The PonyPros tell you how we set CinCin and BlueMan up for success on their very first trail ride. Cin is 3 years old and has been under saddle for about 2.5 months. Blue is 7 years old and has been undersaddle for 5 weeks. Both ponies are trained with natural horsemanship and clicker training.
Featuring…
Featuring…
Featuring Penny learning to rear, Ilo practicing her sit, Blue’s first real ride, and Emma riding Cinnamon
Initially I had Blue out just for for an easy day. However, when we came into the arena, he acted very spooky about the stick and string. Silly man. He’s normally very good with it. So, I did the whippings and got him thinking. Then Kae, one of our 12 year old students, needed more info on how to play Hippity Hop, where you lay on the horse’s back. Since I was working with Blue, I asked him to demonstrate, since he’s usually very good. Blue spun around, protesting like he was scared, then nipped at my side. Aha! One big hint that he was actually feigning fear because he was so bored that he had to make up things to entertain himself!
When a horse nips at my side when I’m jumping next to him, it’s usually time to do the first ride. The nipping is an indication that they’re confident enough in their relationship with me that they feel they can express their opinion about things and I won’t eat them alive. Generally nipping is an indication that the horse feels he holds the cards and that the ball is in his court. So, riding will only take their confidence down to a normal level, rather than making them into a scared prey animal.
So, having been nipped at by Blue, a light went on. Mount up. So, I yielded his forehand a few times to make the point that he was not to nose me while I was getting up, and then hopped up and sat on him bareback. Blue took a big sigh and appeared glad something new and interesting was happening (I love ponies, lol). I called Gina over since Blue was supposed to be her first PonyPros colt. I passed Blue off to Gina telling her to open a rein to give him somewhere to go and ignore him when he backed up.
Of course Blue felt the open rein and backed up several times. That’s what colts do. But Gina was patient and persistent, and soon he walked forward like an old pro. They rode about 15-20 min bareback and called it a day.
The next day Gina warmed Blue up with the 7 games, rode him bareback for about 5 minutes, then longed him in the saddle (something he’s familiar with), and then rode him for about 15 min in tack. Blue was amazing, riding all around the arena with kids and ponies every which way. Fortunately Blue tends to get worked with on the craziest days, so he’s very comfortable with a full arena. He got a little gate sour, but even with 3 new visitors standing there watching, I was proud of the job Gina and Blue Man did together.
So many new things today…
I worked with Ilo on her sit. Something we haven’t done in a long time. I pushed the beanbag up to a barrel and had her leaning back on it. Ilo knows “target back” (where she backs up into a hand signal), so I transferred the hand signal onto the beanbag, using it as the target. Once Ilo could rate on the beanbag backwards, she started backing right into it and would offer leaning back with just a little porcupine or driving at less than 4 ounces. I was so proud of her! It was great to see her lowering her haunches with confidence. The beanbag, of course, is sized for 12h ponies, so I couldn’t have her truly try to sit, but we’ll try it again with a hay bale one of these days. The cool part is she has the idea and is stoked on it!
The other thing Ilo and I worked on is her piaffe. It’s really not a piaffe at this stage – I’m just teaching her better proprioception. I wanted to teach her to lift her hind leg straight under her body with confidence. It’s usually hard for horses not to lift it out to the side. So, I transferred the gentle squeeze of the tendon that I use for hoof picking to a light touch on the hind leg, and then transferred that to reaching for a pool noodle under her belly. When I touch the pool noodle to her hoof, she follows the noodle up into an nice expression of movement with the hind leg. Most horses reach for the noodle. Ilo follows it. Her way is always so unique 
Anyway, I’m SO excited about what it has done for her confidence and balance. Just a couple short sessions of this and her hind end has really improved. I she’s happier, too, with her increased flexibility, balance, and awareness. Who wouldn’t be?
Then there was Penny learning to rear. What a riot. Gina had been asking me about rearing since Sam and Q are both trained to do levade and pirouettes. Penny showed the same propensity as QuickDraw and when asked to go sideways, wanted to place her hind feet and lift up. Cool. That could be problematic, but only if you let it be So, after observing Penny’s propensity, Gina and I decided to capture it and transfer it onto a pool noodle.
Thankfully Penny had just learned leg targeting earlier that day, so all we had to do was place the pool noodle in the right position, tease Penny a little, and click and treat when she offered a rear. That little one has amazing balance. She could got into a pesade and pump her legs in unison 3 times rapidly like a little ninja! Most horses have to develop the balance. For Penny, it was easy. She never wobbled or had sloppy forelegs. She kept them in tight except for the time striking at the noodle She even took a few steps on her hind. How wild! We got several pictures of Penny with her pool noodle. We used one that is hot pink and matches her halter, just to be extra ridiculous
Later I remarked to one of the moms that Penny was going to have to learn to do some useful things too and Paula happily stated that she couldn’t be more useful if she tried – “She’s really a pet, after all. Entertaining is her job and she’s really good at it!” Paula is right. Penny is still focusing on the 7 games and lots of groundwork, but we couldn’t miss out on this great opportunity. Plus, just earlier that day, we’d spent an hour clipping her up, and she was a perfect angel. What other 9 month old pony with only 1 month of training would stand untied for an hour to have her face and neck shaved, never having been clipped before? Penny’s just a superstar, thanks to clicker, Parelli, and some awesome breeding.
At the end of the day Emma rode Cinnamon walk/trot for a few minutes in the saddle. Emma was super distracted, some CinCin was pretty lazy for her. That said, I’m happy to see a 3 year old pony opting for lazy instead of hot when paired with a new young rider! CinCin is so handsome that it was easy to capture a couple nice trotting pics.
Naya, age 6, gets to lead QuickDraw around the arena and find out about focus! She learns to give Q a little YoYo whenever he gets too close. QuickDraw, always the clown, helps Naya learn by trying to sneak up and lick her helmet
Cinnamon tries picking up a hulahoop on the ground, so I click and treat him. Soon I can walk backwards, toss the hulahoop between us, and he will bring it to me. Then I ride Cinnamon around the arena and we stop at the hulahoops. One by one, he picks them up and hands them to me, with me sitting on his back!
Les and Koa ride bridleless using a hulahoop in place of a cordeo. Koa sidepasses and jumps the barrels like a pro. Les says he loves the hulahoop because it creates a frame for the horse to work within but doesn’t add pressure.
Inspired by Les, I longe Cinnamon using the hulahoop as a cordeo. He goes wtc both directions and we even try jumping the barrels! That one got him a little fired up, so we toned it down and did some more fetching.
Instead of worrying about Ilo worrying about the sound of the arena door rattling in the wind, I decided to encourage her. Taking a couple plastic sacks out of our bean bag, we did some desensitization, then I tied them gently to her halter.she looked like a butterfly! Then we practiced things she knew how to do very well with the distraction of the plastic sacks. Eventually she graduated to sacks in her mane and around her pasterns! What a good girl.
Penny, sporting her new custom made pink rope halter, learned to lay down on the soccer ball beanbag like a camel. Since Penny likes the tarp, we laid the tarp on the bag first and scrunching up the tarp is what gave her the idea to lay down. Then Gina used a hand target to keep her laying down for longer and longer. One time she even flopped on it and rolled off the side like a little kid We also got a cute photo of her pawing the bag with her foot. Look out World Cup, here she comes!
Cinnamon, who we now call CinCin (chin-chin) as a nickname, also pushed the ball for the first time while riding. I’ve always thought horses push the ball into things on purpose, and CinCin does without a doubt. He pushed it right into the stackers like he was making a goal. Cowboy soccer anyone?
We also celebrated Dorothy’s birthday and Hawkview Ranch’s 10th anniversary. It was a great party! The kids were playing with these wild spongey, snake-like toys right outside Sundae’s pen (great desensitization!). It was adorable to see how at first he was scared, then he wanted to play! He watched the kids enthusiastically all evening. Halfway through the night, the kids came running up asking if they could do groundwork in the arena. Smart kids. They knew I’d have to give it to them if they asked for groundwork and not riding So the ponies got out for the second time that day. I met a nice family at the bbq and we now have another set of twins in the program (fun!). But, the best part of the evening had to be Dorthy’s horse shoe cake with the cute bay pony lounging on it. Not longeing, but lounging (hanging out), mind you I never noticed how closely related those words are. Anyway, it was hilarious when ten-year-old Maddie ran up to ask me if she could have a piece of cake, even though her mom was at the party. The trainer next to me looked at me like, “Wow, you run a tight ship!” Really, Maddie just wanted me to cut it for her, lol.
Cinnamon has had about a month of training. He’s now trotting around the arena with confidence, even in a group of 8, ridden bareback by 12-year-old! He LOVES people and is such a good boy.
We finally have a male protege for Les! I hope he comes back for more lessons Wyatt is 5 years old. Les helped him learn Parelli’s 7 Games with TAGteach. We use the 7 Games to give our students a daily warm up for getting in synch. My favorite part of the lesson was when Les was teaching Wyatt to do the Porcupine game for a turn on the hindquarters. First Les gave Wyatt the tagger and said, “Tag me when you see my legs cross.” Wyatt did an awesome job! It’s really cool to see how precise tiny kids can be when they are given a tagger. They really focus! Then Les cued Thistle and had Wyatt tag when Thistle’s forelegs crossed. Finally Les had Wyatt cue Thistle and Les tagged when Thistle’s forelegs crossed! The best part was that Thistle, who is usually somewhat lazy about the 7 Games, actually pivoted for Wyatt. This is amazing because Thistle is still learning the cues her self. What’s more, yielding the forehand is a respect game for a horse, so it is amazing that Thistle would listen to Wyatt, who is such a little guy. Thistle was a very good girl, Les was a very good teacher, and Wyatt was a very bright and persistent student.
I put a Western saddle on Cinnamon for the first time. The back cinch was no big deal at all! What an awesome boy. We went out and played on the trail course and he did some really cool stuff, including sidepassing poles, YoYo-ing back over poles from a distance, and backing through squeezes from a distance. He even put his front hooves up on the middle rung of the fence and stood on it. What a creative guy!
At PonyPros, we try to give our colts a very good first experience with riding. Here is an example of a 3 year old ranch raised colt’s first time being ridden. We start our colts bareback because they are less likely to get scared and buck. The first ride is just about getting moving and there is very little focus on cues or aids. We do use some obstacles to give the colts somewhere to go, but we use them to create a migratory flow, rather than as events. Cinnamon is learning very quickly and is an especially good boy.
Gina worked with Chloe on her release, working up to landing in a canter after a jump. Sundae got his hooves shaped for improved balance. Cinnamon played with the tarp again, then wore a saddle for the second time, and carried it over jumps. He only wore it for a short time the day before, so today was very impressive! Gina decided to name the mini Penny Lane, and we got some very cute photos of the little miss against the blue sky! Word has it she has some pinto markings under all that fur! Cuuute!