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Post by eirualaerdna on Dec 4, 2008 17:25:14 GMT -5
Bird is doing fantastic. I've trained her almost 100% myself. She's got her ground manners down, even puts her cute little head down for me to put her bridle on =) and she's doing great under saddle. She's really sensitive to pressure and weight shifting. She responds really well to leg cues. HOWEVER.. she still needs work under saddle, which a trainer would be nice for. I also want to see if I can get a trainer working with us, to teach me how to train her to do more fun stuff. If you've heard of, seen, or worked with someone that has the "wow" factor, that does some really crazy but super cool stuff with their horses, I'd like to know about him/her. I'm talkin about teaching horses to rear on command, lay down, side pass next to a person while they walk sideways.. I don't even know what else. I'm getting bored, and Bird learns so quickly she gets bored faster than I do!  Birdie really perks up when I ask her to do things she's never done or is challenging for her. She seems to really love learning so she's perfect for teaching fun stuff to. Any ideas?? |
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Post by jenm on Dec 4, 2008 17:37:28 GMT -5
A lot of the on the ground work that you would like to do teach bird can be taught by you! The best advice I ever got on horse ownership was from someone who told me to "hang out with your horse as if you were a 13 year old girl". What I learned is you can teach your horse all kinds of things if you just spend the time building your bond. I just started clicker training with Jamaica and we are having a blast. She puts her feet up on a pedestal, trots next to me at liberty in the arena, pushes a rubber ball, and yes, side passes while I walk sideways. This has all come from us just spending time together doing silly things. Her newest tricks are kissing me on the cheek when I ask for a kiss, and "smiling".  There are horse trick books and dvds out there that you would probably like and over the summer, there was a horse trick clinic somewhere in the South Bay. It sounds like you are doing a great job with her and no doubt you will have lots more fun teaching her things on your own. It just takes time and patience and lots of baby steps. Where do you currently board Birdie? I might have some under saddle recommendations for you but it depends on where your barn is. |
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Post by eirualaerdna on Dec 4, 2008 20:42:13 GMT -5
Shes in Castro Valley right now. I've been teaching her a lot of little things, but I wanted to learn more extravagant things. She will trot in circles around me at liberty, follow me around, trot beside me, she used to rear on command... I just wanted someone to show me how to teach her some other stuff, but books and dvd are just as good. Do you have any favorites? She's so smart it hardly takes any time to learn things =) The under saddle stuff I want to work on are things that are just going to take time for sure, and an extra pair of experienced eyes to catch the things I can't see when I'm on her. Besides, I haven't had an under saddle lesson since I was 11 or 12. Know of anyone near Castro Valley? Livermore and pleasanton are within reasonable distance.
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Post by swissgrl on Dec 4, 2008 21:05:00 GMT -5
Glad to hear Birdie is doing so well! Great to see you posting again, missed you!
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Post by jenm on Dec 5, 2008 14:54:00 GMT -5
I have just the trainer for you, and she has clients in Castro Valley! Her name is Jec Ballou, and she's my dressage trainer and I love her. jecballou.com/You don't have to be a dressage rider to train with her, she tailors the lessons to your needs and works with all levels/disciplines of horses and riders. She lives in Scotts Valley but goes to Castro Valley on a regular basis. If you want more info, feel free to PM me. Here is a video of her riding Jamaica: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzHy567GKn4If you want to check her out in person, she is coming to my barn to give lessons on December 20th. I now have 7 people who want to ride with her and four of them aren't even dressage riders! |
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Post by icehorse on Dec 5, 2008 15:46:35 GMT -5
I'll second that recommendation. I took a clinic with her and she's awesome. Nothing intimidates her and she's easy to get along with too.
Nice to see you on the board eura
and wow, I just watched the Jamaica video, she looks fantastic, she's in great shape!
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Post by bridgetah on Dec 9, 2008 23:51:00 GMT -5
Check out Charles Wilhelm. He's in Castro Valley.
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Birdie really perks up when I ask her to do things she's never done or is challenging for her. She seems to really love learning so she's perfect for teaching fun stuff to. Any ideas??
