Rosie's Training Journal

[thathorsecrazychick]

Ok so I’ve been putting Rosie in this feild we have right across the road after we work…but I have noticed now she can’t concentrate as well as before because she wants to go over there so bad. So I let her take me over there and put her to work in the field. The only problem with this that the arena and field are far enough apart that this was very tiring today. Should I change my schedule or should I just continue what I was doing today? Or should I just not put her directly over there after working?

 

[Dragon Hill]

The field sounds like a nice reward for a job well done. But if she's not doing her job well I would not put her over there right after working. An occasional bad day I wouldn't worry about, but if she keeps doing it.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Think I figured how to fix the blinkers I had a strap wrong that attached to the over check.. I moved it on the bridle and that helped a ton.

I’ve set up an obstacle course that I’ve had up for 2 days now doing three things with for fun I’ve done in hand, ground driving, and tomorrow I’m going to do liberty. I’m going to try do this more often but it’s a lot getting all the stuff out.

Pic of her in her bridle after I think I’ve figured it out.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Think I figured how to fix the blinkers I had a strap wrong that attached to the over check.. I moved it on the bridle and that helped a ton.

I’ve set up an obstacle course that I’ve had up for 2 days now doing three things with for fun I’ve done in hand, ground driving, and tomorrow I’m going to do liberty. I’m going to try do this more often but it’s a lot getting all the stuff out.

Pic of her in her bridle after I think I’ve figured it out.

That doesn't look exactly right. Something is too tight around her furry ears. It's hard to tweak tack when they are yaks!

 

[Dragon Hill]

My first harness was a nylon one size fits all miniature horses. It never fit right, although I was able to make do with some tweeking. The only way I was able to keep the blinkers away from the eyes was to remove the brow band and wrap a tube around the blinker stays because there were no wires in them.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

My first harness was a nylon one size fits all miniature horses. It never fit right, although I was able to make do with some tweeking. The only way I was able to keep the blinkers away from the eyes was to remove the brow band and wrap a tube around the blinker stays because there were no wires in them.

Oh I see.. it’s better than it was before. I know it’s still to close but I’m scared to try to modify it mess it up and have to buy a new bridle. Right now Rosie will still work in this set up really well. Considering. I’ll just have to see what I can do about it the near future maybe try figuring it out this time being. Did not know I would get into driving and have all these problems but I think it’s worth it in the end

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Today Im just talking to Rosie through my entire liberty session… it was like she was actually understanding me for the most part. Was so liberating! It was so strange this hasn’t happened before I was just talking and I guess doing the cues and other stuff I wasn’t aware I was doing unintentionally. It was so awesome though I’m just talking to her and I could tell she somehow understood for the most part. Reminds me of someone but can’t remember who. Call me crazy if you want but I just knew that she did somewhat understand.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Think I’ve figured out this bridle more. I can bend I was just confused where but I still am trying to figuring some of these straps.

Today I worked on our whoa on the way home because she has a hard time with that so was just going whoa walk on whoa walk on all the way home. I really like this quote.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Today I just did her tail.. replaced the tail bag put some apple cider vinegar in the dock of her tail.. and put my spray in the rest. Her tail has already grown a bit since I’ve had her tail bags

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Ground drive her in her pack for the first time was really fun and for once she was being a little spicy.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

I have a question for you guys.. what do you expect a pony to know before getting in cart. And do they need to know these down to a T almost every time they do what you asked or do you just want them to know the basics and improve their movements and perfect what they know in the cart? Just curious because Rosie is getting better and better at most of what I ask her. I just notice she can be heavy on the turns but when I work on them they get really good so was just curious.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Lately I’ve haven’t worked as much but the last couple days have been fun. Yesterday I was working on her coming when I call her we both had a lot of fun. She was really happy to be getting carrots I think im going to look into positive reinforcement training for tricks and some other handy things like coming when called.
Today we worked on her trotting and turns I noticed she gets tense and goes way faster than she needs to but by the end she slowed to a nice calmer trot so she could understand the cues for turning better.

I realized that I’ve been a little out of it and not paying as much attention to what we’re doing in the moment so that’s just something I’m going have to work on.

I also figured out after doing a bit of research that her harness is a little to big which I’m not to concerned right now. When I finally hook her up to the cart though… any suggestions on how to get a harness that fits?

 

[HersheyMint]

That is awesome that you both are having fun!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Most A size harnesses have quite a lot of adjustment capability. The most critical piece of driving equipment, IMO, is the bridle and bit. The rest can generally be tweaked. I did have to buy a longer girth for mine. And the back strap needed some adjustment. But unless the harness is just totally wrong, you should be able to work with it.
If the A size harness is just too large for her, she might be a little small for driving anyway.
She is such a pretty girl!

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Today we did some ground driving in harness… I have to say though it’s just amazing how far we’ve come since I got her 2 years ago. We worked on her trotting without speeding up to such a speed where I can’t control her. At the very end she seemed to be calming down and responded to my cues wonderfully.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Most of today was really stormy with high winds and rain, it cleared up though so I decided to take Rosie through some deeper puddles. I noticed a while back the last time it rained this bad that she would not go in any deep water. She did amazing! It’s hard to believe she use to be terrified of water. Picture below.
A piece of our sheds roof flew off into the field so I thought might as well use as a temporary obstacle for a little bit. Before we put it back on. Video below

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

It glitched so I’m just adding another picture

 

[1roadtoad]

I watched the video and I have to say, Rosie is a real trooper and sooooo adorable!!

 

[HersheyMint]

She trusts you

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Did some ground driving working on the trot and turning. Only took a couple sessions and she’s already improved. And now doesn’t trot so fast that I can’t keep up. Her turns are also way better.