Friday, February 26
Feb. 26th, 2022 01:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Much warmer weather today. Very pleasant. There was some gorgeous hoar frost on the trees last night when I went to do chores.
I got up a little earlier so that we could try to do some pottery before my riding time.
We managed to go to the studio, which is the opposite direction from the riding barn, and we worked for about three hours, which is a little tight but my sweetie wouldn't likely want to be there for longer than that anyhow, so it was perfect. He did manage to throw two nice bowls, and I threw another vase. I keep working on the same rounded forms, hoping to perfect that silhouette.
We briefly stopped at home to change and have something to eat, then went to the barn.
River was kind of distracted again, but he did okay with our ground work/Liberty. At least it wasn't that cold today, which is nice. By the time I got to the riding part, the special needs person came in for her session, and we stayed for that and did the pole picking game with her again.
There was one exciting/scary moment when the pony that the girl was riding stuck it's head into one of the big plastic barrels that is used for storage, and caught it's head momentarily. For a few seconds, it was backing up with this barrel on it's head. It spooked River, luckily not TOO badly, and thank goodness the pony didn't freak out, since it had that special needs girl on him. He just backed up until the barrel fell off his head, and made like it was no big deal. Everyone was kind of nervous laughing about it, but it could have been a lot worse.
We came home and had supper and my sweetie had a bath.
So here is a short video of River and I today, doing Liberty work. It is VERY beginner stuff, but it has taken us months to get to this point where he stays with me and doesn't go off on his own after a moment or two. What I am doing in this exercise is first drawing back to get him to come with me, then redirecting that movement into a circle around me at liberty, then drawing him back in to me again. It is to get him used to moving where I direct him at a bit of a distance (so not always right at my shoulder), but keeping his attention with me.
It is surprisingly difficult to run backwards in the first part, to draw him in. I could do it at a walk, but then it is harder work to get him to trot the circle around me if I start at a walk. Me "jogging" in place is to mimic the momentum of moving together. As we progress I won't have to likely do that to keep him going.
The whip is an extension of my arm.
FAQs: River is grey, meaning he was not born white, he had black and white patches when he was born and kept getting more white as he got older. Pretty common in horses to be born a dark color that goes white later in life, and "white" horses with any dark skin are grey, not white. Easy to tell if they have dark skin around their eyes or noses, or even some dark some pink.
There are true white horses, and they are born white, and stay white their whole lives. They have pink skin.
He is about 17 years old, and he is a gelding meaning no testicles. Life is just easier for the rider this way, and often for the horse too.
He is an Appendix Quarter Horse.
The band around his body is soft and stretchy, and is to help create body awareness.
This is very basic work, and does not make us that distinguished. There are ten year old kids out there doing similar things. That said, Liberty is not that common yet, though you see it a lot more than you used to.
Edit: If you would like the link to my video, just ask and I'll message you. I'm getting tired of my journal entries being re-posted on LJ.
I learned that narwhals record their lives in rings on their tusks, just the same as trees. Every year they add a layer to their tusk, which is a modified tooth, and that ring reflects the conditions in their life that year.
Much warmer weather today. Very pleasant. There was some gorgeous hoar frost on the trees last night when I went to do chores.
I got up a little earlier so that we could try to do some pottery before my riding time.
We managed to go to the studio, which is the opposite direction from the riding barn, and we worked for about three hours, which is a little tight but my sweetie wouldn't likely want to be there for longer than that anyhow, so it was perfect. He did manage to throw two nice bowls, and I threw another vase. I keep working on the same rounded forms, hoping to perfect that silhouette.
We briefly stopped at home to change and have something to eat, then went to the barn.
River was kind of distracted again, but he did okay with our ground work/Liberty. At least it wasn't that cold today, which is nice. By the time I got to the riding part, the special needs person came in for her session, and we stayed for that and did the pole picking game with her again.
There was one exciting/scary moment when the pony that the girl was riding stuck it's head into one of the big plastic barrels that is used for storage, and caught it's head momentarily. For a few seconds, it was backing up with this barrel on it's head. It spooked River, luckily not TOO badly, and thank goodness the pony didn't freak out, since it had that special needs girl on him. He just backed up until the barrel fell off his head, and made like it was no big deal. Everyone was kind of nervous laughing about it, but it could have been a lot worse.
We came home and had supper and my sweetie had a bath.
So here is a short video of River and I today, doing Liberty work. It is VERY beginner stuff, but it has taken us months to get to this point where he stays with me and doesn't go off on his own after a moment or two. What I am doing in this exercise is first drawing back to get him to come with me, then redirecting that movement into a circle around me at liberty, then drawing him back in to me again. It is to get him used to moving where I direct him at a bit of a distance (so not always right at my shoulder), but keeping his attention with me.
It is surprisingly difficult to run backwards in the first part, to draw him in. I could do it at a walk, but then it is harder work to get him to trot the circle around me if I start at a walk. Me "jogging" in place is to mimic the momentum of moving together. As we progress I won't have to likely do that to keep him going.
The whip is an extension of my arm.
FAQs: River is grey, meaning he was not born white, he had black and white patches when he was born and kept getting more white as he got older. Pretty common in horses to be born a dark color that goes white later in life, and "white" horses with any dark skin are grey, not white. Easy to tell if they have dark skin around their eyes or noses, or even some dark some pink.
There are true white horses, and they are born white, and stay white their whole lives. They have pink skin.
He is about 17 years old, and he is a gelding meaning no testicles. Life is just easier for the rider this way, and often for the horse too.
He is an Appendix Quarter Horse.
The band around his body is soft and stretchy, and is to help create body awareness.
This is very basic work, and does not make us that distinguished. There are ten year old kids out there doing similar things. That said, Liberty is not that common yet, though you see it a lot more than you used to.
Edit: If you would like the link to my video, just ask and I'll message you. I'm getting tired of my journal entries being re-posted on LJ.
I learned that narwhals record their lives in rings on their tusks, just the same as trees. Every year they add a layer to their tusk, which is a modified tooth, and that ring reflects the conditions in their life that year.
