Melanie Nilles

I’ve started serious training on Beau now.  No more just playing around when I get on his back for a few minutes.  Now it’s saddle and bridle (with cavesson) and riding for 15-30 minutes (any more and I’ll max out his patience–I’ve learned his limits–which is when we have explosions of play and I don’t want that).  All the basics we played with last spring and throughout the summer have paid off.  He responds to the reins where I want him to go.  And he knows both legs pressing near his girth mean to move forward, but a cluck helps too.

Tonight we officially started his real training.  He’s only two and a half, but he’s big…and he’s only going to get bigger.  He could be a handful for me now if he wanted.  Me and all the tack probably only weigh about 130 pounds total.  That’s not much against a 900+ pound 15.2 hand youngster.  That is why I’m starting now.

At least, we’re starting with walking.  We probably won’t be trotting until winter, and then only when the indoor arena is empty.  I don’t want to play smash-up derby.  Um…not fun.  I don’t plan to ask for a canter for another year, as that requires balance and impulsion.  While Beau has a natural balance and a lot of go-forward, my goal now is to establish control.  I want to establish sound basics before we go further.

Oh, and I’m training him for dressage.  Hunter may come in a few years, but no earlier than six.

So, for now, my boy is learning to carry a rider and yield to my weight, legs, and hands.  And he’s doing a splendid job for a baby.  I don’t expect too much, but I do ask for responsiveness.  He’s already getting the idea of moving his shoulders away from my leg, but he’s still all over the place with his weight.   He’s pretty straight in turning for being so green, but in extremes, which is often yet and will be for a while, I have to open my rein and push him with my leg.  He’s getting it though, better than I would have imagined.

And in stopping, I’m asking immediately for a reinback.  This teaches them to soften into the stop in anticipation, because it gives me a chance to continue backing him until he yields his jaw and poll.  Later, I’ll elliminate the reinback and progress to driving him into the stop to soften.  The problem is that he doesn’t like to stop.  He wants to run through and stiffen against me.  I’ve learned through experience that backing is a useful tool for any discipline for a good stop, but you have to know how to make them soften.  Once they understand to back, you ask them to yield that jaw and poll and don’t let up asking until they give you that.  It’s all in how you ask for it later.  Reiners do it to get a horse to anticipate having to tuck their haunches and back up or drop into that sliding stop.  Here, I’m using the same method to ask him to give to me rather than fight me.  It’s hard to explain better, unless you’ve been there with a young horse.  I’ve used it very effectively on other horses I’ve trained for english riding–dressage and hunters.  It’s amazing what you can do with cross-discipline knowledge.

The only other task I’m asking of him is to soften in the poll and jaw while riding forward.  Hard to say how long it’ll take him.  Part of him wants to fight, just because, but he’s also very intelligent, a fast learner.  So, who knows?  But he’ll be a pro at softening and lightening contact before we start trot work.  Trotting is where all these basics come together.  And trotting is where youngsters start leaning on the rider.  This softening exercise is great for teaching them to lighten the contact and carry themselves.  (Read Right from the Start by Michael Schaffer for information on this.)  Beau’s a little on the too big side for me to work on it from the ground, so I work from the saddle.

Other than that, I don’t expect much.  I want all the basic buttons for now at a walk.  In a couple months, we should have the rein, seat, and leg aids down to control forward, stop, and back, and moving the shoulders and turning.  Then we’ll progress to yielding the hindquarters.  I always teach leg-yield early to young horses, because it helps to have that control established in keeping them balanced when starting circles, especially at the faster gaits.  After that, we’ll work on impulsion.  THEN we can progress to trotting.

Next summer, I hope to show at Introductory Level dressage.

(x-posted from my livejournal)

It was only a local schooling show, but Beau earned a 69% in his in-hand class.  He only rated a 6 (out of 10) in his conformation, but some of the comments will change as he grows and matures, and widens (narrow chest–whatever.  he’s only two).  The judge did give him an 8 (out of 10) on his trot, with good comments about the elasticity and reach.  I don’t see that his shoulder is steep or that his neck is set low either, so I’m not sure I trust the judge’s comments and score.  Any horsey flisters care to comment on your opinion?  I won’t argue if I’m wrong.  Mostly, I’d like to know if I’m just not seeing something, or if I shouldn’t take the judge’s comments too seriously?  It was only our first time and not a rated show.  Maybe another judge will see him differently?

Oh, and our local dress code is lenient.  I know I’m not dressed up.  Besides, it was HOT and HUMID Saturday.  Yuck!

Here are some pics from the photographer’s site:

(I just realized that this was after he rubbed his number off while itching his head on his leg.  I put it back before we walked off.)

(my hair wasn’t cooperating to stay in the french braid–here it looks gawdawful.  But don’t we look nice together

(this is the one I ordered as a 8×10.  It was only $25, and of course it won’t have the watermark on it )

You can see more of Beau and the pony mare who was shown as an in-hand prospect here: Marge Schwartz Photography.  It was an interesting day, but Beau mostly behaved.  The middle part of the triangle, he pulled a jump and play, but I made him go back and try again, just because I don’t like my horse getting away with shite in the show anymore than at home.  He did it again, but not as bad.

It’s been a while since I posted pics of my boy.  He’ll be two in almost four weeks.  I took some pics with my new camera phone.  They’re not hi-res, but they are from today.  He’s grown an in and is doing well in his groundwork.  But I won’t bore you with details.  Here’s my boy, the one I like to say is my Beau my husband let’s me keep

I haven’t felt this good with a horse in a long time! I had my mare for ten years and she and I never just “played”. She was never interested. For three years before her I had no horses, not since I sold a beloved gelding because of college. He and I had that special connection that you find once in a lifetime.

However, I’m pretty sure Beau and I will have that something special in our relationship, not just as horse and trainer but as friends. I love him as I haven’t loved a horse since Blaze, the Paint gelding I mentioned. For the last couple of weeks he’s been more settled in to the point that he’s comfortable now in the new setting and our colder weather. He’s still growing a winter coat–about a month’s growth behind everyone else, so I blanket him when it gets particularly cold–but he’s not looking quite so cold on the cool days. That helps. He’s also settled in his mind. That’s a great thing right there.

Tonight we just played, something I haven’t done in over thirteen years. It’s FUN! I forgot how much fun it was. And that is inspiring on so many levels. I chased him around to get him going in the indoor arena, which didn’t take much more than the snap of the longe whip. He found another lying in the dirt and picked it up by the handle with his teeth and started trotting off with it, until I ran after him. Luckily, he dropped it before he stepped on the shaft or the lash. He ran and bucked and did his little squeal of delight when he plays. After a little of that, I turned and ran away from him. He turned and started following me with the “Hey! Where ya goin? Whatcha doin?” look. After a little of that, I turned on him and he jumped. He whirled and ran, realizing the game had changed.

Nights like this are the reason I love having horses, besides riding. Since I can’t ride him yet, I’m taking advantage of the time by horsing around, building a bond with him. He’s so pretty to watch when he plays too. I’ve never had a horse with such naturally beautiful movement. Nor have I ever had a horse take dewormer the way he does–like it’s nothing!

Did I mention what a sweetheart he is? And I’ve spoiled him on sugar cubes. I swear the only horse who ever refused them was my mare, if she wasn’t in the mood. She was different. Beau is a big kissable, huggable dream come true. He really is my dream horse! He may not be perfectly flawless but he’s perfect for me right now. I don’t regret spending the money on him.

Beau has reminded me what I love about horses and shown me what I was missing for so long that I forgot. And it’s rejuvenated my writing too! How’s that for a bonus?

I took some fun pics of Beau Saturday and was so busy I forgot to post them. Enjoy!

The first is us together. I may be slightly downhill from him, but not much. He’s 15 hands (5 feet) at the withers and I’m only 5′2″, maybe 5′3″ with my boots on. (The sun was glaring in my eyes and I was trying not to squint.)

Here he’s showing off! (He likes to do that )

Whee! (mid-air while bucking)

a nice forward trot

A beautiful canter

What more could I ask for? Aside from wanting his withers higher than his croup, which is still the highest point at this stage, he’s perfect for what I want. I hope his growth at least levels out, but he still moves very nice for dressage.

I’ve had such a busy weekend selling and welcoming horses that I haven’t had time to write up the interview with the next character from Legend of the White Dragon. Due to the full weekend, I will delay that interview until tomorrow and apologize for any inconvenience to those waiting.

In the meantime, here’s a pic of Beau, my new horse (shipped all the way from Kentucky):

And here:

Btw, he’s only a yearling, so no riding for about a year and a half.

Okay, for those who want to know what my mare is like, here’s a video I made.

Enjoy!

And don’t forget to check back tomorrow night for the next character interview!

Woohoo!

Here’s the video that helped me decide, although I already saw something I couldn’t resist

(I can’t embed the video. I’ve tried.)

Now, to find Star a new home! And in the meantime, I promise to get back on schedule, now that little Lexie’s starting to sleep for me again, and keep up my regular writing posts. Today or tomorrow. I have an interested buyer coming out to see Star tonight. Keep your fingers crossed!

Argh! Shopping for a new horse is near impossible, at least when you live up here in the middle of nowhere. I deleted a post about finding a horse, because now I’m having second thoughts about that one, although he is pretty, because of one flaw that he may not grow out of; a flaw that could hinder how far he goes in dressage.  And his price would put a serious crimp on our efforts to put in a lawn next spring–we have sandy clay and scattered weeds.  Allen may be a great husband for tolerating my horse habit and letting me borrow money to get a horse I really like, but I’m starting to think I should stay with what I can afford to keep him happy.  Ah, well.  Even if I don’t get the yearling, I can save money for other things.
Now, I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for more information on each to help me make up my mind.

What I get for selling Star may influence the outcome too, WHEN I sell her.  Now is a bad time of year to sell a horse.
Oh, well! The only way to really get what I want would be to spend more than $10K, but if I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t have an unfinished basement. I will just have to make the best decision I can with what is available to me.

I’m so happy! I have my moody ol’ mare back from her vacation. I’ve lost all but a pound of what I gained in my pregnancy (over 40 lbs!) and all the medical bills are paid. Now I’ve had her back at the boarding stable for a couple weeks. She *insert tongue in cheek* LOVES me right now. Oh, at first I was all right, but when I started making her work again, I turned into the bad guy.

I might have been in good shape, but not riding shape. I was sore after each of the first few rides. I’ve adjusted now, but she still has a long ways to go. She tends to drop her left shoulder and right hip, which makes for some very crooked and unbalanced work, but the longeing is helping with that. It’ll take another month or more to really get her strong again and not falling on her forehand, which is another issue we have to work through. She knows what to do, but she’s lazy. Her workouts consist of lots of circle work to make her balance.

And, I’ve figured out that I don’t want to even really touch on dressage but to focus on the hunter showing in which she excels. She is no dressage horse. Sure, the training has helped us, but it’s not our focus. I’m at a point where I just want to have fun, but I may want to show at the fall BER show coming up and I want a balanced, correctly moving horse. That means we actually have to work.

She hates it But she tries. She doesn’t have much of a choice, and I make the effort painless. It gives us a goal to work towards too, which I need.

Now, to get her slimmed down! She’s off pasture and on a diet now…the fat pig.  If I can do it, so can she.

I’m glad to get back to the old me, and it will help my writing.  You’ll see more horse posts now with updates of what we’re doing.  I used to keep a diary from her perspective, but I quit doing that long ago.  Now, it’s my turn.  My mare and me, a team again.