Saturday, April 30, 2016

More Saddle Time With Flame!


LESSON 12/ RIDE #2 & 3:  Herself was feeling a little sassy today and played the keep-away game with us when we went to load up. She showed off her athletic nature on the terrain of the rear pasture which has some inclines, rocks, treefall logs and more. It was something to see! After a little fuss we got her and she loaded up like a pro. We then hauled over to Pioneer Park Arena which is a short 15 minute haul from home. Weather was nice but breezy. The park had lots of kids, kites, balloons, dogs and more bouncing all over the place. Think about that for a second. New place, breezy and lots of scary objects. And here we are hoping to get in a productive and focused session.

We tacked up Flames Remedy (Annie) and went into the warm up pen which is probably close to 50’x100’. We had real rain last night so the sand/footing was much like the beach at low tide. We reviewed the groundwork from yesterday, including Lunge for Respect 2 and Yielding the Forequarters. All in all there was noticeable improvement over yesterday. Call that a win! She is really getting into the ground work which is something she had never really experienced before in her reality.

Then it was time to ride. She was still a little sore on her right front foot (she is getting shoes later this week) so we decided that comfort and focus was a better plan than lots of loping under saddle today. She did the Cruising Lesson and One Rein Stops at the walk and trot today. We worked on leg/seat cues for turns, Lateral Flexion and Yielding the Hindquarters at the Standstill. Laurie and I both rode her so really it was ride 2 and 3. At 220# I am probably the heaviest thing Annie has had on her back in a LONG time. She was a champ! We ended on some wins and called it a day. She them got to hang out in the livestock run next to the BIG arena while Argent and Ronan got to work. Annie pretty much ignored the pre-teen girls who wanted to pet her and the distractions from the park didn’t seem to phase her. Best part of the day (for me) was when I entered the run Annie trotted right over to me and put her head on my chest. This generated many “squees” and “awws” from the pre-teen girls and their Mom.

It was a good day!






Friday, April 29, 2016

Review and New; Lesson 11


LESSON 11: Since we had some time off this week due to rain and even hail the goal for this evening was to review the groundwork exercises we have learned up to this point and refine them. Overall things went really well. Our Miss Annie is pretty darned athletic and quick minded! Because she lacks ground skill experience she does get revved up at times and it can take a little bit to get her to come back down. Granted it has only been ten days (or there about) and she has come a long way in both mental engagement and is conditioning but we do have some miles to go. Her round pen skills are tightening up and her Backing (all four methods), Lateral Flexion and Yielding Hindquarters Stage 1 is getting pretty! The review went quickly in the grand scheme of things and we were happy with her performance.

Then it was NEW EXERCISE time! We introduced Yielding Hindquarters Stage 2 which asks the horse to not only move their hind end away from you but to back up slightly and give you “two eyes” with some energy. We then moved into Lunge for Respect 2 which was energetic and finally the “of the Devil” Method exercise Yielding the Forequarters. Had to go through some ugly to get to the good but when we did it was really nice! Lots of rubbing and desensitizing and even a few cookies (I know, I know but she really did earn them)!

This horse is pretty special. Given her limited background one would think she would be difficult to work with but it really is the exact opposite. She tries pretty hard most of the time and at this point we feel she is doing pretty well! Tomorrow we are heading over to a new arena near home. Next week we are doing our weekly Spur of the Moment and then our road trip to Aqua Dulce, CA. for the first session of the newest Downunder Brumbie chapter! Life and reality have definitely shifted for our sweet girl!

Below are some pictures taken by Laurie Frohn of our gal in motion and at rest! Enjoy!











Wednesday, April 27, 2016

RIDING WITH THE FLAME!


DAY 8- FIRST RIDE TOGETHER (Morning): We had a day off. Today we saddled up Miss Annie and went through a review of her ground work and round pen skills in the round pen. After a little saddle adjustment we got things where they should go, including a REAR CINCH and we got to work. Some half-hearted bucks happened in one direction, more adjustments and then we were off to work. Overall she did better than the last session. Performance and understanding was higher. We even did some downward transitions on the ground and we were very happy with how this concept was embraced. No complaints. We groomed and tacked up without being tied to anything with the lead tossed over my arm. She did great.

Then it was time to ride. Since she has been ridden pretty extensively on the trail without major incident (at least that what we were told) and the fact that she understands impulsion we knew that very little assistance from the person on the ground would be needed. This is good because we had other things to work on. 1) Mounting Block: She was not quite sure what that thing was and didn’t want to stand still near it so we combined some Advance/Retreat and some active Sending. She got the message quickly “Stand still = Easy. Itchy Feet = Difficult.” Laurie got to be the test pilot today. I got to co-pilot on the ground. They did great. Lateral flexion with the Bridle, Backing (she has some cue buttons), Turns (to the Inside), Walk and Trot were all achieved! The footing is still not great and Annie is a little tender on one foot so we took things easy with the added weight of a rider. Next week the farrier comes out and she’ll get shoes. All in all a really good session this morning!

Then the “Tree of Knowledge” was used. She does not like to stand quietly when tied alone. So after the session and a nice long drink she was tied to our version of a Patience Pole. She got to stand for about an hour to soak in the lesson. This will be part of her routine now. Work a bit and then stand tied for a bit.

Tuesday is Two-fer Day which means she’ll get another session tonight when we head to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds Arena! We will keep her second session short (at least in theory) and make it a review and introduction of new exercises from the Fundamentals.

(Evening): We hauled over to the Fairgrounds for the weekly “Spur of the Moment Ride” with the Downunder Brumbies. Nice turnout! We reviewed the groundwork from the morning session and then worked on Sending. LFR 2 and Circle Driving. Annie did really well. Then she got to hang out in the pens at the end of the arena. She was mellow and quite (in the past she has been pretty vocal). The “Tree of Knowledge” certainly helped. It was another good experience for Annie. We feel she has come a long way in a short time. Just proves that if you follow a structured program that builds skills and confidence in a fashion that the horse and human understands combined with letting the horse be a horse that awesome things CAN and DO happen!

NOTE: From this point forward we will be logging “lessons” and not days. The why of this reason is simple. Some days our new Flame just gets to be a horse and that, while very cute, does not speak of her progress. Since this blog is about her adventures and development it seems like a wise things. So to dates she has had ten (10) lessons in just eight days and has been hauled about five (5) times. Busy week for little Flames Remedy!




 Getting the LOVE!

 Cruising!

 Cruising!

  Cruising!

 All dressed up!

 All dressed up!


Saturday, April 23, 2016

What a DIFFERENCE a WEEK makes! Plus - PUPPY!!!


DAY 6: Technically we have had this little cutie home for a week. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES! Yesterday we had rain, hail and even a little snow PLUS we adopted an 11 week old Beagle mix puppy (now named SKYLA which is Celtic/Gaelic and means “Learned”) so no training happened. Today as we introduced Skyla to “outside” and the horses, we took some time to work with Annie. We started in the round pen and got some really nice work done even with the muddy/slick footing. She was connected and engaged throughout the entire review of the previous lessons. Could not be happier. Then we went outside!

Up and over rocks, through puddles, up and down hills, over some obstacles, between some narrow spaces….we did Sending everywhere we could that felt reasonable safe footing wise. She did really well and seemed to enjoy the work. It was a good session filled with some nice wins! Next time we will do our best to take some pictures!
So...enjoy the CUTENESS that is SKYLA for now...




Friday, April 22, 2016

An "Easy Day" for the Flame!


DAY 4: Loaded up and headed over to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds Arena. Annie got a quick (well it was about 30 minutes) review of the exercises we have been focusing on. Since we were working on the line the goal was to see an improvement on Lunge for Respect 1, Yield HQ 1 and Backing. Two mules…yes MULES (beautiful too) were in the arena which was new to Miss Annie. Still her overall performance was better. She was much calmer too, even hang out in the pens at the end of the arena. She hung out as we worked with Argent and Ronan. We wrapped the session with Ronan (and I) ponying Annie. Everyone did well. The next two or three days will be days off for everyone. Good session (she has now had eight of them) all in all.

From this point forward there will be round pen and ground work sessions on a regular basis happening at home. We hope to get her moving over the various terrain we have and using the skills we are teaching her. We will be hauling out quite a bit too. In May we will be heading to Aqua Dulce (May 6-8 Sweetwater Movieland Ranch), Wallace (May 15 Hawks Landing Ranch) and Paicines (May 27 -30 Bar SZ Ranch). She’ll be exposed to road trips, new experiences, new places, new people and new horses! She’ll also be hauled locally to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds (Placerville) and Pioneer Park Arena (Somerset) for more rides and more training. She really is on a new adventure!
L-R: Ronan and Annie enjoying an afternoon of grazing and goofing off in the back pasture.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

NEW PLACES with our NEW FLAME!


DAY 3 Morning – Since today is a “work from home day” for Laurie and I and the weather is beautiful we hope to make this a two-session day for our new Flame (Annie)! This morning will be a Round Pen session with a review of what we worked on yesterday and a little Lunge for Respect 1. This evening is The Downunder Brumbies Spur of the Moment Ride at the El Dorado County Fairground Arena. It will be all about new groundwork exercises with a saddle on. Should be an interesting day!

We changed things up today since we felt we had established some respect/trust. We did lots of rubbing her all over and then flexing (lateral and opposite side exercises). Desensitize to the rope exercises and then moved into the impulsion part of the session. Marked improvement over yesterday in all three gates and transitions/direction changes so we moved on. No need to drill if things are going well at this point. Refinement will happen later. Review of all four (4) methods of Backing. “Tap the Air” is still her weakest one so we will be focusing on this more. We worked on improving Yield the Hindquarters and got some improvement there. We worked on Lunge for Respect 1 and again had some improvement. Then, because we were feeling good we introduced Turn and Go and Sending. She caught on pretty quick. Then we fit her bit/bridle to her feminine head and made sure the reins were at a good length. We ended with lots of loving and rubbing combined with flexing in the bridle. Really productive session. Being with the other horses has really helped her mood overall too. Tonight we haul out and see what can be seen!

Evening – We loaded up all three of the horses and headed over to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds for our weekly “Spur of the Moment Ride” with the Nor-Cal chapter of The Downunder Brumbies. Once we unloaded and groomed everyone up, –we noted that Annie seemed a little sore on her right front foot. Her hooves are pretty flat and even though the farrier did work on her a couple of days before we brought her home she still seems to lack the deeper concave to her hoof that we see in most horses. Shoes may be in her future.

So with this in mind, we planned to keep things easy even though the arena has some really nice footing. Since it was a new lace for the new girl we let the three of them run about the arena (we were the only ones there at the time). It was a warm night and no one seemed overly inclined to run without motivation. After play time was over, we placed Ronan into one of the pens at the end of the arena (he thinks it is his hotel room). Annie got to get tacked up and fitted to make sure all of our gear was going to work well for her. She had some itchy feet when we began to saddle up because her “boyfriend” Ronan was not near her. She calmed down and we got her tacked up (totally forgot to take pictures). We did some desensitizing and flexing which went fine. Then we went to work on Lunge for Respect 1 in the arena (on the line). Our plan went to hell in a handbasket. After the first correction to get two eyes and get the yield in the hind end she chose to spin herself up. Let me tell you this is one athletic little horse! She worked up one heck of a sweat! Lots of loping on the line and lots of changes of direction and backing. She would not stand still for desensitizing so the feet got hustled. When we got four really nice hindquarter yields and smooth transitions we went back to desensitizing, flexing, backing and yields.  So, note to self…lots of active groundwork when we go to new places for a while. We have to keep in mind that: A) we have only had her for four (4) days/ B) That she has not traveled very much in her life. C) She has worked more in the first four days with us (and learning a new language too) than she has in a long, long time.

When the wins surpassed the challenges we stopped the session, took all her tack off and gave her a good rub down before putting her in one of the arena pens to relax, hydrate and think about the lesson. She didn’t like being “away” from Ronan at first (even though she could see him the whole time) but eventually she calmed down and relaxed…until some clove cigarette smoking post-teens came up to her (they were in dark colors so she could only smell them until they came into the light). She was having nothing to do with them and was all about being near me in her pen. I asked them to put out the cigarette (it is like smoking near any athlete in my opinion which is to say “not cool”.) and then I helped her to meet the new folks. She was not amused. As we walked back across the arena to the trailer we tried to see how well she would lead from beside as her previous human said was good at it! She was! She stopped when I stopped, she stopped. When I jogged, she jogged. When I back, she backed. Very cool. Yes, Ronan and Argent were rock stars too.

She has had seven "lessons" and been hauled three times in four days. Now comes some time off to let her foot heal up and her to settle in more. We’ll probably haul over to the arena tonight but she just gets to be loved on and hang out. At least that is the plan.

 Desensitize & Intro to Turn & Go

Getting it...

 Nicely done.

 Plastic Bag

Plastic Bag

 Plastic Bag.

Maddosx supervising the lesson.

 Loves and rubs.

 Yield HQ

 Yield HQ

 Yield HQ.

 Marching.

Steady Pressure

 Into to Sending.

 Intro to sending.

Monday, April 18, 2016

DAY 2: WORKING AT HOME


DAY 2: Morning - It was a sunny morning as we headed out to the round pen for a review of all the things we learned yesterday. Annie seemed in good spirits and is settling in well. We can tell she is not used to be housed alone so we are going to let her hang out in the big pasture (about three acres) with the geldings after the session and she how she does.

We started right off by moving her feet at the trot to warm up. Then it was on to the lope. We worked on getting better consistency in the faster gaits today. She is out of shape and breaks into a sweat pretty easily. Still she did better that yesterday! We got “two eyes” and some good changes of direction too. It is very clear that she has not done this kind of work before. The conditioning aspect is good too. Her energy today was engages but not fearful or explosive and she was more mindful about the human’s personal space. All in all good improvements in the round pen.

Then we reviewed three of the four methods of Backing. Tap the Air seems to be the hardest to understand possibly because is starts off so subtle. A whack on the rope when the feet refused to move was a reminder of what was expected. After that she was thinking about the back up. The other two methods went pretty well. Introduced Steady Pressure Backing. She grasped that pretty quickly. She is Flexing laterally pretty well for the second day! Yield the HQ Stage 1 was not great and she needed some taps on the hip to get the point. Once she did she owned the concept though.

We wrapped up the session with more desensitizing and even let her play with the plastic bag on a stick. No fear of it at all. Then it was a nice rub down and off to explore more of the property.

Afternoon - Before the evening meal it was “Socialize with the Humans” time. Went out to the pasture with a few treats in the pocket and sat on one of the stumps we use as an obstacle and just hung out. All three horses came by, got some loving and scratches and a treat. Annie was checked for some “oh no” spots but nothing popped up. However she LOVES to play in the 100 gallon water trough. Face in it up to the eyeballs and splashing around. Even stuck her hoof in it! One of her mighty splashes actually flung one of the fish we use to keep the mosquito population down out of the trough! We had three, CLINTON, CHRIS and BUCK. Buck did not survive the journey. We may have to rethink the other two living in there. Tomorrow we will meet up with some Brumbies for a session! New place and new people for Annie to experience!

 Killed the plastic bag. Check.

Hanging out with her new boyfriend Ronan.

Take one from this side, human!


Argent asking is she is really staying. Annie says "yes."

Sunday, April 17, 2016

A NEW FLAME and a NEW ADVENTURE


DAY 1: 6:00am – Annie is a social mare. Currently she has her own pasture (almost an acre with a run in shelter and LOTS of tree coverage). Still, she is pretty focused on the geldings whom she can see across the driveway. She ate and drank a little last night but the location of her food and water was not (in her mind) conducive to here seeing the boys. So we rearranged her feed/water location and that seemed to help. She dug into her feed and had a few healthy drinks of water. She nickered at us and met us at the gate, so that too is a good sign. Anytime there is a transition it is good to be aware of food/water intake and the “production of waste” to ensure that everything is flowing as it should. So far, so good.

10:00 am - A new adventure for Annie and a new facility to explore for Ronan, Argent and their humans. We hauled over to Twin Rivers Equestrian Center in El Dorado, California to play with another local “study group” (an off shoot of the Brumbies) that was focusing on Fundamentals. This seemed like a good opportunity for “Annie” and the boys.

We started at 10:00am and we wrapped up about 3:00pm. THAT IS A SESSION! Since the focus of the session was "Fundamentals" we figured it would be great for Annie and a review is always good for the boys. Our good friend Leo Van Sistine led the session. He was a rock star helping folks with their horses. Ronan was rock star #2 being a great T.A. while I got to work with my new Flame (Annie) in the REALLY NICE round pen! We worked on establishing a consistent (that is the key word my friends) direction at the trot and lope. We worked on getting “two eyes” and then establishing a consistent change of direction at the trot and lope. We got some good “locking on” a few times. The distraction of new horses and a new place made things a little challenging at times (Annie has not been to many new places) but she did a good job checking in. Once we felt that it was a good as it was going to get in this first real round pen session Annie got to take a break while I helped a novice horseperson with a LARGE Belgian/ Quarter Horse cross gelding address some issues the horse was having. That was a learning experience for all involved!

After the break Annie got introduced to Lunge for Respect I, Lateral Flexion, three (3) of the four methods of Backing and Yield the Hindquarters. Combine that with the Round pen work and you think she would be mentally full, right? Nope! Another short break to nibble on some grass and drink some water and then we all headed out to some of the OBSTACLES the ranch had to offer. Annie got to try her hooves at TWO different water crossings, a low jump and some tractor tire pedestals! For the first time experiencing these items she did well. She crossed the water, did a few nice little jumps and even got up on the tire twice! Could not ask for more!

3:30 pm - This was a long day for the new girl. She has not been away from home much but she loaded up like a champ. Had some itchy feet when we were not moving but that will settle down because we hall all over the place!  All three horses got really good workouts today. The worked well in the areas, managed several water crossings and event played on tractor tire steps! Could not be more proud of all of them. We hope to go back to Twin Rivers Equestrian Center in the near future!

We think Annie is going to shape up REALLY well and be an awesome horse! When she got home she had a nice long drink and seemed to be enjoying her evening meal. Everything is going smoothly. Good times! Sadly we were so busy we didn't get to take pictures! Hopefully one of the folks with a camera who was in attendance will share some!

Saturday, April 16, 2016

A NEW FLAME! Meet "Flames Remedy"


A NEW FLAME: Flames Remedy’s Journey

Prelude: We decided it was time, once again, to take in a “project horse”.  The goal was to find a suitable candidate which met our specific criteria, train him or her up, deal with any health issues and eventually find the horse a great family that matches the horse’s aptitude, attitude and personality. The ideal horse-candidate would be a Quarter Horse or Mustang, between 3 and 15 years old with some experience under saddle with a good enough frame to handle a 200+ pound rider. We wanted to avoid major health issues because of the expense. Underweight and hoof issues we could deal with. We were prepared to deal with fear and/or abuse issues as well. We also wanted to find a horse less than 200 miles away from our home in Placerville, CA. So we put the word out on various social media forums and started our search. Surprisingly there are very few horse that met all of our criteria! We went out to meet a couple of different horses but none really seemed to fit. Call it a vibe or energy or whatever but you HAVE to listen to your intuition.

We were about to give up for the season when we got a Facebook note about a unique horse.

Meet Flames Remedy (aka: Annie), an eleven (as of March 18 so just barely eleven) year old AQHA registered Quarter Horse Mare. This little cutie is listed a sorrel in color but she has some really unique markings on her body and a great blaze on her face. She has the famous DOC BAR as a great-grandfather as well as other notable bloodlines in her family tree. To say we were interested is pretty accurate. We saw a couple of pictures and decided to set up a time to go out and meet her.

DAY 0: It’s 8:30am and we arrive at the Loomis Basin Horseman’s Arena. The hope is that this mare has a decent attitude and good frame. Her previous human has had her for three years. “Annie” was started as a two year old but then did very little for almost 5 years before her previous human got her. Then it was about becoming a good trail mount! She has had some great trail experience and seemed to thrive doing this. Her human decided to pursue the art of Endurance riding. Sadly “Annie”, who loves the trail was not the right horse for that particular discipline. Being like so many of us and only having time to focus on one equestrian discipline at a time her human had to make a choice.

Enter us. “Annie” is in need of a fitness program to turn her pasture pudge into muscle and some minor attitude adjustments. She is a really well put together, with a good frame the potential to be a nicely muscled horse! So, first impression of her  = WIN! This morning is all about the “first date” to see how we are going to get along. We listened to Annie’s human and took in all of her known history. We introduced our selves to Annie and rubbed/groomed on her a bit just to see what she likes and if there are any “oh no” spots (didn’t find any) before we headed into the smaller warm up arena. This is where the truth of everything comes out. Our goal is to see what she knows and how she reacts to the increase of pressure. If she is one who holds on the energy pressure creates we have to know that. If she increases and then quickly decreases her energy then we need to know that too. In the simplest of terms is she hot and reactive, cold and lazy or someplace in the middle.

We started off with some basic lunging work on the lead line (not too bad just a little out of shape) then moved into seeing how she can back up (again, not bad with steady pressure on the halter then we introduced a bit of Tap The Air as a backing method), yielded her hindquarters (pretty good but lacked cadence at first) and yielded her forequarters (a bit clueless on that part but she tried). We then test some lateral flexion (no idea what the hell I was asking but picked it up after several tries). We worked some leading from beside and basic desensitizing. She tacked up and saddled well (that is a WIN) and behaved herself overall.  The short of it is we took her home.

After a 1.5 hour trailer ride home we let her explore her new home, get some water and finish off the snack she had in the trailer (have a hay bag, will travel). Based on what we experienced this morning we decided to add a round pen session to today’s adventure. The goal was to get her brain engaged by moving her feet and really establishing some foundational respect. By the end of the round-pen session she had established a consistent direction, gave two eyes, locked on/followed us around and established a consistent change of direction. All in all the session got everyone using the thinking side of their brain and a bit of a cardio workout. We’ll call that a win.

Then it was social time. Annie met Ronan and Argent. Seeing Annie near Ronan made our brains yell “they would make some damn cute babies” but those days are behind Ronan. Everyone seemed to get along.

We are going to keep her separate for a few days to see how she reacts to her new surroundings. To say that Day 0 was full is pretty accurate. This mare has some real energy and athletic ability. Her need of a “job” is pretty high right now so we will be working three to four days a week until the 2016 Spring Equestrian Retreat happening over Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll haul all three of the horses to this great event and expose them to as much as possible. This should be a great learning experience for Annie and for us.

Tomorrow we are meeting some friends in El Dorado for a casual day of training. All three horses are going so Annie gets to dive right into the adventure pool!

Stay tuned!
 Hanging out.

 Basic work on the line.

 Trotting in the round pen.

Playing in the small arena.

Hanging out.