Recommendations Please

In other words, do my research for me.

I'm still very much a beginner rider. I may have balance, but I don't understand a lot of what is discussed in articles, blogs, etc.  For this post, I'll just ask about collection and the top line.

I have yet to come across an article or video explaining what a top line is. It's referenced a lot...this horse has no top line. Look how the top line filled out. And so on.  What exactly are you looking at or for when describing a top line?  Are there any YouTube videos, or before/after pictures with descriptions showing the change in top line after it's developed?

The same goes for collection. I can't spot a collected horse or tell you if he's stepping under himself.  About the only thing I know about collection is to look for the back hoof stepping in the same spot as the front and the head placement at or near vertical.

So, do you know of any YouTube vidoes or articles with pictures that will help me to better understand collection and top line?

Making Progress...maybe

Everyone's all "I ride my horse 4 times per week" and I'm like "yup. Sat on my horse a couple of times so far this year".

However, a couple of weekends ago, I felt like progress was being made.  I took advantage of Riding Warehouse's 15% sale and got a girth and webbers for the Wintec endurance saddle I bought last year. Now I can finally get it on Max and do an evaluation.

I also got some supplies to fence in a section of pasture to make an "arena".   Setting up said arena didn't happen because I had to set up for these guys...who just happened to follow me home. It was also crazy windy to the point where I was out of breath walking down to the mailbox.

Ducklings!

Last weekend it was cold and nasty. And snowed! And the kiddo got sick. Screw that! The rest of this week and weekend is supposed to be beautiful. I'm going to see if I can set O up in the pack n play in the shade and get that fence done. And maybe even get on the pony. 

Plus, I have what I believe will be the awesomest of awesome saddle pads coming in the mail tomorrow. I can't wait!  It's the perfect excuse to get the pony groomed and tacked up. 

I like big butts and I cannot lie...

Rode Max

Yesterday, D got home from work early enough that I could have him watch Baby O for a little bit while I did some chores. I went out to water the experimental garden (you can see it in the background. I put up hoop houses with cold weather seeds earlier this year. So far so good), and feed the animals.

It was a very windy day and as I was feeding, the town's tornado sirens went off (state-wide test day). Normally, we can't hear them, but the wind was coming from town. I asked D if he could hear them in the house.  He couldn't.  Good to know.  Wind + sirens = pony on edge.

Rode the pony!  He wasn't impressed, but obliged.

After I gave Max his grain, I decided to groom him since he's finally shedding all over.  Something in my head thought it would be a good idea to get up on him in the paddock just to see what it was like. And it went fairly well. I could tell he was a little on edge and kept getting distracted, but he never offered to spook.  I even tried trotting him a short distance. He listened (yay!) and didn't seem like he was going to offer up a buck or bolt (double yay).  One thing we need to work on is standing still.  I had put him in place to take the photo, but after a couple of seconds he veered off to the right.  So back we went. 

One interesting thing about this short ride was that it felt he was responding to light leg pressure.  It really didn't take much for me to get him going into a walk or trot. It almost seems like he knows all this stuff, he just chooses to ignore what you're asking out of laziness. 

I continue to live

I continue to live and have a horse.  I haven't done much with said horse recently, but some work has been done. A couple of weeks ago, I worked with Max again with lunging.  I was pretty darn impressed with him. It was a nice windy day with at least two houses near by doing target practice. Boy wasn't really spooky, though it was hard to keep his attention on me. He did try to evade by doing his buck/bolt thing on the line, but I was able to hold on and yelled at him to whoa...which he actually did. Good boy! 

The paddock was slick with mud, but I decided to pop on him bareback just to see where my own balance was after having the baby.  He wasn't fazed at all, but my core leaves something to be desired. We only did one lap and that was enough. I was glad I got off when I did because shortly after there was a big cannon-like boom.  We still don't know what it was, but there have been other booms since and I heard some law enforcement agency is investigating. Local theories are explosives or aliens. 

Derpy pony is derpy

More recently, Max met Baby O.  He wasn't impressed once he realized Baby O neither had treats nor was he edible. Or, at least that I wouldn't allow Max to get close enough to try.

Ground work

Baby O is keeping me quite busy. I haven't had much time to see the yak let alone work with him. I managed about 30 minutes a couple of weeks ago and 45 minutes today. The boy needs a  refresher. Both times we worked on leading, personal space and not diving for grass. The grass has been a constant struggle.

Two weeks ago he spooked and took off bucking while we were lunging.  I wasn't able to hold on so he got rewarded with pasture time while I went to retrieve him.  He tried a similar stunt today but I managed to hold on. I'm proud to say that after that incident he was really good on the lunge.

Today we also worked on yielding and standing still for mounting. I didn't actually get on but just stood up on the block. I'm surprised at how good he was today.  It was windy and felt like an early spring day where you'd expect a fresh horse.  There was also someone doing target practice nearby. He was a good boy.

Happy Birthday Max

Max turns 18 today.  He doesn't act his age at all, the little shit.  Or maybe he does in human years...still a pony though.

With having the kid and it being so cold, I haven't been able to go out and actually visit with the boy since the weekend.  Even though he is only 100 yards from the house.  This weekend I will get out there, maybe try some groundwork if it's not too cold, and give him his last Uncle Jimmy's lik it thingie.  That's his birthday present.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the birthday boy. I'm sure I've posted them all before.

New Year, New Life

Long time, no post.  The big news is that baby O is here!  He was born on January 3rd, so between that and the holidays, things have been crazy. 

The pony is feral.  My sister-in-law came down to cook and play with O the other night.   She rode Max for a bit while I watched. She's a much better rider and way more confident than me. It's a good thing she did because now I know what I'm in for. The feral beast tried some evasion tactics which included bucking and bolting. My SIL handled it well, but seeing that did nothing for my confidence. It did, however, solidify my roundpen idea.  Once the ground thaws this spring, I'm going to put a simple one in. She did say that he was a good ride and was trying to be a good boy.

I made a post with my 2016 goals. It can be found here.  I don't think it was published in the feed, but is linked off to the side bar on my blog.

Max got an Uncle Jimmy's lik-it thingie from my mom for Christmas. I ended up having to move it because he got frustrated with not being able to get a hold of the thing.  But he loves it now.

I can taste it! 

But I can't bite it. Help! You do it!