This Stuff is Great!!!

I had an amazing day with Sienna on Sunday, it just seems like everything we have been doing reached a whole new level, here are some of the things we played with:

Maintaining gait on the 45ft line at the walk trot and canter
With rhythm, relaxation and contact, Sienna will happily maintain gait for 6-10 laps. A different story about 5 months ago when she would come in after 2-3 laps

Weaving cones with the 45ft rope
it was the first time that we had done this on the 45ft rope and Sienna did great. Prior Preparation is the best!

Mounting from the fence
Sienna blew my mind yesterday when mounting her from the fence. She has no problem side passing over to me when I ask her, but yesterday she offered it. It was like she said: "Here you go mum, get on" – It was AMAZING!! – I gasped so loud that Molly looked over to see what had happened, I must have had the biggest grin on my face :0)

Jumping with Savvy
I haven’t really jumped a horse since I was young and even though I have wanted to try it, now that I’m older it’s a little scary, but yesterday Molly really helped me with this. While riding Sienna bareback and playing the pushing passenger game, Molly led Sienna at the walk and trot over a pole so I could concentrate on what my body was doing and where to put my focus. It was an awesome session and a bit of an eye opener – FOCUS IS VERY IMPORTANT! :0) – It was an awesome session and next time we are going to do the same thing only set up a small jump, I’m so excited about it. Watch out this time next year, I’ll be jumping barrels!!! :0)

Point to Point
Again Sienna blew my mind with this. She has a really hard time walking in a straight line (apparently get's it from her Dam), so we do a lot of Point-to-Point and Tit-for-Tat. Just going from one side of the arena to the other I would normally have to correct about 10 – 15 times. Yesterday it took about 6-7 to start with, but on the last pass there were NO CORRECTIONS!!! Woo Hoo – at that point I called it a day, I LOVE my pony :0)

The Art of Poi

Back in 2001 I worked as a wrangler at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big sky, Montana. The ranch had 89 horses, it was a summer job and one of the best experiences of my life. We had some great rides right from the ranch, but mostly I would trailer people and horses into nearby Yellowstone Park and do all day rides. The scenery and wildlife were just breath taking. You can see some pictures here.

It was such physical work and you were exhausted at the end of the day, but it was a good feeling and by the end of the season after lifting all those saddles, and riding, and cleaning I was as fit as a butchers dog!

Me on my favorite ranch horse Leland, on the Spanish Creek Trail

We had no television at the ranch so our evenings were filled with sitting outside on the deck of our cabin and talking about our day, watching the deer strolling by, or the fox cubs playing that lived under the tool shed next to our cabin. It's also when Margot, one of the other wranglers taught us the art of Poi.

Learning the art of Poi

I ordered myself a set and have been playing with them a little over the years, and when I packed some of my belongings and moved to CO, I found them and brought them with me, thinking it would be a fun thing to do with Sienna.

Sienna is pretty laid back and takes everything in her stride and when I first got the Poi out and started twirling them a little, it didn't phase her one bit. Since she was so good about it, I have been tying them to her bareback pad and we do most stuff with them trailing along her sides, then I'll get on here and twirl them next to her and over her head.....no problem. So this weekend I took it one step further. I think you can pretty much tell by these pictures and the expression on her face that she's OK with it all.

Now I just need to get better with my technique. :0)

Sienna my Love

I Just wanted to share these random photos of Sienna. It was late in the day and we were loosing light, but it was the perfect time to capture these images.

Zone 5 Driving

Sienna and I had a very productive weekend, we did all sorts, figure of 8’s at liberty, needle prep, working on holding her tongue, bridle-less riding with two carrot sticks (the kidz carrot sticks are great for this), picking up all four feet with savvy, ground tying, and zone 5 driving. We even finished the day with a stroll around the neighborhood.

Sienna was trained to drive a carriage before I bought her at the age of four, so driving with two lines is a piece of cake for her, she knows this stuff better than I do. But driving with one rein has been a challenge. Starting off in zone three and gradually making my way back to zone 5, and keeping her on the rail has been the key. We come a little unstuck when we come off the rail, but it is improving every time we play with it. We have also been experimenting with the 22ft feather lines as well the 12ft and 22ft lead rope. I really like the feather lines not only because they are lighter in weight and easier to handle, but also because you can really get some refinement when driving.

Here are a few images of us driving from zone five with the 12ft Lead rope.

Starting out in zone 3

Gradually working our way back

To zone 5

Coming off the rail and through the barrels....success!

Love this smart girl

Our Stroll Around the neighborhood

Dogs + Snow = Fun Times

I remember reading a blog by the fabulous Pioneer Woman about the Many Faces of Charlie, and I couldn't help but relate when I think about the many pictures I have taken of Sophie and Milo lately. The snow seems to bring out they're character.

Sophie- The glamor queen

Sophie- Doing her best pointer dog.

Milo - in camouflage

Milo - Looking pleased with himself

The rest are images of pure joy...and perhaps a little bit of Cujo thrown in. I've also come to realize that jowls and ears do some mighty things when in motion....

The following images are stills captured from a video clip, hence the quality, but I had to share them as the expressions say it all.....

Sophie

Milo

As Light as a Feather!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I wrote my last post. Christmas and New Year has come and gone, and here we are in 2011.

Sienna and I continue to have fun in the snow whenever we can. We started playing with our new 22ft Feather lines. When I drive her with the two 22ft lead ropes, I think there is room for forgiveness, but with the feather lines, it seems to be about how little you have to do to ask a question. It only seems to take a light touch to have a more enhanced level of contact. There was a lot of over-steering on my part at the beginning, but after a while we were in sync and it felt great. You can see some more pictures here.

After our driving session, I climbed up on her bareback and very promptly fell off her for the first time ever..........well I would call it more of a slide :0). We were riding around and something spooked her, now her spooks aren't that big, she just took a leap sideways, but it was enough to start that slide in motion. I remember feeling like it was happening in slow motion and it got to the point where I couldn't save myself, so I swung my arms around her neck and linked my fingers together, then I did this very slow and graceful slide under her neck, at which point my fingers came unlocked and I landed on my butt. Sienna was looking at me as if to say: "how did you end up down there?".

No there are not any pictures, but I wish there were, I would have loved to have captured the look on Sienna's face :0).

To Snow or Not to Snow!

This week we have been having fall temperatures here in Pagosa, yet last week it looked like winter had finally arrived with quite the snowfall. I'm not complaining, I was able to do some fun stuff with Sienna this weekend because of the mild temperatures, but last weekend was a different story, one that these pictures will tell.