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 was a good day. Maddie and I did spotlights with two of Amelia’s horses. I did a spotlight with a horse named Aiden. He was so sweet. We did friendly game with the ribbons, a little circling, some nose targeting, and some leg targeting. After the spotlight, Aiden followed me around at liberty at a trot over jumps. It was so fun!!! Each of the students got to do a a spotlight with their horses. They all did a wonderful job performing.

After the spotlights, we all worked worked on Travel Together, Chase the Tiger, and the 7 Games. Chase the Tiger is a game where the horse gets to chase something instead of being chased himself. It brings up the horse’s confidence, but sometimes, a little to much ;D! D worked with her horse, Charlie, some more today on playing Chase the Tiger, and by the end of the day, he was pouncing on it with his front hooves like a cat!

Emma and her horse, Sophie, did such a GREAT job today. She and her horse are making so much progress in their natural horseman learning experience.

Everyone is doing a great job progressing as the days go on by. By the end of the week, they are going to be GREAT natural horsewomen!!!

Pony Pros 7/26/10

~Emma~

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 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!!!!!!