The First Few Weeks

Congrats to Ruffles from the blog Just A Girl And Her Horse for getting a marvellous new horse called Romeo! He looks awesome! I hope everything works out really well with you three..

This these past few weeks have been filled with DRAMA!!

Firstly, i thought it would be great to try out that new arena. Hmm, doing my usual groundwork, the sideways game along the fenceline, i kept pushing prince to do the best sidepass at a trot, long the long side of the arena. i wanted him to at least the half i had picked out for him. i pushed him along way to hard and i was watching his body language but i wasn't LISTENING. I saw him panic, but to what i've seen it was so little i ignored it, and he jumped the arena fence. Straight from a standstill to a full metre. It was impressive (IF he had missed the top rail) but since he hit the top rail the boards just busted. The boards were nailed on the outside of the arena just so you know. It would have been a perfect jump too, only if he had been trotting or cantering he would have cleared that last inch or so.

I decided to get on and ride him after that because he was calm. Well! that was a wreakage waiting to happen! he was hot and tired (well it was a boiling afternoon) he didn't want to do anything except stand there, or walk. Boring! i wanted to work on my trotting and maybe canter again.

So anyway, i've been so busy i haven't had a chance to ride him again although i desperately want too. But tomorrow is another day..... if it's not raining.

Prince's mane is growing back already, from the cover, Ruffles gave me. Its already an inch and a half long. Amazing! its only been what, two months or less?

Oh and the other drama, my stupid blog is playing up, it won't let me load anymore photos on here. i can load them on the the little thingy, but they don't show up, they just come up as little white squares.. Pain in the - you-know-what!!

Anyway, maybe it will let me load videos! I think i might have one of prince having a canter after i let him go... I'll go and see..

New Grazing! New Moving Date!

Wow! I have had an amazing week, hectic but amazing!

My moving date has been changed to the 17th because of a bunch of things, mostly from Tony. I don't mind anymore because i found out the real reason on Wednesday.. Nobody saw this coming!

My sister rang me up on Wednesday, apparently she had been trying to ring me for a while. I had been working in my room preparing it for the moving date.

So my sister had come to Sharon and Tony's place for a visit and apparently Sharon had got a flier in the mail about this horse grazing just down the road - i mean literally just down the road - walking distance from where i'm going to be living. The grazing is with another lady called Sharon- she is married with a ten year old daughter. The grazing is twenty-five a week - just within my budget and you would believe the things that come with it! I'm enclosing photos hopefully, of it and pictures of Prince at the moment.

So for twenty-five a week, i get : A stable, grass, a SAND riding arena, covered tying up yard- just outside the stable, and an big yard to put him in closer to the house, and use of the fencing gear!!!! The thing i'm most rapt about is the riding arena, cause i'm always worried about messing the paddocks up, and i get worried about the mud.

So i think this has been the best week ever!

Hmm, the photo's won't load so i'm gonna try another post...

 

Scary Keys, Grazing, and a Float!

Everything is sorted! i have a place to stay, and Prince has gazing and Mahony Hire is gonna let us have a float for $90 for the weekend- with bars in the back!

Prince's gazing is about fifteen minutes away from Mt Munganui. He will be grazing with Standarbred's. The people who he will be staying with, they harness race them. The grazing is five dollars a day, thirty-five a week- which is a little out of my price range, but i am thankful for my mummy, who is helping me out.

As for the float, we went to Hawera hire and they wanted to charge us 145-195 for the weekend, and that was for a horse float with chains. I am glad Tony knew where to look!

The people whom i will be staying with are a lovely couple with a little darling daughter called Ella - Elizabeth Jane. Their names are Sharon and Tony.

As for the scary keys.. I had my car keys in my pocket (yes i passed my restricted! Also i own a car!) and i was jingling them and Prince started to get wide eyed and started to snort. i slowly pulled them out and let him sniff them.
  He shot backwards when the wind jingled them, so i started shaking them. He starting running around the paddok like a loony, so i just stayed calm with my leg relaxed and calming thinking about what i had for tea last night. After about ten minutes (i'm not kidding) he finally stopped running so i stopped jingling the keys too. he was fine after that, so just a tip! check to see if your horse like's keys lol.

I'm not sure when we are moving, Tony is worried about a few things, like he's not sure if he can pick up the float, and Jackie (his sister) isn't going to be there for this weekend (we were going to stop for a break there). i was hoping we could moving me on the tenth, but now it might be the 17th. Who knows now..

If we have to change it, i have so much more to do... ugh!

Fingers Crossed!

I am starting to get a little nervous. Two weeks left to get everything sorted and nothing has changed from last week on things sorted. Even the place where I am supposed to be staying isn't 100% sorted yet either.

As for floats, i have a few more ideas. Thank heavens! There is a friend of mine called Rach, and she has a float - one problem, its got chains instead of a bum bar.
  Also there is Majestic horse floats, which i'm still waiting to hear back on the price. Putting Prince on that will save me so much stress and Prince will have less stress too, because he likes trucks.
  There is a place just out of Inglewood called Mahony Hire, apparently its cheap and all right if you don't mind your horse travelling with a slightly not so nice looking float.

As for grazing, i have gotten Mum to put a notice on Parelli Connect, a wanted grazing in Tauranga thing. I am still looking on trademe, and asking friends who live in Tauranga. Fingers crossed something comes up.

Prince this week as been a real grumbler. He complained about his hay (didn't touch it even though he was hungry), complained about the grass (too much buttercup and not enough grass), complained about the weather (by been hunched up as close as possible to the hedge) and complained about been locked up in his paddock. My response - Too bad!

I've noticed he has been leaning across the barbed wire fence, and he has ripped two holes in the front of his rug. So on a sunny day, that rug is coming off and is getting a wash and a patch up!

I haven't had time for riding at all this week, but since this is a four day weekend, i am planning to do at least two days of riding. Although i have to mow the lawns first! Maybe i'll just park prince on there and give him a groom while he is eating because his hair is just falling out in clumps!

I got prince to give me a kiss on his nose finally! I have been trying to teach him for months and finally succeeded after picking a handful of grass..

Big News!

So I haven't blogged for a while. I've been kinda busy (that and going to tauranga) trying to sort my life out.

I have been given notice to move out where i've been boarding for the past year and three months. The reason i went to tauranga was to see if i could sort out a place to live. i have found a place where i can live (much to my relief) but i still have to sort out details and stuff. i haven't found somewhere to graze Prince yet. i've been thinking maybe the pony club grounds or a place we (my sister and i) drove past called the Horse Haven - it looks really nice.

I've also booked my restricted (here in New Zealand we have three stages for our driver's licence. One- learners permit where we can only drive with an assistant driver who has held their full licence for two years and it must be current. Two- restricted you can drive on your own but only between the hours of ten pm and six am. You are not allowed to carry passengers with you unless you have a fully licenced driver with you. Three- your full licence you can carry passengers, tow trailers, and go driving at any hours.) for the 25th of this month, only about two weeks away. oh and it is at three pm.... Rush hour in Hawera.. fun!

Does anybody know somebody local who wouldn't mind lending me a horse float for the weekend? not this weekend but maybe the first one in November.. its so i can move my horse up when i move..

Also i have been thinking, if you have been keeping up to date with Wilson Sisters, who have been training Kaimanawas then you will know that Memo lost her foal :-( i was gutted but these things happen i suppose and she has been under a lot of stress.
  I've been looking at one of the geldings they have been training, Ranger. he looks so much like Prince it makes me wonder if they are related. i'm gonna post two pictures of their heads on here - mine isn't as good as the one of Ranger.

 

Don't forget, my horse is a scruff! Ranger has been made into a show pony :-)

Trotting, Trotting - Where's My Canter?

Sunday.

I missed my ride, so i thought i'd make the best of the situation. Prince was across the river, and had no grass. i was on the normal side that the house is on - with all the grass!

I walked across the swing bridge and wound up the fence reel i wasn't using and i gathered up some standards, prince's water trough, water buckets (used to carry water up from the river as we don't have hose) and the electric fence unit. i set up a the fence on the roadside and poured water into a bucket

i then dashed into my room to get changed, and then grabbed prince's rope halter and lead and marched arcoss the swing bridge (jumping and swinging it as i ran) and when i got to Prince's paddock i jumped the fence and waited. And waited. i waited until i felt his nose touch me, then i slowly turned around and rubbed his neck and then i haltered him.

i walked down the bank to the river and waited at the bottom for Prince to jump down. he half jumped and the kinda waddled the rest of the way down. Once down he snatched mouthfuls of Native New Zealand trees. he knows he's not aloud to eat them. this is why he pinches bits when he can - because they taste soooo good!

anyway i took him across the FREEZING cold river, numbing my legs off after two seconds of been in there.. and plonked him in his paddock on the roadside.

About three o'clock i got my butt into gear and decided i was going to ride that naughty horse of mine. i did a bit of groundwork. jumping and such. i made a long jump - by laying the barrels down and putting three fence posts horizontally across them. He didn't want to jump it but i put more 'ask' into it and he jumped it. Then to my surprise he offered and from a standstill (just checking for traffic) and jumped clean and clear!

then when i asked Prince to do the circling game he switched in to play drive mode and galloped about fifteen circles either way (him throwing in a change of direction for fun) and plenty of bucks chucked in for a good measure. i'm not kidding about the laps either..

So when he calmed down i tightened his girth and jumped on and started off by doing lots of walking to get me used to his gait again. i also did backing through the two barrels, and sideways over some poles and up a barrel (this one was done on the ground).

i then started trotting. i trotted posting, and i trotted sitting. When i got confident enough i wanted him to canter. No matter how many times i tried - going through my fazes and asking and asking he still didn't. Our ride was two hours long. i gave up but finished on a posting trot. i figured if i couldn't get him to canter then it was something i was doing.

i talked to mum and she told me i was me. She told me how to fix it so i cant wait to get back on and try again.

i won't be able to ride in the holidays because i am going to tauranga for five days.. maybe I'll do it on saturday...

Horse escape!

On Wednesday instead of going to RDA like i normally do, i stayed at my course. I accidentally booked a driving lesson in the middle of RDA.

i had quite a hectic day, with finishing two assessments, a driving lesson and my darling prince who decided that it was the best day to escape.

i drove home and stopped in the driveway in shock. There was my horse who so obviously swam back across the river. He was looking pleased with himself, and very bloated. i quickly drove down the drive and parked the car and then got changed (i was still in my town clothes) and grabbed prince's halter and tied him up. i then turned detective.

He had obviously been out all day. The grass in the paddock i found him in was munched quite alot. there was two rolling patches in two different places.

i walked across the swing bridge to the other side of the river to do more investigating. he had obviously got a fright because the fence was broken very bad. i found one end in some brambles and another end wrapped about six times around a fence standard. There was some bent fence standards and some ones lying flat. There was also heaps of grass eaten and loads of hoof prints so obviously his.

My conclusion came to this, he got out about nine (because he had eaten his morning grass - i had shifted him over at quarter past seven, and a friend came over to feed the other animals (about ten) and he wasn't over across the river when she arrived but when she left he was across the river).

He must have been eating under the fence and the fence got caught on one of the brambles and he brushed the bottom of the bramble and it banged the fence against his neck. he must of panicked and swung around to the left (he had some hair stuck up the wrong way - to the left - on his nose) and scratched his nose.

He would have seen the fence go flying so he galloped into the pressure and broke it. then he would have galloped around like a loon until his adrenaline had gone down then wondered around eating. he would have heard the car and come across the river thinking it was me coming home (I've been in that car a couple of times) and he would have stayed there eating until i came home.

So there you have it. i ended up taking him back across the river (i can't take him across the swing bridge - it wouldn't hold him) and resetting up his fence.

I almost forgot to mention - the fence wasn't on at all. i haven't had it on for four weeks now.

So that was most of my week. i've been asked to move out from the house where i'm living- i have to be out by the end of November. i've been thinking of places to go to - any ideas?

Fusterations, and a Mountain

So i have spent about two hours trying to get those photos on the blog. They wouldn't let me put a caption under them or if they did they would only let me do half.. Grrr! anyway there they are.

i managed to trim Prince's back feet about two days ago. His hind feet were so long i trimmed about an inch of hoof (maybe an inch and a half) off. i also trimmed his tail up so now you can actually see a neat straight cut line at the bottom.
  i also had a look at his neck where the cover has been rubbing and it is bald! so i think i'm going to have to buy another cover.

i've taken a photo of the mountain (while up at dawson falls) and its just glorious, so i thought i'd share it with you.

Hoof Pictures

Hoof Trimming and Blog Update

I've decided i've had enough of the old blog, so, i updated it. as you can probably see.

This header and the previous one, is thanks to the author and creator of retrobabooshka ( http://retrobabooshka.blogspot.co.nz/ ) and my best friend Jazz. I've decided to change the header, to something i've created, but it can stay there for now until i've figured out how to make a new one.

I've been sick for ages, like two months now. to be quite honest i'm sick of been sick and i'm sick of the word! so i haven't done much with prince. He has basically retired for the winter.. lucky boy!

However i did manage to go out and trim Prince's front feet. i had noticed in the paddock that one of his front feet was really long in the toe and i got worried so i led him to the tie up area.i got out the hoof pick and picked his feet out and noticed he had thrush again, but just grabbed the hoof knife and trimmed most of it off. Along with that i took off alot of sole and then got the clippers and hacked of the hoof wall. Then i finished off with a file over, and some fat and oil mixture smeared on his outside hoof, with honey on the inside to prevent more thrush growing. After doing the other hoof the some  i was so tired i was trembling all over for about half an hour afterwards.

 i did get photo's but i stupidly left them at home. i'll try to remember them next time. but i supposed you know how it goes. :-)

Photos, of Prince Jumping and More!

I’ve had a rather busy two weeks, especially last week! My friend from Wanganui was here so I spent a lot of time with her and hardly any with my horse. However last week Friday we did get up so some mischief……

I tacked up Prince and did some groundwork, Jazz watching (my friend from Wanganui). She set up a small jump for Prince but he jumped it with such disdain because it was so small, and knocked it with his hind feet (picture below), so Jazz made up another jump using my two blue barrels. In the pictures you can clearly see (ignore me) that he is jumping the height of the barrels and the jump is about half a metre lower, so would you say that is a metre in height that he is jumping?

After that I jumped on (after pulling up the girth another two holes) and rode him around doing very little. Just some simple stuff such as a pattern using four standards and doing a figure eight around two then crossing over and doing the other two. Also I trotted prince around the tree in the middle of the paddock.. He just wanted to see what Jazz was doing thank-you very much.

Once I felt he was calm and feeling safe I held Prince (not that he needed holding) while Jazz did up her stirrups and jumped on. She did a lot of walking and trotting. When she felt ok with it she asked him to canter. He only sped up trotting so I put a bit of pressure on him and slapped my leg with my savvy string (when I ride him it means go faster). Only when I did this the second time a car went past and he half cantered and then threw a bucking fit (too much pressure at once). Jazz half came off his front then flipped over his shoulder and landed on her head (my horse has a terrible tendency to land people like this). Thank goodness I told her she HAD to wear the helmet or else. If she wasn’t wearing it who knows what might have happened.

Jazz being Jazz jumped back on. I rubbed Prince and we let him sigh and lick and chew before walking again. I asked her if she felt safe enough to ask him to go over the barrels lying down sideways on the ground, she replied “Well, don’t we need a canter for that?” I shook my head, he can jumped them at a walk if necessary, then I told her that he had never jumped with a rider on before- she exclaimed THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TELLING ME NOW! Why didn’t you tell me after?

So she decides to do it anyway and she takes him about six strides back from the jump and then asks him to walk then trot. I noticed he was watching me the whole way down and it wasn’t until the last stride he realized there was a jump and he stopped and swung around doing almost 360^o. Jazz nearly fell off again but she managed to hang on. I told her to take him over again because he was watching me, and I said he would jump it. I had been watching his face the whole time and he just didn’t see it.

She takes him up to the jump except this time I point over the jump (he was going to refuse it) and he shot over it. He had about a seconds delay before actually jumping so poor Jazz got banged around a bit. I was so pleased with Prince I told Jazz that we would leave it there. This is the first time he has EVER jumped with a human on him. After the ride I picked his feet out and brushed him. It’s so cute because after riding and playing with him he gets so cuddly, and this time he wanted loads of cuddles.. ohhhh that horse!

Prince's idea of jumping

Well, almost clearing the barrel!

Half rear and kicking the fence

his springy high action trot

Check out the height in those legs!

Me riding Prince

Going past the jump- not over yet!

The Dramas Of The Day And Past Week

This morning I came out to Prince's paddock and discovered a sagging fence. From what i can tell from the long farrow past the fence line and the missing fence standard, is that Prince either decided to go for a gallop and ran straight into the fence, got hooked up and got a shock and then bolted back the other way leaving a farrow. The standard then went flying, landing by his feed bucket.
  i had to move him out of the paddock anyway because he had no grass, so i just picked up the standard and drove into the ground, pushing down the electric fence- which by the way i had turned off. i sent him over and we walked (well i walked he trotted) to the goat paddock (named that obviously due to the fact that it used to be the goat paddock) and he trotted through (he seemed to be doing a lot of that) and i jumped him over a pile of leaves and a branch and fired him into the paddock.
  
On Friday last week, i rode prince in the home paddock. I got him to do trotting poles (Spare fence battens), jumping (over a drum), sideways over a pole, pole bending, and we rode.
   When i rode him, i did pole bending which with his normal savvy flew through them.. and then we did trotting poles- what a disaster! he just wanted to canter up to the other side of the paddock completely missing them. i strongly SUGGESTED for him to trot over them and he responded with a small rear. Hmm- How Interesting! so i made him do them again then he got his reward- to munch on some long grass and poha.
  Then because all he wanted to do was trot i made him do circles. he did at least five laps before getting bored - which i bent him and let him eat just two seconds before he did. Then i decided (to keep him balanced) i asked him to trot the other way, wow! you should have seen the circle! instead of a perfect circle around a dock it was like a flower, all wobbly around the edges. Also i noticed when we got to a slight rise in the paddock and turned towards the gate he got rather straight and faster. How interesting! Suddenly i remembered Mum saying something about a sweet spot other then the gate. Oh of course!
  so as soon as our circle improved slightly and his gait stayed reasonably steady i bent him towards the middle (the 'sweet' spot) where the dock was and let him eat. i then got off leaving that on a good note.

I haven't been out taking photos because i have a cold (thanks to Ruffles lol) and its been raining loads... so HOPEFULLY this weekend i can ride too... 

You Tube Video- Kaimanawa's and the Wilson Sisters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khZP2hKSXvk&feature=youtu.be&fb_source=message

Check this out...

Rain, rain and more rain!

Don't you love the wet winter days? I don't. But Prince does. You should see him in the rain with no rug on, he gallops around like an arab stallion with mares watching. Its so beautiful, and in the worst of the winter, he just finds the muddest patch in the paddock and rolls in it until he is no longer chocolate, he is grey/black/brown with mud (by the way this is way better then in the summer time, were you only have a thin layer of dust).
  About a week ago i had put Princes rug on the day before (after cleaning it and waterproofing the neck) and then next morning (after it had been raining all night) he decided he would show me what he thought of his rug. He sluntered over to his rolling patch of mud, and dropped down gently and rolled.
    This wasn't a roll-one-side and get up and do the other-side, this was a roll-both-sides-vigurously and then get up. When he stood up the mud (as it was so soggy) ran off his cover in streams. He then shook, splattering me with mud and water. i looked at his filthy neck, head and body, and just howled with laughter.
   Just a warning, don't ever try to pamper your horse in the winter time, it will be wasted. Even with a rug on it still will be wasted.
  So this week has be way to wet to do anything as you can tell by the title. Today however is a beautiful day, unfortantly i have to do job searching for WINZ. but since Victer (Pat and Tony's grandson which lives with them) has a teachers only day today i had to go down to the Kaponga library and since it doesn't open to 1 o'clock i got to sleep in, also i got to (finally!) clean prince's paddock out (and best bit) and i gave Prince a brush.  i also picked his feet out and noticed his right front hoof has grown out faster then the one on the left. along with that he has a bit of thrush in all of his hooves. i'm gonna have to start picking out his feet everyday (since i only do it before riding or when i get a chance to groom him).
  For those of you that don't know thrush is black stuff that gathers around the frog in warm wet conditions. Thrush is a fungal infection. normally to treat that i pick out his feet and use the hoof knife to cut as much off as possible and then use the brush on the hoofpick to sweep any dirt away and then i use honey (just any honey you have in the cupboard) by just plastering as much on as possible. This dries out the thrush and removes any infection.
    once i'm done here in the library, i shall go home and ride Prince around the paddock and work on his jumping skills.. hmm and i think i'll drag the other barrel up from the back paddock and practice barrel racing.. sounds like fun!

Racehorses, Falls, Frosts and Parelli Level Three Disks

I'm a slacker.. thats all i can say.. well not really, i'm sorry again folks! i keep forgetting to blog, and keep you guys updated.. but since i've finally made it on here, let me tell you about my week..

On Saturday i went riding. i walked prince down to Marilyn's place only to find that i've turned up at a wrong time. Marilyn's husband Neville was out saddling up Poppet ( the young yearling/two year old racehorse-to-be). when ever Prince came into sight she would pace backwards and forwards on the end of her lead rope (she was tied up) and her head would come up so high i was worried she would rear, and then she would neigh out to Prince. To my surprise, he only called back once.. he has such a lovely deep neigh when he is showing off to girls lol..
  so while they were saddling up i did some ground work, just the circling game (sending my horse around in circles while i stand still) and some change of directions (where Prince spins around on his hind legs in the other direction) then i walked Prince around the track with Poppet being ridden on a lead rein with Neville's daughter Diane (i think thats her name) riding in a exercise saddle.
  After two laps i got tired of walking and started riding Prince. i made sure Poppet was at least half a lap ahead of me before mounting. When i rode Prince i kept him at a walk, but he danced the whole way round and kept trying to trot on me, he wanted to catch up to Poppet. When we got back to where we started ( which is straight and flat - most of the track is a slight hill or down hill) i asked Prince to trot, which he did so promptly i got a bit worried, then he flung his head up and hunched his back. before he could react i bent his head and flew off the side.
  instead of trotting him on the ground i ran along side him, and to my surprise (i seem to be getting along of these!) he cantered along side me.. no bucks, WOO HOO! we finished up there on a good note.
  Earlier as we rode along the track i kept an eye out for Poppet and her rider.. about halfway round i noticed her rider was on the ground.. my first thought was oh no! she fell off. i found out later she did fall off.. she landed on her feet- also i learned she was a pony club rider- which explains the landing on the feet thing..
   when i'd finished with Prince i watched Neville train Poppet in the paddock. after about half an hour of lunging or so he let her off the lead for Diane to ride around.. Poppet took one look at prince and trotted down to see him and then when her rider wouldn't let her Poppet reared up and spun around (who can stay on that?) Diane went flying over Poppets head and landed on her feet again! talk about luck! apparently she fell off up the top of the paddock when they were lunging, and she landed on her back, thank goodness she was wearing a protector pad.. which she broke with those falls...
   On Monday it was so cold we had a frost.. in fact it froze Princes water trough twice! he broke it earlier on in the morning, so when i came out it was all jagged but it still had a seal of ice across the top, which i had great fun breaking it again..
  Yesterday afternoon when i came home from course i discovered a massive big box on the doorstep, YAY! so i quickly did all my jobs and took it into my 'house' and ripped it open.. my lovely mother had sent me some clothes.. thanks mum! and the whole level three Parelli set!!!!!!!! I'll have to review level two again before i get started, because i've noticed my Parelli has gone majorly downhill... i think that's because my horse has turned in to a four personality horse.. kinda hard to deal with, but VERY interesting! he used to be solely  a Left-Brain Introvert, which is you have to motivate him with grass, pats, rest and treats. Not bribe him, but when he has done something you want give him one of those rewards. Now he is everything... i'll never be bored!
   
  

Prince's Rug

Prince's New Rug

What it looks like from behind- the behind lol

Riding, Piaffe and a new Cover

My horse can do piaffe! just get him a mare, and i'll stop him from galloping after her and he with dance on the spot... and added to that will be a tail straight up in the air like an Arabs, and his head curved into a crest.. just stunning!!
   On that same day, i went riding in the racing oval down the road at Marilyns place. Since Prince hadn't been ridden for a while he was to hyped up to ride more then a walk. half of the track was closed off so i only rode on the half that was open. Apart from having to go in lots of circles to calm him down, we had a pretty good ride.. btw the track was a sand track with grass growing all over it... i'll try and get some photos next time i ride.
  My new/old cover is from Ruffles over on Just A Girl And Her Horse. It had a small L shaped rip in it which i stitch it up and sprayed it with silicone to waterproof it. Also i noticed one of neck buckles was hanging by a thread, so i sewed that up too.. its not as tidy as the L but it will do. i also noticed one of the back straps was a bit different i fixed that too.. the cover fits quite good, with about a hands span of bare butt on the back between Princes tail and the cover, but because Prince has a thick tail, i'm not worried at all.. i will also take pictures of that and post it when i can, along with my new saddle blanket- thanks to my mum for my eighteenth birthday prezzie..

New Photos!!!!

Here are some neat photo's i took with my new tripod, they are soo cute as prince is in his winter coat now- so far the sun hasn't bleached it... but we'll see..

Neat silouette of Prince!

"I'm so over this photographing biz!"

Photographer: smile! Prince: hmm? oh yeah...

Love this shot!!

My Favorite Shot!

My bookmark to be lol

Add caption

Hoof Trimming

Left front hoof -before

After

Before- Right front

After

I've been trimming Princes feet lately, and in these pictures you can see i've taken off the bars and some of his sole, and done alot of filing.

An Almost Accident and a Riding/Racing Ring!!!

Sorry for not blogging folks! i've been rather busy.
  A couple of weeks ago i went out riding, well out as in the back paddock on our little farmlet thingy. i didn't canter because Prince was to hyped up from lack of exercise - my fault- so i just walked and trotted him until i had enough.
  Afterwards i took him back up to the front because i had more equipment there, and i wanted to get him to jump a metre. i know he can do it, its just he thinks he can't.
  i pushed him (to hard i realise now) and pushed him until he was upset and just when i went to stop and calm him down he got the rope caught between his front legs. Then before i could stop him and untangle him, he went even more right-brained (oh why didn't i stop earlier?!) and got the rope stuck right down the middle of his belly- between his front legs (down the middle) and between his hind legs. and leaving me with rope burn, he galloped straight over the fence (which Tony had left down) and straight out onto the road.
  before when i brought him up, i saw the open gates and the fences down, and thought Na i'll be right. i should have listened to my instincts and shut at least the road gate. i'm still kicking myself.
  anyways i ran out onto the road and tried to catch him, i was in such a panic (because i was worried that he might get hit or something) i yelled at a person coming down the road and told the guy who was driving, that my horse was loose and please becareful, he offered me a ride and i took it and he drove halfway into Kaponga (which just by lucky was in its busiest time - lots of milk tankers) and quietly walked up to him and caught him. i gave him a piece of bread (my treats lol) and walked him home.
  as  got near my driveway i saw a lady had pulled in. she got out of the car, and i said "Hi!" thinking she was getting some horse manure. Turns out she had her own horses and didn't need any. lol
  Her name was Marilyn. she owned and breed Throughbreds and she lived just down the road. Marilyn offered a riding paddock, or that is to say her racing oval for me to ride in. A racing oval! i can do anything in there!
  Talk about awesome! Anyway i am in Napier writing this, as it is my eighteenth birthday on sunday and i thought i my celebrate my going on holiday. so my poor horse will have to wait - again!

Check this out!!!!

http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/03/18/hoy-kaimanawa-wins-pony-of-the-year/

YEAAAAH! i saw this pony and didn't even realize this was a Kai!

Horse Of The Year Photos!



Paffe' - My Dad took this photo

One of Dad's. Stunning Chestnut

Standarbreds in harness- Dad's

Dad's. Massive jump on this horse!

Dad's. Beautiful action shot

Sidepass - no idea who this is

Awesome Extended Trot!

Katie McVean!!!!!!! she won again!

My Photo- Paffe'-

My Photo- Lead Change

Western riding- sliding stop!

The Best Ride EVER!!!!!!

Wednesday fourteenth

Wowsers! What an awesome day!

Wednesday, i came home from RDA, and mucked around at home doing absolutely nothing. At about five thirty i had had enough of doing nothing and i got my butt into gear and decided to ride Prince. I did some of my normal groundwork with high expectations, and got my goal in front of my relationship with Prince and completely messed everything up. After about half an hour i had had enough of fighting him, i just stopped what i was doing and gave him pats until we had both calmed down.

Once we had calmed down and starting thinking properly i asked him to do a game i had be trying to get him to do all this time. Only this time i slowed myself down and watched my self. I then realised i had been 'shouting' at him with my body language. To fix that i slowed everything down and lowered my body language to soft and i 'whispered'. To people who aren't sure what this is, 'shouting' at your horse is using big aids when he responds to small ones, and 'whispering' is making them so small you even think you wouldn't be able to feel or see them if you were the horse.

Well, you wouldn't believe the difference! He calmed even more down and we completed everything i wanted. Well almost. I taught him pole bending, squeezing (sending him between two obstacles, and therefore squeezing him) him by backing him between the fence and a barrel. Also i jumped him over a barrel, and sideways (side passed) him down the fence at a canter.

Thus completed my groundwork. I had saddled him before i started, so i led him over to my 'mounting block' which was a sliced off bit of branch off a tree, and i stood on the mounting block and he side passed to me, until he was close enough for me to mount. I helped to teach him this trick earlier, and he still loves it. Another trick he loves is the pedestal. I have a picture of him on it, but it was taken the first few times he learnt it. The pedestal is small, about the size of the seat of a dining room chair. When you get your horse to get up on it, they normally only want to put two feet, but three is great, and four is awesome! I hate to show off but Prince put all four on the moment i asked him.... he must be a Kaimanawa!

Anyway back to riding. I mounted him and he started the riding by standing still until i was ready. Which he normally starts walking before I'm sitting in the saddle completely comfortable. I started off by doing the pole bending at a walk, just doing it until he was completely sure and comfortable with what he was doing.

Next i squeezed him, and discovered he hated my stirrups banging on the barrel. OK great! So i walked him back over and banged my stirrup on it until he gave up -trying to run away- and sighed. Next we starting trotting. At one point i forgot to steer him around all my obstacles, so he fixed that problem by his self and at a very fast trot weaved in and out through the poles like a western cutting champion. Whoa! That was some serious spunk. I stayed on to my surprise and decided i wanted to canter him at that split moment.

I couldn't start to canter him with these standards in the paddock (my bending poles) so i walked Prince over and lined him up to the pole and leaned over and pulled it out. I think there was about eight of them. By the last three, he was lining himself up and waiting for me to pull them out, then he would take me over to my dump spot and stop there until i dumped it, then he would go back to the next one and etc.

   Then the next stage was to get him to do transitions but doing a very fast walk to trot transition, he learnt that fast, and then i asked him to canter. I think i did this about four times before he finally did. He cantered only two stride before the fence appeared right in front of his face. But instead of dumping me off or spinning as he does so well, he stopped by gently dropping his hindquarters and he absorbed the shock of the stop. I didn't feel a thing.

I got off him and gave him the biggest pat and hug he had ever had. I think i was in shock. But i didn't feel nervous at all when i was trotting him or anything. I just felt well, safe, confidant and i completely trusted him. I when i calmed down i only noticed then he was sweating all under his neck, saddle, girth, chest and under his hindquarters, between his legs.

I stripped him off and brushed him down, and checked my clock, it was seven o'clock. Oh shoot was my first thought- I'm not supposed to get him hot after four. So i hoped like heck he wouldn't get a cold, and i walked him back to his paddock where he promptly had a roll (he was fine the next day, just a bit sore from been ridden so had.).

What i don't mention and I'm sorry, is how much hard work groundwork is, he did a lot of fast cantering and trotting, so he was reasonably warm when i started to ride him.

Prince isn't an unfit pony, the way i make it sound but he did do a lot of work, more then what he is used to normally, that was why he was hot.

Anyway, after i cantered him (his first time cantering with a rider on and my first riding him) i walked around with this massive smile on for hours afterwards. I told people i had cantered and i don't think many of them realised what a big thing it was. Its been three years since i last cantered, and four since i got Prince. I can't believe how long its taken me to recover and get some of my confidence and trust back in horses. I still can't ride other peoples horses and feel confident because i lost my confidence riding somebody else's horse.

So like all horsie people i have goals, and my next one is to jump again. Only on Prince this time.

This Months Photo's

Prince with his brand new saddle

Side on- new treeless saddle

Prince in his summer coat, feeding his face
(yes he is fat, and slightly down hill - sorry)

The greeting i get every morning - alomst a smile don't you think?

Playing with his ball, taken in black and white, speed shot.

Prince shaking just in time for me to take it.. awesome shot aye?

While in the front paddock,
 Prince discovered that he liked to 'bounce' his nose on the tramp.. funny boy!

Me riding Prince (yes i ride in a skirt!)

New Saddle and a Ride!

Remember the last time i blogged? i had my eye on a saddle? i got it, and discovered at the same time. That the person selling it was a Parelli Natural Horsemanship person! i was so happy to find another crazy one like me.. and also to find out that there is a Russell Higgins event coming up! Russell Higgins is the only parelli instructor in New Zealand at the moment.

I tried the saddle on prince, and sent him out to do a few jumps on the end of my twenty-two foot line. Just a note to you all, every time i sent him out to do this he bucks with all four feet off the ground and won't do anything.
  once he was out there, he did ONE funny four legged hop and then really buck with both hind feet off the ground, and not just a little buck, a massive one.
  then after i finished jumping him, i then took him up to the front paddock to let him see the tree branches that had fallen in the big storm. he snorted like they were going to jump out and 'get' him.
  i decided to back him up and make him stand still, but he took off with a buck and cantered around me six times one way until i asked him to do a flying lead change in a change of direction. then he cantered the other way about six times too, until i asked him to stop.
  It wasn't until he stopped then i realised he hadn't bucked once while cantering. With my other saddle he used to buck the whole way round. now i know that the saddle wasn't fitting him right and he was irritated by it.
  Afterwards i checked the time only to find i had to run down to the neighbours place and trim her Mini's feet. i did six ponies in an hour and a half. i can't even do that with my horse Prince!
  That was Sunday. On Monday i went to course as normal, but when i came home i rushed out and grabbed Prince and saddled him up and took him out and took some pictures (sorry! i left my camera at home otherwise they would be on here!) and then after doing some ground work, i mounted up and walked him out the gate.
  I had an hour and a half ride. this is the longest ride i have ever had in Kaponga. and i've been here nearly a year (in may).  i ended up fighting him the whole way. he wanted to stop every five seconds and look at holes in the hedge (there might be ghosts mum!) and when he wasn't doing that he was ether trying to eat, or staring at cows. for all you that don't know, he loves cows. maybe one day we could do cow cutting or something.
  Let me tell you this! if you haven't done more then a fifteen minute ride, don't ever do an hour and a half! i was so sore when i got off, i couldn't stand for about five minutes. Prince came in handy to hold me up, i discovered i had places i never knew could be sore!
  When i was out riding Prince i trotted him. i forgot how strange his trot was. when he trots (i watched his shadow) he picks his feet up really high then flicks his toes out.  Its so strange you can't sit to it or post to it. so i just stood in my sturrips like a ding dong, until he started getting faster and faster. i realised that i was so unbalanced that if he put a foot wrong i would fall off, so i stopped him. after that i was fighting him the whole way home, because he wanted to trot and i wasn't ready.
  so far so good! i'm going to see if i can fit a ride in today. i'll take some more pics of him, without the saddle on.
  Also we have got our hay down,  so please pray that it doesn't rain! cause this is all our hay for the winter, and i can't afford to buy any at the moment if it does get ruined!
  

The Weekend Joys

This weekend i sold my saddle, i got what i wnated for it which is great. i've been looking for another one on trademe. i think i have found a treeless saddle that will do quite well, it closes in twenty hours so if you get in in time have a look on this link - http://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/equestrian/saddles-stirrups/other/auction-451486871.htm

i looks to be perfect for prince, if not i can always sell it.

My car needs a new rego, so after buying this saddle (hopefully) i'll still have some left over to buy the rego for my car.

Also at my course, i did a writing test, number test, reading test, and vocab test. to my surprise and shock i discovered i was extremly advanced (almost to the top) on my vocab, and my writing test! so wow!
  Also along with selling my saddle this weekend i went to Rotorua for our yearly youth camp. At this camp they have horses, so i spent time admiring them from a distance. we weren't allowed to ride them, pity.
  when i came home i was extremly tired and just wanting to see Prince. So i went out and had a look and too my surprise he has almost finished him last summer shed. he is so beautiful. i promise i'll get some photos and stick them on here. he now matches his black mane, tail, and his black knees and hocks. he looks so stunning i can hardly stop looking at him.
   So Pat (the lady i live with) has changed the swimming day (that's the day i normally post on here) to a Wednesday, which is going to be interesting because i have RDA on Wednesday.
  While i'm blabbling on about RDA, i might as well tell you guys that i'm going to be looking for a job until April at least. i'm so broke i can't even buy myself a new pair of socks if i wanted too! not even lollys lol..
  i have to go, and try find something to post on my other site, as i haven't posted on there for ages!

Oh and hopefully when i get home, i'll groom Prince and take some shots (not pot shots lol).




 

Prince's Makeover

I decided this week, since i couldn't spend much time with prince that i would give him a makeover.. i don't think he enjoyed much except for the grooming lol. Here's what it included.

Trimming the ear hair,
Trimming tail ends,
   "    "      forelock
polishing feet,
through brush over,


This may not look like much but boy! its hard work! there was no need to trim his fetlock hairs because they automaticly fall out when he sheds..
   anyway here is some more pics... enjoy!

Before- Right side

Before- Left side

The hair that i groomed off just his butt!

After- Left side (check out the feet!)

Forehead- this used to come down almost to his noseband

After- Right side- looks great aye?

Well, after all that, he does look better, more his normal colour.. but as for the side on pics, he was pawing the ground, sorry! what you might not be able to see is that i trimmed the overlong pieces on his mane so it's even, and i trimmed his tail right across..
  lol and dare i mention silicone? he hates that (i must work on it), and the sound of the scissors cutting hair..

Well must fly! i have heaps to do and so little time, you all know!