Pasture Time!

As long as conditions allow, I put Max out in the pasture for a couple of hours each day after work. He loves it. He usually eats the good stuff for a minute, grabs a big mouthful and trots off to his favorite spot in the far corner of the pasture. Occasionally he is full of himself and takes off cantering. It is highly amusing.

Consistency and Routine

I've noticed that when it comes to feeding, consistency is bad. He learns to expect his food, or grass at certain times. I've got hell to pay if I decide to switch things up and do groundwork or *gasp* ride before he gets his food.

I first noticed this over winter and partially attribute this to a couple of falls I had.  During the heart of winter, I would get home from work around 5 most nights and run down to the barn and feed before going into the house.  My reasoning was "F*** it's cold and dark!" I wouldn't want to venture back outside once I was warm in the house.  When it started getting lighter out and a bit warmer, I wanted to ride, but needed to do this before I fed. It takes him a couple of hours to finish a net of hay, and by then it would be dark. Taking him away from hay would guarantee a fight, so why not get the ride out of the way before feeding.  Well, he would still argue and try his tricks (spinning and bolting).

The mane, it's crazy

Clearly I'm not as smart as he is. It took a while for me to realize what was going on. So, I would wait until just before dark to feed. This helped quite a bit with the arguing. Max didn't like it at first, but he got used to it.

Then the grass came.  Lately, I've been putting him out on pasture for an hour or two right after work most evenings. Then feeding before dark. My stupid self didn't think this would cause any problem, but now I see that it is.

You have grain. I want grain.

The other night I decided to try some groundwork before he went out on grass.  Lets just say that he had other ideas.  So now I am tasked with trying to figure out how to break this routine up. There is limited time in the evenings and sometimes all I want to do after work is veg out for an hour or so. Sometimes I realize that if I don't do chores or ride as soon as I get home, then nothing will get done. 

I will say this...the boy is smart. I'm afraid I might not be as smart as him.

Another Weekend Ride

 Sunday we went for a ride and Max was a very good, yet frustrating boy. There were a bunch of kids running around next door and screaming in the woods. D was in the garage working on the ATV making noise.  I decided to stick to the paddock and pasture.  We mostly worked on consistent speed at the walk and trot as well as increasing the speed of each.  Holy hell is it difficult for me to get him into a working walk or working trot.  Actually, the working trot was easier than a working walk. He's such a pokey pony. 

We went longer and faster than last week.

 So, we need to work on both consistency and different speeds within each gait. I think I've been pushing the slow, western trot too much. Plus, he's just not fit and lazy. Hopefully he will be more willing once he gets a little more fit.

Green in the mane. Did he piss off Cinderella again?

Probably not. I found this while riding. It's full of haflinger fuzz.

D and I went to the Hoosier Horse Fair on Saturday.  It was a huge disappointment. I did get to see a little bit from Tommy Turvey, which was fun, and part of a cow work clinic by Al Dunning. But there were hardly any vendors and the one that might have some stuff I needed was so crowded and closed off, that I didn't even bother.  They did have a few trailer dealers there, but they were nowhere to be found amongst the trailers. We were hoping to talk to them about installation of a gooseneck hitch on our truck.  I heard the Rodeo that evening was a bust. There are a lot of people who were complaining on Facebook about the lack of everything. Next year, D and I are considering taking a long weekend to Ohio for Equine Affair.

OMG this hill* is so tough! I need to rush to make it to the top! *note* said "hill" is not a hill. You'd barely notice it while walking.

Some Thoughts on Max Part 1.

Firstly, let me say that I am not that knowledgeable about horses. I believe that I have a pretty good instinct when it comes to picking out animals that will work for me, but in the past, it's always been cats and dogs.  I'm still learning a lot about horse behavior both under saddle and on the ground.  I want to write down my thoughts on Max's abilities (or not) mostly to keep track of them and get them organized in my head.

First, some background. I really don't know much about Max's background other than being a pasture-puff.  I have his papers, but can't find much information on his breeders, or the owners listed on the papers. I believe that his breeder was heavily involved in Haflingers, but have since aged and moved away from breeding. From there, it's murky. He did end up at a local lesson barn, but was told he wasn't used much.  I don't know how many owners he has passed through as his papers came with him, but wasn't transferred into the new owners name until me.  There are at least two owners that aren't listed. This barn is still offering lessons and there's a chance I will run into the instructor in the future, so I plan on asking her when I do.  Anyways, after the lesson barn, he went to a woman who had him for almost a year before selling him to me. I don't think she rode him more than once or twice in the paddock.

I'm watching you!

Pasture-puff Status:
As far as I can tell, Max had primarily been a pasture-puff for at least a year before I got him, probably longer.  The woman I got him from said he was hardly used at the lesson program, at least while she was there. She estimated around two or three years.  So, that's a possibility of  up to 4 years not doing much work.  Why?  I'm not sure. He doesn't have any obvious health concerns.  My guess is behavior. He tends to be spooky and bolt when he does spook.  He's also got that stubborn Haflinger attitude that can be difficult for kids to manage.With those strong neck and shoulder muscles, Haflingers can really drag someone around who is not strong, or not prepared.  I'm constantly fighting with Max over grass.  I don't allow him to eat while I'm riding unless I cue him, but he is constantly testing. So part of his pasture-puff status may also be intelligence along with stubbornness.

Driving:
I'm almost certain Max has been trained to drive.  It's very common to find Haflingers that have not been trained to ride, but do drive.  From the little information I have, I believe his breeder took their Haflingers to shows that included driving.  The woman who runs the lesson barn he was at mentioned that Max had been trained to drive to his previous owner, but I wouldn't trust that type of information.  Last fall, I decided to see how he did being line driven (drove?) and he did very well. He actually responded better to vocal commands being line driven than while under saddle. It's clear that he would need a refresher, but I think he knows his stuff.

Part 2 coming soon.