This morning Lynx and I took it easy, using the bareback pad and going for a hack around at home. He does really seem to enjoy our little jaunts with Mahzi!
I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place with so much space to ride.
Welcome to Bit of Honey Training LLC
Welcome to Bit of Honey Training LLC
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Trailride with Dylan at the Farm
Yesterday we picked up Kathy and Dylan on our way and headed over to the farm for another ride. The cattle were nowhere to be seen, but we had a great time anyway!
As we headed out away from the trailer we rode over the wooden bridge in the driveway. Lynx of course remembered it from last time and marched right over with no hesitation, and because he was so confident, Dylan followed easily. On the way back, Dylan was brave and went over first!
Going up into the farm we pass all kinds of equipment form years past, which is great for the horses to look at and helps with desensitizing.
We went out through the wooded trail and cruised around the open pastures along the way. Lynx remembered the pond in which we'd seen the giant birds and cattle last week, but he simply looked really carefully at it, he didn't spook or do anything silly. In another spot he remembered we'd done some big trotting. He does enjoy opening up and getting some speed work in when the footing is good! There was no misbehaving, he just had a little more pep in his step as he politely asked me if we were going to trot again? Ultimately now that Kathy and Dylan have seen the area we decided to trot and canter work next time.
One other spot we entered a field through a slightly overgrown area. Lynx was leading, so had to push his way through the tree branches. Often I'll teach this at home by setting up a chute with pool noodles a horse has to walk through, shoving the styrofoam pool noodles out of the way with his chest. However, Lynx has been with me such a short amount of time that I haven't had a chance to set up the whole Bit of Honey Circus for desensitizing. Lynx didn't end up needing prior exposure, though. With just a little encouragement he pushed the branches out of the way with his face, neck and chest, and made his way into the field.
Ultimately we had a great time! We always enjoy our trailrides, whether we go on our own or with friends.
We got the one selfie at the end, too!
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Working on Wednesday
I'm not entirely sure how Lynx knows what I want when we get to taking selfies, but somehow he manages to turn on the charm and smile for the photos!
We were working at home this morning with some of the gymnastics. Lynx remembered jumping at Lena's over the weekend and started out strong over the blue crossrail.
I'd set up a bounce (no stride between the jumps, just land and then jump again), but it was a little confusing for Lynx. The first time through we did what I like to call "jumping by braille", where he hits every pole in order to determine where they are. This is super common as I start horses with this kind of work.
Because his eyes are on the sides of his head, the jump actually moves into the blind spot immediately in front of him, just as he needs to take off. Sort of gives new meaning to the expression Flying Blind! You can imagine how he might feel the need to hit every pole if three jumps repeatedly appear then disappear right when he needs to takeoff! This is why I always try to walk the horse around the jumps first, with his side parallel to the poles, so he can actually see and assess the jumps before I ask him to go over them.
https://youtu.be/adePUhpdsTY?is=jp9mimszKNvLxvJw
As I go back over the video and photos from today it's also remarkable that Lynx tries SO HARD to do this jumping thing right. He is still determining whether things are cavalletti to be taken in trot stride, or a jump to be hopped over. He's athletic enough that he can lift individual legs quite high! Once he figures out that he can canter these jumps much more easily than trotting them, it will be a real game changer.
Look at how high he lifts that right hind to clear the pole!
Check out his right front leg, knee to nose, hoof to chest! And note how high the sides of this crossrail are. I often set this up so the jump will look bigger to the horse and he'll clear it easily in the center. Lynx is smart and attentive enough that he was trying to get over the oddly angled poles at the trot, not realizing it was ok to canter in and jump.
Here he's stepping equally high with his left front- this is some serious athleticism and try.
This crossrail's sides are a little smaller, and you can see him "sitting" more in his hind end with this jumping effort.
This is the bounce, after I changed it to be ground poles to a vertical because he needed something simpler. I'm always happy to simplify an exercise for him, I want him to end a session feeling confident and accomplished.
Now he's getting the idea! Next I'll set some fences on a long straight-away in the fields. I'll let him pick up a little speed and see if I can get him to break into the canter and go through the bounce that way. In this little ring it's difficult to get much impulsion before needing to turn, and he happily canters in the pasture all the time.
This small ring/round pen has been useful for getting him started because the smaller space has made him think about his balance, without him ever needing to pick up much speed. Lynx has terrific brakes with a breathing halt, so if the rider exhales and shifts her pelvis into a more posterior tilt, Lynx will shift his pelvis and slow down then stop in response, doing the same thing with his body as the rider does. He'll quietly halt like this anytime, after a jump, when trotting downhill, it's a great tool to rebalance him when riding on terrain. I also use a variation of this method to teach my western horses how to slide.
Sunday, August 16, 2026
The Jumps Get Bigger
Lynx and I took another trip to our friend's place and used her jumps again, and cooled out with another trail ride. Lena took the video and photos again too, because she's awesome and we're so grateful!!
https://youtu.be/2SkkTefLl6A?is=-3bh9FrjVg45UTav
Lynx has the idea now about jumping, and while he's athletic enough to trot over some substantial crossrails, we raised a vertical to (I think) 2'3", which was big enough that he had to actually jump, using both hind legs to push off. It took a few tries, the first time he hit his hind legs. On the next attempt he tucked up his hinds but wasn't thinking about his fronts, so hit the those on the pole. A little frustrated but determined to get it right, the next try he cleared it with all of his legs.
It's remarkable how he rarely makes the same mistake more than once. He may take a few tries to get it right, but he makes different mistakes each time and learns from them and makes corrections every time.
This was a little coop, a cross country style jump that didn't have any standards, which makes steering very important! He looked at it the first time or two, then figured out it was just another kind of jump and hopped on over.
We're getting some great canter strides after landing over the larger jump, too!
Some glamour shots with the newly painted Hermes jump standards.
Lynx is kind of hilarious, he's very particular about who he likes and who he doesn't. There's no in-between! He pins his ears at Dylan like in this photo, but doesn't make faces at Lena's horse, Blaze. I don't know why, since Dylan is one of the easiest "go along to get along" creatures I know, but I have to admit, I don't like everyone I meet, either.
Saturday, August 15, 2026
New Voting Link
Go to the ReBrand Initiative Facebook page for a new chance to vote for Lynx and get him points in the competition! Once more he's accomplished a lot in just a couple weeks, and here's the summary:
https://youtu.be/Cd2H1YZCgJI?is=xQX4TPrS9OvcpJ3v
Friday, August 14, 2026
Lynx Becomes a Bodywork Junkie
Today Son of a Lynx had a massage with myofascial release from our equine bodyworker, Jamie Hammond. She is extremely knowledgeable about equine anatomy and also has extensive experience with Standardbreds, which makes her the perfect resource for Lynx!
He was such a gentleman, starting the massage eating his mash and then really settling into it within a few minutes. He's very communicative about what he needed! He had a couple spots of tension that he wanted her to address, so he kind of politely wiggled until her hands were on the right places on his back, haunches, and then neck. About midway through he asked me if he could have a drink of water, gently stretching his nose towards his water bucket. Of course we let him have a beverage, and then we resumed the second half of his massage.
It always amazes me how the horse and rider will have tension or tightness in the same places. Lynx had some tightness in his hip flexors, and I've been noticing the same for the last week in my own workouts at the gym. He also had some tightness in the right side of his neck up behind his ear (I'm oversimplifying the anatomy here) and in his lower neck on the left side. I have the same issues in the same locations in my neck, and I see a human massage therapist regularly for maintenance on myself.
For the most part, though, Lynx's body is adapting really well to the new work here. His saddle fits really well and is allowing his topline muscles to work appropriately, and the long walks in the fields and on the hills is doing great things for his haunches. I'm so pleased with how his massage went and the information I got from Jamie on how Lynx's muscles are progressing.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Introducing Cattle
This morning I was able to haul Lynx to Chris's family farm to ride, and I was given permission by the neighbor to ride Lynx around his cattle. My goal for today was simply to have Lynx see, smell, and be in the same area as the cows. Especially since it was just me with Lynx and he didn't have a buddy horse to show him the ropes, I wanted this to be a really boring introduction to cows.
I'm happy to report we had great success! First we cruised around the farm a bit to look at the the old farm equipment and see the old buildings. Lynx handled everything like a pro, even letting me grab his ears to squish deer flies that landed on them. At one point I wasn't sure if a wire gate was open or not, so we started down a little narrow trail and then saw it was closed. Lynx was great, I asked him to back, and he just maneuvered his way backwards out of the little trail and then we turned around.
We then rode in the fields in the vicinity of the cows, so he could smell them and get a good look. At one point we were in a field next to the cows with some trees and a fence between us, and the cows were wallowing in a pond. As we approached, not one but FOUR great blue herons took off. The flapping and squawking startled the cows who began lumbering around and sloshing through the mud to make their way out of the water. Lynx did his "big spook", which is when he kind of hops in place, putting one foot in each direction, just in case. He then just stared through the tree branches and assessed the situation. Deciding it wasn't an emergency after all, he resumed his walk through the field.
When we eventually made our way into the cattle's field, I had to dismount to get us through a wire gate. I don't like to do wire gates from horseback because of the hazards of wire around horse's legs. Lynx was fine with this, and was very mannerly about going exactly where I gestured so I could refasten the gate behind us. I then remounted from the ground, and that was the first time Lynx has been mounted without a mounting block. Again, no big deal, he just waited for me to get situated and then we carried on. I normally like to use a mounting block because it's so much easier on the human, the horse's back, and the saddle, but when trail riding like this it's not always possible. So it's a definite bonus to have a horse that can be mounted from a block or from the ground when necessary.
Once we were in the field with the cows, we walked along the edge of the grass until the cows and Lynx noticed each other. Initially Lynx walked and watched, and the cows leisurely wandered away from us. We never got too close, again because I was aiming for a boring introduction to these livestock. At one point, though, the cows got curious about us. They all gradually turned as one to face us, and began walking towards us as a giant black mass. It was right about then that I could feel Lynx's heart start pounding. It's a funny sensation when a horse is truly on alert, because you feel the horse's heart beating almost as though the girth and saddle are vibrating.
https://youtu.be/8B3dDKqmFkI?si=R6hxAyiKk6Ui76L4
When something has the potential to really scare a horse, I try to make sure I continue talking to him throughout the experience. This is for a couple reasons, the main one being that I don't want him to forget he has a human he knows riding him. It could be much more exciting than anyone wants if the horse forgets he's being ridden, I move, and then he panics thinking that a predator has somehow gotten onto his back. I continued talking to Lynx, and he listened to me and never did get too anxious. Ultimately he took a step or two towards the cows, which caused them to all slowly turn around and move away from us. That was all Lynx needed for reassurance, and he calmed down to watch the last of the cows and calves trot by to join the main group.
We then proceeded to go back out the field the way we entered, again dismounting and remounting and of course closing the gate behind us. We toured a few more fields on our way back to the main house, and then went down the driveway over the wooden bridge to where I'd parked the horse trailer.
Lynx sure did well for his first time riding at this location, first time seeing this much farm equipment and old buildings, first time seeing cows, first time walking over a bridge, and doing it all on his own with only me for moral support. No dogs, no other horses, he just trusted me to keep it all in hand and we had a great time.
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