So, I decided to groom Sage and then lunge her for a bit. She has been here since the 3rd and is completely settled in. She is such a good girl, and sooooo
good for building my confidence. She is quiet, gentle, easy going, and LOVES to be loved on.
Anyway, with my 11 yr old daughter as my assistant (aka whip, lunge line, water bottle carrier), we headed off to the small turn-out. Sage went through all of her gaits and was very responsive (if a little lazy.. which is FINE by me for now!). She moves VERY nicely and is sooo easy going. I definitely need to work on her verbal "whoa" command. But, she didn't do too bad. I have seen her whoa under saddle, and does great! We lunged both directions at all three gaits, did some up and down transitions and some whoas, and then we quiet (about 12 minutes total). I was VERY happy with her behavior!
My daughter wanted to brush her mane, so I dropped the lead and told her stand. She never moved a muscle. I don't know if this means she ground ties, or just that she is more than happy to stand quietly and not move. But, its a great start! We did her mane and tail and then I fly sprayed her. She doesn't like the spray too well, but after easing her through it and spraying while rubbing the bottle against her, she did just fine. Took me all of 2 minutes to get her accustomed to it.
Sage does need a little bit of ground work. I don't like her manners while going through gates. She is not exactly pushy, but she does not automatically lag behind and let the person go first (which all of my horses are trained to do). We worked on that some. I would tell her to whoa just before the gate, pause, I walk through, then I ask her to come through. She did really well with no rushing. I think she just needs to learn how *I* do it.
But, I am sooooooo happy with her! My neighbor is coming to ride her tomorrow morning. I don't know yet if I will get on. I am skeered! lol But, it makes me feel a lot better seeing someone else ride a new horse first. I might take another week or so to do ground work with her and really get to trust her before I get on. I want to be as relaxed and confident as possible my first time up. After all, it will be my first time on a horse in like 3 years. And if I actually stay on for more than 5 minutes, it will be the first time in about 8 years!! I will definitely post tomorrow to let everyone know how she did... I might just start my own blog... Hmmmm
Oh.One more thing. I got video of Sage sucking on her lips (which she only seems to do after she gets a treat). Its posted on this thread. Please take a look and tell me what you think... Wind sucking or just lip sucking, or is there no difference?? This behavior is VERY new to me.
Anyway, with my 11 yr old daughter as my assistant (aka whip, lunge line, water bottle carrier), we headed off to the small turn-out. Sage went through all of her gaits and was very responsive (if a little lazy.. which is FINE by me for now!). She moves VERY nicely and is sooo easy going. I definitely need to work on her verbal "whoa" command. But, she didn't do too bad. I have seen her whoa under saddle, and does great! We lunged both directions at all three gaits, did some up and down transitions and some whoas, and then we quiet (about 12 minutes total). I was VERY happy with her behavior!
My daughter wanted to brush her mane, so I dropped the lead and told her stand. She never moved a muscle. I don't know if this means she ground ties, or just that she is more than happy to stand quietly and not move. But, its a great start! We did her mane and tail and then I fly sprayed her. She doesn't like the spray too well, but after easing her through it and spraying while rubbing the bottle against her, she did just fine. Took me all of 2 minutes to get her accustomed to it.
Sage does need a little bit of ground work. I don't like her manners while going through gates. She is not exactly pushy, but she does not automatically lag behind and let the person go first (which all of my horses are trained to do). We worked on that some. I would tell her to whoa just before the gate, pause, I walk through, then I ask her to come through. She did really well with no rushing. I think she just needs to learn how *I* do it.
But, I am sooooooo happy with her! My neighbor is coming to ride her tomorrow morning. I don't know yet if I will get on. I am skeered! lol But, it makes me feel a lot better seeing someone else ride a new horse first. I might take another week or so to do ground work with her and really get to trust her before I get on. I want to be as relaxed and confident as possible my first time up. After all, it will be my first time on a horse in like 3 years. And if I actually stay on for more than 5 minutes, it will be the first time in about 8 years!! I will definitely post tomorrow to let everyone know how she did... I might just start my own blog... Hmmmm
Oh.One more thing. I got video of Sage sucking on her lips (which she only seems to do after she gets a treat). Its posted on this thread. Please take a look and tell me what you think... Wind sucking or just lip sucking, or is there no difference?? This behavior is VERY new to me.
