Merry Christmas!!!! =)

Merry Christmas everyone!! This Christmas was one of the best for me, besides the fact that my brother was in Ireland visiting his girlfriend, so I missed him a lot!!
This morning, my mom, dad, and I opened up presents one at a time. I was really hoping I would get a Cradle Bridle. I feel like it's the next step to advancing our Finesse, because the Confidence Snaffle can only take Solo so far. He does better in a halter now. I think the bit is too big in his mouth. It's really thick. Anyways, I had opened up all of my presents this morning except one, and it was from Solo. My mom must of took Solo shopping with her. ;) Wouldn't that be a cute site?
I opened it, and it was a shipping box! I started squealing with excitement, because I knew it would be a Cradle Bridle, and whaddya know, IT WAS! I'm so excited to ride Solo in it!!!!

New Goals

As I was sitting in English class today, I had a thought. 2009 is almost over, and wow has it flown by! Solo and I had accomplished so much!! Ever since the Madison, WI Celebration and our spotlight, our relationship has grown leaps and bounds. I am so proud of this little guy. He tries his heart and soul out for me. We have accomplished more than I could've imagined in the last six months. And then I thought, I need some goals for us going into 2010. This is what I want to accomplish.

ONLINE

• refine our long-line driving and take it to the next level (trot, canter, sidepass, flying changes)
• play with circle game ALL THE WAY out on the 45 foot line
• refine all of our games to phase one
• figure out more ways to motivate Solo
• sideways towards and trot and canter
• sideways away at canter
  
• draw to me at the canter
• bow
• lay down
• rear
• cutting
• pass Level 4
  

LIBERTY

• get more distance between me and Solo during games
• circling game without round corral (go fast than a walk)
• back by tail with turns
• draw backwards with turns
• sideways towards at trot
• flying changes without round corral
• spins
• cutting
• rear
• bow
• lay down
• pass Level 3 (level 3 is ready, just needs to be filmed)
  
• pass Level 4
  

FREESTYLE

• pass Level 3
• refine simple changes
• flying changes
• better bridleless riding
• get Solo more on his HQ
• get downward transitions better
• jump better
• get backing up faster
• direct rein faster
• indirect rein better
• sideways-looking the direction he's going, or at least being straight

FINESSE

• haunches in
• shoulder in
• half pass better at trot
• half pass at canter
• flying changes
• smoother upward transitions
• more flexion

That's all for now!

Riding In The Snow!

Today I had such a fun time with Solo! We played online with some 12 foot circles, working on more flexion and canter-to-walk transitions. First, because he's becoming more LBI everyday (YAY!), I have to work on motivation now instead of confidence. So first we started really slow..I mean like a snail's pace slow. Things like how little can I do to have you back up, and back through the cones, walk REALLY s....l.....o.....w on circle game. Boy was he interested! Then I asked him to trot and he went with the expression of "FINALLY!" After that, we did some long-lining on a figure 8. This has been one of the hardest things for him to grasp, and for me too! For him, I think, because I am behind and not in front of him leading the way, so he gets a little unconfident. But yesterday, he did really well! After that we worked on drawing backwards with turns, and he seemed to really like that! I really wanted to ride, so I went in the barn and saddled up. My saddle fit better yesterday than most days...YAY for muscle growth! Then as I'm fidgeting with my freezing cold bit, trying to warm it up, Solo pretty much wrapped himself around me trying to get that bit in his mouth! SCORE! Finally when I got it warm up, I touched it to his lips and he sucked it right in. I led him back out into our little snow trampled area of about 40 square feet and got on. Well obviously, I couldn't really work on things with speed, so it was the perfect opportunity to work on the little things that had escaped my mind when we didn't have snow. First, we worked on making our halt-to-walk transitions as invisible as possible, and BOY were they invisible! All I had to do was pick up my energy and he was off! Next we did some point-to-point with cones at the trot. After he was doing really well with that, I collected my reins and we did some Finesse. It was one of our best yet! I would go from cone to cone and we would turn a small circle around each cone. Instead of using my outside leg to turn him, I would use my inside leg and an indirect rein, so he would arc his body around each cone. He was b-e-a-utiful!! After that, I was done! I had to be..he was amazing and I needed to stop at a high point.
The best part about this whole thing was that he never once had his ears back!!!

Inspiration, Hallelujah!!!

YES YES YES!!! After wait for what seemed like FOREVER...I PASSED MY LEVEL 3 ONLINE!!! I passed with a level 3+ by Nita Jo Rush! Strangly enough, I had a lesson with her about 3 weeks before hand. Hmm, how interesting! :) I am so thrilled, and SUPER proud of Solo! He is so amazing!! I can't wait until the snow melts so I can get out and film my liberty and freestyle! Level 3, HERE WE COME!
Savvy On :D

Already ready for summer!

Last week, we had a huge snow storm. We got about 14 inches of snow at my house, and I'm pretty bummed!! Sure, it's fun to play in the snow, but I have SO much stuff I want to play with, and that requires grass footing. ;) Although, I did have fun playing in the snow with my horses. I had a wonderful liberty session with Solo! We went in the round pen and played some stick to me, and then some mirror me. It was the first time he jumped half way over the barrel by doing mirror me! It was so cute! He licked and chewed, then looked at me like "How was THAT?!" I love that boy to death!! Then we went for a nice ride in the soybean field neighboring our horse. It was a pretty quick ride though, plowin' through all that snow takes a lotta energy for a lil guy! ;) I can't wait to get out again and play and ride!!
Savvy On! :)

New Beginnings for a Special Horse

This fall I was given a horse from my instructor. He is a 6 year old percheron morgan cross gelding. His name is Cavallo. Here's his story:
His previous owners bought him for $3,500. Their plan was to do dressage with him. I'm sure it went okay for a while, until they really started asking things from him. They took him to a few competitions, and my guess is that's what pushed him over the edge. His owner put her 70 year old dad on his back, and Cavallo took off. Poor guy! This event reoccured when a 5 year old girl rode him. They then decided they were done with him, and gave him to my instructor. She played with him a little bit, and had some other people at the barn play with him. When she saw my mom, my instructor told my mom that he had my name on him. Obviously, now I really wanted to play with him!! We set up a date, and came out to the barn to play. When we got there, my instructor handed me his halter and a handful of treats, and we walked out to his paddock. He came right up to us! I put his halter on, and we went to the barn. As I played with him, I realized he's a VERY special horse with some awesome talents. I was hooked then and there. My instructor offered to give him to me, and of course I said yes! When we brought him home, I played with him a lot, making a lot of progress. I figured out that he's a RBI when learning, but he's inately LBE! Oh boy! I had a few lessons with my instructor, and she gave me a lot of pointers. The past couple days I've been playing with him, he's only needed phases 1 and 2! And, he's becoming more and more extraverted everyday! His driving game is so light I really only need to focus, and pulse my fingers! His yo-yo is already phase 1! And wow, his circle game! The rope generally drags on the ground at the trot! He learns so fast! He also sidepasses from zone 2 with just my focus and me walking toward zone 2! I haven't ridden him yet though, but I am in no rush! When I first got him, he wouldn't even line up to the mounting block (I can only imagine how his previous owners got on him =/ ). Now, I step up on the mounting block, send him forward, and he lines himself up and gets as close as he can without knocking me over! yay! I can lay on himon my stomach, and jump on him and lay on my stomach. Next, I will be swinging my leg over. My biggest challenge with him is keeping his confidence and trust. He hasn't had many good experiences with humans. He has made so much progress in the past two months, and I am SO proud of him!!

Some Undemanding Time

Today I went out to the barn and just spent some UDT with Solo. I brought him in a gave him some of his favorite hay and brushed him off, then just sat down on the floor with him. He was so cute! He'd take a few bites of grass, look at me, eat some more, look at me again, and then put his nose in my lap. It was so sweet!! =) I love him! <3

Progress

This weekend I was playing with my horse Solo. We were playing with some zone 5 driving when I realized just how amazing this horse is. He has put up with so much. He is the first horse I have ever had, therefore the first horse I've brought through Level 3. When I was first getting started, he stayed with me through thick and thin. I didn't know anymore about what we were doing than he did, but luckily I had my mom to help me! Playing yesterday, I realized just how far we've come in the past 5 years. We are doing things I dreamed about two years ago. Flying changes and stick to me at the canter are just two of those things. He is so cool and smart! He just amazed me how much enthusiasm he has when we play! I can't believe it! His confidence has grown so much. He used to hate friendly game with the carrot stick, but now he almost falls asleep when I do it! I am so proud of this little guy!! He is the perfect partner, and I feel like we were made for eachother!