What We Did Today:

Learn, Do, then Teach

• Gaskin, Cannon, Pastern, Hock song
• Hokey Pony song
• Tack anatomy with Bumpity Bump Bump Bump
• Course setting
• Riding demo with TAGteach
• Working on Challenge Sheets

Photos:

• Counting strides (4 people steps = 1 horse stride)
• Haley trotting a jump, working on her “crest release”
• Working the angles for a straight approach to the jump
• Riding our imaginary ponies to the jump
• Linnea working on 2-point (because you only have 2 points of balance, one on each foot versus 3 if you are sitting)
• Putting up the jumps, choosing the appropriate height
• Counting strides
• Linnea’s first time doing posting trot
• Anna doing a twist

Long Version:

Today’s mini-camp got off to a bit of a rough start. One of the horses had an eye injury in the middle of the night and was undergoing minor surgery when we arrived. It is always very difficult for the other horses when something like that happens because the energy of the situation is scary to them. The outdoor arena was also frozen so we chose to give the indoor to a gal who’s trainer had driven in especially for a lesson. So, we had to change our plans on the fly and start with the quiet indoor games we’d planned to end with.

We went into Karen’s shed to get out of the wind and worked on horse anatomy and parts of tack. We did two songs – “Gaskin, Cannon, Pastern, Hock” (akin to Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes) and “The Hokey Pony” (like the Hokey Pokey but with horse anatomy). Then we looked at English, Western, and Endurance saddles and talked about the differences and why they are made that way. The kids learned the parts of the tack like cantle, pommel, fenders, irons, billets, etc, and we played a game called “Bumpity Bump Bump Bump” where the kids had to recall the names quickly. The kids also learned to feel out the saddle’s tree and got to feel the difference between treed and treeless. Horse anatomy and tack anatomy are really important parts of a complete horse education but very difficult to find time for so it was especially great to get to cover these things today. Makes giving explanations while teaching so much easier!

After our sojourn in the garage, we took the less experienced kids to the arena to learn about setting a jump course. I bet the kids were surprised to see how much thought goes into the obstacles we set out for them! Setting a course is a very interesting process because you have to count the number of horse strides between each jump and also set the jumps up on the correct angles so that the horses can make proper turns. The kids rode imaginary horses through the course and it was very revealing to see that they made the same mistakes without horses as the do with them I was glad we did the exercise because it gave us an opportunity to teach them how to look ahead through the turns and plan a good approach. No doubt this will come in handy down the road when you are teaching them to drive

Next Emma, Katelynn, Morgan, Maddie, and Zoey did a riding demonstration for us using the course we built. While the more experienced girls were riding, we asked the younger girls questions about what they were doing that was good and had them Tag the girls for a good release over the jump. In other words, the girls used a clicker to mark the moment they saw the riders extend their arms to allows the horse to extend its neck while jumping. I was impressed – the younger girls didn’t miss a single tag point. That’s very good focus for such young kids and for tagging a task most had never done themselves.

While the more experienced riders untacked we went and got the less experienced kids’ ponies. Unfortunately right about this time the temperature dropped suddenly and the wind ramped up. None of us were expecting it and before we realized it, the sudden change had as all a bit on edge. Not really realizing how tired we all were, we continued on with our activities (see highlights).

Highlights:

- Hannah trotted a pole on the longe for the first time
- Anna learned to write her name in the air while riding
- Lauren concentrated really hard to learn to bump, drive, then send the horse out on a circle to smooth out her lunging
- Taylor did a good job learning to increase her phases and match Sarah’s energy level when Sarah got a little pushy because she was nervous about the blocks under her feet
- Linnea trotted on Lily for the first time in a saddle and learned to post
- Haley worked on jumping on the longe and is getting much quieter hands
- Zoey did a great job riding Wallie faster and getting him over the 3-jump gymnastic
- Morgan did a great job getting Ilo over all the jumps and taking the jumps like hurdles versus big events
- Katelynn did a great job keeping her seat and not putting any weight on Q’s neck over the jumps
- Maddie did an extra good job keeping her cool after riding and then going on to helping Hannah
- Emma did a really good job being self-directed during her warm-up and focusing right in on her turn to jump the course

So, if the kids are really tired, we are too! Being a little off schedule meant that there was less one-on-one pony time than expected and the activities requiring a lot of exertion were at the end instead of at the beginning, not to mention that lunch was late. That said, everyone did some really cool things today and the kids are learning a ton, even if they haven’t realized it yet Right now the forecast for Friday is mostly sunny so hopefully it will be a little warmer out. We have the option of pushing back to 12-3 also if that would help.

Today we started camp by showing the kids a sheet with challenges. We explained that they would each try to complete a certain set by the end of the week. The goal for the week was to get all the kids confident in the skills they already have and set them up to take on some new fun challenges in the new year.

Highlights

-Riley worked really hard to learn about keeping contact on the longeline so Sam would stay confident
-Hannah learned how to put on a Western saddle
-Haley did sideways over new, bigger obstacles for the first time
-Linnea rode in an English saddle on Lily for the first time
-Anna learned how to have CuteZilla back up while playing Stick Together
-Maddie did a great job explaining posting diagonals very correctly to Hannah
-Katelynn caught on really quickly to teaching Anna hoof picking tag points
-Emma made sure to have Lil and Blue fed and grained when we got there
-Morgan did a really good job teaching Haley change of directions at the trot, which is tricky

Photos

• Kids raising their hands to show that they already knew how to do many of the tasks and would just be working on perfecting them.
• Playing a game called “I Like” to teach everyone each other’s name
• Playing “Pulse,” a game that teaches kids to use laser focus and improve click timing. The person in the middle clicks when they see the “pulse” going around the circle.
• Laughing while playing Pulse
• The kids learning about how clicker training works with other animals, like dogs. They took turns having our dog, Asher, do regular dog things like sit, roll over, etc, and pony things like jumping the blocks.
• Linnea having Asher jump, Riley giving the treat
• We paired the kids who had more experience with the newer kids. The more experienced kids helped the younger kids work on their Challenge Sheets, which included ground skills and riding.
• Just a funny picture of Koa, Les’ horse, laying down during lunch
• Everyone lined up to eat while we waited for parents

Today we went on a trail ride/walk. The first half Emma [pony pro Emma] and I walked Jack. With Jack, we were working on having him stay behind us. In order to this, Emma and I flapped our arms like a chicken, spanked the ground with the stick in front of us, and wiggled the rope behind us.

After the first loop, we came back to get some fly spray for the ponies/horses because the mosquitoes were really bad! Then Les took over Jack and we helped other kids.

On the way back, I walked with a girl named D and her large pony, Charlie. D was working on the same thing as Emma and I- having the horse stay behind the person. D did a great job at helping Charlie with this task. She has gained a lot of confidence from this clinic!

Then I caught up with Little and Bridget. Bridget had a sprained ankle from tripping in a mud hole so she rode the whole way. If it was a different horse, Bridget might have had to walk. Little was so good today that Bridget didn’t have to walk at all!

Today we went on a trail walk/ride. The kids who had introverted horses rode first then lead their ponies in hand for the rest of the time. The kids who had extroverted horses led first then rode. Like Moose for example – he is a right brain introvert so he rode first. Sometimes Moose is a left brain introvert because even though he doesn’t make faces at you all the time, he is still confident and opinionated like a left brain introvert.

On the other hand Frodo, Reagan’s pony, is a classic left brain extrovert. Frodo is a party pony, he can get anybody to party, even a twenty-six year old mare named Sophie.

Charlie, D’s pony, is a medium spirit left brain introvert with a lot of play drive. He is chestnut and white pinto.

Sophie, Emma’s horse, is a right brain extrovert with a lot of  energy for a twenty-six year old mare.

Raisin, Maddie’s pony, is a right brain introvert with a lot of attitude. She has some left brain extrovert confidence and play drive, which makes it really confusing.

Thanks for reading,

Maddie

Today was a great day with lots of new doors being opened. Emma opened a really big door today towards the end of the lesson with her horse, Sophie. Emma started with Sophie on-line going over obstacles. They were doing small jumps at the trot, crossing the tarp, and playing with the various toys that we brought with us. But when Emma took Sophie’s lead rope off, it was a whole different world!

At first Sophie was a little unsure about this “whole new world” thing, but after a few minutes, she took the chance to be  free! Before you knew it, Sophie and Emma we off like imaginary finger snap ” snap” that. Just before we finished up, Emma even got Sophie to canter!

This is a really fun trip to be on.  I am very lucky and happy to be in Vancouver, Canada!

Thanks for putting just a little time and effort into reading my post,

Maddie

Today we talked about each student’s horse’s horsenality. Once everyone had their horse’s horsenality tucked away in their heads, we did some spotlights. We got some of the kids to volunteer to perform while we asked the other students questions about what game they were playing and what zone they were playing it in. Before long the audience got distracted and soon we had everyone in the ring playing with their ponies. The ponies are getting pretty good at some really cool tricks like Smile and Chase the Tiger. After the clinic, we put the ponies away so they could enjoy a delicious lunch!

Today we worked on the Jeffrey Method and on the Seven Games. Some people got to ride if their horses were calm enough. Others focused on the 7 games or working on the Jeffrey Method, since the clinic setting can be stressful for a horse.

I worked with a girl named M and her school pony, Jack. First, we worked the Jeffrey Method and made some progress, but we then we switched to the Seven Games. We started out with the Friendly game. Jack did not have any reaction to the stick and string, which is a good thing. Jack was great at handling each new game!

Jack is a left brain extrovert pony who goes unconfident sometimes. He has a lot of play drive and it is harder to move his front end than to move his back end. Sometimes, when he gets nervous, he likes to bite you and walk over the top of you. So, I gave M some things to do when he got like that. #1. when your pony or horse bites you back him up : ” BACKING CURES BITING “. #2. Walk with your pony and flap you arms like a chicken so that when he tries to bump you or bite you, he gets an elbow in the nose. The purpose of the 7 games is to see what your horse needs to work on and fix it at the same time.

To wrap the day up with Jack, M trotted in hand with Jack and longed over some obstacles. He was very hyper at the beginning of the day, but when we finished up, he was trotting over the obstacles calmly.

Today we started out the day by feeding the horses. Maddie, Zoey and I are getting better and better at feeding them. My favorite horse here in Vancouver is a horse named Mellow. He is 17.3 hands tall!

The first thing we did for the clinic was get two horses out named Raisin and Charlie. We worked with them on a game called Chase the Tiger/Tail Tag. Then more people got into groups to work on teaches their horses the game. The horses we got out to do the game mainly depended on if we thought there horse would be likely to have a lot of play drive. The pony who caught on the best to Chase the Tiger was the little mini named Moose. He caught on and was supper cute when he tried to catch it!

After Chase the Tiger, every one got out their horses and ponies and we all worked on different things that the horses were ready to do. The main girl I worked with was D and her horse, Charlie. We worked on the Whinny Waltz, which is you move the back feet three steps, then the front feet three steps, then sideways three steps, then backward three steps, then to finish of the waltz you move forward three steps – and that is the Whinny Waltz! After Charlie had settled and was good at the game, D got to ride and work on some seatwork!

Later on I worked with a girl named R and a girl named E with their horses, Frodo and Sophie. I taught them the 7 games, a series of exercises created by the Parellis to help the horses become calm and responsive to ride. E and her horse, Sophie, did a great job with the games! R and Frodo got a little confused and after more confusion from me, we asked Amelia for help. She cleared every thing up and got them to end on a good note.

After the clinic, we went up and ate our lunch and played a little game call Donkey Seller, where a person tries to sell you their donkey (one of us pretends to be the donkey) and you can’t laugh. We all laughed and had a GREAT time! When we were done with our game, we all rested up. Later tonight we are going out for sushi with Amelia!

Pony Pros 7/25/10

~Emma~

Today was a very nice day to be outside with willing to work horses and girls. I mostly worked with a girl named Emma and her horse named Sophie. What Emma and I were trying to do was calm Sophie down with a nice round of friendly game.

The friendly game is an activity that desensitizes the horse’s front legs, back legs, hind end, and barrel. You can gently swing the carrot stick around the horse until the horse realizes that you want him or her to stand still. If the horse seems antsy or nervous then the best thing to do would b  to let the horse move around in a not too big but not too small circle. If your horse is walking around in a circle then keep swinging the rope around the horse until the horse stops.

After Sophie calmed down a little bit, E and I went over some obstacles. Sophie had a bad  experience  with water a couple of years ago so even know it was not water Sophie thought it was, it turned out the thing that spooked Sophie was blue tarp. Naturally all horses are scared of tarp especially blue tarp that sounds weird when you feel or touch it an looks a lot like water. Next time you have the chance to play with your horse on the ground play with the tarp. When you walk up to the tarp with your horse for the first time you don’t want to push your horse over the tarp because most horses will crowd you and push  you so you have to move over and you will both end up off the tarp. The first thing a horse usually uses to cross something is their face, neck, and nose. So when your horse walks up to the tarp you want to let them sniff and explore the tarp, when they take their nose off the tarp or get board reward your horse by walking away and petting them.

We shut down our day with a nice swim in the pool,we played Marco Polo and Colors. I hope tomorrow will be as smooth as today.

Thanks for reading,

Maddie

Today we played with the ponies on the ground. It was a great experience for the students and the teachers! It was a little crowded. At the beginning everyone was asked to walk around the arena and through the obstacles with there horse. Each horse handled every problem differently because of there horsenality.

B, the little girl I worked with was working with a horse named Little. Little was more introverted, so he was a little slow moving at the beginning. I told B that by the end of the day I wanted her to be able to lunge Little over the jump at a trot. With a little bit of help by the end of the day B was able to do this. Little might be named “Little” but he was a BIG help to B in accomplishing this task I gave her!!!!!!!!

All of the students did a good job for there first day of Natural Horsemanship.

After all the hard work we took a break by the pool and played Marco Polo and Colors! It was a great way to ease into our afternoon!!!!!!