Training continues

Jet's training continues just at a little slower pace when it comes to firsts.  G is still working on all the things she has begun.  Leading, tying, picking up hooves, backing, forehand turns (think basketball and pivot feet, with the pivot foot being one of the front hooves), haunch turns (again pivots but with one of the back feet), etc.

G did add one new element yesterday.  She took out the clippers.  That noise was more than Jet could stand.  He did not like those and she could not use them on him.  So now the process of desensitizing him to those begins. 

She also continues to work on bathing him.  Yesterday she was able to bathe him using the hose.  In the past she has given him a sponge bath or short spot baths with the hose; but this time he got a full bath with the hose.  G was excited and feels a sense of accomplishment with this. 

There are still areas that need work such as sidepassing (think grapevine for horses) and just standing still when asked to do so.  She will need this second skill for showmanship classes at fair and during the competition. 

It might help us all if the 100+ degree weather would break, but I guess it is trying to make up for the slow start to summer that we had. 

G's post

G wanted to write a post so this is the one I am going to let her write..... Good luck following along ;-)
 
   Jet has been doing REALLY well. I am so proud of him, he just takes everything in stride. I am wanting to find challenging games to play with Jet. Any ideas?? I want to challenge him, but whenever I try something new, he just goes through with it. I want to find his capacity so I can challenge him, but I don't want to do overkill. Any suggestions for activities I could use to test him out? Anyway, Jet is doing really well, but I need to work on standing, otherwise I don't see Jet having a problem with showmanship.  I want to expose Jet to as much as I can. I am hoping to take him to the Lake and pony him off Addy, who is so bored he bucked and tried to run off with me last time I rode him. I am soo happy about where Jet is in his conditioning. I was kinda frustrated when I came home from an 8 day vacation, and Jet had a big hay belly.  You couldn't see his ribs :-), but boy, you could  see his belly!!! Jet is trimming down now, but I am surprised with the way he is chowing down on whatever food I give him!!! 2 flakes of Alfalfa/Grass mix each feeding, 2 quarts of whole oats in the morning, and at night he gets his supplement, (Trifecta, it works great!!) Strongid, and exactly one cup of Strategy grain., That boy eats more than our horses do (of course the older horses are done growing but still!!!). I am just happy that Jet will be in good condition for the competition. I am trying to go above and beyond, so Jet does the best he can at the competition. I am kinda nervous due to the fact that I am the farthest away, and I have absoulutely no clue as to what is going on with the rest of the competition. When I called the lady that runs the place a while back, she said that I was about where everyone else was, I want to call again, and see if I have fallen behind (I hope not!!!!!) Let's hope Jet and I can keep improving the way we are!

Lots of new experiences

Jet's training has taken another giant leap forward.  On Tuesday, G loaded Jet into the second stall of the trailer and took him to a 4-H ride night.  Now she didn't ride him of course but she wanted him to have the experience of trailering and being in a new environment.  It was a great idea and Jet did fantastic.  He took the new place and indoor arena all in stride.  The there were 5 other horses and riders at the meeting and they all rode around working on their own things with help from an adult.  G worked on walking him around and checking out typically scary corners filled with wooden cows and other objects.  Jet never once objected to anything he saw.  The adult had G work on trotting circles to help build up his back muscles and to pull up his baby belly.  During the competition G will have a chance to do some freestyle work to impress the judges and she is still trying to figure out what to do.  She asked the adult for help in teaching Jet to bow and in almost no time at all, Jet was half way to bowing just by using his curious nature and placing an object directly under him.  Wow!!!!  He is such a good boy. 

Yesterday was another big day as Jet was loaded up again and taken to horse camp.  This week at horse camp we are focusing on play and the 10 children and their horses are working on horsemanship, trail obstacles and then balls, flags, tarps, swim noodles etc.  Jet was wonderful!!!!  There was lots of commotion as you can imagine with 10 kids ages 9 - 13 scurry about with their horses.  The only thing that seemed to catch Jet's eye was the blue outhouse.  He walked over a mattress, through unfilled water boxes, under a cowboy curtain, through a tarp tunnel and over logs.  NO PROBLEM.  Then in the arena he walked over tarps, played with balls, and was rubbed all over with swim noodles.  Again NO PROBLEM.  He stayed the night in a stall and run next to a miniature horse and that was funny; a few times I saw him running up and down the fence next to the mini seemingly wanting to play.  The mini wasn't impressed; he stood and watched. 

We are headed back to camp today and I will post pictures tonight.
Here are the pictures from today at camp. 

G and Jet walk calmly through the tarp tunnel.  He didn't even rush the exit.  :-)

The wind helped by having the cowboy curtain or car wash strings up a little so Jet could see through. 

This was the first time G got Jet up on the tire.  As you can see she was thrilled.

G really wanted to do it again, so I got to take pictures the whole way through. 

The bond is unmistakable.  I am almost certain that Jet would follow her almost anywhere.

He was even graceful in his dismount. 

So I found the one place he is not quite ready to follow.  G did get him to go through twice but a third time was just too much to ask.  

He did dip one toe in just for me. 

The famous, amazing, awesome Buck Brannaman.  G rode in his clinic last year and we went back and watched again this year.  We ALL want to ride next year. 

First visit from the farrier

Jet had his first visit with the farrier today.  He didn't really need his feet trimmed yet but I wanted him to have a few practice rounds before we ask him to do it for real. 

Our farrier came out to trim our other horses and spent some time with Jet as well.  He let Jet smell him and look at him.  Then he pet him and rubbed him all over.  I was very please with how comfortable and steady Jet stayed during the whole process.  Mike, our farrier, was then able to pick all four feet and hold them for different lengths of time.  Mike was also VERY pleased with how well Jet did and how well G has done working with him.  One BIG moment was when Mike was able to get Jet to rest a foot while he was petting it. 

Also received a phone call earlier this week seeking more information about the up coming competition.  Our local newspaper may be sending a reporter to the competition to do a follow up story including the competition.  That is SO wonderful.  G will show up with quite the enterage.  There will be G's family (+5), a good friend (+1), local newspaper (+2), CREA G's supporter/sponsorer (+2) = 10 people going to watch one little girl and her baby Jet. 

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July.  It was very nice and quiet around here.  Since this was our first July 4th on the farm we stayed home to see what it would be like out here. 

We moved from a neighborhood where there were wonderful block fireworks and a fun atmosphere.  However it was always hard on our dog and we often thought of our horses that we boarded.  Never knew how they reacted to all the commotion. 

Well there was no noise or distractions out here so the horses did great.  We could look out our back doors and see all the fireworks being lit in the nearest town.  The entire skyline was lighting up but no sounds and far away enough the horses didn't even seem to notice. 

Jet is doing great.  Almost a week ago, G put a pony saddle on him and cinched him up.  He had no problem with that.  She walked him around with no issue, trotting was no problem.  When he was asked to canter he bucked some but when she asked him to turn and face her he stopped bucking and was fine.  She went back to walk and trot and he did great.  At the canter he did bump up a little but seemed to do better.  How wonderful. 

Jet is also loading into the trailer easily.  The first time in he turned around and came out rather quickly but the next time he went in nice and quiet and backed out as if he had been doing it his whole life.  G will be taking him with her to a horse camp next week to help him get used to other places, people and horses.  Also there is a great trail course there and she is planning on working him over bridges, through water, through a tarp cave, through a cowboy curtain and over mounds with logs.  It will be SO good for both of them. 

June 26, 2010

I guess I posted too early today.  After I wrote for today, G went out and gave Jet his first bath.  Granted it was a sponge bath, but I am proud of both of them.  Lastly, she went back out to feed him his evening meal and supplements and he was laying down.  He allowed her to walk up to him while still lying on the ground and pet him on the head.  Amazing pair they are. 

Wow oh wow.  Jet is awesome and gorgeous.  His coat is beginning to shine.  He has been on his supplements for a week and G is brushing him daily.  I am sure both are contributing to the great coat he is sporting these days. 

He is still a little ribby for me.  I am hoping that the oats and increased hay will help with his weight gain.  G measured him today.  He is 13.2 hands tall and weighs about 600 pounds.  I will help her do more research and see what a balanced diet would look like.  I will also be taking the house scales outside to do better at measuring his feed. 

G has started ponying Jet behind one of our other horses around the property in hopes to improve his muscling.  It has had another side benefit.  Since he is a herd animal he enjoys following another horse and seems to be learning to give to the pressure of the halter and lead rope. 

June 23, 2010

Today was quite a busy day for G and Jet. 

G has been working this week with a local instructor as her assistant during her horse camp each morning.  Many of the girls saw the newspaper article on G and Jet and wanted to see him and watch her with him.  So this afternoon, they came out for a visit. 

Before seeing Jet, they spent some time talking about what G has been doing, why the youth trainer program exists and what life has been like for Jet since he was born until now.  The students also had a chance to measure themselves in "hands" (the measurement used to measure a horse.  Each hand is 4 inches) using an educational display G had created for the local fair a few years ago.  They all enjoyed seeing how tall they were. 

During the discussion time the students were quite interested in getting to see Jet's mustang tag. 

In the round pen G showed them how she has worked on picking up his feet, leading him, and playing soccer with a large exercise ball.  She also decided to try a few things for the first time in front of guests.  Normally I would only do things I know I can do and the horse is ok doing, but not G.  She is very confident in Jet and herself.  She "accidentally" (aka on purpose) knocked over a plastic barrel and plastic basketball goal.  Jet paid attention that it fell but didn't move.  She also put a tarp over his back and asked him to walk around with it.  No Problem!!!!

Then she allowed the students to come into the round pen in pairs and pet Jet and see his freeze brand up close. 

Before everyone went home each girl had a chance to brush Jet.  He was such a good boy and had no trouble with all the attention he received. 



About an hour later we had Columbia Rural Electric Association come to visit.  They had heard about G and her work with Jet and wanted to interview her for their monthly magazine they send to their customers.  Gabrielle repeated many of the things she had done with the previous group but added even more new things. 

She solid tied him for the first time and left him standing while we went to greet our guests.  Imagine their surprise when they learned that was the first time he had been left solid tied.  She brought out the hose and hosed his front legs and his chest.  He did react to that but within minutes he was standing and enjoying the cool refreshing water since it was our hottest day yet this summer. 

Before taking Jet back to the round pen, G noticed flies bothering him so she fly sprayed him for the first time.  I was expecting some reaction as the spray touched him or at the very least the noise of the trigger spraying.  Not a thing.  He stood still and had no problems.  (It has been unseasonably cool here so we have not had much of an issue with flies.  It could also be the fly predators we are using for the first time.)

G set up some obstacles in the round pen and moved him over logs, tarps and large plastic container lids.  He walked, trotted and loped through it all without refusing.  He did however clip a few of the obstacles since he is still learning foot placement. 

CREA spent some time asking G questions about her work.  Since one requirement for the challenge is to use natural horsemanship techniques, they asked about her favorite trainer whether it was Parelli, Anderson, ???  After some thinking, she said she really likes Buck Brannaman.  She participated last year in one of his clinics not far from here and she did so well.  Then she was asked what has been the most challenging thing and what was the biggest turning point so far.  For G that question was easy.  Everything seemed to change the day she was able to get the mustang tag off and brush him.  That was when they both seemed to find the trust in the other that they needed to progress.  Ever since they have been bonded.  I do believe I will be outnumbered in the decision whether or not to allow him to be adopted or if we will be keeping him.

Before leaving Charlotte and Nickie Gunther from CREA presented G with a gift certificate to a local feed store to help G with her competition.  G will be able to purchase feed, supplements and other needed items to help improve Jet's diet and body conditioning.  This is one area that will be judged on August 28th in Yamhill, OR. 

It had already been a long day and it was not over yet.  G went and participated for the third evening in a row at the local fair grounds where the 4-H sponsored a special event for Disabled children in town.  The first two nights she lead horses while some children got to experience horse back riding for the first time.  Tonight she helped drive a pair of miniature horses that her good friend B had brought.  It was a wonderful evening filled with smiles and laughter.  I LOVE summer!!!!