Exploring New Things!

Well, today it was beautiful out! It was sunny, no wind and a perfect spring day!
So, you can guess what I was doing! Trimming? No... Doing school? well, yes... Playing with the horses? Definite yes!
I played with Eddie today, and I was going to play with Scout too, but they got enough exercise by playing Seabiscuit. But I'll explain that in a moment.
First, I read some more KFH's book and it made me want to try some new things. Aka, a neck rope.
I've tried it before, and I didn't really stick with it, because Eddie didn't do well with it. But today I was like, hey! why not? So I knotted a metal loop to my new rope I got two days ago. (can't beat farm & fleet's lunging ropes! ;-) hehe!) Anyway, I tied the ring on that and then clipped the metal clip onto it, so it made a big loop to go over his neck. Off to the pasture we went! He did awesome with it!! We jumped over things, trotted together in unison, did some fast figure eights and then finished by walking together to the pedestal. Now, granted he did leave once and I had to let go, but the good thing about it, was that I could let it go! He could go and leave if he wanted to! Now, to some equestrians that may seem backwards, but not to me! I want Eddie to prefer being with me than with the other horses. How can he prefer being with me, if he can't leave? So, a neck rope is a good middle of the road tool. It offers communication and freedom at the same time. It gives the horse his head and you have direct connection to his strongest part, his neck! Where do the harnesses for driving go? Around the neck! So, the horse is empowered, freed and there is a choice. Personally, the neck rope is my new favorite thing!
After about 20 minutes of introducing that, we went back to halter leading just so we could finish up. I think the new thing got him thinking and it sure got me thinking too!
:-) So, if you are ever stuck for an idea, try the neck rope! It will give you and your horse both something to think about!

~Lea & Eddie~


2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

A Fun Day!

Yesterday I had a really fun day with my friend that came over!! Bec came out to play with the horses (before the rain, yay!) and we had a lot of fun with them. It was so nice to have someone to play with, usually I'm just out there with the horses and I think that we will get together more often this spring and summer! Especially since it's almost Spring Break! Yay!! You can check out her blog here: http://becnsavyllj.blogspot.com/
Anyway, we did lots of things with the horses. First, we all played out in the pasture. We did some circles together which were fun, then we had them trot over the cavaletties, we hopped on for a little bit and let them graze/walked around. They were all pretty sleepy, although they had their moments and Eddie was very concerned that there were boogie-men in the woods that are a 1/2 mile away from us. :-/ lol! But, he was very trusting and we went for a long walk to top things off too.
It was a really great day, we had a lot of fun, and the horses were very happy to play together too! :-)

Playing with all the horses!!

 On Friday, it was really nice out! It was sunny, there was no wind and it was warm out.
So, I took advantage of the nice weather and played with all of the horses!
First Eddie and I played in the pasture, with some small things, then we went for a long walk out by the tree grove and went in the round pen for a while. He was very spunky once we got in there, but it was funny, because he was very sleepy in the pasture! lol!
Then Scout and I went out for a walk around the pasture.

 Scout was very hyper and just wanted to run when we were going through the tight spaces. But I just wiggled the rope a little bit and he calmed down. ;-) Such a silly guy! He was also very happy for the green, green grass. It was long and lush - aka laminitis lane! hehe!

After we fed them and they all settled in, I took Diesel out for a little walk. He was also happy for the grass and we waited for mom to come home from work. He is such a cutie! hehe, even though he kicked me today! Not hard, but enough to wake me up! lol!

Now, on to today!!! :-)

Cavaletti Motivation!

The past few days, the horses and I have been playing out in the pasture because a) it's flat and b) it's soft. The ground is pretty hard right now and that makes for a rough terrain for their hooves. Especially since it's been wet and soft for a couple of weeks. So, we've been taking it somewhat easy so their hooves don't get bruised. Scout seems to be more susceptible to them, but so far so good, his feet are lookin good!
Anyway, we've been playing with two major things lately, cavaletties and collection. Fun stuff! Eddie is getting the hang of collection more and more and as soon as I have a camera again, I'm going to get some fun footage. He looks so pretty when he arches his neck!
And, with Scout, I've been doing the cavaletties. He usually doesn't like to trot over them, so I set up the smaller ones and put barrels on either side. So he could trot through the poles, and there would be a barrel about 20 feet in front of him where he could stop and get some grain. Then we would turn around, trot over the cavaletties again and there would be another barrel 20 feet in front of him. Well, let me tell you, he was so motivated to trot over them when we had done it a couple of times! Yay! Because he got a reward and a rest every time he did. And it's very good for him to use his back muscles and to exercise.
I've been doing the same thing with Eddie and he likes the rest and reward as well. Although I think he likes to speed around the barrels instead of stop at them. :-)

Hopefully the ground will thaw out soon, or we will get some snow - I actually think it's supposed to snow tonight! Yay!

~Lea & Eddie~


Proverbs 14:22
Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

Wild Eddie!

 Well, yesterday it rained all day, so today the horses were very hyper!!
I took Eddie out to the round pen for about 10 minutes and he was totally nuts! He was rearing up, galloping on a 12ft line, bucking and just being nuts. 0_0 And the whole time I was just standing there... lol! But I did get some nice, fast backups from him and he went sideways really lightly!
hehe, anywho, it doesn't really matter that he was crazy. He had fun and got some energy out. Tomorrow will be a fun day too, I'm sure he'll have just as much energy, if not more! :-)
I did groom Scout and Eddie in their stalls and they were very happy for that! Plus they looked really pretty and Eddie looked handsome as he was being crazy!
Oh, such silly ponies we have!


~Lea & Eddie~



Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes

Natural Collection

So, that has been a big thing that I have been thinking about lately, which has transferred over into our playing. I'm about 1/4 of the way through Klaus' book and it's very, very good. He talks about collection a little bit and says that if you learn how to ask your horse to do things that he normally does out in the pasture (i.e. collection, extended trot, lead changes and other fun things) then the horse will be willing to do it. Well, we've been playing with that and Eddie's doing good with it! He's been sleepy the last couple of days, but I tried it with Scout yesterday and he was collecting himself and just loving how dominant I let him be! Which is really good for him, since he is an introvert.
Anyway, we're playing with that and also doing some cavaletties to get back into shape. :-)

~Lea & Eddie~


1 John 4:11
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

New Jackets!!

Well, we got our farm jackets yesterday! They are amazing, and look so good! My jacket with Eddie is in the middle, my sister and Scout are on the left and my mom and Diesel are on the right.
I love them, and can't wait to wear them to special occasions.

Update!

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. I've just been lazy and using my computer time to watch Pete Ramey DVDs.
Anyway! Here is a video of things Eddie and I have been playing with lately!

Riding in the Snow!

The other day, Eddie and I had a blast!!
It was warm out and we took advantage of that and rode in the outdoor for a nice long time. We ran through some drifts and he hopped over some of them. It was really fun and I was totally confident and he was confident too. So it was a wonderful ride!!

 Eddie and I are getting really good at requesting things to one another. I make polite requests like, "Can we go over there, please?" And he has yet to ignore one. But he makes requests too. "Can we just stop, mom?" So I have to do my part and listen to him as well. It's really fun and we've reached a new level of understanding. :-) That's always so exciting!!!

 Weee! Plowing through a huge drift. It would probably be about 3 1/2 feet if we measured the depth! Crazy!!

And mom got me this book for Valentine's day! I can't want to start reading it and learn some new things. I glanced through it last night and it looks really good!!
I'll be posting more on that book as I read through it!


~Lea & Eddie~


John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”