Yesterday I went to see my Best Bud, Kissie, with one of my Best Friends (another horse lover like I am).

When we got there, she was excited to see me, but also very curious to see a visitor with me.
Kissie can be skittish around new people. People haven't always treated her nicely, so sometimes she can be cranky or nervous around them.

However, my friend is a horse person. She has this sweet gentle nature with horses. She looks into their eyes and talks soflty, and I know that they really hear her. Kissie loved her. She immediately recognized a horse person and began to frisk her for treats. I know, SHOCKING!

After giving her treats, and kissie practically wrestling us for more, we learned a new trick...
Well...I learned this with my instructor last summer,  it's Parelli style, which I love, but haven't practiced in awhile. (that's another story)  I didn't tell Roberts this, I could use the refresher, and I think you can always learn something new and not feel like you know it all....trust me I do not know it all.....

Roberta taught me how to use voice commands and hand signals to tell your horse to back up or walk forward....
Teaching your horse to back in ground work...

• First you take a crop in one hand and the lead line in the other.
• Then you take the crop and tap gently on the horses chest, and use the word back.
• Back her up a couple steps, then make her stand still for as long as you want her to, by using the word stand.
• If you do this process everyday, your horse will eventually listen when you ask her to back.

Teaching your horse to walk forward when you ask her to... 

• First you take your lead line and pull the end behind you so it's close to the horses butt
• Then you take the end and shake it toward her butt and say walk.
• Repeat this process until she learns to walk when you say walk.

There is more to it than that. If your horse is stubborn, (ahem) like Kissie, it takes a while. There are other things to do if she doesn't stand or walks away from you. I actually like the Parelli method better, but we need to brush up on our skills, and implement voice commands so she knows what to do when Roberts asks.

 I had fun with kissie, I can't wait to work Parelli with her again.  It's going to be so much fun!

Katie

Warning...

Beep.....Beep.....Beeeppp.....

The following has been provided to you as a paid public service announcement....

Treats  should not be placed in the same pocket everytime...horses (especially the smart ones) will search and search until they find it.  Ever been frisked by a 1,000 pound animal? Yeah, it isn't pretty...:)

That is all.....

****No horse owners were harmed in the making of this public service announcement.....however, some were severly slobbered on.

Katie

A Horse and Her girl..

SO, you want to know the latest......

Kissie and I have spent a lot of time together this week.  I really haven't ridden her a lot this week, mainly because of construction, and the weather.  But we did....

• Go on some lazy, carefree walks.
• Let the wind blow through our hair (manes).
• Smell the changes in the air.
• Graze on some nice, sweet grass...Well Kissie Grazed, I watched :)
• Had some interesting talks about the annoying things of this world. Kissie, of course, agrees with me on everything.

I love how I don't have to be anything to her. She doesn't care where I go to school, or how I do my hair. She just loves me. I know, that may sound weird...especially if you are not a horse person...but she accepts ,me for ME.

I remember when I used to ride at another farm and they would have a whole barn full of schoolies.  Schoolies are horses that are provided to other students of all ages to learn on.  Imagine this, lesson, after lesson, of the same things....day in and day out....like doing the math problem 4x4  one hundred times...eventually you give the answer before the question is asked. One time I barely held the reigns and the horse did everything for me.  She jumped, cantered, walked..everything...like she was a robot. That wasn't always the way it was, but usually.  I know it was good for me...I learned a lot with those patient, well trained horses.  I loved my instructor, she taught me so much.  But sometimes when I would look at them, they would seem old,. tired, dreaming of a week like I had with Kissie...wind in her mane, cantering across the field with no one on her back.....Free...I bet they sometimes dream of that. I promise to never forget to let Kissie have lots of times like that...just to be herself, like she lets me.


Remember to stop and take the time to appreciate the things around you and who you are with. :)

Katie

The Daring Young Girl on the Flying Trapeeze

Okay, faithful readers, here is the story of my amazing acrobatic feat on the back of my horse.

It was a cold and rainy night....wait, that's the wrong story.....It was a sunny, beautiful morning.  My mom and I went to see Kissy to have a ride, and work on endurance. When we got there I knew right away it was going to be interesting. The farm was having some construction done, and Kissie is not a fan of construction. Roberta had the big, open pasture open for me to train in. I was aware of the construction, so I decided to just keep it to simple endurance work...walk trot.
The first two laps were uneventful, Kissie was high spirited, but nothing out of control.  On the second loop, just as we reached the far side, a lot of things happened at once. A man was digging near the fence, there was a loud noise from the construction, one of kissie's friends gave loud whinny from the barn, and I was in mid post.  SO it was on that turn that she decided to bolt.

"I fell mid air, and landed on my hands....okay, I landed in manure....a big steamy pile of manure."

 While it was pretty gross, it was also pretty soft. :)
She bolted across the field, made a quick stop at the "boy's" barn (we need to have a talk) then ran straight back to the far side where the barn is. My mom caught her there, but Kissie was very pleased with herself.  After convincing my mom I was okay, I got back on her. Why, you ask. Well because if I stayed off she would think it was okay to do that everytime. So I rode her a few more laps, slowly, and we talked. I made tight circles with her whenever I felt like she was becoming antsy.  By the second time around she was calmer and we came to an understanding.

Kissie is a great horse....I went to see her again yesterday, and it was uneventful.  My Grandpa came to watch, which was pretty awesome.  Nanna sent me 2 new saddles...a treeless saddle, and Western saddle. Also  some new reigns, which are my favorite. Thank-you Nanna, and Grandpa :)  I tried the treeless saddle yesterday, it was so light, and I really like the way that Kissie responded to it.  I am excited to try the Western...the more that Kissie and I learn the better.

Till next time....Happy Trails...:)
Katie