ok, so i got good news (well...in a way, haha) my dad finally gave me permission to join the rodeo association!! yay!! haha so that starts in August, but the first rodeo that i can take Cisco to is in October.. the bad part of this..it costs money :( haha i was planning on doing barrels and poles, but its $25 per event, so i'll probably only be able to do one event per rodeo..but idk..we'll see..i'd like to do both, but idk if i will be able to..

i have been really busy lately, so i haven't gotten much of a chance to ride, but this past thursday i got fired from my job (yeah, and guess why? cause i was sick!! how rude!!) but now i'll get to ride more since i don't start my new job till the 30th of this month :)

i rode yesterday for 10-15 minutes :) it was fun :) Cisco was pretty good :) got a little worried when the steer took two steps towards the fence, haha, but then he calmed down, haha..

yeah..incase i forgot to mention, we now have 4 steers (well, two are actually bulls...) in the meadow with the horses. but they should be out in a couple of weeks, cause the owner is putting up a fence for them elsewhere..so, i'm kinda looking forward to that, haha..

so, for my new job, i'll be working at a horse stable :) i might have already said that...i can't remember...

ok, well i guess i'm going to get off here and get ready to go see Cisco :)

oh!! and i almost forgot to mention, my short and fat pony lost 30 lbs!! He's been getting more exercise in the meadow, with Samson only being 3 and very active, and plus with the new steers, Cisco's been running away from them, haha..but he's still not SKINNY SKINNY..he's just no longer CHUBBY, haha..he looks amazing!!

also, for other people who own horses out there on HSB, what worming schedule do you use?

ttyl, -Jane

Hello..not too many new adventures lately..haven't done too much..I was going to ride the other day, but then i couldn't get Samson into his stall, and so i was going to take Cisco out of the meadow to play and ride, but then he wouldn't go out the gate, and i was worried Samson would get out since i couldn't get him in his stall, so i gave up.. :( i shouldn't have given up, but i did..oh well i guess..maybe next time..

Samson is finally starting to respect my space..he learned really fast that being right up against me was not acceptable..so finally he's starting to give me some space, and leave me alone when i'm there playing with Cisco..so that's good :)

hopefully i'll get to ride again soon, so then i'll have more adventures to tell about..

Oh, and i got a job on a trial basis (to make sure it works out and stuff first before i quit my other job) at a local stable :) yay! i'm so excited, haha

have a good day :) Hug your horse!!

Hey..Wow, its been a while since i've blogged...i have so much to blog about now too, and i don't know where to start...

i guess to start, i moved Cisco to a new farm..the farm where i boarded sold, and an amish family took over, and they said that we could still board our horses there, but they couldn't say for sure that they wouldn't be touching our horses, or putting other horses in our stalls, and stuff like that, so i decided that if i could find another good barn, that i could still afford, i would move him..and God provided me with a great opportunity!! I got a call from a lady who lives about 8 minutes from my house who knows of the girls i boarded with, who gave her my phone number, and she called me and said that she was looking for a buddy for her 3yr old gelding, Samson, and also she wanted somebody that she could ride with, because she wants to get back into riding but has some confidence issues..so we talked about it and stuff, and it's $85 a month, which includes hay and grain (whereas i was previously paying $150 a month PLUS hay and grain)..so its WAY cheaper!! they're really nice..i was worried that the ponies wouldn't get along, because they're both boys, and Cisco usually doesn't do too good with other boys, but they did pretty good..a few small marks, but nothing too serious..the lady is really nice, too :) i mean, there isn't a round pen or arena yet, but they said that they will probably get a round pen for me to use for when i work with Cisco :) so thats cool..

uhm..lets see..what else..i rode Cisco the other week for the first time, which made me really nervous since there's no arena, so i was on a lead-line (also because i didn't have reins, haha) but Cisco did really good :) Alex rode too :)

hmm..there was something else i wanted to blog about..but man, i just can't think of it now...oh well..guess i'll blog about that later..

ttyl

hey..just thought i'd update..

not too many new adventures..it's been extremely hot, with a heat index in the triple digits, so i haven't been doing much..i did play a little bit this morning..some yo yo game, and circle game on-line, and then we did a little bit of yo yo game at liberty, and i played some catch me game, and he did very good at catching me :) i love that haha

i was talking to my barn manager about doing rodeo's with Cisco, and she said she thinks he would do wonderful at barrels and poles, even though he is short and kind of chubby..so who knows, maybe i'll join rodeo :)

oh..and some sad news :( our barn sold, and we can't all stay together :( so i have to decide what i'm going to do for boarding for Cisco :( so i'm slightly sad about that..cause i don't know what to do now..

Wow, its been a really long time since i've blogged...sorry about that! haha..i've been really busy working and stuff..

I've ridden a few times :)

oh, one thing i know i wanted to write about was the demo and playday at our barn..it was amazing!! we only had like, 10 people show up, and only one person brought a horse, but it was still really good..they all learned a lot..i got to help a kid named Jonathan learn all the games, and he got to play with Cisco..and it was pretty fun :) he really liked it, and said he wanted to go home and teach it to his horse, Heidi. He got to ride Kinnik around at the end for a little bit.. I got to ride Cisco that day too :) and Brenda was riding at the same time, and we were goofing off and trying to get my short fat pony to canter, haha, which we eventually got him to canter like, maybe two steps, haha, but he was trotting all around following Ollie and Brenda, and it was just a lot of fun :)

lets see..oh, and last week Alex came down to ride, and Cisco wasn't so good that day..maybe he just wasn't focused enough before we got on, i don't know, but i rode around a little bit, and then Alex got on, and Cisco was tryin to kick while Alex was riding, and i was like..bad pony!! haha..and Lisa wasn't there, so i wasn't exactly sure what to do, cause he's never done that before, so we just stopped riding, and i played lots of Circle game with him, with directional changes to help him focus more. then after that i sprayed him off with the hose :) he actually didn't do too bad with the hose that day..only made a few circles, then he stopped and stood pretty still..

this weekend is State Finals for Alex in Harrisburg again, and i'm going along Friday and Saturday, so that should be fun..did i mention he's doing chute doggin' now too? i might have, i can't remember...but yeah..

uhm..i can't think of anything else to write at the moment, so i guess i'm gonna stop now, and i'll try to post more sooner than before, haha. Have a good day!! Hug your horses and ponies!!

here is a little bit more from my report :) this time its on natural horsemanship :)

Natural horsemanship is a relationship between a horse and a human. Horse's need love, language and leadership in equal doses. There is so much more to horse's than riding! Everything you do on the ground leads up to what you do in the saddle. You will spend much more time on the ground than you will in the saddle, at least at first. This is not a bad thing, nor is it boring. I find that working with horses on the ground can sometimes be more fun than riding, atleast for me. Its so rewarding to start doing natural horsemanship and, after a few weeks or months, look back and see how far you and your horse have come. No doubt your relationship will be much stronger than it was. You'll have spent endless hours bonding with your horse. If your not willing to put time and energy into your horse, don't expect to get much out of it. A relationship is a two-way thing. To get stuff out of it, you have to put stuff in it. That means time and love!

:) yeah, so there it is..its not much, but thats all i felt like writing for right now, haha..

man, its been a week since i updated!! sorry!! haha. i've been busy working like crazy..i'm on the schedule almost every day of the week!! this week i only have 2 days off!! today being on of them. its crazy!! haha.

so lets see..what adventures with Cisco have i had recently?.. The other day i was playing and riding a little bit bareback, and he was so full of energy!! I barely had to squeeze my legs and he would trot :) i was so proud of him! and then i got off and let Julia ride a little bit, and when i went to get back on, he apparentely wasn't too happy with me trying to get back on, so he kept moving around..then i took him up to the smaller pen and played with him at liberty for a little bit, and he was rearing and stuff, haha, it was fun. then there was a puddle on the one side near the fence, and instead of going around it, he went over it, haha, so that was fun to watch him jump...and he was cantering a little bit :) but then i got him to focus, and he was much better..

then yesterday i worked all day, and i went out after work, about 7:30, and got him out of the meadow, and we just played for a little bit, then i gave him his grain in his bucket, and took him back out to the meadow.

He is doing much better with sideways game :) i found that playing sideways game using the porcupine game rather than driving games works a lot better..so instead of using rythmic pressure to drive his hindquarters and then forequarters, i use steady pressure. He responded much better to steady pressure, surprisingly. :) i get a step or two sideways out of him, and then i stop and let him think about it, then i ask him to do something else, so he doesn't get bored with it..

He can be tricky to work with sometimes because he gets so bored easily. I have to make myself more fun and interesting, which is not as easy as it sounds, haha..so i never do the same thing over and over again. i have to mix it up, and put interuptions in the way when he is playing..example, if we're playing circle game, i'll make him squeeze between two barrels while maintaining his speed on the circle, or make him give over a pole or log laying on the ground, or we'll do direction changes, just to keep it different. sometimes i'll also play moving circle game :) which he does pretty good with that, too.

The demo is coming up this Saturday :) and i'm really excited about it :) we have a few people signed up to come, and hopefully more will still call!! There is one kid coming who isn't bringing a horse, so maybe he'll get paired up with Cisco, depending on his personality. And i might get to work with somebody else and their horse, depending on that specific horse's horsenality..Its gonna be really fun..

then Sunday, if i don't have to work, i might get to go to a rodeo with Alex :) Which should be fun to watch, cause he is doing another event, i'm not sure which one though..so i'll be sure to blog about it then afterwards :)

wow, its been a while, haha..

so this past Wednesday night i got to ride my pretty pony  i got him to canter for the first time :) he was such a good boy..everybody was telling me how good he's doing and how far he's come since i started working with him.. he's doing wonderful..it makes me so happy  

and sometime soon i get to play with one of the other ponies from my barn :) so i'm very excited about that, and i'll blog about it then too..

this past weekend (the 9th, 10th, and 11th) i went to a rodeo with Alex (jrbullrider14) at the farm show complex  :) and it was a lot of fun :) he did pretty good :) i was proud of him :) 

yeah...hmm...not sure what else to write for right now..i'll post more later..

Hey, sorry it took me so long to put pictures up, haha..but here's a few :)

That one is of Becca riding Cisco :)

That one is of Justin riding Cisco :) (Justin and Becca are kids that go to the same church as me)

That is my little sister, Julia, riding Cisco :)

And that was me playing with Cisco while we were waiting for Becca and Justin to get there. We were playing Circle Game, and in that picture, i was asking him to trot.

and of course, mom didn't bring her camera when i rode, haha, but i'll try to get pictures and put up next time. Hopefully i'll get to ride again soon :) then i'll have more to post about too, haha.

Have a good one!!

I was playing with Cisco the other day for a good while, and ya know..i was thinking about when i first got him, and he was really come a long way! he has made so much improvement!!

I got him to back up from me by just wiggling my finger, and only a few times i had to wiggle the rope! he trotted beautiful circles, and we even playing the moving circle game, where he continues going in his circle and i just keep walking, so he is moving..i was very happy with how well he did!!

i got to ride for a few minutes today..i mostly just sat there, but i did get him to walk up to the other end of the arena and back..i didn't ask for much..(bareback, of course) tomorrow i might get to ride again, hopefully for a little longer..so yeah, if i get to ride, i'll try to get on and blog :)

Well, it was still raining when i went to the barn last night :( so i didn't get to take him outside and play, BUT i did brush him and let him roam around the barn while i cleaned his stall..He's a smart pony, he figured out that i was hiding the hay under one of the horse's blankets, haha, so he moved the blanket..he had fun making carrot juice..we wasn't smart enough to get the carrots out of the bag, so he just chewed on the bag, haha, it was kind of nasty...and then, when i put him back in the stall, i was pushing the shavings around with the pitch fork, so they were even, and i was getting ready to go out the door, and he pushed me out of the way, ripped the pitch fork out of my hand and then tripped over it haha, and ran out of his stall..the bugger..so, then i had to put him back in again, haha..he REALLY just wanted that hay, haha..

so, that was our adventures for the night..

oh, wait, no it wasn't..then the farrier came out, haha..but, to my surprise, Cisco did pretty good..he didn't try to kick him!! He swished his tail as a warning, but that was it..He did try to hop away on 3 hooves, haha, but he didn't get very far.. :) silly pony

hey :) sorry i didn't post this weekend. I was pretty busy with work and stuff..plus, its been really sloppy, so i haven't gotten to take Cisco out and play much :( hopefully tomorrow i'll get to play with him though.

I will get to brush him and hopefully play with him a little bit tonight, so i'll try to get on and blog afterward if i can. He is outside today, in the muddy arena, in the rain, so he'll probably be REALLY REALLY dirty when he comes in, haha.

i'm glad he's mostly brown, haha, cause then you can't tell as much if he's dirty :)

So this afternoon/evening after work i went down to the barn and i got to ride :)

A little bit of background about me: i have big fear/confidence issues when it comes to riding. I've been bucked a few times, nothing too serious..But my old riding instructor and some horse club leaders forced me to stay on before when i didn't want to stay on, and i think that has a lot to do with it..but now that i do NH, i'm getting a LOT better, because i know that if i don't feel comfortable, not to get on, or if i'm riding, and get really nervous or feel uncomfortable, then to get off. Because if your riding, and you get tense, or nervous, or scared, or all worked up, your horse is going to know, and he/she is going to start getting tense and worked up too, so its better to quit when you feel ok, before things go bad.

So i got on bareback and rode around at a walk for a little bit, and then at a trot, and he did WONDERFUL!! Still a little hard to turn, but he is getting a lot lighter, and is much much lighter when i ask him to move forward. We kept it pretty simple today.

But yeah, i really love riding bareback. It's a good confidence booster, atleast for me anyway haha

my mom did take a few pictures on my phone, so maybe i'll see if i can get some posted on here. but i don't know, my phone is being stupid right now and won't send the picture, haha, so maybe i'll be able to put it up later..

Ok, well..since i promised mom i would post some sections of my 30pg horse report, i guess i probably should do it, haha..so, here's one of the many sections...hope i don't bore you to death!! give me some feedback then (only if you want to, of course haha)!! i guess today i'll post about colors and markings..it might be a little long..haha

Coldbloods, Hotbloods, and Ponies

There are several different types of horses. There are coldbloods, hotbloods, warmbloods, and ponies.

Coldbloods, a large and very strong breed, come from where cool, damp weather produces rich grazing.

Hotbloods, a light, tough, and fast horse, comes from places with poor grazing and an extreme climate.

Warmbloods are a cross between coldbloods and hotbloods.

A pony is anything up to, but not over, 14.2 hands. Most ponies are warmbloods, but not all, however. Ponies are sturdy, tough and independent.

Colors

There are so many different colors, and no matter how long I make the list, there will still be horses out there that just might not fit on this list.

Note: As horses get older, their colors may change.

Bay: A rich reddish-brown coat with a black mane, tail, and lower legs.

Bright Bay: Lighter than a bay, with more yellow in the color of the coat.

Flea-Bitten Gray: A light gray with dark brown flecks throughout the coat.

Dapple Gray: Black and white hair which forms rings called dapples.

Brown: A dark brown with paler areas; also called Dark Bay.

Black: Black all over, including mane and tail. Pure black is very rare.

Chestnut: Reddish-gold or ginger with a darker or lighter mane and tail.

Liver Chestnut: A darker chestnut, like the color of raw liver.

Yellow Dun: A yellowish cookie-colored coat with black points.

Skewbald: Brown and white patches all over body.

Piebald: Black and white patches all over body.

Blue Roan: A black coat with white hairs through it, giving it a bluish color.

Strawberry Roan: A chestnut coat with white hairs through it.

Spotted: Dark spots on a white coat, or white spots on a dark coat.

Face Markings

Blaze: A fairly broad white band down the face.

Stripe: A narrow band of white down the face.

Star: A white mark of any shape on forehead.

Snip: A patch of white on nose between nostrils.

Bald Face: A very broad, white blaze that goes all the way across the front of a horses face; reaches as far as the eyes and covers muzzle.

Leg Markings

Socks: White marks that go above the fetlocks, but not as far as the knee or hock.

Stocking: White marks that reach and sometimes cover the knees.

White Coronets: Covers area just above the hoof.

White Pasterns: Covers pastern area between hoof and fetlock joint.

Ermin marks: Small dark spots on white socks next to dark marks on the hooves.

Zebra marks: Horizontal dark stripes on the lower legs, seen in ancient breeds.

Other Markings

Flesh marks: White patches on underside of the belly and on flanks.

Whorl: Ring of hair that grows in different directions.

Dorsal Stripe: Black stripe running along the back from mane to tail.

Cisco was such a good boy today!!

Cisco was really good while i was warming him up and playing games, he was good while i layed on his back, and stood nicely while i put the saddle on. He didn't walk off while i got on :)

so i led him around the arena and around the barrels a whole bunch of times while Becca rode (the little girl from my church)..then my little sister wanted a turn...then Justin (becca's brother) got on and walked around once..Becca and Julia both took turns leading him around the arena, cause they thought it was just so much fun, haha..and of course, Becca brought a whole bunch of carrots to give him, so he really liked that haha :)

Then after they left, i worked with cisco on picking up his back feet (because he sometimes tries to kick, and i haven't picked up his back feet before, usually the lady i lease him from does it)..so, i did need the farrier to do his feet also, because i was looking at them more closely, and they could use a trim..so, today, i picked up his back feet for the first time :) and i didn't get kicked :) i was so proud of myself haha

so today was a very good day..i was going to hose him off, cause he isn't too fond of the hose, but since the farrier was coming, i didn't..maybe tomorrow if i have time after work..

My mom took pictures today, so i'll try to put a few up sometime, if i can remember :)

I'm baking a cherry pie :) and i had a few minutes while its in the oven, so i decided to get on real quick..

i get to ride this afternoon :) so i'm really happy about that :) one of the little girls from my church who loves Cisco is going to come down and ride this afternoon, which means i need to get on first and make sure he's in a good mood today. So yeah..just decided i was going to write that...haha but i'll get back on tonight and say how the afternoon/evening went with Cisco :)

Hey..maybe i'll even get to take some pictures today :) who knows? we'll see haha

Man, i am loving this weather! it is so warm! I especially like it cause it gives me more excuses to go down to the barn and play with Cisco :) haha

Wednesday afternoon i go to play again :) we stuck to on-line games today. He did absolutely wonderful! I noticed he's responding faster and is a lot lighter when i ask him to do something. He trotted beautiful circles without slowing down constantly. I made the game more interesting this time. Sometimes when we place circle game, he doesn't focus on what he's doing, or on me, he's always just looking out of the arena and stuff, so i layed 4 long white poles on the ground so that way every fourth of the circle he had to step over one, and the first few times he came to one, he slowed down and just looked at it like 'what am i supposed to do with this?' haha but then he kept going.

I also got him to go sideways 3 or 4 really good times :) so that is a big improvement, because that's the game he struggles with the most.

He was so good, and i wanted to ride so bad!! but nobody was there, so i couldn't :( moms rule, i'm not aloud to ride unless somebody is there..so, most of the time, i don't get to ride..which is ok, because i absolutely LOVE playing games on the ground with him :) but its nice to ride sometimes too, haha.

Hopefully I'll get to ride today :) everybody should be there this evening for a while, because the farrier is coming out :) Cisco's feet are good, so while everybody else is down at the barn, maybe i'll be able to ride for a few minutes :)

there's my boy!! the top one was taken last fall-ish, i think, and then the other picture was just taken maybe a month or two ago..

Last night i got to play games with Cisco. I just let him graze for a little bit while i brushed him. Then we played a few games on-line (halter and lead rope). We played, a little bit of sideways game, circle game, yo-yo game, squeeze game, and of course, friendly game to start.

then, he was doing pretty good, so i decided to play at liberty, which means no halter and lead rope. Just me and him. It's a pretty good way to see how much your horse really trusts and listens to you, and respects you as their leader. The first time i played at liberty, Cisco was looking at me like 'what are you doing?!' haha. so yeah..with him, i usually get him to focus on me a little bit by having him follow me around at a walk and/or trot, and i tried to get him to play hide-and-seek, but he didn't want to..so then i decided to start playing games, and we played a little yo-yo game first, and then circle game..and man, haha, he was full of himself!! he decided he was a better leader, and smarter than me, and that he wanted to go the opposite way i told him to go..so i stopped him from going that way and got him to go the other way, and he was rearing and pawing at the ground, haha, it was funny. But, after i insisted that i could be his leader and that i knew it was a good idea to go that way, then he went. His reward: i let him alone for a minute..he trotted a few beautiful circles.. and then when i wanted him to come back in to me, he would just stop and look at me, with two ears though :), but he wouldn't come in..So i gave him a minute or two to think about what he wanted to do, and if he still didn't want to come in, i made him trot a few more circles..then, he kept looking at me asking "can i come in yet?" so then, his reward was to get to come in and let me rub him :)

so we had a fun time yesterday..he was licking and chewing a lot, so thats good :)

btw, i think i forgot to mention this, but i'm a beginner level 2 in NH :) I started in August of 2007, when i started leasing my pony. In 3 months, he'll be mine :) i start making payment at the end of this month.