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Ozzie
Apr 19, 2009 14:28:03 GMT
Post by Elaine on Apr 19, 2009 14:28:03 GMT
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Ozzie
May 4, 2009 19:26:46 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 4, 2009 19:26:46 GMT
Ozzie & I had our second lesson with Sean last weekend, but it was only this weekend I got a chance to start our homework. We do sometimes have discussions about who is the boss of who and that can delay our progress a bit but something happened this weekend... here is the write up from Sun afternoon.. honestly he was just brilliant!! __________________________________________________________ SUNDAY AFTERNOON about 30 mins Someone has stolen my horse.........Beautiful weather, went out again and brought Dad out to do a bit of desen with Ozzie. Oz saw me, walked down, caught him, then left him standing still with lead rope on the ground in front of him. Danced my way around him as he stood still. Then started to jog in circles around him while he was still & loose, and then Dad jogged around him too, both of us going in opposite directions. Not a bother on Oz. Then backup - lifted a hand and waved finger.. he walked nicely backwards away to the end of the lead rope. Then stayed there till I asked him back in Head down, grand, closed his eyes for a rub.......... Then did sidepass in the hole with the muck. Jumped him down into it, totally relaxed, no rushing at all. Backed him into it then, sidepassed both ways, grand. Move from energy of stick or a phase 1 of stick. Thought right, if you're so good let's sidepass in the middle of the field with me at your side, but without anything in front of you... GREAT!! He was just sooooooooo willing the whole time, relaxed but really happy to do as asked... Did a circle or 2 in trot, .. nice trot, ok slightly lazy but once he made the mistake of slowly down got him going on again. He trotted around on a loose rope absolutely no stress whatsoever, totally chilled and happy to do as asked.... Asked him for backup from nose - went backwards twice from hair pressure... first time asked for 1 step, next time asked for 2 steps Not once at any stage was there any pull on the lead rope. Really really lovely.........very willing and happy to do as asked Told him he was ABSOLUTELY wonderful, then let him back to eat grass... What a horse............ I am so pleased I am still smiling
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Ozzie
May 6, 2009 11:51:29 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 6, 2009 11:51:29 GMT
CANNOT WAIT for our camp!! Ozzie is also VERY excited!!! [/color][/size]
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Ozzie
May 12, 2009 17:45:27 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 12, 2009 17:45:27 GMT
I was up in the office in Dublin, when I get a phone call from Tipperary to say there is a letter there addressed to 'Ozzie Heney'!! I nearly fell off my chair in stitches, hilarious!! ;D 'An Post' knows him now it seems He said to say thank you very much and that there is always grass here for his friends & he hopes to see Hamish & co again in Tipp soon
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Ozzie
May 12, 2009 17:56:04 GMT
Post by Ozzie the wonder horse on May 12, 2009 17:56:04 GMT
Lads, I managed to borrow the laptop for a second. Hamish, fair play to ya, nice card, I'll get a bit of mileage out of that. Hopefully at least an apple from 'the boss' (hehehe). She was back last weekend but didn't do much with me, (something to do with having to work - work!!) so I had to play a bit of water tank football to keep myself amused and remind her of what a talented horse I was. Anyway, she's back next weekend so I'll do a bit more training with her, so hopefully she'll be a bit better next time we meet. I hope your one is going well too. They take a fair bit of work don't they! Right, gotta go, I can hear the quad......... Later dudes, Love & apples. Ozzie.
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Ozzie
May 21, 2009 12:46:53 GMT
Post by Ozzie the wonder horse on May 21, 2009 12:46:53 GMT
Just a quick shout out - got another letter in the post addressed to me. Fair play to ya Star - sure I'll see you next week girl! Am liking the idea of a fan club!
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Ozzie
May 23, 2009 15:22:25 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 23, 2009 15:22:25 GMT
Just had a lovely session with the Oz!! It POURED rain here all morning, honestly there are buckets of water outside. Then after lunch it somehow stopped and suddenly out came the blue skies........... Today in preparation for HORSE CAMP!!! (so excited, it's like pony camp all over again, but I suspect even more fun!!) I thought perhaps I should go out, see if I can tidy him up a bit and do some horse-box loading practise. All went excellently, loads in by himself and stands in there quietly, and I'm covered in horse hair. I took a few pictures. Please note he insisted I plait his forelock, so he could look 'cool' like his friends.
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Ozzie
May 25, 2009 14:34:14 GMT
Post by sineadkelleher on May 25, 2009 14:34:14 GMT
Ahh! Oz is sooo cute! Star got her mane done too for the occasion. She's so looking forward to meeting Oz. She wants some tips from him on how to train me. Ozzie has done a great job on you but Star thinks I'm a slow learner!! Looking forward to Horse camp!!!
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Ozzie
May 25, 2009 14:59:25 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 25, 2009 14:59:25 GMT
Woohoooo! Can't wait!!! I even washed Ozzie's tail yesterday, but I have to say Herbal Essences is not great to clean grey tails!
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Ozzie
May 26, 2009 9:10:21 GMT
Post by Elaine on May 26, 2009 9:10:21 GMT
HORSE CAMP weather forecast!!! woohooo!!!
Thursday: Any early morning mist or drizzle will clear and sunny spells will develop. Highest temperatures 17 to 21 degrees in a light to moderate southwesterly breeze. Friday: Dry and sunny. Highest temperatures 18 to 22 degrees in light southerly breezes. The June Bank Holiday weekend will be dry, warm and sunny with temperatures of 20 to 24 degrees generally; cooler along the east and south coasts due to a freshening east to southeast wind.
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Ozzie
Jun 8, 2009 10:59:01 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 8, 2009 10:59:01 GMT
Did Oz yesterday for about an hour. The plan was the 7 games and a worm dose. He liked the worm dose! Games went well. Pretty soon into friendly game he decided he started to mess a bit, so we jumped straight into driving, yo-yo and circling to get him to move his feet on command and remind him who was in charge. Went well, driving definitely getting better, sidepass good one way, will work on it the other way. Maintaining gait when circling much better. he still zones out and looks at other stuff, but now expects to be asked to refocus which is good. The hardest situation for this is when the dog comes bounding around, so dealt with it and actually worked well! Yay. Lucky horse got a mineral block too so he was well pleased.
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Ozzie
Jun 15, 2009 9:10:01 GMT
Post by oliviadreamcatcher on Jun 15, 2009 9:10:01 GMT
The third picture on this page is class, you should enter in a photography competition. There is a site I think called photobucket where you can upload cool pictures and you get payed if they are used commerically. I think.
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Ozzie
Jun 15, 2009 9:30:04 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 15, 2009 9:30:04 GMT
That's was Dads doing. I'd taken a picture from a distance of oz & dougal playing with each other, so Dad spotted the head on Oz, cropped it and did a bit of photoshop on it.
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Ozzie
Jun 20, 2009 14:18:44 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 20, 2009 14:18:44 GMT
Arrived back down to Tipp, glorious weather, spotted Oz & Dougal out in the field, Dougal standing up, Oz sitting down. Went out to say hello to both. Walked up to Dougal first and give him a rub. I had my eye on Oz too and could see he was thinking about standing up. I thought I'd chance my arm, so walked the few steps over to him & sat down beside him, and he relaxed back down again and didn't get up. awwww
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Ozzie
Jun 21, 2009 19:17:18 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 21, 2009 19:17:18 GMT
Right, this afternoon we fitted a saddle, Oz stood very nicely I did the 1st four games ok (level 2 of pressure, quite flash I though lol!) but then in circling he started to get a few ideas so Sean took over, and I had a lovely chat with Tina while Sean worked hard! Oz decided he didn't like coiled rope being thrown at him. He got used to them. Thanks Sean! This evening got him, did coiled rope throwing both sides (at the start he was a bit nervous walked maybe a step or two the first few times) then I half rubbed him half threw it a few times on both sides, then back to the normal coiled rope throwing and he reverted back to his impression of a very sensible experienced little pone. It was all getting a bit too easy, so I took off his halter and threw more of the coiled rope on him from both sides, he wasn't bothered. Again this was all way too easy so I left him standing there loose, walked away down the paddock, got the basketball, turned around, he was still standing where I left him with his head turned around looking at me, so I walked back to him, gave him a rub then bounced the basketball off both of his sides from 3 to 4 foot distance. Didn't move a muscle. When he's good he is very good. Hopefully it's al just building his confidence in himself and in stuff around him, and hopefully stuff like this will help him reduce his panic feelings when he gets bothered once a blue moon.
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Ozzie
Jun 22, 2009 13:00:30 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 22, 2009 13:00:30 GMT
More anti-panic horsebox training. Got him to load in my himself a few times. Cross tied him & closed up box fully. Started with him closed up for 5 sec, then I opened front door and he was very relieved to see me, lots of licking & chewing. Built it up till he would stand in there quietly by himself for 2 mins. (big improvement from before). Drove up to Kilfeacle village and back down again, one panic near the start but he couldn't really go anywhere with the cross ties, and for the rest of the journey he moved his body around a lot from side to side but I think that's a good thing, as he's might feel he'd not as hemmed in. Got home, took him out, walked him around, pointed him back at the horsebox ramp and in walked straight in by himself. Then we took him out & let him go and he had a good roll.
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Ozzie
Jun 28, 2009 9:12:27 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jun 28, 2009 9:12:27 GMT
Ok, yesterday it was time to bring Oz over to Limerick. Loaded him in fine. He was quite good, a little pull on the lead rope and he'll give to it and walk towards you so you can get a step back or forwards while he's in the box with no issues. Then we jangled the chain a bit, and once he was ok, closed up the back ramp, cross tied him, told him he was fab and set off. He was getting a little warm at this stage. He didn't scramble!!! There was no crash bang panic!! (thank God). He moved around A LOT in the box, and for the last half hour spent a bit of time with his rear right back against the ramp, but for the 1st time in recently history he didn't lose it and panic. When we got to Limerick, I went in, he had stopped sweating maybe 30 mins previously (was cool/normal to touch), had sweated up maybe only 1/4 of what he had on the last short run, and then we opened back ramp, he waited then unloaded out slowly. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a definite improvement.
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Ozzie
Jun 28, 2009 11:03:09 GMT
Post by kainerandjenny on Jun 28, 2009 11:03:09 GMT
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Ozzie
Jul 12, 2009 10:12:39 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jul 12, 2009 10:12:39 GMT
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Ozzie
Jul 12, 2009 10:29:20 GMT
Post by Elaine on Jul 12, 2009 10:29:20 GMT
Right, just back from Steve's Dublin clinics, had a ball Yesterday it poured rain all day here so didn't do much with the Oz. Today, the sun came out.................... The plan was to try and remember as much of the groundwork we did with Steve. The goal of the GW was to get Oz's mind totally focused on me. The alternatives to this are he mucks around (pain in the ass), or that he does the stuff physically, but his mind is elsewhere and soon he will be mucking about (potential pain in the ass). So!! Went out and caught him. Then I stood still for about 2 mins while I tried my best to remember all the exercises. 1. Wave my hands madly all around his head (preparation for rope throwing when changing rein riding with just one rope). Head raised a bit at the start, but he calmed down quickly once he got a few head rubs in between hand waves. 2. Shoulder push to start Oz moving, walk on, indirect rein just as outside hind is about to leave the ground, to move Ozzie's outside hind leg to move the HQs away so Oz is looking at me, then Oz to backup a step or two away from me (I had forgotten this bit but Dad twigged it when he watched what I was doing and I fixed it), then push Oz's shoulders again so Oz is now walking the opposite way. As well as getting Oz moving and yielding both ends, my goal was to keep walking in a straight line without stopping while Oz is doing all this stuff in front of me. We did it!!! YAY!!! 3. Tried Oz walking with me, then keep impulsion while decreasing forwards energy to turn it into a step or two of sidepass. Oz started to mess a bit, so abandoned it temporarily and got back to basics..... 4. Basics = more move the feet. So did the push shoulders > walk > move ass > backup > push shoulders in both walk and trot. I also tried to ask for HQ to yield away just a fraction before outside hind leg left the ground. What I noticed is the better I got with my timing being connected to Ozzie's legs, the better he got at the moves as well................ 5. Then did the cutting exercise. Oz stands looking at me. I have stick hidden behind my back, so OZ doesn't know which way I am going to push his shoulders. I start to 'get energised' (I don't move my feet but I build up energy in my body and ask Oz 'are you ready?'). Then I lead out with one hand and step forward a little to push shoulder and move into either walk / trot or canter. If no reply out of Oz, stick comes up asap. This is great, really gets his attention. Then we do maybe 2/3/4 steps in whatever gait, then he runs into end of lead rope, moves his ass, and goes back to halt. Its quite cool - halt > canter depart > halt all in about 4 secs ;D Its cool to get him from 0 to 90 so quick, but it's even cooler to see him go from 90 to 0 in a split second. He was getting so good at this that I became aware that not once was there any pull on the rope. Like steve said, it was like I was holding a headcollar with nothing in it An BRILLIANT way to improve steering. Literally picked up the rope and he followed the suggestion of a feel on it YAY! 6. Move face hands waving. He decided it was time for a nip or two, so for first one, I bumped his toe and let him think. for second one (I was waiting for it), he got tap on the shoulder and then time to think. 'Bugger' he said. (He'd picked up some of Steve's Aussie slang). 7. Then back to try the sidepass again GOT A LOVELY ONE!!!! no messing, just the correct bend in walk, then block the forward mvt a bit and got 2 or 3 steps of soft sidepass YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As well as this, did rock head till it comes down, then soft backup. Can do a step or two so that's good. Went back out after a coffee to do a short 'walk with the correct bend' ridden work exercise & more importantly keep his attention & focus on me. Caught him, fly sprayed him, tacked him up, did little GW (walk > HQ > backup > FQ) and cutting pattern. Hopped up into saddle. Stood for a minute as usual. Ozzie parked. Then walked on, did circles. Inside rein asked for head to look where he's going , inside leg came on just a fraction before Oz' inside leg came off the ground, to get same bend through body and stop inside shoulder falling in - doing a motorbike corner. Good. He gets it most of the time, lots it once and looked well out but I corrected him asap, and still not quite so good when we change direction (need to prepare him for new bend before we actually do it). Then did a few walk on > indirect rein (move HQ) > direct rein patterns. One was ok-ish, but overall they didn't flow as well as at the clinic. Two reasons I suspect: 1. Put a little backup between indirect (HQ move) and direct (FQ move) rein. 2. Do them in time with Oz's feet. So instead of doing an indirect rein when I felt like it, ask for indirect rein (like in my GW) when the barrell of the horse has pushed out my outside leg (i.e. when outside hind foot just about to leave the ground). YAY!! I think I'm learning alright. It's also confirming to me once again that my horse can do all this stuff already, I just need to hurry up and get as good as he is ....................
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