http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Cowgirl-Spirit-147031085.html

Rainier has had a much slower start, but things are picking up the pace with him too. He too has been getting longed regularly and ridden a couple times too. We’re trying to work on some balance and softness issues on the ground first so that they will translate under saddle. He’s been a really good boy and tries hard. Progress comes in smaller bites but slow and steady is winning the race.

Here is a brief update on the horses who are in Pony Boot Camp.

Maya - Maya won the heart of one of our members, and after completing 6 weeks of camp, is on trial! Wahoo! She’s currently in training with another trainer and under evaluation to see if she’ll make a great match with her prospective adopter.

Cricket - Cricket came in for camp at the beginning of February. She’s been doing so well. Our focus thus far has been on creating a quiet, steady rhythm as well as gaining fitness.  Here is a video of her most recent progress.

Rainier-  Rainier came in to camp at the same time as Cricket. He has been a very good boy, but also quite nervous being in a big barn. So we’ve started from the ground up to make sure he understands everything from the beginnning.  So far he’s had a few sessions on the longe, and today he was ridden for the first time. He feels nervous and tight under saddle, but relaxed after a few minutes.  He’s a very quiet horse and so far has been very good, but he has some work to do with relaxation.

First of all, some exciting news. The Pony Boot Camp blog has moved to Cowgirl Spirit’s website. This change will allow you to read about all updates on all the horses and rescue in one place – not only from our Boot Camp location, but from the Cowgirl HQ as well!

Now for the horse updates!

Maya- This beautiful mare has been up at the Pony Boot Camp boarding barn for a couple of months. We had many reasons to move Maya into a different environment- but the big one was to get consistent training. As such, Maya’s training has been in full swing and has even taken one dressage lesson! Maya is still quite green, but she’s also very fun, comfortable, and honest. Her walk,trot, and canter are lovely – my personal favorite being her canter! We are currently working on softness on the bit, steering, bending, and keeping rhythm.

Kal- Kal has been busy gaining weight at our president’s home. He is fully up to weight and his next job will be go start hoofin’ it around the Cowgirl Spirit headquarters. From there, we’ll assess his next steps and start training him if he’s ready!

Mollie- This little mare is a gem.  She has been fostered by a team member and has been ridden and worked regularly. Mollie is completely ready for adoption and will make someone a wonderful partner.

Amira- Amira came up to Pony Boot Camp in hopes of getting some formal training. Unfortunately, we ran into some immediate challenges. As it turns out, Amira has arthritis in her right knee, and it shows when she is worked. So with the help of our vet, she is starting on a management plan that consists of a joint supplement and light exercise to help combat that. As you know, the right amount of exercise is crucial for arthritis management.  Our goal is to get her sound and comfortable to be a light riding horse for many years to come.

That is it from the Pony Boot Camp HQ. Stay tuned for updates on individual horses, team practices, rescue news! And always, we thank you for your support!!!

Here goes with some updates.

Kal: Kal is fattening up like a little porkie pie. He’s been getting turn out and exercise and lots of yummy food. It was our hope to start him in training, but as it turns out, Kal needs some more time off for us to get him some needed body work. He’s a bit sore through his body, so our resident body worker and vet are going to keep working on him, and we’ll re-evaluate in a couple of months, and if he’s ready, he’ll come back for training. That said, now that he’s at a healthy weight and out of the woods, he’s going to move to a smaller barn where he can hang out and be loved on, and still get some exercise. That’ll open up a space at my barn to bring another Cowgirl Spirit horse up for training. And I think that special someone is Amira! I can’t wait to get my hands on that one!!

Maya: Maya has settled in the barn and has been worked regularly on the ground by a couple of Cowgirl Spirit volunteers. I heard she’s also been ridden, and that she was great for that too. She’s got 2 wonderful experienced gals that are working with her, and I’ll step in and help them as needed.

Mollie: Mollie is doing really well, too! She is being fostered and ridden up at the barn, and has had this arrangement for several months. She partakes in regular dressage lessons with her foster mom, and is a fantastic mount. She is such a fun little horse, I can ride and play with her for hours and never be bored!  I cannot believe she is still at the rescue, someone really ought to adopt her, and it can’t be me!

Kal- he has been “worked” – aka longed at a walk and easy trot for 10-20min- 3 times. He’s been a very good boy and seems to enjoy his “job.” He also got his ears clipped, his mane shortened and bridle path done. None of this seemed to bother him at all.

Maya’s work has been a bit more advanced compared to Kal. We continue to do advanced ground work with her, and basically anything she seems to give the hairy-eyeball to we work on. For example, last night I had set up some jumps in the arena for schooling my own horse. When Maya saw them for the first time, she needed to snort, dart, and generally be a turkey. So I let her go up to the jumps and sniff ‘em out on her terms. From there we walked over them a bunch of times in both directions, and then proceeded with our work next to them. It was a big non-event and she was fine with it once she knew they wouldnt hurt her.

I believe I mentioned in my last post that I have been working with Maya in hand in the bridle. Well yesterday I saddled her up and started in hand, got the flexions I was looking for, and then hopped on, and proceeded to get the very same stuff while under saddle. We did walk/trot/halt, and got some very nice work. She’s a good egg and a cute mover.

Physically, she is also doing quite well. She is getting in shape and can now canter a few laps on the longe in a slow, balanced way. When I first started working with her this was very difficult for her to do. It is quite neat to see the transformation over such a short period of time.

I must also add- Maya’s foster mom also worked with her yesterday while I was riding my horse, right before I worked Maya myself. I wanted to see how Maya would do under the guidance of another hand, to see if the skills she’s learning with me had transferred at all. Foster mom reported that she was very good, and I could tell she was doing well by her relaxed and happy nature.

So last night I decided to start conditioning Kal. He couldnt do much, our session was around 20, and a very small amount of that was trotting. But he did perk up and really seemed to like the attention.

Kal also got a proper hair cut, so he now looks like a horse in training.

We’re going to continue to take it easy with him through the holidays, and hopefully in the January time frame, he’ll be ready for a bit more work. But for now, slow n steady wins the race.

For Maya, this has been a routine of desensitizing, physical conditioning, and ground driving. Her work is a mix, never the same order, but usually the same or similar requests- we always start where she needs to start, not where I had in mind. For example, last night I expected to be able to tack her up and go right into our work after a mini-review of desensitizing. Maya, for whatever reason, needed more work on desensitizing, so I had to dial back and refocus our session on more desensitizing. In the end we did work on what i wanted, but I couldn’t start there. If I had ignored her needs, I would’ve set us up for complete failure.

The past few sessions I reintroduced the bridle and began the work of mini flexions, which will create softness. Though resistant at first, she has done very well with this. Last night we progressed to ground driving, and even backing up in a wonderfully soft hand. She is learning what the bit is and how  to respond appropriately to requests from the bridle.

My goal is for Maya to build her skill set on the ground for another session or 2 before adding the rider. For her, this will make her more confident (1 pillar), more physically fit to carry a rider (1 pillar), and less resistant in mind and body (1 pillar).

Welcome, Maya!

Maya is a 4 year old, 14.2hh Quarter Horse Mare (She’s A Tinker). Though she’s blind in one eye, she has been started lightly under saddle. Maya has come to my barn for  winter board and riding, and has entered boot camp to get a quick tune up before others start working with her.

So far, Maya has had 4 sessions. Each of them have been very similar in nature- tons of desensitization, in-hand work, and longeing. Everything has been centered around gaining confidence around spooky objects, and maintaining her own personal space as well as her handlers. She’s been a rock star!

With that foundation set, last night, on her 4th session, I saddled her up and rode for a brief amount of time.

By my estimation, Maya is going to be a relatively quick study. She’s a neat, uncomplicated mare with gorgeous coloring – and will make a darling mount for someone. She’s built like a little brick house- incredibly sturdy yet agile. I can see her doing just about anything from the show arena to blazing trails. The sky is the limit for Miss Maya!