Groundwork

   I had about 3 hours at the ranch today, so I went over to the colt and filly pasture and took some pics of the cute little guys (and girls).

Love this pic

   I recorded my girl as I went up to her stall today because I love it when she nickers at me.

  Here are some pics I took of my girl when I turned her out.  

Love this pic of me and my girl

Proud supporter of our Hooey hat

I love this pic!

   After I took some pics of my girl, I caught her and tied her up so I could groom her down.  I originally was going to ride, but I decided to work on desensitizing my girl from the rope because I really want to be able to rope off of her but I have to be able to safely handle a rope around her on the ground first.  Then I could walk by a rope at our races and not have her spook haha.  Here are my first attemptations at working with her after rubbing her with it and swinging it a bit.  

   Obviously as you can tell, I was having trouble getting my point across to my girl.  I had the right idea, but I didn't have the experience necessary to get what I wanted out of my girl.  I realized that I needed to change my tactics from making as much noise as possible and getting Phoenix used to it, to calling Jenny, who helps me out with anything horse related and knows about everything about anything equine.  

   While I waited for her I gave Phoenix a bath and 20 soapy minutes later, Phoenix was all rinsed and ready to work with Jenny's guidance as she dried off.  I actually ended up having to switch her halter out because when Phoenix was spooking from our attempt at desensitization, she ripped from the fourth hole in her halter to the first.  Therefore, it was too loose and kind of broken haha.  I guess it's kind of my fault so I can't blame her.  

   Jenny took Phoenix into the arena and I watched as she worked with Phoenix.  Jen explained that our problem was that I was asking for too much too fast.  Phoenix was still nervous about the rope, nevertheless something noisy and moving that comes with it.  I needed to slow it down and go back to basics.  I watched as Jen swung the rope around and threw it randomly at my girl.  Then she flanked Phoenix (different than flanking a cow btw).  Once Phoenix was ok with having the roped thrown over her head and onto her neck, Jenny got the rope slid down my girl's body until it was under around her barrel near her flank (hence the name flank).  

   The point was to get Phoenix moving around with the rope tightened around her flank without her bucking and over reacting.  It will help her in the future if we ever get into a situation where her back cinch falls apart and flaps at her flank, etc.  Phoenix bucked a little, but then she seemed to realize that if she was calm and trusted her person, it would be ok.  It was cool to see Jenny work with Phoenix and see the difference in her reaction as she figured it out.  

   Jenny also had the rope go over Phoenix's butt and had her move around so it got under her tail because that bothers a lot of horses and the more you get your horse used to, the better they will deal with crazy situations.  The last think Jen did was lead Phoenix by looping the rope around her leg. She worked on both legs and Phoenix didn't really react.  

   Then it was my turn to work with my girl and I did some more swinging and throwing with the rope.  Jenny had me swing the rope over Phoenix's head while keeping a tight hold on the lead rope to encourage her to drop her head.  Phoenix eventually figured out what to do and lowered her head and licked her lips.  

   We called it quits after that since it had been a successful lesson and was getting hot out.  I put my girl back into her stall and hung out with Jen till my dad came.  Before she left, Jen gave me some advice about horse training.  I already know that I need to work on patience and not giving the horse more than they can handle, but she told me that it won't matter in 5 years what day you actually got on the horse or roped for the first time, what will matter is if the horse was ready.  That will pay off in the long run.  

   I'm so excited to move to our new stable in Tucson and can't wait to learn all that I can about training and riding and improving my techniques in both areas.  We really lucked out and I know that Phoenix and I will both benefit from working with Robin.