Sadly this week Ariel has been sick with a cold, so I haven’t gotten to ride her as much this week as I would like. I rode her Saturday and Sunday. We hauled her to a rodeo for experience in an arena this weekend. I actual competed off of her just for fun on Saturday. I normally run around a 12-14 second run, and with Ariel I ran a 17. We have a lot of work to do!
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Welcome back! This week has been pretty successful. I got to work with Ariel 4 times, but only got videos from 3 rides. In the first two videos, I worked on ground work, getting Ariel to trust and listen to me. In some of the first clips you may notice Ariel pulls away some, but at the end you can tell she gained trust in me, because when I turned my back to her, she approached me. The next video is just a time lapse of me saddling and getting ready to ride her. First I brush her off, then put the saddle pad on. The saddle pad adds protections from the very very heavy saddle. Once the pad is in place, I put on the saddle, and tighten the girths. The videos of me riding her are just simple basic trotting, and cantering. If your horse can't canter, or run circles, then it shouldn't really be doing anything. While Ariel knows how to canter circles, they are not the best, and will definitely need improving. The last video is finally starting to work on a dismount. Ariel was very good, better than I thought she would be. As you notice before I let her walk I am hanging off the side. This teaches her that she HAS to keep moving as I am getting off. Once we start really working I will stop doing groundwork, and focus more on consistency, and doing the same routine every ride. I know what your thinking, what in the world is goat tying? Goat tying is an event in rodeo. The contestant runs on a horse as fast as they can down the arena, hanging off the side of the horse. At the other end of the arena, a man stands and holds a goat. After you dismount the horse, you run to the goat, flip it on its side, or flank it, and tie its feet together (no it isn't animal abuse). This is a timed event, and the person with the fastest time wins. With my project I plan on taking a horse who has never been used in this event, and make it a goat tying horse. It's a simple job, the horse runs a straight line. However horses are trained to stop when you get off, these horses must pick up speed as you lower yourself to the ground and take off running in a sprint. This event is timed, so the horse must have speed, which comes from being in shape. I must get my horse Ariel into good shape, and work on gaining speed throughout my 12 weeks of this project. I will teach her to gain speed as I dismount, and I will introduce her to being around a goat. To update you all on my progress with Ariel, I will post videos, and photos of the work I do with her. I will explain through my blog posts what exactly I am doing. Hope you guys enjoy! |
AuthorGrace Masencup ArchivesCategories |