Another day, no time to think!

I've been so crazy  busy all day, that I haven't had much time to work on anything at home.  I was at work from 7:30am-6:30pm, watching/participating in a saddle fitting on the horses at work, and then in a meeting.  I got home and was completely exhausted, but I knew I needed to work with Pistol.  So... I went to grab him, and he did a nice job haltering.  That is something I am just so incredibly proud of. :D  We worked on some stick to me over to a figure 8 pattern.  I played with the figure 8 pattern until he did 2 nice circles on his own, and passed through the middle without pinning his ears.  Once I stopped him, he started licking and chewing.  Then I went to work on sideways, because that game needs tons of work.  I started on the fence, and discovered that going left, with me standing on his right side, goes beautifully, but the opposite side is horrendous.  We worked on that a bit, with me trying to push Pistol just enough to motivate him without actually pushing him.  He got frustrated and kept backing up from the fence, so I took him out away from it and asked for sideways without a fence.  Once he got a couple good steps sideways, I stopped, and got more licking and chewing. I went outside to work on circling on a surface with some give, and got some really nice circles at a walk and trot.  Pistol still has a bit of an issue with cantering, either he bolts off and loses focus, or he turns it into a trot.  So I've been working on that, but because it was so hot, I didn't push him to do much trotting or cantering.  We headed over towards the trailer in the backyard, because I was going to work on saddling again.  However, something came up.  As we rounded the house, Pistol noticed the gap in the porch covering underneath the deck, and the air conditioner was on!  TWO scary things in ONE spot!  So we had to do some approach and retreat with the gap under the deck and the air conditioner.  Once he walked up and touched the air conditioner with his nose, he noticed a GIANT spider next to it, and wanted nothing to do with that!  I didnt blame him because I didnt either!!  It was getting pretty late, the sun was already setting, so I bagged the idea of saddling tonight and figured I would work on it tomorrow.  I came back and looked at the spider, which is literally the size of my palm and black and yellow, and according to google, it is a non poisonous zipper spider.  I decided I didnt care though, I didnt want it living right outside my bedroom window!!!!  I cant stand spiders.

I forgot to mention, I recently joined Giddyupflix.com, and rented L&HB from them.  DVD number 5 came today, which I ordered first, because of the trailer loading demo.  I dont believe I will have time to order all of them before I leave, so I'm watching the ones I need most right now, and will watch the whole set in order another time.  I'm super excited though to be watching this. :D

a really good day

It was a really good day today with Pistol  We did some easy circling work, and I got some really nice trotting from him, very rounded and collected, and some really pretty changes of direction. Being a LBE, he had to throw in some bucks, but I've learned not to react, because then he thinks I'm fighting with him. If I just ignore it, he does his thing and moves on, and besides, I dont mind him being a bit cheeky. I think he's funny most of the time. :D We got in the trailer again to eat dinner, and he was super cute about it. Plus later when I went to shut the pasture gate, he started running around me at liberty and wanting to play, and almost playing tag with me. He would run in circles, and as soon as he looked at me, I disengaged him, and he whipped around, looked at me, and then did a little "cutting horse" moves and started running in a circle bucking again. I waited during most of this, just encouraging him occasionally, and pretty soon he got his exuberance out, and came in for a scratch. He even started scratching me while I scratched him. What a cutie.

What a great way to end my day...

Half way there, but after this he did hop right in his trailer(off camera of course!!).  This is after 6 days of not working with the trailer at all because we were fixing the brakes.  I'm so proud of him!

Whatever I'm doing is working...

Seriously, I didnt exactly have a great play session today, Pistol seemed pretty unhappy during parts of it. BUT... later tonight when I went to shut his pasture gate, he came up to me, and got really cuddly. He stuck his head right in my arms and when I started petting him he closed his eyes and leaned on me. It was adorable!! And then he noticed my flashlight, so he wanted to play with it. I let him for a bit, but then he tried to bite it and I was afraid he would break it, so I gently took it away from him. He started nuzzling my hand, and I held my palm out for him, and he starting flapping his lips on it and licking it. That's a wierd little thing he does sometimes that seems to really calm him or soothe him, he closes his eyes and just stands there. And then, here's the best part: He turned his face over to mine, and rested his muzzle on my cheek!! It was a huge trust thing for both of us, because I didn't push him away, and he didn't bite me, and it was just adorable!! It definitely made up for earlier today, and convinced me that even though today was a bit rough, he is still on board for the journey.

R.I.P. Big Green Ball...

Just after this, he somehow managed to POP the ball!! 

Trailer Simulations

I've been busy all day, so I just now got out to play with Pistol, even though he has been hanging around waiting all day.  He has a little routine, and he doesnt like it when I mess it up.  I go out and feed him, then he moseys out into his pasture to eat for awhile, and then he comes back in and wants to play.  Now I used to be able to play with him in the morning and at night, but then I got busy with work, and have only been able to play with him once a day.  So today I got out there, and he was happy to see me, especially when I started scratching him.  He even turned around and started scratching me.  Once he was in the mood, I put his halter on, and practiced driving from zone 3/4 on the right side.  That is the harder side for both of us, and I realize I need to work on it more than I have been to get it better.  So we did some driving out to the front lawn, and then I played around with the rock slide pattern with him.  He got it perfectly the second time at a walk, so I left it alone and moved on to circles again.  After just a couple laps he relaxed and gave me a really beautiful rounded trot with the rope dragging on the ground all the way around the circle, so I brought him in and scratched him, and then sent him out to the right.  This time he got a bit cheeky with me, deciding to run and buck.  So I let him for a little bit, and then added my 4 ounces to it, and pretty soon he said "can I please walk?"  Then I asked him for a trot again, and this time he did a beautiful circle to the right with a rounded body and the rope on the ground, so I started traveling.  He did great with that too, until we reached a scary spot.  So we had to do some approach and retreat with the whole area, because there were several scary trees and plants and a porch that might eat him.  Then we headed for the back yard, and my grandpa started to mow the lawn.  Not a big deal, I thought, Pistol can deal with it.  And sure enough, he dealt with it just fine.  There is a big bush in the back yard that I had Pistol back up to as practice for when the trailer doors close behind him.  It took a bit, because he would get so far, and then scootch his butt so it went away from the bush.  After the first time, I knew where his threshold was, and didnt ask him to go further.  I brought him back, yo-yo-ed him again, and he took a step closer.  A little more of that, and he had his tail in the bush.  I waited, and pretty soon he started licking and chewing.  Woo-hoo!!  Just then, my grandpa drove by on the mower, and Pistol had to go investigate it.  So I did some more zone 3 driving back to the pen, shut the gate, and had Pistol back up to that.  He got it much quicker that time, and I rewarded him with lots of scratches, and removed his halter.  I think tomorrow if all goes well, I will see if I can ride him.  I did all his preflight checks again today, and he passed them all.  He was so soft, I really wanted to get on him today, but I knew I wasn't ready for it.  Tomorrow I'm going to get a pair of boots, which is a long story, but when the store finally sent them to me, they sent the wrong size, so I have to go back tomorrow and get the right size, and I will feel better about riding in boots.  Silly, I know, but still.  One can't be a cowboy in tennis shoes. :D

circling game and exploring

I've been working with Pistol on the circling game a bit, because he's been having some wierd issues with it lately. I think its because I've been working with him on trailer loading. Its created some problems in the circling game now, mostly bolting on the send and not paying attention/tipping the nose outward. So I've been playing with him in my front yard, because that has a different feel than his pen. Its much more cushiony, and has a better "give" to it, so its more similar to what an arena would be, instead of the rock hard ground in his pen. Today I really got in depth on the circle, because he was getting so "bad" about it. I had to constantly do a pattern interrupt, and keep his focus. It took FOREVER, and quite a few bucks/rears, but finally at the end, he was doing a BEAUTIFUL circle with his nose tipped in, 1 ear on me, rope dragging on the ground and a nice rounded gait. I was so proud of him, I know it was rough, but he finally figured it out, and started licking and chewing. We practiced the rock slide pattern that was discussed on the savvy club forum, because at some point I'm planning on doing some cutting/reining/roping type stuff with Pistol. He really gets it, and seems to really love it, and constantly wants to do it FAST! :D Silly boy. He's so cute when he figures a pattern out.








Once we worked on the rock slide pattern and he was doing it correctly and licking and chewing, I started walking around with him and driving from zone 3/4. We walked all around the edge of the front lawn, which has all sorts of interesting decorative plants for Pistol to investigate. He's never seen much of anything that wouldnt be around a normal barn, so anywhere I take him, there's something new and exciting for him to look at. Today, that new and exciting thing was the yellow line in the middle of the road. Now mind you, I dont want him walking in the road, I have NO plans of riding him on the road, but I also didnt want to discourage his curiousity. So... we examined the yellow line. I had to do some approach and retreat with him because he got a little scared of the road(its a different material that he's never seen before). Just like when I first got him, he had never walked on asphalt before. He got out there, and sniffed the line, wiggled his lips on it, and stuck his hoof on it like "so THERE!" He was so adorable doing it. And of course once we had investigated it, he was done and ready for his grain.