Today I learned that I've been riding for 10 years and have never truly known where the horse's feet are.
The day started out pretty normal. Daily chores were done by eight in the morning. I then went down to the barn with Zach and Ty and gave some oats to Dino and Chachi who stayed in the barn overnight as we didn't have a ranger to go get the horses with.
After that I hitched a ride back up to the calving barn with Burt and Bud. They were getting the ranger all ready to go to town and enlisted my help. Bud said, "Alright Ems, get in the tractor." I just kinda looked at him and did as he told. It was pretty simple once I got the hang of it. I even backed it up to the flatbed while Burt hooked it up.
Then I got to ride. I was on Dino today and Ty was on Chachi. I worked on what Andi back at MSU would call "wind and unwind". It consists of bending the horse around to 90 degrees, moving the hind end under and over, and then moving the horse's shoulders out to complete the circle. I started to get it down when I kept running into the same problem every time. I wasn't asking Dino when it was most convenient for him to move; I just merely asked when I did. Jenn pointed this out to me and told me it would be much better for both of us if I asked when his foot was leaving the ground. She gave me a little exercise to help with figuring that out. This exercise consisted of moving the front foot out when it left the ground by "picking it up." After a bit of frustration, I began to get it. This immediately improved my work on the other exercise. Now I have another step toward becoming a better rider for myself and the horses.
The biggest thing I learned today was that I have never really been thinking about my horses feet. I've just done what I wanted when riding and not thinking about how rough or easy it would be on the horse I was riding. Thinking back, I can now see some horses that I could have done better with and it would have changed my relationship with them. So here's hoping I can use my newfound knowledge, and everything else to come, to become both a better rider for myself and the horses I ride.
After ending on a good note with Dino today, Jenn and Zach helped teach me how to rope. I got the coiling down, but still need a lot of work on making my loops and swinging them. It's just something else that they have taught me that I wouldn't have learned for another long while. But of course: practice practice practice!
Melissa arrived around 4 in the afternoon and man is she awesome. I think we will definitely be getting along just fine, maybe even more than fine!
Towards the evening we fed our calves and then had leftovers for dinner. After a quick episode of Longmire (of which I have never seen so we started with the pilot), we are now off to scrub Jenn's shower so it is all nice and clean for when Kelsey gets back.
So here's adieu until tomorrow!
The day started out pretty normal. Daily chores were done by eight in the morning. I then went down to the barn with Zach and Ty and gave some oats to Dino and Chachi who stayed in the barn overnight as we didn't have a ranger to go get the horses with.
After that I hitched a ride back up to the calving barn with Burt and Bud. They were getting the ranger all ready to go to town and enlisted my help. Bud said, "Alright Ems, get in the tractor." I just kinda looked at him and did as he told. It was pretty simple once I got the hang of it. I even backed it up to the flatbed while Burt hooked it up.
Then I got to ride. I was on Dino today and Ty was on Chachi. I worked on what Andi back at MSU would call "wind and unwind". It consists of bending the horse around to 90 degrees, moving the hind end under and over, and then moving the horse's shoulders out to complete the circle. I started to get it down when I kept running into the same problem every time. I wasn't asking Dino when it was most convenient for him to move; I just merely asked when I did. Jenn pointed this out to me and told me it would be much better for both of us if I asked when his foot was leaving the ground. She gave me a little exercise to help with figuring that out. This exercise consisted of moving the front foot out when it left the ground by "picking it up." After a bit of frustration, I began to get it. This immediately improved my work on the other exercise. Now I have another step toward becoming a better rider for myself and the horses.
The biggest thing I learned today was that I have never really been thinking about my horses feet. I've just done what I wanted when riding and not thinking about how rough or easy it would be on the horse I was riding. Thinking back, I can now see some horses that I could have done better with and it would have changed my relationship with them. So here's hoping I can use my newfound knowledge, and everything else to come, to become both a better rider for myself and the horses I ride.
After ending on a good note with Dino today, Jenn and Zach helped teach me how to rope. I got the coiling down, but still need a lot of work on making my loops and swinging them. It's just something else that they have taught me that I wouldn't have learned for another long while. But of course: practice practice practice!
Melissa arrived around 4 in the afternoon and man is she awesome. I think we will definitely be getting along just fine, maybe even more than fine!
Towards the evening we fed our calves and then had leftovers for dinner. After a quick episode of Longmire (of which I have never seen so we started with the pilot), we are now off to scrub Jenn's shower so it is all nice and clean for when Kelsey gets back.
So here's adieu until tomorrow!