Let the Training Begin ... Round Pen 101

Jack here, I get to go first today because I got to work in the round pen a day before Jill.  Let me start by saying that this was the first time that I had been led that far and the first time that I went anywhere without Jill.  I had to go past the big boys who were out and I had to stand and wait while Jackie opened a gate and  then we had to walk down the big hill that was kind of slippery because of all the rain we have been having.  I stopped a couple of times to check everything out.  Jackie asked me to continue and I did and she told me that I was a good boy and she was happy I wasn't acting like a mule.  I don't know what she was expecting; I haven't done that mule behavior in quite some time.  She also seemed surprised that I wasn't calling for Jill.  I am almost 3 years old, what does she think I am, some sort of baby?

Anyway we got down to the sandy rings and the footing was much better.  Then I was taken into a round pen (didn't look very round to me) when after a couple of laps around the round pen I was unhooked and I could trot around.  Actually it was nice to move without worrying about slipping; I just wish I had more room to really run!  To start with I just trotted around and Jackie seemed really pleased with the way I was moving.  She made some comment about me being free in the shoulder and easily over tracking by 2 hoof prints.  I haven't a clue what she was talking about but she seemed pretty happy with it.  When Jackie's happy I'm happy ;)

After a little bit Jackie started pressing me a little more to change direction and canter some.  It seemed like a big game so I let out some pretty good bucks; the leap up with a twist.  Jackie was impressed, but she also seemed a bit concerned.  Not sure why.  All of a sudden I heard the mini ho starting up by the barn and I had to stop and watch it and for some reason I let out a big whinny.  Jackie laughed and after a little more work decided that I had enough for the first time so she hooked back up to my halter with the lead rope and we walked back up the hill to the barn.  I was much more willing to walk back to the barn, but I had to be reminded to stay out of Jackie's space.  Doesn't she realize that she's my security blanket?

The next day it was Jill's turn.  She didn't have to worry about gates and stuff like that because Jackie was there to close the gates while Kyle led her.  From what I hear she led down to the ring with no stopping and no whinnying either.  She was pretty good in the round pen but she really wasn't paying much attention to Kyle.  Apparently she wasn't ready to 'join up'.  I hear that is something that you're looking for when you do round pen work, I guess I didn't do it either.  I still don't know what it is, but when it happens I think I'll understand better.  Anyway Jill got hot and sweaty and went down to roll but she didn't get to enjoy it because she was too close to the fence and they were worried about her getting caught in the fence.  On her way back to the barn Kyle practiced stopping and starting with Jill because she sometimes wants to go too much some times.

Kyle had to go to work when he was done with Jill so it was just Jackie and me today.  For some reason I just didn't want to go down the hill today.  I don't know why but I just didn't want to go down the hill so I told Jackie by planting all four feet and refusing to move.  She asked me nice to get a move on but I stood my ground.  Well I guess that was the wrong thing to do.  She tapped me with the end of the lead rope and I ran in a small circle and stopped before I slipped and fell and I planted again and she called me a mule!#$@ I didn't like being called a mule so I went a few steps before stopping again.  This time she called me a cow and she said that she can play this game too and she just planted like me but with pressure on my halter.  After a little bit the pressure on the halter was getting uncomfortable so I jumped up in the air to relieve the pressure.  WELL ... I was told in no uncertain terms that rearing was against the rules and that I better shape up NOW.  I did as I was told but now I was upset because I got into trouble.  Don't ask me why I did it, but all of a sudden I found myself letting out a cry for help.  Jackie laughed and rubbed me and reassured me that it's not big deal and I should chill out.  Easy for her to say.

By the time I got to the round pen I was already mentally whooped so Jackie took it easy on me.  She shot a video of me but I hear it didn't turn out maybe next time.  She did manage to get a picture of Jill though.  What work we did do in the round pen really helped me to relax and when I was done Jackie worked with me on my leading, backing up and moving when I was asked.  We practiced that ALL the way up the hill.  I did not have to be reminded to stay out of Jackie's space and she was really happy with me and gave me lots of rubs and good boys.  I think she has forgiven for my earlier inappropriate behavior.  Next time I will be better but that may be a couple of days, more rain ;(

Jack

Jill - First day in the round pen

Well I must say that my behavior was much better than Jack's.  He's such a drama king sometimes.  I don't know why he made such a big deal about walking down the hill especially since he did it the day before.  Oh well, not my problem.  I thought it was a nice change of pace and a chance to move around on good footing.  I just wish there was good sandy footing in the whole pasture like there is in the round pen so we could really run.  I guess we wouldn't have any grass to eat if it was all sand but I'm getting tired of the rain always messing things up. Right now we're locked up in a smaller pasture so we don't mess up the big pasture. 

One more note; Kyle put a proper saddle today.  It was a little heavier but still not a problem.  He said that next time I do round pen work he's going to put the saddle on me so I can get use to it .  So far this training stuff is going pretty good.

Jill

Does the Tooth Fairy Come for Horses? And Jack Gets Introduced to the Noisy Sucking Machine

It seems when Jackie is away and the sun is shinning either Kyle or Kevin let us all out together.  We were busy watching Mr. yellow boots building a fire to clean up some limbs from a tree that had been cut down.  It was kind of scary but very interesting too.  Dave had driven down through in a small green vehicle called a Gator (don't ask me why it's called that) and the dogs seem to love riding in it.  When it was sitting there unattended we cautiously crept up to it to check it out.  The dog they call Greta never got out of it so we checked her out too.  We didn't stay out with the big boys too long because Jethro started behaving badly around Margee and that seems to irritate Kyle.  It didn't matter I wanted my breakfast anyway.

My Tooth

I usually really enjoy eating my breakfast but for some reason I was having trouble eating my grain today when all of a sudden one of my back teeth come out. I was really worried at first but then I realized that it was much easier to eat after it fell out and there was another tooth to take it's place. I was told to get use to because I was going to be shedding more molars. What are they talking about, I'm shedding hair maybe, but I'm loosing teeth.  They made a joke about the tooth fairy.  I hope the tooth fairy comes for horses; I don't need any money but a treat would be nice.

It's starting to rain so it won't be quite so nice turned out but with rain comes mud and I love to roll in the mud; it feels soooo good!  Then when it dries I get an extra long grooming.  I just hope Kyle doen't try to suck the mud off with the noisy machine that Jackie used on Jack.  He didn't seem very happy about it.

That's it for now.

Jill

I like to roll in the mud but I do not like that noisy machine that looks like a giant snake and feels like it's trying to suck my skin off.   They call it a vacuum  cleaner; I call it scary.  Jackie rubbed me with the vacuum and I wasn't sure about it and then she turned it on and I really wasn't so sure about it, then she started to use it on my body & all I wanted to do is leave, but I couldn't because I was in those darn cross ties.  Jackie came up to my head and tried to calm me down but she was still holding the end of that scary machine & I tried to tell her I just wanted out of there!!  I guess reaching out with my front leg wasn't the best way to try to communicate.  Jackie yelled at me and called me a bad boy and told me that striking was NOT allowable behavior. She hasn't talked to me like that in a long time when I was first learning the rules.   She could tell I didn't mean it and put the machine down but she didn't turn it off.  She said something about me having to get use to it and started to groom me the normal way, but I just couldn't relax and enjoy it like I usually do so Jackie put me back in my stall.

I thought whew, thank goodness that was over, or so I thought.  Jackie brought the vacuum down by my stall and hung the long blue snake part over the top of the stall.  Of course I'm curious and had to check it out.  In fact I even tried to put it in my mouth but then it started making that awful noise and it startled me.  Well Jackie just let that thing run and make all sorts of noise for awhile and then she turned it off and back on and back off. That seemed to go on forever but I was very brave and never ran away from it. All the time she was talking to me telling me that I had to learn to trust her and that she would never do anything to trick or hurt me and she then told me I was a good boy and rubbed my head and all was good.  That is until she came in my stall and put a halter on me and started to vacuum me.  I still didn't like it very much but I tried really hard to trust Jackie and she didn't vacuum me too long and we finished with more good boys and rubs on the forehead.  This trust thing is a little hard when I'm scared but I'm working on it.

Jack

We Got Our First Pedicure Today

After a few weeks of practicing picking up our feet Jackie decided that it was time for us to have a visit from the farrier ( that must be what they call someone takes care of horses' feet ).  Margee got her feet done first and then it was Jack's turn.  They were in the wash rack which is right next to my stall but I couldn't see what was going on because of a tall wall between my stall and the wash rack, but I could hear what was going on.  Walt, the farrier, seemed like a nice guy and he was talking to Jackie and said that he would take it real slow so as to not make Jack nervous.  I heard a lot of good boys and only once did I hear that Jack pulled his foot away.  When Walt was done they remarked at how much better his feet looked after Walt  took the flair off.  Don't ask me what that means, but they say in a couple of more trimmings his feet should be in good shape.  Before I knew it Jack was done and it was my turn.

I was a little excited when I got in the wash rack but Dave had a great idea to calm me down ... he went straight for the sweet spot and scratched.  Yeah, it worked.  Anyway Walt picked up my feet and put them between his legs like Kyle practiced with me and then snipped my feet to trim them and then finished then up with a giant nail file called a rasp.  Jackie kept rubbing my head and telling me I was a good girl and when I tried to pull my feet a little Walt would make some silly joke and everyone laughed.  Before I knew it I was done and for a reward Dave gave me an extra long scratch on the sweet spot.  Life is good!!


I heard Jackie and Dave talking with Walt and he was happy with how well we behaved and said that we should be pretty easy to train.  Then he said something about putting shoes on us when we start getting ridden.  Whoa baby, one thing at a time please!  But he is right, we are good students.  Who wouldn't want to be?  All you have to do is follow a few simple instructions and remember what you learned the day before and they make a big fuss over you.  I like it ;)

Jill

I only have a little to add.  Walt seems like a really nice guy and I appreciate that he didn't get mad at me when I pulled  my foot away when the rasp tickled my foot. Jackie kept rubbing my forehead and telling me I was a good boy and I didn't pull my foot away again.  I think I would do almost anything for the good boys and getting my my forehead rubbed  ;)

After Walt left Jackie put me back in the wash rack for some serious grooming.  My hair is really shedding and Jackie used something called a shedding blade and it felt sooooooo good.  I hope she uses it again tomorrow.

Since Walt was here today all of the horses were in the barn at the same time which meant that I got to visit with Tintin since I just got moved to a stall next to him. He reached his head over the partition and started scratching and licking me.  I'm not quite sure why he was doing it, but it was kind of nice.  Maybe he isn't such a bad guy after all.

I hear Kyle and Jackie may be putting up a round pen soon and that Jill and I are going to start our training in there.  I'm not sure what that's all about but so far so good and if it means more good boys and rubbing my forehead; I'm good.

Jack

Woo Hoo ... a Fun Day!

After another snow storm yesterday is was bright and sunny this morning and a great day to be outside.  Unfortunately the routine here is that we go out and 10:00pm and come in at 10:00am., but today was different.  Jackie had to leave for a meeting @ 9:30 but we weren't ready to come in so she put Pip out with us and told Kevin to bring us in at 10:00.  Lucky for us Kevin decided not to bring us in because  it was such a nice day.  He figured since Pip was already out with us what's 3 more big boys? So he turned out Jethro (the boss man), Gopher (the big boy that went after Jack when he came to my defense last time we were out together) and Tintin (the one who thought he had to keep us away from his friends).  We weren't so sure...

Jack and me guarding Kat & Margee

There was the usual sniffing and discussions so Jack & I decided we were just going to run away from all the drama.  Well everyone else thought is was a great day for a run and we ran & ran and actually had tons of fun.  Since the other horses had blankets on they got a little hot so they headed down to the water jump for a drink of water and a good roll in the snow.  We never had been down by the water jump so that was exciting.  We had seen the boys playing in the water jump before but that's when it was much warmer and no snow or ice.

After all the drinks and rolling some of the horses decided to play in the water.  It looked like a lot of fun so we thought we would give it a try.  That's me on the left just getting into the water and Jack already in in the water (he is a curious guy, he even went on top of the bank jump later).  All was going well until Jethro came towards Jack making a nasty face and Jack decided to make a break for it.  Sometimes he doesn't think before he acts... he ran right into a spot that still had some soft ice on it and he got real nervous hearing the noise and feeling the breaking ice under his feet.  I heard Jackie saying something later about how she hoped it didn't make Jack afraid of the water because event horses have to be brave about the water jumps.  Hmmm, this eventing stuff sounds interesting.

Since was 1:00 and we hadn't had breakfast yet and Jackie thought we had enough excitement for the day; we got put in our stalls for lunch and a nap.  I hear that new fence materials were delivered today and when it warms up a little they're going to replace the old stuff so everyone can go out at the same time but in separate groups.   Something about being safer and hormones?%$#?

Looking forward to warmer weather so we can be out for longer and have more fun.

Jill

As usual, Jill has covered it all.  We had a lot of fun and it was the first time that we ran fast!  I heard that Kevin told Jackie that he liked the way I galloped better than Jill.  Don't tell her.

The deal with the ice was a little scary.  I won't do that again; I learned my lesson.

Hoping for warmer weather and more fun too.

Jack

It's Official ...

Well it's official; winter isn't over yet!!  After a few beautiful days of warm sunny weather we got hammered with a wicked snow storm yesterday.  The boys got brought in early and they had icicles all over them.  We went out for a couple of hours and when Kyle came out to do chores we all piled back in.  The plan was to leave Jack & me out so we could share the turn out stall without worrying about getting kicked out by the mares but we decided we would rather come in.  It's been awhile since Jack and I shared a stall; we took advantage of it and did some good mutual grooming.

Luckily the snow finally stopped and it was bright and sunny this morning so we got to go out for a few hours before having to come in again so the boys could go back out.  The guy in the big yellow boots (Dave) visited with me for awhile today & Kyle must have told him about my sweet spot, because he found it right away and I REALLY enjoyed the scratching.  I think I'm beginning to like this guy with the big yellow boots ;)

Now to the real official news of the day.  Jackie received  a letter today from Harmony Hill Farm (that's where we lived before coming to SGF)  asking her to fill out the 'adoption' and transfer of ownership form.  She had to promise not to sell us at auction or slaughter.  What the heck are they talking about?#$%@?  Jackie would never do that to us!  Anyway, she also had to promise to take care of us and give us lots of treats.  Actually I made up that last part; I thought it was worth a try ;)  So ... in a couple of weeks the Jockey Club papers should arrive and we will officially be members of the Smith family!!  I wish someone would explain why some papers the from a club for jockeys is such a big deal.  Actually we already feel like we're part of the family and we don't need any papers to prove it but it does feel good to be official!

Well that's it for the now, can't wait until spring officially gets here.

Jill

I totally agree with Jill.  That's a first ;)

Jack

Wow, what a difference a couple of weeks can make

When we arrived at SGF two weeks ago it was cold, snowy and icy!!  The last few days have been warm and sunny and we all have spring fever!!!  For the first time we felt like we could run a buck a little.  It felt soooooo good.  Jackie felt bad about keeping us in when the weather was so nice so on Thurs afternoon, when the big boys were out back, Jackie closed the gate and turned us back out in the smaller part of the pasture with the round bale.  At first the guys didn't notice us, but we sure noticed them.  Kat & Magree could have cared less; they had the round bale to themselves.

All of a sudden the boys noticed that we were turned out again and the came over to 'check us out'.  At first they stood on top of the hill looking down on us & then they decided to have a closer look.  Now mind you we have all met before but not all of the boys at the same time.  Pip was very polite while he and Jack were visiting .  That's Jack leaning against this thing that they call a fence.  Are they kidding that's no fence!  Anyway, Jackie chased us away because she didn't want us on the fence and then she muttered something about needing a new fence that wasn't worn out and one where the electric actually works!!  I don't like the sounds of that.


Then it was my turn, but his time all the guys had to come and check me out.  OMG!! I can't believe that Jackie wants to use that picture of me!!!  It makes me look like I'm built down hill, but actually I was standing on a very steep hill! Honest I was!!  On top of that she got my bad side.  Well I don't actually have a bad side, it's just that I don't like the side that still has the pink paint on my shoulder.                                                                        

  Since it was such a nice day Jackie stayed out with us for awhile and made sure we weren't getting into any trouble.  There she goes again, worrying about us getting into trouble.  Anyway, we didn't and she finally left and we stayed out almost until dark and then came in and had dinner and went back out at 10:00pm as usual.

The next day was even more beautiful and Jackie thought we could go out in separate pastures like we did yesterday.  Well it didn't go so well.  We all got together and when Gopher started to sniff around me I squealed and kicked at him. Jack thought he had to run to my rescue and went after Gopher who promptly decided that Jack needed to be put in his place.  I don't know what he was thinking; I can take care of myself.  Anyway Kyle and Jackie stepped in and put us back in the barn & we had to spend the rest of the beautiful day in the barn and we missed all the fun. I heard that the boys had a great time running around the pasture and then finished it off playing in the water jump.  I don't know why they call it a water jump; it just looks looks like a small pond to me.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Margee has been extra grumpy lately and she's complaining that she would rather be out with the boys.  This spring fever is complicating things. 

Hopefully Kyle won't be working tomorrow and he can spend more time with me.  I need a little lovin'

Jill



It has been a really nice weather the last few days and it really felt good to stretch my legs and loosen up my back with a few good bucks.  I really enjoyed the extra time outside when the weather was so nice.  But I have to set the record straight, if Jill hadn't blasted right through that flimsy ol' fence we wouldn't have gotten into any trouble and we could have stayed out all afternoon and today too.

On the bright side I have been getting groomed regularly in the wash rack (I haven't figured out why they call it that yet) and got a really nice grooming today.  I got to meet Kat's girl Laura again today and I showed her how good I can pick up my feet. I really like her and she really seems to like Kat a lot because she spends a lot of time grooming Kat and making a fuss over her.

I'm still waiting for my walk around the farm, but I guess my leading still isn't quite good enough.  I'll have to work on that.

Jack

Jack and Jill Send a "Shout Out" to Eventing Nation

www.eventingnation.com 

Jack and I want to send a BIG "Shout Out" to Eventing Nation.  We hear that they have been linking to our blog since the very beginning.  Most of the visitors these days come to our blog via EN (don't ask me how I know that, I'm just repeating what Jackie told me) and we can't thank them enough.  And if that wasn't enough, we're going to be featured on Good News Wednesday tomorrow.  I hear a nice lady called Annie is doing that. Thanks Annie & John.

We also want to thank Nan and her new website Eventing Day.  We have been told that she has posted our blog along with the SGF Newsletter under the Organizer's Corner.  Don't ask me what that means, but I think Jackie is an Organizer of these Events that people keep talking about.   Jackie said that if you like Eventing Nation, you should also check out Eventing Day.  All this talk about Eventing is making me wish that I was a little older ;)

www.eventingday.com

The big news of the day is that there is no big news to report.  Almost a boring day.  Kyle did put a bridle on me for the first time today and I very willingly let him put the bridle on, but try as I  might I couldn't spit the bit out.  Not so sure about that ...

Since things are getting a little boring around here, we'll probably limit  our updates to once a week.  Be sure to check back because things are bound to get more exciting with the farrier coming and, as we're told, more serious training soon.

Jill

Jill did forget to mention that we both had a little setback in out training today.  I momentarily was a mule again this morning and Jill a bulldozer.  With a firm reminder we both were the good horses once again complete with lots of pats. 

I hear that if my leading keeps improving, with no mule behavior, that I may be taken for a walk around the farm when the snow & ice melts. Stay tuned ... I'm sure I'll have lots to report.

Jack