Apricot Brandi (a.k.a Brandi)

[ariana]

A few days ago I went up and actually got time to work with her and she did AMAZINGLY! She did all her cues for lunging and was stopping and backing up likea pro! God love my ponyyy She still needs to do it with just my voice, but her stopping fast and backing up quicker with both my voice and body language was a GREAT improvement! I'm hopefully going to get up today early enough to do some work.

[ariana]

She did WONDERFUL again tonightt She was going to the gait I wanted , when I wanted. She was stopping/backing up great, leading, turing away and towards, and she lunged really well tonight too! That was really it We just mostly trotted a lot cause I wants her to build some muscle

[ariana]

I HAD THE BEST VISIT EVER WITH MISS BRANDI TODAY! She got her new halter and either that was what made the diff or she finally caught on to our weeks of work. She did everything I asked and she did so AMAZING i groomed her (which she stood PERFECT for) , bridled her (she actually just lowered her head and opened her mouth, instead of pulling away) , and hopped on. We went for a trail ride and the only thing she did "bad" was trying to go back BUT it was a far cry from her normal wanting to go back self! I LOVED todayy and I wish I got it all on tape because it made me so happpy yep, that's my rant for the day

[ariana]

She did really good today ! She ran away a bit, but apparently a lot of horses are acting up these days (spring must me coming ). She lead great, lunged perfect, listned to commands awesome, and stood PERFECT for me to groom her and look at her feet. I rode her and she didnt fight as much going out the driveway (she only fought at the beginning) and then it was less and less. She did "whoa" a few times just with the command which almost made me cry I was so happy ! Then we worked on backing up while I was riding and she does it with a very loose rein now! Actually , when she did "back-up" with so little force on the reins I actuslly said outloud "that's so cool" :$ So it was a great day and hopefully tomorrow she'll be really good katie is coming up for a ride !

[ariana]

I WAS PROUD TODAY Took her out on a trail and alothough she put up a fight while i was trying to get her to leave the horses sight, after the third time she went on. After that it was only when i was turning into the trail and she tried to go back. That was really great though b/c she used to fight me every 5 steps! Hopefully it will get better from here ! We worked on steering a bit and she is doing great ! She's also doing great with whoa (I only have to pull on the reins ever so slightly now) and she was doing so well, I moved onto trotting. I can control her speed a lot better and although it takes a bit to get her down to a walk from a fast trot, she still does it within 5 strides We did a lot of trotting (slow mostly) and stopping, backing up, and STANDING. She decided that she didn't want to stand so I MADE her stand and after awhile she figured she might as well stand. I'm going to have to work on that, but it was a great day anyway ! We also loped up a hill (I couldn't resist) and as soon as i said "trot" she slowed into one and then a walk when she was directed She did very well and I'm so proud

[ariana]

? explain please !

[ariana]

AAHAHAHAHA, I guess my pony don't like you It's cycle I think

[ariana]

The past few days have been night and day with miss Brandi. Thursday she decided she wanted to be a bum and fight me every step of the way. She also decided she wasnt going to stop and stand. So I had fun trying to make her listen.

Yesterday, she was AMAZING! Walked her right out down the driveway with just a little steering and she did it with no fuss at all! She would stop when I asked and stand, we also worked on trotting (getting her to slow down and speed up). She did really good and I was so happy

[ariana]

Haven't done much with Brandi, because mom has been working late. BUT, we did go try a saddle on her and she stood perfect for it, picked up all her feet for me, and let me catch and lead her like a dream Hopefully i get up the weekend , but i may not as I have a flu

[ariana]

Had a reunion with Brandi today ! Actually did work and not just seeing her. She stood for me to go catch her, she lead perfect, lunged, cues good, let me pick out all her feet, groomed and stood for the whole thing without being tied, and the only problem I had was getting her to not move her head while I was trying to bridle. She moved twice when I tried to get on, but the second time I disciplined her for moving she stood perfect for me to get on and waited until I told her to walk on She walked down the driveway like it was nothing leaving the horses and I only had 4 fusses on our trail ride, which is still great because she used to have one fuss every 5 steps! OH she did back up for me while I was on her with just wiggling of my heels on her sides ! She needed some direction of what I wanted (so I needed to pull back the reins a bit) but after she did three steps with no rein and just leg! I was SO proud. And she didn't just do it once, she did it four times for me ! So, after her amazing backing up I decided that was enough and rode her over to the fence, got off, unbridled her, and let her loose. She had no halter on, so I had to let her out with no halter. I went and got the halter and she just stood for me to go up and put it back on. THEN I was putting something in the barn and I walked over to the fence, she came right to me! She let me pet her on the face and shoulder without shying away Today was a really good day, especially since she has done NO work for literally the past week b/c of my sickness and mom working late

[ariana]

I've decided I might be moving a little too fast with Brandi. I thought we were doing great and flying through things...until today she finalized with me that she doesn't know how to stand or when i ask her to whoa, to stay there until further directed. To me, this is a BIG deal. So, today I just worked on getting her to stand while i mounted and getting her to stop and stand on our mini trail ride (it was dark out so I didn't go far). When we came back, I practiced in the yard steering, stopping, standing, and backing up. I think that's all I'm going to work on now and leave trotting until she learns. I checked her ground manners (turning, standing, backing, leading, trotting to walking transitions while being led, and being tied to a pole. She went through with flying colors so thankfully, it's only riding that she needs work on

[ariana]

Tonight, Brandi showed me she is smart ! I only had a few minutes to work with her today and I planned to just review groundwork with her, but she did so well with reviewing that I decided to just hop on with just a lead rope and a halter on her I clipped the lead rope to a side ring instead of the bottom and worked on walked and trotting with steering using one rein. She did perfect! I actually forgot at one point that she was just in a halter she was doing so well! Also, She would walk when I asked from a trot (few times i had to pull back lightly) and she would steer We were just standing there and I wanted to see if she would back up and when i said back and pulled the rein back a bit, she took one step! doesn't sound like much, but it was to me ! OH and Brandi decided she was going to know how to neck rein today too We were going in a circle and i wanted her more outward so i neck reined the direction and she went over like she was neck reining all her life! To make it better, the direction was to go AWAY from the ponies so she's getting over her herd boundess too! (is that a word? ) She was so great one last thing, she stood for me everytime to mount and dismount..only ONCE did she move and I only had to discipline her once. Then she knew that she HAD to stand. That's great compared to the normal 3-4 times i have to discipline her for not standing So, yep. There's my novel

[katie muise]

time for me to come visit you pony thats doing so well

[ariana]

yes you should !

[ariana]

Today was pretty good. We went for a ride and she decided that she was going to listen at a walk perfectly, but when it came to trotting, she wanted to go anywhere she wanted and not care if I wanted to go there or not. She eneded up taking me down a ditch, twice, up a driveway (she wanted to go back) and at one point she just broke into a lope. She got LOTS of circles EACH time and we kept at trotting at MY speed and MY way until she finally settled down and listened Other than her trotting incidents and after them , she did really good. She was backing really good and whoaing when i asked (she only didn't do it once from the command) and she was giving to the bit:D But, I think I'm going to hold off on the riding a bit now (or atleast not concentrate on it as much) cause she's starting to lack in her ground manners. She doesn't stop as well as she did, or back up. So, back to basics. I hate doing it, but it's for the best and it won't be too long before we are back to riding b/c it's really only a refreshment of what she has already learned !