Poncho and his hostage!

Whilst I was cleaning up my tack and what not's today Poncho decided he needed the attention back on him. So what to do in that situation? Abduct a broom of course!!!!!!

An interesting turn of events!`

On the day I clipped Poncho was his first day back from "vacation"! I was pumped! And to top it off we had a fantastic ride. He was like a freaking dream. On the bit. Forward. Supple. Everything I could have ever wanted in a ride.

Then on Thursday the wind picked up. Poncho lost his mind! We were just hacking around the field on a nice long loose rein, when out of no where...he throws a huge buck. Spins and bolts (and man can this horse bolt) across the field. While he's bolting we're bucking and hopping about. I somehow managed to stay on and got him back under control and listening. But clearly this was not our most productive ride.

Friday was even windier. I was delusional enough to think I could a productive ride in TODAY. However I had several clues on the way to the ring that should have told me to turn back. I did not though. So once we finally got to the ring I got on and didn't even last 5 minutes in the saddle. Not because I was thrown but because he lost his marbles completely and there was no way to turn it around. Even in hand he was bucking and rearing, just generally freaking out. So yet another failed attempt.

Saturday I couldn't get out to the barn and Sunday I managed. We headed down to the ring again to attempt to rectify our last ride. I only rode for 10 minutes and kept it at a walk. Mainly because he was still on edge but listening. So I wanted to make sure I got off before it all went south!

Today it's raining ALL day long. Boo. I did go out to the earlier today and change the ponies into their Medium blankies since it didn't warm up like it was supposed to. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Second clip of the year. Was it another success?

Poncho got reclipped today. I wanted to get it out of the way before it got real cold or windy (a.k.a FRIDAY). I was sure he would have no excuse for any naughtiness. However I was wrong. This time clipping was a bit scarier, don't know why though.

Unfortunately my blade was really dull so it looks like poo. I was so, so, so embarrassed by it - but atleast I know why it looks so bad. Everyone else says it's not too bad though. Not the point, however. By the end of the clip Poncho was much calmer. But it took a lot to get there.

My plan was to do a more intense clip BUT that didn't happen. So the plan is to monitor how this clip goes and if he's still getting really hot by the time he gets his teeth done (in a month) I'll re-clip while he's a drunken fool! Muhaha

Holiday Photoshoot!

I posted 1 picture yesterday as a mini-preview. Here are the rest. (Note my Mom took them not a professional. I did my best to coach her with my "fancy" camera I think she did a pretty good job!)

Poncho of course would not put his ears forward. He was to focused on the fact that there was something behind his ears!!!!!!!

Our vacation is coming to a close!

Thank goodness only one more week! Although I am thinking this Wednesday I'll go ahead and re-clip instead of the following.

Vacation does not, I repeat does not agree with Poncho in the slightest! He has been the biggest meanie head since his vacation started. He's still been getting "worked". A.K.A. short little hacks maybe once or twice a week. We've gone to the ring 2x this month, last Wednesday and yesterday. Wednesday was an epic failure on so many levels. I will not go into detail like I said I was. Too long. Friday was a short hack with his hackamore on. He was coughing sooo much (BO put his hay in the run-in, dust = death) but he was getting quite cranky once he realized I wasn't getting him tacked up. So I gave-in. Luckily he didn't cough with the hackamore.

Yesterday we went to the ring. I put his bit back on since he wasn't coughing prior to my tacking him up. I did however take the noseband off. So incase he did start to cough his face wasn't constrained. We mainly walked. Did a little trotting but that brought on a little cough spell. So back to the walk we went. His supplement should come in tomorrow or Tuesday. Yipppe. So we will slowly be starting to work back into the old swing of things. Thank goodness!

Wordless Wednesday: the calm before the storm

story to come.

Battling "the cough" - EDITED

Not so much of a battle per-say though. Immediately after removing hay from his diet. The cough ceased. Not a huge surprise to me however.

He hates, hates, hates the cough free. SOOOO I got a free sample of the smart breathe pellets in hopes to coax him. My "plan" is to either soak his hay (not super practical for BO) or get a slow feeder for him so that he can't shove his face all in the hay dust. We'll see how this all goes.

FINGERS CROSSED!

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12/11 Ponchoman ate the supplement. Now hopefully it works!

2012 in review

This has been one roller-coaster of a year. I started the year off with so much hope in all aspects of my life. However with the year winding down I am slam full of anxiety and uncertainty. Such is life I suppose. But more or less let's get down to the nitty gritty of 2012.

I started off last January taking a temporary job at my vets office. I didn't have to much time to ride productively during those 3 months but made due with what I could. I had bought a new saddle before Christmas, finally one that Mr. Ponyface was pleased with. I got a hackamore for Christmas so we were switching between that and his bit. (We were still in a place where bit = tense,mean pony.) We had lots of leisurely rides to help keep him calm. Our ring work was inconsistent. So back and forth on his canter work (when has it not been though?)

As the months were progressing I was feeling on top of the world. Ponchers was moving fantastically after we squared away our hock pain (adequan 2X a year). He was moving like a freaking machine. Our jumping however was nonexistent still at this point. After failed attempt after failed attempt in October 2011 I gave up for a long while. We were still iffy with the contact but he had his days.

Once spring was rolling around I was debating putting some shoes back on him because the barn we were at had shit footing. (It didn't start out that way but it was never maintained properly - in my opinion.) I had already put him on the Farriers Formula Double Strength. So I took the plunge and threw those bad boys back on him - fronts only though! Immediate difference he was more than willing to start jumping again. Of course only in the hackamore for the first few sessions. I kept it super easy and barely did anything.

Then things got iffy. It had gone to his head riding out in the fields, letting him canter and gallop around some. So in the ring he went completely bonkers. We could not get our left lead (which used to be our great one). We couldn't even canter a lap around the ring without him flinging himself against the fence. It was ridiculous. However during this period he was jumping like a star. Going nice and round of the jumps and you bet he could canter calmly away from them. What the difference was I'll never know. We moved to a different barn before I resolved the issue. Once at the new barn it was gone though!?

We took things fairly easy at first once we moved, of course we felt like melting for the first several weeks. We did lots of new things. Rode out on the trail in company and alone (before hunting started). Had an interesting ride in a downpour once. Pole work whilst cantering (easy stuff I know). Of course we've still had some bumps in the road where spurs came back out. One ride where the was constant rooting and bucking! But we made it through. And most importantly here lately....

WE'RE GOING ON THE BIT CONSISTENTLY. I have finally found the equation that works for him. On the buckle warm-up. Slowly shorten reins. Ask for some suppling. And BOOM on the bit. Rinse and repeat several times throughout the ride. Currently we are still in our "vacation" but we'll be back in business soon.

Pony Problems!

Ohno! Mr. Poncho has a bit of a cough. Since he has not been exposed to any new horses or anything of the like in 3 months. We are all leaning toward hay allergies. Since the barn has just started giving hay in the evening. And the cough is identical to the last time he had hay problems.

So as of now we are soaking hay and for the next week I am stuffing "cough free" muffins down his throat. (He loathes the cough free supplement.) If things to do not improve dramatically with this new protocol by the end of the week a call will be placed into the vet.

Fingers Crossed!

Taking the pressure off.

Since my last post I've adopted the thinking that for the next month Poncho can have basically a mini-vacation. Not that he's not in work. Just that we aren't "working". We're mainly just hacking and putzing around for a little. Since the time change and holidays (holidays @ work are a total bitch) I've been losing my mind with the mentality of "Poncho needs 5 days of work 1 day hack". Of course I haven't been able to keep up with that I get off work at 2. Get home by 2:30. Get ready for barn. Get out to barn by 3:30. Prepare said pony 4:00. Not much time left over for productive work when you count in warm-up and cool-down. Boo freaking Hoo. Hence the new mentality.

So since the BO's horse is away at training for a few weeks we have the other field open to hack in for a change of scenery. Needless to say we are taking advantage of it.

Wednesday was farrier day. Ben (the farrier) was running late and I didn't want to put Poncho in a stall (there was a "toy") so that he could freak out the other ponies. So I just wandered around the barn letting him check out whatever pleased him. Like a picture frame OOOOH AWWWWW!

It's magical (that's my mom in the picture she's just sitting in a chair under said picture)

Aside from our ride today we've been sticking to mainly walking around with a smidge of trotting. Today however I felt like some more speed it's a tad boring just walking forever! So we trotted a bit more and tried cantering out in the field, on purpose I might add. Poncho got a case of the zoomies then. He zigged and zagged and tried to bronc once. BUT his canter was much more open and free which was the objective. We just need to work on containing the excitement a little. (Not too much though I love how he's so enthusiastic about his work these days.)

My oh so productive week comes to an end.

The week started with so much promise. I was super excited with the start of it last Sunday. However today was the last day I'll be able to ride this week. So to sum up I rode Sunday (amazing), Wednesday (scary cow ride), and today (friday = hack day). Wow! Oh well best laid plans right?

Today the scary cows that were horse eating on Wednesday never reared their ugly heads today. Thank goodness! However we did have a ton, ton, ton of people in the area (not too close) out hunting. So guns were going off left and right. Poncho is of course the only horse on the property who thinks the sound is earth shattering. However with the fact we were riding he kept his cool. I was actually pretty damn amazed. It could have actually been worse than the cow episode BUT it was not, go Poncho! However with all the "chatter" he was less than focused on doing any productive work. So after a little I just let him wander around on a loose rein and do his pony man thing. Which led us to going through the woods in his field. However we couldn't get all the way through with me still in the saddle. I had to hop off and lead us out. Oh well. He had fun.

Then I rode Midnite. My mom has decided that since she can't work her enough she would like me to try and squeeze in as many rides as I can. Right now we are doing nothing exciting basically just building up her stamina for the most part. She's not a fan on working from behind. She's more run around on the forehand and pull my arms out kind of girl. So we worked mainly on that today.

Two amazing rides and those damn cows!

Saturday and Sunday I had two amazing rides in the ring. We spent our time really solidifying our straightness and bending. He was super duper. Even with many distractions and being completely alone up there. He was nice and forward. Going on the bit amazingly (even though that wasn't our main goal he did non-the-less 80% of the time). His canter work was to die for going to the left the right somehow has gotten a bit messy. He just doesn't want to stretch out and really zoom on like he does going left. Tracking left I could just ride forever and a day!

Today he started his adequan again. Luckily this year the shots are still not a big deal. It just baffles me 6 1/2 years of extreme needle phobia and now nothing!!!!!! Anywho I was just planning a nice hack today. He hasn't been worked since Sunday due to some unforeseen circumstances. However that was fixed today! I got on and we were walking on a nice long loose rein when all of the sudden he jumps sideways. I straighten him back out and we go through this several times down the little hill at the front of the field. Hmmmmm. Then as we start rounding the turn I see it! Damn cows 5 or 6 of them in the field next door. Since it's such a huge field we rarely see them. And these are red cows not black. Oh no's. Poncho balked. I kicked him on he ran backwards. I kicked him on harder. He ran sideways up the hill. Then as we straightened out and I though we were in the clear BOOM! He did the weirdest run/hop/buck/rear maneuver I've ever ridden in my life! We went through that cycle several different times. I was able to get him semi-calm but never 100% throughout the rest of the ride.

Oh well there's always tomorrow. Since I work 6am - 12pm I'm going to stop out by the barn on my way home and sneak a ride in!

Poncho vs. Bogart and a hack in the field.

Yesterday Poncho and Bogart got to officially meet. They've seen each other from a distance. But I let them get up close and semi-personal yesterday.

 

 

As you know this is Poncho!

And then there's Bogart...

with his evil little grin!

It started off I was stopping by the barn to put on Poncho's medium blanket after work and had Bugman with me. He was barking non-stop (he didn't like being left for the big creatures) while I was attempting to blanket Poncho. So once I finally managed to get Poncho to realize I could blanket him whilst there was that god awful noise I took him out to meet "The Noise". Bogart was a bit concerned with Poncho closing in on the car. But he didn't freak out. He sniffed at Poncho through the crack in the window and didn't seem repulsed. So I rolled the window down a bit more so Poncho could get a good look at him. Naturally Poncho stuck his head in the window with out a second though. Bug was shell shocked and just sat there in awe. Of course once we walked away Bogart barked and Poncho tried to bolt off. Oh well it could have gone worse.

Today was Poncho's hack day! We've gotten up to 30 minutes of work in the hilly field. We even had a nice little canter. Not to shabby for my man. Once we were done he decided he was going to help me clean my tall boots off and proceeded to trot back and forth with me as I got my supplies. Then once he realized there was no yummies involved he promptly left for some grass. Silly man. 

Bad-ass Pony-man!

Poncho has been getting down to business!!!!

We had one semi-unproductive ride in the ring. Only because he had several days off in a row (I know bad me) so he was like huuh? You want me to do what? On the bit????? Needless to say we went back a few steps. But by the end of the ride we were rockin' it.

However the main thing we did last week was hack out! Tuesday we were out in the field where he was absolutely determined that the deer were going to come out and consume him. Luckily they did not. We worked on trotting at the front of the field. Poncho finds this semi-difficult. I mean he has to trot down a little hill and back up on a circle non-the-less! Tricky, tricky. ha.

Wednesday was our ring day I talked about earlier.

Thursday I made it out for a quick visit. I had my doggie with me (because he always comes to work with me on Thursdays) and none of my barn stuff. Sooo no work was done. (I hope to remember my things tomorrow) Poncho was not too happy of a camper that he didn't get to do anything.

Friday was pretty much a repeat Monday minus the horse eating deer. They still made an appearance but he didn't think they were carnivores on this day! Yippe.

Saturday and Sunday I didn't make it out because I had to work all weekend BOOOOO!

Monday the field situation got all changed up. The Barn Owner was going out of town so the other mare was in our ponies field for now. Which meant that the other field was open. YAY new field to hack in for a few days. So we went over there for a few minutes. It was a mega short ride because we have had some super hot days in the 70's compared to 40's and 50's. Poncho was one hot boy thank goodness he's semi-clipped. He didn't even want to trot! Poor man.

Yesterday it was rainy and yucky in the morning so I was hoping the lady barn sitting had put his rain sheet on before it started! I was so worried about that I wasn't even to upset that I was soaked myself (I work outside). Luckily it was by the time I got out there. Too bad it was almost sunset. SO I could only switch him into his medium blankie and call it a day.

Today he was a beast! He got down to business immediately! Hell yes! Almost from the start he was rounding up and moving out. We still had our moments of rebellion but they were few and far between. I was so happy. Our canter was loads better than it's been in forever! Progress. I love getting our consistency back. Now I just need money for lessons!

7 years

This is late but I've been busy so what can you do? I still can't believe it's been 7 years. I would post a ton of pictures from the beginning however I don't have any of those pictures on this laptop.