Thank you to everyone who was here helping today. It was a good day on the farm. Although, I am down and out with a nasty head cold. As a result there hasn't been much riding happening the last couple of days. My sense of balance is way off. I did ground drive Jake today, which resulted in him bolting down the road to create a bit of excitement. He then promptly went back to work and was very willing to the bit. I drove him down the forest trails. He is good at the walk and starting to understand the bit pressure. I'll have to put him in the arena to work the trot on line.
The girls who will be showing next weekend had a lesson this morning, and all did very well. I know Nicole will feel more settled when her new horse arrives tomorrow. I think Paula and Jack are ready for the 2'6" classes. Things really seemed to click for them today. They worked on the roll backs today. Things were good, but Paula realized that she is really going to need to communicate to Jack where the next fence is in advance.
We had two horses come galloping up the drive today with saddles, but no riders. A bit of a scary moment until I learned that they bolted before anyone had a chance to get on.
I want to say a special thank you to Mark for all his work around the farm today. It was really a treat to get to know you better today. I look forward to learning from your constant support and cheerleading.
I had written and posted a couple of days ago, but apparently it didn't save. Here is a special treat to motivate all of you to go ride. Here is a degree of partnership we should all aspire too.
Thank you Emily for sending this to me.
You can find out more at http://www.westfallhorsemanhip.com/
I found my lost post from the 21st. I'm still getting used to this technology thing. For those who were looking for the training updates from early in the week here you go. This should have been posted 1/21/08
The kids were out of school today. We started the day with a lesson for the girls going to the show in 10 days. It was the first time Gia jumped a course with Jessie. They did very well, and should be ready for the show. Jessie has great leads as long as Gia can get her deep enough in to the corners. Nicole helped immensely today by schooling a horse I'm looking at as a lesson horse. The horse isn't going to work out, but she really challenged Nicole's confidence. Nicole came out the other side very well. She made a lot of correction to her position, and hung in there when her nerves almost got the best of her. Then finally Paula tried a course at her show height today for the first time. She and Jack did very well. Although Jack might have done a bit more than Paula. Jack took the opportunity to teach Paula how to tell him when it's time to take off. Paula pulled it all together just in time for one final go round. It's been an amazing journey to see how Jack has helped Paula come into her own. Hopefully it will continue to come together before the horseshow. Stay tuned for the show results.
Sierra-- I worked Sierra in the roundpen today with side reins to start developing her headset and top line. She works very well in the round pen. I'd like to see her slow down her canter just a bit. I then hopped on her to work some circles to improve her steering. She continued to resist the bend and had some small hops, and inverted resistance. She did work on several circles for about 20 minutes. She had a more balanced trot today, and allowed me a few short spurts of sitting trot.
Jake-- A potential adopter came to look at Jake today. He was quite the gentleman. Hopefully he will have a new home soon. I'll anxiously await the call to let me know what they thought.
Rizzie-- The farrier came and so Rizzie had an intensive training session with his feet.
I won't likely get very much training completed tomorrow, so it may be Wed before I post again.
It's been raining buckets here all week. I'm actually running out of indoor projects to tackle. I've updated the book keeping, finished my monthly invoices, and even caught the website up to date. I've had it in the back of mind to get a blog going, so here it goes. I'm sending out an e-mail announcement to as many of you that are affilitated with the barn, as I can find addresses for. If you're here I'm guessing that's how you found this.
It's my intention to try and use this blog to post updates for horses in training, barn announcements, show reports, and the like. Please check back often. If there is anything of interest you stumble across on the web that you think I should include please forward it to me.
Now I need to find my camera so I can make this interesting.
We have several events coming up that you will be able to find us at. If you're up for a day out we'd love to have you come join us.
Feb 2 and 3 Pinto Show at Mullet Hall http://www.scptha.com/
Feb 9 Beach Ride at Myrtle Beach (mildly tentative)
Feb 23 and 24 Pinto Show at Mullet Hall http://www.scptha.com/
I'm going to try and post training reports every few days. I will try to refer to each horse both by the name we call them by as well as things they might have been known by formerly.
Sierra (Sienna)-- Sierra is here for training. She belongs to USERL. 
She is available
for adoption through their program. I was expecting her to take quite a bit of
ground work to establish a trusting relationship enough to let me on her back. But, man was I wrong. She was very warm and receptive during grooming and
had a solid ground work education. So, I through common sense to the wind and
hopped on her. She was very insecure under saddle, and wasn't sure she understood the bit. We walked and trotted for about 20 minutes without event. She even splashed in some puddles with me. I'll give her a couple of days and we'll go again.
Jessie (Just My Size)--Jessie is a medium pony that is green, but will be starting her show career in two weeks. We have been working on Jessie walking through water, and made big progress today. We are also working on her cantering in circles. She would much rather just charge around on the rail and race towards the gate. Jessie has a very busy mind, and needs to be worked on a regular basis. I probalby won't have another Jessie report until after the show.
Rizzie (Risen Son)-- Rizzie is one of the two resident babies on the farm. He's the only one that is "mine". Several days ago Rizzie skinned up his hocks. We've been treating him with a topical ointment, but he hasn't been very happy about it. As a result he has become a little difficult to catch lately. Kate who helps with some of the training on the farm was here today and worked with him both being handled as well as on the lunge line.
Rosie--Rosie belongs to one of my boarders and is up for sale right now. Kate has been working with her the last several weeks, and has gotten her on the bit very nicely. Pictures will be coming soon.
