Facebook won’t let me load more than one video again. Here is Velvet after removing her blanket. Even though she was dry underneath she was shivering like crazy. Not every horse can go without a blanket! I replaced the one she had on with a nice dry one both inside and out.
9/16/22 Snow started late today and then turned to freezing rain. At 9 pm I went out into the pasture to check the horses to see if they were sharing the sheds, and they weren’t. I brought them in so they can each relax in their own space. Velvet was shivering under her heavy Rambo! I’m so glad I checked them! She was dry under the blanket but I removed it and replaced it with another heavy blanket that was completely dry on the outside as well and she finally stopped shivering. Interestingly this just proves the point that not all horses can be left to fend for themselves in nature. Some will require blankets while others will not.
12/1/21 At a little over three weeks being treated for Lymes, Jewel is
much better!
11/21/21 I’m excited to show you Jewel’s progress after two weeks of treatment for Lymes. She’s been on doxycycline twice a day and colostrum for the first seven days. In the beginning it was as if her skin was on fire. She was biting the air, pinned her ears flat, and was clearly uncomfortable during grooming. Look at her now!
Sharing to spread what I learned. Jewel had started being cranky when I was grooming her and I just thought maybe she was in season but it persisted when she should have gone out. Almost daily the crankiness was increasing to the point where I thought she might actually connect and bite me.
I had blood work done and she has Lymes. I had no idea it could look like this. Apparently her skin is so sensitive from this disease that she can’t stand being brushed right now. Lesson learned and she’s begun treatment.
9/25/21 Santana did his very first trail ride, out in open fields and with cattle. Cassidy said he was a champ! He actually liked leading almost the whole way!
9/24/21 wow, now Cassidy has Santana jumping at the canter! Once things made sense to him he just keeps moving forward in his learning!
9/20/21 Santana gets his first set of four shoes and he was super!
Cassidy Cain has done a beautiful job with Santana’s training these last 30 days! You saw the video of the first canter she did with him under saddle when he was so unbalanced at the beginning of the month and now look at him, impressive! He is confident, balanced, and most of all, happy! He really trusts her and it makes my heart happy! He is definitely a people horse. He has bonded with her but he also clearly remembered me when I showed up! If you know anyone who needs to have a horse trained, I highly recommend her! She’s working under Olin Armstrong in Verona, VA, and beginning to take outside horses herself. She has such a wonderful foundation for doing this because of the years she has spent working under this iconic horseman!
Working Students do it all! They are 11-15 years old. Farm life, farm responsibilities! Good job Lucca!
Look at the tiny (42”) pony leading the big guys! 😂
Some jumping fun with Lucca on Worthy and Kat on Gracie!
5/12/21 A good foundation is just that. Once you have it, even if you take a break from riding, you will always have it! That’s what I strive to teach here and it’s been proven again and again. This is John, on Darby bareback, after about a year not riding. 😜
4/23/21 Rachael will be posting on Practical Horseman’s INSTAGRAM throughout today. Follow along to see Louis’ typical day at a five star!
I put together this little video to show you about how I place and use the heart rate monitor. Also, I share with you the tack that I’ve learned to use and why. Enjoy!
4/10/21 Here’s a video of one of Lucca‘s rounds on Worthy. Congratulations Lucca!
4/10/21 here’s a video of one of Kat and Gracie‘s rounds from today :-)
Believing you can do it has a lot to do with the outcome! This is some thing that was very scary for this rider and she was fine doing no hands in jump position at the trot so we stepped up to doing that at the canter, and once she realized she could do that I got her to change her arm positions while she was going. It was a super ride and I had a very excited and accomplished rider. Way to go Cathy Koch!
I did an intro endurance ride of 10 miles on 4/3. I took this video the night before and it shows the base camp and how I have Jewel all set for the night. My friend and I took the horses out for a walk at about 9 PM so they could stretch their legs and then we made sure they had salt in some grain to work on overnight which would cause them to drink.
3/20/21 video 1 of 6 of Santana’s session today. He has found his balance at the canter and it just gets better and better every day!
This is to the right and the next video is to the left. All explanations are in the following videos.
As an aside, I have not had any luck getting the business page to allow me to put multiple videos in one post. If anybody has any clue how to do it please message me or text me, I would appreciate it!
3/20/21 video 2 Of Santana’s session today. Before I mount Lucca on him, I review, each time, walk, trot, and canter on the lunge line. Now that he is so much better with his balance at the canter, his walk and trot are fabulous. I call it “up the ante”. When I find a place in their training that they are getting comfortable, but not quite confirmed in the concept, then I introduce the next concept. As they struggle or try to wrap their head around the new one, then I return to the concept before that and they find it so easy that they just go with it and accept it. I was so happy to see Santana pick up the canter on command and not need any chasing. He picked it up multiple times each direction. Having him canter without a rider at this point just helps to further confirm his ability to himself and lets me know how spunky he might be before I put my rider on 😉
3/20/21 video 3 of Santana’s session today. When Lucca was going to mount him the question was asked about him being ready for reins. Although they are attached to the bit and Lucca will have access to them, she will only hold them loosely so they don’t accidentally get in the way or flip over his head. I have attached the lunge line to his halter, which is under his bridle. All of his communication will be coming from me as I build on his knowledge and skill with lunging, just this time I’m adding a rider. After she gets on I remove her stirrup that she used for mounting. The other one is already off. I learned of an accident many years ago of someone training a young horse and his foot got caught in the stirrup when the horse took off bucking and then he was dragged for a bit. Needless to say he was really hurt and laid up for months. My theory is that if the horse is doing something that requires you to have a stirrup you probably don’t want to be connected anyway. You might as well come off sooner rather than later. Also note that Lucca is wearing a cross-country vest for additional safety.
3/20/21 video 4 of Santana’s session today. Lucca is mounted and without stirrups, which you see explained in video 3. Also, she is wearing a cross country vest. There’s no reason to cut corners, and safety is priority. In this video I am lunging Santana at walk and trot and changing of direction. All of this is very comfortable for him and he went about it beautifully!
3/20/21 Video 5 Of Santana’s session today. Eden is on a buddy horse to help Santana be confident under saddle. It worked only for a few minutes and then he could’ve cared less so I stopped using her as a lead but asked her to stay in the ring. He wasn’t understanding to go forward into the trot so I decided to pretend that I was still lunging him and that got the immediate response that I wanted. You will see him walk and trot on command for me as I “lunge“ him. The Sutton‘s told me that the Rios line is very attached to their people, which means me! I will work within those parameters, always trying to find a positive way for him to do the right thing :-)
3/20/21 video 6 of Santana’s session today. Lucca had just finished trotting him around the ring and had come into the middle. Someone who is watching asked about yielding to the pressure so Lucca shows them how she puts pressure on Santana‘s nose to the right, adds some leg pressure and waits for him to yield his hind quarters. This is one of the things that Petey Wright had been working on with him. All of this adds to suppleness and obedience on Santana‘s part.
Just for comparison, Worthy arrived here, a completely wild mustang in August 2015. Today she lives the life of a well tended, private/school horse. This is part of Lucca‘s ride on her yesterday, before she got on Santana. I have complete faith that Santana will be like her or better. The reason I say “or better” is because Worthy has a tendency to take off if there’s some kind of sound she hears but can’t see the reason for it. She’s great on trails and shows, but in schooling, the work has to be more complicated for her so that she quits being reactive and puts 100% focus on the rider. I don’t think this will be a problem for Santana. He is solid and
focused even when he is calling to his friends. We shall see!
3/17/21 here’s a continuation of the video just before this. This just shows Santana going around the ring on his own :-)
Santana update 3/17/21:
The last time I posted we were going through a lot of tests and theories as to why Santana might’ve buckled to his knees on his last ride with Petey. Since he apparently wasn’t going to hold up to any further training the decision was to bring him home and try to get him healthy. I moved him home and treated him for ulcers, giving him daily Gastroguard for 30 days. During that time I kept grooming him and doing light ground work, as well as lunging walk/trot. When the med was finished I began asking for the canter on the lunge. This was particularly difficult because he’s only ever galloped in huge pastures with his herd. By the end of the second week he started finding his balance and can now canter both ways on command. He’s still working on balance but it’s getting much better. I started putting Lucca Reese on him while lunging and it’s going really well. Additionally she is doing the same bridle exercises that Petey was doing, to remain consistent. Today he was perfect on
the lunge walk/trot and then walked around the ring by himself. I think he’s going in a positive direction now!
3/4/21 having fun with synchronized riding!
2/20/21 just finished Kalle’s groundwork session and grooming and put him back in his stall to relax. He says “hi!”