BRUMBIES (Nor-Cal
Chapter) PRACTICE 02/13/16: What a fun day! The wind was up and all the
grape leaves were moving in the surrounding vineyards. Very distracting for all
the horses! We covered groundwork exercises which focused on getting the
ribcage and body parts “soft” and pliable. Nike did really well with these
exercises. She has no real “brace” in her body. She was a lookie-loo at times
but overall did really well. Under saddle we rode the Cloverleaf pattern, did
some serpentine work around the cones/poles, played with the turn box and pool
noodles, which she rode through with ease. The Cowboy Waterfall was the most
challenging obstacle for everyone. It is about 10 feet tall, 6 feet wide and
has shower curtains and tarps that almost hit the ground. It moves and makes a
noise. We did Advance and Retreat on the ground until Nike trotted through the
obstacle. Under saddle we almost got through but she needed more time. So we
rested with her nose just touching the tarps and called it a win. Her “gas
pedal” is unstuck and now it is all about building muscle and conditioning. She
is willing to trot and lope longer and is smoothing out nicely. We have more
work to do in this area but it is a journey, not a race. Her personality is
really shining too. Inquisitive, friendly and willing. Happy with her progress.
A SHORT BREAK: We
had some pretty wet/snowy weather over the last couple of weeks and the only
covered arena we have access to was booked on several days we hoped to train.
We also were focused on getting ready for the 3 Day Horsemanship Clinic with
Clinton Anderson and his team. Since Nike was not “quite” ready for that level
of intense training we chose to take Ronan so that we could focus on learning
and improving our skills as humans so we could better teach the horses at home.
The clinic was awesome! Well worth the money and effort to get there and
participate.
We also submitted the application and video for the
Downunder Horsemanship Study Group Challenge. We had to film the chosen
horse/human team to represent the Brumbies doing all the groundwork and under
saddle exercises in the Fundamentals level of the Method. That is about 30
exercises! Plus we had never used video editing software before so there was a
learning curve to deal with. This means that Nike’s training was on hold for a
bit. We resume her program tomorrow!
FRIDAY (02/26/16): We headed over to the arena to get in some saddle time! With Nike,
Laurie and I tagged teamed on her groundwork review. We expected a sassy girl.
We were pleasantly surprised that she was actually getting into the work! She
gave us really good efforts and performed really well. AWESOME and WIN! Under
saddle was much the same. We expected some resistance and got none. She flowed
into her gait transitions. Did some nice bending (we even shot some video),
flexed and stopped really well. Overall we were very happy with her retention
of the learned skills and work ethic that we have been working on. Our plan is
to go to the arena Saturday and Sunday with all of the horses and get in some
solid training. Should be fun!
Nike: First exposure to the Cowboy Carwash!
An energetic trot.
A mellow walk.
You can see a video of Ride 22 at:
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