well, OK, a lesson with the big league anyway LOL.
He was great, clicked on pretty well to what Jody was wanting on the ground (uses Andrew McLean's methods) and then I jumped on him and we worked on putting his feet where we wanted them going around the arena (his first time in an arena, all scary stuff you know!)
Jody is lovely, very down to earth, very approachable, and fantastically open minded shown not just in her own training but in accepting what I do too :o)
She'll be back in town in March after Horse of the Year so I'll save up for that, and in the meantime yesterday I thought we'd better do a float session as a reminder ready for today, and decided to change his entire way of loading and get him self loading so I can do him on my own. Pete in the front with an enticing piece of carrot to help get him to leave my side and he was doing it like a pro. This morning was the same, but he had a wee mishap on the way to the lesson, got his bum stuck under the back bar till he freed himself, but was a very worried boy when we arrived wanting to come straight off! Unlucky for him he'd bent the back bar so it took me a minute to get it undone LOL.
Explained to him after the lesson that's why he needs to stand on his own 4 feet properly in the float and it won't happen if he stands nicely in there. A little procrastination but nothing worse than yesterday's practice session and on he went again. Very good wee man.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
A quick catch up as work waits...
The chooks have settled in fantastically and are just wonderful and gentle and friendly and these funny little birds I never even liked before have got a new fan in me :o) So curious!!!
Just bought a new helmet (eye is still wonky donk!) and jumped on Smokey after a month off and that long in spring grass (admittedly on rations) and he was great. Needed a wee session of ground work to alter his "I don't wanna be caught" attitude he'd developed, but as soon as he's getting regular attention again he's great.
He has his first ever lesson next week with Jody Hartstone who is visiting Blenheim so I'll let you know how it goes! Will be doing part of the lesson on ground work (Andrew McLeans methods) and part ridden.
They've all just been seen by the dentist who said Smokey is 4 and pretty much right on the button as he's about 6mths out from losing his 4 1/2yr caps. He was a very good boy :o)
Mac has been dumped onto some Alleviate for a couple of days as it's just been too wet to put a bowl of salt in the paddock for them and his attitude is softening again. I knew he was blaming me for things, but when the dentist turned up and Mac spazzed on him too and then wanted to know what I was punishing him for, I knew he wasn't in a good head space so roll out the Magnesium LOL.
Will be jumping on him end of next week and we'll be all guns blazing again :o)
Right off to talk to a horse...
Just bought a new helmet (eye is still wonky donk!) and jumped on Smokey after a month off and that long in spring grass (admittedly on rations) and he was great. Needed a wee session of ground work to alter his "I don't wanna be caught" attitude he'd developed, but as soon as he's getting regular attention again he's great.
He has his first ever lesson next week with Jody Hartstone who is visiting Blenheim so I'll let you know how it goes! Will be doing part of the lesson on ground work (Andrew McLeans methods) and part ridden.
They've all just been seen by the dentist who said Smokey is 4 and pretty much right on the button as he's about 6mths out from losing his 4 1/2yr caps. He was a very good boy :o)
Mac has been dumped onto some Alleviate for a couple of days as it's just been too wet to put a bowl of salt in the paddock for them and his attitude is softening again. I knew he was blaming me for things, but when the dentist turned up and Mac spazzed on him too and then wanted to know what I was punishing him for, I knew he wasn't in a good head space so roll out the Magnesium LOL.
Will be jumping on him end of next week and we'll be all guns blazing again :o)
Right off to talk to a horse...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Wonky Donk Eyes
Well here we are nearly a month after departing company from my "darling" (said very tongue in cheek for the first couple of weeks!) Mac and my eyes are still wonky! A visit to the eye specialist and he doesn't know what's going on either, so he'll review the CT scan from the hospital and see him again in a couple of weeks.
Mac was blaming ME for what happened and was pretty anti me for a week or 2 after the incident, a bit less grass has helped sort that attitude out quite well, but the eyes have actually slowed me down getting back on, and I'll still need to do some ground work with the frisky boys for a few days now before getting on anyway, so should be able to book a lesson for next week and tackle those "getting back on a psycho horse" nerves then LOL. I'll know if HE is going to be fine, but falling off hurts and I don't want MORE wonky eyes so have those subtle self doubt nerves hanging around. Will ride Smokey first and that'll help :o)
So eye specialist put some drops in the jammed open pupil and hey presto it certainly can close, so now I have these photos hehehehe, too funny really!
before a visit to the eye specialist...
after a visit to the eye specialist!
The chickens (6 girls) have settled in well and a friend took 4 too, so we've managed to save 10 out of over a thousand and give them an extended life :o) The girls are lovely and producing an egg a day each quite happily (we don't eat that many eggs!) I'm sure the dogs will love one each a week to help keep the numbers to use down!
And lastly "Talk To Your Animals" now has a facebook page. Facebook seems to be much more interactive than blogs so feel free to become a "fan" and join in :o)
Talk-To-Your-Animals on FaceBook
Mac was blaming ME for what happened and was pretty anti me for a week or 2 after the incident, a bit less grass has helped sort that attitude out quite well, but the eyes have actually slowed me down getting back on, and I'll still need to do some ground work with the frisky boys for a few days now before getting on anyway, so should be able to book a lesson for next week and tackle those "getting back on a psycho horse" nerves then LOL. I'll know if HE is going to be fine, but falling off hurts and I don't want MORE wonky eyes so have those subtle self doubt nerves hanging around. Will ride Smokey first and that'll help :o)
So eye specialist put some drops in the jammed open pupil and hey presto it certainly can close, so now I have these photos hehehehe, too funny really!
before a visit to the eye specialist...
after a visit to the eye specialist!
The chickens (6 girls) have settled in well and a friend took 4 too, so we've managed to save 10 out of over a thousand and give them an extended life :o) The girls are lovely and producing an egg a day each quite happily (we don't eat that many eggs!) I'm sure the dogs will love one each a week to help keep the numbers to use down!
And lastly "Talk To Your Animals" now has a facebook page. Facebook seems to be much more interactive than blogs so feel free to become a "fan" and join in :o)
Talk-To-Your-Animals on FaceBook
Friday, November 20, 2009
What a week....
Auckland was great, Marcus is at a great age for nana to do things with, so we had train rides, and ferry rides and ate out so much I got used to it LOL. Slotted some work in there too and as always lovely to meet some new people and the 4 legged kids of theirs :o)
Caught up with a couple of friends and hey presto the week is up and it's time to head home again!
Arrive home and go straight out to collect eggs and check on Mary and the girls....
Mary is gone :o( colour me very blue indeed.... I KNEW I should have taken her earlier, I KNEW those survival traits I'd noticed in her were slipping, I KNEW she wanted met to take her the last time I saw her when the sweet scraggly darling accepted kisses on her tiny bald head and begged me to take her.... oh yes, beliefs aside, I'm beating myself up for that one! Poor sweet, darling little Mary who was something beyond a chicken and will never be forgotten. Gone completely, not noticed by anyone else, she would have been a tiny carcass removed from the shed while I was gone *sob*
So Sunday morning came and I needed to ride the horses before heading up to do eggs again, it was windy, the horses had gotten fat in a week and somehow I ended up in hospital, vowing and declaring my occupation on the ACC forms was Police hahahahaha. So what happened I'm not sure, it was straight after mounting as per Mac's usual, unfortunately Leo the wannabe Lion gave chase, Mac had probably already shut down (or he wouldn't have left me behind!) and ran around the house and INTO a shut gate, bending the gate (a new gate!) and popping the staple the catch hooks onto right out of the post. Leg thru his reins he's very lucky all he got was a little scrape on a fore leg (not even any blood!)
So Kelley-Anne has a CAT scan and a steroid shot for a swelling brain and left with instructions that are only vaguely remembered not to ride for 4 weeks (say what?! They want me to get ditched AGAIN?! I will be if I leave him that long!) and to come back if the pupils don't return to normal the next day... So no eggs to be collected that day by me! Altho we went straight there from hosptial to see if hope against hopes Mary had just been hiding somewhere the day before... alas, no such luck :o(
Here I am 5 days later pupils STILL uneven and Dr's stumped as to why LOL. One pupil is enlarged and locked like that, the other is reacting normally. Oh well, will just have to get a decent pair of sunnies for summer and look after them!
So having returned from a holiday where nothing was "normal" anyway heading into a week like that to be honest it's felt a bit surreal.
Eggs again this weekend (better do some work for the poor guys since they had to cover me last Sunday hehehe) and Sunday is the day I get to bring some of the girls home (if only you could have held on Mary!!!) So Penny is a definite as is another that is as yet unnamed... shall then put Mary to the task of chosing any others and sending them to me. I was going to limit it to Mary and 2 others so she wouldn't be picked on, but I reckon 5 or so now will be a good number until some more join them when the next shed is ready to go...
Caught up with a couple of friends and hey presto the week is up and it's time to head home again!
Arrive home and go straight out to collect eggs and check on Mary and the girls....
Mary is gone :o( colour me very blue indeed.... I KNEW I should have taken her earlier, I KNEW those survival traits I'd noticed in her were slipping, I KNEW she wanted met to take her the last time I saw her when the sweet scraggly darling accepted kisses on her tiny bald head and begged me to take her.... oh yes, beliefs aside, I'm beating myself up for that one! Poor sweet, darling little Mary who was something beyond a chicken and will never be forgotten. Gone completely, not noticed by anyone else, she would have been a tiny carcass removed from the shed while I was gone *sob*
So Sunday morning came and I needed to ride the horses before heading up to do eggs again, it was windy, the horses had gotten fat in a week and somehow I ended up in hospital, vowing and declaring my occupation on the ACC forms was Police hahahahaha. So what happened I'm not sure, it was straight after mounting as per Mac's usual, unfortunately Leo the wannabe Lion gave chase, Mac had probably already shut down (or he wouldn't have left me behind!) and ran around the house and INTO a shut gate, bending the gate (a new gate!) and popping the staple the catch hooks onto right out of the post. Leg thru his reins he's very lucky all he got was a little scrape on a fore leg (not even any blood!)
So Kelley-Anne has a CAT scan and a steroid shot for a swelling brain and left with instructions that are only vaguely remembered not to ride for 4 weeks (say what?! They want me to get ditched AGAIN?! I will be if I leave him that long!) and to come back if the pupils don't return to normal the next day... So no eggs to be collected that day by me! Altho we went straight there from hosptial to see if hope against hopes Mary had just been hiding somewhere the day before... alas, no such luck :o(
Here I am 5 days later pupils STILL uneven and Dr's stumped as to why LOL. One pupil is enlarged and locked like that, the other is reacting normally. Oh well, will just have to get a decent pair of sunnies for summer and look after them!
So having returned from a holiday where nothing was "normal" anyway heading into a week like that to be honest it's felt a bit surreal.
Eggs again this weekend (better do some work for the poor guys since they had to cover me last Sunday hehehe) and Sunday is the day I get to bring some of the girls home (if only you could have held on Mary!!!) So Penny is a definite as is another that is as yet unnamed... shall then put Mary to the task of chosing any others and sending them to me. I was going to limit it to Mary and 2 others so she wouldn't be picked on, but I reckon 5 or so now will be a good number until some more join them when the next shed is ready to go...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
What to do for your Animals on Guy Fawkes???
Go out and enjoy the show with them :o)
My goats are the only ones who pelt around the paddock before they take shelter in the implement shed but they need the exercise. The dogs couldn't care less, but then I couldn't care less either.
I go out to see the horses when they first start and remind them that fireworks for us are a celebration, a happy time we share with family and friends and admire the lights and the noise. So I stand out there and admire the lights and the noise with my family and friends (the 4 legged ones) until I'm bored and then I go back inside.
Make it a positive thing for them, explain what it is, so there is no unknown aspect to it for them, enjoy it with them and then leave them to it :o)
Animals "hear" what you are feeling the thinking, so don't worry about anything, or they pick up on that worry and then the strange noises and lights start and they go "oooooh that must be what she was worried about!!!!" and stress too... just enjoy the celebration and leave them enjoying it too :o)
Of course that doesn't mean you do NOTHING for an animal that does stress about them, you take your normal safety precautions! Common sense still exists so you use it :o) But by removing all stress from yourself you will remove a massive amount from your animals too.
My goats are the only ones who pelt around the paddock before they take shelter in the implement shed but they need the exercise. The dogs couldn't care less, but then I couldn't care less either.
I go out to see the horses when they first start and remind them that fireworks for us are a celebration, a happy time we share with family and friends and admire the lights and the noise. So I stand out there and admire the lights and the noise with my family and friends (the 4 legged ones) until I'm bored and then I go back inside.
Make it a positive thing for them, explain what it is, so there is no unknown aspect to it for them, enjoy it with them and then leave them to it :o)
Animals "hear" what you are feeling the thinking, so don't worry about anything, or they pick up on that worry and then the strange noises and lights start and they go "oooooh that must be what she was worried about!!!!" and stress too... just enjoy the celebration and leave them enjoying it too :o)
Of course that doesn't mean you do NOTHING for an animal that does stress about them, you take your normal safety precautions! Common sense still exists so you use it :o) But by removing all stress from yourself you will remove a massive amount from your animals too.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Where has time gone???
It's nearly Christmas already!!!
Marcus and I are off to Auckland this Saturday for a week, see nana, do a little work, catch up with some people, looking forward to it :o)
Mac had his dressage including his first ever musical (mine too!) Rather disappointed with the marking of it, but hey, that's life, I was very happy with his attitude over the weekend, full of energy but we weren't butting heads like we can hehehe and he loved "dancing" to the musical with me so that was cool.
I do think the 2nd lot of homeopathic drops are working too as we haven't had any butting heads sessions over things since the first lesson we had (4 days after the drops started) We even had 2 fantastic lessons last week with Saskia Ostermeier, with no tension from him and I'm feeling very confident we can get him TRULY to level 3 now I know how to sort out his strength (and weakness) issues LOL.
Smokey has had some more bareback riding and was a very good boy in the trot, brakes were still in place and all!! He also did his first gate yesterday when he headed out to ride down to the end of the road and was a great wee boy with me hanging off the side of him (it wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but we did it!)
Am still helping out collecting free range eggs every 2nd weekend and have 3 wee girls ready to come home with me in a months time, however one of them (Mary) is beginning to worry me, she is/was a survivor, knew how to keep her head down and shut up when the attacks and bullying came, but has now started to squawk (calling me for help) and it draws attention to her. She is begging to come home with me every time I'm there, following me like a dog and asking to be picked up. Breaks my heart having to leave her there when I leave and then not seeing her for 2 weeks is torture! I don't even like chickens!!!!! hahahaha (note the hysterical note in that laughter!) My sweet tail-less Mary is just the sweetest, most gentle wee girl tho, I think she could win anyone over! She even decided my head looked like a safe place to perch when a bully started in on her at one of the nesting boxes I was emptying, I laughed so hard she nearly fell off!
She looks so tiny and mangy and horrible with no feathers, but she is absolutely beautiful :o)
Marcus and I are off to Auckland this Saturday for a week, see nana, do a little work, catch up with some people, looking forward to it :o)
Mac had his dressage including his first ever musical (mine too!) Rather disappointed with the marking of it, but hey, that's life, I was very happy with his attitude over the weekend, full of energy but we weren't butting heads like we can hehehe and he loved "dancing" to the musical with me so that was cool.
I do think the 2nd lot of homeopathic drops are working too as we haven't had any butting heads sessions over things since the first lesson we had (4 days after the drops started) We even had 2 fantastic lessons last week with Saskia Ostermeier, with no tension from him and I'm feeling very confident we can get him TRULY to level 3 now I know how to sort out his strength (and weakness) issues LOL.
Smokey has had some more bareback riding and was a very good boy in the trot, brakes were still in place and all!! He also did his first gate yesterday when he headed out to ride down to the end of the road and was a great wee boy with me hanging off the side of him (it wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but we did it!)
Am still helping out collecting free range eggs every 2nd weekend and have 3 wee girls ready to come home with me in a months time, however one of them (Mary) is beginning to worry me, she is/was a survivor, knew how to keep her head down and shut up when the attacks and bullying came, but has now started to squawk (calling me for help) and it draws attention to her. She is begging to come home with me every time I'm there, following me like a dog and asking to be picked up. Breaks my heart having to leave her there when I leave and then not seeing her for 2 weeks is torture! I don't even like chickens!!!!! hahahaha (note the hysterical note in that laughter!) My sweet tail-less Mary is just the sweetest, most gentle wee girl tho, I think she could win anyone over! She even decided my head looked like a safe place to perch when a bully started in on her at one of the nesting boxes I was emptying, I laughed so hard she nearly fell off!
She looks so tiny and mangy and horrible with no feathers, but she is absolutely beautiful :o)
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