Red Light, Green Light

I had my second ride on Stretch tonight. I got brave (or stupid) and decided to ride solo with no ground assistance. Actually, it was past 9pm and there was no one at the barn at all. Probably stupid. But honestly, I prefer to ride with no one around. No distractions. I can control the horse's entire world. Plus I love the quiet and peace of nighttime at the barn.

After mounting, my suspicions that the ground person that Stretch is so used to always having is more like a crutch were solidified. He seemed completely lost and did not want to move away from the mounting block. After nagging him with my legs and getting a few steps here and there, more nagging, and a few more steps, he finally seemed to get it.

We got a good forward walk going and after a lap around the arena, I decided that we needed to work on teh "go" cue. So I began whoa/walk/whoa transitions. Lots of them. He picked up the idea fairly quickly, and after maybe 5 minutes, it was old hat. I could get a walk with just a small bump pf the heel.

Interestingly, for the first half of our ride, the walk cue was met with lots of head tossing before he would take a step. By the second half of the ride, he was still very interested in the bit, but he was seeking it, playing with it, "testing" it. I sensed that he felt way more comfortable and confident when he knew where my hands were and what they were doing. Towards the end of the ride, he was very heavy in the bridle and seemed to like it. Silly horse. Note to self: Stretch likes lots of contact. For now.

Memo to Stretch: "Go" Isn't An Option

This is Stretch. The gigantic (I'm guessing he'll finish at 17h) Dutch WB x Arabian that I traded Biff for.

Now that I've gotten him back up to a really nice weight after his Texas debacle and then a stint at a less-than-stellar "full care" boarding barn I had him at while finishing clinicals, it's time to start working him.

Don't get me wrong, I had hopped on him a couple of times at the barn in Turner in the round pen. He did okay. Nothing spectacular. I had The Boy help me by leading Stretch around for a bit until I was confident I wouldn't die, then back off so we could go solo. Problem is, Stretch almost requires someone leading him around. Without ground support, this horse is convinced that "forward" is impossible.

Since moving back up to the barn in Estacada, our focus has been getting weight on, building a topline, and finding a saddle that fits his crazy shark-fin withers. I finally figured out that my dressage saddle fits if accompanied by my nice fleece correction pad.

So this weekend I had Katie out at the barn and jumped on the chance to have a knowledgeable horseperson assist me with Mr. I-Can't-Go-Forward. She knew the ways to get him "jumps started" from behind and has the timing on when to back off that my sweet but non-horsey boyfriend just doesn't possess.

Stretch was.... just okay. Still is hesitant to move forward. When I start to really nag him, I can feel him tense up. Given his history of bucking off the last trainer who tried to establish forward with his dressage whip, I wanted to avoid that route. 17h is a loooong way down! I do have to admit that on horses that I am more confident with, I will get very aggressive about establishing forward. To me, it's vitally important that when I say "go," it means "GO NOW."

I just don't think I can get that aggressive with this horse. Yet.

So in the meantime, I suppose that my tactics will be to either annoy him until he moves forward then praise feverishly, or, when that starts to annoy me start pulling/kicking him in circles to show him that balking is highly unpleasant and I still expect his feet to move. Not sure we're even at that point yet.

I will, as usual, sit and ponder this obsessively, and likely try a few different approaches to see if I can figure out what gets this horse to click and what he responds to. I do know that I want him to learn how to go solo. No more ground helpers around as a crutch. Sorry, Stretch, you have to listen to ME.

Survivors

So it's 10pm and I'm blogging with a bowl of popcorn. I usually have a rule against eating things past 8pm. It's amazing how much weight just drops off on its own when I cut out the nighttime snacking habit. But tonight my willpower is down and it was either popcorn, ice cream, or cookie dough. I chose the lesser of the three evils and went with Healthy Pop, which tastes like cardboard but is giving me something to munch on.

Moving on.

This last summer I kept my horses pasture-boarded while I finished up my clinical rotation for school. While we were there, I had many life-altering "moments." First of all, this place had NO arena. None. Anywhere. There was a small round pen. That was all.

I happen to be an arena baby. I looooooove the arena. You know, with good footing, and corners, and straight walls. Virtually all of the training I do involve either the corners, the walls, or center/quarter lines. I have no idea what to do out in a field other than goof around for a nice easy hack. Kind of like a trail ride, where the only thing I want to accomplish is completing the ride with minimal drama.

So I solved that problem by not riding much all summer. Sure, I tried to ride in the round pen. It was fun for about 3 minutes and I quickly got bored.

Then one day out of the blue I decided to take the pony out for a "real" ride in the 40-acre hay field. Why I suddenly felt that she was ready to take on the big, open world at that moment still to this day mystifies me. I'm also not entirely sure why I felt that was the day to ignore my hatred of riding the tiny little 13.2 hand dainty pony. I always feel like I'm going to a.) squish her or b.) fall off the second she takes a misstep because there is nothing substantial about this pony to hold me up.

But I'm an impulsive person, so I went for it. Besides, I had ridden her in the round pen a few days earlier and she was only a *little* herd-bound, and we both survived.

I got her tacked up, led her to the gate, and she stood still like a good girl while I mounted and fidgeted with my stirrups. I was feeling a sense of confidence that my pony had, indeed, woken up one day and decided that she was going to become magically dead broke.

Off we went at a nice, calm walk. I was inwardly congratulating myself for my mad skillz at training the psycho pony. Then, approximately 20 feet from the gate, the Drama Pony must have realized that her friends were in a different field. On the other side of the barn. And that we had NEVER been in this field. She planted the brakes. I managed to boot her on until we were continuing in a tense, prancy jig, but at least it was the direction I wanted.

Another 20 feet later I got a spin-and-bolt attempt. Supposedly the bushes we were passing by were of the pony-eating variety. Thank God that in all my years of riding I have perfected the "You Can't Bolt If I Yank Your Head Around To My Kneecap and Spin You In Small Circles" maneuver. At this point I was livid. How DARE she try to run back to her friends! I decided there was no way in h*ll I was letting her move her feet back in that direction until she was being obedient. I don't need calm per se. I do need her to listen to me and not try to take matters into her own hands- er, hooves.

More prancy-jiggy crap. A few more spin-and-bolt attempts. A few times she planted her feet and refused to go forward at all (note: it is absolutely imperative to me that this pony ALWAYS go forward when told. When we first got her, she liked to rear as an evasion. I have seen her on multiple times rear so violently she flipped herself over. The rearing has gone away, but I've seen her do it, and I know she is capable. Therefore forward is a BIG DEAL- they can't rear if their feet are moving forward). Eventually I got her trotting in roughly 15m circles. It was hot out, she was out of shape, and got tired quickly. When she would trot politely in a full circle without trying to sidepass towards the barn, I would let her walk. As soon as she started being nutty again, back to the trot.

It was a long, hard ride, but she finally gave in and we walked back to the barn on a loose rein. As we were walking, several things hit me at once:

1.) I rode out the worst this pony has ever thrown at me and stayed on. I am not going to fall off the damn pony in a strong breeze. I *do* have good balance. I *am* a skilled rider. Several really bad falls off of a couple of previous horses has made me a timid/cautious rider. I don't need to be. I just need to get over myself.

2.) Pony was genuinely scared being out by herself, but even in her spin-and-bolt fits, not once did her front end leave the ground. I don't even think rearing crossed her little pony brain. It's amazing how far she's come since Katie and I first picked her up.

3.) I have ridden horses who have literally lost their minds when scared and there was no getting it back (refer to revelation #1, above). Horses are flight animals. It's what they do. The fact that the pony wanted to flee but eventually came back to me speaks volumes about her. She's a sensitive, nervous type anyway. The fact that we could still communicate with each other is huge for her.

This incident was several months ago. We have since moved back up to the barn in Estacada (I really missed the arena). In retrospect, while attempting to take the pony out on our little jaunt was somewhat impulsive and foolish at the time, I think it is one of the best things I could have done for both Drama and myself. I am no longer scared to ride her. Getting over my mental hangup about riding her has been great. I find that I actually enjoy riding her now, and her training has been progressing in leaps and bounds.

I think she, too, also came out better on the other end of our adventure. It seems like we bonded. She's much more in-tune to me, and she tries her heart out for me every day. It was like, in her little pony mind, the joint traumatic experience of having to ride in a field made us soul sisters. Everything that we used to struggle with before (trailer loading, clipping, taking her blanket off over her head) is suddenly a non-issue. I can almost hear her saying, "I'm not a fan of the blanket going over my head, but you and I went to Hell and back together, therefore I trust you."

Silly pony. I am still trying to sell her, but not as enthusiastically as I once was. I secretly wish she wont sell. If I had the money, I would keep her in a heartbeat. Maybe take some dressage lessons together. No, she doesn't have the "sparkle" for competitive FEI levels, but right now she has the heart and the willingness to likely make it to 4th and do pretty well.

Did I mention that we started schooling lateral movements just last week and she is now leg-yielding off of only my seat bones?

NH vs Classical Dressage. And the winner is.... something in the middle.

 In an effort to keep myself from studying, well, anything for my surgical technology class, I have suddenly taken a profound interest in studying -heavily- Natural Horsemanship (NH) training principles and simultaneously studying Classical Dressage (henceforth referred to as CD) principles. I compare and contrast the two constantly. I find it surprising how many training philosophies overlap and how many are polar opposites. (There is more overlap than not. Who knew?) I love to spend hours and hours contemplating which theories make more sense, which are the most valid, and deciding which ideas to tuck into my training "tool belt" and which ones to ignore forever. I try to look for parallels, and , when there are none, I try to consider reasonable compromises between the two. I want to become knowledgeable enough about both extremes so I can understand everything in the middle. This way, when it comes time to start my yellow colt (in another year and a half or so), I can make informed decisions and pick which methodologies I think will have the most success with that particular horse.

Unfortunately for my older, broke horses, they have become my guinea pigs. Biff, Drama, and Footloose have become my training experiments. Mostly Biff, because he has the mind and forgiving nature to deal with my mistakes and not hold them against me. Notsomuch with the girls. Biff is my "tester" and the girls are my "confirmation."

Should be interesting. When I am procrastinating on homework further I will write about my first lesson with Biff and what *I* learned from it.

Either I'm Getting Stronger...

... or my feed store is lying to me about the weight of my hay bales. But since they're still 3-string bales and HUGE, I'll go with the former.

I just stacked almost a million 125lb hay bales. All by myself. In the heat of the afternoon, with energy to spare! Well, maybe it wasn't "almost a million" but it sure felt like it! And I can lift them higher too. I will not credit this to anything other than the fact that it's summer and have been stacking more hay than usual. I don't work my arms out at the gym, although I really should.

My current horsey-project is getting my OTTB mare to actually relax her jaw, give at her poll, and flex softly. I want her to learn that the bit is NOT something to clamp down on and lean on. I've heard that it's a racehorse thing. Apparently in Racehorse Land, pulling on a horse's face actually makes them go faster. Huh, who knew?

I got her teeth floated before doing anything- I always try to rule out any and all physical issues before trying to work out a somewhat difficult problem in horse training. Now, her teeth are in tip-top shape, and she got a massage from Uncle Jason the horse masseuse. She is set to go.

So far, I've been proceeding as follows: I start off by longeing her in a nice large circle at the walk and trot until she's warmed-up, loose, relaxed and forward. Then I start slowly shortening my longe line and spiraling her closer into the circle until it starts to look like she's struggling a little, then I let her spiral back out. This little extra bit of stress from the smaller circle makes her stronger. Then I reverse her and do the same on the other side.

(A WORD OF CAUTION: Only do this is you are VERY comfortable reading your horse and can see when they start to get stiff or struggle. You have to know enough to not force them into a circle so small that it will actually damage their joints or muscles. Right now, my mare can spiral in from a 20m circle to a 12-15m circle, so my circles are NEVER teeny tiny, only a little more challenging. When she gets stronger we'll go for 10m, but, like weight training, you have to build up to it slowly.)

After a few spirals and she's good and warmed up, I put her bridle on (over her halter) and let her eat apple pieces with her bit in her mouth while I put on her surcingle. I am trying to get her to chew on the bit. I am teaching her that it's okay to play with the bit, and that she doesn't need jaws of steel. I also use apple, specifically, because it promotes salivation.

After she's done with her apple piece, I do flexions in-hand on the ground. The idea is really too long to describe here, but just Google it. I am particularly fond of Jane Savoie's descriptions, as well as Dr. Thomas Ritter's descriptions of how to do flexions. In essence, it releases the tension in the jaw/poll area of the horse. I'm mostly just trying to her her more supple in that area.

Then I attach Vienna reins. I tried plain side reins, which I prefer, but she is a smart cookie and very quickly learned to evade them by going above the bit and travelling hollow and ignoring me when I tell her to go forward. The Vienna reins don't let her do that.

So far, we've only had 2 longeing sessions with the Vienna reins. At first, Miss Priss was convinced she could not move forward when there was any kind of contact on her mouth. I mostly lead her around while she got used to them. Yesterday, we mostly longed at the walk and did a little tiny bit of trot. I let her take it easy, since this idea of being on the bit tends to be earth-shattering for some horses. We literally change their whole world when we ask them to move a certain way. So I don't ever ask too much of it at first. My plan is to continue adding longer and longer trot sets in the Vienna reins for the next week or so (every other day- muscles need a day to recover), to build muscle along her topline, and then back to riding, and working on introducing the same idea under saddle.

Katie took pictures of Missy Magoo in her pen last week, and I keep meaning to ask her to email them to me. They will be my "before" pictures of The Princess with her scrawny neck and weak topline. Hopefully in a few months I will have nice "after" pictures of a more athletic-looking horse. Stay Tuned!

By the way, my mare's name is Footloose. Don't be confused by the various nicknames I have for her. I'm pretty sure that all of my horses have an identity crisis by now.

Meet My Herd: Drama

The Drama Pony is a spunky, vivacious, adorable pony that Katie and I picked up off of CL. When we went to go look at her, we found her in a chicken barn that is about 50 feet from a very busy highway. The girl who was selling her told us that she had been planning on using the pony for rodeos (wha....?) but didn't have enough money for all of her horses, so she was downsizing, and the pony kept getting out and wandering around said highway. The owner also disclosed that she had plucked the pony out of some old-timer's backyard, who apparently didn't know how to use a halter and thought that ear-twitching was a perfectly acceptable way to get anything done. She also had no name- he just called her "Horse."

So, the combination of "she's a pretty nice diamond in the rough" and "we can't leave her here to live in a chicken barn where she escapes and runs into the road and/or gets used for rodeo" (Okay, the rodeo thing still baffles me. What the hell would a grown woman do on a 13.2h pony in rodeo?) prompted us to plunk down the $500 and drag her home.

Our first clue that this pony would be a challenge was trying to load her into the trailer to take her home. She reared a couple times but we got her loaded. Then she started rearing IN the trailer. To the point where we deliberately drove like maniacs just so she HAD to keep all 4 feet on the floor.

We named her "Drama." It started out as a joke about how "every barn needs a little Drama" (get it?? A little Drama?? For a 13.2h pony? We thought we were clever) and we quickly realized that it suited her better than we thought. EVERYTHING is dramatic to this pony.

We spent the next few months just teaching to her NOT rear every time she hit the end of a leadrope or cross-tie. Not only would she rear, but occasionally she would rear and then strike at us with her front hooves. This is clearly a learned behavior from somewhere in her past. And honestly, it probably worked for her. Even though she's small, it's still frightening to see any equine on their rear legs trying to kill you with their front. When she tried to pull this stunt with us, however, we did not back down. If she struck, she promptly had a Come-To-Jesus meeting. With whatever Katie or I had in our hands. It was not pretty. I used anything I could think of her make her move her feet forward. Now. Granted I probably could have come up with a better tactic. But if one of us has to get hurt, I'll be damned if it is going to be me. When she would just rear, sans striking, we would not budge, wait for her tizzy to be over with, and continue with whatever it was that triggered her rear in the first place.

Slowly, the rearing became less and less, and we spent the summer getting her over her head-shyness. Fly masks on and off.  Halters on and off. Bitless bridles on and off. Until she learned to deal with it. With grooming, we'd brush just a little closer to her ears each time and back off when we sensed a rear coming on. It took FOREVER. But slowly the rearing became less and less frequent, and we moved on to other training issues, like riding her.

Fast forward to today. The project pony that we wanted to flip for hay money is still in our barn 2 years later, but she is going beautifully under saddle. I haven't seen her rear in almost a year now. The little kids at the barn can practice their Showmanship patterns with her, and she is a saint. Last week I was able to clip her face and bridlepath without her halter on. Which is HUGE. Under saddle, she is schooling Training Level Dressage and starting over fences, and is absolutely darling. She's actually surprisingly fun to ride and is going to be shown heavily this year to market her. Hopefully we can sell her into a show home, with her own little girl. Little Girl will have to be a good rider as the pony is very sensitive to aids and slightly on the "hot" side, but she is beyond sweet and will do ANYTHING for a "good girl" and a pat. Plus, she's so talented over fences that the only home I can even try to imagine her in is a hunter show barn with matching blankets and tack trunks.

The sad truth of the matter is that the pony is simply too fancy and talented for us to do her justice. She will never live up to her full potential sitting in our barn.