The learning curve: Milo and Me

heffalump

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Jul 6, 2009
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Well this seems like a good place to tell all my good news now that I have got around to subscribing!

Long story cut short.. Had horses for many years but due to university I was forced to sell them. I waited 6 years at uni and 1 year of working to be able to save up the money to buy my own horse again. At the beginning of the summer I started looking for the perfect ponio. Went across the country several times, had failed vettings, indecisive owners and just a general all round rubbish experience. I decided in September that I would focus on work and look again at the tail end of winter.

About three weeks ago I got a text from a friend asking if I was still looking for a horse because she knew of one that she thought I would love, albeit younger and greener than what I had been looking for. She had considered buying it the horse herself but finances and time had prevented her.

To be honest it was love at first sight and from the instant I saw him I knew he was my horse. Week later he was vetted and I've been an obsessive but proud horsey mummy for 10 days!

He has been across from Ireland about a month, 4yo 16.2/3 gelding. ISH out of Cream of Diamonds/King of Diamonds. Greener than the grass in his field. But we have learnt to lunge and getting pretty good at verbal commands. He has been broken although I suspect not too long ago. Very on his forehand and quite unbalanced but he seems to be a very quick learner.

Have also discovered that he has no idea of the concept of being caught, he is ruled by his stomach, has a penchant for yearling filly trotters and that he doesn't really know what a feed bucket it!

He came across with no known stable name we decided on Milo!

I've been looking somewhere to chart his progress and this seems a perfect outlet!

So without further ado I would like to formally introduce you all to Milo:

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more photos to follow tomorrow (as soon as I've uploaded them from camera!)


Night all
xxxx
 
Well we had an exciting day yesterday - Milo decided to remind me he was in fact still a baba!

I had the day off work so decided to spend the day with him just giving him a bit of fuss.. Got him out of the stable and gave him a proper good groom - played around with a water spray (getting him used to having things sprayed around him) - he was as good as gold! Picked up his feet twice - he picked them up straight away (two weeks ago we couldn't pick his feet up!)..

Decided whilst there was a break in the rain I would give him a quick lunge and possibly a ride..He lunged very well, listened to voice commands and didn't have to use the lunge whip at all, and it was still dry so I figured I'd get on quickly..

No sooner had I got on but the heavens opened.. but I was optimistic it would just be a shower so carried on doing walk work - lots of circles, transitions, serpentines etc etc.. Was just about to get off when out of no where he just bolted and zipped around the menage twice like a mad man. It was all I could do just to sit deep and hold on. Eventually I managed to get him to settle - but at this point I really wanted to get in because I couldn't see in the rain!

But.. I didn't want him to associate running off with getting out of work so I got off and lunged him again for another ten minutes. By the time we got into the barn we were absolutely dripping!

He was well behaved again for the rest of the day.

I'm not sure if it was something spooking him, or something bothering him, like the weather or something but it was the first time he put a foot wrong.. and I hate to admit but I was a bit unnerved.. it was the first time I had ridden him on my own, so perhaps I was transmitting some subconscious vibes to him.

I know that young horses are never straight forward and you should expect the unexpected, but he normally behaves like a fifteen year old head on four year old shoulders so I just didn't expect it!

Anywho, instructor is coming for our first proper lesson on Saturday.. pinkies crossed!

He's filled out so much in the two weeks we have had him, not just outwards but definitely upwards, I'm sure he has grown!

Am trying to find a saddle fitter actually in the north west if anyone has any suggestions?

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Not updated for a long time...lots to say!

With the weather being a bit hit and miss, I haven't been able to ride as much...

but we've done lots of ground work and learnt to long rein - that was super fun! I've been doing a bit of 'join up', by that I mean my watered down version of it, and now he literally just follows me everywhere and his manners and handling has improved three million percent.

He now understands what this picking up feet thing is all about, and I always start with his left fore and now you don't have to ask for them if you go the leg he picks it up and holds it for you. Catching is now routine and he comes cantering up the field to see you!

I've started to understand his personality now and its coming out in leaps and bounds. He is genuinely a very sweet horse and so eager to please. He has a couple of little quirks, like that he won't drink out of the automatic water dispenser if I have got a little over zealous with my mucking out and have got straw in it! Or that when he has finished his dinner, he picks the bucket up (one of the black rubber ones) by the handle and drops it outside of his stable door as if to say "Finished mum and all licked clean"!!

We've long reined a few times, but to be honest its not going quite as planned. He gets a bit nervous out on his own and can get a bit strong but if I walk up by his head he settles straight down and literally just follows me around, so I think its more confidence with him than anything, but he is only a baba! We're going to take him out with one of the older more laid back horses when the lanes clear up to get him a bit bolder!

We got a lovely saddle and bridle, he's got new rugs and he has become a proper spoiled little mummys boy!

He is doing so well and I can't even begin to say how happy I am with him!

Plus the SIZE of him, he's grown an inch and has filled out so much to the extent I had to go buy him new rugs because they were all too small in the chest! I keep teasing him about have man boobs!

Couldn't be happier with him to be honest! I'm a proud horsey mumma!:D:D:D:D
 
The drama of snow and ice!

First off, when the snow hit I successfully managed to get snowed in... AT WORK! I have a teeny fiat punto that doth not appreciate the weather we've been having, but thankfully after the second night of sleeping at work one of the consultants took me home in their big 4X4 and gave me the day off!

And then I couldn't get to the yard - its been reachable by tractor for the better part of the week, but I managed to get down for the first time yesterday (luckily the YO had taken care of Milo but insisted it was unsafe for them to go out).

When i got there I actually cried, it was horrendous, his bed was essentially full of s*** and sheet ice, he was naughty, spooky, stressed out of his mind, wouldn't lead, wouldn't tie up. He was so thirsty that I ended up having to rummage around to try and get a bucket of water but I was getting a bit freaked out at the rate he was drinking. In the end I decided it was for his own safety that we tried to get out to the field even for an hour, I thought he was going to do myself and himself a serious injury. And I just didn't think it was fair, he is such a sweet and genuine sort of horse, and he just seemed so unhappy. Yes the lane to the field was under about a foot of snow, but there was no ice on it at all.

Milo went like an absolute lunatic soon as we got out of the barn, reared when we got near the field which sent me into cardiac arrest as I thought he was going to go over, but in the field he was clearly really enjoying himself, he managed to rip his rug (an old cheapie second hand one) and nicked his leg, but when I got him in three hours later he was back to being Milo.

So lessons were learnt - Milo is an outdoorsy horse and a week in the stable is well past his limit.

I got down again today, and thankfully YO have got hold of storage heaters and have had them going in the barns all night and morning, all water has unfrozen and whilst it wasn't toasty in the barn it was so much better.

Turned him out again for a few hours, expected the same shenanigans, so brought my camera along.. but all he did was walk about 20 m, rolled for a minute and then came back as if to say, can I come in now mum?

About 4pm, I brought him back in, made him all toasty warm and snuggled him up in his new pj's that Santa Hooves bought him. I had also got him one of those likit things, went off to make his dinner and came back 20mins later and literally he had shattered the entire likit and was munching it off the floor..

Thought they were meant to last longer than 20minutes! :rolleyes::rolleyes::D

Anywho, he's a happy bunny again, and here are some rather non-plussed piccies in the snow:

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doing his best size-0 impression (even tho he has little fat pockets now - he's ballooned with all the haylege and no exercise!)
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"I'm sure I can find something to eat in here!"
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"Milo...Incoming..."
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Milo enjoying a bit of a snow bath.. Not sure how I kept myself from laughing when he does his very un-manly squeal, not very becoming of a young irish gentleman...

edited... bloody thing doesn't work now!

xxxx
 
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Well Milo had his first bit of work of 2010 today! Shockingly the boy has been on a proper extended Christmas break!

I thought about riding but then thought better of it and thought a good old fashioned lunging session might be more beneficial - get him back to thinking about work and remind him what a saddle and bridle was.

Didn't really need to have worried about it all, he was very well behaved, as if he hadn't had a break at all. I am not sure how, given that he hasn't had any work, but his canter on the lunge seemed much more balanced and he was able to sustain the canter for longer, usually he falls back in running in trot after about 10 strides, but got three laps of canter without having to chase him..on both reins! Perhaps with his growth spurt he has worked out where his legs are!

I know from past experience of free schooling him that he loves jumping so I popped a little cross pole up and lunged him over it - must have only be 30cm, but he put such a massive effort in that I upped it to a vertical - again it was only teeny (must have been about 60cm). The most we have done ridden is pole work, I've been psyching myself up to jump him, so as far as I know its the highest he has ever jumped! Well he seemed to really be enjoying it - his ears pricked up and he had a proper spring in his step...

So... tomorrow, I am hoping to have my first ride of the new year... and.. I've roped in my friend who does a lot of BSJA, and I'm going to jump him for the first time! I've asked her to be on hand to help and guide me and pick up poles as needed.. and to be the official photographer!

Will post tomorrow to let you know how we get on!
 
So today was the day... when we did our first little cross pole! Milo has never jumped with a rider and I haven't jumped for about 8 years - so lots of nerves and stressy behaviour this morning!

Honestly I don't know what I was worked up about, he behaved as if he had been jumping all his life - his ears were really pricked forward and it gave me the sense of the power in his hind quarters - he's a real powerhouse! He isn't really a forward going chap, he does what he needs to get by, but he seemed to grow a few inches - not that he got strong but he just seemed to really enjoy the jumping!

He ran out once, and that was my own fault, I got a bit unnerved by the power underneath me and dropped my contact and got a bit nervous nelly and I think he lost a bit of confidence, but he was fine the next time I brought him around.

Am so super proud of him! And then as if that wasn't enough - and I was feeling brave and he was knackered - I thought now would be a good time to pop him out down the lane (he's only been down the lane twice on long lines, never with a rider) and as far as I know he's never been next to a moving car.

So not only did we have our first jump, we had our first hack! There was a big range rover coming towards us so I pulled him in and let him face the car - might as well not been there - he didn't even bat an eyelid! Okay so we only went out for about 10 minutes, but I'm all about baby steps!

Made a super big fuss of him when we got back to the yard - my baby is becoming a big boy!

Some truly terrible pics of our jumping - excuse my position (it is dire I know), I was just trying to let him get over the jump without interfering too much and I'm severely out of practice!
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he sounds a very genuine young lad but such a baby, imagine you are going to have days of progress and days of backwards, but at least he is very willing to try to please you and it is all strange to him.

by the end of the summer he will be a different horse as a few months of consistent work and activity will build his confidence.

glad he is working out well for you.
 
So for another long overdue update..

Things had been progressing well - we've done a few jumps etc but we sort of hit a brick wall about two weeks ago. Got me thinking, with work I struggle to ride more than twice a week as its dark when I get home and the floodlights aren't up in the menage yet.. The YO's daughter is a good friend of mine and she makes her living breaking and schooling horses, so I decided that I would swallow my pride and ask her to work with me and him. I had hoped that I would be able to bring him on, but I just can't exercise him consistently enough to make it worth while..

So he is now in full-time work, being ridden/lunged/long-reined 5-6 times a week.

She lunges monday, rides tuesday, wednesday, thursday, he has friday off and then I ride saturday and sunday. When we first started he had his head flexed to the outside, particularly on corners, and if you asked for a contact he would grit his teeth and just stick his nose in the air and evade you completely..Although he would become more receptive by the end of the sessions, because it was usually 5 days inbetween working we generally had to start off at the beginning and progress was slow.

Honestly within two weeks there is already so much change, he is much more receptive to a contact and today for the first time he went the entire session with no nose in the air, he wasn't properly in a contact, but did drop down into it a few times. We've worked hard on walk-trot-walk-trot transitions, to help encourage him to bring his hind legs underneath him. We haven't really done any canter work with him, trying to get the basics and the muscles established so he feels more balance - plus steering is still a bit iffy - although much better since I tried him in full cheek french link snaffle - remembered it working with my old cob when he was a 4yo so dug it out and tried it on Milo - works really well (was in a french link snaffle before)

I could have cried today, down the long sides of the menage he did perfect shoulder-in and leg yield in trot...ON BOTH REINS! (okay so he only did about five steps of leg yield at most) I was such a proud mummy!

Also his jumping has come along well - although he doesn't really understand approaching jumps in a canter - he gets his legs a bit muddled! But if he lands in canter on the right leg we encourage him to canter on and then bring him back to trot. Today he jumped a proper 2ft9 vertical, with proper wings, in the centre on the school (thus far only been popping tiny little ones against the fence).

Am super pleased with him, it is hard for me to accept the help of someone else as it generally makes me feel a bit of failure and that he probably deserves a better rider than me. I think its the fact that the YO wanted Milo herself for her and her daughter, but they had to sell others first and couldn't - so they said why didn't I try him, and then I obviously bought him and have kept him there (I love the yard don't get me wrong), but now the YO's daughter is riding him and bringing him on... I just feel a bit like I have lost a bit of the control and feel like although he's my horse and I do all the looking after they do all the 'fun' stuff...

But I know that will change, Milo does need to be brought on and its better that someone with professional experience who I trust and respect as a rider and as a horse person does it, I'm just being a silly moo!

Anyway, back to the good stuff - we are going on our first proper ridden round the block hack on friday - mum is coming on foot for support and YO's daughter is riding her old (25yo!) ID who is as sane as they come. He's also Milo's sometime field companion so they get on pretty well. On a sunday we have been long-reining him round the block on his own and he seems to really enjoy getting out for a walk and we've faced tractors and vans and scary hedges that want to eat horses, and he's been fairly placid about it all.

I'm off work this week - and I'm having lessons on him everyday which is quite exciting!

Tomorrow we are introducing a little crosspole before the upright and see how he copes with a double.

We still have days where he is most definitely a 4yo, but most of the time it is hard to remember that he is still so young, he wasn't really handled till he was rising four..but honestly I don't think I have ever owned such a sweet natured genuine horse. He adores being fussed over and will stand for hours being groomed pulling all manner of funny faces! He even let me give his bottom a proper good cleaning yesterday - in fact I think he kind of enjoyed it!!:eek::eek::eek:;)

some piccies taken the other day
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modelling his new dually halter - and sweat patch (went to watch monty roberts and kelly marks at southview - it was so inspiring!)
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