Crimson Rose Training Journal

[Crimson Rose]

Pictures from today's rainy day fun. I made some homemade horse flax treats, which the ponies liked, especially Ella; and took Bliss on a short walk. Bliss then put on a show for me bucking and running around the pasture.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Since it is too rainy to do anything with the ponies except feed them treats and fill their hay net, I decided to create posts on Facebook with all their old pictures that I could find, and also pictures and information on their bloodlines. The images would take forever on my rural internet to post here, but I will post a few of my favorites.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Round two of rainy day pony training treat testing! This recipe is free on the Horse Tricks 101 website

The Horse Flax Snacks from a few days ago were a huge hit with Ella, but Bliss only wants one or two then says no more, so they won't work for training with her. Ella greatly enjoyed the rest of them though, and since she is working on gaining weight back, they are great for her!

 

[Crimson Rose]

Pray for me as I attempt to take halter pictures this month

 

[Crimson Rose]

Soaking up the sun

 

[Crimson Rose]

Today, I was finally able to get back to training! I taught Bliss calm default or treat manners while being loosely tied, and gave her timothy pellets as the reward. She has been having difficulty standing still being tied, so I used this as a teaching session to work on both at once. She did really well, and caught on quick to standing still with her head forward or away from me to get rewarded. I then took her on a short grazing walk. Then I took Ella out for a grazing walk as well.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Today was absolutely beautiful. So warm and sunny! Perfect day for relaxing with the ponies. I cleaned the dry part of the pasture really well, then took Bliss out for training. We reviewed calm default before adding duration on the behavior up to five seconds, then I also practiced calm default with her untied, and while walking. I then tied her, and used the behavior to walk around her, and then practice calm default from the other side. She did great, and I let her graze for a few minutes before taking her back to the pasture. I gave her a short break, then fitted her show halter to her head, and we reviewed picking up her hooves on cue calmly. I groomed her with her favorite curry comb, and then we just relaxed in the sun.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Happy Birthday to Caballero's Elegant Beauty (Ella)! She turns 15 years old today

 

[HersheyMint]

Happy Birthday to Caballero's Elegant Beauty (Ella)! She turns 15 years old today

Happy Birthday Ella

 

[Crimson Rose]

Today I had a quick session with Bliss, and then I took Ella on a long grazing walk for her birthday, which is her favorite thing to do. I reintroduced Bliss to the target, which she remembered quickly and quite enjoyed getting treats for touching it this time verses just scratches. I was able to raise it to get a good headset with her touching it, lower it to the ground halfway, and also place it behind her chin, all of which she targeted easily. We also reviewed calm default again as well.

At the end of the session, I looked up and one of our neighbors cows had just calved The baby is so tiny adorable

 

[Crimson Rose]

Birthday girl pictures from her grazing walk

 

[HersheyMint]

Today I had a quick session with Bliss, and then I took Ella on a long grazing walk for her birthday, which is her favorite thing to do. I reintroduced Bliss to the target, which she remembered quickly and quite enjoyed getting treats for touching it this time verses just scratches. I was able to raise it to get a good headset with her touching it, lower it to the ground halfway, and also place it behind her chin, all of which she targeted easily. We also reviewed calm default again as well.

At the end of the session, I looked up and one of our neighbors cows had just calved The baby is so tiny adorable

Hello, I'm curious, what is calm default?

 

[Crimson Rose]

Hello, I'm curious, what is calm default?

Calm default is standing still, straight forward, with their head forward, instead of towards me or being worried about the treats, it is how alot of positive reinforcement trainers teach safety and manners around food rewards, so that we are able to use them in training.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Today was a really fun day. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight cool breeze. I started by working with Bliss on calm default while tied, targeting, and staying relaxed. Standing still while being tied is still hard for her, but she is getting better. Who can blame her? She is a ten month old baby that has places to go! LOL! I then worked with her with calm default and being groomed at the same time on both sides. She did well, but wasn't as calm as I would like. We then took a nice long walk all over our property, and she found lots of new things to look at, and check out. Afterwards I created a hay food puzzle for Bliss and Ella to solve using a empty plastic hay bag, empty mineral tub, and branches. They really enjoyed it! For the final I put some carrot baby food on the mineral tub for them to enjoy licking off.

 

[Crimson Rose]

This came up on my FB feed today, so I thought I would share for anyone that is interested

https://www.horsetricks101.com/2015/10/teach-your-horse-treat-manners/
https://www.horsetricks101.com/2010/06/horse-trick-training-some-tips-when-feeding-treats/
https://www.horsetricks101.com/2012/08/10-simple-tricks-to-teach-your-horse/
https://www.horsetricks101.com/2021/03/does-your-horse-come-when-called/

 

[Crimson Rose]

Picture Day! Bliss' February photos for the Online Miniature Horse Show, Online Pony/Mini Horse Show, and Online Horse Show.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Today I had a short session with Bliss. I worked on tying in a new place, touch acceptance on her legs, picking up her hooves, and cleaning and rasping her front hooves. She still needs work on picking up her back hooves, mostly due to learning to balance them. I used scratches and currying as the rewards today. I like to mix up my rewards, and also work on fading them out. I do wear a special hot pink treat pouch to let them know when food rewards are available. I am very proud to say that both Ella and Bliss come up to me to be haltered, and self halter now without any rewards. I use this as a gauge to see if they want to play or go on walks which they love. If they ever choose not to, it let's me know that something could be wrong. I can't wait until I get all of Bliss' husbandry type behaviors taught well, so that we can focus more on beginner Horse Agility obstacles.

 

[Crimson Rose]

The last few days have been spent on quick review, and then nice long relaxing walks. The weather has been so beautiful.

 

[Crimson Rose]

We had a very productive morning. Bliss had her first sponge bath, since she doesn't like water being sprayed on her. She is perfectly fine otherwise with water, and loves to play in her water trough, she just doesn't like it coming towards her. We also worked more on her picking up her feet, and me cleaning them, accepting mane and tail detangler, accepting fly spray, and getting used to the sound of her rhythm beads. The rhythm beads will be used on our walks soon, and they are supposed to be good for calming, helping keep a good cadence, and letting wildlife know we are around. Bliss and I then took a long hour walk all over our property, including going over ditches, mud, rocks, fallen trees, and leaf piles.

 

[Crimson Rose]

Bliss with her beautiful Rhythm-n-Beads