Pep Talk With Ollie

"Ollie, I need to talk to you for a second. Look at me. "

*Stares into his eyes*

"You are gonna do great with your collection today, okay?  I am proud of you and how far you have come. You make me very happy and I love you."

*Gives Ollie a kiss*

*Ollie gives a kiss back*
I love you, buddy!!

~Alyssa

Training Begins

Hello Everyone!!

I have officially started training Ollie again for the show ring. He had a month or so off of riding because of all of the snow but for a few days the weather is going to be in the 40-50 degree area, so I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and get him out today. I wanted to see how much he remembered from our last training session.

He remembered nearly everything. Of course he was a little harder on the bit than he was a few months ago but in a few days that will be gone. He is still good in his lateral flexion, and was counter-bending and disengaging his hind and front end easily. Sadly not all of the snow has melted so it was harder for him to do some of the other exercises. I am very happy with how much he retained, and I cannot wait to see more progress!!

  My sister offered to take picture which I was very happy about, and so now I have some to show you!!

"Ollie!" (He saw other horses). 

"Ollie we need to take this picture...." 

(Ollie) "BUT MOM I SAW OTHER HORSES!!"

Just so you all know, I was wearing a helmet until I took it off for these pictures. Ollie and I had already ridden for a while and his mind was in a good place, otherwise I would have never taken it off. :)

I honestly have no idea what I was doing in these next two pictures.....

Ollie was doing so good that I took of out of the round pen and into our front pasture. 

DEEP. SNOW. 

I was not out for much longer afterwards because I do not want Ollie to get hurt in the deep snow, but it was fun to get pictures in!

Rider's view. :) 

So excited to see how much Ollie and I will progress in the coming months! Stay tuned!!

~Alyssa

Meeting Atz

Remember Risa, our Golden Retriever who had to be put down a few months back?

Well.....

We got our new Hovawart (if anyone knows who this dog breed is, kudos to them!!) puppy last night. His name is Atz, and he is a sweet, adorable, 18 pound hunk of happy doggy. :D

Well, this afternoon we introduced him to the horses.

Ollie: "What is that!?" 

Sherman was very interested in Atz. 

I think you are going to be seeing Atz more on this blog!! :D 

I Spy With My Little Eye.....

...A Sherman. 

I spy with my little eye......

 A Ollie. 

*Initiate death stare. * 

Sherman: "Ye shall not pass." 

Ollie likes to practice posing. XD

~Alyssa

Reflections

Today I woke up and decided to make a "Ollie Calendar." Going through pictures from early last year to the present made me realize how much Ollie and I have changed. From our bond to my posture in the saddle, everything is different. I made collages of most of the changes and I thought y'all would want to see them.

Left: January 2015. Right: January 2016

My posture improves: Left to Right: April, June, October, December.

Collection at the trot! Left To Right: April, December

Starting Collection at the lope! Left to Right: April, November

Ollie's mane: Left To Right October 2014, December 2015

Ollie's Weight Gain: Left to Right: May, November

Look at how much his facial markings have changed! Left to Right: October 2014, October 2015

The changing herd: Left to Right: May (Half Pint, Ollie, Sherman, Tucker, Rosie) July (Cheyenne, Sherman, Ollie), September (Billie Jean, Sherman, Ollie).


Looking at all of these Reflections makes me very thankful and happy to see where Ollie was, and to where he is now. I am very blessed to have a horse like him, and I am excited to see what the future holds. :)

~Alyssa

Dorks Forever

I try to get good pictures for this blog-I really do. However, it seems as if every single time I get Ollie and my photographer (my younger sister) it seems as if we cannot take any good pictures that are blog worthy. I decided to show you all how Ollie and I really are.....forever dorks. :D

Maybe I will be able to pick out a few that are not so bad. I hope to do a in-depth blog post on Ollie's training very soon, but I can hardly do any training at this moment because of all of the snow.