Overcoming fear!

Today I thought I would tell you about my story with Starbound.

Starbound is a 4 year old Arabian/cob cross that Barbeys bought 2 years ago. She is a Megastar daughter but she was born and raised in Florida by a friend of ours. She was started well and very easy to deal with. We took her with us when we went to Tulsa Oklahoma 2009 for the American Nationals. She was shown in hand both in the Welsh show and in a Arabian show that was running simultaneously. The Arabian judge liked her better than the cob judge but didn't score to well in any of them, due to her not so typy conformation. She doesn't really look like either but a tiny bit more towards the Arabian. Anyway she was a great girl. Travelled well and behaved perfect the whole time.

Last winter it was time to break her. And since she is actually born in January she was the oldest and first one out. I lunged her in the snow, got her used to the saddle and stirrups flapping around. Oh! At this point I need to tell you that I ground drive all my youngones at 1 1/2 old. Just to get them used to pressure on the bit and steering.

After her getting used to us sitting on her( I had my friend Tiina helping me) She did just fine. The only trouble was that she was faster than the horses we used to pony her with. She wasn't at all bothered by having someone on her back. The thing she was not so fond of was the pressure on the bit. We did this maybe once a week for a couple of months and then she got a little break.

When I picked it up again I thought it was time to do arena work. The first two times went great. She did as I told her and no problems. The third time around we run into trouble. I worked her on the lunge line as usual and then I got on. She did fine for a little while until she decided that she wanted to go home. When she didn't steer away from the exit and when I tried to turn her she started rearing up. I got a little scared and thought that I need to get off before I had created a problem so I did. Bad decision! I had already created a monster. Next time I had hardly time to get on her before she headed for the exit and when I stopped her she reared up. I got off and started over with the same end resault. By now she had really freaked me out. So I stopped riding her for a while. Tiina came up and got on her a couple of times and Starbound did great. No problem by the exit after a short discussion. I got on her and she started the same crap again. Did not now what to do. I had a trainer come and help me and we did fine as long as we where on a lunge line but as soon as we where off she tried to rear and pull tricks on me. She totally new that she was in charge. Tiina and I took her out one day on the trail. Before we where back to the barn she had reared up and done a capriol with Tiina which didn't help me want to get back on her again. I have to tell you that during this whole time I am dealing with stallions, breaking another one of our 3 yearold, ground driving babies and so on. It was just this little filly that scared me. I took a break. I went to show at the Am Nationals for Welsh and a trip to Sweden for my sis wedding.

When I got back almost 2 months had passed and I knew I just had to get back on this horse. It was silly that I should have a horse I couldn't ride. So geared up I went into our round pen and lunged her and got on. I am not kidding you that I was shaking when I got off of her the first time. She behaved fine but it had been such a big deal for me. It took probably three or for times before I could get off without shaking. After a short break due to construction I stuck to it and we got some miles down in the new round pen.

The miles have now paid off. I feel like I have conquered my fear. I took Starbound to the Fairgrounds ( the public roofed arena in town) which is to many horses a very freaky place. Lots of noices and birds flying in and out. My plan was to lunge her and see how she was doing. Didn't flinch an ear at anything so I got on an rode. She was perfect!!! So to top the story off I also took her for a ride down our driveway yesterday together with company. Even though her friends where in the pasture and she rather stayed with them she listened and didn't throw a fit but was a good girl all the way home. And I wasn't even worried!

None of this was ever a big deal in the horse world but ,why is it that fear sometimes gets hold of you? I had to take some time to think about it but then I was convinced I had to conquer it. With a lot of determination and shaky legs I DID!!

Starbound and I now like to work together and I can't wait to get some schooling on her so we can show locally this spring.

More horsestories to come. Stay blessed out there!

Daniela

A cold week!

This week we have had two days where I actually decided that it was to cold to ride. It was -20 C on Wednesday and maybe -15 on Thursday. Normally I don't let weather conditions stop me. Last year my farrier thought I was totally out of my mind when he saw me cantering on a field in a snowstorm. They call them storms here but at home( Sweden) we just say that it is snowing. I still just think it is snowing as long as it doesn't get super windy at the same time. Anyway so normally heat, rain, wind or snow doesn't stop me but the cold did. Wednesday I spent 4 hours in our tackroom instead cleaning bridles and halters. Yep we have a lot of tack! And Thursday I spent dealing with our adoption and didn't even go to the barn.

Last week Norton came back home. He is a 4 year old paint/cob gelding that we sold to a lady in California in the begining of December. He was born on our property and he is the first generation of babies that I have trained since birth. Super nice boy. I have never really encountered any problems with him. We have had some small discussions over the years about who is in charge but never anything big and he has always just been a loving sweet boy. We did send him of to be broke to ride but mostly because he bucks really nice when you lounge him and I didn't feel like I had the time or energy to fix that so we sent him off to a guy that did a great job. I rode him for about 6 weeks before he left for Cali and he was a sweet ride. But for some reason he didn't click with the lady that bought him. She said that they always had an hour fight before she rode him. I honestly have no clue what happen. I never had any problem to get him to work.
Anyway he came back last Thursday. Came out of the trailer a little dehydrated due to an 8 hour long trip. He was happy to be home. His eyes was full of spunk and we let him out right away so he could move around. He showed us that he can still buck and then he dove in to the haypile.

So this week I brought him into our new indoor roundpen( i'll post some pics one of these days)and let him check it out. He didn't think much of it so on Tuesday I saddled him up. I wanted to find out where the lady had had her problems. I lounged him and he bucked but then he settled right down just as always before so I did some groundwork instead. Expecting to find some resistance, but nothing. Finally I got on him and did some bending and moving off of my leg and he was still fine. I walked and I trotted, snow was sliding from the roof and he behaved just perfect. I got off of him happy that he was still the same. No problems that I could find. My theory is that they must have had a cultureclash or personality clash. I feel sorry for the lady and Norton but I'm glad he is back home for now. Hopefully we can find another good home for him soon.

So many horses so many stories. Stay tuned for more:)
Daniela