FAMILY ALBUM

In case you were wondering about "Toimpulsivetonotice" papers and what "Mom" and "Dad" looked like...here you go! Wow! She would throw some pretty babies!

This is what you do when the skies open up and dump lots of (much needed) rain on your head. You research your horses!

 Papers

 Baby Cearra

 Sire

Sire

Dam

Sunny Days & Saddle Time!

SPRING DAYS!

We have been able to take advantage of the Spring-like days to work in some quality training! Lots of wins and lots of saddle time. Groundwork too. We did some training with the G.S.H.C. on Friday at a local area, Cearra gave us 100%! On Saturday we did some training at home. Trail work and obstacles mostly. The key now is conditioning. All the horses are a bit out of shape so the plan is to get as much training in as we can. Sadly we have another bout os rain rolling in starting tomorrow so we will have to do our best and make things work.

We have had lots of “interest” on Cearra on the various forums and via emails. The struggle is the flake factor. People say they are interested. We send information, set up appointments and then THEY DON’T SHOW UP! Or in course of discussion it becomes apparent that either something is just “odd” or they are bat-shit crazy! We have “fired” some folks based on the discussion or their lack of willingness to answer some basic screening questions! It is not like she is overpriced for the market at all (asking $3000.00) and between her age, her breeding and her training up to this point the price we are asking is SUPER fair! Hell, she dang near loads herself in the trailer!

We did get to craft some NEW VIDEO too! You can check them out at these links:

TRAILER LOADING & BASIC GROUNDWORK #1: https://youtu.be/x3lNQ4HgYAQ

BASIC GROUNDWORK #2: https://youtu.be/98_j-Aum5HU

OBSTACLE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/yisQvSG_zwU

CONES at the TROT VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTRDbmzUfe8

DRAG-A-BAG VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmlGIiUR07U

Here are some pictures of Laurie and Cearra enjoying a mellow ride!

Letters into Words...

CRAFTING WORDS INTO SENTENCES….

Crafting words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters…that is the goal. 

Cearra started this journey learning letters and words. Now we are crafting paragraphs and chapters.

Her groundwork just gets better and better. 70-80% can be done off the lead line in the round pen without any resistance. We can string exercises together in a manner that flows and feels “soft” and “light” in their execution. She is calm, cuddly and willing. She looks for the “right answer” with confidence and give 100%.

 It does not get much better than that.

Her under saddle work is getting stronger and more fluid, soft and light. She had little to no brace in her. She listens to cues and is responsible for her own feet. It is really nice to ride her. When she is unsure of an obstacle, you just take your time with it. Once she “owns” it she is calm and confident. Today we played on the trail course. It was just plain FUN. We worked hard but everything was positive.

Can’t complain. Very proud of her.

If you are reading this and thinking maybe you would like to own her ACT QUICKLY! Why? Well, with her breeding, her mind and the skills she is developing she is going to be worth MUCH MORE than the $3000.00 we are currently asking for her. Contact us at luckystarhorsemanship@gmail.com to set up a time to meet her!

SPRING PRACTICE, POTLUCK & PLAY DAY!

POTLUCK PICNIC, PRACTICE & PLAY-DAY REVIEW

Golden State Horsemanship Club (and co-host Lucky Star Horsemanship) had its Spring Potluck Picnic, Practice and Play-Day on Saturday. If you missed it you missed a REALLY GOOD TIME! We were able to combine a great learning opportunity, some really fun obstacles/ games and of course some fantastic food. For CLUB MEMBERS this was a FREE EVENT (just a food contribution for the Potluck). How can you beat that!

The WEATHER: It was SUNNY and in the 70’s for the day! A slight breeze made it very pleasant to be working with the horses. Since the arena is in a public park there are always spectators. We end up doing some Club and general Horsemanship public relations when we host an event at Pioneer Park. Always a good time!

The PRACTICE: The theme of the Practice was “Quiet Conversation.” As is the way of the G.S.H.C, Groundworks was the first thing everyone did. The Focus Exercises were selected so as to help folks with Communication, Control and Confidence and to better enjoy the OBSTACLES/GAMES that were set up later in the day! Lateral Flexion, Sending, Respectful Lunging, Ground School Circles and Side Passing along the Fence were the exercises we all worked on. Everyone got individualized attention and instruction to help them improve the Three C’s. Body language, intent and position were stressed as was the concept of “C.P.R” being Clarity, Patience and Release. These are areas that MANY people struggle with and are AMAZED at how different their horses respond when THEY (the Humans) get clear and in their communication, allow their horse to “figure it out” and then reward when a good effort is offered up. Lots of WINS on the Groundwork.

Then we got to work under saddle. Since the concept of “Quiet Conversation” was the theme of the day we wanted to make sure everyone was riding with “softness” and “quietness” in their hands, seat and leg. Not as easy as you might think! So many folks hold tighter than they realize to the reins. This creates a feeling of being “restricted” in the horse which often leads to other less than optimal behaviors. We worked at all three gaits on “loose rein” and crafting a better stop. We then got into control of the hind end, transitions through bend, Ground School Circles under saddle and Side Passing. Lots of WINS and “ah-ha” moments for folks. The horses appreciated the “softer” approach and you could clearly see it in how fast they adapted to it.

The LUNCH: Fried chicken, salad, cheddar popcorn, ham & cheese sandwiches, veggies & dip and more filled the picnic tables! If anyone walked away hungry it was their own fault. Lots of laughter and great conversation filled the air and we all indulged in some warm fellowship.

The OBSTACLES: We had a Cowboy Curtain, and L-Box (you had to back up in a L shape), a Turn Box (do a 180 degree turn around moving the front and hind end without stepping out of the box, a Log Jump, A Serpentine, a Cone Box, a Pom-Pom Carry, a Giant Soccer Ball a Ring Joust (yes you had to use a lance and hit a target) and a Banner Carry. These definitely tested the skills and confidence of the horse and human! Folks worked on the ground and under saddle and had some great wins. We played with some sequence runs and beta tested some ways to time the games (we are going to have some “competitions” at the Spring Retreat and Fall Play-Day later this year) to challenge riders and horses of various levels! Folks found some WINS and some challenges. The SMILES on everyone’s face made all the efforts worth it.

You can see some fun pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Lucky-Star-Horsemanshp-1857426887814701/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1929796740577715

MORE QUIET CONVERSATION “PRACTICE”

Every time we interact with a horse we are, in essence, training it. We have to combine awareness, techniques, intuition, consistency, feel and timing to make each interaction a success. We also have to embrace “respect” as a virtue. We need to respect the horse for what it is and the horse should in turn offer respect to us.

Farrier is here tomorrow. The ground is still squishy in many places. The round pen is more oval due to places of deep mud. So today was all about work on our “quiet conversation” skills. We did about 80% of the exercises in the round pen without the need of a lead rope, halter or training stick. We REALLY need to get a video of this because just writing about it does not do this work justice. With just body position, energy and focus we had a “conversation” with Cearra, She move off a simple point. She yielded her hind end to a focused look and slight step away from her shoulder. She backed up. She offered a forequarter yield with some slight pressure via positioning near her shoulder. She transitioned up and down gaits and “locked on” nicely too. It was very cool.

After that session we took a “Leadership Walk” which is always fun. Good for the mind, body and spirit of the horse and the human.

It was a good day!

Tomorrow Cearra gets new shoes. Saturday is the G.S.H.C. Potluck Picnic, Practice & Play Day!

APPLY OIL TO THE HINGES...

OILING THE HINGES...

At the workshop Cearra threw not one but TWO shoes. At least they are on the same side. Farrier comes out next week and we have more rain/snow in the forecast so…we are dealing with it. To top things off I sprained/bruised the heck out of my knee and started to catch a cold this week. Hear the squeals of the breaks being applied to training?

Still, we took some time to day to “oil the hinges” of the major body parts…and the mind. Riding was out but we did a major groundworks review with the saddle on. The goal was to keep up the level of responsiveness to cues, softness and focus. The session was about an hour. We achieved our goals. We did a full review of all the groundwork we have done up to this point and began adding in some new exercises. Cearra did really well. She was focused and engaged with her Human partner. About half of the exercises were done “at liberty” meaning no rope, halter or stick was employed in the communication. This was pretty cool and a big step for our gal.  All in all the session went well.

If the weather holds we will do this again tomorrow…before the rain comes! 

NOTE: Because this winter has been so hard on our training schedule and because there have been some big vlocks of time where training just could not happen we have opted to pull almost all of Cearra's marketing. We will not be taking appointments for anyone to meet her for a bit until we feel we have gained back and exceeded the ground we lost over the winter. We want to craft some more video and get some better pictures this season too.

Stay tuned!

WE DID IT AGAIN!

All the horses got worked today. Then we were off to help a friend prep her horse to be seen by a potential family. This was a FULL horse-day!

With Cearra it was more of the same. Today we skipped the saddle wearing and focused more on getting “quiet” in our conversation. We worked getting control of the five major body parts through the use of soft cues and body language. Much like yesterday she did a really good job. A solid review and some new skills were worked on. Nice session with a willing partner. Could not ask for much better. We were able to snap a few pictures too.

Rain is here tomorrow so…we will see what we can get done over the weekend.

Sending

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