How to Lunge a Dragon

Yesterday miss Ava decided to act like a little dragon.

On our way to the arena all the other horses came running up which triggered Ava's dragon mode. She would snort, prance, and lift her tail like an Arabian. I didn't get after her much on this, I kind of let her speak her mind and if she got too pushy I would remind her that that is not tolerable. And although she was being a dragon she wasn't really being a dangerous one. She didn't run me over or pull on me, which was great.

Once we got inside the round pen I first let her look around (first time!). After a few minutes I started giving her direction and within ten minutes she was calming down and looking to me for safety and rest.

Today we did the same routine. Only, when walking down the arena Ava didn't go into dragon mode, she would stop often but after we were more than half way there she quit. And in the round pen she first had lots of energy but after giving her guidance she actually started lowering her head and calming down, despite the wind!

For some reason it has been easier to show my body language to her, I feel as though I can understand things better and get what I want with less and less effort. It is quite an amazing thing.

She did much better than I could have hoped. So, afterwards I rewarded her with some grain.

Ava trotting after me for a treat

Two shadowed girls

Nom

"Easy There Unsteady Betty!"

It has been hard adapting to being outside all the time instead of going into the nice cozy insulated, heated indoor arena. It's definitely not fun when it is cold and windy.

I started Ava's day with some grain, carrots, and even tried a couple bananas (which she despised!). I then haltered her and headed down the long path to the working arena. On our way down there she was breathing surprisingly hard and would stop frequently. Once we got to the arena I started by walking her around it, threw the rope over her a little and once I thought she was calm enough I let her lunge a bit. She was horrible in the beginning. Tossing her head, rearing, pulling, slight bucks, and excessive speed. I stayed as calm as possible and gave her the benefit of the doubt but when she got a little too forceful with her nonsense I got after her, hard. I don't mind some goofiness but when it becomes too excessive I have no tolerance for it. After that her mood was better, not completely, but better. I made her move her feet a lot, making sure I wasn't being too agressive, almost trying to make a game out of it. After she calmed dramatically I actually got her to calmly canter on the lunge (good girl!!). I then finished with some desensitization.

After getting back to the pasture I began to teach Ava how to come. It definitely worked after she was rewarded with a little bit of grain. She still did great though.

I also found a western Wintec saddle at the tack store and brought it over to the new place to try on Ava. It looked great on her and hopefully we can ride in it soon.

Still missing The Ranch but trying to make the best of what we have at the new place.

Sitting, Reading, Waiting

With no mood for riding at the moment I grabbed my book Horses Never Lie by Mark Rashid and headed down to the barn. I hadn't started reading it yet because I have a current obsession with Beautiful Creatures but today I decided to begin. The weather was decent, slightly chilly with a breeze but sitting in the loafing shed soaking up sun definitely made it better. I ignored the horses, I'm also working on my Undemanding Time with them. They were all frisky because there were some new cows in the back pasture that were supposedly trying to spook them. I opened my book and was hooked the moment I read the first sentence. Rashid did a great job writing this, I love how non-fiction can be written in a story kind of way, it is my favorite. I am not sure how long I read for but it must have been at least thirty minutes (for Undemanding Time the minimum requirement is 30mins) and the only reason I left is because someone was going to drag the pastures. It was a very nice time and definitely lifted my spirits for the time being.

As I was leaving I was still ignoring the girls but then Ava started to move in weird direction and ended up following right up next to me. Even Poco came over for a hello. I gave both of them some strokes and scratches then told them goodbye. For all the people who don't believe that natural horsemanship really works then well, your loss... I definitely believe in this "fluffy bunny foo foo bullsh**" as I've heard it said before, it, without a doubt, works. I am a believer! I don't care what no one says, horses never lie!

Is Your Horse Listening to You?

I found this great article from America's Horse Daily about how to tell if your horse is listening to you. Check it out!

Is Your Horse Listening?

Firefly

Today Ava was moved into a pen with another horse! The horse had an individual pen next to Ava's and from the get go they became great friends. So, we decided to move them into a pen together. They acted like they have known each other for their whole lives and they don't pick on each other either (which is weird for Ava.) I was really happy for Ava, she needs a good friend while Poco is off being trained. This horse's name is Firefly and her owner is also a friend of mine which is even more wonderful.

The new pen is huge. It will be really nice for them to have a more space. Although they won't be staying in that paddock for long, they are almost finished building a new set of horse pens and said that Firefly and Ava will be moved in there after they're done, can't wait to show you guys!

 I'm not the best photographer ;)

Already sharing their hay!

Letting Them Be Horses...

This post really made me think [click this]. It explains everything! For the past year Ava has not been her old self which was sweet, calm, and not bucky. I always thought it was because something was wrong with her feet, she was in pain, or because we tried endurance one summer (which was not a good choice.) But after reading that article it makes complete sense. I haven't been letting her be a horse! When we moved to our new barn in August of 2011 she and her pasture mate Poco were confined to a smaller paddock. All of early summer they had been kept on a large piece of pasture all to themselves. I never would have thought it would affect her mood that much. Although, I never would have thought a lot of things... Anyways, yes, I finally figured out the problem. Ava is stressed from her paddock size. At the moment I can't do anything about it, all of the larger spots are taken for winter but as soon as horses start to leave again for the summer I'm going to have them moved to a larger pen, which will make them much happier. Until then I'm going to be turning them out in the arena as much as possible to keep them sane.

At first they were snorty and easily spooked but that soon wore and were actually happy with their little excursion. So, first new year's resolution (kind of late but oh well,) keep my horse sane!

Horse Dreams

Yesterday I went out to see my girl and found her half way asleep, I sat with her awhile and she eventually started to dream and it was quite interesting. I've seen horses dream before but not like this, her movements were quite dramatic and nothing I've seen before, it was quite the scene!

Dreams have always been an interest of mine, studying horse dreams would be very neat.

Take a look at the video of Ava dreaming, you may just get a kick out of it.