. I trotted him around a bit in both directions which was fun. I had the bailing twine to hold onto when he got too bouncy which was a big help. It was a great ride.

Here a some pictures of the boys afterwards.

22nd September

Oh my gosh I can't believe how lazy I have gotten, it has been over a month since I last wrote in here. I have been riding a lot especially this week.

I am only going to talk about this afternoon though. Just about all of this week I have been riding Sammy bareback; walk and trot stuff. It has been fun. This afternoon I was really working on my balance while trotting. I was having a bit of trouble just because sam kept changing his pace in one direction and cutting corners, etc. I did manage to get a few good walking circles and one trotting circle in that particular direction which made me happy. In the opposite direction he behaved really well. We then went for a walk down the other end of the paddock where it is more open and did some figure eights. He was pretty much not cutting at all and was almost completely working off my legs. I am having to use the reins much less. This was all at a walk and I am very happy with him. When I first started riding him he would not do circles. His stops are also getting much better and a lot more consistent.

I also had a couple of barrels set up and logs for us to walk through and around. I wasn't expecting him to play up and he didn't which was good. I backed him up between the sticks too just about perfectly straight which is great for us. Tomorrow I have a lesson which I am riding Apache in I hope that goes well. I also have a picture from yesterday of Sammy in his new bridle.

23rd September

I really wish I had photos of my ride today. It was really good aside from the fact that I was riding with a sore twisted ankle. It made it really hard to get on and off the heap of times that I had to and trotting hurt after awhile.

I lunged Apache beforehand just to see his mood and he behaved really well. We then mounted and road along the road which was freaky with apache not speeding up when we had to cross the road and a car came quicker then I thought. Almost the whole ride we were either dawdling along way behind sammy or trotting to catch up. It was fun but he loves to talk to the horses we go past so kept loosing concentration and falling behind.

We also rode past the shooting range which was great it was super loud but neither of the boys played up. They were alert but that was all. I am very proud of them. We kept walking and trotting along and Apache kept talking to all the horses/ponies we rode past. We the ngot back out of the road to go back to my house and we went past a couple of stallions.

That was interesting because the stallions didn't do anything but Apache got really angry and was prancing around snaking is head up. I thought he was going to have a go at one of them through the fence but I yelled at him and he settled down enough to walk past without doing anything.

We got just about all the way home when he kept playing up and because we were next to the road and I have a sore ankle we swapped horses so that I coudld ride sammy the last few hundred metres.

When we got home we went into the paddock and I cantered on Apache for the first time ever and it was fun!!! I am so happy he didn't do anything wrong he was just lazy about it as always and it was really comfortable like a rocking chair it was awesome. I can't wait to do it again.

I am on a high now hehe. I can't wait for my next ride on him with cantering. I hope to get pictures too. I can feel my confidence growing yay!!!!!