War es schon einen Monat her?
It feels like it's already been a month since the 1st. Holy cow.
Jasper is getting used to the surcingle and his bridle. He started out being a bit suspicious of the surcingle and would wiggle and dance a bit as I'd lift it and set it over. Today I took him to the roundpen and we spent some time oogling the tarped hay pile. He did finally touch it before walking past. We did a very brief lungeing with the surcingle, asked for a couple trots (less than one circle each time) and repeated until he trotted sensibly instead of shaking his head and cantering and bounding off.
I think he is about ready for the long lines as I played with that briefly today.
He is doing pretty well with getting his head down to do things. Hopefully as he gets taller he gets better at putting it down even lower! Right now he's pretty good about getting level, but doesn't always want to stay below his withers. He sticked at 15 hands and a half inch this week and hopefully that means he will settle around 17 hands (fingers crossed not much taller!). He's about nine months old now.
The bridle I'm using is my bit hanger that I had been using on Tru-D repurposed. Kristen had given me a bridle she had used with her Hanoverian stallion Salto that was collecting dust and it fits Tru-D beautifully (need to take a picture for her with it) so the bit hanger was open. Jasper is way to young to consider a bit at this point and I know he will grow out of anything I could possibly buy right now so I acquired one of these "bitless bits" to try out.
I really do like my cross-under Evolution bridles from Moss Rock Endurance, but I don't have a spare, don't really want to buy a spare, and he'll grow out of it anyway so I looked at something else. I had been curious about things like the LG Zaum since they can be added to a normal bridle (which I have several collecting dust...) and while the Star Wheel wasn't quite cheap at $65, it was cheaper than buying a whole bridle and should fit him until he stops growing (even if I have to grab a different headstall at some point).
At the moment I have it set on the sidepull setting. It can also have a mild leverage action if you put the reins in front of the chin strap instead of behind. Jasper is doing well with rein flexions in it, but we'll see how it does with the long lines.
Jasper is pretty funny. He is very sensitive, but not stupid about it. With both the "head down" and rein flexions I can reach my hand for the line and he will give before I even touch it. Draft horses are not dull plugs. He is also really good at moving his haunches and forehand over.
We hooked up the trailer the other day and loaded Jasper. There was a lot of standing and staring at it and taking one step at a time. Pretty much like watching paint dry.
Here's him loading at the end of our 40 minute session, no sound.
Tru-D hadn't seen the trailer in a year.
She stretched completely over the ramp before finally getting in.
She was a little wide-eyed and startled herself once, but after a couple times she walked right in and backed out sensibly while I stood at the door.
Tru-D and I are aiming to get the mail at least twice a week.
This was from the first trip and about 10 seconds before she went Arab on me including vertical tail and loud blowing.
Today's walk was much less exciting, but included a lot of in-hand leg yielding when she was a little excited.
I'm hoping to be able to ride her by the end of the year there and back. Hopefully it's closer rather than farther away as she has a monstrous walk to keep up with.
Tru-D also got officially sticked at 15.1 hands and half an inch. Her front end is taller than her butt now (yay!).
I also got a measuring stick for Christmas. I will measure ALL THE HORSES now! Kash is 14.3(.5), and Kitt is 14.1(.5). Apparently my horses don't quite want to be an even number and like sneaking in that extra half inch.
I think we will retake this picture annually. I suspect over the next three or four years the stop sign in the background will disappear.
Sue and Henry were both sick this week so I rode Bud out. He was a bit of a goober about the garbage truck and we got the opportunity to both chase and pass it several times and managed to get him better about it. I did get my baseline two-point time:
January 5th: 3:50
I was able to do 12 minutes a couple years ago so I have a bit of rebuilding to do. I need to get my baseline for other exercises to I can compare what I can do now to the end of the year. 30 squats on my own are no problem (one set of 20, one of 10). So I need: squats, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, leg lifts (side, crossed, and front), sit-ups, plank time. That will be the task for next week.
I also need to get out my Yoga pose cards and get a basic routine going. It'll be easier to have a set of cards and change them out monthly rather than going through the whole deck each time (it will also keep little mean from spreading them everywhere).
I think that is about it for the moment!
Jasper is getting used to the surcingle and his bridle. He started out being a bit suspicious of the surcingle and would wiggle and dance a bit as I'd lift it and set it over. Today I took him to the roundpen and we spent some time oogling the tarped hay pile. He did finally touch it before walking past. We did a very brief lungeing with the surcingle, asked for a couple trots (less than one circle each time) and repeated until he trotted sensibly instead of shaking his head and cantering and bounding off.
I think he is about ready for the long lines as I played with that briefly today.
He is doing pretty well with getting his head down to do things. Hopefully as he gets taller he gets better at putting it down even lower! Right now he's pretty good about getting level, but doesn't always want to stay below his withers. He sticked at 15 hands and a half inch this week and hopefully that means he will settle around 17 hands (fingers crossed not much taller!). He's about nine months old now.
The bridle I'm using is my bit hanger that I had been using on Tru-D repurposed. Kristen had given me a bridle she had used with her Hanoverian stallion Salto that was collecting dust and it fits Tru-D beautifully (need to take a picture for her with it) so the bit hanger was open. Jasper is way to young to consider a bit at this point and I know he will grow out of anything I could possibly buy right now so I acquired one of these "bitless bits" to try out.
I really do like my cross-under Evolution bridles from Moss Rock Endurance, but I don't have a spare, don't really want to buy a spare, and he'll grow out of it anyway so I looked at something else. I had been curious about things like the LG Zaum since they can be added to a normal bridle (which I have several collecting dust...) and while the Star Wheel wasn't quite cheap at $65, it was cheaper than buying a whole bridle and should fit him until he stops growing (even if I have to grab a different headstall at some point).
At the moment I have it set on the sidepull setting. It can also have a mild leverage action if you put the reins in front of the chin strap instead of behind. Jasper is doing well with rein flexions in it, but we'll see how it does with the long lines.
Jasper is pretty funny. He is very sensitive, but not stupid about it. With both the "head down" and rein flexions I can reach my hand for the line and he will give before I even touch it. Draft horses are not dull plugs. He is also really good at moving his haunches and forehand over.
We hooked up the trailer the other day and loaded Jasper. There was a lot of standing and staring at it and taking one step at a time. Pretty much like watching paint dry.
Here's him loading at the end of our 40 minute session, no sound.
Click to viewTru-D hadn't seen the trailer in a year.
She stretched completely over the ramp before finally getting in.
She was a little wide-eyed and startled herself once, but after a couple times she walked right in and backed out sensibly while I stood at the door.
Tru-D and I are aiming to get the mail at least twice a week.
This was from the first trip and about 10 seconds before she went Arab on me including vertical tail and loud blowing.
Today's walk was much less exciting, but included a lot of in-hand leg yielding when she was a little excited.
I'm hoping to be able to ride her by the end of the year there and back. Hopefully it's closer rather than farther away as she has a monstrous walk to keep up with.
Tru-D also got officially sticked at 15.1 hands and half an inch. Her front end is taller than her butt now (yay!).
I also got a measuring stick for Christmas. I will measure ALL THE HORSES now! Kash is 14.3(.5), and Kitt is 14.1(.5). Apparently my horses don't quite want to be an even number and like sneaking in that extra half inch.
I think we will retake this picture annually. I suspect over the next three or four years the stop sign in the background will disappear.
Sue and Henry were both sick this week so I rode Bud out. He was a bit of a goober about the garbage truck and we got the opportunity to both chase and pass it several times and managed to get him better about it. I did get my baseline two-point time:
January 5th: 3:50
I was able to do 12 minutes a couple years ago so I have a bit of rebuilding to do. I need to get my baseline for other exercises to I can compare what I can do now to the end of the year. 30 squats on my own are no problem (one set of 20, one of 10). So I need: squats, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, leg lifts (side, crossed, and front), sit-ups, plank time. That will be the task for next week.
I also need to get out my Yoga pose cards and get a basic routine going. It'll be easier to have a set of cards and change them out monthly rather than going through the whole deck each time (it will also keep little mean from spreading them everywhere).
I think that is about it for the moment!