Re: Take 2 Re: Figuring the girl out

On Fri, 2 Sep 2005 21:07:24 -0700, Phetsy C Calderon
<phetsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

snip

>Well dang. I drop out of sight for awhile due to Perplexing Well System
>Failures, Mysterious Drop-offs in Solar System Efficiency, and oh yeah,
>a wee bit of saddle time, and Joyce goes out and gets herself a nice
>new horse. Congratiulatons, judging from your announcement post, she
>seems like a nice one.

Thanks, Phetsy. I got dang lucky. Looking at her, I think she's got
the best conformation of the three foals out of her dam--her
half-sister is a close second, but she doesn't have Mocha's shoulder
and top line. Half-brother doesn't have her *** and shoulder.

>
> She has definitely figured
>> out that I am Her Person and I get a big whicker whenever I walk into
>> the door now (with no food treats, either!).
>>
>Yeah, sounds like the standard Intelligent Horse "Oh goody, the
>servant's here!" to me. Never ceases to amaze me how much fine-bred QHs
>and old-fashioned Arabs have in common.

Yep. She loves her brushing time.


snip

>> Now personally, I would take all this as a good sign. She's showing
>> some indications of being a bit high-bred, which means she's likely to
>> have some intelligence, sensitivity, and sparkle (if not downight
>> fire.) I gather she's also pretty sensible, and that's a nice set of
>> attributes.

That's what I'm doing. Personally, I'm taking my time. I was also
right pleased last night because she was showing that sparkle and fire
mixed with sense with work both in the indoor and outdoor arenas.
She's line-bred to Doc O'Lena and has that Doc Bar "coon tail"--that
little band of white hairs at the top of her tail. What was
interesting is that she's dancy and energetic now with the transition
between indoor and outdoor (I wanted to get started on this fairly
soon since Rain Is Coming, it being Western Oregon), but when we were
all done, she was relaxed and slightly swaggering, kinda projecting a
horsey attitude of "I did a good job, I'm done with my work, and I'm
happy."


snip

>> Yes, that fits with her being a sensitive type. I remember riding QHs
>> that had to be worked bare-heeled and empty-handed because they were so
>> sensitive. On a slight tangent, I think that was one of the things that
>> I liked so much about HRH Prince SF. I put my spurs on once a year to
>> tune his sidepass and then hung 'em up till the next summer. It's very
>> pleasant to work with a horse like that--you can develop such fine
>> control over them.

She's one like that. Her mama was that way as well. For haunches
turns, we're now working on "whoa" after every step because she gets
eager and rushes. Slooow it down, baby, sloooow it down. She's got
some sting to her, fer shure. I also like that instead of flinching
at dogs, she kinda lowers her head and eyes them as possible herding
candidates. It's unlikely we'll get to do any cow work, but...

>Back to the
>> old, calm attitude, but with a LOT more responsiveness. Hmmm. Maybe
>> if I jingle them at her once in a while....
>>
>> Again, this is all very good, as it indicates a horse with a fair
>> amount of sensitivity, which make for A) a nice lady's riding horse
>> and B) some talent for reined work.

Yep. Grin.

>
>Still another thing--I've been doing the Western sitting trot thing.
>> I started thinking hmm, she's kinda pissy after a bit of work. What
>> happens if I post instead of sit? After all, even in dressage they
>> don't sit the trot for a while. And she has a rather rough trot to
>> sit. Whaddya know, I get less sucking back than I have. Hmm.
>>
>> As a rule of thumb, I usually stand to the trot (AKA "assume two-point
>> position) on hackamore horses or those in their first year or two of
>> training. Takes some time for them to build up muscle and balance and
>> best to let their backs alone then.

Thanks for the input, Phetsy! I've been doing a little bit of
Eileen's suggestion--mixing it up with posting and sitting.


>She is a delightfully responsive girl who is happy to work and likes
>> having a job to do.
>>
>> Would expect her to be so, based on your comments above. What kind of
>> headgear are you working her in, by the way?

5 inch single-jointed smooth copper mouth ring snaffle with 3 inch
flat rings. Dropped noseband when I finally find one small enough for
her nose--though right now it doesn't seem to be an issue, and the
headstall does have a throatlatch. 7 foot long 3/4 inch wide latigo
leather reins--brand new so they're stiffer than I like. She moves
pretty well with indirect rein, I don't need to use a lot of direct
rein on her (my summer dressage instructor would be squawking at the
amount of indirect rein I use) as she moves really well off of seat
and legs.

>
>I wish I had the time to get her out on the trail
>> to work because that's what she needs right now--but no one's
>> available at the moment. And I don't have the time.
>>
>> Yeah, sounds like she'd benefit from lots of walking and a little
>> trotting in some rolling country. Sounds like you've got yourself quite
>> a nice little pony there, Joyce. She sounds a lot like the Topper
>> horses I used t ride. I'm tickled for you.


Thanks!

jrw
.

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