CheerioLounge
Dessert Dreamer
I spoke to soon about the wind! Now it is blowing!!
hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.
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Wannabefree
Little Miss Sunshine
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Poor Cheerio...better get back into your box then 
snapshot
Farmwife
Wannabefree said:
I'm jealous of the nice weather too!!!!!
CheerioLounge
Dessert Dreamer
It's not blowing too badly... I think I'll just continue to lounge on my chaise in the sun.Wannabefree said:
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- #135
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
It was in the mid 50's here with a breeze that was a tad too brisk for my liking... But at least the sun was strong, when the breeze quit blowing it was quite nice. Only wish it would stay that way, with just a hair warmer! Beggars can't be choosers I guess. :-/
Yes, Deb, the lesson is tomorrow morning at 8, and no, we don't have an indoor!
We are trying to raise money to afford one, but that is a long slow process.
The forecast has shifted just a little bit and the snow isn't supposed to arrive until later in the day, so I guess that is a good thing. Its not supposed to start until later, and it looks like most of the storm is going south through VA (which is where we want to move, LOL).
Of course, it is still going to be freaking crazy cold.
We smoked ribs again tonight, and got the rub a bit better and made a better amount of chips soaked in vinegar. It was an awesome dinner and everyone enjoyed it.
Now its 6:44 and we are relaxing, which is kinda odd... normally we're just sitting down to dinner on lesson nights like tonight.
Yes, Deb, the lesson is tomorrow morning at 8, and no, we don't have an indoor!
We are trying to raise money to afford one, but that is a long slow process.The forecast has shifted just a little bit and the snow isn't supposed to arrive until later in the day, so I guess that is a good thing. Its not supposed to start until later, and it looks like most of the storm is going south through VA (which is where we want to move, LOL).
Of course, it is still going to be freaking crazy cold.
We smoked ribs again tonight, and got the rub a bit better and made a better amount of chips soaked in vinegar. It was an awesome dinner and everyone enjoyed it.
Now its 6:44 and we are relaxing, which is kinda odd... normally we're just sitting down to dinner on lesson nights like tonight.
CheerioLounge
Dessert Dreamer
Ribs sound so good right now!! We're having chicken fried rice, which is good, but it ain't ribs! 
- Thread starter
- #137
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
Ribs from happy pigs!!
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- #138
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
Well, we lucked out on the weather. The snow COMPLETELY missed up, and headed straight through the area we hope to move someday 
It was still plenty cold, but I managed to stay mostly warm in all my crazy layers, almost too hot some of the time. I have such a hard time regulating my body temperature.
I should back up to the ribs.... They were MUCH better than our first batch. He used less smoke and more spice, and they turned out really lovely. We added potato salad and pasta salad and had a great meal. The ribs were nice and juicy and cooked just right. I can't wait to get into bigger cuts of meat. I get bored eating ribs!
The lesson went well, I worked him on my long 45' lariat line to help him work on canter transitions. After he settled into the work at a walk I started asking for the trot, and then asked for the canter. He picked it up but was not quite in balance and wasn't on the correct lead or anything, so I left him alone to sort it out and he dropped back to the walk pretty quickly, and I let him have a think about it and then asked for the trot again. He picked it up more easily than the first request, but then lunged forward and blasted off into the canter. It was hilarious. He ran for more than a dozen laps waffling between break neck speed and a slower canter. I was having to manage the long line and make sure he didn't bolt away from me at the same time and make sure I didn't run out of rope or trip on the line (which can be scary with the lariat as it twists and coils and can easily ensnare a foot!). I was actually able to hold him without too much trouble, which is a HUGE improvement over the past... At somewhere around 1800 lbs if he wants to rebel, there isn't much I can do about it, so I just have to manage him as he is. He ran and ran, bolting fast and then bucking and leaping and grunting and throwing his head in the air. He really had to blow out the carbon and get all his little tizzy worked out and when he finally came down to the walk he licked and chewed a lot. I left him alone to settle down and catch his breath and walk for a while, and then gently went right back to asking for the trot. He never blew a cork like he did the first time, and he was much more balanced in the rest of his attempts, which made me happy. He just gets so emotional when he is asked to go faster because he doesn't know how to really handle his balance with grace and ease, so he's got to go there to figure it out. And going there results in blowing his cork once in a while. It happens a lot less often than it used to, and the fact that I was able to manage him was good. I didn't even have the line run through his bit as you commonly would with a lunge line, it was still hooked to his halter, and he was being very respectful.
Once he settled down again we eventually switched to the other direction, and he only tried once to throw a fit, which he got a bit of the better of me because a twist of rope caught at my hand so I couldn't allow the rope to play out anymore, and it jerked me forward as he jumped sideways/backwards. He spun around and so I had to ask him to start over again and once he was settled out on the circle, I asked again for the trot, and eventually the canter. He was finding some rhythm, which is helpful, it'll just take a while to really refine it. He is also having a very hard time staying out on the circle to the left. Since he is unbalanced with his center towards the circle, it means he falls inward, and that makes handling that lariat a real PITA, and risky because of all the twisted coils laying on the ground. I hope that he figures out how to use the whole circle soon because it makes me nervous to have that much rope twisted up on the ground. After he spent some time to the left, I went back to the right one more time, and then we settled in for a ride. I switched the lines and put the reins on, and then climbed onto the fence and asked him to step up, he came right up to me with the saddle very nicely, and we set to work riding.
He did really well, I was glad for that. He was working hard at staying balanced and collected, and he felt very stable, which was a good feeling. It wasn't taking too much effort for me to keep him balanced to the right. I switched and worked to the left for a while, and that was harder for me since it is my weak side, but we managed to find some stability as well. He was getting really light in my hands which is a lovely feeling. Every now and then he would fall forward, and it took a lot for me to get him back into the correct position (my arms and shoulders are a bit sore today, oops!). He started tossing his head just a little bit, but was still complying with my requests, I asked for a little more effort, and then let him have a stretch for a couple laps. He really went nicely into the stretch and stayed with his head down for a while, and blew and snorted, so that was a great release. We eventually picked everything back up again and started to do a little bit of trot work, which was doing very well. It is still challenging for me, but it is coming along. I was really pleased with the overall lesson, and glad that he had a chance to blow off some steam while I was able to handle him. It gets my adrenaline going, but I was able to manage it, and so hopefully each experience will give me more confidence, too.
I took him up and untacked him and curried him for a while outside where the breeze would blow away the hair. He is starting to shed, which is crazy, and was filthy dirty. I made a feeble attempt at "grooming" before we tacked up, and it looked like I hadn't bothered! Oh well, he'll eventually be clean... someday.... (I'll just keep telling myself that!)
We put everything away and came up to the house and ate lunch and then ran over to pick up the other half's car from getting the oil changed. I drove home and he drove to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the week. I managed to get the bedroom vacuumed and the kitchen cleaned up while he was gone. He came home and we put everything away and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing for the most part. I soaked in the tub (almost too hot, OOPS!) for a while to help my aching muscles from the work of the morning.
It was still plenty cold, but I managed to stay mostly warm in all my crazy layers, almost too hot some of the time. I have such a hard time regulating my body temperature.
I should back up to the ribs.... They were MUCH better than our first batch. He used less smoke and more spice, and they turned out really lovely. We added potato salad and pasta salad and had a great meal. The ribs were nice and juicy and cooked just right. I can't wait to get into bigger cuts of meat. I get bored eating ribs!
The lesson went well, I worked him on my long 45' lariat line to help him work on canter transitions. After he settled into the work at a walk I started asking for the trot, and then asked for the canter. He picked it up but was not quite in balance and wasn't on the correct lead or anything, so I left him alone to sort it out and he dropped back to the walk pretty quickly, and I let him have a think about it and then asked for the trot again. He picked it up more easily than the first request, but then lunged forward and blasted off into the canter. It was hilarious. He ran for more than a dozen laps waffling between break neck speed and a slower canter. I was having to manage the long line and make sure he didn't bolt away from me at the same time and make sure I didn't run out of rope or trip on the line (which can be scary with the lariat as it twists and coils and can easily ensnare a foot!). I was actually able to hold him without too much trouble, which is a HUGE improvement over the past... At somewhere around 1800 lbs if he wants to rebel, there isn't much I can do about it, so I just have to manage him as he is. He ran and ran, bolting fast and then bucking and leaping and grunting and throwing his head in the air. He really had to blow out the carbon and get all his little tizzy worked out and when he finally came down to the walk he licked and chewed a lot. I left him alone to settle down and catch his breath and walk for a while, and then gently went right back to asking for the trot. He never blew a cork like he did the first time, and he was much more balanced in the rest of his attempts, which made me happy. He just gets so emotional when he is asked to go faster because he doesn't know how to really handle his balance with grace and ease, so he's got to go there to figure it out. And going there results in blowing his cork once in a while. It happens a lot less often than it used to, and the fact that I was able to manage him was good. I didn't even have the line run through his bit as you commonly would with a lunge line, it was still hooked to his halter, and he was being very respectful.
Once he settled down again we eventually switched to the other direction, and he only tried once to throw a fit, which he got a bit of the better of me because a twist of rope caught at my hand so I couldn't allow the rope to play out anymore, and it jerked me forward as he jumped sideways/backwards. He spun around and so I had to ask him to start over again and once he was settled out on the circle, I asked again for the trot, and eventually the canter. He was finding some rhythm, which is helpful, it'll just take a while to really refine it. He is also having a very hard time staying out on the circle to the left. Since he is unbalanced with his center towards the circle, it means he falls inward, and that makes handling that lariat a real PITA, and risky because of all the twisted coils laying on the ground. I hope that he figures out how to use the whole circle soon because it makes me nervous to have that much rope twisted up on the ground. After he spent some time to the left, I went back to the right one more time, and then we settled in for a ride. I switched the lines and put the reins on, and then climbed onto the fence and asked him to step up, he came right up to me with the saddle very nicely, and we set to work riding.
He did really well, I was glad for that. He was working hard at staying balanced and collected, and he felt very stable, which was a good feeling. It wasn't taking too much effort for me to keep him balanced to the right. I switched and worked to the left for a while, and that was harder for me since it is my weak side, but we managed to find some stability as well. He was getting really light in my hands which is a lovely feeling. Every now and then he would fall forward, and it took a lot for me to get him back into the correct position (my arms and shoulders are a bit sore today, oops!). He started tossing his head just a little bit, but was still complying with my requests, I asked for a little more effort, and then let him have a stretch for a couple laps. He really went nicely into the stretch and stayed with his head down for a while, and blew and snorted, so that was a great release. We eventually picked everything back up again and started to do a little bit of trot work, which was doing very well. It is still challenging for me, but it is coming along. I was really pleased with the overall lesson, and glad that he had a chance to blow off some steam while I was able to handle him. It gets my adrenaline going, but I was able to manage it, and so hopefully each experience will give me more confidence, too.
I took him up and untacked him and curried him for a while outside where the breeze would blow away the hair. He is starting to shed, which is crazy, and was filthy dirty. I made a feeble attempt at "grooming" before we tacked up, and it looked like I hadn't bothered! Oh well, he'll eventually be clean... someday.... (I'll just keep telling myself that!)
We put everything away and came up to the house and ate lunch and then ran over to pick up the other half's car from getting the oil changed. I drove home and he drove to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the week. I managed to get the bedroom vacuumed and the kitchen cleaned up while he was gone. He came home and we put everything away and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing for the most part. I soaked in the tub (almost too hot, OOPS!) for a while to help my aching muscles from the work of the morning.
Denim Deb
More Precious than Rubies
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I don't longe a horse, can't w/my Meniere's, I get dizzy to fast, so all of mine is done free in the RP. I'm not sure how this would translate into using a longe line, especially one as long as you use. But, when I'm working w/a horse, and they're too close, I focus on the shoulder. Normally, I use a long lead line, like 14' long. I find it easier to work w/than a longe whip. I'll have it coiled, and w/the coil held in one hand, and the end in the other. I'll swing the end gently towards the shoulder. If that doesn't move them over, I'll lean into it a bit, and use a bit more power. If that doesn't work, I toss the end of the lead AT their shoulder, while still holding onto the other end. That normally works.
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- #140
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
At a normal distance, that does work well, Deb, but I have found with 45' its a bit different. Some of his issue comes from his instability, he simply can't balance and make a larger circle. At the end of the 45' that is almost a 90' circle (probably a bit less cause I like to keep about 5' "tail" "just in case" he does something incredible stupid, like teleport, I mean leap, out and sideways about 6'... Plus I have a knot loop tied in the end of the line as a "handle" in the event that I suddenly find myself sand skiing. There is nothing on the end of this rope, and without the knot the rope would end up out of my hands before I could do anything about it.
But back to the circling thing... He does a lot better to the right than the left, so I am not too worried about it. I used a full lungewhip this time, and that helps. I'm going to be patient about it and give him some time and see what happens. He'll probably self correct (for the big guy it WILL be easier for him to make an 80' circle than a 30' circle... he just has to figure that out on his own) eventually. If he figures it out himself the lesson will be much better learned than if I were to "make" him do anything.
But back to the circling thing... He does a lot better to the right than the left, so I am not too worried about it. I used a full lungewhip this time, and that helps. I'm going to be patient about it and give him some time and see what happens. He'll probably self correct (for the big guy it WILL be easier for him to make an 80' circle than a 30' circle... he just has to figure that out on his own) eventually. If he figures it out himself the lesson will be much better learned than if I were to "make" him do anything.
