November 2011

Wrapping Up Our First Week of Riding

November 26, 2011

On Thursday I was leaving right after lunch to go to my coach’s for two days of lessons with another horse. I had time to work three horses in the morning before I left. So I decided to do Levi’s (Elix) whole training session on the lunge line in order to stay on my time […]

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No Worries, and Going Forward!

November 23, 2011

Good progress today! Levi (Elix) is already getting the idea of going forward under saddle. He is also proving to be not at all concerned about changes to the environment. We had rain last night, and freezing rain, and our arena windows aren’t always water-tight, so today there are big wet areas on the kickboards […]

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Second Day of Riding on Our Own

November 22, 2011

Levi (Elix) did great today! On this fresh, cold, gusty, windy Southern Ontario day, I thought he might be feeling on the feisty side, but actually …. now that I’m getting to know him better, I didn’t really think that. 🙂 First Levi and I did a bit of lungeing each way and worked on […]

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Riding Off the Lunge Line

November 21, 2011

So yesterday being Sunday, and Sunday being the day I set my weekly goals, I was thinking of what my goals for Levi (Elix) should be this week. I decided I wanted to be able to mount him from the mounting block, and ride him at the walk and trot off the lunge line. Well, […]

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Another New Turn-out Buddy

November 20, 2011

Today I decided to add Helix to the turn-out group with Levi (Elix), Storjo, and Fjelljo. Helix knows the other two boys, and he knows Levi from over the fence. So the introductions went well, just a lot of squealing and dinosaur noises as Helix made sure Levi knew who was the boss around here. […]

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More Lungeing with a Rider

November 18, 2011

Alida brought her 13 year old daughter to the barn with her today. When Alida and Cassandra went to the paddock to get Levi (Elix) to get him ready for me, he saw Cassandra and ran away. It is becoming clear that Levi is wary of people he doesn’t know well when he is out […]

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A Successful Day is like Money in the Bank

November 17, 2011

Today was a repeat of yesterday, plus a bit more, with a similar successful outcome. Yay! In horse training, I consider every successful day — and even every successful experience — to be like putting “money in the bank”. My account with a horse is credited every time he learns I can tell him what […]

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Trotting with Rider

November 16, 2011

After a four day weekend, I thought Levi (Elix) might be feeling a bit fresh this morning. So my plan was to lunge him and make use of any excess energy to work on the canter, before calling Alida to the arena to help with the mounted work. Well, it turns out Levi is an […]

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Bonus: A Long Weekend

November 14, 2011

Levi (Elix) got an unscheduled day off today, and I am planning to be away again at my coach’s tomorrow, which will mean a 4 day long weekend for Levi. The lucky boy! Actually I’m really looking forward to my work sessions with Levi, so it’s too bad we couldn’t go today. What happened was […]

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Lungeing with a Rider

November 12, 2011

Yesterday I had Alida lunge me on Levi (Elix). I started by lungeing him both ways for a while, then Alida came out and gave me a leg up onto him. First I laid across his back, after that she boosted me right up. He stood perfectly still and relaxed throughout. With me on Levi’s […]

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