That photographer really picked up the mood, beautiful pictures.
Horse has a wonderful, expressive face.
Both of you look happy walking out from between all those brilliant fall colors.
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Great pictures! So happy for both of you! You give the rest if us hope:) The picking poop video was priceless, there and all arounder for sure!
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That ^.
You give us hope that in the midst of hard times, there is still good and happy and wonderful pictures to prove it.
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
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That really is a lovely story. 
OH!!! What wonderful pictures. He looks like those pics in the stallion issues. My fave is the one where he has his head around you. He looks like he is happy to be with you and you with him. Your smile says everything. And that’s priceless.
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These pictures are absolutely gorgeous!
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I’m glad she didn’t catch the point when he got bored and we crashed out the side of the walkway, with no regard to tree safety😅
The picking up poop has turned out to be handy, the rules have changed from picking after your ride, to clear as you go. Next trick is to put a longer line on the poop sled, and pull that over to the incident!
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Seems that learning to pick up poop without dismounting is more useful than I thought. I’m currently carrying a leg injury so getting on and off is even more awkward than normal. The barn has changed the rules about picking up poop, now have to pick up ASAP, rather than waiting to the end of the lesson, no problem for us. Also retrieved a dropped glove yesterday, very handy.
Another ‘trick’ is that when he is told we are done, he walks over to the mounting block, and parks, so I can get off. I thought I would video it yesterday… .https://youtu.be/hezjoK1r5eg. but had forgotten that during the course of our ride, the totally safe, mounting and dismounting corner had turned into the fiery pit of hell. They were bringing the jumps in from the outdoor arena, and opened a door Mellow did not know was there, and were bringing ‘stuff’ in…very suspicious. He was actually good, but very suspicious of what was going on.
Oh, and the trouble with smart horses? You decide to ride some 1/4 lines and do some leg yielding, only Mr I GotThis decides on his own that 1/4 line = leg yield…so you end up riding lots of straight 1/4 lines🤣
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Yep don’t do the same thing twice correlates to anticipation. Use it wisely.
I have taught my boy from the start that I go and pick up the manure fork and bring it to where the manure is for later.
I haven’t tried from his back yet. How tall is your boy?
Mellow is a midget, 15.1hh :lol:
According to the Western side of the barn, he is the big white horse. I’m still rooted enough in English that he is a pony! Its funny though, having lived with a 16.3hh horse for two years, that became normal to me, but now I’m getting acclimatized to the short horse, it does affect how I see others, horses I thought were ‘regular’ sized, now appear huge.
Its funny I got rid of a lot of my smaller gear, I thought I was going to stay with big horses…now I don’t want to sell anything. Because “you never know” but I thinking at 63, I might stay with the smaller horse, throwing a western saddle over my head onto a big horse is overrated for sure.
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My boy is just over 16 hh and I am in a dressage saddle. If he does one today I will try it. He has been told that perfect horses do not do it in the arena!
As a kid Pepper was one of the tallest at 15.3hh. There was a clinic at our local pony club. When we arrived a horse had broken away from the float and was standing with lead rope straight down but not touching the ground. I went to pick up the lead rope to catch the horse but as I approached he was so big I was afraid even though the horse was not doing anything. Someone else was also there and they stepped up and caught him.
Oooh I just saw the photo shoot. Noice!
Oh and I had a 16.3 hh tb. My hubby’s coworker’s dad was here and we walked through his paddock. He was above us.
My chiropractor said he was a big horse. I replied that we had just measured him and he said he was not talking about his height.
I know the coworker and his dad ride srockhorses to work their cattle. He eyed Andy and said. " You get up on that?" with incredulousness.
I just laughed and said I do use a mounting block.
What an awesome boy! I love his chest freckles and your endless smile.
We had a new coach join the barn, she is a western based coach, who came from an English background. I booked a session with her, because she also does Western saddle fitting. I was kind of disappointed when we put my saddle on with no pad, that she wasn’t that happy with it. She was a lot happier when I put it on with the shimmable pad I use, the only concern she has then was a void in the middle of the saddle. So I set out making shims, and in the second try got a “perfect” so now we are happy with that.
Looking forward to riding with her, and she summed up why in our first conversation…”I understand you do western dressage”
“Yup”
“So basically rising English in a Western saddle!”
And right there she summed up my current dilemma, I don’t know if that’s what I want to do anymore.
Anyway, for now due to a whole bunch of things we are having a ball building our relationship doing ground work!
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If you need a giggle, watch our first attempt at working without a halter, it was going so well.
Sound on, probably no little ears in reach!
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Start with leading and the halter when you say halt or woah or whatever you want he should halt before you halt. Click and he walks before you walk. A thumb on the chest and the word back for back. You always use 2 signals for back. You don’t want 2 horses trying to back out of the float when you ask one to back.
Later you teach back and a small tug on the tail for backing out of the float and back with a sideways waggle of your finger.
Now you don’t have to be near the horse or have a halter. You click and the horse walks beside you without ambling.
Halt and he halts whether you are beside him or on the other side of the fence. He will back whether you are beside him, behind him or on a horse and on the other side of the gate - and you ask the horse on the other side of the gate to back and halt so as you can go through it.
I have also taught my horses to get. So as they remove themselves from me so as I can back the car out.
I would say do not teach your horse to get if you have not taught them to come to you first. You don’t want them to learn it too well!
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Thanks for that @SuzieQNutter, I know we’re trying to run before we could walk!
In my defence I was still shell shocked from this, who knew that sleepy Mellow had this in him…
LOL. He really is lovely.
He looks like he has that in him, and what you said in a post above in that he is starting to shy, that it is because of feed. These are the first warning signs so take notice as it is to do with the day to day routine.
If you grab his neck in the middle and cannot rock it from side to side. Stop all grain immediately they are about to founder.
I know. I know. I know. Western takes all dressage rules and screws them up and throws them over their shoulder.
However, you are much better off with a lunging cavesson as the lead rope behind the muzzle is in the incorrect spot for lunging. Not to mention that the rope halter is knotted to dig in on special places on the head to hurt so I wouldn’t use that for lunging.
With the lunging cavesson if he did really try to take off, like he started to, you do not need as much strength to bring them back to you.
I only lunge without tack to see if they are lame. I only lunge without side reins to get then forward before clipping on side reins.
I know. I know. Western likes to disengage hindquarters instead on engaging hindquarters. However lunging in side reins if done properly without pulling the head in will keep him safer for you to ride.
Lunging like you were doing only creates incorrect muscles. I have no idea if western like dressage horse muscles!!
Eg. Top line, no muscle in bottom of neck. Muscles behind to push as that is the engine.
I have to go. I am going to ride my boy before work.
I still haven’t tried to pick up manure from his back. I forgot all about it. Maybe today.
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Stinker! But you can totally tell he is looking for…“Something.” But that was a pretty quick transformation from mild mannered Clark Kent to BOING. lol
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