Friday, December 22
Dec. 23rd, 2023 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
More beautiful weather.
I did get the big tree and little tree decorated last night, and that feels "Christmas-y". So far the cats are leaving them alone.
I talked with my Mom for a while, and at first she seemed sleepy but got more involved in the conversation as we went along. She was telling me about a nice card she got from her niece (my cousin) that had pictures of everyone in it.
Then I talked a bit with Sister S, to get a report about how our family gathering a week or so ago went. Nothing formal, but they all met up at a local restaurant that has an area in the back you can have "private" gatherings in. People were able to come from quite a distance, and I'm glad they did. I did not attend, but I'm glad they did this, since there is no longer an actual Christmas family gathering.
Then I went to see River.
He did something VERY cool today. When I go out to get him from the pasture, there is an area close to the barn where they are fed, and past that you walk down a hill and through some trees to get to an open pasture.
Tonight, it was already dark when I went out to get him, and I didn't see him at the top area where they are fed (others were standing there eating), so I went down the hill to see if he was out in the pasture; sometimes he likes to hang out there even at night.
I must have just not seen him with the other horses in the "eating" area, because when I was looking for him in the pasture and I didn't see him there either, I turned around and he was coming down the hill looking for me. He walked right up to me.
So, he actually left his friends and his hay to come down the hill to find me in the dark.
This is an actual choice he made, not just routine or something. Our "routine" would be me catching him and going UP the hill TOWARDS the hay and the gate that opens by the barn. This was him coming to find me AWAY from the gate and the barn.
We had a good session. He did well with our Liberty/ground work, and we worked on clarifying the "draw" vs.
"away" circle.
I didn't ride him very long, but we worked on trot departures from a halt, then cantering and a clean halt. He really nailed one halt from the canter.
He also did really well with the Spanish Walk work; he's starting to raise one leg, then moving forward with the next, beginning to walk forward. The leg raises are still a bit more like pawing than raised steps, but getting there. He LOVES getting all the treats while we're training this.
Then I stayed to work with Quidley. The girl with some challenges wasn't feeling great today, so they were only going to ride for a few minutes, then go back into the barn and do some fun things indoors where it was warm. R asked if I could just work with Quidley on my own during that time, and I was fine with that.
She said he's starting to do some Liberty work, so I could do that (you can't work a new horse at Liberty if there are other people in the arena).
I'm amazed that he's already doing quite well at staying with you. We did a lot of walking with him at my shoulder, walking around pylons. We also did some draw circles. Really good so far with staying with you.
For example, most of the time if you just let a horse go in a corral or an arena, they won't likely follow you or stay with you when you walk. They'll just go stand somewhere or run around a bit. What we're training the horses to do is to stay with you as you walk as if you were leading them. Like training a dog to heel.
The wind really picked up for a few minutes, and set the tarp-like arena roof to snapping and shifting. Quidley was worried for a few minutes, then was fine.
I thought he was kind of "babyish" today when we started. Really being mouthy the way a colt would be with it's Mom for attention, and getting into my space a lot. Kind of anxious. It can get really annoying, and a bit dangerous if they don't stay "off" of you. I did give him some attention, but then asked him to stand about an arm's length away from me and just chill, so he could learn to self-regulate a bit.
We ended on a really good note where he was relaxed, walking beside me (but at the right distance) at Liberty, and focused on me, not all the environmental things going on.
My Sweetie showed up part way through my work with Quidley, on his way home from work. I had also asked him to please pick up something nice for R.
R loves sweet liquor things, so he got her a nice cream liqueur. I had hoped to find Godiva chocolate liqueur, but apparently it is no longer being made.
He also picked up some grocery items for us to make a nice Christmas meal.
R seemed excited about the liqueur, so hopefully that was a good gift for her.
We came home and we chatted for a while, and my husband went to bed.
I learned about the Thousand Islands, an archipelago in the Saint Laurence River between Ontario and New York. Lots and lots of small islands, some privately owned, many with houses on them. Really a beautiful place.
One of those islands, Deer Island, is owned by the "Skull and Bones" , a fraternity of Yale University which is infamous for it's powerful alumni and supposed involvement in conspiracy theory type activities. Who knows if any of that is real or if it's all hype.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Islands
More beautiful weather.
I did get the big tree and little tree decorated last night, and that feels "Christmas-y". So far the cats are leaving them alone.
I talked with my Mom for a while, and at first she seemed sleepy but got more involved in the conversation as we went along. She was telling me about a nice card she got from her niece (my cousin) that had pictures of everyone in it.
Then I talked a bit with Sister S, to get a report about how our family gathering a week or so ago went. Nothing formal, but they all met up at a local restaurant that has an area in the back you can have "private" gatherings in. People were able to come from quite a distance, and I'm glad they did. I did not attend, but I'm glad they did this, since there is no longer an actual Christmas family gathering.
Then I went to see River.
He did something VERY cool today. When I go out to get him from the pasture, there is an area close to the barn where they are fed, and past that you walk down a hill and through some trees to get to an open pasture.
Tonight, it was already dark when I went out to get him, and I didn't see him at the top area where they are fed (others were standing there eating), so I went down the hill to see if he was out in the pasture; sometimes he likes to hang out there even at night.
I must have just not seen him with the other horses in the "eating" area, because when I was looking for him in the pasture and I didn't see him there either, I turned around and he was coming down the hill looking for me. He walked right up to me.
So, he actually left his friends and his hay to come down the hill to find me in the dark.
This is an actual choice he made, not just routine or something. Our "routine" would be me catching him and going UP the hill TOWARDS the hay and the gate that opens by the barn. This was him coming to find me AWAY from the gate and the barn.
We had a good session. He did well with our Liberty/ground work, and we worked on clarifying the "draw" vs.
"away" circle.
I didn't ride him very long, but we worked on trot departures from a halt, then cantering and a clean halt. He really nailed one halt from the canter.
He also did really well with the Spanish Walk work; he's starting to raise one leg, then moving forward with the next, beginning to walk forward. The leg raises are still a bit more like pawing than raised steps, but getting there. He LOVES getting all the treats while we're training this.
Then I stayed to work with Quidley. The girl with some challenges wasn't feeling great today, so they were only going to ride for a few minutes, then go back into the barn and do some fun things indoors where it was warm. R asked if I could just work with Quidley on my own during that time, and I was fine with that.
She said he's starting to do some Liberty work, so I could do that (you can't work a new horse at Liberty if there are other people in the arena).
I'm amazed that he's already doing quite well at staying with you. We did a lot of walking with him at my shoulder, walking around pylons. We also did some draw circles. Really good so far with staying with you.
For example, most of the time if you just let a horse go in a corral or an arena, they won't likely follow you or stay with you when you walk. They'll just go stand somewhere or run around a bit. What we're training the horses to do is to stay with you as you walk as if you were leading them. Like training a dog to heel.
The wind really picked up for a few minutes, and set the tarp-like arena roof to snapping and shifting. Quidley was worried for a few minutes, then was fine.
I thought he was kind of "babyish" today when we started. Really being mouthy the way a colt would be with it's Mom for attention, and getting into my space a lot. Kind of anxious. It can get really annoying, and a bit dangerous if they don't stay "off" of you. I did give him some attention, but then asked him to stand about an arm's length away from me and just chill, so he could learn to self-regulate a bit.
We ended on a really good note where he was relaxed, walking beside me (but at the right distance) at Liberty, and focused on me, not all the environmental things going on.
My Sweetie showed up part way through my work with Quidley, on his way home from work. I had also asked him to please pick up something nice for R.
R loves sweet liquor things, so he got her a nice cream liqueur. I had hoped to find Godiva chocolate liqueur, but apparently it is no longer being made.
He also picked up some grocery items for us to make a nice Christmas meal.
R seemed excited about the liqueur, so hopefully that was a good gift for her.
We came home and we chatted for a while, and my husband went to bed.
I learned about the Thousand Islands, an archipelago in the Saint Laurence River between Ontario and New York. Lots and lots of small islands, some privately owned, many with houses on them. Really a beautiful place.
One of those islands, Deer Island, is owned by the "Skull and Bones" , a fraternity of Yale University which is infamous for it's powerful alumni and supposed involvement in conspiracy theory type activities. Who knows if any of that is real or if it's all hype.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Islands
no subject
Date: 2023-12-24 01:28 pm (UTC)And huge yay for River!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas to you and yours over there! And when I say yours, I include all your lovely animals. :)
no subject
Date: 2023-12-25 09:03 am (UTC)