Calista

[dunbnwild]

Calista looks gorgeous, and so does your Mom!

Looks likes she's very comfortable cantering now :-) Great pics!!

[sbutter]

We were pretty surprised at how easy she was to break. The first time we put a saddle on, she just stood there and looked at is as if to say "and...." It made us laugh. We only have to show her things once or twice and then she is fine. The biggest issue was just to get her to relax. She always wants to be doing something, so it is hard for her to just pause and stand there. But she is really good at it now. My parents had ponied her several times this last month when they went on trail rides. My mom said that she didn't even blink at anything, even when she went over bridges. As soon as they turned around to go back, my mom switched horses and rode Calista back. She has a hard time leading and walking a straight line, since she isn't mindlessly following a horse in front of her. So they have been working on that too.

The only other horse that i can even compare to her is a buckskin QH mare my mom broke when she was younger. My mom thought that the mare had to have been broke before, because she acted like she had done everything. There is no comparison between Calista and the TBs we have trained. We have had all kinds of the spectrum where they were willing or just wanted to throw themselves on the ground. My mom just got to "old" to try to break them anymore, so it was a pleasant surprise to work with Calista.

My dad is currently breaking a gorgeous bay TB mare that we have. Her mother was crazy, so we were a little nervous at first. My dad is big enough to make them second guess on any stunts they want to try. She did not like giving to pressure at first or having a supple body, but my dad has made some amazing progress with her. He always looks forward to working with her, so she has been a fun project.

[sbutter]

These pictures were taken last night. It was pretty fun watching the riding horses mess around in their pasture.

Hawk

Calista with Latte in the Background

Calista striking a pose

[JoanMRK]

Very pretty Sarah! Calista looks wonderful under saddle and your mom is beautiful too! I wish I could say Calista's daughter Cali looked as nice and muscled as her mom does but we're working on it... We're off for another trail ride tonight and it's Cali's turn. ;D

[fantasykiger]

Beautiful pictures of wonderful horses thanks for sharing.

[sbutter]

Well, Calista is coming along beautifully! When we first started breaking her, she would toss or fling her head around quite a bit, but I noticed that she did it a lot out in pasture when she was feeling good and she wanted to take off. Now her head is completely relaxed and she hasn't tried flinging it for the past couple of months. She is a super fast learner and every two days we can notice a difference in her as she gets better and better. She is doing well with leg cues. When I ask her to turn, I somewhat try to exaggerate my upper body, by turning it in the direction I want her to go. With the two cues combined, I barely even have to use any rein on her. So now it is just a matter of using less upper body and making it a little bit more subtle. She stops on a dime. She has been getting really good at voice commands too, so all I have to do is say "ho" and she stops immediately. So, now just trying to make the transition from voice and body to just body cues.

My mom was riding her Morgan gelding while I was riding Calista. My mom was having trouble getting him to use his hind end more, so she was doing a lot of exercises to get him to use it more. When he was in a canter and she asked him to stop, it took him a couple of strides before he fully stopped. I wanted to see how Calista would fare at this task. I got her into a canter and then I sat heavy and said "ho." She just stopped moving her hind legs and stopped immediately. She practically slid to a stop. I had a big grin on my face.

She is also way more relaxed then she used to be and I barely even have to use the reins, so that makes her happy.

I will hopefully be riding with Pinie Minto this next weekend if it isn't too hot. It sounds like we will be riding morning and evening, so I am trying to get Calista geared up for that. We road twice yesterday and then once this morning and will give the horses a break this evening. I am super excited!

[sbutter]

We had another fun day today! We took the horses trail riding to keep them fresh, so we went down to our church property which is right on the river. We road along the river in the shade of all the oak trees. A deer jumped out and ran off, which spooked both Latte and Calista, but they just spooked in place and then watched it bound off. We road to the upper part of the property and there were some goats on the property next to it. Both horses were super curious and Calista wanted to trot up and see them. We let the horses watch them for a little bit, but then we rode on. We rode next to the road, which is next to the highway. It was pretty load and we could see the cars wizzing by. Occasionally there would be a car that would drive past us on the road and Calista only hesitated once, but then she didn't care about the cars that drove by. We explored a little bit more and then we headed back. There was a big open field that we had rode by earlier that we wanted to canter in. We checked for squirrel holes and we didn't see any, so we did some cantering. It was a lot of fun! We tied them up next to the trailer and unsaddled them. We then went and pruned some plants that needed to be pruned. That took about thirty minutes.

We came back and put there bridles on and road them bareback to the river. We found a nice spot to go in and we road them in. Calista just wanted to get wet to her knees and then just splash the rest of the water on, but I eventually got her belly deep. She was a little uncomfortable with it touching her belly, but I don't think she has been that deep before. Latte is usually afraid of water, but it was a hot day. He almost swam, but he was a little nervous of the water ski doos and the kayakers that were going by. It was so funny to watch him, because he reminded me of a big hippopotamus with his head all stretched out and almost completely submerged in the water. When that was over, we rode back to the trailer and went home. All in all, it was a fun adventurous day for the horses and us.

[kigerfan]

That sounds absolutely wonderful

[lindad]

Calista is beautiful as are the others! What a great day.

[stormyranch]

Wow, sounds like a great day! Are you going to ride at Pinnie Minto's girls ranch? That is something I would like to do!

[sbutter]

Yes, I will be going out to her ranch to work with Calista and maybe get her on some cattle.

We went to the church property again yesterday and this time we brought my camera. We switched on and off horses so I could take pictures. We took them to the river first, but it was still in heavy use by people and it made the horses nervous when somebody would suddenly come around the corner and through the bushes. Thankfully we were out before a sheriff boat went roaring by on the river and left a huge wake behind him. We then took the horses over to the lagoon and the water went up to their backs there. Here are some pictures when we were at the river.

[kigerfan]

Neat pics!

[desperatehorsewife]

Wow! Super photos! Wish we had a nice place like that to play in the water. Totally envious!

[fantasykiger]

OH I am jealous too. I have two horses that LOVE water and swimming and no nearby opportunties to take them anywhere deep enough to do anything but get up to their knees and splash. What great fun to see them enjoying some playtime by the river and great pics' thanks for sharing.

[DianneC]

That looks like so much fun for everyone! Your new camera is showing off your talent.