Teddy Log: #146 - Six Million Dollar Teddy!

Teddy Log: #146 - Six Million Dollar Teddy!: Teddy Smith - Australian Stock Horse - a horse barely capable of behaving himself. Ladies and Gentleman, we can rebuild him - we have the...

#146 - Six Million Dollar Teddy!

Teddy Smith - Australian Stock Horse - a horse barely capable of behaving himself.

Ladies and Gentleman, we can rebuild him -  we have the technology
We have the capability to make the world's first bionic horse
Teddy Smith will be that horse!
Better than he was before - Better. Stronger. Faster.

Today was another wonderful day towards achieving bionic Teddy!

A great way to end 2011.

Teddy Log: #145 - We are booked in to the Aurum Eventing Clin...

Teddy Log: #145 - We are booked in to the Aurum Eventing Clin...: I have booked Teddy and I into the Aurum Equestrian Centre Eventing Training Clinics in January 2012. This will be our first group riding ...

#145 - We are booked in to the Aurum Eventing Clinics

I have booked Teddy and I into the Aurum Equestrian Centre Eventing Training Clinics in January 2012.

This will be our first group riding experience together. We will be put into a group according to our level of ability, which wont be high as I've never done eventing in my life, and we will receive two training sessions per day. I've book for all four days over January and I think this, along with my regular lessons, will be good training over the holiday period. I'll continue to work him at home too.

I hope to take Teddy over to the water complex at the Aurum Centre as yesterday I took him to our dam and he would have walked right in if he didn't sink with his front hooves! Maybe he's a water horse! (not the Loch Ness kind!)

I'm excited and nervous about this. I just hope he handles himself well with the other horses!

Here is a pic of me and Teddy at our lesson at Aurum. Now I better go and read up on what eventing actually entails...

#144 - Putting it into practice

Today Teddy and I saddled up but didn't do much riding as I wanted to put him through the relaxation techniques we learned. We also did a bit of ground work and I think he was bored by the end of it as he starting being cheeky by grabbing hold of the reins in his teeth, not tugging or pulling, just playing around. So I put my finger in the side of his mouth and stroked his tongue and he'd let go and then later do it all again. I think he thought it a good game!

He did very well so I will book my next lesson soon.

Steve came out with the camera and took some photos. Here is a rare pic of Steve and Teddy together. Steve always has to be a goofball in photos!

Teddy Log: #143 - Wonderful work Mr Bear!

Teddy Log: #143 - Wonderful work Mr Bear!: I took Teddy out to Aurum Equestrian Centre today and was feeling some trepidation as I was driving down to the car park. All I could think ...

#143 - Wonderful work Mr Bear!

I took Teddy out to Aurum Equestrian Centre today and was feeling some trepidation as I was driving down to the car park. All I could think of was Teddy playing up and doing who-knows-what to god-knows-who! I was expecting today to be a ground work day as he would be so anxious that Kim wouldn't want me to ride.

When he unloaded he was hyper alert and as each minute passed he got worse.  He was looking around at the other horses and then the dog spooked him; then the cat spooked him, then Kim's partner Richard spooked him. Even some imaginary spooky thing spooked him, I just couldn't work out what it was!

Thankfully Kim was there to show me some techniques to relax him. They were simple exercises but they worked a treat.  Within about 10 minutes he had his head low and almost looked like he was ready to go to sleep. I got a demo from Kim and then took over myself and we worked through his anxiety together. Great and simple methods that can be done anywhere.

Next I saddled him up and Kim taught us how to keep his mind on the job and stop spooking at anything he was unfamiliar with while in the saddle. He was no were near as tense as he was initially but having a rider on him ramped it up just a touch so we worked through that in no time. It didn't take long in the saddle for him to relax, and I mean the kind of relaxed that resulted in no head tossing! Next we were in a trot and he just wasn't consistent so I was taught how to work on him getting the consistency we need. I would say we were half way there by the end of the lesson.

Teddy did surprisingly well and I am very proud of him. I'm also very grateful for having such a wonderful teacher! I really appreciate the sensibleness to Kim's teaching as there are just so many horse people that believe their way is the best way that it can be mind boggling. I'm not after one discipline or technique, I am after the one that works best for me and my horse.

What could have been an nightmare wasn't a bad trip at all and I will be using those relaxation techniques before we start any work together.

Teddy Log: #142 - Teddy's first outing - will there be anothe...

Teddy Log: #142 - Teddy's first outing - will there be anothe...: I woke this morning determined to take Teddy out in the float. It was a windy day, which should have been a warning to me as I don't like ri...

#142 - Teddy's first outing - will there be another?

I woke this morning determined to take Teddy out in the float. It was a windy day, which should have been a warning to me as I don't like riding in the wind, but I had a 'now or never' attitude. The first hour was spend fluffing about trying to work out what key goes with what and what I should store in the float. Even though I wasn't going far I wanted to be sure I was ready for anything. I got all the tack ready, then I got a first aid kit for me, one for Teddy, buckets, water, extra hay twine and a little bucket of chopped carrots.

Next I had to work out where to put the mounting block and at the same time I realised I didn't have a hay net so I went into town and bought one along with a bale of lucerne. When I got back I spent a good 15 minutes trying to work out a way of backing up the ute to the float by myself. It wasn't like I could nudge the float around if I was off centre a bit as it weighs over a ton! And I couldn't see the coupler. I ended up driving a stake into the ground right in front of it and tried to line it up that way. That worked pretty well, the problem was getting the tow ball directly under the coupler. That had me in and out of the car many times - an inch back, two inches forward... but I eventually go there. I was feeling pretty happy with myself.

Then I had to hook everything up and in the process caught my little finger between the tow ball and the coupler! Good thing I had already packed the first aid kit! I will probably lose my nail and I've got a blood blister that covers the entire tip. It bloody killed so I ran around with a throbber for about half and hour, but finally got the float hooked up and ready to go.

Next challenge wasn't too bad. I had to get Teddy in the float and it only took about 5 minutes and he wasn't being a lala, just cautious. With Teddy all set up we were off.  As soon as we got the the reserve he unloaded well then went into Teddy hyper mode. High alert and on edge. When I put him in the corral he nipped me on the arm so I wasn't happy. I saddled him up and took him to the arena. I lost the key to the club arena so had to use the one next door. Then we had the worse game of "Keep Tania off Teddy" we have played in ages. Around and around in circles he went. Once I was on him, he was jumpy and decided that a bench on the side of the arena was a monster and spooked at it a few times. We eventually made the monsters acquaintance and he was ok with it.  I tried to keep him occupied with serpentine work and he eventually calmed down, but not enough to stop tossing his head. This neurotic response of his has been pretty good of late, but not today. It did not stop. We had a small canter but I didn't ask for it so I put that to a halt straight away. The rest of the ground work was trying to ease him through the big new scary place and trotting and walking work. The wind was driving us both nuts too, but we rode for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Next was the most annoying part of the day. Teddy didn't want to get back in the float! I was very, very patient and after about 10 or 15 minutes he went in. It was all a matter of Teddy being a turd, no other reason for it. Backing up, pulling, going sideways, little rears, you name it he tried it without being aggressive. It was a battle of wills and patience but I eventually got him to load without it becoming a traumatic experience for either of us. We then headed home and he let out a huge sign as soon as he got in his paddock.

This picture was taken just after I reloaded him.  I know it looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth but don't be fooled, he had just finished being a pain in the finger (float injury), elbow (falling off injury from last time) and arm (from the bite today).  After cleaning the float I was exhausted.

I know next time wont be quite so bad but how am I going to have lessons with him if I don't know how long it will take to load him and be a lala when he goes to each new environment. A one hour lesson will be at least 3 hours and that will be on a good day. If I book for 12pm I could be still having issues until 12.30pm. And what will become of Teddy if this doesn't go well?
I have the next six weeks to find out.

Teddy Log: #141 - The best play ever!

Teddy Log: #141 - The best play ever!: I had to work back late tonight so my plans to ride Teddy went out the window. So when I got home I  cooked tea and then I thought I'd go se...

#141 - The best play ever!

I had to work back late tonight so my plans to ride Teddy went out the window. So when I got home I  cooked tea and then I thought I'd go see him before the sun went down. I walked into the paddock and gave him a pat. Then I went to check a fence and saw him following me. I said, "Come on Teddy!" and starting jogging off and he started trotting along side me. I weaved and he weaved I stopped and he stopped. I ran the length of the paddock and he was by my side. I stopped and gave him a pat and he literally started licking my hand! Off I went again and we ran around and he was right with me, not in my space but beside me. At one stage I'm jogging and he was prancing at my side. I would have thought it was just him trotting slow so he could not out pace me but his head was tucked in and his front legs were high! It was just beautiful.  When we stopped I had to catch my breath and he was just watching, ear forward with the kindest eyes. Then he followed me to the gate and hung around for me to hug that long neck of his.

What a fun time!

Teddy Log: #140 - Teddy wanted me OFF today...

Teddy Log: #140 - Teddy wanted me OFF today...: ...Well at the start anyway. After I fell the other day I ended up with a sore shoulder and a few big black bruises on my leg but I was ...

#140 - Teddy wanted me OFF today...

...Well at the start anyway.

After I fell the other day I ended up with a sore shoulder and a few big black bruises on my leg but I was fine. Knowing that I'd be getting on the bike to do a workout as well as ride today I thought I'd stick to improving on our aids at a walk. As usual Teddy did a great job, but as usual he had to do something new in a dummy spit kind of way. This time I got on and when I asked him to move on he did a small buck. I hardly felt it but it was there. I continued to ask and he continued to do it for about 10 seconds, then gave up and went about his business.

This is one of three things -
1. He wants my big arse off his back and would rather be in the paddock doing what he's doing in the  photo above
2. He is sore and I'm aggravating it
3. He's just a punk

It's probably a combination of 1 and 3 but I'll get him checked for 2 if he keeps it up.

As for the aids - fantastic response. I was happy with my position and how we did things so it was good.

Oh and there was no head tossing.

Oh and he had a small dummy spit when I took his bridle off.

Just a regular day with Teddy really.

Teddy Log: #139 - Fell off Teddy Today!

Teddy Log: #139 - Fell off Teddy Today!: Yep, it's true and what's most embarrassing about it is that Teddy wasn't even moving! I was mounting and over compensated and flew right ...

#139 - Fell off Teddy Today!

Yep, it's true and what's most embarrassing about it is that Teddy wasn't even moving!

I was mounting and over compensated and flew right over the other side and smashed into the ground! Bloody hell! The only two times I've fallen off a bike in my life was when they weren't moving too!

It's so embarrassing and I've got a sore and grazed right elbow and bruised right thigh, but I think my ego is bruised more.

Ouch!