Thursday, December 3, 2009
Youtube Videos
I added a Youtube link to my blog page, if you search for 'carefreegirl51' on youtube you will find all my videos that I have uploaded. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get my computer to upload more videos recently, there seems to be a problem, but hopefully I can post more vids in the future.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wounds and Healing
Well as noted in my other blog we recently moved to the Inland Empire area of California.
Bently did well on the trip, we stayed overnight in Cedar City,UT which I think was a good decision, as Bently was ready to be done traveling. Bently did have swollen eyes for a couple of days after reaching our destination, but the swelling went down quickly after rinsing them out with water, I think he might have had wind burn or something.
Then his old kick injury (on his sheath) got swollen, which changed when I moved him to pasture boarding about 2 weeks after arrival.(He was in paddock boarding at first). It didn't hurt him when I touched it, and the swelling would go down after I would have him exercise for a bit, so I was pretty sure that the only cause for the swelling was lack of movement of an old injury, upon moving him to pasture boarding the swelling went right down.
I introduced him to the pasture pretty slowly to help try to avoid major injuries, but Bently still managed to get a good sized bite in his but. Because it is right on the edge under the tail it is taking a very long time to heal, and is still sore. He keeps it rubbed because of swatting flies, I clean it every time I go out. It is slowly healing.
Then because of the change in environment and climate his feet are chipping and cracking and basically falling apart. To resolve this I bought him hoof boots, which because of our financial situation is my early Christmas present, I was very excited when they came, because I knew how much more comfortable he would be. They arrived and I tried them on him yesterday. He was surprisingly unworried about the big black things I was attaching to his feet, and he was a lot more comfortable once they were on.
I plan to alternate him wearing them and not wearing them until his feet have healed, then I will use them only when riding on rocky terrain or if he gets tender again for some reason.
Until later...
Bently did well on the trip, we stayed overnight in Cedar City,UT which I think was a good decision, as Bently was ready to be done traveling. Bently did have swollen eyes for a couple of days after reaching our destination, but the swelling went down quickly after rinsing them out with water, I think he might have had wind burn or something.
Then his old kick injury (on his sheath) got swollen, which changed when I moved him to pasture boarding about 2 weeks after arrival.(He was in paddock boarding at first). It didn't hurt him when I touched it, and the swelling would go down after I would have him exercise for a bit, so I was pretty sure that the only cause for the swelling was lack of movement of an old injury, upon moving him to pasture boarding the swelling went right down.
I introduced him to the pasture pretty slowly to help try to avoid major injuries, but Bently still managed to get a good sized bite in his but. Because it is right on the edge under the tail it is taking a very long time to heal, and is still sore. He keeps it rubbed because of swatting flies, I clean it every time I go out. It is slowly healing.
Then because of the change in environment and climate his feet are chipping and cracking and basically falling apart. To resolve this I bought him hoof boots, which because of our financial situation is my early Christmas present, I was very excited when they came, because I knew how much more comfortable he would be. They arrived and I tried them on him yesterday. He was surprisingly unworried about the big black things I was attaching to his feet, and he was a lot more comfortable once they were on.
I plan to alternate him wearing them and not wearing them until his feet have healed, then I will use them only when riding on rocky terrain or if he gets tender again for some reason.
Until later...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Adrenaline to RBE
RBE= Right Brain Extrovert, or in layman's terms--not thinking/reactive, and having the need to move.
That is what Bently did the last time I played with him. He has done it often, but recently he has been so left brain I guess I was not expecting it. But his adrenaline went up, and suddenly he went right brain.
We were playing on the 45 foot line...about the fourth time we have played with it. He was doing great...I decided to work on some lead changes/changes of direction at the canter. He was fine going from the left lead to the right, but when I would ask him to switch through from the right to the left he would push into the pressure with his shoulder, and kept going rather then yield. I decided to slow it down...
I brought in the line, had it so he had about 30 foot or so of rope, and asked him to change directions at the trot...got those going well, so then asked again at the canter...no go. Hum, I wonder maybe if I sped it up...
I asked him into a right lead canter, which he offered willingly, I asked him for a stronger canter, then I asked him to change directions--he changed directions, up came the adrenaline and then went about a half circle around to the left--before he went completely RBE. I took a strong hold on the line--sending some energy down it to get his attention--even though he is RB, he is still a very sensitive horse--it didn't take him to long to quite running like a maniac, but he was still on high adrenaline and RB--I had him back up until he started to calm down. It took about 50 feet of back up before he started to try and blow the adrenaline off.
This is nothing new for him, but it did take me a bit by surprise as he hasn't gone RBE in months. I found myself losing my temper a little, thinking "you haven't done this in forever, why are you doing this..." but I was able to regain my cool, quick enough to help him calm down...
I got him back completely left brain using back up, sideways, and small circles with frequent changes of direction. once he was fully relaxed we ended the session with changes of direction at the trot on a larger circle. Got those really good and called it a day. It was a very windy day, so that might have been one of the factors that sent him RB. But we ended on a good note, and that is all that matters.
Anyway this happened about 2 days ago...I haven't had time to play with him since, so it will be interesting to see how he is next time.
That is what Bently did the last time I played with him. He has done it often, but recently he has been so left brain I guess I was not expecting it. But his adrenaline went up, and suddenly he went right brain.
We were playing on the 45 foot line...about the fourth time we have played with it. He was doing great...I decided to work on some lead changes/changes of direction at the canter. He was fine going from the left lead to the right, but when I would ask him to switch through from the right to the left he would push into the pressure with his shoulder, and kept going rather then yield. I decided to slow it down...
I brought in the line, had it so he had about 30 foot or so of rope, and asked him to change directions at the trot...got those going well, so then asked again at the canter...no go. Hum, I wonder maybe if I sped it up...
I asked him into a right lead canter, which he offered willingly, I asked him for a stronger canter, then I asked him to change directions--he changed directions, up came the adrenaline and then went about a half circle around to the left--before he went completely RBE. I took a strong hold on the line--sending some energy down it to get his attention--even though he is RB, he is still a very sensitive horse--it didn't take him to long to quite running like a maniac, but he was still on high adrenaline and RB--I had him back up until he started to calm down. It took about 50 feet of back up before he started to try and blow the adrenaline off.
This is nothing new for him, but it did take me a bit by surprise as he hasn't gone RBE in months. I found myself losing my temper a little, thinking "you haven't done this in forever, why are you doing this..." but I was able to regain my cool, quick enough to help him calm down...
I got him back completely left brain using back up, sideways, and small circles with frequent changes of direction. once he was fully relaxed we ended the session with changes of direction at the trot on a larger circle. Got those really good and called it a day. It was a very windy day, so that might have been one of the factors that sent him RB. But we ended on a good note, and that is all that matters.
Anyway this happened about 2 days ago...I haven't had time to play with him since, so it will be interesting to see how he is next time.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Just trying to get into better habits...Here is a condensed update
Here are some posts that I have made about Bently and me on another site, I figured I would post them on my blog so hopefully I can get in the habit of keeping my blog more up to date. 
Post are below, all posted February through beginning of March 2009. First post are about sideways accomplishments, and last post is about a water adventure.
“Thought I would share my and my boys accomplishment from the other day, it was a really great day;
Bently was very calm, did not go RBE or even get really un-confident even once (which I love when he is like that) and was asking tons of questions and offering a lot. Anyway we have been working on sideways towards without a fence from farther distances.
Yesterday for the first time He did sideways towards me from almost the very end of the 22' without a fence- it was great I gave him lots of loves, he then did it again. Yippee! Just was so happy I thought I would share.
Bently was very calm, did not go RBE or even get really un-confident even once (which I love when he is like that) and was asking tons of questions and offering a lot. Anyway we have been working on sideways towards without a fence from farther distances.
Yesterday for the first time He did sideways towards me from almost the very end of the 22' without a fence- it was great I gave him lots of loves, he then did it again. Yippee! Just was so happy I thought I would share.
We are not consistent yet, but we are getting there--I really have to be sure to balance the sideways towards with the sideways away, or he only will come to me and not away.”
“My boy loves coming in sideways now--the other day I played a little with him at liberty and I asked just to see what he would do for sideways toward after I had him go sideways away, and he actually came back, and looked so proud of himself to, I was very overjoyed as I was in a pasture, and he was about 10-15 feet away--he was actually better at and more enthusiastic about the sideways toward then the sideways away.”
“My que for him for sideways toward is my facing the same direction he is, lifting my arm up with the carrot stick in hand, with the sort of feel like I am going to put it up and over his back and give him a hug (carrot stick goes at a slant towards him, but is mostly up--string is caught up/not dangling).
Then I put a draw in my energy--like I am going to reel him in and give him a hug, and then I say the word "over." if he doesn't respond then I put rythmic energy into the tip of the CS, as if it was on the other side of him. Mostly though now he starts to respond when I pull with my energy, or when I say the word 'over'.
Does that make sense? There is a vid of mine on youtube(titled: "Bently movement and play 02-11-09"), and about 2 min in or so into it shows what I do basically for sideways toward, though we have refined it some more since then.
If I remember correctly I did have to tap the CS tap in the air on the vid which is my final phases before I then (if I am on-line) put a small feel on zone one, and then I will ask him to step forward (I do this as my test and to get him thinking as sometimes if he hasn't responded it is because he is frozen/RBI) and if he steps forward well then I will move a step towards him at a time, still tapping the CS in the air and saying 'over,' until he starts coming towards me--even if it means putting rythmic pressure with the the SS or the tip of the CS over his back on the opposite side to have him come over--I rarely have to do that now.”
Then I put a draw in my energy--like I am going to reel him in and give him a hug, and then I say the word "over." if he doesn't respond then I put rythmic energy into the tip of the CS, as if it was on the other side of him. Mostly though now he starts to respond when I pull with my energy, or when I say the word 'over'.
Does that make sense? There is a vid of mine on youtube(titled: "Bently movement and play 02-11-09"), and about 2 min in or so into it shows what I do basically for sideways toward, though we have refined it some more since then.
If I remember correctly I did have to tap the CS tap in the air on the vid which is my final phases before I then (if I am on-line) put a small feel on zone one, and then I will ask him to step forward (I do this as my test and to get him thinking as sometimes if he hasn't responded it is because he is frozen/RBI) and if he steps forward well then I will move a step towards him at a time, still tapping the CS in the air and saying 'over,' until he starts coming towards me--even if it means putting rythmic pressure with the the SS or the tip of the CS over his back on the opposite side to have him come over--I rarely have to do that now.”
“Bently loves sideways toward so much now that yesturday when i was playing with him he kept offering it, all I could do was laugh, looks like we may need to play a couple sessions without doing it to get it back in balance again, though it is fun that he was offering it (though I am always sure to defend my space if it is needed)
--because i have a hard time keeping up in the snow, and because of all his abcesses this winter, that is why we have been working on sideways so much recently, because it doesn't require much energy
his stick to me at the walk, stop, and back up were fab though
”“Today went out and played with my boy. we went for a mosey in the pasture, then went out to mosey down the road. Then we went along the edge of a field, then went back to the road, playing stick to me (walk when I walk, stop when I stop, etc.)
We continued down the road, a bird flew up and Bently jumped in place then kinda shook his head and looked at me as if to say "that was stupid of me wasn't it, don't I deserve a treat for only spooking a little though?". I laughed gave him a pet and we continued along the road. We came to dirt road that had a large 'pond' (due to snow run-off) so I decided we should play touch it.
He sniffed at it for a bit, then started to play with the water with his lips first, and then he stuck out his tongue and was playing with it. I mean like his tongue was a straw and he was twirling it in the water. It was very funny--I laughed again and told him good boy, and then asked him to re-approach the "pond" he did so willingly with only a slight hesitation before he put all four feet in. (it wasn't a deep pond, just about to his fetlock joints, but it was wide)
We left the pond after much praise, and a couple treats and headed for home. We then found a "stream" along side the road, so I preceded to ask him to cross it--he did so willingly after again he had sniffed it and mouthed the water some. He never did just walk over it though, he always wanted to jump it, though it did not seem he was scared of it, just that is what he wanted to do.
We then found a slightly wider section of the same 'stream' where after several tries he figured out that I wanted him to go into the stream with all four feet and stand in it next to me. He was such a good boy, got lots of pets and some treats. Then we went the rest of the way home.
Anyway just thought I would share our water adventure that we had this afternoon.”
We continued down the road, a bird flew up and Bently jumped in place then kinda shook his head and looked at me as if to say "that was stupid of me wasn't it, don't I deserve a treat for only spooking a little though?". I laughed gave him a pet and we continued along the road. We came to dirt road that had a large 'pond' (due to snow run-off) so I decided we should play touch it.
He sniffed at it for a bit, then started to play with the water with his lips first, and then he stuck out his tongue and was playing with it. I mean like his tongue was a straw and he was twirling it in the water. It was very funny--I laughed again and told him good boy
, and then asked him to re-approach the "pond" he did so willingly with only a slight hesitation before he put all four feet in. (it wasn't a deep pond, just about to his fetlock joints, but it was wide) We left the pond after much praise, and a couple treats and headed for home. We then found a "stream" along side the road, so I preceded to ask him to cross it--he did so willingly after again he had sniffed it and mouthed the water some. He never did just walk over it though, he always wanted to jump it, though it did not seem he was scared of it, just that is what he wanted to do.
We then found a slightly wider section of the same 'stream' where after several tries he figured out that I wanted him to go into the stream with all four feet and stand in it next to me. He was such a good boy, got lots of pets and some treats. Then we went the rest of the way home.
Anyway just thought I would share our water adventure that we had this afternoon.
”
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Catching up...
Well it's been a long time...don't think I will ever be able to catch up to what has happened between now and my previous post so I will just share some of the highlights--
I have started to trim Bently's feet myself: I got Pete Ramey's book, "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You" & Jamie Jackson's book, "Paddock Paradise" for Christmas; they are both great books. I have also been using a lot of internet sources to help me as I learn to trim.
Here are some of the websites that have helped me as I have been learning to trim myself, I still have a ways to go, but I am improving; links are not listed in any particular order:
http://www.thehorseshoof.com/
http://www.belhavenequinesolutions.com/Main_Site/Home_Page.html (Leah has been a great help to me; Thank you Leah!)
http://www.hoofrehab.com/
http://www.equinepodiatry.net/
http://www.jaimejackson.com/
http://www.ironfreehoof.com/
http://www.barefoothorse.com/
http://www.tribeequus.com/
Bently had a couple of foot abscesses, but seems to be better now--crossing my fingers that he doesn't get any more, though I don't think he will.
I have posted a couple of Youtube vids of me and Bently, you can just search for carefreegirl51 on youtube to watch them, or here are some direct links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThuNvXXU_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfdjgmX8rx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syx-GYnKzFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5_AKt_TdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3M6zJFq-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bKyprDOv5o
I will be posting some more in the future I am sure.
So basically what I have been up to is trimming Bently's feet, learning about trimming, Playing with Bently (whenever weather, time, and him not being lame permitted), continuing to read and learn about horses, and just waiting for the weather to improve, and for school to be done.
We'll that is it for now--hopefully I can be better at staying up-to-date with my postings.
I have started to trim Bently's feet myself: I got Pete Ramey's book, "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You" & Jamie Jackson's book, "Paddock Paradise" for Christmas; they are both great books. I have also been using a lot of internet sources to help me as I learn to trim.
Here are some of the websites that have helped me as I have been learning to trim myself, I still have a ways to go, but I am improving; links are not listed in any particular order:
http://www.thehorseshoof.com/
http://www.belhavenequinesolutions.com/Main_Site/Home_Page.html (Leah has been a great help to me; Thank you Leah!)
http://www.hoofrehab.com/
http://www.equinepodiatry.net/
http://www.jaimejackson.com/
http://www.ironfreehoof.com/
http://www.barefoothorse.com/
http://www.tribeequus.com/
Bently had a couple of foot abscesses, but seems to be better now--crossing my fingers that he doesn't get any more, though I don't think he will.
I have posted a couple of Youtube vids of me and Bently, you can just search for carefreegirl51 on youtube to watch them, or here are some direct links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThuNvXXU_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfdjgmX8rx0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syx-GYnKzFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5_AKt_TdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3M6zJFq-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bKyprDOv5o
I will be posting some more in the future I am sure.
So basically what I have been up to is trimming Bently's feet, learning about trimming, Playing with Bently (whenever weather, time, and him not being lame permitted), continuing to read and learn about horses, and just waiting for the weather to improve, and for school to be done.
We'll that is it for now--hopefully I can be better at staying up-to-date with my postings.
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